Born Anew

Chapter 22

Karin POV

After I'm done with my shopping, I go to visit Naruto, Shiroyan taking his spot right behind me once again. When I walk up the stairs to Naruto's apartment, though, he stays outside to give us some space.

Naruto looks miserable, as to be expected. He's still in his pajamas. The usual smile that graces the blonde's face is nowhere to be seen today. He glances up briefly when I walk in through his door, then goes on to play with his fingers, face turned down to the ground.

I take a moment to survey the mess of his house. It's pretty much like a studio, one big room with his bed on the far off wall and a separate room for the bathroom. Clothes litter every spot in his house, a cereal box lays open on his table along with an open carton of milk. A few empty ramen cups lay on the table as well.

I approach Naruto slowly, almost like he's a rabid animal. "Hey."

He doesn't respond.

"How are you doing?" I ask softly. I don't mention anything about him having an aunt. I don't know if Kakashi or Lady Tsunade would want me to reveal something like this to Naruto first and not them.

He shrugs, so I'm glad I made him answer in some way.

"Do you want to go for some ramen?" I suggest, thinking that the blonde would forget all his sorrows for at least a few minutes to gobble down his ramen.

But Naruto doesn't jump up at the mention of the ramen. He just lifts his head and I catch sight of the redness in his eyes. "No, not today, Karin."

My heart falls when I go to correct my name but he said it right, for the first time. This shows me how utterly upset he is about the news of his friend's death sentence.

I sit down beside him. "Naruto, I know that you're upset about the death sentence hanging over his head but isn't that his problem? Besides, think about it. If this man was your real friend, he wouldn't want you to be upset for him, would he?"

Naruto hesitates but he shakes his head.

"Tell me about him," I say.

He cracks a sliver of a smile. "He was always so serious and so moody. Sakura-chan was obsessed with him. She tried to go after him when he left the village to chase after power. And he hasn't been back since. Even though I tried and tried to prove myself to him, he always said that he was a better ninja than me. But I consider him my rival." He pauses for a minute. "We've always had a really tough rivalry going on. He always thought he was better than me but I'm not putting myself under anyone. I think I'm just as good a ninja as he is. After he left the village, we all started training under the Legendary Sannin. Sasuke under a creep named Orochimaru, Sakura under Grandma Tsunade and me under Pervy Sage."

I find it extremely amusing that he calls some man "Pervy Sage" with such a straight face. "Who's Pervy Sage?" I ask, trying to keep a straight face but I can't- I burst out laughing.

Naruto grins a bit. "He was my teacher, one of the Legendary Sannin. Before he died, he was such a pervert. He used to go off for hours while we were supposed to be training and I'd catch him doing his stupid 'research' by the women's bath houses. You know those books Kakashi-Sensei is always reading? Yeah, well, he wrote them."

I giggle. "No way!"

Naruto's smile expands just a bit. "He was such a damn pervert. He would go crazy over my Sexy Jutsu." He shakes his head, deep in memory. "But even though he was such a creep, he was my teacher. Pervy Sage taught me almost everything I know today. He taught me the Rasengan. He taught me all those things that got me on the same level as Sasuke."