"But before I send you there, let me treat your injuries."
Naruto gently drew back Karin's sleeve.
Bite marks covered her arm.
Hinata gasped.
Karin lowered her head and tried to pull away, ashamed to let him see any more. Naruto kept a gentle but firm hold on her wrist.
"Naruto-kun, I…"
Her voice broke, and tears began falling again.
"It's all right. I can heal them."
Holding her arm with his left hand, Naruto brought his right hand over the scars. Soft green chakra gathered around his palm as he slowly moved it across her skin.
"With your body's healing ability, these marks should have faded by now," he said quietly. "Maybe the pain hasn't left you yet."
Karin bowed her head. Her shoulders shook, tears dripping onto the ground.
Behind her, Hinata reached out and lightly held the edge of her clothes. Her eyes were full of sympathy.
"How… how do you know about my body?" Karin asked through her tears.
"Because mine's the same."
With a thought, Naruto had the system stop concealing his hair color.
Karin looked up.
The blond strands gradually turned red—the same vivid shade as her own hair.
Beside them, Hinata's lips parted in surprise.
Every time she thought she understood Naruto, he revealed another secret.
"That's why…" Karin murmured. "The first time we met, something about you felt familiar. We're both Uzumaki…"
Then, to Naruto's bewilderment, she began crying harder.
"What is it now?"
"Does that mean… I can't marry you?"
Naruto opened his mouth.
Being from the same clan didn't automatically rule out marriage. He almost explained that to her, wondering how she had reached that conclusion in the first place.
Then he reconsidered.
There was no need to correct this particular misunderstanding.
Hinata, however, looked ready to explain.
Naruto immediately caught her eye.
His meaning was clear.
Are you trying to help her marry me?
Hinata understood. She closed her mouth, her cheeks turning pink, and a small warmth spread through her chest.
Before long, Naruto's treatment had erased the bite marks. His quiet reassurance helped Karin settle down as well.
He restored the concealment over his hair, then took her to the Hidden Snow Village.
Karin was reluctant to part with him, but she went.
By the time Naruto returned, Kakashi's and Asuma's groups had finally arrived. Kurenai was with them, her shoulder temporarily treated and bandaged.
The remaining Root operatives who had intercepted Kakashi, Guy, and Asuma had all been killed.
Naruto gave them a brief account of the pursuit.
"So Sakura reached Sasuke after all…"
Kakashi's voice was subdued.
Team Seven was finished.
Sasuke and Sakura had both left the village. Naruto had already caught up with him in strength, and the distance between them had only grown.
There was little left to hold the team together.
"Maybe I'm just not suited to leading a team," Kakashi murmured.
Asuma rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't say that, Kakashi. They're talented kids. Each of them just has their own way of doing things."
"Kakashi!"
Guy raised his thumb.
"Even the road of youth has its twists and turns! What matters is getting back on your feet and moving forward!"
Naruto watched without speaking.
He's lucky to have friends like that.
His gaze shifted to Hinata.
The moment she noticed him looking, she lowered her eyes, her cheeks flushing.
It happened every time.
She could never quite hold his gaze. Yet those shy reactions always left him wondering just how much she cared for him.
Naruto gently squeezed her hand.
…
Kakashi, Asuma, Guy, and Kurenai were discussing whether to enter the hideout when three figures suddenly emerged from the ground.
The Leaf shinobi immediately reached for their weapons.
Orochimaru stood at the front.
Behind him were Sasuke and Sakura.
Sasuke looked colder than before. His gaze passed over the shinobi from Konoha without a trace of warmth, as though they were strangers.
Anger stirred among Shikamaru and the others.
They had risked their lives trying to bring him home. Without Naruto's help, they would have been killed.
Looking at Sasuke now, it was hard to believe they had gone so far for him.
And Sakura…
Was there any point in bringing her back either?
She stood happily beside Sasuke, her eyes fixed on him. The former teammates and companions gathered in front of her might as well not have existed.
"Guy-sensei," Naruto said with a faint snort. "Let's go."
"Hm?"
Guy hesitated and looked toward Kakashi.
The guarded expression in Kakashi's eyes slowly gave way to sorrow.
For a moment, he remembered Obito and Rin.
His grip on the kunai in his right hand loosened.
"Let's go," he said quietly.
Orochimaru's hoarse voice stopped them.
"This is my territory. You don't get to decide when you leave."
Asuma narrowed his eyes.
"You may be one of the Sannin, Orochimaru, but with all of us here, we can still get everyone away."
Orochimaru gave him a dismissive glance.
"Then try."
His neck suddenly stretched more than ten meters.
In an instant, his head shot past the others and reached Naruto at the edge of the group.
His mouth opened.
His jaws snapped shut around Naruto's neck.
It happened too quickly for the others to intervene. No one had expected Naruto to be his first target.
Then Naruto's body came apart.
A violently spinning gale erupted where he had stood.
Wind blades slashed across Orochimaru's face.
"Argh!"
His scream was swallowed by the rushing wind. Within moments, his face was unrecognizable, the blades tearing deep into his head.
"A wind clone?" Kakashi's eyes sharpened.
"Yes…"
Asuma sounded just as astonished.
He was familiar with Wind Release, but he had never seen it used like this.
Shadow clones, earth clones, water clones—there were plenty of ways to create a double. Lightning clones were less common, and the First Hokage had possessed his Wood Clone Technique.
But a clone made of wind?
Neither of them had encountered one before.
What else has this boy learned?
Naruto appeared above Orochimaru's extended neck.
The Sky Thunder Sword crackled in his hands.
He swung downward.
The blade severed Orochimaru's neck.
"I've wanted to do that for a long time," Naruto said with a satisfied grin.
"You keep stretching your neck out like that. Did you really think nobody would cut it?"
Orochimaru's severed head fell, and his headless body collapsed to the ground.
Sasuke snorted.
Sakura's heart began pounding.
If Orochimaru's dead…
Won't they take Sasuke and me back to Konoha?