Broken puppet
There was a little red-haired child sitting on the swing alone under a long-lived tree, and he was swaying slowly, perhaps it was the swing which was moving because the child was so calm, holding the ropes of the swing at his sides while his innocent, stray eyes stared at the sandy ground under his feet, his calmness was not something nice . It was the calm of a sad child, a despairing child, a child tired of life even though he had not started it yet. The breeze came from afar to make the child close his brown eyes for fear of sand entering them.
• "Are you still afraid of sandy winds? Sasori?" . The excited voice of another child standing in front of him came to him, even though little Sasori doesn't always understand when this girl appears suddenly.
• "I'm not afraid of the wind, Karura.".
• "Then why do you close your eyes if you are not afraid?".
• “I am afraid that my eyes will become infected because of the sand. You may get conjunctivitis.”.
• "I'm not afraid of it! I've always known I am braver than you!".
• "Because you are standing windward, of course the sand will not enter your eyes.".
• "Arguments!".
• " no it is the truth ! " .
• "Nah, the important thing is...". That girl stood behind Sasori, who quickly got off the swing because he was sure that Karura would push him to swing high in the air, arguing that the game should be played like this.
• "Did your parents not come back yet?" . Karura asked this time in a calm and tender voice, a considerate voice. She hides behind her small smile, worried about hurting her boyfriend's feelings.
• "Uh...not yet. Grandma says they have to do another things before they come back.".
• "But they will return!" . She said with joy and energy she tried to convey to Sasori, after despair, sadness, and impatience seemed to appear in his voice, even the glint ofl innocence in his eyes began to fade.
• “I hope so... I really hope so.”.
• "Come on, don't be a crying baby." . She provoked him to dispel his sad thoughts, and her plan succeeded, because the blushing redness was evident on his little fat cheeks.
• "I'm not a crying baby! When did you see me cry?!" .
• " hehehehe, look how your face has become like your hair! You've become like a tomato!".
• "I'm not-- I'm going home, I've had enough.".
• "Hey! Don't be like this, I was joking.".
• "Your jokes are too heavy." . He said puffing his cheeks angrily as Karura pulled him out of his clothes and dragged him to stop and not go home while she digs her feet in the sand for more support.
• "Don't go! Let's play I have a trick that I want to show you!".
• "What this time?! Are you going to push me over the dunes again?" . He said as he turned to look at her with his eyes half open, which gives a look indicating doubt and lack of confidence in the other.
• “I swear!!! I swear I will never do that again!!”.
• “Then what ?!” He sighed, rolling his brown chocolate eyes.
• "Look! I learned magic from my father, he told me not to tell my mother because she would be angry because I was still young. But I will show you because I am sure that you will not betray me to my mother."
• " I will not do " . He said without caring, and in fact he was interested in one thing that touched his little heart, that his girlfriend who is his same age has parents who take care of her and are close to her, that his little girlfriend, like the rest of the children in their village, lives with her parents, except him, he is the only one who he is still waiting for his parents to come back from the ninja war.
• "Where's Sasori thinking? Give me your attention, I'm about to do something magical!".
• "I'm excited to see what you have." . He said with a small smile while his hands were behind his back, something from the body language proves that he is not completely honest in his statement that he said.
• "Come closer! I still don't know it very well so the wind affects what I do.".
• "Practice more then." He said as he approached as if they were showing something secret that they did not want any of the passersby to see.
• "Shut up and let me focus!" . She said as she made some moves with her hands, Sasori recognized them as the ninjutsu moves of a ninja technique.
• " Uh ?! " . He stared attentively between the palms of her hand where there was a small stream of air accompanied by some dust from the desert sand.
• "Look! My father said that when I grow up I can make it bigger! Then I can make enemies fly out of our village!".
• "Are you thinking of becoming one of the border guards?".
• "I don't know. What about you?".
• "I don't know... I didn't think of that.".
• "You have to be the Kazekage!".
• “Why should I do that?!”.
• "Don't you like to be? You will become a great person! Everyone in the village will fear and respect you!".
• “What makes it so special? Wearing a big hat?”.
• "But he wouldn't have worn that big hat had he not proven himself a ninja!".
• “Nah Karura..everyone wants to prove their worth but not everyone wants to be the kazekage ”.
• "I don't understand! Would you explain to me, Master Sasori!".
• "Don't get angry, I'm just saying my opinion.. well... I dream of mastering the art of puppetry that my grandmother mastered, and surpassing my grandmother too, and I will make everyone admit that Sasori Akasuna is something special and exceptional, but I will not become a kazekage, not because I won't be able to, but because I don't want to.".
• "Here's the point! Why don't you want to?!" . She asked as she raised her hands with childlike violence to the sky while the chocolate-eyed blinked twice as he stared confused at his girlfriend who seemed angry for a reason he did not understand and did not even know.
• "I just don't want... that's all." . He said while intertwining his fingers innocently, not sure if his statement would make his little girlfriend more angry or not. But fortunately, it seemed that his girlfriend suddenly calmed down and returned to her cheerful nature.
• "Aha that's it then! You just don't have a motive yet to be the kazekage , it's okay! I guess it's because we're still kids.".
• "Well...we are kids ...I think so.".
• "What do you mean you think so ? We are definitely kids, don't you see how dwarfs we are?" . She said waving her hands as she headed towards the garden gate.
• "I'm not a dwarf!".
• "Then grow fast and don't be a dwarf hehehe bye bye little boy see you tomorrow! You also have to go home.". She ran, letting her loud voice send her words to Sasori, who remained standing for a moment while staring at his shadow on the sand, his shadow was a little longer than him because the sun was not tilted yet, it was closer to being vertical, which makes the sun's glare severe on children, especially in Sunagakure
• "Hmph... I'm going to grow and be tall like my dad.". He muttered, rubbing his sunburned cheek as the slight sunburn was starting to bother him (although he didn't know it was burning now).
He entered the house and it was just as usual, no welcome, no one waiting for him, no words dad and mom I'm back, and no dad and mom to ask him about his day...
He was always faced with emptiness... but the feeling of hope always disturbed his little heart and gave him false hopes and dreams, "Maybe they came back while they were resting?" Empty, no one is waiting for him .
• "Whatever... grandma would have told me if they had come back...". He muttered in frustration as he closed the door and went to his room. He sat on his bed with the pictures of his parents near his head, hoping for happy dreams.
• "I have a lot of things to tell you... Dad, Mom...".
He muttered as he took one of the pictures, one of them, his father on the right, his mother on the left holding a little baby sleeping peacefully in his white sheet, it was him.
• "The parents of the children in my class have come back...they said that..." . He carefully placed the picture on the pillow next to his head as the sun was setting and sending its last rays into the windows with a faint, sad orange light.
• "Karura secretly learned a technique from her father...and she showed me it, I learned something from Grandma Chiyo too...but I wanted you to be the first to see it...I think I'll learn more while you come back...". He clenched his little fist close to his heart as he lay on his side,
• "Lots of children are talking behind my back...although I can hear them...they say that child Sasori is no longer his parents..." He swallowed hard, biting his lips, holding back tears in his eyes, refusing to cry.
• "I don't care what they say...because you promised me to come back...Grandma Chiyo said there was another mission you had to do...that's it...I just need to be more patient..." . He wiped away the tears stuck in the corners of his eyes as he looked at the ceiling angrily at himself as he lay on his back with a light blow to the sheets below.
• "I'm not weak to cry!... I just... feel lonely maybe... that's all...". He came back to his side, pulling the sheets with his hand a little, as something to relieve his tension.
• "Last week the teacher asked us to draw what we hope to do in the future... Then he said we did a great job and that we can dedicate the painting to our parents... But you... you are not here yet...". Wiping away other tears that had also gathered in the corners of his innocent eyes, he tried to change the direction of his negative thoughts to no avail.
• “Karura gave me her painting... She said her parents wouldn't care about things like this... But I'm sure she's lying... She always tries to make me feel better... There are no parents who don't care... Parents care for their children... Always ... " . There were no more tears in his eyes... because they collapsed on his red cheeks because of crying.
• "I--I'm fine--I just miss you--a lot--".
No one was merciful to his sad tears, no one cared for his bleak childhood, no one was just enough to condemn the ninja world.
He cried alone, forgotten there, until he slept beside those old pictures, he was crying before bed when those of his age were supposed to hear a warm lullaby.
Clinging to old photos of memories that may be the last with his parents, he slept in his bed alone wrapped in blankets to protect his fragile body from the desert cold, but he could not protect his heart from the accumulation of ice on him, and no one did.
Late in the night, the door was opened to look out because of the moonlit night, and a long shadow stretched from the door and up to Sasori's bed, while that person drew closer and closer to the sleeping child.
• "Oh my ... are you embracing pictures again?" . The old woman said as she sat down to see the child's face closely, he was really similar to his father (her son). But he was more clever, the grandmother could swear. Noticing the dry tears on the innocent child's face, she sighed and touched his cheek, finding it slightly inflamed as well.
• "And you have sunburn too...Children are children after all..." . She went slowly to get a small round box and came back to him, opened the small box and took some of the ointment in it to put it on the sunburn gently on Sasori's cheek.
• "You should not be exposed to the intense sun, your skin is still soft to bear the sun of Sunagakure." . Sasori's thin eyebrows were wrinkling under the sting of the ointment on his sun-burned cheeks.
• "you still...too young.".
• "Hnn... grandma Chiyo?".
• "Did you play with your friends today?".
• "Yeah, I played with Karura." He was looking left and right, did dad and mom return? The little one thought as he peeked around his small room and strained his hearing, perhaps hearing a small noise in the house indicating the presence of other people, but as usual... he was met with a vacuum... No... not yet.
• "Only Karura?".
• "Yes, we had a good time.".
• "That's fine, but don't play under the sun for a long time, look your cheeks are red."
• "I'm sorry, Grandma , we won't do that again.". He said drowsily rubbing his eyes.
• "Will you go back to sleep, Sasori-kun?"
• "Hmm, I'm going to have a dream...a happy dream...". I will see my parents in the dream... until they come back.
• "Then I wish you a happy dream after that.".
She returned the blanket to warm the little one, and left his little room. That night Sasori was alone like every night, the nights in Sunagakure were freezing cold, and although the little one's bed should have been enough to warm him, but he felt cold, a cold of a different kind...
A child who is accustomed to being cuddled up between his parents cannot find warmth without them...
Sasori remembered when his mother held him in an embrace, burying his face in her chest, wondering why his mother's chest was as soft and smooth as a fluffy pillow while his father's chest was flat and hard. Yet they both gave him a wonderful feeling, a feeling that he was loved, a feeling that he was precious, a feeling... that doesn't exist anymore...
He buried his face more on the pillow and tightened his little fist on it...
Trying to imagine a missing hug...
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One day, Karura was visiting Sasori, the two children were sitting on Sasori's bed drawing some pictures.
• "Hey, Saso, don't you have a ninja trick you learned?".
• “Uh, why did you ask?”. He asked while raising his eyes from his painting to look at the blonde girl.
• "What? I thought we were friends!".
• "But I'm asking about your sudden question, well...yes...I know one.".
• "Show me! I've shown you my own.".
• "Um...but...I wanted to show it to my dad and mom first...well that's okay.". Sasori got out of his bed.
• "Oh! No, hey! It's fine if you show it to your parents first--".
• "It's fine, maybe... they'll be late... so it's okay." . He said the light of innocence in his eyes faded every day. He pulled out of his box in which he once hid his happy treasures, a small wooden doll, which was a primary human figure.
• "What? Are you going to play with dolls?".
• "Just give me a moment...". He put the doll on the bed first and then he got up too, it was a funny sight how he climbed the bed, who would believe that this little baby who looks like an angel will one day be a dangerous criminal, evil, sadistic, bloody thug??
• "What is that coming out of your fingers?". She asked, very focused, the blonde child was always interested in everything Sasori was doing, even his preferences, likes and dislikes, she was interested in him and his every little detail.
• “ Chakra , they are chakra strings.” Blue threads tied from Sasori's little fingers to the little wooden doll on the bed, and suddenly the doll moved.
• "It's alive! It's moving! Would you give it your life? Stop it, you're going to die so fast!".
• “Hahaha, no Karura, it’s just a wooden doll, I move it with chakra chains, I can make it walk, jump and flip, or even fly, I can do anything with it.”.
• "Make it dance.".
• "I don't know how people dance.".
• "Seriously, just move its feet and legs like crazy.".
• “This is stupid nonsense.”.
• "Naah". She groaned, throwing her body on the bed.
• “Importantly, I am now training to master chakra control; when I master it well, I will sculpt a large puppet that I can use as a weapon.”.
• "Oh? But I see you are excellent at controlling the chakra, basically making it such thin threads is impossible, but it seems easy to you.".
• "No, it's not enough, it's not perfect yet.".
• "Then doesn't it take a lot of time to make a wooden doll? Why don't you start making it while you master the chakra control?" . She said staring at the wooden doll how it flies as if it has wings and enters the box, then the chakra chains disappeared.
• “Grandma Chiyo said to learn step by step... She said to me to be patient.”.
• "Isn't it nice that your grandma teaches you?".
• "She gave me the basics, and she left me to learn on my own.".
• "Saso...".
• "Hm?".
• "You are only six years old...".
• “Yeah...you are too , Karura .”. He replied, surprised by the information that was not new at all. He did not understand what the girl meant when she said it.
• "Why are you calling me Karura? This is boring.".
• "But it is your name.".
• "I'm calling you Saso! Call me Ruro!".
• "It's fine if you call me Sasori.".
• "Ugh! You don't understand!".
• "You are weird.".
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He opened his tearful eyes, to find himself lying on a futon on the floor, not sure when he fell asleep and not sure how he could sleep.
He looked at his side, where he felt someone's presence, a blonde girl who tied her hair in the form of four barbed strands, she was working on sewing something.
He tried to get up, but that little movement caught the girl's attention.
• "Hm? Did you wake up? It's better if you don't move a lot.".
• "...". He ignored her and kept desperately trying to sit down. The blonde sighed and rolled her eyes.
• " stubborn " . In vain, she gave up and helped him sit up. They did not make eye contact, or to be more precise, it was Sasori who avoided that. He stared at the room again, it was Japanese style, there was no one else but him and the blonde girl in the room.
• “If you are wondering, your friend and my brother have left for shopping.”.
Left to shop? Deidara with that person? We are enemies... How can he go shopping when he is a wanted criminal? what is happening ?
• "I made you a light soup, you better have something." . Pointing to Sasori's left side, there was a tray with a glass of water, a covered deep pot, and a spoon on the side.
• " ... What do you do ? ... " . He asked in a whisper-like voice. He was hesitant to ask.
• "I sew, I make some clothes.".
• "Obviously...".
• " so ? " .
• "Why are you doing this?".
• " do what ? " .
• "...".
• "Well, I know what you're thinking, we are enemies...but not anymore.".
• " on what basis ? " .
• "It's the orders.".
• "Who's orders?".
• "The Hokage Tsunade".
• "I thought you were from Sunagakure.".
• " Sunagakure and Konoha are allies now.".
• " How long " . He said sarcastically, and his words were true, because the enmity was clear between the villages of Sunagakure and Konoha since ancient times, and now the two villages should be allies? Who would believe that ninjas are able to turn the pages of the past? .
• "I am not interested in the matter of the two villages, for me it is that he paid a debt... Grandma Chiyo sacrificed her life to save my little brother, and in return I asked to take care of you.".
• "That old woman?".
• " how arrogance, at least say (my grandmother)".
• "...".
• "Eat your food before it gets cold.".
• " I do not want " . He said, leaning back on the pillows. But he couldn't hold a moment of calm, the pulse, throbbing, and breathing sounded too loud for someone accustomed to the emptiness of his body.
• “You remind me of my little brother, both of you are stubborn and arrogant.”.
• "...".
• " ... can I ask ? " .
• "...".
• “Kankuro mentioned that you were able to kill Sakura and Grandma Chiyo, you prevailed… You were even able to dodge Grandma Choi’s last attack, but you didn’t do any thing … Why?”.
• "How do you know that? Why do you suppose that?".
• “Kankuro is a puppeteer, as you know, that was his interpretation. As you are a genius puppet master, Grandma Chiyo was not your opponent in the first place.”.
• "...".
• " so ? " .
• "Is it an investigation?".
• "No! I'm just curious about it.".
• " You are like her , " .
• “Grandma Chiyo?”.
• "Hell no...".
• "Who then?"
• " none of your business".
• "Ugh, arrogance, are all those with red hair arrogant?".
• "...".
• "...".
• "What did you say that was your name?"
• "Temari...it is not acceptable for a boy to forget a girl's name, so you won't get a girlfriend.".
• "...".
The two heard the sound of a conversation approaching from the outside door after a mud big bird landed in the yard of the house.
"I can't believe you almost paid that much to vegetables, are you really in Akatsuki?".
"Shut up! I was soldier in Akatsuki and I wasn't the deliveryman!".
"It is obvious that they send the youngest to shop for them. Is the situation different?".
"Damn it! Don't talk like you're an adult here! Kakuzu was responsible for that.".
"How can Mr. Sasori stand with you ! You are unbearable and on top of that, you are not smart!".
"Shut up! I don't want to hear that from someone who imitates others and calls himself the leader of the puppeteers generation! If Sasori Dana knew that you were his successor, he would never have touched puppet in his life!".
"If Mr. Sasori had known that you would be his partner, he would never have joined Akatsuki!".
"See! You're just an imitation!"
" damn you ! " .
" damn you twice!".
That discussion was before they entered the house, the window was open and low that Temari used to shove her sandals toward the heads of both Deidara and Kankuro. Then she returned to her place to complete the sewing, while no other voice was heard from the boys outside.
• " pfff--" . Sasori stifled his laughter in the pillow as he lay in futon on his side, giving Temari his back.
• " I'm sure you would do that if you could get up.".
• "Right, I would have hung them in the air.".
They entered silently and politely, carrying the things they had brought from the market, the house was empty of any food, so they went to the grocery.
• "Ah! Sasori Dana, you are awake." . He lowered what he was carrying to the ground and ran to Sasori, who stared at him strangely.
• "He refuses to eat." Temari spoke while Deidara was inspecting the cracks covering Sasori's wooden body,
• "You have to eat, Dana.".
• "I don't need food.".
• "Not anymore, you need food".
• "...what's going on Deidara." . The weight of the question fell silent on the four of them... Kankuro took the things off the floor and went to arrange them in the kitchen while Temari went to help him. The two remained alone in the room with heavy silence.
• "Un ... it's complicated and I don't understand much." Deidara said sitting on the ground.
• "It's okay, tell me what you know." It was obvious that Sasori was trying to remain calm and be patient. Deidara swallowed and took a deep breath before speaking
• “When I came to the battlefield.... I found nothing but your broken puppets... An army of broken puppets ... I searched for you and found traces of purple blood, you led me to a cave and there I found you alone, eyes closed and on your chest glowing with chakra... Think of it It was a healing chakra...and...a message.".
• " message ? " .
• "No, it's a will...or maybe just to clarify things... the important thing is that old woman was the one who wrote it...it seems that she's the one who took you there...".
• "And then? Where is the message?".
• "Un... do you promise not to tear it up? I think it's important to keep it.".
• "...give me the message.".
• "Okay... I'll take this as a yes...". He pulled out a folded paper from his pocket. He hesitantly handed it to Sasori, who took it quietly that worried Deidara.
It's my first time to write a letter, as I said, women like to do pointless things... I know you might hate me, no, you should hate me, Sasori. I don't mind if you pour your anger and hate on me, and I don't mind if you blame me, because I am to blame and wrong, and I don't even aspire to correct my mistakes or atone for them because that is beyond my reach. Your parents left you with me because they trusted me as a good grandmother, but I was not in that trust; Neglected mygrandson lost him from my hands . So what I do is just to be able to look them in the eyes when I meet them.
Your dedication to the art of puppetry was remarkable, I did not expect that you would ever surpass me, I did not expect that you would reach where you are now, and I certainly did not expect you to reach the point of inventing a new ninjutsu, creating human puppets, and even turning yourself into a puppet, if I had known you will reach those stages, I would never teach you the art of puppetry, I don't blameyou, I blame myself. 'Cause I'm the only one to blame for everything you've done If I'd turned to you a little bit , If I had given you paternal love , If I hadn't lied to you and kept you waiting for so many years , If I was your refuge when you feel the need to talk , you wouldn't go into the dark side You wouldn't have evolved forbidden ninja skills, you wouldn't turn against the village, you wouldn't be an S- rang missing-ninja , it's me to blamefor it all.
So
Let me say something, you weren't the only one who dared to enter the domain of Forbidden Skills, perhaps there is some similarity between a grandmother and a grandson after all,
When I found out that you can turn humans into puppets , I thought about the possibility of turning human puppets back into humans again, I searched for many years, but all my research and attempts failed, becausethere is a loophole in the technique, the living essence of the human puppets had to exist in order to start regeneration and restoration of the human form again, and all your human puppets is missing that.
There was only one person
and it's you
You are the only puppet that has the living essence of your old human self, so I thought I would try my technique on you, I'm not sure it would work,
I re-treated your heart with chakra, part of my chakra I transferred to your heart to recover quickly and to start applying the technique on it. And the rest of my chakra I will apply to Gaara, linking the two villages with a debt they have to pay.
Regeneration must begin from the lungs, the lungs will be recreatedwithin your empty wooden cavity because they are closest to the heart, and in succession with the most important human organs they will be recreated again,
From the inside out, you will return to a human being
I don't know if it hurts, it could be if you're conscious during it, and I don't know how long it will take for the process of getting your body back to human again.
The records of my study of this technique will be found in my old house, in your room in your own chest.
Don't try to stop my technique with an opposite technique because I don't know how many secrets and skills are hidden from me. And because trying to stop the technology is useless because it won't stop, you will hurt and hurt yourself more,
I am not trying to atone for my sins, nothing will atone for them. But I want you to live as yourparents wished, there is no way your parents wish you were a criminal.
You have another chance in your hands so live away from the revenge or the dark side of ninja world.
If someone tells you that Konoha Village has received a letter from me, it is true.
You can hate me, you can curse me, and I know you do now, but it's fine with me. I used to be a hated old woman who was not liked by youngsters. Korura used to come every year on your birthday and blame me for everything that's happened to you since you disappeared and left the village.
You have all my knowledge and records of dolls and their techniques, that if you want them, you are entitled to anything you want.
If you're reading this now, I'm probably dead, it might sound cheesy, but I loved you.
And if someone other than Sasori were reading this, I would like to leave him in your care, for you would not have looked for him if you were not concerned for him. He may be annoying, but you can bear him , since it is your problem to stick your nose in things that do not belong to you.
He threw the paper carelessly and returned to lay on his side, with his back to Deidara. He didn't say anything and Deidara couldn't see his features.
• "Dana...".
• " I'm not interested ... " .
• "Won't you eat a little?".
• "I don't need it.".
• " but--" .
• “Leave me alone, Deidara...please.”.
Deidara was burned once, but he had never before felt such a burning in his heart, and he heard Sasori saying it in a sad broken tone.
He sighed as he stood to leave.
• "If you need me, just call me.".
• "...".
• "And please... eat even a little."
• "...".
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To be counted....