Holy crap guys. How long has it been?

I'm sorry for not updating for like - forever. I just got bored with this story for awhile - let's live with it, every author gets bored with their story once in awhile - but I've really tried my best to get this out. I started work on this story weeks ago but I've only finally finished it today. Sorry about that.

Every review telling me that it was good and that they wanted to find out what happened next made me feel really guilty and pushed me to complete this chapter, so thank you for those reviews!

I'm not going to be replying to reviews this chapter because I feel really lazy (as always) but do rest assured I read and enjoy every single one of them, yes, even the ones telling me my story should go fuck itself. Hey, a review is a review right?

Lastly, I have got a Teen Titans and Dota 2 crossover story up - Teen Titans: Dota Edition. It's my first time writing a crossover and a FanFiction of Teen Titans/Dota 2 so I would really appreciate the feedback, even if you have no idea what any of those two are! Basically it's just superheroes and good guys kicking ass. So check it out if you want to.

That's all for now - enjoy the chapter!

Sasuke drank up the antidote, and threw the vial to the ground. Eight more vials left.

Itachi and Nekomata stood beside him, watching Sasori closely.

"What? Is that all you've got?" He taunted.

Using his size-shifting ability, Nekomata shrank into the size of a pea, hiding in Sasuke's hair.

"When you get close to the enemy, I'll strike," the monster cat meowed.

Nodding, Sasuke charged.

"Sasuke, be careful!" Itachi yelled.

Sasori's tail came flying at him, and Sasuke jumped into the air. Letting off a battle cry, the Uchiha grabbed onto the tail. "Nekomata!"

The cat leaped onto the tail, hurriedly running towards Sasori, enlarging as he got within range, and landed a heavy scratch. "Got him!" Nekomata said triumphantly, but was soon forced to shrink again as Sasori fired his poisonous missiles.

Itachi looked on in surprise. Three very visible scratch marks were now present on their opponent's face - but there was no blood.

"Urgh!"

Sasuke was thrown back, as the tail wriggled free of his grip. It descended on him, stabbing him in the chest.

However, he turned into a log, and reappeared behind Sasori, smirking.

Swiftly, he did the hand seals, and Lightning chakra flooded into his hand.

Sasori attempted to dodge, but Sasuke was too quick.

"Chidori!"

Itachi paid close observation, but there seemed to be no pain registered on the Akatsuki ninja's face.

"Is that all you've got?" Sasori taunted.

Sasuke frowned, and pressed his Chidori deeper within his opponent.

In response, Sasori's tail flew up, attempting to pierce his chest. Sasuke withdrew his hand and jumped away just in time.

The young Jonin stared at Sasori's back. There was a very visible hole in his back now, but he didn't seem to be in any pain.

Itachi looked at the injuries Sasori had suffered, studying them closely.

"Is he applying some kinda jutsu that makes him immune to pain?" Sasuke wondered.

"Perhaps..." Itachi mumbled in reply.

A lightbulb flicked on in his head.

Damn it, why have I only thought of this now?

If this man is really Sasori of the Red Sand, then he doesn't fit his appearance profile from years ago... at all. Sure, people change in appearances throughout the years, but this guy... he doesn't fit the profile at all!

Sasori of the Red Sand is supposed to have red hair, and a slightly feminine look. This man doesn't have red hair, in fact he looks like he's suffering from some kind of hair disease. I mean, seriously, look at his hairstyle...

Sasori of the Red Sand is a user of the Puppet Master Jutsu, and I've heard the most intelligent geniuses of geniuses of Puppet Master Jutsu can carve and design puppets as battle armors.

Is that what he's doing?

In that case, we will have to break his armor, and then take out the real him that's inside.

I'm not sure I'm a hundred percent correct, but it's a theory worth testing!

"Sasuke," Itachi whispered to him. "Hit him with your strongest attack. Try to split him apart."

Sasuke shot him a funny look. "I didn't know you were a sadist."

"I'm not," Itachi rolled his eyes. "I simply think that is not our real enemy. It's an armor. I want to test out my theory."

Sasuke had a surprised look on his face, before his lips stretched into a grin. "Bro, you're a genius."

The younger Uchiha charged up towards Sasori. Itachi brandished his katana, and raced forward as well. Sasuke smashed his fists together, as Lightning chakra sizzled between them.

"Chidori Sharp Spear!"

Sasuke jumped into the air, his arm thrust forward. A lightning spear edged towards Sasori, but his tail flew up to defend himself. The metallic tail clashed with the spear, holding it off.

Itachi was on Sasori in an instant, stabbing his sword through his cloak.

Sasori looked down at Itachi with a taunting look in his eyes. "Was I supposed to feel any pain?"

"Not really," Itachi replied. "But you will, soon."

The puppet master cackled. "Not if I kill you first."

"I don't think so. If you try to use your tail and attack me, the attack your tail is guarding you against will come down on you."

"Ah, but you forget, my only weapon is not my tail."

Smiling, Itachi's left hand sank down towards his own waist. "I didn't."

The next instant, Sasori had opened his mouth. Itachi took half a second to reveal a kunai with an explosive tag attached in his left hand, and flung it into Sasori's mouth.

As he did, the poison senbon flying from the Akatsuki ninja's mouth struck him, and Itachi jumped back, wincing at the pain.

But it didn't matter - for within the next two seconds, Sasori exploded into pieces.

"Gotcha," Itachi smirked, in spite of the pain he was feeling. Quickly, he reached for his pocket, pulling out a vial and drinking the antidote. That brings us to seven...

'Sasori' had shattered into pieces. In the center of all the strewn body parts was a young redhead, donning the Akatsuki cloak.

"That's the one," Itachi said triumphantly. "The real Sasori."

Sasuke nodded, as Nekomata appeared by his side. He observed the criminal's features. "He doesn't look very old at all. In fact, he looks my age..."

"Yes," his brother agreed with a frown on his face. "He does look too young to be Sasori."

"Well, whoever he is, I'll finish him," Sasuke replied determinedly, holding his fist up. It crackled with strong Lightning chakra.

The redhead looked up at the Uchiha brothers, with an indifferent look in his eyes.

"My, my..."

Sakura looked down, to see the clay hand on her foot had somewhat melted. Although disgusted, she ignored it and ran towards Naruto.

Naruto was standing over his fellow blonde, who was now on the ground. Scratches and blood littered Deidara's body, and his Akatsuki cloak had literally been shredded apart. He also had his eyes shut tight.

"Is he dead?" Sakura mumbled.

As the red chakra over Naruto dissipated, he collapsed. "Uh!"

"Naruto!" Sakura knelt down. "What-"

"I'm fine, Sakura-chan" Naruto assured his teammate as he panted. "I'm just exhausted from using the Kyuubi's chakra. I can't handle it very well yet."

"The Kyuubi's chakra?" Sakura questioned. "So that was..."

Naruto gave a knowing smile, and got up, walking to a tree and then leaning on it. "I... uh... think I need to rest."

"Definitely," his companion chuckled. She turned back, only to gasp.

Deidara had vanished without a trace.

"No one has ever forced me out of my Hiruko armor before. I can see why the two of you are of the Uchiha clan."

"Are you Sasori?" Sasuke's voice was laced with suspicion.

"Why do you want to know so much when you're going to die?"

Nekomata growled at him. "You're the one who's going to die when I scratch out your eyeballs!"

Sasori chuckled. "Threatening me is meaningless."

"Then we'll put our words into action," Sasuke jumped forward, a Chidori Blade manifesting in his hand. "Let's go, Nekomata!"

The demon cat joined his summoner, leaping towards Sasori with a shriek of intent.

Itachi thought about berating Sasuke for being reckless, but quickly decided to back his brother up instead, and formed the Shadow Clone seal.

The original and his three clones brandished their swords, and charged.

As Nekomata edged closer to the Akatsuki redhead, he cast his genjutsu.

Sasori was unfazed, and in the next second, dispelled it easily.

Nekomata was both infuriated and surprised. "He dispelled my-"

A scroll produced from Sasori's sleeve was soon up in the feline's face. Nekomata shrank just in time, as a claw shot out of the scroll. A body and a head followed.

The newcomer to the battle jumped back to join Sasori, and raised his left arm. A moment later, dozens of other arms sprang out, knocking the oncoming Sasuke back.

Itachi frowned at this new development. He took notice of the stranger, apparently a puppet - as the Uchiha genius could see from the way Sasori was flexing his fingers in sync with the puppet's movement.

When he scanned his appearance, Itachi pinched himself. "What in the world...?"

Sasori smirked at Itachi's look. "I see you have finally noticed my puppet."

Sasuke was now squinting his eyes, looking at the puppet thoroughly. "Hey, that guy looks familiar... like someone I've seen in a book."

"Of course he's familiar," their opponent replied coldly. "Meet... the Third Kazekage of Suna."

Deidara huffed as he sprinted through the forest. Tiredness soon overcame him, and he collapsed onto the ground.

"Not in a very good state, are you?"

He didn't need to look up - the rogue-nin recognized that voice. "Zetsu, hm. You aren't going to eat me, right? "

"You'll probably taste like clay. I don't do clay," the cheeky-sounding voice of White Zetsu spoke.

Deidara smirked, getting back on his feet with, well, only his feet. "Good to hear."

"Don't change the subject," Black Zetsu replied. "You failed to get the Kyuubi, and now you've lost the Ichibi."

"Not my fault," the blonde bomber said defensively. "That Kyuubi brat was strong. I can't handle him alone."

"You should have stuck by Sasori then."

"Hey, I didn't know he was going to be that strong! I managed to defeat the Ichibi on my own!"

Zetsu shook his head, as the black side of him continued. "Never be too overconfident, Deidara. Now we're left without the Ichibi and the Kyuubi."

"And his arms!" White Zetsu chipped in.

"Oh, yeah," Deidara eyed his left shoulder. "Kakuzu will be doing plenty of sewing when we meet again."

"Kakuzu won't want to waste his time sewing your arms back," Black Zetsu retorted, matter-of-factly.

Deidara shrugged. "I'll bribe him. Always works." He looked into the distance. "What's up with my man Sasori, then?"

White Zetsu decided to speak this time. "Sasori is holding his own against the Uchiha brothers. He's going to use his trump card. Those Uchihas are goners for sure!"

"His trump card," Deidara muttered. He chuckled. "Yeah. Definitely goners, hm."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

Itachi frowned. "That... it's the Third Kazekage alright. But he went missing years ago. What's this-"

"Ah, yes. That. Suna worked tirelessly for years to find out who this mysterious kidnapper was - someone who could stand up to the formidable Sandaime's Iron Sand jutsu," Sasori looked up, as if he was reminiscing. A wry smile crept onto his lips. "That person... was me."

Itachi was shocked out of his wits, but kept his composure. "And this is... him...?"

"I preserved his body," Sasori thrust his arm forward, and the Third Kazekage flew in the direction of his hand. "I modified him. And after a year or so, he was finally ready to be used... as my personal human puppet."

Sasuke growled at him. "You're sick."

"Sick? Yes, yes... maybe I am," the puppeteer laughed. "Don't look so... jealous, though. The two of you will be going into my collection once I'm done with you."

The mere thought of being a weapon for an evildoer made Sasuke gag. "Let's see about that."

"Oh, yes... yes... we'll see," Sasori grinned at him. It wasn't a friendly grin of any sort.

More like a 'I want to kill you, and rip you apart' grin.

His fingers moved quickly, and the human puppet that was once the Kazekage charged towards them, arms raised.

"He's coming!" Itachi warned. He placed his hands together, forming an array of hand seals as the body of the former Sand leader inched closer.

Sasuke let off a battle cry, also charging for Sasori's puppet, his right hand crackling with electricity.

Sasori had a wicked smile on his face.

The battle was only just beginning.

Sasori is an evil, evil man, isn't he?

In the next chapter, Sasuke and Itachi must fight and defeat the Third Kazekage.

Again, I am so sorry for the delay of this chapter and I thank every reader if you're still reading this for staying loyal. I love you guys.

Question of the Day: If you were a ninja in the shinobi world, what chakra nature would you want to have? For me personally, it's a tough choice between the Fire Style and the Wind Style.

Leave your interesting responses in the reviews.