[FANFIC - HBD, SASUKE(?)] WILDFIRE; (SK)
now uploaded in fanfiction.net~! here; if you wish to comment but can't do so here, please feel free to review over there~!601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7gf3Zn9l7
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By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVrShp78F5
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0KNAYRROC
Word Count: 8.810601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIkCZeVs4O
Author's Notes: I got this plot-bunny a couple of months ago; the idea was to sit down and carefully plan it, but… well, life happened. So I decided to let it write itself instead. Posting it for Sasuke’s birthday project because, while his birthday is not the focus of this, it does get briefly mentioned (:hurr)~ Also, there are some credits, but I’ll be giving them at the end of the fic in order to not spoil anyone.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo7TIl1cirC
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7UkC58IoN
Summary: It is a flame that was set ablaze by a smile. A fire that consumes everything in its wake. A wildfire that burnt them to ashes, down to their roots.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVgvbN0kzS
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A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGLXDqp0Q2
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To the stars that played with the darkness601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nX6Dm9lfe
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Mny6wUdqG
by Kanae601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq91ViIthFM
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It happens a hot Thursday afternoon as he goes through the tourniquets of the subway and catches a glimpse of red from the corner of his eye.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCK7Ehsnqp
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Something in his chest tightens.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysLuQSJLMh
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He is looking back before he knows it, uncharacteristically standing still as his eyes seek the source of the red; a girl’s ponytail.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSLONE0DUP
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Just a girl.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxefWSc0fW
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Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWyPvh8ZhA
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He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRvDkwXh7s
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He has almost reached the escalators when someone steps in front of him, blocking his way—and he can’t help the slight widening of his eyes as he realizes who it is.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAPP7J8HNO
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The girl.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMSCl9BKUR
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The redhead.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalaEIxV5yl
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“Sorry,” she says, and she is a little out of breath. Had she run to catch up with him? “Do I know you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1YIVVgwVf
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An alien reply makes its way from his chest up to the tip of his tongue, but Sasuke does not recognize it—and before he can even deem it worth his time, it is gone. And all that remains is the same disinterest from before. Just a girl.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSbC4ibxxk
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“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbe20WNTFs
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“No, I do know you. I mean—” Sasuke narrows his eyes, irritated, but the girl looks too caught up in her thoughts to notice, “I have dreamed of you.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AA2EbVzwn
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Sasuke gives her a blank stare and the girl turns a little pink. “I-I mean,” she stammers, pushing her glasses further up her nose. The gesture stirs something inside of Sasuke, and it is powerful enough to the point he almost misses her next words “I know it sounds weird, but—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkCM9fpamu
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“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUiYuaZfsh
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“Wait!” she calls, and Sasuke finds his legs answering in kind even before his name comes out of her lips. “Y—your name is… Sasuke, isn’t it? Uchiha Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmAuxvftyk
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“… So what?” his reply is brisk, and it comes out through gritted teeth. This was ridiculous; both the girl and his reactions to her. What had come over him, anyway? He has never seen this chick. Ever. “Knowing that is no feat.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DTDQt0NHh
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It wasn’t. More than a quarter of the city knew his family’s name. Knowing who he was simply was part of the package.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgQg52bx9b
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She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUZUu08eTL
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He was severely mistaken.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlB9ruelve8
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“And, when you were eight…” she suddenly whispers, her voice vague, “when you were eight, your mom gave you a dinosaur-shaped toy.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJPhn6yaxx
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Sasuke’s eyes widen, his body freezing upright. Her voice gains momentum. “You said it was childish, and pretended to have thrown it away; but you still have it.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLq2a9FKJ1
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It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JqEK95NAA
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Obsidian meets pointed red, and it is something in the calculating edge of her gaze more than her words that which turns Sasuke’s skin into gooseflesh. “…You keep it locked in a box inside your closet, just like you keep locked away that irrational fear of yours of losing them someday.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkt9Tkb0mcw
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Them. His parents. The one thing he has never told anyone—not even his brother. The one thing he has never been able to face, regardless of how much he has tried to do so.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8cDWMPdTZ
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He wants to say something—anything—but words just won’t come. He feels utterly intimidated and exposed before this stranger; before this redhead whose lips quirk up in the barest traces of a smile, her shoulders relaxing.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVTMf31KDh
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“Come on, there’s a café down the street, we can talk there.” She does not wait for a reply, simply reaching out and taking a hold of his sleeve—and as she pulls him towards the escalators, Sasuke feels an unexplainable sense of déjà vu.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTzCRy1JWB
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“Let me go,” he mutters, though he can’t find it in himself to oppose any resistance. “I can walk by myself.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUkxpuu7kv
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She does not let go of him.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WSzfP8ITd
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And the déjà vu only worsens.
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“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhfrWIs482
“Huh?! Why should I go anywhere? I’m in charge of this place!”
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“They started… around 3 months ago, I think,” the girl—Karin—says, after the waitress has brought them their respective orders; Sasuke, a black coffee, Karin, a cappuccino with amaretto.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoT8uenEVAp
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“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBZoAUC4Vj
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“Yeah, the dreams,” Karin agrees, taking a sip of her coffee and giving him a pointed look over the brim of the cup. “At first they were sporadic. Just once every few nights or so, but then I started to get them every night… every single night.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ655glYEPzq
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“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGeSZy5jVr3
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“Not all of them,” she retorts thoughtfully, if not a little defensively; but then she shrugs. “But you were always there.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFqvgCUNbM
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“Doing what, exactly?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDVDkUbx9T
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“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHo8FWf6iVt
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“…A ninja?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2p7T3bjHx
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“Yeah. A very powerful one, at that. Don’t—” she warns, before Sasuke could have the chance to interrupt with a snide remark. “I know how ridiculous it sounds, but it’s the truth.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQIMGQz9z5
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He crosses his arms with an eye roll. “That still does not explain how you knew about the dinosaur.” Just mentioning the toy makes a wave of embarrassment wash over him, but he tries to keep at bay and not let it show.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjRljXqHMV
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Karin smiles, and the gesture looks sour. “Not every dream took place in the same world, Sasuke. Those—the ones where we were shinobi, those were the firsts, and also the most recurrent. But I have seen you as you are, too. And as you were.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Te7kXhd9H
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“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Ovc4Mz15O
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It’s her turn to cross her arms. “Tch, you already know, don’t you? You’re smart, Sasuke. Don’t take me for a fool.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8VGDPacwz
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Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jr4HuWt4p
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Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0eVSTpPpx
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Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMPo1PN3Ci
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“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxyhxFRxsgb
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“Stop,” Sasuke demands, his patience running thin at being lectured by a complete stranger. “Stop talking as if you know me, Karin. You don’t.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡES2g31Bdt7
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“Actually, I do,” Karin shoots back without missing a beat, her red eyes steadily holding his even despite his threatening glare. “And from the looks of it, I know you better than you know yourself—stay there, Sasuke,” she stresses, and his glare only intensifies. He hadn’t even had the enough time to move a muscle. “I am not finished yet.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1an5uvehf
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“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtJGsd6UMS
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Karin blinks at him and then promptly snorts. “The you in my dreams was nicer to be around, I’ll give you that.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ72PfkvC4b
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He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSLZIfFU6B
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But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQFcfpVjk7
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“I know why you’re so afraid of losing your parents, someday.”
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“Shhh” she coos, cradling his trembling form in her arms and making him sink his face on her chest. It’s her favorite new shirt and it’s getting soaked and soiled by his tears and the soot, but her heart is too busy breaking over him and his pain and her mind is too shaken by the explosion and the death—by the smell of burnt flesh, by the screaming figures of his parents and brother as they were consumed by the fire.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JOwxdbC6l
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“Shhh, Sasuke, it will be alright,” she isn’t sure if she believes what she is saying. Not when there are tears beginning to leak from her own eyes and dripping onto his hair—not when his sobs twist her soul and worsen the despair. Why did this have to happen to them? Why did they have to—? “I promise you, it will be alright, we will get through this.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqDBZCl41A
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They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHdIqP2iPj
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“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNwAwbqozg
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“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMt5hj5IqFl
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Despite her bravado her voice breaks at the end and Sasuke clutches her shirt—holds onto her for dear life and hastily pulls her together again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSIvZu6hcS
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“I promise.”
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Sasuke fists his hands to prevent them from shaking as his very soul seemed to be doing. He sets his jaw, tries to regularize his breathing and his pulse—tries to not show any signs of inward struggle.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2g9zSGe70n
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No that it would make much of a difference, since Karin was deliberately keeping her attention elsewhere. She had barely looked at him from the moment she started to tell him all she knew—all she had seen—about his parents, and weren’t he so troubled by everything he heard, he would have realized he was thankful for her tact.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oI5m4L6lx
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As things were, however, his brain was having troubles assimilating Karin’s words; how his parents had died over and over again. Killed by his brother (by his brother, out of all people! What kind of bullshit was that?), in an accident, in a fire—Sasuke had tuned out, then. The images such stories enticed were too vivid, too troubling—they made the hairs on his arms stand on end, made cold droplets of sweat roll down his neck.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEpxTjWRSW
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Everything was preposterous, absolutely unbelievable—and even then he could not dismiss a word she had said, even though he desperately wanted to. Something in the way she had spoken—in the way her voice had quivered, her stare grave and set on her lap—and even more so, something in the things she had known; habits that Mikoto and Fugaku had and that no one but him and Itachi would know about, made her words all the harder to shake off.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryJjPzND4I
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So he aims for the next best thing—he tries to push the thought aside and latches onto another one, one that has slowly but surely been demanding his attention.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXTUGmW3Ab
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“… Where do you fit into all that?” he murmurs, and has to swallow to help ease his dry throat. “Why is it you, and not me, who is having these dreams?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xKK1BUw67
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The ghost of a smile touches her lips, “I don’t know. I guess it’s because you’ve closed yourself off, again,” it fades. “You always close yourself up.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgmLaFl63S
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He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnbvFuGpdl
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Karin hardens her expression, her eyes squarely meeting his own. “In that first world, I was your teammate. In the second, I was your friend. In the third, your lover.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB7tGFqcPgo
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Sasuke cannot really help the way he feels his throat clog up, his cheeks warm. So he fakes a cough, looks away; “And this is the fourth?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4o4zamMFKf
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Karin shrugs, unfazed.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwS9pghoVxP
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“I don’t know, I guess there may be more. I haven’t remembered them yet, though.” Her voice lowers, “…I don’t know if I want to, either.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3d8mfKUVp
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That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ819kxpdQ9N
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“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIZQ0SDOBB
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Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPvkhXvTKE
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For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxlhlatg8l
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“...You.”
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There is lighting prickling her skin and piercing her chest; it has missed her heart by an inch, a miracle improbable enough to be deliberate—but one that is a curse in disguise, for his eyes do not miss the mark.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGumVxLOJqu
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They hit the bulls-eye dead on its center, and she feels it freeze and then wither and die, disintegrating into a worthless pile of ashes that, with every single word he says, scatter like the wind—never to be recovered again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2y0oLS1GXy
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“Karin… the moment you were taken hostage, you became an encumbrance.”
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She leans her head on her propped up palm, and the pair of red eyes that were fixed into his look sage and tired all of a sudden. “…But I guess it never made much of a difference.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3bx7mM7WY
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKcPquSFDd
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9T9X0wsn6J
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡId2RzCML1b
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdEZu3EMAC
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOcpgLktPW
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkioe9gmk0
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3uZvdbVJiB
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmKyQa3Srd
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTH2Gi8pXYg
“Always.”
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKHoTAm4hM
It happens on a rainy night.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvt0Vc1ca2
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq21VRt3Y2j
The rain had started pouring out of nowhere. What a minute ago had been a clear sky became a gray maze of plump clouds and then thick, cold droplets of rain had started to cascade down over the town.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjWTjdeJLR
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jpHSi1SJi
Ever so slowly, the crowded street was left almost empty; for the exception of a few pedestrians who had been keen enough to bring an umbrella with them.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaEAGzEdR0
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEb7IaOjaR
She hadn’t been.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdMMQSCkClS
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkaSUAEWOUD
As the traffic light begins to turn, she dashes out from under the improvised shelter of an awning only to stop dead in her tracks—in her haste, she had not realized the light included an advanced left-turn signal.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrDJqMUw0v
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuLjUlHIHA
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6yV5MYLCm
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftLG1IQdLy
Startled, the girl flickers her gaze upward only to find a dark-haired business man casually speaking into his cellphone, his eyes focused on the traffic light ahead. Their arms are touching, the warmth of his body seeping through to hers despite the long sleeves of his expensive-looking cloak, and she finds her cheeks warming up, her heart quickening at the unexpected gesture of kindness.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFPLmeg47C
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULgPafhkRg
The light changes and he moves ahead without hesitation, with the same kind of firm grace with which he had come to shelter her—and she is so transfixed by him that she almost forgets she is supposed to walk, too.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYweDV45wR
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6G0GXI7SMw
When they get to the other side of the street, the business man wordlessly leads her to an awning and then parts ways with her, not once glancing at her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3czTznOcG
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAlMH8nWO2
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBBjUb1Hzv
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBopwH36hC
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOTcFThUHP
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaovmpNIc1
“Hey, you! Wait!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwTtR7LwyX
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHsaH6LQoE
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICaQXOHRGS
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUCUtb19hN
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwR0SsqbeHZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWXBtEgczp
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerhAWalsMm
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZDHj2Lr0g
“… It’s nothing,” he states, and though his words are nothing but an astonished murmur she hears them loud and clear over the thunders. “And it doesn’t seem to have helped much.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QP000pPXF
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLNe36qosC
Her blush worsens under his pointed look, but the hint of amusement in those deep eyes of his edges her on. “I-I know of a good café down the street. If you aren’t in a hurry, how about I invite you something while we wait for the rain to let up?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBSfykDh2k
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqLx47d3PI
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8Nj6k0UqX
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzExEzkFOqF
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjnXWModGL
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHBwGSnHHo
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pXFwUf05G
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWF65EjcK03
By the time they place their orders, she is already in love with him.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyaqcnijvp
He thinks that maybe he should be surprised, but the truth is that he isn’t.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡciYYVD7Hqu
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIw3WwH6Mxu
Somehow, it felt like he had been waiting for it—waiting to see her walking through that door, ever since they had parted ways at that Café a little over a week ago.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZV0qBoKpj
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKDHZ47Rg5
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQfMmcg8Qx
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5LDv3RxPD
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JE03ajg1s
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6ygOghwYY
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesZpmkUxjK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkgLb59aiL
“Oh, don’t be so conceited, Sasuke,” Karin waves a hand, puts the other on her hip and sways to the side. The movement is every bit of a taunt as it is sensual, and Sasuke finds himself blushing like a preschooler as a recurrent memory slips itself uninvited into his mind again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBB808udRv
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ECyxaArGg
'Always'.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0id1IGyUEi
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5oNlWSXaPm
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbJv0Ei1kl
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRZG88v2cf
“Huh?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6NUyP5xI0
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3NsHbaOBbv
She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63fKMB80jI
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVhniwRpyb
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGy5KTmdJ1x
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqYRbdpzBl
“You are a terrible liar, Sasuke,” she remarks, and suddenly her face lights up. “Hey, did I tell you about the time I was a lie-detector and—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKCxNxOiRa
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0prTX30QjY
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzD0K3kKfKM
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLXRMK3DPR
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTkaRucbCr
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJsa6788kn
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxO0oaKz6uQ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwkt0aE7Oq
Damn her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDxEbeD6SFb
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcl2CJY6DU
“Talk to Nara on the second floor, he will give you your contract. And Karin—not a word to anyone about… about—” he refused to say us. There wasn’t an us. “—about what you told me. Understood?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvz1kTt4zYq
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZMdWJzvMK
She does a mock salute, “Right, Uchiha-san!” and Sasuke massages his temple, wondering what had made him agree to give her the job in the first place.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0srRn9G81
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRu5wyXRH5
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ylh1rLXPa
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYeSH8aSPY
“Cheer up, Sasuke,” and Sasuke can catch a glimpse of her playful smirk before she closes the door behind her. “This isn’t the first time we work together, you know?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3j7n9RU3B
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSkiq2R7cx
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Xau1bLIpX
“I brought you the papers you requested,”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLY5x3ekpcz
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBq31SBRfr0
She has barely finished the sentence when he has her pressed against the door and is claiming her mouth with his own, his hands roaming across her back and then down as she skillfully locks the door.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0h99aMvQq
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDRciDrZh8
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnD1WjfDaKh
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuO9ulYOMdc
“Who cares,” he retorts, his voice a throaty murmur that worsens the heat settled in the lower part of her abdomen, “let them watch if they want.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlndU4BaAq
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFubje07wK
“Hmmm that’s kinky,” she teases, and her blood boils as he raises his face from her belly in order to give her a roguish look.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnO7AO0ze3
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKgNNYtaFH
“Any complains?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDd52wncuzn
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYGDg24vFq
“Yeah… stop teasing me and get on with—ahh” she moans, her nails scrapping at the door as his head gets lost inside her skirt, his hands spreading her thighs apart.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJ7vMaovYH
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoPvHKUchT
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlb2V3npi1m
“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPMxS4Dtla
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfs7vfohOG
The waitress nods and leaves—but not without giving Sasuke a hurt look from underneath her long lashes. He hopes Karin will let it slide; so of course Karin does exactly the opposite, her slim eyebrows arched high.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKy5mWM5MF
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93tak0hSBb
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwN17asCtpx
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31JacvCpF1
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0lQnDjPYb
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Fris2C8Yv
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJttULSD50t
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmPd6ePAPL
'Always'.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj78fPvmZpo
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcX9zsVeDk
Against his better judgment, he can feel all too easily the way his cheeks start to warm up. What was up with him and blushing around this girl? He was never like this, ever.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0O72XR8Yv
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dODADis6y
“Whatever,” he ends up taking the easy way out. Sitting across from him, Karin pouts, leans her chin on her hand and lazily waves a finger in his face.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhPXFv3ncl
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEaRkRcfJ1
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQUS8M0rBX
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVAAk556Cns
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHuz8nsIsY
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtVWOfiwSl
“Right, right,” she sighs, and her faked annoyance swiftly gives way to a leer. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see you so interested in us, but it wouldn’t hurt to focus on the current us.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlWeuZdmGH8
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8G40tAxEfA
“Karin.”
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1JmOtdt3e0
“This is enough for today, thank you for your cooperation, Karin,” she knows better than to give weight to his agreeable words. The way he doesn’t even look at her, too busy being transfixed by her blood instead, says everything she needs to know.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNGpsSig8p
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCLaObL7kp
So she recoils when he reaches out to bandage her—scowls, sidesteps him and stumbles her way out of the room, hating herself for the numbness in her legs.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFGYiATUTT
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNoZzQAkG3
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQJQVujcNM
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifAGmbbZoV
He is leaning against the wall, arms crossed against his chest—and then her knees give up and he is draping her arm around his neck and helping her walk, revealing the bandages held in his hands.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqfmcJV7jL
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0GeOEdE3g
“…I can walk by myself, Sasuke,” she lies, but he does not let go and she lets herself lean a little closer. Close enough to feel the dampness in his side. She looks down and finds blood—and then she is glaring at him from behind her half-lidded eyes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWoRqV37sa
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqX2ENGeBj
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfdVUQAdeI
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JMGvo5Wxa
“You can’t heal anyone in your current state, Karin,” came his reply, calm and even despite the open wound in his side, and Karin hates the fact that he is right.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCZdA0KLyH
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYzDbjuQ7L
“…You should’ve gone to bandage yourself, Sasuke. I don’t need you to babysit me,” she says faintly, both embarrassed and touched at once.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKsxtQCFLJ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEihEVSTbh
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhK2szjXaQw
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ23e8oXA3pf
“What?” she snaps.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HYk65csWe
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplbSQ1zAre
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eSHPREQRg
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMowwlUxR9
She frowns, but her cheeks go red. She has a feeling she knows where he is going with this. “Tch, what is that supposed to mean?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRGgSAcm94
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDsbQvwKGG
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd8pctvS4Mw
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzNxnsCS0g
And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6YwMhgN2V
“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hsegUbdKC
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyevL5AZgL
Sasuke can’t hold back an eye-roll as Karin politely declines; this was the fifth time in a row, and he didn’t know what surprised him more—Karin’s sudden faultless manners, or the lengths to which his mother was going to please her. Hell, one would think it was the redhead’s birthday rather than his.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLu7ZtKOs8
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCpima8v2y
“Don’t be like that, little brother,” the voice comes from behind him, and is accompanied by a hand that affectionately ruffles his hair. “You know it’s not often that mother gets to attend a girl.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MAdwEtfZ4
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLAactODx0
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAiXrIvLFP
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkg6X1UpXPE
“Probably when you stop acting like one,” chimes in a female voice, and Sasuke sends her an airy look as Itachi chuckles behind him. He was definitely starting to regret having brought her along; what had he been thinking?601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxkZrznY6S
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWnp89PEPQ
He does not get to say it aloud however, as Karin is now looking at Itachi with curious eyes. “Don’t tell me this is Sasuke’s first time bringing a girl home?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWadbSkbbR
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pEczbYeQu
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSBPkzjYKe
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLf7U7orGp
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0h5Gs2fbR
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tAUdYTLDd
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMv9NrPq3g
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhmI2p11Yu
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbBCc8Pmk4
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgL8rsVUGtj
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClkpGCgIxR
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuRypbNfwg
“I would say that more than that, what is so remarkable is that this is the first time he brings home a girl who isn’t his girlfriend.” Itachi comments, his tone kind but knowing—and as Karin looks away from the older Uchiha and towards Sasuke, giving him a look that seemed to be clearly flaunting a oh, is that so? Sasuke airily looks away.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOSQ5j0rxb
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpi9WXtiWQ
Damn you, brother.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDLVcwjHGD
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfSqWKmJ9X
“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLnrIX3ti7
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeygmuXc5Yl
A twinkling laughter resounds through the room, effectively cutting the argument short; and the three of them turn only to find Mikoto standing by the doorway, a tray of biscuits in her hands and a happy beam in her beautiful face.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTTQYWyJdN
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUna58ng5L
“It seems you three are having fun,” she merrily observes, graciously moving to leave the tray on the tea-table. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen Sasuke enjoy himself this much.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1sPbuILuA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7hY2pssqP
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7emaCc0BZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmuI6fJ9vd
But his indignant mutter remains promptly ignored as Mikoto takes Karin’s hands in hers and gives her a glowing smile. “You’re good for my son, Karin-chan.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LLPKFxNbr
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaH4avSXlw
For a moment, the room is submerged in silence—even Karin herself is rendered speechless, and while in any other circumstance Sasuke would have reveled in seeing the girl this flustered—widened eyes, a pink hue in her cheeks—the truth is this time, it only adds to his own awkwardness.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxANzCt1UK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHYlXCITUA
“… Mother, you just met her,” he lamely ends up saying once he has found his voice, but he sounds more astonished than reproaching; and Mikoto rewards him with a thoughtful smile before setting her gaze back on Karin.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhaDsM0Dxc
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRttDR2bl8u
“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0X2h5E38TZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCq0FImiodd
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClvzAIGtV9
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKSswueH45
Wordlessly, Sasuke and Karin seek each other’s eyes across the room—and he wishes he wasn’t aware of the way he was slowly starting to mirror her smile.
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“It’s so stupid,” she assesses, looking at the field with apparent disinterest, “I mean, running like idiots after a ball, really? Pft, where’s the fun in that?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbT5no21jZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QvWiFuv1J
Sasuke would have been inclined to agree; if only he were listening to what she was saying. Instead, he has found himself distracted from his own homework by the way the sun seemed to be lighting her hair just so—by the way her ponytail exposed the stark whiteness of the nape of her neck; by the way she absentmindedly bit on her pencil from time to time as she read, brows furrowed in confusion or eyes light up with understanding—and she would tilt her head to the side then, stick her chin out with self-satisfaction—and Sasuke—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutBi1U35mT
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrZvBNECBU
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGfS294un7
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuYamNe1ii
But Sasuke doesn’t get to hear it, because his body is too busy being pulled to her like a moth to a flame and his brain is too busy shutting down as his lips meet hers. She freezes, and he is too much of a novice so the kiss isn’t much of a kiss—but he doesn’t quite mind.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtK19fVHLkW
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3HvcPo6lz
When he leans back he finds Karin staring at him, point-blank. He figures that perhaps he should try and say something; but he doesn’t feel the need to, so he just licks the lip-gloss off his lips instead.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYizTYYh3c
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvK4JXFNyVq
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEGIPX8zoY
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hFLH9RYLf
And then she is grinning.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHQLO7SxL4
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrS9YjMJs5
“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWSbVT5oTm
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUj1irvSylG
He can’t help but smile back. “I almost did, yesterday,” he reveals, as he carefully takes her glasses off. “And the day before that. And the one before that.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4fjHuYALO
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqJWOb7IGS
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKILa3Y8vY
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBnIGsmefd
“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpfIXT1IJA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRSxmg6bv9
“Not a chance,” their noses touch and her voice lowers to a mere brush of air against his lips, “…it’s too fun to watch you squirm.”
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“You won’t find anything better for a more reasonable price, I assure you, Uchiha-san. This is the absolute best—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7dXddtMWZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtnfFVFNwE
He goes on and on, but the words of the realtor start to become nothing but background noises as Sasuke’s gaze is caught by Karin’s vibrant red hair.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bcwU0ruAx
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLamSzn5pi
“Excuse me.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqh7j9d2g0
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcPoDMsGTB
Not waiting for a reply, Sasuke makes his way to the windowsill; Karin was standing in front of it, her eyes closed and her face showered by the rays of the sun filtering in through the glass. It occurs to him then that he has never seen her looking so serene—so at peace with herself and the world. So taken is he by the realization, that he does not notice he has stopped breathing until Karin’s eyes flutter open and she smiles at him.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7L8iZhjCd
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVDZuLFWkl
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxYgrGHFCM
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZMPKMG9lD
Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqupsy54Ot
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYL4El0BSC
He could feel it, too.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMubbsVgHWJ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jHsaKzULB
Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1KeguhzQ1
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjQXbJ4Iyw
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
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She can hardly believe it.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYK9tSjORdi
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXV3WYrkOa4
Can hardly believe this. That the guy she once chased down a street in the pouring rain is holding her in his arms, his head sunk in her neck as he breathes in the scent of her hair.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLhAygxf91
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpT1FnEYxn
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoU7lV40O5u
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyery0voLsk
Her kind businessman had turned out to be a gentleman through and through; smooth, reliable and above all, capable. He was everything she wanted in a man and then some; and to top it all off, he seemed to be as crazy about her as she was about him.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cEd9KtFlR
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSw87JD8jnc
Now that she thought about it, it seemed more like something straight out from a dream rather than a mere drama. The thought makes her giggle, and she feels him smile against her neck, his arms holding her just a little bit closer so that she has to readjust her own hold around his neck.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwsf2DRmLK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzl3rz6tjay
“What’s so funny?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6tKPddaw6
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJK3YiuWsO3
She tells him; because even though the thought is childish, she has learnt that she does not have to keep anything from him. She trusted him with even the most embarrassing and ridiculous sides of her; those she wouldn’t show to anyone else.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzljlIZ5xZ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoX1BRdAe3
“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoR0ptzv44
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsd8pYWfink
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7rdB1gfbi
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡom0GxSAR7I
The line would have sounded corny in anyone else’s lips, but in his it sounds just like it is—a statement. A truth being bluntly spoken as he caresses her cheek and looks into her eyes with the barest traces of a smile.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNQ0yv4ROu
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhgA7SAe1X
She has barely begun to smile back when he is sinking his face on her hair again and brushing his lips against her ear—“And you are mine.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2KqnVDPat
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp30QsYnHjf
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mDFJDmBm0
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5jsghIlAS
“S-asuke—” she chokes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBynK9FKH2
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8z1cL59k9u
But he does not listen.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tv8MmYpg0
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEIgJvEDIZ
“…mine.”
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBiSUOXaT1
She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIYHrorJcO
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkD2FC0Mrt
“Sewing again?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQOcL9Cplv
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVvzX0CXQI
“Not my fault you have so many clothes,” is his simple reply as he continues to work the needle and the thread, slowly-but surely creating what would be a white and red fan.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWSL55Ty1g
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ImTvhpMpU
Her fingers come to play with his hair, pulling and twisting some strands of raven black; “I don’t get why you do it manually, Sasuke. Sewing machines exist just for this kind of thing, in case you forgot.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGKuh7qBiA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wMxuyjpvM
“I told you, Karin. It’s an Uchiha tradition, it’s supposed be done manually.” His voice is as light as her warm breathing against his neck, and they remain like that—he calmly sewing, she silently watching—until she suddenly straightens.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGKoCLy5h6
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzc90dqc6M
“Where are you going?” he can’t help but ask, and hopes the way he is already missing her doesn’t seep into his voice.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2ANCbywwm
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7CATpi3wv9
“For the sewing kit,” comes her matter-of-fact reply, and surprised, Sasuke arches one eyebrow. “Since I’m becoming an Uchiha myself, I may as well learn, right?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡublIPSzxJ6
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXO6PwgoZo
She shoots him a playful smirk that looks too much like a smile before leaving the room, and Sasuke cannot help the way his pulse quickens at its sight.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgEZPlxZpTs
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqm8Fh2rCrt
And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0ZSCZBOG4
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcxwMRFtFd
But it’s just, back then—he had never thought someone could actually make him this happy.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxNZbVZyL7
“Stop doing that, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sH0RiHp0o
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRT7ygkci3m
“Doing what?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xu2Q01GTq
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmE6UZTsopH
“This—making me happy,” her eyes are stern as she looks at him, but he does not take her honesty as seriously as he probably should.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsvfEzlHgq
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“Or what?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXutkgE2f6
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35J1JiP9ZK
“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkgbrQrMDA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKU8dVvDHy
She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpm7ZDx1hkQ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzikPeCSsC
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eLFDP7h0j
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQN4uTD805
His naked form is gone before she can gather herself enough to reply; gone to the living room of the luxury-hotel-room to call for room service—and as she hears his voice drifting over to her from the other room, Karin digs her nails into her palms.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyebmruc1w
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJKM90Z4jB
She was alone in the room, his suitcase forgotten on a nearby chair and his laptop on the table—she knows his passwords; has the knowledge and tools to get through what she does not know, and above all, she has the time to do so.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cp3T3HNrB
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNdKAJbJ1O
Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSo0vOQ1gix
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIMPB26kqr
By the he would come back into the room and make love to her again, it would be too late for him; and he wouldn’t suspect a thing.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvt86pNUJt2
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIkBdr1xf8
She could get away with it, if she were to go through it. She should go through it. This is what they sent her for—this is what she is getting paid for, not for screwing the target all night long.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9R1ME1hix
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrW3SCDuopy
She sighs, lays back down on the bed and thinks of his pathetic attempt at a smirk. It makes it easier to forget her duties, to forget the papers she should be revising, the documents she should be hacking into—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISlA8brhAG
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgV6K3ofFgM
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtiGTIeyyb
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMv04zkmQI
And, really—who would have thought that a monster like Uchiha Sasuke was capable of making a face like that?
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Sasuke was just putting a plate aside when the sound of porcelain breaking reaches his ears.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdDEwo0z2N
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYKUtmcJfm
With a start, he turns only to find Karin crouched on the ground, her feet surrounded by tiny pieces of what had just been one of her favorite sets of dishes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmdPHfUPxQ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1BirEpjjtf
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ270Y5WQX4p
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8SQtF6iAm
“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvqz9n5itU
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpX9TUxK3C
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrDE6eZyG0F
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxR4sLKPta
“I told you, it’s fine.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThPCsyn8w1
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He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbEdf9jvDK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHoEaCSeZ2
But the words freeze in his throat as Karin yelps and slaps away the hand he had been about to reassuringly place on her shoulder.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZQaoKCdDP
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTsbOKddF8J
For a long moment, all they do is stare at each other—Sasuke staggered by Karin’s frightened eyes, by the raw fear contorting her features—and then the moment ends and Karin is standing up and taking a loud breath.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIeAi0Obge
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡleai9qXiXd
“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhnhD2fV6k
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnq0Gqha87s
Her voice is even, but Sasuke knows her better than that; and so he can’t bring himself to watch her as she leaves the kitchen.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAlzQJ7gJl
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAeVFjn2ZG
He doesn’t know what he would do if he were to see that same fright reflected in her eyes again.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YHujAXmSb
She jolts back as the lights go on and the shadows melt away into an all too familiar figure—one that is sitting on the one-man couch and that tilts his head to the side, dark bangs falling across his face and eyes as black as abysses centered on her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsUiGYOD6V
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeIZLlrhsc
“S-sasuke, what—?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OruVNQ4Ip
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8rfHoRFuP
“Where were you, Karin?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyPOckjKVC
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFhZVNHcKt
His question is smooth and steady; placid, even. Except that Karin knows him well enough; has gotten to know this side of him—this terrifying side of him, twisted and manipulative, brutally honest in order to hurt rather than to please—well enough lately. Enough to be able to see beyond and into the brewing storm.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bkETGA2ff
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It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUG6ysDn778
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyK5FVI5cu
But she holds her ground.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAYmHEPcADs
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Lqb0BXAtV
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVhcXNJbiI
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxxF9Xqqfz
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW18vLaIxOe
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqG0pZi8aIh
It is trying to keep her voice and hands from shaking that she says the truth. “I was out with the girls, Sasuke—but we were just eating and talking! We did nothing w—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl93zTS6KtK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdhNBaffFi
“Then why didn’t you say so from the start, Karin?” she freezes, like a deer caught in headlights—and then lowers his eyes. Slowly, Sasuke stands. “… Do you not trust me, Karin? Do you think I do not trust you? Is that it?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRjIypGikc
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6YCxwKv8m
“Sasuke, I—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoe4sFOPaFq
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZgqsxPdZA
“Because I do, Karin,” he is standing before her now, his hand lovingly caressing her face, his eyes warm—and though Karin knows better, her body remains as loyal to him as ever and it betrays her; closing its eyes and leaning into the touch. “I trust you, because I love you. Do you not love me, Karin?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuLOFgY0BN
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlfpBUexhq
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb48Rdnmw6O
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ig7iQHdzr
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd88N4A927L
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDRRgzv9ZL
Her eyes snap open—and the Sasuke that greets them is once again back to being rough oceans and thunderstorms. “You’re better than them, Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUOhO3qjMaS
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG39UUTwdFa
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SOn4E7L1b
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGePyfUOh2z
She comes to regret her words almost immediately, as his features snap into a mad grimace and his hand shots to her wrist, grasping it tightly enough to make her yelp—“And I not enough for you, Karin?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUVQN2uUy2
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmb5tHOtPrL
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1lwTyXAGX
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSEFjSevrh
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgDr8LOGFu
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1tZWDGlZn
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlifEWYVWB
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuYdHbA00k
His features relax and his hands come to cup her cheeks again, a soft, almost child-like smile in his lips. Innocent enough to trick anyone.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHsMgYWJ0S
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmgmHdeWGZy
Even himself.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXehbCaY1p
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcbWh3gUI1
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawo74BtQpf
“Karin, about yesterday….” He trails off, figures he will give her the chance to own up to what happened by herself, rather than attempting to play the game of pretend like she has been doing all day.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡanzAEIpIoa
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0apA02J0yA
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUk99hCh6BW
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kDuot8vQZ
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYo4haHgc2A
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUS13jRWjn
It takes him a few moments before he is able to gain control of the ominous feeling pooling in his stomach; the one making it hard to speak.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEntZJdQfQ3
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1My2Mm6176
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiXgd38wiC
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0fILtAWHA
Karin’s hands pause for half a second—and then she is moving the chopsticks again, her lips curving in a mystifying smile that does not reach her eyes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJm7Si6NDJJ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ooBYtplxa
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiyktGxMpu
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJ4TNWVzgI
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxubN2zM3F
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZQCfz16up
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqphfVZ9O2h
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwU1X0G2gwk
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYe0S8PzoC
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfDNtblgpk
In this case, it is both at once.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmbsbg28Dg
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAE1Idm4ItW
A redheaded toddler pulls him along to play on the backyard; a young girl holds him as he weeps for his parents and brother; a teenager kissing the raspberry lipstick off his lips.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0DdCuOswz
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGozeGbTaAm
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqwU5y8qYH
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQ1n9RAKKI
Broken promises.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQo5J6P9ot
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0MOxk3gYE
A call. A funeral.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HRsD99su6
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwe5aCa6UYD
And tears.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDUU7cd4yI
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoHuEADnC2
Heartbreak.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEcgFJSUyz
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCKMDuDIUI
Loneliness.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtp2QQNDkIX
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOI93Lsthx
…then there was nothing else.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrJaDzHYtx
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBwuweRGuD
And then there was everything all over again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxW8XtSsCBQ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMciOfdFGp
Rinse and repeat over and over; relieving both the good and the bad, but not feeling the sunlight warm nor the pain sting. It was like a movie etched on his corneas—he saw it over and over whenever he had his eyes open, whenever he had his eyes closed. And by now he has seen it enough times to know every turn, every scene—and yet he can’t stop.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNUQPoJCD1
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUGtYXZenJ
He can’t stop.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjryDROcAW
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFUTUPhtiy
He does not want to.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2USutOz3ZO
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYUVPRJFMy
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VHkgCajQU
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBho1eAvCY
The door creaks open.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDU10PxvxD6
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCrbr06Wl1
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAs6yxMzwZT
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByACNBKtgK
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1JZrnmJBDM
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOK0NfQCuf8
(“I’ll see you around… Sasuke,” comes her goodbye—and then there is a whirlwind of colors and images as the roll film reels back to their beginning.)601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmMjw7Ttpf
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUlxmxwKiw
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22FxP0YCFA
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmcboj2vyw
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZDerzqf3s
When the first rays of the sun slip through the open curtains, Sasuke awakens only to find that it was one of those rare days when Karin has woken up first.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXuRKZX0o9
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNm2HFhtCoz
For a blissful moment, he is ignorant; forgetful. He does not remember how weird she has been acting, does not remember the silences from the past couple of days—and so he is about to tease her about waking up so early when he realizes there was something very, very wrong—and any drowsiness is suddenly yanked from underneath him like a rug.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBSuYwP5x7
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwC3c7D22M
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKLDNr1nIN
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwWbxVJ92S
For an excruciatingly long moment, Sasuke is frozen in place—at a complete loss as to what to do. This was the first time he has ever seen Karin cry, and the sight makes an ugly feeling curl up in his gut.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEq8VRdpESr
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQGGnlvG2b
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YH8OdKmt6
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ401PYb5oa
She does not react—gives no signs of having heard him, and Sasuke is filled with a sense of foreboding so potent that it robs him of his breathing.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjraTkNcTR
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJqNQBSCye
And then she parts her lips.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQux4khVUJ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFofGIaQ9S
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHnKUfHyDB
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9xm2P1g48
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBKdRHvjvc
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMF5l9kfPT
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuiuSG4dlVd
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0Wia0i1Lr
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxp70ehVoTQ
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnUYb7FJJJ
She chokes on a distraught sob as she gathers his body in her arms, his blood seeping into her shirt and tainting it as crimson as her hair.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRhc1eJpXT
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaL4mKsNEAz
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoHJAgOdFR
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3tVSQw7pC
“And you weren’t supposed to kill him! This was my job!” she growls, her sight blurry by unleashed tears—and despite it she can still clearly see the apathy in her coworker’s face.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkOTVqRU5E
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhAvhA1U8A
It makes something in her tightly clench.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlO3A6ebwAb
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtltsbFbu6J
“Hn, you took too long. We couldn’t keep waiting for you to remember your roots. Did you forget you’re a spy, Karin? You’re trained for riding the world of bastards like these.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZ5XtgcLGh
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWKjGwpm95
And then he distastefully kicks him—he kicks Sasuke’s side, as if he were nothing but a sack of bones and skin—and something in her snaps.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEaMucT9sjh
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTINgarK3Hy
She is taking her gun out and blowing his brains out before he has got time to even think—and as the body falls to the ground with a sick thud, Karin wipes off her tears—smearing her cheeks with Sasuke’s blood—and loads the gun again.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbonPb9gfCj
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtJasavwfr
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9Ix58fgyt
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCi5ubKZGf6
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCPH4Y7cmY
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0aLcUhvzj
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKe02M7gUTY
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZiDz6fOQ0
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99zBWTufRk
He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtEuIdqmqT
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4qi3ibXzE
Her yells are shrill and terrified; and they do not stop, no matter how much he shakes her, how much he calls out to her.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxWQjTzzBJ
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKEIRgbSWx
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1y6Xl4pZ4A
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31SNelnNd1
“Sasuke, no—!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mqZjlfSSS
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdo51Sfu1G
“Karin! Karin, wake up!” he has her seized by her shoulders, but Karin trashes in his hold; so he brushes the bangs off her forehead instead, trying to soothe her nightmares with his touch. “It’s fine, I’m here, I won’t let anyone hurt—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbGv3vIr3V
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXuh5xvoR4v
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MHqKjlh1b
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0vnlXnvdY
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEe4kJ9MNG
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0n5EYFbw0c
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1xt8MXV5P
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ00GStM7lK
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSox6oKIav
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeRD7DVYhE
He leans back; backs off the bed and steps into the cold floor, his mind whirling—and it’s then a memory sneaks into his conscious. Uninvited, and terrible with the clarity it brings him.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPRtPytEo5
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9n7LuDAnLU
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3o4z0v0Yti
‘What weren’t?’601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UHoBVzbG0
‘...You.’601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxrdmeDY54
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2d6n9u7VJ2
The thought makes trepidation mercilessly grip his heart—and he can do nothing but helplessly watch as Karin twists and turns in her sleep, battling against ghosts he cannot see.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Swu6eEECD
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewznBqxMux
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4wEj82OCz
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGy8nYq5lJY
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3bGIWmcXwH
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaE55UYtFvK
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFG9jjwaTY
“You’re the only one for me,” he talks over her, as if she hadn’t said a word. And Karin cannot fight the shiver that runs down her spine as something cold is pressed to her ribcage, right in between her breasts. “That’s why… I must to do this.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCN0MavrfX
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMr7v6Fv339
“Sasuke,” her voice is hoarse, her eyes begging him to rethink this—to be reasonable. But Sasuke simply shakes his head and smiles an impossibly sad smile, his thumb tracing her bottom lip, which has started to quiver.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKZyeB16Fy
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCECViUOMCL
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkjaXjOmWH
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKP8gQS3A12
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpZkHDiAHm
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJSQ99iAUh
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
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601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Z9Y7V7aL8
“What was I doing to you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPwrXek7N9
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqDZoWk6FV
“… I don’t remember.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCA8XIc7boE
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsif9G6iA9m
Sasuke shuts his eyes close, his hands gripping the sheets. It would be so much easier to pretend to believe her; to pretend there was nothing wrong. To pretend he didn’t spend the whole night fighting the desperation gripping at his core as he watched her shake in her turmoil-filled sleep; longing for it to end, dreading what would happen once it did.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYy5yHs2SJs
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsf9ds3NL6a
But he has played that game long enough.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ce6ulmtqj
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNJw6WeHxw
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdjPhS8FBB
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tT21KqH0i
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYebj8mlLPt
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLC8DQYaycz
“I’m not lying, Sasuke… I can’t remember what I dreamed,” Karin whispers, and a shiver runs down his spine as she places her cold hand atop of his own; it was trembling. “…But I can remember the rest.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk20mu0MVAy
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5xFNS8v3l
He is shaking, too—and so he uncurls his fists and entwines his fingers with hers, and makes the one request that would surely change everything.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqw82XosAa
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“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsCpwiPok8
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Karin takes a deep breath, and Sasuke braces himself.
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The world seems to slow to a halt as she coughs up blood, the sword cleanly piercing her chest and stopping dangerously close to his own heart.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CIsLAwFyk
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He can only stare, eyes wide, at the back of her head—the vibrant strands of hair tickling his face as she takes an involuntary step backward—and then there is a cold flush of liquid splaying all over his shirt as the sword is pulled out and she begins to crumble down like a leaf—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvq2IrAWEI
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And her name leaves his lips in the form of a horrified call—one that is cut short by her strained smile.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZ1CkfhiLZ
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“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrht6EqQhN4
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“Stop talking, Karin,” he ushers, and his vision blurs. Despite it he thinks he sees her smile widening, and he cradles her closer to his chest, tries to ignore the blood seeping from her body at an alarmingly fast pace. “You need to save your strength, Sakura is c—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzFjNC6aKH
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“Sa…suke,” and though her voice is nothing but a dying whisper, he is rendered silent at once. “Promise me… you won’t… die.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RwAO4POtG
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His teeth clatter and sink on his lip, drawing blood—and suddenly he is yelling. “You are the idiot, Karin! Why?! Why would you do that for me? Did you forget what I did to you? I thought you said you wouldn’t! I thought you said you would—”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6sYrD7qwu
601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5TK9LaleS
“—make you… regret it… I know,” her smile looks like unleashed tears. “I admit… this… wasn’t exactly… what I had… in mind.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nfc1bsSYm
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There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhM4XHvSs9
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She does, though—and her fingertips come to softly brush away the tears from the corner of his eyes, leaving telltale traces of crimson instead.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxvohHfXtF
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“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAF7FrM7GY
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He knows at once what she means—but the memories feel light-years away; they are colored in grays and smeared with blood, and for the life of him—for the life of her—he cannot find it in himself the will to smile.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BFMwgcAmP
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And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3hnUvXhLy
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“See ya… Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OX0wuUwR3
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Her hand drops and her body goes cold, and all his lips seem to be able to do is call her name—a name accompanied by lonesome apologies and regrets that would never get either of them anywhere.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8XB0tZj2N
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He never seems to be able to get anywhere, ever, not even when he is trying to—but if he could—if only he could do it all over again, he—601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5As8QUyLwD
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Mere hours later, his body is the one to drop lifelessly to the ground—and it’s all over before he can realize the smile that grazes his lips.
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A terrible silence has descended upon them.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJ7oaZiCgn
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He has retreated to the edge of the bed, his elbows sinking on his knees and his horrified face cradled in his shaking hands.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pGAe8ffc9
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“Why…?” and he does not know it, but it always seemed to come to this very question. “Why are you with me, despite all the things I’ve done to you?”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9jvVkMb0B
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Karin watches his desolated back and has a hard time swallowing the lump in her throat, “Because… they are not you, Sasuke.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwI80PPeJI0
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He says nothing in response—can not possibly wrap his mind around her words, Karin knows. And so she softly crawls to him and drapes her arms around his neck, leans her cheek on the side of his head, closes her eyes, and smiles.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqngmwrmWUZ
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“And, above all…”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXaXEaubGH9
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The smile is strained—but resolute. Serene. It says nothing and everything at once. And despite himself, Sasuke finds solace in her touch—his own hand coming to seize her own as her words carry over to him, a simple truth that at once gives him hope and clogs his throat with trepidation.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNn9Sp2hSRi
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“…Above all, I want to see how this one ends.”
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It happens a sunny morning as she trips and a bear lunges at her, its roar so deafening that she thought her head would burst before the beast would get to sink its teeth on her flesh.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6GheURyTl
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Except that it doesn’t get to.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslivR8VhMh
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And when she puts her glasses back on, her sight is met by a smile that would carve itself on her mind and set ablaze a flame that would burn just as strongly and lastingly as the eyes of the boy she would never, ever forget.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzybfV70Tse
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“See ya.”601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0y7ca7BAw0
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This is what I give,601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSD0rKk3AB
A circle is complete.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlWltxDUQc
Another circle spins601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYflPIEFc5U
There's life within,601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYJNXbEwha
Within
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end.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtvkMgIPeqK
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Ok! Now you guys should understand what I meant by the warnings at the beginning; I tried to make each SK set of reincarnations distinctly different from each other, both in personalities, dynamics, and backgrounds; so they indeed diverge from the Sasuke and Karin we're used to, as they have all grown in different environments. All the same, I tried to keep some traits of their canon personalities, so hopefully, they aren't absurdly OOC.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIhMok5FDd
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That said~! The song used at the beginning is Kitade Nana’s Tsukihana, and the one at the end is Blue Foundation’s Bonfires. Now, onto random details about the fic~ there are five versions of SasuKarin total in the fic; the originals, and 4 pairs of reincarnations.601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoRE8IdRa6
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The format of the fic didn’t allow me to expand and truly explain each particular set, so if you are curious about any of them drop me a comment and I’ll tell you their background and/or explain anything you may be wondering about~!601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLFpRLNDrV
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For now, though, I must mention a couple of things about the 4th SK pair (aka, the most controversial - the one with cute!Karin and businessman!Sasuke); their meeting (the umbrella thing) was completely inspired by a real-life story I read here, and overly-jealous-and-possessive-Sasuke was inspired by might 'Anyone's Ghost' SK AMV, here. I debated a bit about this version because it's kind of hard to imagine a Karin who would allow Sasuke to be that way with her; but then again, this particular Karin is less headstrong than the one we know and love. So I decided to leave it as it lol Also, his overdone “I love you(s)” and cheesiness, while sincere, were meant to be creepy and manipulative; I really hope they came out that way lol601Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTTRNN1lkKR
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Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
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