"Is everything alright?" Kana asked, noticing Konan was acting different.
Konan got snapped out of her thoughts at Kana's sudden concern and stammered for a few moments. "What?! Oh, no.. it's nothing." She shrugged, trying to act normal.
Meanwhile, Kenshin was already done with his bath and got up to leave. "Mom, I'm done. You should be fine now that she's here."
"Ok, okay, Ken-chan. Go on."
Konan breathed a sigh of relief when Kenshin left, finally being able to bathe freely. "By the way, can I ask you something?" She whispered to Kana, careful not to let Kenshin hear from outside.
"Let me guess, you're wondering why despite being so young, he didn't get excited when he saw a pretty lady like you naked?"
Konan's cheeks began turning red when she realized Kana already knew what she was about to ask. So she just nodded.
"It obvious isn't it? It's my fault. I'm not one to brag but these are pretty big. So bathing with me all these years means he doesn't get excited by something that most boys his age would.
To be honest, I kinda took away most of his childhood and adolescence. He never got to do the things that other kids did because he had to take care of me.
It's all my fault. I made him like this. But please don't let him know that this is what I feel. He'd get really angry at me. Even though I know that it's the truth." Kana said, forcing a pained smile.
Konan felt extremely guilty for bringing this up, as seeing the usually cheerful Kana feel hurt was something she couldn't endure.
So without saying anything, Konan simply nodded and focused on her bath.
The next day, Kana tried to cook. And although the food was barely edible, Kenshin's eyes welled up with tears as he got to eat his mother's cooking after more than half a decade.
Kana herself couldn't hold back her tears and immediately hugged him.
And like this, their last week in the hidden rain village went by in the blink of an eye.
And while everything seemed normal, Konan had conflicting feelings for Kenshin. Every time he laughed, or simply smiled at her, she felt a strange flutter in her heart.
She would frequently glance or sometimes stare at him, even though she tried to convince herself that he was just a kid. And that someone of her age shouldn't go after someone his age.
But Konan, despite trying to convince herself otherwise, knew that she was slowly falling in love with him. But she was mature enough to not let her feelings take control.
He was just a teenager, less than half her age. Not only that, he considered her an elder sister, nothing else, as far as she knew.
She'd also brought a special bottle of sake to drink with Kana the the night before the messenger was supposed to return.
On the seventh day, after dinner, Kana was sitting on the porch, watching the snow fall.
"Hey. I brought something." Kana turned around to see Konan standing there, holding a bottle of sake and two glasses.
"I know you don't like to drink but I thought we could have one last drink together. The messenger I sent to the leaf should return by dawn." Konan said, sitting down beside Kana.
"Sure. I guess once couldn't hurt." Konan poured Kana a glass and the two of them drank together. Although Kana did say that she'd drink once, she didn't have much reserve with alcohol.
When the bottle was more than halfway over, Konan stopped her. "You drink any more and you'll get sick. Stop it."
"You're so stingy, Konan! But I guess you're right." Despite being drunk, she listened to Konan and stopped.
"By the way, Kana, can I ask you something? What happened after you went to the leaf village? You haven't told me."
"Because.... Ken-chan told me to keep it a secret." Kana said, before immediately covering her mouth with her hands. "Please don't tell him that I told you. He'll get really angry with me."
"You can trust me. We're friends, right?" Konan placed her hand on her shoulder, and Kana thought about whether to tell her or not.
But the alcohol played it's effect, and Kana decided to tell Konan.
"I died." Kana said very calmly.
"What?! B.. but you.. you're.." Konan stammered, unable to process this. Kana died? But she's right here, drinking with Konan. Only the rinnegan should be able to bring back the dead, and only Nagato has it.
"I know that you're confused, but it's actually not that confusing. I died, and Ken-chan brought me back."
"But.. how?"
"I don't really know the details but, when we reached the hidden leaf, I was already near my limit. We met Kakashi-san, just outside the border of the leaf, and he helped us get the hokage to treat me.
But even with her vast knowledge of medical ninjutstu, she couldn't do anything. So I asked her to let me see Ken-chan one last time.
But apparently, after I died, Ken-chan awakened the mangekyo sharingan. And he brought me back to life with it. But it only works within ten-something minutes of death.
After that, we stayed there for a week, until I recovered enough to travel back to the rain."
"That's.. incredible! I didn't know Kenshin awakened the sharingan."
"Crap! Ken-chan wanted to keep that a secret too. But since it's you, it'll be okay. Please don't tell Pain." Kana pleaded, knowing that Pain wouldn't let them go if he knew.
"I won't." Konan reassured her. Kenshin having the sharingan wouldn't benefit their plan anyways. At least, that's how she felt.
"So after that, the hokage asked me about Ken-chan's father, and apparently my daughter was still alive. Although they didn't know I was her mother. Ichiro-san named her Akane.
So after they confirmed that Akane-chan was indeed my daughter, we spent some time together. Well it was mostly Ken-chan that was with her since I couldn't move."
"Akane? So the girl that survived the Uchiha massacre was your daughter?"
"Yes. Also, the hokage had personally offered us to move to the leaf village. You've read the official request.
And after a week, when I recovered enough, we had to return here. And that's when, Ken-chan told me his biggest secret."
Konan's heart began pounding in anticipation as Kana mentioned it, as she was about to learn something about Kenshin she otherwise would never have.
"He has.... memories from his past life. Not only that, the girl he loved, the one he died alongside while trying to save, she was reborn as well. In the form of my daughter."
"Wha..... WHAT?!" Konan couldn't hold back her shock and shouted, before immediately covering her mouth since Kenshin was supposed to be sleeping.
"Shhh! Don't shout. But yeah, it was like.. really shocking for me. I got really angry and punched him. Like.... really hard, lots of times. He got injured quite a bit.
Like his wound near his left eye? That was my fault. But afterwards, I couldn't bring myself to talk to him, partly out of guilt I guess. And I was conflicted about whether to support this or not.
And ten long days went by like this. The day we came back, right after Ken-chan returned after getting 'his' approval, I talked to him about this.
He told me a pretty decent plan, and while I had some doubts, I decided to trust and support them both. And that's about it." Kana snatched the bottle from Konan and took a sip directly from it.
"Man I was thirsty from talking for so long. Sorry about that."
But Konan wasn't thinking about that, her mind was consumed with the thought of Kenshin actually being an adult, mentally at least.
'If he's not a kid, maybe I could..... No! He already loves that girl. And that girl probably deserves him, more than I do. But maybe, I can have a small piece of his heart? Just maybe I also have a shot?'
"Uhh, Konan? You okay?"
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Everyone, thanks for your continued support and power stones. As always, please give me your power stones and comment your opinions. They make a big difference and motivate me to write more.
Also, Mary will be released from the hospital tomorrow. Just thought you guys should know.