Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto

Sasuke couldn't sleep. No matter how many times he tossed and turned on his bed roll, or closed his eyes and tried to count sheep; sleep wouldn't come. Thus he was sitting and staring at the campfire. Suigetsu was snoring softly, muttering the names of the various swords he wished to collect, Juugo was curled up in a ball, unmoving. Karin was missing from her spot, though. Sasuke didn't know where she went, she wasn't in danger, nobody knew they were here.

He continued to stare into the flames until he heard a voice, a soft gasp that was ironically loud in the still night. Sasuke blinked, his Sharingan appearing in his eyes, and turned his head in the direction of the sound. He notice it was Karin. "Hn." He deactivated his dojutsu before rising and heading over to her.

She was lying on her back on the incline of the little grassy knoll they were camping nearby. Her red hair spread out like some wild flame, it appeared darker in the shadows of night and it vaguely reminded him of blood. He steeled himself against the memories of puddles of blood in moonlight, his parents, Itachi...

"What are you doing?" he asked, a little harsher than he intended. Karin looked at him, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" she asked, then a coy smile graced her lips and he watched her finger trace the waistband of her booty shorts. "Have you come to ravish me, Sasuke-kun?" she giggled girlishly.

"I want to know what you're doing, Karin."

Karin snorted, clearly miffed that he wasn't going to take any form of advantage of her or the fact that they were alone. She sat up and placed her forearms on the top of her knees. "I'm stargazing."

"Stargazing?" he arched a brow. "Why?"

"I like to do it." She gave a small shrug. "After my village was destroyed and before Orochimaru found me, I would watch the stars. My father once told me that the stars are our ancestors and that we become stars after we die. So, whenever I look at the stars it's like I'm still connected to all the people I lost that day," Karin said. Sasuke inclined his head towards the sky, watching the stars shimmer in the sky.

"Do you really believe that?" Sasuke asked. Karin adjusted her glasses before letting out a soft sight.

"Not really, but it... it gives me comfort to believe in it, because then it seems like my loved ones are still here. That they are still with me and watching over me," she hugged her knees, "just very far away at the moment. Oppose to being gone."

Sasuke didn't say anything, just sat down next to her. Karin looked at him, feeling the blood color her cheeks. "Karin."

Karin lowered her eyes, demurely. "Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke didn't know why he noticed it then, but he did, and it was the fact that Karin's lips were a pale cherry blossom pink and that they looked rather kissable. "How do you stargaze?"

Karin blinked rapidly thrice before snorting and turning her head away. "You just lie on your back and watch the stars. Try to connect them into shapes and patterns." She lied back down and pointed to a series of stars. "That star reminds me of a snake."

Sasuke glanced up, frowned, and then lied down. "I still don't see it."

"You're hopeless."

"Hn."

"Start at the big reddish star, then work your way down in a curvy S shape pattern, you'll start to see the snake."

Sasuke tried but wasn't able to see the snake. "Reminds me of a river." He looked for more patterns in the stars. "I see the Uchiha crest and the Konoha leaf."

"You're getting it," Karin said.

"Hn." He laced his fingers over his stomach, his eyes tracing the patterns they found in the stars. Slowly, he felt sleep inch closer until he fell into it dreamless sleep.

Sasuke woke up a start the following morning. He was confused when he felt a weight on his chest and something warm pressed up against him. Opening his eyes, he noticed that Karin was snuggled against him, his right arm slung loosely over her waist. Her glasses were clutched in one hand. His first instinct was to shove her off of him, he had a mission to complete: Kill Itachi. Only once that was done could he allow himself to feel something other than hatred, maybe even to learn to love another person. Yet, he couldn't disturb Karin. In fact, if he allowed himself to be truly honest, he enjoyed the weight of her against him.

Karin shifted and her scent drifted towards him. It was a mix of grass and some floral scent, jasmine, he thinks. A small smile graced his lips, the last girl that was close enough to him for him to be able to smell was Sakura. She had a coiling artificial scent as if she was trying too hard to get him to notice her. It didn't help that she hadn't bathed at all during their time in the Forest of Death, either.

The peaceful stillness was broken by Suigetsu's loud complaining coming from the campsite below. Karin seemed to jerk awake at the sound of his voice and Sasuke quickly let her go and moved a few inches over. Karin put her glasses on, glanced once at Sasuke and smiled at him.

Sasuke returned it with a fleeting one of his own. He saw how Karin's eyes sparkled and her face lit up, her smile turning into a grin. It made his heart flutter.

"Karin! Get down here and make us some breakfast!"

Karin frowned. "I'm coming asshole! You know they say patients is a virtue!"

"Heh." Sasuke smirked as the familiar banter between the two filled the air.

I had this idea for about a day or so. Just something cute and fluffy. It honestly felt natural to me to write this. It didn't feel forced or anything. Hope you enjoy it. Plan to do a NH short story later or something.

R'n'R