Chapter 81: The Golden House Hides Karin
"Everything's fine now."
Naruto jumped down from the massive black bear's corpse.
Uzumaki Karin crawled forward in a panic, picked up her glasses from the ground,
and put them back on.
At this moment, the only thought in her mind was: I'm saved!
But being saved was one thing.
She still needed to see exactly who had saved her.
What entered her vision was
a strikingly handsome face.
At this moment, Naruto grinned at her.
Thump thump… thump thump…
"Big handsome guy…"
Karin's heart pounded wildly like a startled deer.
Which girl doesn't dream of romance?
At the most critical moment, he had stepped in to save her.
And on top of that—he was this handsome.
In an instant, a blush spread across Karin's face.
The flush quickly crawled up her fair neck.
"Y-You… hello. May I ask your name?"
Karin asked with her head lowered.
Her gaze flicked toward the Earth Scroll that had rolled to the side.
She panicked instantly.
She looked warily at Naruto.
If Naruto's team was carrying the Heaven Scroll,
didn't that mean she was about to fall into another trap?
But then she remembered—Naruto was her lifesaver.
In her moment of life-and-death crisis,
he had stood up.
Protected her.
Compared to her so-called teammates?
Along the way they had only treated her as a recovery tool.
They didn't care whether she lived or died.
All they demanded was that she protect the Earth Scroll.
What use were teammates like that?
In this moment,
a paradox arose in Karin's heart.
On one hand—she didn't want to hand the Earth Scroll to this handsome lifesaver.
Because if she gave it away,
when her teammates returned,
her situation would become extremely bad.
On the other hand—she felt like handing it over wouldn't matter.
She could just make up some excuse.
Or fake her death right now.
Create the illusion that she had died.
That way her teammates wouldn't track her down.
But after escaping—
where would she go?
If other Grass ninja discovered and captured her,
her fate was obvious.
Naruto smiled.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto."
"Uzumaki… Uzumaki…"
Hearing those two words,
Karin froze.
Her face filled with disbelief.
"You're really called Uzumaki Naruto?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
No way?
Was his reputation that big?
Looking at Karin's reaction—it seemed something was off.
Seeing Naruto's strange expression,
Karin gave a few dry coughs and hurriedly explained:
"I'm also from the Uzumaki clan! My name is Uzumaki Karin. I got too excited because it's so rare to meet someone from our clan."
The Uzumaki clan—most were dead or wounded.
It was almost impossible to find any survivors.
Caught in the flames of war, very few Uzumaki escaped.
Because of their special abilities, the higher-ups of the Grass Village took notice.
They kept her confined.
Later—to test the level of other villages' genin—
they gave her this mission and sent her to participate in the Chūnin Exams.
Along the way she had suffered greatly.
Naruto's lips curved slightly.
Of course I know who you are.
"So you're also an Uzumaki?"
Karin nodded frantically.
"Yes."
"But your hair?"
Karin hinted very subtly.
You're Uzumaki too, right? Why isn't your hair red?
Why is it blond!
Though blond is pretty handsome too.
Naruto smiled and walked closer to Karin.
"I inherited it from my dad."
"My mom was from the Uzumaki clan."
Since these things weren't sensitive,
telling Karin was harmless.
After all—she wasn't from Konoha.
No harm done.
And if she became a Konoha woman later—then it would be even less of an issue.
Knowing what her father-in-law and mother-in-law looked like
was perfectly normal, right?
Right, Karin-chan girlfriend?
Karin understood. So that's how it was.
But something still puzzled her.
Why did Naruto save her?
"Um… may I ask why you saved me?"
"Seeing injustice and acting righteously. We met by chance—helping when I can."
Naruto answered casually.
Very much like a wise master.
If he hadn't bent down to pick up the Earth Scroll from the ground,
dusted it off, and tucked it into his arms—
Karin might actually have believed his nonsense!
Come on—where's the "seeing injustice" and "righteous roar"?
We're fellow clansmen.
Why so many tricks?
If you wanted it I would've given it to you!
Karin's mouth twitched. For a moment she didn't know what to do.
Fight?
She was a weak girl with no strength to truss a chicken.
How could she possibly fight Naruto?
Naruto held the Earth Scroll and knew exactly what Karin was thinking.
So he smiled at her and said:
"I obviously can't just take your Earth Scroll for free."
"Actually—you're not a native Grass ninja, right?"
Karin nodded silently.
After a pause, Naruto continued:
"Here's the deal. I run a big company in the shipping business. Go report there."
"Tell them Uzumaki Naruto sent you."
"Get a high-level department supervisor position."
"It's basically a sinecure."
Kado was of course Zabuza in disguise. As for Naruto's orders—
Zabuza wouldn't dare disobey.
Though this did have a bit of a "golden house hiding a beauty" vibe.
cough cough…
Actually—it wasn't that serious.
He, Naruto, was still single.
Karin's eyes lit up for a moment, then quickly dimmed again as she remembered something.
Her expression became conflicted and hesitant.
The conditions Naruto offered were extremely tempting.
But thinking about those people from the Grass Village—
if they knew her exact location,
they absolutely wouldn't let it go.
Naruto saw through her concern.
"You're worried about your teammates finding out?"
Seeing Karin remain silent,
Naruto added:
"Those two guys wearing hoods and carrying ninja swords on their backs, right?"
"When I came over earlier on the road, they actually tried to jump me."
"So I just killed them both."
When he mentioned those two,
Naruto was honestly speechless.
Hiding in the shadows trying to ambush him.
They probably thought he looked easy to bully.
But they didn't expect to steal a chicken only to lose the rice.
When Naruto said this,
his tone was extremely casual.
But Karin knew very well how strong those two teammates were.
Even if they couldn't compare to other Chūnin Exam participants,
they weren't easy to kill.
Yet the blond handsome guy in front of her had killed both of them in one go.
That was way too strong, right?
They were fellow clansmen.
Plus Naruto had just saved her life.
Following those Grass ninja had only brought her suffering.
Karin truly didn't want to go back to that hellhole.
Her gaze became resolute. She answered firmly:
"Okay!"
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