A/N: Kayso, y'all should be extremely proud of me. It did not take me a month to update. It took me less than a month. Like, 3 weeks or something. So yaaaaaaay! I like this chapter, eve though it's another 'story' chapter, it sets up what the plot for the rest of the story is going to be, and I desperately hope that you guys will tune in and read it. I do like dow well this story is doing, and I am immesely happy to say that I got the amount of reviews I wanted! Now, all I need if the hits to raise about 1000 more, and this will be my second best story EVER! LOVE YOU ALL.

Read and review? Sorry for any spelling mistakes. It's 2:55 am, I'm tired, and I don't have a beta. Um.. can you survive?

A wave of shock and anger ran through my body. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I just couldn't. Could Shikamaru have been right when he said that Sasuke was just playing me?

Oh god, oh god, this wasn't true. It couldn't be true.

My hands were clutching my legs with as much force as I could muster, and I was staring at the floor with an insane amount of intensity. Temari sat across from me, watching me.

"Are… are you alright, Sakura?"

Her question was as dumb as they come, for me at least. I wanted to say 'No, of course I'm not all right. You just told me that my boyfriend was cheating on me. With Karin. I am NOT okay.' But that seemed a little harsh to say to someone who was helping me. Oh, and I couldn't get any words out. That might have helped the nastiness stay in.

I just stared at the floor, attempting to let the news sink it. Just a few days ago, Sasuke had told me he loved me. Just a few days ago, he had told me I meant more to him than anyone else in the entire world. Just a few days ago, I felt better with him than I had with anyone else. He was my first boyfriend…

Temari got up, and patted my back. I looked up at her, the dead soul probably showing through my eyes.

"Sakura?"

"I'm fine," I said, my voice flat and dull. It didn't even sound like me. It sounded like someone else had taken over my voicebox.

"What are you going to do?"

I sat there, trying to think. But the voice, the other person, spoke for me. "Nothing, for right now. I'll just wait it out. See how it goes."

I couldn't see her face, but I knew she was probably surprised by this. "Nothing?"

"Why bother?" That was a good question. Why bother with anything, anymore? Why bother with guys? Shikamaru likes Yuki, and Sasuke is a damn sex maniac. I could just swear off guys forever. Become lesbian. Become a nun. I guess becoming a nun would be easier, since I couldn't force myself to like girls.

Nunnery. Would I actually have to wear one of those nasty black things and be called sister? Sister Sakura sounded a bit weird to me. And I don't think I could enter the nunnery at this age, so I was still susceptible to those stupid men. All of them are idiots…

"Look, Sakura… Karin didn't want to hurt you. She told me to tell you. She told me that she thought what Sasuke was doing was wrong, and-"

"THEN WHY DOESN'T SHE STOP!" I screamed, letting myself take over for a moment. I jumped up, and looked Temari in the face. The anger was boiling rapidly to the surface. Temari looked surprised, yet again, that I went from numb to angry in the span of a few seconds, but I was about as unpredictable as 

I could be at the moment. "Why on EARTH does she keep going on and seeing him? Can't she get her own boyfriend? Or someone else's, GOD!" I was shaking now, not even bothering trying to calm myself. What point would there be in doing that?

The blonde frowned. "Hey, this is as much his fault as it is hers."

"Yeah, but HE didn't send someone over here to tell me, and HE didn't say that he wished I wasn't hurt or whatever. HE is continuing to lie about it, which either means HE cares enough to spare me this, or HE doesn't care. Either way, SHE was the one who caused me this pain by telling me, though you, and I highly doubt SHE really does care. SHE probably wants me to break up with him!" I huffed, my green eyes probably glowing with anger. I saw Temari's light up in anger, as well, but it dulled after a few seconds.

"She probably does want you to break up with him."

Suddenly, all my anger evaporated. I looked at her with a confused look etched into my features. "Huh?"

Temari took another deep breath. "You might want to sit down," she instructed me. "This might take a while."

I did as I was told, and Temari took the seat across from me. Another deep breath, and then she began.

"Karin and Sasuke have known each other since they were little kids. Their parents were good friends, because her dad was the owner of a big music corporation, and Sasuke's father developed weapons and things for the government and the people. 'Protection of the People' was the Uchiha motto, and they stuck to that with their weapons. It was sold to police forces and the like, but I digress. They grew up in each others company, going to the same functions with their parents. They used to play together, as little children do."

"How do you know all of this?" I asked suddenly. "How do you know…?"

"Well, Karin told me this story when I asked her why the hell she couldn't leave Sasuke alone." Temari gave a dry laugh, and sighed. "She was always so obsessed with him…"

"You've wondered before? You've wondered why she keeps coming back to him?"

Temari nodded. "She is my friend, and I noticed a sickening pattern with her. She would have a boyfriend, and compare him to Sasuke. Sasuke had a girlfriend, and she would try to sabotage their relationship. Her world centered on him. It's not healthy. Now can I continue?" I nodded.

Temari continued. "As they got older, Sasuke became more handsome. It was something that everyone noticed. At his schools, girls used to flock to him and fall all over him. At the age of 12, he had more girls in love with him than most people do in a lifetime. Karin was one of them. That's when I met her, when we moved here. In middle school, she was the rich girl that everyone sucked up to, but no one really liked. My father is a prominent politician, and so she made herself known to me at the earliest convince. 

Apparently, her father wanted more connections, and my father was just another one to add to the collection. When I met her, I hated her, too.

"She was rich, that was for sure. She flaunted it in every way possible. She was never extremely pretty, though. Sasuke, on the other hand, was the cool rich boy. Even I fell for him a little when I first got here. He was nice to me, and talked to me, even though I was from another country and he was younger than I was. But I soon got over him. Sasuke… he had a new girlfriend hanging off his arm every other week; sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. Karin didn't care. She adored him.

"Eventually, they went out. She was about 14, he was 13. I believe… I think, that's the time she lost her virginity. To him, of course. Who else? Some people care about who their first kiss is. Karin's first kiss and her first 'lover' was Sasuke. When they broke up a few weeks later, She was hurt. Broken. We were freshman in highschool. I saw her like that, pitiful and alone, and I befriended her. I became her best friend over the course of the semester, and she began to tell me about Sasuke.

"As first, I thought it was just something that had hurt her. A boy she liked that used her. But then, he broke up with his girlfriend and she came crawling back. I was surprised. She had told me that she hated him now. Yet, here she was, back in his arms. It's been like that since then. He breaks up with a girl, she goes back. Recently, it's gotten worse. They've been seeing each other regardless if one of them has a boyfriend or girlfriend. Sasuke uses her for the sex, and Karin lets him use her."

"It's like… she's addicted to him," I said, looking at Temari. "She can't stop being with him."

"Yeah," Temari said quietly. "Some people would call it endless love, but I think it's just an infatuation that's gone too far. Way too far. And I think that one of these days, it won't be convenient for Sasuke to sleep with her. It won't be in his best interests to have her anymore, and she will be broken. Permanently."

We sat in silence for a while. I didn't know what to say… How could I be angry at Karin? She was like a helpless little child. She loved him…

"He… He doesn't even care about her, does he?" I whispered, staring at the ground once more. "He doesn't care about any of his girlfriends."

Another sign came from Temari. I wondered how many times she had done this, or if she had done it at all. "I think… I think he does care for his girlfriends. But I think that he has an addiction, too. I think he is addicted to what Karin can give him, and he keeps at it until his girlfriend either agrees to his request, and he leaves Karin, or says no, and he ends it and goes back to her. She knows this, too, but she doesn't care. How can she?"

I sat there, trying to imagine my response to Sasuke if he ever asked me to sleep with him. Before tonight, I would have probably said yes. I would have agreed. "Wow."

"Yeah. It's a lot to handle, I guess. Makes you think, though." Temari was sitting in her chair, watching me. I could feel her eyes on me, but I kept my gaze on the floor.



"It really does."

We sat like that for a bit, Temari watching me and me watching a small ant on the floor. I wanted to squash it. How easily I could just kill it, break it into pieces. Just like Karin's heat. I could sleep with Sasuke, and stay with him, and become his new Karin. And she would be broken and dead inside. But… I couldn't do that. After this story, I couldn't bring myself to be angry at her, just him.

"How are you feeling?" Temari asked, watching me still. I sat up, and looked at her.

"Shocked, angry, confused. I don't know. I can't sort it all out. I feel sorry for her, ya know? And I'm angry at him, but I can't hate him. I don't know why, and that makes me angry at myself."

"Don't be mad at yourself, Sakura. You… you were just a victim in all of this. I keep thinking that I should have told people about Sasuke and Karin earlier, you know? Let everyone know about it, let everyone see the perfect, cool guy for what he really was. Then no girl but Karin would date him, and he'd be miserable and she'd be happy. But I don't think that would fix her problem."

I smiled, albeit weakly. "You want to try and fix her? Even after all she's done?"

"She's my friend," Temari said. "I want to make sure she's okay. I want to make sure you're okay, too, Sakura. I might not have known you nearly as long, but still. You're a good kid with a bad boyfriend. I think you deserve better, just like I think Karin deserves better."

I tried to think of better when she said that. I hadn't been going out with Sasuke for long, but… It was still weird. "Better?"

"Sasuke is scum, really. I mean, he cheats on girls until they sleep with him. He's only 15, Sakura. It's not unheard of, but that's still a lot of sex." I nodded.

Better… My mind flashed with images of Shikamaru. I blushed heavily, and hoped that Temari didn't read my mind somehow. That would be weird.

Luckily, Temari just continued on with her talking without taking much notice of my blushing. She might have thought the word sex made me blush. Or thinking of a naked Sasuke would make me blush, but how wrong-

No, that one did make me blush.

"So… what are you going to do?" I looked up at her, confident that my face wasn't glowing red, and hoping that there wasn't a faint blush on my cheeks.

I thought about it. And thought. What could I do? Not much, I guess…

"Nothing."

"Huh?"



"I'm not going to do anything right now," I said.

Temari, yet again, looked confused. "What?"

"We've been over this. But this time, nothing for a different reason." I grinned. "But I don't know if I should tell you."

She frowned. "And why not?"

"You're Karin's friend. If I have a plan that might hurt her, you'd tell her and it would be ruined. Temari, I can't do that. I need to expose Sasuke for what he is." I felt the despised anger boil up in my again. "I have to do this."

The blonde across from me sat very still for a moment, as if thinking it over. Her eyes stared off into space, and I sat very still, as well, waiting for her answer.

"Whatever you do, Sakura," she said, finally. "Whatever you are planning, I want to be in on it. I have to be in on it. Karin is my friend, but if she has to get hurt to heal her, I will hurt her. Even if she hates me for it. I have to help. As long as it's not too extensive. Or physical." I nodded, understanding her position. And I had help… good.

"I understand. It will more or less hurt Sasuke, not her. Karin… she's the victim, right? She about as victimized as people can get. She doesn't deserve this."

"Good," responded Temari. "So, what's the plan?"

"I think… I think I'm going to do nothing for now. Build up my forces. If Sasuke has enough people willing to follow him, then this drama 'war' isn't going to do much good. No, I need people. You might have to work with people you don't like-"

Temari cut in, "I'll wok with Tenten if she helps you, but only because 1.) Karin needs this and 2.) this whole situation has made me try and get over Neji."

I smiled again. "Alrighty then. Once we get the forces built, and people on my side… Well, we'll jump that hurdle when we get to it." I sounded like an old woman right there, I just knew it. My mother used that saying a lot when talking to patients about medication and things.

"You mean, you're not going to clue me in?"

"No, I mean I haven't been able to plan that much yet. I'm not a master strategist; I can't do all this in my head. I need to see it played out before I can think…" Temari frowned.

"You mean to say, you can't plan ahead that well."

I laughed sheepishly. "Heh… not exactly…"

Her frown deepened and I knew that she could see her options failing fast.



"But I know someone who is, and he'd love to help. I'll talk to him later. For now… we work on the people, okay? There are people who think Sasuke is scum, and there are people who idolize him. We need the people who think he's scum, first. They'll be more helpful to what we've got going on. Once we get them, we can get the others." Temari nodded, and stood up. I realized that she probably had to go, and showed her to the door.

I waved goodbye as she started out the door, but my motion was cut shot by a very unexpected hug.

"You're a strong girl, Sakura," Temari whispered to me.

"I've been told."

"Karin didn't send me," Temari whispered, yet again, as she broke the hug.

"I know," I said. "But I'm really glad that you came anyway."

As Temari walked to her car, I moved over to the window facing the front of the house. I could see her get in, and start the car up. As she pulled out of my driveway, recollections of the dream I had had about Sasuke talking on his cell phone to Karin came back to me.

Was that all… true? Had I known, even then, that he was going to pull a stunt like this? No, I didn't. I really hoped that he wouldn't. I really liked him…

A tear rolled down my cheek as Temari pulled out of the driveway. Another soon followed, and I couldn't even see her car drive down the street.

I broke out in tears, uncontrollable tears. I was crying for many reasons…

One, I was angry. I was angry at Karin, for being so easily victimized. I was furious at Sasuke for being so addicted to sex and power. He felt he had a power over Karin, and needed her. He used her. He used me. I was angry at myself for falling for him so easily. I was angry for not listening to Ino and Shikamaru when they told me what I was getting myself into. I was angry for caring so much.

Two, I was upset. My boyfriend, whom I liked, had been cheating on me. My very first boyfriend… I fell to the floor and curled up into a ball. This... this wasn't as bad. The upsetness was outweighed by the anger by a long shot.

Three, I was confused. I wasn't that upset about Sasuke, and I didn't know why. Sure, I was semi-upset. But… part of me was relieved. Part of me was glad that I could go out with Shikamaru. And of course, that same part was deeply hurt that he like Yuki and not me.

And finally… I was disappointed in myself. Not for caring so much. Not for being upset or for being confused. I was disappointed that I wasn't that strong girl I pretended to be for Temari. I wasn't the strong, confident, smart girl that I tried to be in front of others.

I was disappointed that I was a weak, self-conscious baby. And for that reason, I cried more than I should have, and more than I ever wanted to.

A/N: Nyaaaa, hope you liked "Karin's Story". I think it explains very much about Karin and hopefully a little about Sasuke. This might sem a little OOC for Sakura, and if you think so, I apologize. I, personally, don't think that it's OOC, but then again, I do, so... Ahahah, I'm making no sense. So I hope you liked it, and I really do hope the next one is a little quicker in coming. I'm in a writing mood lately, I'm enjoying it a lot. It's like any trace of writers block that I could have once had has died and gone to heaven. Or hell. Or writers block cage. Iunno where writers block goes when it dies. I'd like to know, though. Maybe I could catch some and make it stop me before I begin to ramble once more. Okay, so... I'm writing a few new stories, actually! One is an Ouran fic. I might write a HP fic for the fun of it. HarryHermione... XD Yeah, I know. Not canon. Whatever to you haters. It will make sense when I write it. Anyway, I want to write an ATLA fic (ZUTARA FOREVER), but I don't know how I'm going to go about that.

And the thing that should excite you the most... SHIKASAKU fic! I'm doing a challenge with one of my friends. It's a 25 drabbles challenge, basing on quotes. Like, a quote, and I somehow relate it to ShikaSaku. She's doing KibaHina, hopefully. She has an idea for it, at least. Hey, if anyone is interested in joining us, you should drop a line and ask me about it. I'd love to see this kinda go around to other couple fandoms, as well. Like NaruIno, I mean. Anything is fine, you know. So... That's basically what I've been doing since the last update. My internet went out for a while. But yeah. READ AND REVIEW. ENJOY.

Long authors note is looooooooooong. Yet again, sorry for any errors in my story/above message. I wouldn't put it past me to butcher a word right now. XD