Kapitel 2: Ch2. First companion
Rei stood up. His chakra might be only ten percent full and he might be kinda tired because of that but he could still move. He had to get to his target first!
Rei exited his shack and found himself on a muddy road, soft drizzle falling onto the streets, preventing them from drying up. He saw more worn-out wooden shacks all around, clearly, the area was for the poor. Rei quickly walked along the street, noting an old man with a dog, a young housewife leaning out of one of the windows as she tried to reach her laundry hanging on a branch, kids playing in the mud with a ball. It was poor but quite a nice view of such a war-torn, depressed, rainy country as Ame.
Rei suddenly turned to the left and walked into a side-alley.
The nice view... was completely destroyed. The entire side-alley was strewn with starved shivering forms of homeless people. They eyed Rei with their hopelessness-filled eyes, looking for any valuables on his person. It was only when they saw his torn clothes they disregarded him with a woeful sigh. They realized it was just another homeless orphan. Not worth even talking to, much less steal from.
Rei disregarded these people as well. He could not and would not help them. He came to the middle of the alley when he saw a shivering form of a small six years old girl, lying in the mud clutching her hands closer to her chest, trying to find warmth as the rain fell on her. Her cheeks were sunken and she was thin as a twig but her cautious amber eyes followed him warily as he stepped closer to her.
Rei crouched down in front of her and smiled.
"Hello. I am Rei."
He introduced himself and the girl was observing him for a minute, shivering, curling into herself before she decided to answer.
"Ko-Konan."
The girl whispered in a quiet, unsure voice as she was unsure of Rei's intentions for approaching someone like her. Someone who had nothing to offer. It was quite a sad spectacle. Six years old but already wary and suspicious of others.
"Would you like to come with me?" Rei asked her as he reached his hand towards her in the invitation.
The people around looked at the pair of children and shook their heads. In this god-forsaken land, children had to band together. Shruggingly, they ignored them as this was quite a common occurrence. Just... more violent usually. If it was an older girl, she would be beaten to submission to serve older homeless teenagers. After all, no matter how low they were, even they had their hierarchy.
But the girl was but a child, and her body could not be sold for food or money. No elder kid was interested in making her serve them. At least adult women could sell themselves willingly to earn money for themselves rather than some opportunistic kid. Boys didn't have it any better though. The strongest were leaders and the weaker ones were underlings. But nobody was interested in dead-weights like the starved shivering girl. Except, other deadweights. That's why the sight of Rei inviting Konan was really nothing out of the ordinary. The others just wrote them off as the next unfortunate corpses they would see a few days later.
Konan was torn. On one hand, her current spot was quite nice. It provided at least some cover from the rain, no matter how muddy it was. She was also close to dumpsters where the other people threw their trash. It provided some food for her. She would loathe to leave it, only to find it already taken later.
In the end, it was the boy's warm eyes that made Konan timidly take his hand. She didn't know what her future with him held but she knew at worst she would finally die. In her mind, it was worth the gamble.
As Konan took Rei's hand, he pulled her up and started slowly, gently dragging her back to his shack. He was no saint to provide the girl shelter for nothing. Konan was... investment.
Even Konan, after her time on the streets, knew nothing in this world is free and if the boy really gave her something, he would want something in return.
Rei took her because he knew exactly what the girl would offer him in return for his kindness.
Herself.
Konan was worth the trouble. She might have been just an underappreciated side-character that died off to further the plot and didn't really have much screen-time but...
She gave Yahiko and Nagato everything she was. No matter their dreams. No matter their methods. She followed.
And when a girl like her is willing to become an S-ranked murderer, a worst-sort of a killer to support a friend in his dream...
Yes, Konan would give herself to Rei. He would make sure of that.
He won't exploit her gratitude. Instead, he will make sure she gets stronger and lived a happy life. But life by his side, nevertheless.
He wanted to secure the loyalty of the only paper-user in the entirety of Elemental Nations. A paper-user who he knew would die for him and adore him if he cared for her. If he showed her she was important. If he made her feel appreciated.
Rei finally pulled Konan into his shack and was amused at the wide-eyed girl.
She didn't think the boy would have a house! She meekly looked at the floor, shuffling her legs nervously.
"What's wrong?" Rei asked her.
"I... I am dirty."
Rei looked over her muddy form and nodded. With some difficulty, he brought a bucket of rainwater to the girl.
"Strip and wash." He took out his father's old cloak and put it near the girl.
The shack only had one room so Konan was plainly visible as she washed with an old sponge and the water from the bucket. Rei could clearly see bruises on her body and could only shake his head with a wince.
Really, what madness gripped me to wish for living in this world... He wistfully thought.
But... he could only soldier on, harden his heart and survive. If it meant making others suffer... so be it.
He also stripped, startling Konan momentarily. Rei's mature mind knew he was acting childish. He should blush, be bashful and yet… he was a child now. Their nakedness didn't bother him at all.
When Konan saw him take another sponge out, she bashfully made a place for him near the bucket. Rei, instead of washing himself, started to wash Konan. The girl looked at him in confusion but then just shrugged it off and started washing him with her sponge, a small smile marring her face. Even she didn't know when she last smiled.
...
As the kids were done washing each other. Rei handed Konan a slice of hard bread and watched as she gulped when her hands clasped it. She looked at Rei, her eyes expectantly asking for permission. Konan started nibbling on the slice only after Rei nodded at her and Rei smiled as he started eating his slice. He could not afford to waste food but Konan looked as if one slice of bread per day was a heavenly meal. Maybe... his provisions would last her half a year if she ate frugally like this. But he was a man from the modern era! He needed his three meals a day!
"Why?" Konan asked Rei timidly as they finished eating, tears of happiness starting to fall from her eyes.
Seeing Rei tilt his head, she asked more in detail as her eyes repeatedly darted from Rei to the ground.
"Why take me in?" Konan looked to the floor and tried to wipe her tears.
"I want you to become mine!" Rei exclaimed. In hindsight, maybe not the best-worded answer.
Konan lived on the streets. She knew... saw what it meant for a girl to belong to a boy. She was always frightened by the screams. But no matter how she tried to close her eyes or cover her ears when night came, many older girls did... things with boys. For money. For food. Or... other reasons.
"Uuuuu." She clutched her head in embarrassment and Rei could only wonder if the steam would start coming from her head.
Konan decided. No one was so kind to her. Her childish mind decided she will give herself to the boy, not even understanding what it meant. She may be mature and saw many things on the streets but she was still a child. In her mind, if she received a slice of bread and a roof over her head, she wouldn't mind... doing that painful-looking thing with Rei!
Rei slowly realized the girl was somehow misunderstanding him. So, when he had his fun due to her embarrassment and actually saw the resolve flick through her eyes, he elaborated.
"Of course as a friend!"
Konan blinked at Rei, her mind stopping short. She slowly nodded, her eyes trying to avoid Rei.
But even if this meant she wouldn't need to do... that with Rei... yet, Konan gained her resolve. It was plainly obvious to Rei. In her eyes, he started to become someone important. He doubted she even realized it yet, but for Rei, that was a start. A start of getting his first loyal S-ranked ninja.
And have no doubts, Konan was more than capable of becoming much stronger than just an S-ranked ninja. Rei decided he would make sure of that...
Kapitel 3: Ch3. Chakra Strings and Paper Folding
Rei and Konan slept cuddled to each other for additional warmth on the small bed in the shack.
The next morning, Rei stood behind fidgety Konan as she sat cross-legged on the floor.
"Focus." He ordered and Konan instantly closed her eyes, but her body was still fidgeting from the nervousness. Rei sighed and put his hands on her shoulders as he pushed a small amount of his chakra into her abdomen through her shoulders. He could feel Konan sigh in relief as her body shuddered, relishing the feeling.
"Focus." He repeated, a little more sternly and felt her body tense for a second before she relaxed and again started meditating.
He helped her as she found her chakra, helped her guide it. Rei saw that Konan's chakra control is very good even without practicing. Something to be happy about. Especially since she had even less chakra than him. It really drove home the point just what kind of monster Naruto was.
Rei stood and approached the wall while Konan, her eyes still closed, felt the warm chakra in her body, and played with it. It made Rei smile as she saw her slightly curled up lips. Even as a child, Konan wasn't very cheerful. But the more she warmed up to Rei, the more she opened up.
"Konan," Rei softly called her. "come here."
Konan quickly opened her eyes and crawled towards him. Rei thought it was quite cute.
"Put a layer of chakra on the sole of your-"
He saw her uncomprehending gaze and cracked a smile.
"Chakra is the warm thingie in your body, alright?"
Konan gave him a small determined nod.
"Now, put a small layer on the sole of your foot and try to stick it onto the wall."
Konan obediently listened and then tried it. She raised her left foot and put it on the wall. Her face looked focused as she cutely nibbled on her lower lip. Then she tried to yank her feet away from the wall, only for it to be stuck there. It imbalanced her and with a shriek, Konan started flailing her arms in the air.
Rei quickly came behind her and hugged her body from behind, making her regain stability.
"Don't be impatient." He chuckled as he told the blushing girl.
Seeing her nod and her foot leaving the wall, he released her from his hold.
"Practice. Try to find the smallest amount of chakra that can stick you to the wall." Rei told the girl as he sat down, leaning on the wall as he tried to stick slices of paper on his fingers.
"Later." He told the girl who was curiously peering at his fingers and the paper. "When you find the smallest amount of chakra to stick your foot onto the wall."
Konan nodded, and with a renewed vigor, put her all into training.
...
A few days passed. Rei and Konan got even closer to each other but Konan didn't get any more vocal. Rei thought that the Konan from canon that saved Nagato must have spent quite a bit of time with Yahiko already to be that cheerful. The Konan cuddling to him thought... she was fearful, desperate to please, desperate for even the smallest of affection, desperate to be praised, but she outwardly appeared mostly impassive.
Yes, it got better. Around him. But with others?
Yesterday they went to the market and Rei spotted that Konan was always clutching his sleeve and her face always stayed completely stoic. Even as the shopkeeper praised Konan for being well-behaved, she only looked to the floor with a nod but her expression didn't change.
Well, at least they bought more food and some paper.
After Rei saw Konan could stick a paper on each of her fingers, he told her to fold it only with her chakra. He had a lot of fun watching her as she intently gazed at the unmoving slice of paper on her palm in frustration!
Rei also made Konan exercise with him. Not much. They did not have enough food for it to be beneficial but they still decided to get at least some push-ups in.
Their chakra was rising by the day. Rei surmised, it was still not even on the level of an academy student but daily emptying of their reserves until they had around ten percent remaining helped in increasing it.
Funnily enough, Konan's skinny figure also got better. The chakra apparently could make humans last more without food and water. She confessed she felt stronger. Her belly also became somewhat flat instead of dented inwards. Rei was quite surprised at the change. Chakra was really awesome. It would take weeks for a malnourished child to put some weight on but Konan went to bed and rose up a bit better every day. Chakra basically tried to keep the body in the optimal state.
But the disadvantage was that Rei and Konan felt hungrier.
...
Rei watched Konan as she was folding paper in half while nibbling on her lower lip. It still took her a lot of concentration. He instead trained to form chakra strings. As thin as possible.
It was quite challenging but his supreme chakra control was very helpful. He could form them by the nonsensical explanation he found in one fanfic. Draw your chakra from the tenketsu in your finger and make it into a thin thread.
"Whoa." Konan watched with a wide-eyed gaze of awe as a paper started 'flying' above Rei's palm. Rei moved it from the left to the right and chuckled as Konan's eyes intently stared at it.
He put his free hand on the head of the cute girl.
"Don't worry, I will teach you later. For now, focus on folding. Okay?"
Konna bobbed her head up and down but didn't leave to practice. She firmly stood, leaning her head into Rei's hand.
"Okay." He again chuckled. "Sit down.
Konan happily sat in between his legs and leaned her back on his chest while trying to fold the paper as Rei patted her head while his other hand was manipulating two slices of papers on two thin chakra threads. Anything heavier than that was beyond him. For now.
...
Rei started suspecting Konan had a bloodline. That her paper-bullshit is not just a superb chakra control and dedication to paper manipulation.
He gaped when the girl made the slices of paper fly with a giddy giggle. Why was he surprised? Because he did not teach her the chakra threads yet! The girl just wanted them to fly so she imbued them with her chakra and they... flew.
It was bullshit. Really.
Chakra did not work that way! Not for him at least! Hence, he really started suspecting it was a bloodline.
She was living with Rei for a month already. After he allowed her to sit in his lap, Rei quickly found out the girl liked to cuddle and hug. She almost always sat in his lap as she practiced her folding technique, expecting him to pat her head. It was jaw-dropping seeing her just after a week of practice create a paper airplane. But when she started creating some simple flowers after two additional weeks? Rei stopped caring.
Rei used this little head pat addiction of hers to practice his chakra strings while making the folding harder for her. He connected the strings to her paper and moved it around in front of them while Konan tried to fold it while it was moving and away from her hands. She first had to imbue the paper with her chakra but then she could mold it mid-air. It only required focus. That was what Rei tried to train her in since he was not only forbidding her to touch the paper but also do it while it was moving. The cute munchkin was following the paper with her amber gaze, trying to make her chakra fold it.
His chakra strings also tried to make her lose focus as he connected them to her feet, her fingers, and his favorite, the tips of her hair, occasionally gently pulling. It was fun making her hair stand with his strings. It was also incredibly hard as he had to multitask and create many strings to do it. Alas, it was worth it. Rei was always smug when he heard Konan giggle and lose her focus and then pout at him.
But... this month was enough. They needed more food and now that he had chakra strings and Konan could make paper fly, they could... 'borrow' some.
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