Disclaimer: The dialogues between Gaara, Sasuke and Kakashi (excluding those spoken to Karin) as well as Kakashi's words about the Chidori, were taken word for word from Chapters 106, 125, 127 and 128 of the manga.
Note: Special thanks to Augusta Radcliff, mickytaka558, misslaly19, Yonomori Hayden Yuki, Darkredblossomgodess, niyahhill13 and MayanMoonFlower for their wonderful reviews. Thank you, guys! This chapter is dedicated to you all, and of course, also to the amazing girls at the Ice&Spice FC. Thanks for everything!
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Chapter 14: Goodnight (the last two days)
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Day 29th
.
.
'Hey, Karin,'
'Hm?'
'This Uchiha guy… you like him, right?'
Karin does not even look up from her food. 'Of course I do, he is my friend.'
Ryuu's silence clues her in to the real meaning behind his question. When it dawns on her Karin swiftly raises her head, her cheeks scarlet and her gaze agitated. 'W-wait, I don't like him like that if that's what you meant!'
Given the way Ryuu stares at her, the redhead knows only too well that he isn't convinced. '… Heh, is that so?'
'Tch, what do you mean is-that-so, it's my feelings we're talking about, I meant it!' she adamantly stresses, and after a few moments Ryuu smiles and reaches out to ruffle her hair. Karin stares at him as he leans back on his seat, her brows slightly furrowed. 'Geez, why are you asking such a weird thing, Ryuu-kun?'
'I just don't want to see ya all heartbroken when we get back to Kusagakure, is all.'
Stupid Ryuu-kun, Karin thinks as she dashes towards the training ground, remembering the odd conversation she and her teammate had had over breakfast. Yesterday night she had told the boy the truth, and he had promised to keep it a secret from Kurotaro. Karin had expected Ryuu to make all kinds of questions, but he had not made a single one. He had just gone to bed and surprised her at morning by being awake, asking her to join him for breakfast before she left.
Karin had complied—and had, again, expected the boy to make questions about the training. But what the boy had asked had been… well, stupid.
Karin liking Sasuke? Ugh the redhead groans, inwardly. Where had Ryuu gotten that from?
Sure, Sasuke was handsome. Of course she knew that. She had noticed it from the moment she put her glasses on and laid her eyes on him back in the Forest of Death, and had gotten first-hand confirmation of it when he dropped by her hospital room to pay her a visit, now cleaned-up and rested and devoid of bruises and the likes.
But that was then and this is now, and she rarely thought of his good looks, nowadays. Whenever he was around she had better things to do than to ogle him—like, listening to him, for example. Not only to what he said, but to what he did not say. Sasuke had a way with silence, that much was certain.
Or learning from him, for another. That's what she has been doing the most. Learning. Absorbing things from him, like a sponge.
So yeah, Karin definitely did not have time to dwell on Sasuke's good physique or to fancy him. And she also had better things to do than to even think of such a silly thing.
Seriously, why does Ryuu-kun always bring up the weirdest stuff?
The redhead sighs. Really, even thinking about it felt almost as weird as—as weird as
She does not look away—and Karin does not notice the way her body was inching forward until Sasuke turns and stares right into her eyes, making her freeze and choke on the breath she had been holding.
'Are you alright?'
'Y—yeah! I—I'm perfectly fine!' just, stay where you are!
'Your glasses,'
'T—thanks,'
'… Are you sure you're alright, Karin?'
—As weird as her reaction all those nights ago.
Karin halts on a branch for a split second, taken aback by the thought. But then she is dashing forward again, shaking her head all the while.
It had just taken her by surprise, is all; Sasuke's proximity, Ryuu's question—she just had not expected them, was all. Trivial matters like those did not require any second-thoughts.
It's just ridiculous, the redhead concludes wholeheartedly.
Feeling at peace with herself and banishing any and every thought about the matter, Karin surges forward.
Four hours later Karin, Sasuke and Kakashi stood in front the boulder on which Sasuke had been practicing his new jutsu, evaluating the damage his Chidori had made. There were now two craters of considerable depth and width on each of its sides, faint dust and rocks slipping from them onto the ground.
"Well, your limit is at two shots… it seems…."
Kakashi's words are cut short as Sasuke suddenly yelps, seizing his wrist with great effort. Karin approaches him dubiously, her eyes focused on the way his left arm wouldn't stop shaking, smalls sparks of electricity sporadically crossing it.
"Damn…!" lets out a panting Sasuke as he turns off his sharingan, his face bowed and obscured from Karin's and Kakashi's views.
"At your present chakra level, that's the most amount of times you can use Chidori a day…" Kakashi assesses, observing his student for a moment before looking back at the destroyed rock. "In any case, this is a jutsu that can't be used in a real fight unless you have the sharingan as well…. However, using the sharingan and the other jutsu at the same time is… just the same as consuming all your chakra by detonating it inside of your body."
While Kakashi's usually blasé expression doesn't shift at all, Karin frowns up at him. Did he really need to put it like that?
For his part, Sasuke did not look up from his palm, his mind too busy digesting what Kakashi had just said.
"Still, you're rather impressive, as I expected," the jounin muses. "Even I use up all of my chakra when I use Chidori—or Raikiri as it is otherwise known, four times in a single day."
"Only four times? Even you, Kakashi-san?" Karin wonders, amazed. She had an inkling of the great quantity of chakra required by the Chidori, but she had not foreseen it was incredible enough to limit even Kakashi in such a way.
The white-haired man regards her with some amusement brimming in his eye. "Even I have my limits, Karin."
"…What would happen to me…?" came Sasuke's voice, and they find him giving a sidelong look at Kakashi, his stare hard and calculating. "… If I attempt for the third one?"
Kakashi remains silent before turning and meeting Sasuke's eyes squarely, his voice severe. "There would be no third one… never forget that."
Sasuke's frown deepens, and Karin cocks her head to the side with grave curiosity.
"It's… that bad, huh?"
Kakashi nods. "When you try to strain the activation of a jutsu, not only will the jutsu fail, but you also lose all remaining chakra… and your life in the worst-case scenario." The man pauses to let his words sink in, and then adds, almost as an afterthought: "Even if you do survive, you'll still be in a tight spot no matter what. A shinobi with barely any remaining chakra or stamina is done for."
"…Right." Sasuke mutters, but he is looking past Kakashi and at the boulder he had Chidori'ed earlier. Both Kakashi and Karin glance at the boy and then at each other, sharing a knowing look.
Sasuke really was too stubborn for his own good.
Kakashi heaves a sigh. "Well, that will be it for today. Tomorrow is the last day of training, so rest properly, Sasuke. Karin, Sasuke told me you've been doing well in your training… good job."
"Thank you, Kakashi-san!" gratefully replies Karin and Kakashi smiles briefly before looking at Sasuke one last time, his eye sobering up.
"… Well, see you both tomorrow."
And with that the man went poof! and Karin faced Sasuke with a wary gaze, only to find the boy making his way towards the boulder.
"Sasuke…!" she hisses, trailing after him. "Just what do you think you're doing?"
"I still have some chakra left, Karin," Sasuke affirms, but he is still panting and his hand is still sporadically recoiling. None of this goes unnoticed by Karin, who snarls and steps forward, blocking his way.
Obstinate obsidian meets angry red.
"Didn't you hear what Kakashi-san just said, Sasuke? You don't have enough chakra to pull another Chidori! If you mess up, you die. What part of that didn't you get?"
Her voice is low and even, but Sasuke does not back down. He sets his jaw and sidesteps Karin, never missing a beat. "Stop babysitting me, Karin. I know what I'm doing."
"Do you?" snorts the redhead and the only sign of Sasuke having heard her at all is the way his back stiffens with indignation. But he ignores her and walks on, and now there's lightning chakra beginning to erupt around his hand and Karin—Karin sees red.
She has had enough.
"Stop it, Sasuke!"
She demands angrily, grabbing his wrist and pulling on it, hard. She can faintly feel the lightning chakra burning her skin, but the pain is gone as soon as it comes as Sasuke cringes and the electricity fades away, his hand hurt by Karin's brusque movement.
"Let go of me, Karin!"
"What for, so you can keep hurting yourself? Not a chance!"
Karin pulls again and this time Sasuke is forced to look at her, and his eyes widen as he sees her stare ablaze with some unnamed emotion.
He is immediately taken back to the look Karin had given her teammate, Kurotaro, as she told him to get lost. This look, though—this one was different.
Sasuke has never seen Karin so mad. Yesterday's anger had been cold and calculating, indignant; but the fury in her gaze now was hot like lava, her eyes flaming up a couple of shades darker than her hair, her lips curved downward in a fierce snarl.
She was downright furious.
Something in him stirs at the sight, but the feeling is unfamiliar and while Sasuke does not consciously register it Karin overlooks it altogether, too caught up in her anger.
It is only then that the boy realizes that Karin had kept on lecturing him.
"…plus if you keep this up, you will have a harder time with it tomorrow! Don't you think that would be counterproductive, huh?"
Sasuke parts his lips but no sound comes out. So he closes them thoughtfully and swallows to aid his suddenly dry throat. The redhead was right, it was counterproductive.
Karin seems to notice that he would not be trying for another Chidori anymore, because she finally lets go of his wrist and wipes the sweat away from her forehead, sighing. "Besides… you are exhausted as it is, we should be heading back."
Sasuke's gaze flickers towards her, questioning. "…What about your training?"
Karin deadpans at him. "You don't have enough chakra left to pull genjutsu, Sasuke. It's okay, I don't mind."
The Uchiha hesitates for a moment before nodding, turning around and leading the way back to their belongings, which had been left at the feet of another boulder. After a breath Karin is there with him, walking by his side, and Sasuke allows his eyes to slide towards her and take in her profile.
… No girl had ever stood up to him like that.
Ever.
They're almost by the rock when Karin finally notices him looking at her from the corner of his eye. She does a double-take, giving him a questioning look.
"…I had never seen you this angry," the Uchiha admits, and Karin looks confused for a moment. Then it dawns on her, and her eyes widen to a size that was almost comical.
"I—! Sorry, did I overdo it? It's just—you toying with your life like that just because you're as hardheaded as a goat makes me mad! It… got the best of me, I guess," Sasuke gives her a blank look, but the girl doesn't seem to notice and makes up for her poor apology by giving him a sincere and rueful look.
Sasuke ends up sighing. "Whatever…."
But then he is looking at her again—a nameless something in his eyes, a certain wideness that wasn't there before. And Karin can only stare back, confused, "huh…?"
"…You did it yesterday, too. Hn, why don't you let that side of you come out more often, Karin? If you're this headstrong, you should show it."
"I… don't think I'd be too pleasant to be around, if I did," Karin sheepishly admits after a few moments of silent pondering, and Sasuke, who was gathering his stuff, gives her a look that Karin reads as are you kidding me? to which she replies with awkward laughter, causing Sasuke to arch an elegant eyebrow.
"Wouldn't be pleasant to whom, exactly? Tch, if someone finds you unpleasant because you won't shut up when you disagree with them, then it's their problem, not yours."
Karin simply stares, seemingly at a loss of words. So it's only after he has stood up and put on his back-pack that Sasuke stares at her again. "… You need to stop holding back, Karin. Be more confident in yourself."
"Even if… I'm not a powerful shinobi?"
A smile flickered at the edges of Sasuke's lips. "Hn, there's more to a shinobi than just physical strength, Karin."
Karin feels her insides lighting up like bonfires. She bites her lip, setting her head just so, so that her bangs would conceal her expression from Sasuke's sight.
"You know, Sasuke, I've always just…" felt like there's nothing special about me, is what she holds back and swallows down, steadying herself and her voice before continuing. "Just gone along with the flow. I've always played safe, backed off from taking chances because I figured I just didn't have what it took, but…"
Her lips curve upward in a reflective smile, her gaze softening. "I've realized that's not it at all. All along I've just been too much of a coward to own up to myself, and to what I want; to whom I want to be. Coming here and meeting you, and Kakashi-san… you two, who didn't know anything about me, took me in and accepted me as I am without question. I… still have a long way to go, but at least I've gotten started, right? No matter what happens, I won't forget all the things I've learnt this past month."
When she raises her face she is grinning so widely that her cheekbones push her glasses up a notch. "…But no more thank you's, right?"
"…Yeah," Sasuke agrees after a breath, smirking back at her. "I've already had my fair share of those."
Karin starts laughing—and as he watches her, the Uchiha thinks he understood exactly what Ryuu had meant yesterday.
He just wonders when had the steadfast Karin who scratched Temari's cheek overthrown the meek Karin from the Forest of Death.
Day 30th
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A shiver runs down her spine and her body immediately tenses, instinctively sprinting into an alert state.
What is… this ominous feeling?!
"One more time, Sasuke,"
Instructs Kakashi, standing a few feet ahead of her and in front of the Uchiha, who had just lunged at him with a Chidori. Karin however pays them no heed, too caught up in the anxiousness that had suddenly spread across her body; she looks around her, unknowingly trying to find the possible source, and as such misses Kakashi giving her a curious look.
His look morphs into one of awareness and he turns towards a boulder at the same time that Karin heaves in a soft and horrified gasp.
Was that an eye?!
"…What is it?" Sasuke obliviously inquires, but Karin is too shocked to speak and Kakashi does not look away from the boulder, his gaze sharp and calculating.
"Your killing intent is giving you away. Come out from there."
As Kakashi finishes his demand, the eye—the eye-ball that had been suspended in the air just to the left of that boulder and set on them—disintegrates into sand before Karin's surprised sight.
It was… just sand? Realization dawns on her, her eyes widening. "Then…!"
Sasuke flicks his gaze to her only to follow her stare towards the boulder, and he does so just in time to see Sabaku no Gaara finally reveal himself, a menacing look in his eyes, his fingers compulsively curling.
"Oh, it's just you," Kakashi deadpans, as if the boy's presence weren't completely out of the norm—as if the guy wasn't practically oozing killing intent.
From her position against the rock erected a few feet across from Gaara, Karin gulps, her mind whirling with questions and her body with unease.
A few feet to her right, Sasuke gives the intruder a distrustful and annoyed look.
"What are you doing here?"
But despite the fact that Kakashi is the one to ask Gaara's eyes never leave Sasuke's own, his brow furrowed.
"What is it that drives you? Why do you seek power…?"
The other three frown at the unexpected question. Ever so slowly, Sasuke's frown turns into a glare, a wordless and hostile exchange transpiring between his black eyes and Gaara's aqua-green ones.
"It's none of your concern," the Uchiha spat at last. "Just get lost. Don't get in the way of my training!"
To Karin's surprise, for a moment it looks like the other boy was about to comply, as he turns around. But then he stops, his back now facing them, and his next words surprise Karin almost as much as his presence there had.
"Your eyes have the same look as mine… the need to seek out power, the determination and the bloodlust… you're just like me." Karin risks a look at Sasuke, but his eyes never leave Gaara's back. "Don't forget, you're my prey."
"…Hold it!" Sasuke calls out as Gaara gives a step forward to leave, "why… what is it you want from me?"
Sasuke's voice is heavy with hostility, but his words are curious. And when Gaara turns around to face him, Karin sees some of that curiosity reflected in his guarded eyes. It was as if he were seizing Sasuke up, somehow. As if he were deciding whether or not it was worth replying.
When he finally does, Karin's eyes widen at his words.
"…Your eyes tell me that you know what true loneliness is."
Sasuke's hands tighten into fists. His reaction does not go unnoticed by Kakashi and Karin, who both give him a perceptive look before turning their attention back to Gaara, who had begun to speak again.
"Furthermore… you also know that such solitude is the worst possible pain in the world. I've told you… you have the same eyes as I do," Gaara states, and while she cannot see Sasuke's eyes, Karin feels goosebumps running up her arms. The feeling emanating from Sasuke… it was almost as dangerous as the one that had given away Gaara's presence.
That wasn't good.
It was not good at all.
"The eyes, filled with hatred and death, that long for strength… just like mine," Gaara carries on, mercilessly, as if edged on by the rate at which Sasuke's murderous intent kept raising, "…your eyes tell me how badly you wish to kill the one who put you through the hell called loneliness."
That did it—the ominous feeling condensing around Sasuke (inside Sasuke?) reaches an all-time high and Karin is moving before she can even discern what she was doing.
"You—!" she calls, voice hoarse, and has to pause in order to swallow down the fright that threatened to crush her vocal-cords as his attention is shifted towards her—but the fright carries adrenaline with it, and the adrenaline pumps up her annoyance and in it Karin finds all the courage she needs.
"You are wrong! Even if what you said is true, at least Sasuke has his reasons! But you—you just see people as your preys." Her eyes narrow, her hands fisting. "Someone like you… can never be the same as Sasuke!"
She comes to her senses too late—when she is already gone too far. Gaara's eyes, which at first had regarded her with the same impassive aversion he had showcased at the tower, had now narrowed and there was a storm brewing inside, Karin could see it all too clearly now, a sand storm—
Sasuke could sense it, too. Somewhere during Karin's indignant speech his killing intent had dissipated into surprise and he had turned his gaze towards her, but now he was shifting it back to Gaara, eyebrows knitted together, sandal scrapping the ground lightly as he slid his right feet back to ready himself in case the redhead decided to attack.
"You don't understand…" Gaara begins to say, but there are particles of sand beginning to form around him and so Kakashi steps forward and cuts him short—effectively shielding Karin from Gaara's merciless eyes.
"Alright, time out. Gaara, is it?" the jounin asks, but does not even wait for a reply as he deadpans at him, "I don't care what you think you know about Sasuke. You shouldn't talk as if you can see Sasuke's inner self! What was it you're trying to accomplish, coming all this way out here before your match?"
A moment of tense silence stretches across the field as Gaara closes his eyes, his hands relaxing and the particles of sand dissipating once again.
"Fighting is all about… putting the lives of others and your own on the line," the redhead muses, his expression dark and thoughtful. When his eyes snap open, his stare is grave. "…To fight to the death. Only then can the victor be assured of the meaning of his existence."
"Of… the meaning of his existence?" Karin echoes as Sasuke frowns, his mind caught up in the real meaning behind Gaara's words.
"So you're saying…" Kakashi frowns, unsympathetic. He has had enough of the kid. "You want a death-match instead of a tournament, is that it?"
Once again Gaara disregards the man and addresses Sasuke instead, one of his hands coming up to cover his mouth as he spoke. "Uchiha… you must be wishing for the same thing, deep down inside. You wish to determine if you deserve to live... you wonder if you're really strong enough... stronger than the one you're dying to kill."
Sasuke remains in stunned silence and Gaara says no more, wordlessly turning his back on the group and walking away. Kakashi stares after his back, frowning; the kid was more dangerous than he had thought. And more over—
"Sasuke…." Karin calls out tentatively, coming to stand by his side.
The boy does not raise his thoughtful eyes from the ground, his eyebrows drawn together in a dark frown.
Karin flickers her wary gaze to Kakashi then, who had turned to look at them. "What's up with that guy…? A death match…?"
"Yeah…" Kakashi confirms, and while his features were starting to relax his voice still carried over some of its previous graveness. "…He will face Sasuke with the intent to kill him."
"But won't the referees prevent that? There must be a rule against that, right? Gekkou Hayate said—"
"It's true the matches aren't supposed to be to the death—" Kakashi interrupts at hearing his recently deceased colleague's name, "but casualties are accounted for. The right to become chuunin and the honor of your village is at stake, so you're expected to give it your all… the fight won't be stopped unless it gets too nasty."
"That's…." but Karin trails off as her frown deepens and she helplessly looks at him, obviously trying to find arguments with which to showcase her disagreement. But she finds none, and so she turns her thoughtful gaze to the ground, unknowingly mimicking Sasuke's own pose.
Kakashi looks at the two conflicted teens for a long moment before heaving in a sigh.
"Alright, I think this is enough for today. We're ending the training here."
That seems to be the right thing to say because it gets a reaction out of Sasuke, who raises his head in order to glare at him.
"Huh? No way, Kakashi! We aren't done yet!"
Kakashi's eyebrows shift into his usually apathetic expression, his shoulders slouching with carelessness. "Relax, Sasuke. If you're so adamant about it, we can go for one last round of practice tomorrow morning before the fights begin. The Main Event will start around noon, so we should have enough time. But for today…" Kakashi trails off, his stare sharpening as it bore into Sasuke's; "If you pull a chidori in this state… the seal may weaken."
Karin frowns, puzzled. Seal? What seal?
Sasuke does not seem to share her puzzlement however, because the boy is suddenly voicing his reluctant agreement, "…Alright."
Pleased, Kakashi faces the lonesome female. "Karin… it's a shame our last day together has ended on a sour note."
She appreciates the gesture and tries to show as much with a smile, but it comes out a little tighter than intended. She was still on edge after the encounter with Sabaku no Gaara, and the talk about the unknown seal had not helped matters any.
"You've done a good job this past month," the man says, before his eye creases with a smile. "Both of you have."
Given that Sasuke was not about to reply to such a comment, Karin takes it upon herself to do so, and this time her grin comes off more natural.
"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!"
Kakashi blinks, sensei…? but she doesn't seem to have realized her slip, and so he says nothing of it.
"I would like to invite you two something to eat to celebrate that you've both successfully completed your training… but I have an appointment. I'm sure you will have fun celebrating without me, though," and before any of them could attempt to say anything in response, Kakashi is poof'ing away. "I'll see you both tomorrow, bye bye!"
"Wai—ugh, he is gone!" Karin complains, and Sasuke sighs. Turning to face him, she finds that he was back to looking thoughtful, probably still pondering over the words Gaara had said.
Karin does not like the thought of that, so she cuts the distance between them by stepping forward.
"Sasuke… you still have some stamina left, don't you?" the Uchiha's stare turns to her, questioning, and Karin smiles encouragingly. "If you want to practice some more taijutsu, I can help. I won't be as good of an adversary as Kakashi-san, but… at least I'll be better than a log, right?" she jokes lightly, her smile turning into a sheepish grin.
Sasuke considers her offer in silence for a moment, but before he could reply the silence of the field is broken by the sound of Karin's growling stomach.
The girl's usually pale cheeks turn the color of her hair and she stares at him, like a frozen tomato. The sight is too funny, and Sasuke finds the edges of his lips curving upward, the tension filling his muscles since Gaara's arrival finally starting to ease up.
"Never mind that, let's go eat."
The furiously flustered redhead looks startled. "Huh? But I left my money back at the—!"
"—that's fine," Sasuke dismisses, sticking his hands into his pockets and walking towards the forest, "I have some with me."
After some hesitancy Karin catches up with him, still looking unsure. "But… I don't think it'd be fair for you to pay for my share, Sasuke."
"So?" the Uchiha inquires, sardonically. "You skipped your lunch because of me, didn't you? So stop complaining."
"…Alright," she reluctantly gives in, before heaving in a sigh. The guy was as stubborn as a goat, so no point arguing. Besides, she guessed he was kind of right. She had skipped lunch because Sasuke insisted on continuing his training and Kakashi had obliged to it, which had left them all bento-less. Karin had not really minded, though; she hadn't been that hungry. And then…
Then Sabaku no Gaara had come, and her stomach had been too revolved by the dark feelings emanating from him to even care about food.
'…He will face Sasuke with the intent to kill him.'
Karin's jaw sets, tensioned. Gaara's hard gaze a little too vivid, a little too overwhelming in her mind's eye.
"…Sasuke," she calls out softly but firmly, and the boy looks at her from the corner of his eyes, attentively. Karin however keeps her gaze on the road ahead, too focused on trying to put into words the sensation that had frozen her when the redhead stepped in. "I know I've said this before, but… there's something… something really wrong about that guy; about Sabaku no Gaara. I can feel it. Kakashi-san said it was his killing intent, but… I don't think that's it. There's something… dark about him. No, more than that—there's something dark oozing off him."
She finishes grimly before finally leveling her stare with Sasuke's, who holds it for a long moment before looking ahead again.
"… I know."
He claims, but Karin wonders if he does. If he did, he should have noticed Gaara's presence before either she or Kakashi did. But he had not. Sasuke had not, and he had never been shaken by him—by his words, yes, but not by his demeanor—and Karin thinks he should have been—would have been, despite his usual aloofness, despite his usual bravado, because what she felt—the lethal darkness emanating from Gaara like magma was no joke. It did not even—
It did not even feel human.
A cold shiver runs down Karin's spine at the thought, but before she could voice it out Sasuke's voice reaches her ears in the form of a mere murmur.
"Karin… won't you ask?" he pauses before clarifying, somewhat reluctantly, "…about what Gaara said."
'…Your eyes tell me how badly you wish to kill the one who put you through the hell called loneliness.'
Karin's eyes widen slightly for a moment, but then she looks away from his profile and to the road ahead. "…Do you want me to ask?"
Sasuke offers her nothing but silence. It is just what she expected, so the redhead closes her eyes and smiles.
"Then I won't," she states simply, and while she is not looking at him she can still feel the weight of his stare all too clearly. She knows he is waiting for an explanation, and so she gives it to him without hesitating. "Heh, honestly, Sasuke… I know that there's a lot of stuff that I don't know about you, but… whether there's someone you want to kill or not, that doesn't change the kind of guy you are in my eyes."
She gives him a sidelong look, a serene smile directed at no one but him as she shrugged. "Plus, if you wanted me to know you would have already told me, right? So, I won't ask."
Sasuke can only stare, his unguarded eyes showing her just how unexpected her reply had been. Before his mind could even digest it all though Karin is speaking again, her smile gradually morphing into one of those bright, toothy grins of hers with every word she said.
"But… if you ever feel like telling me, I'd be willing to listen."
Indeed… Sasuke had not been expecting such a reply, not at all. He had not known what to expect, as a matter of fact; had merely asked in an impulse that he could not quite hold back.
And as such—as such Sasuke could not have possibly known that was the reply he wanted to hear. And as he realizes it his features relax and a light and amused snort leaves his lips, his eyes closing and his fists unclenching inside of his pockets.
By his side, Karin says nothing—but she notices it all, and had Sasuke dared to look at her then he would have found that her stare was as telling as his silence.
They don't exchange any words for the rest of the road leading to Konoha, but neither of them minds.
"Hokage-sama,"
"It's nice to see you, Kakashi," Hiruzen Sarutobi greets, sparing the younger man a glance accompanied by a faint smile before continuing with his paperwork; "though I hope you don't come bearing bad news. I've had enough of those this month, to be frank."
"That Sound spy has not tried to come in contact with Sasuke again, and his Cursed Seal seems to be under control… for the time being." Kakashi assesses, causing the Hokage to smirk.
"Heh, 'for the time being', huh? As cautious as always, I see," Sarutobi comments lightly, his attention still focused on his paperwork. "I take this to mean Sasuke has been with you all this time, but if you had not reported this until now, then I guess you saw no need to. What is it that brings you here, then?"
Uncharacteristically, Kakashi hesitates. His observant gaze follows the agile movements of the Hokage's aged hands as they flicker from paper to paper, stamping and signing those requiring his approval and discarding those he deemed as wastes of time. It is not until the old man has raised his face to meet his own stare, concerned by Kakashi's silence, that the jounin speaks.
"This is… about one of the teams sent by Kusagakure to take part in the Chuunin exams," a pause, and then Kakakashi adds, "more specifically, about the girl, Karin."
It lasts for less than a second, but Kakashi does not miss it. It was impossible to when it was just what he had been looking for—and in that instant in which Sarutobi's fingers pause in the middle of their task, Kakashi finds all the assurance he needs. The last nail put to the coffin of his doubts.
"Karin, you say?" Sarutobi echoes with only half-interest, and nothing in his demeanor betrays his perfect composure. "What about her?"
But Kakashi knows better than that, and so he doesn't hesitate anymore. "I'll cut straight to the chase, Hokage-sama. I believe the girl may be an Uzumaki."
Faced with such a blunt statement Sarutobi cannot fight the way his back stiffens, just as he cannot help the surprise that widens his eyes as they land on Kakashi's own, which harden.
"No, that's not it. I am certain Karin is an Uzumaki."
A long moment of silence transpires between them, Kakashi's resolute stare never shying away from the Hokage's. It is the latter the one who looks away first, going back to his desk-work. "And just what, pray tell, makes you think such a thing, Kakashi? If this is only about her red hair…."
So he did notice it, huh? Kakashi thinks, but says nothing of it and lightly shakes his head instead. "No. While it certainly raised my suspicions, Hokage-sama knows I would not have come if I did not have… more substantial reasons to back up my conclusions."
"And what are these substantial reasons you speak of, Kakashi?" the Hokage inquires, unfazed.
Kakashi does not think the man will be able to remain that way for much longer, as it was. "…During this past month, I've taken the girl under my wing."
"Huh?" as expected, the revelation causes the Hokage to regard Kakashi with surprised disbelief, which gradually gives way into wariness. "You willingly took in another student? That does not seem like you, Kakashi… did your curiosity really push you that far?"
'That's it…! Keep doing it!'
Reprises a familiar voice inside his head, and with it comes the face of a certain raven-haired teen that was smiling; actually smiling with excitement as he instinctively cheered for a redhead, the action so natural that the boy did not even notice it at all.
The memory makes Kakashi suppress a knowing smile. "That… among other things." The Hokage arches an eyebrow, but Kakashi was not planning to say more about the subject. They had more important matters to focus on, after all.
"I've been carefully observing the girl, Karin, through this past month, and she has displayed traits that unmistakably belong to the Uzumaki clan."
"Go on."
"She has an uncanny sensoring ability, for one. It has not fully awakened yet, but even despite that it is already impressive… I had never seen such raw sensor talent like hers. Her resiliency, as well… as a commoner from Kusagakure, Karin had never received proper shinobi training. She was, however, able to endure genin-level work-out from day one without a single issue. I am sure Hokage-sama does not need me to say that I did not go easy on her… I assure you, no mere human would have had the stamina and vitality enough to put up with such a strict regime without being properly prepared for it." Kakashi pauses, the fingers he had been counting off relaxing once again as an afterthought reached the forefront of his mind. "Plus…"
The Sandaime almost does not want to ask; but it is his duty, and he has never been a coward. So he takes Kakashi's bait and braces himself for what was to come. "There's more?"
"Yes," Kakashi readily says, something akin to nostalgia briefly breezing past inside the depths of his gaze. "Her character… it strongly resembles that of Kushina-san and Mito-sama."
The mention of the two deceased women is followed by a long moment of silence in which Sarutobi has to physically close his eyes in order to fight off the memories insisting on playing in front of him, as if they were corporeal once more.
"…You've really given this a lot of thought, haven't you?"
"Yes," Kakashi states, and though firm his voice is softer than it was since he entered the room. "I would not be here otherwise."
When he opens his eyes, Sarutobi looks down at the folder he had brought up while Kakashi spoke. Staring back at him was the picture of a bespectacled redheaded girl with eyes of the same color. "Karin… there is no surname written in her profile," the old man observes, bringing the page up for closer inspection. "No data about her family or any possible lineage."
"I believe Karin is not aware of her lineage, Hokage-sama. Taking into account what happened to Uzushiogakure… it would not be a stretch to think one of her relatives sought refuge in Kusagakure, and deemed it best to hide their heritage."
"I do acknowledge it is a possibility, but…" Sarutobi's eyebrows knit in a thoughtful frown, which persists until he takes a deep intake of breath. "This is a serious claim to make, and to do so would be irresponsible of Konoha."
It is Kakashi's turn to frown. "Hokage-sama…."
"I am not dismissing your input, Kakashi" Sarutobi states, easily dismissing the other man's wordless complaint. "I trust your deductions… and I acknowledge that when I saw that red hair… I was immediately reminded of Mito and Kushina, as well." The ghost of a fond smile dances across his wrinkled lips for a breath and then the Hokage is back to business. "However, if we're correct to assume that the girl does not have any prior knowledge about her clan, approaching her about the matter would be reckless on our part. Moreover…."
As per usual, Kakashi catches on without missing a beat. "…Naruto, isn't it?"
"Yes." Sarutobi acknowledges, his stare grave and concerned. "Naruto is not yet ready to learn the truth of his heritage. If Karin were to be confirmed as an Uzumaki, we would be forced to explain everything to him… plus, if the girl turns out to not be an Uzumaki, we would be raising the kid's hopes only to set him up for a fall. Naruto has had enough as it is."
"…I understand," Kakashi agrees after a moment of thought, not being able to deny that the older man's words were absolutely correct. Despite accepting that, however, he cannot help but to feel slight disappointment setting over him—disappointment that does not go unnoticed by Sarutobi.
"Regardless, we won't let the matter go," the Hokage claims, taking Kakashi by surprise. "Possible Uzumaki survivors cannot be abandoned like this, not after everything they have done for us and the ninja world. The Main Event begins tomorrow however, so I do not have the time nor the resources to take care of this right now; especially not with Orochimaru around. We will look further into it once the exams are over and things have settled down."
"With all due respect, you will have to be quick, Hokage-sama. I reckon Karin and her team are planning to leave Konoha after the Main Event ends."
"Hn, is that so?" Sarutobi's thoughtful look is slowly replaced by a smirk. "Heh, this can work just as well. Asking the girl to stay would arise questions, but sending a scouting team to accompany them… that would be easier to excuse."
It is only then that Kakashi takes notice of how tensioned his shoulders had been up to that point. But the reassuring and confident edge in Sarutobi's eyes swiftly disposed of it all, and Kakashi finds gratitude sneaking into his gaze. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Sarutobi's smirk only widens as he pushes his Hokage had down, casting playful shadows over his face and taking a good couple of years off his aura. "Heh, I do hope you are not thinking that if she becomes a permanent resident of Konoha you will be able to take her as your pupil, Kakashi. Do I need remind you that Team 7's spots are already full?"
Kakashi blinks at him, taken aback by the sudden change of mood, but then amusement begins to bubble up inside of him as well. "Oh, I can live with that… there is someone that may not like it, though."
Sarutobi tilts his head to the side, curiosity shining through his stare. "Hm? And who is that someone?"
Kakashi smiles shrewdly under his mask. "Heh, you will see in due time, Hokage-sama."
The dumpling shop they settle for is small but luckily almost empty, and so they get a table all for themselves. The people inside—a couple of chuunin plus a an old woman and an old man, obviously husband and wife—give them curious looks from time to time, but they're easy enough to ignore. The shop's attendant is a nice-looking girl who showers Sasuke with almost—if not even more—attention than the old man from the medicine shop had done, but this time neither of them refuse when she brings them an extra serving of green tea and dango and says it's on the house! with a wink.
It is while they finish that serving that Karin chimes up. "Oh, right! I should be wishing you good luck already, shouldn't I?" she says almost as an afterthought, earning a curious look from Sasuke, whose cheeks were puffed by a mouthful of dango. "I'll be going with Ryuu-kun and Kurotaro to the finals tomorrow and we want to get there extra early to get good seats, so I probably won't be able to see you before your match."
"There's no need," the Uchiha says, after swallowing the bite of dango. "I will beat Gaara, luck notwithstanding."
"Heh, I know you will," the redhead easily agrees, allowing herself a grin before growing serious, preparing to give him one last reminder. "…Just, don't let your guard down, Sasuke. I meant what I said earlier. That guy is no normal opponent, there's something really off about him."
Sasuke gave her a level look accompanied by a slight nod, and then went for a faint smirk. "You don't need to worry, Karin."
Karin scoffs a little, knowing full well that she was being teased. "Hn, well since you're obviously going to be an overconfident knucklehead about it, someone has to worry in your stead."
Sasuke lets out a little heh and then mimics Karin and returns his attention to his plate. There's silence in their table, time during which the smirk curving Sasuke's lips slowly diminishes and becomes a straight line.
"…You will be returning to Kusagakure after tomorrow, then."
Karin's fingers falter for a moment as they close around her cup of green tea. But then her hand is moving again, and she takes the cup to her lips. "…That's right."
Neither of them looks at the other—Sasuke absentmindedly poking the sole dango he had left, and Karin's eyes lost somewhere in the depths of her cup.
Another wave of silence crashes over them, but this one is different. It's heavy, unpleasant. Karin feels pressured under it, and snaps soon enough.
She loudly places her empty cup back on the table, her sudden notion startling Sasuke, who looks at her out of reflex and finds the redhead giving him a weak grin that she obviously intended to be reassuring. "No need to feel down, Sasuke! We'll see each other in the next chuunin exams, right?"
Originally, he fully intended to protest against the suggestion of feeling down—where did you get that from, Karin?—but ends up sidetracked by something else entirely. "…So, you will participate?"
The redhead nods resolutely, her grin becoming more genuine. "Yeah! This time I'll do it on my own volition, though."
Slowly, Sasuke smirks. "Hn, I'll already be a chuunin by then. Don't forget that, Karin." But before she could say anything in response his smirk becomes a promise rather than mockery. "…But I will be there."
Karin mirrors his smirk, returning his look with her own resolute one, before both return to finishing their food in silence.
It is only when both their plates are empty that it dawns on Karin that it really was the end.
The 30 days were over. After tomorrow, there would be no more training. No more rushing through the woods of Konoha; no more Kakashi being apathetic and patient and kind in his own way. No more bickering with Sasuke or eating with Sasuke or talking with Sasuke or being with Sasuke—
It was all over. It was really time to say goodbye.
Ah, goodbye… the word felt foreign somehow.
Her chest felt clenched, but she did not feel the desire to cry.
Rather, she felt overwhelmed by a sense of nostalgia that made her whole body feel heavy. She can't even lift her gaze from the table as it is.
"… Time really flew by, huh?"
Sasuke says nothing, and for a moment Karin muses that this may as well be the last time she would get to look for the unsaid in his silence.
The thought does nothing to alleviate the weight on her stomach.
Sasuke places some money on the table, enough to cover both of their servings, and then he is rising from his seat.
"…It's time to go, Karin."
It's time to say goodbye is what Karin hears instead, and she gets up and walks after him without a word.
She raises her head up to the sky as they exit the parlor. The sun had set, and Karin takes in how bright stars seemed to look in Konoha. In Kusagakure she wouldn't get to look at them like this, standing shoulder to shoulder with Sasuke at the outside of a dumpling shop located in the middle of a crowded street, but still feeling like they were the only people in the world.
Her heart kicks up a notch, painfully, and Karin squeezes her eyes shut—savoring the feeling of Sasuke's presence for a long, endless moment that was much too short—before opening them and turning to face him with a small but genuine smile, ready to part ways with him.
"Well… I guess this is it," she says, and Sasuke looks at her sideways before nodding, his eyes returning to the sky above. Karin however lets her eyes remain on him, the sight warming up her smile. "I'll be cheering you on tomorrow, Sasuke. Heh, you probably won't hear me through all the yelling, but I will."
"I know." It doesn't sound conceited—if anything his voice is gentle, and Karin finds it harder to look at him then—to look at him as his features soften right in front of her very eyes—and suddenly she needs to get away.
She felt that if she did not say goodbye now, then she would never be able to.
It's a frightening feeling—but very much real, and Karin hastily steps away from Sasuke and into the street.
When she whirls around to look at him one last time, her features are schooled in a grin.
"Thanks for everything—again, Sasuke. It's been fun. Goodbye!"
Sasuke makes no attempt to stop her and Karin looks away from his eyes and begins to walk, resisting the urge to sprint into a run as she did so.
One, two, three, four—she has given five steps when Sasuke's voice suddenly reaches her ears.
"Hey, Karin!"
Surprised, she turns to face him just in time to catch a glimpse of his sharingan, and before she knows it her eyes are shutting close and her hands are already moving and making the seal. "Kai!"
She is startled as she hears Sasuke's chuckle, breezing past her as if it were wind. When she opens her eyes she finds him staring at her, obsidian back in their rightful place and a pleased, approving smirk-like smile in his lips. "Heh, not bad."
And before Karin could say something—anything—or even register the pride that was cutting through the hazy moist of nostalgia, Sasuke has discarded the smirk and the only thing that remains is a fond smile.
"… 'night, Karin."
It takes her a considerable amount of time to find her voice, but Sasuke stays still and waits; a rare display of patience that warms Karin's insides almost as much as his smile and his words had done.
"…Goodnight, Sasuke."
His gaze remains on her even as he turns away, and Karin does not look away from him not even as his smile is hidden by his back. Instead the redhead stays rooted there, staring after his retreating back, unmindful of the people walking past her.
… No goodbyes, huh? Somehow, that was so like Sasuke.
Karin chuckles, barely registering that the heavy feeling oppressing her body had been replaced by giddiness.
She is giggling still even as she turns the opposite direction and begins to make her way to the inn. She no longer felt burdened at the thought of tomorrow. If anything, Karin felt excited.
"Tomorrow's the big day, huh?"
The main event would be finally taking place. And she would get to be a part of it all—she would get to witness all their fights. Not only Sasuke's, but Uzumaki Naruto's and everyone else's. She felt honored by that thought alone.
Noon could not come soon enough.
Idly, Karin wonders if she would be able to sleep at all.
—
End of the 14th Chapter
I'll try to keep this short lol
This chapter is the first time that Karin directly addresses her character development, so I was a bit on edge about how to word it, since I didn't want it to sound like an outright explanation; at the end I decided to keep it short, because we've been witnessing her growth first-hand. On that note, I've always thought that Sasuke himself is one of the reasons why canon!Karin grew up into such a self-confident and headstrong woman, so I tried to include a toned-down reference to that here, haha.
That said, Kakashi's intentions are finally out in the open. I hope his conversation with Sarutobi was believable; for some reason, I had a lot of fun writing it lol
Lastly, I hope the SasuKarin was enjoyable.
Thanks a lot for reading and I'm really looking forward to your thoughts, so please don't forget to review~!
Kanae