Desert Flowers and Deals with the Shinma

Story: Dolls and puppets seem to litter Sasori's bedroom, one doll in particular is one of his favorites, one that he made. This goes into his twisted mind and to a past where his first love was not a doll at all.

Note: Please be aware, that the only time there is a crossover is when Sasori is making a deal with Ranka of the Dolls of the Seventh Tier in Vampire Princess Miyu. If you want to know who Ranka is, please watch Vampire Princess OVA 1, episode 2.

Years Ago

"I want to make a deal with the Shinma of the Dolls," Sasori stood before a mirror, his hands gripping the summoning tools. He had brought out a doll and stared down at it, the small thing was beautiful and he had hoped it was going to appease this doll loving demon. The mirror turned into a door, he reached for it and the door opened slowly, he walked through it, though to be honest, he was basically pulled through it.

He stared at a dinning hall where all that sat there were dolls, some so old that half of them lost their heads, they were lying on the floor. He looked around against for one certain doll, but he was not sure what to expect from the Shinma who granted wishes for those who created dolls and toys. He pulled himself through the hall toward the far end where he saw a garden, he walked through, even with all the toys that were littering the ground, he had to be careful not to step on anything. "I have come to…"

"I know why you have come, puppet maker, Sasori," a rather small girl appeared, she must have been at least twelve or thirteen, dressed in a fancy kimono. "You want something to do with making a doll of someone you love, someone who left this world. What does this have to do with me?"

"I want her soul back, she was rightfully mine," he whispered to her and shook his head. "I can't live without her."

"You are a puppet maker of great renowned, and here you stand saying you gave your heart to a mere mortal girl who was bound to die one day, the same as you, you are human," she whispered and looked stunned that a human would give up their soul so easily, but then she too understood his situation. "I will give you a way to have her back, but be aware, she will not be as you knew her, you will have nothing more than a doll with a soul locked within it."

"I don't care, I just want her back," Sasori whispered and grasped a locket showing him the girl. "Nariko-chan was my inspiration and to not having her is killing me. I will do all that you request of me."

"You will pay my price, one day, Sasori, you will pay," her voice was soft again and nodded. She motioned for a doll to fall into his hands. "Take this doll and put her grave dust inside the body, it is hollow and it will house her soul. Paint her face and put in her hair as you remember what she looks like. Dress her as you wished her to dress in life, be a specific as you can. She will be a doll to others, while to you she is a living being, but not so. Only a mirror will show the truth of what you crime you have committed in her name. Love her as you would if she were alive, but be aware what maybe complete is dead still in her eyes."

He nodded and did what she had said, he had stolen Nariko's ashes from her family tomb, he had made the doll as he was told to. He could not place her in the hands of Akatsuki, they could not know his true crime. He sat the doll on a table, his hands moving over the wood as he put her ashes within it. "Nariko-chan," he smiled at her as he brought up a brush and started to work on her hair. "My pretty little desert rose."

Nariko's dark blue eyes moved over the sand, she watched as a scorpion crossed her path and then vanished into the sands. She walked through the streets of the Sand Village, her temper flaring as she thought again about what she had seen that morning. She looked up as a boy no older than sixteen got on his hands and started to balance himself over to her. "Nariko-chan!" he fell back and smiled up at her. "What's with the long face?"

"Sasori-kun," she looked at him seriously, her long blond hair falling into her eyes. "You are trying to impress me by almost being stung by a scorpion," she pointed to the black scorpion that seconds ago had started to move toward him with its stinger raised. It moved to its hole and he just sat there staring up at her in surprise.

"No, I just wanted you to smile," he cocked an eyebrow and shook his head. "I hate it when you scowl so much, it doesn't suit you at all. What did your father, our Kamekage do?"

"You know he wants me to marry soon," her voice was almost a yell. "Do you think I want to leave Kankuro and Temari all alone?" She was always concerned with her siblings.

"Well, I know you don't like it, but at least smile, not for them, at least for me," Sasori kicked his feet and stared down at the sand. "My sand flower should always smile even if she is upset because you should think about…"

"I know, I need to think about the village," she sat down next to him. "You know, I heard that you raised a rank to Jonin, you're the youngest in our village, you know. You are also called a…"

"Enough," he whispered and shook his head. "I hate the title, Puppet Master is such a worthless thing to write on my name. Kankuro even makes fun of me and I'm his teacher."

She was the only person he could be honest with, he thought, Nariko was the prefect love, she was prefect in his eyes. Her eyes were the right shade of blue, her skin was milky white like cream, her hair was blond and long, and she was skinny and lanky, almost easy to see. Her large boomerang hung on her shoulders just enough, it was hard to believe she was that strong just by looking. Her smile though was said to make the sun shine even at night in the desert, she was so beautiful in the eyes of Sasori.

When she had been found weeks later after a mission dead, Sasori felt as if his world could not go on. He could not see himself taking care of anything on his own, he walked into her empty room, his hands moving over the boomerang that was made of pure bone, what kind of animal would have something this big was hard to say. He looked over at a picture of her and him standing in front of the village gates, this was a picture he could not part with, putting it into his pocket before her father the head of the village came in. He found her ashes and put them in a bag his pocket, he had to leave before anyone knew this, he had stolen his parent's corpses too, but that had been a different incident altogether, that had not been a real crime, this was.

He walked into his rooms and went to work on the doll, the wooden doll lay on its stomach in front of him and he slowly entered the ashes into the body. He smiled as he put the kimono on her and brought her to the mirror, standing with his help was the doll, the doll, Nariko!

Present

"Nariko-chan, you look nice," Sasori walked into the bedroom and put the doll on a chair, he lay his head in her lap and smiled at her. "My, you look so nice today, would you like to…" He heard a knock and turned around as Deidara stood by the door. "You are bothering, Nariko-chan!"

"Gomen, but leader called a meeting tonight," Deidara blinked as he made his way out, he was not about to upset Sasori tonight. He walked into the living area and sighed sitting down with a great thump into a chair.

"What is he doing?" Itachi looked up from his tea.

"Playing with his dolls again," the insane artist whispered and looked at the door. "He cares more about that doll, Nariko than he does about anything else."

"True love," whispered Zetsu. "Such a pain."

Sasori smiled as he put a new coat of cosmetic paint on Nariko's face. "You are the most beautiful of anything in the world, a Desert Rose that will bloom only for me." He whispered touching her face with a brush, painting the lips a beautiful red. In the mirror it showed a human girl, a fully developed human girl with dark blue eyes that stared dulling out. He brought up the chakra strings and moved her to perform a fan dance, her face moved robotically as he moved with her. "One day you will move on your own." He kept promising this, even though he knew it was impossible. She was his little doll, though to be honest, he kept his word that he would return to the land of dolls and toys with Nariko.

So it wouldn't have surprised him that as the years passed a new doll was soon appearing in his room, this doll had red hair and dark eyes that were set in. This doll would become more and more like Sasori as Sasori became more like a doll himself.

Deidara hated entering this room, when he lost Sasori, it meant going into the room to see that doll. He walked in and opened the window, in the room, there were hundreds if not thousands of puppets, but two dolls made the room look strange. Sitting on a table was Nariko, her lifeless eyes staring out as if in hidden apprehension of what was to happen, next to her was another doll, this one looked like Sasori. Deidara jumped back a little in surprise, he saw Itachi entering behind.

When the doll copy was next to Nariko, something strange happened, as a mirror was uncovered, Sasori's real form appeared, he and Nariko were standing side by side, walking into a background. "I have come to take my soul that was promised me," a little girl dressed in a kimono came in. "Two souls for the price of love." She smiled at the two of them and whispered. "I, Ranka of the Dolls always keep my promise."

Sasori just smiled at Nariko who was holding onto his arm, they were walking dressed in traditional clothes. Then they stopped and circled each other in a sort of dance, while Deidara watched on from the room, the dolls were lying on the floor at his feet as he saw the man he admired walking with a young woman. "SASORI-DONNA!"

"I made a promise to Ranka, I could not really live without my Nariko-sama," he smiled at the woman who stood behind him. "Nariko-sama and I are one in this world. You asked me about love once, well, Nariko-sama was my desert rose."