Perched high on the thick branches in the heart of the forest, two ANBU Shinobi were stationed. They wore dark uniforms with grey armor plates, the ANBU symbol tattooed on their arms.
One of the two guards, responsible for watching the perimeter of the forest cabin, yawned with profound boredom.
"Aaaaaah…"
His older colleague said in a reproving tone, "Hey, don't lose your focus."
The younger Shinobi replied, "I'm paying attention. I'm just tired."
"You think you're the only tired one? Hang in there a little longer, the shift's almost over."
The younger man grumbled discontentedly, "I know, but I can't take it anymore! I'm going to pass out from this boring job."
"We should be thanking the god they put us here on guard duty! "
"It would be better if they sent us on a mission outside the village…At least that would be more exciting!"
They had been sitting in the forest's silence for hours, staring out at the surroundings—a silence that often compelled them to chat about anything just to stay awake.
The older one stated firmly, "I'd prefer to guard all my life than to lose my life somewhere where no one will ever know what happened."
The young one sat on the branch and asked, "Then why did you stay in ANBU?"
"So that if I wasn't around, reckless kids like you wouldn't learn to carry out your duty without mistakes."
BOOM!
At that very moment, a deafening explosion rattled their eardrums.
"What was that sound?"
"I don't know… Look over there!"
The ANBU simultaneously stared at a distant point in the Village Hidden in the Leaves , which was now lit up by flames.
"What's happening?"
"We need to go take a look."
"What? Are you crazy? Our duty is to guard this area!"
"What's the point of guarding an empty forest?! Something important might have happened, hurry up!"
"Forget it! The others can go see."
"Hey, don't you get that this is an emergency situation right now? The village might be under attack!" The younger one's eyes locked onto his colleague. The older Shinobi saw that despite his fear, he had no choice but to agree.
"Don't say such ominous things! Let's go!" And with full speed, they both rushed towards the source of the sound and the fire.
..
About twenty minutes earlier…
A heavy silence lay over the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
Fū and Karin, two Genin from the Village Hidden in the Waterfall (Takigakure), were hidden in camouflage in the shadows of the forests overlooking the Hokage Rock. Their commander, Shibuki, had delivered the new orders to Karin exactly an hour ago.
Karin turned to Fū: "Scan the area. How many people do you sense in the forest?"
Fū quietly replied, "Okay."
She placed her hand on a tree trunk and sent an invisible wave of her Chakra into the forest. "There are two people in the forest…"
Fū noticed Karin was silent. "Why are you quiet? Aren't you saying anything?"
Karin had her hand over her heart. "I'm preparing myself. Tell me as soon as the guards move so we can move too."
BOOM!
The sound of an explosion came from a different direction.
They both turned and looked toward the darkness of Konoha, which had suddenly begun to light up with the sound of the blast.
Just then, as if sensing something, Fū placed her hand back on the tree trunk: "They've moved! They're rapidly moving away from the forest area… We can go now!"
As soon as she heard Fū, Karin leaped into the forest: "Hurry! We don't have much time!"
Both of them rushed forward across the branches at full speed. The path was riddled with bell traps, but they passed through them with strange softness and skill, reaching the last row of trees near the cabin.
The cabin was an old, two-story wooden building.
Before Karin could ask a question, Fū said, "There are three people in the cabin. Two on the ground floor, one on the second floor."
Karin nodded, and after a few moments, muttered, "Let's go!"
They ran towards the nearest wall of the cabin with speed and minimal noise. Both of them smoothly climbed the wall and reached a wooden window.
They gently unlocked the window and slipped into the second floor. Inside the room, a girl with a pale face and long brown hair was painting.
Karin whispered, "Are you Yakumo Kurama?"
Yakumo Kurama put down her brush and asked with a trembling voice, "Who are you?"
Karin raised her hand in a gesture of surrender to keep the girl from panicking and calmly said, "We came to take you away."
"So you're from the Crow, right?"
Fū asked in confusion, "The Crow? Who's the Crow?"
But Karin immediately replied, "Yes. Don't worry, it's time for you to leave this place. Are you ready?"
The girl nodded in affirmation.
Karin stepped forward and said, "Then let me check a few things. We need to hurry."
Yakumo paused for a moment in thought. Then she asked with a firmer voice, "Okay, what should I do?"
Karin replied, "Just stay calm and look at me."
She took Yakumo's hand and checked her pulse. Then she gently touched Yakumo's face, turning it in a few directions, and asked, "Do you have any marks or special signs on your body?"
"No, there's nothing."
"Do you know the names of the two people downstairs?"
"Yes, the doctor…" and Yakumo began to tell her everything she knew.
Karin listened to all her words—not just the concepts and information, but also registering Yakumo Kurama's tone and speaking manner in her mind.
Karin momentarily stepped back and asked with more precision, "How much time do you spend sitting in this room each day? What do you usually do? How many times a day do you go to the restroom and what foods do you dislike?" She was absorbing behavioral details like a sponge. This was precisely what she had learned in several years of intense training: to imitate someone, one must not only copy their face but also their every behavioral detail.
When she finally felt completely ready, she used a Henge no Jutsu to transform herself precisely into Yakumo Kurama and turned to Fū, who had been watching Yakumo's wall paintings the entire time.
Karin, in Yakumo's appearance, separated a small strand of the girl's hair: "We have to swap appearances. You'll go to the base in my place, and I'll stay here in yours."
Then she whispered to Fū: "Let's cut her hair!"
She instructed Yakumo to sit on the chair. They quickly cut the girl's hair to the length of the original Karin's hair. Then Karin pulled a small tube from her pocket, mixed it with another liquid, and applied it to Yakumo's head. After about five minutes, she picked up a bowl of water from the corner of the room and told Yakumo, "Wash your hair!"
Yakumo quickly washed her hair.
Karin gave Yakumo a small container along with a pair of red-rimmed glasses and said, "These are lenses, put them in your eyes."
Yakumo put in the lenses and the glasses.
With the help of a mirror Fū handed her, she looked at the new color of her hair: her hair and eyes had turned red. Her face was very similar to Karin's when they entered; only her height was slightly taller, and her facial expression lacked Karin's usual vibe.
Despite this, Karin nodded in approval and said to Fū: "Go before the guards return. Once you get back to the lodging, teach her everything you can so she can pass as me. Also, inject a little Chakra into her every day so others can't identify her by her Chakra signature."
Fū gave a thumbs-up and said, "Okay! Leave it to me!"
Yakumo asked Karin, "What will you do?"
Karin went toward the chair where Yakumo had been painting and said, "I'll stay here in your place for a while."
Yakumo asked in surprise, "Why? Why do you have to stay?"
Karin gave a calm smile. "To make sure everything goes according to plan. When the time is right, I'll come too… Now, go."
Fū, who was now a bit impatient, said, "We don't have time, we need to leave."
Yakumo, as Fū pulled her hand, turned to Karin and said, "Thank you."
And then she left the room with Fū.
Fū put Yakumo on her back, and they leaped out of the cabin window. They vanished into the shadows, heading toward their own base in Konoha.
Inside the cabin, Karin, now with Yakumo's face and clothes, remained alone. She sat on the chair and stared at the wall paintings. The cabin's silence had returned, but this silence was filled with anticipation.