.

VISCOSITY

Word Count: 3,022
Song: "Broken Pieces" by Apocalyptica feat. Lacey Mosley / Naruto OST
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are copyright of Masashi Kishimoto. The anime is produced by Viz Media and Studio Pierrot / Aniplex. I am merely borrowing the characters for my and your amusement, like everyone else on ffnet.

Author's Note: SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES! Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm only putting this in the first few chapters, along with the disclaimer.

Loyalty

"I just don't know what to do with you." Tsunade said, her impatient fingers drumming against the desk. Billowing clouds had trailed in to blanket the windows behind her, providing a backdrop to everything swarming around in her aura.

"Neither do I." said Kakashi, arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

Tsunade rested her head in her other, non-drumming hand. "I am grateful to you. I am. We are. But your decisions… the actions you have taken after the war, and the ones beforehand… you've put us in between a rock and a hard place, Karin."

The red-headed kunoichi looked at the floor, careful to not say anything at all. To be honest, a fully healthy Tsunade with her blindingly bright, yellow-white chakra was something hard for her to look at, and also, something for her to revere. This wasn't the half-dead granny she had rescued with Orochimaru. This was a sannin. And rightfully so.

Kakashi's chakra was quieter, blue-green, and more reserved. But she could feel his power all the same. And his sorrow, it rested somewhere in his chakra's darkest parts, from the throat into his chest. It emanated outwards on his body, like lightning strikes against a midnight sky. Controlled, but ever-present, like fog banished to a lonely mountain peak. And as she sat in her chair, feeling the two ANBU who had escorted her earlier standing by the outside of the doorway, she wondered just how the sixth Hokage had gotten this way.

"We are indebted to you for saving us, my other Kage and I. However, there seems to be a common sentiment between us that perhaps that only makes up for you attacking our summit before the war began. And the other things you have done…" Tsunade shook her head. She had heard all she needed to hear about the summit from Mei Terumi among others, and wasn't about to let it slide, despite her words.

Karin swallowed hard and looked up at the Hokage. She had tried everything to get out of this place she didn't belong in since the war was over and Sasuke had left. Her tactics had, so far, all failed. From feigning insanity over the absent Sasuke to sneaking past the guards to the village in the middle of the night, she'd been brought back every time. Always under surveillance. Always being followed. Always in chakra restraints.

And for what? Because she wanted to roam free like the wind, forever in search of recognition from a man who'd chosen her to be a part of his team from the beginning? He didn't choose you when he left… A voice in her head always reminded her. What did that matter, anyway?

Kakashi interrupted her from her turbulent thoughts. "The last time you left, or tried to, rather, the resulting skirmish nearly destroyed a shop on the outside of town. The shopkeeper was thrown from his bed onto the street and suffered several broken bones. And let's not even get into the innocent bystanders that had debris pummeled into their faces, lucky not to be stabbed clean through by any of it."

Karin glanced at Kakashi through her bangs, without turning her head. She had hoped that his affection for Sasuke would be somehow to her benefit when he came into power, since she had been his ally for so long. But Tsunade was nearly out of the office and she still hadn't seen any hope of him overlooking her actions.

"Karin." The sixth Hokage started. "You're volatile. Unpredictable. And obsessive, to a fault."

"If I'm so terrible, why don't you just let me go?" Karin sneered. It made sense to her.

Tsunade scoffed. "We've tried that too, remember? You're like a tornado. No matter where you go, others get swept up in your path of destruction. And don't feed me that crap about 'finding Sasuke.' No one knows where he is, and he wants it that way."

"Besides, when he does come back – and he will – he will come back here. You're impatience is only to your detriment in that sense." Kakashi added.

Karin gritted her teeth. What did they know, anyway? What benefit did they receive from keeping her caged in Konoha? The only thing she got from it was a feeling of imprisonment. Their chakra was warm and inviting… their forgiveness towards her, not so much.

"Let. Me. Go." She said. "I want to go."

"No!" Tsunade countered vehemently. "No. You need to become a functioning member of society in some way or another, Karin. If you go you'll just be another rogue ninja. And no nation has botheredto support you or lift restrictions on you except for the Land of Fire. Not even your home, the Land of Grass, has anything to offer for you. You won't become a medical ninja and help in the hospital. You won't become a shinobi and help guard prisons or protect the city. You won't assist in reconstruction of neighboring villages. And unlike my fellow sannin, I refuse to have you 'experimented' on to modify or alter those wounded from the war. So there's really only one thing left for us to do."

Karin looked back down at the floor. She was tired of trying, anymore. Tired of fighting against an unstoppable wave which pulled her under again and again.

"Orochimaru-sama-" she started.

"Is on his own path to redemption." Kakashi interjected. "He doesn't have a facility for you to run anymore, and your requests to be under his tutelage will be denied over and over, Karin. We can't trust the two of you together, just yet. And since you haven't noticed, or admitted it to yourself, I'll remind you that he hasn't assisted you in your numerous escape attempts."

The fiery red-head gathered her hands into fists. She could feel the blood pulsating in her veins, like watching water come to a boil in a pot. She wanted to cry and laugh and scream at the same time. "What, then? Whadd'ya want me to do then?" She mumbled through strained teeth.

"We want you to learn." Tsunade answered, finalizing her words with a final finger-tap.

Karin looked up at her through questioning crimson eyes. What the hell did that mean?

"Karin, do you even know about your history? Where you're from?"

"I'm from the Land of Grass. My village was destroyed when I was little, but I hid-"

"We know that story." Kakashi said. "I mean, where your family's from?"

"… My family is dead. They all died in the attack."

"No. I'm referring to before they were in the Land of Grass."

Karin's form straightened from its slumped position in her chair. "Before?" She had never known much about her family, and had little memory of them together. A hug here, a smile there. The only discernable piece she had of her past, before Orochimaru, and besides the bite marks that littered her body, was the time her mother… no. It stung to think about. She wasn't about to cry in front of the Hokage, either one.

"Your clan, the Uzumaki clan, came from the Land of Whirlpools. It's an island southeast of the Land of Fire. They were scattered across the world when their homeland was attacked and destroyed a few decades ago. Your family was probably one that escaped with little more than their lives, years ago, before you were born, and ended up in the Land of Grass. Misfortune seemed to follow you there, though; I suppose." Kakashi said.

Something in that statement resonated in the back of her mind. Perhaps Orochimaru had said something of the sort, when he first rescued her? She couldn't remember.

"Karin. We're sending you on an assignment. So you get your wish, in a left-handed sort of way."

Karin raised an eyebrow.

"You can leave Konoha." Her heart leapt in her chest. "But on our conditions: You will be sent to the Land of Whirlpools, or what's left of it, and report back to us." Tsunade continued. "We need to understand the Uzumaki, study their sealing jutsus… learn what lead them to destruction. And we'd like you to understand yourself, where you came from, and train in your own techniques. You still haven't been able to produce adamantine chains since the war, have you?"

Karin shook her head. How was she supposed to do that, when she had almost done it by accident over a year ago? "No. I don't know how."

"That's probably good for us considering what you've done up until now. And I'm sure at this point, you're sick of chains anyway." Kakashi said.

She stared at her hands and feet, both pairs in shackles lined with an angry red chakra thread. They tightened whenever she started to lose control of her emotions and stopped her from almost every escape attempt. The only time she had broken free of them was when she concealed all her chakra, but then, losing the ability to sense those around her, was captured soon after. Her life had become the unending circle which adorned the backs of the Konoha shinobi, and she felt like an unwanted spider that had been swept into the sink to forever circle the drain. She could feel them stiffen on her even on her ANBU-escorted walk to the Hokage's office, although it confused her seeing as how she thought she was handling herself quite well.

"Will I get them off?" She asked.

"That depends on how you handle yourself. And how you help us." Kakashi answered.

"You need to do something that doesn't perpetuate your obsession with Uchiha Sasuke or hurt everyone around you, Karin. You need to calm down. And learn where your loyalties lie." Tsunade added.

Tsch… Karin thought. That was some thought from someone who lost her cool all the damn time.

"What if…" she trailed off. Karin could feel her chakra intensifying on its own, causing the shackles to tighten more. I'm not doing anything! She thought angrily. But someone else… someone else was. Someone warm and bright was walking towards the door to the Hokage's office –

"Tsunade-no-baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-chan!" He said, slamming the door open with a flourish.

It was him. Naruto. With his smiling chakra… like a hug from the sun. Karin could feel her heart hasten in its beating ever so slightly. As he walked in her direction, she could feel her chakra vibrate, as a steady humming was flowing through her body. Like tiny wings fluttering throughout her veins.

"Why did you have to call me in? I hope this is fast-ttebayo. I was going to go on a date with Hinata-chan…" he stopped when he saw the auburn ninja in chains across from Tsunade. That girl… Something about her chakra gave him a strange feeling, like he had known her for years although he couldn't recall her name.

"You're late, Naruto." Tsunade said, ignoring his jovial exultations. She looked at the blonde, with his head now cocked to one side, squinting at Karin as if she was a book Iruka had assigned him to read. Karin, on the other hand, had loosened and relaxed in her posture, and was staring at Naruto almost in… awe. Well this sure is interesting… she thought to herself.

"Naruto." Kakashi said, snapping him out of his pondering. "Take a seat."

"What's this aboutdattebayo…" he muttered, pulling another chair from the wall and sitting next to Karin. He looked at the two Hokage for answers hidden in their faces, but Kakashi never showed much of his face behind his mask, and Tsunade wore her usual half-smile, her head still tilted in her hand.

"Do you feel it?" the Godaime asked.

"What?" Naruto queried back.

"You two. What do you feel, next to each other?"

"Well…" Naruto began. He didn't know how to describe it.

"My chains are tightening." Karin remarked in a forlorn way. "But I'm not… angry. I feel…"

"Funny." Naruto finished for her.

"Yeah. Funny." she said. There were better words, but they escaped her, now.

"Naruto. Karin is an Uzumaki, like you." Kakashi said.

Naruto lit up like a shooting star. "Ahhh, really? I thought Nagato… well. I should have known. You have that red hair, like my mother…" he trailed off, scratching the back of his head, an awkward smile on his face.

Karin was having trouble inhaling, from how breathtaking his chakra was. So she said nothing.

"Those of similar chakra natures will feel a resonance when they are near. That should explain some of what you're experiencing now." said Kakashi. "But let's get down to business. We have a lot to discuss."

The Uzumaki ninja looked from each other, to Kakashi, to Tsunade when she cleared her throat. "You missed a bit, Naruto."

"Well… I was-" he started to blush. He was getting to be worse than Kakashi in his punctuality, being so distracted. "It doesn't matter. Let's begin." Tsunade said, pulling a few scrolls from her desk. "I need you to pay attention to every word."

Naruto pouted. Karin could see that, like her, he didn't know how to sit still for too long. "Oh and, don't forget, both of you. I'm an Uzumaki, too." the Godaime added. Naruto gulped.

What had he gotten himself into, this time?

The first night they camped, Sakura was almost, almost too tired to dream. They had traveled all day, from the crack of dawn into the whispers of dusk, until Sakura could take no more. She guessed she had lost about five pounds on her voyage there, and jumping through the trees for an entire day after barely eating on a rocky vessel for a week had taken its toll on her body. She hurt everywhere, from her aching head to her sore feet, and only longed to sleep without interruption. But every night they came, these dreams…

They haunted her, with blood and death and visions loved ones she couldn't save.

They taunted her, with warmth and life and the feeling of Sasuke's hands on her body while his lips tasted hers.

So while she and Urushi set up small tents under trees that had just started to grow leaves, grateful for the absence of rain, she prayed for rest. And after they fashioned the closest things they could to bedrolls, and he had bid her goodnight, she mixed some dried chamomile with a few drops of valerian extract in her water canteen and drank it down, ever hopeful to wake without having dreamt in the morning.

Instead, she sank into her consciousness, falling deeper and deeper into the void where all the thoughts she pushed away during the daytime came to hide.

She floated, mid-air, above the dock, overlooking the sea. It was nighttime, and pouring, but she could see the whitecaps in the distance, the waves writhing against one another before crashing into each other, and then into black. The wind carried raindrops to her skin in droves, although she didn't shiver from the cold.

As she drifted down to place her feet on the dock, she saw a figure at the end of the pier, watching over the madness happening at sea. She walked closer, cautiously, watching the way his hair blew in the breeze, and how the rain bounced off his skin… He turned around, and obsidian eyes looked right through hers, unlocking the coils of chakra she had wrapped tightly around her heart. They tumbled, unwinding, without a fight, inside of her. "Sasuke-kun…" she said. He tilted his lip up ever so slightly in that smirk he seemed to reserve only for her, but did not respond.

He turned back around, and inhaled sharply. Suddenly he dove into the turbulent waters, and disappeared beneath the waves. "SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura screamed, and went after him.

She didn't get far, however, when the dock was abruptly engulfed in flames.

Sakura stood still, paralysed with fear. The fire surrounded her; she could feel the heat envelop her and it was almost unbearable, she spun in a circle looking for an escape route and found only… The pier Sasuke had jumped from was the only part of the dock not smoldering into ash. So she ran, with all the energy she could muster, towards where she had seen him dive off moments before, and quickly did the same.

The splash from the dive cut into her body like a thousand kunai all at once. The water was freezing, and the wind didn't help. Her hair stuck to her head in an awkward way when she resurfaced, and she wiped it out of her eyes to keep from being further blinded in the dark. But where was Sasuke?

Quickly, she gathered her chakra to her hand, forming a lantern of sorts. Taking a massive breath in, she went back under, searching for him. He sank, unconscious, slowly towards the deep, arms outstretched to the sky above. Sakura hurriedly swam towards him, kicking with everything she had, until she grabbed ahold of him.

His hand was still warm.

Re-emerging from the frigid waters, to even more frigid rain, she swam towards the tiny part of shore she could see which hadn't a dock to burn. It took what felt like hours, fighting against the current and the storm, with the last Uchiha in her grip. But she reached the sand, coughing up seawater and pulling Sasuke out of the chaotic ocean. As she dragged him out, the dock caught her eye, illuminating the night like a giant torch. Although this wasn't a beacon leading her home… but rather a light forcing her another way. There was no turning back from here, but this time, she wasn't alone.

"Wake up, Sasuke-kun…" she said, holding his cheek in her hand. It was then that the realisation hit her – Sasuke had set the fire to the dock himself, with his katon no jutsu… and she didn't hate him for it.

She didn't know how to explain it, but she could have sworn before the world faded away that the rain turned to cherry blossom petals, falling over them in cascades of pink and ivory.

End of Chapter Four

Author's Note: So, unlike probably most SasuSaku fans I've seen on the interwebs, I actually don't hate Karin. I think she's rather fascinating, but just doesn't belong with Sasuke. Let me know if you all feel like I do, because it'd be nice to see some fans who like Karin but just don't want to see her with Sasuke haha.

On the note of the way she categorizes her chakra, it's mainly based on the different paths of tantric chakras which lay on the, "sushuma nadi" channel in the body. This is probably the most detailed I'm going to get about that though, since the elements I'm using from that belief system aren't… well, I'm not being very strict with them, I guess. Obviously this fic is more about how chakra is described in the Naruto world, but I think it's important to give recognition to how it's seen in other cultures. (We'll see more of that when we learn about the Benisu.) Also, Karin's sensor-type to me is reminiscent of 'colour-graphemic synesthesia,' a condition where someone can see different letters and numbers as being coloured or with an aura of a certain colour around them, among other things. If you've watched the movie, "The Village" by M. Knight Shyamalaladeedahlalan (or however he spells it haha,) the character Ivy has this condition.

If you're still with me, thanks for sticking around! Oh and, a little crow told me Sasuke-kun might come home in the next chapter ; ) But how will he feel when Sakura's not there? Hmmmm…

Please leave me a review! They are much appreciated!