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"Konan?" Takeda Hayato blinked in surprise when he heard the name. He couldn't help but take a few more glances at the little girl in front of him. Light blueish-purple hair, soft orange eyes, and with her delicate features—yep, she was definitely a young Konan.
Hayato never imagined he'd meet Konan, let alone that she'd become his companion. That thought led him to think about two other people: Nagato and Yahiko.
If he hadn't shown up, Konan probably would've met them, and the three would've eventually ended up training under Jiraiya.
But right now, Hayato had only run into Konan—there was no sign of the other two.
What Hayato didn't know was that if he hadn't saved Konan, she would've soon met Yahiko. The two kids would've escaped those cannibals together, wandered around for a while, then come across Nagato. Eventually, all three would have become Jiraiya's students.
Hayato wasn't clear on the exact details, and honestly, he didn't care whether or not he'd changed Konan's fate. That kind of stuff just didn't matter to him. Whether or not they ended up meeting Jiraiya—so what? He already thought he'd killed Orochimaru, after all. So it's very likely the trio's destinies had already taken a different turn.
"Hey, Hayato, where are we going?" Konan blinked up at him with curiosity, a bright smile on her face. It was clear to her now—Hayato had accepted her.
That made her genuinely happy. When she thought back to how he had saved her from those people-eaters, a deep sense of safety washed over her—something she'd never felt before.
"Somewhere Konoha or the Rain ninja won't be able to find easily. Somewhere quiet, away from people." Hayato paused for a moment before replying.
"Oh, okay!" Konan nodded, not really understanding, but she didn't care where they were headed. As long as she could follow Hayato, that was all that mattered.
Both of them wore rain cloaks—after all, in the Land of Rain, where it rained all year round, rain gear was basically standard clothing. On the way, Hayato made several moves—he killed quite a few people. Of course, in his eyes, those guys had long since stopped being "people."
Konan, despite being a kind-hearted little girl, didn't flinch when Hayato killed those cannibalistic monsters. She didn't show any fear, nor did she try to stop him. Probably because she had gone through that horror herself—she had no sympathy left for those kinds of people.
That said, her kind heart still shone through when it came to people who had been captured but not eaten. She would go out of her way to share her hidden stash of food with them, quietly slipping them something to eat.
Hayato noticed everything she did but didn't say anything. From his perspective, what she did wasn't exactly logical, but it made him like her even more. After all, most people naturally prefer to be around good-hearted folks rather than some scheming, evil type.
"Sigh… The war between Konoha and the Rain Village is getting more intense." Konan looked around at the growing number of homeless, starving people. She'd heard that they were all refugees driven out by the war. "I really don't get it. Why do they have to fight like this? Konoha's conditions are way better than the Rain Village's, from what I heard."
Hayato didn't respond. He didn't really know how to answer her. Was he supposed to tell her Konoha was doing this partly because they were chasing him? But even if he hadn't been around, the Second Great Ninja War still would've happened.
"Hey, Hayato… Can I train with you?" Konan suddenly looked up at him, eyes full of hope.
"You want to train?" Hayato was surprised. He had only been figuring things out on his own, training for less than a year, and he already had the strength of a chunin. But his training methods were… well, extremely rough.
They only worked for him. Anyone else probably would've died halfway through. So he honestly wasn't sure what he could teach her.
"Yeah! I want to be strong like you. I want to protect myself… and protect more people too!" Konan nodded seriously, her eyes full of determination.
"....."