Tally Mai-chan: Hey guys, a semi important message here for you all. I've noticed that you guys are having a problem with my longer chapters. I personally want to write longer chapters, no the 7,000+ word first chapter was a stretch for me to match up to in the second chapter so I'll be aiming somewhere between 5,000-6,000 words.

So I really hope that you keep reading my story and not judge it too soon. So here's chapter 3! Enjoy!

Sakura drank the last of the water from her canteen and shielded her eyes from the sun. Her skin was red and burnt and itched something horrible but she just had to put up with it for now. Her suffering was going to pay off soon enough. Her eyes gazed out around her, what was before her and what was behind. Vast, endless desert stretched all around her and it felt like no matter how far she walked there was no end to be found.

Beside her Sasori coughed violently, and fell to his knees. She tried not to pity him, for she was in his position not days ago when the rouge ninja had captured her. Forcing down her pity Sakura tugged on the chain tied to his arms and he staggered back to his feet.

"Do you.... like... being... a bitch." He wheezed at her. His burning eyes glaring daggers into her. Sakura gazed coolly back at him, surprised she could remain so calm.

"Do you like being a murderer?"

An awkward silence fell between them and Sakura did not really mind. She needed to focus on finding a way out of this goddamn desert before she died of hydration. Wiping the sweat that accumulated on her brow she walked on, her fingers clutched tightly around the chain.

In the distance she could see palm trees and an oasis of water, and when she got closer they would vanish. Sakura was stunned, it was her first time truly seeing an optical illusion of the desert. It was the light reflected through the denser heated air, created inverted images like water. It was easy to know this but she felt foolish for having fallen for it.

She knew almost nothing about desert navigation, she had no compass to guide her and she was out of water. Soldier pills gave a great burst of energy but gave little of the nutrients she needed to survive, much less the nourishment Sasori needed. He was in worse condition than she was and he needed to be returned to his village alive for her to collect the reward money.

She wiped sweat off her brow, cringing as the burnt skin stung and she panted like an old dog trying to cool of. This heat was too much for her, it got no where near this hot in Konoha. She scanned the horizon and off to the left, and like a guiding beacon, was a tall rock structure. She squinted her eyes, it looked real. She hoped it was.

The rock structure was real. Five feet tall and smooth on all sides, giving them enough shade to cool off from the evening sun. Sakura started to worry about night fall. Before when they were by the beach the night was cool but here in the dessert it could get to almost belowvfreezing.

"You... have no... clue... where you're.... going..... do you?" Sasori panted, falling face first into the cool sand, relishing the shade. He gave a great heave and sighed contentedly.

"I can figure it out." Sakura shot back irritably. "It can't be that hard."

"What? Did you... read a book.... or something?"

She bridled.

"Oh? Was I right?"

Sakura glared at him. "Book's can teach one a lot of things."

"Boring."

"Books are too good for you anyways."

"Oh yeah, because paper... with words on it... binded together... is so much... better than me."

"I don't have to listen to you."

Sasori propped himself on his elbows and crawled stiffly to the rock resting his back against it. Sasori was a not a foot from her and Sakura. She scrambled away from him, wanting as much space between them as possible while still staying in the shadows. She manged at least four feet, if she moved any more then the sun would be on her and after walking under that burning star all day she would take this criminals company than it.

He gave her a dry look "You are turning me into my village for money. I think you could be a little nicer to me. Let me talk to you, save my sanity."

She was, by no means, comfortable with turning someone in for money. She justified her position that he was wanted for murder and that he was bound to be turned in anyways. If it were up to her she would work hard for her money, and not by selling another human being.

She was curious though. "What do you have to say?"

He stared thoughtfully out into the desert. His eyes focused on the distant horizon. Sakura noticed that his one eye was healing and he could open it wider. She imagined one black eye was hard enough but two at once? The skin was an ugly purple color that stood out significantly against his fair skin. She would have been horrified to get a wound like that. His other wounds were healing as well except for the cut on his shoulder. The deep cut bleed continuously and hardened, only to open moments later and ooze more blood.

The wound opened again as he sat up and she felt a pang of guilt. Slowly she walked over to him. He ignored her, or appeared like he did. He made no move to stop her and she took his indifference as a sign she could could come closer. She pulled out bandages from her bag and started dressing the wound.

"My village considered me, the greatest thing to ever happen... since the third Kazekage." He said quietly.

She nodded politely and started slowly wrapping the wound. His brown shirt overlapped the wound and was stained entirely red around the injury, making it almost impossible to tell between flesh and cloth. As carefully as she could she pulled the cloth away from the wound, trying not to hurt him more than he already was.

Sasori paused to watch her work, and continued his story. "They gave me whatever I wanted, but I did not want material possessions. I wanted to be alone, but they kept pestering me. So I left. I didn't tell anyone about my departure, not even my grandmother."

She stopped her work. "But you killed someone! It said on the poster you're wanted for murder!"

He spat on the ground. "I told you. My village practically worships me. They would say anything to get me back. If I was really wanted for a murder big enough to give me a one million reward they would have me killed on sight. Not alive and returned to my village."

It made sense to Sakura now that she thought about it. She lifted his arm to warp underneath it and tied off the bandages. She gave her work a through check, making sure that her sloppy work would be good enough.

She sighed and laid back against the sand. "It's better then being the weakest, unwanted one." She said dryly, her voice heavy with self disgust. "At lest you have people who want you around. Not even my own team wanted me, I was just someone who got in the way all the time."

"Is that why you want to get so strong?"

"... yeah."

Sasori's hand wrapped around her neck, his body on top of her, forcing her down into the sand. She gasped in shock and grasped his hand, pulling vainly against it. His grip was too strong to break and his crushing weight gave her no leeway to crawl free. She saw the chains he wore, broken on the sand.

"What should I do with you." He mused aloud. "Maybe I should return you to your village for a reward. But then again, if you're as unneeded and trivial as you said then I doubt I would get anything for you." He paused, thinking. "I could kill you. It's easy to dispose of bodies in the desert. Just leave you. The scavengers would find you and pick the meat off your body. And when you are nothing more than a pile of bones the desert will swallow you whole. Sounds fun dose it not? To be eaten up the elements?"

She coughed, her lungs burning for air. Her feet kicked around, and bounced off the rock wall. The kick rocked them, throwing Sasori off balance. She slapped his hand off her, crawling out from underneath him and lept backwards.

She cried out a savage roar and charged him, her fist connecting with his stomach. Sakura cursed under her breath when Sasori turned into a pile of sand. A sand clone. She rocked back on her heels, pressing her back against the rock. She checked her left, then right, below and-

"Up here!" Sasori jumped off the rock wall, and kicked at her. She rolled away, her eyes catching sight of a white scroll on his hands. His foot connected to the ground and a shower of sand sprayed up into the air. Sakura shelled herself from the sand and watched as the air cleared. Sasori watched her, his eyes focused entirely on her.

"I'll show you why my village loves me so much." He tore open the scroll and Sakura braced herself as the smoke covered Sasori. She stood strong, not faltering as his summon made its appearance. A humanoid battle puppet with a large barrel chest made of a dark wood loomed high in the air.

The puppet's mouth lowered and reviled a pipe. By a silent command of Sasori's fingers the puppet clicked like an overgrown beetle and needles shot from its mouth like spittle.

Sakura's hands flew through the hand signs as the needles hit her. Her body vanished in a puff of smoke, nothing but a small pile of sand where she stood. Sakura watched from behind the rock. She had to think of something fast. It wasn't like she was in a forest or town where there were unlimited places to conceal oneself but in the desert, hiding was not an option.

She had a faint idea of a plan, desperately searching through it for holes or possible chances for a counter attack to come. The setting sun meant night and cover but she did not have to time nor means to wait for it.

The puppet swung around the rock, manipulated by Sasori's chakra strings. It's wooden hand dislodged from its socket and a long dagger ejected from its side. Sakura dodged as the dagger whipped past her ear and the puppet swung around to meet her. Face to face she kicked its wood chest, using the momentum to flip backwards. She skidded back, careful of the distance between her and it.

The puppet arched through the air. She did not dare to take her eyes off it for one second, she gulped down her anticipation and-the puppet moved. Her eyes did not see it right away, but before she could react the puppet was there, in front of her.

Several things happened at once. The knife on the puppets arm moving towards her painfully slow, her own body trying to dodge. Sakura could see visions flashing before her eyes, but it was not her life she saw, but clear, vivid images with sound of something she had never seen before.

A metal tail, its tiered layers ending int a curved triangle, poison dripping from its point. The tail whipped through the air like a scorpions. She ran right at it, unafraid of falling before the metal tail. It stopped just short of her skin, her jaw clenched as she ran around the tail.

"Now Sakura! Break into it!"

Her fist shot forward and with amazing force broke the armored mask of the puppets back.

A giant sound like the morning cry of a falling tree, crushed and splintered pieces of wood flying through the air around her. All happening in that next moment. She screamed, clutching her raw knuckles, holding the raw skin to her chest.

The desert landscape spinned across her vision. She crashed into the ground, her head throbbing with new pain. Adrenaline mixed with fear brought her head up. Sasori walked calmly to her, his face cruel.

Her fear took over, turning her into a wild animal. She could not lose. She could not die. Ignoring her pain she lashed out, using her nails to scratch whatever she could. Sasori slapped her aside, and she rose up again.

He was beside her in an eye beat, his leg pulled back. She could not dodge the inevitable attack and took its full force against her abdomen. He pinned her against the sand, wrapping his hands around her throat, forcing her to submit.

"You destroyed by puppet." He did not hide the malice in his voice. He was holding himself back from killing her, she knew. Her chakra was exhausted, and her body pushed to its limit. There was no getting out of this for her.

"You... tried to.... kill me." She choked.

"You were going to turn me in for money."

"....Now we're even...?"

"Not. Even. Close." He leaned down, his white teeth gritted together as he decided what to do. "I should kill you, just payment for breaking my valued puppet. But maybe, I could replace you with it."

His backed off, his fingers loosening their hold on her. Sakura breathed deeply, gulping air

"I can't die." She said.

He scoffed at her. "Everybody dies. Nothing lasts forever."

"I can't die... until I become stronger. I refuse."

He strangled her, his hands squeezing tighter and tighter. Her mouth gaped for air, hr body flailing about, trying to get free. Sasori stared blankly into her eyes as her vision tunneled, a black circle slowly closing in.

"Empty words." He mocked her, releasing his hold.

Immediately she sucked in air, panting heavily. Her head flopped back, unable to keep it up, and she could feel the sand worm its way into her hair. A lot of things passed through her mind, like how she was going to wash all the sand out but there was only one thing that mattered to her. She was still alive.

"It's impossible." She cried, her own wretched pitifulness stabbing her heart. "No matter what I'll never be strong. I can say it all I want, but its as you said, they're nothing but empty words. I guess you have to be born strong. If you're not born that way then its hopeless for you. Screwed from the beginning." She laughed, how ironic fate seemed. "I've been trying all this time but it was hopeless from the beginning."

Sasori wasn't impressed by her speech, not that she expected him to be. He probably never cared about her at all, she was just some annoying girl.

"How did you destroy my puppet." He said, his voice calm and even. Somehow that scared Sakura.

"I... I don't know. I just, suddenly knew what to do. Almost as if... I've done it before."

"So you have fought a puppet master before then?"

"N-no... I haven't. You're... the first one."

Sasori's brows knitted together and he frowned. "It doesn't matter. You destroyed my puppet and you will pay me back for it." A sly grin crossed his face. "I'll simply have you replace my old one and once I either build a new one or you simply out live your use then I'll just let you go. If you stay alive that is."

"You can't-"

Sasori hushed her, slowly standing up on his feet. Pulling her up with him.

"I'm afraid that you have no choice in the matter."

* * *

Sasori was a puppet master. Someone with unmatched chakra control and precise coordination. Puppet masters were not only exceptional ninja but artists and crafters as well. They can create their own puppets. Wooden battle weapons limited only by their users imagination.

With innate knowledge of poison and traps they make powerful ninja and strategists.

Sunagakure, village hidden in sand, is famous for its powerful puppet masters, Sasori among those greatly respected ranks. Since the sand village started losing funds from Wind Countries daimyo the village has stopped producing its once feared puppet masters.

Sasori's coming to his village was like . It was expected that his village would fuss over him so much. Forcing him along the path of a puppet master. It was this unwanted attention that eventually drove Sasori from his own village. Hoping to find solstice in traveling.

There was something missing from his life even then. Like he wasn't living up to his full purpose. Everything felt wrong to him, he found happiness in nothing. His life a void.

He knew he was destined for something great but for what he never knew. It was all one big mystery to him that he needed patience to figure out. He had no patience.

* * *

"We're right back where we started. "

"I told you to shut up."

"I don't think I will."

"Stubborn girl."

"Hmph."

Sakura walked behind Sasori, keeping a good distance between each other. Sasori's hand would flick to her if she tried going back any further. Ready to attach chakra stings on her at a moments notice. They were standing along the beach the fake hunter ninja brought them too. The burnt remains of their fire still lingering on the damp sand. Sasori took a few steps into the foaming surf, his eyes gazing the vibrant horizon.

Sakura watched the sun set across the ocean, wondering why there were back here of all places.

"You don't see that boat those rouges had do you?" Asked Sasori nonchalantly. Sakura didn't see any boat, nothing but empty ocean. Sasori shook his head. "Oh well, we'll have to go on foot then."

"Go?" Sakura asked. "Go where?"

"Bird Country."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Bird country? But thats on the other side of that freaking desert! You can't be serious!"

"I am." Sasori walked out of the surf, kicking the water off his feet. "It's the most unpolitically involved of all the other countries."

"But it's across the desert."

Sasori shrugged. "It also is not in an alliance with Wind, meaning my village can't send people there after me. Also it has no ninja village so the real Hunter Ninja can't get me there either."

"The desert!!" Sakura groaned in exasperation. She barely survived her last trek into the desert. Angry she sat down on the sand, her chin raised in a stubborn show of will.

"Quit being such a brat." Sasori scolded her, his hand touching her head. She leaned forward but he was too fast. His fingers dug into her scalp as a warning, there was no tolerance to be had. "Now I'm going to start walking and you are going to follow me. If I have to wait for you to come then I will not be very pleased. At. All."

Sasori turned and walked into the desert, paying no heed of the chilled wind blowing from the east. In less than an hour the temperature would drop below freezing. Sakura wondered how he could survive against such cold, much less how he tolerated the heat.

Sasori walked fast and was twenty feet away when he stopped to check if she was following him. Sakura took several small steps to him, uncertain of the emotions in her heart. She didn't want to be a slave to this man, but she did not want to die either. Sasori scowled and flexed his hand. The chakra strings he placed on her tugged and she was yanked forward. She collided with the ground and with a shaky knee pulled herself up onto her feet.

She had no choice. It was either live or die and she wanted to live.

Sasori nodded approvingly and they walked across the flat desert. The desolate land only broken by a cluster of cactus.

"S-Sasori." Sakura said before thinking, her eye catching sight of something strange.

"What."

"Are cactus supposed to move?"

"There aren't any cactus this early in."

Sakura stopped.. "Then what is that?" She pointed off to the side. Sasori followed her line of sight. A cluster of green cacti moving towards them, wriggling and jerking like scarf in a strong wind.

Sasori moaned loudly, his palm meeting his forehead. "I'm blaming you."

"Blaming me? " Sakura stared at him incredulously. "Blaming me for what? Are you a child or something?"

The cacti were steadily inching towards them. Sakura could clearly make out their mechanical movements. It the distance she couldn't make out their shape properly. The half moon giving them little light to go by. The cacti were angular, and had sharp straight edges.

They stopped a few feet from them, their robotic dance still in motion. Sasori tensed beside her and motioned silently for her to move closer. Her eyes darted from him the cactus and she did as he instructed. Sakura resisted the urge to move away when his fingers touched her. His chakra strings reinforced and with a raise of his hand she moved.

It was weird being controlled by someone else. Strange how her body moved on its own accord. She felt award as Sasori pulled her into a natural fighting stance, ready to defend or attack.

"I know the person who use these particular puppets. He is good but I'm better. The spikes are connected to an internal electric current."

"What?!" Sakura gaped at the cacti gathered before them. There was four of them in all, and small metallic spikes protruding from all sides. "How do we fight them?"

Sakura felt the chakra strings tug on her, forcing her to crouch low to the ground. She tensed. Behind her Sasori took a deep breath.

"Leave it to me."

The cacti facing them went rigid and froze for the tiniest fraction of a second before their metal spikes shot out of their spot, too fast for Sakura to see, a blur of movement when she was jerked into the side, rolling across the ground. She ran forward, dodging attacks she couldn't see.

Adrenaline pupped through her veins as Sasori moved her across the battle. The moon, sand flying, a metal spike lodged in the sand, glimpses of the fighter flying past her eyes. Pain jarred her fingers, time slowing long enough for Sakura to gather her bearings.

Sakura's fist connected with one of the puppets arm, leaving barely a chip in the wood. She took in the battle field, all the puppets were still standing. No spikes on any of them. She shifted her foot back, getting a foot hold when it touched something half buried in the ground.

The electric shock she received burned her shoe, and skin. She yelped, pulling her foot back. She looked down and saw the metallic spikes, hundreds of them littering the ground around her.

The puppet swung its heavy arm around to hit her and Sasori rolled her out of the way, then jump back into the fight. He was on the offensive now. Sakura's hand pulled back and she punched the puppets. Was Sasori insane? She wasn't strong enough to hurt the puppets! It was a total fluke before!

The cactus puppets ganged up on her, using intricate combination attacks. A cactus hit her in the stomach, another attacking her open back. Surrounded she had nowhere to go, even Sasori could not get her out unscratched.

The pain was heavy all over her body, leaving black bruises. She was taking more hits than she could handle. If it wasn't for Sasori controlling her she would have fallen way back in this fight. Sakura was afraid, was Sasori just going to let her get beat to death?

Her eyes meet Sasori's, somehow, through the cactus puppets. She pleaded to him, to get her out, she was so scared. He had a plan, but she wasn't going to like it. His brown eyes asking her if she was ready. Sakura nodded. She dropped to the ground, her leg kicking sand up into the air and scrambled underneath one of the puppets.

She rolled onto her back, halfway under the puppet and she saw a single metal spike still attached to the back of the puppet. Before she could understand its meaning she reached up and grabbed the spike. She flinched waiting for the shock and when it didn't come she yanked on it with all her strength and the electric current ran through her body.

She tried to let go of the spike but her body would not listen. She screamed for it to stop but she kept going. She stood up on her feet and ducked below the back handed attack of a puppet. She ran forward, the spike griped tightly in her hand.

She couldn't hold on, the pain was too much for her. The pain numbed her hands, and she lost almost all feeling. She grasped onto whatever consciousness she could muster. Just as when she gave up the pain dimmed. Her hands were empty. Her hands shook, and shakily hugged her self. Sweat drenched her body and blood dripped from her face and arms.

Sasori stood in front of her, watching her silently.

"We won... just so you know." He said to her. "You better be alright, that electric shock wasn't enough to kill you, knock you out for sure but not kill. You shouldn't have held onto it long enough for that to happen though."

"What...happened? Are you trying to kill me?"

He sighed deeply. "I just said that it wouldn't kill you, listen to me why don't you. I had you attack the puppet master controlling the puppets. The more puppets you use the harder it is to control them. Those cactus puppets were very complicated, could only move certain ways and had very limited flexibility. So to control four of them at once is a difficult task. So difficult that the user is dependent upon that first attack, the electrical spikes to take out the opponent. Otherwise fighting normally with those puppets would leave the puppet master wide open for attack.

"I had you take a spike and throw it at him, you missed by the way, but it distracted him long enough for me to finish. You need to work on your skills. Pay more attention to what is around you, I can't control you perfectly. Living puppets like you are twice as hard to manipulate than normal puppets are."

Sakura wheezed as her mind reeled around that last battle. She could recall hardly any of it. She stood up when she felt confident she wouldn't fall back over and turned to Sasori.

His face was expressionless. Her head throbbed and she felt her forehead. She moaned as her fingers prodded a large bump. She was bruised and bleeding all over. Just imagining how she'll feel tomorrow made the pain twice as hurtful.

"Let's get going, the worst of your wounds is the bruising but you can still walk." Sasori said bluntly, walking off. Sakura groaned as she rubbed her stiff cold body. She watched Sasori's back as they walked and saw their difference in power. Sasori was only a few years older then her and the difference in skill was monumental.

How in the world did she manage to go up against this man and live?

Sakura's sore body gave her hell for wanting to move and her eyes were drooping. Suddenly tired she dropped to the ground, the sand a very soft pillow. Under the darkness of her eyelids she could dream. Dream of a world where her desire to be strong was more than empty words.

Somehow, she felt like that world was an reality, somewhere.

Tally Mai-chan: Yosh! Chapter three! Was it good? Did you like all the fighting hmm?

Please, as readers of my story I ask you to review. Tell me what you like! Tell me how you think I could improve! Your imput can greatly affect the quality of this story! If you love it then tell me why! If you hate it then say so!

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