[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~!577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTepfIEqaII
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By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuZhSTQ7fM
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VskgxFNSa
Word Count: 8.810577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6p4mCiZ4J
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlr75EEi1x2
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbuPEZE4CP
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSV9FurRqK
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A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfa4aXJslj
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To the stars that played with the darkness577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzM7m97eCV
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8wTzQRFsw
by Kanae577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYA7H3ekEq
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfMvKkkwa5
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Something in his chest tightens.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhNcq0bRvq
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrevqyuHMyZ
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Just a girl.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6A70rPYcL
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Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDJ8fItqye
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He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDwFZ50qpJ
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnON63DJxau
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The girl.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡumotcB7jAv
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The redhead.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhO5mAI7JG
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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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEp7nEBpfEk
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIWtSEXuxR
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“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbldMfmtLw
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxu61Pkqt8P
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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—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOD2Opi08y
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“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguN00e8BPi
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmsNvTaOvP
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hn9KHaIul
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5J4L6UpAy8
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She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrMG8doYIL
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He was severely mistaken.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PiR2jkalQ
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3bPCkDAwA
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRlWgWL0zE
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It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLo1IIAd87A
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhN90KIk3QK
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1VXR5mOvM
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgUZbty0Dt
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFajEN2ns1
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zBOIRdDjI
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She does not let go of him.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXewur2XoXn
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And the déjà vu only worsens.
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“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqD6JSQjVd
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRqiraEUFn
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“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeA1B7H0SKV
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVun67tftNK
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“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdyreSAhD9
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblR5XfBQ2g
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“Doing what, exactly?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HVPZXNPIL
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“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTgQ5pyi4a
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“…A ninja?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5O27FVYK5g
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gqnXrRAP4
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡck9CRV2haD
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9vLoS13Ww
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“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFP4PhVJBA3
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuatjkbycs
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Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBP43jDkpl6
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Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmfpUVLTR0
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Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9hdRWkLE7
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“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLJoCIAOnF
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrvzDKznVY
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadVCEZC0fd
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“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4MMtcnRc9
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2h4NCrtxtd
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He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4aVGDx7NDF
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But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3ZjKaO3Od
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWnnjPoU4O
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGWuO7Dh6k
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They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm90bpZ0Ic4
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“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3h9kOUBA7
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“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XNqbkDMNf
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkizKoM5xr
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNKczJLNQS
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wyb00D7nW
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoihwljRZU8
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrChcaSqIrE
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXuddnZvl7
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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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnMCEdGdC9
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiA5Y0Y3ZJX
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He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfvVNl5vHt
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLZR9W3eAb
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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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7c86typ4X
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Karin shrugs, unfazed.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZLt6DUKeW
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XRZRs1h3L
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That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09S9WeAUwk
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“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg71RC7VloQ
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Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQCPgz0lhk
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For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV14J5oTwY0
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBllSLvSU1
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNO56oRPlk
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEF0VSyH9o
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblcbz0zY5u
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Z2id2z3ek
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLS3GkbDN5
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXinTYFje8s
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIyHyo5Tu2
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQO78F8MfZo
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQZmZdwzNB
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡelBIJmNmr0
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7haoQrspg
“Always.”
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577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yCP12O2gL
It happens on a rainy night.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk63pp0UxNP
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhB4Xbcfipx
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6u9W4PFy9Y
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHy5EBywon4
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJj2aZ2D20
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2TxwxJohI
She hadn’t been.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1uyzMQ1Eh
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwR2xOB5dQ
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0gKHQeixu
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AFEPlwDX0
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeeYebEMRW
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz9XhmdWtXI
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6haOZgdSp
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB0mMW1jKvt
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXygLAfKvjU
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxlbBMOj3k
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtaE7dnN9F
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghGZxopPRs
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNbFmo4KTE
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkJ4Pv5iwK
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vHFSAvLTE
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUT2RTGkp9Q
“Hey, you! Wait!”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCHDw7yrcM
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Q7pUWaKkl
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4ZqrRqvRQ
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljKTFgZxoI
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFF5IGvogpe
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZULoG53vJ1
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5PHZXAmqUY
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27Qx91tZko
“… 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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4irfMUM3Wa
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpvwwsQGgy
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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDF9CJPTRQy
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6Ii8iGUh0
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeV1zEb53Ga
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyF5QDWhgY
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08B9urF1U7
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOtfuwiVYN
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosc1ATvSjc
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pTwXHRO4W
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPOyhIUtf3
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJWOZ9yMTw
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI76D1aPiba
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL66pIXDlno
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp298RcoObG
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIsxMmjheP
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmJwYitsKA
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt72QaN1IiD
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnbnFVKxmu
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZa4EIRsFu
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjmXxH2dQW0
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsa2S4DHCu2
'Always'.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtMwAlD7rp
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzxBKhFINJ
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmfiPW7JOSD
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“Huh?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsv1wmPV9oU
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9m7QXoV0X
She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrYmEAVpF9
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDdRkzVJys
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1szMDgW0t
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHf0DQpvDjq
“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—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuY2RrXIKrs
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdvinae0UGO
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7rmavu2tk
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZtDuhluhz
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4jmpoETJU
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBA65mfFnK
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5haxRb5lw
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvx8fq8bChQ
Damn her.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtP3g7qukI4
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbF98nXvmt
“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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlimo6Ted10
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2JIVr3RMu
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xIU93t9R2
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtaGejpyfIU
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7O56gXXYK
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeVDUhpt6Z
“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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpvlUizCJK
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqaojHVh60d
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
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“I brought you the papers you requested,”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLagFmOIxi
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxOLsYongx
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4rsTcXtwY
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviAQ5IOmI3
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbO2ftkdr8t
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmu0s5njhzt
“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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60jLmCqs9m
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6mT6MgMss
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8HOsIz2Q2
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIo2RXXsoNE
“Any complains?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFaIr6GRaK
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoeBEedYFcD
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0sKrWDXzm
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxq63wF72E
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
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“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxpgYEEr1H
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Aq9xTQps6
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eEu0NQfln
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMg0g4DEbd
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6sAjdlJvM
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBfEjFWkoL
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhx1r8jXyd
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCj9h5pjyw
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94kvnxEM5n
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5E6gPoRIk
'Always'.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzN9avueqq
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01zbCPfeqd
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeEyBzed4H
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ivRojiOHP
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3K1jam07Wy
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GYpRlSlvn
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyy8A71q5d
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDfwWEZAs0
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwesqaKak3
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUMMaVWq6E
“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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdAfhSMoqC
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVPit1wsIJ
“Karin.”
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577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrj85vlFyO
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ324iPnNqdX
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuD1bjqyreG
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjInp1wHCtW
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQv7v1vHmWF
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCupDHXp10
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6TK0crpVr
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZnppoxziE
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuv6oyadrH
“…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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrK76ZtD7t
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFQ7PU3DSr
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9bv14mlU5
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNnsddo3gn
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnU0ejg7gMz
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRE8QpYaexG
“…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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjF0VJJOcs
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvT9CImAp17
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2BrIcUMSo
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“What?” she snaps.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMjYaKcLun
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzy7L7e05K2
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRi5L3rNvk
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeUTAgt4xR
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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAaGChZPI1
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgEDlvneSf1
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesW4ShML9F
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And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
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“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7njz6TFBB
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YUB9pKvKs
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbI6yznKMsG
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJNT0o1anK
“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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hwjWgKHdm
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwYZOWQDY8
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡos8Ra58khQ
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJlREGGK1N
“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?577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGS8j4MfN4
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFoSyjQpHM
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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDxjaRAhoXH
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoc295tOLuB
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnG1TaciPF
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡot2icJsTrq
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrirmf3N7y
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmtRcoiwFr
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzhn1RRP8Q
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmejrdl578X
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CSecmgYxG
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmJLitIjYD
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWnz46H23B
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GrNge2c0h
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh72OvFMnw7
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGxaHlw8Co
Damn you, brother.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwW9LFj0A8
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“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZL4SGmWUu
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHX9f4ib7JE
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLS8eAmkNm
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIo6XdOrqo
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAYxGPSLRO
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpm0CTv9iD
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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sB5ORQV97
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOINUhqw9UX
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMnfFyFMqw
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“… 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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmaK2AQC9Tm
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“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxvgfEzoI9
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKp13ZajR2K
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTR4kJGKYOC
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpSASlGZ5Z
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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRZ5rjDKul
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVENpH76D1U
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—577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5eDCSOtce
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86xnZxQ9jt
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlY34SBdL56
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hOSpiGb4M
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpBeHE7ijN
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQy2nV4yNev
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Ex0RCKwGz
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAWlJ5mk8r
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegnY8evFCM
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And then she is grinning.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqflihNjmx
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“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkhmFwY4UI
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVZIw8fRND
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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHVXiYNvGF
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3SBpPAc0y
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXEZunhZ0J
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymK3Z6xFFb
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“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—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOWxkPEiu1a
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZa9GTh9IWR
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3BowToMia
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“Excuse me.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3BiToRb56
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzInrzakTVu
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“This house is ours, Sasuke,”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7LXvFlIqY
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWUWGV8S4T
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He could feel it, too.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVENCoerrv
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Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmrz0TYZD9G
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“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
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She can hardly believe it.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxjw40yYp1
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0saiXINZO
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCmR9v65dg
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5j0a8AhfMa
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0r8rxit5Yi
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3nfu6KI9Bv
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHL1WqGjHpQ
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN86ix7YTIX
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“What’s so funny?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSH5VhG4NM
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeXabWk9P2
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“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYevwY75sW5
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPa4bmenVx
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrrATw2jaW
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYP9I4kQtU3
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXxMpzcEaL
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfVP769qFi
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMOpGh0WOT
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“S-asuke—” she chokes.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKM2qhxIpJQ
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But he does not listen.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Dh20b9Qqi
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“…mine.”
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She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNbmlmV14V
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“Sewing again?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpKTKxybxR
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“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmz8TnCeLR
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdt3MxPHhDk
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cdxR7uvMP
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdhcBlSBhs
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7A9hIFDBU
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“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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIg0hR639XD
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCmLVlU1AC
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEKzSBMgYR
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfAquq5RLE
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“Doing what?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNLRVj8mPI
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGsD30M8nr
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“Or what?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFOqX0cCTs
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“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGJqGrNGw5
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIMgDM5LKi
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“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc68ranalW9
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQ0KiXl01x
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6nrKbfAmu
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Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUluSP39xYy
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsOT6RNjFx
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPA1ZCmMBh
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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—577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8rShBSfZCJ
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To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSasdFeIAeU
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDULNulzKh8
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdNCc3j2ke
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“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6t7pGChoSd
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“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5fQkp5Obr
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“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJkrxJoZ02
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“I told you, it’s fine.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5IIWQ1O7Z
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He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCfqqaFB8w
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDGpBmMAps
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZCW9feup7
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“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3H710GR9hR
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8kzrWDHkK
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2PvqTTqAk
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“S-sasuke, what—?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8LJ0q01t1
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMVN1MNoQu
“Where were you, Karin?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhl42nPWbo7
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR46UNukPoz
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mlupJ6HTL
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It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7PZJbyC8t
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But she holds her ground.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9T04WBuNaP
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwRH4uYcd3
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncOfAn1DY5
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklAWMPQupu
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC87yUWGn9s
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7mG0adicA
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—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYavQehO97Y
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8wCARlWAux
“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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYypQnJmwo
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGy5f97u8IV
“Sasuke, I—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLO9N7E1Q0
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnPYzPjbRS
“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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDTB3LJmtU
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIHLAJHvBK
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTkkPE55vu
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeJUUExOgc
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhwHQ0oWpN
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMOM46pLx2
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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscuHgUvUfS
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLe16HVNGFf
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLklYVnad3
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIoaL2rtly
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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZx7jICCGpg
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSP3kyTQ1z9
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmf41XIExSh
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjHchoxVEa
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8SQNfV1PO
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncjmf7MAQl
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0L1YkzSi7
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUg3M0wPS9v
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1exJ5zmS6
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3K21RXbUi
Even himself.
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577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgu3TRhBmq
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTVpl3SnzO
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1ZXqipqLI
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnHffDzq14
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3BpCbdTQM
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zGIxQuPmU
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejnL0YP2kK
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPqiT6Cfmd
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4OCmc7MjL
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHwTz3RQ0W
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRb6dqo85kw
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBkp6QNyQz
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnXHVSO5xs
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFxfBibWUh
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLBeYoq3uI
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfu04GGM4q3
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUtvKidXgF
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnawMSZQxid
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577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfILQ5TZnTU
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkbzxZZjn5
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxWhu7CLxI
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPYufJBxn8
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1lkJ2uy3T
In this case, it is both at once.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Avl3HbbDb
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn10akwPDrM
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtU5rFBULTr
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xqdThU3oP
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaiZqBxmfJo
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFByNbTPTFe
Broken promises.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gstKwIfKA
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XM20WRc2W
A call. A funeral.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZQxSIRZlA
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQdqw3U6Om
And tears.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tMDYaJ1iF
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYucLLq0PN
Heartbreak.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLakga9vl2v
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7L4C68GE82
Loneliness.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pMqjnNPkA
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9If8v5zTw2
…then there was nothing else.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkqMovQJSW
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3jLjaurjK
And then there was everything all over again.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43nwcQOEQ6
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xzGpcsQ6B
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ROUv7rVwe
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3naXmKXNLb
He can’t stop.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVOMS7UurH
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfh9lw1QreA
He does not want to.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZew9ApJ2h
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKClC9ozvX
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9f3k0hyM37
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOjRjwIE2t
The door creaks open.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJfNNVdREw
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMI1tKZyZ18
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfxHQLKzD2
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCswgeVN5O
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5HmaFtJOw
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjShNGJYtr
(“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.)577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydGEiAGtXz
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEbJVoPP4G
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNSzTMX8z3h
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWP2vevevy9
(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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6bRqc5DWo
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRmSf8YpJz
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWT8ljDVTm7
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2xdwVvziZ
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1t8qXiig9C
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFA6fNJbbK3
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyCRn7sC97
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHra7Yn9Mb6
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsojBsvIb1Q
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeOvhf2adW
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HG1W0wcms
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2mD7Vx04M6
And then she parts her lips.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3w7GuaJ9S
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3sMUJYN6F
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8e0msu2pY
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQK3Ca8QV1D
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1aRTTXdQgT
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxgbPZe6EV
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKL8AaoyTcI
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGC46bxr4Gn
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
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577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJB0Iull9v
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAUm1RshfpD
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3n1dzD8A1
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUO86Y6pvSg
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ezTzuFkDl
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0ol6RvA1w
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTZgfP7jIH
It makes something in her tightly clench.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcT9yrJf5gm
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQz5ctyEXgg
“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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PkUGAUPg3
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Nw4RTAxcT
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZ7PzzmjuK
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdJbqS1GSa
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu33Y1KGcyy
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpJWUhNiqP
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVrdz12uIU
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOiqXHnAyh3
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHPPj57gJq
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50l1XInxBt
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZULVFF5xX
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyzs6aMtaf
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
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He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaX2UTgvcIi
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXjvAuxcY3
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MRCwdTzzW
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupFkqEAiJI
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uBNrWhih0
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwvVVEWqSE
“Sasuke, no—!”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMG7ovrFCTF
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7rpxbDyMM2
“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—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFAeFGgVAkp
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkH1N7uQr6T
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKUs1qBvozz
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4ozKp0VJE
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0I9UxH73du
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrVmK3zQvR
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBCSn0b8Mq
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVxUarPKzQ
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNJW9BEkYC
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57833UZSQd
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNiMt23ARys
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTctD7ZPmH9
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2mtmzFTbFO
‘What weren’t?’577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NMPBbdPPz
‘...You.’577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRXsSIOiUE
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlf4v50h7j
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1mrSiSmDr
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0OzVPYJoL
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
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577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIiQO6iGpN
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJalJPvZdm
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWVJaildse
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSSS96FscP
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1OarzW0WO
“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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSMAFHyY7G
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSLwMVio2U
“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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNts214plm
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwHVFAABme
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1x2dS4AuO
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQphQ0RFWHv
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5PIJNO5q9
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrRwJIsHt6
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
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577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhxO7mfXFJ
“What was I doing to you?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWQrP2BRdz
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmzEg02kUq
“… I don’t remember.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHi5HjPl07x
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02xEoiknwm
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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysNmG7wGyl
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWJ7rACDod
But he has played that game long enough.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxi3SvT3wii
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSrlHFVaO1
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklX7Pmr0wK
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9I6snxpmnj
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpbLdT4Le1
577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMVExwIuBG
“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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1pPtxkZi1
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He is shaking, too—and so he uncurls his fists and entwines his fingers with hers, and makes the one request that would surely change everything.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmV9zTh9zXR
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“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3d7Ti4Dhv
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCK8jb9qi0u
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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—577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVl1UvVMYH
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QnLkjTTW6
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“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PbR72GOKA
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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—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMb4XhlKWcM
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHW69OieLvC
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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—”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxDvWCi7vY
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw48Si8AP0P
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There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7kwN43Jnk
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SYEaGiBrM
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“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrqdFE93mj
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAC6VGBYQko
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And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsF0WgvSLx
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“See ya… Sasuke.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6BhCElzw2
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyC7OskA5d1
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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—577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBMxypG9sV
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zwmOVt0W2
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtyKchXQeaq
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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?”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbV7jKEA6s4
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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.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynIC9OR1Sx
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wI2r0L6MG
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“And, above all…”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9L7TJuPaSS
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDoSF2mWsA
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CWSVeF3oe
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Except that it doesn’t get to.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGTjD1jlMT
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuL5UbslspW
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“See ya.”577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItmYZwEQ6f
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This is what I give,577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡar43fFO6NF
A circle is complete.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPpzYS9pb9
Another circle spins577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRSOmenxg9
There's life within,577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZUSstYr4C
Within
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end.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWwU8a1ayz
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOHv59NNtg
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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.577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEVPNeT60S
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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~!577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJFkyIdcgX
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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 lol577Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3y6us1vcN0
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Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
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