[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~!603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPtPs7vl6r
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By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10KYaTAtVc
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZNsIBBCxG
Word Count: 8.810603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNk682ALyz9
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgSxXugDUQ
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYkxSNQv0x
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xhBjE0PxJ
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A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0npbIZCq53
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To the stars that played with the darkness603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWvcLhDAz1
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ69F9bCSBPo
by Kanae603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvCV55MpCP
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKPzSvsYHo
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Something in his chest tightens.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7ek7AGGfP
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylkHGKgezh
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Just a girl.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1jxSvgqCI
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Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitUwxsuLv5
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He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SVhYlc8oD
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yun9e5x9x
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The girl.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9Dx2zW5JW
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The redhead.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvO346nJUwg
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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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeDpl6731cc
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXn0LA4FYU3
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“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbR592u5Ubu
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3woMEkCIQP
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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—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuGfLKwVb3
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“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHaOuaQDoz
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmU7U39uCl
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdklQlh2I7
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jJUwxauNc
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She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0O5H5hIVKH
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He was severely mistaken.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0vBDmC6iH
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeGNCZPebR
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eYr9a7lSm
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It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cXQ7lvklL
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54hLoP3Hte
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0YJb4HnpN
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnl9oCF3qj
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBu4ausuYd
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7r0SKmmspY
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She does not let go of him.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEG0bZdLhI
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And the déjà vu only worsens.
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“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHF56eVY1Q
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGota6zKe8U
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“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZv6v8XoZD
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppkiCNWiGk
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“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PSTPnN7Zx
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyDbvTsAeX
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“Doing what, exactly?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz90Ch6hSvK
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“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8qg0PLr0u
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“…A ninja?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAdCF7iUds
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4m5rH1W02W
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuLiVLvSJ9
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEKvAQCVlJ
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“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCk2W9EXAW
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKh55BjvLnR
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Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nD2Gla1J5
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Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOAjlaOVja
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Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiXAYd4AVO
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“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8v2ZSBj8gL
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoVzvwjm6F
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJYff4BZFJ
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“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeerttHmXgy
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5VWXdTAOL
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He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSk1wPjaSUA
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But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLOwVF7QPO
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dbt03e8wd
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfz7GGywtnq
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They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zTm1cj4fI
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“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTGiuaq9VB
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“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡehVcmICv4L
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVVJ6ircUJ
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqOGsWo32h
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNuMDMBpO5
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrif40oyVo6
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUyQTNNVin
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWT1CiDqqQ
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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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqWYeCcJAm
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIXtvLKgqc
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He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVzWRjYSZb
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwWeHiERAMe
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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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQdBJboLWh
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Karin shrugs, unfazed.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5cCVVsDLW
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIVBbeTATdg
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That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15fCdL2zrh
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“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEXgOwxqLh
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Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6hSXAwQmW
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For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGrO67Ts1Z
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSoXxltNxaT
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA15f0da6y7
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkOCEyanZU
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerMXDyGunZ
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCYAmmV7b4
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91WCIT45Ql
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIVY9CbE9h
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MmFzJ2I0U
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LMg7ZLrc8
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Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1LXyRZieIP
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13G92MUKYj
“Always.”
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It happens on a rainy night.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6FmHvGVKT
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyyleyXMd2
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXSIMv0szN
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLiMgQcQ9r
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9H68tk3SbP
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She hadn’t been.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37FP3WdFlH
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlavVEeZDsl
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6u4js5EqV
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf63UVWGLNL
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQzgJbXEQT
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadl5W9XlFg
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiRbs6y9bJ
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLQvhaUrv2
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWPJHbqZKn
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrKGaXGoNu
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18PozNRs9K
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRI5DrObSsi
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGU1915YYG
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTufiOIsM8N
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVp9we8VzMy
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9S4v7GMtFW
“Hey, you! Wait!”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyBgkexFhJ
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QpPVMEDyw
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsfw6gSgDT
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lwih0zIBJ
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMat2yriND
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadiJAsnkbK
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdoJgIlvY5i
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9QrOyg6MFe
“… 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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOnAh6LVcF
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrph0M7Dqh7
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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMcgrJw13rK
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3DvPDsFvQ
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RN0JTXwsu
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7CYHDmVewW
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSPqkk0chMz
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuljmoVntUq
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPl0SOYase
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqXnOxnAih
By the time they place their orders, she is already in love with him.
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He thinks that maybe he should be surprised, but the truth is that he isn’t.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn154UaBu5d
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CVdXDSeHp
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshSwhzUDMm
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpKh7959II
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHyWijOR2qg
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFp9sIyJ9v
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFD9n8CYZcn
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMvKgIP0Ga
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOog4QOVYa
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlleagGk6Fk
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2MTeRpTGQ
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aZQBjEDT2
'Always'.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZR1BETi2V
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmoeVD8i81
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSLMTPxDAHM
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStog6XrB6n
“Huh?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQq8x6AHCQ
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She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBz0f2obG78
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSeTJDoQ6aD
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3azvXGdrk
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0peaobz7z
“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—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1zxLJyufv
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5z3iC3qD0M
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTY2AYmR6vF
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvNMsG96va
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdP4vgz4iCT
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJ58wry1Do
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunHVvEPzp4
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpFiPQ6uIx
Damn her.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqarpkchBj
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV27FK9s2Tr
“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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0rABDt6PL
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7B2mWZ44O
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94I5cEDBFm
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCCmquS1YG
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgWYSst4xU
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4wq7QrUi1
“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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXE42PF6Dgb
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzCP3QOFz3
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
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“I brought you the papers you requested,”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44uWnUVUs3
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYkod6YNKE
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35WTHJSQbm
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOj9LxXXm1k
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyB6wNiTkot
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9OVgAckRx
“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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VE3BW4Y5S
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBscXeWvBK
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZSpMmPvgOJ
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNgjJXvmol
“Any complains?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyydmHAHsa
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEBUJYm3YX
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDKqXTHW4p
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She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
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“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUuNO1pzpl
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVnubqz7HO
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMdBYGsXKk
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbBNtA3F8C
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHnvPlqdUs
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSXnosFLW3
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfGCpHYk43
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIp54CkJtYi
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAFamQSDI8
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Sh5OHsps5
'Always'.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHqKYQhi7J
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGEgAfwEX8
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpM682hdIAM
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lSOSbgdLL
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡow23pCivG8
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuvqmcxbBh
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZu0YpvNAh
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGntKx6qgcF
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9lnnFK1dR
“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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWPcKva5uA
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“Karin.”
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“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOOU4lEBLn
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTzQfOakfh
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnOzvbO4QO
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He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQiUkxHJUv
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnqnzpMrEg
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZZOFGZfnG
“…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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVlYhPQkhV
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCLMhzNGNf
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKEo2RXQXyg
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSHXmfwvgZ
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrboEgUNHt
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43epMt1eeF
“…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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lPRq1mieX
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To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqkUTUcavKp
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“What?” she snaps.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDiPondSvo
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“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgWXfNkIBl
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08ugE8IVRT
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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9pJZ1vZUR
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoU08tA9zlT
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1wLpL88GK
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And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
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“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6swKn0lzi0
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRV4RYW4e9
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVlYPlKnwt9
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToujUXXUEv
“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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkEe2GYgM6
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyoIPla3wV
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ViwezK87s
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXePQ5GzIv
“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?603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdskN4iTtr
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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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGgTGesmLq
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpP0DD6esaM
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWhWqMiSWQ
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“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKExXRhQnMQ
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“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgverBaedZb
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“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTLJOgJl3g
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08kTWdLuRf
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjslVf8SFl
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljW9hDSQJQ
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwZ002GiEy
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMtTWiQIOD
Damn you, brother.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Nf08tHrgS
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“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMrvN03jzV
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8N9UED9Lfe
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8L3k2vKGoO
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“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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC88R6imaq7
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8KaWFDsK6
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA90XO7xrT8
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17fNC3KXQf
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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFk7keA05Zx
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7No9P7vQK9
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDa42S3Rwy
“… 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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiynp2dYq2
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“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOudm9ZtXF
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkOV58gDKJ
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsTn7b6dzm
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXiOsI2NRu
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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhO3A9Uty2
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwrI3eOvw4
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—603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQJLMSE8N8
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklaMrJ87MX
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBt5WJ8EWvx
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLSOkeCrkJ
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EGVFTR8R2
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sEjxy7NVO
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZss270hXCU
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlIQY39WAK
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKgrN2yJPL
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uqVs3UYqK
And then she is grinning.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRymxk06Iuh
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“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3tduosiZt
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBAeldCDnTG
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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDLywYuik8
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GrkuMD6NK
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgvrIIuxSq
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“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyco3YRFMV
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7G440jHU1A
“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—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMeH7PIc25X
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZhw87cqvw
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLBRynFaKr
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“Excuse me.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9R2E0um4x
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoUDMkPYn49
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMalz7vxsGN
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwdQFV57GW
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqA9Xk5Y29
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Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHn8uLGhPjW
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He could feel it, too.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99AI0CKYRM
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Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWceUo4QU2
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGT6PPUW8N
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
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She can hardly believe it.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUCkIhG8Sg
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuC9cQ2HZO5
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4cPrNnkeu
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxP3XLhHJr
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrV7lwbryUU
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRg4TQUxZjN
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYq6LR72I5
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqZPXCHCHG
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPLUJ2Pjql
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZJp9DOVSA
“What’s so funny?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJoDgFEAX3
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNi6Nnl4R7Q
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXjJIhOcDy
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“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9FqK8O21X
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SLN1pU8yX
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvseixauZH
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgydWY1IEJ
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYbwK16Mw3C
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7U2rpoixW
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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhiN7k8t5p
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXL4fUZKqCE
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrh5PH8sOe2
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMwRRlPZkH
“S-asuke—” she chokes.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3DMnBvkRJ
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡen1KzEnDeO
But he does not listen.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkT7Cjz936
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“…mine.”
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603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pcIQrnKoX
She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVlO5d8FUa
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“Sewing again?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wsdGfBeYx
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYbOPRH4HB
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbJrwJC9R2
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxSaZn9UnA
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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWH8G8Xcu8
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhHlJe4nWU
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48GVhar4py
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“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXfdjggguB
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpig533C5zy
“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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrd0p4X4hhe
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VOXMhcyXX
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufzmHvlg01
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And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirnCR5XTrq
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgNEOTtaki
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“Doing what?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkp6cKr0OQ
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“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZtsNvWxRG
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“Or what?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9XY74iWM1
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“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlan5kPaHT1
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She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkO2LtXDyMD
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwz3ci58ko
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeQV2Bp4GC
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhMRKrUkph
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1ULqPvIe5
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Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHOxtkjGco
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2jjRcaNgg
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02U9cBHUmQ
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcLQuGLJfZ
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjGALYgpij
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—603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Q67oYDl60
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAr42fiVQP
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhhp4XBaNOv
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsztMaYDgpA
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquYL67y4ee
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAx8NeZvvEm
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcoTy1t2tk
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“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSGbwp9Eui
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8E5YIy42c5
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEFXGCEhEd
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“I told you, it’s fine.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbEEfyi0V9
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He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBZv7MB5cz
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgEawP03Sl
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvo2jXcgC1
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“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0a8oYnPKS
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiH4ztH7zLO
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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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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WeJRUIzml
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“S-sasuke, what—?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEGLGrxib8
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceNWOksCx7
“Where were you, Karin?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXwxOOEeqz
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nf1iwbFwM
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnAMOnA5nv
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It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVo68j1PTE
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But she holds her ground.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1pMiRrEs9K
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBo3JYKoZYG
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6Qcu11nNL
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“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wHs3auaeo
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEeRjnrIhN
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—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaxfsFGhYK
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJd3tCCZiSl
“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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24hui7vmbw
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fIBwgMRle
“Sasuke, I—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefgaOtvocI
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ504vvPc8nQ
“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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRlmJceDZB
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gWEfg9wbz
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWEzZMpCXr
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRV6EBw683
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFebOjhk4MA
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEE3owTX1zk
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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDxEO3QCc6
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstsoAv6mWt
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFQJKhtt7p
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVsetSw7FH
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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqx6kPqeBS
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7CsSHP4r0
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugeLLGcLf7
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDngNHUIK7C
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPggPd9UFy
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6s1NWC1s9
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhjSZ3kv11
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AhOE6oyJX
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRz6AJKJUHo
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Even himself.
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603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwPUJ5hdEn
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMDYBFKcRh
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNC0zgWWiN
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgETaweFxph
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPaI1B5au20
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3yWANhheq
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekkd8b6Jmf
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgBXgB9ogB
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oyt9vAFOx
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTPdpimNvE
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDxAXZH1K0
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9E9iWiKs8W
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGmwYojuHD
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZB45Eqq3QW
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNSnIQ8MRLy
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cvhyqHWGa
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yvoao9xop
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
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He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyw5NQAeLe
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgccMBwtj1
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEnGknEeVP
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxdtqBJSF3G
In this case, it is both at once.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIC8tqaKDvq
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsnQrIDNKA
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Y5mqNQoUR
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8b9nwgNtpT
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoxgN6iqA2
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexoVEaerAf
Broken promises.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwceh2XHvlD
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaLuWJq7uy
A call. A funeral.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTALq669J2m
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHFD5dXa8T
And tears.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmMHKC4TOk
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Heartbreak.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMe5KNUZYIG
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkraH2b1HI4
Loneliness.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jnH9K7bYl
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cbxCZJMSq
…then there was nothing else.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKxkG8Lksk
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bBuBh4OOR
And then there was everything all over again.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8wyPue06M
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngtvgzc97n
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4ykkC44Nz
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhh553Ws2nJ
He can’t stop.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdjCl680WA
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He does not want to.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvnTWVMGkQ
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZcZGzmYFr
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xoiCyslVo
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The door creaks open.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSXwaU5zfr
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6mllnVmlF
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQOTtLlNwc
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3VySGIFFC
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFCuqo6BQH
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFu32BvwIJ
(“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.)603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvScZtekPP
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYS65rcNSXX
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMo8EZN0FEx
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPrSsbmI0U
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kZEP7WdsQ
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlT0EMJMHp
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTz5WVGMkhA
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7JziWQTBg
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlY4PDzH1fl
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIgXmsr6nl
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8rlOGolMi
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWdilGQF0o
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkuofXkAHN
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJV0UqbOVrU
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBp0L8Mi8Y4
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And then she parts her lips.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscV8bDzhvx
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Esl8myVd9
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzFCAiJ02B
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApNmyLU8b8
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDviXl8XXyo
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgjw43K4V0
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFO7jMwItyK
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb73SBgyjIm
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
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603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FcVwg1Ucp
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UW3x9Kuya
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60C8Hwr8hk
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Q3CABPYz3
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRt0SR90eK
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Tb0setlna
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7WY9hz1Ui
It makes something in her tightly clench.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8wrDKjKTV
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXIATMc6hg
“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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5r63zjiQAp
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPzNSCwMIM1
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1L3M07rQE
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCm2WwK2eml
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36TbY3EWWq
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrbtBYRpKH
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhcuvhVEU8
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡneSgyFo1V3
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡarRBC41rjO
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xRf0UAh4X
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrbe0pmD12
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfg3I8DyZD
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
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He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1mDENBi15
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUiIQV3DlZ
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvI8TS4OEN
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxWWf6y7wN
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUZakPXuFM
“Sasuke, no—!”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWPwaB3jsjc
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJNFlsX6XM
“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—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9AzQqhAFZ
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEjP14jEvc
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPqxxWnakU
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zv3CQyPTW
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AJaCjiozk
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbThdQR2HA
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3eHNeH930X
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡip0o3u6sxs
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebWhVP7r6m
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssCV3AHurY
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAqvF4UUFm
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzhQ12HgUF
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfWyGbL2ZK
‘What weren’t?’603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmz9cbuKm7K
‘...You.’603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWXZoCfWmW
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQcZwfF5P1
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvx9v7wgx8
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA8MeirB3fm
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
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603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmJSMtyLPZ
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFrtoH6w5k
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9MJraHqf5
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq53O8FQSlD
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrs30FZd72J
“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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2BKH7mPvu
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJE4HuxTopy
“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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoJqmlNlzj
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVm3f2QCr4
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCIM4i0wqZ
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkhvC4OlNF
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQV69Blvdv8
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSukUTk5WyA
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
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603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTawlYczyP
“What was I doing to you?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hoiR6kBpX
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcB12dQUFfr
“… I don’t remember.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGynlZAiOP
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVi9Lmi3Bkp
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4rYHQlSc2
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But he has played that game long enough.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhF7gXifWzU
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHinqUfdqtS
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwb45LV9ls
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdyS6pRlfk
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbkBERHvek
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeFIcsgry2q
“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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKBa0BvtJ4
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlY70zKzXcz
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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCOJuB76GD
603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwCUfJpWC6
“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQuvCTOmhp
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrgnfGLX0oC
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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—603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuikrsbEXYy
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNK0WNcuJH
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“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTBG8sVyQ3
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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—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBm0G1e28vD
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgP4MlNHy9b
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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—”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ottetuL3s
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfbfvAzynq
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There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaI53LZWBB
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvMs6B6JrS
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“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlXi4r2icK
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMHXqJVkIK
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And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbxHK2yRcv
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“See ya… Sasuke.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnENs0CsXV
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLz4GKurgHe
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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—603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11FdOXc4HA
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eotfEDa2S
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJsnLOKqEF
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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?”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKlxL1HO1X
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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.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwA3fXEhuBQ
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9oTySP1wy
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“And, above all…”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgkeLMuaDx
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMf8RxAey8
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9k3jy4vk0
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Except that it doesn’t get to.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfPpCYGGk7
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVaS6ix2Dnf
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“See ya.”603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ067AFz5e8R
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This is what I give,603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAeNjF4iSd
A circle is complete.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKAFOFBEAlA
Another circle spins603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNkcflZEKI
There's life within,603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyHsfT3ZI5
Within
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end.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoD8zzRBsIU
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUUwOgplFj
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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.603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAVUwMlbIC
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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~!603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0ld9d2mV5
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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 lol603Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1ZFEGMmLh
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Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
ns216.73.216.176da2
