desolate minds

xiv. full of love, full of light

My eyes stared out at the breath-taking scenery before me. The oasis hadn't changed much from when I had last visited it, which was probably around two years ago. Sasori and I were enjoying our time together, fishing and swimming in the beautiful lake. After that, life seemed to take over and we never got a chance to visit again. At least, not together.

The water was still a vibrant blue, and the foliage around it was still a mesmerizing green. A beautiful sight, but my mind wasn't focused on that at the current moment.

'What happened?'

My hands dug into the sand around me and I bit down harshly on my lip. The pain and frustration I was feeling were trying to consume me, and I was doing all I could not to lash out violently because of it.

'Why are you acting like this?'

A few months apart and my brother had become a completely different person; I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Surely, Komushi's death couldn't have been the only contributor to this? To completely shut me out, when I thought I was his closest ally... I just don't understand.

The path Sasori was trying to go down was one I had no intention of following him on. I had tried everything I could through the years to keep him from it, and yet he still found his way to it. Did this mean that everything that happened in canon was meant to happen and there was no way to change it?

If that was really true... If that really was the case...

'Then what is even the point of being here.'

What was the point of sticking around, just for me to lose a brother all over again?

Rationally, I knew this wasn't a good mindset. I knew that my world is larger than just Sasori, but when it came down to it— he made up the majority of it.

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the negative thoughts. I couldn't just give up on Sasori now; he hadn't even started the actual construction on the human puppet yet, so there could still be time to stop it from happening. This wasn't something I could do alone though; hopefully Chiyo and Ichirou could help.

Unfortunately, an intervention would have to wait. I had a date to keep.

× × ×

The weapon shop I arrived at was a familiar one. It just so happened to be the one Chiyo had taken Sasori and I to back when Sasori had graduated from the Academy. Since then, it had been a frequent stop for me and my family... Despite that, I had only ever seen one person run the place, and it wasn't a woman named Shaiā.

Entering the establishment, I saw I was not the only ninja present. Not surprising; this place was almost always busy.

I approached the old man that seemed to live behind the counter at the front of the store. He nodded in greeting; no matter how many times I came to this place, he never seemed to remember me. I didn't blame him; so many people filtered through here every day, he probably didn't bother to put a face to anyone anymore. If he was a former shinobi I'd doubt that'd be the case, but, as far as I knew, he was just the son of a blacksmith.

Returning his nod, I explained why I was there. "Hello, I'm supposed to be meeting with Shaiā. I've been assigned to her genin team."

The man sighed.

That didn't seem like a good sign.

"I see," he said with a shake of his head. "Damn girl probably forgot; she's been gone all day. She usually comes crawling back around this time for lunch, so I suggest you stick around, unless you have somethin' else you'd rather be doing."