Hey guys, here's my latest update, I hope you enjoy! I've written up to 55 so like, you know I'm a great distance ahead which is awesome, and I'm loving the reactions to the Sasuke situation, I have it all planned out and everything-one of my favorite chapters revolves around Naruto and Sasuke interacting. They're both stubborn as hell and it was fun to write.
Sakura didn't even give the man in the smoke time to speak, rushing forward, a terrified look on her face, and when she saw who it was she let out a relieved sob, "Iruka-sensei we were attacked!"
"What?" Iruka's eyes widened, "Sakura-chan that's part of-"
"By Orochimaru!"
"What?" Iruka's face went deathly pale and he took in the sight of the unconscious Sasuke and the badly battered Naruto barely even noticing the pale faced glasses wearing red head. "Oh kami no-"
"He wanted Sasuke-kun." Sakura explained quickly, "He... some stuff he said got to Sasuke-kun and Naruto-chan knocked him out and told Karin-san and I to run with him while she held him off. She's hurt."
"She needs the hospital." Iruka rushed to Naruto's side, "And so does Sasuke-kun-"
"Take Sasuke first." Naruto winced as she sat up, "If Orochimaru comes after us he might not bother to attack if Sasuke's gone." that was a lie. Naruto had perked Orochimaru's interested, he'd attack just to get to her now. That wasn't good but she could still go all Jinchuriki if she had no other choice. Besides Kurama was already healing her injuries, though the ones on her hand were being more stubborn than usual.
"I..." Iruka hesitated before nodding, "Fine, fine Naruto-san. I'll take Sasuke first." he scooped up the unconscious Uchiha and sped off, and Naruto pushed herself up so that she was sat, getting Sakura and Karin to move her so that she was sat with her back to the wall.
"Karin-chan, can you sense him?"
"No." Karin shook her head, "I'll keep a look out though." she promised quickly, "As soon as I feel him I'll let you know."
"Sakura-chan you need to be ready if he does show up." Naruto wasn't sure he would-she didn't know how much damage she'd done to the snake Sannin with her still unstable attempt to complete the Rasengan-though if it didn't cause so much damage to herself it'd be pretty cool as it was honestly. But no, she wanted to actually stabilize it. She knew the form it would take now-a Shuriken, it was just a matter of getting it there.
It was probably less than ten minutes before someone arrived, though it felt like much longer.
They didn't have much warning in any case, Karin tensed up and said "Someone's coming, two people- neither of them feel like Orochimaru."
And then Kakashi and Rin were bursting in, the latter reaching Naruto first, her face deathly pale, "Naruto-chan! Oh Kami are you okay sweetheart." her hand glowed green as she got to work instantly, doing a diagnostic jutsu first, using her free hand to brush through Naruto's hair as the girl instantly curled into her side.
"We were attacked."
"Iruka-san said." Kakashi took a deep breath, "Sasuke-kun is at the hospital, there are members of anbu guarding him. There's been a message sent to the Hokage I imagine he'll go straight to the hospital, which is where we'll be taking you-" he hesitated, "Three?"
"She's an Uzumaki." Naruto spoke up quietly, "Uzumaki Karin. Her team abandoned her-"
"Oh." Kakashi's eye widened. "I see."
"We'll speak to the Hokage." Rin could generally tell what Naruto wanted and this time it was ridiculously obvious. "I'm sure something can be arranged." she carefully picked Naruto up, the blonde girl curling into her mothers chest the way she had when she was just a little girl, closing her eyes tightly.
She'd never been this badly hurt before-not even during the hardest of their training sessions had she been so beaten and bruised.
"He was stronger than me." Naruto's voice was faint, "I... maybe if I'd used Kurama's Chakra... but even then I dunno for sure."
"Hush now." Rin whispered softly as she moved, making sure the run was as smooth as possible so she wouldn't jostle any of Naruto's injuries, "He's one of the Sannin and you're twelve Naruto-chan. There's nothing to be ashamed of you did well."
"He... I think I hurt him."
"That's good. You did so well." Kakashi would escort Sakura and Karin to the hospital, they'd be safe enough Naruto was sure.
"He didn't expect me to be so strong... I had to be careful mom. Couldn't risk using dads jutsu or Kurama-" I'll tear him limb from limb and eat his remains-" "Snakes don't taste so good Kurama."
"I'll kill him next time we see him." Kurama was snarling, "He hurt you kit. He hurt you!
It didn't take long to reach the hospital, and when they did clearly they were expected as a bed was ready and Rin laid Naruto down carefully, sweeping blonde hair out of the girls face, turning to the medic nin rushing forward, a gleam in her eyes, "I want soldier pills now." she ordered, "And scissors, I want to cut away the clothes around the burns-"
"But-"
"Do what I said right now." Rin snapped, taking control with ease.
In peacetime medic nin didn't have to be so well trained and Rin had been quite gifted at it-she'd successfully done an eye transplant as a teenager, she doubted that many of the medics here were on her level.
Of course she wasn't a genius-she wasn't like Tsunade or anything but she was damn good and no one else was going to treat her daughter while she was available.
When the medic returned with some soldier pills and scissors Rin ordered her to leave, and she got to work, getting a little glass of water for Naruto, who drank the water and swallowed the pill without complaint, letting out a soft relieved noise at the energy boost, though she winced and whimpered when her mom cut away the fabric of her clothes around the burns and the wound in her leg-those were two of the worst ones-other than her shredded hand.
Neither of them spoke much as Rin healed Naruto, the brown haired woman's brows creased in concentration as her hand glowed green and ran so very slowly over the injuries, which were healing themselves slowly already, and Naruto knew better than to interrupt her mom when she was focusing on healing-it usually ended badly if she did.
After some time there was a knock on the door-which the other Medic nin had closed behind her, and Rin stopped, letting out a breath. "Come in." she called out, "I'm done." and the door swung open to reveal Hiruzen, his usually kindly face tense and worried as he swept in.
"Rin-san how is-Naruto-chan you're awake." he looked relieved at that.
"I'll be fine Hokage-sama." Naruto pushed herself so that she was sat up.
Most of her injuries were completely healed now, the burns and the hole in her leg were now barely scars and would be gone within the hour-the wounds on her hand were proving to be more tricky but they now looked weeks old rather than fresh and she could at least use the hand again.
"I thought the worst when I was sent word. Iruka-san said that Orochimaru attacked your team? And Kakashi-san said you faced him while your teammates and one Uzumaki Karin escaped?"
"Yes sir." Naruto glanced at her mom as the woman perched on the edge of the hospital bed. "Are they all okay?"
"Sasuke-san woke up shortly after arriving here, he's in a filthy mood but physically he's fine. As are Sakura-san and Karin-san, though they're both very worried about you. They couldn't tell me exactly what happened as they missed most of the fight."
"Right." Naruto nodded, "Uh, what did they tell you?"
"That you'd retrieved the necessary scroll and were heading to the Tower when my wayward student attacked. Sakura-san also said something about you being the one who knocked Sasuke-san out?"
"Yeah." Naruto nodded, "He.. uh.. Orochimaru was saying he could give Sasuke power... he brought up Sasuke's brother." she heard her mom suck in a sharp breath and she shifted uncomfortably, "I think Sasuke was considering it and he wasn't trying to get away."
"I see." the old man nodded, "What was Orochimaru going to do to Sasuke?"
"I don't know." Naruto admitted, "He uh... it looked like he was going to bite Sasuke's neck?"
"Ah." Hiruzen sighed heavily, "He planned on giving the boy a cursed seal-don't ask Naruto-chan. This is most troubling. So you knocked him out and told your teammate and Karin-san to run away with him."
"I'm stronger than both of them and I didn't want to be distracted out of fear for them." Naruto stated honestly, "I needed to be able to focus on him." she hesitated, "I did the right thing right?"
"Yes, yes you did." Hiruzen gave a tired smile, "You did the right thing-I only wish you hadn't needed to. And you fought him?"
"Yeah. I... I know that I injured him. I don't know how badly."
"I've sent several Anbu to see if they can find him, if he's injured badly enough then perhaps we have a chance at catching him before he gets away." he paused, "Kakashi-san said you were strong, I do believe he understated it somewhat yes?" and that made Naruto flush as Rin laughed.
"Uh, probably." Naruto ducked her head, "I, um... mom and Kakashi-sensei both say I'm around Jounin level-"
"High Jounin." Rin added quickly, "I know I can't beat her in a fight when we're both going all out."
"I see." a ghost of a smile played across Hiruzen's lips "But I suppose it would be unfair to have you promoted to Jounin without successfully completing the Chunin exams yes? And although one of your teammates was unconscious when you arrived you did make it to the Tower with both scrolls. An impressive feat considering the fact that you fought Orochimaru-and you're the first team to return. Taking all of that into account I'd say you passed the second test with flying colors."
"Wait, you would?" Naruto's eyes widened and a relieved grin spread across her lips, "I guess it was technically within the rules as long as all three of us made it back."
"Exactly." the old man smiled fondly at the wide eyed proud look on the blonde's face, and Rin's expression was soft and sad.
"You look so much like your father right now." Rin voiced both of their thoughts, "That relieved look."
"I do?" Naruto beamed, "My dad was awesome so that's a great compliment."
"And now you look like your birth mother." Rin laughed, "Kushina-nee always had the brightest smiles when she was happy."
"They would both be incredibly proud of you right now." Hiruzen's voice was kind, "You defended your teammates without any hesitation. You're doing them both proud. And it seems you did something your mother would have been ecstatic over-you found a fellow Uzumaki."
"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about Karin-chan actually-"
"You wish to ask me if she can stay here yes?"
"Is it that obvious."
"It's understandable under the circumstances." Hiruzen remarked, "I will see what I can do-Kusa likely won't be happy but we're the stronger village and it's well known that the Uzumaki clan were some of our closest allies-however explaining the fact that you're an Uzumaki is slightly harder-"
"Why?" Rin blinked, straightening up, "I've not really spoken about Naruto's father-I understand we have to be careful to avoid any of Minato-sensei's enemies finding Naru-chan but her father could have easily been a survivor."
"Hm..." the old man stroked his beard thoughtfully, "That's not a bad point Rin-san. Clearly there are survivors out there, this Karin-san is proof of that. And it would help explain Naruto-chan's chakra reserves if anyone notices them during the final stage of the exams.. that could work."
"So you think Karin-chan can stay?" Naruto asked hopefully, her eyes wide, "Please. She's family I told her I'd do everything I could."
"I believe we can make it work." Hiruzen nodded, "I make no promises of course." he smiled, "Rin-san, you are free to take Karin-san home with you when you do go home-once team seven is all treated they'll need to go back to the tower-all teams who pass the second stage of the exams are to stay there until the test is over."
"Of course Hokage-sama." Rin nodded respectfully, "Thank you for this."
"It's the least I can do. Naruto-chan I wish you the best of luck in the rest of the exams. I'm afraid I'll have to go and deal with the fall out of Orochimaru's presence in Konoha but I am proud of you and I will see you after the second stage."
"Thank you Hokage-sama." Naruto smiled and waved as the old man left her hospital room-and less than a second later the door was bursting open and Sakura was shoving her way inside, Karin a few steps behind her, the pink haired girl scrambling onto the bed and hugging Naruto as Kakashi stepped into the doorway.
"I was so worried about you Naruto-chan! Don't ever scare me like that again!"
"I'm sorry Sakura-chan it's not like I wanted to scare you. I just..."
"You got hurt 'cause you had to fight on your own. Because Sasuke-kun and I aren't strong enough."
"No that's not-"
"Next time I'll be stronger." Sakura's face was determined, "I'll train even harder, I'm going to make sure you're never on your own like that again Naruto-chan I promise."
"Sakura-chan I-"
"And I will too." Karin's voice was determined, "You said we're family. Then I'm gonna be there to help you."
"I..." Naruto glanced between her cousin and her friend, eyes filling with tears, "Thank you." she smiled, a wide watery happy grin, "Together. No matter what."
"I'll help you train while we're waiting for the second test to finish." that was Kakashi, who was smiling at the three girls, an unusually soft look on his face,
"And Sasuke-kun too of course."
"Why isn't he here?" Naruto frowned, "The Hokage said he was awake-" she hesitated as a shadow crossed Kakashi's face.
"He... didn't want to see you. He was... not in the best state of mind I'm afraid Naruto-chan."
"What? I..." Naruto felt her stomach sinking, "Why?"
"He's angry that you interfered." Kakashi admitted gently, "Naruto-chan you did nothing wrong I promise-"
"He was going to let Orochimaru bite him for power." Naruto whispered, "Wasn't he? Because he wants to get stronger than his brother."
"Yes."
"That's stupid! Strength like that always comes with a heavy cost and it's never worth it-"
"To Sasuke the chance to kill Itachi would be worth it." Kakashi's voice was heavy, his gaze dark and troubled. "I had thought having you around was helping him.. this is a set back I hadn't expected."
"I'll give him some space." Naruto ducked her head, "Just until after the second exam's over. Maybe by then he'll have calmed down and he won't be so upset with me."
Sure she and Sasuke tormented each other, they pranked each other and teased but he was important to her too. He was like an annoying big brother who it was her duty to mock. The idea that he was so upset with her that he wouldn't check in on her after she'd gotten hurt fighting one of the Sannin stung more than she'd like to admit.
She felt a hand slipping into hers and she looked up, blue meeting green, and Sakura gave her a gentle smile, "If Sasuke-kun decides to be a dumbass for too long I'll deal with him." and that made Naruto smile, she remembered how Sakura had fawned over Sasuke when they'd first met-she'd gotten over her crush when she'd seen how arrogant he was and nasty at times-and they'd become friends rather than the unbalanced crush/crushee dynamic. But this was Sakura telling Naruto she'd choose the blonde over the Uchiha, and that... that helped ease the pain, especially when Karin's hesitant voice piped up and said.
"I don't know him too well but I'll help kick his butt if he makes you upset. We're family right? That means we look out for each other."
"Yeah." Naruto nodded, "Yeah we are." her smile was soft, "A big crazy family."
