A/N: Because I pairing-switch like crazy Dx And I love Akatsuki shippings.
I'm not really into the PeinKonan fandom, so I don't know if this idea's been done before...but, hey, valid point, in my opinion. And cute pairing.
Also - I spelled it Pain in the story (but not the author's note! so pathetic, lol), and if this bothers anyone, sorry. It fit better with the story; and it's also the official spelling and it's official significance. I think. Heh.
Warnings: Spoilers! Beyond manga chapter 380-something. I really have no idea. Um...well, how about spoilers for Pein and Konan's backstory.
Disclaimer: Naruto is copyright Masashi Kishimoto.
Love triangles.
They happened more often than anyone would have wanted, and when there was a team of three ninjas, two boys and one girl, in their hormonal teenage years, spending months together and risking their lives for each other, they happened a lot.
Jiraiya was kind of glad they had never happened in Team Sarutobi. Orochimaru had been too distant and Tsunade too smart. Of course, there was the issue of Jiraiya's unrequited crush on his blonde teammate, but it had waned—no, grown—into strong friendship, and he was quite sure he liked it better that way. There was no telling what Tsunade would have done if she had married him and known half the things he got up to.
But Jiraiya was a writer of romance novels, and he could appreciate the subtle nuances of love. Awkward teenage attractions, epic angst-ridden romances; he had seen it all, written it all. There was nothing he loved more than those labyrinthine tales of the all-powerful attraction between a man and a woman—or a woman and a woman. Jiraiya still hadn't decided which one he liked better.
He had been this way for quite some time. And he hadn't missed the glances Konan would flash at Yahiko…or the glances Nagato would flash at Konan. He brushed it off with a proud, sad smile; they were growing up. Soon they would resolve whatever problems would arise, and the friendship between Nagato and Yahiko was strong enough to endure through all of Konan's emotional torment.
He had disregarded one thing, and it was the most important.
He had disregarded that Nagato and Yahiko and Konan were orphans in a war-torn nation, disregarded they were each other's only friends, and disregarded just how strong these bonds were.
This did not bother him. When he finally bid goodbye to his pupils—Nagato, with his Rinnegan and undying loyalty, Yahiko with his skill and determination, Konan with her cheer and love for her teammates—he made them promise to visit one day. He was sure that he had done the right thing, training them, and though it wasn't easy, he had to let them spread their wings. Quite literally, as it turned out, in Konan's case.
The three of them didn't really know what to do with their lives after the Sannin left. It was Yahiko who suggested that they use their skills to protect and help the people of Amegakure. His proposal was quietly but surely seconded by Nagato, and Konan, sensing another adventure, agreed. Only Nagato, obsessed with pain as he was, even considered that one of them could fall in battle. And when it turned out to be Yahiko and he saw Konan's tears falling that the rain their orange-haired teammate always hated, then he made his decision.
He would become Yahiko. He would bring Yahiko's body back to life; he would take it as his own. Anything to ease Konan's pain—anything to ease his pain.
Yes, Yahiko's body had been borne of pain. When Konan, appalled and skeptical as she was, commented on how this could serve as a resurrection technique of sorts, one which, coupled with his Rinnegan, would make him virtually undefeatable, he took it to heart. It was what Yahiko would have done, after all. And if he would never fall, he would be the perfect leader. He would ease everyone's pain. He would be God.
And Konan would be his angel.
To cause pain was to ease pain. So it was only fitting that he chose the name Pain.
It was foolish and unbecoming of Konan to even encourage him. She had loved Yahiko, yes, and as an orphan, she had a knee-jerk reaction to hold on fiercely to anything that came near her. But to encourage Nagato like that…she could never forgive herself.
Konan was not a cruel person, or at least not much of one. She didn't kill for the love of killing, as so many of her Akatsuki associates did; she killed because Pain told her to kill, and she would not refuse God's command. She did not fear him—she knew he would not harm her, not unless she did something blatant and stupid to jeopardize the entire operation. No, she believed in him and she loved him, even if she wasn't sure which him she was referring to. It was Nagato in Yahiko's body, after all, and even if love was blind she couldn't ignore that. So maybe she did love Nagato, and maybe she was being stupid and extrapolating her feelings for Yahiko into Nagato. But, really, it was a moot point, since she loved Pain.
It was a twisted, twisted love triangle, because she had seen the pain in Nagato's Rinnegan eyes as they followed her and wondered if every touch and every word was meant for the man whose body he'd taken. But Pain's eyes had nothing anymore.
She closed her own and ran a hand through deep blue hair. It didn't matter when the entire world was at their fingertips, soon to be in their control.
He had lost his emotions, too late but soon enough. And if she'd created a monster…well, he was her God.
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