Chapter Twelve

Karin slept through the night, occasionally murmuring in her sleep. She roused shortly after eight the following morning, only to tell Suigetsu that he smelt awful and he should wash himself if he expected to come near her.

He was so overjoyed, he nearly cried.

Late in the afternoon, she woke up with a groan.

Instantly Suigetsu was alert, knocking his chair over as he leaped to the bed.

"Karin?"

"Suigetsu? What the hell happened?"

The torrent of words that spewed from his mouth made her eyes widen as she tried to make sense of them. With her head pounding, she covered her eyes and told him to shut up.

"Karin, I'm sorry."

"I knew you were trouble." She whispered, "You jerk."

"Bitch."

"Arsehole."

"Moron."

"Lunatic."

Suigetsu grinned, Karin smiled.

They stared at each other, seeing the relief mirrored in each other's faces. He was about to close the distance when the door opened.

"How's the patient?"

"You!" Karin exclaimed, at the same time that Suigetsu greeted Sakura with an exasperated, "Haruno."

"Suigetsu, what is she doing here?"

"Saving your life." Answered Ibiki from the doorway.

Karin's face lost all of its colour and she pressed herself back into the pillow, terror etched across her face at the very sight of the man. Sakura rushed forward to check on her as Suigetsu ran passed Sakura to slam the door closed, but Ibiki held it open.

"Get out!" Suigetsu shouted, attracting outside attention as Ibiki stared tolerantly down at him. Karin was trembling, trying to avoid Sakura's hands as the medic tried to calm her down.

"Hozuki! Is that any way to treat our honoured visitors?" A warm voice asked from the hallway.

Retreating back to the bed, Suigetsu left the way open for Ibiki to step into the room and he was followed by the Mizukage herself.

Nodding politely to Ibiki, she approached the bed, a cheery smile in place.

"Karin. We meet again. I'm pleased to see you have recovered."

Karin's wide-eyed gaze turned from Ibiki to regard the other red-haired woman in the room. Remembering her last altercation with the woman did not relieve her at all. Her mouth opened and shut, with no noise coming out. She was pressed as far back into the bed as she could, pale and shaking. She continued to stare at the Mizukage, not hearing or seeing anything else that was happening around her.

Suigetsu was back by the bedside, taking her hand in his and squeezing reassuringly. She didn't feel it.

He was unwilling to stop Mei's approach, knowing that she would brook no opposition from him and that Karin's position in the village was still uncertain. Sakura, on the other hand, had no compunction in sternly rebuking Ibiki and asking everyone but Suigetsu to leave the room. She turned back to her patient.

"Karin, you need to breathe."

Breaking out of her shock, Karin turned to look at Sakura, feeling light-headed and cold.

"Breathe, deep breaths now." Sakura coached her.

Doing as she was instructed, Karin released the breath she'd been holding and a little tension left her body. Suddenly realizing that Suigetsu was beside her and rubbing her arm, she pulled out of his grip and ran her own hand along her skin. He continued to stand there, his hand resting idly on the blankets, not sure what to do.

Mei stood across the room, silently refusing to leave, despite the medic's directions. She watched as a little colour returned to Karin's cheeks and her breathing normalized. She smiled a genuine smile as Sakura joked about owing favours, before turning to see Suigetsu's flustered expression at being left out. He was probably dying to tell Sakura to leave. She smirked at the thought, her eyes darting back to Karin, who didn't seem to see her across the room.

"Karin." She said quietly, talking over a small fight that was forming between the couple. Karin froze again as Mei came to stand at the end of the bed.

"I apologize for your distress." Mei said, her usual smile returning to her face, "I am pleased you have recovered. I'll see you when you have left the hospital." She nodded to Sakura, winked at Suigetsu and left the room.

Sakura, seeing the wink, turned back to check Karin, an amused smile on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" Karin demanded roughly, "And what the hell happened to me?"

Sakura pursed her lips and her gaze flickered over to Suigetsu who was almost squirming. He was definitely uncomfortable. Karin's eyes fell on him and narrowed suspiciously.

"What happened?" She asked in a low menacing voice, made more so by a raspy throat, dry from a lack of moisture.

Sakura mumbled an excuse and left the room, unnoticed by the two who were focused solely on each other.

"Drink something, Karin. You sound awful." Suigetsu muttered, reaching for a glass of water and holding it out to her. Karin was tempted to ignore it in favour of glaring some more but her throat was dry. He held the glass to her mouth, even when she reached up to take it from him. Once she'd swallowed the water, he refilled it and offered it again. She shook her head, still watching him warily.

He placed the glass on the cupboard and sat on the edge of the bed, not looking at her. Instead, his eyes were trained on the glass he'd just released.

"I'm sorry, Karin."

She bit her lip at his voice; so sad and small, so very different from the usual arrogant Suigetsu.

"Cut it out, Suigetsu. You're scaring me!" She said with a half-hearted laugh.

He turned to look at her; his piercing gaze scaring her even more.

"Do you know how it felt to find you there, not moving? You almost died! And that bitch! She laughed! She stole you from me and she… she..." Karin gasped as Suigetsu lunged forward pulling her head into his chest and cradling her in a close embrace. "She said it was too late. That I had to let you go. But I don't want to."

Karin was shocked into silence. She'd never been told anything like that, in all of her conscious memories. Knowing that he liked her as a person, as a friend, as a female; that he was physically attracted to her, was nothing to the knowledge that he cared for her this much; that her physical well-being meant enough that he was emotionally distraught. Imagine that! Suigetsu, affected by feelings!

A stray tear slipped down her cheek, as she brought her hands up to hold onto his arms. Feeling her relax a little into the embrace, Suigetsu calmed himself, releasing her enough to raise her head to face him; he tucked her hair behind her ears and caressed her cheeks.

Karin stared up at him, sensing there was something else he wasn't telling her.

"Haruno?"

"They had to send for her." Suigetsu grumbled, pulling back from her; his tough façade descending. "The medics here are useless."

Karin ran a hand through her hair, wincing as pain lanced through her head, like there was a spider web of semi-healed cracks in her skull. "What happened to me, exactly?"

"Gakuri, my sensei…"

"Yes, I know it was her!" Karin snapped.

"She froze part of your head, that's all I know!" Suigetsu bit out. "She tried to kill you because you're an obstacle in my training."

Karin's eyes bulged, and she gaped at him.

"I told you she was a bitch. Apparently, you fall under "adult things"."

"So does your sword! But you're still carting it around with you!"

"Yeah, but I won't be making love to it anytime soon!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, they looked away from each other, both their faces red. Karin recovered first.

"Not with me either." She huffed, turning her face away to hide her smirk. Her breath was knocked from her chest as Suigetsu launched himself at her again. Hovering over her, his eyes were lit with a possessive gleam.

"That's what you think," He murmured as he leaned down, his smile mirrored on her face, "now."

Author's Note: I just have to say that this may seem like a crappy place to end the chapter, and I'll state in advance that there will be NO lemon in the next chapter (She's in hospital, people! Be realistic.), but there is method in my madness. Also a semi-spin-off will be posted with the next chapter. So, look forward to it!