I do not own Naruto nor do I make any profit from it
Thank you for your patience. Ami, Fuki, and Kasumi's background will be explained further on.
Enjoy!
Chapter Three
Peering through the hole in the mess tent, Sakura shook her head and murmured, "What is it about today and nightmare reunions?"
'Beats me,' replied Inner Sakura, 'I didn't think those girls made it past genin, much less make it into the battlefield.'
Sakura poked her finger in the hole to get a better view of the medic chowing down, "Let's hope Sasuke's old fangirls don't stir the pot. Karin is in the Bingo Books for a reason."
Sakura frowned when she caught sight of the one with chin length purple hair and a haughty sneer, "Ami." That self-absorbed girl would never pass up a chance for an ego boost, especially when her little posse, Fuki and Kasumi, were around. Karin was about to have some unwanted company.
Ami walked ahead of the other two as they strolled near the redhead. She glared hatefully at Karin from the side then proclaimed loudly, "Ewww, something smells bad in here. Do you smell it too, Kasumi? Fuki?" They glided past Karin, chose a table across, and sat in her view, continuing their conversation for her benefit.
The girl with a purple star pinned into her orange curly hair pinched her nose and gave out a nasally whine, "Ugh, you're right. It's like rotten eggs. Last time I smelled something that horrible it came from the Correctional Facility back home."
'Shit on a stick,' Karin rolled her eyes as she carefully kept her cool, 'It's always the same wherever you go. Someone has to play the pecking-order game. Fuck 'em. No way in hell I'm letting these cunts ruin my dinner.'
"There's your problem, Ami," said the one with spiky brown hair and jerked her chin in Karin's direction, "Some trash thought it could crawl out of the garbage bin and join normal people." Much to the three kunoichi's chagrin, Karin didn't look up, but kept on eating. In fact, her chopsticks began moving the food faster.
Ami turned in her seat and glared at the redhead, "Hey, pig! Ever heard of soap and a shower? We may be in the middle of a war, but good hygiene is still important."
"Who is she anyways, Ami?" asked Fuki as she turned to her friend.
Ami watched Karin pretend to ignore them and sneered, "Udon-kun told me about her. She's supposed to be a medic. Used to be a part of the Akatsuki then she was captured. Most likely dumped because she couldn't heal Sasuke-kun properly."
Sakura watched the three kunoichi taunt Karin. She was surprised by the redhead's lack of any reaction. Not a single tear in her red eyes. No biting retort in her defense. She didn't even bother looking up from her meal.
Fuki huffed at the stubborn kunoichi still eating her food as if it was her last meal and waved a finger at Karin, "Seriously, red! We're trying to eat here and your disgusting stench is ruining our appetites. Go hit the food trough with the rest of the prisoners of war."
'That's right,' thought Karin as her chopsticks never stopped moving, 'Keep yapping like the stupid little bitches you are. Just as long as you stay over there where it's safe.'
Ami scowled and declared to her friends, "I don't think she gets the hint. If some people have to be hit over the head with a hammer. So be it." She grabbed her canteen, stood up from her bench, and gestured for the other two to pick up their own water canteens. All three walked to where Karin sat and circled behind her.
"Bottoms up!" The purple-haired kunoichi tipped her canteen over Karin and the others followed suit. Three steams of water poured over Karin's head, leaving her bright red hair dripping and prison uniform soaked from the shoulders to the sleeves.
Karin rounded her jaw in irritation as the cold water hit her and took a deep breath for control. Now was the time that she bothered to acknowledge the three girls' existence and glared at each of them.
"Slight improvement," quipped Kasumi as she sniffed the air next to the redhead and winced, "But not by much."
"Is there a problem I help you with, ladies," muttered Karin while she gathered her red hair in both hands and twisted the water out.
"You are our problem," Ami leaned down and hissed in Karin's ear, "The Akatsuki are not welcomed here and everyone in this entire camp knows about you and Sasuke-kun together in that ragtag team pretending to be bad-ass Akatsuki."
Trying to diffuse the tension, Karin pointed to herself and smiled sweetly, "Who me? Are you talking about me? Can't always trust what everybody says. You must be mistaking me for someone else."
Fuki sneered at Karin's act, "Don't play innocent with us. We don't fall for that bullshit."
"It was worth a shot," sighed Karin and she tried going back to her food, but Kasumi grabbed her by the chin and redirected Karin's head back to them.
"It's not possible for any girl to stay with Sasuke-kun for that long and not fall in love with him," said Kasumi before letting go of the redhead.
Karin rolled her eyes up then to one side as if taking a moment to think. Then she shrugged her shoulders high and smiled wistfully, "Ah, yeah. You got me there, girlies. What can I say? Sasuke-kun is hot as hell and his arms were always a comfort on cold nights." Karin found it satisfying to see the leader turn as purple as her hair and sputter angrily at their enemy.
"How dare you," growled Ami and looked over Karin from heat to toe with a critical eye, "You're making it up. Sasuke-kun would never stoop so low as to pay any attention to a grotesque creature as you."
"Then why did he come looking for me," said Karin digging the kunai in further, "I was happy as a clam where I was, but seeing Sasuke-kun beg me for help... Well, I just couldn't turn him down."
Furious at Karin's smug grin, Ami swept her arm across the table and slid the food tray onto the ground. Rice, sweet pork, and vegetables sprayed everywhere and landed on the worn down grass and dirt.
'Oh fuck this,' Karin slammed both hands on the table, rose from her seat, and stood toe to toe with Ami. Fuki and Kasumi were quick to position them behind and either side of their target while Ami smirked, waiting for Karin to throw the first punch. This was just what Ami wanted. With so many witnesses around, it was the perfect way to send the Akatsuki kunoichi back to the Konoha Correctional Facility, suffering like all the other low-lifes.
Karin's mind raced through the various delightful ways she had killed shinobi many levels above these three peons. A high kick enhanced with slicing chakra would have a head bouncing a good three meters. Cutting a belly open with a hand scalpel and letting the entrails spill on the ground. OR, her personal favorite, one palm to the forehead and her chakra could skewer the brain inside the skull like a scorpion stinger. Karin could feel the delicious adrenalin start to race through her body.
'Ah, yes! This was just like when I managed to torture a fellow prisoner in Konoha without the guards noticing. BUT... that was when I had no hope of ever seeing daylight.' That half-second of clarity reminded Karin about the glimmer of worry coming from afar and the sweet scent of sanity. It encouraged Karin to keep that fiery temper of hers under control. So she squeezed her red eyes shut, bit her lower lip until it hurt, and stopped building up killer chakra.
Sakura stepped back into the shadow of the tent flap and sighed in relief. She was sure Karin was about to waste those three idiots in less than a minute. She may have felt it was her duty to protect those weaker than her, but a part of Sakura wanted to see Ami, Kasumi, and Fuki laid flat on their asses. Three guesses which part.
'Let her! Oh please, let her!' Inner Sakura bounced around happily, 'I wanna see them cry like they did to us when we were kids.'
"Long past time to get over that," mumbled Sakura and she quietly watched Karin from the shadows.
Annoyed that her plan wasn't working, Ami narrowed her eyes and frowned. She went ahead and made the first move. She raised a hand and slapped Karin hard enough to knock the redhead backwards then Fuki swung her foot behind their target's ankle knocking Karin to the ground. That made other people in the next table stop talking and watch the situation with great interest. A jounin from Kumo was about to stand up, but the woman next to him grabbed his wrist and shook her head.
Still flat on her back, Karin found her glasses and put them back on. She casually tested her jaw and made sure all teeth were accounted for. She shrugged off pain from the slight bruise on her cheek and propped herself up on her elbows to look up at the three nervous girls standing above her.
The three Leaf kunoichi could feel eyes on them and expected someone to intervene or reprimand them, but there was no reaction from anyone. Further emboldened, the purple-haired kunoichi returned her attention back at Karin and whispered, "Don't bother looking around for help. No one's gonna care what we do to you. Because of the Akatsuki we've all witnessed our comrades in arms suffer horrible deaths. You might be here on orders from the Hokage, but that doesn't mean we'll ever accept you as one of us."
"Do I look like I care?" Karin picked herself up, dusted off her pants and threw a laugh in their faces, "Acceptance! Why would I want something as pitiful and meaningless from you?"
At a loss on what to do next, Fuki and Kasumi looked over at their leader, who tried to figure out something else to do. There were too many witness now and using any real fighting techniques would result in themselves getting thrown into the slammer.
Karin sensed their hesitancy to take this cat fight to the next level and tilted her head slightly to ponder on their silence, "What's the matter? What happened to all that piss and vinegar?"
"Now what do we do, Ami-chan," Kasumi whispered to her friends and moved in between Ami and Fuki.
Karin raised an eyebrow at how the three girls drew closer together subconsciously, "Perhaps I've been going about this little tete-a-tete all wrong. It had been a while, but the last time I was given this much attention was when someone had a crush on me."
"What the hell does that have to do with us," growled Fuki with her brows knitted in confusion.
Karin chuckled at their naivete then tucked a red strand behind her ear as she reminisced, "Ah, Tsubaki-chan... She was very aggressive in the beginning, but once we got past dancing around each other, it turned into a mutually beneficial arrangement."
Ami blinked, "Say what?" A couple snickers could be heard from the other table.
"I should have recognized this sooner." Karin fluttered her lashes playfully, moved forward into Ami, and took the confused kunoichi by the hand, "It's alright. A terrible war may be all around us, but everyone could use a little extra attention now and again. Lips are still lips that kiss. Hands are hands that can make that a body shiver well through the night." Karin raised the fingertips of her other hand to splay gently across Ami's cheek then down her neck.
The purple-haired kunoichi felt her personal space invaded and she eyed Karin warily, "What are you doing? Don't touch me like that."
"Are you sure, about that? Because I can make you feel so very good." Karin noted how the skin she touched slowly glowed pink and the other kunoichi's breath hitched from the chakra rippled over sensitive nerves like butterfly kisses.
Kasumi slapped Karin's hand away and screamed, "Stop! Don't do that to Ami-chan, you disgusting whore!
Feigning surprise, Karin pulled back slightly, "I'm sorry, would I be butting in on something here already? I'm only now noticing just how close you three are."
Sakura did a bad job of stifling her giggles as the three tormentors from her childhood struggled to hold their own against a young woman who managed to rule a prison filled with Sound shinobi.
"What are you talking about," defended Kasumi, who also happened to blush at the insinuation, "It's not like that with us. We're just friends. Everyone knows that."
Karin leaned on the table with one hand, "Well, it starts out that way, but most torrid affairs usually take off from friendships. If you're willing to add one more to the mix-"
"Shut up! Just shut up!" screamed Ami, bringing more attention from other shinobi, "You're just another freak nympho looking to score! They should have kept you locked up in prison, rotting like the rest of the scum."
"Such a fuss," Karin shrugged both shoulders, "I make a pass at you and it's as if I have some horrible disease. Some people would be flattered." Then she leaned close to Ami's ear and whispered loudly, "Unless there's something you're embarrassed about! Maybe there's enough yeast down there to bake bread?" She waved a hand, "From girl to girl... We medics have a nifty trick that clears up infections in a snap while my chakra feels like a tiny jackhammer to the clit. Take care of two things at once. Can't beat that." Then Karin raised a glowing fingertip and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Fuki sputtered at the redhead's blatant flirting, "Stay away from us, you... you lesbian slut!"
"Bi," corrected Karin as she rounded on one hip, "As in bi-sexual. If you're going to insult people, please use the appropriate terms."
A worried Kasumi glanced around the room to see the dining shinobi point and smiling in their direction. She tapped Fuki on the shoulder and whispered, "People are talking about us. We need to get out of here before it gets worse."
Fuki grabbed Ami by the arm and muttered softly, "Gossip spreads like wildfire."
Driving the last nail in the coffin, Karin tapped her chin in thought then brightened, "Oh wait, I get it now. It must be that time of the month. Look aside from things being a tad messy, it's not all that bad and a little lovin' sure helps with the cramps."
"You sick bitch," hissed Ami. She drew back and spat in Karin's face then stormed out the tent before the rumor mill had anymore fodder to ruin their reputations.
Using one sleeve to wipe her face clean, Karin watched the kunoichi retreat. Amusement twinkled in her red eyes and silently congratulated herself for taking care of a situation without having to lift a finger. She looked around the mess to find that the rest of the diners had returned to their food. Clearly, they decided that it wasn't worth paying any more attention to the redhead medic who liked to hit on women.
A glance down at her upended tray reminded Karin's stomach of the delicious food that now graced the ground, "Shit." She sighed at the horrible waste of a fine meal then noticed the abandoned trays on the other table.
"What the hell," Karin picked up the closest one and perused the other two trays for the best bits. She took the uneaten chicken and both bowls of rice, but none of them had any pork.
"No accounting for taste I suppose," Karin perused through the abandoned meal trays and transferred the uneaten food to her own, "Ooh an apple!" She grabbed the fruit, sat down, and took out the kunai she had lifted from Ami's weapons pouch. She expertly twirled it into a circle in the air before sliding the edge under the red skin. Karin happily hummed to herself while twisting the apple against the kunai. Not nearly as satisfying when kicking someone's head in, but there was no doubt about it. She loved that tiny thrill from fucking with someone's head.
That was when Sakura decided to stop hiding and go inside the mess. She smoothed out her medic apron and walked through the entrance. Without looking in Karin's direction, she calmly waited in line and picked up her own food before walking to the table where Karin sat. Sakura casually nodded at the bench across the table, "This seat taken?"
The redhead glanced at Sakura and gestured with the kunai that the seat was free. She continued peeling the apple then placed the perfect spiral of red skin on her tray.
"Itadakimasu," Sakura broke her chopsticks then poked the tips through the chicken before mentioning, "You should know that kunai is off-limits. You could be punished for stealing it from official shinobi and that would kill any chance you have of a pardon."
Karin shrugged as she sliced the apple into quarters, "Could, but won't. My pinching a kunai is not likely to be considered a real threat since a certain someone didn't intervene when it happened." She picked up an apple piece and bit into the crisp white flesh.
"Mm-mm," Karin closed her eyes and chewed slowly to savor the sweet taste of fresh fruit, "Now that is a good apple." When she opened her eyes again, Karin found Sakura watching her with those brilliant green eyes of hers and the redhead coughed to hide a rising blush.
A smirk grew on Sakura's face as she realized Karin knew all along that she was hiding outside the tent, "When did you figure out I was here?"
"Sensor type, remember." The redhead lifted another slice of fruit and examined it to keep herself from gazing into those lovely eyes, "I never lost you."
