Akasuna no Sasori - One Shot.

Until The Very End.

Dedication :)

Sasori was always there.

From the very beginning, he was by her side. His dispassionate hazel eyes and outstanding crimson hair immediately captivated her attention, thoughts and actions. Sasori's presence was more than enough to satisfy her emotional needs; the same emotional needs neglected by the people she had once cared so much about. Although he never really spoke much, or showed any form of emotion, he was a great listener, and although his responses were minimal, he was incredibly understanding of her situation. Akasuna no Sasori; Sasori of the Red Sands, the empty shell he was, had found genuine interest in someone, and that someone, found genuine interest in him; Sasaki Mitsu.

First Meeting.

As rain poured itself down onto the bland, dirt floor, Sasaki Mitsu was greeted with a large, wooden, clawed wing above her head, covered in a black, rain proof material. To her surprise, she had turned around not to see an average shinobi holding an umbrella over her head, but rather a large and bulky wooden puppet. With her damp hair sticking onto her face, her ash coloured eyes widened as her mouth opened slightly in awe. Mitsu wasn't scared of the boarded creature, but was rather intrigued as to exactly what it was, or rather if there was anyone on the inside, controlling it. Adjusting her Leaf Village headband rested around her neck out of nervousness, Mitsu took a deep breath in.

"Thank you" she acknowledged the kind action given to her by the thing perched in front of her.

Mitsu was straight forward to say the least, but her usual calm nature was disrupted by the approach of whatever this was. Noticing the distinct pattern on the outside of the large cloak it was wearing, Mitsu was yet again astounded to recognise that infamous red cloud.

"Akatsuki" She stated softly, staring straight at the cloak, as the wooden puppet's head turned towards her swiftly. Before the adolescent girl could respond with any noticeable movements, the body in front of her had slyly pulled out it's pointed scorpion's tail and held it against her neck. As it dripped with a deep, purple poison, Mitsu took a quick breath in and pulled back slightly.

"You know of us?" The creation mounted beside her spoke out, not hesitating at any moment to slit her throat, and end her young life. It's voice was husky and deep, but also calm and collected at the same time. Rather than being intimidating, Mitsu believed the voice was relaxing, and easy to listen to.

"To say the least, yes I do" she ended up replying bravely as her eyes scanned the outer body of the cloak, studying the size and shape of the doll. There definitely has to be someone inside of it, she thought to herself. "You're pretty well known, actually. Although the big threat is only what you've been known to do."

Mitsu had provoked the puppet, or rather, the puppet master inside of it.

"Excuse me?" She heard it snort arrogantly, firming it's grip on the tail pointed at her slender neck.

"You're excused." Mitsu sighed, stepping out from under the puppet's wing, as the heavy rain had deviated into a light shower. "It was nice meeting you, random puppet from Akatsuki" she ended with a smile, giving a small wave to the puppet as she skipped off happily.

Sasori was flabbergasted to say the least. In fact, he could've ended the girls life right there and then if it had pleased him, but for some odd reason, taking her life wouldn't have pleased him. He wasn't worried though. Even if this girl had gone off and told her whole village that she conversed with an Akatsuki member, or in this case, a puppet, he'd doubt they would even consider believing her. Chuckling slightly to himself, considering she could potentially make a great puppet, he slowly waddled away in the light rain. Who knew there would be girls like her.

Fifth Meeting.

Bumping into and conversing with this awkward puppet had become a common thing for Mitsu now-a-days. Even though the moments can be short, and extremely vague, she enjoyed the smallest bit of her day spent with this mysterious Akatsuki member. She did not know if it was the sheer excitement of being acquaintance with someone this infamous, or the fact that he hasn't tried to murder her again since the first time he pulled out his poisoned tail at her, or maybe even the fact that she didn't know anything about this person was, but she valued their partial relationship.

Mitsu didn't know if this was the correct way to convey things, but this puppet had already known her full name, age, shinobi ranking, and village, and yet she did not know anything about it. She would make sure today was the day she found out.

"You're looking rather ravishing today" Mitsu greeted with mockery, as she usually would. Although she didn't particularly know if this annoyed him or not, she did it either way. "Did you do something with your hair?"

The cold puppet simply stared at her, with Sasori not making a sound on the inside, but rather, he wanted to sigh deeply.

"You're not funny" The manikin spoke harshly. "I assume you're bored with my outer appearance."

"If that is an invitation, I'd love to see what you actually look like" Mitsu grinned, sitting down in front of the rounded puppet. "Actually, it would be an honour!" She clapped her hands together once, twice, three times.

"It was not" Sasori was always quite cold, but although he did not want to admit it, he too slightly enjoyed the short conversations with Mitsu. As her grin turned into a slight frown, Mitsu looked away, feeling a bit disappointed at her failed attempt. "I never said no."

Her eyes brightened, as she turned her head to face the front of the puppet. As Sasori slowly regretted his decision, the hatch on the back of the mounted puppet opened and a figure stepped out.

He too was wearing an Akatsuki cloak, and to Mitsu's relief, he wasn't a bulky, cold puppet. The boy that had stepped forward looked about Mitsu's age, was a bit taller than her, and seemed to be well built. He had monotonous hazel eyes, and bloody coloured, shaggy hair.

"Well you look normal enough." Mitsu smiled, "Although, aren't you a bit young to be in an organization such as the Akatsuki?"

"Eh?" Sasori snorted. "I'm thirty-five."

Mitsu cackled loudly, slapping the palm of her hand onto her thigh making a loud noise as she threw her head back in laughter.

"I'm serious…" Sasori blatantly stated, staring straight at Mitsu as she halted her laughter and with a distressed look on her face, gawping at the youthful thirty-five year old before her. She coughed.

"Well then… Red Headed Aka-"

"Sasori"

"Eh?"

"My name's Sasori. Call me Sasori"

Mitsu's lips curved into a cute smile. "Sasori it is then"

Seventeenth Meeting.

In a short six months, Sasori and Mitsu have met up sixteen times, this being the seventeenth. In a short six months, they've conversed, teased, and have gotten to know each other. In a short six months, Sasori felt his empty shell feeling a genuine warmth; he felt how heavy of a burden having a heart was.

Of course, Sasori did not want to involve the girl in his business, especially from the dangerous organisation he was from, but unfortunately he had already found himself too attached to the girl to not have her involved in his life. As the calm and collected puppet master from the Akatsuki, he didn't want to bring up this situation with her, for he secretly did love the time spent with Mitsu.

"Hey, Sasori-tan!" Mitsu called out to her close friend in glee, capturing his complete attention and making him slightly flustered from the nickname she had given to him. "This day marks six months since we met!"

Sasori nodded in agreement, still attempting to show little to no emotion what so ever.

"We should make a promise"

Mitsu stared happily at Sasori with a grin plastered on her face, as he looked back at her. Indeed, Sasori was "happy", but he had absolute feelings of doubt, anxiety and a tad of fear. He did not want to commit to any promises, to be completely honest with himself. He was afraid that Mitsu would get dragged and sucked into the courses of the Akatsuki, and get into trouble with her village. He was afraid that they would become too attached to each other, and missions will pull them apart, or cause him the inability to ever see her again. Sasori was afraid that he would fall in love with her, or worse, turn her into a puppet in fear that she would leave.

Without thinking, he nodded, wanting to listen to what she had on her mind.

"Let's promise each other, to always be there for one another" Mitsu flustered.

Sasori wasn't sure if he could even promise Mitsu this, but he agreed to try his best. "Okay, but you promise me one thing too, okay Mitsu?"

She nodded, eager to hear his word.

"Promise me you'll never come looking for me. I'll always come to find you, until the very end."

Sasori felt embarrassed to say so, as Mitsu was looking at him with her large, ash coloured eyes, but he had to tell her, just to assure himself that she would be okay even if he were to not turn up one day. She smiled at him, this smile being more infectious than the others.

"I don't understand why you would say that, but I do understand that there are probably things I'm not supposed to know about you. Whether it be the reasons why you do things, or what you do for the Akatsuki, I understand that you have your duties to live up to." Mitsu's smile turned into an indifferent look. Over the past six months, Sasori had gotten to know her so well, he still couldn't make up his mind as to what he wanted. "Until the very end"

Her final words had adhered a smile onto his face. Seeing this, she smiled back, feeling as happy as ever. "Sasori-tan! You're smiling!"

Feeling a pair of arms wrap around his neck, Sasori was pushed back when Mitsu had tackled him to the ground in glee. At first Sasori couldn't respond, or rather he didn't know how to respond to this. Mitsu's hug was warm, and caring, her arms tightened around him, her body pressed against his, and her legs entangled between his. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her thin waist, and responded to her friendly hug.

Pulling her in closer, he failed to admit to himself that he undoubtedly had cared more for the girl he was hugging than he would've wished to.

Twenty-sixth Meeting.

"Sasori-tan!" Mitsu ran towards the red headed Akatsuki member, waving as she approached happily towards him. As she got closer to him, despite his lack of emotion majority to all the time, Mitsu could tell that something was off. It had been nearly a year since they've known each other, and Mitsu could easily tell if something was disturbing the skillful puppet master.

"Sorry I'm late, I was with a friend of mine" She took a wild guess as to what was bothering him, apologizing for her inadequate balance of timing.

"Yeah, you were weren't you?" Sasori snorted sarcastically, hints of irritancy in his tone of voice.

"Are you okay, Sasori-tan?" Mitsu frowned, sticking her face closer to his. It seemed that she was correct about something, he was annoyed at her tardiness. "I'm sorry for being late again, Sasori"

"So, who were you with, Mitsu?" Sasori glared straight at her, giving off a more intimidating aura than usual. His tone of voice was strict, cold, and unhappy. His light brown eyes stared straight into her grey eyes, shocking her a bit. Mitsu was hesitant to answer, scared that it would not be the correct one.

"Who were you with?" His voice got more firm, as the man in front of her took a step forward towards her.

"M-my friend. Sasori what's gotten into you?" Mitsu also took a step back, worried about Sasori's state of mind.

"Which friend?" With every question, he took a step advancing towards Mitsu, causing her to take a step back away from Sasori. Why he was being so demanding, Mitsu didn't know.

"H-hatake Kakashi…" Mitsu ended up muttering, her lips shaking with every syllable. She had never been so scared of Sasori until now, as he stared straight through her with his piercing eyes. Mitsu couldn't grasp hold of this understanding; why was Sasori acting so angry? Was he afraid Mitsu would tell people about him? Or maybe the fact that she would've reported him to Tsunade? She was confused, but more than anything, Mitsu was worried that they were going to fight.

"Hatake…" Sasori gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and repeated that name. "Hatake Kakashi."

Before Mitsu could respond to Sasori's harsh behaviour, he demanded one more answer

"What is Hatake Kakashi to you, Mitsu?"

"Eh?" Mitsu gave Sasori a blank look. "He's just a friend; a fellow Jonin ninja." Mitsu paused as Sasori wasn't replying for a few seconds. "Why does it matter, Sasori-tan?"

Mitsu suddenly felt herself lose control of her own limbs as Sasori backed her up against a tree. She could sense chakra strings connecting her hands to his fingers as he moved closer, pressing his body against hers. Grabbing hold of her wrists and pinning them above her head, Sasori looked down at her. "Do you like him?"

What kind of a question was that?, thought Mitsu. Although, she felt obliged to answer, as maybe it could calm Sasori down a little bit. "As a friend, Sasori. Anything more than that would just be awkward on my behalf."

She felt his firm grip on her wrists loosen as his strong glare softened. He sighed in relief, letting her arms drop to her sides as he looked down to his feet. Sasori then felt a pair of hands rest on his shoulders. Looking up, he saw Mitsu staring straight at him, more dazed and confused than she usually was. Sasori knew that Mitsu would want to know the reasons to his abrupt behaviour.

"My parents were murdered by Hatake Sakumo, Hatake Kakashi's father" Sasori pulled Mitsu near, also resting his head onto one of her shoulders as she held onto him. "I was six..." he ended up murmuring.

Mitsu held back a gasp, but rather moved the hands rested on Sasori's shoulders, to around his back, hugging him tightly. She didn't know how to react, or what to say, but she believed that Sasori shouldn't have deserved that pain at such a young age. On the other hand, she also couldn't help the fact that Kakashi was her friend, and that she also knew his father before he committed suicide.

Mitsu felt Sasori lift his head from her shoulders, and as he rested his forehead against hers, facing her directly, her heart skipped a few beats. His pale skin reflected a manikins', his eyes deep with emotion, his red hair complimenting his every feature, his breath all warm against her skin, his lips only inches away from her own; Mitsu felt her legs shaking, and her knees weakening.

"Mitsu" His near lips spoke. "What am I to you?"

Sasori felt his emotions pour out, shocked himself that he even had emotions this great of a depth.

"You're my Sasori-tan, of course" Mitsu whispered, smiling once more. "My super close Sasori-tan"

"What if I were more?" Sasori asked, moving in a tad bit closer to Mitsu as he saw her cheeks turn bright pink. Mitsu could see the seriousness in his eyes intensify as his breathing pattern changed, and his tone of voice also shifted. She let out a stutter as his lips curved into a devious smirk.

Mitsu felt her lips drying up, her lungs short of breath and her legs starting to limp as she predicted the next few moments.

"Sasaki Mitsu." Sasori stated her full name, leaning in closer, his lips still cunningly curved. Before she could react properly, she felt a pair of warm lips press against hers. As her eyes widened, Sasori wrapped his arms around her, pulling her completely into an embrace. As the kisses got more frequent and passionate, both Mitsu and Sasori pulled away for a split second to catch their breaths.

"My chest feels weird…" Sasori muttered, one hand that rested on Mitsu's back pulled itself back to grab hold of the cloak that covered his chest. "It's tight."

"A heart's a heavy burden, Sasori-kun."

A smile, an embrace, a desirous kiss; the twenty-sixth meeting was the beginning of bound connection.

Until The Very End.

Sasaki Mitsu sat at the edge of the pond, a few kilometres outside of Konohagakure.

"Until the very end, huh?" She murmured to herself as she laid back on the grass holding a wooden doll above her and stared at it's wooden hazel eyes, and shaggy red hair. "Liar."

Halting her tears with a forced smile, she sat up and let the miniature manikin sit in her lap.

"Art is an eternal entity, Mitsu! Just like my love for you is, and forever will be"

Mitsu laughed aloud, before placing her face into the palms of her hands, dampening them with her flow of tears.

"Idiot…"