Author's Note: My first fic ever and its SuiKa! My Favourite Crack Couple!

I know they're pretty crackish, but the crazy Cat & Dog chemistry between Karin & Suigetsu, just totally works for me. They are sooo very amusing together.

Insert a little romantic tension & UST & depth into their acerbic interactions and they could be downright endearing as a couple. They're both crazy & twisted enough to make it work.

Reviews and Constructive criticism are very much appreciated. I love discussion.

I actually uploaded this fic a long time back and got a couple of reviews from some really nice people, except I accidentally deleted my fic and so lost the reviews along with it. I never really got to thank them for the reviews and I don't remember who they are now, so...

I didn't know my way around then, so I didn't know how to edit the content without deleting the fic and reuploading it. I still don't know how to do that, so if someone can help me here, I'd be really grateful.

Anyway, this fic is quite dark and sticks as close to canon as possible, so look out for Manga spoilers. And Progressive SuiKa interactions, of course. I don't think I'd be good at writing light-hearted SuiKa, while still keeping them in character, so most of their interactions are going to lean on the angry and angsty aspect of their relationship. Stay tuned.

And Please, please Review!

Disclaimer:

"Psshh... Sasuke belongs to me. And Itachi. And Naruto. And Kakashi. And Suigetsu. And Shikamaru. And Kiba. And Gaara. And Neji. And Lee. And Chouji. And poor Shino ( I'd never forget you!). And Sasori. And . . I own them All.

Kishi: "Ahem" *CoughSnortScoff* " You Wish."

Sigh, I really do. :P I grudgingly concede that they're ALL Kishimoto's belongings, NOT MINE :P

Prologue: New Lease

She was numb. She couldn't move. Her limbs seemed like they were bound to the ground, paralysed with inaction. She couldn't feel, couldn't understand, didn't want to understand the enormity of what had transpired.

She wanted to forget. She wanted the horror and familiarity of her memories to turn to dust, just like the raging flames turned the remnants of her village to ashes.

Her turbulent, disoriented thoughts caused her to unknowingly relax her hold on the jutsu that was the sole reason she was still alive; the jutsu that identified her as a ninja and enabled her to hide all traces of her chakra, rendering all individuals other than herself to be incapable of detecting her presence.

She wasn't sure how long her limbs were rooted to the same spot, her empty unforgiving eyes as bright a red as the flames that were intent on devouring her village. Atleast, she thought flatly, she could no longer hear the tortured screams.

What would she do now? Seek revenge? She let out a pained scoff. She wasn't stupid. Not only were her offenders nameless, they were long gone now. And there was no point in deluding herself about the strength of her abilities, as unique as they were. What could a single 12 year old girl hope to achieve against an unknown mass of brutal forces much stronger than her?

She was left aimless and alone, her cheeks streaked with wet trails of tears that she had exhausted herself with and black smudges of ashes all over her body and face, the suffocating smell carrying the rancor of the burning smoke engulfing the decaying village.

Blood red eyes, burning with a helpless resentment were harshly jolted out of it's descent into nothingness, to meet piercing pools of lavender, gleaming with a cruel mirth.

A fierce rush of hazy fear, dread and angry defiance crept back into her dying eyes, at the viciousness with which he gripped her forearm to stay her and the malicious grin that played across his sharp pointed teeth as he casually asked her, "Would you like me to kill you? I assure you that any brutality I might exhibit, as my sword slashes into you, will be infinitely more pleasurable than the fate that awaits you at Orochimaru's hands. "

His callous words made her lash out at him in terror, his nails digging further into her skin, in an effort to restrain her panicked assault.

He didn't look much older than her, but now that she was marginally less shaken than she had been earlier, she could suddenly both see and feel the strong presence of this infuriatingly intimidating boy's chakra, as well as a greater menacing presence.

Alarm bells rang through her head, as she struggled harder against her captive. How could she have missed the presence of such powerful chakras? What was going to happen to her?

Strange. Just some time back, she was feeling empty and lifeless. She wouldn't have cared whether she lived or died. What did she have to live for anyway?

Now, she suddenly wanted to scream and rage and fight for her life, simply out of spite. The sickening display of callous arrogance and disregard for her life from this, this unpleasant brainless savage of a boy irritating her beyond reason.

"What the hell, bitch? I was doing you a favour", he spat, as he narrowed his pretty misleading lavender eyes, "Fine, if you'd rather deal with Orochimaru , then suit yourself."

She almost snorted in disgust and retaliation at his offensive slur, and incredulous suggestion that he was doing her a favour. He had looked perversely pleased at the notion of chopping her to pieces with his stupid big sword. She shivered in disgust.

It was only sheer fear and an instinct to survive that bound her tongue and prevented her from calling him a stupid, deluded, sadistic asshole, though her eyes couldn't keep from screaming bloody murder at his infuriating callousness, which didn't escape his notice.

He seemed to derive amusement from her reactions.

Fortunately, he decided to ignore her inflamed eyes and proceeded to loudly and rudely * she noted, wrinkling her nose at him in disgust* alert his companion to her presence.

"Suigetsu," remarked a deep voice in smooth compelling tones, that for some reason sounded more threatening than ... Suigetsu, was it?... "you're frightening the girl off with your violent boorish manners. I am very interested in what information the pretty little girl has to share with us, once she has calmed down i.e."

"That's a pretty nasty scratch she gave you." he chuckled snidely, " Quite the little spitfire, aren't you?"

"Stupid little redhead" muttered Suigetsu with a pointedly wicked smirk at her, making her want to repeatedly bash his head in with a force, that would break his pointy little teeth so bad, that he would never again be able to flash that stupid pointy grin at her. She was perversely glad that she had left a mark on his pretty face during her panicked assault on him.

"What is your name, girl?"

Fuming silently, she pulled her gaze away from the nuisance and directed it towards the direction of the voice and realized that there indeed was such a thing as a 'beautiful' man.

He made a rather captivating picture, despite the creepy, intimidating aura he clearly possessed. His chakra was fascinating and gave incredibly strong vibes.

His hard amber eyes seemed to possess dangerous knowledge of all kinds. Beautiful black hair that reached below his shoulders, perfect lips curved into a sly smile that left her feeling uncomfortable and cold.

His clothes left something to be desired. They were the only lame thing about him. The clothes didn't matter though. It was his chakra she feared.

She didn't trust him, not even a bit, though she desperately wanted to.

She was tired and vulnerable and lost.

She desired to forget and let life take her wherever it wanted.

Suigetsu, made her heart thud painfully in and out of its ribcage, by being the certifiably insane asshole that he was. intentionally frightening her out of her wits and making her skin crawl with his lame favours, all for his own sadistic pleasure; Turning an already dreadfully horrifying day more horrid, when all she wanted to do was collapse into warm tender arms and forget everything that had happened to her that day.

He was also the reason she was now getting personally acquainted with Orochimaru, who seemed very akin to a serpent, poised to sink ever ready teeth into his desired prey for self-serving mysterious reasons. Why did she feel like she was about to become his prey?

Mentally, she drove a stake through Suigetsu's heart and viciously twisted it. She was beginning to understand the pleasure of being a sadist.

It was quite contagious, especially when Suigetsu was the victim.

From one hell to another. 'Thanks Suigetsu', she bitterly noted in her mind, 'Congratulations on officially being the personal navigator to my new hell. '

She was intelligent enough to sense that it would be dangerous to get on Orochimaru's bad side, and wisely calculated that pretending to willingly cooperate with him would be the most sensible course of action for the moment, with of course, the added benefit that it would annoy Suigetsu, who she noticed, was standing stiffly beside Orochimaru .

From his body language and the way his chakra was fluctuating , she correctly assumed that Suigetsu for some unknown reason seemed to despise Orochimaru .

Therefore, she mused that sucking up to Orochimaru would be in her best interests for now. Being on Orochimaru's good side, the man who Suigetsu despised and seemed to be the one who called all the shots, sounded like a very good idea to her.

She resolved to become stronger and learn as much as she could from Orochimaru, so that one day, she could soundly thrash Suigetsu for being an abominable excuse of a human being, if Orochimaru let her live i.e., after he got whatever information he wanted from her.

Maybe he would consider her life valuable if she told him about her unique abilities?

Her mind made up and resolutely echoing her favorite quote 'A woman's determination can overcome mountains' over and over again like a mantra, she opened her mouth for the first time since her village was torched and fiercely whispered her name, voice and throat hoarse from her earlier crying,

" Karin" .