An Ordinary Day, a Message from Orochimaru

Itachi and Konan walked down the road, one in front of the other.

Konan walked ahead.

Itachi followed behind.

There was a distance of three body lengths between them.

The atmosphere was completely silent.

"Konan, let's find something to eat."

Itachi's voice broke the silence. He was getting a little hungry.

Hearing Itachi's words, Konan stopped walking, then turned around to look at him.

"Itachi, what do you want to eat?"

Konan suddenly remembered that she was older than Itachi and should take better care of him in some ways.

That was why she asked.

"Anything is fine. As long as it fills my stomach and doesn't taste bad, I'm good with whatever."

Konan's question caught Itachi off guard for a moment before he answered.

He found it rather amusing and became interested.

From the sound of it, Konan was planning to get him something to eat. As long as she was not asking him to make it, anything was fine with him~

"Wait here for a moment. I'll be right back..."

Hearing Itachi's words, Konan nodded.

Then a pair of enormous wings formed from tiny sheets of paper appeared behind her. With a beat of her wings, she vanished from before Itachi...

Watching Konan flap her paper wings and fly away,

Itachi felt a wave of envy and amazement.

He wanted to fly too... He wanted to experience the feeling of flying on his own.

Before long, Konan returned.

She carried two items wrapped in oil paper.

Konan slowly landed, and the wings made of small paper sheets behind her gradually dispersed. She looked utterly stunning, like an angel.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I bought two grilled fish."

Ignoring Itachi's burning gaze through his bamboo hat, Konan spoke softly.

"Okay."

Itachi accepted the package Konan handed him and sat on the ground. He took off his bamboo hat and set it beside him. As he unwrapped the package, he replied.

"It's still hot. Nice."

After opening the oil paper, a rich fragrance rushed into his nose. The scorching heat in his hands left him somewhat satisfied.

"Eat it while it's hot."

Hearing Itachi's words, Konan felt a sense of satisfaction in her heart.

See? Your big sister's pretty impressive, isn't she~

Konan opened her own package. Her grilled fish was only the length and width of her palm. Compared to Itachi, who needed energy to grow, her appetite was much smaller.

"Mm, it smells great."

Noticing there were no utensils, Itachi lifted the oil paper, brought the grilled fish to his mouth, opened it, and took a bite.

He gave a muffled reply through his mouthful of food.

Watching Itachi eat with gusto, Konan also felt satisfied. Being able to help someone and make them happy was a pleasant thing.

Even the grilled fish in her hand seemed to become more delicious.

"Konan, do those paper wings consume much chakra?"

After eating most of his fish, Itachi saw Konan still eating hers daintily and asked.

"It's alright. As long as I'm not fighting, it doesn't consume much."

Hearing Itachi's question, Konan tore off a piece of fish and put it into her mouth. As she picked out the bones and chewed slowly, she answered softly.

"I think our organization has too few people. We should improve our mission efficiency..."

After hearing Konan's answer, Itachi's heart stirred, and he spoke with a mournful expression.

Konan, who was eating grilled fish, froze slightly before rolling her eyes beautifully and shooting Itachi an irritated look.

"Don't even think about it. I'm not carrying passengers."

Konan lightly bit her silver teeth, her gaze and expression fierce.

Seeing Konan's appearance, Itachi felt a little awkward...

"Alright, alright, don't get worked up. Watch out for fish bones."

Seeing that his plan had been exposed, Itachi could only spread his hands helplessly.

"No! You have to promise that you won't get any ideas about me again! Otherwise, I'll beat you up."

Itachi's concession did not calm Konan down. Instead, she continued eating fish as she spoke indistinctly.

"Alright, alright..."

Watching Konan suddenly turn adorably dazed, Itachi was somewhat baffled.

He lowered his head and ate the rest of his fish.

Women really are terrifying creatures. She was so gentle just now, then suddenly turned so fierce...

Itachi secretly raised his head to glance at Konan and thought to himself.

After the two finished lunch and rested for a while, they set off again.

Konan also seemed to be the type to slack off, which improved Itachi's somewhat gloomy mood.

The two traveled at an unhurried pace, crossing forests, grasslands, mountains, and rivers...

As Itachi breathed in the pleasant fragrance carried on the breeze from ahead, it felt as though the world had become a little brighter.

"Itachi, what attack methods do you have?"

At dusk,

the two found a place to spend the night and decided not to travel after dark...

After all, Konan needed her beauty sleep.

After Itachi gathered some branches and lit a small campfire, Konan asked softly.

"Me? I can throw shuriken, and I can use Fire Release. I'm very good."

Hearing Konan's words, Itachi answered without even thinking.

"Huh? Who can't throw shuriken? Fire Release is decent, I guess..."

Konan was a little speechless after hearing Itachi's answer...

If she had not read Itachi's intelligence report, she might have actually believed his nonsense.

"What are we having for dinner?"

Just as Konan was about to continue questioning him, Itachi spoke and interrupted her train of thought...

At the mention of food, Konan's desire to keep asking faded, and she perked up somewhat.

"It's already getting late. I don't feel like buying anything, so go find us something to eat..."

After thinking it over, Konan was a little too lazy to move, so she decided to hand the important responsibility of dinner to Itachi, the man...

"I see... Alright, I'll go take a look..."

Watching Itachi's figure disappear from sight, Konan took out a sheet of paper and began folding it.

She seemed to be in quite a good mood.

Itachi cleaned up the mess left behind from their dinner on the ground.

Looking at Konan resting with her eyes closed against the base of a tree, Itachi's lips curved slightly upward.

He felt that Konan was not a bad teammate after all.

At the very least, she was quite pleasing to the eye, and the pleasant fragrance that drifted over from time to time improved his mood considerably.

Just as Itachi was about to make a few Shadow Clones and rest for a while, a faint sound caught his attention.

He quietly stood up and walked toward the source of the sound.

Because he sensed a familiar fluctuation.

After Itachi walked several dozen meters away from the firelight, a viper as wide as three fingers crawled out from the grass beside him.

"Lord Itachi, Lord Orochimaru asked me to bring this to you."

While Itachi was still slightly dazed, the viper spoke human language, making him cast it a sidelong glance.

"Orochimaru? Did he succeed?"

Hearing the viper's words, Itachi's expression changed, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes.

However, the viper did not answer. It seemed unintelligent and incapable of communication.

It merely spat out a scroll from its mouth, then spoke again.

"Lord Orochimaru said that this contains his current location. When you have time, you may come visit him. He looks forward to working with you. The Akatsuki is not a long-term solution..."

As if it had been programmed, after speaking, the viper became dull once more, turned around, and crawled back into the grass...

Watching the departing viper, Itachi picked up the scroll on the ground with some disgust.

Then he walked back toward the campfire.

After all, Konan was still resting there. If he stayed away too long, something unexpected might happen.