Hey guys, Orzza here once again because I got bored and decided to write the next chapter! Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
The Champion of Clan Namikaze
Chapter 7: The Forest of Death
"So guys," Naruto said as they walked through the now open gate into the forest of death, "What's the plan? You figure after that speech I gave and the scene we made in the milling area people are going to be coming after us?"
"If they don't I'd be surprised," Sasuke barely looked up from his book at that and tucked it away, "We should set up a little further in and wait for someone, hopefully we can pick up an easy scroll and it'll be a breeze from then on in. The sooner we finish here the sooner I can finish this chapter," the boy sounded irritated at the fact his reading time was being disturbed; Sakura just sighed at this.
Oh god Naruto thought I've turned him into Kakashi! … On second thought that's still infinitely better than old Sasuke.
Once they were inside the forest they made their way up into the massive trees and continued slowly, hoping to catch another of the teams off guard at the start of the exam.
It wasn't before long that a team of genin could be heard approaching through the forest.
"They've got to be around here somewhere. Those rookies should be an easy ticket into the final stage so keep a look out," the apparent leader of the squad was saying as they made their way along the floor of the forest.
They're the rookies; Sasuke thought, almost makes me want to put them out of their misery.
When the three nin came into view Naruto turned to Sakura and nodded, giving the go ahead on taking them out.
Sakura began going through a handful of seals before holding the last. Sasuke threw a handful of smoke bombs and Sakura released the last seal; in seconds the surrounding area was obscured in a haze of white.
xXx
"Oboro, what was that?" the rain ninja called out to his leader, only to find that he couldn't even hear himself.
When the smoke cleared he was standing next to two of the rookie genin that they had been hunting; the black haired Uchiha and the blonde. His team was no where to be seen.
He immediately went on the attack, lunging at the blonde with a kunai in the hopes of taking out the weaker of the two.
The blonde responded by bringing out his own kunai but wasn't quick enough. He coughed blood and convulsed in pain as the rain nin drove his kunai deep into his torso, serves him right for attacking us like that, bah such a rookie!
xXx
Oboro, rather than attack, merely placed his hands in a seal, "Kai!"
What he saw unnerved him, but at least he could hear now. He didn't have much time before his teammate attacked, as he no doubt hadn't recognized the genjutsu.
His fellow rain nin rushed him but before he could make a killing blow on his leader, Oboro stepped through his guard and tapped him on the head, channeling enough chakra through his fingers to break the genjutsu.
The nin was disoriented for second before he looked around and saw his teammate bleeding out on the ground, the life fading from his eyes.
He dropped the kunai as his hands started shaking. What had he done! He'd killed one of his teammates. Before he could think about it any longer though three ninja appeared standing in front of Oboro.
The two remaining rain nin wore yellow jumpsuits stitched up at the middle and face masks. Oboro had spiky black hair and was wearing a forehead protector with the rain emblem on it.
The blonde ninja at the front of the new arrivals spoke up, "I'm sorry about your teammate, it is good to know that you were set on killing us though. How about you hand us your scroll and leave the training ground."
Oboro looked at them seriously before the other nin spoke up, "You really think we'd let you have our scroll after what you just did?"
"You can't progress to the next stage. You just killed your teammate, and the rules state that you have to have a full team to pass. Also if we managed to catch you off guard with one genjutsu what do you think we are capable of."
Oboro nodded, realizing that as angry as he was there was no point fighting them now that they had no chance of passing, "He's right, give them the scroll, we don't need it anymore, let's get out of this forest."
They chucked the three Konoha genin a scroll before picking up their fallen comrade and retreating from the forest.
Sakura was almost on the verge of tears. Because of what she'd done a genin was dead. Naruto noticed her expression and turned to her, "Sakura what happened was not your fault. That genjutsu was a great idea. That genin attacked with lethal force. Don't worry about it, you did great, and look, we even got a heaven scroll."
Sakura smiled weakly and it wasn't long until they were moving through the forest at a rapid pace again, heading toward the center of the training ground.
Sasuke had his sharingan active during the genjutsu and had worked out mostly how the technique worked. He was grateful that Sakura was on their team, that girl had some creative genius.
The genjutsu could be cast on an area or group of people, but took a decent amount of preparation, hence the long series of hand seals.
It removed the subject's ability to hear, removing communication between allies, and then made the subject perceive any nearby person as the current threat or enemy; as the squad had been searching for Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, he surmised that was what they saw.
It was a great technique for spreading panic for a few moments and creating an opening, or even longer if they didn't have anyone adept enough at realizing it was a genjutsu.
As they continued through the forest Naruto heard a lone scream to his right, and turning he saw a young red haired girl running through the forest being chased by a massive snake. It didn't take long before he lost sight of her in the foliage. That's a strange colour red he thought as he veered closer to have a look at what was happening, almost the exact colour of my jacket.
"Hey dobe where are you going, I thought we were supposed to be heading to the finish?"
"Teme don't worry, the finish line isn't going anywhere, besides I think someone's in trouble."
"Well duh, Naruto-kun, of course someone is in trouble, this is the forest of death and there are a tonne of genin in here that want to kill each other."
"Yeah, yeah okay guys I just want to check this out, I'm sure you both heard the screaming."
They arrived to find a small girl cowering in a clearing before a gigantic snake that was about to consume her.
Naruto couldn't see any other ninja, although they wouldn't be very good if he could see them from where he was standing in the trees, and he couldn't see any signs of a trap. All he could see was a girl his age about to be eaten.
Just as the snake lunged and the girl flinched away from the attack Naruto made up his mind. Blurring from his spot on the tree branch he slammed a rasengan into the side of the snake's head, sending it flying across the cleaning and smashing into a tree.
xXx
"Are you okay?" an unfamiliar voice said from above her.
Karin opened her eyes to find a young boy standing over her as she sat on the ground. He had a friendly smile and messy blonde hair that was average in length but suited him. The jacket he was wearing was the same colour as her hair she noticed, and he was reaching a hand down to help her off the ground.
She took the hand gratefully and he pulled her up. Before she knew it she was hugging him, "Thankyou, I don't know what I would have done without you," and then it hit her. She felt his chakra. It was amazing. The sheer quantity and quality of the warm fuzzy life force she was feeling was enough to overwhelm her and she went weak in the knees.
"Woah, are you alright? Where is the rest of your team?" the boy said worriedly as he held her up.
"I'm sorry," Karin quickly composed herself, but was still amazed at the feeling she was getting, "My name is Karin, and well my team left me for dead. If you hadn't come then I think that might have been the end of me. I can't thank you enough."
"Hahaha, no sweat, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, now do you want to find your team or do you just want to get out of this forest, because I can help you with the latter," Naruto still didn't want many people knowing his true heritage, especially after a talk he'd had with Ojii-san about some people wanting revenge. He could count the number of people that he had told on one hand even if he figured that anyone who trained with him would have worked it out; it was the Namikaze clan compound after all.
Karin's eyes widened when she heard that he was an Uzumaki, and she was almost about to call him on it, but it explained the chakra levels, maybe I'm not the only one. She strangely felt even more comfortable around him now.
"Please, just get me out of here," She didn't want to be in here this terrible place any longer.
"Okay, well jump onto my back and I'll carry you out okay?" He couldn't feel any ill intent from the girl, so he saw no reason why he couldn't help her out. She seemed to be genuinely in trouble, and the way she was holding onto him now only really confirmed that she had looked death in the face.
When Naruto arrived back up in the trees with Sakura and Sasuke they both just looked at him as if to say 'really? What'd you go and do that for?'
"Hey," he said defensively, "she would have died otherwise, come on, I wasn't just going to let someone die for no reason. Now let's get out of this forest, I don't want to have to fight another genin team even if it wouldn't be too hard."
With that they disappeared in a blur, Karin clinging to her hero's back with her feet wrapped around his waist, her head buried into his shoulder and neck so as to not catch as much wind, and so she could enjoy the feeling of his chakra that little bit more.
xXx
They moved through the forest at a rapid pace before a blur cut them off. Standing in front of them was a ninja wearing a forehead protector with the grass emblem on in it, and a strange purple rope around their waist.
Naruto noticed that this was the same creepy guy that held the kunai in his tongue earlier.
Karin was surprised to feel exactly who was standing in front of them but knew not to say anything lest she give away the secret of the sound village.
"Give me your scroll and I'll let you live," the ninja lied in a creepy tone.
"What makes you think we would do anything of the sort," Naruto said from his position in the trees while he let Karin down off his back.
She was actually slightly worried for her Uzumaki hero. If Orochimaru-sama tried to attack them there was no way he could possibly survive.
"Because I told you to," with that the grass nin began to amp up the killing intent in an attempt to smother the genin with fear.
No strangers to killing intent after the encounter with Zabuza and with their confidence in themselves high, the three were worried but not frozen in fear. Naruto could only imagine what effect this would have on any of the other rookie genin.
"Guys, this guy isn't an ordinary genin. He might not even be a genin. Be careful, I don't want anyone getting hurt here."
"Kukukuku, you really think no one will be harmed, how naïve." The grass nin smiled before disappearing.
The speed of this guy is INCREDIBLE! Naruto thought. Within moments the nin had closed the distance and was within striking range of Naruto, lashing out with an armful of snakes.
I have to dispose of these pests before I can truly test Sasuke Orochimaru thought to himself, but I can't even kill them, what a shame.
Just as the attack was about to land, Orochimaru noticed the pink haired pest of a girl approaching his right side. He'd deal with her when this blonde punk had been removed from the fight.
What happened next though would shock Karin and Orochimaru.
The snakes appeared about to make contact with Naruto as he stood facing them, and then the blonde simply disappeared. A lone Hiraishin Kunai could be seen falling to the ground in his place as the striking snakes extending from Orochimaru's sleeve continued through the air.
A fraction of a second later Naruto had reappeared crouched next to his kunai with his tanto drawn. Swinging it upwards over his head he bifurcated every one of the snakes and they fell to the ground a writhing mass. He had used Sasuke's seal as a point to jump to in order to avoid the attack from the strange ninja.
The shock that played across the face of the grass nin was all the signal Sakura needed as she rushed in during the confusion, landing a solid punch on his right shoulder and employing one of her more recently developed techniques.
Sakura had read that medic nin sometimes used concentrated chakra so thin that they created scalpels that could be used to perform surgery. With her training with Naruto and her already superb chakra control she had taken it to another level.
At the moment of impact she projected a highly concentrated blade of chakra from the end of her fist. The chakra wouldn't go very far and for now she could only project it from the end of her fist but it didn't matter; she already had her fist against her target's shoulder. The cut was so fine there wasn't even an explosion of blood as the grass nin's arm fell away from his body.
The man reeled backwards in shock and pain before opening his mouth. He began regurgitating what looked to be himself.
"Sasuke, we can't take any chances, that move, now!" This nin was no genin and Naruto now had no qualms about using excessive force.
Sasuke nodded before going through a series of hand seals and inhaling deeply.
Naruto threw a Hiraishin kunai at the man who had only just completed what looked to be a rebirthing, as he was now completely healed.
Just before the kunai reached the man Naruto disappeared, reappearing next to Sasuke and flashing both of them to stand within feet of the nin that was only just now moving to block the kunai.
Sasuke released his jutsu "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)"; a gigantic fireball emerged from his mouth.
In the mere moments after flashing Naruto had already gone through the seals required and had performed a jutsu of his own "Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough).
The resulting fireball was a blue gargantuan mass of flame and it was at such a close range that Orochimaru had no hope of getting out of its way.
"NO! OROCHIMARU-SAMA!" Karin involuntarily called out in concern for the master she thought she might possibly lose.
The fireball completely enveloped the grass nin and destroyed a good portion of the surrounding forest. The heat coming off of it was enough to cause everyone to break out in a sweat.
Anyone that was nearby was sure to come and investigate.
It would seem that young blonde is just as interesting as Sasuke-kun, but I must give Sasuke the gift of my power, the Sharingan must be mine! But now they know that the stupid little wench is one of mine. I can't let her escape this alive.
When the dust and smoke from the attack cleared a different man was standing before them. One that Naruto knew to be Orochimaru, a village defector and one of the three Sannin.
Jiraiya had shown him a picture of his teammates once. This man looked almost identical to the man in the photo. Not only that but Karin had confirmed his suspicions with what she had just shouted.
Within seconds of the debris dissipating however another team arrived in what was now a clearing after the destruction the jutsu had caused. It was Tenten, Lee, and Neji. They didn't know what they had gotten themselves involved in.
Orochimaru blurred away.
"Guys we need to get out of here, this guy is too much for us. He's one of the Sannin!" Naruto was actually concerned for the safety of his team now as he and Sasuke flashed over to Sakura and he was about to grab Karin and leave in an attempt to save his team from what he thought was another attack.
"Kukukuku, what makes you think you can go anywhere?" The snake eyed man said from his position behind Tenten's team.
"You leave this forest and this team is killed. You don't seem like one that would let innocents die." Snakes were restraining Neji and Lee, and Tenten was being held from behind, a kunai being pressed against her neck, fear evident in her eyes.
Naruto was now shaking in rage at what that evil man was doing.
"You harm any of my friends Orochimaru and I will destroy you if it's the last thing I do!"
The kunai twitching was all the signal Naruto required.
Orochimaru had realized now that the technique the boy was using was the Hiraishin no Jutsu, what he didn't realize was that Tenten also had a seal on her.
The boy appeared Rasengan in hand, and before Orochimaru could so much as blink, his face had been destroyed. Much to Naruto's dismay though it was simply a mud clone. Damn, he must have switched out after the explosion!
While Naruto had acted to save his friend the real Orochimaru had emerged from behind Sasuke and planted his teeth deeply into his neck.
Naruto turned at Sasuke's screams of pain as Orochimaru withdrew his fangs and launched at Karin, intent to kill showing in his eyes.
Karin didn't understand why her master was moving towards her until the last second and he brought a kunai down in a killing blow. Well it would have been a killing blow had Naruto not flashed to Sakura and launched himself at the red head.
He managed to grab her a moment before the kunai would have killed her and they disappeared. Within the span of a second he was back next to Sasuke and was seriously concerned for the well being of his friend as he writhed in pain on the ground and a black seal appeared where Orochimaru had bitten him.
"Kukukuku, have fun Sasuke-kun," The creepy Sannin said as he sank into the ground and disappeared.
Tenten, Neji and Lee all ran over to see if they were okay.
"Orochimaru did something to him. We need to get Sasuke out of here."
Neji made to move in front of Naruto.
"What are you doing Neji?" Naruto was annoyed that the older boy would get in his way.
"We still need a scroll Naruto, and you are down a man."
Tenten was appalled at what Neji was saying, "Neji you fool! They are our comrades and you saw the beginning of that fight! Naruto and Sakura could probably take us right now and you know it. Sasuke is in trouble, they need to get help."
The Hyuga looked reluctant to move, but stepped out of the way all the same.
Naruto gave him a dirty look as he walked past and shun-shinned toward the location of the tower, carrying Sasuke on his back. Sakura wasn't far behind worrying over what was wrong with her crush.
They arrived at the base of the tower and entered a small area before opening both of the scrolls.
In a puff of smoke Iruka appeared before them and they were taken quickly to another area. Iruka was concerned at the condition of Sasuke.
"We need to see Kakashi-sensei! NOW!" Naruto was growing increasingly worried for his friend, who hadn't stopped his screams of pain.
Kakashi was quickly brought to meet them along with a number of medical ninja.
"What happened?" Kakashi was certain that this wasn't the result of a genin match up. As much as he didn't want to be overconfident in his team they really were a strong group.
"Orochimaru jumped us in the forest," Kakashi's eyes widened at this, "We managed to piss him off apparently or something because when he got the chance he bit Sasuke on the neck and this seal appeared. He's been screaming ever since."
Kakashi knew what that seal was. Anyone who was familiar with Anko was familiar with the seals that Orochimaru placed on his subordinates. But Sasuke wasn't his subordinate, so why had Orochimaru done this to the boy?
He quickly rushed Sasuke off to the infirmary to see if they could do anything to help him through surviving the initial stages of the cursed seal. As Kakashi did that Naruto had his own problems to go and handle.
"Sakura, go look after Sasuke, I need to go discuss a few things with my new houseguest, don't let Kakashi know about her yet, I want to talk to her first" Naruto said before disappearing.
xXx
Naruto's home also made a very great prison if he'd locked it as only he could unlock the locks. So dropping Karin there during the fight meant he could come back later and she'd still be somewhere in his house.
He appeared in his home to find Karin sitting on the floor in the middle of his living room crying.
She looked up at him when she felt his presence with puffy red eyes, "Why! Why would Orochimaru-sama try to kill me?" she couldn't stop herself from sobbing.
"Because whatever he has got planned he didn't want us knowing about it. Do you know about his plans Karin?"
At this point she was too distraught to try and lie, earlier she had watched the only person she had thought ever to care about her lash out with the intent to kill. She'd only survived thanks to this stranger, that was two times she owed her life to him, "Yes but I wouldn't have told anyone!"
"Seems like he couldn't take that chance and so he tried to kill you. I think he'd probably still try. Luckily for you he doesn't know where this place is, and he probably couldn't get in anyway." He felt no threat coming from the girl so he sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder, she was alone now, alone and afraid, and he knew that feeling.
She buried her head into his chest and cried, using the warm feeling of his chakra to try and calm herself down.
As he was sitting there he got a good look at the colour of her hair, "Karin-san, can I ask what your family name is?"
"It is Uzumaki Naruto-kun,"
"Okay, it's just that you have the same hair as my mother did, apparently it was common among Uzumakis. I'm glad I'm not the only one left."
They sat in silence for a while as Karin continued to hug the Jinchuuriki of Konoha.
"Karin-san, you know you can't go back to Orochimaru right?"
As much as it pained her to hear this she knew he was right, and somewhere within herself she was relieved. Did she really want to go back to someone who had tried to kill her because she might have indulged his plans?
"I know Naruto-kun. But where can I go?"
Naruto thought for a while.
"You tell the Hokage and I everything you know about the plan, and I might be able to get you protection here in the village. You might even be able to live here with me."
"Why would you risk your reputation for someone you've just met, someone who worked for Orochimaru-sa- I mean Orochimaru." It felt weird not saying Orochimaru-sama.
"Because you are an Uzumaki, and we might be the last two alive. I know what it feels like to be alone Karin-san. And I don't want that for anybody. Orochimaru manipulated you and you shouldn't be punished for that. Especially when you didn't do anything to hurt any of us."
Karin was moved at what this boy was saying, and she could tell that not a single word of it was a lie. Orochimaru had never lied to her either but she shuddered to think of the look in his eyes when he attacked her. She meant nothing to him now.
"Thank you Naruto-kun," She'd stopped crying and leant back. She could only hope she would be allowed to stay in the village.
"I'll be back, make yourself at home but be ready if I need to get you in a hurry; I need to go see the Hokage." Naruto got up and unlocked the front door before closing and relocking it. With that Karin was once again left alone in the genin's home, but this time with much more to think about.
xXx
When Naruto arrived at the Hokage's he walked straight up to the front desk, "I need to see Ojii-san," but before even waiting for an answer he stormed up the steps in the tower and burst into the room prompting a bunch of ANBU to leap from the shadows, ready to act.
"Stand down, you should know by now what Naruto looks like, even if he has eluded you many times before," the old Hokage said from his position overlooking the village, "What is so urgent Naruto? Shouldn't you be at the chunin exam?"
"It's Orochimaru Ojii-san,"
"What!" the old man turned around, eyes wide.
"He attacked us in the forest of death, and for a time we seemed to be holding up, but he used another team that arrived as a hostage. He used them to get the drop on me and managed to put some weird seal on Sasuke, then he simply disappeared."
"This is serious news Naruto," Hiruzen was about to ask how Naruto even knew what the man looked like but remembered that his godfather was one of his teammates.
"That's not all Hokage-sama," Naruto looked at the old man seriously. Hiruzen's eyes narrowed, he hasn't called me Hokage in a long time, I wonder what is bothering him.
"I have in my custody one of Orochimaru's shinobi. She's a ninja of the sound, so I'd look into the rest of them too, although I doubt there's much you can tie back to Orochimaru. But that's not the point," Naruto continued before Sarutobi could cut him off, "The point is that she's a frightened girl who saw her master try and stab a kunai through the top of her head today, a girl who is now alone in this world, who as lost everything. At the moment I'm the only friend she has, because I was the one who saved her from Orochimaru after she accidentally revealed her loyalty to that sick man. What I want from you is a guarantee that if she reveals what she knows of Orochimaru's plans willingly that you will grant her protection and citizenship in this village and one day allow her to continue her life. I know what it's like to be alone and afraid, and I don't want that for her. And don't worry about what she'll do with herself. I've already decided she'll be living with me, being one of the last of the Uzumaki clan."
Hiruzen was surprised that Naruto would come into his office and make a demand like this, but was also proud in the strength the boy was showing by doing it. This was all troubling news though.
What was even more surprising to him though was that another Uzumaki was still alive. They were said to have all been killed.
"Naruto, you know something like that isn't simple, but considering the circumstances, especially with the appearance of Orochimaru, and she can reveal his plans, I'll see what I can do. For now keep her locked in your house and keep an eye on her. That place is secure I know that much."
"Thankyou Ojii-san," and with that the boy was gone.
It wasn't long after that Anko reported having her own encounter with the legendary Snake Sannin.
xXx
Naruto arrived back in his home and Karin was standing in the kitchen making something to eat.
"What? I was hungry?" He could still see the pain in her eyes at the day's events even as she tried to hide it.
"The Hokage says that he'll do what he can about getting you citizenship and stuff so you can stay in Konoha if that's what you want."
"I don't really have anywhere else to go now Naruto-kun."
"Well if all goes to plan you can stay here and live with me, that won't be too bad right? The last two Uzumaki's living together!," He said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. The Kunoichi didn't miss the effort, and she tried to smile a little, but he could see the pain in her expression when she did.
"Come here," Naruto walked into the kitchen and pulled her into a hug. She instantly warmed at the contact.
"Do you think you could tell me about why Orochimaru did what he did to Sasuke?"
She nodded and they walked over to sit on the couch, "He put one of his cursed seals on Sasuke. They give the user an incredible power if they can survive the initial process. From everything I know Orochimaru wants to use Sasuke as his next host. I'm not sure how putting the seal on Sasuke would accomplish that, but that's what I know."
"Is there any other reason why Orochimaru is here at the chunin exam?"
Karin nodded, "He wants to invade and destroy Konoha during the chunin exam finals."
"What else can you tell me?"
Karin went on to explain that the sound and the sand villages were allied and that they were told not to attack each other too much during the exam so as to preserve strength. She also told him that she had seen Kabuto a number of times at hidden bases that Orochimaru controlled.
"I knew there was something funny about that guy, guess that explains it."
xXx
Naruto was standing in the office of the Hokage once again, relaying the information he'd just obtained.
"I see Naruto, thankyou for this, it truly could not be more helpful. We will now know how to prepare. And we won't capture Kabuto until the invasion is all but set, now that we can set the trap for Orochimaru we might be able to stop any harm from befalling this village. However we must be prepared for Orochimaru changing his plans now that we have that Karin girl giving us information. There is a lot to think on, Naruto you should get back to your team. Sasuke may need your support if he is to make it through this ordeal."
"What about citizenship for Karin?"
"I'm trying Naruto, now go, your team needs you."
"Thankyou Ojii-san," and with that Naruto disappeared.
"That boy has come through for us Minato, you would be proud," Hiruzen said to himself as he sat down at his desk to think.
xXx
During the night and with the support of his team Sasuke pulled through the first stage of the seal and reached a stable level. As soon as he was ready, Kakashi took him away and sealed the power so that Sasuke could keep it under control.
Now all they had to do was wait. They had all decided that as they wait for the second stage to come to a close they would rest at Naruto's at it was secure and comfortable. There was nothing the proctors could really do to stop them from leaving so that was where they stayed.
Naruto explained the situation with Karin, and the team didn't really have many problems with it. They weren't as accepting at first, but if Naruto was okay with it then they were okay with it as well. It wasn't long before they got used to her being around and she was nice enough, if a little bossy sometimes.
The first night they slept there after they completed the second stage Naruto was lying awake looking at the ceiling of the master bedroom when there was a slight knock on the door.
He opened it up to find the short red head in the cute pajamas he'd bought for her earlier that day because she didn't have any clothes to wear now.
"I couldn't sleep," she looked like she'd been crying a little, "… nightmares, can I sleep with you tonight? I know it sounds weird, but your chakra makes me feel good,"
"It's okay," he pulled her into a hug and led her back to bed where they lay with her head against his chest.
"Thank you Naruto for what you did for me," Karin whispered as she fell asleep.
"Anytime Karin-chan," Naruto fell asleep not long after.
xXx
Over the next few days Team 7 trained and rested and Sasuke got used to having a weird seal on his body that had changed him physically. He hadn't worked out what triggered it giving him power, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to. But it might come in handy if he was ever in a bind.
He was pretty resolved though that he would only ever access the power of the hickey if he or his friends were in serious trouble. Naruto had started calling it the hickey and it sort of stuck with the group, mostly because it was a sort of mockery of Orochimaru. Sasuke was annoyed at first but even he could see the funny side of it, especially with how the bastard creep had applied it.
Kakashi had come and told them that due to the number of teams that were in the second stage to expect preliminaries. By the second last day he told them that with the number of students that had already passed, 6 teams in total, they would definitely be having a preliminaries round to cut down the numbers.
Karin had started to make a habit of sleeping in Naruto's bed, simply because his chakra helped her sleep. That and they started to enjoy each other's company the more time they spent with each other.
The night before the preliminaries as they were lying together in bed, she reached up and kissed him on the cheek, "Good luck tomorrow Naruto-kun, I know you'll do great."
"Thank you Karin-chan," At first he'd wondered what she was trying to do as she reached up, but now that she'd kissed him he realized that he had no problem with it what so ever and went to sleep with a smile on his face, ready for the challenge that awaited him in the preliminaries.
So NEXT UP the preliminaries, and then what will happen in the invasion?! I dunno, do you? Oh and review review, seriously there's a button at the bottom of the page. do it... DO IT NOAWW... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR... Kudos if you get the reference.