Gerimis

Chapter 20 - Submission

Since Sakura was chosen by Shizune to be her assistant, she had been over the moon. Sakura had always wondered what she would do if she was emancipated from CHUNIN. It was going to happen in only a few years and she wondered whether she should travel like Neji and Tenten planned to, or lead a ‘normal life’ and work like Ino was doing now. Maybe she could have a look at the outside world first, and experience a thing or two before deciding on any long term plans. Sakura was also intent on furthering her studies in medicine, maybe become a physician or scientist. She loved working with people so when Shizune informed her that she needed Sakura to assist her in the Jinchuuriki project, of course Sakura was ecstatic. She was going to be the Jinchuuriki’s ‘manager’ as Kakashi had said it. Charting the progress of the host and also of the chakra being.

Just the other day, Karin told Sakura that she would remain with CHUNIN until she's bored, or move over to ROOT when she had enough credibilities under her belt. Karin, couldn't see herself living beside normal human beings and living in a regulated society. She once told Sakura that she was made for weirdness and she would not last a day being amongst civilians. She wanted to continue learning about her Uzumaki clan heritage and her sensor abilities and using it for the greater good. Karin had a newfound obsession especially when the news that a half Uzumaki human was named as a prospective Jinchuuriki.

Karin came to CHUNIN with Suigetsu and Juugo from an enemy’s lair a few years ago. They were rehabilitated and made into soldiers, and the trio remained close comrades even in CHUNIN. However, Karin had taken a liking to Sasuke when she laid eyes on him and was at first very jealous of Sakura for being his teammate. But over the years, Karin started to treat Sakura as a comrade and they became close friends. But Karin never stopped harassing Sasuke when Sakura happened to be around, although Sakura and Sasuke rarely meet these days. They were assigned to different segments, Sakura in the science team and Sasuke in the offense team.

Sakura did find Karin's habit annoying but the teasings have slowed down over the years and they were mostly the same things. Karin was annoying in her social life, but very serious in her role as sensor soldier in CHUNIN and that was enough for Sakura to bear the annoying girl’s presence in her life. Karin can be useful too as a friend and fellow comrade. She was never frugal when sharing information and also very knowledgeable in the matters of the Uzumaki which Sakura was currently very interested in.

"Studying hard for the HSC?" Karin broke the walls to Sakura's daydream.

"I've already got that in here," Sakura answered as she tapped her temple. Karin as always came into Sakura’s room without knocking but it was a habit long tolerated and understood. Sakura was planning to take her High School Certificate before her emancipation, maybe interning at a laboratory or university. Her so called normal ambition had received some confused questions from Karin.

Then it popped into Sakura’s mind that she needed Karin now, more than ever. “Hey, you came in just at the right time. You are going to make yourself very useful today, have a seat."

Karin looked at Sakura side eyed, you are rarely this nice to me when I barge in here out of the blue. "Is this a heart to heart talk?" Karin asked with a mischievous grin as she settled down on Sakura’s neatly made bed.

"Not a heart to heart, we are not dat... Wait, you're baiting me. This has nothing to do with heart matters. I am looking into that now or the next years." Sakura said annoyed.

"Ok.. If you suddenly find the need to emote let me be the first ok, I’ll handle this better than Hinata or Tenten."

“I can always call Ino?” Sakura teased.

“Ok, I’ll be leaving now. Good luck with your matter,” Karin said leaving the bed. Sakura quickly caught her friend’s hand and forcefully pulled and pushed the redhead onto her bed. She was not sure if Karin was easily hurt by her words as Karin had no girl friends to share girly stuff before this, and Sakura was one of her first friends she shared some make up sampling and heart to heart talks with. Never about Sasuke, because it was best to avoid talking about your comrades, but they talked about boys in general.

“Hey, easy with the strength,” Karin said as Sakura let go. Sakura did not apologize for her too strong grip as she knew Karin was quick to heal herself.

“So?” Karin asked inquisitive about the matter Sakura should already be getting at.

"It is about an addition to the Jinchuriki project, they have a person who is a daughter of an Uzumaki. We haven't done any testing on her yet but I just wanted to ask trivial things about Uzumaki since you're one," Sakura said. She closed the book she was reading and rested her elbows on the desk.

Karin quickly reached for Sakura’s note book and pen, and opened a new blank page, "Uzumaki what? Age, origin, gender, chakra read, parentage?"

"This is still embargo, but Shizune said since you’re the only Uzumaki in here so you’re invited now. She’s Uzumaki Naruko, sixteen, raised in Iwagakure, I am not sure where she was born. As of yet no high chakra read from yet but her parents were Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato. You have heard of them anywhere?"

Sakura waited patiently as Karin pencilled the details in the book before pausing to think. The Uzumaki girl was wearing her signature red framed spectacles and had her hair in a side braid, and Sakura noticed that she was wearing a striped sweater which looked like the one she had gifted Karin years ago. It was a weekend and they both were off duty so they could wear civilian clothes even within CHUNIN quarters.

"As you know, my awareness of my fellow extinct extends to Senator Mito Uzumaki only, though that won't deter me from unearthing more. Sorry, but I have never heard of Kushina," Karin said with a sad tone.

Sakura nodded and patted Karin's shoulder, "well now you know about her, maybe a long lost cousin or something. She's here maybe you want to meet her?

“Can I?” Karin looked up to Sakura enthusiastically but quickly slumped her shoulders.

“Don't tell me she’s in suspended animation?” Karin sighed.

“How did you know?” Sakura asked.

“Like Senator Mito Uzumaki plans to be when she’s no longer breathing, for science she told me. She told me to do that too when I’m dead. So do I get to meet the junior Uzumaki?”

“Maybe, Shizune will inform me later.

"I could? I thought the Jinchurikis were out of bound for us, you know ex-minions of Orochimaru - crazed Jinchuriki hunter now in maximum security prison?" Karin asked with a confused tone. So far she had not worked directly with any Jinchuriki in a team and in her mind had automatically assumed that it was because she was linked to a Jinchuriki hunter in the past.

"Do you still feel that guilty over your past Karin, hey don't be like that," Sakura asked. She had always thought that Karin was doing ok now and and was no longer feeling guilt over her past.

"Hell yeah I do. We three still feel that way sometimes,  even with all the trust and brainwashings we underwent here..." Karin said glumly. Then she corrected herself, "Rehabilitation, not brainwash..."

Then Karin beamed up and said, "So this Naruko Uzumaki, how soon can I meet her? Does she has red hair?" Karin turned the topic back to their original topic, not wanting Sakura to be exasperated over her.

"I am not sure, maybe next week? She has blonde hair, maybe from her father's side I think. Was it your father or your mother an Uzumaki?"

Karin paused in her note taking and answered, "I am a full blooded Uzumaki, my parents were cousins but they died when I was a toddler. Orochimaru did not kill them though, he said he saved me from the massacre instead."

Sakura looked at Karin side eyed and paused before asking again, "Are you sure you are ok talking about the Uzumaki?"

Karin rolled her eyes and said, "It's that attitude which made things harder for me to move on, I am totally fine, just playing around with the sentiment of my poor extinct clan. So, what do you want me to do with this half Uzumaki? Hey is she aware of who her parents are?"

"Kakashi introduced her to her parents via a vision. Also that her father was one of ROOT's last Hokage."

"So it seems that I have a huge responsibility here, to introduce the Uzumaki heritage to her?"

"Yes, I will watch in the sidelines. Kakashi will be there to answer anything about her parents since he knew them the best. Shizune thought that you being same aged as her would be better for an introduction to the other aspects of the clan,” Sakura said. Shizune and Kakashi had made the decision to include Karin since Karin was very aware of her Uzumaki heritage.

"So you are all curious whether she actually has chakra and whether she can chain chakra creatures like the textbook-Uzumaki, or me, is she the same as me?" Karin asked all while peering into her notes.

They all know what the Uzumakis could do, the legendary Uzumaki one of the main clans were featured in their textbooks especially their roles in the past secret wars. Karin as one of the last Uzumaki knew the Uzumaki stories by heart as she intended to inherit them to her offspring one day.

Karin lifted her pen from her note book and looked at Sakura like she had just got a brilliant idea, "Wait, now I realize what CHUNIN had been up to when they told me to start using my chakra chains more regularly, was it related to this?"

Sakura was taken aback with that revelation and asked, "Who monitors you in those experiments."

“Yamato-sensei was assigned as he could control the experimental chakra monster they had me chaining.”

Sakura wondered if Karin’s experiments had to do with Naruko. Maybe they were planning for Karin to capture the chakra monster should the fusion fail. She was now fully anticipating the fusion now, and wondered whether this Naruko can carry the burden of being a Jinchuuriki.

Naruko walked back to the Jinchuuriki quarters and was surprised to see that no one was there. She climbed up to the second floor where the room she had woken up this morning and sat confusedly on the bed. Earlier she was overwhelmed with information, she was never the one to question things around her since she was told to only ask when it mattered. But now when it mattered she just did not know what to ask.

Shizune had her parents pictures from their CHUNIN days to their marriage inside the camps and their emancipation. Minato later returned to the quarters as Kushina lead a normal life at Konoha. Minato would spend weeks away while Kushina was pregnant with her. She wished there was a photo of them holding her when she was older than a baby, but there was none. She wanted to see evidence of them and her, the picture were old and not in high resolution. She knew she had her father’s hair and her father’s eye colors. She was not sure what she inherited from her mother because the pictures were grainy. Shizune said they were bringing in better quality pictures later so Naruko would have to wait.

Naruko lay down on her bed and thought about taking a bath and lay for a nap. Everything was too confusing and exciting, scary and she anticipated to join this Jinchuuriki program. All the thoughts jumbled up in her mind. Just then she heard a voice interrupting.

“You didn’t even notice that I told you to wait for me, so we could have dinner together?”

“Ah, you entered my…” Naruko paused and sat up. She was not in her room, was it even a room for her? Then she saw Sasuke casually leaning against the door frame.

“It’s your room and better get used to it. Are you going to freshen up or something? If you do, I’ll wait for you downstairs. The others are away for their biweekly Jinchuuriki test, so we are going to be alone until tonight. And that's why I volunteered to have dinner with you even if you never answered my question, whether you wanted dioner or not.” Sasuke then turned around and disappeared.

Naruko sat perplexed but quickly grabbed for her towel and took a bath. It’s going to be a long night.