Broken Youth
(Life of Konoha Academy Teens)
CH2.2: Distance I

As Sakura and Ino walked towards their cousins they conversed.
"See, Sakura it is really easy to talk to guys. You even manged to talk with Sasuke-kun without hesitation," stated Ino.
"Ha! If you're saying is so easy to talk to them then why didn't you even say a single word to Sai like I know you're dying to so," said Sakura.
"Hey, I did say something, I said 'goodbye' didn't I?" replied Ino.
"Yes," said Sakura. "But, I wouldn't consider that a meaningful conversation."
"Well, maybe I was waiting for him to him to start the conversation," said Ino. Sakura only rolled her eyes.

_
"Good Morning, Konan," said both Sakura and Ino when they reached her. Konan was very beautiful. She had darkish blue hair which she always wore in a loose sideways bun. She also always had a white origami rose in her hair. Her thoughtful golden colored eyes were brought out by her dark eyeshadow. She had a piercing underneath her lip on her chin. Konan looked very serious, but was the opposite once you got to know her. It was obvious that Sakura and Konan were related because of their natural distinct hair color which stood out from the rest.
"Good morning you two," replied Konan. She then gave Sakura a hug and whispered in her ear, "Is there anything the Akatsuki can do for you?"
"No, but thanks for asking," whispered Sakura back.

The Akatsuki were the student security officers. It was composed of upperclassmen (juniors and seniors). The organization was formed by Madara Uchiha (Sasuke and Itachi's uncle). It was a fairly new organization that was established in the first year of high school of most of the former members. Madara is the head of security for the school and thought 'who's better to show discipline towards students than students themselves.'
The Akatsuki always worked in groups of one or more people, the teams were as follows: Konan, Nagato, and Yahiko (currently known as Pein); Itachi and Kisame; Sasori, Deidara and Tobi; Hidan and Kakuzu; and last but not least Zetsu who worked alone to some extent. Madara had chosen them for two reasons: one was they were all skilled and two was that they made a good team, that was mostly because they've known each other for so long. The Akatsuki members had lots of control and influence over what happened at the school. They had the most authority of all the students including student council, though many of them were in it.

"So how was your weekend?" asked Konan as she released Sakura from her grip.
"Fine, how about yours?" said Sakura.
"Okay I guess, I hung out with the guys as usual," responded Konan. Konan was the only girl in Akatsuki which she was completely fine with, but sometimes she wished she wasn't. One girl living with a bunch of guys isn't easy especially when they talk about guy stuff. Konan sometimes felt like the outcast and wished she wasn't the only one of her gender in the group.
The guy who had been standing next to Konan the whole time pulled Sakura towards him, with just the motion of his fingers.
"Aren't you going to greet me?" said the dark, redhead. His hair was more of an orange color which was spiked up. He had dark eyes and multiple piercings trailing down his nose and ears. He also had two other piercings on his chin.
"Of course I was going to Ya...Pein," said Sakura almost saying his real name.
He chuckled and wrapped his arm around Konan's shoulders. "It seems your cousin wants to call me by my real name," said Pein. Konan didn't respond.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm so used to your old name since I've known you longer with it," said Sakura.
"It's okay, you're not the only one who does it," he replied. "To tell you the truth Pein wasn't originally suppose to be my nickname, it was suppose to be Nagato's."
"Oh, really I didn't know that," said Sakura.
"Pein was suppose to be Nagato's name because all he use to talk about was the pain of the world. Once he got over that gloomy phase the name didn't stick that well on him, around that same time was when I first got my piercings he said the name fit better and it has stuck on me ever since." said Pein.
"I like your story a lot better than some of the rumors there are about it," said Sakura.
"Rumors?"he said confused.
"I presume you haven't heard any. Well, there is one that the upperclassmen are telling the freshmen that says you got it because you it like to go around causing people pain," Sakura laughed. "But I knew that one couldn't be true because you're one of the biggest hippies I know."
"I glad you think of me that way, Sakura," he said with a chuckle.
"By the way were is your bro Nagato?" asked Sakura. Nagato and Yahiko weren't blood related brothers but their bond was like that of true brothers. Nagato was also like a brother to Konan. The three of them did almost everything together.
"He's probably with Jiraiya-sensei as usual," he answered. "So, how's my cuz?"
"You mean Naruto? I wouldn't know he's not here yet just like Hinata," answered Sakura.
"I was wondering where she was," said Konan who was now talking to Ino.
Sakura and Pein said nothing for a second.
"You know what I find strange Pein?" said Sakura.
"What?" he asked.
"I think it's weird how Naruto's not your blood cousin yet you resemble him more than his real cousin Nagato," said Sakura.
"I never thought of that before, but now that you mention it, I guess do," he said. The hair style, the facial structure, and the skin color match more than that the pale skinned, red haired Uzumaki.
Sakura looked at him for a long moment."You know I still don't like how you cover you real eyes with Nagato's rinnegan," said Sakura.
"Well, the rinnegan fits my appearance better then my real eyes and if we wanted to Nagato and I can be seeing two things at one kind of like a chameleon,"he replied.
"I'll admit they are cool, but I still miss the real one's,"said Sakura.
"I have to agree with her," said Konan.
"So you're agreeing with the one who forgets my name,"he stated.
"Yes, and well Pein it's hard for someone to remember to call someone by a new name when they are so used to the old one." said Konan.
"I guess that's true, but you got use to calling me Pein pretty fast," he said near her ear which tickled her and made her giggle. He brought her closer and moved his arm from her shoulders down to her waist. He then bent his head over her shoulder and gave her a peck on the cheek. Both Sakura and Ino sighed at the adorable sight.
"Oh, Pein," said Konan in a soft voice. She turned her face towards him and gave him a return kiss on the lips.
Konan and Pein had been going out for a few years, since their first year as Akatsuki to be exact. Back then neither Yahiko nor Konan had piercings, and Yahiko's eyes were a brown color similar to Konan's. They had been best friends everything since they met back in the chaos of the village hidden in the rain. They stuck together even when they moved to Konoha. It took Konan and Yahiko a while for them to fully realize their feeling for each other and it was an even slower process to release those sentiments. They finally managed to confessed their emotions to each other with out saying a word and became one of the happiest couples.
Nagato had always known about their feelings even before they did. He wanted to see the two people he cared for the most being happy, so constantly yet secretly he tried to help them release those feelings. Once they did start to realize, he slowly started to push them more and more in the right direction until they finally became a pair.

Sakura and Ino smiled hoping that one day the would have their own love. Ino started to pull Sakura away by the arm.
"Bye, you guys," said Ino.
"See, you later Konan, Pein, say hello to Nagato for me okay," said Sakura.
Konan and Pein only nodded and wove at them.
"You can stop dragging me now Ino, I can walk by myself," Sakura said.
"Good, you were starting to get heavy," said Ino letting go of Sakura's arm.
"Yay! I can't wait to see your cousin," said Sakura sarcastically.
"Why do you dislike him so much, he's not that bad," said Ino.
"He's evil I tell you, and you're only saying that because you can't see his dark side," said Sakura.
"Is this just because you are still mad at him for the incident last year?" asked Ino.
"Maybe I am. I have a good reason for it also," said Sakura crossing her arms.
"He said he was sorry, and besides it was a accident every makes them," said Ino.
"I still think he did it on purpose,"said Sakura.
"That's your own opinion. I still think my cousin is a good guy. I don't think his so reckless to get himself intentionally into trouble for meaningless reasons," said Ino.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, look," said Sakura pointing towards him.

To be continued...