It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was utterly exhausted—body and mind alike. Sleeping for three whole days would've been excessive, but she had indeed slept for a full day and night.
When Konan woke up, she immediately sensed that something about the room was off, and soon realized she was still on the moon. Her head felt a little heavy. When she tried to recall what had happened before, all she could remember was that everyone had worked together to finally complete a task that should have been nearly impossible for humanity.
By the time she fully came back to herself, there was only one overwhelming sensation left—hunger.
She rose from the bed and stepped outside, following her memory until she reached the castle's main hall.
Just as expected, everyone who had already rested was there. The table was covered with all kinds of food and drinks. Jiraiya-sensei was present, as was her newly acquainted junior student—and of course, Orochimaru.
What caught her attention, however, was a woman she didn't recognize.
Like Toneri, the woman had snow-white hair, but her pupils were not Byakugan-white. She wore a simple, pale yukata, embroidered with faint blue wave patterns that matched the blue-patterned scarf around her neck perfectly. Her long white hair was tied into a low ponytail with a red cord—simple, yet strikingly beautiful.
Her face wasn't particularly remarkable. Whether it was her features or her face shape, she looked rather ordinary—yet somehow, very easy on the eyes.
Konan had no memory of this woman at all. She couldn't recall when she'd arrived, nor why she was here. Still, judging from the sword at her waist and the newly issued Amegakure forehead protector, she was clearly a shinobi—and one who had come to help.
Since when did Amegakure gain someone like her?
Why don't I know anything about this?
That aside, the woman seemed unusually close with the members of Akatsuki. At the moment, she was sitting beside Kakuzu, holding a drink and chatting casually. Karin sat nearby, and from her behavior, it looked as though she was serving the woman food.
Kakuzu was never one to be friendly with others—so why did he seem so close to this suddenly appearing stranger? Konan found herself deeply confused.
"Konan, are you feeling better now?" Nagato asked with clear concern as he noticed her approaching.
Konan nodded, then complained openly, "I'm starving to death~"
There was a hint of feminine petulance in her tone.
Upon hearing it, everyone—from Hidan to Toneri, even Jiraiya—stared at her in stunned silence.
Konan, however, was completely unfazed. She walked straight to the table, picked up a slice of cold sausage, and popped it into her mouth.
Noticing all the eyes on her, she glanced around suspiciously and asked, puzzled, "What are you all looking at? Is there something on my face?"
Everyone froze.
Hidan was the first to speak, sounding dazed. "S-Sister Konan… are you okay?"
"What could possibly be wrong with me?" she asked in confusion. She grabbed another piece of beef and stuffed it into her mouth, nodding in appreciation of its flavor.
Still, Konan was Konan. No matter how hungry she was, she could sense that the atmosphere was extremely strange. Growing irritated, she shot everyone a sharp look.
"If you've got something to say, then say it. Why are you all staring at me?!"
The irritation in her voice snapped everyone back to their senses.
Deidara grinned widely, flashing a distinctly childish smile. "Sister Konan, you look really pretty today! Yep!"
The flattery was blatant.
Hidan sucked in a sharp breath. He genuinely thought Deidara was brave. He fully expected Konan to explode—but instead, what he heard was something he'd never heard before.
"Talking so sweet—what kind of scheme are you plotting?"
Her words were playful, smiling. There was no anger at being teased, no frost-cold expression.
Hidan's mouth fell open. This was the first time in his life he'd seen Konan look like a completely different person.
"Not at all, Sister Konan! I'm telling the truth! Right, old man? Right?!"
"Geez, what a load of crap!"
Laughing voices rang out, and Konan herself was smiling brightly.
Kakuzu let out a quiet sigh. He glanced at Kitata, who was sitting beside him with a faint smile tugging at her lips, and asked in a low voice,
"Is this what you wanted?"
Kitata smiled, nodded, and raised her cup, lightly clinking it against Kakuzu's.
"Th-thank you."
The atmosphere became lively. Everyone ate and drank heartily, smiles appearing here and there.
It had been many years since Akatsuki had gathered like this. That alone was enough to make people forget many unpleasant things.
With food and drink settling in their stomachs, the tension eased. The dishes were nearly wiped clean, with almost nothing left.
Toneri looked extremely satisfied. Eating a feast with so many people had always been a dream of his. After the meal, he listened excitedly to Deidara's stories, eyes sparkling with focus.
Konan was almost too full to eat anymore, but seeing a few scattered snacks left on the table, she forced herself to finish them—unwilling to waste food.
As she ate in small bites, she secretly observed the unfamiliar woman. After searching her memory for every shinobi in the village and finding nothing, Konan had no choice but to ask for help.
She nudged Nagato lightly and whispered,
"Who is that person? She's from our village, right? Why haven't I seen her before? And she's so close to Kakuzu—no, to everyone?"
Her voice was extremely quiet—so quiet that only Nagato could hear it.
Nagato paused, unsure how to answer. Before he could respond, however, someone else asked about the stranger—far more loudly and abruptly than Konan had.
"Hey, come to think of it—who are you, anyway?"
Naruto's question cut straight through the laughter, interrupting both Deidara's chatter and the friendly conversation between Kitata and Kakuzu.
"Huh? A distant relative. You don't recognize her? I thought you did," Toneri said, rolling his Byakugan eyes, then answering smoothly and naturally.
"Kitata. My Sister Kita! She's super amazing!"
CLANG!
Naruto sprang to his feet so suddenly that his chair screeched loudly across the floor.
Just a moment ago, he'd looked confused. Now his face was clouded with hostility and disgust.
Jiraiya let out a low sigh, remaining silent.
In truth, it wasn't just Naruto—even Konan felt the same. She simply didn't show it as openly. Still, she glanced at Nagato, her mouth slightly open in disbelief.
"Huh? What's wrong? A distant relative?" Toneri asked, tilting his head in confusion.
He was the only one completely out of the loop. On the moon, there was no concept of "human" or "non-human," and neither Obito nor Kitata had ever explained such things to him.
"This person—this thing—isn't human!" Naruto snapped. "Toneri, you've been fooled! This thing—"
His face twisted in revulsion, as if he was too disgusted to even continue.
Toneri blinked, utterly baffled.
"Huh? What's 'non-human'?"
Naruto frowned, clearly unsure how to explain. He stared at Kitata with blatant contempt for a long moment before speaking in an extremely uncomfortable tone, summing it up simply.
"Trash with a human appearance!"
The first to move was Kakuzu.
He slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet, his fist driving straight into Naruto's chest. Immediately afterward, his face twisted with fury.
"You bastard! Apologize!"
Konan was too shocked to speak.
Whether it was Kakuzu demanding an apology or revealing the Third Kazekage puppet¹, neither made sense to her. Kakuzu was never someone who stood up for others—let alone for someone who wasn't even human.
Konan genuinely couldn't understand what had provoked such an extreme reaction from both sides. And from her perspective, Naruto hadn't said anything especially excessive.
If anything—
the ones overreacting were them.
━━━━ ❖ ━━━
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