Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter 12: Moving In
The blood-red artist stepped through the unsanitary wet soil of the main mud road that ran through Oto. The village looked as devoid as when he had arrived, if even less lively. He rolled his eyes in chagrin, knowing just through his awareness as a man appointed within an extraordinary class of people could possibly know about being watched from hidden places. These inhabitants were already circling his last inch of nerve in terms of simply not understanding what their own business was.
Stepping through the wastes of what could be considered a town that had just seen the end of the bubonic plague; he cringed in a look to show what he thought of the unsanitary place. Whatever the pale man was funding for, it sure as hell wasn't for his denizens.
Sasori stopped briefly to peer at a middle-aged woman silently running her market and hesitantly began to raise his arm in an attempted wave of courtesy, but upon seeing her face scowling unwelcomingly at him, the gesture immediately turned into a half-hearted run of the fingers through his artificially black bed of hair.
He was so puzzled by this conflict that his mind almost went completely blank. Women. Always so approachable.
His cape drifted ever so silently in the wind as he rounded corner after cracked corner of the metal framework buildings, trying his best to tread over the spots where wet soil was the most absent. He hated getting muddy. He could stand dust; he grew up in a desert of course, but the harsh conditions that came with foreign country he could have always done without ever knowing.
Stepping forward towards the boarder of Orochimaru's village, he spotted a group of trees – some withered, some not – and he then spotted the old vacant apartment building that had caught his eye on the way in. With the Snake Sannin's permission (he guessed but didn't really care), it was now time to observe the price tag of this desolate house. He had hoped it wasn't too costly – it certainly didn't look it.
The whole shape in general suggested that the thing appeared to have just survived the attack of a hundred-headed hurricane. The gray metal roof was ruffled, cracked, and dented; some of the shingles were missing. The sides of each wall were splotched with dirt-color mixtures of corrosion and tarnish. In addition to the nauseating sight, many strands of moss stuck their ugly green tongues at the puppeteer from their narrow homes in the large creases and cracks. The big metal doorway was literally on its last hinge, and all of the windows were smashed in by what evidently appeared to be works of vandalism. The previous landlord of this property clearly had the decency to put only a couple of these things out of their humiliation by boarding them up.
Sasori glanced over his shoulder carefully before opening up his cape and unlatching a compartment he kept safely concealed under his gauze cloth. Rummaging with a careful hand through the small compartment carved in his torso that he stashed his wealth in, it had come to his attention that he had only brought a few million or so yen along with him, and he never bothered remembering if his former senior looked towards money in that same regard Kakuzu always did. Depending on which or what set of circumstances, this could be tricky.
Nevertheless, Sasori was adept at managing his finances, although he really hadn't pushed himself to so much as go clothes shopping before, so aside from the organization's trademark uniform, he had traditionally sewn his own apparel. He had traditionally done everything for himself, and he never called upon another human being to replace him in that respect.
Confidence reassured, he glided with a firm stride up to the rickety sign that announced the price to would-be buyers.
His eyes narrowed with dismay at the price, 175,000 yen. He also glanced over the other variables in the payment. It said in smaller font below that it had an eight percent rate on a fifteen-year loan. As he had feared, the price was already looking ugly, and he hadn't even gotten started on the math yet. Guess any greedy man in the area would be looking to make a fast profit. Too bad that whoever it was, they tangled with the wrong merchant today.
He stuck his index finger out in front of him and drew imaginary equations as he calculated the numbers in his head. He was no Albert Einstein, but he was a chemist. Numbers, numbers, numbers. It had its flings.
The first thing that he had to do was look at the mortgage. Six and a half percent for fifteen years… that meant that he would be looking at 9.56 yen covering monthly principal and interest payments, only approximately, because the table that Sasori was using in his head was only based off of the system of monthly pay negotiated at Suna. Thankfully, according to one of the Fire Country's laws, it wasn't legal to weave a value in each province that receded or exceeded three yen than all the others. He knew that even Mister 'Otokage' had to honor and obey that law, or his village might fall on top of itself.
Continuing, Sasori plugged the 9.56 yen into the equation 175(representing the number of thousands for the whole shebang) x 9.56.
After a moment of pushes and pulls, Sasori came up with the answer of 1,673 yen. Alright, that covered one part of the monthly pay, the total principal and interest.
While he stored that answer away, he concentrated on his next: finding the monthly taxes. It was the value of the home multiplied by .012…which equuaaaaaalllls…ah crap. Time to start writing work.
Sasori grabbed some sizeable stick that had snapped off of a nearby tree and carved the equation into a mud puddle somewhere around. 175,000 x .012 except the numbers were layered over each other in long multiplication-solving format. The answer was 2,100 yen. Divide by twelve – for every month in the year. That's 175. The tax pay. He also took it upon himself to write in the principal and insurance part of the deal so he wouldn't have to forget.
Now the final part: the insurance. Sasori always used the famous half percent in this little equation. He went ahead and carved in the space allowed to him on the earth bed, 175,000 x .005. Equals 875. Now divide by twelve. 72.92 yen. Finally the pain was almost over with.
Now came the fruitful, most crucial part of the whole deal: throwing it all together.
He looked over his list.
P & I = 1673
T = 175
Ins. = 72.92
His eyes dilated slowly with anticipation. 'And,' this was it. 'The total monthly pay on this house IS---!!!'
With the suddenness of an atomic bomb, all of the beautiful work that Sasori had done on the ground exploded into chunks of earth that went flying onto him, making him shoot up straight in a buzz of motion. When he wiped the grime out of his eyes, his nose crinkled in fury at the sight of the red-haired girl that had laid waste to his time with her own body.
As he stood in a moment of absolute speechlessness, she lay dumbfounded on the ground, having left a big track leading from where she was up to where she must have lost her footing and slipped through the muck. She was half completely covered in the filth of the inadvertent entrance she had made, and she eventually got up in a flush, rubbing her now-aching rear. Her face was almost completely clean of mud, except for the occasionally small splatter.
"Who." Sasori seethed under the locks of self-restraint from strangling this girl with her own entrails. "Are you."
Her expression shot alive at this, and she bent down quickly to search for her glasses. When she picked them up, she gave a frown at the fact that one of the lenses was missing, and the other one that was otherwise intact was completely covered in dirt.
"Awwwww! That one was my favorite pair!" She whined in a pout.
Although not instantly, Sasori had managed to deduce that this girl was not the one called Tayuya. His latest opponent was hasty and clumsy from what he saw, but not quite this much of a klutz. Especially for a ninja.
"Me? Well I-!" She gave up searching for the remaining spectacle's partner, and she put her glasses on anyway, now looking like she was wearing an eye-patch with the messed up condition. She struck a pose to the stranger. "I'm Karin!" She declared flashily, like it was legend-worthy of praise.
She held that confident pose for half a minute as Okudo looked her over with a shaded face of contempt. Before she knew it, there were dark black fires rising around him resembling Itachi's infamous Amaterasu technique.
Sasori…was upset.
Before she could even catch the lethal intent as the red (now with spots of black and brown) figure strode up to meet her, she was firmly seized by the throat by a merciless hand and again dragged across the mud on her knees to meet up with a pair of frozen black eyes.
In spite of being threatened in such a way, Karin found herself blushing in streaks. Instantly the world around her froze except for him, and beautiful cherry blossom petals danced around the two of them in a miracle wonderland. The weight of the world seeped from existence, and she felt that she could do anything looking at those black, shining spheres leading to the soul of the young god in front of her. 'What beautiful eyes…'
"Do you have any idea WHAT YOU HAVE DONE???" He shook her profusely, roughly snapping her out of her wonderland and back to reality. "I don't suppose you would know what the answer was, hah."
"Ah-! G-get off of me! I dunnooooo!"
He broke his grip at once, letting her fall into the mud again. He rolled his head in his hands with more frustration accumulated than there had been in a very long time.
"You women! I swear you're only around to annoy us men! And I know, because all of you managed to join hands and pitch in and give me a very, very bad day!"
The girl blinked several times at the violent seizure Sasori was going through with his gestures. She got up. "I hear you're new here. Actually just by looking at you, I can pretty much tell."
He stopped and turned back to her with fire in his eyes. "Can you also tell that I don't wish to be disturbed at the moment? Or did you need glasses to see that after all?"
"Well I, uh…" She hadn't exactly come prepared with an answer for a question like that. How was she to possibly know she would slip while she was running out to him? It's not like it was completely her fault. It frustrated her, because she didn't know the guy she would be visiting would have so many anger issues attached to him. She did her best to ignore his aggression, and proclaimed. "I'm an apprentice of the warden of the North Base. I'm already considered a high and admirable ranking especially for my age by most standard officers, so…" She struggled to keep her balance. "So you better show me some respect!" She shouted defiantly.
He crossed his arms with the lazy look that made him famous around Deidara.
"As…as my first duty as an officer, it's with great pride and pleasure that I test you if you're gonna be with Orochimaru-sama's battalion. That creep Kabuto tells me that you already know some basics. I wanna see exactly what you're made out of." She assumed her most aggressive taijutsu stance.
To this, Sasori replied solemnly and with a hint of humor, "There is such a thing as police brutality."
She flashed him a sport look without breaking the stance. "I am the law. Don't worry; I give you my word that the injuries you sustain from this fight won't hold you back for more than a couple of days." She charged him. "Fight meeeeeeee!"
Without blinking or uncrossing his arms, the puppet master took the girl off of her flight merely by flicking the tip of his finger to pull a tripwire routine across her tread.
This time, however, she didn't land in mud, but along the stony floor marking the ancient patio of the home Sasori was planning to purchase. He smirked cruelly at her misfortune.
She shot back up in a wobble and instantly caught on with her perceptive chakra-detecting abilities. With an elaborate expression, she spat out her discovery. "You use chakra stings??!"
He was silent for a while, and then answered indifferently, "What are chakra strings?"
Her spirits dropped. Her abilities also gave her the power to detect lies based on the stimulation of other people's flow of chakra, but there was no such indication that this boy appeared to be lying. In question of her own abilities, she worriedly dabbed her lip with her thumb in thought before her opponent interrupted her.
"What? Is that it? What's that you were saying: that you were going to put me in a hospital?" He motioned her forward with a slight motion of his fingertips. As was to be expected, this egged the young girl on, and he chuckled with the ease.
"Y-You arrogant baka…I said fight!" She ran up to him once more, and this time, Sasori made no indication that he would use his threads again. He had more than just collected that this girl can sense even slightest bursts of chakra, and if word of his ability got out, his origination would be obvious, and he didn't want that to be found out.
Giving her the benefit of the doubt, he allowed her to stray approximately three meters short of himself before throwing a sweep kick to knock her off her feet in the old fashion way. But the girl didn't appear to be entirely stupid, it seemed. She jumped the maneuver just fine, and came down with a graceful mid-air flip-kick. He blocked her foot with his wrist and cast her entire body away with ease. She somersaulted and came back in for more.
She thrust her fist at him a few times, and he parried along in a kind of rhythm. The two locked together in a close grapple, and since Sasori was the bigger of the two, guess how that got resolved.
He cunningly snuck a leg in between both of hers and yanked it off to the side to take one of them violently off the ground. In the flash instant where she now had to balance on one foot, he easily spun himself around a full three-sixty and kicked the other leg too. Her face hit the ground hard.
Where she lay motionless, he knelt down beside her, picked her up by her long, red hair and announced, "If you are the law, I'm the most notorious criminal that history has and ever will have on record. That's for facts."
Her body instantly evaporated into a large, rounded log. His eyes widened. "A Substitution?"
His head shot up in time to catch her coming down on him. He took off as she landed, but she managed a cheap kick out of his back as he did so. He staggered periodically, and then when he regained ground, froze quietly without bothering to turn to her.
"I don't have time to do dance with some pathetic little girl," he commented. "I think I'll end this fight on my terms."
He picked up a tiny rock and tossed it over his shoulder at her. She half-heartedly dodged it and looked at its direction to make sure it would stay a rock. Then she smirked and rolled her eyes as she turned back to him while saying, "Oh, please. Is this what you blue-blooded royal flavors call ending a fi—" Her opponent was gone. Her grin quickly dimmed into an outraged scowl. Her amusement turned deadly. "Oh NOW you've pissed me! Running away from this so-called little girl makes you automatically win, hah? Ha!" Her echo projected her fury to the sky. She began her search for him in a flush. "Come back here and face me, you…you!" A blade-chinking sound made her drop her words.
"I've heard enough." The voice was right behind her. Okudo slid the wristblade he kept concealed under his sleeve along her neck, barely pressing its venomous razor edge against her jugular vein and her windpipe. "I think I hear the warden calling you. You better go back and explain how you failed to take down a new recruit." He took the blade away. He would kill her sometime. Oh, most definitely he would. But not now.
Karin's usually calm and well-balanced heart now shook with small fear combined with welling admiration. 'He's sooo…potent.' Her inner thoughts cooed dreamily. 'I'll bet he could end hundreds…' But she snapped herself loose before her more girly side got the best of her, and she adjusted her classes with maturity. "G-Good fight, Juuman'-kun. Maybe you'll survive around here a bit longer than I thought." She took a few steps away before looking over her shoulder with a flirtatious face and departing in a body of smoke. "…Not! You better watch out for my warden. She's not as nice as me. See ya~!"
He made quick work of his first impression towards Karin.
"Tch…bitch."
It was one thing to get challenged by a kid from out of nowhere, but nobody in the history of the world had ever gotten out of disrupting Sasori while he worked on something. It was an intolerable act, and that it was a girl bearing a similarity to that jinchuuriki, Tayuya, he would not forget this.
He trekked over to the spot she had just disappeared from and knelt to pick up an object he spotted. Closely examining, he saw that it was the ruined pair of glasses she wore.
"She dropped her glasses as she left… that idiot."
Again he heard someone poof in from a smokescreen behind him. He looked to his side. It was Kabuto again. Smiling with the amusement he had since before the day started, he took small notice in the object that Sasori was now holding.
"I would wager that Karin was in quite the rush to get away. She never leaves her glasses behind. Or it could be just that she likes you and wants you to have something to remember her by."
"Either way, this garbled pair of spectacles is the prize I claim over a meager victory. …I was hoping she would stick around so that I could have finished killing her out of defense."
"Aaah don't mind Karin. She's a tough girl, but she's also a flirt." He took a moment to scoff. "A guy as good-looking as you should keep a wary eye out. Most of the girls here are dangerous to even know."
Sasori threw his head back and whistled stiffly to the sky. "I'll bet." He said to it. "In the two hours I've been here, I've already had two attempts on my life by the red-haired kind. But it's pointless to fuss over that matter. I probably just need to get used to being in danger now that I'm working under such a…prestigious village."
Kabuto smiled. "I wouldn't be saying that it's pointless, persé. I've got something fun to tell you." He sang in anticipation.
The usually redheaded corpse collector froze. Kabuto had been his subordinate for years. He had known Kabuto well enough to know his humor. And it was never good to hear Kabuto say the sentence 'I've got something fun to tell you'. Sasori had personally trained himself to be on guard for that special little tidbit.
He straightened himself up and prepared for something ugly. "Whaaaaat." It came out as a croak.
Orochimaru's beta leaned in for the critical point. "You have a new partner."
The false prince gave his former underling a look through a keen eye.
Naruto was tossing and turning in the confinement of his sheets until his eyes blurred open at the sound of a bluebird's call. He rubbed his eyes lazily while they groggily rummaged about for clues in where he was. It didn't take a genius to realize he was no longer in his comfortable orange jumpsuit. No, rather he was in a short-sleeved T-shirt, and lighter than he was accustomed to feeling.
Blends of white and colors within them came up. Then the shapes began to refine themselves. He put the whirring machinery and the medicines on the table together and deduced one thing. Konoha Hospital.
Delight it would be, to put up with the constant nags and bickers from the nurses, especially Shizune and her scary superior. Like hell.
He turned and twisted under the clean white sheets and found that moving around really sucked a lot, so it seemed like he was pinned for the moment. The trick would be figuring out how he got put in a hospital. With melancholy, the last thing he remembered was fighting Sasuke; but he didn't remember losing.
He held his aching bandaged head in time to see a big familiar man with long white hair standing just outside his window, nearly scaring the crap out of him with the sudden burst of his appearance.
"Rise and shine, Nara wannabe!" He called out in a tease. Naruto saw the basket of fresh shining fruits that he carried in his hand. "You woke up faster than all of us thought! If I hadn't come here so early, you would've run off before any of the nurses found out you had come to."
"Ero-sennin."
The older ninja just flashed him a big smile and made himself nice and cozy on the windowsill. Taking an apple out of the basket, he juggled it with his hand while he continued speaking. "Come to think of it, it's a miracle you're still with your two legs. Konoha has been in a real frisk trying to bring you back from your mission." He stopped tossing the fruit up for a moment, catching it in his hand and leaning in over a knee, "Did you realize you were that important? Betcha didn't." He prepared to bite into one of the very gifts that was originally for the boy in front of him, but he was cut off by a question.
"What about…Sasuke?"
The Sannin rolled his eyes. As if this wasn't the first thing he could've imagined coming out of the annoying kid's mouth. It was truth-telling time.
"Look, kid…Sasuke…isn't one of us anymore, Naruto." He watched without much more emotion as the sky-blue eyes opened up wide in failure to understand. Jiraiya saw this coming too. "Before you start to talk, you ought to know who it was that put you in this hospital. Not brought you here. Put you here. And it's a hard thing to accept, I know, but that boy would've left you all on your own out there, and the cold of the storm might've done you in… Or something worse. …Spare me some trouble and use your imagination."
The blond-hair's face contorted into an outraged scowl. "So you just let him go??!! You should've ignored me and finished the mission! What the hell are all the grown-ups thinking, Ero-sennin?!"
"It would do me a lesser headache if you could stop calling me that! Don't you get it?! There was nothing that could have been done! Sasuke isn't coming to his senses! Trust me. And there's evidence to support that, do you care to hear more?"
Naruto shot up from his bed to face his sensei square in the eye. There was no way that he would let a thing like that pass about Sasuke. "You're the legendary Toad Sannin! You could too have done something!"
"Then listen up!!!" He quickly shot back at him in easily double the volume that Naruto's annoying voice did. The boy instantly hushed up with a look of shock. Seeing the old man like this really reminded him a lot of how Tsunade would act in his place. "And you listen well, kid." He pointed at him with displeasure towards his waking attitude. His pupil could only swallow. And obey. "I've followed your progress, as your teacher. I've seen the noble intentions that you've had towards other people – complete strangers – and how you successfully carry out those noble intentions. You have a gift unlike anyone else I've known for a long time, and that very gift is making friends with whoever you meet, wherever your mission takes you. It's an admirable thing, I get it." His student lowered his head in thought. "But Naruto…you tried, and this time, you failed. Failure happens. There're just some people in this world that can't be convinced to simply put aside their ways for the sake of what you believe. You knew there had to be at least one of these times. Now's the hardest part of the resolution. Just accepting it."
"But you—!"
He held up his hand to silence Naruto again so he could finish. "I'm not saying this to put you down. I'm saying this to build you back up even stronger than you were before. Not everyone can be saved; we each have to go our own way." He frowned facing out the window with his arms crossed and back to the sill. He mumbled, "And for Sasuke…I suppose his path…was just too different from ours."
Naruto wouldn't be silent any longer. "You think my path is the same as yours?!"
Jiraiya snapped his head back to him. "Isn't it??"
"How could I be on the same path as a guy who threw in the towel before the fat lady sang?"
His mentor heaved a great sigh. "What are you babbling about now, brat?"
"This mission isn't over. Oh no. It's just firing up. We lost round one, even someone as stubborn as either of us can admit it…but Sasuke was my friend, and I strongly believe that hasn't changed."
"Idiot! Consider all of those injuries he gave you! Was that the work of a friend?"
Naruto fell silent for a second time. Damn this was a difficult argument to win. Didn't even this pervert have any dilemma similar to the one he had to face? It was a wonder.
Jiraiya looked away from him and crossed his arms again. Someone had to have this conversation with him. He hated that it was himself, but it certainly wasn't going to be Kakashi. Because this wasn't just Orochimaru. It had just turned into something far uglier.
"Naruto…" He rubbed his eyes wearily. "The matter at hand here…doesn't just concern returning a Leaf comrade. If that were the case, who knows, maybe the end result of the mission would've gone in a different direction. But if the Hokage could've opened her eyes in time to see what was chasing after you kids, she would've slapped this up as an S – Rank over a B – Rank mission in a heartbeat. She thinks the world of you, and frankly, you're lucky for it. Still, no village in their right minds would send a chunin and a handful of genin off against…" His voice trailed off. Was it too early to tell him about the hand in the world that has the will, power, and intent to do him such harm?
Naruto caught glimpse of the hard time that Jiraiya was having with it at the moment, so he leaned intently forward evermore and called out, "Ero-sennin." His old teacher hung his head slowly and peaked at him from over his shoulder. "…What exactly are we fighting?"
The Toad Sannin stared at him for a long time. He pitied this, but he wanted a chance to warn Naruto before Tsunade came in first. He would rather protect his young and mouthy student from being killed by the criminals before he had Tsunade kill him.
"Naruto," He stepped forward in his high sandals, "I think it's time that someone told you about the darkness in the shinobi world. About what exactly what we're dealing with right now, right this very moment." Naruto nodded firmly. He was ready to hear it.
Jiraiya drew his breath and spoke once more. "I think it's time someone told you about the Akatsuki."
"I'm sorry, my ears must be broken." Sasori spoke as he made his fifteenth pace across his lawn with Kabuto standing on it. "You said who was going to be this new partner?"
"Aheh…now, now… I'm sure she'd make a beautiful soldier to work alongside. Think about the pros. She's tough. Capable. She's been training harder than anyone in this village since she first came here as an orphan. I know she has a history of temper tantrums, and I'm sure you've deduced it yourself, but you should at least give her a chance, and see what—"
"Fine."
Kabuto froze. He turned and looked at the village's latest addition, seeing Sasori with his arms crossed, his face still, patient, and nonchalant. He was let down a little by how easy the new guy seemed to be taking this arrangement, given the attitude shown towards the foul-mouthed girl beforehand, and just his overall expectation on how entertaining he would have been to watch the prince vent over it. "What?"
"I said fine. I don't look for preferences in people who fight alongside me – I haven't had anyone around for that purpose before. If the girl will be your first choice for me to work with, then by Orochimaru's good graces, I'll tolerate her."
"But not a moment ago, you seemed to—"
"I don't like Tayuya of the North Gate." He snapped his head to stare at an invisible object to his side. "I really don't. I said I'd tolerate her. But if we get in a fight – a real fight, I mind you, Kabuto…" He was building up a warning with as much seriousness as he had ever felt, "You'll understand my desire to…decommission her."
The younger boy flung both of his arms up in the gesture that normally indicates surrender, but his face said not so. "Fair, fair… If you can snap her before she snaps you, that'll be impressive in itself. But I can't say I won't be expecting one fight out of you two." He knew the fact so blatantly that it almost tickled him to death. A newbie against Tayuya? One of the elite ninjas, and a host of Orochimaru's seal? A rabbit stood a better chance against a bear. How long would he survive, he wondered.
"Admirable." The usually red-haired artist announced. "You really know how to think ahead."
"Well hey," he shrugged, "when the world around you makes it easy, then it's easy."
Both of them turned towards the mansion-sized house that was destined to become Sasori's soon. Kabuto, knowing very well what he was thinking, finally turned towards him and announced, "Nineteen-hundred and twenty-one."
Sasori turned his head to him with raised eyebrows. "Pardon?"
"That's your monthly tally. What's wrong? You seem disappointed."
"Of course I am. With a hovel like this…" He huffed. "…Where's the landlord? …I want to speak with him."
"Why he's dead." The nonchalant (not to mention cheerful) way Kabuto said this made Sasori know for a fact that he didn't personally care of the disposal of others any more than he himself did. "Casualties, I'm afraid. We have 'em. But I'll gladly collect the pay as a substitute!"
"…" The two of them stared up at the half-collapsed structure a bit longer, and even Kabuto had to cringe a bit at the dump. "I'll make you a deal," Sasori spoke to his 'landlord', "If I reconstruct this trash heap into something more acceptable, I alone, which is to say without any services…then I want thirty percent off of monthly payment."
"Unacceptable. Five."
"Twenty."
"Ten."
"Eighteen."
"Thorough, are we?"
"Every little bit helps. I'll even make the quarters fit to support parties."
"Coronations."
The shaking of the head. "Outrageous, too small for that. Graduations." Kabuto was about to protest again, but Okudo interrupted him. "…for scholars and shinobi."
Then Orochimaru's young assistant spouted a surprisingly big chuckle. "I like you, Okudo-kun! You pertain to mercantilism at a very young age and in a very amusing style! Fine. Eighteen percent. Go nuts with it."
Sasori, draped in red robes and hidden contentment, had just brought the price down even farther from one that he really wouldn't have had any trouble paying for in the first place. But he didn't know how long he would be here to kill Orochimaru and seize his creature, so it might make a difference in the long run.
Walking up slowly to the mess with the gentle tap-tap of shoe gracing stepping stone after stepping stone, he finally made it up to the twisted double doors almost lapping over each other like lovers. He scowled at the problem. Picking up a sizeable pipe resting against the wall next to it and hollered back down, "Oi, could you give an ex-emir a hand with getting this barricade open with me?! The first step must always be the hardest."
Kabuto must have heard him, because in an instant, his distant figure blew into smoke and clouds, and he warped in next to the incognito Akatsuki member. Taking another pipe, he and Sasori stood neighboring each others positions, and simultaneously wedged the end of each pole into the already-damaged hinges struggling to embrace their masters. They looked at each other at the same time and uttered a small count.
"One…two…THREE!" They cracked the doors soundly, both boys much stronger than they looked, and the gigantic metal plates flew off and down the stone stairs and pathway, clattering with enough noise to wake a cemetery.
Ignoring that, the two peered inside the darkened entrance hall, dust rising everywhere around them. Sasori's annoyance had just been fully realized. All over the place, junk, junk, junk. Impaired furniture, broken boxes and crates of what can be presumably more junk, and cracked pictures of people that he couldn't care less of who they were filled the room. He wouldn't bother trying for the light switch; the lamps above their heads were completely smashed in.
Lazily raising his eyebrows, Kabuto instantly assumed the worst in the newcomer's capabilities and almost instantly inquired after seeing the condition, "Shall we just blow the whole eighteen percent-off thing like it never happened then?"
The puppeteer punted what appeared to be the remnants of a small music box at his foot, and it flew into a grand pile of the many other deserted objects, starting off the painful broken noise of the tune the music box had, as it brought down the mountains of dust and cobweb covered furnishings and smashed picture frames. Another cloud rose in the stead of the collapse.
The misfortunate puppeteer had kicked not only this, but figuratively himself in the mouth by saying that the first step was the hardest. The headache is just starting. And even covering all this, he had yet to get to know his new partner. Kami help him.
"…It looks like I have work to do." He glided over to the corner of the room and pulled a few wooden boards bolting one of the windows loose, illuminating more of the room with morning light. His eyes were unaffected by the change of brilliance as the rays hit them, and without looking, he continued to speak to Kabuto. "I'd like to speak with you at another time. But while I have my hands full of this place, I'll need some space and quiet. No hard feelings…I just miss my family."
"Miss your family? Oto is your family now. Why should you miss something that you're already with?" He smirked and threw him a passing glance while he continued to the other side of the ruined prison of a room. "Remember to love and care for your family. Or you'll get nothing of the kind in return. And especially mind Dad."
Sasori wasn't stupid. He knew that his subordinate was referring to Orochimaru. He'd so love to rip that brainwash technique off of him right about now. But he knew that it required waiting. The more patient he was, the more info he'd rake in. Not to mention the greater amount of pride would be lost from Orochimaru the longer he realized that he had gone without knowing that his former partner had had his eye on him the whole time. Unseen. Unblinking.
As Kabuto shot out of the broken window that Sasori had just opened, the Suna outcast could hear him laughing all the way out. What a freak.
Rushing to follow where he had left, he tapped the window sill and outer walls of the apartment with such speed that no one would guess what he was doing. Then he followed procedure with the other windows as well, and after a job well done, he neatly planted himself in an opening of space on the floor. Some dust kicked around, but he knew that the problem wouldn't last. All he needed was to do a little housekeeping.
Cross-legged on the wooden floor, Sasori could finally have respite from the watchful eyes of the Snake Sannin. He threw off his red cloak, revealing gray gauze covering his prosthetics. He reached inside the innermost pocket of the pile sprawled beside him and took out a familiar small ornament. His ring. Everyone had to be in positions by now, and he didn't want to upset Pein again.
He placed the tiny trinket on the ground in front of him, trying to get it as least dirty as humanly possible. With a sharp arrangement and combination of handsigns, the device glowed like a large fire ember, and many hallucinations came into view around it. They were projections of the other members, most of them sitting, looking as though they were leaning against something, a few stood.
"Sasori reporting in." He spoke with tranquility, hiding the anxiety to share what he learned and that his infiltrations were successful.
Other faces blackened by the holographic effects turned and stared at him, slowly and one before another.
"Akatsuki has held this position for at least a couple of hours now, and Kisame has made way for the Land of Water." Deidara's voice.
"We spotted a group of Leaf sentinels on patrol, and Itachi interrogated them. It was lucky that he did too. Apparently they swapped orders on the spherical barrier protecting Konoha from above and on all sides. If he hadn't gotten this information for us when he did, we would have been sensed immediately coming in." Zetsu's voice.
"We're bordering Konoha now. Awaiting the Leader's direct order to step in and apprehend what's rightfully ours." Kakuzu.
"But where's the fun in that? Let's take everything that isn't ours also! This backwater village won't know what hit." Hidan.
"Have you gotten in to see the girl, Danna, hm?"
"…I have."
"…You have, and?"
"This job has just gotten much easier for me. The girl is now my…temporary partner."
A wicked glint shined through his real partners gray eye. "Eh. I'm not gonna lie, that really sucks for her. I wish I had feed to watch you tear at each others' throats. Also, you really ought to grab sufficient data to support that she really is one of the jinchuuriki we want."
"I know that. As a matter of fact, I'm taking care of it right now. One of my newer underlings is at work, searching for a blind spot to retrieve a couple of Orochimaru's files. We'll soon know."
"A newer underling? Have you made progress with the expansion idea so soon?" Kakuzu inquired.
"I've had her for a while, you just haven't met her yet."
"HER?" Deidara snickered again, "How many women are you keeping?"
"She's not human." Sasori pulled out a long slender black chain attached to a black coin with an ominous symbol etched in the middle. Attached to that as a second link was a tag with Japanese engravings. It was a charm similar to one that Orochimaru might use. "…Not anymore."
"Don't tell me…" Everyone's eyes widened upon seeing the instrument that the puppeteer was now wielding. "That's…"
"My former senior's technique, modified and made special by yours truly. It is a thing similar to Black Magic, used in rituals and séances. With this, my new jutsu, Deddo Doru, will reach fruition even if it takes me another decade to master complete control."
"Dead Doll Technique? The name alone screams to me that you're playing with fire. What are you hoping to accomplish by making dead things work for you, un?"
"It's not necromancy. It's similar, but not. You see, this is what happens to people who oppose me. Even in death, they don't truly leave me. Only the ones too weak for me to concern myself with are the ones that get left behind. My goal is similar to Orochimaru's, don't you see. My duty as an immortal is to collect knowledge from different sources, and that well includes my enemies." He stood up and faced away from the others towards the open window, the charm dangling behind him in his hands. "Take the Sandaime, for instance. Since I killed him and made him an asset to me, I've nearly doubled in power. Still, I'm aware of risk, and I've decided not to use my latest technique on him. If I did that, he might become too strong and rage out of my control."
"I suppose that's a fair move. Watch your back while you're there. The Sannin…the girl…your own twisted senses of art— Tobi what the hell are you dancing like that for?!"
"I…I have to go to the bathroom."
"Find a tree."
Sasori rolled his eyes. "My art isn't twisted. Scientists don't fear evolution. I have multiple assignments. Experiments to finish…and of course…my latest collector's item."
"Ah, yes! We all can't wait to see what our robotics genius next throws us, un. I'll bet it will be almost comparable with half of my work!"
Sasori slightly dropped his jaw. "Almost…?" He seethed.
"For fuck's sake, you two! Just shut up about who has the better painting! How great can this stupid art of yours be—"
Both snapped their heads at the Jashinist at the same time to cut him off and shout, "SHUT YOUR FACE!"
"You two need FAITH. Faith's where it's at, religion, religion's the shizzle."
"Shut up, Hidan." Kakuzu's catchphrase.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm just saying seek something that isn't material. Little sissy art pieces and money, that shit is material. Just throw all of your material possessions to the fire, devote your vocations to slaughter, and see where it leads. The ending is as thrilling as the path itself. I can already see the tiny light at the end of the tunnel of my accomplishments…"
"…That's hellfire, Hidan."
"Ah!! No it's not!!! You're missing the point!"
"Shhh! Everyone! Shhhhh!" Tobi tried his best to calm the crowd down and make them seem more presentable. "It's Leader-sama!"
Everyone turned their heads away from Sasori, and their holographic figures began to fade from plain view.
"Everyone…!" But they faded out before Sasori could get their attention one last time. He stood alone, surveying out of the corner of his eye the dust-trailed spots they once were. Turning back stiffly to face the bleak light of the morning, he uttered his finishing words. "…Good luck with the Akatsuki Escape Plan." Along with his message, he hoped they would bid the Nine-Tailed Fox a quick hi from him as well. He turned to the artifact he was holding, and covering around it with his hand with the care of an architect, he spoke into it with a commanding tone. "Bloody Mari. My Number '13'." The Japanese runes on the obsidian ornament distributed a soft orange glow and a gentle whir. "Take your position until I give you the order. Stay hidden and avoid direct contact with all chakra-based signatures."
The object buzzed awkwardly for a while, and then a gentle, feminine voice answered through the relic bleak, indifferent, and devoid of any emotion, "As you wish. Sasori no Danna."
The relic's orange light faded back to sleep. Sasori slipped it away to a place unknown. Then his thoughts turned back to how he should welcome his new rude partner. Knowing a Tailed Beast, she'd be healed in no time. He wouldn't be surprised if she was up and around within the week, especially seeing how much she had healed already when he visited the facility. What he said to Kabuto was the truth – he didn't like her. No girl should have that vulgar language, especially at that age. And he detested nothing more than little misbehaving children.
Nevertheless, her nature eluded him. The more he thought about it, the dumber it sounded, but he hated when things eluded him. Certainly bearing such a face full of chagrin, she had her fill of troubles. Not possibly the kind of troubles that he himself had, but hardships enough to drag a fourteen-year old down rock bottom. He didn't care to know her as a person, but he did care to know her as a weapon. The extent of her abilities. What angers her the most? What could make her such a patriot to her village? What exactly did she feel that she owed the Snake Sannin? These emotions were lost to himself, as they always had been.
…Maybe he just had to see her again for himself. After all, socialization, getting to know a person, was just science one had to master – even if Sasori always thought it was a stupid one. An asset granted to benefit knowledge-seekers on the details of other human beings. There's nothing else involved than that…was there?
The puppet master nonchalantly twisted his hand into full rotations with his wrist; something a normal person couldn't do. Biting down on his lip in wonder, he looked out the window up towards the hospital he had just left, watching it unblinking as it stuck out in the distance, looming over most other buildings.
"Tayuya of the North Gate." His keen eyes narrowed leisurely at where he knew she still was. "From what kind of metal…were you fashioned from as Orochimaru's weapon? Because the Akatsuki's weapon…is made of wood."