Chapter 1: Escape

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Five days. Five days and she still wouldn't be quiet. The idea was so farfetched, how did she believe it would work? They were only kids. A runaway job would probably kill them. Yet here she was actually considering it. Here she was: lying nearly passed out on a hospital bed. Part of her actually regretted waiting this long. How could she have been so foolish as to believe they wouldn't treat her the way they had her mother. Her mother had died because of them. What would keep them from killing her the same way?

Her mother and she had both had a special trait: a very strong life force. As such, she had a great deal of stamina and chakra reserves especially for a child of her age. When people bit down on her, healing would be almost instantaneous. Why did they believe the doctors of Kusagakure would not exploit that? As Iryou-nin they should have realized that forcing her mother to take on too many patients would be exhausting. They should have realized she was running low and could not do much more. They should have realized that she needed rest. They should have realized that before she took her last breathe. Maybe then she wouldn't have been alone in the world anymore. Now she planned on making them realize this: she was not her mother.

She would not fall into the same trap. She quickly learned her limits, ready to throw a fit in the case they forced more onto her. She was a child, she would get away with it. They wouldn't want to kill her in the same way after all. That didn't stop them from using her powers however, and more than she liked to admit: she was exhausted. The bites stung as her arms quivered from the amount of bite marks left. Damn civilians didn't know how to treat a child. All they cared about was their own selfish lives.

Perhaps this was why she couldn't help but reflect on what her self-proclaimed friend had told her. The girl was one of their first patients upon arriving. Apparently she had been close to death. If they had arrived any later, the chances of her survival would have slimmed greatly. When the girl awoke, she never left her alone, thanking her profusely. Her mother was glad, letting them go off to play. The girl in return would show her a collection of songs and scratched cds she's come across in living in Kusa. That had been months ago.

She stared up at the ceiling, glaring tiredly. Chakra exhaustion, she likely wouldn't be able to move for a few days. This was not how she wanted to live. She could barely turn her head to face the young girl in front of her, slowly dozing off to the unusual quietness of the hospital room. The girl's lavender hair fell in front of her face as her body drooped forward bit by bit. She began to cough a bit, startling the girl as she turned and faced her.

"Uzumaki-chan, you okay?" She fixed her lavender hair lightly, rustling in her seat. The girl never could sit still unless she was dead tired.

"Yes, Yuko-san. But I've been thinking…" she trailed off, shifting her gaze back to the ceiling.

"Thinkin'? About wha'?"

"…I think. I will agree to your plan. Though not tonight. I am still unable to move." Yuko stared at the young Uzumaki with wide eyes before a face splitting grin fell on the girls face. She nearly jumped out of her seat.

"Sweet! I'll… prepare? I think tha' was the word you use…" Uzumaki didn't know how to react to that. Then again, as far as she knew, Yuko had been orphaned far longer than herself. Barely even able to say things correctly and already planning a runaway attempt. They likely were in over their heads at this point. But she saw no other choice in the matter.

"Well… if you can, stop by my place. I do not have much. Just clothes and a picture of me and Mama. Would you please…" Uzumaki did not have to say more as Yuko bounced up and down. Most likely to keep herself awake.

"There's no need to ask Uzumaki-chan! Of course I'll grab it. That's what friends do nee?" The girl drabbled off, still hopping in place. Uzumaki sometimes wondered if she even had an off switch at times. But her words echoed in her head.

Friends. Uzumaki was still getting used to the term. For the longest time she and her mother had been travelling, more often than not, keeping to themselves. She hadn't gotten to know many other children her age. Settling down, she still kept to herself until Yuko refused to take no for an answer. More than ever, she was glad that the lavender haired girl was so determined. If not, then she dreaded being forced to be part of this village any longer. Where would they go?

"Nee nee, Uzumaki-chan! Are you listening to me?"Uzumaki couldn't help but force a smile.

"Karin."

"Eto?" Yuko stopped her bouncing to stare at the red-head.

"I believe, you can get away with calling me Karin now, Yuko-san." For the first time in all she's known Yuko, Karin could see those scale blue eyes twinkle. Perhaps, this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"I will do my best then Karin-chan!"

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The last thing that Konoha's Greatest Spymaster expected on his travels was to see two snot nosed brats running through the forest as dusk would fall. At first, he thought he was imagining things. They couldn't be any older than six, if that. There was a strong chance he had drank more sake then he intended on his departure from the last small village after extensive amounts of research. Yet, he didn't drink enough to be drunk, otherwise he doubted he would have been able to leave the village on his two feet.

As he was setting up camp, however, he began to sense a large chakra supply running straight towards him he jumped onto his feet. From what he could sense, the person could have been chunin level. Yet, they didn't hide it. What kind of foolish ninja would be running at him like that? They didn't seem to be alone in the matter, but the chakra coming from the second was far weaker.

To his surprise, instead of full-fledged ninja, two young girls had tumbled down the hilly forest path having stumbled over some rocks. One crashed into his legs, though it wasn't enough force to throw the toad sage off balance. The other had landed right next to her friend, face first into the ground. Jiraiya couldn't help but wince. Surely that would have hurt a little kid. But the girl just surprised him again, plopping up and whining as she rubbed her face.

"Nee, I didn't think rocks were that biiiiiiiiiig. Or pointy. Did you know they hurt that much Karin-chan?" That girl had the attention span of a puppy, he concluded. The red head in front of him groaned, adjusting her glasses as she fell onto her back.

"Of course they hurt. They're rocks." The girl's tone fell flat before she noticed the old man in front of them. She blinked, before adjusting herself. "Who are you?" Her voice seemed to startle her companion into gazing up, eyes wide with surprise.

"I believe I should be asking you that. You crashed into my campsite after all." He raised an eyebrow at the duo. It was far too late for children to still be up playing, especially in the middle of a forest boarding ninja territory. He didn't recall seeing them in the earlier village and the closest was miles away.

"Nee nee, gomen mister. We had to uhh…" The lavender haired paused for a second before glancing over to the red-head. 'Karin,' she had said before. The more he stared at the two children, he couldn't help but feel put off. The child with the chakra reserves a chunnin. The only child he could pride himself in saying had a reserve as high was his own god-son. Not to mention, red hair was uncommon save for one family.

Karin just adjusted her glasses, coughing to cover her friend's clumsiness. "We're running late for dinner is all. Sorry for bothering you." She dusted off her skirt and stood up, reaching out a hand for the lavender hair to take. "Yuko-san let's go."

"Where are your parents kids? They couldn't have left you both alone in the forest now?" He far from believed their tale. Both girls let out a small flinch, hoping the sage wouldn't notice before sharing a look. Yes, there was something odd about them.

"It's uhh… training! Papa wanted to see if we could get home on our own! Maybe we could learn to be ninja." 'Yuko' exclaimed. Karin just tugged at the girl's dress sleeve to hush her. So they had come from a ninja village?

"Anywaaaaaay," Karin started, tugging more, "we need to get going now. Bye."

Jiraiya sighed. This was getting him nowhere. However, he couldn't just leave them on their own. It was a miracle they had made it as far as they did. He placed a hand down on both of their shoulders'. "How about we walk and talk? Starting with your names and why you're really out here."

Karin gulped. They were found out. What if he sent them back? Though Yuko just blinked again, lightly scratching her cheek, "Nee, what makes you think we're lying?"

"It's fairly obvious," Jiraiya dully pointed out, not releasing his grip of the two girls.

Karin just went over scenarios in her head for a moment before swallowing, bringing Jiraiya's attention to her. "Uzumaki Karin. We're from Kusa."

"Nee nee, I thought we weren't s'posed to tell anyone," Yuko said. Though Karin responded with shaking her head.

"Kusa's a long way from here kid. Why the hell would you leave?" His suspicions affirmed he frowned. Had they been anywhere near Kumo who knew what would become of the Uzumaki girl. But here, was a living breathing Uzumaki. After Uzushiogakure's fall, the Uzumaki's were spread with very little left.

"We could not stand the treatment there. It was Yuko's idea. I… did not wish to end up the same way as my mother." Karin continued, snapping Jiraiya from his thoughts.

"Your mother?"

"She died. They made a deal with her, and used her powers. Now she's dead." Her eyes stared straight at the ground, dull. Yuko instinctively wrapped an arm around the girl, pulling her close. To say Jiraiya was surprised was an understatement.

There were many ways Jiraiya expected his night to go. If he had spent another night in town, he would have missed these girls completely. If he had left earlier, there was a chance he wouldn't have seen them at all. Another Uzumaki. Two runaways. He couldn't exactly return them to Kusa, nor could he leave them to wander aimlessly in the forest. For a second, his thoughts went back to Naruto, alone in his apartment building. Perhaps, he could make something of this.

"What are your goals?" He asks, causing both girls to stare up at him.

"N-nani?" Karin's jaw went slack.

"Your goals. Where did you plan to go?" He repeated, loosening his grip on the girls. He doubted they would run.

"Nee… anywhere but there really. Somewhere Karin-chan would be safe," Yuko admitted, flushing quietly. So she didn't have a straight forward plan. At least they were out of the village.

"I… may know the perfect place for you both." A small smirk rested on Jiraiya's face, thinking back to his god-son. While he was not able to be in the village for long, perhaps he could finally give Naruto the family he needed. Not like he would give the old man a choice. "Karin… how would you and Yuko like to come and meet another Uzumaki?"

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A/N: Hey guys. Poke here again. Ideas are flowing and I'm slowly back to writing. (Update for JoFaD hopefully by the end of the month). Aside from Chapter 2 I'm going to try updating this fic once a week. At the least once a month. This fic will mostly focus on a family/friendship relationship between Karin and co. Most pairings are currently open and I may or may not change things as I go. But hey that's normal in the brain of Poke. See you all later.