Chapter 2: Night at the Museum
It's been three days since Sasori got informed about having to host the first "ANO". The puppeteer was sitting on his bed, racking his brains, thinking about what he should make the others do that Friday night. After a long moment of pondering over the possibilities (which were few), he made up his mind.
…
Friday night, Sasori's night…
Sasori was holding a speech, babbling away about art.
"… To conclude, from my point of view, art is something beautiful that last for eternity."
The audience applauded.
"Enjoy your visit."
The crowd got up. Almost immediately, the hall was filled with the noise of nine people talking at the same time. Sasori grinned. The night was so far, so good. Bringing the Akatsuki to his old museum in Sunagakure was a good idea after all.
Sasori wandered around, looking here and there at his fellow shinobis, letting the "Ooh"s and "Aah"s create a bubble of pride every time he heard it.
"Of course I should be proud," he thought. "I have created more than 300 puppets by hand, about a half of the original, less-used puppets are displayed here, and even though the others are only duplicates of the battle marionettes, nonetheless, I made the imitations myself."
…
"Hey, Sasori! Mind if you show us around a bit?"
Sasori turned to see who was speaking. It was Hidan, followed by Kakuzu. Hidan had an old, worn-out pamphlet giving a detailed explanation about the past exhibition in his hand, and Kakuzu was scribbling away in a notebook. The puppet master noticed that the pamphlet had shoe prints on it, and guessed the poor brochure was left on the floor instead of the recycling bin.
"Sure," replied Sasori.
Then he looked at Kakuzu, wondering what he was doing. At the same moment, Kakuzu asked," How much money in total were the materials used to create the puppets here?"
Sasori put an "I should have known" expression on his face.
"All of my puppets are created from human corpses, including the fakes. The materials are also taken directly from nature: I do not need to buy them," retorted the ex-Sand nin. "Besides, this museum is no longer used. I just happen to have the keys to it."
"Oh."
Kakuzu was filling in the cost of building and maintaining the museum.
…
"What's your favorite puppet?" asked Kisame with interest.
"This one."
Sasori pointed his finger at a puppet with black hair in a showcase.
"Whoa… From whose remains does it come from?"
"The Third Kazekage."
The one who spoke was not Sasori, but Itachi.
"So you know about him?" questioned the red head.
"He had a unique Kekkei Genkei: his ability to use Iron Sand."
"That's why he is my favorite puppet. Very maneuverable and has a lot of weapons installed."
"Wasn't Hiruko your favorite?"
"Bah, I like both of—"
"Oi! Sasori no Danna! What did y'a mean when you said 'Unlike others who think art is something evanescent' in your speech, un?"
Deidara was at the end of the long hallway, coming straight for Sasori at full speed.
"Ah, that? Nothing in particular…"
"So why did it take me such a long time to find you, un?" exclaimed the "insulted" terrorist bomber.
"Must be because you have an eye covered up and can't see me when I'm passing?"
"No, un! It's because you've been avoiding me all the time, un!"
The two artists were already nose to nose. Deidara's face was lit up by the flames of anger, a vein popping on his forehead. Sasori's was bathed in calamity and showed nothing that could betray his innocence; in fact, Deidara had precisely hit the bull's eye.
"Whatever…"
"Hold it! I'm not satisfied without settling this with a fight, un."
With a sigh, Sasori accepted the challenge.
"Then a fight it is."
…
What the Akatsuki were doing during the duel between Sasori and Deidara:
The duelers:
Deidara: he made half of the museum explode, taking some unimportant marionettes down with the explosion.
Sasori: he "evacuated" his most important puppets, using them in battle too, and had to summon (from scrolls) his original battle puppets.
The Akatsuki outside, watching the heated combat:
Hidan and the Zestus: they cheered the fight on, both (or the three of them) obsessed by bloodshed.
Konan: she was sitting in a big debris of rock (Deidara's doing), chin in her hands, tired after a sleepless night.
Pein: he tried calming the two artists down, not wanting anything to do with the Suna ninjas.
The Akatsuki inside (or more in a semi-demolished museum), still fleeing (a bit) the tumbles of rock coming from overhead and the unexpected explosions on the side:
Itachi: he was interested in finding out if Sasori made a puppet with an Uchiha; and if it was the case, he wanted to recover the body and replace it where it was supposed to be.
Kisame: he followed his partner, looking about, still fascinated by the (partly-annihilated) marionettes.
Kakuzu: he wanted to find out the cost of repairing the museum and the value of the blast-up puppets.
Tobi: well, he just carelessly wandered about in the half-destroyed galleries.
…
Not too far away, in the sand sibling's apartment…
A faint explosion made the Shukaku bearer stir.
"What was that?" asked Gaara.
"Must be the wind," grumbled a not-too-keen of being awakened Temari.
"Hmph."
Gaara tried to go back to sleep, but sounds of the distant battle still reached his ears.
"It seems like there's something going on near the abandoned museum… Maybe enemies trying to infiltrate the Sand?" reckoned the Kazekage to be.
"Do you hear that?" he asked again, this time to his brother.
"Nah, must be your imagination," mumbled Kankuro.
…
The second Saturday, back at the Akatsuki's hideout, early in the morning…
"Hey, Pein, wake up… You need to draw out a name for the next "ANO"…"
Konan sat on the edge of the bed, trying to get Pein out of bed. The latter groaned and uttered something inaudible then went back to his deep sleep.
"Haaaa… If you continue to doze on, I'll go and take out a name instead."
No response. With a last glance at Pein, Konan got up and walked out of the room.
…
In Pein's office…
The blue-haired kunoichi rummaged her hand through the remaining slips of paper in the brown pot. She chose one and took it out (unlike Pein, who would take his time to do that). She took a glimpse of the name.
"Oh great. Nagato's turn is next."
A/N: Sorry for the wait! I was out of ideas for Sasori, so the first two days after the first release I was racking my mind for something he could do. Was this a bit… unexpected? Anyways, the 16th-17th, I went rafting and played Mahjong when I stayed at a hotel (hint, hint! ^_^ I'm also basing my fanfic on personal experience…). Next chapter: Pein's turn!
