[FANFIC - HBD, SASUKE(?)] WILDFIRE; (SK)
now uploaded in fanfiction.net~! here; if you wish to comment but can't do so here, please feel free to review over there~!601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybO88jF7px
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By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtGwFn7WsT
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazup810eAs
Word Count: 8.810601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesRQ7H7Smw
Author's Notes: I got this plot-bunny a couple of months ago; the idea was to sit down and carefully plan it, but… well, life happened. So I decided to let it write itself instead. Posting it for Sasuke’s birthday project because, while his birthday is not the focus of this, it does get briefly mentioned (:hurr)~ Also, there are some credits, but I’ll be giving them at the end of the fic in order to not spoil anyone.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoInIWbstLY
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEOxhQKlbD
Summary: It is a flame that was set ablaze by a smile. A fire that consumes everything in its wake. A wildfire that burnt them to ashes, down to their roots.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmcT0TLh4C
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A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7A3ovQEhB
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To the stars that played with the darkness601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCeass7D06
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwqKvZHoln
by Kanae601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXXR0kLOlT
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It happens a hot Thursday afternoon as he goes through the tourniquets of the subway and catches a glimpse of red from the corner of his eye.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8y2WGcvi2j
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Something in his chest tightens.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1dFqTHA3D
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He is looking back before he knows it, uncharacteristically standing still as his eyes seek the source of the red; a girl’s ponytail.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrIBkI9Leh
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Just a girl.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CQ78Xo4so
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Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVg6rYuK7u7
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He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jcuz5n2vb
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He has almost reached the escalators when someone steps in front of him, blocking his way—and he can’t help the slight widening of his eyes as he realizes who it is.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXobSVZ9WqB
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The girl.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjt17xBmB4E
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The redhead.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2d2G1jazW
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“Sorry,” she says, and she is a little out of breath. Had she run to catch up with him? “Do I know you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZ1zOTjHFp
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An alien reply makes its way from his chest up to the tip of his tongue, but Sasuke does not recognize it—and before he can even deem it worth his time, it is gone. And all that remains is the same disinterest from before. Just a girl.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNL2ZKGtcAM
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“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNAgDcEhH8
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“No, I do know you. I mean—” Sasuke narrows his eyes, irritated, but the girl looks too caught up in her thoughts to notice, “I have dreamed of you.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfS4Yl6eEJ
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Sasuke gives her a blank stare and the girl turns a little pink. “I-I mean,” she stammers, pushing her glasses further up her nose. The gesture stirs something inside of Sasuke, and it is powerful enough to the point he almost misses her next words “I know it sounds weird, but—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAx3D4icyR
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“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvAtXkmgXC
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“Wait!” she calls, and Sasuke finds his legs answering in kind even before his name comes out of her lips. “Y—your name is… Sasuke, isn’t it? Uchiha Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsREVe1AvJ
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“… So what?” his reply is brisk, and it comes out through gritted teeth. This was ridiculous; both the girl and his reactions to her. What had come over him, anyway? He has never seen this chick. Ever. “Knowing that is no feat.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhYWivlmys
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It wasn’t. More than a quarter of the city knew his family’s name. Knowing who he was simply was part of the package.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzZvVyMdt1
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She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7dyVDD4SN
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He was severely mistaken.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ29kmJFIfM
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“And, when you were eight…” she suddenly whispers, her voice vague, “when you were eight, your mom gave you a dinosaur-shaped toy.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9lhP9iOH15
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Sasuke’s eyes widen, his body freezing upright. Her voice gains momentum. “You said it was childish, and pretended to have thrown it away; but you still have it.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudNUIpJMSZ
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It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LOY4o1jkm
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Obsidian meets pointed red, and it is something in the calculating edge of her gaze more than her words that which turns Sasuke’s skin into gooseflesh. “…You keep it locked in a box inside your closet, just like you keep locked away that irrational fear of yours of losing them someday.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGOlHuKpGJ
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Them. His parents. The one thing he has never told anyone—not even his brother. The one thing he has never been able to face, regardless of how much he has tried to do so.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7kxUszFj9
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He wants to say something—anything—but words just won’t come. He feels utterly intimidated and exposed before this stranger; before this redhead whose lips quirk up in the barest traces of a smile, her shoulders relaxing.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ28tSAZiav
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“Come on, there’s a café down the street, we can talk there.” She does not wait for a reply, simply reaching out and taking a hold of his sleeve—and as she pulls him towards the escalators, Sasuke feels an unexplainable sense of déjà vu.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3RElk2Cio
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“Let me go,” he mutters, though he can’t find it in himself to oppose any resistance. “I can walk by myself.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxp7MoZUpJj
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She does not let go of him.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw08fhsmxpP
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And the déjà vu only worsens.
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“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH3dQdqU1kI
“Huh?! Why should I go anywhere? I’m in charge of this place!”
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“They started… around 3 months ago, I think,” the girl—Karin—says, after the waitress has brought them their respective orders; Sasuke, a black coffee, Karin, a cappuccino with amaretto.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWWoO5aJT7
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“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChqb1fUQIC
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“Yeah, the dreams,” Karin agrees, taking a sip of her coffee and giving him a pointed look over the brim of the cup. “At first they were sporadic. Just once every few nights or so, but then I started to get them every night… every single night.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2sjrN28s8
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“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKNHe89lqU
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“Not all of them,” she retorts thoughtfully, if not a little defensively; but then she shrugs. “But you were always there.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfazxTwHTTo
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“Doing what, exactly?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoICszcgqW
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“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7EL4MlUJb
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“…A ninja?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Gtmgb5CnA
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“Yeah. A very powerful one, at that. Don’t—” she warns, before Sasuke could have the chance to interrupt with a snide remark. “I know how ridiculous it sounds, but it’s the truth.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1QeJHIuC1
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He crosses his arms with an eye roll. “That still does not explain how you knew about the dinosaur.” Just mentioning the toy makes a wave of embarrassment wash over him, but he tries to keep at bay and not let it show.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2b60o806kM
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Karin smiles, and the gesture looks sour. “Not every dream took place in the same world, Sasuke. Those—the ones where we were shinobi, those were the firsts, and also the most recurrent. But I have seen you as you are, too. And as you were.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnp4tIwxV29
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“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESIMUosybz
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It’s her turn to cross her arms. “Tch, you already know, don’t you? You’re smart, Sasuke. Don’t take me for a fool.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANeebvizVb
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Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBYalRzLaSP
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Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWGLSS7L9X
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Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWO42IqfUEK
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“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAP8xN1SeT
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“Stop,” Sasuke demands, his patience running thin at being lectured by a complete stranger. “Stop talking as if you know me, Karin. You don’t.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtjp5oE2p7
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“Actually, I do,” Karin shoots back without missing a beat, her red eyes steadily holding his even despite his threatening glare. “And from the looks of it, I know you better than you know yourself—stay there, Sasuke,” she stresses, and his glare only intensifies. He hadn’t even had the enough time to move a muscle. “I am not finished yet.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UXKtRXQ6I
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“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jUXACIB1a
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Karin blinks at him and then promptly snorts. “The you in my dreams was nicer to be around, I’ll give you that.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4l1ALDQlA
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He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMEfAWyScL
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But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rnJWSZLyI
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“I know why you’re so afraid of losing your parents, someday.”
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“Shhh” she coos, cradling his trembling form in her arms and making him sink his face on her chest. It’s her favorite new shirt and it’s getting soaked and soiled by his tears and the soot, but her heart is too busy breaking over him and his pain and her mind is too shaken by the explosion and the death—by the smell of burnt flesh, by the screaming figures of his parents and brother as they were consumed by the fire.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQla8IBHyxP
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“Shhh, Sasuke, it will be alright,” she isn’t sure if she believes what she is saying. Not when there are tears beginning to leak from her own eyes and dripping onto his hair—not when his sobs twist her soul and worsen the despair. Why did this have to happen to them? Why did they have to—? “I promise you, it will be alright, we will get through this.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3vnYpiNJO
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They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3wlHrKm0i
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“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZQouxMxWh
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“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRsVK9kzx3
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Despite her bravado her voice breaks at the end and Sasuke clutches her shirt—holds onto her for dear life and hastily pulls her together again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwn2PHQLkXW
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“I promise.”
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Sasuke fists his hands to prevent them from shaking as his very soul seemed to be doing. He sets his jaw, tries to regularize his breathing and his pulse—tries to not show any signs of inward struggle.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0z2I5nKMTu
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No that it would make much of a difference, since Karin was deliberately keeping her attention elsewhere. She had barely looked at him from the moment she started to tell him all she knew—all she had seen—about his parents, and weren’t he so troubled by everything he heard, he would have realized he was thankful for her tact.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIja6t58VGb
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As things were, however, his brain was having troubles assimilating Karin’s words; how his parents had died over and over again. Killed by his brother (by his brother, out of all people! What kind of bullshit was that?), in an accident, in a fire—Sasuke had tuned out, then. The images such stories enticed were too vivid, too troubling—they made the hairs on his arms stand on end, made cold droplets of sweat roll down his neck.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxIN4hsbif7
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Everything was preposterous, absolutely unbelievable—and even then he could not dismiss a word she had said, even though he desperately wanted to. Something in the way she had spoken—in the way her voice had quivered, her stare grave and set on her lap—and even more so, something in the things she had known; habits that Mikoto and Fugaku had and that no one but him and Itachi would know about, made her words all the harder to shake off.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQguummtrZt
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So he aims for the next best thing—he tries to push the thought aside and latches onto another one, one that has slowly but surely been demanding his attention.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPJNG4lBBM
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“… Where do you fit into all that?” he murmurs, and has to swallow to help ease his dry throat. “Why is it you, and not me, who is having these dreams?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2lZ45MNqqt
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The ghost of a smile touches her lips, “I don’t know. I guess it’s because you’ve closed yourself off, again,” it fades. “You always close yourself up.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tLZKpgTQQ
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He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphSe6OnjvS
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Karin hardens her expression, her eyes squarely meeting his own. “In that first world, I was your teammate. In the second, I was your friend. In the third, your lover.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclIkopL5kQ
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Sasuke cannot really help the way he feels his throat clog up, his cheeks warm. So he fakes a cough, looks away; “And this is the fourth?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdc5NXpDkfB
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Karin shrugs, unfazed.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3gH3rWCu0
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“I don’t know, I guess there may be more. I haven’t remembered them yet, though.” Her voice lowers, “…I don’t know if I want to, either.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpKX0lCKGP
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That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRXAIvSVnF
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“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmwgl3YCvY
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Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXxnmHFJXy
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For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5H9NTCmecF
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“...You.”
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There is lighting prickling her skin and piercing her chest; it has missed her heart by an inch, a miracle improbable enough to be deliberate—but one that is a curse in disguise, for his eyes do not miss the mark.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2Asp8RIOp
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They hit the bulls-eye dead on its center, and she feels it freeze and then wither and die, disintegrating into a worthless pile of ashes that, with every single word he says, scatter like the wind—never to be recovered again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrw5DMe1kU
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“Karin… the moment you were taken hostage, you became an encumbrance.”
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She leans her head on her propped up palm, and the pair of red eyes that were fixed into his look sage and tired all of a sudden. “…But I guess it never made much of a difference.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5olhqgxba
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZpGwjbygK
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVNwD4rnsS
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuYH5TWDba
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHxDxnHXIu
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4yH8d3RJV
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmV8aUJ6DT5
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMUKnjbnwm
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVmkcBbatJ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHpraJGLa6c
“Always.”
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvtBa6tUb2
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqZWv9fncb
It happens on a rainy night.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27D30NOUYy
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9GKOcUm3w
The rain had started pouring out of nowhere. What a minute ago had been a clear sky became a gray maze of plump clouds and then thick, cold droplets of rain had started to cascade down over the town.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2PAC8XCqyM
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQN7mjJ72I
Ever so slowly, the crowded street was left almost empty; for the exception of a few pedestrians who had been keen enough to bring an umbrella with them.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGwL4v3eve
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4euzpZXjh
She hadn’t been.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVKI42oXSe
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5WFIqIObFX
As the traffic light begins to turn, she dashes out from under the improvised shelter of an awning only to stop dead in her tracks—in her haste, she had not realized the light included an advanced left-turn signal.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡego23Sie8T
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlU9QSNbGuW
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSlNeuY9MP
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPvt8WyHlF
Startled, the girl flickers her gaze upward only to find a dark-haired business man casually speaking into his cellphone, his eyes focused on the traffic light ahead. Their arms are touching, the warmth of his body seeping through to hers despite the long sleeves of his expensive-looking cloak, and she finds her cheeks warming up, her heart quickening at the unexpected gesture of kindness.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGL1tIu40t2
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTa1hZfYUT
The light changes and he moves ahead without hesitation, with the same kind of firm grace with which he had come to shelter her—and she is so transfixed by him that she almost forgets she is supposed to walk, too.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OFPDVZgOe
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gwLfVtTya
When they get to the other side of the street, the business man wordlessly leads her to an awning and then parts ways with her, not once glancing at her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2Supf9bWP
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaeijmGDf8
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VbNV7cvQQ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUigi7Z0lEc
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeJ43mo1fk
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ng0BfgoXg
“Hey, you! Wait!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cssiJx53T
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhYeimZ1p5
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRk28XrKB1
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4Q0DLVVpy
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3cp6OxUDZO
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0JJRrqBtb
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpmkYHISsR
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9bczOmqdm
“… It’s nothing,” he states, and though his words are nothing but an astonished murmur she hears them loud and clear over the thunders. “And it doesn’t seem to have helped much.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOKvfuLmXq
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHXRNWQfEa
Her blush worsens under his pointed look, but the hint of amusement in those deep eyes of his edges her on. “I-I know of a good café down the street. If you aren’t in a hurry, how about I invite you something while we wait for the rain to let up?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqqvceXnTG
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2DgTrEJVP
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQ6kOV7PXZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7bjUoNrNAH
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlJw1ImaNG
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rDGOGgilg
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqK9NkGU8j7
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRA9u4F4pM
By the time they place their orders, she is already in love with him.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xtAIGC8w1
He thinks that maybe he should be surprised, but the truth is that he isn’t.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLDcehJlAT
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NS8y846VV
Somehow, it felt like he had been waiting for it—waiting to see her walking through that door, ever since they had parted ways at that Café a little over a week ago.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkA5Rv162P4
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPULn6gz7NG
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wSrl09J4A
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDq191n5tVA
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApfqUDE5E4
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7H2D7H7XSM
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltUzw9RS45
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShI80uhpiw
“Oh, don’t be so conceited, Sasuke,” Karin waves a hand, puts the other on her hip and sways to the side. The movement is every bit of a taunt as it is sensual, and Sasuke finds himself blushing like a preschooler as a recurrent memory slips itself uninvited into his mind again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMV7r9I1Vwj
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFHCfy3NOS
'Always'.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffNtEE9rcL
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhf5YJ9qO2
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0d2zvQLIPW
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdb6k0YfNB
“Huh?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJj1JgE1trI
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbBP2S1aU8
She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dgETJboUC
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdimjxStXa
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrjB3o3EpV
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIihRjRvSP
“You are a terrible liar, Sasuke,” she remarks, and suddenly her face lights up. “Hey, did I tell you about the time I was a lie-detector and—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdsnleVqkmw
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQKeeSrdJO
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9FIsiUSy3
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6IrkcxGlg
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHXOhh26i2
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTxgjm9xyX
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeYKXhezf6
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrakEqAEBC6
Damn her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2FSkRggcZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2aH2a87exO
“Talk to Nara on the second floor, he will give you your contract. And Karin—not a word to anyone about… about—” he refused to say us. There wasn’t an us. “—about what you told me. Understood?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSCK9l3ATF
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtON1CJSdT1
She does a mock salute, “Right, Uchiha-san!” and Sasuke massages his temple, wondering what had made him agree to give her the job in the first place.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqOE3iKL61
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuodhe5AchW
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyM94EQFfXZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtV2FIxm4NX
“Cheer up, Sasuke,” and Sasuke can catch a glimpse of her playful smirk before she closes the door behind her. “This isn’t the first time we work together, you know?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoWuywyh7q
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFIhfcSXOe
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
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“I brought you the papers you requested,”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivJ8BMPSAe
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHsNOy9TZh
She has barely finished the sentence when he has her pressed against the door and is claiming her mouth with his own, his hands roaming across her back and then down as she skillfully locks the door.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkV0wZ7qIm
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmbWnxMGfX
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0za9im9xkO
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhGDf8Zjm2
“Who cares,” he retorts, his voice a throaty murmur that worsens the heat settled in the lower part of her abdomen, “let them watch if they want.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxyS6KWwcMl
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpIMYQG2zU
“Hmmm that’s kinky,” she teases, and her blood boils as he raises his face from her belly in order to give her a roguish look.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRbkg2GfpD
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFxE7HRGgA
“Any complains?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2od8ekSaG
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDtIuKpUvfO
“Yeah… stop teasing me and get on with—ahh” she moans, her nails scrapping at the door as his head gets lost inside her skirt, his hands spreading her thighs apart.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNr4ejT4inp
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjZcG1xFqy
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuDnUqTfYly
“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeEfEtlkU7
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZjVYbQjFd
The waitress nods and leaves—but not without giving Sasuke a hurt look from underneath her long lashes. He hopes Karin will let it slide; so of course Karin does exactly the opposite, her slim eyebrows arched high.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5I1iEjyHy
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5Hidl3j7a
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdmQgLKB92
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyr1GijHjW4
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpbPmynsEh
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5ofQVwmGD
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsoNLcE9G0S
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIF1R1txrJ
'Always'.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTEi388PyK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfpjLimh3r
Against his better judgment, he can feel all too easily the way his cheeks start to warm up. What was up with him and blushing around this girl? He was never like this, ever.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5KevYS8NO
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEX5mrQm96
“Whatever,” he ends up taking the easy way out. Sitting across from him, Karin pouts, leans her chin on her hand and lazily waves a finger in his face.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmIruiaBxo
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wvSDYE5IV
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13U1cvSmAK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcy0YRvHtYN
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaveWwd2yKN
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFs3UFXtQO
“Right, right,” she sighs, and her faked annoyance swiftly gives way to a leer. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see you so interested in us, but it wouldn’t hurt to focus on the current us.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttnMlFwLrh
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwph1m4fNmN
“Karin.”
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNjVT90YrS
“This is enough for today, thank you for your cooperation, Karin,” she knows better than to give weight to his agreeable words. The way he doesn’t even look at her, too busy being transfixed by her blood instead, says everything she needs to know.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO846MbBSKt
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKln9QxdTY
So she recoils when he reaches out to bandage her—scowls, sidesteps him and stumbles her way out of the room, hating herself for the numbness in her legs.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRm7CnWg9Y
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1qA8AKZdl
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXa4HpBbkj
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOxcEmLH9V
He is leaning against the wall, arms crossed against his chest—and then her knees give up and he is draping her arm around his neck and helping her walk, revealing the bandages held in his hands.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzWT6w6ZYK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4g22kQPniI
“…I can walk by myself, Sasuke,” she lies, but he does not let go and she lets herself lean a little closer. Close enough to feel the dampness in his side. She looks down and finds blood—and then she is glaring at him from behind her half-lidded eyes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9ZqJNYXoh
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVXMK5vJVC
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMO9UJrSaT
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡciwxWx5Vuq
“You can’t heal anyone in your current state, Karin,” came his reply, calm and even despite the open wound in his side, and Karin hates the fact that he is right.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwaMlEQk5r6
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2JqiedSsD
“…You should’ve gone to bandage yourself, Sasuke. I don’t need you to babysit me,” she says faintly, both embarrassed and touched at once.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9GiyCmh3X
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAk7fnB7NLu
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblCn4iI2Bm
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKNGdYjrqr
“What?” she snaps.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeYUeCxmXw
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoqqMPB20l
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TrPOEJUHX
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5exhjswc7h
She frowns, but her cheeks go red. She has a feeling she knows where he is going with this. “Tch, what is that supposed to mean?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYt9PNa1ga
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94b522pK0e
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPG6IQLDXNt
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrwBuhtOzh
And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAYFOZjeeBQ
“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDeMEjwEmB
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWWkujeHKu
Sasuke can’t hold back an eye-roll as Karin politely declines; this was the fifth time in a row, and he didn’t know what surprised him more—Karin’s sudden faultless manners, or the lengths to which his mother was going to please her. Hell, one would think it was the redhead’s birthday rather than his.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkzwTNMor4
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIgE1AnjQ0
“Don’t be like that, little brother,” the voice comes from behind him, and is accompanied by a hand that affectionately ruffles his hair. “You know it’s not often that mother gets to attend a girl.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsyzm5hqOA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZItGq9OIA
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rVgS2mecj
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJz8c4JwU5
“Probably when you stop acting like one,” chimes in a female voice, and Sasuke sends her an airy look as Itachi chuckles behind him. He was definitely starting to regret having brought her along; what had he been thinking?601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE49Ryg1RSk
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrmc3XVVk8
He does not get to say it aloud however, as Karin is now looking at Itachi with curious eyes. “Don’t tell me this is Sasuke’s first time bringing a girl home?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1T2ucZROl
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1nKHiLZo1
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkDQAUpie0
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDmGUPtZqS
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOm4Thvd2I
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FWVduZnJY
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaoLlbilPy
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fKzF7mFfk
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBTMBEgx4h
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxZVLkn2YZ
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ46DcR3KuK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBGriB1obc
“I would say that more than that, what is so remarkable is that this is the first time he brings home a girl who isn’t his girlfriend.” Itachi comments, his tone kind but knowing—and as Karin looks away from the older Uchiha and towards Sasuke, giving him a look that seemed to be clearly flaunting a oh, is that so? Sasuke airily looks away.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5kOAn8Jrf
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7V6MT2hFlR
Damn you, brother.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmjlhwOWjB
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUaE7FILWv
“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBgh4rOLbZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoZZnztKll
A twinkling laughter resounds through the room, effectively cutting the argument short; and the three of them turn only to find Mikoto standing by the doorway, a tray of biscuits in her hands and a happy beam in her beautiful face.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkOxz96flha
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcWNLG9RIJ
“It seems you three are having fun,” she merrily observes, graciously moving to leave the tray on the tea-table. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen Sasuke enjoy himself this much.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYds1o9LugZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyw7qZcRa8g
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMO0t0Ti5qk
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdA2M2pzQCG
But his indignant mutter remains promptly ignored as Mikoto takes Karin’s hands in hers and gives her a glowing smile. “You’re good for my son, Karin-chan.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYtvhpXNEa
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0JPNlqFqG
For a moment, the room is submerged in silence—even Karin herself is rendered speechless, and while in any other circumstance Sasuke would have reveled in seeing the girl this flustered—widened eyes, a pink hue in her cheeks—the truth is this time, it only adds to his own awkwardness.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5GBS5lyco
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqV3CWtMMiZ
“… Mother, you just met her,” he lamely ends up saying once he has found his voice, but he sounds more astonished than reproaching; and Mikoto rewards him with a thoughtful smile before setting her gaze back on Karin.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8m0LhKSS0
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6stojoWu0Z
“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcbA63ktNA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1qL88hPgv
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Zy4JuIU9S
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwURj17LhM
Wordlessly, Sasuke and Karin seek each other’s eyes across the room—and he wishes he wasn’t aware of the way he was slowly starting to mirror her smile.
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“It’s so stupid,” she assesses, looking at the field with apparent disinterest, “I mean, running like idiots after a ball, really? Pft, where’s the fun in that?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuodizqb1u
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESCZ8xPSNd
Sasuke would have been inclined to agree; if only he were listening to what she was saying. Instead, he has found himself distracted from his own homework by the way the sun seemed to be lighting her hair just so—by the way her ponytail exposed the stark whiteness of the nape of her neck; by the way she absentmindedly bit on her pencil from time to time as she read, brows furrowed in confusion or eyes light up with understanding—and she would tilt her head to the side then, stick her chin out with self-satisfaction—and Sasuke—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdf20AQnshs
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgfXlzxkgy
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjchsZSuVQR
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9AS9BvFUD
But Sasuke doesn’t get to hear it, because his body is too busy being pulled to her like a moth to a flame and his brain is too busy shutting down as his lips meet hers. She freezes, and he is too much of a novice so the kiss isn’t much of a kiss—but he doesn’t quite mind.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKna6ntR49L
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eh2zH75xS
When he leans back he finds Karin staring at him, point-blank. He figures that perhaps he should try and say something; but he doesn’t feel the need to, so he just licks the lip-gloss off his lips instead.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9GmSo76LC
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGx5zD8yFxD
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyGXb6emuc
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTUtYYJvyP
And then she is grinning.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucVcAcveT9
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT52Y3vCbha
“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8c532zHAA5
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvavSzSvJ4
He can’t help but smile back. “I almost did, yesterday,” he reveals, as he carefully takes her glasses off. “And the day before that. And the one before that.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BVAU77IJl
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyU0DgaieN
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sbLNfx6KA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvWl37oOHj
“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMjKNVw4vw
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3HFGAvbsQ
“Not a chance,” their noses touch and her voice lowers to a mere brush of air against his lips, “…it’s too fun to watch you squirm.”
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“You won’t find anything better for a more reasonable price, I assure you, Uchiha-san. This is the absolute best—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpODVmj3YGP
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46Slmj1KQq
He goes on and on, but the words of the realtor start to become nothing but background noises as Sasuke’s gaze is caught by Karin’s vibrant red hair.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgeU8vinYA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnD3uPv47Wp
“Excuse me.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGcAclzkMO
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡseJ1Ezo58k
Not waiting for a reply, Sasuke makes his way to the windowsill; Karin was standing in front of it, her eyes closed and her face showered by the rays of the sun filtering in through the glass. It occurs to him then that he has never seen her looking so serene—so at peace with herself and the world. So taken is he by the realization, that he does not notice he has stopped breathing until Karin’s eyes flutter open and she smiles at him.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyGUJdo8cE
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZdHAR3nIc
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡem6e4mxr3s
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyN5J8nc8NU
Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2zwI0tehz
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfw41kW8Gu
He could feel it, too.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYOAhNvcKf
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNoXstJijf
Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVNV7MdAiO
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EJsfjZOT6
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
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She can hardly believe it.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwKfQ3qDKm
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37S0NlVcEP
Can hardly believe this. That the guy she once chased down a street in the pouring rain is holding her in his arms, his head sunk in her neck as he breathes in the scent of her hair.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMulJLTR6a
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwKREF0wGO
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgPn0x8UFa
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIgQtOH3WS
Her kind businessman had turned out to be a gentleman through and through; smooth, reliable and above all, capable. He was everything she wanted in a man and then some; and to top it all off, he seemed to be as crazy about her as she was about him.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoAMUP8epD
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMud4YzFNo
Now that she thought about it, it seemed more like something straight out from a dream rather than a mere drama. The thought makes her giggle, and she feels him smile against her neck, his arms holding her just a little bit closer so that she has to readjust her own hold around his neck.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58GZrvQgPQ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZE09YVL7X3
“What’s so funny?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMdoZcwYkQ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZXcTQFZPa
She tells him; because even though the thought is childish, she has learnt that she does not have to keep anything from him. She trusted him with even the most embarrassing and ridiculous sides of her; those she wouldn’t show to anyone else.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsminVGKUhc
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRcOgoi4ZT
“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HUE8bGRfw
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1OSYNmo3P
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJf5ZH33sZa
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfm9oxPWZYP
The line would have sounded corny in anyone else’s lips, but in his it sounds just like it is—a statement. A truth being bluntly spoken as he caresses her cheek and looks into her eyes with the barest traces of a smile.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJhiRE1vSg
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsShLzd0rYM
She has barely begun to smile back when he is sinking his face on her hair again and brushing his lips against her ear—“And you are mine.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NrEmT7pJB
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRTnBEM8qo
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6y1qI5SJ0Z
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUibcRTHxs
“S-asuke—” she chokes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYjHF4ivfL
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9k2XU7hByu
But he does not listen.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErdx5fR82x
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01HQ4vxH3a
“…mine.”
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6itPToB9UO
She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGle5VAnMg8
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw64Cyq0kVK
“Sewing again?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoal5wqUN8O
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjsxTjm7JKy
“Not my fault you have so many clothes,” is his simple reply as he continues to work the needle and the thread, slowly-but surely creating what would be a white and red fan.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ472rUKE0xo
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3OAEQI3nP
Her fingers come to play with his hair, pulling and twisting some strands of raven black; “I don’t get why you do it manually, Sasuke. Sewing machines exist just for this kind of thing, in case you forgot.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiFrYq3F63
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKs5LNQmhw
“I told you, Karin. It’s an Uchiha tradition, it’s supposed be done manually.” His voice is as light as her warm breathing against his neck, and they remain like that—he calmly sewing, she silently watching—until she suddenly straightens.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIDZoujvW5
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nufIZiLAL
“Where are you going?” he can’t help but ask, and hopes the way he is already missing her doesn’t seep into his voice.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrstZTAkkS
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TeYriZEso
“For the sewing kit,” comes her matter-of-fact reply, and surprised, Sasuke arches one eyebrow. “Since I’m becoming an Uchiha myself, I may as well learn, right?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEfy5OUDAn
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9oHRPf3DHg
She shoots him a playful smirk that looks too much like a smile before leaving the room, and Sasuke cannot help the way his pulse quickens at its sight.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkPPZN4Zdf
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzzlKSbpOL
And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZYPXqi2zO
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfa7OA9J9B4
But it’s just, back then—he had never thought someone could actually make him this happy.
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“Stop doing that, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhRHvN7OvSq
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“Doing what?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQCU75npuJ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKyDODmURu
“This—making me happy,” her eyes are stern as she looks at him, but he does not take her honesty as seriously as he probably should.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEaYkUuXms
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“Or what?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7Mt1qh4wn
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtvnW7YBpV
“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdhZqD0S3e
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCq1IAg2zsK
She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUC5YxHs1k
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmuUOhJpph
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvb0FPmElV
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZIeHBcR8A
His naked form is gone before she can gather herself enough to reply; gone to the living room of the luxury-hotel-room to call for room service—and as she hears his voice drifting over to her from the other room, Karin digs her nails into her palms.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItABOJVdcs
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqidoWrMEOJ
She was alone in the room, his suitcase forgotten on a nearby chair and his laptop on the table—she knows his passwords; has the knowledge and tools to get through what she does not know, and above all, she has the time to do so.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJxAPk3V5Z
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sxmv50qxj
Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjp6XyQlr4Z
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquS9wLPPMH
By the he would come back into the room and make love to her again, it would be too late for him; and he wouldn’t suspect a thing.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1O0LVHJExT
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ExeLO7Iw0
She could get away with it, if she were to go through it. She should go through it. This is what they sent her for—this is what she is getting paid for, not for screwing the target all night long.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1FFpxMxiN
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAK6Jv161W6
She sighs, lays back down on the bed and thinks of his pathetic attempt at a smirk. It makes it easier to forget her duties, to forget the papers she should be revising, the documents she should be hacking into—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3IR8gS17F
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5hyhjb7bu
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hzsqOhCPo
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And, really—who would have thought that a monster like Uchiha Sasuke was capable of making a face like that?
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Sasuke was just putting a plate aside when the sound of porcelain breaking reaches his ears.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hcdkKxGZ0
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJK4ppIDjpR
With a start, he turns only to find Karin crouched on the ground, her feet surrounded by tiny pieces of what had just been one of her favorite sets of dishes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvPxTR7prQ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUCyjPEuSa
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaW5dC142kG
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxP6glyFwn
“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkkxtu7KV5
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnBnCvSmuv
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsPfp5jXVd
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1A4rqSOFu
“I told you, it’s fine.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kQoZE8V9P
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQDTE9bsaU
He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6w11irJQpF
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9beQ5gr8j
But the words freeze in his throat as Karin yelps and slaps away the hand he had been about to reassuringly place on her shoulder.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJmxEp0F3hK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zqQLGudAg
For a long moment, all they do is stare at each other—Sasuke staggered by Karin’s frightened eyes, by the raw fear contorting her features—and then the moment ends and Karin is standing up and taking a loud breath.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0JFM7AwII
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yI0u2DtUW
“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMxLXx2sSl
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkPo6GOkvX
Her voice is even, but Sasuke knows her better than that; and so he can’t bring himself to watch her as she leaves the kitchen.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9rbayJkTA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ761cac7Afy
He doesn’t know what he would do if he were to see that same fright reflected in her eyes again.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6pddlSn3U
She jolts back as the lights go on and the shadows melt away into an all too familiar figure—one that is sitting on the one-man couch and that tilts his head to the side, dark bangs falling across his face and eyes as black as abysses centered on her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWmrlbG1p8H
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGLNsOUSG9
“S-sasuke, what—?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡva4xogcYJi
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22lqZdJPbF
“Where were you, Karin?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfkPgYMscP
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxp9fuzcKnB
His question is smooth and steady; placid, even. Except that Karin knows him well enough; has gotten to know this side of him—this terrifying side of him, twisted and manipulative, brutally honest in order to hurt rather than to please—well enough lately. Enough to be able to see beyond and into the brewing storm.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPgwMA4c0m
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It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVWyhqqq9e
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But she holds her ground.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gKR860Ukd
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4EA4qlfMT
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4VvcmGeyM
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitSjDFPpXV
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWr8TeouZGi
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiCfvah2QD
It is trying to keep her voice and hands from shaking that she says the truth. “I was out with the girls, Sasuke—but we were just eating and talking! We did nothing w—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIvDCe5pSv
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5X2OkW0PNZ
“Then why didn’t you say so from the start, Karin?” she freezes, like a deer caught in headlights—and then lowers his eyes. Slowly, Sasuke stands. “… Do you not trust me, Karin? Do you think I do not trust you? Is that it?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc13ypzmwJg
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZvvBk0yob
“Sasuke, I—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLNfV3sywY
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgnnjMetkQ
“Because I do, Karin,” he is standing before her now, his hand lovingly caressing her face, his eyes warm—and though Karin knows better, her body remains as loyal to him as ever and it betrays her; closing its eyes and leaning into the touch. “I trust you, because I love you. Do you not love me, Karin?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCjD1pBKoG
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJMMormXxA
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6ULU5Qwkh
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6sbfU7CRB
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLIK9DgXsS
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKoZgc3stJ
Her eyes snap open—and the Sasuke that greets them is once again back to being rough oceans and thunderstorms. “You’re better than them, Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLjJ6riqFs
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXQyOzDG1z
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmHmqs1i1q
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQWVxiCND1
She comes to regret her words almost immediately, as his features snap into a mad grimace and his hand shots to her wrist, grasping it tightly enough to make her yelp—“And I not enough for you, Karin?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXbeNvctfn
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhTiaYwkIn
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVmzIoBa60
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VpSMS42Kq
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpylECP2AR5
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5uF3E0DUS
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoUKK0pD6N
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSRrsOzYll
His features relax and his hands come to cup her cheeks again, a soft, almost child-like smile in his lips. Innocent enough to trick anyone.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZwBBUuP0P
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjliIN0c53J
Even himself.
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjuGmqBOMb
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluUlioUTNg
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3saRs11DdW
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJgMCla9LU
“Karin, about yesterday….” He trails off, figures he will give her the chance to own up to what happened by herself, rather than attempting to play the game of pretend like she has been doing all day.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjog6MHSUzr
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddUrSjsoH7
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy32nrhBvCl
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDummPu4EB8
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GSMKDd0BZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHP4S0uuL3u
It takes him a few moments before he is able to gain control of the ominous feeling pooling in his stomach; the one making it hard to speak.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TzCNukKme
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kOWNyzCZU
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWecGi0AkE
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoRSCHsKy6
Karin’s hands pause for half a second—and then she is moving the chopsticks again, her lips curving in a mystifying smile that does not reach her eyes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡliQqSxjV7g
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGO7E85wsnc
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAlRhqunFW
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnmBIhV3rY
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaygM6NqIxM
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpKqvCHv4G
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBvGWQcFwP
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklVI9W9iug
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcb0b6vInVe
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGDLFh5lyt
In this case, it is both at once.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1aC6OEM3BO
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Iioe2pljj
A redheaded toddler pulls him along to play on the backyard; a young girl holds him as he weeps for his parents and brother; a teenager kissing the raspberry lipstick off his lips.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4gaf0SfiT
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW570UJXrkS
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ855lsQkjaP
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGEnmrfMri
Broken promises.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOkt0ix0mth
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xyAZyglOi
A call. A funeral.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YNaqb2QVR
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnq0w94qsPO
And tears.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN1kngPNHbp
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxSdcVoV6d
Heartbreak.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqZGPOyun5
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfaRhJ3rIB
Loneliness.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQVqE96wqg
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxMQqDpukz
…then there was nothing else.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi08mEon2Rb
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdB3GjmAnCc
And then there was everything all over again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaa7cqY1Cv
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXFjU1fg7L
Rinse and repeat over and over; relieving both the good and the bad, but not feeling the sunlight warm nor the pain sting. It was like a movie etched on his corneas—he saw it over and over whenever he had his eyes open, whenever he had his eyes closed. And by now he has seen it enough times to know every turn, every scene—and yet he can’t stop.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUVUA4Q56Z
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHcDMHOm2mO
He can’t stop.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UUuAipcFA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7zsTKQnWP
He does not want to.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5RWb9fTTv
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwK5POi7Z2H
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJINyL7yLVC
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6A8qHClzuy
The door creaks open.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoP0oowazk
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFaBg0eEbF
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUh1fylancn
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqE67rnP9b
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡelthNme27a
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEV7zBSY5lx
(“I’ll see you around… Sasuke,” comes her goodbye—and then there is a whirlwind of colors and images as the roll film reels back to their beginning.)601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGBTZM610P
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxj18CeV0D
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1rYEzfDXu
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiIx8eUg9y
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLAIFOUKe8
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOZ2wfCZzz
When the first rays of the sun slip through the open curtains, Sasuke awakens only to find that it was one of those rare days when Karin has woken up first.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQKTwyGX2Y
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQv3KtOc2JM
For a blissful moment, he is ignorant; forgetful. He does not remember how weird she has been acting, does not remember the silences from the past couple of days—and so he is about to tease her about waking up so early when he realizes there was something very, very wrong—and any drowsiness is suddenly yanked from underneath him like a rug.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXvUnCmaTrA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTROf3fbN2h
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AS7FKhR7B
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMNFfg3Xhy
For an excruciatingly long moment, Sasuke is frozen in place—at a complete loss as to what to do. This was the first time he has ever seen Karin cry, and the sight makes an ugly feeling curl up in his gut.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡignU2Kbu8z
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWUWRKy1DO
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7ap65T3d1
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6cXPk2yol
She does not react—gives no signs of having heard him, and Sasuke is filled with a sense of foreboding so potent that it robs him of his breathing.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTckTpe2W1
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVz8qXEvChd
And then she parts her lips.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DaNf7ZuHg
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmsEitJHeE
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzY2l5nNy0S
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJje51Yll6M
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3cTIixKhL
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquaEC80QDB
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3JDa2OEzS
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡERnSvcjxeN
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRdVmmm1vQ
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9t0obufDdG
She chokes on a distraught sob as she gathers his body in her arms, his blood seeping into her shirt and tainting it as crimson as her hair.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0VcD316PE
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyCfoIj2NO
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkUkP8EkSq
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdbfhmSFdx
“And you weren’t supposed to kill him! This was my job!” she growls, her sight blurry by unleashed tears—and despite it she can still clearly see the apathy in her coworker’s face.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLxWAbVaUS
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KrSy5NPQa
It makes something in her tightly clench.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSD1iWAetY
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVcsjXqp8C
“Hn, you took too long. We couldn’t keep waiting for you to remember your roots. Did you forget you’re a spy, Karin? You’re trained for riding the world of bastards like these.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0bzLqUxGM
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJNfiWiBK7
And then he distastefully kicks him—he kicks Sasuke’s side, as if he were nothing but a sack of bones and skin—and something in her snaps.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bA7w4GDb3
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPLgkZFz1x
She is taking her gun out and blowing his brains out before he has got time to even think—and as the body falls to the ground with a sick thud, Karin wipes off her tears—smearing her cheeks with Sasuke’s blood—and loads the gun again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAUz6rKyyZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUlIDtaBw3
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7Bak8vbYr
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1eGdD8jq8
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pNcPQwOD5
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5h9sdT273t
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37o7MRz4oy
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqgtovG5Hm
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxvCGSHf7M5
He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64D4wXIik8
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPYZlm9Aad
Her yells are shrill and terrified; and they do not stop, no matter how much he shakes her, how much he calls out to her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe46lSNuXqT
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4mNgUwKIr
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuc4ouqGdba
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1iV8hEbPV
“Sasuke, no—!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPlIp5GFRp
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1svikkXSx
“Karin! Karin, wake up!” he has her seized by her shoulders, but Karin trashes in his hold; so he brushes the bangs off her forehead instead, trying to soothe her nightmares with his touch. “It’s fine, I’m here, I won’t let anyone hurt—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8xFKRYLLY
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCPd8wu2fA
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpXIgRkMwY
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4erCvhqyNo
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tkiWfBGf0
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5t89vGOdk
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSI8tthdF09
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPj1mjVbtw
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMJ5AEiaoN
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6U3L35Am6
He leans back; backs off the bed and steps into the cold floor, his mind whirling—and it’s then a memory sneaks into his conscious. Uninvited, and terrible with the clarity it brings him.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpboCeHIdK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdgw1jdLFT
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGr92NgjdDq
‘What weren’t?’601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr56EVZhYWk
‘...You.’601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJVjqU0V5a
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTZ2st3iNU
The thought makes trepidation mercilessly grip his heart—and he can do nothing but helplessly watch as Karin twists and turns in her sleep, battling against ghosts he cannot see.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLe4PK5acpi
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtH53Ev7Vsn
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ817fpOkQ5v
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcsmd5S2ZV
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Rv1y1XiPy
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iXEcQpk0a
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqSilbPp06N
“You’re the only one for me,” he talks over her, as if she hadn’t said a word. And Karin cannot fight the shiver that runs down her spine as something cold is pressed to her ribcage, right in between her breasts. “That’s why… I must to do this.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4uhGmNAm6
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNh0ZgFgq0
“Sasuke,” her voice is hoarse, her eyes begging him to rethink this—to be reasonable. But Sasuke simply shakes his head and smiles an impossibly sad smile, his thumb tracing her bottom lip, which has started to quiver.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyflJsYQjYH
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0rAZA40fe
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYfVWmtLGm
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1y1nqR8s3s
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLKK2Hsfx9
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2vkrSyQSg
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWTyms5pfj
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWH32SKvGEQ
“What was I doing to you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡal0MdTeSZX
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFC8xD74sGE
“… I don’t remember.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaM7GarIPkL
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHT8aZAMCnf
Sasuke shuts his eyes close, his hands gripping the sheets. It would be so much easier to pretend to believe her; to pretend there was nothing wrong. To pretend he didn’t spend the whole night fighting the desperation gripping at his core as he watched her shake in her turmoil-filled sleep; longing for it to end, dreading what would happen once it did.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8wbXPcpXb
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zj5mmCDQW
But he has played that game long enough.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOZJYMo8b9
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfxpf73kdY
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbv7S3vNZW3
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUVgMOQRnu
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVa05yRq1T
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGwpHoxF5F
“I’m not lying, Sasuke… I can’t remember what I dreamed,” Karin whispers, and a shiver runs down his spine as she places her cold hand atop of his own; it was trembling. “…But I can remember the rest.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfjr7nsggu
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He is shaking, too—and so he uncurls his fists and entwines his fingers with hers, and makes the one request that would surely change everything.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3YHJJC9Ei
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“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7TupoLRYm
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Karin takes a deep breath, and Sasuke braces himself.
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The world seems to slow to a halt as she coughs up blood, the sword cleanly piercing her chest and stopping dangerously close to his own heart.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4ViBONsFV
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He can only stare, eyes wide, at the back of her head—the vibrant strands of hair tickling his face as she takes an involuntary step backward—and then there is a cold flush of liquid splaying all over his shirt as the sword is pulled out and she begins to crumble down like a leaf—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOki0XQTsP
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And her name leaves his lips in the form of a horrified call—one that is cut short by her strained smile.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kEPNgNvYn
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“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0N3ESVefwP
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“Stop talking, Karin,” he ushers, and his vision blurs. Despite it he thinks he sees her smile widening, and he cradles her closer to his chest, tries to ignore the blood seeping from her body at an alarmingly fast pace. “You need to save your strength, Sakura is c—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPe7FcQFLvB
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“Sa…suke,” and though her voice is nothing but a dying whisper, he is rendered silent at once. “Promise me… you won’t… die.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qNKRkv1t5
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His teeth clatter and sink on his lip, drawing blood—and suddenly he is yelling. “You are the idiot, Karin! Why?! Why would you do that for me? Did you forget what I did to you? I thought you said you wouldn’t! I thought you said you would—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdILGcaahQh
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“—make you… regret it… I know,” her smile looks like unleashed tears. “I admit… this… wasn’t exactly… what I had… in mind.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4j0ZKDKsm
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There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjflrfrJpHP
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She does, though—and her fingertips come to softly brush away the tears from the corner of his eyes, leaving telltale traces of crimson instead.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mgwB6l4zB
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“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUUiXX1JbA
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He knows at once what she means—but the memories feel light-years away; they are colored in grays and smeared with blood, and for the life of him—for the life of her—he cannot find it in himself the will to smile.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijf6g19yjF
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And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWprEU8JwU
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“See ya… Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUV9cYl5UfN
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Her hand drops and her body goes cold, and all his lips seem to be able to do is call her name—a name accompanied by lonesome apologies and regrets that would never get either of them anywhere.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiOXD2UTSB
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He never seems to be able to get anywhere, ever, not even when he is trying to—but if he could—if only he could do it all over again, he—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVptdwNda2
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Mere hours later, his body is the one to drop lifelessly to the ground—and it’s all over before he can realize the smile that grazes his lips.
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A terrible silence has descended upon them.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQeuNmp2pY
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He has retreated to the edge of the bed, his elbows sinking on his knees and his horrified face cradled in his shaking hands.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzD8ABOq4v
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“Why…?” and he does not know it, but it always seemed to come to this very question. “Why are you with me, despite all the things I’ve done to you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykf0PRzwtL
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Karin watches his desolated back and has a hard time swallowing the lump in her throat, “Because… they are not you, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxu54vqII1
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He says nothing in response—can not possibly wrap his mind around her words, Karin knows. And so she softly crawls to him and drapes her arms around his neck, leans her cheek on the side of his head, closes her eyes, and smiles.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviFwgNkNct
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“And, above all…”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMJJgzYNUv
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The smile is strained—but resolute. Serene. It says nothing and everything at once. And despite himself, Sasuke finds solace in her touch—his own hand coming to seize her own as her words carry over to him, a simple truth that at once gives him hope and clogs his throat with trepidation.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOt3vkCh3y
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“…Above all, I want to see how this one ends.”
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It happens a sunny morning as she trips and a bear lunges at her, its roar so deafening that she thought her head would burst before the beast would get to sink its teeth on her flesh.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEgJ1QwYzL
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Except that it doesn’t get to.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsVjB2iMqY
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And when she puts her glasses back on, her sight is met by a smile that would carve itself on her mind and set ablaze a flame that would burn just as strongly and lastingly as the eyes of the boy she would never, ever forget.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElhcw7urvr
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“See ya.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zfdgyMQrf
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This is what I give,601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvt0c5aTleY
A circle is complete.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMzfBPiD9g
Another circle spins601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhW7aCRSBuX
There's life within,601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXpkM7EZFx
Within
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end.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkZCzVm4Zg
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Ok! Now you guys should understand what I meant by the warnings at the beginning; I tried to make each SK set of reincarnations distinctly different from each other, both in personalities, dynamics, and backgrounds; so they indeed diverge from the Sasuke and Karin we're used to, as they have all grown in different environments. All the same, I tried to keep some traits of their canon personalities, so hopefully, they aren't absurdly OOC.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5tdPhZslyg
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That said~! The song used at the beginning is Kitade Nana’s Tsukihana, and the one at the end is Blue Foundation’s Bonfires. Now, onto random details about the fic~ there are five versions of SasuKarin total in the fic; the originals, and 4 pairs of reincarnations.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTje3IQjr1M
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The format of the fic didn’t allow me to expand and truly explain each particular set, so if you are curious about any of them drop me a comment and I’ll tell you their background and/or explain anything you may be wondering about~!601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizmnp9uVxi
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For now, though, I must mention a couple of things about the 4th SK pair (aka, the most controversial - the one with cute!Karin and businessman!Sasuke); their meeting (the umbrella thing) was completely inspired by a real-life story I read here, and overly-jealous-and-possessive-Sasuke was inspired by might 'Anyone's Ghost' SK AMV, here. I debated a bit about this version because it's kind of hard to imagine a Karin who would allow Sasuke to be that way with her; but then again, this particular Karin is less headstrong than the one we know and love. So I decided to leave it as it lol Also, his overdone “I love you(s)” and cheesiness, while sincere, were meant to be creepy and manipulative; I really hope they came out that way lol601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxAtPhdOst
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Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
ns216.73.216.176da2
