Author's Note: Well i haven't uploaded anything in a while...Oh well here's a Naruto AU fic, prequel to a doujin I'm working on! ...oh yeah! Deidara calls Konan-HAN instead of "-SAN" because he's western and has different idiom.

Akatsuki Project:
PeiKon Oneshot

Valentine's Day

One more day passed in that rotten prison cell. One more day Konan would have to wake up to realize she's behind those metal bars. One more day she'd look at Nagato… well, Pein hiding his pain away from her. One more day she'd wake up by the sound of Deidara's and Hidan's arguments and Kakuzu muttering ways to get rid of them and other things that Konan couldn't hear so well.

'They just never shut up, do they?'She wondered. "Hey, stop it! Don't make me come over there! Do you know what time it is?"
Both calmed a little, they knew if she wanted, she could come over, Deidara spoke up. "It's 2:35, hm. You missed breakfast Konan-han."
She sat on her bed and stared at them. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Pein said we should let you sleep, no-one really wants to argue with him."
Hidan was right, and Pein knew how she hated it when someone else woke her up. "What's for lunch?" She asked, much to her stomach's excitement.

"If I knew, I'd be God, said Deidara, but it will suck as usual, hm…"
Hidan nodded in agreement, boy, did they hate the food there! That and those annoying orange jumpsuits, which made even Itachi despise them.

"Today is Valentine's Day." Kakuzu remarked.
"Really? It's February the 14th already?"
Some excitement was raised in her voice, coz she, unlike most of the people in there, had a Valentine, despite the fact that it was the second Valentine's Day for her, in that prison.

Konan moved to the bars corner.
"Pein? Are you there?" A grunt was heard and soon he crawled on his bed to the bars corner too. That was the closer they could get to each other, at least for now, they had only a wall parting them.
"Well, I can't be anywhere else, so yeah I guess, I am here."

Typical Pein. Stating out the obvious, after receiving a question from someone who already knew the answer. That amused her, every time. And she didn't care if after the third time he did the same to Sasori, Sasori turned to kill him furiously or the should-be-censored comebacks from Hidan.

That was Nagato to everyone. Yet everyone knew him as Pein.

"It's Valentine's Day."

He nodded.
"I know… Sorry if I couldn't buy you anything…."

"It's fine, it doesn't really matter now, we still have each other."

Konan could swear she heard Hidan snickering from his cell, the lack of privacy made things really awkward. She wasn't used in showing affection especially in front of other people, but in her time to jail she got used to it.

"When we get out of jail, can we adopt Deidara-chan?" Asked Konan, Pein laughed to that idea, while Deidara shot from his bed furious.

"Enough with that joke, hm! I'm not your son and I never will be!"
Konan grinned, she knew that it wasn't the joke that bothered him, what really bothered him was….

"Hey, good idea! Go give caa-chan a big hug and a kiss Deidara-chan!"

…Hidan's comments about it. Konan groaned. Soon they'd begin to quarrel again…

---

After lunchtime the prisoners had a break in the big yard, Konan could move in a bigger space now, but even that displeased her, when she gazed at the huge wall between her and the rest of the world. She waited for Pein to come over too, but he seemed to take a long time, so she tagged along with Zetsu, Itachi and Kisame.

"It should be Valentine's day everyday, if they order pizza!" said Kisame with a grin.

"I heard the cook got the day off and his replacement didn't show up either."
Itachi added. Konan slightly smiled. He was always quiet, yet he observed every single thing, he was able to live in every condition, yet he quite often made comments on how he hated that "orange jumpsuit". To come to think of it, it was never about the jumpsuit. Even if he tried to hide it, he mentally broke down during his time in jail. All of them did. And all of them shared one thing in common; they were all manipulated by Orochimaru and ended up in jail because of him. She let a sigh. She promised to herself she'd live in the present and let the past behind as it is, but with that present, it was hard to keep that promise.

"Yo, I didn't make you wait too long, did I?"

About time.

"You want an honest answer?" she smirked.

Konan and Pein took the chance and went to sit alone in a corner so they could have a little more privacy; at least no-one could hear them, that was something. Itachi studied them with the corner of his eye; what if the security guard, that took strolls around the yard, saw them? They were cautious, but they'd kiss sooner or later. Relationships are not so welcome between prisoners. He nudged Kisame and motioned him to follow.

"Where are we going, Itachi-san?"

"…Just to take care of a small hindrance."

---

"You aren't seriously considering of adopting Deidara, are you?"

"No, not really, I just tease him. But I wouldn't mind to though."

Pein seemed to start thinking of that possibility too.
"He has a family right?"

"I don't know, he never talked about his family… But I think he mention that he has a girlfriend, I'm not quite sure."

"Are girlfriends considered as family?"
Konan glared him. Didn't he really realize what he just said?

"What am I to you?"
Pein's eyes narrowed, he knew exactly what he said.

"You're not my girlfriend, Konan."
The look on her face. ...Was she angry? Was she sad? Or was she curious to know what the heck she was, if she wasn't his girlfriend. They weren't married yet, but that was only because the events in their lives so far blocked any possibility for them to do so.

"What am I then?"

Pein looked down to think. He was looking for something. It took a moment for him to reply.

"I don't think there's a word for it….."

Konan crossed her arms. What an enlightening answer!

"….nothing can describe what you mean to me."

Now that… was more appropriate. Pein mentally nodded to himself. They've been together since they were kids; back then they had Yahiko along too. And no matter what the situation was they never parted ways. Even now, Konan had the means to leave that filthy cell; she could scatter in a million origami butterflies and just fly away. But she would never leave without him. The bond between them grew stronger as time went by and even more now.

"Nagato…"
She smiled.

"It's been a while since anyone called me that…"
He smiled.

A kiss, an embrace. All she long for, her whole world was there, her whole world was him. She didn't care for those boundaries around her when she was with him. They'd be free one day, with no one to chase after them. No-one to bring them back in that place, locked up in the 4 walls. All they could do now is wait for that moment patiently.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Nagato."

---

Meanwhile, Itachi was starring at the security guard. Blood red eyes with four pupils. Kisame was just observing, none of them moved or said anything. They were possibly into Itachi's genjutsu. Itachi turned his eyes to Pein and Konan for a while. They seemed to just be talking now. He turned back to the guard and the sharingan disappeared from his eyes, along with it's effects. The guard obviously didn't realize the difference between the reality and Itachi's genjutsu though; he had a warm smile on his face.

"You're wise for your age, he said to Itachi, we should talk more often."

Itachi nodded. "Anytime you want."

The guard continued his duty and left the two prisoners. Kisame turned to Itachi.

"What did you show him exactly?"

"Nothing different, but that corner, he pointed to were the couple was sitting, we just had a talk."

"Did Pein-san tell you to do this?"

"No, I just did it."

That last comment didn't make sense to Kisame. Itachi never did anything without the equal motivation. But now it was different, Itachi felt as if a burden just fell off of him. His felt the trauma of his past healing. He had a new family, and this time nothing could stop him, from protecting them from the simplest thing.

All he strived for, finally had a meaning.