After a week of almost non stop travel (crossing through Devil's Ravine again took about two days) Sasori was now in the Land of Grass and well on his way to the Heaven and Earth Bridge. Though during his traveling across the two country that separate him from his destination, gave Sasori a lot time to think things over as his spy was acting rather funny as of late. He noticed it sooner but simply played it off as nothing more then him making a big deal out of nothing. However he was made every suspicious when his sleep agent within Orochimaru's ranks insisted that the meeting happen as originally planned rather then simply accepting that he was rescheduling it because making Sakura into his three hundred puppet was more important at the time. That and the fact that the information he was getting from them was proving to be less and less useful with each time. Taking all these things into account it was safe to assume that sleeper agent could quite possibly be a double agent since everything was starting to make sense now.
'It better be cautious now then sorry later Sasori' thought as he stopped and got his plans ready for just in case his sleeper agent was indeed a double agent that was now working for Orochimaru.
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Twenty minutes later….
Sasori arrived at Heaven and Earth Bridge; but before revealing himself to his sleeper agent who standing in the middle of the bridge, the red haired Kugutsu master inspected the area briefly to see if there was anyone else around and found that there was not.
Thus he approached the bridge, confident that while he no longer had Hiruko, that his agent would remember what he really looked like. At the time they were planted within Orochimaru's ranks, he had not started wearing Hiruko all the time, only when he fought someone.
The agent in question, a person who looked no older then Sasori himself, appeared and their identity was hidden with the use of the cloak they were wearing.
"Alright, I am here so you can take off that hood already," Sasori told his spy while approaching him from the right side of the bridge.
"Of course, Sasori-sama" the spy said as he removed his hood to reveal that he was none other then Kabuto Yakushi, Orochimaru's right hand man.
"Report to me what you have found out," Sasori ordered.
"At once, Sasori-sama, but might I asked what happened to your Hiruko puppet?" Kabuto replied.
"It was destroyed a month ago along with my strongest puppet, but I have managed to find one that replaced both of them," Sasori told him. "But, enough of this. Get on with your report," Sasori demanded.
Kabuto began to tell him new information he had learned about Orochimaru since their last meeting. With the speed rivaling a flash of lighting, Sasori was pierced through the heart by what appeared to be a katana extended from forest behind him. Sasori's body went limp on the sword as the only non replaceable part of his body(his heart) had to have been struck.
"What's the matter, Kabuto? We killed Sasori, so why do you look so shocked?" Orochimaru asked. Rather then removing his Kusanagi Sword immediately, he decided to let stay in Sasori's heart and twist it around a bit to make sure the guy was dead. The weakness of Sasori's immortality was that he still had his original heart and needed it to survive, unlike himself who simply need to a body to taken over.
"I see. You were a double agent after all," Sasori said as he grabbed the katana with one hand and placed another one over his heart then with a quick motion pulled it out and healed the damage done by the sword.
Once the sword was out he threw it and its owner across the bridge and into the wooden area on the other side.
"Interesting. You seem to have lost Hiruko, but gained this new puppet instead that you are in turn using like Hiruko," Orochimaru said, managing to land on his feet after Sasori's strike.
"So this is not Sasori then, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked as stood beside his master.
"No, this is nothing more then one of his human puppets. Of that much I am sure. There no way the real Sasori could survived a sword through the heart; however, the problem is: which one of them is it?" his master said while adding mentally, 'How was it able to repair itself like that? It's nothing more then hunk of wood containing charka!'
With his interest peeked, he dispelled the genjutsu on the Sasori in front of them. It was similar to the one that Tsunade used, leading him to be curious over a rumor that he overheard on the way here.
When the genjustu was dispelled, to say that the two sound nins were shocked would be an grave understatement.
Standing there was the pink hair puppet that was once Sakura Haruno, dressed in her maroon coat with its extra long sleeves and her unique dark maroon collar (the one that Ten Puppet Collection of Chikamatsu have).
"I heard that you had fought with Sasori and have been missing ever since, so this is what has become of you, eh, Sakura? Well, I cannot say that this was a result I was…." Kabuto said before he was cut by the wooden girl. She appeared before him and grabbed his head with her hands, which were claws at the moment thanks to her Iron Sand covering them. She then rammed Kabuto's head into her knee and as his head shot back from the impact of his skull on Sakura's knee. He was punched in the gut by Sakura's charka and Iron Sand-enhanced punch. Kabuto was sent flying off but did not get too far before Sakura's tail managed to grab hold of Kabuto's ankle, bring him back to punched in the gut, that send him flying once again, only to brought back and punched again.
From where Orochimaru was standing, it appeared that Sasori had the wooden Sakura treat Kabuto as if he were a yo-yo for about a minute before sending the right hand man flying into a nearby boulder. A sickening crack could be heard coming not from the boulder but from Kabuto, his bones breaking upon impact with the boulder.
"I don't know how you knew this girl, but I will not allow you to insult her skills when they were enough to destroy both Hiruko and my strongest puppet with help from my grandmother. Also she has done something that everyone else, even you and Slug Sanin, have failed at and that was to make an antidote to my poison," Sasori told him with his voice somehow sounding like it was coming from the pink hair puppet, even though her mouth was no longer moving. It was clear that Sakura imitating Sasori's mannerisms was just another part of the genjustu Sasori used on her.
"That girl makes one interesting human puppet. Its the only one I ever seen that can actually repairs itself," Orochimaru stated as Sakura repaired her knee, which had a dent in it the shape of Kabuto's head.
"That she does. Her medical abilities combine with her charka enhanced strength as well as the extras I have added on to her, making Sakura into probably my best creation to date," the Red Sand stated.
'Now I really must kill him. In doing this to the pink hair brat, Naruto-kun is bound to chase after him for her even if he is alone,' Orochimaru thought. The Akatsuki could not be allowed to get a hold of the Kyuubi.
Before he could get to Sasori, he would first have to go through the human puppet that stood before him. It seemed he knew Kabuto would be problem, thus the extreme measure that were used so that even with his unique ability to be able to reactivate dead cells and grow new ones, it would take him a long time to recover from the beating Sakura gave him.
"So you truly plan to have this puppet of yours attack bare handed with only some non-poisonous Iron Sand and tail as her only weapons?" Orochimaru said as Kabuto's unique ability would work against him if the Iron Sand and tail still contained poison.
"That's not problem. If you want a sword fight, she can give you a sword" Sasori said as voice was still coming from Sakura mouth yet she had move it an inch.
With a touch to her left forearm, Sakura pulled out one of her large swords that she brandish in front of herself before being made to attack.
Orochimaru was shocked as the Sakura was able to match him strike for strike as well dodge all of his strikes as well.
In one these exchanges, Sasori was able to have Sakura knock his Kusanagi Sword from his hand and hold firmly in place with her tail prevent it from moving. The snake Sanin was about to counter attack when found himself on the wrong edge of Sakura's huge sword.
'This girl, even before she was converted into her current state, must have been different from the way she was nearly three years ago,' Orochimaru thought. It was hard to believe that this was the same girl that he completely paralyzed with only his Killer Intent.
From staring at the wrong end of her sword, it was clear to see just how Sasori's grandmother was able to use her in the destruction of his two previous favorite human puppets.
Just when she was about to give the finishing blow to traitorous snake, a shield of Iron Sand appeared behind her and as a counter attack she swung her second sword at her new attacker.
"Well…Well…It seems that this is the result of what happened to you during your fight with Sasori. You became a puppet, the same thing that Naruto claimed I would become if I went to Orochimaru when we last met," Sasuke said as he blocked Sakura's sword with his own Kusanagi.
However Sasuke was quickly overpowered by Sakura's charka enhanced strength used to its fullest, thus sending the last Uchiha flying into forest and through a couple of trees.
"Where do you think you are going?" Sasori's voice said, still coming from Sakura's unmoving mouth at the now fleeing Sannin.
Making her throw the charka sealing orb at him, she was able to catch the snake with the cage. Yet he managed use his Oral Rebirth Technique at the last minute to escape before the cage completely cut off his charka.
Sasori was about to have Sakura chase after him when Sasuke returned and used something he called Chidori Senbon to cut the charka strings he had connected to Sakura to him. With no one controlling her, it was easy for Sasuke to push her over the bridge and into the ravine below.
Luckily, this was not a bad thing since Sasori happened to be in the ravine and managed to reconnect charka strings to Sakura before she fell too far down. Though it seem that Sasuke knew what happened, he did not purse after her since a two on one fight in ravine was something he wasn't willingly to do. One wrong move and his goal of avenging his family would over because he would most likely be dead.
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A half and hour later…
"It's about time you finally dragged you sorry butt up here," sneered Zetsu's white side.
"Yes, we have been waiting here for sometime now, waiting you to climb up," his black side informed the puppet master.
"Well, I was having Sakura make some repairs to herself. She got damaged a little during her fall," Sasori told him.
"This chick really is strong since using her you nearly managed take out the traitor Orochimaru, nearly killed his equally traitorous right hand man after using him as yo-yo, and over powered Itachi's snot nose little brother," Zetsu (white) said as he looking over Sakura.
"Sakura is my best creation to date, after all, and I would expect nothing less from her," Sasori told him as recalled her to her scroll.
"Well the reason I am here is to confirm what you probably already knew before coming here, that Kabuto is a traitor; but also to inform you, the next quota that the Leader has ordered you to come in with helping us gain enough money to complete part one of the master plan," the black side informed.
"Interesting. So I can gain the money any way I want, as long as I do not make too much of scene doing it?" he asked. Zetsu just nodded his head before vanishing into the ground.
'Well then, I guess it's time to earn some money,' Sasori thought to himself as leave the bridge in search of how to get enough money to meet the quota that the Leader had set for him.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000I would like to thank:
RANMACAT and King Hawke for review my story
King Hawke for beta reading Chapter 04
Kenzuka and bigchillin for adding this story to their Alert List
