At lunchtime, she received a note requesting her to go to the Hokage's office. Curious, she slowly made her way there. Upon arrival, Tsunade-sama quickly ushered her in.
"Seina, how are you?" Tsunade asked, noticing her tired appearance. "Have you been training?"
"Yes, with Yugao and the others."
"Feel free to sit," she said, gesturing to a chair against the wall with her thumb. "I called you here for a couple of reasons. I'll start with the simplest. Kakashi mentioned that you're looking for documents related to your clan. He asked if I had anything I could give you, considering my grandmother was Mito Uzumaki. Unfortunately, I don't have much left from her—at least, nothing important. He also mentioned you'd like to explore the ruins of Uzushiogakure to see if there's anything valuable buried beneath."
"That's correct."
"I see. My plan is to let you go there with your brother and Sasuke… consider it a one-week vacation."
"Really?" she asked, surprised.
"Yes. I understand your situation well, and I think you need this. Going with your team will give you time to unwind before the chunin exams and reconnect with each other. After all you've done, I believe you've earned it." Her teacher smiled with a trace of pride in her eyes. For a moment, it was like seeing a shadow of Andromeda looking at her as she received her first master's degree years ago. She blinked as her teacher continued. "Now… on to the more complicated matter: Karin Uzumaki. The girl you rescued from Orochimaru's base."
"So, she's innocent?" she asked upon hearing the word "rescued."
"Not entirely… would you like me to explain what we've found out?" She nodded. "Alright. Her name is Karin, and she's 13 years old. Her mother was an Uzumaki, though she never met her father. She lived with her mother in Kusagakure until last September. In fact, Karin was one of the participants in the last chunin exam held here in Konoha."
"Really?" she asked, totally surprised. She hadn't even noticed her.
"Yes. Shortly after the exam, her mother died of fatal chakra exhaustion. Apparently, both Karin and her mother were taken in by Kusagakure in exchange for using their chakra with healing properties on the village's ninjas. Both of them allowed others to bite them, giving chakra to heal them. Her mother was ultimately driven to death by Kusagakure's demands. When her mother died, Karin was forced to take over her mother's role in the village for several weeks. Then, Kusagakure suffered a surprise attack in which many people died. Karin survived in part thanks to her healing chakra. Orochimaru found her and, impressed by her abilities, offered to take her to Otogakure."
"So, she went with him willingly, didn't she?"
"Yes. But you have to understand that with her mother's death at the hands of Kusagakure, the surprise attack, and Orochimaru's surprising kindness, it's natural she went with him. Karin was emotionally vulnerable at that moment, and Orochimaru took advantage of it."
"And what happened after she agreed to go with Orochimaru until we found her?"
"Orochimaru and Kabuto studied her abilities, and from what she heard, it seems they managed to replicate them in a few… volunteers. She was even present for these experiments. One of them was semi-successful. You might remember him. They tried it on a boy with a kekkei genkai that allowed him to use his bones as weapons, pulling them from his body."
Seina immediately remembered who she was talking about: the boy who died while fighting her brother and Gaara when they rescued Sasuke. She felt a chill realizing how interconnected everything was. She never would have imagined that this boy had been there, attacking them, only surviving thanks to Karin, her distant cousin. The world is so small.
"They also experimented on a boy named Jugo. From what Karin knows, Jugo willingly approached Orochimaru to be cured of his… fits of rage. Karin doesn't know exactly what those entailed, but she did witness Orochimaru using her chakra to heal him. Whether or not it was effective for curing those unknown fits, we don't know, but he didn't die, so it seems it wasn't a total failure. After that, when they no longer needed her present, they sent her to the base where you found her."
"And what was her role there?"
"It seems that, in addition to having this healing chakra, Karin is sensitive to chakra. She can track and locate someone by their chakra. Her role at the base was to serve as a medic, if necessary, and prevent prisoners from escaping by tracking their chakra."
"I imagine that if any managed to escape, Karin would then pursue them to prevent them from revealing the base's location," she said with ironic laughter.
"Exactly. That's when you found her, and the rest is history."
"And what's she like? Does she regret going with Orochimaru? Could she betray Konoha?"
"Fortunately for Karin, she spent very little time under Orochimaru's control, so she still feels somewhat guilty about the conditions some prisoners endured. The thing is, Orochimaru helped her when everyone else abandoned her, so part of her feels grateful and indebted to him. Also, she has a somewhat… fluctuating personality. She's quiet one moment, shouting the next, or acting innocent. Honestly, we think she's trying to figure out her future and her new role here in Konoha… Luckily, we seem to have rescued her before things could get worse. With some help, we believe it may be possible to manage these mood swings she exhibits."
"And what does that mean for her?"
"Opinions have been divided… I wanted to speak with you about her to hear what you think."
"From what you've told me, she sounds like a potential threat."
"Yes, I'm afraid so," sighed the Hokage. "At the very least, she'll be monitored for six months. The question is, do you want to take responsibility for her knowing what you know now, or would you prefer to leave her in our custody?"
"I need to talk to Naruto."
"I expected that. That's why I wanted you and your team to take this week in Uzushiogakure to think it over. When you return, I'll need an answer. Here. You can leave today if you like."
Seina took the scroll the Hokage handed her with the permission to leave the village. She stifled a sigh upon realizing she'd have to discuss this matter with Naruto again. Last time, they had tentatively agreed to give Karin her own apartment, but now she wasn't sure. She understood what Tsunade-sama had said about Karin's emotional vulnerability, but that didn't change the fact that, like all ninjas, Karin was trained for exactly these situations. Was she simply naïve, or was her emotional state worse than the interrogation department had discovered? Perhaps both. She wouldn't know until she spoke with her personally.
Halfway down the stairs, she stopped abruptly. That was it. Why not speak with Karin before deciding what to do with her? Now that the idea had occurred to her, she knew she couldn't stop thinking about it. In fact, it seemed like the most necessary and logical thing to do under the circumstances. She wanted to talk to Karin before discussing the situation with Naruto. She returned to the Hokage's office, who let her in again with some surprise.
"Is something wrong?"
"I want to talk to her. I've been thinking about it, and I realized I need to speak with Karin, even if it's just once."
"… Alright. Let me write you a note granting you permission to see her."
And that's how Seina made her way to the interrogation department, her stomach growling with hunger. Karin was still in a cell, as expected, so she was accompanied by a chunin who would stay outside, just in case, to prevent Karin from attempting anything.
As soon as the cell door opened, she saw Karin with her back turned. She had shoulder-length red hair and wore the typical prisoner's uniform, without pockets or seams that could be used for escape or harm. In fact, the material was so fragile that if someone tried to use it to strangle, it would tear into pieces. She was sitting on a narrow bed, on top of a thin mattress without sheets. There was nothing else. If they needed water, food, or a restroom, they had to ask to be escorted or provided with what they needed.
"Karin... My name is Seina Uzumaki."
She saw her freeze upon hearing that, still with her back turned. Slowly, she turned in her seat to look at her. Seina saw her distant relative's face for the first time. She had reddish-brown eyes and the same pale skin her mother, and she herself, had in old photographs.
"Uzumaki?"
"That's right. I'm Kushina's daughter," she informed her. Karin gasped, clearly surprised. "I have a twin brother, Naruto. He'd be here with me, but I came on impulse after Tsunade-sama told me everything."
Seina activated her Legilimency. She didn't enjoy reading others' minds, especially since she hated when her own had been read, but this was necessary. Karin's thoughts were racing. They were a mixture of joy at finding members of her clan, a hint of guilt for her past actions, sadness and anger at being imprisoned, and a growing hope after meeting her.
"Tsunade told me you willingly went with Orochimaru…"
"Yes…" Karin admitted, looking down at the floor. "I had nothing left in Kusagakure, so I thought maybe I could be useful in another way."
"And what did you think when you realized Orochimaru was doing human experiments?"
"By then, it was too late," she laughed bitterly at herself. "I had no one else, so I thought the best I could do was keep my head down and find a way to... cope with it all. I was foolish to trust Orochimaru, but I thought, 'What else could I do?'"
"But now you're here. And that changes everything, doesn't it?"
"That's the problem. Now it's as if I've lost everything again. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going mad in this prison," she said in a faint voice.
Seina saw in her thoughts what she meant. Karin had become increasingly aware of her mood swings, her silent depression that would flare up at times, and her anxiety from living under the weight of her confinement. Before meeting Orochimaru, she hadn't been like this, so even she had realized the common denominator of her new troubles. Despite knowing, Karin couldn't fix it—she was only 13, trapped between a rock and a hard place. She had no homeland, no family, no powers strong enough to help her escape. Orochimaru had her information, her blood... She'd made the choice to follow him and now realized it was a mistake, fuelling her growing anger toward herself and the world.
Still, Karin was clever. Her plan was to keep her head down, do what Orochimaru asked, and wait for an opportunity to escape. She knew Orochimaru was being hunted, so she told herself that sooner or later someone would stop him, and she could use the time it took his followers to reorganize to flee as far as possible.
"Alright. Tomorrow I'm heading out on a week-long mission with my team," Seina informed her, already mulling over what she wanted to say. "When I return, we'll talk again."
Karin nodded, a bit more hopeful. She didn't want to hint that she might be freed in a week, as she still didn't know what the plan for her was. But now that she'd spoken with Karin, she felt more convinced of her innocence than she'd expected. Perhaps she wouldn't feel this way if Karin had been caught years later, but right now Karin had only been one of Orochimaru's minions for a few months. She'd supposedly only been with Orochimaru himself for a few weeks, so Karin was more guilty of holding those people unlawfully than of conspiring with Orochimaru in his experiments.
"Hi, Seina. Took you long enough," said Sasuke, reading a scroll.
"We were waiting for you, nee-chan!"
"I went to speak with Tsunade-sama," she informed them. "She's given me permission for us to visit Uzushiogakure for a week."
"Really!?" Naruto exclaimed, eyes sparkling with excitement. "All of us?"
"Well, not Kakashi-sensei," she admitted, looking a bit sheepish. "By the way, where is he?"
"He left for a mission recently."
"Maybe that's why they didn't let him join us," she shrugged, taking a seat at the table. "Shall we leave today or tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"Alright. Then I'll take the time to explain something else. About Karin."
"Karin? Who's that?" Naruto asked, but Sasuke seemed to get it.
"She must be your distant cousin, right?"
She nodded. She started to tell them in detail everything Tsunade-sama had told her and what she'd gathered from her short visit to the interrogation department. Naruto was even more convinced than before that she needed help, given her innocence, while Sasuke, seeing the situation wasn't as dire as he'd thought, shrugged.
"So, we're all agreed on buying an apartment nearby for her?"
"Of course!"
"I think it's the best option you have."
So that's what they did that afternoon, accompanied by Sasuke. There was no point in expecting Karin to pay rent right away, as she didn't have a job, so it made sense for Naruto and her to buy a place under their names. They didn't need much space, and they lived away from the city centre, so the prices were reasonable. At the real estate agency, they looked through photos and analysed several places until they found a fourth-floor apartment five minutes from their home. It had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a storage-laundry room, a kitchen-living room, and a terrace.
"I like this one," Sasuke and Seina said at the same time.
"It's been completely renovated, so the price is 120,000 ryos," the agent informed them, showing them photos. "We can go see it, if you'd like."
They agreed, leaving the agency, and started walking toward the apartment on the outskirts. The price difference between central apartments and those farther out always surprised her. Perhaps it was because the centre offered more security, was bustling with activity, and had all essentials within a short walk. Still, she found it absurd that a renovated apartment on the outskirts cost 120k, while the one Naruto and she rented in the centre was nearly a million with one less room, no laundry area, and unrenovated. Though she had to admit they lived five minutes from the academy and the Hokage Tower, and close to the mountain bunkers.
When they reached the apartment building, they saw that the fourth floor was the top floor. The apartment looked fairly new, probably built about a decade ago, and was near other apartment blocks. There was a small market and several shops on the same block.
They entered the apartment and examined the layout. Right at the entrance was a small foyer with a shoe cabinet and a built-in coat closet. Then there was the living room, with the kitchen to the right, which had a small square table for four serving as the dining area. Straight ahead, in line with the entrance, was a door to one bedroom, with the second, smaller bedroom to the right, then the bathroom, and finally the laundry room next to the kitchen. A terrace with double glass doors was to the left in the living room, letting in plenty of light, so the whole apartment seemed spacious and bright.
"Wow!"
"I like it," she said, admiring the freshly painted walls, new cabinets in the kitchen and foyer, the spotless bathroom, and more. "What do you think?"
"It's good."
"Should we take it!?"
"We'll take it," she confirmed, then turned to the agent with them. "When can we sign the papers?"
"We can go back to the agency and finalize everything this afternoon if you're ready."
An hour later, Seina and Naruto were the new owners of an apartment. With keys in hand, they spent the rest of the afternoon setting it up. They changed the lock, bought bedding, towels, kitchenware, and more. She used her magic to transform some of the furniture to save money, arranging the bedroom and living room, leaving the rest empty. They planned to give Karin a monthly allowance for necessities or personal items, so she didn't worry much about the apartment. The last thing she did before locking up with the new key was set various wards to protect Karin and monitor her as well. Repentant or not, Karin could still be a risk to Konoha.
"Who'd have thought buying an apartment would be so exhausting?" Naruto groaned, flopping onto the sofa later.
"It's already night-time."
Too tired, she let her clones make dinner and lay down next to Naruto. Her brother hugged her like a teddy bear under Sasuke's amused gaze from the armchair.
"What time are we leaving tomorrow?"
"I'd like to go first thing in the morning," she replied. "Uzushiogakure is on the eastern coast of the Land of Fire, so we'll get there faster if we use the Hiraishin to the Land of Sea and then fly from there. Even so, it will take a while to get there."
"If we follow your plan, we should reach it before noon, from what I remember of the maps…"
"Definitely. I'd guess it'll be about a two-hour flight from the Land of Sea to Uzushiogakure."
They dined eagerly. After all, this was their first time on leave, and the three of them were together—without an adult supervisor.
The next day, they woke at dawn for breakfast. Naruto was so excited that he already had his usual outfit on: the same black-and-white ensemble in honour of his late father. Sasuke, like her, was still in pyjamas.
"Calm down, Naruto, or you'll wear yourself out," she said, watching him fidget in his chair.
"How do you expect me to calm down? We're going to explore the ruins of our clan!"
"I know, but I want you to have enough energy for what's ahead. We're going to see a lot of wrecked buildings, rubble everywhere, and probably even decomposed bodies," she explained in vivid detail, to help him prepare. "If we want to move around without something falling on us, I'll need to rebuild as much as I can with my magic."
"And what will we be doing?"
"You'll stay with me to help. The Uzumaki were experts in fuinjutsu. If no one's stolen more of the clan's techniques, it's probably because they couldn't bypass the barriers or traps left in place."
"What if we use clones?"
"That's what I was thinking. You'll stay with me, helping rebuild the area zone by zone. We'll send clones to trigger any traps we find and collect any documents we see. In fact, I'll grab one of the trunks we have upstairs to store anything we find for further study."
Half an hour later, they had everything ready and had cleared the kitchen and table. They left Konoha through the central gate, the closest to them, and then vanished with the hiraishin to the Land of Sea, reappearing behind their barriers at the same spot they'd used on a mission months earlier.
"Wow! It's been so long since we were last here!" Naruto grinned, stretching and resting his head on his arms.
Sasuke rolled his eyes at his excitement.
"Let me do the summoning, Seina," Sasuke said. "I never get a chance to use the larger summonings you created."
She nodded. They found a nearby clearing, the same one Kakashi-sensei had chosen for her when they rescued the chunin team, and watched as a massive red dragon appeared—an Eastern dragon adorned with flames that Sasuke especially liked. She enchanted it to make them unnoticeable, and they set off.
"Can you guide me?" Sasuke asked, "with that locator spell."
Seina cast the arrow and activated the spell. Once they were moving, it was just a matter of passing the time. Since it was a straight route, they settled in to enjoy the soft morning light reflecting over the ocean. Even Naruto was quiet, awed by the scenery. But after a while, with nothing but ocean all around, the calm began to fade.
"Do you think Karin will make it through the six-month probation?" Naruto finally asked, still thinking about it.
"I'd say she will, as long as she has the moral support to do it."
"Great! We'll give her all the support she needs!"
"I wonder what we'll find in Uzushiogakure," Sasuke mused aloud. "We know it's in ruins, but it's true no one ever mentions stolen jutsus or anything like that. Maybe they burned them? Or someone took them?"
"Could be," she frowned at the thought. "We'll find out this week. I'll leave a sealed stone here, so next time we come, it won't take as long."
"You could send your clones to start clearing rubble and such while you're in Konoha."
"Huh. That's true. I hadn't even thought of that."
Silence fell for the rest of the journey until they spotted the island in the distance. She conjured a few binoculars for them to get a closer look. The first thing she noticed was the powerful whirlpools surrounding the island, strong enough that they must have sunk more than a few ships. As they approached, the ruins came into view. The buildings—taller than they were wide—were in ruins. Some remained relatively intact but looked on the verge of collapse. She saw hills scattered around, encircling the village itself, and a massive river flowing from the mountains, splitting Uzushiogakure in two.
"What a current," Sasuke whistled, seeing that even the river was rushing toward the sea.
"Set us down on one of the hills," she requested as they began to fly over the village.
She stepped onto solid ground, almost not believing it. They stayed there, statuesque, observing the vastness of the village below. From the top of the hill, they could see the full extent of the village's destruction. Seina and Naruto wrestled with sadness and anger at seeing what their ancestors' home had become. At least Sasuke had the Uchiha complex intact, but what had been done to the Uzumaki was beyond words. Just because they feared their power. Bastards.
"Let's go. This village isn't going to restore itself," she said once she'd caught her breath.
Naruto and Sasuke followed her down the hill. They had seven days ahead of them, and she planned to do everything possible to bring the village back to life and recover all that was valuable.