Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto or any of its trademarks, characters, places, etc.

-7-

"I didn't mean to say second you see. It just slipped out, hmm!" Deidara tried to reason as he sat at the end of Sasori's bed. Marionette had been hitting him with a barrage of questions since he first slipped the "second funeral" bit.

"I don't understand, you were wide awake?" she was rubbing the bottom of her chin in thought, "What do I not understand Mister Deidara?"

"Listen, it was nothing, just a slip of the tongue, I'm tired, you're probably tired. How about we all just go to sleep, hmm? Maybe Sasori will be back tomorrow so you can do your stupid lessons!" he was getting aggravated with her prodding him over and over.

Marionette turned away in frustration, "My lessons aren't stupid, Master said when I am finished them I will finally be able to fully serve him."

"Just go to bed, I'm tired. I'm not going to sit around and play babysitter for you until dawn, hmm!" Deidara then stood up and walked to the door, "Go to sleep." With that he slammed it closed so hard that the puppets and cabinets began to momentarily shake until she heard something fall.

"Mister Deidara be careful! Master will be mad if you break his things!" she called after him. Then she got up and walked to the other side of Sasori's room to investigate. The sound she recalled came from an ominous looking cabinet. For some reason, it was not locked up like the others. Marionette firmly gripped the door handles and flung it open.

Another shrill scream ripped out from the other end of the base, Deidara turned around and began to make his way back when a frantic Marionette ran into him, "Mister Deidara! Mister Deidara! I saw Master in a closet and he has no eyes! I worry he's dead!"

"Wait a minute," Deidara rubbed his head, "You saw Sasori in a closet, hmm?" Marionette nodded frantically. He sighed and stood up, "Fine I'll go look."

Deidara walked back to Sasori's room with Marionette sobbing behind him, when he finally reached the closet which supposedly held a dead Sasori, he had to laugh at how screwed he would be if he didn't find a way to rebuff the idea that Sasori or her were either possibly dead or puppets.

"Why are you laughing Mister Deidara?"

He turned around to Marionette and began his long explanation; "Well ya see, hmm...Sasori is a fanatic about puppets and he's an equal fanatic about himself. So he built a puppet of himself because he's so obsessed with his own looks, hmm." He picked up the Sasori puppet and stood it back up into the ominous closet.

He turned back to Marionette who was back in tears, "I miss Master so much..."

"You're so annoying, just go to bed," Deidara sighed as he left, making sure to gently close the door behind him.

The following morning a loud knock rang out on the door to the Gorex household. Their house itself was nestled between numerous other small ones that formed something of an alley that they called the Poor Quarter of Takigakure. An older man opened the door to Sasori, who had disguised himself in a hooded robe, knowing that a random cloaked Akatsuki member walking around in Takigakure would definitely arouse more than some suspicion.

"Who are you and what do you want?" the old man asked in a manner that seemed quite hostile.

On the way there Sasori had worked out and rehearsed a story to use on the Gorex family, "I'm a private investigator."

The older man obviously didn't believe him, "And what do you want from my family?"

"I'm investigating your daughter's death; I need to ask your family some questions."

"My daughter's been dead for three years, why would it take that long for a private investigator to ask us anything?" he crossed his arms and looked down on Sasori, still skeptical. Out of nowhere a frying pan came flying at the man's head and he dropped down to the floor in pain.

An older woman came out who seemed more sympathetic, "Oh please don't mind him, he's been taking it all very hard. We'd love to help you in any way possible," she opened the door for him and motioned for him to come inside, "please do come in!" Sasori took the invitation and stepped around the man who he assumed to be Shunei's father to enter the household. Inside was quite bare with a ceiling full of cobwebs but he noticed a number of framed items and pictures hung across the walls.

"Please make yourself at home," Shunei's mother called from the kitchen as she set out a cup of tea for him at the dinner table. Sasori took a seat across from her as she began, "Has anyone found her body?"

"Possibly," Sasori pushed the tea away, "She may in fact be alive at this very moment."

Shunei's mother winced as though her heart had just momentarily stopped and restarted, "She...she could be alive!"

"I said she may, but the problem is, I don't know exactly if it IS your daughter. Any distinguishable traits you can tell me will help me determine that; like what she looked like, age, any specific ninjutsu or weapons she had, kekkei genkai maybe?"

"Kekkei genkai..," Shunei's mother turned away hiding her tears, "Excuse my manners, this is quite hard on me too."

"It's alright, just tell me anything you know." Shunei's mother stood up and motioned for Sasori to follow her into their living room where a dusty case hung atop their mantle. She pulled it down and sat it on top of their coffee table, pulling out two simple boomerangs, "What are those if I might ask?"

"The Gendari," she handed them to him; "She was supposed to inherit them when she returned. They've been passed down the Gorex family for generations." As she spoke, Sasori could hear footsteps from upstairs headed in their direction.

"Mom, who is that?" the two turned to see a plain looking girl who appeared to be somewhere around Deidara's age with short brown hair standing at the bottom of the steps.

"Oh, Kanshi, this is a private investigator," Shunei's mother explained, but the girl, Kanshi, began to make the same skeptical expression Shunei's father had made towards Sasori at the front door.

She stepped down and walked towards them, "Why would there be a private investigator here now?"

Shunei's mother held her shoulders, "I know I thought the same thing, but he claims that Shunei may be alive."

"No!" she pushed Shunei's mother away, "Shunei's been dead for three years, if she had been alive she would have come back home by now!"

Shunei's mother grabbed Kanshi and began to comfort her while crying herself, "Neither of us knows what really happened." She turned her head back to Sasori who was still examining the Gendari, ignoring the emotional family moment, "I will hold onto any hope I can."

"Is that your daughter?" Sasori finally asked.

"Yes," Shunei's mother calmly answered as she resumed hugging Kanshi, "She may have not been by blood, but she will always be family." That made sense to Sasori, and explained why the Gendari had not simply just been passed down to Kanshi instead.

Sasori set the Gendari back down, for a weapon passed down by generation, they seemed quite useless, "How old was Shunei when she supposedly died?"

"Um," her mother thought for a moment, "Twenty-four."

Back at the base, Deidara was preparing himself for another day of babysitting. He packed up numerous kunai and chunks of clay into his pockets as well as Sasori's hammer, and then headed down to Sasori's room. When he got there Marionette was in the same position on Sasori's bed that she had been when he left hours ago, "Did you even sleep, hmm?"

"No," Marionette quickly responded, "Where is Master?"

Deidara face palmed, "You need to stop asking me that, it hasn't even been a day since he's been gone and you've spent every moment of it panicking, hmm." He was met with silence. "Don't even tell me how you believe that he's dead again."

"Mister Deidara, will you teach me any lessons today?" she asked solemnly, "I want to be able to serve Master when he returns."

Deidara gave in, "What do you want to learn, hmm?"

"How to fight."