AN: Here it is. This chapter has to be the one I've been the most excited to write since the two-chapter fight scene between Iwagakure and the K-MF-001. There will be fighting again, but it will not be the main focus of this chapter. Also, a character warning is included because there will be the introduction of a main character whose canon has been changed for this fiction. It isn't I do not know how to write him; it's just I'm writing him in my own vision for Wasteland. Also, please heed the warnings, this chapter will be gruesome.
Character Warning(s):Sasori: So, Sasori in Wasteland will be parts the same and different than his canon version. Specially, his personality. Basically, he'll be our resident asshole throughout the story. Also, his puppetification method is changed. Beside that, he is the same Sasori, just douchier and crueler.
Also, additional warning. Sasori has an accent and so will a few other Akatsuki members. No, it will not be used as a stereotype (except one character but that is because his backstory, or lack thereof, was written out for Wasteland) or a caricature. They'll be used to differentiate the characters from each other and because of their personalities or to illustrate the nations they originate from (Sasori is from Suna which is an Arid Nation, therefore he has the speech pattern of someone from one of those countries.) I am including this warning now, so I do not have to later. Again, if you do not like this, do not leave a hateful comment because this choice was made for this story which is AU, if you cannot tell by now.
Purplebeian: Haha, sorry about that but hey, at least this update is most certainly not an April Fool's joke. It always makes me happy to hear the creative twist I add to canon characters isn't a failure. Also, I did my damnest on this chapter and I think it's my favourite thus far!
Cat Beats: You were kinda right, haha. I tried basing the characters and Suna itself off both the canon descriptions and real-life inspirations, such as the Redguard from Elder Scrolls. Thank you for the compliment!
MadaraUchiha-Chan: Thank you, thank you and I hope you keep reading!
Warning(s): Blood/Gore/Violence (High), Language (Med), Genderbend, OC
…
Wasteland
Red Dawn Arc
Chapter 23
When Zetsu groggily woke up, she wasn't tucked in the uncomfortable hospital bed or in her room anymore. Instead, she found herself facedown in dirt that smelt heavily of decay and iron. When she lifted her head, she realized the reason as the sand underneath her was stained red like old blood. She could taste the flavour of it in her mouth. Gasping, she attempted to weakly lift herself off it, but found that it hurt too much to move, but also, something heavy atop her had her pinned down.
"'ush up," Was barked at her when she started whimpering.
She tilted her head sideways to glance up at the person speaking and cried out when seeing the Firefly standing over her, staring down at her with its sunken bloodshot eyes. She hadn't been this near to the Firefly before and the red-hot chakra signature radiating off it was scalding against her skin and suffocating the breath in her lungs like a bad fever.
"'ush up!" Hiruko said again, pressing his hand harder into her back as she squirmed underneath him to escape his presence. "I ain't gonna 'urt ya. Not 'less yer pops fails to show up, er ya irritate meh! Yer getting' close ta one of 'em!"
Further pressure silenced her crying as she went dead still and returned to whimpering as she felt her broken ribs stabbing against her skin and threatening to puncture through. Satisfied, he returned to scanning the endless blood-stained wastes for his invited guest in the horizon.
…
Meanwhile, Kakuzu was running towards the general direction Chiyo had told him the Bloodlands would be located. He had launched Daora and the bird creature was flying overhead, using its aerial viewpoint to search for the whereabouts of Hiruko and Zetsu. Finally, after a few hours of lost drifting and closing in on the border between the Firelands and Wastelands, Daora cawed. It had found something.
It divebombed out of the sky and landed in front of Kakuzu. It relied its message to him through an interruptive dance which, to anyone else, would look nothing more than bouncing and squawking. However, Kakuzu understood all of it and patted the Daora on the head as an award for its contribution before withdrawing it. He then turned himself in the direction as indicated by the air elemental that it had spied their targets.
As he ran, he noticed the sand underneath his boots increasingly dying a gruesome rust and the air smelt putrefied of baking flesh and copper, burning the inside of his nostrils through his bandana and making it difficult to breathe as his lungs were strangled with the sketch of death. There were corpses buried in the sand, dressed in shinobi armours trademark to both Konoha and Suna, unidentifiable and unclaimed, left to rot in the sweltering sun; their shriveled faces gaping towards the heavens. He must be entering these so-called "Bloodlands" and could understand where they had received their name.
In the distance, amongst the emptiness, there was a figure, large and rotund. It was either a horrifically bloated body, or Hiruko. He confirmed it to be the latter upon closer inspection. Zetsu was nowhere to been seen, though. His pace slowed to a casual walk as he approached until eventually halting to a stop. There was a meter between himself and his "friend". Hiruko acknowledged his guest's presence by uplifting his head, the motion releasing the artificial noises of inorganic material grinding against each other.
"So, ya came, and alone like asked," Hiruko chuckled to himself. "Didn' make me wai' either. 'ow generous. I 'ate waitin'." He noticed the flamboyantly pink backpack slung over his shoulder and chuckled. "Nice bac'pac'."
"Where's Zetsu?" Kakuzu demanded, ignoring his "compliment" and throwing the bright bag aside.
"The girl? She's fine; she's righ' 'ere." Hiruko raised himself up, revealing Zetsu was smuggled underneath his hefty frame like a chick beneath a nesting hen.
Upon hearing Kakuzu's voice, Zetsu craned her neck and stared at him with glistening eyes. Bloodsoaked sand was glued to her wet cheeks. "Sir." She whimpered, lips trembling. She tried crawling towards him but Hiruko laid his weight back atop her, making her yelp beneath him. Kakuzu scowled.
"Bastard." He grumbled, stepping forward but didn't progress further when Hiruko's scorpion-este tail arched itself in his direction.
"Nah uh uh. Ya ain't getting' 'er back 'til ya defeat me. Tha' was the condition I left in tha' note." Was Hiruko's rebuttal, his metal stringer swaying like a waggling finger. "Tha' should be easy 'nuff fer ya, Kakuzu." Mention of his name surprised Kakuzu as his folded arms fell against his sides and his eyebrows crinkled over his sunglasses, causing Hiruko to snicker. "Oh yes, I knows all 'bout ya. I realized who you was when I seen yer lil' pet las' we met. Tha' the Jiongu? Er, Earth Grudge Fear it known as too? I 'member readin' all 'bout ya in the news; convicted criminal responsible fer stealin' Takigakure's Kinjutsu an' murderin' the Elders. Ya was quite the talk. Still is, bein' the person wit' the highest bounty in the world, afterall."
Kakuzu sighed, shaking his head. Should've known that one day someone would figure out his identity. Although, he had done a decent job keeping himself inconspicuous these last few years through simplistic means of changing his appearance and withholding his name. Hiruko was the first person to have it pieced together through Kakuzu's own dumb mistake. There was no point in keeping himself disguised anymore then. Reaching up, he removed his sunglasses, nestling them in his pocket and yanked his black bandana down around his neck. This was a first without either of them and there was the experience of a type of nakedness for him.
"So, the rumours is true then tha' the Jiongu prevents natural healin'" Hiruko muttered, sunken orbs observing Kakuzu's stitched-on jaw. "Stitched together like a ragdoll, ya is."
Kakuzu snorted, lips twitching. "You're one to talk."
Hiruko released a laugh which could be mistaken as genuine. "I ain't one to talk, is I? Got a face only me mum could love." He joked, but his humour was short-lived. "Now then, lil' talk aside. Le's git on wit' it. I'm anxious to add ya to me collection. How 'bout ya show me yer lil' pet 'gain? I wanna see the full potential of the Jiongu." Kakuzu decided to grant his request.
He uttered a single name underneath his breath for this battle. His sleeveless shirt ruffled as the mask stitched to his back reacted to its moniker and released itself. Exiting, it collapsed into the sand in a jumble of twitching threading as it assembled itself into its physical form. Once finished, beside him was Rājan.
Hiruko muttered an inquisitive noise, his tail wagging behind him like an excited dog. "Ohh, I recognize 'im. Ya ain't got more?"
"I do; but all I need is the one to defeat you."
"Oh? Alrigh'. Le's git on wit' it then. If ya can defeat me, ya can 'ave yer pup bac' an' take me bac' to Sunagakure. Should be easy 'nuff fer ya. 'specially wit'ou' tha' ol' hag hinderin' ya." Kakuzu didn't bother with asking what would happen if he couldn't do that since the answer was obvious. Bastard loved his games though, didn't he?
Hiruko took a defensive position. His wooden joints locked themselves together in his arms and legs, keeping his weighty puppet frame pendulous while his metallic tail steadied over his hunched back, prepared to retaliate once attacked. Rājan readied itself also but did nothing else as Kakuzu hadn't given it permission. That was because he was hammering out the last details of his strategy. If he wanted a fast win, he could've used Teo instead and turned this bastard into firewood. However, Hiruko wasn't the one he was occupied with; it was Zetsu.
He needed to get her out from underneath Hiruko without bringing harm to her or disturbing her. If she stayed where she was, an incident was waiting to happen, and he couldn't afford either having her killing Hiruko or vise versa. So, his main objection would be separating her from the skirmish. He couldn't make it obvious though as Hiruko had proven himself to be a clever and in own words an "opportunist" person. If he realized what Kakuzu was trying to do, he might intentional hurt the girl and that wouldn't end well for anyone involved. He had a plan though; killing two birds with one stone. Kakuzu whistled and Rājan grumbled its acknowledgement then both lunged.
Hiruko scoffed at their failed attempt at a sneak attack. His tail launched at them and Kakuzu and Rājan separated, causing it miss. The lightning mask went to the right while its host to the left. Hiruko's head bobbed between them as he decided which to attack. Since he knew little of this creature's capabilities, he decided on Kakuzu as his tail made a b-line after him. Kakuzu saw it incoming and Doton-ed his arm, reflecting the stringer in an explosion of sparks of the grinding metal. This had been part of his plan, however, and Hiruko had waltz right into it. When Hiruko made Kakuzu his choice to attack, Rājan pounced at him. It bellowed as it swung its black fist, striking Hiruko in the side with a solid punch. The impact made a hollow thunking noise and did little else than jar the puppet master slightly. Hiruko's head immediately snapped towards Rājan and surged his metallic tail at it next which it dodged, mindful its heart behind its porcelain oni mask.
"Wha' was tha' supposed ta be, eh? A tickle?"
However, this again, played into Kakuzu's plan. With Hiruko's attention of Rājan, he charged in with his own attack. He slid through the copper-heavy sand and activating his Doton, punched his bronze fist right into Hiruko's other side. The insane strength behind it was enough to send Hiruko teetering as he stumbled a few steps to the side, almost off Zetsu. Realizing this, the girl reached desperate hand out to Kakuzu, pleading eyes staring at him. However, Hiruko recovered himself quickly and huddled back over the girl before Kakuzu had the chance to grab her, leaving her tiny hand sticking out from underneath him. Obviously, he wouldn't be giving her up easily. While a failure, it wasn't a disappointment, as Kakuzu had learned valuable information from this first wave of attacks.
'It isn't either of his sides.' He thought, leaping backwards and Rājan regrouped with him. 'This bastard is smart. We have to find it before he figures us out.'
"Tha' it? 'm disappointed. I was expectin' a figh' this time." Hiruko taunted him but Kakuzu didn't answer, occupied with thinking up their next move.
Hiruko's squinted his shutter-like eyelids at him as the brunette's bloodshot eyes stared at him, not being to hide this fact without his sunglasses. His deep expression told him he was scheming something else up and his tail twitched in anticipation of this. Finally, Kakuzu finished his thoughts and whistled a series of orders to Rājan who reciprocated them with a snort. He gave the signal and Rājan jumped away to flank Hiruko while Kakuzu went in with the frontal assault.
"Straigh' on now? Alrigh'!" Hiruko yelled, gleeful with this development. He found himself getting involved in this little skirmish of theirs now, more so than last time.
Reaching up, he yanked down his bandana, revealing his own screwed up facial features. In this case: a segmented spring-loaded jaw. Kakuzu was slightly taken aback by this; but not so much so as by the stream of poisonous senbon being sprayed out said mouth in rapid succession. He quickly hardened his arms and used them to shield himself from the barrage. This halted him in place. It didn't matter though because in that time, Rājan had positioned itself behind Hiruko; who was aware it was there, but there was hesitation in attacking it when he recalled that which had happened to his tail during their last bout. It was this hesitation that gave Rājan a window. It leapt over him and roared as it bought both fists down into the man's hunched back. While he initially withstood the direct impact, over the high-pitched noise of flying needles, there was a distinct cracking. Hiruko's eyes widened and his disjointed jaw instantly snapped shut upon this, relieving Kakuzu of his continuous gunfire in the process.
Kakuzu smirked at the reaction, dropping his arms. 'Bingo.'
Like that, a light bulb flickered on in Hiruko's head, shedding light on Kakuzu's little scheme. "Ya bastard." He snarled, tail striking against like the sand like a bullwhip with a sickening crack and casting a red cloud. He had cracked him; cracked his perfect body! "Playin' wit' me, hav' ya? Thinkin' ya can destroy me, aye? Chiyo bin chatterin' in yer ear? I ain't playin' no more than!"
Rājan, who had been standing behind him, decided to take advantage of his blinding rage as it lunged for a second attack. This time, Hiruko demonstrated no hesitation and the heart container didn't have the ability to evade in its mid-air position when the metallic tail pierced through the middle of it. While it couldn't experience pain, the stabbing staggered Rājan and it bellowed out. He diverted his gaze from the withering creature back to his main target, expecting to find him stunned he had killed his little pet like that. Instead, Kakuzu's smirking had increased and his shoulders were trembling as he held back laughter. This just angered Hiruko further.
"Wha'!? Wha' ya laughin' at!?"
"Because you just made my plan work perfectly." Kakuzu replied and smiled, lips splitting back into his Glasgow smile.
Just then, there was the distinct crackling of electricity as blue static circulated through Rājan's hulking frame. Hiruko heard this and glimpsed back over his hunched back at it's towering figure which was glowing a dazzling blue with it mirrored in its eye sockets. Realizing what was happening, he tried to withdraw his tail. However, Rājan's stringy body had tied itself around it like it had when it saved Chiyo and prevented this. Hiruko had trapped himself. With a roar, Rājan let Hiruko have it; unleashing the thunderstorm brewing inside it. The metal scorpion tail spiked through the familiar behaved like a lightning rod and absorbed all the electricity released right into its owner.
Hiruko screamed in pain as he was electrocuted, unlike a dead puppet would. Over his wailing, a different yowling could be heard echoing his but couldn't be located. His head and body twitched disturbingly like a malfunctioning animatronic. Smoke billowed up as his wooden physique kindled and started burning away like firewood, setting his black cloak alight. Rājan didn't yield though and continued pumping the high voltage into him. With Hiruko crippled, Kakuzu stole his opportunity. Running at him, he fortified his fist. He launched himself over the puppeteer and brought it down directly onto his back; his one weak spot. Instantly, the that one minor crack left spiderwebbed throughout the wooden man and he shattered into an explosion of shrapnel and splinters which ejected across the Bloodlands. Hiruko's head bounced through the sand and tumbled against Kakuzu's boot which he stomped onto it, caving in his hideous, dead face. Hiruko was gone. However, this wasn't over.
Suddenly, Hiruko's black cloak, burned and tattered, raised and jumped away like it was possessed by Hiruko's spirit, revealing Zetsu who had been hidden beneath. She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, sand pouring off her clothing. While upset, her face dirty with sand glued to the snot and tears drenching her face in a disgusting display, she hadn't been affected by the lightning; except her green hair standing up from the static. This was thanks to Kakuzu. During his first attack on Hiruko, he had kicked sand underneath him and bured her as protection from Rājan's attack since it wouldn't conduct the electricity.
Rājan wrenched the detached tail out from its fiber anatomy and threw it aside. It tended to Zetsu, huddling itself over her trembling form and snorting to hush her. With Zetsu safe, Kakuzu stared at fabric as it trembled and wheezed. A minute passed, then the cloak straightened up and started laughing; an insane, hysterical laugh. Zetsu cowered against Rājan while Kakuzu stared on, unperturbed by the eerie noise.
"Brilliant," The Cloak said, trembling as it snickered. "You played me; finding Hiruko's weakness then tricking me into attackin' your critter. You're clever. However, I'm unpleased you destroyed my favourite puppet."
"There's a reason I've never fought an opponent twice. Consider this fight a privilege." Kakuzu proclaimed, proudly crossing his arms. "Now I've finished playing too. Why don't you show yourself so I'm not speaking to a tablecloth?"
"Hmph, you're an impatient man; but so, am I." A bandaged hand extended out from underneath the cloak. It grasped it then with one fell swoop, threw the cloth off; revealing the real person who had been behind all this.
"You're that Chiyo Lady's grandson." Kakuzu said, recognizing the redheaded teenager from the picture she had shown him. He was identical to the photograph like it had been taken yesterday, down to his Sunagakure armour and dead-eyed gaze. It took him a minute to recall his name though. "Sasori."
Sasori smiled, a genuinely disturbing gesture paired with his thousand-yard stare. "So, Granny Chiyo told you about me? You've heard nothin' but good things then?"
"If you consider mass murdering and maiming good things, then yes. I'm positive she'll love to hear how you're responsible for the murder of hundreds of Suna citizens and the Third too."
"Well, we can't all be perfect." He made a handsign causing the shattered pieces of Hiruko to disappear with puffs of smoke after which he scowled. "Tch, all that effort, wasted. It took months to plan his kidnappin'; longer to perfectly mimic that imbecilic accent of his."
"Your accent isn't much better." Kakuzu quipped and Sasori laughed, so loud and audibly faked that it was awkward.
"So says the walkin' patchwork." Kakuzu frowned. He couldn't believe it, but he was starting to miss Hiruko's dry humour. This brat obviously hadn't heard a joke in his life. "Now, joshin' aside. Let us continue our little skirmish."
"Tch, I already won our "little skirmish". I defeated you. Now you have to honour the conditions of our agreement and return to Suna with me, so I can collect my reward."
"No, no, no. You defeated Hiruko, not me." Sasori insisted, gesturing at himself with a shit-eating grin. "So, our agreement is on. You have your girl back so the least you can do is indulge me. I haven't had the chance to try my newest puppet."
Kakuzu lowered his arms and glowered at the teenager. "You little shit." He muttered. Somehow, Sasori took this as confirmation.
Reaching behind himself, he withdrew one of the scrolls buckled to his back and extended his hand out. His fingers unfurled it and on the inside of the parchment had been painted the symbol "san" in large, black brushes. He activated the scroll and a dark plume of smoke erupted from it, swallowing him inside. Kakuzu predicted what was going to happen and prepared himself for the worse outcome. The exhausted thinned into nothing, revealing Sasori's newest puppet—a handsome being with black, messy hair and narrowed, golden eyes, clad in a fur collared, brown cloak.
Kakuzu didn't recognize the person it was, but he had his theory who it was. "So, is this what happened to the Third?" He asked the boy. Immediately, Sasori smiled, chocolate pupils shrinking.
"Yes, it is. He was the challenge to kill but rewardin'." He caressed the puppet's face in a creepy manner that no adolescent boy should be touching a man, dead or alive. "I've been itchin' for an excuse to use him, and I think you've given me that excuse. But before we do anythin' else, I'll take back what is mine." Kakuzu didn't know what he was talking about, but he got the hint once Sasori's dead gaze turned towards Rājan and Zetsu.
He barely managed to yell at Rājan when Sasori lunged the Third Kazekage at it. The creature immediately leapt up, sheltering Zetsu behind it and unleashed a lightning storm at the attacking puppet. The Third's jaw parted open and a blackness escaped it like a swarm of bees. The blue discharge struck the mysterious matter and fizzled out; it had resisted the electricity. It then massed itself over Rājan's mask and blinded it. It desperately tried clawing it away, but the material had calcified itself and the creation's fingers did nothing. Kakuzu tried rescinding the heart container but it was too late. With a twitch of Sasori's finger, the Third threw back its right arm and several, different-sized blades erected themselves out of the limb. Rājan heard the telltale noise of the razors slicing through the air and sidestepped out of the way. However, because it could not see, it miscalculated the size of the razors and despite its effort to evade them, the blades were uppercutted through its head. Crumbling away, the black substance revealed the shanks had pierced right through Rājan's mask as blood streamed through the punctures. Kakuzu cringed, grasping his chest like the hit had been direct.
Sasori smiled. "Oh, so that's how you kill 'em."
Rājan released a low groan, blood bubbling from its snarling mouth. Its threaded body seizure, melting away, and the cracked oni mask fell to the ground, blood splattered. Its punctured heart tumbled out and twitched, emptying out the last of its bloody contents to further saturate the sand then withered. With Rājan gone, Zetsu was left exposed. She had huddled herself into a fetal position and peered up, watering eyes staring into the dead gaze of the Kazekage as it reached a hand towards her. Kakuzu recovered himself quickly and started running to save her.
Realizing he wouldn't make it in time, he ejected his hand to grab her instead. The Third's head snapped up, glass eyes staring at the objectionable limb. It swung its weaponized arm at the detached hand, making Kakuzu withdraw it to prevent amputation. Unfortunately, this meant Zetsu was left to be snatched up by the puppet. It grabbed the back of her medical gown and with her in hand, flew backwards back to its master. Zetsu was dumped to the ground and immediately, she tried scrambling away but didn't get far as Sasori bought his foot down onto her back. She cried out.
"There, now it is like nothin' happened." Sasori smirked, digging his sandal heel into her and taking pleasure in her pained mewling.
"You little bastard." Kakuzu snarled, gritting his teeth. He was angry with the boy, but the same time he wasn't pleased with Zetsu either for getting herself in these situations over and over again. "She has nothing to do with this!"
"Oh, but she has everythin' to do with this. She's going to make a perfect puppet. Afterall," The redhead leant down and Zetsu yelped when he grabbed a handful of her short hair, using it to yank her head backwards. "She has the Mayfly." He smiled at Kakuzu's temporarily stunned expression at this revelation. "Oh yes, saw it myself; back at the farmhouse. The Mayfly is extinct—or so said. So, to stumble upon a girl with it—how could I pass up the opportunity to turn her into a puppet? That is, if I win."
So that confirmed a lot. One: that it had been Sasori which had been in the house while Hiruko was outside, and two: Zetsu had used the Mayfly to escape. 'Goddamnit, Zetsu.' Kakuzu thought, squeezing his fists. She hadn't failed yet to exasperate him.
Sasori released her hair and straightened up, stepping off her, much to the relief of her broken ribs. "The conditions shall be the same: to the winner goes the spoils. If you win, then you get your little anklebiter back. However, if I win, then I have two new puppets for my collection. Fair enough?" He shrugged nonchalantly.
Kakuzu sighed. He had no choice in the manner. Besides, he was tired of this little shit and wanted to punch his smug face in for all the hell he had been subjecting him to. "If I win, I'll take your heart and your dead body back to Suna."
"Ohh, ok then. Now, yabberin' aside. I do not like makin' people wait and would end this quickly, but I want the chance to play with my favourite puppet for a bit. So, let's get on with it."
Kakuzu indulged him, because unlike the teenager, he wanted to end this quickly. Due to this, he summoned two masks instead of relying one again. There was a danger with risking two more of his hearts after having lost Rājan, but he wasn't going to underestimate this kid and the Kazekage puppet. His choice was Teo and Amatsu. Teo wedged itself out of Kakuzu's collar and shambled alongside him while Amatsu slithered out from underneath his shirt and sank itself into the sand like an alligator.
"Ohhh, there's two of the thingos now." Sasori cooed with fabricated enthusiasm and clapped his hands. "You weren't lyin' when you said you had more of 'em. If you're ready now, we can sta—oh." He paused mid-word as something had caught his eye and he turned his head towards it. Kakuzu was stolen out of his scheming thought for how to rescue Zetsu to see what the boy was looking at.
While Sasori had been distracted, Zetsu had mustered up what little strength she had to drag herself away in a poor attempt as escape. Sadly, her trail left in the sand had been noticed. He walked after her, causing her to heave herself faster to get away but the pain made it difficult and she temporarily writhed, giving him the chance to catch up with her.
"Where'd you think you're going?" He asked, leaning over her.
Kakuzu whistled and Teo and Amatsu instantly charged to save the girl before he had a chance to hurt her. Their path was obscured though as the Third Kazekage intercepted them, arms spread and slack jawed. Teo exhaled a jet of fire at it and the puppet retaliated by breathing its black mist. The white-hot flames struck the unknown element and exploded upon contact. When the dust cleared, the fire had done nothing as the black substance remained intact and the Third safe behind it. Amatsu decided to try next and spewed a current of water at it. Narrowing its throat, it condensed the stream into a water jet cutter. The water impacted the blackness and but instead of punching through it like paper with the increased pressure, it was stopped dead as if it were no more powerful than a child's water gun.
Sasori smirked, having heard the ruckus happening behind him. "The Third's Iron Sand is impenetrable. You're wasting your time." He walked back to his creation, dragging a kicking Zetsu behind him by the hair.
She latched her hands onto his wrists to remove his hand, accidently scratching him in the process. Feeling the stinging of her nails biting into his skin, he wrenched his hand away, dropping her as he did so.
He analyzed his wrist, staring at the thin, red lines she had left behind and narrowed his lashed eyelids at her. "Did you just…scratch me?" He proclaimed, aghast. "You little monster!"
"Not monster!" Zetsu screamed back, her hatred of that insult stronger than her fear in that flitting moment.
This, combined with her failed escape and clawing, as what shattered what little tolerance Sasori had and he proceeded to punch her in the face. Zetsu cried out, blood spraying as her nose was immediately broken—again. He didn't stop with that though, or rather couldn't stop himself, as he straddled her and brought his fists against her face over and over again, grinning manically as she screamed and cried. She tried to shield her face with her hand, but they were yanked away without an ounce of gentleness and at one point, there was a distance cracking and she felt something break inside her wrist, making her shriek.
'Goddamnit, he's going to make her go berserk!' Kakuzu thought and sprinted to stop the puppeteer before he did something that everyone would regret.
However, like Teo and Amatsu, he was stonewalled as the Third jumped in front of him, bladed arm cocked back. He skidded to a halt and his masks leapt between him and the puppet to defend him.
Finally, Sasori discontinued his assault on Zetsu who had stopped moving. He glanced up, panting and lips twitching back into an insane smile. "There," He muttered, standing off her and wiping the blood splattered on his face while he stared down at the unconscious girl. "Now you'll think twice before trying those little stunts again." He flicked the stray blood off his knuckles and with the twitch of his pinky, the Third sprung back to him, hunching itself against his back.
Kakuzu clenched his teeth and looked at Zetsu, who was indistinguishable with her face beaten and bloody. He prayed she had blacked out and wouldn't regain consciousness until this was all over because he wasn't in the position to wrangle her. His bloodshot eyes snapped back to Sasori's smug-ass face and he snarled with Teo and Amatsu amplifying him. This brat didn't realize what he may have done.
"You little shit."
Sasori sighed, shaking his head. "You seriously should invent new insults; You're borin' me." He brushed his messy hair back and the crimson locks fell back into place. "I didn't kill her. I can check her pulse for you, if you'd like." He gestured at her, then turned to do just that so he wasn't a lair. As he did, he paused, uttering an inquisitive noise and planting his hands on his hips. Kakuzu saw it too. Zetsu was gone.
A quick investigation revealed her nowhere to be found, so she hadn't crawled off again; not with her injuries. 'She must've used the Mayfly,' Kakuzu thought, glancing around to confirm his suspension.
"Tch, she run off usin' her Kekkei Genkai?" Sasori groaned, voicing Kakuzu's thoughts exactly. He turned around, throwing his hands up in a shrug. "Whatever. I'll find her later. She can't escape forever. Until then, I'll take care of you." Sasori stepped forward, his stare chilling and psychotic grinning splitting his cheeks. The Third hovered overhead and Teo and Amatsu prepared themselves with Kakuzu activating his Doton in his arm as a precaution. "Let's fini—"
His statement was cut off though as when he started pacing forward, and his leg fell through the sand, making him lurch in what could be considered a comedic manner if the circumstances were different. Thinking he stepped into a sand trap, he scowled and attempted to lift his foot out. However, it was stuck. It felt like something was holding onto it.
"What the f—" Again, he couldn't finish what would've been his colourful statement.
Suddenly, his foot was yanked down further, and in an instant, his confusion vanished as he threw back his head and released a bloodcurdling scream. Kakuzu was startled by the unexpected noise escaping the teenager and stared at him as he started thrashing and shrieking like a trapped animal. He then saw it; blood. It was oozing through the sand where the boy's foot had fallen through and immediately, he realized what was happening.
"Fuck!" Kakuzu proclaimed and rushed to assist him. Though, exactly like last time, he was prevented by the Third Kazekage, who at this point was being controlled blindly as it twitched and chattered its jaw creepily. "I'm trying to fucking help you, you little shit!" He screamed at it but was drowned out by its master's screaming.
Sasori continued yelling as he desperately clawed at his own leg to release it, tearing his pant leg with his nails and slicing the skin underneath. There was the crunching of the bones in his foot, like something was biting onto it and the harder he pulled, the further down his leg was swallowed by the ground until it was up to his knee. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of tugging, he freed himself and was thrown onto his back. He sat up, midway through a relieved sigh when he looked down at his leg, or lack thereof; his left leg was nothing but bleeding stump and was missing below the knee. Lips trembling and eyes widening, he let out a petrified scream that made Kakuzu cover his ears from the glass-shattering capabilities of it. Even Teo and Amatsu winced.
Sasori scrambled backwards through the sand, hyperventilating and sweating, staring at his amputated leg as it spewed a trail of dark blood. Then, something grabbed onto his wrist and stopped him. Inhaling, trembling orbs inched down to his hand and discovered someone else's hand, sprouted through the sand and was holding onto him. His mouth opened to scream again, but it was caught in his throat when the hand wrenched his through the earth without resistance like it was water instead. The shriek found its way out of him when something replicating teeth clamped down onto the appendage.
The Third Kazekage puppet crumpled, as its manipulator faltered with its chakra strings, and Kakuzu took advantage to juke while Teo and Amatsu restrained it. Sasori's arm had been devoured past the elbow by the time he made it to the teenager, and the redhead was shoveling away the sand in a frantic struggle to salvage the limb. Kakuzu wasn't given a welcoming reception when he tried helping.
"Fuck off!" Sasori shrilled at him, elbowing the elder with his other arm. As a result, the Third Kazekage revived back to life and bucked Teo and Amatsu off.
Once released, it sped towards Sasori and Kakuzu, razored arms pointed at them. Kakuzu backed off because at this moment, he wasn't interested in engaging the artificial Kage. He readied himself to be attacked, but it didn't have the chance. There was a sickening crack and it nosedived into the ground, skidding past the brunet until lagging to a halt, lying motionless in a rusty dust cloud. At first, Kakuzu thought it somehow had broken which explained the fracturing heard. His hunch was proven wrong once he returned his attention back to Sasori.
He was laid out on his back, whimpering pathetically and cradling his shoulder. Beneath him, a steadily growing puddle of blood was developing. The shoulder was empty; the entirety of his right arm had been severed too. Now without an arm and a leg, Kakuzu realized this wouldn't end until there was nothing left of this brat and if there was any time to act, it was now.
"Amatsu!" Kakuzu urgently yelled at his water elemental.
Amatsu answered him with a grunt and lifted itself up onto its stubby legs. Arching its neck back, it released a disgusting gurgling then threw its head down as it retched up a waterfall of fluid. Water gushed through the sand, turning a light red as it washed the old blood soaked into the dirt. Kakuzu snatched Sasori up by the scruff so he wasn't swept away, receiving little resistance. Once upon a time, he had heard a rumour regarding the Mayfly and its dislike of water and anxiously, he waited curious if the myth had been true. A minute passed, then finally, the anticipated result.
Zetsu burst out of the scarlet mud and water with a high-pitched shriek, crimson-streaked canines gnashing the air. Kakuzu whistled and Amatsu desisted in its deluge so it didn't accidently drown the girl. He abandoned a stock-still Sasori as he lumbered through bodily fluid-tinted sludge to his subordinate, thankful for his boots. She had been trapped up to her chest and was scrabbling to escape, fruitlessly digging her fingers into the muck. Her wriggling was interrupted as her dilated, berserked gaze flickered up to the massive man. Blood was dripping off her chin and he didn't know if it belonged to her, or Sasori. However, the flesh and tissue wedged between her teeth was the latter's. He knelt over her and she hissed into his face. Ignoring it, he wrapped a large hand around her neck and squeezed. He didn't want to hurt her further by rendering her unconscious with a hit to the head. She squealed and struggled, clawing at his hand. While she left a few, nasty bleeding cuts, her fighting was futile and after several tense seconds, her eyes went white as she blacked out. He released her and Amatsu scurried to excavate her.
With everything said and done, he turned around to check on Sasori who had been left laying in the mud. His brown eyes were large and blank on his ghostly white face while his shaking hand squeezed his desolate shoulder socket—the telltale symptoms of shock. He was nothing like the prideful, shit stain he had once been minutes ago.
"See what you've done?" Kakuzu asked him like a parent scolding their child and gestured at his missing arm and leg which he had no one to blame but himself. No response was received though, because Sasori's jaw trembled, as if to answer, but then his eyes rolled back into his head. The blood loss finally claimed him. In the distance, there was an explosion of smoke as the Third Kazekage puppet automatically returned itself to its scroll. Kakuzu sighed, taking a moment to observe the carnage Zetsu had unleashed once again. Everything had happened so quickly. This hadn't gone anything like he thought but he had to stop being surprised, he told himself, shaking his head in distain. He whistled at Teo.
Teo bumbled over and Kakuzu fetched a kunai kept stashed on his ankle. He lifted it up to the lion mask and it breathed a tiny flame against it, heating the metal. Once red hot, he crouched beside the out cold teenager. He started with his leg, which had been left to bleed out the longest, and held the burning knife against the stub. Smoke billowed up as the flesh was cauterized and the scent of burning flesh made the older man taste bile in the back of his throat. Somehow, he kept his stomach down until he finished cooking the wound shut and ended the fountain of blood gushing from it. The shoulder was more difficult to patch up because unlike his leg which had been a relatively straight cut, the arm hadn't torn off but rather been extracted and left a crater behind. After much patience and a lot of ruined kunais, he had managed to solder the socket too. He checked the boy's pulse, to determine if he had survived the procedure and blood loss. It was weak, but he would live long enough to make it back to Suna.
By now, Amatsu had finished exhuming Zetsu and waddled over with her nestled in its overexaggerated arms. Plus, her backpack it had found. He took both from it, tucking her against his chest while he secured Sasori beneath his arm. Teo and Amatsu went back to their slumber with their remaining sibling and with both children in hand, Kakuzu trudged back towards Sunagakure to claim his reward—with benefits if he was so lucky. What a shitty day this had turned out to be and he prayed it wouldn't get worse. He shouldn't have knocked on wood.
…
It was the halfway point to Suna when Kakuzu encountered an unexpected face casually walking the middle of the Wastelands.
"Akatsuki!" Geil yelled once spying the larger man and running towards Kakuzu who quickly tugged up his bandana, having forgotten he didn't have it on. He didn't care so much if people saw his ruptured eyes. "Counsellor Chiyo told us that your daughter was kidnapped and—" However, his words faded away once the scarred man noticed one of the teenagers Kakuzu had and recognized the bright red hair. "I-Is that Akasuna-no-Sasori!?"
"Yes, it is." Kakuzu confirmed. "He would be the one responsible everything. Hiruko was nothing but a puppet and the Third Kazekage is dead; turned him into a puppet too."
This information apparently overloaded Geil's brain as he gaped his mouth open and shut for several seconds like a suffocating fish. His jaw snapped shut once everything had processed and he nodded at Kakuzu. "If everything you say is true, then it should be easy enough to confirm. I'll take Akasuna-no-Sasori back." He extended his hand out to take Sasori but Kakuzu stepped back out of his reach. Geil clenched his hand like he had been denied a handshake.
"I'm not handing him over until I get paid." Kakuzu said and Geil narrowed his eyes at him, fist falling against his side
It was a minute until Geil spoke again and whatever fake friendless he had mustered up in his voice was gone, replaced instead by a harshness. "There will be no payment." He declared and obtained the scimitar attached to his back, pointing it at Kakuzu who didn't flinch. "The Kazekage has instead ordered your immediate execution."
He snapped his fingers and the dunes behind him sprung alive; revealing it not to be sand but at least two dozen shinobi who had disguised themselves using camouflaged blankets. They circled Kakuzu with weapons with their weapons drawn and instead of being intimidated, the elder sighed. He wanted to say he was surprised, but he wasn't; he known this deal was too good to be true. All this trip ended up being was frustration after frustration.
"Now, we'll be taking Akasuna-no-Sasori, and your life." Geil said.
At this moment, given Kakuzu's situation with two unconscious teenagers in hand and down a heart, he wasn't in the condition nor mood to fight. As much as he would take pleasure in murdering all these bastards one by one with his bare hands, he had had enough bullshit for one day between Hiruko then Sasori then Zetsu going insane and now this? He was tired of all of it, and the sun. He was done. He was so fucking done.
It was because of this reason that he unleashed true potential of the Earth Grudge Fear, something he hadn't done since murdering Takigakure's Elders. In minutes, everyone laid dead, having been ripped apart limb by limb and their souls delivered straight to hell. No one was left alive except Geil who was on the ground, paralyzed with terror after what he had just witnessed. Bloodsoaked threads slithered back inside Kakuzu and sewn back together the dark skin which had been spilt open from the outbreak of hundreds, if not thousands of the tendrils from every old injury and opening on his person. Kakuzu cracked his neck, the onslaught having left him with a hitch. Also, without a shirt as it laid in tatters around his feet, having been shedded by his Kinjutsu.
His flat gaze fell upon Geil who yelped and tried to drag himself away, but the task was made difficult by the fact both his arms had been torn off. Kakuzu stepped his boot onto the other's chest and pressed it down as he leant onto his knee, staring at the sniveling man.
"P-P-Please…I have a son…" Geil begged him but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
A manifested hand of threads budded from Kakuzu's back and plunged into Geil's chest, yanking out his heart. It killed him instantly though created a gruesome show as blood spewed from the hole in his chest like a fountain. The still pumping heart was transferred down like a snake gulping as egg to replace the heart that had been lost today. With that, he and his companions were left in the bloodshed to be baked by the glaring sun for the hungry vultures circling overhead.
Kakuzu started the travel back to the Riverlands, empty-handed of payment and instead of two teenagers.
…
Days later, Chiyo discovered a mysterious letter marked to her on the front step. It was contained in a blank envelope without return address. When she read it though, she figured who had written it without reading the name at the bottom.
Dear Chiyo Lady,
I'm writing you this letter to inform you that your grandson, Sasori, was responsible for the deaths of Hiruko and the Third Kazekage, both of which he turned into puppets. He has been brought into the Akatsuki and is safe with us. I was incapable of telling you this in person due to circumstances.
P.S.
Tell the Fourth Kazekage he can go fuck himself.
From,
Akatsuki Boy.
In this, Chiyo found a bittersweet relief. While horrified her cherished grandson, whom she had raised herself since he was a toddler and she thought she known, had committed such unspeakable acts, at least he was alive and safe. She decided to share this information with Rasa.
"Oh, and Rasa?" Chiyo asked, standing in the doorway of the Kazekage's Office to leave after informing him of the letter.
"Hmm?"
"Go fuck yourself." With that, she casually left, leaving behind a thoroughly bewildered and pissed Rasa. Given she was an Elder, there was nothing he could do about the uncalled for comment.
She had been searching for an excuse to tell him that for years.
…
AN: Woo, that was a rollercoaster from start to finish! One which I enjoyed writing each and every moment of. Also, we have a new main character with Sasori. Yay. I'm going to enjoy writing him and his interactions with Zetsu which won't be too friendly, given she ate his arm and leg.
Hey, I have a Tumblr now! I'll be posting Wasteland's chapters there and also other things related to it such as art, Q&As and updates! So, if you would like to see that or be kept up-to-date regarding delays or whatever else, then go follow. It's roucarnageblog (roucarnage was taken, blah).
Next Chapter: Kakuzu returns with a new kid and what to do with him.
Until next time.