Chapter Sixteen
The wait was dragging on.
Karin sat under a tree, concentrating as she scanned the area for the entourage. Suigetsu was bored.
He sat watching her from across the clearing, drinking water and studying her intently.
She was frowning slightly, her brow creased; her eyes closed; monitoring the various travelers along the road. If he was a romantic, Suigetsu might have gushed about the way the sunlight filtered through the leaves, like a halo above her scarlet hair, or how her posture displayed her long, elegant legs.
But he was, above all else, a young, sexually charged man. And the longer he watched her sitting there, occasionally chewing on her bottom lip, shifting in her seat as she focused on new travelers at the farthest reach of her range, the more he just wanted to forget the whole mission in favour of a room in the nearest inn or the pool they'd passed earlier, or even just taking her against the tree.
The temptation was growing, but just as Suigetsu made to stand up, Karin spoke.
"If you touch me before this mission is complete, I will make sure you regret it."
He grunted in disgust, slumping back against the tree, and she opened her eyes and grinned.
"Men." She muttered, rolling her eyes in amusement.
"Fucking cock tease." He growled.
"Me? I haven't done anything."
He muttered something under his breath, and turned his head away, slurping up more water. She smirked at him, then closed her eyes and resumed scanning the road.
"This is boring!" He whined, five minutes later.
"What are you? Twelve?" Karin snapped. "This was your fucking plan. Stop being a child."
"She'd be dead by now if this was my fucking plan." Suigetsu snarled back, rocking forward. "But noooo! I had to bring you along!"
"Well, if that's how you feel about it, why don't you just leave me here!" Karin bit back, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"I haven't had my fill of you yet." Suigetsu stated darkly, pouncing at her. He pinned her to the tree, a devilish smirk on his face as he closed in.
"Get off, you oaf!' Karin swung at him, but as usual, he absorbed her hits. "We're on a bloody mission! We don't have time for this."
"Shut up, Karin." Suigetsu snarled, silencing any further protest by slanting his mouth over hers.
Her struggles were futile as he pressed harder into the bruising kiss. Just as she thought she would suffocate, he bit her lip. She yelped in pain, twisting so she could raise her knee. He laughed darkly, maneuvering himself out of harm's way. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and she bit it; gagging as it dissolved.
"Serves you right." He smirked, before swooping down once more.
Before she knew it, she was lying on the ground with his weight bearing down on her. His hands were roving over her body, as if he was attempting to entice her while memorizing her contours. Her struggles were decreasing, and soon she was moaning.
Feeling that he'd squashed her resistance, and loving the sounds she was making, Suigetsu began exploring her neck with his lips.
Then she stiffened beneath him.
"Suigetsu! Stop!" She hissed, pushing at his shoulders. It infuriated her to feel his smirk as he continued nibbling at the now tense tendons in her neck. "They're coming! Cut it out!"
"Just follow my lead." He whispered back.
"What are you talk…" She was cut off when Suigetsu decided she should stop talking and play along.
He was quite enjoying himself, despite her renewed resistance, when they heard the approach of their target's carriage and her support troupe. By the time the group had reached them, Karin was tense enough to snap in two. She was following their progress along the road, mentally, and offering no resistance as Suigetsu continued his explorations.
Her nails dug into his skin when they heard the party stop, adjacent to where they were. Suigetsu smirked again, then sank his teeth into the soft skin of her throat.
Karin yelped, grabbing his hair and wrenching on it.
"Shh, someone might hear you and tell your father." Suigetsu stated gruffly.
"My father?" Karin asked in confusion. Suigetsu pulled away so he could look in her eyes. He gave her a pointed look and she caught onto the act. "Oh no. Not my father."
He rolled his eyes before ducking back down to suck on the livid mark he'd just made. Karin pulled a face at him before settling back to enjoy his ministrations.
She let out a breathy moan, tilting her head back, only to come face to face with one of the lady's escorts. She shrieked, clinging to Suigetsu as he reared up, wrapping his arms around her protectively.
"Who are you?" He snarled at the intruder. "What do you want?"
"Nuthin.' The man growled back belligerently.
"Then fuck off." Suigetsu replied menacingly, "This isn't a free show."
"Adashi, let's go." Another man came up behind the first one, calling him back to the road. "We have places to be."
"Shouldn't be doin' that in public." Adashi muttered, "Hav' a good mind ta fin' that girl's father."
"Come on, the lady doesn't like waiting." The second man said, leading the way back to the carriage. The fat woman was looking out through the curtains, disdain as clear on her face as the excess of makeup. She turned to face forward, her nose in the air, as the curtains fell, concealing her from view.
They moved off, leaving Suigetsu glaring after them; still clutching Karin to his chest.
Before they were out of sight, Karin began wiggling; not particularly liking the feelings their proximity had invoked.
"Karin…" Suigetsu growled, dropping his head to her neck. "If you don't want me to take you here and now, stop moving!"
"Let me go!" She yelled in his ear, still determined to break free despite knowing what the movements were doing to him.
"No. I don't want to!"
She stilled, her voice dropping to a whisper, "We can't yet, Suigetsu. We're on a mission and the two weeks aren't up yet."
Suigetsu made a small noise into her neck, before he released her. She stood up and stepped away and he looked up at her from the ground.
"No sex for two weeks, but you're clear for a mission?"
"I'm sure Sakura would have cleared it." Karin stated, though she wasn't entirely sure. Neither the Konoha nor the Kiri ninja had her best interests at heart; she wasn't a member of either village.
"Unless they're setting you up to fail." Suigetsu's face darkened at the thought, "We should leave."
"NO!"
Her sudden shout had startled them both and she hid her face from his view. He stared up at her, surprised and confused.
"Why not?"
"It's your home." She said softly, "You missed it. You love being part of it. I can tell. You can't just leave it again. I won't let you."
She turned away from him, willing herself to be strong enough to leave.
"I'm not letting you go, Karin." He said, as he stood to embrace her. "Do you think I went through all that trouble looking for you just to let you walk away?"
"You always did make bad decisions." She said with a quiet laugh.
He squeezed her briefly, "How far away are they?"
She closed her eyes, sending her senses out, "They're about to enter the pass."
"Then we'd better move out."
He released her, turning to collect his sword and pack as she swung her own bag onto her back. Then he took her hand and they headed up the road.
The previous night, when they'd set up the explosives, they'd chosen a small cave above the road for their lookout position. From the entrance, they could see the northern end of the canyon and the site of their trap. There were two narrow trails leading up to the cave, which would allow them to come up behind their target quickly once they'd triggered the explosions.
They ran up the first trail, reaching the cave just as their target come round a bend in the road that led to the final straight and the end of the pass. The group was moving slowly, cautiously, keeping on alert for any signs of ambush or attack.
They hadn't marked the spot of the trap, not wanting it to be visible and thus avoidable for their quarry, so Karin's task was to monitor them until the carriage was in the exact spot. Suigetsu stood beside her, waiting for the signal to blow the explosives.
"Wait for it." She murmured, "They're almost there."
"I can see that."
"Shut up, Suiget… NOW!"
Suigetsu hit the button and the sides of the canyon exploded out into the road. A massive cloud of dust and debris was thrown up, with pieces of rock colliding in midair and falling on the hapless people below. There were shouts and cries in the confusion as the guards staggered about, searching for their comrades and the lady who had hired them.
As the dust started to clear, another round of shouts went up as it revealed the shattered remains of the carriage, sunk in the middle of the road.
Karin and Suigetsu ran down the second trail, approaching the disaster area from the south. They coughed as they were engulfed by the dust cloud. One of the guards caught sight of them and called them over.
"Could you help? Please, there's someone trapped in there."
Suigetsu nodded, moving forward while Karin hung back, her hand covering her mouth in an appearance of shock and horror.
They began pulling on rocks and pieces of wood that stuck out of the ground; a few of the guards calling out the lady's name, asking if she was alright.
The ground shifted beneath them and everyone stood unsteadily. Suigetsu glanced back at Karin and she shook her head. His mouth quirked, his tooth sticking out just briefly before he turned back to the grim situation in front of him.
It took the rest of the day, and night was falling, by the time they'd dug out the merchant's wife. She was dead, her body mangled and distorted.
The guards had sent two of their number ahead to the Daimyo and a small camp had been set up outside the canyon. The body of the merchant's wife was moved to the camp, where it was laid out and prepared for burial.
As the night deepened, Suigetsu and Karin disappeared into the darkness.
Author's Note: Here's a new chapter. Because Kira Ryuuza asked for it.