"All the enemies have been defeated already."
This is what Sasuke have in his mind after the war has ended. But all the other shinobis except him and Team 7 are still inside the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
It was all but a dream, although everything seems so true.
Surrealism meets reality.
Inside a life sized cocoon, Karin can be found. The Eternal Tsukuyomi caused everyone, not only Karin, to dream the perfect life they wish to have.
Inside Karin's dream—
A cold morning, Karin woke up eyeing the marvelous features of her husband, Sasuke Uchiha. Suddenly, the male woke up, doing the same at Karin while saying "Good morning" to her, ever so softly.
His greeting brought a smile to Karin's morning face. She quickly grabbed for her glasses and wore them to be able to see much more of her husband's features. "Good morning, my love."
"Mommy! Daddy!" a voice of a little boy echoed their room—their 4-year old son appeared, rubbing his cute onyx hues and scratching his raven hair. "I'm starving…"
Karin and Sasuke exchanged looks before they both giggle. "Alright, honey, we're about to get up." Karin said while hopping off their bed. "Did you have a good night's sleep, little one?" Sasuke asked his son in a staid tone while ruffling his hair as they walked towards their kitchen.
"Yes, daddy! I felt safe because of the teddy you gave me on my 3rd birthday!" Their son spoke in his usual childish manner while holding the aforementioned teddy bear.
Karin began on preparing their breakfast as Sasuke and his son sat down on the chair on the dining table. "Mommy! Hurry up! Hurry up!" Their son shrieked as he raised both his cute little hands in the air as a gesture of excitement.
As Karin finished, she served the food in front of them in the table, joining Sasuke and their son in the seat. "Here, sweetie, eat."
The little Uchiha began munching down his plate of food with an excited expression. "Wow, he really is hungry." Sasuke mumbled lowly to himself then looked at the giggling Karin before eating his own plate of food.
Karin knew that this is the perfect scenario she wants to happen in her life—to be with the persons she loves the most, of course, to give Sasuke children and to be the perfect wife and mother.
Sasuke held Karin's hand and with a smile, pressed a gentle kiss against her cheek. But… why is he doing it so many times. Like, ten times already?
It turns out, Sasuke, is really with her, but he is not kissing her cheek—he is slapping it rather softly, trying to wake her up from her slumber caused by the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Reality—
The genjutsu has been released.
"Karin! Karin! Wake up! Please wake up…" Sasuke held Karin in his strong arms while looking down at her with such a worried facial expression. "You need to wake up…"
With Orochimaru, Kabuto, Suigetsu, and Jugo around the them, the feeling for Sasuke was quite nostalgic. "Why isn't she waking up?" Sasuke looked up at Orochimaru, which happened to be standing right beside him.
"She'll wake up a little bit later; don't worry too much, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru stated matter of factly as he kneeled down in front of him and Karin as well. "I guess, she was just too tired and all her chakra was used up." Orochimaru added.
"Tch! aren't we all tired here? What's with that woman?!" Suigetsu complained while putting a hand upon his hip, while the other, grabbing a hold of his Kubikiribocho.
Suddenly Karin groaned, "S-sasuke?" she looked up at Sasuke who is still holding her in his arms then a faint smile appeared on Sasuke's face before helping her to sit up.
"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked Karin as Suigetsu, Jugo, Kabuto, and Orochimaru stared down at the redhead.
"Uh… I am. I just feel… drained. I am glad you're safe, Sasuke!" She cannot help herself so she wrapped both her arms around Sasuke's body, feeling so happy and amazing that she's feeling Sasuke's warmth. Happy that she is once again with the one she deeply loves.
"Ehhh?! Karin is hugging Sasuke! I knew it! You like him! You really like him!" Suigetsu pointed towards Karin while shouting out.
Karin didn't mind the swordsman for just this moment which made Suigetsu grin mischievously. "Tch. Feeling cozy in hugging Sasuke in front all of us, huh?"
"Karin…" Sasuke's hands slowly moved behind Karin as he tried to scan her weak body, noticing that some parts of her pajamas are ripped off. "You need to rest. /We/ need to rest." He stated as he kind of breaks away from the hug to stand up.
"So what's your plan now, Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru said as he folds his arms against his chest. "Do you wanna come with Kabuto and me back at Otogakure?"
Kabuto gazed over at his master, "Orochimaru-sama, as much as I like to come back at Otogakure with you, I think I need to find my other purpose in life. So I think we would need to part ways. I'll travel." He said as he returned to his original state. (Because he was in Sage Mode earlier)
"I understand." Orochimaru said.
"Thank you very much, Orochimaru-sama."
"As for us, Suigetsu, Jugo, Karin… We'll continue our journey as a team. We'll travel as well." Sasuke said as he looked over at the approaching Kakashi.
"I'm fine with that." Suigetsu agreed.
"So am I." Jugo added.
"I have no other choice." Karin whispered, still not standing up from where she is because she felt that she couldn't.
Sasuke extended his hand down at her while shifting his gaze down at the redhead. "Grab my hand; I know you can't get up by yourself."
Karin hurriedly took hold of Sasuke's hand. When she completely got up, she felt that her feet were weak that she can't stand straight. So Sasuke wrapped an arm around her waist to help her stand up and somehow walk. Karin's cheeks dappled a dark shade of crimson as he did so.
The red haired kunoichi took advantage of the moment and acted weaker than she actually is. "Oh, Sasuke I feel like every bone in my body is aching." The raven haired male responded by looking at her with a concerned facial expression. "We'll have you healed first before we continue our journey."
As expected, Kakashi stood in front of Sasuke and Karin, Jugo, Suigetsu, Orochimaru, and Kabuto. But his eyes now only focused at Sasuke. "Sasuke. Are you still planning to distance yourself with Konoha?"
Sasuke looked at his former teacher, "Kakashi. I don't believe I have the reason to stay at your village for the rest of my life. I've helped you guys enough. Don't even think of forcing me to go back in Konoha."
"As what I can see, you and your squad still need to recuperate. You all need to regain your strength. I wouldn't force you to stay in /our/ village for the rest of your life, but I would want you to stay there for a while to be able to recover. After that, you can continue whatever you want to do."
Sasuke sighed. "You Konoha people are so unrelenting. Then, we'll stay there for a day. We'll travel after."
Karin hugged Sasuke from his side while adjusting her glasses and looking over at Kakashi as if telling him something like, Sasuke is mine, you wouldn't get him.
Kakashi looked at the redhead and he remembered that he once interacted with her. He smiled at her and waved his hand at Karin. In return, Karin pouted and rolled her eyes, still hugging Sasuke possessively.
Team taka agreed to stay at Konoha to get better while Kabuto left off by himself just like what he mentioned. Orochimaru gave his "favorite experimental subjects" a tap on their shoulders before walking away to go back at his own village which happened to be Otogakure.
"Orochimaru-sama turned out to be a bit cheesy after this war, don't you think, Jugo?" Suigetsu nudged Jugo against his arm using his elbow lightly.
"You're right. I think he did change a bit." Jugo replied.
"You two, enough talking. Like what Kakashi said, we'll go to Konoha to regain our strength. But we'll stay there for only a day, so don't get too cozy." Sasuke said before he crouches, gesturing at Karin for her to hop on his back.
"Eh?!"
"What's the matter?"
"Piggy-back ride?"
Sasuke nodded. "Hurry up before I change my mind."
Karin didn't want to lose this opportunity so she jumped onto Sasuke's back with an apparent enthusiasm.
"Soft." Sasuke mumbled as Karin's chest pressed against his back.
"Wh-what?" Karin happened to hear Sasuke somehow.
"Jugo, Suigetsu, let's go."Sasuke didn't mind Karin's question but he can feel a weird kind of feeling inside him which he chose to ignore at the moment.
They arrived at Konoha.
On their way to Konoha's hospital, Sasuke, with Karin on his back, bumped into Sakura and Ino. The two girls exchanged looks then gazed back at Sasuke and Karin. "Sasuke-kun…" They spoke in chorus.
"What is it that you want?"
Sakura unflinchingly talked to Sasuke and said, "Will you stay here, with us, Sasuke-kun?"
"No."
"But why, Sasuke-kun… We've defeated the enemy, there's no reason to go away once again. And you've already reached your goals, right?" Sakura stated as her eyes get teary-eyed.
"I have yet to complete my goals. You know nothing about that, anyway. Now if you won't mind, let us pass through, Karin needs medical assistance as soon as possible." Sasuke stated straightforwardly.
Sakura's tears fell; she couldn't believe that Sasuke cares too much for Karin, which made her ever so jealous. The same is true for Ino.
As they went inside, Sasuke noticed that Karin had already passed out. Meanwhile, a medical ninja approached Jugo and Suigetsu to lead them in their respective wards. "See you, later, Sasuke." Jugo said as they walk away.
Sasuke noticed that everyone is busy; the medical ninjas are all too occupied at the moment—aiding all the other injured Konoha-nins. He kept walking and his Rinnegan and Sharingan saw an empty room. He thought that maybe, he can let Karin rest there for a bit, while still waiting for medical assistance.
He placed the redhead upon the bed and observed that Karin's body is all bruised up and that her pajamas were torn by some parts. "Terrible." He shook his head as he removed her glasses from her then placed it upon the table beside the hospital bed.
It's a good thing that Sasuke isn't really all used up at the moment. He felt the need to tend to all Karin's needs for a reason that he, himself, cannot understand yet. He felt like, he was so worried and that he cannot stand seeing Karin suffering.
He went raiding the closet of the hospital room, desperate to see hospital attire for patients. Turned out, he did find one!
He grabbed it and looked at Karin from head to foot, then back at the clothes. It is the usual hospital attire—a white rounded neck shirt and pants made out of silk fabric, the top having several buttons in front of it.
Sasuke placed the clothes upon the bed, and then gulped down on the thought of taking off Karin's pajamas all by himself. He gazed over the door, and then hurriedly went towards it to lock it.
He didn't waste any moment, so he decided to unbutton Karin's top, revealing her upper undergarment. Sasuke's eyes widened in seeing her fair skin, his eyes scanned all over her upper body but he focused them on the bite marks. "I didn't think it would be this much."
He did the same with the bottom part of her pajamas; he took it off with caution only to reveal more of her fair skin. The sight made Sasuke a bit excited. A smirk could be seen on his features but he chose not to entertain the feeling at the moment.
He lifted her body a little to be able to put on her top easier, fitting her arms on the sleeves before buttoning the shirt down. He gave a last look at her upper body with a smirk then went on putting the other piece of the attire on the bottom part.
He also found a small towel inside the closet so he decided to soak it in water to clean her up somehow. Sasuke isn't used in doing these kinds of stuff, but something in his gut tells him that he must do so. "Tch. You, Uzumakis really do something to make me act a bit unusual."
He pressed the wet towel against her forehead and along her face, causing the redhead to wake up. "S-sasuke? Sasuke!" She sat up in shock as she saw Sasuke doing such a thing to her. "Wh-what are you doing here? Why are you doing this? Why are you smirking like that?"
"You're so noisy." Sasuke pushed her down on the bed and continued what he was doing. "The medical ninjas are not paying any attention to us earlier, so I just decided to help you a little." The smirk is still apparent on his face as his Rinnegan and Sharingan scanned her body.
"Black." Sasuke muttered.
"What? What black?" Suddenly, Karin realized what color of undergarment she is wearing. She finally notices the change of her attire as she looked down on her own body. Her eyes widened while she gulped down in uneasiness.
"I changed your clothes."
"Come again?"
"I changed your clothes."
"Are you serious, Sasuke!?"
"Yes."
Karin's face turned red all over, her heart beat raced faster than its normal pace, and her hand held his wrist to stop his from wiping her face with that wet towel.
"Sasuke. Please tell me you're kidding…"
"You're beautiful."
Karin felt like dying in happiness when she heard those words. "Wh-what did you just-? Sa-sa-sa-sasuke… Did y-you just—"
Sasuke tossed the wet towel on the side before pressing a 5-second kiss against her lips. Karin felt amazing which caused her eyes to close and her hands to hold the back of his head.
"Excuse me, is this room occupied?" Suddenly, a woman knocked on the door and spoke from the outside. Sasuke pulled back then stood up, licking his bottom lip. He went towards the door to unlock it only to see a medical ninja. "It's about time you show up. Tend to her wounds right now." Sasuke ordered the medical ninja, who in return gave him a single nod and a "Yes, sir."
Karin's face is still as red as a tomato. "Are you alright, miss? You look really sick. And your temperature is really high!" The woman said as she placed a hand above her forehead and later on, start healing her as she lay on her back, still thinking about Sasuke's soft lips and piercing onyx hues.
Sasuke was also accommodated inside a hospital room—all his wounds and bruises were treated and all.
A beautiful fact—Sasuke and Karin were both thinking about each other's lips and how amazing their kiss felt. They cannot wait to see each other again tomorrow.
