How the mission situations in Sunagakure had ended up like they had, Sasori still didn’t know.
He already had his team, and was assigned his different missions where needed, just like every other Sunagakure ninja around. He was in the puppet corps, as per his abilities, and that was where he stayed. Mina’s abilities were impressive, true, no one was about to deny it; that had been evident from the moment Sasori had told the story of how he had come to meet her, and there had been no doubt she would be ranked highly as a ninja in the village. Sasori had worked alongside her as she regained her full strength and fully revealed all she could truly do—even if he was no longer going to be killing her and making her into a puppet for his collection, he still admired them.
Somehow along the line, because he had been so interested in Mina’s power, Sasori had ended up training with her. It had been a way to truly experience them, see them in different situations and compare them with his own. And yet, in an unusual way, they had complimented his. They worked together in a way that allowed for perfect teamwork, increased power and speed. That fact hadn’t exactly then changed when Mina had started following Sasori around; she had begun learning about the puppet master jutsu, what Sasori could do and basically became his apprentice. It meant she understood his abilities even more, and with how their relationship bettered in between, teamwork became easier than it already had been at the start.
Mina had supposed to have been allocated onto a team and sent off to do her own missions the same as everyone else once she became accustomed to the village, knew her way around and had adapted herself to life in Sunagakure. But she herself had changed things round a little. She had followed on behind Sasori, regardless of where he went—and that included missions. At first they had tried to stop her, making sure she stayed behind; but Mina always found a way to escape and catch up, acting like a magnet and always returning to Sasori. No matter what they did, nothing worked, and Sasori protested that maybe they should allow her to come. Nobody minded, she helped out whenever she could and never slowed things down, she wasn’t desperately needed anywhere else—
And they couldn’t stop her, either way.
So she had ended up on Sasori's team, his apprentice; his protégé. Others found it a little unusual that they often didn’t speak, though they were supposed to be so close to each other, but his teammates knew better. That silence meant something; it was as important as conversation to them. Without speaking, they knew what each other wanted; what they were going to do. If there was something wrong, they’d sense it right away from the moment they appeared, and would turn to the other and try to make things better. It was one of many reasons they worked so well together.
The mission that day hadn’t been too much of challenge.
Sure, it was a little over the level of an average, run-of-the-mill mission, but nothing Sasori couldn’t have handled on his own, let alone with Mina with him as well. She was a very talented ninja, her abilities having developed even over the time she had been in Sunagakure, and Sasori was slowly shedding his human shell, ready to become as close to his artwork as he could get. Nothing about the day had suggested anything would be different to how things had been the last few, and so both of them had continued as normal with their routines as they had gotten up, gathered what was ready and headed to the Kage’s building to get the mission.
Neither of them had reacted to hearing what it was, and neither of them had needed to say much as they left with the rest of the team. The journey, just like everything else, had been a simple one. They had mentioned things about the mission, but for the most part it had been relatively relaxing, Sasori and Mina hovering side by side like they usually did and talking here and there. What was there to think about? It was completely normal and nothing about it was different or difficult. It had then been about an hour after they had stopped for a lunch break that they had finally arrived at the mission area, and it was there that they halted to recap on what the mission was about and make a plan.
They needed to take down these ninjas, and starting off, they began to do so, regrouping when each task was done. As Mina had come back from taking down another set of ninjas, she crouched down next to her teammates, looking over the map, and checking over the geography of the area she paused, narrowing her eyes. An idea flickered through her mind, and glancing up, she murmured softly,
“I’ve got an idea. Continue on with everything else—don’t follow me. I’ll be back in an hour or so. I know what I’m doing,” before disappearing silently into the trees. Sasori called out after her, guessing where she was headed, but knew she was gone, and scowling, he turned back to the others. He knew what she was like—but he knew her abilities, too. There were other things to concentrate on, as well, and he forced himself to focus on those. But he couldn’t do that a while later.
Not when Mina didn’t come back.
He trusted her; he did, but at the same time…it didn’t stop that slight worry rising in the pit of his stomach. It didn’t stop him from continually glancing at the trees, wondering where she was, waiting for when she would coalesce from the darkness to reveal what she’d done and how it had been successful. But nothing ever seemed to occur. And they couldn’t hang around in the forest forever. They had to move back to a safer area before they could end the mission—they wouldn’t hold the advantage if they pressed on now. They held on as much as they could, for Sasori's sake, but eventually they had to speak up, stating simply,
“Come on, Sasori-sama. Mina-chan can take care of herself. We’re not leaving completely, anyway—we’ll still be here in the morning. And we’ll be heading down there, too. She’ll be fine; you know she will. If she can handle walking alone through the desert…”
Sasori stared blankly ahead of him, but finally nodded and went along with their words. He couldn’t sleep, however, lying there with his senses on full alert for any footsteps that might reveal Mina return. They never came, though, instead leaving him fully awake to hear something else—something he really didn’t want to hear: an explosion. An explosion that woke everyone else up, and after glancing at each other, hesitating at what to do, they made the decision to head towards it. They found the headquarters, only all in rubble now—clearly showing their mission to be over. No one could have survived that. But in the same way…what about Minarai? Sasori continued on, walking through the rubble, calling out until the sun began to rise—but he never got an answer.
He had almost wanted to smirk. A few months earlier he had wanted to kill her and turn her into a puppet—now look at him; mourning her death and wishing for things to be different. For her to still be alive. How in the hell could it have happened? Her nickname was Kage Ayatsuri-ningyō because she’d always followed him around—been right beside him. And yet this time…this time she’d been on her own. She left his sight for such a small period of time and this happened? He should have been more careful. Only there was nothing he could do about it now. It was times like this he wanted to be as cold and hard as his puppets—to not have to feel a thing. But when he turned and rejoined his teammates, he’d made his decision. He went back to Sunagakure—and soon after he was gone, the Third Kazekage disappeared, and he was in the Akatsuki.
And he did it alone.
