~* PROLOGUE *~

The ground is scarred with fire and ash. Harsh winds grab at me like hands and threaten to push me over. The white sky illuminated the place, its light hitting off the scorched ground and showing me that no-one is here. Or, they are, but I can't see them. I'm all alone in this barren wasteland.

And it feels like I've been here before.

I take a step forward, and find that somehow, I can. The winds stop blowing, and other than my own breath and the crackling of the fires, it is silent. This sudden feeling of dread washes over me. Somehow, I hope to God that it isn't grief. I can't handle any of that anymore. Too many people are dying…

I try to think of a face—someone to remember—but there's nothing. I can't think of anyone I used to love. The silence is deafening, and I recall when it was never, ever silent. Or quiet, for that matter. My ears had always been filled with laughter and arguments and bickering for bickering's sake. When the others died down, so did their noises. The noises that reminded me I was still here. 'We'll all be quiet when we're dead,' one of them said. I don't know which one, but one of them had said it. The one that wasn't me.

I don't think of any of the times before all this started happening. I can't. That girl, the one with the laughing eyes and blue hair, wasn't me anymore. It would be rude to eavesdrop on her conversations. Sometimes I wish I could. Sometimes I wish I could pretend that she was still me, and that these people were still part of my life. But she's not, and they aren't, so I can't bring myself to lie. Pretending was never my strong point, and I doubt that'll change.

"That won't change, Konan."

This voice breaks me from my stupor. My eyes widening in some feeling I hadn't felt since I came here, I turn around slowly. It's him, it's him. How the hell is he here? "You… You're dead," I choke out, my voice cracking from what I hope is lack of use. I feel something wet blur my eyesight and trail down my cheek.

He laughed, the sound sarcastic and euphoric like I used to remember it, not holding any of the bitterness that it had when I saw him last. He shook his head, grinning at me in a crookedly reassuring manner. "Not yet," he assured, "but you might be."

I couldn't help but nod at that. I probably looked horrible. I started again, my voice a little more confident this time as I said, "Are the others dead yet, either?" A little flare of hope lightened in my chest, and I felt myself inwardly begging him to tell me that they weren't. Please, please let them be alive, and please tell me they aren't in this place…

"Not yet," he answered.

The hope flared even stronger, and I felt myself falling to my knees in front of him. He's still smiling, and the burns and scorches on his arms tell me he's still not okay yet, either. "Are you alright?" I ask him softly, choking down the guilt rising in my chest. He's been reassuring me and comforting me but he's almost in worse shape than I am.

He grins at me, and I can tell that although he's still trying to make me feel more relaxed and less worried, the smile is genuine. "Of course I am, Konan. I'm too totally amazing to ever be less than alright," he answers cheekily, and I have the sudden urge to both hug him and whack him across his smug little face. I smile back at him half-heartedly, and his grin widens marginally in triumph. I suspect that's what he's been trying to do for his whole visit. Just make me smile. That's all he ever really tried to do in the first place.

"That's good," I say, sounding more relieved than I had hoped I would. I wonder why he's here—I mean, is it only because he wants to reassure me that everything's alright? Is he here to save me from this place? I hope so, because I don't think I can stand this any longer.

"Are you alright?" he asks, frowning suddenly in thought. I blink, wondering why the hell he needed to ask that. I can't answer genuinely, since I have no idea if I am myself. Slowly, hesitantly, I nod, too scared to use my voice for fear of stuttering and blowing my cover. I probably already blew it because of my hesitance. I really am not good at pretending.

If he notices, he doesn't show it, because he smiles in relief and says, "Phew. You really had me going there, Konan. You looked too sad to be real for a second there. Everything is fine, y'know?"

I blink once again, feeling inexplicably confused. Everything is fine? How the hell is everything fine? They are all dead, and I have a suspicion that we are, too. He believes in what he's saying, though, and he's never led me on before… "What are you talking about? Why the hell are you even here?" I ask, feeling sort of pathetic. He laughs, and all of it is blown away. I can't believe he can even laugh at a time like this. This is serious! How is he so light-hearted? Are they all really okay? Is he lying just to make me feel better? I'll never know, and I know this for a fact…

Because, then, he grins and states, "I need you to do something for me, Konan. You need to help me. But you can't help me yet. Not right now. First, you need to wake up…" He stops as if waiting for something, then clicks his tongue as if to say, 'here we go…'

"Wake up, Konan!"

A/N: The first chapter will not be out for a while, since I'm going to write most of the fanfiction before posting it. I really only put this out to show you guys that no, I am not only going to put out one-shots, and yes, I am working on stuff. I'm only adding Author's Notes to the end of the chapters, to not take away from the suspense. Yes, yes, this was a very cliche ending of the prologue, but I swear that this story won't be anywhere close to cliche (or, at least, I hope it won't.) There isn't enough Konan-centric Akatsuki AU's, so I'm writing one. Yay! I really want to write a Konan-centric AU that takes place during high school/collage, but am too lazy to start that right now. Not to mention the fact that I've partially written the start to a lot of Sasori/Deidara-centric History AU's. Totally not my fault that I'm a History nerd, okay? Well, ah...

R&R? I guess..?