ONESHOT - SASUKARIN; 5 TIMES SASUKE FELL FOR KARIN
Back when I wrote 5 times Karin cried in front of Sasuke (and one time she didn't), I mentioned that I had in mind a piece following the same criteria but from Sasuke's POV - now, two years later, I've finally written it lol519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXZPcJfYdh
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOv2zhkbFl
Title: 5 times Sasuke fell for Karin (and the one time he realized it)519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PSLNjOC5s
By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8D0UD2VBLn
Rating: K+519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbjHD6TL8V
Word Count: 3.466519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjFB1jiiYQ
Author's Notes: Most of it takes place during the time-skip; however, the very last vignette takes place post-series. So we're dealing with a redeemed Sasuke who no longer carries the weight of his revenge around and a Karin that has also gone through her fair share of stuff. So their behavior will, of course, be different. - There is also a line that was inspired by a RoyAi (Fullmetal Alchemist) quote ♥
five times Sasuke fell for Karin;519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoHdzhNusn
(and the one time he realized it)
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsan33KDxHi
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4HM1mFWzH
1.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62QAGVXzlW
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DU9afpwV6
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gYOQ2MzKA
“Do you understand, Karin?”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntmNIvg2FD
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJCAXkoltG
“…Yeah.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZ4yzrXpVW
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddU8WEU6Yp
Her agreement is absent-minded, her voice no more than a mere mutter, and Sasuke finds his brows lightly furrowing at the girls’ disposition. Alas, he has not done more than part his lips when an all too familiar rustling catches his ears and takes his attention away from the redhead.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1O4JSdcS49
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmH2Azv1SV0
A snake was sliding up the trunk of a nearby tree, and as it curled and made itself comfortable on a branch, its reptile eyes squarely met Sasuke’s, its tongue darting out to hiss at him in a language of sounds that he could not understand—but that got the message across, either way.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9A5Aqp3KcI
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsojGaBCo0s
Orochimaru wants to see you.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdiMSVRxbz
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9zIFfjW3G
Sasuke’s eyes narrow with annoyance, his tongue clicking against his front teeth. “Karin,” he calls, averting his eyes from the serpent and back to the girl, who had been also watching the animal with half-interest.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZ30ee7nFO
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4v32TuV0l
“It’s fine,” she says, in reply to words that Sasuke had yet to speak—and so the boy closes his lips, evenly staring at her in silence instead. There is no surprise in his gaze; this has been happening with increasing frequency lately, and by now he has almost come to expect it—but there is a certain degree of wariness.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEW9Gxr7kB4
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZIb3qdKtF
If he is that easy to look through, then how can he expect to fulfill his plan without raising Orochimaru’s suspicions? Karin’s acute perception made him question himself, and he did not like that. He most definitely did not like the thought of being read so aptly.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoY2FecA4U
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfCZz4qsdM
Despite that, for some reason his annoyance never directed itself at her. “I will be back. You keep practicing.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkdnHvFwNQ
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbuYzykBjT
Karin accepts his directions with a noncommittal nod, and Sasuke gives her one last look before jumping to the nearest tree, dashing past the snake that had come to deliver the message and back to the lair.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNiKhLIyU0Q
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LuVH1HPvZ
It’s been a little over two weeks since Orochimaru had taken the girl in—a little over two weeks since Sasuke had laid eyes on the redhead for the second time, this time finding her unscratched and unmoving but surrounded by death. By the corpses of those she held dear—and Sasuke, quite frankly, did not know what to make of her yet. Fact that unnerved him, because more often than not he would find himself relating to her; recognizing himself in the blankness of her stare, in the lack of drive behind the movements of her fingers. And that was no good—that was not to be allowed. Last time such a thing had happened, it had brought him Naruto—and he knew damn well how well that had turned out.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzIqyhNkZK
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsDddODY1Sn
I can’t afford such distractions, he concludes to himself—even less so when more often than not, he found himself feeling mildly concerned for the girl who had lost everything, just as he had.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbs3IWPNMzc
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3WAxdM9ok
It’s been two weeks, and she still looked every bit as dead as she had when they found her.
.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rCDr24VuK
.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGk8OlQRyT0
.
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGksUbmrnOj
Damn Orochimaru, Sasuke complains inwardly as he rushes back to the lake, dashing through the trees. Calling him for something so trivial, he had Kabuto for such matters; Sasuke was only there to be trained, not to—519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUI36tDP2g
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OezC5swJW
His thoughts halt at the same time his steps slow to a stop, as the lake comes into view and alongside it, Karin.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrKTOKuT9L
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLNf2xjnis
A Karin who was soaked from head to toe, but that was standing steadily right on the middle of the lake, her head raised upwards towards the sky, the rays of the sun bathing her form whole and drawing golden highlights on her vivid red hair.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRCCKXYKUUN
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEklYi2VXJw
Her name comes to his lips but becomes a stifled, unfinished call as the girl turns towards him and gives him a breathless, joyful grin that brought life to her eyes and steals the breath right from his lungs.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BzXMYQpG7
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNtibxGxkz
“I did it!” Karin calls out, an uncharacteristic display of candor that was more in tune with the girl he had come across four months ago than with the carcass he had found two weeks ago.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10CoaIhH6T
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILzV2V9tIs
“Heh, I can see that.” Sasuke assesses, and it is only then that he realizes he is smirking.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsFxBFy4Dc
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQvX5xAfPP
Karin was a fast learner.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYEb4Q291C
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGMmExKHcT
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8uVUETmc4
2.
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstVlfhX7ot
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOyMxPDUHV
“Why are you with Orochimaru, Sasuke?” Karin inquires one evening as they eat in silence, one of those rare occasions where neither Orochimaru nor Kabuto were around to intrude.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOtidMecE1
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SD4LidWRs
Sasuke does not raise his eyes from his plate, the reply coming to him entirely too easy, “To become more powerful.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3BFJDrGU0
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVjdHIfPzs
“What for?” Karin asks this time, tilting her head to the side. Sasuke’s eyes do flicker towards her then, and he finds the redhead frowning and giving him a curious look. “You don’t look like the kind of guy who would willingly stick with Orochimaru to grow more powerful, just for the kicks.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdNl2ucLyI
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHsMVGqTaD
There Karin went again. Inwardly, Sasuke sighs. Karin was becoming more and more straight-forward as time passed; and that, coupled with her uncanny perception and sharp tongue, was proving to be a dangerous combination.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2NMkMTO9Bl
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJBA52Pqxa
Slowly but surely, Sasuke was beginning to learn that there was no point in keeping things from the redhead.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLDbDdi3y7
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqa09KBZwoL
“I seek the power to kill one man,” he states, and cannot really help the way his hold on the chopsticks tightens a fraction as that name rolls out his tongue. “Uchiha Itachi.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNTyrKKFYi
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGaGd6MvUm
Karin blinks, “Uchiha…?”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92ubxdK2bo
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5P9v7rgFr
“Yes. Uchiha Itachi, my older brother,” he reveals, steadily. “My traitorous, murderous bastard of a brother.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxBrUmohuf
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUDCl6Y8sj
Silence envelops the table, and when Sasuke raises his face and gazes into her eyes Karin holds them there. To his surprise, Karin did not look startled or disgusted—if anything, the Karin returning his stare looked resolute, reliable, imperious; and Sasuke finds himself incapable of looking away.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxOXkoZAWM
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoWd6gNjN2
When Karin speaks, no whys come out of her lips. “Do you know where to find him?”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiJhq5ROep
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDJbqWbOlU
She asks, and it is slowly that Sasuke shakes his head—a negative. Karin’s gaze sets, then; her eyes boring into his, without hesitation.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQs2kqlhgG
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOeqZJG3J7y
“Then it’s settled; I will help you.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Cf1FMpA7b
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0Ob7gqmXX
Sasuke parts his lips, but it is a futile gesture—one that draws a tight-lipped, but reassuring smile on Karin’s lips.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vUDPe506Q
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0pxIoYgEP
I will help you, her silence seemed to be repeating through her gaze—and everything falls into place.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZUd8kiZPx
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcivZ7hAY1
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mb7KfGvz6
3.
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNNwmcWxpW
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAh1I78r4dq
“Karin,” he calls, but receives no reply.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxfJnLaSNf
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTXiDagV2x
He had come back from a job Orochimaru had asked him to do only to find the lair submerged in silence; an eerie, unnatural silence that made discomfort settle and nest inside of his gut.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5z1kTAMqD
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDCztKhAdv
There’s something wrong here, that he knows, but he does not know what—and that puts him on edge. Even more so, because—519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZlQ60Bdu6
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5vtyQWbbK
“Karin!”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGt95Cu5sib
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdVOMoGGdL
The redhead was nowhere to be found. Sasuke does not think Orochimaru would dispose of her, not when she was shaping up to be such a valuable asset—but the man was as unpredictable as he was twisted, and Sasuke had a bad feeling. He has had a bad feeling from the moment Orochimaru sent him out while placing a bony hand on Karin’s shoulder, the girl obviously struggling with herself to not squirm under his touch.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSD5o8EqNb
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpf2Lf0F8k
I’ll be fine, her eyes had seemed to affirm, wordlessly commanding him to leave, and though unconvinced, Sasuke had left. But now—it seemed his instincts had been right, after all.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZJXnKQ3oa
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRJhbF1LSY
“Karin!” He tries again, and while he receives no reply from the redhead, another voice chimes in her stead.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaR2pbKjhUT
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19ShGcYmnA
“My, Sasuke-kun, why the ruckus?” Kabuto questions, and Sasuke turns only to find the silver-haired man standing at the entrance of one of the rooms employed for human experimentation. Sasuke is about to rudely dismiss the man’s intervention—Kabuto was always more trouble than he was worth, and he never shut up—when his eyes take in the droplets of blood splattered across his gray sleeves, and cautious—suspicious—his gaze slides back to the man’s black eyes only to notice the weird glint possessing them.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxWp88zrRz
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9pDGfBUzY
Sasuke’s back stiffens, his features contorting in a vicious frown. “Where is Karin?”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezSsSjTSom
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpRVHQT3b5
“Oh, you’re looking for her?” Kabuto says, feigning ignorance—playing the fool in a way Sasuke has grown to despise. His act creaks however as the man cannot hold back the smirk that begins to curve his lips; “You should’ve said so before, Sasuke-kun!”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEh0Jk1tUdD
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVxdyAGxp0
Sasuke is roughly pushing past him and into the room even before Kabuto can have the pleasure of saying she is inside—only to come to a halt as his eyes land on the stretcher disposed on the center of the room; the stretcher upon which sat a redhead, her back turned towards Sasuke.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8RhxvwfUL
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRizVpohYey
“Karin,” he calls, and again the girl remains silent. It is while feeling a strong, wild sense of foreboding that Sasuke circles the stretcher—and the more he saw, the more his eyes widened with agitation.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQLirA1Yqw
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkj0vFUzz0m
Karin was hurriedly buttoning up her shirt—trying to prevent Sasuke from realizing what had just been done to her. But her unexposed skin conveys the message just fine—the bloodied, tattered mess her left forearm had become, chunks of skin cleanly torn off and revealing nothing but a raw, red maze underneath and—and—519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvRXuVvVE7
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91YiwlwrVf
The bite marks. There were two, three, four bite marks tracing Karin’s arm from her wrist up to her elbow, and—Sasuke’s insides turn into stone.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCVhSohw9R
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhXuvW9yHs
There was a bite mark cruelly and roughly carved on the side of Karin’s neck.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMvta1z4k8
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKUBX3Ourm
Sasuke sees red and the tomoe start to spin inside his sharingan, his cursed seal reacting and burning at his neck, asking for Kabuto’s blood.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgrHGXr8RB
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRBUvrpUVH
“Wait!”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeFQ72QpKW
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgaSoVQbx1
Karin calls, reaching out and grabbing a hold of his wrist before Sasuke could leave the room. He darts his sharingan to her only briefly, anger making his head throb. “Let go, Karin.” He commands through a hiss, but Karin does not bulge; if anything, her hold strengthens, her eyes narrowing.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeZFppA1SY
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsfFrxyNZ5
“Get a hold of yourself, Sasuke! You will be playing right into his game if you attack him!”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfSO4zTiQi
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJB0ftJ5CS
The thought of satisfying Kabuto or not mattered little to Sasuke now, even less so as he saw the way Karin’s arm—the one with careless teeth marks carved all over—trembled as she held his wrist. “Let go of me, Karin!” He snarls, but Karin does not back down.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5vaK6tFpy
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnSyY4gTnx
“I don’t need you to defend me, Sasuke!” Karin growls, and her words make Sasuke stop, surprise taking over his features and mixing in with the blind rage. “I’m not some useless little girl who needs you to play knight in shining armor, so drop the act!”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOSvmcjEhD
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlipH8XIpke
That—defending her, it had not been his intention. Sasuke did not wish to defend anyone but his Clan’s honor, the honorable memory they had left behind; that was the only thing he cared about enough to defend. The one and only.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vHRUvdjls
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhSyw0EJaw
His sharigan melts into obsidian once again as his cursed seal stops aching. He had not wished to defend Karin—he had not. Seeing her reduced to a test subject at the mercy of a man like Kabuto made Sasuke feel indignant, was all. Especially when he had left her in such a state.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlP47IRR89r
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQaHw7Ddtt
“… What did he do to you, Karin?” Sasuke asks after a long moment of silence, and it is only then that Karin lets go of his wrist and reaches out for the gauze and bandages lying on the surgeon’s table by the stretcher.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu30EG85aCJ
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXR6Pb6cxm
“W-well… it seems I heal really fast,” she begins to explain, and Sasuke bites back the no shit that had made its way to his tongue. That much was something they both knew well; it was hard not to notice it when wounds that took weeks to fade for Sasuke were gone in mere days when it came to the redhead. “Apparently, this… regenerative ability of mine’s is related to my chakra. Kabuto wondered if it could be used to heal others aside from myself, and… it turns out that it can.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPGmwPGulL
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxbiG232zw
Sasuke frowns faintly, “How?”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XAnDETnBh
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXGUz7ylV5
Karin’s silence confirms his thoughts even before her voice does. “By letting others suck on my chakra. Kabuto made it so that it would be possible through… biting me.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86AikjhgUE
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMi9L4WQTC
The redhead raises her eyes then, meeting Sasuke’s head on and wordlessly daring him to react the way he had before—the unspoken warning helps Sasuke keep his anger under control, but it coils inside of him, cold and dangerous—he knew well just why Orochimaru wanted Karin to heal in such a fashion. “…They will use you, Karin.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXew9DlYxS
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7NLMAcBBHp
Karin does not flinch at the way Sasuke spits his words, gritted through his teeth; instead, she smiles. “I know.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSndu8qcxy
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dLJGO8rUj
Sasuke can only stare, flabbergasted at the serenity present in Karin’s smile—and his surprise morphs and serves as a threshold to something entirely different as Karin looks away, her bangs hiding her eyes from his view.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYz3xFae1Hs
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60t0KHv3ON
“But this ability is now mine. And... it will help whomever I work with, once Orochimaru is gone.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9aRpc3wos0
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupJjuJuoJr
The meaning behind her words dawns on Sasuke like a blanket, and as he assimilates it his body relaxes; his fists unclenching.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DWIJbOZjf
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZW8BzRRWi5
“…Let me, Karin,”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDGZ8BKxVX
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIH7Yb5pUqr
He takes the gauze from her hands and cleans her wounds himself; and while Karin does flinch, she does not utter a single complaint—and Sasuke finds his body coiling in an entirely different way as his flesh brushes hers and the weight of her stare sits comfortably on the back of his head.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATNX9xsZ4c
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56CCLXtoV7
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRqzfbEKL9
4.
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWnOlI6n06
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSibVJL4n68
Sasuke crumbles to the ground with a dry thud, a surge of blood pouring out from the gaping gash in his torso and splattering to the ground with a sickening splash. He grits his teeth as he presses his hand against the wound and looks down to evaluate the damage; it was bad. A little more and he could’ve got a punctured lung.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMy2aeV4t1N
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpta6QoJP0
“Sasuke!” calls a voice, and Karin is at his side at once, pulling her sleeve back and offering him her forearm to bite. Sasuke does not hesitate—they had done this enough times already—and this time Karin bites back her usual moan in order to lecture him through gritted teeth. “S-seriously, Sasuke! What were you thinking, charging like that?!”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7NaWd6XiTA
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0Xfl1ymQy
“Karin’s right, Sasuke-kun,” Orochimaru agrees, his husky voice stretching every syllable and making Sasuke dizzy with disgust rather than out of blood loss, “That was quite the reckless deflection. If I had meant to kill you, you would be gone.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWGnq4EdNe
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfoYYvWs1u
“Shut… up…!” Sasuke breathes out with some effort, as Karin takes her arm back and pulls her sleeve down. “Stop… talking, and come at me… again!”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXuXqJbqqeN
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ817IqHJlyh
Karin lets out a surprised huh?! as Sasuke tries to stand up again, but the Uchiha pays it no heed, his eyes set on Orochimaru, who shakes his head with a smirk.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWflI2kx7mI
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0q2r91fnA
“You won’t be able to lay a finger on me in such a pitiful state, Sasuke-kun.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2k25gDpcj
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOy2B83B6N
“I said… shut up!” Sasuke scowls, gasping for breath still, but before he could manage to stand on his own two feet a rough pull on his arm has made him sink back to the ground. Startled and indignant, Sasuke looks up only to meet Karin’s angry red eyes.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQk5LKsyBV
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYFNzm8Cow
“Are you deaf, Sasuke?! Your state is pitiful! You totally beat up! You don’t even have much chakras left—what the hell do you think you’re doing, asking to continue?!”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyQcatNma9
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrEsniQvtP
“Karin…” Sasuke warns, his eyes narrowing—but he cannot even finish his sentence as Karin reaches out and roughly seizes the collar of his shirt, angrily pulling him to her face.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNU3HLaiwY7
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNUn7U4zFe
“Don’t you dare tell me to stay out of it, Sasuke! No way in hell am I staying aside while you get yourself killed out of sheer stupidity!” Karin all but growls, those red eyes of hers smoldering with raw fury like Sasuke had never seen her sporting before, her warm breath tickling his nose with her every word, and Sasuke finds himself at a loss of words—his own anger evaporating like wind under the fire burning in her gaze and setting his own body aflame, drying up his throat.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXG7nzskLni
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvkHoUwpkv
Sasuke can distinctly hear Orochimaru chuckling, somewhere—but it sounds far, far away as Karin’s voice softens to a caress.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpANdrx7TFV
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGO0bZLnEnA
“… I am not letting you die on me, Sasuke. Ever.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡreamNiNS6y
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzt0XYo3qD
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtaHg0QhH3W
5.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAydB3gAJ9H
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMDTJUrEfP
This happened every year, but somehow it never got any easier—it never got any less painful. The pain scarred, yes; but it never quite faded. And with every memory, with every thought he gave to that fateful day, the pain only worsened.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9G6SzSV5gG
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fz8ckdTZE
Back when he resided in Konoha, it was downright impossible to find real quietness; even if he were to remain secluded in the compound, the echoes of villagers laughing and living would always reach him. Like mementos of what his own clan could’ve been doing had Itachi not murdered them.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZb4UKNP0a3
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWix2dVRQdj
Now that he is in Oto, however, silence comes only too easily. It envelops him, overwhelms him—and in it, Sasuke finds no solace. On the contrary, he finds an empty echo that made loneliness soundlessly slide into every single creak of his being, settling in the beatings of his heart and in the creases of his palms.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfdVmDDP7T
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMeTlQOfBT1
It threatens to make Sasuke succumb to it—and it is then that Karin wordlessly takes a seat by his side and takes his hand in hers, her warm touch anchoring him down to the present and pushing away—however slightly, however briefly—the ghosts of the past who were trying to take him back with them.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMiU8bnTZhD
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkR1KumGuZc
“Karin,” he whispers, and if Karin notices how choked his voice is, she says nothing of it. “…Will you follow me?”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTm5wa8m3iw
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbb83ZdLK3h
He does not know why he feels the need to ask such a thing—but when Karin gives his hand a reassuring squeeze, he finds that he does not quite care about the reasons.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2Pos5t3j8
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTN1lKyHep
“If that's what you want, Sasuke… then even to hell.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKqR9VNrAM
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqO8iAnXEAS
And suddenly, it gets easier to breathe.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQop2z5KB0L
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhas8EF7cE
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwz4XF3xC3g
0.
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnewIq04FiS
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHswrcH01V
“You came,”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7b4mo1Ebwg
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AhSeoCZeB
He says blandly, and Karin snorts.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNoxUCGVwcl
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ldNN1yX9d
“I told you before, didn’t I? I keep my word.” Sasuke says nothing in turn—can find nothing to say, and so Karin snorts again and comes to stand by his side, looking over Konoha for a moment before inquiring, with mild curiosity, “Where to, from here?”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOeQK662z4d
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EBqCwtJLe
“I don’t know,” Sasuke replies, with honesty—but he finds himself feeling more at peace with the uncertainty of his future now than he did before Karin walked in. The knowledge picks his curiosity, but he does not feel confused—and somehow it makes the corner of his lips upturned into a smile. “I guess we will find out as we go.”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zgndiK7WS
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5C61wv4GP
Karin accepts his reply with a nod, and as a soft breeze blows past them Sasuke allows himself to look away from the village and at the girl standing by his side—her red hair had gotten longer, and her features had hardened—but she was still Karin. The same Karin whose life he saved back in the Forest of Death, the same Karin who had saved his life more times than he could count.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AVTfjUuNb
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8t0ovGYoD
And right then, under the warm rays of the setting sun, Sasuke found that he thought her beautiful. It is an alien thought—but one that he knows is true given the way it seems to settle in his consciousness as if fitting in like the missing piece of a puzzle.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzEwTuzU077
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMI7vIijm6
Karin seems to feel the weight of his gaze because she turns to face him—and Sasuke finds a smile dancing in her lips, a knowing but happy gleam in her half-lidded red eyes.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdWLKqRH2j
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOydFG0GUH
“It’s about time,” she teases, and another piece falls into place.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkGIvRAmxv
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuadLmhe4z8
“… You haven’t taken your glasses off yet,” he comments, and his words steal a laugh from Karin—the sound is light and merry and enticing, and his heart reacts to it before his mind has gotten the chance to assimilate it—spurring his hand into motion.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrthlbcDotl
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJVVI1xi9T
When his fingers come in touch with her cheek, Karin draws in a breath—but neither of them is truly taken aback by his boldness, and that is, probably, what surprises Sasuke the most.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogSqo5bt6q
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnIUPykilC
“…Idiot,” Karin mutters fondly, clasping his hand with her own and leaning into his touch, letting her eyes shut close.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bBBv23H5K
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikZQwcH0gJ
And it’s then that Sasuke understands, once and for all—what had always tied him to this girl above all others, despite his better judgment, despite his desire to remain unaware and think otherwise.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyPJZPLM6p
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQB8kIHXDFf
But it was impossible to deny, now—and more importantly, he no longer had the desire to do so.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkNzYOpEas
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRFLQlOyAi
“Karin…”519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkA6l9IJIIH
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVmQFHkk6S
“I know,” Karin says, and the look in her eyes makes Sasuke feel at home.519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKY9zjedaS
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalOF4WsU7a
.end519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqL4VrG1zSK
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kFCOtUgcv
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUp1jmJYiq
519Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa4peThmHIt
I evidently hurried the last vignette a bit; mostly because I wanted to keep it vague, and were I to write Sasuke's realization step by step it would take pages lol it's better to let you guys fill in the blanks~ but to add some context to it, Karin actually kissed Sasuke sometime before he was fully redeemed.
tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, oneshot, sasukarin, sasuke
ns216.73.216.33da2
