60 Ch 59: Karin worries

- A few days later -

Meanwhile, while everything was peaceful in the village a certain red-haired girl was currently in a dilemma.

After being saved by Sakura and being taken into custody by Sanada, everything seemed to turn bright for her.

She no longer needed to be afraid of being disposed of, she no longer needed to be a chakra battery, and she no longer needed to sacrifice her vitality for the "greater good" of the village.

In fact, she had been having the time of her life recently. Excluding the part where Orochimaru attacked Konoha, everything was going very well for her and even her training with Sanada-Sensei went pretty smooth.

However, for Karin, as a person who had lived her life whole life in fear, her psychology and mental state was not able to adapt to such sudden big changes.

She was now afraid, afraid that if she was to make any mistake, she would return to the kind of life she had lived previously and that's why she was trying her best.

Karin was still struggling at finding what she could do for Sanada, but then a voice came from her side.

"Karin, are you in some kind of trouble?"

Hibachi suddenly popped out, which startled Karin.

The boy in front of her was another disciple of Sanada-Sensei, and even though they were not that close, she still tried to be friendly with Hibachi as both of them were fellow disciples.

"It's okay, there is nothing wrong..."

Karin tried to avoid the topic, but somehow that just confirmed Hibachi's guess about there being something wrong with Karin.

Call it intuition, but after a few months of working together with Ami, Hibachi had become pretty good at differentiating a girl's mood.

"You... If you are feeling that way, then you should go home. I'm afraid that it would dirty the restaurant, after all, women always have that once a month, right-"

BAMM!!!

Before Hibachi could finish his words, Karin's fist had already landed on his face.

He didn't know why, but just like with Ami, his reflexes couldn't detect Karin's attack.

The carefully trained Hibachi, who could even dodge some of Orochimaru's attacks, couldn't dodge a Genin's attack. If Sanada-Sensei were to know this, he would definitely laugh at Hibachi.

"Stupid! Jerk! Pervert!"

Karin said those words at Hibachi before quickly leaving the restaurant, leaving Hibachi dumbfounded alone.

'Why did she call me a pervert? What I said was a fact, right??'

----

After Karin left Izakaya Nobu, she continued strolling around Konoha. She saw the bustling streets of Konoha and a certain thought couldn't help but surface on her mind.

'This is not a place I belong to..'

The beauty of Konoha, the peaceful environment, everything was so different with Kusagakure village and it made Karin want to stay here forever. However, there was a part of herself who knew she didn't belong here.

Maybe because Karin was too focused on her daydreaming, she didn't notice that she was bumping into someone else.

*Bump*

"Ouch, I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, more importantly though. Are you okay, Karin? You seem pretty down lately?"

Karin was a bit shocked hearing the voice. She shifted her glance to the person she had just bumped into, and a familiar figure appeared in her view.

"Sanada-Sensei...."

In front of Karin was none other than Sanada. Sanada despite not having had any girlfriend until now was quite sensitive when it came to a girl's issue. That was especially so when it was someone like Karin

Sanada knew it must have been hard for Karin to come into a new environment and adapt with no one on her side. So Sanada decided that he would be the one that Karin could rely on.

He placed his hand on Karin's head as he gave her a pat.

"Can you follow me for a bit?"

Karin was a bit surprised by Sanada's question. Had it been in Kusagakure, she would immediately know that the other party needed something from her.

But after getting along with Sanada for a few days, she knew that Sanada was different from those guys in Kusagakure.

She hesitated for a while, but eventually nodded, to which Sanada responded with a smile.

With Karin following Sanada, the two quickly reached the place Sanada intended to bring Karin.

It was on a hill behind Konoha, where the two could see every part of Konoha from afar.

Sanada signalled for Karin to sit next to him, and the two sat down to admire the view.

Karin didn't have any idea why Sanada brought her here. The view was indeed good, but that should not be the reason why Sanada brought her here, right?

She was still a bit confused when she felt Sanada's hand was on her head once more.

*Pat-Pat*

"How has your life in Konoha been recently, Karin?"

Karin was really caught off-guard by the question. Before, there were a few people like Hibachi, who noticed that something bothered her and asked if there was anything wrong.

Like everyone said, it was always WYD and not HYD.

Whenever that happened Karin would always answer perfunctorily and try to change the topic. But it was the first time someone asked how her life was.

Such a simple question somehow touched Karin's heart and the two began to talk.

This time, Sanada was no longer a teacher to Karin. he was like an old friend. Someone which she can laugh together with, smile together with, or even gossip together with.

As such without the two of them noticing, a few hours passed, by and the sun had almost set when they finished their chat.

"Well, it's already pretty late now. Let's go back first now. We can always chat more tomorrow!" Said Sanada as he stood up.

Karin, who had been a bit too immersed in the chatting blushed hearing Sanada's words.

Indeed, it was the first time she had felt so comfortable and so she ended up losing track of time while chatting.

Karin was about to say sorry, but Sanada was faster.

He opened his mouth and said:

"In a book I've read before, it says that we should not rely nor put our expectations on someone else or else chances are that you'll end up disappointed."

Karin had many questions tumbling around in her head when she heard the sentence. But without her knowing, her hand began to tremble. Was she going to be forsaken again, she thought?

She was ready to plead, but then...

"But personally, I think that is wrong. Humans are social creatures, and relying on someone is a normal thing to do. You might be disappointed or even be destroyed in the process, but that is life. And only after receiving such a lesson can you grow."

Sanada shifted his gaze and gave his hand to Karin.

"And that's why I want you to rely on me, Karin. Life might suck, but it would be better if we passed it together. I might not be perfect, but I hope you will be able to rely on me!"

Hearing Sanada's words it felt like time had stopped for Karin. The layer around her heart had somehow melted and she got a feeling that she wanted to trust this person.

Just like he says, life might suck and she might be disappointed with this and her future choices later. But for now, she just wanted someone she could rely on.

Unknown to herself, a small bud of admiration began to grow in her heart for Sanada.

She took Sanada's hand and with a smile that she had never displayed to anyone except her late mother, she said:

"Yes, I may be a bit weird, but thanks for having me!"