Something More
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: I am taking some liberties with how strong/weak Karin's healing abilities are to make the story flow more smoothly. My usage of her healing capabilities may or may not line up completely with cannon. This is after all, somewhat of an AU.
Chapter 6
An hour later, Taka was inside a hotel suite that they had purchased. It was just cheaper to get one large suite than multiple rooms. At the moment, Suigetsu was every inch a member of Taka because he was watching the unconscious Uchiha like a hawk.
"She's going to be okay. She bit me. Suki's strong. She'll be alright." Karin says.
Suigetsu wasn't entirely certain if she said that to comfort him or to reassure herself. He suspected the latter. That banshee had never liked him. That was okay though. He didn't like her either!
"The Rasengan is a powerful attack. She's lucky that it didn't literally tear her in half. A few more inches would have killed her. Even with Karin's healing, she's likely going to be sore for awhile." Jugo reasons.
The sword lover feels himself twitch at that reasonable assessment. It wasn't that Jugo was wrong, but he didn't want to hear it. Sugietsu didn't want to hear about how close to death the Princess had really come.
"SHUT UP! DON'T TALK LIKE THAT!" He yells at the gentle giant.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. Well maybe not the words, but Suigetsu regretted how loudly he had said them. Karin was openly gaping at him like a fish now and Jugo was staring at him. Damn it.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry." Jugo apologizes.
"I'm not worried about the Ice Princess! She's going to be fine! Sheesh! You two are both crazy." Suigetsu snaps at the gentle giant.
"You're a really bad liar." Suki says through gritted teeth.
Karin's healing abilities had sown up the worst of the damage. She was still in one piece. Suki doubted that she'd even have a scar from the encounter, but for now she was in a lot of pain.
"Suki! Thank goodness! You're okay!" Karin says, sighing in relief.
She didn't know what she would do without her. Jugo was alright most of the time, but he could fly into a homicidal rage in an instant. That and there was always Suigetsu.
Suigetsu was really annoying. Karin didn't understand why Suki put up with him. That and she really didn't understand why the Uchiha had let cuddle up to her like that. It wasn't like Suigetsu was her boyfriend or anything!
"Yeah. Thanks to all of you." Suki whispers.
It was a good thing that Jugo had distracted the Leaf Ninjas. Karin had healed her and Suigetsu had teleported her off. At that moment, Suki was more convinced than ever that she had chosen her team well.
The young Uchiha would be the first to admit that her team wasn't entirely mentally stable, but they were all skilled ninjas. They worked well as a unit. It didn't matter that Jugo was unstable. It didn't matter that Suigetsu and Karin fought like cats and dogs.
What mattered is that they worked well together in battle. For a ninjas, that was the most important factor in whether or not they were part of a successful team.
"I'm glad that you're okay." Jugo says with a smile.
"Yeah. Where would we be without our fearless Ice Princess to lead us off to battle and nearly get her pretty ass killed?" The violet eyed ninja inquires slyly.
SMACK! After Karin smacks the sword lover, she twitches. How dare he speak about Suki like that?! She had risked her life for him! The last thing the woman needed was to listen to his stupid remarks!
"OWE! What the Hell was that for?!" Suigetsu growls.
"That was for being a pervert. What are you doing looking at Suki like that?! When she gets better, I hope she Chidoris you or lets one of those Ninja Cats have a go at you!" The red head exclaims.
Suki sighs as she watches the confrontation. Alright, maybe it was a little annoying that Karin and Suigetsu were always fighting. She was still proud of her team though.
"Karin, you're being annoying. If you didn't save Suki, I would have kicked your ass by now." The Prodigy in the Art of Murder informs her as he takes another long sip out of his water canteen.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?!" The red head demands.
Suki looks at Jugo rather helplessly. She didn't really want to have to get up and break up this fight, but she would if it was absolutely necessary. Hopefully, the gentle giant would notice Suki's silent plea though.
"Karin, Suigetsu. Stop it. Suki is still hurt and your fighting is not going to help her recover any faster. Besides, we're a team. We shouldn't be fighting each other. We should be focusing on our mission and finding Suigetsu his swords." Jugo says.
He had seen Suki's look. Jugo certainly understood that expression. It had been a cry for help. His Cage needed him and Jugo decided that he was going to help her.
Without Suki, he would fly into a blind rage at random. It was a rare ninja who could defeat him in battle at that point. Despite that, Suki could calm him with just one look from those otherworldly eyes of hers or one simple command. She was after all, the living embodiment of Kimimaro's will.
"Yeah! We should be focused on finding me my swords and killing Suki's brother. Good point. So shut up Karin!" Suigetsu says cheerfully and Suki groans.
That was the wrong thing to say. Karin lunges at the white haired ninja and the two start going round and round. Suddenly, Suki was almost positive that she was going to have a headache by the end of the night.
Determined to at least make it a minor one, she rises to her feet and walks over to her teammates. She quickly takes Suigetsu's arm in her own and drags him away from Karin. Jugo does likewise for the other female member of Taka.
"That's enough." She hisses at the violet eyed man.
"Look Ice Princess, you should be resting. That was a pretty serious hit that you took." Suigetsu actually chastises her as he picks her up, Bridal Style.
Suki looks at Suigetsu incredulously. Had he seriously just lectured her about not taking it easy enough? That was the pot calling the kettle black!
"I got up because the two of you were being annoying and put me down!" She scoffs.
"Oh I'll put you down, Princess. I'll put you down, alright." He says smugly as he proceeds to carry a rather flustered looking Suki to her bed.
Suki couldn't believe that he was actually carrying him around as if she was his wife or something! She feels her face burn with embarrassment and tries to hide her blush by burying it into the crook of his neck. She knew that she should have kicked his ass for this, but there was something kinda nice about it.
It was nice that he apparently cared enough to risk possible electrocution to ensure she recovered from her injuries. Really, this was probably the closest that the sword lover would ever get to sweet. Well and their earlier cuddling.
"That's better. Be a good Princess and try to get some sleep. I'm never going to get my sword, if you die before we even find them." He states with a smirk.
She rolls her eyes. Of course, he just had to go and ruin the moment by being well Suigetsu. She doubted that the man could take anything seriously for more than five minutes. Well outside of battle anyway.
"Yes, that would be such a travesty." Suki mutters.
"Yep. I'm glad that you understand that Princess. You have your head on straight. Get some sleep. I'll try to keep the Banshee from howling too much. We wouldn't want her to disturb your Beauty Sleep." He says cheerfully.
Suki mutters some rather unflattering things under her breath as the other ninja departs. Beauty Sleep? Really?
Maybe, Karin was right. Maybe, Suki should have let the Ninja Cats have a go at him. That might have taught him some manners or at least better puns!
Meanwhile Naruto was horrified. He couldn't believe that he had done that. He had almost killed Suki!
"Naruto, it wasn't your fault." Sakura tries to assure him.
The different teams had assembled at their agreed upon location. Everyone was still reeling from the latest development. This was particularly true in a certain blonde's case.
"I know that in my head, but it's Suki. She's my friend. I shouldn't have attacked her. Well I didn't really attack her. I meant to get the one with the sharp teeth, but she jumped between us. She took hit for him." Naruto says in a rush.
Sakura nods. She knew what Naruto was trying to say. Honestly, it did surprise her that Suki was apparently willing to put herself in harm's way for her new team. Did that mean that she saw them as true comrades?
The pink haired woman tries to suppress the unsettling feeling that was beginning to form in her gut at that musing. Jealousy. She was jealous of Suki's new team.
"It was an accident, Naruto. You didn't meant to hit her and she probably wouldn't hesitate to attack any of us. You have nothing to feel guilty about." The Leaf Ninja tries to assure him.
Suki had never really been that close to her. Sakura had idolized her, but the raven haired girl had preferred to be by herself. Naruto could get a reaction out of her though. Then again, it was almost impossible to ignore the blonde. He just had that kind of a personality.
"What a drag. I know it's hard, Naruto. She was your teammate and now she's not, but this isn't the Academy. You can't afford to go easy on her. If she comes at you, you need to be ready to defend yourself and your fellow comrades. We're trying to get her back, but right now she is the enemy. You need to start thinking about her that way." Shikamaru reminds him.
"I know that!" Naruto snaps at him.
The Uchiha had actually PICKED this team. She and Naruto had just happened to be assigned to the same team as Suki. She hadn't chosen them. That was probably why her bond with them might be stronger.
"We'll f-find a way to get her back." Hinata says.
"Yeah! We will!" Naruto says as he nods his head vigorously.
Ino sighs and nods her head. It was tough to accept, but right now Shikamaru was right. Suki was the enemy and they had to treat her that way, if they wanted to bring her home alive.
"I hope so. She was strong enough to kill Orochimaru. She's not the same girl that we used to know, Naruto. She's also traveling with S Class Criminals." The blonde woman points out.
"The Power of Youth is on our side! We'll rescue Friend Suki!" Lee says as he strikes a dramatic pose.
Tenten shakes her head and Neji smacks is forehead. Lee was an excellent friend and a good ninja. So most of the time, they were more than willing to overlook some of his eccentricities. Every once in awhile, something like this would happen though and they just had to endure it.
"Right. Well let's get going. Maybe, we can pick up a trail." Kiba says.
"That's a good point. They can't have gone far yet." Choji says and the canine lover nods in agreement.
With that the teams all recombine and head off. Considering Taka's formidable abilities, it was decided that they would all go as one massive team. This was such an intuitive understanding, that no one had to verbally voice this decision. They all just knew.
At that same time, Itachi had managed to track down his sister. She and her team were in a hotel suite. He was using a crow to spy on them by having it peek through the window.
What he saw was both amusing and a bit disturbing. Suigetsu had just finished laid Suki down on the bed. He had just done so after carrying his sister Bridal Style. His baby sister!
"He had better watch where his hands are going when he carries her." Itachi mutters under his breath.
Suki was now old enough to have a boyfriend. While she was a bit young for Clan Restoration, she was certainly old enough to have suitors. Had their Clan lived, Itachi was certain that Fugaku would have already hurled a fireball at the sword lover for taking far too many liberties with Suki.
Sadly, Itachi knew that he didn't really have a right to play the role of the overprotective big brother. He had committed genocide against his own Clan. Nothing would have justifiably enraged Suki more than him weighing in on her love life.
"Mmm." Suki says as she snuggles into her pillow.
Itachi frowns. His sister really should have sensed him. He was being as stealthy as possible, but one would think she would have noticed the crow on the window.
That could mean only one thing. She was exhausted or had recently suffered a serious injury. Actually, knowing Suki it was likely both.
"Her teammate does have the ability to heal people. She could have been at death's door recently and I would never be able to tell." The Akatski Member mutters to himself.
She was putting herself in harm's way because she was after him. Perhaps, he should reveal himself. Then Suki could defeat him. The young woman could finally know the peace that she was desperately seeking and his own suffering would be at an end.
Itachi sighs as he glances at her now sleeping face. She looked surprisingly peaceful. He didn't have the heart to wake her for the final battle between the two of them. Perhaps tomorrow, he decides. With that thought in mind, Itachi quickly left.
The next day, Suki wakes up. She was surprised when she was the first to rise that morning. The last female Uchiha tended to sleep in when given the option.
"Right. I'll just make myself some breakfast." She muses as she heads to the kitchen.
As she was preparing herself something suitable edible, Suki ends up dropping one of the plates. The raven haired woman didn't think anything of it, before bending down to pick it up. That's when she realized her mistake.
Agony. Complete and utter agony. Suki growls as she stands up and waits for the throbbing pain to subside.
"Princess, what did I tell you about taking it easy?" Suigetsu asks as he walks inside the kitchen.
"Don't Princess me and it's really none of your business, if I choose to make myself breakfast." She grumbles.
He shakes his head. Suigetsu admired her determination. He really did, but the woman needed to learn what her limits were. Right now, she wasn't in any condition to be bending over while she was recovering.
"I'll get you breakfast. After that, I want to have a look at your back. It sounds like it's more painful than it should be." He says.
"Fine." She says with a sigh as she heads back to her room.
As much as she hated to admit it, Suigetsu was right. There was no way that she could fight like this. Itachi would slaughter her. She needed to get better first.
Suigetsu grabs a few things for breakfast and follows her. She was probably going to try to kill him for what he was about to do. That didn't matter though. It wasn't like that was going to stop him.
"Alright. So I got you an orange, apple, banana, and some other stuff. You should lay down on your stomach or sit up, so I can get a better look at your back. I'm not a medic, but I've seen enough crazy stuff at the Sound to know when some thing is wrong or how to make pain go away. Well at least for a little while." The violet eyed ninja explains.
"Thanks and go ahead. You can't possibly make it any worse." Suki admits as she sits up.
Suigetsu shakes his head. He was a bit surprised that she was willing to let him have a look at her back, but he wasn't going to argue. Really this was progress.
He slides her shirt up slightly. The sword lover slid it up just enough to see the bottom of her bra. Ah ha! So she had actually taken the red silk, after all!
Suigetsu smirks. He was right. The red really did flavor her ivory pale skin and the silk looked rather inviting. Oh wait. He was letting himself get distracted. He should probably focus before Suki noticed he was looking at her just a little too closely and decided to Chidori him.
"Gee. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Suki." He says as he glances over the creamy skin.
He didn't see any marks on her. Karin's Jutsu or whatever it was, must have worked. It was likely that Suki was just sore.
"You're welcome." She replies with a smirk.
That's when Suigetsu massages her back. It only took him about thirty seconds after that to start frowning. Damn. She was tense. He'd never felt anyone this tightly wound up.
Every muscle was tightly coiled. It was as if she was constantly ready to shift into battle mode. Her skin was wonderfully soft and warm. Silky really, but the muscles underneath were tense to say the least.
"Damn, Princess! You really need to learn how to chill. No wonder, you're in so much pain. Even before that idiot tore into you, you were probably pretty close to screwing up your back." Suigetsu observes.
"Yes, he's an idiot. As for the condition of my back, whatever. Just don't stop. That feels…good." She admits as she sighs in bliss.
Suki wasn't sure if it was because Suigetsu was doing it and really good with his hands or if it would have felt this way if anyone did it. Maybe, it was a combination of both. She hadn't truly relaxed in years. That was bound to have an impact on her body at some point.
"Yeah. About Boy Wonder, he's pretty obsessed with you." Suigetsu says as he continues the massage.
"Mmm yeah. It's Naruto though. He's very, very stubborn. R-Right there." Suki says as she leans back into him.
"Stubborn is one thing, but seriously. He can't be THAT freaking fixated on you, if you're just friends. Was he your boyfriend or something? Cause I really would have thought that you would have better taste than that. I didn't think dumb blondes were really your type." The violet eyed ninja continues as he rubs that spot that Suki specified.
Suki raises an eyebrow. Suigetsu almost sounded jealous. That couldn't be though, could it? All he really cared about was getting those swords.
Sure, he might show some compassion now and then. Despite that, it was rather obvious what his only goal was. So why would he care, if she had been involved with Naruto or not?
"Naruto was never my boyfriend, if that's what you're asking." Suki informs him.
"Yeah. That's what I was asking. Well judging by the way he was acting, he sure as Hell wanted to be." The sword lover says as he tries to work out the tension in her back.
"Nhh. God, that feels so g-good. Wait. Why do you care so much about Naruto?" She demands.
Suigetsu sighs and bites his lower lip. He knew damn well that he shouldn't care about the dumb blonde. It was fairly obvious that Suki didn't wasn't particularly fussed about what happened to him. So why should it upset him?
That and it didn't matter if they had been together. It was like Suki was his girlfriend. She didn't owe him any explanations. Naruto was just annoying. That's all.
"He's annoying. The guy is really pushy. He's probably never going to leave us alone. That means he's going to get in the way of our goals. So it's kinda my job to learn more about him and kick his ass, if necessary." Suigetsu says cockily.
"I can't disagree with that. He is annoying. I don't want him killed though. He was my comrade. We fought side by side. That means something to me. I'll kill him, if I have to. I just don't want it to come to that. Itachi is the one I want dead." She says.
That irritates him. She was defending her stalker. Well sorta. Apparently, Suki did actually take the team thing seriously to some extent.
That puzzles him a bit. The Ice Princess seemed like such a loner and yet, here she was going on about comrades. She was definitely a walking contradiction.
"I can't make any promises. You know me. I'm a Prodigy in the Art of Murder. There's a reason that I got that title." The violet eyed ninja replies with a smirk.
Suigetsu wasn't sure that he was ever going to fully understand what went on inside her head. Hell, he doubted if Suki even understood what was going on in her head. That was one complicated chick.
"Suigetsu, we were getting along really well. Don't ruin it by acting like a peacock." The raven haired woman mutters.
"Huh? What does that even mean?" The other ninja asks in confusion.
"Peacocks strut around with their feathers, trying to impress others. You're strutting about your homicidal tendencies. It's not going to work on me. I'm not scared of you." The young woman says bluntly.
Now it was Suigetsu's turn to raise an eyebrow. Alright. Maybe, that was accurate. He wasn't going to tell her that though.
"I think that you're just interested in seeing my tail again. All you had to do was ask, Princess." He says smugly.
Really, he expected her to slap him. He expected Suki to yell at him and call him a pervert. She did neither though. Suki whirls around and pins him to the bed.
"I'm going to kill Itachi. That takes priority. Don't flatter yourself. I'm not that easily distracted by every cute guy that comes along. Just because I got an eyeful when you came out of that tank, doesn't mean anything. Got it?" She demands.
Suigetsu smirks. She'd called him cute. That was unexpected. (Well he would have preferred a more masculine adjective than cute, but he digressed. It was a start.)
"Yeah. I got it. You think I'm cute, but you're too skittish to act on it until Itachi is dead." He tells her.
"What?! That is not what I said! How on Earth did you manage to get that from what I said?!" Suki demands.
"Well the fact that you have a habit of cuddling up to me, let me carry you around, and are straddling my hips may have had something to do with it." Suigetsu says and before she could respond, Suki felt his lips against her own.
He was kissing her! Suigetsu was really kissing her! This wasn't an accidental kiss like with Naruto! This was on purpose and she had no idea how to respond.
Actually, that wasn't accurate. Her mind might not have known what to do, but her body was apparently two steps ahead of the last female Uchiha's mind. She found herself kissing back and decides to worry about the potential consequences later.