Red Strings of Fate

Chapter THREE

Chapter THREE

As planned, Sasori, Sakura and Gaara entered Suna at sunrise the next day. Sasori had spent the last few days keeping an eye on Suna's patrol schedule, and he chose the best time to slip past the border.

Sasori had to admit, the thought of traveling hidden under the darkness had crossed his mind. All three of them had striking hair colors, and after weighing out the advantages and disadvantages of traveling during the night and during the day, he had decided to enter Suna in the morning. The bright orange sky should hide their hair colors a little, for those with cloaks in a place as hot as Suna were considered suspicious, and the number of patrols were significantly less compared to during the night.

Since the Wind country was mostly flatland, maybe there weren't as many people trying to sneak through during the day.

The first Suna patrol they came across...well, Gaara killed them before Sasori could say anything.

Sasori had been the first to notice the patrol fast approaching and had gestured to Sakura and Gaara to prepare for a fight. Gaara had scowled at him, and had crushed said patrol with the sand under their feet before Sasori could even determine their gender, and considering the fact that he was good at recognizing those who were hidden under shinobi clothing due to being a Puppet Master that turned humans into puppets, the patrol had been a far distance away.

Approaching, but still pretty far.

Sakura didn't seem fazed at all and Sasori suppressed the urge to sigh.

Gaara flicked his hand, burying the bodies under the sand. The Jinchuriki then shot Sasori an annoyed glare, as if asking 'Why are we stopping in the middle of the friggin desert?'.

Sasori shot the boy a subtle glare before turning around and setting a much slower pace, just to spite him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sasori had to admit that having Gaara around while traveling in the dessert was more pros than cons. He didn't need to carry around a tent, and he didn't need to pay for an inn either.

The boy could simply use his sand to form a tent like structure which was comfortable enough to spend a night or two in.

It was easy to blend into the surroundings as well. Though Sakura's Iron sand worked in similar ways, and she was much easier to reason with, a black blob in the middle of the dessert would be instantly noticed.

It gave Gaara a lot of jobs, and Sasori didn't hesitate to use it to boss the younger red head around.

"Secure our surroundings, brat." Sasori ordered.

Gaara shot Sasori another annoyed look, then sat down beside Sakura, curling up into her side. He huffed, but didn't say anything and instead, he pressed a palm over his eye, so Sasori took it that he had complied.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"What are we doing here?"

Finally, when the sun was directly above them, Sakura asked the question Sasori knew had been bothering both children.

Sasori allowed a small smirk to slip through his mask. "We're here to reveal to Suna that those rumors are true." He said. "After years of hiding, the light was suddenly cast onto us. It would be normal for people to think that we would stay away from Suna for a while, since nearly every single shinobi is on the lookout for us."

"So we're going to attack Sunagakure?" Gaara asked.

Sasori sighed, feeling sorry for the next generation.

Then again, he wasn't the best person there was to teach children moral.

"No." Sasori said curtly. "We will be entering Suna, though."

"I want to...pick up a few scrolls of Futon techniques." Sakura said quietly.

Sasori nodded approvingly. "I'm in need for new herbs too." He said. "The greenhouse by Training ground four is heavily guarded due to the poisonous herbs kept there. The shinobi archives are only a few streets away."

At least they were competent enough to understand what he was saying.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Getting rid of the watch guards had been easy. Sneaking into the village had been easy.

Getting into the Archives had been easy, and spilling into the greenhouses had been easy.

Actually, Sasori felt sorry for Suna. How much had the village fallen in standards while he was away?

They got in, then got out no problem. Once, a patrol had almost caught them, but Sakura and Gaara had handled them from a range. They picked off a few others just for the sake of it and Sasori didn't even bother telling them to stop.

The three of them had decided to stay the night in the Wind country, where they had territorial advantage, then move into River when there was enough daylight. Gaara formed a tent structure with his sand and Sasori had just returned with dinner.

Sasori brewed some poison or another using the herbs he had taken, then placed the liquid in a veil. Though Gaara rejected it, saying that it weighed down his sand, Sakura accepted it when offered to her. Her Iron sand was now soaked with his poison.

If they were able to leave undetected, it would be perfect.

Then again, as Shinobi, they should know that nothing went according to plan.

"There's something coming." Gaara's voice cut through the silence.

Sasori hummed, already reaching out with his chakra to see if he could sense them. Though Gaara was an annoying brat, he would never do anything that could harm Sakura, and keeping quiet about potential enemies could be dangerous.

"Something?" Sakura asked quietly.

Gaara nodded. "It isn't a person, but I'm sure it's some sort of technique." He said. "It's just a whole bunch of paper flying towards us."

"Paper?" Sasori asked.

Gaara shot him an irritated look, as if to say 'Didn't I just say that?'. If it had been Sakura who had asked, Sasori knew Gaara would have simply nodded.

"What do we do?" Sakura asked.

"We'll leave them alone as long as they they do the same." Sasori decided. "Though our current location is away from the regular path of Suna patrols, if we cause a commotion, it is highly likely that someone will notice."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The next day, it was a mess in Suna.

Several of the watch guards and three patrols had been killed, their bodies found mangled beyond recognition. Another team was missing, not a trace of them to be found.

Two of the greenhouses growing the most poisonous of herbs had been raided and the guards placed at the entrances had gone missing.

Several of the archives had been broken into as well, and half a dozen or so scrolls containing Suna renowned techniques were missing.

The thieves hadn't even bothered to hide their tracks and yet, no one had noticed when they had actually been within the walls.

The only thing found afterwards was a single puppet left in perfect condition, as if it hadn't even been used in battle and instead, left behind on purpose, with a well known red scorpion carved into it.