A/N: First of all, thank you to ojosnegro for the information to make the idea of this. ojosnegro, this one is dedicated to you!
Spoilers for 480 and up! Indirectly, but they're still there!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I make absolute zero (0) profit from this.
"How bad do you want out?" Suigetsu jangled the keys in front of Karin's cell door. "Tell me how much you want out, what do I get out of it?"
"I won't kill you if you let me out, that's the deal." Karin hissed and made a grab for the keys. "Suigetsu Hoozuki, you let me out this instant or I'll-"
"You'll what, redhead?" Suigetsu smirked, revealing those cloud white daggers in his mouth. "You'll what?"
"UGH!" Karin was nearly in tears at this point. "I hate you!"
Juugo put his hand on Suigetsu's shoulder, trying to end the argument, but the white haired teen just shrugged him off.
"You'll do what, Karin?" Suigetsu jangled the keys again. "Give me something good and I'll let you out."
Karin thought for a moment, and then smirked. "Ohh, Sui-chan, I'll tell you a secret if you let me out." She purred, slinking up to the front of her cell.
Suigetsu stared at her for a moment. It wasn't as good as eternal servitude, but it would have to do. He slid the key into the lock and turned it.
"What's the secret?" Suigetsu asked as Karin slipped through the tiny opening and kept close to Juugo.
"We have to get out of here first." Karin glanced around. "I really don't want to get caught."
"Well, you're not getting away from me now." Suigetsu grabbed her and slung her over his shoulders, sack-o-potatoes style. "Alright, Juugo, lets get out of here."
Once they were far enough, having cleared enough ground that no one would bother to look so for them, Suigetsu dropped Karin on her butt.
"Ow! Bastard!" Karin bit back her tears, crying would get her nowhere with Suigetsu. "I nearly died and that's how you treat me?"
"What do you mean you nearly died?" Suigetsu's eyes went wide, and after he checked where Juugo was – he was talking to a cardinal – Suigetsu plopped down in front of Karin. "Who tried to kill you?"
Karin took a deep breath. What had happened, she didn't want to talk about it, she didn't want to think about it.
"Who tried to kill you, Karin?" Suigetsu repeated, and he was dead serious now. "I swear to God, I'll kill them."
"Why do you care, Suigetsu?" Karin tried to muster up annoyance, but that was something she was all out of, and her tone just came out exasperated. "You hate me, so why do you care?"
Suigetsu was quiet for a few minutes, but then he just repeated his question. "Who tried to kill you?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Karin mumbled. "It was a bad experience."
"I'll make a deal with you." Suigetsu checked on Juugo again before he continued. "You show me the scar, and I'll shut up about it."
Karin peeked over her shoulder at Juugo, who was clearly not paying any attention, and then unbuttoned her shirt two buttons and pulled it open to show the scar that even Sakura hadn't been able to heal completely.
Suigetsu looked like he wanted to kill someone.
"Sasuke did it." Karin whispered even though she hadn't meant to. "Danzou took me hostage and Sasuke stabbed right through me to get to Danzou." The words kept flowing, even though her brain bid them, begged them and screamed at them to stop. "A leaf nin, Sasuke's old teammate saved my life before throwing me in jail."
That was when Suigetsu shocked Karin. He grabbed her, pulling her into a hug. "Don't ever die on me, Karin. Just don't."
"This isn't like you." Karin struggled against his grip, but he didn't let go. "Who slipped the pills in your water?"
"No one." Suigetsu looked off into the distance, a begrudging expression on his face. "I just... I know I talk a lot of shit, and you do too, but I don't want anything to happen to you."
"We need to get moving." Juugo interjected. "The animals can hear a group coming."
The group turned and Karin buttoned her shirt. They left the scene without another word or a sound to be heard.
As they set up camp miles away and hours later, Karin was sticking close to Suigetsu. For once, she didn't want to kill him. For hours of debating, she had figured out that, for all the punches and kicks she had dealt to him, she didn't want him to die either; she had come too close to want that for another person. For once, Suigetsu wasn't being bitchy and making her mad, he was keeping her close and he felt like safe.
As they huddled next to the fire that night, too anxious to sleep, unlike Juugo who had already drifted off, Suigetsu murmured in Karin's ear, "So what was the secret you were going to tell me?"
"Not tonight... I'm too tired to talk, Suigetsu." Karin leaned on the sharp-toothed boy as she had been all day. Almost dying and then being thrown in jail had exhausted her, but as of yet, she hadn't been able to sleep.
"What if I guess right?" Suigetsu prodded. He was worlds more awake than Karin. "Then will you tell me?"
"Mm, guess away." Karin snuggled closer, practically in Suigetsu's lap at this point.
"Was it..." Suigetsu paused, as if thinking, but instead leaned down and, very, very gently, kissed Karin's lips. "That?"
Karin's eyes were just barely open now; she had been too far gone to be awakened by a kiss. "Yes..." She whispered before she fell asleep.
Suigetsu smiled and held her. Of all the trash-talk, of all the lies, of all the kicks, punches, screams and every almost, he was beyond glad that Karin had lived.
A/N: Wow, that took forever. I kept falling asleep writing it, mostly because it's morning now, and I'm beyond tired. Anyway, drop me a review if you want, I still have one more thing to do before I can go to bed...