I really shouldn't have taken a break. I'm writing this on the 22nd.

As in, less than 24 hours before this is meant to go up. I kinda slacked off on writing, and I'm paying the price. Welp, might as well crack on then! Also, uhh, ArchiveOfOurOwn section going up, because...mmm. My relationships go by insanely quickly, but fuck it, I want to write smut of this, so I'm goddamn going to, I don't care if they literally met in this chapter. Here's a link for ya:

Chapter 26

"What the fuck was that?!"

Hana smirked as the red-haired girl of the team screamed, the echoing report of her gun pealing throughout the forest and probably scaring a lot of people. She didn't really want to shoot a Konoha or Suna nin, so she was left picking between the veritable smorgasbord of different villages to attack. Since she didn't know who had which type of scroll, she had to just cross her fingers and guess.

She ended up being given a Heaven Scroll, but since it seemed to be entirely random, it was a pot-luck about whether or not the first team she attacked would have the right scroll. Since the two standing Kusagakure Genin were still in a panic, Hana took the time to reload her weapon, resealing it for later and unsealing a crude puppet she made for just this occasion, affectionately named Hebi.

It was made of sturdy Snakewood, the rippled colouration making the puppet look rather disconcerting, and giving the puppet it's rather uncreative yet still appropriate name. She selected it for the sheer strength the wood had, and while it wasn't easy to obtain, she was relieved to know it did still exist in her new world. Trying to shape it into a puppet was a nightmare, blunting her chisel several times before she was satisfied.

It still looked rather janky and not very well-made with rough-hewn edges and jagged points in some places, but it was meant to take a hit and keep moving, not stand around looking pretty and doing tricks. That was what Kugu was designed for. You could whack at it with a Nodachi and it'd still keep on coming. Hana reasoned the best ways to hand it would be to burn it with a focused Katon Jutsu, or just go for her instead. Of course, to counter this she coated the wood in a liberal mixture of Fire-retardant varnishes, which would immensely increase the puppets survivability even in a flame Jutsu, but not for long.

Wrapping her threads around the puppet, she sent it leaping and flipping through the trees, bringing the wooden construct crashing down hard on one of the two Genin, snapping his spine under the rather notable weight of the puppet. Snakewood weighed a little over 75 pounds per square foot, so considering the puppet was pretty much human in shape, it was around about 1.76 square feet, or about 132.7 pounds.

That wasn't taking into account the lead she had added to the puppet though. The entire inside of Hebi was nothing but lead, giving the puppet an impressive weight, enough to make the snapping of the Genin's spine audible even from where Hana was sat. Suppressing a wince, she nonchalantly sent the puppet flying off the back of the Genin towards the third opponent, only to jerk it back when a colossal bear of all things burst into the clearing, probably drawn by the screaming the two downed Genin were letting out.

"Tch." A mutated bear was a bit irritating, since if it attacked whichever of the Genin were holding the scroll, it might tear the paper apart, and then she'd have to hunt down another, and she just wanted to get this over with so she could go play with Kurami. Hopping towards the area, she sent the puppet charging forwards and sliding under a paw-swipe from the behemoth animal.

Using the wooden puppet to distract the bear, Hana calmly drew her Matchlock out and lined up a shot, aiming it right at the bears head and waiting for...there! Squeezing the trigger, Hana let a ball fly, watching it impact the top of the bears head and get stuck somewhere inside, killing the creature almost instantly. With a yawn, Hana reloaded the gun and put it away again, twitching Hebi over to the third Genin who, quite amusingly, didn't put up a fight as she practically threw the scroll towards the puppet and cowered.

Something about the girl struck Hana as odd and...familiar, so instead of simply wandering off with the scroll, she knelt down near to the girl, still far enough to react before she could attack, but close enough to be easily noticed. "Hey." The girl winced at her voice, and Hana frowned. "You know, I don't actually want to hurt you any more." Watching the girl raise her head and open her eyes to look at her, Hana caught her eyes and smirked. "Hey, we match, fancy that." She pointed at her left eye with a grin.

Blinking owlishly a few times, the girl seemed to take Hana in for a moment before, almost child-like, she outstretched a hand towards her. Raising an eyebrow, Hana put her own hand and clasped it with the girls, quickly hoisting her to her feet. "Now then, you had an earth scroll, so that's handy for me. Sorry about your team-mates, I wanted to test my newest weapons, and-" The glare the red-haired girl gave the two dying Genin was quite surprising.

"Fuck those b-bastards." She said, sobbing slightly at the end as she kicked the nearer Genin.

"O-kay then. Well, iffinya don't mind, since you can't actually pass the test any more with two dying team-mates, and I really don't see a reason not to...aside from the small chance you'd betray me, want to accompany me to the tower?" The girl's eyes honestly seemed to glisten a little as she nodded frantically, her left hand coming up to also grip Hana's hand, and letting her see the dozens of bite marks. "So, what are those?" She asked casually, frowning when the girl winced and pulled away. "Hey, I promise I won't judge. I mean, my own partner can get pretty kinky as well."

The red-haired girl snorted loudly when she said that. "If only. No, these are...I...can I trust you?" Hana just smirked.

"Look, considering it's clear you bloody hate your teammates, and those weren't consensual 'love-bites', I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say they...raped you?" She shook her head at that.

"It's not that. It's...I have an ability. When bitten, people can eat my Chakra, and they recover. It leaves semi-permanent marks though. I...my mother died after being forced to overuse the ability, and I was shoved into the sa-" Immediately realizing what was going on, Hana wrapped the girl up in a hug, pressing her head against the girls hair and holding her close.

"I get it." She said clearly, feeling the girl stiffen considerably before relaxing into her grip. "Heh, guess we really do match." She said into her hair, admiring it. Red hair really was fucking awesome. Wait a second..."Hey, what's your name by the way?" Whining slightly into her chest, Hana heard the girl mumble something and unburied her face from where it was pressed, wiping a thumb under her eyes and smiling at her. "I promise I won't judge. Besides, I don't think many people can beat my parents. Not that I wouldn't try to beat them if I encountered them." She growled, startling the girl.

"...K-karin. Uzu-...Uzumaki K-karin." Hana stopped, tilting the girls face up to look closely at her face. "I'm...Uzumaki Karin." She managed to say clearly after a few tries.

Hana was pretty speechless for a moment, before a giggle left her lips and she hugged the girl again. "You aren't lying, are you? You really are...wow. I've fucking said this twice already, we match seriously too well." She pecked the girl on the cheek before leaning back. "Well, it's an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance Uzumaki Karin. I'm Nanashi Hana, formerly Uzumaki Hana." She said with a smile.

Hearing Kurami chime something perverted into her ear, Hana grinned widely. Leaning forward, she whispered into Karin's ear, making her shiver as her breath ghosted her ear. "Though if it means I get to spend time with you, I'd gladly take that name back." She nipped the blushing girls ear, rubbing their cheeks together as she drew back, before she quickly leaned down and hooked an arm around Karin's knees, tipping her over and hoisting her suddenly into a bridal carry.

The already-red girl blushed even brighter, her eyes lidded slightly. Without another word, Hana began bolting across the forest towards the tower, with Kurami letting her Chakra slip so they could get there faster, and accidentally exposing Karin to a mostly-unsuppressed Hana. The pair, of course, had no clue that Karin was a sensor, and she mewed, burying her face into Hana's body as she felt the dark-red haired girl's Chakra, warm and inviting, wash over her. She sensed a second signature much like the first, though it was far more powerful but seemingly hidden, buried within Hana.

Not giving Karin much time to enjoy her Chakra, Hana covered the forest in record-time for a Genin, zipping straight into the tower and almost bowling a certain tanuki-looking boy over. "Gaara!" She chirped, setting Karin down, who tried to stay standing but collapsed to her knees with a dazed moan. Sweeping the boy up into a hug, she grinned when she saw him actually react pleasantly.

He didn't try to hug her or anything, but his lips curled up a little, and his sand only threatened Hana a tiny bit before settling back down when it recognized her. "Hello Hana, I'm glad to see you are well."

"Ahh, I see Rasa has been making sure you can understand us puny mortals better, that's good. Now, as much as I'd love to catch up, we do have a month between this phase and the tournament for a chat, and I have a...ahem...acquaintance I want that cutie over there-" She waved a hand at Karin, who was still gazing at Hana with a strange expression. "-to meet. So, what's say we catch up later?" When Gaara raised an eyebrow she pointed at her stomach, leaping him to nod slowly in realization. "Great, I'll see you around!"

Hana was about to set off before she remembered she was meant to open her scroll upon arrival. Quickly unsealing the Heaven and Earth scrolls from her back, she plonked the Earth one on the ground and unrolled the Heaven one, only to be surprised when Jiraiya appeared in front of her. "Ahh, Gaki, you passed then?" He said quickly, looking down at the Earth scroll before his gaze caught on Karin, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Found an Uzumaki as well. She doesn't like her village, so I'm keeping her. Just gonna pretend she died during the exam, nobody needs to know. Hush hush stuff, right?" She grinned and pointed at her seal, making Jiraiya's eyes widen. It was actually quite smart for the Gaki, at least if she was proposing what he was thinking.

Rubbing his chin, he nodded. "I'll have to ask Hiruzen-sensei about it, but Kusagakure can't kick up much of a fuss if the corpses were all lost within the Forest of Death, perhaps during a stray Katon Jutsu? And I assume she'll be residing within your seal for the time being?" She nodded quickly, licking her lips.

"Yeah, I want to introduce her to...someone special anyway." She said with a grin.

"Well, you seem to be eager, so I'll leave you to it." With that, he Shunshin'd away, and Hana quickly scooped Karin up, noticing the rather amusing noises she made when she was lifted up, and quickly darted off to a secluded room, closing the door and dropping a silencing and barrier seal for good measure.

As Karin opened her mouth to ask Hana what she was doing, Hana turned her gaze on Karin and released ALL of her Chakra. Not the happy-go-lucky gaze she had during their brief chat, or the plain face she had when dealing with the bear, this was much, MUCH colder. "Karin-chan, this is very important. I'm about to show you...two, maybe three things that should remain secret under almost any circumstances. I warn you now, if you tell anybody about these without my permission...you'll not like the consequences. I don't want to have to ask this in the first place, but...you don't plan to betray my trust do you Karin-chan?"

Not trusting her words, Karin merely nodded, closing her eyes and taking a moment to bask in Hana's unfiltered Chakra. A soft feeling on her lips bade her to open her eyes wide as she saw Hana's face a scant few centimetres from her own, their lips pressed together. As Karin leaned back in surprise, Hana leant forwards, caressing one of her cheeks with her hand as she kept her eyes locked onto Karin's drooping eyelids.

After a few moments, Hana drew away, smirking when Karin tried to unconsciously follow her mouth. "Now now Karin-chan, before we do anything else, I need to show you these two things." As Karin whined slightly, Hana dropped her henges all at once, hearing the startled gasp from the girl, before a high-pitched squeeing sound came and she found her ears being caressed. "Oh, Kari-OHH!" Karin rubbed a finger right in the crook of her ear, and, while she'd deny it to anyone except Karin and Kurami, she purred.

The two stayed like that for a few moments, Hana unconsciously leaning into Karin's hand as she caressed her ears, before her control snapped back into place as she dejectedly pulled her head away from Karin's hands. "O..okay, wow. I see why cats like that now." Karin smiled at her, and she grinned right back. "But, that's...not the biggest thing. Uhh, just...be open-minded I guess?" She said wit ha shrug, poking Karin on the forehead with a seal she subtly retrieved from her bag and forming a bridge of Chakra to her seal, quickly pulling her into her mindscape and giggling when she came face-first to a considerably up-scaled Kurami.

"Uhh...hi?"

AO3 Content from here on. Have a second link, otherwise just continue below:

"Mneh..." The noise Karin made was music to Hana's ears, and she kissed the girl once and then again for good measure before planting a kiss on Kurami's head and reluctantly pulling herself from the seal after re-clothing herself. She popped back into the room she disappeared within, taking a look around and frowning.

She wanted to stay within the seal for longer, but she also wanted to make sure she wasn't going to get disqualified or something for randomly disappearing, so she stretched and clicked her back, then opened the door to her room and wandered outside. She looked left and then right, before humming a nonchalant tune to herself and setting off in a random direction.

That was her plan anyway. Pretty quickly, the black-haired boy on Sasuke's team came flying around the corner, almost knocking her straight over. "Oh sorry have you see-" The kid, Aratamete she vaguely recalled, began immediately saying before he actually looked at her properly. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" He yelled, making Hana wince and rub her ears.

"Indoor voice maybe. Jeez, with how loud you were you could wake the fucking dead." The boy gave her an actually furious look, and Hana immediately gave him a hard look. "Who?"

"Sakura. She...took a...a hit, meant for Sasuke, and we aren't allowed to get her any outside medical attention until the end of the second stage." He blurted out, and Hana shook her head.

"Okay, and why would I care? Better yet, why would I need to know? I don't know any Iryo-nin Jutsu aside from the Diagnostic Palm, and I'm fairly sure this 'hit' is probably something major if you're acting like this. But if you think I have some misplaced want to help her, you're wrong. She was a goddamn fan-girl, wasting my and Sasuke's time with her stupidity. Sure, she doesn't deserve to die for it, but as far as I'm concerned, she dug this hole all on her own by spending her time fawning over Sasuke instead of...wait, you say she actually took a hit for him?"

"Yeah, he was about to get hit by some kinda weird biting Jutsu, and she got in the way. The thing is, she's catatonic and in pain, but aside from the...mark it left, there's nothing we can see, that's why I wanted your help." Hana sighed, waving towards the corridor.

"Well, lead the way then. I guess even if I don't particularly like her, she is still a Konoha Genin, so I'm duty-bound to help her." Aratamete stared at her for a few moments, but an insistent wave and a glare got him quickly scurrying through the tower. Throwing open a seemingly random door, Hana saw Sasuke sat down beside a bed staring at Sakura, who was shivering despite the blankets atop her. At first glance, she just seemed cold, but Hana recognized that she wasn't cold, she was in agony.

"Honestly, what were you thinking, stupid girl..."

Shorter, I know.

I've really dropped in my ability to write this story recently. Might be due to the fact I'm writing 2 Gamer stories, but meh. There'll be a bit more AO3 level content now that Karin's in the picture. I like her alright, she seems like a sweetheart, therefore boom, they're all together now.

I know, I know, it's a bit weird and kinda sorta maybe a bit incestuous, but the way I see it is at the very most they are absurdly distant-cousins, and I like the pairing of them together. So there!

*EDIT*

Hana Nanashi will be going on pause for a little while. Probably only a few weeks at most, but I need a break. War Dog and Eternal Game will get a few more chapters but will likely either slow down a bit or stop completely as well. Sorry for this happening so abruptly, I just need a break.