Pein lie in bed for days on end, having Konan tend to him and give the orders to other members of the Akatsuki. Finally, she deemed it acceptable for him to move about a bit more, and Pein took full advantage of Konan's permission. He was nowhere near back to normal; that was why he had been so submissive to her for the past three days. She could have easily done something nasty to him to make him pay for not listening to her. And knowing Konan, it would be public humiliation. And, of course, the second Pein was up and around, he was swamped with things to do. Most of it was requests from members for whatever and whatnot, but one request in particular caught his eye: Itachi's.

Itachi had approached him quietly in his office one day, seemingly in distress and completely confused. He was simply asking Pein to calm him down. Pein couldn't help but ask why, and Itachi wouldn't say. Even so, Pein obliged, and Itachi came back in a few hours, as ordered, and Pein set to using a small jutsu he had come up with himself to quiet Itachi's frayed nerves.

"Itachi, why are you so upset?" Pein finally asked as he started the jutsu. His hands formed only four signs before chakra flowed into his fingers, and he leaned forward to place two fingers on Itachi's temples. Itachi was kneeling next to his desk chair; Pein was sitting above him, watching Itachi's every move. The Uchiha almost seemed to be trembling; his nerves were singing with his anxiety. Pein could feel the hum in the pads of his fingers against Itachi's skin and through his hair, and he had to wonder what Itachi was so worked up about.

"It's personal," the Uchiha murmured softly, bowing his head. "I…it's nothing."

"It's certainly not nothing," Pein scolded. "I've never seen you so upset. What's eating at you?"

"It's nothing!" Itachi insisted. Pein pushed a bit of extra chakra through into Itachi's mind, working on his center of emotion deep within the brain. Pein's jutsu worked by sending chakra into the brain and controlling it, almost like genjutsu. But, unlike genjutsu, his technique did not work on the senses; it worked on the brain itself. By controlling a bit of hormones and channeling them away, Pein was able to relatively and indirectly control his subject's emotions. Pein could feel Itachi's trembling worsen; was he so strong that he was resisting his jutsu? Or was Pein just still weak?

"Itachi, calm down," Pein murmured. "Just take a deep breath…stop it, now, you're fighting me. Don't fight. Don't make things harder."

Pein could hear Itachi's deep breathes, coming quickly and shakily now. Pein tried his best to keep Itachi's calmer emotions flowing, but the Uchiha had just let everything pile up until it was almost too much-and then come to Pein. Pein exhaled slowly, trying to make sure he was aware of himself before becoming lost in Itachi. Still, Itachi was having trouble relaxing, and Pein couldn't figure out why. "You have to tell me what's wrong," Pein said slowly. "Otherwise, this is going to be a lot harder."

Itachi sighed. "I'd really rather not."

Pein gave Itachi a gently scolding glare, then began asking questions. "Is it a problem within Akatsuki?"

Itachi shook his head, and Pein went on to ask, "Is it something with your brother?"

Itachi nodded slightly to this, and Pein pressed on. "Are you worried about him? Is he coming to you? Are you developing trauma because of something you did to him? Does this have to do with the massacre?" Itachi finally nodded, and Pein sighed. "This might take a while, hm?"

Itachi sighed. "The fact that he moved to Oto…Orochimaru…he'll be coming for me soon, and I still haven't gotten a hold of my Jinchuuriki, and we still need to deal with Orochimaru, and you…" Itachi froze, suddenly realizing what he had just let slip. Pein stood up in a flash, and a brutal slap greeting Itachi. Itachi fell over, catching himself with his forearms. Pein took a step back, looking disgusted.

"Itachi, what is the meaning of this?" he growled, fully prepared to hurt Itachi again. Itachi's emotions, free to run wild again, suddenly crashed into him, causing Itachi to bed over, gasp, and then fall to his side, clutching his stomach and trying to keep himself under control. Pein stood there for a moment, eyes glazed over with fresh fury, waiting for Itachi's answer. "It better not be what I think it is-!"

"And what do you think it is?!" Itachi screamed. His voice suddenly sounded loud; desperate. "Since you seem to know everything, and you're too good for me! You won't even glance at me, let alone listen to me! You think nothing of me; only an associate. You wouldn't listen even if I tried to tell you. So what the hell makes you think I would tell you anything? Come to you with my problems, my emotions, my secrets-? Hell, I don't even think of you as anything but untouchable. I don't know why…but…"

"You're in love with me."

Itachi waited on the ground, propped up on one elbow and legs bent on top of each other. Itachi drew the top leg into his body, trying to gain some of his coordination back. "Don't do this," Itachi whispered, lowering his head. He pushed his legs underneath him, rising to his knees before collapsing again in a full, deep bow. "Even if you just walk out and never speak to me again…don't reject me so soundly that I never speak again!"

And Pein did just that. He walked out of the room without saying a word, leaving Itachi kneeling on the floor, close to tears and utterly crushed.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Jiraiya!!"

Tsunade gave a sigh of frustration and collapsed behind her desk, screaming in agony of soul and frustration of mind. Her body was exhausted as well: the screaming helped relieve some of the pain, somehow. Tsunade's recent discovery had planted a bomb in her head, and it had just exploded. "You infinitely stupid, no-good, trouble-causing, immature, pathetic, dumbass excuse for a sannin!!"

Tsunade groaned again. Her elbows came up to rest on her desk, and her face settled in her palms. Tsunade was sick and tired of Jiraiya's surprises, no matter how used to them she ever became. But this took the cake, she had to admit.

"Tsunade-sama!"

Shizune, apparently, had heard Tsunade's little outburst and had come running in to see who exactly was dying on the floor. Tsunade didn't bother to lift her face from her hands as she mumbled, "I'm fine. Just angry."

Shizune didn't sound convinced, but she slowly said, "Well, alright…if you're sure…" Then, she slowly backed out of the room, softly closing the door behind her on the way. Tsunade moaned and let her forearms fall gracelessly to the table, head clunking down behind them. She wanted to speak with Jiraiya right away. But first, she had a word for herself to hear…

"Ow."

OOOOOOOOO

"Please, Tsunade, I just couldn't do it-!"

"If you couldn't, Jiraiya, you should have gotten someone else to!"

"That's the case, allow me to rephrase: I couldn't bear to allow him to be killed, by my hand or another."

"You're hopeless."

"You don't understand me, or the situation I am in!"

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her hand over her aching forehead, sighing with impatience. "Honestly, Jiraiya, you need to at least talk to me before you go off on these tangents, especially when they deviate from your original orders…Jiraiya, I can't keep doing this. Look what it cost us!"

"And then look what it gained us."

"Absolutely nothing."

Jiraiya glared. "We know his weakness, and also the weakness of the entire Akatsuki. We got a small bit of information on the Akatsuki itself, both as a group and as individual members. We also know that they affiliate themselves or ally themselves with the village of Ame, Rain, and that Pein seems to be in control of both."

"And the battle itself that was fought over him? Jiraiya, that blood did not need to be shed, and look at how much of it was lost! Konoha shinobi, Ame shinobi, even civilians-we simply cannot afford something else like that. Especially for what little we gained." As Jiraiya opened his mouth to protest again, Tsunade closed her eyes momentarily and held up her hand. "No, don't give me that shit. We could have easily gotten that information without holding Pein captive and torturing him. All it's done is made everybody mad, and caused unnecessary bloodshed. I just can't do this for your pathetic sympathies."

Jiraiya looked genuinely hurt as he gazed down at Tsunade from his standing position in front of her. "Tsunade, it would be the same with you and Shizune, or you and Sakura. You would do exactly the same thing. Pein is like my son; I can't bear to see him killed."

"So you would rather he suffer endlessly before being executed like a common animal."

Tsunade's voice was harsh, but low and even. She pointed out Jiraiya's flaw before even Jiraiya had realized it, and exploited his err like her life depended on it. "Jiraiya, you and I both know: you screwed up. Bad. So, just take responsibility for your actions and just deal with it. I can't have this going on…especially with cleanup of the village. That attack hurt us badly, and I can't have it happen again. Give up on Pein."

Jiraiya sighed and hung his head sadly, looking away from Tsunade. "Tsunade, I'm sorry," he murmured, "But I just can't bring myself to abandon him when he needs me most. He's dying on the inside, I could see it in his eyes…! The second I branded him, on your orders, I knew I had utterly destroyed him. Tsunade, I have to make that right." Jiraiya had been gaining momentum throughout his entire speech, and now raised his head to look Tsunade square in the eye. "Even if it means defying you directly."

Tsunade looked like she had been slapped. "Jiraiya!" she scolded harshly. "I can't believe you-not after everything we've been through, not after everything I've done for you, not-!"

"Don't be surprised, Tsunade," Jiraiya growled. "I will go and try to make peace with him, because he will be back. And it's not just for the village's sake, but also for mine. So help me God, Tsunade, I will go a rogue ninja before I let Pein die without at least giving him the knowledge that I didn't want to harm him."

Tsunade was having none of this. First, Jiraiya brings an S-ranked criminal, the leader of the Akatsuki, into Konoha, fully knowing the risks and responsibilities that came with it. Next, he refused to harm the man, who he often referred to as his son, and then protested strongly when anyone did what was necessary and tortured him. And now, he wanted to go chase after the man after he had caused an attack on the village and apologize for it! Tsunade couldn't stand Jiraiya sometimes. "Look," she said lowly, trying to remain somewhat in control of herself, "You need to stay here and defend the village. And also, we can't give anyone the impression that we just forgive attacks on us like that. Jiraiya, you're only going to get killed, especially if you go alone. And besides, what makes you think Pein will accept an audience with you, and just sit there while you get sentimental? Honestly, can we be realistic? Just a little?"

Jiraiya sighed and looked away from Tsunade, staring out the window. Tsunade got the impression that he was staring at something far beyond human comprehension, that maybe she couldn't even see. "Tsunade," he started, "I just can't be reasonable right now. Pein needs to know…that I don't hate him. I was the only one he had, and then I betrayed him…I can't let that drop."

Tsunade sighed and propped her arms up by her elbows, lacing her fingers together and resting her forehead against them. Her brown eyes closed, tired and weary. "You will suffer for it, I promise."

Jiraiya spread his arms, staring at Tsunade with an incomprehensible look on his face. "Then suffer I will."

A/N: Geez, that took forever. Lack of inspiration and vacation have totally gotten me. I am also working now, and my summer assignments are going to kill…updates on all my stories will probably be slow, so I apologize for that. On the bright side, though, I'm only working a few weeks, so it should be enough for me to get caught up in between and all. Well, since it is late, I am going to go get some sleep. Goodnight, everyone, and please, review!!