KARIN'S FLASHBACK -TYING EVERYTHING TOGETHER-
Note: SasuKarin is brought up due to its relevance in Karin's Databook profile (and because, well, this was aimed for the SK FC). Your stance about the pairing should not be jeopardized by this essay, however, as its main point is making sense of the timeline of Karin's flashback, whether you ship SK or not.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1fvL0C0grX
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From the moment that the 3rd Databook was released, most of us in the SasuKarin fandom have had a theory about Sasuke and Karin's first meeting, in which Sasuke was with Orochimaru at the moment that the sannin found Karin in her destroyed village. Regardless, Chapter 482 has just revealed to us how Sasuke and Karin's first meeting went, as well as the village Karin was originally from.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqswYotSMt
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At first glance, there seemed to be a few inconsistencies, so hereby I'll try to tie everything together in a way that not only dissipates (more or less) such inconsistencies, but also makes more than plausible that our theory about Sasuke and Karin's meeting did take place, the only difference being that it wasn't their first meeting, but rather, their second one.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfTlgdBhja
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Warning: This post has been updated to include the latest developments, so there are spoilers up to Chapter 584.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWZyfzkWUV
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Karin’s flashback and the possible explanation that ties everything together356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfscMwEu26
aka, revision of our usual theory
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As far as this matter goes, the most important bits from Karin’s databook entry are:356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGR8gJzvrw9
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Once in a village* wiped out by war, there was a young girl, all alone and totally unscathed. "She could tell lots of people were coming". Which prompted Orochimaru into inviting Karin to the Hidden Sound village... She's served Oto (the Sound) ever since, thanks to her honed perception ability, and her clear head. But even as Orochimaru's underling, Karin feels no obligation towards him. Karin still fulfills her duties out of affection for Uchiha Sasuke.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfwo63POuA
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*A normal village, not a shinobi housing facility.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6e00bei6Fs
-Translation by Gottheim
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And of course, due to this “But even as Orochimaru's underling, Karin feels no obligation towards him. Karin still fulfills her duties out of affection for Uchiha Sasuke” most of us (the SasuKarin fandom) have always inferred the following: She joined Orochimaru because of Sasuke. Otherwise, it would make no sense, as the Databook clearly indicates that she fulfills her duties and works under Orochimaru’s orders simply because of Sasuke. So, without Sasuke around, then she wouldn’t have any reason to do it and in turn, no real incentive to go and stay with Orochimaru in the first place.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1evDO5Esf
Those bolded lines imply quite a lot. First, it mentions how Karin felt no obligation towards Orochimaru; which raises the question of why she agreed to serve him in the first place. And second, it reveals that Karin fulfilled her duties out of affection for Sasuke. This means that he’s the main reason why she was there; or of why she was there at all.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemckZHP6AJ
-Me, The SasuKarin Manifesto
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As such, it’s easy to assume that Sasuke could have been there with Orochimaru when the latter found her in the slaughtered village because it’s what would make the most sense. This much we’ve always thought, so SK fans all (should) know this theory quite well.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUlWSdvxSl
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However, this is where the changes begin, as we couldn’t have possibly known that Karin and Sasuke had met each other before that. But luckily for us, the changes aren’t many, and they actually make all this even more special.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXfpLPwZa0
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Going by what we had previously established as the logical pathway, the moment when Karin joins Oto must have been when Sasuke himself was already part of it. Sasuke deserted Konoha and joined Orochimaru when he was 13 years old. This is a very important fact that I’ll bring up soon enough.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TPunhYH13
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Now, leaving that aside for the moment and going back to the topic of this Essay/LAP, aka, how does Karin’s flashback tie in with what we had already established, first let’s point out the approximated time at which the Chuunin Exams were held (Keep in mind that the exact dates aren't truly important; they're there to help narrow the timeline more.).356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq85utOcSy2
2 July - Chuunin Field Exam in the Forest of Death begins.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZ03IbQ9fe
3 July - Orochimaru attacks Sasuke and marks him with the Tenfuuin.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgdWuAStlmB
4 July - Fight with Dosu Kinuta and his team.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP99dCZIAHa
7 July - Chuunin Field Exam ends. Preliminary Chuunin Tournament is held. Zaku Abumi and Kin Tsuchi are killed.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDp6Pw688OW
-Suave, The Great Naruto Timeline
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During the exams, Sasuke was still 12 years old, as his birthday is on July 23th, but they were held in the same year in which he joined Orochimaru. Now, we know for a fact that before Orochimaru bit Sasuke, Team 7 was way too busy to have allowed Sasuke to go off and save Karin from that bear. Besides, we also know that Team 7 started the test with a Heaven scroll, but said scroll was destroyed by Orochimaru, so they were left scroll-less. However, Team 7 later obtained the Earth scroll from the Sound Nin team that Sasuke defeated while in his Cursed Seal state, which of course, happened after Orochimaru bit Sasuke.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJBKlkyKaY
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So that leaves us with the following,356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHxUEI5KIb
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4 July - Fight with Dosu Kinuta and his team.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HSJ5qAs49
7 July - Chuunin Field Exam ends.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PNqsr3UEF
-Suave, The Great Naruto Timeline
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The SasuKarin encounter must have happened somewhere between those 3 days after Team 7 obtained the Earth Scroll, as it was obvious that they already had it in their possession by the time when Karin and Sasuke met, otherwise Sasuke would have grabbed it from Karin. Alas, it couldn't have happened on the very last day, as that was the day in which Team 7 attacked another team, got the heaven scroll, and reached the tower. So that leaves us with 5 July and 6 July.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasVSOPbRJf
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In canon, there’s an opening in which it could’ve happened, which is chapter 60 in which Sasuke leaves to get some water. As we can see when Sasuke gets up from the bonfire, he’s holding a water canteen, and during Karin’s flashback, he has the exact same water cateen with him, which should indicate that this was indeed the moment where Karin and Sasuke’s meeting happened. Though of course, it is still possible that it happened a day before that. One never knows. But I think the chances of that are slim, since Sasuke carrying the exact same water canteen with him is too much of a coincidence to actually be one, plus the timeline makes a lot of sense if this is the moment, as right after Sasuke returns to Team 7, they along with Kabuto leave in search of a Heaven Scroll and afterward the exams end. (However, if we abide by the facts that the manga seems to be presenting, it’s quite interesting to notice that by that moment, Sasuke was already pretty stressed out as they were running out of time and their next opponent would be their last chance at getting the Heaven scroll. So it’s quite interesting that he smiled at Karin in such a relaxed way lol)356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqLRKJCMet
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So now that we’ve established just when their first encounter took place, we can go and make a case about the new information we’ve learned about Karin’s village and how this ties with everything.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWaPXyXTDuS
From her Databook entry we pick up that:356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmIgb2So0D
-Her village was wiped out by war356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9rwG2OzkpX
-Her village wasn’t a shinobi village
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Now the flashback tells us that:356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0bb97DqhN
-Karin comes from the Grass Country, and her forehead protector indicates that she’s from “Kusagakure No Sato” aka “Hidden Grass Village”.
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This is what we know from the Hidden Grass Village:
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Hidden Grass is a lower shinobi village, being allied with Leaf, Rain, Sand and Waterfall. As such it participates in the Chuunin Exam with these countries. In the Chuunin Exam Naruto participated in, no Grass team made it beyond the second exam test. The Genin team from Grass who made it to the second Chuunin Exam test is most noteworthy for being killed and impersonated by Orochimaru as he infiltrated the exam. Also of note is Orochimaru's sword Kusanagi (Grass Cutter), it is unknown if this blade has any ties to the country or village.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJBLWnnxIp
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Village Leader:356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4F6y238oV
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The current leader of the Hidden Grass is unknown. Because it is a lower shinobi country, its leader can not call itself "Kage".356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIxZwGetyL
-Leafninja
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Nothing is known about Kusagakure's general fighting style, or even if they have one.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZnyFRRh8X
-naruto.wikia, Kusagakure
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About the Grass Country, we know that
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The Grass country contains some of the more widely varied landscapes in the series, with forests, grasslands, mountains, rivers, and bamboo thickets dotting it. The country shares borders with Earth, Fire, Rain, and Waterfall. Because the country lies between Earth and Fire, it has been invaded by the Earth Country during previous ninja wars. To avoid Earth gaining a foothold next to the Fire Country border, many Leaf ninjas came to Hidden Grass's aid during the war. This resulted in many skirmishes taking place within its borders.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2aHn17RtMd
-Leaf ninja
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We can make sense of everything more easily if we take this information into account. It’s possible that what Karin’s Databook entry was hinting at when it implied that Karin’s village was a “*A normal village, not a shinobi housing facility.” is precise that they’re a lower-shinobi village without much experience (they have a Daimyo rather than a Kage, for example), and not many of their habitats may actually be shinobi themselves.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInpfdMCpaX
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This can also explain the lack of experience that Karin seemed to have during the test, as it’s entirely possible that the only reason she was sent to it was as support for her two teammates, as her sensing abilities could have been starting to develop by then, only to reach their prime during the war that wiped off her village (and of course she kept developing them afterward when she joined Orochimaru).356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3cGELpPUib
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And that takes us to the “Once in a village wiped out by war”, which can tie in very nicely with “This resulted in many skirmishes taking place within its [Kusa's] borders.” That statement was referring to a determinate war; however, even if it wasn’t during a great shinobi war, it’s still possible that the village Karin lived in was wiped away during one of those lesser conflicts that her country had with the Earth country. It’s not hard to picture that this may have been what happened (if there wasn't an ulterior motive for her village being targeted, that is), as it’s a very interesting thing that Kishimoto picked the Grass Village out of all things as Karin’s homeland.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvoN47hb2v
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This choice of Kishimoto’s also sparked another theory, which indicates that Karin may have joined Orochimaru even before the Chuunin Exams took place, as Orochimaru and his team were posing as Grass Nin. Regardless, this doesn’t have to be the case.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrM9J2fLhX
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In Chapter 39, Kabuto points out that the Hidden Grass Village entered with 2 teams (6 shinobi), and we know for a fact that Orochimaru’s 3 member cell killed one of these teams and impersonated them throughout the exams, stealing their faces. So that means that Karin (along with her two teammates) is from the remaining Grass Team. What must be one of her teammates can in fact be spotted here, and they are even wearing the same clothes.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAjGUYvmKTx
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There’s no obligatory link between Orochimaru and Karin right here, as he had no reason to get her inside the Exam as she was (apparently) serving no purpose, unlike the other Sound Team. Besides, this also means that Karin was registered as a Grass shinobi, and since she was not stealing anyone’s face or posing as anyone, it’s safe to assume that said village is indeed where she comes from.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3YAydDnRI
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Moreover, Kabuto's flashback in Chapter 584 has delivered yet another piece of evidence that seems to suggest that Karin was, indeed, not yet with Orochimaru back during the Chuunin exams.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvwUuIPRvI
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left: FOD flashback | right: Kabuto's flashback
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As you can see, Karin possesses no bitemarks during the Chuunin exams; while during Kabuto's, which does take place when she already was in Oto (and being experimented on), she has some - but not nearly as many as she currently does. In other words, the biting is an ability that they made her develop during her time in Oto, and since her arms were intact during the Chuunin exams, it should be safe to assume Orochimaru and Kabuto had yet to lay their hands on her.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30lZlAqNts
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Which indicates that her village was still safe and sound by that time, since she wasn’t working under Orochimaru. Another thing that seems to indicate this, as Alicia mentioned, is that Karin’s eyes are completely different when one compares her younger self to the Karin we were introduced to in chapter 348. Current Karin’s eyes are like Sasuke’s, they have a hard, sharp stare, and Sasuke has had that look since we know him, as he lived his clan trauma when he was just a little kid. Young Karin’s eyes though don’t reflect such a thing.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7TcgrVCTn
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And now we’re back to Sasuke and SasuKarin. Since Sasuke kills Orochimaru and assembles Hebi/Taka when he’s 16 years old, and it’s obvious that Karin has been in charge of the Southern Hideout for a while, it’s safe to assume the following: Karin must have joined Orochimaru somewhere when she was between 13 and 15 years old, since as was pointed out before, logic (should) indicates that Sasuke already was with Orochimaru when Karin joined.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Lcg0EeCph
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The flashback we were presented with gives everything even more meaning, as the boy with whose smile she fell in love comes to stand before her at such a difficult time. It’s quite meaningful. And it also ties everything more strongly, as Karin has even more reasons to trust Sasuke and accept Orochimaru's offer.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMMMfe1OQO
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And of course, everything after this would happen as we’ve always pictured it, except that Karin has a bit more of a base as far as Shinobi abilities go.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGLbbZl6Sx
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Now, this isn’t to say that Kishi may not go and indicate later that Karin was, somehow, already part of Orochimaru’s team by then. The possibility exists as one never knows what’s going through Kishi’s mind (and a retcon is possible, considering it would only contradict the databook), but that has way more plotholes than the possible timeline we believe in. For example:
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- Karin was registered as a Grass Ninja and had no reason to go undercover, for Oro's main goal was related to Sasuke, and her team never comes in contact with T7, unlike the Sound Team.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamQHzoZZAF
- The Databook states that Karin follows Orochimaru solely due to Sasuke, so why should she (who is so in tune with chakra that Oro's dark nature would not have gone unnoticed) have joined him before in the first place if she’s with him because of Sasuke?356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mOcPVSCA5
- What Alicia pointed out about Karin’s eyes.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3ZGHro4nz
- Etc.
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So Karin's village being destroyed after the Chuunin exams makes, without a doubt, the most sense. As for Karin being an Uzumaki, considering that Kushina's flashback seemed to imply that the Whirlpool Country was destroyed not long after she was sent to Konoha, Karin shouldn't have been alive during that time; moreover, Kushina says that "The survivors all scattered to other lands and went into hiding" - so it's very possible that Karin's parents escaped to Kusagakure, hid their lineage, and tried to live a normal life. Which explains why Karin doesn't seem to be aware of the fact that she's an Uzumaki.356Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCx4luD2uVR
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Another point that supports that Karin wasn't yet working for Orochimaru by the time of the flashback, has been made by Alicia. And it's definitely worth a read.
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