Overcoming the Odds.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Grim Encounters

Sasuke and Naruto stood facing each other, with both having the signs of enduring a heavy and fierce battle. Sasuke had internal bleeding, the result of a direct flurry of punches to his stomach, and had blood dripping from his mouth. Naruto seemed to be the worse of the two, with an injury to the side of his stomach that bled down to his legs. A Chidori barely scraped him, and if he wasn't quick enough in dodging most of it he would have undoubtedly been impaled and killed.

The rogue shinobi spat blood on the floor. "Damn you, troublesome fool." He thought while cursing his old teammate for getting in so many lucky shots on him. They glared at one another and waited for someone to initiate the battle once again, but see, they were both spent on energy and in no good conditions to continue the fight.

He became angry at his current situation; how did Naruto even find him in this forest? Thinking back on it, he remembered how his day went from unbearably annoying, to downright shitty.

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Sasuke and Karin were traveling the forest on a quest given by Orochimaru himself, their task being to find the prized experiment that escaped his facility. The snake would have sent any other duo to find the escapee, but when a person is capable of caving in the faces of numerous guards, and escaping an elusive maze of a hideout, he chose to send his top henchmen to do his bidding.

Now here they were, looking for traces of where the experimented person may have gone, and with Karin's sensory abilities the trail lead them delving deeper into the forest that surrounded Konoha.

The trip was a long way from base, and the weeks that Sasuke and Karin traveled together proved to be full of bothersome experiences, as all throughout the day a never-ending and intrusive voice could be heard.

"Well can we at least do something fun to celebrate once we get back?"

"No."

"Please?"

No response.

"Come on, pleeease?" She tugged on his arm.

"No."

"Well, why not?" She asked in a huff.

"Because you're annoying." He said while yanking his arm from her grasp.

She smiled to try and replace the hurt she felt. "Well... I think you should try and relax once in a while, I'm asking for you y'know."

Sasuke ignored her and continued to walk throughout the forest. This was how most of their conversations went, with the occasional 'maybe' that he would say just to shut her up.

Karin fiddled with the buttons on her light-purple shirt while she thought of something else to bring up. "I think it's good to have fun once in a while." She said.

Sasuke stayed quiet, which prompted her to continue talking. "Just focusing on one thing has to get boring, don't you have hobbies?"

He didn't even bother to look at her.

"I have some-" she looked at him in the corner of her eye, "... if you want to hear them."

Silence ensued.

She adjusted her glasses. "Okay. Well, I like walking in forests like this, it's better than staying underground all day, that's for sure. Sometimes I like to learn about the experiments Orochimaru makes... Oh! and I like to paint sometimes, did you know that?" She looked at him with a face full of eagerness, but in response he ignored her and simply kept on strolling through the forest.