“What!?”
Everyone immediately reacted even more strongly to this news than they had to the fact Sasori knew Mina in the first place—though that was to be expected. But still, Sasori had to grit his teeth to deal with them all staring at him in surprise, looking from him to Mina and back as they tried to grasp the situation. It didn’t seem quite real: Sasori having had an apprentice in Sunagakure, then being absolutely fine; no—if anything, happy—with the idea she had come back to see him, let alone the idea of him being determined to get her to stay with him in the Akatsuki. It just wasn’t the kind of thing Sasori would do. He didn’thave attachments to people; puppets were all he knew and cared about. He always said that emotions were nothing to him and that his heart had become like his body, so therefore he wouldn’t have any ties to anyone in this world.
Yet he wanted her to stay.
Right away Deidara knew that Sasori was serious about this, however, even if he could barely believe what he was hearing and seeing. He wasn’t acting different; he was being completely himself. Just wanting Mina included in the atmosphere, evidently. But Deidara could see Sasori was close to her. There had been no big reaction from him in terms of trying to get her to go away, and when he had looked in through the door when Pein had gone to visit them in Sasori's room, he had appeared utterly relaxed in her presence, talking intently in a way Deidara had never seen him be with any other person. They were definitely close, and although it was hard to imagine, Deidara didn’t doubt that Mina had been his apprentice. Sasori really did want her to stay.
What Pein would have to say to that, however, no one was sure.
True, the idea that Sasori had faith in her and she had been his ‘apprentice’—of sorts—did have some value, but was it enough? After all, they couldn’t let just anyone into the Akatsuki; especially not random strangers who just pitched up out of nowhere—even if Sasori did know her. What had happened in the time they had been apart? What had she done? Better yet, what could she do? Even if Pein allowed himself to consider the possibility of letting her into the Akatsuki—and he wasn’t warming up to the idea much—she would need to be good enough that she could help them out. That she would be able to act as a valued member instead of turning out to be a hanger on and weighing them down.
He rubbed his temples; this was completely out of the blue. He’d never imagined this sort of thing occurring, let alone with the likes of Sasori. But he had to do something, and looked back up at Sasori, narrowing his eyes as he stated bluntly,
“Sasori-san, I can’t just let her join. I don’t know anything about her or what she can do. I won’t jeopardise the Akatsuki because of any connections you might have to her—whatever they may be.”
“Mina won’t be a problem, Leader-sama. She won’t interfere; she wouldn’t in the first place and I wouldn’t let her do so. She’ll be able to keep up and she will be able to help. She’s not weak. She can hold her own,” Sasori instantly shot back, never taking his eyes away from Pein.
In that moment Pein knew things were going to be difficult; with the way Sasori was staring so intensely at him, not backing down in the slightest, he knew he wouldn’t be able to deal with this easily. Sasori kept his hand on Mina’s shoulder, standing firmly by her side, and Pein got the feeling that went deeper than just the way they were standing now. He wasn’t going to let Mina simply leave and not be able to see her again. Sasori was set on having her stay with him and keeping her at his side—and he wasn’t afraid to stand up to Pein in order to make that a reality. It wasn’t quite disrespect, and nothing so much along the lines of something, say, Hidan would do, but it was still there.
Pein had to resist the urge to sigh, gritting his teeth in frustration.
But then his eyes swung over Mina. She hadn’t said anything since Sasori had spoken his wishes out loud, and continued to remain silent. In a similar way to Sasori, her eyes were half-lidded in that apathetic, indifferent expression he always wore. But now that the problem as to her future had come up, Pein noted a glimmer of fierceness in her own eyes: in the same way that Sasori wasn’t about to let him just through Mina out, she wasn’t about to let herself get separated from Sasori.
But of course, Pein thought. She’s his apprentice. She respects him, obeys him—that’s already obvious. She worked hard to find his location and came to see him again after this much time apart, and desperate to see him, by the sounds of things. If that’s true, she won’t give up on Sasori so easily. She won’t go without a fight—she’ll do whatever it takes to stay by Sasori's side.
“Pein? What are you going to do?” Konan abruptly cut in quietly from beside him, adding on afterwards, even quieter than before,
“This could turn into a big problem if you’re not careful.”
But he didn’t need Konan to tell him that. He had to keep things civil. He didn’t want it to descend into a situation where Sasori felt it necessary to physically prove he was getting Mina to stay. If he pushed and came across too harsh, Sasori might even state he’d leave and go off with Mina, doing whatever he could to avoid them in order to be able to keep her around. Although Pein didn’t doubt they’d be able to bring him back—it wasn’t Akatsuki policy to let members simply walk out, especially not after Orochimaru—the animosity that would be evident would be huge, and it would only complicate things further. If he was going to get through this, he had to tread carefully.
“Sasori-san. This isn’t about just you, here. This is the entire organization. Maybe it would have been easier if it was just you and Deidara on a mission, but even to begin with—we’re all here. It’s not a decision that can be made just like that. She’s a big blank in terms of who she is and what she can do. I can’t accept that. Coming here to see you is one thing; even if she was staying the night. But indefinitely? I can’t accept that,” Pein eventually began again, slower this time, keeping his eyes trained on Sasori to emphasise what he was trying to get across.
Sasori wasn’t patient, true, but he considered himself at least rational. Reasonable. Alright; maybe he could understand why Pein was saying all this. Both he and Mina could. But if Pein just understood that nothing would go wrong; that Mina was perfectly capable of being an Akatsuki member and that she would simply act as her name suggested; his shadow. Sasori wasn’t asking for more missions for her, for a true initiation or even for her to wear an Akatsuki cloak, if Pein was so set on it. She didn’t need one to work with him.
But Sasori wasn’t about to back down without Pein realising this.
“Leader-sama—why not let her fight? Show what she can do? Sasori says that she’s powerful enough to be on par with all of us, but if you doubt it, why not let her show you herself?”
Flinging his gaze round to the source, Pein was met with Itachi's cool, calm gaze, narrowing his eyes at the proposition. Was it really wise? Was it worth it? If he gave in, it might drag this whole situation out. But then he glanced round at the faces around him and hid a scowl. They were all nodding along; eyes bright at the idea of seeing her abilities when Sasori seemed to hold her so highly in his opinion. Everyone appeared up for the idea—and Pein knew there was no backing out as Deidara said with a smile,
“Yeah! Let her prove herself, un!”
So with no other choice—with no one else willing to go against this idea—Pein turned to Mina and stated simply,
“Fine. Let me see what you can do, Minarai.”
