After hearing about how Kishimoto had planned to include a flashback of the moment when Karin officially got over Sasuke in the last chapter but then decided against it, I decided to write my own version.

"Huh!? That's impossible! I'm the one who delivered, Sarada-chan!" Karin shouted in annoyance.

She had set one rule.

Only one.

Not to mess around with her stuff. She had thought that even Suigetsu would be smart enough to follow that rule and steer clear of her things. But no, instead she returns to the hideout to find that Suigetsu had gone through her desk and preformed a botched DNA test.

Unbelievable.

"Huh? But then... that umbilical cord...?" Suigetsu asked uncertainly, his violet eyes flicking to the box containing said umbilical cord on her desk.

"Was between Sakura and Sarada-chan." Karin sighed exasperatedly. "Sakura absolutely refused to leave Sasuke's side so she ended up giving birth here in the hideout."

"Wow, really? But you were always so into Sasuke."

"You dumbass, as long as Sasuke's happy then that's all I care about. Besides, we women have a certain camaraderie between us you wouldn't understand." Karin pointed out.

Suigetsu placed his hands on his hips and tilted his heads to the side as he grinned that annoyingly toothy grin at her. "Is that so? Then you're completely over him are you?"

This question took her by complete surprise, so much so that she could not think of a way to reply.

She would be lying if she said that she was over Sasuke and held not lingering feelings for him whatsoever. Karin would even admit that there were times when she wished that instead of Sakura, Sasuke had chosen her to spend the rest of his life with and rebuild his clan with.

But whenever those sorts of thoughts came into her mind, Karin always thought back to that one rainy night eleven years ago.

"That's it, Sakura, just push a little harder."

"Urggh!"

Outside the wind was howling and the rain was pouring. The hideout was completely empty apart from Karin, Sasuke and Sakura. Karin had started the night alone, checking on some lab equipment and making sure everything was in its place when all of a sudden, Sasuke had turned up at the doorstep with Sakura, who had just gone into labour, in his arms. With her medic instincts, immediately kicking in as soon as she Sakura gasping and her face flushed and scrunched up in pain, Karin had Sasuke bring her to her study and placed her on the examining table before grabbing a blanket, a couple of towels a tub of warm water. Now she stood in between Sakura's legs, monitoring the progress of the soon-to-be-born baby and offering encouraging words of advice. Sasuke stood by his wife's side with his hand being gripped tightly in hers.

Karin had heard countless tales and recollections of Sakura's super-human strength and could only imagine the pain that Sakura's grip on Sasuke's hand must be causing, she was pretty sure she could see the tips of his fingers going purple. However Sasuke showed no signs of pain, his face was set into his typical expression of calm, except for the slight furrow of his brow, his dark eyes never leaving his wife's face.

"You're doing great." Karin told the pink-haired women just before another contraction hit her and she cried out in pain. "I can see the head! Keep pushing!"

And Sakura did just that. The sound of the raging storm outside was almost completely drowned out by Sakura's screams.

"Ah! ... SHAANNAROOO!"

Only a second later, the sound of shrill cries echoed throughout the hideout. She quickly cut the umbilical cord and while holding the small and shivering body in her arms, Karin hurriedly grabbed one of the towels and dipped it in the hot water before proceeding to clean the newborn infant of blood and other bodily residue that clung to its little body. As she did so, she noticed that the infant had very fine, black hair on top of its little head.

Just like it's father.

She felt a tightening in her chest.

"Th-The baby...?" She heard Sakura gasp out. "H-How... How's the baby?"

Karin dried the child off, wrapped it up in a blanket and then carried it over to the awaiting parents.

"Congratulations." She said with a smile on her face. "It's a healthy baby girl."

With Sasuke's help, Sakura managed to get herself into a sitting position and held her arms out to hold her child. She looked absolutely exhausted, Karin noticed. Her cheeks were stained with red and her skin was dampened with sweat and she had dark rings under eyes. Her shoulder-length hair was also in disarray. However when Karin placed her daughter in her arms, her face lit up and the look in her green eyes when she saw her newborn daughter's face for the first time was a look that could only be described as one of pure happiness. Tears joy welled up in her eyes and watery smile spread across her lips.

Karin chanced a look at Sasuke and instantly she wished that she hadn't.

The look on his face was she had never seen before. The look on his face was one of gentle caring as he looked at the baby, whose cries had settled down to quiet whimpers now, in his wife's arms. A small smile on his face. But what really got to Karin was the look in his dark eyes when his gaze met Sakura's. It was so filled with love and admiration that Karin could not bear to look at because it was a look she had always dreamed he would give to her one day.

Quickly diverting her eyes away from the happy couple and their newborn baby, Karin turned away and moved to walk out of the room.

"Karin."

The deep tenor of his voice drew her in like a magnet, just as it always had and she could not stop herself from turning back to face them.

"Yes?"

"Thank you, Karin." He said, his expression and voice full of sincerity.

Sakura nodded. "We can't thank you enough for this."

"Oh... No it was nothing really..."

Sasuke held up his hand to stop her from saying anything further. "No it wasn't."

Karin didn't know what exactly it was about that look on Sasuke's face as his gaze held hers, but it made her heart flutter with happiness. A small smile curved the corners of her lips upwards.

"Well, I wasn't going to just leave you two to deliver the baby on your own now was I? I mean you'd be hopeless as a midwife, Sasuke."

"Hn." But the smirk on his face showed that he was amused by her words.

Sakura even giggled a little at that.

"Alright, I'll leave you two alone for a little bit." With that Karin walked out the door closing it behind her as she left.

Just before she left, however, Karin pushed the door open just a fraction and peeked through the small gap between the door at Sasuke and Sakura.

They murmuring quietly to each other, most likely so as not to wake the baby. Then Sakura gestured for Sasuke to hold out his arm which he did. She then carefully transferred the sleeping baby to him, leaving him with a look of surprise on his face. He just stared down at his daughter for a moment or two before looking back up at Sakura who was positively beaming.

The two shared a gentle smile together.

He looked happy.

Happier than Karin had ever seen Sasuke look before.

Which made her happy.

Smiling to herself, Karin closed the door once again and walked down the corridor, the heels of her boots tapping against the stone floor echoing as she did so.

Karin shook her head. "You just don't get it." She sighed. "Connections come in many shapes and forms."

Karin walked over to the box containing the umbilical cord inside it and put the lid over it. "More than that, Suigetsu you little shit, you've got a lot to apologise to Sarada-chan for! You should start by sending her a new pair of glasses since I'm sure she's already outgrown the last pair we gave her!"

"Huh? Why do I have to do it?" Suigetsu groaned. "Can't you do it?"

"Shut it, Suigetsu!" Karin snapped. "You owe me for messing around with my stuff while I was away."

Suigetsu sighed. "You're never gonna let this go are you?"

Karin didn't bother with a reply.

As Suigetsu sauntered out of her study, Karin lifted the box and tucked into one of the drawers in her desk. While Karin couldn't say that she was completely over Sasuke, she was content with knowing that he was happy with his wife and daughter. It was just as she said after all, as long as Sasuke was happy then that was all that she cared about.

Reviews are very much appreciated :)