Chiyo glanced at him. In those eyes, there was exhaustion, there was pain, but more than that, there was something else.
It was something Nobunaga was very familiar with, called "It's not over yet."
"I won't die," her voice was a bit hoarse. "White Fang slashed it; I almost lost my whole arm."
Nobunaga did not speak.
Chiyo looked at him and continued, "On that line, only I am holding it up. If I withdraw, the situation at Kumogakure will be precarious."
"I know."
"Someone needs to go."
Nobunaga nodded. "I will go arrange it."
He turned to leave.
"Nobunaga."
Chiyo called out to him.
Nobunaga turned back.
Chiyo looked at him. There was a light flashing in her eyes, but it lasted only for an instant before it extinguished.
"Let Sasori go," she said.
Nobunaga was silent for a moment.
"You know who Konoha has over there this year."
"I know," Chiyo said. "That is why I am letting him go."
She lowered her head and looked at her hand wrapped in bandages.
That hand could not move, but she still stared at it, as if waiting for the day it would move again.
"He has been waiting for this day for twenty years."
Nobunaga did not speak.
He pushed the door open and walked out.
That afternoon, Sasori came.
He stood in the Kazekage's office, carrying his Akasuna no Sasori puppet on his back. That puppet had been with him for many years; its red shell glinted with a dull light in the sunlight, like congealed blood.
"I will go to Kumogakure," he said.
The expression on his face was as cold as it had been five years ago.
But something was burning in his eyes, the kind of thing that had been burning for twenty years and had never been extinguished.
Nobunaga looked at him.
"White Fang has been deployed there by Konoha this year."
"I know."
"You fought him once four years ago and lost."
Nobunaga brought up that night four years ago. Konoha attacked Iwagakure, and White Fang stood alone with a blade at the border of Sunagakure.
Sasori went secretly, and when he returned, all his puppets were shattered, sliced apart by that blade.
That night, Nobunaga found him on the border line; he was kneeling in the middle of a pile of fragments, motionless.
Sasori did not speak.
Nobunaga stood up and walked in front of him.
"What about this time?"
Sasori raised his head.
"This time is different."
Nobunaga asked, "How is it different?"
Sasori was silent for a moment.
"I have someone I need to protect," he said.
Nobunaga looked at him.
That face was still cold. But those eyes were different from five years ago.
When Sasori first came to find him, he said, "I am going to kill White Fang."
At that time, there was only hatred in his eyes.
Pure, unadulterated hatred, like fire, and also like ice.
Now, there was something else in his eyes.
"What about Kankuro?" Nobunaga asked.
Sasori was stunned for a moment.
"He will stay in the village."
"Does he know you are going?"
"...He doesn't."
Nobunaga shook his head.
"Go tell him."
Sasori left.
At the Training Ground, Kankuro was practicing Puppet Technique.
He disassembled and reassembled Crow over and over again, adjusting the joints repeatedly.
Beside him were several newly made puppets, all the results of this year's work.
Sasori said he was progressing very quickly, stronger than he himself had been back then.
When he said this, Sasori's face was still cold, but Kankuro knew it was a compliment.
He heard footsteps and raised his head.
Sasori was standing not far away. The setting sun shone on him, dyeing his red hair gold.
"Teacher?" He stood up. "Why are you here?"
Sasori walked over.
"I am going to Kumogakure. White Fang is over there."
Kankuro was stunned.
"I will go with you."
Sasori shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"It's dangerous there."
Kankuro looked at him.
"Teacher, I have been an adult for a long time. I am not a child."
Sasori did not speak.
Kankuro took a step forward. His eyes were very bright, so bright that Sasori dared not look.
"You have taught me for five years. For five years, you have always said to protect the people who need to be protected. Now, I also want to protect people."
Sasori looked at him.
That face with the purple face paint, the eyes were very bright.
He was already a different person from the child five years ago who held a semi-finished puppet and blushed while listening to his scolding.
"Can you defeat White Fang?" Sasori asked.
"I can't," Kankuro said. "But I will stand behind you."
Sasori was silent for a long time.
So long that the setting sun sank a bit more, stretching both of their shadows longer.
Then he turned around.
"Go ask your sister," he said.
Kankuro stood there, watching his back.
Sasori walked a few steps and stopped.
"Kankuro."
"Hm?"
"You are stronger than I was back then," Sasori did not look back. "In every aspect."
He left.
Kankuro stood there, stunned for a long time.
Then he smiled.
That night, Temari was sitting in the courtyard.
She had just returned from the Konoha front lines a few days ago, and her injuries had not fully healed. The moonlight shone on her face, turning her tea-gold hair silver.
She sat on a rock, looking at the houses in the distance with lights on, not knowing what she was thinking.
Kankuro walked over and sat down beside her.
"Sister."
"Hm."
"I am going to Kumogakure."
Temari did not speak.
Kankuro looked at her profile. The moonlight made her silhouette very soft, like a painting.
"Sister?"
Temari turned her head and looked at him.
"Did Sasori tell you?"
"He did."
"Do you know who is over there?"
"I know. White Fang."
Temari was silent for a moment.
"He killed Sasori's parents. He killed many people. That blade is not something an ordinary Ninja can block. If you go there, you might die."
Kankuro nodded.
"I know."
Temari looked at him.
"Then you are still going?"
Kankuro thought for a moment.
"Sister, do you remember the words Teacher has often kept on his lips these years?"
Temari did not speak. She remembered.
Kankuro said, "Only those who are afraid know what they need to protect. I am afraid, I am scared to death. But I am even more afraid of standing behind and watching others die for me."
He paused and continued, "You always stand in front. Gaara also stands in front. Teacher has always stood at the very front. I also want to stand in front for once."
Temari looked at him.
The moonlight shone on his face. That face was still very young, but the thing in his eyes was no longer the look of a child.
Temari reached out her hand and let it fall on top of his head.
Very lightly.
"Come back alive," she said.
Kankuro smiled.
"I will."
He stood up and walked back.
After walking a few steps, he stopped.
"Sister."
"Hm."
"The words you said to Teacher that night, I heard them."
Temari was stunned for a moment.
"I think you still have a chance," Kankuro did not look back. "After all, everyone says you are the most beautiful woman in Sunagakure."
After saying this, he ran off.
Temari was first a bit angry, then stood there in a daze, watching her brother's back disappear into the night.
The moonlight was very bright.
Some images appeared in her mind.
When Kankuro was four years old, the way he first called her "Sister." He stood at the courtyard gate, looking up at her with bright eyes.
When he was seven, he held wood and chased her, stumbling around, but he didn't care, he just kept chasing.
When he was twelve, he made his first puppet and ran to show her. He ran too fast, fell at the gate, got up and kept running, holding the puppet high.
Twenty years.
She had always stood in front of her brother.
This time, the younger brother stood in front of others.
As she thought about it, tears slid from the corners of Temari's eyes.