Initiation
***Comment a question for the Winter Special Chapter where the characters (or authors) answer any questions you ask!***
6:43pm, April 19Himitsu fiddled with his hands. The plans for the 'welcome to Konoha' were canceled and it was decided that he would have dinner with two of the Akatsuki assistants so they could discuss the death of Sasori. Deidara was currently driving him to a restaurant where they were supposed to meet. It was dead silent.
Sakura looked back at what led her to this moment. Tsunade had a key to Sasori's apartment and gave it to her without mentioning that Sasori had roommates. She had no evidence of being Sasori's actual relative. If anything went wrong, it would be everyone finding out she's not a boy. And the biggest question of all: how would she gain their trust? It must be too quiet! She's supposed to be gathering information. "So...I didn't realize Sasori had roommates…"
"I'm his only roommate. Tobi was just there with me." There was an odd emphasis on 'roommate'. Deidara attempted to keep his voice as neutral as possible. Himitsu could feel the anger seeping through the words. Clearly they did not get off on the wrong foot.
"Oh." Silence once more inserted themselves between the two like a wall. Sakura couldn't give up yet. "How long have you two been together?" It was meant to be a light interaction but she saw Deidara's knuckles turn white gripping the steering wheel.
"Since Sasori moved in. You know how long ago that was." No, she didn't. Luckily there was nothing left to say because they had arrived. It was a faded sign with two of the letters missing. The door had an open sign but it looked empty as if it were closed. "Listen, there's only one bed in the apartment…" oh no here it comes, "and I feel bad if I kicked you out on the streets after you traveled all this way," wait what? "So you can just stay there. Don't worry, I'll just be staying with Tobi." Sakura realized how hard this must me. Himitsu smiled.
"Thank you."
6:45pm, April 19
Pein was with Kuro and Shiro in the restaurant. They were in a secluded backroom. The restaurant was in Akatsuki Territory so naturally a giant portion of what they ordered came out as a 'fee' for protection and such. It took awhile, but the family that ran the restaurant eventually came to realize the real law around town.
Pein wasn't sure what to think. This Himitsu guy could be anyone. They needed proof and even if he was why was he here? Did he want revenge? Did he expect Akatsuki to take responsibility and actually get revenge? It wasn't that simple. There was a system in place. The only real conflict was over turf. But what happened to Sasori yesterday...It wasn't suppose to happen.
Pein looked over to Kuro and nodded. Deidara just texted him that Himitsu was going in. A few seconds later the brown haired man entered the room with Shiro following closely behind. He was an odd one to say least. The clothes didn't seem to fit him right and the entirety of his appearance screamed 'please don't look at me'. So he was shy, big deal. But despite having a dull look, Himitsu had to have the most vibrant green eyes Pein's ever seen in his life. It was as if he himself was a shell embracing a vivacious entity and his eyes were the gateway to peer into. A smile formed on his lips as he spoke. "Hey."
"Hi." Sakura winced. That did not sound like Himitsu but if the leader heard it like she did, he didn't mention it.
"How do you like Konoha so far?" Sakura was about to say 'lovely' when she rethought and decided a better word that Himitsu would use.
"It's pretty shitty." Shiro snorted and the smile reformed on Pein's lips.
"Yeah, this isn't the best place. But it's home."
"Yeah…" Like the car ride, Himitsu felt the increasing silence. It stayed that way as Himitsu looked around the private room they were in.
"How close were you to Sasori?" Pein was expecting a few tears or maybe frustration. Sakura knew Himitsu was anything but predictable.
"I'm gonna smash the head of whoever did that to my cousin." It came out so naturally and calm even Sakura was surprised. Himitsu looked directly at Pein. "You're gonna help me, right?"
"It's not that easy. We don't know who killed him." Himitsu wasn't dropping this.
"You know the people that would try." A wild idea flew into Himitsu's head and before Sakura could do anything about it, the words left his mouth. "Let me join you." Himitsu continued before Pein could say no. "You have connections. While you're doing whatever it is you guys do, I can look around and gather some information." Pein remained silent for two more seconds. As he opened his mouth Himitsu interjected one last thing. "Please," This time Sakura allowed the sadness to seap in, "he meant the world to my grandma." Kuro and Shiro looked at each other. With just one word, they would gladly pull this kid outside and kick his teeth out. However Pein wasn't saying anything.
"I really am sorry. But I think Sasori would've wanted you save rather than out at risk of going down the same way he did."
"This isn't about him. It's about my Grandma. I'm doing this for her not someone who ran away from home." Himitsu once again surprised both Pein and Sakura. Of course the idea of bring up the grandmother came to the back of Sakura's mind.
"What can you do that would be of use to Akatsuki?" Himitsu broke out in a smile. It made his eye brighter than ever and Pein studied his face a little longer. It was an attractive face. That was about as much as Pein allowed himself to admit.
"Well..I can shoot a gun…?" Sakura didn't know what else to say. It came out awkward and not at all like the assertiveness she showed just a few seconds ago. The corners of Pein's mouth curved slightly.
"Tomorrow you can join Kisame and Itachi." Pein looked over toward the twins. "Go get him a Sasori's ring." He then turned to Himitsu and nodded his chin in the direction they were going in. "You can go with them. I'll see you later."
"Thank you."
7:12pm, April 19
Kuro and Shiro walked into the kitchen area aware of the staff nervously moving around them. Both thought that what Himitsu did was bold, but neither had the same courage to mention it to his face. "We left the ring with a guy we knew." Kuro's voice, Sakura noticed, was a bit rougher.
"There was a bunch of blood on it and that we weren't able to clean." Shiro's voice was much more cheery. Similar to Tobi's Sakura supposed.
"Is it going to be mine now?"
"Yeah, you get a tattoo and everything." Sakura panicked as Shiro continued on. "It kind of hurt when Kuro and I got it but it was bearable.
"Wh-where's the tattoo going to be?" Kuro snorted at how meek Himitsu seemed now.
"Anywhere you want." Shiro really sounded similar to Tobi the longer Sakura heard it.
"Where'd you two get your's?" They turned the corner to a staircase going up and Sakura realized that the restaurant wasn't the only floor. She should've been paying more attention to where she was going outside.
"We both got it near our chest." Sakura was nervous. She would have to ask the others about this tattoo business later.
"He's lying." Wait what?
"Kuro don't ruin the jokes!" Shiro laughed. That was really a scary sound to Sakura. Shiro turned around and smiled. "I was joking. You do get a ring though. They had reached a room upstairs that was mostly empty besides a storage table. They opened one of the drawers and took out a small box. Inside had a shiny purple ring.
"Put it on your thumb." Kuro spoke as he handed the ring to Himitsu. The twins couldn't believe this was actually happening. This kid could seriously be lying and the leader just let him in like that. "Pein will probably have one of the Akatsuki members drop you off."
"Ok." There was an awkward silence as the trio stood their waiting. Realization dawned on Sakura. "Oh, you want me to go? Got it. I'll - uh - see you guys later." It really has been a long day. Sakura walked back downstairs to the room and saw that Pein had left. She was going to go back upstairs but decided it would only make it worse if she forced one of the two to give her a ride back to her apartment. So she decided to walk. Someone should've warned her about wearing the ring in public.