Author's Note: Hello people of the PeinxKonan fan world!!! I hope you've all had a merry Christmas!!! I'm sorry for the late update last time, so I'll try to keep on a normal schedule. I'd also like to thank Rheehemoth, who is my newest reviewer for this story. Check out her story, A Cold Evening, and her other stories if you're a DeidaraxOC fan!

Konan's POV

We had stayed there for around thirty more minutes, examining a few more bodies. Each one had been frozen solid. Pein, who'd been rather quiet for the past half-hour, turned to me.

"Each of these bodies is completely frozen. There's definitely no doubt that whoever did this uses and ice based jutsu." He explained to me.

I nodded. "So, what do we do?" I asked.

Pein looked around at the bodies. He frowned, knowing what he was about to say would sadden me. "I'm afraid that these people will be eaten by animals and picked at by bugs if we do not burry them soon." he said.

I sighed, nodding. I attempted to sink down further into my Akatsuki cloak, which wasn't helping my shivering. I hoped Pein didn't notice that, but it was always hard to tell.

Pein sighed also. "We will have some ANBU take a few bodies back to Amegakure for dissection, but I'm afraid that we will have to quickly burry the rest of these people in large, ANBU-dug graves." he explained.

I nodded once again, understanding. My stomach churned as I thought of it. "Hundreds of people, unidentified and buried in unmarked graves; what a horrible way to spend eternity." I said aloud, my voice horse and shaky.

I was so quiet compared to other females.

I felt Pein's hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry about it, Konan. You know that if this wasn't such an abrupt and large group of fatalities, then I would have a better burial for these people. I just . . . can't do anything else." he apologized.

I nodded. "It's okay, Pein. I know you hate this decision just as much as I do." I said, looking away.

The presence of Pein's hand on my shoulder slowly went away. I tried not to listen as Pein gave the order that we'd discussed. Immediately, large holes in the ground were being dug.

These holes were not the size of normal graves. Each one was about the size of a bed. Eventually, the bodies would be stacked in the small spaces like books on a shelf. I knew though, that Pein would not have them put the bodies inside until after we'd both left. He knew just how much it hurt me to see this type of thing.

_ _ _

We were walking back from the murder sight. It was around seven-o-clock, and being winter, it was already very dark. Our path was lit by the lanterns that adorned the empty walkway back to the village. It was a long, winding stone road that was surrounded by a thick forest. The moon barely showed through the trees.

Pein kicked a stone, a little bored. It was raining now, so water droplets flew around when his foot grazed the pathway. We'd put our Akatsuki hats on, so that we could enjoy the rain without getting wet.

"I suppose you and I will have a mission soon, right?" I asked, knowing that it was right about time for us to participate in one. We didn't go on missions as much as the rest of the Akatsuki, but that didn't stop us from doing so.

Pein nodded. "Actually, you, Itachi, and I will all be leaving for a mission tomorrow night." he said.

Pein kicked another rock. "There's a village not far from here, which has sent me a letter which I received earlier this morning. There is apparently a monster let loose in their forest, and they've asked us to capture it. They don't have any ninja, so we'll have to do it by ourselves. It apparently only comes out at night." he said.

I nodded. "Alright then," I said. There was a moment of silence before I spoke again. "You know, I've been thinking more about snow lately."

Pein looked in my direction, rain bouncing off of his cone-shaped hat. "And?" he asked.

I looked up in the sky, barely able to see the stars because of all the rainclouds. "It seems kind of . . . unnecessary. The way people think it's so beautiful, I mean. After all, it's just frozen rain." I said.

Pein nodded. "That's what I've always thought." he agreed.

"I mean, people always say that they hate rain, because it's so dreary to them. Yet, people always say that snow is beautiful. It is very pretty, but I think that the rain deserves to be identified as beautiful. That's the way I've always seen the rain as." I said.

Pein nodded. "That's exactly what I think. You know, no one else seems to view the rain like that but you and I."

I shook my head as well. "I suppose that's just because of the way we grew up. I mean, when we were just roaming around Amegakure each day, we seemed to watch the rain a lot more than most people. We would try to decipher it." I said.

Pein smiled. "That's just about the only thing we did during our childhood." he said.

Normal POV

Konan's eyes narrowed. "Pein, did you see how many children were lying in that field earlier?" she asked.

Pein stopped dead in his tracks. "I suppose there were many." he said, afraid of where this might lead.

Konan stopped too, looking at him. "Do you ever think about how lucky we are, to have been wise enough to live throughout our childhood? All of those poor children were dead, and nothing can change that. We, on the other hand, were strong enough to do so."

Pein sighed, his eyebrows furrowed. "Yes, it was." he agreed.

Konan shivered, looking out into the forest. "Still . . . it's just . . . hard to believe. I mean . . . those poor children will never get to grow up. Besides, I'm sure there must've been some adults there that weren't with their children at the time. Their children will probably be emotionally-destroyed when they hear of all those deaths." she said.

It hurt Pein to hear how pained Konan's voice was. It was small and crackling, as if she was ready to cry. Desperate the stop this from happening, Pein spoke in the softest voice he owned.

"Don't speak like that, Konan. You know that those children won't do that. The people of that village are strong enough to know that we must not cling to those that are gone. They'll be healed eventually."

Konan sunk deeper into her cloak. She could feel the tears forming in her golden eyes. She turned her head to the side, continuing to walk back to the base. She bit her lip when the first tear fell.

"What about us, Pein?! We never healed! What if those children don't!" she shouted, furious.

Pein's POV

There it was, she had finally broken out in tears. I had seen this coming, but it shocked me never the less when I saw the drops running down her pale cheeks. When Konan cried, I felt like I was bleeding.

Overwhelmed, I grabbed her arm, stopping her from walking away. She fought back by pulling away, but I didn't let go. "Konan!" I said.

She turned to me, tears running down her face like rain. Speaking of which, my emotions were causing the rain to beat down harder. I knew that she couldn't speak when she cried very well, but her eyes already told me what she had to say. 'What is it?' they seemed to say.

Sighing, I did the first thing that popped in my mind. I gathered her in an awkward, tight hug. This caused both of our Akatsuki hats to fall off, splashing in the rain.

"We did heal." I said.

Konan had never been one to hug. When we were children, she didn't seem to like them very much. As we grew up though, she learned to like them.

At first, I thought that the rain had soaked through my cloak. It wasn't until I looked downward that I realized that Konan was crying into my shoulder. And so, I let her stay there, my hand on her back.

Konan used to cry alone when we were children. Unlike me, she didn't like the idea of other people seeing her cry. She usually only showed this side to me.

Here she was, in my arms, having her own miniature breakdown. What was I to do but be there for her? After all, who else did she have?

"Pein?" I heard her whisper. By now, she'd nearly stopped crying. We were both soaked with rain though, but that didn't seem to matter to either of us.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Thank you."

End of Chapter Quote:

Rain, rain, go away,

Come again another day,

All the world is waiting for the sun,

Rain, rain, go away,

Come again another day,

All the world is waiting for the sun.

-Rain, Breaking Benjamin

Author's Note: Okay! So, I decided that I wanted some fluff in this chappie! I'm not sure how I did, but I suppose you guys can tell me that!