The mission was going well so far.
They’d been gathering all the information they needed, and although they had only been there a few days, they’d made a lot of progress. None of the group had any idea there was an Akatsuki hideout nearby; let alone that the entirety of the Akatsuki were staying in it, planning on taking them down—and Mina came to be very useful with that. As she had been working on missions with another few missing nins already when they had arrived, she had been through the village while it had been going on; to shops and an inn. Pein had thought this was going to be a problem at first—that Mina wouldn’t be able to go into the village as she would be recognised and, taking all suspicions into account, alarm bells would soon begin to ring.
But then he realised that he could take advantage of her previous knowledge of the area. While the rest of the Akatsuki worked on the information that had to be obtained through espionage, Mina was able to walk casually through the village as if she were another civilian, making her own excuses as to why she was there. From inside, she heard and saw things the others didn’t; was able to reach places they couldn’t and wouldn’t be suspicious. All the village saw her as was another ninja who had been passing through while doing a mission, and had obviously left her group to start out on her own; maybe to take a break from that life. There had been nothing on her that suggested her power or connections, and no one thought twice about her presence.
The Akatsuki in the hideout were beginning to adapt to hers. She answered questions when asked them and was willing to talk, she didn’t get in anyone’s way or offend anyone—although she didn’t agree with Deidara's view on art, she allowed Sasori to argue, simply enjoying the spectacle from the sidelines. Seeing as Mina, too, couldn’t eat, there were no low food supplies, and her situation with the village meant she could buy stuff that they wouldn’t have been able to have otherwise. She was a powerful fighter—though they’d known that since her fight with Deidara—and adaptable to whatever she needed to do, so overall they were fine with her being in the Akatsuki. Sure, they wouldn’t be able to really get on with her, considering her disposition followed along the same lines as Sasori, being utterly apathetic and distant from everyone, but then no one was exactly BFFs in the Akatsuki.
Well, apart from Sasori and Mina, actually.
Everyone had known they’d been pretty good friends in Sunagakure—obviously, or otherwise Mina wouldn’t have made such an effort; including going to an Akatsuki hideout, to find and meet Sasori again. Then how he had been so serious about getting her to stay in the Akatsuki, even with Pein's reaction and hesitance at the idea, it was clear they were close. Now that still remained evident with how they talked so much and she followed him around, clearly proving her nickname utterly right—she spent more time in his room than she did in her own, sticking by his side and doing what he said if he asked it of her. At first Deidara had found it hilarious, smirking every time he glanced over at them. But soon he found it wasn’t like that; that somehow how they were with each other wasn’t the way people thought it was.
But they were catching up on all the time they’d missed. Mina showed Sasori all the different things she’d learnt to do with her abilities since Sunagakure, having trained herself as much as she could to remain strong while she travelled. She told him about what she’d done in the twenty years that had gone by; all the different ninjas she’d worked for and all the different places that she’d worked in—and Sasori was surprised. The Akatsuki moved around a lot with their missions, travelling from place to place with how they were hired for things and then searching for the Jinchuuriki, and yet it seemed like Mina had done just as much as they had done—if not more. Then again, she was alone and didn’t have things to slow her down; no ties to anywhere or anyone that kept her in a place for longer than she needed to be—not that she minded now she was with Sasori again.
He, in turn, showed her what he had done while they had been apart. He showed her the entirety of his puppet collection—considering they had a lot to go through—and took her over the Third Kazekage, never tiring of how much pleasure she took in seeing it. He told her about the jutsus he’d learnt; how he’d made himself a more powerful puppet master and made sure that the weaknesses and puppeteer had he was able to counter. Which then brought up the main conversation one night, having been leading up to it all along.
“But…Sasori-sama…when you—well, we—were in Sunagakure, you had plans. You hadn’t carried them out, but you were going to adapt your body to get rid of its weaknesses. I assume they worked, considering you haven’t aged since then, but…can I see it?” Mina said quietly as they talked in his room, keeping her eyes trained on Sasori’s without blinking, glinting with excitement and anticipation in the half-light.
He had been going to do it soon; but Mina had ‘died’ before he had done it, and by the time he had actually carried it out, he was gone, and they were separated. But now they were together and again, and smirking, abruptly slightly excited himself, Sasori nodded and responded casually,
“Of course, Mina. I wouldn’t have been able to do it if it wasn’t for you.”
Both of them then stood, trying hard to fight back those hovering feelings this situation was suddenly bringing up, managing to remain calm and composed as Sasori stepped to the side and reached for his cloak. Yet somehow the action carried more weight than it should have done; Mina felt strangely—embarrassed—albeit in a very bemused way with how Sasori was taking off his cloak. She knew he was doing it to show her how he had altered his body; but something inside of her felt it wasn’t like that. That it was…just because. Sasori felt the same; although having had other people seen it when he fought…this was different. This felt more personal, and—the part that got to him the most—he liked it.
Then finally he finished with his cloak, having had it feel like several minutes to both of them, and pulled it off, placing it on the back of his chair. Turning back to look at Mina, for a moment Sasori wasn’t sure what she felt about it. There didn’t seem to be any expression on her face that would give something away, and he narrowed his eyes, slightly worried she was disappointed in what she was seeing. But then abruptly she looked up to meet his gaze, and a smirk flickered onto Sasori's features. Mina’s face might not have revealed anything, but her eyes did. They glittered with awe and amazement—still excited about what she could see.
“Can—can I?” She whispered softly, and Sasori nodded in consent, the smirk never leaving his features.
Immediately Mina stepped forward, reaching out to trace her fingers across what now functioned as Sasori's body. The strength…the engineering…the adaptions…it was all perfect. Deidara could whine and moan about his bombs all he liked—this was real art. Mina regretted the fact that she hadn’t been able to see the work in progress—but the idea that she was still able to see the finished work was enough to placate her, and now a smile graced her features. Seeing it, Sasori felt a swell of pride; she was impressed. As her fingers travelled up to his heart, noting the kanji on the cylinder, Mina breathed gently,
“It’s incredible, Sasori-sama.”
“Without you, I wouldn’t be this way,” Sasori shot back simply in return, causing Mina’s gaze to turn to his, caught in what they saw there and unable to look away.
Neither of them understood what they’d been feeling, and had been nothing but confused for the past couple of days.
But now they knew for certain—it definitely wasn’t bad.
