Eternity
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Dedicated to daydrifter, who previewed this first chapter for me.
Act One
Observations
When I first saw her I knew I had to have her. Graceful, lithe, flawless, sheer poetry to watch. Small, well-formed muscles slid under velvety pale skin. Clear, chocolate eyes calculating the distance, a flurry of metal weapons hit their mark, body moving with precision. Sharing an intimacy with her weapons that only a true master would know. Twirling her body in the air, watching the dizzying, hypnotic spin of red and white bulls-eyes, inner-balance and strength, every single inch of her all perfectly keyed to strike as she released a shower of stars. Then she touched as lightly as a bird to the ground, eyes sparkling, a radiant smile forming on her sweaty face. I must have her!
My obsession for her grew daily. I came back and watched her, believing it to be the desire for a new puppet. Deidara, my partner, was beginning to get impatient with my frequent visits to Konoha. "Again Sasori no danna? What's your obsession with the kunoichi un?" He scoffed. I turned to look at Deidara, and then back at her. Her exposed shoulders were burnt red by the sun. I scowled, I didn't like that at all. Much preferring her usual ivory tones. It marred her perfection, and I couldn't stand imperfection. It was noon now, and the kunoichi had been practicing since daybreak. I watched as a little breeze came dancing through the leaves to play with her bangs and cool the sweat off her brow. After one last look, I regretfully got up and left. Ignoring my partner's constant stream of chatter.
As my eyes slid shut that night, the sight of her dancing with her weapons appeared in my mind. Dancing, fighting, bleeding, laughing. I could see her smile, gritting her teeth in fierce determination, frowning at something her teammate said, head cocked curiously to the side as she listened to her sensei. Brown buns and sun burnt shoulders. When I saw her face, my heart skipped a beat and I could feel a nervous jittery feeling, like wings lightly fluttering on the inside of me. My eyes snapped open and I wondered at the curious sensations. I looked over at Deidara to question him about it, but he was already asleep, his soft snores filling the warm night air. I sighed and rolled over. Such feelings were foolish anyways, and were to be discarded instead of indulged in.
Determined to discard her from my mind, I decided to put as much distance as possible between myself and this girl who had caught my attention. I was growing disturbed when I had realized that I had never wanted her as a puppet, regardless of what I told myself. For when I saw a prime candidate I always saw myself in the background. Pulling the strings and controlling every move, working as intimately with them as the weapons mistress worked with her weapons. With her I couldn't see myself controlling her with chakra strings at all, and yet I wanted her, desired her presence, it had at some point become almost like a madness, even though by many peoples' standards I am already considered mad. She began to make me feel confused and frustrated. After all, what good were incredibly talented shinobi save as puppets, opponents, or temporary allies? Yet I couldn't see myself fighting her either, nor could I see her as an ally. I simply wanted her. Why? I wondered. I shook my head at the strangeness of it all. Deidara was glad to finally be leaving, but he quickly got angry with my change in attitude, for I had gotten surlier towards him then usual.
At first the distance satisfied me. But in the quiet hours of the night, the burning need to be as close to her as I possibly could began to drive me mad. Every moment her images were burned into my mind, haunting me, hounding me, nipping at my heels and never allowing me a moment's peace. I got up and paced, I sat down and tried to meditate, I practiced with my puppet to divert my mind into fresh channels, but that didn't help either, since I found that my puppet was moving in a poor imitation of the kunoichi. Frustrated I tried again and again, trying to transfer her movements out of my mind and into the puppet. "Again! Again!" I commanded silently. The hulking puppet seemed crude and clumsy in comparison to her unearthly flight. The girl never seemed to want to touch the ground! I could not capture my object of desire in his movements, a childish frustration overtook me and I nearly gave into the impulse to smash the puppet into pieces.
I took deep calming breaths. "It is not the puppet's fault." I reminded myself. "The puppet is only as good as the puppeteer. I simply have to work at it." I cocked my head in thought; releasing the puppet, I took my scratched out headband and tied it around my eyes. I reconnected the chakra strings and saw her in my mind. When I had her firmly in place, I began to move the puppet. I started slowly and jerkily at first, cautiously feeling my way as I visualized how she walked and stood, communicating her images to the puppet in front of me. A hand on the hips, head cocked, knee bent. I moved it into a crouch, then into a low, wide-legged stance, shuriken behind her back before her powerful muscles propelled her into the air, spin around, shuriken flying. A startled cry brought me out of my trance. I brought the puppet back to the ground and released the strings before lifting my headband and staring at my angry and frightened partner. Following his gaze I saw why he was so angry, for several of the shuriken had come very close to Deidara's head. "You trying to kill me un?" Deidara growled, a warning was evident in those blue eyes.
For a second I was actually tempted to say yes, but I answered him truthfully. "No, I was practicing." He snorted and went back to sleep, several kunai and his clay bags were by his hands. I was not pleased to have been interrupted, but it seemed the only way I could truly begin to learn her movements were by blindfolding myself. Deidara, I knew, began to watch; in part because it fascinated him, in part because he feared stray weapons hitting him in the middle of the night. He recognized some of the signature moves after a while, even though they were nowhere close to the original. (Though I reminded myself that it took a great deal of patience to create a masterpiece) and even went to the trouble to retrieve information about the kunoichi for me. I had finally learned the object of my obsession's name. Tenten, her name was Tenten. I scoffed at the name. The name seemed plain and even ridiculous for an artist of her caliber! I think I would have preferred for her to have remained nameless. For Tenten was indeed an artist. Her art included movement, metal, perfect accuracy and blood. It was a fatal dance, for she was as graceful as a ballerina and as deadly as a krait.
"Why not just get it out of your system Sasori yeah?" Deidara asked, breaking into my thoughts. There was a sly look on his face that I had never understood, but had seen before.
"Hmm? Get what out of my system?" I asked in confusion. Deidara took a moment to blow a lock of hair out of his face. I watched him roll his eyes, that mischievous smirk growing even wider as though he were speaking about some great secret that I had yet to discover, and that he knew all about. He arched a golden eyebrow and it finally dawned on me. I scoffed at him and turned away angrily. Deidara knew that I couldn't engage in any of those sorts of activities. Even if I was capable of it, the idea simply didn't interest me. Whenever we stopped in town for the night, Deidara transformed from psychotic bomber to instant heartthrob. There wasn't a woman for miles who wouldn't vie for his attentions; even enemy kunoichi had come slinking around at odd hours of the night in hopes of seducing him.
"You don't even know what I want her for." I growled irritably at my younger partner. Deidara smirked, "Another puppet? Her techniques aren't that remarkable." He said gesturing disdainfully, hoping to draw me into another argument. I huffed, Deidara could never understand that it wasn't her techniques that captivated me, but the way in which she executed those techniques.
I had no intention of telling Deidara that I was obsessed with Tenten. How could I explain why I felt this way when I didn't even know the answer myself? I had just acknowledged her as a fellow artist in her own way had I not? Perhaps it was the drive to appreciate and understand another's art? To reach out to another artist? That must be the reason for my strange behavior lately! This explanation was the most likely one, and I was sure now that I had figured out the enigma of my compulsions, that they would soon melt away into an insignificant memory that I could shrug off. I was wrong!
I left my partner in the middle of the night on an impulse. Slipping swiftly through Kusa, ducking into the vast forests, I was a bit surprised at myself. Impulsive actions were something Deidara did often and something I had scolded him for repeatedly in the past. Deidara, my junior partner, thoughts and actions came quickly into his head, and flitted out again just as quickly. His impulsive nature had often been a source of my ire. As I was thinking about my current partner, my thoughts suddenly turned to my former partner. Orochimaru. One of the legendary Sennin. He had often wondered and whispered about me in his mind, as well as out loud. I could still see the unanswered questions on his eager face. To Orochimaru, I was a medical marvel of sorts. Chakra was generated not just from the spirit, and mind, but from the body as well; from cells and organs, from bone and muscle. How then, with my body gone had I been able to generate chakra at all and with such strength and finesse? He had often asked himself this, muttering under his breath while he paced the floors, itching to dissect me and to see my inner workings. In truth, I was not sure of this myself, I simply knew that I could, and that was all that mattered. I did not need to know the whys and wherefores, as it went to stand that as I could retain my chakra as easily as any human being, so in fact, could my puppets.
I walked up the side of the building and peered in at where Tenten slept, she was not there, much to my dismay. So I closed my eyes searching for her chakra signature, a bright pulse of pink and yellow and fresh blood red. I smiled then and began to head silently towards a bar, she was there with her friends dressed in an orchid-colored tank top, and a very short pair of black jean shorts. The sun burnt shoulders I had last seen had deepened into a pale, golden tan, a pink-haired girl and a raucous blonde raised their glasses in a toast.
"To Tenten! Congrats on making Chunin! Cheers!" She was laughing and toasted her friends heartily before drinking her sake. Her brown eyes sparkled and shone, her normally tight buns were loose and a little sloppy. I was unsure whether or not to find this endearing or irksome.
"Tenten I wanted to congratulate you." A pale, long-haired man walked towards her, I recognized the Hyuuga as one of her teammates. She turned towards him, a blush staining her cheeks, her eyes a little brighter, full of admiration and ill-disguised, drunken lust. I turned away, feeling disgust at her behavior and something blooming in my chest. I was furious for no reason I could explain! Why? I had seen them talking and training before. It took me several minutes to register that his hand had been placed on her shoulder, and that his eyes gazed as if in a new appreciation of his teammate; a similar appreciation I had seen in Deidara's eyes when he had caught the attentention of a particularly beautiful woman, and they had responded with the same look Tenten was giving her teammate now. I closed my eyes, feeling the rage exploding in my chest, my hands clenching into fists. I didn't want him anywhere near her! I wanted to rip that boy to shreds, to beat him until he was no longer able to move or to breathe! I hungrily took in deep breaths, willing myself to calm down. When I opened my eyes, I saw another teammate rush over and hug her enthusiastically, causing her to spill her drink on her tank top. She laughed embarrassedly as the flustered man rushed to get as many napkins as he could bring her and apologizing profusely as the other two girls berated him.
Again, I strongly disliked the casual touch from teammate to teammate, feeling my rage start to rise to the surface again. I simply could not understand why this casual touching angered and hurt me so! I startled a little at that realization. Hurt me? I was hurt by it? How could that be?
Her head snapped in my direction and she got up, alert and cautious, reminding me of a doe that knows she's being hunted. I was gone before she even got there. I smiled down at her from the roof, her long legs stepping carefully, muscles tensed, ready to fly off at the slightest provocation or hint of attack. I wondered at my next action, for this was something that Deidara was more likely to do. I flung a single kunai at her and she took off like a bird that had been startled into flight. I was already on the move a fraction of a second before the kunai had left my hand. Sometimes I forgot how swift I was when not encumbered by Hiruko. She leapt into a tree and then bounded onto the roof, kunai at the ready. I was already in full flight myself, fleeing the village as fast as possible.
Deidara was waiting for me when the sun came up, "Been to see your little doll again Danna un?" He asked slyly.
I nodded, and walked in silence for the remainder of the morning, oblivious to Deidara's incessant questioning. We were walking through a town and I spied a brunette smiling at Deidara. He grinned back, winking at her, making suggestions to her with his dark blue eyes. I closed my eyes, shaking my head in irritation at his "playboy antics" when I saw Deidara flirting with Tenten, kissing her, rubbing her shoulder with one hand, while the other hand sipped delicately along the column of her tanned throat. My eyes snapped open and my partner tensed, unsure of what brought the silent rage that roiled and spilled all around the area. The girl backed off quickly, looking frightened at my apparent mental tantrum.
When we left town, Deidara exploded verbally. "What the hell's your problem Danna un?" He snarled, clenching his teeth and quivering with indignant anger. "You're the one who held us up so you could go play peeping tom on some kunoichi in Konoha!"
I lunged at him and Deidara landed a heavy blow, sending me sliding along my back. His belligerence only fed my growing anger, and I rushed towards him again, nearly breaking his jaw with a chakra enhanced punch. Deidara moved into a roundhouse kick and I managed to avoid it. Deidara was surprised, and I was secretly pleased to know that I was not the only one who had forgotten how fast I could be. One good crescent moon kick had him flying through the air, though he recovered quickly, landing on his hands and flipping back on his feet, he flipped and dodged as I came after him, not realizing that this impromptu fight was beginning to relieve the madness that had been plaguing me from the moment I laid eyes on her. One crack of his elbow sent me hurtling towards the ground, though I tucked into a roll and flung three kunai at him, they landed in a tree and he came behind me. Being much taller then I was, he picked me up and slammed my head into the ground.
I rolled away and got to my feet, he came at me, fist drawn back and I began a series of rapid punches, sometimes he managed to dodge them, sometimes he did not. Blood and snot dribbling down his face as I landed another heavy punch towards his unguarded eye and he stumbled backwards roaring with pain. When he removed his hand, I saw that his eye was bloodied; he glanced nervously at the stinger which had unfurled and arced over my back like my namesake. "You're a real hypocrite Sasori yeah!" He growled, acknowledging defeat for now. I watched as several large splintered pieces returned to my face and arms, particularly around my eye area.
"Let's go Deidara." I said quietly, as though the fight had never happened. He humphed and created his bird, flipping me off as he leapt onto its back and soared into the sky. Deidara was another one of them, I realized. Like Tenten he never seemed to want to touch the ground. After a moment, I wearily trudged off after him, feeling more at ease after the brief fight. Deidara wouldn't speak to me for days, which suited me just fine. I preferred the quiet compared to his constant noise and motion. It was a great relief, and my mood lightened considerably.