Chapter 134: Connection

His footsteps echoed in the hallways. The water on his robe slowly fell on the floor, leaving small puddles of water after fighting Okaminaru in the midst of the heavy rains of Amegakure.

He staggered as he walked. From side to side, his gaze could not be seen due to his hair covering his eyes, but still, a small light could be seen through his bangs. An organic X manifested in the center of his eyes, surrounded by a sky-blue, bloody red light.

-Five minutes ago-

Toru laughed, laughed nonstop and Okaminaru just watched this in silence. He thought, this was somehow strange, something he could never understand.

He didn't understand what Toru was feeling, he couldn't understand. Why was Toru laughing like that? His laughter was almost like that of someone who has lost his mind, a maniacal laughter that was trying to hide something.

But even though it worried Okaminaru, he decided to leave it at that. It seemed that the duel has ended in a draw, or so Okaminaru thinks. So he looked up at the sky, until slowly Toru's laughter faded away. Then, he returned his gaze to his summoner frowning as he didn't see him in front of him. Suddenly, a voice echoed in his ear.

"The duel ends here."

It was Toru, who now stood beside him, looking down at the ground as the rain continued to soak his clothes.

Okaminaru understood and nodded his head. He looked at Toru one last time understanding that his mission is over and took his leave.

"I understand... then... I will return to the village. See you later, Toru-dono" He said disappearing wrapped in a cloud of smoke, leaving only Toru, who stayed in the same place, looking at the ground for a few minutes.

-In the present-

After that time, Toru entered the building. He didn't even bother to jump on the spotter or walk along the walls to get there faster. He simply entered through the door and walked silently as he climbed the stairs. Until he reached a long hallway that connected the Pain's resting room with the observer where Konan usually rested.

As he approached the observer, he raised an eyebrow when he saw someone there.

Konan watched the rain silently as usual, while the moonlight, which could barely open passed through the clouds, touched his face.

"..."

Toru hadn't forgotten. She is his teammate, which he left for a few days to go with Kakuzu and Hidan. Although that turned out pretty bad... a tragic event or a miracle expected to happen. Maybe that made the atmosphere of that moment become a little strange.

So, not caring about Konan being in that place, Toru walked until he reached the center of the large room and reached out his hand. Immediately, a small current of wind made his cloak move, causing water to drip down and wet the floor a little.

Then he sat up in the air, as if something invisible was holding him.

Konan noticed that, and at last looked up at him. She briefly remembered what she saw a few minutes ago and sighed.

"If you stay in those wet clothes you'll get sick."

With his dull gaze shining under his long bangs that covered one whole eye, Toru looked at Konan and answered at once, "I'm not going to get sick. I've never been sick in my life. I've never caught a cold, fever or cough. So nothing is going to happen to me" And he folded his arms.

Well, Toru wasn't lying. He has never been sick with any kind of known or unknown illness. Even when he was a baby, he never caught a cold or any of those things. Even Kyoko worried about this, as she thought her son had some kind of problem, although this turned out to be more beneficial than harmful. Even he doesn't know how this is possible, not even an infection in his wounds when he fights, some cold when he's out in the cold for too long. Absolutely nothing to say that Toru is a "normal" person.

Anyway, this made her shake her head as she let out a heavy sigh. She thought for a few moments. Toru is a pretty complicated guy, why? Well, he was laughing like a maniac a while ago. Was he making fun of Hidan and Kakuzu? What was the meaning of that creepy laugh?

'It's so... complicated' Until this moment, Konan always had an eye on this boy. Toru has grown so much since he joined Akatsuki that the physical difference from the Toru of a year ago is quite large. This boy is now quite tall and unlike the slightly feminine face Toru used to have a year ago, now this boy in front of his had become a man. His gaze had become even sharper, his gait, his way of walking, his way of talking that is constantly changing, as if he has an unstable personality that changes in action of what is going on around him.

Even in front of her, with that look so dull since he arrived in Amegakure, he still had that same expression, sometimes changing, sometimes so neutral that he seemed to have no emotions. Asahi Toru is someone complicated, she thought. It's hard to understand him even though it should be easy, for they've both felt real pain, but it seems to affect people differently.

"Are you sure about that?" Konan returned her gaze to the rain.

"I am."

Toru is a little cold at the moment, though. Come on, just because he's hardy doesn't mean his body temperature can stay regulated. In fact, Konan saw him having a slight shiver. So she sighed and got up from her paper seat and walked towards Toru.

"Take off your cloak."

"Why?" Toru was obviously confused by this, but soon regained his composure. This was something Konan did sometimes. In fact, he still had the wound on his shoulder that he received after getting hit by Kakashi's Kamui. So Konan also took advantage of this.

So, obeying after seeing Konan's serious expression, Toru took off her cloak and threw it on the ground.

"Is that right?"

"Yes."

Underneath Toru's robe, was the normal clothes of a shinobi. Well, Toru bought these clothes recently, though no one could see it since he always had the cloak over it. He had a black shirt with long sleeves quite tight to the body, on each of his wrists he had tied a seal where he kept daggers, kunais and that sort of thing. He decided to leave the scarf on after taking off his cloak, although Konan took it off herself.

"What are you going to do?"

Konan didn't answer and walked around Toru looking at his hair and face a couple of times.

"Doesn't it bother you?" Konan said while holding the lock of hair covering Toru's eye.

"No..."

"It should."

After seeing this, Konan pulled a kunai from the sleeve of her robe and looked at Toru, waiting for confirmation.

In response to this, Toru said nothing. He already knew what Konan was going to do and it didn't bother him.

So, Konan proceeded and, taking the lock of hair with one hand, cut it off with the kunai in her spare hand. The long lock of hair fell to the ground and Toru just sighed and waited until this was over.

'She... is very close to me...'

The short distance of the two made Toru get thoughtful again. As Konan walked around him, cutting here and there, he saw how this woman's breasts were so close that his eyes couldn't help but stare.

Because Konan was dry, he could smell her scent quite well. She smelled like a certain flower whose name he cannot remember. It was a rather fragile flower, with thorns protecting it from danger. Ironically, that flower is quite an apt comparison. Konan is like that flower... fragile and gentle, with thorns protecting her from pain.

"It's the first time you've done this" Toru closed his eyes and relaxed.

"It's not like it's a rare thing either."

"It isn't. I just thought this was something new. I could have done it myself, though."

"Then why don't you do it?" Konan sighed and, even though she said that, continued cutting Toru's hair.

"Because you're already doing it for me" He opened his eyes and looked at her face.

Konan had amber eyes, her hair the color of blue and the expression on her face reminded him of Toru her old "self". No, Toru hasn't changed a bit since his past life. He is still as selfish and hypocritical as ever. Even he can't realize that he spends most of his time running away from problems, hiding behind his own power.

However, he thought better of things. Konan was cutting his hair and he was looking at her face. This was quite relaxing, so peaceful that it made Toru forget everything that had happened this day.

...

The wind could be felt and heard along with the rain in a strange mixture of melancholic sounds. Small strands of hair fell one after another in front of Toru's eyes. Konan's scent could be felt close enough for this boy.

It was a strange feeling that was born inside his heart. He inadvertently reached out his hand and touched Konan's cheek.

She, feeling Toru's cold hand, lost her concentration and accidentally gave Toru a small wound on his forehead.

She quickly looked him in the eyes, but Toru did not seem to feel any pain, indeed, the expression on his face was quite relaxed, a softer expression than usual.

...

Konan said nothing, as Toru did not react to this. That's why she simply felt this boy's cold hand on her cheek, at the same time the blood on Toru's forehead slid down his forehead, past the tear in his eye and flowed into his cheek.

At that moment, Konan's eyes widened a little, because at that moment she saw something she hadn't seen in a long time.

She now understood what she saw a few minutes ago down there.

Toru didn't have that typical emotionless expression he always has. His gaze was quite soft in comparison and the small drop of blood that spilled down his cheek made it seem like this boy was somehow... crying.

Konan was not always this way. In the past she too suffered the loss of many people she still to this day continues to love. Toru, in his childhood, lost his entire clan, no one but him survived. Surely he was alone after that, with nothing and no one to care for him and that is something Konan understood perfectly.

Toru is just broken inside. His heart has been rotten by the misfortunes of life. And all that's left now is that little boy who can't make any other face than that emotionless expression.

Still, she didn't have time to think so much about the situation, as she watched Toru's wound begin to close as if it had never been there. That snapped her out of her thoughts right away and she moved a little away from Toru.

He stood with his hand outstretched for a second and then looked down at the ground. The usual expressionless face returned, and his eyes glowed with the light of death.

The silence was awkward for Konan, as she didn't understand what happened. Still, she was almost done cutting Toru's hair, but was interrupted right at the end, when she was about to cut a small part of Toru's bangs.

He continued without saying a word, but she understood what Toru was going through.

...

...

Footsteps sounded. They both looked at the door and saw one of Pain's Path standing there. It was Pain's Animal Path, a man with long orange hair. He had some piercings in his face, as well as having the forehead protector of the Hidden Village of Rain.

"Asahi Toru, you have visitors."

Toru stood up and took a few steps before seeing Konan.

"Thank you for cutting my hair. It's more comfortable now" He reached out and the cloak and scarf that were on the ground were lifted by a slight current of wind that carried them back to his hands.

After that, Toru walked out of the room leaving Konan alone.

"The wound on his shoulder also healed..."

Somehow, in such a short time, Konan felt a great curiosity about what Toru's body and mind hide. Still, she closed her eyes and looked at Toru's hair lying on the ground.

'I'll have to clean up'

-Somewhere, far, far away-'

Blood spilled on the floor of that place, touching her black leather boots. A smile formed on her face and a dangerous, monochromatic gleam formed in her left eye. She held the firearm in her hand and pointed it at the men who were trembling with fear.

"Thank you for the food."

The screams of the inmates of that prison increased as the shadows began to consume them. One after another, as the sadistic laughter of this girl could be heard in the background mixed with the screams of those people, the shadows spread out and consumed everything in their path.

Almost immediately, an alarm sounded and armed people in tactical combat suits appeared through the emergency exits.

The girl with black hair tied in two pigtails looked at this and gave the flintlock a little kiss on her hand.

"Kihihihihi... what a killjoy you all are" She shook her head wryly, when suddenly, a bullet pierced her forehead and she fell to the ground.

However, the shadows expanded and swallowed the girl's corpse, replacing it with another girl with the same appearance.

"Hm... how rude of them. They wouldn't even let me finish what I was going to say" Shaking her head again, the girl held out her hand and the inorganic clock in her left eye gave a little twirl. "But... it doesn't matter anymore" With a maniacal grin, she pulled the trigger of the gun and immediately one of the uniformed men fell to the ground.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! One after another, a flurry of shots rang out. The uniformed men tried to defend themselves as much as they could, but to no avail. They all ended up on the ground as soon as the exchange of gunpowder and molten metal began.

She smirked at the sight, however, she sensed something in the air approaching.

"Those women have already arrived, huh..." Feeling that she was overdue in this place, she ran and burst through the doorway, to climb the stairs as fast as she could to reach the rooftop in less than two seconds.

There in the sky, she could see certain people flying overhead, wearing strange combat armor with lethal weapons.

"Fufufu. Are they really not going to give up?"

She simply enjoyed the situation. It was all so chaotic that it was quite satisfying for her. Still, she couldn't stay and play with them, after all it would waste too much "Time". So she approached the edge of the rooftop as she watched strange bullets of light approach her.

"Nya..."

She looked to her side. There was a small cat there that had snuck onto the rooftop. So she smiled sweetly and innocently then took the little feline in her arms.

"Being here is dangerous, neko-chan."

After that, she jumped off the building before the bullets hit the ground, blowing everything up.

As she fell, she thought this was all fun, with situations always full of adrenaline, but, even though she had a cute kitten in her arms, she felt something was missing. This fun somehow felt... a little empty.

Boom! Bang! Bang!

Eventually, the part of the building she was in crumbled as it continued to be bombarded.

"My name is Tokisaki Kurumi, neko-chan. I'm going to take care of you for a while" Kurumi smiled softly as she hugged the cat and, as she was about to fall to the ground, a shadow opened up on the ground and swallowed her and little kitten in its arms.

To be continued...

Happy birthday Tokisaki Kurumi!

[I wrote this chapter on Kurumi's birthday. A long time ago XD]