Unexpected Miracles

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. However, the plot of the story is mine.

A/N: The more reviews I get – the faster I update. This one has been finished except for the last page, and I just had so much homework that I forgot about it. xD! I hope to write the net one soon! I have some notes and other reading for all of my classes, but… this is a much more fun distraction. I just watched Sorority Row, and Ellie reminds me of Karin, so yeah….

Last Chapter Recap

Running out of the hotel, he ran as fast as he could towards where he had been told. Seeing the numbers start at around 480 and rise, it was clear they had been abandoned for a while. Breaking down the door, of house 507 and then ran in. Looking around, he wondered if now a good time to panic, his eyes darted around, trying to see something, anything that would tell him where Karin was.

His heart was still pounding and it wasn't until now that he realized something gravely important.

He had no weapon.

End Chap One

-

Men and their egos and their need to always be the best… They were selfish, irritating, manipulative, and at times not worth the air it took to keep them moving. All of them. It was like was like they were all out to hurt the woman around them, use them build up their hopes, save them, and then rip it all out from under them, tearing their body and hopes into small bite sized pieces in the nearest ditch to be eaten by wild animals.

Words couldn't do well to describe how Karin felt the moment Sasuke left.

The look on his face and the view of his back when he walked off, he didn't say anything, wave, or make any indication that he saw her or Juugo. They were just part of a scene he was leaving behind. His past, something that was going to stay behind him without a second glance or acknowledged happened or was even there. They meant as much to him as the clothing he'd left torn and disguard after the battle.

It was the only thing he'd left, and one of the first things that went up in flames.

Orochimaru's death didn't weigh on Karin this heavily, so matter how loyal she was to him, there was always something about him that kept her from being like Kabuto. She had the upmost dedication for him after what he did for her, and would do anything he asked, without question. The news of Sasuke killing him was no surprise.

All of those in Orochimaru's 'circle' knew that it would be one of them.

Sasuke won.

Sasuke won. That made Karin madder to think of. He did win. He got everything he ever wanted. He succeeded in killing his brother, only to find out an ugly truth of his village. Then plans changed to kill the elders, and now, look where it got him.

Honor.

They accepted back into his village with open arms, his former genin team, walking beside him, happy, almost celebrating.

Abandonment was the least of the things Karin felt moving through her system.

The pain she was starting to feel after the shock was over mounted, and became completely unbearable when she felt a presence in the room. Ugh, that smell.

She could feel Suigetsu in the room, first small and bearable, but the longer he was there, the more the odor bothered her. She felt so unattached to herself, the way she just let things around her happen, sickened her.

Waking up the next morning, the smell of his chakra was over whelming, but she was used to its presence, even if it wasn't this close. Sitting up, she forced herself from the bed, venturing into the bathroom, removing the cloths she had on.

The water was only hot, and was painful when it hit her skin, and all she could do was stand in it intentionally. Ridding all of Sasuke from her body was so much harder than she though, and the only way to finish the job was remove the mark he'd left on her skin.

Burning something that had a trace of his chakra on the mark would cause all of the ones she'd gotten up to that point fade. She no longer worked for Orochimaru, and hanging onto a power he'd given her wasn't productive and would only hurt her.

The mark Sasuke had left was a claim to her, and she had to get rid of it. Just it being there was burning into her chest and causing enough pain to her body to immobilize her, in her mind if nothing else.

The water burned her skin, even though she knew it was painful, she couldn't feel it. All she felt was the tears stream silently down her face, keeping up with the flow of the water. Leaning against the white tiled shower, her skin slowly began to match the color of her hair, the white parts around her eyes changing to pink.

When she finally turned the water off, she sat on the side of the tub, water dripping down her body, dripping onto the floor, her chakra moving around her body, her skin slowly filling in the spaces that were indented, etched, and scared into her flesh.

Upon standing, she looked at the full body mirror on the wall across from her and saw her naked body, completely normal. No marks, no bites, just her own smooth flawless skin. Grabbing a bottle of shampoo, she threw it into the mirror, which caused it to break the mirror, but the glass just cracked. It remained in the frame, and her body began to shake, and she felt like all the crying she did just opened a door rather than sealed one.

Grabbing a towel, the realization her clothes were in the other room with Suigetsu barely registered, and she forced herself to go into the room. Getting her clothing, she saw his face, but didn't feel anything, just drifted back into the room and changed, then returned, laid down and curled up in the bed.

Her body was so numb, why did she feel this way? Why was it like nothing around her was really there? She felt as if she was in a coma, and things were just passing by around her. Her eyes were open, and she could see, but she had no way to interact with her environment. Suigetsu moved, she heard his voice, she saw his chakra move around the room even with her eyes closed.

There was a heavy empty feeling and it made her eyes water and a pain shoot through her, and hearing Suigetsu eating made her roll over. Had she slept? She wasn't sure, but her eyes hurt, but without her glasses, she could only see a blurry, almost water color painting outline of his body.

Blotches of color and the sound of his voice saying something about food, was that what he was saying to her? As if on auto pilot, her voice responded with something she didn't quite understand, and his chakra moved. He was beside her, and then suddenly, she lashed out at him, needing to take her anger and frustration out on something.

He froze and she saw an undetermined look on his face and then, the door made a sound and he walked down the hall, to his room and left. As he left, the empty feeling returned. He'd done the same as Sasuke had, and now that she was alone again, she didn't expect to see him again. Not that she blamed him.

What had she said to him?

Everything that happened since Sasuke left was a blur, and even without her glasses, the distorted look of his face so near hers made her heart burn. It's not like it was her fault.

Was it?

Her eyes closed, not wanting to be in the environment around her. Maybe if she went to sleep and woke up, everything would be ok, Sasuke would still be there, and she could fight with Suigetsu. They could leave and continue their mission to do something else. He'd care about her and his Konoha mannerisms would eventually allow him to care for her and revive his clan.

Bitch.

The smile of that woman was haunting her, and even in her dreams, everything moved around her. She had no control of her environment, which she'd fought to keep stable all her life. Not only did she want it, but she got off on it.

Karin had always been in power, and did anything to have it. Egotistical wasn't the best definition because she was good at what she did. Her confidence wasn't unfounded. She did have skill and power to back up her confidence and ego – even if it wasn't a fighting ability.

Control of everything around her was fading, and something was around her, a sharp pain went through her side. Screaming, she felt her body shake and then sat up, panting hard. Light was in the room, but she wasn't alone in it.

A dirty chakra which flowed in a choppy manner suggested the person who owned it was impulsive, undecided, and more often than not made a lot of mistakes because of. She knew this chakra, but from where?

Bitch…

Who said that?

Something made contact with her face, and she slid backwards, her vision hazed. Attempting to move to grab her glasses, something grabbed her arms at the elbow, pulled her over and slammed her hard into the bed, holding her body there. It was over her, a breath that smelled like death on her face.

A look of disgust must have crossed her face, because she felt a hand on it.

What was happening around her?

Something touched her inner thigh, and when she entered fight or flight mode, her legs regained their ability to move, she kneed the person above her. They fell off and she moved away, grabbing her glasses and put them on. Turning to face the person in the room, just I time for him to slam her into the wall, and a sharp pain shot through her back.

She made a sound and he laughed, punched her, and pulled the long well kept side of her hair.

Looking up at him, her eyes suddenly widened behind her glasses. "Y-you…" She muttered, finally remembering his face, and his chakra. He'd been one of Orochimarus—

Her thought ended when something heavy made contract with her face, knocking her glasses down her nose.

Her eyes closed, a pain flooding through her body, something was dripping down her skin, sliding like water in an irritating and itchy manner.

Blood.

The smell was distant. It was her blood.

Her fist made contact with something, and she felt something crack. Moving away, she realized that she was fighting, something which she never did too well with. Yes, she had the ability, but up against this man, she wouldn't last long. The longer he fought, the more chakra he got, and it seemed he was doing this just to gain enough to kill her.

Jumping over the bed, her vision suddenly seemed to feel clearly, and the pain returned. The numb feeling was leaving her body, and she was starting to feel human again.

The fight was so hard. She was already tired, and this wasn't helping. Lashing out, she punched him, and felt his hands on her arm. Fighting against him was getting harder and harder, not only was her body tired, but she was mentally and emotionally exhausted.

It sounded pathetic, but Karin was never the fighting type, she never did well with it. She had abilities to mask, control, and track chakra, not to use it in battle. The only chance she had was an attack that would literally take everything out of her, struggling, her body beginning to tremble. All her chakra shifted through her system to her arm, where her fist made contact with his face.

The impact should have shattered his skull on impact, and as blood began to pour down his face. It was heavy and flowed down his skin and the raggedy hair on his chin and parts of his neck.

"Bitch!" The only one of his words that translated in her mind as her vision slowly started to decrease. All her chakra went into that one attack and without the ability to see straight, the probability of getting away was minimal now.

If only the attack had killed him. Stumbling, and losing her footing, Karin fell backwards onto her side, it hit something hard, and a pain ripped through her body. Feeling something grab her wrist, her vision hazed out, something sharp and thin slid across her fingers, and something warm oozed from the wounds. Unaware what her fingers touched and why the texture felt so familiar, her eyes closed and body began to drift out of the world and all sound, and surroundings vanished.

-

A chilling feeling went up Suigetsu's spine when he realized that he had no weapon. Sure, he could fight without one, and was more than capable of such a thing, but against an unknown amount of people, with a hostage? That would be difficult, not that he'd ever admit it.

The broken door surely made enough noise to draw attention, and calling out was a fools game should they have been looking for someone in particular. Water was all over the floor and dripped in the areas, creating patches of mold.

Suigetsu could only assume that something similar to a flood or heavy rains did this, and the heavy humidity made it unable to evaporate in a setting like this. Mold was growing, and water damage was just what he needed.

Collapsing into nothing more than a puddle of muddy water, his entire body reverted to its most primitive form, but from the shadows his head remained whole, keeping his senses intact.

Hearing a number of men run downstairs, he focused his attention. He'd seen them, somewhere before… His eyes narrowed trying to figure it out as they swarmed around the broken door. Within seconds Suigetsu's body reformed to its humanoid state, launched forward, and ripped apart two of the men, their bodies falling to the floor.

Moving his hand quickly, their blood moved from their fallen bodies and pinned a third to the wall, and his arm filled with water growing to nearly five times its original size, slamming the fourth man to the wall, holding his throat, seeing the building crack behind and around him.

"Y-You…" he managed to choke out, grabbing Suigetsu's huge arm. "W-why would you…" He coughed out, having a hard time speaking clearly.

Bearing his teeth aggressively, Suigetsu loosened his grip enough for the man to speak. "Why would I, what?" he asked darkly.

"Protect that bitch…" He managed to choke out, one eye closed, looking at Suigetsu pained. "You let us go, set us free from the Guardian of the Iron Wall, then why would you protect her?"

Suigetsu blinked a few times, arching an eyebrow, dropping him, recognizing him finally. He was one of the prisoners that he freed when he went to the southern prison to get Karin. Kicking the man at his feet, his arm slowly began to reduce in size to normal proportion.

These men were all prisoners he had let go, so, they were doing this for revenge?

Sighing, Suigetsu sat down, turning his head to look upstairs. "Bring her to me." He said leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. "I was working on breaking her down."

A sick smile crossed his face, his sharp teeth shone in the dull sunlight; it was dark and muggy in the room, but even that didn't hide the glow of his teeth.

They nodded and the wounded one left, holding his arm, his wounds healing almost as fast as they appeared. Apparently his experimentation included rapid healing. Coming back downstairs, he dropped the woman harshly on the ground at Suigetsu's feet.

Red was spread all of her body, both much redder than her hair.

Suigetsu's eyes narrowed slightly, showing a displeased look on his face. Pulling her over to him, his hand touched her neck, feeling her pulse. Well, at least she was alive. Picking her up into his arms, he studied her face, not wanting to believe that he was holding her in such an intimate fashion. As much as he wanted to deny it to himself, when a man carried a woman this way, it meant he cared for her, and whereas his feelings for Karin were minimal, only wanting to use her abilities, he didn't enjoy holding her this way.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed to the other men around them, and they studied the expression on his face and the careful way which he held her with. They stared, and as his purple hues rose, Suigetsu smiled threateningly.

"Orochimaru has ways of conforming others to do as he wished." He shifted Karin's weight slightly in his arms. "Karin was no exception to his skills of twisting the young and weak minded. Girls listen much better and easier than boys." He turned his back to leave, almost challenging one of them to attack her.

Without knowing how Karin began to follow Orochimaru, he did know that no one who followed him had parents; he sought out orphans and survives of battles and wars to do his bidding. If valuable or easily manipulated, he took them, and as in Karin's case, she listened, was intelligent, and had skills in which no one else possessed.

Moving towards him, they stopped, as if debating attacking someone as strong as Suigetsu, and even with her in his arms, would they stand a chance? He appeared with Uchiha Sasuke and where freed under his orders.

Now, he may not be as strong as Sasuke, but why would someone like Sasuke appear with a weak or low class worthless shinobi? It had been displayed by reputation and rumors that Suigetsu, apprentice to the seven swordsmen was powerful, and so was a confrontation worth the risk? After what he'd already displayed in abilities to increase his size and strength?

No.

"What is she?" The one who attacked her called out.

Suigetsu turned around, knowing he's the one who hurt her from the blood on his clothing.

"To you…" He finished, seeing Suigetsu's eyes make a bitter contact with his own. It made his blood run cold.

Suigetsu smirked, and a chuckle escaped his throat. "I need her to find someone." He said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "After that, I could care less what you do with her." Walking out towards the door, he sighed, looking down at her body.

Taking the risk, he turned his head to the side. "Are you able to heal others rather than just yourself?" he questioned one of the males, a threatening look crossing his face. "If you can heal her, I'll make it worth your wild."

Exchanging glances, the blonde-ish haired man nodded.

The other sighed. "Yeah, I can." Walking over, he moved his hand to her body and let chakra flow from his body, and instantly, all of wounds that lined her body reduced in size and depth, then slowly but surely, vanished.

Looking up, Suigetsu put Karin down and looked at these two males. He was nothing like Sasuke, and wasn't good at meaning something beneficial. That promise was in his interest, not theirs. Moving forward, he punched a hole through the man's body, his blood freezing and stabbing into his own heart, leaving nothing to pump and nothing to heal.

The blonde ran at him, and Suigetsu punched him in the head, which due to the bandage he could only assume had been an injury form Karin. As expected when the impact occurred, his skull exploded and he fell to the ground, twitching.

Hearing movement, he bent down in front of Karin, his arms resting on his knees. "You owe me." His smile returned, teeth showing happily though his lips. With the door broken they were both in a cast of the setting sunlight. Its rays captured his hair, lighting the silvery blue wisps as a cool wind blew by.

Her hand rested on her head, and as her eyes opened, a red fired burned inside them. It seemed Karin was back to her normal self. He was ready for her to punch him, and however angry she seemed, punching him would do her a great disservice.

As out of her mind as she was, it seemed she still realized that he saved her life and should be rewarded for such a thing, not to cause his face to splash all over the floor of this moldy and disgusting room.

Biting her lip, he caught how hard she was fighting to keep this inside her. "What do you want?" Her eyes were at the floor and wall to the left of them, which she seemed to be studying.

Leaning out towards the body of the leader of men, he pulled something out of the pocket in his shirt. Smirking, he handed them out towards Karin.

The movement got her attention, and knowing that he wouldn't hand her anything else, by his chakra patterns, she could tell it was his hand. Snatching the object from him, she slid her glasses on, pleased to note that they weren't broken and Suigetsu's game of kill and go didn't cost her.

"Glad you asked." Standing up, he grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet roughly, not bothering to let her steady herself or anything of the story. A grin spread across his face happily, and a closed eye smile crossed his masculine features.

"My blade." The answer was simple, but he knew she understood his need.

Looking up at him, her eyes locked with his, studying and accessing hs request, and in the end, sighed, nodded and leaned against the wall. "I need her cloths."

Not only where they covered I blood and dirty, but they'd been ripped and tattered from the fight she put up and other physical brutalities which she'd collected since this started. Her face had been bruised along with other parts of her body, making it seem like they ganged up on her while she was passed out and beat her up gang style - with her on the ground, the men surrounding, kicking and punching her harshly.

Healed though, she seemed flame tempered as ever, but thinking over her choices, nodded, and gave in.

"Fine… You get me cloths; I'll track your blade."

He snorted a laugh as they walked out, him starting to sip from his water bottle. As scared as he had been, he'd managed to grab one of them while darting out the door. He needed water to fight, that much he knew since the day he was born.

Leaving the area, he glanced towards her as he finished drinking his water. "So, you trust me to get cloths for you? Just go naked, it'll either kill me from shock or make you easier to look at."

Needless to say, she punched him, but this time avoided his face. The water-man seemed pleased by this, glad to have her back to her normal, violent self.

Inside he was thanking the god everyone bragged about for this. Even though she got hurt, she also got healed, which made it so he didn't have to care for her, tend to her, or pretend to care about her feelings, her problems, and her crying. This made it easier all around for her not just for him.

"Asshole." Karin muttered, her red eyes piercing through him. They walked closer together than they ever had before, but both knew better than to say anything about it. Karin was worried that her legs would give out and she'd fall.

Her shirt was ripped and tattered, covered in blood. It had barely any function at this point, she was dirty, and it was plain from the look in her eyes that she was exhausted. Suigetsu made it a point to not start a fight with her now. Her legs were visible for the most part anyway, but now, the shorts she normally wore had either been removed or destroyed in the fight between them. She had nice legs – of that he was sure. He smiled, his teeth coming from his set lips.

The long red locks that trailed down her back unevenly seemed to lay straighter. She was dirty, bloody; her skin had been cold when he held her. The sun reflected off her face as they went outside. Her eyes narrowed, pupils adjusting to the light. Sighing, the sun glistened a few more times as it lowered past the horizon, beginning to leave the duo in darkness.

"I hate him…"

For the first time, Suigetsu felt his mouth drop slightly. His lips remained parted, his widened eyes turned to face her in disbelief. Did she mean by…?

He was less than a foot from her, his eyes narrowed, and a confused look crossed his features, and he scrunched his nose slightly in annoyance. "What's that—" is voice was loud and somewhat harsh.

"Sasuke." She answered softly, almost too soft for Suigetsu to hear her. She closed her eyes, a breeze blowing over to them, moving her ripped cloths and hair. It was strong enough to lift her hair completely from her shoulders; the cooling temperature caused Goosebumps to rise against her skin.

He stared at her, and then shook his head. "You don't have to lie to me."

"If it was a lie…" She looked over at him, her eyes watery and shiny. She wanted to cry. "I would be trying to convince you, Suigetsu."

The two of them looked at one another, another breeze going by. She turned her head suddenly, a breath escaping her lips, her nose moved slightly, and her eyes slowly open.

"Your precious sword is southwest from here. Whoever has it isn't alone." Moving over to him, she couldn't help but walk slower. The ground around here was rocky, broken, and she was sure there was glass on it – without shoes, that'd be bad for her, especially if she was cut.

There was a silence for what seemed like hours, all the while his eyes locked with hers. Something seemed to bothering him, he scrunched his nose and made a face at her, but she didn't look away. It wasn't a contest or a competition, but something about it just made the two look at the other.

She'd been standing in front of him for what felt like forever when his hand moved from his side, he stepped towards her, and touched her face, touching her cheek. Her eyes looked down at his hand, finally breaking the stare with his eyes, but could feel his stare still on her. They were closer than before evident by the fact she could feel and hear his breathing. The scent of his chakra was strong, and it didn't make her as angry as it did before. It was… almost comforting after all that had happened.

As his hand moved away; a wet red substance coated his fingers. "You need to change and clean up before we go. Its cooler tonight, we should leave in case it'll be hot tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me."