Sasori was on the run. He could not believe that someone had managed to find one of his workshops and that was the only one that he was within reasonable distance to in Land of Fire. Thanks to use of his Fox Hound, Sasori knew that he was unable to leave using his normal escape route since that path was cut of to him thanks to Kyuubi's Jinchuriki and an Inuzuka (he guessed since a ninja dog was picked up along with them) being in the immediate area, thus a fight would be impossible to avoid. Yet with the loss of his workshop, he had nowhere to go and needed to find a place to hide until things died down along with finding out who would be his next target.
However, he was looking for a place to crash for awhile that could keep him hidden from his pursuers for at least for three days because he was not willingly to wait any longer then that. He was going find his next addition to his collection at that time regardless of what resistance he would encounter at the time. The Kugustu master from Suna came across something that he had never seen before. In an isolated part of the forest surrounding Konoha there was large house, yet it wasn't the house that caught his attention. No, what caught his attention was the pale skinned beauty sitting in the back yard with a box canvas on an easel with a palette full of colors in one hand and paint brush in the other.
One look at this beauty and Sasori forgot about getting away. He found his next target for his collection, yet his interest was really peaked when he noticed how what she painted on her canvas became real in front of her. The image of caterpillars appeared on the ground around her, and after a few more minutes, the caterpillars turned into a flock of butterflies that flew up into the sky. At this point, there was no doubt he was going to add this girl to his collection, though, if he played his cards right, he might be able to get a place to hide out as well as seeing more of this fine art. Painting was among the few things he actually respected. It was fine art, unlike that garbage his old Aktasuki partner Deidara tried to call art. Art was not something that only lasted a moment. It was something that was to be long-lasting that generations could marvel upon them, not just those in the immediate area and happen to be looking in that direction at the time. Though, the fact that her art was also possible for shinobi uses made her more interesting.
"Who are you?" the pale skinned girl asked questionably when she noticed Sasori coming towards her.
"I am just a shinobi artist like yourself and I could not help but admire your work. Just how did you managed to make things to come from your painting?" he told her.
"It's an ability that runs in my family that only I have, yet I can not become a normal shinobi because of my weak body being unable to perform the physical activities required of a ninja. However, I am not going to let that stop me. A friend of mine and my old sensei helped me realize I can achieve my goal if I try. If there can be a ninja that only uses taijutsu, then I can be one that focuses on genjutsu only. Oh…I am Yakumo Kurama, by the way," she told him, though she did not know why she suddenly felt like saying all that.
'Interesting. She has strong offensive genjutsu skills, but her defensive genjutsu skills are atrociously low,' Sasori thought. He had used a simple yet pretty powerful genjutsu to get her to talk.
Overall, because of her naturally high skills and bloodline limit dealing solely with genjutsu, Yakumo had natural defenses against genjutsu, but against a high Jonin or S-Class shinobi like Sasori, she was as vulnerable as a newborn to even the simplest of his genjutsu. Since she spent the last three years practicing on her execution of her skills to lessen the time it took to actually perform them rather then boost her defenses against them, she learned of another person in Konoha that used painting as a medium for their attacks. So with the knowledge that it was possible, she had been working along with Kurenai-sensei, Team Eight, Sakura, and Naruto (before and after he left for his training trip). Though recently, they'd been busy looking for Sakura and kunoichi who had gone missing.
Little did Yakumo know that the reason for those kunoichi disappearing was standing right in front of her.
"I would love to see some more of your work," Sasori asked. Yakumo just nodded, packed up her stuff, and led him towards her house.
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Sasori stood there with his mouth open. It was not often that he came across any art that he liked other then his own, but this was different. He was amazed at the sight before him.
Yakumo had led him to a room where she was keep all of her painting that she had done just because she liked to paint. At first, it was just an outlet to release her powers. She later learned that she actually liked to paint just for the sake of painting and often asked her friends to be models for her.
Though, the things that got Sasori's attention the most were the many portraits of Sakura, his lovely Cherry Blossom when she was younger. There were quite of few with Sakura in them because she was friends with anyone that was friends with Naruto and it helped them both keep their minds off him when they hung out together. From thirteen to fifteen, there was Sakura in all the styles she went through during that time from when she started growing her hair out again to the point where she cut again to make her current hairstyle.
"I see that you really like the painting of my friend Sakura. She helped me out a lot, even though she was busy a lot of the time herself. She said helping me with my genjutsu worked at helping her with her defenses again them," Yakumo said.
"Yakumo, hello! Where are you? It's me, your uncle," Unkai Kurama called out from the front of the mansion.
"Come on. That's my uncle. I am sure he would be interested in meeting you," Yakumo said as she grabbed Sasori's arm, wanting him to follow after her, though that was not going to happen. He placed his hand on the back on Yakumo's head and cast a quick mind genjutsu on the girl.
"You are not going to tell or let anyone else know that I am here," Sasori told her.
"I will not tell or let anyone else know that you are here," Yakumo repeated, her eyes vacant as the command was implanted into her.
After that, she ran off without him, greeting her uncle and following her order to keep him away from Sasori.
Keeping himself and his Fox Hound chakra signature undetectable, he discovered that this house was not that well guarded. There were just a few guards in the area that obviously did not stand around the clock if he managed to get here undetected. Then there was the staff here. Their resistance to genjutsu was as low as Yakumo's (though that was only because he an S-Class Ninja and the staff were mostly Chunin and civilians).
'This place will serve me well as a hideout and I have already found the next addition to my collection, who might possibly be my second favorite after my precious Cherry Blossom, of course,' Sasori thought.
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That's just what happened. Naruto and other Konoha ninjas continued searching outside of Konoha's borders for Sasori. Little did they know that he was camped down in their own backyard at house that even Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage herself, did not know existed until four years ago. Of course, Sasori had helped in no one new discovering Yakumo because her case was top secret in Konoha; thus only ones to learn of her current location were those that helped her conquering her deadly Id monster that once dwelled in her subconscious.
As for Sasori, a man known from being impatience and not liking to wait for anything, he was actually taking his time with his latest target. He was going to see everything that Yakumo was capable of before adding her to his collection.
Of course, having referred to himself as artist himself, eventually Yakumo asked if she could see some of his own work, which he agreed to since she already pretty deep under his mind control genjutsu so if she reacted wrong, he could just make her forget what happened.
This time it was Yakumo's mouth that opened in shock as she looked over art that Sasori did.
"It's Sakura, or at least, a very realistic replica of her," Yakumo said as she circled around the wooden kunoichi, completely unaware that this was no replica of her friend.
"That's right. My Cherry Blossom is as real as you can get," Sasori told her. That was not a lie since this was the real Sakura, making the statement true.
"I am amazed at how detailed this is. The sheer amount of time it must have taken to do this is truly amazing," Yakumo replied as she was now moving the wooden girls arms, legs, and even messing with her hair.
"Of course. I only expect the best for my art, after all," Sasori told her.
"I want to paint this and show to it Sakura when she's found and brought back," the Kurama Heiress said and Sasori nodded in agreement. He would love to have a picture of his lovely Cherry Blossom in her current state. It would only magnify her beauty even more.
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The following day….
Sasori came into the studio where he left Sakura to Yakumo to paint to see how far along the brown haired girl had come along with the portrait.
He noticed that Yakumo was still behind her easel because he saw her hair sticking up over it.
"Hey, are you done?" he asked. He had been patient with seeing her powers. It wasn't often he came across shinobi skills that he could call art like his own. Though, his impatient nature shined through. He wanted to see this portrait now.
"Are you ignoring…me?" Sasori said, though shocked at the thing before his eyes.
Sitting on chair in front of her easel was Yakumo, yet it was not the same one that Sasori was talking too the previous day. For sitting there with palette full of colors in one hand and paint brush in the other was a puppet of Yakumo. Going from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, she was hundred percent solid wood; no different then the Sakura puppet she was attempting to paint.
"How did this…" Sasori started to say before looking at the picture that Yakumo had painted and that answered all of his questions for the most part.
On the canvas was an exact replica of what the artist would look like as puppet version of herself. Strangely enough, the painting was of a puppet Yakumo painting and puppet Sakura. Whatever the reason, it seemed that Yakumo's own powers had done this to her. She painted herself like this and it became true.
He wondered if she was a true human puppet since she was made through Yakumo simply painting herself into her current state. All those doubts were quickly dismissed when he took control of his latest addition to his collection. His little Porcelain Mage (after casting a genjutsu on her to make her appearance normal again) then went about having her lure the staff here to the studio where Sasori quickly learn that what happened to her could be done repeatedly. By the time the day was over, there was not as single human left in Yakumo's house. They had all been converted into human puppets by Yakumo's genjutsu bloodline limit.
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Thus, that was how Yakumo was added to Sasori's collection. However, that was the end of things. If he had turned her, along with the workers, shinobi, and medics that worked there into human puppets, during the fun of repeating the fortunate occurrence of Yakumo's transformation (or unfortunate occurrence from any other point of view other then Sasori's) did explain how he was still in her house currently. Someone would have surely come by and discovered what he had done to them. All of Konoha would have been on his tail. The reason could be traced back to one man who let his desire to claim the position of Hokage overshadow everything and everyone else.
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Author Notes
The result for the Poll of Should Hanabi be made into a sleeper agent for Sasori and be his pawn in getting everyone and everything else he wants from Konoha Tenten,Anko,Shizune,etc or should she be added to Sasori's Collection immediately is 8 votes for being a sleeper agent and 2 votes again her being a sleeper agent. The poll will remain open until the next chapter is posted.
This that Poll settle a second Poll I restarted in regard to what should Hanabi's added-on being when she finally added to Sasori's Collection as his dojutsu (Eye Technique) puppet.
Hanabi can switch between various different dojutsus or use two at the same time. Ex: Using the Byakugan and the Sharingan at once
Hanabi given a third eye with each eye being a different dojutsus. Thus her left eye would the Byakugan, the right eye the sharingan, and her third eye located on her forehead being the rinnegan
Haku's water bloodline limit (Hinata usually thought to have water natured chakra and Hanabi is her sister)
Hanabi has Roshi's Lava Release brand of justu making her fireproof in the process (Fire based justu for girl whose name means 'Fireworks')
Kakuzu's masks and Earth Grudge Fear (though she would not look like rag doll)
Guren's unique Crystal Release brand of jutsu (could make up for the Hyugas lack of long range justu and add to the short range ones)
I would like to thank
King Hawke and RANMACAT for reviewing this story
seeds of war for adding this Story to their Story Alert List