A sickening crack echoed through the alleyway as Pein's chakra-filled hand went straight through the man's chest. Broken bones punctured major organs as Pein wrapped his hand around the rim of the opening he'd made, using that grip to sling the man's shell-of-a-body into the opposite wall. Rinnegan tainted his eyes as Pein angrily stabbed the man who had me by my wrists with a kunai. The man turned around, only to be stabbed again.

When I was sure both men were dead, I examined the area around Pein and I. There were four more men to go, meaning that all six of the men that I'd seen earlier were indeed the attackers. It's sad, how obvious things can be.

Suddenly, two of the men bolted off, running as fast as a bijuu. For less than a second, I received a glance from Pein. His eyes told me to go after them, so that's what I did. With one swift hand sign, my shoulder started to peel off. Pretty soon, I was blazing through the streets in the form of a swarm of tiny paper butterflies.

I followed the running men, knowing that this was most-likely going to get me into trouble. I'd been separated from Pein, which wasn't a good idea in the least. Still, we couldn't let these men go.

I knew that I was going to have to kill these men, while Pein killed one of the others and tortured another. Like he'd told me, we needed to have one man to get information out of. We would eventually kill the man that Pein chose to keep alive a bit longer, once we knew all that we needed to know.

The men ran out of the village, into the cold and damp forest that surrounded it. I tripped a few times, mud staining the once-gorgeous kimono that I'd been wearing. No, elegance never lasted on me.

They finally stopped in a small, tree-less, grassy area in the middle of the forest. I stopped, letting my paper butterflies unfold and stack upon each other until I had changed into my paper-self. I looked the men in the eyes as they stared back at me.

Tired of their emotionless glances, I made a hand sign. Immediately, a large group of paper planes shot from my long, blue sleeves. Like daggers, they were sent towards the two men. Without Pein's wind, they were a bit slower than normal, but still dangerous. Unfortunately, something happened that I did not expect.

The men raised their pale fingers to their chapped lips, and then blue. To my surprise, flames shot from their mouths like lava from a volcano. They hit my planes, burning them to a crisp.

I gasped.

_ _ _

Pein's POV

_ _ _

I sighed, turning to the two men that I'd been left to fend against. I'd need to kill one, and then injure the other. In order to make sure that one of them begged for mercy and told me what I needed to know, I'd have to gruesomely kill the other.

Hopefully, I'd be able to handle both of them with ease. I was a bit worried, considering the fact that Konan and I had just had to split up. We were a team, one which was never as good when not together. I remember that each time we'd fought without one another, it was usually more difficult.

I made a hand sign, raising my fists into the air. I brought water that had been trapped on the ground up into the sky, forming a huge shuriken. I then switched to a wind jutsu, pushing the shuriken towards one of the men.

To my surprise, the two men both shot fire from their mouths, larger than one that Itachi could produce. They shot at my shuriken, causing it to evaporate into steam, rising to the skies above our heads.

'Wait.' I said to myself. 'If both of these men have a fire jutsu, then that means . . .'

My eyes went wide.

_ _ _

Konan's POV

I nearly fainted from shock and fear when I realized what I'd gotten into. This entire time, I played the pawn in a sick a game that neither Pein nor I were aware that we'd been playing. I'd been lead straight into a trap.

The other two men that we'd killed were just to fool us into thinking that these men didn't know any jutsus. Then, they'd split Pein and I apart, leading me far away from anyone that could help me. They'd lead me into a dark, thick forest where I couldn't run for help.

And now, they'd revealed their powers, Fire. All of my jutsus were paper-based. Without my paper, I was useless. Now, I had two choices.

To be burnt to a crisp painfully, or to be hunted down and then killed, possibly being assaulted first.

A smirk settled on each of their ugly, blood-covered faces. Without a second thought, I turned my paper jutsu off and ran. Within seconds, I could hear the following me.

"Pein!" I shouted, my breathing already being affected by my sudden movements. My stomach hurt now, from the stitches that were supposed to be taken out in only a few days. I could tell that he wouldn't be able to hear me.

"Pein!" I shouted again, trying to run faster than my limits. Sighing, I quickly threw my annoying, wooden shoes off. Now, I would only be limited by the pain in my stomach and the pain that would eventually gather at the bottom of my feet.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp, stinging sensation on my hip. Yes, the same hip that had been injured only a few days ago. I stumbled, grabbing at the area. A sticky, wet substance immediately coated my pale fingers.

Blood

"Pein!" I shouted again, tripping and landing on my side. I'd accidentally stepped on the skirt of my kimono, causing it to rip at the thighs, revealing my pale legs. I screeched in agony, tears running down my cheeks. Yes, I was going to die here.

The two men then stopped at my feet, looking down at me. One laughed, while the other smirked and tried not to. They forcefully pulled me up, slamming me into a tree.

I tried to escape their grip, wanting to grab my hip as the pain from the kunai that they'd hit me with caused large amounts of blood to cover my right side. My stitches must have opened up, along with a new injury. One of them had me by the wrists, while the other tried to untie my obi.

Frustrated, he took the kunai out of my hip, causing me to scream again. He used it to cut through the obi, throwing it to the ground. Luckily, I had more clothing, a black shirt and shorts to be exact.

"Pein!" I shouted one more time, my voice now horse and scared. Once again, nothing happened. Then, right before I finally gave up, something happened.

It started to rain.

I saw a flash of red, black, and orange, then saw the man who was fiddling with my kimono fall to the ground. I further examination showed that he had a hole going straight threw his side. Then, I saw Pein slug a whole straight through the other man's jaw, teeth and blood flying everywhere. He ripped his hand from the man's mouth, looking back at me.