After the tailed beasts had been exiled, perhaps the one with the most chakra in this world was Kisame. After "draining" him three times over, Nagato finally felt the lingering discomfort from the technique vanish.
Yet the snow-white hair atop his childlike face gave him a headache. A doll-faced youth with a head of white hair—the dissonance was almost unbearable.
"Now you regret it. What took you so long?"
Konan's words dripped with sharp sarcasm. Her attitude had lasted for days, and Nagato understood it well. He couldn't blame her for giving him that look—he had promised not to save Kakashi, then immediately contradicted himself. If he were in her place, he wouldn't feel cheerful either.
Still, despite her sarcasm, she served Nagato a bowl of thick soup with restorative medicine. Of course, Kita got a serving as well.
Nagato quietly drank his soup without comment. Kita did the same. She hadn't interfered, but in Konan's eyes, knowing and not acting was enough to condemn one to hell's eighteen layers.
Shion, however, looked dazed, entirely out of place. The silver needles in his body had been removed; injuries sustained in Konoha had been repaired. Yet the eight remaining locking needles were still embedded. Most tools on the moon required chakra to operate, and Shion, unable to generate chakra, couldn't even enter his home. He could only stay with Rain's ninja.
By day, he played with Karin and Suigetsu; by night, he lived with Nagato. Shion's carefree nature persisted even after losing sight and chakra. He remained blissfully unaware of Akatsuki's events, the bloody storm outside, and Konoha's secret currents.
"Konan, are you mad?"
Resentment had its proper target—Nagato and Kita—but Shion, completely out of touch, couldn't provoke Konan. Even seeing someone still smiling despite having no eyes himself made her anger impotent.
"Why would I be mad? Someone's doing this to themselves. What does it have to do with me?"
Shion didn't understand. About to probe further, Nagato muttered quietly, "Stop talking. Drink your soup." His voice was faint, but at the family table, even the smallest voice carried to those meant to hear it.
Konan's aura tensed, Nagato didn't dare raise his head, and they both drank in silence.
He was wrong. He shouldn't have promised Konan he wouldn't save Kakashi, then immediately gone to do so. At the very least, he should have waited a day.
Kita found the atmosphere suffocating. When Obito returned with Kakashi and demanded to save him, she had expected Nagato might lend the eye, but she hadn't expected he would save him personally. That had truly caught her off guard—but now, there was no point dwelling on it.
So she decided to play her part.
Gently tugging on Konan's sleeve, she asked,
"Do… you want some soup?"
Konan remained silent.
Nagato froze. He hadn't expected Kita to say that. Her words were simpler than a mute could speak.
Konan, thinking she hadn't exploded from anger already, let her sleeve fall and left. The door closed with a thud.
Shion dared not breathe. After a few seconds of silence in the living room, Nagato laughed helplessly.
"What am I supposed to say about you?"
Kita scratched her head, feeling she hadn't said anything remarkable. If you're angry, change your focus and don't dwell on what made you angry—that's all there is to it. Yet… reality rarely cooperates. Still, she could coax Konan later; Konan was not unreasonable.
"You have the nerve to say that. You promised her you wouldn't save him, then risked half your life. How can she not be mad?"
Nagato sighed. True enough—but if he hadn't acted, he likely wouldn't even have had a chance to see Obito alone.
"Huh? Save what?" Shion was entirely unaware of Nagato's rescue efforts, and now, blind, he couldn't see the snow-white hair either.
"Nothing. Drink your soup." Nagato said, turning back to Shion. "How many people in their lifetime would risk their lives to save someone else? Obito has suffered enough in his life."
Twisted by Madara, forced to live a tragic life—Nagato could now change that. Why refuse? A few years of life, a few days of weakness—what was that compared to saving someone?
Kita didn't know what to say. Obito's life was a tragedy, and so were Nagato and Konan. Nagato had reversed Obito's fate—but who would reverse theirs?
"You seem to have changed a lot, but I can't quite pinpoint how," Kita finally said.
Nagato paused, then smiled in relief.
"Maybe I've just seen things more clearly. Looking from a different angle brings new ideas. Before, I couldn't have thought this way."
Time was truly frightening; even someone as stubborn as Nagato could learn to think differently. Kita realized that anyone could change. Perhaps in the past, she had only trapped herself.
She smiled helplessly.
"Time erases our original selves, Nagato. I don't know if that's good or bad, but the you now… is really good."
The past fades with the wind; only by letting go can a new future begin. Nagato let go of the tailed beasts of hatred. Yahiko's death remained a pain in his life, but the rot would scab over. Nagato was still Nagato.
"Hmm… so you're saying I was bad before?"
Nagato smiled, as did Kita, rising to stand.
"I don't know if the past was good. I just know now Konan is in a bad mood. This is on your conscience—you better hope I'm not beaten too badly."
At that, Kita opened the door. Nagato smiled, glanced at the bewildered Shion, and gently touched the white hair of the boy.
"Shion."
"Huh?"
"Thank you."
"Huh? Nagato, what are you saying? I don't understand a thing."
Better that he didn't. Nagato pressed a finger to Shion's forehead.
"I hope you never do."
"Eh eh eh—"
Even though Konan was still angry, the person had been saved. Her anger couldn't restore Nagato's lost chakra, nor recover the lifespan spent saving him. Her frustration? It was only that she hadn't realized Nagato had tricked her—but even if she had, there was no stopping him.
Nowhere to vent, she left it unspoken.
Meanwhile, a pen struck the report hard.
Who wrote this report? Go rewrite it!
When Kita arrived, Konan was scolding her subordinates for slacking off during a mission. Usually, she would simply give a glance, and it would be enough. But lately, her temper has worsened. Shigure, having gauged her mood, fled at the first sign of displeasure, leaving these four unlucky ones to bear the brunt.
A glance from Kita told them to leave quickly, leaving Konan with no outlet for her anger.
Kita understood Konan's thoughts. She also understood Nagato's. She didn't know why he had personally saved Kakashi, but she understood the act itself. Obito was the reason. As a subordinate, as a friend, as one of their own—Nagato would naturally respond.
Saving him was natural—but she hadn't expected it to go this far.
And this action—well beyond what Konan could tolerate.
"If you don't like them. I can assign others for you. I've trained them well," Kita tried to ease the tension. Konan didn't appreciate it. She threw the water from her cup at Kita, unaware she would get soaked herself. Her stunned, dumbfounded expression—so ridiculously innocent—amused Konan greatly.
Yet Konan still remembered she was angry. She held back her laughter.
"This habit of throwing things—you must've passed it on to Shigure. The Akatsuki cuties say he loves doing this."
Busy with village construction, Shigure sneezed violently—another scapegoat.
"Don't talk to me. I'm still angry."
━━━━ ❖ ━━━
If you're enjoying the story, the complete fanfic is already available on P@treon(.)com/Crimson_Lore