A bunraku performance went on of a toad ninja, a princess with slug magic and a snake magic using comrade turned enemy. Bored amber eyes stared at the life size puppets, props being used to hide the two humans controlling them as they played out the performance in the arena.
Sasori was sickened at this attempt of flattery from Takigakure. He wondered how much of the economic finances they had to dip into to make sure the Kazekage and Hokage were appealed to. The thought made him snort, especially when the Hokage yet had to make an appearance.
It wasn't often chunin exams were held outside of Suna and Konoha, not only were both hidden villages better funded and more prominent, and ever since the disaster chunin exams in Konoha almost exactly two years ago, safety reasons became exceedingly high. Even though Konoha was attacked, they were properly defended, and none of the foreigners got hurt besides the attacking sound-nin.
However, it was the only hidden village outside the five Great Hidden Villages to possess a jinchuriki. It also had a high rate of very talented and unique jounin. So after many requests to host the chunin exams, the factoring voices, coming from the Hokage and Kazekage, agreed.
More like the Hokage wanted to escape Konoha for a week getaway. However Sasori could somewhat sympathize as he sat in his throne like chair, his uncomfortably heavy ceremonial robes physically weighing him down.
Being a Kage was most likely the most boring job he had ever held. He whizzed through paperwork and was a natural politician with his poker face and uptight ways, however spending ones day listening to complaint after complaint, when he already had a low tolerance to human interaction, was bringing him to the point he really just rather massacre everyone and be done with it. He wasn't really to that point, at least not yet.
So here he sat, this chunin exam being the fourth overall he has attended in the last two years. One as a sensei, three as a Kage.
He thought the chunin exams were the most degenerate thing he had to do during the years. Whoever thought it was entertaining to watch kids use unoriginal jutsu's and use 'clever' strategies should have been strangled before the idea left their mouth. He preferred the way he had promoted, on the field during the war, when he was needed to take a higher mission. No one tested him, no one watched him. He either completed the mission or he was killed in action. Ah, the good old days.
Before his vicious line of thoughts could continue, a new presence caught his attention. He didn't even look as the woman sat down into the throne-like chair to the right of him. A lazy side-glance to observe her made him realize she was pleased in some way. He guessed he should be pleased himself, as his self-appointed protégé was going to finally reveal himself. However seeing as it was Kankuro, he tried not to get his hopes up.
"Sasori, pleasure to see you again." She said smugly, his eyes narrowed at how familiar she used his name.
"Tsunade. You look extra smug, did the council finally allow you to use the village's money to pay off your debts?"
Her eyebrow ticked at his comment.
"Always such an annoying brat, aren't you."
Sasori coolly raised an eyebrow, his face showing no signs of being offended.
"With that kind of language, I wonder why we are even allies."
That earned a serious glare, he simply looked away at the finishing entertainment.
"If you must know why I'm like this, I'm excited for the fights that is all."
"I didn't really want to know."
It was like this every time they had met in past occasions, which Sasori had limited to the Chunin Exams and a handful of peace meetings. Passive aggressiveness, snide remarks and glares, it passed the time very quickly Sasori had realized. Before Tsunade could reply, the announcer called out for all participants to enter the arena to be introduced.
Tsunade blatantly ignored Sasori and turned her attention to the examinees. Sasori raised an eyebrow at the confident smirk that graced her lips before looking down at the genin himself.
Kankuro stood, sending him a thumbs up, making Sasori groan and look away at his immature nature. It was remarkable that he was able to keep his goofy attitude through Sasori's sadistic-like training methods. He personally had never trained anyone, even when he was the commander of the Puppet Brigade in the war and his subordinates would've been of use of his skills. He just didn't have the patience's or mind to commit to teaching.
However that changed the first few months of being Kazekage and realizing how mind-numbing the job was and how bored he found himself. By staying in one place all the time, he found himself creatively lacking in crafting puppets even in his free time.
So eventually, after Kankuro's many request and pestering, he agreed to teach the boy. He also, at the askance of Gaara, made Gaara his successor and also took him on as another student. Temari didn't have much interest in what Sasori had to teach and stuck with Baki.
Gaara, being a natural powerhouse, never needed much training as much as he needed Sasori to help him control his emotions in a way he wouldn't lose control if he held them in. Sasori was not so happy to help, but if this kid would one day take the position he was at the moment loathing, he held back his usual negativity.
The demon boy had in fact been able to graduate that following chunin exams, proudly without killing anyone, along with his sister.
Kankuro was on another spectrum however. Sasori did not hold back his sharp-tongue remarks and took every chance to bring the boy to a groveling mess. However he always came back as chipper as before, and Sasori was happy to repeat the cycle.
The man did not let Kankuro join his siblings in their winning chunin exams, or the next few ones. It wasn't until this one Sasori was somewhat satisfied with Kankuro's progress he finally conceded to Kankuro's requests to taking the chunin exams this time around.
It had only taken 24 failed puppet designs, a few of those Sasori destroyed personally, 10 mental breakdowns, 5 hide in the closet and cry fits and two years of trying and a persistence that resembled a badger and Kankuro had finally found himself in the chunin exams. Sasori had little doubt he would face complications, he had already passed the first two phases with ease, all that was left was the finales.
Looking at the other genin, Kankuro had a winning chance. A flash of pink caught his eye and he narrowed in on it. A distant memory of a peeve he had all but forgotten, and there she stood along with her fellow konoha-nin. A small smirk etched on her lips as her eyes met his, he felt his own twitch down.
She had let her hair grow back out, but instead of leaving it down, she put it in a more efficient braid that hung loosely around her shoulder. She had grown a few inches, and was looking more like a young adult. Her outfit still consisted of a red qipao, however in a cut that made it a shirt and black biker leggings and boots to finish the outfit. It was definitely more functional then her last outfit, still obnoxiously bright though.
Sasori could not get over the smirk she threw him. So confident, so sure of herself. She had a loud-mouth back when he first met her, but this confidence was not one that went hand in hand with being annoying. This was something she earned, how did she earn it? He had yet to know. It made him clench his fingers around the edges of his chair, unknown things did not please him.
With that, the fights began. Sasori soon forgot the smirking girl, and went on to watch the fights with a bored expression. Most fights only lasted 15 minutes, 25 if they had good stamina. Kankuro's fight went well, he ended it around ten minutes without revealing any of his special techniques, something Sasori could be a tiny bit proud of. He made use of that fight, and Sasori was sure even if he didn't win the tournament, which Sasori was sure he would, he would still make chunin.
Another two fights, and the rosette peeve was coming out into the arena once again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tsunade smirk, making his eyes narrow in suspicion. He didn't have time to investigate as the match was called.
Her opponent was a Takigakure chump. Built muscular and stocky, he was not too much older than Sakura herself. At first glance, most would assume he was just another brawler, but Sasori took in the muscle in his legs, how he positioned himself, even how he dressed, all in light fabrics for easy movement. It seemed on top of his obvious strength, he was also fast. Even if she was a bit better, her hits probably would not do any damage to the bald-boy.
The mediator called the match, and the Takigakure boy wasted no time in attacking. Just as Sasori predicted, he ran fast and even using the body-flicker technique instantaneously. It seemed he was going to not overcompensate the match, wishing to end it quickly with the pink-haired girl.
He was behind the girl faster than most could have seen, his fist raised up to land a solid blow onto the girl and end the match.
The blow never hit, and the crowd had all inhaled a surprised gasp. Even Sasori narrowed his eyebrows, his eyes focused on the scene before him.
Sakura still had her leg up in kicking position, a smirk was visible to those who could see her face.
She had knocked the boy out. In a single blow. It hadn't even been a minute match and she had laid out her opponent as if she was simply doing stretches. It was almost too fast to see, the boy had been behind her, about to hit her but she had whipped around in a show of speed and awareness, her leg raising up and landing a solid blow to the boys chin.
However that wasn't all of it, the boy had flew more than twenty meters away from her. One little girls kick should not be able to do that, chakra enhanced or not-
Oh.
Oh.
"Impressed by a Konoha-nin? A little girl of all people?
A light, mocking voice taunted him. He turned his head slowly, glaring at the Hokage. It all became clear to him now. The unnatural strength, the queen of it was sitting right next to him.
"You got a student."
He tried to hide the annoyance in his voice, it was fruitless however.
"You seemed surprised Sasori, do you know my cute little apprentice?"
Sasori attempted to go back to his relaxed position, however his agitation gave him a stiff back.
"I just didn't know you took on a protégé."
Her of all people.
"I like to keep somethings quiet."
"But not your gambling habit, obviously."
Tsunade let out an un-ladylike snort.
"Again with the gambling."
The fights went on, and Sasori seethed himself into a passive state once again. However his composure slipped only just a bit when he realized in the second round, Sakura and Kankuro would face off against each other.
"This will be interesting, two rivals protégé facing off, who will win? Mini-me or mini-you?"
This earned a scalding glare from Sasori.
"First of all, we are not rivals, Tsunade. I think you have me mistaken for my grandmother. So for your little fantasy to be true, it would be me against your precious student. That wouldn't even be considered a fight." Tsunade flicked her hair back, chuckling lightly at his comment.
"Kankuro is not anything like me when I was his age, I already had many s-rank missions under my sleeve. And we both know the answer to your question." Except he wasn't too sure. He had been so sure that Kankuro would win the finale, but Kankuro had taken 10 minutes on his first fight, he had wasted precious chakra and energy on an opponent that wasn't worth it. Sakura had barely used any and seeing who her teacher was, she might become a force worth reckoning with.
No, she couldn't win, she couldn't have gotten that good.
The two teens bowed to each other in the traditional fashion. Kankuro said something to Sakura which made her cheeks flush and earn him an annoyed eye roll. Damn flirting, the one thing Sasori couldn't beat out of the boy.
They got in their stances, Sakura's eyes narrowing in concentration, while Kankuro's eyes attempted to calculate her body language. The mediator called the match, but neither genin moved. Kankuro took out a scroll, making Sakura tense in anticipation. Sasori was quite pleased Kankuro did not rush all in at the first drop.
"Release: Yokai."
A pop resounded and Sakura crouched down, flicking a kunai out of her pack. She held it steadily as a puppet was shown. It was a beetle-like humanoid, several legs and arms hanging to all sides of it, and a pair of beetle wings flickered unsurely behind it.
Sakura narrowed her eyes as it clicked and clanked to meet her in the middle. She definitely seemed to be more on edge this round, her eyes ever so calculating as her mouth was pulled into a tight frown. It was tense minutes before Kankuro finally released the first attack. His finger twitched ever so lightly and the top right hand of the puppet raised, its fingers opening up to reveal hollowed out canisters.
"Missile technique, release!" He shouted as five small metal missiles shot out of the finger holes, Sakura's eyes widened as they came at her. She dodged three of them gracefully, however two more came at her making her do a quick tuck and roll to avoid being hit.
Sasori leaned his head in the palm of his hand lazily as he watched the show. With an open area like the arena, with no coverage, it would be hard for her to run away from the tracking missiles for long. She would either wear out and get hit, or find an ingenious way to disarm them.
She multiplied herself into couple clones, and not surprisingly the missiles went after them. They tracked the chakra of the target, and even if chakra was prominently less in clones, they followed her chakra. However, only two went after the clones while three stayed tracked on Sakura herself.
A surprise move, Sakura whipped around, facing head on the trailing missiles. She raised her fist up and punched it forward, technically not hitting anything but air, however Sasori saw the area around the punch visibly shiver as the missiles cracked and exploded in midair. She had a small smirk on her face at her unique trick, something Sasori never even heard of Tsunade doing.
However Sakura wasn't given time to bask in her small victory as five more missiles approached her. While dodging the other missiles, she didn't even see the left top arm of the puppet release more.
Her eyes only widened slightly as she jumped herself in the air, performing a perfect backflip. Her eyes narrowed, the missiles were only a couple meters away, mostly likely seconds away from hitting her once she landed on the ground, giving her no way to retreat in time as the circled her.
"Holy shit-" Kankuro yelled.
Mint-green eyes narrowed as her toe touched the ground, and the crowd gasped along with Kankuro as the whole arena floor began to crack and crumble under her chakra. In a millisecond, rocks and dirt flew up into the area, not only giving Sakura the coverage she needed, but also rising up a layer of unsettled dirt, causing the on-lookers not to be able to see the fight.
Impressive, she managed to only demolish only the arena ground, and not touch the stadium walls.
Sasori cursed his observation, he hated giving any praise, even when it was well deserved.
Missiles were heard going off to signal the battle was in fact going on, despite not seeing what exactly was going on. It was quiet for a minute, and Sasori wondered if there was a winner to the fight, however his thoughts were dismissed when he heard on Sakura battle-cry and the clinking over metal.
Kankuro was the first to be visible as the dust finally began to settle, his face scrunched up as his hands worked wildly, moving his now visible puppet and sending attack after attack.
Then Sasori saw it, the two lower arms and the two sets of legs of the puppet were injected into the ground. He let out a small smirk, this battle would be over soon. Although he did not approve of Kankuro using his top move and showing it off for all to see, he knew it was better to end the battle quickly. Sakura was obviously tactically smart, so the less time she had on the field, the better.
The dust finally settled, showing off a very newly arranged arena, large rocks and clumps of dirt projected everywhere, giving Sakura more advantage to dodge attacks. He looked over to the village leader, who was sweat profusely at the damage done.
Sakura herself was a pink blur as she went from cover to cover, dodging Kankuro's attacks, and only sending out a few kunai towards the puppet and sometimes attempting to hit Kankuro. It was a bit careless how she threw the kunai, almost like she was deliberately trying to test certain points but not actually trying to hit her mark.
Amber eyes narrowed as he watched her, something wasn't right. Kankuro obviously had the upper hand, yet it seemed Sakura was no longer trying to keep up with him.
"What is your student up to, Tsunade?"
A dry chuckle left Tsunade, not even taking her eyes off the battle.
"How should I know, she may be my protégé, but she has been a busy girl these past couple years and has more than my tricks up her sleeve."
Finally, Sakura decided to counterattack. She rushed towards the puppet, eyes on the prize. Kankuro let out a smirk as she approached his tool, sending a few more attacks, egging her on. She surprisingly dodged these with ease, and as he looked closer, it seemed her eyes weren't on the puppet at all, but Kankuro. His own eyes narrowed as she continued to watch him but dodge the attacks from the puppet simultaneously.
"Oh, wait I did teach her that." Tsunade bragged, Sasori dragging his stare back to her.
"Well, no matter, she is going to be stopped."
Just as Sakura zoned in ten meters of the puppet, a trap sprang up, and Sasori let himself let out a small chuckle. It was over now.
Sakura's eyes widened as she looked around, six of the puppet limbs limbs perfectly surrounding the puppet in a twenty meter radius. The fingers and toes shot out of the limbs, a thin wire following out.
"Secret Puppet Webbing Technique: Beetle to Spider Jutsu." Kankuro called out, smirking as the girl attempted to dodge. The wiring began spinning and webbing around, just like a spider web, with multiple layers. Top layer was first, and Sakura managed to dodge that and attempted to leap out of the entrapment, however it was too late as wires began to surround her in a flurry.
"Beetle to Spider Justu: Completion!" With that the wires tightened and Sakura's body was stuck in the middle about a foot off the ground, her body spread out and unable to move.
"I think that's a match." Sasori murmured in a cocky way. Tsunade raised an eyebrow, her passive face unchanging at the circumstances.
"Come on Sakura-chan, call out! Don't make me cut your pretty little face." Kankuro taunted, as Sakura sneered, but did not speak.
"Fine, have it your way." Kankuro grumbled out, his hands slamming into a rat hand seal, without speaking the wires tightened, pushing into Sakura's skin, no doubt about to draw blood.
"Last call-" before he could finish his sentence, the seemingly deafening pop sounded as smoke surrounded where the girl once was, leaving only a crumbling rock after it cleared.
"She didn't make any hand seals." Sasori gritted out, his teeth clamping together in an annoyed sneer as Kankuro seemed in shock.
The real Sakura shimmered into appearance, in a crouched balancing position on top one of the arms, a smirking face as her eyes lighted up with that same fiery glow he had once admired briefly. It only took a second for her to leap into action, running towards the puppet, her fist glowing. Like before, she dodged the now frantic attacks of the puppet with ease, bouncing and balancing on the string wires. It wasn't even seconds before she was on the puppet, her fist smashing into it.
In one instant, the work Kankuro had devoted two years of his life, and not to mention Sasori's, was gone, irreplaceably damaged into such small fragments. Kankuro's own face contorted into shock as the pieces flew everywhere as all the surrounding puppet pieces fell to the ground limply without strings to hold them.
"It's amazing how small and simple genjutsu's can change the outcome of a battle, ne?" Tsunade said in her own brash cocky tone. Sasori didn't even waste a glare on her as he stared down on battle, the crowd also watching in anticipation for the unexpectedly intriguing fight.
He hadn't even noticed the girls genjutsu, given he wasn't the one fighting her and his interest in the fight was only to see the outcome, so he hadn't focused any energy on realizing every step and strategy of the genin. However now that he observed, he realized she had probably cast the genjutsu before she even counterattacked him, some kind of genjutsu that hid her movements to the extent that Kankuro wouldn't notice. The second genjutsu was placed immediately after she substituted, and she was away from the trap, yet Kankuro and everyone had been focused on him finishing her off no one had noticed the slip.
For a genin, however, it was impressive and even though the genjutsu's were simple and around chunin level, the counter strategy could easily been jounin level.
As she finished pommeling the puppet in one strike, her eyes went to meet with Kankuro's. He seemed to jump in surprise as she raced towards him.
"Even though she had a nice little strategy, she shouldn't turn her head away from spare parts." Sasori commented. Even though the puppet was shattered, Kankuro could still use the still use the arms that had spread out to make the web. However, Kankuro never brought his strings up again, making Sasori's eyebrows scrunch down, Kankuro was smart enough to use anything to his advantage, yet currently he was not doing so.
Kankuro himself stood, a confused look in his eyes as he looked down at his hands, as if it was the first time he had seen them. He was panicking, even though it only showed through his wide eyes and the perspiration dripping down his face. What went wrong?
Sakura approached with a raised fist, and Kankuro had enough wit to collect himself and dodge. They danced a small round of taijutsu, Kankuro luckily being just a bit faster than Sakura to dodge her deadly hits.
He managed to create a bit of distance between them by throwing a kunai, Sakura dodging it narrowly. However when she faced him, she began making hand seals, he threw more kunai, however she dodged them without breaking her concentration.
Finally finishing, she took a deep breath, and blew out, flames licking past her lips as a fairly large fireball went towards Kankuro.
Sasori, observing the fight a little more intensely, narrowed his eyes.
"None of those seals were tiger. It wasn't a fire jutsu."
Tsunade slide her amused glance at him, humming bemusedly.
"Paying more attention, Sasori? No, I suppose it wasn't."
"It was another illusion," He said factually, narrowing his eyes at the shimmering fireball. Genjutsu just happened to be Kankuro's worst skillset.
"It just might be."
Kankuro's face focused on the fireball, his body shifting to dodge it, however he suddenly stilled. He did not move from that position and he didn't even flinch as fire approached. He did not react as it consumed him, only to disperse innocently enough, leaving an unmarked, unmoving boy.
Sakura approached, a slight swagger in her step, something he saw Tsunade do on a regular basis. She flicked out her last kunai, once only centimeters away from Kankuro, held it up to his chin. As suspected, he did not try to defend, only stood in his dazed stat.
The mediator called the match, Sakura hailing as the victor.
The crowd went wild with cheers, that being the longest and the best match of the day so far. Sakura touched Kankuro's forehead and he blinked back into consciousness. He seemed confused at first, and he and Sakura talked under the cheers. He sighed, figuring out his defeat, but shrugged and patted Sakura on the shoulder, most likely congratulating her.
Another thing Kankuro was and Sasori wasn't, a good sport.
Sasori only narrowed his eyes down at the girl, unanswered questions filling his brain.
How did she disable him from reconnecting from his puppets?
He glanced over, tempted to ask the mentor of the girl. He thought better of it, he didn't need to bloat Tsunade's ego anymore as it was currently, judging from her cocky smirk she threw him.
He sulked silently as he watched the rosette and his so-called protégé leave the stage. He had to up the ante with Kankuro's training.
Watching the girls hair sway as she walked, he narrowed his eyes.
He decided this was not the last time he was going to see her, this was Kami's cruel idea of a joke. Put this obnoxiously bright and weak-looking girl to disturb his life and bring down his ego. He frowned as he thought about the idea, Kami had another thing coming for him. Yes Sasori was perturbed by the girl, but his ego would never be so easily dismissed.
::
The visitors lounge was quite luxuries, and had Sasori once again wondering how much money they wasted for the appearance of the Kazekage and Hokage.
He glared over the surface of his drink, something he rarely indulged himself in. Casting a glance at the loud audacious women next to me, currently snorting like a man. She had already been four sake bottles in by the time he finally arrived. He hadn't meant to stay, but the force of her hand on his shoulder kept him in place, unfortunately.
The Hokage was indeed shit-faced by this point.
"Him and you have the same annoyed look- really it's uncanny. I mean I know he killed our predecessor's and stuff, but you guys have to meet," her words slurred out as she leaned into the bar, her enormous breast size the only reason she hadn't face-planted yet. She let out another laugh as Sasori all but growled at her inebriated state. She then straightened up, still wobbling on her bar stool. She turned, eyes narrowed as she waggled her finger at him.
"But if you meet him- ya know- Kill 'im of course. He's craaaaazy. To think I slept with him once-" she mumbled off, going back to her random rambling about teammates and drunk nights.
"That is truly useful information, Tsunade." Sasori spat out in sarcasm, his intense eyes burning in agitation. He glowered as he took another conservative sip of his own drink. The only thing he liked about it was the sharp taste and the burn as it travelled down his throat. He never was one for sweet things.
"I won't sleep with you, brat- just so you know." Another laugh, another glare.
"What kami should I thank for that?" He murmured, however Tsunade had focused her attention on the bartender, saying he had the best job in the world, and going on to complain about her own job.
After another drink and a few more Tsunade comments later, Sasori got up and headed out to the small outside balcony. The cool air washed over him, going well with the slight buzz he felt fuzzing his mind up only slightly. He let out a sigh, letting himself relax on a minuscule scale.
He leaned over the balcony railing, taking long sips of his drink until it was all gone. He glanced at the empty glance, twirling around it in a memorizing motion, stopping only when he heard footsteps approach.
At first he suspected Tsunade, but the footsteps came from the stairs that lead up to the balcony from the courtyard below. Looking over he saw pink-hair swaying in the night air. Mint colored eyes squinted in the darkness trying to focus onto the pages of a fairly large book.
He could've most likely stayed quiet and she would have passed by him without a second thought. He blamed his curiosity, he wanted to know how a wimp like her could have become a sliver of a ninja in the short span of two years.
"Reading in the dark will ruin your eyes." The factual nature of his greeting was natural way to assert his obvious dominance.
To his satisfaction, she jumped at the sound of his voice, wide eyes looking up at him in surprise from a few stairs down. Her lips parted slightly when she realized who was talking to her, and Sasori couldn't help but a small smirk to rise up. He loved the way people saw him, as a god among shinobi at times.
He continued to stare at her, his intense gaze making her flush ever so slightly as she closed her book, a thumb stuck in the pages to not lose her spot.
"Kazekage-sama, I did not realize you were there."
She bowed quietly, when she raised back up her eyes glanced away from his own curious stare.
"You know my name."
Her eyes met his once again, and she let out a small smile, one side quirking up in amusement.
"Gomensai, I don't feel it proper to refer to you to anything but your high status."
His eyes narrowed, she was obviously amused, at him he could only assume? He was not put on this kami-forsaken land to be amusing.
"I think if you beat my pathetic excuse of a protégé, you are allowed to call me by my name."
That comment seemed to make her bristle, as her eyes narrowed, still holding onto his gaze.
"Kankuro-san was anything but pathetic. He and I are at different spectrums of skillsets, he was a capable snake, but I was an adaptable slug." He raised an eyebrow at her reference, a dry chuckle left him.
"Maybe, but if he hopes to succeed, he must broaden his horizons and defend his weaknesses."
"His first fight already determined he would be a decisive and valuable fighter as a chunin, I am sure the judges will promote him."
Sasori hummed, as her eyes flickered back and forth from him and the door, her nervous antics amusing him ever so slightly.
"How did you disable his puppet."
There was no question in his voice and her eyes once again trained on him, this look was more calculating. So many emotions flew through her eyes, he could hardly keep up.
"I don't think I should be sharing that with another village Kage," her voice sounded cheeky. He sent a glare that made her flush.
"Kankuro wouldn't be able to tell you the flaws in it, seeing it was seemingly powerful move against a puppeteer. Someone more powerful might be able to give a few words of advice."
She shifted her stance, one hip slightly out. At sixteen, the girl was already getting to pretty for her age, that was a thought Sasori could easily ignore however.
"Seeing as your advice last time was just so considerate." Her voice held a bite of sarcasm, Sasori narrowed his brows, disliking the cheekiness.
There was a tense silence and Sasori looked away. The girl could have easily escaped from the suffocating atmosphere Sasori constantly surrounded himself in, yet she stayed.
"Besides, it's a bit hard to explain in theory."
"Then show me." He stayed in his same position as an invisible force pulled the book she was holding out of her hands. He turned, standing full height, as she looked up at him from a few stairs down, the book floating in midair between them, his chakra strings glinting in the darkness. He tilted his head to read the cover, 'Advancement of Biochemical in Shinobi Warfare'
"Good read." He knew his name would most likely be mentioned in the last chapters of it.
She gulped slightly, before nodding. Her hand reaching out as her palm connected with the back cover of the book. Sasori's eyes narrowed as he felt his chakra go into a disarray. His grip slipped and the book began to drop, pages flapping in the air.
It wasn't just his chakra strings, however. It was his whole chakra system, to fluctuate in a way that was not normal. He tried to summon chakra to his hand yet instead it was redirected back to another place.
Just as the book was about to thump onto the ground, chakra strings connected to it once again, lifting it up.
"The development is still in chunin levels, so anyone with a good knowledge of chakra control can easily bypass it in seconds." She commented softly as she grabbed the book again, his chakra strings retracting from it.
"Did you create this?"
She nodded, almost shyly. What an emotional women.
"Where did you get the idea." He demanded, his voice soft but still having an edge in it as he took the information in.
"A common lighting jutsu. It is a very simple zap to a person, yet it is able to send mixed signals and mess-up your nerves. However, as Tsunade-shishou has encountered in the past, many shinobi know enough about their own body to overcome it. This jutsu is able to confuse more people for longer periods of time, not only making them vulnerable to genjutsu attacks, but disabling ninjutsu attacks as well. Although it would be useless against taijutsu fighters."
He stared down at her, his intense eyes attempting to dig further into her fairly intelligent mind.
"It's a useful jutsu. I would suggest looking-up puppeteer jutsu, specifically chakra strings. Maybe your little mind can come up with a solution to not only making the jutsu stronger, but the effects longer as well."
His little tidbit of advice caused her face to flush as she quickly bowed her head down.
"Thank you, Kazekage-sama."
"Sasori." He growled out, earning a sheepish smile from her.
"I know you can do this directly onto ninjutsu, can you also do it directly onto humans?"
Sakura bit her lip, smiling at him.
"I think I have already wasted enough of your time with mediocre jutsu, Sasori-sama. I will be taking my leave." She said teasingly, giving a small bow and quickly climbing the rest of the steps and walking past him without another look. He really hated how easily she dismissed him, he was always the one to dismiss other, especially as Kazekage. He made him want to glower in a corner, but as her long pink hair, out of it's braid, whipped past him, he couldn't help but grab a piece of it, tugging on it gently enough to get her to stop, her tense back facing him.
"Short hair was more efficient, wouldn't you agree." She glanced back at him, letting out a small smile.
"Of course, Sasori-sama." With that, she left the balcony and Sasori was left to fester on his whimsy attitude. What kind of advice was 'short hair was more efficient'? When did he become her fashion advisor? He grumbled to himself, running a hand through his messy hair. What was he feeling right now that made his neck flush with a pinkish tint? Was this what people called embarrassment? He had never felt it before, but he felt that was the correct word to put to his disgruntled attitude.
Stupid girl. It was all her fault.
::
Bunraku is a performance with life-size puppets, controlled by two people.
When Sakura says Kankuro is a capable snake while she's an adaptable slug, it's pretty much a Japanese version of rock-paper-scissors. Slug beats snake, snake beats frog, frog beats slug.
Kankuro and Sakura's fight originally was going to be much shorter with more dialogue between Sasori and Tsunade. However I feel Kankuro would be pretty good on the field and needed a bit of credit after training with Sasori, however I do believe Sakura would still trump him because she is a natural winner over puppeteers with her skill set, especially in this story.
I hope everyone understood Kankuro's jutsu, it really hard explaining jutsu's, especially puppet/trap ones. What pretty much happened is the arms and legs that had been inserted in the ground had dug underground to form a circle around the puppet. It is triggered when Sakura steps over them and what happens is the shoot up, shoot around a bunch of ninja wires super quick, and once Kankuro tightens them, you're trapped for good. Kankuro can either slice ya to death or just squeeze you a bit.
How do you like the interaction with Sasori?
Ages:
Sasori: 26
Sakura:16
In this story, the timeline is going to be altered. Not only because Sasori is currently not in the Akatsuki, I think it would have slowed them wayyy down, with his vast spy network and everything, Akatsuki will be taking their time to plan things out, without the help of Sasori.
-Apotheosis
