Disclaimer- What? What do you mean I don't own Naruto? Sniffle…

Summary- Had Sasuke ever shown gratitude towards someone? Ever said "thank you"- even once? Karin found herself already hating them, if they ever truly existed. (SasuSaku, Kind of NaruHina)

My first story! Squee! You can probably tell, but I was deeply inspired by music for this, three songs in particular. This chapter is based on The Kill by 30 Seconds to Mars.
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Of Hatred and Close Sight

By: Peaceful Princess

~*~

Come break me down,
Marry me, bury me-
I am finished with you!

~*~

~.~.~.~

"Tch. Annoying."

Karin and the rest of Team Hawk looked up. It was the first time he'd spoken, though clearly still unconscious.

Dreaming, perhaps?

The redhead silently mused at the thought. Maybe he could be dreaming of her? With only those stoic two words, she wasn't sure whether to be overjoyed or discouraged towards her Sasuke-kun.

"Mmm… don't bother me…" he muttered.

Discouraged was a funny term for sadness. Suigetsu flashed an amused sort of look.

"Stop wondering, Karin. He's made it very clear that this is all about you."

Sometimes she wished he would just shut up. Was she really so predictable? The way he saw through her thoughts was just so…

"Annoying." She thought to herself, her attention quickly shifting back to her unconscious love interest.

Juugo continued to stare calmly into the distance, as if he wasn't capable of snapping at any given moment.

"Keep your focus."

Without even breaking his own…

Keeping both hers' and Sasuke-kun's chakra hidden was no easy task, after all. They'd thought it had been difficult escaping from the malicious Raikage, when Sasuke-kun was down, and they'd been all but surrounded.

Surely prepared to give up. Just too headstrong to give in…

They were lucky to find the cave. However damp, it was quite inconspicuous.

Looking to ease her already strained focus, Karin kneeled forward and placed a careful hand on his shoulder. She felt as it tensed suddenly.

"Don't touch me…" he mumbled, sounding a bit clumsy, but firm. A bit like a hiss, even. For a second, she thought he had woken, but he didn't move a single inch.

She looked back at her "teammates"- She considered only Sasuke-kun her real teammate- Suigetsu was dozing, and Juugo was watching birds at the front entrance, at least twenty meters away.

Sasuke-kun's face, even sleeping, was seductive to her. Maybe she would kiss him (maybe more?). Nobody would have to know…

"Wait…" he mumbled, soft and barely noticeable. Perhaps that was how she'd kiss him…

"I'm sorry."

Karin's head shot up, her eyes widened. Since when did her Sasuke-kun apologize? Appreciate? Maybe even swallow his pride, if only for a moment?

She briefly wondered if he'd ever done this before, even in his sleep. Had he ever shown gratitude? Ever said "thank you" to anyone? She found herself already hating them, whoever they were, if such a person ever truly existed.

~.~.~.~

"S-Sakura-san! D-do you t-think t-that maybe I-I c-could come w-with y-you? T-to see N-Naruto-kun?"

Hyuuga Hinata looked at the dirt, her pale eyes filled with doubt.

Sakura nodded once, silently glad for the company. Perhaps Hinata would help soften the blow, the irking feeling she got, because she had no clue what to say to Naruto.

The emotion was eating her alive. Doubt that she would be able to say the right thing. Grief, because Sasuke was most certainly going to die, possible before she even got to see alive again! If at all, Konoha would make damn sure of that. They were desperate to prevent any kind of war. Most of all she simply felt guilty. Guilty that she could never feel the same way for Naruto, even if Sai was… right? Guilty that she even dared to put a traitor's safety in the same league as her best friend's pain.

No, he wasn't a traitor. He couldn't be! His departure had been completely necessary… right? Nonetheless, she still had hope he would come back someday. Screw what Naruto believed- It was Sakura's promise, too.

"I'm not running from you!" Not now, not ever.

~.~.~.~

Karin blinked. How long had they been there, hiding like cowards? How much longer were they going to stay? She couldn't feel a single hint of chakra surrounding them anymore. The Raikage and the samurai must have been long gone. She couldn't even sense Danzou anymore- he would be angry about that when he woke.

But Sasuke-kun wouldn't wake up. He didn't talk or mumble in his sleep anymore, but he seemed to flinch or squeeze his eyes occasionally, like somebody was telling him something painful. It was subtle, of course, and very quick. Karin was the only one who could have hoped to have seen it. Her Sasuke-kun hardly showed emotions, anyway… but what if he did?

It would still be just as subtle, yet real, as she imagined it in her head. Maybe it was directed towards someone at his old home, Konohagakure. Perhaps an old friend… or a girlfriend? Karin briskly shook her head.

"Oh, please! Sasuke-kun doesn't have time for things like that," she assured herself, "If he doesn't want me, who else could he possibly want?"

She felt confident in the darkness, but it nagged at her consistently- other than the tears shed for his noble brother, had he ever shown a conscious emotion? A simple care towards anyone? She quickly decided she hated them, too.

~.~.~.~

Tracking down Naruto in the Land of Iron had been surprisingly easy. The two girls arrived to find him livid, Kakashi and Yamato trying to ease his temper. Had something happened? Was it… Sasuke?

Kakashi explained to her how Madara had come into their tent and provoked him. He wouldn't specify on what the bastard had said.

She stops him, calms him. Then, with hesitation, she asks him to step aside for a short moment.

"Do you love me?"

He looked deeply into her green eyes, as if searching for something hidden. Then, his eyes flashed towards the timid girl who was half-hidden behind Sakura. He looked at her briefly, but with meaning.

~.~.~

"Yes."

And the pieces of her heart begin to crumble.

~.~.~

~*~

Look at my eyes-
You're killing me, killing me!
All I wanted was you…

~*~

Author's Note- Bwahahaha! Cliffhanger! Well, until I type up the next chapter, anyway- I wrote everything down on paper first, since it's wayyy easier to rough draft! (For me, anyway…) Oh, and no offence but I dislike NaruSaku, and that's not where this is going. At all.

R.A.W.R- Read And Write Reviews! (I seriously just came up with that! Is it awesome or what? If anyone else already thought of that… well, damn.)

~Peaceful Princess~