Three years later...

Karin glanced down at the side of the road and sighed. Bending down, she picked the tiny white flower and added it to the handful she already had. These flowers were her favourite; they were all she had to remind herself of... him. Sighing again, she stood up and continued walking deeper into the forest. He had left them, all those years ago, without giving a proper reason for it. The team had fallen apart, and fallen quickly.

Sasuke had reverted back to Konoha. Juugo had left her when he found the birds were much more interesting than she was. As far as she knew, she wasn't in any bingo book, and none of the hidden villages were out to find her. She was a sometime local in three of the surrounding towns, buying produce from each of them once a week. Today, she was burdened down with enough to last for the rest of the month. She had heard rumours of a snow storm hitting the region and wanted to be prepared.

She was heading for the guard house they had occupied long ago. Secluded and out of the way. Any bounty hunters could search for days and not find her. She slowly trudged through the trees, following a map she made in her mind from walking through again and again. Soon enough, her home appeared through the trees and she sighed quietly in relief.

As always, she glanced down the path to see the exact spot where she had last seen her almost forgotten teammate. Shaking her head clear of the memories, she moved inside and deposited the food on the kitchen table, unwrapping her scarf from around her neck and heading towards the bathroom, intent on a long, hot shower. She turned the shower on and slowly unbuttoned her shirt, waiting for the water to heat up.

She was about to step into the shower when there was a gurgle along the line. She froze. Mesmerised, she watched as a sudden jet of water blew out of the shower head and sprayed across the room. She was instantly drenched, but it went unnoticed. The water on the floor started taking shape, and she gasped as Suigetsu's head emerged from the water.

He was in his transformed state, and she could see him eyeing her as the rest of his body formed, but she ignored it. He finally formed properly and stood in front of her with his arms crossed.

"Karin."

Ignoring her state of dress, or lack thereof, she reached out to touch his shoulder, rubbing her fingers over it.

"You're real."

He smirked.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

She shook her head and slowly turned around to grab a towel and wrap it around herself.

"I've had too many delusions. I needed to check."

She didn't get a response from behind her and she turned to see him standing with his mouth slightly open.

"Delusions? How long have you been alone for?"

She shrugged, crossing her arms.

"A year. Maybe two. We kind of fell apart after you left."

He nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I heard. Why haven't you done anything?"

She was instantly angry. Angry at him for deserting her. Angry at him for revealing his secret to her, despite her asking, and forcing the seal onto her. Angry for the dreams of him that made her wake up panting and sweating like she'd just run a marathon against the famed green beast of Konoha.

"What was I supposed to do?! Give myself up to one of the hidden villages and be imprisoned for life!? Sorry, not how I want to spend the rest of my days."

He pinned her to the wall faster than she could blink.

"That wasn't what I meant. Why didn't you try to contact me?"

She glared at him.

"Do you really want me to answer that? You left without a way for me to find you! How was I supposed to know how to get in contact with you when you'd disappeared?!"

He pulled back with a slightly shocked look in his strange eyes. Then his gaze hardened.

"There are ways, Karin!"

"Well, I didn't know!"

He growled, and it was her signal to stop. She bit her tongue and kept quiet. His eyes searched hers angrily until he was sure she wouldn't send a nasty comment his way. Releasing her, he stepped back and crossed his arms as she glowered at him.

"Get dressed. I'll wait for you out there."

He walked out the door, leaving her simmering with anger.

After five minutes, she left the bathroom, wrapped in a thick robe to ward off the approaching cool weather. She could feel it, and being sprayed by Suigetsu when he came out of the drain didn't help. She moved out into the large living area and stopped, hearing sounds from the kitchen. As she entered the doorway, she saw Suigetsu standing at the bench next to the kettle.

He'd changed his appearance back to his normal self, which she was half glad for. His voice was much deeper in his full version and if he ever turned seductive she didn't think she'd be able to hold him back. He glanced over to her.

"Glad to see you dressed."

She shrugged, ignoring the look in his eye when he looked over the robe with a disgusted look on his face.

"Why do you wear that?"

She glanced down at it.

"What's wrong with it?"

He snorted.

"It's old, and it makes you look weird."

She shrugged again.

"It's comfortable. And if it does the job of making anybody I see look straight past me and ignore me, then I think it's done a good job."

He was on her in a heartbeat.

"Did someone do something to you?"

She looked into his purple eyes as they morphed to blue-green. The expression on his slightly elongated face was fierce as he gripped her arms.

"Tell me!"

She shook her head.

"Nothing happened."

He glared at her.

"But something did happen."

Statement, not a question. She looked back up at him and felt the tears return. They reminded her of the night Suigetsu left, when he brushed them off her face with a rough hand. She quickly reached up and wiped them off with the robe, breaking away from him and walking towards the sink and gripping it.

"Nothing. Happened."

She felt a gentle hand on her back and she shivered. It flinched away, and she glanced over to see him standing beside her.

"Please, Karin. I just want to help you now."

She took a step back. And fainted.