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Stare (Sasosaku Part 2)

The wheels in Sasori's head were quickly turning. Sakura had become more forgetful as of late...well, if it involved him she had. She would realize days too late that her disembodiment jutsus had worn off and she hadn't restored them. She would forget to lock his chakra after toying with it. She would forget Sasori could think when she was crying into the pillow next to his head.

"Little Girl." "Yes Sasori-san?" "How badly damaged is my body? I remember having a cracked ulna bone and the pivot in my left knee doesn't bend properly. Are there any more problems that should be noted? " "If there are, I suppose that I'll have to fix them...so that I may study how your body works when it is set together as it should be." "For science then, Little Girl. " "Yes, for science." Sasori rolled his eyes,'Tell yourself whatever you have to. We both know it's not the truth.'

After Sakura had fully examined all of his parts, she began to study puppetry to learn exactly how he controlled all of his parts. Sasori was honored, if not disturbed, by how closely this woman was attaching herself to his body. She even asked him questions on specific things that she did not understand from her own point of view. As strange as it seemed, Sasori was becoming affected by her presence. This may have been the Stockholm effect, but he seriously began to doubt it.

The months that she began to learn his art, she would often send messages to Kankuro. Not only was her a fountain of information when she didn't want to talk to Sasori, but he was glad to answer her questions simply because she was one of the few who actually wanted to learn. Ino would stop by the hospital and joke about how Sakura would be chased by angry, tired messengers who were frequently requested to carry her inquiries all the way to Suna and back. Tsunade was just glad she was getting human contact, even if it was through letters.

Finally, her training was complete. She now felt ready to ask Sasori a very personal question. She gently lifted his head out of her desk and placed it on the patient's bed in her special mdical room. "Sasori-san...,"Sakura said quietly without looking at his face. "Yes ?" "May I...Can I...that is to ask... would you? Um. Would you let me repair your body now? Some of your parts are cracked and in need of oiling or need to be completley replaced." "I do believe that has been our goal for the majority of this year, hasn't it Little Girl?" "Yes, but..." "You have complete control over my body. You didn't have to ask me." "But..."

'I wanted to.'

Slowly and carefully, she removed some of the more rare medical items she would need from her office into her home lab. Sasori watched as she catiously examined each piece of his body and asked for his guidance in reparing it. There were hidden weapons that could accidentally be set of by the unsuspecting puppeteer, which Sasori warned Sakura about each and every time she was near one of them. The only thing Sasori could do was tell himself that it was for his body. He must regain his body at all costs, and if that meant making sure the Little Girl didn't kill herself, well, that was just a coincidence.

The last peice that would be going under the chakra scalpel was his pelvic region. "You have a hairline fracture where your left hip bone would be," Sakura said as she concentraited on the crack as she reached over his crotch for a filling-clay. Sasori rolled his eyes as she glanced up at him and her gaze became riveted on his wooden...wood. "Something the matter Little Girl?", Sasori asked and he almost laughed as her face turned a bright red. "No, Sasori-san."

He waited until she got back to work before saying,"Why would my puppet not be anatomically correct when every other single detail has been crafted with great skill. I don't half finish things." Sakura sighed. "To be honest, I really didn't think about any reason that you would need to have one," she said as she carefully smoothed the clay into the crack and tried to decide if she should send her own chakra to mend the living skin over it. He was quiet for sometime before looking into her eyes and saying, "It isn't really something that you need to ponder ." At the moment. You might find out something you won't like, Little Girl.'

Finally his body was finished. On the advice of Sasori, she did not dare to move any of it. "The repairs should be left alone for atleast a week," he had said. But what Sakura was not aware of was that her disembodiment jutsu aswell as his chakra block jutsus would be wearing off in two days. At that moment, she was very content in her life, but she had no way of knowing about the huge wave that would sweep through her life and change everything.

*Two Days Later*

"Sasori-san. I had no idea people were so stupid. You should have to have atleast an average intelligence to be able to breed," she said as she lay face down in her pillow. "Yes. It would certainly make life more interesting," Sasori agreed as he turned his head(with more than a small amount of trouble) to look at her. He noticed her tear staind cheeks, and was very tempted to ask why she had been crying. But that would be a question for later.

Against popular belief, the puppet-master was capable of feeling. He had no idea if she realized it, but Sakura was more like him than anyone he had ever met. Alone, but not weakened by it. Not driven mad because of it. The space between herself and others was a weapon to be used against others, but lately she had turned only to was intrigued by it, in an odd, obssessive way. But his feelings were focused on her. The woman would keeps a severed head on her person the majority of the time and speaks with it daily. If he was obssessed, then there was no WORD for what she was, and he was okay with that. As soon as she reached REM sleep he began to make his move.

Earlier that day he felt his chakra beginning to come back to him. Not enough to draw attention , but growing slowly. He called forth his limbs and watched as they slowly fit themselves together and the lower part of his body walked towards his head. With sure hands, he reattached himself and made his own body whole. He looked around her apartment that had slowly become his home and began to pack. He placed in all the things they would need, aswell as some of Sakura's personal items, but left most of her things alone. It wouldn't do to have it appear like she left voluntarily. He cast a genjutsu over her and knocked over a lamp that she always said was the ugliest thing she'd ever seen.

He gently lifted her from the bed and wrapped her in a blanket ripping the sheets and throwing them around. He turned as he was half way out of her bedroom window and looked at what he had done. It looked like a proper kidnapping. He pushed his wooden lips into a smile and quietly left the city. He was miles away from Konoha when she finally began to wake up. "Sasori? " she asked with a sleep slurred voice. "Yes Little Girl?" "Is this real?" "Ofcourse it is." When he sadi that she smiled. Sasori stopped and waited for her reaction. She lpulled herself up his chest and kissed him with a smile and passion in her eyes.

"Good."