Mina allowed a smirk to flash onto her face, hearing Sasori's words, and glanced once again into his eyes, glad to see the determination there and sighing inwardly in relief. It wouldn’t have mattered what Sasori's words had been; she would have tried to stay around him anyway—but to know that he was willing to let her stay and was going to make sure she’d get to remain with him was a big respite for Mina. A few memories of how things had been in Sunagakure flashed through her mind, remembering how they had hung out together and how things had generally been, and a warm, almost glowing feeling fell over Mina, knowing that they would be able to do the same now, even if the Akatsuki changed things a little.
With that thought in mind, Mina stepped back, heading over to his bed to take a seat, curling her legs underneath her as she glanced over at what Sasori had been working on. Naturally, she enjoyed watching him work and always had done. It made sense that that fact hadn’t changed over time, and smirking at her sitting there, just like usual sitting down with such grace and posture, Sasori went back to his desk, though slightly more turned towards Mina as she began simply,
“So how’s your collection going?”
Smiling once more at her blunt beginning to the conversation, though grateful for it, Sasori started to explain a little, saying how his puppet skills had improved and how many puppets he had collected since she’d last seen him. But hearing him, Mina was a little shocked; the number going into the hundreds only proved that they had a lot to catch up on, and a part of her hesitated as she sat there. A lot had changed, after all. He was sitting there working in this organization—the Akatsuki—and the red clouds on his cloak wouldn’t let her forget it. He’d done so much with his abilities, and probably knew his partner in the Akatsuki better than he did her. When it came down to it, she had only been in Sunagakure—only been his apprentice and his friend—for six months. Did she truly have a place in his life any more?
Should she have just cut her losses when she saw him earlier?
But Sasori had welcomed her back. He was glad to see her—and after asking…he had promised he would let her stay. He wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t want her around. Mina could sit there and say that he was only doing this because he felt bad for her and felt obligated to let her stay, but she knew Sasori. That kind of thing wasn’t like him—if he didn’t want her around, he’d say it. He wouldn’t hesitate to tell her he couldn’t let her stay, even if she wanted it. And she had spent enough time with him, even in those six months in Sunagakure, to understand his body language; his emotions—or what was left of them. The look in his eyes had been utterly genuine when he had said all that.
So what if they had a lot to catch up on? It had been a long time since they had seen each other, so that was obvious. It would just mean they would have to spend more time together to catch up. And as for his partner knowing Sasori better than she did…Mina knew that wasn’t true. Though she hadn’t exactly spent a lot of time analysing the Akatsuki or its members, she doubted they were all best friends, hanging out and doing things in their spare time with each other. It was mostly for work, and that was it—if they managed to get along, then all the better. But it was their abilities that were the focus on this organization. But regardless of how little time they had known each other, they had spent more time together. They had hung out more and had a stronger connection—Mina didn’t doubt she understood Sasori better. They had a lot in common, and were similar in many ways.
No; she didn’t have to be worried about that, either.
So they kept talking, at least getting a little head start in terms of catching up on the numerous years they had missed in each other’s lives. They both had their own stories, they knew, and it was clear it was going to be an interesting tale on both sides, but neither Mina nor Sasori were intent on getting it told as soon as possible. So much had happened so fast—Mina was still trying to get to grips on the fact that she had now left behind all of the life she had been living through a few hours earlier to be sitting with Sasori now all over again—and it almost seemed strange to be doing this. Not that it felt wrong…but it was weirdly unreal.
Not that either of them had much time to think on it, as a few moments later there was a firm knock on the door, and Pein came through instantly afterwards. Taking in both Sasori and Mina, narrowing his eyes at her presence in the room, Pein turned fully to Sasori, stating bluntly,
“Sasori-san; I’d like an update please. I just got told that someone came and asked to speak to you—but I know no subordinates are around. So who is she?”
Sasori stood to properly face Pein, and Mina followed in order to suitably meet him; she had known this was going to come at some point or other. The entirety of the Akatsuki were here, and she was a stranger. To have just walked in and gone to see Sasori, obviously someone would have come to check things out, and things needed to be explained: especially the fact that, according to Sasori, Mina would now be staying. Sasori had made his decision, however, knowing he wanted Mina to stay, and placing his hand on her shoulder, glancing from her to Pein—as well as noting a few faces at the doorway—he replied,
“Her name is Minarai, Leader-sama. She’s the one who called to me earlier today. She’s my apprentice. My Kage Ayatsuri-ningyō.”
For a moment after he finished, silence fell, with no one able to come up with a response to that—not even Pein. No sounds came from the faces at the doorway, simply eyes blinking in shock and confusion. No one would have expected for Sasori to have kept any connections to his former village; he no longer wore his headband, never spoke of the village or the people he used to know—even though Deidara was pretty sure he still had a grandmother there—so to have welcomed Mina in to the hideout like this…it was a little unexpected. The idea of Sasori even having taken on an apprentice when he was in Sunagakure to begin with was strange, but to agree to hang out when he was in the Akatsuki having been gone from the village for decades?
Though as they looked at her, they could see she fit in with him. In the same way he was eternally young, even with him being 35 years old, she seemed to be similarly young—almost artificially so. Without sounding unoriginal, it was as if Sasori himself had made Mina, but she had gained a life of her own along the way; or maybe she was a living puppet, like he was? With the way Sasori treated her, so carefully and so amicably, it didn’t seem so strange that that could have happened.
But knowing where this was going; how many questions there were going to be and—if he was going to get Mina to stay—how much he was going to have to do, Sasori turned to Mina and told her to stay put. There was no point getting her involved in all the debates and discussions that were to follow, and though she protested, he threw her a look, and rolling her eyes, scowling she threw her hands up and gave in, turning away to sit back on the bed as Sasori stepped forward towards Pein. Gesturing towards the door, Pein nodded, both of them leaving to find themselves standing in the corridor surrounded by the rest of the Akatsuki as Sasori shut the door behind him.
He glared at all the eyes staring back at him.
This was going to take a while.
And he was going to hate every minute of it…
