"Kisame? You're back early." Kakuzu noted as the blue-skinned Akatsuki member sprinted into the main hideout. "And in such a rush too. Why?"

"Maybe he found a girlfriend~" Deidara teased, grinning and looking up from his clay sculpture. Kisame was in no mood for the blonde's games and just sighed exasperatedly. The jonin was on a mission. Get an extra-small Akatsuki cloak. Get it to the kid. Find out if the kid was related to Pain.

"Have you seen Pain-sama? It's extremely urgent. Either him or Konan-san." Kisame inquired frantically. Deidara and Kakuzu raised their eyebrows in curiosity.

"What about me?" The one female member of the Akatsuki inquired, walking into the room.

"This nutjob was looking for you, un." Deidara explained, jerking a thumb towards Kisame, before returning to his sculpture.

"Kisame-san? What is it?" Konan questioned. Kisame glanced at her nervously, slightly startling the woman.

"So, Leader-sama gave me the week off, and I went down to the Land of Waves to help out another member of the Seven Swordsmen." Kisame began, slightly out of breath by how fast he had run to get back to Amegakure.

"Okay? And?" Konan raised an eyebrow.

"He was trying to kill this guy, but the guy had hired some shinobi to protect him."

"Just get to the point!" Konan shouted irritably. It was that time of the month, and the blue-haired female wasn't in the mood for little games.

"I ran into this crazy fucking kid, who looks just like Pain-sama! Right down to those crazy eyes!" Kisame shouted. "He killed the other member's protégé and could've killed me! His friend died, and I swear to god, I thought I was next!"

Konan froze, utter shock written across her face. "You... what?!"

"Yeah! The kid's also Jigoku no Hi!" Kisame added, catching the attention of the two other Akatsuki members in the room.

"Jigoku no Hi?" Deidara questioned, grinning widely. "I've met him. Looked like a fucking five-year-old, but was one of the most artistic people I've ever met."

"Turns out, he was five." Kisame added. "The kid's parents created Jigoku no Hi and forced the kid to kill people to earn a little extra cash for themselves."

"That's messed up, un." Deidara said with disgust, placing his sculpture down.

"Kisame, you're telling me that the kid looked like Pain and had the Rinnegan?" Konan asked for clarification, mind sprinting in a thousand different directions.

"Exactly. The kid had slightly longer hair, and his eyes had weird spinning dots in them, but other than that he was a perfect copy." Kisame confirmed.

Konan had to sit down. She was in so much shock. "Pain had a kid once. No, we had a kid once. It was... a long story..."

::

"Konan! We found some more survivors!" Yahiko called to the blunette. "Take them back to the safe zone!"

"Right!" The girl nodded, running towards the group of battered civilians. "Everyone! This way, please!" The crowd began to follow the girl, as she led them through the mountain pass towards the safe area the Akatsuki had constructed.

They reached their safe zone without much trouble, Yahiko and Nagato closing off the pass behind them. Some of the lower members of the Akatsuki helped the villagers into temporary homes, while the three leaders convened in their own house.

"So, I think the next place to go would be this area." Yahiko pointed down at a spot on the map. "A few of our scouts say that there is a large shinobi encampment right here that has captured a small village. We might be able to free them if we all go."

"Sounds good to me." Nagato agreed quietly. "But we should go in the morning. They'll be more unprepared."

"Right. Okay, let's go at dawn." Yahiko agreed. Nagato and Konan stood up to leave when Yahiko grabbed Konan's wrist. "Actually, Konan-chan, could I talk to you?"

Nagato could very easily figure out what was going on and gave Yahiko a pointed look before leaving the shack. Konan blushed.

"Y-Yes, Yahiko-kun?"

"I was thinking... that we could spend some time together..." The ginger said sensually, pulling Konan in for a kiss.

"Of course..." Konan agreed, pulling away briefly, before Yahiko tugged her into a warm embrace, lips clashing once more in a fiery kiss.

::

"Aw, he's so cute, isn't he!" Konan squealed softly, tugging her newborn into a hug. He was just so chubby and pudgy and wrinkly, and was so cute! The elated newly-made mother cradled her child closely to her, nuzzling and snuggling the hell out of him. She had already breastfed him, and he had been swaddled in a comfy cotton blanket.

Yahiko came rushing in, as the ginger was on the battlefield when his lover went into labor. "Is the kid already- oh!" Yahiko caught sight of his soulmate holding the most beautiful child he had ever seen. Nagato was watching from the doorway as the father made his way over to the kid. The ginger was grinning so widely, even more so when Konan allowed him to hold the child.

"I have a son..." Yahiko uttered quietly, before grinning even wider and laughing with joy. "I have a son!"

"Isn't he the cutest?" Konan smiled, tired from the delivery. Surprisingly, there hadn't been any complications with his birth, unlike everything else in their lives.

"Well... you and him are tied, to be honest." Yahiko smiled cheekily, and Konan laughed, grabbing the child back from the excited ginger.

"Well, thank you." Konan smiled faintly. "So, what should we name him?"

The couple was silent for a few moments as they thought. "...I got nothing..." Yahiko laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Nagato tilted his head curiously. "What about... Shoto?" The red-head suggested, catching the interest of the new parents.

"Shoto... hm..." Konan looked back down at the baby. He was nuzzling his mother with closed eyes, delighting in her warmth. She smiled fondly down at the child, before nodding. "I like it. What about you, Yahiko?"

"I think it's perfect!" The ginger smiled and turned to Nagato. "You'll be his godfather, right?"

Nagato was taken aback. "Me?"

Yahiko grinned. "Of course! You've always been there for me and Konan, and I couldn't think of anyone better!"

Nagato blushed slightly in embarrassment. "Well, um, yes. I will be his godfather."

"Hell yeah, you will!" Yahiko cheered. "This is the best day of my life!"

::

Hanzo had called for the three Ame Orphans to join him for a peace summit. The three saw this as a chance to finally restore peace to Amegakure after such a long while. It was an era of peace at the moment, the Third War being ended for about ten years now. Yahiko and Konan's child, Shoto was two years old now, and very healthy. The kid had already spoken his first word, which was 'mama' much to Yahiko's petty dismay.

They definitely couldn't bring the baby with them to treaty negotiations, so the couple ordered a squad of shinobi to watch over the child. It was a four-man squad, definitely enough to take care of one child. They just weren't counting on the fact that quite a few people wanted to get their hands on that kid.

About an hour after the three Akatsuki leaders left, three other shinobi squads attacked the one protecting the baby. One of the squads was sent by Danzo Shimura, one sent by Hanzo, and the other sent by Orochimaru. In the end, only two of Orochimaru's men were left, a couple by the names of Yamiko and Shikage Nara. They took the kid with them, to raise him with their 4-year-old daughter, Jira. Unknowing of his true name, they gave the kid the name Hitoshi.

::

Konan returned with a crippled Nagato and Yahiko's body, only to find that her child was gone as well. The mother was devastated and cried through the entire night. Not only was her lover, her partner dead, but her child was gone as well. She had no clue if her little Shoto was even alive or not. They just found the dead bodies, hitai-ates nonexistent. She didn't know who did it, or even if her child was alive.

Nagato vowed to help her look, though they never found anything.

::

"So, it is Pain's kid! I knew it!" Kisame crowed, grinning in the satisfaction that he had been correct.

Konan was still thinking. 'But, it was Nagato who had the Rinnegan... How did Shoto get it?'

Pain walked into the room, using his Deva Path body like usual. He was surprised to find Konan crying and immediately glared at the other occupants of the room.

"What did you do?" The man asked threateningly, making the three male members shudder.

"N-Nothing, Leader-sama! I just told her about something!" Kisame defended himself, inching away from the man.

"Konan?" Pain asked quietly, walking over to her and sitting beside her. "Are you alright?"

"H-He's alive..." Konan sobbed. "Sho-to..."

Pain froze. "Really?" The man asked hopefully.

"Kisame-san r-ran into a kid that l-looks like you a-and has the Rinnegan." She uttered, and Pain's eyes widened.

'The fuck?' The Akatsuki's leader was genuinely surprised. "That's... do you want to go see him?" Pain inquired, and Konan nodded desperately.

"P-Please..." She cried, clutching onto him.

"Of course. Kisame-san." Pain glanced up at the blue-skinned man. "Where is he?"

"He's currently down in the Land of Waves, with his team." Kisame told the man respectfully, not wanting to die. "A-Also, um, in exchange for my life, I had to promise the kid an Akatsuki cloak..."

This surprised the two. "What?" Pain asked in confusion.

"The kid kept mentioning how much he liked my cloak, so when he was about to kill me, I told him I could get him one. So he spared my life, but if I don't give him one I'm dead." Kisame explained in embarrassment.

"That's ridiculous, un." Deidara shook his head. "Getting ordered around by a kid."

"Well, excuse me." Kisame turned to him. "That kid is Jigoku no Hi, plus he's Leader-sama's kid! Do you understand how fucking terrifying that is!? Especially since he has those eyes, man!"

Deidara shuddered after thinking it over for a moment. "Nope, I agree with you. That sounds terrifying."

"What sounds terrifying?" Sasori inquired, coming into the room with Itachi and Hidan. "It must be bad if it scares you."

"Leader-sama has a kid, with those freaky eyes! And he's Jigoku no Hi!" Kisame explained, and the three newcomers had various reactions. Sasori was mildly amused by their reactions, though he had never met Jigoku no Hi. Hidan was impressed, having an already high opinion of the kid. He had met Jigoku whenever they were both sent to kill the same person and got along pretty well. Hidan especially enjoyed fighting alongside his demon summons, Midnight and Daylight. They were crazy as fuck.

Itachi was taken aback but managed to keep a straight face. 'Kisame met Hitoshi? And he's Pain's kid? Odd.' The Uchiha had to stop himself from allowing a content smile cross his face as memories of Hitoshi resurfaced in his mind.

The two remaining members of the Akatsuki came into the room, and they had to start the explanation all over again. Eventually, everyone was caught up and knew what was going on.

"Ooh, Tobi wants to meet Konan-chan and Leader-sama's kid!" The masked member announced happily, jumping around like an excited child.

"It'd be nice to see that fucking kid again." Hidan mused, grinning.

"I wonder who his teammates are..." Itachi mused quietly to himself. 'I swear to god... if it's Sasuke...'

"Leader-sama, I think it's a bad idea if we go right now." Kisame voiced, and everyone glanced over at the shark-man.

"Oh?" Pain was using a dangerously quiet tone. "And why is that?"

"The kid is currently on a protection mission, and he's going to be suspicious of everyone he doesn't already know. That being said, if we go now, the kid is going to just assume that we are trying to kill his charge and that we're lying to try and gain his trust." Kisame explained, slightly shuddering under his leader's icy gaze.

Pain and Konan realized that the Hoshigaki was correct. And they didn't want Shoto to mistrust them. Pain sighed. "Do you know when his mission will be over?"

"Probably before the Chuunin Exams, that's my guess." Kisame said. "He's most likely going to be participating."

The Chuunin Exams were about two weeks away.

"Well then..." A devious grin spread across Pain's face. "Why don't we go to the Chuunin Exams?"