Karin sat in class the next day, furiously taking notes on prenatal care, when Sasuke strode in, late as usual. He placed his worn bag on the ground near Karin and situated himself in his seat. Karin sighed, eyes closed, trying not to stress about Sasuke's perpetual lateness; He's the father of my child, don't stress, for the baby… Just then, a small, folded piece of paper flopped on to Karin's desk, ripping her from her thoughts. She opened the paper under the table to see a note scrawled in a barely-readable mix of print and cursive:

"Is the baby coming? You look like you're having an aneurism… Anyway sorry about yesterday, my brother is dumb. Do you think Hatake really cares how we give birth? I thought it'd be okay as long as the baby got here."

The note was so… Sasuke, it was hard for Karin to suppress a giggle. She fished through her pencil case to retrieve a blue pen, and scribbled a response:

"You're hilarious, thanks. I think Hatake cares about everything, did you not see the huge stick up his ass?"

She gently tossed it on to Sasuke's book, when Sensei's back was turned. Sasuke gave a skeptical look and unfolded the note, a slight smirk appearing on his face as he read. He crafted his reply and Karin pretend to hard at work taking notes.

"I'll take your word on it, you are the queen of sticks up the ass."

Karin glared at Sasuke, crumpling the note and tossing it in her bag to throw away later. Sasuke just laughed, causing a pause in the sterling haired man's lecture. "Is there something you'd like to share with the class Mr. Uchiha?"

Sasuke smirked, glancing at Karin and began to open his mouth-

"Actually, Sensei, we were just talking about the effects that each form of birth can have on both mother and child, and we were wondering if you favor natural birth over cesarean." Karin struggled to come up with the most intelligible B.S. possible, but seeing Kakashi stop to consider the question certainly boosted her ego. "That's actually a very good question. Now, while a cesarean birth does have its drawbacks…"

Sasuke gave Karin a questioning, if not slightly offended, look and whispered, "I was going to respond-"

"Yeah, but your response was going to get us killed."

}:{

After an excruciatingly long hour, class was dismissed. As Karin was packing up her bag, she turned to Sasuke, "Are we still on for my place? We have a 'doctor's appointment' tomorrow and need to prepare."

"Lead the way."

Karin and Sasuke headed down the sidewalk, making small talk until they arrived in front of Karin's tiny apartment complex. They took the stairs to the second floor and Karin fumbled with her keys, suddenly self-conscious of her home. It was nothing compared to Sasuke's luxurious apartment, but the ever-suave Sasuke didn't seem perturbed by the dim hallways. Karin's door creaked open after what seemed like an eternity of juggling her keys. She led Sasuke inside to her kitchen table and started to unpack her bag. "Sorry about the mess, I know my place isn't that great…"

And… silence. Sasuke just sat there, analyzing Karin's home, and it was starting to rub Karin the wrong way. She didn't sense any judgment, but it wasn't exactly acceptance either. "Do you want a drink or something?"

Sasuke shook his head no and seated himself at the shaky table. Karin grabbed a can of soda and joined Sasuke at the table. She pulled her hair back, and her eyes rose to meet Sasuke's. His stare was more intense than usual, and Karin was unsure why his onyx eyes were so brooding. She began to squirm in her seat, trying with all her might to avoid the dark stare. "So… Tomorrow is our appointment and – "

"This is my apartment." Just hearing Sasuke's voice startled Karin, she barely heard what he was saying. "Your… apartment…?"

Karin looked around her run down, dim apartment; it was her crappy apartment, why was Sasuke taking claim to it? Her head was starting to hurt, and the dripping faucet wasn't helping. Why would fancy-apartment-Sasuke live in this shit hole? "…Yeah. When I was little my parents rented from this building. Apartment 204, right?"

"Right…" Karin mumbled in response. Sasuke's glare had all but disappeared, and he returned to his usual – avoiding all eye contact. He squirmed in his chair, causing the floors to creek, and opened his notebook. He seemed done with the conversation, not offering any more information, but Karin was still dumbfounded. "Why… did you…"

Sasuke glanced up and, just for a moment, his face looked truly innocent – like a lost puppy. And then, it was gone, back to the normal expressionless Sasuke. "When Dad was just starting in the police force, Mom was going back to school too, we lived here. Itachi and I shared that room." Sasuke said, pointing towards the hallway.

Karin stood up, momentarily noting Sasuke's openness. "I can show you. You know, if you want," Karin muttered, "… But it's just a spare room now, so don't expect too much…"

Sasuke rose out of his chair, silent, but Karin could have sworn she saw a slight smirk. He followed her down the hallway, Karin silently cursing herself for leaving dirty laundry thrown on the floor. They entered through the first door on the right, and were greeted by golden rays of sun streaming through the window. Karin seated herself at her school desk – just about the only notable object in the room since the bachelorette had moved in. She watched Sasuke enter after her with what would be called a smirk on most people, but was most definitely a smile on Sasuke. His hand grazed the wall, and he turned to Karin. "Over there was Itachi's bed," he said, pointing towards Karin's desk, "…and my bed was by the window." Sasuke sat down on top of the desk, still looking around the room – almost in awe. "Itachi got the closet, since he was older, but I had a dresser right there – I was so young, I wasn't really tall enough to reach hanging clothes anyway." Karin giggled at the thought of Sasuke being so small, hoping he didn't hear. "…Sorry to just barge in to your house like this…" Sasuke mumbled, suddenly out of stories from his childhood.

"I let you in, stupid. And it's no big deal," Karin answered with a smile, "…Did you want to see more?" Sasuke looked up, slightly confused, looking away just as quickly. "…You can look, Sasuke… Your parents stayed in my room, right?" Karin led the way to the next bedroom, and Sasuke followed once again. They entered the bedroom, decorated in embarrassing shades of pink and purple. She blushed, kicking a few stray pairs of underwear under the bed and cursing herself once again for slacking on her laundry.

Sasuke examined the room, giving a slight chuckle. He smiled, looked around the room and inhaled deeply, taking in all the memories. "I was born in the hospital down the street, and my parents had my crib right here, at the foot of the bed. They said that Itachi tipped it over one time trying to see me."

"That would explain the brain damage."

Sasuke shot a harsh glare towards Karin, and she broke in to a laughing fit. Sasuke smiled a little too and gave Karin a few choice words. "If you're done acting like you have brain damage – "

"Good c-comeback! I know it must have been hard to think of that one!" Karin shouted through her laughter-induced tears.

"…Anyway, my parents would measure our heights on the inside of their closet door." Sasuke turned to face the old splintery door, running his hands along the wood grain on the outside. Karin walked over, having composed herself, and turned the handle to have the door faintly creek open. Ignoring the mountain of clothes that threatened to crush the duo in a feminine avalanche, Sasuke turned to the inside of the door running his fingers through the faint marks in the door. He bent down rubbing his fingers through the lowest score, Karin noted the inscription "Sasuke, Age 3".

"You were the shortest freaking kid ever!" Karin laughed, her hand grazing over the wood that just barely came to her knee. Sasuke glared at her for what must have been the hundredth time that night, sneering, "And you were so tall?"

Karin and Sasuke continued with the banter, until they were interrupted by Karin's clock chiming. "It's kinda late… I should go," Sasuke mumbled, ending the feud, "But, thank you for letting me look around."

Karin helped Sasuke pack up his things and saw him out the door, and as she heard him closing the stairwell door she thought to herself, "We forgot to plan for the fucking doctors appointment."