Sasuke and Karin walked along a path on the Back Mountain.
Karin always kept her steps half a beat behind his, staying half a body length behind her Beloved.
"Karin, thank you."
Sasuke's sudden thanks caught Karin off guard. "What brought this on? What are you thanking me for?"
"I heard you nearly lost your life during the Seven-Star Lamp Formation."
"Oh, so that's what this is about..." Karin adjusted her glasses, a blush flashing across her fair cheeks. "Everyone was risking their lives then. I only did what I should have. There's nothing special to thank me for."
"Besides... Sasuke, you were fighting to protect all our futures. If anyone should be thanking anyone, we should be thanking you."
Sasuke said nothing for a long while.
He wasn't trying to act aloof. He simply didn't know what to say.
He had never been good at casual conversation.
With his practical approach to life, he had little inclination to improve in that area, either.
He had suggested taking a walk with Karin partly to express his gratitude, and partly because continuing their conversation in the previous setting would have been rather awkward.
And how could he not know how Karin felt about him?
Romantic matters had never been his priority.
Long ago, Orochimaru had offered him some guidance.
His bond with Sakura belonged to his previous life, and the Sakura he loved so deeply was the Sakura of that life. Just as... his previous self was not his present self, perhaps he should not let that bond constrain him!
Sasuke had tacitly accepted that view.
But... that was no reason for him to be with Karin in this life.
He understood perfectly well that his feelings toward Karin stemmed more from guilt and a sense of indebtedness. Entering a relationship