ONESHOT - SASUKARIN; 5 TIMES SASUKE FELL FOR KARIN
Back when I wrote 5 times Karin cried in front of Sasuke (and one time she didn't), I mentioned that I had in mind a piece following the same criteria but from Sasuke's POV - now, two years later, I've finally written it lol555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Seckz2s67
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOup2aX9vc
Title: 5 times Sasuke fell for Karin (and the one time he realized it)555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEzpuFrLH5
By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS49JhcegtJ
Rating: K+555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrE0Jo66Jb
Word Count: 3.466555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvO0bPz2wX
Author's Notes: Most of it takes place during the time-skip; however, the very last vignette takes place post-series. So we're dealing with a redeemed Sasuke who no longer carries the weight of his revenge around and a Karin that has also gone through her fair share of stuff. So their behavior will, of course, be different. - There is also a line that was inspired by a RoyAi (Fullmetal Alchemist) quote ♥
five times Sasuke fell for Karin;555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNcQJac4EM
(and the one time he realized it)
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhhEsRNIJq
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJFtJCSplH
1.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9jZFkDE7X
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh315D2Jaqs
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKOMAAlzGh
“Do you understand, Karin?”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYdZyPb2bz
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2qMqryRT9
“…Yeah.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEhiJdzHPh
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCN76ega0G
Her agreement is absent-minded, her voice no more than a mere mutter, and Sasuke finds his brows lightly furrowing at the girls’ disposition. Alas, he has not done more than part his lips when an all too familiar rustling catches his ears and takes his attention away from the redhead.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKrO4ktICm
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJh5tLocn6
A snake was sliding up the trunk of a nearby tree, and as it curled and made itself comfortable on a branch, its reptile eyes squarely met Sasuke’s, its tongue darting out to hiss at him in a language of sounds that he could not understand—but that got the message across, either way.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJreBjc0Hbi
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5WZlzFUq0
Orochimaru wants to see you.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQ03vWw0ND
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRtKNEajerZ
Sasuke’s eyes narrow with annoyance, his tongue clicking against his front teeth. “Karin,” he calls, averting his eyes from the serpent and back to the girl, who had been also watching the animal with half-interest.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnq1DpMBPIz
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKL8uqML4z
“It’s fine,” she says, in reply to words that Sasuke had yet to speak—and so the boy closes his lips, evenly staring at her in silence instead. There is no surprise in his gaze; this has been happening with increasing frequency lately, and by now he has almost come to expect it—but there is a certain degree of wariness.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3vn6LvTAW
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWWqn6YcPF
If he is that easy to look through, then how can he expect to fulfill his plan without raising Orochimaru’s suspicions? Karin’s acute perception made him question himself, and he did not like that. He most definitely did not like the thought of being read so aptly.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LG7UNgd4h
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwf7uoiNTQ
Despite that, for some reason his annoyance never directed itself at her. “I will be back. You keep practicing.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GnvWh5sXJ
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xEum0OoHU
Karin accepts his directions with a noncommittal nod, and Sasuke gives her one last look before jumping to the nearest tree, dashing past the snake that had come to deliver the message and back to the lair.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidrUzFCuFV
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUxstSztrO
It’s been a little over two weeks since Orochimaru had taken the girl in—a little over two weeks since Sasuke had laid eyes on the redhead for the second time, this time finding her unscratched and unmoving but surrounded by death. By the corpses of those she held dear—and Sasuke, quite frankly, did not know what to make of her yet. Fact that unnerved him, because more often than not he would find himself relating to her; recognizing himself in the blankness of her stare, in the lack of drive behind the movements of her fingers. And that was no good—that was not to be allowed. Last time such a thing had happened, it had brought him Naruto—and he knew damn well how well that had turned out.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2K1PesWoJf
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Xl9zsitjD
I can’t afford such distractions, he concludes to himself—even less so when more often than not, he found himself feeling mildly concerned for the girl who had lost everything, just as he had.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5eAL11YlI
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlz0m3QnxC
It’s been two weeks, and she still looked every bit as dead as she had when they found her.
.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUeSIMh4kS
.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeYt1SYxkG
.
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBAtwcyCdT
Damn Orochimaru, Sasuke complains inwardly as he rushes back to the lake, dashing through the trees. Calling him for something so trivial, he had Kabuto for such matters; Sasuke was only there to be trained, not to—555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qvGasIqNE
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfNOPe8Mfv
His thoughts halt at the same time his steps slow to a stop, as the lake comes into view and alongside it, Karin.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHP36FWJO4C
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBN2oc5bLIs
A Karin who was soaked from head to toe, but that was standing steadily right on the middle of the lake, her head raised upwards towards the sky, the rays of the sun bathing her form whole and drawing golden highlights on her vivid red hair.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKuyLiFfLX
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxx8AIDAjKY
Her name comes to his lips but becomes a stifled, unfinished call as the girl turns towards him and gives him a breathless, joyful grin that brought life to her eyes and steals the breath right from his lungs.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXkzK0dBmP
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡek6sCjtYVT
“I did it!” Karin calls out, an uncharacteristic display of candor that was more in tune with the girl he had come across four months ago than with the carcass he had found two weeks ago.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQbzA37SON
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtg841fW2wn
“Heh, I can see that.” Sasuke assesses, and it is only then that he realizes he is smirking.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgM7Y4t9Kp
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoebpJPI3H
Karin was a fast learner.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEq78TBHnM
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uRxeRY8F7
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyPafnRCqo
2.
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyeApCoaYCQ
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hTIHqpZf2
“Why are you with Orochimaru, Sasuke?” Karin inquires one evening as they eat in silence, one of those rare occasions where neither Orochimaru nor Kabuto were around to intrude.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEcPG0KR1Tg
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeUkodQuFt
Sasuke does not raise his eyes from his plate, the reply coming to him entirely too easy, “To become more powerful.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlLQQQ92Qc3
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZqTe5slCn
“What for?” Karin asks this time, tilting her head to the side. Sasuke’s eyes do flicker towards her then, and he finds the redhead frowning and giving him a curious look. “You don’t look like the kind of guy who would willingly stick with Orochimaru to grow more powerful, just for the kicks.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0S8JNXH9r1
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlATsneTl3n
There Karin went again. Inwardly, Sasuke sighs. Karin was becoming more and more straight-forward as time passed; and that, coupled with her uncanny perception and sharp tongue, was proving to be a dangerous combination.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEnzkEhfNw
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANzDWsYjWd
Slowly but surely, Sasuke was beginning to learn that there was no point in keeping things from the redhead.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJXnf4Erqn
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7lllTV51r
“I seek the power to kill one man,” he states, and cannot really help the way his hold on the chopsticks tightens a fraction as that name rolls out his tongue. “Uchiha Itachi.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHVn8s2h3c
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqezu7Sj4e
Karin blinks, “Uchiha…?”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzf17tzvQo
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNdiufBfon
“Yes. Uchiha Itachi, my older brother,” he reveals, steadily. “My traitorous, murderous bastard of a brother.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutPmDFGkrm
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegxMiZr6a7
Silence envelops the table, and when Sasuke raises his face and gazes into her eyes Karin holds them there. To his surprise, Karin did not look startled or disgusted—if anything, the Karin returning his stare looked resolute, reliable, imperious; and Sasuke finds himself incapable of looking away.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD16SI3H0iX
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyiQdDtNdn
When Karin speaks, no whys come out of her lips. “Do you know where to find him?”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4WfpQgwnM
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKK8Hwva9dd
She asks, and it is slowly that Sasuke shakes his head—a negative. Karin’s gaze sets, then; her eyes boring into his, without hesitation.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsJIREvfL5
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxGGKUp6ii
“Then it’s settled; I will help you.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ZCgaXDrd1
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnsZYjrMHP
Sasuke parts his lips, but it is a futile gesture—one that draws a tight-lipped, but reassuring smile on Karin’s lips.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWoimG4lFq
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OmHKVfeO7
I will help you, her silence seemed to be repeating through her gaze—and everything falls into place.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiv68jO5pyD
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKS0RUnXu3
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2TuFpbADYH
3.
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoWBNY696K
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11Fekl2MNy
“Karin,” he calls, but receives no reply.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnOrXMFweG
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiodc0cHBXw
He had come back from a job Orochimaru had asked him to do only to find the lair submerged in silence; an eerie, unnatural silence that made discomfort settle and nest inside of his gut.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgc8uBh7kPn
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBj1ey9uhW
There’s something wrong here, that he knows, but he does not know what—and that puts him on edge. Even more so, because—555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAlPTXVpab
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGu9QJeK2M
“Karin!”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnsbh3gaSo
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgxAjc3OBr
The redhead was nowhere to be found. Sasuke does not think Orochimaru would dispose of her, not when she was shaping up to be such a valuable asset—but the man was as unpredictable as he was twisted, and Sasuke had a bad feeling. He has had a bad feeling from the moment Orochimaru sent him out while placing a bony hand on Karin’s shoulder, the girl obviously struggling with herself to not squirm under his touch.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGkszt7ZNm
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWnSwHtahu
I’ll be fine, her eyes had seemed to affirm, wordlessly commanding him to leave, and though unconvinced, Sasuke had left. But now—it seemed his instincts had been right, after all.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65vuhArAMS
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoBAuRTyu1
“Karin!” He tries again, and while he receives no reply from the redhead, another voice chimes in her stead.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOleER6pHw
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITcBG99qCZ
“My, Sasuke-kun, why the ruckus?” Kabuto questions, and Sasuke turns only to find the silver-haired man standing at the entrance of one of the rooms employed for human experimentation. Sasuke is about to rudely dismiss the man’s intervention—Kabuto was always more trouble than he was worth, and he never shut up—when his eyes take in the droplets of blood splattered across his gray sleeves, and cautious—suspicious—his gaze slides back to the man’s black eyes only to notice the weird glint possessing them.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCj3hhXDess
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmp2N2mtri1
Sasuke’s back stiffens, his features contorting in a vicious frown. “Where is Karin?”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZXjLk732u
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcRICHLRzW
“Oh, you’re looking for her?” Kabuto says, feigning ignorance—playing the fool in a way Sasuke has grown to despise. His act creaks however as the man cannot hold back the smirk that begins to curve his lips; “You should’ve said so before, Sasuke-kun!”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YRS1Zo9JH
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIXNaB8DuT
Sasuke is roughly pushing past him and into the room even before Kabuto can have the pleasure of saying she is inside—only to come to a halt as his eyes land on the stretcher disposed on the center of the room; the stretcher upon which sat a redhead, her back turned towards Sasuke.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MrQRtgtcM
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iEQFQyyLq
“Karin,” he calls, and again the girl remains silent. It is while feeling a strong, wild sense of foreboding that Sasuke circles the stretcher—and the more he saw, the more his eyes widened with agitation.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNqgec16Bz
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4X0jHujWsj
Karin was hurriedly buttoning up her shirt—trying to prevent Sasuke from realizing what had just been done to her. But her unexposed skin conveys the message just fine—the bloodied, tattered mess her left forearm had become, chunks of skin cleanly torn off and revealing nothing but a raw, red maze underneath and—and—555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudShcgdH6p
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvgH2tLG3jW
The bite marks. There were two, three, four bite marks tracing Karin’s arm from her wrist up to her elbow, and—Sasuke’s insides turn into stone.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwIR3jPUESB
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxrhkMMuMs
There was a bite mark cruelly and roughly carved on the side of Karin’s neck.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6Gk2DbsRN
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHEydZ7iuI
Sasuke sees red and the tomoe start to spin inside his sharingan, his cursed seal reacting and burning at his neck, asking for Kabuto’s blood.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPehhcxbTL
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRyZCzifu7
“Wait!”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtvDpMGB6A
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8iKWfvFByk
Karin calls, reaching out and grabbing a hold of his wrist before Sasuke could leave the room. He darts his sharingan to her only briefly, anger making his head throb. “Let go, Karin.” He commands through a hiss, but Karin does not bulge; if anything, her hold strengthens, her eyes narrowing.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4P85ml42J1
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqQCCDQVrQ
“Get a hold of yourself, Sasuke! You will be playing right into his game if you attack him!”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0pSjUtML0
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATtmO9DtAC
The thought of satisfying Kabuto or not mattered little to Sasuke now, even less so as he saw the way Karin’s arm—the one with careless teeth marks carved all over—trembled as she held his wrist. “Let go of me, Karin!” He snarls, but Karin does not back down.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7yOBeHH2m
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRl8pdemQuF
“I don’t need you to defend me, Sasuke!” Karin growls, and her words make Sasuke stop, surprise taking over his features and mixing in with the blind rage. “I’m not some useless little girl who needs you to play knight in shining armor, so drop the act!”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtLx4c13q1
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmo9vOEy3RM
That—defending her, it had not been his intention. Sasuke did not wish to defend anyone but his Clan’s honor, the honorable memory they had left behind; that was the only thing he cared about enough to defend. The one and only.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKjSjZrP66
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMZC6PBL85
His sharigan melts into obsidian once again as his cursed seal stops aching. He had not wished to defend Karin—he had not. Seeing her reduced to a test subject at the mercy of a man like Kabuto made Sasuke feel indignant, was all. Especially when he had left her in such a state.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUQfpVNtem
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCYynbTptk
“… What did he do to you, Karin?” Sasuke asks after a long moment of silence, and it is only then that Karin lets go of his wrist and reaches out for the gauze and bandages lying on the surgeon’s table by the stretcher.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jr67CQwPq
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4vadXRgB4
“W-well… it seems I heal really fast,” she begins to explain, and Sasuke bites back the no shit that had made its way to his tongue. That much was something they both knew well; it was hard not to notice it when wounds that took weeks to fade for Sasuke were gone in mere days when it came to the redhead. “Apparently, this… regenerative ability of mine’s is related to my chakra. Kabuto wondered if it could be used to heal others aside from myself, and… it turns out that it can.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqEP1HvgDJ
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlk7H1Z8Sf
Sasuke frowns faintly, “How?”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnGTkNzIze
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWjbz8eTA0
Karin’s silence confirms his thoughts even before her voice does. “By letting others suck on my chakra. Kabuto made it so that it would be possible through… biting me.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEMiAPM7bd
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1ooRfuBB9
The redhead raises her eyes then, meeting Sasuke’s head on and wordlessly daring him to react the way he had before—the unspoken warning helps Sasuke keep his anger under control, but it coils inside of him, cold and dangerous—he knew well just why Orochimaru wanted Karin to heal in such a fashion. “…They will use you, Karin.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhG9kryHYi8
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYXEwXkapR
Karin does not flinch at the way Sasuke spits his words, gritted through his teeth; instead, she smiles. “I know.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiMhFJyLQu
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzrNfHFxWN
Sasuke can only stare, flabbergasted at the serenity present in Karin’s smile—and his surprise morphs and serves as a threshold to something entirely different as Karin looks away, her bangs hiding her eyes from his view.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8e4VcrPsV
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuf7MhpX5ip
“But this ability is now mine. And... it will help whomever I work with, once Orochimaru is gone.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgSYhFuprK
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41qRLTsz4b
The meaning behind her words dawns on Sasuke like a blanket, and as he assimilates it his body relaxes; his fists unclenching.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpmOm7FhxA
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWebAH75wY
“…Let me, Karin,”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5I4v17Inh
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgY2VsjLOc2
He takes the gauze from her hands and cleans her wounds himself; and while Karin does flinch, she does not utter a single complaint—and Sasuke finds his body coiling in an entirely different way as his flesh brushes hers and the weight of her stare sits comfortably on the back of his head.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8sUPQRTHx
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0iYdRMtsW
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyMMmzp9oy
4.
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCslsVb0jTy
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbuZBupILLc
Sasuke crumbles to the ground with a dry thud, a surge of blood pouring out from the gaping gash in his torso and splattering to the ground with a sickening splash. He grits his teeth as he presses his hand against the wound and looks down to evaluate the damage; it was bad. A little more and he could’ve got a punctured lung.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhXKp8Itcg
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskev01zAoZ
“Sasuke!” calls a voice, and Karin is at his side at once, pulling her sleeve back and offering him her forearm to bite. Sasuke does not hesitate—they had done this enough times already—and this time Karin bites back her usual moan in order to lecture him through gritted teeth. “S-seriously, Sasuke! What were you thinking, charging like that?!”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3s5RDPdTk
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzZMB23Xfa
“Karin’s right, Sasuke-kun,” Orochimaru agrees, his husky voice stretching every syllable and making Sasuke dizzy with disgust rather than out of blood loss, “That was quite the reckless deflection. If I had meant to kill you, you would be gone.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ACL0V6MLO
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCybEHYCc5s
“Shut… up…!” Sasuke breathes out with some effort, as Karin takes her arm back and pulls her sleeve down. “Stop… talking, and come at me… again!”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGmnU2U51G
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoP9qpRGzze
Karin lets out a surprised huh?! as Sasuke tries to stand up again, but the Uchiha pays it no heed, his eyes set on Orochimaru, who shakes his head with a smirk.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5Dh30yeIG
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlg5CECfwgg
“You won’t be able to lay a finger on me in such a pitiful state, Sasuke-kun.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIiMvuzig5
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfkqpDKS9z
“I said… shut up!” Sasuke scowls, gasping for breath still, but before he could manage to stand on his own two feet a rough pull on his arm has made him sink back to the ground. Startled and indignant, Sasuke looks up only to meet Karin’s angry red eyes.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡky2HFuUsfh
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2Dafeev1g
“Are you deaf, Sasuke?! Your state is pitiful! You totally beat up! You don’t even have much chakras left—what the hell do you think you’re doing, asking to continue?!”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1JvYSpzJN
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXxhGZiw3v
“Karin…” Sasuke warns, his eyes narrowing—but he cannot even finish his sentence as Karin reaches out and roughly seizes the collar of his shirt, angrily pulling him to her face.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpnOdxGMhB
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1CWLJ7gUx
“Don’t you dare tell me to stay out of it, Sasuke! No way in hell am I staying aside while you get yourself killed out of sheer stupidity!” Karin all but growls, those red eyes of hers smoldering with raw fury like Sasuke had never seen her sporting before, her warm breath tickling his nose with her every word, and Sasuke finds himself at a loss of words—his own anger evaporating like wind under the fire burning in her gaze and setting his own body aflame, drying up his throat.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnU0MaWtNy
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGq6Rp0xHu
Sasuke can distinctly hear Orochimaru chuckling, somewhere—but it sounds far, far away as Karin’s voice softens to a caress.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡteGiL9EV60
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNBHYbPvwo
“… I am not letting you die on me, Sasuke. Ever.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJIMkGP5d0
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LgO3WgzVp
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemGAZHLZWC
5.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qbD2MipIQ
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81j5OPOpUx
This happened every year, but somehow it never got any easier—it never got any less painful. The pain scarred, yes; but it never quite faded. And with every memory, with every thought he gave to that fateful day, the pain only worsened.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPEJo2l5ip
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvEv80cpHU
Back when he resided in Konoha, it was downright impossible to find real quietness; even if he were to remain secluded in the compound, the echoes of villagers laughing and living would always reach him. Like mementos of what his own clan could’ve been doing had Itachi not murdered them.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCbavCwSVi
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHoRstQkJl
Now that he is in Oto, however, silence comes only too easily. It envelops him, overwhelms him—and in it, Sasuke finds no solace. On the contrary, he finds an empty echo that made loneliness soundlessly slide into every single creak of his being, settling in the beatings of his heart and in the creases of his palms.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsd1eFs7PIg
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOaZpC6IZUD
It threatens to make Sasuke succumb to it—and it is then that Karin wordlessly takes a seat by his side and takes his hand in hers, her warm touch anchoring him down to the present and pushing away—however slightly, however briefly—the ghosts of the past who were trying to take him back with them.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtk7R6zbF4
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0h02LyC06
“Karin,” he whispers, and if Karin notices how choked his voice is, she says nothing of it. “…Will you follow me?”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ175txdpVJH
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZOqMwDFg7
He does not know why he feels the need to ask such a thing—but when Karin gives his hand a reassuring squeeze, he finds that he does not quite care about the reasons.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLn4ZSSOXT
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV19vOu5J2T
“If that's what you want, Sasuke… then even to hell.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPU0fAikqu
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Cex3MlFrx
And suddenly, it gets easier to breathe.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgDR9h2UXP
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4K4CVxasUR
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CP7GEYsn8
0.
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8npINT09Y
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hEkOqJIu0
“You came,”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsv4MO1xX0n
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSmrKXhWkr
He says blandly, and Karin snorts.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6KNngAZzy
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWE9lPGyQKy
“I told you before, didn’t I? I keep my word.” Sasuke says nothing in turn—can find nothing to say, and so Karin snorts again and comes to stand by his side, looking over Konoha for a moment before inquiring, with mild curiosity, “Where to, from here?”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAHtQUeRQ3
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlk5wqKTAZg
“I don’t know,” Sasuke replies, with honesty—but he finds himself feeling more at peace with the uncertainty of his future now than he did before Karin walked in. The knowledge picks his curiosity, but he does not feel confused—and somehow it makes the corner of his lips upturned into a smile. “I guess we will find out as we go.”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzut3W6e5l
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz9bZl6Mgq5
Karin accepts his reply with a nod, and as a soft breeze blows past them Sasuke allows himself to look away from the village and at the girl standing by his side—her red hair had gotten longer, and her features had hardened—but she was still Karin. The same Karin whose life he saved back in the Forest of Death, the same Karin who had saved his life more times than he could count.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIB1ZvVlYWf
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqDi8drVLB
And right then, under the warm rays of the setting sun, Sasuke found that he thought her beautiful. It is an alien thought—but one that he knows is true given the way it seems to settle in his consciousness as if fitting in like the missing piece of a puzzle.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsccKEv5MVL
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFFftd7kqK
Karin seems to feel the weight of his gaze because she turns to face him—and Sasuke finds a smile dancing in her lips, a knowing but happy gleam in her half-lidded red eyes.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcI46oZVQR0
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1Hn1ZyqQj
“It’s about time,” she teases, and another piece falls into place.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCA6wrARms
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ86p9czenT
“… You haven’t taken your glasses off yet,” he comments, and his words steal a laugh from Karin—the sound is light and merry and enticing, and his heart reacts to it before his mind has gotten the chance to assimilate it—spurring his hand into motion.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxiXnvFcr8
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2Wuh0IL4F
When his fingers come in touch with her cheek, Karin draws in a breath—but neither of them is truly taken aback by his boldness, and that is, probably, what surprises Sasuke the most.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTniaP1geY
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVoUdfqPvyF
“…Idiot,” Karin mutters fondly, clasping his hand with her own and leaning into his touch, letting her eyes shut close.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAKjRRVQqV
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmbysVsMbX
And it’s then that Sasuke understands, once and for all—what had always tied him to this girl above all others, despite his better judgment, despite his desire to remain unaware and think otherwise.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45c3es4MuV
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1Vb9Srk0O
But it was impossible to deny, now—and more importantly, he no longer had the desire to do so.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhTpF1Fovv
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTpUsZUWk6
“Karin…”555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4crnYkBsP
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4L9SSkqfUO
“I know,” Karin says, and the look in her eyes makes Sasuke feel at home.555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3EwZvoVBJ
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQta8GE9RGy
.end555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfs5846VGJD
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xzEgQccQ9
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbha9igqUJW
555Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMgPM8bkEz
I evidently hurried the last vignette a bit; mostly because I wanted to keep it vague, and were I to write Sasuke's realization step by step it would take pages lol it's better to let you guys fill in the blanks~ but to add some context to it, Karin actually kissed Sasuke sometime before he was fully redeemed.
tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, oneshot, sasukarin, sasuke
ns216.73.216.176da2
