Sasori

Sasori (サソリ), nicknamed 'Sasori of the Red Sand (赤砂のサソリ, Akasuna no Sasori), was an S-rank missing-nin from Sunagakure's Puppet Brigade and a member of Akatsuki, where he was partnered with Orchimaru and later, Deidara.

Background
When Sasori was young, his father and mother were killed by Hatake Sakumo in battle, leaving him in the care of his grandmother, Chiyo. When Chiyo attempted to cheer him up by teaching him puppetry at age five, Sasori's innate aptitude for the art became apparent, and he even began to devise masterful ways of eliminating a puppet master's weaknesses in battle. His skills even allowed him to create two puppets in the image of his parents in an attempt to discard the terrible loneliness he felt. However, as the puppets were unable to give him the real parental love that he desired, Sasori lost interest in them, and they later fell into Chiyo's possession. Sasori created many other ingenious puppets, including Black Ant, Crow, and Salamander, which were later owned by Kankuro. During the Third Shinobi War, the effectiveness of his puppets in spilling enemies' blood on the sand gave rise to Sasori's moniker Sasori of the Red Sand. However, motivated by his desire to make works that last forever, Sasori began experimenting to create puppets out of people.

In the anime, his only friend, Komushi, lost his right arm during his border control duty, so Sasori gave him a new puppet arm. After Komushi perished, having accidentally ingested some of Sasori's poison, Sasori proceeded to turn him into one of his first human puppets.

Twenty years before his introduction in the series, Sasori left Sunagakure at age fifteen after he secretly kidnapped the Third Kazekage and made him into one of his human puppets. Sasori also transferred his heart into a puppet body modelled after himself to increase his own offensive capabilities and prolong his life. Some time after leaving the village, Sasori joined the Akatsuki and utilised his skills to create numerous spies like Yura and Mukade in Sunagakure as sleeper agents. Prior to being partnered with Deidara, Sasori was paired with Orchimaru, who shared his desire of an everlasting existence. However, when Orochimaru left the Akatsuki after his failed attempt to take Uchiha Itachi's body, Sasori bore a grudge towards his former partner and sent Kabuto to be his spy in Otogakure. Nevertheless, Sasori was unaware that Kabuto was working for Orochimaru long before he posed as an Akatsuki spy, with him and the rest of the Akatsuki made to think that Kabuto joined Orochimaru's side after being dispelled of Sasori's brainwashing.

Later, in the anime, Sasori and Deidara met with Hidan and Kakuzu to discuss their new missions. It was decided that Sasori and Deidara would take the war mission. The duo then went to the Land of This, a small nation, with the intent of destroying it to spread the reputation of the Akatsuki. After Deidara handled the initial attack with a series of explosions, Sasori unleashed his army of puppets. During the attack, Sasori personally went after and killed the This Daimyō. After doing so, he was confronted by the late daimyō's hired bodyguard, Tatewaki. While the samurai managed to pressure Sasori, he was ultimately poisoned by several of Sasori's poisoned senbon. By dusk, the nation was destroyed, making Sasori and Deidara's mission a success.

Personality
Sasori grew up in a sad and lonely environment due to the absence of parental love. When introduced to the art of puppetry by his grandmother, Chiyo, he grew a little happier. He eventually created puppets in the likeness of his parents, but when he realised that the puppets couldn't give him the actual love that he desired, he became cold and aloof. This led to his maintaining little regard for human life. Sasori even went so far as to state that he would feel nothing if Chiyo died, as he claimed that his heart had become like his puppet body: without any emotions. Despite his cruel and nihilistic nature, Sasori was also known to possess a very down-to-earth outlook on life, rarely getting worked up over obstacles that impeded his way. He rarely gave way to any strong emotions, and such instances that happened were often short-lived.

Sasori was also known for his impatience, as he repeatedly noted that he did not wish to wait or keep others waiting. Despite this, he took his time in battling Kankurō when they first met due to his interest in fighting his old creations, handed down to a puppet master of the next generation.

Sasori and his second partner in Akatsuki, Deidara, both had conflicting views on art, and they frequently argued about their differing perspectives. Deidara maintained his belief that art was something transient that departs quickly, where as Sasori believed that fine art was everlasting and remained far into the future. This reflected their individual natures; Deidara made clay sculptures which exploded, while Sasori created long-lasting puppets out of humans that never died. Nevertheless, although Deidara outwardly seemed to respect Sasori's beliefs, Sasori never respected Deidara's.

Sasori's ambition was to become an exquisite piece of art himself by turning his body into one of his own puppet works. Sasori adhered so strongly to his belief that true art was ever-lasting that he even went as far as to have his spy retrieve information on the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation and human experiments. Sasori abandoned this ambition after Kankurō told him that it was his creations that he put his heart and soul into that would last forever. After accepting Kankuro's view on eternal art, he entrusted his Mother and Father puppets to Kankuro and told him to pass them on to the next generation after he dies. In this moment, Sasori is shown to have an emotional side as well.

Sasori was also willing to accept the views of others on certain topics in contrast to Deidara, who stubbornly stood by his beliefs until the end. Sasori spared Kankurō during their first confrontation after the latter made a last attempt to attack him, but he notes that Kankuro's envenomed state would eventually lead to his death.

Appearance
Sasori had wide brown eyes which he inherited from his mother, and short, red hair which he inherited from his father. As a child, Sasori wore dark green robes with a pale poncho around them. As a young adult, while living in Sunagakure, he wore a purplish robe with the Sunagakure forehead protector around his forehead. After leaving the village and conversing into a puppet body in the likeness of his original body, Sasori's hair became slightly more messy, and wore his Akatsuki robe along with a purple Akatsuki ring on his left thumb that bears the kanji for "jewel" or "sphere" (玉, gyoku). He also wore teal nail polish on his fingernails. Even though Sasori still possessed his Sunagakure forehead protector that was slashed out in the middle, he kept it on his person instead of wearing it.

Sasori's puppet body consisted of a pair of spinning claws attached to his lower back, a holder for four scrolls on his back, a stinger in the empty and open stomach cavity, a compartment in his right chest, and a 'core of living flesh' (生身の核, namami no kaku) in the left which had the kanji for "scorpion" (蠍, sasori) painted on it. In his exposed state, Sasori's eyes would also be wide open in a maniacal way, as opposed to his normal calm looking eyes.

After Kabuto reincarnated him, Sasori displayed the black sclerae and darker irides seen in other reincarnated shinobi. In place of his previous clothing, Sasori, like the other reincarnated Akatsuki members, wore a maroon cloak with beige lining.

Abilities
Sasori was a very powerful shinobi and a highly analytical and cunning man. Sasori's use of his puppets was greatly feared throughout the Third Shinobi War as he turned the sand red with blood, giving him the nickname, "Sasori of the Red Sand". Sasori's abilities also gave him the power to defeat and kill the Third Kazekage, who was said to be the strongest ninja in the history of Sunagakure, though Sasori stated that he had some trouble defeating him. Deidara himself even admitted that Sasori was the stronger of the two of them.

Puppet Master
Trained by his powerful grandmother, Chiyo, in the art of puppetry, Sasori was an extremely powerful puppeteer and had great skill in creating and controlling his puppets. He created a number of ingenious ones including the three main puppets that Kankuro uses, which were made in Sunagakure before he fled. At the time of the battle that led to his death, Sasori had 298 human puppets in his collection. His status as a puppet master offered him a tremendous advantage against other puppeteer shinobi, especially if the puppets they were using happened to be ones that he created, as seen in his battle against Kankurō. As puppets are usually installed with long-range weapons, Sasori was an expert at fighting at long distances. Sasori can also control living people as puppets, even against their will, if they are weakened enough. His usage of puppets was at such a high level that he made mere techniques appear as an artistic performance, what he called his "Red Secret Technique".

Hiruko
Hiruko was the first puppet to be shown being used by Sasori in the series, as both a weapon and an armour, and as a means to eliminate the puppeteer's weakness of being a separate and exposed target. As Hiruko was one of his favourite puppets, Sasori adorned it in Akatsuki attire for nearly the entirety of his tenure in the organisation. Because of this, only certain members like Orochimaru, Deidara, or relatives like Chiyo knew Sasori's true face while others like Zetsu and Kabuto had no idea that Hiruko was not his actual body. While within Hiruko, Sasori speaks through his puppet in a deeper and hoarser voice.

Hiruko had a long mechanical, scorpion-like tail (an allusion to Sasori's name meaning "scorpion"), extending from the mouth of what appeared to be a demon mask on its back. Chiyo said this mask was a recent addition by Sasori to act as an extra defence to a weak point in the puppet. The tail worked as Hiruko's main offensive weapon and was laced with Sasori's speciality poison. The tail could also be used defensively by spinning around Hiruko's body at a rapid speed. Hiruko's left arm was also rigged with a projectile launcher capable of firing poisoned shrapnel and needles, and its mouth could also be used to serve a similar function of firing poisoned needles.

Hiruko is said to have been a human puppet in the anime from a once famous Sunagakure shinobi that Sasori converted upon death. In the manga it was just a regular puppet.

Human Puppet
Sasori's puppets were unique in that they were made from the still-living bodies of humans. These human puppets were more versatile than regular puppets, since, in addition to having many dangerous devices installed within them (as is common with regular puppets), they were also able to use chakra and perform any techniques or kekkei genkai abilities that they possessed during their life.

The Third Kazekage
Sasori's favourite human puppet was the The Third Kazekage, which retained its Magnet Release, which in turn grants Sasori access to the Iron Sand techniques. When mixed with Sasori's poison, the Iron Sand was given a more lethal edge. The Iron Sand could also be used to fill up the joints of other puppets, thus immobilising them. Due to the Iron Sand being derived from the Third's ability to convert chakra to magnetism, this grants Sasori immunity from metallic weapons. The Third's puppet's right arm held several poisoned blades, while the left arm could open up to reveal several summoning seals that summoned thousands of similar arms to attack the target. These arms were capable of crushing an opponent, emitting poisonous gas clouds, and releasing wires that dragged the opponent into the gas cloud. If these arms were cut off, a small buzz-saw took their place.

Puppet Body
Although Sasori was thirty-five years old, he maintained the appearance of a teenage boy. His unnaturally young appearance was a product of the immortalisation of his design. Aside from his core, Sasori's body was actually a puppet. In place of his intestines was a thick cable coiled around a pole, allowing him to use it as a stinger and retract it if necessary. Attached to his back was a scroll holder, containing four scrolls that stored extra armament. The first scroll allowed him to expel powerful streams of fire, and the second scroll was used to store numerous puppets for the Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets. The capabilities of the third and fourth scrolls were not revealed in the manga, though in the anime, the fourth scroll was used to fire jets of water with enough force to cut through rock.

Sasori also has a pair of poles attached to the back of his hips, each equipped with five large blades that could spin like a propeller, granting him both an equipage for greater speed and a monstrous close combat weapon. Sasori also had pipes on each of his palms that could spew out intense fire, hot enough to melt rock, or, in the anime, powerful water jets with such pressure that they were capable of cutting through rock. Being a fully-armed puppet himself, Sasori did not suffer the weakness of being vulnerable to close-range combat that other puppeteers suffer.

Despite being loaded with weapons, Sasori kept them (and his true form) hidden within his Akatsuki robes, which were large enough to conceal them without problem. Curiously, when using "himself", Sasori's eyes were always wide open, giving him a somewhat insane look. In contrast, prior to revealing his puppet body, Sasori's eyes were always half-closed, making him appear calmer and more aloof. Sasori has claimed that he has not used "himself" since joining Akatsuki, until his last battle with his grandmother and Sakura Haruno.

Installed in the right part of Sasori's chest was a mechanism that could spin numerous chakra threads, allowing him to use his Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets. With it, Sasori was given a drastic advantage over other puppeteers, having once taken down a small nation with it. The left part of Sasori's chest held the lone human part of him and thus, the only necessary part of his body capable of controlling chakra: a cylinder-shaped device containing his 'core' (核, kaku).

Because Sasori's core was the only living part of his body that he still contained, his puppet body was virtually indestructible, allowing him to survive the poison mist Kankurō bombarded him with, as well as the impact from Sakura's punches. He was also able to fight for extended periods of time without hindrances that would normally affect a human's body, such as fatigue, muscle failure, loss of blood, wounds, or pain. When smashed apart, he could simply draw the pieces back together. Additionally, Sasori could transfer his core to other puppets in a split second, allowing him to abandon a body that was damaged beyond repair or incapacitated. It is suggested in the manga that Sasori created more than one puppet body in his image. The core was his only weakness, and its destruction would mean his death. After Sasori's death, Kankuro would later take the body and use it as his puppet.

Intelligence
Repeatedly, Sasori has demonstrated to be a highly cunning ninja, able to handle situations with various traps and misdirection. He is also shown to be a highly analytical man, able to quickly determine his opponent's strengths and combat methods. Like his grandmother, Sasori has a great knowledge of the human body, as shown from his brainwashing technique<, and his mastery over creating different types of poisons. His unique poisons, that he laced nearly every weapon in his arsenal with, took effect instantly, and one such poison could kill the target after three days of suffering; according to Sakura, this poison is refined with heavy metals, which intrude the muscles and destroy healthy cells. This poison was so complex that Sasori himself acknowledged that no one in Sunagakure could counter it and believed its complexity made it incurable altogether. However, to his surprise, Sakura came up with a successful antidote for the poison; Sasori even noted that creating the antidote requires extreme precision, with no room for failure, something difficult even for himself.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
At the end of Part I, Sasori made a cameo appearance as a silhouette during the Akatsuki gathering where they discussed Orochimaru's taking of Uchiha Sasuke, as well as the capturing of the Nine-Tails and the furthering of their plans.

Kazekage Rescue arc
At the start of Part II, Sasori, hidden in his puppet, Hiruko, returned to his former village, Sunagakure, with Deidara to capture the One-Tailed Shukaku's jinchūriki, Gaara. Both the Akatsuki members easily penetrated Suna's defences, as the village was betrayed by one of Sasori's own subordinates, Yūra. After Deidara captured Gaara, the Kazekage's elder brother, Kankuro, attempted to stop the Akatsuki duo from fleeing. But Sasori confronted him so that Deidara could go on ahead unopposed, and made quick work of Kankurō. He does this by poisoning and nearly killing him, and easily destroying his puppets, as he had pre-existing knowledge of their secrets. After the Akatsuki members extracted and sealed the One-Tailed Shukaku from Gaara at the Akatsuki hideout, Sasori and Deidara were left in charge by their leader of defeating the pursuing Team Kakashi and Sasori's grandmother, Chiyo. As Deidara led Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi away using Gaara's dead body as bait, Sasori was left to face Haruno Sakura and his grandmother Chiyo.

Soon after the battle began, with Chiyo controlling her as a puppet, Sakura was able to destroy Sasori's puppet, Hiruko. As Sasori emerged from Hiruko's remains and revealed his true self, Chiyo and Sakura were shocked to see his youthful face, considering that he had left Sunagakure over twenty years ago. Not wasting any time, however, Sasori brought out his Third Kazekage puppet, who he revealed to be his favourite, as the Third was the hardest to kill and add to his collection. Since the Third Kazekage was a human puppet, Sasori was able use its various Iron Sand abilities to attack and overwhelm Chiyo and Sakura. To try and combat the Kazekage, Chiyo brought out the first puppets Sasori ever created Mother and Father. Although Chiyo had since equipped them with extra weapons and defences, the Kazekage's puppet's Iron Sand quickly disabled the two puppets, and Chiyo's arm as well. Acting on her own, Sakura demolished the Kazekage puppet after picking up on its movements and using herself as bait to lower Sasori's guard.

With the loss of the Kazekage puppet, Sasori revealed the reason behind his eternal youth: his own human puppet body, which itself was fitted with numerous weapons and traps laced with poison. Sakura eventually managed to break apart his puppet body, but missed his core, allowing him to reassemble himself. Chiyo then brought out her own ten puppets in an attempt to level the playing field. Sasori used his Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets, allowing him to control ten times as many puppets as Chiyo. Since Chiyo's puppets were designed to work together, a trait lacking with all of Sasori's puppets, her puppets fared far better than his, although they were eventually overwhelmed by Sasori's sheer numbers. During the battle, Chiyo attempted to seal Sasori's chakra with a special orb from one of her puppets, but missed his core — the only living part of his body and the source of his chakra — and only trapped his puppet body. As Chiyo and Sakura were distracted by his summoned puppets, Sasori was revealed to have transferred the cylindrical container housing his core, into another one of his own puppets, possessing his face's likeness, before the seal nailed his original body to a wall.

Using the seal as a distraction, Sasori, in his new puppet body, attempted a sneak attack on Chiyo. However, Sakura took the sword's attack from Sasori for Chiyo. Sasori's katana pierced Sakura's abdomen, and since the blade itself was coated in poison, Sasori stated that she would either succumb to the poison or bleed to death. As Sasori prepared to attack again, it gave Chiyo a chance to use Mother and Father to stab him through his core in the form of an embrace. As Chiyo ran to Sakura's almost lifeless body, she began to try and heal her, to which Sasori, even in his dying state, laughed in amusement at her seemingly senile attempt to save Sakura, stating that it was far too late for any form of medical ninjutsu. When Chiyo revealed the true nature of her technique, Sasori believed it impossible until Sakura awoke.

Before dying, as a reward to Sakura for defeating him, Sasori informed her of a spy that he had within his former Akatsuki partner, Orochimaru's, ranks, and told her to meet him ten days from then at noon at the Tenchi Bridge. When Sasori died, Chiyo implied that Sasori could have avoided her last attack, but for some reason he chose not to.

Chikara arc
In the anime, Sasori is summoned by Kabuto to battle Team Kakashi, who are investigating the incident which happened in the Tonika Village and at The Hole. However, after being summoned, Sasori's coffin vanished, leading Kabuto to question whether or not the Impure World Reincarnation was still incomplete.

Confining the Jinchuriki arc
In an attempt to both impede Tobi and coerce him into joining forces during their initial encounter, Kabuto Yakushi demonstrated his capabilities by reincarnating many of the dead members of Akatsuki, including Sasori, using Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation.

Fourth Shinobi War arc
Assigned to the Surprise Attack and Diversion Platoon, Sasori was tasked with disrupting the Allied Shinobi Forces by raiding the enemy, as the Fourth Shinobi War commenced. After discerning that Akatsuki had fallen with only Zetsu, and his replacement, Tobi remaining, their group mobilised atop Deidara's clay birds, where they pursue the three remaining members of the Infiltration and Reconnaissance Party.

Irritated by the adversaries scurrying about as they attempt to evade them, the group was eventually taken captive nonetheless. Sasori then forcefully manipulated the booby-trapped Muta Aburame, so as to attack the opposing Surprise Attack Division without their knowledge, taking Zaji hostage. However, the enemy uncovered the trap and evaded the blast, forcing him to engage them using the controlled Tokuma Hyūga, and Ranka, but Omoi soon managed to free them both. After Kankuro connected his own chakra threads to those of Sasori's, which had just been severed, the latter is pulled downwards, and Ittan raised the terrain he had just lowered, causing him to collide with Deidara. Recuperating, he complimented Kankuro's improvement and later remarked that he had obtained the immortal body he had always desired, upon seeing the former reveal his old body. Sasori then manipulated Shin in avoiding Omoi and Kankuro's attacks, before Deidara detonated the clay placed inside of Shin.

Expounding on his knowledge of Root, he stated that their ideals to become emotionless were similar to his own endeavours, whilst Shin reformed. However, struck from behind by an enraged Sai's attack, both he and Deidara are then contained by Kankuro's puppets. As Shin deconstructed, after his soul was set free, Sasori noted that he couldn't feel any response from his threads.

When Kankuro explained that strength came from his soul, and not in spite of it, as he poured his heart and soul into his creations, Sasori emotionally accepted that his puppets and techniques were what immortalised him. Starting to deconstruct, he entrusted his Mother and Father puppets to Kankuro, telling him to pass them down to future generations. With his soul freed, only a pile of debris, and the corpse of the unknown individual who was used as part of the ritual remained.

Legacy
At the time of his death, Sasori had not yet captured his assigned tailed beast. A short dialogue between himself and Deidara suggested that Sasori did not even know what beast he had been assigned to target. However, after his death, Obito took his place as Deidara's new partner and his ring in Akatsuki, and, later, he captured the Three-Tails, thereby suggesting that the beast was Sasori's target.

However, due to the preservation of his body, Sasori's influence on future events was not over with his death. Prior to the events at the Five Kage Summit, Kankuro recovered Sasori's body to replace his usual puppets. It seems that some modifications have been made to his body since Sasori's death, although it is unknown if certain mechanisms were previously installed, but were not shown prior to Sasori's death. Using Scorpion to fight the reincarnated Sasori, Kankuro manages to give Sasori closure by stating he achieved his immortality through all the puppets he made.

Naruto Shippuuden movie lllll
The movie starts with a flashback to the Nine-Tails' Attack on Konoha, which then flash forward to eight members of Akatsuki that are meant to be dead which unsettles Sakura. Shikamaru states there is no point in wondering why the dead are back alive and quickly comes up with a counter plan, but Naruto quickly attacks Akatsuki head on, forcing the rest of the Konoha 11 plus Sai, Kakashi and Gai to attack. The battle continues until Naruto is caught by Kakuzu, Sai frees Naruto by cutting part of Kakuzu's arm off, causing the Akatsuki to retreat. Naruto and his friends return home, where most of Naruto's peers are congratulated by their families whom all promise to write a recommendation letter so they can become jōnin although Sakura has a little fight with her family who embarrasses her in front of the others. As Naruto returns home, he passes many families causing him to reminisce of his father and mother causing him to get lonelier. He then asks Iruka for a letter of recommendation of his own, but Iruka refuses as Naruto is only a genin and must become a chūnin and rise through the ranks just as Minato and all other jonin did. Naruto is saddened by his lonely lifestyle and the fact no one seems to understand him, and storms off. He meets Sakura, who had an argument with her family and also stormed out, grabbing Naruto's hand and telling him to go on a date with her. While Sakura complains of her family, Tobi appears in front of them and after a small scuffle, he then activates the limited Tsukuyomi. Naruto and Sakura are absorbed in a flash of light, and later find themselves still in the same park they were before.

They run into their friends including Sasuke, but with different personalities and no one knows who Tobi is. They realize they are in another world where Sakura's father was the Fourth Hokage, who saved the village instead of Minato, and in this world Naruto is named Menma instead. As Naruto and Sakura return home Sakura is happy for the new freedom she has, while Naruto hurries home to his apartment hoping to see his parents, only to find he does not live there.

Tobi reveals that the dead Akatsuki members in the beginning were only Zetsu clones. In the Genjutsu World, a man in a mask meets Tobi and they agree to work together. Elsewhere, as Sakura is looking through her dresser, she sees the same coat that Naruto's father had worn. She then meets Sasuke who gives her a flower and flirts with her. Naruto and Sakura meet in the morning to try to gather more information of their current world, although Sakura enjoys this world as she has more freedom and is well loved by the village thanks to her father's actions. Naruto, on the other hand, wants to return home as fast as possible.

Naruto and Sakura meet Tsunade and Shizune who tells them that a masked man attacked Kumogakure, and killed their jinchūriki which Naruto and Sakura believe to have been Tobi. They then meet Naruto's parents who are alive. Minato says that Jiraiya died finding the Red Moon Scroll that was said to help save the world. Tsunade lets Naruto and Sakura join Minato and Kushina on their mission when Kakashi and Guy return. Sakura is shocked at finding out who Naruto's parents are, while Naruto is angry that Tobi would dare to make copies of his dead parents and he swears to break the Genjutsu. While Sakura is still enjoying her life, she wonders how Naruto is doing. While Naruto attempts to ignore his parents, he sees an album showing him, how his life would have been if his parents had been alive.

In the morning, Sakura notes that this world's Kakashi and Guy switched personalities, while Naruto isolates himself from his parents at every turn. They soon locate where Jiraiya hid the scroll, but as the group stops to rest Naruto charges ahead until he is confronted by the summoning of Gamabunta, Gamahiro and Gamaken. They refuse to listen to Naruto and the group who explains their reason for being there and attacks them with an army of frogs. Naruto attempts to use Sage Mode, but is unable to gather enough energy before Gamabunta attacks him. Kushina protects him, but hurts herself from a shot of acid that burns Kushina's leg. Minato saves both of them and quickly is able to get the scroll, unsummoning the toads.

As Sakura heals Kushina, Naruto still attempts to brush off his parents, causing Minato to say no matter what Naruto does, they will always try to save him. Kushina then awakens and hugs Naruto, causing him to be unable to try to ignore his parents any longer and finally accepts them. They return to Konoha, where Tsunade locks the scroll in the villages Safe up till the night when a red moon will appear when they can use the scroll to fulfill the said prophecy. As Naruto and Sakura walk home, Naruto quickly walks home leaving Sakura alone and happily walks into his house. She instead finds her home too lonely and wonders if Naruto's always this alone. As she walks down town she sees happy families, only making her more sad. She then realizes that this world's Sasuke is just a flirt and decides that Naruto was right on his decision to quickly break the genjutsu they're now trapped in and wishes to return to their own world. As she walks to Naruto's home to try to find a way to break the genjutsu, she see how happy Naruto is and wonders should they leave. Sakura later meets Naruto, and asks him if he wants to stay. Although he denies it, he later thinks to himself that he truly does not want to leave.

At that moment an explosion occurs at the Hokage's office, where the masked man from earlier asks for the scroll they brought back. He overpowers Minato, Kushina, and Tsunade, till Naruto and Sakura arrive. They realize that this was the man Tsunade was talking about, and that he knows Tobi. He overpowers Naruto and Sakura, and kidnaps Sakura in exchange for the scroll. He then uses Great Spiralling Ring, destroying a large part of Konoha and leaves. Naruto tries to save Sakura, but Minato prevents him, showing that in the end this world's Minato is different from his father. He takes one of Minato's kunai and the scroll leaving with Sakura's father's Hokage coat. Sakura is tied up and meets Tobi who is a ghost saying they are in an old training ground that Minato and Jiraiya used. Naruto arrives but is attacked by the other masked man asking for the scroll. Naruto is unable to fight properly as his stomach acts up, the Masked Man then takes the time to summon the Nine Masked Beasts, and about to kill Naruto when the Akatsuki arrives and saves him.

This Akatsuki was hired by Tsunade to help Naruto, and they deal with the masked beasts when Naruto attacks the masked man. Itachi saves Sakura and Tobi decides to escape instead. The Akatsuki defeats the masked beasts that turn into nine fox kits, while Naruto chased the masked man into the training grounds. They then fight, Naruto uses Sage Mode and uses the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken to counter the Masked Man's Great Spiralling Ring. It ends in a draw, but the attack destroy the masked man's mask, showing that he is Menma, this world's Naruto. Menma then called back the defeated masked beasts, and summoned Kurama's counterpart, the Black Nine-Tails. Naruto was unable to attack, while the Akatsuki retreat, taking Sakura with them. Not wanting to be manipulated by the Sharingan again, Kurama makes a truce with Naruto to work together, allowing him to summon Kurama out of his body. In the battle Naruto is barely able to win, but Tobi reveals that this was his plan, to have Naruto and Menma fight, as doing so would cause the two foxes to fight and weaken Kurama. As he possessed Menma, Kurama warned Naruto if he looked into Menma's Sharingan, it would be all over for Tobi planned to extract Kurama out of Naruto the same way he extracted it from Kushina 16 years ago. Naruto tries to use the scroll when he notices the moon had turned red, but Menma cuts the scroll, causing Naruto to look in Menma's eyes. Naruto's memories were erased, but Sakura rescues him.

Naruto, in an anesmia state looking at half of the scroll, is able to remember Jiraiya and his memories. He then defeats Tobi the same way his father did breaking the Limited Tsukiyomi. Tobi using his ghost body tries again, till Minato and Kushina arrive. Tobi decides to give up and exits the genjutsu world just as Naruto and Sakura are enveloped in a bright light preparing to return to their world as well, but beforehand Naruto thanks Minato and Kushina who quickly goes to assist Menma who is returning to his original state as their son. Naruto and Sakura returns to their world, where Naruto's Hokage coat breaks down since it was only part of the genjutsu world and not real. Naruto and Sakura tell Tsunade and Kakashi of what transpired and sets out more guard patrol since Tobi was easily able to enter further in the village than they imagined. As they both return home, Naruto watches Sakura as she meets her parents, happily hugging them, he approaches her asking her out on a date, but Sakura tells him they just came back from the longest date ever, causing Naruto's shock. As Naruto goes home, he sees Iruka in his house, waiting to apologise to him. Iruka shows Naruto a cake,and Naruto shocking cries after he realizes that Iruka really does care about him. Iruka asks him what's wrong,and Naruto says nothing. Iruka welcomes Naruto home,and Naruto says I'm home. Afterwards Naruto happily walks through the village while quoting that the road of a ninja is one who endures.

Video Games
Sasori is a playable character in the following video games:
 * Naruto Shippūden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3
 * Naruto Shippūden: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX
 * Naruto Shippūden: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX 2
 * Naruto Shippūden: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX 3
 * Naruto Shippūden: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! Special
 * Naruto Shippūden: Legends: Akatsuki Rising
 * Naruto Shippūden: Ninja Council 4
 * Naruto Shippūden: Ninja Destiny 2
 * Naruto Shippūden: Ninja Destiny 3
 * Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja 4
 * Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja 5
 * Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3
 * Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Impact
 * Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2
 * Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3

Quotes

 * (To Kankuro) " Since I don't like to wait or make people wait… I'll end this quickly."
 * (To Kankuro) "For my name to be known all the way down to a kid like you… is an honour."
 * (To Deidara) "What? You call those explosions fine art? Fine art is something wonderful that's left long into the future… eternal beauty."
 * (About Chiyo) "Great puppet masters think alike, I suppose."
 * (To Chiyo) "That is a considerable amount of puppets. But… [Proceeds to summon one hundred puppets of his own] With this, I took down a whole nation!"
 * (About Chiyo and Sakura) "How'll I explain this… How long it took me to take down a little girl and an old hag… That I even had to use my last trick…"
 * (To Haruno Sakura) "Women like to do useless things don't they… Even connected by blood ties as we are, I won't feel a thing if grandma dies here. My heart… is just like this body…"
 * (To Sakura) "Want to try to become like this too? If you do then you'll probably get what I'm saying. A body that does not decay… a puppet body can be rebuilt over and over… unfettered by a mortal lifespan."
 * (To Sakura) "I would describe myself as a human being who could not become a complete puppet, I am an unfinished puppet, whose lifeless frame still contains a beating heart at its core. I am neither dead, nor am I alive."
 * (Upon seeing Kankuro using his puppet body) "My old puppet body… Suddenly it all seems so pointless. I now have the body I've always desired, one that will never rot or decay. I've truly become a puppet in every sense of the word."
 * (To Kankuro) "Kankuro… I want you to have my "Mother" and "Father" Puppets as well… and when you die, pass them both on… to the next generation."

Knownable Relatives

 * Sasori's Mother (Mother/decreased)
 * Sasori's Father (Father/decreased)
 * Chiyo (Grandmother)
 * Ebizo (Granduncle)
 * Komushi (Best Friend/decreased)
 * Kankuro (Successor for looking after his puppets)

Trivia
According to the databook(s):
 * Sasori (蠍) means "scorpion".
 * Sasori had the same birth date as Masashi Kishimoto.
 * Additionally, his birth date (November 8) makes Sasori's Western astrological sign Scorpio, the scorpion. His alias of the Red Sand may carry connotations towards the planet Mars, traditional ruler of the sign.
 * His hobby was remodelling his puppet collection.
 * Sasori wished to fight Monzaemon Chikamatsu.
 * Sasori doesn't need food.
 * Sasori had completed 72 official missions in total: 5 D-rank, 12 C-rank, 16 B-rank, 29 A-rank, 10 S-rank.
 * Sasori's favourite phrase was "Eternal beauty" (永久の美, Eikyū no Utsukushī).
 * Sasori had one of the longest battle times in the anime — spanning approximately 8 episodes — giving him roughly about three hours of battle screen-time.
 * In the first poll he was in (the 6th overall poll), he placed 6th on the list. In the second poll, he placed 8th.
 * Sasori made a brief appearance in the Naruto: Shippuuden episode 129 omake, walking past Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto in a festival, glancing at the latter.
 * Most of Sasori's puppets wore the same clothing: a black cloak with a ruffled collar except his puppets that were used in the Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets technique: their cloaks were red. Also, Hiruko and Sasori were donned in the Akatsuki robes instead.
 * Sasori shares the same English voice actor as Ichigo Kurosaki and Hollow Ichigo from Bleach, Renton Thurson from Eureka Seven/Eureka Seven AO,and Kiba  from Wolf's Rain.

Voice Actresses & Actors

 * Japanese : Takahiro Sakurai (True appearance), Yutaka Aoyama (Hiruko)


 * Japanese voice actress : Akiko Yajima (child)


 * English : Johnny Yong Bosch (True appearance), J.B Blanc (Hiruko)


 * English voice actress : Kari Walgren (child)