Happy Birthday to Konan today! This will be one of the (probably) two fics for members of the Akatsuki that doesn't involve the others. Wow, that was a bit of a confusing sentence...in any case, I've decided that nearly all of the Akatsuki members will have a fic that involves the others, so therefore isn't in their past. The only exceptions to this rule are Konan, as you will see shortly, and Itachi, simply because I love Itachi too much to not do something totally awesome. Of course, with him, I might end up doing a sort of half and half fic...flashbacks to an earlier time while he's still in the (sort of) current time. Or I might end up doing something involving wherever the people go when they die. I don't know! I don't need to know what I'm doing with him (lol) for another couple months, so it doesn't matter just yet. What matters now is Konan.

So anyway, this takes place in the past. It's after Jiraiya found the three Ame orphans and taught them ninjutsu and all that fun stuff, before he left them, and while they're still fairly young. No real pairings are involved, since I just don't feel like it. XP Sadly, this is going to be another short one, just because I'm not too good with the characters who don't get to be seen very much. Hence why Shino's chapter was so short...XP However, I feel that the ending will more than make up for the length. The characters may seem a tad bit OOC, but I figure I've got creative freedom with them, seeing as this takes place during a part of their past that is just barely touched on at all, so whatevs.

I should probably stop going on about what's going to happen and just type it already, shouldn't I? Well, maybe I'm just stalling for time, because at this point, I have no idea what's going to happen.

Konan: Just get on with my chapter already, or else...or else...I'll fold paper at you!

Me: GAAAAH! Noes, not the paper, anything but the paper! Okay, okay, I'll get on with it...

Chapter 5

Konan

"So, what do you three want to do today?" Jiraiya asked his current students.

"Let's do more training and get stronger!" Yahiko suggested, a huge grin on his face.

"We train every day pretty much," Nagato pointed out quietly, "can't we take a break for once?"

"Besides," Konan added, "it's my birthday today. I don't want to spend it fighting."

"It is?" all three of her companions said, giving her a blank look. She nodded.

"Today is February 20th, right? Or have I been keeping track of the days wrong?"

"No no," Jiraiya said, "you're right. And Nagato is also right that you three are training nearly every day. While training is important, taking breaks is almost more important...depending on whether you know when to take them."

"Awww man," Yahiko whined. "No training today?"

"Nope," Jiraiya confirmed.

"Then what are we going to do?" Nagato asked.

"I think we should leave that up to Konan, don't you?" All three looked at Konan, who blushed and looked at her feet.

"I don't really know what I want to do," she admitted. "My birthday hasn't been celebrated in so long...I figured today could be different, since we're all doing so well now, but I don't know. My parents were always in charge of figuring out what would happen, I just sort of went along with it."

"Well if you'd given us more time to think about it," Yahiko started, "instead of just springing this on us, then maybe we could've come up with something good."

"I never thought of it before now," Konan said, a slight blush on her pale cheeks. "Though I suppose I have wanted to see other parts of the world. I mean, I know they exist, but I've never been very far outside of Amegakure."

"Actually, it might be nice to spend the day exploring new places," Nagato said very quietly. Jiraiya grinned.

"Alright, then, it's settled! First stop: Kusagakure! It's the closest hidden village to here, plus there are tons of great forests and nice rivers along the way. I think you three would enjoy seeing some greenery for once."

Yahiko groaned. "A nature walk? Really? Do we have to?"

"Hey, it's my birthday, not yours," Konan told him, "and I think it's a great idea."

Yahiko grumbled some more, but he went with the other three anyway. They all walked in the direction of Kusagakure, and it was very obvious the moment they'd crossed into its country. There was no rain anymore, and the surrounding area became more lush and green than any of the three orphans could have imagined. They stopped and stared around them in wonder, and even Yahiko was amazed, though he denied it wholeheartedly.

"See?" Jiraiya said once the kids had finally decided to continue on. "Isn't it nice here?"

"This is amazing!" Konan said with a huge smile. "Thank you so much, Jiraiya-sensei!"

"Don't thank me yet," he said, "we haven't even gotten to Kusa."

"Well, if this village is so great, then why don't we hurry up?" Yahiko said, putting on his act of being upset with the trip. Konan rolled her eyes.

"Have you never heard the phrase 'Stop to smell the flowers' before?" she asked.

"I've smelled plenty of flowers today," Yahiko argued.

"That's not what it means, moron. It means to take things slow, and not just rush straight to whatever your goal is."

"Konan's right," Jiraiya said. "We as shinobi so rarely get times like this, where we can simply take our time and enjoy the little things that come our way, so when we finally get the opportunity, we should do just that. The reason I brought you guys over this way was exactly that, so you could enjoy the things along the way. So stop pretending like you're not having fun, Yahiko, when I've seen how much you're enjoying this trip."

Konan giggled. "Sensei is so smart," she said happily. Yahiko stuck his tongue out at her.

"If you like him so much, why don't you marry him?" he teased. Konan's cheeks went bright red.

"Take that back!" she exclaimed, moving to punch him. Jiraiya stood between the two, stopping them.

"Nuh uh," he said. "I already told you, we're not doing any training of any kind today. Now just calm down, both of you, and let's keep going."

The four of them continued on, Yahiko still teasing Konan, and Nagato walking on the other side of Jiraiya with a small smile on his face. Jiraiya was smiling too, happy that the three orphans were doing so well.

"Sensei," Konan said after a while, making Jiraiya look over at her, "you're not thinking of leaving us anytime soon, right?"

"Well, I'll have to get back to Konoha eventually," he replied. "I mean, that is still my home, after all. But even once I go back, I'll never actually leave you three. I'll always be a part of you, just like you all will always be a part of me. A good shinobi never forgets his students, don't you worry."

Konan smiled and nodded, satisfied with that answer, and they continued walking in relative silence, stopping every once in a while to take a closer look at some of the plants.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Konan woke up, surprised to find tears on her face. She blinked a few times to clear her thoughts.

"Something wrong?" Nagato asked from beside her. She looked up at him, and at the contraption he was in, then sighed and wiped her face.

"Nothing," she replied, "just dreaming of the past. We were all so happy..."

"We'll be happy again," he insisted, "just the two of us. We don't need Yahiko or Jiraiya-sensei."

"I know," Konan said softly, then rolled over and closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

End

There! It's done! I didn't actually put in the part of them going into Kusa, since I'm not entirely sure what's in there. XP All the stuff I put about it being the closest village to Amegakure, and all the greenery and everything, that's all true. I got it off of the Naruto wiki, but I couldn't find enough info about Kusagakure itself for me to feel comfortable writing any scenes in there. I hope that was satisfactory! I like Konan...she was probably the one out of all the Akatsuki who was there for the least selfish of reasons. I mean, going somewhere just because the person you love is going to the same place COULD be considered selfish...but at the same time, it isn't quite as bad. Of course, Itachi's reasons were pretty noble as well, but I'm not gonna get into that right now.

I hope you enjoyed it, now please review! The next chapter won't be until March 18th, so there's quite a way to go still.