[OP: "Hieroglyphs"--The Oh Hellos]

Just as Sasuke was jumping back from that attack--and realizing that he had run onto the lake instead of grass--a bright light flashed over the field.

It was not Momo's flash grenade, as she hadn't gotten close enough to toss one yet.

Blindly, the boys turned, blinking.

Shine was standing by the lake, eyes blazing and sword out.

Shoto stared at her...then he registered the scene of the fight--the ice and scorch marks on the grass and the frozen sword and discarded shuriken.

He lowered his hands.

Sasuke froze in place while still standing on the lake.

He saw that his black fire had been smoking all this time on that one patch of ground, and he put it out at once, like a kid who yanks their hand out of the cookie jar while their mother is watching them.

Shine stared at them.

"How...how long were you there?" Shoto finally asked.

"Oh, I saw at least half of the fight," Shine said tightly. "I got a message about it and came to the edge of the village, but I didn't walk this far till just now... Do either of you care to explain yourselves?"

"He started it," Sasuke said, real mature, nodding at Shoto.

"What? No, he did," Shoto argued. "Shine, he insulted my mother."

"He threw the first attack," Sasuke insisted.

Dabi, who had come closer to hear this, started to snicker.

Shoto glanced that way and finally saw that Momo was there--and the Hyugas.

"Oh..." he said in a much more subdued voice.

Momo was just frowning at him, then she looked away.

"Did you insult his mother?" Shine asked Sasuke in the tone of a mom demanding the truth. Which worked on him surprisingly well, considering how angry he'd just been.

"I...well, I'm not sure if I did, but something like that..." Sasuke admitted sullenly. "But he started it."

"Both of you sound like 5-year olds!" Shine said sternly. "Why on earth...? And look at this field. What if the Village asks us what happened out here? What am I supposed to tell them?"

Shoto looked down. "Just...if you're going to send me home, can you just do it? I don't want to wait for the ax to fall."

Shine's eyes narrowed. "So that's what I should do, huh?"

"We did just break one of the rules," Sasuke admitted, realizing what he'd done.

He mentally started to panic...and a weird, tight feeling shot through his chest.

But Shine didn't seem that angry yet.

"Well," she said, "the thing about that rule is that it's meant to prevent people from feeling unsafe on the team. But since both of you had a pretty even fight, perhaps you don't feel unsafe yet?"

"Huh?" Shoto said.

"Anyone else feel unsafe?" She glanced at the onlookers.

"Watching them? No," Hanabi said. 

"I...was more afraid for them than me," Hinata said.

"Eh, I thought it was fun," Dabi said.

Momo said nothing at all, but she looked away again.

"I suppose I'll have to ask Wally and Gaara what they think, but I'm not sure I need to kick you out for this." Shine turned back to the boys. "That's letting you off way too easy, actually."

"Easy?" Shoto said.

"Yes, getting away from each other is what you want. It's the bigger punishment to make you stay in the same place," Shine said, with a tone that was so close to being spiteful that it surprised them. "I'll figure out how to punish you later, but right now, Shoto, you're bleeding. I don't know how clean this place is, so you'd better go take care of that. Sasuke, are you hurt?"

Sasuke had taken a few hits, though they were small ones he'd have shrugged off.

"No," he lied.

Shine frowned like she didn't believe him. She had seen him get hit at least once.

Shoto wasn't sure what to say to Shine, so he walked away from her, to the Village, slowly, with one last parting glare at Sasuke.

Shine shook her head. "Ah, well, maybe I should have stepped in sooner."

"Wait...how long were you watching without stopping us?" Sasuke got suspicious.

"Long enough," Shine said. "I wondered if you would stop on your own, or if you would realize that you were being watched. A part of me wanted to run in here right away and stop you...but then I thought maybe this would be better if it was just finally over with. I hope you're sorry now... Did you think you were winning that fight?"

"If I had used Susanoo," Sasuke said, "or Amaterasu, but more..."

"Thank the Lord you're not insane enough anymore to do that," Shine muttered, but he heard her.

"It's just that I didn't have to lose!" Sasuke snapped at her. "Or even let him hold his own for that long. Don't start off by saying he could have killed me."

"He could have, if he wanted to, perhaps," Shine said. "If he knew how to use his advantages more than he does. But still, he was having a bit of temper, not really out for blood...I hope, anyway. I've never seen Shoto really try to kill someone. I don't think he wants to start with you."

Sasuke, as the adrenaline was going away, was starting to feel worse. Maybe he had been hit harder than he thought.

"We're still going to have to talk about it," Shine said. "Though, frankly, I'm so sick of you fighting I'd rather not talk about it at all, but it's more important to figure out some kind of solution...if there is one."

Sasuke suddenly felt dizzy... He'd sometimes felt this using his Sharingan...but not in a long while.

His chest was starting to hurt a lot more now.

Shine noticed that he looked a little wan. "Sasuke? Maybe you should sit down--"

Before Sasuke could take her up on it--or, more likely, tell her no-- he suddenly fell forward, nearly knocking her into the lake.

Shine managed to avoid him just in time, though she got her shoes wet.

"Oh my gosh," she said. "Hey, Touya!"

Dabi came hurrying over, and the Hyugas were right behind him.

"Hello." Sai flew up suddenly with Naruto in tow. "I see you beat us back here. Not surprising...oh..."

"Hey, what happened?" Naruto got off the bird. "Did Shoto hurt him that badly?"

"I'm not sure if it was Shoto or something else." Shine propped Sasuke's face up. "Sasuke, are you still awake?"

Sasuke looked kind of glassy-eyed, but he appeared to still be conscious.

"What? A little fight like that is enough to knock him out?" Dabi scoffed. "Even I can last longer than that--" He coughed suddenly.

"Touya?" Shine said.

"Eh, it's the rain," Dabi sniffed. "Plus Snowflake dropped the temperature out here, like, 20 degrees with all that ice."

"It is chilly." Hinata rubbed her arms.

"Well, since you have a weak constitution, you need to get inside and get dry," Shine told him. "We'll put Sasuke on that bird. I don't want to risk a portal right now, not after that black fire."

"Should I get Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. Actually I can send you right to her," Shine said. "I just hope no one in Rain is watching her right now."

* * *

"I thought Stone Village was under equipped." Sakura had been disgusted by Rain's medical accommodations. "But this place is in the last decade, or worse."

"Well, how do you expect them to update their stuff, fahm?" Camie asked. "No one comes in here."

"I might need cases of stuff." Sakura made a note on her notepad she had for some reason.

Tenten clucked her tongue. "Even I can tell it's in bad shape. I mean, look at these tools." She picked one up.

"Don't touch that. You could get tetanus," Bakugo said.

"I think they have shots for that," Camie said.

"Shots?" Tenten said.

"You guys have shots, right?" Bakugo said.

"Sure," Sakura said. "But I don't know what Tetanus is."

"I bet they call it something else here," Camie mused. "It's what you get from needles?"

"That's hepatitis," Bakugo said. "Tetanus is from rusty metal."

"Oh, yeah I have a shot for that," Tenten. "Duh, what weapon expert wouldn't have that shot? Not that any of my weapons are rusty." With a huff.

"If I could send Tsunade this report. She'd order a huge shipment from Leaf Village," Sakura sighed. "But...I don't know what to do with this. Unless Yaoyurozu can make us about 2,000 pounds of supplies."

"That's a ton of supplies," Bakugo said.

"Yeah, wow," Camie said.

"No, it's literally a ton," Bakugo said.

"Oh," Camie said.

"And it would take Pony Tail about a year to make that," Bakugo added.

"nah, it would take her, like, a month, tops, with lots of food," Camie said.

Sakura frowned at them. "My point is that it's impossible."

"More like improbable," Tenten said. "Sounds like it's not impossible."

"Can't all of you just accept that it's not gonna happen!?" Sakura snapped. "Honestly, why are you so annoying--!?" Before she could get any further, Naruto popped out of a shining doorway.

"What the heck?" Camie said. "What went wrong, bro?"

"What was that?" Mirai looked over from the hallway.

"Uh... it's just one of our powers," Camie called.

"Oh..." Mirai didn't seem to need to know more than that.

"Sakura, you gotta come quick," Naruto didn't waste any time on saying hello, he took Sakura by her arm.

"Let go of me," Sakura said. "And why do I need to come? Unless someone is dying, I'm kind of busy."

"Sasuke's hurt," Naruto said.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "He is?"

"Oh did Icy Hot finally kick his a--?" Bakugo said, which was a joke.

But Naruto just looked at him like he'd read his mind.

"Crap! is that it?" Camie said. "Wow...Shoto is in such big trouble."

"What did he do to him?" Sakura now grabbed Naruto instead.

"I dunno, he was okay for a minute and then he just fell over," Naruto said. "Shine said they'd take him back to our lodgings and to meet her there. Also, Todoroki got hurt but it wasn't serious."

"Yikes," Camie said. "I cannot believe this."

Sakura pursed her lips in a thin line. "Let's go."

"But," Tenten said. "We're not done here, and there are other medics, you know."

"Did Shine call any of them?" Sakura said.

"No," Naruto said. "I think just you."

"Then it must be serious," Sakura said. "I don't think she'd call me unless she had to."

"Hmm, surprisingly perceptive of you," Bakugi said.

"Bae, hush," Camie said.

"We're not that far from our building right now," Tenten pointed out. "I'll explain to Mirai-sama."

That was sporting of her--but Tenten also just didn't want to be in medical drama.

The others all took off.

***

It wasn't long before word of the incident spread to all the other team groups and they all reconvened back at the lodgings.

"Of course, we're here for 1. 5 days and we couldn't go without an incident," Shikamaru complained. "But that it was internal is disturbing."

"I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner," Temari said. "They've been hating each other this entire mission."

Shoto had his cut bandaged and was otherwise unharmed.

Camie and Bakugo had been shocked that Sasuke had laid a blade on him at all.

"But Shoto nearly broke Sasuke's ribs," Dabi told them. "So it's all even. At least that's what Sakura said."

Sakura had been livid..but too scared of Shoot to scold him directly so she'd just vented to them that his ice hit a lot harder than he thought it did.

But since Shoto had previously broken Stain's ribs with his ice, he really should have known that already.

"Sasuke is not badly hurt," Momo told them, looking wan. "Just bruised. He caught himself with his chakra of course, or it would have been worse. I can't believe he cut Shoto."

"Yeah, that takes some nerve," Bakugo said.

Momo gave him a withering look.

"I mean, we could beat him up..." Bakugo wasn't sure what she wanted, but she was freaking him out.

"I can't believe we missed it," Camie didn't notice the look. "Dang it, I'm always out of the loop for all the exciting stuff."

Ino winced. "Camie, I'm not sure Momo feels like it's exciting."

Momo put her head in her hands.

"So if Sasuke's fine, where is he now?" Bakugo asked.

"Lying down of course," Momo said. "I'm not sure why he nearly fainted, or maybe he did faint for a second. The fight wasn't long enough to tap out his chakra. At least Sakura said so."

"But he used his sharingan," Hanabi said.

"But he could do that for much longer," Momo said.

"I know, but he hasn't used it for a long time, right?" Hanabi said. "Even if it was just the fire, his eyes were bleeding. That can't be good for you." [Yeah duh, show.]

"Hhm, she could be right," Dabi said. "After trying to control himself for so long, you think suddenly just pulling one of his most damaging attacks was a good idea?"

"It's been a month since he stopped using it, not years," Karin insisted. "That's not enough time to lose all his stamina for it."

"But a month of being exposed to us," Bakugo said. "With our conflicting powers...maybe that's part of it."

"You're not contagious," Karin said. "Are you?"

They shrugged.

"I wish I'd been there," Suigetsu said. "I would have paid money to see that fight."

"I just can't believe I walked away for 2 minutes and they fought," Wally said to Shine, up on the floor they were using as the sleeping apartment. 

"Kids, am I right?" Shine rolled her eyes.

Sakura walked over to them, knitting her brow.

"Miss Likstar," she said. "Something's weird with Sasuke."

"Oh so you noticed, finally," Wally said.

Shine nudged him. "Other than his bruised ribs?"

"Yes," Sakura said. "At iI tho tiwa shut that, but now he's... kind of hot. I mean literally hot."

"She caught it before I could say it," Wally said. 

"He did get drenched," Shine said. "And pelted with hail...but he's not the type to catch a cold, is he?"

"Never in my memory but it's not like I know his entire medical history," Sakura pointed out. "Karin probably knows more of it than I do."

"I'll get her," Wally offered.

Shine walked with Sakura, who informed her Sasuke was  not happy about being consigned to his...spot, since he didn't really have a bed.

"Stop with all this stupid fussing about it," he complained, sounding annoyed. "I'm fine."

"Shut up," Sakura glared at him. "See?" She told Shine.

Shine looked at him more closely. "Yeah, he does look a little feverish." She put a hand on his forehead. Making Sasuke stiffen.

"I'm not gonna bite you," she said testily. "And you are burning up...hmm, he wasn't before was he?"

"No, I think he was a little warm when I got here, but it feels worse now," Sakura insisted. "Of course, I don't have proper medical equipment!" She looked annoyed. "I think I have a thermometer in my pack, though."

"If you don't, Momo can give you one," Shine said.

"This is so unnecessary," Sasuke cut in again. "What would I have a fever anyway? It was just a little skirmish. I've fought Naruto worse than that."

"And the last time you fought you lost an arm," Shine said.

"And told me not to bother healing it," Sakura added. "Because you're a moron."

She stalked away.

Shine laughed. "I like her better this way, is that wrong?"

Sasuke sniffed as if to show he didn't care.

Shine shook her head. "I suppose you have to be dramatic even about getting a little injured in a fight."

Sasuke glared at her.

"Sorry, not funny," Shine folded her arms in a resigned way. "You could pick your fights a little more carefully next time."

"If this is going to be a lecture, just get it over with," flatly.

"Boy, do you two sound the same," Shine sat down on the floor for lack of a chair. "I think I should just not punish you at all. Clearly you want attention more than anything else, and if I don't give it to you, you'll be more upset. If you weren't so much alike you'd get along better."

"Don't compare me with that idiot," Sasuke said. "He started it anyway. He started all of this. What did I ever do to him? I mean...other than what I had to."

"I love that you just caught yourself on that last part," Shine said. "We've been over this before. did you listen to what I told you?"

I didn't go looking to fight," Sasuke said. "I really think I've been nothing if not willing to overlook."

Shine stared at him. "The funny thing is I think you believe that," she said. "And I can somewhat see why. I guess to you, not killing him was overlooking it. Ah, Sasuke, you know very little about compromise or conflict resolution, do you?"

Silence.

"I guess it comes of being the younger child of a much older brother," Shine hugged her knees. "Never having friends either...you don't learn the same skills. But when you're not powerful enough to get your way with force, what will you do?"

"If I wanted to, I could have. But it wasn't worth it."

"I know," Shine shrugged. "I agree. It wasn't...but if you were going to try to play to cool, perhaps you should have done it before you gave in and still fought him. Now it looks like you're just making excuses."

Sasuke s head was starting to ache, and he shivered.

Shine realized now was not the time. "You know what, let's talk about this later. I'm a little worried about this room being so drafty...Dabi was coughing too, I might have known you'd get sick as soon as we arrived here. We're supposed to be working..."

"I'll be fine" Sasuke still wasn't willing to admit he wasn't feeling well. "Don't change your plans."

"Oh very generous of you. But I think I'll be the judge of that, thanks. Just stay put if you can do anything sensible, Sakura will be back..and be nice to her, since you're clearly a terrible patient."

Sakura came back right then with Karin.

"I was just telling her that you don't get colds," Karin explained. "But then, the drugs Orochimaru used prevented getting sick like that, they gave them other problems, but they boosted their immune to viruses and stuff."

"You know you can do that in harmful ways," Shine said. "Sometimes viruses will not take hold because the body is not a good place for them to live."

"That's what I was saying," Karin said, a bit irritated.

"Sorry," Shine shrugged.

"This is so stupid," Sasuke began to say. "You're making a big deal out of--"

"Shut up," Sakura cut him off again. "Now I have a thermometer. So stop talking."

Sasuke submitted to this surprisingly easily, maybe he felt too sick to put up a fight.

"His chakra is disturbed," Karin adjusted her glasses. "I thought it was just the adrenaline of the fight but it should have been gone by now."

"Hmm," Shine said. "There is the other issue of him using his Sharingan to make Amreitsu. Something he told me he would not do."

Sasuke had forgotten all about that but now he remembered with a jolt.

"So who cares now?" Sakura looked up at Shine. "You didn't stop him at the time."

"It was still burning when I got there," Shine said. "But not on anyone, so I was a little confused about why it was there. Was it on purpose?" to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded sullenly.

"So is he kicking out?" Karin said.

"Technically Sasuke didn't promise to not use that as part of his inclusion in the team," Shine said. "Just as a predicate for being allowed to take an active role in fights. So based on that, I can't expel him for it. He's just restricted from battle if we have another one. At least until I can be sure he won't do it again."

"The only way to be sure of that," Karin said. "Would be to pluck out his eyeballs."

Sakura gave her quite the look.

"That is disgusting Karin," Shine said, though more like she was bantering than scolding.

"It's true," Karin said, wrinkling her nose. "Anyway, asking the Uchiha not to use the sharingan is like asking them not to breathe."

"If that were true, he'd be dead," Shine said. "Sakura, what should we do"

"For now? I don't know, I'd have to see if I can get any medication," Sakura mused. "I did bring some, but, I used a lot of it in Stone Village. I knew I shouldn't have used my personal supply--but I was going to restock there, until we got kicked out so fast I couldn't."

"I hope you're not blaming us for that," Shine said.

"Who else is there to blame," Sakura said. "But it was more of a statement of fact. Really, Likstar-san, is it the time for petty disagreements?"

It must have taken all of Shine's self control not to laugh in her face.

Karin al,ost did laugh, but was a little too scared to.

Shine, with great restraint, just smiled thinly. "You're right. What was I thinking? Let me know if I can help. I don't want anyone getting sick. I suppose you know medicine here the best of any of us."

"Did I just hear that I actually know something better than you?" Sakura said.

"Sakura, really, it's not the time for petty disagreements," Shine didn't miss a beat.

Karin did laugh then, she couldn't help it. But she tried to turn it into a cough.

Sakura glared at her.

Sasuke would have found this bickering more interesting if he wasn't getting such a headache.

"I suppose I had better go," Shine reiterated. "Best of luck. And Karin, if there's any chakra updates, let me know."

"Sure..." Karin said.

Shine walked to the stairs.

"What should we do?" Karin asked Sakura.

"There's really nothing I can do," Sakura rubbed her forehead. "So far it's just a fever and some bruises, but if it turns into something like an infection, I need medicine for sure...and this blasted village doesn't have anything like that, I bet...hmm...well I should ask Mirai. Maybe they have a special stash for higher ranking people or something. Can you make medicine?"

"I really should study more than the basic first aid and testing side of things," Karin gestured. "Kabuto had me assist him, but I didn't learn the formulas. I suppose he didn't want me to know how to make that stuff. I could have made good money from selling it, I bet."

Sakura made a face. "Ugh...those drugs might as well be poison anyway."

"But something else is coming to mind," Karin lowered her voice. "Saus about Sasuke chakra is starting to remind me of Jugo's again. Only it should. Supposedly, he was purged of all that after Itachi and him fought again."

"And he killed Itachi," Sakura lowered her voice also-- unaware that Sasuke still could hear them though he was trying not to listen.

"Actually, Itachi killed Itachi," Karin said. "He just exhausted himself and I guess he was dying already. I wasn't there, but I heard later. Didn't they tell you that?"

"I forgot," Sakura said sourly. "but why did everyone say it was Sasuke then?"

"I think Obito spread those rumors so that people would be more afraid of Sasuke," Karin said. "But truthfully, Sasuke only ever killed the samurai, that I actually witnessed, and Orochimaru himself. Unless maybe a few more of his failed experiments got in the way. Jugo's killed more people."

Sakura rubbed her face. "And somehow Jugo is the more innocent one? What is wrong with this team."

"I believe their reasoning is that Jugo didn't have full self control while doing it," Karin offered.

"I know!" Sakura snapped. "Can't I just--? Nevermind. You know, Tsunade tried to teach me stuff about countering Orochimaru's things, but no one knew that much about them. Did the curse mark have any components I don't know about?"

"Depends on what you know. All I can tell you is that it's extremely erratic and unpredictable at times. It increases aggressiveness in the people who have it, but it can depend on their temperament. For Jugo, it made him have two personalities... For Sasuke it was more like a kind of destructive high that comes and goes."

"Yes, I saw that for myself," Sakura said distastefully. "But at first, he didn't like it."

"I never knew that," Karin said. "He seemed fine with it when I knew him. He didn't use it that often though. Just to train. After a while he got so that he rarely needed to assume the full form to get enough of a power boost from it. That's why he's supposed to be a genius."

Sakura was not impressed. "And?" she prompted.

"And...I don't know much more than that. I know that for most people who got the curse mark, they did lose their sanity eventually," Karin said. "At least...their grip. Get more violent. More bloodthirsty. Kimimaru was one who didn't really get like that, but he did get sick and die."

"I heard that," Sakura said. "That was the curse mark?"

"I never knew if there was a connection. I wasn't around for much of that," Karin said. "Suigetsu probably would know more. He was in the same facility as Jugo and Kimimaru for a long time."

"I thought you all were in the same place," Sakura said.

"Only once or twice." Karin frowned. "Enough for him to make a lasting impression as a pain in the neck."

Sakura wasn't one to defend any guy other than Sasuke, but even she had to say, "I don't know that he's to blame for that if you were experimenting on him."

Karin looked like she'd been slapped even though it wasn't that forceful of a statement.

"Nevermind." Sakura didn't want to talk about it. "None of this is helping me. I need to know if the curse mark changes biologically or if it backs up the immune system. Otherwise what does it have to do with it?"

"I'm just saying that he shouldn't have any of it left, but it feels something like that," Karin said. "That...wild but dark feeling. It's twisted nature chakra, you know...irregular."

Sakura didn't understand. "So...?"

"Well, it never made Jugo sickly," Karin said. "And Sasuke was supposed to be really compatible with his DNA... Some people did die after getting it, though, so it must have some effect on the nervous system. And keeping it for a long time is fatal. They had to do a special procedure to make sure it wasn't--"

"I know about that too." Sakura had heard about it from the retrieval squad. "Honestly, how could anyone be so stupid?"

Karin raised an eyebrow. "I thought you had a thing for Sasuke. You seem a little irritated at him."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Sakura said.

"Uh...which part?" Karin said.

"Either! And what business is it of yours anyway?" Sakura said. "And I can be angry at him if I want--I've had to be on the same team as him."

"Well, so have I--" Karin began.

"Well, it's different for you," Sakura interrupted her. "You never cared about what was actually best for Sasuke, you just followed him around."

Karin frowned at her. "I thought that was what they said about you."

Sakura might have been projecting onto Karin--not that she might not have been right anyway.

"The point is," she said stiffly,  "if it's got something to do with it, I need to know."

"I can't prove it," Karin said. "He was using the Sharingan, not the cursed jutsu anyway--unless they might be intertwined now, after so long. But he doesn't have the mark anymore."

They both glanced at Sasuke as if to check to make sure it had not reappeared.

It hadn't, but he caught them looking and scowled.

Funny, at this moment neither of them seemed to care about his glowering.

"Well...can we be sure it's gone?" Sakura asked. "Even if it's not visible? Jugo didn't have the marks, after all."

"He did when he went nuts," Karin said. "But not the symbol for it. That was just from getting bit...but this is not my forte. I can sense it, but that doesn't mean I understand how it works. Likstar is better at that."

"Sure," Sakura grumbled. "Shine is good at everything, right? She's so smart."

"Are you jealous of her?" Karin said. "Isn't she a little old for that?"

"It's not like that," Sakura said, offended. "I know she's not that way about Sasuke. That would be gross. I'm not stupid."

"Then why be jealous?" Karin asked.

"Because whatever kind of twisted affection she has for him, he likes it better than his own friends," Sakura said. "Though--" With a scathing look at Karin. "--I guess that's nothing new."

Karin got a little mad at her. "Hey, what's wrong with us? At least we were loyal."

"So were we."

"Yes, but you never understood his pain. Team Taka, we understood that--the desire for revenge."

"And who did you want revenge on?" Sakura sniffed.

"There was no one left for me to take revenge on," Karin replied, darkly almost. "They all died. I never had much of a chance of that. Sasuke wanted help with his quest."

"I offered to help him," Sakura said. "He shot it down. I guess he never believed I would be of any help."

Karin shook her head. "Well, it's not our fault...or Likstar-san's. Stop blaming us for it. It was his choice."

Sakura didn't want to hear that from her.

"Just so you know," Sasuke said, "I can still hear you arguing."

"Shut up!" Sakura snapped at him.

 Then she rubbed her shoulder. "I'm going to go look for supplies. Don't do anything while I'm gone."

She left.

Karin huffed. "I could have got the supplies if she felt the way about it."

"Stop talking," Sasuke griped....

"Sakura must still like you--" Karin ignored his words. "--deep down, even if she's acting angry right now. Hey, why are you so mean to her, Sasuke?"

Sasuke just gave Karin a cold glance.

If he'd run Karin through just on a whim, what did she expect?

"Why are you okay with me almost killing you?" he asked.

"What does that have to do with it?" Karin asked.

"Because I couldn't believe you'd ask me such a stupid question," Sasuke said.

"Stupid?" Karin said. "Maybe it's just reasonable. You know, I never knew you had loyal friends till after that incident. Why did you leave them?"

"You wouldn't understand." Sasuke wished she'd go away or shut up--preferably both.

"I guess I wouldn't," Karin said. "Sakura helped me even though she didn't even know me, and Naruto is my family. They can't be so awful that you never saw any good in them at all...can they?"

"Karin--" Sasuke finally sat up. "--you never did anything but help me, and I almost killed you. What part of my actions seem like the type of person who cares if people are nice to me or not? Why do you all expect that anyway? That's not how I think."

Karin just stared at him.

Since she wasn't getting upset fast enough, Sasuke added meanly, "And I never cared about you at all. Any of you. And it's ridiculous to make such a big thing out of my saving you one time. It was just a fluke. I didn't really care then. It was no extra trouble, that was all."

Karin glared a little now. "Well, maybe not to you," she said. "But it was the only time anyone ever did anything for me and not expect something in return. I see, you think I'm foolish--well, maybe I was. And maybe I am crazy like everyone says. But you know what? At least I spent all those years obsessing over something that was actually a good thing, and because of someone doing something nice for me. So it was only one time--but all you think about is how people hurt you and how you can get back at them for it. I might be an idiot, Sasuke, but which of us is the most miserable?"

Karin never ever fired back at him, and Sasuke half thought he must be hallucinating it and the damage had gone to his brain after all.

But he reflected that even in his dreams he'd never imagine Karin having anything negative to say to him, so it must be real.

"I'm almost starting to pity you," Karin further shocked him by saying. "I used to think that you were cool and confident and courageous, even--but you're starting to seem like a coward now. Or like something worse than a coward. At least if I had people as interested in me as they are in you, I wouldn't turn my back on it."

"Oh really?" Sakura got more angry at her. "Just remember that you wanted Suigetsu and Jugo nowhere near you, and how many times did they save your life? We're not that different."

Karin balled her fists. "I didn't at first, but after a while I got used to them," she said. "Not that Suigetsu is not insufferable, but I didn't try to kill him! We're not the same!..." She suddenly smiled in a strange way. "I think that's the only time I've been able to say I did anything better than you. It's a weird feeling...not sure I like it actually. It doesn't seem right. But I feel a little sorry for Sakura, really."

"Everyone always does." Sasuke didn't seem broken up about it. "But it's her choice... It was all of your choice."

Karin was not the most clever of people, but even someone like her could have visitations of clarity.

"Well, just because it's their choice to act like they care," she said, "doesn't mean it's still not something to be grateful for."

Sasuke had absolutely no response for that, and he couldn't believe she'd said it.

Karin was both proud of herself and kind of scared at her own nerve. So she went real quiet after that.

https://youtu.be/1JClZrKrPKg

[AMV by Erin Derwin for Sasuke to "Demons: by Imagine Dragons. It fit scarily well for this section.]