A/N-
First thing first- I usually write this bolded in hopes that people will actually notice it. Sadly, this is not so, so I'll stick to bolding the "important" crap.
Now that that's over, I would like to say that this is a KonanxSasuke fic; this chapter is slightly on the "general" side of things, and most of it is looked at in a seriously non-fluffy way. (Also, this is dedicated to Sphyma, who kindasorta asked me to write this. ;)
Subtle bits of it will be triple-edged and psychological, hinting at things I'd best not mention until the end of this three-chapter ficceth. There will be some romance, but I want to take a somewhat realistic approach to it. Manga spoilers; but if you know who Konan is, you won't care.
I wanted to express my views on Konan; she seems like she grew up around people who acted regally, diplomatically, etcetera, and expected her to do the same. She seems almost, dare I say it, polite, and almost like a Lady of high ranking on the Royal scale. Yet at the same time, she's apathetic and aloof; similar to Itachi in a way, only ...well... significantly more deluded.
...Then again, Itachi kinda freaked me out some fifty chapters ago (in a good way). He ... can pull off the creepy grin. Fairly well.
And yes. I am aware of the brief fight between Konan and Jaraiya. Just read the damn story.
Not exactly short and sweet, but it gets the job done, ne?
"Warnings"- I plan on character death. Who? I won't say; it could be Lee for all you know. Anyways, I'll only say that if you catch the warning hints fast enough, you'll have already gotten a faint sense of where I plan to go with this. To further avoid you perceptive people who read genres, it'll be general.
wink
...yes, that was a faint point towards who this fic is ALSO dedicated to.
(PS- There will be three chapters total. You'll understand why I did this or that in time. Sorry for the long intro/exit... it's a first chapter thing.)
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Without further adeu, because ya'll know I love you (oo, that rhymed),
I present-
Origami
Life is supposedly simple. You are born, you live, and you die.
However, we, as humans, complicate it.
It is...not the beginning, nor the end. It is the middle, or sometimes the peak one reaches before falling.
But if it is the journey that matters... why do we mourn for the end?
Surely the "journey" would grow boring after an eternity.
As pain is a part of living, it would grow tiresome to constantly feel it...
The breeze was soft, but moving, warm.
Feathery locks seperated into thousands of individual strands, free from their style if only in the slightest as the breeze ruffled them, carrying them to a gentle world of serenity.
There was a peak, where they passed over a countenance, blank but dignified and prideful in its own, quiet way. There was a peak, where the head they belonged to slowly turned three inches.
There was a peak, and then it, the wind, was gone.
They settled into place, and the magic of a simple moment left with it.
Lips parted, gazes met, and a soft, almost murmured voice broke the silence.
"Hello." Konan greeted plainly yet delicately, hands clasped before her as she stared impassively at the one standing before her. Her cloak was now the object of the stare, then the ring on her finger.
"You are of Akatsuki." He stated without hesitation or attention to any other part of her as a person, and it was also meant as a rhetorical question.
"I suppose you are stronger than you were previously given credit for," She responded, ignoring him as he ignored anything other than Akatsuki, "We had thought you dead."
"Where is he?"
An eyebrow was raised in the slightest, and though she knew full well what he meant, she wanted to see. What, she wondered, is this boy intending?
Did he wish to force an answer from whatever member he thought himself able to beat?
If, though perhaps it was more of a when considering some, he did so, what would make him think he could learn anything?
What made him think he would ever see Itachi before someone else killed the man?
"How do you know?" Konan inquired, and she could see he knew she meant nothing of Akatsuki's information. While he was still listening, she intended to ask her own questions. Perhaps he would answer, in hopes that she would as well.
"How do I know what?" His patience was already growing thin. He would attack soon.
Hm...Sasuke, was his name?
"How do you know that you will be the one to kill him?"
A smile formed on her lips. "What if I were to kill him instead? If I already have?"
His expression did not change.
"I will kill Itachi." Sasuke said.
"You are so certain over this fact..." Her eyes lowered as she mused on her next words. "I suppose we are all similar creatures. We do not wish to let go of what matters."
Her form began to change, and interest sparked in his dark eyes as they bled red, spiraling around for but a moment.
Slowly, pieces of the woman began to peel away, shifting in colors and textures until it could be seen that she was quickly dissolving into paper.
"Sasuke," Konan tested the name, "Know that my name is Konan, and what matters to me is that I am God's angel."
As his expression shifted into one vaguely resembling concern and confusion, his body tensing as he watched, tried to decipher her with his eyes, she did not smile.
She laughed.
"I am His angel."
The dissolve had reached her face by then, peeling away more and more but never anything less than a strange form of beautiful.
For a moment, Sasuke could almost believe her words, if not for the small amount of sanity he still harbored.
It was that moment that the scraps of paper began shooting out at him in random directions and angles, points sharp as they moved as gracefully as any bird heading towards the unsuspecting prey.
There was no one, usually somewhat larger, target to block, not one sizeable thing to slice. Most of his usual techniques were washed away, leaving him the ones that burned his chakra the fastest.
This, he did not like. He preferred to take it slowly, gauge strength, and last as long as possible.
But here, he was at a disadvantage. His strength, even if not his techniques, was known, and there was no room for simple tests of reflexes; that his opponent recognized this and had already begun the true fight said that he had no room for them, either.
So without another thought, as the papers began to sweep around him and double back as their counterparts that lagged behind struck from the front, he activated the full-body chidori.
Instead of it working as he had planned, singing the edges of the parchments as the energy of lightning worked as effectively as any fire, he watched with a certain air of disbelief as they passed through the inches quickly and without harm.
With no true options left, he sank into the ground, reappearing almost uncertainly some distance aways and not without his wounds. He absently noted that he was not poisoned, though still recognized that already bearing wounds was not a welcome sign.
Genjustu?
But he already knew that it was not.
Somehow, this Akatsuki was escaping harm as well as inflicting her own.
The first fire technique he could think of that required little chakra entered his mind, his fingers flying through the seals automatically as he was assaulted once more.
The little scraps went through it as easily as they had Chidori, moving faster than before; they swept around him, briefly reforming halfway some distance aways and carrying a familiar object.
The woman, Konan, was staring down at his sword within her grasp. "This is a very nice weapon." She commented, "Unique attributes, wielded by someone who actually knows what they are doing, and a good conductor for electricity."
Sasuke grit his teeth as he charged at full speed, knowing this was an opporitunity he could not miss and ignoring the stab to his pride.
She threw the sword away carelessly, and it was buried halfway to the hilt in tree bark. It would be annoying to try and get it out without damage, and he didn't have the luxury of time.
She began to dissolve again, backing away all the while; his speed outmatched hers in this form, and Konan realized she would not escape this without injury.
It was satisfactory, however, the flash of a wounded ego she had seen cross his eyes.
An idea struck her, then, as he drew nearer and nearer.
"What if he's already dead?"
He faltered, as expected, but to his credit it was only for a moment. He had recognized the probe for what it was and continued on his way; Konan danced around him as she rapidly dissolved, pleased that she had not lost her "touch", so to speak, as she tucked the useful information away.
The sharp tip of a kunai grazed her cheek, and she faintly smelled the poison mingling with the blood.
"Very nice," She commented, the end of her simple praise more of an airy whisper.
It would be a few moments to a few minutes until the poison began to affect her, and there was no way to tell how deadly it was. There was a wise choice to be made; even as His angel, she was still mortal in that she could still die.
A part of her wanted to say something as she floated away, aware of the fury in Sasuke's eyes as she did so.
She ignored that part of her, watching the origami flower drift towards the ground. She would need to make a new one.
Konan did not like leaving that part of her behind, as anything of herself would be a story in itself, but if she paused now, she would not have this chance again.
"Coward!" She could hear, and she did not smile.
She laughed.
--
I...like where I'm taking this. I like the air I've built around it.
You may or may not have noticed that Sasuke was slightly getting his arse kicked (up until the poison). Konan is not weak, but nor do I intend to make her all-powerful. It's a mostly even match, but it takes some thinking to get around the oddness of her abilities.
Just in case anyone was wondering, the reason Konan assumed that the poison could be deadly was because I doubt very seriously if Sasuke carries anything other than emergency poisons, as far as him even carrying any at all (I'm not saying he does it on a regular basis, but I'm sure he would be quite glad if he decided to and it came in handy). Even if it wasn't lethal, it probably would have led up to death, and that's not something Konan's very eager to encounter.
Also, while reviews are greatly appreciated, I realize that some of you are hermits (no offense xD). There's no push...I'm just in it because I like it. I felt like clearing that up, in case anyone was wondering.
Even if reviews make me giddy, like a child on crack--er, candy... I won't ask specifically for them.
Even if I would make an attempt to respond to each and every one of them, because I love them that much, I'm not pushing anyone.
Nope.
Not at all.
Because I truly respect the decisions of those who don't even think about reviewing. It's really okay. It is. It totally is. And I'm certainly not in denial.
...No, seriously, I'm not!
...
...What?
(PS- I'll say this again- if you caught a few of the signs and alarm bells, kudos.)