Chapter 31 Orochimaru

Orochimaru was standing as his arms hanged with Kabuto by his side.

Kabuto immediately recognized Arata, smiled and said, " I believe you are Arata Senju. I wonder what you are doing here so far away from the leaf village."

Arata didn't move as he replied, " I left the village."

Orochimaru smiled as he knew some detail about the boy that stood in front of him, " Hoo, does the village also seem unbearable to you?"

Arata decided to play along and nodded his head, " Yes, I felt like staying there will only limit my ability from progressing."

Orochimaru laughed and looked past him and saw a girl around the same age as Arata with fire red hair and thought, " Interesting." But saw Arata's guard against him and smiled.

Orochimaru: " Boy, I understand what you mean. However, I wonder why you have your guard up against me. I believe we haven't met personally before."

Arata sword was still in guard as he answered, " Well... I did briefly saw you when you fought against the Third Hokage. I would be foolish to lower my guard against someone like that."

Orochimaru laughed again and said, " Then do you think you have the ability to fight against someone like me?"

Arata only frowned as he heard Orochimaru, of course someone who could fight and kill the Third Hokage isn't someone he could face but he also noticed the arms dangling down as if he couldn't move them and said, " With your injuries? I think I can manage long enough to run away with her before getting killed by you."

Orochimaru laughed even harder at the cleverness of the boy in front of him and replied, " Even though I am injured this severely and can't use any jutsu, I am still more than enough to handle you boy."

Just as he said that, Kabuto who was standing by his side moved to him with his kunai and slashed at him, however, Arata was already prepared and blocked the attack with his sword and used his free hand to put his palm on his chest and sent a pulse of chakra, blowing Kabuto away and crashing into a tree.

Their expression changed when they saw the attack. The two were quite knowledgeable as they noticed the type of attack it was, although it looked slightly different it seemed to be devised from the gentle fist art of the Hyuga clan. However, it seemed a little useless at the moment sense Arata couldn't hit any of Kabuto's chakra points accurately like the Hyuga clan.

Orochimaru smiled and said, " Interesting boy. You are quite talented to have managed to release your chakra like the Hyuga clan so quickly. I see that you have a Uzumaki girl behind you too. I wonder what you plan on doing with her?"

Arata: " Give her a home."

Orochimaru smiled and said, " I can also provide her a place to shelter her. It seems like she possess quite a unique chakra solely belonging to the Uzumaki clan."

Arata narrowed his eyes as he activated his lightning cloak and said, " Finding a shelter and a home are two completely things."

Kabuto finally stood up as he regained his balance and was about to attack Arata again, but Orochimaru stopped him and said, " Enough Kabuto. We are not here to fight against this boy, this boy is quite interesting. "

Kabuto immediately understood what Orochimaru wanted and took a step behind Orochimaru as he smiled and fixed his glasses, " I understand, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru looked at Arata and said, " I am quite interested in you and the girl behind you. I have gathered enough intelligence on you and what your goal is. You want to recover the remnants of the Uzumaki clan don't you?"

Arata nodded as he said, " Yes, that's correct. What does it have to do with you?"

Orochimaru smiled as he said, " Well I have went to the ruin site of the Uzumaki clan and had managed to gather whatever that was left at the scene, of course it relates to some of the clan's heritage, I wonder if you are interested. Of course, you will have to come with me to retrieve it."

Arata thought for a bit, " You can tell me the location of the place, however it will only be me, you will not touch a strand of hair on my clansman."

Orochimaru thought for a bit. He was a bit greedy in wanting the girl too and test her for some experiments but thought again and found that Arata was a lot more interesting and talented that he could use. " Very well, I will not touch her or go near her." He then looked at Kabuto and the latter nodded as he understood and reached into his clothes as he pulled a paper and gave it to Arata.

Kabuto: " This is one of our bases located in the sound village. We will be waiting for you."

Arata took the paper and tucked it in his pouch and waited for the two to leave. When he could no longer feel their presence he looked at the girl behind him and said, " What's your name?"

The girl also noticed the two leave and did not know what was going on or what exactly happen and said to Arata, " My name is Karin... Karin Uzumaki."

Arata smiled and said, " Will you follow me then... I... I overheard you saying that your mother died from over healing and giving to much chakra to others, could you tell me more about that?"

Karin nodded her head and said, " When my mother and I arrived, they agreed to giving us shelter in exchange for her to work at their hospital and heal them. Several years ago... she had passed away from giving out too much chakra. After I became a genin I went to the leaf village to take the chunin exam but my team lost in the second part of the exam. After I came back the village that I was living in was attacked so I hid."

Arata looked sad as she heard the story about her what had happened to her. " Come with me, I'll take you to my parents where they can protect you and you won't have to use your ability for other people's gain no longer. Do you know where your mother was buried?"

Karin nodded her head and said, " Hmm, I buried her not far from here."

Arata nodded his head as he said, " Bring me to her grave."

After traveling for some distance, the two arrived at distance place inside the forest. Arata saw a medium sized boulder with Karin's mother's name engraved on the stone and flowers there. Arata placed his hand on the ground and the ground began to tremble and soon a chunk of the earth was uprooted.

Karin panicked and said, " What are you doing to my mother's grave?!"

Arata smiled at her and said, " Relax, your mother should not be buried in such a foreign place. I will bring her with us so she can rest peacefully where she should be."

Karin started to cry once again and nodded her head as she understood Arata.

Arata: " okay let's go home."

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Traveling in a steady manner for a few days, Arata and Karin soon arrived back at Arata's house in the forest. Sensing his arrival, Riki and Isamu, Arata's parents, walked out and was surprised by what they saw. They saw Arata and an unknown girl with bright red hair standing next to him with a chunk of earth floating behind them. Isamu immediately recognized the situation and the person with Arata.

Immediately Isamu ran towards Karin and hugged her tightly and said, " It's okay now child. No one will hurt you here."

When Karin heard the strange woman's kind and sorrowful words, she immediately started crying. "... Auntie... am I really safe? Will my mother and I be able to live peacefully? My powers won't be used to heal others?"

Isamu held her even tighter as tears began to fall from her eyes as she heard Karin's words. From what she just said she knew what had happened to her mother and what the little girl in her arms had experienced at such a young age. She nodded her head and said, " Yes, child. You could live here safely with us. What's your name?"

Karin replied as she hugged Isamu, " My name is Karin. Is calling you Auntie okay?"

Isamu smiled and said, " Of course. No one will bother you while you are here."

The two continued to hug and cry as they let their feelings out. Riki walked towards Arata and said with a frown, " To think that a member of the Uzumaki clan was this close to us and we didn't do anything." He sighed and continued, " Good job Arata for finding someone so soon."

Arata shook his head and said, " If only I was born earlier, I could've saved her mother too."

Riki shook his head and said, " Don't think like that. What's important now is that you've found her and found peace for her mother."

Arata nodded as he followed Riki to a place to bury Karin's mother while his mother and Karin soon followed after them. They found a peaceful place that was surrounded by giant trees that seems to have sheltered the area from any harsh weathers that may come and go.

After placing the the chunk of earth into the ground the group paid their respects for Karin's mother and placed flowers onto the tombstone.

After that they returned home and ate, laughed as they chatted, and Karin went to sleep with his mother while he and Arata slept in the same room.

Early in the next morning, Arata got ready to set out again when Karin got up and said, " Are you going out again? To look for more members of the Uzumaki clan?"

Arata smiled and said, " Yes, I will keep traveling until I find more Uzumaki clansmen."

Karin heard his words and seemed hesitant about wanting to say something. Arata saw that and said, " What is it that you want to say?"

Karin looked at Arata and said, " Can I come with you? I also want to help. I am sensitive to chakra so I can help look for fellow clansmen with you."

Arata shook his head and said, " Not now. Train with mother for a bit and the next time I come back, if you are strong enough I can take you with me."

Karin looked a little sad but shook it off and said, " Okay. I will train hard then. Be safe on your journey then."

Arata smiled as he nodded and waved goodbye, " 'Till next time Karin."