Author Note: Since my Damose was put on indefinite hiatus, I'm going to have more time to focus on these one shot collections until I get some new anime (I've got Gundam Wing anime coming in the mail for anyone who likes that, that's what I'll be doing next) and can do some bigger stories. Anyway, thank you to all of you who have stuck with me through all my disappearances, thank you, my readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I make no profit from this.

"Karin!" Suigetsu ran over to his redheaded teammate who was lying on the ground, covered in blood. Her eyes were half glazed over, and agony was clear in her eyes. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Suigetsu thought to himself, he shouldn't have let her go on ahead! He touched her hand, and Karin's fingers, sticky with her own blood, wrapped around his.

"Sui?" she whispered. Her eyes started to close, but she blinked hard, trying to stay awake for him, after all, he had always been special to her, no matter how much she tried to hide it.

"Shh, Karin, just stay awake." Suigetsu felt, physically felt, his usual façade chipping away as he stared at his favorite teammate. Karin turned her head to the side to cough up more blood; it definitely wasn't looking good for her.

"Suigetsu!" Sasuke's voice cut through the air, he was walking right past Karin. "Come on, she's of no use to us anymore. She's half dead, lets get moving."

Even Juugo looked hesitant in this situation. 'I can't leave, will you take care of Karin?' He mouthed, still following Sasuke.

Suigetsu looked down at Karin. It was clear without help she wasn't going to make it, and he could only do so much.

Bullshit, he told himself. He would find a way. "I'm not coming Sasuke." Suigetsu called and cast Juugo a nod. He would do whatever it took to save Karin.

"Suit yourself." Sasuke called over his shoulder, it was obvious he didn't care either way.

Suigetsu had been through three villages so far, had found zero healers, and it was becoming apparent that Karin wasn't going to last much longer. By the way her chakra was fading, Suigetsu was sure she wouldn't last through the next hour.

"Do you need a healer, sir?" A small, blonde girl asked as Suigetsu entered the fourth village. The girl couldn't have been over 14-years old, but her chakra was strong.

"My friend..." Suigetsu couldn't think of an excuse. "She got jumped." He finally spit out.

"Here, sir, just set her down and I'll take care of her wounds." The girl knelt on the ground and when Suigetsu set Karin down, began to work at all of her wounds with chakra.

"What's your name, kid?" Suigetsu held onto Karin's hand as the young girl easily healed all of her wounds.

"Mizuho Hikaru, sir." The girl smiled slightly, pressed down lightly on Karin's chest and stomach to heal her internal wounds, and when she was done, looked at Suigetsu. "I won't tell if you don't, Hoozuki-san." And with that Mizuho stood and disappeared into the crowd.

"Suigetsu?" Karin attempted to sit up, but she was still too weak. Despite being uninjured, she was now almost completely depleted of chakra

"Don't sit up." Suigetsu insisted, and instead scooped her up and headed out of the village.

"Where are we going..." Karin coughed slightly, but it was dry at least; no blood came up when she coughed anymore. "Now that...Sasuke-san doesn't want me around anymore."

"We're gonna go to the mist village." Suigetsu cradled Karin closer and continued walking. "And don't talk like that."

"Like what?" Karin narrowed her eyes like she might want to pick a fight, but she didn't seem all that into the argument scene at the moment.

"Like you're alone." Suigetsu looked away, a faint blush on his cheeks. "Because we're in this together."

"Thank you, Sui-kun." Karin whispered and rested her head on his chest. "Thank you for keeping me by your side."

Author note: Note her use of honorifics near the end. Also, the name of the small blonde girl was different at the beginning, and I changed it about 6 or seven times. I don't even think I used her last name correctly. Anyway, will you drop me a comment? I love hearing from my readers, and thank you for reading.