Let's start this from the beginning

Grand Assembly

- Part 2 -

"Deceptions and Truths"

V

"Are you sure you're okay, Kiba?"

The boy scoffed at Hinata's question, but Shino could see the slight wince on his face even that little gesture brought from the corner of his eye. "Of course I am," he said, trying and failing to convince them of his well-being. "Good enough to walk on my own, at least."

"But–"

"Let him be," Shino gently interrupted Hinata without stopping in his tracks or looking at either of his teammates. "It's one of the conditions for advancing to the next round that every team member needs to manage walking on their own. If Kiba says he's good enough to walk, we should let him do so and be thankful."

He didn't have to see Hinata's face to know that she wasn't happy with that regardless of whether it was the truth or not, but she didn't argue and continued walking in silence, albeit be it a bit closer to Kiba than absolutely necessary. Probably in case he stumbled and fell, Shino assumed. A not entirely unreasonable worry considering that exact thing had happened several times during their walk to the central building. At least there shouldn't anything to stumble over like roots or stones now that we're inside the tower, he thought.

Unconsciously, both his hands clenched into fists, and although he relaxed them as soon as he realized what he was doing, the shame of losing his composure soon added to his shame about letting things reach this point in the first place. Perhaps if he hadn't let his arm cut open by that damned mole summon like an absolute idiot, they would have been able to get away from their enemies without Kiba having to resort to desperate measures! And even then, he shouldn't have hesitated to use his trump card when things turned dire. He had already been injured, so any further harm, while still a problem, would have been less of a hindrance than having Kiba injure himself as well just to save them. It wasn't any more his responsibility to protect his teammates than it was theirs to do the same, of course, but Shino found the idea of him being the one hurt much easier to digest than watching his friends suffer.

Kiba had been unconscious for a bit over a day after the fight, and even when he finally woke up, he had been too weak to move at first. In fact, he was probably still too weak to safely move even now. His steps certainly were much more unstable than usual. Another reason why Hinata hovers so closely over his shoulder, that. The fact that Kiba wasn't complaining about her mothering him was yet another thing pointing at the severity of his condition; if even he recognized the state he was in and admitted he might need help, things were seriously messed up.

But considering the other boy's chakra had yet to recover at all after close to two days of rest, Shino doubted Kiba would be able to act as if anything was completely fine even if he actually wanted to.

Shino's own injury had healed much better. No one in their team had learned any healing techniques after graduating from the academy, which he now realized might have been a mistake, but the basics they knew were enough to treat his arm just fine. At least to the point where it wouldn't be useless in a fight anymore. It hadn't been a very deep cut to begin with, fortunately. Hinata's injury, on the other hand, had already been fine for the most part by the time Kiba woke up, meaning the other boy didn't even know that anything had happened to her.

That was probably for the best, too. While it hadn't been anything severe, Shino doubted his teammate would take it well if he knew he had hurt Hinata, no matter how little, and they really couldn't handle any further complications right now.

They followed the Chūnin that had marked them as passed after they had summoned him with two of their scrolls into a large chamber already filled with a bunch of other Genin. Notably, there were a lot fewer people here than there had been at the start of the exam. Most had evidently not managed to get two scrolls yet, and as there was less than a day remaining for those still out in the forest to do so, it was doubtful many more would join them.

There were a few faces he recognised, although it was concerning that most didn't belong to Konoha-nins. Only two of the six teams present were from their village, one of them being Team 7 while the other included the girl he vaguely recalled being the ward of the Uchiha Clan, and while that still put them at two more teams than any other village had to offer, it wasn't a good sign that so many had failed when they had made up the vast majority of the initial participants.

"Well, well, well, looks like you managed to pass after all."

Inwardly, Shino grimaced. He had been just about to suggest that they join their comrades when the voice he unfortunately recognised as that of one of the troublemakers they had met before the exams spoke up from beside them.

"Karui-san," he greeted as he turned around, incidentally positioning himself between the newcomer and his teammates without being too obvious about it. "I see your team has advanced as well."

"Well, of course we did! We were the second team to arrive at the tower, too."

"Very impressive." And it was impressive. He kept his voice dry and just a tad sarcastic, but inwardly, he hated to admit that he felt a bit jealous. "You must have been very fortunate, then."

"Oh, I guarantee you, luck had nothing to do with it."

The girl shot him a confident—though perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it arrogant—grin at that, but he didn't fail to notice that it appeared more forced than the last time they had spoken. Furthermore, while she must have been in the central building for a while now if her team had truly been the second one to arrive, Karui still seemed somehow exhausted and on edge. Something must have happened to her and her team during the exam, he realized.

"Karui," another voice Shino also recognized spoke up, and a few moments later, her male teammate joined at her side. "You're not causing trouble again, are you?"

Hearing those words, the girl jumped around to glare at Omoi. "I'm surprised you of all people have the gall to say that! If there's anyone who always causes trouble, it's you!"

The boy visibly cringed. "Eh, really? I knew I'm always getting into trouble, but I'm causing it as well? Man…"

"That's exactly what I mean! It's that attitude of yours that is your problem!

"But it's not my fault that I got such terrible luck," he complained before his eyes fell on Kiba and he frowned. "Although I guess I'm not the only one who's getting unlucky. What happened to you?"

Kiba scowled, but it was hardly an intimidating sight given the sweat running down his forehead and his bent-forward posture. "Nothing," he said, sounding uncomfortably breathless to Shino's ears. "And it's none of your business anyway."

Karui bristled, but Omoi merely shrugged. "I guess. It's not like I really care, to be honest. Better you than I and all that yadayada, right?" Then he turned to look at Hinata, his expression brightening considerably. "Hinata-chan!" he exclaimed happily as he took a closer step towards her. "I'm glad to see you are alright! How–"

His voice cut off in a gurgle as Karui pulled at his collar. "Now is not the time to flirt, dammit! Try to read the mood for once, you idiot!"

"But Karuiii…"

Ignoring their byplay, Shino discreetly glanced towards Hinata to see her reaction. He remembered her being uncomfortable when Omoi had expressed his… admiration for her the last time they met these Kumo-nins. However, she didn't seem to care all that much now and in fact still focused mostly on Kiba while only nominally paying attention to the other Genin. He was almost inclined to believe she hadn't even noticed what Omoi had done.

"Is there a problem? They're not bothering you, are they?"

Things just had to get more problematic, didn't they? Shino thought, taking a deep breath before turning around to look at the approaching Team 7 and Sasuke, who was the one that had just addressed them, in particular. "Not at all," he assured them, not wanting things to escalate. "Why? We were merely catching up with each other. There's nothing to worry about."

Naruto blinked. "Wait, does that mean you already knew each other?"

"We have met," Shino said with a nod.

He examined the three of them briefly as Naruto and Sasuke came to a stop next to him while Sakura approached Kiba and Hinata. They were wearing clean clothes, indicating that they had been at the tower for a while already, and there were no visible injuries he could see, but they appeared rather downtrodden for some reason–Sakura in particular. Well, that and unexpectedly antagonistic towards the Kumo-nins. Did they run into each other during the exam?

That thought was quickly confirmed when Karui smirked at the two boys. "Wow, look at you! Seems like you really managed to find your way here alive and well. I overheard some Chūnin mention that you arrived yesterday, but I haven't seen hide nor hair of you anywhere, so I thought for sure he must have been wrong!"

Sasuke glared at her while Naruto literally growled. "Why should we wander around the building? It's not like we want to hang out with you guys!"

"Oh~? Don't tell me you were scared and hid away inside your rooms? How cute!"

"Hardly," Sasuke scoffed, eyes narrowed. "It's just as Naruto said. We had no reason to leave our rooms, so we didn't. The only reason we're here now is that we were called over by one of the Chūnin."

That made Shino pause. They had been called here? But why? And now that he thought about it, it was rather weird that so many Genin were present in this random chamber. There was no reason for them to gather here as far as he could tell. Considering the conversation between Karui and Team 7, Genin could apparently move at least somewhat freely inside the building, so it wasn't as if anyone had to be here. This meant they must have been called here as well, which in turn meant…

A loud clap resounded through the chamber before Shino could finish that thought, silencing all conversations and bringing everyone's attention to the front where twelve people had appeared in puffs of white smoke.

The first one, standing right in the centre of the group and being the one who had just clapped, was the Hokage himself, looking at the assembled Genin with a benevolent smile while two ANBU guards stood a step behind him.

Lined up a bit further behind were seven Jōnin, and judging by the presence of both Itachi and Kakashi-sensei, they were probably the teachers of the present Genin.

Last but not least, there were also Ibiki Morino and their sensei's cousin Shisui, the proctors of the first two exams, with the former standing on the far-left side of the room and the latter standing a few feet in front of the Hokage.

"First off, congratulations on finishing the second exam," Shisui began with a merry grin. "Some of you had a harder time than others, but all that counts in the end is that you succeeded and arrived here with both scrolls. Well done!"

"What are you talking about?" one of the Iwa-nins, the one Shino thought was the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, exclaimed, echoing his own confusion. "Why are you acting as if the exam is already over? There should still be nearly a full day left, right?"

Unbothered by her rude tone, Shisui shot the girl a bright smile. "Technically, you would be correct. Unfortunately, however, most participants have been rendered unable to continue due to injuries and have therefore been eliminated from the competition. There are admittedly still a few teams left, but it just so happens that they all possess the same scrolls, so neither will be able to advance any further regardless. Hence, seeing as every team that could possibly advance has done so by now, it has been decided that there's no point in waiting until tomorrow to declare this exam finished and that we can just as well get it over with now." Then, he chuckled. "Good for you, eh? Now you won't have to waste away in the tower with nothing to do for yet another day. I'm sure you must be very happy!"

Most people did indeed look happy about that, but Shino noticed that the three Genin from Iwa looked rather cross at this news, most likely because they knew what their countrymen had been doing during the exam and wondered why none of them was here now. He could almost relate to their dissatisfaction, too, as it was similar to what he was feeling at the lack of Konoha-nins present.

Of course, having been a victim of their ploy himself and only managed to be here because of Kiba's sacrifice, his sympathy was ultimately rather limited.

"Well, with that out of the way, let's move on to the next part, shall we?" Shisui continued before turning around to gesture at the Hokage. "Sandaime-sama will now explain the third exam to you, so listen carefully." Then, with one last bow, he moved aside to the far-right end of the group.

Shino only listened with one ear as the Hokage stepped forward and began to congratulate them as well and explain the true nature of the Chūnin Exams and how they came to be in the first place. Nothing of that was new to him, having been able to read between the lines during his academy days and already concluded most of it years ago, with his parents filling the gaps when he mentioned it to them one day. No, he was distracted by other things, most notably what the early conclusion of the exam actually meant:

We are the last, Shino realized numbly, and judging by the drop of Hinata's shoulders and Kiba's unhappy expression, they realized this as well. That they had advanced at all where so many had failed was impressive, of course, but it still stung that they were literally the worst team of everyone present. We have to do better than this!

He only began paying full attention to the speech again when a certain development was brought up:

"The third stage will consist of a simple, old-fashioned tournament, but before I tell you more about that, there is one more thing that has to be addressed. Namely, the fact that more of you managed to come this far than we have anticipated."

Shino stilled, a foreboding feeling spreading through his chest. Surely he doesn't mean…

His worry was confirmed a moment later when the Hokage continued, "While we have made some adjustments to adapt to the unusually high number of above-average participants this year, we cannot continue unless we reduce your numbers a little further. Thus, we will have to eliminate some of you before we can continue with the explanation for the finals."

There was an immediate outcry all across the room. Most reactions consisted of surprised exclamations and curses, Kiba being one of them, others like Hinata merely gasped in surprise, and yet again others like Naruto, Karui, or the Tsuchikage's granddaughter loudly demanded explanations. All Shino could do, however, was angrily clench his fists hidden inside his pockets at the revelation that they weren't quite out of danger of failing yet after all.

"I understand that this must sound unfair to some of you," the Hokage continued. "However, the life of a shinobi is rarely fair, and we often find ourselves in unfavourable situations outside our control. More often than most of us would like to admit, things are more a matter of luck than skill or cunning. I urge you to use this as a learning experience." He cleared his throat. "Now then, the decision on who advances and who is eliminated is rather straightforward and won't put any further strain on you. Simply put, we will keep drawing names until we're down to an acceptable number."

This time, Shino couldn't stop the indignant "What?!" that forced itself out his mouth, but he couldn't bring himself to feel too bad about it. That's it? he thought, eyes wide behind his glasses. We will be randomly picked and eliminated with no chance of fighting back?! But this is just a matter of getting lucky!

Kiba was not in any condition to fight, so in that regard, this news wasn't necessarily bad. Nevertheless, while it would have been problematic for him and Hinata to carry the other boy if some sort of preliminary were to be held, it would at least have been possible to try. This, on the other hand? There was nothing they could do if their names were picked. All their struggles so far would have been for nought.

"Hokage-sama!" a voice Shino recognized as belonging to Sakura echoed through the chamber just when people began to calm down. "May I ask a question?"

The Sandaime raised an intrigued eyebrow before nodding. "You may."

Sakura visibly swallowed as everyone's attention was suddenly focused on her, but she managed to keep her posture straight and her voice steady. "If one of us gets picked out, does that mean that our entire team will be eliminated with us?"

"No," the Hokage immediately rebutted with a slight shake of his head. "With the second stage having come to a conclusion, the team exams are officially over. From here on, the participants' advancement to the finals is no longer contingent upon the success of their teammates."

"So if someone were to forfeit, their teammates could continue to participate, isn't that right?"

"That is correct, yes."

Voluntarily dropping out this late into the exams? Shino thought in astonishment and not just a little incredulously. Why would anyone who has come so far do that?

"Then," Sakura continued, "might I also ask how many people will be allowed to move on to the finals?"

"It has been decided to allow sixteen people to proceed this year, which is nearly twice as many as we usually permit."

The math wasn't complicated: there were currently seven teams present, which made up for a total of twenty-one people. If sixteen could advance to the next stage, it meant five names had to be drawn and eliminated.

The likelihood of his or one of his teammates' names being drawn the first time around was about fourteen percent. From then on, it would increase until the fifth draw, at which point the likelihood of one of them being eliminated was about eighteen percent. Perhaps these odds wouldn't be too bad if there was only one draw, but with five of them? Not so much.

"In that case, I would like to drop out, please."

It really shouldn't come as a surprise for Sakura to say these words after her previous line of questions, and Shino would be lying if he said he hadn't predicted it, but hearing them being spoken out loud was something else entirely.

Naruto and Sasuke seemed to agree with the sentiment, judging by the shocked looks they were giving her.

"But why?!" the former exclaimed. "Sakura, you–"

"It's okay," she interrupted him, and Shino thought he had never heard her speak more confidently than there and then. "I'm sure this is the right decision." Then, when Sasuke made to argue, she stopped him by raising her hand–a gesture that, much to Shino's surprise, actually worked. "I don't think I'm quite ready yet to become a Chūnin," she continued with a fleeting glance towards the Suna and Kumo teams. "If one of you got kicked out while I advanced to the next stage by sheer dumb luck, well… I just don't think that would be right, you know?"

Neither boy seemed to know what to say to that. Seeing that, Sakura turned once more towards the Sandaime and repeated, "I would like to forfeit, Hokage-sama."

"Very well," the old man replied, and Shino thought he saw an approving glint in his eyes as he gestured towards Kakashi-sensei. "Please go stand with your sensei for now while we sort the remaining finalists out."

Sakura did just that, and somehow, she seemed to stand just a tad straighter than before even though this should by all rights be a walk of shame.

Shino could understand her reasoning on some level, and he supposed it was smart of her to drop out when she didn't feel she was ready for a promotion yet, but even so, he found it hard to imagine he would do the same in her position. To give up after having come this far, after getting this close to proving himself and his clan in front of not only his own village but all the other ones as well… it just was incomprehensible. How could he possibly–

"I want to drop out as well."

Shino didn't even care about his image as he whirled around to look at Kiba who resolutely avoided his gaze, but when he opened his mouth to demand an explanation, no tone came out.

Fortunately, Hinata did not suffer the same problem. "What are you saying, Kiba?" she asked with widened eyes and a panicked undertone in her voice. "You can't just drop out!"

Kiba didn't look at her either. "Sakura is right," he said, and while he might be trying to hide it, Shino could hear how unhappy he was about what he was about to say. "One of you getting eliminated while I advanced to the next stage would suck. It just wouldn't be right. If me quitting increases your chances, that's the right call to make."

That made Shino find his voice again. "No," he said, cringing a bit at how forceful he sounded but not having the time to worry any further about it. "You deserve to go to the finals more than we do." He hadn't even realized that he was thinking along those lines until he uttered those words, but there was no denying their truth. He—or Hinata, for that matter, but he didn't like the idea of that either–could have used his ace to bail them out, but he hadn't. He had hesitated, and thus it had ultimately fallen to Kiba to use his clearly-still-unmastered technique to save them. If anyone deserved to advance, it was he. "If someone should forfeit, it should be–"

"Shut up!" Kiba whisper-shouted, throwing a panicked glance towards the Hokage before finally looking at him. "What if anyone heard you, idiot?"

"But Shino is right," Hinata added, her expression turning resolute in a similar manner to how Shino suspected his own had. "You should advance, not us. It would be better if–"

"Are you both stupid?" interrupted Kiba before immediately breaking into a coughing fit. Shino and Hinata moved to help him, but a glare stopped them in their tracks. Then, "Look at me! I'm a mess, and we don't know when I will be better or when this tournament will be held. What use would it be if I advance only to be unable to participate later on?" He gave a very unamused sounding snort. "I sure as heck won't be able to beat anyone like I'm right now."

That… was a good point. Didn't mean Shino had to like it, though.

"Listen," Kiba continued upon seeing their unconvinced expressions, "you know I'm right. Don't pretend you wouldn't do the same if our roles were reversed. This is the right decision. Just make sure to beat some ass in the finals so that I didn't do this for nothing, okay?"

Shino shared a short look with Hinata who looked just as unhappy about it as he felt, but in the end, what else could they do but nod? Kiba had clearly come to a decision, and nothing they could say would be able to change his mind. It didn't help that his reasoning was sound either.

However, as he watched him move towards Itachi-sensei on unsteady legs and with hunched shoulders, he couldn't help but feel doubts.

If their roles were reversed, would he really have done the same? Hinata, he didn't doubt for one second; she would have chosen their chances over hers in a heartbeat, he was sure of that. He, on the other hand...

He would like to say yes, that of course he would have, but he couldn't quite convince himself of that.

All he knew as he watched Kiba join Sakura, one of the Genin from Suna, and two Konoha-nin he didn't know personally in the front was that regardless of what he would or would not have done, it should have been him standing there.

Too slow to use my trump card, too slow to realize Sakura was right and forfeit... What am I even doing?

All in all, Hiruzen thought with a hum as he walked through the sterile white hallways of the Konoha hospital, things went as well as could be expected.

The second stage in the Forest of Death had been a bit messier than he would have liked and the Tsuchikage had leaned a bit further out of the window than anticipated, but in the end, it still had been well within acceptable bounds. Bothersome, to be sure, but nothing that would warrant too dramatic of a response. It definitely could have gone much worse. Not a single Genin, from Konoha or otherwise, had died or been seriously injured while the teams that had been supposed to advance had done so, and that was all that really mattered.

That wasn't to say the few problems that popped up weren't somewhat disappointing, of course. Even someone like him, who was used to plans not surviving first contact after all his decades of experience, could still be annoyed when things didn't go as smoothly as he had hoped. That was simply one of these things humans could never unlearn.

Once the four teams the other four kage 'requested' to succeed had finished the second stage, Hiruzen had been free to curb their numbers some more to lessen their presence in the finals while still securing the presence of his fellow kage–or, at the very least, trusted advisors who could speak with their authority–in Konoha for the tournament. The so-called random system of drawing names had been meant to eliminate participants at random wasn't so random after all; the system was very much rigged and Hiruzen had intended to use it to kick out some of Konoha's more challenging competition.

That five people, four of which had been Genin from Konoha, volunteered so quickly to forfeit had been… unexpected. Maybe it shouldn't have been in view of what his village taught their youths, but it still was. Young Haku's teammates, he could understand, the two boys having never been exceptional like their female teammate and being aware of that full well. Kakashi and Itachi's students' forfeits, on the other hand, were the result of events that had occurred during the second stage and thus couldn't have been anticipated.

That didn't make it any less a shame that the boy's injury and the girl's bruised confidence would prevent their participation in the finals, though. Or, perhaps more precisely, it was a shame that foreigners would participate in their place now.

However, Hiruzen couldn't bring himself to blame them. If anything, he was proud of them. While their actions hindered some of his plans, they had ultimately been right in their decision. Putting their teams' chances above their own while recognizing their shortcomings was admirable, and if he could, he would almost be inclined to promote them just for that.

Another unwelcome surprise was the presence of one Kurisu Uzumaki.

It was no secret that there were a few Uzushiogakure survivors and their descendents left here and there all over the continent, and while Naruto was the only one still carrying the name of one of its great clans living in Konoha, a good number of descendants of those survivors lived in the village to this day. This was the first time someone originating from Konoha's old ally nation so blatantly appeared as a prominent member of another village, however, and Hiruzen hoped that at least the girl's ancestors had come to Kumogakure on their own free will, unlikely as that might be.

He was also irked that the Raikage had her enter the Chūnin Exams as only 'Kurisu' with no last name given, even if he could understand the likely reasoning behind that decision.

And speaking of Uzumaki survivors…

Putting aside his thoughts about the exams for the time being as he came to a stop in front of a particular door, Hiruzen put a calm expression on his face before raising his hand to knock. Then, he waited.

There was a pregnant pause, likely due to the room's occupant's surprise at someone bothering to ask for permission to enter considering he could sense the girl in question was clearly wide awake. It wasn't an entirely unreasonable reaction; foreigners were always a bit on edge in other hidden villages, especially when they were injured and all on their own.

In the end, it took nearly ten seconds before he finally got the call to enter.

"Good afternoon, Uzumaki-san," he greeted the girl with a kind smile, suppressing an amused chuckle at the flabbergasted look on her face when she recognized him. "I hope I didn't come at a bad time?"

"H-hokage-sama!" Karin Uzumaki exclaimed, looking as if she couldn't decide whether she wanted to jump out of her bed to run away or rather hide under her blanket. "W-what are you doing here?!" Then, apparently realizing that some people might consider her reaction rude, she flushed beet red before adding, "I mean, er, how can I help you?"

"I was hoping to talk to you for a little, my dear, but if now is not a good time, I would of course be happy to come back at a later date that is more agreeable for you."

"N-no, now is… fine?"

Hiruzen pulled the chair next to her bed a bit further away from her before sitting down, far enough away to avoid her feeling cramped but close enough to speak without raising his voice, while doing his best to make himself as harmless as possible. There was no reason to terrify the poor girl any more than she already was, after all. "That's a relief," he said with a soft chuckle. "As glad as I would be to claim otherwise, my job usually keeps me rather busy. I don't know when I would have the time to visit again if you had sent me away."

Karin gave him a wobbly, unconvincing smile before asking, "Ehm, Hokage-sama, why exactly did you want to speak with me?"

"Ah, forgive me. I'm sure my visit must be quite a surprise. It was rude of me to not immediately tell you my reason for wanting to meet you upon arrival." He raised a hand before she could object. "No, no, there's no reason to be polite about it. It's me who's in the wrong." Then, Hiruzen allowed himself for the first time to actually look at her more closely, and he didn't even have to act to sound nostalgic when he continued, "I admit it was curiosity that brought me here. There's only one person carrying the Uzumaki name living in Konoha right now, and I'm afraid he doesn't exactly have the typical look of your clan about him. I couldn't resist talking to you at least once when I heard another Uzumaki was staying here as a guest whose heritage still runs strong. I only wish we could have met in a more comfortable environment than a hospital room."

If anything, the girl looked even more at a loss after hearing that. "Another Uzumaki? Heritage? Sorry, but I really don't know…" Karin stopped in the middle of the sentence, confusion written all over her face.

He made an understanding sound. "Ah, I suppose you didn't have many opportunities to hear about it. Kusagakure doesn't have any reasons to teach much about a clan from a nation that has fallen all the way back during the Second Great Ninja War." Seeing her hanging on his every word, he continued, "The Uzumaki Clan was once a large, prestigious clan originating from Uzushiogakure in the Land of Whirlpools. They were famed for many things, first and foremost their sealing abilities and incredible lifeforce, and easily recognizable by their pale skin and red hair–which is why I mentioned their heritage is running strong in you, my dear. One Uzumaki was even married to Konoha's very own Shodaime Hokage!"

"I never knew that," Karin said, her voice barely above a whisper. "M-my mother died when I was really young, I don't even remember much of her, and no one in the village ever said anything."

"As I said, Kusa wouldn't have much reason to teach about the fate of a nation they never interacted with. It's no surprise you wouldn't have heard anything about this."

There was another pregnant pause as she stared into empty air with a vacant look in her eyes, and Hiruzen patiently waited for her to gather her thoughts. News like this were obviously a lot to take in. Then, with an almost unexpected hunger in her voice, Karin asked, "You said another Uzumaki is living in Konoha right now?"

"There is indeed. He's just around your age, too."

"Do you think he would, ehm, you know, like to…"

"Just like you, he is an orphan, so I'm sure he would love to meet you. Similarly, I would be honoured to arrange such a meeting."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama!"

It didn't take much effort to keep the satisfied smile off his face by focusing on the sincere happiness he felt for both Naruto and the girl at the thought of them potentially finding a piece of family in each other they had been missing all their lives.

Being Hokage was never easy, and sometimes, it meant making hard decisions. Manipulating a young, clearly lonely girl with the promise of family wasn't the worst thing he had ever done, not by a long shot, but it was still something he didn't take joy in.

At least in this case, he was sure he was genuinely doing her favour by going through with his plans.

Itachi didn't know much about Karin other than that she had been part of his brother's team that had been working toward killing him in the previous timeline. However, what little he did know was that she was a powerful sensor, possessed extraordinary healing abilities, and had been working for Orochimaru prior to Sasuke killing him. Hiruzen wasn't sure if the girl was already working for his wayled student, but if she did, bringing her into Konoha would not only potentially offer more insight into the rouge Sannin's plans, but also just might save a young girl from harm.

He would have to contact Kusa for that to work, of course. It wasn't like he could just steal one of their kunoichi. At least not if he wanted their alliance to stay strong, that was, and with the ongoing tensions due to Iwa's alliance with Taki, that was something Hiruzen very much wanted.

It shouldn't be too much of a problem, though. Exchanging a single Genin against what he could offer them was more than a fair deal and something they were likely to accept. The girl, too, was unlikely to miss her former home if his read on her up to this point was correct.

It was always easier when what was best for the village was also best for the people affected by the machinations of the village leadership.