“Yo, Mina, hurry it up! We gotta go—thank Jashin!” Hidan yelled in Mina’s direction, having now noticed that she hadn’t moved from the spot. Kakuzu, too, halted to glance back in her direction, narrowing his eyes at her. Hidan was one thing, but Mina was another. She knew what she had to do, and she did it without complaint. So for her to be hesitating, he couldn’t help but think there was something important that was making her do so—or at least something unusual.
He was proved right a moment later.
Abruptly remembering that she wasn’t the only one there, Mina realised she would have to tell Hidan and Kakuzu. She realised she would have to work around her circumstances to make the whole thing work. It would be better with the smallest amount of people possible; after all, if the entire Akatsuki went in there, they would no doubt be spotted, found out and a whole lot of trouble would follow. No, they needed to stay subtle and silent. Maybe if they just came…but Mina couldn’t help but think that that might not be such a good idea. Hidan wasn’t exactly the espionage type. He didn’t like to sneak into places keeping hidden and avoiding all battles at any cost—he liked to meet them head on. At the same time, Mina didn’t want to waste time by meeting up with the others to take someone else with her.
No; it was better if she went alone.
She was small, quiet and good at able to turn invisible. If she was able to get into Sunagakure without anybody noticing—well, apart from Sasori—then it was a certainty she could do this. She could take care of herself, and the rest of the Akatsuki could head on to the main hideout, dealing with the rest. Mina nodded to herself firmly in acceptance of the plan, now turning and heading over to Hidan and Kakuzu to relay what she was going to do. Though Hidan instantly began to start walking again, Kakuzu remained where he was, knowing Mina had something to say, and as such Mina faced him, stating simply,
“Go on and meet up with them; they’re probably moving on to one of the hideouts. I’m heading into the village through that part of the wall.”
“What? Just leave you be to do your own thing? We’re all here on a mission, and we’ve just been given an order to help complete that mission. You can’t just ignore it. If we are going on to one of the hideouts, we’ll be taking it down; we’ll need everyone,” Kakuzu shot back, narrowing his eyes in irritation at Mina’s sudden desire to rebel against orders. But Mina wasn’t about to take no for an answer, shaking her head and replying calmly,
“I’m doing this to try and help complete the mission. I remember seeing one of those buildings when on my mission here with my other group before. It’s used for communication between hideouts. If you’re going to a hideout, if I don’t shut it down, they could easily send a message to another hideout and get more backup; either that, or get their men out of there and extend your mission even further. This needs to be done, and I’m in the perfect position to do it. And not to mention…I was an accidental addition to the team, Kakuzu; you’ll be fine without me. All the more for you, right?”
Glancing over at Hidan at the end of her explanation, a grin began to blossom over Hidan's face, and pausing for a second, he soon turned to Kakuzu and burst out,
“Come on, Kakuzu, let Mina do it! You know she can—no one ever hears her! Leader won’t mind when he knows what’s she’s doing; it is for the good of the mission, and we’re just wasting time here!”
Kakuzu's eyes remained on Mina’s; never moving as he considered all the options and all that could happen, Mina never blinking or looking away. It wasn’t as if he particularly cared about Mina’s welfare—even if he did, she was more than a capable enough ninja, and that kind of thing was simple. She wouldn’t even be fighting! Leader would be a little surprised, no doubt, but would most likely accept it, maybe even be glad of it, taking into account it would be helping them out quite a lot. Sasori's reaction to leaving her on her own didn’t bother him; that was his problem, not Kakuzu's. He wouldn’t get anything for it—Mina had chosen to do all of this. It was her plan, and it was clear she wasn’t about to let them take her along. Hidan was on her side…
“Alright, fine. But don’t expect me to make any excuses for you if Leader isn’t happy with your decision.”
Mina smirked, shrugging off the idea, and nodding at his acceptance, she thanked him quietly, saying goodbye to them both, before turning swiftly and heading towards the wall. Hidan and Kakuzu watched her for a moment, before heading off down their own path. What exactly she had planned, they didn’t know. But she seemed certain of what she was going to be doing, so they doubted they had anything to worry about—well, not that they were going to be worrying.
Maybe Sasori would.
Wondering what his reaction would be when they told him, Kakuzu shook his head, Hidan smirking, but they pushed on. Pein had told them they were meeting in that abandoned building they’d searched the first day they’d arrived and started the mission. It gave them a place to regroup that was out of the way and secluded but still closer to the village than having to go all the way back to the hideout when they were planning on continuing on with the next part of their mission. Everyone was fine with this idea—the village was kinda boring, they’d been stuck here for the last few days doing meaningless tasks and it had seemed as if it wasn’t leading to anything. They all wanted out; even Pein—even if he’d never admit it.
It was why they were all a little impatient—Sasori even more so than usual—as they stood inside the courtyard of the building, snapping their gazes round to face Kakuzu and Hidan as they came through the door. Apparently they were the last to arrive, and although Kakuzu knew it hadn’t taken them long to get here, for a bunch of people who just wanted this to be over…it was long enough.
Pein walked over to them and gave them a low down of the situation; they were heading to what they knew was the main hideout of the group. They’d gathered all the information they could do, they were prepared as they were ever going to be, and there was no point waiting any longer. It would only drag things out, and for all they knew they could have killed more of their subordinates in this time. It was time to put a stop to these guys and the way they were interfering with the Akatsuki—now all they had to do was head over there and do it. But it was as Pein got to the end of his speech that he finally noticed that something was missing. Or better yet—someone. Kakuzu and Hidan and come in, and normally Mina, with whoever she was with, came behind them, her size meaning she was often hidden between the two.
But she definitely wasn’t there.
“Mina’s not coming, Leader-sama. These guys have a communication tower that work between hideouts, allowing them to tell of threats or things going on in the village and she knows where it is and how it shut it down. When she figured it out, she said we should go on with the rest of you, that she would take care of it and then she headed off before we could stop her.”
Pein gritted his teeth. He hadn’t expected something like that to happen—but Kakuzu's explanation halted him slightly. The idea of this communication tower was one he didn’t like; but if Mina knew where it was and was going to destroy it…he might be willing to overlook what she’d done. But it wasn’t like he had much time to make a choice, sighing inwardly and shaking his head as he stated simply,
“Alright; then let her get on with it. We can’t stop her now—even if we could, we don’t have the time. All we can do is continue on as we are and let Mina handle things on her side; we’ll meet up with her later.”
