Summary of story this excerpt is from: A young woman with a unique ability to communicate with the dead is approached by none other Lady Chiyo after sacrificing her life to save Gaara's with a request: offer her damned grandson, Akasuna no Sasori, a second chance at life. For this young woman also has the mysterious ability to fully revive the dead, if they are willing and certain powers permit it. The young woman has no obligation to accept and knows more than most from the souls who haunt their former homes and bring her news of their enemies and allies alike. Why risk her life and her family further when already rumors of her abilities have reached the ears of the Five Kage? Why agree to help a damned soul who has no regret?
Yet, she does.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
It's so dark here.
I can never seem to get used to it. No matter how many times I have come here.
It's the kind of bone chilling darkness you can never get used to.
My footsteps echo wetly throughout the space and as it fades out, I notice the ominous silence.
Has it always been this quiet before?
I feel as if the answer should be no. I mean, after all, it is Hell.
I pause in my search, looking cautiously around me with my ears pricked to hear the slightest sound. Except there's nothing, save for my breathing. Shouldn't there be screams of agonies? Moaning?
However, I can't seem to remember if I heard anything before. I should, but I don't.
It also seems…empty, hollow.
I should be able to see shapes; outlines of faintly illuminated figures all around me, but I don't.
Again, though, I can't remember if such things were here the last time.
What's going on?
The thought has only just finished forming when the sudden realization hits.
I must be getting close.
I resume walking again, this time a new urgency in my step. Almost without thinking, I lean forward, eagerly, and look around more carefully than I did before.
Without even realizing it, I somehow crossed a barrier; an invisible line that marked the end of there and the beginning of here.
Here being the place I've apparently been needing to go all along.
Never thought the damned would get to have their own place within Hell.
A shiver runs up my spine, though, as I remember my thoughts from a few minutes ago. The feeling of remembering just out of my reach, the doubt that such memories might not even exist.
Not to mention that such a seemingly large space also seems to be so empty and depraved of any source of life or light. At least outside of here there's a hint of light.
Such a dark and dismal place. Such a dark and dismal soul that must reside within it.
My pace slows a little at the morbid thoughts and I start to wonder if this man, if I can call him that, can even be saved.
No wonder I hadn't been given much trouble in the beginning, like the other times before. It was probably thought I wouldn't have been able to make it this far to begin with.
On the other hand, I was told all I had to do was to find him and convince him to come with me.
Why anyone would want to stay here is a little beyond my understanding and that fact might be why I fail.
Ugh. Stop thinking such thoughts! I shake my head, grit my teeth, clench my fists and march forward.
I made a promise to try, to give it my best shot. I intend to keep it.
Besides…My gaze softens a bit, remembering those lonely, hazel eyes from her memory, I think I might just understand, after all.
Lost in my thoughts, remembering another person's memories, I almost miss it.
But my eyes catch sight of the faint dot of light off to the left of my direct line of vision.
My heart skips a beat in excitement and a gasp of joy and relief escapes me as a brief smile appears on my face.
Finally! I found what I've been looking for several nights in a row now.
I quickly make the needed adjustment in my path, rapidly pacing towards the still dot of light.
It might be small, but it means he might have a chance.
How many souls have I passed these past couple nights where the light of their soul had been consumed by the darkness surrounding them? How many of them were drawn to me like moths to a candle?
I don't even want to think about that right now.
Because I found the light I've been looking for and I'm so glad it hasn't gone out yet.
It grows nearer and nearer and I find myself starting to jog in my haste because I almost trip over my feet and nearly fall on my face.
As I get closer, I see he's slumped against a wall and catch sight of crimson, shaggy hair.
I slow to a walk again, only a few yards away and catch my breath as I make my way, a little nervous, towards him.
It's a surprise to see him look so young. He looks to be about my age of eighteen rather than near middle-aged.
He was fairly young, though, when he traded his human body for…
Right. Now it makes sense.
I can't tell if he's awake or not. His chin rests atop his chest and from this angle, his red hair covers his hazel brown eyes.
I stop, standing in front of him and jump a bit when he unexpectedly lifts his gaze to meet mine. I guess he was watching me approach the whole time.
My breath stops for a moment as I take in the handsome face of the young boy that I've only seen in someone else's memories.
I expect the dead look in his eyes, so I don't hesitate to smile at him as I say,
"It's finally nice to meet you, Sasori. I'm…."
A flicker of emotion, surprise maybe or weariness, crosses his otherwise expressionless face.
"W-what do you want?" He asks in a faint voice. When was the last time he spoke to someone? How long has it been in this place to him?
"That's easy. I want you to come back with me." I answer gently and offer my hand, my smile softening.
He blinks and stares at my hand, uncomprehending.
"If you want to, that is." I add.
He looks from my face to my hand and back to my face again. He searches my gaze and takes in the hopefully harmless expression on my face, probably looking for some sign of deception or cruelty.
He narrows his eyes and it looks he's about to refuse.
Something stirs inside me, a tug at my heart it feels like and I suddenly know.
"Please, Sasori?" I whisper.
I can't leave him here. I just can't.
I forget my promise to Chiyo, this is something different. I recognize something familiar in that look of his eyes.
"It'll be different this time, I promise." I vow, hoping he sees the earnesty in my gaze and hears the sincerity in my voice.
Another long moment passes and I start to worry, thinking of other ideas to convince him. Then, I see his arm twitch and watch as he slowly raises his arm.
I grin in relief when his cold hand wraps around mine.
Sasori's POV (Third person)
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Sasori reacts when he hears the oddly familiar, but misplaced sound echoing throughout this place, his place.
'What's that sound?' He asks himself, opening his eyes to complete and utter blackness. He can only tell they're open by blinking.
It's odd because he knows this sound, or he at least knows he should recognize it.
Misplaced because if there were one thing he's certain of, it's his total isolation.
That thought brings forth the word he's searching for.
'Footsteps.' He remembers.
He should feel surprise or shock at hearing it, but he doesn't. All he can feel is emptiness. He wonders who or perhaps more appropriately, what, is here.
They must have been searching for quite awhile. Sasori faintly recollects his own wandering here before, exhausted and disheartened, he collapsed against what he could only assume was the farthest wall end.
He couldn't fully recall his existence before he found himself in such a dark place. Memories, or at least he thinks they are, float around or sometimes bombard him with their intensity.
However, most seem so surreal to him that he doubts they actually occurred.
One fact is certain, though, from his broken memories and that's he deserves to be here.
This is his punishment.
His eyes are closed again. It's easy not to notice when it doesn't really matter whether they're open or not, the blackness remains the same.
Except this time he notices because when he opens them again, he sees a white light walking parallel from his position.
'So someone is here, but who?' He blinks again, to see if the light will disappear and turn out to be nothing more than his imagination.
It doesn't, though and his eyes widen when he sees the light pause for a moment and just as quickly as it stopped, start walking again... towards him.
As the footsteps grow closer, Sasori watches as the light turns into the shape of a figure who seems eager to reach him because they increase their pace until they're almost running.
Still a good distance away, Sasori realizes the figure is only a girl. A girl surrounded in a halo of brilliant white light.
'She's still alive.' This time, a jolt goes through the deceased puppet master when he realizes this and he suddenly remembers his death.
Staring through his bangs at the girl who slows her pace only a few yards away, he's able to focus enough to wonder how the spirit of a living human is able to make it this far into the depths of hell itself.
Most of all, he wonders why here of all places?
She stops in front of him, looking almost nervous.
She jumps in surprise when he lifts his head enough to stare directly into her gaze. She smiles unexpectedly and it's his turn to jump at the warm and cheerful expression, but it goes unnoticed by the girl.
As she addresses him by name and introduces herself, Sasori takes in the look of relief and sincerity in her eyes. Like the other depraved souls, he finds himself attracted to the light that seems to radiate from the young woman like a shining beacon. He hesitates, however, weary of her intentions and his own desire to be near the light surrounding her.
She pauses after she's done speaking, seeming to be waiting for him to speak.
"W-what do you want?" He finally asks in a hoarse voice, surprised he can still speak as clearly as he just did.
He couldn't remember the last time he spoke and who knows how long he's been here.
"That's easy." She replies simply, her smile and tone softening like she was speaking to a frightened child, or rather to an unsure and distrustful soul. "I want you to come back with me."
She offers her hand to him and her expression is so open and gentle, all he can do is stare at it, blinking again to see if either the hand or girl or both would suddenly disappear.
'Back?'
He already knows what her request seems to imply, but before he could comprehend how something such as that could be accomplished, he wants to know why.
"If you want to, that is." His eyes flash to her face, interpreting the simplistic and obvious message.
'You're giving me a choice...' He searches her harmless and open expression, confused. 'But why?'
He's a monster. His memories, which he now knows are real, prove that much. He took countless lives and turned hundreds into human puppets.
He even turned himself into a puppet, a near perfect example of eternal beauty.
He's not even ashamed of it, not even now as he looks up at a girl who seems to know him, but he's certain they've never met before now.
'So why?' She must be aware of what he has done and yet, she's asking him to go with her.
His gaze reverts to her outstretched hand and back to her face several times, searching for an answer. Despite such an open and sincere expression, he doesn't find a good enough answer to his thoughts.
He narrows his eyes and prepares to reject her offer.
This is his place, his punishment. There's nothing for him back there anyway, so why return?
The girl must have seen the expression on his face and guessed his answer because the friendly open expression falls away.
"Please, Sasori?" She begs in a soft voice and he blinks, his mouth opening slightly, catching the new look in her eyes.
Something stirs within him, seeing the hauntingly familiar and yet sympathetic gaze.
I know what I'm asking of you, but please, just trust me. That's what her eyes seem to say.
Then she says, as if to complement that thought.
"It'll be different this time, I promise."
'How did she...' Sasori can't complete his thought, lost in the meaning and reeling from the sincerity of her words.
A strange, but powerful feeling overwhelms him and it's another few moments before he recognizes what it is.
'Fine, then, I'll trust you.' And so subtle that she doesn't notice, he nods once in acceptance.
Her hand still outstretched through all of this, he struggles to raise his own.
She only watches, but he can see the relief and joy reflect on her face as he slowly raises his arm. It seems her light glows brighter the closer he gets.
Finally when he wraps his hand around hers, it seems that the warmth of her hand, no her light, slowly encompasses his hand, radiates down the length of his arm and so on, wrapping his whole body within.
The girl that looks like an angel surrounded by a halo of light grins at him with no degree of malice.
He doesn't know what going back entails or even what's going to happen now that he's agreed, but for the first time, he has the faintest inkling of hope.
Author's note: This is an excerpt for a story idea I had years ago about Sasori and him being resurrected by a young woman with unique capabilities, most notably being able to communicate with the dead and even fully revive certain souls if they were willing (as in the souls would return as fully human with no human sacrifice being needed like with the reanimination jutsu). I've recently been re-reading some of my fave Sasori fics and have been motivated to post some of my own work about the puppet master. Not enough, I don't think, to come back and finish this story (although I did have a good chunk of it written out so who knows, might post more excerpts if folks are interested). I did make some small edits to this before posting as I did originally write this several years ago (2014?15? something like that) and I like to think my writing style has improved since then. For the most part, though, it's in its original form.
Hope folks enjoy this little tidbit!
Also, please leave a review if you can! I do appreciate feedback and commentary (^_^)