Chapter 62 - Tiento Chiuso

Sakura, at the hospital, in the afternoon, in a braver mood and not shaking from lack of breakfast, asked to speak to Karin privately.

It was almost a shame to break up what had been an otherwise peaceful scene. Karin had been brushing Asaoto's hair while Shingetsu chatted along about things that were very much of interest to his nine-year-old mind. Suigetsu waited by a window. Staying out of it. Trying not to smirk too widely.

"Why, what's going on?" Karin said, after Sakura asked.

"…just, trust me, I need to speak to you alone," Sakura said.

"Why alone?" Suigetsu said.

"Because it doesn't concern you, that's why," Sakura replied.

"Who says it doesn't?"

"Suigetsu." Karin put the brush down. "Stop it."

He stopped it. But his face had lost its smile.

"We can take this outside," Karin said. She stood, with her usual, visual discomfort. "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy," Asaoto said. "Shin-nii, you wanna brush my hair…?"

The conversation continued, gently fading out of earshot.

"Yeah! But you gotta brush my hair afterward, okay?"

"Okay."

As they walked down the hall.

"Shingetsu, be careful with him! You want to get yelled at?"

Karin's own smile slowly fading.

"It's okay, Suigetsu…"

And was gone.

"So, what is it?" Karin said.

Sakura almost wished she were delivering news of a terminal cancer diagnosis instead.

But, she said, "Orochimaru's in Konoha, Karin. He was arrested early this morning and brought into custody. And he's been asking to see you, frequently."

She might as well have chosen the former option, from the look on Karin's face. Pained and terrified and begging for anything but hopelessness.

"You… are, are you sure it's him?" she said, softly.

"It's… kind of undeniable… We tested for genjutsu and he's completely clean, and-"

"You can't be serious…" Karin's interruption was almost too quiet to hear. "Please… please tell me this isn't the case…"

"I… I wish I could, Karin, I honestly wish I could. And Sasuke…" Sakura inhaled. "Sasuke was saying things about how he saw Orochimaru at your house, Karin. When he went and visited you last month."

That was where Sakura would have told her how many weeks she had left to live.

Karin wouldn't take her hands off of her stomach.

(Off of the child that Orochimaru was ever so invested in.)

"…Karin, have you been in contact with him…?" Sakura said, quietly.

There was no word, no nod, no indication of agreement.

Only Karin saying, "Let me talk to him."

"What? No, absolutely not!" Sakura said, her anger pushing away the heavy horror and uneasiness that was clustered in her stomach and chest.

"Let. Me talk. To him. Okay?"

"Talk to me first, at least!"

"NO. HIM FIRST." Karin's voice was incredibly, suddenly, frighteningly strong. "He's asking for me, isn't he? He wants to see me, doesn't he?"

"Karin, please, you can't be serious…" Sakura said.

Karin's glare, her shoulders, rising and falling, spoke volumes.

"Talk to me first. Just… tell me what's going on," Sakura said.

Karin half-shook her head, but her eyes got stuck on her elbow and stayed there. "I can't," she said.

"Karin, please."

"Sakura, I can't, okay?"

"What can't you explain, Karin?"

"Just… just let me talk to him, please, I'm begging you."

And Sakura noticed that tears were leaking out of the corners of her eyes.

"I'll tell you all I can later, just… just let me see him, okay?"

It was a strange and twisted feeling of mercy that led Sakura to comply with Karin's request.

And the unbearable ache in her ears that was her desire to learn the truth.

Karin demanded that Suigetsu not come with her. And maybe it was something in her voice, or in her eyes that caused this, but Suigetsu shrunk back without so much as a single protest and he let her pass.

(Though the look on his face was an echo of hers, all wide eyes, thirsting for a misinterpretation.)

It took a long time to make it to the cell where they were keeping him. Down all the flights of stairs, down all the hallways.

Orochimaru was still there, behind the one-sided glass, shackled and all. Though his expression was not as delighted. He had his hair in his face.

Andou was still there as well, with his notebook. There was a folding table set up beside his chair, and there were dirty, thin plastic bento containers piled upon it. He offered Sakura a new summary, and she declined.

"I'm here with Karin. She wants to talk to him," Sakura said.

There was a fair amount of ANBU resistance.

"I made the decision. He asked to see me. He won't hurt me," Karin said. "He won't hurt me. Okay?"

The certainty in her voice was chilling.

(Especially considering the context.)

She kept both hands, both forearms on her stomach, and she did not remove them.

They opened the door and let her and Sakura through.

Oh, how Orochimaru's face lit up. A single eye peeked through his bangs. The other was swollen from a nearby bruise.

"Karin, dear! I thought they'd never let you in to see me. So glad you finally saw reason, Sakura-chan."

Karin looked like she was about to burst into tears, and Orochimaru's face folded into a delicate frown, to mirror hers.

"Oh, dear, dear, dear, please don't cry! I'm quite all right, you see. Not feeling a pain in the world."

"I, I see…" Karin said.

"And don't even begin to think that I'm mad at you, dear, no, no, not at all. Why, yes, I was so… worried about your sudden departure… but I see you're quite safe and sound here, regardless. I do hope that they're taking better care of you than they are of me, though."

"They're taking care of me, yes." Karin swallowed, and sniffed back tears.

Orochimaru's smile was grossly warm. "Thank goodness."

"Suigetsu, he… came to check on me, anyways…" Karin said.

"Oh did he! What a good boy, just as he should," Orochimaru said, nodding. "Taking care of that little one of his too, is he? He's well?"

Karin just nodded. As if she were ashamed.

"Oh, but what am I doing, worrying about that one. How is the one in the works, dear?"

"It… it's healthy."

"Taking your medicine?"

She shook her head. "I… I'm almost out, I didn't make enough for the stay."

Orochimaru's eyes, which had been semi-closed, snapped open. "Well that just won't do, now, will it. I did have a bag with me, with extra doses for you, just in case, but I'm afraid it got lost in the woods during my… little accident."

"Accident?" Karin said, a sharp tinge of confusion in her voice.

"Prototype gone sour. It's none of your business," he replied, quickly, coldly. He returned to his flowery language immediately afterward. "At any rate, Sakura-chan! Do you suppose you could have someone retrieve that bag and that medicine for me? Shouldn't be hard to find, it's really of utmost importance. I doubt I'd be able to make more from scratch as I am."

Sakura's mouth felt dry and unready for speaking, but she had to.

And yet, she found herself unable to talk to him. But Karin… "That… medicine, it's not the stuff I saw you drinking, when you had the premature contractions…?"

"Sakura, please, don't…"

"Premature—Karin, dear!" He leaned forward, as much as he could. "You aren't being careless, are you? My, my, my, my, I knew I shouldn't have let you out of my sight, especially not with this one…"

The last two words.

Stung.

"…just what exactly do you have to do with Karin's baby, Orochimaru," Sakura said.

"Sakura, please, stop, don't…"

Karin had her hand clamped over her mouth. Tears were rolling over her fingers.

"Well I'm not its father, if that's what you're thinking," Orochimaru replied. His mouth was curled, almost in disgust. "No, no, no, though I did have quite a bit to do with its creation, that's for sure."

"Its creation…?"

"You don't honestly believe that this is a normal child… do you, Sakura-chan?"

Karin's eyes were closed very tight.

"It needs that medicine to survive. Otherwise the poor thing will abort itself, and we just can't have that, can we? Such a delicate thing."

("I've… almost miscarried. Several times.")

"And I don't think you'll want that bloody sort of mess staining your hands, Sakura-chan."

His voice was old, there, and very threatening, and his smile was hard and mask-like.

"Find that medicine, would you. I'd hate for things to end here, not after all this."

"Please, just… listen to him…" Karin said, through her hand.

"I am only asking for a little bit of cooperation," Orochimaru said. "Nothing more, nothing less. I ask again that I personally treat her, as well, but-"

"Any course of action," Sakura said, trying to keep her voice from shaking, "will be chosen by our Hokage, Naruto. In the meantime, Karin, I'll take you back to the hospital."

She pulled, gently, on Karin's arm, but Karin would not move.

"Karin, come on, let me take you back."

Karin drew in a long and shuddering breath.

Orochimaru's head bent, and he looked up at her with something that.

If it had been on any other face.

Would have been comfort.

"Go with her," he said, "I'll be fine, truly. This cell isn't much—it's far too cold for my tastes—but at least I'm not being tortured or anything, dear. And I'm sure that Sakura-chan is taking good care of you. And the little one. She'll be enough for now, until we get that medicine back."

"Okay," Karin said.

"So hold on for me, dear. You and the little one both. Everything will be all right."

Karin barely managed to hold in a sob as she nodded.

And left with Sakura shortly afterward.

They did not return to the hospital, immediately. Sakura sought out a quieter hallway so Karin could sit down. She had taken off her glasses, then, and was wiping at her eyes with every other shuddering breath.

"Karin, are you okay…?" Sakura asked.

She shook her head. "No, no, I'm…" A gasp. "I'm not, I'm not…"

"What… what's been going on, Karin…?"

"I can't tell, I can't tell you, I…" She set her glasses down on the bench and covered her eyes with her palms. "Please, please, don't hurt him, don't hurt him, okay? He doesn't mean any harm to you, I swear, he'll leave you alone…"

Sakura tried to put a hand on Karin's shoulder but she noticed that her own fingers were beginning to shake.

Pieces were beginning to come together, and they hurt her mind with their edges.

"Karin, how long has…?" she asked.

Karin just continued to cry.

And in between her tears, there were words.

"Please, just… find that medicine, I can't lose this one, not… not this one…!"

Somehow.

Two words that, out of Orochimaru's mouth, had been a knife with a stinging blade.

Became a crushing bludgeon out of Karin's mouth.

"'This one'…?" Sakura could barely hear her own words, soft and shivering and near-silent.

("It's nothing I haven't dealt with before, okay?")

(Skin wasn't supposed to look like that.)

"…Karin, what has he been doing to you…?"

("You don't honestly believe that this is a normal child… do you, Sakura-chan?")

"…what in the world are you carrying…?"

Karin wiped her eyes one last time, and reached for her glasses, and put them back on.

"I want to go back to the hospital," she said. She didn't look at Sakura.

She began to stand, holding her stomach as she did so.

"Karin-"

"I want," she said, "to go back to the hospital, okay? And I am going to wait there until that medicine is found."

"Karin-!"

"No more questions, Sakura."

She began down the hallway. Her shoes made soft, heavy sounds on the floor.

"Everything that needs to be said has been said. Making me say any more would only… hurt me further. Okay…?"

Sakura couldn't move, for a moment.

But she eventually forced her legs onward, and next to Karin.

"I understand."

She was only slightly lying.

Slowly, they returned to the hospital, and Karin returned to her room, and she did not come out of it for quite a while. Though Sakura saw, out of the corner of her eye, Suigetsu ducking into it shortly afterward, and he closed the door behind him.

Sakura resisted the urge to listen in. She had a feeling Karin would know if she was trying, anyways.

But it was in passing by Juugo and Asaoto's room that an unsettling.

Suggestion? Idea? Truth?

Came upon her, and made her footsteps halt for a moment.

Asaoto had called Karin "Mommy." Quite often, really.

Asaoto, a clone-child. Karin's cells had been in his blood.

A clone, made by Orochimaru.

Even with the disbelief, with the shock and horror that Sakura had witnessed on Karin's face during the revelation.

…had she really known, all along, where Asaoto had come from?

…was Karin really his mother…?

Karin, who was carrying a child. That was not normal. That Orochimaru had such an interest in.

That could not live without red medicine like blood.

(Suigetsu's little boy, Shingetsu, who called her Mommy too, despite her insistence.)

(That she was not his mother.)

(But he still.)

Oh, Karin.

She had to grab her thoughts with both of her hands and shove them to the back of her mind because otherwise she wouldn't have been able to do a DAMN THING at work. She had to focus. Focus.

She had a surgery to perform in the afternoon on a little girl with an intestinal disease and another surgery to observe because the interns needed their practice and, beyond that, Hyuuga Hidokei, she needed to check on his progress and.

Focus.

Crisis and Orochimaru and everything beside, there were still sick people that needed to be treated.

They were the immediate and she had to.

Focus.