The first thing Pein did when reaching his home village was find the Akatsuki headquarters. Not really hard, since it was the largest run-down factory in the poorest side of the city. It was off-limits to all citizens unless they have a pass present, and are checked out by one of the members before even making it across three of the cracked floor tiles.
The kage knocked on one of the shabby factory doors hastily, looking left and right of him to see if he had been followed along the way. No one in sight; that's one thing off his worry list.
After what seemed like forever, the door creaked open, and a short red-haired youth stepped forward from out of the darkness. His attire was a black cloak with red clouds, the same as Pein's. His expression was sullen, bored, unemotional, as he had made it to be.
It was a damp, wet gray afternoon, kinda cold too, but no visible breath escaped the man's lips, for he had eliminated the need to breathe a long time ago.
"Sasori," Pein sighed, "It's me." The youth's dark brown eyes didn't change their usual lazy expression.
"Yes, I can feel your chakra, Leader-sama, but you know, rules are rules. Let's see your pass." The auburn haired man's gray eyes widened slightly at the fact that his pass was in his pocket, but it would be nearly impossible to retrieve with the bundle in his arms.
"Uh, here, hold this." Pein gently thrust Angel into Sasori's unprepared hands, causing him to teeter slightly at the weight.
"What the hell? Is this a paper bomb or something, because I could turn your sorry carcass into a puppet in nine sec—" He stopped short at the sight of the designated pass waving in his vision.
Sasori bowed hastily, careful not to drop the unknown package he was holding.
"Forgive me, Leader-sama." He muttered, shifting the bundle in his arms. It moved, making Sasori grow more curious as to what he was holding right now.
"You are forgiven, now let's get her inside. Quickly."Sasori barely had time to ask the question "her?" before Pein had shoved him back inside, slamming the shoddy door behind the three.
Sasori noticed the bundle squirm in his wooden arms with more energy and emit tiny moans and whine at high pitches as he and Leader-sama walked across the dim deserted lobby of the factory. Everything from the check-in desk to the furniture was covered in dust and showed signs of need of repairing, but the organization ignored it. The real luxuries were deep within this unattractive place.
"Forgive me, Leader-sama," Sasori began, breaking the wall of silence the two had built as they were walking down the dark hallway, trying to avoid the broken plaster bits on the floor as much as possible, "but what is this thing?" Leader glanced behind his shoulder with his normally intimidating gray ringed eyes, but now they held signs of humanity and softness, something rarely witnessed by any of the others, let alone Sasori.
"An angel." He replied quietly. The redhead's then unsociable face put on a scoffing mask, but it was discreet. Angel? Feh, there were no such things as angels. Leader-sama must be stretching his ego out to other people now. But, there must be something extraordinary about this thing that would make the head of the Akatsuki want to keep it.
The two black cloaks paused at the end of the hall in front of an elevator with a large tattered sign marked 'OUT OF ORDER' in faded letters. Pein nodded to Sasori, and the redhead complied to make the handsigns as designated in order to pass.
After the last seal had been signed (with one hand only), a happy ding was sounded, signaling the acceptance of the correct password. The elevator opened with a soft groan, and both stepped onto it. The door closed itself, and the floor buttons blinked once, ready for the next password to be submitted.
Pein chose to do this next one: With a flourish of his cloak sleeve, he revealed his pass and held it up to the speaker. The speaker which really wasn't a speaker scanned it with a thin red laser before opening the first lock for the elevator. The kage's hand wavered over the blinking buttons for barely a second before punching the numbers for the final lock. 1-3-5-2-6.
The last lock was opened, and Pein couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Almost home.
The gentle vibration and quiet humming of the activated elevator invaded all senses both Akatsuki had, leaving little room for thinking. Sasori felt the bundle settle down as the vibrations shook their bodies, seeming to be pleased by the natural rocking and swaying.
At last, the elevator shuddered to a steady halt, and with a happier ding, the doors opened one last time. Both Akatsuki stepped out of it into a brighter and friendlier setting. The living area's couch was about eight feet in front of them, with coffee table and TV. In the northeast of them was a small kitchen with a high counter and barstools in front. And to the north was the hallway of sleeping quarters for each member.
For now, it seemed, the place was deserted of any members.
"Here you go Leader-sama." Sasori offered him the… whatever it was to Pein. He shook his head.
"Come with me." Sasori let out an impatient sigh. For crying out loud!
Pein knocked on one of the doors in the sleeping quarters decisively and without splashing emotion upon the wood as his knuckles rapped upon it. Both he and Sasori waited only a few seconds before it opened up to them. A woman slightly shorter than Pein himself stepped out to meet them.
"Sasori, Pein," She nodded to them as she said their names, "what is it that you need?"
"Help." replied Pein, allowing himself to intrude upon her room. Sasori followed suit.
"What do you have there?" she asked, noticing the bundle in the redhead's arms. Pein at this point relieved the bundle from Sasori. He tilted it in his arms and removed the cloth.
The woman gasped slightly at the sight of the baby girl in her lover's arms. Even Sasori, who, from his twenty years of life on earth was not easily surprised, raised an eyebrow. A baby?
"Konan," Pein said to the woman, "I found her in the forest. She's an abandoned angel sent to me from heaven. Do you think you can feed her?" Konan pushed a strand of evenly cut blue hair out of her eyes.
"I'll see what I can do." She took the baby from Pein, frowning at the wound on her forehead.
"Where did she get this?"
"It was there when I found her."
"I see." Konan turned to Sasori.
"Sasori, do you perchance have any sleeping serums?" Sasori, who was a master at poisons, nodded.
"I do."
"Any sterile needles I could use?" Another nod.
"Good, I may need your help, if you don't mind." Sasori, quickly becoming irritable of being asked to do so many favors all in one day, sucked it up. Konan was practically Leader-sama in a female body. Piss her off, and you immediately piss him off.
"I would love to."