Chapter 2: A Little Conversation
-Forest of Death-
''Where is that dobe? He should've been here about thirty minutes ago?'' Sasuke asked as he was leaning against the massive tree trunk with Sakura accompanying him.
After he and Sakura had returned to the huge tree branch they had dispersed from earlier he and Sakura have been waiting a good half hour for Naruto to return from his little scouting mission to find the scroll they needed and frankly he was beginning to run out of patience for his blonde teammate.
Sakura was just innocently stabbing a kunai knife into the tree branch and looking up at Sasuke she saw that he was beginning to get aggravated with Naruto. He was late but this is the latest he had ever been since their teamed formed.
''It's Naruto being Naruto Sasuke, be patient you know he'll turn up soon, hopefully.'' Sakura said smiling.
Sasuke only snorted in response. ''That dobe, we might as well go look for him because who knows what happened to that guy. He probably got abducted by another team or worse, eaten by a snake.''
Sakura bonked Sasuke over the head for his smartass remark. ''Chya! Don't say that Sasuke! You might end up jinxing it! How would you feel if Naruto said that to you?''
The Uchiha boy rubbed his aching head and looked at his pink teammate in pure aggravation. ''Stop hitting me like that Sakura, and relax jeez, it was just a joke.'' He said with a pout.
Sakura knew he was right though because Naruto was always the kind of guy who could be reckless so she thought it would be best if they went to look for him. ''But yeah, I hope we didn't get into any trouble so let's go look for him Sasuke.''
Just then two more fingers landed near them and the sound of them landing on the branch caught the attention of Sakura and Sasuke. Looking in the direction of the noise they saw Naruto standing there with a huge smirk on his face and he wasn't alone. Karin was standing behind him and had her hands placed on his shoulder and was looking over them. It was almost as if she was trying to hide herself to the other members of team seven.
''Dammit dobe we were about to go looking for you! You're like a few minutes late." Sasuke groaned.
''Yeah Naruto, you always do that to us.'' Sakura said.
The blonde Genin scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. ''Gee, sorry guys I got caught up in something! Don't worry though I have a heaven scroll so we're good on passing the exams!"
Naruto took out the scroll from his pouch and presented it to his teammates and they raised their eyebrows as they didn't expect to get a scroll so soon and for their blonde teammate to get one since he always played around when to came to fighting as evident from their training sessions with Kakashi. Despite the excitement of him having a heaven scroll the two of them couldn't help but notice Naruto had brought someone back with him.
''Who's your friend Naruto?'' Sakura questioned.
Turning around Naruto looked at Karin who appeared to be very nervous and shy that she was practically trying to hide her face from his teammates. He noticed this.
''Don't be shy Karin say hi.'' He whispered.
The blonde's words were enough to get her to do the action so she stepped out from behind Naruto and waved at Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura narrowed her eyes at Karin to take in her appearance and if there was one word to describe how the pinkette felt about seeing the redhead, she was jealous. Karin was easily one of, if not the prettiest girls she had ever seen and the jealously coursed throughout her whole body as Ino was considered the most attractive kunoichi from her class. She even thought Karin's red hair was cool as hell. The headband let the pinkette know that she was from Kusa.
''H-hi..I'm Karin..'' the red-head greeted shyly with a wave.
''Hey Karin, I'm Sakura Haruno.'' Greeted the pinkette.
''Hn, I'm Sasuke...Uchiha..'' Sasuke greeted putting on a cool attitude.
Karin looked at Sasuke and instantly got a douchebag vibe from the onyx-haired teen. The way he introduced himself and his facial expression told her he was easily the biggest, or will be the biggest douchebag. Looking at Sakura she used her sensor ability to see her chakra and the feeling she was getting from the pinkette was jealously and uneasiness.
''Nice to meet you both.'' She greeted back.
Naruto smiled at Karin since she wasn't being so shy and nervous but that was the exact opposite of what he thought. ''I'm glad you're all getting along already! Karin is from Kusagakure you guys and obviously she is participating in the Chunin exams with us..or against us..but I say more along the lines of her being with us!"
Sasuke had to speak up because since they already spoke with the other teams from Konoha that they won't attack each other even if they had a scroll they needed his blonde teammate still brought back a foreign kunoichi and that made the Uchiha feel a bit uncomfortable.
''How, when, where and why Naruto?''
''Huh? What do you mean Sasuke?''
''I mean why did you bring a foreign kunoichi back to us dobe? You know we only have alliances with the teams from our village and pledged to come to their aid if we find them in trouble.'' Sasuke elaborated.
''I agree with him Naruto, no offense Karin.'' Sakura quipped.
Karin winced at the words of the pinkette and the Uchiha but she can understand them to a degree.
''Oh come on guys, I found her about to get uh, messed with by an Iwa team and I decided to come to her aid because she was by herself. Also, her team was eaten by a giant snake and they abandoned her the second this test started so who was I to leave a girl like her alone and defenseless in this crazy place?'' Naruto said before turning to face Sasuke. ''You know you'd do the same thing too Sasuke so don't deny it.''
Sasuke only looked the other way. ''Hn, true but still if I was in your shoes I wouldn't have brought her back.''
Karin was beginning to feel the need to speak up her part and defend herself and Naruto's action so she did just that by stepping in front of Naruto.
''Sure you guys are right about him helping a foreign kunoichi let alone bringing one with him back to you guys but let me say my part. Kusa and Konoha are trading partners and relations between our villages are fairly strong so technically it is only right to help a shinobi from an allied village. Also, you can't blame Naruto at all for helping me because he was only doing the right thing and whether you disagree with his actions or not I don't care frankly.'' Spoke the red-head before continuing. ''On another note, I'm aiming to become the best medic there ever was in the ninja world and since Naruto is vouching for me and rescued me the least I can do for your team is provide medical attention because I have things that I can do that will shock you. So it's a win-win situation for me and your team. You end up having a great medic on your team and you get through this exams like you were never hurt trust me. If I really wanted to sabotage you guys I would've done it already.''
Sakura and Sasuke instantly knew the girl was right. Sakura was aiming to be a good medic too but she hasn't even started the necessary training for it yet so her team basically went into the forest without any real or proper medical knowledge and here they pretty much struck a jackpot with Karin. If she really was a good medic already for her age and rank then she could prove to be a valuable asset for them during the duration of the test and medical ninjutsu was easily one of the most, if not the most important thing a shinobi should learn regardless of specialty.
Karin only stared down the pinkette and the Uchiha with determination in her eyes and they gave her insight some thought for a few seconds before coming to a decision.
''Naruto do you vouch for her?'' Sasuke asked.
''Yeah, what she just said can be a very useful thing for us during this portion of the exams since I haven't started my medical training yet.'' Sakura said.
Naruto and Karin looked each other in the eye and once again the red-headed girl used her sensory skills to read Naruto's chakra and like before, she didn't detect an ounce of deception in them and the tone in his voice told her that he was being true. He really did want to vouch for her and it made her feel happy that someone was sticking up for her unlike back home in Kusa.
''Like I said, I found her when she was most in need, she was being harassed by Iwa shinobi and I felt obliged to save her. Her teammates are dead and I believe her when she says she has great medical knowledge that can prove to be handy. I didn't bring her just because she's a girl or that she's pretty, I brought her because helping others in need no matter where they come from is my ninja way guys.'' Naruto explained.
Did Karin and Sakura hear that correctly? Did Naruto just call her pretty?
Sakura felt a pang of jealously coursing through her body because she knew that comparing herself to Karin is no competition whatsoever. Karin on the other hand was blushing intensely from what the blonde just called her. Naruto didn't even notice that he had called her pretty but nonetheless, his teammates knew that he was usually right...sometimes.
''Hn, alright dobe we'll let Karin join us since she has no team.'' Sasuke huffed.
''Consider yourself a lucky one Karin because we wouldn't have let you in if either of us found you. Welcome aboard I guess.'' Sakura said.
''Yeah! Karin gets to join our team!" Naruto shouted in pure glee.
The blonde then wrapped an arm around Karin's shoulder and gave her a one-armed hug making the girl blush at the action. She couldn't help but feel immense happiness in her for the blonde's kindness. It really was the first time that someone treated her like a human being with feelings instead of some piece of trash that is tossed aside once it's purpose has been fulfilled. Despite the uneasy feelings his teammates were giving off she knew that they'd eventually come around as she sensed it in their chakra.
''Thanks guys, I promise I won't be a burden and I'll help out as much as I can even though I pretty much failed since I have no team.'' Said the redhead.
Sakura and Sasuke nodded.
''Team seven will hold you to those words Karin.'' Sasuke said. ''Now Naruto, me and Sakura came up short handed what about you?So where did you get the heaven?''
''Yep! I found one off those Iwa creeps who were picking on her.''
''Great! With both we can now rest up until the fifth day then we can make our way towards the tower.'' Sakura suggested.
Despite not being part of their team Karin had thought that Sakura's suggestion did not sound right. Since this was an all out battle to the death between the Genin teams Karin thought it would be better if they made their way towards the tower in the center of the forest as soon as possible.
''That sounds like a bad idea Sakura, if you guys just relax in the forest and wait out the next four days then I'm pretty sure any other team that may have no scroll will take the chance to fight you guys for it because with the rules that freaky lady with the trench coat explained everyone's gonna be desperate to pass this thing. So I say we regain our bearings, then head for the tower and you guys pass this thing ahead of everyone else.'' The redhead suggested while adjusting her glasses.
Naruto smiled at his new friend, that plan was quite simple and smart. He knew Karin was a smart girl the moment he laid eyes on her.
''Excellent plan Karin! What do you guys think?'' The blonde quipped.
Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other.
''Sounds so much better than my plan Sasuke.'' The pinkette said.
''Hn, makes a lot of sense to just head there now. We get to the tower two more scrolls are unavailable for the other teams to take.'' Said the Uchiha.
With a big grin sported on his face the blonde turned to Karin and gave her a thumbs up.
''Sounds like they're agreeing with you Karin! That's a good start!"
Karin smiled back at the blonde. ''Oh come on Naruto, it wasn't a hard thing to think of I'm sure anyone else would've thought of that if they had the scrolls like you guys do.''
The praise made Karin feel all giddy as she never had anyone praise her or say something very positive to her that she didn't notice that she was blushing.
However, noticing that the day was coming to an end the team as a whole plus Karin decided that it would be best to rest for the night since they had been on the move when they separated to search for scrolls and they were indeed feeling a bit pooped.
''I'll take the first watch! No one's gonna come and bother you guys when you sleep!'' Naruto quipped.
Sasuke only sweatdropped. ''I'm pretty sure the whole forest heard you dobe, you are so loud it's funny.''
''Actually Naruto, since you guys are still in the exams, I'm not since my team is dead I think I should take the watch for the whole night since you're the ones that need the rest and energy.'' Karin interjected.
''Karin, you're a guest here so you should rest I mean, you're not even part of the exams anymore you're out so we'll take the watch. One hour on two hours off throughout the night.'' Sakura said.
''No, I can't possibly let you guys lose sleep because of me, I want to be helpful to you guys, Naruto found a scroll from the guys that were about to hurt me, I have great knowledge in medical jutsu plus, I'm volunteering to keep watch for the whole night because I'm a sensor type.'' Explained the redhead.
Sasuke raised his eyebrows as he was impressed. ''A sensor type huh?''
Naruto on the other hand was confused as he had never heard of these so-called sensor types. ''What's a sensor type?''
Sakura was going to open her mouth to explained for her blonde teammate but Karin had already beat her to it.
''A sensor type is a shinobi that is capable of detecting the presence of others. There are several methods of sensing, but the most common one is through a person's chakra. In my case, I can tell what kind of personality you have or whether someone is telling the truth or not just by detecting their chakra and I can differentiate between chakra of the five elements. That's why I want to keep watch for you guys because not only that but I can detect chakra from a great distance.'' Karin explained in full teacher mode.
''Wow that's so cool! Can you teach that to me Karin?'' The blonde exclaimed.
''Uh well, I don't know if it can be taught I mean, I was kinda born with it.'' Karin said.
''Wait, you said you can determine someone's personality? Did you use your sensory skills with me when I saved you?''
Karin blushed. ''Uh, yeah..when you kept pestering on how you really wanted to help me I sensed your chakra and knew that you were telling the truth. Your chakra is also warm and welcoming.''
Naruto saw the redhead's face reddening and placed a hand on under head headband and onto her forehead to check her temperature. ''Huh? You're looking awfully red in the face Karin, feeling sick or something?''
''N-no!'' Karin shouted turning to look away.
Her words didn't go unnoticed by Sakura and Sasuke who had their eyebrows singed off by what they just heard. Nonetheless, they decided not to bring it up and as the sun began to set and the forest began to turn black from the approaching night it was decided (thanks to Naruto's pestering) that all four of them will have one hour on and three hours off of watch. They would grab some leaves to make beds out of them and it would be Sakura who kept the first watch.
Later that night..
''Hey Karin, it's your turn to keep watch.'' Sasuke said as he gently poked the sleeping redhead.
The poking did it's job of waking up the girl and rubbing her eyes she opens them to see Sasuke standing over her. ''Already?''
''Hn.'' Was all Sasuke said before heading to his makeshift bed of leaves and laying down on them right next to Naruto's. Sakura slept in the middle of the two boys.
The redheaded girl let out a yawn and stretched for a second before putting on her glasses and got up to walk over to the edge of the massive tree branch to sit there for watch. She took a moment to take in her surroundings and to her, the forest may be creepy during the day and the fact that it was currently night didn't do it any justice, she had to admit it did have a bit of a charm to it. Within seconds of sitting down at the edge she closed her eyes and detected faint chakra signatures a few hundred meters out. It confused her at first when she noticed that they appeared to be single and that they were positioned in high areas of the treetops as if watching over her and the members of team seven.
''If you're using your sensory skills I bet you can sense my clones. I sent a few of them out a bit so that we can get a heads up if any of them get dispelled.''
The unexpected sound of Naruto's voice caused Karin to jump and she nearly turned around and thrusted a kunai knife into the blonde's heart.
''Holy crap!" Naruto cried out in a whisper. The kunai just barely touching his black t-shirt where his heart would be.
''Naruto you almost scared me halfway back to Kusa!" Karin said flicking the blonde on his forehead.
Rubbing his forehead the blonde took a seat beside the redhead and gave her a warm smile. ''Sorry! I just couldn't sleep after my first watch. I saw that Sasuke woke you up so I wanted to see if you could use the company.''
Karin returned his smile. ''Well I'm glad you were awake and told me those chakra signatures I'm picking up are your clones because I almost woke the whole group up.''
''How would you have woken me up?'' The blonde questioned.
''By poking those whisker marks of yours.'' Answered Karin.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at this and raised his arms up in mock surrender.
''Come at me then, see what happens.''
Karin only stared at the boy wondering if this was a trap but knew that he was actually going to let her touch his whisker marks.
''If you say so blondie.''
Reaching a hand up she roughly pokes his right cheek and the result was what she didn't expect.
Naruto tensed up and let out a barely audible purr before backing up a bit.
''Okay, that is honestly really cute!" Karin thought.
''Woah, that was actually the weirdest feeling ever.'' Naruto whispered.
He noticed Karin trying to reach for his whiskers again but he caught her hand.
''Hey let me poke them again!"
''Nah, one is enough to make sure I'm completely awake. Sasuke did it once and elbowed me!" Said Naruto.
With a pout Karin pulled her hand back and crossed her arms. ''Fine Naruto, be a grouch.''
The blonde let out a chuckle before noticing that the canopy of the forest above them had the sky visible and they looked up at the starry sky. They sat there in silence momentarily before Naruto spoke.
''Ever watched the night sky like this when you were in Kusa?''
''Once in a while, sometimes I was treated so bad by the people there I would run off into the woods and stay there for a few days and when night came I actually did this. For some reason star gazing makes me feel at ease.'' Karin answered.
''Yeah, same here! Even with how great of friends my teammates are I still like to star gaze all by myself. I usually do it on the Hokage monument in Konoha.''
Karin went wide-eyed and in a flash turned to face the blonde. ''You guys have a monument for your Hokage?!''
''Shhhh!'' Naruto placed a finger on Karin's lips shutting the girl up.
''Geez, you didn't need to shhhhhhhh me so loud Naruto.'' She said moving his finger off her lips.
''Well you were being really loud so I had to quiet you down.'' Naruto said with a smirk.
''Maybe next time you should quiet me down in a quiet way.''
''Sure will!''
Karin returned her gaze back to the stars and took another moment to admire their beauty.
''You know Naruto, since you're sitting with here with me, in a forest with huge animals that can eat you in one gulp we might as well get to know each other better while we have the chance.'' Suggested the redhead.
''That sounds like a good idea, what do you want to talk about?''
Karin placed a finger on her chin and thought about what question she wanted to ask her blonde friend.
''Hm, what's your favorite food?''
''Oh that's easy, ramen from Ichiraku's is the best thing ever!" Declared the blonde.
''No way! You like ramen too?"
''Yeah! What's your favorite flavor?''
Naruto puffed his chest out, a massive grin plastering his face.
''Easy, pork miso.''
''Same as me!" Karin said.
''Sweet! Maybe sometime you can come visit me in Konoha and I'll take you to Ichiraku's! Their ramen really is the best.''
''I look forward to it Naruto. So what's your hobby? I like to collect and try new perfumes.'' Karin questioned.
The blonde gave the redhead another grin. ''I like to garden and pull pranks on people.''
The redhead raised an eyebrow, she did not expect a guy like Naruto to be into gardening.
''You like to garden? I've never met a guy who does.''
''Well you have now, I'm one of a kind. Mind if I ask a question?''
''Sure, go right ahead.''
Just like Karin Naruto placed a finger on his chin to think about what his first question for his redheaded friend would be. ''What are you parents like?''
This caused Karin to feel a faint hint of sadness lingering through her body but yet, she still found the resolve the answer. ''Well..I didn't know my parents. I grew up an orphan in Kusa. Remember when I said people picked on me back home because of my red hair? They also picked on me because I'm an orphan..''
Naruto felt like hitting himself with a brick for asking such a stupid question and he felt very insensitive for doing so.
''Sorry Karin, I shouldn't have asked that. If may say so I grew up an orphan too.''
This caused Karin to look at Naruto.
I got picked on by both kids and older people because apparently I'm a monster.''
''A monster?'' Karin asked.
''Yeah, I don't know what they're talking about but honestly who cares? I've had moments when I was five where they'd break into my house and take me to some alley and beat me until I couldn't move.''
Karin was shocked. To hear that this really happy go lucky guy who seemed to always be smiling and had the biggest smile she's ever seen was taken from his house and beaten by the people in his village really made her wonder.
''They really did that to you?! How can you be so happy and keep smiling Naruto?''
''That's easy, because one day I'll be Hokage and then they will start to respect me! I want to be acknowledged by them and even though it may seem crazy that's my dream.'' Declared the blonde.
The redhead rested her chin on her knees as she thought about her younger days. ''People treat me so bad in my village, I just wanted to leave. If I were to be honest I wanted to be in this exam so I can have the chance to die because people in Kusa would be better off without me, no, the world would be better off without me.''
She began to tear up a bit.
''Don't say that.''
The tone in Naruto's voice caught Karin by surprised as it sounded very serious and a bit angry. So lifting her head up she turned to look at the blonde boy. He placed a finger on her chin and lifted her head slightly so he can look her in the eyes.
''Remember what I said earlier today? Life isn't always easy Karin, it's not about sunshine and rainbows do you really want to know what it's about? It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. Don't let what those jerks in Kusa say to you bring you down because if you do those mean things they say will keep you down permanently if you let it. You may think yourself as a loser but if you keep moving forward despite all the setbacks from the name calling or just people picking on you it makes you a winner. You gotta take the hits Karin and please don't ever point at yourself and say you're no good because cowards do that, and I know you aren't a coward Karin. I know we just met today but still, I can tell you're a really strong and good person.''
Karin heard the conviction in his voice and even without using her sensory skills she can tell he wasn't lying and being one-hundred percent truthful with her.
''You really think so?''
He smiled at her.
''Of course I do, believe it!''
Karin only snorted and looked the other way.
''Kami Naruto, we only knew each other for what? five hours and here you are giving me a motivational speech. You do this to girls you just meet?''
''Not really, you're the first one.''
''I feel privileged to be the first one. Thanks Naruto, that actually means a lot to me. It's nice to know you think of me that way.'' Karin said.
''No problem! I think we get along great and I'm glad I came across you today. You're really cool and very interesting.''
''You do as well blondie.''
Naruto didn't expect the next move when Karin wrapped her around him and gave him a hug to which he returned and the hug felt really good even if it was a friend hug. After about a minute the redhead separated the hug.
''Hope we can hangout after the exams are over because that Ichiraku ramen sounds great from what you've said.'' Said Karin.
''Yeah! I promise you it's the best thing you'll ever eat in your life so let me know when you decide to come by.'' Naruto yawned and that didn't go unnoticed by Karin.
''Maybe you should sleep because you have a guard shift in about an hour and a half. Sakura is up next so you might as well take the time to rest up blondie.'' Karin said in a bossy voice.
''Yeah, you're right. It was nice having a conversation with you Karin.'' Naruto got up and walked over to where he slept and went to lay down beside Sakura. ''We'll talk again tomorrow?''
''Of course, now go to sleep before I hold you down with paper bombs.'' Karin said, making her face appear as menacing as possible to the blonde.
Naruto shivered in fear looking at her face and his head fell backwards and in a split-second was asleep much to Karin's surprise.
''Well that escalated quickly.'' Karin thought before returning her gaze to the stars.
She was still wondering why Naruto was so nice to her and to know he thought highly of her so soon despite meeting just hours prior made her feel special. Compared to all the guys she has ever dealt with Naruto was the one that was being real with her and she decided then and there that she'd really want to get to know him better once the exams are over. She laid there staring at the stars with a content smile on her face as she knew that Naruto was indeed her first real friend and she wanted to keep it that way.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed reading the second chapter of this new fic. I swear I'm about to fall asleep as I'm typing this note. Don't forget to fave, follow, review and if you're interested check out my other three Naruto fics! I also appreciate the support this fic has gotten over the last week, show those other Naruto fics of mine support as well! Feel free to also PM about Naruto stuff from ideas and etc. Smell ya later!
