Disclaimer- The only thing that belongs to me here is Asuka. The rest belongs to Kishimoto-san.

"Fine art is something wonderful that's left long into the future ... eternal beauty"
-Sasori Akasuna

As time passed and the days rolled into weeks, Asuka found herself settling down to her new life.

Well, as much as one could settle down amidst such a volatile and unpredictable group of characters. Despite their initial, almost deadly meeting, Asuka and Deidara soon became good friends.

On the evening of the first day, Asuka had made the acquaintance of Tobi. This mainly consisted of Deidara swearing, Tobi squealing, Zetsu passing snarky comments, and a sharp pain, as what seemed to be a bouncing orange ball, launched itself at Asuka.

Two days after that, Asuka had been given the chance to meet Hidan and had arrived at the base to make sure that everything was in working order, and to bring Asuka a cloak and a ring. As Asuka was talking to her in the kitchen, the door banged behind her and, amidst deafening swearing, a white haired man and his masked partner entered the room, stinking of blood. Asuka's eyes widened as she noticed that the former, covered all in blood, held his left arm in his right. Konan had stopped talking and regarded the two newcomers, no expression present on her face, although Asuka positively felt distaste radiating from kept arguing as they made their way into the middle of the kitchen, and then the white haired Akatsuki noticed the two women staring at them.

Ignoring Konan, he adressed Asuka.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Asuka blinked.

"Tanaka Asuka."

"Oh yeah!" cried the man, turning to his partner. "There you go Kakuzu. Another fucker for you to annoy the shit out of. Now let me go finish in peace."

And with that, the ninja had stormed off, swinging a mean looking scythe. Kakuzu glanced once at Asuka then he too took off. Slightly, annoyed, Asuka turned again to Konan. God's Angel caught Asuka's eye then continued to explain to her exactly what was expected of her, now that she had joined the Akatsuki.

In the following days, Asuka had mostly figured the members out. She had warmed to Kisame who, like Deidara, seemed to have retained the basic rules of manners and friendliness. His partner, Itachi, she had learned to ignore, which was what most of the other members did anyway. Kakuzu had seemed to take an initial disliking to her, a sentiment which was mutually shared by Asuka.

As for his partner,it had taken Asuka a while toget used to the swearing and general smell of blood that seemed to radiate off Hidan constantly. But gotten used to it she had, and she was glad that she counted Hidan amongst her "allies" in the Akatsuki. Only one day after she had met Hidan, Tobi had pissed him off and it had taken all of Kakuzu andZetsu's efforts to stop a massacre from happening. Tobi puzzled Asuka to no end. She couldn't understand why he was there, amidst all these dangerous ninja. She knew that Tobi was not a proper member of the Akatsuki, but he was not just a contact either. Still, she welcomed his cheeriness.

As for Konan and the Leader, they rarely ever showed up in the base, in fact most of the Akatsuki received their missions from a hologram of the Leader or from Zetsu.

No, Asuka felt as if she had quite figured out the Akatsuki.

Except for Sasori.

It wasn't that he ignored her like Kakuzu and Itachi. Sometimes, he talked to her when they were in the same room together. Most times, he completely overlooked her, and just walked past. Other times he seemed to be angry at her, as if she had done something, although she was always careful to annoy nobody in the Akatsuki. It wasn't exactly the safest of practices.

She had nervously asked Deidara about this once, as he packed his bag with clay to take on a mission. The blonde had shrugged and said, "Sasori-no danna is weird. Don't let him get to you, yeah."

Now, as she sat in the roots of a tree, on watch, Asuka felt her thoughts drifting to what she might be doing, that had this effect on Sasori. Tobi sat beside her, fast asleep. That morning's mission had worn them out, and Asuka had badly twisted her ankle as she had miscalculated and gotten hit by a nasty attack. A twisted ankle was possibly the most annoying injury of all. It was nothing, compared to a lot of other injuries that she could have sustained, but it made walking hurt like a bitch. This in turn made Asuka's mood deteriorate into absolute dismal, by the time that she and Tobi had stopped to make camp.

Via Zetsu, Leader had been sending them both on small missions, probably to test Asuka out. The first mission she had gone on with Tobi, they had had to eliminate some small time money mongol, from an obscure village, somewhere on the outskirts of the deserts of Sunagakure. Asuka had been anxious, expecting to have to protect Tobi too. But when a deadly Wind attack had simply passed through the ninja, Asuka had quickly changed her opinion, and let the bodyguards occupy themselves with Tobi as she took care of the target.

Asuka massaged her ankle, keeping an eye on the surrounding forest. There was no real need to do this, as they were now in Akatsuki territory, and Zetsu was patrolling the area, gorging himself on any trespassers. But the pain in Asuka's ankle had stopped her from sleeping, and there was really not much else to do. The fire had by now died down to a few glowing embers, and Asuka watched them. The fading and glowing of the ashes had an almost hypnotic effect on Asuka, and she felt herself nodding off, when suddenly, she heard a rasping to her left.

Instantly awake and alert, Asuka grabbed a kunai in her hand and pressed herself into the tree trunk, crouching down and ignoring the bullet of pain that shot up from her protesting ankle. There was a moment of tension as Asuka surveyed the surrounding undergrowth, and whatever was out there surveyed her. Then, Tobi, rolled over, mumbled something inaudible in his sleep and snorted.

"Hey danna, it's only Asuka-chan and Tobi!"

Recognizing Deidara's voice, Asuka relaxed. Deidara and Sasori came walking out of the forest, Sasori in his usual Hiruko attire. Asuka still had not quite gotten used to this puppet, as she saw Sasori more often at the base, where he usually took the form of his original body. She hated the Hiruko puppet with its beady eyes and scampering legs, and she couldn't help but shiver.

"Hey Asuka-chan. What are you doing here, hmm?"

Asuka gestured at Tobi. "We were on a mission and had to stop here."

"You're only a few hundred metres away from the base you know."

Asuka reddened slightly. A twisted ankle seemed such a small thing. She hadn't minded telling Tobi that she wanted to stop and rest, because Tobi was Tobi. But the other ninja were a different matter entirely.

"I got injured in my leg."

"Tough," said Deidara, crouching down next to her. Hiruko's tail twitched impatiently.

"It's funny," said Asuka, "it's actually only twisted, but for some reason it's a real pain."

Deidara had been looking at her ankle, and she saw him frown.

"Asuka-chan, I can't be sure by moonlight, but I don't think you just twisted it. What exactly happened, hmm?" Asuka looked at her ankle more closely, and noticed with a small twinge of panic, how it had turned almost purple.

"I got caught up in an attack, whilst I was in the air. I fell and twisted it, then some ninja slashed at it with a kunai, but it was just a small cut."

"It could have been poisoned."

"What?"

Deidara turned to Sasori and waved him over. "Hey Sasori-danna, come take a look at this. That looks like pieris, yeah?"

Sasori scuttled over and looked at Asuka's leg. "It does look like it was caused by pieris," he confirmed. He addressed Asuka. "Have you been feeling a burning sensation in your mouth?"

Asuka nodded. She had thought that it was just thirst, or exhaustion that was causing it, but apparently it had been something much more serious.

"What happens now?" she said.

"Nothing," said Sasori. "You come back to base and we treat you with emesis. You'll need a lot of fluid replacement."

"Hold on, I'll wake this idiot up and get him to help you, yeah," said Deidara, indicating Tobi.

"Sasori-san, what is emesis?"

The Hiruko puppet turned to her one last time.

"Induced vomiting."

"Harsh," said Deidara, then he bent over Tobi.

"HEY YOU! DON'T YOU THINK IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP, HMM?"

Hiruko's tail twitched impatiently again, as Tobi sat bolt upright, his forehead crashing into Deidara's.

"Tobi-kun is up! Tobi-kun is a good boy!"

"I'll fucking murder you, you moron, yeah!" cried Deidara, picking himself of the ground.

"Deidara!" snapped Sasori. "Hurry up and get Asuka to base. I've waited enough already!"

Muttering darkly, Deidara turned to Asuka and helped her up. "Tobi, help Asuka-chan."

"Is Asuka-sama hurt?" inquired Tobi as he allowed Asuka to sling her right arm around his neck. The moment she had gotten to her feet, Asuka had confirmed even further that it wasn't just a twisted ankle she was suffering from. Her whole leg now felt weak, and she was grateful for the support that Tobi was providing her with. In this fashion, she half-limped, was half-carried to the base. It seemed to be empty, and Asuka was thankful for that, as she had begun to feel the effect of what Sasori had said was going to happen. She let go of Tobi, calling back a grateful thanks as she stumbled along to the closest toilet.

'Induced vomiting indeed,' thought Asuka, as she allowed her immune system to free itself of the unwanted toxins in her body.

'Oh man,' thought Asuka, sprawled out on her bed. She had spent two hours dashing in and out of the toilet, "ridding" herself of all the poison. Now it seemed her body was done, but she was still extremely shaky.

Asuka got up, and opened the door to her room. She thought that Deidara had told Tobi to keep out of her way, as her partner had still not come into their shared room. Asuka wondered where Tobi was, and decided there and then to search around for him. She wanted to thank him for helping her up to the base, and at the same time, was kind of worried at what he might be getting up to.

Asuka wandered down the corridor she was in. The thought of exploring the Akatsuki base hadn't crossed her mind previously, but now it seemed as if she was going to involuntarily do such a thing. Before she had always gone to the right, as that was where the main area of the base was. But now, she decided to go left, and take a look at what lay further into the base.

"Tobi?" she called, feeling dumb, as she walked on. She had bandaged her ankle, and it was much better now, although it still hurt slightly to put a lot of weight on it.

The doors in the corridor had started to become less frequent. Asuka wasn't sure if any of the members had their room down here. Curiosity began to over take her, and she decided to take a look at what was behind one of the doors.

She paused at a random one. A sense of foreboding had started to creep up her spine, but she shrugged it off. After all, this was where she was actually living right now, it wasn't as if anyone was going to come up and stop her.

Shaking her head, Asuka slowly pushed the door open. It made no sound as it swung on its hinges and she silently entered the room, closing the door behind her.

"Hello?"

Feeling silly, Asuka advanced into the room, which was gloomy. Hundreds of shadows and things hung from the wall, but in the murky light she couldn't make out what they were. She stepped closer to one of the figures and held up her hand, moving to inspect it closer when she felt the cool touch of a kunai in the small of her back.

"One move and you're dead."

Asuka gulped. She knew that voice and really wished that she hadn't been so curious.

"Sasori-san?"

"Oh. Its you." The kunai was withdrawn from her back and Asuka turned to face the ninja behind her. Hiruko was off, and he was back to his normal self.

"What are you doing here?" he asked his face passive as ever.

"Well, um, I looking for Tobi and I was wondering what this door lead to … and well … you see …" Asuka's voice trailed off lamely. She bit her lip, and bowed.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you Sasori-san, I'll get going now."

Stuttering, Asuka fumbled towards the door with the grace of a donkey, but stopped when she was about to bump into one of the figures that was hanging from the ceiling. It was only from such a close vantage point that she could realize what it really was.

"It's a human!"

"Puppet," corrected Sasori, with a hint of irritability in his voice. "It's a puppet."

Awed, Asuka turned and peered into the gloom of the room. She could make out hundreds of the figures.

"You have to be kidding. These are all puppets?"

"Yes. This is my trade. This is my art."

"Your art?" Asuka raised her eyebrows. "She'd been an unwilling audience to a number of "art lectures", delivered by Deidara and wasn't in the mood for another. Sasori shrugged.

"Art is beauty, beauty that is everlasting. Art is eternal. That is why I make these puppets. They are eternal."

Asuka turned towards Sasori and suddenly realized that the ninja was one handed.

"Sasori-san…what happened to your hand?"

Sasori looked down at where his arm was supposed to have been connected to his shoulder. "I am making slight arrangements to my arm. It got broken during my last fight."

Asuka paled and took a step back. "You…you mean. You. You're a puppet?"

Sasori blinked betraying no emotion.

"Yes. I have turned myself into art."

More than a little freaked out Asuka stared at him. "But you can't make a human being into a puppet!"

"Yes you can actually. Come I'll show you."

Sasori turned and disappeared behind a number of the hanging puppets.

Slightly unwillingly, Asuka followed, intrigued by whatever it was that Sasori wanted to show her. He led her to a table where the body of a man lay covered by a blanket. The eyes were closed, but something made Asuka feel that if the eyelids were opened the socket behind them would be empty.

"It's simple really," began Sasori. "I take a body, remove the organs then preserve it. Things that rot have to be removed, such as the eyes." Asuka bent to inspect a couple of jars by the man, then recoiled back when she realized that it was the organs.

"You keep the organs?"

"Only one organ per body usually. That way chakra can still flow through the person's body and I can control their kekkei genkai when I use them as a puppet." Sasori bent over and uncovered the chest of the man, then withdrew the skin of the chest revealing a hollow inside.

With a look of horror Asuka recoiled a step back. Sasori moved closer to her.

"It's fairly simple really. You kill the person, preserve them making the skin as hard as wood, get rid of everything that can rot, then insert whatever you need into the puppet." His lifted his right hand and took a strand of Asuka's hair in his fingers.

"I choose my 'human puppets' very carefully. These that you see hanging are my human puppets. They have to be both aesthetically pleasing and own strong kekkei genkai." He moved closer to Asuka and in a low voice said,

"You Asuka-san, would make a good addition to my collection."

With a small scream, Asuka staggered back, colliding into one of the puppets. Whimpering she ran back towards the door of the room, willing herself to not think about what had happened to the corpses that were dangling around her. She reached the door and wrenched it open, and upon exiting, fled to the relative safety of her room, Sasori's laugh still echoing in her ears.

~Seken