Foreword

This is my first post here, and, though it might be terrible, it took quite a while to complete. For those of you who don't know me, know this. Do not be afraid to criticize my work, or give requests. I always welcome your opinions, so go ahead and shoot me a message! Another thing—I never write anything very long, so you will only ever see short stories coming from me. If that is not what you're looking for, I apologize. Without further ado, let's get on to the story!

Prologue

Kana slowly back away as the strange figure approached her. This wasn't supposed to happen.. Puppets weren't supposed to move on their own! Her mother and her foolish experiments.. Her foolish experiments had cost her. And now the experiment was coming for Kana. Who would it go after once it was done with her?

Kana's thoughts evaporated as, in a flash, the puppet forced her against a wall. She managed to inhale sharply before the puppet's wires lifted her up into the air, constricting on her throat. Her mother.. Her stupid, crazy, lovable mother.. Her now dead mother.. What would she have done? Probably pat the puppet on the head like an animal.

Kana suddenly stopped with a certain thought. What would mom have done before dad died? Fight.. She would've fought for her life, never going down without a fight. That's exactly what Kana would do. And so she did. Struggling to get her hands free, she somehow managed to get in small gasps of air. This was almost impossible! Why was it so strong..

The wires were getting tighter.. Kana refused to give up, even if it was hard to breathe. However.. her hands stopped moving. Why couldn't she move? The blackness creeping up on the edges of her vision was beginning to take over. Kana couldn't breathe at all now.. Would she see her mother and father in the afterlife? Could they finally be a happy family then?

Kana let out the last of the air in her lungs as her vision went black. She felt herself going limp an instant before the world as she knew it was enveloped in a dark oblivion.

Part 1

Sighing in absolute boredom, Sasori stood up and turned away from his workspace. People could be just so unoriginal.. Always wanting the same poisons, spikes in the hands, shuriken here, chakra reserves here.. Always same old thing, over and over. He wished people could be a bit more creative than that, give him something more fun to do than sit in a dusty room mixing the same poison over and over again..

Sasori walked out of the room, following the staircase to the floor above. Passing by the kitchen, he walked to his bedroom. Maybe he could find something there that'd lift the thick cloud of boredom that drifted over his mood. He doubted it. Life itself was boring, especially when you had abundant amounts of it.

Sasori stopped short upon entering his bedroom, staring at an object propped against the wall. He didn't remember making that.. Had someone been here? Glancing behind him at the front door, he noticed it was locked. No one could've come in. If no one came in.. Then where'd this come from?

Looking closer at the puppet, Sasori couldn't help but fall back into his old habit of criticism. The wood it was made from.. Was that pine wood? Not very ideal for this kind of puppet.. It was a bit splintery and dry. The carving was sloppy, making the wood a bit more splintery than usual pine wood. The metal joints were a bit rusty.. From age, maybe? Ah, yes, the age. This puppet was obviously old, which just added to its many imperfections.

He shook his head. This puppet was strange, sloppy, and maybe even a bit creepy, but he still had to do something with it. Maybe even just put it in a more suitable position, somewhere out of his way. Setting it in a chair on the other side of the room, Sasori turned back to his earlier work. He would deal with the mysterious puppet later.

Sasori lay awake in bed. It was nearly midnight. The moon had risen high in the sky, filtering a greyish light through his curtains. He had been laying there for quite a while now, and yet he still couldn't seem to fall asleep. His thoughts were racing too quickly, which, really, was rather uncharacteristic of him. Why was he so bothered about that puppet? Something about it made him feel.. Uneasy.

Sasori forced himself to relax. Puppets were his specialty. Whatever happens with this, he can definitely take care of it. But why would it just appear in his room like that? No one had been here other than himself, and he certainly didn't bring that chunk of firewood in here. He shook his head. That thing wasn't even good for firewood.. Too much rusted metal. It's probably end up exploding or something.

If it wasn't him, and no one else had been here.. How did the puppet get here? Teleportation jutsu maybe? That was certainly the most plausible answer he could think of. Even so.. Who would've done it? If this was some sort of joke played by Deidara.. No. Deidara didn't even try to mess with puppets. Kakuzu maybe? No.. It would've wasted his time and precious money. Besides, Kakuzu wasn't the joking type anyways.

Who did it? Sasori sat up, shoving the thought away. He wouldn't worry himself with the small details. In fact, he shouldn't be worried at all. It was just a puppet, after all. Puppets were an everyday item to him. Something a lot of ninja used. This puppet had no one to control it, so it couldn't do anything too bad..

The male sighed, once again relaxing himself. He laid back down, trying to shove the rest of his racing thoughts away. However, he still had that one specific question ringing over and over in his mind as he slowly, finally, drifted to sleep.

Where did it come from..?

Sasori snapped awake at the sound of a huge crash coming from his kitchen. Jumping out of bed, he dashed to see what it was. Maybe it was that same stray old cat that kept getting inside his home. He wished that cat would just stay away.. Sasori sighed in exasperation, ready to shoo the animal away.

Sasori stopped as he turned the corner into his kitchen. That old cat didn't do this.. No animal that size could've. Was there an earthquake while he was asleep? That seemed to be the most plausible cause of the fallen refrigerator. What else could it have been? Sasori didn't believe in any of those spirits. He had always stuck strictly to reality.

Sasori walked over to the refrigerator. With a small grunt of effort, he lifted it up and set it back where it was supposed to be. The male was about to walk out of the room when something caught his eye. In the exact spot where the fridge had fallen was a joint to the arm of a puppet. Sasori shook his head, deciding to ignore it.

He walked back to his bedroom. Having completely forgotten about the strange puppet before, Sasori suddenly noticed it wasn't in it's spot. Great, someone was playing a trick on him. Sasori wished those kids would just leave him alone.. Their jokes weren't even funny.

He turned around and walked down the hallway. Upon entering his living room, he began to notice a putrid smell. He glanced around the room, trying to see what the source of the smell might be. Nothing. Everything looked perfectly normal, except.. There it was! Sasori walked over to a chair in the corner, and, crouching down, reached underneath it.

By its tail, Sasori pulled a large rat out from underneath the chair. It had been dead quite a while, from the looks of it. But why hadn't he noticed it nor the smell earlier? He shook his head. He just needed to worry about disposing of the rotting flesh of the rat.

Sasori threw the rat outside, far away from his home, afterwards spraying his living room with air freshener. He didn't want the smell to linger any longer than it already had. He usually wasn't really one to worry about such things, but he didn't want the smell to infuse itself into the carpet. He wouldn't be able to deal with that smell every day.

Sighing, Sasori walked down a flight of stairs into his basement. This was where he often worked on his puppets.. He needed to get to work on them soon. He had quite a few requests from throughout the village, and most of them were supposed to be done within the next week or two. He refused to be late on orders.. That'd only cause trouble anyways.

Turning the corner into his workspace, Sasori paused. Why was that in here..? And.. Why did it look so odd? Sasori slowly walked toward the puppet. Stopping a few feet away from it, he looked it over. It's arm was much longer than it was the night before.. Wait. Where was it's other arm? In the place of where its right arm should've been was a few dangling wires.

Ah, he remembered. That arm in the kitchen.. It must've belonged to the puppet. Does that mean the puppet was the one that overturned his fridge? It couldn't have, unless it was one if those dumb kids once again playing tricks on him. However.. No, the kids don't know how to deal with puppets. Not yet, anyways. Even if they did, their chakra strings wouldn't be strong enough to make a puppet overturn something as large and heavy as his refrigerator. After all, they were just kids.

The puppet somehow seemed to be even more broken than it was last night. There were large chunks of wood gone, along with two fingers, it's arm, and a hole in its chest. There was something off about its eyes.. Oh. It didn't have any. The sockets where the eyes were.. They were just dark empty pits now.

Coming out of it's back and laying on the ground around the puppet were many long black wires. Some were larger than others, some smaller. The smaller ones had pointed tips, the larger did not. Sasori wondered what those were for.. Maybe they were meant to hold the puppet together?

Unless it was of Kakuzu's doing, Sasori had never known a puppet to be held together with wires. It was quite odd.. And why were they jutting out of this one's back? None of this made sense. Once again, Sasori found himself trying to slow his racing thoughts. And once again, he was almost unsuccessful.

Sasori took a deep breath and forced himself to slowly try and piece this all together. It still seemed confusing. The puppet appeared in his bedroom yesterday, sitting in a corner. It looked old and messed up, but not bad. The next day, it disappears. Refrigerator falls, and a rat is found in another room. Now this.

No matter how hard Sasori thought about it, he still couldn't figure it out. These events were a big jumbled mess, and all of it seemed centered around the puppet. The puppet that was not his. The puppet that just appeared one day in his bedroom.

Sasori's attention snapped back to the puppet as something caught his eye. Maybe he had been imagining it.. No. There it was again. It was just the slightest little movement.. The smallest little twitch of it's wires.. He froze. Sasori froze, and stood frozen for what seemed like an eternity.

He didn't dare move. He didn't even hardly breath. Except the occasional twitch of the puppet's wires, everything in the room stayed still, silent. As if they were trapped in a peaceful photo, never moving, never speaking, never even making the slightest noise. It was as if when he did move, or make a noise, the peace would be forever broken.

And in that moment, that last moment, the precious peace was broken. Sasori wasn't quite sure as to what was happening. All he knew was that he fell. The black wires gripped his arms and legs, restraining his movements. Wires were flying. Wood in his face. Slammed against a wall.

Darkness.

Darkness..

Part Two

Sasori's vision blurred against the vivid images flashing all around him. Images of his past, his worst fears.. Blood. Death. Fear. Pain. Where was he..? What happened to the puppet? He couldn't seem to think correctly.. Everything was a blur, not just his vision. He wished he could go home.. Was this a genjutsu? Maybe-

Why was everything spinning? Faster and faster, like some sort of carvival ride.. Sasori wished he could make it stop. This genjutsu was so disorienting. Too disorienting.. He glanced upwards just in time to see the puppet step toward him. He braced himself for the pain as the puppet struck him across face with its long, black wires.. Yet he wasn't ready for the sheer force of the impact. The impact was so great, in fact, that it sent him falling backward onto the hard flooring in.. His house?

Sasori's eyes flew open and he was up in an instant, searching for the puppet. He was back in the room where it attacked him and he lost his consciousness, yet.. where was it? His frantic search continued for a few moments longer until he stopped, staring at the floor where the puppet had been. That wasn't there before.. Was it? Who wrote that?

Let's play.. In the dark!

The scribbly red writing was actually quite disturbing.. Was that blood? Whose-

Sasori wasn't even going to get himself started on that. What.. "Game".. Was the puppet suggesting they play? Sasori sighed and walked out of the room, ignoring the scuffling noise coming from the hallway. It was probably just those kids again.. He kept telling himself that more and more, yet with each time it seemed less and less plausible.

Walking down the hall, Sasori began to notice more red scribblings. Some formed words, others formed gruesome drawings of.. was that him? The drawings each depicted a different death for him, each one being bloodier than the last. He started reading the words on the wall.. At least, the ones that were intelligible. Some sentences made no sense.. The ones that did, however, made him feel uneasy. He came to an abrupt halt once he came upon the last one.

"Roses are red,

Your hair is too!

This game is fun,

Just what will you do?

There are no red markers,

so I used blood instead.

Who will save you,

since your parents are dead?"

Sasori bit his bottom lip to keep himself from making any noise. This was by far the most disturbing of any of the writings. Not only did it confirm his earlier suspicion about what was used to write.. But it also implied that he was in for some serious trouble. But why mention his parents? Sasori sighed, already knowing the answer. Whoever- or whatever- was here wanted to strike some emotion in him. Make him.. Fearful. Fearful of what had happened.. Fearful of what was happening. Fearful of what was to come.

As Sasori came upon his living room, the noises came to an abrupt stop. Did that mean all of this was done..? He sighed. Doubtful.. He kept moving toward his bedroom. Whatever was in the living room wasn't good, nor was it something he wanted to hang around. As he neared his destination, he began to wonder why the puppet said they'd play in the dark.. This sure didn't seem like the kind of game most people play. Also, it wasn't even-

Before he could finish that thought, all of the lights dimmed dramatically, flickering on and off. At least he had made it to the doorway of his bedroom.. upon the last flicker of the lights, giant red writing appeared on his wall. Once again, the writing was scribbly, like a child's. And, once again, the writing was red with blood. Except.. Was that fresh? Sasori stared at the writing as the letters started to drip down the wall.

I found you!

Now you have to find me!

Just as he finished reading, the all of his power shut off. Of course.. That's what the earlier writing meant. They were playing a game.. In the dark. Sighing, he turned around and flipped his light switch a few times. Nothing happened. Honestly, he didn't expect them to work. If the puppet wanted to be in the dark, it wouldn't let Sasori turn on lights. Walking out of the bedroom, the male began his search for the puppet. Whatever it was playing at, he would just have to play along for now.

As he entered the living room, a thin black wire caught his attention. Pausing inches away from it, Sasori let his eyes follow the trail of the small wire. This puppet was not as good at hiding as he thought it'd be.. Now physically following the wire, he walked behind the couch and looked underneath. Sure enough, the puppet was there, watching him with it's empty, lifeless.. Well, eye sockets. The puppet's head twitched an instant before it crawled out from under the couch and up the side of the wall.

Sasori watched as the puppet scurried on the ceiling in to the next room, it's wires leaving another bloody message as it left. Just like the last, this message was written in fresh, dripping blood. Sasori didn't even bother wondering whose it was. The male took a step back, so he wouldn't get hit by any of the dripping blood, and so he could read the message better. He didn't like that look of this..

Now you hide!

I'll count to three

This one had a scribbly smiling face at the end. Deciding to do what it wanted, Sasori walked out of the living room and down the hallway. He would hide in the basement.. Yeah. That's where he would go. At the end of the hallway was yet another scribbling. One.. One? Was that the beginning of the puppet's counting? This sure was an odd game..

Shaking his head slightly, Sasori kept walking to the basement. Of course, he would still have to pass by the kitchen and living room.. Whatever. The longer walk meant a longer amount of time before he had to see the puppet again. He sure didn't want to be put in another swirly, twisting, turning, disorienting genjutsu. There-

The living room was within sight, the kitchen being just beyond it. Sasori would reach the basement soon, so he could hide before the puppet came after him. Who knew what would happen if he were to be found? The male certainly did not want to find out.. not now, not ever. Maybe the blood in the messages was from it's last victim.. He didn't want his blood to be used for that purpose..

Upon reaching the kitchen, Sasori paused. Once again, there was a dripping number on the wall, written in fresh blood. Two.. Didn't the puppet say it'd only count to three? There was not much time left before it came after him. Cursing under his breath, the male began jogging. He was tired of this.. He wanted that.. That THING.. To go away!

Finally..

Sasori had finally reached the stairs that led into the basement. There was still one more hallway to go until he reached his destination.. May as well get it over with. The male broke into a sprint, hoping to reach his hiding place faster, yet-

He came to a sudden halt. What-

Why was the floor sticky..? Glancing down, he shifted his feet slightly, as if the stickiness would go away if he moved. To his horror, the stuff he had hoped to be strawberry jelly was going all the way down the hallway in a semi-straight line. Blood.. Someone, or something, had obviously been drug into his basement.

Making his way a bit more carefully toward his destination, the tiny flame of hope that was in Sasori's chest had been extinguished. Something was down here.. rather, something used to be down here. Not anymore though.. Whose blood was this, anyways..? Hopefully not-

The thought was cut short as Sasori turned the corner and his fear was proven to be true. But.. He didn't it to be this bad.. Wait. There was more writing on the wall. As usual, it was written in bright red blood. Except..now the male knew whose blood it was..

Three!

Ready or not, here I come!

The last one wasn't ready. I hope you are.

So the last victim had been-

Sasori crossed the room to the bloodied body on the wall. The last victim had been pinned to the wood by nails, which were stuck into his hands.. Oh, the hands.. The body's arms were held above it's head, pinned into place. Moving the blonde hair back, the male studied the body's face. This was definitely Deidara..

Sasori had never really liked Deidara that much, but.. that doesn't mean he would have wished him death. Especially not in this way.. Who had done it? Who was behind the death, and the puppet, and all the blood, and-

The male whipped around to find a figure sitting by the door. Him again.. What would he do this time? Kill him? Would the puppet kill him, and take yet another life to add to it's collection of cold blooded murders? Sasori was irritated-

No. Sasori was angry. He was seething with an anger that was quite unlike him, and really, it was stronger than any anger he had ever felt before. He needed to take action.. But he could not move. Not a foot, not an inch, not even a centimeter. He could not move his arms, or fingers, or legs.. He could not even do as much as take his gaze away from the marionette. Sasori was frozen, just like before.

The two were once again frozen in their peaceful, picture perfect state. It was as if when he moved, the puppet would attack, and take his life. Maybe if he kept his absolutely motionless state, he could stand there for all eternity, and never be hurt again. He would never age, never wither, never fade. The puppet seemed to think the same. And, for a while, Sasori was ok with that.

However, unlike Sasori's momentary belief, the peace could not last. There was not such a thing as forever, and the male would not live for much longer than this. But, strangely, he was not afraid. He was not afraid to fade away, and live in the spirit realm with his parents, if one existed.

The last few moments seemed to move in slow motion. The puppet sprang up, it's wires waving in the air. With a single sound, Sasori took a step toward it, acceptance of his fate having been already settled in. The puppet's woody face managed to seem a bit surprised before it attacked. With a cracking noise like that of a whip, the wires began enveloping the male in a painful, deadly embrace. The world was already quickly fading away as the air was squeezed out of the male's lungs. He closed his eyes, welcoming the darkness.

Welcoming the emptiness.

Welcoming the silence..