ch. 36
"And that's when we came back here." Naruto explained to his team, his sister, the raikage, and Mr. Takamaru.
"How did you guys even know where I was?" Naruto asked.
"We passed by Mr. Takamaru on his way here. He told us you were acting strange so we decided to go find you." Karui explained.
The raikage rubbed his eyes. This was a lot of information to take in.
"You're all dismissed." He ordered. He needed time alone to think about how to deal with this situation.
Naruto was about to speak up but his sister grabbed his shoulder and dragged him out of the room, his team following behind.
"What's the big idea sis?"
"You and me are having a talk."
Yugito took Naruto home where she sat him down in the kitchen.
"Naruto, I know you must be really confused about this whole situation with your cousin but I need you to promise me that you aren't going to do anything rash like go out and look for her by yourself."
"I'm not that crazy sis. I wouldn't even know where to start."
"Good. I promise you that we'll find her. When we do, I hope you don't mind sharing your room." Yugito smiled. "I've always wondered what it would be like to have a little sister."
Naruto stood up and hugged his sister lovingly.
"Thanks sis."
"Naruto."
"Yeah Kurama?"
"Let's go to one of the training grounds. It's time for me to teach you how to use my power."
Meanwhile back in the leaf village.
Hinata was hard at work studying her clans history when her father walked into the library.
"Hinata, come with me." He ordered. Hinata obliged him and followed him to his dojo where Neji and Hanabi were waiting.
"Neji and Hanabi are going to spar. I want you to watch their fight and learn from them. Although you have improved tremendously you still lack the skill in taijutsu that your siblings possess."
"Yes father."
The two sat down on the sidelines and Hiashi motioned for Neji and Hanabi to begin.
The two took their stances and eyed each other. Hanabi was the one to make the first move with a swift jumping kick. Neji blocked it and countered with a swift jab to Hanabi's stomach. Hanabi was sent flying and landed on her back. Using the momentum she rolled back to her feet in time to dodge a roundhouse kick aimed straight at her little head. She sweeped at Neji's legs but he jumped back to avoid it.
"Tell me what you see." Hiashi ordered to his daughter.
"Hanabi's aggressive style isn't a good match up against Neji. His defensive skills are far too great. If Hanabi wants to win she has to slow down and take a more cautious approach to the fight."
"Very good."
Hanabi kept on the offensive with rapid strikes, each one of them blocked by Neji. Hanabi eventually got tired of Neji blocking everything and decided to try something unexpected. She feinted a jab to Neji's stomach and leaped to deliver a jumping punch to Neji's face. She succeeded in tricking Neji and scored a direct hit on his face but her victory was short lived when Neji grabbed her arm and used her momentum to swing her down into a submission maneuver.
"That's enough." Hiashi ordered. Neji let go of Hanabi and the two bowed to each other before bowing to Hiashi.
"Hanabi, raw aggression is not enough to win a fight against an opponent of Neji's caliber. Fighting harder isn't always the answer. Sometimes you need to fight smarter."
"Yes father." Hanabi said as she rubbed her sore arm.
"Neji, you did well but you failed to see past Hanabi's simple ruse. You must learn to expect the unexpected."
"Yes sir."
"Hinata, tend to your sisters arm."
"Yes sir."
Hinata flashed through her hand signs and a green light began radiating from her hands. She began rubbing her sister's arm and the pain immediately subsided.
"Woah, it doesn't hurt anymore. How'd you do that sis?"
"It's just a basic pain killing jutsu. It's the first medical ninjutsu Tsunade taught us."
"Can you teach it to me sis?"
"It's not a jutsu to be taken lightly. If the one using it doesn't have proper chakra control they can accidentally intensify the pain instead of reducing it."
"That's even better! I could kick someone's ass and then make it hurt worse with that jutsu!" Hanabi slapped her hand across her mouth once again as she accidentally cursed in front of her father.
Hiashi began rubbing his eyes.
"I guess you need even more etiquette lessons."
"Yes father." Hanabi gloomily replied.
"I hate etiquette lessons." She added in her mind.
With Karin
"Are you ready?" Karin asked the sound ninja sitting across from her. The two sat in a lab together with all sorts of strange looking machines. Karin held up a kunai and cut across the ninja's palm making him wince slightly.
"Take it now." She ordered.
The sound ninja took a small blue pill off the table and ate it.
"Woah..." He said as he felt his body fill with energy. Suddenly the wound on his hand began to glow blue and it began rapidly healing itself.
Karin took out a small tape recorder to document her findings.
"It seems that the experiment was a success. By infusing the food pills with my chakra I've created a new kind of medicine. Further testing is required to determine any possible side effects as well as the overall efficiency of the pills compared to taking the chakra directly from my body via bite." Karin put the tape recorder away when she was done.
"I feel like I could wrestle a bear and win." The sound ninja boasted. The wound on his hand disappearing.
"I want you to check in with me every twenty four hours so I can check for any possible side effects."
"Yes ma'am. I'll be sure to do that." The ninja bowed before leaving.
Karin sat in the lab alone for a little while. Her thoughts drifting to her cousin.
"Naruto..."
Flashback
A younger Karin was walking through the halls of one of Orochimaru's many hideouts. The darkness scared her but she kept walking. Eventually she passed by a young Tayuya. Tayuya purposefully walked into her and shoved her out of the way.
"Watch where your going you sissy." She said with disdain.
"I'm sorry." Karin bowed as she apologized.
"Wuss." Tayuya spat on the ground in front of Karin and began walking away.
Karin stared at her back as she walked away.
"Why is she so mean to me?" Karin whispered to herself.
Karin went back to walking through the darkness when Tayuya was out of sight. When she finally reached her destination she took out a key and opened the door.
The room was empty save for a bed in the middle of the room and a bucket next to it. On the bed sat a little boy with golden blond hair and whiskers all over his face. One of his hands chained to the bedpost to prevent him from escaping. He looked up to see the girl and his face instantly began to glow with happiness.
"Karin!" He yelled out.
She walked over to the bed and pulled the boy into a deep and loving hug that he returned.
"Are you okay Naruto? I heard he put you through more experiments today."
"Yeah... He used the needles again. I don't like needles."
"I don't like needles either. Naruto I promise you that one day I'll find a way for us to get away from that evil snake."
She hugged him again and Naruto instinctively bit into her neck. She cradled his head lovingly until he was done.
"Feel better now?" She asked him as she ruffled his hair.
"A lot better. Thank you Karin." He grabbed her in one last hug.
"I love you Karin."
She returned the hug.
"I love you too sweetie."
She left the room and began walking back to her own. She didn't get far before she was confronted by the last person she wanted to see.
"What a beautiful moment between you two." Karin spun around to find herself face to face with Orochimaru.
"I-I was just..."
"You were just playing with your precious little cousin. Too bad for you two that you won't be seeing each other again anytime soon." Orochimaru snapped his fingers and two ninja appeared next to her and grabbed her by the arms.
"Naruto is my cousin?!" She asked shocked.
"Your chakra has a calming effect on the nine tailed fox inside that boy. Every time you give him chakra you're suppressing the beast inside him. It's interfering with my experiments. I'm sending you to another hideout along with the other Uzumaki's just in case."
"Wait, please let me see him one more time. I want to tell him he's my cousin. Please!"
The ninja's dragged her away as she begged to be allowed one more chance to see her beloved cousin.
Flashback end
"Naruto, where are you?" She thought as a stray tear fell from her face.