Sakura threw another pair of kunai, directly at the two yellow slitted eyes of the giant snake, without hesitation. The two kunai pierced through the snake, no, the mirage. It vanished abruptly.
Saul appeared from behind a tree. Well, she seemed to be getting the hang of things.
"So even the giant snakes don't scare you anymore?"
Saul noted the woman had opted for a slightly lower zip down of her red cheongsam, exposing the slightest hint of her cleavage. Rather than her normal spandex shorts, she had also chosen to go with bandage wrap instead. They were wrapped further up her legs than normal, revealing much of her toned thighs. She looked taller, more seductive. Just as he had instructed her.
Sakura folded her arms. She glared at him with her emerald green eyes. Then, she seemed to think better of it and changed her expression. She smiled sweetly.
"Were you trying to take advantage of the fact we were ambushed by that Snake woman in the woods? To scare me? That was a pretty good try, Saul. But I know it's just an illusion. You'll have to do a little better than that."
It seems there was still a lot of fire simmering within this girl. Look at her, foolishly provoking him like this.
"I can do a little better, if you're willing. Would you like to experience the world of my Genjutsu again?"
He raised his hand up, opening up his hand to show his palm. Sakura remembered being taken into the world of Genjutsu, where she saw Sasuke-kun walking alone on the streets. At the time the depiction had felt so real, much more than these simple visual imitations she had seen within the forest of death. Not only that, but she had practically felt the desolation emitted by the orphaned depiction of the man.
Sakura didn't want to test what he could do with such an advanced form of Genjutsu. Instead, the pink haired woman decided to make use of a little of what he had taught her in their second training session.
Brushing a lock of pink hair from her face, the edges of her red lips curled slightly into a soft smile.
"But you're such a kind man. Saul-kun, you wouldn't actually want to scare off a poor woman like me, right?"
Sakura batted her eyelashes. Saul looked over at her coldly and gave her an assessment.
"That was quite poor."
Sakura giggled.
"You're so mean, Saul-kun~!"
She hugged his arm playfully. "Don't you like it though, when I do this?"
Her chest pressed up against his arm. Saul could feel the warmth of her chest through her clothes. And the softness felt nice... He knew though, that if he showed this woman any sign of enjoying it, she'd gloat about it for days.
With a shake of his arm, Sakura stepped back.
"Don't you like Sasuke? This kind of thing isn't meant to be used on me."
The woman pursed her lips.
"If it's not on you, then who the hell am I going to practice this on. Naruto? That idiot might think I'm actually finally into him, or something stupid like that." She scoffed. "So tell me, what could I do better?"
Saul shook his head smilingly. Poor Naruto, still catching stray bullets even when he wasn't here.
"Your words were poorly chosen. Actions speak louder than words in this case, a little humility would have done you much more good in enhancing your femininity. Your seduction afterwards was passable however."
"Did you actually like it when I hugged your arm like that?" Sakura smirked.
Saul looked away in 'embarrassment'. He had to let her have her little small victories to encourage this sort of behavior.
"Tell me."
Ignoring her earlier command, Saul took a puff from his pipe and began walking through the forest. Sakura caught up to him quickly.
"Once you resolve your inability to act in team fights, Sasuke will grow to respect you more. Wasn't that the point of this training?"
"I know that already. I was able to deal with your illusions just fine. I just didn't even know that was a problem for Sasuke-kun. What's wrong with protecting the girl you love, anyway?"
Saul sighed.
"You're missing the point."
"Which is?"
The woman stared at him silently, practically daring him to speak. Saul obliged.
The pink haired woman took a step back.
"No... Saul-san."
Saul looked away. "Good."
Suddenly, the two of them heard a twig crack from a nearby bush. Sakura's gaze immediately snapped to it.
"Who's there!"
"Uhmmmm..."
A red haired girl arose from the bushes, raising her hands in surrender. She shivered under Sakura's gaze.
"Sakura, I think I remember seeing her in the Chunin exams."
"The Chunin exams? So she's a ninja then!"
Sakura drew her kunai.
"Who are you and what purpose did you have hiding here within Konoha's property!?"
Saul pushed down Sakura's hand. "Stop that Sakura. Look at her, she's trembling."
Then he turned to Karin, "Have you been here since the Chunin exams? I think I remember you."
"Yes... sir. Thank you for sparing my life."
Sakura lowered her weapon. "You know her?"
"Not really? She was among the teams Hinata and I took out."
Her gaze grew weary, "She managed to escape from you?"
"No... We let her go. This girl is like a civilian, Sakura. She has no ninja skill to speak of. There was no need to dirty our hands."
Saul turned to the silent Karin.
"Why didn't you go back to your village, Kusagakure, after we spared your life?"
Karin lowered her head. "There's no place for me back at Kusagakure... sir. If I returned alive, alone, without my teammates, they'd..."
The woman looked down at her feet, hugging one arm.
Sakura put away her kunai completely and approached the woman. Her voice turned soothing, consoling,
"Your village can't be that bad, right? Come with us. I'll take you back to your village and explain the situation."
Her eyes widened with fear, and Karin began shaking like a leaf. Saul could tell this was not acting.
"NO!!! No! Please!?" She forced a smile, looking up at the frozen Sakura tearfully, "Don't take me back there, please... Can't you just pretend you didn't see me here? I'm not bothering anyone..."
Saul spoke up. "Why are you hiding your arm? Show it to us."
"My arm?" She showed off her healed arm, the one with pristine white skin. "I'm not hiding anything, haha."
"The other one."
"..."
Sakura also gazed at the girl questioningly. Feeling pressured by their gazes, yet understanding this was a part of the plan, Karin reluctantly rolled up the sleeve to her other arm. Scar tissue, old bites on marred flesh, were presented to their gaze. Sakura gasped.
"Did your village do this?"
Karin nodded slowly.
Saul approached the girl and pulled her sleeve back down. Karin looked up at him with grateful eyes.
"Are you hungry?"
"No..."
"When's the last time you washed those clothes? They look dirty."
"..."
Karin's stomach growled. Saul hadn't fed her as he normally did this morning, so she felt famished. The talk of food made her stomach protest.
"Why don't you come back with us to Konoha? We'll get you something to eat, some food to fill your belly, and I can get you a place to stay. We won't say anything about your village if you don't want us to. Right, Sakura?"
"Mmmn."
The red haired girl looked up at him with teary eyes.
"Okay..."
Author's Note: Alright I lied. No make-up chapter today unfortunately, I got distracted (LOL). Was helping someone else set up an AI Model for image generation and also trouble shooting a friend's network issues. Here's today's ch though, I'll make up for it some other time.