Chapter 11.
Please review.
No Flames.
Daytime.
Sasuke, Karin, Tenten, Lee, and Sakura, in their usual outfits, were standing and looking at the direction Naruto and Neji just had disappeared.
"We can't waste anymore time." Sasuke said then turned to look at Karin, Lee, Tenten, and Sakura. "We'll return to the village immediately and report on the situation." then turned forward closing his eyes. "We can't afford anymore casualties."
"Huh?!" Karin gasped softly. "B-but no one is dead..."
"What are you saying?!" Lee questioned. "We've already lost Guy-sensei. And no, even Neji is missing! And Naruto from your team!"
Sasuke, Karin, Tenten, and Sakura looked at Lee.
"This all started because he took off on his own." Sasuke said.
Karin looked at Sasuke sadly. Sakura looked at Sasuke.
Sasuke closed his eyes as he put his hands on his hips. "After I warned him not to make a move..." he said.
"We're from the class ahead of yours, so we don't know him that well... But isn't he an important friend and member of Team 7?" Lee questioned.
"Friend?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke, Karin, Tenten, and Sakura looked at Lee at what he just said.
"Not only that... He's the precious son of the Fourth Hokage." Lee said.
Sasuke turned to the right side a little, closing his eyes. "Who cares?" he said then turned around.
"I care about Oniisan..." Karin thought.
Karin, Lee, Tenten, and Sakura.
"That has nothing to do with the mission." Sasuke said.
"Everything doesn't have to be about the mission.. Sasuke..." Karin thought sadly.
Lee became angry. "How can you be so cold?! To me, Guy-sensei is a dear mentor! And Neji is a precious friend. I can't just turn my back on them!" he yelled.
Tenten grabbed Lee from behind.
"Lee, calm down!" Tenten said.
Karin looked at Lee. "He's right..." she thought.
Lee looked at Tenten. "Anyway, I'm going to look for Guy-sensei, Neji, and the others!" he said. "They're bound to be somewhere nearby. So there's no way I'll stop looking and return to the village!" then started to walk with Tenten still holding onto him.
"I won't let you." Sasuke said. "We have no clue what the enemy will do, so we can't split up our fighting power. We must move together."
"Oh! Neji, Guy-sensei! I'm coming to rescue you!" Lee yelled before he ran off with Tenten.
Sasuke, Karin, and Sakura watched as Lee started to run off with Tenten, leaving behind a big puff of dirt.
"Okay, Lee! I get it! I'll help you, so please-!" Tenten yelled but was cut off.
"I'm surrounded by idiots." Sasuke said.
Karin looked at Sasuke then turned forward she started to walk where Lee and Tenten were going until Sasuke called to her.
"No Karin, we must stick together." Sasuke said.
"But..." Sakura said.
Karin stopped and turned around to look at Sasuke.
"We'll figure something out." Sasuke said.
"But..." Sakura said.
Sasuke looked at Sakura. "What are you going to do?" he asked before he walked away. "Karin, let's go."
"H-hai..." Karin said before she walked away Sasuke.
Sakura glared at Karin in annoyance because of the affection Sasuke was displaying towards Karin before she walked after them.
After a few minutes of walking through the deserted town, Sasuke, Karin, and Sakura were now back in the forest. As they were walking Sasuke suddenly stopped near trees that was close to a clear grass field.
Sasuke turned around to look at Karin and Sakura. "We'll rendezvous with Team 10 and 8 here. This spot will be easy for Karin to see." he said.
"But..." Sakura said.
"Considering the time, Team 10 and 8 have probably joined up. They should come looking for us next or Karin will sense us and we'll go to them." he said then turned to look at Karin. Sasuke turned to Karin. "Karin, can you detect any of the other teams near our area again?"
"Um.. let me see.." Karin said before she closed her eyes.
"Even if it's just the 3 of us, shouldn't we head back to the village?" Sakura questioned, looking at Sasuke.
Sasuke looked at Sakura. "Hokage-sama didn't choose us for this for this mission because of our fighting ability. He chose us merely because the younger we are, the harder it is for the enemy to use their jutsu on us." he said, holding his arms.
"Huh...?" Karin thought but still continued to look at Sasuke.
"That's why he ordered us to return to the village immediately without engaging as soon as we scoped out the situation." Sasuke said then turned around and walked a little.
"Oh." Sakura said.
"We still haven't identified the enemy and don't know how many there are, so it's bad to divide up our fighting power." Sasuke said then stopped.
Sakura walked a little towards Sasuke. "Then what about the others who went to save their teammates?" she asked.
"A Shinobi puts priority on the rules... and the orders given under the rules... We can't be swayed by compassion." Sasuke said.
Karin looked at Sasuke sadly, she walked over to where Sasuke and Sakura were in the clear grass area. They stood there for a few minutes until Sakura over to a nearby log and sat on it.
Sasuke turned to Karin. "Karin, can you detect any of the other teams near our area again?" he asked.
"Um.. let me see.." Karin said before she closed her eyes.
Karin gasped in shock as she suddenly sensed an unknown chakra coming towards them. It was dark and powerful.
"I don't understand.. I didn't sense this chakra before... did it cover up it's chakra.. just like the last one?" Karin thought frightened.
"Karin." Sasuke said.
Karin was pushed out of her thoughts as as she looked to see Sasuke was looking at her. "Huh?" she asked.
"What's the matter?" Sasuke asked.
"I'm sensing another powerful and dark chakra coming towards us again..." Karin said frightened.
"Which direction is it coming from this time?" Sasuke asked.
"Over there.." Karin said, turning her head to the right.
Sasuke looked in that direction.
"It's here.." Karin said.
Suddenly rustling came from the bushes where Karin just explained. Sakura stood up from the log and looked in that direction.
"Stay back, Karin." Sasuke said to her before he jumped over to that direction and did the handsigns for the Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Technique: Rat → Tiger → Dog → Ox → Rabbit → Tiger. "Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" before he put his right hand on his mouth then a volley of small fireballs started shooting in that direction from his mouth.
Explosions of fire and smoke went into the air, Sasuke took his right hand from his mouth. Sasuke, Karin, and Sakura looked at the fire and smoke for a moment before they saw a brown skinned man that looked to be in his mid 50's, mostly bald except for the dark brown rows of hair and 2 hairs behind him, hutched back, a silver colored metal extendible iron tail behind him, wearing a light brown straw hat, a black cloak with some red clouds on it, which was zipped up, black sandals, black shirt, and black pants, was coming out of the fire unscaved.
"That's.. that's the same robes the other one had...!" Karin thought shocked.
"I had you pegged as a great who can't stay still and loves to show off... Oh well, I don't like to wait, so I guess we can start this." the unknown man said then stopped walking.
"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke asked.
"You can think of as a gatekeeper. I'm not letting you go any further." the unknown man said.
"Huh?" Karin gasped, scared.
Sasuke took a step backwards he pulled out 6 kunais (3 in each hand) and jumped into the air then threw them at the unknown man, reflected them with his tail. Sasuke landed on the ground in front of Karin.
"Such annoying flies. Want me to smash them with my fly swatter?" the unknown man asked before he jumped forward and swung his tail towards Sasuke, Karin, and Sakura. Sasuke quickly picked Karin up bridal style before he jumped into air with Sakura jumping after him. The unknown man retracted his tail back when it but the ground. When Sasuke and Sakura landed somewhere else Sasuke put Karin on the ground on the left side of him.
"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked worried.
"H-hai..." Karin said softly before turning to look at the unknown man.
"The tip of the tail could be poisoned!" Sakura said.
The unknown man laughed before he swung his tail at Sasuke, Karin, and Sakura again. Sasuke and Karin moved to the left and Sakura moved to the right. The unknown man retracted his tail, Sasuke and Karin jumped a few feet from the unknown man.
Sasuke turned to Karin. "Karin, run! Hide!" he yelled.
"H-hai.." Karin said before she ran and hid behind one of the trees, but poked her head out a little on the right to see.
Sasuke turned back to the unknown man before he reached into his pouch and pulled out a kunais with his left hand and held it up. The unknown man kept swinging it's tail to hit Sasuke, who immediately keeps dodging the attacks and threw his kunais at him, who reflected it easily. Sakura landed a few feet on the right side of the unknown man before she reached into her pouch with both hands and pulled out 2 kunais (1 in each hand) before she threw them at the unknown man, who immediately reflected them. The unknown man swung his tail at Sakura, who jumped away and landed a few feet behind Sasuke.
Karin watched as Sasuke and Sakura battled the unknown man.
"Don't underestimate me... If a kunai won't work..." Sasuke said before he jumped into the air then made the hand signs for the Fireball Jutsu. "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!" then he put his right hand to his mouth and a large fire came from his mouth through the unknown man. Karin and Sakura looked up at Sasuke. When the Fireball hit the unknown man Sasuke landed back on the ground as he watched the fire. Sasuke, Karin, and Sakura looked in surprised to see the unknown man was a little different, the robe was no longer there, he was on a 4's, had a beige torpedo-shaped left arm that had so many little cylinders around it, a red giant face was on his back with yellow teeth and features, and blue eyes, the tail was coming out of the mouth.
Karin's eyes widened in shock. "H-he... he must be a puppet...!" she though then she sensed the unknown man's chakra again only to find out that all of his chakra was coming from a small object with large amounts of chakra. "Huh?!"
The smoke and fire started to disappear.
"What the hell is he?" Sasuke asked.
"Is he human?" Sakura asked.
"Human...?" the unknown man asked. "That's so boring. I'm my own masterpiece."
The unknown man swung his tail again at Sasuke, who jumped into the air to dodge it only for him to scratch him in the left arm, ripping his left sleeve a little. Sasuke jumped back a little and immediately closing his right eye tightly as he clutched his left arm with his right arm in pain as it was turning purple, he crouched down on the ground.
"Sasuke!" Karin yelled before she moved away from one of the trees and ran towards Sasuke.
Sakura ran towards Sasuke and crouched down on the left side. "Sasuke-kun!" she yelled, touching his left arm with both hands.
Karin crouched down on the right side of Sasuke. "Sasuke!" she said.
Karin and Sakura looked at Sasuke's wound in shock. Sasuke was staring at it as well. Karin noticed that Sasuke was sweating as he panted.
"Oh no...! I-It's the poison...!" Karin thought.
"This means... the poison!" Sakura said.
Karin and Sakura saw that Sasuke was turning a sickly greyish color and under his eyes were turning light blue. The unknown man retracted his tail back. Sasuke closed both of his eyes as he leaned towards Karin and landed on her. Karin immediately held Sasuke in her arms as she looked down at him sadly.
"Please... no!" Karin said sadly, tears started forming in her eyes.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled, looking at him worriedly.
As Sakura was now glaring at the unknown man, Karin continued to look at Sasuke as he was in her arms. Karin now saw that Sasuke was turning more sickly greyish than ever.
"Oh no...! I-If this keeps up... Sasuke will... die..." Karin thought sadly and scared.
The unknown man started walking towards Sasuke, Karin, and Sakura.
Sakura gritted her teeth together before she stood up. "Karin!" she said.
"Huh?" Karin asked, looking up at Sakura.
"Do you know any medical techniques?" Sakura asked, looking at the unknown man.
"A little..." Karin said.
"Then I want you to use them to heal Sasuke-kun..." Sakura said.
Karin continued to look at Sakura.
Sakura looked down at Karin. "If you don't Sasuke-kun will die." she said.
Karin looked down at Sasuke. "I'll see what I can do him.. but what are going to do..?" she asked.
Sakura looked back at the unknown man. "I'll distract him while you heal Sasuke-kun.." she said. "Now please heal him."
"H-hai..." Karin said.
Sakura ran over to the unknown man and stopped a few feet away from him. "How dare you! How dare you do this to Sasuke-kun!" she yelled.
"You're such a pain. Do you want to die too?" the unknown man asked.
Karin laid Sasuke down on the ground carefully before she quickly stood up, walked around, and crouched down on the left side of him, she looked to see that Sasuke condition was worsening and still grunting in pain. "Okay, I can't panic at this... I have to remember what Aunt Kushina taught me." she thought.
"Don't worry, Sasuke..." Karin said to him.
Karin put her right hand on Sasuke's chest and her left hand on the wound of his left arm then started to use the Mystical Palm Technique, she turned around to see Sakura was throwing multiple kunais at the unknown man and dodge his tail and needles on the ground before she turned around as she continued to heal Sasuke. After awhile Karin looked to see that some of the poison blood was coming out of Sasuke's wound and levitating towards her right hand.
"It's working..." Karin thought, sighing in relief.
As soon as all of the poison was out of Sasuke's left arm and levitating on Karin's right hand, she moved her right hand away from him. Karin immediately noticed that Sasuke was slowly turning back to his fair skin again, she suddenly sensed that the unknown man was moving away from Sakura but not from their location.
"Thank goodness..." Karin thought.
Sasuke stopped grunting in pain when his skin turned completely fair skin and he opened his eyes, he gasped a little. Karin stopped doing the Mystical Palm Technique on Sasuke's chest as she removed her left hand from it but still used the technique to keep the poison in her right hand as she removed it away from his left arm.
"I removed all of the poison from your arm... Are you feeling better, Sasuke...?" Karin asked.
Sasuke looked at Karin. "Yeah.. in a little while... thank you, Karin for saving my life..." he said.
"It was nothing.. I'm just glad you're okay..." Karin said shyly. "Y-you should rest a little... even though the poison is removed from your arm... it's going to take a while for you to fight again... but I still need to heal you.."
"I see..." Sasuke said before he closed his eyes again.
Karin suddenly heard Sakura coming towards them, she turned around to see Sakura running.
"Is Sasuke-kun alright?!" Sakura asked as she made it and crouched down next to him on his right side.
"Hai.. but he'll need to rest for a little while... I just need to heal him a little longer.." Karin said.
"Good.." Sakura said, relieved.
"I will need to show this to Uncle Minato when we get back.." Karin thought, looking at the levitating poison.
Karin reached into her pouch with her left hand and pulled out a small beige jar opened it up with her left thumb and carefully placed the poison in with her right hand and closed it tight before putting the jar back in her pouch. Karin placed both of her hands on Sasuke's chest before she did the Mystical Palm Technique again.
"I just hope that man would go away soon...!" Karin thought.
After 9 minutes Karin started to sense Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Lee, Tenten, Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, and Hinata heading to their location. Karin and Sakura saw that Sasuke was opening his eyes again, Karin stopped doing the Mystical Palm Technique as she removed her hands from his as she suddenly sensed the unknown man was coming back. They suddenly heard rustling in the bushes again before the unknown man came out again and his left arm was missing. Sasuke, Karin, and Sakura slowly stood up as they faced the unknown man.
"I was distracting him while Karin healed you... my weapons had no effect." Karin said.
"There is a limit to life. But, art is forever. Do you want to see... my everlasting army? Every one of them is truly valuable of art that will surpass life." the unknown man said before a hundred puppets started coming out of the red giant mask's mouth. "Secret Red Move: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!"
Sasuke, Karin, and Sakura looked up at all of the puppets in the air. The unknown man removed the cloth from his mouth with his right hand before he opened it and many chakra threads and attached themselves to the puppets. The puppets were now assembled on the ground, the were beige and were wearing red cloaks and had weapons on them.
"All these puppets... This is impossible..." Sakura said.
Karin turned to the right as she sensed that Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Lee, Tenten, Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, and Hinata were getting close rapidly.
"Good... they're here..." Karin thought relieved before she looked at the unknown man again.
"Now, what are you going to do? Are you going to fight each of my 100 pieces of art? Or will you just cower in fear?" the unknown man asked. "I will let you decide."
Sasuke, Karin, and Sakura didn't say anything. Karin looked over at Sasuke and Sakura, who had troubled looks on their faces.
"They're here.." Karin said.
Sasuke looked at Karin. "Who's here?" he asked.
"The teams..." Karin said, pointed pointed to the right with her right hand.
Sasuke and Sakura looked in the direction Karin pointed to see Akamaru popped out of the bushes and barked before Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Lee, Tenten, Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, and Hinata, in their usual outfits, started coming out of the bushes. Karin lowered her right hand.
"Everyone!" Sakura said smiling.
Karin saw Sasuke smiling at the teams.
Most of them looked at all of the puppets with serious faces except Karin, who looked at them sadly.
"What's going on?" Shikamaru asked.
"Are they puppets?" Shino asked.
"Yeah, a hundred of them." Sasuke said.
Karin saw Sasuke look at all of them before he looked back at the puppets. "I wonder what... you're thinking Sasuke...?" she thought.
Shikamaru looked at Sasuke. "What happened here?" he asked.
"A puppet user brought them out to create a blockade." Sasuke said.
"A blockade? Where's the puppet user?" Shikamaru asked.
"He's watching to see what our next move will be." Sasuke said.
"Sasuke, what did you first intend on doing?" Shikamaru asked.
"If we want Lord Fourth to conduct a rescue mission, we have to return quickly to the village and report back to him." Sasuke said.
Tenten folded her arms. "But if we bring down all 100 puppets here, we can get out of here." she said.
Ino looked at Tenten. "You sure make it sound easy." she said.
"But it's not impossible... right?" Kiba asked.
"Of we're going to complete our mission, we have no other choice." Sasuke said.
"B-but... there has to be another way... besides we can't leave Oniisan and Neji.. and the Jonins..." Karin thought sadly.
Kiba stepped forward a little. "Wait! We're not going back to the village! We're not giving up on rescuing the team captains." he said.
Sasuke looked at Kiba on the right, serious. "You plan on abandoning the mission?" he asked.
"There are more important things than completing the mission, Sasuke..." Karin thought sadly.
"No, that's not it. That's because there's also the option of breaking into 2 teams: one to look for the captains and one to report back to the village." Shino said.
"No... I also think we should stick together and work as one team." Shikamaru said.
"What? Shikamaru! What the hell are you-?!" Kiba yelled, raising his right fist but was cut off.
"In the beginning, I agreed that we should break up into 2 groups. But a lot of time has passed." Shikamaru said, looking at Kiba. "We should keep into account that the longer time passes, the less successful our chances of finding Asuma and the others will be."
Everyone looked at Shikamaru.
"What should we do...?" Karin thought.
"Put simply, we don't have time to return to the Konohagakure." Shino said.
"Not to mention, if we fight all of those puppets, we'll exhaust all our time." Shikamaru said, looking at Sasuke.
Karin saw Sasuke look down at the ground before he closed his eyes for a moment. "Sasuke..." she thought.
"Well, Sasuke? Will you come with us?" Shikamaru asked.
Karin noticed that Sasuke was clutched his hands into fists.
"I'm not coming with you. I'll do things my way, on my own." Sasuke said seriously, opening his eyes.
Karin's eyes widened as she saw Sasuke had activated his Sharingan, his left eye having 1 tomoe and his right eye having 2 tomoe. She started to remember the past.
Flashback.
4 years ago.
Karin, in her old usual outfit, suddenly opened her eyes as she sensed Sasuke was coming back to her location and Itachi was leaving the village. She looked to the location where Sasuke was coming from to see that he was slowly walking back with his eyes closed. She noticed immediately that something was wrong with Sasuke, in his old usual outfit, his clothes were slightly more dirtier, he was panting while holding his left arm, and his chakra had decreased.
"W-what did.. what did Itachi do to him..?" Karin thought.
When Sasuke made it over to Karin, he crouched down in front of her.
"S-sasuke.. are you alright?" Karin asked worried.
Sasuke smiled softly. "I'm fine.. I'm just glad you're alright." he said opening his eyes.
Karin's eyes widened as she gasped in shock as she looked into Sasuke's eyes, they were black and red. "S-sasuke... your eyes." she whispered.
The design of Sasuke's eyes were mostly red with a small black dot and one tomoe in each one of his eyes.
"Huh, my eyes?" Sasuke asked, confused.
"I think.. you've activated your Sharingan..." Karin said.
Sasuke raised his left hand and was about to touch the upper part of his face until he closed his eyes as he grunted in pain.
"Sasuke!" Karin said worriedly.
Sasuke continued to grunt in pain then seconds later he fainted and his landed on Karin. Karin grabbed him and softly hugged Sasuke's unconscious body.
"Sasuke... Sasuke, please wake up..." Karin said, shaking him a little.
Sasuke was still conscious. Karin closed her eyes and started to cry again.
"Why... why are these things happening...?" Karin thought.
Flashback ends.
Karin continued to look at Sasuke. "After all these years... Sasuke awakened his Sharingan.. since that day..." she thought.
Everyone watched as Sasuke threw a smoke bomb at the puppets with his right hand before it burst into a large puff of white smoke. Sasuke quickly ran at the puppets.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled.
Everyone watched as Sasuke ran into the large puff of smoke.
"Please be careful this time... Sasuke..." Karin thought sadly.
"He created a blind spot for the puppet user!" Shikamaru said.
"That was so reckless!" Kiba said.
Karin saw Sasuke make the hand signs for the Fireball Jutsu while he ran.
"Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled, putting his left hand to his mouth before a large fire came from his mouth and burned some of the puppets.
Everyone saw Sasuke jumped backwards as some of the puppets were coming towards him and he kicked one of them with his right leg and dodged some of their attacks and he turned around as he pulled out a kunai from his pouch with his right hand.
"Amazing... I just healed Sasuke awhile and he's stronger than ever...! And Sharingan he activated is helping him..." Karin thought astounded.
Karin saw that the puppets were heading towards Sasuke and watched as he fought them, she quickly became worried and scared when she saw one of them pushed him on the ground and more were heading towards him.
"Oh no... Sasuke...!" Karin thought sadly.
Karin sensed Lee near Sasuke, she saw him kick the puppet that was about to attack, destroying the puppet. Lee landed on the ground next to Sasuke.
"Even if our goals differ, we can't ignore our friends!" Lee yelled before he ran off to attack another puppet.
"Thank you, Lee... for saving Sasuke..." Karin thought relieved.
Everyone watched as Lee attacked some of the puppets. Sasuke unactivated his Sharingan as they turned back into their onyx black eyes.
"Everyone, follow Lee!" Shikamaru said.
Everyone except Karin ran and attacked the puppets. Karin looked at the puppets sadly before she closed her eyes.
"I... I can't...!" Karin thought sadly.
Karin ran and hid behind one of the trees, but poked her head out a little on the right to see the others fight. She saw Shino use his insects on the puppets, Choji used the human Boulder Jutsu, Sakura use her kunais and shurikens, Kiba and Akamaru used the Fang Over Fang, Hinata used Gentle Fist, Tenten used her scrolls, Ino fighting with kunai in her right hand, Sasuke fighting with a kunai in his right hand, and Shikamaru fighting with a kunai in his left hand.
"All of them are fighting the puppets.. they're brave... unlike me..." Karin thought sadly.
"Sasuke! I hope you didn't charge at the puppets by yourself, because you knew full well that we don't leave our friends behind..." Shikamaru said.
Karin saw Sasuke turned his head to the right and smirked.
2 minutes later.
Karin saw everyone continued attacking the puppets before she saw the unknown man going up in the air.
"It's pretty obvious... There's no future for Shinobi. There is only... hell. Let me show you an artistic and eternal hell!" the unknown man said before released more puppets.
"Damn it! He had spare puppets!" Shikamaru said.
Everyone looked at all of the new puppets in shock and horror. When the started heading towards them they all started fighting them again. Karin watched them all fight.
1 minute later.
Karin gasped and turned around as she suddenly sensed Naruto 30 feet behind her.
"O-oniisan...! He's back... thank goodness he's alive..." Karin thought.
Karin waited awhile for Naruto to come to their location and she saw him, in his usual outfit, was running towards her.
"Oniisan!" Karin said before she ran over to him.
Naruto stopped. "Hey, Karin!" he said smiling.
Karin hugged Naruto. "I missed you Oniisan.." she said.
Naruto hugged Karin back. "I missed you too."he said.
Karin pulled back to look at Naruto. "Where's Neji?" she asked.
"He went off with this guy in a mask." Naruto said.
"Huh?" Karin asked confused.
"I'll explain later, right now I need to defeat those puppets. Stay hidden." Naruto said before he ran towards puppets and jumped up into the air. Karin ran and hid behind the tree she was previously hiding behind and poked her head out to see.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled.
Everyone looked up at Naruto, seeing dozens of his clones in the air. Karin noticed that half of the clones were hold small blue circular spheres that were spinning in their right hands while the other half helped them.
"Is that the Rasengan Uncle Minato has been teaching Oniisan?" Karin thought.
What is that?!" Ino asked.
"Look at the chakra!" Choji said.
"That Jutsu... It's the Rasengan!" Shikamaru said.
"Impossible! That's because that Jutsu is..." Shino said.
"Naruto's amazing!" Hinata said smiling.
Everyone watched as all of the puppets came at Naruto and his clones.
"Here I go! Rasengan!" Naruto yelled.
Naruto and his clones hit them with the Rasengan, explosions were everywhere in the air, smoke started appearing. The wind was very strong.
"What?" Sasuke asked.
A lot of puppets started falling from the air.
"Next one... Let's go!" Naruto yelled before the clones landed on the ground and started running to more of the puppets. "Here we go! Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" making more clones.
Explosions went everywhere on the ground.
"Naruto?!" Sakura asked.
"Oniisan... you're so strong!" Karin thought.
Explosions cleared to see Naruto and his clones standing over the defeated puppets and some were kicking them. All of them heard rustling in the bushes to see the unknown man coming out from the bushes.
"Damn you... You ruined my art!" the unknown man said.
"Are you the Puppet User?!" Naruto asked, some of his clones behind him.
The unknown man grabbed one of the puppets with his tail before it let out a large puff of white smoke. Karin sense the unknown man was moving away quickly from their location now.
"Damn it!" Naruto said.
Naruto turned around as all of his started to disappear.
"He got away..." Naruto said.
Karin stepped away from the tree and walked over to them.
Sakura walked up to Naruto. "That was amazing, Naruto!" she said smiling.
"Taking down all of those puppets, by yourself." Shikamaru said smiling.
"I think I might have underestimated you all this time." Lee said smiling.
"Yeah! You were hiding some amazing power!" Tenten said smiling.
"That power has to be acknowledged. That's because, everyone had a tough time with the enemy, but you came and took them down by yourself." Shino said.
"As one would expect of Naruto!" Hinata said smiling.
"I was totally surprised!" Ino said smiling, her arms crossed.
"They say skilled hawks hide their talons..." Choji said.
"I hate to admit it, but this is the one time I have to acknowledge him." Kiba said.
Akamaru barked.
"That was amazing, Oniisan..." Karin said smiling softly.
Karin turned around to see Sasuke folding his arms and closed his eyes.
"But the way, Naruto... We're going to save our friends. It will be mean disobeying the rules of the village... But that's what we all want." Shikamaru said.
"Yeah... Of course, I feel the same way." Naruto said.
"What will you do, Sasuke?!" Shikamaru asked turning to him. "With this much fighting strength, you can't say rescuing our friends is impossible."
Sasuke didn't say anything.
"Sasuke, come with us, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled.
"Please... Sasuke..." Karin said.
Sasuke looked at Naruto then at Karin. "Fine.." he said.
Karin smiled at Sasuke.
"All right! It's decided!" Naruto yelled smiling.
"Everyone, you heard it! We've joined up. We're going to rescue Asuma and... no, we're going to find our friends and rescue them!" Shikamaru said.
Karin suddenly sensed Neji in the area now.
"All right!" Everyone except Sasuke, Karin, and Shikamaru yelled.
"You got that, everyone? We're joining up as one team to look for, I mean our friends, and rescue them!" Shikamaru said.
"Right!" Everyone except Sasuke, Karin, and Shikamaru yelled.
"All right, let's get going, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled before he ran off.
Karin looked at Naruto run.
"Hold it, Naruto." Shikamaru said.
Naruto stopped and looked at Shikamaru. "What is it? You're the one who said we're going to rescue our friends!" he said.
"Yeah, I did. But we don't even know where they are." Shikamaru said.
"Not even one clue..." Ino said, putting her right index on her chin.
"Unless, Naruto, you have intel that we don't." Lee said.
"Yeah, yeah!" Tenten said.
"You think I'd have have that kind of intel?" Naruto asked.
"Huh?" Everyone except Sasuke and Karin asked.
Karin saw Sasuke smirk.
"Your fighting skills may've improved slightly, but your brain's still the same." Sasuke said, his eyes closed.
Karin saw Naruto ran up to Sasuke.
"What?!" Naruto yelled.
"Hey! Stop fighting!" Sakura yelled.
"Please don't fight..." Karin thought then she sensed Neji coming their way.
"I sense Neji coming towards..." Karin said shyly.
"What?!" Kiba asked.
Hinata turned on her Byakugan. "Karin's right.." she said.
Karin stood in the direction Neji was appearing, which was right beside Shikamaru. Everyone turned to Neji.
"Neji-niisan, I'm glad you're safe." Hinata said, putting her right hand close to her chest.
"Sorry to have worried you." Neji said.
Naruto ran a little closer then stopped. "What happened to the enemy? Did you bring him down?" he asked.
"No." Neji said.
"You let him get away?" Naruto asked.
"No, that's not it, but..." Neji said.
"Then what happened, dattebayo?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto! Give Neji a chance to speak." Shikamaru said.
"Damn it." Sasuke said.
"Oniisan really wants to look for the Jonins more than us..." Karin thought.
"Oh, okay..." Naruto said.
"So? What's going on, Neji?" Shikamaru asked, looking at him.
...
15 minutes later.
"Anyway, that's it." Neji said.
"So you're saying everything that happened was just an experiment by this masked man?" Shikamaru questioned.
"I... I never even thought it was a test after some of us almost died..." Karin thought, thinking about Sasuke and Naruto.
"Hold on! Guy-sensei and the others are safe?" Lee asked.
"Yeah. He promised he'd free all the hostages and lead us to them." Neji said.
"Are you sure?" Karin thought.
"Lead us to them?" Sakura questioned.
"What does that mean?" Naruto asked.
Karin suddenly sensed the 3 chakras from earlier coming quickly to their location. After a minute has passed Karin started to speak.
"The 3 chakras are here..." Karin said.
"Huh? What 3 chakras?" Naruto asked confused.
Suddenly the 3 chakras appeared where Neji and Shikamaru were, who immediately jumped away, everyone looked at them. The one on the right and first one was a man that looked to be in his late 20's, had short spiky orange hair, brown eyes, fair skin, wearing the black Amegakure forehead protector on his forehead, a long black robe with a red line running down the centre along with armour that covered only his mid-section with a pouch attached to it, a relatively large sword, white short sleeved shirt, long black pants, and black sandals. The second and middle one was a woman that looked to be in her late 20's, had fair skin, short, straight blue hair, amber eyes, lavender eye shadow, wearing a large light blue paper flower in her hair, navy blue robe, with a large hemline on the front, and exposed her arms, her back, the lateral part of her breast and her belly, black Amegakure forehead protector, a black cloak with purple stockings and high heels, as well as a mid section guard. The 3 and last one was a man that looked to be in his late 20's, pale white skin, short straight red hair that covered his right eye, lavender ripple pattern eyes that spreads over the eyeballs, wearing the black Amegakure forehead protector, grey short sleeved shirt, a long black robe with a red line running down the centre along with armour that covered only his mid-section with a pouch attached to it, and long black pants.
Everyone except Karin, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji looked at them cautiously. Karin looked at the red haired man in shock and amazement.
"He's... he's the powerful chakra I sensed earlier... Is he really... an Uzumaki...?!" Karin thought.
"Who the hell are you guys?!" Naruto asked yelling.
"We're not your enemy." the blue haired woman said.
"First of all, we want to show you a sign of mutual trust. We apologize for getting you involved in our employer's test." the orange haired man said.
"The test is over. Your friends will be be freed." the red haired man said.
"Are you serious?" Naruto asked.
"We are Hidden Rain Shinobi. We travel around the land in search of those who share our vision for the future of the Shinobi world. We're Team Jiraiya." the orange haired man said.
"Team Jiraiya?! You guys know Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked.
"Yes. He saved our lives and he was our ninjutsu master." the red haired man said.
"I get it now. When we were attacked, I didn't sense any malice. Because it was a test."Shikamaru said. "So, did we pass the test?"
"I believe so. That's why we're telling you where your friends are." the red haired man said then turned to the blue haired woman. "Konan."
Paper started coming from Konan's body and into the air and started from paper butterflies to Shinobi Ageha Butterflies.
"Shinobi Ageha Butterflies..." Naruto said.
"The butterflies will guide to your friends." Konan said.
"We must go return to the villagers to their homes. So we'll be leaving." the orange haired man said.
"Hold on please..." Karin said.
The orange haired man, Konan, and the red haired man looked at Karin confused. Karin quickly walked over to them and stared up at the red haired man closely.
"Are you... an Uzumaki?" Karin asked curiously.
"Yes..." the red haired man said.
"I'm from the Uzumaki clan as well..." Karin said shyly.
"Wait, you are?!" the red haired man asked surprised.
"It's nice to meet one from another area..." Karin said smiling softly.
The red haired man was about to say something to Karin when the orange haired man spoke.
"Nagato we must help the villagers." the orange haired man said.
"Hai." Nagato said.
The orange haired man, Konan, and Nagato disappeared. Karin gasped in confused as she sensed them moving away from their location.
"Hold it." Naruto said, holding up his right hand. "Damn it! I wanted to hear more about Pervy Sage." putting his right hand down.
Everyone looked at the Shinobi Ageha Butterflies in the air.
"So we just follow them...?" Naruto questioned before he ran after them.
"Neji-niisan..." Hinata said, looking at him.
Everyone ran after the Shinobi Ageha Butterflies as well.
Night time.
Everyone was walking on a clear dirt path with wild growing grass everywhere. Karin suddenly sensed the Shinobi Ageha Butterflies and also the Jonins, she looked to see they're near a house.
"They're over there..." Karin said, pointing with her left index finger at the house.
"That structure, huh?" Neji questioned.
Karin put her left hand down. Everyone stared at the house.
"All right! Let's go save everyone, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled before he ran towards the house.
"Wait! There could be traps-" Shikamaru said but was cut off when Naruto continued to run.
"Oniisan.. does want to rescue them..." Karin thought.
He's not even listening." Sakura said.
Sasuke closed his eyes. "Damn it." he said.
...
3 minutes later.
Everyone arrived at the shoji doors of the house, Naruto slid one of them open with his right hand to reveal all of Jonins, in their usual outfits, tied up.
"Everyone!" Naruto yelled.
Naruto, Shikamaru, Tenten, and Shino cut the ropes off of them.
"This is embarrassing." Kakashi said.
Karin stood near a wall by herself, looking around the room as most of the genins interacted with their Jonins, she first looked at Team Guy.
"Guy-sensei, I'm glad you're okay." Lee said.
Guy hugged Lee. "Oh! I'm super-overcome with emotion! To be rescued by my pupil is more than I ever deserve..." he said crying. "Ouch!"
Tenten put a bandage on Guy's left cheek with her right hand.
"Can you be a little gentler?" Guy yelled, looking at Tenten.
"But it's just a scratch." Tenten said smiling, making the peace sign with her right hand.
Karin then looked at Team 10.
"Asuma..." Shikamaru said.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Choji asked.
"No... Sorry we made you worry." Asuma said smiling.
"I'm so relieved." Ino said.
Karin walked towards the groups and stopped next to Sasuke.
"Anyway, what was this incident all about anyway?" Kakashi asked.
"Are you guys able to explain it to us?" Kurenai said.
Karin suddenly sensed an unknown chakra appearing. "Oh no...!" she thought.
"Y-yeah." Shikamaru said.
"Allow me to explain." an unknown man voice said.
Everyone looked to the right where they heard the voice and saw a man wearing a black kimono like shirt, long black pants, white bandages on his chest, arms, legs, and face, black gloves, a white crane mask, and black sandals, was coming out of a large dark purple orb then walked forward as it disappeared.
Everyone except Karin had their guards up. Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Sakura pulled out their kunais with their right hands from their pouches. Sasuke stepped in front of Karin protectively. Neji stepped up to the masked man.
"Wait. He's no longer our enemy! It's all right." Neji said, standing on the right side of him.
Karin sensed that the masked man was half alive and half dead. "What... what is he..?" she thought.
A few seconds later.
"Okay, then." Naruto said, lowering his right hand.
The masked man put his right hand on his mask and took it off, mostly everyone gasped in surprise.
"No way... You're-" Kakashi said.
The masked man took off all of his bandages and laid them on the floor next, the man's face looked to be in his early 30's and had a green 'X' on it with 1 curved line on each side of it, long dark brown hair that reached his mid back, featureless lavender eyes and the outer eyes were black.
"You're... Hizashi Hyuga..." Kakashi said surprised.
"Impossible... you're supposed to have died when I was 3 years old..." Hinata said.
"Huh?" Karin asked surprised.
"What?" Naruto asked confused.
"Well, let me explain that part." Neji said.
"Neji-niisan..." Hinata said.
"When Lady Hinata was 3 years old, a major crisis hit Konohagakure." Neji said.
"What.. happened..?" Karin thought.
"Shinobi from the Kumogakure attempted to kidnap you... but Hiashi-sama killed them." Neji said.
"Kumogakure was at fault." Hinata said.
"Naturally, relations became strained and the threat of war loomed. In order to prevent fighting, Konohagakure secretly negotiated with Kumogakure and accepted their conditions. Rather, they had no choice but to accept." Neji said.
"What was the condition?" Naruto asked.
"The head of the Hyuga who possessed the Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan." Neji said. "In other words, they demanded Konoha hand over the corpse of Hinata-sama's father, Hiashi Hyuga. And so, Hiashi Hyuga's younger twin, my father Hizashi Hyuga became his stand-in... and peace in the village was maintained." Neji said. "As for my father's decision and the circumstances behind that, you saw it yourself, Naruto."
Karin looked at Naruto confused. "Huh?" she asked then looked forward again.
"The terrible system of the Curse Mark that's been passed down within the Hyuga to protect the Main Family. We are alive, but are unable to change the currents of fate. What you saw was my father, who by his own will, chose to defy his fate." Neji said, looking up at his father.
"It must be.. really hard and complicated to be a Hyuga..." Karin thought.
"Kakashi... This has caused everyone much stress." Hizashi said.
"You're supposed to be dead, so how-?" Kakashi said.
"At first, I didn't understand either." Hizashi said then turned around. "But after a long slumber, I awakened... and found myself within a certain man's hideout."
...
15 minutes later.
Hizashi explained everything that happened when he was revived. They put their kunais away.
"Who is powerful to do that...?" Karin thought.
"Perhaps that man was right. I did feel that way at the time." Hizashi said then turned back around.
"That is why I planned this incident. I hoped that my death was not in vain... That my death would provide the impetus... for Konohagakure to rethink the cruel rules and destinies which took away my life... Well, all that doesn't matter anymore. I'm a man who should not exist in this world. However, it seems I cannot undo this jutsu myself. I want you to return to the village and look into how to release this jutsu. But before that..." Hizashi said then turned to HDMI. "I would like to speak with my son Neji, alone."
...
1 minute later.
Everyone was standing outside as Hizashi and Neji were talking alone in the house. Karin noticed Naruto peaking his head on the opened shoji doors.
"Oniisan... please stop it... It's rude listening to their conversation..." Karin said sadly.
Naruto looked at Karin. "Don't worry, I'm just looking dattebayo." he said before looked back inside the house again.
Karin closed her eyes as she sighed sadly. "Why does Oniisan does this sometimes...?" she thought.
"Karin?" a boy's voice said.
Karin turned around to see Sasuke walking towards her.
"Oh, hello... Sasuke..." Karin said shyly.
Sasuke stopped in front of Karin. "What did you say to him?" he asked.
"Huh?" Karin asked confused.
"What did asked the red haired man early?" Sasuke asked.
"Um, w-well I him if he was an Uzumaki just like me..." Karin said.
"So what did he say?" Sasuke asked.
"He said he was one..." Karin said.
Sasuke and Karin suddenly heard a help and quick movement and they looked to see Naruto has stopped looking inside and leaning away from the door.
"Usuratonkachi." Sasuke said annoyed.
"I that was going to happen soon..." Karin thought.
Sasuke looked back at Karin. "How did you know he was an Uzumaki?" he asked.
Karin turned and looked back at Sasuke. "I sensed he has this large amount of chakra like one and his hair was red..." she said.
Sasuke and Karin talked for awhile until they saw a bright white light coming from inside the house. Everyone stopped what they were doing to see the light.
"What's... what's happening...?" Karin thought.
"Seems like we don't need to find a way to release the jutsu." Kakashi said.
"Yeah." Guy said.
Everyone looked to see Hizashi glowing.
Karin sensed Hizashi's chakra fading quickly as the deceased. "His chakra is vanishing..." she thought.
Everyone saw Hizashi smile and said something to Neji before he disappeared in sparkles of light and and Neji stand up and tried to catch him then he stopped as he looked up into the sky, seeing a glowing white hawk shed a few feathers before disappearing. Karin looked at Neji as he sat back down.
"I know what it's like losing your parents..." Karin thought sadly.
A few minutes later.
Everyone watched as Guy and Naruto walked inside of the house and Guy put his left hand on Neji's right shoulder. Neji turned to the right to see Guy staring down at him.
"Guy..." Neji said.
Guy took his left hand off of Neji's right shoulder. "It seems Hizashi's greatest regret was not being able to guide you into adulthood." he said.
Neji looked down at the floor, wiping his eyes with his right hand and he saw a single white sparkle landed in his right hand, he made it into a fist when it faded away.
"Hai." Neji said.
10 minutes later.
Everyone was walking on a clear dirt path with wild growing grass everywhere again.
"All right! Let's hurry home, so I can report to Dad, dattebayo." Naruto said, walking in front of everyone.
Lee started to walk up to Naruto. "All right then, let's face back to the village." he said.
"I won't lose!" Naruto said before he started to speed up.
"Neither will I!" Lee yelled.
"I said I'm not gonna lose, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled.
"Same here!" Lee yelled.
"Me!" Naruto yelled.
"Where does all that energy come from?" Sakura said.
"Really..." Ino said.
"Hey, wait!" Kakashi yelled.
Everyone except Naruto and Lee stopped and turned around to Kakashi, Kurenai, Guy standing a few feet behind them.
"My body's still not..." Guy said.
"W-why don't we just rest a bit?" Kurenai said.
"Oh boy..." Kakashi said.
Karin's eyes widened as she suddenly sensed chakra decreasing, she turned to the right where the village was located. "Oh no...!" she thought.
Everyone turned as looked to see a huge yellow-orange bright light on the right and suddenly a huge explosion came from the village, destroying many houses and trees. Karin looked at sadly as she sensed many chakras vanishing. Wind blowed furiously at them as they looked in shock. Fire and smoke was everywhere.
"Who... who could do such a thing...?!" Karin thought sadly.
"What? What is going on, dattebayo?" Naruto asked.
Day time.
Hokage's Office.
Minato, in his usual outfit, was sitting at his desk while Hiruzen in his usual outfit was standing beside him on his left side. Standing a few feet from the desk from left to right stood: Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, Karin, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Hinata, Kina, Shino, Tenten, Lee, and Neji. Standing behind the genins we're: Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy.
"Thanks to your efforts, the mission was successful. Good job!" Minato said then closed his eyes. "Is what I'd like to say..." then opened his eyes again. "But that's not quite the case, is it?"
Mostly everyone looked sad.
"I still can't believe... that the village is destroyed... so many people died..." Karin thought sadly.
"I'm very sorry. I'm the one who disobeyed orders first. Please punish me as you see fit." Neji said.
Lee looked at Neji. "Neji, you aren't the only one at fault." he said.
Sasuke and Naruto looked at Neji.
"He's right, dattebayo! If you put it like that, I was the first... but... we had no choice at the time." Naruto said then he looked down at the floor.
Karin looked at Naruto sadly. "Oniisan..." she thought.
Sasuke looked at Naruto. "But breaking the rules is breaking the rules." he said.
"But-!" Naruto yelled.
Naruto got angry and was about to attack Sasuke until Kakashi put his left hand on Naruto's right shoulder.
"Hey, this isn't the place to argue." Kakashi said then took his left hand off of Naruto's right shoulder. "There's no doubt they may have acted carelessly. But their cleverness saved us. That's a fact. Please go easy on them."
Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy bowed their heads.
All of the genins looked at Minato, waiting for him to answer.
Minato stood up from his seat. "Well, since you put it like that... Disobeying orders cannot be overlooked. But there are special circumstances in all missions." he said.
Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy stopped bowing their heads.
"Decisions must be made depending on the situation at hand, and you must make the best possible choice. In this case, everyone joined together to make the mission a success. That has to be factored into the evaluation." Minato said then smiled.
"H-huh?" Karin thought.
"Lord Fourth, does that mean...?" Sakura asked smiling, putting left hand close to her chest.
Most of them looked at Minato in shock.
"That no one is at fault... I suppose." Hiruzen said.
Naruto raised his right fist in the air, smiling. "Yes!" he yelled. "Way to go, dattebayo!"
Everyone except Sasuke and Karin were smiling and cheering. Karin was concerned and sad about everything that happened on the mission.
"You're all dismissed." Minato said, sitting back down in his chair.
Everyone started to leave.
"Karin I need to have a word with you." Minato said.
"Oh, okay... Uncle Minato..." Karin said as she stood where she was.
As soon as everyone had left, Minato and Karin were the only ones in the room now.
"Karin you served as a temporary member in Team 7 until your team is back from it's mission." Minato said.
"H-hai..." Karin said.
"They're returning from their mission and starting tomorrow you'll be assigned back to Team 9." Minato said.
Karin felt as if her heart has stopped, she became scared because she didn't want to leave Team 7 and she doesn't want to deal with their Jonin, Zosui anymore who scares and verbally abuses her.
"Oh, I almost forgot..." Karin said smiling sadly then reached into her pouch with her right hand and pulled out the jar. "Here..."
Minato stood up from his seat again. "What is it?" he asked, walking over to her on the right side.
"It's the poison that the enemy tried to kill Sasuke with when I removed it from his body..." Karin said. "I was hoping that someone can study it for a cure just in case something happens again..."
Minato stood in front of Karin and looked down at the jar before he grabbed it with his left hand. "I'll assign someone to research." he said. "You did well."
"Hai." Karin said.
...
5 minutes later.
Karin stepped out of the Hokage's Office and closed the door behind her with her right hand and looked to see Sasuke and Naruto standing a few feet away and looking at her.
"Oniisan... Sasuke..." Karin said.
"We all need to talk." Naruto said.
"Huh...?" Karin asked confused.
...
7 minutes later.
At some of the wooden fences near a few of the buildings and trees. Standing in a circle from left to right was: Naruto, Kiba (Akamaru in his jacket), Choji, Ino, Shino, Tenten, Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, and Karin.
"I thought he was gonna give it to us!" Kiba said.
"I guess Hokage-sama has a soft spot for family members." Sasuke said.
Naruto looked at Sasuke annoyed. "Are you still stuck on that?" he questioned.
Karin stared at Sasuke sadly before she looked down at the ground.
"I still don't acknowledge you." Sasuke said, looking at Naruto.
"Let it go already. We got off easy and it's over." Kiba said, smiling.
"Still, Naruto, you were amazing." Choji said smiling.
"Yeah, I see you in a different light now." Ino said smiling, her hands behind her back.
"Yes, you really trained hard, Naruto-kun." Hinata said smiling, blushing a little as she put her left hand near her neck.
Naruto put both of hands behind his head, smiling. "Well, yeah, I guess." he said laughing.
"Anyway, let's go get something to eat and talk about it!" Kiba said, raising his left fist.
"So ridiculous." Sasuke said.
Karin walked passed Naruto without saying a word, everyone looked at her.
"Hey, Karin!" Naruto yelled.
Karin was too deep in thought to hear Naruto then she turned a corner on the right, Sasuke walked after her.
"Wait up!" Naruto yelled before ran after them.
"Hey, are they're leaving?" Ino questioned sadly, her hands near her chest.
"I'm sure they'll be back soon." Choji said.
As Karin continued to walk she remembered something that Zosui said to her.
"Useless... You're only good for healing... You are the weakest..." Zosui said.
Karin felt tears welling up in her eyes, she was pushed out of her thoughts when she felt a hand on her right shoulder she stopped and turned her head to the right to see Sasuke with his left hand on her right shoulder.
"Sasuke..." Karin said turning towards him as he released his left hand from her right shoulder.
"Karin, what's the matter?" Sasuke asked worried.
Karin suddenly saw Naruto running towards her and Sasuke.
"Oniisan..." Karin said.
"What's wrong, Karin?" Naruto asked, stopping in front of her. "You've been been acting sad since Dad talked to you about."
Karin looked at Sasuke and Naruto before she stared down at the ground. "Uncle Minato said that this is my last day of being a temporary member of Team 7..." she said.
Sasuke and Naruto looked at Karin shocked.
"My team is returning back tomorrow..." Karin said then looked at them, smiling sadly. "... I-It was nice working with all 4 of you... but I have to get back to my team..."
"I'm sorry about that, I wish you could have a little more time to be with us.." Naruto said sadly.
"We're going to miss you being on Team 7... you were really great we couldn't have done our missions without you." Sasuke said.
Karin blushed furiously and her eyes widened at what Sasuke just said. "I-I-It w-was n-nothing.. besides you guys did all of the work... I didn't do anything..." she said shyly.
"That's not true you healed us and detected our allies and enemies miles away, we couldn't do that, dattebayo!" Naruto said smiling.
Karin's blush lessened and her eyes stopped widened.
"Since it's your last day on Team 7 how about we go to the Dango Shop?" Naruto asked.
Karin looked at Naruto then at Sasuke, who was smiling softly at her.
"You should come with us, Karin." Sasuke said.
"H-hai..." Karin said.
Almost 2 months.
Daytime.
Karin was walking through the paths where the wooden fences were near the buildings. She was looking down at the ground as she walked, thinking about what Zosui said to her early.
Flashback.
Konohagakure Hospital.
One of the hallways.
Karin was standing close to the wall and Zosui, in his usual outfit, was standing a few feet away from her. A white line drawn in the middle of the hallway.
"I've signed you and your team members to take part in the next Chunin Exams." Zosui said.
"Me?" Karin asked, making sad face.
Karin has heard of the Chunin Exams, they were tests and an opportunity for Genin to be promoted to Chunin. The exams structure and evaluation process differ from one exams to the next so that Behind cannot come prepared.
"This exams displays the strength of Ninja Village through their Genin's abilities. It's considered a war by proxy. We cannot afford to lose. Since you're too weak to right, your only duty is to help and keep the other 2 completely replenished. I only allowed you to join the Team 9... Keep that in mind and make sure you get us good results." Zosui said.
Karin closed her eyes as she bowed her head down sadly. "Hai..." she said.
Flashback ends.
As Karin continued to walk she quickly raised head up as her eyes widened she suddenly sensed some unknown chakras especially a big dark chakra.
"They.. must here for the Chunin Exams...?" Karin thought, scared of the dark and evil chakra coming her way along with 2 others that came from the location Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, and other small chakras.
A few minutes later Karin spotted them when they turned a corner, they were heading her way. The first was a girl that looks to be 15 years old had sandy blonde hair that was gathered into 4 consecutive ponytails, teal eyes, fair skin, wearing a single light purple colored, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist that carried a giant black iron fan that had cream colored on it and 3 purple circles, mesh on her right calf and left thigh, a black Sunagakure forehead protector around her neck, and black sandals. The second was a boy that looks to be 14 had fair skin, dark purple face painting on his face, wearing a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front, a black hood which covered his head completely, and had cat-like ears and his Sunagakure forehead protector on his forehead, black sleeveless gloves, black sandals, and white tape and and black shuriken holster tied to the right side of his leg, carrying something wrapped in beige bandages that had brown hair sticking out at the top of it on his back. The third one was boy who had the dark, big, and evil chakra looked to be 12 years old, had fair skin, pale blue eyes, short spiky red hair, tanuki-like black rings around his eyes, no distinctive pupils or eyebrows, kanji for "love" (愛, ai) on the left side of his forehead, which his hair is parted in order for it to be kept visible, wearing a black body suit with an open neck, t-shirt-like sleeves, and almost full-length leggings, a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips, a tan wide leather band from his left shoulder to his right hip with which he carries his light brown gourd and around which he wraps his Sunagakure forehead protector, and black sandals. He showed an emotionless face.
Karin could feel her heart speed up as she continued to walk, getting closer to the 3 with each passing step. When she was beside them for a second she stopped, the 3 didn't pay Karin any attention as they walked passed her. Karin slowly turned around as she saw them walk off before she turned back around and walked forward as she went to where Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura's location.
When Karin made it she saw Sasuke standing a few feet from her and Naruto and Sakura, in her new qipao that looked exactly like her old old except it was sleeveless, standing away from him. The 3 chakras that Karin sensed earlier were standing in between Naruto and Sakura. The first one was Konohamaru who was 8 years old, had fair skin, short spiky brown hair, black eyes, and a small chip in his tooth, wearing green goggle on his forehead, a short sleeved yellow shirt with a red Konoha symbol printed on the front of it, grey shorts with a dark blue square patches on the bottom of it, a long blue scarf wrapped around his neck, and blue sandals. The second one was Mortified who was 8 years old, had fair skin,orange hair tied up, with red elastics, into two very large pigtails, perpetual blush, black eyes, wearing a red tank-top over a pink t-shirt layered at the bottom, grey pants, green goggles, blue sandals. The third one was Iron who was 8 years old, had fair skin, black eyes, brown hair, drip of snot hanging from his nose, wearing large circular glasses, a long sleeved blue shirt which was zipped up in the middle, green goggles on his forehead, brown pants, and blue sandals.
"Hello, Karin." Sasuke greeted smiling.
"Hello to you too, Sasuke..." Karin greeted shyly.
"Karin the Chunin Exams are coming up soon, dattebayo!" Naruto said smiling.
"I know... that's great..." Karin said.
"Who are those people...?" Karin thought scared, thinking about the 3 people that walked by her.
Tomorrow.
Sunset.
Forest.
Karin was walking through the forest to think about the Chunin Exams, since yesterday she's been sensing many chakras from other villages come into Konohagakure. It was going to be starting in a week and her Uncle Minato and Aunt Kushina were happy that she joined but also were scared and worried about her as well. Even though that Karin's being forced to join she was a little happy because she wanted to see Naruto and Sasuke fight others in the Chunin Exams.
"Am I not strong to even enter the Exams... Shigeri and Hiroki.. they really want to join the Chunin Exams... but.. I'm not even a fighter of our group even though Aunt Kushina is teaching many jutsus are right now..." Karin thought. "I must be prepared for the Chunin Exams in less than a week..."
Karin suddenly sensed Sasuke far away from her but still in the forest, she walked towards the location where she sensed him, near the clear grass field and trees. It took her a few minutes and when she made it Karin quickly hid behind a nearby tree and poked her head out a little to see Sasuke throwing kunais at some of the targets on the trees. She watched silenty in awe as Sasuke threw more kunais at all of the targets at once.
"His skills.. have really improved.. since the mission we've went on months ago..." Karin thought, astonished.
As Karin stepped forward a little to see Sasuke but she accidentally stepped on a twig she quickly stepped back, hoping Sasuke didn't hear it but it was too late as she saw him looking in her direction, knowing he heard it. She quickly hid behind the tree.
"Show yourself!" Sasuke said seriously.
Karin still stayed behind the tree, a little scared.
"Or else I'll force you out!" Sasuke said.
Karin slowly poked her head out to see Sasuke holding a kunai with his right hand and a serious look on his face before she slowly stepped away from the tree as she made a sad face.
Sasuke lowered his kunai and his face soften when he saw it was Karin.
"Karin." Sasuke said, putting his kunai in his pouch with his right hand before running over to her.
Karin didn't say anything. When Sasuke made it to Karin he hugged her tightly causing her to blush.
Sasuke pulled away and looked at Karin with worry. "I'm so sorry Karin, I didn't know you were there." he said.
"N-no I-I'm sorry... I didn't step out..." Karin said shyly.
"I could've hurt you..." Sasuke said worriedly.
Karin was about to say something else but she looked to the right because she sensed someone coming to their location quickly, her blush vanished.
"Karin, what's the matter?" Sasuke asked concerned.
"I detect a chakra coming towards us..." Karin said.
Karin recognized this very familiar chakra. "But.. why is he doing this...?" she thought confused.
A few seconds later chakra revealed to be a fair skinned man was wearing a Amegakure plate on his light brown straw hat and uniform. Sasuke let go of Karin and stepped in front of her to shield her from the person.
"Stay behind me." Sasuke said.
Karin stared at the man confused. "Iruka.. why did he send a clone and transformed him into a Amegakure Shinobi..? Is he testing us...?" she thought.
"Get lost unless you wanna die." Sasuke said
"Talk is cheap!" the man yelled before jumped into the air and threw shurikens at Sasuke with his right hand.
Sasuke pushed Karin out of way and pulled out a kunai from his pouch with his right hand and reflected all of the shurikens.
"Karin, get back!" Sasuke yelled.
Karin stepped back a little, seeing Sasuke ran over to the man and threw his kunai at him before he started fighting him. She watched Sasuke and the fight for 2 minutes until Sasuke kicked the man in the face hard with his right leg, making the man fall to the ground in pain.
Sasuke landed on the ground. "Stay out of our village." he said.
The man disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing to be only a clone.
"Was he going easy on Sasuke.. or Sasuke defeated the clone with ease...?" Karin thought.
Sasuke turned to Karin and walked over to her. "Are you okay, Karin?" Sasuke asked worried.
"H-hai..." Karin lying shyly.
"Then why are you shaking?" Sasuke asked as he stopped right in front of her.
Karin looked down at her hands and saw that they were shaking. "I'm sorry Sasuke... I guess I'm a little nervous about the Chunin Exams coming up..." she said.
"Are you sure you wanna join the Chunin Exams?" Sasuke asked.
"Hai..." Karin said, looking at Sasuke.
"I'm asking you this question because there ninja will be very advanced and have no mercy on other people especially from other villages. It really worries if they come after you and hurt and possibly kill you." Sasuke said worriedly.
Karin blushed softly, seeing the care and worriedness in Sasuke's eyes. "I-I k-know... but I also get worried about... you and Oniisan as well... you guys are joining the Chunin Exams..." she said shyly.
Sasuke carefully grabbed Karin's hands with both of his hands. "At least promise me one thing." he said, looking into her eyes.
"W-what is it..?" Karin asked shyly, blushing.
"Be careful in the Exams okay." Sasuke said.
"H-hai..." Karin said shyly.
End of Chapter 11.
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