Breakfast with Konan
It was a cold winter's morning, with almost no sun peeking in from Konan's bedroom window when her eyes opened. She blinked, feeling slightly disoriented and then cringed when the pain reached her. Her stomach felt like it was being attacked by some sharp weapon. Konan breathed deeply and closed her eyes, then proceeded to curl up into a ball to try and lift some tension. It didn't work. Konan really hated this time of the month.
It was Wednesday, which used to be her good day, but not any more. Wednesdays suck was something she has come to conclude. So, Konan curled up into a ball and returned to peaceful sleep (as peaceful as it can get when in pain), completely forgetting that today was a very important day for Akatsuki members.
All well, they won't miss her, will they?
Every few months, Uchiha Madara would order the entire Akatsuki to gather at one of their bases to discuss things at lengths. Of course, no one knew he was the mastermind behind it all, but they listened to the orders anyway, since Pein was the one delivering them. Akatsuki was well-known for being an organisation spread all over the globe, so the meeting place was always moved to a different location based on where everyone was at the time.
Madara, Pein and Konan were also always the first to arrive. But this morning was different. By the time Pein reached the large room where the meeting would be commencing, Konan was not sitting there waiting for him. Madara (disguised as Tobi) was flipping through the pages of an old book, looking as bored as ever.
Strange, Pein concluded. Konan was always here first...she probably overslept. Women were always unpredictable like that. But still, it made Pein wonder.
A few minutes passed, and in came Hidan and Kakuzu in the middle of a heated argument over money and religion. The two never stopped, so the argument has somewhat become boring. While the two took their seats and continued arguing, Itachi and Kisame also strolled in through the door. The two of them were absolutely quiet, which was a relief to Pein's already bleeding ears. Eventually Deidara and Sasori finally arrived, followed by Zetsu. And so everyone was assembled all except for one.
The woman of Akatsuki.
"Where's Konan?" Deidara asked, when he noticed the woman was not sitting in her seat on Pein's right-side. Pein sighed and closed his eyes. Deidara continued to look around the room. "And what's Tobi doing here?"
"Hi Deidara-sempai!" Tobi greeted loudly. Deidara pulled an unattractive face. Tobi hummed happily. "Leader-sama said I could come and share my cookies!"
The only person who seemed intrigued by this was Zetsu, who quickly asked if the cookies included human bits. Poor Tobi did not understand...
Pein sighed, stood up and left the room, not bothering to tell anyone where he was going or what he was planning to do. He knew that the members would wait for his return. What mattered right now was to make sure that Konan was at least still alive.
Konan's room was dark when Pein opened the door and stepped inside. The room was quite smelly, since it had been sealed shut for several months. They hadn't used this hideout in awhile after all. A small bundle was present on the bed, as well as a mob of blue hair. Pein recognised it easily. So she was still asleep. Strange...Konan never overslept. Above her bed hung a tattered calender, with the the day's meeting written in red on the Wednesday block.
Pein approached her bed slowly, not wanting to startle Konan (he'd done it before – not a pretty sight) and silently knelt down beside her. "Konan?"
No response. Pein gently reached out and touched Konan's shoulder. She moaned and pulled away. Pein rolled his eyes. He wasn't used to her being like this either. "Konan, wake up."
"Go away, Nagato," Konan grumbled. Pein blinked at her use of his real-name and quickly glanced back at the calender. Several numbers flashed through his mind and then it clicked. Oh. It was the time of the month where Konan had her menstrual cycle, and Pein was well aware of how painful hers could be for her (he did grow up with her, after all).
Swallowing his pride and his duties as leader, Pein patted Konan's shoulder gently. "Sleep, Konan. I'll tell them you are sick, even though you can't miss this meeting..."
"I'm sorry," Konan whispered, "it hurts really badly this month."
"I don't want to know," was the curt reply. Konan chuckled, then grumbled in pain. Pein pulled away and left the room, making sure to close the door gently behind him.
"So, where's Konan?" Deidara asked when Pein walked back into the room.
"She's sick," Pein stated as he took his seat at the head of the table. Several members cast each other strange glances, then returned their full attention to Pein.
The meeting commenced. It was rather dull, they mainly discussed their progress, their money status and what was going to happen next. It wasn't like a secret meeting to take over the world, it was more of an update. Hidan obviously found it extremely boring, since he yawned through the whole thing.
Then, randomly in the middle of the meeting Tobi spoke for the first time (he was far too busy munching on his cookies). "I wonder what illness Konan-chan has? Is it the flu?"
Pein gave Madara an odd glare. It was the first time Madara has ever interrupted one of these meetings (of the ones he attended) and asked something so ridiculous. Sometimes Pein wondered why Madara even bothered to act stupid, it was just starting to get boring and annoying.
"Maybe she has Gastro?" Deidara put in.
"I doubt it," Sasori stated, "I think the Swine flu has gotten to her. It did go on a rampage a few years ago, after all."
"Hah!" Hidan exclaimed, "Swine flu is for pussies! I say she has Pneumonia!"
Kakuzu snorted. "And Pneumonia isn't for pussies?"
Hidan glared at Kakuzu. Deidara was trying to reason with Sasori why Konan can't have Swine flu and Tobi was just enjoying his cookies. Pein glanced at Itachi and Kisame, who both seemed to have little interest in the matter at all. And Zetsu...well Zetsu was Zetsu.
"Enough!" Pein bellowed after the noise level increased. Everyone went dead silent in a matter of seconds. Pein sighed. "It doesn't matter what's wrong with her! She will be fine! Now, let's go back to what really matters!"
Madara nodded in agreement, which earned him a glare from Pein. He was the one who started this all in the first place...
Two days passed and Konan was back to her old-self again. The pain was gone, followed by the bleeding and she was ready to return to work. The minute she got out of bed, she insisted that they return to Amegakure – the old room's smell was really starting to get on her nerves.
Everything was exactly the same once more. Konan would wake first in the morning, make breakfast, take it to Pein in his office and then sit down and wait for him to finish. As soon as that was done, she would take the dishes, leave and wash them, then return to do any errands that Pein required of her. And once she did those, Konan would do what any woman in her situation would do – clean and organise the place. Pein knew that Konan always did this to entertain herself if she didn't have a mission. She has been doing it ever since she was a little girl.
Watching her was something Pein rather enjoyed. She might not notice it, but whenever Konan was reassembling his things or cleaning one of the small things he had kept from their childhood days, she would always smile to herself and her eyes always sparkled with enthusiasm. She was in her own little world, happy and content. Pein wished it could always be like that.
That was too much to ask for though.
Another month rolled by and the days were starting to get longer and warmer. Summer was coming and it made everyone seem in a happier mood.
And the Akatsuki had another meeting. This time it was in The Land of Rice Fields. As usual, Madara, Pein and Konan were first to arrive at the hideout that has been left abandoned for awhile. It was dusty, smelly and highly uncomfortable. To make things worse, Konan's allergies were acting up because of the pollen in the air, so she really was not in a good mood when she opened her bedroom door. Not at all.
She quickly jumped into cleaning up as much as she could, as well as changing the bedsheets. She then opened the windows to let some fresh air come in. Finally satisfied, Konan collapsed on her bed and closed her eyes. She fell asleep a few minutes later.
Only to wake up with a terrible headache, a blocked nose and a terrible pain in her abdomen. Konan's first conclusion was that they Hay fever has finally decided to set in, but then she felt a warm and foreign sensation more southwards and inwardly groaned. She had lost count of her cycle again. Frustrated, Konan rushed to the bathroom and cleaned herself up. Then she took as aspirin and collapsed back into bed.
She hated being a woman sometimes.
When Konan was absent the next morning, Pein did something he probably shouldn't have done. He postponed the meeting to the next day. To say that the others members were pissed would be an understatement. Pein ignored their moaning and groaning though and proceeded to Konan's room, where she was curled up into a ball on her bed.
Pein knew that stance all to well. Konan was in pain. Pein moved to the kitchen, where he prepared breakfast, a glass of water and aspirin. He then placed everything on a tray and returned to Konan's room. He switched on the light, causing her to growl in annoyance, then moved to her bed and sat down beside her.
"Wake up, Konan," Pein whispered, "I brought you breakfast." Konan grumbled and then sat up, her blue hair standing in all directions. She looked like a train wreck, but Pein wasn't about to point that out.
"Ugh," Konan groaned, "why is this happening? My period was never this troublesome before!"
Pein smiled awkwardly. "You're asking the wrong person." Pein handed the tray with Konan's breakfast over to her and sat back. Konan was amazed that Pein had even succeeded in making her such a large breakfast, rice, fish and Miso soup. Konan looked up and smiled warmly at him.
"Thanks."
Pein shrugged. Konan picked up her chopsticks and quickly dived into her meal, not caring that Pein was watching her silently as she ate. It was comfortable with him with her, it's always been like that. While Konan chewed on her rice, she looked up into Pein's eyes and noticed that seemed to be thinking very deeply. She frowned and looked down at her food, then back up at him.
"Have you eaten anything yet?" Konan asked. Pein snapped from his daze and shook his head. Konan rolled her eyes, then divided the food in half and motioned for Peon to eat. He shook his head, but Konan would not let him pass this offer. She gave him a cold, hard glare, which resulted in him chuckling and taking the food, knowing he won't win. They ate together in silence.
Finally, Konan finished her rice and put her chopsticks down. She sighed, causing Pein to give her an odd look.
Pein also finished eating and sat back against the bedpost. "Strange, isn't it? No powerful enemy can subdue you, but something as simple as bleeding gets you down."
Konan laughed. "Strange to you, not to women. I'm tired of this interrupting my work, though. Maybe I should seek some medical advice?"
Pein raised an eyebrow at this. "How can medicine help with this?"
Konan smirked. "And here I thought you were smart!"
Pein huffed. Konan giggled. A comfortable silence fell over them as the sun's rays peeked in from the window and cascaded on the bedsheets. Konan closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, her pain already slowly subsiding. The aspirin was working, finally.
"Thank you," Konan whispered.
"For what?" Pein asked.
"For being there."
Pein smiled a small smile and reached out, his fingers gently brushing her soft skin. Konan blinked and look down at their hands, which now folded together. Konan smiled and looked up at the ceiling, a blissful silence falling over them once again. Pein's thumb was caressing her softly and it sent warmth throughout her entire body. She can't even remember the last time she was touched like this, it was probably when Yahiko was still alive. And although it was Yahiko's body sitting next to her, touching her, she knew it wasn't him. And she was happy with the fact that it wasn't him. She loved Yahiko, she always will, but she can't hold onto him forever, not when she has someone else right in front of her.
"I love you, Nagato," Konan whispered. She felt him tense beside her, but he did not pull away. She didn't expect him to respond to her confession. She just wanted him to know the truth. She felt him move beside her, his hand never letting go of hers, and then soft lips brushed her forehead, then moved down to her lips, where they brushed gently. Konan sighed and wrapped her arms around Nagato's neck (no use calling him Pein at the moment) and pulled him closer. Their lips locked, and the kiss became intense, hot and passionate. It was like after years of denial, the two finally came to their senses. To Konan it felt like her world was finally complete. And to Nagato, he was just happy that Konan was in his arms. And he wasn't going to let go any time soon.
They eventually pulled apart and looked deeply into each other's eyes. Konan ran her fingers through Nagato's hair, then moved down to his jaw. He watched her, relishing in the feeling of her fingers touching his heated skin. Konan glanced at his lips once more, not at all disturbed by his piercings.
"Think you can bring me breakfast in bed more often?" Konan asked.
Nagato laughed and captured her lips once more, answering her question.
A/N: Just a little piece I put together. I am not affiliated with the creators or producers of Naruto. No profit is made from writing this.