"It's getting noisy outside.." Pein grunted, his arms falling to the side after releasing the Jutsu. It was too late, they were already finished. He was dead, but she could still feel the remnants of heat to his cheeks. Face paler than a ghost, his eyes no longer having those black rings. For a long time, she thought those tanuki-like rings were attributed to his insomnia, now she knew it was directly connected to his Kekkei Genkai. Forever activated, forever there, now, forever gone.
"Appears they have arrived." A smile soon followed afterward, showing the wide variety of sharp teeth aligned.
"Which group? Hm?" Deidara let out his iconic phrase with a smirk. "The group that Kisame no danna stalled? Or is it.."
"It's... both groups..." Zetsu rasped out, opening his eyes.
"So they arrived at the same time, huh?" Pein's voice deepens. "However.."
Tamako turned her center of view back to the red-headed Jinchūriki. He had this peaceful expression on his face that she'd never seen. If it weren't for the circumstance, she would say he looked beautiful. But she holds her tongue and those thoughts, because she helped murder him and he was only freshly sixteen. "It's already too late." She added softly. Pale complexion, pale skin, no black rings—
"It seems they got another Jinchūriki with them..." Sasori chuckled deeply. "Don't take it personally, Itachi." The puppet seemed to sneer at the Uchiha, grinning as if he won.
The named man simply stared back, red seeping out of his eyes. A silent threat, a petty fight between two men.
"Then, shall we all get going?" Hidan stretched, looking bored as ever. "It's getting fucking noisy outside and we've completed all of our missions."
"Exactly..." Zetzu's head peaked out of his aloe plant.
"Then what shall we do with the guys outside?"
"Well, we don't even know if they can even get inside."
Tamako coughed into her fist, "With a Hyuuga on their side, they'll be able to locate the other four seals."
"Sasori. Deidara. Tamako." Pein announced, probably thinking he was taking the goddamn attendance with how laxed he sounded. Tamako perked her head towards the Leader.
"Hm?"
"You take care of the guys outside."
"I knew it was going to end like this..." Deidara complained.
"But take the Jinchūriki alive."
"We know." Sasori's deep voice echoed within the cave.
"Everyone else is dismissed."
Everyone left, one by one, leaving their goodbyes in creative ways, but a particular member stood by when his name was called.
"Itachi, what's the Jinchūriki like?" Sasori asked.
Itachi stood in silence, pondering before answering thoughtfully, "The one who barges in and barks first"
Sasori seems to blanch at his words, "Hah? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Doesn't he have any more specific characteristics? Hm?" Deidara squinted at the Uchiha, dislike on his face.
Tamako nodded at Itachi as he left, regarding the two Akatuski members calmly. "Orange, loud, brash. Yes, Itachi's description is apt.
"Tch." Sasori flickered towards the middle, Deidara and Tamako quickly copied, landing simultaneously on the ground softly. The girl quickly surged her chakra into a simple doton and planted herself onto the slab of stone. "That reminds me." She starts, then gesturing at whatever was left of Deidara's arm. "What happened?"
"Ah, the Jinchuriki was more difficult than I previously imagined, so, using my extremely effective and smart tactics, I was able to—"
She cut in with humor in her voice, "You sacrificed an arm to make Gaara's sand go boom?"
Deidara pauses at his words before replying back with a loud smirk. "Yes."
Tamako laughs, wiping a tear away. "I'm no Kakazu, but I can create a replacement. It'll only last for the minimum of six hours, but that should be enough."
Deidara grunted in agreement, walking over to the girl and showing her his stump. With careful hands, she grabbed the extra material of the cloak and folded it above his shoulder, fingers coated green. She coaxed the nerves to unfray, her other hand gliding softly down his shoulder and crystal forming at her touch. It transformed into a hand, and she attached the limb to his nerves, fusing the two together. As long as he forced chakra into the limb, he would be able to move it.
"Done."
Deidara lifted the crystal arm, flexing his fingers before digging the new arm into his clay pouch, molding it with a grin, "Perfect." He walked away without thanks and sat on Gaara's lifeless body, still molding his clay.
15 Relationship with Deidara
Outside was already noisy, but by now she could almost hear the enemy clearly.
"They have arrived, no need to wait anymore, Sasori."
The cave echoed with a bang, rocks crumbled and broke down, letting light seep through the cracks. Once everything was done making creaking noises and the boulder completely demolished, Team 7 and Chiyo entered swiftly, their eyes narrowing at the trio before eyeing Gaara and Deidara in particular.
"Now then, who's the Jinchūriki?" Deidara flexed his new arm once more, swinging it back and forth.
Naruto trembled in anger and rage, his appearance slowly turning foxish before bursting out, "You bastards..! I'll kill all of you!"
"It looks like it." Deidara smirked "Hm!"
"You bastard, where do you think you sitting!?" His chakra grew more volatile, eyes slitted and hair wild. She could now feel the waves of Kyuubi chakra permeating her cloak.
Tamako put on a show, plastering a mocking smile, "Gaara, of course. Making the dead useful once again, it's splendid, isn't it?" She taunted with anger in her heart.
She killed a kid, a teenager.
"I couldn't word it better, Little Miss." Deidara grinned. "No doubt about it, he's the Jinchūriki. The one who barges in and barks first. Hah, Itachi's pretty good at describing people!"
Her face softened to a smile at his words, it was true. For all of Itachi's stoicism, he was always right with his words.
"Gaara! What're you doing sleeping leisurely in a place like that!? Stand up! Gaara!" Naruto momentarily paused and took a step forward, "Hey! Gaara! Are you listening!? Knock it off!?"
Tamako sighed, stroking dainty fingers across her temple, "Aah, Naruto. Is this your first time seeing a friend die? Just accept it." Her fingers swipe through her bangs, combing it. "He's dead."
"Shut up! Gaara!" Naruto called out desperately.
"Stop it Naruto!" Kakashi looked away. "You should know already..."
"That's right. You know, don't you?" Deidara mocked, "That he's been long dead. Hm." With his new arm, he slapped Gaara's cheeks softly.
Naruto's face was filled with rage, every second ticking by, more fox features were being more noticeable. Now, there was volatile chakra steaming out of him in bigger, more noticeable waves. It was visible this time, all orange and ready to pounce.
"He's definitely...the Jinchūriki. Hm." Deidara nodded to himself in agreement.
"Give him back..." Naruto's voice was distorted from the Kyuubi influence, he nearly lost all reason.
Deidara's eyebrows raised.
"Give Gaara back! You bastards!" Naruto ran forward to the other side of the lake before being stopped by Kakashi who quickly flickered to stop him.
"Calm down. If you charge ahead without thinking, you'll get annihilated."
Sasori's head turned towards Deidara who hummed in question.
"Hm? What's wrong Sasori no Danna?"
"I'll be taking him..." His eyes focused on Gaara.
"Huh?"
"It seems like the Jinchūriki wants to take him back, so..."
"Hm, it seems so," Deidara glanced towards Gaara before focusing his attention on Team 7 and Chiyo before his eyes lit up with an idea.
"Danna."
Sasori hummed.
"You'll probably get mad if I say this..." Deidara paused to smirk, "But I'll be taking the Jinchūriki, yeah."
"Tch, our mission is one Jinchūriki each. Don't be getting full of ourselves, Deidara."
"An artist's passion starts to dull unless they seek a greater stimulation, Sasori no Danna." The mouth on his hand stuck out their tongue. "The rumor is that Kyuubi Jinchūriki is quite powerful, he's an opponent worthy of my art."
"What? You're talking about those explosions of your art? Art is something that beautifully remains extensively into the distant future. Eternal beauty is true art!" The puppet's eyes widened as he explained, almost as if he was tranced at the thought alone.
"Eternal beauty is...art? I do respect you as a fellow craftsman, danna. But art is a fleeting moment of beauty that vanishes gloriously, hm!"
"What did you say..!?"
"Now, let's stop this bickering. Art is the expression of one's true ideals. You two have differing views of life but its still art, isn't it?."
5 Relationship with Deidara and Sasori
"Back at you, fool. Deidara, it seems like you don't understand what true art is."
"You're the one who doesn't understand!"
"You bastards!" Naruto interrupted, both artists ignored.
"No! Eternal art is true art!"
Tamako slouched on her chair, groaning loudly, "Both of you are bickering like children! You both produce magnificent pieces of art no other can produce! One of it's kind, and that's art to me!" How could she forget how stupid men could be.
"Don't be a fool, Little Miss! My art is the only true art, Sasori no Danna is tryna trick you! True art is instant art!"
She massaged her temples with green fingers, "I can't believe I willingly joined this..." She desperately missed Sasuke now, he was at least mute by choice.
"Shut up!" Naruto finally finished with this conversation and reached into his pockets and produced a scroll which revealed a Fuma Shuriken. He ran forward and threw the massive shuriken.
Okay, now that reminded her of Sasuke.
Without a flinch, Sasori brought his tail to swat the shuriken as if it were a measly fly without looking, almost hitting the younger girl across the room if she hadn't stopped it with her bare hand coated with protective crystal.
She snarled, "Watch it!" And let go of the tail and watched it sliver back into the cloak.
"Do you want to make me angry?" Sasori questioned Deidara, who still sat on Gaara.
"Didn't I say? It probably makes you angry!" Deidara said smugly, feeling like a smart-ass.
"You know what happens when I get angry, don't you?" Sasori growled, his voice getting more irritated. "How about it?"
"Hm!" Deidara finally stood up and answered, "Art to me..." He looked at his hand and spat out a piece of chakra enhanced clay and quickly molded it. "Explosions itself!" He threw the clay bird and made a one-handed sign, which the bird in return, poofed into a larger, deadlier size, it flexed its full wing capacity and let out a short shriek.
"It's a far cry from your silly puppet show!"
It landed beside Deidara and picked up Gaara by its beak. Sasori responded by flinging his poisoned tail towards Deidara who jumped onto his bird and dodged the attack.
"Tch!" Sasori's eyes narrowed at his missed attack, so desperately wanting to put Deidara down.
"Ja ne, Sasori no Danna!" The bird engulfed Gaara, leaving only his legs to stick out and flew towards and out of the exit.
Naruto dashed towards the bird with Kakashi quick in pursuit. Poor Kakashi, on two S-ranked Missions. One, saving Gaara which has failed, and the other, babysitting an angry Jinchūriki.
"Naruto and I will handle the guy outside, Sakura and Chiyo-obaasan, you two will handle the those two inside. Don't do anything rash until Team Guy arrives!" Kakashi quickly handed out orders with urgency laced into his voice and ran out.
"Understood!"
She blanched at the clay bird disappearing into the horizon line. "Aah. Deidara left."
"This will be better than that explosive fool!" Sasori growled, before setting his eyes on Chiyo. He sighed. "I heard you retired long ago..."
"I suddenly wanted to see my grandson's face again..."
Tamako cooed at her words, "Awe isn't that sweet! Sasori, say hi to obaa-san! She went all of this way to see you!"
Sasori scoffed at her tease, his puppet just twitching slightly.
"Isn't this nice?" If the Shouton User was any closer to Sasori, she would've nudged an elbow into him, "A family reunion almost! We are all from Sunagakure, well... most of us at least."
Sakura's eyes narrowed before looking at the ground.
"Sakura, do not worry." Chiyo then walked forward. "I'm here, step back." She stuffed her arm into the sleeves and pulled out an array of kunai attached to a chakra string, floating in front of her. "Assault blade!" The kunai sprang forward, glowing blue from the infused chakra. With her hands to her side, her sleeves covered the one-handed seals and senbon appeared in the air before countering the older woman's attack. The weapons scattered and landed with a clang on the ground.
"If you're going to defy us, I guess I have no choice." Sasori ripped off his cloak, revealing the true form of Hiruko. "Will you be joining that Jinchuriki in my collection of puppets, Obaa-san!?"
"That's not Sasori's real body..." Chiyo trailed off, her fingers twitching as she readied herself.
"I can tell this isn't Sasori's real body."
"Yes, this is a puppet."
"But then, where's his real body? Puppet masters are supposed to be pulling the strings from behind, right?"
"His real body is behind that."
"Inside!?"
"Puppet Master's have trouble dealing with close-range combat, after all, when controlling a puppet, they are prone to openings. That puppet there has basically surmounted that problem. That puppet acts as the shield as well as the weapon. It's Sasori's specialty, Hiruko."
"Chiyo-Obaasama, about that puppet..."
Chiyo nodded.
"I know a lot about it."
Tamako sighed, it was more the "good guys" doing the monologue rather than the enemies. She wanted to get this over with. "Why don't you stop stalling and get along with it? Sasori doesn't like waiting, and nor do I!"
"Do you know how I make my collection?" The cave stood in silence. "First. I pull out the organs. Then after washing the bodies nice and clean...I extract the blood. Once I prepare the body so it won't decay, I fill it with hidden weapons and then it becomes a complete addition to my puppet collection."
This was a certified puppet fetish.
"Just as the old women have said before, this form you see, Hiruko, is part of my collection."
Her eyes blinked, recalling one of her earlier stunts she did when she was younger, almost three years ago. She gifted Sasori some of the interesting shinobi she had lying in her inventory, too lazy to clean up the mess and unfortunately realizing there was no bounty. "That reminds me, have you used that sound-nin I gave you?" She asked, a small grin on her face.
"Hm? That nearly crushed boy? Worthless." Her heart panged.
"What about that ice user?"
"Aah, that one. One of my masterpieces, she has become an important feature in my collection, the first hyoton user."
Tamako grinned, well, at least she had a few brownie points with the puppet. "I'm glad you liked it. I picked it up during a mission."
"Then, with the old lady and the little girl added, I'll have exactly three hundred in my collection! It's my art!"
. . .
. .
.
Character Status
Name: Tamako
Class: The Gamer
Age: 15 Years Old
Title: Momma's Little Gem
Status: Fatigue (-5% Performance Stats)
Level: 379
HP: 18,570- HP Regen: 4 per 1 seconds
CP: 17,000- CP Regen: 3 per 1 seconds
Strength: 417
Vitality: 409
Wisdom: 445
Intelligence: 406
Dexterity: 411
Agility: 410
Luck: 380
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
Akatsuki accepts you (65/100)
Money: 15,783,370 ryo
Unspent Points: 410
. . .
. .
.
Author Note
can we please talk about how much the producers of the anime milked this out?
its so skimmed it practically not milk anymore
its fucking water
dialog for about forty minutes is insane for TWO episodes.
and half of it is just jumping on trees and repeating frames...
April 13, 2018 [Friday]
2585 words
edited: 3/7/24