Karin and Hinata

Let us turn the clock back half a day to the Hokage's Office, just as Tahm was teleporting away with the Third Hokage.

Because the situation was so urgent, Tahm only had time to tell the Hokage to instruct the guards to take good care of Karin before disappearing right in front of her.

Karin, who had only just escaped from danger, still had tears in her eyes. When she saw Tahm disappear into that terrifying battlefield again, she could no longer hold back her tears.

Am I alone again? Just a few minutes ago, I was being controlled by an S-rank-plus missing-nin. After finally escaping with my life, I suddenly appeared in an unfamiliar place. My only support, Tahm, has rushed back to the battlefield, and I don't even know whether he is alive or dead. Karin's fear was magnified to its limit, and she collapsed helplessly onto the floor, weeping.

The Hokage's guard jonin was even more at a loss. The Third Hokage had actually said a quick farewell before jumping into the mouth of that toad called Tahm and vanishing!

Looking at the little girl crying on the floor, he felt another headache coming on. He had no problem killing enemies mercilessly, but he had no idea how to take care of children. Besides, the Hokage's office building was not a place where a child of unknown identity could enter freely. This was a highly classified location, after all. And in the Shinobi World, there was no shortage of people who used children as spies.

The guard jonin thought it over. Since the girl had been brought back by Tahm, he might as well send her directly to Tahm's residence.

When Karin heard the jonin's suggestion, she finally reacted despite her constant crying. Tahm's home? For some reason, she felt a little expectant.

Karin stopped crying. She slowly stood up, wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, and looked somewhat sheepishly at the kind-looking ninja uncle before her.

Konoha's ninjas are a little different from the Grass Ninja. They seem easy to get along with.

Led by the jonin, Karin walked through Konoha's streets and saw a bustling scene completely unlike any city she had known before. Every person's face wore a happy, satisfied smile, giving the girl who had always wandered without a home a faint sense of security.

So this is the village where Tahm lives?

When Tahm comes back, he'll take me to live here with him, right?

A word Karin had not dared to think about for a very long time—home—suddenly leaped into the girl's mind again.

By then, Tahm will live with me and spend a very, very long time with me.

As she thought about it, Karin gradually felt an emotion called happiness.

After walking through the bustling streets, they arrived at a large compound filled with strange people who had pure-white eyes. After the jonin accompanying her exchanged a few words with the people there, Karin came to a delicate little courtyard. The ninja uncle who had brought her told her that this was where Tahm lived.

After the jonin left, Karin was the only person remaining in the entire courtyard.

Looking at the koi swimming in the clear water and feeling the cool breeze passing through the courtyard, Karin finally felt at ease. It seemed that even the air still held Tahm's scent.

Before this, no matter how kind the ninja uncle had acted or how gentle the people on the streets had seemed, nothing could make Karin, who had experienced the world's cruelty, lower her guard.

Yet after arriving at Tahm's residence, she clearly had only herself, but she felt a strange sense of safety and belonging.

She carefully examined every corner of the courtyard, her heart filled with satisfied delight, as though she were about to become its mistress.

The only thing worth worrying about was that Tahm still had no idea where he was.

Will he come back safely?

However, the girl's melancholy was interrupted by another soft, sweet voice: "Excuse me, who are you? What are you doing here?"

Karin turned around and saw a cute girl her age with pure-white eyes standing there prettily, looking at her curiously.

This girl is even prettier than me. For the first time, the girl who had grown up rolling through blood and danger began to pay attention to her own appearance.

For some reason, Karin felt as though she had encountered her destined greatest rival. Thus, she said in a somewhat aggressive tone, "Tahm brought me back. I'll be living here from now on!"

"What?" Hinata's eyes were filled with disbelief and astonishment.

"Are you someone important to Tahm?" The red-haired girl entered her little hot-pepper mode.

Even Hinata's gentle nature was angered. Her little face flushed bright red as she puffed out her cheeks and said, "I'm Hinata Hyuga. I'm Tahm's family! This is my home with Tahm!"

Without anyone teaching her, the girl instinctively emphasized the key words "Tahm" and "family," then added:

"And who are you?"

Those few words dealt Karin a heavy blow. So Tahm already has a family? What about me? I'm just a homeless orphan whom nobody cares about. What am I to Tahm?

But Karin's naturally strong-willed personality meant she would not yield so easily. She forced herself to keep her spirits up and said, "I'm Tahm's family too! Tahm brought me here!"

So it's finally happening? Hinata's young heart was struck as well. Earlier, when she had trained with Tahm and Sakura, Tahm's special treatment of Sakura had made her experience that vague, indescribable discomfort for the first time.

And now, Tahm had actually brought another adorable girl home!

I absolutely cannot give way on this matter! Hinata, who was accustomed to yielding, felt the string inside her heart pulled taut.

The two girls, one with pale eyes and one with red eyes, glimmered with inexplicable hostility. Even the air seemed on the verge of catching fire beneath the clash of their gazes.

"Where's Tahm? Where is he?" Hinata suddenly remembered that Tahm would have to explain himself properly and began searching for the culprit.

The instant Tahm was mentioned, Karin's face revealed disappointment and worry.

The sharpness vanished from her voice as she suddenly became dejected. "Tahm is still fighting the enemy."

"What?" Hinata immediately forgot their earlier hostility and, together with Karin, fell into an atmosphere of panic.

From Karin's account, Hinata also understood Tahm's current situation:

He was far away, in the desert of the Land of Wind, fighting three powerful enemies.

Young Hinata still did not understand many things about the Shinobi World, but she had heard a name like "Orochimaru" from her father. Her face instantly went pale. Tahm is actually in such a dangerous situation!

"What should we do? Can Tahm come back safely?" Hinata asked her "enemy" helplessly.

Karin could only answer weakly, "I don't know."

At that moment, Tahm was still traveling through the vast desert with the Third Hokage and the others.

This mission was finally over. Tahm's heart held a few traces of the relaxed pleasure that came after surviving a disaster.

He suddenly thought of Hinata waiting at home for him to return, as well as Karin, whom he had sent to Konoha. Once I return safely, they'll definitely be very happy, right?

But why do I feel vaguely uneasy?