OMG got another two followers :O Thanks to @meganxnemar and @JazelCastillo for the follows :) I promise that all you guys will get a Chapter dedication as normal, just need to write the chapters LOL :D Anyway Enjoy!

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*24 years later*

Sasori's POV

"Hurry up, brat. I don't like to be kept waiting" I growled at the blonde teen who was taking forever to pick up the suppiles he needed.

"You need to relax Danna. I'm almost done, un" he said and I glared at him as he gave me that overconfident smirk of his. We were sent on a mission to kill the man who lives in the outskirts of the village we were in now and I wanted to get it over and done with so we could leave in the cover of the night but Deidara was as usual compromising that plan.

"I'm going to wait outside, hurry up or I'm going to leave without you, brat" I warned him as I headed out the door. When he finally emerged from inside the store I glared at him and he just smirked back at me in return.

"What's gotten you in such a bad mood, un? You're more Sasori than normal" he questioned me and I just ignored him and continued walking to where our target was. He was right though I was feeling a little more annoyed than usual but I just put that down to the fact that it would be exactly twenty-four years since Manami was killed in the great ninja war. I just shook the thought out of my head. It's in the past and I have a mission I need to concentrate on now so I need to focus or I'll end up dead. When we were close to the destination I began to warn Deidara about what was to come, knowing how careless he was I deemed it a necessary thing to do.

"Rumours say that our target has an S ranked criminal and two very skilled mercenary ninja guarding him so don't take them lightly when we run into them" and as usual my warning fell upon deaf ears.

"I won't Danna but they shouldn't take me so lightly either, yeah" he bragged with a cocky grin on his face. I sighed resisting the urge to poison my partner and ask for a new one. We finally arrived and I left Deidara to look around outside while I went inside to find our target. I ran into the mercenary ninja right away and they tried to attack me but no one has successfully broken through my armor Hiruko since I made him. When their attack failed I sent out my poison needles which they were unable to dodge and they fell to the ground.

"Pathetic" I taunted them as I stepped over one of them. I heard explosions go off and assumed that Deidara must have found our target as he was clearly not indoors. I walked outside and Deidara was flying above me searching for someone. "Who was it, brat?" I asked him.

"The target ran off and I ended up fighting the S rank criminal. Watch out Danna she is still about" he replied. I looked around and before I could tell Deidara to go on to find our target I saw something emerge from the shadows. It flew towards Deidara causing him to fall of his clay bird and into the forest somewhere while the person followed. I made my way towards where they fell and when I got there I saw Deidara sneaking up behind...

"Deidara don't" I yelled but I was too late. I felt an aching in my chest and if I could have cried I would have. There lying on the ground with a knife through her chest was Manami. What was she doing here and how was she alive? I stood frozen to the spot and I stared at her in horror as Deidara started to make his way over to me until I noticed her get up. "Deidara move!" I warned him but I was too late. I watched Deidara fall to the floor and Manami jump back onto a branch of a tree behind him.

"You have a choice to make. Continue pursuing me or save your friend. The needle in his back is coated in a poison that will kill him in one hour if not treated" she ran off while I went over to Deidara and lifted him up to bring him to the nearest hotel so I could see what poison was used and treat it. I analysed his blood and knew immediately that it was going to be very difficult to come up with an antidote. I guess I couldn't expect anything less from Manami. I wonder how she survived that attack, the kunai went right through one of her vital spots and yet she lived. Come to think of it was there even any blood?

*1 week later*

Manami's POV

"I want my payment" I said calmly to Harochi the man who hired me.

"I hired you to protect me from the Akatsuki and you haven't done that yet" he argued with me.

"You're alive aren't you? I suggest you don't piss someone like me off" I replied and he went for his kunai and tried to stab me. I dodged and kicked the kunai out of his hand. "Bad move" I said darkly. I grabbed my kunai and killed him on the spot and then took the little amount of money the guy had on him.

"I hate people who don't pay off their debts" I said to the now dead Harochi. I walked off ignoring the looks of people who witnessed what happened and hastily got out of the town before the Kage was informed and Anbu sent after me. I continued walking without a destination in mind and then stopped turning around when I felt like I was being watched.

"Are you going to keep following me or are you going to come out and tell me who you are and what you want?" I yelled out to whoever had been tailing me for the last hour. I waited for a while and was just starting to think I was becoming paranoid until I saw someone coming out of the bushes. It was the two from earlier this week that wanted to kill Harochi, guess they are a little late for that. "If you came to kill Harochi, then you are too late. I already saved you the trouble" I stated hoping this would be the end of it as I really didn't want to fight anyone right now.

"That wasn't the only reason we came, right Danna, un?" the blonde teen informed me grinning cheekily. "We also came here to ask you to join the Akatsuki, be warned if you refuse..." he started and I finished the sentence for him interrupting him.

"Let me guess I die?" I questioned already knowing the answer and I saw them both nod at me. "Well I'm not really into the whole working in a team thing" I stated bluntly and the blonde got ready to fight me but stopped when the old man put a hand out in front of him to signal him to stop.

"How about I make a proposal?" he asked and I motioned for him to continue. "We spar and if I win, you come with us. However, if you win, we will leave you alone" I thought about his proposal and then decided to agree to it, I mean he's an old man how hard can it be to fight him and win?

"Alright. I guess that sounds fair" I agreed and took out a summoning scroll to summon my main battle puppet. I made my puppet attack him head on with a poison needle strike but he just made a tail emerge from underneath his cloak and it blocked all of my needles. He then went to attack me with his tail but I jumped back so I was out of his reach. I then made the puppet run towards him and try to hit him with a kunai. He blocked it but I wasn't aiming for him and I tore his cloak off to see what I was dealing with.

"Just as I expected, you're a puppet master too, huh?" I stated to myself more than anyone else. He nodded and then tried again to attack me with his tail but I dodged it and he made needles come out of his tail that came right at me. One hit my leg but I wasn't worried about it or the poison that I'm sure it was laced with and I just made my puppet attack what I believed to be his weak spot while he was distracted at why I wasn't affected by his poison. He noticed what I was doing but it was too late as his puppet armour broke into pieces and then I saw someone jump out of the puppet and land on their feet facing away from me and I took this opportunity to make my puppet breath out poison gas and watched as the person slowly fell to the ground or so I thought. I saw a kunai come out of the gas and head towards me and I dodged it with ease but then I felt something wrap around me and I turned to see another one of his puppets holding me tightly and he started to walk towards me.

Sasori's POV

"I guess I won" I smirked at Manami as I walked towards her.

"You should guess again" I heard someone from behind me call as I was punched to the ground. I got up quickly and tried to turn around to face her but I couldn't. I then realised she must have caught me in her chakra strings.

"Damn it!" I harshly scolded myself for being so careless.

"Oh now, now. What kind of way is that to speak to a lady?" she purred in my ear as she approached me from behind.

"What way is that to greet an old friend?" I smirked to myself as I realised she had frozen in place. The next thing I knew I was being turned around and she looked at me gasping.

"Sasori?" she queried and I tried to nod but she still had control of me. She noticed this and released me and I felt her hug me tightly. I felt a sudden feeling if relief wash over me as I hugged her back tightly, breathing in her scent; I knew she was here but I didn't want to believe it. I was snapped out of my disbelief when I felt tears drop onto my shoulder and I tightened my grip on her.

I glanced back at Deidara who was slightly taken aback by the scene that had just unfolded and I found myself smirking but it soon faded when I realised I had lost this fight. I released the death grip I had her in and she wiped away tears before smiling at me making me feel slightly happier... wait puppets don't feel so scratch that.

"You won so you are free to go" I exclaimed with a stony expression and she just returned the look.

"I'm coming with you" she told me rather than asked me. I looked at her finding myself slightly confused at the sudden change in her mind.

"Well, come on what are you waiting for?" she called back as she walked on ahead. I looked at Deidara and he looked back and just shrugged as we went to catch up with her. I was so glad she was alive and well but it was hard not to believe this was a dream and that I would wake up any minute now. What happened to her and how did she become an S ranked criminal? I had so many questions and something that I had to confirm for myself. Was she really a puppet like me?