She's panting, taking huge gulping breaths as if she's a woman half-drowned, desperate for air and lungs ragged, but she's bone-dry. The only treacherous sea is that of Juugo's inner temperament, that wild and unsteady flow of pure nature as capable of cruelty as it is of kindness (this, she considers to be apt; the earth is not wholly kind, equally composed of savagery and civility: the same earth that provides structure and steadiness beneath the feet will move and split continents; the water that sustains will rain upon the earth in torrential droves and crush cities; even the elements stirring within each shinobi are turned into weaponry, terraforming for the sake of annihilation).

It takes a while for her body to abandon its rigid animalism, her eyes wide and fearful like something gone feral encountering the world of the tamed, distrustful and simple and preparing for violence. She is stronger now, though, and where Juugo's swings would have once been a certain execution if she were to be caught alone, now they are merely random factors, sudden tests. A faint aura of gold permeates from her skin where the chakra chains recede from the restraint of his body and return to its original locus, to dissipate into that nebulous network of chakra. Karin rights herself, already slowly regaining the energy expended in the paroxysm of chains, her breath slowing until it hardly disturbs the air, and the fear vanishes beneath a careful veneer of calm andーif you can believe itーcompassion.

Karin's not sure when she started feeling such things towards him (she remembers with clinical vividness, as she does with most things, eagerly praying for his and Suigetsu's mutual destruction for the sake of some alone time, and she would have hardly flinched had they torn each other apart), unsure if she always did and kept it buried for the sake of not going totally mad, or if their history and comradery had nurtured some seed of affection. She will, inevitably, deconstruct this thinking, alone in the dark of her hideout, poring over the intricacies of it, unwilling to be a stranger to herself. With that certainty, she dismisses the train of thought in the present moment, instead putting her mind to calming him.

if sasuke was a more introspective or reflective person, he would notice his tendency to look down on others -- even those he loves and respects -- because he compares them to himself, and they can measure up. fuck, he doesn’t even measure up to his own expectations of himself, so how could anyone else? if he were a more introspective or reflective person, maybe he’d link it back to all of his weird fucking daddy issues that he’s identified himself as having. 

but he’s not, so he hasn’t. 

when people don’t act the way he wants them to act, he assumes it’s because they simply don’t understand why he wants them to act that way, not that they understand him perfectly fine and don’t want to. if everyone was a rational, reasonable person who understood him, they’d agree with him 100% of the time. 

He couldn’t help but wonder whether the reason she has already described their incipient encounter “interesting” was because of his imposing physical attributes. Yes, Jugo was well-aware of the uniqueness of his size. As a matter of fact, he reckoned it unlikely that he’d ever discover a person who could compare, for throughout his lifetime, he has seen and experienced various and differing individuals, and the usual similarity among all of them was that they were smaller than him to some extent and thus had to look up at him.

He wasn’t exactly self-conscious about it, it was just somewhat amusing at this point to witness what would be reactions of surprise or wonder from people most times. Other times, there would be reactions of fear or repugnance, likely due to the impression that he was just the average brute.

Still, he decided to not voice that thought of his aloud and simply reciprocated her kind greeting, nodding, “ It’s nice to meet you, too. ”

The years Sasuke spent away from Konoha is a period she considers a dark age for her and Team 7. Putting other Academy-mates’ feelings aside, it is a time she spent awake at night, worrying, wondering when he is coming back or what kind of companions he has in his years of wandering.

On some occasions, they would bump unto each other. Sasuke being with some members of Team Taka as Karin and Suigetsu being his traveling companions. In these accidental meetings, not once did she bump with Team Taka in full force. And if not for the files provided for by Konoha’s Special Forces keeping tabs on Sasuke during those times, Sakura won’t realise who she is seeing and likely, even unable to make that greeting, no matter how awkward it is.

“ Well, “ trying to make small talk with a former enemy is a lot more challenging than she imagined. But she has to try, they are already at a time of peace. And even if the group’s purpose were questionable back then, from what she’s heard, Sakura owes the man a sincere ‘thanks’.

                @ofthescales

“ you are asking me how can i love you despite your curse, aren't you? ”   'twas was given in a form of an utterance— so softly, gently, espying to ensure that jugo was truly implementing another approach in apropos to the topic at hand. granted, the situation that was ensuing was reminiscent to their discussion concerning their relationship in retrospect and the uchiha desired naught of an reiteration of such an occurrence, hence the verbalization that was made due to the slight affliction tumefying within his essence. certes, affliction rose. charasuke was no stranger to such inquiry coming from his beloved, for the latter was known to question and debrief the merit of his presence within the uchiha's life as if he could not appertain to it as a whole. there was curiosity conflated with skepticism swimming within the raven-haired male's darkening oceans forthwith the moment the orange light of dawn reflected onto their surface— creating naught but a comely sight. little did jugo know in each of his embraces the world stopped still on its axis. there was no time, no wind, no rain. charasuke's mind was at peace. how could it be that he hadn't seen jugo's love for what it was before? pure. nselfish. undemanding. free. whenever he sensed his beloved's figured pressed in, soft and warm. this was the love he'd waited for, prayed for. not even once, would he forsake to manifest appreciation to deity. a love like this was to be cherished for life. 

“ you are not your curse. this curse is merely a part of yourself. by falling in love with you, i learnt to accept all of you. from the good, to the bad. my love for you haven’t compelled me to turn a blind eye onto your rage. i haven’t looked past it, i simply accepted it like i accepted everything that makes you... you. ”      ascending under the guidance of pallid lids, ebony lashes were cast aflutter, unveiling onyx optics aglow with endearment, albeit contained with arduousness as the entirety of his physique oriented itself toward his lover. then, momentarily, a twitch of the brow was subconsciously made whilst the corners of his lips descended into a frown, evidently displeased by the turn of his thoughts afore speaking eftsoons.    “ you are more than your curse. there's more about you. you're probably the sweetest guy i've ever met, one that even animals— nature love and trust blindly. so, why wouldn't i, too? because of you rage, your curse? ”   forsooth, he was uncertain as to why he allowed such inquiry to affect him so, but he couldn't sunder the trails of his speech.   “ when you're not blinded by rage, you are as wise and gentle as a dove. you wouldn't hurt a fly. you don’t even allow me to get rid of insects roaming our place. you talk to wild animals whenever we take our daily stroll. stopping each time when we come across one that is wounded. you act such like a baby whenever you hit your head against a doorstep. you are almost two heads taller than me. you are physically stronger. i should be afraid. but i am not as i truly know what kind of person you are. ”  quiescent, he remained, settling an appendage around the frame before him and the palm of his hand slid upwardly upon an opposite physiognomy, rubbing in cirques a back, and an exhalation was expelled.   “ you're so endearing. it pains me to see you question your ability of being lovable. ”

       @ofthescales

“ jugo ~ ” ,  charasuke started,  obsidian irises shining with effulgent stars that always betokened inward excitement whenever faced with aleatory honeyed verbal plaudits from naught but his lover. flattering remarks that never, once, omitted to please the uchiha's self-conceit. tout de suite, charasuke slipped into his natural coquettish behaviour though in this instance it was not done subconsciously, but rather intentionally for the sake of teasing the other up.   “ all of that, ”  in a characteristic manner his gaze merely drifted downward espying oneself in tandem of two hands directing his interlocutor to behold the entirety of his physiognomy.  “ is all yours, can you believe? you should luxuriate in while it lasts. ”

well, speaking on this— it was not as though the uchiha's lover was not a magnificent being whose appearance wouldn't turn heads. as usual, the mere sight of jugo aroused the philanderer flirtatious faculty. ergo, lashes were cast aflutter, fanning over the apple of his cheeks as raven's wings, bestowing unto his significant other a look under lashes whilst his figure drawn itself closer to the other 'fore introducing a physical contact. an embrace was furnished about a strong torso, a hand cupping within its palm a cheek.   “ you're not so bad yourself. you're quite handsome, babe. especially with your hair like that.”

            @ofthescales​

“ ever ? ”  certes, it was naught but an echo, rolling e'er so slowly of a combative tongue, ready to fight back a riposte. it was evident that charasuke possessed nary an iota of knowledge concerning the aforementioned reproach at hand, though he expeditiously deduced that the 'ever listen' wherein his lover referred to was simply presumptuous— a remark that was naught but over the line. forsooth, it was nary his intention to invoke a sense of guilt, planted within jugo's essence by his so-called doing, however he couldn't, prematurely, deduct the entirety of the fault was his and only hence why he questioned the validity of such reprimand.

“ how am i supposed to ‘ever’ listen when you're giving me the cold shoulder and isolate yourself? ”

“Guess it wasn’t such a bad idea to break here after all.” Though it seemed as though the Jonin were alone, with a palm-sized clone of Katsuyu on her shoulder, it was the perfect place to break for lunch. With food unsealed from crystals she’d used as sealing mediums, the lakeside they’d found on the outskirts of the small, riverside town of Obihiro along the Nakano provided for a beautiful backdrop. With autumn rendering the leaves rustic reds and oranges, the warmth lulled her into a sense of security until Katsuyu spoke up from the detritus she’d been munching upon.

@ofthescales​ sent  ---  juugo made sure to rise early to prepare a cake for her on her special day, and as he was striving for perfection, or something close, of course the process was arduous from start to finish - but needless to say, he never gave up because this was all for her, the love of his life. shopping for the ingredients, putting them together, the baking, and embellishing the cake with icing of her favorite colors and drawing flowers on it using said icing. by the end of everything, he was exhausted, his face was a mess, but he was proud and there was also the sweetest of grins on that face. he walked to their room with the wide plate of cake in his hands, and after gently opening the door with his foot, he enters, cheering, "happy birthday, baby!"

eyes widen in wonder as juugo steps through the threshold ; staring in awe at not only the mess covering his cheeks and forehead , the white making a bold contrast against his skin , but also at the cake now held in his hands.

she can’t tell the flavor of it , but ino knows lemon frosting when she sees it and scurries to her knees in such a haste she has to hold onto his hip for balance when she meets him at the edge of the bed ,   “  juugo ! oh my gosh !  ”   summer green takes in the neat , if not blocky , letters adorning the top ; smile broadening at the drawn-on flowers surrounding her name , and beams up at him in excitement.   “  ‘hon , you made me a cake ?!  ”

the sound of his laugh only revs up the warm buzz permeating between her ribs and he has to angle the plate out of the way when ino starts bouncing on her knees ; taking his face in both hands and planting a big , wet smooch right on his lips.   “  thank you so much. i can’t wait to try it !  ”   thumbs sweep the flour from his cheeks and ino giggles , shuffling back to on her heels so juugo can sit ,   ‘  hey whoa wait a sec - !  ’   but ino is already taking a fork and , as gracefully as one does , digs right in.