As Deidara led the way down the corridors to the lounge in order to meet the others, Mikansei was a little nervous, it was true. She was supposed to be working for them, and creating an enemy in an organization she was really looking forward to completing missions for wasn’t something she was trying to do in the slightest. But at the same time, she knew there was nothing she could do now. Leader had accepted her into the Akatsuki, and she could be nothing but herself when meeting the rest of the group—if there was something about her that they didn’t like, changing her personality couldn’t be possible to make things better.
If anything, it would probably create an enemy with someone else.
Shaking it off, Mikansei concentrated on the exciting, curiosity and longing part to her mental state, simply waiting for it all to happen as the corridor branched off into the lounge ahead. True, there was always going to be something in the back of her mind to begin with that would make her anxious, and her muscles tensed in case of any action. Tanju had treated her badly; like a servant, and that was what had caused her to break free and kill him—though the worry that it might happen again hadn’t fullyleft her yet.
But then she glanced back at Sasori as they all entered the room, her eyes making contact with Sasori's own intense gaze, and everything slipped away. They had been kind to her from the beginning. Yes; it was in a strange way, considering they were S-class criminals, but from what she had come from, they had treated her fairly and perfectly well. Afterwards they had gone on to give her a job and ultimately an income and a place to stay, asking if she was alright and offering help when it was needed for her. Tanju hadn’t done anything to treat her well from the start; the murder of her parents was evidence enough for that. But Deidara and Sasori had. With how their reputations were, there would have been no need to show fake kindness at the beginning to draw her in—Mikansei hadn’t been who they were looking for in the first place.
This was the new chapter in her life, and pushing away the doubts in her head, she knew there was no point to thinking about the past. Tanju was dead, and this was going to be much better than anything she could have experienced before, and she was going to work as hard as she could to keep it that way. Sasori noted the change in her eyes; the fierceness that had begun to flare into life there, and found himself smirking in return, unable to take his eyes away. Unlike it had been, Mikansei would fit in perfectly here and truly be able to show what she could do, and what caught him out the most was how willing she was to work hard for it.
Eventually, her gaze broke away from his own to turn to the room, taking in the people and then bowing instantly. Some were easy to recognise *ahem* Itachi *ahem*, and with Deidara's...vague...descriptions, the rest fell into place just as easily. Frowning in confusion in response to this new arrival, the rest of the Akatsuki did nothing but blink in surprise, turning silently to Deidara and Sasori to question as to who she was and what she was doing bowing to them all. They weren’t about to disregard the fact she was bowing respectfully to them, but most subordinates wouldn’t do what she was doing, and she was clearly more important than that with how she had been brought into the hideout.
Sasori took the initiative and stepped closer to her, nudging her gently on the shoulder to whisper quietly in her ear,
“It’s okay, Mikansei-chan. You don’t need to bow like this. They’re your colleagues now.”
Straightening up slowly, she glanced at all of them, but still remained a little too shy to fully focus on any of their eyes, unsure what to do next. Introducing herself utterly out of the question, she looked over to the others to see what would occur now, only for Sasori to speak up with a sigh,
“Everyone, this is Mikansei Doku. She...is our new member.”
Now everyone really paid attention, coming closer a few steps to ask whether they had heard right. She was young-looking, though very pretty, and carried an innocent ambience around her. Shy, but still confident enough to show her respect and face them all once they moved forward, the story of how she had been found and what she had done to earn a place was quickly told by Deidara. A flicker of disbelief, however, did stay on a few faces, considering whether or not Mikansei was entirely honest—her appearance didn’t fully support her claims, to say the least.
Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Sasori paused for a few more seconds, knowing if they didn’t shut the hell up soon he was going to do something. From her perspective it was a large number of tall, muscled guys crowding round her and asking accusatory questions, and there was no need for it. What reason would she have to lie? Both he and Deidara had seen what she could do first hand regardless, so they had no right to say what they were. His anger rising the more they continued with their queries, all noise was cut short as a quiet voice said softly,
“Doku? As in the clan?”
Having felt herself wavering a bit with everything they were saying, Mikansei had stayed in silence, waiting for something; anything, that would allow her to prove them wrong. If she had to spar with one of them in her current condition, she would—she wanted to stay in the Akatsuki that much. But as this guy’s voice cut through the voices, she turned to face the person she had recognised almost immediately: Itachi Uchiha. Quiet and solemn, he needed no other traits to create an aura that brought mystery and uncertainty with him. Hearing his question, and thankful that there was something she could answer easily, she responded just as softly,
“Yes. I carry the same abilities as those before me.”
To prove this statement, Mikansei allowed her eyes to cloud over, and narrowing his eyes in interest at that fact, the tension was released; it was shown she could back up her claims. At this the others merely introduced themselves and chatted casually towards her, welcoming her—in a left-handed way—into the group. Smirking at that fact, you replied in the same way, pausing only to turn to Itachi once more and incline your head slightly in thanks for moving things along. Spotting it, Itachi simply smirked in reply and returned to his former conversation, his interest in you still around, however. Your training hadn’t been normal—combined with your clan’s talents...that no doubt made you a formidable opponent.
Sasori knew it too.
Keeping his focus on Itachi, noticing the nod she gave him in thanks for his actions, he snapped his head round to look at her once again a moment later, his anger returning. That was so typical of Itachi. Doing one tiny thing and coming out of it like he had done something much more grand and amazing than that. Getting Mikansei’s respect by calming the atmosphere; but anyone could have done it. Of course, it just had to be him.
Integrating himself into the conversation she was now having with Kakuzu and Kisame about her clan, Sasori nodded and smiled in response to her own smile as he joined. But even with the topic, explaining a little more about what had happened when they had first met, thoughts about Itachi flashed through his mind every now and again, making his temper resurface just when he thought it had returned to the depths of his emotions. But he couldn’t help it—even he himself didn’t know what he was thinking or why he was thinking it. He didn't know what he was feeling or why he was feeling it.
But all that mattered was that Mikansei was his partner...
He had been the one to find her and convince her to join....
And Itachi had nothing to do with it.
He’d make sure of that.
YOU ARE READING
