Traveling by tree helped to minimize time on the road and conversation. Both of which were of unspeakable value to the young man; what awkwardness there was traveling with Sakura had spiked wickedly. Not to mention, with just Sakura, it was completely different. It was awkward, but it was safe. There was nothing but love there, and they both knew it, nothing but genuine affection between the companions.

With Karin, there was a sharp air of distaste, annoyance and jealousy. Even directed at each other, not him, it made his brain itch with anxiety. It didn't help that Karin asked after the first night to share his sleeping bag, alleging something was wrong with hers. Sasuke just rolled his eyes.

Sakura told her to fuck off, that she was embarrassing herself, and that she wasn't needed or wanted in their little mission. He understood her irritation, her anger, but he couldn't bring himself to agree with her. Karin had looked at him with the saddest gaze and asked bluntly if he felt the same way.

He'd already hurt her so much in his life.

Fortunately, the trip didn't take two after that conversation, not at the grueling pace they were keeping, and everyone was too exhausted to do much more than sleep on the second night.

The sight of Mugol made all sag in relief.

Though what joy there was in them fell away quickly when they actually entered the city proper. It was damn hard to smile walking through streets full of destitute, half-starved people. They drew stares almost immediately, and perhaps that's why they didn't wait at all when they reached the headman's manor.

The man was older but not decrepit, with hair on his head, albeit gray.

"Well, this is a wonderful surprise," he offered, eyes narrow and strained in a way that made the lie painfully obvious. "Mr. Uchiha, you've brought your… friends? I-I do hope, and I'm sorry to be so blunt, I do hope they can provide their own food…"

"Oh, don't you know Mr. Uchiha is rich as all hell? He could feed this whole damn city for at least a few months," Karin rebutted bluntly, smiling cheerily as she squeezed his arm and leaned in affectionately to him. Sasuke went stiff.

"Well, finding a seller is as much a hinderance as finances, I'm afraid. I don't know how much help a stack of paper bills would be to us, if I may be frank," he pressed.

"You don't have to worry about feeding me, you got game out here, right? Mountain goats live in this region as I recall, it'll be trivial for an experienced ninja like me to hunt them," she claimed, sounding almost insulted.

"Oh! Another ninja, forgive me, I thought you were his spouse or…. something of that nature," he explained. "Yes, hunting should be more than sufficient, so long as you can do your… fast, jump thing. The immediate area around the village is being overhunted as it is. I would ask you to travel a few miles,"

Karin scoffed at that.

Sasuke answered for her.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem. Karin, you will do as he says, yes?"

"Okay Sasuke, for you," she agreed with a bright smile and a batting of her eyelashes.

"I wouldn't trust her to, not if I were in your position!" Sakura interjected, surprising him with the venom in her voice. She surprised him even more with the next remark. "She worked for that devil Orichimaru for a long time; she only left his service after he was killed!"

The words twisted a knife in his own chest. They served as a stark reminder of his own past and his own evils. Hell, Karin might have done experiments and worse on behalf of that madman, but for the most part, that was all she had done. He had killed for Orichimaru. He'd used his considerable power to help the bastard further his, taking on more missions than he could count on his behalf.

"That's um…" the headman looked deeply uncomfortable, more then a little frightened too.

"It's true; I can't deny it," Karin said with a sigh and a sad look to the floor. "It's actually where the two of us met! I grew close to Sasuke in that crazy cookes service, and after he killed him, I gleefully left to join the Uchiha clan," the explanation seemed to put the man at ease the slightest bit. "You'll vouch for me, right Sasuke?"

His lips pursed, but he answered honestly.

"I trust her to do as I say; both of these two are incredible healers as well as ninja, I had assumed you would be happy to have them here,"

"Oh we are, we are!" the headman exclaimed. What doubt there was seemed to vanish in an instant. "Could- if I may be so bold, can I borrow one of you right now? We still have some injured from the rockslide in the mine that… well that are getting worse, not better. I'd prefer these people be seen immediately.

Karin was the first to answer.

"I'm afraid I'm utterly exhausted by the trip here, I couldn't possibly help anyone until tomorrow at the earliest,"

"Karin," he deadpanned, more than a little annoyed by her selfishness. Why was she refusing? Sure, she was tired, but she'd gone far longer and done far more without any rest; it would barely even bother her surely.

"I'm happy to help!" Sakura interjected firmly. "Show me to the injured, and I'll get right to work," she declared, immediately leaving with a summoned servant. The moment she was gone, Karin spoke again. Also, again, she coiled carelessly around his arm as she asked the question.

"So, where are we staying?" she asked with a hearty grin.

The house they were brought to was small but comfortable. At least large enough for all three to have their own room for sleep, so long as the dining room was used at night for such a purpose. None were large, but the kitchen had enough space to work comfortably, and Karin wasted no time using it.

A rabbit retrieved from her pack, a few cheap filler plants that she'd managed to buy on their way over, and the small spice set that had come with the house all combined to make a wonderful meal. Far better than they'd been eating on the road. Better than the simple stew and rice he would have cooked for himself to keep Sakura away from the kitchen, that was certain.

The meat was pungent, and what juices soaked out of it flavored the rest of the meal wonderfully.

"Thank you, Karin; this was delicious," he told her honestly. Karin practically purred along with her smile. Even leaned in with her words in that way she did, that way that was definitely deliberately pushing up her chest. She'd been doing that even more than usual since they reunited. Almost certainly because it bothered a certain flat-chested friend of his.

"Oh, it's my pleasure Sasuke," she assured. "I don't mind cooking. Why, I could see myself cooking you a delicious meal every day for the rest of my life~" her hand crawled across the short table on the floor at that, trailing up his arm until he sighed and stood up. Even then, she kept her smile. "You never used to thank me for these things; are you getting soft?"

"I'm trying to be a better person," he admitted, despite the teasing nature of her words.

"Ah, that's cute. Are you going to apologize for almost killing me then?"

"I am sorry about that, about everything I did to you, about the way I treated you, and especially for almost throwing your life away like I did," he replied.

"Well, I'll be damned," she said with a chuckle, even shaking her head. "You are going soft!" despite her words, there was something in her eyes, something in those bright red orbs that showed genuine emotion. Genuine happiness, maybe more than he'd ever seen on her.

He just rolled his eyes.

"You are going to be doing humanitarian work while you're here too, right? I'd say that's a condition of living here with us,"

"Sure, sure!" she agreed with a wave of her hand. "I'm sure I can hand out free education and medical training if they ever run out of sick people. What are you going to do here though?"

"Probably work on unburying their mine with shadow clones if they don't ask for anything more pressing. It's what the headman suggested in our letters,"

"Sasuke Uchiha, the mightiest miner in all the lands~" she said grandiosely, ending with a laugh and shaking her head in disbelief.

"It's not as though there's a lot of missions right now that I'm suited for, with the war over," he justified.

"Still seems a bit of a waste though, doesn't it? For a man so talented, skilled and utterly spectacular~"

Washing off the plates at least gave him an excuse not to look at her through all the undeserved praise. Scrubbing them off with mechanical motions made for some distraction. That was almost certainly the only reason he replied.

"What the hell do you want with me, Karin? Why did you come? I've done so much to you, to everyone. What is there to admire about me, really?" he asked bluntly, even shaking his head slightly.

It was a surprise to hear her laugh before answering.

"Let's see, you carry a sexy air of darkness and mystery. You spent damn near your entire life dedicated to a worthy revenge quest; that's pretty cool. You don't care what others think of you, you're generally fearless, straightforward, strong, inuriatingly handsome not to mention rich. Should I go on?"

"I still feel like you could find someone better, someone who doesn't have so much negative to him as well,"

"Oh you do? You think so? Well, what's so great about me then?" she asked snidely, rising to her feet and crossing her arms. "It's only fair you tell me after I poured my heart out," she insisted, annoying him even as she made a good point.

"You're smart, strong, and beautiful; I think that's more than enough to attract a good man, if you looked,"

"Did I hear beautiful?" she asked, smiling even as he averted her eyes again. The tension only grew as she strolled across the small room, standing directly before him. "Well, if I'm so beautiful, why don't you ever let me crawl into bed with you?"

"Well… when we were on the road together before, I thought it was a distraction I didn't need,"

"And now?" she pressed.

"Now, I don't think Sakura would appreciate it," he replied, summoning all his resolve to sound stern.

"Oh? You think she would think less of you if you dared enjoy sex with a beautiful woman who wasn't her? It's about not lowering her opinion of you?"

"It's about not wanting to hurt her," he rebutted.

"Are you sure it's not about ruining your chances with her? It's not about you loving her more than me, wanting her more than me?"

"Karin, she wasn't even supposed to come with me, you weren't supposed to come with me; I didn't plan for any of this!" he defended, finally showing a crack in his composure. "I don't- I'm not supposed to be worried about this stuff right now,"

"I'm not asking you to worry about anything, Sasuke," she pressed gently, leaning in yet closer, almost grazing his chest with her curvaceous one. "I'm not asking you to marry me or promise the rest of your life or anything! We could just… have fun, enjoy each other when there's time. You can just keep focusing on this silly 'redemption' mission if you want~" her hands crawled up his arms with the words.

Her face was drawing closer, and his resolve to push away was shrinking.

He would have kissed her, maybe even fucked her, if the door hadn't opened at that exact moment.

"WELL, all the critically injured are stable; no thanks to you," Sakura grumbled.

"How lovely, we saved you a plate," Karin replied, craning and turning to unsuspiciously stand beside Sasuke as their third joined them. She seemed to take no small satisfaction in the way Sakura paused, staring hungrily at the meal waiting for her. It was certainly amusing that she said not another word before taking a seat and her first bite.

Sasuke took the opportunity to escape.

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