Reborn as an Uchiha [Naruto fan-fic]

21 : Uzumaki Karin

It was a few hours to noon and Renji was cheerily making his way to the outskirts of Kusagakure.

He couldn't help but let out a breath of turbid air when he recalled the details of yesterday's conversation with Miku.

It turns out that a bunch of skirmishes between Kusagakure and Takigakure have already broken out.

The body count kept rising and Miku's workload became increasingly overbearing.

If a solution couldn't be found the two villages would sooner or later declare war against each other.

This was where the problem lay, the hidden grass obviously had their hands full with their neighbors

'Then what's the basis of that rumour'

Anko had previously gotten some unconfirmed intel in the form of a rumour, the idea was that kusagakure planned on warring with Konoha.

Ridiculous as that may seem it still couldn't be ignored.

'That rumour was most likely fake'

After giving it a thought Renji came to a conclusion and continued to move at a leisurely pace.

Information gathering was work for adults. This event never showed up in the actual series which meant that it was negligible and wouldn't impact the story in any way.

So why should he be concerned?

These developments actually helped him to an extent. The conflict between Kusagakure and Takigakure made his story of being a spy much more believable.

'Ha! Lady luck is on my side'

After this thought the five year old paused and mumbled to himself

"Did I just set up a flag?"

He quickly observed his surroundings, after confirming that nothing was wrong the young Uchiha inspected the bag of plushies in his right hand.

He then nodded satisfactorily to himself, after which he continued to March forward.

Since Renji had an excess of time on his hands he suggested heading over to Miku's place to scout the terrain and take notes of possible escape routes.

In reality he just wanted to quietly train his chakra control and if possible, use the chance to befriend a prominent character in the Naruto series, Uzumaki Karin.

It was for this purpose he was now holding a bag of stuffed animals.

This was not a meaningless effort.

Miku's request wasn't accepted on the spot as Anko still had other factors to consider.

An increased workload wasn't a good enough reason to skip town but given the fact that Miku essentially used her life force to heal people, it could easily lead to her death.

[Fun fact: this was actually the reason she died in the anime]

'Fun?!'

[Sorry]

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Somewhere in the central area of Kusagakure a red haired girl in cheap clothing stared with widened eyes at the colourful tents pitched up all round.

The moon caravan was always a glorious sight to people who saw it and Uzumaki Karin was one of such people.

She shuffled awkwardly through the erected stalls and cast a longing gaze at the food and toys being sold.

Her mother's finances could barely keep them alive so it stood without saying that she didn't have any money to spend at the stalls.

Karin just had to be contented with observing the festivities.

The young Uzumaki wandered around aimlessly with an excited expression plastered to her face when she suddenly found herself standing in front of a dango stall.

The red head had unconsciously been led here by the delectable aroma of sweets and now that she was in close proximity, the 4 year old found it difficult to stop her mouth from watering.

Tengen was dumbfounded when he saw a young girl brazenly standing in front of his stall and ogling his goods with a lecherous gaze.

He was wary at first but after taking a closer look he deduced that she was likely just a hungry lass who couldn't afford a meal.

Just as he was about to chase her away the Uchiha suddenly had a brilliant idea.

He decided to attract her attention by waving.

The young Uzumaki was clearly spooked but after catching a glimpse of the skewered snack in his right hand her hunger overrode her caution and she steadily approached the stall.

Tengen crouched so he could be at eye level with the young girl, then he asked in a friendly tone

"Are you hungry?"

Karin bashfully nodded her head and after a brief chuckle Tengen handed her the dango in his hand

"You can have this"

"Thank you"

The girl replied curtly before going on to swiftly devour the food in her hands.

"Would you like an extra helping?"

"Y-yes"

The young girl answered shyly.

When she received a new skewer, she didn't eat it as fast and made sure to savour the taste.

"What is your name?"

"Karin!"

The young Uzumaki replied cheerfully.

"Okay Karin, that will be 800 ... "

"Thank you for the free food mister!"

"Free? Ha! There's nothing free in this world!"

"But you were the one who called me over!"

"I was simply advertising my goods"

Because of his son Renji, Tengen had learned to be shameless when dealing with children.

"But, I don't have any money"

The young Karin spoke in a fluster.

"Don't worry, all you have to do is earn your keep by working for me"

Tengen said while unrolling a tiny apron which he immediately gave to Karin.

"Um, why do you have an apron my size?"

The red head shot Tengen a questioning look.

"Well you see, I have a son your age"

" ... "

" ... "

"And?"

"And nothing!"

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Meanwhile ...

Knock knock knock

"Hmm I guess no one's home"

A/N : Ha! I'm finally back from the abyss.