I wrote this chapter quickly after a stream of conciousness. I started and couldn't stop.
I read it over and over and I find myself having a love hate feeling with it. I hope you guys enjoy it.
Some AU here, the events changed a little here.

Also! This is my first ever fight scene as well with best boy Kiba! My husband! These are the hardest to write for me.

Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, don't hold back! The next chapter will contain some citrus goodness.

Enjoy, and remember: I love you~

xoxo

The air outside was cool, despite the large sun in the sky. Not a single cloud in sight. It was a beautiful day, but a terrible day to return to her team with empty hands. It had been a week since team Hebi had split up to gather information about Itachi's location for Sasuke, who hadn't left her thoughts the entire week. Despite speaking to multiple people, socializing with civilians, questioning innkeepers and bar staff, she had felt so alone that week. She felt the solitude she felt when she lost her village. When she lost her genin team. When she was locked in Orochimaru's dungeons for experimentation. Without Sasuke, solitude dominated her. He was all she had in the end.

After trying to hard to gather information on Itachi, she had come short. Everyone seemed to know about the looming threat of the Akatsuki and would give out information, but none pertaining to Itachi. All she had gathered was that the Akatsuki never traveled alone, always in duos. Yugito Nii of Kumogakure and Asuma Sarutobi from the leaf had been murdered by a duo consisting of a silver haired man and a masked man. None fit the description of Sasuke's older brother. She gathered that the organization was strong, taking Yugito out, who was known for her battle prowess. Karin didn't know who Asuma was though. It was clear the older Uchiha had not come through this town. Much to Karin's dislike. She hoped to get the location and impress Sasuke with it, but that dream would never come true. Hopefully Suigetsu or Jugo had more luck. The gods knew Karin wanted this vengeance tirade to be over. It was wearing the younger Uchiha down and slowly turning him into something she felt he was not. She felt it since he showed up at the southern hideout to get her. His chakra was tainted. It was dark and hostile compared to the dazzling and incredible chakra he had before.

Karin let out a deep sigh as she looked in the room she had rented for the week. Goodbye solitude. She shut the wooden door behind her and made her way down to the lobby of the small inn. It was so much nicer than the previous inns she had stayed in. The staff had been much friendlier, much more warm and less greedy than she was used to. In fact, everything about this place was unusual. People seemed happy. And clueless. Everyone was just going on with their lives. Not having a care in the world. Was this what it was like in the land of fire? In Oto, the people were depressed. Angry. Hostile and scared. What a change of pace. She wasn't used to it and it made her uncomfortable.

She paid for the room with the money Sasuke granted her before leaving and the innkeeper sent her off with a wide smile, wishing her good luck on her journey. He even gave her a paper bag filled with bread and various pastries his wife had made. She had told the man she was a travelling kunoichi, hoping to gain experience in the field and train as hard as she could to save her country. All lies. She was good at lying. And she didn't feel bad about it.

She waved back and thanked him for everything, offering the fakest of smiles and quickly took to the exit of the inn, stepping out and letting out a sigh, digging into the paper back and shoving a bread roll into her mouth. She rolled the paper bag back up and shoved it into her pack, swallowing the bread down and wiped the crumbs off her hands onto her black cloak and began making her way down the street to leave the village. Man, it was already crowded out. People walking down the street in both directions, occasionally brushing up against people. This was probably what she hated the most about this village. Unless it was Sasuke, she hated to be touched. She walked for a few more minutes when she sensed a strong chakra in the distance, down the road. Stronger than the puny guards this town had.
12'o clock. 36 metres away. A minute passed. 35 metres away.
After only a few more seconds, the chakra disappeared. Someone was here and was masking their chakra. Must not be a very intelligent shinobi, whatever. She continued her way.

A few minutes passed when Karin noticed a female walking with a dog. Was that a leaf headband? The girl had short soft pink hair, beguiling light green eyes, full lips, and a large forehead. She was dressed in a cream-colored cloak. Judging by the leaf headband, she was the one who entered the village without masking her chakra. Karin narrowed her eyes slightly behind her glasses and she pushed them up the bridge of her nose, cause the sunlight to beam off of them, the glare of the light hid her eyes.

The redhead slowly passed the pinkette, brushing against her shoulder. Karin was very weary of leaf ninja, knowing Sasuke was from there and hearing about how persistent they had been in retrieving him. If they found out she was with him, they would surely capture her then what good would she be to Sasuke? Stay far away. Once passed the woman, Karin began to walk faster to escape the scene undetected and she did, soon pulling up the hood of her cloak to hide herself.

Upon reaching the village gates she felt more chakra from outside the village. It was dimmed down. Whoever this was, they weren't great at hiding themselves. A dog was with them as well. They're looking for someone. This was the second shinobi she'd noticed with a ninken*. Dammit. Karin rushed out of the village gates when suddenly a large dog began to bark aggressively. It was sniffing the air frantically and it started to walk her way. A deep and raspy voice called out to her. Shit!"

"Hey! You!"

The dog trotted to her side and was growling aggressively, sniffing at her bag. Karin pulled the bag away from the dog and narrowed her eyes, turning to face whoever the owner was.

"What is your dog's problem?! I am in a hurry, what do you want?"

The man stepped forward. He wore a black leather jacket with a mesh shirt underneath and classic ninja pants with sandals. Looking up from the dog to meet his gaze, he had wild brown hair that stuck out in ever direction, proudly wearing his Konoha headband across his forehead. Sunkissed skin. Clearly muscular. He had feral-like eyes. Instead of round irises, his were slits. His brows were furrowed, and he barred his fangs. He sniffed the air around her and continued to approach. Karin took a few steps back.

"W-what?" The large cream-colored dog kept growling ferociously at her, barking loudly.

"Akamaru, stand down. Wait."

The dog kept growling, but it sat and stopped trying to intimidate her which was honestly starting to work. She really didn't need a skirmish with a leaf ninja right now. The brunette smelled the air once again and snarled lowly.

"Well boy, it might not be him but… Close enough."

Him? They were after Sasuke! And Karin being Karin, of course she had to be caught with a sweat soaked shirt of Sasuke's by an animalistic ninja who can smell things from miles away. But how did the other dog with the woman not notice? Was this guy that good? She needed to get out of there. 'I don't think I can take this guy in a fight…Dammit.'

The redhead took a single step back before she dashed away as fast as she could jumping up to a tree branch nearby. If she was going to fight, she couldn't do it here, not with guards around. They would take the leaf ninja's side over hers any day. She heard him order the dog to follow her and they both did. She couldn't outrun ninken. Dashing from branch to branch cause her hood to slip back and her vibrant red hair was revealed, flowing in the wind as she fled. She closed her eyes as she jumped, sensing his chakra fully now. The dog was closing in on her. They were catching up. Fuck!

Jumping to one final branch, Karin went to jump down when she suddenly, that damned dog caught her, biting into her black cloak and made her fall from the branch. She fell to the ground with the hound, a loud thud and some dirt kicked up from the ground. It squirmed to it's feet and lunged at her as she lay on the ground. Karin rolled over just enough to only be bit on the forearm and she twisted her core to savagely kick the ninken in the head, making it let go. She moaned in pain and held her arm for a split second as she got to her knees when 4 kunai came flying at her. She threw herself and tumbled out of the way. She got to her feet as quickly as she could when the brunette man dashed forward at her and threw a punch which Karin blocked, taking the hit into her uninjured arm.
'I can't beat him in taijutsu…Think!'

"Go, Akamaru! Now!"

Before she could even react, Akamaru began to spin in the air and he crashed straight into her side, sending her flying and crashing to the ground, a loud cry of pain escaped her lips. This was 2 vs 1. The man leapt over to her and got on top of her, pinning her wrists above her head, his knee dug into her thighs so she couldn't kick. He smirked arrogantly above her and she turned her head to the side to avoid his gaze, writhing in pain but still struggled against his grasp.

"Yer a pretty one. The hell're you doin' running with a guy like that?"

He moved a hand, scraping the back of her hand in the dirt when he grabbed her slim wrist with the other hand, holding her down with only one arm. He was strong.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

He let out a loud laugh.

"Bullshit. Where is he?!"

Karin closed her eyes and focused. 'I won't let this bastard take me out. No way…'

The redhead focused underneath Kiba's grasp, a little moan of pain coming from her lips as he pressed tighter into her. Before Kiba could press her for more questions, Karin had focused all of her chakra into her strongest ability, suddenly shooting adamantine chakra chains out from her body, propelling Kiba away from her as the chains slammed into his stomach, blasting him into a tree, a loud groan of pain coming from him as he's knocked out from the blow to the tree.

Akamaru barked loudly and Karin shot to her feet, rushing to pull out a bottle of potent perfume from her bag. She threw it as hard as she could into Akamaru's skull, the bottle bursting and perfume sprayed everywhere on the dog, filling the area with the scent of gardenia, bergamot and ylang-ylang, making the dog begin to shake it's head violently and begin to sneeze, her queue to escape and she did, dashing out from the area and ran. She ran for as long as she possibly could. She escaped the leaf ninja. They will be back. Sasuke was not gonna be happy to hear his old friends were after him again.

Hours passed as Karin traveled to the meeting point Sasuke had established for the team. She didn't feel she was being followed the entire time she had been running but she was incredibly tired now. Using her chains took a lot out of her and she was nearly defeated, having taken many hits. Jeez, she was returning to her leader with no information whatsoever and the news that leaf ninja were coming after him. Greeeaaaat.

She entered the smaller village that was marked on the map she had and stopped before the gates where she easily spotted Suigetsu and Jugo standing at the spot they were supposed to. Jugo saw her first and waved at her, the look on his face turned sour when he saw her tattered and dirty outfit. The cloak had torn in a few places, particularly at her forearm that had been bitten through. Suigetsu piped up and pushed off one of the barrels he was leaning on.

"Here she comes, miss bi- Shit, what the fuck happened to you?"

The redhead joined her teammates and leaned into the barrel Suigetsu had been leaning on and took a deep breath, dropping her pack on the barell and pulled out the bread the innkeeper had given her. She took a small bite before speaking. She needed to gather her strength back.

"Leaf shinobi."

She whispered with a mouthful of bread. She swallowed hard and took Suigetsu's water bottle from his hands and sucked on the straw, not even caring his mouth had been on it, she was parched.

"Hey!" He snatched his bottle back and glared at her.

"Leaf ninja? Why have they attacked you?"

The large man asked quietly, concerned for her.

"They're after-"

"Sasuke!" The larger man called out before rushing over to a limping Sasuke. He looked worse than she had ever seen him. Never had she seen him so beat up. Some tears came to her eyes and she cried his name out also rushing to him.

The injured man collapsed into Jugo's arms who slowly lowered him down. He grunted in pain and coughed some blood out, spitting to the side. Karin dove down on the ground next to him and roughly rolled her sleeve up and took him from Jugo, laying Sasuke in her lap and offered her arm for him to bite her so she could heal him. She didn't have too much chakra to offer but she would give him her life if she needed to. Suigetsu came to their side and grimaced at the sight of Sasuke. He bit into her arm almost immediately. Karin let out a moan, a mixture of pain and pleasure. Embarrassing.

"Match made in hell, you two. Damn. Let's get him to a bed, people're watching."

Suigetsu rushed ahead of the team to go get a room for them. Karin sat there on her knees with him in her lap for a moment longer, pouring whatever she had left into him. She removed her arm and he coughed, cursing under his breath. He was also chakra depleted she could feel it. She stroked his forehead soothingly.

"Oh, Sasuke…" The redhead whispered when Jugo moved his arms to help the raven-haired man get up and stand, Using Jugo for support. He muttered a thanks under his breath which was followed by a groan and they started making their way towards the inn. What the hell happened?

The trio made it to the inn, acquiring many strange looks from the people in the street and in the lobby of the hotel. Suigetsu had gotten two rooms waved them to follow him up. Jugo carried Sasuke up the stairs and they made it to the first room. Suigetsu unlocked it and Jugo took Sasuke into the room, laying him on the bed gently. Karin stepped in and was followed by Suigetsu who shut the door behind him. Karin discarded her tattered cloak in a swift motion and threw her shoes off, quickly making her way to the bed to sit beside the injured man, pushing Jugo out of her way rather forcefully. As she sat, the bed shifted to her weight and Sasuke shifted a little to adjust to it. It was a very soft bed.

"What the hell happened? The other guy dead at least?"

Suigetsu asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the white painted wall. Jugo went and sat in a chair and stayed quiet. Karin whipped her head around furiously. Her red hair followed the movement and whipped Sasuke in the face, making him cough and spit. She hadn't even noticed. He whispered, "watch it."

"Suigetsu! Mind letting him rest first!? He's injured, now's not the time to answer questions, you idiot!"

"You let him rest, yer smothering him as you bitch!"

"Get out, Suigetsu!"

Sasuke groaned and moved a hand onto Karin's lap and in a hoarse voice, spoke.

"Quit yelling… Or both of you will leave. My head hurts."

The redhead narrowed her eyes at Suigetsu and returned her attention to Sasuke, placing her hand over his and frowned.

"Sorry. Here." Karin moved her hand and moved the sleeve of her light purple shirt up and repeated the same action as earlier. He clamped his teeth down on her arm and her cheeks grew pink as she started to heal him. Pouring her chakra into him.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go drop my shit in my room. Be back later. I didn't get anything info by the way."

Suigetsu let out a sigh and slid out the door. Jugo soon stood up and headed for the door.

"But I did. We will discuss when you are in a better condition. Rest well."

The large man spoke and offered a small smile before following Suigetsu. They left Karin alone with Sasuke, leaving her to heal him which is what she was doing. The redhead blushed a little now that they were alone. He stopped biting down on her arm and she took it away, letting out a sigh. He slowly sat up in the bed and also let out a sigh.

"S-sorry I couldn't heal you more…I also had a rough morning."

Sasuke turned his head to look at her and then turned back, staring at the sheets. He moved his hand back to her thigh and gripped it a little. Her skin was cold, and his hand was warm. His touch shot flames up her body. Flames of desire. His following words also struck her. Appreciation wasn't his strong suit.

"Thank you, Karin."

He moved up a little and grunted. Her crimson eyes watched him closely and she frowned. It hurt her to see him injured. Damn you to hell, leaf nin. Had she had more chakra; she could have healed him completely.

"Of course! Once my chakra is restored, I'll have healed completely. Here."

The redhead got off the bed and quickly made her way to the bathroom. Spacious. She thought as she entered it. She took a white washcloth and ran it under cold water and then ran another under warm water. She returned to the bed with both and sat in the spot she had been in. Sasuke had moved back into the bed and sat against the headboard with the pillows at his lower back. Karin leaned in and took the warm rag, softly wiping the blood from his mouth and cleaned off the dirt in his face, taking in his handsome features. She had never truly just examined his face from this close. His eyes were beautiful and dangerous... She offered a warm smile that was not reciprocated. But he let her clean him up.
She was being very gentle and caring. 'Nothing but the best for my Sasuke.'

His onyx orbs followed her crimson ones closely as she worked on him. She truly was devoted. Her loyalty did not go unnoticed. Something inside him urged to kiss her, but he would not fall through.

Karin discarded the now dirty rag and picked up the cold wet cloth, slowly placing it on his forehead.

"For your headache."

She spoke softly and raked her fingers through his messy black hair. Looking his face over again, she noticed he was staring at her. Those dark eyes, they were staring into her soul and it made her slightly uneasy as well as aroused.

"W-what is it?"

Sasuke sighed softly and moved his hand up her thigh but then took his hand away and placed it on his lap. He averted his gaze from her face before speaking.

"Did you get any leads?"

Karin frowned at the question and shook her head. She needed to tell him the leaf shinobi were coming for him. But he needed to rest. She decided to hold her tongue for the time being.

"No. I think I got information about every Akatsuki but Itachi and his partner. I'm sorry, Sasuke."

Karin lowered her crimson eyes, hiding them behind black lashes when Sasuke moved a hand to her chin and lifted her gaze up to look at him. He leaned in with a slight wince and pressed his lips to her soft and supple ones, engaging her in a kiss. Extremely surprising. She returned the kiss, pressing into it and moved her hand to cup his cheek. He soon broke it and let the washcloth fall from his forehead, taking the opportunity to press it to hers. Where was this coming from? Did he hit his head? Maybe escaping death made him come to his senses.

"What was that…for?"

Sasuke scoffed and moved both hands to her shoulders, moving her back so she could lay on her back. He leaned over her. Clearly, she healed him more than she thought she did. He gazed down at her as he moved a hand to the zipper of her shirt, moving the zip down to expose her shoulder, sliding it out of the shirt.

"I need you…"

He spoke low and huskily, lowering his head and kissed her shoulder, before parting his lips and biting down into her skin, making her moan. She moved a hand around his neck and fisted his black hair and she focused some chakra to the bite, healing him as much as she could take. His teeth sinking into her gave her pleasure and pain, a mixture she knew she liked. A mixture she would only ever accept from Sasuke. After a small moment he pulled back and kissed her neck, moving a hand to press against her waist, a low growl escaped his lips and the following sentence rooted her in place under him. Was she dreaming?

"Going a week without you was hard."

He missed me…

He needs me...