Mikansei barely noticed the journey after that.
All she could focus on was how different things were; and how much better that made things. It almost made her feel like taking on the persona—saying to herself—that she would never let herself get like that again. That if anyone tried to trap her in that sort of situation, she’d fight back and get out of it straight away. Of course, it did depend on a lot of things; Tanju had got to her when she was young, and as it had affected her so much, it had stopped her from breaking free. If a certain circumstance was brought to attention and abused, then it was possible for something to go wrong, it was true.
But she wasn’t about to let that happen now.
Which is why she was a lot happier as she walked along with the both of them. Sasori was beginning to share the same sort of feeling after having her take his side. He would never have imagined it would get to him the way it was now—making him feel so uplifted—but he wasn’t about to change that fact. It had been a long time since he’d felt like this, so why bother to try and fight back against it? True, he wasn’t overly certain of what was going on inside his head or with his body around Mikansei, in the same way she wasn’t certain what was happening with her. But if it was making this sort of effect happen, then they were all for disregarding that fact and merely focusing on what it was doing, not why it was happening.
The journey didn’t take much longer after that, and soon they arrived at the small shed of a building that served as the makeshift hideout for the group. Halting, they all headed into the nearby trees to stay hidden, needing to think about the plan instead of attacking out of the blue and improvising. Deidara was more than willing to do the latter, of course, but with Sasori and Mikansei thinking it was best to make a plan, he was outnumbered and followed, pouting at the idea. There was no point wasting time, there were three of them and the ninja weren’t even particularly strong; why the need for planning? It riled Deidara up to the point where he burst out—albeit quietly to avoid any arguments,
“But danna, why bother, un? We pretty much have all the advantages here, and you hate waiting or keeping people waiting, so why do you insist on sitting here wasting time making a plan, un?”
Turning round to glare over at Deidara, Sasori scowled at him and responded patronisingly slowly,
“Because now we have an extra person, not to mention the fact that it’s really what the mission is about, we have to use teamwork, and ultimately, as this if the first time we’ve fought together, it’s best we plan, instead of using your ridiculous methods of fighting!”
Rolling his eyes, Deidara crossed his arms and faced away from them both, once again glaring and pouting at the surrounding trees. He had nothing against Mikansei, but Sasori insisted on being an asshole to him with whatever he said, and eventually he murmured darkly under his breath,
“And you’re only doing it because it’s Mikansei, un. If it were anyone else, you wouldn’t bother. But no....”
Freezing, Sasori was stuck half way between angry and confused. Sure, he got on well with Mikansei, and yeah, there were times when he wasn’t sure what was going on with his head when he dealt with her, but it wasn’t over the top. If there had been another ninja who they had had to work with, he would have planned in the same way. Wouldn’t he? But at the same time anger was rising within him at Deidara having said that, when he should have just kept his big mouth shut. Mikansei had heard it too, and now she probably thought it, when it wasn’t even true. He wasn’t about to have her consider him differently because of something Deidara said, and clenching his fists, began to move forward to rip that stupid mouth of his right off his face, when Mikansei took a step for him, saying quietly,
“If you come over here, Deidara-san, I can tell you the plan now that Sasori and I have figured it out, and then we can get going, right, Sasori? It’s better this way.”
It wasn’t because it would reveal your position that you didn’t want an argument to start. It was because of what Deidara had said. The idea that it was you that had influenced the decision Sasori made, made you sort of smug, and you had to smother the smirk that threatened to flicker onto your face. Plus, Sasori reacted as if the comment had affected him, which only enhanced the feeling that had appeared before. So you had broken up the argument; but realising what you were doing, you shook it off and actually started telling Deidara the plan instead of just standing there. Yes, you felt a little smug at what he had said, but you had a mission to concentrate on.
Something that had always been a number one priority for you for the majority of your life.
Having finished explaining the plan to Deidara, you all nodded in agreement with each other and stepped out from your cover, heading slowly and quietly over to the building to get things started. Taking up places at each available exit after taking care of any windows, Deidara made a few bombs (I’m sorry—masterpieces J) and got them inside of the building, finding where all of the ninjas were, and checking one last time with Sasori and Mikansei, he began setting them off when everything was ready.
Instantly jumping up upon seeing—and feeling—the bombs, they grabbed their weapons and headed for any way out of the building. It all went to plan, of course; the windows being unable to open, and with Deidara's sculptures going off behind them, they ran for the obvious exits, only to find Sasori and Mikansei waiting for them once they got out. Within seconds they had both rounded them up into one area, grouping together to easily defeat them from there. Even Deidara had to admit that the plan was pretty good and went pretty well.
Though in his head.
But seeing as all of the ninjas were dead, and their mission was complete, they relaxed for a little while, everyone agreeing that they really did work together. Work had always been an integral part of Mikansei’s life, and to know that she could do so well with someone she considered very close to her strangely meant a lot. She’d be the first to admit she had a strong work ethic, but when around people that were easy to fight; and get along with—something that Mikansei had to hide a smirk at as she glanced over at Sasori with her face heating up like before—then it made it better than any work she had ever done with Tanju.
Then eventually they decided to head off straight away after a little bit of rest. It took barely an hour—maybe a little more—to get back to the Akatsuki hideout, so why not head back now when there was nothing more to do? And with that, you got up from your positions of lounging around on the floor and began to walk back, Mikansei only pausing as she noticed one of her kunai on the floor near the building.
Glancing over at the other two, she told them to go on, just needing to pick it up, and nodding in agreement; they walked onwards, leaving Mikansei alone in the clearing. Everything felt pretty good—though the only thing that marred this situation was the pain that shot up her arms as she bent down to pick up the kunai. More wounds appeared over her arms, and though they weren’t obvious through the bandages, she knew they were there, and that the others probably hadn’t faded with time either.
Why was it that every time she got a piece of happiness, there was always something that came back to remind her?
And how would she hide it from Sasori now?
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