Summary
Itachi gets sick and it's up to Konan to go get medicine. She unintentionally decides to pay a visit to a certain priestess...
A/N: Holy crap! Over 170 reviews? You guys are so awesome! See stuff like that always makes me so excited! I'm such a dork. On a completely different note, my husband brought me home several Timeskip Naruto plushies that he won in a crane game! I now have Neji, Gaara, Kakashi, and Shikamaru! He said there was a Naruto too, so I will wait patiently for that one. I really want an Itachi one. Badly. If I somehow got one for Christmas, I would be the happiest girl alive. Lolz!
Time for a little plot development!
So this is the culmination of everyone wanting Kagome to meet the Akatsuki. And it'll happen... one by one. That's all I'm giving you. Enjoy!
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'I don't understand how they all thought me to be the nurturing type,' Konan thought sourly, flinging water from her hair in agitation, 'Just because I'm female does not mean I'm good at taking care of people.' The blue-haired missing-nin sighed inwardly, glancing around her in annoyance as she made her way down the street.
Really though, didn't Itachi know better than to frolic out in the rain excessively? The boy got sick easily, what with his failing lungs and all. It made him much more susceptible to dying a lot sooner than the rest of them.
Regardless, Pein had not been happy when he'd found out about the Uchiha's late visit to the village the other day. He'd been similarly displeased when he realized that Itachi had gotten sick from it too. It had meant sending Deidara and Sasori on the next mission instead of Kisame and the young Uchiha. 'For someone that was acclaimed to be the most intelligent prodigy in his former clan, Itachi sure can be dense sometimes.'
Shortly after getting the necessary medicine for the former heir, it began to rain heavily again. To save face, and avoid getting any more drenched than she already was, Konan ducked into a quiet-looking tea shop to wait out the downpour. And perhaps purchase a decent cup of tea.
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Kagome sighed as she prodded the tea bag with a pair of tongs. Today was a very boring day, and though she had been called in to work, the traffic in the tea shop was mediocre at best. With the rain and all, she'd hoped that it would be busier to help keep her mind off of certain things; Inuyasha, Itachi, her current situation with still being stuck. She was still slightly depressed; what with the well not letting her through again and Itachi leaving shortly after depositing her in her home. Things were starting to look up, though. The Uchiha seemed to not mind her presence as much as before. Maybe he would eventually see her as a friend too.
'That's probably a long way off though. After all, it took Inuyasha weeks before he even started calling me by my name,' the priestess thought, lifting the bag from the tea pot and throwing it in the trash. She proceeded to stir the contents in the pot before pouring it into a small ceramic cup. 'Why do I always have such crap-tastic luck when it comes to boys?'
"Kagome! You have a customer at table 6!" one of the other girls, Satsumi, called out, sticking her head in the kitchen and smiling genially.
"M'kay! I'm coming!" the priestess replied, throwing her hair back up in a pony tail and scooting out the door, tea in hand. She passed by one of her tables, gently set down the cup, smiled at her customer, and made her way to table 6. A lone woman was sitting facing the window, her dark blue hair gleaming in the low light. She was quietly folding a piece of paper in an intricate fashion and Kagome was momentarily mesmerized by her skillful fingers.
"Is that... an origami rose?" she asked before she could stop herself, drawing the woman out of her thoughts. Bright amber eyes stared back at her and she sucked in a breath to prevent the sudden onslaught of emotions at the polished color.
'Her eyes... Inuyasha.'
"... Yes. It is," she replied, glancing at her flower then at the waitress in consternation. She looked like... Was this girl...
"It's lovely. I was terrible at folding paper. I could never get the edges to match up," Kagome babbled, grinning in self-mockery at her remembered attempts to fold paper cranes shortly after her father's death. She'd childishly hoped to fold one thousand of them in order to grant her wish to bring him back. That was the mentality of her seven-year old self; always wanting what she couldn't have.
"It's a skill that one must practice with to become better," her customer countered softly, holding up the blue rose to the light before nodding.
"Yeah," the priestess replied awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot before finally adding, "My name is Kagome, by the way. Can I get you anything? Tea, or something warm to eat? You look like you got stuck out in the rain."
"... Yes. A cup of oolong tea... Kagome," the blue-haired woman finally said, turning back to watch the rain solemnly. Kagome nodded, stated that she'd be right back, and scurried off to fulfill her order.
'She seems... sad. I wonder if the rain makes her think of melancholy things too?' the dark-haired girl thought, shaking her head and heading into the kitchen.
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Konan watched to younger girl leave in the reflection of the glass in front of her. Now she could understand why Itachi was so drawn to the child. She was...
'Warm. Kind. And truly honest. Unlike anyone I've ever met before,' the missing-nin thought, examining the flower in her hand again before making her decision. If Itachi wished to protect the girl, then she would allow it. This one was someone worth keeping close.
'Just like Yahiko.' Her heart hurt at the thought, but she bore it with resilience. It was time for a new generation to make better decisions than hers.
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"Here you go! Oolong tea. I brought some lemon slices too. It's a little unconventional, but it makes it kinda zingy," Kagome carefully set down the cup and lemon, smiling kindly to the older woman, "If you need anything else, just ask for me, okay?"
"I will. Thank you, Kagome," she replied, stirring her tea quietly before hesitating slightly. Making up her mind, the blue-haired woman finally picked up a slice of lemon and dunked it into her tea.
"You're welcome!"
"... Konan."
"Eh?"
"My name." Kagome blinked, confused slightly, before an enormous smile broke out and lit up her features.
"It's nice to meet you, Konan-san," she said, bowing politely and truly meaning her words.
"You as well. I've heard a bit about you," Konan replied, lips quirking slightly in rememberance of all the times the youngest member of her team coming home roughed up. Not to mention all the times Kisame had started screaming about the end of the world.
She blinked again, blue eyes wide in shock. But how? She'd never met this woman before in her-?
"Are you part of that group thing Ita-!"
"He's a bit sick right now, so I'm taking some medicine back to him," the former Rain kunoichi interrupted, tilting her head to the side when Kagome's face paled slightly in worry, "It's just a cold. He gets them every once in a while. The idiot should know better than to be frolicking in the rain though."
"Are you sure? I have some herbs at home that might help?" Kagome asked, biting her lip in agitation. Konan shook her head.
"It's best not to worry. He's a strong boy. He'll bounce back." The priestess finally nodded, asking if she needed anything else, to which the kunoichi replied in the negative, before skirting off to check on her other table.
Yes, Kagome was something else, and she would be the one to draw the quiet Uchiha out of his shell. Now, if only she could keep Madara from finding out about her.
When she was finished and the rain had let up, Konan stood, leaving a generous tip on the table and proceeding to the younger girl. Kagome looked up and beamed at her.
"Everything all right?"
"... Yes. I need to get going though," she replied, reaching up to secure something in the priestess's dark hair, "I won't need change. Thank you." With that, the lone female Akatsuki member swept from the tea shop elegantly and stepped onto the quiet dimly-lit streets. Kagome followed her movements in awe until she disappeared and raised a hand to her hair. She smiled.
A perfect blue origami rose was pinned into her long tresses.
'I hope I get to talk to her again. She seems... nice.'
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Itachi groaned and rolled over in his bed. He hated being sick. More than he hated Deidara's interrogation tactics. More than when his brother used to whine about not getting any attention from their father. More, even, than Madara's 'training sessions'. They were really more like torture, but the older Uchiha insisted on calling them training. Yeah, right. He'd happy choose hell over training, if given the chance.
'I blame her entirely. If she hadn't sat at that well in the rain, then I wouldn't have had to drag her back home and make sure she was safe,' the Uchiha thought miserably. He heard the doorknob turn and prayed that it wasn't Kisame bringing him something else to eat. His partner was an excellent killing machine, and he could swing Samehada around like it was nothing, but the shark-man could not cook. It was more terrifying than those few times his mother had gotten very angry.
Therefore, Itachi sighed in visible relief when it was Konan that came in.
"I got your medicine. Now it's up to you to hurry up and get better," the blue-haired woman tossed the antibiotics on his bed, and he sat up to retrieve them. The Sharingan user nodded, ripped open the package, and doled out the pills. He grimaced as he dry swallowed them and set the bottle on his nightstand.
"Will they interfere with my other medicine?" He had to ask. It was second nature to him at this point, and he hated depending on substances, but it was necessary for him to stay alive. His foolish younger brother would be grateful for everything he was doing for him. Even if Sasuke didn't understand it right now.
"Not that I'm aware of," Konan shrugged, shifting from foot to foot in agitation before she finally just let loose, "She's cute, by the way." Itachi froze, not willing to meet the older woman's knowing amber eyes.
"... What?"
"The girl. I didn't think you'd go for the innocent civilian type though. I always thought that if you ever decided to go viral, you'd pick a kunoichi. Her eyes are lovely, though. Such a pretty blue." The former heir sucked in a breath through his teeth in anger and tried to think of something to say while willing the blood from his cheeks. Anything but the thought of him and Kagome doing-! He just refused to think about it!
"I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about. If you're done bothering me, leave," Itachi snapped, scowling at the paper user with spinning Sharingan eyes that were quickly morphing into their highest level. Konan smirked and shrugged again before turning and heading out the door.
"I would be careful, though. Madara might decide to interfere if you get too close, Itachi. She's precious, that girl. And fragile." She shut the door just as something glass shattered against the frame and shook her head. That boy needed to work on his temper. Badly.
'Hopefully, this Kagome-girl will be able to fix that.'
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A/N: So, I know in the manga Konan's eyes are grey, and in the anime, they're amber. But I went with the amber because it seemed fitting. You can see why. And I know a lot of people don't see Konan in this way, but after reading about her personality and watching several episodes of Naruto with her in it, I came to the conclusion that she's really just very quiet because of all the tragedy she went through.
After finally getting out of my funk, I sat down and typed this up in one brain-dead sitting. It's got to be weird to say this, but for some reason, I type better when I'm hungry or sleepy. How odd is that?
Anyways, even though this meeting was pretty subdued, don't think that it will be the same if Kagome meets the other Akatsuki members. Could you imagine her meeting Zetsu? I've got that planned out, by the way. It will involve trees.
Please review! I like those. They make me smile.