[Training Ground 41 - An Hour Later]
I watched Naruto belly-flop into the river for the forty-seventh time. A small geyser of muddy water shot into the air, followed by a series of bubbles.
"I'm going to get hypothermia!" Naruto chattered, crawling onto the muddy bank, his orange jumpsuit plastered to his skin.
"Water walking is about constant, dynamic chakra output, idiot!" Jiraiya yelled from his perch on the rock. He didn't even bother looking away from his telescope, perfectly tracking a group of civilian women walking on the distant bridge. "Now get back in there! The blondes are about to wash their hair!"
I stood up and stretched, popping my shoulders. The sun was getting high, and watching an old man peep while a twelve-year-old drowned was rapidly losing its comedic value.
"I'm heading out," I announced, jumping down from the boulder with a soft thud.
"Going to train?" Naruto asked hopefully, his teeth practically rattling out of his skull.
"Going to delegate," I corrected, waving a hand over my shoulder. "Don't die, Naruto. I placed a bet on you beating Neji in the first round. If you lose and cost me my money, I'll resurrect you just to beat you up myself."
I left the training ground, my hands stuffed in my pockets, whistling a light tune.
It was time to check on my investment.
[Konoha Residential District - Discreet Safehouse]
The village had placed Karin in a small, unassuming apartment near the edge of the civilian district. It was standard protocol for high-value refugees—keep them comfortable, but keep them hidden.
I stopped in a shadowed alleyway across the street, leaning against the cool brick.
I closed my eyes, letting my senses expand without relying on the System. I felt the natural hum of the village, the civilians going about their day, and beneath that... the cold, suppressed stillness of trained killers.
One signature on the roof. One in the alley directly behind the building. Both possessed that distinct, emotionless void of Root ANBU, or at least very strict regular ANBU.
"The Hokage works fast," I murmured to myself. "But so do I."
I didn't want to use the front door and end up on a surveillance report on Danzo's desk.
Instead of relying on a flashy jutsu, I just used raw physical control. I suppressed my chakra until it was nothing more than a faint ember, perfectly matching the background radiation of the village. I stepped out of the shadows and blurred across the street. Not a single pebble crunched under my sandals.
I scaled the sheer brick wall of the apartment building like a spider, my chakra gripping the surface silently. I reached the second-story window, which was cracked open just an inch for ventilation, and slipped inside like a ghost.
The apartment was small, spartan, and smelled of cheap cleaning supplies.
In the center of the room, sitting on a plain futon with her knees pulled tightly to her chest, was Karin. She wasn't wearing the dirty, blood-stained Grass Village flak jacket anymore. She was dressed in a simple white t-shirt and grey shorts provided by the village.
She was nervously biting her thumbnail, her red eyes darting around the empty room like a trapped animal waiting for the cage door to open.
I didn't say a word. I just stood in the corner and let my chakra leak out. Just a single, concentrated drop.
Karin gasped loudly. Her head snapped toward the window, her glasses nearly flying off her face.
To her sensory perception, the sterile room had just been flooded with a dark, velvety, overwhelmingly warm presence. It was the same chakra that had crushed a bear's skull and pulled her out of hell.
"Kenji-kun!" she scrambled off the futon, her bare feet slapping against the tatami mats. Her face flushed a brilliant, immediate crimson. "Y-You came!"
"I told you I wouldn't leave you behind," I smiled, stepping fully into the light of the room. "How's the new place? Better than a damp forest floor?"
"Yes! The Hokage was very nice to me. But..." Karin rubbed her arms nervously, looking at the door. "They won't let me leave without an escort. They said it's for my protection, but it feels like a prison."
"It is a prison, but a gilded one," I nodded, walking over and sitting down casually on the only wooden chair in the room. "You're an Uzumaki, Karin. Your bloodline is powerful. There are people in the shadows of this village who would love to lock you in a dark basement and use you as a living battery. I made sure you were placed under the Third Hokage's direct protection so they couldn't touch you."
Karin looked at me, her red eyes widening with sheer, unadulterated worship. "You... you did that for me? Even though we just met? You fought for me?"
"I protect what's mine," I stated simply, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees. I locked eyes with her. "And you are mine now. Correct?"
Karin didn't even hesitate. Her abandonment issues and her addiction to my chakra overrode whatever meager survival instincts she had left. She dropped to her knees right in front of my chair, looking up at me like a devoted puppy.
"Yes. Absolutely. I belong to you, Kenji-kun."
God, she's a goldmine, I thought, suppressing a smirk.
"Good." I reached into my inventory.
Poof.
Three heavy, thick scrolls dropped onto the tatami floor right in front of her.
Karin blinked, looking down at the worn canvas. "What are these?"
"Your homework," I said, leaning back. "Those are intermediate and advanced Fuinjutsu scrolls. Sealing techniques. The Uzumaki clan were the greatest Seal Masters in the history of the world. It's literally in your blood."
Karin reached out, touching the canvas of the top scroll reverently. "My... blood? But I've only ever been taught to heal. In the Grass Village, they just... they just bit me when they got hurt..."
"That stops now."
I reached out, my fingers lightly catching her wrist. I pulled her arm toward me, tracing my thumb over the faint, fading bite marks that littered her pale skin.
Karin shivered violently at the contact. My thumb traced circles over her scars, the subtle warmth of my touch sending electric jolts up her arm.
"Healing is a passive skill, Karin," I continued smoothly, keeping my voice low, authoritative, and slightly hypnotic. My fingers trailed slowly up her arm, moving past her elbow, up to her shoulder. "I don't need a passive subordinate who just stands in the back and takes abuse. I need a weapon. I need utility. By the end of this month, I want you to master the basic barrier seals in that first scroll."
"I... I will!" Karin panted slightly. She leaned into my hand, desperate for more of the euphoric contact, her eyes turning hazy. "I'll study day and night! I promise I won't disappoint you!"
"I know you won't," I smiled.
I leaned down, closing the distance between us. I grabbed her chin gently but firmly with my free hand, tilting her face up so she was forced to look directly into my eyes. She smelled like cheap soap and nervous sweat, but her chakra was practically vibrating with eager submission.
"If you master the first scroll," I whispered, my lips hovering mere inches from hers. I could feel her breath hitching. "I'll come back. And I'll give you a real reward. Something much better than a simple pat on the head."
Karin's eyes fluttered, completely drunk on my proximity and the subtle pheromones filling the small space between us.
"Yes, please..." she whimpered, unconsciously leaning forward, chasing my lips.
I stood up abruptly, breaking the contact entirely.
Karin immediately slumped forward, her hands gripping the tatami mat as she chased the warmth I had just taken away. She looked up, dazed and desperate.
"I'll see you in thirty days, Four-Eyes," I winked, walking backward toward the window. "Don't slack off."
I slipped out of the window as silently as I had entered, leaving her sitting on the floor, staring at the empty space. She slowly reached down and gathered the heavy Fuinjutsu scrolls, clutching them to her chest like they were holy relics.