Naruto' and 'Naruto Shippuden' are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo.
Self- Combustion
MetaMirage
18
Karin looked over the lively marketplace with unease, baffled to see stalls brimming with produce. Heads of cabbage, rounded turnips and stacked leeks overflowed in baskets as peaches were bought out by the pallet. Barter was edged out with humour and not desperation, the crowd ringing with temperate cheer. When a duck strolled through the crowded alley with a relaxed stretch of its glossy wings, she was amazed to find herself the only one to notice. It waddled inside a brick and mortar store and Karin counted the many eggs on sale almost maddeningly. Goose, chicken and of course duck before she spotted what could only be tiny quail eggs. The selection as bizarre as the charitable vendor that gifted her six chicken eggs, seemingly just because.
The generous villages that dotted the border of Kumogakure seemed to be from another planet, each one well maintained with citizens carefree and easy going. Seemingly untouched by war, Karin circled the pristine fountain and studied the greening, copper statue of a cavalry soldier with disbelief. In the rest of the mainland such landmarks had been long doomed to the smelter and she let her eyeline drag from the rearing horse's hooves to the raised sword that glistened with jewels.
When her bag began to weigh heavy, she knew to abandon this strange, fleeting moment. Sasuke had disappeared, never being one to follow. He wasn't making the clearest decisions at the moment though and Karin really wished he'd stick close. She spotted him in the shadow of a stone wall, concerned when he jumped at her presence. He was more alert than ever but there was a shakiness in him, a wave of distrust in everyone and everything that made her fear he was becoming truly paranoid. However, when anyone could be a hardcore Konoha national, a sympathiser or even working for the Akatsuki his suspicions were not unfounded.
The news board was plastered with aging, yellowed headlines of death and destruction. Paper littered the ground as Sasuke tore down what must have been the tenth poster, balling up his brothers face viciously. Karin almost sighed.
"They'll just keep hanging more up…" Karin said warily but was quite honestly sick of repeating herself. Their new unofficial mission seemed to be destroying these posters, despite the cause being utterly futile. For a nation without free press, Konoha could communicate in a devastatingly agile way.
"I don't care," Sasuke retorted bluntly. Karin decided on a new approach, not wanting to land in the same old argument.
"Shisui must have given Itachi's name instead of yours," she mused. She knew Sasuke blamed himself for his brother becoming public enemy number one, but honestly, she suspected Itachi was always going to be accused of the attack. Some clever misdirection at play. "It seems-"
"What?" Sasuke cut her off with surprising malice. "Shisui loved Itachi like a brother. He would never put him in danger!"
"I'm just saying!" Karin defended, taken off guard by his outburst. If anything, she was trying to say something nice about Shisui. "He'd know Itachi was already a target for the Akatsuki-"
"So are we," Sasuke retorted. "Or have you forgotten?"
"I certainly have not," Karin replied, resisting the urge to grit her teeth. "If you would let me finish, if I was being tortured, I'd give up a known man before an unknown one. Shisui would also understand Itachi accomplished in hiding and avoiding the authorities. Shisui can always make something out of nothing-"
"Could."
Karin fell silent. Not at Sasuke's use of past tense but the utter detachment in his voice, the painful indifference. His eyes were desolation, casting right through her.
"Shisui could," he corrected quietly, turning back to the posters. "Not anymore."
Sasuke watched Karin use her mortar and pestle, trying not to let the grind grate on him. Trees loomed over what was left of their supplies, having to abandon everything when the deal for his mother's necklace went south. Their recent trip to the market meant they were eating better, but even that had a shelf life.
They were running out of money. Returning to Otogakure was the first, sensible objective Sasuke was able to conjure in the fallout of the failed assassination and a much needed stop to keep them bankrolled. Before they had been sent to Kirigakure Sasuke had fenced close to everything he had stolen with the YAS, knowing cash flow easier to convert in times of need. Flooding had happened in Otogakure since they were gone however and when they dug up the paper money it was rotten and spoiled. He could still smell the mould, the complete and utter decay of their very survival.
Karin had somehow still managed to stock up while they were in Oto however. Make something out of nothing. Shisui used to say the same thing. Sasuke had honestly tried to do that at the Conquest day masquerade but was instead haunted by his disastrous choices. If he hadn't pushed on for Danzo and instead tried to find where the other members were being held, maybe things would have been different. He could have decided on a rescue mission. A better man would. Maybe Haruka and her unborn child would still be alive.
In the mire of his mind though, he knew how hopeless it was to free anyone from Danzo's clutches. His parents had died, Naruto gone, all at Danzo's bidding. Even Sakura had become corrupted and worked for him now. Danzo changed people, made them do evil, uncompromising things. On better days, Sasuke thought he had survived for a reason, that he was destined to kill Danzo. That revenge was his only purpose.
For the first time in his life though, he didn't know what that looked like. He had no idea how to get at Danzo. With no money. No connections. He was at a complete loss. Sasuke had felt the gravity of his decision to not meet up with Itachi even during the wedding. Had he known, on some level, that he might never see his brother again? Itachi was going to die and it would be all his fault-
"Breathe."
He hadn't noticed Karin come over. He was suddenly acutely aware of his racing heartbeat and sweating palms. Frustrated, he watched her gesture to deeply inhale and exhale. He was failing Karin the most, his leadership dooming her to suffer. When he tried to stand, she took him firmly by the hands. Her skin surprisingly warm for someone that died every night in his dreams.
"Karin..." he started. She was better off without him. Everyone was. He'd tell her again and again. He had too.
She couldn't even pretend to be calm as she shook her head. Despite her level tone and serene expression her eyes were always flint hard. "Just breathe."
"Sasuke?"
She could just make out his silhouette in the moonlight, posture slack. He was exhausted and even though it was his turn, she didn't want him to be on watch. Sasuke wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating, wasn't coping. Maybe if they swapped, he could at least rest.
"Sasuke?"
"I'm capable of being on watch," he finally spoke. "Despite what you think."
Karin sat slowly, trying to salvage her attempt to comfort him. He was painfully resistant to any lapse in duty and Karin knew better than to lose her temper. These days when she shouted at him, he shouted back. Seeing someone that was normally so collected all but implode was shattering.
"Oh... No..." she corrected, keeping her voice small. "That's not it."
"Then what?"
"...I'm cold" Karin hesitated to keep her voice soft. "I was... just... Can you hold me?"
Karin never gambled with her own vulnerability. She turned away from him in embarrassment, already regretting the decision to voice something so needy, even if it was a lie. She almost put her hands over her ears, unable to stop straining to listen for his rejection.
"Oh..."
She squeezed her eyes shut when he lay next to her. He was so gentle, cradling her head with his arm. She gripped tightly to the arm he placed over her, pulling on the fabric of his sleeve nervously. As badly as she wanted to be content, her mind kept churning. The window to apologise for what had happened when they tried to sell his mother's necklace was gone. The fence they'd organised threatening to turn them into the authorities, forcing them deeper into Kumogakure.
"You always look out for me," she decided, turning in his arms to face him. "Thank you."
Nothing was going on behind his eyes. The same hollow look when he told her the person who betrayed Haruka had been a guest at her wedding, sat for her vows and pretended to wish her. Same blank look he'd had when they'd passed through a crossroads full of posters and his brother wasn't there, Sasuke convinced him dead.
The same look from earlier when he officially stopped entertaining the idea of Shisui surviving torture.
"I've got one more thing to sell," he murmured, pulling at a seam in his shirt. When he took out a ring, Karin quietly critiqued. He had agonised over selling that pendant, not wanting to part with a family heirloom. This piece was actually hidden on him and was not his first choice to sell. She looked at the worn gold, the dull diamond. It had been coveted. Loved by someone so deeply. Some terrible, painfully personal story behind it she was sure.
And she'd had enough. "Keep it," Karin urged. Enough tragedy. She couldn't stand to see him hurting anymore than he already was. "Sasuke, you don't have to do this. We'll figure something out."
"You can hold it," he offered, brushing off her emotional plea. Karin only took the ring at his strange insistence, rolling it in her fingers mindlessly.
"Do you want it?" he whispered so quickly, she almost misheard. She held his impassive stare for as long as her heart kept pounding. For as long as it took her to remember he was in the worst state of mind. That he couldn't be thinking about an engagement. Not at the darkest point she'd ever seen him.
"Someday," Karin finally murmured, placing the ring back in his hand and closing his fist around it. "A better day," she promised. "A kinder day. When the dark clouds are behind us. When you can feel the warmth of the sun on your skin."
She pressed her forehead against his, staring into the abyss of his eyes. Lately, he had been trying to give away his possessions. The realisation that he was preparing her for a life without him bringing her close to tears. She tried not to let her voice shake, even though everything inside her was crumbling. "When you can just... smile for me... okay?"
His expression unchanging, she brushed his fringe back with shaking hands before burying her face in his chest. Convinced her words had only burned holes she let him off the hook. Told him she wasn't feeling cold anymore and he could leave if he wanted too.
He held her until the sun rose.
Karin was intent on getting her new arrows. She could see the high walls of the village and even smell the water of the moat that surrounded it. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the unnatural din. Screamed words like 'scoundrel' and 'thief' carrying through the air. She clambered on a rock to get a better look, suspecting a mob.
The once peaceful village was in an uproar.
Karin could see people running around the town's central statue furiously. They were throwing objects atop the horse's head, where an unwanted figure perched. Karin narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on the object of their distain, a writhe outline with a mop of silvery hair. She grit her teeth when she noticed the perpetrator catch what seemed to be a tossed apple and take an arrogant bite.
Such nonsense struck her familiar and she uttered the most disgusting word in the entire lexicon of language.
"Suigetsu…"
Karin weaved her way in the crowd and resisted the urge to stand right in front of the podium and gloat. The villagers had been quick to hang a noose, a far cry from the cheerful, accommodating people she had visited a week ago. Knowing their seething hatred for Suigetsu only made Karin like them more, wondering if there was any property for sale within these wonderful, righteous walls.
A well-dressed man that she could only guess was the towns official motioned for silence. When he turned to Suigetsu the idiot looked over his shoulder before pointing at himself in shock, playing innocent to all the attention. She narrowed her eyes, noticing he was wearing what looked like a Kirigakure military uniform. He slouched into it, the vest easily two sizes too big. He'd probably robbed it from some poor unfortunate corpse.
"You have been caught trying to steal our beloved statue's ceremonial sword and stand to be executed for the crime of grand larceny-"
"There is no evidence to such a vile accusation!" Suigetsu interrupted. Tone impossibly condescending for his current predicament. "This is a miscarriage of justice! A witch hunt of the most heinous proportions! I am but an innocent victim-"
"We all saw you do it!" A voice bellowed from the crowd. It was met with a chorus of 'yeahs' and 'in broad daylight' and an old lady shaking her tiny fists finished with a poignant 'the nerve of you!'.
"Well that's just your opinion!" Suigetsu fired back, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the crowd. "And your opinion… and your opinion… and your opinion… and your opinion-"
"Alright that's enough!" the executioner waved, grabbing Suigetsu by the scruff of the neck.
Karin sorely wished that wasn't her queue. So wanting to watch the stupid gasbag get strung up. Instead she bolted at the noose, knocking Suigetsu and herself into the moat below.
Karin let out a frustrated groan. That slimy bastard had just demonstrated he could out swim her with his hands tied, but she'd be damned if she let him outrun her. She resisted the urge to shoot an arrow at his retreating back and pushed through stalks of trampled corn. She was reminded of all his lame escape attempts at the Youth Armed Sanctuary, noting he was still absolute rubbish at hiding his tracks.
"Wait… I'm here to help," she couldn't even pretend not to deadpan. If he had half a brain, he'd know her offer ingenuine.
But this was Suigetsu and expecting him to have even half a brain was too generous. She had to resist smirking when he stopped. He shook his head like some lowly, wet dog, droplets of water hitting her glasses.
"Thanks for the save," Suigetsu offered, oblivious. "I owe you…"
He trailed off, staring into her face before breaking into a righteous sneer of recognition. Karin did what only came natural in response.
"Ouch!" he snarled, eyes already beginning to water. "What'cha hit me for?!"
"The. Colossal. Diamond." She ground out the words, her tone deathly low. It was the only reason he was still alive. If he died, the location of the diamond went with him.
Suigetsu's eyes widened. Karin had only said a handful of words to him and she was already done with his theatrics. "Oh yeah… that…" he gestured, wiggling his lanky frame. "As you can see, I don't currently have it. You can strip search me if you want. We've always had this unresolved sexual tension thing going on anyway. May as well just do what comes natural."
Karin did not hesitate to kick him squarely between the legs.
Having all but dragged Suigetsu to the meet up location, Karin was exhausted in more ways than one. With Suigetsu's non-stop chattering she was seconds away from tearing out his voice box.
"So…" he said, suddenly sounding beyond sly. "When's Sasuke getting here?"
Karin did her best to keep her expression completely void in response to his smug question.
"Oh, come on! It's why we're waiting here right? It's nice that you two are still together," he mocked before giving her a knowing look. "Or is that together, together?"
"I'm about to 'together, together' your head up your arse if you don't shut up," Karin retorted hotly. She all but clenched her fist when he gave her a victorious sneer.
"Oh please! You don't even know what you want!" he argued. "First you want me to talk so bad you keep hitting me, which is rude by the way and now you want me to shut up?!"
Karin could feel her eyebrow flinching, betraying her attempt at a calm visage. Sasuke could handle this type of baiting, so she tried to channel his devil may care attitude.
Then Suigetsu levelled her glare, gleefully. "Just make up your mind you dumb animal."
"That's it!"
Furious, she went to hit him again, almost howling when he managed to wiggle away. The break in her finger had healed but it was still tender.
"Oh, about time Sasuke!" Suigetsu called, looking over her shoulder. "Call off your attack dog! She's rabid!"
In rebuttal Karin gave him a good kick. She was relieved Sasuke had finally arrived. It meant none of the villagers had followed them. He was better at incapacitating people with non-lethal force, but Karin hoped he hadn't laid a single finger on those noble villagers. They were only trying to rid the world of the cockroach that was Hozuki Suigetsu after all.
"Where is it!" she demanded for Sasuke's benefit. "Where's the diamond?"
"I already told you I lost it okay!" Suigetsu all but wailed, clearly gearing up the drama for his new audience. "When I dived off that stupid boat it got swept up in the current. I dived for weeks."
Karin lowered her head, grabbing him viciously by the collar. She shook him, hating the fact he wobbled to make the action appear worse.
"Where. Is. It?" she repeated, furious.
"Do you think I'd be here arguing with your ugly face if I knew?!" he cried. "That was my retirement! I'd be on my own private island by now!"
It was then that Sasuke pulled her aside. "I think he's telling the truth," he said low.
"Oh, I do too," Karin shrugged. She was had been convinced he'd genuinely lost it from the first admission. "It's just fun to hit him."
Sasuke shot her a disapproving look before sighing. Karin crossed her arms. She didn't like the idea of the diamond being gone either. It left them in an even more impossible situation, completely unable to settle the debt with the Akatsuki.
"Why are you wearing a Kirigakure uniform?" Sasuke asked, turning back to Suigetsu.
"Serving my great country of course!" Suigetsu retorted slyly, puffing out his ridiculously thin frame. "I'm a true patriot-"
"HA!" Karin scoffed. "There's not a patriotic bone in your body. Try the truth this time."
Suigetsu acted appalled for a few seconds before rolling his eyes in defeat. A rare display of self-awareness. "Okay, I am in the army… but only for the looting! After we flatten a town it's like expected to steal whatever's left. Personally, my turn overs never been better. I should have thought of this years ago."
"You really are deplorable," Karin said, shaking her head.
"Hey! What the real-world calls criminal, the army calls collateral," he chimed back.
Karin didn't like the way Sasuke kept a level expression, clearly seeing the logic in Suigetsu's claim, however immoral.
"You guys should totally join! The armies really not that bad and you get free food!" Suigetsu offered. "Sasuke knows what I'm talking about. You gotta make a living!"
"Stop sucking up to Sasuke!" Karin interjected.
"Why?" he retorted without missing a beat. "Because that's your job?"
Sasuke was quick to grab her when she launched at Suigetsu, screaming. She all but begged for Sasuke's switchblade, threatening to cut out the smug traitors tongue.
"UGH!" Suigetsu complained, kicking a rock for good measure. "Why are you camped out so far!"
Karin grit her teeth. Suigetsu's voice was beyond shrill. She swore all the trees were making his irritating tone echo.
"This is a death march! I invoke amnesty!" he announced, sinking to the forest floor in a cross-legged protest. "I'll have you know as a prisoner of war that I have rights-"
She was thankful Sasuke got to him first, picking him up by the collar and forcing him to keep walking. Suigetsu annoyingly tried to run in the other direction, causing a brief scuffle. Naturally Sasuke was stronger and steered him back with little effort.
"Ugh! What is this? The middle of nowhere?!" Suigetsu sulked, looking around the forest forlorn, "I'm sooooo tired…. Can someone carry me?"
"No one is going to carry you!" Karin huffed. She delivered a swift kick to his ankles and he wobbled like buoy refusing to sink in the waves. "It's your fault we have to camp out like this anyway!"
"My fault?! How?!" he fired back. "Stupid Karin! I just don't have enough hours in the day to be responsible for everything that goes wrong in your life!"
Truly at the end of her tether, she jumped in front of him, poking him viciously in the chest. Their current predicament was entirely his fault. "We were not working alone in Kirigakure but for a very powerful organisation," she snarled. "These are not people you want to piss off."
"You were members of the Akatsuki?" he questioned with surprising astuteness. Karin was sure it was sinking in, just exactly who's diamond he had lifted. She sneered seeing genuine shock creeping into his expression. He hadn't looked this horrified when he was at the gallows.
Then he flailed. "Who just joins the Akatsuki? Their overhead is like eighty percent! You get like nothing! Are you crazy?!"
Karin closed her eyes in irritation. Of course, that is what he shocked by. The greedy bastard!
"I told Kazaku I'm not splitting my hard earned spoils-"
"Hard earned!" Karin scoffed. "You're a lousy stinking thief! You haven't worked an honest day in your life!"
"I can see Karin being that stupid but you Sasuke?" Karin pursed her lips as Suigetsu ignored her, focusing on Sasuke with feigned concern. "Have you had an aneurysm? Do I need to call a doctor?"
Sasuke levelled him with an intense look. "You know Kazaku? You've worked for the Akatsuki?"
"Yeah! When I was like young and stupid," Suigetsu sighed. "Then I wised up. Like you should have."
"You must have left on good terms," Sasuke said bluntly.
Suigetsu laughed his usual, obnoxious laugh. "Nope! Took everything that wasn't nailed down! Cleaned them right out! Got a bounty on my head and all, apparently."
"How are you not dead?" Karin questioned for the umpteenth time. Was there no one alive that this pond scum hadn't crossed?
"You know what a cheapskate Kakazu is!" he said, dismissively. "He won't even pay his bounty hunters fair. Like ages ago, one actually found me, so I just offered her double the pay and she was gone! Simple!"
Much to Karin's irritation when Suigetsu stopped walking, so did Sasuke. Karin knew never to buy into Suigetsu's stories. He had a real problem with lying. He was really bad at it.
"And Kisame! I know that motherfucker," Suigetsu said, the chains on his shackles rattling. "We grew up on the same island. I know exactly how he thinks. I even know what he looks like-"
"So do we," Karin cut off. She was done with his little speech. They needed to get moving if they wanted to get to camp by nightfall.
"Oh… then you know how he is!" Suigetsu shrugged. "Too much smoke and mirrors, not enough grunt work. He'd never suspect someone to be in the army right under his nose. I'm golden."
As much as Karin hated to admit it, there was some logic to his claims. She could tell Sasuke felt the same when they both gave each other a side glance.
"Besides, the Akatsuki's busy with the Gato business. Half the armies strung out on it. It's worth like a thousand diamonds." He started stretching and Karin prayed that meant he was getting ready to move. "They're focused on squashing any rival cartels. People like us, we're not even worth their time. Here, let me lay it out for you."
When he sat down, intent on drawing a diagram in the dirt, Karin screamed.
"So yeah, Iwa is running over the top of Suna! Their like almost at the capital," Suigetsu said gleefully. "No surprise really. They always need Konoha to bail them out. My outfits killed so many Suna soldiers. Almost feel bad for the stupid motherfuckers. If you joined, it be easy living."
Suigetsu. Was. Still. Talking. Karin had a migraine, Sasuke humouring his prattle for the entire trip making it official. He was asking just enough questions to keep him going, seemingly immune to the moron's unforgiving motormouth. Several traps around the camp had also been triggered by Suigetsu's clumsiness and refusal to listen, leaving Karin fuming.
"Anyway," Suigetsu announced as they finally entered the camp. "I'm like dying! I'm so thirsty from all the walking."
"Are you sure it's not from all the talking?" Karin grumbled.
"Hey! This is a private conversation between Sasuke and me. Keep that brown-nose out of our business."
Head pounding, Karin decided to be the bigger person and walk away. She cheered herself up by inspecting her new arrows, thankful Sasuke had made the time to pick them up during the chaos.
"Rest in pieces me! Is that how you're catching rainwater?" Suigetsu said in distain, observing their tarp. It had been badly damaged in a storm and had been difficult to source the repairs.
"It's leaking!" Suigetsu said in complete and utter anguish, all but sinking to his knees in defeat. Still, he drank greedily. Karin almost shot an arrow in his direction for such selfishness.
"Ugh! Not surprising really, just look at your camp! Half this shit's broken!" Suigetsu announced when he was finished, looking around their set up with disdain. "This is way worse than how you lived in Kirigakure. What's wrong? Is one of you actually ill? Please tell me it's Karin."
"Shut up would you!" Karin said, flustered. She took great issue with him implying he'd been able to find their camp in Kirigakure. She'd suspected he had but most certainly didn't appreciate the reminder.
"Fine! I'm tired anyway. I'm going to sleep," he announced, sinking down by the fire. Despite many a threat he refused to move until it was lit because he could feel he was 'catching pneumonia' from the 'inhumane' conditions. Karin doubted any army could put up with anyone so precious.
"You heard what Suigetsu said. If Iwa has taken all that ground, Suna is in real trouble. Konoha will have to commit troops. That opens the whole front," Sasuke muttered. finishing looping one of the traps. "Kiragakure is heading straight for Konoha. If that happens, we're right at Danzo's throat."
Suigetsu safely asleep, Karin and Sasuke were back to scheming. Truthfully, Karin had missed the regularity of plotting like this. Neither of them were big on small talk so it was comforting to hear more of Sasuke's voice again. Even if she didn't like what he was implying she was getting wrapped up in his hopeful tone, relieved in how certain he sounded.
"We could ransom Suigetsu back to that village!" Karin exclaimed, raising her fist in triumph. "They'll pay a fine price for his most obnoxious head!"
"Karin."
Karin sighed. Her attempts to shut down Sasuke's train of thought moot. She wrapped her arms around her knees and couldn't deny his arguments to join the Kiri army made a little sense. They were running out of money and would soon struggle to eat. The army would feed them but at what price? Winding up dead in the gears of war was never her grand plan.
"It's the only thing in a while that makes sense to me," Sasuke admitted. She shut her eyes, holding onto his words tight. "After everything that's happened… this might be our best shot at Konoha."
"Fine," she muttered irritably. "Just... we'll think about it."
"That's just the most wonderful news," Suigetsu nodded, sitting up. Was he like part bat? How had he heard them from so far away? "Because my platoons in the area and I've used your stupid fire to signal distress! They should be here any minute!"
"Are you sure-"
"Yes Sasuke! I'm sure!"
It made more sense for her to keep a hold of Suigetsu during the standoff. Sasuke looked a lot more threatening and made for better protection. She gave Suigetsu a shake for good measure, letting him know she wouldn't hesitate to slit his throat.
"No! Swap! Swap!" Suigetsu complained.
"Shut up!" Karin hissed. She could hear twigs snapping and leaves rustling. People were surrounding them.
"Just calm down alright, I'll totally vouch for you," Suigetsu offered. "I mean, it's the least I can do after such hospitality."
She barely had time to react to his condescending change in tone as a blistering pain sunk into her thigh. Karin tried to keep her grip on Suigetsu but he wrestled free. He'd stabbed her but there was something worse than the pain.
"How?" Karin almost gasped. She was the one that searched him! How had she missed a knife! When she looked at the familiar hilt of the blade, she narrowed her eyes.
"This is your switchblade," Karin said in disbelief, pulling at the knife she had bought Sasuke for his birthday. Sasuke turned out his pockets, almost paling when he realised his knife was in fact gone. Suigetsu's protests all the way to the camp made a lot more sense and the half-hearted scuffle with Sasuke an ulterior purpose.
"You stinking, rotten pickpocket!" Karin shouted at his retreating back. When Sasuke chased after him, Suigetsu triggered the trap they had just reset, Sasuke forced to stop at snapping wire.
"Back you fiend!" Suigetsu taunted, entirely too smug. Shadows were emerging from the tree line as he hopped away. Despite tying his legs together, Suigetsu was still annoyingly agile, able to bounce around with frustrating ease.
Knowing they were surrounded, Karin cast a desperate look at Sasuke for direction. When he sunk to his knees, she squeezed her eyes shut but followed his lead, raising her hands in surrender.
"My one and only comrades!" Suigetsu greeted as about nine soldiers came into view. Karin tried not to feel intimidated and kept a keen eye on the ones that stepped closer. "I come bearing new recruits!"
Was he actually keeping to his offer? Suigetsu gestured to them lazily before holding up his bound hands. "Uncuff me my faithful brothers in arms!"
"How did you get put in shackles?" one of them questioned, sounding exhausted.
"Again?" Another interjected. Sheer and utter disbelief plastered on their weathered face.
"Again!" Karin couldn't help but repeat. How many brushes with death had that slimy eel survived? Was there no justice in this world?!
"Well that is a funny and, might I add, completely true story." Suigetsu started and Karin was already rolling her eyes. "I met this girl that was into this really kinky shit-" When he abruptly stopped and pointed in her direction Karin was fuming at the implication.
"Wait… that's her!" he accused, tone so shrill birds scattered from the trees. "That's the girl! That's the predator!"
"I am going to flay you alive!" Karin threatened.
"See?" he retorted, sagely. "Her kinks are a menace to society. What'd you think Hattori? Lock her up?"
A man stepped forward, carrying himself with all the authority of a leader. Even with the bad scarring across his face, Karin could make out the pent-up irritation he held, squarely aimed at Suigetsu. "You are hanging by the skin of your teeth Suigetsu," Hattori half snarled, Suigetsu all but cowering. "I've had enough of your stupid little fantasies. One more ridiculous story and I'm writing you up for disciplinary action."
"Disciplining him doesn't work!" Karin called. Lord knows the Youth Armed Sanctuary had tried. He was an impossible case and would never respect any kind of authority.
Suigetsu began laughing so hard he was close to tears. "So you admit it?!"
Karin felt flustered when she connected it all together. She hadn't meant disciplining in that way! Suigetsu really was disgusting.
"You sick freak!" Karin shouted before looking around the group in a desperate attempt to clarify. "I didn't mean it that way! I-"
"Enough," Sasuke interrupted, using a similar tone Hattori had used with Suigetsu. "We want to join."
"Is that so?" Karin felt uneasy when Hattori set them with an unfeeling look. "Well under new order from the Emperor, Kiri is not taking any recruits inland. They could be Konoha spies."
"Wait, what?" Suigetsu perked up from his laughing fit. "Then what do we do with them?"
Karin was on edge when four people moved.
"Kill them."
"We're not spies," Sasuke argued, somehow managing to sound calm. Panicked, Karin knew they had to plead their case. It didn't look good for them and she tried to get control of her breathing and just think.
Then she heard him, the traitorous swine.
"Oh no…" Suigetsu stated, not even a little bit sorry. He gestured to one of the soldiers not currently intent on murdering them. "Well anyway. Shackles off please."
"You fucking son of bitch!" Karin shouted. This was all his fault! "You undeniable bastard!"
"Language! Is that really what you want your last words to be?" Suigetsu chimed back. "You… Konoha spy!"
Mind finally clearing, Karin realised this wasn't the first time they had crossed paths with the Kirigakure army.
"Ha! Konoha spies?! US? We hate Konoha!" Karin spat on the ground, intent on reason. "We are proud Otogakure-"
"Who would be proud from being from Otogakure!? Ammirite?"
"For once in your life would you just shut- Wait!" Karin stopped her tirade when she saw a kunai in her periphery. "We've actually already been recruited! We're both from the Youth Armed Sanctuary-"
"The Youth Armed what?" someone asked, behind her.
"Oh… surely you know the Youth Armed Sanctuary?" Karin replied. Suigetsu had been a member for gods sake. "Kirigakure liberated it. It was founded by a man named-"
"That cult hidden in the Gohan mountains," Sasuke explained, painfully succinct. "Suigetsu used to be a recruit."
Hattori turned to Suigetsu in genuine shock. "Wait… I thought you made all that stuff up?"
"I most certainly did not," Suigetsu retorted, flailing about. "I told you! Crazy cult leader, never-ending tunnels and child minions ahoy! I was kidnapped by a cult. A cult-"
"Oh yeah! The cult!" Suddenly a woman was crouching down near Karin, looking at her like she was some exotic animal in a zoo.
"I heard about that! Everyone was like brainwashed zombies," another person behind her chimed. "They like all committed suicide-"
"Yeah, like all except a few," Karin spoke up, trying not to be insulted by being compared to a brainwashed zombie. She needed to stay on message and spoke in her sweetest, most grateful tone. "We prisoners at the Youth Armed Sanctuary were saved by your countries selfless bravery. Once liberated we were asked to join one of the regiments. Regiment…"
She couldn't remember. She almost cursed at Sasuke when he gave her a confused look. He didn't remember either. Wracking her brain, she tried not to be intimidated by the soldiers still closing in on them.
"Wait!" She didn't need to remember the regiment. She had tangible, physical proof. "I have draft papers! I got a mark for archery! I've been using it as a bookmark!"
She thanked the gods she never threw out anything useful, the paper thick and cut nicely to flag novels. "It's in my bag."
The woman crouching next to her moved for her bag when gestured. Karin was honestly surprised at the care the woman took to keep her things in order before finding her novel. A shocked silence gripped the group when it was held up. The book was a bodice ripping novel and the cover more than portrayed that, the main characters scantily clad and in a very compromising position.
"This is yours?" the soldier asked incredulously, eyebrow raised. "It looks like erotica-"
"NO!" Karin argued, beyond flustered. "I've never seen that book before in my life! Are you kidding?! I would never actually read something like that!"
She felt her voice becoming small as everyone continued to stare. A chorus of unwanted judgement for sure. "But… the papers inside… are mine."
"Wait… you said you were using it as a bookmark."
"That would suggest you've been reading it."
"Yeah, Karin."
"How did it get in your bag if it's not yours?"
"If it's not your book, then how do we know these are your papers-"
"I… ugh. Fine!" Karin knew she must be bright red by now, heart racing. "It's mine! Are you all happy! You judgemental pieces of shit!"
When Suigetsu burst out laughing again Karin folded her arms and tried not to pout.
"Is it any good?" the woman holding the book asked, turning it over to read the blurb. Karin might have misconstrued the woman's interest as entirely hostile, when she was only curious.
"It's actually not bad," Karin shrugged, responding to the conversational tone. "The main character falls madly in love with a pirate-"
"Ooh a pirate!" the soldier repeated excitedly. "A swashbuckling adventure! I've just finished my book. Wanna swap? It's about a woman that falls in love with a priest-"
"Ooh! Don't tell me!" Karin interjected, already getting swept up in the potential drama. "Their love is forbidden but he just can't resist her seduction. He struggles at every agonising turn to uphold his vows as she tempts him away from his religion?! Already love it! Okay, let's swap!"
She felt more relaxed as the woman riled through her own pack eagerly. Hattori cleared his throat in irritation. "Yuki!"
The young woman looked at him quizzically.
"The papers," he spelled out, holding out an impatient hand. Yuki jumped, shuffling over to the man. Karin took the opportunity to check in with Sasuke, who was already staring at her. He frowned, mouth a tight line of disapproval.
"Religion is a sanctity."
"Oh shut up Sasuke!" Karin retorted, apologising to no man, not even her own. "You know I live for this shit."
He just shook his head. "You're talking about blasphemy-"
"It's fiction!" With an eye roll she looked back to the soldier examining her draft papers.
"It's legit. See the watermark."
"Fine," Hattori nodded before gesturing at Sasuke. "That doesn't explain this guy."
"Oh, he's totally legit!" Suigetsu affirmed loudly. "And speaking of priests! Me and Sasuke go like waaaay back. He ran away from home to join a monastery. He's a devout man of the cloth you see."
He jumped over to them, kneeling in front of Sasuke. Sasuke clearly didn't like the familiarity and backed away, eyes narrowed.
"He's always been a total prude. So of course, he's like completely celibate. No sex, like no jobs even. Completely unemployed! We can check. He's so committed he asked to be castrated-"
It was then that Sasuke choose to headbutt Suigetsu in the nose. The heavy thud of the impact making Karin shiver. She wiggled around gleefully "Hit him again, hit him again!"
"No! Do not hit me again!" Suigetsu moaned, his ironclad braces rattling. "That really hurt! ARGH!"
In one swift move Sasuke was pressing on Suigetsu's neck with his forearm, choking him. Karin instinctively grabbing a hold of Suigetsu's legs to increase the odds of suffocation. She tried not to laugh but the fact none of Suigetsu's platoon cared about his imminent death was telling.
"I'm an Uchiha. No one here hates Konoha more than I do," Sasuke announced, having to gamble his real identity. Suigetsu was turning a most wonderful shade of purple but Karin knew he had a disgustingly large lung capacity.
Hattori raised his hands in the air in frustration. "Why didn't you just say you were an Uchiha? We can invoke the refugee act."
"Yeah, no problem," Yuki added. "You should have just said that from the beginning."
Sasuke grit his teeth before much to Karin's despair, releasing Suigetsu. She almost cried watching the colour return to his face as he gasped for air like a baited fish.
If they were to be accepted into the Kirigakure army they must first complete an interview and then the mandatory training program. Sasuke was furious, bemoaning the training a complete waste of time as he stormed off to shower. Karin wasn't so quick to judge and she was actually looking forward to the next two months, feeling they had a real chance to build their strength.
Karin looked around at all the tents critically, wondering how long this small encampment would hold position. She'd barely done one lap before she spotted Suigetsu, who unfortunately, spotted her back. Flipping each other off in greeting she was surprised when his jeer liquified and he hurried over to her.
She was halfway to the mess hall before he caught up to her and instead of his usual quips, dragged her behind a munitions crate.
"Do not touch me-"
When he held his hand up for quiet Karin could see how serious the move was. "He was behind you," he muttered. "Just stay quiet okay."
Frowning, Karin stuck her head over the crate to see who this 'he' was. As far as she was concerned, no one had been following her. She caught a quick glance at the object of Suigetsu's fear, a young boy that looked no older than twelve. Karin lowered herself back down, suspicious of the way Suigetsu seemed to have paled.
"Why are you so afraid?" she whispered, deciding to buy into his sudden, uncharacteristic caution. "It's just some kid."
"Because that kid is a fucking psychopath," Suigetsu hissed back, pushing his fringe out of his face almost shakily. "Now shut up before he hears you."
Karin stole another look at the boy, his expression decidedly void. She knew better than to underestimate anyone and he was rather tall for his age. Was he particularly skilled in close combat? Karin found that hard to believe. Maybe he was a talented long-range fighter?
Or Suigetsu was just messing with her. His bated stillness suggested not. He was always quick to a punchline and he seemed to be gripped in genuine dread at this copper haired child.
When the boy was out of earshot she looked to Suigetsu for clarification, watching him wipe his forehead as if he had been sweating.
"So that's Juugo," Suigetsu explained. "Most fucked up creep on the planet. Got ordered to 'clear out' this village about a nine months ago. That 'kid' got ahead when there was a break in the line… made it to the village all by himself…"
Karin noted the way he was still whispering. Suigetsu was unapologetically loud so it was strange to see him acting so demure.
"He killed everyone. Women, children. A baby… Everyone. It was a complete massacre."
So that's the way this child was terrifying. He followed orders to the letter but Karin couldn't help but note that is what an army expected of a soldier.
"He was ordered to clear out the village," she reminded.
"See. You're still completely fucked up from Orochimaru," Suigetsu said, shaking his head in disgust. "The commander was obviously talking about occupying it, not razing it. They were all just civilians. Juugo has no morals, no humanity."
"And that's saying something coming from you," Karin decided.
Suigetsu wasn't even baited by her insult, that in itself terrifying. Karin felt unnerved when he continued, "Killing doesn't mean anything to him. Juugo's not right in the head. They shouldn't even let him serve, he's got a nasty temper… he's plain mental. They should lock that monster up and throw away the key."
Karin remembered how many people she used to wilfully miss when she had finished her archery training. Humans had to be trained to kill. Suigetsu made it seem like Juugo wasn't human. A true psychopath.
"Anyway, after the whole village thing I couldn't sleep for a week!"
"Just a week?" Karin sighed, sensing he was finally back to his loud, loathsome self.
"It was very traumatic for me," he argued. "Their eyes were just staring me down while I stole their shit."
Karin made sure he saw her eyeroll before sauntering away.
MetaMirage: Considering the state of everything it's nice to post a more comedic chapter. Not gonna lie, Suigetsu is beyond fun to write. Karin and Sasuke are less emotive and more guarded so its honestly liberating to describe someone so expressive and unapologetically chaotic. Next few chapters are going to have the team finally assemble, including Juugo :)
Who's randomly a child… because he just randomly became a child in the series… so… yeah… that was a thing…