The shadow clone lay in front of the telescope, diligently moving it from side to side.
Shin-chan had already climbed out through the rear window of the outpost, moving at astonishing speed.
Although he claimed he was going to find Halfy, the direction he was traveling almost perfectly matched the direction Kakashi had gone.
Two kilometers away, the battle was already over by the time Kakashi arrived.
Several Sunagakure ninja lay dead on the sand, each of them killed by a sharp weapon piercing the heart.
The murderer standing beside the bodies did not flee. His red hair swayed slightly in the desert wind.
"A ninja from Konoha?" The red-haired boy tilted his head slightly, as though inspecting a newly delivered piece of merchandise.
"You slaughtered ninja from your own village. Have you lost your mind?"
"They were ordered to pursue me, so I killed them. That's all." Sasori's voice was far too calm for someone speaking about murder. "I have no interest in fighting you. Move aside."
Kakashi looked at his forehead protector. "You're a ninja from Sunagakure. Why did you kill people from your own village?"
Sasori took out a kunai and carved a deep slash across the center of his forehead protector.
"Not anymore."
Kakashi's pupils contracted slightly. "Sunagakure is currently at war with Kumogakure. For a Suna ninja to defect at a time like this..."
"The war has nothing to do with me." Sasori casually tossed the kunai onto the ground. "I simply no longer want to remain in that boring place."
"A boring place?"
"There's no point explaining it to you. You don't look like someone capable of appreciating art."
Kakashi frowned. "Art?"
"Only eternal beauty is true art. Things that decay, grow old, and die are all far too ugly."
Before Kakashi could respond, a voice came from behind him.
"Wait. I have something to say about this topic."
Shin-chan appeared at the top of a sand dune, holding a desert lizard with half its tail missing.
"Why are you here?"
"I found Halfy."
"...This isn't the time to discuss lizards."
"I know. We're discussing art now." Shin-chan turned toward Sasori. "You just said that only eternal beauty counts as art, right?"
Sasori looked at him without answering.
"I disagree." Shin-chan planted both hands on his hips.
Sasori's gaze turned cold. "What do you know?"
"I know lots of things." Shin-chan nodded. "For example, tonkotsu ramen tastes best while it's hot. Once it gets cold, it isn't art anymore. And chocolate sticks have to be eaten before Misae finds them, or she'll confiscate them. Once they're confiscated, they aren't art anymore either."
For the first time, confusion appeared on Sasori's face. "What are you talking about?"
"Art, of course." Shin-chan spoke as though it were obvious. "You said eternal beauty is art, but none of the things I like can last forever. Once ramen is eaten, it's gone. Once chocolate sticks are eaten, they're gone too."
"Then none of them are art."
"But they taste good and look nice." Shin-chan didn't understand. "Why does something have to last forever before it counts? Halfy didn't appear on that rock today. Maybe he found a prettier rock. He won't sunbathe there forever, but I thought the way he sunbathed yesterday looked pretty nice."
Sasori was silent for several seconds. "What is your name?"
"Nohara Shinnosuke. Twelve years old. Unmarried."
"Nohara Shinnosuke." Sasori repeated the name. "You're even more boring than that white-haired one."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because you don't even understand what beauty is."
"I do." Shin-chan pointed at his own face. "I see it every morning when I look in the mirror."
A mocking smile curled at the corner of Sasori's mouth. "People change. They grow old. They leave. Only puppets are eternal. They remain perfect forever and will never disappoint you."
"You said people leave, so puppets are better. But will your puppets eat ramen with you?"
Sasori frowned. "What?"
"Ramen," Shin-chan said seriously. "Eating ramen alone and eating it with someone else don't taste the same. Hima always says, 'I'm not eating from your bowl,' but she still steals the chashu from it in the end. Do your puppets steal your chashu?"
"I don't need anyone to steal my chashu."
"Then aren't you lonely when you eat ramen? You sit alone with a bowl, all the chashu belongs to you, but no one fights you for it or tells you, 'Big Brother, you'll get fat if you eat too much.'"
Sasori fell silent. "I don't have a younger sister."
"Then you must have teammates, right?" Shin-chan thought about it. "Or classmates? A teacher? Maybe an uncle from the neighborhood who greets you when you pass each other?"
Standing nearby, Kakashi noticed Sasori's fingers twitch slightly.
"Those things you mentioned..." Sasori paused. "They all decay."
"But the things that happened before they decayed don't stop counting just because they're gone." Shin-chan drew a smiling face in the sand. "The wind will erase this drawing, but you've already seen it. Now it belongs to you."
Sasori stared at the crooked smiley face.
The wind blew in from the depths of the desert, carrying fine grains of sand that gradually smoothed away the edges of the face.
He remembered Granny Chiyo teaching him puppetry. She always sat in the same place, wearing the same gentle smile.
But so what?
Every time he remembered it, the memory was immediately followed by the empty room and the chairs that no one ever sat in again.
"All that talk about memories and smiles you've seen becoming a part of you..." Sasori's voice grew colder. "Those are merely excuses weak people use to comfort themselves. Because they can't hold on to anything real, they invent such imaginary ideas."
"They're not imaginary." Shin-chan shook his head. "They're very real."
"How are they real?"
"You've remembered me now, haven't you?" Shin-chan smiled. "You'll remember someone named Nohara Shinnosuke who talked to you about ramen and chocolate sticks in the desert."
Sasori stared at the smiley face being erased by the wind and remained silent for a long time.
"You're right." There was no warmth in his voice. "I have indeed remembered you."
He removed a scroll from his waist and slowly unfurled it.
"So I've decided to turn you into a puppet." Sasori looked at him as though examining a piece of uncarved material. "That way, you'll remain beside me forever. You won't decay, disappear, or say any more of those boring things."
"I can become a puppet too?" Shin-chan's voice was full of curiosity. "How do you do it? What materials do you need? Do I have to be marinated first?"
Kakashi stepped in front of Shin-chan. "He's dangerous."
"But he said he's going to turn me into a puppet." Shin-chan took two steps forward. "I've never been made into a puppet before. This is my first time."
"Stop talking about 'being made into a puppet' as if you just received a limited-edition chocolate stick."