Til death and beyond

Immortals

I'm not sure what happened but I somehow lost consciousness again. I remember losing control and agonizing everyone around me but then something stopped me and I was lost somewhere for a short while. Now I was back again. Damn Kabuto for playing around with my soul like that.

My anger was still there although tempered by whatever had been done to me. I felt a bit stunned as if I had passed out after getting clonked over the head but my movements were precise, although still restricted. This feeling of being chained in a body not mine was getting annoying, even more so now that we've been tasked to do his bidding and I did not have any option to refuse.

I was on Deidara's clay bird with Deidara and Sasori, while two other undead were flying on another bird. We were the commando unit and assigned to track down the enemy's reconnaissance unit who had run away after discovering the base operations of the new Akatsuki.

"New" Akatsuki because so much has changed about it that I can hardly recognize it as the original Akatsuki anymore. While the goal of collecting tailed beasts carried on, I did not know the new leader, the majority of my former colleagues were dead, Sasuke may still be a member, although that was something I couldn't be sure of, and they were colluding with a traitor. The prospect of working for Kabuto agitated me to no end.

I looked over to Deidara who actually seemed to be enjoying himself, not bothered at all by being a pawn as long as he was able to execute his art it didn't matter to him, that was just the kind of person he was. He kept his distance from me as if afraid of talking to me.

I looked over to the redhead next to him. He was a slightly shorter than Deidara, his red hair was messy and he had pretty brown eyes with a perfect pokerface. He looked no older than I was but thanks to Deidara, I knew that behind this youthful face was a man in his mid-thirties whose genius and craftiness rivaled that of Orochimaru, one who was incredibly dangerous, calculating and nearly immortal, a master of puppets, manipulation and deceit. Although Deidara had not always spoken fondly of him, he deeply respected him.

"You are Sasori, I believe." I curtly bowed my head. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Deidara told me a lot about you."

"That doesn't come as a surprise. He always had a hard time keeping his mouth shut."

Deidara shot him a dirty look.

"While I know of your lifework, I would like to hear it from you. How did you come to create puppets and envision art to be eternal beauty?"

"I have made puppetry my art for a very long time with a proud collection of nearly three-hundred human puppets. Through my art, I preserve their beauty which would otherwise turn into wrinkles or end in unceremonious decomposition. I keep them as they are for all eternity. Unlike my partner, I do not see the point in things that just vanish. I seek something that has substance and meaning, and the only things that have value are those everlasting, for they truly prove the merit of their existence. Something that doesn't change or get destroyed... that's what true beauty is. "

In the corner of my eye I could see Deidara rolling his eye.

"Most of your puppets were not even good-looking to begin with, my man- especially that Hiruko puppet of yours just looked atrocious, hm! You are not so bad-looking so I never understood why you kept sitting in that butt-ugly thing, hm."

"Shut up, Deidara. Your sense of beauty has always been shallow, so I wouldn't expect you to understand."

The two of them started bickering as I analyzed what he said. I focused my attention back to Sasori, fascinated by his character. His voice was cold and arrogant, but it was not too bold or proud, there was caution and he spoke every syllable with calculated certainty, as if he always thought before speaking, all trying to cover what sounded like immedicable solitude and emotions he tried to kill. I wondered if the constant company of puppets made him lonely.