Chapter Text
Konan dived over a log, her current accomplice not far behind.
"No hits?" Juzo asked.
Konan laughed shakily, "They could never land a target, not if it were the size of a barn."
They were out and about on a mission to the Land of Fire, tailing some debitor Kakuzu was tired of letting go with warnings. After a few cagey threats toward their Leader and a very wily argument between Orochimaru and himself, Juzo and Itachi were assigned to handle the target and take care of them quickly.
Then, of course, Itachi got sick. Typical.
It had been an interesting decision that Konan would travel in his place, but Juzo could hardly complain--she was self-sufficient, quiet, and, most importantly, really good at her job. She had tracked their unfortunate debtor within a few days, using her dispersal jutsu to examine the villages around them as they traveled closer and closer to Konoha. What would have taken him and Itachi weeks was all over in three days.
"We should go out for drinks when this is all said and done," Juzo suggested, "Y'know, after these clowns stop throwing their dinky little kunais at us."
Konan chuckled and peeped past the log they both crouched behind.
"How should we handle this?" She asked.
Juzo shrugged, "Oi, you're the leader on this mission--whatever is your pleasure, I'd say."
The glint of a smile on her lips was fiendishly delightful.
"Paper bombs?"
"Sounds good to me."
They wouldn't kill their pursuers--Pein had asked them to be discreet, and while the body of their debitor was sitting in Juzo's bag, their Leader had been specific that no other lives were taken. Even pesky, kunai-throwing mites like these.
Bam!
Snap!
Fwoom!
****
"Oi, we gonna find a place to drink at or what?"
Konan waved a hand, too busy ogling at the wildflowers sprouting between the paved street cracks.
"The Poem Card Quarters are no place for a lady like myself," She joked, "This place used to be the favorite stomping ground for my former master and a friend a of his, but I've yet to come down to it. You strike me as more inclined to know your way about it."
Juzo smirked and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I think I know a place or two here."
It had been a while since he had hidden out in Tanzaku, but the need to make extra money off foolish gamblers had subsided since Juzo's employment with the Akatsuki. But still, his favorite hiding spot stood, the modest pub open even in the lazy hours of their arrival.
"Table for two, please," He asked the front hostess, "In the corner, right over there."
A few steps and a handful of teacups later, Konan and Juzo had settled into pleasant banter once more, the private matters of all their teammates laid out on the table: Sasori's weekly modifications, Kakuzu's newfound hobbies, even the Masked One's elusive drinking behavior. Miraculously, Konan had really been involved in almost all their private matter, watching and waiting. She even had once been to Orochimaru's hideout, someplace Juzo hoped he'd never find himself standing within.
'A mystery, that woman is,'
"Itachi will be needing his medication again soon," Konan mentioned casually, "Perhaps we head out in the evening?"
Juzo shrugged; he had yet to warm up precisely to that kid, " Well, we've taken care of our primary mission. Must we rush off on some do-gooder errand without telling the Leader?"
"You think Pein isn't aware of my agenda?" She asked with a laugh, "He's the one whose asked to take care of it this week. The mountains are a few days' walk, so it would be strategic to start tonight."
"Yeah, but, like, why?" Juzo asked.
"Why what?"
"Well, why you always sticking up for those bastards?" Juzo took a swig, "Why you always gotta be taking care of them? They're grown men, all of 'em."
Konan didn't meet his gaze, "Itachi is barely fifteen right now."
"Eh, he's killed enough people to act grown like the rest of us. Why you gotta mother them all like that? Or...or, like, shit. Act like the big sister or something."
He was thankful for the corner seat; otherwise, their sudden chilly air about them would have caught other customers' attention. Konan sat still, the breeze ruffling her hair like petals. Like feathers or paper. When Juzo thought he had struck a particularly unpleasant nerve and was about to apologize, she put down her cup and exhaled.
"I am no mother, nor am I a sister. But I am a comrade--a friend, maybe. I am their ally in arms and maybe, just maybe, I am someone they can trust. And trust, like everything good in this world, is hard to come by."
Juzo nodded, taken aback, "But, really, are they worth it? Itachi, albeit, is a special case. But the others--"
"Am I not their leader, too?" Konan simply asked.
'Damn, never thought about it that way, then.'
Konan finished her drink and set a few coins on the table, "Come on, Juzo, let's get going before the rain hits."
Juzo nodded and rose, donning their jingasa, tossing a few slips at the entertainer he had bumped into earlier. It still made little sense, just how willing Konan was to give and give and give in a place where all they had been taught was to take as deemed necessary. Was that true leadership? Was she the real one working their strings, not the stone-cold motherfucker who held the purple eyes?
'They are my comrades, all of them,'
Her words lingered too much for Juzo's taste.
"Hey, I hope you don't think i was, like, questioning your authority."
Only a few steps out, the skies clapped open with thunder, most of the other street-goers vacating the outside for someplace drier. Only he and Konan stood in a few moments, shuffling nonchalantly through the main road. His partner turned and gave him a sad smile.
"Don't worry Juzo, you and I are by no means on ill terms. I understand your confusion and it is hard to be the only woman amongst us, but...but we need each other. I will lead with an open heart and Pein leads with open promises. It's what makes us work so well together..."
Juzo could tell that he had lost her attention again, eyes lost in the past he didn't want to ask about. Instead, Juzo decided to change the mood with a hand in his pocket.
"I gotcha something,"
He smiled as he watched Konan's eyes lit up under her jingasa; from his palm, he produced a few of the wild Kierra rose she had been eyeing along the pathways in town, golden, mint, and violet colors all wrapped tenderly in a spare cloth.
"Oh...oh, they are so delicate..."
It was a rarity, Juzo believed, to see women smile so sincerely. But the look on his partner--Leader--was too earnest to question whatever she did for the rest of the Akatsuki. Juzo believed he had never been around long enough to receive the same treatment. But this trip, this job...this was nice.
"Off to get the meds?" He asked.
On the other hand, his little partner needed all the help Konan had to offer.
"Of course, of course. Alright then," Konan tucked the flowers into her own cloak pocket, "Let's get going, then."