"Ever since I was a child, I've had a special ability. No matter how serious the wound, if I bite myself, my body will heal rapidly."
"But as the price, the greater the injury the other person sustains, the more chakra I must expend. And if my chakra runs dry, then my very lifespan is consumed instead."
"My mother had the same ability. But when I was still very young, she died—her life completely drained away."
"They told me my mother had actually been a refugee, not a citizen of the Land of Grass."
"So when the higher-ups of Grass Village discovered that I had inherited her ability, they simply forced me to take her place…"
Walking shoulder to shoulder with Haruma, Karin spoke softly, her eyes cast downward toward the path ahead as she recounted her past. Yet her voice no longer trembled with tears.
Unlike Hinata, whose shyness and timidity often gave her an air of weakness, Karin was in truth a stubborn and fiery girl. She would never easily expose her vulnerabilities.
Her earlier breakdown had only happened because, since the death of her mother, Haruma was the very first person in this world to treat her with such kindness. For a girl starved of love, just like Naruto once was, she had been unable to hold back her tears.
But now that her emotions had settled, Karin refused to let the boy she admired see such an unseemly side of her again.
Yes, admired. No, more than that. Karin had already fallen for Haruma.
In the original story, it had taken nothing more than Sasuke driving off a bear for Karin's heart to be captured. How much more so now, when Haruma had not only saved her, but shattered her defences one layer at a time with warmth and care?
Like Sakura, Karin was a girl ruled by her heart, a romantic at her core. By now her inner world had already been reshaped entirely in Haruma's image.
At this point, there was nothing she would not tell him.
"I see…"
Having listened quietly, Haruma nodded in feigned realization. Then, slipping seamlessly into his role, he placed both hands firmly upon Karin's shoulders, his expression grave.
"In that case, Karin, you must never return to Grass Village."
Seeing the seriousness in his eyes, Karin immediately guessed what he was about to say. She averted her gaze shyly, her voice faltering. "Then… then where should I go?"
"Join Konoha," Haruma said without hesitation.
"Can I?" Karin's eyes lit with hope, only to dim again with worry. "Would Konoha really accept a shinobi from another land like me?"
"They will, without question." Haruma thumped his chest in assurance. "After this chunin exam, I'll become a chunin myself. Then I'll persuade my sensei, and together we'll recommend you to the Hokage. He will accept you."
"What's more, your ability feels strangely familiar to me, almost as though I've seen something like it before. Once I return, I'll investigate the records. Perhaps then we'll uncover the truth of your heritage and your mother's."
Then, letting a firmer side of himself show, Haruma reached out and rested a hand upon Karin's head. "It's settled. Don't go back to Grass. I'll take you to stay in a town within the Land of Fire for now. Once the exams are truly over, I'll come for you and bring you to Konoha."
"…Alright."
At just the right moment, his decisiveness softened her heart. Like a lamb, Karin nodded obediently.
And so, Haruma led her toward the bustling, gambling-filled city of Tanzaku Quarters.
Yes, Tanzaku Quarters. The very place where Naruto and Jiraiya would one day find Tsunade.
There was intent behind Haruma's choice. As a transmigrator who knew the flow of events, foresight was his greatest advantage. Used properly, it could grant him immeasurable gains.
The Uzumaki and Senju clan's were distant kin, both descendants of Asura Otsutsuki. Even Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, had taken an Uzumaki wife. Because of this, Tsunade carried a natural fondness for Uzumaki descendants.
Once she saw Karin and sensed her immense chakra reserves, she would surely recognize her as one of Uzumaki blood. Upon learning her tragic history, Tsunade would undoubtedly take Karin under her wing. And even if she returned to Konoha, she would not leave Karin behind.
If Tsunade somehow failed to notice, then Haruma would personally make sure Karin appeared before her.
From the moment Haruma resolved to snatch Karin away from Orochimaru and Sasuke, he had already planned her future.
That future was the mastery of Uzumaki sealing techniques, Tsunade's monstrous strength, and her unparalleled medical ninjutsu.
As a red-haired descendant of the Uzumaki, already gifted with innate healing, Karin was an even more fitting disciple for Tsunade than Sakura. In monstrous strength, in medical arts, she was the perfect successor.
If Karin were to inherit Tsunade's full arsenal and combine it with Uzumaki sealing techniques, she would become nothing less than a fusion of Tsunade and Mito Uzumaki herself and such a person as Karin, standing alongside Naruto and Sasuke, would form a true "New Legendary Sannin."
Not the ultimate genjutsu of this world, "the illusion of catching up to them" but a real equal.
Karin, of course, had no inkling of Haruma's schemes for her. Had she known, her lovesick heart would have melted even further, binding her to him completely.
Even now, her eyes saw only him. Her feelings burned hotter than even Ino's or Hinata's.
This was the nature of a lovesick, affection-starved girl who had found someone to cling to.
If winning the hearts of both Ino and Hinata was a challenge for Haruma, then adding Karin later would be as easy as speaking a single word.
In love, girls like Sakura and Karin were fragile creatures. In modern words, they were the ultimate "clingy dogs", grateful for even the smallest scrap of affection, never daring to expect more.
For that reason, Haruma had no fear of any future "battlefield of romance."
By the time Haruma and Karin left the village, it was already late afternoon, past four o'clock. With the second exam having begun at 2:30, the sun was already dipping low. After cracking Karin's heart wide open, he wasted no time. Together they travelled using the Body Flicker, arriving at Tanzaku Quarters by seven that evening.
To make her feel secure in his care, Haruma went so far as to purchase a house in the city outright. A permanent home, it gave Karin a sense of safety she had never known. She believed, without doubt, that Haruma would come back for her.
After the purchase, Haruma even took Karin on a shopping spree to decorate the house. And when he insisted she keep a room for him, her face turned crimson, her thoughts spiraling wildly. In her imagination, she was already daydreaming of marriage, of children, even of what names Haruma might choose for their sons or daughters.
Knowing full well what kind of girl she was, and that she could be trusted absolutely, Haruma spent the evening with her. After dinner, he used medical ninjutsu to heal the bite marks on her arms. Then he taught her sensory techniques, genjutsu, and medical ninjutsu.
But he deliberately withheld the jutsu he had acquired from Zabuza and Haku. If, in the future, Tsunade ever discovered them, she might mistake Karin for a former Mist shinobi and hesitate to take her in.
Even so, these three arts alone left Karin overwhelmed with gratitude. If not for her young age, she might have offered herself to him outright.
Haruma remained in Tanzaku Quarters for three days, deepening her feelings for him until she was utterly devoted. Only then did he part with the reluctant girl and return to Konoha in a flicker of Shunshin.