Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I get the feeling no one ever really thought I did.
Karin knows Sasuke will never love her. But she also knows that she will never love Sasuke. They are cut from the same cloth, she thinks, people who were not meant to be bound to this realm; they are those who are above all of this. They are those that cannot love.
She likens them to stars, those that guide themselves and have a greater purpose, those that are untouchable in their perfection. Karin thinks of most everyone else as leaves falling in the wind, easily swayed with their only destination being the ground. Karin knows that Sasuke and her were meant to be something great.
But then she meets his old team. The infamous Team Seven, or Team Kakashi rather, but Karin has heard Suigetsu refer to them under the name of their sensei, and she has seen the tightening of Sasuke's features that occur whenever the ex-Mist-nin does so. So she sticks to Team Seven. And when she heard of them, she knew they were nothing but leaves, the namesake of their beloved village. She knew they were doomed to be ordinary, and could never come close to her and her Sasuke.
And then she sees them. And the first thing Karin sees is not the vivid pink of Sakura's hair, or the bright orange of Naruto's attire. The first thing the tracker sees is the determination on Naruto's face, and the love in Sakura's eyes. And Karin watches them fight, watches Sakura summon strength she did not know existed to bend the world to her will, watches Naruto utilize the sense of honor and determintation that thrives in him to beat opponents she would've thought impossible. Karin sees them and wonders how Sasuke could have ever left them, bright stars disguised as leaves that they are.
Then she turns to Sasuke and sees the emotion on his face, sees the longing in his eyes, and realizes that he has never really left them.
Karin can't pretend it doesn't hurt when she sees the way he looks at Sakura.
And she realizes that Sasuke is exactly like the rest of his team, an odd mix of a star and a leaf, and Karin realizes that Sasuke is capable of love, just not capable of loving her. She sees Sakura and Naruto and understands why.
Sasuke has not moved on, and most certainly has not traded up.
The red-eyed girl watches the way he suddenly jumps into the fray, watches the way he defends his old teammates with such a casual ease and familiarity, watches how he does not hesitate because he knows that these are the people he loves. Karin knows that he will never feel the same way about her.
And she convinces herself that she is fine with that, that in the end, she is still a star and she is beautiful and untouchable and meant for something beyond what this world can give her.
But for a moment, Karin thinks that she would trade the eternal beauty of the night sky if it meant being a falling leaf with Sasuke. For a moment, she thinks she knows what it's like to love someone. For a moment, Karin thinks all she'll ever really need is Sasuke.
She watches him walk away without a word of parting, watches him settle back into his team, his family like he has always belonged there, because he has. Karin watches her own heart break and thinks that maybe she's nothing but a falling leaf after all.
After all, Sasuke could never leave a star.
A/N: Just finished reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, for those of you that don't recognize the whole 'star/falling leaf' analogy, and many props to those of you who do. Can't say I enjoyed the book, but I enjoyed the idea, and sort of forced it upon Karin, and it's a new perspective for me, a fun one. I tried to make her more relatable, more human, and hopefully it worked.