Author's Note: Now that we've gotten past the climax of the story (yay!), I have some sad news: White Paper is almost over. Boo, I know! But there is still two more chapters left with a lot of good fluff and romance left, so keep on reading. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Chapter Ten: Revelations

"There they are!" Sakura exclaimed, watching as Konan and the others appeared out of the building, rushing to give her best friend a hug.

Konan smiled, "Thank goodness you're all right. We made it in time."

"Yeah. And we saved the other women that Orochimaru had trapped here too. Right now, Sasori is with Anya, the one that just gave birth while I was here. Come on!"

The rosette began to pull at Konan's hand, leading her towards Anya and Sasori while the others followed behind her. Laying on a folded-out cardboard box the woman laid, the newborn child on her chest sound asleep. "Sakura, are these more of your friends?" Anya questioned, taking notice of the new arrivals.

"Yes. This is Konan and Pein, along with Deidara, Hidan, and Itachi. These are the ones that helped me get away from Orochimaru, as well as help all of you guys get out of there," Sakura said, "Especially Konan. She's the one that informed everyone about me getting kidnapped."

"Sakura..."

"Thank you, all of you. Because of all of you, Ayumi and I are going to have a safe life together."

Pein's body stiffened, "Ayumi...?"

Anya smiled, "Yes. I'm naming my child after the brave woman who came here and fought against Orochimaru all those years ago. Although she tragically met her end in the struggle, she was the inspiration for all those seeking freedom from his grasp...both she and Sakura."

The redhead looked at the baby in Anya's arms, then turned and ran away, much to the shock of the others. "Pein! Pein, wait!" Konan shouted, chasing after him.

"What's wrong with him?" Sakura asked curiously. Itachi sighed, "It's a long story, but to make it a little simple, Ayumi was the name of his mother..."

"Pein! Pein, stop!"

Konan continued to run after him, but after all of the running and excitement of the adventure already, she found her energy drained and unable to keep up with him. "Pein! Please, please just talk to me!" she yelled, panting as she stopped running, "Please!"

"Damn it, I was close to gaining my revenge today! I was close to placing my mother's murder at ease! I was close to making sure that bastard could never hurt another person ever again!"

"But the way you were going about it was wrong! Murder for murder isn't right! If you were caught, you would just get involved in the law as he is! He'll get his justice, and you'll have your revenge--"

"And on top of all that, he almost killed you!"

Konan went silent, her body flinching to a stop. Pein turned around towards her, "I could've lost you today! That knife was so close to you...and I wasn't close enough to stop him! If it wasn't for the others..."

"Pein..."

She took his hand in hers and placed it on her cheek, "I'm still here though. I'm still alive and well. No scars, no wounds. I'm all right." Pein pulled his hand away, his brows furrowed in anger, "That's not the point! You could've died today, and you're the last person I want to lose! You're too precious to me to die!"

Her tan eyes widened, partly hurt but partly in shock, "Pein..."

"Konan, you're more than just a classmate or a friend to me. You're an angel to me. I don't want to...I can't lose you," he said softly, moving closer to her as his hands gently caressed her face, "I can't. I..."

His lips touched her gently, with care and need, and just as Konan closed her eyes, she felt the first drops of rain fall onto her forehead.

The rainy season had returned to Amekagure at last.

Konan yawned and stretched out her arms, her eyes fluttering open to the signs of sunlight upon her face. "It's...early morning? That's odd...last I remember it was getting to be later on in the day..." she muttered, "And...wasn't it raining?"

"It was, yesterday. You've slept the entire day away."

The teen sprung up from her resting place, a long couch in a very familiar room, to the sound of her best friend's voice. "Sakura! How the...? How the heck did I get to your place? And what do you mean I slept the entire day away?" she asked, confused as she stared at the smiling rosette.

"Well, after the police came, took Orochimaru and his cronies away, and the ambulance took the women to the hospital, Sasori and the others escorted me home. Itachi called up Sasuke and told him everything that happened, and right now he's actually gone to get us some breakfast," Sakura excplained, "As for you, Pein carried you all the way here after you passed out, probably from being too tired after all of the excitement yesterday. But it was so cute! He laid you down on the couch, whispered something in your ear, kissed you on the cheek and then left in this cool-guy-kind-of-way. It was like watching something out of a movie. Sure I had to try and figure out a way to get you out of your wet clothes before you got sick, but still, it was the cutest thing I've EVER seen."

Konan blushed as her best friend gushed over the details of the event that transpired in her sleep, her fingers brushing over her cheek before landing on her lips. She could only imagine what he whispered to her as she slept, but somehow she knew it had to connect with the words he told her in the moments before he kissed her so tenderly before the rain started to fall.

"Oh, you're awake? Good, because we were wondering how long you were going to be lazy."

"Sasuke, don't be mean!"

Sasuke smirked as he placed down the bag of fast food breakfast on the table, "I was kidding. Seriously, it's good to see you awake, Konan. We've been worried about you. Especially Pein; you have no idea how many text messages I've gotten from my brother asking if you were awake yet"

Konan blinked at the information, then stared down at her feet, not really paying attention to the change of clothes she was in. "Pein...he's really that worried about me..." she murmured softly, barely even audible to the others in the room.

"I'll go and get some plates for our food, okay?"

"Sure, all right."

After Sasuke left the room, Sakura's dreamy smile left her face and a teasing smile replaced it as she stared at Konan all-knowingly. "You love him, don't you?" she asked.

"Wh-what?"

"You. Love. Him."

"Don't be silly. I don't love Pein."

Sakura sighed, the smile still intact, "Oh, wake up and smell the paper roses. I saw you dance with him at Homecoming, and very saucily, I may add. Then you gave him your first kiss, and I KNOW that was your first kiss, so don't try to weasel out of it. On top of that, when I suggested going to Pein in the first place, you got extremely defensive about involving him, although you got him involved anyway, for the greater good I will say. When he got upset, you ran after him, and it seems like, judging by the way you touched your lips a bit ago, he kissed you again. IN THE RAIN. In the rain, Konan! How romantic is that! And I'm sure as heck that you didn't stop him, did you?"

Konan blushed, "No...I...I returned it..."

"See? See!? You are one-hundred-percent completely and totally in love with Pein Yahiko, Konan Nagato! Face the facts!"

The blue-haired teen's face lit up a brighter pink as the idea of her truly being in love with Pein began to surface. She never thought she was in love with him, but suddenly as Sakura repeated some of the events to her, it started to make sense...and the night before the rescue attempt, where she crawled into his bed and slept right next to him...

It was true; she was in love with Pein.

"Sakura...how come...all this time..." Konan muttered, the realization hitting her hard as a few tears began to form in her eyes. Sakura smiled, "Love is sometimes like time. You have to wait for the right moment. But sometimes it can come too early or too late. However, when that moment comes, it's the best moment in the entire world."

The rosette began to laugh, "Now listen to me. I sound like the philosopher!" Konan smiled, laughing herself at the teasing before giving her best friend a big hug, "Thank you, Sakura...but now the big problem is...how will I tell Pein this?"

It's short, cheesy, but so sweet! Tada! But stay tuned for the final chapter with the exciting conclusion of White Paper!