So sorry for not upddddddaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnngg! (updating) . It's 32 pages long on my Open Office writer thingo (no more microsoft wordd D: ) .

ENJOY.

"So let me see if I get this," the tall, blue-skinned former Mist nin began, "you found this baby in the forest."

Pein nodded his head.

"Yes. That is correct."

"And you just decided—"

"Not decided, knew."

"Right, right, so you knew it was an angel and brought it here."

"Uh-huh."

"And now we're going to keep this strange baby that we know nothing about with us. Here. In the Akatsuki. Which is housing a wide range of cold, ruthless, S-rank criminals..."

"Yes, what's not to get?"

Kisame scratched his gilled cheek. "I dunno."

The two Akatsuki then turned their sights to Orochimaru, who currently had Angel in his possession.

Angel stared at everything with curious pink eyes, her small, empty head making it so that she would not focus on anything for more than a few seconds. Trying to take in all the new sights, smells, sounds, and other things that her senses enlightened her with.

Figures in the room surrounding her.

A very tall person with blue skin, same as the sky Angel had stared up at so long she felt she could memorize the cloud patterns.

A person with very, very pale and cold skin with long slender arms holding her in a very comforting way. The hair was so long and silky, the little baby had the urge just to grasp it in her tiny hands and pull, just to see what would happen...

A lady with evenly cut dark blue hair and a pretty thing in her hair. There was thick black surrounding her with red clouds, but Angel suspected she had large ones hidden behind the cloth. But the lady seemed uninterested in her; instead she was interested in another, focusing all her attention on the last person in the room, hanging onto his every word, craving to breathe the same air he was...

Then she saw him.

There was no mistaking it. She would never forget him. That man. With the swirly eyes and thorny orange hair. He brought her here. He had saved her from that big scary place. He made the sprinklies stop.

The baby opened her mouth, but what came out was a combination of a gurgle, a laugh, and a purr.

The noise drew all of their attention immediately, most importantly the man's. She made the noise again, and began squirming, desperate for him to hold her again.

The man holding her at the time, whose skin was so pale and cold, said something and it brought the man forward, to her utter delight. She felt him lift her into his arms and rest her just below his chest.

Speaking of chests...

Pein felt Angel's tiny fists bump against his black cloak, along with small noises that only a baby could make when they're frustrated. It seemed like she was searching for something, wanting something.

Angel gave a cry and began twisting her head around, clearly giving up at looking for the unknown desire herself and showing off her displeasure at not finding it.

"She's probably hungry." Konan voiced her thoughts to Pein's left.

"Right, we should probably--"

Konan was out the door before Pein had a chance to finish his sentence.

There was a special connection between them, God and Angel. Pein could sense when Konan was in trouble, no matter how far apart they were. Konan was extra-sensitive to others' emotions, most importantly his and had that rare ability to calm him down when he was feeling oh-so-furious at all the imperfections in the world—though this did not happen often at all, it was still a nice ability to have.

This came with the love, free of charge.

When the "angel" returned with the bottle, Pein silently thanked Konan before he began the serious matter of feeding the baby.

It was completely silent in the medical room except for Angel's greedy sucking noises on the bottle coupled with heavy breathing.

Kisame too the chance to step forward to Leader. He loomed over Pein and Angel, being almost half a head taller than the God.

"Are you sure she will be strong enough for the Akatsuki?" he asked lowly.

"She has the potential," he replied, "I can sense it; she will be a vital asset to us in our quest to capture all nine bijuu and reach our goals...In due time, of course."

"What will we do with her in the mean time?" Konan had spoken this time.

"Raise her. Discover her abilities now, if possible, and hone them at the earliest convenience."

Angel had by now slammed down the formula in the bottle. She spit the rubber nipple out of her mouth, along with a little bit of her unswallowed meal.

Pein instinctively wiped away the dribbling white with a swift thumbstroke.

"Well," Kisame announced, straightening himself, "I think I should be heading off now. Kakuzu owes me five yen, and I intend to get it back before the day is out."

"Good luck," Orochimaru called after the Mist nin with a breathy laugh, "Kakuzu is the most tight-fisted miser I have ever known."

"Yes..."" Pein added absently, his attention still fixated on Angel.

The missing Mist-nin was now gone, and the remaining souls in the room were: One former Leaf ninja (not to mention one of the legendary Sannin); an angel; a god; and a newly adopted baby.

After a few moments of thinking in silence, Pein finally looked up from the infant.

"Konan, do we still have any of Aidan's baby clothes?"

"Yes I think so...Why?"

Pein gave her a serious look, but the smile clearly showed through his gray, hypnotic eyes.

"What size do you think Angel wears?"

"...There we go."

Konan thumbed the tabs of the diaper in their places over Angel's hips, ensuring their sticky sides will stay stuck against the diaper material. She then lifted the baby gently by the armpits and sat her right-side up in her lap and quickly slipped on a lime green baby shirt.

After laying her down again in an open onesie on the floor, Konan buttoned her up in dark blue cloth with blue stripes.*

After swaddling Angel in a very fuzzy baby blanket, Konan paused to take at a real look at her:

When she had first touched with this creature, she had drawn her hand back—...

"Don't worry, Konan." Pein assured her when he saw his angel glare at the baby for burning her. "I think it means she likes you. She did it to me."...

—Now, she felt no sharp burning sting. Angel was staring at the white paper flower pinned in her hair; her tiny thin arms had managed to escape the blanket-straitjacket (she did have some practice, after all) and she was now waving them in the air without any rhythm in the motions, trying to reach it.

Konan did not give into the baby's wishes for her hand-made hair clip, but instead shoved the pacifier that had once belonged to Aidan in the toothless mouth in a slightly rough manner.

Then she held the cocooned infant in her arms, supporting the head, staring at the closed door where Pein would soon walk through and join her in bed.

As she held the baby, the "angel" began to think of the events that had taken place this very day.

Why do we need to keep this baby? Does Pein really consider raising it here? In the Akatsuki? As a new daughter? What is wrong with Aidan? Isn't he enough?

It was obvious to Konan from the beginning that Aidan was a pacifist. His father frowned upon his lack of aggression when sparring (which began as soon as the boy could walk and learn how to hold a weapon correctly).

Pein's dream was to end this flawed world with one last war. The war to end all wars. One that would eliminate all traces of hostility from the human population so that there would be no more suffering and pain: only peace.

She and he had experienced more than enough of their share, and it was Pein's idea that the only way others would ever understand was a first-hand account. Then they would all realize that his objectives had been righteous all along, and submit to him as their unquestioned God of the world.

And, he had confided to her, nothing would bring him greater joy than the day when he could stand on top of the highest point of the world, with her on his left side and Aidan on his right—two beloved angels, on supreme God—and look down on the people as his own.

Konan shared that dream. She wanted Pein to succeed with all her heart and soul. And, with the help of her, the Akatsuki, and the 9 bijuu they were all tasked to collect, it would be a reality, sooner or later.

But to Pein, Aidan was a problem. The boy, his only son, was supposed to be—how could she put this—Pein "reincarnated" inside Aidan. A clone, to be more specific.

To his disappointment, however, Aidan was not a boy who would resort to violence and show off his power. He may have his father's looks, but he had his mother's soul (not to mention her eyes).

He did not find hurting people easy at all. She could see him struggle to land a blow on his father, not wanting to cause any harm, but at the same time trying his best to do just that.

Konan hoped that this was a phase that would pass, or if it didn't, one that he would soon overcome and prevent from hindering the development of his ninja skills.

Pein was not a very emotional character. Cold; aloof; analytical. Those were a few accurate words to describe him.

But there was a soft side to him. A side only she knew existed, and, if he permitted, could access.

A loving side, a compassionate side, a human side...

It took a lot of coaxing to make Pein like that, but she only probed through his tough exterior when she felt he needed to be intimate.

He had actually joked with he that she held his heart in his hands because, "without you, I wouldn't be able to feel my heart at all." She really hoped that he was only joking, after all...

Konan's eyes suddenly snapped to the ceiling, where a small cloud was gathering above.

She stood, watching as the haze gathered. What was this thing? Where was it coming from?

She searched the room, finding nothing that could give away the original conjuring spot of this unknown thing.

But then the Rain Angel saw the faintest of white wisps of the cloud trailing down to what she was holding in her arms.

Konan looked down at Angel, who was busy sucking on the knuckles of her tiny fat fist and gripping her large slender hand with the other. She seemed to be concentrating on her hand, oblivious to all other things around her.

The cloud above flashed slightly whiter than before and Konan looked up again to find an amazing sight:

She was watching herself in the cloud.

Not in reality, but from some sort of memory of Angel's. She watched the whole scene after being burned by Angel, filmed from a third person's point-of-view, it seemed. It had happened earlier today, and the events of her being in the baby's presence were be replayed before her very eyes.

But it all quickly faded away and Konan found it was because Angel had stopped her gripping of Konan's hand; she attempted to bring the memory cloud back by slipping her index finger in her fist, but Angel didn't take the bait.

Konan sighed.

She'd discuss this with Pein tomorrow. Maybe he'd find the answers to this peculiar baby.

There was a knock at the door, making Konan glance up, but then resume her dressing for bed.

He quietly closed the door and stepped to his dresser, where he began his preparations for bed also.

Konan heard the tiny snaps of his cloak buttons come undone, and the clink of metal as he untied his Rain headband and set it on top of the wooden surface of the dresser.

She strolled past him into the bathroom, and both shared not a word as they both slipped on their bed things and took their turns washing up.

Meanwhile, Angel was lounging on one of the large, pouffy pillows on their bed, her pink eyes following the ever-moving ninjas with deep concentration, sucking on her fist all the while, making tiny peeps and giggling to herself.

"Pein." The pierced ninja looked up from the baby, craning his neck to stare at Konan with his gray, ringed eyes. They both laid on either side of Angel, watching her every move; Pein with fascination, Konan with boredom.

"Yes?"

Konan paused for only a second before answering.

"Are we really going to keep it?"

"You mean 'her'?"

"Never mind." she muttered.

"Konan, whatever is the matter with you?" His tone made her look down at her hands, which were wringing themselves without her realization.

She could sense his displeasure at her bitter attitude, and she felt bad. He didn't deserve it.

Pein, sensing his angel's mental distress, decided to tone down his scolding and transformed it into concern.

He leaned on his side and stretched his arm out, reaching to touch her arm. Angel set her sights on the long shadow that was hovering over her head, blocking the light from her face.

"Konan..What's wrong?" Konan blinked tears away.

Why was she crying? It was just a simple question. But when he asked, it was as if her were a stern father and she the misbehaving child who had been bottling up all of her bad feelings for the longest time before accidentally sassing back to the father without a second thought. And now that stern father had reprimanded her, and the tears threatened to spill. The father, seeing his little child close to crying uncontrollably, had opened his critical shell to let a little empathy show through, something rarely done.

"What is wrong, Konan?" Pein repeated, "I will listen. I always do."

Konan wiped her tears away with the palms of her hands. Pein reached over even farther and clasped one of her hands with his.

She could feel his strong grip holding her delicate hand and immediately felt comfort and forgiveness radiate into her skin.

The Rain angel shuddered a little, despite herself, at Pein's cold lips against her knuckles. His kiss sent tingling sensations throughout her entire body from her hand, engulfing her with a god's energy, pure and blameless and all-righteous.

She could tell him, he would understand.

"It's about—Angel." she murmured, flexing her index finger ever-so-slightly so the second joint grazed Pein's slightly open mouth. "And Aidan."

She stared through her bangs at Pein's face, hoping that his gaze would be nullified if not looking directly at him.

Pein glanced down at Angel, who was busy nodding off to sleep. "What about her?"

Konan took a breath before answering:

"Why should we keep her? You have let other children we found abandoned live in an orphanage. Why exactly makes her--" she gestured at the sleepy baby--"so special?

"And what of Aidan? You barely spend any fatherly time with him already. Are you so wrapped up with this organization that you don't have any time for us as a family? Has Aidan already failed you as a ninja? Have we failed you as angels of a god? Aidan, he—" Konan's voice began cracking slightly, "—Aidan, he really loves you, Pein. He wants to make you proud so badly that I'm afraid to see him get hurt. I would never forgive myself if that were to happen..."

A tear fell onto the blanket, darkening the black bedspread an even darker shade of ink with each droplet.

Pein had listened silently to his angel speak with undivided attention; his eyes never left her face.

When she had finished, he blinked slowly, thinking on what she had said. While thinking, the God lightly sucked on his angel's knuckles with his lips.

Konan now averted his gaze as he thought, wishing for Pein to hurry up and yell at her already.

The silence was thankfully broken not very long after she thought this.

"I am sorry, Konan." Konan, suddenly realizing that she had her eyes closed, opened them.

"Sorry?" she said incredulously. Pein gave her a look that he did not wish to repeat himself, but had to, for her sake.

"I'm sorry," he repeated slowly, "I never realized that my actions worried you so."

"I didn't mean—"

"Hush. I know exactly what you mean." Konan's hand was dropped, and Pein rested his on the bundle between them known as Angel.

"I apologize for my—"detached" treatment of Aidan. It was not my intention to push him to the point of your pain. But—"

Pein a chuckled a half-heart laugh "–it seems that I've almost succeeded in doing just that."

"Yes," Konan breathed, "he's only three, Pein. Please, refrain from the pain of training until he forms so kind of endurance to it. I don't want him to be scarred for life young, like we were."

Pein chuckled again, with more heart this time.

"We are not scarred, Konan' we are enlightened to true pain, with no blemishes or sin. Remember that."

Konan smiled

"I will." Pein's mouth twitched at the corners.

He sat up more, leaning less on his bent arm.

God and angel sensed each other's smoldering passion for one another, almost telepathically. And, in a way, it was.

"I love you..Nagato."

"I...love you...Konan."

They leaned in over Angel, who lay forgotten between the two. Fine by her: the baby was still sleeping, dreaming about her adventures.

Closer, closer, and closer the two lovers drifted until their breaths could be felt upon their faces.

Pein's hand found Konan's face, and he began to caress the smooth skin. He stared at the face, the beautiful face, looking her over with critical eyes.

This was done in a little less than a few seconds.

Humans were evil creatures; they were terribly flawed. They were greedy. They caused pain and suffering for pure sport and no remorse at all. He was above the sin that surrounded him, and so was Konan. She understood his point of view on the whole world and wanted to help the people as much as he did.

The current members of this organization—Akatsuki—Pein saw that they seemed to possess a little more of a grasp of how feeble and meaningless life was than others. With their abilities and knowledge of the world outside the Rain village, he would surely achieve his goal.

Konan could see Pein's thoughts flash behind his grey, ringed eyes.

"You will achieve your goal." she whispered earnestly.

"We will achieve our goal." he corrected.

And with that said, Pein kissed her.

Love is a fickle thing. It can change to hate in a heartbeat, into loathing in less than that. Some have never experienced love before, some have never known what it was like to know that someone out there cared about you well-being every second of the day, to be looked after with endearing eyes, to be held when there were sobs to stifle, when there were tears to wipe away and replace the crying with laughter.

All those years in childhood he had been alone, no one had shown him any sort of "love" described. No one reached out to him, no one at all.

Then he met Konan and Yahiko, and he will forever be grateful of the sacrifices they had made to keep each other safe and sound.

Pein's lips were practically lifeless except for the occasionally breaks for air when their mouths parted from each other for even the smallest of breath loss.

He held her by the upper arms—below the shoulder area—with a grip strong enough to leave bruises later, but he never did.

"I'm...sorry," he whispered in her ear, "I'm...not....skilled...in..the ways...of..love."

Konan knew that he feared nothing, for gods are master over everything on earth. But what Pein knew most little about was love.

Granted, she did not know much either, so it was up to them to learn together.

A few years ago, Pein made a breakthrough in the love department with Konan. She was so proud of him and remained ecstatic for at least nine months. The fruit of their labors was Aidan.

There was a soft knock on the door, clearing all the lovey-dovey thoughts from their heads.

Pein heaved a sigh and leaned away from Konan; he sat up on the edge of the bed, lifted himself up, and slowly walked over to the closed door.

He swiftly opened it to find no one there.

Pein leaned out and looked left and right down the halls; they were dark and had no trace of any living inhabitants stalking them at this late hour.

A small cough made him look down, and he saw that there was a person requesting his assistance.

"Aidan," the ninja said gruffly, "what are you doing out of bed?"

Aidan stood in the shadow of his Father, which shielded him from the rays of the lamplight in his parents' room.

He wore a long, billowing shirt with a large fire pattern printed on it in black and red. In one hand Aidan held his favorite blanket, dragged across the wooden floor carelessly while his other was made into a small fist and was constantly rubbing against his closed blue eyes, shrouded slightly by his long orange red bangs.

The boy sniffled.

"I c-couldn't sl-sleep," he whispered, staring at his father's waist, "m-my e-eyes k-keeped h-hurting."

Pein's harsh stare softened very much; he knelt down in front of his only son.

"Stop rubbing your eyes or they'll hurt worse." he whispered. "Let me see them."

Aidan put in the last few harsh, knuckle-grinding rubs before slowly letting his hand fall from his face. He blinked his swollen eyes open and stared into his Father's calming, ringed ones.

He wished he had eyes just like his Father's. Then when he had a strong son, or beautiful daughter, he would be able to erase their minds of any trouble with one look into his eyes.

The boy felt Father caress his chubby cheeks with his hands as he held his face to scrutinize his stinging eyes.

Konan stared at Pein from their bed, wondering whatever the matter was. She could see more than one head at the door, one with hair slightly matted and shorter than Pein's, but the same color no less.

"Aidan..." she breathed mentally.

The angel could hear her lover murmuring words to their son, but they were too low in pitch for her to overhear.

Aidan's whites were almost completely inked red. It seemed like he had a subconjunctival hemorrhage.

"Do you see anything, Father?" Aidan spoke in a slightly meek voice.

Pein retreated his hands from Aidan's face and lifted himself out of his crouch.

"You have a hemorrhage in your eyes." the god said quietly.

"A sub-cun-junk-tee-val hem-o-rage?" Aidan repeated, trying the word out.

"Subconjunctival hemorrhage. It means your eyes are bleeding."

Aidan's face grew alarmed; his small hands immediately flew to his face, groping it as if to make sure it was still there.

"It's not bad, Aidan. All you need to do is wait and it'll go away on its own. Just try not to touch your eyes as much as possible." Aidan, whose hand was creeping up his cheek to restart his eye-rubbing, sheepishly dropped it.

"Yes, Father."

"Good-night, son." Pein began to close the door.

"No! Wait!" Pein kept it open a crack, peeking out to stare down at his son.

"Yes?"

Aidan squinted slightly from the light that flashed behind the man behind the door as it blinked in his eyes.

He clutched the blanket closer to his body, rubbing it comfortingly against his small chest.

"I was wondering..." he avoided his face, this time setting his sights on his frowning mouth, "...would it be alright if..."

Aidan bit his lip and forced himself to stare at Father's eyes, which seemed to scrutinizing him with slight suspicion, "Would it be alright if I slept with you and Mom, Father?"

Pein opened the door wider, but Aidan could still barely see his Father's figure behind the wooden rectangle.

It was silent while his Father seemed to ponder the answers of "yes" or "no".

Father did not particularly enjoy it when Aidan slept with him and Konan. The bed was big enough for two and a little extra in case the room was needed. Aidan didn't mind that fact, since he was usually a sound sleeper when he was needed to go to bed.

But this time...

Pein sighed and opened the door so that there was a large enough space for Aidan to slip in through.

"Come."

Aidan had trouble hiding his utter delight; he eagerly squeezed in through the crack, quickly tugging his blanket through so that it didn't get caught when the door closed.

"Aidan." He looked up to find his Mom sitting up in bed.

"Mom, I'm gonna be sleeping with you guys!" he exclaimed excitedly, taking a run n' leap into his mother's lap, shaking the bed.

"Shh, Aidan. You might wake up—"

"Nnhaa?" Konan glanced to her left, where Angel's roseate eyes had fluttered themselves open a second before.

She heard Pein groan softly at the slight inconvenience Aidan had caused them.

He sat beside Konan on the bed, taking Angel in his arms, trying to rock her back to sleep.

Aidan peeked over his mother's arms with wide—not to mention bloody—blue eyes at the little bundle he had only caught a glimpse of earlier that day.

He could finally see what it was with his own eyes.

It was a baby. A baby girl. A baby angel.

"Sasori-san was right..." the little boy thought.

He leaned in closer to the babe, studying it so he would never forget this moment of discovering a holy being.

Magenta eyes, more beautiful than any shade he had ever had in his crayon box; tuffs of hair the color of the snowflakes that fell in the city from time to time, when the air got chillier than usual; a bandage wrapped around her forehead.

The boy's brow furrowed slightly. Did she get hurt?

Not helping himself at all, he reached out to gently tap the baby's forehead protected by gauze.

"Nnhaa!" she cried when his finger poked her.

"Son, please do not do that." Pein said sternly. Aidan bowed his head slightly and smiled meekly.

"Yes, sorry Father."

The baby's fat little arms began flailing about blindly as the boy lifted his fingertip from her temple.

Suddenly, her fingers found his retreating digit, and grasped it firmly within her tiny fist.

Aidan's eyes suddenly grew wide, and he quickly jerked his hand back.

"Aah, she—she burned me!"

Pein cradled the girl more closely to his chest, as if he were afraid his son would break out into a rabid frenzy for harming him.

"Yes. She does that," he muttered, staring into Angel's face while she amused herself by gurgling happily, "I think it means she likes you..."

Aidan popped his slightly-burnt index finger out of his mouth.

"Really?"

"I'm sure of it." Aidan wrapped himself in his blanket and snuggled into the fabric happily with closed eyes, seeming to be elated that he was burned by the infant.

The curious boy scooted closer to Father, peeking again at the baby.

"What's her name?"

"Angel."

"Angel..." Of course her name would be "Angel"; it was so fitting, just like how others called Mom his Father's Angel.

"Does this mean that she's an angel, like me?"

Pein glanced up at Konan, who stared nonchalantly back.

"Go ahead." her eyes seemed to tell him. "Say yes."

"I believe so..."

Aidan giggled slightly, and leaned in even closer.

"And...does this mean that....I'm her big brother?"

Another glance upwards at his lover. Konan wasn't looking at him anymore, but at the wall near the door.

He shrugged mentally at this act of unconcern for Angel, Aidan, or him.

"....Yes."

Aidan's eyes seemed to glow bright, and he stifled a whoop.

"Goodnight Mom." Aidan whispered.

"Goodnight, Aidan."

"Goodnight, Father."

"Goodnight, my son."

In the bed lay Konan, Aidan, Angel, and Pein, in that order, left to right.

All except Pein were asleep, enjoying their dreams.

He looked on after them, his gaze shifting from one to the other to the last and back again.

The Rain god had only just met the one closest to him—Angel—but he felt as much compassion for her as he did for his lover, Konan, and his son, Aidan.

Three sleeping.

Three angels sleeping.

His three angels sleeping.

He would protect them, his angels, he would protect all of them. And in turn they would help him when he needed them most.

Konan...his divine lover, his devotee, his companion.... She would be at his side always...

Aidan...his son, his disciple, his beloved boy...He would help him..

And Angel...as magnificent and angelic as her name... She would be raised into their awaiting arms for righteousness.

Pein lay his head down on his pillow, staring at a sleeping Angel.

"Angel..." he thought, "Yes...my Angel..."

The omnipotent god finally closed his gray ringed eyes, and went to sleep.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! I really want to hear what you think!!

I'm really trying not to be like other whiny authors, but I'm going to transform into one if you don't review!!

Yes, Kisame's in the Aktasuki . .

If you subtract right, that would mean he's now 16. But no one but Masashi Kishimoto really knows when and where everybody was in their lives, so this is not AU, per se, but FANFICTION ^^

AGAIN REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

P.S. for more on subjunctival hemorrhage (not that gross; the pictures aren't even that bad) copy and paste this link into the bar:

.org/wiki/Subconjunctival_hemorrhage