Flashback

'Thinking'

"Speaking"

Akasuna no Sasori, the Scorpion of the Red Sand, The Devil's Left Hand, all names for my teacher, my mentor, and my master, Sasori-sama. I have been under his instruction for three months now. He has taught me many things about the puppets I love so much.

He teaches me more than Kankuro or Chiyo ever would. They did not trust me. The people of Sunagakure did not trust me. It was this lack of trust that caused me to leave. Yes, I had betrayed my village and it was then that I found the Akatsuki. Pein-dono allowed to me to join after a series of tests. I can not describe these tests because I swore that I would never reveal them.

Upon my admission to the Akatsuki, I met Sasori-sama. He told me that Pein-dono had instructed him to be my teacher. Sasori-sama is a good teacher, impatient and quick to anger but good.

On my first day of training he asked me questions about myself. It was like he was curious about me but he didn't really care about my answers. It was like he was gathering information in case he ever had to destroy me.

"I am your teacher and your master. You will call me Sasori-sama. Understand?" "Yes Sasori-sama" "Good. Tell me about your past." "I used to reside in Sunagakure. Chiyo and Kankuro would not teach me and the village did not trust me. I betrayed them because of this lack of trust." "Do you have a kekkai genkai?" "No, I do not." "Does the skill of the puppet technique run in your family?" "You could say that it does I suppose. You may not believe me but one my earliest ancestors was a puppet. She was born that way I suppose." "Interesting, do you have your puppets with you?" "Yes, I do." "Do you believe that art is eternal or momentary?" "I believe that art is eternal." "Good. How old are you?" "I am seventeen." "What is your name?" "My name is Rinkashi." "Let's begin. Show me your puppets."

I showed him my three puppets, Katsuri, Katsari, and Bakudan. "I also have one incomplete puppet." I say. "Let me see the incomplete one as well." is his response. I show him my incomplete puppet, Katsurei. "What are their abilities?" "Katsuri and Katsari have compartments that contain poison. Bakudan has the ability to disassemble and reassemble himself. He has explosive tags hidden inside his body that explode on my command. I am fashioning katsurei to e my protector. "What wood are they made from?" "Cherry wood." "Weak! Cherry wood is weak. The wood of a pale sakura tree is much better….besides real people anyway." "You can turn people into puppets?" "Yes. I turned myself into a puppet after all."

I have finished Katsurei and have upgraded my puppets from cherry wood to pale sakura wood since that day. I am on my way to the designated training ground and I greet people as I see them walk by. "Hello Itachi-san." "…….Hello Rinkashi-san." "Hi Deidara-san." "Hey Rinkashi-san. Good luck with Danna. He's in a bad mood today un." "Thanks. I'll need the luck." "HI Rinkashi-san!" 'Oh no! It's Tobi. I hate Tobi! I guess I'll say hello. "Hello Tobi."

I make it to the training site with one minute to spare. "Rinkashi, today I am going to give you scenarios and you tell me what you would do." Says Sasori-sama. "Yes Sasori-danna. Err I mean Sasori-sama." I stutter. "You've been around Deidara again." "Yes I have but…." He cuts me off. "Danna is fine. Your first scenario: You are in a battle with a puppet master like me." "I would….." "Don't tell me what you would do. Show me what you would do. I am your opponent. Fight me." He says while assuming a battle stance.

I summon my puppets. Katsurei stands next to me. The remaining three form a triangle. Bakudan is the front tip, Katsuri as the left tip, and Katsari as the right tip. I see a puppet approaching Bakudan. "Aka." The tag in Bakudan's chest explodes when I utter the command. He reassembles himself. Katsari sends three poison tipped senbon at Sasori's puppet. "Poison doesn't work against wood you baka." He says to me. His puppet takes down Bakudan. 'Damn. Katsari and Katsuri only fight with poison. What should I do? What to Do? What to do? I know! One of Katsuri's poisons turns to flame when it hits clothing or wood! That's it. I'll fire senbons dipped in that poisons at his puppets. It's a long shot. Here goes nothing' I think. After a few finger movements, two senbon tipped with the flammable poison hit Sasori's puppet. A small flame spurts up on the wood. A second puppet of Sasori's appears from what seems to be thin air. It takes down Katsuri. 'Damn. Bakudan is down, Katsuri is down, and Katsari is useless. All I've got left is Katsurei.' I think. I send Katsurei racing at Sasori. Katsari is taken down and I notice that Katsurei has lost his head. "You lose Rinkashi. Make the puppets faster and broaden their abilities. Don't rely on vocal commands for any reason."

"Next scenario: You have no puppets and neither does your opponent." Sasori says while assuming a different battle stance. I throw three senbon. He dodges. "You're too slow he says. I move in closer and try some Taijutsu. He catches a punch and almost breaks my wrist. "That was poor. Don't always rely on senbon or puppets. Your Taijutsu is weak and slow. Work on that.

"Skills in the next scenario will be important if you lose control of your puppets for any reason and your opponent prefers close quarters combat. The scenario is grappling." He says and tackles me to the ground. "The hell." I say. "Grappling means ground fighting baka." He says. My wrists are pinned. 'Damn! No hand signs means no jutsus. No scrolls mean no summoning. No control of my hands means no puppets. Damnit! I can't move at all. He's got my whole body pinned. I can't do anything. I can't kick him or hit him. Damn.' I think. "Hey Sasor…..Should I come back another time danna?" Deidara asks. "No. This is as good a time any." Sasori replies standing up. "What do you want?" Sasori asks. "I have some food. Want any? Un." "Alright." Sasori says. 'Wait! Sasori-Danna that's clay!" I warn. "Awww Rinkashi-san you're no fun." Deidara says. "I just don't want faces getting blown off." "Yeah right hmm. Judging by the way I found you, you just don't want Danna's face blown off." He says. "We were training Deidara. Nothing more nothing less." "Whatever un." "Sasori-san, Rinkashi-san, Pein-dono wishes to speak with you." Itachi says. Sasori and I walk silently to Pein-dono's office.

"Rinkashi, it has come to my attention that although you are a part of the Akatsuki organization you do not own a ring. I am bestowing upon you the ring with the kanji for deception. You are to wear this ring on the middle finger of your left hand. Sasori, seeing as Deidara is now partners with Tobi, you are Rinkashi's partner. "Yes, Pein-dono." Sasori says. "Thank you Pein-dono. I am truly honored." I say. 'Ugh I sound like such a kiss ass. It disgusts me.' I think.

"Sasori-danna, should we get back to training now?" I ask. "No, Rinkashi-san. It's time to eat dinner." "Sasori-danna, you called me Rinkashi-san."(A.N. kun, chan, san, sama, dono, are all honorifics a lack of honorific suggests lack of respect. Kun/chan is for young boys/girls or someone you care deeply about i.e. husband or wife. Dono or Sama are honorifics for great respect and danna means master. Hence sasori-danna because he is portrayed as a master puppeteer.) "Is there a problem with me calling you Rinkashi-san?" Sasori asks. "No. No problem at all. Is Konan-san cooking?" I ask. "Yes. I believe she is." "Good I love her cooking."

I get weird looks as I walk in the kitchen. "Why is everyone staring at me?" I ask. "Where were you two?" Konan asks. "We were in Pein-dono's office." Sasori says. Kisame murmurs, "Sure you were." "We were you little fucker!" I say angrily. "Really I heard otherwise." Kisame says. "As did I." Says Konan. "What did you hear?" Sasori asks. "Well I heard that you were on top of her in the garden." Konan says. "He was. Sasori-danna was teaching me how to ground fight. That's all." I say. "I heard that he was screwing you……..not teaching you how to ground fight." Kisame says. "Who told you that?" Sasori questions. He doesn't seem like he actually cares. Just that quirky curiosity again. "Deidara told me." Kisame says. "DEIDARA!! What the flying fuck?! Why THE HELL would you that?!" I scream. "What the hell are you talking about un?" "The rumor you spread about Sasori-danna and me is what the hell I'm talking about!" "Oh that. All I said was that he was on top of you which, by the way, was true. Hmm" Deidara says. "Bitch. You ruined my appetite. I'm going in my room. Don't bother me because I'm going to work on my puppets." I say.

"I guess I'll start with Katsuri and Katsari. Oh! I know! I'll add kunai slots to Katsuri and I'll make the poison in Katsari more flammable and potent and I'll paint her with a flame proof varnish. The last thing I'd need in a battle is for Katsari to catch on fire. I mix the poisons I need for Katsari's flaming poison. Then I place the kunai knives into the designated slots within Katsuri. Next, I paint the varnish on to Katsari. After the varnish is dry, I check on the poison. It is a pale orange color. Perfect. I take the ten senbon from Katsari's fingers and dip them in the poison. I love seeing the face people make as they slowly burn to death as the poison enters their blood stream. I love their looks of pain. After the senbon are carefully placed back inside of the compartments in Katsari's fingers I begin to change into my night gown. After my night gown is on I hear the door open and close. I turn around. I am shocked to find Sasori standing there in his night clothes. 'What the hell?' I think. "Sasori-danna, what are you doing in here?" "In the Akatsuki, you have to share a room with your partner. We are partners so, we have to share a room." "Oh, I get it now. I wish you would have warned me before you came in. I had just finished changing when you walked in. You scared the shit out of me." I say. "I suppose I had good timing then. Where is the other bed?" He asks. "There's only one bed."I say. "Only one bed?" He asks. "Yeah do you want top or bottom?" I ask. "What?" He asks. "Do you want the top bunk or the bottom bunk?" "It's a bunk bed?" Sasori asks. "Yeah isn't that neat? I was so surprised I had a bunk bed when I first moved in here. So top bunk or bottom bunk?" I ask. "Top bunk." Sasori says. "Wow." I remark. "What's so interesting about the top bunk?" "No one I ever knew opted for the nosebleed section. I'm going to sleep now. Good night Sasori-danna." "Good night, Rinkashi-san." That night I had wonderful dreams of leading the Akatsuki and seeing the faces of pain caused by my puppets. If only that could happen in real life.

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