Note: Thank you so much to all who have reviewed; I'm sorry for the wait!
I think I probably shouldn't say this at the start of the chapter, but I must admit most of this one is actually… well, sorta-kinda-maybe filler. But (don't kill me yet!) there are some important hints for what's to come in the parts that aren't filler (and tons of SK in the parts that are) so maybe not all is lost?
That said, the first half of the chapter is actually how I intended to write the whole fic, at first; more scene-oriented, so to speak. But I go back to my usual style near the end, since that's the highlight of the chapter; so just be a little patient, haha.
Also, Sasuke's dialogues during the encounter with Orochimaru were taken straight from the manga (including his not-so-dignified uwaa! – so I'm not to blame for that one, haha)
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Chapter 13: The results of their training
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Day 26th
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Kakashi sighs.
Sasuke has been training for hours, and he still has not managed to concentrate and build up the correct amount of chakra required to pull a Chidori. Furthermore, it was all too evident just how drained the boy was by now; it would do no good to let him overexert himself.
And—well, Kakashi himself had things to do. He needed to continue his own training, after all.
"Well, I think that's enough for today."
He is just detaching himself from the rock he had been leaning against when a hand shots out and grabs him by the sleeve.
"—Wait, Kakashi-san,"
Karin urges, and something in her demeanor makes the jounin stay still in her hold and watch her with interested eyes.
"…What is it, Karin?"
The girl doesn't return his look, however; she is too busy watching Sasuke instead, her features set with concentration, "This time—this time he will make it."
Kakashi's eye widens ever so unnoticeably. His outward expression remains mostly unchanged, but inwardly—inwardly the gears of his brain have started to spin and turn; spin and turn over and over because there had been vehemence in the words Karin had spoken, and Kakashi has an inkling he knows where it had come from.
Perhaps even better than Karin herself did.
"And you know that how…?"
He inquires despite having a good guess at the response, and the redhead's gaze flickers to his own for a moment before going back to Sasuke, her fingers finally dropping Kakashi's sleeve.
"… I just do."
Less than a minute afterward, the sound of birds chirping fills the field.
But Kakashi isn't surprised.
Sasuke's Chidori is far from perfect. The stab that was supposed to completely destroy the boulder does nothing more than blow a chunk of it, but Kakashi says that was good enough.
And it was. For Sasuke to have managed to pull a Chidori in such a short amount of time, there was no doubt that the boy was a prodigy, despite how sloppy he could sometimes be.
No, more than that…
There was a matter more important than Sasuke's progress weighting in Kakashi's mind, even as he continued to give him directions.
Karin.
Now more than ever, Kakashi was sure his initial impressions had been right. The way Karin had avoided Temari's fan during her fight—Karin had thought it was due to the wind, but Kakashi knew better.
That wind was charged with chakra.
Karin… she is one of them, isn't she?
"Oi, Sasuke… you need to be more careful," lectures Karin as she turns Sasuke's hand over to stare at his palm, which was not any better than the rest of it. He had slight burns everywhere, though he luckily had not bled.
Wordlessly, Karin fishes for the ointment Sasuke had bought for her, which she now always carried in her pouch. Seeing her intentions, the boy tries to pull his hand away but Karin holds it in place, giving him a smoldering look from under her eyelashes. Sasuke turns away, unwilling to cooperate, but otherwise lets Karin do as she pleases.
"I think you're probably building more chakra than you need," the redhead muses, tending to his hand. "And you're consuming it all in one go, so that extra chakra is the one hurting your hand."
Sasuke ponders her words for a while, trying to keep from flinching as the cool medicine was spread across his burnt skin. Despite concluding that Karin was probably right and deciding that he would work on it tomorrow, Sasuke says—or rather does—something else entirely.
He snorts.
Karin shifts her gaze towards him again, this time with her brow slightly furrowed. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Karin doesn't look convinced, but Sasuke gives no signs of owning up to it. So the girl lightly presses his burnt thumb, causing the boy to yelp audibly.
Despite the that was unasked for written all across his glare, the Uchiha sighs. "Just a month ago you didn't even know how to properly work your chakra flow, and now you're lecturing me about it."
He was right. Things really had changed, had they not? There is a smile tugging at the corners of Karin's lips but she holds it back, choosing to go with an affronted pout instead. "Hn, you make it sound as if it were unbelievable."
"It is," Sasuke states, blunt as always. But Karin's mock-indignant look lasts for less than a second as she sees the slight smile adorning his handsome face. "You're a fast learner, Karin."
A pleasant warmth spreads across Karin's chest and makes its way into her bashful grin as she lets go of Sasuke's hand, giving his fingers a soft squeeze of gratitude before doing so.
Half an hour later though, Karin is no longer so sure of Sasuke's words. If she really were such a fast learner, she should have already gotten a hang of genjutsu, right?
But no such thing had happened yet.
"Hn… at least you aren't passing out. That's a start."
"Oh, be quiet, Sasuke."
She hears his snort coming from somewhere around her, but before she can try to identify his location she feels his chakra flowing into her again. Her sight goes blurry and her head starts to spin but she holds her footing, trying to get her senses to detach themselves from the image Sasuke was providing them with and disrupt her own chakra flow instead.
Karin does not notice that her knees are giving up on her until she falls forward into Sasuke's chest, a soft kai leaving his lips as he caught and steadied her.
She looks up at him, apologetically, "Sorry, Sasuke."
Rather than replying though, the boy simply reaches out and takes her glasses off. A bewildered Karin can only blink, acutely aware of the way she was close enough to almost count Sasuke's eyelashes even despite her lack of glasses.
"They may break," is the Uchiha's simple explanation, mistaking Karin's dazed look for confusion.
"R-right."
Karin inwardly curses her clogged up throat and detaches herself from Sasuke, who obliviously stores her glasses away in one of his pockets.
Furtively stealing a glance at him, Karin tells herself to relax.
It seemed the boy had not heard nor felt the erratic beatings of her heart.
Day 27th
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"Shhh!"
Sakura squirms, but Sasuke's palm remains firmly pressed against her mouth, keeping it shut. They needed to be quiet. They needed to leaverunawaygetaway stay still. If they didn't, and that man caught them—if they didn't, they would be dead—dead deadgone murdered
Like Sasuke's Clan. Like his mom and dad and—
And Sakura is breaking free, screaming "Sasuke-kun!" at the top of her lungs, but when Sasuke notices it is too late.
The huge snake is pushing the girl out of the way and baring its fangs at him, its jaws opening so impossibly wide that it would be capable of taking Sasuke's whole head off in a single bite.
"Uwaa! Get away!"
The Uchiha yells, shaken by a panic so great and overwhelming that he can barely breathe and he reaches for shuriken only to find that he has none.
None—he has none no nothing there's nothing he could do and the serpent was closing in on him mercilessly, lethal and Sakura was desperately screaming his name in the distance but to no avail Sasuke was—
frozen helpless gone dea—
Shaking. Something was shaking him.
Someone was.
"Sasuke! Sasuke, get a grip!"
Sasuke comes to his senses only to see Karin looming over him, concern written all over her features.
A… dream?
"Karin…?"
The girl heaves a sigh, relaxing. Sasuke had finally mastered Chidori, but doing so had taken a great deal of effort and stamina. While catching his breath to start her genjutsu training, the Uchiha had dozed off, and Karin had not had the heart to wake him up. He had looked so peaceful sleeping like that.
But it didn't last for long.
Sasuke had been trashing and turning and moaning in fright for the last four minutes, which had felt like an eternity to Karin, who had tried in vain to wake him up. Whatever nightmare he had been having, it sure was a vivid one. She had never seen him look as frightened as he did then.
"It's okay, Sasuke… it was just a nightmare," she coos, giving him what she hopes is a reassuring smile. A flash of recognizance goes through Sasuke's eyes and the boy flinches before his tensed body finally starts to relax.
That's right… His shuriken pouch had not been empty. He had been able to fetch that snake away, and fight against that man.
Against Orochimaru.
Even if…
Unconsciously, Sasuke's hand travels to the curse that had been bitten into his skin. The gesture does not pass unnoticed by Karin, who frowns. "Sasuke…?"
"It's… nothing. Never mind, Karin. Let's… start your training."
Karin would have voiced her agreement had it not been for what she sees once Sasuke removes his hand from his neck. She was crouching by his side, and given the angle this time the high-collar of his shirt did not hide the mark engraved there.
Her eyes widen at the sight. It… looked like a tattoo, but somehow Karin didn't think it was one. Sasuke was not the type to bother inking his skin. But then… what was it?
There were three tomoe there, reminding her of the ones in Sasuke's Sharingan, and they were trapped in a circle of odd markings.
A mystifying sense of foreboding fills her body and stirs the channels of her chakra as she looks down at it, her brows furrowed with perplexity.
Just what is this thing?
"Karin…?"
The redhead blinks and finds Sasuke giving her a questioning look. For an instant her lips part and the question slips to the tip of her tongue—but then she bites it down and swallows it, shaking her head instead.
"It's nothing. Let's get started, then."
And before Sasuke could question her, Karin has straightened and is slipping into a waiting stance, her senses turning inside out and trying to ease her chakra flow, which was still stirring with an unpleasant sensation that Karin could not put her finger on.
An hour later Karin has forgotten all about it and the mark and just about everything in the world.
Everything aside from Sasuke and his satisfied expression and the sheer elation burning inside her body as she beams at him, her gaze wide and happy and disbelieving.
"I did it…! I finally did it!"
She could hardly believe that she had finally succeeded. It had taken her a lot of chakra, focus, failed attempts and determination—but her efforts had finally paid off, and eight seconds into Sasuke's genjutsu, she had managed to get in touch with her muscles and form the hand-seal, enhancing it with just a bit above the amount of chakra that Sasuke himself had used to cast the genjutsu on her.
"Heh, not bad," is all Sasuke says, but his expression makes up for the lackluster compliment. Karin's beam turns into a wide grin, and though her head was buzzing she felt that her senses had rarely ever been as alert as they were then.
… The downside to that was that through her elation, Karin was quite aware of how late it was getting.
Sasuke must have seen the disappointment cruising its way into Karin's expression, because the boy says: "We can stay, if you want."
Karin lights up briefly but then a frown takes over as reality sets in. "That wouldn't be good for you, Sasuke… you need to rest for tomorrow, you're almost out of chakra and stamina as it is."
The boy mirrors her frown, not missing a beat. "Do you want to keep training or not?"
Karin's eyes say it all. Sasuke smirks.
"Then we're staying. Don't underestimate me, Karin. Tch, some stupid training won't get the best of me."
A matching smirk slowly draws itself across her lips as she sidesteps her hesitance and nods her agreement, her sandal scrapping against the sand as she readied herself once more.
"Alright! But tomorrow I'm not to blame if you fall asleep in the middle of a Chidori, got it?"
"Pft, as if that would ever happen," and he lets her get one last glimpse of his smirk before disappearing from her view.
That night, it's well past midnight by the time they make it back to the village.
Day 28th
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"What's up with you?"
Karin flickers her gaze to the boy sitting by her side and coolly sipping his water. Sasuke was in a really good mood; he had managed to pull not one but two Chidori that morning, a fact that had given his confidence a considerable boost. Karin however looked taciturn, as if preoccupied by something.
Which she was.
Still, she tries to play it off. "What do you mean?"
"Hn, don't try to hide it, Karin. You've been quiet today, so spill it."
The girl sighs. She honestly had not intended to bother Sasuke with such trivialities, but she knew the boy would not let her off the hook.
"It's Ryuu-kun and Kurotaro-san…" she starts. They had had their suspicions all along, but yesterday night had been the straw that broke the camel's back. She had been caught red-handed as she snuck back into the inn and had not found a single suitable excuse to explain why she had arrived at the time she had. She had managed to avoid giving a straight reply by pretending to feel sick and claiming that she needed rest, but it was obvious that none of them had fallen for it.
"This morning I got out of there before any of them woke up, but I'm sure I won't be able to avoid them when I get back…." She finishes with another sigh.
"…Why don't you just tell them you're training with us?" truth be told, Sasuke had been wondering that for a while. He could understand keeping it hidden from them at the start, but there were barely any days left for the Main Event, so what was the point of hiding it anymore? It wasn't as if they would be able to hold her back even if they wanted to, anyway. Karin had learnt how to fetch for herself just fine.
"No way! You see, Kurotaro-san, thing is I've been training with the guy who kicked you out of the prelims. Isn't that nice?" Karin snorts, rolling her eyes. "That would go so well."
Sasuke smirks. "Heh, if he tries anything you can just kick his ass yourself. The only thing that guy has is his palm, his taijutsu is totally mediocre."
"That wouldn't look good on my record," the girl retorts with puffed cheeks, trying to hide her joyful smile. Sasuke really thought she had come so far as to be able to hold her own against Kurotaro? Now that raised her spirits. "My teachers all worship the ground he walks on."
"Hn, then they suck. All of them."
Karin can't hold her chuckles back this time, and it's still laughing that she gets up and straightens her skirt. "Come on, Sasuke, let's start. I'm going to try and get to the inn earlier today."
The Uchiha sighs. Karin really needed to stop playing along to that guy's idiocy.
"Fine."
"Genjutsu is so easy! I can't believe I had such a hard time with it before!"
Karin exclaims happily as she and Sasuke make their way back to the village. Saying that the girl was in high spirits would fall short; after her training had begun her mood had done a total turn-around, as she had been able to break free of most of Sasuke's genjutsu in record time. She had had a harder time with them once Sasuke had shifted to his Sharingan, but at the end she had realized that as long as she let herself go her senses would always alert her in time.
Always, without fail.
Sasuke himself had been taken aback—no that he would tell her such a thing, of course. But while he did think that Karin was a fast learner, he had never quite expected her to have such an outstanding perception.
Granted, breaking free from genjutsu and casting them were different things altogether.
Sasuke says as much, mostly because he knew the comment would get on her nerves. And true enough, as expected Karin gives him a half-hearted glare.
"Yeah Sasuke, just rain on my parade, why don't you?"
"Heh, with pleas—"
The Uchiha is startled to a stop as a child around 6 suddenly steps in front of him, blocking his way. A step ahead of him Karin halts too and curiously looks back, her eyes darting from the kid to Sasuke and back.
The kid however pays her no heed, too busy looking up at Sasuke with awed eyes and lips agape.
Confused, the Uchiha clears his throat. But the kid doesn't bulge.
"Hi…? Can we help you with something?" Karin asks, kneeling down to the kid's eye-level and giving him a kind smile. The boy finally looks at her, but soon enough his eyes are back to Sasuke's confused face.
"Ne, lady," the kid says, and promptly begins to suck on his thumb, "…why is there a duck in niichan's head?"
Silence.
Then Karin blinks, and Sasuke's eyes narrow into a glare so deadly that it sends the kid running away before the Uchiha can even finish saying: "Get lost!"
He watches the kid run away, his insides shaking with indignant fury to the point he almost forgets that Karin was still there—until she doubles over howling with laughter, that is.
"Pfft!"
"Karin…." Sasuke threatens, but the redhead pays him no heed, too busy grasping at her aching sides, her eyes brimming with tears of hilarity.
"A… a duck! Pfft!" she breathes in between chunks of cheery laughter and Sasuke scowls before hastily walking away from the girl who trails after him, laughing still.
"…It's not that funny." He murmurs through gritted teeth, his cheeks ablaze, and Karin's only reply is another loud and unlady-like burst of chuckles.
He wants to tell her to shove it. To shut up. To stop laughing at him. Who did she think she was?
But he does not. Instead he finds his insulted frown slowly easing itself out as her laughter carried on behind him.
…He had never heard Karin laughing so much. He had heard her laugh before, sure, and chuckle and snort and even giggle—but the way she was cracking up now was totally new. And, Sasuke found, there was something appealing in her laughter. There was something about it that made it, perhaps, even contagious.
Now that he has stopped to think about it, Sasuke realizes that it was how genuine it was. How carefree. It reminded him of Naruto's, in a way. Though the blond wasn't quite capable of making Sasuke stop and stare the way he was doing now—his gaze flickering to the redhead who had fallen in step with him and who was brushing unshed tears from her lashes.
Sasuke guessed he just wasn't used to it. Used to a girl laughing so freely with him around.
Whenever Sakura laughed she would procure to shield her mouth with her hand and would try to ebb its sounds down, worried about not looking feminine enough. And Ino—Ino would always add a flirting edge to her giggling, too. They probably thought Sasuke did not notice, but he did. He may not care about their efforts to woo him, but that didn't mean he was blind. He was observant by nature, and even if he weren't such behavior was impossible to miss after he has had to put up with it for years from every single girl he knew. Except well, maybe the Hyuuga chick, but that probably was because she was more like a wallpaper instead of a living, breathing thing.
Karin was different though.
There she was, howling with laughter and not giving a damn about looking appealing or girly or about getting a hold of herself—and most of all, she was laughing at him. A girl laughing at Uchiha Sasuke, lo' and behold.
It was a refreshing thing, if he dared to say so himself. Refreshing and alluring in its own way, and Sasuke finds himself chuckling too, even though the joke was at his expense.
His chuckles die almost as soon as they start though, as by his side Karin suddenly lets out a strangled gasp and sobers up.
"Ryuu-kun…! Kurotaro-san!"
Sasuke's eyes open only to see the two aforementioned boys standing a couple of feet ahead of them, their eyes widening.
"Karin…!" exclaims the ashen-haired one, Ryuu.
By then Karin had stopped walking altogether. Sasuke follows suit, his eyes sliding away from the two boys and to the redhead, who was too busy looking stricken to return his look.
Tch… this isn't like her.
Frowning, an impatient Sasuke grabs her by the wrist and Karin comes to her senses only to notice that the boy was pulling her along towards her two teammates.
"Sasuke…!" she hisses but the boy pays her no heed, only stopping once they were face to face with her teammates.
Ryuu still looked too taken aback, his eyes traveling from Karin to Sasuke and then back. Kurotaro however did not have eyes for anyone but Sasuke.
"You…!" he grits out, hands fisting. Sasuke smirks, more than happy to have found a way to vent his annoyance.
"Heh, if it isn't the loser who said he would beat me. That didn't turn out too well for you, did it?"
Kurotaro's eyes darken. Noticing it, Karin shifts in Sasuke's hold and gives his hand an apprehensive squeeze, "Sasuke!"
"…What are you doing with him, Karin?" this time the one to talk is Ryuu, who was frowning lightly and giving cautious glances to Kurotaro, as if fearing he would pounce at any second.
"Well… I…."
"That's Karin's business, not yours," cuts in Sasuke much to Karin's chagrin. Ryuu's frown deepens.
"I'm just—"
"Who the hell cares what the little traitor is doing with this fucker!" growls Kurotaro, effectively cutting whatever it was Ryuu had been about to say. "They can do each other for all I care, trash is fit to be with trash!"
Karin flinches. Sasuke's eyes narrow, his taunting smirk giving way to a snarl.
"Oi, Kurotaro…! That's taking it too far, don't you think?"
But the angry boy pays Ryuu no heed, a grin curving his features, a mad glint lightening his eyes.
"…All I know is that this is the perfect chance to settle the score. I'll show this bastard just who is the strongest between us."
"Hn, is that so?" Sasuke pulls his hand free from Karin's hold, the cold anger burning inside his body reflected in his tight smirk. "Then come at me. It'll be a pleasure to wipe the ground with you. Again."
Kurotaro does not think twice
He lunges at Sasuke like a feral animal, so much so that Karin barely avoids getting caught in the attack—her reflexes had slowed down by the surprise, and Kurotaro shoves her out of the way with a rough push that the redhead only barely protects from by crossing her arms across her chest.
Sasuke's eyes flash crimson.
The chilly wave of murderous intent coming from Sasuke freezes Kurotaro's mind but the adrenaline keeps him going—however his hit connects with nothing but air, and the boy only has the chance to blink once before he is being sent flying face-first into the ground by a round kick to the back.
"Ugh… what….!"
A weight sets itself on his back and Kurotaro groans with pain as Sasuke pulls his arms back, hard.
"Hn, is this all you got? I thought you were going to show me how strong you were?" Sasuke taunts, and Kurotaro twists his neck in order to send him a dirty glare from his pained features.
"Shut… up! I'm… not done yet!"
Sasuke pulls on his arms again and Kurotaro screeches. Sasuke's smirk is wide and self-satisfied.
"Oh, but I think you are."
"Sasuke…!" Karin calls, suddenly. "That's enough, people are staring!"
One look around him is enough to confirm the redhead's words. Some passer-bys were giving them curious looks, others apprehensive ones. A person or two had even stopped to watch, but continued on their merry way once Sasuke set his glare on them.
"Come on, Sasuke!"
"Get… off!" Kurotaro gritted, and Sasuke gave him an amused smirk before doing so, dusting his pants off and morosely looking down at the fallen boy once he was on his feet.
"…Next time you better think twice before calling me or Karin trash."
It is a low mutter that was only meant for him to hear, and the beaten boy can only growl in response. Hurriedly, Karin comes to stand at Sasuke's side, Ryuu trailing close behind.
"Kurotaro-san, I think you should leave…" Karin suggests anxiously, briefly meeting Sasuke's eyes before focusing her attention on Kurotaro, who was starting to sit up.
He gives her an ugly frown, "Shut up, bitch. Don't order me around."
Sasuke gives a step forward only to be stopped by Karin, who extends an arm in front of his chest. He flickers his gaze to her only to find his sharingan turning off at the sight that greets his eyes.
"I really do think you should leave, Kurotaro," Karin repeats, her voice cold and even. Her expression had not changed at all—there was no frown, no grimace, no hurt there—but her eyes were hard, her stare freezing. "Now."
Kurotaro's eyes had widened, and he had unknowingly backed away at the wrath burning behind Karin's gaze. But he had not moved otherwise, and so Sasuke gives him another push in the form of his glare.
"You heard her."
"Tch!"
And with one last and indignant look at the pair, Kurotaro scrawls to his feet and runs away, pushing past the onlookers.
Neither of them say a word as they both turn to watch the boy get lost in the crowd, and it is only when he is out of view that Karin slowly lowers her arm and heaves a sigh.
"Really, Sasuke," she starts, giving him a reproaching glance. "You know Kurotaro doesn't stand a chance against you. You shouldn't have taunted him like that, it was childish."
Sasuke shrugs noncommittally. "That may be so. But it was satisfying."
A moment of quiet stretches between them and then Sasuke meets her eyes, a smirk quirking up the corners of his lips—she had dropped the suffix. She seems to realize it at the same time he does, for a smile draws itself across her lips, her arms uncrossing and her eyes holding his.
Behind them Ryuu clears his throat, causing Karin to jump. Sasuke merely blinks; he had not realized the guy had stayed behind.
"Don't worry, I don't want to avenge him or anything," the ashen-haired boy assures, raising his palms up and looking at Sasuke, who had been giving him a distrustful look. "To be honest, Kurotaro should get his ass handed to him on a weekly basis, as far as I'm concerned—you know it's the truth Karin, so don't even try to deny it. Anyway…" His half lidded eyes focus on Sasuke for a brief moment before returning to Karin, his stance shifting. "Karin, Kurotaro and I were just about to buy some ramen in that parlor over there. Would you mind buying it for me? You're a girl, so the old man may give you some extra."
The redhead blinks, clearly not having expected to be asked such a thing so out of the blue in place of the important question: what was she doing with Uchiha Sasuke? "Uh… okay. I'll be right back!"
Once the girl is out of earshot Ryuu turns towards Sasuke, who had already guessed the boy's intentions. What he didn't get though, was why he wanted to talk to him alone.
His bewilderment only increases as Ryuu finally speaks. "So, what's up with you two?"
"…What do you mean?"
"Karin's been with you all this time, hasn't she?"
Sasuke's eyes narrow with wariness. "And what if she has?"
Ryuu frowns and gives him a nonchalant one-shoulder shrug, "Nothing. I've just been wondering what she has been up to, but if she has been hanging with a strong guy like you… then I guess it's fine. You'll protect her if something goes wrong."
His words were genuine enough, but for some reason rather than relaxing Sasuke's shoulders tense more. His expression however returns to its usual aloofness. "Karin can look after herself."
"At that you're wrong, buddy." But before Sasuke could protest—buddy? he was certainly not this guy's buddy. or anyone's, for that matter—Ryuu is talking again. "…Or were wrong. Karin's a good girl. Too emphatic for her own good, in fact. Always trying to be polite and considerate, I've never seen her being herself around anyone but her family… Except for today."
Sasuke shifts, suddenly finding himself ill at ease. Ryuu forges on, his impassive stare boring into his.
"Karin's changed. There's no way the Karin I know would have stood up to Kurotaro like that, not in a thousand years. But… well, you saw her. She did and she got him good. She is… opening up."
"…Why are you telling me all this?"
Ryuu stays silent for a long moment, after which he closes his eyes. When he opens them again, they're more focused than they've been since their encounter, and Sasuke cannot help but to blink with slight surprise.
"…Because you must be the reason of her change, Uchiha. Listen, I don't know what happened between you two, but whatever it was affected Karin. You're… helping her, I guess. In a way that none of us has been able to."
It takes Sasuke a moment to realize that the emotion thickening the boy's voice was none other than faint bitterness. And once he realizes it, he finds his eyes narrowing again, his fingers tensing.
"…You—"
"I'm back, you two!"
Karin halts once she reaches them and looks from one boy to the other, no doubt picking up on the tense atmosphere that had set between the two shinobi. Before she could ask however, Ryuu has stepped forward and is ruffling her hair, looking down at her with a fond smile.
"Nice job, Karin. Give me some of those bags, I'll help you with them."
The girl complies while returning his smile, but her eyes dart towards Sasuke who holds her gaze with his own, his features deliberately devoid of any expression.
"Karin," Ryuu calls, and Karin looks away from Sasuke, startled. "I'm going back to the inn now. Should I save you some ramen or…?"
"No, I'll go with you."
She faces Sasuke again then, with an apologetic look and a faint smile. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuke."
"…Hn."
Is the boy's nonchalant reply. Karin's smile widens ever so slightly and as she begins to walk away, she turns and waves back at him.
Ryuu turns back, too. And something in his eyes makes Sasuke frown, his eyes narrowing.
He stands like that—hands in his pockets, narrowed eyes trailing after the two teammates—until he can't see a single trace of Karin's red hair anymore.
—
End of the 13th chapter
Oh boy, don't ask me, Ryuu writes himself; even if (from the looks of it) Sasuke doesn't approve. And on that light, please do forgive my poor attempt at humor.
I was actually surprised to realize that I missed Ryuu and Kurotaro (though I bet you guys disagree about the latter, ha!); I kind of wish I had included them more in the previous chaps. But since the main goal and point of the story always was simply add-more-sk-to-the-chuunin-exams-without-messing-up-the-canon-storyline that much, all the screen-time naturally gravitated towards the SK development.
We'll see more of everyone else once the day of the exam comes, though (2 more days to go~!). And on that light, while this story will cover up only to the Chuunin Exam Finale and the attack on Konoha—I may or may not have something planned for what comes afterward. But that would be for another story (one that would completely deviate from canon), sooooo let's just finish this once first, haha!
Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to drop me a comment with your feedback, I enjoy reading your comments like no other~! See you guys next time!