Bonded Souls

Chapter 5: Karin Uzumaki

Sakura wasn't sure how to feel about Karin. There was something... off about her. Something about how she interacted with Sasuke got her hackles up, making her uncomfortable in the woman's presence. His 'little shadow'? What was up with the nicknames? They were supposed to be old friends; had Sasuke not told Karin about her at all? She would have thought they'd have kept in touch.

"This is Sakura," Sasuke introduced, resting a hand on the small of Sakura's back in an attempt to coax her forward. Karin was harmless, that much he knew; she was just quirky sometimes. "My... partner." Was that the right way to describe it? Life partners made sense, and they were work partners. Partner had to be the most accurate description.

"Partner, huh?" Karin looked at Sasuke and wiggled her eyebrows, giggling. "I see. That's what partners do nowadays, hmm?" She pulled out a glass and turned on the tap, adding a couple of ice cubes before taking a few sips. "Well, either way, you two need some way to pass the time. Who am I to judge?" Another shrug, and she'd downed her glass of water, setting it aside.

"So. I knew that you were in trouble with the message you left, but you didn't leave much room for explanation. Shit, I'm surprised you invoked the hawk clause. Never would've thought we'd have to use it... at all." It was something that they'd come up with in high school after they'd started to go their ways in life. It was a clause that meant whenever they were in trouble, big trouble, they were reaching out for help. Suigetsu and Jugo knew it too. In high school, they'd referred to themselves as hawks: people who were outcasts, away from the main popular groups, whose watchful eye knew just about everything that was happening.

"Yeah. We... had to take things carefully and be on our guard." His fingers were absently tracing up and down Sakura's spine, noticing the tension in her posture. He could tell something was up, and he wanted to reassure her. Sakura was glad for the gesture, though it did little to alleviate her concerns. She remained quiet and withdrawn, opting to listen to the conversation between Sasuke and his old friend.

Sasuke launched into explaining the events as best he could; he covered the Akatsuki investigation, though he left Sakura's trauma out of the equation. He figured Sakura best told that rather than him. He covered what they'd found out, the number of victims, and how ROOT had come for them. By the time he'd finished explaining, Karin was rubbing her temples, eyes wide as she let out a hefty sigh.

"Damn. You got yourself in a real hellhole of shit, didn't you?" Karin sighed. "Well, no wonder you came all the way out here. You're just damn lucky Oto won't extradite you to Konoha even if they ask. Granted, I don't know if you'd be safe here, but for now, you should be fine." That much was a relief. Sasuke had come here on purpose because of that. Wherever was safest for Sakura was where he wanted them to be.

Sakura couldn't listen to the conversation any longer. "I... I'm going to go take a shower, okay?" Their day yesterday had been long and arduous, and today they'd worked up a sweat she wanted to wash off sooner rather than later. Sasuke frowned at her, concern brimming in his gaze as he did, but nodded and let her go. He'd check on her later. For now, he had things he wanted to iron out with Karin, who would be able to help them, at least a little.

Once Sakura had closed the door to one of the bedrooms, she let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Something about Karin was making her tense, and she needed a moment away to clear her head and figure it out. A shower was always good for that sort of thing. She picked out some comfortable clothes and ducked into the bathroom, finding the shower and turning on the hot water. With her clothes off, she surveyed herself in the mirror, her eyes lingering on the scars left on her chest.

Closing her eyes, she could hear that sound again—the bang and then the deafness and ringing afterward. The searing pain, followed by numbness and confusion. But what stuck out to her now wasn't any of that. It was the look on his face when he'd found her, the expression he wore as he practically begged her to stay conscious. The way he talked her through everything as best he could, trying to maintain his composure. She'd seen it then in his face.