"And so your fight ends here, little girl," he said, without looking at her.
She could hear disgust in his voice, making her feel like she wasn't even worth the time he had spent on defeating her. Never in her life had she felt more useless or helpless, and feeling like that was common for the kunoichi since her days as a Genin.
Roaming the battleground without haste, she saw him looking closer at some of his weapon's pieces with narrowed brows, groaning silently. It seemed like he was calculating their damage, and clearly wasn't amused by his destroyed pieces of art.
They had been puppets before their fight, and now they were mere crashed limbs and splintered pieces of wood, metal, and porcelain laid across the battlefield without a hint to their former appearance. There were so many of them. Hundreds, maybe even more. She had lost count of how many of his terrible, death bringing dolls she had destroyed during their fight.
Even if they didn't move anymore, she could still hear the rattling sound their mouths made while trying to punch, slice, and poison her. One after another she had taken them down, always on guard to avoid any wounds. The noise had decreased gradually with every attack she landed. Presently they laid still on the ground, quiet and lifeless, but the silence couldn't comfort her thoughts. It didn't matter anymore if they moved or not, since they would hunt her forever in her memories.
When the fight had reached its peak and he had released his hundred puppet technique, she had lost her concentration while wondering how to defeat that enormous technique. Sakura had completely trusted in Chiyo's ability to keep the most dangerous puppets away from her, thus letting down her guard long enough to let a quiet doll dash into her blindspot from her right side.
The old lady's warning scream had made Sakura look in her direction just as the flying marionette whistled past her. A second later Sakura felt a sharp tinge on her skin. A quick look revealed that a papercut had formed just above her left elbow, showing a small red line on her arm. Just a small tiny wound, nothing to worry about, yet just deep enough to make her bleed. Enough to influence her, again. A scratch was enough to become infected with paralysation, and fever. She could almost feel the purple liquid creep inside her veins, moving through her body fast due to her high blood pressure that enhanced the distribution time.
Sakura had already seen the effects this poison had on Kankuro.
At this point, she knew her time was up. The last remedy against this weird and complicated toxin had been destroyed at the cave's entrance. It broke when she'd darted backwards and hit her back against a wall to avoid one of his deathbringers. She knew that without the remedy, there wouldn't be enough time left for her to defeat him. She only had ten minutes before she wouldn't be able to move anymore.
At the very best it might even be fifteen minutes, but that would only work if she stopped moving immediately, restricted the blood flow in her arm, sucked out the poison and .. Didn't have to run from this maniac puppeteer. Which clearly wasn't an option. With an antidote and time, she could have healed herself without even struggling. She cursed, angry at herself. How could she have been so stupid to believe three antidote portions could ever be enough against an enemy specialised in this area?
Trying to avoid another one of his devilish attacks, she sent a hateful look into his direction. He answered her passive moves with another hysterical crazy laughter. Their fight went on like that like a conversation between an introvert and a hunter.
She watched everyone of his moves closely, trying to recognise patterns in his fighting style that might give her a better chance at winning. There was nothing new to find, but the more she looked, the more the sight made her stomach hurt. His screeching in the back only added to that effect. Not only was he an inhuman lunatic, he was psychotic. Probably the weirdest asshole Suna had ever produced. His mind was mirrored by his fighting style: unpredictable, but planning.
He could have easily killed her long before now, but it seemed to amuse him to let her run for her life instead of ending this farce, like a predator, playing a wicked version of hide and seek with his prey. A very ill and deadly one and she could almost predict how this would end for her. Pictures of her body on the floor, splattered with blood, broken bones, and ripped clothes ran through her head. Her friends would be devastated when they would find her like that. How could anyone enjoy tormenting other humans like that. Just what had fucked a man like him up so much. What happened to the cute little boy Chiyo had told her about?
Trying to form a new tactic that suited her situation better, she took cover behind a large rock that laid around since her last chakra enhanced punch. It had destroyed the cave's structure and made the ceiling fall to the floor in pieces. Probably one of her smarter moves, since it gave at least a little safety inside this insanity.
The sight of the sky was calming in comparison to the darkness that had lingered before she destroyed the ceiling. He couldn't hide himself in the shadows anymore, which led to a tiny advantage for her, since she could at least see from where the attacks might come. His fingers were forming patterns, that gave her an idea of which dolls would follow her next, but in the short timespan she couldn't use that information to the fullest. The number of weapons he wielded made exact predictions impossible.
A idea formed in the hectic situation that consisted of hit and run on her side. If she could use some of her last chakra reserves to punch another hole to make enough noise, her allies might hear it if they were still close enough. It was a last hope to hold on to and the only one that might save her life and Chiyo's. If she couldn't save herself, she would do everything to give the other woman a better chance at escaping her grandson.
The effect of the poison had finally set in and her body slowly stopped moving according to her will. First, she felt a little prickle on her skin, starting at the papercut. Just like a leg, after it went numb. The feeling slowly crept up her arm, moving closer towards her heart. From there it caught her other arm, stomach and legs, down to her feet. Next, she couldn't feel her limbs anymore.
What a weird feeling, she thought, wondering about the strange sensation that had captured her completely. She didn't have time to speculate and wonder at this point, she had to stop him with all her might. But with the paralysation of her body she had failed, being just as useless as always, like on all those missions she had completed only thanks to her teammates as a Genin.
When the numbness had kicked in, she fell, and for a short moment it felt like flying.
Whatever she did, it wasn't enough. What had all that training with Tsunade, her shijo, been good for? Trained to win? A nice idea, but not something Sakura could accomplish in the end. Beaten, she laid on the floor on her stomach.
He walked past her, so close he could have touched her if he wanted to - a disgusting thought, making her insides shiver, yet unseen on the outside. She was relieved when he didn't. At least she didn't have to endure that. The paralysation was unnerving enough to make want to scream louder than she ever did before. No sound would touch her lips, no matter how hard she tried. The toxins were raging through her veins faster than her natural resistances could neutralize them.
He stepped out of her field of view, so she listened instead. As long as she was able to, Sakura would do anything within her capabilities to gather information and defeat this enemy. It sounded scratching, like he was lifting something, or someone. She didn't know. Chiyo's face crossed her mind. He had talked to her so informal and condescending. Sakura would never do something so cruel to her own grandmother. Something must have happened between them. Maybe he had a weak spot that could be exploited. But if the weird lifting sound meant he was lifting Chiyo, he'd probably hurt or kill her now. What she would do without the old Lady's support was something she didn't want to think about. The thought made her unconsciously hold her breath, pained by the idea.
When she grasped for air, the movement and how normal it felt, made her wonder. Breathing wasn't harder than before. She could do that. What else was still possible? Trying to move her body, she tested her abilities. But no matter how hard she tried, Sakura couldn't move even a single finger. How the hell was she even able to breathe anymore? It was nerve wracking. What should she do? Would he kill her?
There was no way he would let her survive this fight. She wasn't a kid anymore, she was a kunoichi, and all the ninjas that had lost in battle against Sasori no Akasuna before her were dead or puppets.
Unwilling to surrender, a tiny spark of hope ignited again: maybe her teammates would come around to save her? What a pathetic thought that was. Of course they would come, find and save her. They always did.
Naruto was a hero, and she was the little girl that always needed his help.
"… quite a fight. I didn't have to use my own body for a really long time." Oh, it seemed like he was.. talking? Sakura didn't understand why he would start a conversation now. Or a monologue, since she couldn't answer. Sasori didn't seem to be much of a talker, more like a quiet monster, waiting for his prey to make a single mistake. She had made one to many.
"Too sad you can't answer. Your aggressive threats were almost cute," he chuckled. The grin didn't reach his narrowed eyes, but she could see their color, that seemed almost red. Before, they had appeared to be a brown colour, but his bloodthirst changed their appearance it seemed. He came a step closer, readjusted his arm and moved his now better functioning hand through his hair to get rid of the red strands of hair hanging into his eyes and disturbing the sight. The movement seemed so normal, so human. It just didn't fit the picture of the cold puppeteer he had displayed until now.
While he walked away from her to a place she couldn't see, due to her paralyzed state that prohibited her from turning her head enough to keep on watching him, she thought about what he had said. The word cute didn't fit him either, and it was weird that he rather roamed the battleground than finishing her. Again, she could hear him moving things. Since Chiyo laid in the other direction, she assumed it were some of his puppets. Their state should be beyond repairable, but on the other hand she didn't know much about that fighting style and weapons. She should have sparred sometimes with Kankuro, to get to know the techniques better, but she had used all her time in Suna differently. So maybe Sasori would find a way to use the parts again.
"If this poison wasn't created by me, I wouldn't be sure if you can even listen what I say right now," he murmured, coming closer again by the sound of his footsteps and volume of his voice. He crossed her sight again, controlling some puppet parts with his technique that flew behind him. They didn't seem to be damaged too much, but single parts shouldn't be too useful for him.
He silently walked around the now destroyed cave for a while, checking his other puppet's parts. Again he stepped into her vision. It somehow relaxed her to be able to see what he did. His words echoed in her head again and again until she realised what made her wonder so much about them. Her still breathing was on purpose. The fact confused her even more, but it also ensured her that breathing wouldn't be something she had to worry about for the next hours. Enough time for her friends to find her, if she was lucky.
"Guess I can't help it. I'll just leave these ones here."
He moved some of his fingers and some of the pieces flew through the air and stopped on a unrolled scroll. Immediately he scratched a part on his chest where his heart canister was located. It produced some drops of blood, which he used to seal the scroll before closing and packing it into his Akatsuki coat. A sigh escaped his mouth as he threw off the crimson coat he wore. It landed halfway over her body, hiding her a little from the entrance of the cave. She probably looked like one of his marionettes now. He turned his head towards her feet, checking if she was hidden well enough and tucked on some places around her legs to adjust the placement of the red robe.
He stood up again, turning his head in a smooth movement directly into the direction of her eyes. And he was slowly coming closer to her face, checking her hideout with every step he took, and stood still next to her head, his eyes staring at her. Sakura was sure he was about to kill her now. He had to. She would have killed her enemy first and hid him afterwards, if at all, but who knew what his reasons for that behaviour were.
"I'll have to prepare the third," he mumbled under his breath, looking away from her towards the human puppet of the former Kazekage. Still next to her, he looked at the kunoichi again in obvious disgust. He crouched down to her and investigated her pulse and the cut on her arm. He seemed to be pleased by the results, as he grabbed her wrist and held it up high enough for her to see the dark violet veins contrasting the almost white skin of her body in which the toxins still raged, already weakening her. She had recognized the first signs of a fever and the beginning of a headache, that formed between her eyes. Even in the chilling atmosphere, she could feel the heat and a few sweat drops forming on her chin.
"So, little girl, you've put up quite a fight but that squabble of yours is over now. Your antidotes are strong, still, you're massively lacking in almost everything," he tapped on her arm. She cussed inwards at the touch. The feeling of his finger on her disgusted her even more than the helpless feeling that flooded her with emotions. He stared at her, waiting for a sign that she had listened and understood what he pointed out.
When she looked away to escape his glare, he let go of her, her arm falling to the floor without his support. The hand that had gripped her wrist seconds before now grabbed her chin, moving her head even closer, so that she had to look at him, no matter where she turned her eyes. He didn't only want her attention, he demanded it and Sakura had to give into him due to the state she was captured in.
"Your tactics and dodging skills are below average. Crappy ninjutsu. Wasting chakra on useless actions. Without Chiyo, you would be dead by now. One of my first hits could have killed you!" he called, way too loud for her ears. A little ringing lasted, his words echoing again and again. Could have killed you. Killed. Killed. Killed.
Again, he narrowed his eyes which seemed to be a common gesture for him. He had done it several times during their fight. It made the brown colour appear even darker, but not as red and furious as before. Somewhere between he must have lost that stare filled with hate and bloodthirst. Now only anger resumed. He squeezed her chin a little more, ripping her away from her thoughts. Less loud than before he resumed his critique of her abilities.
"That wannabe antidotes won't help you if you can't handle poisons correctly. You forgot to counter the metal ingredients if you even noticed their presence. And your strength wont do, since you're by far not fast enough. Improve that, fast," he ordered with a dark voice and let go of her chin. He stood up again, hiding his hands in the pockets of his cloak but never removed this eyes from hers, still examining her, which somewhat surprised her. Never in her life had anyone gazed at her, locking their eyes for so long. No friend and no enemy.
It took longer than she liked, until he averted his gaze, slightly shaking his red haired head he mumbled "Pathetic, even for Konoha." Again he moved some red strands away with his hand, that got dislocated by his former movement.
With this monologue he had insulted Sakura, her teacher Tsunade and her village Konoha in general, which enraged her more than anything he had done before. Thoughts circled around again in Sakura's head, making it impossible for her to draw smart conclusions anymore. Giving up on a proper characterization of him, she still wondered what this was supposed to mean. That might have been the longest conversation she had ever heard from him. Yet it was just a bunch of mean things he wanted to offend her with, which brought her to the conclusion that he was either stupid or an asshole. The fear that had consumed her was replaced by other emotions, and every one of them aimed to defeat or kill him in the most cruel way possible.
There were several evil thoughts that appeared in her head, one meaner than the other. Inner Sakura ranted at him in a never ending tirade, while the real Sakura didn't move at all. She just couldn't. But as soon as she could, she would rip his head off and his heart out. There was no more doubt about it in her heart. Until now, she had somehow hoped Naruto or Chiyo would be able to convince Sasori to stop being with Akatsuki and surrender himself to Suna to await punishment for his crimes. But the ongoing insults towards all she stood for had broken down the last wall that stopped her from hating him more than any other person in her life.
He stopped her train of thought when he opened his mouth again to speak once more. This time his tone was different, less aggressive and rather full of wonder and interest. "You have potential, though. I hate to admit that. Intelligent, and quick to be submissive. I believe you've never been a puppet before, right?" He didn't wait for an answer, it was a plain rhetorical question that didn't need one. Not that she had been able to.
"But I really enjoyed seeing you attached to strings. There's a certain kind of beauty to it. You'd really make a nice doll in my collection." A quiet snicker escaped his mouth. "Not an especially pretty one, just average, but beauty is something I can add effortlessly. Yet you could be a strong one if you get the right training, but sadly, that takes time and patience, which I do not own."
He took a deep breath - or at least that was what it looked like. Was he even breathing? Was he even alive? She wasn't sure. He was anything but human. This man was monster; a terrible one. In addition he had called her ugly which made her rage even more inside. He must have seen the green eyes narrowing and clamoring sheer hate at him.
Suddenly, as if to answer the change in her stare, the look in his brown eyes became even more frightening, darkening them further. It looked like Sasori was plotting something. The way they became bigger in something she couldn't grasp made her hold her breath, as the fear crept in again. It looked somewhat like anticipation but madness took over the more she looked at it and the mix of it was nothing Sakura wanted to explore.
Whatever he was up to, she was pretty sure it wasn't good for her.
"You hate laying on the ground. And your eyes definitely tell me, that you hate me. But there's one thing you despise even more and that is your own ineptitude that brought you here. Am I right, little girl?" A disgusting smirk grew on his face, uneven like the ones the teenage boys used back at the academy. Not like the bright smile Naruto had when he was talking to her. It was more of that dark one Sasuke had, hiding dangerous and painful secrets buried in the past. His facial expression had changed his eye colour again to a lighter shade which made him seem less frightening, but she wouldn't let herself think any better of him due to this.
His eyes narrowed as he bent down and grabbed her by her short pink hair. That might have hurt more if she had felt less numb. He held her up high enough so he could look her in the eyes. Surprisingly they were almost the same height.
In other situations this might have made her feel a little better, since the weirdo wasn't taller than her. Hopefully that might scratch his ego which would be nice. She liked the idea of hurting him for everything he'd done to her and Chiyo-baa sama. The old lady still laid on the ground, unmoving. Was she dead? Sakura couldn't see. She wouldn't now and maybe she would never find out.
This would be the perfect time to end her life with one of his trademark laughs that scared her more than she would admit. Stabbing a knife through her heart would be easy now. Or ripping her to pieces with inhuman puppet strength. The possibilities just ran through her mind and she couldn't stop them. Her mind wouldn't let her. She was scared, no doubt about it. But it was different from any fear she had ever encountered in her life: her death was imminent and he played with her so she couldn't even calculate when she was going to take her last breath. He didn't have to move a single finger since Sakura's time was running out like sand in an hourglass. If she could, she would have screamed her lungs out. Yet those screams were merely internal, without a sound. And his eyes were still lingering at her, exploring.
He wasn't exploring. Instead he was calculating. A minute passed, and he hadn't said a word. Not even blinking he just gazed at her, never averting from her eyes as if he was captured by them. So she answered the quiet conversation with emotions, trying to make him leave or at least look somewhere else. He wouldn't fulfill her wishes.
"How often do you train? Your knuckles are bruised, which might be from today's fight with me. But your ninja gear looks like you wear it often. Maybe… five days a week or so," he stated while evaluating her body, her clothes and then her face again.
"It's functional. Good. At least you don't wear something that might get in the way," he hummed, clearly deep in thought. She assumed he tried to find more flaws about her, her fighting or anything else. so his next move surprised her more than it irritated her. He gently took a strand of her hair and twirled it carefully between his wooden fingers in front of his face to inspect it further.
"Your hair length is ok. Shorter would be better. Not hard to be dealt with. But this weird shade will always give away your identity." The pink hair had always been a part of her, so she never thought much about it. But now she realised that she had never seen any person with a shade close to hers, except for her father. Red was uncommon. Pink was rare. So she had to accept that he was right, it would always give her away. Every shinobi in the world would be able to recognize her and many countries would hunt her in her future due to her medical skills. Something to worry about another day.
"You will start with running, six times a week. And improve that terrible dodging skills, your weakest point. If you really want to become strong enough to beat me one day, try hard. Until then, don't fight people stronger than you, little girl." There was provocation in his voice, challenging her in her paralyzed state that allowed no reaction to his incitement.
"And don't ever waste my time again," he hissed. "If you tell anybody I'm alive I'll kill every single one of them and make sure you watch. You'll be the last one, and I'll make sure you will live your whole life serving me as my special puppet. So you can watch me forever but can't do anything against my will." The evil grin on his face did the rest to scare her. But it sounded like he wasn't about to kill her.
In an unexpected, slow and kind fashion, he put her on the ground and rested her back to one of the big boulders that surrounded them, tugging her again under the red cloak that had come undone when he pulled her up. Then, with a weird combination of a wry smirk and a little wink he jumped off and disappeared. Still without the ability to move or make a sound, Sakura was alone with her thoughts in the gloomy deserted cave.
Big emerald eyes, the weird pink hair and the red clothes - she looked like a stupid clown in all those bright colours. And yet there was a certain kind of beauty to it, especially the eyes. The fire in them, fueled by hate, made him stare even more. Ignoring all her terrible flaws, she was at least a well skilled medic nin for her age, which was uncommon. Particular uncommon in Suna.
If only you were better trained, little girl. You could be a nice plan E, if all else faild. How long would you need to get useful at least? Her eyes screamed of a strong willed mind. And a medic nin her age…
You seem to be smart, at least some of your tactics were. And it's a long time since I took such a gamble.
Slowly the sun began to down as the shadows grew longer, and he still lingered on top of the cave, just outside her field of view, observing her. Again he mumbled to himself, just loud enough for him to hear: "Follow me, little girl. And don't make me wait too long."
Thanks a lot for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.
I tried not to make any spelling / grammar mistakes, but since I'm still learning, just let me know if you find something.
A long time I wasn't sure if I should include the two small parts under the line, but I enjoyed them to much to lock them away. This fanfic is not planned to be a oneshot, there is more in production. I already wrote some more chapters that I currently rework and enhance to improve them.