Author Note: A very nice reader gave me a gentle reminder that all of these stories in this collection are about Suigetsu taking care of Karin, and could I do it the other way around? So this one's dedicated to alamodie, for reminding me to try and keep it even. Hope you like this, alamodie! Also, Karin's point of view this time.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any profit from this, I make zilch, zero, none.
"Damn it, Suigetsu!" I lean over Suigetsu, whose face was tinged with pink from his spiking fever. "Even if you turn into water, you're going to get sick standing out in sleet!"
"Karin you have pretty eyes..." Suigetsu reaches up, trying to pull me down to him.
"Oh bullshit." I wipe his face down with a wet cloth. As far as my healing powers go, I can't heal a cold better than any other modern remedy. "You always say my eyes look like a demonic Barbie."
"No, they're really pretty. Swear." Suigetsu grabs my hand and holds it against his face. "Your hands are so soft... and cool."
"How is Suigetsu?" Sasuke calls from just outside the tent. Like he cares.
"Not good, I think you're going to have to go do the mission with just Juugo this time." I wipe the almost instantly reappearing sweat beads off of Suigetsu's forehead.
Sasuke says nothing, but I can hear Juugo and him packing up their tent, their supplies, everything they need for the mission.
"Here, Suigetsu, take a drink." I hold his water bottle to his lips, but he turns away.
"I don't want it." He mutters, and I can feel the anger rising in my throat. I love him, but I kind of want to kill him. He's weak and won't fight, but I love him too much to kill him.
It's a debate, and my anger is being beaten down into nothing. I'm beyond worried, because if Suigetsu doesn't get water, there is an increased chance that whatever he has could kill him. Being dehydrated while you're already sick is not good, especially not for him.
"Suigetsu..." I press the water bottle to his lips again. "Suigetsu you asshole idiot, drink! I don't want you to die!"
I listen to see if Sasuke and Juugo are still out there, if anyone will help me with Suigetsu, but they're both long gone.
I rub at my eyes behind my glasses. I am not going to cry in front of him, not like this. Of all the times I haven't needed to be especially strong, this is the one time I have needed to be, and here I am, tearing up.
"Karin?" Suigetsu starts to sit up, hesitates, and then pulls me down on top of him.
"Damn it, now is not the time, Suigetsu!" I sit up, take the lid off his water bottle, pinch his nose shut, and when he opens his mouth I dump the contents of his water bottle down his throat.
He is clearly not used to me taking charge like this, as he sputters and blinks even though he's not choking.
I take the contents of my canteen and do the same thing again, and the color in his cheeks starts to slip away. His fever is going away just like that, geez if I knew I could've done that I would've done that hours ago.
"Karin?" Suigetsu even looks a little more lucid now. "Karin, why are you crying?"
"You scared me you son of a bitch!" I scrub at my eyes with my hands. "Don't ever scare me like that again, you bastard!" I swat at him like usual, but he isn't healthy enough to turn to water and he instead takes the hit. "I hate you, now I have to sit around here with you while Juugo gets to be alone with my Sasuke-kun!"
"You changed your tune." Suigetsu sits back up, eyebrows raised.
"I'm not going to fight with you right now, you're sick, stupid." I scoot away, towards the other side of the tent.
"Who says we're going to start a fight?" Suigetsu pulls me back to him, me pressed into his chest. "I think you do love me, and that's why you're so mad. You were genuinely scared that I was dying."
"Shut up." I squirm, trying to get away from him. "I hate you."
"No, I don't think you do." Suigetsu smirks and turns me towards him. "Admit it, Karin, you love me."
I say nothing. I'm not about to admit it to him, not if I can possibly get away without saying it.
"I'm going to get you more water from the river." I jerk out of his arms so hard he falls over forward. "Stay here."
I grab my canteen and his water bottle and head for the nearby stream. I've just filled them up and I'm headed back when I feel arms encircle my waist.
I start to panic, because while I'm not exactly defenseless, I am not good at fighting. But then I check the chakra, and what do you know, it's Suigetsu.
"I told you to stay." I mutter, but Suigetsu has never listened to me anyway.
"You're sexy when you take charge." Suigetsu leans over my shoulder to take a sip from his water bottle.
I smirk, because all in all, that's not a bad thing to hear...
Author Note: It's not exactly hardcore, but the feelings are there, you can tell. This one actually developed from it's title, "Taking Charge." Anyway, I hope you liked it, alamodie, and I hope you guys and girls leave me a comment if you can, I love hearing from everyone. Thank you for reading!