Lately, Karin had been feeling like something was missing from her life. Although she still went to the hospital and the sealing class as usual, and this routine of home, hospital, and class was fulfilling, her heart felt empty every day.
Although her aunt and uncle seemed no different than usual on the surface, Karin could sense they were missing someone.
But Karin couldn't bring herself to tell them the truth. Ever since she came to this home, they had treated her no worse than they treated Sakura – of course, it wasn't the kind of kindness one shows to a guest either.
Karin would still get scolded if she came home late or did something wrong. It was precisely because of this that Karin felt like she had found a family again. If possible, Karin wanted to call them "Father" and "Mother."
However, Karin clearly didn't have the courage. She was too afraid of being rejected, too afraid of losing all of this. Besides, without Sakura, this home wasn't complete.
As usual, Karin returned home after finishing work at the hospital, but unexpectedly, she didn't see Junko.
Karin didn't know why Junko disliked her. It hadn't been like this before. Ever since Sakura left, Junko's attitude towards her had grown colder day by day.
However, although Junko disliked her, she hadn't spoken ill of her. At most, the two just ignored each other.
Usually, Junko would have been home by this time. Because the hospital was quite busy, Karin generally arrived home a little later than Junko.
Even after finishing dinner, Junko still hadn't returned. After helping Mebuki Haruno with the dishes, Karin went to her room and suddenly found an envelope on her desk.
On it were written the four words: "For Karin to open personally."
Karin recognized the handwriting as Junko's and hurriedly opened the envelope. However, there was only one sentence inside: "Go to the Hokage Rock!"
"Hm?" Karin turned the envelope over and over; there was only that one sentence. She didn't understand. Did Junko have something to tell her?
Karin hesitated for a moment and decided to go. Perhaps Junko had something she couldn't say at home.
So, Karin left her room, made an excuse to Mebuki Haruno about having to work overtime at the hospital, and went out.
Along the way, Karin felt uneasy, not knowing what matter required her to go to the Hokage Rock to discuss.
The streets of Konoha were gradually emptying. It was already May, and the ninjas in the village who were on long-term missions outside had already left, so it seemed a bit deserted.
Under the moonlight, Karin ran towards the Hokage Rock. After a long while, Karin finally arrived at the forest on the Hokage Rock.
"Junko, where are you?" Karin called out when she couldn't find Junko.
At this moment, a "rustle, rustle" sound suddenly came from the bushes. Karin turned warily towards the bushes.
"Karin, it's... it's me."
Then, a person emerged from the bushes. Karin looked closely and lowered her guard. Although she wasn't familiar with this person, she recognized her: the eldest daughter of the Hyuga family, Hinata Hyuga.
"What are you doing here?" Karin asked.
"I... I was waiting for you here," Hinata said. "Now only you are missing. Come with me."
With that, she walked to the side. Karin was full of doubts but had no choice but to follow.
After passing through a patch of bushes, Karin's vision suddenly opened up. However, appearing before her were many people, some she knew and some she didn't.
"It seems everyone has arrived!"
A young man sitting on a central rock spoke.
"W-wait, what's going on?" Karin asked, looking at this group of familiar and unfamiliar faces.
"We are all Sakura's peers. You might have seen us during the Chunin Exams, and you might know some of us. Let me introduce myself, my name is Shikamaru," Shikamaru said. "This is Choji, Ino..."
"Hello, very nice to meet you." A young man with thick eyebrows and large eyes, before Shikamaru could finish, flashed in front of Karin, his expression serious and earnest. "My name is Lee, Rock Lee."
Looking at Lee who had suddenly appeared, Karin was a little startled. "Ha, hello, I'm Karin."
"Please, what time is it now? Don't come out and embarrass yourself," a girl with her hair in buns on the side dragged Lee away, then said to Karin, "Hello, I'm Tenten."
"I'm Kiba."
"I'm Shino."
"I'm Neji."
"I... I'm Hinata." Although Hinata knew Karin, seeing everyone introducing themselves, she had to step forward and introduce herself as well.
Then, everyone introduced themselves one by one. Including Karin, there were a total of ten people.
"Wh-what are you all doing?" Karin's mind was a bit muddled, but hearing them say they were Sakura's peers, she vaguely felt that what was about to happen was related to Sakura.
"To make a long story short," Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "The village is preparing to encircle and annihilate Haruno Sakura. You are Sakura's junior disciple, and the others present are her peers and comrades. Although I haven't had much interaction with her, at the request of Neji and Sasuke Uchiha, I have gathered everyone here to see what everyone's intentions are."
"Sasuke Uchiha?" Karin looked around but didn't see him and asked, "Where is he?"
"As an ANBU member, he has already joined the encirclement operation and set out ahead. Time is tight, so I hope everyone can reach a conclusion as soon as possible," Shikamaru said, looking at the people present. "Everyone, please state your positions."
"I disagree," Kiba was the first to stand up and say. "It has already been confirmed that Sakura killed ninjas from our own village. I also participated in the pursuit operation when she defected. I will not agree."
Shikamaru nodded. "Let me clarify beforehand, our action this time is not a rescue, but rather a choice to be made based on the development of the situation."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Karin asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"According to the intelligence I've obtained, there are hidden circumstances behind Sakura killing ninjas from our village. But the reason for this encirclement is not because of that incident, but because she assassinated the Kage of another village. To avoid war, the village has decided to eliminate her. This is the reason for this encirclement," Shikamaru said calmly.
The scene fell silent. They hadn't known this information beforehand. Suddenly hearing this news, everyone except Neji felt their minds go blank.
"Sh-sh-she... which Kage did she assassinate?" Kiba stammered, then, as if realizing something, looked at Neji. "Could it be... that one from the Land of Sea last time... is it... the Mizukage?"
Neji nodded silently in acknowledgment. He hadn't told his two temporary teammates about the last mission. And this encirclement operation had come too suddenly; Neji and Sasuke couldn't think of any good way to stop it. They were only genin now and didn't have much say. They could only rely on themselves. Gathering their peers was a last resort.
"That's how it is," Shikamaru said after a moment of silence. "Team 8 also participated in the last pursuit operation. We also got some information from Asuma-sensei. There are hidden circumstances behind Sakura's defection. It is precisely because of this that I have gathered everyone here. The reason I said this operation is not a rescue is also because of this. What to do specifically will depend on the situation on site."
"Are you saying there are hidden circumstances behind Sakura's defection?" Shino stepped forward and asked.
"Now is not the time to talk about this. If the village succeeds in this encirclement, then even if there are hidden circumstances, it will be meaningless," Shikamaru said. "Participate or not, everyone please state your position quickly!"
Karin pursed her lips and said nothing. She was definitely going to participate in this operation, but she also understood that she couldn't succeed on her own. Only by joining them would the chances of success be greater.
"I'll participate in this operation," Choji raised his hand and said. "Although Sakura seems cold, I've admired her since I was little."
Thanks to the difference in psychological age between Sakura and these people, almost everyone admired her at the time. She was good at studying, strong, and cute. Although Sakura didn't pay much attention to them at first, after Naruto went berserk with the Tailed Beast's power, Sakura gradually integrated into their group.
"I'll join too," the second person to raise their hand was Ino.
Ino's feelings for Sakura were somewhat complicated. Ino had always seen Sakura as a rival, but Sakura didn't seem to care at all. Although Ino felt a bit stuffy every time she saw Sakura training with Sasuke, Sakura had always been trying to set her up with Sasuke, though Sasuke wasn't interested in her.
Furthermore, Ino had always seen Sakura as a goal to surpass. This time, she could finally stand before Sakura as a savior.
Shikamaru, seeing his two teammates state their positions one after another, his face immediately drooped. From the bottom of his heart, he didn't want to get involved in this matter, but he couldn't quite refuse the joint request from Neji and Sasuke. So, he had thought of using a vote to get out of it.
He had thought Ino and Choji wouldn't agree. Unexpectedly, among the group, they were the first two to agree. Shikamaru felt a bit helpless. Without him, the Ino-Shika-Cho formation wouldn't be the Ino-Shika-Cho formation. He had no choice but to participate.
Perhaps Shikamaru himself hadn't realized that if he didn't want to go, he wouldn't have needed to explain things so clearly, especially the fact that there were hidden circumstances behind Sakura's defection. Not many people present knew about that.
"I... I'll participate too," Hinata raised her hand and said.
"Hinata, you..." Kiba looked at Hinata, a little anxious. "If this matter isn't handled properly, we'll all be branded as rogue ninjas!"
It wasn't that Kiba didn't want to rescue his comrade; it was just that he had more concerns. Moreover, encountering Sakura last time had given Kiba a bad feeling. Sakura might have changed. Kiba's beast-like intuition could sense that Sakura was faintly filled with a violent aura.
This was also why Kiba was reluctant to participate. Perhaps she had really betrayed the village.
"I'll participate too," Shino's voice sounded after Hinata's.
Kiba looked at his two teammates, stunned for a moment. The determination on his face faltered, and he said listlessly, "I'll participate too."
Kiba couldn't watch his two teammates walk into danger; they were a team.
"Then what about you two?" Shikamaru nodded and looked at Tenten and Lee.
"Sigh!" Tenten sighed. "Since it's Neji's request, I guess I have to participate."
"Does that even need to be said? We must participate!" Lee said, full of energy. "This is the first time Neji has ever asked me for something."
Finally, Shikamaru looked at Karin. "And you?"
"I'll participate too," Karin said firmly.
"Alright," Shikamaru stood up. "Since everyone has reached a consensus, then the operation officially begins. I must emphasize again, this is an unauthorized mission. Do not act rashly. If we misjudge, we could all very likely be listed as rogue ninjas. Therefore, all actions will be under my command. Understand?"
Everyone nodded silently, the atmosphere somewhat solemn.
"According to Sasuke's intelligence, the village will encircle Sakura in Red Leaf Village in the Land of Grass. The ANBU have just left not long ago, so there's still a little time. Everyone go back and prepare your equipment now. We'll gather here again in fifteen minutes. We just need to tail the ANBU," Shikamaru said.
Then, everyone dispersed to prepare their things. Karin also went back to prepare her medical solutions. Right, and that Gelel Stone. Perhaps Sakura could use it, Karin thought.