Picked up a Healer

The bushes shook again, and two figures darted out in a hurry.

They were two male ninja wearing Grass Ninja forehead protectors, covered in leaves and mud and looking rather bedraggled.

The tall one in front spotted Karin in Son Goten's arms at once.

"Karin! Where the hell have you been, you useless waste? We've been looking everywhere!"

The tall Grass Ninja looked vicious and immediately started cursing. "We sent you to find water, and you ran off here to cuddle some brat from another village? Have you got no shame?"

The shorter Grass Ninja chimed in, his gaze sinister. "Get your ass over here! We haven't collected all our scrolls yet. We don't have time for you to slut around."

Karin trembled.

The reflexes formed by years of abuse instinctively made her try to push Son Goten away, and she lowered her head, about to walk over.

"S-sorry, I'll come right..."

A hand pressed down on her shoulder.

There was little force behind it, yet it weighed like a mountain, leaving her unable to move.

"What's the rush?"

Son Goten spoke lazily, without even lifting his eyelids. "I just told you. She's my spoils of war."

Only then did the tall Grass Ninja properly size up Son Goten's group.

Three brats: one lying down, one wounded, and one who looked like a big lunk.

As for Son Goten, he couldn't sense so much as a ripple of chakra from him. Aside from being good-looking, he posed absolutely no threat.

"Brats from Konoha?"

The tall Grass Ninja sneered, his greedy gaze falling on the ninja tool pouch at Naruto's waist. "We only came to find our teammate, but since we've run into you, leave your scroll behind too."

"We happen to need an Earth Scroll."

The short Grass Ninja drew a kunai and twirled it in his hand, grinning maliciously. "Hand over the scroll if you know what's good for you. Otherwise, we're out in the middle of nowhere. Nobody will know if a few people die."

Sasuke braced himself against a tree trunk, his gaze turning cold as he reached for his ninja tool pouch, ready to fight.

He might have been injured, but he hardly thought anything of small fry like these.

"Sasuke, save your strength."

Son Goten reached out to stop Sasuke, still wearing his harmless smile, though his gaze slowly darkened.

"That bear interrupted me while I was flirting, and I was already pretty pissed off."

Son Goten released Karin and took a step forward.

"Now here come two more flies."

He rolled his neck, producing a series of sharp cracks.

"Who did you just call useless?"

Enraged by the brat's attitude, the tall Grass Ninja raised his kunai and charged. "You have a death wish, brat! I'll teach you to know your place!"

Son Goten didn't move.

He didn't even adopt a defensive stance.

Only at the instant the kunai was about to pierce his brow did his eyes suddenly widen.

Boom!

An invisible wave of pressure swept outward in a ring with Son Goten at its center.

That wasn't chakra.

It was a pure, primal, savage aura belonging to an apex predator.

If Orochimaru's killing intent was a cold, venomous snake, then the aura Son Goten released at that moment was an ancient beast that had just awakened, ravenous with hunger.

Mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

In an instant, those were the only words left in the two Grass Ninja's minds.

An image of a Great Ape blotting out the sky appeared in their minds, opening its blood-filled maw and letting out a deafening roar.

Fear from the depths of their genes made them lose all control of their bodies.

"Ah... ah..."

The tall Grass Ninja remained in his charging pose, frozen stiff in midair, before collapsing to the ground like a heap of mud.

His pupils dilated, his teeth chattered, and a dark wet patch rapidly spread across his crotch.

The stench of urine spread.

The short Grass Ninja fared even worse. His eyes rolled back and he foamed at the mouth, not even reacting when the kunai fell from his hand onto his foot.

Silence fell over everyone.

Naruto gaped, looking from the twitching Grass Ninja on the ground to the utterly calm Son Goten.

"That's... it?"

Sasuke's pupils constricted.

For that brief instant, even he had felt his heart shudder.

It was sheer suppression by a higher order of life.

Son Goten withdrew his aura and waved a hand in front of his nose in disgust.

"Gross. They actually pissed themselves."

He walked over and kicked the tall Grass Ninja in the backside.

"So this is what you call ninja? Your nerves are way too weak."

The kick sent the tall Grass Ninja rolling, but he scrambled backward on his hands and knees, babbling incoherently. "Monster... don't eat me... don't eat me..."

"Who'd want to eat something as stinky as you?"

Son Goten crouched down and fished two scrolls out of the man's clothes.

One was a Heaven Scroll, the other an Earth Scroll.

"Oh, looks like we're in luck. A delivery with everything we need."

Son Goten tossed the scrolls to Sakura, then pointed into the forest.

"Scram."

Just one word.

As though granted a pardon, the two Grass Ninja scrambled into the woods. One lost a shoe and didn't even dare turn back to retrieve it; they truly wished they had another pair of legs.

Son Goten dusted off his hands and turned toward Karin, who was still staring blankly.

"Handled."

He pulled Karin back into his arms, as naturally as if he'd merely stepped away to throw out some trash.

"See? You've got no future with those two losers."

Son Goten pinched Karin's slightly chubby cheek. "Stick with me from now on. Not only will nobody dare bully you, you'll be living the good life too."

Karin looked at the boy before her, who was half a head shorter than she was.

His overwhelmingly commanding presence from a moment ago overlapped with his current cheeky grin.

Her heart started racing uncontrollably again.

So... so handsome!

That powerful sense of security was downright addictive.

"Okay!" Karin nodded emphatically, blushing as she rested her head on Son Goten's shoulder. "I'll do whatever you say."

Beside them, Sakura watched, grinding her teeth audibly.

"Um..."

Sakura raised a hand and pointed at Karin's conspicuous red hair. "Goten, don't you think her hair color looks a little like Naruto's? She might be a relative Naruto lost touch with years ago. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to make a move on her like this?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Huh? Really? I think she's way prettier than me."

"Shut up, dead last!"

Sakura glared at Naruto, then turned to Son Goten, her tone distinctly sour. "Besides, we're a three-person squad. How are we supposed to explain adding a ninja from another village to the examiners?"

"Rules are rigid. People aren't."

Son Goten didn't care at all, waving the Heaven Scroll in his hand. "Besides, she's our spoils of war, which makes her supplies. Do the exam rules say we can't bring supplies in?"

"Well..." Sakura was at a loss for words.

Only Son Goten could call a living person supplies and deliver such twisted logic with that much self-assurance.

"All right, enough chatter."

Son Goten snapped his fingers. "Destination: the Central Tower. Let's move!"

On the way to the Tower, the scene became exceedingly bizarre.

Son Goten walked in the middle, his left arm around Karin and his right hand on Sakura's shoulder, humming an unfamiliar tune in utter comfort.

Karin was perfectly compliant, even blushing as she handed Son Goten water now and then.

Though Sakura looked reluctant and tried to shake off Son Goten's hand, he put it back every time she succeeded. In the end, she could only blush and tacitly accept him taking liberties, muttering "lecher" and "pervert."

Meanwhile, at the very back of the group...

Sasuke carried the enormous bear paw-the ingredient Son Goten had insisted on bringing-while Naruto carried everyone's backpacks, both panting with exhaustion.

"Why do we have to do all this hard labor?" Naruto complained.

"Because you're my underling," Son Goten said without looking back. "Besides, this is training. Ever heard of weighted cross-country running?"

Sasuke's face darkened as he gritted his teeth. "Son Goten, you'd better pray this bear paw really tastes good."

"Relax. Don't you trust my cooking?"

Son Goten looked back and gave the two of them a brilliant smile.

"Once we reach the Tower, I'll make you some braised bear paw to build your strength back up. We've still got tough battles ahead, after all."

As he looked at the Tower's entrance just ahead, Son Goten's smile widened.

If I remember right, that lecture-loving Iruka-sensei should be waiting inside to feed us some inspirational platitudes, right?

I wonder what kind of face he'll make when he sees us coming with the whole family in tow.

"I'm really looking forward to this."