Sweet dreams~

A/N;Well this is a fanfic so obviously this story will be different from canon and such. But I will state that if you don't like the pairings or changes I make compared to canon then press the back button and look for something else! No likey,No ready

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto Obviously~

It's been a half an hour since they left her here with the scroll, as the sun moves across the sky changing the shadows of the trees the more anxious she becomes. "cmon guys hurry up". She whispers quietly under her breath not wanting anything to be aware of her presence at all.

At this rate if they don't come back soon I'm going to die… tower that if I waited here any longer someone or something would find me so I begin walking towards the center of the forest. That's the only place she can think of where to meet her teammates they could be dead for all she knows and she wasn't going to join them in this forest of hell.

After walking for what felt like hours Karin starts to become exhausted, her teammates had the water bottle and the muddy little streams she's passed by looked like they'd do more harm than good. So with fatigue and dehydration hanging over her head Karin makes the decision to rest, finding a space amongst the goliath roots she curls up into a ball with her head on the roots she closes her eyes.

Just for a few minutes…

Just until my head doesn't hurt anymore…

As the sun approaches its highest peak Karin slowly drifts away to sleep...

Everything is so warm, the pillow under her head smells just like her mom's perfume, the scent bringing back thoughts of warm hugs and pleasant memories …

It makes her smile,her Mom... her hugs always made her feel safe and always felt like home, something that she hasn't felt in a long time. Snuggling closer into blankets surrounding her she doesn't notice the presence that enters the room until they touch her shoulder.

"karin, sweetie it's time to get up." opening her eyes in surprise she looks into the blue eyes of the woman sitting beside her form. Karin looks at every detail of the woman taking everything about her in, short shoulder length red hair, blue eyes as deep as the sea and a warm beautiful smile directed towards her.

"Mom?" Karin says warily, sitting up from her cocoon of warmth eyeing the woman in front of her in disbelief.

Reaching forward the woman begins to fix her daughter's bed head away from her face, " I know it's early my little apple but we have to go now, they're waiting for us". She states quietly treasuring the rare quiet moments with her daughter in the morning.

Karin doesn't hear her words she's too enraptured with the woman before her, silently praying for this moment to never end. As her mother begins to leave Karin launches herself at her wrapping her arms around her " Don't go! Please don't leave."

Being startled at her daughter's bizarre reaction, she starts to wrap her arms around her daughter and looks at her with concern " Karin I'm not going to go anywhere without you, ever." she says soothingly.

Looking at her with tears in her eyes Karin squeezes her a little more and murmurs an unsure "Promise?". Smiling down at her she holds her close to her chest whispering in her ear, almost like she's yelling her a secret only meant for her.

"I promise…"

"Mom…" she whispers in her sleep a smile gracing her face from the lovely dream she's ensnared in. The silence around her is broken when suddenly in the clearing there's a loud Crash.

Startling her awake Karin jerks up fast but resulting her hitting her head against the branch above her. As she's about to cry out in pain she notices the beast in the clearing in front of her and immediately covers her mouth with her hand.

The bear hasn't noticed her yet but it will soon, it's head is raised sniffing the air getting closer towards her hiding spot with each step. Realizing she has to move soon or else it'll find her and kill her she quietly starts to move, clutching the scroll to her chest Karin begins to crawl quietly out from the roots.

Once out from the tangle of roots she rises to her feet she prepares herself to make a dash out of the clearing but the breath blowing heavily on her neck freezes her. Turning around slowly she sees the bear towering menacingly above her growling at her like she's his prey and she is.

Shouting out a cry of fear she begins to run forward with a rush of adrenaline but only a few feet until roots catch her feet and she slams into the ground her glasses falling off her leaving her completely defensive. No I can't die here!… Please someone! Save me!

Then suddenly almost as if he heard her cry a boy comes into clearing and slams into the head of the bear shouting "Lions barrage!". Taking out the bear with just one powerful hit! Realizing she can't see who saved her Karin Scrambles for her glasses she puts them on and looks up at the blurry figure. As her eyes begin to focus she finally sees her saviour, his dark spiky hair and eyes with his lips up turned looking down at her.

When she realizes she's blushing Karin stands up and pushes her glasses up her nose. His eyes rakes her form her hair and eyes striking out more catching his attention until he notices the scroll clutched to her chest. " Heaven scroll eh?, just what we need." Jumping down from the beasts form he begins to approach her.

Realizing his intention Karin begins to back away until her back hits the tree behind her, whimpering Karin looked at what she believed to be her saviour but now enemy is. When she feels the sensation of chakra covering her senses she exclaims loudly "Wait!", and oddly enough he does.

The genjutsu is being lifted off of her and he's peering at her questionly waiting for her reason of shouting. She doesn't know why she does either until she looks down at the scroll in her hands and then peers up at him. Taking a deep breath Karin hold out the scroll towards him she says "Take it". Which takes him off guard raising his eyebrow in surprise and gives her a look of confusion.

Biting her lips she looks into his eyes determinedly, holding it out towards him again she says " It's the least I can do after saving my life, even if it was for the scroll you still saved me so just take it as a thank you."

Not hesitating he takes it from her then and begins to really look at her. This girl, from another village was really going to give him a konoha-nin her scroll? Why?

Seeing the question in his eyes she looks down at the ground and clenched her firsts. It's not like we were going to win anyways… we've made it this far by the scrape of our teeth…

Sighing she looks up at him and begins explaining " We weren't going to win anyways, I haven't seen my teammates since the start of this thing and compared to other villagers we are out of our league…"

Ah so that's why… and then upon realizing how pale and tired she looks he finds himself blurting out " do you want some water?". Looking up at him in surprise she opens her mouth to protest but then she realizes how thirsty she is. Closing her mouth she look at him and nods.

After securing the scroll into his pouch Sasuke grabs his water canteen and holds it out towards her. Hesitantly she reaches out and grasps the canteen from his hand and brings it to her lips. At first she was only going take a few sips but as soon as that refreshing liquid of gold hits her tongue she begins gulping in mouthfuls. When she's done she notices that the canteen is now almost empty and the boy is looking at her bemused.

Blushing with embarrassment she hurriedly passes it back towards him mumbling an apology. Sighing he just takes it back. She begins to fidget when she realizes he about leave, so she blurts out " I don't even know your name". Looking at her he contemplates if he should tell her then decides he's already taking her scroll so it wouldn't hurt to tell her.

"Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke." mouthing his name for a bit thinking it sounds familiar she nods then says " I'm Karin, it was nice to meet you Sasuke-san"

Looking back at her he gives her a nod and a small smile, one that made her heart stop for a bit then starts to beat wildly in her chest. " See ya, Karin." Then he turns his back on her and jumps into the trees, Karin watching the red and white emblem on his back until long after he's gone.

Smiling to herself Karin looks at the space where he left from and says quietly " See ya"

Later on when she finds her teammates and tells them that she lost the scroll. She receives the beating she knew she'd get. Even when she returned to her village and was punished even more for her mistake, she does not regret it. Because in her lonely existence of being used and and abused. Karin had something else to dream about at nights than the bittersweet ones of her mother that made it harder for her to go through her day. So she'll cherish it for who knows if she'll ever meet him again, but deep down in her young beaten part of her heart that dares to hope... she prays she does.

Meeting the dark haired boy with a beautiful smile that day will haunt her dreams forever… and for once she doesn't mind.

I'm debating on if I should keep this as a one shot or continue on with it … tell me what you think. - Thornbiter