Author's Notes:

Please I need More Reviews;

share some love.

End Author's Notes

Naruto: Spiral Heart

Chapter 2: Genins

Karin stood on a grassy field near Konoha, one of the many training grounds they used outside the village to minimize damage from powerful techniques in use or development. Karin smirked at the thought, under Orochimaru one trained wherever they wanted with collateral damage being a very small concern. She stood roughly fifteen feet away from Iruka Umino, the man she'd met at the Ichiraku Ramen. He'd brought her out here after they'd talked for a few minutes about removing her collar. She wondered if he'd forgotten her accidentally blurted comment about Naruto, but a knowing smile on his face made it clear that he hadn't. "Okay, so why are we out here?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest with an impatient foot tap.

"Well, this is sort of a preliminary check. You want the collar off, and I have an idea for a way to maybe do just that." He smiled broadly, clearly relishing what he was about to say before adding it, "and if you humor me, I'll talk about Naruto."

She growled in response, her foot losing its tap as she held back from angrily stomping it to help make her point, still fuming over her slip. "Fine, so what's your idea, and this isn't because of Naruto, so drop it!" she felt her face flush with anger and embarrassment.

"Well, it goes like this… the only way to get that collar off would be to make yourself an asset to Konoha, otherwise, you'll always be considered a risk before a civilian since you have a record. Ah… how can I say it… you've worked with Akatsuki and Orochimaru… you've got abilities… you can't just go and live the quiet civilian life. Your options are battle-captive or ninja and only one of those means no collar." He shrugged, as though not liking it, but being honest.

"Hmm, a very good point." She nodded, suddenly taking an analytical approach and realizing he was right. She straightened her glasses, "but why am I out here then?"

"Because I have to see what you can do. If you want to become a Konoha ninja, then I need to know what kind of skills you've got and where you are in terms of ability. Maybe you're already Chuunin level, but maybe you're barely academy pre-Genin material."

"Uhm… don't you have records of that…?" she sighed as she contemplated the people she'd met and heard about… Oh lord, is Konoha nothing but those "discover your true self through fighting" type people?

"Yeah, we do, but you can't know someone's true potential and self until you've fought!" he responded cheerily as she suddenly hung her head with a very dismayed look on her face. "Uh… something wrong…?"

She shook her head without looking up at him, unable to decide between being repulsed by or laughing outright at him. When she recovered she finally shook her head again and looked up at him. "No, I'm alright, so how do we begin?"

"Well, to keep things simple, let's just take it one step at a time. First, we'll start with Taijutsu. Show me what you've got, I'll let you on the offense first before I test your defense. Oh, and go ahead and use any Taijutsu enhancing techniques you've got. Don't hold anything back!" He adopted a combat ready stance and waited for her to attack.

Damn, I'm awful at Taijutsu… she thought, remembering the simple kick Danzo had defeated her with earlier. What a 'fun' way to start, time to make a terrible first impression… she cursed under her breath but lunged at him. This is going to be a long day…

Sakura checked the clock in her surprisingly quiet home. Karin hadn't come back at the scheduled time and suddenly the reason for the quiet was no longer quite as surprising. Karin had never liked the 'schedule' that Sakura had imposed, but she had at least respected it up until now. "Now how am I supposed to watch after that girl if she doesn't follow the schedule we agreed on?" of course, Sakura said 'agree' but Karin had not had much input or control over the schedule; it basically suited Sakura's convenience and ignored Karin's. "Well, guess she's decided to break the rules… no surprise there from someone who worked for Akatsuki and Orochimaru." she said aloud to no one in particular, merely venting frustration. She stood and slipped on her gloves, "Oh well, can't say it took too long for me to have to rein her in…" Sakura picked up the tracking device from her desk and flipped it on before leaving to go find her 'wayward' charge.

Karin panted for breath while Iruka made some notes on a clipboard he'd brought with him. "Poor performance in Taijutsu, mediocre Genjutsu, mediocre Ninjutsu… tell me, did you ever train in those fields to be a ninja?"

She caught her breath slowly and straightened herself back up, not wanting to talk while hunched over, "Well of course not, I was a researcher and a lab assistant. I barely saw daylight, let alone combat. Sure I put down a few overanxious prisoners but beating up a malnourished prisoner doesn't really count as good practice." she paused and then reflected for a moment on her past. "Besides, Orochimaru never trained anyone he wasn't planning to possess anyway… he kept Suigetsu locked in a frigging tank for crying out loud."

Iruka scratched his chin, "Well, I don't know much about that, but you have a point. Okay, so I've heard you're a sensor and a medic-type. So let's see that next." He smiled but it vanished quickly when she bared her arm and he saw bite marks. "Is that…?"

She nodded slowly, "It's a technique that lets another person drain my chakra into themselves at a rapid rate that also heals wounds. Unfortunately, it always leaves these marks, I've never figured out a way to heal them completely." her head hung a bit and she shifted her eyes away, as though ashamed by them. That's odd, why am I bothered by that? Normally it doesn't phase me one bit… Iruka just stared for a few moments before she continued. "It's a technique that was developed by Kabuto Yakushi, obviously the bastard tested it on someone else. He wasn't satisfied with the results so it hasn't been seen since. As far as I know I'm the only one capable of doing this." She pulled her sleeve back down over her arm, hiding the bite marks again and looking away, unable to meet his eyes.

"That's a horrible technique." Karin sighed as Iruka scolded her, she'd heard that before. No one ever just let it slide… but he continued in a strict tone, "If you want my support in getting your collar removed, promise not to use it anymore. That seems like it could have very bad long-term effects and we don't condone those kind of jutsu in Konoha."

Karin stared, wide-eyed, at Iruka. What he'd said was the last thing she'd expected, most people she'd been around only thought of that technique as useful and more or less ignored her opinion on the matter. "Uh-h-h…" she stammered for a response, but Iruka waved a hand and shook his head.

"We received a lot of information from that Kabuto guy a while back… maybe I'll ask the Hokage look it over, she's a talented medical expert and may be able to do so something about that technique… if it's in there." He seemed genuinely concerned while Karin continued to be baffled at his concern over something that everyone else had always considered a trifling matter.

She nodded sheepishly, unsure of just how to respond while he jotted another note on his clipboard. "As far as your sensory ability?" he added after he finished writing, looking expectantly towards her. "I won't ask you to demonstrate it, obviously you can't really see something like that, but let me hear how yours works. I've heard it's the strongest sensory technique in the entire ninja world."

She puzzled for a moment as to how to explain it but then slowly began to describe her technique - Mind's Eye of the Kagura. At several points, Iruka stopped her to ask for more details, and she obliged: knowing the technique made little sense in the same capacity as explaining color to a blind person. Eventually he understood, as best he could, how it worked that she could see chakra itself and use any fluctuations or changes to determine the emotions, mental state, and physical condition of the person she looked at.

"Hmm, kind of like the Byakugan, unless you can see through their eyes, you don't know what their vision is like. Also has the same kind of 'unusually large' range… it works up close in a wide field, but can be narrowed or focused over an enormous distance." Iruka continued talking and Karin felt mildly surprised he'd reveal things about the Byakugan so easily. Things I already knew… but still, kind of odd, I guess he's serious about accepting me then? She mused while he talked, only half listening to him while she herself considered whether or not becoming a Konoha ninja would really work for her.

"That's it! I've got an idea for you to improve your taijutsu remarkably!" Iruka slapped a fist into his other hand. "Any ninja gathers chakra to their fists or feet when they move across difficult surfaces or when they attack. Naturally some of us are better at it than others…" he seemed to shudder as if afraid when he mentioned it; Karin remembered that Tsunade, the Hokage, used precision chakra control to achieve truly enormous strength.

He shook himself visibly and continued while Karin stared. He's obviously seen that Herculean strength in action… or felt it firsthand. Well, I guess all of the Sannin are rough on their subordinates. She snapped out of her reverie with a start when she realized he'd asked if she "understood his idea". Taking a moment to consider whether it'd work, she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "It'd only work with someone who used a lot of chakra for such purposes. It'd be much harder to perceive clear enough what attack a normal person had in mind next."

"That's not true, it'd just be easier to learn against someone like that. With practice you could watch for chakra very precisely. Think about it, even if they were attempting to feint you could read where they were storing their strength! With enough practice you could fight with an almost flawless foresight until they unraveled your technique!" He continued on, not hearing her complaints or arguments against it.

"Well-" she started to acknowledge the idea but was cut off as she was forced to leap backwards landing off balance and stumbling to her knees, surprised by a sudden hostile presence intruding on her senses. Barely a second later, she saw only a pink flash before the ground she'd just occupied had exploded apart, fissures running several feet in every direction and a dust cloud hovering over the impact area. Karin couldn't quite make out who it was through the dust, but with her signature technique quickly discerned the nature of her assailant. "My my, is it past 3:25 already Sakura?"

The dust cleared and the pink-haired Haruno Sakura stood in the slight crater of her impact, drawing her fist back and shaking the dirt and dust off the glove. "Don't get coy with me, captive ." Sakura stressed the last bit, not bothering to use Karin's name and making sure Karin knew it. "You violated your curfew. Trying to escape? Report to Akatsuki? Doesn't really matter, I've got to bring you in now."

Iruka ran forward, shouting to get Sakura's attention despite the deathly quiet that had settled over the training ground after her powered punch. "No no! She's out here because I asked her to come out here. I didn't know about any schedule! I'm just evaluating her abilities!"

Sakura turned, a surprised look on her face before it fell back into a hardened battle mask again. "Hmf, she's probably holding back to keep secret techniques hidden." Karin started to shake her head and Iruka looked surprised and unconvinced at Sakura's logic. "Well then Karin, I'm going to come at you. Fight for your life, because if you don't… I'll kill you."

"Woah now Sakura! That's too much!" Iruka started forward but Sakura held out a gloved-hand to stop him.

"I'm sorry Iruka, but we need to know what she can really do. I'm not going to let anyone endanger Konoha."

"That's taking it too far! We don't need to go this far! This isn't right!" Iruka again started to advance on Sakura. Karin stared at the conflict dumbfounded. What is going on here? Sakura's taking this too far and even her fellow ninja know it… only one way out of this…!

"Okay. I'll fight you Sakura." Karin went into a battle ready posture and nerved herself, letting her sensory focus drop to solely centered on Sakura. Hopefully Iruka's idea works… otherwise this'll be a short fight.

"No no, you don't have to do this Karin!" Iruka shouted on deaf ears as Sakura fell into a combat stance of her own.

"It's okay Iruka, she agreed to it." but the man ran forward anyway and put a hand on Sakura's shoulder to stop her. Sakura, already intent on her task quickly spun and punched him just below the chest. It forced the air out of his lungs and he fell to the ground wheezing. "It's for Konoha's good Iruka, my apologies."

Karin frowned, but knew that sensing the chakra in her hands and feet would be the only way to survive this encounter… for a little bit. So she decided rather than go on the offensive, she'd goad Sakura into attacking her carelessly. I can only hope that she'll get so flustered she doesn't realize how I'm dodging… if it works . "So is this a common thing for you to do Sakura? Betray your allies and attack your friends? Sounds a lot like you should be the one getting reined in, not me." Karin pitched her voice with a large amount of scorn and haughty spite.

Sakura rounded slowly on Karin, glaring and gritting her teeth in barely contained fury. Her fists were clenched angrily and she replied with a growl of hatred. "What… did… you say to me…?"

Time to really set the bait on the hook… I just wish I wasn't the bait. "I said," Karin began, talking like she had to explain herself to a child, "that hurting your supposed friends seems to be a favorite past time of yours."

Sakura shrieked in anger, the meaning of her words lost behind her uncontrollable rage and charged forward towards Karin. Here she comes… and Karin did the unthinkable: she closed her eyes. Sakura, already lost in her rage, thought the red-haired girl was mocking her. The pink-haired girl's fist, with enough concentrated chakra to shatter a boulder into dust, surged outward towards Karin's face with full intent to kill driving it.

Karin felt the intense energy coming towards her and shifted to the side gently; not wasting any motion to leap out of the way and break her focus in the process. She heard Sakura's hateful growl at her attack missing and could sense yet another concentrated mass of chakra hurtling towards her. Again she dodged another blow, and another, and another. Iruka's idea works…! she thought in surprise at the fact that she was able to dodge someone obviously more skilled in taijutsu than she was.

Blow after blow flashed towards Karin and were dodged with seemingly no effort, much to Sakura's mounting rage. Her face was red with fury at the fact that her opponent had her eyes closed and was dodging with barely any motion. Overcome with anger, her chakra flared up even more than before and she poured it into both of her fists and feet before resuming her attack even more frenzied than before.

Shit! She's really upped her attacks. At this rate I'm not gonna be able to-gkt! Karin's thoughts were interrupted as a blow clipped her side and sent her spinning off-balance. It also disrupted her focus and her eyes opened in time to see a spinning kick land against her chest and hurl her backwards. Her vision blurred, it felt like something in her chest had cracked and she could barely draw in breath. She was only dimly aware of when she hit the ground, the sensations were distant and minute in comparison to the shortness of breath and the pain in her chest. She coughed as she tried to draw in breath and felt blood on her lips, her eyes opening again as she shook off the disorienting sensations of having been thrown by the kick.

She opened her eyes and saw Sakura lunge forward, a hand closing around her neck tightly. "Guhh!" Karin grabbed feebly at Sakura's hand, trying to remove it from her throat unsuccessfully. She tried to turn her head to see if Iruka had recovered yet but the man was still trying to stumble to his feet; Sakura had really dealt him a powerful blow. She heard his feeble protests towards Sakura but the pink-haired girl ignored him and with a triumphant expression pulled back a fist, aiming it at Karin's face.

"Guess this is all you've got? Go on! Show me what you're hiding you cocky bitch!" Sakura's fist flew forward with cruel speed and intent towards Karin's face. Karin closed her eyes for the blow, knowing it'd be enough to kill her and not wanting to see it hit; only hoping it'd be mercifully quick and painless. This is the end for me? I didn't think she'd be the one… but it's funny… the last time I was here, I just wanted to see Sasuke's face again and I didn't mind… but now… now I mind… Not Sasuke's,… but I want to see his face again… Karin's thoughts went unbidden towards her own impending doom and a single tear rolled down the side of her face as she felt a strong wind pressure and braced herself as best she could. Suddenly, the tension in her throat released instantly. She slowly opened her eyes, almost afraid to look as though Sakura might be teasing her cruelly.

"That's enough Sakura. I don't know why you're doing this, but that's enough." Karin heard the voice just as her vision cleared up enough to see the unmistakable figure of Naruto standing over her. One hand around Sakura's wrist, holding back the punch directed towards her. Something was different about him, she could barely make it out, but his eyes looked… orange around the edges with a strange bar-shaped pupil? She didn't know. It wasn't important in her mind at the moment either.

"N-…Naruto…" Karin started to say, but he shook his head swiftly.

"Karin, don't try to talk for the moment. Just stay there." She was all too happy to oblige him as she stopped trying to sit up, still drawing in ragged breaths and now rubbing her throat and clutching her chest as well. Sakura's face was unreadable. She kept trying to mouth a reply of some kind but nothing came out. "Sakura. Go home. You need a break from all this. Go home and take the week off. I'll clear it with Granny-Tsunade." Sakura looked as though she'd been visibly struck; her face was bunched up as though torn between going into another rage and crying. Without another word she spun and stomped away angrily. Naruto's sigh was audible in its despair; he was clearly displeased by the role he'd just been forced to play. Slowly he turned back to Karin, still lying on the ground; she blushed, realizing just how helpless she looked on her back. He extended a hand to help her up and she hesitated for a moment to straighten her glasses and get a better look at him before finally accepting his hand and being hoisted up. The strange things she'd seen with his eyes were gone… was that just a fluke of her glasses being crooked?

"You okay?" he asked her with concern in his voice.

"Um… y-yeah…" she stammered, before looking over to Iruka who, despite sitting on his knees still trying to recover, was grinning broadly at the way her face was red after being helped up by Naruto. "You should help him, I'll be fine!" she quickly yelled and pointed to Iruka whose smile vanished quickly. Naruto turned and realized Iruka had been sitting there for the first time since he arrived.

"Oh, Iruka. Are you alright?"

"Ngh… yeah, but what was her deal? She could be in a lot of trouble for all this." Iruka let Naruto help him to his feet and dusted himself off. "I'll take responsibility for watching Karin for now. Those two obviously don't go together like Ibiki had hoped." He walked past Naruto and leaned close to Karin. "Don't worry, I won't tell him."

She snapped back and quickly shook her head, shouting: "Tell him 'what' exactly!"

"Tell who what?" Naruto chimed in, but Iruka only smiled and waved it off before continuing. "Let's go somewhere else. I'm done out here for a while and could use a nice place to sit and relax."

Naruto's face beamed and everyone knew what his next words where going to be well before he said them… "How about some Ichiraku Ramen?"

"So based on what I saw, I'd say you more than qualify to be automatically inducted as Genin." Iruka said between mouthfuls of ramen. He seemed generally pleased by his statement and added, "that technique idea of mine worked like a charm too. You really should consider developing it more if you wanna stand out from the rest though. That and we should figure out what kind of nature your chakra has." He was jotting more things down as he ate and he wasn't even looking up from his food or his paper to see the disgruntled expression on Karin's face. Naruto, however, was not the most oblivious in the group for once and saw it.

"What's wrong Karin?" he asked, concern creasing his face.

She didn't answer immediately, her chopsticks angrily stabbing the food in front of her. A Genin! That's it? I served under Orochimaru and Akatsuki! My sensor technique makes me Chuunin-level alone! She growled angrily. "I just don't think I'd like being so low rank…" she mumbled in response and instantly regretted it when she saw the hurt look on Naruto's face.

"Is Genin really so bad…? Ya know… I'm still a Genin…" Naruto mumbled slightly, looking away.

Karin looked at Iruka who was busy yammering on and taking notes before she looked back at Naruto again quickly. "I… I didn't know." she stuttered, trying to think of something to say before slamming her hands down on the counter, standing up defiantly and shouting, "I want to become a Konoha Ninja!"

Naruto looked back, eyes wide in surprise and Iruka had his head tilted down so she couldn't see it and smirked broadly. "Finding out he was a Genin too didn't make it quite so bad huh?" he whispered quietly to himself as Karin realized her outburst was drawing quite a bit of attention and sat back down quickly. Naruto looked too shocked to stay offended anymore and she smiled at it. Good, I hadn't meant to upset him. Guess I was just being prideful… after all, if Danzo could defeat me with a single kick, maybe a Konoha Genin is a lot stronger than other country's Chounins or even Jounins.

Iruka looked up again and stood up, turning to face Karin. "Well hell, I never imagined I'd make a habit of giving away my forehead protector… but…" he started to reach up and untie the one he wore. Karin held up a hand to stop him.

"I'm sorry, I know you want to do that now, but uhhhmmm…" she leaned in close and whispered something to him. Naruto stared as Iruka nodded a few times and then snickered only to get punched in the arm repeatedly.

"Ow ow ow! Okay! I understand! Geez, why am I getting hit by girls so much today?" He laughed it off and rubbed his arm. Naruto only stared perplexed as Iruka nodded again when Karin pressed him for confirmation. "Yeah yeah, I'll make sure you get one like that. I just wanted to let you know that you've got my full approval. I'm an academy instructor after all, I can graduate anyone whom I deem fit at any time. Just ask Naruto over there. He graduated in quite an unusual manner of his own!"

Naruto beamed at the memory and quickly started to tell the story without being asked. Karin listened with a fascinated look on her face as Naruto told his tale about how he first had learned kagebunshin and how he had made his first 'real friend' in Konoha. While she listened, Iruka quietly jotted a few notes and signaled a friend walking by to deliver a few messages for him. As Naruto finished his story, Iruka smirked at the realization that Karin hadn't noticed anything he'd done; she was listening to Naruto with rapt attention.

As the tale concluded, Iruka nodded to Karin and Naruto. "Alright, time for me to take her to go and get her headband. I'll also look after her during that time so Sakura is no longer her caretaker and won't get in trouble for it. Naruto, you should go and talk to the Hokage about all this, she'll know what to do about Sakura." He nodded again. "Let's go Karin."

She turned to Naruto and said, "See you around! Next time I'll be a Genin too hopefully!" She beamed widely and Naruto returned the smile happily.

"Can't wait, but don't get any big ideas, I'm going to be the next Hokage!" He gave a thumbs up to them as the two left. He had a large smile on his face, full of pride, until he turned back towards the ramen and realized Iruka had left him to foot the bill. "Whaa!" it was the first time Iruka had not treated him and now he had three empty bowls and the chef was eyeing him expectantly. He groaned loudly and reached for his familiar frog wallet, ready to empty it once more.

"Would you stop fidgeting!" one of the Konoha ninja demanded.

"Sorry sorry sorry!" Karin immediately apologized, she had been sitting impatiently in a chair in front of a large table behind which sat five ninja including Iruka. It was in an unused classroom and she sat by herself under the close scrutiny of the five other ninja. She had been trying to get comfortable in a chair designed to deny that very thing while the others reviewed Iruka's notes and asked her the occasional question. Just get on with it! It's been nearly an hour already! she thought angrily, wondering if this was a test of her patience.

"As I was saying," the man continued with a frustrated tone, "you fully renounce your old affiliations and swear to defend and work towards the good of Konoha?"

"I do." she intoned as she had done many times before for similar questions from the other ninja overseeing her ersatz graduation. Just hurry up with it! I want to see if Iruka really got the thing I asked for…

The group of ninja looked at each other, whispering quietly amongst themselves for an unbearably long time before finally nodding slowly. "Alright. We have come to an agreement." They shuffled their paperwork together and passed it along, each one stamping a form on the top of the stack and passing it to the next as it made its way from one end to the other. Iruka was at the far end and added another stamp to it before pulling out a box. With a large grin he opened it up and said warmly, "Karin, please stand."

Karin, excited, rose to her feet so fast the chair behind her fell over with a clatter. Her face darkened red almost immediately and she turned to pick it back up while the others suppressed smiles and knowing nods, remembering their own pasts. She folded her hands together in front of her, looking surprisingly hopeful. It was forbidden to use jutsu at this point so she actually felt somewhat blind about what was happening without her familiar sensory-technique giving her added insight. That's a weakness I should be careful of later… she thought in a tiny corner of her mind while Iruka walked forward with the opened box in his hands and said, "Karin, I believe these are now yours. Wear it with pride. You're now a Genin of Konoha."

Her face now flushed with excitement and eagerness, looked into the box and saw that he had procured everything she had asked for, right down to the detail she liked most. "Thank you… so much…" Iruka looked at her for a moment and nodded to the others.

"Oh, and two more things." He reached forward and held out a small, faintly glowing stone which he touched to the collar on her neck. There was a low humming noise and then the collar snapped loose. "You don't need that anymore… and…" he rummaged in a pocket in his vest before producing a small key and a piece of paper. "We found you a place of your own to live in the village. It's not much, but… beats having to live as a captive so-" he was about to go on but could tell from Karin's face that was unnecessary. She seemed almost about to cry. "Alright. I think that concludes our business here today. Karin, when you're ready, you should go out and meet some of the other ninja in the village. You should also think about finding a team to join up with. No hurries though, just take your time and get used to all of this." He turned and the others all started to leave the room together. Iruka was the last one out and he turned with a smile. "By the way, I'll get you some ramen some time and answer that other thing you were wondering about. After all, you're a Konoha Ninja now, no need to keep secrets from a friend." He gave a wink and left.

She continued to stare at the box but quickly closed it again, a large smile on her face and dashing off to find the address listed on the paper. It didn't take her long, her energy was boundless as she dashed along, drawing quite a few puzzled gazes, until she found the small apartment complex. She slid the key into the door on the top floor and stared at it for a moment. She looked around for a moment to see if anyone else was nearby; finding no one, she closed her eyes slowly and took a deep breath. She slowly turned the key and walked inside.

It was just a small one-room apartment with a bathroom, but it felt strange to her. She walked around, slowly touching the various parts of the room such as the dresser or the bed, setting down the box she carried in front of the mirror as she went. She sighed quietly and walked towards the double-window on the side of the room. "So this is my life now, huh?" she spoke to herself, barely muttering but still clearly audible in the quiet stillness of the room. She fell backwards onto her bed and stared at the ceiling.

Not much… but I guess it's better than the places I'm used to. At least here no one would kill me without a thought for their own benefit… except maybe Sakura… thank god I'm not stuck with her anymore . She frowned again, remembering the bitterness towards her from the pink-haired girl. She's so far gone she's afraid to even turn back now. If she was to actually acknowledge her own loss then she'd be able to see all the good still around her, but she's too obsessed with trying to fix one mistake; never learning from it. She sighed and rolled over, lying on her side now and closed her eyes. So this is Konoha… and, well, I guess I'm a part of it now. I feel like I should be more awkward about all this but it just kind of feels right. What were you thinking abandoning all of this Sasuke? How different would I be if I could've "grown" here instead of in labs performing my duties for Orochimaru? She again sighed and sat up abruptly, shaking her head.

"No, no no." She slapped her face lightly as she said aloud, "I am ahead of all that. Now! Now I'm Karin, a ninja of Konoha." She stood up and walked towards the mirror, taking a good hard look at herself. "Well, I don't quite look the part… and I don't really feel it yet… especially that bit about the 'will of fire'…" She giggled a bit, imagining what Jugo would say about her current situation. She then grit her teeth imagining Suigetsu harping on about 'you really wanna be closer to Sasuke so now you're even gonna join Konoha? Hah!'. I wonder what happened to those two, we got separated at the Kage-summit, Sasuke left them for dead…

A sigh slowly escaped her lips, her head hung a bit, "Sasuke… why give all this up? …and why want to destroy it?" she said as she thought about her current surroundings. She came to a sudden bitter realization as she talked to herself, "Guess I'm his enemy now, aren't I?" A smirk crept onto her face. "…but I'm not worried, Naruto is here and I don't think he'd let Sasuke hurt anyone here." She stopped talking and opened the box in front of her that Iruka had given her. Inside was a new set of clothes and her forehead protector with the leaf symbol of Konoha on it.

And I'll be there to help him do it . She thought as she tore off her lavender coat, letting it fall to the floor, peeling off the outfit she'd worn under Orochimaru and Sasuke. She'd long since abandoned the Akatsuki robe and now she was abandoning the rest of it. She peeled off the uniform completely, leaving herself standing practically nude in front of the mirror before she looked back in the box. She pulled out a new coat, similar to her old in design, but now entirely black. She turned it over and a beaming smile appeared on her face; there, on the back, like she'd asked was the red spiral symbol she'd seen before on Jounin vests and elsewhere. The symbol of 'Uzushiogakure' she heard, the land of whirlpools, she'd learned that Konoha still honored to this day. Heh, might as well make a good impression on all these headstrong folks. She smiled again, and pulled on a matching pair of black shorts. She looked in the mirror and let out a disgruntled huff. "Not enough yet… now I'm still the same, only black with a spiral on the back…" so she dug into the box once more and pulled out a black hair-tie and bound her hair into a ponytail as she'd done once before after fighting the 8-tails. "Hmmm… and now for the finishing touch!" she announced happily, pulling out a new pair of unscuffed glasses with a red, squared frame. She also pulled out the last item… a Konoha forehead protector. She smiled and blushed a bit, the modification she'd asked for was there just as Iruka had promised it. She tied the band around her thigh, staring in the mirror for a moment before she pushed the leg of her shorts down a bit to cover all but the metal plate on the front of it.

Oh what would Jugo, Sasuke, and Suigetsu say if they could see me like this? Jugo would probably be happy for me… Suigetsu… well… Suigetsu doesn't count. He'd just harp on about how I was jumping from one crush on a member of Team 7 to another. Not that I am! She shook her head violently, her face blushing red slightly at the embarrassment and frustration of the imagined jab from Suigetsu. She reminded herself that next time she saw Suigetsu she could actually fight him seriously. Good, I owe him a legitimate beating. But Sasuke? What a ridiculously awkward situation that'd be. Saved by his rival and now emulating him! He'd probably not care… nothing matters to that guy anymore. But, I will help him rescue you from yourself, Sasuke. I'll help him bring you back, if nothing else than to thank him for what he did for me. She smiled again and said aloud, "After all, I'm a Konoha Ninja now. It's my duty." As she turned and took the box to place it somewhere out of the way, the mirror showed only the tiniest glimmer of truth about what her secret modification was. There, on her thigh, the fabric showed only for a moment as she bent and put the box under the bed before she stood and straightened it… and the fabric behind the metal was orange.

Karin strolled down the streets of Konoha, odd glances going her way but quickly being dismissed as they saw the unmistakable leaf mark on the forehead protector of a ninja. There were a few raised eyebrows about this 'new girl' they didn't recognize, but they couldn't deny her current status. Many also smiled when they saw the red spiral on the back of her new black coat. As she walked, no one seemed to recognize her, and it wasn't until she saw a young man walking along on his hands grunting out a routine of some kind.

"Uhm, Hey! Rock Lee, was it?" Karin called out tentatively to the young man who promptly flipped to his feet.

"Ah! It was… it was…" he fumbled for a moment, "…Kili?"

Karin frowned and Rock Lee immediately started to stumble through an avalanche of names that began with 'k' as his face turned progressively redder. Karin finally held up a hand to stop him. "It's Karin. Don't worry about it… but… what are you doing?"

He smiled broadly, showing as many teeth as he could and striking a thumbs up pose. He even seemed to be imagining he was sparkling in his mind and said, "Fifteen laps around Konoha on my hands. If I can't do it, one thousand pushups with each hand! You stopped me, so when I resume, I'll do the pushups!" He seemed genuinely pleased that he'd actually have to switch the regimens up despite the unbelievable difficulty of each one.

"Uhm… I'm sorry?" she started to say but he held up a hand and solemnly closed his eyes in response. He shook his head sternly once and then struck yet another pose; this one, she imagined, was supposed to be a daring and proud pose.

"It is the duty of myself as a ninja to go beyond all limits! I am a genius of hard work and must hone the full potential of my youthful spirit!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, Karin was surprised that no one even turned or startled. Apparently this was not an uncommon occurrence. He leaned in and whispered like it was some kind of coy secret. "Besides… I like the pushups better." He immediately resumed his shouting. "Anyways! Nice to see you again Karin! Congratulations on becoming a Konoha Ninja!" She was surprised he'd actually noticed with how caught up he was in his own world. "Remember to harness your youth to become the best! Now I must resume my efforts!"

Karin watched in silent awe as Lee fell to the ground on that very spot, heedless of the people around him and began counting off one-handed pushups. She thought about continuing to talk to him, but decided she'd rather not experience that again. Determination is one thing, but this guy takes it way too far. I'm glad he's on my side… but… I'm glad I don't have to put up with him regularly .

She didn't see another familiar face until the hooded figure of Shino. She wasn't sure if she wanted to say 'hi' to him, but he strolled past her without so much as turning his head. She thought he might've raised an eyebrow in surprise at the sight of her, or maybe her Konoha Forehead Protector, but with the goggles and hood, she couldn't be sure. She knew about the bugs in his body and using her technique to sense that always made her feel uncomfortable, so she just let him pass.

Following Shino, she ran into Ino and Sai, the two of them were walking together chatting about something when Ino waved to Karin. "Hey there, I heard there was quite a snafu with Sakura, you okay?"

"Uh… yeah… fine…" Karin trailed off a bit, not in any hurry to tell Sakura's friends a story about how she'd gone berserk and attacked Iruka before coming after her with intent to kill.

Sai raised a hand as if needing permission to speak, but then spoke anyways without waiting for a response. "Actually, if you're hesitant about talking to us the way Sakura has been acting lately, we've seen it." Ino turned to start to try and hush Sai, but Karin only hung her head a bit in reply.

"I'm… I'm not sure what's up with her. Her whole world revolves around Sasuke and he's destroying himself and it's dragging her along with it." Karin said sadly, honestly lamenting Sakura's fate as it may well have been her own had she not given him up of her own free will.

Ino sighed loudly, "Look, Karin, it's not your fault what Sakura does and you're just her recent target of aggression because you represent all the things she can't bring herself to admit or do."

Karin looked puzzled, but then her face lit up, "oh, you mean that I was with Sasuke for a while and she's jealous of that given her obsession?"

Ino started to nod but Sai held up a hand again and started to talk, saying: "I think Ino was actually indirectly referring to the way that you and Naruto-ngh!" he was cut off by a none-too-subtle stomp on his foot by Ino. He stared at her for a moment, she made a face, and he turned back. "My apologies. Though I do feel there is something you need to know about regarding Sakura and her recent actions."

Karin, meanwhile stood utterly perplexed by the interaction she'd just seen go on. She closed her eyes and expanded her mental focus, using her technique to examine the two. Sai was, as he always is, a perfectly gray chakra that belied nothing in terms of emotion or power. Ino, on the other hand was red and jagged… clearly bothered, flustered, and also hiding something. Karin decided rather than stand there getting only half-truths and hintings, she'd go on the offensive. "Are you two going out?"

Ino went red-faced, Sai remained as utterly impassive as ever. Ino started to shake her head 'no' while Sai answered: "No, but I think Ino would like it if we were." Ino turned and looked with a face that was a mix between furious and embarrassed; Sai didn't appear to realize he'd said anything wrong; Karin stood awestruck by the sudden bomb that Sai had dropped so casually.

"Umm…" Karin began, but Ino interrupted her by yelling: "Sai! Don't blurt things like that out!"

Sai turned back to her with a puzzled look, "but isn't it true?"

Ino's face turned bright red and she started to try and mouth a reply and then ran off without another word, only managing a few squeaked half-syllables. Sai only stared in confusion, "I'll… have to ask Naruto… or better yet, Shikamaru, about this." He shook his head and leveled his emotionless gaze back at Karin. "Anyways, I guess I can tell you about the thing I mentioned now, can't I?" He gestured to an alleyway nearby and walked over there for privacy, the random passerby's still staring after the outburst from Ino. Karin nodded and followed, not sensing any hostility or danger from Sai… Not that I would if he had, talk about a blank slate!

Karin followed him slowly and when they reached the alley, Sai turned and leveled his emotionless stare at her again. She would likely have been unnerved, except the stare was like Sasuke's… and he even kind of looks like him… so she instead stared back, waiting for the revelation he was going to share with her. "So what's up?"

Sai looked up momentarily before correcting himself a low 'ah', and then speaking aloud. "What I had to tell you about Sakura is that she… hmm… confessed to Naruto. She met him around the time of the kage-summit and tried to get him to abandon his promise to return Sasuke as it was this promise that he initially made to her. She tried to do this by saying she loved him and only cared for him. Naturally, what we know about Naruto means this didn't work…"

Karin cut him off, "He's not just doing it for her."

"…exactly. He's doing it for himself and for everyone else at the same time. Regardless, this confession was shot down. Unfortunately, while I think Sakura had tried to reason in her head that it was a fake confession in order to get him to let her handle Sasuke… I think it was a genuine one that she refuses to admit was genuine." Karin gasped in surprise and placed a hand over her mouth. "Exactly," Sai continued, "she's denying anything and everything but her goal when she herself doesn't even believe in it anymore. You saw her hesitate when she went to actually kill Sasuke. She'd nerved herself to kill him but couldn't do it. She'd nerved herself to confess to Naruto but convinced herself it was a ruse that he saw through. She's on a spiral of self-destruction if she can't actually accept the world around her and herself."

Karin tapped a lip in thought, "has anyone told the higher ups?" Sai nodded in reply. "Ah… they aren't sure how to handle it… can't say that I blame them." Sai again nodded and motioned out of the alleyway. As they walked, Karin straightened her glasses and ran a hand through the still-ruffled side of her hair (what little of it wasn't in the ponytail). "I guess I can try to smooth things over, but that'll have to wait until she's calmed down a bit."

Sai shook his head this time and responded, "l wouldn't think she'll listen to anyone but Sasuke himself, and he's in no way interested in anything but killing her." He saw the bitter look on Karin's face, and thinking about only correcting his mistake, continued: "Ah, my apologies, killing all of us." Karin stopped walking as soon as he finished saying it.

"Sai…" Karin turned, her voice strained.

"Ah, I've done it again haven't I? Just do like the others and hit me. It seems to work wonders for their stress." He turned and smiled, for all the world seemingly ready to be struck. It was so surprising the uneventful way he said it that Karin's anger dissolved instantly.

"Hahaha," she chuckled, "You're honest! I'll give you that! No, I only meant that even if Sasuke talks her out of her own decay, it's only step one all over again. She has to save herself, everyone else can only help." Sai nodded slowly, pulled out a book and jotted a few notes. Karin peered over and saw the book was full of helpful social information and laughed again. "Just as a note Sai, you might want to not show that book so openly. It's kind of embarrassing!"

"Should I be embarrassed?" he replied.

Karin again started laughing and patted him on the shoulder. "I guess it's okay to be embarrassed every so often isn't it?" He shrugged and her laughing faded away as she added: "Ya know Sai? Everyone needs a friend like you. Someone like you keeps everything in perspective."

He shrugged, "Happy to help, even if I didn't do anything. By the way, I think you've unintentionally walked in a circle…" He pointed to the apartment complex she was now standing in front of again.

"Huh!" she startled in surprise, looking around, "How did I get back here?"

Sai smiled and sketched a quick circular drawing. "This is Konoha, it's easy to go in circles without realizing it when you're new to the location."

Karin nodded slowly… and then shouted again, "How did you know I started here!"

Sai put away the pad, frowned, and thoughtfully tapped his lips. "Ino told me you came from this direction when she first saw you… she said that the change in outfit and the way you were walking made it clear you must live here. She also pointed out that it would make sense for Iruka to put you here."

Karin, flustered that she was so easily predictable, caught the last bit and hung on it. "Wait… what? Why would that make sense?"

Sai turned and looked thoughtful once more: "I believe she said it's because Naruto lives quite close to here and there's no way anyone wouldn't put you with a view from your window facing into his."

A few minutes later, Sai was rubbing his cheek and pulled out his notebook again. He quickly scratched out the line that said 'Karin does not resort to physical violence as readily as the other girls in Konoha.' He then flipped the page and scratched out the line 'Embarrassment is okay sometimes.' and wrote 'Embarrassment is okay sometimes - but not for girls.'

Elsewhere, Yamato stood on a high tree branch, watching as a dark-skinned man approached. He wore only some body armor over his Kumogakure uniform, a pair of sunglasses, and had seven swords strapped to his body. He saw the tattoos he'd been told to look for and confirmed that the man was, in fact, Bee; the eight-tailed beast's host. He'd heard about him taking a trophy-sword that belonged to one of the Hidden Mist's seven swordsmen, but he obviously did not have it with him now. What happened to it? That's not the kind of item one loses lightly… He saw the man was writing in a notebook as he walked and decided he should guide him the rest of the way. He hopped down when the man had walked close enough. "So you're the only one they sent?"

The man looked up from a notebook he'd been writing in with an ink-covered finger and immediately held up his hands in a pose: "Got that right, but I ain't just spending' the night! I came all the way here to train your Jinchuuriki, cuz I'm the eight-tailed beast's master Killer-Bee! WHEEE!"

Yamato stared in a mixture of confusion, awe, and horror at the rhyming man from Kumogakure. "Well, I'm sure the Hokage would like to speak to you immediately, quickly, let's get out of the outskirts. Akatsuki is still looking for you."

"Let 'em find me, they'll get a beating for free, 'cuz if they don't send at least three, they won't like what they see!" the man enthusiastically yelled, making very little sense to Yamato. Yamato only shook his head and kept walking, muttering something under his breath about how 'thank god this will only be my problem for only a little while longer.'

What necessitated the arrival of Bee in Konoha? Naruto's break from training is over!