44 Sasori

Naruto left, leaving Haku and Karin to stay and deal with Sasori. Haku looked at Karin and said, "How do you want to deal with him?"

Sasori looked at them while paying attention to what they were speaking. He always thought that Naruto was not that powerful compared to himself but after meeting him in person. He subconsciously felt submissive. Never did he feel so much powerless as he looked at Naruto. His instincts went haywire.

Sasori always thought he cheated death, turning himself into a puppet, but when he looked at Naruto's gaze, he felt all his secrets were being read in the open.

That cold, uncaring gaze Naruto gave before he left made his non-existent heart stutter. It has been so long that he felt pure fear and powerlessness. Only two people made him fear this much: Killua and third Kazekage, who turned into his puppet now.

Sasori then looked at the two and thought they were not simple, but they looked like weak girls. However, Naruto should be confident since he left them alone to deal with him.

Sasori then opened his mouth and released a barrage of needles.

Haku looked at Karin and nodded "{Ice release: Crystal Wall}," while Karin used {Mind's Eye of the Kagura} to keep an eye on Sasori from behind the wall.

A wall made up of an ice mirror appeared and blocked the incoming projectiles. Karin then observed Sasori releasing an iron cylinder shape box towards the side of the wall.

Karin unleased her {Adamantine Chains} and gripped the box, and threw it away. The box then opened and released multiple iron shards. Karin then spun her chains in a circular motion and deflected all the incoming shards.

{ Ice Style: Chilled Petals}, an ice flower sculpture appeared in the air and spun around, releasing freezing petals aimed toward Sasori.

Sasori, who saw the barrage of ice darts, raised his iron tail behind his back and blocked them. Wherever the ice darts hit, slowly, it started freezing. Sasori saw that he would slowly freeze if he didn't stop the freezing effect.

While he was thinking, In the corner of his vision, he saw a green blur, and sensing danger, he decided to give up the body.

Karin, who previously was behind the wall, said, " I am going offense, I think it's a puppet, and he is insisted on controlling it. So be ready. {Eight Inner Gate}"

'{Gate of Opening} -Open'

'{Gate of Healing} -Open'

'{Gate of Life} -Open'

'{Gate of Pain} -Open

Karin opened until the fourth gate. She rushed towards Sasori from the side, and then she saw Sasori slowly freezing.

' Its weak point should be the heart.' So Karin appeared and punched him directly in the chest.

The puppet then exploded. Karin, near the explosion, couldn't escape fast, so she decided to take the hit, crossing her hands in front of her face and closing her eyes to shield the explosion. However, while she closed her eyes, she saw a blurry shadow escaping from {Mind's Eye}.

' Tch…My forearms are slightly burned, and a few shards stabbed me.' Karin thought.

Haku saw the explosion and hurriedly came toward Karin to check if she was okay. After coming close, she saw that Karin was fine other than a few injuries.

Haku sternly said, " You are reckless; you haven't even listened to what I was going to say before you left." While looking at Karin.

Karin saw Haku's stern face and cringed slightly. She knew she was going to get an earful from Mikoto when she went back.

" Um…Sorry...Okay? I got really excited since this is the first time fighting a tough opponent..and I wanted to impress Naruto-kun." Karin said sadly while making a pitiful face, then started applying {Mystical Palms}.

Haku's face softened and relaxed. "Okay, be careful from now on."

Karin grinned and said, "Aye Aye, MOM," giving a mocking salute.

Haku chuckled but stopped looking at Karin's serious face, which turned to her side, looking outside. Suddenly, large, thick black smoke started forming outside the hole caused by the explosion.

" How the hell is the Leaf Villages producing these freaks." A rough yet young voice reached their ears.

Karin and Haku looked outside and saw Sasori's actual form in tattered clothes. Behind him, a puppet was gathering large smoke which seemed to iron sand.

" Be honored; you are going to die by my greatest creation- The third Kazekage," Sasori said as he was controlling the Third Kazekage.

Haku and Karin walked outside to take a closer look at where the iron sand was going. Haku, who saw the smoke rising in the sky, said: " They look like iron sand, and he called the puppet Third Kazekage, so from my information, the Third Kazekage is the strongest shinobi of Suna and can control iron sand."

Sasori laughed and said, " You are very well informed, I killed him, and he is my greatest creation. NOW."

Iron sand turned into colossal blocks in the sky and rushed towards them.

Karin came forwards and punched the block, which came first. However, the block Karin punched flew towards the other block behind it, causing them to crash.

"*Hiss*" Karin's fist trembled with pain.

"COVER it with Chakra BEFORE punching, DUMMY. If you don't get serious…. I will tell Naruto-sama that you stole one of his cloaks and smell it every night." Haku said as she looked at Karin, who was not taking the fight seriously.

Karin looked at Haku and turned serious. There was no hint of previous aloofness on her face.

After seeing the results, Haku smiled. But, of course, she was not going to snitch on Karin. The reason is undoubtedly not because Haku wants the used Naruto cloak or that she, like Karin, already stole one of Naruto shirts for…um…*ahem* educational purposes.

Coming back to Karin, who turned serious and started deflecting all the blocks either with her Chakra-infused punches or with her chains.

Sasori looked at Karin and thought, 'Tch…This is not working'. Then made the Third Kazekage to rise all the blocks into the air.

Karin and Haku saw the block rising, and they were turning into a web-like structure.

Haku looking at the web-like structure sensed danger and saw numerous spikes coming from the web-like structure. So she yelled, "Dodge!"

Initially planning on using brute force, Karin changed her mind listing to Haku.

Large long pole spikes started rushing, and both Haku and Karin were dodging all the incoming coming spikes.

As they continued to dodge, Haku noticed her stamina started getting low, and the puppet wasn't slowing down.

Haku then signaled Karin to get ready and used the {Hiding in Mist Technique} which caused the place to fill with mist. She was not worried about Karin since she knew that Karin could sense everything with {Kagura Mind's Eye}.

" You can't hide, little girl," Sasori said after noticing Haku's hand seals and mist. So he was prepared to use {Wind Style} but heard the sound of freezing.

After using the mist to cover, Haku used {Ice release: Ice breath}. A breath filled with chilling wind started to freeze all the iron sand.

Sasori used {Wind Style} and cleared all the mist. He looked towards the sky and noticed all the iron sand was frozen and cracking. Then turned towards the Third Kazekage, who seemed to be also frozen.

Sasori then turned to Haku, who caused this, with a furious yell, " YOU!! I W-" He was interrupted by Karin, who used the chance to shove a {Rasengan} while he was distracted.

"{RASENGAN}"

The third Kazekage puppet symbolizes more than a weapon to him; it is sentimental. While the third Kazekage can be a strong puppet, Sasori wanted him to become a puppet as his punishment for the causes of his parents' death.

When he saw the puppet was damaged, he got furious and made a mistake. He unconsciously ignored Karin, who hid, and turned to Haku, who froze his puppet and stared at her. Of course, it was a rookie mistake; a hardcore veteran wouldn't have made a mistake unless the opponent has plot armor. He didn't study physics nor knew how molecules work, so he didn't know that he could melt the ice if he just caused the sand to vibrate.

"*BOOM*" When Karin shoved a {Rasengan}, Sasori broke into many pieces.

Karin returned to Haku and felt weird when she used {Rasengan} she didn't see blood nor hear the sound of bone breaking or flesh.

She voiced her thoughts and said, " This is weird; since the beginning of the fight, I felt weird. Like he is alive and dead at the same time…So have we been fighting a puppet till now?"

Haku towards Karin and says, " Yes and no, dummy…*sigh* Naruto-sama called him [Human Puppet], so It means this person turned himself into a puppet… Were you even paying attention? Or were you staring at Naruto and daydreaming?"

Karin turned embarrassed for being called out and said, " Um…I was paying attention, but I didn't want to miss out when Naruto-kun was badass…kicking the blonde dude, like super-fast and scaring the puppet guy shitless…so BADASS…." She explained everything like an excited kid who is high on a sugar rush, and then she became dazed again as she finished the sentence.

Haku noticed Karin went fan-Girling and slapped her on the back of her head to bring her back.

" Pay attention, if he indeed turned himself into a puppet, his weakness should be…like a heart but instead an artificial one…a core maybe?... It is usually placed around the same place where the heart is kept to keep it protected…So where did you hit him?" She questioned Karin.

Karin came out of her dazedness and said, " I don't know…I was so excited that I wanted to try out Naruto-kun's special move…so I might have forgotten…sorry." She lowered her head pitifully.

" *sigh* Naruto-same always says…aim for the head." Haku sighed, she was used to dealing with Karin, so this wasn't new.

Karin and Haku were disturbed by the familiar sound of puppets moving. Then, body parts were moved and started attaching themselves.

A weird voice like a broken record came out of the head. Then, as the parts attached, Sasori was whole again. But unlike previously, he looked different.

He had a tank-like box behind him while his stomach was opened, and there were cords or pipes wrapped around his insides. Then, at both of his elbows, circular blades came out. Finally, there was a cylinder-like flask with cracks and purple fluids coming out of it at the place where the heart should be.

" You could have really killed me there, but I was lucky you were stupid. It would be best if you had been sneaky and aimed at the right place…I haven't had to do this ever since I entered Akatsuki…It's been so long…since I lasted used myself…then I will come after you…*ROARR*."

He raised his hand and aimed at Haku and Karin. A stream of fire started coming from both of his palms.

Haku used {Ice release: Mirror Wall} to block all the fire; Sasori scoffed and thought he was going to melt the wall. But he was surprised at the mirror absorbing all the fire.

Karin looked at Haku with astonishment and said, " Wow is that your space-time jutsu where it absorbs- *Bam*" Her mouth was shut by Haku.

Sasori heard Karin's half-sentence and was amazed at Haku. Creating space-time ninjutsu and that too this powerful one is a feat. He changed his tactics and summoned his one hundred puppets from a scroll.

His right chest opened, and chakra threads started controlling all one hundred puppets.

Karin looked at hundreds of puppets and said while grinning, "It's my time to shine now…{Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu}."

Dozens of Karin with their chains started attacking the puppets.

Haku looked at the scene and thought, ' this idiot can't keep his mouth shut.'

After Sasori's fire stopped, the mirror wall released all the fire back to Sasori. He then changed the cartridge behind the tank to another and canceled the incoming fire with a stream of water from his palms.

Haku saw Sasori dealing with fire and Karin defending her with her chains, and she then decided to use one of her trump cards, { Ice Release: Kill Zone}. Karin was warned not to step on the ground.

Sasori, who was dealing with the coming fire from the wall that seemed much more potent, suddenly sensed the ground feeling cold and vibrating. While he made himself into a puppet, he used the Chakra to sense and measure temperature and input that information into his brain.

As he jumped in the air, spikes of crystal ice started to appear, stabbing everything on the ground. He looked at the red-haired girl who was using her chains to attach to a wall and avoided the ice spikes. But unfortunately, all of his hundreds of puppets were destroyed since the ice spikes reached the sky.

Sasori then tried to find the Yuki girl, but he could find her. He is only supported by one of his last puppets in the air. He had a hunch that the spikes were more than normal; they seemed to while and looked like a mirror.

He tried to find the frozen third Kazekage puppets, but he had no hope. Finally, he realized it was destroyed after seeing a scrap of cloth with a symbol unique to Kazekage's creation.

His monologue was interrupted by a barrage of ice senbons from behind.

He now confirmed his previous hypothesis that it is another space-time ninjutsu.

This Jutsu was an inspiration from one of Hinata's stories of her close to dying by a person who could manipulate bones. Haku was intrigued that a person came out of the bones to surprise and sneak attack Hinata.

While she could not manipulate bones, she does have very high-level Space talent. It was said by Naruto after looking at her {Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals} that she created by herself without any knowledge or training.

Sasori voiced thought, " So this is another one of your space-time ninjutsu. I am impressed; I know only one person who had your talent in space. Well, he is dead now…*cough*" His was disturbed by a cough. Many cracks started appearing from the previously damaged core by Karin's {Rasengan}.

Haku and Karin thought the same 'he is running out of time.'

Sasori looked at his core, which was getting more cracks from the pressure he was putting.

" HAHAHA…I can't believe I am saving this… I always tell him, "True beauty lies in the things that last forever, never rotting or fading"…I can already guess Deidara is already dead…ART IS AN EXPLOSION…KATSU!! *BOOM*."

He closed his eyes with a thought, ' I will see you soon, Mom and Dad' He would have left a tear if he didn't turn himself into a puppet.

A large explosion appeared, and anyone could see it miles away. But, if an earthling were here, he would have said it was close to the power of a nuclear weapon.

Kakashi and Gai looked towards the explosion and thought, ' I hope nothing terrible happens.'

Haku, who came out of one of the spikes, which was close to Karin, and tried to protect her with {Ice release: Ice Rock Dome of Magnificent Nothingness} ( I know it's a long-ass name}.

It was her strongest defense that could hold multiple exploding tags at once, but it was not strong enough to block the attack; cracks started appearing around her ice dome.

Haku closed her eyes with tears and thought. ' I wish to see Naruto-kun one last time and serve him again in my next life.'

Karin panicked. She closed her eyes and yelled, " Damn it! I couldn't even tell Naruto-kun how I fe- *Pat*."

Karin felt nice and warm on her head, like someone was patting her. Haku, whose eyes were also closed, felt the silence was too weird.

" So what to tell me what?" A voice caused them to open their eyes at the same time. Their facial expression looked like a surprised Pikachu. Both Haku and Karin are very familiar with that voice. It is the voice of the person they both admire very much.

Haku looked at Naruto, the same handsome face she sees every morning, the same face she admires. Then, finally, she could help to blur out.

" Is this Pure Land? Or a Dream?"

Karin, who recognized Naruto and his unique Chakra, rushed and hugged him. She was terrified; while serving in the Grass village, she never was in danger other than being mistreated or malnourished.

The only time she was near death was in the Forst of Death during the Chunin Exams. But she didn't fear at that time since she felt a strange feeling that she was going to be saved…Like a vision of a red-haired person saving her.

It was just that she awakened {Mind's Eye of Kagura}. She was under intense mental pressure and disorientated, and her mind's eye awakened. It showed Naruto coming toward her, and she imagined or hallucinated Naruto saving her since she was hoping someone would save her.

Coming back to crying Karin, who Naruto was consoling. After Haku's mind cleared, she then smiled, looking at Naruto.

Naruto saw her smile, opened his other arm, while the other arm hugged Karin and motioned his arm to Haku.

Haku realized what Naruto wanted, blushed, and hugged him.

After some time, Karin looked embarrassed, and Haku was blushing, remembering what she had done.

Naruto looked at the blushing mess Haku and thought, ' What the hell? She looked like she had done something lewd. We just hugged, and it wasn't anything sexual.'

Karin came out of her embarrassment and tried to change the topic.

" Naruto-kun, were you watching us this whole time? Did you already deal with the blonde guy?" Karin said.

Naruto smiled, understanding her thought process.

" Well, it was easy; I dealt with him and came to watch your performance…and Karin, when we get home, I will personally punish you, and you should know why."

Karin blushed and quietly mumbled, " Yes…master…mumm."

Naruto tried to look stern but failed miserably, while Haku was looking at Karin with a questioning face.

Haku looked so innocent because she didn't know what Karin had said. Naruto observed Haku and resolved, ' I must protect her from the dark side and Mikoto's corruption.'

...

Author: " Next episode- *ahem* sorry chapter, we will see how to deal with a pyromaniac who liked to yell ART I- "

[A/N: If you find any spelling or grammatical mistakes, please don't criticize me. This is my first book. (っ◔◡◔)っ ❤ ]