The scene starts with Sakura looking terrified. They can't see what she's staring at yet.

'We get to see Sakura again!' Naruto bounces in his chair out of happiness. Something about seeing Sakura on the screen makes him really happy.

'That's been a while.' Sasuke nods along. He can't wait to see what fate has in store for their teammate.

Just facing him like this, I can sense the huge difference in our experience. And in our death tolls. She gulps.

There is an old lady next to her. 'Sakura be brave. I'm here with you. Stay behind and watch.' She reaches within one of her sleeves and pulls out a string of kunai. She throws it at the enemy who is apparently Sasori.

'Who's that?' Kiba asks. He's never seen her before and he's seen a lot of old ladies before.

'That's not someone I'm familiar with.' Tsume nods along. She knows most of the elderly in the village through different connections. But she's never seen her before.

'And they're fighting Sasori.' Lee points out. They've seen Sasori before. He's a member of the Akatsuki.

Sasori is able to deflect the weapons with ease but neither Sakura and the old lady seem too concerned. 'If you're going to play like that, I suppose you leave me no choice. So, granny Chiyo you want to join my collection, then? Along with the brat behind you?'

'Ah. Now I know who she is.' Shikaku says. He's heard of her before. She's a bit of old news but she's still significant.

'Who?' Shikamaru asks his dad.

'She's one of the most feared puppet masters in the world. She's from the Sand.' He explains. He can't really go into too much detail right now.

'Sounds lame.' Naruto pouts. Why can't she be something cooler, like a beekeeper. At least they get the honey.

'Don't underestimate it.' Shikaku warns. People tend to underestimate these kinds of people, but they really shouldn't. They should be feared like any other ninja.

Sakura is shocked. It seems that she realized what the man meant by that.

'First, I pull out the entrails, then I skin the body clean. Then I drain the blood, down to the last drop.' Sasori says every single word with no emotion. There is a blank look on his face.

'Gross.' Ino says. She's never heard someone talk about something so gross so casually before.

'I agree. That's gross.' Sakura nods. How can he be that gross?

'Sakura, that's not Sasori's body. That's just a puppet.' Chiyo explains to the girl.

'Let me guess. He's going to be really handsome underneath.' Shisui grumbles.

Sasuke tilts his head. 'Why?'

'Somehow it always works like that.' He's seen it before. It's like all the handsome people in the world want to hide themselves away. Except for those who are not aware of their own handsomeness. Like Itachi.

Sasori just continues talking. 'Add in a few preservatives, then just string up what's left and we have a brand-new marionette. The hag is right. This form you see is just one piece from my collection.' The camera closes in on his face. 'The two of you should bump up my oeuvre to three hundred exactly. That's my art!

'Keep it to yourself!' Ino shouts at the screen. She can't stand people like that. It reminds her of that one man that used to follow her a while back. She hasn't seen him since her father got rid of him though.

'Yeah!' Naruto shouts with her.

Sakura nods. 'I can kind of tell that's not his body. But then, where is he? Puppet masters work from offstage, right? So, where are the strings?' Sakura asks.

'His body is inside the puppet.' Chiyo explains. Sakura is shocked. 'Puppet masters aren't so good with close combat. Since fussing with their marionettes leaves them wide open to attack. To overcome that weakness, he created this puppet. It serves as his armor and as his weapon. It's Sasori favorite puppet. I'm familiar with it. It's called Hiruko.'

'That's pretty smart. But that puppet doesn't seem to allow for that great range of motion.' Fugaku points out. He doubts Sasori could jump from inside that puppet. So, if someone were to suddenly remove the ground beneath him he would be at a disadvantage.

'I still think we should be scared. He is part of the Akatsuki for a reason.' Mikoto points out.

'Okay, so, how do we fight him?' Sakura asks the lady.

'Well, until we drag Sasori out of Hiruko, there's no point. What makes this puppet formidable is its mechanism. We don't know how or from where it may launch its attack.'

'But granny, you know how Hiruko functions inside out. We have the advantage.' Sakura tells the woman.

'Indeed, that's why at first I thought I could deal with him on my own, but it seems that will not be the case.'

'That's not good news.' Itachi mumbles.

Shikamaru shrugs. 'It would have been too easy otherwise.'

'I don't think Sasori would like someone knowing how his puppets worked.' If Neji were in his situation he most certainly wouldn't.

'That would be a large disadvantage.' Tenten agrees with him.

'What do you mean?'

'Hiruko has changed somewhat, since I last saw it.' Chiyo sighs. It's not a good sign. 'For one, the shell didn't look like that. He must have heightened its defenses and the left arm, it's new to me.'

'It looks like a turtle.' Naruto laughs. It might not be too obvious, but he can see it.

'Not really.' Sakura mutters. She just hopes her future self manages to get out of this alive. Killing him would of course be a bonus.

'So, if he's changed that much, there's a chance he also changed its crucial hidden mechanisms.' Sakura turns to look at Sasori. 'So, how do we fight it?'

'Before we tackle Sasori, we must break Hiruko. I can't destroy it alone. I'm nowhere near strong enough. However, Sakura.' Chiyo gives her a side glance. 'You are. With your training, you wield the brute force of lady Tsunade herself.'

'They're going to cause some earthquakes. Aren't they?' Fugaku shudders. His Tsunade phobia hasn't lessened over the years. Every time an actual earthquake happens he's reminded of the constant ones that used to hit the village back when she was actually a part of it.

'I hope they aren't close to a village. It wouldn't survive with all those earthquakes.' Tsume agrees with him.

Realization dawns on Sakura.

'Now, listen carefully. The first step is to get close and shatter the puppet, the catch is you must dodge every attack it puts forth.'

'The poison you mean.' It seems that Sakura has some sort of experience with it.

'Poison? That too. No wonder he's so scary.' Tenten grumbles. Maybe she should start dabbling in poisons. It would improve her game significantly.

Itachi agrees. 'Poison users are always a pain to fight.' He's had some run ins with some. They are some of the most annoying battles to fight.

'That's right. Even a scratch will prove fatal.' Chiyo warns her. 'To evade attack, you must understand the puppet master's style. You must anticipate his moves instantly.'

'Understand the puppet master? Make snap judgements? I can't really do either.' Sakura argues back.

'That could be a problem.' Chouji takes another bite of his chips. Even if Sasori's gross words might have lessened his taste at the moment.

'True. These things take years of experience.'

'Then how?'

'I wonder what you see when you look at me. A helpless old woman? Or…' Chiyo reaches up and undoes her hair style. Her hair falls down but it's not really graceful or anything. 'Just count on me. That's why I'm here. His experience doesn't even compare to mine. Besides… I've already made my first move.' This gets another shocked reaction from Sakura. 'Sakura lean closer. Together we shall finish him.'

They seem to talk to each other for a bit, but the audience doesn't get to see it.

'What are they planning?' Naruto whispers into Sasuke's ear.

Sasuke shrugs. 'Watch and see. It's not like I now either.'

'Got it. I'll give it a shot.' Sakura nods but there is a little bit of sweat on her face.

'Are we all ready?' Sasori starts speaking. 'I hate waiting. You must know that.'

'Yet you did it anyway.' Shisui points out. A lot of these people in these scenes do that. In real life that rarely happens.

'Awfully convenient.' Shikaku mutters. If only people did that with him and his friends. That would work to their advantage.

'If it works it works.' Sakura isn't going to complain. It might safe her life.

'Don't worry. We'll waste no time in killing you!' Chiyo yells and the battlefield bursts into action. Sasori lowers the mask on the puppets face and from it a hole emerges. Sakura runs to Sasori. Out of the mouth several senbon launch themselves at the two ladies. Both Sakura and Chiyo manage to dodge the attack and next thing they know a flying arm is between them. Out of this arm several other projectiles make their way over to the two of them. But again, both Chiyo and Sakura manage to make quick work of the attack.

Sasori stares at the two of them. Even the brat made it…

'Take that you barbie!' Naruto yells this time. For some reason he finds a need to compare things on screen to things he's seen in his life.

'I don't think he's a barbie.' Sasuke is quick to point out.

In return Naruto gives him a shove. 'Who cares…'

Then Sakura runs at Sasori again and actually manages to get relatively close. Sasori sends the tail of the puppet at her but the ladies got some tricks up their sleeves. Just as the tail is about to hit Sakura moves out of the way.

It seems that Chiyo connected some threads to Sakura and uses that to move Sakura out of the way of danger.

'That's an interesting technique.' Hiashi nods in approval. Something like that would allow a short-range fighter to get out of the scene at record speed without having to watch their surroundings too much.

'I haven't seen anything like it. Nor have I heard of someone doing something like that.' Chouza nods along while eating some pizza that he found on the table with food.

'Sakura, now! Strike it down!' Chiyo yells.

Sakura gets up and close. Raises her fist and puts it down with as much force as she possible can. 'Yes!' She yells out.

The puppet cracks and shatters beneath the force of Sakura's attack. The pieces of the broken puppet fall to the ground. A black blob appears from within the puppet and makes sure to get out of the way as quick as it can. Both Sakura and Chiyo deduce that this must be Sasori's real body.

'Go Sakura!' Lee cheers. Sakura is so cool!

'Kick his ass!' Naruto cheers her on as well.

'I should have expected no less from my own granny.' Sasori speaks. His voice is a little different from when he was within the puppet. 'No wonder even the kid could dodge my attack. Steering her with threads of chakra.'

Sakura gulps. The cat is out of the bag.

Itachi blinks. 'Where is it?'

Shisui laughs. 'I don't think they mean a literal cat.'

'Aw.' Itachi's pouting now. He wanted to pet a cat. Because cats are awesome.

'And moreover. You took control of Hiruko's tail while you were at it. I noticed when the tail stalled on me.' Sasori is still not facing them.

'That makes things easier.' Shikaku shrugs.

'I used the tiniest amount of chakra to keep it invisible, but you figured it out.' Chiyo smiles.

'But of course. Remember who taught me how to play with puppets? Who drilled the talent into me? It was you.'

'Family tradition?' Sasuke suggests. He can't imagine himself having to grow up like that. That would be boring.

'Sounds fun.' Shisui laughs. 'Here for our bonding we're going to play with dolls.'

'They're puppets. Not dolls.' Itachi corrects him.

'Aren't they the same thing?'

'Not really.'

Chiyo sighs. 'Indeed. But anyway, play time is over.'

'So… you still think this'll be easy? Granny Chiyo?' There is no emotion in Sasori's voice as he speaks but it comes over condescending still. His face is now visible and both Chiyo and Sakura are shocked. Something is wrong.

'I said he would be handsome.' Shisui laughs.

Fugaku stares at the screen. 'He looks quite young though.'

'You're right. He should have definitively looked older.' The Hokage agrees with him. Even at this point in time he should be in his twenties. He doesn't look much older than Shisui.

'Granny Chiyo? This is Sasori?' Sakura looks towards the other lady.

Chiyo meanwhile is in shock. What is happening? All these years and not a day on him.

'He looks even younger than Sakura there.' Tsume points out.

Shikaku stares at the screen. 'Now that's odd.' He already has some suspicions on what could be going on here.

Sasori takes out a scroll. 'Let me show you my favorite. You know this one was hard to finish.' The scroll slowly unravels. It has the puppet sealed inside. The summoning smoke appears. 'But that's what makes me so fond of him.'

Chiyo gets an even more surprised look on her face. 'No, that's not…'

'What? What is it?' Sakura asks. She's starting to panic now.

'That's the third Kazekage.'

'Huh?' The collective gasp of the people in the room could be heard.

'The real one? Or a copy?' Iruka wonder out loud.

Kakashi sighs. 'I hope it's the latter.'

'I agree.' Iruka does. He doesn't want to think that someone could preserve a corpse that way.

Sasori makes sure to make an awesome pose and laughs. 'Shall we begin?'

'The third Kazekage. You mean?' Sakura looks at Chiyo for the answer.

'It was more than ten years ago. The third Kazekage vanished suddenly.' She turns to look at her grandson. 'Sasori. So, it was you!'

'Like many of us suspected.' The Hokage sighs. Not many people have spoken out about it, but most had come to their own conclusions.

'Their disappearances did happen around the same time. It wasn't too hard to make the connection.' Shikaku points out. He's one of the people that came up with the theory.

'Hmph. A retired witch, already one foot in the grave. Yet you still trouble yourself.' Sasori stares at her. It's like he doesn't understand what she's doing.

'He's being awfully rude to her.' Neji points out. He wouldn't want to speak like that to any of the elders within the clan.

'No shit. If I would refer to my grandma like that I would be six feet under already.' Shisui shudders.

Itachi nods. 'Yes. Auntie is scary.'

'Retired, yes. One foot in the grave, maybe. But that doesn't prevent my getting around. There are just too many things left undone.' Chiyo replies. Her hands are still connected to the strings. 'My grandson, degrading himself. Becoming a criminal… well, that's one thing. But betraying the village? Participating in the deaths of three Kazekage.'

'Three?' Sakura's counting on her fingers. 'There are only four, right?'

'Gaara is one too.' Naruto points out.

'It's still most of them.' Someone that can take out three Kage is a serious threat.

'Three of them?' Sakura wonders out loud.

'It was Orochimaru who actually killed Gaara's father, the fourth Kazekage. But Sasori was complicit from the start. And now Gaara and the third Kazekage.' Chiyo accuses Sasori.

'That's an interesting list of characters. He's the only Akatsuki member that we know of that killed a Kage.' Shikamaru starts.

Tsume nods. 'That makes him extra dangerous.'

'You're right. Deidara, we don't know what he did. Kakuzu tried to kill the First Hokage but failed. Hidan is not from the big villages. Kisame and Itachi from what we know didn't kill a Kage either.' There are still a lot of unknowns, Neji has to admit.

'There is also that Pain guy.' Naruto points out. He doesn't like that guy. He destroyed the village.

'He destroyed the village. I don't know if he managed to kill Tsunade.' Shikamaru points out.

Iruka meanwhile is focused on other things. 'Are we just going to ignore that he mentioned Orochimaru?'

'But he's not part of the Akatsuki, right?' Sakura asks. If he is then that would be scary.

'Maybe he was at some point. It wouldn't surprise me.' Jiraiya sighs. Orochimaru is the guy that would abandon such a group and get away with it.

'I wasn't involved with the fourth. That was one of my agents. But yeah, Orochimaru and the Akatsuki go way back. We've done some work together.' Sasori explains. This shocks Sakura for multiple reasons.

'So, not anymore.' Kakashi sighs. That's a relief. He doesn't want to have to deal with that snake man.

'You… worked with Orochimaru.' Her gaze turns serious. As if now she's finally seeing him as the threat he is.

'She's getting angry now.' Kiba is bouncing in his seat. Things are about to get epic.

'Hm, it's time to finish here.' Sasori looks down on them as he talks.

He sends the puppet at Chiyo but she's quick to intercept by using Sakura. However, Sasori was prepared for that and quickly counters by showing of some of the weapons hidden inside the puppet. Just as the claws are about to hit her Chiyo manages to wedge the tail of Hiruko in between them.

Next thing he does is open up the left arm of the puppet. Inside there are the ball joints and the sides of the arms have storage seals edged on them. As they're undone more and more arms appear from within the arm. Creating a barrage of arms at them. He directs it at Sakura and Chiyo and this time it does actually hit the ground. Luckily, Chiyo managed to get Sakura to dodge them all just in time. Not much later she pulls Sakura from out of the arms and back to her side.

'That's an odd attack.' Neji says. He never would have come up with something like that.

'Definitively one of the strange ones I've seen.' Hiashi agrees with him.

However, Sasori is quick to attack once again. This time by undoing one of the arm pieces and a gas appears from within. The gas fills the area and they are of the conclusion that it must be some sort of poison.

Chiyo tries to pull her away once again but this time it doesn't work. Sasori has bound her to himself using a kunai and rope. It leaves her hanging inside the poison gas.

'No! Sakura.' Naruto's eyes are wide. He didn't want something like that to happen. Even he can see that this is not good news.

'Don't breathe it in. Then she would be safe.' Iruka tells them. But even he knows how hard that is.

Sakura tries to hold her breath. I promised Naruto. That I'd go with him. I vowed that the next time I'd protect them both. Both Naruto and Sasuke appear on the screen. I'm not done for. Not yet! She takes out a tag and uses it to dispel the poison from her. It does damage her in the process as well.

'Risky move. But it worked.' Shikaku doesn't nod. Such a thing is really risky and he doesn't want to give anyone ideas.

'You kids better not do anything like that unless it's absolutely necessary. Got it?' Mikoto tells the younger ones. They all nod.

'Yes ma'am.'

Sakura is pissed. 'I will get you! You can blow my limbs off! You can poison me until I can't move, and I'll still get you!' She shouts at Sasori. 'No matter what you pull! No matter what you've got. I'll drag you to the edge of death and make you scream all about Orochimaru.'

'Sheesh. That's a lot.' Ino is impressed. Who knew Sakura could be vicious like that.

'I'd say go for it.' Hinata mumbles.

Sasori doesn't reply. Instead he sends a barrage of kunai her way. Chiyo is quick to intercept them. She takes out two puppets of her own. A man and a woman.

'When a woman is talking a man does well to listen quietly.' She tells him.

Sasori seems a little surprised with those two puppets. 'Oh. Those…'

'Are they special?' Kiba asks. He's never seen them before. But then again. He's never seen any puppets before.

'I've never heard of them. If that's meaningful to you.' Fugaku tells them.

'Not really. You look like you live under a rock.' Naruto tells him straight up. The man does have really large eyebags.

'I'm not from Iwa.' Is all he gets in response.

'That's right. The very first puppets you created. The mother and the father.' The puppets she brought forth resemble Sasori's parents quite well.

'He created puppets that look like his parents.' Sakura stares at the screen in awe.

Hinata looks down. 'That's kind of sad. If you think about it.' Sometimes she wishes she could hug her mother again as well

Iruka is concerned with something else. 'Kakashi what's wrong?' The man in question turned even paler than he already was. Something must be bothering him.

'Nothing.' But in his voice you could hear that there most certainly was something going on.

'What do you expect to do with them now? I made them. I know their workings inside out.' Sasori says. But Chiyo doesn't falter.

She lets the puppets connect their hands and when they part strings are attached between the two of them. She sends them at the arm mess Sasori created earlier and lets them cut it up into small little pieces. Sasori quickly removes the puppet out of harm's way and starts working of the counter attack.

'That's neat.' Lee cheers. They are moving so fast. How can someone do that by just moving their fingers. He would like to try to do that sometime.

'Go for it!' Naruto and Kiba yell out.

Sakura can only stare in wonder.

'This is becoming a nuisance. Better speed things along.' Sasori smiles and he opens the mouth of the puppet. From the mouth a black substance appears and starts covering the area.

'What in the world?' Inoichi blinks. Is he seeing that correctly. Could that be?

'That's interesting.' A smirk appears on Shikaku's face. This is starting to get entertaining.

Chiyo doesn't seem too surprised. 'As I figured, that puppet can use the third Kazekage's own jutsu.

'That's not good. Is it?' Sasuke turns to the adults for an explanation.

Mikoto nods. 'Not at all.'

'Why?' Naruto is confused.

'I have a feeling they'll explain.'

'Haven't seen it for a while, have you? If you recall, this is what made his name as the most powerful of all.' Sasori stares them down.

'Things are going to get messy.' Chiyo sighs.

'What on earth?' Sakura can only stare in wonder.

'It's the most feared weapon in Sunagakure. The iron sand.' Chiyo explains. 'The third Kazekage was graced with a special constitution that allowed him to convert his chakra into magnetic forces.'

'Oh. So, he uses physics. Like in those boring lessons from Iruka.' Naruto falls back into his chair as he remembers the most boring lessons of his life.

Sasuke laughs. 'Naruto. I think every ninja uses physics.'

'We walk on water. I think it's safe to say we don't always use physics.' Shisui tells him otherwise.

'What do you mean? That thing's just a puppet, right? How can a doll hold chakra?' Sakura asks back.

'Well that puppet is a human puppet, built from a real cadaver. Like a battery, it kept what chakra the body had possessed in life.' Chiyo explains the gross truth. 'Sasori is the only one who can produce human puppets. Whomever he makes his puppet, Sasori has access to that person's jutsu. Ultimately that's what gives him such supreme power.'

'That's a scary thought.' Hinata doesn't even want to think about it. If someone could steal someone else's power. They would certainly become feared.

'He's someone we'll have to look out for.' Shisui says and he goes to put it down in his notes.

Sasori seems a little amused by the explanation. 'Oh, there's more to it than that. Remember of all my collection this one is my favorite.'

'Sakura you get away from here. I'll take care of this.' Chiyo says. 'I did not expect this. You're no match for him now, not with this card at play.'

'What is she going to do?' Kiba wonders. Isn't she already really old.

'There are quite a couple of powerful techniques to her name. I'd say pick one and stick with it.' Shikaku goes to explain. She was one of the most feared ninjas when he was their age. One should never underestimate an elderly ninja. No matter how much age might cripple them.

Sasori goes for the attack. He sends the magnetic sand like bullets at the two women. Chiyo quickly uses the female puppet to put Sakura out of the way. While the male puppet makes a shield to protect her.

'So, you did fiddle a bit. Chakra shield, huh? Quite an upgrade since last I played with them.' Sasori smirks in a very subtle way.

'Played with them? Did he put them on unsuspecting victims or something?' Shino wonders. The kids snicker at that.

'They would be useful for pranks.' Naruto could see the use them that way.

'Let's not think about that.' Iruka tells him firmly. Naruto using puppets would be an absolute nightmare. He already gets those dastardly shadow clones.

But the attack did more damage than it would first seem. The puppet's joints are filled with iron sand now and it limits their movements.

'That's not good.' Itachi mutters. The rest of the group agrees with him.

'The iron sand has seeped into the doll. So long as I have the magnetic power of the third Kazekage that thing can't last.' Sasori is pretty sure of his victory.

Sakura glares at him.

'This time I'll attack both of you at once!' Sasori says. 'Just to make sure you're really dead. I'll use my most lethal forms.' He does some motions and the iron sand starts to form once again. This time focusing on them both. 'One puppet, two people. Can't protect both. What do you say to that witch?' Let's see which one will die.

'Please protect Sakura. I don't want her to die.' Naruto whispers. He really likes Sakura. She's really pretty and cool.

'Yeah. She's too cool for that.' Sasuke agrees. She is one of his teammates after all. And he'll make sure to take good care of them.

Another hidden compartment hidden inside the puppet opens up and from it appear a force that hits them both at the same time. The impact shatters the ground. Sakura can only use her arms to protect herself. As the dust clears the people can see the result of the attack clearly.

Sakura is protected by the puppet using a chakra shield while Chiyo has opened up her own arm and uses that as a shield.

'Did she turn herself into a puppet?' Shino blinks a couple times, but nobody sees because his glasses are covering his eyes.

'That's freaky.' Chouji agrees with him. Even if Shino himself is also freaky.

'Why not a robotic arm. That could be way cooler.' Naruto complains. He's seen it in some of the movie he watches.

'I don't know if they were around in her time.' Sasuke tells him.

'I don't think they are around, even now.' Shikamaru bursts their little bubble of fun.

'Just an arm… but still, rigging your own body. We puppet masters…' Sasori smiles, 'we're all of a kind, huh?' He laughs a little sadistically.

'Don't tell me he did the same thing to himself.' That could pose a problem. Itachi can see it clearly.

'It wouldn't surprise me.' Shisui says. All those Akatsuki guys are a little strange and have something wrong with their bodies. Even Itachi with all that coughing he did. And of course, sharingan.

'Creepy.' Sasuke shudders.

Chiyo sighs. 'I see. So, that's what you did, then.'

'Once the iron sand gets in, the puppet is done for. Well, now you're out of puppets. What's next?' Sasori taunts. 'Even a great puppet master is nothing without a puppet, huh?' He laughs some more. The iron sand in the air starts to collect itself once again. Ready for the next attack. It forms two large shapes in the air.

'No. Sakura punch those into pieces!' Lee tries to tell her. Not that it actually does something.

'Go all out.' Naruto tries to cheer her on as well.

'A pity I got us into this jam, indeed, what next?' Chiyo looks at Sakura. 'Sakura, whatever he's up to you get out of here.' She tells her.

Sakura looks at what's in front of her. Worry is clear on her face but then determination breaks through. What can I do right now? 'Granny Chiyo. Please use me!'

'Again?' Tenten blinks. Didn't they already use this trick.

Chiyo sighs. 'I lost an arm. I won't be able to support you as before.'

'That's okay. I might not be rigged up with fancy weapons, like the puppets but what has been hammered into me is the unbending spirit of my master.' She stands in front of Chiyo and she gets attached with the chakra strings.

Well she's convinced now. 'Go for it!'

'Shatter that thing into pieces.' Ino agrees with her fellow girl.

'The third Kazekage's power is magnetic force! That means arms of iron and steel are useless.'

'That's just swell. 'Cause like my master I learned to fight with my bare hands.'

'Scary.' Women that fight with their hands are deadly. It's a message most experienced ninjas know. They have seen it plenty of times before.

'I don't want to get caught in any of her attacks.' Shisui cries.

'I don't want to get caught in attacks in general.' Sasuke says.

Shikamaru snorts. 'Don't we all.'

Sasori scoffs. 'This again. How tedious.'

Sakura runs of in the direction of the puppet with all her might. Sasori forms the shape in the air so that it's pointing at her. It tries to reach for her. Like a giant dagger it hits the ground and shatters it. Sakura manages to dodge with the help of Chiyo and prepares for the next attack as the next shape is trying to pummel her beneath its force as it comes down. The black object hits the ground and Sakura goes for the attack. She hits it with her strongest punch and the object gets casted away quite a distance.

'Whoa! That's awesome!' Naruto starts bouncing in his seat again. He loves a good punch.

'Go Sakura!' Lee and Kiba cheer.

'And that's just the beginning!' She shouts.

Sasori is shocked. 'Quite a big punch for a little girl.'

'She might actually be taller than you though.' Itachi points out. They can't really get a good scale of things with them fighting so far apart but their can't be too big of a distance between the two of them.

'Don't ruin his dreams.' Shisui nudges his friend.

Itachi snorts. 'I'll ruin them however I see fit.'

Sakura pants. That punch must have taken a lot of energy. Sasori goes for the attack once again. This time by colliding the two shapes in the air. And then they split up like blood veins inside a body. They pierce everything they come across. There are so many it must be difficult to dodge. Luckily Chiyo is there to pull her out of the way. But it's too late. A small portion of the attack still hits her. She comes out scratched and injured.

'Sakura are you alright?' Chiyo asks. She remembers what she said to Sakura earlier. That Sasori's poison would be fatal.

'She got poisoned?' Now fear starts appearing in the eyes of the kids. The adults do know that she would survive. In one of the other fragments she had a seal on her forehead and she doesn't have it here. That means that, that one came after this one.

'That's not good.' At least that's something they can all agree on.

'Please Sakura. Be alright.' Ino wishes for her friend.

'I told you, didn't I? That there was more to it?' Sasori taunts.

'The iron sand is soaked in poison!' Chiyo realizes too late.

Sakura falls to the ground. She's affected by the poison in her veins.

'NO!' The kids yell out. They don't want Sakura to get hurt.

'Sakura!' Ino yells.

'Heh. The poison is starting its work. It numbs the body pretty rapidly. Left alone, she may last three days.' Sasori says. 'But I'll finish her now.'

Sasori sends the puppet in Sakura's direction. The speed is rapid. Chiyo tries to move her out of the way but she's stuck. A rock is on her leg. The puppet gets closer and closer but just as it's about to hit Sakura she stands up and punches it into pieces. She then calmly makes her way over to Chiyo and removes the rock from her leg.

'What in the world?' Most people in the room had to do a double take at that.

'How is she not affected?' Hiashi wonders out loud.

'Sakura. How?' Chiyo asks.

'I used the antidote. There's one left. Granny Chiyo, I want you to keep it.' She tells the older lady.

'Of course. Why didn't I think of that?' Neji says with all the sarcasm he could muster.

'Most people don't carry around the right antidote in these kinds of situations.' Mikoto tells him anyway.

'But when?'

'Back when I concocted it for Kankuro. I had enough for three doses. I knew our adversary used poison. I brought it along with the rest, in hypodermic form. The catch is, the antidote is only really potent for about three minutes. While it's working, whatever poison you're exposed to gets converted into a harmless protein.' Sakura explains. 'I didn't want Sasori to know I had it. I figured his guard would be lowest after he'd played his final card. That it'd be our only chance. So, I had to hang on to it until the very last moment.

'Smart.' The Hokage nods in approval.

'Who's Kankuro?' That's the question on Naruto's mind.

'Dunno?' Sasuke shrugs. 'I don't think we've seen him before.'

'For the next three minutes or so, his poison won't affect me. We only have this chance!'

Chiyo nods. 'Understood. It's time to end this fight.' Sakura goes to heal the lady's arm and they are ready to fight once again.

'We have no time. Can we start now, granny Chiyo?' Sakura stands back up. She's still panting.

Sasori observes the scene and he thinks. How can she move? I know my poison affected her… Wait no. She detoxified it! But how? The antidote is prohibitively difficult to mix. If there's even the slightest mistake. Even I need to reference the mix ratio table and I created it. And yet… was it the witch? No, I doubt that.

'Heh. Sakura is just awesome like that.' Naruto brags. Sakura's face turns red. She never would have thought Naruto would think like that about her.

'She did learn from Tsunade.' Hiashi shrugs.

Sakura goes to heal her own injuries at this point.

'So, that brat is a medic ninja.' Sasori states as he observes the happenings. Hmph. I admit, she is quite a girl. Never thought I'd see the third Kazekage destroyed. It's probably a waste to use other human puppets. He starts taking of his cloak. 'I haven't been forced to solve a problem this way since I joined the Akatsuki. I wonder how long it's been.' He takes of his clothes.

'What's he gonna do?' Kiba wonders out loud. What kind of jutsu requires you to take of clothes.

'Sexy jutsu?' Naruto suggests.

Sasuke sighs. 'I don't think that's his style.'

Sakura is shocked. 'What is that?'

'He hasn't aged at all. He still looks as he did long ago. Well, there's a reason why.' Chiyo explains.

Next up Sasori is shown. And like his grandmother he changed himself into a puppet. But unlike her, he's a full puppet. There are multiple weapons coming from his body.

'Holy shit!' Kiba yells out. He doesn't get reprimanded.

'That's freaky.' Sakura agrees with him.

'It's been a while indeed, since I last used myself.' Sasori looks down at them. There is a liquid falling down his body. It could be blood. It could be oil. It's unclear.

Sakura stares at the strange scene in front of her. 'He's an actual human puppet?'

Sasori goes for the attack. Using his modified body, he sends multiple projectiles their way. 'What's the matter? Not going to attack me?' He tries to get them to attack.

'He's going crazy.' Itachi observes. It happens a lot with people. When they get closer and closer to death they start acting crazy. Like they are desperate to live.

'It must have been a while since he last was pushed this much.' Shisui agrees with him.

'Most people probably don't have the antidote.' Iruka points out.

Sakura observes his every move. One-minute left.

Sasori sends out the rope coming from his torso at the area where Chiyo is located. It scratches Sakura's side. Then after the rope is tied to the area he uses the tension to project himself at her.

'Die!' He yells out.

Sakura of course took notice of this and reaches out to grab the rope Sasori is flying with. She uses this to sling Sasori's body towards herself and readies herself for the attack. She gives him one hard punch in the middle and his body shatters into pieces.

'Yes!' The kids cheer. Sakura's got this.

'Is it really that simple?' Shikamaru is a little skeptical. Thing can't be that easy.

Chouji agrees with his friend. 'I doubt that.'

Just as she's about to think it's over Sasori's body starts reassembling itself. It seems he's not that easily beaten.

'That's useful.' Shikamaru raises his eyebrow. How is he doing that?

'I wish my toys would do that after I scatter them around.' Sasuke grumbles. His toys are always scattered around the room.

'Why don't you invent something like that.' Shisui suggests.

'Too much work.' Sasuke shrugs.

Then Chiyo goes to reattach her arm and takes out a scroll. 'I forbade even myself use of this jutsu because of you, Sasori. I never thought I would ever use it again. But against you, I must.' She unravels the scroll and from it appear ten different puppets. They are all different shapes and sizes.

'This is one of her most famous techniques.' Shikaku says. He's done plenty of research on puppet masters and their techniques. You never know when it could come in handy.

'That's scary.' Chouji mutters. He doesn't want to deal with anything like that ever.

'They all look so dead.' Naruto says. It freaks him out a little.

Ino laughs. 'They are puppets. They're not supposed to be alive.'

'Outstanding Granny. A puppet master's skill is measured by the number of puppets they can use.' Sasori gives the convenient explanation. 'Granny Chiyo's secret, Yubi no Kazu. I've heard of it. You once destroyed an entire fortress with it. The first puppet master Monzaemon's ten masterpieces. Your collection is quite impressive but…' This time Sasori takes out his own scrolls and unravels them. From it definitively more than ten puppets appear. 'I destroyed an entire country with these.

'Holy fuck!' Shisui yells out. 'That's a lot of puppets.'

'What did I say about your language young man?' Mikoto stares him down. She has a sandal in her hand.

'But they get to do it!' He weeps. Then he gets hit. 'Sorry.' He cries out.

'This is disappointing. I'm wasting my time with this little girl and old hag. And having to resort to my best puppets.' Sasori laments.

Sakura rushes back over to Chiyo's side.

'Your antidote has worn off, stay back.' Chiyo warns her.

Sakura smiles. 'You already know, don't you? Who I've become.'

'Oh yes. You've modeled yourself after Tsunade. Now comes the finale. Ready?'

'Yeah!'

'They're going for it!' Lee is ready for an epic fight. He can't wait to see it happen.

'Kick his ass!' Tenten cheers.

Sasori sends his puppets at the women. And in return Chiyo sends her puppets at his puppets. They clash and Chiyo's puppets manage to take down quite a couple of Sasori's puppets. But because there are so many it's difficult for them to get through. She makes the puppets use a ninja technique but even that has minimal effect. Chiyo is too concentrated on the fight happening in front of her that she misses the puppet behind her that manages to cut her side. And with the poison coating all of their weapons that's surely not good news. She stumbles a little but manages to continue fighting.

'No!' The kids yell out. They know that this is bad news. They've seen it just happen to Sakura.

'Now, she'll need the antidote and then they're out.' Chouji says.

'That's not good, not good at all.' Sasuke mutters. He just hopes Sakura is alright after this.

'Sakura, aim for Sasori. I'll take care of the puppets.' Chiyo tells her.

'Okay.'

'Use this.' Chiyo motions for one of her puppets to give some sort of orb to her. Sakura takes it and rushes right at Sasori. Not a second later she throws the orb and it transforms into the mouth of a beast. It approaches Sasori is record speed. And eventually pins him to a nearby wall. There is a seal that prevents him from moving.

'Got him!' Ino cheers. She knew her friend could do it.

'I did it.' Sakura is panting. That attack must have taking quite the bit of energy.

'He can't move. It's over Sasori. That sealing completely traps chakra. You can't use your chakra strings anymore.' As soon as she said that Chiyo falls to the ground.

'Granny Chiyo! Take the antidote now!' Sakura tells her.

'She'll not be able to stand much longer.' Hiashi watches the screen. This ending doesn't quite feel right. Not yet. There is still too much to learn.

'Not if it continues like this.' Fugaku agrees with him.

But then in front of Chiyo Sasori appears. It seems that he was somehow able to move himself into another body. The other shell is simply a husk now. Sakura runs as fast as she can to Chiyo's side and just as Sasori is about to hit Chiyo, she intercepts the attack with her own body. His sword pierces right through her.

'Ouch.' Shisui winces. He's been stabbed before. But never completely pierced like that. That must hurt like a bitch.

'That must hurt like shit!' Naruto yells out. He doesn't get a commend for his cursing. Shisui grumbles in silence.

'Sakura.' Chiyo is shocked. Now Sakura must be affected by the poison as well.

'Take the antidote now. Granny Chiyo.' Sakura tells her.

'Hmph. A wound like this and you still care about others? You're pretty tough.' Sasori tells her as he moves the sword inside of her. 'It seems the poison is working. Needless to say, this sword is also poisoned.' Sasori states the obvious.

My body is going numb. I can't control my chakra. Sakura thinks.

'Who is going to take the antidote?' Sakura secretly hopes it's her. She wants to live after all. But she doesn't want the lady to die either. This is such a difficult decision.

'The lady of course. Why would you give it to someone else if you need it as well?' Hiashi sneers. It's an obvious choice if you ask him.

'Not everyone is as heartless as you.' Ino is quick to point out. At her statement Inoichi starts beaming with pride. His daughter is so brave.

Chiyo takes out the antidote and puts it right into Sakura's body.

'It's Sakura.' Naruto sighs from relief. Sakura will make it out fine.

'Why?' Sakura asks but not a second later Chiyo falls to the ground. Sasori tries to remove the sword from Sakura's body but she's holding it in place. She doesn't want him to hit Chiyo any more. Too bad that Sasori is able to detach his arm and go for the attack using another weapon.

'Protect her Sakura!' Tenten cheers for the girl. A couple others join in as well.

However, this time Sasori get's pierces. Two swords hit him right through the chest, where the weird spherical object is located. The two puppets that do this are the mother and father puppet. Both Sakura and Sasori are shocked by what's happening.

'She got him!' Sasuke cheers.

'I did not see that coming.' Shino simply states. As if it was in fact something he did saw coming.

'Me neither.' Kiba stares at the screen in wonder. This was awesome.

'You lowered your guard at the last moment Sasori.' Chiyo says. One of her other puppets managed to put the seal used previously on the ground where Sasori is standing. 'You can't move anymore, can you? Even though your body is now that of a puppet, you still need a human part to control chakra. That's your weakness. And now that part, in the left side of that puppet's chest is gone. That puppet body is, in fact, just a doll. Your true nature is that chakra producing part in your chest.'

'How does that even work?' Itachi asks. The gears in his head are already turning.

'Don't think about it too hard.' Shisui warns his friend.

'But it doesn't make any sense. We humans need a brain to function. And I'm pretty sure that's not it.' Itachi tells right back. It just doesn't make any sense to him. How does one do that?

Shisui puts a hand on his shoulder. 'You're thinking about it too much.'

'Heh.' Sasori laughs.

Chiyo falls to the ground once more but so does Sakura. The sword is still inside her after all. She reaches out and tries to pull the weapon out while trying to heal Sakura. 'Stay with me. Almost got it.'

Sasori is staring shocked at the scene. 'Impossible. I hit a vital point. Even without the poison, she's going to die. She's losing too much blood.' Sasori says. 'You're also a medic ninja. So, I aimed for a spot you can't heal very easily.'

'He sure knows his anatomy.' Jiraiya can only nod in approval.

'I think that if you want to turn someone into a puppet you need to know that kind of stuff.' Iruka points out.

'Hmph. I've already done first aid with medical ninjutsu. This is not medical ninjutsu.' Chiyo says. 'This imparts raw life energy. This is a transference technique. This jutsu. I spent years creating it for you. And only I can use it.' Her life seems to slowly be diminishing. 'With this jutsu the user can breathe life into even a puppet.'

'What?' Came the collective gasp of the group.

'That's possible? Ever never even heard of it.' Shikaku makes sure to add it to the list of things he'll have to research afterwards.

'Would Edo Tensei also work on a puppet?' Sasuke wonders out loud.

'I don't think so.' Itachi adds in. 'Maybe shadow clones could work.'

'That would be too over powered.' Naruto says. If someone could just call back powerful ninja like that they would have done so ages ago.

The Hokage puts a stop to their way of thinking as quick as he can. 'It's a forbidden technique for a reason.' These kids shouldn't be thinking about using it.

Sasori is a little too shocked to answer.

'In exchange for the life of the user. But that's an impossible dream now.' It seems that the last sentence she said had to do with something else.

'That's too bad.' Neji sulks. If only he could have brought his father back.

'Edo Tensei is still better.' Naruto decides. It would actually let him meet his father in the future. That already makes it leagues better than whatever she's trying to pull.

'It's not.' Sakura says. Edo Tensei is against the very nature of life. It can never be good.

'Nonsense. Utter nonsense. When did you go so senile, granny?' Sasori taunts.

'Sakura are you all right?'

'Yes. What about you, granny Chiyo?' Sakura asks back.

'Hm? Strange. With a transference technique, or whatever it's called. Doesn't the wielder die in exchange for bringing the recipient back to life?' Sasori asks.

'But Sakura wasn't dead.' Itachi is quick to point out.

'So, Chiyo doesn't die.' Shikamaru says. He's seen it before anyone else did. Of course, like always. Something about being smarter than anyone else. Not that he thinks like that. Other people are just stupid.

'Sakura was mortally wounded but had not yet died. That's why I survived.' Chiyo explains.

'What a shame.' Sasori says and at this Sakura punches him right in the face. She's pissed. 'You're wasting your time. This body doesn't feel pain. You'll only hurt your fist.

'Women they just love to do completely pointless things, heh. Even if my own grandmother dies I won't feel a thing. My heart is just like this body. She'd just be one more among the thousands I've killed. Things are simpler than you think.'

'That's just awful.' Ino yells. She doesn't get some of these people. That way of thinking isn't healthy at all.

'Who hurt him as a child?' Who hasn't. This is a ninja world and, in this world, people get hurt all the time. It's a shame.

'Kakashi what's wrong?' Iruka turns to look at the other. He's turned even paler than before. Kakashi shakes his head.

'Don't worry about it.' He'd rather doesn't mention it.

Sakura isn't happy with what he's saying. 'What do you think human life is? What is family to you?'

'Hey. Does that sound like something a shinobi should say?'

'Of course. I would walk through fire for my family.' Shisui proudly states. Sure, his clan is made up of assholes but he's proud to be part of it.

'Please don't.' Itachi tells him. Shisui would get burned if he did.

'Why can you only think of things that way?' Sakura asks once again.

'Do you want to try this body? If you do you'll understand a little of what it's like.' Sasori says. 'This body never decays. Puppets can be produced and reproduced and they're free from a mortal lifespan. Countless people can be created with puppets. But only if you want to.' There is this dazed look on his face. 'But it's not about quantity. A collection is all about quality.'

'I think he needs to pick up a screwdriver. Some of his screws are loose.' Neji mutters.

Kiba laughs. 'This time it might actually be literal.'

'What are you?' Sakura starts.

'Suffice it to say. I'm a human being who couldn't become a complete puppet. I'm a puppet but with a human heart. I'm neither human or puppet.'

Sakura stares at Sasori.

'The end is near. But first, I'll do something pointless too. A reward for defeating me.' Sasori starts. But this is where the scene ends.

'Oh really. You're gonna end there!' Lee complains. Number always does that. Ending at the most stupid of times. Why in the world?

'That's unfortunate.' The Hokage sighs. He would have liked to have heard a little more about Orochimaru.

'So, we learn nothing about Orochimaru.' Sakura glares. She wants to find that snake man and punch him in the face. He hurt Sasuke.

'At least we know something about Sasori now.' Shisui shrugs. He took plenty of notes.

'That was another good old fight.' Lee nods in approval. They've been getting a lot of these recently. It's fun to see.

'I want to see something funny again!' Naruto complains with his head on the desk.

'We now know how three of the Akatsuki members die. That gives us plenty of information.' Shikaku points out. It would give them the advantage for when they would have to face them in real life.

'On their weak spots.' Shisui nods. He took the notes.

'Yes.' They all nod.

'And they are all killed by those little kids there. Sakura, Sasuke, and Shikamaru.' Jiraiya laughs. It seems that to kill an Akatsuki member your name would have to start with a S. Too bad his name doesn't.

'Those kids are good. We shouldn't underestimate them.' Iruka smiles at his students. He can't help but be proud of them.

Added notes:

Sasori really likes puppets

Sasori is a human barbie doll

Sasori also likes poison

Sakura is scary

Chiyo is a powerful lady

Sasori is connected with a piece in his chest. Destroy that, destroy him

Sorry for the long wait. My medication changed and I had really been feeling the effects. I'll try to upload once every two weeks now but sometimes things can happen. Thank you all for being patient with me.

The poll will still be up until the next chapter is posted, so if you want to vote please do.

I don't know if I'm updating before the new year so happy holidays and lets hope 2021 will be better than last year.