A/N: I've become a fan of this pairing recently...so I decided to write one myself... Well, enjoy, and please leave a reveiw.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, all the members of the Akatsuki would still be alive, and Sakura would be dead (Sorry, to all Sakura fans)

Rain

Of all the people in the Akatsuki, it had to be him.

Of course, if this mission had been scheduled earlier, as in about eight years ago, she might have felt less miserable when Pein had told her that she would be paired with Itachi for the rest of the mission. Then, she didn't know the prodigy very well, so wouldn't think much of it. Now, even if she never worked with him, the group gatherings were enough for her to gather that he would be cold and completely silent until absolutely necessary. She couldn't stand people like that, even though she was aware that she had been rather close to it at one point in her childhood.

Konan sighed inwardly. There was no avoiding it now. It was Pein's orders, and didn't she promise herself she'd put her life on the line for him if necessary a long time ago? She wasn't looking forward to it, anyhow, and wondered how in the world Kisame was able to work with him, at all, let alone so well.

Taking deliberately slow steps, she meandered through the woods near the border of the Leaf village. All the remaining members of the Akatsuki had been scattered at stations surrounding the Village Hidden in the Leaves, in preparation for the infiltration tomorrow. They were close, yet far away enough to remain undetected.

Konan knew she wasn't even supposed to be out here, but seeing that she didn't have anything better to do, and would be plunged into a silent hell tomorrow, she found herself out on a walk. The warm, dry weather of Konoha had proved to be a nice change from the rain that came down in buckets back where she had been raised.

It'll only be for a little while, she thought, Pein won't even notice. At least, that's what she hoped.

Within ten minutes of her being outside, the weather changed suddenly. The originally blue sky was now concealed behind a thick mass of grey clouds. This had to be one of the forced weather changes that only Pein could create. Rain would be cascading down any minute, now, Konan was sure of that.

"Damn it, Pein," she muttered. Way to ruin my final hours without a human ice-cube tagging along... she added in her head.

Sure enough, the downpour had started just as she finished that thought, the rhythmic 'pitter patter' of the drops hitting the ground all too familiar to Konan. Being raised in the Rain meant that she was supposed to be used to the rain, but even she was getting tired of always getting drenched.

Konan sighed. Oh well, she thought, no point in going back now... before continuing to walk, mindless of the rain.

"May I ask...what exactly you're doing in this rain?"

Konan flinched when she heard the sudden, icy voice behind her. "What business is that of yours?" she retorted, after regaining her composure. "And, I believe I could ask you the same question."

No reply, leaving Konan to ponder how in the world Itachi had managed to sneak up on her without her noticing. By now, the rain had to have formed puddles, right? During the few moments of which she was thinking, she hardly registered the quiet splashes of footsteps approaching, and it took her a few minutes to realize that the rain had stopped hitting her. When she looked up, she saw a dull navy blue umbrella with the red and white Uchiha fan bordering its edges. She scowled at the symbol, the first time she'd seen it being eight years ago on the back of Itachi's shirt when he first joined Akatsuki. Konan averted her gaze, and fixed him with the harshest glare she could muster.

"You weren't supposed to go into the village, yet."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at her, and she could have sworn there was a slight hint of amusement in his expression.

Probably because he finds it funny that a girl that only reaches about his ear is ordering him around... the bastard, she thought.

"The Uchiha estate is near here..." he replied, somewhat surprising her, who never expected anything back, given the slight nods he gave her at the meetings, and his silences, "...and it's deserted, anyway."

She gave a quiet "Humph,"in response. He walked away, letting the rain land on Konan again.

"Hey!" she shouted, running after him and grabbing the nearest thing, which happened to be the back of his cloak's collar, "don't walk away form me like that!"

It seemed to have caught him by surprise, because his eyes widened, and it took a minute for him to register what happened. Before long, he closed his eyes briefly, and turned, forcing Konan to let go.

"Then hurry up," he replied.

"Damn you," she muttered. "I don't think it'll kill you to be a bit more social... and I'll have to work with you…. Damn you, Pein..."

Itachi glanced at her, surprised by her cursing the leader, although he did ignore the bit directed at him. "I thought you respected the leader more than any of us?" he asked. "You are the one that goes back the furthest."

Konan glared at him again. "And again," she snapped, "What business is this of yours?"

Itachi ignored, began walking. Humph. How typical.

"If you don't want to get drenched again... I suggest you hurry up."

That was the last Itachi said for a while, and Konan never did prod him, despite the uncomfortable silence she felt. After a while, she even began to enjoy the near-silence. Maybe being antisocial had its advantages.

Without her noticing, the sodden white origami rose that she had always carried in her hair had lost its hold, and drifted down onto a puddle. Only when the two of them heard a small 'splash', did they glace over and notice a weasel gazing back at them, with its head slightly cocked, and a white rose clutched in its forepaws. A few seconds later, the small creature turned and ran off, still carrying the rose.

"Oh, crap," Konan muttered, looking up at the near-dark sky. "I'd better go..." she said to Itachi's raised eyebrow, offering no explanation.

"You still haven't answered my question."

Konan turned. "You'll find out, Itachi," she replied, before scattering into pieces of origami papers, and drifting away. I thought she couldn't do that...?

Itachi almost missed the white piece of paper that nearly floated into a puddle before he reached down and snatched it, recognizing it at once. He opened it up, and found, scrawled in the center, in Konan's printing (he guessed, as he'd never seen her write),

Thanks.

Itachi looked at the note again before folding it up and putting it into his pocket.

Konan smiled to herself. Maybe it isn't going to be so bad working with him, she thought. First impressions can be misleading.

Pein looked up when he heard Konan come into the small cave, with rain water dripping off her azure colored hair, the white rose nowhere in sight, and looking a little too happy for what she was in for tomorrow, in his opinion.

"Where were you?" he asked.

Konan smiled. "Out," she replied, "for a walk"

He smirked when she passed him. He'd known what she had been up to the whole time. He did have six bodies, after all.

A/N: ...Reveiw, please? That might have been another rushed ending...:(...oh, well...All I ask is that you don't flame me, please. Oh, I'll agree with anyone currently thinking That was odd...

NOTE: for those of you who don't know, Itachi means 'Weasel' in Japanese...:P