I like the last part of this one. It make-a me laugh.

"They aren't art, baka. They're weapons." Kankuro grinned as he said the last word. Of course his puppets were weapons; after all, he could kill with them. Torture with them. Induce pain and agony and suffering with them.

"Oh… yeah…" Deidara said dejectedly. He had hoped that the new puppet guy would argue with him like Sasori had. He missed that.

"What, are you missing your boyfriend Sasori?" That twisted grin sprang up again.

"No," the blonde man said, "and don't make me activate those sculptures inside your lungs… yeah." he smirked. That ought to get to him.

Kankuro shuddered and coughed. The mere thought of Deidara blowing him up made him want to hurl. The fact that it gave the freak leverage over him was just too much to take. Kankuro hated it when people had power over him.

It made him want to kill them.

---

"How could this have happened?" Temari asked, putting her head in her hands. Gaara placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I think…" He paused, unsure whether or not to say what he really thought. "Kankuro thinks we abandoned him." She looked up.

"…abandoned? But why?"

"It doesn't matter why," He said, steeling himself, "He's now our enemy… And… He's threatening our country. Therefore, we have to…"

"Surely we don't have to kill him!" She shrieked.

"Nobody's saying that. If he somehow comes back over to our side, or betrays the Akatsuki…" He trailed off. He knew that would never happen. His brother was just too damn stubborn. But Temari was upset, and he didn't want to make it worse unless there was absolutely no chance of all three of them coming out of this alive.

---

"Your team is ready," Tsunade said, pointing to a door. "They're in there."

"Thank you," Anko replied, and then turned for the door. Inside, there were four people assembled. They were chatting casually at first, but the second she walked in, they snapped to attention. All but one. He remained slouched against the wall. "You," Anko barked at him, "What's your name?"

"My name? It's Jiuma Hisoki." He flicked his long, brown bangs out of his face. Anko sighed. He seemed to be just another angsty, emotional, needed-to-be-special pretty boy.

He was wearing a black jacket instead of a standard jonin vest, over a fishnet top that ended just above his stomach, and black pants too tight for effective movement. His forehead protector was worn as a belt, at a slight angle. His sandals were also black.

"And you?" Anko whipped around to face an extremely pale girl with dark blue hair pulled into a low ponytail. The girl's bright green eyes widened and she shrugged mutely.

"She's Sumi," Said the girl next to her. "She can't talk due to a neck injury in her youth. My name is Akuniyama Haya," She added. Anko nodded.

"Sorry, Sumi," She apologized.

Sumi was wearing a jonin vest over a black shirt, dark blue pants, and blue sandals. Nothing special. Her forehead protector was worn, well, on her forehead. Apparently, she didn't care about showing off, unlike Hisoki.

Haya also wore a jonin vest. However, the rest of her outfit was hardly as subtle as Sumi's. Her sandals went almost to the knee, and were bright red. Her shorts were very short, and were the same color as her sandals. Under these she wore black fishnets. Her shirt had one long sleeve and one that only went to her shoulder. Her forehead protector was tied around her left leg. Haya's hair and eyes were the same shade of bright violet.

The remaining person on the team was a short, black-haired man with dark green eyes. He had on a long-sleeved green shirt and loose brown pants. His sandals were blue, and his forehead protector was on his head, in full form. He was grinning. "My name's Zen!"

"Great. So… First impression of you… A showoff…" Hisoki frowned. "A slave to fashion…" Haya looked up in shock. "A spazz…" Zen tilted his head. "And someone who knows at least a little bit of what they're doing." Sumi gave a small smile.

"That isn't fair, Anko-san! You only just met us!" Zen cried.

"Don't like the way I work, tough. You'll have to deal with it." Maybe she was being a little hard on them. But, then again, if she expected them to go after a bunch of S-rankers, she had to be absolutely certain they could handle it.

---

"I think we should get to know each other better!" Yasuo exclaimed.

"I think you should shut your fucking trap before I shut it permanently," Kankuro replied.

"And I think someone must have spat in your ramen at some point."

"And I think you fell off of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down."

"I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce."

"I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter."

"I like you," Yasuo said, laughing.

"Maybe you aren't that bad…" Kankuro said.

"Can I touch the puppet?"

"No."