23 Turning in the Scrolls
As we got closer to the building in the middle of the Forest of Death, we saw a few corpses of genins from other villages. This just shows how dangerous the shinobi world actually is.
What intrigued me was the corpses of the three Rain Village Genins. They had pale yellow tight suits that's similar to Rock Lee's green suit.
The HEAVEN scroll that was in this genin team's possession is the one that my canon team got with Kabuto's help. I wonder who it was that killed this Rain Village Genin team.
We continued on, and we reached the building without any hurdles.
But… There were two people waiting at the building entrance.
"Dosu! Zaku!" Kin exclaimed.
Zaku had both his arm sockets popped back, and they seem to be working fine. On the other hand, Dosu's right arm is in a makeshift cast. His sound device was moved to his left arm.
"It's you two? Want another beating?" I asked the two.
"No… we came here for Kin. We need our full team to advance." Zaku and Dosu stepped back, scared that they're going to be attacked again.
"You two managed to get both the EARTH and HEAVEN scroll?" I asked while activating my Sharingan so that I could scare them for fun.
"Yes, we did…" Zaku quickly took out the scrolls.
"Okay, good. Hand it over, and you can have Kin back. You still have some time to go get two more scrolls." I opened up my palm and made a 'gimme' gesture.
"!?!? Why do you need our scrolls!? Shouldn't you already have both scrolls if you're here?" Zaku couldn't believe it. If this Sasuke guy takes two of these scrolls too, it'll be a total of three scrolls that his team lost.
"We do have both scrolls. Three, actually. I just want your scrolls to trouble you." A smirk appeared on my face. I really did just want to trouble them.
"Give it to him, Zaku." Dosu said after giving it a thought. Orochimaru wanted them to pass no matter what, and if they didn't have Kin with them, they wouldn't be able to pass. So, since they couldn't beat Sasuke, they should just give up the scrolls and try to hunt for more before time is up.
He didn't want to waste time because right now… time is of essence.
"Urghh…" Zaku groaned as he gave up the two scrolls.
'This guy is a menace to society.' Naruto thought as he watched the whole thing play out. He didn't really think that Sasuke was this dark.
"Alright then. Take her back." I accepted the scrolls and looked over to Kin.
She nodded and walked to the two.
"I'll look for you later." I said to Kin before walking into one of the doors of the building. Naruto, Sakura, and Karin followed.
Zaku and Dosu's eyes opened wide after seeing Kin acting so obedient. They wondered what happened to her.
…
…
Karin entered with us into the building.
I could hide her until Tsunade comes back to take office before exposing that I have an Uzumaki girl who has amazing healing capabilities, but I'm only delaying inevitable legal fights with the Konoha higher ups and the Grass Village.
Not to mention that if I hide Karin and some old goat like Danzo finds her existence before Tsunade becomes Hokage, Karin may be endangered due to her Grass Village Ninja identity. She'd be labeled as a spy and be prosecuted.
I'd rather not risk putting Karin into a difficult position, hence I'm going to openly go at this and convince both the third Hokage and the Grass Village to change the affiliation of Karin…
After entering the building, we saw a small hall with a poem about Heaven and Earth written at the end. There's also doors on the side, leading to different parts of the building.
I didn't need to read the poem, and I directly opened a Heaven and Earth scroll before throwing them over.
My three companions looked on as the scrolls activated together, and a person was summoned.
"Yo! I see that you all passed." Kakashi appeared and greeted everyone.
[A/N: **Ahem** Iruka appeared in the original to KO genins who open the scrolls prematurely, but let's be honest. Can he even knock out some of the genins? He'd probably be the one to be knocked out instead.]
"Kakashi sensei! See, we did it! We passed the second exam! We're well on our way to becoming chunins!" Naruto cheered as he bragged to Kakashi.
Sakura made a urgh face. Naruto said that 'they' passed, but both she and him didn't do anything. All of the scrolls were gathered by her man, and even the food and other necessities were handed to them.
They only had short moments to shine, but their achievements were lackluster.
"Hold your horses, Naruto. Don't celebrate yet." Kakashi made a stop sign and got Naruto to stop being so excited.
"Huh?" Naruto stopped and looked up at Kakashi with a questioning face.
"This wasn't told to you guys before, but there's still more to the second exam. Well, it's technically more like the bridge between the second and third exam." Kakashi explained.
"What? There's more?" Naruto couldn't help but wonder.
Sakura also paid attention, wanting to know more about the next steps of the exam.
"Yes, the next exam is a tournament… So after the time limit of this exam ends, there will be a preliminary match for all those who passed to see if they qualify for the tournament. This will reduce the final participants for the tournament."
Kakashi said all this before continuing: "Since you all had turned in the scrolls early, this is a good opportunity for you. Your team may rest before the preliminary tournament matches begin."
"I see. I see." Naruto nodded like an old sage as he brushed his nonexistent white beard.
"But before you rest… who is this girl?" Kakashi's eyes landed on Karin. Usually, the teams are at odds with one another. Never in the history of the Chunin exams did a team bring an extra person to turn in their scrolls.
"Her name is Karin, Kakashi sensei. She is a genin from the Grass Village, but I plan to help her change her affiliation to Konoha." I saw that Karin was a bit nervous, and I answered for her.
"Huh?" Kakashi's face turned serious. "For what reason will you do that?"
Changing a ninja's affiliation is a tall order. Every village will be cautious towards the outsider ninja, even if they are just a genin. The risk of taking in an outside ninja is just too high.
"Because she is an Uzumaki, and she's not being treated right in her village." I didn't expose Karin's healing ability just yet. I believe that her Uzumaki identity is more than enough to start enticing the third Hokage.
Not to mention that I have a loud mouth fool on my side… I thought as I looked at Naruto.
"An Uzumaki…" Seeing the red hair of Karin and hearing that she is an Uzumaki, Kakashi's thoughts drifted back to his deceased sensei, the Fourth Hokage…
His wife, Kushina also had red hair, and she is also an Uzumaki.
"Are you sure you want to proceed with this decision of yours?" Kakashi questioned, trying to figure out his student's resolve.
"I'm confident." I nodded. Karin is an integral person to my growth in the future, and I'm going to keep her by my side no matter what.
"If that's the case, then I'll try my best to help you when you propose this to the Hokage." Kakashi decided that he'll help his student. His feelings also got the best of him after seeing the resemblance between Karin and Kushina.
Though, he isn't going to slack off on the background check.
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