Note: This chapter marks the start of a mini-arc that will last for three chapters. There will be important character and SK-bond development in it, as well as a good chunk of the heart and soul of the fic. So, I hope it will be enjoyable for you all.
I… also don't know how this happened, but the number of favorites for this fic just keeps increasing, so thank you all for your trust!I hope you will continue to enjoy what's left of the story. But I would also love to hear what you've been enjoying about it~ so please don't hesitate to leave me your feedback.
Disclaimer: Kakashi's training method for Karin is actually canon. Its explanation was loosely taken from chapter 154 of the manga, and originally said by Iruka.
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Chapter 9: The wrong thing to say
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Karin freezes and holds her breath.
Below her, Ryuu obliviously shifts in his futon but his eyes mercifully remain closed. Karin sighs inaudibly and risks a look at Kurotaro, confirming that the boy was still deep asleep, before continuing to tip-toe her way to the door and out the inn.
It's been three days since she has joined the two boys and has started to stay in the inn; it was a nice place, cozy and comfortable. The room they had rented was small but big enough for the three of them; it had a small bedroom, which had been assigned to Karin, and a humble living room unfurnished except for a table and the two futon that Kurotaro and Ryuu used. It had no bathroom, but there was one down at the end of the hall and since Karin left first thing in the morning and arrived after sunset, she luckily did not have to go through any lines to get to use it.
It's also been three days since she started her training with Sasuke and his teacher, Hatake Kakashi. By now her body has fortunately become used to the physical exertion and while she was always tired by the end of the day, her muscles were not nearly as strained and neither was her stamina as depleted. Her abilities had also increased considerably; she knew now a considerable array of defensive stances as well as a few simple but useful offensive ones. Kakashi had also taught her a couple of effective shuriken jutsu, and while Karin was not too adept at them yet, she had at least gotten a good enough hang of chakra flow; which never failed to up the level of her technique a notch or two, especially those involving the use of wires. Just yesterday properly infusing her kunai with chakra had allowed her to deflect most of Kakashi's shuriken, which had earned her a compliment from the jounin and the right to finally eat her share of bento.
She has—by some miracle—been able to keep her training a secret from her two teammates so far. But Karin knew she would not be able to do so for much longer; she kept making up excuse after excuse for her absences and there were only so many places she could lie and say she had visited, and so many checkups the hospital may want to run on her. She is always careful to thoroughly clean herself before meeting Kurotaro and Ryuu, but sooner rather than later they would take notice of the bandages she was hiding under her long sleeves and the pair of sweatpants she wore at the inn.
For the time being however the bandages are exposed for the world to see, as she is wearing her usual outfit; the same oversized beige jacket and black skirt she wore back during the exams. The only difference was that she had ditched her usual fishnet stockings and undershirt for those bandages at Sasuke's advice, decision that had saved her from extra bruises.
A smile tugs at her lips as she rushes through the forest behind the Hokage's mountain. The sun was only rising and most of the forest was still submerged in darkness, but Karin by now knew by heart where she was heading to.
And she also knew that Sasuke was most likely already there, waiting.
At first Kakashi had insisted that Sasuke stuck to working on his speed and stamina, despite the boy's continuous protests; but as of yesterday slight taijutsu had been added to the mix. Karin had gotten to see him spar against Kakashi while eating her bento, and even she had been able to notice Kakashi had been right when he assessed that Sasuke had improved. He was faster, more agile and endurable. Karin had had a hard time keeping up with his movements even though he had merely been warming up.
'Hn. That was nothing though… Kakashi was holding back.'
Is what Sasuke had told her the night before as they made their way back together through the woods, and Karin could not help but to wonder just how strong Kakashi truly was. He was singlehandedly training the both of them, sometimes through the use of kage bunshin, and she had yet to see him break a sweat. He truly was a formidable shinobi, and Karin was glad to have him as a temporary teacher.
Temporary, huh…
That's right. There were only ten days left until the finals of the Chuunin exam, and then she would have to pack her things and go back to Kusagakure. Something stirred in her at that thought—she missed her parents, that much was certain. But at the same time she felt uncomfortable just by thinking of the little time she had left in Konoha.
… The little time she had left with Sasuke and Kakashi.
Karin shakes her head clear of such unwanted thoughts and comes to a halt in the middle of the field, by the rock against which was leaning none other than Sasuke himself.
"Morning, Sasuke!" she greets, her good-spirits having returned just at the sight of the raven-haired teen.
"Karin," he greets back nonchalantly, and Karin can't help but to snicker inwardly. Sasuke was definitely not a morning person.
"No signs of Kakashi-san yet, huh?"
The Uchiha grunts and Karin does chuckle out-loud this time, imitating Sasuke and making herself comfortable against the rock's cold surface.
"How long do you think it will take him today, uh? I bet… twenty minutes?"
"Hn, that's too little."
"Then how 'bout thirty?"
"… I say forty."
"You're on, Sasuke! If he gets here in half an hour, I win, and if he gets here in under fifty minutes, you win!"
Interest spontaneously picked, Sasuke tilts his head sideways in order to look at the upbeat redhead, who was returning his look with a rowdy grin. "What will the winner get?"
"Oh, right!" she obviously had not thought that far. "Uh… how about… if I win and Kakashi-san brings any okonomiyaki with him, I get your share?"
After a moment of contemplation, Sasuke nods. "Then, if he brings any onigiri, I get your share."
Karin puffs out her cheeks, slightly affronted. The chances of Kakashi bringing onigiri far outweighed those of him bringing okonomiyaki. If Sasuke won, she would most likely end lunch-less. Why had she not thought of that?
Sasuke seems to guess her thoughts because an amused smirk draws itself across his lips, a spark giving life to his eyes. Apparently, his competitiveness was far more powerful than his annoyance at getting up early only to be made to wait.
"…Fine." Karin reluctantly agrees after losing the staring contest they had unknowingly engaged themselves in.
"Heh, we have a deal, then," he pauses, and then adds all too confidently: "A deal I will win, by the way. Kakashi never arrives anywhere in under an hour."
"Oh, stop gloating!" the redhead complains, her cheeks still puffed. "You haven't even won, yet!"
Sasuke snorts, "I may as well have."
Her own stubborn side coming out, Karin lightly pushes his shoulder with her own and retorts with a we'll see about that—but all she manages is to amuse him even further.
"Don't worry, Karin," Sasuke says sardonically. "I'll give you some of my onigiri."
Half an hour later, a confused Kakashi stands in front of a sulking Sasuke and a Karin who welcomes him with a triumphant grin.
"…I'm missing something, aren't I?"
"Never mind that, Kakashi," Sasuke cuts in before Karin could attempt to let Kakashi in on their little bet. By his side, the redhead chuckles behind her hand; who would have guessed Sasuke would turn out to be such a sore loser? "What are we going to do today?"
"Ah, it's good that you've asked that, Sasuke! Today we'll start with the 2nd phase of your training."
"2nd phase?" echoes Karin, blinking up at the jounin. Sasuke's brooding glare had vanished and his eyes seemed to be asking the very same thing.
"Yes," Kakashi confirms, before allowing his gaze to rest on his male student, "Sasuke, aside from your speed you will now be fully focusing on taijutsu. Here, grab these; I've brought them especially for your training."
Kakashi was now extending towards a hesitant looking Sasuke what looked like useless black rubber straps. "Come on, Sasuke. I can't hold these all day."
"…What are those, Kakashi-san?" Karin finally asks, seeing as Sasuke was too prideful to do so himself. Kakashi does not reply however, his attention focused on a Sasuke who was now reaching out to hold onto the straps.
"Be careful," is the sole warning Kakashi gives before letting go of them—and Sasuke is suddenly hunching, almost thrown face-first into the ground by the unexpected weight.
Karin does not even try to stop her mouth from hanging open with surprise.
"I told you to be careful, Sasuke," Kakashi lazily says, earning a death glare courtesy of the struggling Uchiha. Kakashi pays it no heed however, never one to be fazed by Sasuke's attempts at intimidation. "These weights will give a considerable boost your agility, and you'll need that to be able to master Rock Lee's taijutsu style."
Karin did not quite get what was going on—but Sasuke seemed to do so, because his glare morphed into a thoughtful look and he stopped struggling under the weight. "So… I should come at you while using that style then, am I right?"
Kakashi nods, solemn. "Only that style… It took Lee-kun years to become so adept at this kind of taijutsu, but you will only have four days from now to master it, Sasuke," his voice is as grave as his stare. "…Do you think you can do it?"
Sasuke lowers his head and gets a better hold of the weights. When he meets Kakashi's eyes again, head-on, he is standing straight—tall and proud. "Heh, just watch me, Kakashi."
He walks by Karin on his way to sit at the feet of a nearby rock to properly put on the weights, and while the way his muscles were constricted was a clear indication of the fact that carrying those weights was no easy task for him, his smirk revealed no such thing.
"Don't worry about him, Karin," Kakashi calls out, and Karin turns towards him, startled. "He will be fine."
Karin simply smiles, "I know. If Sasuke says he can do it, then he can."
Kakashi's eye faintly widens—if at the unwavering trust dripping from her voice or if by how unexpected her reaction had been in comparison to what he was used to due to Sakura—the man himself does not quite know. But he stores the surprise away for further inspection. For now, he had better things to focus on.
"…Karin, starting today you'll be enhancing your chakra control as well as continue to work on your speed. Your control is good; really good for a rookie, in fact. But it can use some improvement."
Karin nods resolutely. So far what she had liked best about the training was everything pertaining to chakra, so the new approach Kakashi was going to take did not sound too bad at all.
"I've also brought something for your training," the man reveals, and Karin instantly stiffens, fearing the worst.
Her fears prove to be unfounded however as Kakashi opens his fist and extends his hand for the redhead to see what was laying atop of it.
Karin can only stare, dumbfounded. "A… leaf?"
"That's right," Kakashi says, and through her confusion Karin can hear glimpses of an amused smile on his voice. "It may seem unlikely, but what I'm about to teach you is actually the way Konoha masters used to train in ancient times. It's… a little out-fashioned, but really effective."
Karin leans in to scrutinize the leaf, her brows slightly drawn together in puzzled thoughtfulness. "…How does it work?"
"It's quite simple. All this training requires is that you concentrate all of your chakra onto this leaf, which will sit on your forehead. If you concentrate the right amount, the leaf will be physically affected. Your objective is to make it fall."
… Make it fall? Is that even possible?
Is what Karin wonders, but this time Kakashi ignores her unasked question, telling her to take her forehead protector off instead. Once she has done so, Kakashi patiently motions that she should tilt her head back with a fickle of his fingers and then places the leaf atop of her head.
"Remember, Karin. The key to succeed is concentration. Concentrate your chakra and guide it to the leaf; once you've done that, you'll be as good as done."
Is the last advice Kakashi gives her before heading towards Sasuke, and Karin is left staring up at the slight shadow she could see of the leaf and wondering if things would be really as simple as Kakashi made them out to be.
They weren't.
Of course they were not. She had been at it for countless hours but to no avail; the leaf would get charged and prickle her skin, would shake, at one point it had even fluttered—but it had not fallen off not even once.
By the time Kakashi sent a bunshin to tell her to leave it in favor of working on her speed, Karin was starting to get tempted to just rip the damn leaf apart.
She paid the prize of her frustration during her speed training however, as her tensed muscles got the best of her and she had consumed too much of her chakra during the previous training. The result was an almost sprained ankle. She had avoided the worst at the last second, but the pain had kept bothering her for the rest of the day.
"Hey, Sasuke," she calls out, gingerly massaging her throbbing ankle. It had swollen up; she could not let Ryuu or Kurotaro see it. "Do you know of a place where I could buy some medicines?"
"Yeah," Sasuke replies back, approaching her. When he spots her swollen ankle his eyes narrow and he crunches down by her side, never taking his eyes away from the injury. "You should've told Kakashi you got hurt, Karin. He may have carried some on him."
Karin softly shakes her head. "He would have told me to stop and I can't do that, Sasuke… I have to get a hang of everything before going back to Kusagakure."
The mention of her village's name makes Sasuke's eyes widen almost imperceptibly, but he is too close for her to miss it and for a moment Karin dares to hope that maybe he had gotten as used as she had to her presence in Konoha.
The moment is over before she even has the time to acknowledge it however, as Sasuke's features relax again and he speaks, "…Alright, I'll take you to a shop. Let's go, Karin."
"That's okay, Sasuke!" Karin hurriedly says, standing up as well. Sasuke gives her a questioning look. "You're probably tired, aren't you? You've been wearing those weights all day… it's fine, I can go by myself. Just tell me wh—"
"It's fine, Karin. I got used to the weights already. Now stop complaining and get moving, before your ankle gets worse."
The finality in his voice said it all: this was a battle Karin would not be winning. The redhead easily falls in step with him, only limping slightly, and gives him a sidelong glance. He seemed to be frustrated about something. "… Are you angry, Sasuke?"
The question seems to actually take Sasuke aback. "…No," he finally says, briefly glancing back at her. "It's just… I guess Rock Lee's style is harder than I thought."
"Oh, so that was it!" Karin perks up considerably, "I'm moody too, you know? I didn't get the stupid leaf to fall off… And I wasn't as fast as Kakashi-san wanted me to be," she trails off, her mood sobering as her brow furrowed. "Today was… kind of a failure."
She sounded kind of bitter. Sasuke felt kind of bitter. So he grunts his agreement, his heavy stare focused on the ground.
"But…" Sasuke lays his gaze on Karin only to find the redhead giving him a wide smirk, her eyes ablaze. "We'll do much better tomorrow, won't we, Sasuke?"
Slowly, he finds himself mirroring her smirk.
"Heh."
The bells hung atop of the door chime as they make their way inside and the shop's attendant raises his head and offers them a kind smile.
"Welc—oh, it's you, Sasuke-kun!" the old man's smile widens a notch, increasing the wrinkles surrounding his lips. Sasuke however remains rooted to the door, hands in his pockets, face devoid of any expression. "How have you been? It's been a while since I've seen you around here."
"Fine,"
Is Sasuke's sole reply, and Karin gives him a questioning look that he does not return, before moving away from him and onto the nearest medicine cabin; for some reason she got the feeling Sasuke wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
No time to waste, then.
"I've heard you became Kakashi's apprentice, is that right?" continues the shopkeeper, either not noticing Sasuke's unfriendly demeanor or doing a remarkable job at ignoring it. "I hope your training is going well. I and my wife know you will grow up to be one of Konoha's finest assets."
"…Right."
Karin flinches and almost drops the bottle of ointment she had been holding. The movement draws both pairs of eyes to her, and she hurries to make her way towards the counter.
"Hm? Who is your friend, Sasuke-kun? I had never seen her around here."
Crap, she had forgotten to put her forehead protector back on, hadn't she?
"I'm Karin, from Kusagakure no Sato. I came here for the Chuunin exams. It's nice to meet you!" Karin greets, doing a small vow out of courtesy which the old man kindly waves away.
"Oh no, no! No need to bow to an old man like me. So you aren't from the village, eh? That sure explains why I hadn't seen you before." His brown eyes leave her face and return their focus to the door, and Karin wonders just what was up with this old man and his apparent fixation with Sasuke. "It's nice seeing you making acquaintances with fellow allies, Sasuke-kun."
"Hn."
"Uh… I would like to buy this, please." Karin loudly places the bottle of ointment on the counter, hoping to take the attendant's attention away from Sasuke. It works as the man turns his gentle smile on her.
"Oh, you can take it. It's on the house."
Karin blinks, flabbergasted. "Huh? But why?"
"We're indebted to Sasuke-kun's clan, so his friends will always be welcome here."
His words only confuse Karin even further and she feels herself growing more uncomfortable by the second. "I'm sorry… But I could never…—"
"Nonsense! Please, it'll make me happy if you take it."
Before Karin could attempt to protest again a couple of yen are forcefully pushed down onto the counter.
"Thanks, but no thanks, old man."
A shiver runs down Karin's spine, but Sasuke has grabbed her wrist and is pulling her towards the door without even giving her the chance to get a good look at his eyes.
"T-thank you, goodbye!" she manages to call back over her shoulder, and Karin has just the enough time to see the way the old man's smile becomes a sad grimace before the door is closing behind them.
What was that all about? is what her overwhelmed mind is wondering. She wants nothing more than to ask Sasuke just that, but she is seemingly incapable to. Her body still felt cold all over, a tight feeling welling up in her gut, and for the life of her Karin cannot figure out were either was coming from.
"Here,"
Karin wakes from her reverie only to find Sasuke giving her the bottle of ointment. She had almost forgotten all about it. She takes it wordlessly, as Sasuke was not even looking at her but down the street, his back stiffened.
"… Thanks."
She murmurs after a long moment of silence in which she had applied some of the medicine to her pained ankle. It was cool and refreshing, and she could feel it acting on the lesion almost immediately, comforting waves spreading from it through the rest of her feet.
"It's nothing."
Karin risks a look at him. He still was not looking at her, but his body seemed less tensioned. Karin does not like to see him be that way, and the urge to do something about it is so strong that it was almost physically painful.
"… You should use some, too."
"Hn, I don't need—tch!"
Dumbfounded, Sasuke grabs his left cheek—which Karin had just pinched right on the place where an angry looking bruise was beginning to form. His indignant gaze meets Karin's quizzical one, who simply arches one eyebrow and extends the bottle of ointment to him. He stubbornly hesitates for a moment, but they both knew his resistance was futile as his earlier cry of pain had already marked his defeat. It is muttering under his breath that he finally grabs the ointment from Karin, who smiles victoriously up at him.
"Heh, thought so. It'll do you worlds of good, you'll see!"
The awful sensation that had been bothering her before seemed to be gone for good. Sasuke's distress for the most part seemed to have evaporated as well, overpowered by his prideful and stubborn nature. To say Karin was glad would be an understatement; it was the first time she had ever felt uncomfortable in Sasuke's presence, and not knowing what had caused it in the first place only made matters worse.
Once he was done applying the medicine to his cheek and on the bruises on his arms, a slightly sulking Sasuke gives it back to Karin, who adamantly refuses it.
"You should keep it! You paid for it, remember?"
"You were the one who wanted it, so you keep it. It's fine, Karin," he emphasizes, as the redhead was still hesitating. "It wasn't even expensive."
"Alright, if you say so… Thanks, Sasuke."
"Hn, you really like to thank people, don't you?"
Karin grins up at him, happy to have the usual kind and sardonic Sasuke back to his righteous place, "Only when they deserve it!" soon enough his charming smirk-like-smile is there for her to see, but Karin still cannot help but to sober up and go for it. "Hey, Sasuke… what was that all about?"
"What do you mean?"
"That with the old man back in the store. Do you dislike him or something?"
"… No, not really," Sasuke shrugs, carelessly. "I just don't know him, is all."
He doesn't know him? Karin wonders, confused. The old man surely seemed to be familiar with him. He even had mentioned something about Sasuke's clan helping him in the past… and speaking about Sasuke's clan, where were they? She had not been lying when she told Kakashi that she had never seen or heard of the Sharingan before. It now occurred to Karin that it was a little weird that she had not seen a single Jounin or Chuunin using it back during the written test. It sure seemed like a handy thing to determine whether one of the genin was cheating.
"Oh, Sasuke-kun! Hello!"
The woman's voice effectively brings Karin back to reality, and what she sees makes her blink with surprise. The woman who had just greeted them—well, Sasuke—was standing at the entrance of what looked like a sweets store. To its right was a weaponry store, and to the left an artisan's shop.
Karin can't hold back an amazed gasp as she finally begins to look around her and takes in her surroundings. "I had never come to this part of the village before!" she exclaims, her cheeks flushed with delight as her eyes devoured everything the street had to offer.
"Hn, right…. With the training you probably haven't had much time to sightsee, have you?" Karin shakes her head wildly, eyes still light up like bonfires, and the sight makes Sasuke give her a slight smile that the redhead takes no notice of. "Heh, you aren't missing out on much. This is Konoha's busiest street, most of the shops are here."
"Sasuke-kun! Long time no see!"
"So that's why it's so crowded!" and it was true, despite the late hour there was a current of people going up and down the street. Women, men and children of all ages running around them as if it were a carnival. Her village was not nearly as active and alive as Konoha was, and being able to witness all this brought a smile to Karin's face.
"Good evening, Sasuke-kun!"
"That street over there is where all the food parlors are. You can get anything there, from dumplings and ramen to sweets and okonomiyaki."
Explained Sasuke, and as Karin's excitement died down she finally began to notice the unnatural number of people who were turning their way, sending them welcoming smiles and greetings that mostly remained unreturned with the exception of a casual nod or two that Sasuke sent along the way.
Karin feels awed yet again, but for something completely different this time around; it was not only the old man back in the store—the whole village was treating Sasuke as if he were some kind of celebrity! She doubts that he has gotten the chance to save them all from a life-or-death situation like he saved her, so she can't help but feel puzzlement mixing in with her awe.
Sasuke seemed to not share any of those sentiments however as he remained completely impassive, nonchalantly walking with his hands in his pockets and his eyes either closed or set straight ahead. Despite his aloof exterior, Karin could not help but feel that it somehow was as if he were… uncomfortable, with all the attention.
Karin cannot explain what makes her feel that way any better than she can explain what had frozen her back in the store, but she still cannot shake the feeling off. It was like Sasuke either did not know how to deal with all the attention, or simply did not want it.
Her train of thought stops before she can arrive to a conclusion as she spots a familiar-looking pink-haired girl up ahead.
Said girl was too busy looking at the contents of a parlor so her back was turned to them, but Karin instantly knew who she was. She is turning around to let Sasuke know his teammate's whereabouts when the boy suddenly freezes, eyes widening and then narrowing.
"Damn."
Is the single word he says before grabbing Karin's wrist and pulling the two of them onto the nearest rooftop without even giving the redhead any warning whatsoever.
"What the heck, Sasuke!"
"That was my teammate down there," he explains, as if Karin didn't already know that. "If she sees me she will start making all kinds of useless questions, like where I've been or why did I get out of the hospital," Sasuke frowns, clicking his tongue. "I don't have time for that."
Karin blinks, her brows faintly furrowing. That's… cold. "But… she must be worried about you, right?"
Sasuke lets go of her wrist and pockets his hands again, unfazed. "That's none of my business."
Karin's expression does not change—but inwardly, the girl can't help but to be stunned at how that was so unlike the usual kind Sasuke she has grown to admire over the last three weeks. These words and his behavior back on the store—they were really nothing like the boy who had come to check on her of his own accord, or the boy who had saved her, or the boy with whom she has been spending all her days.
But… this was not really the first time she has seen such a look in his eyes, was it? No, of course not. She had seen a glimpse of this back after his team reached the tower and she had turned only to find him glaring at Sakura's shows of concern.
Maybe this was just another side of him, Karin thinks. Another side of Uchiha Sasuke; just like his stubbornness, his pride, smirks, hidden-childishness and competitiveness. Maybe he really was not good with obvious displays of caring, and maybe he got cold-feet and uncomfortable when he was fussed over.
The thought makes her feel embarrassed about her behavior back when he had shown up at the door of her hospital room. She had been so taken aback that she had not even known how to handle his proximity and kept getting tongue-tied. Karin feels glad that such was no longer the case and she now felt as articulate around Sasuke as she felt around… well, a mirror. Or her pillow. Or anyone from her family.
It was kind of amazing just how much had changed in such little time, but Karin was not about to complain. If she had stayed the way she was back in the Leaf Hospital, she is sure that by now she would not only have drawn Sasuke up the wall, but herself, too. Besides—
Wait! The thoughts about her hospital stay make her remember the encounter she had had with Sasuke's teammate and her blonde friend the day Sasuke had broken out. She had never mentioned that, had she? That explained why Sasuke had introduced Sakura as his teammate just now.
Karin hurries to catch up with Sasuke, who had started to walk through the rooftop and towards the next building. "Sasuke! I had forgotten to tell you, I ran into your teammate back at the hospital—she and Yamanaka Ino went to visit you, but you were already gone. They looked worried about you."
"…Hn. Ino, too, huh?" Sasuke sighs. "If they've got time to be concerned over me, they should be practicing their jutsu."
He said so matter-of-factly, and Karin guesses that to him it was just that: a fact. If there's something Karin knows about Uchiha Sasuke by now—be it the usual Sasuke or the hedgehog-like Sasuke she had witnessed today—that was that for him, training came first.
"Heh, but parents are like that too, aren't they?" Karin comments lightly, noticing too late the way Sasuke's back tenses. "Like, they've got all kind of things to do, but they still spend so much time fussing over us… We'll always be their priority, I guess."
Two steps ahead of her, Sasuke stops walking altogether.
"Sasuke…?" Karin calls out tentatively, but she is suddenly feeling very inadequate and her feet just won't shorten the distance between them and—and what was going on why did she suddenly feel as if she had said the wrong thing—?
Sasuke does not even look at her.
"…Later, Karin."
And then the Uchiha is gone and Karin is left alone and shaken and confused.
Did I say something wrong? The question dies on her tongue, and as she swallows down the words she feels a cold sensation spreading down her throat to the tips of her toes. It was nothing like what she had felt back at the store, no—this time it was much worse.
Sasuke was hurt—or angry, or both—
And it was her fault.
—
End of the 9nth chapter
I had a blast writing this chapter lol I've always thought that Sasuke himself told Karin about his clan due to what happened to his village; and I've also always assumed that a good deal of Karin's understanding about his nature came from that fact. If she does not know Sasuke's whole story, then there's no way Karin would be able to fully get him the way she does—so then, how to make this Karin, who has not yet gone through a similar loss, understand?
And so that was the inspiration for this mini-arc. It truly wrote itself, too, so it was a lot of fun to work with.
Also; in canon, Sakura did not hear a single word from Kakashi or Sasuke during the month that transpired between the prelims and the main event. Their training was kept between them, so that is also why Sasuke preferred to avoid her. We will be getting quite a bit of Sasuke insight soon though, and that concerns his thoughts about both Naruto and Sakura, so look forward to them.
Oh, by the way: in the story it's currently July, 22th and the main Event will be held on August, 1st. I'll comment more on the timeline later, but for now—if the date rings any bells for you, great haha If it doesn't, then that's okay.
See you guys next chapter!