Peace Over Popularity

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Karin waddled to her bed, determined not to make a sound though her body commanded her to groan out the pains she felt all over. She eased onto the bed carefully, letting out an occasional hiss.

Her father had definitely not gone easy on her today. His unluckiness at the office this morning were evidence in the harsh bruises and gashes all of her arms and legs. Even a few purple marks were on her face, a place her father usually left alone as not to make anyone seem suspicious of child abuse.

Karin berated herself as she felt hot tears sliding down her sore cheeks silently. She shouldn't be crying over this—the man was a bastard and had been since the day she was born. The tears fell anyway as she recalled his silence the whole time.

Probably the worst part of his abuse was the dreadful feeling of anticipation she felt when he gave her a single look and tilted his head towards the basement—a place her whimpers and the sounds of skin being struck wouldn't be heard.

Her father didn't have any complaints about her this time, just his own selfish reasons from the office. Their stocks were down, a new intern messed up, another company refused a deal—any of these could have been the reason. Karin couldn't know for sure, because he was silent.

He was silent when she made only a slight hesitation before following him downstairs obediently.

He was silent when he locked the door and gave her an expectant look saying "strip" as they both tried to ignore her mother's muffled sobs upstairs.

He was silent when he removed his belt to strike her on her arms, legs, anywhere he saw her pale skin against her black underwear.

He was silent when he came to a gradual stop, slaps having less and less force.

And, lastly, he was silent when he put his belt back on and left the room wordlessly.

Karin involuntarily shivered as she remember his cold stare locked on her abused skin. She wished she'd smelt alcohol on his breath the countless times he's abused her.

It would be reassuring that her father wasn't hurting her because he was just like that but because he wasn't in his right mind. But never, never had he been drunk when he hit her. He just didn't care about her. Under any circumstances.

A loud buzz interrupted Karin's thought and she slowly turned her aching head to face the phone on her nightstand, hoping her father hadn't heard the noise and been irritated enough for another round.

Karin warily moved her arm to grasp her phone.

It was a text from Mei.

She felt slightly relieved. Her best friend was a good way to distract herself from her heartless father.

Let's go on a vacation tomorrow. Okinawa. We need to talk about Sakura.

Karin would have grinned if her cheeks weren't so sore. Oh how she needed a vacation—and Okinawa was known for the best beaches with the hottest guys.

Okay! I can't wait. :)

The redhead locked her phone and rose from bed, determined to pack her bags through the pain.

"Then he gave a coupon for a year's worth of free ramen," Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes though a small smirk of amusement was on his lips and Sakura practically guffawed at Naruto's excitement over such a simple story.

"So," Naruto suddenly said in a less excited, suggestive tone. "Wanna get some ra—"

"No," Sasuke and Sakura answered in sync, equal glares of finality at the blonde.

Sakura has only known Naruto for less than a month but in that short span she'd already experienced Naruto's ramen obsession first hand. When she finally lost the patience and gained the courage to absolutely refuse to eat ramen with the group for the next three months Sasuke looks immensely relieved while Naruto looked as if she'd just kicked a puppy. A delicious, ramen-flavored puppy.

Naruto pouted in defeat with an exaggerated "aw man, you guys are no fun".

After about an hour and a half of persisting, Sakura finally promised they'd wait for Naruto while he ate one bowl of ramen as fast as he could. Naruto was overjoyed to say the least and quickly accepted the offer with a bone-crushing hug.

Sasuke and Sakura ended up waiting outside of the sketchy ramen stand while they heard Naruto scarffing down like it was his first meal in ages.

Sakura sat on a slightly uncomfortable wooden bench beside the main entrance while Sasuke leaned against the wall coolly next to her.

The pinkette felt greatly awkward next to the silent hood-wearer. Even though she considered him one of her closer friends already, she still didn't know hardly anything about him.

Naruto was the one who usually started conversations, conversations that drew both Sakura and Sasuke in to the point they'd talk to each other (though Sasuke usually only used words like "yes", "no", "hn", or "aa") before Naruto would quickly speak again. Other than those times, Sakura could only recall a few times she'd talked just to Sasuke alone.

Said boy's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Are you cold? It's late."

Sakura blinked for a moment, processing the quiet but confident voice she didn't hear often.

She glanced up to sky for confirmation. It seemed to be about seven o'clock, with the sky a pretty periwinkle. A few stars littered the sky and the moon's waning Gibbous could be faintly seen overheard.

"Just a tiny bit," Sakura admitted, "but I'm fine."

She couldn't help but to imagine how good the steam of hot ramen on her face would feel right now, no matter how repulsive the food itself was.

Sasuke pushed himself off the wall with his right foot and sat down beside her on the bench, a little closer than she'd expected him to.

"I can't give you my jacket but if you're cold…"

Sasuke trailed off almost shyly although his voice remained its default monotone.

Sakura was about to ask him to continue but his left arm suddenly wrapping around her shoulders loosely silenced her.

She half expected to wake up to find she'd been in a parallel universe.

She didn't wake up.

Sakura began to laugh nervously, a trait she'd always possessed in unusual situations she wasn't used to.

"You really do refuse to take off that jacket, huh?"

Sasuke's lips tugged into a slightly playful smirk, still looking forward.

"Aa."

The "moment" was ruined when they heard Naruto's loud voice go off inside the restaurant.

"What d'ya mean this coupon is expired!?"

Sasuke removed his arm from the girl and stood, not wanting to deal with Naruto's pestering if he caught them in a "romantic position". Scoff.

Sakura just sighed and began to count her money in her purse as she heard Naruto's disappointed footsteps coming towards them from inside. He was most likely going to sheepishly ask for money to pay for the definitely more than one bowl of ramen he'd eaten.

A/N: I'm really starting to dislike this fanfiction. It is definitely not going the way I planned. Even the characters are all messed up. DX

Question of the Chapter

What do you think Mei's life is like now that we know Karin is a victim of child abuse?