Dinner passed rather peacefully, outside of the usual shenanigans of the Akatsuki members and children. Sasori had spoken with Nagato regarding the issue of the leaf, but the man had put it on a hold for now. They would deal with Suna first, then Konoha. Give the Jonin some time to pass the message along, he figured. They needed to focus on the meeting and the Akatsuki reform first.
Which, despite how long they had been preparing for it, was harder than it sounded. The night before the meeting was stressful for everyone involved, and even some who weren't. By the time the morning of the meeting rolled around, even those who were against the meeting were sending their siblings worried glances.
As they set out for said meeting, the Akatsuki members made a point of ignoring the small hugs Naruto and Karin had insisted on giving their siblings. The teens knew the Akatsuki would keep their siblings safe, but that didn't make the prospect of going into enemy territory any less stressful. So much so, that it seemed even the ones in agreeance with the meeting were open to accepting the worried farewell.
Nagato himself gave a brief wave to the children, the man currently using one of his corpse puppets to move around. He might have improved with Karin's constant care to his real body, but that didn't mean it was good to travel around in.
The run for Suna had been quiet, each of the shinobi anxious regardless of their experience. Nagato made no move to change this, keeping a close eye on the others as they traveled.
Itachi had placed himself near the front, his Sharingan activated as he glanced over the surrounding areas. Nagato could see the little drops of red welling in the corner of his eyes whenever Itachi glanced back to make sure they were still there. He was bitterly reminded of the drawback of the mangekyou- he would have insisted on an immediate transplant between Itachi and Sasuke, had the elder Uchiha not insisted otherwise. Apparently, it was better to master the mangekyou then swap. The former leaf shinobi had claimed that it would increase the eyes' power dramatically and make it easier for the users to adapt to the new eyes. Honestly, Nagato might have ignored this had Itachi not assured him that the rest of his health issues were completely separate from his eyes.
...That was something else to consider, too. He would have to find a good doctor for Itachi. The man had medication to prolong his life thanks to Karin, but he had a feeling Itachi was mostly only alive out of pure determination. It was obvious he was in pain, even if he did try his best to hide it around the other members and the children.
Nagato knew the majority of medical shinobi would be no help. After all, this was an issue with Itachi himself. The Uchiha hadn't obtained an injury or something of the sort- his body itself was the problem. From what little the man had told him, it was his lungs. Some sort of respiratory disease, though no doctor had been able to figure out what exactly was causing the problem. Only how to slow down the process of him slowly throwing up bits of his own lung.
It was worrying, to say the least. Had Itachi not been as self-aware as he was, Nagato might have forced him to slow down. As it was, they needed to arrive on time, and he had to trust Itachi not to wear his body too thin. At least until they found someone they could trust not to poison him in the process of 'diagnosis'.
If Nagato couldn't find a doctor pretty soon, he was fairly sure Kisame was going to do it himself. The former mist shinobi might not know a lung from a kidney, but he cared about Itachi, if nothing else.
He had placed Kisame with Itachi for many reasons, but among them, his biggest had been their contradictions in loyalty. While he was fairly confident in Kisame's loyalty and defensiveness- as seen by how he was currently lagging behind simply to make sure no one snuck up on them- he couldn't say the same for Itachi at first.
It was ironic, Nagato thought, that his original suspicions concerning Itachi's loyalty had been correct. The young Uchiha had been a spy, even if that wasn't so much his fault, Nagato had realized not long ago. None the less, it seemed their little plan to make sure Itachi had someone watching him had backfired. Kisame watched Itachi a bit too close, it seemed.
Kisame might have been their loyal keeper for a while, but that had fallen to pieces fairly fast. Nagato could still remember the absolute disbelief he felt the first time he saw Itachi resting his head on Kisame's lap, as though he were the most comfortable pillow around.
He had mistakenly thought that Kisame was doting on the smaller shinobi at the time. Now, he could almost laugh at his absurd theory. The very possibility that Kisame would decide to act as a shield to Itachi because the teen was small, soft-spoken, and dainty was almost inconceivable now.
No, the more he had learned about Kisame, the more he had realized this was very much not the case. Kisame wasn't taken by Itachi in the same way one might be taken to a kitten- he was taken in by Itachi himself. It had taken a bit to understand, but eventually, he had.
Kisame loved Itachi for his silent power. The way he could walk into a room, settle down in a corner, and be completely missed despite having the ability to massacre everyone in the room with a simple blink of his eyes.
He wasn't sure why it had taken so long for him to understand, but once he had, he had felt like a fool. Kisame hadn't been caught by Itachi's beauty like most would have assumed. No, it had become increasingly obvious that Kisame was absolutely floored by the amount of respect he felt for the smaller shinobi.
Nagato didn't have a single doubt in his mind that if it were to come to the organization or Itachi, Kisame would turn on them without question. How odd, that the spy was the one keeping the keeper loyal.
Better yet, how odd it was that the keeper had been completely roped into Itachi's world without a single hint of malice. It seemed like Itachi's loving nature towards the children had rubbed off on all of them, especially his partner.
Had anyone told Nagato at the time that Kisame would be all but adopting a little Hyuuga as his protege, he would have thought them insane. Hyuuga were known to be formal, up-tight, and serious. It was impossible to imagine one would fit in so well with Kisame, had he not seen it himself. It seemed like the only thing the two had in common was the bull-headed protectiveness of their respective charges.
The moment Hinata decided to start tagging along with Itachi and Sasuke, it was all over for Neji and Kisame's tough-guy acts. The two had practically drilled holes in each other using their eyes alone, Neji wedging himself right in the middle of the others to make it clear that he was /there/ and that Hinata was /his/. The amusement Kisame had taken in messing with the little body-guard had shifted into some sort of chase, Neji demanding to learn from the former Mist shinobi, wanting to prove that he /was/ a great body-guard for his Lady Hinata.
Who could have known that it would spiral into an idolization almost as severe as Sasuke's towards Itachi. If the Hyuuga ever caught sight of their former clansmen using a sword of all things, Nagato was fairly sure they'd have a heart attack and drill him on about the tradition of hand-to-hand combat.
Neji had become so focused on proving that he was great at watching his precious people that he hadn't even noticed it as Hinata wiggled her way towards Itachi, finding herself right on his lap more often than not. The loving and brotherly hugs Itachi gave Hinata became normal at some point, though Nagato couldn't quite say when it was. He wasn't sure what had so enthralled her about Itachi, but he had his suspicions Sasuke was partly responsible for their tight bond.
He hadn't a doubt in his mind that Sasuke had woven stories of his amazing big brother for Hinata. Then, given the young Hyuuga's shared dislike of conflict, it was only a matter of time before Itachi was enforcing these ideas. Nagato had always made a point to restrain his words when Itachi shared stories of love and peace, of happy endings and gentle heroes. She had always seemed so happy, after all.
Itachi really was one of their least forceful members, never forcing his pacifistic ideas on others despite his strong belief in them. He was just so...easy to get along with. Nagato highly doubted Sasori would be guarding them on either side with his puppets as he was now, had Itachi not been as such.
The two had made a habit of talking over shogi, going back and forth about their thoughts on one topic or another while Gaara, Hinata, or Sasuke sat in their respective laps. Their willingness to venture into uncomfortable territory for the other was outstanding, really. Nagato doubted Itachi would help anyone else clean their corpse puppets. Likewise, he doubted Sasori would trust anyone else with cleaning his puppets, let alone his favorites. It was odd to think that the two would ever get along, given their vastly different attitudes towards life.
Even with their vastly different perspectives, they still listened to each other. Even if that sometimes lead to them taking advice they really rather not have. For example, Nagato highly doubted Sasori would have bonded with Gaara so swiftly had Itachi not been in the background giving him soft nudges towards it. Itachi had nudged Sasori just right, so that he fell right into place as one of Gaara's most precious people.
It had only steamed from there, Sasori's open affection for Gaara leading to Deidara's growing attention for Naruto over the years. Given how often Naruto was around Gaara, it had only been a matter of time before the two blonds ended up as third wheels with their respective friends. As such, Deidara and Naruto had eventually clicked into place while their calmer counterparts were busy speaking.
Nagato almost wished they hadn't clicked, considering the amount of property damage he had been forced to pay for. Almost, that was. He could never wish for anything else, even if it had taken some getting used to. The proud grins Naruto would give when showing off a drawing after working endlessly on it made his chest swell with joy, even as the blond got into a bickering match with Deidara about whether he should lace it with explosive powders or not.
Yeah, Konan always ended up working quite hard to convince them to stop yelling when that particular issue came up. As odd as it was, his normally cut-throat partner was more often than not the mediator when these issues came up. If her gentle words didn't work, well, she had her ways to sort out seemingly any situation. She was a true mother, after all. Nagato sometimes envied her way with the children, honestly.
In the end, they had eventually compromised on having Naruto draw on some papers and put the explosives on others. Sasori had been quite proud of Naruto's choice to leave his art as an eternal piece, and even he had to admit to finding it a bit amusing as Deidara and Sasori all but lured Naruto back and forth in an attempt to have him side with them on the eternal vs momentary art argument. Really, it was no wonder the two got along with him so well. They might try to hide it, but they were just as childish as Naruto at times. Tobi always appearing at the last moment to add fuel to the fire had never helped. He steered away from that uncomfortable idea- Damn artists.
He had been tempted to scold them occasionally, though this never did end up being an issue. Kakuzu always got to them long before he did. The elder immortal had a way of dealing with loud children, most likely thanks to his experience with Hidan. The kids might like to play tough, but they usually lost their luster once Kakuzu showed up. Sometimes the immortal seemed more like a grandfather than anyone would ever admit, the brunet always ready to speak up if they got too loud or acted out.
Even Karin, who was all but glued to his own side at times, would listen to Kakuzu without a second thought. Karin was a lot of things- hot-headed, big-hearted, and above all else protective. Still, she would listen almost immediately if Kakuzu told her she needed to shush or go do something. Nagato chalked it up to curiosity at the immortality aspect, just as most children would have after losing their birth parents. She seemed to hold some sort of morbid respect for Kakuzu since he had lived so long, usually enjoying his stories of what life was like decades earlier.
She was just as interested in Hidan, of course, though she didn't have half the respect for him. Instead, she had formed some sort of partners-in-crime friendship with the sadistic man. It was odd, how they would be grinning with excitement as they prepared a prank on another Akatsuki member one minute, then giving scowlish apologies to Kakuzu as the man seemed to /always/ know when they were planning something.
All in all, Nagato had learned long ago that there was no way to understand all of their dynamics. He tried, of course, but there was only so much he could understand when it came to the scrambled mind of the many Akatsuki members and strange children. It was with a morbid fascination that he watched his members and children mingle, forming some sort of twisted family where he and Konan were the leaders. This was the last thing he had expected when Konan had proposed the idea of children to him.
Yet. It worked. In some odd, twistedly loving way, it worked. The children were happy. The Akatsuki members had begun to pacify over the years, so long as the children were doing alright. Really, that was the only time they acted rashly outside of their usual tempers. Hell, even he couldn't help but find himself rooted in the chaos that was parenthood. It was all too easy to fall into rhythm with.
After all, it was one thing to know that his actions could cause him or strangers pain. It was completely different to look down at his children and know that if he decided to do something reckless it could cause a rift in their happiness. Nagato was sure the others understood their silent responsibility towards their happiness as well.
The only thing that had ever been able to break past this unspoken rule of only causing as much chaos as they could handle was an outside strike. It seemed like they were all ready to strike at a moment's notice, the moment any of the little ones were threatened. Nagato supposed it had to do with the fact that none of the Akatsuki members had been given the chance of a nice childhood. As much as they'd refuse to admit it, it was obvious they saw themselves in the kids. They wanted to protect each shred of happiness, though that didn't always work out. They were kids after all, and kids need to experience new things to become strong enough to handle the real world.
As such, even if they did want to wrap the kids in bubble-wrap, so to speak, they let them tumble occasionally. That still didn't make it any less painful to watch. Even if they would always be there to help them back up while resisting the urge to fight each and every person who had dared to threaten them.
...Nagato took a breath as he forced his thoughts to a halt, knowing he was getting worked up. He mentally scolded himself, eyes drifting over the others as they ran. He didn't need to show up in a bad mood or these talks of peace would go horridly. Even if he did want to give Sasuke's pain back to Suna and Konoha tenfold, he knew that wouldn't help anything. They'd only return for blood later on, possibly hurting Sasuke or one of the others in the name of justice. While he wouldn't particularly mind fighting each and every shinobi who sought to do them harm, he knew that would only end up hurting the children in the long run. Slow and steady.
Despite his rage, he wasn't an idiot, he mused idly as the gates of the moderately sized discussion house began falling into his line of sight. Nagato hated to admit it, but their anger was understandable, even if it wasn't justified. The cycle ran through Nagato's mind as they neared the gates, purple eyes as apathetic as ever despite the conflicted feeling in his chest.
Temari and Kankuro hurt Sasuke because he had somewhat participated in the assassination of their father. They had assassinated their father because he had been trying to get ahold of Gaara despite their warning. Their father had been trying to get to Gaara because the Akatsuki had stolen him away. The Akatsuki had stolen him because he had been trying to have Gaara killed. Their father had been trying to have Gaara killed because he was out of control. Gaara was out of control because the one-tailed beast was inside him. The one-tailed beast was inside him because...well...Rasa.
Honestly, had he not been trying his hardest to follow through on Konan and Itachi's advice, he might have leveled the area to the ground right here and now. Peace be damned, this entire issue was Rasa's fault. He tried to ignore this as they finally arrived, his corpse puppet luckily not showing his grudged emotions. At least he was able to express his displeasure back home at his base, where he was currently gripping his chair a bit too hard.
"-this way, and we'll be able to lead you to the meeting." Nagato heard the second half of the man's words, not really paying too much attention to him at first. He was more interested in watching the four teens protectively, his painfully deadpan expression remained despite his feelings. He only turned to face the man as he stepped to the front of the group, taking lead with a curt nod.
Nagato eyed the man, looking him over briefly as they followed him inside. He was well-built, obviously a man of great skill. Nagato didn't need to see his Jonin vest to know that. He couldn't help but wonder just how many more of his rank would be waiting for them in the meeting room. The man's next words made his lips silently press together in mild aggravation, though he said nothing in response. "The Kazekage has requested you all set your weapons to the side when you enter. She and the others have already done the same."
He wasn't able to object, Itachi agreeing, "Of course. So long as they've done the same, there is no harm in it." giving Nagato a pointed look that he understood all too well. They really didn't need weapons. They were more than able to handle whatever they decided to pull.
Still, Nagato felt a wave of sour backlash, mind drifting as unpleasant memories forced their way to the surface. His nod did little to hide the small shine of disdain in his eyes. Subtle enough that the Jonin wouldn't call him out on it, but obvious enough that Konan took a moment to hold his corpse puppet's hand in comfort. Whether it was for him, her, or both of them, he couldn't say.
The Jonin stayed quiet as they dismounted their weapons, none of the other members looking any happier at the request than him. He leaned his iron poles up against the wall, Samehada resting side by side with his.
Beside him, Itachi made a point of creating a shadow clone, looking the Suna shinobi in the eyes as he did so. The intent was obvious-- to make sure their items weren't stolen. Luckily, the man didn't object past a simple sigh.
"Thank you." the Jonin nodded, finally introducing himself, "I am Baki of the sand. I serve as the top advisory to the Kazekage as of now." the unspoken meaning of his words understood by all- he was there to make sure they didn't trick the young teens into anything foolish.