Author's Note: Sorry to all who thought this would be a lemon. There will be NO lemons in this story. The traffic is low enough without changing the rating to M. Plus, I don't think it would add anything to the story. I do not support gratuitous fanservice.
Besides, I think there's something more exciting ahead.
Chapter Ten
Karin woke the next morning with her arms around him. She came awake suddenly, breaking away from him and scrambling over to the bathroom in a panic.
"Karin?"
Gasping for air, Karin stumbled into the bathroom, slamming the door shut and trapping it to keep him out. Sensing the trap, Suigetsu stayed away from the door, only calling through it to make she was alright, before leaving the apartment to see the Mizukage.
Leaving the building from a different door than the one they'd used the night before, he snuck down into a canal and traveled down river three blocks before re-emerging and walking the streets openly. He crossed the bridge to the Mizukage palace and entered, putting up an arrogant front that allowed him to reach the Mizukage's personal office before being halted.
He was forced to wait for ten minutes, while her aide announced him, and found that he was not the only one visiting her that morning.
"Hozuki. How nice to see you this morning." The Mizukage greeted him, a pleasant smile gracing her serene features. "I was just talking about you."
Suigetsu mumbled a return greeting, only to be struck from behind by a shard of ice.
"That is not how we greet the leader of our village." A harsh voice growled in his ear. A cruel hand twisted the ice that was embedded in his side, the cold freezing his muscles and preventing him from avoiding the attack.
Biting back curses, he respectfully greeted the Mizukage, and his sensei, Gakuri Sudachi. The lithe, green-haired woman released her hold on the ice spear in his side and it disappeared, leaving him wincing as his muscles thawed and phantom pain lanced through his side.
"I believe you have news for me." Mei Terumi stated, still smiling pleasantly despite the act of violence committed in front of her.
"I do." Suigetsu replied, sending a wary glance at his sensei.
"Speak, boy! I know all about your escapade." Gakuri snarled.
"She's here." He said, refusing to look at his sensei again. "I convinced the Hokage to release her into my custody; I brought her in without anyone knowing who she was and we arrived last night."
"I know." Mei answered, watching the tension between the two. "Kiriai mentioned you in his report."
Suigetsu nodded, ignoring the snort of disgust from Gakuri. Obviously what he'd been doing last night had also been mentioned.
"So, where is she?"
"Recovering."
"Are you that bad?" Gakuri asked through her laughter.
"Not from me, Gokuri!" He muttered, before turning rapidly to talk to the Mizukage when he caught sight of Gakuri's icy glare. "She was exhausted by the trip."
"Indeed? I understand the journey from Konoha takes only four days. What were you doing, Hozuki?"
"Well, she uh…"
"Speak, boy!"
"She'd escaped from their prison a week before I arrived."
The Mizukage's eyebrows rose in surprise, "How resourceful!"
"Don't tell me they hadn't noticed!" Gakuri said scornfully. When Suigetsu didn't say anything, she laughed again, "They hadn't noticed she was gone?"
"She'd left a genjutsu behind, apparently." He stated uncertainly, "I guess they thought she was just being quiet."
"Intriguing."
"I don't trust her." Gakuri stated emphatically.
"You haven't even met her!" Suigetsu replied hotly. His yell quickly became a yelp as his arm was twisted behind his back and iced up.
"Gakuri, release the boy." The Mizukage ordered indolently.
"My lady." She bowed, letting go of Suigetsu's arm and stepping back. She bowed again and left the room.
"Does she trust you?" Mei asked quietly.
"Yes."
"Will she be useful to us?"
"Yes." He replied again.
"There can be no wavering on this point, Suigetsu. She has only one chance."
"I know her. She trusts me, my lady. She's good at what she does."
"Very well. I wish to see her. Bring her to me."
Dismissed, Suigetsu hurried out of the building and across town.
He entered the apartment quietly, a habit he'd developed since returning to Kiri. In this village, ninjas were silent no matter where they were. He'd stopped at his home for some food, which he left on the bench in the kitchenette before approaching the bedroom, hoping that Karin had felt secure enough to leave the bathroom.
The door swung open with a small creak, and he peered into the dark room. Flicking the light switch, his mouth fell open in surprise. Shock was quickly replaced by sexual hunger as he drank in the sight in front of him.
Karin lay on her side across the bed, her back to him. Her tousled hair was splayed around her head, still wet from the shower, he guessed. The towel she'd wrapped around herself had slid off, revealing her back and, as he stepped forward, her breasts. Her long legs were slightly curled, disappearing under the towel, which hid the specifics of her lower half but not the shape.
His hands itched to slide over her skin; longing, that had been denied for longer than the last twenty four hours, sending him staggering towards the bed and the prize lying there.
He slid onto the bed, leaning over to brush her hair away from her face, "Karin?"
Desire fled, swiftly replaced by panic, when he saw her face. Her eyes were closed, the skin around them blue; just like her lips. Her skin was deathly cold and there was ice in her hair.
"Karin!" He rubbed her face, turning her and heaving her into his lap to run his hands over her upper half, desperately trying to warm her up, "Karin? Wake up!"
"She won't." A cold voice said.
Suigetsu's head snapped round and his sensei stepped out from behind the door.
"What have you done?"
"I have negated an obstacle in your path." She replied evenly.
"What?" Shock mingled with disbelief, sadness, and anger in his voice.
"Your training is not complete. She would hold you back."
"FUCK MY TRAINING!" Suigetsu screamed, "UNDO IT, NOW!"
"Ha! You think it's that easy?"
Half-sobbing, Suigetsu turned back to the girl in his arms. Laying his hand on her face, he attempted to draw the ice out, the same way he'd pulled the water from her clothes the night before. He let out a hoarse shout of pain as the ice burned into his hand and blood ran down Karin's face.
"What do I do?" He whispered, reversing the flow of water, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Useless boy." Gakuri snarled, "Give up on her. You've lost her."
"No!" He whispered, hugging her to him and rocking her slightly.
With an angry snarl, Gakuri marched over and grabbed Karin's arm, ripping her out of his grip and across the bed away from him. With matching fury, Suigetsu reached behind him and grabbed his sword.
"Don't even think about it, boy." Gakuri growled, turning her head back to him, "You can't take me on."
"Watch me."
He whipped his sword round, one hand on the small hilt and the other on the back edge of the blade. Inflating his muscles in a split-second reaction to the weight, he hurled the blade round to meet his sensei's lower back. With a sickening crunch, the blade cut into the hard ice she'd encased herself with and he had to tug hard to pull it free.
The cutting edge was dragged through the groove made by its impact, grinding away the protective layer of ice to leave a thin slice across her back.
As the ice gave way and the blade slid free, she hissed with pain and blood spilled down her back.
The momentum from its release sent Suigetsu and the blade spinning round in a complete circle, slicing across her upper back and right shoulder as she turned to confront him.
She screamed in fury and pain, coating herself once again in ice, only to have Suigetsu leap at her, pushing the blade deep into the wound on her right shoulder. They stumbled across the room, until they hit the corner. The blade was still embedded in the wound and now wedged into the walls. Gakuri was pinned facing the walls, with no way of pushing the blade out without causing further injury. Her right arm hung limp, dangerously close to being severed completely; the pain from her injury draining the strength from the rest of her body. Suigetsu stepped back, chest heaving from the exertion of the fight. Seeing her ineffectual struggles, he turned back to Karin.
"You'd leave me like this, boy?" Gakuri shrieked, her voice cracking from the pain. "For that… that girl?"
Suigetsu stopped, "Yes, I would. I am."
He wrapped Karin in the blankets from the bed and gathered her into his arms, before turning to face Gakuri in the corner. "Because I am not a boy, and she means more to me than you do."
Then he rushed from the room, ignoring her howls of pain and anger.
Author's Note: Gakuri means scholarly principle, while Sudachi is a small citrus fruit grown in Japan. It comes into season in winter, which is quite fitting, considering that she is an ice user. Gokuri means jailer.