Apologies to everyone for the long hiatus. I know, I'm terrible, etc. etc. I have about seven chapters finished right now, so hopefully I'll be able to keep updating once per weekend for the rest of this arc.

Many thanks to user u/4t0m on reddit for beta reading this story – I doubt you would all be seeing this update today if he hadn't pushed me to keep writing. Thanks also to Empirimancer for contacting me on my Patron and Nivirce for doing the same on Twitter.

Very quick summary of the plot so far:

Naruto is raised by Jiraiya and forced by Sakura to apply himself, which together with a rather fantastic case of ninja ADD gains him the rationalist superpower of questioning everything. He quickly finds out that ninjutsu does not work at all like the academy claims, which helps him become stronger, but refusing to swallow their propaganda also makes him a bit of a social pariah.

After learning from Jiraiya that a hidden enemy used the demon in his stomach to kill his father, he decides that he has to teach his peers how the world really works before they can be manipulated into fighting each other. However, tensions worsen when he kills Gaara during the Chūnin Exams, and when the Sand invades despite his secret meetings with the Kazekage's children it starts to look as though he only made things worse. Now, with Sakura missing and the Hokage and Kakashi presumed dead, things are looking more desperate than ever. On the plus side, things can surely only get better from here...

(A longer summary of previous events can be found at the start of chapter 39.)


Even long after their golden vessel had taken off, the Kazekage was still laughing.

"Forgiveness! Forgiving his own death! Can you believe that?" Rasa gestured at his fellow passenger, but the old woman seemed content to focus on adjusting her new puppet arm and did not respond. "The cycle of hatred must be broken. He sounds like a character from one of his student's ridiculous novels." He stood up instinctively to start pacing around as he talked, but of course there was no room to do so within the cramped golden shell. He sat down again and shot an annoyed look at his companion. "Well? Aren't you going to make some kind of sarcastic comment?"

Chiyo looked up, nonplussed. "What's there to argue about? Anyone who refuses to avenge their own people is a failure as a leader."

"Exactly!" Rasa threw up his hands in exasperation. "I mean, who is a philosophy like that even supposed to help? If you refuse to punish those who hurt the ones you care about, it only encourages them to keep on doing so." He barked out a bitter laugh. "Bloody hell, I should have listened to you and killed that useless layabout son of his too, just to see if he'd forgive me for that as well." He stood up again to start pacing, only to nearly hit his head on the low ceiling. He cursed inwardly, feeling a childish urge to kick at the wall of their cramped transport. Perhaps once they got back home, he would finally listen to Chiyo and cough up the gold needed to expand his jutsu. He had a hard time remembering why that had seemed so impossible to him before.

"Rasa," Chiyo said softly, "you should spend more time with your children."

Rasa glared at the old woman, but it was impossible to read her expression. "What are you talking about? Since when do you care how I raise my children?"

"Your children disobeyed you," she said. Her eyes were going over her mechanical arm, moving each of the puppet fingers to see how they responded to the chakra that flowed through it. "Even though they knew they'd be punished severely, they still disobeyed you. Why do you think that is?"

"Because... I don't know, because they don't respect me enough? Is that what you're getting at? Bloody hell woman, I have no knack for riddles. If you have something to say, just say it already."

Chiyo pulled her sleeve down over her puppet arm and leaned back against the wall of their ornate vessel. "Rasa, let me tell you a story about my past. I know you young'uns don't have a lot of patience these days, so I'll keep it short. You see, there was a time when all I had was my son. When he came home with this girl I thought she was just some childish little chit, and I told him so. For the first time in his life, he looked me in the eye and he told me to get bent, and that was when I knew she was one for the family." When she looked up at him, there was an expression in her eyes that brooked no argument. "My life has been one long string of mistakes, Rasa, but if there's one thing I did right it's that I cared for my children – at least, until the White Fang murdered them both and left my poor grandson an orphan. If you continue down the path you're set on, Rasa, you'll live to regret it. That's all."

Rasa opened his mouth, then closed it again. At last he sat back down, once again feeling frustrated by his cramped confines. "I'm still not letting them off without punishment," he grumbled.

"Of course not," Chiyo said, smiling crookedly. "We can't have you getting soft, now can we?"

They continued until they reached the border of the desert, but at last the Kazekage was forced to bring his golden egg down onto the ground. "This is as far as I can take us," he said as the vessel folded itself down into a flat golden sheet. "I am running low on chakra, and you know how I feel about being powerless.

Chiyo's bones creaked audibly as she stood up and stretched, breathing in the warm desert air. "Ech, and not a moment too soon: I was getting cooked in that blasted thing. Didn't do wonders for my arthritis, neither. Worth it to get back at the White Fang and that blasted slug princess, though."

Rasa turned to Yūra and Baki, who had started to run towards them the instant the vessel touched the ground, while the rest of the army remained behind at a polite distance. "Baki, damage report."

"We have lost fully one third of our forces," the elite jōnin said gruffly. "Another third has suffered varying degrees of injury, but most of them should be able to achieve combat-ready status after preliminary medical treatment."

"Medical treatment," Chiyo muttered. "No sense in asking who's going to be doing most of that." She turned to the mass of haggard-looking shinobi who stood at attention. "Sekka, Ryōkan, gather up the wounded and set up an emergency medical treatment area. Jōnin first, chūnin second." She cracked her knuckles loudly. "Now, which of you lot has the biggest boo-boo?"

"Lord Kazekage," Yūra said, bowing low, "we are well below the stipulated minimum fighting capacity required for ensuring your safety. If I may be so bold, I recommend we return to Sunagakure immediately and arrange for reinforcements to meet us along the way. The wounded can catch up to us later."

Rasa nodded. "Send out our fastest messenger bird: I don't want us to be stuck out in the open any longer than absolutely necessary." He started pacing once more, only to realize that he no longer felt the need now that he finally had the room to do so. He was about to address his commanders once more when he noticed that a lone chūnin had split away from the rest of their forces and was now running straight towards them. What now?

"Kazekage-sama!" The young scout started yelling while he was still running, stumbled halfway and then had to catch his breath before he could speak again. "Across the horizon: Black cloaks... red clouds!"

There were sharp intakes of breaths from his commanders, though most of the troops merely looked at each other in confusion, not knowing enough to fear the name Akatsuki much less recognize the elusory mercenaries by sight. Indeed, there were black and red shapes moving at the eastmost horizon which Rasa had at first assumed to be the heat of the desert causing vibrations in the air. He cursed softly.

"My lord," Baki said, a growing panic in his voice, "we are in no condition to fend off a group of S-ranked shinobi! Most of us are low on chakra, and even if Lady Chiyo were to finish her medical aid in time-"

"Baki is right," Yūra interjected. "Kazekage-sama, you must take your children and head to the Village immediately. We will buy you the time you need to escape."

Rasa felt his anger flare. "You would have me run away while leaving my soldiers behind to die for me? Let the wounded get slaughtered like animals?"

"It's for the best," Chiyo said. Rasa had not even noticed her walk up behind him, so distracted was he. "What purpose do ninjas serve other than to fight and die for their masters? If you were to fall here, the Sand would be thrown into chaos, no different from when the Third died. There's no greater curse for a country than a weak Kage. I might be growing senile, but I know I taught you that much."

Rasa made to spit out a biting retort, but found that he had none. "Fine. But you and Yūra are coming with me. I'll be damned if I let you two leave me to run this bloody country all by myself." He turned towards his children, who were hiding among the regular forces trying desperately not to be seen. "Kankuro, Temari – follow me! Baki, hold the enemy off for as long as you can. With luck, the jackals will realize there's nothing for them here and they'll go bother someone else. The Leaf, ideally."

"Yes sir!" Baki snapped a sharp salute and immediately turned to start barking orders. "Listen up! I want battle formations. Medical teams, move the wounded into cover and get as many jōnin back into fighting condition as possible. Puppet squadron, focus on creating interference. Warfans, you're long range support. Aim to separate the enemy and prevent them from fighting together. Sealing teams..."

Baki's voice slowly faded into the background as Rasa mounted his golden vessel and took off. Chiyo and Yūra were seated on the golden slat beside him, but he could tell that she was using her chakra strings to take off some of the weight. Temari was riding the wind on her fan alongside her brother, who was using his own chakra strings, making them almost a mirror image of him and Chiyo. They were whispering to each other in that familiar way they had done ever since they were kids, trying to avoid gaining the ire of their father. Gaara's death only seemed to have brought them closer together, somehow. He wondered what they were talking about.

"It doesn't make any sense," he said, turning his thoughts to other topics. "Why is Akatsuki here, now of all times? When we're at our weakest, right after having fought the Leaf? I doubt that's a coincidence."

"Of course it isn't," Chiyo said calmly. "It's a trap. Someone told them that we would be here, and that we would be weak."

"You still think we have a traitor, then? I don't see how that can be: Every one of my shinobi has proven more than willing to fight and die for me. Unless..." He sucked in a breath. "The Leaf! Of course. The Hokage tricks us into thinking he's just letting us go, then tells the Akatsuki where to find us. His enemies destroy each other, and without any damage to his precious village." He cursed loudly. "That clever old bastard, I'll bet he was only pretending to be dying as well. I should never have been so stupid as to think he'd just forgive us. But I'll pay him back for this. As soon as we're back in the Sand, I'll-"

"Akatsuki!" It was Kankuro's panicked voice, coming from below. "In the sky – hundreds of them!"


The group made a hasty landing, and Kankuro's legs buckled as Temari's fan collided roughly with the desert sand. His father and Lady Chiyo had already exited their golden transport and were now shouting at each other while gesturing furiously at the enemies above them. Yūra hastily made to join them.

Kankuro paid them no heed. His eyes were on the sky above him, on the black cloaked and hooded figures which swarmed in countless numbers, circling the air as they drifted down towards them like a flock of vultures. They were puppets rather than people, he realized distantly, but that only spelled their doom in a different way. There was only one puppet master in Akatsuki, only one puppet master in existence who could control that many puppets at once, and that meant their enemy was...

"Sis... we're gonna die, aren't we?"

"Hey, we'll be okay," Temari tried to reassure him, though it was clear her heart wasn't into it. "We have father as well as Chiyo-basama with us, and they're both incredibly strong. Plus we have Yūra, and I hear he's a powerful jonin too. It doesn't matter how skilled the enemy is, we have to believe we can beat them if we all fight together."

It was at this point that Yūra stabbed the Kazekage in the back of his neck.


It took Chiyo a moment to register what was happening. One moment she was taking in the approaching enemy forces, the next there was a knife in Rasa's spine and Yūra was holding it. It was only instinct that saved her when Yūra came for her next, chakra strings grabbing hold of his knife and entangling Yūra until his earth wall technique separated them. Temari charged forward with a scream, swinging her war fan at Yūra in broad arcs and forcing him to put up another earthen wall as he leaped backwards. Chiyo was almost impressed with Temari's composure until she realized that the girl was crying as she fought.

Silly child... you can't hit your enemy with your eyes blurring like that.

Kankuro was not doing any better. He had run straight towards where his father had fallen and was now cradling his bleeding body as if that would magically make him stop being dead. Did the boy not know a deadly injury when he saw one? As for Chiyo herself, she mostly felt emptiness.

Well, there's another one gone. Looks like everyone who ever cared for you is gone or dead now, except for your brother and even that's only because he's never listened to a word you've said. If you're lucky, maybe you'll get to see him again and correct that before you die. Doesn't look like it, though.

At some point, you had to wonder if maybe it was you that was the problem.

She was pretty sure she was beyond caring at this point, but perhaps if she tried for a little spite... yes, that worked. Spite she had aplenty. In fact, she was feeling a goodly amount of spite towards the person who had just killed the Kazekage. She unfurled a sealing scroll with her one good arm, and the five remaining White Puppets from Monzaemon's collection sprang forth, ready to do battle. Five puppets for five fingers – that was almost fitting, she thought, since she was only half the woman she used to be.

She strode towards her enemy, a measure of resolve returning to her at last. "Kankuro, Temari, get behind me. I will take care of this." Right as she said that chakra strings descended from the heavens and plucked Yūra up into the air, causing him to disappear into the swirling mass of puppets above them.

"Oh hello granny, you don't mind if I take this, do you?"

She stared up at the floating mass of cloaked and hooded puppets, forced at last to acknowledge the reality that she had been trying so desperately not to see. There were hundreds of them, including one black haired puppet which could only be the preserved corpse of the Third Kazekage himself. They were accompanied by a young man with long blond hair that hung in front of one eye, mounted on what looked to be a great white bird made of clay. He was idly flapping beside the swarm, a measured look on his countenance.

She did not see her grandson anywhere, could not tell where his voice was coming from, but even so she could not deny the truth any longer.

"Sasori..."

At last a red-haired figure floated downwards from amongst the host of puppets, lightly touching upon the ground before her. He looked every bit the teenager she remembered, appearing the exact same age as when he had left the village more than twenty years ago. Yet his brown eyes were hollow, and though his black and red Akatsuki cloak covered up most of the joints in his body, she could still see how his artificial skin gleamed in the sunlight. If she had needed any confirmation of her suspicions, this was it.

The boy-puppet made a clacking sound as his jaw opened, and the skin around his lips parted in what she guessed was intended to be a congenial smile. "Did you miss me, grandmother? I have to say, I was hoping we'd be able to arrange this little family reunion. I am so glad everything worked out as planned." She noted that he had no tongue, and whatever foul jutsu produced his unnatural childish voice had an ethereal quality to it. It reminded her almost of the wind brushing through the trees at her summer home in the central oasis of Sunagakure.

"So you're responsible for all of this then," she said. "Yūra was your spy from the start, and you used him to push us and the Leaf towards war. I suppose that means you planned Gaara's death as well, somehow?"

The skin around his wooden lips tugged into another twisted mockery of a smile. "Now now, how could I possibly have planned something like that? You flatter me, grandma. I did come up with that little masterplan to kill the Hokage which Yūra whispered to you, though. Coming up with that one took me a good fifteen minutes of my time. Then I had another one of my spies get rid of Tsunade at the hospital to make sure she wouldn't be able to heal the Hokage in time, while Yūra set the attack off early to make sure your forces took a beating for your trouble. For the rest, all I had to do was ask my allies in Akatsuki to feign an attack on your army so that you'd be forced to retreat through the air while I waited for you here. The Hokage is dead, the Kazekage is dead, and now it's just you and me. But enough talk, I don't like to keep people waiting. Are you ready to die, grandma?"

Chiyo smiled wanly. "Actually, I'm feeling a bit out of sorts. I don't suppose you could give me a moment to catch my breath? Maybe come back another day?"

"Sorry, playing fair is another thing I don't care for. Deidera, destroy her puppets but make sure not to damage the body of the Kazekage or the two children behind her. My puppets will take care of the rest."

"Yeah yeah, I know already, hmph!" White clay birds came swooping down from the sky at the blond man's command as Chiyo's puppets hastily raised their chakra shields. "Catch! But I have to warn you... my art is a blast!"


By the time the smoke cleared, the last five remaining puppets from Monzaemon's collection lay in pieces in a circle around Chiyo, the battlefield pockmarked with craters from the explosions. The children had been captured inside two of Sasori's puppets, while Chiyo herself lay on the ground, a sword stuck through her belly which she pawed at uselessly.

"You know what I like about the poison you taught me to make, grandmother? It paralyses, but it takes a long time to kill. It's perfect for my procedure. The body remains completely inert while I remove the unnecessary pieces and replace them with eternally lasting puppet parts. Now I have you, the fourth, and look!" Sasori pulled out Rasa's scroll and revealed the seal with Gaara's body inside. "You even prepared the Jinchūriki for me. This is my lucky day."

"No use," she groaned, ignoring the pain in her stomach and the cold numbness that radiated outwards from it. "Shikaku... already gone."

"Even if that is true, that wouldn't stop Gaara from using the sand as a weapon. The body acclimatizes to the demon's chakra after a while… but you already knew that, didn't you? That is how you gave the Fourth his gold manipulation power, after all." The puppet boy tilted his head curiously. "Are you trying to pull a fast one on me, grandma?"

"Sasori... I'm sorry." She swallowed thickly. "All... my fault."

"Oh? This should be interesting." The puppet boy's eyes gleamed with an eerie curiosity. "Tell me, grandmother: Exactly what do you think it is that you did incorrectly?"

"Shouldn't have... lied to you," she rasped. "Shouldn't have pretended... parents still alive. Was... in denial. Got obsessed. Was stubborn. Everything turned out... so wrong."

"Incorrect," said the ghostly voice. Chiyo forced her head up, trying to get a better look at her grandson's artificial body as he spoke. "Yes, you were stubborn, and yes you were obsessed. You allowed the Third Kazekage to start a war that sent my parents to their deaths because you were in denial that anything would go wrong, and then afterwards you were in denial of what had happened. You got into the habit of trying to correct the past rather than seeking to preserve the future, and so you lost and lost without ever learning the lesson you needed to learn. But even that was not your greatest flaw. No, your greatest mistake was, without a doubt, failing to make you and your loved ones immortal."

This time he really did laugh at her expression, but it not come out as anything human: All of his puppets were clacking mockingly at once, filling the air with giggling ethereal voices like a hundred ghostly children all laughing at once. "Oh, don't look at me like that, grandma! It wouldn't even have been that hard: You already possessed knowledge of medical ninjutsu and the puppet technique. You could have easily given my parents immortal puppet bodies, but you did not even consider that possibility because of some misguided sense of convention. Because people would have considered it strange. But perhaps it's not too late. What do you say, grandma? Would you like to live forever as an immortal piece of art?"

"Sasori," she said hoarsely. She coughed, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I..."

"What's that, grandma? I can't hear you very well. Here, let me get a little closer." The instant Sasori stepped forward she activated her sealing technique, black markings shooting out from the mouths of her five broken puppets which she had left in a circle around her. Chakra strings propelled her body forwards even as Sasori's eyes turned dull, his floating puppet army falling lifelessly from the sky now that she had cut off their master's supply of chakra. A dagger shot forth from her sleeve and she stabbed Sasori in the chest where she thought his core would be, then stabbed him several more times and tore off his head just to make sure.

"Hah, I was only pretending... to be dead. Haven't been able to move on my own power... for years. Use chakra strings to get along." She pulled out the sword stuck in her belly with a grunt, then cast the Mystical Palm technique, its green glow starting to heal her wounds at a rapid rate. She looked up at the blond bomber flying on his bird in the sky, and grinned weakly. "Now it's... just you. Looks like I might be able to atone for my sins after all. I might have one foot in the grave, but I have too many regrets to die just yet!"

She stopped when she heard the sound of clacking puppet parts behind her.

"No, I did not think you would accept my offer. Such a pity." She twirled around in shock, only to see a second Sasori floating down from amongst his restored puppet army, his new body looking identical to the one before. "Did you really think I would have such an obvious weakness as a single core, and that you would only have to destroy it to defeat me? No, you are not worthy of my art, not at all." He raised his hand needlessly, and Chiyo found herself being lifted into the air, a hundred chakra strings suspending her from her arms and legs. Then the strings pulled in four different directions, and she screamed.


"I'm not doing anything for him," Temari insisted. "He killed father!"

"You don't get it, sis." Kankuro's reply sounded hollow, and she was not sure if that was only because of the wooden walls that separated them. "He's trapped us inside Kuroari-style Iron Maiden puppets, used for capture and interrogation. I used one on an enemy myself once, and I can still hear the screams."

Temari shifted nervously inside her wooden prison, taking care not to touch any of the sharp metal spikes that were jutting against her skin from every direction. It was too dark to see much, but she was still all too aware of the fact that those parts were designed to move. Like being put in a barrel filled with nails, and then being rolled down a hill… only he can probably make it as slow or as fast as he likes.

"You don't need to tell me about the screams," she said bitterly. "I can still hear those of poor lady Chiyo." And she doubted she would ever forget them, however long or short the rest of her life lasted. That hadn't sounded like anything human, near the end. "She died trying to protect us – doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Damnit sis, you're supposed to be smarter than this! That's Sasori of the Red Sand out there. Just... do whatever he asks and tell him whatever he wants to hear, okay? We'll figure a way out of this later."

She knew, deep down, that he was right: If they had been up against any other opponent she might have held out some hope of escape, but against Akatsuki there was no chance. And yet, after seeing her father get cut down like that there was no way she could bring herself to admit that. Anger was how she dealt.

"You're such a coward," she bit out instead.

"I'm not a coward, I'm justifiably scared shitless! You're the one who's being stupidly stubborn. Oh, why'd you have to go and inherit that trait from father? It's times like these I wish you were adopted."

"Shush, I think I hear something," said Temari. There were footsteps coming from outside her wooden prison, sounding unnaturally light as they brushed across the desert sand. Like the steps of a small child.

"Oh Kami, it's him," said Kankuro. "I know it's him. We are so dead!"

Temari tried to peer through a gap in the puppet prison's joints, but it was too small to let more than a sliver of light through, and all she could see of the person on the other side was the fabric of his black Akatsuki cloak, a single red cloud embroidered on its side. She instinctively held her breath.

At last the voice spoke, and it was like the echoing whisper of a hundred ghostly children. "Hello children," the voice said. "I am going to ask the two of you some questions. If at any point I feel like either of you are being less than entirely cooperative, I will activate the machines. Is that understood?"

"Yes!" they both squeaked out in unison. So much for desperation-fuelled courage.

"Good. Now, do either of you understand why I chose to capture you?"

It was quiet for a while. "To use us as hostages?" Kankuro sounded almost hopeful. "You gain nothing from killing us, but you could ransom us back to the Sand for money."

"A good guess. Akatsuki does require funding. But no, I am not in the habit of leaving enemies alive to come back for revenge at a later point. The only reason the two of you are still breathing is because I need one of you to become the new Kazekage."

Temari let out a gasp and immediately cursed herself for it. "You want us to replace father?"

"Yes. The ruling council of Sunagakure would never accept Yūra as Kage since he is of low birth; otherwise he would be my first choice. But as the previous Kazekage's children, possessing a modicum of intelligence and talent, you should be deemed acceptable. The only question is, which one of you is best suited for the role?"

The question fell like a stone, and a heavy silence followed. The implications were clear: One lived, one died. She knew it was her duty to protect her younger brother, but when she opened her mouth to speak she found that no sound would come out. It was as if her throat was completely parched from the desert sand, and all she could manage was a strangled croak.

Coward, she thought to herself, burning with shame. You're such a coward...

"Choose Temari," Kankuro said, his voice sounding dead to her ears. "She's older, and smarter than me. And she's much better at politics. She'll know what to do. Just... don't hurt her, okay?"

"That's not true," she blurted out before she even realized what she was saying. "You're the one who always comes up with all our plans, while I just lose my temper and act without thinking." She had felt so powerful, beating up on those Leaf genin as she played the part of the Kazekage's vengeful and deadly daughter. Had all of that been a lie? She swallowed, and her voice hitched as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "Don't worry about me, Kankuro. You'll be a great Kazekage, I just know it!"

Sasori's annoyed voice reverberated through their wooden prisons, silencing both of them. "Are you two actually acting out the part of a play where you each beg me to kill you and save the other? If you are, I swear I will activate both machines purely out of principle. I appreciate the classics, but there are limits."

Silence reigned for a moment longer, neither sibling daring to speak for fear of upsetting their captor.

"Choose Temari," Kankuro repeated at last. "But, I don't want to die either! I want you to take me on as an apprentice." He took a deep breath. "I've admired you ever since I was a kid, Sasori-sama: I always thought you were the greatest genius that ever lived! I collected all of your puppets, and even tried to make some improvements to them, though I doubt I really succeeded. I begged Lady Chiyo over and over to teach me the puppet jutsu, but she always brushed me off. So I used father's name to get whatever teachers I could find, learning everything I could so I might one day rival you."

Kankuro's voice dropped to a whisper. "I never had any friends, you see. Everybody was too scared to even talk to me, and it got worse after father had a boy put to death just for spitting at Gaara. So I sought out your puppets, gave them names and called them my friends instead. I gave them weapons so they could fight beside me; I made them scary so I would no longer have to be afraid. I still talk to them sometimes, when I'm lonely and nobody else is around. So I know what it means to be a true puppet master! I alone am able to appreciate what it's like! So please… please, Sasori-sama, make me your apprentice. I will do anything you ask of me, learn everything you have to teach me, and by practicing your techniques I will help make your art immortal!"

There was another, longer pause.

"That was some of the most inspired begging I have heard in a while," Sasori said at last, sounding almost impressed. "Did you practice that?"

"Only a little bit. Terror is my muse."

Sasori laughed, and Temari shrank away in terror at the sound of a hundred ghostly children all giggling in unison. "Oh, but I like that. You really want to live, don't you? Enough so that you are willing to sacrifice your dignity, step outside your boundaries and do whatever it takes to make it happen. Hm."

Temari said nothing, only remaining perfectly still to try and prevent any of the iron maiden's spikes from injuring her. One of them had pierced her skin when she shrank back, she realized in horror, and she could feel a thin trail of blood trickling from her bare shoulder. I should have practiced begging too, she thought to herself, helplessly. It suddenly seemed like such a useful skill to have.

"Very well," said Sasori. "Kankuro, you will join my army as just one more puppet amongst many. You will serve as my hostage, and I will teach you how to create human puppets so that you can help expand my collection of eternal art. If you fail to obey any of my commands, I will kill you. If you show even the slightest degree of autonomy, I will kill you. And if you ever betray me, I will inflict so much pain on you that you will quite sincerely wish that you had never been born. Do you find these terms acceptable?"

"Yes, Sasori-sama."

"Good." Temari's puppet prison flew open, and she was momentarily blinded by the desert sun shining directly into her eyes. Now would be the time to try to escape, thought Temari, but hope had dashed what little defiance despair had left intact. Then she opened her eyes and it was impossible to think of anything other than the needle that hovered directly in front of her left eyeball.

"You will be the Kazekage, acting on my behalf," said Sasori. "Rule wisely, act to preserve the peace and obey whatever orders you receive from Yūra at all times. I have inscribed an explosive seal on this chakra-infused needle which I can detonate at any moment, but if ever you decide that that is not enough incentive, remember that I can do the same thing to your brother as well."

Temari opened her mouth to say something, but then the needle flew forward and the world turned black.