Naruto 1. Names: Saika

**Disclaimer: Hikari Adams and Banira do not own Naruto**

**Hikari Adams and Banira are starting this series of small one-shots together as a collab fic. It's going to have some odd pairings, but as the title says we're hoping to revolutionize them. It's going to include SasuHana, Saika, ItaSaku, and maybe another. They are all centered around a prompt. The prompt for this one would be names. The other prompts will be for stories of all genres. From tragedy to humor, and possibly parody, we hope these stories will spark interest in the more obscure pairings of 'Naruto'. By showing the various aspects of the characters' personalities, the idea of what a 'crack pairing' can be may change and it may not. These stories are for everyone, and we hope that the reader's enjoy them.**

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It was a warm summer day, most were inside escaping the heat. Though Sai, clad in his black clothing, was walking around the small village of leaves. He came upon a woman, hair and eyes the color of blood, under a tree. Immediately recognizing her he plopped down next to her, hidden from the sun by the cool shade of an oak tree.

She had been eating a yellow fruit, resembling a pear almost. As soon as he sat down she nearly dropped it in surprise. Sighing, she saw it was only the enigma that she would run into far too much.

He smiled, a fake smile of course, "What kind of fruit is that? I have not seen it grow here."

She wrinkled her nose and took another bite of the fruit. He watched as she chewed, a trace of juice running down her chin.

"It's a quince," she replied simply.

At first glance he had not known what the fruit was. After hearing the name, he vaguely recalled something about it. Though never actually seeing a real one, he had read about them in a book. Up close the quince looked peculiar, even more so when being held by this ruby woman. He decided it was an odd, but strangely appealing sight to see her eating this fruit.

"Ah, aren't those supposed to be bitter raw? I would assume you would cook it so that it tastes different."

She narrowed her eyes and looked to the fruit, "No," she said softly, "I like it bitter…it's not right sweet," she turned her gaze to him, "Did you know my name means quince? It's not native to Konoha, it's mainly found in the northern regions."

She laughed, a sound akin to the taste of the fruit, "It's just like me, bitter and not belonging in Konoha."

Sai then proceeded to snatch the yellow quince from her hand and take a bite. His face lost composure from the strong bitterness, but returned to the calm façade, "Though it turns red and the bitterness leaves once you cook it, once you take care of it."

The tracker's face turned scarlet, "I do not need to be taken care of!"

With an amused grin, maybe not so much fake this time, he spoke, "I was talking about the fruit."

She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it with the turn of her head. The woman had been caught in her fury it would seem, and had been embarrassed because of it. He saw this, wondering if he was supposed to do something to make her feel better. Perhaps there was a good topic to talk about?

"The name Tsunade gave me, one meaning is difference," he spoke, breaking the silence.

Karin turned her head back at him, looking straight in his eyes. Slowly her lips curled to a smirk. The normal Karin was back, "Really?" she laughed, pride lacing the bell sound, "It makes sense, you're so incredibly different after all. It fits you, because you are different from everyone and don't fit in!"

He only blinked in response. That was an insult, or so he thought. Was he supposed to be offended? He wasn't really at all; she had merely stated the truth. Still, he felt an unpleasant feeling when being reminded that he didn't fit in.

His fake smile made its way to his face again. Everything was hidden again, using a smile to cover it up. The seemingly emotionless man guessed she probably didn't know it was a fake, unlike his female comrade.

"But Karin-san," he spoke pleasantly, as if he were not about to insult her right back, but if he were bringing good news, "You are different too, are you not? I believe you once said that you don't fit in either, so we're alike then."

Her expression turned something akin to mortification, "I am nothing like—"

"But you don't have a place anymore, Sakura was filled back in for Sasuke remember?"

"I…" she began in response to being cut off. Her words only trailed off, not being able to counter his statement. That was the thing that hurt her most. In all her perfections everything must have a place, and yet she herself had none. The boastful Karin was not affected by most, but that was the one thing that would cut the deepest. She didn't want to remember that she wasn't as good as that wonderful girl. It had been bad enough watching the stoic Uchiha subtly fawn over the girl, but to be reminded of it when she was just getting over it. It was a harsh comment, and it was, sadly, one that he had not meant to be cruel. He was merely stating a fact, as if he were saying that it was sunny that day.

Once again they sat in silence. Sai remained quiet, afraid another outburst would occur of he were to say something. Karin on the other hand was thinking, her thoughts racing through her mind like a storm. He then observed as she sighed, then paused wide eyed, then laughed. Confused, he tilted his head to the side.

"Saika…" she whispered with a grin. Though it was a bitter grin, the emotion she fit best. She saw that she had lost her companion in her musing and shook her head.

"When you put our names together, it makes Saika. And if you think about it, some meanings of Saika are mistake, catastrophe, accident, and so on. It's funny, when you put us two together, already different and bitter, it makes mistake. It fits doesn't it?"

"Two broken souls, but wouldn't they stay with each other if they had nothing else to hang on to?" he asked.

"I would suppose so, but I guess we are a catastrophe aren't we?" she laughed not so bitterly. Somewhere he took note of it, he liked it when she truly laughed, because it sounded like rich velvet.

It was then that he realized something of his own about their names. Quinces must be treated differently than most fruit. It is only then that they will turn that gorgeous red, that he thought resembled her so much, and not so bitter. So then maybe the different boy _does _just need to take care of the bitter girl. And maybe, it was that the meaning of their names together didn't mean they wouldn't work, it was just describing those two broken people that clung to one another just to get by.

Sai did not believe in Neji's 'fate', but maybe the white-eyed boy had something with that theory after all. His name, as well as Karin's, could not be a mere coincidence. Names held power, and he wondered just what that power would do to his life.

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**We looked up the meanings of all the names, and it's slightly funny how well it really does fit the characters and the pairing name itself. It was roughly translated, so it may not be 100 percent accurate. Other than that, thanks for reading! **

**Please help Sai and Karin get the psychological help they need. Reviews are the only currency the doctor will accept, so please leave a donation via the little purple button at the bottom of the screen. **

**Thank you for your help,**

**-Banira and Hikari Adams**


	2. Bunny: Saika

**Disclaimer: Hikari Adams and Banira do not own Naruto.**

**With Bunny, it was a small nod to everyone's favorite vengeance demon from 'Buffy'. Hikari saw it and ended up writing this. Banira added the homage to 'Monty Python' and this is the end result. It was a lot of fun to examine Karin's character in a different light, as she is usually portrayed as OCD in our stories.**

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It was a beautiful day in fair Konohagakure. The sun was shining. There were a few lazy clouds, all puffy and white, drifting across the sky. The breeze was gentle and slightly playful, dancing through the warm air of early summer. The town, for once, was peaceful and not full of chatter from the marketplace.

Until a shill shriek pierced the calm afternoon.

"Get that little monster away from me!"

The spectacle was hidden behind the door of apartment 831 just beneath Hokage Mountain. The apartment was lofty and brightly lit, arranged neatly in shades of blue and cream. It was obviously the abode of an artist, his various sketches and paintings lying in organized randomness around the open main room. In said room stood a man and a woman.

The young man was staring helplessly at his hands, and at the furry white thing held between them. Not far from him, a young woman was perched precariously in the small space between the top of a bookcase and the ceiling. Her ruby eyes, shielded by glasses, was fixed with a mix of terror and hostility on the creature he held. Her crimson hair fell into her face, but the pretty nineteen-year-old didn't seem to care. The young man, with his black eyes and even blacker hair, was slightly dumbfounded with the entire situation.

In his hands, the creature wriggled, trying to escape his grasp.

She shrieked again, "Get rid of that thing! What were you thinking? You brought the worst of demons into this place! You're an idiot! Worse than Juugo and Suigetsu combined!"

"I was told that girls like small animals," he replied monotonously, trying to figure out what he did wrong. He hadn't listened to Naruto this time, instead it had been Shikamaru to give him the advice. Shikamaru couldn't be wrong, could he?

"Th-that _thing_ is not a small animal! It is the source of all evil!"

It moved again, and he sighed as her scream threatened to shatter both her glasses and the windows.

"Karin," he addressed the hysterical woman, "You worked for Orochimaru. Nothing could be worse than that."

"You're wrong, Sai! That—creature! It's worse!" Karin hissed down at him, as if trying to keep the conversation quiet from the white 'monster' in his hands. If anything, she tried to get the wall to absorb her, failing spectacularly in the feat.

He sighed again. Mentally, Sai checked Shikamaru, despite being Konoha's greatest genius, off the list of advice-givers. That left him with Neji, Chouji, and Iruka. Were Konohagakure men really that bad at wooing women?

"It's a _bunny_, Karin."

He was certain he heard glass crack with that particular scream. In fact, he was certain that a crack was put in Sakura's office window over at the hospital.

She hushed him violently from her strange position atop the bookcase, "Don't say its name! It might do something."

Sure enough, the bunny wriggled in his grasp again, resulting in yet another deafening shriek. He watched her as she tried to back herself up against the corner between the wall and ceiling more, as if she could dissolve through it to escape.

Sai tried to remind himself just why he had decided to move in with the loud female perched atop his bookcase. Was the fact that he actually enjoyed her company, under normal circumstances, really what made this worth it? The woman was afraid of bunnies. What kind of woman feared bunnies? What kind of human feared bunnies?

"Karin, what happened?"

"I don't understand what you mean," she said, her voice turning into that familiar fury-filled tone, "I'm not the one who brought the king of the underworld in here."

He looked down at the tiny white bunny in his hands, and the bunny stared back. Somewhere in the distance, he heard Karin hiss that the rabbit's stare was worse than the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Karin," he said sternly in the voice that he reserved for the worst of missions, "It's a bunny. It can't outrun a cat. It is perfectly harmless."

"Have-have you seen that thing's teeth, no—fangs? It could kill us at any moment with those things!" she gasped out petrified.

The artist took a glance down at the bunny again, not even able to see the monstrous fangs Karin rambled about, "They only eat plants, it won't hurt you."

She shook her head, "No, that thing is evil. You don't know what those things can do. The lab I worked in kept them as test subjects. Trust me when I say they are _wicked_."

Sai tried to suppress the urge to throw something sharp and pointy, "Perhaps it was a result of the experimentation?"

"No, I worked with the…b-b-_bunnies_…before the experiments were run."

"So why are you afraid of them?"

"They're evil."

As cute as her childish voice was, it didn't change the fact that they were once again back at square one.

"You're impossible, Karin. I now understand why Uchiha avoided you when you followed him here."

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**This of course is part of the reason Saika is so great, because together it's just hilarious to watch. Thanks for reading! **

**Save Karin from the bunnies! Reviews are the natural enemies of bunnies, so please help us scare them away!**

**-Banira and Hikari Adams**


	3. Socks: Saika

**Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto or any of the characters here.**

**Here's the next installment, which has been sitting in the dark files of Banira's computer. Upon discovering it, she quickly finished up this short drabble and sent it off to Hikari for the finishing touches. It's been a while, but Saika isn't completely dead! **

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**Socks**

The fiery red haired woman observed the little pieces of clothing with irritation. They were lying there innocently, scattered loosely around the room. Some were either black or blue, but mostly they were white.

With a scowl, she bent down and picked one up between her forefinger and thumb, hold the small article of clothing as far away from her as possible. Idly, she noted that it was half inside out. Letting her scowl fall, she sighed and dropped the clothing on the ground. She adjusted her glasses and stayed still for a moment.

"Sai!" she let out a shriek. Her calm composure had faded, and was replaced with an angry one.

The summoned person popped his head through the doorway, into the burgundy room. His face was curious as to what was his roommate yelling about this time. There were a few lines of red across his face, and a mix of various colors coating his hands, showing he had been in the middle of a painting.

"Yes?" He inquired. It came out partially cautious. Then again being too cautious was never a bad thing, if not necessary, when it came to Karin. With only one wrong word she would flare up and attack. He had learned this through unpleasant experiences.

"Why," she closed her eyes to keep from shouting again, "are your socks scattered all over the floor…_again_!"

He blinked, as if it were still processing through his mind. His eyes then traveled around the room, particularly the floor. The cream colored carpet was dotted with socks. His simple bed had one sock hanging over the side and then his cherry wood night stand has the little foot covers bunched up at the bottom of one of the legs.

"I though I told you that you weren't supposed to leave them everywhere!" she lectured him. Ever since she had moved into his tiny apartment, fitting in no where else seeing as the Uchiha she came with wanted nothing to do with her, she pestered him about neatness nonstop. They equaled each other out in a way. She was too neat, but his messy habits kept her sane, reminding her that not everything had to be perfect. In return, her cleanliness kept his apartment from becoming a garbage disposal. Never was it too clean or too messy.

"I apologize, Karin-san," he smiled with the tilt of his head. She only huffed in reply. They both knew it would happen again, this was only one of the many times she had yelled about his habits. It wasn't always his clothing, sometimes it was his paints or dishes. It was only a matter of time before the cycle began again and she would once again clean and proceed to bother him about it soon after.

In a way he sometimes did it on purpose, he wasn't always sure why. He knew it had to do with making her mad, though that was always an entertaining hobby, but mostly because it kept her from reverting into insanity. She had this issue, everything had to be perfect, everything had to make sense, or it caused her already complicated mind to go completely haywire. It was probably because working under that twisted snake had scarred her to a point she had to know what exactly was going on.

Though when he left these little things around, it not only gave her something to do since she was allowed no weapons or training under strict orders of the Hokage, but it helped her. Even something as small as misplaced socks let her know, she was in reality, a place where perfection did not exist. Back with Orochimaru, her life had revolved around perfection. Anything less was unacceptable.

She bent down, crouching down on the front of her feet. In a futile attempt to block out the irritating man behind her, she began picking the socks up. As her hand was about to pluck one up distastefully (she had a slight phobia of germs, and who knew what were on those horrid things), another hand, sickeningly pale, beat her to it. She couldn't help but notice the heat radiating off his hand, inches from hers.

"I figured I'd help," Sai said quietly, answering her unvoiced question. In a way, she couldn't help but think that he was implying something, a double meaning perhaps. Something clicked in her head, and suddenly the offensive socks weren't all that bad.

"Thanks," she mumbled, smiling slightly. Her head was turned down; no way would she let him see it. She was thanking him for helping her pick up not only his messy and misplaced socks, but those scattered fragments of her life.

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**Thanks for reading!! Reviews make our day, and also make us grin like idiots.**


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Naruto, Romance