They stood at the top of a small hill, the trees behind them rustling quietly in the wind. In the distance, the gates of Konoha were just barely visible. Sukuna had chosen a spot far enough from the patrol lines so no one could see them—especially not him.
Once Karin calmed down and somewhat believed in his words, the real problem came: what to do with her.
He wasn't heartless enough to just leave her there, so the only place that remained was Konoha.
He turned to Karin, who stood beside him. She looked calm now, but there was still nervousness in her eyes.
"Alright," Sukuna began, "this is where we part ways."
Karin blinked. "Huh?"
"You're going to walk the rest of the way to Konoha," he said, pointing toward the barely visible gates. "Alone."
"What?! Why?" she protested, eyes wide. "You... you said you were gonna take me to a good place. Why can't we go together!" Her calm look instantly distorted.
For Karin, almost everyone was a stranger. Everyone was a potential enemy. That's how she had lived her life after her mother died.
However, in her hour of need, Sukuna came to save her. Even though he was a bastard who took advantage of her young age, still...
"Can't I go with you?" she asked as her hands clenched together tightly.
Sigh. "We are both going to the same place, I'm not leaving you, okay," he muttered, annoyed. "I'm helping you the only way I can without getting a personal visit from the Yamanaka mind specialist."
She blinked again. "Mind Specialist?"
"Look, I'm not even supposed to be outside the village," he said, rubbing his temples. "I snuck out. If I show up with some random girl from Kusa village—forget about you, I'd be first one needing to find another home."
"So, be a good little girl and just walk to the gate and do what they say. I'll meet you inside sooner or later. I promise."
Karin frowned, clearly not liking this plan. Her hands unconsciously came forward and tightly grabbed Sukuna's. Without words, she expressed how many fucks she gave about his plan.
Sukuna continued before she could interrupt again. "So, here's the story: you're a Kusa citizen. You were kidnapped by rogue ninja."
"But that's what happened..." She was baffled.
"Yes, yes... that's how the story should start, with a lot of truth. Now listen and don't interrupt."
"You escaped. Ran all the way here. That's it. No mysterious boys with red eyes and pink hair and a devilishly handsome face saved you, alright?"
"Handsome... where? Where is he?"
"Forget it, you're not worth the trouble. Let's go back to Kusa. You're best there..."
"No no... Sorry sorry sorry... I mean of course it's you. My Handsome Onii-Chan."
"Yup... I mean no. Forget anything about there being a boy altogether, okay... sigh."
"Okay."
"What if they ask how I survived?" she asked.
"Improvise," he said with a shrug. "Tell them you hid under a dead body or kicked someone where it hurts. I don't know. Be creative."
Karin looked unsure.
"Kick where? Why does it hurt when kicked there?" she genuinely asked, making Sukuna baffled.
"Forget it... just say you ran away after breaking open your bindings."
Sukuna sighed. "Listen, just don't mention me. At all. I was never there. You ran away all by yourself. If Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage of this place—you'll recognize him easily enough, he's an old man with a monkey-like face and wears a hat with the kanji for fire on it—if he accepts you, great. If not, and someone sketchy shows up, like a man with a lot of bandages and tries to grab you… don't worry. I'll get you out."
Karin's eyes widened again. "You will?"
"Yeah, promise," he mumbled, scratching his head. "I brought you here, that means I'll look after you."
She smiled faintly. "Thanks."
"Also," he added, growing serious, "don't tell anyone about your healing powers. Not even the Hokage, unless you really don't have any other choice. That kind of blood will get a lot of people interested—and not the good kind."
Karin nodded slowly. He didn't have to say it—Karin wasn't planning on displaying her powers to anyone. She had gone through enough hardship already because of them.
"To be extra safe," he said, "I'm going to cast a tiny genjutsu on you. Nothing scary—just enough to blur me out of your memories if someone tries digging around."
She hesitated, then nodded again.
Sukuna looked right into her eyes, which surprisingly looked like his with a half Mangekyo state, and a soft red glow passed through her pupils. A moment later, it was done.
He wasn't some genjutsu prodigy, but he had tinkered around with Sharingan enough to at least make the last three hours of her memories blurry enough that no one would be able to recognize him—even if Hiruzen thought of mind-raping a 7-year-old girl.
"Alright," he said, stepping back. "That should do it."
Karin looked down toward the village, then back at him. "So… I just walk?"
"Yes," he said. "Like a normal, confused, lost child. You'll be fine. As long as you start walking, the genjutsu I cast will take effect. You'll find most of your day blurry, like you can't remember much clearly. Don't worry about it. Just keep one thing in your mind. Go to the village..."
"Repeat that."
"Hmm... Go to the village."
"Yes... Once again."
"Go to the village."
"Good. Now go." Sukuna nodded.
Sukuna was just about to activate Kamui when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned, surprised—the little girl ran into him.
"Don't leave, okay..." she said while holding him tightly.
Sigh...
"I won't." He slowly comforted the girl. He remembered the Karin from the manga. The crazy girl who was mad for Sasuke and had a bite fetish. This girl looked nothing like that.
"I'll meet you inside... promise." He replied gently before separating himself from her.
She, after that, just turned around and started running toward the gate. Making Sukuna troubled.
"Tch... why does every girl in the universe know how to act cute, besides my own sister..."
...
Karin walked slowly up to the massive gates of Konoha, her heart pounding in her chest. Two chunin guards stood on either side, watching her closely. She looked tired, messy, and nervous—like someone who had been running for a long time.
To get the effect of her being tired out of her wits, Sukuna had made her run all the way up to the gate.
'A bad guy indeed, still bullying me...' Karin huffed.
One of the guards stepped forward. "Hey, kid. This isn't a playground. What are you doing here?"
Karin bowed quickly. "Hmm please, I don't have any other place to go."
This caused a range of questions from them which Karin answered one by one until finally she explained her entire story, just like Sukuna asked her to.
"You were from Kusagakure? Then what are you doing here, kid?"
"I was kidnapped by missing-nin. I escaped and made it here on my own. I don't have anywhere else to go."
The guards exchanged looks. It was a strange story, but the fear in her voice sounded real. One of them nodded.
"Alright, come with us. We'll need to ask some questions."
Karin followed them inside. She was taken to a small building near the entrance where a few more shinobi joined to question her. They asked her name, her home village, who her parents were, and what happened to her. Thanks to Sukuna's mild genjutsu, there was no mention of him at all. In her version of the story, she had escaped during the night when the rogue ninja got into a fight and forgot about her.
The chunin wrote everything down and talked quietly amongst themselves. One of them noticed something unusual about her chakra. After checking her family name again, his eyes widened.
"Oi oi... you're not kidding here, right brat? You're an Uzumaki," he asked with a flustered look.
It had been a long time since the Uzumaki country was destroyed, that people even forgot that Uzumaki people had red hair like Karin here...
However, their name at least was still remembered in Konoha.
With that, they decided to take her directly to the Hokage. Her identity alone made this situation worthy of the Hokage's personal involvement.
Karin was nervous again when she stood in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi. The old man looked kind, but wise and serious too.
He smiled gently at her. "So… Karin, was it? You've had a difficult journey, haven't you?"
She nodded quietly.
Hiruzen asked a few more questions—where she had been all this time, what happened to her parents, and if she remembered anything useful about the missing-nin. Karin answered everything honestly. She said her mother died in Kusagakure, and she had no other family left.
She only left out a few things, like what power her blood had—and of course, Sukuna.
The Hokage nodded after a moment of thought. "Don't worry, Konoha has long been allied with the Uzumaki Clan. Even now, when Uzushiogakure doesn't exist anymore, any Uzumaki is welcome in Konoha..."
Karin nodded again. "Thank you… so much."
Hiruzen smiled. "You're safe now, child. Welcome to Konoha."
Of course, he didn't say that he'd put someone to check her background and ANBU under surveillance on her.
xxx
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