Clandestine by The Loser Lord
Secret 1: The Aftermath of Karin Uzumaki

Got a secret, can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save,
Better lock it in your pocket,
Taking this one to the grave;

If I show you,
Then I know you won't tell what I said;
Because two can keep a secret,
if one of them is dead

"Where is she?" Sasuke's tone was wintry and bitter in the summer air. Sakura rested her dripping paintbrush over a cup of murky water and faced the seething Uchiha, her brows knitted together in genuine confusion.

"Who?" she asked at last.

"You know damn well who I'm talking about, Sakura!" he snapped impatiently, "Where is Karin?"

The petite girl shrugged her delicate shoulders, wrapping her arms around her middle, almost as if she were guarding herself.

"I don't know."

Sasuke wouldn't accept Sakura's half-hearted answers; he needed to know where Karin was and he needed to know now. What kind of friend was she? Allowing something as petty as a little high school relationship stand in the way of her 'best friend's' well-being.

Sakura Haruno sickened him.

"Don't give me that horse-shit, Sakura," he countered angrily, "Karin is missing! Do not tell me that you don't know where she is. Don't you care what happened to her?"

And Sakura, poor Sakura, already beaten down by one of her own best friends and scowled at by the love of her life, did the only thing she knew how to do properly and without regret.

"No, I don't. Go away."

Urgent fingers rapped loudly against the front door. The morning typically came with less noise, but Sakura didn't particularly mind the commotion. After all, it was the first day back to school. She sat in her school uniform, her pink hair wild and unkempt against her back as she sipped her tea and ate her burnt toast; Sakura ignored the protesting cracks of her molars as she bit down hard against the bread's scorched surface.

"Sakura, I'm a little preoccupied right now, you mind getting that for me?" Mebuki, Sakura's mother, called from the downstairs bathroom.

"Sure!" Sakura loudly answered. Her stool scraped against the white tiles of the kitchen floor like nails on a blackboard as she dragged her house slippers to the main foyer, where the tapping resumed incessantly.

Sakura didn't even have to open the front door all the way; Ino Yamanaka barreled into the hallway quicker than the blink of an eye, with her shiny blonde hair pin straight and perfect as usual.

"Hey, Sakura. You ready?" Ino greeted, upbeat. The rosette ran her mint-green eyes over Ino's appearance, nearly suspicious of her best friend's willingness to go to school. Sakura's answer spilled from her lips slower than molasses.

"…sure. Let me go get my bag."

Septembers in Konoha were the best, especially early September, where the air was still summery and warm, fragrant with the pungent scent of freshly mowed lawns and car exhaust. Ino and Sakura waved a friendly hello to old man Sarutobi across the street before continuing on their merry way to the academy.

"Do you know what class you're in?"

"I think I'm in 2-C," Sakura replied thoughtfully, "Kakashi's the homeroom teacher."

"Kakashi?" Ino said, "Isn't that the one with the mask and the–"

"–porn novels?" Sakura scoffed and flicked a piece of lint off her shoulder blade, "The one and only. I'm still surprised he's still here; he even admitted he hates teaching."

"But he's so popular!"

"Because he's always late and he's too lazy to properly give assignments and grade them. It's like having a study hall teacher for an entire eight hours."

The two high school students paraded down the sidewalk, chatting idly with one another, just like any other morning. However, a flyer sloppily stapled to a telephone pole brought them both to a screeching halt. It read:

MISSING: KARIN UZUMAKI
Should be 17
Red hair, red eyes
If found, please contact Konoha Police immediately

"It's been a year," Ino said gently, looking over to Sakura. Her face remained blank, her wide emerald eyes glossed over with wonder. Sakura stared at Karin's portrait unfathomably.

Yes, that's right, she should be 17. Whether she made it there or not was still a mystery. Memories of the morning following Karin's disappearance plagued Sakura's memory, bringing a fresh wave of anxiety-induced stomach pains. Sakura could still vividly remember Sasuke Uchiha, Karin's boyfriend (and the love of Sakura's life), calling Sakura every horrible name he could give her. That was just last year.

She heard every insult and fully accepted it. And why? Because Sakura had wished for Karin to disappear; the day Karin had announced her relationship with Sasuke, Sakura had wished for Karin to go away and never come back.

It was almost disgusting how quickly that wish was granted.

"You wished that she would disappear, didn't you? I know you had something to do with it, you bitch!"

Sasuke Uchiha was not known to be a talker, but when he did, his words were sharper than any sword forged by man. And currently, he was destroying Sakura. The hand painting stopped; Sakura didn't turn. Sasuke didn't stop.

"God, Sakura. We were happy, and you probably said something to her, didn't you? I can't find her. She called me and told me she couldn't do this to Sakura. To you!" Sasuke was so angry, he saw only red.

Sakura wasn't an idiot.

She knew what Karin was capable of, although she didn't know why Karin did the things she did. And if Karin wanted to use her best friend and boyfriend for her stupid, stupid fucking twisted little games, then so be it. This wasn't the first time Karin used Sakura, and it probably wouldn't be the last either.

Karin was missing. Sakura knew Karin well enough to know that she shouldn't try looking for her either. 'It's a secret,' as Karin would so coyly put it.

Secrets guarded by Karin stay that way: secret. And her current location was no excuse to this unspoken rule. Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I thought I loved her," Sasuke confided pathetically.

'You stupid boy,' Sakura thought helplessly, 'you stupid, stupid, idiotic, beautiful boy; what are you doing here? Caught in her lies. You shouldn't be a part of Karin's games. You'll never get out.'

"I thought I loved her, damn it!" he bellowed in rage.

Sakura didn't respond.

The rosette, with the remaining shreds of dignity she had left, collected her jars of paint, her dirty brushes, and murky water, and passed Sasuke to go back to her house.

"If you were really in love," she said quietly, "then Karin, wherever she is, would have taken you with her."

Sakura could still hear Sasuke's angry shouts behind the closed door and over her muffled sobs.

Notes: This is based off of Pretty Little Liars because, after 3 years, I've convinced myself to watch it and I must say, once you get over the infuriating character traits/situations, it's a fairly decent mystery.

Right now, this particular chapter is a "Pilot" of sorts. I'll see how it's interpreted by readers and decide if I want to keep it or not.