[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~!602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFkRAyuIJp
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By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPpBvS1qGM
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuIgFiB2nk
Word Count: 8.810602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuN7HrwYgs
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEvPFQDV5M
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XFy3DColZ
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMMQfejb36
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A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UzLOUZV04
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To the stars that played with the darkness602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jWPh0Q55V
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJSaqwK2A1
by Kanae602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdaCaGodXtl
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9aslYwYiy0
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Something in his chest tightens.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2twXflbl35
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPwrIdsZEj
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Just a girl.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMqlbMTaUO
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Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HOfXi78AQ
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He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxMmNHZZ74
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrMJP5nhny
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The girl.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yo4Of3WD5
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The redhead.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvq5esAbD6d
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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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6rUBSa59P
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWL2eB3EoT
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“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGLeHUuTtA
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvJPyGjNrT
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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—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0MsE6Hpdm
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“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf11Rby0JrC
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4cqm6pec6
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04Ua7qgc6h
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUz8E7Qw2d
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She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlu8N3e8hj
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He was severely mistaken.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡET1UHb6W5Y
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDA6Uxd05dl
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9baWNfgdl
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It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ITnEfppHy
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hb3OHMYMj
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jHj7YlnPv
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjKk8psJDb
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4yMy4sxO1Q
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGrkN9BGZ3
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She does not let go of him.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtttWqWmJFG
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And the déjà vu only worsens.
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“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURTdugIZyD
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMeFL2xIlp
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“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLFe4vaRms
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRnesFrsiS
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“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5ZzTsDIBR
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZwONvWgJH
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“Doing what, exactly?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8lTUUWr7Xl
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“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctPE7VL9R5
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“…A ninja?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifUaT77H3u
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgJ2hpLTno
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Au0zJUQsr
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgdZYLNdxe
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“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybi14CBWtl
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOw7iVIDXLt
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Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrPqit53Ca
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Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5B2kicErm
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Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSKDmwnxqm
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“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ77WRFmWqv
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EA7BcfWxF
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpo3fkeL8ou
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“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhJ88QAbGh
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6akkQltfv
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He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BgENI6ddK
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But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFeFJq358sK
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iyEyYiR56
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwpDYSB71g
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They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7R4eMkSQf
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“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3aaqhFhrF
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“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVteQ2t6q1
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOBmPaWHkv
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1w66jKmrH
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hMFlrQ9XZ
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetlGojvwj9
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxIUSyKjmnL
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0w66rE6NL
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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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJn4pmtD1t
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxRkrmaJVZ
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He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UEYvEjKwY
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ftBrAf7Vl
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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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRm7GfODozY
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Karin shrugs, unfazed.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVcz2LGnMr
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzyFODSKnr
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That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIhw1hWHkM
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“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cXTbtaVLZ
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Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3m8AEFPYhP
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For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMr2Mw27yE
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2V2gBhYFLe
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWTMYWGCvJ
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOR8Q26ubKr
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CtHjYi5rw
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sVVcOkx0i
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3Qh6a1Atn
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlzr5cUDcS
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQ2B0utEgO
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSrzIFend5
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74Ghk7DS3G
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8HhLiPSRL
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡit7lTTussO
“Always.”
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjv0Elrre0g
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKpcfg2OEg
It happens on a rainy night.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9NT4umhXb
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJolu1INGlU
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgH9QvxDkjH
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMV3VoJv1X
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SFSeT824h
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxj4umfKLj
She hadn’t been.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuT8NdwYxC
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBAILGJMxG
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILxs15eQpe
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zpPTznn9W
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0ZsMlAArb
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvzoxWwQOmm
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8UwRrHYb4s
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8POhKZ3Erx
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBUgYPlmJR
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZy7Tz0fJQC
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWTKMXI3yV
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKWU7Hz1RoK
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bmjPU1iwP
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHihUanXSl
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofRLOqhVYu
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQv9h6jAyub
“Hey, you! Wait!”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgEmUzHboA
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjMRm5vhzk
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtzFJVmRiF
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqSc7D4zSa
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAMqo5nJ8w
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKTXvD0mPn
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIIZnwaClV
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKRLWKLNuF
“… 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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rBpXTm0GC
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtFB09GfsP9
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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANVvLKAsmd
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF87VCDu3o5
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXc5eZshi2
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZaGbzVW0X1
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZ7PIwCrrF
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zSl0lWFZw
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOecBz4cd9t
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQDtsIotpd
By the time they place their orders, she is already in love with him.
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8p3ZXHmoe
He thinks that maybe he should be surprised, but the truth is that he isn’t.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMfyd0Dul5
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoe02SVtFY7
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl99EA5ul7w
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXKaM1PBqF
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBPkJTvmpu
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbUP0OAXfm
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHq1AZ7hr5W
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7j5p79Hfqz
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJStgjfZlh
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfYJ2SBxlB
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvfRKFrte1
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpOUmeCCiq
'Always'.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUo2EtSjzJ
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILq6567rJE
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS243mG2XMP
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1buhRrrSG
“Huh?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0L9WZmgpP
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWX4Ti8bg7
She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gXMMXXd9x
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNPXYnzavW
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUqgcw5Qcj
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8stb9XWoqC
“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—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIp8bSIarp
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqb5Maqrnih
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQW67gccJm9
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHP9hzvlBYG
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBaEuhAvMz
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXz7ioGOkQe
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMfIhUej9L
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkmUYOBq2T
Damn her.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQF1VHWHZFN
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmROCAqjsEB
“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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPG2ckzZTJs
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhpOOeYir4o
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaz5OSx16D
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJncXoxNMS
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ACCPIfXRm
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbwB3A6JSP
“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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMLIlxdDIz
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8wiC1fPT4
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2gAILyeCy
“I brought you the papers you requested,”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEigRX6RCYo
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzPjytD28an
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrbpvRkC5j
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHG6iwt7CC
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5qM7Re4iu
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVvaMzkNSC
“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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yyzASoyqa
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFajHiEMKu
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoLwxdtLDJ
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuJzI99gfS
“Any complains?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfGnaRALSJ
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡil0Pr924jD
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrQEnBJsM2
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNUD3y484F
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQoNo9cpRR
“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jJ142Yrrj
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iFP59CHPd
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwQqGzNlzj
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIzktQt2vn
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBxF1qX0bA
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpb4bechghn
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqudEdmF1T
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWSgAbtNub
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ltV7nc8ZX
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpk0r42K0s
'Always'.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXvKgzuk6Z
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJQkfI8yit
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4otOqkreb
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WN2QxUfgh
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaC9rOxz8XW
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAw0k5eF9ip
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkuoEYazng
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOQgJ8bVIY
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKYGUpBS8p
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWmy4CkByCw
“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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRw7OyIZNFI
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9B9IVX4L4
“Karin.”
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkXCM487nn
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbei348vBuk
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjknDq1046
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhsFzKhIJ8
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFwKTBNE3w
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXn3tRWsbA
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3rKR5HLR0
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoXEsJKsMex
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPR99g9NhI
“…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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMbZGb8ydP
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQJAI6fhNw
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOs9RuSBfy
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqoHH4wCV4
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44n6zknC72
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQTxdDs9ae
“…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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFW7oleox2j
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Hta3jAlzW
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Ae4JwqjWS
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGk7VEm3xk
“What?” she snaps.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENljoTi0my
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoH6dxsOgwh
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa23RgRFVU5
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqA8rmYnBqb
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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡny1WopnFyf
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVL1EvbZlY
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWZF18nM1i
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCeWbuNBWI
And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVlVi6Kr0G
“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTb9xA85sCz
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qisJmNR8b
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegwmB6mS9v
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyHvG3s05p
“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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwzU39e2wN
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWKsRFJDRt
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe73qsL0xWR
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tUrNvASFm
“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?602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM999kr5ppy
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAveQ7lwOD
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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhE8gqIxl7W
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHtiwZob7j
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfo9g62UkOd
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WZSgbcaru
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4yKYCJaULD
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcqc8lqier
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUkOfFSOAO
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYo6ICnym7
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCowSAoZsKS
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsKQytOfUs
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xOpE3Wf1m
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCC5jWcmle
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9bReEPLky
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPNAmsTDmg
Damn you, brother.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhzKZlWDWGQ
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKo5T9Lk2o
“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkzm9aDGsc
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsIyhHVY5T
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4E0dGvdAed
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJSB8O6wJz
“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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJ1bOIfP7D
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdn1vxSKJcW
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ69M7ATHzBG
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yEaGaM1ZQ
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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVivCPf8nAF
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lkVFHyUdE
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPTgTP3Hyt
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlH2LZ6tS9Q
“… 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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf72yl6oCIM
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfaBTI3Hqce
“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2v0Oq7KUs
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLt5Ma81sKu
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwejcv9V3Q
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIdJekTDME
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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZjDq3pX59
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzI0eNqSjV
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—602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYcTddYyFp
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEm69WSenM
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGXbfRICD5
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7aAAOb3sK
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgYI8uMb63
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7P4hLzMzS
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaldN43Q4G
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LSHgZqvYP
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQuzNETjZD
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6yjLJVWQy
And then she is grinning.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8l4YENLXt
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrXcnCLNAP
“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpq6c0fN92T
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenyP90hBoC
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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jRYPn5xSc
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgT0poKvZqV
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLfW1YLInl
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3g3vVvT6Xj
“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQhEoRDCdA
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotIbWAVqYh
“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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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5XDavHWu7B
“You won’t find anything better for a more reasonable price, I assure you, Uchiha-san. This is the absolute best—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPS0vZ5saqV
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGNlq0THg2
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTWyId0spi
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGe6tGRjPyl
“Excuse me.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMpraC4P0x
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyrJ4ocBjpi
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1LUZ1HKN9L
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCG2aPd2lHH
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNu58OoN6K
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmhRax3bW3
Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6M1M9XEKj
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZK6F4xM4Od
He could feel it, too.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqhiBrXjdg
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKT75FjHet
Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEZYPm81Uv
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmiqwYOKvs
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
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She can hardly believe it.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7p6oRZKrob
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQxabNNFEz
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznIGJQtDD2
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHt0DZxKjkf
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOmMhLeYN4
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPUMeyZZce
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXB7j0l7Zz4
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOpzgRNbmH
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCuAt3si3k
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMn90agzih
“What’s so funny?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLjg1AKRoZ
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGaDSXgJ81
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUFMv8lHTP
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC80Wo6iW6n
“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6Bf0dJKOc
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcwcjUiRUv
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwOUwlgKrRx
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zgyVz8ZBM
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIxfo20CLP
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLK5ZMiwz3
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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbsgy1zKNo
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMknOeXMVFz
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoVoiXcIMJ
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbBOZeakwu6
“S-asuke—” she chokes.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXMMwxQxWo
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcat8nktf8Q
But he does not listen.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡriR878m7Q9
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Dy0jWMMLT
“…mine.”
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZiCT7sVtD
She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9lx5RtLUn
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdAH4uPmvu
“Sewing again?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuW4mDxmnxL
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2oOGdQbGl
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamR3K8mT92
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGTMdyhRLf
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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYlVkIEPW9c
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOm8U0hIqr
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAETgvpNQUH
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXKZ9MyL6Q
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZ6RYfPtdn
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1RWK1OFRo
“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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7slqB9rjxI
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OwOW482uY
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jLUX5lnFh
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66oWEsAY5p
And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrR05sLvF6Z
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnusnPe1ZQm
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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ko0Eou8cX
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcEnJX1QaC
“Doing what?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWP5mU11pJq
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKOppW6Wfz
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCTTTzOLiK
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkAA7FVMIF
“Or what?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8s0se85f0
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mGfVFs7kO
“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDEkInEJ8z
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgptyLf4lJU
She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Jwa8FqRIu
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfG06qq7CG
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQOzAsT73A
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxjt9Vd1CY
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡradFQMGkzp
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYSJnyb4hP
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpcccob8QMb
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiclfbD5GiG
Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatOeQTmsVh
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RfiSynoj6
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcy0YrpbCPf
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweMdhiTtTe
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbXH8elgVx8
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8O9Nwt6Acg
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—602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnDvL833nm
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGHvv3MkuH
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJXeHRr61G
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9x2qzzD6G
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVZyOuPxg6
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9oPH0fE5iT
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVI4O9soJnL
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkW2qVlq6US
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBJjI1Ghb5
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16bFTWx0GM
“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMWLUwL6Lu
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRpOIa9QUa
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZA6DJa8vO
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKmyrKQQOr
“I told you, it’s fine.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FyEFyjszD
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhrqjFx9cm
He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgh3hUComF3
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaP1aZrq5ss
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpZwckufAx
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFJ5MpFfPm
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLH8RRAc6x
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ869AJfRYkv
“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3xIozJdyn
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWIIowksKj
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTbfzZ5E5n
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUolORo4j2M
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rPKT57OE2
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvXg6pMBWJ
“S-sasuke, what—?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOUT2Wey0p
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpP7fIAN8Nb
“Where were you, Karin?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQk8X69LgX
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzb5Wg0RxB9
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZgjMq2AJn
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It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZc0TEPvXV
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJY2jeYoFtT
But she holds her ground.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdESDuEQqfp
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4C76PZHK2
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jhT5YMYxN
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG15MSi89ZO
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AuV8PW3HY
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmF3ZR4cn4
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—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAX4zyuh0q
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx87xNXF6BN
“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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PRn36iHta
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK2YOEC147U
“Sasuke, I—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uFlH8AjMk
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6R7uhCyRQ
“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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCEyW0pXkT
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjCzr7G5Dd
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgJl6xlJB8
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTua7osl3l
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7CZXnAIOiY
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzlexFSLxh
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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAU2eK41pk
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkYvfDdavQ
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EikvbklLS
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdewrXM1ZS
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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq318fEWlfU
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6LnwcNHKW
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQp44nhnPL5
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhyC9FxNBm
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTB4upQY1tY
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdGkzkY6L6
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pxnNhBW6g
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡar46HNnMDl
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0eluq2C3K
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2sMzv2IWxV
Even himself.
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpiwnrADi5
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQLlQwBhI6
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyEpHAls4m
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tSqAHRSk0
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeQaeicqcd
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeo3Kh79RB
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsY1uAZAlIM
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEcxpUNGADH
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRs5Vh9ECzm
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmpWggOIRH
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsvIMCpbMq
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZQWIHl1RG
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJalo3jn6g
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDrvClVbQH
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTiGhp5WIB
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAqbliZFHV
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MD2OU6c8T
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAX0099jpm1
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpwX5Gn9Oh
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH3m9cBz3Yt
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJCO2GxI2g
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4M95vFUxUr
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ544sHhhAab
In this case, it is both at once.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYY5tcA1EgF
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Gvj7K4QyI
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHsZ4ypQ66
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDwrcS5nN1
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjwgPWHifD
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMWyQ0gXPC
Broken promises.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoF5fWmufH
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmwQ7B7fhZ
A call. A funeral.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5DPkrxXir
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpGBlq8wzA
And tears.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm85Iwyz5nX
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDZFAOGkJJ
Heartbreak.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkulF487gdo
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTOkR5st7i
Loneliness.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOOP05xTcb
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ESuEw6kI0
…then there was nothing else.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqt7PJrspCf
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Kl2RaQ9YW
And then there was everything all over again.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOoXNIEYzB
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivonwCKr0t
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbaqI4niZ3
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJ6ip83GKq
He can’t stop.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73rIaUAY15
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjL4OIgIaew
He does not want to.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRW1msDPtj
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonPlCikDgO
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9mcG4giKK
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0auWUPLiY
The door creaks open.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrmkNzDrGK
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHO8sNO8x4y
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2cIrlpdYI
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvC8PihBViV
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxt0XV5F1Gc
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0jgaCgNLC
(“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.)602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQ1OEwk70k
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICrfKP4bp5
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIHsrzmRA1
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGtPWqlG0g
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYbcdT4tHd
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKsHlDooHl4
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjR3h5MutCW
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9mw5ZrGRP
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3uv2M3fKO
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUei3pxToRx
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ803GwbQcrc
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuBSU5IUMr
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGt3aKtF0QZ
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzX40iecQp
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZhT9v6Z0C
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeD0rSoFvnL
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFLHxjA0ry
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡas6bGxTY0p
And then she parts her lips.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwYQxclLLO
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHGcLZEMDl
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWiYRehSGW
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbj6nYHV7Df
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOukCPwYux
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLfu5xQ9lQ
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvIevTF78D
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wnzUcxvES
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZceeaB3ZV1
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7FGfbU61d
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdfFsBB10T
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vi4LlcU0c
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKdIWBEXw8
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuX71PL0eP
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvP8EaDNfm1
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvb6sebWe81
It makes something in her tightly clench.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRssiCPTT2g
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIF3kZumZOm
“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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQTX8iiZpL
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNEWXX8s0js
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAFRpLN1t6
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mUjwxvXjh
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmLwX0o0lf
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrLxECHTns7
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPEEUdAgR9
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQ9s3vU83D
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZu3XSuBVCC
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNT6oKxqH6Z
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnGjARb6ux
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2SP1J2E5C
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQILt97t34
He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGPqPdS8zm
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXtM4eP6Ab0
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kfGZoUeMJ
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJ7Mo9XYSo
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zCUAM36bS
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VWDgRAvKG
“Sasuke, no—!”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBZ297y2LR
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YgMoyKJtN
“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—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFEuoVBfu9
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLD8qtsPcUD
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEfTda7m6E
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4D1l8BVXP
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xm8VRM4w7
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60SGvfwSJ7
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGxo44zGBR
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtIhZd1EPm
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4aBdknqvTt
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CIdM3W63p
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HI6CM7ZS2
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7I36l5lvh
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6D3kPBZhZV
‘What weren’t?’602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMl4VmzYca
‘...You.’602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkOQJXOqku1
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqLqwTVgpJ
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7XXMT63Vl
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlG1Ae3ZvTc
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdQOek9CgK
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡambbJ7rwqP
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTE7T29ysjw
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUoTLTy4NI
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoT3VQieQSe
“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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdqWL0XeLM
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qSobptsHX
“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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCucLJYjVO
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDc0RsDZgii
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhQB5BL1bT
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhF4p36GxCy
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SW9lw7N5X
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzEN1BYOvV
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
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602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7olp8ZNX9J
“What was I doing to you?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRzDdOUqZKc
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuW2WvPuFUj
“… I don’t remember.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAKabczxiB
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwZOlgcSbN
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj51AWBqGca
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67XJdZva9q
But he has played that game long enough.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvU2s8wKgmA
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8HYyMKqsM
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7nsMxjIkS
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYXomuJa8v
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1N7h4yeiJI
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSAXSiEnsO
“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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQQWWH0bLJ
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9bRqCKy3Y
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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡua8snUqFo0
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmUgz8ptZz
“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDRiuZkUV5
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDVRYNmSIZ
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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—602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBH8Nh8fpd
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvl4Owqqgn4
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“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90qFl0TRlG
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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—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9VLJosN0e
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYcJXrzY3Y
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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—”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMiSSMGajN
602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxQoExmtEv
“—make you… regret it… I know,” her smile looks like unleashed tears. “I admit… this… wasn’t exactly… what I had… in mind.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPzaDvOugVO
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There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4WiCln8sq
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFrb2qX1i0
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“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHaA7uUec1
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcs1FUWPoHw
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And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSA09GbhDta
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“See ya… Sasuke.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNX3GGGc7d7
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8oifSD3LK
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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—602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqt2FHzDwk
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTP2sR7XqpB
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIXFbLhqen
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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?”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvjhsrURg5
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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.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1rOuMVA5K
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnpcIVorus
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“And, above all…”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fh8KRGYaj
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHhKpEInEy
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHtniEmczO
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Except that it doesn’t get to.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPl2KuGhSXH
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjGk455Vfh
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“See ya.”602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWjIskiYVN
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This is what I give,602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxabBMvO7x
A circle is complete.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMUrH9bC3D
Another circle spins602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqn0QjOmpf
There's life within,602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVhmnEypjx
Within
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end.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuL2Jn8dbbI
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42vLctnQ9f
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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.602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfn62jcVrws
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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~!602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwOOuFMFhW
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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 lol602Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7sdWFS4rK
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Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
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