Tenten must have felt nothing but embarrassment. First, she was crushed by Temari even after throwing the kitchen sink at her, her teammate Lee got crippled by Gaara and now Neji was beaten by Naruto. None of them were going to make Chunin, while fresh out of the academy shinobi, not even a year into their careers were all but guaranteed to advance now.
Any normal person would be furious, and based on the fluctuations of her chakra, Tenten definitely was. Karin wouldn't hold it against her. She'd be pissed too if she actually gave a damn about her teammates.
When Naruto came up the staircase, Karin threw her spindly arms around his shorter frame the moment she spotted him.
"I knew you'd win!" She exclaimed excitedly. "No way were you gonna lose to that fatalistic crybaby!"
"I refuse to lose! Nobody's gonna stop me from becoming a Chunin or Hokage!" Naruto was taken aback by Karin's abrupt hug but he wouldn't reject the offered affection. "Not Neji, not Gaara, and especially not Sasuke!"
"Yeah right! Sasuke's gonna crush you." Sakura softly teased as she neared the two from the stands. "But seriously, congratulations on the hard fought victory."
The Blond blushed lightly but he couldn't help but noticed how the butterflies his teammate usually stirred up in his stomach wasn't as noticeable as they once were. Sure, they were still there, however, it just didn't feel the same. He chalked it up to be being battle weary.
Karin felt differently. Sure, it was a joke. Sure, Sasuke was the black apple of every Konoha girl's eye (for some reason she really couldn't see beyond his looks.) Sure, Sasuke was both Naruto and Sakura's teammate, but she really wanted to clock the other girl upside her freakishly large forehead for some reason Karin couldn't place a thin finger on.
"Thanks, Sakura." He said with a slight nod and pinkish cheeks.
"Yeah, yeah, just be sure to not get too mad when Sasuke beats you." She teased again.
"That pretty boy ain't gonna do shit!" Karin cussed. Normally, she'd reserve herself from swearing in public as loudly as she did, but not this time. "Naruto's gonna smack him around like a bitch if Gaara doesn't first, and then he's gonna become a Chunin!"
Naruto and Sakura blinked slowly, and so did Karin, whose face began to resemble her hair when she realized what she'd done.
"Uh, sorry." The redhead apologized. "Just got a little overexcited."
"Y-yeah, sure, don't worry about it." Sakura stuttered out. "I'll see you after the exams finish Naruto." She left, sitting back in the stands next to Ino who screamed at her lazy teammate.
In awkward pseudo-silence the two Uzumaki's stood for a bit, not saying a word to each other. Karin hadn't the faintest of clues of what to say next. Lucky for her, she didn't have to
"You really believe in me that much huh?"
It was an innocuous, almost rhetorical question she answered without the slightest of intentional thoughts.
"Yeah."
The butterflies that were missing emerged when Karin said that one word. Naruto did not know what that meant, and he wouldn't for a while. However, unconsciously, from that point on, Karin began to look...prettier than he initially thought. Sakura still beat her in the looks department, but Karin possessed that same certain bookish yet impassioned charm Sakura carried with her.
"Well I guess I can't disappoint you then can I?" He said with a cocky smirk and a thumb in his chest.
Sasuke didn't show up when Genma called him to the arena. He was almost disqualified. However, with a few whispering words, the Kazekage convinced Hiruzen to abstain the Uchiha's match under the pretense most people present, himself included, were there exclusively to watch him fight. With a sigh, the old Hokage relented and waved the tardiness. Naruto grumbled about unfairness while Shikamaru groaned.
Karin didn't care to pay attention to Shikamaru's match against Temari. She knew nothing of either participant, only that the boy was a friend of Naruto and the girl was that freaky kid's sister. It came to an abrupt end when it had just started to get good with Shikamaru surrendering on the grounds he was too tired to continue to fight in any meaningful capacity. Ino was screaming her pretty little head off at her lazy-ass teammate. Naruto followed suit when the Nara kid dragged his lazy ass up the stairs.
Karin shrugged, still not really caring. Her ears rang with what she would describe as tinnitus-inducing shouting of Sakura and Ino when Kakashi arrived in a last-minute body flicker with Sasuke in tow. A torrent of drool flooded forth from the other girl's mouths at the brooding boy's new, darker attire. She'd admit it would appeal to her if the boy wearing it had a personality deeper than a shallow muddy puddle.
When the match between the Last Uchiha and The Freak of the Sand started, Karin tuned out. She couldn't be bothered to care about it.
The last thing Naruto remembered seeing was Sasuke pierce Gaara's sand shield with that lightning jutsu Kakashi-sensei used to accidentally kill Haku. What he perceived with his bleary blue eyes was a blob of bloody colors. The sting of slaps seared his sun-kissed cheeks as the world became more coherent.
"-p! Wak-u!" The amorphous scarlet shape became pale. "Wake up!" A final hard smack revealed the blob to be his cousin.
"Karin? What's going on?" Naruto said, his voice still laden with promises of unfulfilled sleep.
"Someone put everyone under a Genjutsu!" She shouted. "Gaara screamed about blood then everyone passed out! Sakura and I broke it and your Sensei saved us from getting killed by an attacking ninja!"
"We're under attack‽ By who‽" he exclaimed.
"Suna and Oto it seems like." Kakashi cast a long shadow over the student he stood over. "Sasuke went chasing off after Gaara and the other two Suna kids."
"We gotta stop Gaara from killing him!" Sakura exclaimed. "He already hurt Sasuke during the fight and if Gaara catches him-"
"That's why you're going to track him down." Her sensei cut her off. "Wake up Shikamaru. I'm sending you three on an A-Rank mission like we had back in Nami."
The brunette boy sat up, grumbling under his breath about how troublesome it was to be woken up. "I don't mean to be pessimistic, but how exactly are we gonna find Sasuke anyway? None of our tracking skills are good enough."
"Karin can!" Naruto butted in. "She can sense chakra from really far away!"
"Don't volunteer me!"
"Really now?" Kakashi asked, dragging on his syllables a little too long. "Then it's settled. You four go reign in Sasuke and try not to die. Bring him back here."
"I never agreed to this!" The Redhead exclaimed. "I'm useless in a fight and I really don't want to die! I can't even use my sensory ability when I'm moving too fast! How does he have the authority to give me orders anyway‽"
The girl would openly admit her physical weakness and lack of ninjutsu and taijutsu skills. All she really had to offer any team she joined was her sensory ability and... She rubbed her arm. This was a freaking active warzone too! She just wanted to get the hell out of dodge and hide somewhere relatively safe.
"I protected you back in the forest didn't I?" Naruto asserted in confidence. "I'll just do it again, and I'm stronger now! Nobody's gonna lay a finger on you when I'm around."
Karin's red eyes were renewed with a little hope. She knew there wouldn't be much of a fight if they stumbled across an enemy Jounin as in they would all be slaughtered quickly, but the utter conviction he spoke with infected herself quickly. She couldn't fight no matter how hard she tried, her down-turned lips always fell upward.
"Alright." She relented. "But if we die, I'm kicking your ass!" She climbed on Naruto's back who held her tightly.
Karin closed her eyes to focus as she always did. It was trivial to find Gaara's spiking chakra and the familiar grossness within Naruto which the other redhead also possessed and his two siblings. Searching around the area, she found another signature not far behind. It wasn't exactly pleasant, chilling, and slimy but there was still a substantial ball of warmth lying within. That had to be Sasuke.
"I found him, let's get this over with."
"Troublesome."
The woods were positively awash with hostile chakra signatures. Karin pointed out where the enemy shinobi lay in wait while Shikamaru devised plans upon plans about how to yoink his former classmate without starting a fight. The Uchiha had a bit of an ego as far as Karin could tell, though she'd never know for certain as he hardly ever spoke while she was present but his body language was like a thesis. He was proud but tormented by the past that haunted him at every waking moment and his chakra certainly reflected it.
Another vaguely familiar signature popped up and one of the Suna siblings stayed behind while the other two, including Gaara, kept fleeing while Sasuke tailed them.
"He's up ahead."
"You're not getting away from me that easily!" Sasuke chided, looking down on Temari who held her brother. Gaara was holding his head, groaning and moaning in pain and shaking visibly.
"Just let us go!" Temari pleaded. "Gaara's unsta-" She was knocked away by a sandy claw and thudded against the grassy ground moments later unconscious.
"No," Gaara hissed, covering part of his face. "Mother wants your blood now!"
Half of the Suna boy's face was not a mixture of sand and unnatural markings pulled up into a gleeful expression even a demon flee from in terror. Sasuke was unable to react, stunned in a panic he didn't realize he was in. The sand clawed his chest, tearing away fabric from his black shirt and leaving a sharp but shallow wound. The Uchiha bounced away.
"Do you fear me Sasuke Uchiha‽" The manic Gaara laughed. His voice was getting deeper and more erratic by the syllable. "Do you fear me‽"
Sasuke didn't reply, watching frightfully on as more and more as Gaara morphed into whatever nightmare he truly was. He had never seen anything like this and hopefully, he never would again. He bit his cheek to retake control of himself and quickly rushed through a set of handseals.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" He shouted.
Sasuke spat a large ball of orange fire at his enemy. The fireball hit its mark and turned the sand arm into glass. Gaara shattered the now glass limb and summoned more sand to his mass.
"You think a little fire is gonna stop me Sasuke Uchiha‽"
Fireballs are useless! Sasuke thought. The Chidori is the only jutsu that hurts him. It's my only choice!
Retreating a bit further away, Sasuke steadied his breathing and focused on his left hand. He felt his chakra being turn jagged and hot. Blue lightning crackled sounding like the chirping of a thousand birds from whence the jutsu took its name. He didn't have much left. This had to count.
"Yes! Use the lightning again!" Gaara laughed again. "It hurt so good!"
"Of course you would get off to the pain you freak!" The Last Uchiha roared back. "Now, shut up and die!"
The two threw themselves at each other, clashing mid-air. Sasuke all but severed Gaara's sandy limb, splitting it halfway. Gaara laughed even harder now.
"So that's what that was! I love the pain! It makes me feel alive! Do it again!"
I don't know if I can make another Chidori and he's getting more unhinged by the second! I don't have any other choice! Sasuke silently apologized to his sensei, drawing on the power of the curse mark on his shoulder simultaneously activating his Sharingan. His white skin burned as the black flame tattoos began to cover his body.
"Oh what's this? Getting more powerful? Good! I want this to keep going!"
"Give it a rest you freak!
Sasuke ran through the familiar seals and his left hand once more sparked with cackling lightning.
"Yes! Yes! Again!"
"Shut the hell up!"
Clashing again, Sasuke finally split the unnatural limb from Gaara's body. Breathing hard when he landed, the Leaf Genin collapsed into near unconsciousness.
Dammit!
"That's it? That's all you got? How pathetic!" Gaara laughed.
Whatever the hell was up ahead, Karin wanted no part of it. It was making her shake and tremble, feeling sick. Obviously, it was Gaara but his chakra now was warped to all hell; it freaked the girl out, to say the least. Naruto held her tighter, unknowingly closer to his warmth. She appreciated it but it was nothing but hollow succor to the girl right now. She didn't want to get an inch closer but there wasn't much else she could do.
If Karin split, she'd be on her own. In a forest. Teeming with hostile ninja
Yeah, best I don't flee. 'Sides, I got Naruto to defend me. She rationalized. As much as she wished it would make her feel better, it didn't in the least bit. He was stronger now, but a full-fledged Jounin or a seasoned Chunin would take him down without much effort.
The group had passed a paralyzed Shino and an incapacitated Kankuro swarmed by chakra devouring bugs. Shikamaru stayed behind to watch and guard them both, whatever good that was gonna do. Alone, exhausted, non-combat-oriented Genin up against a potential squad or platoon of battle-ready shinobi wasn't going to end well.
Karin really wanted to stop being pessimistic, but the gravity of the situation and the very real possibility of being killed never left her racing mind.
"Sasuke is a couple yards up ahead." Karin said. "Naruto, please, leave me here."
"I can't do that! I said I'd protect and I can't do that if we're split up!" Naruto rebuked.
"Gaara's chakra is...evil. I don't have any other words to describe it. I'm already useless in head on battles, but just feeling that chakra is making me sicker the closer I get. As close as we are right now, I can barely keep my lunch down. I think I'll keel over if I get an inch closer. I'll just be back here as support." She explained.
"What kinda support?" Sakura asked.
"Medical."
"You know Medical Ninjutsu?"
"Not exactly but I can heal either of you if need be."
"That'll have to do, c'mon Naruto, let's get to Sasuke."
"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted. The dark-haired boy lay still on the tree branch, the pink-haired girl checked his vitals. He was breathing, his heartbeat was steady and there wasn't any blood. She did notice something else, however.
"You activated the mark again?" She noticed that half of Sasuke's white face was covered by what seemed to be black flames. "Kakashi-sensei said it wasn't gonna be a problem anymore!"
"Get away!" the exhausted boy shouted, but he was too late. Sakura was slammed, knocking the wind out of her, and pinned by a sandy claw in an instant.
"Stay out of this!" Gaara shouted. "The Uchiha's blood is mine!"
"Sakura!" Naruto shouted.
"You're here too Uzumaki‽ Good! Two birds with one boulder!"
He's gone way off the deep end! Naruto thought. He formed the handseal and summoned a swarm of shadow clones. They were quickly destroyed by a swipe from a laughing Gaara's claw.
"You'll need more than that!" Gaara shouted, thrusting his heavy sand limb at Naruto. The Blond Genin was unable to react in time and was sent flying through a few trees which snapped like twigs from the sheer force.
"Naruto!" Karin shouted as her cousin impacted against a tree. He thudded against the forest floor and the tree fell backward, roots crackling like static all the way down. She appeared to his side instantly/
"Naruto!" She desperately pleaded. "Speak to me! Say something!" He mumbled something nigh inaudibly in a gargled voice. She then noticed the large piece of wood stuck in his throat. "Oh shit!"
With shaking hands, she pulled out the sizable twig from Naruto's throat, stopping the torrent of blood with applied pressure. With her teeth, Karin pulled up her sleeve, revealing the bite marks that scarred her skin.
"Bite me!" She commanded through the warm mist that was beginning to fog her glasses. She noticed the hesitant look in the boy's eyes. "Bite me or you're gonna die!" Her voice cracked as she all but forced her arm into his blood-stained teeth.
Never before in her life had Karin felt happy by the painful sensation of someone biting her. This time, however, she was beyond ecstatic.
Rushed as all hell but I wanted to throw something out. Life shit happened and slowed, if not outright stopped, my writing progress. Soory about that.