Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto Shippuuden or any characters in it.

Summary: AU Fic. Sasori was a successful businessman who sells puppets. On the way to a business meeting one day, Sasori's car broke down. Deciding not to make his fellow businessmen wait for him, he got off his car and decided to walk towards his destination until…

A/n: Thank you so much to Kyra213 for BETA-ing the fic! Thanks!

Italics are thoughts.


A redhead looked out of a car window as his driver drove him in a Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman limousine to his destination. Blinking, he watched the busy streets and the people walking around on the sidewalk. Rows of shops could be seen along the road.

Iwagakure – a country that never sleeps, or so he heard from his personal assistant, a certain Uchiha who always wore a blank look on his face. The said Uchiha had taken two weeks off to go on some skiing vacation with his own brother – a lad called Sasuke -- leaving him to travel alone in a foreign country. The redhead recalled the explanation by the Uchiha about this new country he was in. It would be the perfect new market for his business, or at least from what was stated in the report the raven had given him.

It had been many long years since the redhead got into the family business. Now 30, he had inherited P.U.P.P.E.T Corporation when he was only fifteen. Ever since then, the company had been raking in profits year after year. Everyone called him Akasuna no Sasori, which meant Sasori of the red sand because of his flaming red hair. His name – Sasori, meant scorpion and it was perfect for him. It reflected his personality, cold and mysterious.

"Erm, Sasori-sama…we have a problem here." The voice of Sasori's personal driver reached his ears, snapping him out of his trance.

Frowning, the redhead questioned, "What is it now, Kabuto?" He looked through the small opening that separated the driver from the passenger.

Tilting his glasses, the silver haired man stated, "I think the car just broke down." His dark brown eyes did not leave the steam that had begun to fog the windscreen of the car. Then, with a loud 'pop', the front of the car popped open. "Oh great…" mumbled the silver haired man as he got out of the car to examine it.

Sasori rolled his eyes as he took a glance at his watch. It stated '6:30p.m', another thirty minutes before the meeting started. "How far is it from here to FanTocHe?" He asked, sticking his head out of the car window.

Kabuto winced as he pointed to a direction, Sasori's eyes following. There, the building of FanTocHe stood tall. It was a colorful and unique construction compared to the rest of the tall buildings in Iwa.

Beep! Car honking could be heard, coming from behind the limousine. Sasori turned to see an angry driver in a Toyota Corolla. The redhead frowned and got out of the car. "I'll leave this matter to you, Kabuto," said the redhead as he turned to cross the road, a suitcase in his hand. "Remember to pick me up on time. You know I hate to wait."

Kabuto shrugged as he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, "Hello, this is…"

Sasori walked all alone at the sidewalks where people busied by and street performers drew in crowds. Laughter and claps could be heard from where street performers performed.

The redhead scowled as some people pushed pass him without apologizing. He clutched his suitcase tighter as his knuckles turned white. His pupils narrowed dangerously as he observed those around him. Girls looked at him and some of them even squealed as he passed by.

He managed to hear some words like, "OMG, he's so cute." or "That redhead is so hot!" or "Is he single? I really want to know him…" and the like.

Sasori sighed. He had never liked the crowds. If given a choice, the redhead would rather stay at home, working with his puppets and designing new ones. You could say that he was more of a 'loner' type.

He quickened his steps, hoping to get to his destination faster, but then a loud explosion stopped him in his tracks. Loud claps could be heard coming from a group of spectators, probably watching one of the street performers display their talents.

The crowds were huge, probably larger than those of the last three street performers Sasori had seen while he was walking along the sidewalk. Then, as if by magic…Sasori found himself drawn towards where the loud explosion came from. He couldn't see the performer clearly from his current height so he pushed past the crowd, hoping to gain a better view.

Finally, he got to the front row. A white butterfly flew past him and swooped towards the sky. Then, BANG! A loud explosion could be heard as fireworks decorated the sky. The redhead looked up at the brilliant colors, so mesmerized by them that he temporarily forgot about the meeting. He looked back to the performer that stood a few feet away from him.

It was a blond with the most beautiful blue eyes…or was it 'eye' because half of the blond's face was covered with his long fringe? His hair was tied up into a ponytail and his face was plastered with a grin. He wore long sleeved robes in shades of blue.

"Now for the final performance, un," said the blonde with a grin. "I would like a volunteer to come up and put his or her hand into this bag and take out something."

"Me!" A sharp voice could be heard coming from behind.

"No, me!" Said another.

"Pick me! Pick me!"

"Mr. Magician, pick me…" Said a girl meekly, as she raised her hand.

Sasori narrowed his eyes as he eyed the bag in the blonde's hand suspiciously. 'What's in it?' he wondered. He didn't notice that the blond magician's eyes were on him.

"Hey, un."

Sasori was snapped out of his trance by the street performer's voice. The blonde was still grinning his usual grin. The redhead noticed that all eyes were on him as the blonde walked towards him. He was at least a foot taller than the redhead.

"Why don't you pick something out from this bag, little boy, un?" The blonde stated with a smile as he showed Sasori the bag.

'Little boy?! What the…'Sasori was annoyed but he didn't show it. Instead, he blinked. "What's in it?" He couldn't see anything inside the dark colored sack.

"Well, that's for you to decide, un," the blonde beamed, "I can't tell you just yet cuz the magic won't work that way."

Sasori looked at him with a bored look. Then, a smirk came across his face. 'Magic? Like that'd even fool me? There's no such thing as magic!' Sasori's mind came up with all the theories.

"Okay then, Mr. Magician." Sasori said with a sarcastic tone as he placed his hand into the bag. It was cold and wet. The redhead's eyes widened as he looked at the blonde.

"Now, close your eyes and imagine the thing that you want it to be, un." Instructed the blonde as he grabbed onto Sasori's wrist and pulled out the redhead's fisted hand.

Sasori looked at his own hand and blinked. 'Why did I agree to do this?' He wondered, but he let his eyes close anyway, opening them at the first thought to cross his mind.

He unfisted his palm and was surprised to see tiny clay sculpted figures in his hand. The figures resembled him and his parents. They looked creepily similar to the photo he had taken with both of them, himself in the center and both his parents hugging him.

He felt his heart clench all of a sudden, and a mixture of emotions overwhelmed him. Suddenly the clay sculptures exploded right in his palm, but there was no pain, no burning feelings when the fire scorched him.

When Sasori looked up again, the blond was gone. The crowds began to subside and he was all alone…

To Be Continued…

A/n: Okay…tell me what you think. O.o Would you like me to update or I'll just leave this story hanging if it sucks too much. XD Hope that the characters aren't too OOC...