Itachi's pupils widened slightly as she instinctively took half a step forward, then stopped.
Still as beautiful as ever.
The young man smiled foolishly, as awkward as when he had given her wildflowers and stones back then.
Big Buddha paused as he fingered his prayer beads. The skin exposed at the collar of his monk's robe was covered in a horrifying web of Edo Tensei cracks.
"Was Mi Yan in pain when she died?"
Big Buddha asked calmly, yet the countless paper sheets in the sky froze in midair at once.
Konan's fingertips dug deeply into her palm. He recalled the last time he had seen Big Buddha: the man who always said, "If I do not enter hell, who will?" had been pierced by wooden spikes, his body shattered beyond recognition.
"Do you hate me?"
Paper sheets fluttered anxiously around Konan.
"For turning your ideals into this."
"Hahaha..." Itachi suddenly laughed. He bent down and picked a dead wildflower from among the rubble, moving just like that stubborn spearhead boy from his memories.
"Back then, I even had Nagato revise my love letter three times."
The petals drifted through the chaotic wind. "How could we hate you?"
Big Buddha's sigh mixed with the sound of rain. He removed his prayer beads and placed them around Konan's wrist. "These are sandalwood beads I just made with chakra."
Only when they touched her skin did Konan realize she was crying.
"We're the ones who should apologize."
The monk's broad palm hovered over her head, comforting her like he had comforted that girl who had wanted to teach others long ago. "You walked alone for so long. For sixteen years, you must have believed in it deeply, right?"
Moonlight fell from the sky, weaving a transparent curtain between the three of them.