The Red-Haired Girl

Kusagakure was having a terrible run of luck.

They'd entered two teams of six in the Chunin Ninja Exams. Both teams had passed the first round, which should have been cause for celebration.

But before their strongest team even made it into the Forest of Death, Orochimaru had stolen their faces and slaughtered them all.

The second team had scraped through by the skin of their teeth, only to be wiped out by Gaara's Sand Burial before the finals even began. Now, only one red-haired girl remained.

At that moment, the older Chunin leading the team had a chain leash in his hand. At the other end, a collar was locked around the girl's neck. They left Konoha and turned into the forest.

"You little bastard! You think I don't know what you're thinking? You want that Uzumaki brat who shares your surname to take you away?"

The girl lowered her head obediently and said nothing.

"Speak!" The older Chunin yanked the chain hard. It tightened around her throat, and she let out a painful, strangled gasp.

Calling her a ninja was a stretch. She couldn't even beat a bear. They'd brought her along purely to serve as a blood supply for the team.

The girl looked bewildered. "What do you mean, someone who shares my surname?"

"Still pretending!" The older Chunin gave the chain another vicious yank. "I'm a Chunin! You think you can fool me? Want to take a trip to the interrogation room?"

The girl was in so much pain she retched. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes, but she still shook her head. "Teacher Ito... I really don't know what you're talking about."

The older Chunin grabbed her chin and squeezed, glaring at her viciously. After staring for more than ten seconds, he suddenly smiled and stroked her short red hair. "Looks like I was wrong about you."

The girl gave him a relieved, happy smile.

They continued on their way back to the Land of Grass. They passed through the forest on Konoha's outskirts and reached the rolling mountains. The older Chunin let out a long breath—the last breath of his life.

A huge brown shadow dropped from the treetops. It swung an arm and thrust through his neck.

Before he could cry out in pain, another dull, heavy punch smashed his whole mouth in, driving his teeth and flesh down his throat. Blood trickled over him.

The girl showed no discomfort at the sight of blood. She stared straight at him. A few seconds later, tears suddenly spilled from her eyes, and she murmured like she was dreaming:

"Uzumaki... Naruto?"

Naruto smiled at her, grabbed the corpse, and headed into the woods. "Wait here a moment. I'll get rid of him."

The girl didn't want to wait. She followed Naruto and watched as he stuffed the corpse into a bear's mouth with his bare hands. She smiled happily.

When Naruto turned around, she introduced herself before he could ask. "My surname is Uzumaki, and my name is Karin."

Naruto understood at once. "That explains it."

All Karin saw was Naruto's dazzling, sun-bright smile. His blond hair gleamed in the daylight filtering through the leaves, and as a gentle breeze stirred it, he said the most wonderful words in the world.

"Congratulations. You're free."

Karin had no idea what expression she was making, but she figured it must have been awful. She took off her glasses and rubbed at her eyes again and again, thanking him over and over.

Naruto waved. "I'm heading back. Stay safe. See you."

Karin hurried after him and tugged at the hem of his coat. "Could I... come with you?"

"You're free now. You can go anywhere." Naruto had no intention of claiming someone just because he'd saved them. That wasn't saving someone; it was just another kind of greed.

"If you want to repay me, come find me when you're able."

Karin had grown up under Kusagakure's watch, imprisoned from a young age. As far back as she could remember, she'd watched people suck blood from her mother every day. The war had been brutal, with too many wounded. One day, her mother went out. The next time Karin saw her, she was a corpse beneath a white sheet, covered in bite marks. They'd drained her Chakra until she died.

Karin had assumed her mother's fate would be her own. The village had even chosen a man to impregnate her, ready to make her bear a child as soon as she got her period and carry on the Uzumaki bloodline.

She'd wanted to escape, but she had no strength and no opportunity. She couldn't even let the thought show.

Now, after the word "free" had filled her with overwhelming joy, emptiness and panic closed in around her.

She spoke timidly. "I don't know how to do anything. This is my first time leaving the village. They only taught me how to cultivate Chakra. They never taught me a single ninjutsu."

Only then did Naruto notice the collar and chain still fastened around Karin's neck. He reached out and snapped the chain.

"Staying alive is easy. With a ninja's identity, you can get by anywhere. If you really have nowhere to go, try the Land of Waves. There isn't even a ninja village there, just ordinary people. They definitely won't be able to bully you."

Karin listened and believed every word. After Naruto gave her detailed directions and told her to go to Tazuna's house, she heard him say goodbye again.

"Will you always be in Konoha? When can I come see you?"

Naruto thought for a moment. "Not necessarily. Maybe in a few years. Come when I'm in charge of Konoha. I'll be famous by then, so I won't be hard to find."

As he spoke, he took five thousand ryō from his pocket and handed Karin the older Chunin's ninja tool pouch. "Let's keep things straight. I'm lending you the money. You have to pay me back. See you."

"Okay." Karin accepted it and clutched it tightly. She watched Naruto disappear from view before finally leaving the forest. She looked up at the vast blue sky and ran on and on.

The competitors spent the month of training pushing themselves as hard as they could.

Sasuke trained one-on-one with Kakashi every day, preparing to face Yakushi Kabuto, a veteran of the exams for seven years running.

Naruto's opponent was Rock Lee. Lee had passionately challenged him to a fight, saying he'd give it everything he had—for his teammate Neji and for the girl he liked, Haruno Sakura.

Naruto admired that courage, and he, too, kept steadily training with his blade and Chakra.

His strength had reached its limit. Only by breaking through his body with Chakra and affecting the outside world could he attain a state comparable to Magnetic Field Rotation.

But that wasn't easy. It was practically like using ninjutsu without Hand Seals.

For example, he'd have to will it, then release Chakra from his body as electricity, even going so far as to manipulate the electromagnetic field around him.

Naruto could feel a thick barrier around him, but he had no idea where to begin. He had no teacher to guide him.

Perhaps he'd find the answer in battle.

At that moment, he was bare-chested, practicing with his blade upstream from a waterfall. The pressure wasn't all that great, but at least it never let up.

Then a lewd, oily laugh suddenly rang out from the bushes to his left.

What a laugh it was—brimming with the purest desire. It made Naruto's hair stand on end, and he charged toward the bushes with his blade in hand.

He saw a very burly, white-haired man with spiky hair, squatting in wooden sandals at the edge of a cliff and gazing down at a branch of the river below the waterfall.

When he saw Naruto coming, he hurriedly raised a finger to his lips and shushed him, then pointed toward the river. "Don't say a word. Come look."

Naruto followed his gaze and saw four girls in swimsuits splashing and playing in the river, their curves swaying as they chattered and laughed.

If they weren't smiling at him, it wasn't his business.

"Why are you hiding? Go down and take a look."

The man wore a Forehead Protector with a large "oil" character on it. A red line ran from the corner of each eye down to his jaw.

He looked at Naruto in surprise. "Is... is that allowed?"

"Why wouldn't it be? They're out in public, playing there. They must be ready for people to look." Naruto shot back, "If they can play there, why can't you go down? Go play with them."

The man's eyes widened. "Play with them?"

"Go on, while they're still there." Naruto waved and turned away, ready to resume his blade practice.

The man stood up. He was over six feet tall, his body like a door. "Wait! You, kid! Do you know who I am?"

Naruto stopped. So this really was about him. A man with such a powerful presence couldn't possibly have come all the way out here just to peep.

There were women everywhere.

He turned serious. "Who are you?"

The man tossed his spiky white hair back and spread his arms, voice booming. "Good question! I'm Toad Spirit Sage Fukasaku of Mount Myōboku, better known as the Sage of the Toads! Present!"