Konan's POV

It was through that long, painful ride through the night sky that I realized something. Each time that I'd been fighting within the past few weeks, I'd had to be saved by Pein. Throughout the time that I yearned to be respected by my teammates, as well as the rest of Amegakure, I'd done nothing to prove that I'm strong.

Unacceptable

Was this really how weak I'd become? I sighed, holding my head in my hands. I couldn't let this go on any longer.

So, when we got back to the base, I took off Pein's cloak, handing it back to him. It was a bit blood-soaked, but he didn't care. Pein didn't mind blood, unless it came from someone as close to him as me.

I marched ahead of him, despite the fact that my wound was burning, and the gauze that I'd secured was now soaked in crimson. Pein fallowed me as I walked up to Kakuzu's door, knocking hard. "Come in." said the stitched man.

I opened the door, then stepped inside. He was simply counting money at his desk, but quickly stopped when he saw my condition: no shoes, a torn kimono, a bloodied hip, and drying tear stains. "What happened?" he asked.

I sighed. "It doesn't matter. Can you just sew it back up, please?" I asked.

Kakuzu, understanding what situation this must be, nodded. He pointed to a seat in the corner, one that was already coated all over with blood stains. This was the seat that he let conscious people sit in while he stitched them up.

I walked over to the seat and sat down, taking off the kimono that was simply acting as a jacket now. He pulled up a table covered with creepy things like anesthesia-filled needles, gauze, stitching threads with needles, knives, and other things. He kneeled down and began to unwrap the soggy bandages that I was wearing, just as Pein came in.

"How'd this tear?" he asked as Pein sat down in a chair beside us. I wanted to tell him that I'd be fine, and to go away, but I wasn't able to. I needed to focus on healing right now.

Pein fidgeted in his seat. "She was stabbed from behind with a kunai, and it tore most of her stitches. It made a new tear top." he answered.

Kakuzu nodded. He grabbed the anesthesia needle, preparing to inject it. I pushed his hand away. "I don't need it." I told him.

He raised an eyebrow, as did Pein. "Are you sure? This'll require a lot more stitching than the last time, and you were unconscious then." said the stitched man.

I nodded. "I'll be fine. Just get on with it." I told him. He nodded, taking out his stitching needle and a cloth. He wiped most of the blood away from my wound, and then began stitching.

The next forty minutes consisted of a silent room of ninjas. I held my head high and tried not to fidget as Kakuzu did one tiny stitch at a time, causing large bursts of pain to rush through my body. A normal woman would've gone into shock, but the Akatsuki spent lots of time training our bodies to withstand stronger amounts of pain then others.

When the surgery was over, I couldn't walk very well. Despite my asking of him not to, Pein helped me to my room. Before he could say goodnight, I closed the door and limped into my bed. I attempted to cover myself with a blanket while not scraping my side .

Around forty minutes later, a knock came at my door. I sighed, hugging a pillow on the bed. "What is it?" I asked.

It was Pein's voice that answered me. "Konan, you need to eat something." he said.

I sighed again. "Pein, I can't right now. Please, just let me sleep." I nearly whined.

The next thing I heard were footsteps going in the opposite direction of my bedroom. Knowing that I'd won this fight, I attempted to fall asleep, despite the horrible pain in my side. I dreamt of my childhood; a place that, perhaps, was more peaceful than now.

_ _ _

When I awoke, the first thing I did was head for the shower. After that, I changed into my clothing, put my hair up, and made a new paper flower, which I placed neatly on the top of my head. It was good to be wearing something that I was familiar with.

I then went into the base's kitchen and made the boys some breakfast, as well as some for myself. This time, all of the Akatsuki ate together in our dining room. It was noisy, full of arguments, laughter, and awkward chatter between different people.

When Pein spoke, the entire room grew silent. "There's a snow storm coming our way. It is expected to hit us around four-o-clock. I want you all to be prepared to clear all of the streets of Amegakure tomorrow." he spoke.

We all nodded. "Yes, leader-sama." said most of the room. A few of us addressed him as Pein, but that always depended on who was sitting where. Normally, you only spoke casually to him if you were not within a fist-range. The only person who didn't really follow this rule was me.

After breakfast, I cleaned all of the dishes, as well as the ones that the boys had eaten for dinner yesterday. I also did some laundry and other things. Everyone knew that doing chores was something that I used to keep my mind off of things.

While I was busy cleaning, I couldn't help but wonder what the snow would be like. Each year, it was as if I forgot what it was like. Would it be powdery, or would it be practically ice? Secretly, I hoped that it was nice snow.

You can imagine the small smile on my face when snow began to fall. As I peaked outside, along with a few other Akatsuki members, I was happy to see small children come out of their homes, playing around in the frozen rain. They giggled and laughed, sticking out their tongues to catch the little flakes.

End of Chapter Quote:

"I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut,
My weakness is that I care too much,
And our scars remind us that the past is real,
I tear my heart open just to feel."

-Scars, Papa Roach