#skdrabble

When he sees her the second time, he doesn't recognize her. She looks different than before – older, thinner, and without a trace of fear written in her face. After careful consideration and dozens of sightings more, he decides that's the reason he didn't immediately make the connection between the girl and the forest and the girl in his room. It isn't because her bright hair has dulled, or that her skin is now covered in mottled bites. It's because she stands boldly and does not tremble, not even when the ground shakes and the earth divides.

“What are you doing here, Karin?” he asks her, sitting upright in his bed. He's haphazardly bandaged himself around the nicks and contusions of training, and he's retreated into solitude to sleep it off. Orochimaru himself doesn't waste his time on things so trivial, citing that discomfort will make him grow, and Kabuto is far away. Something or other about Akatsuki and feeding false spies.

“I heard that you were hurt,” she replies.

Sasuke examines himself, “Not really.”

She blushes, but in the dark he doesn't notice. “Well... if you were hurt, I would help you.”

This gives him pause. He's heard from others in Oto about Karin and her ability, about how she screams when teeth sink into her flesh. Sasuke isn't stupid. He knows precisely what he is being offered.

“My injuries aren't serious,” he says. “There isn't any need to...”

“But if there were,” she interrupts.