Managing to turn it into a warm smile, Sasori placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as a sign of reassurance and gestured in the direction they needed to go in, stepping forward first when she showed signs of hesitation. He kept his pace slow, glancing over his shoulder to make sure she didn’t run off or disappear, but she simply followed on dutifully after him, staying one step behind, as if wary of coming any closer than that. And it was clear she was wary, with her arms close to her body to protect herself, her eyes glancing all around to check for danger and anything suspicious; and yet she had agreed rather quickly to Sasori's suggestion, following him without asking any questions or appearing to consider the possibility of what he might do to her.
Not that he was complaining.
Although no one was around at this time of night, everyone already asleep, Sasori still kept to the shadows as much as he could, eyeing up any guards and avoiding their gazes, making sure to stay silent—though that was pretty easy. She didn’t make a noise, whether vocally or with her footsteps, and Sasori was glad of it. Nobody would suspect him, but he knew if people found out they wouldn’t exactly be happy at the idea that he’d killed an innocent girl who’d wandered in from the desert, ill, alone, and no doubt starving and dehydrated, only to turn her into a puppet to use in battle because of her abilities. Plus, he was abusing her trust; she had nowhere to go, and with the fact she was hungry, thirsty and tired and Sasori was offering her the solution to her problems, she followed him—yet he was planning on killing her instead. So he couldn’t let anyone see.
But he didn’t know what she was thinking. She wasn’t about to ask questions, no. And yes, she was hungry, thirsty and tired, and therefore was willing to follow Sasori. But at the same time, there was something else that told her to follow him. When she had met his gaze back at the gates…she had seen in his eyes things that she could connect with. The look on his face was so placid and imperturbable that she had almost been enchanted by him; it had almost been an automatic reaction to nod at his offer and go along with his suggestion. Either way, she was too caught up in all that was going on to think about anything else, concentrating mostly on putting one foot in front of the other. It was what she had been doing for quite some time now through the desert, and that fact hadn’t changed now she had reached civilisation.
Then eventually they had reached his house, and just as silently as they had been walking, Sasori opened the door and led her inside, closing it behind them before turning on the lights. It was a simple place, but she didn’t care. It was a place to stay; she was inside a building, and as such didn’t notice that Sasori now had to physically lead her across the room. Gazing around the place when Sasori disappeared for a moment, she blindly took the clothes from Sasori's hands as he passed them to her, numbly removing her old ones and replacing them with the new a moment later, Sasori turning away to give her a little privacy. Then, feeling a little better already, she found Sasori pushing a glass of water and a plate of food into her hands and sitting her down on the bed.
He watched out of the corner of his eye through the doorway of the next room as she began to eat and drink, surprising him by doing so carefully and slowly even when she must have been starving by this point. She took in her surroundings bit by bit, stroking the bedcovers and clothes with delicate fingers and a soft touch. Sasori didn’t notice his eyes never left her as he subtly gathered and prepared the tools he needed to turn her into a puppet, absentmindedly simply observing her behaviour in the back of his mind as he started thinking over how he was going to kill her. It was going to have to be quick and clean—he didn’t want to have to clean everything up. He didn’t want her to think anything was up, either—not knowing the full extent of her abilities, he couldn’t risk getting into a battle with her.
“You’re a puppeteer, aren’t you?”
Her soft voice calling out to him jolted Sasori out of his thoughts, forcing him to focus on her properly as he walked to the doorway and fully met her gaze head on. But as he did so, he found himself hesitating, those eyes once again catching him out and making him pause in his actions, regardless of how hard he tried to make things otherwise. Something about her was strangely intriguing; alluring, and Sasori couldn’t help but want to know more about her. He was curious, even if he wanted to turn her into a puppet, and it meant he couldn’t stop himself from answering her question, knowing he was only prompting a conversation and slowing the process of turning her into a puppet, but unable to stop.
But even he hadn’t been expecting the look in her eyes to suddenly change. It abruptly became so much more intense; piercing, connecting with something deep in his soul he hadn’t even known existed, yet her voice remained the same level as she stated bluntly; pleadingly,
“You don’t like this place, do you? You’re going to leave, aren’t you? Take me with you...”
Sasori hadn’t a clue what was going on. How in the hell could she understand all of this; what he wanted to do with his life? The people in the village he had known all his life hadn’t a clue about what he was planning, yet a girl he had known for less than an hour had figured it all out? It froze him up completely, causing him to remain silent as he stared back into her eyes. She was pleading with him not only out loud, but with the way she looked at him; that same unusual innocence he had noted before along with it, a purity Sasori didn’t understand also showing through. But at the same time her eyes were filled with an utter apathy and indifference that often filled Sasori's features—what he was known for.
How was he supposed to react to this?
He’d been expecting to take her back, gather his tools and in a few seconds, kill her. Then it would be over, and he’d start the process to turn her into a puppet. Yet instead, this was happening, and he couldn’t do a thing. The silence between them stretched on, that same mist turning into a fog that seemed to surround him and suffocate him. She didn’t say a word, waiting for his reaction—
“Sasori-sama!”
Snapping his gaze round to the sound of furious pounding on his door, Sasori narrowed his eyes as he relaxed, having not even realised his fists were clenched so hard his knuckles were white, releasing a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. A part of him was almost grateful at the intrusion, glad that something had interrupted the silence and broken the situation up. But a moment later, shaking off all that had just gone on and realising the circumstances in front of him and Sasori couldn’t help but grit his teeth in irritation—now his plans were ruined.
He didn’t have choice but to open the door, and scowling, a glare on his face, he haltingly headed over, reaching for the doorknob as slowly as possibly, planning on opening the door only as much as he had to, to try and hide her presence in the room. But he didn’t get the chance, finding it was thrown open before he even touched the knob, the ninja rushing in, having wondered why he was taking so long to answer the door. Instantly Sasori's scowl deepened, contemplating just how bad things could get, not really listening as the ninja began to explain why he was there—though he didn’t finish his explanation when he caught sight of the girl sitting there. Blinking in surprise, he stared at her for a few moments, running his mind over all the villagers and ninjas he knew, before finally bursting out,
“Who the hell is she?”
