Konan

was a kunoichi from Amegakure and was the only female in Akatsuki. She was the partner of Nagato, being the only member to call him by his name. She later became the leader of Amegakure after defecting from Akatsuki.

Background
When she was young, Konan's family was killed during the Second Shinobi World War, and she was left to fend for herself. Some time later, Yahiko found her, and the two worked together to survive. Not long after that, Konan went for a walk and found a young, dying Nagato and his dog, Chibi. She rescued him and brought him back to their hideout. Gradually the three became best friends. They eventually encountered the Sannin, who gave them some food. Konan impressed them by making an elaborate flower out of the paper wrappers left behind as a sign of gratitude. When Orochimaru suggested to kill them so they would not have to suffer the horrors of war, Jiraiya instead opted to stay and teach the three how to look after themselves.

After Jiraiya taught them ninjutsu and was confident they could take care of themselves, he left them on their own. Before leaving Jiraiya tells Konan that she will be very beautiful when she grows up and to come and see him when she turns eighteen. During their time with Jiraiya, he made a defence system (seeing as that the hideout they all shared at the time was vulnerable to being targeted for enemy attacks) composed of four planks, each with one red side and one white (the white side also had a frog picture on it), attached to a part of a wall of the hideout they shared at the time with a string and a nail, each one above one of their names, which he called "Hop-In" planks. Nagato's, Yahiko's and Konan's were one wall and Jiraiya's was on a wall opposite. The purpose of the planks were that when they were in the hideout, they turn their planks to the red side and they leave, they flip their plank to the white side, so when a plank's on the red side and the person's not in the hideout, it means they could have been captured by the enemy and when a plank's on the white side and it appears that the person's in the hideout, it could mean that an enemy has transformed into said person and has infiltrated the hideout, along with a trapdoor hidden among the floorboards leading to an hidden room and emergency escape route he left just in case.

Over time, the three formed the Akatsuki and became renowned for their strength and effectiveness, with news of their actions even reaching Jiraiya. When their group became too big, they were forced to find another hideout, and leave their current one where they once lived with Jiraiya. When they were about to leave and flip over their "Hop-In" planks, a ninja squad attacked the hideout creating an explosion which resulted in a hole in the roof which they used to infiltrate the hideout. Yahiko (after Konan flipped her plank and just before he was about to flip his), noticed the attack in time and used the escape route just before ninja entered the hideout. It is also implied that over time Konan began to develop romantic feelings for Yahiko.

Hanzō, the then leader of Ame, feared that Akatsuki would overthrow him. As such, he and Konohagakure's Danzō Shimura deceived the group into meeting with them about an allegiance for peace. When Nagato and Yahiko went to meet with them, they kidnapped Konan and ordered Nagato to kill Yahiko in exchange for her life. Konan cried out for them to flee without her, but they refused to leave her behind. Although Nagato was paralysed in shock by the order, Yahiko stabbed himself with the kunai in Nagato's hand. Nagato saved Konan afterwards, who would thereafter accompany him wherever he went.

Personality
Konan was stoic, calm, and level-headed (much like her partner, Nagato, was). As a child, she was bright, compassionate, and relatively cheerful, in comparison to Yahiko's tough attitude and Nagato's sensitivity. However, the traumatic events since then have led her to become a very serious person, and she never spoke during Akatsuki meetings. Nevertheless, she has always placed the safety of her team-mates above her own. Konan also showed romantic feelings towards Yahiko, caring for him and wanting to be as close to him as possible.

She did seem to be more empathic than most other Akatsuki members, as she appeared sad whenever she was reminded of her past. She also expressed a great deal of loyalty and courtesy to Pain, doing his bidding without question, looking out for his well-being and always having complete faith in his abilities. She seemed to act as an intermediary between Pain and Ame, the villagers having given her the title "God's Angel", because with her paper wings activated, she resembles one.

She had the ability to read Pain's emotions without him facially expressing them, presumably as a result of having known him for so long. As soon as Tobi ordered Pain to capture the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, she could tell right away that there was something about the order that very much upset her emotionally deadened partner.

After Nagato's sacrifice, Konan becomes fiercely adamant to protect Naruto Uzumaki, the person Nagato entrusted his mission of world peace to, even going as far as to proclaim all of Ame's loyalty to him. She was equally fierce in defending Nagato's remains from Tobi going as far as to prepare herself for suicidal attacks against him if it meant protecting Nagato and Naruto from him.

Appearance
Konan had blue hair, grey eyes (amber in the anime), ultramarine eye shadow, and a labret piercing. Konan's eyelashes are shown to be a diagonal line at the bottom corner of her eyes, but in the anime, they are shown to be distinctive lines. She has worn a large light blue paper flower in her hair since she was a child. Her facial expression was usually neutral, though usually protested or looked worried when Nagato performed a technique that would debilitate him. She wore the Akatsuki cloak and her Akatsuki ring on her right middle finger, the kanji on it meaning. She also wore orange nail polish. Under her Akatsuki cloak, she donned a scanty robe, with a large hemline on the front, which exposed her arms, her back, the lateral part of her breast and her belly, with her navel being surrounded by four more piercings; instead of the standard sandals and leg-warmers, she wore a pair of tight blue pants that also functioned as her shoes, with white high heels, inverting the organisation's standard colour scheme.

As a child, Konan was seen wearing an array of simple clothing. When living with Jiraiya, she was seen wearing a karate top and skirt bottom, with a pouch she wore at the front of her outfit to carry her paper. When Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato began to make Akatsuki, Konan wore a black cloak with purple stockings and high heels, as well as a mid section guard similar to that of Samui and an Ame headband, that being the only time period Konan's been seen wearing one.

Abilities
Konan was an S-rank kunoichi and her skills were held in high regard by her partner, Pain. She also had an amazing natural talent for origami and after training with Jiraiya, was able to form paper weapons infused with her chakra. Tobi highly underestimated her during their battle, leading him to lose his right arm and half of his mask in the process. She also had a very keen intellect as she was able to quickly understand the process and reason behind the hop in, hop out system Jiraiya had created for them and years later would study Tobi's techniques, accurately decipher how they worked and then did countless simulations in order to find the perfect way to kill him. Even Tobi expressed surprise that he was forced to rely on the forbidden Izanagi to survive her final assault at the cost of his left eye.

Paper Ninjutsu
Even as a child, Konan has shown a natural talent for origami and had even developed it into her main ninjutsu. She has created a unique transformation technique called Dance of the Shikigami, which can turn her entire body and clothing into thousands of sheets of paper, which she can control at will and form into any shape or colour. To travel long distances, she can fold them into butterflies or planes for powered flight, and to attack, she hardens the sheets to the point when it is as hard as steel and folds them into arrows, spears, and shuriken. She can also restrain opponents by blanketing them in sheets, thus restricting their movement and asphyxiating them. Befitting (and likely inspiring) her title as, the papers can also form large wings for further weaponry, though she is capable of hovering without them. She could also make chakram-like weapons to attack foes and in the anime is skilled enough to make two and control them with great ease using them to corner her targets from opposing ends.

Despite being made of paper, Jiraiya's Fire Release: Flame Bullet, which was empowered by oil, didn't even damage her. The power of the paper attacks could even overpower a fire attack. Konan is susceptible to oil-based attacks that prevent her paper from unfolding. Although she is not hampered to the same extent by water, as shown when Pain had his summon use Water Release: Wild Bubble Wave on her to wash the oil off, as well as her use of it in her home village where it always rains. Konan can make Paper Clones that she could use to fight in her place. She could hide explosive tags in them so that they would explode, and catch an enemy off guard. Konan's ultimate technique is the Paper Person of God Technique, which can split a large lake. The technique contained six hundred billion explosive tags that would explode for a full ten minutes, which forced Tobi to use Izanagi to survive since his intangibility only lasts for five minutes.

Konan has been shown to be able to produce and fold enough paper to mimic environmental surroundings, allowing her and those of her choosing to hide in places one normally wouldn't be able to. Konan's favoured origami form are flowers; she wears one in her hair, gives a bouquet to Naruto as a sign of peace, and covers the bodies of Yahiko and Nagato in them.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
At the end of Part I, Konan made a cameo appearance as a silhouette during an Akatsuki gathering where they discussed Orochimaru's taking of Sasuke Uchiha, as well as the capturing of the Nine-Tails and the furthering of their plans.

Part II
She was present alongside the other Akatsuki members during most of their meetings. She is a quiet and taciturn person by nature, and didn't say a word during the meetings and sealing rituals. However, her silhouette was shown when Pain mentioned the reason for her affiliation with Akatsuki.

Kazekage Rescue Arc
Konan along with the other Akatsuki appeared whilst extracting Shukaku from Gaara.

Hidan and Kakuzu Arc
Konan was seen during the sealing the Two-Tails from Yugito.

Itachi Pursuit Arc
Konan appeared when she told her partner, Nagato, that Tobi had arrived. After Tobi left, she knew that something that the latter said had upset Nagato. When Jiraiya infiltrated Amegakure, Pain stopped the rain and had Konan scour the village in search of him by splitting into numerous paper butterflies. After locating the intruder, she informed Pain and then engaged him in battle until Pain could arrive. She attacked Jiraiya with a swarm of paper and created a paper spear, but the Sannin noticed the attack and deflected it using his Toad Fire Technique, driving her back. Jiraiya recognised her and complimented her on her power and beauty, commenting that she had become "one hell of a woman".

As they fought, Jiraiya countered her paper techniques with an oil-based attack and immobilised her with his elongated hair, but she was saved when Pain appeared to wash the oil away. She regrouped with him after he had killed Jiraiya.

Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc
After Utakata was captured, Konan, along with the other Akatsuki members extracted the Six-Tails from him.

Invasion of Pain Arc
Konan later accompanied Pain during his attack on Konoha. When they arrived, they swiftly eliminated a patrol of Konoha-nin, with Pain giving Konan orders to spare no-one. She was shown asking the Konoha shinobi if they knew the whereabouts of Naruto Uzumaki as they were trapped in her paper. The shinobi were saved by the Aburame clan's kikaichū.

In the anime, she then engaged in a short battle against Shino, his father, and few other Aburame clan members. After Shino stated he would not go easy on her, he sent his swarm of bugs to surround her. Konan blew the bugs away with ease with a paper explosion, disappearing in the process. The Aburame members looked up to find that Konan had created dozens of Paper Clones, which then jumped down for their assault. The kikaichū were then sent to attack the paper clones, but Konan had hidden explosive tags within them and they exploded on contact. Through the fire caused by the explosions, the real Konan was seen walking towards Shino and his clan members, doused in water. Shino's father commented on her power and quick thinking, using "her natural weakness as an advantage" and warned Shino to be careful.

Konan was called back shortly after she started to battle them, only to discover Pain had decided to use one of his most dangerous techniques. Concerned for his health, she begged him to stop using the technique, to no avail. Pain clearly had his mind made up, and continued to use the technique on a massive scale.

After consulting with Pain about the use of his technique, she was shown departing, stating she would look after him from now on. She then dispersed her Paper Clone and remained with Nagato for the rest of the invasion, constantly asking that he not overexert himself. When Naruto later found their location, she attempted to keep him from Nagato, but Nagato told her to step aside. She did as he asked, and listened to their conversation, but remained concerned about Nagato's condition. When Naruto led Nagato to having a change of heart and he decided to revive the people of Konoha, Konan realised that doing so would cost him his life. Knowing she couldn't stop him, however, she only marvelled at Naruto's ability to change others.

When all of the Konoha ninja were revived, Konan, like Nagato, entrusted the task of finding peace to Naruto. She wrapped Nagato and the Deva Path (Yahiko's) dead bodies in her paper to take them with her to Amegakure. When asked by Naruto if she would return to Akatsuki, she said that she was through with the organisation, as Nagato and Yahiko had meant everything to her, and now she and her village would help Naruto accomplish their dream of bringing peace to the world. She gave him a bouquet of paper flowers to symbolise a truce and wished that they would become "flowers of hope that never die" for him.

Confining the Jinchūriki Arc
Tobi infiltrates Amegakure and is immediately confronted by Konan. He asks her where to find Nagato's corpse so that he can take his Rinnegan. She refuses to tell him, instead informing him that she has been waiting for him and intends to personally stop him. Before they begin fighting, Tobi asks why she and Nagato would betray Akatsuki. Konan replied that Naruto was the embodiment of light that gave everyone the flower of hope.

She attacked Tobi with Paper Shuriken but they passed right through his intangible body. She then enveloped him in her dissipated paper form mixed with explosive tags, planning to kill them both. Tobi saves them by warping most of the explosion away, at the cost of his right arm and having a part of his mask broken. Tobi applauds her determination, to which Konan responds by vowing to destroy him, the "darkness" where flowers can do nothing but wilt and die. Konan then divides the lake, revealing an abyss of paper and as Tobi helplessly falls into it, she detonates the six hundred billion explosive tags that she had placed there that would last over a period of ten minutes, longer than the five-minute period that Tobi can remain intangible for.

When the explosions cease, Konan collapses, exhausted but believing the battle won. At the same time, some of the paper flowers at Nagato and Yahiko's shrine fall apart. Tobi however, quickly appears behind her and stabs her with a pipe, revealing that he survived her assault with Izanagi at the cost of his left eye. Konan frees herself and prepares to attack again. Before she does so, the endless rain over Ame stops, surprising Konan and Tobi. Konan proclaims that Naruto is "a support holding the bridge that leads them to peace". Taking up the mantle of "darkness" that crushes the light, Tobi grabs her by the throat, dispelling an attack she had been preparing and places her under a genjutsu to force her to reveal Nagato's location. He adds that she will die when the illusion ends. In the anime, Konan is able to attack Tobi just before he grabs her by the throat. Her attack, however, was unable to stop him.

Konan's body is left floating in the water. One of her blood-soaked sheets of paper is blown to the Ame Orphans' old hideout and came to rest on her "Hop-In" card, signifying a promise that the three had made to return there one day before leaving.

Creation and Conception
In Naruto Hiden: Sha no Sho Character Official Data Book, Masashi Kishimoto revealed that he'd always planned for Konan to be the only female member of Akatsuki, and, for that reason, gave her quite a revealing design. He jokingly comments that "she's obscene, but she still wears clothes, although her Akatsuki mantle covers it up, and she turns into paper right away". In the concept artwork, her navel is also shown to be pierced.

Trivia

 * "Konan" means "little south".
 * Even though she was an Akatsuki member, Konan (like Pain) was never a missing-nin, since their faction achieved victory in the Amegakure civil wars.
 * Konan shares her birthday and blood type with Yahiko.
 * According to the Third Databook:
 * Konan's hobbies were origami and flower pressing.
 * Konan's favourite food was flame-broiled fish, while she disliked karaage.
 * She would fight anyone who opposes "god".
 * Konan's favourite word was.
 * Konan had completed 341 official missions in total: 0 D-rank, 65 C-rank, 161 B-rank, 85 A-rank and 30 S-rank.

Quotes

 * (To Yahiko and Nagato) "Yahiko and Nagato… I will be the support that holds both our bridges up!"
 * (To Jiraiya) "You have no idea what happened to us after you left, sensei."
 * (To Jiraiya) "I have received the will of god and I must kill you."
 * (To Jiraiya) "That time, you should have listened to what Orochimaru said, but you saved us instead. Now, it's too late as we act to make his plans a reality."
 * (To Naruto) "Nagato believed in you, so I believe in you, too."
 * (To Naruto) "This time… I hope for you these will be flowers of hope that never die."
 * (To Tobi) "I knew you'd come find me eventually. I've been waiting for my chance to destroy you."
 * (To Tobi about Naruto) "He is light personified. That's why everyone he meets… carries the flower called hope!"
 * (To Tobi) "Yahiko founded the Akatsuki. The red clouds on these robes we wear… represent the wars that rained blood upon Amegakure. You merely jumped in our bandwagon. These robes are our legacy, not yours. The Rinnegan is something that Amegakure shinobi Nagato awakened on his own, and it does not belong to you! His eyes are this nation and village's greatest treasure!!"
 * (To Tobi) "One question… Madara. Do you understand why we betrayed you? Because you are darkness, a world without light where flowers can only wither and die!"
 * (To Tobi) "Yahiko and Nagato did what they wanted to do. They were never your pawns! No matter what happened to them, they both fought for their own ideals! And that's why their will has been passed down! I won't let you ruin it!"
 * (To Tobi) "Yahiko and Nagato's will hasn't vanished from this world! I believe in Naruto too! He… He will become the bridge that leads us to peace and I will be a support holding the bridge up!"