As they entered the meeting room, Nagato found himself scanning it over before he was even able to consider sitting down. There were no more guards- only Baki.
Despite his calm and non-expressive attitude, he was anything but. While his Yahiko puppet remained passive, his actual body was as stiff as the rods he had learned to use oh so well.
His body was heavy, both puppet and actual, for that matter. It was as though a distance had been put between himself and his puppet despite how easily he was maneuvering it. He could faintly hear Konan performing introductions alongside Baki, though this barely sunk in. The read-head was numb as he sat down, trying his best to keep a level head as his eyes remained glued to his children and then to the opposition. Right. They needed to talk this out if they wanted to avoid unnecessary steps to the cycle of pain.
This wouldn't be like the last time. They would return home with all of them intact. That much he would make sure of. He hadn't a doubt in his mind that Konan shared the sentiment.
With this in mind, he took a moment to eye the others. At least they weren't the only stiff ones, based on the way the second eldest child of the Kazekage - Kankuro, he reminded himself - was gripping at his leg under the table. Nagato hadn't a doubt in his mind that the teen would much rather meet them in a fight, despite obviously being on the losing end of that deal. His sister would probably share the sentiment, under ordinary circumstances.
Unfortunately for them, these weren't ordinary circumstances. They didn't exactly have the option of refusing peace offerings, not when their younger brother was - in their eyes - being held against them.
Yes, Gaara definitely had their attention, if the way they were bluntly staring at him was anything to go by. The sand-wielder in question met their gaze briefly, though with a different sort of intensity. Gaara looked undeniably apathetic, much to Nagato's displeasure. He hadn't given that specifically distant look in a long while- not for many years, really. He could of course understand, though. Gaara hadn't seen his elder siblings in years, and from what little the boy had spoken about them, the three hadn't exactly been close.
From what Nagato gathered, his youngest son hadn't exactly been very popular with his village. The discomfort of being near people who reminded him of such times...well, Nagato didn't envy him for his position, to say the least. As such, he was relieved as he noticed Sasori carefully holding onto Gaara's smaller hand under the table, most likely in hopes of easing his worries.
Itachi seemed to be attempting a similar sentiment with Sasuke, though the younger ravenet was far less careful with his hold on his brother's hand. He gripped it fiercely, looking down to his lap as he took steadying breaths. Neji's offered hand was receiving the same treatment on Sasuke's other side.
Nagato had to remind himself not to speak too harshly as he tried to formulate the right words. His serious expression seemed to have drawn the weariness of the two sand siblings despite his best efforts not to let his ire seep through. The two were watching him, clearly trying to hide their nerves behind a mask of stillness. Their chakra signatures were welled up, as if they were trying to emit the same levels of danger as the Akatsuki naturally did.
Itachi noticed it too, if the small but audible sigh that left his lips meant anything. The long-haired shinobi brought his unoccupied hand up, resting his chin on his hand as he eyed the two. His charcoal eyes seemed to burn into them, even without his Sharingan activated.
"You harmed Sasuke." the words left the elder Uchiha's mouth, not a trace of accusation lining his words. He didn't so much as blink when Sasuke's grip on his hand grew nearly numbing, nor as the boy forced his head upwards to see his torturers.
Nagato felt his eyes narrow on their own accord as Sasuke forced himself to look at the two, the boy moving his eyes up to watch them despite his discomfort.
The two didn't look to meet Sasuke's gaze at first, but as Itachi's impassive eyes narrowed ever so slightly, they obliged. They wearily glanced at Sasuke, Kankuro in particular eyeing the now healed scars lining Sasuke's lips with a look Nagato couldn't quite place. Temari, on the other hand, was much less secretive with her thoughts. Which was odd, considering her reputation as being the calm and collected one.
Her green eyes switched from Sasuke to Itachi, ignoring it as her brother seemed to have some sort of stare-off with the younger boy. "He killed the Kazekage." her tone much less factual than Itachi's had been. The hurt that laced her words was obvious to the others in the room, the underlying accusation not unmissed. Sasuke had aided in the assassination of her and Kankuro's father.
Baki looked between Itachi's heavy stare and Temari's bitter glare, the man agreeing, "It was a necessary act. It makes perfect sense for a leader to want to find out more information on their predecessor's assassins."
"He did not. He knocked out the guards, yes, but he did not assassinate the Kazekage." Konan clarified, not flinching as Temari's head snapped over to glare at her instead.
"That may be so, but he still aided in the assassination." the young girl's icy words came out like a hiss. "That alone is crime enough for a death sentence in most villages." the blonde pointed out.
Dark green eyes narrowed as Hinata asked, "Why?" from across the table. The girl sat straight, seriousness and curiosity radiating off her simultaneously. "Why is that the case in most villages?"
Kankuro finally snapped himself away from Sasuke, the teen's brows furrowing at the younger girl's question. "To make it even." he spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Had today not been weighing on him like a bag of bricks, Nagato could have laughed at the irony of such an answer.
"Why do you think the Kazekage was assassinated?" Kisame challenged, much to the young puppeteer's ire.
Kankuro didn't think twice as he huffed out, "Hell if I know, you're all a bunch of monsters who like killing off whoever you damn well please!" he accused, glaring at Neji as the boy rolled his eyes. "What!?"
Neji, having picked up on Kisame's point, leaned on his one available hand as well. His hand rested in his palm as he narrowed his eyes at Kankuro in return, "You act like you didn't just answer your own question a moment ago." his words somewhere between annoyed and tired.
Temari narrowed her eyes at this, understanding exactly what he meant. "The sand has barely had any run-ins with the Akatsuki outside of a few jobs the previous Kazekage have paid for. Even then, that was ages ago. There's nothing to get even for."
"He had search parties going out after Gaara, even after we warned him against it." Sasori interjected, "He had plenty of warning, yet he continued to send people out, thinking he could slip under our radar. It was his own fault. Had he let it go, he wouldn't have had to die. We allowed him to carry on for far longer than we should have."
A look of disbelief crossed Temari's expression as she heard the accusation, the young teen forcing down her inner rage as she shot back precisely, "Of course he was still looking. You people kidnapped his son."
"His jinchuriki, you mean." Gaara's low tone somehow managed to cut through the slowly heating conversation, a sense of cold rising in the room. "I held no value as his son. Even mother - Konan - was able to realize this mere moments after meeting me."
Temari opened her mouth as though to say something, but no words came out. They couldn't, not when Gaara met her gaze with solemn green eyes, forcing forward despite his distaste for the conversation. "I've heard mention of what you think happened. That I was manipulated or something of that sort. Though I doubt this is true, even if that was the case..."
He paused only momentarily, as if collecting his thoughts. "I would still rather stay with the Akatsuki, regardless." he explained, hands gripping at the fabric of his pants. He seemed to have trouble conveying his exact thoughts, the boy's words coming out blunt. Though he had become better with these situations, the boy was far from a social butterfly.
"Nagato is my father. Not...the old Kazekage. Nagato has kept me safe over the years while the last Kazekage tried to have me killed. He...helps to numb the suffering the former Kazekage inflicted on me by forcing me to become a jinchuriki." the teen murmured, rubbing at his eye subconsciously. "Then Konan...Konan is," he considered it briefly before motioning towards her with his hands. "There. She does everything you always said your mother always did for you. She trains with me and the others. She teaches us how to have fun- like folding origami. I...it seems like she's always lingering nearby in case we needed help." looking pointedly at Temari. After all, she was the only one who had ever been able to remember scrapes of their birth mother. Kankuro had been too young while he had merely been a baby during her passing.
Nagato had to pause as he watched the boy, listening to his words. They sent a shock-wave of warmth through him, one which he found hard to ignore. It took everything in him to not look over at Konan, the man trying his best to remain stoic in front of the two unfamiliar teens. There would be time to ponder on that...later.
"Then everyone else in the Akatsuki is really good too!" Gaara emphasized, on a roll despite his uncertainty of how to explain it. "It was like...like having a bunch of parents, but not quite. Almost like uncles, but with Kankuro's attitude. Minus the fear." the words leaving his mouth without pause for his biological siblings to interrupt.
Nagato doubted they would dare to anyway, given the flabbergasted look on the two's faces. "No one was really scared of me once we got used to each other. They were shy maybe, but not scared. They barely ever got angry. They never called me a monster, or made me feel bad about accidents. That's more than I can say about either of you." his eyes glossed over, as if he were going to cry. Out of sadness or frustration, Nagato couldn't be sure. "They trained with me, played with me, helped me figure out how to do...me. They're my brothers and sisters. I care about them. How can you two possibly expect me to care about you in the same way when you hurt one of them? No- all of them. By torturing him, you hurt all of us. You hurt me."
A long silence seemed to echo in the room, Sasori carefully reaching out to rest an arm on Gaara's trembling shoulder. The puppeteer watched the current Kazekage and her younger brother with sharp eyes, moving Gaara's chair closer so the boy was all but tucked into his side. "You spoke of blame, earlier." he ground out. "Well, consider the former Kazekage as the one to blame for us taking Gaara. Had he never forced him through so much, this wouldn't have been an issue. Thus, the assassination never would have been necessary."
Temari's lips were pulled into a tight frown, brows wrenched together as her expression warped into a dark glower. She seemed unable to bring up a valid defense, and Nagato worried for a brief moment that she would attack. His apprehensions dissolved however as he saw the misery and utter guilt in her dark green eyes.
It was an unsettling look for such a proud girl, to say the least. "That's not fair." she finally hissed out, face reddening even as she spoke. Nagato was sure she knew how childish she sounded, but he supposed she had given up the majority of her pride when her eyelashes began to wet. "We couldn't have controlled whether he put the one-tails inside him or not. I was three. How could I of- you're keeping us away from him for something our father did!"
"Incorrect," Itachi's level voice cut in, his stoic stare having softened the smallest bit. "We killed the former Kazekage for his deeds. As much as it pains me that we had to resort to such methods, it was necessary to keep Gaara safe. We are sorry for the loss of your father, but his death was about more than just making things even. It was about keeping Gaara away from someone who would use or harm him."