"speech"

'thought'

Demon

'Demon thinking'

Flash back

Tatsumi sat in the moonlight, coming through the shelter. She leaned against the wooden wall, holding her legs close to her. The feast had finished, and more than half the village was asleep, yet Akemi still hadn't returned. It didn't matter, Tatsumi had some how expected she wouldn't see Akemi for the rest of that night when that woman had shown up. She also knew, she had nothingbetter to do than sleep, but instead, she just kept sitting there, at the end of her sleeping bag.

She lifted her hand up and examined the scorpion tattoo, curled around her wrist, it's stinger ending at the back of her hand."Why scorpion?..." she mumbled, moving her hand to let the moon light bathe every angle of the scorpion. She lay back on her sleeping sack, still looking at the scorpion. "Could it be, that the scorpion chose me, because of him...?". No, it couldn't be. Perhaps it was coincidental. But still, could it have been purposly a scorpion. Was it because her thoughts had wandered to a deep part of her in that ring of fire, that she had somehow, summoned the scorpion to her aid? Did it do so at its own accord? Did he somehow send it? Did he care of her wellfare? Did he remember her? Did he...

Flash Back

Ten year old Tatsumi scrubbed the blood off the walls yet again as Kabuto dragged the corpse away. "Don't forget, we're changing to the compound, west of Suna soon,in two days or so. We will meet, Lord Orochimaru's partner in the Akatsuki" Kabuto said, as he slowly fished for his sscalpel. "You mean Sasori no Akasuna, the master puppeteer?" Tatsumi asked, kneeling to get the blood closer to the floor. "The one and only. Be on your best behavior because I won't be able to back you up if you make a mistake there, I'll have to return to Konoha otherwise they'll be suspicious as to why I'm gone so long". "Mm hm..." she continued scrubbing, this time, clinging to the wall with chakra so she could reach the blood higher up. "Hand me that vile, on the shelf , please, The green one, with a circular stopper" he instrucuted, pointing to the shelf across from where Tatsumi was scrubbing.Feeling lazy to jump of the wall and walk, she streatched her arm to an impossible length, grabbed the vile carefully with snake like speed and promptly handed it to Kabuto. Kabuto smiled and shook his head, accepting the vile from Tatsumi ,"now that you've gotten the hang of extending your appendages, you don't ever want to do it the way normal people do it, do you?". Tatsumi smiled emptily and retracted her arm . "Really" Kabuto said as she jumped of the wall and trotted over to him , "you are my best creation yet, Tatsumi. Almost like my very own little sister" . He smiled and ruffled her hair, then proceeded to make a clean slice in his specimen. Kabuto had never said that before, this was a rare moment indeed. She almost felt sad that he was leaving but, oh well. She wasn't really, trully alive, and being able to own her life. She was not allowed feelings, so she quickly did away with the small bit of emotion that made her heart a little heavier."Be very, very polite, Tatsumi" Kabuto said as he packed up his tools "and don't ever make him wait.

Tatsumi rolled on her side. At that time, Sasori had only ever been a name. A faceless accomplice of her master. Another person to fear or to mistrust. Just a name. And then she met him.

She stood beside her master in the dessert, standing stock still, looking straight forward, yet aware of absolutely everything. She ignored the swirling sand around her, it didn't sting her eyes. It's as if the sand had registered that she wasn't alive and not worth pestering, so it had moved on to the lackies that stood behind her master. But not she, she was at his side. Orochimaru's lank, black hair, flew around his face, the Akatsuki robe billowed behind him. He licked his lips with his long, pointed tounge as he saw a figure move through the sand. A humped figure, also with the red and black , Akatsuki cloak, with a straw hat stopped before them. "Hello, orochimaru" said a hard, grovelly voice. "Sasori, it's nice to see my partner again...". "You've been acting alot out of Akatsuki recently, why is that?". Orochimaru licked his lips "I have been...trying to train my servant more...". Sasori's dark eyes flickered to Tatsumi, still as still as stone at Orochimaru's side. "Thats a nice puppet, Orochimaru". Tatsumi's golden eyes moved quickly, meeting Sasori's sharp, dark eyes."Hmph" Sasori muttered "so it's alive". Orochimaru smirked "yes, you could say that ,actually that'd the servant I mentioned before. The one my medic made from scratch. It's called Tatsumi". "Hmm...cheeky little brat, she's looking me right in the eye. Does it not know that I can kill her with a thought, then make her into one of my puppets?". Orochimaru leaned his head to the side "I assure you, it means nothing of it. It's not mocking you. It can't. No soul, see? I own it". Sasori once again looked at Tatsumi, she looked back, her gaze devoid of every feeling and emotion. "Hmmm..." he said once more.

Tatsumi slipped her hand into her pack, and withdrew a scroll. She unrolled it and looked at it's contents.

..."Aaagh!" she had screamed as the fired ashes were poured on her. She dropped onto her knees, the ashes burning into her cloths. "Tatsumi" Orochimaru's voice rang from the dark hall. "You don't feel pain. You can't feel pain. You won't felel pain. Pain means you are someone. But you, you are no one. You don't exist". The coal, still hot from the fire, fell at her feet, and she felt another wave of pain. "You own nothing. Not even that body of yours. Nothing. How can you own anything if you don't exist? How can you exist when you are just parts of people.?Your skills, your personality, your golden eyes. They all belonged to someone else. You belong to me". A wave of fire, passed through her. And her scream echoed throughout the whole compound as she saw ire. Every where. Fire.

The door banged shut as Orochimaru made his leave, leaving Tatsumi alone in the dark. She was exhausted, but she would die if she didn't heal herself soon, she knew that. She moved her hand to nher stomach and focused on the jutsus Kabuto had taught her. She gulped, but her whole body was numb. No pain. Just like Orochimaru had said. "He doesn't refer to you as a female. He always calls you it, I just noticed" an unfamilliar voice said from a corner of the gloom. Tatsumi struggled to her feet and still clutching her stomach, she said "Who are you? How did you get in?". The figure walked into the moon light. It was a boy, maybe fifteen years old with red hair and lidded brown eyes. And he wore an Akatsuki cloak. "Come with me" he said "quickly, I don't like being kept waiting". "Sasori..." Tatsumi breathed, until now she had never seen him outside of his puppet. "Yes?" he turned around. She lowered her eyes and bowed her head "sorry, nothing" and she followed him.

"Where are we going?" she inquired . "To my room". "Why?". "You'll see". She followed after him, always keeping a bit behind him. She didn't know if she was worthy to be directly at his side. "Come" he said, and he led her into a room. It was empty, except for a pile of wood, and a few tools, as well as a bed. He directed her to the pile of wood. "I'm going to teach you how to make a puppet". Tatsumi paused "did my master ask you to?". "No, I'm doing this of my own accord". She sat down, and he stood across her. "First of all, look for a model or picture of what you would like from that scroll and come back to me.

Days passed and she spent all her spare hours with Sasori, making her very own battle puppet. He had been very suprised with her choice. She had shrugged when he asked why she had chosen that model, then quickly apologized at her impertinence and explained that she had chose it because it would have been unexpected. He had stayed iwth her, taught her to manipulate the wood to her liking. He had helped her install the weapons to her puppet, he taught her how to use it, and it became her secret weapon. No one, not even Kabuto, not even Orochimaru, not Kari knew that she had become the puppet mistress of the puppet, Stinger.

Tatsumi sat on th bed, her fingers linking chakra strings to her creation, letting it scuttle about the shelter. The wooden scorpion was a plain brown, except for a red dash on it's back. It waved it's stinger menancingly.

The compound door blew open and Tatsumi, now twelve, disposed of yet another puppet, reducing it to splinters. Orochimaru came by her "Tatsumi, I need you to hold off Sasori". "Yes, master" she answered bluntly.She let her summoned snakes wrap themselves around the puppets, nearby, crushing them to pieces.She slammed the nearest one into another with her extended arm, and quickly, grabbed a stiringe from inside her blouse and jammed it into her veins. Her hands were a blur in handseals as she released the temporarily acquired jutsu. "Ice jutsu, frosty gale!", she thrust both palms forward and the dozen puppets that had been coming for her froze, icicles, hanging of them. A kunai whizzed passed her, nicking her face. She gasped a bit as the blood trickled down her cheek. "A few inches to the right and that would have killed you" an icy voice said, emerging from the gloom. It was Sasori. Tatsumi raised her kunai up "you will not get passed me". Sasori sighed "I don't like making people wait and I beleive I have an appointment with Orochimaru". "I said you won't get passed me!". Sasori looked a bit shocked. "Take me seriously!" Tatsumi shouted, clutching the kunai tighter. Sasori narrowed his eyes "alright". In a matter of moments he was infront of her, his face inches away from hers. Tatsumi's eyes widened. He knocked the kunai out of her hands in one fluid motion, his other hand, securing a grip around her neck.She choked and coughed than he savagely through her aside. She hit the wall with a bam, leaving several deep cracks in the cement. She grouned and felt for another kunai, but a firm hand grabbed her wrist. She sputtered. A kunai protruded from her mid section, barely missing her vital spots. The blood trickling from the cut in her cheek joined the blood trickling from her mouth. She coughed up blood, one drop landed on Sasori's cheek.

'This is it, isn't it?' she thought. He lifted his hand. She expected a slap or something brutal, but no, he simply lifted her chin, and made her look in his eyes, his beautiful eyes. Suddenly, all agressive thoughts on Tatsumi's part evaporated and she let out a small sob. A tear rolled down her cheek, but he wiped it away. "You know you can't fight to your fullest against me" he whispered. She sobbed again, all the tears held back in her pathetic life, had chosen now to break out. One two, three tears, they fell. He did nothing. He just never took his cold eyes off of hers. And she, she just cried, and cried. Finally, he tore his gaze away from her golden eyes, and gently let go of her face. He stood up slowly, rubbing the blood from her mouth before standing to full height. "The blades aren't poisoned" he said and turned away. "Live" he commanded her. And he was gone. Gone through the door. Leaving her to herself.And at last, her sobs racked her whole body. And she cried all night. Until Kabuto found her, peacefully asleep and exhausted from blood loss the next day. He scratched his head, wondering why she was even still alive. Wondering why Sasori Akasuna had let her live.

End of flash back

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Akemi came back sometime before dawn and found Tatsumi asleep in her sleeping bag, clutching a scroll to her heart. Akemi blinked twice then shook her head, dismissing it that Tatsumi had been studying a jutsu or something, then fell asleep with the scroll in her hand. Akemi kicked her sandals off then settled in her sleeping sack. She was about to go to sleep when she suddenly noticed something. Every single dog in the camp was barking and growling desparately.

Chapter ten done. Now, Sasori plays a part in the story and more of Tatsumi is unfolded. Hoorah! Hope you all enjoyed it. And...why are all the dogs barking , hmm...?