So, a while ago I got to thinking about Sasori--why did he turn himself into a puppet? Why did he abandon the Sand village to join Akatsuki? Eventually, the thinking turned into writing, and this is the result. I've written a couple of fanfics before, but this is the first one I've posted here (it's also posted on the NF forums). Reviews are much appreciated--I hope you all enjoy the story!
Rating: T (because there will probably be some violence in the later chapters).
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Spoiler Warning: This fic contains severe spoilers for those who do not read the manga (i.e. anime-only watchers).
Pulling the Strings
"Those who never feel will never cry. But neither will they laugh.
Those who never love will never hurt. But neither will they live."
--Unknown
Chapter 1: A Birth in the Desert
The day Akasuna no Sasori was born was hot and dry. This was not unusual in Sunagakure, the Hidden Village of the Sand. What was unusual was the violent sandstorm that had practically shut down the village. Even the shinobi went outside only when necessary, to avoid being buffeted by the gale-force winds and having their skin scraped raw by the swirling sand.
Kobayashi Yashuro, Sand's top medic nin, was one of the few who had braved the harsh conditions on that day. He had received an urgent message that Matsumoto Ukaya, daughter of the legendary Chiyo-baasama, was in labor. Wrapping a scarf around his face and donning a visor to shield his eyes, Yashuro stepped out into the street and staggered towards Ukaya's house. Three times, the wind nearly ripped his medical kit out of his hand. Twice, it knocked him over. Once, it slammed him against a wall. Finally, he made it to Ukaya's dwelling, where he was ushered inside by an anxious-looking Chiyo.
As was traditional, the women of the Matsumoto family had gathered to provide support for their kinswoman as she gave birth. Young and old, they had gathered at Ukaya's bedside. Ukaya herself looked tired and frightened; she had never experienced childbirth before. Yashuro set his medical kit down on a small bedside table and arranged his instruments neatly on a clean towel.
"Remember, take deep, even breaths," Chiyo reminded Ukaya gently, and the younger woman nodded weakly.
"Everything's going to be all right," Yashuro assured her. "This will go smoothly, I promise." Activating a seal, he gently placed his hands on Ukaya's stomach, letting chakra flow into her to dull the pain of her contractions. Forming a more complicated series of seals, he again used his chakra, this time to ease the baby out of Ukaya's body and into the world.
"Look at his hair!" exclaimed a cousin whose name Yashuro couldn't remember. "He looks just like his father!" Indeed, the average-sized baby boy whom Yashuro now held in his arms had hair the color of a flame. Wrapping the baby in soft, dry cloths, Yashuro handed him to his mother, who was exhausted but happy.
"You see, I promised you everything would go smoothly," he said cheerfully. "What are you going to name him?"
"I'm going to give him the name that was the nickname of our Shodaime Kazekage, the founder and hero of this village. I'm going to name him Sasori."
Matsumoto Sasori was a healthy baby, if a bit quieter than the average infant. He was the pride and joy of both his parents, and all of the relatives and friends who visited their home over the next few weeks exclaimed over his smile, his bright green eyes, his fiery hair, and his good temper. Chiyo doted on him as all grandmothers do with their grandchildren, and the Sandaime Kazekage himself visited to take a look at the youngster.
Sasori grew quickly, and while he always retained his father's crimson hair and jade eyes, it was clear that he was going to have his mother's slender build. Since both of his parents were shinobi, he spent a lot of time at his grandmother's house while they were away on missions. Naturally, this made him curious about the whole idea of being a ninja.
"Chiyo-baasama, what does it mean that Mother and Father are shinobi?" he asked one day. Standing next to her as she sat polishing her kunai and shuriken, he barely came up to her knee. He peered up at her with wide eyes that were filled with the innocent curiosity only a child could muster.
"It means that they protect and defend this village."
"But who do they protect it from? Who would want to hurt us?"
Chiyo sighed. This was a conversation one should not have to have with a child this young, but it was unavoidable in a shinobi family. "Sasori-kun, all the people you have met in your life are good and kind. But not all people in this world are like that. Some people want our land, or our resources, or the secret jutsus that our shinobi have developed, to make themselves more powerful. To keep others from taking what is ours, people like your mother and father become shinobi and protect the village."
Sasori's eyes went from Chiyo's face to the weapons she was polishing. "You're a shinobi too, aren't you?"
"Yes, Sasori-kun, I am."
Again, Sasori seemed to fixate on the long, sharp kunai in Chiyo's hand. "Do shinobi ever have to kill people?"
Chiyo sighed deeply and bowed her head, eyes closed. "Sasori-kun, sometimes…sometimes the bad people I told you about…the people we have to protect our village from…sometimes they won't give up just from being frightened away or injured. Yes, we do sometimes have to kill. But Sasori-kun…" Chiyo put the weapon down on the table and cupped Sasori's small face in her strong, muscular hands. "The reason we are willing to go to such great lengths is to protect what is precious to us…our families and friends, and the civilians who can't defend themselves. When I fight, when I go out on a dangerous mission, I do it with your face in my mind—because you are that precious thing that I will protect no matter the cost."
At the age of five, Sasori announced that he wanted to enter the Sand's Shinobi Academy. Although most children did not start at the Academy until the age of 7 or 8, Sasori passed the written entrance exam with flying colors. When the Head Jounin of the Academy asked him to attempt to mold his chakra, he did so, producing a faint blue glow around his body. All of the Chuunin and Jounin teachers agreed that he should be allowed into the Academy, and so he was. He was an eager learner, and mastered Henge and Bunshin before any of the other students. One day, upon coming home, he found Chiyo polishing something other than kunai and shuriken—a puppet the size of a full-grown man. Its limbs were made of a deep mahogany-colored wood, from the few trees that grew around the oases in the Country of Wind. "What is that?" Sasori asked in wonderment. Many of the children in the village loved to play with puppets, but he had never seen one so large and elaborate. Furthermore, this puppet had no strings.
"This is a battle-puppet, Sasori-kun," Chiyo said. "It is one of my ten most powerful that I have made with my own hands."
"A battle-puppet?"
Chiyo nodded. "It's made of wood and shaped into the form of a man, like an ordinary puppet, but it carries weapons and has traps hidden within it. Furthermore, it can be controlled by a shinobi to fight the enemies. Think of it as an artificial soldier."
"But how do you control it? How does it move without strings?"
"The strings that move this puppet are not made of rope, but of chakra. A skilled shinobi can extend chakra strings from his fingertips and use those to move the puppet."
"How do you do that? Can you teach me?"
Chiyo set the puppet down. "Well, the first step is to draw chakra into your fingertips. Then, extend it out from your fingertips in a long, thin strand. Like this!" Chiyo held up her hands, and glowing threads of blue chakra wound out from them and snaked their way through the air, attaching themselves to the head, hands, and feet of the puppet that lay on the table. Chiyo wiggled her fingers, and the puppet sat up, turned its head from side to side, raised its hands, and finally stood upright with the same agility as any human.
"Amazing!" Sasori breathed. Squeezing his eyes shut in concentration and taking a deep breath, Sasori gathered all his chakra into his fingertips and willed it to form the thin strands that Chiyo had said were necessary for chakra strings. He opened his eyes, and saw that there were indeed faint strings of chakra extending out a few inches from his fingertips. Running over to where his toy puppet lay on the floor, he guided the chakra strings to its limbs. Sasori twitched his fingers, and the puppet flopped into a standing position. It wavered unsteadily for a few seconds, then collapsed back to the floor as the chakra strings broke.
"Look, Grandmother! Look what I did!"
Chiyo smiled proudly at her grandson, then knelt down beside him and took his hands in her own. "That was wonderful, Sasori-kun! But the chakra strings have to be able to stretch a few feet to really control a battle-puppet. Here, let me show you how to make the strings longer…"
A/N: I'm almost finished with the second chapter, so I should be able to update soon. Thanks for reading!