Amegakure. My home. My people. My life. It didn't look like much as I stared at it through the rain from the platform I stood on outside the tower that is my home. Many of the buildings had several of these platforms from it being larger at the bottom than at the top. The builders had just left gapes of space where they hadn't built any farther, instead prefering to build closer to the middle. Some of these balconies were architcturally planned, however, as this one was.

This village was the only real home that I had ever had. As I was growing up, being that I am a war orphan, I was constantly being moved around and shoved off to the side. If I had a place to lay my head, it was in a cave that was otherwise unoccupied. There was once when I lived with...I pushed away the painful thought.

Amegakure means more to me than anything else besides...him. I turned and caught a look at him. There he stood, silent as the air, but strong as metal. He was my only company; my only companion for several years now. Yes, he meant a great deal to me. Most likely more than he knew. Then again, I meant more to him than I knew as well. We stood beside each other in everything. He was the leader of our organization, Akatsuki. Akatsuki was a group of ten criminals set toward change, toward a new dawn! A faint smile touched my lips at the irony of our members, our goal, and our mission. Can you really obtain peace through rivers of blood? He seemed to think so, as did I, but... Something about it just seemed odd to me.

I was his appointed partner in Akatsuki and had been for many years. We had known each other before, but it was...different. Now he is the leader of Ame, our village, with me at his right hand. The people call me Lady Angel, or God's Angel. To him, though, we are mere comrades. No angel. No saint. Friend. And I'm okay with that. I never wanted to be anything more or anything less.

He swung his left arm slightly and shifted his weight. I could see the uneasiness coursing through him. He was nervous about the trial to come; his and mine. It touched me deeply to see him worry about me, but as much as I care for him, I am also wary of him and his heart. A cold-blooded killer with no mercy, he is not short of disposing of anyone that dare defy him or get in his way. Elderly, woman, child, no matter. I hated that side of him. I hated that he is not Na... who he was before. Yet at least I could read his bodylanguage and sometimes understand his reasons for the wicked crimes he commits. It was in his eyes.

Hurt, sorrow, pride, chilly resolve...I could see it all in his eyes, the eyes of the broken, yet hardened man that I have grown so accustomed to. I didn't really know him, although I know his inner workings. I understand him and his ways, his quirks and hidden feelings are known by me and only me. Even so... I shook my head slightly at my thoughts. I didn't know what to make of them... I didn't know what to make of him... My leader, that was all he was to me. But he was so much more as well. Will I ever understand me? I thought. Will I ever get comfortable with this? Will I become like him, stoic and stone-hearted as our people described him? Am I already? A quiet little sigh escaped between my smooth lips.

"Konan," he said.

"Yes, Pain?" I responded, putting my thoughts aside.

"Are you ready?"

I was silent, but only for a moment. I didn't want him to sense my uneasiness with my mission. "Yes. I am," I approached him until I was standing slightly behind him, my back as straight as a rod. He said nothing more. I could feel his frusteration with sending me on my own to do something like this, but I knew that wouldn't change his mind. We had received the order and so I must do what I must do. He knew this and so did I. It was my duty to obey Pain and his orders without hesitation, no matter the cost. Now was the time.

A gust of wind blew past us, chilling me to the bone. My wet clothes seemed to soak in the frigid air and I shivered, but not for long. Slowly, my body began separating into small squares of wax paper. The papers, red, black, white, and one lavander, folded themselves into butterflies and flew into the distance, like a mist blown away by the wind.

He watched me as I disappeared, vanishing slowly...
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GodsDragonRider: Hello, everyone! I'm new to this and am going to update this as often as is possible! Please tell me what you think so far!