The Bleak Adventures of Puppet Sasori
So Sasori has finally appeared. Yeah! Another new character will be introduced in this chapter, one that all of you should recognize.
Do not fear my dear readers, Sasori's journey has just begun thus he will one day escape the captivity of his dear grandmother and then he will begin a quest of epic proportions. However that will not occur until at least chapter six.
Sasori is also a little OCish. I apologize for that inconvenience, but his character needed to fit this role in order for the story to make sense. I also apologize for my delay in updating. I had problems last night in submitting this chapter.
Also for a hundred hits I shall reward you readers by giving you all a slightly longer chapter. Enjoy!
Note from Insomniac: A warning for language for this chapter. And due to technical difficulties, Skitzo has been delayed from updating so I'm updating for her. Gomen ne minna-san! Read and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Pinocchio.
Chapter Three –
Seasons have passed yet our poor little Marionette still remains in the clutches of the nasty witch of poison Chiyo. No matter how hard Sasori tried, he could not escape the wicked household where even the Old Lady's pets seem to fill his wooden heart with unbearable loathing.
However the aged-bimbo proved her use. Seeing her little wooden doll sulking in the corners of her household, silently plotting her bloody demise has caused Chiyo to take deliberate measures to entertain her grandson. Hence she instructed the puppet in the art of poison and in the skill of puppetry, so to preoccupy Sasori's mind with positive outlets.
Unfortunately she did not consider how bored Puppet Sasori must have felt having nothing but puppets to keep him accompanied.
Sasori sat alone (no real surprise there, not a soul has visited the old hermit since he had been fashioned into his Marionette body) beside the outskirts of Kohona forest. Betwixt his fingertips were tiny strings, dangling to join two miniature wooden dolls. The two puppets (Mother and Father) were Sasori's first creations and because of that he spent hours upon hours polishing their surfaces and oiling their joints. These puppets were the only objects in his home that gave poor little Sasori any comfort.
The Marionette glanced up from his game, gazing into the dark abyss of the enchanted woods. The forest surrounding the old bat's cottage always filled his hollow body with dread. It felt as if something evil was lurking within those trees – those trees which Old Lady Chiyo claimed he was once a part of.
It was as if something horrific happened. Sometimes Sasori could hear the faint strangled screams of the long deceased echoing through the branches of the trees. Sasori could almost envision the blood soaking into the rich fertile soil. All of this unnerved the wooden puppet.
"Somehow … I-I fear this forest. Something appalling must have happened if my nerves quiver at the sight." Sasori said to no one, transfixed at the vision of woodland terror before him.
Suddenly the bush beside him rustled. Sasori dropped his little Marionettes, head turning to the source of restless sound. He crawled closer to the shrub; tilting his crown the puppet shoved his head into the bush.
Only to find razor sharp claws attach themselves to his skull.
"Argh! Holy shit what the fuck is this!" a string of profanity escaped from the puppet's lips. Sasori continued to shout as the brown creature scraped its talons deeper. He reached to grab a single ringed tail and tossed the monster from his face.
The creature withered and shook, screaming so loudly that Sasori was sure the villagers would come looking for the source of the ruckus. It was a brown raccoon with dark black rings around his green teal eyes. Above its left brow was imprinted a red kanji symbol "love". In the eve of its skull's immense throbbing, the little monster clutched its head within its paws, muttering incoherent words.
"Mother? Mother!" cried the mad monster, clawing the tethered soil.
Sasori quirked a brow and muttered, "A talking raccoon?"
The raccoon's body quaked. Unexpectedly, a sea of white sand spread across the enclosure. Sasori watched with fascination as the human-like dirt floated around the crazed woodland creature. Due to its unrelenting screams, Sasori assumed that the raccoon –the tanuki – appeared to be undergoing a most painful migraine from an unknown cause.
"Mother? Mother why do you cry so?" the raccoon called out in a child-like manner. It clenched its temple once more. "Please stop, I'll quench your thirst."
A hungry gleam arose from those green orbs. The sand surrounding the raccoon quickened its flight, as if finding the anticipation of a hunt exciting. Sasori took a step back, away from this deranged woodland animal. The raccoon licked its lips, eyeballing the wooden puppet with delight.
A wave of sand erupted from its tranquil floating, surrounding the unexpected Puppet Sasori. The sand cloaked his wooden frame, choking every joint in his body. 'Great' the little Marionette thought in annoyance, 'if I come out of this alive I'm going to have to ask the old witch to rebuild my body again.'
The freaky tanuki cackled, twittering its little paws eagerly. The little monster pressed its face to its victim's nose and chortled "Mother cries for red blood. Your blood must spill and paint the soil!"
"Shut up you sick freak!" In all honesty, Sasori was getting sick of this annoying, mentally disturbed raccoon. So he did what any normal, sane puppet would have done in his circumstance. Sasori opened his mouth.
The raccoon's eyes watered, until the voracious sting halted its previous intentions. A mysterious and equally acidic gas had escaped the Marionette's lips and now poisoned the tanuki's face. Sasori smirked, slipping out of the formerly murderous sand's grip. Once again he was indebt to the old hag for installing toxics in his body.
"Ahh! Our face! Our face!" bellowed the pathetic ring-tailed monster. "Please save us, we don't want to die!"
For the first time in his miserable state of being another creature cried for his help. Sasori did not know why, but his wooden heart swelled with pity at this now defenseless animal.
The puppet made his way towards the beast, a vial filled with clear liquid visible in his timber hand. He patted the head of the trembling tanuki, opening its right eye then hesitating before allowing three drops to hit the teary surface. He did the same to the other eye, briefly lingering over the strange kanji over the raccoon's brow.
Sasori then took his leave, once he was sure the little raccoon was not in any danger. However a heavy weight suddenly appeared on his shoulder, causing his frame to slouch. A tick grew at Sasori's brow as he realized that the crazy beast had lunged towards him and now proceeded to hug him.
"Thank you, Master," nuzzled the ring-tailed one, "Yes you are a kind Master indeed."
"Master, huh?" Perhaps Sasori would dismiss the raccoon's need of physical tendencies. "Great. Now what am I going to do with a schizophrenic raccoon?" the Marionette mumbled sarcastically, hesitantly petting the cooing creature. He cleared his throat, "I am Puppet Sasori. I am curious raccoon; do you live in this vile forest?"
It shook its head and replied, "No. We were traveling from Suna and stopped …" A dreamy glint appeared in the raccoon's eyes. It liked its lip then began, "Blood, such a beautiful flowing liquid. Its metallic taste saturates our senses."
Sasori was a patient Marionette. He had to be, as the Old Lady sometimes left him for days alone in the cottage with nothing to entertain his mischievous mind. Therefore he waited ever so patiently as the crazed raccoon ranted about the delicious quality of blood. The beast nuzzled its nose into the crook of Sasori's neck before asking softly, "So Master Puppet, you think it's vile in these woods? What about this forest intrigues you?"
"Everything."
Though on the verge of lunacy, the fuzzy creature knew a rhetoric remark when he heard one. There was something deep, much deeper in his master. Almost animalistic but definitely vengeful.
He knew then that loved his new master.
The raccoon sighed contentedly, leaning his furry head against the puppet's shoulder. "You asked so we shall answer. We have many names. Mother is Shukaku. I, on the other hand, am Gaara of the desert."
"Gaara?" Sasori repeated, pondering this rather peculiar name.
Gaara's eyes happily danced, shifting the cool gaze towards the other side of the terrain. He laughed at the irony, "Interesting. A puppet playing with puppets."
Sasori's dark gaze deepened. "I find nothing fascinating with it at all."
He calmly walked to his dolls, bending down to cradle them under his arm. His murky brown eyes shone with adoration. "I suffer from not only physical tortures from my insane grandmother, but also from boredom." Sasori admitted to the deranged raccoon, "The old hag taught me how to recognize certain poisons and to control invincible strings, to tame my boredom if you will. Perhaps she didn't want me contemplating her death as often. Anyways this gift – it is power."
Gaara knew of power. His mother radiated of power. "You feel no remorse for what you are doing?" the tanuki asked out of curiosity. He would not eat the flesh of another raccoon, so why should his master play with the lives of puppets?
Sasori snorted, berating the stupidity of his new pet, and snarled, "Why should I? Because I am a puppet myself? Don't be foolish raccoon. Humans do this all the time. They undermine one another to get higher in the corporate ladder. I don't see the difference. Besides puppets can not feel, nor can they sing, nor dance, nor speak. They-we are not of flesh."
Gaara pondered this truth silently. Then a sinister smile crossed the raccoon's visage.
The little raccoon pressed his lips against the puppet's ear and whispered softly, "Mother tells me that there is another way to make puppets. It's an ancient way, so that puppets are not made of wood." Gaara's voice began to quiver in excitement as his mother told him more of their secret. "They are made of flesh. The flesh of the dead."
Instead of receiving admiration from his master for his marvelous deduction, Puppet Sasori merely shoved the poor raccoon off his shoulder and into a gutter. Teary-eyed, Gaara looked up curious as to decipher his master's mood change.
If Sasori's glares before had been dark, this last one oozed with poison. "Shut up fucker. I don't want to hear anymore of your nonsense."
Gaara's grin spread wider (if that was even possible). The tanuki hopped towards his master and nestled once more on his shoulder, sinking his claws into the wood incase something inappropriate would slip from his mouth. "Didn't strike you as the jealous type, Master," Gaara sneered, taunting his wooden master's imperfections. "What, did you want the Old Lady to sever your real limbs?"
Sasori's eyes narrowed. "Don't test me." He spat, not wanting to agree or disagree with the rodent's perception.
"I wonder do you really hate Lady Chiyo." Gaara questioned cheekily, receiving another threatening glare from his master.
"With every fiber of my being."
"Why?" Gaara had to ask. There was a story he knew, a background, to why a person did things the way they did. The tanuki was always far too curious.
Yet instead of beating his pet, Sasori sadly replied, "She took away everything. The cow may be senile but I can never forget her."
"But Master?" Gaara inquired, his single tail wagging restlessly with excitement of a perilous tale, "I don't understand. Did she not create you?"
"She destroyed me."
The silence of the forest was unnerving to Sasori. He saw that the sun now hovered above his head, signaling the awakening of the old bat. The Marionette decided at that very moment to keep this new pet. Gaara might scare his grandmother rightfully so and also frighten those good for nothing little monsters she kept.
"Let's go to the cottage."
If Old Lady Chiyo was at all disturbed by the presence of her wooden grandson's new pet she did not voice her distress.
The raccoon sprawled its body on Sasori's left shoulder, with its hideous smoldering eyes glinting with blood lust. The creature gazed hungrily at the old puppeteer, licking its lips at the sight of human flesh.
Even more disturbing was her grandson's ambiance towards her person. The Marionette had never shown any positive emotion in her direction. Actually now that she thought about it, she didn't think the doll ever showed any emotion besides annoyance and boredom.
"Nana? Where are you going?" mumbled her wooden grandson, tugging at the hem of her skirt. His seemingly innocent eyes peered into her.
Chiyo smiled softly at his antics. Though he was merely a Marionette it often surprised the Old Lady how real her creation appeared. "Out to the market my grandson. Why do you ask Sasori?"
Was it her imagination or did her doll just shudder in fright? Must have been her imagination.
Sasori bit his lip, voice trembling as he commanded, "Don't leave me here alone!" Something was wrong, the old poison expert gathered. Why else did her favored child act this way?
"Can I come with you?" her puppet asked sheepishly, petting the ever watchful tanuki as he did so. Perhaps Chiyo had indeed imagined her suspicions. Sasori was just bored. She really did not see any harm in bring him to the market as he would be supervised under her alerting vigilance.
"I don't see why not."
Even the wisest man can make the gravest of mistakes.