In Naruto: Reborn with Talent

The time quickly passed and Sasori couldn't help but regret that Kakuzu was too incompetent to kill him. These past few days must have been the worst and most frustrating in his life so far.

The first day after the unsuccessful ambush, they arrived in a town that was well known for its gambling dens. Such a thing didn't matter for Sasori at first but he quickly learned the error of his ways.

One of their clients, Nadetsu, dragged them all over these gambling dens where they had to... ugh, wait for her as she lost the majority of her gambles. Sasori hated waiting with passion even before he had to spend most of his day doing it while watching the abysmal luck of his client. How that woman became one of the most influential people alive with such luck, he will never know.

If that was not enough, Nadetsu did her best to embarrass them. From betting their underwear and causing the whole gambling den to howl in laughter at Sasori's and Kankuro's expense... to betting Kankuro's catsuit.

The absolute worst was when she put Sasori's services for a day as a part of her bet. Normally, it wouldn't matter to Sasori. He was a ninja and that was basically the description of his job but when he remembered the woman Nadetsu was gambling against, he couldn't help but involuntarily shiver. She was giving him the same look he sometimes gave his best puppets. The problem was there was no way he could ever traumatize his puppets by appreciating their beauty and his gaze never contained the raw disgusting lust the woman's look oozed with. It almost turned Sasori's stomach.

Especially when he knew about his client's abysmal ability at gambling. That made him contemplate desertion yet again, to be honest.

Much to his surprise, however, Nadetsu somehow... really, Sasori had no idea how but he definitely did NOT gape in shock at her... she somehow won every single bet since they started to be so personal to the sand team.

After ten rounds like that, Sasori quickly formed a new opinion about Nadetsu Jusen. The woman was not enjoying the gambling per se. She simply enjoyed screwing with people. She enjoyed seeing them win and their faces lit up in hope only to plummet in despair the next round as they lost their winnings.

In short, she was just a sadistic bitch who found a non-offensive way to indulge these urges.

Surprisingly enough, it wasn't all bad. Sasori gained a bit of respect for the woman as she refused one gambler's suggestion to bet a night with Temari. The cold look Nadetsu showered the man in would probably make even a chunin piss himself. It was no wonder the man, in fact, did soil his pants and became a laughing stock of the entire gambling den as he rushed out with shame etched on his face.

Sasori barely noticed how tightly Temari was pressing her body into Rei's as she sat on his lap and he almost missed the look of absolute fury as she pressed her head into his shoulder.

Sasori could swear he saw Temari sneaking out of the hotel room later that night and when she came back, she had a bit of blood on her hands and the next day, he found out a man was apparently murdered...

Well, Sasori decided it was not his problem and stopped thinking about it.

Nadetsu surprisingly didn't make bets about Gaara either. When the group arrived at the hotel and he asked her why... Nadetsu simply stated with absolute conviction that Gaara is far too adorable with that expressionless facade to attempt to embarrass him and that Sasori and Kankuro simply had that virgin loser air around them that made her want to tease them.

Damned spoiled brat...

The first day of the escort mission passed and Sasori already wanted to tear his female client apart with extreme prejudice. That didn't inspire much confidence about the success of the mission in him.

The second and third day were spent traveling and thankfully, it gave Sasori the necessary time to center himself. Nadetsu didn't target him with her teasing... and he suspected she somehow sniffed out how close he was to snapping and decided to lay off for the moment... but Kankuro got the full brunt of it instead. From asking which of his puppets is his current girlfriend, to inquiring why he wears his pajamas as if it was normal everyday wear, to arguing with him if his make-up is a war paint or not...

Sasori had to admit his off-and-on apprentice's patience impressed him. If it was him, he would probably bitchslap the woman by now. Surprisingly, Kankuro seemed to almost enjoy the banter and snipping veiled insults at each other with her.

The total masochistic weirdo...

At that time, Sasori had no idea yet about the disaster awaiting him in the next town. If he thought that gambling dens were bad, the massive shopping district in the next town was hell itself.

Waiting... waiting... waiting... waiting... and MORE waiting!

Nadetsu dragged him, Kankuro, and Gaara as her personal bag holders all over the shopping district while she enjoyed her days, taking almost sadistic pleasure in making them wait for her.

The worst part?

Their second client, Rei, was not present to curb the woman's excessive teasing. Being in her presence when he was not around was pure suffering! She was well aware the thing he hated most was waiting and shopping around with a woman was made purely of that blasted activity!

Sasori wanted to rip his hair out after the first hour. After the third hour, he deeply regretted turning back to human if only because his emotions returned and he could feel the full brunt of frustration and impatience.

In the hours following that, he had to work hard on mentally persuading himself that killing her was not worth it as she hung one bag after another on him as if he was her personal hanger.

And when she informed him that tomorrow she would continue with her shopping spree? ... Oh, boi.

Anger issues were never Sasori's problem. Nor did he ever get murder-happy. His killings were always about gaining some benefit. It was about a pure cold calculation of gain and loss. Now, though, he could see what was so appealing about butchering someone with his bare hands.

... It was really fortunate for Sasori that he didn't try. Unknown to him, he wouldn't get far with that.

Unfortunately, he was alone in his suffering too. Gaara didn't mind being used as Nadetsu's personal porter. He was fully satisfied with the ice cream and the good expensive luxury lunch she bought for their 'noble' sacrifice as she called the hellish experience.

As for Kankuro... he actually enjoyed it and even joined shopping with Nadetsu occasionally, trading opinions on various clothes and so on. Well, Sasori thought he should have expected that from someone who wore make-up and a catsuit. Nothing new there...

What really worried Sasori, was that Rei and Temari separated from the group. He was not blind and could see how the young teenage girl looked at their male client and from the way Rei didn't protest when Temari simply flopped into his laps or started affectionately massaging his shoulders or when she got overly touchy... Sasori had a bad feeling about their mutual absence from his sight.

According to the law, Temari belonged to Kazekage. Her entire being was supposed to be Lady Pakura's. Lady Pakura had the right to decide who would take Temari's virginity, who she would marry, even how many children she could have. Her life and death literally belonged to Lady Pakura.

Yes, it was a messed up and very archaic law bordering on slavery but Temari entered this kind of service to Lady Pakura willingly. That's why Sasori was worried about the consequences if he suddenly woke up tomorrow only to find Temari with a slight limp. He was responsible for her dammit!

He would never leave the girl out of his sight with a man she had such an obvious crush on but Nadetsu simply rejected any attempt of his to separate from the group!

It really made one wonder if this whole irritating shopping trip of Nadetsu was not just one big farce to keep him away from Rei and Temari.