Although it had seemed like a regular day in Sunakagure with the wind blowing sand from the desert through the streets and houses-there had been a growing tension within the village. Everybody was going about their daily routines, not knowing that just outside the village in an underground cave almost invisible amongst the sand dunes was one of their own kinsmen-training privately. Inside, Sasori was working hard for practice. It was obvious that he had spent a lot of time finding and crafting this sanctuary out as a safe haven. Sasori of the Red Sands loved his training cave bunker and he was practicing his puppet control and working on new techniques. Sasori sighed. He was sick of training by himself as it got boring, but nevertheless he was definitely improving and he was always thinking outside the box to get better like a true shinobi should. Even though a puppet user was his favourite form of fighting, it came with a few weaknesses as any style does. One of these weaknesses was if the opponent got in too close for a taijutsu fight. However, it gave Sasori pleasure to know that he was taking the fighting style in new directions unlike his grandmother. Chiyo had taught him everything he knew and she was indeed skilled in the craft, but she was getting old…and weak.

Sasori ran his hand through his long thick red hair and thought about how young he was and laughed. It was he that would be the new generation of ninjas and he would shine among them. Although he could have kept practicing, Sasori knew he should head back to the village, Chiyo was going to question him about what he learnt once he returned and he also knew he should begin gathering materials to put his new ideas into place. He was going to revolutionise the puppet fighting style and he had been able to hide from Chiyo how talented he really was. There was no puppet user greater than him and even though nobody else knew this it gave him great satisfaction that his naïve granny thought she was still the top. Still, it was frustrating that he hadn't been in a proper fight in a while-one that actually got him feeling alive as if his life was truly in danger if he made a mistake.

As Sasori turned to walk out of his hideout, he stopped. It seemed his wish may be answered and he readied himself. Circumstances had arisen, which would end his training session for the day but keep him preoccupied a little longer. Without warning, a ninja was suddenly right behind Sasori with a kunai held at his back. It dug into his skin a little showing the ninja wasn't afraid to use lethal force if provoked. Sasori didn't make any sudden movements and kept his gaze fixed in front of him. A voice deep and gruff sounded behind him, "Who are you and what business do you have here?" Sasori didn't answer, he knew who it was and he was surprised his identity hadn't been discovered yet. If the light was a little brighter, his fiery red hair would have been easily distinguishable. But no matter-this ninja had entered his quarters and he was more than ready for a fight.

He tried to turn around quickly, but wasn't anywhere near quick enough for the ninja to stab him a few times through the body. It didn't matter though, as it was never Sasori standing there the entire time but a puppet replacement. The intruding ninja backed away immediately but was caught off guard from behind. Sasori had kept one of his creations Karasu in wait and had got it in behind the ninja and wrapped him up tightly with the arm extensions fitted to it. It was lucky for this ninja that Sasori hadn't applied the small blades into these arm extensions otherwise it would have ended the fight then and there; he also hadn't counted on Karasu's arms not being long enough not to completely get around his really wide opponent's body. Because Karasu couldn't lock the arms around the ninja, he was able to kick and shake himself free and get some distance between the puppets and himself. Sasori was hidden in amongst the darkness, and although he didn't like to show himself the opportunity presented itself and he quickly got behind the ninja as he had been done with before. Sasori lightly stuck his kunai into the back of this ninja. His identity was already obvious from the way he fought so it was no surprise when the ninja spoke to him directly. "Sasori, what are you doing down here? I had no idea, I was asked to check around here for any enemy spies-when I found this almost invisible bunker, I thought maybe Konoha had come after us."

"No. No spies I am afraid. I am just training." Sasori was right all along as to who it was. He was one of the ANBU members of the Hidden Sand Village. He looked like a fat piece of trash, but deceptively strong. His name was Hiruko. "How did you know I was in here?" Hiruko asked, curious as to how he could have planned the attack under the surprise.

"This is where I come to train. I have rigged the entire place to silently tell me if someone has entered, the second you opened the door, a string broke sending a white flag from the roof telling me somebody was here-like yourself I didn't know it was you." Hiruko began laughing, his voice was incredible gruff and the aura he had was someone that had seen a lot of combat and death in front of him. "A bad misunderstanding Sasori, you did quite well it would seem if you were not from this village I would have been dead." Sasori pulled the kunai back which he had still had planted against Hiruko's skin and watched as Hiruko walked towards the exit. Before he left, he turned back to Sasori, "One more thing, have you seen any of our ANBU brothers around here? There have been a couple of disappearances, which is why I am one of the ninjas investigating it-it seems in the past month there have been about five ninjas go missing." Sasori shook his head and looked carefully at Hiruko. He was probably in the best lit part of the bunker and it seemed to be a sign for Sasori. Sasori took notice for the first time of Hiruko's body. Small, large-very close to the ground and extremely fit for balance-if his body type was related to a weapon, it looked like an ultimate defensive one stocked on the front line to keep the enemy back. Sasori most likely wasn't going to have any more trouble with him, but this was definitely an answer to one of his problems. A smile came across his face, "Suppose I did know something though."

"What do you mean Sasori?"

"Supposing he was right here with us now, what would happen?" Hiruko didn't say anything but got a little suspicious of Sasori. Sasori saw him reach down and grab a kunai from his belt. It had been too dark for Hiruko to notice and Sasori lifted his finger beckoning Hiruko to turn around and look behind him.

Hiruko turned around and his face suddenly went pale. A lifeless and hollow looking puppet stood by the exit and it beared a great resemblance to the most recent ninja disappearance from the Sand Village. He looked back in horror at Sasori, "Is this who I think it is…?"

"You shouldn't be taking your eyes off my puppets Hiruko." Hiruko turned around quickly to see that the puppet was now gone from behind him. Sasori was messing with his prey now and he could now see Hiruko understanding he was in a dangerous situation. The only option for his enemy was to try and reason with him and stall for a plan. Sasori was quite happy to oblige while he prepared his own defensive measures. "What are you thinking Sasori? Do you not have any loyalty to your village? To your family?"

"No I do not. I need a test, somebody that is going to make me feel alive. Then when it is done, I will need you as a trophy." Hiruko didn't like the sound of what he was hearing and made some hand seals, "Sand Scorpion Jutsu!" It was Hiruko's signature technique where he summoned sand from all around him to manipulate itself into the shape of a scorpion's tail which could do immense damage with the speed and power. It snapped at Sasori so quickly there was no chance of being able to move and slammed straight through his torso.

Sasori stopped and gasped, but there was no real pain and he reached up and grabbed the sand tail as tightly as he could show it was another puppet replacement. Hiruko was able to get his tail free but not quick enough for a hidden puppet bearing a kitana blade to swipe at him completely cutting through his entire body in one slice. The two halves fell to the floor, but there was no blood or organs and it soon turned into sand. This is what Sasori had wanted, a good fight knowing Hiruko couldn't be beaten with one or two attacks and he would be a great addition to his collection. Just seeing him in action fighting with the tail behind him made him almost drool at the possibilities for himself. He couldn't get too carried away though, Hiruko could now reach any part of the room and equalled out some of the advantage as he was fighting in Sasori's home territory. "I am sorry Hiruko but as much as I would like to continue this fight I am afraid I should end it now."

Sasori bought all his puppets out, and unleashed a poisonous gas from one of them. He sought shelter in a crevice he had specifically carved out which left him untouched by the gas and waited for his plan to go into effect. If Hiruko took one breath of this he would surely die and knew he would need to get out of the way. Soon enough he was right and he saw a figure go towards the ceiling as the gas hadn't reached it yet. Sasori sent one of his puppets up there to finish him off and quickly saw it was a final distraction for him to make his escape out the exit. There was no time for Sasori to reach him and Hiruko also was twirling his scorpion tail violently and left absolutely no openings to be touched. It was indeed a good escape plan, but Hiruko was too worried about being killed from behind rather than directly in front. As soon as he opened the door, one of his puppets was waiting out there and shot poisonous darts into his body.

It was a rather quick working toxin. Hiruko dropped to his knees and suddenly realised how good Sasori was. The tiny gaps in the door were more than enough for Sasori to control a puppet not even in the same room. He soon died and Sasori dragged his body back into the room. A great victory for him-the time drew closer when he would have to leave his village otherwise he would be caught and executed for treason. Then Sasori felt a presence. Someone was in the room with him, watching him, studying him. He looked around not knowing what to do-this wasn't anyone from the Sand Village. A killer's aura seemed to corner him and trap him within his own mind. Then on the other side of the room, something was coming through the wall. As if he were a ghost, a man so dark he seemed to eat the shadow around him was standing in front of him. Sasori couldn't see much, but he knew he was wearing a long black cloak of some kind and had jet black hair. Even though there was no making out the face from the darkness and the hair covering it, Sasori could clearly see the eyes. They glowed in the darkness and seemed to look into his soul. If Sasori put it into words, it was like looking into the eyes of a snake. This mystery person spoke, "Sasori the puppet master, I have a proposition for you."