Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Wish I did. I'd be rich then.
"I'm cutting you off."
Karin's hand longingly followed the cup of sake that was pulled from her hand. Suigetsu had that smirk on his face again. She pouted, and looked away.
"What? Nothing to say about that?"
"Shove it."
There was no way she could tell him what was on her mind at this time. She could not tell him he was on her mind – she couldn't do that, no way in hell. Give him that satisfaction? In his dreams.
"You're drunk. You don't do drunk. Come on, let's get out of here before Jugo goes insane waiting for us."
"You're not asking me what's wrong?"
With her chin resting on one hand, she now glanced over to him. In the years after the war, Suigetsu had become quite intrusive. Karin had gotten quite used to him asking her what was wrong, she was actually waiting for it. She wouldn't answer this time, no, but she wanted him to ask either way. Suigetsu frowned at her, her cup still in his hand. With a sigh he occupied the seat next to her.
"There's something wrong?"
"Man, you're thickheaded, aren't you, Kappa?"
"You're a bitch."
"Yeah."
He snickered the way only Suigetsu could snicker. The redhead took her time to look him over. He had left his sword with Jugo, and she could tell his clothes were cleaner than usual. It looked like the guys had gone out of their way to clean their stuff while she had gotten drunk. Absentmindedly her gaze drifted over Suigetsu's arms while wondering if her clothes were clean now too. One of his hands waving in front of her face brought her back to reality.
"You're really far gone, aren't ya?"
There it was again. That smirk of his. This time, accompanied by the smallest glance down to her chest.
"I'll only leave if you carry me."
"No way in hell. Way too heavy for me."
She knew her punch would only connect with water, but she threw it anyway, enjoying the way his face built up again out of the liquid. His smirk was only growing wider, for some reason or other, then his hand reached out towards her chest. Karin braced herself for something that never came as he only pulled her loose shirt up a little. A huff made her slight disappointment quite obvious, even if she was sure he'd never pick up on it. The cup was placed in front of her.
"Drink up and we'll leave. Seriously, I'm not letting Jugo out there alone any longer."
No matter what he said, Suigetsu seemed quite happy where he was. She could tell in his relaxed shoulders. Deciding she was drunk enough to get away with it, Karin leaned onto one of them while thinking about seeing them in motion later, when they would set up camp.
"Mmmh."
That was the only thing she managed to let out. She glanced upwards into his face and caught him looking down, quite fondly. Maybe she was imagining it, she thought, but decided she was drunk enough to get away with anything. What should she say? It took a moment or two as she lost herself in his eyes before she opened her mouth.
"Kiss me?"
He stiffened up quite a bit at that.
"Kiss me and we'll leave."
She might be too heavy for him to carry, but he could certainly kiss her. That didn't need any physical strength. Suigetsu looked to the man behind the bar, seeking help.
"How much did she have?"
"Not much."
"I'm not kissing you, you're drunk!"
"So you'll kiss me when I'm not drunk?"
He didn't answer that. In fact, that was the moment he jumped up, swooped Karin up into his arms princess-style and trodded toward the door.
"You're even heavier than I thought."
Karin decided since she was drunk and could get away with anything, she could grab hold around his neck and nestle into the groove between his head and shoulder. So she did just that. His posture stiffened again, he looked down at her. More accurately, her chest. She wondered why he was so fixated on it today, she didn't even have much there. Not that she minded him looking. She had been quite glad when she noticed her new attire sometimes had this effect on him.
"You're one hell of a dumb Kappa."
"Stupid bitch. What's gotten into you today?"
Nah, she couldn't tell him. She couldn't tell him this had been years in the making. She couldn't tell him that she started to notice she felt the slightest bit of attraction toward him back when they started going around again, after the war. There was no way she could tell him his chakra quality – her number one indicator for good men – had gone up considerably since then, though she couldn't tell why exactly. There was no way for her to tell him that she didn't hate him. Karin closed her eyes in the sanctuary of his arms.
He couldn't tell her.
He couldn't tell her that she had stopped hitting him as frequently as she used to, that he could tell that she wasn't as much of a bitch as she used to be. When she was not obsessed with Sasuke she was definitely more approachable. That was an understatement. She was actually quite nice to him and he appreciated her companionship. No, that was an understatement as well. He had kept on thinking about her while Jugo and he had been cleaning the clothes. Thinking about how happy she would be to have clean clothes again, and that small smile she gave that only he saw. Not even Jugo got to see that smile, he knew that. That smile was reserved for him.
He couldn't tell her that, man, did he want to take up her offer. Kiss her. He mentally cursed himself for being such a coward and just running from the opportunity.
"So you'll kiss me when I'm not drunk?"
For sure, he couldn't admit to her that the only reason he didn't answer this was because it would have been a lie, and he knew damn well that Karin could detect one of his lies any day.
Suigetsu looked down. Karin looked asleep, peaceful. Unaware that she had made him blush quite furiously in the bar, probably way too drunk to have noticed that even in daylight. Her arms draped around his neck and her head safely placed between his shoulder and neck made him quite warm inside.
Another thing he couldn't tell her was that he didn't appreciate her loose shirt when she was out with other people as much as he did when they were alone. He was quite glad when she moved from that thing that went up to her neck to this shirt, but it kept slipping. She did have close to nothing there so it didn't stay up well, but did it have to ride down that easily? It caught his eye several times, and he had wondered more than once whether that was the reason she switched, but he easily pushed that thought back. She wouldn't have started wearing it just to catch his eye.
He couldn't tell her how madly in love he was, how she occupied his thoughts even when she wasn't around. He couldn't tell her how his eyes followed her every move when she wasn't looking. There was no way he could say that he was actually genuinely interested in what made her drink so much today, and ask if he could help with her problem, whatever it was. He couldn't say he worried as much about her as he did.
He couldn't tell her that she was actually really light in his arms.
Maybe he would try tomorrow.
