I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

Hiding

Karin leaned back against the wall of her cell and sighed. Sasuke had tried to kill her. Jugo and Suigetsu had abandoned her, likely to be with Sasuke, and she was imprisoned in Konoha. Not being tortured like she expected, not yet, at least. She missed Jugo, who seemed to play mother for her and Suigetsu. She missed Sasuke, the love of her life, even though he had stabbed her through the heart just to make a point. She even missed Suigetsu intentionally getting on her nerves just to earn a rise out of her. But, apparently, they didn't miss her. Sasuke had tried to kill her, Jugo hadn't tried to rescue her, and Suigetsu hadn't tried to rescue her. Out of the three, she was surprised that it was the last that hurt the most.

"Stupid Taka," Karin spat. "Leaving me to rot in here."

"Sorry about that," a familiar annoyingly calm voice said from behind the bars of her cell door.

"Suigetsu!" Karin cried happily before slapping him and making his head turn to water. "How dare you leave a helpless girl to rot in jail!"

"SSHH!" Suigetsu shushed her, putting a hand over her mouth. "I'll explain later but right now we have to leave!"

Karin sighed and nodded as he unlocked her cell and held his hand out to her.

"Shall we?" Suigetsu questioned. "I must say, you make a great damsel in distress. I'm surprised no one else tried to save the beautiful needy chick behind the bars.

Karin didn't know what to say so she slapped him again. He sighed and picked her up bridal style before running into the corner of the room and kicking the door. It flew open a moment later and several Leaf Village Shinobi ran through the door before Suigetsu ran out. The door closed behind him and he set Karin down.

"Where are we going?" Karin demanded.

"Out, for now," Suigetsu stated.

He then took her hand and ran down hallway after winding hallway until Karin was thoroughly lost. Finally they skidded to a stop at the door to a guard room. One of them looked up and Suigetsu and Karin began backing away.

"Intruders!" the ninja shouted after a moment and the ninja all began sprinting after them.

They both turned and sprinted away, again Suigetsu leading but they stopped just after a corner as they saw shadows on the far wall of the guards they had slipped past earlier.

"Damn," Suigetsu growled. "In here!"

"Suigetsu! Wait" Karin hissed as he shoved her through a door. "It's a-"

He stepped in after her, and into her as the door closed, the jammed lock clicking as the door latched closed with the lock stuck on.

"Broom closet," Karin finished before slapping him and getting soaking wet.

The closet was thankfully empty because without anything else in it, they stood pressing themselves against the door and the opposite wall respectively with their shoulders touching the side walls, and their bodies flush against each other anyway. Karin was standing with her arms at her sides, and her legs, back, neck, and head all flat against the wall while Suigetsu had his hands on either side of Karin about level with her diaphragm pushing himself backward against the door in an effort to try to give Karin more room. It didn't help. They were still standing so close that they both had a leg pressing into each other's crotch and Karin's breasts were pressed against Suigetsu's stomach. Karin blushed as she realized this and looked sideways, hoping her hair would hide it from Suigetsu. It didn't.

"Sorry," Suigetsu sighed. "I should have listened to you."

"Did you just...apologize, Fish?" Karin questioned less angry and more shocked than usual.

"I could always use this room to my advantage if you would prefer," Suigetsu grinned leaning toward her and grinning, flashing his sharpened teeth.

Karin opened her mouth to speak and one of Suigetsu's arms shot up wrapping around her shoulder and covering her mouth. A moment later both groups of shinobi arrived, they tried to door and Suigetsu pressed harder to suppress Karin's instinctive gasp. The shinobi apparently couldn't undo the lock because after a few seconds, the shinobi all sprinted away. Suigetsu released Karin's mouth, putting his hand back by her side, running it the length of her back due to the lack of space.

"Their gone," Karin sighed. "Now get us out of here."

"I...can't," Suigetsu sighed. "The lock's stuck."

"WHAT!?" Karin screamed. "GET US OUT! BREAK THE DOOR DOWN! PICK THE LOCK! TURN INTO WATER! CALL FOR JUGO!"

"I could call for Jugo for years and he wouldn't answer," Suigetsu stated. "I can't turn into water because I couldn't get out of the room if I did. I can't pick the lock or break the door down because I have nothing to do it with. The Raikage broke my sword."

Karin sighed and nodded, even that movement making her more aware of how close the two of them actually were. She blushed again bout found that she wasn't trying to move away as much and noticed that she was starting to feel her stomach doing flips for some reason.

"Why did it take you so long to rescue me?" Karin questioned trying to distract herself.

"When you and Sasuke left to kill Danzo, me and Jugo got captured," Suigetsu sighed. "I guess you did too, huh?"

"You don't know?" Karin questioned tears instantly springing to her eyes at the memory. "Danzo took me captive so to hit Danzo, Sasuke stabbed me through the heart. He didn't even bat an eyelash about killing me."

But now she was sobbing and Suigetsu moved his left hand up, gently pulling her head onto his shoulder, since he knew she needed to be comforted and he couldn't move enough to do anything else. After a time she managed to stop.

"Sasuke tried to kill you?" Suigetsu questioned. "That son of a bitch! You were in love with him and he didn't even care! I swear if I see that bastard again I'll kill him! I can't believe Jugo went to help that asshole!"

Karin sighed, head still resting on Suigetsu's shoulders.

"I'm sorry Karin," Suigetsu sighed. "I had no idea. I'm so sorry."

Karin nodded against his shoulder and took a deep shuddering breath. As she did, she inhaled his scent. She had always assumed that he would smell like fish, but instead he smelled like the ocean breeze and fresh flowers and winter, three things Karin loved. She was surprised by this new discovery and more surprised that it made her stomach do successive somersaults. As did his next words.

"I should have been there for you, to protect you," Suigetsu muttered quietly. "I'm sorry I failed you."

Karin pulled her head back to stare at him and was instantly lost in his purple eyes. He stared into hers and again Karin was aware of their proximity, but more-so of the location of his leg, and where hers was.

"I-It wasn't y-your job," Karin stuttered.

"Yes, it was," Suigetsu stated. "I should have been there for you. I couldn't face how I felt because I knew how you felt about Sasuke so instead I was there as comic relief to lessen your pain when Sasuke rejected you time and again. No matter how much it hurt, I made a promise to shield you from pain. i guess I wasted my time because when it really mattered I failed. I wasn't there when you needed me most. I'm so sorry."

"You...were an asshole...to keep me happy?" Karin questioned. "Why...why did it hurt you to...be annoying?"

"The annoying part wasn't what hurt," Suigetsu sighed. "That's just what we teenage guys do. It hurt for me to see you so blindly run after Sasuke, even when you yourself knew, at least in part, that he would never return your feelings. It hurt that you never saw that the person who truly cared about you was the one beside you, the one that put himself through Hell for you daily."

"You...what...do you mean?" Karin questioned.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Suigetsu questioned grinning. "I put myself through Hell for your benefit. I stayed silent and accepted my place as your least favorite person in the entire world so that you would be happy. Hell, I tried to convince Sasuke to at least give you a chance."

"You...what?" Karin questioned.

"I did," Suigetsu smiled honestly. "I tried to convince the guy I was most jealous of to take the person I most cared about away from me forever. I'm not sure whether to be happy or let down that he refused."

"You...the person you..." Karin trailed off, tears rolling down her cheeks and before she knew it, a warm feeling, similar to happiness but much more powerful than joy spread through her body.

Before she knew it, her lips met Suigetsu's. The reason for her kissing him eluded her, as did the reason for her not even considering pulling away. The kiss was gentle, yet at the exact same time, filled with more passion than she thought possible, from both sides. Finally she pulled away and Suigetsu smiled, resting his forehead against hers. After a couple seconds of silence, Karin finally decided to break the peace and quiet.

"Why...why did you...kiss me?" Karin questioned.

"You kissed me," Suigetsu smirked leaning forward a fraction of an inch, his lips just grazing hers for a brief moment before he pulled back. "And that was definitely the best kiss of my life."

"Not your first?" Karin questioned as her stomach did flips at his compliment while her heart sank.

"Not exactly, no," Suigetsu sighed. "But, if it makes you feel any better, I was drunk and drugged then."

"A little," Karin grinned before kissing him again.

This time, her arms slowly moved to his sides then up to the sides of his face while his moved to her hips. After a moment, they both opened their mouths at the same time, their tongues meeting and instantly beginning to dance and explore each other's mouths while they pressed together and Suigetsu's hands moved down and back. Karin moaned before her brain returned from its lunch break and she shoved Suigetsu back against the door before slapping him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Karin demanded and he laughed holding up the kunai he had retrieved from her back pocket.

"Not that I wouldn't love to feel your sexy, perfectly formed ass just for the hell of it but I'm getting a muscle cramp from being in the closet so we'll have to continue someplace a bit less...broomclosety," Suigetsu grinned.

Karin's face turned bright red both from his praise of her ass and at the fact that he had only been grabbing her kunai and she had reacted that strongly. Suigetsu gave her a quick chaste kiss before lifting his arm into an awkward angle and sliding the kunai blade into the key-hole, grateful that she had only carried the miniature variety that almost fit into the lock. After a moment, there was a loud metallic squeal before something in the heavy metal door clicked and Karin instantly turned the nob, pushing the door open and allowing them to all but collapse out of the closet, the knife burying itself in his thigh.

"Suigetsu!" Karin gasped.

"Don't worry about me," Suigetsu smiled as the section of his leg the knife was in turned to water and he pulled the knife out then his leg reformed, healed, leaving him a bit more tired than usual. "Shall we?"

Karin smiled and kissed him then stood and helped him up. He picked her up in a piggy back then sprinted through the halls until he reached the door and sprinted out into the night, disappearing with the love of his life, who was finally his and his alone.

THE END

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