-Half a year later, Sunagakure outskirts-
"Man, it's been a while since I came here" A blonde young man wearing a black cloak with red cloud patterns across glanced across the desert, his lips curving into a smile as he turned to the figure beside him.
A hunched man wearing the same clothes
"Sasori senpai, with us together, this will be a piece of cake, right?" The blonde man grinned
"Keep your mouth shut, you're as annoying as ever, Deidara" Sasori said coldly
"Aw, come on senpai, how about a magic trick~" He said as he scrunched up his empty hands, but when he opened them, a clay bird sat there, tweeting at Sasori.
Sasori rolled his eyes
"If you have nothing better to do, create a bigger one to take us to Sunagakure" He said
"Yes senpai" Deidara laughed
He scrunched the bird up once more, then formed a hand sign. A large amount of clay surged from his palm, gradually forming into a massive bird that can seat both of them.
The two got on, and the bird took flight into the skies.
"Senpai, don't you think this is quite romantic~" Deidara nudged Sasori and asked with a grin
Sasori scoffed
"Keep your affection to yourself" He replied, but oddly enough, he didn't push Deidara away.
Deidara leaned closer
"Come on senpai, you know me, I prefer keeping things explosive, be it my battles, or my emotions" He winked at Sasori
As wind brushed past him, Deidara leaned back, enjoying the breeze
"Senpai, after we capture him, who will be our next target?" He asked
"We'll know after we finish this mission" Sasori replied
Deidara frowned, feeling a slight distance in Sasori's words and tone. He stared at Sasori, then formed a heart with his hands.
"Sen~pai~, lo~ve~" He said with a playful grin
"..." Sasori glanced at them, then turned his eyes back ahead...
"Hah" Deidara sighed when he saw how little reaction Sasori had, feeling that distance, he leaned back and laid down on the clay bird.
He eyes lingered on Sasori's back, then turned to the drifting clouds in the sky.
"Senpai, you're so strong, and your sense of art is beautiful, I respect you" He said
Sasori didn't respond
"Do you think we make a good team?" Deidara asked
This time, though he remained silent for a while, he respond after a period.
"Yes" He said
Deidara's eyes lit up as he sat back up
"Senpai, senpai, how about spending less time in your puppet when we're alone? It's been almost a month since I last saw your face" Deidara asked
"...perhaps when I need to stretch" Sasori replied
His response made Deidara's expression brighten
"Hehe" He giggled to himself
It wasn't long after that Sunagakure was in sight far off in the distance.
-Within Sunagakure-
Kankura, who was training a squad of young genins suddenly paused, and pulled out a scroll. On the scroll, a word appeared.
[Intrusion]
His expression darkened, this is the very scroll Naruto had given him years ago when they first fended off the Akatsuki. It was used to detect when foreign faces enter the land, with the faces of the Akatsuki members set on high alert.
With this scroll's warning, Kankuro stopped the training immediately, and went to find Gaara.
He entered the office, where Gaara was signing off certain documents.
"What is it, nii-san?" He saw Kankuro wearing a stern expression, so he tensed up himself
"It is likely that the Akatsuki is here" He replied
!!!
Gaara stood up with his eyes widened. A frown appeared on his face.
"Understood, send a message to Naruto right away, I will go to the main gate" Gaara said
"No, they are after you, it is best that you take precaution" Kankuro shook his head and said
Gaara smiled when he saw the concern in Kankuro's eyes
"It's okay, I have a reliable partner with me after all" He said
[Damn right] Shukaku's laughter rang in his head as soon as he said that
Kankuro was still uneasy however
"I will join you" he said
"...alright, but be careful" Gaara nodded
Kankuro nodded, he then wrote a message that he tied onto a messenger hawk's leg.
"Go to Konoha, and inform Temari" He said as he released the bird
*Scree*
The hawk let out a cry and flew off as fast as it could.
"Hopefully it can make it in time" He muttered
The two immediately headed for the main gate, and upon arrival, they could sense two chakra signatures from the distance. A faint dot could be seen, rapidly approaching.
'So they flew...no wonder' Kankuro thought as the scroll in his hand was silently tucked away.
Gaara crossed his arms
"Ready, partner?" He asked
[Ready when you are, partner] Shukaku crackled
Gaara's chakra surged, his pupils becoming golden as the white in his eyes became pitch black, highlighting the golden diamond in the center.
In the sky above, Deidara and Sasori noticed Gaara as well, feeling quite surprised that he was already prepared to meet them despite how fast they travelled.
'Even if they had scouts, to relay information so fast, it doesn't seem right' Sasori thought
Deidara flew above, stopping a few dozen meters away from the highest point of the city wall, his eyes swept past the village as a twisted smile rose on his face.
"Did you come to give yourself away? I appreciate the thought" He chuckled
Gaara stood tall without backing down, his lips curved slightly
"I won't go down as easily as I did back then" He said
"Hahaha, so dare bring up that time? You were beaten black and blue by me alone, senpai didn't even intervene between our battle" Deidara replied with a smug expression
Gaara didn't respond, he clasped his hands together, and sand began to rise, forming pellets that shot towards the clay bird.
"Starting already? I have never seen someone so eager to commit suicide!" Deidara laughed as he formed dozens of small clay birds that flew towards them, crashing into the sand pellets and exploding.
The explosion caused sand to disperse, and more birds were made to rain down on them.
Gaara raised his hand, and a wave of sand washed forward, forming a barricade before them, withstanding the barrage of clay birds.
*Bang*
The sand hardened, compacting itself more and more with each barrage of clay birds.
"Quite the hard turtle shell, but how long can you last for?" Deidara laughed as he created another large clay bird that flew down at the barricade.
*Boom*
An enormous explosion rang out, causing panic within the village, but the sand wall held strong, no even budging before the bombardments.
"Tch, that's annoying" Deidara clicked his tongue
Sasori stared at the sand wall, and his brows furrowed. Though Gaara is on the defensive right now, he felt uneasy for some reason.
!!!
He quickly turned around and a scorpion tail shot out from behind him.
"Tsk" The tail shot forward, striking a figure that had appeared behind them.
Deidara noticed this, and turned around as quickly as possible. Upon turning, he saw Gaara, which shocked him so much he almost jumped, why was Gaara here!
The scorpion tail struck past Gaara, and a layer of sand broke off from Gaara's skin. He clenched his fist tightly.
"Sand coffin" He said in a low voice
It was only now that Deidara noticed that sand had gathered below the bird's wings, which now surged towards them!
Sasori was about to jump off the bird when he noticed that the sand was targeting Deidara, who wasn't able to react as fast as he did.
In that split moment, his mind came to a halt...Deidara was about to get hurt badly. Without even thinking, he grabbed Deidara's hand and pulled him away from the sand, but that caused the sand to wrap around his arm.
"Tsk, have it then!" Sasoru growled in a low voice as he threw Deidara away
"S-Senpai!" Deidara gasped as he watched Sasori destroy the arm that was bound, then leapt off the clay bird.
"It's fine, only the puppet was harmed" Sasori replied
Deidara nodded
"How did he get behind us" He asked
"Probably went underground the moment he created the sand wall, he continued to pour massive amounts of chakra into it so we won't notice, and snuck behind us" He replied
Deidara's expression darkened significantly. Sasori cherished the puppet he is using quite a bit, the fact that he used one of its arms to ensure his safety had touched him.
"His chakra is denser than before, and his control over sand has gotten better as well, do not hold back" Sasori said
"Yes, senpai" Deidara nodded
Sasori didn't sit out anymore either as he summoned his puppets. Around him, dozens of puppets appeared, shocking Kankuro.
'So many! How can anyone control this many puppets at once?' He gasped
With a deep frown, he leapt down from the wall as chakra strings strung from his fingertips.
Before him, three puppets were summoned, a humanoid three eyed puppet with four arms, a bucket shaped puppet with horns protruding from its head, and a lizard shaped puppet with a black slap like object on its back.
Sasori paused on the three, and a faint chuckle of mockery left his lips
"I won't let you interfere with Gaara's battle" Kankuro said in a low voice
At the side, Gaara had already engaged battle with Deidara, who unleashed numerous insectoid clay bombs that started to crawl across the sand.
"Are you even trying with this?" Gaara asked as he simply waved his hand
The sand before him overturned, and flipped itself on the clay bombs, instantly burying them. Small explosions rang out across the field, but none impact the terrain with how deep they were buried.
Deidara laughed as he created more clay birds that flapped around him
"I'd be disappointed if you couldn't even handle those small things, after all, I prefer more magnificent explosions!" He laughed crazily as he conjured more as he spoke.
*Boom*
As the explosions rang out, puppets started to swarm towards Kankuro.
The lizard puppet, salamander, was sent forward, and the black object on its back raised up high into a wall.
Kankuro's hand danced as he controlled crow, the four armed puppet to follow up behind salamander.
*Clank*
Salamander ran forward, flames burst from its mouth as crow's arms inverted into blades that shot towards the swarming puppets.
'His chakra strings are innumerable, yet they are so thin I can hardly see them, just how does a human achieve this' Kankuro gulped, knowing there is a vast chasm between their skill level.
However, he wasn't willing to back down simply because of this, Gaara's battle depended on whether he can hold Sasori off for long enough.
'Just a few minutes' He thought silently
*Bang*
*Crack*
The wall formed by salamander cracked, which caused Kankuro's heart to palpitate.
'I knew it, with how big the gap is, using these three puppets as is won't be enough' Kankuro thought, though what happened wasn't good, he did his best to remain calm.
"Salamander...quite an old puppet" Sasori's words rang out, making Kankuro shudder
"Crow, and black ant, both are my designs, yet you wish to face me with them?" Sasori asked, as he spoke, he moved personally, appearing above salamnder.
The scorpion tail struck out, tearing through the wall, then targeted specific joins within it, easily dismantling the puppet.
Kankuro gnashed his teeth
"This..."
"It's quite foolish of you to use an owner's own creation to face them" Sasori said calmly as he directed the puppets around towards crow.
Kankuro's gaze sharpened, and Sasori noticed a smile slowly rising on his face. The same feeling of unease he got when Gaara snuck up on them occurred again.
"You're right, it would be foolish to do such a thing...that is only if crow is the same puppet you made back then, Sasori" Kankuro said
"I'm friends with Naruto after all, so I got a few tips on who you are, I naturally would not be so stupid to bring only this much with me" From behind him, the immobile black ant puppet started to tremble.
*Bang*
It opened its mouth, and from within, blue chains shot out towards Sasori.
"A last struggle? Or is it your trump card?" Sasori huffed as he waved his hand, sending in his puppets at it.
The blue chains bashed against the puppet, but contrary to what Sasori had expected, it hardly did anything to them, which only served to confuse him.
But the next moment, the chains began thrashing around, and the puppets he controlled began falling to the ground.
!!!!!!
Sasori furrowed his brows when he witnessed this, he didn't understand how the connection between him and his puppets were cut off so suddenly.
*Whoosh*
Crow also began trembling, its four arms shot out towards Sasori, revealing blades from the palm of each hand.
The scorpion tail thrashed at it, knocking the arms away, but then, blue chains shot out from each socket from crow, which began thrashing around uncontrollably amidst the army of puppets.
"You should have destroyed crow first, but you overlooked it after dismantling salamander" Kankuro said with a chuckle
As crow thrashed around, it opened its mouth, and purple mist began spraying out everywhere.
Sasori snorted, since the army of puppets won't work, he will simply make a move himself. He shot out like a cannonball, arriving in front of the thrashing crow and shot his tail towards it.
*Crackle*
Crow's mouth cackled as his head spun, then it shot up from its body towards Sasori.
*Bang*
The head shot towards Sasori's tail, and upon contact, an explosion took place as needles shot in all directions.
With the outer puppet casing, the needles didn't do anything to Sasori, however, it did stop his initial attack on crow. Kankuro flipped his hand, and from behind Sasori, the four arms he deflected shot back towards him, aiming squarely at the back of his puppet casing.
*Ding*
The blades piercing the body didn't happen, no, each blade tore through the black cloak, but immediately bounced off upon hitting a hard object.
The cloak dropped, revealing a massive steel plate on the back of the puppet Sasori hid within.
Within the puppet, Sasori was beyond shocked, a mere fledgling puppeteer actually successfully sneak attacked him! It did nothing since it bounced off, but he actually succeeded in such an attack!
His eyes darkened as he slashed down at crow with all his might.
The blue chains shot out, tying the tail, however, the chains shattered very quickly, doing almost nothing in stopping Sasori's attack, resulting in crow being dismantled.
Kankuro clicked his tongue, knowing this battle cannot be dragged on for any longer
'Should I use his kunai? Perhaps with him, we can possibly kill them both' Kankuro thought as he held a kunai tightly in his hand.
Through the corner of his eyes, Sasori caught sight of that kunai, and his mind almost blanked. How can he not know whose kunai that belonged to! It was that nine tailed prick!
'I can't let him teleport here, this situation is already derailing from our initial plan, I can't have any more' He formed a hand sign within the puppet he controlled in a hurry the moment that kunai appeared before him.
Meanwhile, he also controlled the puppet to rush towards Kankuro
"Tch, time to use it then" Kankuro realised Sasori wanted to eliminate him as soon as he can, so he decisively threw the kunai.
But right when the kunai left his hand, a strange purple field spread from Sasori, encasing the two of them.
The kunai struck the interior of that purple field like barrier that now encased them, yet nothing happened.
Kankuro's heart sank
'H-He sealed off the space?'
"Did you think we won't have anything in preparation for that nine tailed brat's damned teleportation after all these years? But I'll admit, he is the biggest headache of all the jinchuriki we have on our list" Sasori said in a low voice as he landed in front of Kankuro.
Kankuro gulped, and with his final ditch, he had black ant charge at him as the blue chains shot out.
Sasori scoffed as he cut down the chains, and struck through black ant's abdomen, tearing it open.
"It's over" He said
His tail shot out, jabbing into Kankuro's abdomen, sending him flying back and smashing into the barrier.
"Enjoy your final moments" He said coldly
Kankuro felt the pain from the injury intensify in an instant. Poison that was laced on the tail had begun spreading through his body, eating away at his consciousness as the skin around the wound slowly turned purple.
Sasori turned around
"You were better than I thought, I'll give you that, but nothing more" He said as he left the barrier
He maintained the barrier in case Kankuro somehow found the strength to throw the kunai again, so he wanted to maintain it, at least until Gaara was captured.
With Kankuro trapped in the barrier, he was now more at ease. It was strange, he never knew someone as weak as Kankuro would cause him to be so at ease once he was defeated...
'He made use of my arrogance to set crow in the perfect location to take down the majority of my puppets, and I still don't understand the properties of those chains, if he grew up, he would become a major pillar of Sunagakure' He thought silently
'If...he survives that is' His eyes became cold as he turned his attention to Gaara, who looks like he had barely sweated since fighting Deidara, meanwhile, Deidara's expression was looking more and more frustrated.
He also noticed that one of Deidara's arms was limp, dangling by the side as blood seeped out of it.
'He's...hurt?' A sense of anger began to rise
"I-I'm angry? That shouldn't be possible' He thought
He stared at Deidara struggling against Gaara, and when he saw a sand spike shoot out from behind Deidara, his figure moved before he even started to think.
*Bang*
He placed himself between Gaara and the spike, using the metal plate on his back to block it with ease.
"Focus on the battle" He said in a low voice
"A-Ah? Yes senpai!"Deidara's eyes lit up, Sasori had finished the battle and saved his life!
His heart felt giddy, but he maintained professionalism and turned his full attention to the battle.
"He's much stronger than I thought, his chakra is practically limitless" He gnashed his teeth and said
Sasori nodded
"Fly us up" He said
"Alright" Deidara created dozens of clay birds and shot them towards Gaara, who swatted them down with ease.
When he saw Sasori, Gaara's expression changed, he quickly turned his attention to Kankuro, who was trapped within a barrier, looking extremely weak.
"Tsk, I shouldn't have let him join, nii-san, please pull through" He muttered as a massive platform of sand rose into the sky.
Deidara quickly formed a large clay bird that they jumped onto, and flew into the sky, just in time to avoid the sand burial that crushed down on all the clay figures he had created earlier.
With all attention on Gaara, Kankuro pulled his weak self up
"Hah...I-I can't be a liability to Gaara, not when I'm his older brother" He bit down on his lips as he grabbed one of black ant's arms to use as a crutch.
His other hand reached for a broken blue chain, clutching it tightly as his chakra got sapped from touching it.
"Ng" His eyes twitched from the pain as he let out a groan
"Hah...hah...don't worry Gaara, your nii-san will bring help" Blood seeped out his lips, however, it was pitch black in colour.
Pfft
He coughed out blood, but it didn't stop him from limping towards the edge of the barrier.
*Bang*
After taking a small step, his entire body fell forward, his legs limp, unable to support his body.
"Grr, this...won't stop me" He roared as he dug black ant's arm into the sand to pull himself forward.
Outside, Gaara looked up at the two figures in the sky.
"Gaara, aren't you worried about your brother's situation?" Sasori asked
"I am" Gaara replied
Though his expression remained calm
"But showing a weakness because of my worry will mean his chances to survive will be reduced to nothing, if I win, then I can save him" He replied calmly
A very sound argument that even Deidara, who wanted to intentionally talk sh*t, could not find a proper reason to do so.
"You have matured, so much that you've become a bigger threat than we initially planned" Sasori said
Gaara didn't reply this time, instead, he began gathering more sand, whilst forming pellets again to shoot at them.
Sasori stepped forward, and pushed off against the bird's head, shooting directly for Gaara whilst he controlled a few clones around him to fly in front.
The clones took the pellets head on, and started to break down at high speed. The pellets were condensed so much that each shot was like being hit by a steel ball, so it tore through the puppet's bodies with relative ease.
However, before they were fully destroyed, the puppets opened their mouths, revealing a massive amount of clay within.
"Boom" Deidara stuck out his tongue and crackled
The puppets exploded, sending out a shockwave that blew the sand particles away.
Gaara's gaze remained stead, his control over the sand didn't waver, and he started to gather the dispersed sand particles secretly.
As the sand particles gathered below Deidara, he moved both hands, and formed a hand sign.
"Sand tornado"
Sand began to move below them, swirling around and rising rapidly at the incoming Sasori.
Sasori tore through the air, and came into contact with the flowing sand that blocked his path. It stopped his charge, but more puppets were summoned around him, and each puppet opened its mouth as water sprayed out.
*Psht*
Almost a dozen puppet, each using powerful water jutsu.
'So this is what Naruto spoke of, puppets that can use jutsu' He thought with a frown
The water soaked the sand, making it heavier, and harder to control.
As the sand got heavier, control over the tornado gradually fell out of his control due to imbalance, resulting in it collapsing on itself.
However, as the sand fell, Gaara reached out one hand, and clenched it together.
"Sand coffin" He said in a low voice
Immediately, Sasori, who was amidst the tornado realised the predicament he was in. The tornado formed was massive, so the density of the sand wasn't something he can escape easily.
He quickly formed a hand seal
"Deidara" He called out
"Got it senpai!" While Sasori had charged in, Deidara had been storing up a massive amount of clay, forming a ferocious beast like figure above.
A dragon.
The beast flew overhead of the tornado, and rained down small balls of clay down from its mouth.
*Boom*
The clay dropped down on the gathering sand, bursting it apart whilst also sending smaller bits of clay flying around, resulting in numerous smaller explosions.
However, Gaara's technique was not so easily broken through, the sheer density of sand in the air made it so what he did merely delayed the inevitable, as the sand closed in on Sasori completely.
"Senpai!" Deidara screamed when he witnessed the crushing momentum of the sand coffin, his heart sank completely as his eyes turned red.
*Boom*
The sand coffin closed, crushing Sasori within. After a few moments, Gaara's expression changed, something was wrong, there was no blood!
He quickly released his control on the coffin and formed a sand wall around him.
*Slash*
*Psht*
A blade cut through the sand wall with great momentum, and a second blade shot through the gap that was made.
*Psht*
Gaara raised one hand, letting the blade pierce his hand in order to ensure it didn't harm him any further.
"You blocked it?" A red haired figure stood on the other side of the sand wall that slowly fell.
"Senpai! You're alive" Deidara's red eyes became normal as a smile bloomed on his face
Sasori ignored Deidara, and pulled his blades back.
"You...didn't age" Gaara stared at Sasori's face, that looked even younger than his.
Sasori had fled the village years ago, by right, he should be over thirty now, yet his face remained so young.
Sasori disregarded Gaara's shocked expression as the blades in his hand retracted.
"You forced me to abandon one of my favorite puppet, how will you make up for that?" He asked as he slashed at Gaara again.
Gaara jumped back, but Sasori pursued him, keeping close so Gaara couldn't form any proper defenses.
All he could do now was brutal offense to trade with Sasori, so spikes of sand shot from the ground, along with condensed pellets of sand that shot at him, yet Sasori's body moved in unnatural ways, slipping past everything he threw at him.
It didn't look like he was against a human...it's as if he was facing a puppet, controlled by someone else.
The turning of his limbs, the twisting of his body, none of it were possible mid air, yet he did so as if it was normal.
"Tss" As he retreated, he felt his condition deteriorate drastically.
He looked down on his palm, and saw the wound was turning purple, with the colour spreading slowly across his hand.
He was poisoned, making his chakra sluggish, and his movements chopped.
*Boom*
From behind, Deidara rained bombs down on him, causing his already slow movements to become even more unsteady. Right when he tumbled, a silver glimmer shot by.
*Whoosh*
A blade appeared in front of his eyes, and his black pupils trembled
"Shukaku!" Gaara's voice
"Graaah!" Gaara let out a roar as sand covered his body
Sasori found his blade irretrievable when the sand covered Gaara, along with the tip of his blade, so he decisively tossed it aside and jumped back.
The sand slowly dropped from Gaara's body, now, half his face had a beast like sand mask over it, his arms had thick sand claws covering them, and a long racoon tail made of sand sprouted behind him, so large that it can cover his whole body.
"Round two" Gaara said in a low voice