Chapter 4
+Sasuke Uchiha+
"That girl definitely has a few screws loose! How can someone be so completely unaffected after seeing the dead bodies of their own teammates!?" Naruto burst out, unable to hold it in any longer.
Now that we had finally reached the tower just before the sun slipped completely below the horizon, Naruto's mouth was running at full speed again. The relief of making it inside the safe zone seemed only to fuel his outrage, his voice bouncing off the stone walls of the entrance corridor.
"No one's defending her, Naruto," Shikamaru replied in his usual drawl, sounding more tired than anything else as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "But what exactly can we do? She even helped us get the scroll we needed. So we left her be."
"Her smiling in the middle of that whole situation gave me chills," Ino muttered, rubbing her arms as though trying to shake off the memory. "Even now I can't get that creepy image out of my head, those bright eyes and that big grin while blood was still fresh on the ground."
Even Choji, who normally has an ironclad stomach, looked like he had completely lost his appetite. He hadn't touched the bag of chips he usually carries, and his broad shoulders were slumped in a way that spoke volumes, hands stuffed deep in his pockets as if to keep them from fidgeting. Sakura stayed close beside me, quiet and watchful, almost like my shadow, ready to move the instant I did, her fingers occasionally brushing the edge of my sleeve, a small, unconscious reassurance.
I didn't know what to say about Karin. I recognised her the moment I saw that vivid red hair and that face. But watching the way she acted, smiling brightly while standing over the mauled corpses of her teammates, I understood immediately that she wasn't okay. Not even close. She hadn't been okay for a long time.
'Then again, it's not surprising when you've been used as a walking medical pack your whole life…' I thought grimly.
Even if I had wanted to help her right then and there, I could do nothing meaningful. As things stood, if I tried to bring her back to the Leaf Village or even suggested she defect, it would only make her situation far worse.
Karin wasn't just any genin. She was an Uzumaki, carrying that clan's infamous life-force and massive chakra reserves, and on top of that, she possessed the rare ability to heal even the most fatal injuries with almost no delay. Either one of those traits alone would be enough to make Danzo Shimura salivate. Together? The old war hawk would move heaven and earth to kidnap her. He could secure both a potential jinchūriki vessel and an on-demand medical kit that never ran dry.
I could already picture exactly how Hiruzen Sarutobi would "handle" the situation.
He would do nothing to stop Danzo if Danzo really decided to take her. And I would be able to do nothing if Danzo kidnapped her.
At the end of it all, Karin would be in far greater danger living inside the Leaf Village than she ever would be back in Kusa, where at least her value was hidden behind mediocrity and neglect. Here, she'd be dissected, experimented on, turned into a tool faster than anyone could blink.
While the group continued chatting in low, unsettled voices, Naruto still ranting, Ino nodding along with wide eyes, Choji staring at the floor, we finally reached the central chamber of the tower, the place where both scrolls had to be opened together.
"If the qualities of Heaven are what you lack, acquire wisdom to prepare your mind. If the qualities of Earth are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When Heaven and Earth are opened together, the perilous path will become the righteous one forever," Sakura read aloud from the inscription carved into the wall, her voice steady despite the exhaustion lining her face.
"So… what does that even mean?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion, blond spikes sticking up even more wildly after days in the forest.
"So we have to open both scrolls at the same time," Shikamaru answered flatly, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
I nodded once and retrieved both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls that Team 7 had collected. I held them out just as Shikamaru did with theirs. Together, we broke the wax seals and unfurled the scrolls in unison.
Thick white smoke immediately billowed out from the centre of each scroll, swirling upward in dense clouds that filled the chamber and stung faintly at the eyes.
"It's a summoning scroll," I stated calmly, tossing mine aside once the smoke began to take shape.
Shikamaru did the same a heartbeat later.
As the smoke slowly cleared, the familiar figure of Iruka Umino materialised in front of us, arms crossed, a warm but slightly surprised smile on his face as he took in the larger-than-expected group.
"Well, it seems all of you worked together," Iruka observed, his gaze sweeping over the combined group with obvious approval, lingering for a second on Naruto's dirt-streaked face.
"IRUKA-SENSEI!!!"
"Iruka-sensei!"
"Iruka-sensei!"
Almost everyone exclaimed at once, some in pure shock, others in genuine delight. Naruto actually started jumping up and down in unrestrained joy, fists pumping the air.
"IRUKA-SENSEI! We passed the second stage of the Chūnin Exams! You have to treat me to Ichiraku ramen!" Naruto was already barreling forward with more demands when I stepped in front of him.
"Iruka-sensei," I said, keeping my voice level but letting the urgency come through clearly. "Please notify Kakashi-sensei immediately. Our team was ambushed by Orochimaru, the Sannin, yes, the same S-rank missing-nin. He placed some kind of cursed seal on both Naruto and me. We need to have these seals removed from our bodies as soon as possible."
"What!?"
Iruka's easy smile vanished in an instant. His eyes sharpened with serious concern as he looked from me to Naruto and back again, taking in our expressions and the faint tension that still clung to the entire group like damp fog.
"Okay, follow me right now," he said quickly, already turning toward one of the inner corridors. "I'll contact your jōnin-sensei and the Hokage-sama immediately."
He gestured urgently for us to keep pace.
I fell into step beside him without hesitation. For the first time in days, a small measure of relief eased the constant tightness in my chest.
Because soon the cursed seal would be sealed.
+Hiruzen Sarutobi+
", and Sasuke Uchiha is requesting immediate help to remove the seal."
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt the familiar throb in his temples intensify into a full-blown headache as the ANBU operative kneeling before him delivered Iruka's urgent message. He pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead, slowly exhaling through his nose as he set his pen down on the cluttered desk.
Stacks of paperwork towered around him like silent accusations, reports, requisitions, security logs, diplomatic correspondence. Hosting a Chūnin Exam was always demanding, but a joint international one? It multiplied the burdens tenfold. Every minor detail had to be perfect: border permissions, village quotas, examiner rotations, supply chains for the Forest of Death, medical contingencies, spectator arrangements. The list never ended.
He had already been struggling to keep up with the endless flow of documents, doing his absolute best to ensure the exams ran smoothly and safely despite the political tightrope he was walking. Yet from the very first day, disaster after disaster had piled onto his shoulders.
First came the revelation that his former student, Orochimaru, had infiltrated the exams. Not just infiltrated, but done so by slaughtering an entire Kusa genin team and wearing their flayed skin like a grotesque disguise. The sheer depravity of it turned Hiruzen's stomach even now, hours later. He had long known Orochimaru possessed no moral boundaries whatsoever, but this… this was a new low even for him.
Setting aside his own revulsion, the political fallout alone was enormous. Kusa would demand answers, and Konoha would have to provide them, even if only the bare minimum of lip service to preserve fragile alliances. Another diplomatic headache to manage, another report to draft, another favour to call in.
Then came the second blow: Anko Mitarashi had clashed directly with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death and confirmed his target, Sasuke Uchiha. The moment Hiruzen heard those words, a cold dread had settled in his gut. For one fleeting, shameful instant, he had considered halting the entire exam, pulling Sasuke out entirely, and placing him under the heaviest possible protection detail.
The reason was painfully simple: Itachi Uchiha.
Even after all these years, Hiruzen remained deeply wary of the prodigy-turned-missing-nin. Itachi had claimed he would serve as Konoha's eyes within the Akatsuki, feeding back critical intelligence on the organisation's movements. Yet not a single meaningful report had arrived. Nothing. Silence.
Hiruzen could not, would not, imagine the retribution Itachi might unleash if Sasuke came to harm under his watch. The boy was the last remnant of the Uchiha clan in the village. Losing him would shatter whatever fragile leash still held Itachi back from turning his back against Konoha.
…It would also be a lie to pretend that, for the briefest of moments, Hiruzen had not entertained a dark, treacherous hope: that Orochimaru might succeed in killing Sasuke, just for a second. The thought had flickered and died almost as quickly as it appeared, buried beneath layers of duty, guilt, and responsibility. But it had been there.
Now, with the full picture laid bare, yet another wave of pain bloomed behind his eyes.
"Tell Kakashi to meet me as quickly as possible," Hiruzen instructed the ANBU, voice calm and measured despite the storm inside. "And make it explicitly clear this time: any tardiness will result in punishment."
He had no real intention of punishing Kakashi, of course. The threat was simply his longstanding way of conveying urgency without wasting breath on pleasantries. Kakashi would understand.
Rising from his chair, Hiruzen adjusted the weight of the battle armour hidden beneath his flowing Hokage robes. The familiar pressure of steel plates against his ribs grounded him. He was ready, had been ready since the moment Anko's report came in, to face his traitorous student if it came to that. Age had slowed him, yes, but the Will of Fire still burned as fiercely as ever.
He gestured sharply to the ANBU squad stationed around the office. Four masked figures materialised from the shadows, nodding once in silent acknowledgement before vanishing again to prepare. Battle formations, evacuation contingencies, barrier teams, every contingency would be in place.
Hiruzen reached into the folds of his robe and withdrew his long-stemmed smoking pipe. He packed it slowly, methodically, tamping the tobacco with practised fingers. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if this pull would be his last, if the pipe would remain cold after today.
But for the original sin of letting Orochimaru walk free all those years ago, Hiruzen was fully prepared to pay with his life in the attempt to correct that mistake.
He lit the pipe with a small spark of chakra, drew in a deep breath of smoke, and stepped toward the door.
The weight of the village rested on his shoulders once more, as always.