Chapter 451: Chains
The same day, Alex made his way to the training grounds. He found the group exactly where Alice had said they would be.
When he arrived, he saw a gathering of crimson hairs that stood out against the green of the forest: Naruto, William, Kushina, and Karin were standing in a rough circle. It was a sight that would have shattered the canon of the original timeline—an Uzumaki family reunion in the heart of the Leaf.
Karin stood awkwardly near Kushina, pushing her glasses up her nose every few seconds. She had been integrated into the village only recently, introduced to Minato and Kushina as a distant relative who was captured by Orochimaru.
At first, the interactions had been stiff. Karin, raised in the brutal environments of the Grass and Sound villages, didn’t know how to handle unconditional acceptance.
But then Kushina had cornered her.
"If anyone messes with you, you tell me," Kushina had declared at the time. Then her hair had floated up in that famous ’Red Hot Habanero’ temper. "I’ll pound them into the ground!"
Karin had flinched, terrifyingly sensing the sheer density of Kushina’s chakra. It felt like home. It felt like the primal Uzumaki vitality she had only ever sensed in herself. That shared intensity broke the ice, and now, standing next to Naruto, whose chakra felt like a warm blanket, Karin looked almost at peace.
"Hey, guys," Alex greeted, stepping into the clearing.
"Alex!" Naruto shouted, waving enthusiastically. "What took you so long?"
"Oh, nothing. I just had a lot to do this morning."
"Must be hard doing everything for your clan and the village," Kushina smiled.
"A little bit," Alex replied. Then he got straight to business, looking at Naruto. "Ready for me to remove the curse mark?"