It wasn't that Deidara wanted to be here. (He would have rather not have been bullied into joining Akatsuki at all.) But if he was going to be stuck in Otogakure providing distraction for his grump of a teammate, at the very least he could turn the situation to his advantage. Getting a fight with Sasuke Uchiha? A perfect way to test whether or not he was any closer to standing a chance against his shitstain of a brother.

Of course, he wasn't sure if the Uchiha was going to come for him or go protect the Jinchuuriki, but Sasori's little spy had seemed convinced enough that Uchiha was under some other girl's thumb, and that she'd prioritize protecting the village, so if he dropped enough bombs…

Deidara didn't like relying on spies, but the chance of fighting the Uchiha was better than just spritzing the ground with a few pretty booms and not having much more to do with himself.

He reached up to adjust his eyepiece, scanning the village's streets for any sign of dark and brooding. The village was...not quite as peaceful as he was expecting. Everyone seemed to be rapidly moving in one of three directions, towards steel warehouses that…

Went underground, son of a bitch.

They were evacuating, before he'd even had a chance to show them his art. This was why he didn't like relying on spies. Someone must have heard big bad Akatsuki was on its way and started evacuation protocols. Either that, or they had a hell of a sensor in their ranks. Or maybe the Uchiha had…

Deidara shook his head. Fuck the Uchiha. It was Sasori's fault that his spy had let something slip, and just because there weren't any civilians loitering about didn't mean he still couldn't have a good time. If anything, it was the perfect grounds to test some of his newest creations.

You better keep the snake and that Jinchuuriki busy, Sasori.

Manipulating his chakra-infused clay came easily to him, a comforting feeling as he molded wings and sharp beaks onto his creations. He'd start off small, see whose attention he caught with a little line of C1…

The birds flew forth from his hands, directed towards one of the steel warehouses that was currently being used as an evac point. Unfortunately for whomever was in charge down there, he liked to play dirty. There was a moment of silence, anticipation building, before the birds detonated against the doors of the warehouse. The metal held, but earth and stone were kicked up from below, along with the bodies of those who'd had a front line view to his creations.

Deidara grinned. Having caught a taste of battle, he urged his clay mount to fly within the city boundaries. If he could nail all three evacuation points, the chaos would certainly make it difficult for his opponents to launch a counter strike. He readied another barrage of birds, forcing his mount to position itself so that he could see his next target. The birds flew true, speeding towards the doors and then-

They were suddenly beheaded, and instead of exploding from the impact, they fell to the ground, twitching from...sparks?

And there that bastard was, wielding a sword infused with lightning chakra and managing to stare him down even from a distance. Deidara would have recognized Sasuke Uchiha on sight alone, never mind the fact that his Sharingan blazed his way even from a distance. It was eerie how similar to his brother he looked.

The same eyes...the same arrogant eyes…

Lightning chakra was more than capable of disabling his creations, which meant he needed to be smart. Sasori's spy had claimed the Uchiha was best at close range, and that gave Deidara an advantage. If he used a few of his creations to keep Uchiha occupied, while sneaking in some others at a distance that no shinobi could hope to reach quick enough, he could still cause some havoc. Maybe even get a really big boom, if he kept Uchiha where he was. Easy enough. There wasn't any way that one shinobi could cover a whole village, and unless they had multiple skilled lightning release users, Deidara still held an advantage.

He prepared more birds to keep the Uchiha at bay, using his other hand to prepare something a bit larger. He'd let the Uchiha dance around protecting civilians while his art redecorated Oto into something a bit more his taste. His birds shot off into the distance, while he simultaneously let a larger one trail in the direction of the final evacuation point. Uchiha went for the smaller ones, of course, and the larger-

Something flew through the air, grappling with his creation and dragging it upwards, away from the city. His creation scrapped with the dark creature, until the latter put enough pressure upon it to make it explode, far above the city and too high to hit anything.

That had been...had it been a bird? And where had it come from?

Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and Deidara saw more of the black and white birds flying in his direction. He maneuvered his mount to dodge, watching as the final bird seemed to hit the butt of his mount with a too-wet splat.

Ink? They're ink creations?

Now this was interesting. Deidara wasn't partial to ink outside of its use in making paper bombs, but he'd never seen this particular application before. The ink given solid form, able to grapple with his own creations...yet still lacking that final touch, of course, what use was the creation if it didn't have that final little spark? Why, if he was making these, he would have integrated explosion seals into the ink design and make it so that-

More ink birds appeared, and this time Deidara could see that they were carrying small paper bombs within their claws. Alright, not how he would have done it, but whomever this fighter was had the start of something! Deidara grinned as he called forth a handful of clay spiders, throwing them into the air to intercept his opponent's birds. The sky lit up, like fireworks, a strangely beautiful harmony of colored ink and flame.

Alright, little artist. You've got my attention.

No doubt the fighter would keep sending birds his way in an attempt to distract him from laying waste to the city. Another ranged fighter, like himself, and Deidara obviously couldn't waste time scanning about for him. He had to find out where the birds were coming from fast, or else this would turn his advantage away. Plus, there was the Uchiha down below…

Damn the Uchiha and damn the Akatsuki for wasting my time.

He could be testing the fruit of this artist's labor, engaging in explosive discussion across the landscape, witnessing the harmony of ink and clay, and...wait a minute, had that bastard Uchiha sprouted wings?

By the look of things, this was about to change from a long-ranged fight to a close-ranged brawl, and he still hadn't seen where his artistic opponent was coming from. On top of that, wasn't he supposed to be taking care of the Haruno girl? He hadn't seen any glimpse of a pink-haired shinobi, and unless she was the artist, that meant Sasori hadn't succeeded in separating her from the Ichibi. Unless she was lying low while the others fought for her...but Hidan hadn't given him the impression that Haruno was a coward.

Deidara let his mount soar straight across the village now, absentmindedly chucking bombs just to keep the Uchiha delayed. He could use his C2 to pepper the landscape with mines, that could keep Uchiha busy long enough to find the other artist. Those wings didn't let him go very high, by the look of things, and that sort of mutation had to be fairly chakra intensive. Let him exhaust himself being a ballsy idiot.

There was a more important fighter to seek out now, and maybe Deidara wanted to be here after all.


"Sasuke, come in. He's heading for the eastern evac point, you need to intercept him before he takes another route out. Over."

"Hn."

"Use your damn words when you're speaking over comms! Over!"

"Hn. Over."

"By the look of things, he's a bit too occupied to provide much thought into answering your questions, Spitfire. He's only capable of having one thought at a time. Over."

"Sai, I swear on the Sage, if you rile him up in the middle of a goddamn fight with Akatsuki, I will personally pull your spine out through your teeth. Over."

Sai smirked, the violent banter more than a familiar comfort after having spent so long under the Hageshisai. Admittedly, he had the least amount of heat on him at the moment. Deidara hadn't realized yet that Sai was soaring above him rather than sending his attacks from the ground, and since Deidara's focus was bombing the city, that kept him the safest of the group. He could keep an eye on where Deidara was headed, provide visuals on the types of bombs he was preparing, and if Sasuke couldn't reach a bomb in time, Sai could provide backup. Karin was busy with the evacuation, but once that was done, she'd be able to give ground support as well. They'd focus on getting Deidara out of the sky and then taking him out of commission...nonlethally, which he was surprised Karin and Sasuke had agreed on, but after considering that Sasuke's sole focus in life was getting strong enough to beat his traitor brother, Sai could see why getting information on Itachi would be a top priority. Worked out for him either way.

He adjusted his headpiece to get a closer look at Deidara, noting with an amused chuckle that Deidara also seemed to have a similar looking headpiece. Had they shopped at the same store in Grass? It hadn't escaped his notice that they both used art as a weapon, though Deidara had definitely focused on destructive power instead of utility. Sai doubted he could use his clay creations to deliver messages or spy on the enemy.

Plus, and maybe this was his ego talking...but his ink creations looked prettier.

He let his hand flow across his scroll, easily creating a horde of birds to counteract some of Deidara's. His mind wandered to Sakura, who was theoretically working on Sasori now with Gaara and Juugo. He'd questioned why Karin hadn't given them a headset, and she'd informed him that hers were incapable of reaching into Orochimaru's lair on purpose; Orochimaru hadn't wanted anyone to be able to listen in on his conversations below, should the technology leak out.

If they took Deidara out quickly, however, they could meet up with Sakura and provide assistance…

But he'd been told to wait to fully engage until evacuation was complete. So for now, he waited and watched.


Sakura readied her mind, falling into a defensive stance at the same time Gaara assumed a familiar position to her left. Orochimaru, in contrast, did not move at all. There was something to be said about the confidence to not assume a fighting stance prior to a duel, and Sakura wondered briefly if Orochimaru really was planning on fighting alongside them, or if he planned on stepping back at the last minute.

He wants the information on the Sharingan, Sakura reminded herself. He won't let you die before he gets it.

That knowledge alone was the only reassurance she had when Sasori of the Red Sand stepped into the room.

She'd seen the puppet through Hidan's eye, but that still wasn't enough to stop a shiver from running through her as it stalked forward, oozing killing intent despite the inhuman stillness of the face.

Hiruko, the puppet was called. Temari had wrestled information from Sasori's grandmother, of all people, and had sent over the original designs of the puppet for Sakura's perusal. It had likely changed since Lady Chiyo had seen it last, but at the very least Sakura knew what to expect: a lethal snake-like tail, traps within the arms and mouth, and Sasori himself buried within, using the puppet's carapace as a shield. They'd have to break the puppet to have a chance at taking down Sasori, and even then, he was a puppet master, and Hiruko definitely wouldn't be the only one in his arsenal.

And of course, just one hit from any of his weapons could be a hit with lethal poisons.

"Orochimaru." The puppet spoke, its voice deep and modulated. "I figured you wouldn't have an attachment to these children."

"Once again, Sasori, you've failed to comprehend my motivations." Orochimaru quipped back in turn, running his long tongue across his lips. "Why would I pass up a chance to make up for that disastrous affair five years ago? Our fight didn't quite finish the way either of us liked, did it?"

"You'd move against Akatsuki to settle a grudge?"

"What makes you think you'll live to tell them I did?"

...they sounded like two old men bickering about a game. Maybe it would have seemed threatening to anyone else, but Sakura had been listening to the Hageshisai threat-talk each other for months now. She'd gotten the impression that the two weren't fond of each other, and yet wasted time on banter...rivals, perhaps? It almost reminded her of how Naruto and Sasuke used to sound egging each other on.

"Can we save the bickering for later?" Sakura finally asked. "I'd like to settle this quickly, before Deidara causes too much of a mess upstairs."

Hiruko's face turned to meet her own. "Respectable." Sasori answered. "You are no doubt Sakura Haruno, and the Ichibi with you."

"His name is Gaara. The Ichibi is Shukaku."

"His name will not matter. And soon, neither will yours."

Hiruko's mouth opened, and out came a flurry of senbon.

Gaara's sand provided a quick barrier, curling a wall of sand in front of Sakura and Orochimaru both. Not strong enough to pierce his barrier, thankfully, but they couldn't keep behind a wall forever. Sakura let her fists fall to the ground and used her chakra to pull the earth around them to form her gauntlets.

"Unless you have a better idea, Orochimaru, I would appreciate some backup. If you keep the tail occupied, I can go for the body. Gaara will keep the traps off our back."

"Hiruko, broken apart by a little girl? How delightfully humiliating." Orochimaru answered. "He'll never be able to live it down, even in death."

It was as good a confirmation as she was going to get. They'd counted on Juugo being their front line assault, but without him...well, she certainly wasn't going to order Orochimaru to take front while she played supported. The bastard would never allow himself in such a position. That meant her switching roles, and that was dangerous.

But I never intended to play support for the rest of my life, did I?

Sakura pushed chakra to her legs and launched herself forward, through Gaara's sand which molded around her like a second layer of armor. As more needles flew towards her, the sand shifted and moved to deflect it. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Orochimaru matching her in speed, dodging the needles so quickly that Gaara's sand seemed unnecessary.

"Dodge left." She heard Orochimaru speak, and she pushed herself over just as Hiruko launched what appeared to be its left arm towards them. A bomb, that was Sakura's first thought, and while it did burst, it unleashed another barrage of needles rather than flame or poison smoke. The arm hadn't been in Chiyo's blueprints for the puppet, but Orochimaru's warning had allowed Gaara to prepare a wall for each of them to deflect what they couldn't avoid.

Sakura paused only long enough to catch her breath. Even Sasori seemed to realize that his needles had reached their limit, and as she began her run again, it was the tail this time that unwound to challenge her. It sprung like a snake, sharp tail reaching for her chest, but was stopped by Orochimaru's tongue wrapping around one of the joints and yanking it out of her way. It left the perfect opening, and Sakura was more than ready to put on a final burst of speed.

She propelled herself into the air, letting the arc of her jump carry her so that her gauntlet slammed down upon Hiruko's back just as the jump ended. She felt the wood crack and shatter. The tail flopped uselessly onto the ground, and the puppet became lifeless as something jumped out from within it.

Sakura grinned. One puppet down, and now Sasori would be exposed and vulnerable.

Her grin faltered when Sasori turned to face them for the first time.

"Admirable teamwork. If I didn't know better, I would assume you had been planning to defeat me like this, Orochimaru."

His face was...young. Too young, far too young for the near forty-year-old man that had been described to her by Suna. Sasori looked as though he could pass for her age. Something about this wasn't right. Sakura let her senses expand to touch against Sasori's chakra. There was still a network, but it seemed to run along the outside of the body, rather than within it, and it all centered at a single point at his chest, a single point that held vastly more chakra than any one body part could hold naturally.

"What have you done to yourself?" Sakura found herself asking. "Your chakra-"

"Do not dwell upon it, Haruno. He has simply found his own path to immortality." Orochimaru answered for Sasori. "Transforming himself into one of the puppets he so admired, never aging, never facing hunger or thirst...incredibly tempting, if I had any desire to leave biology behind."

"This is the difference between us." Sasori replied in turn. "You cling to your outdated form, while I shall remain eternal."

"You've bastardized yourself." Sakura heard Shukaku speak through Gaara, and only in their early days of interaction had she ever heard such disgust in the Bijuu's voice. "Throwing aside your humanity for such a stupid ideal. A true puppet master would be revolted by the very idea."

Sakura couldn't help but agree, but Orochimaru was right. There was no point in dwelling on what Sasori had done now, not when they were in the middle of battle. That single point of chakra, that was what she had to focus upon. "We need to aim for the matrix above his heart. He must be controlling the body from there. If not, disabling such a high source of chakra should still be detrimental."

"Sensing abilities too? How very interesting. I expect to hear about this too, when you tell me everything."

Typical of the man, already thinking about what he'd gain in the future rather than the fight right now. Sakura backed off, closer to Gaara. It might have been strategic to try and jump Sasori now, but it was also risky. If Sasori's true form was also a puppet, it was likely trapped equally as much as Hiruko had been, and she knew nothing about it. Orochimaru possibly knew, which meant following his lead.

But Sasori, it seemed, didn't plan on using himself to start. He pulled out a large scroll, unraveling it in front of him.

"I will admit, the last time I used this against you, Orochimaru, you provided yourself with an adequate counter. However, I doubt you will have the same counter again, and I have only improved my strategy since."

With a puff of smoke, Sasori's 'strategy' revealed itself. It was an admittedly menacing looking puppet at first glance, with piercing eyes and a black shroud that seemed to move as if it had a mind of its own. Sakura thought through her notes, trying to remember any of the puppets Chiyo had mentioned...but this didn't seem like any of them.

It wasn't until Gaara spoke that it began to come together.

"I've seen pictures of that man before. That's the Third Kazekage."

"Correct." Sasori answered. "His techniques were crafted based on his observances of the previous Sunagakure Jinchuuriki. Simple poison traps may not be able to penetrate your armor, but the Kazekage's technique should provide a more than suitable counter. And since your resurrection technique failed upon using it last, Orochimaru…"

"Yes, I doubt I'll be able to pull out his soul to counter you again." Orochimaru answered. "Thankfully, having a Jinchuuriki on my side should suffice. Even you should have considered that."

"Naturally. That is why I won't be fighting with him alone."

There was another puff of smoke, and Sakura heard a click come from Sasori's body. Around him, a dozen more red-robed puppets had appeared, each looking like their own unique fighter. An army. The bastard had brought an army.

She'd expected as much, but even Chiyo's prediction had been wrong. A human puppet master could theoretically, at most, control ten puppets: one per finger. But Sasori was now operating on a different level. He was controlling as many puppets as he liked with whatever device he was using in his chest. If they destroyed one puppet, he could easily just summon another and continue the dance. It was essentially thirteen against three, and one of the thirteen, by the sound of things, seemed tailor made to counter Gaara's defensive techniques.

They had to take down Sasori himself, and fast. All without knowing what Sasori's puppet body could do.

"My brother would certainly be impressed." Gaara said, suddenly spitting onto his hand. "I might have even been worried. But I know how to summon friends, too."

Gaara's hands went through a series of seals before he thrust them down onto the ground. Sakura felt wind rush past her as summoning smoke filled their side of the room. When the smoke cleared, Sakura grinned.

Twelve large tanuki now stood by them, each armored and ready for battle.

Now they were back to an even playing field.