Selfless
Full Summary: Sasuke reveals the truth to Naruto regarding Karin's status as an Uzumaki. Of course, the news comes as a shock to Naruto. However, finally finding one of his owns after his mom, he decides to learn the truth regarding Uzushiogakure, alongside his newly found relative. What lies in wait for the two kin as they embark on this journey? Read to find out!
Main Pairings: Naruto-Sakura and Sasuke-Karin.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Enter Uzumaki Karin
The two makes of Team Seven were currently in Ichiraku Ramen, as per the constant persuading of one Uzumaki Naruto to hang out with his best friend, after all that had occurred in the war. Finally, after all the blood, tears and sweat, he had successfully managed to return Uchiha Sasuke to the village, what he deemed was Sasuke's one true home. Naruto had been overjoyed at the fact that Sasuke had decided to turn over a new leaf after their climatic battle at the Valley of the End, Sasuke finally opening up to the blonde after all those years of keeping his heart locked away in solitude. Of course, the Jinchuuriki wasn't about to waste any more time than he already had, resolving to spend as much time with Sasuke as possible, in order to learn what his best friend had been through in all his time after deserting Konoha. This was one such moment.
As expected, of course, not everyone was such an avid lover of ramen as Naruto was, and he was about to learn that the hard way.
Sasuke stared at the bowl that had been laid out before his eyes in a disinterested manner. Even with all his understanding of Naruto's childhood and how he was a rejected child in his childhood, there was one thing he could not fathom. Naruto's undying love for ramen.
"Naruto, I don't think I can stomach such a…" he stared at the food again disbelievingly, watching the noodles stir ever so slightly in the broth they had been dipped in, dish." I thought we were going to a proper restaurant in order to have lunch? Sasuke exclaimed, his distaste for the food before him evident in his words plus his facial expression at the moment.
Naruto, who was just about to offer his thanks for the food before him, stopped his hands in mid-motion, and then stared at the dark haired man disbelievingly? His eyes were widened in surprise, and then he slowly opened his mouth to express what he had been intending to say at that moment.
"Oi teme, what did you just say about ramen?!" Naruto started, a little irate with how Sasuke had unknowingly insulted his best delicacy in the world. Of course, Naruto did not especially like it when people insulted or expressed disgust at the things he adored most in the world. Among these was ramen, which he held in surprisingly high regard.
Sasuke did not break his gaze away from the ramen, and retained the same façade he had when he said his earlier statement. "What? You want me to spell it out for you? I don't like ramen as much as you, you know." Well, this was actually true. Of all the times that Team 7 went to Ichiraku Ramen in the past after all the grueling missions they had been assigned, Sasuke had rarely indulged himself in the food Naruto eagerly ordered first thing he set foot into the café. Sakura too. Kakashi himself seemed neutral about ramen, so basically the only one who was a ramen fanatic in Team Seven was Naruto. Of course, Naruto paid this no heed, since he was okay with his team the way it was, differences and all. Although Sasuke was a different thing, being his rival and all.
Naruto immediately focused his gaze to the raven-haired Uchiha, looking for something to retort with. His anger had subsided of course, but he was not going to let Sasuke off the hook that easily. If he did Sasuke would probably hold this over him for the rest of his life. There was no way Naruto was going to let that happen, since he was never content with letting Sasuke have one over him.
"You know if you actually gave it a chance you would find out it's a really good meal. Besides my mom loved it loads, so I think I got that from her," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly with the last part of that statement. Of course, he was still in bliss over having encountered his mom a few months back prior to the war, so he could not help himself in admitting little things about her that he found absolutely cute. He loved his mom and wanted to make sure that the whole world knew just how amazing a woman she was.
Sasuke, having not expected Naruto to say this at that moment, broke his gaze away from the bowl before him, which had wisps of steam still emerging from him. He looked at Naruto in amazement, since he had never heard anything regarding Naruto's mother. The last time he checked, he was well aware that Naruto was an orphan who knew next to nothing regarding his parents. Something had definitely happened to him.
"Naruto, did you-"Sasuke started, and the brisk nod from Naruto was what he needed to confirm his growing curiosity. Naruto, withdrew his hand from the back of his head, before suddenly continuing to talk. "It happened as I was suppressing Kurama to control his power." Sasuke, now his full attention focused on Naruto, looked at his best friend as he began narrating the tale of events that led to him as he met his mom. Of course, the Uchiha had been a tad surprised to realize in the war that Naruto had completely mastered the power of the Nine Tails, but he did not give it much thought back then owing to the dire situation they had been in. Now was a good time as any to listen to what his best friend had gone through, since the wave had already subsided, leaving an era of peace and quiet in its wake.
"….then she hugged me and thanked me for being born to her and dad." Naruto concluded his heart-warming story, before realizing that he had began tearing up again slowly. Tears threatened to leak out of his cerulean eyes; however, he held them in, realizing that this was a terrible moment to cry. It was a moment of joy, as he had been united with a woman who he had always dreamed of in his sleep, but she always faded away once he stretched out his hand to touch her face. Reliving the precious moments he had spent with his mom made his heart swell out with love for her, then he realized that he wished she were still alive at that moment so she could see his best friend and how he had finally managed to bring him back.
Next to him, Sasuke, having been moved by Naruto's heartwarming story, had a slight smile etched on his usually stoic visage. Of course, he had been delighted to hear that his best friend had finally been able to reunite with his real family, and the joy he could feel emanating from Naruto at the moment felt reassuring to him. He had always wondered what Naruto's parents were like, ever since that time he had began watching the blonde in the years of their childhood, but now, he felt that he had definitely been blessed with such wonderful parents.
At that moment however, a random memory suddenly resurfaced in Naruto's mind, one regarding his mom's relationship to a particular raven-haired woman, similar to the boy seated next to him at the moment. Naruto smiled cheekily, realizing that he had finally found leverage he could use against Sasuke, so he raised his hand to his mouth and chuckled. Sasuke, who was still looking at Naruto, took note of this behavior, before realizing that the blonde boy was probably up to no good with what he was going to do next. He huffed exhaustingly, before refocusing his gaze to his meal in order to spare himself from whatever Naruto had in store for him.
Naruto, however, would not give up so easily. He looked at Sasuke, before starting, "Hey Sasuke, you know what?" Sasuke did not reply to this query, and Naruto took it as affirmation to continue with his tale, much to Sasuke's dismay. "I forgot to tell you this earlier, but my mom and yours were friends! She even met you when you were just a newborn, and poked you in the cheek!"
Sasuke felt his patience wearing a bit thin at the man's antics, but he could not hide the slight embarrassment he felt at the mention of such a ludicrous moment in his life. Of course, no one wished to be reminded of how they were as a baby, finding extreme embarrassment in the matter, Uchiha Sasuke being no exception. Even if he was from the mighty and proud Uchiha clan, he was surprisingly quite touchy on such matters. He opened his mouth again, intending to put a stop to Naruto's farce, but the blonde man was beside himself with excitement at the moment.
"Just what do you intend on achieving with that information just now?" Sasuke questioned Naruto, his voice ever carrying the cool composure that he normally displayed, but not completely hiding the unease he had been feeling a bit earlier.
"Well I'll spell it out for you if you're too dumb to understand it!" Naruto replied between fits of suppressed laughter. He was having too much fun with Sasuke's apparent unease at the moment, the raven haired man noticed to his further embarrassment. That and the fact that Naruto had used Sasuke's earlier words to hit back at him. "If your mom and my mom were friends, then of course that means one thing. They used to hang out all the time right?" Sasuke nodded weakly, wondering where Naruto was headed with all this talk. "Then that means my mom used to invite your mom out for ramen, and she definitely loved it!" Naruto completed his sentence, glee in his voice at the fact that he was assured of his victory at the moment. He had finally found a way to hit back at Sasuke for his earlier remark regarding how he found ramen unpalatable.
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly in surprise, having been caught off-guard for the second moment that day by the blonde man. He had not expected that, and could almost feel himself chuckling in amusement, due to the sheer ridiculousness of the statement. Still, Naruto was Naruto after all, an idiot. He should have at least expected something like that to come from the blonde man's mouth.
The Uchiha cleared his throat brusquely, determined to set things straight with Naruto. If he expected such an attempt to work on Sasuke and convince him of the wonderful taste of ramen, he was dead-set wrong. He closed his eyes briefly before beginning to respond to Naruto, whose eyes were now glittering in excitement as he was still in the belief that Sasuke would finally give in to his persuasion to eating ramen.
"Just so you know, Naruto, my mother's favorite dish was not ramen as you so wish," Sasuke stated coolly, and the disappointment that quickly registered on Naruto's face was cause for glee. He wasn't quite done yet. "Her favorite food was omusubi with okaka and tomatoes." He completed his comeback, his tone a pitch higher and displaying the pride he was feeling at the moment. To add to his inner delight at the moment, Naruto had his face cast downwards in disappointment at the moment, and an aura of gloom was radiating from him, in stark contrast to the delight he was feeling earlier. Sasuke smirked at this sight.
Of course, his mom's favorite dish had been that, and Sasuke had inherited that from her, although he wasn't about to divulge such a minute fact to Naruto.
The blonde man, seeing that he would not get through Sasuke's stubborn head, decided to forget about the whole matter altogether, owing to the way a vein pulsed in his forehead with clear irritation. He threw his hands into the air in dramatic fashion, not realizing that Sasuke could be this stubborn in something as delicate as food matters. Still, this was Uchiha Sasuke after all; the man who Naruto had to beat senseless in order to get him to return to the village, so Naruto could not be surprised at this. He had not changed even after all the years that the two had been friends. It was quite vexing, Naruto had to admit, but at the same time, reassuring, since Sasuke was not Sasuke otherwise.
"Forget it!" He almost shouted, as he had his eyes shut in disappointment. He drew his hands forward in order to bring the bowl of the food next to him, intending to enjoy his meal in peace. Besides, if Sasuke was not going to have any of his ramen, Naruto would be more than glad to relieve him of his burden. He could at least take pride in that fact. A small part of him, however, was happy. Sasuke had actually opened up about his family for the first time to Naruto, something which Naruto had thought was impossible for the raven-haired man. He had been surprised that Sasuke had told him such a thing about his late mother, but well, the two of them were in a similar boat after all. He smiled slightly to himself under his guise of disappointment with this fact, and for what seemed the umpteenth time since the war; his mind told him that he was finally back. He finally had his best friend back, and he would not exchange him for anything in the world.
"You're really back for good, aren't you, Sasuke?"
These thoughts ran through his mind as he drew the bowl of ramen towards him. The large wisps of steam that had been emanating from his food earlier had reduced significantly into now smaller wisps, meaning that the food had lost most of his heat. However, it had not yet quite turned soggy; much to Naruto's pleasure, meaning it was still palatable. His mouth drooled a little as the aroma of the food wafted to his nostrils, so he quickly reached out for the chopsticks that lay to the side of the bowl.
There was a wince of pain, and he let go of the chopsticks just as suddenly as he had grabbed them. Naruto closed one eye in slight pain, as he drew back his bandaged arm to soothe it slightly. Beside him, Sasuke heard the man wince in pain, just as he was about to partake of the ramen in order to satiate his best friend's pleas, so he shifted one eye to look at Naruto. Naruto had his hand drawn back to his chest as he rubbed it gently. The Uchiha sighed.
"Idiot. Your arm still isn't fully healed. It will take a few months before it works just as well as your old one," he explained in a patient tone. He was right, of course, Naruto realized. After their final battle in the Valley of the End where they had cleanly blown each other's arms off from their last attacks, it had taken the combined efforts of both Sakura and Tsunade to repair them prosthetic arms from the cells of the First Hokage, and even then, it would still take a while for them to get adjusted to their new limbs. Sasuke had healed progressively faster than Naruto, and was in the final stages of getting his arm completely healed, but the blonde was a completely different matter. It couldn't be helped of course, since Naruto could not stay put and let his arm heal itself with time, frequently infecting his healing injury with his strolls around the village in order to assist in restoring it to its previous state before the war. Even Sakura, with all her telling off and occasional use of violence, had failed to keep Naruto completely put in bed. Well, he would suffer the consequences sooner or later, Sasuke thought, and it had already happened. Life was a bit funny like that.
"Tch. This sucks. Now I can't even enjoy a meal properly!" Naruto exclaimed, clearly not pleased. He had stopped rubbing over his bandaged hand, and made out to eat again, before Sasuke took the bowl away from Naruto. Naruto shrieked in anger.
"That's my meal you dumbass-!" He stopped momentarily, as Sasuke took the chopsticks that were lying idle on Naruto's table. Naruto was a bit confused as to what was going on at first, fearing for the worst at first, that Sasuke would begin to partake of his ramen. However, what the dark haired man did next completely bewildered him. Sasuke plunged the chopsticks into Naruto's bowl, and Naruto suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He immediately realized what the Uchiha meant to do, and he would not let him go through with it. Memories of the pale-skinned member of their team, Sai, and their silver-haired sensei, Hatake Kakashi resurfaced in his mind, with both of them doing the same thing a while ago after Naruto was injured from his fight with Kakuzu. They had effectively ruined his chances of getting fed by the apple of his eye, Sakura, and that had caused Naruto to protest in dissatisfaction to both the men. Here Sasuke was again; doing the same thing to Naruto, and Naruto felt himself feeling a bit disgusted.
"Hey, what the fuck do you think you are doing?" the blonde started, irritation present on his expression on the moment.
"What does it look like? Helping you eat your ramen," Sasuke replied confidently, the chopsticks still holding the strands of ramen between them.
"Oi, you realize how awkward this looks like right now, right?" Naruto added on dryly, having lost all the will to continue this hopeless conversation.
"Actually, I don't. Now eat up, before your food gets cold," Sasuke replied, a hint of sarcasm evident in his reply.
"You're mocking me, aren't you?" Naruto remarked, and could feel his patience running thin at the current situation. This did not sit well with him, in all accounts.
Sasuke chuckled a bit deviously, before setting the bowl back to its table.
Naruto then shook his head in displeasure, before grabbing the sides of his head and exclaiming, as he looked to the air. "I wish Sakura-chan was the one doing this instead of this dolt over here!"
Sasuke felt his amusement rising at this statement, and it was definitely with good cause. He had been aware of the blonde's affections for Sakura since childhood, choosing not to comment on it since it didn't really matter to him anyway. Still, he had to admit he was a bit impressed with Naruto, since he made no attempt at all to hide his affections for the pink-haired girl, as most people would, laying everything out in the open about what he felt for the girl. Naruto definitely had guts, Sasuke had to admit.
"You do realize she is in the hospital tending to the casualties from the war, right? Not everyone has recovered fully from that, you included. You'll have to wait for a while before she can feed you," Sasuke replied, his earlier amusement having died down. Next to him, the blonde man was surprised by what Sasuke had just uttered. This was the first time that Sasuke had chosen to comment on Naruto's relationship with Sakura, and frankly, he was taken aback. He never took Sasuke to be the kind to talk about such things. Then again, Sasuke was quite an enigma himself, so Naruto realized that he definitely had this side to him after all. Additionally, Naruto had never really talked about Sakura in the Uchiha's presence, so this was the first time he had expressed himself regarding her.
"Hmph, that sucks," Naruto remarked, as he placed his head to the table before him. He had not gotten a chance to see much of Sakura since the war had ended, as she was continually cooped up in the hospital alongside her master, the Fifth Hokage, both of them working tirelessly day and night in order to restore the injured to full health. Naruto knew that it would be uncouth of him to interrupt her at work for something as petty as a lunch date, still, he could not lie to himself regarding the fact that he had begin missing her sorely. He silently wished that her time at the hospital would speed up more so he could finally enjoy her company again, just like old times.
Looking towards Sasuke as he reminisced regarding their female teammate, his thoughts suddenly shifted towards another female, having similar connections with Sasuke as Naruto did with Sakura. Realizing he had a chance to retaliate at the raven-haired man due to his earlier mockery regarding feeding him with ramen, Naruto smiled wickedly. Sasuke, who was in the middle of his meal that he had found surprisingly tolerable, did not catch wind of Naruto's devious grin at that moment.
"Hey, hey, Sasuke," Naruto started, his delight visibly showing on his face at the moment. Sasuke, who had a mouthful of noodles suspended in air at the moment, paused momentarily to listen to what the blonde had to say this time. Naruto got up from his slouched position on the table at that moment, and then continued with his earlier statement. "You know I know you wish that Karin was here at the moment to feed you ramen." Sasuke froze momentarily, clearly flustered, and Naruto nudged his shoulder in a playful manner. Sasuke's expression at the moment was pure gold. Naruto then guffawed as he drew back his bowl of ramen that was still on Sasuke's side of the table, before steadily taking the chopsticks that were out of Sasuke's grip and slowly helping himself to his first mouthful of ramen. The taste, as always, was heavenly.
Meanwhile, Sasuke, having recomposed himself shortly after Naruto's words had startled him, regained his earlier confidence and spoke up to the blonde. "You know Karin? How?" Naruto swallowed a mouthful of ramen, before turning to the dark haired man. "What do you mean how do I know her. You know you were the one who left her back at the Land of iron, so Kakashi-sensei suggested to me and Sakura-chan that we should bring her back to Konoha since she could provide useful information regarding you and the Akatsuki," Naruto explained, his hunger having subsided from earlier and leaving him in quite a positive mood.
The Uchiha listened to him keenly as he narrated all the events that occurred in the Land of Iron, up to the point where Karin was carried back to Konoha and left to the Interrogation Corps. A bit surprised, as he had not really thought about the matter. Listening to it now, he felt a tinge of guilt in his gut as he realized the full extent of how his dreadful actions in the Land of Iron had impacted on those around him, more importantly his team at that moment, Taka. He had apologized to Karin of course, once he came face to face with her again on top of the Hokage Monuments as they prepared to head out to the war against Uchiha Madara. However, hearing this from Naruto now, he felt as if he had reason to apologize to the red-haired girl again, this time a tad more than the last.
"But, I'm surprised. I never thought you were the type to travel with a girl. You always seemed so indifferent to the ones in the village," Naruto continued, absentmindedly, as he reveled in the taste of the ramen before him. Truthfully, he had genuinely been surprised to hear Sasuke had a girl in his team, so he could not help but be curious about what differentiated Karin from the rest of the girls who fawned over Sasuke continuously due to his charming looks.
Further to his surprise, Sasuke replied to his off-handed comment, with a pensive voice. "Karin is….special." Naruto looked at Sasuke curiously after this, halfway through with his bowl of ramen, clearly waiting for the raven-haired man to continue his explanation regarding the mysterious girl that had managed to capture Sasuke's eye. The dark haired man found himself remembering the first time he had encountered Karin, whilst he was still in Orochimaru's hideout. The snake-like shinobi had posted him to a different hideout that day, where he was to assist with a certain task. That was when he encountered Karin, the branch leader. The task was simple of course; he had to assist with the recapture of a few of Orochimaru's test subjects that had mysteriously disappeared from their holding cells. The job was done brilliantly, with Sasuke relying on Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura in order to locate each of the escapees and then to subdue them painlessly. Ever since that day, he had found himself fascinated with the girl's abilities, then made a silent reminder to himself that he would recruit her into the team he was planning to make once he betrayed Orochimaru.
Time went on and on for the two, together with Jugo and Suigetsu, and in them Sasuke found the family he had with Team 7. He was quite content with that. At that point, however, he recalled something that Yakushi Kabuto had said whilst he was battling both Sasuke and his brother, Uchiha Itachi, within the Mountain Graveyard. He was surprised that he had not remembered such a thing sooner, as it clearly was of alarming importance.
"Plus I have the amazing ability to recuperate quickly. I admit it's a healing technique I learnt from studying the body of a woman originally from the Uzumaki clan. Someone you're quite familiar with…Karin."
The initial shock Sasuke had felt at these words immediately hit him with the same impact it had back in that cave. Remembering clearly that the blonde boy next to him also had the surname 'Uzumaki', he definitely had to be told of this. Immediately, Sasuke turned towards Naruto, disbelief still etched in his eyes as to how he had forgotten such an important matter.
Naruto was almost done with his bowl of ramen at that point, paying no attention to anything else at that moment. Immediately, Sasuke called for his attention.
"Naruto, I have something to tell you."
"Hm?" Naruto replied, his mouth full of ramen at that point. He clearly had not realized how stern Sasuke's expression and voice had turned at that moment.
"Karin is from the Uzumaki Clan."
Naruto's chopsticks fell limply with a faint noise in the bowl before him.
A/N: Hopefully this is a good start to what is another NaruSaku story, of course, but this time with major SasuKarin in it. I hope this was pleasing enough. Read, enjoy, and review.