Brought Together by Fate

Another day as the Hokage's Attendant. Today was surprisingly peaceful. Danzō and the Konoha Council weren't jerking her chain and she woke up in a fantastic mood. Karura walked up to Tsunade's office with the intention of tidying up while the Hokage was helping out with a major surgery down at the local hospital and stopped dead at the doorway.

She took a deep breath and bit her lip. She wanted to sob, kill Tsunade for her laziness, burn the things on the Senju's desk, then kill whoever put them on the desk. It was that damn paperwork. It was so horrible; the entire office was filled to the brim with thin, white sheets that were covered in black ink.

And she'd have to sort through it all.

Karura raised her hands up to the sky in a Why me? gesture and got to work.

Many papercuts later, Karura locked the office door behind her and began walking back to her bedroom, her head buzzing. I'm getting too old for this, she thought as she adjusted her glasses. ''25 years old and here I am, single with no kids. Maybe it's time for me to settle down ...'' The first three words made her freeze and retrace her thought. Wait, I'm 25?

She turned to the clock. Sure enough, the hands pointed at 10:00 am. A funny jolt hit her stomach. She'd been 25, for a whole hour, without realizing it. A nostalgic smile tugged at her mouth. ''Happy birthday, Kabuto ... Wherever you are.''

A faint scent of musky cologne tugged at her nose, bringing her from her thoughts. Her eyebrows knitted together and she gagged slightly in disgust, her onyx eyes narrowing in suspicion. She approached the window cautiously, her hand already glowing with a Chakra Scalpel.

Judging by the man's chakra, he was an Iwa shinobi, and he didn't feel like a pleasant person. She barely had time to react when the genjutsu struck, drowning her senses as the world went black.