"Mm!" The moment Karin opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Furina's face right up close. Stunningly beautiful and peerless, but for some reason, upon seeing it, Karin not only failed to change her misunderstanding of Furina but instead rolled her eyes back and fainted to the ground as well.
"Huh?"
Looking at Karin who had collapsed onto the ground, countless question marks appeared above Furina's head. She was even more speechless now. What was going on? She hadn't done anything at all. Was her face really that scary? Absolutely impossible.
However, faced with Karin's fainting, Furina couldn't just sit there waiting for her to wake up. So, just like she had done earlier with Naruto and Sasuke, she carried Karin back as well. Now the three of them lay side by side in a neat row.
"What are you doing? There's no need for you to do anything extra."
After a while, Furina, who had been resting with her eyes closed, suddenly opened them. She looked at Karin, who had extended her arm toward Sasuke's mouth, and gently spoke to stop her.
"Lady, I..."
Not long after Furina brought Karin back, Karin had slowly woken up. After all, she had only suffered a bit of fright, which was very different from Naruto and Sasuke, who had either been sealed or marked with a strawberry.
And because of the years of treatment she had endured in the Village Hidden by Grass, upon waking and discovering two unconscious people lying beside her, Karin naturally assumed that Furina had spared her life only so she could heal her teammates.
Thus, the previous scene had occurred.
"I said no need, so no need. Those two are an Uchiha and a jinchūriki. Their recovery is stronger than the next. They don't need your little bit. Understand?"
After saying this, Furina looked at the somewhat puzzled Karin and could roughly guess the worry in the other's heart. She continued to explain.
"I heard your conversation with those two earlier. The people in the Village Hidden by Grass treated you and your mother like living blood bags. I found that very displeasing, so I dealt with them harshly."
Looking into Furina's azure eyes, Karin found no trace of deception whatsoever. Combined with what the other had just said, Karin realized she seemed to have misunderstood Furina.
Upon realizing this, Karin's face instantly flushed red. Every time she recalled her previous assumptions, she wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
"Ha." Noticing Karin's abnormality, Furina knew the misunderstanding had finally been cleared. The truth was out in the open. What a fortunate thing indeed.
Now that the misunderstanding was resolved, Furina took the opportunity to introduce herself and also introduced the unconscious Naruto and Sasuke along with her.
After all, constantly calling her "hey" or "you" wasn't very polite. Moreover, she knew who the other was but still had to pretend not to know, which would be even worse.
"Um, is he also from the Uzumaki clan?"
After recovering a bit and coming back to her senses, Karin also discovered that Furina didn't seem like a cold person at all. On the contrary, she had a very approachable feeling. The panic in her heart eased considerably because of this, giving her the courage to ask.
"Him?" Furina glanced at Naruto, whom Karin was indicating. Was he from the Uzumaki clan? Of course he was, without a doubt. But telling the other directly like that wouldn't be appropriate.
"Who knows? He's like me; he grew up alone since childhood with no relatives. So I can't confirm whether he's from the Uzumaki clan or not.
I only know his family name is Uzumaki. What a pity. If he had red hair like yours, it would be easy to confirm. But he's blond, so there's no way."
After thinking for a moment, Furina still chose to hint at Naruto's identity in a relatively subtle way. This was the limit of what she could do. After all, she had no reason to know that Naruto was from the Uzumaki clan. She didn't want to arouse suspicion because of it.
Although Karin didn't get a definite answer from Furina, she still nodded without saying anything further. Seeing this, Furina didn't press the matter.
Because this wasn't important to her. Compared to that, she cared much more about another thing.
"By the way, are there any more of your clansmen left in the Village Hidden by Grass? But whether there are or not, I suggest you don't go back. Staying there, I estimate you wouldn't live much longer anyway. You might as well stay here."
This was Furina's final thought. Since she had coincidentally encountered the other, she might as well let her stay in Konoha. Although Konoha wasn't some charity organization, as one of the great ninja villages, Konoha still had to keep up appearances.
The orphan of a former allied village had come here. Even just for the sake of image, Konoha would have to take care of her to some extent. Even if the higher-ups in Konoha secretly harbored all sorts of little schemes regarding an Uzumaki orphan, it would still be countless times better than staying in the Village Hidden by Grass.
"My mother is already dead. Right now in the Village Hidden by Grass, I'm the only Uzumaki left. If possible, I also want to stay here, but I think they won't let me go."
Although the time they had spent together was short, whether from their interactions or from her innate sensory ability, Furina gave Karin a very good feeling.
If staying here meant she could become companions with the other, she would naturally be very willing. But would the Village Hidden by Grass really let her go?
"You don't need to worry about that."
Furina didn't care at all about Karin's concern. Putting aside the fact that as an Uzumaki orphan, Karin seeking help from Konoha was perfectly justified and rightful.
Even if Konoha had no relation to the Uzumaki clan, did the Village Hidden by Grass dare to pick a fight with Konoha? They probably really wanted to eat purple eggs.
"Then I'll have to trouble you. I... I don't want to go back to that place anymore." Recalling her experiences in the Village Hidden by Grass, Karin couldn't help stammering again. The psychological shadow that place had left on her was simply too great.
"No problem, no problem." Facing Karin's thanks, Furina waved her hand and didn't accept it. The old fogeys in the village would be thrilled to death if they knew an Uzumaki orphan was coming to Konoha. There wouldn't be any trouble at all.
However, even so, when she went back she still needed to explain the situation to Kakashi first and have him keep an eye out as well. Otherwise, if that guy Danzō intercepted her, then Karin would truly have just escaped the wolf's den only to enter the tiger's lair.
With a plan in mind, and with nothing else to do, Furina began chatting with Karin about various things in Konoha. Karin listened with considerable longing. And right in the middle of their casual conversation, Naruto and Sasuke gradually woke up one after the other.
"Phew. What's the situation now? Orochimaru didn't come back, right? And who's this person?"
"Relax. Orochimaru really did leave me to take care of you two injured ones. He didn't show up again afterward. And this girl is Uzumaki Karin. I saved her while I was out collecting a scroll."
"Mm." After giving Naruto and Karin a deep look, Sasuke didn't say anything more. Furina naturally had her reasons for doing this. As someone being taken care of, he would refrain from giving opinions.