Nindō 0044: Sharing her Story

Naruto and Karin took the same route that Naruto's clone had previously taken. They passed through the forests of Konoha for a few hours until reaching the cliff that overlooked the sea.

"Do you have a boat prepared?" Karin asked as she admired the reflection of the moon in the ocean while panting lightly. While she could keep up with the Hokage's pace, she had to push herself a little.

"Too slow," Naruto shook his head. "I will summon a wave for us to ride."

"What do you —" Karin's mouth hung open as she saw Naruto merely waving his arm in the air as a huge wave rose up and stabilized in front of them, forming a platform for them to stand on.

"Come on up," Naruto extended his arm toward Karin after getting up on the wave. She mechanically moved to grab his hand and got up on the wave that slowly started moving through the sea. He let go of her hand and sat down on the wave as it started moving, crossing his legs. "Stabilize yourself, don't fall in the water."

"Are you going to maintain this the whole way?" Karin asked after getting over the shock of Naruto displaying such a feat without using any hand signs.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "Don't worry about it, I can manage. Sit, we can admire the view. It's going to be a while for us to reach the Land of Whirlpools."

"If you say so," She shrugged, sitting beside him.

"You can take off your mask and hair cap now if you want," Naruto said.

"Won't enemy spies recognize me?" She asked as she removed the Anbu mask and hair cap, letting her hair fly freely in the wind. She felt absolutely amazing to have the sea breeze blowing at her face after having worn the mask for the past few hours.

"For one, we're far enough away from Konoha that it doesn't matter. As for the main reason, the Land of Whirlpools is an abandoned wasteland. The rest of the populous of the country has already been forcefully migrated away, either as slaves or as refugees. Without Uzu, the Land of Whirlpools is nothing more than a forbidden island due to how dangerous the path there is, leaving the entire country untouched for almost half a century now."

"Oh …" Karin couldn't help but recall certain scenes from her childhood, where her mother used to tell her stories about her original home. They were mostly flashes of certain core memories, ones that impacted her the most. She quickly shook her head, putting away the depressing thoughts. "May I lean on you, Hokage-sama? Just for a little bit." Naruto gave her a slight nod without saying anything as she wrapped her arms around his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Instead of crossing her legs as Naruto had done, she sat with her legs extended forward at a slight angle.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Karin spoke up, "My mother fled from The Land of Whirlpools when I wasn't even born. She was forced to run around for a few years, evading the ninja from the three villages, before finally taking refuge in Kusagakure, making a deal with the head of the village to use her healing ability to heal the wounded in exchange for granting her asylum. I never met my father, but I'm sure that my mother never wanted to have anything to do with the man. She never told me, but I'm sure that I'm the product of … Well, forget it."

Naruto didn't say anything, resting his hand on Karin's knee as the woman told him about her early years.

"We weren't under the best of circumstances, but we made do. For a couple of years, that is. Eventually, some kind of war broke out — I don't really know what it was. All I remember was that there was an influx of wounded patients. Patients whom my mother healed and healed and healed … She continued healing them until the end." Karin's voice didn't betray much more emotion than some sorrow. After decades, she had accepted her circumstances for the most part. "I don't remember many faces from back then. Hell, I don't think I can completely remember my mother's face. But there is one face that I remember. The man assigned as my mother's handler. Zōsui. He was the reason I lost her. And he was the reason that a nine-year-old girl was put in the medic unit to have unfamiliar fierce-looking men bite her to heal themselves. I still remember the looks that they gave me when I healed them, disgusting."

Naruto still didn't say anything but did allow Karin to lean closer to him. He wrapped his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder while she rested her head in a more comfortable posture.

"I remember being dazzled by Sasuke's chakra in the chūnin exams. He'd saved me from something and did his usual bad-boy thing before giving me a smile and disappearing," She laughed at herself. "God was that a toxic crush. I realized it a bit late … after almost getting killed by him. But better late than never, right? His daughter is really cute though, isn't she?"

"She's a sincere child," Naruto said with a smile. "That's why I took her in as my apprentice. I'll make sure that she doesn't veer off on the wrong path when — and it will — the curse of hatred of the Uchiha affects her."

Karin didn't seem much interested in talking about Sasuke's daughter and changed the topic, "I used to think that my life was already at its lowest when I was in Kusa. But apparently, things could get much worse. And they did. The sacking of Kusa … I still remember that day vividly," Naruto could feel Karin's arms tighten around him, her hands clenched around the undershirt that he was wearing under his armor.

"You don't need to share everything if you don't wish to, Karin," Naruto said, passing some chakra into Karin to soothe her.

"It's fine, Hokage-sama. I'm over it now. It's been a very long time," She smiled sweetly while turning up to look into Naruto's eyes. "Two men found me, hiding under the floor of my home — my whimpering gave me away — Zōsui was nowhere to be found, either dead or escaped. I don't think I would've survived without my natural healing ability. They tied me up and caged me … they used me for a whole week. They knew about my ability and my lineage, so I was to be sold to the highest bidder … like an object," Karin tightened her arms around Naruto, almost burying her face in his shoulder. "That was when Orochimaru found me. Saved me, in exchange for allowing him to examine my body and ability … I knew that I didn't have a choice. He was going to do it. The only difference was going to be whether the examined body was alive or dead. Still, it wasn't all bad … once I'd accepted it. He taught me many things, and gave me the strength that I have today."

As Naruto was still thinking about Karin's words, she turned her head up once again, a slightly vulnerable yet stern expression on her face. She spoke, "I've been through a lot in my life, Hokage-sama. I hope you don't just think of me as some kind of commodity."

"I would never, Karin. I do respect your skills not only as a kunoichi but as a researcher as well. That is why I wish for you to head my to-be-established research department." Naruto said, stroking his hand along Karin's leg as he continued giving her slight traces of chakra to make her feel warm and comfortable.

She didn't respond, continuing to lean on Naruto's shoulder and enjoying the warmth of his chakra as he gently stroked her thigh.

"Sometimes I wonder," Karin spoke up after a while. "I wonder what would've happened if Uzushiogakure hadn't been destroyed … I wonder what would've happened if my mother fled to Konoha instead. To Kushina Uzumaki. Would she have survived today? So many possibilities and it was the worst ones that ended up getting fulfilled. Funny how life works, no?"

"Sometimes I also wonder, Karin," Naruto replied. "What would've happened if I'd decided to redo everything completely? If I'd had a switch to completely turn back time and do something to save my mother and father from their demise. But I believe that it's our stories that make us who we are in the end. The lives that we live and the experiences that we live through are what make us who we are. Changing everything from scratch feels like a cop-out to me."

"A switch to turn back everything. That would be something …" Karin laughed, almost self-deprecatingly. "It's funny how we never bothered connecting, isn't it, Hokage-sama? We are technically from the same clan. Even if you are from the main line — the royalty of the Uzumaki — while I'm just a lowly member who sprouted from the tens of branch families living in Uzu."

"What? Do you want to come by every year for the holidays and play with my kids as they call you Aunt Karin?" Naruto joked.

"Recalling your offer to make me your mistress, I think my presence in your home would be a little weird. What with your wife and kids right there, you know?"

"That would be very awkward, indeed" Naruto nodded. "Tell me, are you even interested in becoming my mistress?"

"I'm not sure, Hokage-sama …" She said, turning her eyes toward him. "I know that I feel very comfortable near you. And that I owe you a debt that I can never repay in this life. You already told me that I can get a pardon and live as an actual citizen of Konoha. Not to mention the research opportunity. I feel that providing you with certain … services to sexually satisfy you in exchange for all that isn't really a bad bargain."

"Don't make it sound like you're selling yourself in exchange for all that. I think you're attractive and want you for myself, yes, but there's more. My present attraction doesn't mean that I'm going to lose it in the future and get rid of you. I will take responsibility for you. Just as I love my wife, I will also show you my appreciation."

"Just … Give me some time, okay, Hokage-sama?" Karin said, feeling a little weird and confused by Naruto's words. "I will give you an answer, but please allow me to sort through my feelings and thoughts regarding this."

"Take all the time you need, I'm not in any particular hurry," Naruto said.

***

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