Metal.
She could taste it on her tongue as it numbed, testament to how long she'd been biting it. She could feel it on her legs as well as sinking through her shirt, the fold chair making goosebumps erupt on her skin. She could smell it, the pungent scent making her wrinkle her nose.
All she could see, however, was a flash of white and red mask every three seconds as the overhead light swung back and forth back and forth back...
"Very well. You may go."
Wearily, she pulled herself to her feet, the part of her legs that were exposed sore from hours of sitting stationary. Her sandals clacked loudly as she turned and walked to the door, counting her steps to ease her tired, troubled mind. She didn't feel secure until she was outside in the blinding sunshine. Even then, she felt extremely vulnerable.
She blinked back the bright vertigo and was unsurprised to see Team Kakashi and her 'parole officer', Mitarashi Anko, standing by the doorway.
She looked around at all the eyes; anxious baby blue, calculating granny-apple green, unfathomable coal, nonchalant obsidian, oblivious hazel. Her dried lips opened to the three truthful words she uttered every day: "I didn't tell."
Naruto unhesitatingly embraced her, Sakura let out the breath she was holding, Sai and Kakashi's expressions didn't change, and one of Anko's violet eyebrows arched.
Karin never knew what to say so she'd stand still and let her strawberry eyes fill with tears, not making a sound until the grief got the better of her and she nearly collapsed from sobbing. Naruto and Sakura had been surprisingly kind to her and it hurt. Without warning she'd think of Suigetsu, Juugo and - inevitably - Uchiha Sasuke. Team Kakashi made her want her own team back, regardless of how stupid Suigetsu was or how violent Juugo was. She wanted them back and she wanted to see Sasuke smile more than ever.
If that meant siding with Konoha and helping Uzumaki Naruto... then so be it.
Each day she went through interrogation but each day she held fast and remained silent. They were talking about trying Morino Ibiki and a small pulse of fear jolted through her - not because of the torture but because of what she might say. Her resolve doubled as she left that day, one hand touching the sleeve of her shirt. A single thought flitted across her mind as she trailed behind Anko: 'Once bitten, twice shy. A thousand times bitten, nothing but audacity remains.'