Set sometime after chapter 574. Suigetsu, Juugo and Karin have left Sasuke and the Akatsuki and are in hiding.
Beginnings
Things changed over the past few months and so did they.
In some ways, the Hozuki boy calmed down. He often had a soft tranquil anger despite that, he still seemed cooler than the boy he was the last time he saw Sasuke. Another difference between past and present was that Suigetsu ceased proactively seeking kill; however the injuries he left on his opponents helped compensate for the lack of death. He also took up the habit of abusing the sturdiness of inanimate objects when he became upset.
Juugo, in many respects, became a grandparent. As the days passed, he spoke less and less. The only things he seems to say now are weird or ancient sayings or some other words of advice and the occasional seemingly irrelevant observation. He also became somewhat of a therapist, listening to Suigetsu and Karin's problems but they often came to the answers themselves. These days, Juugo rested more than he stood up and drunk an unnatural amount of tea. Juugo also became physically placid as if to almost visualize his newfound being.
Karin, perhaps, changed the most. Karin was still hurt (and not a soul with a heart could blame her). The man she was enamored with stabbed her, not because she attacked him, not because he was trying to save the world but because she was in his way. She was a block in his path to revenge which he indifferently tried to remove. That one action damaged her whole being. While the boys' traits were sharpened or softened, she did a near one eighty in some ways. Her whole self was devoted to Sasuke until that fight. Now, she was a worshipper with no idol or god, lost and unsettled. Most days, most of the time she was, or at least appeared to be, stable. Today was one of the days she broke.
She sat by a shallow stream alone and tried not to cry. While she succeeded in not letting water drip out of her eyes, she still appeared uncomposed. Her face was scrunched, her body rolled up into a ball and her nostrils sniffing pseudo-rhythmically.
For some reason, Suigetsu thought Karin looked like a panda, curled up by the edge of the water. For a stranger reason, Suigetsu was ticked. He just received his second most desired wish and nothing; no ecstasy, no joy, just and simply irritation. He should have been happy, Karin and Sasuke were torn apart, but no. No.
Juugo sat quietly on a log, occasionally sipping out of his canteen, watching Suigetsu pound a pine with his left arm and the limb bursting into water repetitively. Juugo knew the answer to his question, but it would have done the white haired teenager little good if he was told it. He would have forever rejected, forever denied, it. So Juugo sat there waiting for the other boy to ask for a hint.
Suigetsu pounded against the bark for minutes. If it was not for the white haired boy's Hiden, surely he would have seriously been bruised be now. After some time, Suigetsu realized that hitting the tree was not cathartic and walked towards Juugo. He sat across the ginger boy. Juugo decided that this was close enough.
Orange eyes met purple orbs."Why don't you try to comfort Karin?" Juugo suggested in his grandfather like way.
Suigetsu responded with an angry grin and "Tch". "You know the answer to that, why don't you try?"
Juugo replied more kindly than Suigetsu, "I have, maybe we need to climb the mountain instead of tunneling under it."
Suigetsu's face scrunched to show his confusion. Juugo's actions mirror those of an elderly man but at that moment, Suigetsu looked like one with his white hair and wrinkled skin. A heavy sigh later, Suigetsu stood up and uttered "Whatever" while turning his back and stretching his arms. Another sigh later, Suigetsu walked towards the creek. He decided to give cheering up Karin a try, after all, this Karin was worse than normal Karin and if worse comes to worse, Juugo would probably never ask him to do this again. Heck, Juugo probably owes him a favor now.
Suigetsu did not know where to start so he just stood behind Karin for awhile. It did not take her long to notice the shadow cast over her and place her head over her left shoulder. Due to his hesitation, Karin spoke first; well, it was not speech so much as a grunt. Suigetsu just stood there, waiting for words to come.
"Who is he that no one else can be? What did he do that no one else can repeat?" Suigetsu mindlessly blurted, staring at the ground but looking at nothing. Karin blinked hard. Suigetsu held an awkward smile and blinked hard. Where in Hell did that come from?
The sniffling stopped for a few glorious moments and Karin stood up; then she punched him possibly because she wanted to wallow alone. Even Karin herself did not know why she did it; maybe it was the fact that she was angry and he was there. But what was she angry at? Sasuke? Suigetsu? Herself?
Anyway, Sasuke failed to take everything from her. However, this was not quite what it used to be. Maybe it was because she was emotionally drained or maybe it was part of her metamorphosis, but she only punched Suigetsu once. No flurry of jabs, no downpour of physical assault, just one single punch to the cheek. And it hurt. The boy did not expect the punch and thus could not prepare for it in time. He failed to activate his jutsu before the contact was made. His cheek's redness competed with Karin's hair as did the blood he spat out into the water. Pissed off even more than before Suigetsu rubbed his swelling cheek; he then left Karin alone and joined Juugo at the campsite. Karin curled up again and stewed on what he just said.
Suigetsu woke up in the middle of the night and noticed Karin's blankets were undisturbed. She had not made it into the tent yet. Suigetsu walked to the tent entrance and slightly parted the two pieces of beige fabric. He stuck his drowsy head out of the opening and noticed Karin curled up by the river still. He popped his head back into the tent and grabbed a wool blanket. Juugo pretended that he was asleep. When the white haired boy left the tent, Juugo smiled.
Karin heard the rocks shift under Suigetsu's feet but ignored them. The boy awkwardly bent himself so that he could see her face. He saw her open eyes. Yep. She was awake. No need to worry about interrupting her sleep. It is okay to interact with her.
She felt a blanket carelessly dropped on her back. Before she had time to react Suigetsu said "Keep warm or else you'll catch a cold." He was right and she knew it. She grabbed the edges of the wool rectangle and stretched it to cover her body. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Suigetsu sat next to her and demanded that she share the blanket; after some bickering, she obliged. Karin did not mind sharing the blanket as much as she thought she would, Suigetsu provided extra body heat which she honestly could not deny that it felt nice. Suigetsu caught Karin smiling out of the corner of his eye. "Don't get the wrong idea, if you get sick, that'll slow us down and if I drag you into the tent, Juugo will get pissed at me." Suigetsu somewhat lied.
The truth is that he cared for the red haired girl, he just never wanted to admit because he knew she would mock him until her last breath and maybe even past that if there was a life after this. However, judging by her current feline smile, she knew that fact very well. He spent the next half hour trying to start a fight with Karin, but she did not fall for it. After that half hour was spent, Suigetsu fell asleep, his head on her shoulder and his body leaning against hers.
Suigetsu woke up before Karin and gently left her. It was his turn to make breakfast and despite his ability to merge with water, it was mighty hard to catch a fish and if he did not have food ready before someone (Karin) woke up, there would be yelling. He also had to gather wood and try to start a fire at least until Juugo entered the land of the living again.
Karin was more like her old self that day, minus the Sasuke obsession, and participated in other activities besides crying by a water source. After breakfast was finished and everyone was packed up, Juugo smiled and asked "Are you ready to move on Karin?"
"Hai!" Karin smiled, almost proudly.
This is oddly floral for me, please pray that I can keep it up.