Finally, hm! I haven't updated this story in a long time and I'm very sorry for it. I have been coming across issues on trying to get my ideas onto this site. Thanks so much for your patience with me, hm. You guys are the best.

Nothing here but the plot belongs to me.

Thankies to Panda-chan101, AlexPwnsJoo and xX-Puu-Xx.

Warnings: Santa bashing, emotional Itachi, football crazed Kisame and Zetsu (based on my parents when they watch football.) and Sasori going through Hell.

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While in the kitchen, Sasori made himself a quick dish and poured himself a cup of juice. As he did this, everything seemed fine and his finger showed no signs of coming off again like it did in the hallway. It was good news for him but he was still caution and tried to hurry, which turned out to be quite hard for the poor Akatsuki. Everything was put away and he was out the room as he dashed to his.

As soon as he entered his room, his quick pace cut to a normal one since he was now alone with his bedroom door closed. The redhead let out a sigh as he put his peanut butter and jelly sandwich on his dresser with his glass of fruit punch beside it. He was kind of hungry but it would have to wait for a moment.

Pulling his eyes from them, he turned his attention to his newly ringed finger. Wonder what the problem is. Sasori wanted to sigh again as he looked down to his hand with half lidded eyes. More would have been done until the need for food poked into his thoughts. It made him annoyed because of the interruption but he could only put it off for so long. Seconds after that, Sasori was on his bed with his plate on top of his crossed legs. He sat to the edge so he was close to his nightstand that held his juice. The first few bites were good until it came crashing down as he stared at the bitten sandwich. Aw, I put too much jelly and not enough peanut butter! He sat the sandwich back down onto the eye-achingly white plate and then grabbed the edges of it. Maybe I can sneak into the kitchen and put some more peanut butter.

For the second time in barely minutes, everything came crashing down when his finger broke off from his hand and fell onto the blanket. He didn't move but just stared at the wooden finger with the gray ring at the base of it. Patience wasn't something he had a lot of and it was border-lining zero. Now, there was a number two to his mental list of issues... his puppet finger. Just when he thought the sandwich was enough.

With a sigh, he put the skinny finger aside and continued to eat. He'd just have to get to it when he was finished. How hard could it be to eat with only nine fingers? By the time he was done, Sasori had an answer to the question. It was kind of awkward and took longer than it usually does for him to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. As he shoved the plate from his lap and onto the dark bed sheets, he grabbed the skinny finger that still wore the ring.

Removing the two, he first examined the finger and found it to be normal and free of any damages. Maybe it's just the sudden extra weight that it's carrying. If it doesn't get better, I'll have to do some construction… I'll save it as a last resort. When he was done, he set it down and moved onto the ring. It seemed fine also though he decided he'd just have to wear it on a different finger then. Really, he liked it and loved to wear it as a way to support the beautiful art and spread what the true meaning of it. Damn. Am I suffering for art.

Again, he took the finger into his hands and returned it to the knuckle joint where it belonged. Some quick tests were done like bending, wagging and other simple tasks. Everything turned out fine and now it was the ring's turn. Seemingly young hands surrounded the ring and lifted it from the blanket and then put it on another finger. When he was done, Sasori just watched and didn't even let go as if bracing himself for whatever would happen when he'd let go.

One quick breath and he let go, only to stare at his pale hand with the gray ring that seemed to stand out to even a dead person. The results made him smile but only a little and then he turned his head to his plate. Sasori dragged it closer to him until picking it up, along with his cup and left his room to the kitchen.

In the hallway, he stopped to the sound of the others laughing loudly and talking. He slowly continued until he got to the doorway of the living room. It was horrible that he would have to cross through to get to the kitchen. More laughing was done until Kakuzu began to talk.

"You know all those stories about Santa coming through the chimney and stuff? When I was little, I asked my parents how he'd come to put presents under the tree since we didn't have a chimney. They said that he gets on the fire escape from his sled, opens the window and gets in like that. I actually believed that shit, too!"

"Holy fuck! Santa's a home invader that comes in through the windows by the fire escape!"

That second person to talk sounded like Pein, which was kind of surprising since he was rarely in the living room. Even though, he was still in the Akatsuki so that meant he still had his share of things. A quick breath and Sasori was now in the common room. Usually, he got dragged into whatever they were doing or talking about so he tried to make it quick.

Almost there. Almost-

"Hey, Sasori, what did you think about Santa?"

Aw, shit…

Slowly, the short Akatsuki turned to see the others watching him. He frowned slightly since he got pulled into the very thing he was trying to avoid. "Santa?" he asked, "That fat ass that sits around just about every day in the North Pole and makes his elves create toys for him and forces the reindeer to drag his lazy self around the world to give gifts to little fucks who probably don't even deserve them and then eats their milk and cookies like what he does is very tiring but it's only because he's so goddamn huge and only gets actual exercise once a year? … And isn't even real?"

The response made the world stop as everyone stared with his or her mouths open. "Yeah. I never believed in him and the stories are stupid." Sasori said in one of those long story short tones. After that, they were quiet and some were even teary eyed. The silence was broken by a soft sniffle and someone whimpering, "Santa…?"

Hidan seemed to have been the very few that weren't shocked by what the other had said. "Told you." He said with his cheek in his hand and a bored expression. It made Sasori want to laugh because of the random words but he just smiled instead. Turning his small body, he went to continue his way through the room to get to the kitchen. A few steps and he stopped when he heard Itachi speaking to him.

"You know… you should watch it, Sasori."

Those few words were enough to make him turn to see the black-haired male. "You should watch it." He said again, even his dead tone being the same. Sasori didn't even get a chance to answer before the Uchiha went on, "Because you might not believe in Santa… but others do for the sake of Christmas spirit and that's one hell of a way to break it…" For some reason, he was getting this feeling in his gut that he was in for a speech but then tried to ignore it since Itachi very rarely ever gave speeches. He could see him give the small motion of inhaling, which meant he was going to keep going. "So… just watch it. Karma's a bitch."

Hearing the end, Sasori wasn't too sure of what to make out of what he had been told. What the hell? Santa isn't real so how does Karma get into this? … And when did Itachi care so much about Christmas? Soon after, the last mental question was answered as another sniffle cracked the eerie silence. Surprisingly though, it was from Itachi as he sniffled again and then quickly sighed. A glare to Sasori and he was out the room. While it happened, his gaze followed him until he was gone. "Don't tell me…" he said out loud once he managed to put two and two together. No one answered him so he just took it as him being right.

The room returned to its silence and then he left to the kitchen. "People here are crazy." He whispered to himself as he put his plate into the sink. He didn't even bother to wash it since they took turns doing the dishes and this day wasn't his. Again, he turned to exit but slowly as he began to think of how to spend the rest of his day. It was just afternoon and he had nothing to do. Maybe he could just be lazy in the living room with the others.

When he got there, he took a seat and saw how the others were watching the new television they had gotten not too long ago. Sasori also noticed that Itachi hadn't come back yet from his mini depression. He didn't really care since he was probably just crushed and would get over it in due time. Even the most of the others were still in their depression moments from what he had said about Santa. Easily, he just ignored it though as he began to watch whatever was showing.

"What are we doing for today?" he finally asked when he began to lose interest in what was showing, which was a football game. Who watches men run around in skintight pants anyway. No one answered as if thinking and they began to shrug.

Cheers suddenly erupted by Kisame and Zetsu who were watching the football game. "GO, DUDE, GO! YYYYYEAH! TOUCHDOWN, MOTHER FUCKERS!" they both yelled as they watched one of the players throw the football into the ground and break into dance. The sudden yelling made everyone jump and Sasori took a curious look at the screen to see what happened. As he turned, Zetsu throw up his hands, one holding a cup and the contents spilled out and fell onto Sasori.

For a moment, he could see nothing until he found out his bright red hair was now dark red and heavy from being wet. They covered his red-brown eyes so he couldn't see much. Along with that, Sasori felt the distant feeling of something dripping from his hair to his neck.

Everything went quiet and no one moved after that. It felt like even time and the football game stood still. Zetsu didn't even say anything but watched as the other sent a smooth hand through the drenched locks. "Oh, man. I'm so sorry." He began to apologize with a hand out to Sasori. Nothing was said back since he was in a cloud of confusion since everything happened so quickly. When his hand reached the end of his head, he waved his hand free of the liquid.

"Is this… Dr. Pepper?"

Sasori asked to himself but loud enough for the others to hear. He was going to say more until he got a bounty shoved to him by Zetsu. He took the bounty slowly and began to dry himself with it. Ugh, this is gross. I'm drenched in fucking soda. The angry thoughts mumbled as he shook his head. Drops of soda went everywhere and his hair went back to its usual messy state.

It was then that snickers went around and eventually, full-blown laughter. All eyes were on Sasori though they didn't hear his whisper of, "Idiots…" The laughing went on while he balled his hands into small fists and began to rub his eyes. He could literally see the sparkles of soda that were in his dark eyelashes.

The rubbing of his eyes slowed and then came to a sudden stop when something felt wrong. It wasn't that he was being laughed at since stupid things that like happened a lot with the Akatsuki and you just get used to it most of the time. Something is off. What could it be? Sasori slowly wondered to himself as he pulled his fists away from his closed eyes.

When he felt that his fists were far enough, he opened his eyes and slowly blinked. It took a moment to get used to the light in the room and recover after so much rubbing. What he came face to face with was what he quickly learned that others were laughing about.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS MY FINGER?!"

Sasori shrieked when he saw one of his puppet fingers were missing. Not surprisingly, it was the one that had on the gray ring that he had found. No one bothered to say anything and just laughed even more at his reaction.

Quickly looking around, he found it on the floor near him. It looks wet from the soda but as least he didn't step on it or something. Bending down, he quickly picked it up and covered it in a fist. He didn't say anything but quickly left to his bedroom, the embarrassment becoming too much for him.

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Now in his room, Sasori was on his bed with his face buried into the fluffy pillow. He still held his finger in his hand but he just wanted to lie in bed until it felt like everything blew over. Of course, that's not how things worked. I bet they won't let this down for days!

With a sigh and a moment of just letting his mind wander, he rolled onto his side and then sat up. He glanced down to his hand and then slowly opened it to see the wooden finger that he had so quickly swiped from the floor. "Just my luck…" he sighed as he took it between two other fingers and tried to return it back to it's joint.

A simple push and twist, and it was back to normal. It still had on the gray ring though Sasori didn't notice… or didn't care at the moment. When the task was done, he threw himself back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Why me…?" he whined in a whisper.

The answer soon arrived though it was another thought. Why not give it to one of my puppets? Art needs to stick together. Slowly, Sasori turned his head to see the puppets on the other side of the room. As he did, some of his hair fell over his eyes, which suggested to him that he needed to take a shower from the soda incident.

Just the memory of it made his mouth bent into a frown. He then tried to ignore it and got up from his bed. Crossing the small bedroom, Sasori stopped at one of his favorite puppets. When he got to his destination, he placed a hand on Hiruko and then smiled. "Here" he said in a low voice and put it on the puppet. Of course, it said nothing back but it didn't matter.

Sasori took a step back to admire the puppet with the new accessory. Nothing more was done for a moment as he watched and then turned to gather some clothing for when he would take a shower. He could already imagine all the scrubbing he'd have to do to get the entire soda gunk out of his hair.

Carelessly, he went through his dresser and threw some clothing over his shoulder. When he had everything he needed, he pushed the draw shut and continued out the room.

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In his bedroom, sounds from the bathroom could be heard. A door opening, then closing followed by the shower being turned on. The tapping of water became steady until abruptly ending a good twenty minutes later and there being almost total silence. More minutes went by and then the sound of a door opened and lightly closing came into play. Light footsteps created almost a heartbeat tune and eventually, Sasori was back in his room.

Just from the look of him, one could tell Sasori was feeling better than before. His hair had been washed and he now felt relaxed from a warm shower. He dumped in old clothing into a hamper that was in his room and went back to Hiruko. He still didn't feel like facing the others after what had happened and just planned on staying in his room for a while.

Taking up some string and other supplies, he began to lift his hands slightly and Hiruko sprang to life. Though this was a very basic way to control puppet, it was still a very fun one. One twist of the wrist and a very slight thumb movement sent the puppet to face him. The actions continued until Sasori had a smile showing and brought one of his hands closer to him, which Hiruko danced to.

The fun went on until Sasori lost track of the time though froze when he saw one of his most beloved puppets drop lifelessly to the floor. His smile was quickly replaced with confused as he watched the wooden puppet lay on the floor without even the slightest movement.

What happened?

Slowly, he took small steps to the puppet and stared down to it. It looked fine but what it did a moment ago wasn't. Sasori reached forward and began to tilt Hiruko side to side, so he could see if there were any problems. Everything seemed all right until he tilted it to the side once more and stopped. The limb where he had put the ring on the puppet had come off completely. Hiruko's arm was separated from the rest of it on the floor, which had the ringed finger.

Another disaster created by the ring. This was becoming too much and his patience was now in the negatives. After so much work I put into this… the arm comes off… because of that goddamn ring?! Sasori raged thoughts flared. Taking up the arm, he quickly took the ring and ran out of his bedroom.

He didn't care what the others would say to him if they saw him or anything. He was just fed up with the ring and wanted it long gone. Already, Sasori had an idea on how to make it work. He was now in the hallway and with a quick turn, he ran into the common room. Almost everyone was there, even Itachi, but no one said anything to him… probably to keep from laughing at the memory of the soda accident.

Sasori didn't even care or even bother to look at them. He crossed the room and dashed into the kitchen. By now, he was rushing even more, knowing he was so close to his goal that he didn't even notice Konan who was fiddling with a bag of potato chips.

He couldn't wait any longer and just threw the ring towards the garbage can. Sure, Sasori could have waited until he was close enough to just place it in but patience wasn't even a thought at the moment. He didn't see if the ring made it into the garbage can and he didn't need to because he knew that it'd be long gone from him.

Turning around, he ran out the room with his feet pounding onto the floor. The sounds got lighter and lighter, the further he got. All the sudden-ness of everything made Konan gasp loudly and jump, not even giving the potato chips bag any thought. It was then that the bag burst open and fell to the floor from her hands. The bag fell quickly and potato chips littered the floor just as fast.

Seeing what had happened, she let out an irritated sigh and shook her head. As she did this, she put a hand over her eyes and eventually went to get a broom to sweep the mess. Only in the Akatsuki.

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There we go. This chapter turned out to be longer than I thought but it's actually better this way. Hm, there is only one more chapter left and then the story is over. I will say that there's going to be a bit of a surprise ending. Also, I may write an epilogue for this. Hugs to all!