Karin has always had an affinity for danger. Drugs, alcohol, illegal activities, you name it and she'd at least attempted it sometime. Having the barrel of a shotgun pressed against her forehead isn't the sort of danger she likes, though. She spends her morning wandering through the inky darkness of the woods, passing a shrine and a bridge along her way. Something seems off, but she ignores it and trudges on, only to be met with a flash of red and a quick click before a gun is shoved against her.
"Gaara?" They're pretty familiar with each other. He used to be one of her dealers last year, until he found Jesus or something and decided that instead of spending his days passed out from overdose he'd be spending them on his knees. She doesn't buy it, everyone just has to stop sometime. He cocks his head and fixes his eyes on her. Cold blue eyes- as empty as the depths of the ocean- scan her over.
"Karin," He replies cooly. "I didn't expect to see you out here."
"Me neither." She shrugs, being completely honest. "What's a guy like you doing in the middle of nowhere?" They really are in the middle of nowhere, standing face to face on an overgrown dirt path, with puny weeds and tangled vines sprawling out from every direction from beneath the trees.
"I could ask you the same thing."
"Would you believe me if I told ya I didn't know?"
"Perhaps." He lowers his shotgun when he sees she isn't making an effort to attack him or flee. It took some guts to do that. "You aren't going to hide?"
"Nope," She grins and takes out a pink can from the bag slung across her shoulders. "I've got mace, so I should be okay." Not the best weapon, but she'll take what she can get. Besides, she's going to have to rely more on her mind anyway rather than her lack of power.
"I would offer to help, but I have my own burdens to bear." He starts to turn away, all malice from his expression disappearing.
"I know, I know. It's an every man for himself kind of thing." She doesn't expect to get much pity out of a guy like Gaara. Drug dealers aren't saints, changed or not. "Say, have you seen-" She stumbles a little on her last word, while her cheeks flush bright red. "-Sasuke.
"Still hung up on that hopeless case? I haven't seen him, and I'm glad for that." He walks away, before offering a final warning in his wake. "Just be grateful that I spared a despicable woman like you. Not everyone is so... Forgiving."
"You've got a real stick up your ass, Gaara." He only snorts and leaves her alone on the old trail, vanishing as quickly as he came. For some reason, his words send a chill down her spine. She isn't as helpless as she looks, but she's still afraid. She keeps the can by her side as she walks, watching the trees and bushes for any movement. Eventually, she gets careless enough to whistle. She's already had a run in with Gaara, that's as good as suicide, so she might as well be lax. She doesn't even have time to turn around before she hears a loud bang, resulting in something sharp nicking her leg and instantly leaving her crippled.
A cry escapes her as she falls to the ground, clutching her leg for dear life. Blood trickles between her splayed fingers, and gushes out even more rapidly. The pain is unbearable, but she can't pull the bullet out that's lodged itself in her calf. All she can do is soak up the blood with her skirt, and try not to cry or whimper from the pain.
"My brother may feel sorry for you, but I sure as hell don't." A gruff voice makes its presence known from a few feet away, and Karin can barley lift her weary head to look at who shot her. A flash of scruffy brown hair, and smeared violet paint across his cheeks. Kankuro. He didn't seem like the type that would shoot down an innocent girl, yet she always did think he was kinda weird.
"Heh.. Feel sorry for what?" She winces, managing to lean herself against the nearest tree, digging her nails into the dirt to keep from screaming. Everything in her mind tells her to run, no matter how much her body tells her how impossible that is. She wants Sasuke to come save her, but Karin knows she can't expect a savior. It would be silly, really. Just his memory gives her enough strength to take a wobbly step forward and stick her tongue out at Kankuro. He still has his brother's gun pointed at her, but his head in turned sideways and his eyebrows and turned up in curiosity. He doesn't expect for her to dash off.
He shoots, narrowly missing the red flash that takes off behind the tree she was limping around before. The bullet lodges itself in the trunk pitifully, and he scowls and hastens his pace to a quick jog to catch up while fumbling around and trying to point his gun in the right direction. Karin smirks through her pain, and darts around various bushes and stumps. She ignore the throbbing in her leg, and focuses on not running into anything, even managing to jump over a tangle of prickly bushes when Kankuro fires another shot, barely missing her arm by a couple inches. The cloth of her jacket tears, yet she keeps running like a flash.
She's going so fast that he can barely keep up and keep his aim. She wants to scream. Screaming is an understatement for what she wants to do. The wound is bleeding so profusely that her vision is starting to fuzz up a little, and Karin isn't sure how much longer she can go. Her chest is burning, and she can barely catch her breath. She ducks behind another tall tree as another bullet whizzes past her. From afar, she hears Kankuro cursing, and it's almost amusing enough to bring a smile to her face. He's still lagging behind, and she's almost triumphant that she's going to make it. Until, she comes across a cliff.
It's not too steep, and she even sees a little building off in the distance where another road slopes up. Still, her leg looks like something from a crime scene, and she needs to move fast. The dust crackles beside her, indicating that Kankuro's aiming for her again. So in desperation, she braces herself and slides down the muddy slope. Her feet go flying out from beneath her, her hair is tangled with dirt and grime from the fall, and even worse her leg sears the further down she slips. Amidst all this, Kankuro is standing on the edge of the grassy bank, gaping at her like he's just seen the devil. She takes advantage of this and heads for the house that she saw, finally getting to take a breath and slow her pace to a limping walk. Oh, how she hurts. The anguish is almost too much until she sees the house- No, a clinic.
Just what she needs.
With aching limbs and labored breathing, she stumbles to the door and shoves it open. Unfortunately, she has to see another damn gun. This time in the hands of no other than Pinky. Now, Karin has nothing against girls like Sakura, but she always despised her. Her squeaky, high pitched voice, the way she'd lift her skirt a little when boys went by. The way she pretended to care about Sasuke. Karin can't think of a woman she hates more than the she devil Sakura Haruno. She guesses all those times she teased Sakura and locked her in the girls bathroom is coming back to haunt her, since now she's the one getting cornered.
"Why are you here?" Sakura growls. Boy, she looks rough. All that girlish beauty is gone, and she looks more like an angry housewife than a teenage girl in Karin's opinion.
"M-My leg is hurt!" The redhead cries, trying to play the pitiful role here. Maybe, just maybe, Sakura would let her go free. Sakura purses her lips and inspects the wound, finally letting her guard down a little.
"I'm not sure I would be able to fix something like a bullet wound.."
"Please, you have to help me!"
"What's all this fucking noise?" And suddenly, there is the man she wanted to see. Sasuke, looking as grim as ever, except now he's heavily bandaged and leaning against the doorway like he'll fall over at any moment.
"Sasuke..." Karin mutters happily. She may have her own bad blood with Sakura, but just seeing that he's alive makes up for this situation. His eyes widen, yet he doesn't rush to her, standing back and trying to deduce what's happening first before he steps into their fight.
"What happened to your leg?" His tone is laced with worry, actual, genuine worry.
"That scumbag Kankuro shot me!" She crossed her arms. "It hurts really bad."
"I don't doubt that.." He hangs his head, before speaking to the pink hair witch. "Sakura, can you fix it?"
"I'm not sure, I mean.. I fixed you. But I've never dealt with bullet wounds!" Obviously he isn't satisfied with her response, and hobbles over to Karin.
"Come outside with me, it'll just be a moment." He whispers in her ear. Puzzled, she nods in response, and lets him lead her outside. "Sakura, keep Naruto inside." He commands, before stepping outside.
"What's this all about? I thought you douchebags were gonna help me?" She growls. As much as she adores Sasuke, she can't help but stand up to him sometimes. Especially when she has a wound that burns so bad she wants to burst into tears. Despite her consistent bravery, she's scared now, scared for her life if she doesn't get treatment.
"Karin. Do you remember when you told me you loved me?"
It makes her heart flutter, but she's too distracted to think about love at a time like this. "Of course I do! I'll always love you. We're gonna change the world together, right?" Even in her agony, she smiles a crooked smile. Sasuke doesn't smile back.
"If you love something, they say you must let it go, right?" His tone worries her, but she nods anyway.
"Yeah, what does this have to do with me though?"
"If.." He sighs deeply, before continuing. "The circumstances were different, I would have no qualms with this. That was always the plan. Me, you, Jugo, Suigetsu. We were all going to leave, catch a boat straight out of here. But sometimes, life doesn't always go the way you plan."
"Sasuke... It doesn't have to be like this. Me and you, we can win!"
"Foolish girl," he spats, walking over towards her and grabbing a fistful of her shirt in his shaking fist. She notices he has something in his other hand, something concealed before. "Karin. You are precious to me. I won't deny that. To say I dislike you would be a blatant lie. My feelings simply aren't the same. The love you want, the doting and sweet boyfriend. I can't be that, and deep down, you know that. Don't you?"
"Goddamnit Sasuke, I love you!" She insists, clenching her fist to keep from hot tears leaking from her eyes. She's hurting all over, and he's just dealt her another crushing blow. Except this time, it isn't physical. "I can make you happy! We can get out of this, and settle down somewhere. They don't have to be my plans, or your plans, we can just do whatever makes us happy. I want you to be happy!"
"I want you to be happy as well."
"Then why won't you say something? Why won't you do something?" She grips his rough hands, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. "Why are you out there getting yourself hurt instead of trying to find a way out? That isn't the Sasuke I know. When you're alright, I'm happy."
"Karin. That is your fatal flaw. You deserve someone who is past my arrogance. You don't deserve to die in a place like this by some coward, or to win only be hunted down and killed by the very government you despise. Which is why-" A soft clink is heard from beneath her, and suddenly the kunai in Sasuke's hand goes right into her exposed throat. Metal meets flesh, and all she can do is glance at him once last time. That broken boy that she loves so much.
"Thank you." Suddenly the pain is no more, and she smiles as her worries melt away. When she's gone cold and limp, Sasuke takes the scarlet glasses from her face, and closes her widened eyes. Even with the blood stains that have dripped across the lenses, he slips them into his pants pocket, and with a heavy heart, leaves the body and returns to the house. Sakura is waiting in the doorway for him, a hand covering her mouth and tears pooling at the corner of her eyes.
"Sasuke, I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have had to do that. I'm so sorry." Ignoring her, he strides past Sakura and back into the bedroom. Sai is off somewhere, and he's glad hat. It's just him and Naruto. Naruto grins upon seeing him, but it doesn't last long when he sees the fresh blood on Sasuke's hands and his crestfallen expression. As if someone just drained the life out of him.
"Sasuke, what happened?" When he doesn't get an answer, Naruto runs over to his side, and wraps his strong arms around Sasuke's wavering form. The raven buries his face in the blonde's shoulder, and for the first time in his life, Sasuke cries openly in front of another person. It makes him feel so empty and drained, and by now he's soaked Naruto's shoulder with tears, and clenched the back of his jacket so hard it came close to tearing. Neither of them speak, no sound coming from either of them except the aching sobs and muffled whimpers.
"Can I say something crazy?" Naruto speaks up, when Sasuke has quieted down and does nothing but cling to him.
"Only if you let me say something even crazier."
"You first.."
Sasuke lifts his head, wipes the traces of his tears, and sniffles pathetically one last time before saying something absolutely insane.
"I love you, idiot."
29 students remaining
Author's note: I hope the ending makes up for a short chapter.
