All of the Akatsuki's gazes immediately flung round to face the voice.
Especially Sasori's.
That voice…it might have been years, and he might have dismissed all those memories to the back of his mind. He might have brushed aside Sunagakure and everything that had happened there as well as the people. But he hadn’t been able to do it with everything. He hadn’t been able to do it with her. And he’d spent enough time with Mina, talked with her and hung out with her enough, then remembered those times numerously afterwards as he left Sunagakure and went on with his life, to recognise her voice—even if it was only for just a moment like it had been then. Even if it was nothing; even if it was just a mistake, a minor detail that meant nothing and he wouldn’t consider the moment he saw it; he automatically looked and searched for the source.
Those three ninjas were passing in front of the buildings, same as they had been before. Nothing had changed in the circumstances; so what had it been? Who had called out, and how in the hell did they know him? He narrowed his eyes, along with all the other Akatsuki, scanning around as the doors began to close—but there was nothing. He might have told himself he’d heard it in his head if it wasn’t for the fact that all of the Akatsuki had heard it too. Frowning, not liking the idea of this having happened, he glanced around one more time, only now noticing something that was different.
It was barely a glance; the doors to the buildings were practically shut, only a couple of inches allowing Sasori to see through and out into the forest ahead. He could just about see the three ninjas, still walking; but it was only now that he realised that it was just two that were moving. The third had stopped, and it was this third ninja that had turned to face the buildings. In the second before the doors closed, Sasori's eyes passed over the ninja’s own—and for a moment he was caught in a memory. Those same eyes…that same colour, the shape, the size…all things he’d seen before…things that were utterly familiar in the same way the voice had been. The only familiar things he liked to hold onto in his current life.
But it couldn’t be…could it?
Then everything caught up again, back in real time, the doors closing with a bang and shutting out what Sasori had seen. For a moment he continued to gaze at the spot, wondering about so many things; when Deidara's voice cut into his thoughts:
“Who was calling you, un?”
Sasori quickly began to think of an excuse—a way to get around telling the truth, when it occurred t him he didn’t have to. There was no need to say anything but the truth, prompting him to answer simply,
“I’m not sure.”
As Kisame and Kakuzu rejoined the rest, Pein paused as he contemplated all that had gone on. But nothing had happened. No one had seen anything and Sasori hadn’t exactly spotted and recognised anyone. Whoever had called out had most likely heard of him somehow; maybe another missing nin from Sunagakure. They’d mentioned his name, but had nothing else to say about it—so they left. No one had approached them afterwards, he couldn’t sense anything, and he doubted anyone would try anything considering they were all here in force. No; he brushed the idea off—there was nothing to think about. They were here for a reason, and they were going to carry it out.
So they all headed off again to go inside the nearest building, spreading out to look around, and Sasori joined in. Pein had been right, and shaking his head, Sasori frowned at the idea of thinking anything else. So what if they had looked similar? Plenty of things looked similar. There were tons of people out there who had brown eyes, so it wouldn’t exactly be a rarity to find someone who had them. And considering how different people could look, it was certainly a possibility that they could have similar features, as well. The same went for the voice. He probably was reacting like this because his head automatically went for something familiar to connect it with. Regardless of what it was that would have been alike, Sasori would have picked it out because—
Because it’s what he wanted.
Although he knew Pein was right, and had accepted that as he went about the mission, searching through the buildings, it wasn’t quite as simple as that. Sasori wanted to have been able to pick someone out as having called his name; spotted them and gone over. He wanted not to have seen a glance of similarities…but a full-blown look of the exact same thing. No changes, no nothing. He was disappointed in what had happened. Sasori didn’t care about a lot of things; his emotions practically gone through his ninja training, and enhanced by his puppet body. He had wanted it that way; easier to forget and get rid of all the things that had caused him pain and made things harder for him in life. For the most part he had gotten rid of those he had known in Sunagakure; tossed them aside and left them behind.
But somehow…he couldn’t do it to Mina.
Though as he twitched his fingers to move Hiruko forward he knew why. She was a part of him now. Sasori never passed a thought to the likes of his grandmother or his former teammates, yes, but it wasn’t that way with Mina. All it took was a certain something to remind him. But without Mina, so much wouldn’t have happened. He wouldn’t be who he was—in so many ways. He had wanted it to be her standing on the other side of those gates. Yes, they’d gone on that mission back when they’d both been in Sunagakure. Yes, it had ended up in her death and it had remained that way all these years, so the idea that Mina was alive…
But he frowned and gritted his teeth. He was getting in way over his head here. Emotions weren’t something Sasori allowed himself to get overwhelmed by in the slightest. He couldn’t get rid of them fully, no matter how hard he tried, but for the most part they were compartmentalised away, like his heart was. He couldn’t be thinking like he was. Like he’d just thought; Mina had died on that mission when they’d been ninjas in Sunagakure. And so what? So what if he was disappointed in what had just gone on? So what if he had wanted it to be her that he’d seen? It hadn’t been. That was the way it was. He couldn’t live in the past—he didn’t want to. It was what Sasori had to accept.
Though it wasn’t that way for Mina.
She didn’t need to live in the past—her past was her present now she knew what she did. She’d known he was alive; she’d seen Sunagakure and heard it all. She’d heard rumours as she travelled, learnt a few things…but it was never enough. Never enough to truly figure out where he was and find him. And there was always that part of Mina that wondered whether she should even try; so much had changed since then. But either way, as Mina continued her life, she’d never found Sasori, regardless of how she’d wanted to meet up with him. But her chance meeting wasn’t as uncertain as Sasori's was. She knew it was him. The rest of the world didn’t matter anymore. What she’d done, who she’d worked for…who cared? She’d found Sasori.
And that was all that mattered now.
