Scarlet Justice: Full Blossom – ep. 08
"Sforzando"
[Kazekage Rescue Mission, Part 3]
"Since we have new information on one of the two Akatsuki members, we will allow our most senior member to dispense it to us during this briefing."
Our team is now assembled outside of the large steps of rock in front of the village. It will still be dark for a few more hours.
"I suggest you start showing some respect for once," Chiyo says to me.
"Fuck yourself."
"Oi, oi. Let's chill out before we completely lose the plot here," Makoto says. "We're gonna need to coordinate and all that good stuff, so we should get it together. Sounds good, right? Okay."
"I gave this old bitch the floor, and she chose to try and needle me instead. Fucking get on with it," I say with a dark tone. "I'm in charge here, and don't you forget it. We're all young and healthy enough to move at a pace you can't keep up with."
"Is this what you adults are satisfied with?" Chiyo asks Guy. He says nothing and raises his hands in surrender.
"Lady Chiyo, not only is he not responsible for her development, but he's her subordinate for the duration of this mission," Aiko points out. "Please, you need to calm down and take some of this in stride, even if you're not used to it."
"Aiko is right, ma'am," Suketsune says. "It's time for us to settle down and start going over the mission details. We don't want them to leave the country if we can help it."
"And...I know it might not be fair to ask, but...Lili? Could you...?"
I sigh. "Yes, Aiko."
She smiles. "Thank you."
"Chiyo...please give us a report on what you know about Sasori, and what we might expect once we engage him. I would appreciate it."
She gives me a look before relenting at last. "I can do that for you. Sasori was last in this village twenty years ago. Since then, he has been up to enough trouble...that title of his was earned back when he was one of the most elite puppet users in the village. Now, there is a particular puppet he likes to use, and is likely using at this moment. It's called Hiruko."
"Well, as long as we can cut those strings, it won't matter much what he can do, right?" Makoto asks. "After that, we can swarm him."
"No, it's not that simple. Hiruko is a puppet, but it is also a form of armour. He must have changed it in these past two decades...but puppeteers are particular about their instruments. They are loathe to make sweeping changes, and instead prefer smaller refinements unless they are truly inspired by something."
"So it means that we're not completely blind...but things are still foggy in the end," Aiko concludes.
"Yes, that is correct. As you already know, Sasori loves to create and use all kinds of poisons. His favourite attacks are with senbon, and those, along with all of his weapons, are coated with poison. Because of that, even a single scratch can become fatal."
"Without a proper facility...he wouldn't have any time to make something new, or use anything more complicated than what he has recently," Suketsune says. "He would assume that Kankuro is still dying, and that his mixture hasn't been deciphered. The limited time meant that I could only make the three vials...hopefully that's enough for us."
"Please distribute them to Aiko and Chiyo, then keep the last for yourself," I say.
"Yes, ma'am." She does so, then Aiko and Chiyo pocket their antidotes.
"Chiyo, please continue."
"Your greatest advantage against Sasori is me, as I taught him from an early age. His skills have certainly evolved since then, but my experience will allow me to read enough of his moves that our chances of survival will improve greatly. There is also one more important thing..."
"What might that be?" I ask.
"It mainly concerns you," she says to me, "and you," she says to Aiko. "The one from Leaf because of her infamy and powerful skills, and Pakura's child because of her inheritance, the Scorch Release bloodline limit."
And of course, the other bloodline limit. But she wouldn't mention that in front of us.
"You think that bastard is gonna try and capture Aiko?" Makoto growls. "No way would I let that happen!"
"Capture...that would raise the difficulty, wouldn't it?" Suketsune says.
No...no, it's something else. Something far darker. Sasori's paralyzing and eventually fatal poisons...
"He would not need to perform a live capture," Chiyo says. "Not for his collection. Sasori has pioneered the creation of human puppets."
"Human puppets? Why would he need Aiko and Lili for that?" Makoto asks. "He's been using puppets so long that he could easily make-"
"No, Makoto," I interrupt. "Not humanoid puppets. Human puppets...as in puppets made from human corpses."
Her face pales. Suketsune covers her mouth with her sleeves. Aiko stares at her hands, horrified.
"He prepares the body first by readying it for preservation," Chiyo explains. "Then, he uses the body and its remaining parts to create a puppet for his own purposes. The reason he does is this is to keep the person's chakra network intact. They contain their own chakra, and all of the unique abilities that they had in life. Sasori is the only person who knows how to make them, and thus is the only person known to have used them."
"It means their jutsu...and their bloodline limits. He would definitely covet Aiko for that reason," I say.
"And you."
"I have a pre-approved list of people who can put their hands on my body. Contingencies will be in play as always."
"Sasori has ways of getting what he wants."
"I'm sure he does," I say as I look to Chiyo. "But I'm a stubborn bitch, as you must know by now. He won't have an easy time of it."
"Hmph." It's faint, but it seems I got a smile out of her for once.
"So what do we do? Obviously we don't want to get caught by that guy," Makoto says.
"We will need certain personnel to take on different jobs," I reply. "Once we split them apart, Chiyo will take you three girls to stall Sasori for as long as you can. Guy and I will pursue Deidara. I would have taken Makoto with me, but I can see that she's worried about Aiko more than anything else."
"It's quite unwise to put personal motivations ahead of the mission," Chiyo says.
"Is it? Personal motivation is what brought me here within a half day, saved one of your shinobi, and is allowing you to hunt down two elite criminals just before sunrise. I dare say that without personal motivation in play, you lot would be, with all respect, completely fucked." I cross my arms. "Part of the plan is to use the combined might of your Wind Release jutsu to repel Sasori's weapon attacks. Chiyo would be able to guide the group through anything that would present itself as particularly nasty. Aiko's bloodline ability and Suketsune's poisons will be extremely helpful in flushing Sasori out of his hole. Makoto can use her speed and reach with her weapons to cause some chaos in the midst of all that. Once I return, however, her role will become redundant."
Makoto nods with understanding. "I get you. So once you get back with the big boss, me and Mister Green Beast over there will high tail it back to the Sand together."
"Yes, exactly."
"I'm definitely down with that. Aiko couldn't be in better hands," she says with a grin.
"Then it's settled. I think we know enough about Sasori to make a run at him...he seems to be the least mobile of the two according to our data, so cornering him will be easier. Deidara is a troublesome enemy who can fly and use devastating explosive attacks. Putting some effort into killing him goes without saying, but the highest priority is Gaara's safe return. Akatsuki has their wants, but that doesn't make them completely predictable..."
"Wait...Lili, you can fly now?" Aiko asks.
"I was wondering about that myself," Guy says.
"No. I can't fly. But I can do something quite useful in lieu of that...you don't need to worry about such things yet, darlings." I turn my wrist inwards and glance at my watch. "Let's start at a reasonable pace for now. We will accelerate at the promised time. Is everyone ready?"
I get affirmation from everyone. Reaching into my pocket, I take out the small pouch given to me earlier by Baki. It contains the piece of cloth that Kankuro ripped away from Sasori.
I bite down on it, and focus.
"..."
The trail is hot. They're definitely not far away.
"Lightly now," I say as I pocket the cloth again. "We'll catch up to them soon."
We all secure our packs before taking off in formation.
The sun comes over the horizon, and a rich orange glow starts to illuminate the desert. We've been jogging quietly for a while now.
Seems that everyone has their own thoughts to deal with.
I poke my tongue out a few times to confirm our course. Those two are close, very close. Gaara is definitely with them...and I can feel that he's alive.
"Stand by," I call out. "Arrow head formation."
I check my left and right sides to see that everyone is in place.
"Here we are. I have Sasori's signal and Gaara's. Gaara is closest to the chakra that I don't recognize, so that has to be Deidara. He's to the right...we'll make him dance first. Guy, once we start our routines, settle in beside me."
"Got it!"
"Everyone else...be careful. Don't do anything reckless."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Accelerate now!"
We start forward and tear through the desert sands, gaining a visual quickly as the two Akatsuki walk on in their robes. One figure on the left, with a large, hunched over form that starts to turn towards us. The considerably slimmer figure with blonde hair jumps on top of a white bird nearby.
"Aiko, Makoto, Suketsune."
"Ma'am! Ready, girls?" Aiko calls back.
"Ready!"
They burst ahead while making seals, before coming to a sliding stop.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"
I stop in between them and weave my own seals.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"
"That's trouble!" the blonde man yells.
I exhale a flaming dragon head, which grows rapidly in size as it rides the air current provided by the girls. Deidara and Sasori are forced to dodge in opposite directions as the attack shoots by them.
"One more. Water Release: Water Shark Bullet."
I snap my fingers and the shark immediately appears before shooting forward, slamming into Sasori and throwing up a spray of water. My concern isn't doing damage, it's keeping him busy long enough for the girls and Chiyo to box him in. Guy falls in next to me, and we take off after Deidara as he starts to soar into the sky.
"It's good that he's out of range, because I wouldn't want to admit this out loud, hm." Deidara says, standing on top of his strange bird. It's made out of some substance...rock? No, that's not it. Lighter. I poke my tongue out at the air. Soil...no, not that. I think that's clay. Why clay?
As for his appearance, he's definitely one of those bishounen. An oddly shaped blue eye and blonde hair...he could give plenty of girls a run for their money in that department. One long bang over his left eye which is hiding some metal device, and a ponytail to complete his fashionable appearance. Terrible waste of beauty, this.
"An embarrassing secret?" Guy asks.
"No! Nothing like that, hm. It's simply that...Master Sasori is more powerful than I am, hm. You can see why I wouldn't admit it to someone like him, hm? His ego is already the size of Wind Country..."
"Thank you for the warning, sir," I say to him. "It will come in handy when I scatter him to the winds next."
"Oho! I heard you had quite the bite, but this is beyond even that, hm. So you're the infamous Scarlet Viper...very stylish, hm."
"How considerate of you. I was just thinking that you came off as quite handsome yourself."
"Interesting, hm. You should give up your life as a village hound and join our group, hm. I'm sure we could find plenty to bond over, hm."
"Hard pass. I decided years ago that you were all as good as dead. Let's start with that now...I'll be taking Gaara back," I say calmly. "And if you stand still for me, I'll take your head off cleanly in the same motion."
"That's a pass for me too. Sorry to make you come all this way just to turn back, hm. I'll be going now, so see you next hunt, hm!"
"I will get what I want...whether you like it or not."
Deidara climbs higher into the sky.
"Not good...I'll have to-"
"Guy. I said that I had something to take care of this situation already, did I not?"
"Right. Sorry."
"No harm meant. This pack isn't sealed well enough for what I want to do, so...hold onto it for me a bit, please?"
"No trouble at all!" He takes my bag from me.
"Thank you, love. Be back in a moment."
I give him a wink before taking off, increasing my speed before taking a leap into the air. My hands quickly draw from the holsters strapped to my thighs.
Two large knives, made for combat and survival. Sharp edges, with serrations on the spines, and a handle with adjustable weight for any situation. And of course, my favourite part...the blades themselves are made of Red Iron, giving off that sinister crimson glow that made me fall in love with them at first sight. Another fantastic creation of my friendly weapon smiths, Zen and Airi.
"Now...come forth, Murakumo."
"..."
Deidara looks down on me with indifference as I grip my knives tightly. My momentum slows, and I start to drop from the sky.
"You...are mine."
And then, I start my dance.
"!"
As I've practised thousands of times before...the water gathers under my feet at my command, and in a fraction of a second, I focus chakra to the soles of my feet before pushing off. One step. Two steps. Ten. Twenty.
I stride through the clear sky, bouncing from point to point quickly and shooting past Deidara. Another jump, and I bounce down from the space above his head, flying towards him upside down with my blades readied.
"What the hell?!"
"You're making it difficult."
"Shit-!"
I push lightning chakra into my blades and slash outward, barely missing Deidara but cutting the clay bird in two. Gaara starts to fall from the bird's slackened grip, and Deidara manages to conjure up a smaller bird before staring at me in horror.
"You can fly?! There's no way, hm! Nobody told me about this!"
"You got to escape with your head this time. Lucky you," I taunt as I fall towards Gaara.
"You won't get away, hm!"
"No...I think I will." I make a seal. "Shadow Clone."
A copy of me appears in the air and immediately starts weaving more seals. I grab Gaara and pull him close to me.
"Great Dragon Fire!"
"Gah!"
Deidara's bird is clipped by the dragon head, and starts to burn while spiralling out of the sky.
"Can't believe this...! Got caught with our pants down, hm!" He grimaces and jumps from the bird as it explodes, then summons another one that seems to be smaller than the last. He's running out of resources, then. That clay must be specially made.
"This won't be the last time, Scarlet Viper! But you should worry about your friends, hm! They're as good as dead against Master Sasori, hm!"
He takes off, climbing higher into the sky at speed.
"That was interesting...so it works well even in this desert. I'll keep that in mind for my future tours."
My clone dispels herself, and I use my technique to bounce safely downwards towards the sand while holding Gaara tightly. Guy joins us a moment later.
"So that was the technique you were talking about...it really is fantastic!"
"We can talk about it more a bit later, but thank you. I did come up with it myself, after all. Would you hand me my backpack?" I ask as I lay Gaara down gently.
"Here you go."
"Thank you kindly." I rummage through the bag and find my first aid kit, then the small silver bottle inside. "Perfect. Okay, Gaara...time for you to wake up."
"What's that?" Guy asks.
"Smelling salt. Always handy for emergencies." I flip open the small cap and hold it about a half foot from Gaara's nose as he lies down. He immediately inhales on reflex and his eyes flutter open. Bits and pieces of cracked, hardened sand start to fall away from his skin, and I brush them off gently. That's his final layer of defence, as I recall.
"Ugh..."
"Stay where you are, darling. Relax a moment...you're safe." I put my hand on his chest and note the vibrations coming from his body. More detailed analysis will be needed, but from what I can tell and sense...he's just fine. The soreness and exhaustion will clear up in time.
"That voice...I couldn't forget it..."
"How sweet. You remembered me after all this time," I say. He slowly starts to sit up, and I help him.
Gaara, much like Naruto, has grown quite a bit in height since the last time I saw him. He's become very handsome, too. I know Ino would melt at the sight of him now. His auburn hair has become a bit longer and remains just rugged looking as before. A long coat the colour of crimson, which must be something to wear in this desert heat, normal dark trousers and a great deal of grey belts and straps all over his person, some of which I assume are meant to hold his gourd in place when it's present.
"Lili Kobayashi. You really have grown to be a beautiful woman...and as powerful as I assumed you would be. Did you...defeat those Akatsuki?"
"The one who you fought, Deidara, ran out of material for his jutsu. We chased him off, so I'm sure that I'll run into him again soon enough. His partner is being stalled by the rest of our team."
"I see." He shakes his head to try and get the rest of the haze out. "Who is this partner?"
"Sasori of the Red Sand. Kankuro tried to save you but was poisoned by that man. Since Guy and I made it in early, we were able to treat him. He's recovering now. Temari is still away, but I'm sure that she'll come across our backup teams and get the information from them. The village is on high alert, but safe."
"Good...I wish I was well enough to help, but my body, even with Shukaku..."
"It's no trouble. We'll take care of the rest. Guy here will carry you back to the village, and you'll have Makoto as an additional escort."
He blinks. "Makoto...Hibana? If that's the case, then...I can only assume Aiko Mishoto and Suketsune Temko are with her."
"Yes. And one more...Chiyo, one of your village's former advisors."
"Grandmother Chiyo? But...that only makes sense. Sasori is her grandson..." He tries to stand up, struggling.
"Easy, now." Guy helps him to his feet.
"Thank you. You are...the Leaf's Sublime Blue Beast of Prey, aren't you?"
"Ah, you remembered me as well! I'm honoured, Lord Kazekage!" Guy says with a smile.
Gaara blinks at that. "I would find it difficult to forget such a person..."
"I would say the same," I quip. "Time to get back to work...those four should be okay, but I don't want to leave anything to chance. It will be inelegant, but you'll be using Guy's back today," I say to Gaara.
"That much is okay..."
"Get settled in before we take off."
Guy moves his pack to the front of his body, and carries Gaara on his back. We head out soon after, towards the other battle taking place. From what I can tell, everyone's doing fine – their chakra isn't acting erratically or moving in strange patterns.
"Dammit! That stupid tail!"
Makoto slides backwards on the sand after blocking a heavy blow. She's currently up front, wielding her kunai blades in each hand. Aiko is slightly back of her, with Suketsune and Chiyo bringing up the rear. Sasori's robes have been torn to pieces and scattered around the area, revealing the puppet body that he's hiding in, Hiruko. It's certainly something...a shell that looks like a demon mask is over his back, with that giant metal tail extending from the mouth opening. And on his left hand, some sort of weapon...looks like it launches projectiles, or more specifically, the senbon that Chiyo said he favoured.
"Not a very amusing pun, is it," I say as I stop next to her. My pack comes off and I throw it backwards towards the others.
"Say that twice," Makoto replies. "You made the save, looks like."
"Absolutely."
"Then I'm outta here. Good luck...you come back safe now, alright?"
"I will, Makoto. All of us will."
"Yeah." She secures her weapons before jumping back towards Guy. The two of them shoot off into the distance while I charge a few shuriken with lightning and throw them at Sasori.
"You...!"
He's forced to slap my attack away, eyes narrowing as he spies the gouges now present in his tail.
"You're not the only one with poison running through you, Scarlet Viper," he growls in that deep voice of his. Well, he's not wrong...I can smell the poison coming off that tail, and even if I couldn't, I can see it dripping off the edges. No wonder Makoto was loathe to get too close. He's absolutely drenched in that poison of his.
"It seems so. An interesting duel...snake versus scorpion."
"He's reinforced himself with that back shell," Chiyo says. "And the arm is something new as well."
"It will soon become irrelevant. Enough explosive force should do the trick..."
"I don't think paper bombs will be enough," Aiko points out.
"Of course. I have something just a bit stronger than that. And you're going to help me, darling."
"Right."
One of the weaknesses of puppeteers is their vulnerability. Trying to control their puppets leaves them stationary most of the time, and thus vulnerable to attack. Hiruko allows him to circumvent that weakness, allowing him to launch surprise attacks at any time while remaining shielded. It's a heavy weapon and stalwart defence all in one.
"..."
Chiyo at this point isn't sure what else has changed. But that doesn't matter in the end, because there's only one action to take: smashing the thing to bits. And I have a jutsu that can help with that. First, I want to take care of that instrument, the tail. With Sasori's ability to control multiple weapons at once, he can easily wheel one of us into a bad situation. Baiting the left arm might be necessary, too.
"Guess I'll use it...we need the extra help," Aiko says. She takes a breath in before closing her eyes. And as they open again, they've turned into that familiar shade of red, with three black commas inside.
"I'll go in close. Do what you can to stay out of trouble," I say to her.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Okay. Here we go." I tense the muscles in my body before rushing forward, Aiko following. My hands quickly move and draw Murakumo again.
"I know what you brats are trying to do. Don't think it will work!"
Sasori raises his left arm, and it shoots forward with the large cylinder still attached to it, rotating rapidly.
"Slip through, darling."
"Yeah!"
The smaller cylinders inside spin off and open, throwing senbon in every direction and raining down poisoned weapons. But that won't be enough to slow us down.
Aiko and I mirror each others' movements, cleanly dodging every needle in sight before continuing our advance.
"Impressive...but!"
Sasori's tail twitches and shoots towards Aiko. Her face is calm as she focuses on the incoming weapon, and at the last moment she leans backwards, letting it sail over her body.
"Wrong move, Sasori!"
"!"
I body flicker towards the extended tail and flow lightning chakra into my knives. With a forceful slash, half of the tail is sliced away in a clean cut, falling uselessly to the ground. Aiko resumes her run, crossing behind me before we end up side by side again.
"Keeping the pressure up," I say. "Okay, my darling. Give me a big wind technique."
"Got it!" She weaves seals and comes to a hard stop.
"Damned brats...go ahead and die!" Sasori opens the mouth of his puppet and fires wave after wave of senbon at us.
"Handled! Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Aiko breathes out a powerful gust of wind, sending sand flying everywhere in front of her and easily deflecting the waves of senbon. I quickly weave my own seals and breathe in. This should do it.
"Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!"
The chakra infused ash streams from my mouth, riding Aiko's wind current all the way to Sasori and covering him in a massive, thick cloud. We end our jutsu and hop backwards.
"Go on, love."
"Yes, ma'am." Aiko makes a seal and one orb of pinkish flame appears in front of her. In the next moment, it shoots towards the cloud of ash.
Upon contact, it causes everything in the area to explode violently.
"Whoa! You...weren't kidding!" Aiko says while raising an arm over her face.
"He has to be done for after that, right?" Suketsune asks behind us.
"I wouldn't count on it," Chiyo says. "Sasori is a resilient fellow..."
Unfortunately, Chiyo is right. I can tell something is moving about in the cloud of smoke, as the violent wind dies down and the sand stops falling from the sky.
"Of all the things to do...you just had to break one of my favourites apart, didn't you? Women can be so violent at times. Wouldn't you agree, Granny Chiyo?"
"..."
The figure steps out of the smoke, still wearing their scorched and lightly ripped Akatsuki robe. But that voice is far different from what we've been hearing before...surely Sasori is middle aged, at least. So why...
"!"
"H-huh? Lady Chiyo, that's...is that really him?" Aiko asks, shocked.
"I don't understand either," Suketsune says.
"This is something that shouldn't be," Chiyo finally responds. "It's been twenty years, but...Sasori seems not to have aged a day."
"..." Indeed, the person standing in front of us looks like a teenage boy instead of an experienced older man. His red hair is short and messy, and his eyes make him look like he's in a constant haze. A purple ring is on his left thumb, barely visible.
"Compared to that giant puppet, he's...so small," Aiko says quietly. "So that's Sasori's true form."
"Wait...that can't be a coincidence, can it? Now that I can get a closer look...you're like a mirror of her," Sasori says.
"A mirror?" Aiko shakes her head. "Never mind that. Sasori, what have you come back to the village for? Why did you kidnap Lord Kazekage, and why are you working for Akatsuki? They're trying to do terrible things!"
"So we are. We have our own goals that loyal soldiers like you wouldn't ever understand. As for my personal motivations...you can ask Granny over there. She must have told you that she was the one who gave me my skills. In fact, I know that's why she's even out here in the first place. Heard she retired."
"You heard right, yes," Chiyo says.
"Shame. You already have one foot in the grave, so I guess you came around to make sure the other one fit, too. Fortunately for you, having the Scarlet Viper roaming around gives you a fighting chance." He sighs. "Would have been nice to have a proper team fight, though...Deidara miscalculated the One Tail's strength and it was a narrow capture. Of course, that's been ruined too...but nothing says that we can't have another go at it later. The Sand is already low on manpower, so losing you all would be a big blow. And of course, the Leaf wouldn't be too happy to lose their ace, hehe."
"Sorry to say, but if you want have a proper go at me, you'll have to work for it," I reply. "Good looks won't be enough."
"A sense of humour, too. I wish I could keep that intact when I add you to my collection. You see, I'm nearly at three hundred pieces..."
"Three hundred...that's really sick!" Aiko yells. "How could you do that? Why would you?"
"For the sake of art, of course. Fine art lasts forever...and what better form of fine art than the marionette? The great crystallization of talent, craftsmanship, and creativity. Humans die, and their flesh rots and decays. But puppets...those are great works that last forever, beyond normal humans and their ambitions, their wealth, their kingdoms. True art is eternal."
Something is...off. His chakra is simply radiating outwards from one point. Some sort of body modification, like Orochimaru? I wouldn't put it past him, they were partners at one point in time. He also didn't seem terribly affected by the recent explosion - the Hiruko puppet couldn't have blunted all the damage, and inhaling a cloud of ash isn't meant to improve one's health. His appearance, that strange concentration of chakra...
"I don't understand," Aiko says. "I can't understand something like that..."
"Hehehe..."
"It's not funny!"
"No, no...my apologies. It's just that...you remind me so much of that woman. It's uncanny. Well, we've stood around enough, and I think I should get us moving again. There was a specific puppet that I was going to use to finish this quickly. But...now that you're here, I absolutely have to show you one of my greatest masterpieces, Aiko."
"What are you prattling on about now, puppet boy?" I ask him.
"Whatever human puppet he is set to bring out must be extremely powerful, if he's that confident. Be ready," Chiyo says.
"It doesn't matter what you bring out! We'll smash it, like we did your favourite just now!" Aiko yells. "So you can bring it on!"
Sasori's amused smile changes into a sadistic grin.
"If you're sure...then I'll oblige you. She's someone you'll recognize right away."
Something's wrong. There's a twinge of pain in my heart...like I know what's coming again. Mirror of her...human puppets. Someone you'll recognize...reminders of that woman. Something he's giddy at showing off.
True...art.
"No..."
"Lili?" Aiko asks. "Lili, what's wrong?"
"Sasori...you fucking trash. Is this how you get off?" I growl.
He unrolls the scroll before we can react again. And in a cloud of smoke...I feel it. Their chakra is so much the same...
It...really is her.
"Sasori...no. You did something like this?" Chiyo chokes out. Suketsune looks on in confusion for a moment before gasping.
Aiko stares out at the new figure, petrified. She falls to her knees in the sand.
"Mommy...?"
There, in front of us...the valiant hero of the Hidden Sand, who gave her life years ago for the sake of her village.
Aiko's precious mother, now just a jointed doll.