"Children are so used to seeing puppets that when they see a real ventriloquist they don't understand it."
Sasori smiled at the tiny girl despite himself, her deep purple pigtails swayed across the tops of her shoulders as she shook her head no. Her head turned to his slowly, deep grey eyes locking onto his. She crossed her arms, continuing her glare and stuck her tongue out childishly. Sasori smiled again. The small snort that left her nose made him chuckle, she shook her head again causing bangs to cover her eyes. He reached a hand towards her, brushing the dark bangs away.
"You should be nicer to me, Sasori-chama." The tiny girl said.
"And why's that Kayo-chan?" He asked.
"Because, we will always be together. You can't get rid of me." She smiled up at him.
"I wouldn't get rid of you for the world Kayo-chan."
"Sasori-chama! Sasori-chama!" The tiny girl called out.
A redhead teen sighed at the sound of the girl's voice and put down the puppet he was working on. He held his breath, counting to ten and the girl didn't disappoint. The door to his room opened and she stepped in, purple pigtails swaying. She smiled widely at him, showing rows of white teeth. She closed the door behind her, walked over to his bed and plopped herself down. Sasori sighed, turning to face the beautiful girl.
"Kayo-chan."
She grinned, "Hey Sasori-chama."
"What do you need?"
She pouted, crossing pale arms over her chest, "Can't a friend just stop by?"
"It's never that simple with you."
She rolled her eyes, "I just wanted to see what you were doing Sasori-chama."
The redhead decided he wasn't going to get back to work anytime soon, at least not in peace. He turned back to his puppet and began fixing one of the many blades. After a few minutes he felt Kayo's presence over his left shoulder. He ignored it for some time but he could feel she was itching to ask him questions about it. The tiny girl seemed increasingly interested in his work over the last few weeks.
"Yes, Kayo-chan?"
"Well Sasori-chama, I just wanted to know what you were working on." She puffed her cheeks out.
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "When are you going to stop using 'chama'?"
The girl rolled her eyes and plopped herself back on his bed, obvious to him avoiding the question entirely. Sasori turned his whole body towards her this time. His eyes appraised her tiny frame, there was no denying that this girl was beautiful. Her deep grey eyes were always shining; her purple hair always thick and full, lips always a tender pink. He chuckled when she stuck her tongue out at him for staring, like she always did. She knew what he was thinking; Sasori had told her on many occasions.
"And when will you stop using 'chan'? I'm just as old as you are and 'chan' makes me feel younger. I blame you." Her tongue slipped between pink lips again.
"The day you hit your growth spurt, I promise I won't use 'chan' anymore."
"So neither of us should hold our breath then."
Sasori chuckled again, getting up from his table and sat beside Kayo. The bed which barely recognized her weight, sagged under his quickly causing her to squeak and smash against his side. She grumbled into his arm and pushed herself away from him. When she finally sat up again she gave him a small glare. Sasori ignored it, instead leaning over, capturing her lips against his. She smiled against his lips and pulled back.
"So, Sasori-chama, want to go spar? All the others are saying you're getting rusty ever since you started 'playing with dolls.'"
"Is that so?"
"CHA! THAT'S RIGHT SASORI-CHAMA! YOU SHOW THEM WHAT YOUR DOL-PUPPETS ARE MADE OF!" Kayo cheered, throwing a fist into the air.
Nao smacked her across the back of the head, "Shut up Kayo! No cheering!"
She glared at him angrily, rubbing the back of her head. Sasori glanced over, before turning back to his third sparring partner of the day. Sho wasn't fairing any better than the first two, sweat poured from his brow and he struggled to keep up with the puppets movements. He charged the redhead for what seemed like the twentieth time, only to be thrown back again. Sasori moved his fingers quickly and three kunai went flying, landing at Sho's feet, forcing him back.
"You're just jealous your brother is losing." Kayo grumbled, sticking her tongue out.
"Always with that damn tongue!" Nao shouted, "I'm going to cut it out of your mouth!"
Nao pulled a kunai out of his pouch and launched himself at the tiny girl. She squeaked and closed her eyes, waiting for some sort of pain but there was none. She peaked an eye open to see Sasori's puppet in front of her. He had Nao by the neck and multiple blades popped out of his free arm with a 'swink' sound. Kayo froze at the sight, as did everyone else watching the scene unfold. Sho stood up straight quickly, giving Sasori a pleading look.
"Hey! Calm down! I'm sure Nao didn't mean it. He's just hot-headed, completely opposite of his name! Ahaha. Come on Sasori. I'm sure he wasn't going to hurt Kayo."
The puppets blades pressed right against Nao's neck, a small trickle of blood running down. Kayo stayed quiet. She wasn't even going to try and calm Sasori, when he was upset there was no point, his anger would just turn to her instead. Sho took a step towards Sasori, hoping he could calm him. Other shinobi stood back, watching the whole thing unfold, one darted away to get help. After what felt like eons, Chiyo-ue arrived with a deep frown on her face.
"Sasori. Come now, there is no need for this. Your puppets aren't meant to be used for this."
"He was going to harm Kayo."
"I wasn't!" Nao piped up, "It was a joke! I was just frustrated with the sparring match!"
The blades bit into his skin farther earning a squeak from the teen. Sasori glared openly at him, lips curled back in a dangerous sneer. Chiyo sighed, lifting a hand up. Kayo could see the chakra strings snake their way to Nao. With a few quick movements he was away from the puppets and its blades. Sasori frowned again, his fingers danced in the air and the puppet was back at his side. Chiyo released her hold and turned around to leave.
"You think you're so great! I'll be better than you Chiyo and people who deserve punishment will get it."
The Elder stopped walking but kept her back to the younger puppet master. Kayo stared at the both of them; Chiyo finally sighed and continued on her way. The tiny girl turned her head towards Sasori quickly to see his puppet vanish in a puff of smoke.
"Sasori-chama?"
There was no answer but Kayo knew he had to be in his room. He never went anywhere else unless she asked him to go with her. She grasped the handle, pushed the door open and gasped at what she saw. Sasori stood in the middle of the room, as did a second Sasori, a puppet Sasori. Kayo stood stalk still, staring at how alive the puppet seemed. The body looked like a puppets but the face was identical to the original.
"Close the door, Kayo-chan."
The girl did as she was told, closing it with a quick snap. When she turned back around the puppet lay across Sasori's work bench, lifeless. She walked closer to it, running her finger tips across its smooth face. When Kayo looked back at Sasori he could read the confusion in her eyes. Her fingers stayed against the puppets cheek.
"So... this is what you've been working on."
"Yes."
"And... what exactly are you planning Sasori-chama?"
"It's going to be my new body."
Instead of more questions, Kayo looked back down at the puppet; her fingers ran over the wooden face again. For a long while that's all the small girl did, Sasori grew worried that maybe he shouldn't have said anything about that. When she turned back to him he noticed tears had gathered in the corners of her grey eyes. It was his turn to look confused now as a few of them spilled over.
"What's wrong Kayo-chan?"
"You're going to leave me..."
Sasori let Kayo run delicate fingers through his hair, the paleness contrasting with his red locks. She continued to smile at him, white teeth shining. Her fingers soon dropped to his cheek and traced a path to pale lips, parting them slightly. She leaned forward, pressing her lips to his in a gently kiss. He returned it eagerly, his own fingers pulling out the pigtails and gripping her locks at the base of her neck.
A sudden sharp knock on the door caught Sasori off guard; his movements as well as Kayo's stopped. The knock came again, this time louder. Sasori growled slightly, moving Kayo so she could sit on the bed. She stared at him with a blank expression. Sasori turned away from her and stalked towards the door, he wrenched it open quickly to reveal a blonde man, fist raised to knock again.
"Sasori-no-danna! What were you doing, un?" The blonde tried to peek over his shoulder but the redhead blocked his path.
"That's none of your business Deidara. What are you doing here?" The blonde puffed out his cheeks.
"We have a mission from Leader, yeah."
The redhead nodded his head and began shutting the door.
"Hey! Wait! What're you doing danna, un!"
"I said it's none of your business Deidara. Now go and wait. I'll be there in a minute."
The door slammed before the blonde could press the matter any farther. Sasori looked back at Kayo and allowed his fingers to dance in the air. The girl stood back up from the bed and smiled at him. They stood like that for a moment, puppet staring at puppet master. Finally Sasori released the puppet girl and she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The redhead stared at the spot a moment longer before turning back to the door for his mission.
"Beauty is a form of genius - is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon."