Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

HEY ALL!

It's me again. I am glad to keep all of you satisfied. :3 I have been working hard to write the story as believable as possible (as far as love goes anyway), while maintaining the continuity of the Naruto Universe. Damn! I REALLY screwed up in some translations. Thanks to Chaos' review, I will never forget the Sannin and Sennin mix-up ever again. LOL. It took me all of two seconds to realize what he/she meant. San means three and Nin means Ninja. I already knew that and I didn't put that together.*Slaps forehead* I haven't really kept myself up to date with Naruto until only recently. To be honest, when I first started writing this story, I didn't know much between chapters 300 and 570 because I sort of fell out of the Naruto phase. But now, I am current with the progress it has made and even anxious to learn what happens next.

Anyway, please enjoy chapter three of this wonderfully odd story that should have REALLY happened. LOL. :D

Thoughts: 'Thoughts'

Speaking: "Speaking"

Chapter 3: Unstable Establishment

'Maybe… I should get to know this boy.' She thought as she turned her head to the blonde-nin.

"Naruto-san."

"Hm?" He replied back to her. His face was still cheeky, but it also had a look of interest as well.

"How long have I been in this infirmary?" She answered not even a second later.

"Oh. You've been here… going on three days now?" Naruto responded answering his rhetorical question and hers.

"Three days?" Konan asked herself. She has been in Konoha for three days and no one has started a riot or a mob demanding total annihilation of the girl. She was an Akatsuki member. Didn't they want her dead?

"How is this possible?" She asked in complete denial. The question caused an awkward look on Naruto as he turned sheepish and began rubbing the back of his head.

"Well," He started but then began fidgeting, "The village doesn't know yet. Only a handful of people know you are actually here, but they can't tell anybody. Not until we know exactly what to do about the situation." He finished, gazing around the room.

"Hmmm…" Was all she could say about that. It seemed as though her life was spared for the time being, but then another thought struck her.

"Nagato." The blue haired girl whispered receiving a look from Naruto who was clearing his ruminations.

"Huh?" the blonde ninja asked as he didn't quite hear what she said.

"Nagato! Where's Nagato? Did you save him from Madara?" She started back louder than ever.

Naruto looked at her, then dropped his eyesight to the ground forlorn. Konan automatically knew what the answer was from the boy's gestures alone.

"Don't tell me…" She asked the boy before it caused her to sink low on her bed and clench her fists.

"Damn it," She began, "I had everything planned to defeat him. I was ready for whatever he threw at me… and I… failed." Her voice began to quiver as she continued her rant. "I went through so many scenarios in my head, I even calculated timing between tactics… and I couldn't even protect my best friend." Her voice cracked and tears began to well up in her eyes. She had worked hard to prevent the kidnapping of Nagato's body, but all she really achieved was knowing that she was too weak to protect her last friend from the clutches of darkness.

Naruto looked at the girl plainly. A feeling of guilt washed over his body as he thought about what had previously occurred because He also failed at getting Nagato's body back. Just the thought made him want to beat himself up after causing another pain to someone. He then remembered what the older Uzumaki told him once Naruto received his Rinnegan.

'Take care of Konan for me.'

"Blame me," The blond Jinchuuriki told the woman.

She looked at him with widened eyes as he glared upon her, "W-What?"

"I was the one who let him get away with his body. I had a chance to save him and I blew it." His face showed signs of anger but he still kept a serious tone. "Hit me!"

He pointed to himself with his thumb and lowered his defenses in front of her.

"B-But, I don't w-" She started, but was immediately interrupted by Naruto.

"I SAID HIT ME!" His eyes still gleamed with seriousness, "Don't put the blame on yourself. Blame meinstead!"

She slowly raised her hand and curled it into a fist as she thought about everything she hated. All of her loathing was going directly into her hand as she finally built up enough strength to hit the boy. Naruto braced for impact as Konan's fist came hurtling towards him. The blonde then shut his eyes, hoping that it wouldn't hurt, only to feel nothing. A few seconds passed as he slowly opened his eyes again.

"I can't do it," She replied in a hoarse whisper, "I can't blame you for what happened."

Her fist fell to her side as she lost all means to slaughter the boy. Lost for words, Naruto just stood there. Yet again, he didn't think that it would click to her as easily as it just did. Maybe he was underestimating her?

"If I told myself you did it, then I would be lying," Her gaze faltered back to her bed as she continued, "It wasn't your fault. It was his. Madara's…" Such distaste spewed from her mouth every time she talked about him. If words could kill, he would have died a million times over.

"Look, I'm sorry I can't bring him back," Naruto began, pacing around the room, "But I will keep my promise to Nagato. I promise I will make peace with everyone and make people finally understand one another. I will become Hokage."

Konan quit her self loathing and curiously observed the boy. He turned to look at her then gave her his trademark grin. She couldn't help but smile slightly at the young Leaf-nin before a certain Hokage came through the door along with Sakura.

Tsunade gave her a once over before speaking, "I see you've made a full recovery."

The blue haired-nin sized up the Godaime as well before speaking and let her true emotions fade for the moment.

"I see you have as well," She said without much emphasis.

"Yes, well, I can handle my own," Tsunade continued, "But, I did not come here for idle chat. I came here for another reason altogether."

"Then why are you here, granny?" Naruto asked slightly confused in the matter.

"I was just about to get to that," She said gaining full attention of both Konan and Naruto. Her eyes then looked at the ex-Akatsuki, "The reason I am here is to get you tested. We clearly can't have an enemy of Konoha living here without any clarification of non-malicious intent."

"L-Living here?" Konan shouted abruptly, "I didn't say I was joining the Leaf village!"

Tsunade shot her an evil glare, "You are in no position to argue. Naruto saved your life and brought you to this village and it was because of him that I have decided to spare your existence as well."

Konan threw her eyes to her bed and reflected silently not really knowing what to say.

"I could just sign for your execution here and now and be done with you, but you could prove to be a valuable asset to this village, being as how you have trained under Jiraiya who was one of the legendary Sannin, such as myself, and you are a former member of Akatsuki nonetheless. That is why, henceforth, you have been disregarded as the S-rank nuke-nin you once were. You are now known as Konan of the Leaf with probation rights."

"Uhm, Lady Tsunade," Sakura stated questioningly, "Is it really a good idea to enlist an Akatsuki as a Leaf-nin?"

Tsunade turned her gaze to Naruto, who was staring at her with a slight smile, then turned her attention to Sakura, "If Naruto believes in her, then it wouldn't hurt to give her a shot. I've already talked to the council and they have fully agreed to allow her stay as long as the probation is in effect." 'It wasn't easy though.'

The pink haired girl looked at the Godaime cautiously as a sign that she really didn't know if it was the right choice. Tsunade sighed and turned her view to the concerned medic-nin. "Don't worry," She whispered, "I'm sure there is a good reason why Naruto wants to do this." She then looked at the blonde and switched to the blue haired Leaf-nin, "Even if it doesn't make any sense." She finalized to Sakura before continuing her original response to Konan.

"There will be clothes sent to this room for you to change into, afterwards, ANBU will arrive and you will immediately go to the interrogation chambers for your cross-examination to see if you're actually hiding something."

Tsunade turned for the door and shifted her head to match eyes with Konan.

"God help you if you are." She then walked out of the room with Sakura trailing behind taking her final glance as well before closing the door behind them.

Konan slumped in her bed in defeat. It seemed she had no choice in the matter anymore about where she could go or what she could do. If she tried to escape in her current weakened state, she would only get caught and put to trial on instant treason. Things would not go well and it would only mean the end of her.

"Well, I believe you'll pass, NO SWEAT!" Naruto assured the new Leaf-nin with his wide smile.

She looked at him and saw the warmness etched across his face. It caused her to barely smile again to the boy and she couldn't understand it, 'There's something about him… Something I can't describe. What is… this feeling?'

She mused a couple of more seconds before Naruto started walking away, "Naruto-san, where are you going?"

"Oh," Naruto started, "Well, Captain Yamato wanted to see me. He told me after I got done in the hospital; I should see him immediately."

"Oh." Konan silently added. There was obviously a hint of unease in her voice and the Jinchuuriki noticed it.

"Don't worry. You'll do fine. You're not like the others and… I can see that," Naruto added with a thumbs up before making his final leave.

The door clicked softly as silence enveloped the room leaving Konan alone on her bed to reflect.

OOOOooOOoOoOo

Naruto hopped over a few buildings and darted through various people until he reached a single building on the other end of the construction mess on the opposite side of the village. It was dull in color and lacked any enthusiasm in the creativity department. It didn't have a door as it only had two flaps in front of the doorway slowly wafting in the breeze. It was probably used previously for medical treatment seeing as how it had stretchers laying around it and various other medical equipment, now it was abandoned as Konoha had a hospital again.

"Well, this was where Captain Yamato wanted to see me." He replied to himself unenthusiastically. Naruto pushed the flap around his body as he made his way into the room.

The room was a little stale and still looked messy with many needles and bandages lying around. The only thing that seemed new was the bodies of the ninja who occupied the building.

Yamato noticed the boy and not too soon responded to his arrival, "Ah! I see you've made it."

"Yo," Kakashi responded to the boy who only looked a little puzzled at the masked man's greeting.

"Wait a minute. What's Kakashi-sensei doing here?" The blonde asked as Yamato walked over to the Jinchuuriki.

Kakashi looked at the boy, then at Yamato before he let out a smile underneath his mask.

"Well, it's no big deal, but we heard from Lady Tsunade that Nagato did something to you before he died. We just want to make sure nothing affects the Kyuubi's final seal is all."

"That's right Naruto," Yamato stated, "Whatever he did to you could affect the seal and ultimately release the Kyuubi from its cage. That is why we have to check your body for anything abnormal."

"OH YEAH!" Naruto banged his hand in his other palm, "I haven't shown you yet have I?"

Yamato looked at Kakashi before the masked man spoke up to the blonde Jinchuuriki.

"Uhm, Shown us what?"

Not long after that, Naruto concentrated for a second before he finally yelled out, "Rinnegan!"

The blonde's eyes shot open and revealed two purple circles replacing each iris. Both, Yamato and Kakashi stifled a breath as they were taken aback at the sight of the new Rinnegan eyes that replaced Naruto's original sky blue eyes they had grown accustomed to.

"R-Rinnegan?" Kakashi started, "How did you-"

"It was Nagato's final gift to me. As it turns out, he was my cousin." He replied happily before he remembered his death. It caused Naruto to downcast his eyes for the moment.

"Naruto… This is… unbelievable," Yamato looked deeper into the eyes of the new Rinnegan wielder. The purple gleamed in his irises from the light bulb on the ceiling. It wasn't a full Rinnegan yet, but it was still just as intimidating. "Kakashi, can you help me out here?"

"Oh, yeah, sure thing," The masked man was still amazed at the sight, but lifted his Hitai-ate to reveal his Sharingan. Naruto stood there for a few seconds before Kakashi spoke up again, "Well, it's not an illusion, there's nothing behind it. It's not a trap either so, it's the real deal."

The wood expert was dumb stricken. This was actually the first time he got to see this type of eye up close, but turned to a more serious façade after he realized something.

Yamato looked down then smiled slightly, "It seems the Uzumaki bloodline carries the Rinnegan after all."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kakashi brought up before receiving a look from Yamato.

"Well, back when I was a Chuunin, there was this rumor going around the adults that a Rinnegan user was actually found. I don't remember much, but the higher ranked ninja also said something about the Uzumaki. I was young back then so I really didn't understand what they were talking about at the time, but now that I see Naruto here, the heir to the Uzumaki bloodline, I realize that both of those stories were actually one story."

Kakashi thought coherently about it, "Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that too. That was a while ago though. I guess when they saw that Kushina didn't have it, they gave up the idea."

"So… Are you saying that I actually have a Kekkei Genkai?" Naruto asked as if he were a child getting candy.

"Yes, it seems so," Yamato replied before giving a glance at the Jinchuuriki, "All right, Naruto. Let's see if it alters your seal or not."

OooOOoOOOOOooo

It was very quiet in the lone recovery room that Konan resided in. The ANBU already came to her room and gave her the clothes she was supposed to change into only a half minute after Naruto left. They seemed to fit her perfectly, which kind of threw her off for the moment, but then she realized that her other clothes were missing so she assumed that they knew her sizes from them. She then walked into the small bathroom that was on the other side of her room. A sigh escaped her lips as she looked herself up and down in the bathroom sized mirror. What was she wearing? How could she wear something like this? As if irony was taking a crack at her itself, she came dressed in something that seemed to humiliate her. The same outfit that many other ninja wore who tried to stop her, she dressed in as well. From head to toe she bore the greenish Jounin vest with a black long sleeve turtleneck shirt underneath that had the orange Uzumaki swirl on the left arm. She also wore the same black skintight pants that every other Leaf-ninja wore as well, bearing the shuriken pouch on her right thigh. Then to finish it off, her sandals were that of a black color as well, leaving no difference in color change to the outfit.

"I guess it's what I deserve," She replied woefully. Her gaze faltered as her eyelids lowered. Konan didn't think that she was worthy of these new clothes, "Those who wore this vest obtained it through honorable means to their village. I shouldn't wear something like this." The clothes seemed to mock her and it pushed her into a further state of suppression to the past making her leave the bathroom because she could not bear the sight of herself.

The door opened not long after to her room as two ANBU appeared before her, "Follow us," One of them ordered to the blue haired Leaf-nin. She nodded silently and walked away with the two black-ops members.

Shortly later she found herself inside a small room with one table and two chairs. Two men were already inside the room and gave her a look of scorn.

"I see you are in Konoha. What are you doing here?" The taller man asked the woman with a sneer.

"That only concerns me. It is none of your business," She replied in a dull tone.

"W-WHAT DID YOU SAY?" The man responded back vehemently picking her up by her Jounin vest, "I should kill you right now for all of the suffering that was spread across this entire village!"

"Now, now Ebiki. We shouldn't do anything to harm this one," The other man shot back to the angry Jounin, "Besides, we will find out, soon enough, of her true intent."

"Oh yeah, that's right Inoichi," A slight chuckle escaped Ebiki's mouth followed by a release of the woman. The blonde Yamanaka motioned for her to sit down after that little show.

She sat in a chair opposite to the other man and stared unemotionally to the blonde Jounin.

Inoichi looked to her for a moment before he started to speak, "Alright, I'm going to have to put you to sleep before I can perform the procedure. Hopefully you will cooperate with me so there won't be any trouble."

She shook her head in agreement before he started talking again, "Okay, allow me to start," And not long after that, she unknowingly fell unconscious to a sleeping jutsu.

"Now… Let's see what you are hiding," Inoichi stated as he placed his hand on top of her head.

======FLASHBACK======

"Who is this and why is he even here?" an 8 year old Yahiko asked to the young girl about the same age.

"He's called Nagato. He looked so alone and pitiful outside that I told him to come live with us." Konan replied happily to the orange haired boy.

"But he even brought a dog, sheesh."

'Hmm… Nothing here' Inoichi thought as he read over her memories, 'But it seems Nagato and Konan are long time friends.' Let's go to another one.

"I'm staying." Jiraiya told his team mate Tsunade who responded outraged, "What? You can't be serious?"

"Well, at least until they get on their feet." The younger Jiraiya shot back.

Konan looked at the older man. She was a little worried about his stay, but he seemed to be real nice. In a way he almost seemed like a father figure, especially after they got used to him being around.

OoOoOo

"Hop-in planks? What are those?" Konan asked the white haired sage.

"Oh," He started, "Well they're to show whose here and whose not by the side it has been flipped to. If it's red, it means you're here. If it's white, it means you have left and can "Hop-in" anytime." A grin etched across the Leaf-nin's face as he waited for the kids to get the pun, but that failed when the young girl asked another question.

"But why do we need these?" Konan asked, uncertain of the uses it pertained.

"Well, this area is still dangerous and you'll never know when they will come here and try to attack us." The sage answered realistically.

"So, you're saying that if it's red, then one of us has probably been captured and when one is white and we're all here, then that means there is an enemy disguised as one of us?" She asked Jiraiya in a state of confused understanding.

"That's very inspective Konan. Unlike a certain other…" The sage eyed the orange haired boy studiously.

"Hey I knew what you were talking about… sort of." Yahiko retorted back.

'Nothing here either, but Jiraiya-sama taught them?' Inoichi mentally disregarded the thought for now. 'Where are your darker thoughts? Why are you here?' He then delved deeper into her mind.

"Kill me…" Yahiko told Nagato with a definite voice.

"NOOO! DON'T DO IT!" Konan screamed to her Rinnegan wielding partner at the top of her lungs.

"NAGATO!" The orange haired man shouted to a stricken team mate.

It seemed as though Nagato was in a difficult situation. He was given an ultimatum to either kill Yahiko or Konan gets killed by Hanzo.

"If you don't do it, this girl dies." Hanzo replied to the shaken red headed Akatsuki.

Not a split second later, a solid thud was heard as Yahiko impaled himself with Nagato's kunai.

"Both of you… Have to stay alive because… You are the messiah." Yahiko replied through pained breaths,

"I really believe… you…"

And nothing more was ever said as Yahiko fell to the ground in one last dying breath.

"YAHIKO!" Konan shouted, but the man never answered or got up.

A serious rage enveloped over Nagato as he lost all meaning within himself. Without a moments haste, he began to slaughter everything in his path because nothing mattered anymore. It eventually led to a summoning that took the souls of everything his beast touched causing the Rinnegan wielder to become paralyzed in the process by the rods that shot through his back.

"Nagato…" A forlorn Konan called to the boy, but was ignored because of his insanity that consumed him.

"So… you were the real leader to begin with." Hanzo stated crossing his arms to the crazed man before him, "Who knew you were the one who had the Rinnegan this whole time."

Not long after that, Nagato screamed and forced his summon in the enemy's direction only to miss his opponent by Shunshin.

'That's pretty tragic,' the blonde Yamanaka thought to himself, 'Now I see how they came to be. What a hard way to go through life. I still don't have what I need though, so I need to keep searching.' And with that, he went even further into her memories.

"I knew you'd be here." Konan told the man full of hatred.

"So… I'm assuming you won't tell me where Nagato is? The swirling orange masked man asked in a 'thought so' voice.

"I've waited for a very long time to end you… Madara," The blue haired girl answered back forcefully.

Tobi/Madara looked at the woman with a smirk under his mask, "Just so you know, I won't go easy on you just because you were one of us. Oh, one question though, do you think Naruto Uzumaki is that special?" He asked in a menacing voice.

Konan did not falter as she pierced through the man's one eye glare with her own, "Naruto… Is the embodiment of light itself, that's why every time he meets somebody… THEY CARRY THE FLOWERS OF HOPE!" And with that, Konan threw a few paper shuriken at the form of Tobi.

"Well… I may as well tell you a few things about your friends, before you come to your imminent death." He replied coldly to the girl as he went intangible completely evading the shuriken.

Konan fell surprised to his intangibility before he brought his point back up.

"First of all, I was the one who made Yahiko form Akatsuki."

The blue haired girl widened her eyes in disbelief.

"And second, I was the one who gave Nagato the Rinnegan." He concluded to the dumbfounded girl, "So, really I just wanted to get my eyes back. But you… You were just a foolish girl who didn't know anything, but now, you know where Nagato's body is hidden, so I just need to detain you."

All of this new information led into a fierce battle between the two Akatsuki as Konan did the Paper Angel technique to further her plans to see to his demise and failure. The altercation lasted for a very long time before it came to a screeching halt. Tobi/Madara had somehow used a move that completely shut off his other eye underneath the broken orange mask in consequence, but this move allowed him to warp space and time to fuse reality and imagination. This attack caused Konan to be put in a deathly encounter with the masked man. He stabbed her in the back from behind with a pointed bamboo sword and pushed her off while he started talking again.

"There is no peace, there can be no hope. Nagato only wanted to feel better about his existence. Oh, but you'll see him soon enough, then you can spend all of eternity lamenting your decision to listen to Naruto's garbage."

As soon as he said that, the endless rain that fell over Amegakure dissipated until it completely stopped.

"What's going on? It can't be…" Madara stated out loud as his surprise seemed to arise in his words.

The blue haired ex-Akatsuki felt it as a sign and gathered enough will to continue, "Yahiko's and Nagato's desire for peace has not left this world! I have faith in Naruto as well, because he… HE WILL BE THE BRIDGE TO PEACE THAT EVERYONE HAS DESIRED AND I WILL BE THE PILLAR SUPPORTING THAT BRIDGE!" She then raised her arms to make one last attack on the broken masked man. It seemed as though Nagato's death made her make an important decision in her life. "I DON'T CARE IF I AM BLOWN AWAY IN THE PROCESS! I WILL ST-!"

Before she could finish her sentence, a death grip was placed on her neck by the evil man, "You didn't think I'd let you do something like that did you?" She could feel the life slowly fading from her body as Madara continued talking, "I will wilt your flowers of hope and fade the bridge to oblivion. When I am finished with this jutsu, your life will be no more, but before I do that, you will show me where he lies."

She dared a look into the man's eye as the jutsu took place. 'N-No… I can't… No!'

======END FLASHBACKS======

"NOOOOO!" She screamed out in the open jolting both Ebiki and Inoichi. A small tear fell off of her cheek from the reoccurrence as she breathed heavily in nervousness. The Yamanaka immediately pulled his hand away as he remembered the memories of that final encounter and shook his head at the situation.

"What? What did you see?" Ebiki asked the other man who slowly got up from his seated position.

"She's clean." He answered solemnly looking at the floor, "As it turned out, Madara was behind everything."

Ebiki face faulted at that statement, "What? But I thought he was dead."

"I'm not sure," The blonde started, "But I am positive that she wants to help us."

Konan didn't say anything, but her facial features backed that statement Inoichi proclaimed. Ebiki couldn't believe it. A former Akatsuki actually wanted to help for a change. It seemed to make him actually go a little easier on the woman.

"A rare sight indeed." Ebiki thought out loud. "Well, since she passed, I guess we have to send her to the Hokage. She did tell us if the Akatsuki was approved to take her to her office."

"I suppose so," The blonde replied indifferently, "Let's go."

Konan got up from her seat and walked with the other two men who proceeded in front of her. Two ANBU guarded from behind maintaining standard protocol. A short while later, they arrived at the Godaime's office. She was assorting new files before her on the construction projects of Konoha.

"Ah! I'm assuming it went well?" Tsunade asked in a rhetorical sense.

"Yes, Lady Hokage," Inoichi responded, "And we also have information."

"Well," The Hokage started, "What are you waiting for? Spit it out."

"Oh, Right, Well, It seems the man known as Madara is the one behind everything." Ebiki stated causing Tsunade's eyes to widen in amazement.

"Right. Madara is also known as Tobi, the man in the orange mask," Inoichi followed up while closing his eyes and sighing.

"What? The man in the orange mask is… Madara?" Tsunade lost her words, "But, Madara should be dead."

"I said the same thing," Ebiki stated to the Hokage.

"Right, well I will let the others know. In the meantime, there is something I have to discuss with this woman."

"Yes, Lady Hokage." They both replied in unison before they left the office.

The room seemed to quiet itself once the two women were in the office alone. Tsunade walked over to her window that overlooked the village and gazed out in silence. Konan felt it was not in her place to talk as she was technically the prisoner. There was nothing for her to say. She caused a lot of damage to the Leaf and now they had somewhat captured her as a repayment to the village. It remained quiet for another moment or two before Tsunade began to speak.

"There were these three kids, not even old enough to live on their own. We were coming back from a mission and my partner noticed them. I didn't know what he saw in them, but he really wanted to teach them. He wanted to teach them how to protect each other."

Konan listened to the story quietly as the Hokage continued.

"I didn't really think it was a good idea, but he… saw something in those kids that I didn't at the time. So he left me and my other team mate to help these kids learn how to defend themselves." Tsunade's posture shifted to her other leg as she crossed her arms, still eyeing the village, "Days turned into weeks until one day, I received mail from my partner. He wrote me a letter to keep me updated about his well being. He would tell me how he was doing and ask me the same. But the longer he stayed away, the more he began to tell me about those kids. Eventually whenever I received mail from him, that's all he would ever talk about. He would begin to go on and on about it in the letter that it would fill five pages or more."

Konan's eyes widened slightly after hearing that, but she still said not a word.

"Those weeks turned into months and months turned into years until, finally, he returned home. When I saw him again, I was ecstatic. Everyone was happy upon his return. But when I looked at Jiraiya's face, I could tell something was wrong," Tsunade shifted her eyes onto the blue haired Leaf-nin with a sense of sadness that seemed to radiate from them, "It seemed those kids… really grew on him."

Konan couldn't deny it. Even though her emotions and past were buried from the long and arduous years of pain and fighting, she still had feelings. It seemed that she thought of Jiraiya as a father, although he wasn't there for very long. If anything, Jiraiya also thought of her as a daughter he never had, but he passed away after that fight with Pain. Now, the only people who had personal ties to herself and Jiraiya were Naruto and Tsunade.

"Could I ask you one question?" The Sennin asked to her only other companion in the room. After receiving a silent agreement from Konan she continued. "What made you change your mind about Naruto?"

Konan's throat seemed dry as if she couldn't say anything. She tried her best to clear her throat to speak. After a second, she began, "Because, Nagato believed in Naruto and… if Nagato believed in him, then I will believe in him as well. I will support his will and well being to ensure peace in this world. It is what Nagato and Jiraiya-sama would have wanted."

The Hokage looked at her slightly pleased, "That is what I wanted to hear," Tsunade then shifted her attention to her desk and opened a drawer, "At first, I thought you were plotting something, but yesterday Naruto told me that he was the one who found you, so it's obvious that none of this was planned," She then pulled something rectangular from the drawer and began to look at it, "It might be a while, but you may redeem your name just yet."

And with that the Godaime threw the rectangular object toward the blue haired ninja, who caught it with ease. The rectangular object was wrapped in a light, white silken material folded in an elegant manner. She pulled the folds apart and revealed something that took her breath away.

A Leaf Hitai-ate.

It matched her clothes with a coal color and the Leaf metal forehead protector gleamed impeccably in the light, showing no scratches or signs of wear and tear. It was new. It was a fresh start, which was something that felt unreal to her. The headband caused a sad smile to creep across her face as she stared at it incredulously.

"Naruto is busy right now being checked over by his Captain, so you will have to help the village rebuild instead, part of the councils orders, but the rest of your free time will be on something bigger. Your main objective?" Tsunade tossed her eyesight over to Konan before she continued, "Is to protect and help Naruto master the Rinnegan."

Konan didn't think too hard before she made a decision. Almost as if she was unaware she did it, Konan closed her eyes and wrapped the new Hitai-ate over her forehead. She then twisted the fabric tails into a knot and pulled forcefully. Afterwards, she opened her eyes to reveal a new found determination.

"Yes… Lady Hokage."

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AND WERE DONE! These chapters get hard to write, but I know where I'm going with the story. The more I write it, the more fun it gets because we are reaching uncharted territory in Konan's emotional department (Since we don't see her character for too long in the real story,) and it is a definite challenge to keep her in character. To anyone who was confused, I figured Konan would over ride her own selfish feelings about being a prisoner AND feeling undeserving of the title Leaf Ninja to protect the NEW "Destined One", which is Naruto.

This may be an extremely long story because I am already on Chapter 3 and I haven't even scratched the surface to their relationship. I didn't even know I could write like this. OOH! Still so many questions left unanswered. To anyone who thinks I made an error somewhere in my story… I didn't. All will be answered in due time… :D

Thanks to other reviewers who helped however they could with ideas. To the one reviewer who thinks I'm going to gloss over her crimes, I'm not, but you'll still have to wait and see. Just keep reading my story. (BTW Gaara seemed to be voided of his crimes… Just saying.)

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