★
Prologue: And so it ends ★
Chapter 1: And So It Begins
Chapter 2: (Day 1) Learning how to cope
- Were she a Different Karin, or Were this to Different situation, she's sure she Would Have Laughed Until her sides hurt at Naruto's reaction when to His eyes land on the young boy who look and felt like Sasuke, Who Was standing by her side and Giving the blonde Hokage a halfhearted glare, Probably willing him to stop and close His mouth gaping like a fish, babbling nonsense.
“What the fuck!” Are the Hokage’s wise and eloquent words as he stands on his knees and stares at them over the surface of the table. “W-Where did that—that—
thing come from?!”
Before the kid by her side could complain about Naruto’s choice of wording, Karin speaks, with a completely even tone that didn’t showcase not even half of the confusion she had felt just mere minutes ago. “That’s what I would like to know, too.”
This time, the kid does speak up, alternating the target of his glare between Karin and Naruto. “I told you already! I live here! I’m an Uchiha!” Karin’s eyes never leave Naruto’s own, and as soon as the blonde stops giving the boy a shocked look and blue meets red, Karin arches an eyebrow and speaks without words. Naruto holds her eyes with his for a long moment, but then the man sighs, running a hand down his face. When he stands on his feet again and fixes his hat, he looks older than he did just moments ago. “Moegi” He calls out, and the girl, who had been staring at the scene with her mouth hanging open, finally comes back to earth, turning towards Naruto ever so slowly, as if she were a robot.
“Y—Yes, Hokage-sama?”
Naruto sits back on his chair, breathing in deeply and then joining both hands together on his lap, staring directly at the child with impassible blue eyes. “Call for an emergency meeting. You know who to summon here” “A—As you wish, Hokage-sama!” Exclaimed the girl, and in her hurry, she almost slipped down on the papers that had fallen from her arms on the moment that Karin had entered the room, a death man walking out from behind her legs, younger than he had been in years.
-
Between the time that it took them to reach the Hokage’s office and the time that it took Moegi to gather everyone, Karin got more than enough time to think things through, and by the time when each of the summoned shinobi has given their own display of shock as they notice the small kid present in the room, Karin has reached a clear conclusion. She wants nothing to do with that kid.
Nothing
. She has had enough of Sasuke to last for a lifetime, and the fact that he died and she got left behind,
again
, had been it for her as far as she was concerned. She had pretty damn clear to which Sasuke she bestowed loyalty, which Sasuke she had loved with all her frozen and broken heart—and that Sasuke had kissed her and died by her side.
And just like each story had a beginning, each story also had an end; and that had been theirs. This kid—
whatever
he was, was certainly
not
that Sasuke.
So as far as Karin was concerned, he was a stranger—regardless of how familiar his chakra might feel. And Karin didn’t have room for strangers in her life.
Not anymore.
-
“…Can’t this be a jutsu?” Neji murmurs after a long period of silence, and his tone is more than enough to reveal that more than suggesting something logical, what the Hyuuga was trying to do was convince himself that there actually
was
such a thing as a logical explanation
somewhere
. Despite knowing all that, Sakura still replies,n turn towards each other. “Don’t mind the jerk. He doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut” Neji comments, in an attempt to get the boy to stop sulking, but Sasuke doesn’t give any indication of having heard him at all.
“Neji is right, I didn’t mean it like it sounded. Really, Sasuke-kun”
“So, let’s recapitulate” Shikamaru chirms in, before Sasuke’s pride could get hurt any more by something or another. “So, you felt Sasuke’s chakra, and you followed it. Correct?” Karin nods, suppressing the urge to sigh. Just how many times were they going to go over her story? “It lead you to where the Uchiha Compound used to be—” Sasuke flinches at that, and Ino, who had quietly reached Shikamaru’s side, pinches hC chakra! Everything about it
is
Sasuke’s! Look, I don’t get what the hell is going on better than any of you do, but at least one thing is for sure—this boy is Sasuke” Sakura averts her eyes, which are starting to tremble with emotion. Naruto chooses that moment to speak again, breaking the heavy silence.
“Alright, we get it, Karin”
“About time” Karin murmurs bitterly, staring out of the window.
“So, correct me if I’m wrong” Sai begins, and Shikamaru walks closer to him just in case he has to shut him up. “We’re basically accepting the fact that Sasuke-kun somehow traveled in time, be it to the past from the death
" That sounds about right "Naruto accepts, nodding thoughtfully. "Alright. So what are we gonna do about it? "Konohamaru questions, and all eyes turn Towards Naruto, Who Closes historical for a moment as I Lays Down His palms flat on the table. "We'll treat him as Any child from this village. So the first step is to find him a place to stay. And a guardian "It's Then That He opens His eyes, And When He does, they're set on a pair of red ones, Which widen.
"Oh, hell no
! Not
're going to throw this on me, Naruto! "
By her side, Sasuke's eyes narrow and I lowers" His face even more. Naruto's eyeapartment w all for yourself. Not to mention That From What You've Told Us, This Must Be the clan Whose WAS Sasuke wiped away mere hours ago. Would you know how to deal with Better Than That Any of us, Karin "
No one says anything Afterwards, There Was no need. Had Naruto won the battle, Karin Knew That Much-and Hated. Then the blonde
grins, Suddenly. "Beside, you're The One Who found him. So You are stuck with him! "
Karin dog only frown half-heartedly, as she mutters" That's not fair " Naruto chuckles, leaning back on His chair and Reaching out to take Sakura's hand, Giving it a reassuring squeeze That Makes the pink-haired girl and wipe away tears unleashed Give a small smile.
"Until he sprouts another head or two, Sasuke is just a kid. And as a kid, he needs a roof, food, and someone to take care of him. You are the most suited for that job, Karin” Having reiterated that, Naruto’s look sobers up again.
“Meeting dismissed. Let’s get to work, guys. If anyone finds anything, you report to me immediately. Meanwhile, someone should do some damage control with the villagers, I don’t think they’ll react lightly when crossing paths with little Sasuke” “Leave that to me” Konohamaru says, boldly pointing towards his chest with one of his thumbs. “I’ll come up with the perfect excuse!”
Naruto grins, giving him the thumbs up. Behind him, with her hand still in his, Sakura gives Karin a concerned look. CThat day th time as she Close the Door, Placing the keys on the kitchen counter. "Look, I know you do not like this, and believe me, I'm not jumping out of joy for it, either. But you can not stay in the compound for Obvious Reasons, and this WAS the best alternative. So while Naruto and The Others find a solution, let's try to Not Complicated Things even more, alright? "
The look in the boy's eyes Takes a while to change, But I Closes Them Eventually, only to avert Them Afterwards. "... Whatever" I says, and Karin Thinks that's good enough. She Knows What Those '
whatever
' Usually mean.
So she nods and Proceeds to Quickly point out to him the basics. Where the food was, the toilet, the closet with clhis tone a mixture between shock and aversion. “Hey, don’t say it like that! It’s not like I’m particularly enthusiastic about sharing my bed with a temperamental kid !” Karin shots back, and the boy puffs, crossing his arms over his chest and turning away from her.
“I’m not sleeping with you” He states and Karin stares at him for a moment before shrugging, stepping forward into the room and throwing herself backwards on the bed, crossing her arms under her head and giving him a smirk.
“Fine. Be my guest to the couch, then!”
The black-haired boy glares daggers at her from underneath his bangs, but Karin only smirks wider until she’s practically sneering. Then the kid pushes the cover fully over his head, no doubt planning to pretend that he was asleep. Karin allows him to keep his fantasy up for a while longer, as she fakes a loud yawn and walks towards the refrigerator, pouring some cold water on a glass and allowing the bright light of the bulb inside of the machine to illuminate her face, reflecting itself on her eyes and helping her to chase the sleep away.
When she closes the door of the refrigerator, she turns towards the couch and decides that the pretenses had lasted for long enough.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed, you know? It’s fine to cry”
He remains silent, probably trying his luck to see if he convinced her that she had heard wrong.
“I mean,r, resting her back and head against the edge of the coach. “I would if that would do you any good, kid. But it never does anything.” “… What would
you
know?”
Karin chuckles, closing her eyes briefly. “I know more than you think I do, kid” She heard a slight rustle right above her, so she turns, giving him a slight smile. “I know your story. So, care to hear mine’s?” He stares at her for a moment, as if sizing her up, but then he shrugs, and Karin understands. Again. That was another gesture she was used to, another agreement hidden behind a façade of indifference.
If her lips weren’t so heavy, perhaps she would have smiled due to the nostalgia. As things are though, even keeping that slight smile in place was quite hard, so she limits herself to hand him the glass of cold water, which he takes after a few moments of hesitation. “It’s not poisoned. I promise” She comments in an attempt to clear the atmosphere, and her comment seems to be the right thing to say, because the kid takes a sip of it, and then another, and another, until he has practically drank it all down. Once she is sure that the glass is empty, Karin begins to talk. “I was born in Kusagakure No Sato. Since it’s a lower shinobi village, we don’t have those crazy bloodline abilities that some of you here have. But we had rich lands, and that was enough to attract attention to us. For years there were skirmishes due to the Earth’s invasions. And one day ... "The redhead Makes a pause, as memories of fire and blood Appear in her head. They hurt like no Longer eleven They did, the pain Being dry that's like a wound healer, Though Not Quite gone. So Despit The Fact That She Allows herself to Go Through her memories, her next Words Are Said Cleary and steadily, as if it Were not her own story, her own pain. It Was like ripping a band-aid off, Karin muses. If it's done Quickly and Swiftly, Without hesitation, Then There's no pain Involved.
"One day one of Those Skirmishes wiped away my village. I Could Feel Them Coming, But my people Would not listen. I Was the only survivor "Her eyes close. "I was thirteen"
Behind her, the boy has stopped breathing.
im down to her, draw figures on his hair with her fingers, soothe him with her touch. But Karin doesn’t know
how
—she can’t remember how it felt to comfort someone, to touch someone with such intimacy.
So she remains still, her head against the edge of the couch, her eyes set on his profile. Only the weak rays of the moon interrupted the darkness they were in, but they were more than enough to allow her to make out the traces of tears running down his pale cheeks and leaking down his chin, only to die on his shirt. Karin watches him until he finally moves, a slight twitch of his shoulders due to an inaudible hiccup. Only then
does Karin turn away, letting her eyes lay on the ceiling instead.
“I know how it feels��” She whispers, more to herself than to him—more to remind herself that she had known
how
it felt to feel,
once
. But she still feels him wordlessly turning towards her. “The loneliness, the grief, feeling lost… I know how it feels”
“How…” The child whispers suddenly, and Karin’s eyes open. “ How did you…?”
“…Go on living?” She finishes for him at seeing that he apparently couldn’t find the right words. He takes a moment, but then he nods and turns away from her again, looking at the ground instead. And
Karin
—Karin simply shrugs. “I just did. I toughened up, I guess. It was hell at first, I’m not going to deny that” A click of her tongue, and then: “Hell, I couldn’t even eat for a weak. Anything I ate or drank I would throw right back up”
“Didn’t you get sick?” The boy wonders, and Karin believes that she can hear something new in his voice—an emotion unrelated to his internal turmoil. He was
curious
. And hadn’t his question brought back to her mind bittersweet memories of eyes the same color of his own, Karin guesses that she might have felt something akin to relief. It was always a good first step, being able of feeling something aside from pain.
Her lips curve upwards into a tight line. “I had someone who helped me. Someone who understood what I went through and shared the same pain”
The boy doesn’t ask anything else, and Karin allows himorted with anger. “Was he the one who killed your entire village, huh? Was
he
?!”
Ahead of her, in front of the ocean, Sasuke cried over his lost brother. The brother he still loved more than anyone. His chakra telling her all the things he couldn’t say.
Karin remains silent, and the boy understands the meaning of her wordless reply. But instead of feeling vindicated he feels his anger slowly ebbing instead, and eventually he turns back to stare down at his knees.
“Then… your pain and mine’s isn’t the same” He whispers, calmly but with a detachedness that Karin knew only too well. “At least it wasn’t your brother the one who took everything away from you”
She doesn�
-
Between the time that it took them to reach the Hokage’s office and the time that it took Moegi to gather everyone, Karin got more than enough time to think things through, and by the time when each of the summoned shinobi has given their own display of shock as they notice the small kid present in the room, Karin has reached a clear conclusion. She wants nothing to do with that kid.
Nothing
. She has had enough of Sasuke to last for a lifetime, and the fact that he died and she got left behind,
again
, had been it for her as far as she was concerned. She had pretty damn clear to which Sasuke she bestowed loyalty, which Sasuke she had loved with all her frozen and broken heart—and that Sasuke had kissed her and died by her side.
And just like each story had a beginning, each story also had an end; and that had been theirs. This kid—
whatever
he was, was certainly
not
that Sasuke.
So as far as Karin was concerned, he was a stranger—regardless of how familiar his chakra might feel. And Karin didn’t have room for strangers in her life.
Not anymore.
-
was
such a thing as a logical explanation
somewhere
. Despite knowing all that, Sakura still replies,n turn towards each other. “Don’t mind the jerk. He doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut” Neji comments, in an attempt to get the boy to stop sulking, but Sasuke doesn’t give any indication of having heard him at all.
“Neji is right, I didn’t mean it like it sounded. Really, Sasuke-kun”
“So, let’s recapitulate” Shikamaru chirms in, before Sasuke’s pride could get hurt any more by something or another. “So, you felt Sasuke’s chakra, and you followed it. Correct?” Karin nods, suppressing the urge to sigh. Just how many times were they going to go over her story? “It lead you to where the Uchiha Compound used to be—” Sasuke flinches at that, and Ino, who had quietly reached Shikamaru’s side, pinches hC chakra! Everything about it
is
Sasuke’s! Look, I don’t get what the hell is going on better than any of you do, but at least one thing is for sure—this boy is Sasuke” Sakura averts her eyes, which are starting to tremble with emotion. Naruto chooses that moment to speak again, breaking the heavy silence.
“Alright, we get it, Karin”
“About time” Karin murmurs bitterly, staring out of the window.
“So, correct me if I’m wrong” Sai begins, and Shikamaru walks closer to him just in case he has to shut him up. “We’re basically accepting the fact that Sasuke-kun somehow traveled in time, be it to the past from the death
or
to the future from back then, and he's now here in front of us, alive again "" That sounds about right "Naruto accepts, nodding thoughtfully. "Alright. So what are we gonna do about it? "Konohamaru questions, and all eyes turn Towards Naruto, Who Closes historical for a moment as I Lays Down His palms flat on the table. "We'll treat him as Any child from this village. So the first step is to find him a place to stay. And a guardian "It's Then That He opens His eyes, And When He does, they're set on a pair of red ones, Which widen.
"Oh, hell no
! Not
're going to throw this on me, Naruto! "
By her side, Sasuke's eyes narrow and I lowers" His face even more. Naruto's eyeapartment w all for yourself. Not to mention That From What You've Told Us, This Must Be the clan Whose WAS Sasuke wiped away mere hours ago. Would you know how to deal with Better Than That Any of us, Karin "
No one says anything Afterwards, There Was no need. Had Naruto won the battle, Karin Knew That Much-and Hated. Then the blonde
grins, Suddenly. "Beside, you're The One Who found him. So You are stuck with him! "
Karin dog only frown half-heartedly, as she mutters" That's not fair " Naruto chuckles, leaning back on His chair and Reaching out to take Sakura's hand, Giving it a reassuring squeeze That Makes the pink-haired girl and wipe away tears unleashed Give a small smile.
"Until he sprouts another head or two, Sasuke is just a kid. And as a kid, he needs a roof, food, and someone to take care of him. You are the most suited for that job, Karin” Having reiterated that, Naruto’s look sobers up again.
“Meeting dismissed. Let’s get to work, guys. If anyone finds anything, you report to me immediately. Meanwhile, someone should do some damage control with the villagers, I don’t think they’ll react lightly when crossing paths with little Sasuke” “Leave that to me” Konohamaru says, boldly pointing towards his chest with one of his thumbs. “I’ll come up with the perfect excuse!”
Naruto grins, giving him the thumbs up. Behind him, with her hand still in his, Sakura gives Karin a concerned look. CThat day th time as she Close the Door, Placing the keys on the kitchen counter. "Look, I know you do not like this, and believe me, I'm not jumping out of joy for it, either. But you can not stay in the compound for Obvious Reasons, and this WAS the best alternative. So while Naruto and The Others find a solution, let's try to Not Complicated Things even more, alright? "
The look in the boy's eyes Takes a while to change, But I Closes Them Eventually, only to avert Them Afterwards. "... Whatever" I says, and Karin Thinks that's good enough. She Knows What Those '
whatever
' Usually mean.
So she nods and Proceeds to Quickly point out to him the basics. Where the food was, the toilet, the closet with clhis tone a mixture between shock and aversion. “Hey, don’t say it like that! It’s not like I’m particularly enthusiastic about sharing my bed with a temperamental kid !” Karin shots back, and the boy puffs, crossing his arms over his chest and turning away from her.
“I’m not sleeping with you” He states and Karin stares at him for a moment before shrugging, stepping forward into the room and throwing herself backwards on the bed, crossing her arms under her head and giving him a smirk.
“Fine. Be my guest to the couch, then!”
The black-haired boy glares daggers at her from underneath his bangs, but Karin only smirks wider until she’s practically sneering. Then the kid pushes the cover fully over his head, no doubt planning to pretend that he was asleep. Karin allows him to keep his fantasy up for a while longer, as she fakes a loud yawn and walks towards the refrigerator, pouring some cold water on a glass and allowing the bright light of the bulb inside of the machine to illuminate her face, reflecting itself on her eyes and helping her to chase the sleep away.
When she closes the door of the refrigerator, she turns towards the couch and decides that the pretenses had lasted for long enough.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed, you know? It’s fine to cry”
He remains silent, probably trying his luck to see if he convinced her that she had heard wrong.
“I mean,r, resting her back and head against the edge of the coach. “I would if that would do you any good, kid. But it never does anything.” “… What would
you
know?”
Karin chuckles, closing her eyes briefly. “I know more than you think I do, kid” She heard a slight rustle right above her, so she turns, giving him a slight smile. “I know your story. So, care to hear mine’s?” He stares at her for a moment, as if sizing her up, but then he shrugs, and Karin understands. Again. That was another gesture she was used to, another agreement hidden behind a façade of indifference.
If her lips weren’t so heavy, perhaps she would have smiled due to the nostalgia. As things are though, even keeping that slight smile in place was quite hard, so she limits herself to hand him the glass of cold water, which he takes after a few moments of hesitation. “It’s not poisoned. I promise” She comments in an attempt to clear the atmosphere, and her comment seems to be the right thing to say, because the kid takes a sip of it, and then another, and another, until he has practically drank it all down. Once she is sure that the glass is empty, Karin begins to talk. “I was born in Kusagakure No Sato. Since it’s a lower shinobi village, we don’t have those crazy bloodline abilities that some of you here have. But we had rich lands, and that was enough to attract attention to us. For years there were skirmishes due to the Earth’s invasions. And one day ... "The redhead Makes a pause, as memories of fire and blood Appear in her head. They hurt like no Longer eleven They did, the pain Being dry that's like a wound healer, Though Not Quite gone. So Despit The Fact That She Allows herself to Go Through her memories, her next Words Are Said Cleary and steadily, as if it Were not her own story, her own pain. It Was like ripping a band-aid off, Karin muses. If it's done Quickly and Swiftly, Without hesitation, Then There's no pain Involved.
"One day one of Those Skirmishes wiped away my village. I Could Feel Them Coming, But my people Would not listen. I Was the only survivor "Her eyes close. "I was thirteen"
Behind her, the boy has stopped breathing.
im down to her, draw figures on his hair with her fingers, soothe him with her touch. But Karin doesn’t know
how
—she can’t remember how it felt to comfort someone, to touch someone with such intimacy.
So she remains still, her head against the edge of the couch, her eyes set on his profile. Only the weak rays of the moon interrupted the darkness they were in, but they were more than enough to allow her to make out the traces of tears running down his pale cheeks and leaking down his chin, only to die on his shirt. Karin watches him until he finally moves, a slight twitch of his shoulders due to an inaudible hiccup. Only then
does Karin turn away, letting her eyes lay on the ceiling instead.
“I know how it feels��” She whispers, more to herself than to him—more to remind herself that she had known
how
it felt to feel,
once
. But she still feels him wordlessly turning towards her. “The loneliness, the grief, feeling lost… I know how it feels”
“How…” The child whispers suddenly, and Karin’s eyes open. “ How did you…?”
“…Go on living?” She finishes for him at seeing that he apparently couldn’t find the right words. He takes a moment, but then he nods and turns away from her again, looking at the ground instead. And
Karin
—Karin simply shrugs. “I just did. I toughened up, I guess. It was hell at first, I’m not going to deny that” A click of her tongue, and then: “Hell, I couldn’t even eat for a weak. Anything I ate or drank I would throw right back up”
“Didn’t you get sick?” The boy wonders, and Karin believes that she can hear something new in his voice—an emotion unrelated to his internal turmoil. He was
curious
. And hadn’t his question brought back to her mind bittersweet memories of eyes the same color of his own, Karin guesses that she might have felt something akin to relief. It was always a good first step, being able of feeling something aside from pain.
Her lips curve upwards into a tight line. “I had someone who helped me. Someone who understood what I went through and shared the same pain”
The boy doesn’t ask anything else, and Karin allows himorted with anger. “Was he the one who killed your entire village, huh? Was
he
?!”
Ahead of her, in front of the ocean, Sasuke cried over his lost brother. The brother he still loved more than anyone. His chakra telling her all the things he couldn’t say.
Karin remains silent, and the boy understands the meaning of her wordless reply. But instead of feeling vindicated he feels his anger slowly ebbing instead, and eventually he turns back to stare down at his knees.
“Then… your pain and mine’s isn’t the same” He whispers, calmly but with a detachedness that Karin knew only too well. “At least it wasn’t your brother the one who took everything away from you”
She doesn�
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