Chapter 62: Find Me Someone
When Sakura pushed through the undergrowth, she found them by a riverbank — Naruto, Sasuke, and Karin, with three Sound-nin trussed up beside them like gift-wrapped parcels.
Dosu. Zaku. And a third one named Kin.
"Saku—!"
Naruto had already started sprinting toward that familiar flash of pink before the word was even out of his mouth — and then he stopped dead.
The girl in front of him was soaked in blood.
"S-Sakura..."
His voice came out unsteady.
He'd never seen her like this. In his head, she was always the same — calm, composed, drilling herself relentlessly in some training ground somewhere. Never this.
Beside him, Sasuke had gone very still. His jaw was tight, fist clenched at his side, saying nothing.
Only Karin read what was actually there — her senses clear as glass. Sakura's chakra was significantly depleted, yes, but she wasn't injured. Just... the mark on her forehead had drawn down a little.
Sakura followed Naruto's gaze down to herself, took in the full picture, and smiled.
"Relax — it's not my blood. My senior's summoning beast caught some, that's all. Don't worry about it."
A lie. But a kind one.
"Huh?"
"Really?!"
Naruto blinked, then his whole face opened up again as he leaned into her space. "So where IS your senior? He sounded like a seriously scary dude—"
"He sparred with me for a bit and then took off," Sakura said, waving it off. "I would've loved to bring him to see the old man, but apparently he's not the type to appreciate the gesture. He just left." She put on her best aggrieved expression.
Dragged him before the Hokage beaten half to death still counts as 'bringing him to meet the Hokage.' Technically not a lie.
"Man, you scared me," Naruto said, scratching his head, grin back in place.
Sasuke watched him buy it that easily and said nothing.
The killing intent on that person... something at that level doesn't just let Sakura walk away.
He looked at her for a long moment.
You walked out of that in one piece.
...Where exactly have you gotten to, Sakura?
"So what's in the scrolls?" Sakura asked, glancing over at the three Sound-nin, who were doing an excellent impression of defeated, deflated sandbags.
"Earth scroll," Sasuke said, pulling it from his pouch.
"Perfect. Let's get to the central tower." Sakura rolled her neck. "I'm covered in dried blood. It's disgusting." She turned briefly to the Sound trio. "As for you three..."
Naruto shifted uncomfortably.
He doesn't want to kill anyone. She could see it on his face. He's steeling himself for it anyway.
The Sound-nin had gone very rigid, all three of them staring at the pink-haired girl who'd just appeared out of nowhere — clearly the actual authority here. Their lives balanced on whatever she decided next.
Sakura glanced at Naruto's expression.
"Leave them."
The exhale from the Sound-nin was nearly audible. Naruto's shoulders dropped in relief so profound it was almost funny.
"Alright, let's move!"
Hokage Tower — Third Floor Office
"...I see."
Hiruzen stroked his beard, looking at Kakashi across the desk.
Orochimaru's appearance had blindsided him — even with the advance intelligence whispering that something was in motion. He hadn't expected this. The threat he'd been too soft to eliminate twelve years ago, now resurfacing. His wayward student, back in Konoha — and his own final disciple had been the one to face him.
Sakura had made it through. That much was clear. But the knowledge of how close it had been sat cold in his chest.
No use regretting it now.
Whatever Orochimaru wanted from this exam, Hiruzen had made his decision.
He would bury him here.
That former student had already raised his hand against the one Hiruzen had chosen as his successor. If all his effort, all these years, were to end with that child cut down by his own greatest failure—
The warmth went out of his eyes.
If Orochimaru has waded into this — he's not leaving Konoha alive.
"Kakashi," he said, "you're dismissed. Follow Sakura's setup — post shinobi around the exam grounds, standard precaution."
"The delegations' residential areas as well. Quiet insertion, nothing obvious."
"And on your way out — send Asuma in."
Kakashi looked at the old man's eyes and felt something cold pass through him. He bowed and left without another word.
The Hokage has made up his mind. Anyone who threatens Konoha's future — he will end them. No exceptions. Not even a student he once loved like a son.
Asuma came in a few minutes later, cigarette in the corner of his mouth, glancing around at the newly-replaced sofa with mild surprise.
The old man finally swapped that thing out. Didn't he used to say it was some antique from the Second Hokage's era...?
"You needed me, old man?"
He dropped without ceremony into the new sofa and looked at his father.
"Asuma." Hiruzen's voice was steady and quiet. "I need you to take care of something."
"What kind of something?"
"Find me someone."
"Who?"
Hiruzen said:
"Tsunade."
"Finally."
Sakura let out a breath of pure relief at the sight of the central tower. The blood on her clothes had dried stiff hours ago, pressing against her skin with every movement. She had no change of clothes. It was profoundly unpleasant.
"Sakura..."
Karin lingered a step behind, staring at the tower. Something uncertain in her face.
She had, in a very real sense, left Kusagakure behind. She'd had time to make peace with that decision. But now, with the moment actually here — a new place, new people, a future she'd chosen but couldn't fully see — her heart wouldn't quite settle.
"It's going to be fine," Sakura said, turning. "Trust me."
"Completely fine!" Naruto added, with the total conviction of someone who hadn't thought about it at all but meant every word anyway.
He'd warmed up to Karin somewhere between the fight and the riverbank. Something about her felt familiar to him in a way he didn't have the vocabulary to name — like something close to family. He didn't entirely know what family felt like. But it was something like that.
"Whatever. Let's go." Sasuke gave the three of them a look and walked through the tower entrance first.
"Hey, wait up—!" Naruto scrambled after him.
Sakura turned to Karin.
She held out her hand.
"Come on. Together."
Karin stared at that offered hand for a moment.
Then she nodded — once, firmly — and grabbed it.
It wasn't just a hand.
It was a crack of light falling into a life that had been dark for a very long time.
(End of Chapter 62)