AN: So, I'm trying my hand at inktober this year-31 days, 31 prompts, 31 drabbles. We'll see just how well that goes! I'm doing all ItaKarin, but I'll add sideships as needed, when they're relevant. This chapter is vaguely T-rated, closer to M, but the ratings will vary. I'll try to remember to post those at the beginning of each chapter!
Thank you to everyone who reads, follows, and favorites! Reviews are very much appreciated!
The trees are thinner now, relieved of summer's lagging humidity. The light that passes through the remaining leaves is soft, hazy to Itachi's eyes, though when he activates his Sharingan it's all brought into perfect clarity, every drop of dew suspended between cobwebs, every thin vein on the slowly curling leaves.
The air is clearer in the Land of Fire, lacking the smog and human scent of Ame.
He rises slowly onto his elbows, the sore muscles in his back protesting when he does. Perhaps he's getting too old to be doing things like this anymore, too old to be camping out in the woods with no shelter, no cover aside from the clothes on his back.
Karin is still fast asleep in the grass next to him, wrapped comfortably in his cloak. She's half-buried in the leaves that had fallen while they slept, her cheeks rosy from the cold and her eyelashes wet.
She'd been warm enough when she'd pulled off of him last night, sticky with sweat, her naked back dyed orange by the light of their fire.
She commandeered his cloak before he could offer it to her, rolling back onto the grass with her naked legs peeking out from underneath.
Kabuto says Sasuke's training is going well, she told him, waiting until he stood to dress to begin talking. Next year, he said—Sasuke's body will be ready next year.
Another year of waiting, potentially. Another year before Sasuke is ready to face him, and yet…
"Mhm. Hey, you."
He hadn't intended to wake Karin, but it happens anyway—even the slightest stirring of his chakra will eventually rouse her.
Karin rolls over onto her back, blinking lazily up at him. With or without his Sharingan, her hair is still the brightest thing in the forest, more red than the pillow of red maple leaves under her head.
She's slightly disheveled under his robe, her shirt still unzipped and her collar wrinkled. She at least had the presence of mind to replace the thin band of black fabric around her chest, though her stomach is bare under the parted halves of her shirt. "What time is it?"
"Early." Early enough that the early morning fog still clings to them both, that when Karin sighs, her breath rises in a small cloud above her
"Feels too early," Karin grumbles. She tucks his robe around her shoulders, snuggling further into it. "We gotta find an inn next time. Winter is gonna kill me."
"Maybe." Most of their meetings are planned well in advance to allow him to find suitable lodging, but occasionally things fall into place by chance—Karin will sense his chakra and come in search of him.
An inn would be much more convenient, but Orochimaru's spies are plentiful and the inviting fires he sees through the windows of village inns are not as safe as they appear.
For the type of business he and Karin conduct, a lonely corner of the forest will have to suffice.
Karin hums. "You'll probably need to be going soon, huh?" she asks. "I told Kabuto I'd be back by the end of the day, but I can run fast if I need to, though," she tells him, only half-joking. There's very little she would ever offer him that she wouldn't willingly give, very little she would have an interest in withholding from him.
The corner of Karin's mouth perks up. "You see something worth remembering?" she asks. She slips a little more out of his robe, and the hand that wraps around his bicep is cold, her bare forearm rough with goosebumps. It's only the first day of fall, but winter feels all the more closer for it.
ink
The cold makes him denser, makes the rot he's been carrying around in his lungs even more solid, even more substantial. Spending so much time in the cold is bad for his health, but Itachi has promises yet to keep—months, perhaps, until he'll be called upon to fulfill his obligation to Sasuke.
Karin cocks her head. "So are you going to be leaving soon or what?"
Itachi shrugs. "There is still time left."