Chapter 23: Revelations

Tsunade rubbed her forehead as she looked at Naruto, who was currently standing at attention in front of her desk with the blue-haired woman that she had seen with him by his side and couldn't help but wonder if this boy was trying to force her into retirement via stress. Just when she thought they had everything figured out, the last remaining Uzumaki aside from her managed to drop an exploding tag on her.

"So you're telling me that the Uchiha Madara that is supposedly secretly leading Akatsuki from the shadows really isn't Uchiha Madara, but someone impersonating him?" She had just been given a report on what had happened during their capture Itachi mission. While she was pleased to know that Sasuke had been captured during that mission, this new information on the man known as Tobi, who they had assumed was Uchiha Madara was troubling.

Tsunade really wasn't sure if she should be relieved or terrified by that knowledge. The founder of the Uchiha clan had been a shinobi of monstrous strength. The only ninja said to be on par with her grandfather, Senju Hashirama, who was still considered to be the most powerful ninja in the Elemental Nations. If the man Naruto fought was not Madara, then it meant they wouldn't have to deal with such a powerful ninja. On the other side of the coin toss, the man Naruto fought was capable of controlling the Kyuubi just like her grandfather's rival, which could mean they were dealing with someone who was not only just as powerful, but also a complete unknown. Neither of those answers brought much comfort.

"Kyuubi seems to think so," Naruto answered her with a shrug. "And since he knows the bastard personally, I can only assume that the fox is right. Aside from that, I trust Kyuubi's judgment when it comes to these things."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not misplacing your trust? This is the being that nearly destroyed Konoha, you know."

"I doubt Kyuubi would lie about something like this," Naruto defended the powerful nine-tailed kitsune in his gut. "He doesn't benefit from lying to me or withholding information that could potentially end with him becoming a tool for an Uchiha again." If there was one thing that Naruto knew about the fox it was that he hated being manipulated or controlled in any way. He worked with Naruto because it was a benefit to him right now, but even with the threat of being sealed in a statue should Akatsuki capture the blond, it was still reluctant to do so. Naruto could only imagine how Kyuubi would feel about becoming an Uchiha's pet once more.

"That does make sense," Tsunade sighed, more than ever wishing that she didn't need to be sober for this report so she could reach under her desk and grab some sake from her stash. "I suppose I'll just have to trust you about the Kyuubi then. Now that we have that out of the way..." Tsunade's eyes strayed from Naruto and went to Konan, narrowing as they did. "You can begin telling me who this is and why she ended up with you and a half-dead Jiraiya."

For one of the first times in a long while, Naruto found himself at a loss for words. It wasn't that he had no intention of telling Tsunade who Konan was, because really, it wasn't like he could keep this from her. No, his issue ran more along the lines of trying to figure out what he should tell her first. After all, how do you tell someone that the woman before them is not only one of the four women who had agreed to be his wife, but also a member of the very organization trying to capture his Bijuu? It's not like he could just come out and say 'this is my bride-to-be, Konan, I'm sure you remember her from when the two of you met in Ame during the Second Shinobi World War. Oh, and by the way, she also happens to be working with Akatsuki; you know, the organization made up of S-ranked criminals trying to steal the Bijuu. But don't worry! She no longer agrees with their ideals and is actually my spy within the said organization now.' Yeah, he could see that going over really well. This required more subtlety.

"Do you remember when I mentioned during my first few days here how I refused to reveal two of the women who agreed to marry me for their own protection?"

Well, so much for subtlety.

"Yes," Tsunade said, furrowing her brow as she tried to figure out where this was going. "You wouldn't even reveal who they were to me, stating that the more people who know the less of a secret it is the safer she... was...?" The woman's eyes widened as she snapped her gaze towards Naruto, and then towards Konan. They came back towards Naruto a second later and her jaw nearly dropped. "You're telling me that she's one of your wives?"

"The technical term would be betrothed," Naruto stated, a bit of mirth in his voice at seeing Tsunade looking as if she had just shit a brick. "But yes, this woman is my betrothed. Her name is Konan."

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Tsunade-sama," Konan finally spoke up for the first time since the meeting began, bowing her head slightly towards the blond Hokage as a sign of respect.

"See me again?" Tsunade blinked after picking her metaphorical jaw off the floor. She looked at the woman with slightly narrowed eyes. "Are you telling me we've met before?"

"That is correct. You may not remember me, but I was one of the war orphans that Jiraiya took in when you three were in Amegakure during the Second Shinobi World War."

Konan's words spurred the memories of the Godaime Hokage. She remembered the Second World War quite well, though she wished she didn't. That was not a time she liked to remember as it was the war where she lost both her younger brother, Nawaki, as well as her boyfriend and fiance, Dan. However, she did remember her time in Ame. It was hard to forget, seeing as how that had been when she, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru had fought against Shanshōuo no Hanzo (Hanzo of the Salamander) and earned themselves the title of Densetsu no Sannin.

Thinking back on that time, Tsunade did remember meeting three orphans, two boys, and a girl... a girl with blue hair, amber eyes, and an origami flower in her hair. Blinking several times, Tsunade looked at Konan and overlapped the image of the young girl with the woman standing before her.

They were nearly identical, minus the labret piercing, skin-tight leather pants, shoulder-less leather top, and the sensual curves that most women would kill for.

"Gaki..." Tsunade growled out. "You'd better have a good reason for marrying someone who's old enough to be your mother!"

"Eh?"

Naruto blinked. Konan blinked. Naruto blinked once more for good measure.

"But... Mei's almost twice my age," Naruto pointed out. "Doesn't that make her old enough to be my mother as well?" That was not even mentioning Yugao and Yugito, both of whom were in their mid-twenties. Thinking on it, the only one who was even close to him in age was Koyuki, who was only twenty years old. Even then, the only reason marriage with her was considered legal was because he was a shinobi, and therefore an adult.

"And as things stand the only reason I'm even tolerating your relationship with Mei is because I can see that she truly loves you," Tsunade stated with a stern look. "Even now a part of me is telling me not to let her anywhere near you because of your age difference. This woman," the busty blond pointed at Konan, "is at least ten years older than Mei is! That means she's over twenty years older than you!"

Naruto's lips thinned into a small line. He was well aware of the difference in the age between himself and Konan and was even more aware that their relationship would turn a lot of heads, and not necessarily in a good way once people learned about their age difference. Still, he had assumed Tsunade would be supportive, if not because Konan loved him, then because she understood him better than most due to her also being a student of Jiraiya's. That she didn't hurt more than he would ever let on.

"While it is true that I am technically over twenty years older than Naruto-kun," Konan began speaking before either of the two blondes could. Both of them turned their attention to her, Naruto with curiosity, and Tsunade with animosity. "That is only partially correct. You see, due to an... incident a few years before the Third Great Ninja War, Nagato, or Pain as he has stylized himself as, became crippled. This led him to create his paths, which splits up his Rinnegan abilities into six individual bodies. Being forced to use this jutsu not only greatly weakened his Rinnegan but also leaves him very vulnerable if people knew how to exploit it. Because of this, we came up with a backup plan. Should Nagato ever die, I was to implant his Rinnegan into my own eyes and continue his work."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the woman, her anger still simmering beneath the surface, but buried under her curiosity. "That's a very interesting tale and all, but what does that have to do with the age difference between you and Naruto?"

"Because we were not aware of how long it would take to accomplish our goals, Nagato felt it would be best if I was able to live longer. For the past eighteen years, he's been using a modified version of the Gedō: Rinne Tensei No Jutsu (Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique) which when used normally would allow him to revive a person who has recently become diseased. However, the modified version is different in that it stores souls in the King of Hell, and then converts them into a form of medical chakra that can rejuvenate the body."

"In other words, it's capable of turning back the hands of time," Tsunade concluded for Konan before the bluenette could finish her speech.

"Or stalling them," Konan told her. "Which is what happened to me. While I've technically lived for forty-two years, my body has not aged since I was twenty-four."

"Hmph!" Tsunade huffed as she glared at the younger woman, before begrudgingly speaking. "I suppose that would explain why you don't look your age..."

There was a hint of jealousy in the female Hokage's voice that almost had Naruto smiling. He could only wonder at how pissed the blond woman was at knowing that while her young looks were due to a henge, Konan's was because she really was just that young.

A few seconds later Naruto realized something that caused him to blink. "How come I didn't know anything about this?"

"I didn't think it was relevant at the time," Konan admitted with a shrug. "Would knowing that I am physically younger than you thought I made a difference?"

"Well... no," Naruto admitted, scratching his cheek with his index finger.

"Then it doesn't matter, does it?" asked Konan with the slightest of smiles. "And besides, I never really thought about what our age meant for us until Tsunade-sama brought it up." This was true, ever since they had met Konan had never really thought about Naruto's age. While her lover sometimes tended to act childish, more often than not he displayed the maturity of someone three times his age. Because of that she had never really seen him as a sixteen-year-old boy, but simply as a man who had the same desire for peace that she did.

Tsunade stared at the pair for a long time, before heaving a sigh and slumping back in her chair. Despite this, she still managed to fix them both with a glare. "I still don't like it," she told them without reservation. "Even if you are physically as young as you claim, I still dislike the fact that you two have such an intimate relationship." Naruto opened his mouth, most likely to come up with some retort, but Tsunade held up a hand to stop him. "However, both of you are consenting adults, and furthermore, ninja. I can't tell you how to live your life and that includes who you can and can't be intimate with. I'll let this go on the condition that you," she pointed at Konan, "never betray the trust and love he has given you."

"I give you my word that I would never betray Naruto," Konan said, and though her voice was still stoic, her eyes were burning with conviction. "Naruto is the only light I have left in this world of darkness, and the only person who can truly understand me. Even if I didn't love him, I would never betray him."

"I'll hold you to that," Tsunade told the bluenette. With the minor confrontation and relationship crises over, the blond Godaime Hokage leaned back in her desk, propped her elbows on the table, and laced her fingers together in front of her face. "Now, since we've gotten this out of the way, why don't you two tell me how you know each other."

Naruto's shoulders slumped as he realized that he had just overcome one crisis only to run directly into another. Arguing over a relationship between two people's age difference was nothing compared to explaining how the woman he was set to marry belonged to a group of S-ranked criminals that were dead set on sucking the Kyuubi out of his body, which would consequently kill him. Talk about moving out of the stove and into the oven.

"You'd better break out the sake for this one, Hokage-sama," Naruto said, using the more respectful title and suffix for the woman before him, letting Tsunade know just how serious this next issue was. "This is going to take a long time to properly explain."

Tsunade looked at the elite jonin with a raised eyebrow, before deciding to do as told. Bringing out a bottle of sake and three cups, she poured all three of them a drink. Reaching out for hers, the woman took a sip, reveling in being able to drink something for this. After allowing herself a small moment of pleasure, she fixed the blond with a level look. "Start talking, gaki."

"Right," Naruto sighed as he grabbed his own cup, taking a small sip before he began. "It all started when I decided to separate myself from Ero-sennin for a bit to look for clues on Akatsuki's whereabouts on my own..."

XXXXXXXXXX

Pain found himself staring into the raining sky as he stood upon the balcony of the towering structure he had claimed as his base of operations. The clouds were particularly thick today, and the rain was much heavier than usual. It beat against the steel architecture with the sound of a thousand drums being hammered at the same time, an endless drumbeat that refused to stop for anything except a god.

None of this mattered to Pain at the moment. The reanimated corpse he was using as his Deva Path could feel neither the cold nor the sting of a thousand droplets of water being battered against his body. He simply continued to look out at the city as the heavens cried out their anguish to him.

"Madara," Pain stated as he felt a distortion behind him. He did not turn as the one calling himself Tobi began appearing within a swirl of black chakra, first, his orange swirl mask covered his head, then his body, followed finally by his arms and legs. "You failed to keep the Kyuubi Jinchurikki occupied. Because of his interference, Jiraiya survived and now knows where my base is located."

"The boy was stronger than I thought he would be," Tobi said, his voice gruff as he walked towards Pain. There was a limp in the masked man's steps, a sign that the leg he had regrown and attached to himself was still giving him problems. He came to a stop besides Pain and looked out at the city. "I underestimated him and it cost me."

"The boy is becoming more trouble than we expected," Pain said, his narrow-eyed gaze sweeping back and forth across Amegakure. "We have underestimated him too much. First, he killed Sasori, and then he defeated Hidan and Kakazu. He will need to be taken care of soon."

"Agreed."

Pain's words went without saying. Namikaze Naruto had become a major thorn in Tobi's side. Already several of the plans he had created were derailed, and the schedule for the sealing of the Bijuu, as well as which Bijuu he wanted to seal first, was no longer viable. That meant he would need to come up with an entirely new plan if he had any hope of completing his plan.

"Where is Konan?" asked Tobi as he finally seemed to realize that the woman who was always at Pain's side was no longer there. It was amazing he had not noticed when he first got here but had to chalk that up to the fact that he was still in a good deal of pain. It was difficult to think when his new limbs were still giving him so many problems.

"She is gone," Pain said, his eyes narrowing into slits. "She betrayed us for the Kyuubi Jinchurikki."

"What?" If it weren't for the mask getting in the way, Pain would have most likely seen Tobi blink. However, Tobi was wearing a mask and so the Rinnegan user could not see the surprised blink the man-made. "Can you repeat that please?"

"Konan has betrayed us for the Kyuubi Jinchurikki," Pain restated, his narrowed eyes seeming to narrow further. "When I was fighting against Jiraiya-sensei, she interfered and helped fend me off. Furthermore, she was carrying one of the Jinchurikki's Hiraishin Kunai, and managed to summon him before I could finish her and sensei off."

"How is this possible?" asked Tobi. For the first time in a long time, the orange spiral mask-wearing Akatsuki member was flabbergasted. "Konan was the last person I would have ever expected to betray you." Which was true. Unlike everyone else who had joined Akatsuki for their own reasons, Konan was strictly loyal to Pain. Everything she did was for him, and she had stayed by his side through thick and thin ever since they were younger. The idea that she would betray her best and dearest friend was unfathomable.

"That makes two of us." It was hard to tell what Pain was thinking. Of course, that could have something to do with the fact that the man before him was nothing more than a doll, a puppet being controlled by the real man that had once been known as Nagato. Even still, Tobi almost thought he detected a hint of hurt in the man's voice.

"What are you going to do about this?"

Pain was silent for a moment. He understood the real question that Tobi was asking. What was he going to do about Konan? Was he going to kill her? His dearest friend? The friend who had been with him through thick and thin, who had supported him through all of their hardships, who had agreed to capture the Jinchurikki with him, the woman he had at one point held a major crush on...

…The same woman who had just betrayed him for the Kyuubi Jinchurikki. The woman who had told him she could no longer agree with his ideals. The woman who had fought him alongside Jiraiya, and had called the Kyuubi Jinchurikki using a ring that apparently had the seals for the Hiraishin on it.

"I will deal with her the same way I would deal with anyone who has decided to make an enemy of god."

Tobi almost snorted at the ludicrous statement. Pain may be powerful, perhaps even more powerful than he was in many ways, but a god this man was not. Not by a long shot.

Still, he would allow the fool his delusions. Pain was needed if his plans were to succeed.

"Well, you will have to deal with her another time," Tobi told him. "As things stand, attacking Konoha outright is no longer a viable option at the moment."

"And what about Konan?" asked Pain, finally turning away from gazing at the rain to glare at the man who kept trying to dictate what he could do. "It's unwise to leave a loose end like her around. She knows all of my secrets..."

"And chances are the Kyuubi Jinchurikki already knows them," Tobi countered the man before he could continue. "If she had the ability to summon Naruto then it means they have been working together for some time now." Which made sense, now that he was thinking about it. Tobi had always wondered how Naruto had managed to arrive at Sunagakure just as Deidara and Sasori had been about to capture the Ichibi Jincurikki. The intelligence he got was that the Namikaze brat had been in the area after capturing a bounty and had just decided to go see his friend, but now that he really thought back on it the whole incident had been far too coincidental. It was most likely that Konan had told him about Akatsuki's movements. That was the only way the Jinchurikki for the nine-tails could have been in the right place at the right time to help fight off his minions.

"Then it is all the more imperative that we deal with her now." In Pain's mind that was the only thing that made sense. His best friend had betrayed him for one of their enemies. The only way to rectify this situation was to kill her at his earliest possible convenience.

"It is very likely that you have no secrets left from Konoha, Pain," Tobi chastised the man who thought himself a god. "If you go there, they will be ready for you, and not even the vaunted powers of a god will be able to stand up to the full might of that village."

"Do not underestimate the powers of a god, Madara," Pain said dismissively. "Dealing with Konoha will prove little trouble for one such as me."

"You fool!" Tobi hissed, finally losing his patience with Rinnegan's bearer. "Do not underestimate the ninja of that village!" He may have hated Konoha beyond all reasonable comprehension, but even he would never deny that they produced some of the most outstanding shinobi the world had ever seen. "The Namikaze brat's power is not something to be trifled with, even without calling upon the Kyuubi's power. He has mastered his father's Hiraishin to an incredible degree, and his ability to use sealless ninjutsu is outstanding. While I have no doubt that you would ultimately triumph in a one-on-one fight against him, it would not be an easy battle. And if you fought against Konoha, you would not just be fighting against him. Even someone as powerful as you will not be able to best the Kyuubi Jinchurikki when he has the likes of Senju Tsunade and Hatake Kakashi fighting with him. And that's not even going into how Konan will be fighting against you as well!"

"Then what do you suggest I do?" asked Pain, and though his voice was just as even as always, Tobi could tell the man was getting frustrated. "We cannot risk allowing such a loose end to live. Konan knows all about our plans, and she knows the weaknesses of every member of Akatsuki. Leaving her alive will prove detrimental to our plans."

"Chances are she has already given Konoha all of your secrets," there was very little doubt in Tobi's mind about that. If she has been working for the Namikaze brat for as long as he thought she had, then it was not much to assume Konoha already knew everything Konan did. At the very least Naruto already knew everything. "So the point is moot. For now, we should focus on acquiring more power. Already five of our nine members have been killed, and we only have the Sanbi, the Yonbi, and the Gobi to show for it."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" asked Pain, visibly calming down. They were in a precarious position right now. Ever since Akatsuki had made their move against the Jinchurikki and hidden villages, things had rarely gone their way, and most of the blame could be laid solely at the feet of the Kyuubi Jinchurikki.

"I have just been given some news that the Nibi Jinchurikki has left the village for Kiri," Tobi began.

"And you want to have her captured in route," Pain was already guessing at what the man wanted to have done. It would be a simple matter to send Kisame to take care of the women. While she was strong, she only held the two-tails. For someone like the monster of the hidden mist, she was nothing.

"No," Tobi shook his head. "She has the ability to summon the Namikaze to her side. Even if you went there yourself, there is nothing stopping him from simply flashing away with the girl. Instead, I want you to attack Kumogakure, and capture the Hachibi Jinchurikki."

"You want me to go?" The Deva Path raised an eyebrow. It was unusual for Tobi to request that he go and do something, especially when the masked man knew that Pain was not one to be ordered around like the other Akatsuki members.

"I would have Kisame go, but I have a need for him to be elsewhere," Tobi shrugged as if to say 'what can you do'. "Also, the Raikage is strong, as is the Hachibi Jinchurikki. They call him the perfect host for a reason. While Kisame may be capable of taking the hachibi one-on-one, I doubt he would be able to defeat the Raikage." And that was saying nothing about the village as a whole. Kumogakure was a heavily militarized village, and while they did not produce shinobi as outstanding as the ones from Konoha, they had a lot more ninja than the hidden leaf village did.

"You wish for me to destroy the village then?" That made a good deal more sense. While Kisame was probably enough to capture the eight tails, the man that had been dubbed 'Monster of the Hidden Mist' was not strong enough to destroy an entire village, and especially not one as militarized as Kumo. No, Kisame would most certainly not be able to do that, but Pain could.

"With Konan's treachery now out in the open, it will only be a matter of time before Kiri, Kumo, and Suna learn about your abilities," Tobi reasoned. "If Konan was working strictly for the Kyuubi Jinchurikki like I assume she was, then it means that right now only Konoha knows about your abilities, but it's only a matter of time before they send that information to the other villages. We need to strike now while the other villages have no knowledge of your capabilities."

It was a reasonable assumption, and quite possibly the only reason Pain didn't refuse Tobi's request out of hand.

"Very well," Pain agreed, deciding that doing as Tobi suggested was in his best interest. He would deal with Konan later, preferably when he had more power at his disposal so he could also take care of the Kyuubi Jinchurikki at the same time. "Kumo will fall by my hand. It is time to show the world what a god can do when angry."

Tobi almost didn't manage to cover up his snort this time. 'You may think you are a god now, Nagato, but that is only because you have not seen what a true god among ninjas can do.' But he would eventually. If all went according to plan then his most annoying pawn and the rest of the world would see what someone who had had really been considered a god amongst shinobi could do.

XXXXXXXXXX

The trip home was very subdued. After Tsunade had grilled Naruto on everything he had been up to that had not been reported to her, and Konan on everything she knew about Akatsuki and Pain in general, the pair had been let free. In any other circumstances, Naruto would have probably used the opportunity Konan's need to no longer hide presented to show said woman around Konoha, but as things stood both of them were too tired of dealing with their previous battles to do much more than head home.

After entering the front door to the large house Naruto would now be sharing with Konan as well as Yugao the pair took off their shoes and set them aside, before stepping into the house properly. Naruto turned his head and looked over at Konan with a slight smile. "Why don't we get something to eat before choosing which room you will want to sleep in."

Konan frowned for a moment and was it not for the fact that she knew there was another woman living here, even if they had never met, she would have probably insisted on sleeping in his room. As things stood it would be best to agree with his suggestion so as to avoid any unpleasantness with the other female she would be living with. She didn't want to cause trouble like Yugito and Mei had after all.

Besides, it wasn't like having her own room meant she couldn't sleep with Naruto. She just wouldn't be doing it all the time.

"That sounds fine," she told Naruto as she followed him into the dining room.

"Why don't you take a seat while I get started on making some dinner," Naruto suggested as he walked over to the refrigerator and began searching its contents. Meanwhile, Konan sat down at the long table meant for quite a few people, set her hands down in front of her on said table, and began watching as Naruto moved about the kitchen, turning on the stove, getting out pots and pans, and setting aside ingredients like he had been doing it all his life.

The dinner Naruto made was just a simple stir fry, nothing extravagant. Not that he could truly be blamed. With everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, the blond-haired Uzumaki was feeling more than a little tired. After dinner was over he had every intention of sleeping like the dead for a good fifteen hours at least.

It was just as Naruto had begun serving that one of the other two residents of the house, and the one who was more often than not, not at the Namikaze estate, walked in.

"That smells soo~ good," Fu mumbled as she entered the dining room. Her head tilted up and her nose twitching as she took several deep whiffs, it was quite clear that the girl was literally following her nose. Moreover, the female Jinchurikki with mint green hair was drooling, and when combined with the way her stomach rumbled, made it obvious that she had not eaten for at least several hours.

Naruto and Konan watched in a mixture of amusement and wonder as Fu plunked down in the seat she always sat in when having dinner at the Namikaze Estate. Granted, such an instance was actually very rare, as the nanabi's Jinchurikki preferred staying over at the Aburame Clan grounds.

"Would you like to eat with us, Fu?" asked Naruto, his mouth turning into a very slight smile.

"Yes please," said Fu, still drooling. Naruto was amused to note that the girl seemed to be completely oblivious to Konan's presence. He wondered if the hunger was the cause.

"Hold on," Naruto said, scurrying back into the kitchen. "Let me get you a plate."

Doing exactly what he said he would, Naruto opened the cupboard where he stored his plates and bowls, and grabbed one for Fu, along with a set of chopsticks. He came back out mere moments later and set the dish and eating utensils in front of her.

Almost before Naruto had even finished putting the plate down, Fu began dishing up her food.

Naruto and Konan shared another look. This one questioning, as both of them, wondering the same thing.

"You're pretty hungry today, Fu," Naruto commented just as the girl he spoke to finished putting the amount of food she wanted on her plate. The Namikaze clan head suddenly found himself very grateful that he had made so much because Fu had taken enough food to feed an Akamichi. Her plate had a literal mountain of food on it. "That's... quite a bit of food. Are you sure you can eat it all?" he asked, honestly wondering where such a waifish girl planned on putting all that food.

"Mmm," Fu moaned as she stuffed her face. Her chopsticks were a literal blur as they moved from the plate to her mouth. The small mountain of food she was eating began to disappear right before their very eyes. She only stopped once to speak, and even then her mouth was so filled with food Naruto could barely make out what she said. "I hab hom weally harb braiming boday."

"Uh... huh," Naruto murmured, more to himself than to anyone else. Though it was apparently not quite enough, because Fu spoke to him again.

"Yeb, Hibi an' Hino 'ave been barring wib me. It's buff."

"I see," Naruto got out, watching with an almost sick fascination as the food on Fu's plate quite literally vanished before his very eyes. He was really beginning to wonder about where the girl was storing all that food. How could someone so tiny possibly eat so much?

Beside him, Konan seemed to be much the same way, only worse. Her nose was wrinkled and her face looked almost green as she watched the tiny female vacuum down the food like an Akamichi at an all-you-can-eat buffet after having fasted for a month. She looked like she was going to be sick.

Finally, after what felt like hours, but was in truth only a few seconds, Fu's plate was cleaned of food and even seemed to have been polished to a shine, making Naruto wonder if the Nanabi Jinchurikki had licked the plate sometimes while he was watching her and he just hadn't seen it. The girl with mint green hair put her chopsticks down and released a content sigh as she patted her belly. "Ah! Now that really hits the spot. Thanks for making dinner, Naruto-san."

"You... you're welcome," Naruto managed to choke out, shocked. He had seen many things in his rather short life, but he had never seen someone eat like Fu just had. Not even he was this bad, not even when it came to ramen!

It was only after had eaten her fill and spent a few moments staring vacantly at the table that she finally noticed the beautiful blue-haired woman sitting at the table with them. "Naruto-san, who is this?"

"Ah," Naruto blinked, his head shaking as he found something to focus on other than Fu's phenomenal ability to put away food like an Akamichi after going on a hunger strike. "That's right. You haven't met yet, have you?" He had nearly forgotten that he only summoned the bluenette when no one else was around since he hadn't wanted even a hint of her identity leaking out and somehow getting back to Akatsuki, and more specifically Pain. "This is Konan, one of my betrothed's."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Fu-san," Konan said with a slight bow of her head.

Fu gave her a bright smile that was so different from the lifeless eyes she used to have. "It's nice to meet you as well!" The girl then tilted her head and looked at Konan curiously for a moment. "Wait, if you're one of Naruto-san's betrothed's, how come I've never seen you come over?"

Naruto was very grateful that Fu was looking at Konan so intently that she didn't notice him wince. He was hoping to avoid telling anyone about his lover's role as his spy in Akatsuki until Tsunade decided what they should do with the information the bluenette had given them. He should have realized that something like this would have happened, if not with Fu then most definitely with Yugao, who, even though she was giving a relationship with him a chance, had yet to meet Konan.

Fortunately for him, Konan was able to come to his rescue. "I have come over before, but because I was on a long-term mission that required me to stick around, I couldn't be summoned very often."

"Oh..." Fu blinked, then nodded her head. "Well, that makes sense." The green-haired girl stood up and stretched. "Anyways, I think I'm going to hit the sack. I'm pretty tired from all training I've been doing with Shino-kun and his family."

"Alright, see you tomorrow then," Naruto said as the girl gave them a wave and left the dining room.

"Naruto-kun," Konan said after a moment of silence passed through the room.

"Yeah?"

"I don't think I'm very hungry anymore."

"Neither am I."

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that night Naruto lay awake in bed unable to sleep. The shades on his window were pulled up, allowing the moonlight to spill into the room. They cast shadows along the walls that seemed to warp and twist in unnatural ways, or maybe that was just Naruto's mind playing tricks on him as the guilt over the recent events with Jiraiya washed over him.

His sensei had almost died, and it was his fault. Naruto couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had been honest with his sensei and informed him of Konan and Nagato's involvement in Akatsuki from the start. He had always assumed that if Jiraiya knew his old students were still alive, then he would have gone to them in an attempt to make the one now calling himself Pain see reason, but he couldn't help but wonder now, would that have really happened? Due to not being let in on what had transpired between him and Konan, Jiraiya had gone to Amegakure anyways. He had not only gone there and been confronted by Nagato, but had been completely unprepared for the man's power and abilities, and because of that, he had nearly been killed. He likely would have too was it not for Konan's timely intervention.

How better off would Jiraiya have been if he had known about Pain's abilities from the start? What would have happened if Naruto had been upfront and gone with him when he went to confront Pain? Would they have been able to defeat him? He hadn't done anything because he didn't want to tip the man calling himself Tobi off and force the masked man to act before he was ready. But in doing so he had almost lost his sensei, and while Jiraiya was not dead he was now one arm short, making jutsu impossible unless he learned one-handed seals.

As Naruto's mind began spiraling into a ring of depression and guilt, there was a knock on his door. A frown made its way to his face as he wondered who was at the door, though he suspected he already knew the answer. Getting up, the blond shinobi silently made his way over, before opening the door to his room.

Just as he thought, Konan was standing in front of his door. She was wearing a blue nightgown that matched her hair and went down to just below her knees. After his eyes made their almost customary trail over her body, the nightgown barely covering her curvaceous figure, he looked up and noticed the uncertainty on her face. Her eyes were flickering from his face to the side, and she was worrying her lower lip between her teeth, a sign that she was nervous.

"Konan?" Naruto started, his voice concerned as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his lover. Of course, he realized it wouldn't be possible to discover the source of her problems without asking her, so quickly decided the best way to get to solve whatever ailed her was the direct approach. He liked being direct anyways. "What's wrong? Can't sleep?"

Konan shook her head. "Can I come in?" she asked softly, and Naruto gave her a nod before moving out of the way, allowing her to silently pad into the room.

She stopped over by the window, her arms crossing under her bust as she released a small shiver. It wasn't from the cold, Naruto noticed.

He walked over to her, slowly wrapping his arms around her midsection. When she didn't protest, and even began to lean into him, he tightened his hold until she was being held securely in his arms.

"What's wrong?"

Konan didn't respond for a moment, and for a second Naruto had to wonder if she would explain at all. After a few seconds, however, she began to speak, her voice slightly stilted with emotion. "I was just thinking about... about what happened in Amegakure," she murmured softly. "When Jiraiya-sensei fought with Nag – Pain," she corrected herself quickly, though Naruto heard the stammer in her voice. He only just managed to withhold a wince. "When I first stopped him from killing sensei, I tried to talk some sense in him, to make him see reason. However, he wouldn't hear any of it. I always thought that he would eventually come to realize that what we were doing was wrong. A part of my hope was that I could bring him around to our way of thinking if I kept talking to him about it, but he didn't listen to me. He..." She stopped for a second, and her body gave a shudder as she clenched her eyes shut. "He was perfectly willing to kill me because I didn't agree with him. I never imagined he would be willing to kill me, that he would have stooped so far into the darkness that he would be willing to kill his childhood friend. But he was. If you hadn't shown up when you did then I would have been dead before the day was out."

This time Naruto did flinch. The thought of Konan being killed made his insides rebel. The very thought that someone who meant so much to him, whose hopes and dreams coincided so much with his own could be killed by the best friend she had stood by and watched helplessly as he fell into darkness for years unsettled him more than he could ever admit. It wasn't something he wanted to think about.

"However, when I found out that... Pain was perfectly capable and willing to kill me, I realized something," Konan continued, mercifully saving Naruto from his defeatist thoughts. "What we are doing is dangerous, more so than even being shinobi. Our desire for peace can only be achieved when the current system has been dismantled, and that will create a lot of enemies for us. With what we're doing, any day could very well be our last." Her hands grabbed his arms, and carefully pulled on them to loosen his hold on her. She turned around slowly until she was facing him. Amber eyes carefully stared into expressive blue, and the blue-haired beauty's hands came up and gently cupped Naruto's face. "And I don't want to die with any regrets in my life."

Naruto brought a hand up and gently grabbed a hold of one of Konan's. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. "None of us are going to die. I promise that no matter what happens, I'll protect you and everyone else."

Konan smiled but shook her head. "You can't guarantee that."

Naruto searched her eyes, his own questioning. After a moment he asked, "why are you telling me this?"

"Because when either one of us could die at any moment, I want to make sure I live my life to the fullest," she told him, a gentle smile on her face. "More importantly, I want to show the man I love that he means the world to me." Her hands moved forward, her fingers sliding through his hair as Naruto's own hands instinctively rested themselves on her waist. She brought his head down until their foreheads and noses were touching. Her hot breath on his lips made Naruto shudder. "If I live in a world that can kill me at any time, I want to give myself fully to the man I've chosen to marry so that neither of us lives with regrets."

With those final words, Konan pressed her lips against Naruto's. His response was instantaneous as his eyelids fluttered closed and he began to kiss her back. Her hands removed themselves from his hair and slid down before she wrapped her arms around his neck. In return, the hold he had on her waist came loose and he slid his arms around her back.

The kiss startled out gentle, soft, ephemeral. It was nothing more than the two brushing their lips against each other. However, the kiss only remained chaste for a second. Wanting to feel more, Naruto took Konan's lower lip in his mouth and began to gently suckle on it. His move caused the woman in his arms to emit a soft, breathy moan, her mouth opening to do so and allowing him to slip his tongue inside of her.

His tongue slowly worked its way between her lips, brushing against her teeth, before the fleshy pink appendage encountered resistance in the form of Konan's tongue. Rather than battle against the woman in a fight for dominance, Naruto worked around her, entwining the oral appendage normally used for speech with hers and rubbing them against each other.

The action felt phenomenal. They caressed and moved and worked around each other in a timeless dance that created gentle and pleasurable friction between them. Hypersensitive nerves that often dealt with taste tingled in ways that only came from activities of the flesh. At that moment, Naruto could have happily stayed where he was all night.

However, it became clear that Konan wanted more. The woman's hands found themselves gripping Naruto's shoulders, and she began to push him until his legs hit the bed. Another surge and the blond fell backward, Konan going with him as they were still in the throes of a passionate embrace of tongues.

She wiggled on top of him, squirming in ways that caused his arousal to grow until she was straddling his waist. Her hands began to explore his body, caressing his muscular chest, and tracing the contours of his six-pack abs. The ephemeral touches of her gentle hands sent shivers down Naruto's spine and caused goosebumps to break out on his skin.

Konan's hands stopped when they reached the growing bulge in his boxers. While their dancing tongues continued, she brought one hand up to support herself, and the other cupped his hardening member and began to rub it. Naruto groaned into her mouth as his arousal spiked, the feel of her hand rubbing him through the fabric of his boxers created friction that almost made him putty in her hands.

Key word being almost. Naruto had never been one to allow himself to receive such pleasure without giving it back at least tenfold. As a gentleman, it was only right that he returned the favor.

While Konan was had rubbed the stiff rod in Naruto's ramen-themed boxers until it was hard as a rock, the blond she was making out with underneath her had cupped her breasts through her nightgown. The fabric she was wearing was very thin, almost see-through in the light of the moon, and it did very little to mask the feel of what his hands were doing to her.

A throaty moan escaped from the back of Konan's throat as her blond lover's hands groped her chest. Her back arched forward like a cat, her perfectly round breasts pressing themselves against Naruto's hands as he kneaded the fleshy globes expertly. His thumbs brushed up against her nipples, the small bud hardening underneath them. It wasn't long before the fabric of her nightgown became unbearable for Konan, she wanted to feel her lover's hand on her flesh.

The kiss broke, the two panting heavily as they tried to regain their breath. Konan placed her hands on Naruto's chest and pushed herself up until only her crotch and thighs were touching his body.

Sometime during their heavy petting, Konan's nightgown had ridden past her thighs. She went down to reach for it so she could pull it off, but Naruto beat her to it.

"No," he rasped, his voice heavy with the lust he was feeling. Konan shivered at his tone, and the pale blue panties she was wearing grew damp. "Let me."

Naruto's hands began to draw up her nightgown, and Konan raised her hands above her head. When the sheer, semi-translucent dress moved past her bosom, revealing dark pink nipples, Naruto surged forward. His lips took one of the hardened buds into his mouth, and the bluenette cried out as he began suckling on it. She tried to bring her arms down so she could wrap them around the blond's head, but Naruto had raised the nightgown far enough that they were caught in his grasp. The woman straddling his waist squirmed and moaned as he worked her over, sucking on her nipple, flicking it back and forth with his tongue. She was helpless until he decided to release her.

When Naruto finally removed the nightgown, he had already finished with one of her tits and moved on to the other. Rather than simply take it into his mouth, he swirled his tongue around the outer edge of her areola, moving closer and closer to her nipple with each full rotation.

"Stop... Stop teasing me..." Konan panted out as her hands gripped Naruto's head and tried to pull him into her breast. He grinned – or would have if he were not currently busy – but didn't let her dictate the terms. He moved at an agonizing pace, and when he finally did reach the hardened bud of pink flesh, took it in between his teeth and gave it a gentle tug, eliciting a long, drawn-out moan from the woman he was working over. "Oooohhhh!"

Rather than use his free hand to attend to her other breast, Naruto let it travel down, trailing across the creamy expanse of skin that lay exposed before him. He stopped only when his hand reached the junction between her thighs, and cupped her sex through her panties. There, he began to rub his hand along her crotch, pressing his fingers against labia.

"Ahn! ha... ha..."

Konan's moans mixed with pants as Naruto's fingers began pressing against her womanhood. He slid his fingers up and down her slit, the digits pushing against her outer lips just enough to part them and brush against the small hood that hid the real treasure. Eventually, Naruto got tired of feeling the cloth against his skin and pulled it out of the way so he could stimulate her directly.

"Naru – I – o-oh!"

A shudder ran through the beautiful bluenette's body as Naruto moved one finger inside of her, then curled it after sticking two of the joints into her. It only took a moment for him to find the slightly smoother patch of flesh along her inner walls and stimulate it by pushing his finger against it and rubbing.

"Oh! Oh! OH!" Konan cried out, her grip around Naruto's head tightening almost painfully. Her fingers grabbed large chunks of his hair, and it felt like she was close to pulling them off. Despite this Naruto continued to stimulate her arousal, and even decided to go one step further.

With a surge of strength, he rolled them over so that Konan was her back and he was on top. Not that the woman seemed to notice with her eyes closed and her head thrashing back and forth as she moaned. Her hips began to buck into his hand, helping him work the inner walls of her pussy more liberally. With his hand now less confined due to Konan no longer straddling, Naruto was also able to use his thumb to free the woman's clit from the small hood of flesh it was hidden under.

That seemed to be Konan's threshold. She could hold on no longer. Her walls clamped down around his fingers with enough strength to make him wince and almost refused to let go as her hips jerked against his hand. With one last thrust of her hips, she cried out loudly, before her entire body slumped onto the bed.

Naruto pulled his fingers out of her and brought them to his face. They glistened with her essence in the light of the moon, and he brought them over to his lips where he proceeded to suck them clean. He noticed Konan looking at him with slightly wide eyes and a red face, and gave her a tiny grin. "You taste good."

Konan looked away from him, the hue on her cheeks darkening.

"Yo-you shouldn't say such embarrassing things, Naruto-kun."

Naruto chuckled, before moving over her until his face was mere centimeters from her own. Konan's eyes flicked from his, then looked away, causing him to chuckle a bit before he reached out with a hand to cup her face.

The feel of his hand against her cheek caused her eyes to be drawn back to his. He brushed his thumb against her cheek, enjoying the feel of her unblemished and silky skin.

Konan leaned into his hand, her eyes closing and her mouth parting ever so slightly. Naruto's eyes were drawn to her lips, her lipstick had rubbed off during their heated kissing, and they were slightly bruised and a lot redder due to all the blood that had been drawn to them when the blond was sucking on them. He was so tempted to lean in and claim those beautiful lips again but held himself back knowing that there would be plenty of time for that later.

"I love you."

Amber eyes flickered open to look at Naruto. Her head tilted in curiosity for a moment, as if she had not quite registered his words. Barely a second passed before her lips curved into a small smile. She moved her head forward and planted a gentle, yet longing kiss on his lips.

"I know," she murmured softly when they parted. Their lips remained close, however, close enough that they could feel the other's breath on their skin. Foreheads were pressed together, and noses gently rubbed against each other as amber eyes stared into the blue. Konan smiled at him again. "I love you too."

They kissed again. Konan's hands wrapped around Naruto's neck as she fell back onto the bed, taking him with her. Situated between her legs, Naruto pressed his body against his lover's. There was barely any room between their bodies, they were so close that Konan's breasts were smashed up against Naruto's chest.

A hand reached down, sliding between the small space in between them that only remained because Konan's bosom was keeping them from closing the space any further. Soft digits slid into Naruto's boxers and wrapped around his hardened phallus.

"Naruto," Konan breathed out while panting heavily. Her eyes were darkened with lust, and she looked to be barely holding on. The blond on top of her didn't seem to be fairing any better. "Naruto... I want this in me."

A smile was given to her as an answer, and Naruto only moved back far enough so that he could reach down and slide out of his boxer's. Konan gazed at the hardened piece of flesh in arousal, already imagining what it would feel like to have that monster in her.

Placing his hands on her inner thighs, Naruto spread Konan's legs so he could aim the head of his shaft at the small opening of pink flesh. He moved his hips forward slowly, the head of his cock sinking into the entrance to Konan's most sacred place. His shaft soon began to follow, but he stopped when a pained hiss emitted from his blue-haired betrothed.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern.

"Yes!" Konan gasped a bit, wincing as Naruto's girth spread her walls. "You're just a bit... bigger than I had realized. I've never had anything as big as you in me before." There was also the fact that she had only slept with one other person and said man was dead and had been for around twenty years. Going so long without sex had undoubtedly ensured that she was a lot... tighter than most other women. "Be gentle."

"Right." Naruto took a deep breath and slowly began pushing himself into Konan again. He made sure to watch for any signs of discomfort on the bluenette's face and made sure to stop when he did. It was difficult. Konan's sheath was squeezing him like a velvety vice, and all he wanted to do was bury himself hilt deep into her. He restrained himself, however, knowing that was not what Konan wanted.

When he was all the way, Naruto took a moment to just bask in the feeling of becoming one with the woman under him. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to move anyway. Konan was so tight that the act of moving may very well cause him to lose control of his load before they even got started.

Konan didn't seem to have the same issue, and after waiting for a few seconds as she adjusted to Naruto's size, began rocking her hips back and forth, drawing a soft moan from her and sucking in of the breath from Naruto.

Getting the hint, Naruto also began to move with her, pulling his cock out of her pussy, then thrusting it back in. They moved slowly at first, merely working to find each other's rhythm, however, it wasn't long before Konan wanted more.

"Faster... Naruto-kun... please."

Naruto didn't bother giving her a nod and instead focused on increasing the speed of his thrusts. His grunts of exertion were drowned out by the combined sound of skin slapping against skin and Konan's cries of bliss.

Said woman was moaning and thrashing underneath him. Her hips moved and bucked as she tried to keep up with Naruto's pace, but was unable to do so.

Naruto leaned down as he kept thrusting into her at blistering speeds. His mouth began claiming her body while his lips were kissing every inch of skin they could reach, his tongue licking off the sweat their lovemaking had caused.

He claimed her mouth once more, and Konan responded to him eagerly. Her loud moans, muffled by her lips being covered by Naruto's, reverberated through the whiskered male and nearly caused him to lose control. He held on though, wanting to set the bar during Konan's first time with him as high as possible.

Feeling Konan's vaginal walls tighten to the point where Naruto's pace was involuntarily slowed let him know that she was close. She just needed one more push.

Letting go of her lips, Naruto moved his face until his mouth was right next to her ear. "You're close, aren't you?"

Konan moaned loudly in response.

Naruto smiled and nibbled on her earlobe. "Cum for me, Konan."

And cum she did. Letting loose a wail that was louder than all of the previous ones she had, Konan's walls clamped down on him to the point where it actually became painful. Only her fluids gushing against his cock made the pain bearable and allowed him to wait out her orgasm while keeping his still hard shaft inside of her.

He let himself rest as Konan recovered, simply content to watch as the gorgeous female under him took great gulps of air, her breasts heaving up and down in a hypnotic motion. She didn't come to for a while, so Naruto had plenty of time to devour the sight before him.

When Konan did finally recover, she gave him the softest of smiles, before bringing his head down to hers for a kiss.

"Thank you," she whispered against his lips, causing Naruto to grin as he kissed her again. It wasn't until Konan's hips moved against his slightly that she realized something. A frown crossed her face as she pulled back to look at him. "You didn't cum."

"I figured you might want at least one more round before we call it a night," was his cheeky answer, complete with a fox-like smile. Konan returned his smile with a much softer one of her own before her hands gripped his shoulders and pulled.

Before he could squash her, Konan rolled them over, so that Naruto was once again on the bottom and she was on top. Her hands slid from his shoulders to his chest, and Konan's smile remained in place as she leaned down and gave him a kiss.

"You're right," she whispered, her voice huskier than it had been all night. Naruto shivered when she trailed a perfectly manicured nail over his pectorals. "I would like to do this again before we call it quits tonight." She kissed his chin, then pushed herself back up and looked down at him through slightly hooded eyes. "I want to give myself over to you completely, to cry out your name until my voice is hoarse. To make love with you until I'm lying in your arms sweaty and exhausted. But more importantly, I want to show you just how much I love you."

If Naruto weren't still stiff as a kunai, those words alone would have been more than enough to make him stand at attention. It wasn't exactly dirty talk, and he doubted Konan was capable of such (that was more Mei's area of expertise), but it didn't really matter. There was just something about the way she spoke, the sincerity in her words, the emotion in her voice, that caused a severe spike of arousal in Naruto.

And then she began to move. Using her arms for support, Konan lifted her hips, revealing Naruto's dripping with her love juices cock inch by inch. She stopped when only his head remained buried inside of her, but only for a second before she slid back down just as slowly.

Naruto released a hiss of pleasure at the agonizing pace. His eyes clenched shut, and his body shuddered in blissful agony as Konan began to repeat the process. He wondered if she was getting back at him for his earlier teasing.

"K-Konan..."

"Patience," Konan said, already knowing what he was going to ask if the small smile on her face was any indication. "All good things come to those who wait."

Yep, she was definitely getting back at him.

Thankfully her pace did pick up. It seemed going so slowly was just as painful for her as it was for him. Before too long the woman was riding him hard, his shaft sliding in and out of her wet cunt with lewd squelching sounds to accompany it. Deciding to help her along, Naruto's hands reached for her hips, helping her find her rhythm and helping him get her timing down so he could match her thrusts with his own.

Groans, grunts, and moans filled the room again as the two proceeded to make love once more. Naruto spared a glance at the woman riding on top of him and found his mouth had become strangely dry.

He had always known that Konan was a beautiful woman. Even before she had agreed to become his spy he had thought her to be gorgeous. However, at that moment as she was, in crass terms, fucking herself on him, she had never been more beautiful to him.

Her porcelain skin glistened and shone with the sweat she was working up from their passionate bout of lovemaking. Her beautiful amber eyes were closed in an expression of bliss that he had never seen on her before, and her mouth was open, forming a tiny 'o' as she moaned out his name.

Moonbeams shot in from the window and were arrayed around her in such a way that they had formed a halo of light around her body. The effect cast her in a phantasmagoric light, too perfect to be real, an image conjured by the mind trying to create its idea of perfection. During this time, Naruto couldn't help but think that Konan truly did look like an angel.

"Konan," he groaned out. "I-I'm close..."

"Hold on... please," Konan's eyes opened and she looked at him. "Just for a little bit longer... I'm almost there."

"I..." Naruto's voice stuck in his throat as he felt his cock bulge. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. Knowing that Konan, like him, wanted to share a mutual orgasm, he pressed his hand against her engorged clit and rubbed. "I'm..."

"Cumming!" Konan finished as her walls clamped around him for the second time that night, this time getting their just rewards as Naruto painted her walls white with thick, hot streams of cum. With one last scream erupting forth from her mouth, Konan collapsed against her fiance and the man she had given herself to fully.

"So warm," she mumbled, snuggling into Naruto's chest with a sigh. "I've never felt this... content before."

Naruto was tempted to make some witty comment. Perhaps a corny one-liner that would cause the normally stoic woman to smack him upside the head. It would have most likely ruined the moment, but then Naruto had never been known for keeping his foot out of his mouth.

However, he noticed almost immediately that Konan's breathing was deep and even as she exhaled against his chest. Looking down, he saw the bluenette's eyes were closed, and a small smile played on her face. She was asleep, and it was probably a good thing, he mused to himself.

Smiling, Naruto wrapped one arm around Konan, pulling her closer to him, while the other was used to drag them both up to the head of the bed. Surprisingly, she did not wake, merely murmured incoherently and tried to burrow her way into his chest.

He carefully slipped them both under the covers, then lay his head down on the one pillow that had not been thrown off the bed by what they had done. Sighing contently, Naruto closed his eyes and went to sleep. Tomorrow was likely to bring new problems and more issues, but for tonight, Naruto allowed himself to be at peace as he held one of the few women he could truly say he loved to him.