Violet looked up at Naruto and asked, "When did you realize I wanted to kill you?"
Naruto folded his arms across his chest. "Probably back in the woods in the Land of Fire, when I had my nose in a book. But there were jackals lurking nearby, so I wasn't sure whether your killing intent was directed at me or them. I decided to wait and see."
"You behaved yourself the whole way after that, so..."
Violet jumped to a conclusion. "So you pretended to be drunk to fool me! You baited me into giving myself away!"
Naruto said, "Yeah, more or less. Honestly, I really hoped I'd imagined it."
Violet said, "What a scheming man. Still, I failed to see through your scheme and exposed myself. That just shows how little I'm capable of. Hmph..."
Naruto said, "Can you tell me why you did it now?"
Sorrow flickered in Violet's eyes. "Both my parents were Amegakure ninja. They were killed by Konoha ninja during the Third Shinobi World War. My little sister and I only survived because someone came to our rescue. After that, we had only each other."
"Then my sister, who was a chunin, went out on an S-rank mission and was killed by ninja from Konoha's Root..."
Konan said, "So it really was because of Ajisai? When I decided to requisition her body, didn't you agree? That way, we could preserve her appearance... Are you saying you resent us for sending her on that mission?"
Violet smiled. "Don't think I'm that narrow-minded. A ninja has to be prepared to sacrifice their life. My sister was a ninja, and dying on a mission was her fate. I can't blame anyone else..."
Konan said, "Then why?"
Violet looked at Konan, a smile curling her lips as though she