The rain poured down, drenching the trio who were standing outside the building they resided in. It was coming down harder and harder as time passed. There was really no end in sight as the minutes dragged on, and the storm inevitable continued. The air was getting colder around them, but no one moved from their position.

The city below them was almost empty. No one went anywhere without a purpose. The shortest of the trio turned and left the tower top. Her blue hair was stuck to her head, the rose was drooping wet, and her clothes would take hours to dry. Of course the other two weren't better off anyway.

Silence surrounded them. It was a certain kind of silence, one that didn't want to be broken. Comfortable, yet lonely. It was normal for them though. They enjoyed each other's presence. They had been close friends for so long that it no longer bothered them.

"The sky always seems to cry more around this time of year," The shorter of the two whispered. The silence around both of them almost deafening by now.

"I don't think I've noticed that before, Nagato," The other man replied awhile later. The silence around them was forever broken now. There was a light breeze that came through, blowing cold air against the rain soaked, black cloaks.

"It was this time of year when I first met you both," Nagato replied. His head tilted slightly to the sky. The rain washed down his face. It was slow, comforting almost.

"It was this time of year, and I remember that I didn't like you at first," Yahiko laughed a little bit, "But Konan was so adamant about helping you that I couldn't dislike after seeing her like that."

Nagato smiled at the remark. He had actually like Yahiko from the moment he saw him. Yahiko reminded him of a true leader- not like those leaders of wars who sent their warriors to their death. He was a protector; he wouldn't let his own men die before himself.

Nagato had never met anyone like him before. Yahiko was so happy about everything. He was good at keeping the peace between people and even protecting his friends. Nagato looked up to him as someone he could trust in the world. What Yahiko said stuck no matter what.

Over the years, Nagato noticed that Yahiko seemed to pay special attention to Konan. Jiraiya had explained to him that when people like each other more than friends, they'll go out of their way to make sure that that person is happy.

Nagato slowly realized that he like Yahiko more than just a friend. He like him more than Konan. Though it was painfully obvious to the red head that his leader would never like him the way he wanted to him to like him. Nagato had come to terms with that, but he would still hope a little bit once in a while.

Yahiko stepped underneath the roof. He turned back to Nagato and signaled for the red head to follow him. The water dripped off of their cloaks as they made their way deeper into the building. They passed by doors which were all closed tightly, but they were hard to see because of the lack of lighting down the hallways.

"A lot of the members were going to go out tonight," Yahiko explained, "They said they were going to go to a temple, but Konan wanted to go with them. Would you like to go as well?"

"Are you going with them?" Nagato asked. It was rare that the members would go out together unless it was a mission. If Konan was going with them, then shouldn't all three of them go? Yahiko made it sound like she was going without them.

"No I thought I would stay here tonight," Yahiko slowly explain. He had always been a socialite, so it was strange that he would stay behind when a lot of the group was leaving tonight. The group that was leaving had gathered near the front door.

"I think I'll stay here tonight," Nagato replied.

Konan had changed out of her wet clothes and into dry ones. Yahiko waved to them, silently telling them that they could leave now. They left claiming to be back by midnight.

The few people who were left started conversing with Yahiko soon after the door closed. He seemed to get along with everyone so well. They talked about the same stuff over and over again, so Nagato tuned them out after a while.

Nagato sat near Yahiko. He didn't easily talk to the others in the room, but he was fond of the presence of the other members. It was winding down to be an actual good day. Slowly the members began to head off to their rooms for the night, leaving their leader and his right hand man alone.

"Nagato?"

"Yes?"

"Why don't you go to sleep now? I can stay up."

"No, it's fine."

They sat next to each other on the couch. Much too close for a purely friendship relationship but neither of them said anything. Yahiko had picked up a book left behind by one of the members and started to read it.

Nagato looked over his shoulder and read along with him. It was a novel about an adventure through some fantasy land. It was probably a good book if you didn't start in the middle. Nagato pulled away from Yahiko and the book.

The red head relaxed beside his friend. It was just a normal day; Nagato hadn't even left the building that day. Ringed eyes looked over at the man still reading the book.

The orange haired man had a very handsome face. His jaw line was square, like someone who could easily lead a nation. His blue eyes were soft though. It looked as though they held a mixture of determination in them as well.

Nagato absolutely adored his eyes. When he looked in them, he felt a sense of safety. Nagato had never said anything to him about it, but it was obvious other members thought the same thing. Though maybe not on the same level as Nagato did.

Yahiko turned to face his friend, "Is something wrong Nagato?"

"W-what? No," Nagato was suddenly brought out of his thoughts. He was slightly embarrassed from being caught staring, so he lowered his head slightly, avoiding Yahiko's gaze.

"Is that so?" Yahiko laughed back; he sat the book down and moved right in front of his friend.

"What are you doing?"

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Yahiko."

"I worry about you a lot."

There were no words left to say. Rinnegan eyes met blue ones, and Nagato smiled a little bit. They stayed in the position for a few more moments then Nagato turned his head away, trying to hide his face again.

"Yahiko why are you still so close to me?"

"Oh, sorry."

A few more moments passed before Nagato tried to say anything again, but he was cut off when Yahiko moved closer.

"You know, you're actually really cute."

Nagato's face flushed immediately. He tried to hide it with his equally red hair but it fell too short to hide his whole face. Yahiko seemed to think that it was even cuter, but he pulled away from the blushing man in front of me.

Nagato started to relax, but his face remained red. Yahiko laughed a little and slung his arm around Nagato. Nagato tried to shy away a little bit but decided against it. It was nice to have someone put their arm around him.

"Yahiko?"

"What's wrong now?"

"I thought you liked Konan?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Jiraiya-sensei explained that when you really like someone that you go out of your way to make them happy, and you always do that for Konan, but then you act like this around me."

Yahiko didn't respond; instead, he stared at the ceiling. His face was somewhat emotionless, but he soon turned to Nagato and smiled.

"Do you trust me?" He asked quickly.

"Of course, Yahiko. Why wouldn't I?" Nagato turned slightly. His face was no longer red which he gladly rejoiced in that small fact.

"Close your eyes please."

"Why?" Nagato pulled away slightly. This was completely new to him. Yahiko was acting very strange, but it wasn't in a bad way. It just made Nagato nervous.

"Nagato, just trust me," Yahiko almost pleaded.

Nagato nodded and gently closed his ringed eyes. His heartbeat started to quicken, but he trust Yahiko with his life- after all, Yahiko did save his life.

He felt fingers run up his cheek, and move hair out of in front of his eyes, and then gently hold the back of his head. The arm that had been around his shoulders moved quietly back to Yahiko's side. The red head was about to object about his hair being moved, but his lips were soon covered with something that was slightly rough and damp.

Nagato didn't know how to respond, so he stayed perfectly still. Slowly the lips pulled away from him, and he opened his eyes. Purple and blue eyes met before their lips met again. Nagato leaned forward in surprise.

They continued to kiss until Yahiko pulled back for air. Nagato closed his eyes again. His cheeks were bright red again, so he let his hair fall in front of eyes and face, trying to hide it. Yahiko pushed his hair out of his face and kissed him again.

Nagato wondered if this could actually be a dream. The man he had grown to love so much somehow loved him back. It felt amazing- even though it was so sudden.

The kisses were unbelievably sloppy. Neither of them knew what they were doing, but they were at least trying. Yahiko's arm wrapped around Nagato's waist and brought him closer. Yahiko tried to hide that his hands were slightly shaking from nervousness, but it was painfully obvious to Nagato.

"Ya-Yahiko?" Nagato pulled away, tilting his head down again, "Why?"

"I thought about it for a while, but I couldn't find a way to tell you without showing you," Yahiko explained almost silently. He looked down too, but then he took Nagato's chin and lifted it back up, "Nagato stop shying away."

Nagato looked back up at the orange haired man sitting in front of him. His expression was soft and loving. It was wonderful to think that he cared this much about him. Nagato leaned forward again, but this time he leaned his head against Yahiko's shoulder.

Yahiko wrapped his arms tightly around him. Now that he actually had him- Yahiko would never let him go. They stayed like that for about 10 more minutes. Voices echoed outside the door, growing closer and closer.

It was time for the team to come back anyway. Nagato pulled away and turned to the doorway. Yahiko stood up and started to the door way. The door opened quickly and the people stepped in from the night.

It had probably stopped raining for a little bit, so they weren't soaking wet like normal. Konan stepped away from the other people and made her way over to the two men near the center of the room.

"How did it go?" Yahiko asked with slight enthusiasm.

"It was fun. We had a nice time," Konan responded. She looked at ease- something had happened, but it was too late to ask about it.

"That's nice to know," Yahiko stretched his arms above his head and turned back to Nagato, "Why don't we all head to bed, and you can tell me more about it in the morning?"

They nodded and headed off to the upper floors of the building. The last three people in the room stood around.

"You seem unnaturally happy, Konan," Yahiko commented, smiling a little.

"Huh? I do?"

"Yeah, anything you want to tell us?"

"There's nothing I can think of," Konan smiled a little, waved, and walked to her room. It was awfully strange of her to do so.

"Yahiko," Nagato whispered, "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, but at least she's happy with it," Yahiko replied quickly. He really did care about her, but right now she seemed content enough where he shouldn't worry about her so much.

"Are you still having nightmares?" Yahiko's voice was full of concern. Nagato had had nightmares since Konan found him all those years ago. They had lessened over the years, but the intensity of one of them was horrible. He had learned how to deal with them by himself, but that didn't mean Yahiko and Konan didn't notice them.

"Very rarely now," Nagato replied. It was true; the last one he had was months ago.

"That's good. That's really good, but if you have one again, don't hesitate to come find me," Yahiko replied. He was relieved that he could finally tell Nagato to come to him no matter what. Yahiko leaned back over Nagato and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Go to sleep; we'll talk in the morning," Yahiko kissed his cheek again and started to his room. He felt something tug on his sleeve.

"Can I sleep in your room tonight?" Nagato was grabing his sleeve and kept his head facing the ground.

"Yeah, come on cry baby," Yahiko laughed a little bit and reached for his hand.

Nagato frowned at the nickname, but let him take his hand and lead him to the room. It was pretty much just like all the other rooms, but the window in it faced east while most of the other's faced west or eat.

"What do you normally sleep in?" Yahiko asked, taking off the black cloak.

"My undershirt and pants," Nagato responded. The nights were cold, so Nagato would have preferred to sleep in more, but the cloak was normally always wet from the constant rain that he opted for what he had handy.

"Okay, well we'll have to share a bed," Yahiko explained and sheepishly pointed to his unmade bed, "Sorry I wasn't expecting to have a guest tonight."

"It's fine. I don't mind," Nagato took off the clock and placed it near Yahiko's to finish drying.

"Come on then," Yahiko straightened and pulled back the blankets. Nagato crawled in beside him. The bed wasn't big enough for two people, but Nagato was much smaller than Yahiko, so they could fit somewhat comfortably.

"Goodnight Nagato."

"Goodnight."

Nagato curled up on the edge of the bed, but he smiled a little bit. It was like his dream came true. He laid there for a little while longer when he thought he heard Yahiko say something, but he fell asleep before he could ask.

Yahiko turned to look at Nagato, who had obviously tried to take up as little space as possible on the bed. He smiled a little bit and whispered, "You're adorable."

Yahiko wrapped his arm around the smaller of the two, pulling him closer. Nagato muttered something in his sleep but inevitably relaxed in his hold. Yahiko easily fell asleep. It was nice to know he could protect the red head from anything now.