Despite being a fun, shonen story about the exciting adventure of ninjas, Naruto is filled with tons of sad stories. From the terrible childhood of the titular character, to the countless devastating stories from the other characters in the series, everybody seems to have sorrowful stories to tell.
That is doubly true for the members of the Akatsuki. After all, every single one of them are outcasts who fled their respective village in disgrace. Not only that, they are also criminals who have killed countless people and caused so much destruction all around the world. However, there is one particular member of Akatsuki that arguably led a much more tragic life than the rest. His name is Sasori, and this is a brief outlook into his life.
Lonely Childhood And Mastery of Kugutsu
Sasori is a ninja from the Village Hidden by The Sand, also known as Sunagakure. He comes from a long-line family of Ninja. As a matter of fact, his grandmother, Chiyo, is considered to be one of the most dangerous ninjas from Sunagakure. She is a master of kugutsutsukai (Puppet Master Jutsu), and it is said that in her heyday, Chiyo can destroy an entire city on her own.
Unfortunately, Sasori’s parents are not as skilled as his grandmother. Make no mistake, they are still highly capable ninjas, but their individual strength is nothing to write home about. And on one fateful day, both of them lose their lives during a heated battle. Sasori was still a young boy at the time, so losing both parents at the same time is terribly devastating to him.
During this terrible time, Chiyo tries to teach Kugutsu to Sasori in order to cheer him up a little. Much to her surprise, Sasori turns out to be much more talented than she ever expected. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t take a long time for Sasori to master Chiyo’s puppet techniques. As the years goes by, he quickly becomes one of the strongest Kugutsu users in the village and tackles all kinds of difficult missions with his custom-made puppets, which earned him the moniker Sasori of the Red Sand.
Abandoning the Village and Developing Human Puppets
As time goes by, Sasori becomes more and more obsessed with puppets. He strives to create puppets that are not only capable in combat, but can also live forever. The loss of his parents leaves such a big hole in his heart, which is why he wants to create something that will always be there with him.
Sasori even made puppets that looked extremely like his late parents, but unfortunately, those things can never fill the gap in his heart. He ended up feeling lonelier than ever. So he tries to make a puppet that is more life-like instead. Something that is indistinguishable from a living human. That desire is what led him to develop a technique called Hitokugutsu, or the art of turning a human's corpse into a puppet. This technique allowed him to create a life-like puppet that can use the unique jutsu of the original body, which makes hitokugutsu way superior to any other ninja puppets.
Sasori experimented with countless human bodies, both from Suna and from other places, in order to perfect his new technique. He even goes as far as stealing the corpse of the strongest Kazekage in history, the third Kazekage. The piles of crimes finally stacked so high that Sasori ended up becoming a fugitive. So he decided to leave his hometown for good.
Becoming a Living Puppet and Joining The Akatsuki
After becoming a fugitive, Sasori immersed himself even more into his hitokugutsu research. He even went as far as experimenting on himself, and basically turned his body into a living puppet. Thanks to this, Sasori finally manages to obtain an undying body that he’s been dreaming of all this time.
At a certain point during his life as a wanted criminal, Sasori is recruited by the Akatsuki. Since then, he’s been active as their member and completed all kinds of missions for them. From assassination to espionage, there’s no job that he won’t do. At first, he is paired up with Orochimaru, but when the snake man betrays the organization and flees, Sasori’s new partner is the clay bomber Deidara. And they’ve been a dynamic duo until Sasori meets his demise.
Eventual Demise, Twice
Sasori actually lost his life twice. The first time he dies is when he faces off against his grandmother, Chiyo, and Sakura after the Akatsuki kidnapped Gaara. After an intense battle, Sakura and Chiyo manage to destroy the only living parts of Sasori’s puppet body.
The second time is when Kabuto brings him back from the dead with Edo Tensei Jutsu during the 4th Great Ninja War. As a living corpse, Sasori is supposed to have an indestructible body. Unfortunately for Kabuto, Sasori accidentally meets Kankuro, who is now using Sasori’s original puppet body against him.
Sasori actually tries to hurt Kankuro at first, but then Kankuro says to him that through the puppets that he had meticulously made during his life, and the Kugutsu technique that he has (unintentionally) passed on to the next generation, Sasori has gained an immortality in its purest sense. Hearing that, Sasori is finally at peace with himself, and quietly passes on to the afterlife, with a smile on his face.