shit just got real, people.
disclaimer: disclaimed.
dedication: to the really awesome DQ commercials, the days spent sleeping&studying, and the nights spent laughing&drinking. :)

Sara screams on the rooftops: you make me crazy, baby. NEXT TIME? THERE WILL BE NO NEXT TIME. also, i'm totally listening to Pink Floyd. lessthan3
les feasts on a tree branch: ELEPHANT SHOES. That is all. No, wait: my yellow silly band turns into a duck. /giggles
sonya: "so i've discovered something about college: EVERYONE seems to be half out of their mind & the other half that HAS their mind... well... they're really annoying. because they know they're in control. & the ones that party all the time & think you're a loser for trying to keep up an AB? they. suck."

.

.

.

There were tears of joy running down Lee's face.

That was never a good thing, Kiba swore. When Lee had tears of joy running down his face, it meant that something awful was about to happen.

"Sasuke-san! You have finally mastered the fine art of roasting marshmallows over a candle! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!"

This could not be going anywhere good.

"Lee, shut up and get away from me," Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth.

"No, my friend! I MUST HUG YOU!"

Yeah, definitely nowhere good.

"Hell no. Lee, back the fuck up."

Lee, still with tears of joy streaking down his cheeks, promptly ignored Sasuke's hissed remark, and threw himself on the stoic, stiff, dark boy. Sasuke vaguely looked like he was about to throttle someone.

Definitely nowhere good.

Kiba snorted, and did nothing. (This was primetime entertainment! How could anyone stop something that had this kind of an entertainment factor?)

Gaara snorted, and pulled Lee off of Sasuke. Really, it had nothing to do with Uchiha; it was more the fact that he knew what Lee's glomping hugs were like, and felt that no one ought to be subjected to them without actually wanting that, ever. It was cruel.

Seriously.

Lee sniffled.

Sasuke was seething.

He did not like being hugged. He did not like being hugged by anyone that was not his mother or... or... her. So Lee was going to die, if it weren't for Gaara.

But he shook the anger off, because he didn't have the energy to be a total asshole, right now. Instead, he glared at the marshmallow. He didn't even fucking like sweets. And marshmallows were fucking disgusting.

"You realize I hate sweets, correct," he drawled.

Lee looked appalled. "Sasuke-san! No one hates sweets!"

Lee was fucking retarded, Sasuke summed up.

They were classmates for four years - saw each other almost daily. And he still didn't know crap.

God.

"I hate sweets and marshmallows are disgusting." He handed it towards the Youthful man-boy. "Eat it."

Lee stared at the s'more in Sasuke's hand.

And then at Sasuke's face.

And then at the s'more, again.

And then at Sasuke, again.

And then at the s'more.

...

He looked at the s'more.

And felt very, very sad for what he was about to do.

He took the s'more out of Sasuke's hand.

And proceeded to smush it all over Sasuke's face.

(Such a waste! Lee thought. But it was for the greater good! Sasuke-san could not possibly go through life without ever trying the goodness that were s'mores! They were incredible and godly and wonderful and...)

Oh dear, that rather was a lovely, pulsing vein in Sasuke-san's forehead.

Lee thought it a premeditative gesture, to start running.

Sasuke had his eyes closed and he took a deep, deep, deep breath in.

His lips were pressed into a thin line and he could feel a throbbing vein on his forehead.

And then, he exploded.

"LEE, I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT." He stood from his seat and sprinted after the screeching male. "GET BACK HERE SO I CAN SHOVE MY FOOT UP YOUR ASS, YOU FUCKING CHILD."

Sasuke loved the fact he took on football.

Because his speed was almost up to par with Lee's.

Oh, that kid was going down.

Lee screamed like a little girl, and booked it outside.

He really didn't want to die.

Really.

"Sasuke-san, you look very attractive with chocolate all over your face. I'm sure your significant other would very much approve."

That hole was just getting deeper and deeper...

That only fueled Sasuke's anger and his speed picked up.

Seconds later, he lunged towards Lee and tackled him to the ground.

"You," he hissed, pinning him to the ground and gripping his arms behind him, "Are dead."

"EEEEEEK!" Lee was screeching.

Sasuke had a malevolent grin on his lips.

Gaara, looking bored, pulled Sasuke off of Lee.

Really.

"I'm going to kill you both," Gaara muttered acidly, and dragged them back inside.

Yeah.

That was what he put up with.

(Wouldn't you be a little bit grumpy, too?)

Kiba, on the couch, failed to restrain his laughter.

Lee cried more tears of joy.

Gaara was tempted to push them all in a food processor. The day went on.

Sasuke removed his shirt and wiped the chocolate off his face, with it.

Muttering obscenities under his breath, he stalked out of the living room and to what was "his" room for his stay.

He hated everyone.

Gaara looked at Kiba. "Your turn," was all he said.

Kiba muttered ungratefully, and followed Sasuke.

...

Kiba just stared at the stupid idiot who was basically his oldest friend. "You are such a douche."

Sasuke just smirked in that Sasuke way of his that just made Kiba want to snort. "Yeah, I know."

"You ready to go home, yet?"

"Shut the fuck up."

It was quiet for a moment, then. Kiba shrugged, and jerked his head. "I'll take that as a yes. I'm ready to go. I should probably go see mom now, anyways."

Sasuke just shrugged back, and nodded, too. It was probably going to be a painful day, and Kiba knew that. Sasuke was brutally honest at best, and Kiba knew he was royally fucked up at worst. So it was probably better to just get this whole stupid thing over with now; he didn't want to drag it (it, being the conversation, the car ride, the whole damn day) out any more.

It would just be a bitch, anyways.

Sasuke followed him back into Gaara and Lee's living room.

He'd admit it now, because everyone knew it; Sasuke, Gaara and Lee weren't the best people to stick under the same roof. For one, Sasuke and Gaara could coexist in the same place for only so long before they were at each other's throat and Lee was worse than Naruto and therefore Sasuke would want to murder him within the five minutes of his presence.

(See The Marshmallow Incidents for reference.)

Kiba knew this, Sasuke knew. So it was only a matter of time before they left. And before that happened, Sasuke went to take a leak in the bathroom and went to steal some food to eat. But then again - Sasuke didn't want to go back to Konoha just yet. But who knew what they'd do.

They were too much alike, he reminded himself, so they were bound to end up doing something before they headed back to their hometown.

And things were about to explode.

Things were always about to explode.

Sasuke leaned his back against the counter closest to the fridge, a can of soda in one hand. His eyes turned towards Kiba and his eyebrow raised. "So. Did you think much?"

"Maybe," Kiba met his stare head on. "Did you?"

"No."

"Then you're more of a fuck up than I am, idiot."

Sasuke raised both his eyebrows at this and stared. "Oh? Is that so."

"Dude, we've been here for two weeks. You not thinking is like Dead-Last not eating ramen, so stop shitting me. Go talk to Sayuri - Suki - ...whatever the fuck her name is."

He snorted and rolled his eyes, setting the can on the counter. "Don't be stupid. You telling me that is like me telling you to really figure out if what you saw was real or not."

Kiba stared at him, but not really stared at him at all. "She fucked up my heart and my head and everything. I probably overreacted. I - miss her. I think. I dunno. Can I go back to telling you you're a douche, now?"

Sasuke smirked. "You're an idiot, Mutt."

"And you're a douche-bag."

They just looked at each other.

Kiba gritted his teeth. "Look, we both fucked up. I can't even think about her name, let alone what actually happened. And I'm pretty sure Sakura's just as fucked up about this whole thing as you are. Christ, what the fuck am I talking about...?"

"I don't want to think about this. I'm done with it." Sasuke paused, and shook his head. "We're idiots. But fuck... It's too late. For me at least - that Ino-chick really likes you tho'. Maybe you can still get her back."

"...You're done with this. What the fuck. You goddamn coward."

"You brought leaving Konoha up, and I'm the coward?"

"Yes!" Kiba snarled. "I left because I couldn't be there, because everything was Ino and I couldn't stand it. And I never said I wasn't a fucking coward, because I am. And you left, too, and you won't even fucking admit you're as much as a coward as I am. You sat around and fucking moped. And that's lame, dude. Did you even ask for her side of the story?"

"Did you ask for hers?" Sasuke roared. Kiba was amused in a very far-away world; it was rare that Sasuke raised his voice. "Did you listen to her? I bet you didn't! I bet you left! Like you always do. You turned around and fuckin' left!"

Kiba's face turned ashen, and his voice turned very, very quiet. He had never wanted to say this. "Did you see Sakura kiss someone else? No. You heard it from your gay cousin. I thought I saw my girlfriend making out with your brother."

Sasuke just stared at him, disbelief written clear on his features. "Were you used as a rebound? Was this the first time you actually thought you were going to stay with a single girl, and you end up finding out she's your gay cousin's girlfriend?"

"Did you ever actually talk to her after that? Did you ask her if she was using you as a rebound? I talked to Ino, dude, and fuck if it still doesn't hurt to say her name. But I spoke to her, so don't you fucking talk."

"You talked to her. Really. And said what? "You filthy whore"? You talked to her - or did you bitch at her? I don't need to talk to Sakura about what the fuck she was doing - Sai is everything but a liar."

"I only called her a whore after I kissed her. And I think I was calling myself more a whore then I was calling her a whore. And, dude, Sai's been lying to you about everything since second grade." Kiba paused, and then tried a sort-of compromise. "I'll talk to my crazy girl if you talk to yours. Because I'm not doing this on my own, you fucker."

Sasuke glared. "Look. I'm not going to talk to her. Nothing you say, none of your bitching is going to change that. I'm done with it. It was nothing - it was a game."

"NO. For fuck's sake, dude, you're practically my best friend, and this is just not fucking cool. If you fucking care about her at fucking all, you're going to fucking talk to her. I'm probably going to have whatever the hell is left of my heart broken, and you know what? I'm fucking okay with that, because then I'll at least know what went the fuck down. You'll never know. And you're a fucking coward for it."

"Then let me be a coward! Just leave me alone. I don't want to do this - I don't know how to do this. So I'll just leave it at that. Just... Shut up, Kiba, for fuck's sake."

The two boys-almost-men glared at each other, jerky movements bristling with anger. And then something dawned on Kiba, and a sort of understanding crossed his face. Kiba dropped his tone to about an octave lower then normal, and very, very soft.

"...Are you really that fucking scared she didn't actually care at all? Even after everything?"

Sasuke utterly froze. Kiba could see that it was taking his old friend all of his will not to run, right then. "...Yes."

Kiba almost smiled a wry smile. "You think I'm not?"

Sasuke looked frazzled. "You and me are different, Kiba. How many girls have you had? And how many have I? This shit is new for me - you can probably turn around and forget about it... Maybe not with this Ino-girl... But you can."

"I'm in love with Ino." Kiba paused, and looked stricken. "And I can't forget that. Believe me, I've tried."

"Exactly. I don't love Sakura."

"Then why are you so damn scared she didn't care?"

"..."

"You at least felt something for her. Don't - oh, fuck me sideways, I'm going to sound exactly like my mother - don't sell yourself short. What if she's as fucking messed up over this whole thing as you are? What if she's hurting just as bad?"

Sasuke remained silent.

Kiba sighed, and was tempted to rub his temples. Sasuke was so fucking stupid, sometimes. He took a deep breath. Now, the question was: how did he phrase what he was trying to say so that it shut Sasuke up? "Okay. Here's what we'll do. We'll go back. And we'll talk to those crazy bitches. And if one or both of us gets ... fuck, I don't even want to think it, rejected, we'll get a transfer back here together, okay?"

Sasuke looked distant, even as he sighed. "Why does this even matter at all. She's just a girl, Kiba... Just a girl..."

"A girl you actually care about. How long's it been since that's happened? Don't fucking do this to yourself, Sasuke. Please."

"Whatever."

"Took you long enough to agree, douche. Let's go. We're getting this shit done today."

"How annoying."

"I love you, too, man."

Gaara and Lee, in the other room, shrugged at each other.

And then Lee tackled Gaara to the ground, and that was the end of any and all introspection.

.

.

.

Karin's throat was tight.

There was a car outside. There was a car outside. There was a car outside. There was a car outside.

Well. There were three, no, four, possibilities about who that car could belong to:

Mother (highly unlikely. She was still in Iwa. ...Iwa. Maybe that was a good idea. Iwa...).
Father (even more unlikely then Mother. No comment).
Suigetsu (in some way, shape, or form. Also highly unlikely. But more likely then Mother or Father.)
InoSakuraHinataTenten (super, super, SUPER likely.)

Karin peeked out through the window, and looked down at the driveway.

She didn't recognize the car, but that head of sunny blond spikes was unmistakable. That was Naruto.

And if Naruto was there...

Karin gulped.

No, no, no, she didn't want to see him. She didn't.

But that didn't stop her from grabbing a housecoat, wrapping it around herself, slipping her feet into a pair of ratty, fluffly pink slippers, and heading downstairs. She'd just wait, to see if they knocked, because - because - because she didn't know why.

Karin sighed, and waited quietly at the door.

Naruto grunted in slight anger as he used all the force/muscles/strength in his arms to help Suigetsu up the steps of Karin's front porch.

"C'mon, Suigetsu, lift your feet up, for god's sake," he grumbled, losing his temper for a second and actually lifting the younger male up and off the ground until he was at the top. Blowing some of his blond hair out of his eyes, he dragged Suigetsu towards the door.

"Compose yourself, man," he sneered.

Suigetsu smirked, "Shut up, m-man. I'm... Yeah..."

Glaring, almost, Naruto knocked on the hard surface of the door. "You sure about this, man?"

"Yeaaaaah."

Naruto sighed and gave a curt nod. His hands tightened around the grip of his friend's shirt to keep him steady.

The bell rang.

Karin stood, with her hand on the doorknob, and took a deep breath of air into her lungs, filling herself up with courage. She was going to need it. The bell rang yet again. She closed her eyes, and opened the door.

And was confronted with a very, very, very drunk Suigetsu, and an equally very, very, very worried Naruto.

"Uh. Hi," she managed to get out.

Naruto stood there, shuffling his weight from foot to foot, awkwardness incarnate. "Hi."

"Uhm. What are you doing here?"

"Suigetsu wanted to see you," Naruto said. He looked a little helpless.

"And you let him," Karin stated (because it wasn't a question. It didn't have a questioning inflection on it because - because it didn't). She wasn't sure if she was shocked or insulted or just plain hurt - did Naruto actually not know what was going on? Did he not know? Because, after a day like today, to bring the objects of Karin's pain in such close quarters... that was - that was cruel.

And Karin didn't like cruel things.

(She was going to have to warn Hinata. God.)

Naruto shrugged wide shoulders. "If he wants to see you, it has to mean something."

Karin pressed her lips together into a thin, white line. "...Get him inside, it's freezing out there. How much did he have to drink?"

Naruto dragged Suigetsu across the threshold, grunting as he tugged him through the doorjamb. Karin winced. Naruto's voice was dry as he said "A little too much. Where do you want me to take him?"

"Erm," Karin bit her lip, resolutely avoiding Suigetsu's alcohol-influenced gaze. She heaved a sigh. "Erm, put him on the couch. Just in the family room, just over - yeah, in there."

"Alrighty, then," Naruto said, and half-dragged, half-carried Suigetsu in the direction Karin had indicated. Karin followed the two men-almost-boys, and watched as Naruto dumped Suigetsu in a pile of limbs on the nearest couch (it was Karin's mother's favourite; white leather).

Everything was quiet, for a moment.

Karin waited for Naruto to say something.

Cricket. Cricket.

"...What am I supposed to do with him?" Karin finally asked.

"Up to you, I guess," Naruto simply said.

Karin's eyes narrowed. "That's kind of rude."

"Look, as much as I'd like to help out, I can't. I'm not part of the relationship and though Suigetsu's one of my best friends, I have no right to step in. So do what you want because you two obviously screwed each other over for reasons I'm not even sure of. Goodnight, Karin." Naruto dusted his hands off, turned around.

And then left.

Karin steamed.

Jerk.

But then she looked down at Suigetsu -close to passing out on her couch-, and the fight drained away. Karin ran to the kitchen, grabbed a chair, and set it up in front of him. She sat down, and just looked at him, for a moment.

"You are hopeless," she mumbled to him.

And then his fingers tangled in her hair, and Karin restrained the urge to shriek in surprise. It took more effort then she cared to admit, and when she managed to find the strength that words required, her voice was a tiny sound in the empty room. "Why are you doing that?"

"'Miss you," he muttered.

Karin didn't know why she was whispering; it just seemed right. "We tried this earlier, Sui. It didn't work, remember?"

"Doe'n't matter..."

"Then what does?" Karin asked.

"You... And me... Us..."

Us, Karin thought, sad. No such thing. She chuckled softly, and tried to restrain the bitter edge. "Heh. You're drunk, Sui. You'll go back to hating me in the morning."

"...What...?"

"You heard me," Karin continued to whisper. He was going to have a killer hangover in the morning. "But it - it doesn't matter. Go to sleep, Sui."

"No, wh-what the fuck?" He paused, and tried to sit up. Karin's hand shot out automatically, to steady him. He looked... drunk. He looked drunk. "What the hell makes you... think I hate you?"

Karin just smiled a weird smile. "I don't blame you for it, or anything."

"I don' hate you, Toots," he grumbled, and yanked her down towards him.

Karin landed half on his chest, face an inch away from his, her knees clacking against the floor. That was going to hurt in the morning. Then again, what didn't hurt in the morning, when it came to Suigetsu? "Uh-huh. Sure."

"Karin, for fuck's sake. Why d'you always co-contradict everythin' I say?"

"...It doesn't matter. Go to sleep," she was going to bite through her lip, at this rate.

"NO! Fuck! Stop tellin' me what to do! I already know what I want!"

Karin sighed. "Okay, you know, you know. Just - sleep is good, y'know?"

"I'on care... It's not what I want."

"Then what do you want?" and Karin felt like they were talking circles around each other, but she'd never been very good at that.

"You."

Karin thought that he was the cheesiest liar she had ever met. Not only that - he was the cheesiest drunken liar she'd ever met. And Karin knew Suigetsu, and she knew that he wouldn't remember it - and she didn't want to put herself through that. Not again.

It was better to ignore his drunken jabber, anyway. Karin stood up. "C'mon," she said, "let's go upstairs. I'll find you some clean pajamas, or something..."

Suigetsu snatched at her wrist. "Karin."

"What?"

Karin went momentarily brain dead and her heart stuttered-like-Hinata-used-to in her chest, as he tugged her down again, and kissed her.

"...You have to stop kissing me, Sui. We're not together anymore, remember? Actually, that kind of implies we were together at some point, but..."

"Karin. Would you just fuckin' let me prove to you I'on hate you?"

She couldn't - do this, right now. Karin just couldn't. "Okay. You don't hate me. That's fine. It's still over. It's still done."

"So?"

"So, nothing." (He's drunk, he's drunk, he's drunk, he'sdrunkhe'sdrunkhe'sdrunk... oh, by the way, you're obsessing again. Stupid.)

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry if I hurt you... I'm sorry for makin' you cry..." Suigetsu mumbled.

There was a tear in the pit of Karin's eye. She ignored it, and shook her head. "It's okay. It doesn't matter anymore."

"It matters to me," he all but snarled.

"I know, but-" she broke off, and sighed again. How many times had she sighed, tonight? How many more times would she sigh, before the night was over, and this was all just part of some unpleasant memory? "-never mind. Let's get you to bed."

"No."

Karin fought not to clench her jaw. "...I'm going to bed. Let me go, please."

"No."

"Suigetsu. Stop making my life harder then it needs to be."

"It's hard be'cuz you make it hard."

"No," she said softly, tired. "It's hard, because in the morning, you're going to freak, and I don't want that. So just - lemme go, okay?"

"I'm not gunna freak. 'Coz in the mornin', I'll be with you and you can make me grilled cheese. Like you always do."

Karin gulped.

"Sui, in the morning, you're going to remember that our best friends broke each other's hearts, and that we sided with those respective friends. In the morning, none of this is going to matter. Nothing you or I can say will change that."

"Karin... Kiba is Kiba. Ino is Ino. Just like Karin is Karin. And 'Getsu is 'Getsu."

"I know," Karin mumbled, strands of red in her face. "And that's why it's never going to work."

He grumbled something incoherent under his breath, and Karin could almost taste the alcohol. How much had he had, again? "We're four different people, Karin... We don' need to suffer from their mistakes..."

Karin tucked white hair away from his face. He was such an idiot. "But we did. And we do."

"So?"

"So we can't." He said such stupid things. Karin ignored the way her voice cracked.

He stopped moving, and loosed his grip on her wrist. "Okay, Toots. Whatever you say."

Karin didn't even want to know. "Okay. C'mon. Get up."

"I can do it myself," Suigetsu growled.

She sat back, and watched him try. It would have been funny if the situation hadn't been so pathetic, so painful. "Sure. C'mere."

"Stay away, Karin. You wanna be like that, then fine." He tried to get up again, and continued to fail miserably.

Karin glared. "You are - impossible! Let me help!"

"No!"

"Please!"

"No, Karin!" And now he was snarling.

And she was snarling right back. "Suigetsu, this is non-negotiable. You can't even walk, let alone climb stairs! Put your arm around my shoulders, and let me help you up the stairs! Stop fighting!"

"I'm only fighting 'coz you are!"

That was it. Karin snapped her hands up, stood up, and glared down at him. "Fine," she hissed. "Fine. I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

And then she flipped her hair over her shoulder, turned around, and walked up stairs. She was going to bed.

And she was not going to care about the inebriated boy downstairs.

He was stupid, anyway.

Karin valiantly fought tears.

Suigetsu's mind was blank.

There was no other way of putting it.

It was blank.

He was blank.

And there was this funny, fuzzy, tickly buzz going around his body.

But, either way, Suigetsu maintained a frown on his lips and his brow creased as he stood - swaying almost violently. Swallowing, he took one step forwards. Then another. And another. And then he slammed himself against a wall. He grunted and shook his head; with his hands, he pushed himself away from the wall and wobbled his way out through the space that... Was it a door? Ah, he didn't fuckin' know.

Suigetsu's attempts to get... Where was he goin' again?

With hazy, fuzzy, disoriented eyes, he looked around the distorted place and tried to concentrate where the hell the stairs were. Shrugging, he went towards the big rectangular thing that looked like it was about to fall or something... And then the tip of his feet bumped into something and he lost his balance and he fell... Shaking his head, he placed his hands on... He supposed it was a stair.

Either way, he placed his hands on a stair, raised a leg and placed his knee on another stair. Then the other. And this continued until he was crawling up the stairs.

Suigetsu's mind was still blank.

And he wasn't really thinking about anything.

Once he, miraculously, made it up the stairs. He fought his way back up to his feet. And the rest... The rest of his journey was successful out of pure... You know what, he didn't even know. He thought he did, but no... He didn't.

It was beyond him how he made it into Karin's room and how he undid his shoes, took off his shirt and crawled into bed next to her.

And he wanted to wrap his arm around her waist... Really, he did.

But, his blank mind decided to tell him she'd just push him off.

Suigetsu figured his mind, his body, and everything else was just tired of fighting. He supposed he was giving up.

Karin felt a large, warm figure crawl into bed next to her. She debated between keeping her face where it was (turned firmly away from the other side of the bed, shoved angrily into the pillow), or rolling over, and slipping into his arms.

It had been what felt like forever.

Karin's Very Fast List of Pros and Cons

Cons:
Ino.
Ino.
Tears.
Ino.
More tears.
INO.

Valid arguments, Karin thought grimly.

Pros:
Suigetsu.
Warmth.
Possibly fixing this mess.
Suigetsu.
Home.
SUIGETSU.

Definitely valid arguments. Far more valid then anything else.

Karin rolled over.

"Sui...?"

"Hmn...?"

"I'm... sorry..."

"M'kay... Fo'wut...?"

Karin stared at somewhere just past his left ear. "Everything, I guess."

"M'kay, Toots. M'so-rry, too."

"...Go to sleep, 'kay?"

"M'kayyy," but he paused, and seemed on the verge of saying something else. Karin waited, and listened to him mutter. "Dun tell... me... whut t'do..."

Karin fought the urge to giggle. He was so drunk. "It's okay, Sui. We'll talk in the morning. Just... sleep, now. G'night."

Karin felt arms snake around her waist, and she let Suigetsu tug her close to his chest. Karin tucked her head under his chin, and listened to the constant thud of his heart, for a moment. There was something that was curiously reassuring about it.

Suigetsu's nose was buried in her hair, and he was taking long, slow breaths in. "M'kay. 'Uv'you."

A tiny, sweet smile crossed Karin's lips as she closed her eyes.

Suigetsu only remembered one thing before he passed out, arms tight around her waist.

And it wasn't that, what he remembered.

He was used to having arms wrapped around waists. From the same girl or not, it didn't matter - he was used to it.

But what would forever be engraved in his memory, in his mind - everything, he guess... was the scent. Powerful, alluring, soothing and everything in between.

He remembered expensive perfume, strawberries... and... a slight... metallic tang.

Eyes closed, brain shutting down, he smirked.

.

.

.

Karin woke with a start, the next morning.

There was someone else in bed.

Karin stayed frozen for a minute, and let the previous night come flooding back. Thinking of plane tickets. A very drunk Suigetsu. A very nerve-wracking fight. More stupidity. Tired, so tired. Crawling into bed, exhausted and angry. And then more drunk Suigetsu. And then black, and that was sleep.

And now was the moment(s) of truth.

Suigetsu was still thoroughly passed out.

Karin grinned, and went to make pancakes.

He had no idea what in the world caused him to wake up.

He had no idea what time it was, either.

All that was going through his brain was that his eyelids were too heavy, his mouth was dried and his head was pounding. So when he managed to open his eyes, he was surprised to notice that this wasn't his room.

A guestroom, he supposed. But no. This room looked like lived in.

Suigetsu sat up and ran a hand through his hair. It was tangled and a complete mess.

He got off the bed and lightly swayed, eyes narrowed as he tried to concentrate. The room looked familiar, he'd give it that; and he probably knew who it belonged to - he was just not thinking straight. Not right now, at least. So he walked out of the room, shirtless and barefoot. Down the hall and down the stairs.

The scent of pancakes and food in general met his nose.

Suigetsu, groaned and rubbed his stomach.

He wanted ice, cold water.

So he entered the kitchen and mildly froze when his eyes landed on Karin.

Karin could hear the fool coming down the stairs - he sucked at not making noise. But like that was anything new, he was Suigetsu; noise was what he did best.

Karin stretched, and pushed her glasses up her nose with the back of her hand, careful not to get pancake batter on the lenses. "Morning," she said.

"Mhjsm."

Karin seriously didn't even understand how he thought that she'd understand something like that. "Good job on being coherent, there, Sui."

He made a sound at the back of his throat that could almost pass for a groan, and Karin wondered how bad his hangover was - it didn't really matter, because he did kind of deserve it (he was such an idiot, such an idiot).

"Mmmmmmm. Pills..." he muttered, and Karin watched him root around in the cabinet.

Karin stared, deadpan. "What are you doing?"

"Lookin' for some Tylenol or some'in'."

Ohhh, yeah, definitely his hangover. Karin refrained from smirking like a twelve-year-old. "How much did you drink last night?"

"Don't remember."

Karin stared some more, red hair in her eyes. So. Hangover, induced by the imbibing of large amounts of alcohol. Showing up at ex-(something; Karin's wasn't going to label what they were, because it was impossible to name, impossible to not cheapen it)'s house at ungodly hours of the night, pissed drunk. And now, pleasant morning chat.

Karin felt ill.

There was no reason for it - that was just Suigetsu, but, then - "...Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why'd you get so drunk... and then show up here?" Karin clarified.

Suigetsu just looked at the floor; he refused to meet her eyes, and some part of Karin bent, and was reaching towards a snap. "'Coz I'm goin' crazy."

"...I'm confused. What?"

"I needed a break, Karin. My brain's goin' apeshit on me and I needed it to stop. And then when it did..."

Karin liked this thing where she stared. It seemed to make him uncomfortable. "When it did, what?"

The tendons on his neck stood out as he clenched his jaw and shrugged his shoulder. "Jus' let it go, Toots."

Karin's brow furrowed. "I want to know."

His jaw was still clenched, his voice low and rough. He looked away as he spoke. "I don't know, okay? I guess I just missed you. Or somethin'. But I just wanted to see you. God."

And he still wouldn't meet her eyes. Karin waited for a long, long moment. "Oh," she said. She didn't know if that was what she had wanted to hear - actually, she had no idea what she wanted to hear. She just wanted - well, she wanted a lot of things.

Karin went back to whisking the pancake batter, bile in her throat.

Once Suigetsu found the damn pills, he popped two of them in his mouth and went in search for a glass of water.

When the whole task was over with, he decided he just wanted a place to rest his burning body. A cool place - something to cool his body down. His ice-purple eyes looked around the place and when he caught sight of the island in the middle of the kitchen, Suigetsu smirked.

Without thinking, he threw himself on top of the island and sprawled his limbs, closing his eyes at the amazing coolness that was now being pressed against his body. It felt amazing.

"Karinnnn."

"Yes?" A part of him thought she sounded stiff. Well... Not stiff. More like she didn't know how she should be acting around him. Suigetsu kind of didn't blame her.

They fucked up big time, remember?

"I'm hungry."

"That's why I'm making pancakes, cowboy."

Suigetsu lifted his head up and turned to look at her, a lazy smile finding its way to his lips. "I love it when you call me that."

She turned around to face him, hand with a spatula propped on her hip while the other one gripped the counter. "Uh-huh. Why is it you get a cool nickname, and I get 'Toots', huh? Why is that?"

If they had been in normal terms, or as normal as they'd ever get, he'd gotten off of the island and wrapped his arms around her from behind. But, given that that was his natural reaction, Suigetsu stiffened and gave a smirk to hide it.

"'Coz that's how it goes, Toots."

"You suck. So much," Karin pouted.

"No-," he said, a smirk marring his lips, and Karin shivered, "-not really."

She huffed, and threw red strands of hair out of her face. "You do, too!"

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow, slow, and just looked at her, the smirk still on his lips (that was never good; and there were something to be said for being ignorant. Suigetsu was good at making Karin question things, like ignorance. ... Bastard), and said "Really, now. Well, I do suck... but it's rare when I do that..."

Karin was torn between turning bright, bright red (and punching him and leaving him to his own devices), and just... just... she didn't even know. She didn't have the mental capacity to have that sort of mental spar, this early in the morning.

And it might hurt too much.

So Karin ignored it, and poured the pancake batter into the hot pans on the stove, and just breathed.

(The house felt less empty with him in it. She didn't like it. It made her... think things.

Something like that.)

"What do you want from me, Sui?"

Suigetsu blinked and instantly his devious look was wiped of his face. He narrowed his eyes slightly and continued to stare at... well, her chest. What the hell did she mean?

"What d'you mean?"

He wasn't stupid. He was slow, at times, yes - but he wasn't stupid. He caught on from the first week he met Karin that she was contradictive, indecisive and just couldn't fuckin' choose. She either read into things too much or too little and she was really breaking his balls. Like, really.

"Stop staring at my tits, and answer the question. What do you want from me?"

Slowly, his eyes rose up to meet hers and he stared at her, impassively. Or as impassively as he could. "And I said 'what d'you mean'."

She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, and looked slightly uncomfortable, really. Suigetsu just stared at her as she said, "I - don't know how else to phrase it. I don't really know why you even stayed. So, what do you want from me? To go back to normal? Or, like, what?"

And then he raised an eyebrow. "So you wanted me to leave?"

"No, I never said that."

"Then what are you sayin'?" He swallowed and narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?"

"I want to stop missing you." She was still staring him in the eye, her teeth worrying at her lower lip. She looked... She looked... God, Suigetsu didn't even know.

"Then stop fightin'," he drawled, slowly, lowly. "And accept that I'm right here."

Softly, she said, "What would you have me do?"

And Suigetsu completely lost it. In a good way. Or bad. Who knew? Not him. "I would have you do... Just... Be Karin, again! Yell at me for no reason! Seduce me into fuckin' you! Tell me that you hate me when we both know you mean somethin' entirely different!"

He slid off the island and walked towards her, slowly.

"Seduce you into fucking me? Excuse me? I did no such thing." Karin looked like she was fighting between narrowing her eyes and looking at him all sultry and... and... Suigetsu was going crazy.

"Don't be like that, Toots," he said, smirking to the point where his little tooth peeked out. "We all know you can't get enough of me."

She scoffed and looked away. "I'm not the one showing up drunk at other people's houses, mister."

"I never denied I can't get enough of you. You're the one in denial here." Suigetsu smirked, coming to a complete stop just inches away from her.

"I never denied anything, did I? I just said that I wasn't the one showing up at their ex's house, pissed out of their mind. That was you."

"So what?" He caged her in between his body and the counter. "It got me here, right?"

Karin looked up at him.

Just looked.

"Yeah," she murmured. "Yeah, I guess."

She sighed, and looped her arms around his waist. It felt like forever since she'd done something like this, since she'd just been close to him. Suigetsu smelled like boy and heat and comfort, and Karin melted into him. "You're so dumb, you know. Or maybe I'm just crazy. I don't know. I just - I don't know. Don't go away anymore."

"Don't let me go away, then. Or, better yet, don't make me," and he made it sound like it was the simplest thing ever.

But it wasn't. "I didn't mean to leave in the first place."

"Just... forget about it, Toots. Just... let it go..." Suigetsu's voice was quiet, his lips brushing the top her head.

It wasn't simple at all. "...What are we gonna tell the others?"

"I don't care right now."

Not simple at all. "Really? Why not?"

Suigetsu grinned and pulled away a bit, just enough to have her see his smile.

"Coz, in the end, they don't matter when it comes to," he waved a hand around them.

Karin blinked up at him. "To... what?"

"Us, I suppose," Suigetsu murmured, eyebrows scrunched, just barely. "Whatever the hell we are..."

Karin delicately rubbed her nose against his chest and he could feel the smirk on her lips, regardless if she was actually smirking or not - because that was just like her. Push his buttons to the point where he couldn't think straight and he sees white stars everywhere he turns to. "What are we then, huh?"

"I should be askin' you that."

"I don't know," she murmured, "I can't put a name to it. I've tried."

Suigetsu pulled away from her and sighed. "Then fuck it," he said. "We are what we are."

And then he crashed his lips against hers.

"Oh, no, the pancakes!" Karin shrieked, before Suigetsu managed to distract her any more then he already had. She shoved him off, and whipped around, to deal with the burnt smell. And they were burnt - burnt to a crisp on one side, and completely uncooked on the other.

Karin huffed, threw red hair over her should, and spun again, to glare playfully at Suigetsu. "Look at this, they were perfectly good pancakes, and now because you went and were all distracting, they're ruined!"

Suigetsu was looking mildly annoyed. "...Well... Who needs pancakes?"

Hands on her hips, Karin stared at him. "I thought you wanted breakfast."

"I do... But that can wait a while."

Her eyes narrowed, and she continued to stare at him (she'd been doing that a lot, lately). "Wait for what, pray tell?"

Suigetsu just smirked.

Karin wanted to scream. He was so - so - so infuriating! "Oh, oh no - you killed my pancakes, I don't want to kis-!"

"Too bad," he cut her off with a grin.

"Sui-msupphm!"

Well, that was certainly an effective method of getting her to shut up...

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