Their modest home was quiet. Of course, with only two people living there and only one occasional visitor the home generally stayed quiet. Unfortunately, this wasn't the usual quiet. Konan could handle that. No, this was the kind of silence that whispers about bad things soon to happen. It is a taunting, ominous, mocking state lacking any kind of sound and weighs heavily on the mind. It is a bringer of unknown anxiety.
Konan sat on the edge of her and Nagato's shared queen sized bed. She simply stared at her folded, pale hands. Usually she was doing something, whether it was origami, or training, but now there was nothing she could do. Idlness wasn't something she was used too, and it didn't help the situation. Nagato was preparing for the attack on Konoha and it was due to start soon. He didn't want Konan to come, so she didn't. He was her God, and his will would not be defied. Not that it mattered. Nagato was leaving soon and Konan was nowhere near ready, both mentally and physically. Nagato claimed he didn't want her coming so he could fully focus on the battle and not have any liabilities. Konan knew that was only a part of the painful reason.
The other part was the fact that Nagato knew that there was a small margin of chance that he might die on the field. If he died, then no one could protect Konan. Of course, such a God as Nagato could not be easily beaten and chances of such a thing were beyond slim, almost imperceptible and unimportant, but a true God of Nagato's caliber plans for everything. Even though she detested admitting it, the blue-haired kunoichi was no fighter. That was a title that was never fated to be applied to her. Nagato would have to protect her, as always. Just like Yahiko did before him. No amount of training could change this dreadful truth.
Yahiko….That loud-mouthed orange-headed ninja lead to the rest of the problem. Nagato was still upset about Yahiko's demise at his hands. Of course, that was why they were doing what they were today. But, Nagato believed he owed it to their dead friend to protect Konan.
A door shutting quietly broke both the silence and her reverie.
Nagato stood in the door, battle ready.
"Konan…Goodbye. Remember, stay here. I don't want to see you hurt."
Konan looked into Nagato's eyes. There, for the first time in a long while, there shown true worry. It was a rare time when Konan didn't need to search hard to see Nagato's feelings that were always so hidden.
"I will."
Nagato brushed his lips against her's and left in a poof of smoke.
Konan sat there for a few more moments. Finally, a small tear fell. It was so ironic that Nagato's actions fell into their usual arrangement and this small drop of liquid shattered it into millions of pieces smaller than itself. Never before had Konan cried.
The pure agony of having to sit here for yet another time while someone protected her was too much. Konan rose to her feet.
"Nagato….. I have sat by all these years while my loved ones have protected me….I can't sit idly by while you risk your life to make our dreams come true."
She quickly gathered a few things. As she jumped into the woods she whispered," Please...forgive me, for the first time and hopefully the only time I have defied the Will of God. Yet this is a silent command of the heart that your angel cannot ignore…."
Konan's heart ached with the pain of defying her God, but the pain of losing him and doing nothing to assist him would surely kill her as well.