The Phantom Hero (My Akatsuki Academia)

Chapter Thirteen - Gift from the Puppet Master

The next day of UA was a rather simple one. It was a day for the students of Class 1-A to train and hone their skills in preparation for the UA Sports Festival. Itachi had sparred with Kisame and Tokoyami, earning a hard fought victory. When the day was nearly over, Itachi was given permission to head to the Support Class to receive the new gear. Yaoyorozu volunteered to go with him. As they walked, Itachi noticed that Yaoyorozu was quiet.

Itachi: Hey Momo, is something the matter?

Yaoyorozu: N....no Itachi! I'm just excited for the Sports Festival, that's all!

Itachi: You know if something's wrong, you can always tell me.

Yaoyorozu: I'm okay Itachi! (If only I can tell you......)

But before Yaoyorozu could finish her thought, an explosion from a classroom caught their attention. Itachi activated his Sharingan, thinking that it was a villain attack. But soon a pink haired girl walked away from the smoke and smile at Itachi.

Girl: Nice eyes! Same Quirk like me?

Itachi: Excuse me?

Yaoyorozu: What was with that explosion?!

The girl let out a small laugh, but the Pro Hero Power Loader and a red haired kid exits from the smoke coughing.

Power Loader: Hatsume! What happened?!

Hatsume: One of my babies malfunctioned! Must've miscalculated somewhere in the design!

Red Haired Kid: Miscalculations don't result in blowing up the lab. Not to mention that this is the fourth miscalculation today. And this is the fourth time you caused an explosion in the lab!

Hatsume: Oh don't be such a sour puss! 

Yaoyorozu: Babies? 

Hatsume responds to the two confused students.

Hatsume: My inventions! I refer to my inventions as my babies! Allow me to introduce myself! I'm Mei Hatsume from the Support Course!

Yaoyorozu: I'm Momo Yaoyorozu. And this is Itachi Aizawa.

Itachi: Hello. 

Itachi deactivated his Sharingan, catching Hatsume's attention.

Hatsume: Say, aren't you Eraserhead's kid? The guy with the multi use Quirk?

Itachi: I am. I guess you could call my Sharingan a multi use Quirk. Is Sasori here?

Hatsume: Sasori? Yeah he's here! Just follow my lead!

Hatsume lead Itachi and Yaoyorozu through the lab and got to a door. Hatsume knocked on the door. The red haired kid from before now revealed to be Sasori answers the door.

Sasori: What do you want Hatsume?

Hatsume: C'mon Sasori! Don't tell me you're still mad about the explosion!

Sasori: Just consider yourself lucky that you're "miscalculation" didn't destroy my puppets. Otherwise you'd never make it the full year! Now I ask again, what do you want?

Hatsume: You're such a sour puss! Lighten up! Anyway, Mr. Aizawa's kid is here to see you. 

Sasori looks to Itachi and Yaoyorozu and gestures them to come in. As they walk through the room, they see all of Sasori's puppets hanging from the walls. They see his most prized puppet labeled "Third Kazekage". 

Yaoyorozu: Are these puppets yours?

Sasori: Yes. These puppets are my art. Beautiful and finely crafted. 

Hearing Sasori refer to them as art reminded Itachi of Deidara's bold talk.

Itachi: Another artist huh?

Sasori: You must be referring to Deidara. We have......different ideas about art. While he sees art as a flash, I see art as something that'll last lifetimes. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Rembrandt. Tell me, what do they all have in common?

Yaoyorozu: They're painters. Skilled painters.

Itachi: No Momo. That's correct comparison, but not what Sasori's referring to. Their works transcends their creators.

Sasori: Exactly. True art is eternal. A true art masterpiece is something that outlives it's creator. When the creator is dead and gone, the work they left behind remain. That is why these men are remembered today, their work and all the genius and emotion they poured into their work transcends not only their lifetimes, but time itself. That is what these puppets are to me. 

Yaoyorozu: That's an admirable trait Sasori. 

Sasori: And I guess that's where me and Hatsume have common ground. Like me, Hatsume takes great pride in her "babies" the same way as I do with my puppets. In some way, I have nothing but respect to her. As for your new gear Aizawa......

Sasori goes to his desk and grabs the Combat Scarves and handed it to Itachi.

Sasori: I designed them exactly as Mr. Aizawa requested. The cloth is made of a carbon fiber and a special metal alloy, making it very difficult for a villain to cut through. Allow me to demonstrate.

Sasori activated his Puppeteer Quirk to summon the Third Kazekage Puppet. It's right arm turned into a claw of retractable blades and slammed it on the cloth, but failed to cut through.

Yaoyorozu: Amazing!

Itachi: Impressive.

Sasori: Thank you. I hope this helps out with you further in your Hero career. I look forward to observing you in the Sports Festival Itachi Aizawa.

Itachi: As do I Sasori. 

Itachi and Yaoyorozu leave the Support Course lab just as the day ended. Itachi had received his near gear and was ready to train with it for the Sports Festival. Meanwhile at a bar, Shigaraki and Kurogiri discuss the failures of the USJ attack.

Shigaraki: The Nomu was supposed to kill All Might! How could it have failed?!

Kurogiri: We underestimated the resolve of All Might and the other heroes. Perhaps we need to rethink our strategy. 

Shigaraki: And what of Wrath? We've heard nothing and contributed nothing! He just left us without word or warning!

Suddenly, Wrath teleports to the bar.

Shigaraki: You again! 

Wrath: It was not a total lost Tomura Shigaraki. 

Shigaraki: What? How did you.....

Wrath: I have my ways. Now as I said, I found what I have been looking for. 

Kurogiri: And what would that be?

Wrath: I'm afraid I can't answer. 

Shigaraki: Don't feed us that garbage! You owe us for abandoning us at USJ!

Wrath: I owe you nothing. I had something to search for and I found it. Now then, this is where we say goodbye Tomura Shigaraki.

But before Shigaraki could react, Wrath used Kamui to teleport away, seemingly ending his partnership with the League of Villains. Now Wrath was free to enact his own plans for Itachi Aizawa, but for now, the Sports Festival was Itachi's concern.