The Past of a Puppet...

"Even if it is a defensive measure, inform me before doing it." The Kazekage said.

"Yes!" Yūra bowed and took his leave.

….

Outside the room, as Yūra was walking…

He felt a sudden surge of pain which originated in the center of his brain.

Embedded in his brain was a seal meant to be used to create sleeper cells.

(CRACK!) *SHATTER!*

Yūra's knees gave in to the pain as he fell on the floor and took deep breaths.

("I understand!") Yūra said as he stared into the space in front of him with a resolute gaze.

—————————

A few hours later…

Two figures appeared in the middle of the desert, as they walked towards the Hidden Sand village.

Meanwhile, At the entrance of the sand village which was situated between two huge hills on either side (a natural feature of the sand village.)

Yūra stared at his bloodied arms and compared it to the scene of the fallen corpses that were lying in front of him.

These corpses belonged to the border security team and the Second Team of the ANBU Black Ops.

("Sasori-sama!")

("I have completed your work!") Yūra said in his mind.

…..

Soon Sasori and Deidara appeared at the entrance of the village.

Yūra stared at Sasori who was in his Hiruko form with a reverent Gaze.

"Good work…" Sasori said as he observed the scene of the piled up corpses behind Yūra.

"Do you remember me?" Sasori asked.

"Of course, I do, Sasori-sama!" Yūra said.

("Of course, he does.")

("It wouldn't be much of a Jutsu if he didn't.") Sasori thought.

Yūra half kneeled towards Sasori.

("They become loyal subordinates after regaining their memory.") Sasori thought after seeing Yūra kneel towards him.

Yūra guided Sasori towards the corpses he had gathered in a single place after killing.

"Good job!" Sasori said as he took a step towards the group of corpses.

"How many corpses are here?" Sasori asked.

"Exactly 64 of them, Sasori-sama!" Yūra reported.

A scroll flew out of Sasori's body.

< Red Sand Secret Technique - Performance of a Hundred puppets! >

(Poof!) a cloud of smoke appeared.

(Whoosh!)

(Whoosh!) (Whoosh!)

(Whoosh!) (Whoosh!) (Whoosh!) (Whoosh!) (Whoosh!) (Whoosh!)

(Whoosh!) (Whoosh!) (Whoosh!) (Whoosh!) (Whoosh!) (Whoosh!)

About a hundred puppets gathered in a few seconds, floating in the sky right behind Sasori.

Yūra guarded the entrance to cover over the suspicious activities that were taking place.

Soon, Sixty-Four of Sasori's puppets transformed into their corpse counterparts.

"My man, Don't you feel repulsive to make those bodies your work of art?" Deidara asked.

"Hmmm??"

"Did you say something?" Sasori asked.

"…" Deidara just stared at Sasori who used his tail to drag the corpses one by one to his scroll, where he sealed them into a contained space.

("Looks like I get to renew Sixty Four of my puppets in the collection, best of all they are better than your average ninja…") Sasori thought as he turned towards Yūra.

"Continue to be on duty here!" Sasori said as he handed over a scroll to Yūra.

"This is…?" Yūra looked towards Sasori.

"The scroll contains the method to control the puppets that are taking the place of the guards."

"Contact my other spy Mukade to help you in controlling these puppets."

"Don't worry. They have simple mechanisms for movements."

"Even the most basic of puppet control arts can make them move like experts, after all, I have brought down an entire nation with these puppets before…" Sasori said.

Yūra half kneeled towards Sasori again.

"Yes, Sasori-sama!"

"Do you know the time that the Kazekage intends to depart towards the Chuunin exams?" Sasori asked.

"Yes!"

"The Kazekage intends to leave the village by 9 am two days from now…" Yūra said in a firm voice.

"All right!"

"Let's go!" Sasori ordered Deidara as he turned towards the exit.

...

After a few moments of walking….

Deidara broke the silence.

"Sasori!"

"My man!"

"Hmm?" Sasori turned towards Deidara.

"Why are you concerned about the Kazekage?"

"We are supposed to be after the guy named Orochimaru right?" Deidara asked.

"Orochimaru is very good at hiding."

"He changes his hideout every few days, and there is no way to find out where he would be hiding."

"My spy under Orochimaru revealed that he intends to take down the Kazekage."

"Which is why we have come to this village," Sasori explained.

"But why kill the guards at the entrance, my man?" Deidara asked.

"Deidara!"

"Akatsuki is currently short on funds to operate."

"Our current goals are to find money, tools, Jutsus, and tailed beasts, with Money being the number one priority right now," Sasori said.

"But what does this have to do with the Kazekage?" Deidara asked.

"The Fourth Kazekage of the sand is a descendant of the Magnetic Release Kekkei Genkai."

"Magnetic Release?" Deidara asked.

"Yes!"

"It is a Kekkei Genkai that is unique to the Hidden Sand village."

"The Third Kazekage whom I have in my collection as a puppet uses the Magnetic style to manipulate Iron sand."

"Whereas the Fourth Kazekage uses the magnetic style to control Gold Dust."

"Gold Dust?"

"You mean pure gold?" Deidara asked in a surprised voice.

"Precisely!" Sasori lauded Deidara's intellect.

"My man!"

"You are going to use the Gold Dust to make Akatsuki rich," Deidara said excitedly.

"Yes!" Sasori said in an emotionless voice as he walked ahead.

Deidara followed quickly.

"My man!"

"Hmm?" Sasori turned towards Deidara.

"From what I know, Akatsuki operates in pairs right?" Deidara asked.

"Yes."

"Then you must've had a partner before me," Deidara said.

Sasori stopped walking.

"My previous partner was Orochimaru…" Sasori said in a low voice.

"Mm?"

"Orochimaru?"

"We are going to kill your own partner?" Deidara asked.

"Yes!" Sasori replied in a cold voice.

"So how was this Orochimaru guy?" Deidara asked.

Sasori was silent for a few moments before he finally spoke.

"Orochimaru and I shared similar perceptions regarding life."

"We both wanted to be an everlasting existence…"

"Mine through puppetry and his through experiments with humans," Sasori said.

"My man!"

"Are you sulking?" Deidara asked.

Sasori glared at Deidara.

"Maybe…" Sasori said in a faint voice.

Deidara approached Sasori.

"What was that my man?"

"NOTHING!" Sasori shouted, causing Deidara to be stunned.

"I was betrayed by my partner, who shared the same views on life…"

"Somehow I felt even more lonely after he left…" Sasori opened up to Deidara.

"That's when I decided, that I will kill him by my hands if it is the last thing I do…"

"…" Deidara stared at Sasori.

"a few days after that incident happened, I acquired a new pawn…"

"Mm?" Deidara stared at Sasori.

"His name is Yakushi Kabuto!"

"I have asked him to report to me, on Orochimaru's latest developments and locations."

"It was he who informed that Orochimaru is going to assassinate the Kazekage."

"After all these days, it is finally going to pay off!"

"The Kazekage and Orochimaru."

"It is like killing two birds with one stone!" Sasori said in a cold voice.

—————————

Soon…

Two days passed by...

Team 7 Finally made it to the desert lands on the outskirts of the village.

"Let's Go!" Naruto commanded as the team picked up its pace.