My Mitsukai
AN: So! I have returned. And this story is around a little more than half way done, I presume. This chapter covers a lot of time: A couple of days. So pay attention to the breaks! (:--:)
Enjoy, and R&R, please! Tell me your reactions, thoughts, predictions, what ever you'd like! I'd love to know!
She was seven months in now and the baby was well on its way. The baby's room had finally started looking ready to accommodate and actual person. Sasori had finished the crib and was adding the finishing coats of polish to it. Deidara, oh Deidara- the mural he had painted on a wall for the baby was honestly one of the most creative things Konan had ever imagined for a baby's room.
He painted a nighttime festival scene, fireworks and the backs of Pein and Konan, with Pein's arm wrapped around his lover. They were both looking up, watching the fireworks. It was so lifelike, all except for the colors. Not one dark color was used. They were all muted pastels, it being a child's room, but even as a night scene, it seemed as if Deidara had used the purest and lightest shades for any hue something was. It was absolutely stunning.
Everything was getting better, day-by-day for Konan. It seemed as if she was finally letting herself be okay with the growing person in her belly.
Even the other Akatsuki, albeit Hidan because he usually forgot, knew to be calmer and more refined around her. It was as if the pregnancy was somehow turning her into a precious crystal that only Pein could touch. The others in the organization always spoke to her with care and let her sit in any chair or on any couch that she pleased, even if that meant they had to find somewhere else to relax.
It was midday and Konan was sitting in the living room, trying to pick out names she liked from the baby book.
"Konan?" Kakuzu called from the kitchen.
"I'm in here," She said back from the living room.
"Oh. I'm going out to the village. Others have made a list for me. Anything you need to add?"
Konan smiled at the polite gesture of asking. "Actually, I've really wanted some peanut butter… and syrup. Oh and could you get some anchovies?"
Kakuzu's expression was one of bewilderment to say the least. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah. I wanted a sandwich… But I looked in the cabinets and we didn't have a couple of things. So if you could just pick those up, that'd be great."
"Uh… Sure Konan-chan." The man attempted to not look disgusted.
Later that day, she had finally picked out a few names for a boy and girl. She walked into the room she shared with her lover and laid on the bed sideways, still reading.
She found a girl's name she liked and read it out loud. "Kimiko: "Beautiful history child, dear child, ruling child."
'Well, that would definitely fit if she was born with her father's gift…' Her mind pictured an adorable little girl peering up at her with Rennigan eyes.
She turned to the males' name section of the book.
'Pein would probably want to stay traditional with a first born son's name.' Her eyes came across a nice, simple name.
"Taro. That's nice…" She read the meaning of the name. 'Taro- Great son, a name only given to a first son. Hmm… That seems like a perfect name.'
Just in time, Pein slid the door open, slipping his cloak off. He looked a little tired and frustrated, but not enough for Konan to be too worried.
"Hi, love." She said cheerfully yet quiet.
"Hello, Konan-chan." Pein said. She could hear a slight smile in his voice, but also tension as well.
Looking up, she met his eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just a stressful day. Nothing to worry about." He said, padding over to the bed and laid beside her with a hand gently resting on the baby. That was one of his favorite things to do now- just to have his hand there, feeling their child inside of her.
"Hm. Okay." She said with a small smile.
"Baby book?" Pein inquired, noticing what she was reading.
"Yeah I looked at some names." She shrugged.
"Hm. Like what?" Pein was intrigued to what she had chosen.
"Well, since we don't know the gender yet, I chose one male, and one female name. I figured the son's name would be traditional, so I liked 'Taro'. It means great son."
"Taro…" Pein repeated. "I like it."
"And then for a girl, I picked 'Kimiko' which means ruling child."
Pein smiled, getting the same mental image of a daughter born with the eyes he possessed. "It would fit. I love them both." He said, kissing her on the cheek.
She smiled back, leaning against him comfortably. 'This is all going so well…'
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It was now the eighth month in, and Konan was starting to feel the repercussions of being pregnant. She wasn't really as active as she was before and stayed in bed most of the time. She felt lazy, but felt worse any time she got up and tried to make herself busy. Pein on the other hand, was secretly dealing with other problems. Konan's worst fear was about to come true.
The meeting room fell in silence. No one spoke after the grave news was delivered.
"Don't you think you should let her know, Pein-sama?" Kisame inquired carefully.
Pein let out a sigh. "I can't do that, Kisame. She can't handle stress right now."
All of the Akatsuki looked guilty hearing the news that one of their members, their precious kunoichi, wouldn't be told of the information.
"Hai, Leader-sama." Kisame said regretfully. 'Konan should really know about this…'
Pein felt honestly sick. The members' holograms faded out slowly, leaving Pein sitting at the head of Kami's hand, slowly falling into thoughts of regret. 'This was not how it was supposed to happen… This was supposed to start after our baby grew up a bit… Not now…Not right now.'
The war was soon to begin. The Second Great War in all of history was approaching faster and faster every day and the baby was yet to arrive. What kind of world is it going to be born into?
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It was late. Konan was expecting him in bed by now. His hologram faded out as well.
As soon as he walked into the bedroom, he saw Konan sleeping lightly. A small sad smile came to his face. 'She deserves better than this…'
Her eyes slowly came open, hearing cloak fabric rustling lightly. She could already tell how tense and stressed Pein was just from his stance.
"Pein…"
"Hm?" He turned around.
"You're worried. What's going on?"
His heart clenched. He couldn't tell her…
"Nothing, love. Don't worry about anything."
"Don't tell me that." She sat up defensively.
"Mitsukai, really. Everything is fine." He walked over to the bed, putting a calming hand on her back. She was still warily glancing at him, but laid back.
"Lets go to sleep, then."
"Just what I was thinking." Pein crawled into bed after stripping down to his boxers.
Konan couldn't sleep until much later into the night after thinking of what could possibly be going on that no one was telling her about. 'Please.. Don't let it be what I think it is…'
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An emergency meeting was going on in the cave- minus one member.
"Waterfall ninja just initiated the beginning of the war. Suna has had their first attack. Our allegiance lies with the highest bidder, as you all know. Kisame and Itachi, you have been called to Suna for defense. Go immediately." Their holograms faded out.
"Kakuzu, Hidan: Village Hidden in the Mist. Report to the Mizukage immediately." Their holographic images faded as well.
"For now, that's all. All not called on, go back to the base."
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It had been two days since they had been sent to the villages. Konan walked up to Pein's office, knocking lightly.
"Pein?"
"Yeah, Konan. Come in." 'Shit!' He just realized he hadn't cleaned up the office.
She opened the door and was shocked. "W-what is all this?" She looked around the office, which was covered in scattered documents, letters, war book strategies, and blueprints to many buildings in different villages.
'Time to play pretend.' "Oh. I was just strategizing, Konan. Its nothing; calm down." He spoke softly, getting up from his chair, and placing a gentle hand on her cheek, stroking lightly, trying to comfort the worried expression on her face.
Really, he had been planning the Akatsuki's next move and negotiating with the Grass Village on which pair of Akatsuki they wanted.
Konan looked hurt. "Why are you lying to me?" She could always tell when he was lying.
"Love, I'm not. Please… I'm not lying to you, believe me." He smiled softly. "You need to rest."
She nodded hesitantly, turning to go back to the living room.
'That was a lie… a huge, massive lie, Pein...' He thought with a guilty feeling as he closed the door once again after she left and resumed writing his return letter.
Konan went to sit in the living room, but all of the sudden Itachi and Kisame came in through the entrance. Itachi was unharmed, but looked extremely exhausted like he usually did after fighting. That set the first red flag of warning off in Konan's mind.
She then followed her gaze over to her other blue-haired comrade. Kisame's Samehada was unwrapped and drenched in many shades of blood and as soon as he saw her, he tried to hide it- big red flag number two.
Hidan's head comes rolling in next and she could hear Kakuzu yelling from a few yards away, "Hidan, you son of a bitch!"
As Itachi and Kisame quickly found their way away from Konan's view, Kakuzu came in with threads and Hidan's body dragging behind him in pieces.
Tears well up in her eyes, as she covers her grimace with her hand and mutters "Oh god…'" She ran from the scene, disturbed not from the brutality of forms they were in, but from the fact of what it could mean: they were at war.
'As long as Pein doesn't leave… That means the war hasn't started… Those were just normal missions… I've seen them come back in worse condition… Yes, that's all. No war… not yet…' She really couldn't lie to herself but was trying desperately as well as trying to calm her tears and wipe them from her eyes.
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Pein didn't come to bed until around two o'clock that night.
He had just received an offer from the Iwagakure for 300,000,000 ryo for himself to go fight in their offense against the Village Hidden in the Wind.
…And he had accepted the offer.
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Konan wakes up the next morning and Pein isn't there. Assuming he's in his office, she goes about her day, taking a shower and having a small breakfast. With a bowl of rice in hand she had made for Pein, she knocked lightly on his office door. 'He always forgot to eat breakfast.' She thought, lightly shaking her head in a lovingly scornful way.
"Pein?"
No answer.
"…Pein..?" She opened the door a little to find it empty.
She immediately began to worry. 'Please… don't tell me he left! Don't tell me… Don't…No…' Tear were welling up in her eyes as she made her way to the living room, looking for anyone in the base. 'This is it… H-he's gone…the war is here… its true… and I'm not out there. Right now, I would be with Pein, wherever he is. And im not! I'm here with this…' She looked down at her stomach extremely displeased for the first time in a while. 'And he could die because I'm not there to help him! Oh god… Please… Don't let him die!'
Hidan was in the kitchen, all in one piece now.
"Hidan… Where's Pein." She demanded, setting the bowl of rice down on the counter.
"Huh?" Hidan knew where Pein was. They had been in a meeting not two hours before when he had announced the offer he had accepted last night.
"Where. Is. Pein?" She said sternly.
"I don't know. I thought he was here." Hidan shrugged, but then quickly took his glass of water and high-tailed it back to his room.
'Lie…' Konan could tell, once again. Everyone was lying to her.
"Kisame!" She called into the living room.
"I'm right here."
"Where's Pein? Tell me! Where is he?"
The blue man felt on edge, like anything he could say would get him killed by either Konan, or Pein… or both. What was he supposed to tell her? "Um, he just ran out for a couple of things. He'll be back in no time, Konan." But again, he left a bit too quickly after answering.
'Lie.'
She began feeling sick.
"Deidara…" She walked into the new library wing.
"Hm?"
"Please… Answer this and don't you dare lie to me…"
"Answer what, un?" Deidara was beginning to get nervous. 'Please, don't let her ask where Leader-sama is…'
Tears welled up in her eyes, and threatened to spill over. "Please… Where is Pein? I-I can't find him…" She felt her heart break as she asked him. 'I can't find him…' She tried to stop herself from crying up there was too much pain in her heart at the moment to prevent it.
She looked so sad… so worried and Deidara just couldn't take it. "H-he's not here, un…" Deidara tensed his jaw so he didn't say more.
'Its true… my worst fears are here…' She felt hot tears spill over her cheeks in realization. "W-where is he?" She pleaded.
He closed his eyes, not being able to lie anymore to the poor girl. "He's in Iwa… fighting against the Wind Village."
She let out a horrified noise, now knowing that she had been right all along and that it was obvious that the war had started and that she couldn't take any more of this. Turning away, she went down the hallway with blurry eyes, clutching her stomach. Why did everything hurt right now?!
Her heart, her mind, her back, her womb… She looked down in realization and fear. Her middle hurt more than anything else. 'Oh god… Ah!' She suddenly collapsed as she felt the sickening flow of something warm between her legs. Letting out a shaky scream, she wrapped her arms around herself, trying desperately to make everything stop.
Deidara came running out of the library, expecting that Konan had just gone into labor but he saw the puddle of blood and Konan on the floor. His mind went into complete panic. 'That is SO not normal, un!! Shit, shit, un, what do I do?!'
"Kakuzu!!! Zetsu!!! Anybody!!!" He yelled throughout the base, looking around in horror, hoping someone would show up- and soon.
"Konan! Oh Konan… I'm so sorry! Please… Please be okay… He'll be back! I promise! Konan!" Deidara tried to get through to her, but she had totally blocked out anything else because of all the pain that was electrocuting her nerves.
"Peeeeeiin!" She yelled out in agony, as she writhed on the floor, bleeding heavier.
Kakuzu came running down the hallway, hearing her scream and Deidara's yell for help.
"What happened?!" He demanded, seeing Konan in pain and the blood leaking through her cloak.
"I don't know, un!! B-but help her!!"
Kakuzu scooped her up, feeling blood dripping from her cloak below her waist. Supporting her back, he made his way down to the infirmary.
"Deidara! Go get blankets and towels and a pillow! This baby isn't going to stay in much longer, or Konan's going to bleed out!" Kakuzu ordered, laying Konan down on one of the metal examination tables after stripping her out of her cloak and laying his clean one down for her to lie on.
Still letting out small cries of pain, Konan felt herself being moved about. 'Pein… where are you…Pein! Please…come back…Make it stop… make everything stop!'
Kakuzu took off the rest of her clothes, as he saw just how much blood was soaking her lower body.
'Holy Kami… Damnit, she's hemorrhaging.'
The rest of the Akatsuki rushed in: Zetsu, Itachi, Kisame, Hidan, Sasori, and finally Deidara with an armful of blankets and a few pillows. They all saw what Konan was going through and the blood soaking through Kakuzu's cloak she was laying on and suddenly all feared for Konan's life and the little baby's growing inside of her as well.
"Here, un! I gotta go get towels!" He exclaimed shakily, handing the huge bundle of soft objects to Itachi and running back out in a panic.
"Hidan, go get a bowl of warm water." Hidan had been gawking in horror at the blood Konan was letting out. "Hidan! Quickly, go!" Finally, he turned and hurried out of the room.
Zetsu asked with a nervous voice, "What can we do?"
"I have to get the baby out. Do you have any antibacterial herbs or something?"
"Of course! I'll go get them." He rushed out, arguing with himself in worry about which to get.
The whole base was filled with concern and fear for their beloved kunoichi and her baby.
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Spilling in through the front door, Pein ran to their bedroom. She had to know… He couldn't keep it from her any longer… The opposing shinobi were nearing the base. Opening the door quickly, he found that his blue haired lover wasn't there.
"Konan?" Pein was getting worried. He closed the door, walking quickly down to the old library. Sliding the door open, he looked in there too.
No Konan.
'Maybe she… no. She couldn't have left.'
Just then, Deidara came running down the hallway, passing Pein and skidding into the shower room, grabbing a handful of towels.
"Deidara, what the hell?!"
"Better follow me, Leader-sama, un," The blonde rushed past him again, "if you're looking for Konan!"
Pein went wide-eyed then immediately went off, chasing Deidara down the dark hallway to the infirmary, but slipped on a puddle and trail of blood half way there.
He went wide eyes, almost letting out an audible scream. 'Is all of this Konan's blood?!'
AN: So what do you think, hm? Drama, drama... so review please, so I can begin working on the next chapter with your thoughts in mind! Please and thank you