Tightrope
In the quiet of the Butterfly Estate's clinic, Shinobu and Kanae worked sitting back to side in their shared lab. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the open windows, as Kanae stirred a liquid in a small beaker with slow, deliberate movements, her eyes thoughtful yet hopeful. Shinobu leaned closer, carefully measuring drops of a pale solution from a pipette, with intense concentration, and the same hope that her sister carried.
Kanae broke the silence first, her tone light but encouraging. "I think we're getting closer. This mixture has the potential to at least buy some time for Oyakata-sama."
Shinobu nodded. "Yes, it won’t reverse his disease, but, If we can keep the symptoms manageable…." She remembered first meeting the master of the mansion… she and Kanae were so much younger then… she remembered how warm he and his family were… how rapidly she began to think of him as a second father.
“Oyakata-Sama… please hang in there… for us.”
“Nee-san, the formula is ready,” Shinobu said, as she handed it to Kanae.
“Ara ara,” Kanae exclaimed gently as she accepted the formula, "You did such a good job, and so quickly too Well done Shinobu!” Shinobu’s chest heaved as she looked down bashfully. “It's delicate work,” Kanae continued as she began the delicate task of transferring the mixtures, “But you’ve always been good at finding the right balance, even with the most minute details."
“Nee-san…" she said, her tone modest, “I wasn't always this way”
“Mmmm hmmm, that's true” Kanae acknowledged with a nod. "But you've improved so much because of your hard work."
Shinobu found herself at a loss of what to say now. She didn’t mention it, but she knew as well as Kanae did that her time under a certain someone’s strict tutelage had significantly sharpened her skills as a chemist. She also noticed that Kanae had treated her differently since then. Shinobu hid her prideful smile out of modesty now. She wasn't just proud of her work, but because she realized then, that her idol, her Nee-san, finally seemed to be seeing her as an adult.
"I’ll prepare the next batch of herbs for drying," Kanae said, moving toward the shelves lined with neatly stacked plants. “If all goes well, we might have something ready for Oyakata-sama’s doctors to be reviewed by tomorrow.”
Shinobu beamed. “And then hopefully we can continue to help him feel better.” she said excitedly.
Kanae nodded. “Good work here today Shinobu. Lets go and check on the patients.”
Shinobu nodded. There was good reason for their optimism today. Upper moon six, had been successfully defeated, and all of the swordsmen sent to do so, returned alive.
Shinobu glided down the hall with an even lighter step than usual, and knocked on the door to Tengen’s room. “Uzui-san?” she called at his door, “May I come in?”
“Perfect timing!” he called back. “My wives just went back, so they won’t be jealous today.” Shinobu rolled her eyes as she opened the door, but was taken aback when she saw who was with Tengen instead.
“Sasori-san? What are you doing here?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” he asked neutrally. Sasori was fitting Tengen with a prosthetic arm. As if to show off to her, Tengen flipped his head back, so that the bangs of his silver hair parted to show Shinobu the new scope over his left eye.
“Flashy ain’t it? With this new scope, I can see even better than I did before. And the puppet master is gonna fit my new arm with hidden blades, and even a freaking cannon! Isn’t that cool!?”
“Focus on learning to control it before I give you anything ballistic,” Sasori admonished. “I’m not taking any chances.”
“While your at it,” Tengen said, pointing to the scope, “think you can fit this thing with some crystals? That would make it even flashier!”
“Don’t push it.”
“Understood!”
Shinobu couldn’t help but smile as she leaned in closer. “How does that scope work?” she asked, unable to control her curiosity.”
Tengen eyed her mischievously as he toggled the gadgets on the side of the scope. “It gives me X-ray vision,” he said. “Right now I can see under your-”
“Please don’t say ridiculous things Uzui-san,” Shinobu said with a smile that masked her pissed-offness.
“Don’t be gullible,” Sasori said with a disappointed sigh. “I thought you were smarter than that.”
“But look at her!” Tengen laughed. “She’s blushing like a-Hey!” he cried suddenly as his tea was ‘accidentally’ spilled down the back of his shirt.
“Pardon me,” Shinobu said wickedly. “I guess I’m a bit extra clumsy today.”
Sasori rolled his eyes. “Its just a simple eye-scope,” he said. “It’ll zoom in on far-away targets, and see better in the dark, although it’s wasted on a swordsman. I made one for my former partner, and he was a ranged fighter, and he actually knew how to make use of it.”
If Shinobu had not known any better, she might have thought there was nostalgia in his voice when he said that.
“He was a brat who was eager to get himself killed just like you,” He now said, addressing Tengen. “That eye probably ended up delaying his death by two or three years.”
Shinobu tilted her head as she watched Sasori make the finishing touches to making sure the prosthetic was connected, and as Tengen flexed his fingers. She smiled, and after a brief pause to consider whether or not it would be right to say; spoke the words that were on her mind.
“You’ve become kinder, Sasori-san.”
Sasori stopped, and there was a stillness in the room, and the silence was immediately broken by a derisive chuckle from him. “How do you know I haven't designed this arm with a deliberate flaw so that my poison ends up killing him? So that I’d be able to have him as my next puppet?”
Shinobu’s smile faded. “Please don’t joke like that Sasori-san.”
“Yeah,” Tengen said with a nervous chuckle. “You were joking right?... right?..... Hey man, say something!?”
“Of course I'm joking, idiot.” Sasori scoffed. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have said it would I?”
“Oh…” Tengen paused for a moment, and then his smile returned. “Hehe, I think I get it now, a-Hahahaha!”
Tengen’s laughter filled the room, but Shinobu did not laugh… It was not for anger towards her former teacher, but guilt over her comment. She felt that she had not had Kanae’s ability to empathize so easily, but she still detected a twinge of deep sadness, and regret when Sasori said that.
***
“Thank you for agreeing to speak with me, Sasori-san.”
“You should be thanking me instead for what I did for that ex-shinobi. I didn’t have to do it you know?”
“I know…”
Sasori and Shinobu stood in the hall of the butterfly estate, both of them leaning against the wall.
“I am a craftsman,” Sasori continued. “I enjoy what I do. It's the only thing I ever really did enjoy.”
“I see,” Shinobu said, looking downwards.
“It also so happens that that man and I are a part of the same organization…”
Shinobu looked thoughtful, but said nothing in response. “Is that all you wanted to talk to me about girl?” Sasori challenged.
“No, I…” Shinobu trailed off, unsure of how to continue.
Sasori sighed, deciding to cut to the chase, and get things over with. “When I was about your age,” he said softly, “I left my home country. “
Shinobu recalled the few things he had told her about it. “I remember you hinting at it, Sasori-san… but a country that sends children to war is just…”
“All shinobi nations send children to war,” Sasori said. “Those who survive long enough to become adults become the country's prized commodities.” He paused. “That wasn’t why I left though, I didn’t mind being a weapon,” he began, his tone calm but steely, “The basic function of a shinobi village is to create shinobi, and I was the best at it. But the people in power… they were nothing but slaves to their feudal lords, bending to whims they pretended were strategic decisions. No backbone, no loyalty to anything but their own comforts.”
“Then I hope you are content to know that this organization is not run that way,” Shinobu said, almost defensively.
“I know,” Sasori said with a nod. “And does that satisfy your curiosity as to why I help you?”
Shinobu did not know what to say. “Its not that which I am wondering about Sasori-san.”
Sasori took the lack of certainty in her tone as an invitation to continue. “I left that place. I then joined an organization called the Akatsuki. Our leader was not a lord, he was a warrior himself.” He held up his left hand and frowned angrily. The ring was gone, and with it, his hopes of reestablishing contact with them.
“What kind of organization was it?” Shinobu asked curiously.
“A criminal one,” Sasori answered, and then turned to see the look on Shinobu’s face. “Are you surprised?” he asked with amusement.
Shinobu opened her mouth to answer, but Sasori continued with his story, cutting her off. “The Akatsuki was first established as a peace-keeping organization in a war-torn country called the Amegakure, but overtime, they ended up growing in power and ambition. Failure to work with arrogant leaders made things more complex. The Akatsuki killed the Amegakure’s Daimyo, and all feudal lords, and their country’s shinobi dictator, along with his entire extended family.”
Shinobu felt her throat begin to close. It wasn’t just the brutal story, but the way Sasori spoke, that made the room seem to darken, and the sunlight seem redder.
“The Akatsuki then began to seek out stronger fighters from across national borders, only the very strongest," Sasori continued with pride. "The man I was partnered with at first, was a man called ‘Orochimaru’ . He was an exiled nobleman from an enemy country, well… they were enemies with my country. Hah!”
“Your partner?” Shinobu asked.
“The Akatsuki operates in two-man teams," Sasori continued. "But given that we are all classified as ‘s-rank’ two men might as well be an army. Orochimaru was very strong, he had earned himself a legendary status in the same war that his countrymen killed my parents. He was a candidate to become his country’s dictator, but left after he was passed over, or at least, that was the lie that they told after he humiliated them with his defection.” Sasori’s lips curved into a smile. “Orochimaru was a man who sought to uncover the truth of everything. He was a lot like me, we were both geniuses scorned by our countrymen, and we both pursued the eternal. Orochimaru wanted to find the key to eternal life, and I, eternal beauty…” Sasori paused, and looked down with a wrathful smile. “He betrayed the Akatsuki. Since then, I have sworn to destroy him, and-” he stopped himself. “What the hell is the matter with me?...
Why am I telling her this? Why does she need to know about Orochimaru?” …
“My point is” he said, pushing himself off from the wall; “that I am capable of loyalty to an organization. That's all. Joining the demons is a disgusting proposition, if I get my hands on that upper Moon again, I will give him a slow death as promised.” Sasori began to walk away, and Shinobu did sense something deeper. Things that he wasn’t telling her… but she decided against pressing him any further. When Sasori spoke of the place he had come from, there was a dull pain in his voice.
“Sasori-san,” she called out as his form grew more distant along the length of the hall.”
“What now?” he asked, stopping, and looking over his shoulder.
“No matter what your motivations are,” she began, “I want you to know that I do appreciate your help… all of it, I… I learned a lot from you.”
She was smiling, though the darkness in the room still remained.
Sasori’s brown eyes glinted in the eclipse, but gradually, the sun’s yellow light began to reenter, and the shadows passed over and around the puppet master.
“You were a good student.” He finally said, and then turned to continue on his way.
Shinobu remained standing in the hallway, feeling weightless.
***
“HAHAAA!” Tengen Uzui laughed, standing in the center of the estate’s large training yard, swinging his blades around with a skill that had never left him!
Sasori had connected the joints of his prosthetic arm to his chakra networks, so it worked almost as well as if it were his own!
He executed his sound-breathing techniques with all the flashy theatrics and gusto that he was used to!
“Yaaaaay Tengen-sama!” Suma cheered and clapped enthusiastically as she sat between Makio and Hinatsuru.
Kanao and Tanjiro sat together on the engawa, “Go Uzui-san!” Tanjiro cried as Kanao’s eyes followed the Sound Hashira with quiet fascination. Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho bounced with excitement, right next to them, while even Aoi who had been avoiding the Sound Pillar for some time now paused from her duties to watch him.
“Alright, ladies and gentleman!” Tengen called, striking a flamboyant pose with his swords. “Behold! The true beauty of combat artistry!” With a flourish, he launched into a sequence of swordplay, each move fluid and precise as his prosthetic arm whirred to match his right with seamless coordination. His twin swords caught the light, flashing brilliantly as he moved, slicing through the air with ease.
As his audience watched in admiration, Tengen shifted his stance, drawing attention to his prosthetic’s hidden blades. With a sly grin, he flexed his fingers, and, with a quiet click, three razor-sharp blades sprang from between the fingers… sleek, deadly, and beautiful. He held up a ripe melon, and with a flick of his wrist, he sliced it into perfect pieces in mid-air. The girls gasped in delight as the juicy slices were juggled and fell seamlessly into the waiting bowl
“Catch!” he called, flinging the melon pieces to each of them! Suma squealed with delight and Hinatsuri and Makio laughed as they caught their pieces.
Tanjiro sprang out of his seat, having been raised not to waste food, catching every piece that came his way, and handing them to the three younger girls, and then Kanao, who smiled brightly as she received it.
Aoi’s past skills with a sword now came into play as she effortlessly caught her own piece, giving Tengen a forgiving smile, which he acknowledged with a polite bow and wink.
“This is great!” Sumi, Kiyo and Naho cried with delight in unison.
But the Shinobi-Showman wasn’t done. “Now, for the grand finale!” he announced, his voice carrying the pride of a true showman. He raised his prosthetic arm, unhinging it at the wrist with a theatrical twist to reveal its hidden surprise—a miniature cannon.
“Stand back!” he shouted, laughter in his voice. The girls quickly scrambled to the back of the engawa.
With a wink, he fired, launching a wisteria smoke bomb high into the air. It burst with a hiss, a brilliant cloud of purple mist hanging in the sky.
“Deadly to demons, and fabulous to behold!” Tengen laughed heartily, puffing out his chest in satisfaction as his audience erupted in applause and cheers.
“Yes, thank you, thank you,” Tengen declared modestly as he posed and flipped his hair back, basking in the moment.
“A true masterpiece!” he declared, looking down on the hand, “it fits like a glove!”, giving a nod of respect to Sasori’s craftsmanship and a final bow to his audience. His teeth shining and a gleam in his eye, the Sound Hashira, would not be retiring anytime soon.
***
In the darkly lit room of Sasori’s workshop, the puppet master’s hands trembled from excitement.
A puppet’s hands would never tremble… they would never be subject to such human emotions…
The hole in the chest of his puppet… the puppet that would become him… he had lined with the Soulstone Ore. “Just one more day,” he said. “Just one more day, and it will be ready. By tomorrow, I will transfer my conscious to this new puppet… and this spiritual core will never be destroyed like the last one.”
A wolfish grin spread across his face. “Very soon, I will achieve it… my eternal beauty… my art.”