Author's note: so before you read this, keep in mind that i like sasori. i wouldn't write slash about him if i didn't like him. having slash written about a character is a privilege, not a right. but. but for this story, i needed to tweak him. actually, i think i did far more than tweak. for all i know, i twisted him into a pretzel and hung him out to dry (i.e. he might be completely OOC and i know nothing about it.) but i've had lots of hits and no reviews, and that makes me sad. not quite as sad as that other story with over 500 hists and no reviews, but still sad. i'd be glad with an, 'i don't understand what the hell's going on here.' i can deal with that! i just want the little red 'reviews' icon to show up next to the title of the story. is that too much to ask? just one little review? if everyone who reads it sends me a single word, then we could even get an entire sentence.
Disclaimer: still not mine. and the OC's are still not mine either. sorry.
--kyra

She sat curled in a ball on her bed, rocking very slightly back and forth, unwilling to even begin to face anything even remotely connected to life. She wasn't one of the ghosts, but she could have been. Anyone seeing her there would have been hard pressed to call her really "alive," though she certainly wasn't dead. No dead person could look that miserable.

She shifted ever so slightly as someone paused in front of her door, willing whoever it was to go away and leave her alone. Surely no one but Pein cared about her, and Pein certainly wasn't going to come and check on her. He was probably already immersed in his oh-so-important tactics and mission planning and general schemes to dominate the world; schemes that always failed, Konan couldn't help but notice. Not that she'd ever tell him that, but she noticed it all the same.

To her surprise, whoever it was didn't leave right away. Instead, they paused looking at her. She must look very pathetic, she was sure. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to care. The mystery being walked into the room, and she hoped fervently that it wasn't Eris. Facing up to the Goddess' false sympathy was more than she could handle at this point.

It wasn't Eris. It was almost worse. As Eris' boyfriend sat down tentatively beside her, Konan found herself wishing it had been Eris. At least then she would have been able to rage and cry and scream and generally lose it. Temper tantrums didn't impress the Goddess any longer, and she was a very satisfying audience to one such as Konan who didn't want to be discovered.

But this wasn't Eris. This was Sasori, the puppet, the one with no feelings or emotions, the one who was currently in love with the very entity who was at the root of all Konan's problems. Why was he here? Has Eris dispatched him to see if her plans had worked? Was he merely a messenger, sent to check on her and spew some old and creaking cliché designed to make her feel better? She turned farther towards the wall, willing him just to go away.

He didn't. Instead, after a moment's awkward hesitation, he did what no one else so far had bothered to do: he listened to her. Well, actually, he had to get her to talk first, which took some doing, but once she'd begun, he sat there and listened as she vented. She'd started off softly, trying to impress him with her calmness and collectedness, but it had quickly turned into an all out rant, the kind that is only done at the top of one's lungs with a great many expletives thrown in for good measure. When she finally faded to a ragged halt, her tears obscuring her voice as well as her face, and her body quivering from the exertion, he sighed softly.

"I'm sorry."

That shocked her. No Akatsuki worth their salt apologized for something someone else had done. Heck, it was rare to get them to apologize for something they'd done. This business of apologizing for someone else was completely unheard of.

"Why?"

He sighed again, this time in a rueful manner. "Eris is my partner, isn't she? Since she'll never apologize herself, it'd my duty to do it for her."

That didn't make any sense, and she said so.

"Of course it makes sense. Think about it. If I were in your situation, wouldn't you apologize for something Pein had done?"

"No."

"Oh." He stayed silent for a moment, trying to think of an answer to her blunt refusal. "I suppose my grandmother trained morals into me at a young age."

"Your grandmother?"

He nodded. "She raised me, basically. Until I ran off to join Akatsuki, that is."

"Why did you leave?"

He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. "Who knows? I was younger then."

"Oh."

They sat in silence for a little while longer. Finally, Konan sighed.

"What should I do?"

"How should I know? I'm not the one who messed up."

She scowled, turning away from him once again. She'd been feeling kindly towards him, had been allowing herself to think that he actually cared. But no. It had all been an act. Just a stupid, overly vain attempt to manipulate her as though she were one of his stupid puppets. She would show him! No one manipulated Konan, not even Sasori, the Puppet Master himself.

"Then why did you even bother coming?"

"You looked like you could use some company."

"Well, you can just forget about that. I'm perfectly fine on my own. I don't need any men to tell me how to feel!" She was proud of the extra venom she managed to inject into the word 'men,' giving it the same inflection as one traditionally used on words such as 'bug' and 'excrement.'

"And I certainly don't need any girls to tell me what to do." He wasn't as good at it. Probably because he didn't have the proper emotional range to truly be either furious or disgusted.

"Then why don't you just leave? Since you clearly can't be bothered to waste time with girls like me. Go find your bitch of a girlfriend, who, by the way, is younger than I am."

"Eris is immortal."

"She doesn't look it, does she? Why do you think she picked the body of a child? Does she think you're some kind of pedophile or something?"

"Eris' and my relationship is none of your business." Was she imagining it, or did he sound… hesitant? What was going on between him and the Goddess of meddlers?

"Touchy about it, are you?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you."

"Then why are you here? Did she tell you to come? Did she tell you, 'Oh, go see if Konan needs a shoulder to cry on?' Well, you can tell her thanks for me. I thoroughly enjoyed soaking you to the skin. I hope you sit there and rust, you… you…"

"First of all, I'm not metal, so I won't rust. Secondly, you didn't touch me. Thirdly, no one sent me. I came because I thought you might want someone who would listen to you. Apparently I was wrong. Be sure that I won't do it again."

"When will you ever have the opportunity?"

"Next time Eris gets bored."

Konan gifted him with a look of scorn which could have melted diamonds. "I'm smarter that that, puppet. I won't fall for it again."

"Funny how everyone says that, isn't it? Yet somehow, every time, they do what she wants them to. She's almost as good a puppet master as I am."

"I can see why you two are such a good couple. Both of you try to manipulate the other into doing what you want them to, and neither succeeds, and you stay together in hopes of one day breaking the impasse."

Sasori's grin was positively feral. "What makes you think I never win? The dents in the floor are there for a reason."

She crossed her arms in a manner which informed him exactly what she thought of the dents in the floor. His grin widened.

"Would you care to try it?"

She slapped him. She hadn't intended to, hadn't intended to ever touch the… the thing, but she couldn't help herself. Her hand snapped up and, before she knew it, he was staggering back, one hand pressed to his cheek. His eyes were wide with something that could almost be fear.

"What did you do?"

She tossed her head, sending her hair cascading down her back. "No one takes advantage of me, puppet. Not you, not your girlfriend, not Pein, not Death Himself. Remember this next time you try to use me. I won't be so nice next time."

"There won't be a next time," he spat.

"Good. You can leave now."

He left, still holding his hand to his cheek. She hoped she'd cracked it. It would serve him right. He had no business saying things like that! Hell, he had no business even talking to her! It had only been incredible weakness on her part to allow him to get that far into her shell. It would not happen again. It would never happen again. Her shell was strong, and she could built it stronger. Her walls would be made of diamonds and reinforced concrete with no windows. Light would never get through, would never harm the soft parts inside. She'd grow thorns around the wall for good measure. And next time someone tried to take advantage of her, she'd be ready for them. She smiled in anticipation, a cruel, completely predatory smile. Oh yes, she would be ready.