Children of Amegakure
Konan remembered when she first saw Nagato. They were children then, the young age of ten years. Both of them had seen too much bloodshed in their small and impoverished country. She had witnessed her parents' deaths before her eyes, as Nagato did. However, her parents did not sacrifice their lives to save her from Konohagakure shinobi. They had perished from a cross fight between two of the Five Great Countries. Miraculously to knowledge unknown to her, Konan had been separated from her parents and had escaped unharmed. She and her parents had been trying to flee Amegakure to a more peaceful country; one that had food and that was safe. Her parents were dead, she realized, and did not bother to cry. She had wasted too many tears already. Like Nagato, Konan had wandered aimlessly around Amegakure for food until she found another orphan. He was surviving by himself and had a limited amount of food; still, the boy had shared with her, and he told her that his name was Yahiko.
Konan had found Nagato weeks later. She saw him from afar, stumbling and shaking until he collapsed. Konan had walked up to him as the puppy beside him started to bark wildly. She had crouched down to him and pulled out a piece of bread that Yahiko had recently stolen from the market. Konan knew exactly what Nagato had needed; she too had been nearing towards starvation when she had met Yahiko. "Here…eat this…" When she looked closer, she saw that the boy had flaming red hair. He spoke in a weak voice them, and started to tremor when he asked her if he really could eat that piece of bread. When Konan said yes, he looked ready to burst into tears. Konan was told that the boy's name was Nagato, and he was an orphan. His parents had been killed by Konohagakure shinobi. Watching him sever the bread to the puppy, Chibi, even though it had been two days since he had last eaten, Konan would only begin to realize how kind he was.
Nagato was also sensitive too, she noticed. He was prone to crying, even more than Konan. Yahiko was always telling him to be strong. Even though she couldn't see his eyes, Konan could see that Nagato was hurt even more than before. Sometimes late at night when she couldn't fall asleep, Konan heard Nagato crying. "Do you cry away your sorrows?" she once asked. Nagato hadn't replied. He had been afraid of Jiraiya-sensei at first. Konan sympathized with him. She too had been wary of the Konohagakure shinobi, but after he had taken them in and treated Yahiko's wounds after he and Nagato were attacked mysteriously by an Iwagakure chūnin, Konan started to trust him. As Yahiko slept, she recalled his words to Nagato. "Nagato… If you just keep crying nothing will happen… Just like the rain!" Maybe that is true, Yahiko, Konan thought, but Nagato saved you. He saved you when he could have let you die. Nagato was brave, even braver than Yahiko or Jiraiya-sensei. When she told him this, Nagato had blushed and said a quiet thank you to her. She remembered that he was the only one who had not cried when Jiraiya-sensei had left them to become full-fledged Amegakure shinobi.
Konan remembered of how Yahiko had died. He had sacrificed himself to save her and Nagato. Her romantic feelings for Yahiko were just starting to bloom, and when the impaled kunai had been impaled in Yahiko's flesh, that dream, that hope, and that feeling had died with him. Konan had clutched onto Yahiko's body as Nagato fought Hanzō. She remembered how his legs had been burned and how rods had impaled his back. Nagato had crossed out the Amegakure symbol on his forehead protector, and in her grief, Konan had done the same. "I will be a pillar…that supports two bridges: Yahiko and Nagato!" That promise had failed. She had failed, and Nagato had failed. Yahiko had wanted them to keep on living. That was the promise, Nagato said, that they had to hold up to Yahiko. Years had passed. Another war was reigning at that time, and Amegakure was again just another battleground for the Five Great Nations. Nagato had done his best to protect their organization, Akatsuki, and her. Many of their comrades had died during that war, and Nagato had comforted her with every death. "Our country's still crying… still enduring all this pain. I used to hate it so much… but now I want to save it from the bottom of my heart. It's a big crybaby, like I used to be… I can't just leave it." Yahiko had told her that once. Now Nagato was saying the same. It was then that Konan realized that she loved Nagato.
When they had kissed for the first time, Nagato had asked, "Is this love for me real, Konan, or is it an echo of your love for Yahiko?" His voice had dribbled with sadness even though Konan could see fondness in his eyes. "It is an echo, Nagato," Konan had replied to her Akatsuki partner and her oldest friend. She had put her finger to his lips to quiet him and gently stroked his nose. "This is an echo of my love for Yahiko. But…my love is stronger than it ever was with Yahiko." Their love affair had taken place the time Akatsuki had broken to gather strength. Konan never left Nagato's side. Nagato never left Konan's side. When Nagato made the decision to invade Konohagakure, she didn't question his actions. She was willing to do anything for him, even die for him if need to be. However she never had the chance. Nagato had died, entrusting his ideologies and hopes with Uzumaki Naruto. "…He is the light. That's why we all...can carry flowers of hope!" If Nagato had believed in that boy, then so would she. She would defend him even if it meant her death…and then she would be reunited with Nagato and Yahiko again. Her parents. The only regret she had was that she wouldn't be able to say goodbye.
The girl saw the shinobi before he saw her. She was hugging her knees, sitting beside a pillar that looked like her father's eyes. He had told her that this was a scared place, and one she should enter with a heavy heart. The girl couldn't explain how she had heard his voice even though her mother had said that her father had passed. All her life, the girl had never had a home. She had lived with various strangers who were loyal to her father's cause, for safety, her father had said. He was a dangerous man. The girl hadn't asked if what he meant before he had gone. Now her mother was dead. She could feel her mother's spirit withering away, and the girl had cried tears until her eyes were red as her hair. Her father's body was now gone, even though she wouldn't admit that his newly white and brittle hair frightened her a little. He had red hair like hers, and her mother had told her that when her father was around her age, red bangs had covered her eyes as well. She had light skin as well, and was small for her age, as her father had been. The girl noticed the shinobi as he walked over to the shrine. She noticed that he was tall, although not as tall as her father had been. He had pupiless lavender eyes, and wore a white shirt with loose sleeves with a tan bag over his shoulders. She also noticed that the man was wearing a Konohagakure forehead protector. The girl's mother's voice whispered in her ear. "Be wary of Konohagakure shinobi. They are not like the man who rescued your father." However, the girl did not heed her mother's words. She continued to watch the nameless Konohagakure shinobi as he bent down to his knees beside the shrine and started mouthing a name. "Tenten…is dead...Tenten…" He sounded very sad. Suddenly, he seemed to notice someone was watching him.
"Who's there?" He didn't move from his spot, and was startled when a girl of two appeared in front of him. "Who are you?" he asked warily.
"Shinta." The girl paused, noticing how the shinobi remained silent. "Who are you?"
"My name is Hyūga Neji. Where are your parents?" He suddenly asked.
"They're gone," the girl simply said. She watched as the shinobi named Neji took out his hand and pulled her close.
"You need a home," he whispered. He crouched down and asked her, "Shinta, would you like to come with me?" When she didn't answer, the shinobi looked into her eyes that were hidden by her red bangs. Lavender met gold. "Shinta, would you like to go to Konohagakure?"
"Hai." The girl heard her father's voice in her ears as she walked with the Konohagakure shinobi who was taking her to a new place. "No matter where you are, you are always an Amegakure child." I promise to return, Ōtosan, Okaasan.