Chapter 49: CHAPTER 46(Catchup)
Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story.
Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and changes etc)
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CHAPTER START---
"So what did I miss Karin?" Jin's voice was...happy.
He'd arrived at the capital earlier this morning, immediately making his way to the penthouse facility he left Karin in all those months ago before going off to train.
Walking into the kitchen with shorts and a T-shirt on his brown eyes were uncovered for her to see as she sat at the counter reading a few reports.
They'd both grown up quite a bit since Naruto left with Jiraiya.
Jin was now 6ft just like Might Gai with short spikey red hair and the slightest bit of a tan from his time in the wilder regions building his strength. His body was more muscular than most shinobi simply because it helped him with his blunt combat style.
"Everything went as you planned, the villages agreed to the terms well enough, only The Cloud held out but they couldn't exactly refuse when everyone else had already joined hands, but the problem is---" he cut her off.
"None of them really care about the cease-fire and the big countries are still poking at each other waiting for a war, right?"
"Uh, yeah, reports say that at this rate either stone or cloud will try to expand into the land of fire within three years, what's our plan?" She asked while looking over some of the more recent reports.
"That's fine, I expect some of them to be greedy anyway, the point was to give them something that they don't appreciate then force them into a position where they'd beg for it. If they don't beg then their people would, the foundation is built, now I just need them to cling onto it. What about the other project?"
"Oh, I haven't been able to successfully implant any, the technique used is currently beyond me. It'd be best to get whoever originally did it," she quietly informed him.
He'd left her two tasks, supervise Unity and figure out how to transplant Danzo's Sharingan, she'd failed at one terribly.
"Don't sweat it, it's a daunting task. This changes things a bit, I'll need to head to Konoha earlier than I planned and get into the mix, where's Gaara?"
"Lord Kazekage, he recently got promoted," she announces to him.
"I figured, what's he up to right now?"
"Currently nothing, the sand is just starting to organize for the next chunin exams. Gonna visit your friend before going back to Konoha?"
"Hmm, tempting, but that'd complicate things. I'm gonna head back home and wait for something to happen. If they only just started planning the exam then I've got a bit of time to burn before things pop off," he casually shrugs.
"I got you something," she says, a bit of excitement in her voice as she places something on the counter between them.
A small gift box, white wrapping, and a red bow is gently slid over to Jin as Karin gives him a dazzling smile.
"Thanks," he carefully picks up the box, pulling the top off he is met with a Konoha headband in the shape of a visor much like his blindfold.
"Uh..." he isn't sure what he's looking at for a moment.
"It's just like Anbu masks, when you put it on it becomes transparent!" she excitedly announces.
"Oh, wow... I didn't even know that was a thing..." he mutters while putting it on.
The moment it's secured on his head the darkness fades away and the entire object disappears from his vision, only a small outline at the very edges even reminds him that it's there aside from the feeling of it resting on his face.
"This is amazing, and Dojutsu can't see through it so I don't have to worry about people like Hinata peeking in... thank you, Karin," he gives her a gentle smile.
"I-it's the least I could do, you saved me remember..."
"Someone had to, sigh, we've got a lot of work to do from here on."
"For world peace," she gives him a strained smile.
"For world peace."
After a moment of peaceful silence. Karin places a stack of letters on the counter as Jin gets himself a popsicle from the fridge.
"Uh, are those for me?"
"Yeah, I had one of your clones send replies, when you dispel him you'll get the memories but it's mostly from those friends you sent letters to before leaving. Kazekage Gaara, the girl from the stone, some of those other people like Han and Roshi..."
"Ahh, how are those, other people?"
"Some of them haven't responded in some time, something might be wrong but your clone didn't want to go so it must be nothing, right?"
"Right."
"And the others?"
"Hmm, mostly boring stuff, just friends talking. The girl from the stone might like you though, you should go out with her again," Karin gives him a sly grin.
"I've got other things to do, besides I'm hoping someone else is waiting back home for me."
"Workaholic," she mutters under her breath.
"All for peace in our time, besides, don't think that's gonna work out with her when I'm done with these countries, maybe in 16 months I'll give it a thought if I'm available," he shrugs while eating his snack.
"16 months?" Karin asked, confused by why he'd pick that number.
"Just an example, don't think about it, anyway let's go have a nice dinner, on me of course."
"Everything is on you remember..." she jokes as they get ready to have a fancy dinner.
---One Day After Reuniting With Karin...
Jin was looking over a large sheet of paper containing his entire plan. This page was sealed with senjutsu and had to be summoned by him for use every time because of what it contained.
Looking at the 16-month timeline leading up to the destruction of Konoha and the defeat of Pain, he had to change pieces of his plan for that finale.
'If I take Orochimaru then Sasuke becomes too big a wild card, and I can't kill him before he deals with Itachi for me... but I need someone who can...hmm,' his eyes focused on a point early on in the timeline, much earlier to the point that it was in the past.
'Kabuto...' he mulled over the idea in his thoughts.
The spy from the chunin exams was always with Orochimaru and would even help him transfer bodies, if anyone had the info Jin needed and could be easily replaced by Orochimaru to keep the timeline in order, it was Kabuto.
"But when can I even get him, it would have to be early before they go into hiding, the series ends before we see what happens to him after Sasuke kills Orochimaru...there," he places a finger on a point that should be arriving in a few weeks, the Tenchi Bridge fight.
"Karin, I'm heading back to Konoha a bit early, anything else you need?!" he calls out through the penthouse, Karin was currently in the living room reading a book.
Unity was more or less completely self-sufficient even without either of them or his clones. Trusting people to work in their own interest was easy compared to trusting them to work on goodwill, and Unity was a booming business. The lethal punishment for any devious behaviors with company resources also helped.
"I'm fine, I'll be heading to a hideout tomorrow to continue my training, if you need me I'll be there practicing the operation..." she tells him while entering the office.
"Don't bother with that, just focus on yourself for a while, I'm working on something to solve that problem."
"Oh, sorry..." she looked like a kicked puppy when he told her that.
"It's not like that, you didn't fail. The experience and knowledge you got was the main goal anyway, the surgery succeeding was just a bonus, nothing lost," he gives her a pat on the head.
"I---"
"Did nothing wrong, you kept Unity in check while I was away and got much stronger while studying hard, you did good, now stop stressing, I'm back now. And I plan to be a lot more hands-on from here on out," he gives her a tight hug while patting her back.
"Thank you," she squeaks out, her voice barely a whisper as she melts into the hug.
END CHAPTER---
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