[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~!666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu07i54dFfK
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By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHDZ1RrVQF
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRqETml450
Word Count: 8.810666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjqlFqioNf
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVtWf5D8Oy
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGFZULzamq
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZOHVyNiAS
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A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJwQdefPom
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To the stars that played with the darkness666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhVGG83pZ3
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRFuE41hai
by Kanae666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cm7dI2QIe
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfvqGVaMdY
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Something in his chest tightens.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsHtO9l3ZL
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFmZ4nk10N
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Just a girl.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Wud4zATKc
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Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡteBdpmsD3m
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He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZANtRXdWIi
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QyhcQaovU
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The girl.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QVSgBlpBH
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The redhead.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJut2orf4C
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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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbT9BXJgcA
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwlbQhJhZ0
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“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Q0KtgNpcB
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbcm3bVGyV
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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—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZiyL9j4Y6d
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“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb63N4C0cny
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6ogsupac1
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCV4SYNKRy
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GJ7nd5IkN
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She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5L62KZJWBp
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He was severely mistaken.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fDekzefo9
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25mfSjCRph
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVo3lzPva8
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It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1STGRklr8S
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDReywl3nuV
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBt9VTovf2
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmJVC026ls
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjNXvVy0v8
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKeqPgqE3c
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She does not let go of him.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoY1k3FIqNg
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And the déjà vu only worsens.
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“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQuqngFbqA
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSXbFCAq4E
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“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHZTQpiTEg
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rwveHtBK5
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“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCmYtVDs37
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7F8bkjdfe
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“Doing what, exactly?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGlj3e47G4
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“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJnSVcZjUB
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“…A ninja?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGA2YnnfWZ
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhILWP1zq7a
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6J4XP3SMQ
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvy2RuskaQ
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“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6yGCbiope
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhMnCQT0hN
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Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidk267bicC
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Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjPZQDnJr7
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Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFI9LGw7FpA
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“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmHiRlxRUu
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZZwuj1jff
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70MzuujUfR
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“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kYrWdhU2X
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7oGCZkYdm8
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He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFIHul3GwkW
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But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNj7hx7vY3N
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡil2jyOOL4M
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhDnpgv8ra
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They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4M6VMTnT3
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“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4ndYgapJ7
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“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdwwlx19e4
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZXHoWHrGU
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDAnPZ9krn
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdIM4WzkBQ
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqdV7fk52e
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOiqNtNUMZ
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0gtPNnZME
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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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInNzuDe3WS
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9xcxTGpd4
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He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ281YWrXmWN
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeg9Dvkkp6z
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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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1R2vfQCPMb
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Karin shrugs, unfazed.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEWivBrqIe
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eOULkhvEZ
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That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62uqt4x9nU
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“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWRxiFEGQ4
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Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfP48DtDvGh
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For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCyREvtZQx
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEA7zsF5Ox
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZd68dsT4W
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZG8NckEN6p
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2tMXD4sV1
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdT9ap5tB6
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAiUqwCM0HV
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwDqkHPjaY
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FOfzoISHB
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWn7N49M6X
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHLriz1fwc
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9V5xwDrvML
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42UzMQEVzN
“Always.”
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666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqVDHUkIWQ
It happens on a rainy night.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoiD0jLeYO
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gjKvXPCjP
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPmDtuBiRT
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXiXTwKNwYH
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3ycGv6KIV
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC48vJr7ell
She hadn’t been.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKaQ3MN2pv
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCInDnadxw
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCMLEq6ijm
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr10nEaMoUN
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWD1vRLeiQ
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVpiSXIYNZ
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOn3B3tRxwa
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYyFxzS0Wh
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwC0jpSKjL
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwT17AlGyrO
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6knwDtYUJ
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ylxHILEsN
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlk52zZWR3l
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzl1PuKCUvm
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzXenlKkb4
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnWHf0GyGA
“Hey, you! Wait!”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZoPVlcRwy
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZ84pFZXDq
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRnFf24wDp
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTexy7LaGuE
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTSTzgKjTM
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn91QVbOakH
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKF3gMjJSgy
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡde5SqW7wDe
“… 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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIjlQwt8s3
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55u1BavZD4
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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyLiDqiQUl
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyM2xnnTuRP
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtfaUPImnV
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2T2G9cDFg
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitYNLwAB6X
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnHnJlsVUz
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQji8cAUavn
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bQMCEYTHe
By the time they place their orders, she is already in love with him.
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He thinks that maybe he should be surprised, but the truth is that he isn’t.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4RguUOp60
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7wscMt4yK
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhxMs3Ap0Q
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2frOVLS52
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38QO9PtHX0
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fCZw8ACm7
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gVPqgMKla
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCArf8UYbgi
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFp4iRByRP
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsEmnSuVVx
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡneQs1EJJKz
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCPIVtZ1YN
'Always'.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRLtLD2wIY
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOhlrt5YqW
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lgZXr58W5
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0rURqUUos
“Huh?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlNPN6Hptg
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBY6GY6bei1
She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5Ro2BDZ6o
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWMzxpoUZG
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7PXbLs25L
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk98nXLXO4q
“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—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXukt1vZ7BK
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRfO2CQm21
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHbKgZcxjE
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHjLgGM9ck
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1PSteGqoR
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLHdiXiaKb
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡft6onKCapQ
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGKQ5wO2m1
Damn her.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKLfkKbzZp
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3O9jlzEHYr
“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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs66V7yJXso
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3TVrH5VGA
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXNGv7nhwJ
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfClM89IoC
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVspEwSGP2
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBSaqWWUtxj
“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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddhvQeTMHI
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXH6cBWJUU
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
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“I brought you the papers you requested,”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUaVTX8M2r
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7i2bw1j2vq
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxprHKUBqG5
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerjGI4slzv
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqyttnNvld
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpPPobn15P
“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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1djB6iysG
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNDsHLmqRX
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFHwgyamrz
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrgtrt8Cthi
“Any complains?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDGL9WEpJ0
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIAdNjaL3f1
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn47KAH9QQf
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOHPtQ0QWb
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
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“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfHfC2tTw5
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWubnzNJxW
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQXrGHXoZn
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpmBlqnDPc
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡja6ME8iQNT
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLI27dTlIQ
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDuvHgsiq8
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGe8vWmEaD
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLzKtmfhoL
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHa6qjoE34A
'Always'.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVUZGPejTh
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxAbixGudMi
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQSVXQAkNb
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqa6CCQa998
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmAIWpelEw7
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMzVqBdoH4
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1NQLXdzXF
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPZU3jWUts
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsg3lIuBbL0
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpNvwrPLXS
“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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6poZfrfqsg
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjSTuNSeIh
“Karin.”
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666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORF5HrNH3G
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxmCqb9UdW
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMYVFThqB5
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclcjWF2tYr
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKD5ycL9u4
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2mfEDg9kc
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDX5n9Fsp6P
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4nG6bfySV
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOjoScOjdb
“…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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDn6nZg6zWU
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74e8Oj1esu
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpnoisX7dY
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWB7p0GZaE9
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZbBhjwJsW
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFP83HL1deF
“…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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtP2Zt4Ou7
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFlrvi7DYI
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykd5hK2H8H
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1G2SMDk0i3
“What?” she snaps.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQV1LSH8iFC
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHanNpJfJk3
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbI0mrXpRwH
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAF1r3Hrpw
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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQa7fpIVKY
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nm4ZtDwQ7
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6qzmmdPwv
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zlF8EdXXP
And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
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“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvFaoNr5Vo
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5topbS3bo
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrwHdFzUwd
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ekZ4LAhkN
“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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBz4OMdGba
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDayDGi2VS
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5Gqc6oUzk
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMOtNeuQrl
“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?666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4btRCYKM3
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75p4HLYjia
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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXP7N8dVbvR
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTKA0G2uLZK
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5kUv6nqVx
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxgtV8sfbg
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3U30DD3YlN
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6ujUaAziB
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZkfMC2Ldh
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0Odsdy1bp
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8mQSKmJOXr
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06ipzpyScA
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9rMGPCFdo
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuBBw2ky0X
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSN79mbUBqe
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2romo8FeJ
Damn you, brother.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpHYvuqLUg
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“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyTlM2bW74
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A twinkling laughter resounds through the room, effectively cutting the argument short; and the three of them turn only to find Mikoto standing by the doorway, a tray of biscuits in her hands and a happy beam in her beautiful face.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUN1Hl8NIX
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“It seems you three are having fun,” she merrily observes, graciously moving to leave the tray on the tea-table. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen Sasuke enjoy himself this much.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdRM0t6YKw
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7WmvOBXZZ
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1KwyyoDVV
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJII1bQohly
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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEGvP5hPhM
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszH2g2bQgR
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7LbILrgni
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnX1gTjHNRM
“… 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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVxIW9nfvR
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYyJ9C2OrE
“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWcM2dsm6g
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GbGPZELbL
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIsypzo8Qs
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaUr2yy9Zk
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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3jQP4ACHO
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEr0aAD389
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—666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMhw9AM3Ng
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPr1zHPZiV6
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwLEaY9nZ4
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQXcasCAXd
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYA0s0zLaE
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdVj081PCi
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKgTkUaRl9K
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02LOijIK9I
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2R5HWri7Y
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIbQ9z86LI
And then she is grinning.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWDwZ2N1wZ
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“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEOm2Bt3zl
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRxsqPxqM9
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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTkqHgCiwq
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhoqlUyLwT
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjV8rZrUiP
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwVOIf773b
“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdUcptnP2v
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEvPcdIk6K
“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—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtyb4hsJKY
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMRcjhcPh5
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4guuWesMxc
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIeJ51ylLX
“Excuse me.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWexZpVlV0
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4h32r7umP
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQaR5DtSTg
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjJicVBInz
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZHsbmYqbK
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rxG7RJ2Ro
Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFRu5puaqT
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He could feel it, too.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQn8gAsDdt
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Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo477xvra6g
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnDc1S0h0q
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
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She can hardly believe it.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcu0qFWUvTd
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Can hardly believe this. That the guy she once chased down a street in the pouring rain is holding her in his arms, his head sunk in her neck as he breathes in the scent of her hair.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGqDM0VEKI
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6M8yIZ85z
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhCQ75HucT
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ726mEzk7of
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSPzQXQQ2S
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48tdg7SzST
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw22zJRyATo
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WZoZbvIGE
“What’s so funny?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2I32Yvv6dx
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIQLBsLZP9
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhq42MUKkZM
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“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFWs8Di3F7
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBYbRx6j7n
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4Bk3aIXvo
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUi4N85o2k
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91RrGFVO7g
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8p5oPWMTkv
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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJww3I6F7F
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUx7wMTRCE
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVC1s60RA5
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbKgiQ3tM0
“S-asuke—” she chokes.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgK4mGWPCDR
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMQcbU2kLX
But he does not listen.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSEMh4lRy0
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“…mine.”
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She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5goPcbaGJ2
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Wk3dVRoHM
“Sewing again?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMe53GhIKh1
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOn53AHnMIJ
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0j2nV3BE6
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiy8sIHp7p
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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEasCoE58I7
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtll1AkyTyu
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLFds4Q3zY
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLnVRKpkXu
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOUugcbQAX
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡow6oIrwFKk
“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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgvohKsAcj
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXYiNKUF8K
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcO8fpXQ9t6
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xW3Wi25as
And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPifkKvyxlZ
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvpHNICvDD
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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYT0xz3gkf
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNqFGQARHf
“Doing what?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssiDDzAyoN
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNoteSL9N4
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmR5sUgGbb8
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“Or what?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYnD5quyZJ
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcYiWTA3M5
“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDCRtlfv6D
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPkKzlz7MF
She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3j2pu1wDeH
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLwCto9YaV
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hO7mMpepE
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His naked form is gone before she can gather herself enough to reply; gone to the living room of the luxury-hotel-room to call for room service—and as she hears his voice drifting over to her from the other room, Karin digs her nails into her palms.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ojeIJoZPs
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJXs7Ts2hJ
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8HQXopXVy
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByHOZN20fT
Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6C47QFaa4W
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooqOPGTZEi
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbS0PQ5Ctg
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPZ6J0eiS6
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZiE6Vuc7y
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She sighs, lays back down on the bed and thinks of his pathetic attempt at a smirk. It makes it easier to forget her duties, to forget the papers she should be revising, the documents she should be hacking into—666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YkM4F2Hu8
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡym1rzlmLwi
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqt04YYTNH
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And, really—who would have thought that a monster like Uchiha Sasuke was capable of making a face like that?
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Sasuke was just putting a plate aside when the sound of porcelain breaking reaches his ears.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQl9sVnxy6y
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With a start, he turns only to find Karin crouched on the ground, her feet surrounded by tiny pieces of what had just been one of her favorite sets of dishes.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqEfPDRNXe
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3jKaKxZdD
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2qYKZzt6z
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tBU7z3NQX
“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYIrP7vZLA
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqPWcqP2zy
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAduQuk2lsP
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“I told you, it’s fine.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsZskLgDvG
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He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5Uz5qGzEW
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But the words freeze in his throat as Karin yelps and slaps away the hand he had been about to reassuringly place on her shoulder.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibQJuMrGxw
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For a long moment, all they do is stare at each other—Sasuke staggered by Karin’s frightened eyes, by the raw fear contorting her features—and then the moment ends and Karin is standing up and taking a loud breath.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxBqBwRLex
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhy9P30aOVa
“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESg6zc7DMX
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Her voice is even, but Sasuke knows her better than that; and so he can’t bring himself to watch her as she leaves the kitchen.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKbwp7IkCO
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He doesn’t know what he would do if he were to see that same fright reflected in her eyes again.
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She jolts back as the lights go on and the shadows melt away into an all too familiar figure—one that is sitting on the one-man couch and that tilts his head to the side, dark bangs falling across his face and eyes as black as abysses centered on her.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMatAiLdFL
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“S-sasuke, what—?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5LpHnMHtGK
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJnmMcSzU3
“Where were you, Karin?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXWNAPBRi3D
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQefQ73UixM
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFf3jOoRg0
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It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6u7qhuIkCj
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But she holds her ground.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2B2LqIK38E
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡya7OSmvKw2
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyaDswu9q7B
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6SmeAym3L
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqpP0KU6VK
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nWjYowhcd
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—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5d8F9jPNbA
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQy4dGnoInL
“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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvVeSavmL9
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXaajAFbkq
“Sasuke, I—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kErW0fnRE
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlWlWXryrje
“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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTa7KfWGQ7J
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatJgwIxCJk
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkOSwm24NVj
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtghJ1d3z0c
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwg7Kwv0m5v
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxFp1TtP22
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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8V1zLIm4a
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCvcSy6aPP
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RClalsfpx
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxK04Vrm0j
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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUBllawNQy
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4og7RuFzXH
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnNhLJvWIt
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And that frightens her more than he possibly could.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvptqPu05w
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyKSk9sZzs
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmFUIzMTO6
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXlVfY9Y60
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9XMM13tYp
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHqx81joPD
Even himself.
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The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLLPujrSyz
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8I1D0dAYg
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qMFWIx2CY
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6uy6Dyelo
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVzDmzqpO8
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2nw46Na3U
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjGtRUVMeF
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgRs9Bdlp2
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Mrvh1pJdf
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZRaxkfeH1
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMjsqRg2z2
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YTCmO92pz
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19TyY53Uez
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvarMFqgow
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNDDfFUaqs
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniUT525579
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
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666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkxBYjbKey
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaM3C2eKdHG
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFaaVDfw7S
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbzb3Z4z8b
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5CwiXZysr
In this case, it is both at once.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQXv363DMX
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1rAVr9ISm
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOuq6qIbNbl
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkj2Asmnz8
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bRt9r2jHX
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13CXhyGEfB
Broken promises.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQeSUL8xdJP
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A call. A funeral.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ954juui7Wr
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmQulHfKIf
And tears.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCfwvraGGf
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouPtPH5OG9
Heartbreak.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyjraqV2qv
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dBVxLO3TO
Loneliness.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsyftzzRYc9
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSWkVHmUAP
…then there was nothing else.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiUtMV8BWMC
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And then there was everything all over again.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmn732aAis
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsR8UCXdDH
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kFkreqn4R
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMl5b3w3uP
He can’t stop.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Vhj00NeYy
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He does not want to.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLTIWGSuGO
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTQDWxNtCg
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8AtFac2kB
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQJNNVV79l
The door creaks open.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcS8Cgi2QCM
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJiI8JfDa2
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4IvFf3zhs
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jgfd7JSJ6
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQT79xOL20H
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3ovIREcmS
(“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.)666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWz1D3SQPpk
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VEfnmqTBL
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1LRt1FLLi
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJ2LkbwHY7
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
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When the first rays of the sun slip through the open curtains, Sasuke awakens only to find that it was one of those rare days when Karin has woken up first.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hFuwGoKze
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRQIVhv9D7
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTD2EjWKxSv
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnaaV0aSSG
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6f3NlkbqN
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdeMqiEL8N
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNykYdYzvg9
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidZjPopirt
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5GtcPVUrU
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGUKL2LQrv
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmNlwW8QmT
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5XbvneOQD
And then she parts her lips.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxhfCz3Pji
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5kShzJxN5
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaO3ipdHIVR
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4B7MacnHY
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTU2rM5sOfj
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡraFlOWc26N
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAOM6DkxhI
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ20Ht27lgvH
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
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666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYV3FfJSbci
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgD2mfMsAFK
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1wK5FRQbG
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl57cGQq50V
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApGTCjvRh3
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfbk8Zp7lK
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0Tt0EZXhc
It makes something in her tightly clench.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIS79YFh9cn
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv80FBlO3DK
“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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCQIH4iVjz
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyPxjhxzd8p
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCiLRdGWFU
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnffb07O4g
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqQVbCPXdJ
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0DPFddrsa
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUnC00KhchB
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHb1CDOBzY
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0H57VbBE5
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAdDmB9QLF
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC42U3VZhvs
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16NQUAyRqB
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
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He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2D0F4sAPiv
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9gVohd3BF
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFknN4evup
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCzzf8u7Vs
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqPiR0CWlx
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVaSIi135dF
“Sasuke, no—!”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAfxmghvXz
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnx40WjRuoi
“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—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmcrlYAf2v
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHVX7ccXkm
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5cao1IlZqK
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtfjRa4dG1
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4iyGTRlqS
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3hnslafC7
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQO6LmZlPj1
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDf2gFEbtE4
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4XoHXMBm9
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUB6WP4LBiU
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlnqUVK7oQ
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWNhvbTgQL
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB0jVWUFt0Q
‘What weren’t?’666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNHilws0dT
‘...You.’666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmvpG9Yv1q
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamY0ZNUVGk
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RCRQKSvNy
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwz903Gry1
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
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666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05tRlN88if
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTg6mIN7BJb
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdLx2U2sBc
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQW6t9h6IC9
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8v7ojirUzR
“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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVYjKPgNf5
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJq3WgwLJW1
“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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyRSXrQceq
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl24bJL6bPl
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDm94naSEqT
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrD4EZLVBzr
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwxRvkdRTK
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDVsFlW0YG
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
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666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIvTPlUYqD
“What was I doing to you?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtLm16Kak2
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ybDreD6ls
“… I don’t remember.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ez8JeBiST
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrob88wU4ek
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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4rKZwmvhL
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvmUvdQdSP
But he has played that game long enough.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbBFjC0kkr
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhTVCoRQ3H
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgwgs8IS6H
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EtqpeRFb4
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VxTPZi0l8
666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGmOVUHpts
“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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtoG7fDGdak
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He is shaking, too—and so he uncurls his fists and entwines his fingers with hers, and makes the one request that would surely change everything.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboyTUhsqtP
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“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNC3tzfAC0
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1tdrXHqLb0
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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—666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFxEPsDRZC
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKT2sXPeVxp
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“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRWuDnUWOB
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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—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVNGEmpYoZI
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GD72bD4c9
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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—”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFT9yg3pHl
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“—make you… regret it… I know,” her smile looks like unleashed tears. “I admit… this… wasn’t exactly… what I had… in mind.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7YPUfD6Hu
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There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUI6Pl5R09r
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwFNtUm0VD
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“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9joNbTKkd
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzoSMnvirm
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And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7uzZpfcNB
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“See ya… Sasuke.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeIW3bspUa
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9RtGx7jWO
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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—666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTx1YR3gdEw
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7fAwTmYx9
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6zY8GnYWk
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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?”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8N3l36TLHe
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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.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DIAU9KYlr
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUyeYKT3JD
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“And, above all…”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcZuuZyJAW
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiimGB3VOi
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJ1gcSN5mS
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Except that it doesn’t get to.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvISE8VcdUu
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3slaXFWwDt
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“See ya.”666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZSb4ErX0u
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This is what I give,666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpEh3MvG3N
A circle is complete.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7R8nCMXLo
Another circle spins666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrxIc46wEH
There's life within,666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YYL6SCYj1
Within
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end.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWsCtXhgO8
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbWymSj0NW
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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.666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupi3muNbL9
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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~!666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Iq4t83A1t
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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 lol666Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPyVLBxwyl
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Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
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