A Killer's Kiss (An Itachi Uchiha Love Story)

Chapter 10 - Girl Time with Konan

 I laid on the rooftop for several hours contemplating everything that had just happened. I went over every word we exchanged. My head and heart hurt so much. I had been completely convinced that I had done something wrong, and he wanted nothing to do with me because of it. But then he flipped the script on me, and I have no idea what to believe anymore.

He's clearly lying to you. He's afraid, so he's trying to make you think you're something you are not, my power said to me inside my head.

Since I was alone, I decided to answer out loud. "I don't believe he would do that."

You are blinded by your feelings.

"What feelings? I have no feelings for him."

So you are blind and stupid I see. How in the world did I wind up connected to you again?

I scowled. "You know, you don't always have to be so mean to me."

I could practically hear my power laughing at me. I know, but I do oh so love to push your buttons, it responded.

Quietly, I laid thinking about what my power suggested. Did I have feelings for Itachi? Certainly not. But still, I couldn't help but come back to that question. We had so few interactions that surely no real connection was ever made. But at the same time those few moments together were priceless to me. I bared so much to someone who was basically nothing more than a stranger to me. What did it all mean? After several moments of silence, my power decided to speak to me again.

Do you love him?

I sat straight up. "What kind of question is that?" I answered.

Why are you avoiding the question?

"Why are you being so nosy all of a sudden?" At this point I was basically yelling. I was angry at how much the voice in my head was pushing me. Normally I could handle the constant nagging and "button pushing" as it liked to call it, but this was something completely different. This was an invasion of privacy. I tried to calm my voice down. "I liked you better when you didn't talk to me so much."

That's sweet considering I never liked you at all.

Now I was yelling again. "You know what? I'm sick and tired of you-"

Quiet! Someone is here.

I spun my head around and found Konan approaching me from the other side of the roof. She held a full plastic bag in each hand. I think this was the first time I had seen her without Pain by her side. Was something wrong? She must been looking for me specifically. It was awfully late at night for her to simply be looking to chit chat.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked.

"Not at all," I answered. "What brings you out here so late?"

"I was about to leave on an important mission. I was hoping you would join me."

I knew I wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight anyway, so I agreed. Hopefully this time with Konan on her mission would help ease my mind a little. She handed me one of the bags she was holding, and we departed.

"Don't worry," she assured. "We won't be gone long. Do you remember that little town you and Kisame went to to pick up supplies?"

I nodded.

"We are just going to run down there and back. It shouldn't take more than a couple hours."

"What are we going there to do?" I asked.

"You'll see."

The moonlight lit enough of the path for us to keep up a good pace. Konan was strictly focused on the route in front of her and made no attempt to have a conversation with me. In no time at all, we arrived at the outskirts of the town. We slowed our pace and walked into the town. The streets were void of activity. I followed Konan as she made her way through the streets and alleyways. We soon arrived at a dead end wooden fence.

I didn't like that we boxed ourselves in down this alley. Keeping my back to the fence, I maintained a lookout for anyone headed our way. I heard a knocking noise and turned around to see what Konan was doing. She was tapping her knuckles against the wood in some sort of secret pattern. I remained quiet and waited to see what was going to happen. A few moments after she finished knocking one of the wooden planks moved to the side, then another, followed by a third one.

A girl, maybe ten year old at most, came through the gap and jumped into Konan's arms. After their short embrace, the child grabbed Konan's hand and pulled her through the gap in the fence. Konan waved for me to follow. When I went through, I saw five kids sitting in a circle, including the one that had led Konan through. Two more kids closed the gap in the fence after we were inside. There was also one kid lying in the corner under a makeshift blanket with rags on his forehead.

The whole sight was unsettling. All the children wore dirty and ripped clothing. None had seemed to have had a bath in weeks. Clearly these were homeless children just scraping to get by. It brought back painful memories of my own childhood. I tried to shake off the thoughts, but the heaviness in my heart remained. One of the boys, who looked to be the oldest in the group, glared at me intensely.

"Konan, what did you bring us this time?" the girl said excitedly.

Konan motioned for the bag I had been carrying. I handed it to her. She opened it up and pulled out two loaves of bread, three apples, a block of cheese, and a couple of bananas. Then she opened her own bag and pulled out three packs of sausages. The kids eyed the food hungrily, but none of them made a move to snatch any of it. Konan also took out a knife and started slicing up the bread, cheese and sausage to make each of the kids a sandwich. While they ate their sandwiches, she cut up the fruit for dessert.

All the kids ate except the one lying in the corner. While the others ate, Konan approached the boy and took out the last item in her bag. It was a tiny bottle with a cork stuck in the top. She removed the cork and pulled the boy's lip back. She poured the contents of the bottle into his mouth. The boy winced but made no other movements. She set the empty bottle down and sat back to watch the other children.

"Make sure he gets lots of rest, and when he gets up, make sure he drinks a good amount of water," Konan instructed.

"What about her? Why did you bring her with you?" the boy who had been glaring at me the whole time asked.

"Don't worry about her. She will keep your secret safe. I've got to go now, so everyone stay safe and take care of each other, okay?"

Despite Konan's reassurance, the boy never stopped glaring at me. In fact, he even started scowling at me as well. The girl from before quickly jumped into Konan's arms again. "Do you really have to go so soon?" she asked.

Konan brushed the filthy hair from the girl's eyes. "I do, but I'll be back. I promise."

She sat the girl down with the other children and motioned for me to follow her out. After we left, the kids replaced the wooden planks. Once we were safely out of the town, I finally spoke to Konan.

"Why did you bring me there?" I asked.

"The kids are all orphans, cast from their homes for one reason or another. I thought something like that might resonate with you," she responded.

"Okay, but how did you get involved with them in the first place?"

"I, too, was a orphan. When I first saw them, I knew I couldn't just do nothing if I had the means to help. So I sneak off whenever I can and bring them some food or medical supplies."

I stared at her in disbelief. She never needed me for some important mission. She just wanted to let me in on her little secret. Suddenly I felt less like an outsider to the group and more like a true member of the Akatsuki. There was no reason for her to include me. She chose to, and I was grateful for that.

"Can I come with you the next time you go?" I asked.

She didn't say anything. She just smiled, and I knew the answer.