“The scroll’s taking a lot of time,” Sasuke said to Naruto.

“Our people are having some trouble deciphering the contents, still it’s merely a matter of time,” Naruto said. As Sasuke was about to leave, he continued, making the man stop in his tracks, “Sarada came crying to me the other day.”

“W-what?” The only time Sasuke would lose his composure was when his daughter would be the topic of the conversation. “What happened? And why didn’t she come to me or Sakura?”

“Because her problem was with you you, moron. You took on Boruto as a disciple without so much as a question to her about whether she wants to learn from you or not,” Naruto said. “She obviously wants to learn stuff from her father but he’s busy teaching someone else and completely ignoring her.”

“You’re the one who told her to talk to me about teaching her,” Sasuke nodded understandingly.

“She’s already surpassed you. At least she can say things as they are,” Naruto laughed, “unlike your sorry ass.”

Sasuke shook his head, not responding. “I’ll be off.”

…

The next couple of days passed by in a flash as everyone spent the week getting ready for the third round of the chunin exams. Naruto had given Sarada some time off to allow her to train for her own fight as well. Not to mention, Sasuke was taking her and Boruto’s training seriously, which kept them both busy.

It was only four days left until the date for round three when a new entrant came into the village. A certain red-haired kunoichi who was an important part of Naruto’s future plans. Karin Uzumaki had entered Konoha without tripping any of the sensors with the help of the one-time use ‘key’ that Naruto had given her. She quickly made her way to the location that Naruto had told her about and entered the safe house.

Exhaling a breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding, she took off the hood of the cloak that she had wrapped around her, “This is stressful!” She whined to herself, “I’m technically a wanted person, I wanna get away from the village as soon as possible. I wanna go back to my lab …”

“Well that’s going to be a bit of a problem, Karin,” Naruto’s voice startled her into screaming and jumping away from the source, which was the couch in the middle of the very room that she was standing in.

“S-seventh-sama …” She gulped, moving close to the door as Naruto stood up from the couch.

“I thought you already saw me,” He raised a brow. “That stressed out?”

“I apologize for my loss of composure,” She coughed, embarrassed. “I had to dodge many Anbu and the other ninjas who might be aware of me.”

“I understand,“ Naruto nodded, “sit and drink some water, the journey here must’ve been stressful. It took you half an hour to get here since you used the key.”

“You sensed me using the key?” She asked sitting down on the seat that Naruto pointed at before picking up the glass of water.

“Naturally,” Naruto said as Karin downed the water in the glass.

“Why did you say that I can’t go back to my research?” Karin asked. “I’m not a combatant. At best, I’m a medic and even then, I’m a liability. My best ability is working in a lab. I want more than anything to come to the main Research and Development department in Konoha instead of being an independent contractor with Orochimaru.”

“You aren’t fond of working there?” Naruto asked. “I thought that you would’ve been comfortable with people you are familiar with.”

“Please, Hokage-sama,” Karin seemed offended. “One of the people there did experiments on me, the goddamn scars of which are still visible, “The tremble in her voice told Naruto just how bothered she was by that, “another barely speaks and Suigetsu is Suigetsu while the rest are all Orochimaru’s newer experiments. Worst of all, the facility is in the middle of the forest. I have to travel to the nearby city every time I want anything.”

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“Hmm …” Naruto went into thought. “So you wouldn’t be very happy if say, I sent you to Hidden Rain to … bring them under new management?”

Karin stared at Naruto wide-eyed, “I’m flattered, Hokage-sama, by your faith in my ability. But Rain still has ample shinobi who can not only beat me but completely dominate me in battle,” She said. “If your … plan is to be executed correctly, the only people who are good for the job are either Sasuke or Orochimaru himself.”

Naruto sighed, “Yeah, you aren’t wrong. Anyway, that’s not what I called you here,” Naruto’s face took a serious expression. “How desperate are you to be given a true pardon?”

“By true pardon, you mean …” Karin looked at Naruto intently, examining for any falsehood.

“Exactly that,” Naruto said. “I’m planning to establish a new research center and I want you to head it.”

Karin couldn’t believe Naruto’s words, “You mean to say …”

“No need to fish for more information than you need to know, Karin,” Naruto curbed her questions. “Are you willing to head the research center? Yes, or no.”

“Y-yes,” Despite her hesitation, Karin felt that she couldn’t let this opportunity go. “I can stay in Konoha with that, right?” She asked.

“You will be given a full pardon and have a public identity,” Naruto said. “You don’t need to worry, you have my word.”

“What do I need to do?” She asked, aware that Naruto must’ve had a reason for calling her into the village since this conversation could’ve happened at Orochimaru’s hideout as well.

Naruto didn’t say anything as a tense silence filled the small one-bedroom house. Karin’s audible gulp made him look at her as she recoiled. “Tell me, Karin. Are you willing to give your life up for Konoha? I want an honest answer.” Naruto’s face didn’t show any indication of what he was thinking.

“I-I ... I don’t …” She didn’t know what she should say, “I don’t know, Hokage-sama … Maybe.” She felt like her heart was about to leap out of her chest.

‘Damnit! If this is the reason that I can’t —‘

“Hm,” Naruto nodded, not letting her feel stressed for too long, “Good answer. I expected as much. Stand up.”

“O-okay,” Karin felt confused but followed Naruto’s instructions nonetheless as he stood up with her and moved to the empty dining table. He ran his palm along its surface as Karin stood at the side while he traced his palm along the perimeter of the table, waiting for him to say something.

“Take your clothes off,” Naruto’s request — no, order baffled Karin as she stepped back with a scared expression as she looked at Naruto whose face was still passive, not betraying his thoughts.

“Hokage-sama, you are a married man,” She said. “I don’t think that this is the best decision ...”

“That’s not it, Karin,” Naruto’s face showed not a single hint of lust as he repeated his order. “I merely need you to take off your clothes and lay on this table.”

At this moment, Naruto’s face was illuminated by the dim yellow light that seemed to overlap with Orochimaru’s face in Karin’s mind. However, that only lasted a moment as she instinctively sensed the warm and dazzling chakra that Naruto had, “That’s even worse. I’d rather have sex with you than that. Just take me out on a date or two and I’ll go down on you like you can’t even imagine, adultery be damned. But don’t do that …” She hurriedly said whatever came to her mind, trembling.

Naruto couldn’t help but snort amusedly at her words as a smile made its way onto his face. “You’re a very beautiful woman, Karin, but as you said before, I’m married. And as for that look of horror, you can save that for Orochimaru. I’m not going to put you through any weird tests.”

“Then why?” She asked as her tense shoulders seemed to drop a little, she had spent her life going by the feeling that she got from people’s chakra and despite Naruto’s outrageous demands, she didn’t feel even the slightest malicious intent in his words. “We’re technically from the same clan, you know?” She said, trying to lighten her own mood.

Naruto shook his head at her words, “Think of it as me giving you a little welcome gift for agreeing. One that you will be very happy with, promise. Secondly, you don’t really have a choice in this matter,” His voice took a stern turn even as his chakra’s feeling got more comfortable and warmer, “Get rid of every scrap of clothing on your body and lay down on the table, on your back.”

“I …” Karin’s mind was telling her to run away while her senses were telling her to go and hug Naruto for all time so that she could stay close to that warmth for eternity. Though neither of those feelings was a factor here. The main factor was that the opportunity in front of her was one for which she had desperately wanted, for years at this point. She had pretty much lost all hope about it until today. Her answer was already decided. “Fine.” Her face took a stern expression as she started unbuttoning her full-sleeved shirt under Naruto’s gaze. “Can you at least turn away?” She asked, feeling conscious.

Naruto raised a brow, “Embarrassed?” He asked, making Karin scoff as she continued without saying anything further. Naruto didn’t take his eyes off of her, seeming like he was appreciating her smooth milky white skin that got exposed as Karin opened her shirt. Despite being covered in a fishnet top, he could easily see the pristine nature of her skin.

Taking off her shirt, she got rid of her pants and was left wearing a fishnet shirt over her bra and panties. Quickly taking everything off, she approached the table with her arm covering her chest. Despite being embarrassed as the Hokage of Konoha and arguably her future direct superior watched her strip, her only expressions were ones of annoyance and reluctance.

“The table,” Naruto gestured, “on your back.”