“So I’m guessing I’ll be fighting one of you, then?” Mina responded casually, glancing round at the Akatsuki.
She wasn’t particularly bothered by the suggestion. Alright; she’d admit it, they were all powerful ninjas, even if fighting alone, and she couldn’t tell just how the fight would turn out. But she knew she was powerful as well, and she would do everything within that power to fight back and attempt to win the battle. It’s not as if she was helpless. It’s not as if she needed Sasori to do everything for her—something she got the feeling some of the Akatsuki thought. Just as Sasori had said, Mina could handle herself. If it meant she had to fight one of the Akatsuki to prove it, then she sure as hell would. It was why she didn’t lower her gaze, meeting their eyes squarely whenever any of them turned to look at her. There was nothing she had to hide.
Sasori himself wasn’t about to protest to this idea. He knew just like Mina did that she could fight, and fight well. True, it had been a while since he had seen her fight, but considering she had been fifteen then and was now thirty-five, her abilities had no doubt improved greatly. Though he wouldn’t be able to state with one hundred percent certainty that Mina would win the battle—especially considering Pein could pick the likes of Itachi as her opponent, and Sasori knew just how incredible a ninja he could be—but he was certain enough that she could hold her own. She didn’t need him to act as back up or support her; standing by her side as she fought and telling her exactly what she had to do in order to win—this was something she could do alone.
It was just a matter of who it was going to be that was left unknown.
This was left to Pein. Now that the idea had been brought up, and he knew it was being carried out, he found himself starting to warm up to it slightly. If Sasori was willing to accept her as his ‘apprentice’, then surely she had some worth as a ninja. Was it the puppet master jutsu once again? Or something more interesting…more unique? It would certainly be interesting to find out, anyway, and so he would have to pick an opponent for her—though trying to remain aloof about the situation throughout. He couldn’t just immediately say that if Mina won this then she’d been accepted into the Akatsuki; there were other things to be taken into account. Weren’t there? A huge portion of what he had said was a problem was that he doubted Mina would have the power to keep up with them all and be able to fight if the situation arose.
But if she did win…then right away, for the Akatsuki, it would be enough to let her join.
He now looked over his shoulder at the rest of the Akatsuki standing there, and immediately suggestions began to arise as to who the best opponent would be. Hidan was desperate for it to be him, practically yelling at the top of his voice that he was the best choice, voices overlapping as others either suggested themselves or someone else they thought would be the most suitable opponent. Pein, of course, wasn’t about to be Mina’s opponent himself—he was going to be watching the fight from the sidelines, and he wanted to be able to analyse everything he saw without having to think about fighting as well. But still…any of them could fight her, considering he didn’t know about her abilities, and he just wanted to see what she could do…though he couldn’t exactly think of someone when all this noise was occurring—causing him to call a halt to everything.
Once everything was quiet, Pein once again returned to his musings as to who it would be—only for Deidara to speak up simply,
“Hey, Leader-sama, un! Let me fight her! I know danna’s abilities, so it’ll be more of a challenge for her—and if she does join, she’ll be partnered with me as well as Sasori-danna. She’ll need to know what my abilities are and what I can do, un!”
At first Pein had immediately tried to push Deidara's voice from his mind, not wanting to have to listen to the same thing all over again. But as his words finally wriggled their way into his brain, Pein realised that they might not be so ridiculous. True, Deidara desired to fight Mina in the same way Hidan did…but his reasons were certainly more feasible…and did actually make sense. Even if Pein was still not fully on board with the idea of letting Mina join, the fact that she’d need to know his abilities was a good point—as well as the fact it would be a challenge for her. Taking into account she was Sasori's apprentice, then she was weaker than him; so she would have to work harder to defeat him. And he couldn’t deny that the idea of watching this fight was starting to grow on him, even if the consequences weren’t something he was sure of, and as such, after a minute or two of silence, Pein finally responded quietly,
“Alright. Deidara-san—you will be Mina-chan’s opponent.”
His eyes lighting up at the possibility, Deidara grinned, ready for anything, walking down the corridor to the exit quickly. He wanted to get started right away, and that meant finding a good place for a battleground. What Mina could do, he didn’t know. But he sure as hell would counter whatever it was she threw at him.
Of course, Pein thought wearily. Mina is Sasori's disciple—she agrees with his view on art. Deidara, however, considers it the opposite, and though it might not be Sasori he’s fighting, if it means defeating even a disciple of his, Deidara's willing to do it, and do it with a smile on his face. A way to get back at him—to get one up on him—I suppose…
Everyone swiftly followed Deidara's path, Kisame catching up with him to chat about the battle to come. Some, however, weren’t as quick, Hidan grumbling to himself about how he’d wanted to get picked to fight Mina, Kakuzu instantly telling him to shut up and stop acting like a child in response to not getting picked for something. He’d get to see the fight, and he’d just have to accept that fact. Itachi paused to take a look at Mina’s reaction, but in a similar way to Sasori, nothing showed on her face. She merely took the information in and accepted it for what it was, and smirking at how alike they were, Itachi shook his head and turned to follow on after the others, wondering just how this was going to turn out.
Sasori wasn’t fazed by this knowledge, either. Deidara was an idiot, and he didn’t doubt Mina would be able to defeat him. Hopefully in a way that was totally humiliating and embarrassing and would prove once and for all that his opinion on art was complete and utter bullshit. Mina didn’t want to fail either. She was his apprentice, after all, and therefore felt she was almost representing him in battle. It was because of her that he had gotten into this situation; if she didn’t do the best she could do—if she didn’t do whatever she could to beat Deidara, then she might not be allowed to stay. What would that make Sasori look like after he’d said all that just now to defend her? Mina admired and respected Sasori more than anyone in the world. If it wasn’t for him she wouldn’t be where she was now. She couldn’t embarrass him.
With that thought in mind, Mina glanced at Sasori with a nod, then began to walk down the hallway towards the exit as well, mentally preparing herself for whatever was to come. Sasori joined her at her side, and this only brought everything evenmore to the surface. Because what else would happen if she didn’t succeed? She’d be turned away. Maybe Pein would allow her to stay for a little while, but he would do all he could do to make sure she was left behind when they left after finishing their mission. Sasori knew it too. He’d promised Mina that she could stay once again as his apprentice—that she wasn’t about to go anywhere now they’d met up again—but Pein was doing what he could to get rid of her. Not that Sasori would pay any attention to it. But Mina was defiant and determined as she continued out of the hideout, following the others as they searched for a battlefield. She might not know what Deidara was going to throw at her when the battle begun, but she knew one thing—
There was no way she could lose.
