As long as she could remember, she had lived a tough life. Her own villagers treated her like dirt. Only later did she realise that they weren't even her people in the first place.
There was only one person in her life who ever treated her well—her mother. And those bastards killed her. Not immediately, but rather lowly, bite by bite.
Her life changed once her mother died. She was forced to heal others due to her natural bloodline power; her blood could heal others. Only when her mother passed and Karin had to take her place did she truly understand what kind of pain her mother must have endured.
Every day, those Kusa bastards bit her to the brink of death, and still, her mother returned to her with a smile on her face. She forced herself to endure it all so that Karin wouldn't have to go through the same pain.
Karin wouldn't say it aloud, but the bite scars those Kusa shinobi left on her arms were nowhere near as painful as the scars inside. The constant fear of her mother dying. A single girl left alone in a village ready to tear her apart for her blood.
Every day, she cried by herself until there were no more tears left. However, she learned how to survive. So, just like Naruto, she put up a mask.
A brave persona that could act as a shield. That was the only thing a child like her could do.
But no matter what kind of mask it was, she was broken—especially after her mother died. Karin's mother did her best. She pushed herself to the limit just so Karin could be spared from the same fate, even if only for one more day.
That was the love of a mother.
After she passed away, Karin wanted to run away, but there was no way out. With her sensing abilities, there was no way a 7-year-old girl could bypass all those shinobi.
It was her fate to be used, just like her mother.
But then, one day, a group of Kusa shinobi barged into her home. Before she could even put up a fight, she was knocked unconscious and taken away.
That was the last thing she remembered. When she woke up again, she was in a bag—bound.
Karin was scared. Her little heart couldn't take it anymore.
She just wanted to stay away from those bad people.
'Mom…' Helpless, alone, bound, and cold, the little girl could only clutch herself tightly, pulling her knees to her chest and sobbing in silence.
When she saw light again, there was a kunai next to her neck—digging in, drawing blood.
A part of Karin wished the man would just do it. Maybe it would have been easier if her misery ended right there.
But before she knew it, the man collapsed behind her. She looked back only to find his entire head missing. Blood poured from the headless corpse.
Her whole body stiffened. Her small frame began shaking purely out of fear.
And then she heard a voice.
"You okay...?"
A masked man—no, a boy. He was about the same size as her. He stood in front of her, facing the Kusa shinobi.
The next second, he waved his hand and several of them were immediately bisected in half. Her blood froze at the sight. She was too disoriented from the earlier attack to even hear what he said to her.
But when he pointed at the Kusa-nin, Karin instinctively shook her head.
"You heard the girl. She ain't going," he said, and in the next moment, the same fate befell the rest of the ninja.
Karin's legs gave out, and she could only crawl backward, trying to distance herself from him.
He tried speaking to her, but she was too frightened to say anything. Her entire body trembled.
So he waited.
Only after calming down did Karin once again sense the boy's chakra, trying to figure out a way to escape this situation.
But his chakra...
"Dark, sharp… and warm?"
That didn't make sense. She had never felt chakra like this before. She had sensed both dark and bright chakra before—they reflected a person's character.
But dark and warm? She had never felt this combination before. She sensed no hostility from him.
He felt like a sword—a hidden sword in the dark. But somehow, he was also warm. Comforting. As if against her, he had sheathed the blade.
When he removed his mask, Karin flinched. While pink hair wasn't something she was expecting, she didn't care much. Her own hair wasn't exactly common either. What made her flinch were those eyes.
Unlike her own red eyes, she could feel powerful chakra within them—and that chakra was nothing like the boy's.
Before she realised it, the boy closed the distance and grabbed her face. She thought he was going to hurt her—only for him to softly pinch her cheeks.
Karin was speechless. 'Is that how you hurt others? By pinching cheeks...?'
"Pervert..." Before she knew it, she muttered it aloud. She even thought about slapping herself, but seeing the boy's ridiculous reaction, her heart finally relaxed.
Her sensing technique was right—the boy had no hostility toward her. He wasn't one of the bad guys.
And with that, her Uzumaki boldness came out.
Only for the boy to pinch her cheeks even harder this time. And when she retaliated, the bastard tickled her to death.
"Bad man… I was wrong. You're one of those bad men. No—you're worse!" she pouted, arms flailing in frustration.
Ten straight minutes of tickling until she was almost out of breath. For the first time, she felt she might die—not from blood loss, but from lack of air.
"Suits you right, brat..." the boy said, showing no sign of remorse.
Karin's small face, already flushed from laughing, turned almost tomato-red with anger.
'Bastard... I'll take revenge when I grow up. Just you wait.' She gave her standard reply, the one she used back in Kusa on anyone who bullied her. Of course, she didn't dare say it out loud. What if the bad man heard it and launched another tickle attack?
She'd die. Her lungs and stomach already hurt from laughing so much. She had been so wronged by this nasty guy. She would definitely get even with him someday.
"Anyways, I'm Sukuna. What's your name?"
"Hmph… I'm not saying," she retorted and turned her face away.
"Oh, you're being a bad girl again? Let's see how we can solve that…" he said, slowly creeping toward her with his fingers dancing creepily in the air.
"I... I'm—I'm Karin. Uzumaki Karin," she instantly blurted out.
"Good..." He nodded with a smug smile, making Karin grit her teeth in irritation.
She'd have her revenge one of these days.
Sukuna didn't care what the girl was thinking. His eyes fell on her arm, finally taking a good look at her now that she was calm.
Ripped clothes, cracked glasses, tear-streaked face—and… those bite marks.
When Sukuna hadn't seen them before, it was fine. But now, seeing a small child like her having gone through so much, he couldn't help but feel a little bad.
'This world sure is a cruel place.'
He felt just like he had when he first met Naruto—a small child with big problems and a lot of trauma.
"Show me your hand," he said.
Hearing this, Karin, who had been steaming in anger, stiffened. Her lips pressed together.
"Come on…" He extended his hand, demanding.
Karin, of course, hesitated. Would he use her like the Kusa shinobi did? So, had she not escaped her fate?
But it's still okay, right? He's just one person, and as long as he only bit her a few times a day, she should be fine. She could bear it.
So she bravely held her hand out toward him. Sukuna slowly took it and removed her sleeve to see the damage.
There were indeed bite marks. Though not as many as he had feared. That was a good thing.
"Close your eyes."
"Huh? W–why?" Her voice shook slightly at the end. She braced herself for the pain, expecting the bite, only to hear him say that.
"Just do it." He looked at her with those red eyes, and she just obeyed. It's not like this was her first time being bitten. What's so different about it?
Besides, she usually closed her eyes while getting bitten anyway, so he didn't need to say it.
For a second, nothing happened, making her frown. 'This guy's doing this on purpose, right? Teasing me? Just bite already…' she grumbled to herself.
Sometimes, the anticipation of pain is worse than the pain itself.
And then, a warm feeling spread across her hand, making her shudder.
She was about to open her eyes to see what this bad boy was planning, but then she felt his breath near her hand and shut her eyes again. He's going to bite her for sure now, right?
But there was no pain. Only a soft warmth, followed by a bit of moisture.
Her eyes fluttered open, only to find that he had kissed her hand—and all the marks were gone.
"There. Now they're as pretty as you again," he remarked and let go of her hand.
Her mind blanked out.
'What?!' She couldn't comprehend what had happened. Wasn't he going to bite her like the Kusa shinobi?
'Did his kiss remove my bite marks…?'
'Huh. Look at that. Playing hero and flirting with a 7-year-old girl. How far I've fallen…' Sukuna shook his head in self-mockery.
But a soft smile appeared when he saw the tears trailing down the girl's face.
'Even after constantly exposing myself to Ryomen Sukuna's memories... why am I still such a softie on the inside…?'
xxx
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