Author's Note: As you can tell, this story is coming to an end :(. Yes, there are about three or so. I finished chapter 18 as well, however, I need to edit it before posting it so stay tuned and thanks for everyone's amazing support!

Within the House: Soon the world will be mine, the masked man thought, I will take the suffering and cleanse the world of its filth. Moments from now there will be no link. I will be free, an entity of myself, and not bound to a story. I will become a true person with reality as an object and goals to achieve. No one will be capable of standing in my way. No human will be able to resist me.

Chapter 17- Human

The wall of papers collapsed as I burned it to ashes with a flaming fire ball jutsu. The leaders of the Akatsuki remained still, however, there was an odd look at the image I beheld... Nora was missing. "Where is she?" I inquired carefully.

"She is where she needs to be", Pain replied coldly, "And now you must head to where you are needed as well." His voice was dull and uninterested as he motion his arms toward me. A metal rod was held firmly within his grasp and the lethal shine it gave forced my blood to curdle. It desired flesh and death, the satisfaction of tasting the vibration of chakra within its prey. Before long, my body began to levitate and a surge of energy coated my body gently like a blanket. It pulled me toward him. It was a form of attraction in which objects were pulled toward him. It was helpless to struggle against this technique, however, through my deductions, I swiftly discharged a set of kunai toward my previous leader. As I thought, the motions of the jutsu had seized. Thus the kunai, suspended in air, fell motionlessly into a cluttering mess of metal.

There was little time given to for me to react as a whirling wind of papers came crashing down from above. It hit me with vast power and I fell to my knees. In a blink of an eye, Pain lunged toward me with the metallic rod as he swung it gruesomely. I rolled out the way in time to observe the black rod mere inches away from my eyes. I staggered backward, momentarily thrown off balance. A gasp escaped me as I realized that I was outmatched. "I wish not to fight you", I panted for air. If this proceeded, I was surely to die in mere moments. Their strength combined were far too great for me to handle individually.

"Then what do you wish to do?" Konan huffed in displeasure as she prepared for her next plan of action.

They fell silent for a moment. "I wish to enlighten you of the truth about Madara." I held the book that Nora had given me and tossed it to Konan.

She held the book, yet her gaze was cautiously observing me for any sign of trickery. Once she found peace within my eyes, she commenced to scan the pages with wide puzzled eyes. Her face gradually began to bleach as a frown was easily read on her lips, from the horrors it had seen, as if she had felt her immediate death. Once she glanced up with her white marble face, she dropped the book in shock as it cluttered to the ground breaking the silence with a thud. "Traitor", she whispered eerily as she rubbed her fingertips slightly on her neck. As soon as her voice returned to her, she spoke more clearly directing her attention to the leader of Akatsuki, "Madara", she thought dejectedly, "betrayed us."

Unmoved, Pain glared at her for detail. She slid the book with her foot to him as he caught it with his. He proceeded to read it. No reaction was observed as he gazed through the pages. His face as indifferent, his body language indifferent, even his speech remained indifferent. "He played us", he grunted then announced before he departed, "I must leave. There is an issue I must conform first. After I confront this with Madara, I shall return for you Itachi", I heaved a pant as his eyes fell on me.

Before he was able to move another step, Konan scattered into a sea of paper then reforming to block Pain's way. "You mustn't do this", she stated boldly, "This is a battle we need not fight individually."

"I can handle myself. He will be murdered for what he had done to you." It was true that Madara had betrayed them by destroying Konan's existence then obtaining Nagato's eyes, however, Konan's regard to war was remarkably strategic.

Turning to face me, Konan spoke, "Itachi, Madara is a double-crosser and he must be punished. I am requesting your help in punishing this fool."

"No", Itachi replied simply.

Her eyes became sharp and dangerously dark. "Are belittling our request?", Konan retorted severely.

"No", I informed her, "It's only that you will go insane and your mind will be under his illusions. If anything, you will either parish or you will be requested to end me. Give me your cards and I shall promise you revenge on him."

"Tsk", Konan shook her head in disapproval, "We will not surrender our cards to you so easily."

"Then where are they? May I see them?"

An apologetic look appeared upon her features. I gazed at Pain and he explained the mixed emotions that emerged, "Madara requested our loyalty through our cards."

"Ridiculous", Konan muttered to herself, "We were..."

"... Already affected by his genjutsu", I completed her train of thought. They would never surrender their life source to him voluntarily.

"Then we must form a temporarily alliance", Pain said as he motioned toward me, "We will attack as a team unless he returns our cards without a fight. If that occurs Itachi, you must brace yourself for we will finish this battle."

Then they left and I felt the fresh air invading my lungs. It was cool and a refreshing feeling. It was time to get Nora and once I walked through the door terror held me back as it gripped onto my shoulders, holding me frozen in spot. Tragic it was as I caught a brief glimpse of her in the enemy's hand as her sub consciousness told her that that was her father who held on to her. It was useless to call for her as an intense sound emanated from her family's mouths. It was sickening, yet benevolent as her hand stroked the jowl of her father so gently. This left her pale and faint in his hands, but she never let go or pushed him away. How odd this creature was as she clutched tighter onto her father with the tears streaming down her chin. Her sobs turned to screams as her voice ignited with agony.

"Nora!" I allowed the horror to sink in as I called to her to keep her sane, however, her sanity only continued to drain as the master behind this malicious plan revealed himself from behind the curtains.

"A show worth a thousand stars, don't you think?" Red hair, black clothes, the master behind this… Sasori of the Red Sand. "Don't pity those who deserve no pity", he spoke so calmly that even I could feel my veins tear from the rage that poured through them. Nora's sobs quieted down as she watched the man with animosity.

"How... were you able to... harm my family?! Have you... no heart?!", she yelled with hiccups interrupting her speech.

I was trying so hard to conceal my revulsion. This was a monstrosity.

As he brought himself from the shadows, my patience began to wear thin. Every step he took, my nerves throbbed harder and harder against my skull.

"Fortunately, I don't", he breathed indifferently, "however, I enjoyed allowing these creatures a taste of true art. You should thank me."

Gritting my teeth, I couldn't help but think of how pathetic we were to fall directly into this substandard trap.

"Conversely, do you not want to ask how I have come about these majestic pieces of art?"

I stood there for I was short of words that could represent the feelings that welled within me.

With a fake grin pasted upon his face, he continued, "I will tell you anyway for these majestic pieces were ordered to be made by Madara himself. He brought me them", he exclaimed. "However, it was quite difficult to construct these art with materials from this world. I even had to dismantle my own previous puppets to form this glorious work of art. Even as I did, their bodies were pitifully weak. Their fingers and wrists constantly broke and I had to replace them. Can you feel the difference between wood and bones Nora?"

Nora's wails began to increase.

"Their screams were just like yours", he ranted gladly.

"Nora don't listen to him!" I called to her, but I received no answer. Her mind was set on his words.

"But after you get passed that, it was easy to have parts taken out", he attacked her saneness as her breathing diminished.

"Don't listen to him!" I called desperate for her attention, "Listen to my voice! Do you hear me Nora? Listen to my voice!"

She couldn't hear me.

She stood there demoralized as he spoke to her. He gave her a bitter look as he spoke the last few words slowly with hint of delight evident in his tone, "In the end, it was all your fault that your family died."

"No...", she uttered weakly and I watched in horror as her mind collapsed along with her body as she fell motionlessly in the arms of her father. He held her close to his chest as if his lifeless body were still alive, as if it could still love, as if he pitied his own daughter's fall. The rest of her family, even with their blank wooden expressions, appeared to sadden and darken by this deed. But they had no control over their own body. Not even her father, her guardian angel, could prevent himself from carrying her into the next section of this House to meet her fate.

It was then that I awoke. As the doors began to close behind her wooden family, a sinister figure stood patiently awaiting their arrival with his prize... Madara you fiend!

This couldn't be over. I mustn't let it be.

A sudden urge rushed through my blood as I desired to leap after her. As the doors closed, I couldn't help the guilt that poured within me.

"Don't worry about her", Sasori began slowly stepping before me, "You should be worried about yourself." He stood there preparing for a fight. "Intelligence", he spoke to the walls, "Construct a vast room fit for a hundred and two men and strong enough to withstand the vigorousness of battle. No ins and no outs. No extra air and no lights. All we need is one lit candle. Conduct for 7 minutes."

Right then the room itself commenced to change. It widened with grand metal walls sealing every corner. There were no doors nor windows. It was a closed silver box with a single lit candle just as he commanded.

"You must love this degree of technology, don't you think Uchiha?" His glare at me was daring. "Now, either one of us will win this fight or...", his eyes narrowed, "the other will suffocate."

In the slight illumination of the room, I gave him a death glare. There was a limited amount of air in this room and the single candle he had presented was a constant consumer of oxygen. The fire techniques I could implement are rendered useless unless I wished to suffocate.

He was a puppet with nothing more than a flowing chakra compartment and wood for skin. At this rate, he had the advantage of my inability to burn him or use fire based ninjusu. For an odd reason, I felt this battle was provoking the limits of puppet verses man. However, man's necessities for life always persist far stronger.

"You are an incomplete puppet", I began to advance toward him step-by-step. The monstrous temptation to tear my prey apart devoured my own consciousness as I felt as if nothing more of my bitter morality was left within me. All I thought of, with every step, was that he was going to suffer for all that he has committed. This was not like me, but the feeling prevailed. "You will fall once I cut your strings!" I launched myself toward him and the battle commenced.

Simultaneously executing several shuriken toward him, I broke in surprise as I heard the cling of metal on metal as the shuriken made contact with his body.

A devilish smirk curved dangerously upon his lips as an intense titter emerged. "I've upgraded myself with far greater technology than I could have desired!" He spoke with a crazed passion and enthusiasm as he withdrew his cloak.

The sight I had to endure was undeniably displeasing. Sasori was no longer wooden, he was...

"Alloy steel", he spoke with pride. "Stronger than wood. A hard metal."

He completely became grey-white, gleaming with lustrous metal. The metallic shine was apparent in the light. His defenses heightened with his new body, however, his movements were meant to be sluggish and slow, I deduced.

I must refrain from consuming too much chakra in this fight for I wished to save it for Madara. This suggests that ninjutsu and taijutsu are useless, leaving genjutsu as my only option. I watched him.

"And now", his eyes opened like a camera and began to glisten red in the dark, "I could see everything even in the darkest of places with these heat and night vision enhanced eyes."

Silence fell upon us as I gawked at his new body.

"I'm like an Uchiha, right Itachi?! I could almost be considered your relative, however", his arms embarked to alter and modify as cylinder like pipes were revealed.

Underneath the candle light, I watched as Sasori unraveled his secret weapon and bullets began to shower toward me. The multiple bangs that emanated echoed deafly within my ears. I leaped and dodged as many as I was capable of. Luckily, I was grazed slightly on my arms and legs. Minor damage, I thought.

Kunai to kunai, fist to fist. We weren't equally matched, but that was the point of it. Man verses machine.

And I hadn't let myself be this held back when it came to fighting an opponent. I was never to let my full potential unfold before this enemy under these circumstances.

Licking my lips in anticipation, I flung several kunai at him as I dashed his way through the metallic halls. As I expected, he dodged them swiftly forcing me to retreat. It was then that I awaited his attack. He summoned a set of his wooden marionettes, hurling it my way with their spikes of poisoned blades whistling through the sides as they spun lethally. You could see the resemblance of these maniacal machines and a fruit blender. They approached me with such precision as they simultaneously discharged weapon after weapon of poisoned blades my way closing in on me from each direction.

I deflected several of those blades then I was caught off guard by the second puppet he had summoned from behind. I was forcefully knocked of balance into a wall leaving me with no spare time to fight back or leap out of his projectile. A line of needles was fired onto my body mercilessly.

He smirked at his victory approaching my body slowly, with caution. Once he was merely a few inches away, I let what appeared to be my dead body to scatter into hundreds of crows circling around him as if he were the scarecrow and they were the angered birds. My body emerged from the darkness, materializing before his very eyes as our eyes came into contact. Without a second thought, I sent him into a world of never ending anguish, the tsukuyomi.

Looking at his confusion, I opened a door filled with memories of his past. Images of him and his family, him and his grandmother, then just him all alone. All were displayed to him as his indifferent expression remained plastered on his face.

He walked around a hall filled with the murky darkness of an unknown abyss. Reaching a door, he held his hand for the doorknob feeling the cool essence of it on his fingertips. It shocked his senses, puzzling him even more. I found him gazing at his hand with a frantic expression. The throbbing and pounding of his heartbeat could be heard from afar as his breathing began to increase and he began to anxiously touch his face for the mortifying sensation of caressing one's own skin. The pulse that beat through him was felt and he appeared to be hesitant of what was to come next. An amazing sight it was as he slowly continued to reach for the knob with weak knees and quivering features.

It must not feel too well to be human again out of sudden, for now he was welcoming new sensations he had once betrayed, long ago. Even he could not withstand all of those drifts and drastic changes without becoming overwhelmed with fatigue.

Opening the door, he was welcomed by more darkness. To my pleasure, he walked into it with his quaking self, searching for something. I figured it was possibly me.

Right then, I allowed my body to surface from the darkness I had created allowing him to view me. What a laugh it was once he spotted my body emerging from nothing before him. He faked that indifferent expression still with trembling hands.

"I will show you pain", I couldn't help the hatred that dripped from my voice. It felt as if I was awaiting a moment like this where torture was just another playing tool. "In the tsukuyomi, time and space, even physical mass, I control them all."

The shock of becoming human again caused a long frown to form on the borders of his lips. "Humans are weak with bodies that age and decay. I betrayed human mortality long ago-"

"And now your human body will betrayed you as well. The sudden surge of emotions overwhelmed you with fear and inexperience."

"This is only a genjutsu", he was in denial.

"This is more than a mere genjutsu."

"I am art! I am eternal!", he remained in denial.

"You are an incomplete work of art who is incompetent of controlling his own body efficiently. You are done for...", I corrected with pleasure.

The weaknesses he felt left him vulnerable. Helplessly, he attempted to dash toward me, however, his body did not respond to his commands. Hurling a shuriken at his arm, I cut through his skin and watched as the sensation of pain washed over his expression. Panting with anxiety, he covered his face with his hands. Insecurities as a human engulfed him. "I can't trust my body to protect me! Then who will... Mother! Father! Please take away the pain!" he yelled in agony as he clutched his heart, "Grandma Chiyo", he whispered as he hugged his body then knelt to the ground, "Help me... Help me... Stay... And help..." He began to tap upon his body for comfort, like a loon, as he hoped for someone to enter the room and take away from his lonesomeness and solitude. "I betrayed these feelings..." he huffed in shock, "Why are they back! Why won't they go away! I don't want to feel this!"

Sasori couldn't control the overwhelming wave of emotions that hit him suddenly. The sorrow he felt and the loss he endured in his past was similar to mine. The pain he was demonstrating seemed exact to the pain I expressed within me. The only difference between us was that I know how to conceal it. The sound of his voice ached me and I pitied him. By now, I couldn't withstand to see him aching so I ended his agony.

When he woke, he saw my sword plunged into his chakra source.

"It's over Sasori." I stood to gaze at him then to myself as he fell motionlessly to the ground. Blood stained hands, bitter taste in mouth, the thought of the horror I have done was enough to stir this dreadful feeling within me. I was trying so miserably to end this horrid image I had committed, to erase all evidence of the brutality and viciousness I possessed. I searched for his card to end this. Sighing with relief, I found it hidden near his energy source chamber. As I reached in to grab it, a bloodstained hand clamped itself onto my wrist dripping more blood onto the floor.

"You have proven to me what shouldn't have been proven at all, Uchiha", he smirked menacingly with a hint of defeat in his voice. "We're all pawns in his hands, nothing more than mere puppets", a chuckle escaped his lips.

This all was quite bizarre to me for not only was he meant to be dead, he was speaking with regret and dissatisfaction. The last I remembered Sasori, he craved the idea of becoming an ultimate puppet with a superior pulling his strings.

"You don't get it, do you?" He asked me with amusement. "You have no choice. Escape you fool for she will die either way."

A straining feeling grasped onto me as I questioned his motive. "Why are you trying to warn me? I thought we were enemies."

"You made me remember how pathetic it felt to be human again", his voice was weak and low as it was quite difficult to hear what he was trying to beseech to me. "Once you burn my card, you might understand that you haven't been the one to kill me to begin with. You are only a puppet who hasn't accepted the fact that he has always been a puppet. We can all be foolish, Itachi, but I could further my existence by having someone remember me", he spoke with dishonor and shame as his face darkened. "I won't be forgotten by time if someone remembered me, am I right? I would be eternally engraved into their mind and they won't forget. I would then live forever." Coughing heavily, blood splattered out of his mouth. He motioned for me to near him. "He…will…", his voice kept on breaking for he was short of breath, "force you… to do… things you don't want to do. You will hurt her, Itachi, and you will have no choice in the matter." Suddenly, his head fell and no chakra was seen flowing within him. Pity restrained me, but once I burnt his card I felt the burden lift. His body cracked red like that of an erupting volcano then his body slowly burst into ashes. He was free now and I was still in control.

File X Closed

Author's Note: I felt sorry for Sasori in this chapter, I don't know why. You might hate me for the next chapter though haha