Kisame and the others made it to the Akatsuki lair in a matter of days, which was about average for the trip. Konan let them in immediately, and Kisame took Pein down to his bedroom. He laid him down on his bed and left, trying to give his leader his full respect. Konan entered the room shortly, and sat down on the edge of the bed. Pein's eyes were closed, but he had heard her come in and thus wasn't surprised or startled when he felt the edge of the bed dip under her weight. He felt her hand in his hair again, and Pein felt his body subconsciously move closer to Konan. He would never understand this simple movement, but somehow, Konan did. A small smile twitched at her lips, but it went unseen. Pein's spiraled eyes were still closed.

"Feeling any better?"

Konan knew that the past few days had been difficult for Pein: so much travelling, and so much stress right after being so badly injured. Konan stretched her chakra to its limits, then they would keep going with Pein. When she had even the smallest bit left to spare, Konan would heal more of another wound. Pein needed all the healing he could get. But now, they were "home," so to speak, and Konan couldn't be happier. Here, she had access to more medical supplies than merely the supplies she had brought along on the trip. She had only been able to take the most basic necessities, and had to use her chakra for the rest. Now that she had access to adequate medical care for Pein, she wanted to use it. But, of course, Pein probably wouldn't tolerate being moved again for a good few weeks.

"Sort of," Pein muttered. "I think I'm dehydrated…I'm definitely hungry."

Konan nodded and stood up. "I'll be right back," she promised, placing a soft, gentle kiss on Pein's forehead. She walked into the kitchen area of the apartment, leaving the door to the bedroom open. She got a glass from one o the cabinets, filled it with water, and walked back into the bedroom. Pein was half-sitting up when she walked back in, and she handed him the glass of water. She knew Pein's pride wouldn't allow her to help him in any way, shape, or form from this point on. Pein drained the glass of water in seconds, and Konan took it back from him and set it on the nightstand next to the bed.

"Thank you."

Konan smiled. That was the first time she had heard Pein say "thank you" in something resembling a century. "You're welcome," she said softly, reaching over and brushing a stray bit of hair out of his face. "Pein...do you think I can clean you up a little…bandage those wounds…?"

Pein sighed. "If you must," he muttered. Konan smirked and stood up again, walking out of the bedroom and going this time into the bathroom. She began digging around in the medical cabinet and the cabinets under the sink, looking for the proper supplies. Medical tape, non-stick gauze, disinfectant, regular bandages…it looked like she had everything. Konan took all this back into Pein's room, then, to Pein's dismay, walked out again. She better not be going for the needles! Everyone knew Pein hated needles, especially Konan! But, to Pein's relief, Konan came back in with a bowl of water and a towel. Konan sat down, dampened the towel in the water, then gently pushed open the Akatsuki cloak Pein wore. She then began wiping some of the blood off Pein's chest, trailing the cloth across his pale skin and watching as the blood washed cleanly away. Every now and then, Konan would stop and wash out the towel, making sure that it could soak up more blood before returning to washing off Pein's body. She noticed, with a grimace, two nipple piercings, but did her best to work around them. Still, she couldn't help but ask:

"Nipple piercings?"

Pein nodded. Konan sighed. "Why?" she asked. Pein shrugged slightly.

"Why not?"

"Kinda gross…"

"Speak for yourself."

Konan smiled and pushed the Akatsuki cloak off Pein completely, then gently lifted his upper body and pulled the cloak out from underneath him. She did the same with the lower half, and then spread the cloak over Pein's unclothed body. "I'm not that much of a fangirl," she said with a small smile. "But I have to admit, you're pretty hot."

"Shuddup."

Konan laughed and returned to cleaning the blood off Pein's body. She gently picked up one arm, settling the back of Pein's hand against her shoulder and pressing her lips to the palm. Pein's hand closed, and Konan let it rest in her own as she ran the towel up and down his arm. Soon, the bare wounds were revealed, and Konan moved on to the other arm. She worked tirelessly for hours, trying to get Pein clean and bandaged. Once one area of Pein's body was clean, she would smear some disinfectant on it, then wrap it with bandages and tape it in place. Pein remained quiet the entire time, as if he was deep in thought. His facial expressions seemed to change from one unreadable look to another. Konan waited patiently for him to come around: she knew that if he was as traumatized as she thought, she needed for him to quiet down and just think it out. She needed to be there for him whenever he needed her, but she couldn't push him. Pein was also a very touchy creature-if she set him off any wrong way, they could have problems.

"Konan…?"

Konan glanced up from Pein's leg, which she was wrapping in bandages. "Hai?" she answered softly, setting his leg down and placing a bit of tape on the bandages so they would stay in place. Pein slowly looked away from her, as if ashamed to meet her eyes.

"Please…be honest with me…did you come to rescue me because…I am your leader, and you have a debt to me…? Or did you come…because you…loved me…?"

Konan was taken aback by the question. "Both," she answered. "As your ninja, I do feel I owe something to you, and I certainly owe you my loyalty. But I do love you, and you know that. I would do anything to keep you safe, and I would gladly put myself in your place, if only to spare you the pain. If this is what you are getting at, I came more because I loved you than I owed you something."

Pein finally seemed to gather the courage to sit up and look Konan in the eye. But he said nothing; instead, he leaned forward, put one arm around her neck, pulled her forward, and kissed her. It was a soft, sweet, chaste kiss, but it was a kiss all the same. And Konan could feel the fireworks explode between them.

When Pein finally let go, he seemed just as shocked as Konan. The woman across from him gently slid behind him and pulled him back, sliding Pein into her arms and across her lap. Strangely, Pein did not protest; if Konan didn't know better, she might even say that he arched back into her touch…Pein seemed to settle just fine, so Konan sat back a bit and let him lie.

"What happened to overly affectionate?"

Konan smiled. "I was afraid you'd kill me."

Pein would have smiled if it didn't hurt so much to do so. "Well, seeing as I'm relatively unable, I don't think it would kill either of us…"

It was all the permission Konan needed and Pein would ever give. Konan gently pulled Pein back so he was sitting up against her shoulder, settling him on his side and letting his head fall to her shoulder. Konan's hands began to run through Pein's hair again, a gesture that both ninja found strangely comforting. Pein wasn't sure what to make of his situation now-his pride wouldn't allow Konan such a luxury as to touch him for no reason-and in such a manner! But, on the other hand, his long-buried-recently-resurfaced side, the softer side of him, wanted this to never end. That side loved Konan's touch and longed for more, and wanted this to never end. He wanted her to never let him go, and to hold him forever. But, of course, life couldn't be that beautiful. A knock on the door was their only warning before someone came in, and Pein and Konan quickly sprang away from each other. Pein lay on his side, and Konan placed her hands on his prominent ribs, pretending to heal one as a shinobi entered the room.

"Leader-sama," Itachi murmured, bowing deeply to his superior. "I apologize for the intrusion, but I wanted to know if there was anything I could do…"

Pein slowly turned onto his back, shaking his head. "I don't think so," he said slowly. "Konan, anything?"

Konan sighed. "Oh, so much to do, so little for others to do. It's mostly paperwork. On the other hand, you'll have something productive to do while you're in bed."

Pein snorted. "You make it sound like I'll be here for a while."

"You will," Konan said dryly. She stood up, gently tapping on Pein's stomach. "Wait until your crap looks normal again, and then you can resume life as normal. Hold off on normal training for two weeks. Stay in bed for at least three days before moving around a lot. Get up to get food or go to the bathroom. No other excuses. Doctor's orders."

Pein glared. "And which one of us is in charge of this group?"

"It's not the group; it's you. And who's the one laying nearly helplessly on a bed with so much trauma it's not even funny?"

Pein glared, but said nothing.

Konan smirked. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She placed one finger on his hip, tracing the line of the bone, which stuck out of Pein's body. Most of his bones were sticking out from the starvation he had suffered in Konoha. Konan let her entire palm fall to Pein's skin, running over his ribs, shoulders, and hips before finally stating: "If any of your bones are sticking out in a week, I'm putting you in I.V. I am concerned about the rapes, and also about the severe physical and mental trauma. I'm worried about post traumatic stress disorder that could show up, and also about the possibility of S.T.D's. Your body needs to heal, and it needs a lot of food to do that. I'll see if I can find some vitamins to make up for lost time. But other than that, eat three square meals a day, and make sure you eat something like yogurt when you're hungry. Your digestive system could use the bacteria. It should help your intestines get themselves organized again."

Pein glanced at Konan, a look on his face that asked, should I be writing this down?

Konan sighed and rolled her eyes. "Questions, ask me. If not, just eat something. To encourage you to stay in bed, I'll get you something. For the first three days especially, it's important you don't strain yourself. How does ramen sound? It's easy on your stomach, and it'll give you some vital carbs."

Pein shrugged. "I honestly don't care."

Konan nodded once and left the room, ignoring Itachi for the moment. Strangely, the Uchiha had stuck around throughout the entire dialogue. Now, he stepped over to Pein and knelt down next to his leader, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Konan was safely gone.

"Rape?"

Pein turned his head to Itachi, glaring like hell itself. Itachi felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, but ignored it, swallowed hard, and continued. "Who?" he pressed, leaning forward. "Come on, I need to know!"

"No, you don't!" Pein hissed. "Now, get away!"

Itachi reached out and took Pein's hand in his own, rising to sit on the bed next to him. Pein struggled to sit up, but Itachi gently, but firmly, pushed him back. "Listen," Itachi whispered, "I just want to know one thing, and then I'll leave, I swear. Can you at least hear me out?"

Pein's eyes narrowed, but he slowly nodded. Itachi asked quickly, as if in a hurry: "Was it my brother?"

Pein paused, then shook his head. "He left for Otoga," he whispered. "He couldn't have."

Itachi seemed to release a sigh of relief, and he stepped back from Pein, bowing as he did so. "Thank you," he murmured, and then, in a flash of black hair and white skin, he was gone.

Pein was thoroughly confused.

A/N: Confuzzledful. Great word for confused, in case anyone is wondering…so, review. Or no next chapter!!