Sick
(in which Karin is slightly...okay, reeeeeaally OOC.)
When Sasuke jerks awake in his sickbed—the sound of Deidara's bombs ringing in his ears and sweat rolling off his skin—Karin kneels at his side, presses a cool hand to his forehead, and eases him down again.
"You need your rest, Sasuke-kun," She whispers softly, and in the dim lighting of the borrowed shack, he swears to himself that her hair looks pink.
"Do you need some water?" She asks quietly, and he nods slowly, staring into nothing.
She shoots him a worried glance and then throws a serious look to Suigetsu, who is at the door, half-guarding and half-asleep. He understands her message and stands to leave, which surprises her.
She catches a string of colorful curses as he makes his way out, and she smirks to herself before turning her attentions back to Sasuke, smoothing the blanket that shields his battered chest.
"That Akatsuki guy must have been really strong," She says without thinking, and reaches forward to run her fingers through his moisture-soaked hair.
The 'Hn' that she expects never comes. He doesn't even glare at her. He doesn't push her away, or give a name. For the longest time, he says nothing.
Suigetsu returns to a room of silence, holding a bucket of water, and he gives Karin the dirtiest look he can muster before sinking into his spot near the door again, huffing indignantly.
She dips a cloth into the bucket and watches the rippling of water, the miniature waves that follow, and she feels a surge of love. Her love for Sasuke is vast and unyielding, unsteady as a storm in the ocean.
Just as she begins wiping the cloth across his smooth, fever-struck face, he whispers the name, "Sakura," his voice hard and broken from what she's sure must be more than just one battle.
Her eyebrows stitch together and her knuckles bleed white around the cloth, but she continues wiping his cheeks, his jaw, hiding behind a mask of her usual self.
She dumps the contents of her traveling bag out and searches for an ivory comb—her best one—and then sits behind Sasuke, leaning him forward slightly, patiently going through his hair with even strokes.
Somewhere in the back of her head, she wonders the entire time why he lets her do it. …But when she finishes, she figures out why. He croaks out that name again, that stupid, stupid, ugly, weak name…Sakura. And he sounds so helpless and lost and desperate that Karin's cheeks burn with envy and killing intent.
"Sakura," He pleads, one last time, and she knows that it's the last because his eyes are slowly closing. She also knows that she will probably never see him so defenseless again. So she takes advantage of his condition…for his own sake.
"I'm here," She says softly, kissing him on the forehead, "…Sakura-chan is right here."
When his lids finally snap shut, his body falls limp in her arms and she lies him back on the cot, tucking him in, kissing him one last time.
It's not until the next day that she stops to wonder why she feels less like a fangirl and more like his mother.
Fin.