Rendezvous

[Uchiha Kumori]

Sasori had just corssed the border of the River country. He was now inside of the Wind Country. He had been travelling inside of his puppet, Onitama, for a good amount of time, probably not casually, and not normally, either, but he continued to make his way through the area, crossing the border nonchalantly. He was coming because he was going to meet somebody. He did not know who this guy was, as Sasori had been living in the shadows for about 26 years of his life, so he was not aware of current events, and was unaware of everything and everybody around him. Sasori was working the puppet he was moving like it was a video game, just moving his fingers to cause the puppet to move, it was daunting, but his body did not tire, as it was made out of wood, and was puppet. He would not tire at all, and could probably move the whole puppet for a good amount of time, and at a heightened pace. It was another advantage of being part puppet. After he crossed the border, he stopped the puppet from moving, and then got up out of his seat.

He then climbed up the seat, and the ladder from the pipe, and then opened the latch door. It was like the lid of a submarine, with Sasori poking his head up to check up on the surroundings. Seeing no activity, he sighed, and got back into the puppet, and opened it's mouth slightly, just enough to clearly see out and view his surroundings like he was the "monster" himself. Sasori knew he would rpobably have to get out and greet the man. His name was Sendo, and he had never even heard the name of a ninja called the aforementioned name. Whoever he was, he probably knew about Sasori, though, but it would probably be a new thing to see what Sasori had cooked up this time, and was now using. Sasori, now taking on the form of a monster, sat on the ground, and blocked the trail. It would've been awkward to see this large thing sitting on the ground while you were travelling, but if they did come, Sasori would have it covered.

Coming back to the Wind Country brought back some memories of it, and all the experiences he had in it. That was nearly fifty years ago. Now he was a wandering ninja who hasn't set foot in this place in a long time. Sasori was also reminded about the battle that nearly took his life some time ago. He would never forget it, and he would never forgive the ninja that nearly finished him off. Though he knew his grandmother was almost certainly dead, he knew that the other ninja was not dead, and still out there. Sasori would kill her, he would not allow her to continue living, and he would make sure she went down to the ground, and was beaten in shame, like how she did to Sasori.

Now, Sasori waited in side of his puppet impatiently, waiting for Sendo to arrive...

[Guest]

Sendo stepped out of the sandy gates of Suna. He looked back at Taku who stared at him from the tower above. He stared straight into the mans eyes. In his own head, he smiled wide. Taku was clueless to who he was dealing with. Supposedly a friend. A caring ninja who lived only to serve. Fucking pitiful is what is was. It was so easy to gain his trust. Then again, he also had been using ninjutsu to his advantage as well. It had still been easy, that much was certain. Sendo gave himself credit. His plan was nearing completion.

He was supposed to be going on a mission for the kage, a capture mission for an escaped criminal, but he had other things to attend to first. He had been waiting for Taku to give him such a mission for some time now. He had been doing research, asking a lot of questions and seeking out spys who would do his work for a pockets change just to feed themselves. He was off to meet Sasori, the infamous puppeteer of the hidden sand village. By far the most ruthless man produced in those gates. Sendo had stumbled upon odd ends of information that all led up to one conclusion. Sasori, though records showed him deceased by the hands of Haruno Sakura, was in fact still alive. His activities were scarce which made him very hard to track down, but sendo finally managed to do it after two months of careful planning and seraching. Now he set off for this long awaited meeting.

Sendo trudged along the great length of the dessert which made up the wind country. It was blazing hot, sweat dripped from his brow. He was all in all fine, but the heat was ungodly uncomfortable. He cursed him self for making there meeting place so far away, clear toward the rain country, but it had to be as far away as possible from the village. If Taku were to catch word of this meeting, than all of his planing, since he had left Konoha, would have been for nothing. It was necessary to endure this small amount of suffering for his goal to become a reality.

He walked for many hours, and it was overly uneventful. That was till he finally saw a shadow amongst all the coarse light tan color of the sand beneath his feet. At first he thought that it may only be a mirage, but as he grew steadily nearer, he knew he was in fact not just seeing things, but it was the one he had been searching for since he had found the name. It had to be, though he was confused by the appearance. It was undoubtedly a puppet, but in all his research, he had not seen anything remotely resembling what he was looking at now. It had to be a recent development. Something that Sasori had only just recently created.

He approached the large beast puppet and stood in an easy going way, staring at the thing. So that Sasori would know it was him, Sendo muttered the phrase, "After walking across a sea of blood, I am here." He waited in turn for the response phrase that would let him know that it was in fact sasori and he had not made a huge judgment error. He truly hoped that it was in fact sasori, for he did not feel like tearing this person apart right now.

Spoiler:

[Uchiha Kumori]

Sasori opened up the puppet's mouth, letting it make a good opening, and then once the puppet mouth had opened, Sasori made the three tongues slip out of it's mouth, and they seemed to be swinging in the air, but rather than attack, they only slammed onto the ground. The blades lodged into the ground, and served as the stairs for Sasori to access the puppet from. As they hit the ground, the puppet's throat opened up, and a hole that revealed Sasori's location in the puppet. It was a round room inside of the puppet, at it's heart, underneath all of that heavy armor and weaponry, the man that was controlling it seemed to be nothing more than a young adult, though he seemed more like a lost boy. Nobody could tell that he was probably the oldest person that ever lived in Suna. Of course, those days in Suna were over, the days of their old teachings had ended, and now things are changing. Sasori wandered just what those changes were. Sasori looked at Sendo. He was a strange looking man, but Sasori replied with the phrase.

"And I am the one who created the red river that filled the sea of which you now stand."

Neither side could be completely sure that the other side was not a fake, and was not impersonating the other. Of course, Sasori did not even know who Sendo was, so he kept on his toes, and he would not dare let his guard down. Sasori had a good amount of weapons at his disposal. Sasori could not let himself get caught up in something again, and doom himself. Sasori had been looking around inside of his puppet all of the time, and made sure he was not being followed. If he was being followed, or if the ninja before him was also trailed, things could get ugly, and Sasori would probably have to use himself, or his new puppet. He was eager to kill some more people for his collection.

"Were you followed?" Sasori asked.

[Kyo]

A small part of the large puppet opened up as a small figure shot out. Keen landed several feet from the puppet and Sendo. keen turned and frowned at the puppet. "It is to cramped in there..."

Keen then turned back around as a smile to wide for any human face grew towards Sendo. "I do not like all this sand... it gets in every part of my shoes..." By instinct, Keen wanted to jump after Sendo and play with him but stood his ground. Sendo and Sasori were meeting for some unknown reason for Keen. But none the less, Keen was bored and wanted to find something to do. He then began to kick the sand for minimal entertainment but made sure not to disturb Sasori and Sendo.

[Guest]

OOC: KYo, I really would not advise casting hallucinations on Sendo, his mind is not one you want to fuck with.

IC: Sendo now confirmed for fact that this was Sasori. There wasnt anything to say that it wasnt an impostor, but the likelyhood of it being a fake was next to zero. HOwever, he was sure Sasori doubted his legitimacy. To answer his question, he said, "I can assure that if anyone had been following me, I would have known about it right away, and I would know instatnly if you had been a false Sasori after you said that. I have many powers, none of which are pretty for those who cross me. Now I can assure myself that you are who you are, but I am certain you require confirmation that I am in fact Sendo. I have a way to prove it to you. My name has two meanings, the first is death."

He paused for a moment so that Sasori would understand every word, "The second is blood. It is the second meaning for why the name was bestowed upon me as a baby." He lifted a kunai to his neck and slit his jugular vein, the blood pouring out at an alarming rate. A normal man would bleed to death in four seconds, and be bled dry in fourteen. He smiled as he stood there for a good twenty seconds before scabbing over his vein using the abbilities of his bloodline. "I can do that becasue I am the master of blood, and I can replicate my blood cells at any rate I wish, making bleeding to death near impossible for me. Is this enough to satisfy you?" He asked, right as the puppet popped open, revealing a second shinobi, who Sendo had sensed was there from the beginning.

"Id also like to know who that is, who was futily hiding away till now."


OOC: I could tell he was there because of the Mind coin.

[Uchiha Kumori]

Sasori looked without concern as the man who was called Sendo cut his jugular vein. Sasori wondered why a man would do such a thing, until Sendo told him that he was able to control blood. That sounded like an interesting jutsu, but if it required the usage of blood, then obviously he would not make a good human puppet to anybody. Something told Sasori that a puppeteer probably wouldn't be able to beat a ninja like this. Poison wouldn't work either. That ability sounded pretty strong, so Sasori made sure not to do or say anything that could enrage Sendo. If Sasori was right, he seemed to be somewhat mentally unstable. No man would cut their own neck, and be almost flourishing from the pain. Maybe he was that mixed up. Sasori was not really like Sendo, but Sasori needed to make as much out of his new "friend" as much as possible. Sasori hoped that Keen would remain inside of the puppet, but as he usually did, his inquisitve mind led him out of it to take a look around.

"Well, I guess that is you, Sendo. I couldn't be sure, as I've never met you previously. I'd say that ability of yours is probably helpful in the long run." Sasori said.

Sasori was not really sure as to why he had been called here, and why Sendo wanted him here. If he was willing to go so far from his village, and meet up with a criminal, then he must be seeking Sasori for some reason or another. Sasori was impatient to know what it was exactly that he wanted to do, but Sasori was not really interested in it very much. Sasori wanted to know what exactly he would get out of it. Sasori is not the type of person that does favors, and usually likes some kind of reward or benefit in exchange for his services, unless Sasori had volunteered for the service. Either way, Sasori needed to get onto some other agendas, and was even more impatient than usual. Then he heard him ask about Keen.

"He's simply a fellow puppeteer that I met on the road. We've joined up because we both have the same common goal." Sasori said. "And that goal is to kill as much people as we can, and as for me, I'm going to work on a new collection soon enough."

[Guest]

Sendo listened as he spoke. It was the kind of man that Sendo needed on his side. An S rank puppeteer who had another accomplice on top of that who seemed to be of a very decent skill level, though he was sure he could take them both should the need arise. He doubted it would though, he had a perfect way to bait this man. Sasori wanted human puppets, this much he was certain, and he picked apart what the man said and interpreted it to its real meanings. He could offer Sasori great help in his ways, and all that he asked for in return would be that they fight alongside each other as ally's.

"You seem like just the kind of man I need Sasori, and I could use both of you. Times are getting harder, and everyone, especially much sought after criminals like you and me need ally's. Otherwise we will be carefully picked off one by one in a systematic fashion. All I ask is for your allegiance. You need not share any intelligence with me if you desire not to. And I can offer you much in return. A safe haven in the place you once knew as your home, access to the suna graves, which hold substantial candidates for human puppets, plus you will have me, one of the most powerful ninja in existance, the last member of one of the seven hidden clans, Sendo Ketsueki, holder of the six tailed beast."

Sendo let the offer sink in. He could elaborate if need be, but he was sure what he had said would be enough to satisy Sasori and his subordinate.

[Uchiha Kumori]

Sasori listened to the man intently as well. The offer that was presneted to Sasori seemed interesting enough. However, most of the puppets that were once used by Chiyo were destroyed, and Gaara no longer possessed the Shukaku's powers. The other deceased laid to rest in countless wars in the past were on fo interest to Sasori. He needed to get at new blood, blood that could be spilled by the next generation of ninjas that had arisen. Sasori had no use for the old, rotten corpses of those who's aging eventually got the best of them. Sasori was free of this burden, having done this to himself. Time could get the best out of anybody. Most people, anyway, were the victims of time. Sasori looked at Sendo, unsure if he was willing to go through with this. It was true, however. Sasori had dedicated his life to his art of making human puppets out of human beings, and that was what he needed to do.

"I suppose so, then. But...Sendo, how long do you think I have been running from the system? I have been running from it for at least fourty years. The "system" has other things to attend to, and you're one of, if not, the only person alive that knows I am still alive. I don't know how long it'll stay that way, however. Anyway, before I agree to anything, I'd like to know just what it is you're planning. The embers of war...I've been alive, and have seen a few wars in my time. Sometimes they spring out of nowhere, maybe a planned invasion, or the heat was building up for years at a time, and only when flammable material was added did it spark the embers of war. I can tell, there's something in store for the future." Sasori told him.

"The Ketsueki? I haven't heard that name in a long, long time. If you're a part of that clan, then your powers are clear. An ally like you, we could take down anybody. But, I know these "services" come at a price. I'd like to know specifically what you need my help with."

[Kyo]

Their talk aroused Keen to turn and look at them. He still sat on the sandy ground with a small pile of sand before him that he had been making with his feet. It seemed that things were getting interesting. Keen often enjoyed playing games with people and it seemed that he was about to be part of a grand game of life and death. With the three of them on a team, any fallen foe would prove most useful. The body for Sasori, the blood for Sendo and the organs for Keen.

Getting up from his seat, Keen walked nearer to the two while partially swaying along the way. "I'm bored... let's go do something..."

[Guest]

Sendo sighed and shook his head gently. "As i just said, I ask nothing form you in return except for you allegiance. Thats all I need, and really, you need it too if our kind is to survive.." No one picked apart sentences anymore. It all had to be explained. Right in peoples faces. It was so much extra work for him. OH well it had to be done. He needed this. Suna was weak, and sendo would need power to protect his new domain. What was the point of having a place to rule, if there was no one there to control. BUt something else that Sasori had said worried him. He made a reference that he had heard the Ketsueki name before, which puzzled him because that was one of the hidden clans, closed off from the rest of the world.

"Where have you heard my last name before?"

[Uchiha Kumori]

Sasori listened to Sendo's words. He sounded almost desperate. Sasori figured that he might as well re-align himself with the Hidden Sand Village, in order to make this one happy. As long as Sasori got something out of it, he was happy with the plan. However, Sendo's next question made Sasori a little surprised. He had asked where Sasori had heard the name of the Ketsueki, since it was a hidden clan. Sasori closed his eyes, and grinned. He then looked up at Sendo like he might be stupid or something. It looked like the meeting was coming to an end soon, and they would move forward with their plan, and bring about something. Sasori opened his mouth, and spat it out.

"Well, obviously I have been alive a lot longer than you have. In fact, I'm one of the "immortals". I've been alive for just about sixty one years now. I've heard alot of things when I was working with the Akatsuki Organization, including your clan's name, the Ketsueki. I believe somebody within the organization killed a member of the clan in battle. I think it was the Uchiha...Itachi? He was some kind of ninja. When he was killed, his belongings were exmained, and we learned the existence of the Ketsueki Clan. Of course, he was not carrying anything else very valuable in terms of your clan, except that while fighting, Itachi learned that the clan used blood. It looks like you broke off from their ways?" Sasori explained.

He then heard Keen talking once again, and looked at him.

"It'll be over soon enough. Don't worry, we'll get to have some fun."

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