#34
Name: Young Ken meets Sakaye
Words: 475
Characters: Ken (MaleKarin), Sakaye (FemSasuke)
Warnings: SPOILER ALERT for Manga Chapter 482; if you haven't read it, there will be Spoilers. Same goes for Shippuden Episode 212.
Pairings: One-sided KenSaka (SasuKarin); Or it could be recipricated if you want to see it that way. It's your perception, really.
Disclaimer/Claimer: While the original Naruto characters do not belong to me, these GenderBender creations are mine. Do not steal them... EVER.
During the second portion of the Chunin Exams, a young Ken ends up separated from his teammates in the Forest of Death. He gets lost and stumbles across a –very attractive and very female– Konoha genin. (a.k.a. Sakaye) Stunned, he crouches behind a bush or tree and watches her as she washes her face in the river. As she's finishing up, she suddenly takes note of his presence and calls out...
Based on Karin's flashback in Manga Chapter 482 and Shippuden Episode 212
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"Who's there?"
Ken froze where he crouched, hidden away from the girl he had suddenly stumbled across – or so he had thought. Briefly wondering how she had known of his presence, he swallowed hard and stepped into view.
The Konoha genin narrowed her eyes at him and the red-head shifted uncomfortably, both unnerved and entranced by the dark orbs peering intently at him.
Her eyes slid to the headband around his forehead.
"Grass nin," she said, more to herself it seemed than him.
Ken watched her, taking in once more the pale skin, smooth dark hair, the full lips, and the long eyelashes shading those slanted eyes. She was, as he had thought earlier, very beautiful, even more so now that he could see her fully, and a strange heat simmered in his stomach and warmed his cheeks. He squirmed, faintly unsettled by the feeling, and swallowed again, though much harder than before.
Her eyes, seemingly content with the sight of his headband, flicked down to his hands where the scroll remained firmly clenched in one fist. A spark of interest sprung to life in the dark depths of her eyes, but sputtered out at the sight of black paper and the simple kanji for "earth" rather than the white "heaven" she sought.
"Just an Earth scroll..." she muttered, eyebrows drawing down in disappointment.
Ken's insides tightened for a moment at the sight, and he suddenly wished he held a heaven scroll instead. A strange desire to please the dark-haired genin gripped him tightly, and he felt he might give her the moon if she asked.
But she only shut her eyes and frowned, her lips thinning with the action. Then, she turned away and began to walk off.
"Wait-!" Ken suddenly blurted without meaning to, startling himself with his outburst.
The girl paused and glanced back at him, her curved form shifting about to face him.
The red-head remained speechless, unknowing of what he had thought to say or whether he had meant to do anything but have her turn to him again with those dark, dark eyes of hers...
One thin eyebrow quirked at his silence, and Ken suddenly felt awkward and flustered. He pushed his glasses up further, though they were already firmly pressed against the bridge of his nose, and swallowed for the third time during their brief encounter, his face warming again as he fidgeted.
Ken glanced at the girl's face, and his stomach flipped at the faint curve of her lips; not quite a smile, not quite a smirk, but something in between.
"Later," she said quietly, before finally leaving the area without another word.
And Ken stared after her mutely, wondering if this crazy warmth in his middle was love.
.
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"I would have given you everything, anything, if you'd only let me.
Even now, as you prepare to kill me... I would do anything to see you smile once more."