No Strings Attached [A Sasori Love Story]

Chap. 15: Puppets Have Feelings Too

Disclaimer: Credit for all of the characters (except for Emi) goes to the creators of Naruto.

“Get inside me.” Sasori’s low voice surprised me, to say the least.

Here we were, thinking we could make an easy escape back to base, when all of a sudden, a dozen nins ambushed us. This Takumi Fukui guy must really be important since it was obvious the village sent their best. They were able to track us after all.

I stared at Sasori, who was again disguised as Hiruko, a bit unsure at first. I wanted to stay and fight. I wanted to be useful to the team, but Sasori, for some strange reason, wouldn’t let me.

“There’s not much time, brat. Get in. Deidara and I can handle this.”

I pursed my lips and pondered for a while before deciding to follow Sasori’s orders. If he wanted me to stay out of the fight, he must have sensed how strong the attackers were.

As I was about to jump inside with Sasori, a painful howl startled me. I snapped my head to where the sound originated from and gasped as I saw Deidara on the floor, his torso bleeding. Fighting so close to the enemy was never Deidara’s strength. He didn’t have enough time to muster one of his clay balls before they nins attacked.

“Deidara!” I yelled as I ran over to help him. “Earth Release: Fist Rock technique!”

Within seconds, my hand was covered in rock. I made one move to punch the ground and sent the attackers flying elsewhere. It was just enough time for Deidara to pull out a clay bomb and hurl it towards the other attackers.

“Katsu!” Deidara yelled, and the clay bomb exploded.

So far, there were only six of them left, and all six of them surrounded Sasori. He was able to hold a few back with the use of his nearly invisible puppet strings, and some with Hiruko’s tail, but two ninja’s were currently sneaking up on him.

“Sasori!” I yelled in panic as I ran to protect him.

I could feel the same type of energy overwhelm me as I did during my first training session with Sasori. I knew it was too risky to use this technique, but I had to protect Sasori.

“Earth Release: Earth Spear technique!” I could hold it long enough for Deidara to detonate one of his clay bombs on our attackers. “Deidara! Now!”

With a nod, he hurled a few more clay bombs towards us and yelled, “Katsu!”

A loud explosion, one that would have killed me and Sasori, spread throughout the forest. Once I was sure the commotion was over, I released my jutsu.

“Wow, who knew I could hold on for long?” I nervously chuckled.

I surveyed my surroundings. Sasori was unarmed and was still disguised as Hiruko, Deidara was flying one of his masterpieces and was making a move to land near us, and as for Takumi… well let’s just say I wouldn’t have him on my team when it came to battles. He was currently in a fetus position, hiding behind one of the many large trees.

“Uh, I think he needs our help.” I said, motioning towards our hostage.

As I took the first few steps towards Takumi Fukui’s hiding place, an overwhelming sensation took over me. I felt extremely dizzy and soon enough, my vision darkened. The last thing I recall was someone yelling my name, his voice full of emotions that I once thought he didn’t possess.

Sasori…

~*~ 

It was already dark when I woke up. A soft groan escaped my lips as I attempted to sit up.

“Stop moving. You still haven’t completely regained your strength yet.” Sasori’s calm voice spoke. I was glad he wasn’t using Hiruko anymore.

“How long have I been out?” I asked, lying back down.

“Just the entire afternoon.” Sasori responded, finally meeting my gaze. “How are you feeling?”

I arched an eyebrow at his sudden show of concern, but decided not to ask him about it. Any form of concern from Sasori was good enough for me.

“Better than I did this morning.” I responded. “Where’s Deidara and the old man?”

“Over there,” Sasori motioned towards the sleeping pair. “Sound asleep. You should get some rest too.”

“I think I’m alright.” I said, trying to sit up once again. It didn’t hurt much now. “Besides, you look like you could use a little company.”

Sasori did not respond, but I made my way over to him. We stayed silent for a while before I finally spoke up.

“How’s Hiruko? Is he damaged?” I was genuinely worried, since Sasori put so much effort into his work.

“He’s fine, thanks to you.” Again, I met his gaze.

Those eyes… those eyes will haunt me for the rest of my life, and I’m not scared one bit.

“Why did you save me?” Sasori’s voice was soft, almost as if he was unsure of how to ask such a question.

I thought about my answer for a while as I gazed at the starry sky. “Like it or not, we’re on the same team. I have to save your life.”

“Right.” There was something in his tone I didn’t recognize. Was it disappointment?

“Why do you sound so disappointed, Sasori-danna?”

“I’m not.” He quickly replied. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” I smiled and waved a hand in dismissal.

Again, silence overcame us.

“You’re also special to me.” My voice was just above a whisper. I was surprised when Sasori turned to face me. I didn’t think he’d hear me. I was compelled to elaborate my response. I just couldn’t resist those eyes of his. “I know you’re incapable of feeling anything for me, but nevertheless, I still care about you, Sasori-danna. To be honest with you, I thought I’d start hating you from the moment you took me from my village until the day I die. But the more time I spend with you, I realize that you’re not as bad as people say you are. You may be a cold hearted killer, but only to those people who don’t bother to get to know the real you. The others don’t understand the pain you had to go through, the pain that made you the kind of person you are now.” I stared deep into his eyes as I uttered the following words, “Whether you’ll change your way of thinking or not, as your teammate and your friend, I’ll always be right beside you. I may not agree with you completely, but that doesn’t mean I would want you to get hurt.”

More silence. I was starting to feel uncomfortable under Sasori’s intense gaze.

“Brat…” he finally muttered.

I looked at him closely and could faintly recognize the glimpse of emotion in his eyes.

“Don’t let yourself care for me.” He spoke softly.

I felt a pang in my heart. “Why not?”

He simply kept silent. He raised his hand to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. His face showed no emotion, but I could tell he was struggling to tell me something. He was struggling to make sense of what he was feeling. I don’t know what scared him more, the possibility of feeling any type of emotion, or the realization that he wouldn’t be able to control the emotions he hid for so long.

I gulped as I noticed his face inching closer to mine. My palms were starting to sweat, and my heart rate noticeably increased. There were only a few inches separating both of our lips when Deidara bellowed,

“Give my fucking sushi back, Hidan!”

In a flash, Sasori and I were seated the farthest away from each other. My face was still hot, and Sasori was probably scolding himself by now. I looked at Deidara’s sleeping form and mentally cursed him for ruining my moment with the puppet master. I know he didn’t mean to sleep talk, but I was still mad at him for it.

I looked back at Sasori, who was gazing at the starry sky. That night, the puppet master watched the stars and I watched him, because no matter how beautiful the night sky was, it wasn’t as beautiful as the person before me.