This fic is a oneshot written for the Naruto Crack Pairing Challenge. For other crack pairing oneshots, see my 'Improbability' series.
Rules of the Challenge:
1.) Pairs will be entirely random. Number a list of characters and pick numbers out of a hat or use an online number generator.
2.) Pairs can be m/m, m/f, or f/f. (This being Naruto, f/f is underrepresented compared to m/m due to the 2:1 male/female ratio. Sorry.)
3.) Pedophilia is squick. Either do your random selection within age groups, or work in some fancy time-travel or AU so everyone is roughly the same physical and mental age.
4.) Genre is free-ranging. If humor floats your boat, go for it. If tragedy is more your thing, that's cool too.
5.) No non-con or rape. Consent is necessary if your characters are having sex.
6.) Have fun.
This challenge was something my friends and I came up with. If you want to write a oneshot for the challenge, or give a suggestion for the next oneshot I write, that would be awesome. (With the stipulation that the suggestion must be a CRACK pairing. NaruHina is not a crack pairing. Hinata x Suigetsu, on the other hand, is. And it's on my list, so I'll be writing it.)
A/N: So I promised a Lee x Karin fanfic. And then I started writing, and what came out was a Karin x Tenten fanfic. I am deeply sorry. I don't know how it happened. The story got away from me and ran halfway across the country before I tracked it down, and then I didn't have the heart to change it. (What this does mean is that later on, instead of writing a Tenten x Haku fic, it'll be a Lee x Haku fic.)
For other crackfics in this series, check out:
Red Spider Lilies (Ino x Kimimaro)
Rivals (Konohamaru x Hanabi)
The next oneshot will be either Kakashi x Itachi or Shikamaru x Shino. My nanowrimo account is linked in my profile. Check there for more information about future pairings and stats about my progress.
Sunrise
Tenten x Karin
Difficulty: Medium
Dawnshipping
The red-haired girl faced down the tall, imposing bald man in a hidden cell in the ANBU Interrogation Division. The man was glaring at her with an expression of distaste. The girl was sitting in the chair opposite him at the small table with a light shining into her face. She had her head propped up in her hands and was looking entirely too smug and pleased for the situation she was in.
"Just to be clear, I don't trust you at all," Ibiki growled.
Karin stared him down with an angelic smile. "That breaks my heart," she said sympathetically. "But really, I've reformed myself. I swear."
"You regret working with Sasuke less than he regrets trying to kill you," snapped the tall man. "You're a two-faced witch with a heart of stone. God only knows how you managed to convince the council of your good intentions."
"My story is so sad," Karin told him earnestly. "I, a poor naïve girl, followed the man I loved halfway around the world. Then he turned on me, used me as a human shield, and tried to kill me with his own hands. What's a girl to do?"
"Apparently, run telling sob stories to council members and get an official pardon from the Hokage."
Karin shrugged. "I would never try to downplay the crimes Sasuke forced me to commit. But still, I don't know that you can blame me for everything he did."
"You were one of Orochimaru's top-ranking subordinates."
"Allegedly," Karin sniffed.
"You joined an international terrorist organization and attempted to capture and kill the jinchuriki of the eight-tails, sparking an international incident which led to war."
"Yes, that did turn out well, didn't it?" she said. "I allowed the eight-tails to escape by substituting himself with one of his tentacles. And at the five-kage summit, Madara came out and admitted he was the one behind everything. So it was really thanks to me- not that I'm taking credit for everything- that you had as much warning as you did about his evil plans."
"The mortality rate for the shinobi alliance was 70%," Ibiki informed her. "Care to take credit for that, too?"
Karin rolled her eyes. "Please. You can't blame a whole war on one person. I was a victim just as much as everyone else."
"Oh, really?"
"It all started when my parents abandoned me," she said in plangent tones. "I was only six years old at the time, the oldest daughter in a family of five. They didn't have enough food to feed all of us through the winter, so they sent me out to work for my own keep-"
"Save your sob story for the council meetings," Ibiki said in disgust. "I have better things to do."
"Oh, does that mean you're finally going to stop this silly interrogation? Can I go home? I'm so hungry. I thought you Hidden Leaf ninja were supposed to be the pinnacle of humanitarian treatment, but I can't say much for your prison cells. There's no privacy at all."
Ibiki massaged his temples. "As much as I'd love to string you up for a few days and have a nice chat, pain to pain, I can't overrule the council decision. They say you're to be given a second chance and I can't do anything about that."
Karin furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait, really? They're just going to let me go free? In their village?"
"Not quite. You'll be under full supervision by a team of Konoha ninja. And since everyone is rather busy, that means they won't be following you around; you'll be following them around."
Karin wrinkled her nose. "I'll stay in my prison cell, thanks."
Ibiki grinned. "Sorry. The council's rule is final."
"Don't I get any say in this?"
"No. You'll be accompanying a four-man squad through all of their day-to-day training and activities. If you act in any way dangerous or suspect, they will report you immediately to the T&I division."
"Tell me you aren't sticking me with a bunch of snot-nosed genin. I didn't come here to babysit."
"I'm sure you intended a nice vacation," Ibiki said dryly. "But don't worry. You've been placed with a team of consummate professionals."
"It isn't that Sakura girl, is it? I've seen enough of her for a lifetime."
"No. I don't believe you've met this particular group of jonin in your interactions with Konoha."
"Oh." Karin relaxed a little. At least she wouldn't have to be reminded of Sasuke every waking moment. "Who is it, then?"
"I don't suppose you've heard of Maito Gai?"
She had. "Crap."
Ibiki bared his teeth in a grin. "I recommended him personally. I think you'll find he takes his job very seriously."
"Karin-san!" bellowed Maito Gai, the man whose Bingo Book ranking was higher than Kakashi Hatake and whose bounty was higher than Shikaku Nara. "Greetings!"
"…Hi," she said eventually, once she managed to tear her eyes away from the monstrous green bodysuit.
"I have been strictly instructed to make you feel welcome in the beautiful village hidden in the leaves! I look forward to an extensive and productive friendship!"
Karin raised an eyebrow. "I heard you were going to be keeping an eye on me for security reasons."
"Certainly! But I have faith that a young girl such as yourself would not be so twisted at heart to betray those who show you compassion."
Karin wondered what he would have said if he'd known her as the warden at Orochimaru's hideout. "Sure, let's go with that."
For supposedly being the greatest master of taijutsu in the Hidden Leaf- maybe even in the whole world- he didn't much look the part. He had enormous eyebrows and a shiny bowl cut. And even if you couldn't blame him for what nature gave him, he had to compound the problem by wearing a bright green skin-tight jumpsuit.
Some things, Karin decided, should be left to the imagination.
"Allow me to introduce you to my students!" he cried. "Tenten, Neji, and Lee!"
Tenten was clearly the girl. She wore a flowing white shirt and red pants, and had a long-suffering expression on her face. Her hair was bound up in twin buns. She had wide brown eyes that flicked from Karin to her sensei skeptically.
Beside her, a long-haired boy with a grim frown nodded at the name 'Neji'. He had the Byakugan- only in Konoha was such a monstrously powerful bloodline so casually available. In the land of Water, he'd have been targeted and killed. In her homeland of Grass, he'd have been kept hidden away by the clan leaders so his bloodline could be used to its greatest potential. Konoha not only had numerous bloodlines, but the ones it did have were freakishly powerful. Apparently, they had some stupid legend about being the true descendants of the Sage of Six Paths. Self-important jerks.
Lee was the second boy. He too wore the bowl-cut, jumpsuit, and eyebrows of his teacher. For a moment Karin wondered if they were father and son. But no- the shapes of their faces were different. The eyebrows were alike, but the bowlcut and the jumpsuit were just cosmetic. At least, she didn't think you could inherit a propensity for ugly clothes.
"My pleasure," she drawled. "I'm sure we'll all get along just fine."
The Hyuga huffed.
"This is certainly the beginning of a beautiful friendship!" said the bowl-cut boy earnestly. "I look forward to furthering our acquaintance!"
"Lee, she's not our friend," the girl corrected him. "We're guarding her to make sure she doesn't try to attack the village or cause trouble."
"That doesn't mean we may not grow to become comrades given time," Lee objected. "We must give her a chance. The Hokage has said that she could prove trustworthy."
Karin snorted. She hadn't thought the Hokage herself would fall for that stupid sob story. All she really wanted right now was to get out of Konoha as quickly as possible. But she couldn't sneak away from a team of jounin- especially not with a Hyuga on the team. She might be a top-tier chakra sensor, but she had a healthy respect for the Byakugan. There wasn't a good chance of escape until she was off probation.
The Hyuga seemed to share her disbelief. "Don't be stupid, Lee. She's a convicted criminal."
"And a member of Akatsuki," added the girl. "And she was Sasuke's minion."
"But Sasuke's on our side now," Lee protested. "So we are all allies."
"Yeah, if you have a really loose definition of 'on our side'," said Tenten sourly. "Don't forget he tried to kill Sakura and Naruto god knows how many times. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him."
"That's pretty far," Neji pointed out. "I think you give him too much credit."
"Oh, don't tell me you guys were a part of Sasuke's Konoha clique too," Karin muttered in exasperation. "Just when I thought I wouldn't have to talk to any of his old friends again. Why is everyone in this village all hung up over him? It's not like he was anything more than a recalcitrant genin when he left. I swear, it's like everyone was deeply involved in his team's interpersonal dynamic."
Tenten gave her a strange look. "We didn't know him well. It's Naruto everyone knows best. Well, I say that, but he was gone for three years. I guess it's Sakura everyone knows best now. But Sasuke fought Lee in the chunin exams."
Karin frowned. "He did? I don't remember that. Was that in the prelims, or the tournament?"
"Neither. It was before the first test. But why are you talking like you were there to see it? I know you weren't part of Orochimaru's Sound team. Lee and Neji took care of them just after the chunin exams."
"I was there," Karin corrected. "I was part of the team from Kusagakure. We were eliminated in the Forest of Death. Sasuke saved my life in the forest."
"Uh-huh." Tenten looked unimpressed. "True love for sure? Is that why you followed him into a terrorist organization?"
Karin shrugged. "I didn't come to him; he came to recruit me. I was just tagging along."
"And then he tried to kill you."
Karin raised an eyebrow.
"Heard it from Sakura." Tenten explained.
"Can't she keep her mouth shut?" Karin said sourly. "You'd think she'd be a little more discreet. Is she a ninja or not? Honestly, you Konoha shinobi need to redefine the word 'stealth'. First you get bowl-cut over there-" she gestured at Lee vaguely. "In that green jumpsuit, and then that Naruto kid wearing orange all the time-"
"You're not one to talk," Tenten snapped. "Your hair couldn't be any brighter if someone painted it that way."
"At least I don't look like a panda."
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry, can't you hear?"
"Tenten, my gracious teammate!" interjected bowl-cut. "Please, do not argue in such an unseemly manner!"
Karin half expected the other girl to growl, but she just let out a sigh and turned away. It wasn't easy to rile her up, then. That was unfortunate. She could have had some fun bickering with her.
"Come, let's all cooperate," said Gai. He gave her a thumbs-up. "After all, we'll be quite busy tomorrow."
"We will?" Karin asked in horror. "What are you doing?"
Tenten smirked. "Team Gai gets up before dawn to train. Four in the morning, usually."
Karin paled. "Can I get assigned to a team with more sanity, please?"
"Training before sunrise is good for the heart!" Lee said cheerfully. "Yosh! The earlier the better!"
Neji and Tenten didn't look as though they shared his sentiment.
"Gai-sensei, may we begin training at three tomorrow?"
"Why, Lee! What excellent enthusiasm you have! Yosh! Morning practice will begin at three! We will all walk on our hands around the village fifty times before sunrise!"
"If I cannot, I will perform five hundred punches and five hundred kicks!"
"You can't be serious," Karin said weakly.
"And of course, our new comrade Karin will join us in our practice!" Lee said, managing to look both hopeful and expectant at the same time. "We will form unbreakable bonds of affection with our sweat and effort!"
Tenten snorted. "Are you sure she can take it? She's such a delicate little flower."
"Better than a masculine oaf."
"Please," Neji said flatly. "We all know I'm prettier than either of you."
Karin and Tenten stared at him for a few tense seconds. Then they both doubled over laughing.
"So- so serious," Karin wheezed. "God, Konoha people are such dorks."
"He is prettier, though," Tenten snorted. "That hair."
"I was joking," Neji said, looking a little disturbed.
"That- just- makes it funnier-"
Karin spent that night camped out at Tenten's house. It turned out that she lived alone, in a relatively spacious apartment that Karin supposed she'd rented with her own mission savings. She didn't mention having any parents, and Karin abruptly remembered that these Konoha people were ninja after all. Oh.
"You can sleep on the couch or on the floor. I'll be on my futon." Tenten said with a yawn. "If you want a shower, go for it. If you try to kill me in my sleep, I can't promise I won't accidentally set off the wire traps I have set around the house."
"Duly noted," Karin said dryly. "Can I assume that taking a shower won't set off any deadly projectiles?"
"Not unless you use all the hot water."
"I actually can't tell if you're joking."
"I'm not. Go to sleep. You'll be glad you did in the morning."
"They weren't serious about that, were they? Why do I have to get up so early just to sit around and watch you guys torture yourselves? Honestly, I thought being out here would be less painful than being in the ANBU interrogation division."
"Sleep," Tenten growled. "Now. Or at least let me sleep. We're climbing up the Hokage Monument on our hands tomorrow, and I am not going to be kept awake all night by your griping."
"You Konoha ninja are all completely insane," Karin said in dismay. "No wonder Sasuke had so many problems. I mean-"
"Go to sleep!"
Karin thought about arguing. But since she apparently would have to get up at three tomorrow morning for these psychos' morning training, she'd probably regret it later more than she'd get satisfaction out of keeping Tenten awake now.
"Fine."
"G'night," Tenten mumbled.
Karin wanted to snicker. When was the last time she'd heard that? And to think she was only now hearing it from a kunoichi from Konoha, of all people.
"Night," she said, and flipped onto her other side. "Feel free not to wake me up tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, right," Tenten muttered. "Now shut up and sleep."
As promised, Karin was roughly shaken awake far too soon. She yawned and blinked blearily into the darkness. Then someone flipped on a light switch in the small apartment and she flinched back from the sudden glare.
"Tenten?" she asked hazily.
"Yeah. Now get your butt in gear, it's time for morning practice. I let you sleep in a little, but if you laze around any more Gai-sensei'll yell at everyone for not being enthusiastic enough this morning."
"Mmph. You call this sleeping in? It's- what time is it, anyway?"
"Two forty-five," Tenten said, her voice sharing at least some of the misery Karin felt. "You don't show up to morning practice late when you're a part of Team Gai. So get up, or we'll both be getting a lecture."
"Fine, fine. I don't suppose I have time to take a shower?"
Tenten grinned. "Trust me, you'll want to save that for after practice."
"I am not required to participate in your practice," Karin said flatly, ignoring the growing unease in the pit of her stomach. "The council said-"
"That you're supposed to accompany the team in all their standard duties, yeah. But they also said that you're supposed to obey the orders of the team leader. And if I know Gai-sensei at all, I know there's just no way he won't tell you to join in."
"They can't make me do something like that," Karin protested. "They can't just-"
"The council can do whatever they want," Tenten said dryly. "Why do you think we're stuck with you?"
"Harsh," Karin retorted. "You do know it's me who's stuck with you, right?"
Tenten just laughed. "Get up. We only have ten minutes to get down there, and we're going over the rooftops. Wear practical shoes."
"Sure. Of course. If I had more than one pair of shoes, then that would totally be a concern."
Tenten frowned. "That's right. Sorry, I forgot. Do you need to borrow some of mine?"
"You said 'practical'. You wear sandals. I'll stick to my own shoes, thanks."
The other girl just shrugged. "Hey, what works for me-"
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, it's not like I have any extra clothes to change into, so let's go already."
Tenten gave her an appreciative grin. "I like your style."
Karin rolled her eyes. "I thought we were running late?"
"Aw, shoot. Yeah, let's go."
Tenten pushed her apartment window open and vaulted through before Karin could say wait just a minute or even get out of bed. Why was it always the window with these people? At least Sasuke knew how to use a door-
Karin firmly shut down that train of thought and followed Tenten- much more carefully- out the window.
Konoha, Karin found, was actually kind of beautiful just before dawn.
In the day, it was all hot sun and blue sky and loud noises and busy streets and ninja in green vests leaping overhead. She'd been there twice before during the day as an undercover agent with Orochimaru, and even before that she'd toured the city before her first Chunin exams. She hadn't hated it, or anything, but it wasn't exactly somewhere she'd have chosen to spend her time.
At night, though, it was utterly still. The moonlight shone on the rooftops of the buildings and glinted off darkened windows. Tenten leaped ahead of her as they ran towards the grimly shadowed faces on the Hokage Monument. The giant stone heads seemed almost sad as they looked down on the village. There was no sound but the soft thump of Tenten's feet and the rustling of the tree branches throughout the village.
The air was cool now, too, and not so stifling. The clear sky wasn't just unbearably sunny- now it showed all the stars clearly, far brighter than she'd ever seen them in Kusagakure or in any of Orochimaru's hideouts. It was surprisingly beautiful place.
Once you got rid of all the people, that was.
Karin closed her eyes, feeling around for active chakra signatures. Surely there had to be someone there, right? Surely they wouldn't actually let her wander the village with only Maito Gai's insane team as supervision.
But it seemed they had. Or at least, she couldn't sense any strong chakra signatures too near to where she was now. And if she couldn't sense them, that meant they weren't there. She was the among the greatest chakra sensors in the world. She could sense a masked chakra signature from almost a mile away. Orochimaru would have accepted no less. Sasuke would have accepted no less.
Sasuke hadn't accepted any less.
"Keep up!" Tenten called from up ahead. "I hope you're not trying to sneak off, because I have stuff to do this morning that doesn't involve chasing you around the village."
"Thanks for the suggestion," Karin muttered.
"I heard that!"
Karin wrinkled her nose, but quickened her pace.
They were headed toward the Hokage monument. God, those heads were so creepy. Whose brilliant idea was it to care the heads of a bunch of freaky old people into the side of a mountain? They'd managed to make them all look seriously annoyed, too, like they were just sick of the whole village.
Whoops. There she went projecting again.
Karin squinted at the head of the Fourth Hokage. She didn't know for sure, but she could have sworn she saw something up there, bounding from spike to spike of the guy's poofy hair. Yes- there it was-.
She closed her eyes, feeling for a presence.
And then nearly missed her landing on the next rooftop as she felt the presence. That was Maito Gai, all right. His chakra was like an inferno. How did he ever mask it on missions? You couldn't just hide that much chakra. How did he even have that much? It was like looking at the host of the Eight-Tails and feeling the power of hundreds, even thousands of regular people condensed into one small body. It burned her; she cursed.
"What is it now?" Tenten asked impatiently.
"Nothing," Karin grumbled. "I'm fine."
Tenten gave her a skeptical look, but shrugged. "If you say so. Come on, it looks like they're already partway up the mountain."
"Yeah, I noticed."
As the approached the Hokage monument, she was able to see three forms climbing around in the Honorable Fourth Hokage's poofy hair. The two boys on the team, Neji and Lee, had been shielded from her chakra probe by their sensei's ridiculous power.
"What are they doing?" Karin asked in a kind of horrified fascination. "Are they-"
"Climbing up the Hokage Mountain, yes."
"On their-"
"Yes, on their thumbs."
"Can we run away now?"
Tenten grinned. "Just be glad we showed up late, or you'd have had to do it with them. As it is, I think we'd better meet them at the top. Just so you know, I'm going to blame you for making us late."
"Excuse me?"
"I cannot tell a lie," Tenten retorted with a wicked grin. "Race you to the top?"
They raced.
Tenten won.
They arrived at the top of the Hokage mountain out of breath and red-cheeked. Tenten had apparently been born to run- she was only breathing a little harder than normally, and she looked positively exhilarated to be racing around Konoha hours before the sun was due to rise. Her eyes were dancing with amusement.
Karin, on the other hand, was leaning over with her hands on her knees. She'd stubbed her toe and her hair was messier than she ever remembered it being. She'd stubbed her toe along the way and had tried to swear, but was too out of breath to make it more than a few words in. Tenten had giggled for minutes at that.
(Karin wasn't about to admit that it had been kind of fun.)
"Tenten, why were you so late in arriving?" Lee asked curiously. "You missed our morning warm-up."
"Warm-up. Of course. Why not?" Karin muttered to herself in between catching her breath.
"Sorry, Lee," Tenten said, sounding truly apologetic. "I was running late this morning. What are we doing next?"
"We will circumnavigate the village on our hands," Lee informed her seriously.
"How many times?"
"A mere fifty will suffice," Gai said thoughtfully. "We will build up to more. If we cannot do it fifty times before sunrise-"
"I will do five hundred punches and five hundred kicks!" Lee volunteered.
"That's the spirit, Lee!" Gai clapped him on the shoulder, grinning widely. "Let us commence!"
"Fifty times before sunrise? There's no way you can-" Karin was cut off as Tenten put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.
"That's the point," she said, hiding a smile. "Come on. It's never as bad as you think it'll be."
"Oh yeah?" Karin asked warily. "Wanna bet?"
Tenten just pushed her sleeves over her elbows, leaned down, and flipped her legs in the air. Her cheeks were pink with the strain and her eyes were bright and laughing. "Your turn."
"My hair," Karin protested.
"Borrow some hair ties from Neji."
"From-" Karin glanced at the Hyuga in disbelief. He had a leather hair tie in his mouth and was tying his hair up behind his head. "Oh."
He saw her looking and shoved one of the hair ties at her without saying anything. Karin took it without thanking him. She gathered her hair behind her head and tied it up. After thinking a moment longer, she also took off her glasses and shoved them down her shirt. She wouldn't be able to see well, but she could probably make up for that with some basic level of chakra sensing.
"Ready to go?" Tenten asked. "The first step is the hardest, but once you have that done, you're good to go."
Karin sighed and did a handstand- she was a ninja, she could do that much at least without any difficulty. But from here, she was looking out around the village. Hidden Leaf was big. Really big.
"Do you do this every morning?" she asked, feeling a little exhilarated and a little terrified at the same time.
"Yep." Tenten said. She grinned, like she knew what Karin was thinking. "Wanna race?"
They raced.
Tenten won.
They didn't finish until after sunrise.
"You tried hard, but not hard enough!" proclaimed Gai. "Therefore, as decided beforehand, we will all do 500 punches and 500 kicks."
"No more," Karin panted. "Please."
She was splayed on the ground. Her hair was a mess, and she didn't think she'd sweated so hard in her life. Yeah, she was a ninja, but this wasn't ninja-level training. This was on a whole different level. Besides, she was a sensory-type! Physical training wasn't her forte. She hadn't done much of that even as a genin. This? This was insanity.
"You don't look well, Karin-san," Lee said worriedly. "Are you injured?"
"Maybe a touch of heatstroke," Tenten said, glancing at her. "Come on. Gai-sensei, I think we'd better let her take a quick break from practice. Maybe sit in the shade?"
Gai looked disappointed, but nodded. "You should embrace the pain of youth," he advised. "That is the only way to grow stronger."
Karin didn't need to be told twice. She crawled over to the nearest tree in the training ground and collapsed under it. Every bone in her entire body ached. Her lungs burned, and she felt nauseous. She hadn't trained so hard in years. In Orochimaru's hideout, she hadn't had to use much strength on a day-to-day basis. She could take down troublesome prisoners without putting much effort into it- they were hardly trained ninja. With Sasuke- well, he'd only ever used her as a sensor and a healer. He'd never expected her to fight- they'd had Jugo for that.
Her stomach twisted. She retched in the grass.
"You okay?" A cool hand touched her shoulder.
Karin glanced up.
"You did really well for your first day. My first day on Team Gai, I collapsed on the twentieth lap around the village." Tenten said with a wry grin. "You're pretty tough."
The red-headed girl just rolled her eyes. "Yeah," she croaked. "Thanks. Good to know I'm being favorably compared to you when you were eleven."
"Twelve," Tenten corrected. "But yeah. I thought for sure you'd give up halfway through. But you kept going. Good work."
"Yeah, well-" her stomach twisted. She retched again. "Ugh," she spat afterwards.
"Hey, don't talk so much," Tenten said. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern. She bit her lip. "You really look ill. Crap. I don't know anything about medicine, or I'd help you."
"I am a medic," Karin pointed out. "Some water would be nice."
"Oh. Oh. Okay. Uh, I'll do that, then. Are you gonna be all right?"
"Water, please."
"Yeah. Yeah, of course." Tenten rubbed her hands against her pants, looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable. "I'll go get that, then."
She left.
God, what a terrible bedside manner. No wonder she was just about the only girl in Konoha who didn't have any medical training at all. Probably had terrible chakra control too. Karin snickered roughly.
In a moment, Tenten was back with a water bottle. She handed it to Karin with fumbling hands. That was strange- Karin had seen her throwing kunai with pinpoint precision. Why would she be suddenly stricken by clumsiness? But she was too tired to care much about it.
She unscrewed the cap with weak fingers and gulped down the water. It wasn't very cold, but that was okay. Her head was pounding and the water soothed it a little.
Tenten was still watching her, brow creased.
"If you're waiting for a thank-you, you won't get one," Karin informed her flatly. "I'm only in this condition because you guys made me join your practice. I haven't forgotten that."
"Are you gonna be okay, do you think?" asked the other girl. She sounded worried.
Karin snorted. "Why do you care? I'm a criminal, remember?"
Tenten blinked. "Huh. Do you know, I'd almost forgotten."
"We had that discussion literally yesterday. How do you forget something like that overnight?"
Tenten laughed wryly and sat down under the tree beside her.
"You don't act like a criminal," she said, an honest edge to her voice. "You act like you're just a normal girl. You look sad sometimes, but the rest of the time, I feel like I could get to like you."
Karin flushed. "I don't need to be liked," she muttered. "I just want to get out of this village as soon as I can."
"Where will you go?" Tenten asked. "If they ever release you?"
Karin shrugged. "I don't know."
"Back to Sasuke?"
She snorted. "Not a chance."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. Don't you believe me? The guy tried to kill me."
"No, I don't believe you," Tenten said. "You followed him across the continent to kill one of the most powerful ninja in the world, after he killed your old boss. I don't think you do that sort of thing casually."
"I told you, I wasn't following him. We were just traveling together."
"Yeah, you told me. I don't believe that, either."
"Well, it's true."
"I think you really loved him," Tenten mused without looking at her. "I'm not judging you, you know. A lot of people who met Sasuke really loved him, the same way you did. You've met Sakura. But Ino too, and of course Naruto."
"Don't compare me to that pink-haired girl."
"But you are alike."
"How?"
"He tried to kill you, but you aren't angry when you say his name. You're just sad."
"Don't be stupid. Why are you even talking to me?"
"To get out of practice?" Tenten offered with a crooked grin. "I'm pretty sure Lee's almost to three hundred punches by now."
Karin took that comment for the peace offering it was. "Better get back to it, then."
Tenten nodded and pushed herself up. She leaned against the tree. "Don't you run away now," she quipped. "I'll be back to pick you up soon."
Karin stuck out her tongue. "Get lost."
As Tenten ran out towards the practice field, Karin closed her eyes and tentatively reached out for the feel of the other girl's chakra. It wasn't dry and slithering and coiled, ready to strike like Orochimaru's. It certainly wasn't cool and potent and coursing with hatred like Sasuke's.
Tenten's chakra was warm, like resting in the sunshine, and it was full of life. Karin breathed in the sweet summer air and leaned back against the tree. The light through the tree leaves dappled the ground gently. There were muffled shouts and cries as Tenten's teammate with the bowl-cut punched at the training post. Tenten herself was bounding over to the training area, cheeks flushed and smile bright.
Karin blushed and rested her chin on her knees.
Maybe, she mused. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to stay in Konoha just a little while longer.