Opening her eyes, Mina smirked as her mind automatically took in the change in scenery and she realised just where she was. True, this might not be a place she’d be staying for long, but it was an Akatsuki hideout nonetheless, and that meant part of her new life. There had been no difficulty for her in getting to sleep—but then she’d never experienced that. She’d been to too many places, seen too many things to ever let anything interrupt her state of mind, and had fallen asleep as if it was her childhood home. But there had been a familiarity about the situation. Like many a time before, Mina had spent a large portion of her night with Sasori, before he eventually stated she would need to at least get a little bit of sleep and told her to leave, and doing so, she had ambled contentedly to her room and to bed.
The circumstances might have changed, but the basic routine hadn’t.
Though the idea of routine popping up into Mina’s head, she realised that there were things to be done today—things she didn’t know about. That Akatsuki had already been on their mission when she had come here, and now she would have to join in; she needed to catch up, and as such she swiftly climbed out from underneath the covers. It was the work of mere seconds to get dressed and get herself ready, making sure she was presentable in her slightly perfectionist way, before heading out of her room and back down towards the living room and kitchen. She considered the idea of meeting up with Sasori first, but no doubt, considering he never slept in the first place, he was already there, and shaking off that notion, Mina continued on, the Akatsuki's voices reaching her before she saw them all in full detail.
But as one noticed her, they all followed, call out greetings and mentioning not only the fact of her first morning as an Akatsuki member, but of the cloak she was now wearing, causing her to pause slightly. When she had come back to her room last night, she had found it lying on her bed, and, naturally, had put it on this morning as part of the dress of the organization. But she hadn’t hesitated to look at herself in the mirror as to what it looked like, having not really thought about it, only now beginning to see that it marked her more as an Akatsuki member than anything else did. So smirking at that fact, she simply accepted their words, pointing out that she didn’t need to eat when Deidara invited her to join them, causing Deidara to smirk and state the similarity between her and Sasori.
Though with a mention of Sasori's name, Mina immediately began to look for him, and spotted him a second later sitting on the couch. Leaving the table the moment she did so, she headed over and bowed, greeting him softly, only caught out as he paused upon returning her gaze. Wondering what was wrong, thinking she should have done something or that maybe she should have turned up earlier, the worry was brushed aside as he simply stated a moment later,
“The cloak, Mina. It looks good on you.”
But she had nothing to say in return to that.
It was a kind of situation she—and Sasori—came to grow used to over the next couple of days. Words weren’t a problem for either of them. They were down-to-earth people and were able to explain things in a simple way, regardless of what it was. And yet there came times—that became more and more numerous—where neither of them had a clue what to say. Maybe if they had been looking on from the outside; if it had been another person talking to someone and they had needed to reply and asked them; then they might have been able to come up with a response. But having to be in the situation themselves…and suddenly there was nothing.
Only things were different, and both Mina and Sasori knew they were. They’d been close in Sunagakure, that was obvious—she hadn’t been called his ‘Kage Ayatsuri-ningyō’ for nothing—and still, that fact hadn’t changed, regardless of any factors that might have affected things. They were still good friends, finding it easy to talk to each other, being able to understand each other and connect without even trying. Both of them could see their friendship was still evident as they went about the mission and began working together again, and couldn’t help but be relieved at the idea—a small part of them had been worried that too much had changed and would have been lost in the time that had passed.
But instead it seemed to have had the opposite effect. Twenty years had gone by without seeing each other, and it was almost as if they were closer. Mina knew for sure it had made things different…but she couldn’t help but think it wasn’t in a bad way. In the same sense she had experienced when meeting him again the first time, there were still moments when she felt that warm, contented feeling—as well as something else. She had dismissed it as just being content at getting to be with Sasori again, but this unusual feeling was stopping her from being able to do so. It hovered in the background, sometimes confusing her, and at first, almost scaring her, though slowly, as she got used to it, it became sort of…enjoyable. A sort of…tickling feeling in the pit of her stomach. But it always appeared when she spent a lot of time with Sasori. She would just sit and watch him; but not what he was doing. Just…him. So many things about the way he looked and was that she had never noticed. Mina had always seen him as her master considering she was his apprentice…
But she didn’t know what she considered him as anymore.
Sasori understood that mind-set, of course. From the start, like Mina, it had been a master-apprentice relationship. They were closer than that, he’d known it, but still, that had been entwined with the rest. But now…now he often gave up on work he was doing to glance over at her; absentmindedly smiling at the expression on her face. Even when she wasn’t there he’d found himself doing it, and he couldn’t comprehend why. Just the idea Mina was back and with him again was one he discovered himself cherishing. He felt a surge of pride whenever he showed her the puppets he’d made while they’d been apart—staring at her face as she awed at the Third Kazekage. Flickers of emotion flashed through him during the mission, but he had no idea what they were. Sasori was beginning to think if they had been quick, overwhelming bouts it would have been better, instead of it being constant—always there, but not fully at the surface. Why was he doing this? Sure, Mina was back, but nothing had changed between them. They had both known this and could see it.
So what was happening?
Not that anyone could tell; to the rest they were as emotionless as ever in their expressions—even though they did find it unusual the amount of time they spent together and their actions towards each other. It was all inwardly that it was being experienced; all having worked its way up after twenty years of time had gone by. Yes, with the way they were with their emotions, it wasn’t like it was easy for them to understand, but it was there all the same. In Sunagakure Sasori and Mina had both been fifteen—just children. Maybe they had been much more mature than the rest, whether adult or juvenile, but they had been children all the same. Now, however, and that wasn’t the case. Yes, they had been close friends back then, with the added factor of a master and apprentice. But friends as children isn’t the same as friends as adults. Things change. Feelings change. Teenage emotions become adult—
And feelings are suddenly a lot deeper; stronger than you ever could have thought.
