Characters: Yahiko, Konan, Nagato
Summary: There's home here, for all the pain and fear.
Pairings: Yahiko x Konan
Author's Note: Anyone know a good portmanteau for "Yahiko x Konan"?
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"If you had any more skin pulled off you you'd look like a chunk of meat," Konan mutters, waving a young medic along and taking the roll of bandages herself. Yahiko raises an eyebrow; with her left hand bandaged, Konan's hardly one to talk. "But that seems to be the extent of the damage, thank God." Her brows is furrowed and, pale with shadows under her eyes, Konan looks far older than she has a right to. Yahiko winces.
The makeshift infirmary is now empty save for Yahiko, Konan and a sleeper on a distant bed in the corner, shadowed by one of the pillars holding up the ceiling and naught but a dark mass concealed by his black, red cloud-embellished cloak. The electricity's out again so the only source of light is the weak, pale light penetrating the veil of silver water being cast off the outcropping. The song of rain hums softly, omnipresent.
Yahiko winces and groans theatrically as Konan applies antiseptic and bandages, keeping one eye trained on her mouth.
"Don't be such a baby, Yahiko." Curled downwards in a frown. Not quite what I was looking for.
"Oh come on, Konan; you're killing me here!"
A small, reluctant twitch of a smile appears at Konan's pale lips and Yahiko grins back. Mission successful. I can't remember the lat time Konan smiled. She finishes up as quickly as she can manage and sits down on the edge of the thin cot beside Yahiko, the springs groaning under her weight.
"So what happened?" She folds her hands together across her lap and fixes Yahiko in a piercing stare. It's not difficult to see her tension, just how ill at ease she is.
Yahiko can only shrug. "We were ambushed. The others all got out okay; I only ended up like this because I was trying to ensure their escape." Talking about battle and injuries gained there isn't enough to faze him anymore. He motions towards Konan's bandaged hand. "And you?"
Equally blasé, she responds. "A paper bomb detonated too soon." Yahiko hisses sympathetically—the burns from something like that are always painful—and Konan grimaces. "But what irritates me far more is that I'm going to have to go over every single tag from the pack the faulty one came from and make sure there's nothing wrong with any of them either." That could potentially be a problem; paper bombs don't come cheap, at least not in Amegakure and especially not for a resistance fighter.
"It's only burns, right?" Yahiko looks down at the bandaged stump and he's pretty sure he can still make out the outline of fingers; still, it doesn't hurt to check.
Konan nods. "It's not like it detonated in my hand. It was about a foot away when it went. Trust me, Yahiko, if a paper bomb went off in my hand I probably wouldn't have any fingers left afterwards. Or a hand, for that matter." She sighs wearily and leans back on her palms, putting the majority of her weight on the uninjured arm.
Something occurs to Yahiko. "Konan… Where's Nagato? He's usually around the infirmary if one of us are in here."
Pale blue eyes narrow slightly, as though this surprises her. Konan points a finger over to the shadowy corner. "He's there," she says with a horrible quiet in her voice.
Feeling his stomach tie in knots, Yahiko stands, starting to open his mouth. Just as quickly, Konan lunges forward and pulls him back down on the bed. "Don't bother." Her voice is sharp. "He's been sedated—not that this is anything unusual for Nagato anymore. He took more damage than us."
Yahiko grits his teeth. "That's always the way, isn't it?"
Konan's brow furrows. "There's no use getting mad, Yahiko," she says, more gently this time.
"Damn it, Konan, this shouldn't be happening!" The cloak-covered mass shifts slightly and Yahiko flinches; Konan glares at him. Yahiko shakes his head, tacitly agreeing to lower his voice. "Nagato… Nagato shouldn't feel like he has to take the entire weight of the Akatsuki on his shoulders just because he has the Rinnegan. It's too much for any one man, and you know it."
The thinnest hint of a quiver hitches at her lips. "Nagato doesn't think it's too much for him." Konan's face grows flat as paper. "Besides, you know as well as I do that these days the only way to keep Nagato from taking every mission offered to him is to physically restrain him. He's not going to stop."
"Damn it," Yahiko mutters again, staring heavily at the rain outside. Really, what's with all this rain? Not even this country ought to be crying so much. "You think he'll be alright?"
"For now? Yes."
But not forever. Nagato won't be alright forever. He's already showing signs of not being alright now. And they both know it.
"That's why we'll win." Konan's voice is thousands of pounds lighter and when Yahiko looks at her she's finally smiling again, a toothless but confident smile.
Yahiko returns the favor with the same toothless, confident smile, wrapping his arms around her shoulders even through the burns and the bandages. There's the smell of rain clinging to her hair. "Yeah. That's exactly why we'll win."
There's home here, beyond the pain and the fear and the uncertainty. That much Yahiko has always been able to count on.