Chapter 163

Hinata smiles through her brilliant blush before she answers, "my Byakugan helps."

"No doubt," Naruto states, nodding assertively before asking Kurenai's team, "do you guys want any help getting the scroll you need?"

"Is that some sort of joke," Kiba responds, eying the dead last in humored disbelief. "Thanks, but no thanks. You'd only slow us down."

Facing the Inuzuka, an annoyed Naruto calls, "what the hell, Dog Breath? I just asked if you wanted help."

Snorting, he retorts, "help from the Dead Last? We might as well hand 'em our scroll now," Kiba assumes.

"Whatever," Naruto mutters rolling his eyes. "Later Hinata-chan." Turning to the horrid mess of blood-tainted sand past the bushes, Naruto gasps, asking, "Yeesh! What the hell happened there?"

"That was the red-haired sand-nin you tried to be besties with-" Kiba starts to explain.

"Gaara!" Naruto hops before further asking, "he was here? When? Which way did he go?"

"Please tell me you're not that stupid," Kiba asks in disbelief.

"Naruto-kun, he's very dangerous," Hinata informs him with worry.

"It wouldn't be advisable to associate with him," Shino coolly adds.

"It's cool you guys," Naruto waves them off. "I bet he's just a big softy when you get to know him. Which way?" Kiba mechanically points and Naruto calls out, "I'll see you guys at the tower!" as he rushes after the elusive future-friend.

"He really is an idiot," Kiba comments as the blond speeds away. "Rest in peace," the Inuzuka adds and Hinata can only stomach her apprehension due to knowing it's only one of Naruto's clones. Still, she hopes with all her heart his clone will stay alright.

KARIN

Naruto and Karin land high on a tree branch. From their vantage point, they spot her heavily injured teammate, Shigeri holding out his shaking sword in his trembling hand. Shigeri is hemorrhaging from multiple wounds with Masashi, the third member of Karin's team, lying unconscious on the grass behind him, with even more injuries. In the small clearing surrounded by enormous trees, Shigeri and Masashi's attackers are two shinobi with forehead protectors from Land of Grass, wearing straw hats, and thick, purple, sacred rope tied around their waist tied in a large bow at their back, however, Naruto knows their true allegiance.

"Karin," Naruto whispers keeping his sky-blue eyes locked on them, wondering how close he can get before they can react. When she turns to him, he seriously asks, "do you want me to handle them or do you want to help?"

"Wha- No, you can't- Those guys aren't normal genin," she whispers back, sensing their chakra is far more sinister than any genin's should be.

"Do you trust me," Naruto asks.

"I don't even know you!" she whispers back, again, wondering why he's so quick to trust simply because they share the same last name. 'That's not how you last in this world!' her mind yells.

"Well, now's as good a time as any," Naruto confidently presumes.

"No, actually," Karin responds in a low voice, quirking a brow. "Now is very possibly the absolute worst time to trust you," Karin whispers with clear aggravation he simply smiles away which only makes her more annoyed... annoyed as only family can do.

"Come on," Naruto states, returning his attention to the serious shinobi toying with their prey. "They're your teammates. All I need you to do is jump in front of your team and offer those guys your scroll. If you can fake it, cry loudly. That'll be a great distraction."

'Sight and sound,' Karin thinks with a small smirk before she, with unexpected and great effort, agrees. Moments later, Karin lands in front of her beaten and bloodied teammates, crying horridly loud, complete with fat tears as she wails, "please, please, please don't kill my ultra precious teammates! Please! Here's our scroll! I readily offer it in the face of such strength! Take it, and spare our worthless lives!"

She was offensively more theatrical than Naruto expected and he wanted to laugh so hard at how terrible her acting is, but these were the two genin with the disguised Orochimaru, which meant they were far more dangerous than they appeared.

"Kami be damned, will you just kill them already," the one with the straw hat orders to the one with the skin-like mask. "Her wailing is getting on my nerves."

"Yeah, yeah," the murderous genin calls over Karin's loud crying.

His first step toward her scared Karin, and for a moment, she doubted the sudden amount of Narutos surrounding them would save her. Though she can sense them, they feel weaker than these shinobi, and suddenly, in the presence of her mortality, she doubted his sincerity along with his claims. Breath hitching, that sliver of doubt made Karin certain she would die trusting another Uzumaki for a final time…

…until two kunai are launched from behind her toward the fake genin and as expected both shinobi block them with their own kunai. A still wailing Karin barely thinks to ask, 'two kunai? Really?' When unbeknownst to these disguised genin, the attack from the front distracted them from the very fast, stealth attack at their back.

"Rasengan!" Two red-eyed Narutos call as they simultaneously slam incredibly condensed balls of spinning chakra center mass against their spine. The murderers scream in ear-shattering pain as they are rocketed forward by their spinning pelvis at tremendous speed. One spinning mass of flesh is unlucky enough to have a tree stop him with a bone-shattering 'thwack' while the other flies farther than she can see before hearing a distant grunting 'thud.'

"Oh, man," a brightly smiling Naruto calls as the other five clones rush to them. "The way you fake crying was so awful, I wanted to laugh so hard!"

"Tch," she sucks her teeth, too embarrassed to confess she actually likes her acting. "It worked didn't it-"

"Where the fuck were you, you stupid cunt," a trembling Shigeri yells at Karin before eying Naruto. Naruto's chakra immediately feels defensive to Karin, but restrained. Naruto raises his hands in peace as Shigeri can barely manage to sheath his jittery sword before returning his glare at his red-haired teammate. "If you had been here when we needed you, Masashi wouldn't be dead!" Karin can't even explain herself before Shigeri spits blood and a cracked tooth, spouting, "nevermind! We're already disqualified. Gimme your arm."

Karin hesitates to do so in front of Naruto as she's never liked her ability. Not only was it responsible for her mother's death, but it's the very job she inherited in order to survive. Now, being bitten painfully hard in front of her kin suddenly didn't feel right.

"Karin, give me your fucking arm!" Shigeri yells as he jerks her left arm to his mouth, but before her teammate can add another scar to the collection, Naruto grips Shigeri by his throat, making him choke as her blond cousin pulls him away.

"I don't get what's going on," a confused and irate Naruto states. "But I'm pretty sure he was going to bite you." Looking from Karin to Shigeri and back, he curiously asks, "are you sure he's your teammate?"

Though Shigeri tries to break free, Naruto tightens his enhanced grip, interrupting the bleeding boy from answering or yelling. Even without her sensory abilities, Karin can tell Naruto is far stronger even if her teammate wasn't so heavily wounded. Feeling hollow from her sorrowful memories, Karin tries to explain to Naruto, "I…" However, flashing memories of how she allowed herself to be used just like her pathetic mother had, keeps Karin from deliberately tainting her cousin's opinion of her with the biggest shame of her young life.

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