I, Your Father, Carry a Big Stick

Chapter 67: Even Yue Lao Bows Before Your Father

“Sakura-chan! Sasuke…!”

After finally reaching the clearing where they had been ambushed, Naruto looked like he was about ready to tear someone’s head off until he saw a red-faced Sakura supporting a shirtless Sasuke while Wu drew some kind of strange pattern on his back. It looked like lazy squiggles at first glance but appeared to move and wriggle about if observed closely.

Without removing his eyes from Sasuke’s nape, Wu asked, “Now do you understand why I’m always constantly pushing you all to get stronger? If that man, woman, person, thing had wanted to kill you, you’d all be dead right now…”

Recovering from his shock, Naruto’s expression morphed into a scowl as he asked, “You were watching? Then why didn’t you help us…!?”

Forming his face into a deadpan, Wu looked to Naruto, answering, “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m not even supposed to be here. The three of you also signed waivers before taking this Exam, so when will you stop projecting your inadequacies onto me? Do you think people from other villages will have someone pop out to save them like a guardian angel?”

“…”

With Naruto humbled into silence, Wu turned his gaze to Sakura, breaking her from a stupor as he said, “I’m done here. He’ll be out for a few hours but should return to his usual self once he wakes up. When he asks about the Cursed Seal, tell him it’s benign in its current state. I’ll explain the full details once the Exam has concluded.”

Without waiting for Sakura’s response, Wu rose to his feet, teasing, “Find someplace to conceal yourselves and try not to take liberties with Sasuke while he’s sleeping. Naruto and I have business to attend elsewhere. But don’t worry. If someone you can’t handle shows up, you can count on me to be your knight in shining armor.”

Punctuating his words with a wink, Wu turned his attention to Naruto, his expression becoming serious as he asked, “Are you ready for a little family reunion? Don’t worry about Sasuke and Sakura. The person who clapped your Team has already been chased out of the forest.”

Though his initial instinct was to say he would stay back and protect his friends, Naruto’s expression became equally serious at the mention of his ‘family.’ He also knew Wu would be keeping clones in the area, so he only hesitated for a moment before answering, “Take me to her.” in a resolute tone.

After nodding his head in affirmation, Wu gave Sakura one last look, his expression softening as he said, “Be safe…” before taking off with Naruto in tow. In their wake, the pink-haired girl stared blankly in the direction of their departure for several seconds, a pensive look on her face. When she eventually regained her senses, she exhaled a tired sigh before blushing as she effortlessly picked up the shirtless, unconscious Sasuke like a sack of potatoes…

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Uzumaki Karin was not a happy person. When she was just a young girl, she and her mother found themselves near the outskirts of Kusagakure. To avoid being killed outright, her mother exposed the fact that they were remnants of the Uzumaki Clan, agreeing to treat people using their unique ability in exchange for a place in the village.

Though Karin understood her mother’s reasoning and never once blamed her for what came after, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that both of their lives became hell following Kusa’s acceptance of her terms. The method they used to heal others involved being bitten and having their blood and Chakra sucked from their bodies, surrendering their vitality to treat even the most grave of injuries. Karin was initially spared this fate, but it wasn’t long before her mother’s body simply ‘broke’ due to her duties and Kusa’s attempts to forcibly produce more Uzumaki. After that, Karin wasn’t even given time to mourn before she was immediately used as a replacement…

While Karin was seriously contemplating just ending it all, one of her so-called Team members groaned, “Damn, I scratched myself on a twig. Get over here, Meat.”

Furrowing her brows, Karin replied, “It’s just a scratch, though…can’t you just-”

Before the brilliantly red-headed girl could finish speaking, the boy who had scratched himself, a seventeen-year-old youth with spiky brown hair, punched the top of her head, shouting, “Since when were you allowed to talk back, bitch!?”

Without waiting for Karin’s response, the much taller boy pulled her up by her hair, sending her into a panic as he rolled up the transparent mesh covering her torso. She was forced to wear clothing that made her body ‘easily accessible,’ so it wasn’t long before the boy was biting down on an especially sensitive part of her body, causing Karin’s face to turn crimson in spite of her disgust. One of the most unfortunate side effects of having her Chakra drained was that it caused extreme pleasure, a fact everyone around her readily took advantage of…

With tears rolling down her face, Karin panted, “Please…you’re taking too much…it was just a scratch…”

Ignoring Karin’s plea, the boy bent her backward over his leg, making it easier for him to keep doing as he pleased. Seeing this, Karin’s remaining teammate, a bandana-wearing boy with short black hair, swallowed the knot that had formed in his throat before muttering, “You know…I’m also feeling a little under the weather today. I could use a little pick me up…”

Making his way over to Karin’s side, the boy ignored the much younger girl’s protests, rolling up the mesh of her left thigh before biting into it without hesitation. Karin’s body arched in response, the tears from her face increasing in volume as her eyes rolled toward the back of her head. Unfortunately, while it was fairly common for her to lose consciousness, it rarely lasted long…

Surprising the two boys and stirring Karin to awareness, an enraged voice, accompanied by the most frightening aura she had ever sensed, shouted, “You fucking bastards! I’ll kill you…!”

Before the two boys could react, the one with brown hair found his world spinning as his head was parted from its body by a nearly invisible blade of wind. He technically fared better than the other boy, as his death was almost immediate. The black-haired youth attempted to use Karin’s body as a shield, so his fate ended up being much, much worse. One of the last things the spiky-haired youth saw before his death was his friend having his left arm torn from its socket before being smacked away like a ragdoll by a child with sickeningly blond hair and a crimson aura swirling around his body…

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After dispatching the two monsters in human form, the fierce aura around Naruto’s body began to wane, prompted by Wu saying, “This girl appears to be a fairly competent Sensor-nin. The aura of the Nine-Tails caused her to lose consciousness…”

Turning around, the crimson light fading from Naruto’s eyes deepened momentarily at the sight of Wu propping up the body of his Clansmen, shamelessly palpating her chest. However, as he knew Wu was a fairly talented Doctor, he forced himself to remain calm, averting his eyes from the girl’s exposed breasts as he asked, “How is she?”

Nodding his head in approval, Wu replied, “There’s nothing I can do about the mental trauma she has suffered, but treating the scars on her body is a simple matter. I’ll give you some of my special jam to help replenish the nutrients her body has lost over the years. The rest will largely depend on you, so try not to fuck up, okay?”

While speaking to Naruto, Wu took the time to fix Karin’s clothes before removing her headband and picking up her almost heartbreakingly light body, carrying her over to the conflicted-looking youth as he added, “I’ll leave her in your care for now. Luckily for you, her Team seems to have had an Earth Scroll on them. With the Heaven Scroll in your possession, you can immediately make your way over to the Tower at the center of the Training Field. Just try not to let her fall for Sasuke the moment she wakes up. I’d say she’s had enough tragedy in her life by now…”

Hearing Wu’s ‘warning,’ the serious look on Naruto’s face became even more so. He didn’t have any intentions toward Karin, especially after what she had experienced, but the thought of her fawning over Sasuke like one of his fangirls made him feel…angry. After what Karin had endured, Naruto didn’t think it would be ‘fair’ if she were made the fourth wheel in Sasuke’s Clan Restoration Harem…

Accepting Karin’s body and feeling how light she was, a firm resolution was formed in Naruto’s heart as he asserted, “I swear I’ll never let anyone harm you again…”

Seemingly prompted by Naruto’s words, Karin opened her eyes to find a boy she had never met staring down at her with an expression she didn’t recognize. He seemed serious and angry, but there was something ‘more’ in his gaze, something…comforting. Fortunately for Naruto, Wu had left a delayed ‘bomb’ of Natural Energy inside Karin’s chest, so the moment she and Naruto made eye contact, the befuddled redhead felt a powerful and comforting warmth permeating her body…

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Though five days had been allotted for the Second Stage of the Chunin Exams, Wu was lounging in a room with Hinata, Tenten, Sakura, and Ino before the end of the first day. All of Konoha’s rookies had swept through the test in just a few hours, so he and Hinata had been dragged off by all the girls to discuss the fact they had abruptly married in secret.

“I can’t believe this!” exclaimed Ino. “I mean, I always knew there was some romantic tension between the two of you, but how come you never said you were engaged!? That’s some critical, need-to-know information!”

Answering in Wu’s stead, Tenten flatly asserted, “Everyone that ‘needed’ to know was informed. You need to stop inserting yourself into aspects of Wu-kun’s life, Ino…”

Furrowing her brows, Ino was about to ask why Tenten always had to be such a ‘bitch,’ but stopped herself. Instead, a sly smile developed across her face as she said, “This is actually a good opportunity. You keep giving me crap for what happened in the past, but you weren’t even there. If you were, you would understand just how quickly things can get out of hand if everyone keeps egging each other on.”

Seeing through Ino’s intentions, Tenten’s expression and tone hardened as she said, “No way. Nuh-uh. If you think I’ll agree to let you ‘play’ with my boyfriend right in front of me, there’s something seriously wrong with your head. Isn’t that right, Hinata-chan…?”

“Eh…?”

As she was actually looking forward to ‘playing around’ like they used to, Hinata was a little caught off guard by Tenten’s question. Realizing what Hinata’s reaction meant, the dango-haired brunette had an expression of disbelief as she muttered, “No way…am I really the only one that sees a problem with this…?”

Looking toward Sakura, the last bastion of her sanity, Tenten felt like she had sustained a critical blow to her psyche when the pinkette averted her eyes with a guilty look. She wasn’t nearly as bad as Ino, but she also kind of missed the ‘fun’ everyone used to have together. She now had Sasuke, but the ‘justification’ that Ino had given in the past, about it being a form of training, still existed within her mind…

Realizing that she really was the odd one out among the girls that had grown up alongside Wu, Tenten gave her ‘beloved’ boyfriend a profound, half-lidded look. She had always known he was a bit of a playboy, but it was just starting to hit her how ‘abnormal’ he truly was. She wasn’t going to dump him or anything, but they would need to have a long ‘chat’ in the near future. For now, she adopted a resolute look and asserted, “Fine. You want to play? Let’s play…”

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(A/N: A King’s Game with only one boy is just a bunch of girls competing to see who among them is the most shameless…)