Konan

was a kunoichi from Amegakure and the only female member of Akatsuki. She served as partner to the organization's leader, Nagato, and was the only associate to call him by his true name. After abandoning Akatsuki, she briefly became the leader of Amegakure. She was killed by Tobi.

Background
After her family was killed during the Second Shinobi World War, Konan was left to fend for herself. She was later found by Yahiko, a boy with whom she worked in order to survive. At some point, Kokan discovered Nagato and his dog Chibi starving in the rain. She brought them back to the hideout she and Yahiko shared. The three grew to become best friends, and eventually they encountered the Sannin, who gave them food. Konan presented them with an elaborate flower she had made as a sign of her gratitude. When Orochimaru suggested he should kill the orphans, Jiraiya chose to remain with them and teach them how to care for themselves.

After Jiraiya had taught them ninjutsu and was confident they could survive on their own, he left Amegakure. Before departing, Jiraiya told Konan that she would be very beautiful someday, and to find him when she turned eighteen. During the time they had spent with Jiriaya, he had constructed a defence system. Sensing their hideout would be vulnerable, he presented the orphans with four plans, each with a red side and a white side (the latter also had a picture of a frog's head on it), which he attacked to the wall with nails and string. The planks were also labeled with their names. Their purpose was to inform the inhabitants of the hideout who was home. For example, if Yahiko's plank was flipped but he wasn't in the hideout, it could indicate that he had been captured, or if it was flipped and he was present, it could mean that an enemy had infiltrated the hideout and transformed into him. In the hideout, Jiraiya also built a secret trapdoor that could be used to escape in the case of an emergency.

As time passed, the orphans grew up, and at some point formed the Akatsuki. They became renowned for their strength and efforts, and the news of their actions even reached Jiraiya. When the Akatsuki grew too large, they were forced to leave their small hideout. Just as they were about to flip their planks, a ninja squad attacked, causing an explosion that left a hole in the roof. Yahiko, just as he was about to flip his plank, noticed the attack and used the escape route just before the ninja entered. As a result, Konan was never able to flip her tile. It was implied that she harbored romantic feelings for Yahiko.

The orphans encountered Obito Uchiha at some point, who proclaimed to be Madara Uchiha at the time, and Zetsu. She listened in the background as Tobi presented them with his motives, and later walked away from the pair. Yahiko felt wary of them.

Hanzō was still the leader of Amegakure during Akatsuki's initial years. As the organization grew more and more powerful, he began to fear that they would attempt to overthrow him. As such, he collaberated with Danzō Shimura to deceive the group into meeting with them in order to discuss a peaceful allegiance. When Nagato and Yahiko arrived, 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 abandon her. While Nagato was paralyzed from the shock of the ordeal, Yahiko thrust himself onto a kunai in his hand. Nagato saved Konan from Hanzō and Danzō, and she would accompany him wherever he went thereafter.

Personality
Konan was intelligent, stoic and level-headed (much like her partner, Nagato). As a child, she was compassionate and cheerful, contrasting Yahiko's intensity and Nagato's sensitivity. However, by the time she met Naruto Uzumaki, the traumatic events of her life had led her to become a very serious person. She never spoke during Akatsuki meetings; nevertheless, she always placed the safety of her teammates above her own. When she was younger she showed romantic feelings towards Yahiko, caring for him and wanting to be as close to him as possible. It is unknown if these feelings carried on during adulthood or remained after Yahiko's death.

She seemed to be more empathetic than her Akatsuki fellows, and appeared sad whenever she was reminded of her past. She also expressed an immense amount of loyalty and courtesy to Pain, obeying his orders without question. She had complete faith in his abilities and his goals. In Amegakure, she seemed to act as an intermediary, the villagers having given her the title "God's Angel", because of her resemblance to an angel with her paper wings activated.

She also had the ability to read Pain's emotions without him clearly expressing them, presumably as a result of their history together. As soon as Tobi ordered Pain to capture the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, she knew that there was something about the assignment that upset her partner.

After Nagato's sacrifice, Konan resolved to protect Naruto Uzumaki, the person to whom Nagato had entrusted his dream of world peace. She even proclaimed Akegakure's loyalty to him. She was equally determined to protect Nagato's remains from Tobi; she prepared 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), lavender 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. Although she never removed her Akatsuki mantle, it was revealed that underneath it, she wore a revealing navy blue robe, with a large hemline on the front, and 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 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 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's name means "little south".
 * Even though she was an Akatsuki member, Konan (like Nagato) 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 databook(s):
 * 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!"