DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Naruto"

Chapter 25: Bite

The days after the surgery were long and monotonous. There wasn't much Sasuke could do since he was confined to a bed for recovery. Sleep had long lost its appeal and the long, boring hours of wakefulness did nothing but dampen his mood. He was left with nothing to do, but think and thinking led him to remembering. Sometimes—all the time—Sasuke just wanted to forget. He found his mind drifting to the most painful events that had altered his life. He thought of the massacre years ago. It was a stark contrast to the life he had been living—carefree and loved. He thought about the night he left Konoha. All the days he spent with Team Seven felt like a lie. It had been the Council's attempt to keep an eye on him. He'd genuinely cared for the members of his team and he knew they felt the same for him, but did they know they had been used as pawns? He had very mixed feelings about the night he defected. At the time, it had to be done…or so he thought. But now, after learning about the Council's involvement with the massacre, Sasuke wondered if he would have had a higher chance of assassinating them if he had stayed in Konoha—if he were on the inside. That was another life that he couldn't have.

Unless—

The door crashed open and hurried footsteps echoed through the room. Karin. He could tell just from the theatrics. If his eyes didn't hurt so much, he would roll them. Anyway, the effect would be lost with the bandages covering that part of his face. Karin paused a moment and he heard an utterance of Sasuke-kun. He didn't even acknowledge her presence. She was the last person he wanted to be stuck with, but he knew all too well that even if he ignored her, she wouldn't be deterred. There was one footfall, and then a few seconds later, a second. She was hesitant, he noted with satisfaction. Maybe he had instilled some sense of fear into the brash redhead. Obviously not enough, he thought when her footsteps clacked toward him and he felt the side of his bed sink from the new weight on it. He frowned.

"How are you feeling, Sasuke-kun?"

He hated when she used her baby voice. It made her sound so stupid. He turned his head in the opposite direction of where she sat. "Hn."

"Oh," she said softly.

Sasuke could just imagine the hurt in her eyes. Oddly, another set of misty eyes came to mind a second later. Jade colored. Bright. Rimmed with dark lashes. His frown tightened.

"I had an idea to help your recovery go quicker," Karin said in that same whining voice.

He felt icy fingers trail his forearm. He jerked away reflexively. When would she get the idea that he wasn't interested? He thought he had made that painfully obvious. He concluded that all girls were the same. Ignore them and they latch on like a leech. Be rude to them and, though feelings get hurt, they try all the harder.

Leave her…and she'll try to follow.

"Aren't you interested?" she asked in a whisper. "The sooner your eyes are healed, the sooner we can destroy Konoha. You said that was our new goal."

Sasuke cocked his head to show he was listening. There was no point in speaking to her after all.

"Use my ability," she said confidently. "Bite me and the chakra will help your healing progress faster."

Sasuke grimaced at the thought of putting any part of Karin's body near his mouth. Finally, he sighed, thinking about the task Madara had given him.

"You want to destroy the Leaf. What's your plan?"

"Our target is the top tier," Sasuke replied.

"The top will shield themselves with the bottom," Kisame said gruffly. "Taking down the top won't be easy. You Taka kids are still too inexperienced."

"Don't forget about me, Kisame." Suigetsu smirked. "We still haven't finished our game."

"Suigetsu," Juugo warned.

Suigetsu grunted before pushing off with his foot, his sword poised for attack. When the blow landed, it was on Madara's arm instead of Kisame's head. What shocked Suigetsu was that his sword left no mark on the masked-man.

"Sasuke, please control your subordinates," Madara said without a strain in his voice.

"Suigetsu, you idiot! This isn't the time—"

"Shut up, Karin!" Suigetsu replied heatedly. "I'm after his sword, Samehada. That's the only reason I'm with Sasuke!"

"Sasuke?" Juugo asked.

"Hn. Suigetsu, do what you want, but you can't beat him yet, anyway."

Kisame sneered before his mouth split into a pointy-toothed grin.

"Whatever, man," Suigetsu huffed. "You'll apologize when I'm treating you to shark fin soup later." He removed his sword from Madara's arm and turned away.

Madara continued without missing a beat. "At any rate, the Akatsuki is currently lacking in numbers and capability."

"You guys suck," Suigetsu mumbled beneath his breath.

"We share similar goals." Madara said. "From now on, Taka and the Akatsuki will move together."

"What's in it for us?" Sasuke asked.

"The Tailed Beasts."

Sasuke's eyebrow lifted slightly as he stared at Madara to elaborate. When he said nothing, Sasuke demanded, "Well. What. Are. They."

"They're like the Kyuubi's buddies," Karin said arrogantly. "You know, massive concentrations of chakra transformed into magical animals with tails."

"Exactly," Madara replied. "Hashirama once had a number of them under his control. However—to balance power—he spilt them up when he began peace talks with the other Great Countries. You could call them the ultimate weapons."

"That's awfully generous of you." Sasuke's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Yes…but, if you betray me, I'll see to it that you all die."

Sasuke smirked, knowing the threat would be tagged to the deal.

"There are nine Tailed Beasts." Kisame reentered the conversation. "We've captured all of them up to the Seven-Tails…just two left."

"The Akatsuki will split up to hunt the remaining two," Madara clarified.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "So, you don't have the Kyuubi yet," he stated.

"Akatsuki will take care of…Naruto," Madara replied knowingly. "Your team will get the Eight-Tails."

"Fine," Sasuke replied. "But before we set out, I want Itachi's eyes transplanted."

Sasuke turned away from Karin for a moment as he thought about his options. How could he trust that the Akatsuki would wait until he recovered to start hunting Naruto? He didn't trust a word out of Madara's mouth. It was beginning to become very clear—Madara's ulterior motives for keeping him alive were starting to reveal themselves. Sasuke was certain that once Madara reached whatever deranged goals he had, he would kill Taka anyway. At the moment, he figured it was essential that he heal quickly.

He groaned inwardly. Reluctantly, he turned toward Karin and nodded. He noted her hesitance as the blankets rustled with her movement. Though he knew she was nervous, it was shocking to have a cool hand grip the back of his neck. Tentatively, the hand pulled his head forward until his mouth bumped against her icy arm—what he assumed by the shape was her arm. Again, he wondered why she was so cold to the touch. Perhaps she had undergone experiments to condition her body like a reptile's? Nothing would surprise him where Orochimaru was concerned—or Karin for that matter. He opened his mouth and bit down. Hard. As his teeth sank into and broke the surface of Karin's skin, Sasuke noticed a few things all at once: her shocked gasp for air, the strange tingling as cold, metallic blood lined his mouth, the charge of chakra moving through his eyes, and, finally, Karin's shuddering and groaning. Was she in pain…or was she enjoying it? Sasuke hoped beyond hope that Karin did not get some macabre pleasure from having people bite her. He made a mental note to never let himself get into a similar situation.

After a moment—too long in Sasuke's opinion—the buzzing stopped and Sasuke removed his teeth from the raw flesh before him. Karin's other hand was still clutching the nape of his neck, her fingers combing through his raven hair. Sasuke smacked her arm away and, grimacing at the taste left in his mouth, leaned over the side of his bed and spit the remaining blood out. Returning to an upright position, he wiped his mouth with the back of his arm. Neither spoke, but he could still pick out Karin's heavy breathing. He frowned as she made no move to leave.

"What?" he barked rather harshly.

"Just tired, Sasuke-kun," Karin replied breathily as she shifted slightly.

"Then go to your room," he said as if it were an obvious course of action.

"Right." Though she made no argument, she didn't move. After a moment, she sighed and started talking again. "I think a few more times and you'll have your vision completely restored." There was more rustling as she moved and suddenly Sasuke felt her body pressed against him. Bringing her lips closer to his, she whispered sensually, "Perhaps once more tonight and again in the morn—"

"Karin," he growled as he pushed her off of him. "Get out!"

There was no answer.

"Let me make this very clear," Sasuke said. "Once we've captured the jinchuuriki of the Eight-Tails, I'm done with you."

"What?" she whispered.

"There will no longer be a need for your skill," he answered.

The door creaked open. Sasuke turned towards the new intruder.

"Eww." It was Suigetsu. "What's that doing here?"

"I-I was just leaving," Karin replied quietly as the weight on Sasuke's bed lifted.

"A disappointing comeback, witch."

Sasuke could imagine the frown on Suigetsu's face.

"I was hoping for a little more pizzazz—"

"Shut. Up. You. Idiot!" Karin roared.

There were some stomping footsteps and heavy breathing. They were probably having a glare-off, Sasuke thought. More stomping and then the door slammed shut. Something shattered. Suigetsu's footsteps were light and almost soundless, but having been without his sight for a few days already, Sasuke's hearing was much more attuned.

"Man, Sasuke, what did you say to her?"

"Hn."

"Whatever."

Silence.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked finally.

There was a strange clicking almost like the ticking of a clock.

"What is that?" Sasuke asked irritated.

The noise stopped. "Sorry, just me."

Sasuke attempted to glare, but remembered it was pointless, so he frowned instead. "Seriously, why are you here?"

"Can't a guy check up on a friend's health?" Suigetsu sounded hurt—mock hurt, most likely.

"Friend?" Sasuke thought back to Suigetsu's reason for joining him. Samehada.

Suigetsu chuckled. "Yeah, bud. Never heard of the word? Not surprising with that attitude of yours."

An image of Naruto flashed before Sasuke's blind eyes. He growled.

"Well…I guess I'll—"

"Wait," Sasuke interrupted as an idea came to mind. He tilted his head to the left where he knew the bedside table was. "Open the top drawer."

There were a few footsteps and then the sound of wood grating against wood. A little bit of rustling and then silence. Sasuke waited rather impatiently. He'd been waiting for days to find out what it contained.

"Sasuke?" Suigetsu whispered.

"Just read it," Sasuke replied.

"Uh…okay." There was a sound of shifting and then tearing paper. It stopped abruptly. "A-are you sure, boss?"

Sasuke said nothing.

"Right," Suigetsu sighed. He continued to rip the envelope and then pulled the parchment from it. "Okay, well…here goes." He cleared his throat, but he didn't continue.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"Uh…do you need me to read it word for word?"

Sasuke sighed impatiently. "Yes."

"If you insist," Suigetsu snickered. "'Dear Sasuke,'" he laughed.

Sasuke felt his face begin to warm, but he refrained from commenting.

"'Are you alright? Please write back to me. I need to know if you're safe. Naruto is with me—we've separated from the search party. We're taking a big risk, but you're worth it.'" Suigetsu paused.

Sasuke could feel his eyes watching him, searching for some form of reaction. Though his heart pounded, he didn't let his anxiety show. They could be labeled missing nin if the Council found out.

Suigetsu again cleared his throat. "'I'm certain the others are trailing us. I doubt Kakashi would risk going back to Konoha without us. I almost feel guilty leaving him, but we can't give up so easily on you.'"

Sasuke turned his head away, a frown tugged at his mouth.

"Do you want me to stop?" Suigetsu asked, but Sasuke shook his head. Suigetsu sighed. "Alright, but don't let me catch you getting all misty-ey—" He stopped, remembering that Sasuke's eyes were covered. "Never mind. 'We've already been to the Uchiha hideout, so now we're moving onward. We're looking for any signs of Akatsuki. I'm not wrong in assuming that they have you. I wonder, though, if you're with them as a hostage or…willingly. I can't imagine you'd join them, especially since Itachi was a part of the Akatsuki. I thought that since you'd accomplished your goal, you would have come home. This is what makes me think you're being held against your will.' Wow, she assumes a lot," Suigetsu mumbled. "Anyway, 'I just want you to know that we're on our way and I hope to see you soon. By the way, if you do find it in yourself to write back, who is Tobi?'" Suigetsu stopped.

"Is that all?" Sasuke asked.

"Uh…yeah." He sounded like he was lying.

"Really…" Sasuke frowned.

"Well…no. But I'd rather not—"

"Just finish the letter," Sasuke replied annoyed.

"Ugh, alright," Suigetsu mumbled and he stumbled through the rest of the letter. "'We miss you, Sasuke-kun. My l-love always, S-Sakura.'"

Sasuke was silent for a long time. He hoped that the light was off because he could feel the heat radiating from his face. So, they were still coming. Perfect. His lips quirked upwards slightly.

"What's with that face, Sasuke-kun," Suigetsu teased. "Happy your girlfriend still loves you?

"No." Yes. "The Nine-Tails is coming to us. Madara will be pleased," Sasuke replied.

A/N: Hello again! Here is your much awaited chapter 25! As always, thanks goes to Sakura's Indecision for being AWESOME! And for beta-ing. And thank you to all my lovely readers, long-timers and newbies. I'm so glad you're all enjoying the story. I'm especially appreciative for those of you who have been leaving me reviews. *bows humbly*

So, I have some exciting news: SasuSaku action coming soon! Within the next few chapters, in case you wanted specifics. Also, I want to put this out there for everyone. The chapter of their reunion will be dedicated to the reader who has left me the most reviews.

Love ya all, and I hope you keep reading. Till next time. Peace!