Kaguya's Legacy

Karin Uzumaki stood outside the gates leading to Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the first and strongest of the great hidden villages.

Though Karin personally doubted it was any stronger than their Amegakure.

After all, not only did Amegakure have the Angel, Konan, and the God, Pain, but it also had all the other members of the Akatsuki, not to mention Kaguya-hime as well.

Surely, with all of them, Konoha couldn't be stronger, could it?

She had heard all the stories about how Kaguya-hime had broken into Konoha and done things, not to mention even Itachi had been able to kill a ton of people and still escape.

Something that was impossible in Amegakure, where Pain seemed to know everything.

Not that Karin had met Pain, but she had seen him, something not many people had been able to do, and well... he was strange.

There was no doubting that he was powerful. Karin could feel his chakra from anywhere in the village; in fact, every drop of water that fell on the village was filled with his chakra.

And there was a lot of rain in the Village Hidden in the Rain.

But he also felt... dead?

It was hard to describe how he felt. He was clearly alive, because he had a ton of chakra, but at the same time, he felt dead...

It was confusing, and even Kaguya hadn't wanted to explain it, simply telling her to, "Pay it no mind."

Clearly, she knew what was going on, but just didn't want to tell her.

The Byakugan was truly cheating!

Sure, Karin had her own sensing ability, but she couldn't see what she was sensing, so she couldn't tell exactly what was wrong, only that he felt dead... but alive?

It was very strange, and Karin could only guess that it had something to do with his eyes, the Rinnegan.

They were the eyes of the Sage of the Six Paths, and Karin knew they were important. Any dōjutsu was impressive, whether it was the Byakugan or the Sharingan, and as the most legendary of them all, the Rinnegan had to have its own secrets.

Personally, she suspected it was some kind of special clone technique. She couldn't prove it, but it felt right.

Though it was impossible to tell for sure.

Today, however, it wasn't time to think about all that. No, she was far from Ame, far from Pain, far from home.

Konoha loomed ahead.

Karin had little love for the village.

But a mission was a mission.

"Karin-sama?" Kirisame Naho asked as Karin stopped in the middle of the road.

"Ah, sorry, Kirisame-san. I got lost in my thoughts. Let's go inside." Karin quickly broke out of her thoughts and felt slightly embarrassed that she had been distracted.

She was, after all, supposed to be in charge here, the team captain; it wouldn't do to embarrass herself like that.

The rest of the team didn't say anything; they just nodded, and the four of them continued toward the gates of Konoha.

There, they were stopped by the guards, two unassuming Chūnin.

Though Karin, thanks to her sensory ability, the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, knew there were more people hidden around. The true guards. The two at the front were just a distraction and dealt with civilians.

Keeping them from getting scared by the unfriendly eyes of the ANBU hidden around.

"You four, are you here for the Chūnin Exam?" one of the two guards asked as he spotted their forehead protectors.

"That's right, we are the team from Amegakure," Shigure Renga, the team's sensei, said as he stepped ahead of his three students. "I have the required documents here."

He handed over the papers, and they were quickly checked. Karin could feel that they weren't being taken all that seriously, which made some sense.

To the outside world, Ame was still a small village, with the only impressive thing about it being Hanzō himself.

A village that was closed off, with no real news coming in or out of not just the village, but the entire Land of Rain.

They were, by all accounts, a small and weak village, hardly worth much attention these days.

The dismissive attitude clearly angered both Kirisame Naho and Hisame Tōji, but they were smart enough not to say anything while their papers were checked and stamped.

"Alright, everything looks to be in order," the guard said, handing the papers back. "You may enter. Hokage-sama has also said to inform all visitors that they are welcome to stay at the Konoha Inn at a reduced price. Just show these papers."

"Thank you," Shigure said as he took back the papers, and they passed through the gate.

None of them were surprised that they had been offered a discount. The Land of Fire and Konoha itself hardly needed money, not to mention that having all outsiders gathered in one place made it much easier to keep an eye on them.

A nice way to control all the possible threats and ensure no one caused any trouble.

Not that they were going to stay there. Since every team knew they would be spied on, not a single team from outside Konoha would dare stay there, because everyone always had secrets.

Shinobi most of all.

"Alright, the village has booked a small inn for us. We will be staying there. It's on the west side of Konoha, a pretty nice spot from what I know, something I suspect we most likely have Karin to thank for," Shigure Renga whispered once they had made some distance from the gates and the many hidden sentries around them.

Karin smiled a bit at that.

She had been following Kaguya around since she was a child, and Kaguya always reminded her that the Uzumaki clan was noble, and that she was noble, which meant she deserved noble treatment wherever she went.

So, she had never lacked anything, which included money.

In fact, Karin was filthy rich.

A bonus that came from working alongside Kakuzu and getting a third of their profits.

So, she didn't mind spending a bit extra to ensure their accommodations lived up to her own noble status.

"Ame might be a small village, but that doesn't mean we don't have our own pride," Karin said proudly, not at all minding the awe she was getting from her two teammates.

It was, after all, only natural; she was just that good.

"Of course, Karin-sama. Now, let's go and settle in. There is still much to do before the actual exam."

"Sure," Karin said. "Lead the way, Shigure-sensei."

Shigure nodded and began to lead them through the village, quickly leaving the large and busy main road and heading for the smaller, more residential parts of the village.

Their inn was a small, rather nice two-story building with a fairly large yard, surrounded by a solid fence that kept others out and offered the privacy most shinobi valued.

It wasn't so much an inn as it was a classic ryokan, one they had entirely to themselves.

This did mean no one would take care of the cooking and cleaning for them, but it was a fair trade-off for privacy.

"Damn, we have all this to ourselves?" Hisame Tōji couldn't help but ask, clearly shocked by their accommodations.

"Yeah, it's this place," Shigure-sensei said after confirming the address against the one on his papers. "We have this place for the next two months, though we won't be staying that long. The Chūnin Exam only lasts a little over one month," he added, and the others nodded in understanding.

Karin was already thinking about how to decorate the rooms.

After all, if they were going to stay there for a whole month, it should be comfortable.

She had the money for it.

So, the next few hours were spent with Karin ordering them around as they unpacked and started to decorate their rooms, while Shigure went to get some food.

Honestly, this was a fun little distraction from their upcoming mission.

Yes, they were here to take the Chūnin Exams, but that was only a cover.

Their true mission, or rather, Karin's true mission, was to keep track of the situation and ensure that Orochimaru didn't go overboard.

Orochimaru had already betrayed the Akatsuki; he was an enemy of Ame, since he had dared turn against Pain.

But for Karin, that didn't matter.

She wasn't a true Ame shinobi; she was Kaguya's student, which meant she followed Kaguya.

And Kaguya had reached some kind of private deal with Orochimaru.

Karin didn't know the details, only that he was planning to attack Konoha during the final round next month, and Karin was there to make sure he didn't target the Hyūga or Uchiha clans.

Karin didn't know either clan, but Kaguya had told her that the Uzumaki clan, the Kaguya clan, the Hyūga clan, the Uchiha clan, and even the Senju clan were all descendants of one great family, the Ōtsutsuki.

That meant they were all family.

And family looked out for one another, more so with how their family was struggling lately.

First, the Uzumaki clan was nearly wiped out, then the Senju clan, and then the Uchiha and Kaguya clans; only the Hyūga still stood, and she wasn't about to let that change.

It was rare that Kaguya asked anything of her, so now that she had given her a mission, she had to do her best.

She, Karin Uzumaki, wouldn't fail!

She swore it!

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