Chapter 2: Don't forget your promises

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By the time she dragged her body through the main entrance of the school, it had become a habit of hers to scratch over the small scar. When she woke up that morning she had noticed it right away and she hated scars or wounds.

She must've injured herself while she was lying asleep on the couch, though she was not sure how that was even possible. This was not a normal scratch; it was a scar, like a tattoo almost. She glared at the blemish with disgust and pulled the bracelet she wore down again to cover it. Yeah. She'd cover it. No need for anyone to see it.

Juugo already waited for her at her locker and judging by his expression he was in a no better mood than her. This slightly unnerved her; always when people around her poured out their hearts to her, she didn't know what to do. She couldn't handle other people's problems all that well, another obnoxious trait she had inherited from her mother. Before she could turn around and hide however, he approached her with that sad look in his eyes that she hated so much.

The male stopped in front of her, sighed and proceeded to stare at his feet as if they were the only thing he had left. After some time of awkward silence he muttered "They fired me."

Ouch. Juugo loved animals and thus loved his part-time job at the local pet shop. Not to mention that it was quite hard for him to get a job considering his...condition. Being fired after such a long time must've been devastating for him. The girl's expression turned sour since she was pretty sure she knew why it happened.

"You know, it's just that...it just happened. I couldn't control it and now that they're..." he looked away from her and left his sentence unfinished "this was already the third time ever since the car crash."

With a sigh, he slung his bag over his shoulder and she stayed behind and watched his retreating back. So he too still suffered from the after-effects of the accident even though he hadn't even been there to witness it.

Scar momentarily forgotten she gathered her things and practically rushed to class, determined to ignore everyone else around her.

Right now she hated her father.

Well, maybe she didn't hate him but at least she was very, very angry at him for making her go through this torture once again.

Unhappily she tried to press herself deeper into the seat and held her head down as the school building came into view even though it did not ease her discomfort. Her father insisted that she would be driven to school from now on.

Every day.

He hadn't listened to her timid protests and reasoned that this way her security wouldn't be endangered but ensured because he picked a more than capable driver. Her silly fear of being inside or even near vehicles was laughable and this way she would realize that.

The low sound of the engine that once had calmed her made her heart beat faster now and she wanted nothing more than rip the door open and to walk by herself yet it would be more than stupid to jump out of the moving vehicle onto the street.

Upon arriving she quickly took her bag and blocked out the shouts that came from her cousin and her younger sister who had accompanied her.

She was so occupied with not registering the whispers and questions that she also didn't look where she was going and ran into someone. Books clattered to the ground and she quickly kneeled down, hastily collecting the books and apologizing quietly. She truly hoped neither Hanabi nor Neji had witnessed this small accident and would report this to her father.

"Here, let me help you, you lost some things as well" a female voice sounded and before Hinata could say anything, the other girl too lowered her body to her level and picked up a book. She recognized the pink hair immediately and her eyes watered.

"Sakura?" she asked shyly and Sakura's apple green eyes met her milky white ones. "Oh, Hinata, it's you!" she answered, surprised, and both females sat there in silence.

Sakura and Hinata had never spoken to each other that often before, only on few occasions and it would've probably stayed that way if one day Hinata hadn't forgot her umbrella at home on a at first seemingly sunny day and so she needed a ride.

She didn't have any close friends and so she brought up the courage to ask the Haruno to drive her home, who accepted. During the ride, the shy girl eventually warmed up to Sakura and the two laughed together until another car suddenly slammed into theirs and everything went black. After this, they hadn't seen each other again. Up until now.

Mumbling another apology she grabbed her own things, quickly shoved the pink-haired classmate's into her arms and disappeared in the crowd of students. Hinata wasn't quite ready for a confrontation just yet. She kept telling herself that she could look the other girl in the eyes in a week. Or two. Or three.
Someday.
Yes, someday sounded like something she could manage.

When class started, the droning of the teacher took her mind off of the encounter and she quickly wrote down her notes when her classmate nudged her in the shoulder. To make it seem like she was still following the lesson, she held her head down and continued to move her hand but she whispered "What is it, Kiba-kun?" Kiba and she had been friends ever since they were twelve and often sat next to each other, so she thought that maybe he just hadn't understood something and now asked her to explain it to him like he did quite often. The boy remained silent for a couple of seconds, then pointed out "Hinata, since when do you have that scar?"

Her pen slid from her grasp and she frantically searched her forearm. There it was, a small red taunting scar. Her breath hitched and she racked her brain, trying to remember where she'd gotten it. Her discomfort grew as she realized that she couldn't.

Kiba must've sensed her panicking because he tried to calm her down rather loudly.

"Kiba Inuzuka!" Said student flinched "This is perhaps the fifth time you've interrupted my lesson in the last fifteen minutes. I'm fed up with you misbehaving. Get out of my class room. Now!" Her milky-white eyes followed him as he grudgingly left, complaining about unfair teachers. It was her fault one of the only persons she considered a friend was in trouble and she clenched her fists, angry with herself for once again being selfish and a burden.

The rest of the day was spent with trying to avoid Karin Kinami, Sakura Haruno and Kiba Inuzuka and with finding a way to cover up the scar.

As Sakura sat on the bus like she did every other day, she thought back to the sudden encounter with Hinata. The pink-haired girl had tried to find her afterwards but it seemed as if she'd disappeared without a trace. They only had one class together and even then, the Hyuuga had somehow managed to escape her. It was frustrating Sakura to no end.

When Hinata had knelt down to gather up her things, something on her arm had caught her attention and she'd only wanted to know if maybe the younger girl knew where it came from. Because when she too had crouched down, she'd recognized it.

The Haruno had covered her wound with a band-aid because it did unnerve her so she was positive Hinata would've put up a great effort to make it seem like she didn't have one. So did she not discover it or did she sustain it on her way to school? Sakura was curious.

After that incident, the two didn't run into each other again and it all started to be forgotten. Sakura kept having weird dreams that she brushed off as nothing but a left-over. Her life had become normal again, as normal as it could be with that giant void in her heart and she was glad that she no longer had to answer awkward questions. She could laugh again and Ino made sure to cheer her up whenever she felt down. Even the scar seemed to fade with every day that passed.

Two weeks of calm, two weeks of blissful quiet.

Hayato was rambling away about something he did at school, losing himself in his story so that in the end he was telling a completely different story than intended. Sakura kindly pointed that out and her brother blushed. "I was just really getting into the story and then it just happened, you have to believe me!" he whined and she leaned over and pressed a kiss on his forehead. Hayato beamed.

"It's alright, I'm used to it by now" she teased and walked into the bathroom because it was getting late and she didn't feel like staying up late today. Besides, it was like with every day she was getting weaker and she blamed it on the dreams. In the morning she could never remember what they'd been about but she did know that it always ended with her dying.

As she brushed her hair, the calls of her sibling reached her ears and a second later he came bouncing into the small room. "Can I sleep in your bed tonight? Please? Please?" he pleaded, green eyes glancing hopefully up to her. For some reason, Hayato reacted almost allergic to sleeping alone. "Don't always pamper him, Sakura!" her mother scolded as she passed by, but she allowed him to sleep with her anyway.

"But only for tonight" she reminded him, but he wasn't even listening anymore, too excited about not being alone tonight.

"You again!" Karin skids to a halt and glares at the boy occupying the swing next to hers. He seems vaguely familiar and she feels like he's been following her around.

Nagato he says is his name and she believes him. They sit there in silence and she starts swinging after a while, a little irritated with the boy who won't talk to her. "What are you waiting for?" she calls out. The reply isn't immediate, but she has time.

He raises his head to look at her, his dark red hair falling into his eyes, shielding one from view; it's not like they're that pleasant to look at in the first place so she doesn't mind. She feels as if the gaze of his grey eye with the almost hypnotic rings inside of them burn into her head.

"They're not here yet" he says and shrugs. She finds it weird and scoffs; if he's only waiting for someone, then why is he sitting there, doing nothing, instead of enjoying himself? She flies higher and higher and he remains rooted to the spot, completely still.

She turns her head to the side and she sees two girls coming towards the swings. The sun is shining so brightly that it blinds her and she can't make out their faces.

"Ah, there you are!" exclaims Nagato and stands up. "I was already wondering if you've forgotten our deal." Karin tilts her head slightly and eyes the other girls curiously until the boy calls her name. "Karin, the same goes for you." Oh yeah, the deal. How could she forget about that?

"Hey, Shinigami-boy, are you going to tell us now what we have to do for you?" she wants to know and he gives her one of his rather creepy smiles. His way of ignoring her, taunting her reminds her very, very much of someone and the sudden urge to punch him overcomes her.

He asks "So, did you prepare for what's to come?" and one of her companions lets out a hallow laugh. "How are we supposed to do so if you won't even tell you what the HELL we have to do?" "Ah, yes, maybe I should've told you at least something" he admits, but he still doesn't reveal anything. That guy really is starting to get on her nerves. The other girl shyly questions "H-How much time did you give us to prepare?" "Thirteen days. Your deadline's due. No more procrastinating, I fear."

In the exact same moment, Karin lets go of the chains of the swing set out of shock; for a second she's floating, the next she crashes to the ground. She hits her comrades, knocking them over and a painful sensation spreads through her forehead. The impact must've shattered her skull, she muses and maybe she'll die now.

Darkness drowns her and she feels warm and she knows that she's truly dead now.

For a few moments, she embraces the quiet, then a sudden, blinding light engulfes her. She struggles against it, because she feels that once she goes there, returning won't be possible. She still loses the fight.

The last images lingered in her mind as she awoke to an obnoxiously annoying sound.

Bleep, bleep, bleep.

It was like a Déjà vu and to complete the impression, a dull pain echoed inside her head. She screwed her eyes close and tried to remember why this seemed so familiar to her, which proved to be close to impossible, because her head was spinning.

Her limps were numb and lying useless at her side, hands clutching the surprisingly thin sheets. Something was wrong, she figured and she also realized she would have to open her eyes to find out what. But that could wait. Right now she enjoyed the stage somewhere between consciousness and sleep greatly. School and her mother sure were draining her, so who could blame her for savoring every single moment of peace.

She made a low sound of approval and took a deep breath before relaxing completely. She would be late for class but all her worries seemed to be so far away...

She faded in and out of consciousness, registering little what was going on around her, the faint noise of people talking, the bleeping sound and her own breathing the only constant accompanying her.

A few hours or maybe days later, she found that her body started to feel again, reacting to her clouded brain's commands slowly. The feeling that something was wrong with her returned with full force and this time, she gave in to it.

The effort that it took to crack her eyes open almost sent her back into unconsciousness, yet she fought back the urge to give up and eventually succeeded. The first thing she saw was the white ceiling of her room or what she believed was her room and she flinched when the realization that she could make out details without her glasses hit her. What was going on?

Carefully, she lifted her head and her eyes scanned the room.

After she was done doing so, she knew that she was back at the hospital. She had noticed the smell of disinfectant before but thought it was her ever distraught mother's doing and that the weird noise came from her new alarm clock (again, courtesy of Mrs. Kinami). That woman was unpredictable when it came to things like that.

Karin tried to stay calm and the thought that maybe her injuries had opened again over night or something like that had happened satisfied her. There was simply no other reason.

Between the bleep-tone from her heart rate monitor, she caught an almost inaudible sigh, which startled her. Where did that come from? Was her mother already there?

This time she found the stranger while surveying her environment. It was a miracle she didn't spot him earlier; with his black clothes and hair, he stuck out like a blob of ink on a white paper. His face was hidden by his rather long hair and the collar of his jacket, so the girl couldn't be sure whether she knew this man or not. He took steady, deep breaths and was apparently asleep, so she refrained from waking him up, though the temptation was great.

As quiet as she could, she steadied herself and brought herself into a sitting position. While doing so, her bangs continued to fall into her face, obscuring her vision. She paused. Since when was her hair that dark?

Her hands went up in her hair and noted that it was a lot shorter than it used to be. A shiver crept down her spine and she held one strand of hair into her face, trembling slightly as if she was scared of what she would see.

Black. Her hair was most definitely black now.

"There must be an explanation for this. There always is" she whispered grimly and inspected her hands further. They seemed...different. The nails were shorter, the palms a little callous and they seemed less feminine.

That was when Karin actually looked down her body. Really looked at it. Her chest was flat. She knew that compared to other girls, she'd always been 'underdeveloped' in that area; now her breasts were non-existent. As were all 'feminine' curves.

This was not her body.

Another chapter done! :D I'm uncharacteristically productive lately...

As you can see, I love writing in Karin's POV, like writing Hinata's POV and have major troubles with Sakura's POV. I have some kind of grudge against writing from her perspective.
Hm, can you figure out what happened to Karin? I think it's a little obvious...

Not much to say besides that, except for THANK YOU for the reviews, favs and alerts so far and those to come (HOPEFULLY.) ^_^