Chapter Nine: Walk

The crickets are loud in the night as Konan and I walk through the forest. We're in the Fire Country, though many miles from Konoha, but the great oaks and beech trees surrounding me are comforting.

We walk in silence for a few moments before Konan speaks again. "The crickets are nice, aren't they?"

I find them kind of annoying myself, but I humor her. "I suppose so."

"May I ask you a personal question?"

"You may." I say, "But there's no guarantee that I'll answer it." If she wants details about the massacre, the walls are going to go up and she might as well talk to a rock.

A flicker of a smile appears on Konan's face. "That's the kind of thing Nagato would say."

"Who?" I ask.

Konan blinks like she'd forgotten my presence for a second. "Oh, nobody." We continue on and I guess she also forgot about that personal question she was going to ask because she doesn't ask it. I hop over a fallen tree in my path and Konan seems surprised.

"Someone like Kisame or Kakuzu would have destroyed that log." She says quietly. "You didn't."

"Neither did you." I point out. Konan's face hardens like she's offended by this, and with a wave of her arm she sends several bits of paper whirling towards the fallen tree. The paper cuts it to ribbons and it falls in evenly cut circular sections to the ground.

I have to wonder what kind of point she's trying to make by that as Konan's arm disappears once more inside the sleeve of her Akatsuki coat.

"What did you think of Pein?" She asks me, and I am aware that this could be a test of my allegiance to the group.

"He's certainly ambitious." I answer, not pointing out that I also think he's insane and incredibly dangerous.

Konan pauses before she replies.

"I think you and him are more alike than you know . . . After all," she adds quietly, "You're both willing to do whatever it takes to maintain the peace."

With this, Konan begins to peel away in small slips of paper until I am standing alone in the forest. I shiver, and I'm not sure whether it's because she thinks Pein wants peace or because she knew what really happened in Konoha.

Strangely, I find that I'm not all that surprised that she knows; people in general have a knack for finding out things they shouldn't, and ninja are particularly adept at it. But because she does know, she could reveal it to the wrong people at any time she chooses. Thus, I am at her mercy.

"Ah, there you are." Kisame says upon my return, "I was starting to get a little worried about you." He is the only one standing outside the cave; everyone else seems to have left.

"I was taking a walk." I tell him.

"Alone?"

"Yes."

"Ah." Says Kisame, like he doesn't believe me but isn't going to push it. He hands me a sheet of paper that he digs from his pocket. "Pein gave all of us a mission to start off with. Guess where we're headed?"

"Last seen in . . . Machi." I read on the mission sheet. "Never heard of it." On the paper there is most prominently the picture of a sullen-looking man and a large sum of Ryo offered in reward for his head.

"It's a town on the same archipelago as Kirigakure." Kisame smiles, but somehow the shark-toothed grin seems a little uneasy, though I can tell he's trying not to let it show.

"It's like eleven-thirty. We should find a place to spend the night." I note, looking at the moon. It's just a slim crescent tonight; Sasuke always called it a 'fingernail moon' because it looked like the white part of his fingernail. I smile, wondering what he's doing tonight. Probably asleep.

Then I have to wonder if anyone took him in or if he's living by himself. I'm sure the Hokage made sure he's alright. I tell myself.

"What're you smiling for?" Kisame asks, "That's unusual."

"Nothing." I say, burying my Itachi face again.


A/N: sorry about the short chapter... but for the next couple weeks I think i'll only be able to update on the weekends, sorry ;-;