"Do you have an original body structure?"

Suigetsu paused in drinking his water to glance over.

"Eh? What the hell brought that up?"

Karin crossed her arms.

"Just answer the question. Do you or don't you?"

He slouched against the wall and looked at her critically.

"And if I do?"

"Would you show me?"

"How do I know that I could trust you?"

Taken aback, she stepped backwards and fell, landing on one of the seats in the guard tower.

"Why wouldn't you be able to trust me?"

He snorted.

"Even if I did have a different and original body structure, not saying that I do, I wouldn't show you because you'd go fawning off to Sasuke who would beat the crap outta me. Not something I'm willing to risk my life over, sorry."

She slumped in the chair.

"How could I prove that I'm trustworthy?"

He stopped slurping to look at her incredulously.

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"I'm curious."

Sniggering, he pushed off the wall and sat down cross legged on the floor.

"Curiosity kills the redheaded cat sometimes, Karin."

"Don't make jokes like that when I'm being serious with you."

Suigetsu growled.

"I'm not joking either. I don't want to show you."

She jumped up in triumph.

"So you do have one!"

He sighed and put his head in his hand.

"Damn. What do I have to do to make you shut up?"

"Show me."

"How did I know you'd say that? Why again?"

"Because I asked nicely and I didn't beat you up about it."

He eyed her.

"Those are some crappy reasons."

"Would you like Sasuke to come back to find you mixed together with mud into a slush puddle on the ground?"

He quickly put his hands up.

"Come near me with dirt and die."

She smiled, making him wary.

"Show me."

He sighed again, standing up. He knew she would mix him with dirt without hesitation and that he'd be coughing up mud for a week, so he just figured it was easier to show her rather than chance his life.

"Fine. I'll show you. Just..."

He growled and put his hand behind his head, glaring at the floor. She looked at him curiously.

"Just what?"

"Don't laugh."

Karin sighed in exasperation.

"I won't laugh. Just hurry up."

He put his hands together, running through a complex series of hand-signs so fast she couldn't follow.

"Don't tell me to hurry up. I'll get there when I'm good and ready."

He took a deep breath and formed the last sign. A mist formed around his feet and slowly spiralled up his legs, forming a complete cloud surrounding him and hiding his features from her. She watched as the mist slowly faded and she took in his appearance, gasping.

His hair was longer, falling down the length of his back, the majority of it pulled into a low ponytail, the rest falling forward to frame his face. It had lost some of the bluish tinge, instead taking on a silver colour. His eyes were no longer purple, but blue-green, and he still had that damn fang sticking out of his mouth. He grinned at her and she saw that his teeth were slightly longer and sharper than before. His face was elongated and she could see his ears poking out of his hair, angularly pointed at the tips. Her eyes trailed down his face to follow his arms down to his hands, watching as he flexed his fingers, the long claws filed to sharp points like his teeth. It was then that she took in his clothes.

He had arm guards from his elbows down to his wrists and bandages up his arms, wearing a silver vest with an upstanding collar lined with white fur. The vest was a coat with no sleeves, the hem trailing around the floor, black pants tucked into his mean looking black boots.

Once Karin had finished her inventory of Suigetsu's new appearance, she stepped closer to him, noticing that he was several inches taller than he normally was. She lifted her hand to his face, close enough for him to feel the heat but not actually touching him.

"Is this really what you look like?" She whispered.

He nodded, his strange eyes staring deep into hers.

"Why didn't you show this to anyone? Why haven't I seen you like this before?"

He laughed, and she shivered, feeling the deep voice was going to be her undoing.

"If Orochimaru had found that I was actually like this, more would have happened to me than what actually happened. Take a look at me, Karin. Really look."

Karin stepped back and closed her eyes, performing her jutsu. She opened her eyes and gasped.

"See? I couldn't let him have me."

She stepped closer to his chakra, shocked at the amount he had.

"But, how? You... you must be at least twice as strong as Sasuke! Why haven't you tried to defeat him yet?"

"It's not worth it. Sasuke isn't worth me blowing my cover."

"Cover?"

He shook his head.

"This is what I normally look like. I can't let anyone get a hold of me because of my unusual amount of chakra."

He stepped closer to her, his boots making a hollow sound echo off the wooden floorboards.

"I don't want anyone to know, Karin. There's a reason I don't keep friends. This is it. Give me away and I will have to kill you."

She gasped as he stepped closer.

"Why? Tell me why you think I would tell anyone?"

He moved closer, making her step back and hit the wall.

"Revenge? Personal gain? There are many more reasons, Karin."

She squeaked as he finally closed the distance between them and took her chin between his forefinger and thumb.

"I can make sure you won't tell anyone, to keep your life intact and your heart still beating. Would you like that way out, Karin?"

Her eyes filled with tears. As they spilled over, he brushed them away impatiently.

"Yes or no? Easy question, easy answer. Life? Or death?"

They stared into each other's eyes for an age until Karin spoke.

"Life."

He smirked.

"I knew you'd see it my way."

Without warning, he placed his lips on hers, gently closing his teeth on her bottom lip. She gasped again and he took the opportunity to invade her mouth with his tongue. Suddenly, she felt a burning sensation on the back of her tongue. She groaned with the pain until he bit her lip again, harder. Karin pulled back but he followed her. She hit the wall with a thud, trying to control her cry of pain as the burning subsided and faded.

Suigetsu pulled away and looked at her with amusement. Before her eyes, he reverted back to his familiar self, smirking at her.

"Problem, Karin?"

Suddenly the door opened, and Sasuke stepped through.

"What are you two doing?"

Suigetsu smirked at her one last time before turning away.

"Karin hit her head on the wall. I was checking to make sure she was ok. It wouldn't be good if our sensor was out of action."

Sasuke nodded.

"Good thinking. Karin, make sure you won't hinder any operations because you're injured. Rest."

She sank to the floor and nodded. Sasuke glanced around the room again and left. She looked up at Suigetsu.

"You're a bastard. What did you do to me?"

He grinned wide at her and she instantly remembered his longer, sharper teeth.

"It's a seal I learned off Orochimaru."

"How could you learn a seal off him?" She spat, angry at herself for thinking of his eyes when he looked down at her. He laughed, making her remember his deep voice.

"I should correct myself. I didn't learn it. I stole it."

"How?"

"Orochimaru was an idiot. He wrote all his seals out and swallowed them. It wasn't hard to dig him open and get some of them out. In the morning, he thought it was a bad dream."

Her eyes widened. He sat down on one of the chairs and stared at her with malicious glee.

"What's wrong, Karin?"

She lifted her hand and pointed at him shakily.

"You- you're a monster!"

He shrugged, nonchalant, but she was sure that she had seen a flash of hurt in his eyes. His eyes closed as he continued speaking.

"I do what I have to do to survive. Anyone would do the same thing."

She stayed silent, still staring at him in horror.

"Wouldn't you? If you knew that if anyone knew who you were, they would kill you. The only way to protect myself was to use any means necessary. You'd do the same thing."

"H-how do you know that?"

He opened his eyes and glared at her.

"The will to survive is strong in everyone."

In a flash he was in front of her. She shrank against the wall and he slammed his hands either side of her head.

"If you had the choice of living or being captured and experimented on until you were nothing more than a husk of the person you used to be, which one would you choose?"

She didn't answer. He sighed and moved away from her.

"I knew I shouldn't have shown you. This is always what happens."

He glanced back at her.

"You won't be able to tell anyone. That seal will prevent you from trying. Every time you do, or try to, it ages you ten years."

He turned away and left the room, leaving her sitting against the wall. After a few seconds she heard murmured voices. She crawled towards the door and opened it a crack. Suigetsu was in the other room talking to Sasuke.

"I can't stay."

"Why this time?"

Suigetsu walked around the room, picking up his sword and strapping it onto his back, turning around and glancing into the crack where Karin was. He looked directly into her eyes.

"Karin."

Sasuke sighed quietly, sitting down on a chair.

"You always have a problem with Karin. Why is anything different now?"

"If I stay here much longer, I will kill her."

It was said with such conviction that the room was silent. Karin put her hand over her mouth, tears filling her eyes again. It can't have been that much of a secret. He was powerful enough to destroy Sasuke, he'd be powerful enough to stay with them.

"Any chance of containing yourself?"

Suigetsu turned away from the door, shaking his head.

"This time, I really mean it. She won't last more than three days."

The room was silent as Suigetsu turned to leave.

"You know I don't like you much, Sasuke. And I like Karin even less. I can't continue travelling with you anymore."

He walked to the door and opened it.

"If you ever need me, don't."

With that, he was gone. Karin wiped her eyes quickly and spun around to the windows, running to see him leave. She watched as he walked away. When he was far enough out of range for either Sasuke or Karin to normally sense his chakra, he turned. She watched as he changed in the moonlight, long hair glinting. He smiled back at her and she shook her head. When she looked back at him, he was gone.

She put her hand against the window, as if to reach through it and bring him back, unsure of why she felt that way. The door opened and shut. She became aware of Sasuke behind her.

"What did you do this time?"

She turned, pushing her glasses up.

"I did nothing."

Sasuke's hand came up and gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"It has to be something more than usual. He wouldn't leave if you did nothing."

She ripped her head from his grip, grimly surprised to find out that she felt nothing more than disgust for him.

"I. Did. Nothing."

She glared balefully at him for a few seconds more, then stepped around him and walked out the door.