Tamako summoned a falcon to deliver a message to Deidara, letting him know that Sasori was killed in battle and she'd recovered his puppet body. Her light footsteps made no noise at each tree branch she launched herself off, keeping a steady pace.
Since she didn't have an Akatsuki partner, and she was roughly forty-percent sure Pein wouldn't assign Deidara to her, and instead use Tobi, she didn't have any particular Akatsuki responsibilities. She was in a unique situation where she was a part of the Akatsuki but didn't have any of their major responsibilities.
Sure, she sends the occasional update to Pein on the whereabouts of the Jinchūriki, most often by the time the assigned pair get there, the Jinchūriki was long gone so they really couldn't blame her on that end. Hidan and Kakazu were especially slow, and Hidan in particular was the weakest member. The magenta-eyed man couldn't really think in all honesty, she's never seen the man plan an attack in her life. He went bulldozing in, slashing manically with his scythe and licked the small cut he managed to get by sheer will. Though, his taijutsu is no joke.
When landing a clear fatal blow on Hidan, many shinobi expect him to drop dead, that's why there's lethal points. Hidan uses his stamina, speed and sheer shock to get a lick of blood and by then, the enemy is dead.
If one were to discover and understand how his unique jutsu worked, well, it's very easy to counter. Even Tamako could think of over a hundred ways to incapacitate this S-rank missing-nin, and that's saying a lot.
Adding up all the current Jinchūriki that were roaming, there were Niibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, Gobi, Hachibi and Kyuubi left, with both former Nanabi's Jinchūriki, Fuu, and former Rokubi's Jinchūriki, Utakata being captured during the two and half time skip.
That means out of the nine Bijuu, only six remained. Tamako knew that by the time the Zombie Duo captured Niibi, which was Hidan's assignment, only the Yonbi, Hachibi and Kyuubi would be left. That would serve as a good indicator of when the two would off themselves by Konoha.
After Gaara would be Han, the Gobi's Jinchūriki, and if Tamako was going to be realistic, she wasn't sure which Akatsuki member's were assigned so she'll take an educated guess of either Pein or Konan.
Tamako landed at the edge of her base, forming a few handsigns that elevated the moss clearing and entered the cave. There, she quickly went deep into her hideout before pulling up a chair by a desk where she kept all of her sealing materials that were now wasting away, now that she had Karin do most of the grunt work.
With a white piece of paper, she began to write, tallying up her thoughts.
Ichibi - Deidara (Complete)
Niibi - Hidan (In-progress)
Sanbi - ? / Sasori / Tobi (In-progress)
Yonbi - Kakazu - (In-progress)
Gonbi - ?/ Pein (In-progress)
Rokubi - ?/ Orochimaru / Pein (Complete)
Nanabi - ? / Konan (Complete)
Hachibi - Kisame (In-progress)
Kyuubi - Itachi (In-progress)
Then, in the other column, she hypothesized in order which the Bijuu would be captured.
Rokubi (Complete) During 2.5 Time Skip
Nanabi (Complete) During 2.5 Time Skip
Ichibi (Complete) Start of Shippuden / Kazekage Rescue Mission
Gobi (In-progress) Before/During/After Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance (Team 7 Reunion)
Sanbi (In-progress) Before Sarutobi Asuma Death, shortly after Team 7 Reunion
Niibi (In-progress) Before Sarutobi Asuma Death
Yonbi (In-progress) Before/During Itachi Pursuit Mission
Hachibi (In-progress) After Uchiha Brother Battle, Before Gokage Summit.
Kyuubi (In-progress) Fourth Great Shinobi War
She bit the end of her brush, circling Sanbi, Niibi and Yonbi. These three captures were incredibly tight and were in a timeline where she had to be extra careful and work double hard. There was no way she could possibly even think of eliminating the Zombie Duo to save Asuma's life, not with Team Hebi's formation and preparing for the Uchiha Brother's fight.
Groaning into her hand, she massaged her throbbing temple.
She needed to relax.
The chair scraped against the rock ground when she stood up, ignoring the sound even after her clone gave her a glare and formed another room that cut into the hallway just down the lounge.
With another precise doton, she formed a basic table, a chair and even placed a lamp. She shoved her hand into her inventory, fishing out Sasori's puppet body and placed it haphazardly on the chair.
The husk slouched in the chair, and she did her best to prop up the puppet before loosening each joint screw. She cut off the chakra pathways of each limb ensuring that Sasori wouldn't be able to move his body before inserting his heart in the center. The puppet's slacken figure froze, and his head cocked up to meet her own.
"Out of everyone in the Akatsuki, I didn't think you would be this bold enough." He had this tired smirk on his face as if he expected to be backstabbed one day. "Especially on the first day on the job."
Tamako shrugged, taking a seat adjacent to the red-headed puppet, "What can I say, I never really worked well following orders."
He frowned at her, his body still unable to move. "What did you do?" The only thing he could control was his facial expressions, body frozen and not bending to his will.
"Just a little tweaking. I cut off the connection of your core chakra to the rest of your body. I even placed a seal at the back of your body to ensure you can't do anything too silly." She leaned forward, her forehead almost touching his as she peered into his mahogany eyes, "I'll keep you here, for now. Think about your life, your goals, whatever that'll keep you company." She paused for a few uncomfortable seconds just staring into his eyes as if she were trying to read his soul before grinning. She backed off at his glare, pulling her arms into the air as if she surrendered. Then, sashaying her way towards the door frame before turning her neck for one more look. "Trust me, you'll need it."
Then she slammed the door shut, leaving Sasori in the company of himself and the little lamp she left behind. She'll come pick him up when it's time, as long as he doesn't have a murderous intentions ready for her. Maybe he'll grow up a little and be more inclined to share a conversation about saving the world, or something. Maybe he could solve her Itachi problem. He's the top poison master in the nations, surely he would be comfortable creating a few formulas for her.
She sighed at her ambitious thoughts, there just wasn't enough time to convert that man.
. . .
The sun was peeking above the horizon when she caught Deidara by the horizon, his large clay bird flapping its wings before he descended down.
He grunted at her, "Tamako."
"Deidara." She greeted, eyeing him warily. This was the first time in a while since an Akatsuki member went to her, last time it was Itachi who kidnapped her so she had her guard up.
"Sasori no Danna is dead, I'm here to confirm. You have his body right?"
The girl nodded, pulling out a sealed scroll and unraveled it. With a pulse of chakra, Sasori's extra puppet body poofed out, laying on the ground. It was a bit scuffed up from the time Sakura punched the hell out of it, dirt and rocks stuck in the joints.
Deidara tsked, shaking his head, "So whose art is better now? Sasori no Danna..." He had a sad expression on his face, despite the two artist duo's clear hatred. Perhaps they found condolences in each other from the many years spent together. As much as Sasori preached about disliking Deidara, there was a clear comradery between the two, and Sasori secretly loved the Akatsuki, his loyalty equaling Kisame's.
"Who landed the final blow? I swear, Sasori no Danna, I'll take revenge."
She released the body into the scroll and handed it to Deidara, "Chiyo, his grandmother. Last I heard, she's dead. Sasori's poison perhaps, he did stab a katana through her in his last moments." She lied through her teeth, but she was a master at controlling any tics of lie.
Deidara pocketed the scroll in his inner pockets of the cloak and finally looked at her eyes. He had a new arm now, a flesh one no doubt by Kakazu himself. It would explain why he hadn't gone to her first after battling Naruto and Kakashi.
"Leader-sama assigned you as my new partner. That means that you'll inherit his assignment, the Sanbi."
She blanched.
"Oh."
She hasn't found the Sanbi yet, the tailed beast was set to respawn within the next few months and right before the Uchiha Brother's fight. Groaning into her fist she nodded, "Okay, I understand."
No, this works out for her. Sasuke ends up encountering Deidara to find Itachi, and she should be able to meet up with him that way. Obito would let this happen, no doubt wanting to replace Itachi with Sasuke since Itachi's health has been going down and down since his recruitment.
"The Sanbi hasn't regenerated yet, I expect him to appear within the next few months." At her words, Deidara sagged a bit with narrow eyes.
This had definitely put a hold on a lot of her solo activity but Deidara wasn't so bad. He at least had a sense of humor, entertained her with several fireworks in the form of blowing up rouge camps and in return, she crafted a few of those birds he liked so much with her crystal. Of course, that caused him to rant for five hours on the road about the perfect way to shape the beak to its wings that ensured the proper ratio and weight.
At the sight of her Crystal Manipulation LV-ing up, she let him continue with a sigh and a small smile. In the end, he was just a boy who loved the arts and craft a little too much, ignoring his pyromaniac tendencies.
At the sixth rogue ninja camp they demolished, fire razing the small rudimentary huts and crystal littered about, they were ambushed by another group of rouge-nin who wanted to cash in Tamako's bounty that had since tripled.
Deidara and Tamako's jutsu were equally flashing, easily recognizable and very hard to clean up so the fact that the two managed to evade enemy forces so far, was pretty impressible. Deidara's clay bird made traversing the lands much easier, which maybe helped them avoid local forces but today is the day their luck died out.
But it was not only luck that ensured a Shinobi lived, it was also skill. Between the loud shouts of katsu, and the newly improved crystal bomb that Deidara heavily critiqued until she was almost in tears, she chucked them off the bird and watch them become homing missiles and pincushion-ed the entire forest, leaving probably a decimated local wild-life for the next few years.
She's become a terrorist, dear lord.
"Ahahaha!" Deidara shouted, clear joy in his voice with a massive beaming grin, "Maybe Sasori dying was for better!" He chucked a few more C2 bombs and the pair watched the former-forest go up in flames. If Kirigakure didn't know they were in the area by their southern islands, she'll eat her sandal.
She mirrored his grin as they flew off. Maybe, this wasn't so bad.
. . .
With her little network, she kept half an eye on half of the soon-to-be Team Hebi that were trying to track her down, no doubt that Sasuke was soon about to initiate the next phase of his plan. Unfortunately, with Karin's sensing abilities and Tamako's little spy networking floating about, Sasuke was in the process of stabbing every single one that Karin pointed at to send her a message to get her ass here.
She had things to do! Babysitting both Uchiha members was starting to stress her out.
Not to mention that both Hidan and Kakazu were KIA by Konoha, and Pein clearly stressed out he wanted her to finish her objective faster. By the time she's captured her Bijuu target, Sasuke would've killed Orochimaru's main body.
First and foremost, she had to prove to Pein and to the Akatsuki that she was definitely on their side. Out of skill or even paranoia, she's felt chakra ripple around her and her new partner every few days. No doubt either Zetsu or Obito himself watching their progress. Most likely Obito, the Sanbi Jinchūriki was once his beloved Rin.
She sighed into her chair, digging into the dango plate she had on her lap, her other hand occupied with a hot cup of tea. This was the only thing keeping her sane, and if she were any worse, she might've become an alcoholic.
Deidara sat beside her with a stick in his mouth, chewing the sticky sweet dessert. He glanced at the younger girl before hm-ing. "I never got to ask." He began, "Why did you join the Akatsuki?"
She hummed into her tea, looking at the blonde beside her. "Why I joined?" She chewed the soft rice-cake before swallowing, "Well, I didn't really have a choice, per say."
He raised an eyebrow, "You literally stalked Hidan and forced Leader-sama's hand into you getting an introduction." He chuckled, "You're pretty ballsy for a kid."
She shrugged, sipping her tea silently. "My Village pretty much had me at a chokehold, it was only a matter of time they'll either execute me or jail me. It wasn't that I thought I was too weak to get by, but I figured that sticking with a large group like the Akatsuki would be a better idea. It's better to stick with a group with ideals rather than adventure on by your lonesome self. Who knows what'll happen to me."
She set down her cup, finishing her platter of dango and stood up. She grinned at Deidara with closed eyes, "Besides, I wouldn't have met you anyways. You're not so bad yourself, Deidara." She turned her head to face the street, "Let's go. We need to catch the Sanbi."
The boy blinked before smirking, "Alright then, Little Miss. Let's go."
. . .
. .
.
Character Status
Name: Tamako
Class: The Gamer
Age: 16 Years Old
Title: Momma's Little Gem
Status: Exhilarated (-5% INT, +5% DEX, VIT, STR)
Level: 392
HP: 18,570- HP Regen: 4 per 1 seconds
CP: 17,000- CP Regen: 3 per 1 seconds
Strength: 430
Vitality: 422
Wisdom: 461
Intelligence: 422
Dexterity: 424
Agility: 423
Luck: 394
Fame/Infamy: -5100
Sunagakure no Sato acknowledges you and hunting you
Konohagakure no Sato acknowledges you and hunting you
Yukigakure no Sato acknowledges you and hunting you
Kirigakure no Sato acknowledges you and hunting you
Iwagakure no Sato acknowledges you and hunting you
Kumogakure no Sato acknowledges you and hunting you
Akasuna no Sasori acknowledges you and despises you
Akatsuki accepts you (65/100)
Iwa no Deidara respects you (70/100)
Akasuna no Sasori despises you! ( -500/100)
Money: 15,833,370 ryo
Unspent Points: 399
.
. .
. . .
Author Note
nothing much to say, happy reading!
6/25/2018 [Monday]
2528 words
edit: 3/8/24