The sacred Chrysalis-Breaking Ritual had ended.
She had hoped it would wash away all the fatigue, injuries, and ailments that had built up over the past year.
Konan had roused her drug-numbed sleep center on her own and fallen asleep in Nagato's arms.
Cold threads of rain hung between heaven and earth.
One hand supporting the crook of Konan's knees and the other beneath her arms, Nagato rose to his feet atop the altar at the center of the lake.
Poof! In the blink of an eye, he and Konan vanished into a cloud of Haku-colored summoning smoke.
The scene shifted to Konan's bedroom.
Pain Rin lowered her tiny hand from its seal and flashed away.
Nagato carefully bent down and gently laid Konan on the bed of the double sleeper.
Admiring the peaceful face in his arms from up close, the faint breath from her cherry-red lips brushing against his face... it was intoxicating.
It was hard to believe... that just fifteen minutes ago, he had shared an intimate kiss with those lips.
He could not help feeling the urge to commit a crime.
Given my current relationship with Konan... even if I really couldn't hold back and did something to her, she probably wouldn't blame me, right?
No... how would that make me any different from a beast?!
Nagato shook his head hard, casting those stray thoughts from his mind.
He tucked Konan in properly.
Nagato lowered his gaze, feeling restless and uncertain.
He wondered whether Konan would remember how they had nearly crossed the line when she woke up...
If she did, would things become awkward between them?
But if that had not been a momentary lapse of judgment on her part, but... a genuine outpouring of feeling...
At that thought, Nagato suddenly shuddered.
He recalled every