It had been two weeks since Konan's family was taken from her, and she was forced to flee from her home.

  For two weeks, every day had been a brutal struggle for survival. Two weeks did not feel like a long time to her before, but after she spent that amount of time living on the streets, she knew that it was.

  She had seen more of life in those two weeks than she had in the entire nine years of her prior life combined.

  Konan did not know who the people were that invaded her home and killed her parents.

  In that regard, her situation was different from Yahiko's. He knew precisely who to blame for his misfortune. He knew that it was foreign Shinobi who, during their battle, bombed his house. Leaving him as the only survivor.

  She did not see any Shinobi amongst her attackers. And as such, she did not have such a convenient target to direct her anger at. All she had was a group of faceless men. As far as she could tell, they had been civilians, just like her.

  The strangers barged into her house and assaulted her family without any warning.

  The last time she saw her mother, she told her with tears in her eyes to run away. Then the woman who had meant the world to her went downstairs to join her husband in fighting the intruders off.

  All so that she could buy her daughter time to escape with her sacrifice.

  Konan wanted to go down and fight too! She wanted nothing more than to be as brave as her parents were and rescue them from the evil men.

  However….she knew that she would be of no help.

  She was not strong enough. And so, even if it broke her heart, she followed her mothers instructions and escaped through the backdoor. She left her family behind and started running and running and running.

  She did not stop running for an entire week.

  During that time, she survived by stealing food from unsuspecting street vendors. Luckily for her, if there was one thing a resident of the Land of Rain never lacked for, then it was access to clean water. It was a week later, during one of her daily heists to scavenge food and bring it back to her temporary home, that she met her partner in crime.

  Yahiko.

  He was an orphan, just like her. The only live one she had met since she started living on the streets. Orphans like them…did not tend to survive very long, she had found.

  Yahiko had managed to survive by himself for even longer than she had. He kept himself alive for over a month without any help! After they met, it did not take long before he offered her a place by his side so that they could support each other. Elated to finally not be alone anymore, Konan naturally accepted.

  Since then, things have gotten easier for her. She did not have to risk herself every day just to find food to eat like she did before. Yahiko had already built himself quite the supply of foodstuffs, and so, for the first time in what felt like forever, she did not have to steal to survive.

  She had been using that time to get to know the boy she now lived with a bit better. He was…intense. He felt very strongly about things she had never thought about too hard herself. Like the war between the great nations currently being fought in their country.

  According to Yahiko, they should kill every foreign Shinobi who had invaded their homeland and "stop letting them walk all over them."

  It was a bit too much for Konan, and as a result, she often left the cave they lived in to go on walks to clear her head. She used that time alone to come to terms with her new situation.

  She had lost her parents less than half a month ago. She lost her family. She did not have time to grieve them before, constantly fighting for survival as she had been. But she had time now.

  Konan knew that she had to be strong. She could not afford to be a child any longer. She had to be brave! Like her parents were when they chose to stay and fight so that she could escape. Life in the Land of Rain was not kind to orphans like her. She could not allow herself to be weak anymore.

  For most of that week she idly walked around the landscape surrounding their hideout with an umbrella she had stolen from an old woman. An old woman who had been especially mean to her back when she still thought that begging for aid would actually get her anywhere.

  It was during one of those walks that she met Nagato and Inu. She was surprised to see the small and malnourished but happy dog run up to her. Animals were somewhat of a rarity in the Land of Rain. It was hard for wild or stray animals to survive in a place of stone, barren earth, and eternal rain. Any animal one encountered in such conditions was usually a pet and belonged to someone.

  That was why she was not too shocked when, shortly after she started petting the fearless little creature, a red-haired boy her age approached her with an apologetic smile on his face and claimed the dog as his own.

  What did surprise her, however, were his eyes. They were so pretty! She had never seen anything like them before. They were a piercing purple, holding within them dark circles arrayed in a rippling pattern. The moment she linked eyes with the boy, they seemed to pull her into their orbit and drag her down into their fathomless depths.

  A shiver went down her spine, but she quickly suppressed that feeling. She did not want it to show on her face and make him think that his unique appearance scared her.

  The boy was most likely stuck in a similar situation to her own. She did not want to make him feel even more uncomfortable by reacting to his appearance in a strange way. She knew from personal experience that people could get insecure about such things. It was not his fault that his eyes, while pretty, were also kind of scary.

  Nagato, as he introduced himself, wore an expensive-looking black cloak that he had very obviously acquired in the same way Konan did her own umbrella.

  Most of his frame was hidden behind that piece of clothing, but his face was revealed and so was his crimson hair. His skin was a milky colour so pale that it almost appeared translucent. He looked like he had never seen a day of sunlight in his life. It was a very common complexion for people born in their country to have.

  Konan noticed that from the moment they met, he stared at her with an expression that she found difficult to decipher. She always thought of herself as a good judge of character. It was the reason why she decided to partner up with Yahiko so quickly. And so, she felt certain that the boy did not hold any bad intentions towards her.

  Still, the simultaneously wary and expectant look in his eyes when he approached her and the flashes of surprise in his eyes that followed were a bit weird.

  It was like he expected her to behave in a different way than she ended up doing.

  Konan could understand that. This was likely the first positive interaction the boy had with another human being ever since he ended up living on the streets. It was the same with her when she met Yahiko. Finding a kind person after only encountering rejection for so long was like finding an oasis in a desert.

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  Or so she had been told. It was hard for her to really understand the idea of desserts. A land without water was utterly incomprehensible to her.

  She immediately decided that she wanted Nagato to join her and make their duo into a trio. Not only did the full bag of food he carried imply that he would not be a burden…but he was also nice! Of course, she still would have offered him a place amongst them even if she had to work twice as hard to make up for his own shortcomings. Fortunately, that would not be necessary.

  However, even more importantly, she felt something inside her tell her that she would forever regret it if she did not extend her hand in invitation to the boy at this moment.

  She was elated when he accepted her offer and immediately showed him the path to their hideout. It was there where things started getting a bit…complicated.

  She realized that in her excitement to have found a new friend…she had forgotten to consider something important.

  Yahiko was a very headstrong boy, and he did not like unexpected surprises. The only reason he was so willing to partner up with her was because she had already proved herself by stealing from the vendor Yahiko had chosen as his target that day.

  "Eh, Konan, who have you brought here?" The ginger-haired boy glared at Nagato with narrowed eyes. A glare that her new friend met with an unimpressed look in his own lavender eyes. "And what’s with those weird-looking eyes?"

  While Yahiko was usually a very nice boy. If the relatively short time they had spent together had taught her anything, then it was that he tended to put his foot in his mouth more often than not.

  She would not be surprised if he didn’t even know that the words he just said could easily be mistaken for an insult.

  Just as she was about to introduce her two friends to each other, the red-haired boy on her left side spoke up.

  "My name is Nagato." His head shifted slightly as he pointed his index finger down towards the small dog standing slightly behind him. "And this little guy is called Inu.“ The boy bristled suddenly. "I will also have you know that my eyes are not weird! They are the best eyes in the world!“

  Konan had to suppress the smile that threatened to grow on her face. The contrast between the boy's scary eyes and the pout on his lips was almost too much for her.

  Yahiko walked closer and came to a stop a few meters in front of them. He leaned his right shoulder on one of the crates littering the cave and huffed. "Well…I guess they are not too bad. My name is Yahiko. I take it you wish to join us?" His eyes narrowed again. "However, we are not running a charity! You will have to contribute if you want to stay with us.“

  Konan quietly clicked her tongue at the boy's brash attitude. It wasn't like they did not have enough food in storage to last all of them a good while longer.

  She threw Nagato a sidelong glance to see how he would react to the other boy’s unwelcoming reception. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw that his expression was unchanged. It was as if he had already expected something like this to happen.

  The thought that that was very likely the case…saddened her. She had intended to welcome the boy with open arms, without expecting anything in return.

  She did not care that that might be naive of her. She knew what it felt like to lose everything and suddenly be all alone in the world. If there was anything she could do to help someone who had experienced the same, she would do it. No matter the cost

  Even worse, from what she had gathered, unlike her, Nagato did not even have the chance to mourn yet.

  "You don't need to worry about that, Yahiko. I am more than proficient when it comes to gathering supplies for Inu and me.“ A smirk spread on the boy’s face. "If anything, there are things that I can offer you…did you really think I came here with the intention of becoming a freeloader?"

  Konan‘s head leaned back slightly at that and then turned fully towards the redhead.

  Something he can offer us? And what would that be?

  She did not offer him to join them with the intention of getting anything out of it. The fact that he had already thought of a way to pay them back…was a surprise to her.

  Nagato's eyes sharpened as he lifted his hand and pointed it to the side, where one of the opened crates rested against the wall. It was filled to the brim with vegetables.

  "Bansho Tenin“

  Two words echoed across the room, and without the boy moving an inch, one of the vegetables flew from the crate into his outstretched hand.

  Nagato's eyes alternated between their stunned expressions. First, his smile widened, and soon after, a laugh followed. "Ah, if only you could see the look on your faces right now!" He shook his head and turned quiet. "This is only one of the few things I can do. I’m afraid not all of them are teachable. You see, I am a member of the Uzumaki clan. A shinobi clan. My parents did not have much time to teach me…but what little I do know I am willing to share with you. Simply say the word.“

  Konan's mouth hung open. Her mind raced as she considered the new influx of information.

  Nagato‘s parents were shinobi? I never heard of the Uzumaki clan before. How did he become an orphan? Did they abandon him?…or were they all killed? What kind of enemy did they have that could destroy a clan of people where even the children can do things like that?

  Yahiko was not as caught up in the implications of their new friend's words the same way she was. No, if anything, it was Nagato's action that had fully captured the boy's attention and interest.

  "That was so cool! Was that ninjutsu? Are you a shinobi? You have to teach me how to do that. I need this power!“

  In his excitement, he had fully abandoned his previous position leaning against the crate and came up close to Nagato with stars in his eyes.

  Konan sighed deeply.

  Is that really all it takes to win his trust? Some cool jutsu?

  Nagato let out an amused huff and nodded. "If you want me to teach you, I would be happy to. But before that…don't you want to invite me in first?"

  Yahiko blinked and then shifted his eyes to the side. The three of them were still standing at the cave entrance. He blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah…sorry about that… I forgot. Of course you can come inside. As far as I’m concerned, you're part of the team now! This is just as much your home as it is ours.“ He turned his eyes towards her and grimaced.

  "I am…sorry to have doubted you, Konan. You brought back somebody cool!“

  A deep sigh escaped her.

  This boy...

  Yahiko pivoted, and they followed him inside until they came to a stop in the back of the cave.

  "So…what exactly is it that you‘re going to teach us, Nagato?“ Excitement took hold of her as she asked the question.

  Nagato closed his eyes for a short moment and then opened them with a surprised look on his face.

  What just happened? Konan tilted her head to the side.

  "First, I need you to sit down and turn your backs to me. I will then take care of the first step…which is unlocking your Chakra." He paused and creased his eyebrows. ?Well… I guess it is less unlocking and more helping you get a feel for it."

  Is there a difference between the two?

  She shook off the thought and quickly followed Yahiko, who was vibrating in anticipation, and sat down on the rocky floor.

  Once she had lifted her shirt a bit and allowed Nagato access to her back, she felt a cool palm settle on it. Warm energy entered her body from where their bodies collided.

  It feels…strange…but also nice.

  It was warm, invigorating, and tingly all at the same time. She observed that energy travel through a pathway system she had previously not even known was there.

  It felt like she was sitting in a dark room and Nagato was showing her where the light switches were. Giving her the means necessary to turn them on herself and finally see the room she had been living in all her life for the very first time.

  Copying Nagato's example, she focused and moved the chakra she now felt vividly through the pathways the boy had revealed to her. Immediately after that, the slight chill she had grown used to while living in a cave with no heating disappeared.

  She felt stronger and healthier than she had felt since before her parents died.

  Yahiko, whom Nagato had been working on simultaneously, shared her feelings. He abruptly stood up and let out a yell of jubilation. He jumped in place and threw aimless punches at the air.

  "This is awesome, Nagato! I feel great! Can you teach me how to do that "Bansho Tenin" thing you did earlier next?!“ He put on a faux serious expression and mimicked Nagato's previous movement as he said the words of the technique.

  Konan let down the shirt she had been holding up and turned around. She regarded Nagato with a curious expression.

  Can he teach us? He said some things were not teachable.

  Nagato grimaced. "Unfortunately, that is an ability that I cannot give you… Don't worry too much about that, though. We have barely gotten started. There are still many things I have left to show you. This was just the first step.“

  Yahiko frowned briefly, but then perked up again when Nagato finished speaking.

  Konan felt similarly excited. She could not wait to finally have a way to defend herself and her new family! She had already decided that she would never allow herself to be weak again and be forced to run away while the people she loved died…she would never let anyone else sacrifice themselves for her ever ever again. If something like that were happen, she would rather just die herself.

  Nagato's smile faded slowly, and his expression turned serious. His voice took on a somber tone.

  "However…before I do that…there is something else I need to tell you. It is very important to me that you take what I am about to tell you seriously…It concerns these eyes of mine. I am being very serious when I say that if you don't listen to what I say next….all of our lives will be put at risk."

  Konan‘s smile lowered when the ominous words reached her ears. She turned her full attention towards the boy in front of her and prepared herself.

  Still, she never could have imagined what came next.