[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~!528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZzBjoz4Ty
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUytqSqiEAa
By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlypT6Vh6I
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Cb4NfQ48v
Word Count: 8.810528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1D0nm8CkT
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3U5g9POLL
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37c8IEUDG1
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEvE5QLQij
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTlVrwrmn3
A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPw0B7kjhrD
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡko82YDFWGG
To the stars that played with the darkness528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjB7o26KlO
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5MGMWqE9R
by Kanae528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0rMTyB2DS
-
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8UHyj27PM5
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMPAqdQqjE
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx535mxpbyl
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGTZj0J6ta
Something in his chest tightens.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IiZuYz7F8
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36T8hXaKp3
He is looking back before he knows it, uncharacteristically standing still as his eyes seek the source of the red; a girl’s ponytail.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIcxX9rnPk
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavaZ7aeqcC
Just a girl.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5s7VeJqubT
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbv7m4DTys
Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMJyx5GefP
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2Viy6AWIY
He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwbxrbxzpG
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRBe3Dg7rT
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGpZk9u6e4
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsn8jOblJT
The girl.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36nS8oyDnD
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRjqCzdlMX
The redhead.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EFOjV51DD
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9LuD8j8ld
“Sorry,” she says, and she is a little out of breath. Had she run to catch up with him? “Do I know you?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VPzJYOx3z
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WP279YeC5
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VRLgoPwgA
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVeWK5DxVy
“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptOjiS8syb
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiA06izOkod
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnoxmfCJrjS
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiOHK8Tf6a
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—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8q22bwTnhE
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2xxc627E4
“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLh3Xr3yHZD
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJjm4wkU8z
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKi58sLC5rv
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEk1tV9Fz9
“… 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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrRsTtQ28h
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFwk590Deu
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFezpJ7h5X
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipyQ6kzrJx
She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNGy2fCm5G
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iVKFufXcK
He was severely mistaken.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNrVG1ym6R
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUOb3Og0bdt
“And, when you were eight…” she suddenly whispers, her voice vague, “when you were eight, your mom gave you a dinosaur-shaped toy.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbd9lXhB3Mk
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6XWVjduZ7
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30SwENZC83
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwjPhyoks0
It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpa1wUITx8
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrc3baabwK
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7YT12z7lc
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QfhTJPE0U
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVcYoH6znk
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjFJxqOzIQ
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNROMa6IM7i
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoa3rhwEHBn
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aX3SD4nsJ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXHeeKdrr0
“Let me go,” he mutters, though he can’t find it in himself to oppose any resistance. “I can walk by myself.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNU3tBVavxe
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEydtSkPUt
She does not let go of him.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHMRbk5BFR
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BtB7AOci4
And the déjà vu only worsens.
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDX1K0KccF
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvLebUZdSh
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOThT8UwH4w
“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7lOLql5Jq
“Huh?! Why should I go anywhere? I’m in charge of this place!”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3NiDWQB39
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjIuarTZd4
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2WQmMQsV0J
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡReDa5z0Qbs
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkauhXrSLZ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2ZJ07Lm8a
“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZweJqwuL0N
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZATMlPiM4
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwyOcZfpHCJ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPq0DdQVVXV
“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhxmUoK1vl
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4fuAwuhIy
“Not all of them,” she retorts thoughtfully, if not a little defensively; but then she shrugs. “But you were always there.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRz3YfmT5HL
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Wyflcns1h
“Doing what, exactly?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvEIGlc3fH
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQFKDKsFG3
“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YVfd8ry2f
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00v73QwvQu
“…A ninja?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQSxEWqsGn
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVMgpuaj76
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFhqBookZZ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNc3vOmjGk
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7Wl1o3xx5
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNpuKxwyMM
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOF8GJbWHt
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJE3EIqF5R
“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLLMUoal9g
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirCPG3yoZn
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREnosP0UWs
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbbRWixt8H
Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41J6SPot2o
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVgohYSrtu
Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzFYBxcmV4
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LrjuGtdhS
Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEw6MMJaxRy
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cNKBkBjq0
“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2oq5rpIZg
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wIhRDmOlx
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszdiX3qZcF
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvCo02NLvs
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9t1QLkBBt5
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErPJBvmXE0
“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoXylhK5lbE
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWjUCLnxK3
Karin blinks at him and then promptly snorts. “The you in my dreams was nicer to be around, I’ll give you that.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQjWJioFZx
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3JHBzbhsC
He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1IQ3haqAE
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSeDnqwFsT
But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jVb3QbYKj
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hBUQBl9NI
“I know why you’re so afraid of losing your parents, someday.”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0jKSBbBwe
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMccW7xrfzg
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLl9HUMENhA
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOmAdqQr8v
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtZqRIBx3x
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38yyYkrhOi
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoog3sBFXV
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdORigFR1uw
They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUZlIdbIUP
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYHsMwVhZs
“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXmSNVr8J9
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFFDg9rsDHQ
“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxXGZjiaP4
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mlQObdn89
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXP4674Oqj
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ndUXEKbMu
“I promise.”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbp8ML3mYb
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1FdgCdAqT
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tUP7wJNZl
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBrLkQRnxu
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSccCm0yQ0
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeObAmWBoqE
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM198RBiW5D
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfuEyTWpRp
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyvyqC2JF0
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJiWXq6NxP
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtNJNLZyc3
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJFf0JdV6G
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DfNCNTn3T
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjvxCL0Zsp
“… 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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uZBXQOrPx
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFsuy8idvE
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfntv5Wad7E
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM52jPNw5ZT
He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6k5ooW8JBb
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dxK8jFWWW
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWqq79ShQC
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGTOvpp5uU
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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4m7wNxLQN4
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLqQIY0WYB
Karin shrugs, unfazed.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHSrhdMfAz
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvazHfQo9r
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYwfZCbQ3C
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡja5moEqmVe
That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqqoKzqugz
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1aCRrJPqFG
“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxmB2932JU
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJ5AHrZDf1
Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPD5JKkWS0
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4J1KBW369i
For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg22aGebngj
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfk3jVJ2ALE
“...You.”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouqQ48ldMu
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovab2fsgkx
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJMkGfCuaA
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhYhPAHKhs
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzcj5uY6LU
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMpiUWNEnR
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrqPNhnNOh
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GiKavdBZr
“Karin… the moment you were taken hostage, you became an encumbrance.”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xwS8BC3Vs
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4SsEpiIZk
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOuQbBHHCZ
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmjm0SvSkc
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yBTpE3Rok
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEukQpBRlVx
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxWIVY13Du
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5Eayk2eRJ
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVAtBrXUuh
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTT808PsKkb
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbatILEsjyE
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPCZEYu2xo
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35caWsdlr0
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgAOIdRx1d
“Always.”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCNAJpsk44
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhkVvysqp6
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kCo2WnBEw
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJdFogv2nI
It happens on a rainy night.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYSs9zIQt9
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8stZLKyz9z
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExBEyqJ3Mt
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Fxob1CiUx
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQcK7hnkSy
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxe31VunoX
She hadn’t been.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNqir2K28U
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OFzxW26gn
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFrZWBksVJ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCwS8T50kx
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc04Hpl9Jk3
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgulJRV3mw
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2DJIpJJx6
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oSzWbAg0q
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zkPDN6DgV
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc53NwHSlDy
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJn0jfuNbs
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCP9bqFasg
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5XsAfAJKwd
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yPBzVGoig
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvIOSlNDZ8
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMYDtmgdJ6
“Hey, you! Wait!”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzuRFvptH0
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvfaPRGKW9
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtZseUwnDY
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqkP1nFWOX
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp04C3Txqlt
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMLAVEhccK
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JbHIHUa6C
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQup7RE8B8
“… 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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXK2zQXOv0y
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzNQKCgmkx
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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgjUkkxxJK
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zMyAR7TFX
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Thy1xN4VB
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1T9XgriE3
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkO1F5ihr3w
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZ9wvSPjx3
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDU31I0KKqb
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbdgwHsho8
By the time they place their orders, she is already in love with him.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMu9xCNrIe
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8MG74axR9
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB93LZqPWJM
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ887REPhUt1
He thinks that maybe he should be surprised, but the truth is that he isn’t.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBUCAf4Wkx
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWobWWCgMxI
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0yZxRgbjOV
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6INJO3r6s
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngaDGoFYEA
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4AICqoidk
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsRb7tPd2J
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5ZNfYdtB5
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nH3fkYn2D
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhKwBC8Jba
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBSw26tr7S
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYBsauEmfA
'Always'.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsy0ntcW3WE
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9HnwiH0WpD
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWsxfoavKH
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWXefaveH2
“Huh?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauAhECPOaP
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqm3tfRqRx
She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYSezIXdOf
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3bVXN5hsob
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVtRyfI45r
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAwUk9ytp4
“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—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNzHYrUXV8
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvyEk4vWmK
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAn18XTMn0R
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRMp9FBssN
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKyXejlvjP
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46jbwv1mVV
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtnsvAqwgD
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyG5ioSaR0
Damn her.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuqsmrgCR8
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVo2kiUhHyJ
“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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgooeDYGD5
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ksERnOgdv
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezuL5eyl0c
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡey5GQLEtCS
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjswjva22oC
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Z9Pm9SlTp
“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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrcKBW5FZ6
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBl8bfaguSc
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7o9tT27Tt7
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNvaWaI9lx
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡineMNTtwnl
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjNVsBsSyD
“I brought you the papers you requested,”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSzrgY5jKs
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xTV3DpwhR
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUlnNZ0pQn
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMIMieGtEw
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bZsqbsByS
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGz7mhDapNi
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbt9jyzLiZg
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhiIPVSZZn
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nPhQwPyoj
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EJuQFhYcS
“Any complains?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoXSnoKel2
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSXhhWGpw1
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuG4SsbzoND
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4Et1uNJOi
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vwxhCu46g
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrntcuf6KX
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZzMokyqaq
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGZR5YtWfh
“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mnFWN5Ehj
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyE9auILasH
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQirY7Mtu15
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgGwAjzIVC
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rUjoZb61e
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5On4BJ3K9
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPCF6mlZ2U
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUKyL0U2ft
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdv3qQD9Z4T
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHv3RXDW8tC
'Always'.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0NYaVLwNE
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Me9rUuGxa
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAu8YszdLga
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJU5IHnlicZ
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6TE3VOBj9
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkrrApZPEW
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCo6Q5IhBW3
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLv1WYaSVE3
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UKkMfBqZo
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Q39m9BLRG
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstummNPLxs
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSKUJaxppP
“Karin.”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMUIjvCaGG
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ACqtlsTvH
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dA56KNTok
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNipkEkDQLM
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvrnj2TfMn
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmGp4XhTov
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Eoo9MJF0d
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj05HqcWfYE
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64XmPZCVBm
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVn6WeIeBcO
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQ70F4g9Ie
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtMLciaQrr
“…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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGfvASS9QK
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3qvMSfjSXI
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3P7jRhYlz
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDZm9DllZh
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0jFBEx0n6
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKR5JsZv7c
“…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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1uRZz7uUM
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyykKdsMZCw
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyP1KmSsSHj
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqezLwmAKnG
“What?” she snaps.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeYhOaIosu
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzcxo05wpc
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuLg5G7kIoK
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRa0deUZh2p
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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wiC98vgBo
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatdvxkpgZk
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TgvdnYIqF
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoeUWCQuzL
And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBXxXN502K
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7IgqV8uru
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9f0VuofUa
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kVcbsB8H4
“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWbB1FeCQP
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhTrIneIVc
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIXtudOKlO
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6BSusc6Pz
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKSKHYN2Zm
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OSIaifwrQ
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS53jfVDws5
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKAZPSDddv
“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?528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUA9QI36rP
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5XhRPQD3B5
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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzofOetg717
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKGWtQ6xHb
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPFHdErIZM
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEf67FDlVL
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLDpiTRShI
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhFCsB8gUX
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJeCO7ojU2
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DMr3v7hbh
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OkJqGBJdM
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfQYWsSoic
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXO6dM2ISug
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvbyFRB7uA
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3I6tiqbRCW
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2f7bkA3u3
Damn you, brother.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmogrTOgoMA
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkTJwdvMKZ
“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkf7qrtZKcO
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARDPhBiVgD
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nnNO8QNEE
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MA0FkoOhe
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZilTuZuOVT
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxPKNwIfxf
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDAWZsun4l
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmMLjCyBE1
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwTxLLO1Sj
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlhxfemBMi
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImYVjpU1Le
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEUKdYwsPr
“… 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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ213g6yeVub
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbhZ2nQb8i
“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtN2WG1DWCy
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzPv8TeR1e
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcEkZWrpMS
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67uuX30Uqq
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.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAN4IXGlZqH
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSnpumU3rV
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1hzA1nEVo
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNgaCyINu2
“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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHknbYQkB5Z
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPOpW95vbIu
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—528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMFXPzUYk6
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2OFw5KR1J
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2APJT2tto
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAsl8Ky5tNu
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyAgRzppfB
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAhFjn25bu
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfT9HAU6M3S
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGRo5QmVtJ
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ilF237JHk
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0x7gHGVkE
And then she is grinning.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7Xzx6JeiG
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQg42cXMOe
“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPdg4hb0nf
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4epc7FXqs
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxR6zsehCp
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWWZtkkBM1
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMu1JD2FhuS
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8GHyz0Yqw
“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJXcQ9uSpT
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQQKwGnLIe
“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.”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcY8iC4nls
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yZgTXgGpG
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhmxA6zVPB
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5kaZ5k16X
“You won’t find anything better for a more reasonable price, I assure you, Uchiha-san. This is the absolute best—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNcSaeXPoN
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07FxQqYugC
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWg81t4Vr6W
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7DjYj8bhd
“Excuse me.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrh5VSiMXk9
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8Q3p703Et
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OuZ57cG7j
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPpPHVN4MtB
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOygek7Wse
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Et3vOdXx3
Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rsfLNgaDn
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8GNfIF1Gf
He could feel it, too.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7L3V2DCCAE
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDgHqd7MIo
Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mQnUkCnY5
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDu6mvGUCHE
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMSp7h1ekz
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTQlnW0ag4
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJFYROL1gE
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9AFjWAGvmN
She can hardly believe it.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8uREZ8tEm
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwrcXyH6Uj
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQuCIIEThI
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7vHlArkn0
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkL668SIFkZ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaouAU6Ggj
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxofTpEbjRr
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5xV4sBfUX
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkq4ZT0IfQz
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrsByLEJpS
“What’s so funny?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazWDJZSFtF
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMiuHGRDJb
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUDRwzIXzM
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lkBoBmUfJ
“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ71XAat7xg
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrCeHD3ryw
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dW0esVKd6
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKshXWiTjJ
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxPjI2nNRA
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgI6MgSIlVr
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KkSl7f2vo
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCXwh3YFMX
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7IXAhVS1pn
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91ZkR9fvcr
“S-asuke—” she chokes.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJMCfnxImU
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGD8HWXWOKb
But he does not listen.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjX53RFth5
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvBrcxsR6W
“…mine.”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡruKAMZzPEy
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbbwSU7j78
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRixnlZk122
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaewo2MJJKy
She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWuT86CvOV
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk95O4ccLhe
“Sewing again?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKX6r0evMU
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfL2o4JTX6M
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22wdKEslva
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTZsLMxZpp
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0xk4Fgsu0
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUzcFKeIdH
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwNbZOpRNg
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SZ7S4SJCP
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZ2uGUUXaN
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQemNQtzIt
“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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwp2ipn60G
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLowIHJM00Z
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyYv3tsbE1
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4Yw5Xox99
And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2JxMe7aqv
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkd6S1YV0mf
But it’s just, back then—he had never thought someone could actually make him this happy.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvUqxpIuqi
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGXCD4iMER
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp91zb9ovrf
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1YPiN8L1h
“Stop doing that, Sasuke.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjyGgD9rTs
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOznhEm9bn0
“Doing what?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1gj4WNdFT
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFa0dGvmIZ
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZNlekhTqm
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6G7Yy9i5t
“Or what?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjX3pzHrQM
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtaKHTzYcX
“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9M6uaVaRl
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLVW68SBoN
She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisfuzJUegL
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UFWfSLJPv
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhfEoE5I6G
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4Opf1xrnc
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTlmakXU1B
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkGbKwjQ3K
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRp9BvzXUR
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYbulnWmdrc
Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFgSCOq5JLr
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfcX7nKTyc
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwELLpGiLwu
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9moefBvn8F
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPLK1rYvMV
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfs285lMhA5
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—528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8S1DTsHLK
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Dm0Z3xXtc
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpr3kkUP1y
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzj36gVwY5X
And, really—who would have thought that a monster like Uchiha Sasuke was capable of making a face like that?
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNb8ky1yOa
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3u7mxplH1j
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX28MGJjJCB
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYa8N3Xo9UL
Sasuke was just putting a plate aside when the sound of porcelain breaking reaches his ears.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSkzda2YeRY
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESqSOGs1RI
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKwX4o6eID
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPm3WtPxz8w
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdLMvvbNa3
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UH54RpNNe
“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8tqRKiLE7N
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNILMPrPjin
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcxiUJ6UPu
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYTXNzdqxT
“I told you, it’s fine.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54P5MRX0WJ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4yAvShmTfM
He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzNJhQQKYp
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgczzTMrfE
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2y8YqDgKhG
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlT5vJf98XZ
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nD6z9sjLw
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIeNDfGwE2
“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRItzemqYQ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjLt3Y8Kyv
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljcVPt1YeJ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQEcJ7kQgCJ
He doesn’t know what he would do if he were to see that same fright reflected in her eyes again.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXpb3FRs0Z
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhuKGqJCA3H
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgcGj5dqX9
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuz4lOMlZT
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdHfkF1oXF
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVa7M4YoK2M
“S-sasuke, what—?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0TDDoCMjVD
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgNUoEs9uW
“Where were you, Karin?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2VM7YaQXu
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZ5hUVSDoc
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovzzoG19el
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8MgKl88Yv
It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuGaNFMH0K
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn321Cpm368
But she holds her ground.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcBLeFyauA
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfSLJUi4zK
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1vwIXqBMm
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHuBA0TB3wJ
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjv2wzlS1BI
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDf3v4O83yr
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—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3sp4GyYa5
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34pRzTF4Fq
“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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDL9D1IsGF
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hcpCKdqHn
“Sasuke, I—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHBPswnvXO
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPcUiL9e3W
“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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi31h3C4heW
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9xR3ipf0Z
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2zav8Gasi
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjKDt4kw6B
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHWgOCU9AE
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqtHM7ORc5
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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnWlt8Em0L
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzHvht4uEF
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtS2tcKPH7v
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19VXgwgs4o
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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDS3mZYtzu
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyGbMtN8ji
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKDQHIBJ6v
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEiCuS6ia3
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYSIu3VLpQ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu17apx59Hq
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrOMILP6vF
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGviUJPV5y
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojVtljqHtz
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MhuSb9G7C
Even himself.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYfcXfdVhh
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxoyXKaBLF
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmKiu2hft3
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrK1gr6FCc
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFt2snEQjN
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopxjy2RX5J
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTbNwr0SGe
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxgPzwf3Jx
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJ0lQcN3zV
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWIteDfVsf
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfjJNiwZnn
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVXpMhWFtQ
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8jX3WsMof
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzo9x0fy9jx
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdELDvoGQ7
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChmj5RwLkz
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83ThT6Ks5n
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3s62djXWE6
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6o6kuUTONq
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLwz2HlHmL
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAabD6fD10
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0FDGCPqBd
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgHs51VYWlS
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADNzGYQ8zd
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMj2hBhpEu3
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KFEhAl4Ze
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMt5QlbQiG
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7h0IS7Dp8a
In this case, it is both at once.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9Q4BhgAcT
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPsjUp6U7Z
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZCxJqXwYk
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOga6J81hZe
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMChWe7Q26
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1zHhbcbRD
Broken promises.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrktVy1Rtvh
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvifY8hjRAm
A call. A funeral.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccTLty7ICE
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3HEITcGzI
And tears.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9MD3eVfm0
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlnaMPsqun
Heartbreak.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHOT2rFc8g
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cs7D7SCCp
Loneliness.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8befJqqaR
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlWeJ0IpSs
…then there was nothing else.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoE0VJ3fydC
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVo61mk8i5
And then there was everything all over again.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlCqc8pygh
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORUlM1PONm
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQLkPjw0F1
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI11Iygx27q
He can’t stop.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mbPtMMNBN
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl84D7jn09f
He does not want to.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPOJobQtlz
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2z4dmifEaB
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfDRnFMZuy
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Inh2VpV8J
The door creaks open.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8kML1dz44
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGWvWtIV74
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VUcDfOMLS
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0cHq55eJ4
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFvlgXRaUK
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvKovgm3EJ
(“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.)528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfno0l6K4Tr
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfkWuhRdFO
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzdjAxekB3
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0gNzeyRWG
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspHYPO12Vr
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yEJRwTgkT
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujop51laaV
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWoUvxrWqcJ
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnj2Bh0jF28
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYbPNLTDdfb
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RUVZDxANX
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwzyCrn7SX
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2YelXyEY3
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH4RWJnpjqx
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQlC3phS6AP
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDxnlUP1DUM
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBdFiKgV6v
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9xjMr5aRH
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0D6ZzSdSav
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4iiJTjiMM
And then she parts her lips.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqU9rJF0fV
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjC4C1U3MOe
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPaP5qqtwsQ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmc727a6QCL
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JXic7u1YL
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqR7t33rwg
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSltE9v1Z6w
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmO2w8yX3Y
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtldfU6Rub
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9kne4YXqH
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡst9y2gTJGo
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZScOJDqoCj
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMkUPuksS3
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cY4BY5hzp
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsd2trUaHZ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMq5XWzDPg
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEREYgfKdO0
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTipf79X6G
It makes something in her tightly clench.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZkaR8dVCs
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNHShYx8GK
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtyRbJlAlib
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoKRxDPDNl
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2QK7O01Dg
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLv0J2u307
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLt4lYk0gi
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNFuvspdMY
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoUYLSoY3wv
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CizdGnRM4
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHvrq6awur
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDgZMOyQLc
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5l51aFKUcy
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OXNuITjMG
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVDYn2iQH0
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh54HFCe6mT
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOovmUICQN
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4gQTncFmO
He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60yLp27Ezu
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4O75SkjQa
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00EurwBEIQ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHMLN2bQhE
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqGuJfOq3z
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJAVlvSVhd
“Sasuke, no—!”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3szkAUkjmL
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UG0soxOPA
“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—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyoELHR2C4s
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyVEs30YhJ
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡehfKQOi46c
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PA6yQsVvL
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADzBcSgbOb
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNLfxK7DYd
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KqjjYriy5
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLG6mCC4U8g
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkw7WEOmhlE
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTR5Go5CGM
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9vHsozQJ0
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Kze8M1jnP
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0yStC3Taf
‘What weren’t?’528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGHzjPSXnB
‘...You.’528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZT774LT6Ay
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlkRpUzZ9I
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Ue9f83nyW
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yZQ5VNn17
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVo2nNyV39
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtnPkPkHtL
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXxBkgfuGK
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYWjgZgw2S
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIWERvWjcw
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgou5haUgMj
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuublrQewB
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYysbQAL7s9
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAOVLZy1nV
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBD0a7m2bc
“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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcFRfVWDWz
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBTDcykFyn
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FCkkoHQs5
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRenxawg9M
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSbEDNtGyw
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ycv2cTcR8
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TRzgktOpp
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbesUYblOJ
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡveaIEPk3YU
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9xG1wceoo
“What was I doing to you?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsfg0YsIrx
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjW2Nb3TWj
“… I don’t remember.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1u1SfRFqa
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLq5OhuPPFD
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MvvW0hiW9
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbAUK3nnec
But he has played that game long enough.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxY6yQd4ALB
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5E4aFKRs0v
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTKr4XuFxI
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFH6mBUIEee
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFw17TUE1w
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmIIVJLs3b
“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.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3MP0Vv91Z
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4zfij0ZPd
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEuP5QD7PP
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHeiqvaGt1
“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06J2OW8AoD
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4R9GWSV0L
Karin takes a deep breath, and Sasuke braces himself.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeIRRaozg8
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0nHOtaPJI
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFXfaAzvnA
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqWu3Sx6YI
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflGVNS1bvP
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5AjbK5XLE
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—528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNa8htsoViJ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3BSjxEwXB
And her name leaves his lips in the form of a horrified call—one that is cut short by her strained smile.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ848bZrrQwT
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYk2gTIItR
“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd11ZmJ6z7R
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRDFOOdJHS
“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—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEYq4M8Fwf
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBKrAhaFhI
“Sa…suke,” and though her voice is nothing but a dying whisper, he is rendered silent at once. “Promise me… you won’t… die.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFirJ0OPuJ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0K0mYLKr1z
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—”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqju1F3W5q5
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5Srwiv8Ct
“—make you… regret it… I know,” her smile looks like unleashed tears. “I admit… this… wasn’t exactly… what I had… in mind.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWKIO2icm1
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRADHZKJxS
There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUYmMOwgV3
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoaojQBCnh
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pZRviwqme
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ093lLpG5W2
“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsaJxT2PeZ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBmVzUUlXX
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrogBn9CT8C
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3x2wZBOOC
And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDm5bdQQzGe
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKYYc2qCft
“See ya… Sasuke.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPovaEUsZYg
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWT8njHP3w
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByRxfc2LXl
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZiYTLFlw6
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—528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT30HmSbZfN
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtoElze0SXG
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.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXAZEYjpY2
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCIm5yAFXm
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcdUj019YH
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eNNq9ZwT0
A terrible silence has descended upon them.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVN7cG3txX
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuGRh6N8OED
He has retreated to the edge of the bed, his elbows sinking on his knees and his horrified face cradled in his shaking hands.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3q1kiAYitZ
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYf5boaUP7
“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?”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHb3zjOtK6m
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHBsfAVPWI
Karin watches his desolated back and has a hard time swallowing the lump in her throat, “Because… they are not you, Sasuke.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHOCfZroWG
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbNNeUAr2k
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡek51n0DTbz
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDbNjyLdg2
“And, above all…”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIQvRz8aVH
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jSfAuZ1P7
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRjRkZq0tb
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xFQ2zXvcf
“…Above all, I want to see how this one ends.”
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkO5T6NCOs
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vu5V0hJp9
.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvgEQGEbKu
.
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtg3jwWCxyr
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATH2m5ws7x
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSrJD3Bbl3
Except that it doesn’t get to.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0kDIT6tjy
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSk76NmXxD
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8Cla9tRFI
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8upEpq5aq
“See ya.”528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcque1ldhwW
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWMROyjmpd
This is what I give,528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgmBNg9X06
A circle is complete.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApxRn7J51V
Another circle spins528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7rITLQiSrD
There's life within,528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6hzn9H1tp
Within
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPm9sNtp4ev
end.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhU7TP4DQA
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUusQys8zS
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAPD7LKFkG
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzae4Q8ico
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.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQsZ2qXydaO
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeN5OCwg8pr
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~!528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBx3FWsm2P
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9c5zQWM9vA
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 lol528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TRQenoi0d
528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZX1wYzUytS
Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
ns3.142.250.99da2
