Karin: Thank You, Dad!!!

Oh my! What is with this Uzumaki kid? Can't she tell that the giant was just joking? She really called him dad?

This is bad! Could her doing this anger the giant? Could it get me, the last Kusagakure Anbu, into trouble?

Karin's weak "Dad" made the Kusagakure Anbu's lips tremble in fear. He kept blinking and trying to signal Karin with his eyes. Unfortunately, he overestimated a child's ability to read such signals. Karin didn't notice him at all.

"Dad! I… I called you Dad. Can you take me to see my mom now?" Karin asked, her small face pleading.

The Kusagakure Anbu quickly looked at Whitebeard's face. He was shocked to see Whitebeard's smile slowly fade. This change in expression made his hair stand on end!

"Gurararara!" However, Whitebeard then laughed even louder and more heartily. "Naruto, that stupid son, hesitated for a long time. Kakashi, that white-haired brat, refused me a dozen times, each time with a different excuse. But you, kid, you're so straightforward." Whitebeard lifted Karin in the air.

But Whitebeard gently placed her on his broad shoulder instead of harming her. "Kid! Once you call someone 'Dad' in the Whitebeard Pirates, you can't take it back!" Whitebeard laughed. "I heard your name from your mother, Karin, right? Gurararara! From today, you're my first daughter in the ninja world!"

"Karin, when you called me 'Dad,' you meant 'Father'! Gurararara!"

"Dad… Father…" Karin was stunned. Her little mind was in a whirl. "I... I have a father now?!"

She was frozen, her brain overloaded.

"Does your arm still hurt?" Whitebeard asked, turning his head slightly toward Karin.

"...Yes." Karin nodded.

Having her skin and flesh bitten through was a painful experience for any child. The fact that Karin wasn't crying her heart out already showed she was much stronger than her peers.

"Kusagakure kid, do you know medical ninjutsu?" Whitebeard glanced at the dumbfounded Anbu.

"N-Not really…" The Anbu, terrified by Whitebeard's gaze, quickly changed his answer. "But I can try!"

The Kusagakure Anbu's medical ninjutsu was indeed poor. He tried his best, sweating profusely, and only managed to heal the wound on Karin's arm, unable to remove the scar. 

Karin looked at her still-aching wound and then at Whitebeard's concerned face. For some reason, scenes of her and her mother being bullied by the ninjas in Kusagakure flashed through her mind. In all her time in Kusagakure, besides her mother, no one had ever shown her such concern.

Even a simple question about her wound from Whitebeard filled Karin's heart with warmth. She was, after all, very much in need of love. Otherwise, in the future, she wouldn't have been so devoted to someone just because of a single act of kindness.

Whitebeard had rescued her, defeated her tormentor, could take her to her mother, and showed concern for her injury. These small acts were monumental in Karin's world.

"D-Dad…" Karin said sincerely. "Thank you! My mom always told me to be grateful. If you ever get hurt, you can bite me and heal... ouch!" As she finished, she cried out in pain, holding her head where Whitebeard had flicked her.

Confused and tearful, Karin looked up at Whitebeard.

"Idiot!" Whitebeard said. "This is your body. No one in the ninja world has the right to use it to heal themselves. Your body shouldn't be mistreated like this."

"Huh?" Karin weakly said. "But the ninjas in the village treat my mom like this. My blood can heal…"

"Karin, do you like this?" Whitebeard asked seriously.

Karin shivered, feeling the pain in her arm. "No." She sniffled, her eyes red. "But if we don't, the village will abandon me and my mom."

"Since you called me 'Dad,' starting today," Whitebeard said, "no one can use your body to heal. No one can force you. This village is no longer your home. Your new home is the Whitebeard Pirates!"

"I, Whitebeard, guarantee this!" Whitebeard's bold declaration echoed in Karin's ears like thunder.

Ninja children mature quickly. Even though Karin was young, she understood the meaning behind Whitebeard's words. Her natural ability to sense sincerity assured her Whitebeard was telling the truth.

Instantly, Karin's eyes welled up with tears. She had never felt such warmth. The man who called himself "Whitebeard" was a stranger she had just met, yet he showed her such care. 

Dad… Father… New home… Home…

Karin didn't know where the impulse came from. She just knew she wanted to shout the two words she had been longing to say.

"Dad!!!!"

And she added.

"Thank… thank you!!!"

"Gurararara!" Whitebeard's stern face softened into a hearty laugh. "Stupid daughter! Speak louder! Say it again!"

Karin took a deep breath, her face turning red, and shouted, "Dad! Thank you!!!"

"Gurararara!"

The scene of a child recognizing her father and vice versa left the Kusagakure Anbu dumbfounded. 

So, pleasing the giant was this simple? Should he call him "Dad," too? 

But he had a feeling that if he did, he'd be killed.