Itachi entered the room quietly.

He made sure that everyone was out of the room before coming out of hiding (the air vents were insufferable, but he managed to survive. He was skinny.) Itachi then stepped into Pein's room without a sound, softly closing the door and walking over to where Pein lay, seemingly asleep, across his bed. Itachi walked slowly across the floor, taking in Pein's still form. Once Konan had taken care of the initial danger, she had shooed Kisame out and stripped Pein of his Akatsuki cloak, shirt, shoes, and headband. Then, once Pein was asleep, she even had the nerve to take out several of his nastier piercings-and close over the holes with irou ninjutsu. Itachi found this immensely amusing, and felt the urge to wait around to see what Pein's reaction would be when he found himself deprived of all nipple piercings, and a penis piercing.

Bu alas, the urge was stronger to wake him up. To apologize. To talk. To…Itachi sighed and crossed the room, sitting down next to Pein on the bed and just taking a moment to stare. Pein was beautiful, Itachi realized. Simply stunning in almost every way. He had gorgeous orange hair, which perfectly accented his porcelain skin and dark eyes, which were currently closed. His spiraled eyes had always enchanted Itachi, as if they were a vortex, pulling him right into the center. The rest of his body was just as pale as his face, and it was well-muscled while still retaining a slim, almost feminine contour. His piercings only seemed to add to his mystery, as if to tell a story of how he had lived until now. A symbol, of sorts, to tell of how Pein could endure so much pain without batting an eye. Itachi had heard the stories-he could remain entirely silent during torture for days. He could fight a battle stabbed in the shoulder and still win. He could fight without an arm, having been stabbed several times in the nervous system of that arm. He could endure having compound fractures set without anesthetic. He had had his appendix removed without being put to sleep or anything to numb the area. He had had his penis pierced. Itachi could hardly believe any of this, but his sources swore it was true. Itachi raised a hand, unsure of whether or not Pein would wake if h touched him. Still, that pale skin was like a magnet, drawing him closer and closer until he couldn't resist the feather-light touches he found himself giving Pein.

He had no idea Pein was awake the entire time.

The Rinnegan master knew Itachi was there, and had pretended to be asleep the entire time, wanting to see what Itachi would do. Sure enough, the teen couldn't resist, and had come over to sit next to him. Soon, he was touching Pein's face, just gentle strokes down his cheek, but Pein could feel Itachi's hand trembling as he did so. He was afraid Pein would wake up and kill him. Or worse. Still, Pein allowed Itachi to stay for another moment, and then slowly opened his eyes, acting as though he had been asleep the entire time. Strangely, Itachi seemed not to notice. Then, Pein noticed that he was fingering his navel ring, the Akatsuki's signature cloud hanging off a silver chain. Pein gently laid a hand over Itachi's, the hand that was still gently stroking his face.

Itachi gasped, shooting back like a rocket.

The Uchiha was clearly frightened of Pein, and fell to his knees on the floor next to Pein's bed. He began apologizing over himself, and it even got to the point where Itachi was begging Pein to spare him. Pein rose slowly from the bed, first sitting up, then swinging his feet over the side and standing. Itachi visibly recoiled, then bowed so low his bangs swept the floor in front of him. Pein took in his shivering form, regarding him with little more than a raised brow. He shifted his weight into one hip, folding his arms over his chest. Wait-something was wrong…Pein glanced down, realizing with a pang of sorrow someone had removed his nipple piercings. And the holes were closed over?! This could only be Konan's doing. Pein sighed. Deal with that later. But, for now…he needed to teach Itachi a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.

"Stand up."

Itachi scrambled to his feet, unsure of what was going on. But all he knew was that Pein was telling him to do something, and it was in his best interests to obey.

"Take off the cloak."

Itachi hesitantly unsnapped the front of the heavy Akatsuki cloak, letting it drop to the floor behind him. The silk pooled around his ankles with a soft whoosh, and Itachi felt strangely naked without it.

"Turn around. And whatever you do, don't look back."

Itachi turned as slowly as possible, trying to preserve his life for a moment longer. "Against the wall." Was there no end to this madness?! Was Pein trying to torture him, by allowing him to live precious few more moments than he normally would allow? And was it such a heinous crime that Itachi had fallen in love with him? Itachi stepped forward, swallowing hard, and stopped a hair's breadth from the wall. His breath hit the wall and came back to hit him in the face, hot and taunting in its consistency. Itachi took one last, shaky, breath, preparing himself for the fatal blow that Pein would deal him.

Cool fingers touched the back of his neck.

Itachi stiffened, and Pein smirked. He had said nothing about killing the boy, but that seemed to be what Itachi thought was going to happen to him…Pein allowed his fingers to trail down Itachi's spine, feeling the shivers the boy produced. Pein had told him not turn, but Itachi made not a sound, either. Pein continued, not hearing a work of protest from Itachi. His hand slipped down towards Itachi's pants, which sat right on his slender, curving hips. Pein's hand sneaked under Itachi's shirt, caressing the teen's soft, cool, skin. Itachi gasped, arching his back away from Pein's icy touch. Still, Pein's hand moved around Itachi's waist to slide up his chest, reaching his collarbones before travelling back down. Pein began playing with the waistband of Itachi's pants, then leaned forward and pressed his lips to the back of Itachi's neck. Itachi released a soft, breathy moan, arching into Pein's touches. Pein slid his hand around to Itachi's hips, gently working his pants off with both hands. By now, Itachi was growing hard, and Pein was beginning to feel the excitement, as well. "This is what you want, hm? My attention? Well, boy, you've got it." Without further warning, Pein shoved two fingers into Itachi's entrance, raising a hand with lightning speed to cover Itachi's scream of pain and pleasure. Itachi's cry was silenced by Pein's hand as the Rinnegan user continued to knead at Itachi's entrance with his other fingers, drawing whimpers and moans from Itachi. Still, Pein kept the Uchiha's mouth bound by his hand: he didn't want Konan knowing how he punished Itachi. She might get the wrong idea. Pein shoved in a third finger, extracting another cry of pain from Itachi. But, despite the pain, he was rocking back into Pein's touches, trying desperately to get more of what he craved so badly. Pein could tell Itachi was nearing completion, but trying to contain himself, if only to make his pleasure continue for another second. Pein knew the Uchiha withering beneath him was only seconds from cumming-

He let go.

Pein released all contact with Itachi, simply letting him drop to the floor in a heap. "Don't think that I will ever touch you again," he snarled, delivering a harsh kick to Itachi's side. He then stepped over Itachi's motionless body, grabbing his shirt from the nightstand next to his bed. Pein pulled his shirt on over his head, yanked it down almost irritably, and then strode out of the room without another word.

Itachi was left on the floor, completely and totally heartbroken. He had passed out from Pein's kick.

OOOOOOOOOO

Konan found Itachi two hours later.

Her first thought was rape. But, upon taking a bit of a closer look, she could see that Itachi had been fingered, but he hadn't come. And neither had his sexual partner of the moment, which she strongly suspected was Pein. Konan gently woke Itachi, who immediately shied from her touch. But, upon realizing who it was, he flushed deeply and hurriedly stood up, pulling up his pants and quietly muttering something about having to be somewhere. Konan stopped him with a hand on the arm, and Itachi froze.

"Stop," Konan whispered. "Calm down, let me have a look at you, and then we'll see about hearing that story."

"But-"

Konan sent Itachi a hard glare, nasty enough to cut stone, and Itachi fell abruptly silent. He seemed to recoil, as if slapped, and Konan gently tugged him after her out of Pein's room and down the hallway a bit. She took him into a room on the right side of the hallway, flicking on a light switch and holding open the door for Itachi. He entered the room dejectedly, like a child walking into the principle's office at school. Konan let the door close, locked it, and then turned back to Itachi. Itachi looked around for a moment, taking in the room. It looked like a doctor's office; it had a table at the far end, a desk on the right side of the door, and a sink set into a counter with a row of cabinets above and below it on the left side of the door. Konan gestured to Itachi to get on the table at the end of the room, then turned around and opened one of the cabinets. Itachi could see what she had retrieved was a rape kit.

"It wasn't rape," he said, sitting on the table. His voice was quiet, and he sounded depressed. "He only fingered me. You don't have to do anything like that-"

Konan turned her head and shoulders, sending Itachi another silencing glare. Itachi quieted down, and Konan turned back to searching. She wasn't sure what to do; just make sure nothing was damaged in any way, probably. Konan finally settled on a small flashlight and latex gloves. She took off her cloak, sliding on the gloves as she gave instructions to Itachi.

"Lie on your back, and just slide your pants down to your ankles. Then, bend your knees and relax your knees. All I'm going to do is make sure nothing got torn apart in there, okay? If you get uncomfortable, just tell me, and I'll stop."

Itachi nodded and did as she asked, and Konan finished putting her gloves on. She approached Itachi with the flashlight, setting it down next to Itachi's feet on the table where he lay. She only took a few minutes to check Itachi for injury-she was beginning to feel awkward, knowing that she was the second person to touch Itachi. Granted, it wasn't anything remotely sexual, but even so…Konan finally straightened, after what seemed to be an eternity to Itachi, and stripped off her gloves.

"You're fine," she announced. "Just refrain from sexual activity for a few days to let the edges of your…entrance, I suppose, heal up. Someone was quite rough with you, and I know if there was actual sex involved, you would be in a lot more pain. But, since there was no genital penetration from the other party, there was less harm done. Speaking of…" Konan dropped her gloves in the trash can next to the door, politely keeping herself busy with cleaning up the office a bit as Itachi got himself dressed again. "Who was the other party?"

Itachi did not answer for the longest time. Finally, Konan looked back to see if he was alright, and then Itachi answered.

"Pein."

Konan gave a shuddering sigh that spoke volumes. "I'm so sorry." "Did you love him?" "Was this your will?" "He was cruel to do that to you." "He's never seen you the way I have, has he?" Itachi turned his head, straightening his pants and pulling his ponytail a bit tighter. But Konan caught the smallest of whimpers that passed through his lips, the fear that he had endured. She felt compelled to ask why Pein had done such a thing, especially when he was in a relationship with her-!

"He was punishing me."

"For?"

Konan had felt the words leave her lips without her bidding, but she was half-glad they had. She might get an explanation.

"I-I went into his room, and I ended up a little too close for comfort, I guess."

Konan knew there was more, but didn't press Itachi. Instead, she stepped over to him, reaching up and letting her hands trail down the sides of his face, offering calming chakras. Itachi seemed to accept them gladly, giving Konan a quick thank-you before leaving the room. Konan leaned on the table, tapping her nails on its surface impatiently.

Pein, you monster. We're breaking up, if this is what you do to someone who loves you truly and deeply.

A/N: Wow, only one more chapter! Review, or it never comes!!