This was not something Sasori wanted to hear.
He didn’t doubt Mina’s power; he never had done. He had always admired it; been impressed with it from the start back in Sunagakure—he’d been planning on turning her into a puppet to begin with because he thought her abilities were that good. Then seeing even more, finding out about her body and just what was so special about Mina and Sasori had been truly blown away. It was what had inspired him and given him the motivation and the means with which to fulfil his dream and finally be able to turn himself into a puppet. All because of Mina’s abilities. With the likes of her fight with Deidara and such, he hadn’t worried for a second in thinking she would lose.
But this was different.
Mina wasn’t a baby, and neither of them were clingy with each other, regardless of how they felt. When Pein had said he needed Sasori to do one thing while Mina would do another, they had hesitated, liking to stick together—the way it was always supposed to be—but had finally gone along with it all. It had to be done, and it was just for a little while. Sasori hadn’t wanted Pein to change his mind about Mina’s situation—he wanted her to stay with him, so he figured if he went along with his orders and acted as obedient as can be then he could cement her position in the Akatsuki. It was why he had been so quick to allow Mina to go off. If things had been different, he would have insisted that she stayed with him, the way it had been in Sunagakure, and the way it would be here—no room for negotiation.
If only he’d done that from the beginning.
Because the very moment Pein had pointed out Mina wasn’t there, something inside Sasori had lurched, freezing him to the spot. He felt completely paralyzed as he stared at them all standing there, and to be honest…it almost scared him. So many things were firing round his mind, making him feel so many things in a way that he never did and that he didn’t understand—and he was barely able to keep control of it all. But at first he hadn’t been able to comprehend it all. Why was it happening? Only for Kakuzu to begin to explain why exactly Mina wasn’t there—though instead of calming his worries, it only served to heighten them.
After all; he’d heard it all before, hadn’t he? It was just like it had been back then. They’d gone on that mission together in Sunagakure, everything being normal like it always was. They’d work together, being part of a team—no, a partnership—that had existed since the very beginning. Then for one moment; a moment that went against everything that their relationship was normally like, they separated to do something for the mission. Mina would say she had a plan; she’d head off into the darkness, disappearing to take down the enemy and help complete the mission by doing her part alone. No one would go with her knowing of her abilities and trusting them, and as such he stayed behind. He waited, and waited, and waited some more—then heard the news that he wanted to hear least in the world. The moment when he thought he’d been separated from Mina forever.
It was repeating itself. She was gone, telling everyone she knew what to do and could do it alone—and everyone believed her. Sasori wanted to believe it too; but the things he hadn’t been able to stop himself from feeling lately were getting in the way. The past was something he hated to remember; all it had ever done was cause him pain and regret, taking away the people he loved and cared about—it was only through an utter miracle that Mina had still been alive. But if this was how things were turning out…then it might not be that way much longer. What if something happened while she was there? She couldn’t anticipate everything, after all. There could be more ninjas than she knew. There could be anything in that building, and Mina hadn’t a clue. Everyone would let her do it, and as usual, the results would be seen…but so would the consequences. But Sasori wasn’t about to lose her again. He couldn’t. He hadn’t built up this relationship once more—discovered all this emotion inside of him—for it to be crushed now.
A shadow puppet couldn’t exist without someone else there.
And he wouldn’t make the same mistake he did last time.
“No.”
Sasori's gruff voice was soft; but loud enough for all of the Akatsuki to have heard it, causing them to halt in their journey to leave the courtyard and turn back to face him. Pein took a couple of steps forward to face him properly, waiting to hear what he had to say. He hadn’t been sure how Sasori would react—not with how he knew Sasori cared for Mina. Pein had considered the possibility of him protesting the idea of simply leaving Mina behind—and clearly he had been right, saying nothing as Sasori continued firmly,
“I’ve been through this situation all once before in Sunagakure. On that mission when Mina went off I thought she was dead.I’m not doing the same thing again. Go ahead to the hideout; I’m not stopping you. But I’m not coming with you—and don’t. You. Dare. Try to stop me.”
Pein met Sasori's gaze head on, not pleased with the idea, but saw the fire in his eyes and knew there was no point; his efforts would only be fruitless. Sasori was willing to go to any lengths to try to help Mina, and he could see that would stretch to fighting back against anyone who would try to physically convince him otherwise. Though there was no way Sasori would be able to win against all of them, it would waste time on a mission that needed to be completed as soon as possible, it would waste their energy, and for all he knew Sasori could land some injuries during the struggle. Not to mention he still wouldn’t be willing by the time they dragged him there. Pein could see that there was nothing he could say; nothing he could do that would persuade Sasori otherwise as to his opinion.
But was it so bad to allow him to go? He had six others even without Mina, and they were more than a match for the group, he had never doubted that. Mina was doing something to help them out—one of the reasons why he had allowed her to continue on with what she was doing—so sending back up wasn’t such a bad idea. That way it was certain Mina’s plan wouldn’t fail. Sasori wouldn’t let himself get in the way, he could handle himself too, and they’d protect each other. Plus, Pein got the feeling he’d sorely regret it if he didn’t and something happened to Mina…
“Fine. Go help her—but don’t make a habit of doing this, Sasori. ”
But Sasori wasn’t listening; he was already getting information from Kakuzu as to where this communications tower was. Though he gritted his teeth at the idea he didn’t have a solid location, he now had a general area, and considering its purpose, Sasori didn’t doubt it wouldn’t take him long to find it. But no one had been expecting him to abruptly unhinge Hiruko with Kakuzu's last words and step out, looking thoughtful as glanced over the rest of the Akatsuki standing there, though they got the feeling it was to do entirely with Mina. Still confused as to why he was getting out of Hiruko, he simply threw a glare at them, stating fiercely,
“Are you going to the hideout, or not? I thought you said you had a mission to complete. We both have things to do—so lets do them.”
With that, he disappeared into the trees, the others blinking in surprise that he wasn’t about to take Hiruko with him—but Sasori wanted to be as quick as possible. He needed to be able to slip past any obstacles he came across in order to find Mina considering he had no idea where she would be. She had said she had a plan to take down the communications tower and help the Akatsuki complete their mission. Sasori had no idea what it would involve or what she could come up against—but he knew one thing:
He had no time to lose.
