Well, don't think I've seen one of these so I thought I'd give it a try - takes place right around when the Akatsuki are going to invade Konoha. It's sorta AU, because Pein is injured before it can happen, and there's going to be a very random-ish pairing

anyways, tell me what you think .

The Early Years

It was not his voice which worried me, nor the words which he fearfully whispered. It was the fact that this was him, that there was something out there which could break him; if he was here, there must be trouble, and if he was like this... the trouble was bad. Something which could make him cry would be something worth staying away from.

And yet, I knew that in moments, I would be sent away to find it.

I wanted to stay by his side as he screamed his nonsensical words, to soothe him with my own nonsense; "It's all right, calm down, you'll be fine." I knew that it wouldn't be true, but still, I prayed that it might be. And staying with him, seeing him breathe, was assuring my hopeless hopes.

"Pein," I uttered softly, slightly calming his frantic movements.

"Konan?" he whispered back, in a delirious, un-God like voice. I felt like a sinner, or some pagan-worshipper, who was discovering the truth hidden in my beliefs. So sickly and fragile was he, that I could not believe that he'd once been my leader, that some time ago, I even had loved him.

Grabbing his hand, feeling ill as I did, I stated as sweet as I could, "I need to go away for a while. You need to stay here, to get better, all right?"

A look came over his eyes which I could only place as defiance. "I do not need to rest," he argued angrily, in his powerful, commanding monotone. I inwardly rolled my eyes, not wanting to have an argument with someone so childish. But then, I was struck by the past, and I did want to stay here and fight for as long as I could. So that I could be with him, and near him, and hold him.

Or rather, so that I could hold his body... the body that was not truly his.

Disgusted with myself and my emotions, I buried them deep in my mind. "Get a hold of yourself, Konan," I mentally chastised, as I forced a small smile to form on my face. "Of course not," I replied to Pein, hoping to resolve the issue quickly. "Then why don't you stay and... plan things? While I go and... assemble the troops?"

To him, my idea seemed reasonable. He nodded his head before deciding that, "Yes, I think you should. And look for supplies while you are there."

I nodded back, and kissed his cheek, like I had a thousand times before. Dispassionately, unwillingly, morosely. A simple kiss was no longer so simple.

Waving goodbye, or in my mind, good riddance, I soared off to locate Madara. He was not that far away, and when I found him, he greeted me kindly. I relayed to him my news, which he reacted to just as I had expected. "Of all the days, this happens today," Madara sneered, crossing his arms. "What an unwise course of action; I expected better of Pein." His sharingan gaze turned towards me. "Have you found the culprit yet?"

"I was about to search for him," I quickly answered. "Or her," I felt need to add.

"Well see to it that you find him or her," Madara ordered, a sign of dismissal. With an affirmative, I turned around, and set to the sky aboard my paper. All I could think as I searched the ground was "Why in the world am I even bothering?" and "Why has this happened TODAY of all days?! The day we were about to invade!"

The ground refused to answer my thoughts, but instead, it filled me with more. My "Whys?" thus turned to "Whos?" Who had done this, and who could do this?

Who in the world could defeat the god Pein, and leave him a bloody mess at my doorstep? Who had knocked him senseless, had left him vulnerable, had left him scared beyond his wits? Who had beaten the invincible force which I could never seem to control?

Because whoever the hell they were, I really had to thank them.