The Most Beautiful Flower

After the rain, the skies cleared.

Without an angel's arrival, the Land of Rain might not get six hours of sunshine in an entire year. Right now, they were enjoying part of those six hours.

The village was bustling. The world-famous Heavenly Flying Immortal Uchiha Jiang Feng was about to leave, and aside from those who simply couldn't get away, everyone had gathered to see off their new friend.

It was because of partings that people cherished reunions all the more and looked forward to the next one. So wasn't a farewell a kind of happiness, too?

But Konan wasn't happy.

A cherry blossom drifted down from the tree, soft as a lover's lips.

Konan stood in the spring breeze, holding a paper flower as she gazed blankly at the cherry tree in the courtyard. She seemed lost in thought, or perhaps confiding in the breeze her sorrow at parting and the feelings in a young girl's heart.

Nagato leaned against the courtyard wall with his arms crossed, gazing at his companion, his family, standing in the spring breeze.

Her brows were like distant mountains, and her bright, expressive eyes were shaded with makeup that matched her hair. Ever since the day after Jiang Feng arrived in the village, Konan had started wearing eyeshadow. Before then, she had never gone out of her way to dress up.

Nagato finally couldn't hold back. "He's leaving soon. Aren't you going to see him off?"

Konan shook her head.

She didn't understand why Yahiko and the others could be so happy when their friend was about to leave. Wasn't parting something to be sad about?

The thought of not knowing when she'd see her friend again made Konan so miserable that she didn't even want to see him one last time.

"I want to give him a flower. You can hand it over to him for me." Konan tilted her head up and began counting the cherry blossoms on the tree again, still undecided.

Nagato saw right through her. "You're planning to send him back to Konoha with the most beautiful flower in the Land of Rain, aren't you?"

Konan nodded.

Each of the twenty-three cherry blossoms on the tree was precious to the Land of Rain and the Akatsuki Organization. But no flower, however precious, could compare to sincere friendship.

So Konan wanted to give Jiang Feng the most beautiful blossom. No one would object. Even if she dug up the tree and made Jiang Feng carry it away, everyone would applaud.

The problem was that all twenty-three blossoms were beautiful—so beautiful that Konan couldn't choose the most beautiful one.

Nagato sighed. Now he understood. "You called me over because you wanted me to help you choose the most beautiful one."

Konan nodded.

Nagato continued, "All twenty-three blossoms on the tree are beautiful, breathtakingly so. But the cherry blossoms we treasure so much are nothing special in Konoha.

"And besides, a flower wilts as soon as it's picked. By the time he gets back to Konoha, the flower you give him will be even less able to compare with the cherry blossoms there."

Konan pressed her lips together and instinctively lowered her eyes to the paper flower in her hands. She had gone to great lengths to fold it last night, and she thought it was the most beautiful paper flower of all.

Nagato went on, "By comparison, the paper flower you're holding is more beautiful and shows more thought. Even next to every flower in Konoha, it won't look out of place."

So she should give him the paper flower after all?

Just as Konan was about to hand it to Nagato to pass along, Nagato—who had a habit of leaving the point until the end—suddenly changed tack again.

"But!

"Even the paper flower in your hand isn't the most beautiful flower in the Land of Rain. I know a flower that's millions of times more beautiful than the one you're holding.

"Even in Konoha, it could outshine every flower there."

"Where is it?"

Konan pressed him. She wanted to give her friend the very best.

"It's right here in the village. Yahiko and I prepared it for you ages ago. I guarantee Jiang Feng will return to Konoha carrying the most beautiful flower in the Land of Rain, happy as can be."

Nagato thumped his chest as he made the promise.

Konan was skeptical. She wasn't sure she could trust her two companions, her family, to have good taste.

"You don't believe me?"

"I just want to see it for myself."

"Then you'll have to come with me. Judging by the time, Yahiko should be handing the flower to Jiang Feng soon. I wonder if he'll like it."

Still skeptical, Konan followed Nagato to the village entrance.

She knew Jiang Feng would like any flower Yahiko gave him, because they were friends. But she still wanted to see for herself whether the flower was beautiful, because they were friends.

The Akatsuki Organization's assorted hangers-on crowded together in a throng. At the edge of the crowd, Jiang Feng and the spirited Yahiko were saying their final goodbyes.

The two discussed the state of the Ninja World and talked about everything under the sun. Tsunade stood quietly to one side without joining in.

Yahiko said he planned to get the Akatsuki Organization settled first, then head north to the Land of Lightning to persuade the Raikage to abandon plans to attack Konoha—or to resolve their disputes with Konoha in a more restrained way that would cause less harm.

Jiang Feng said it would be difficult. Kumogakure was famous for its hard-line, militant stance and had always advocated expansion by force. And they did have a reason to pursue it: their strength was not much less than Konoha's at present, but their resources were vastly inferior.

Yahiko said it all came down to people. They had to give it a try.

Even if they couldn't make the Land of Lightning abandon its ambitions for expansion entirely, persuading it to settle its differences with Konoha through negotiations and duels between the strongest fighters rather than all-out war would still be a great achievement.

Jiang Feng nodded, approving of Yahiko's idea. Achieving that wasn't entirely impossible.

Duels and arranged fights were quite common. During the Warring States period, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha, bitter enemies, had ultimately resolved their differences in a way that was much like a duel between the strongest fighters.

The Second Tsuchikage, Mu, and the Second Mizukage, Little Mustache, had also once arranged a fight.

Standing at the edge of the crowd, Konan quietly watched the two spirited young men discuss matters of great importance. She admired them, but was also a little confused.

Weren't they supposed to give Jiang Feng a flower? Why were they still talking about important matters?

"Konan!"

Yahiko suddenly waved her over. Konan, caught off guard, went to join him in front of Jiang Feng.

"I thought you weren't in the village."

Jiang Feng looked at the girl, pleasantly surprised. He'd been wondering where Konan was this whole time.

"I had something to take care of just now." The girl's cheeks flushed faintly, more lovely than cherry blossoms.

"Haha, to mediate the conflict between Kumogakure and Konoha, it won't do to work only on Kumogakure's side. We also have to consider Konoha's position and the Hokage's thoughts. This can only work if we communicate and discuss things thoroughly."

Konan thought Yahiko was being rather oblivious to the mood. But perhaps that was just who he was, with his mind always on the affairs of the world.

Yahiko suddenly pulled a letter from inside his clothes and handed it to Konan. "So, Konan, I'll have to leave the Konoha side to you. I hope you can go to Konoha with Jiang Feng and deliver this letter to our teacher, Jiraiya. If possible, please introduce our ideals to the Hokage as well."

Konan froze.

Tsunade frowned. "Jiraiya might not be in Konoha."

With Kumogakure making such a major move, Konoha couldn't possibly sit idle. The old man might have assigned Jiraiya to the front lines, and no one knew when he would return.

Yahiko smiled. "Then I'll have to ask Jiang Feng to look after Konan until she meets our teacher, Jiraiya. I'm sure he won't refuse a friend's request."