[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~!478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndwf5kLPHG
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By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnj5o5PSN2
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKO6stmtZLl
Word Count: 8.810478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMPtyiTOIZ
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJBHKe7UxL
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndToc4VVLY
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBxI52gjpb
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A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTbT6Vemcj
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To the stars that played with the darkness478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfiYa03y9a
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdsTobxX7Q
by Kanae478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFTkI5NPbZ
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It happens a hot Thursday afternoon as he goes through the tourniquets of the subway and catches a glimpse of red from the corner of his eye.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eGAMgMVzT
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Something in his chest tightens.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPOCOdmAERL
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He is looking back before he knows it, uncharacteristically standing still as his eyes seek the source of the red; a girl’s ponytail.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlmtNxD1DR
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Just a girl.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLXLaHjbM1
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Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlWDJbdUp1
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He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OfNlNUEe7
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He has almost reached the escalators when someone steps in front of him, blocking his way—and he can’t help the slight widening of his eyes as he realizes who it is.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3cfE1AKd7E
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The girl.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuINXemcsat
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The redhead.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcVE7zDBYK
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“Sorry,” she says, and she is a little out of breath. Had she run to catch up with him? “Do I know you?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV89R62d8a7
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An alien reply makes its way from his chest up to the tip of his tongue, but Sasuke does not recognize it—and before he can even deem it worth his time, it is gone. And all that remains is the same disinterest from before. Just a girl.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwc5rs1FoHB
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“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl22byHeiDj
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“No, I do know you. I mean—” Sasuke narrows his eyes, irritated, but the girl looks too caught up in her thoughts to notice, “I have dreamed of you.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqYVPdYvRF
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Sasuke gives her a blank stare and the girl turns a little pink. “I-I mean,” she stammers, pushing her glasses further up her nose. The gesture stirs something inside of Sasuke, and it is powerful enough to the point he almost misses her next words “I know it sounds weird, but—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcz1n2O56Zl
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“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9VolNtSp4
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“Wait!” she calls, and Sasuke finds his legs answering in kind even before his name comes out of her lips. “Y—your name is… Sasuke, isn’t it? Uchiha Sasuke.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoJToZf7lW
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“… So what?” his reply is brisk, and it comes out through gritted teeth. This was ridiculous; both the girl and his reactions to her. What had come over him, anyway? He has never seen this chick. Ever. “Knowing that is no feat.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQVyGBUf0p
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It wasn’t. More than a quarter of the city knew his family’s name. Knowing who he was simply was part of the package.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMB14STJum
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She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpbsT9obak
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He was severely mistaken.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2Ym9Vec5Q
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“And, when you were eight…” she suddenly whispers, her voice vague, “when you were eight, your mom gave you a dinosaur-shaped toy.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVvLBtA1RM
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Sasuke’s eyes widen, his body freezing upright. Her voice gains momentum. “You said it was childish, and pretended to have thrown it away; but you still have it.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDS6JM6Blr
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It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZy9iaxddxm
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Obsidian meets pointed red, and it is something in the calculating edge of her gaze more than her words that which turns Sasuke’s skin into gooseflesh. “…You keep it locked in a box inside your closet, just like you keep locked away that irrational fear of yours of losing them someday.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOv5RM9Nmq
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Them. His parents. The one thing he has never told anyone—not even his brother. The one thing he has never been able to face, regardless of how much he has tried to do so.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAXPXJ2LZt
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He wants to say something—anything—but words just won’t come. He feels utterly intimidated and exposed before this stranger; before this redhead whose lips quirk up in the barest traces of a smile, her shoulders relaxing.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcv96kv6JFc
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“Come on, there’s a café down the street, we can talk there.” She does not wait for a reply, simply reaching out and taking a hold of his sleeve—and as she pulls him towards the escalators, Sasuke feels an unexplainable sense of déjà vu.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5P4sUd7qRa
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“Let me go,” he mutters, though he can’t find it in himself to oppose any resistance. “I can walk by myself.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnIYMJN3FW
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She does not let go of him.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL95hfYxbFr
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And the déjà vu only worsens.
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“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMcxKR15Ks
“Huh?! Why should I go anywhere? I’m in charge of this place!”
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“They started… around 3 months ago, I think,” the girl—Karin—says, after the waitress has brought them their respective orders; Sasuke, a black coffee, Karin, a cappuccino with amaretto.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡperTkVU4Gg
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“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXq0fvf4g2
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“Yeah, the dreams,” Karin agrees, taking a sip of her coffee and giving him a pointed look over the brim of the cup. “At first they were sporadic. Just once every few nights or so, but then I started to get them every night… every single night.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrmPuFEEt4
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“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugU1sALzqT
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“Not all of them,” she retorts thoughtfully, if not a little defensively; but then she shrugs. “But you were always there.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQhzJwQf0G
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“Doing what, exactly?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmyfxFYrEi
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“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftxQEwGRFO
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“…A ninja?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyI89GdlkTD
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“Yeah. A very powerful one, at that. Don’t—” she warns, before Sasuke could have the chance to interrupt with a snide remark. “I know how ridiculous it sounds, but it’s the truth.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnFs7zbTboj
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He crosses his arms with an eye roll. “That still does not explain how you knew about the dinosaur.” Just mentioning the toy makes a wave of embarrassment wash over him, but he tries to keep at bay and not let it show.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fFltX7OyC
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Karin smiles, and the gesture looks sour. “Not every dream took place in the same world, Sasuke. Those—the ones where we were shinobi, those were the firsts, and also the most recurrent. But I have seen you as you are, too. And as you were.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn50YlD2uan
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“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKdy7WFybF
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It’s her turn to cross her arms. “Tch, you already know, don’t you? You’re smart, Sasuke. Don’t take me for a fool.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPHFUqMmrW
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Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0R9J64F5X
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Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBnQI0ecnO
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Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7dziyHBU9
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“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoV4alJEpK0
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“Stop,” Sasuke demands, his patience running thin at being lectured by a complete stranger. “Stop talking as if you know me, Karin. You don’t.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCqUzEqnhr
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“Actually, I do,” Karin shoots back without missing a beat, her red eyes steadily holding his even despite his threatening glare. “And from the looks of it, I know you better than you know yourself—stay there, Sasuke,” she stresses, and his glare only intensifies. He hadn’t even had the enough time to move a muscle. “I am not finished yet.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiz6DGB0LLg
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“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3VDSPqxZu
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Karin blinks at him and then promptly snorts. “The you in my dreams was nicer to be around, I’ll give you that.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOESihv2cAU
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He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8R2giYMh7
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But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJfCP3BiqQ
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“I know why you’re so afraid of losing your parents, someday.”
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“Shhh” she coos, cradling his trembling form in her arms and making him sink his face on her chest. It’s her favorite new shirt and it’s getting soaked and soiled by his tears and the soot, but her heart is too busy breaking over him and his pain and her mind is too shaken by the explosion and the death—by the smell of burnt flesh, by the screaming figures of his parents and brother as they were consumed by the fire.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6sAqksD3s
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“Shhh, Sasuke, it will be alright,” she isn’t sure if she believes what she is saying. Not when there are tears beginning to leak from her own eyes and dripping onto his hair—not when his sobs twist her soul and worsen the despair. Why did this have to happen to them? Why did they have to—? “I promise you, it will be alright, we will get through this.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHBfuZ2u2m
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They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbetqYvfRXE
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“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0aB6ddxnk
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“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWU5i0GR5fn
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Despite her bravado her voice breaks at the end and Sasuke clutches her shirt—holds onto her for dear life and hastily pulls her together again.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dIaAgz4uK
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“I promise.”
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Sasuke fists his hands to prevent them from shaking as his very soul seemed to be doing. He sets his jaw, tries to regularize his breathing and his pulse—tries to not show any signs of inward struggle.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpozlIu5vf
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No that it would make much of a difference, since Karin was deliberately keeping her attention elsewhere. She had barely looked at him from the moment she started to tell him all she knew—all she had seen—about his parents, and weren’t he so troubled by everything he heard, he would have realized he was thankful for her tact.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXaQYcVrNG
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As things were, however, his brain was having troubles assimilating Karin’s words; how his parents had died over and over again. Killed by his brother (by his brother, out of all people! What kind of bullshit was that?), in an accident, in a fire—Sasuke had tuned out, then. The images such stories enticed were too vivid, too troubling—they made the hairs on his arms stand on end, made cold droplets of sweat roll down his neck.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRWJpxPuMO
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Everything was preposterous, absolutely unbelievable—and even then he could not dismiss a word she had said, even though he desperately wanted to. Something in the way she had spoken—in the way her voice had quivered, her stare grave and set on her lap—and even more so, something in the things she had known; habits that Mikoto and Fugaku had and that no one but him and Itachi would know about, made her words all the harder to shake off.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡci2Xgj6kqq
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So he aims for the next best thing—he tries to push the thought aside and latches onto another one, one that has slowly but surely been demanding his attention.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIEX2p5OKz
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“… Where do you fit into all that?” he murmurs, and has to swallow to help ease his dry throat. “Why is it you, and not me, who is having these dreams?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxZINf3kmR
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The ghost of a smile touches her lips, “I don’t know. I guess it’s because you’ve closed yourself off, again,” it fades. “You always close yourself up.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XQT6vVKj4
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He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMW1N6XrTNh
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Karin hardens her expression, her eyes squarely meeting his own. “In that first world, I was your teammate. In the second, I was your friend. In the third, your lover.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZMO2Wzu0C
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Sasuke cannot really help the way he feels his throat clog up, his cheeks warm. So he fakes a cough, looks away; “And this is the fourth?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvUWCNk5dU
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Karin shrugs, unfazed.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6lqcZRZdK
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“I don’t know, I guess there may be more. I haven’t remembered them yet, though.” Her voice lowers, “…I don’t know if I want to, either.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9z7Pipayia
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That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3bjhWGvdf
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“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntPci6PGZf
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Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoGYTKtRlH
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For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8w9Ql2yHMs
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“...You.”
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There is lighting prickling her skin and piercing her chest; it has missed her heart by an inch, a miracle improbable enough to be deliberate—but one that is a curse in disguise, for his eyes do not miss the mark.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRuGMcgk0N
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They hit the bulls-eye dead on its center, and she feels it freeze and then wither and die, disintegrating into a worthless pile of ashes that, with every single word he says, scatter like the wind—never to be recovered again.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75dffdQoRS
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“Karin… the moment you were taken hostage, you became an encumbrance.”
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She leans her head on her propped up palm, and the pair of red eyes that were fixed into his look sage and tired all of a sudden. “…But I guess it never made much of a difference.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcPKZ3lYPm
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBISaRV1KDb
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoP1bPoUAF
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3ko8oAece
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9QCtU2oJY
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6hEoudkho
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz15NzAKn5H
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uiQw3t1Y6
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnET4PJdhM
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLSS9Rfyt8
“Always.”
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAlcyWtlED
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnEXXD9gsC
It happens on a rainy night.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMS2X5QUUZ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXZJslqwzy
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgsxAi4uXE
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxX3eiJMSgH
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Y8lV6OzPG
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuSrdi3GXz
She hadn’t been.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuXkzJxYIn
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhhXG90Frz
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6wHpefkfj
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxl97DuSKR
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv304UmSmmO
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpV74eHI3PR
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8nualOk1G3
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsOTnxShEI
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0hMy6KhL0
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxgxIDtoYu
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKd17M1lMHm
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXV8RBQpcL
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdx5TYLJAw
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0tdh1Sx1f
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYbH510m7l
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxi0cbqaty
“Hey, you! Wait!”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfJCaTnhdP
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDp9awfCYI
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCPRCp8im3
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBMSdBJUpY
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0EcUERR0aw
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWOSU1nl3d
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iNm6Q4bvy
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlt6OgafTqq
“… 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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5NGwiEvA57
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhB3F4JVkHQ
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?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovOC5IxWy6
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAREGLrfpNA
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOP8Clo3cp
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxqL313Txp
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ867UyGrPj
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYikGHeC8EW
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPo647zYydG
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7OZXXmjBp
By the time they place their orders, she is already in love with him.
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS5fbgeeuBJ
.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6TGrJWrFr
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEwenRun4g
He thinks that maybe he should be surprised, but the truth is that he isn’t.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbe7qhnp0Xc
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyK2lxNX41
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7bbTnq51hJ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EWqWls1rU
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnHvWXVayR
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlgvgPbYQF
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMEpEkFuO8
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0aYeMUzmWh
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6rmcOMezys
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyErl0LfWi3
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aAc6IXl1B
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBu5jDIakXF
'Always'.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeibNMFqE4
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGORt836yI
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZdXoAb4ft
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2L11IN7K6
“Huh?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTSWNs1ztD
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3QmiWQFPz
She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxc9OqcWBrb
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgTVQA88wf
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcihfDrrqfZ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHeQMpYSx8Z
“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—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ajkchvmo5
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKEXkltAv77
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhneDGhGEU
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31zUWcKEKt
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQGe0HoKbC
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2H5GACq09a
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAo7awWpGR
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy714FsDIJV
Damn her.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIoJcA1Jm7
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8Mj6XXH1w
“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?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbJ5Ur61PZ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vTiKaCw5j
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fo9KuHh6u
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSMk6amTiK
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgBuZIHamg
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jfZZ8dHrA
“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?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLVptVNDIn
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BKqheznCK
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyC7LvtwCX
.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlI8ITk8b3j
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcwKMyD8o4
“I brought you the papers you requested,”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkfqKJCvqN
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMiCoE6LwgZ
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrNWcR81AR
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBh4xIuv5a
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnkOOHuRj4
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusAyglAQiO
“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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcipam7abL5
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC62XjmWQG2
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUw9LYG0NL7
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkwlLCKiBf
“Any complains?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdF2a4EMeGj
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMy48uzbXvd
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCIqWFjNyf
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EOaPlhGDs
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdpJJgc2wF
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQmVYtNNx4
“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstuw4QlTvx
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKblYtt5So
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydPozeuMNc
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMyrFzYz6F
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkCdl24phG
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYI1LMWQzD
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqON3vGbQ4C
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Tt3Hhb7oo
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4w2z2XCnt
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvZFpt4h6G
'Always'.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoDDBdVxvM
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjpKspYXJV
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZRtnNGII5
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsfB3WgoJL
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQW6p1u1MC
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwPrrxkeTG
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZJJYbATty
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBwxRfvM6z
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zlr6qrVfD
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjLtBed2ak
“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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRZJh1fk5d
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgj6tf6kFyk
“Karin.”
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKToTfpzkB
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqy5GnQBwj
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEZMoI33uU
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByQsAdRcbj
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoVfURhUAk
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjd3wOP9hMD
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRS9oBHAUOU
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSb7O9IyJWW
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxtTl4Sj7e
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXT7L91toU
“…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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95oFWqmL40
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUR5XaSxn7
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ap0VSQ4pR
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTNCTcRJAu
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TyQsLUJ7E
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfgEor9FKu
“…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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokZgohXfcI
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGc2e1G4nS
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksKJQiuywI
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAD5EeXKIPx
“What?” she snaps.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgntazcUPi9
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG29ymlYltQ
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUA98p8vZyj
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJQOeFVWB2
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?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAx1UrHzs6
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhP6PZHbdXs
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQcsX7x8QS
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dzf8OWDZn
And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7aZEz1a5Fc
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3AB0N7xlz
“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZ2idgzDdZ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQ8sQO8XPU
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oAyWCWSKX
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfGioE7Lsp
“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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwimMIjFAt
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMATWSrFPvO
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmC0JiZr4T
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57OYAbRWw8
“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?478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9dYjRZNkp
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0pnZOlihF
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?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xPRqVTf65
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmY4qsPOSp
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EpxnyYPkK
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKPxyxuiDS
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVVa9ARxoO
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTPSqkKzOC
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnBqAeFr6w
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZkzFAhrLv
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MFvF61yZg
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ658YlTQCnc
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuPj1IqMJV
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31ipJFfsPl
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuSsRkBxnQ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82g44cNGZV
Damn you, brother.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohc1j3f6IG
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWRz2meI7h
“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2vyd4vQiX
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLy8m22ayS
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDtabLfUvr
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIxt7LW9fX
“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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNKisEojzR
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pvKBb6L3l
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVfSYhuUz6
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SF2zeqC9K
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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaz9xKy21Ou
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSopewiiZLA
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPd1q3mRB3F
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvfvgo9pJW
“… 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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfT2lykJKax
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqawxnUz0y
“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZIwBqJpRt
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNLWh7NVIp
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaMvv0yBAA
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSTTAw6Qnr
Wordlessly, Sasuke and Karin seek each other’s eyes across the room—and he wishes he wasn’t aware of the way he was slowly starting to mirror her smile.
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9XdjlwyoD
“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?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyv9CFthni
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxxri9xa4n
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—478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEG9g2fi0wK
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQh5rY4cZ3
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3E2xqs9z22
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOkDmqomyNX
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVygoaPhRz
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vIlF1Gach
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaUHezRRCdJ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1iPAS5jtMl
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oYoOd0vOd
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLlmXWit1W
And then she is grinning.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7l85onc0j
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmINtiX6UqQ
“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkryIuyvEJ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5fa7OA8EE
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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfV8JBOS8LE
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9985woePx
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopMkzSdaVO
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUn3HZdXhu8
“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eFNQ6Y1yY
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jRR6viU6h
“Not a chance,” their noses touch and her voice lowers to a mere brush of air against his lips, “…it’s too fun to watch you squirm.”
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxHJrwxO0l
“You won’t find anything better for a more reasonable price, I assure you, Uchiha-san. This is the absolute best—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOhLd0dSgX
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUlYXzVy2A
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3GHveKWQH
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVI8QFza3fA
“Excuse me.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnaD5Caa1y
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jqz6lSwiP
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2szOfRZ6t
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlLdo2jlGi
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPN3TBiVNC
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlAzQvOnw5
Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ030LEB1ajG
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznqaPogRjh
He could feel it, too.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzJx1fec4m
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadwrisTlrm
Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAU8qia0xlv
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KXRDcpdcQ
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNl4fx357C
She can hardly believe it.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FndeCewUn
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPw28VvbBR
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mbIqmJkV2
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6UPGHTxdt
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKmVOza2D7
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDVHTDSXFh
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEKc53eF4M
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31hS8ImCEv
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXwt8r9s1n
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpSoQMtAH3b
“What’s so funny?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzxdpMR5yR
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpBsP4LCWV
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8jURkV3YB
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjI1pIAGvRY
“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWomWnQp8H
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5cNUx1MdX
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENILgwk2x4
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9QGcsT9oNe
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5t691dqal
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Agpr7SmP7
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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYCxdn2HTc
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iABbfzPNG
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsvHJH1R0P
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHO3BYXqjZA
“S-asuke—” she chokes.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTYGz7Mxqs
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dtASA6RVJ
But he does not listen.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33aG9amtNf
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwTirIxCVE
“…mine.”
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7tYz2nk2J
She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqddzfYwx9d
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFV8nSYN7vo
“Sewing again?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9tfORl1dm
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LNWhJzrNm
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksCpP9eobb
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnckTKDu04E
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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnEPuqc10Y
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasdLku5v41
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpmTqAFzcH
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkniWGwfIQd
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIjKQ4wflT
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoeR9DeVC4
“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?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjgiJ2jsKh
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3LaHiNDqQ
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm7uzDVDYRn
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZtcek4Grk
And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9faSZuHsxF
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbcaLgthDE
But it’s just, back then—he had never thought someone could actually make him this happy.
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFfEh9URo1
“Stop doing that, Sasuke.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7C7UXjwnt
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMln8h8blS9
“Doing what?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdgK6uiw9g
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasXgPKvYUp
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZGfKAIVhb
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJL50l4iPK
“Or what?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiIrOIkf4W
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Nbh5OypeN
“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZQDE4H1IC
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0diXI24rtV
She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacHQ3feGSB
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHJrOd0N5T
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71CWgnuaps
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBP5z14Vusd
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpKVC9gH5d
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7WCcVm8rO
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4cr0PAXjd
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yXp3nGaEB
Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7wQwIKwcM
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbG0l4k5B9
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdttctzlW4W
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7PweQaJHr
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEm4s0NbbBq
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QYFBUTkDr
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—478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mXBvJiSSz
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxl5zWnnNrP
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWlhNqfZcj
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRmtV55VLT
And, really—who would have thought that a monster like Uchiha Sasuke was capable of making a face like that?
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwDM3733nS
Sasuke was just putting a plate aside when the sound of porcelain breaking reaches his ears.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvmXW92obV
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwwlc7eGUi
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKkEGm5OKN
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOyQruKR18
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjjxmLKtpm
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1q7lZCp67t
“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkKi4XcE2I
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Bypzur06D
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsok5LrsJP
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiA2lXZUQSd
“I told you, it’s fine.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYSyRRwJEo
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm739U4dHzp
He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM36LcNCEFq
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRhIOUlbtW
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDycLKk8Ly
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDIZBMMLQo
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVhgbZelFa
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkExhU2svOC
“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm13ZAVIXiJ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuyXbiQYdC
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapBOD64e7H
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5J0uWlt6yJ
He doesn’t know what he would do if he were to see that same fright reflected in her eyes again.
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTXt6jYa8P
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQyUpX2J1I
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnVKdZurk7
“S-sasuke, what—?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1N2EDclA5v
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDfZFGZz8p
“Where were you, Karin?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCQpqxroG0
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4AWTOmdgDK
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PgyI27RSE
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj93ddaKXC6
It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3k81jFIy0K
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3j7my1cVpP
But she holds her ground.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8RItGwmiQ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWkQgNNLYj
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFogxPKb4Kc
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmk3sfZ0ukU
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5VcngQR19
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEy7ehTvXlz
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—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxkh3stSOZ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtKjtxIXqP
“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?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqp0yOciwiN
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjLraS5tMs
“Sasuke, I—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55ig3BpuFC
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhHPUkbXqh
“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?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNytsijO5g
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoW1hlJ77t7
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoiM9V04OdZ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyMxwPGmrf
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaQ26oXtM8
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr308IiUnzg
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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUa1XwE1db
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRUy16GroA
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIGoWWy7Hg
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQn4YiTJcrh
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?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeHhDlJgHF
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDARONw1GUD
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjN01LvOrs
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGmHT8iluZ
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07M8ZKgCG1
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrETudtUaWe
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymKAehQxVb
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziqstLnlUK
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlc0qzwi5mX
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBfIgXOAgz
Even himself.
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xLVh46epC
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBk8NfmXsF
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJx7bGUl7P
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTFkkI6woy
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBj959fImH
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnahNWsYyD
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrG5cDLCPL3
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHTcPpx3JJ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBSL7RCTXq
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gGeU7nFsy
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeCaDDEQJX
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbt7nrLjEC
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFHhUctK3f
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1crjE1FzC
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7phRmZLTF
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MGAeiVDn6
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhn5F3K3Mii
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE73F46ahcX
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5J1FSYvni9
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0Kqq0GgKm
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgnipD0X60
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgTawW9frK
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkx3XnYWJSx
In this case, it is both at once.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KK1y2Vt9r
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4xaw8YZba
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbRseTP1tJ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TdaVJsgah
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEssWrgdh68
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIHQcgtBf2
Broken promises.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dj4HlveEC
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DON3hMQEQ
A call. A funeral.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVf4N9Zj9p
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSGgFpkFeW
And tears.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3iqqkdDkf
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CkgYNhFH7
Heartbreak.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaL3kNB9Pg
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fGj7vl95v
Loneliness.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5B3ucKUJj
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKyIKSWvDX
…then there was nothing else.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiMZQWOc7T
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9e9zO9lcd1
And then there was everything all over again.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wHO3AA9Eq
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBIpfqCSb5
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdSV2b9AQQ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKil8DFSAOB
He can’t stop.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iOfNDAJxH
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2ikN55QVM
He does not want to.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZv0giL854
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHz8KHE7m3e
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqeZsnFd9F
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6fPd259QU
The door creaks open.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqgElNEjXSn
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpDD6QObyj
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9mEEc2lnl
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCJXdqhmx5
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWX6Cv7QpFv
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTb8ppIfdQ
(“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.)478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeamW4xFmZ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡERG9RDpqF3
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEIxmm9xCa
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0gz7Hu5xx
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYO0USdQErs
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAN11GfB3T
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykTKfH1NmW
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIW0p6xG3V
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EwowYU3bZ
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxDQEIqar7
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGlmkZelH9
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIitjD9hmcl
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGK1nJ6NWy
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6ecdEwQ1w
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzS6xpUzin6
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO01NxbMhtJ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiBQCjihLN
And then she parts her lips.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdhXL9Ohu2
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1HNRNMT7m
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcj63IBmSr
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhb1tUWy6R
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOZLC9V5WV
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlIWKhg89Y
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlKkDy1A85
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPaUx1iYbd
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHP4set8ZSP
.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErjqgsmAtD
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqjSFS1p21
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKAuCfcJAd
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MSX7cN389
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSatESHyAJ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNMfRdlBQG
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ164VGFkBs0
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5rHMZYscN
It makes something in her tightly clench.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr82fJFx4d0
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnE9WDgE4pp
“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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nvdUozz2O
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw14owlzbM4
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxAQ4tTNza
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxorBc1F7t
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdUqt15UGU
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwlWlaifMn
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZWJagOw0s
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd86uEfCdsk
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgbakI12rx
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3WJVVfVSSC
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHuVnv0Sy8
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfGsFSUuBs
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyrK4EzEFR
He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPFglMqmkd
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GkitVZtu7
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmAKCj80PK
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTj6mdJI6Sq
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVhDBWC7V7
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXEYIqDWyP
“Sasuke, no—!”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0yivJLpSf
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVa8ajbqZNo
“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—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEmJ1llygn
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxkdjlqKyR
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJLW0QSKVw
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkz7wUPpAJO
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP31D6GtKmw
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9EI906ckP
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZFFOfd9Vf
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6HAR7ECa1
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7KIurnvMA
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUlCCMpookd
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeCqlPXqgt
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6GOuIXqVq
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgd7hS12htj
‘What weren’t?’478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmG8YDvHBa
‘...You.’478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5pWv5LOmL
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdf5FJlFFj5
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPohiU8Zpr5
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fabpYaNYq
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsVJdKsean
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7J3JGKfH8k
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXSTbW4I1T
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKeE6s8u20
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqP42h9SgY
“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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvr1VIMOB5M
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5D79DI4Kv
“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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddz8jSGc37
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuvTcIpXA7
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekjbdhyygu
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04MVftmWtc
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHsu017ZJU
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvChliCKuV
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
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478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ782OYeDI6i
“What was I doing to you?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pfa0zPsUq
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptCXReDinX
“… I don’t remember.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETt0gnRKro
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptoR6H9CJO
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHPIAGrLiu
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATbNQyGJln
But he has played that game long enough.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VfoO3lPiu
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnO6ZZHlxq
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XITPEdUKg
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoG7CaqfAo
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp84FI22pie
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtP26jWfD2F
“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.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRofymB90bo
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoEKXge836
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.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8iUgmrh3q8
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxntqEua8q7
“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzbZZ6BwRZ
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJkpmycind
Karin takes a deep breath, and Sasuke braces himself.
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The world seems to slow to a halt as she coughs up blood, the sword cleanly piercing her chest and stopping dangerously close to his own heart.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VkolKxJCt
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He can only stare, eyes wide, at the back of her head—the vibrant strands of hair tickling his face as she takes an involuntary step backward—and then there is a cold flush of liquid splaying all over his shirt as the sword is pulled out and she begins to crumble down like a leaf—478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtubv6OEj4L
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And her name leaves his lips in the form of a horrified call—one that is cut short by her strained smile.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UzRARAweT
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“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6w1QM2DKyx
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“Stop talking, Karin,” he ushers, and his vision blurs. Despite it he thinks he sees her smile widening, and he cradles her closer to his chest, tries to ignore the blood seeping from her body at an alarmingly fast pace. “You need to save your strength, Sakura is c—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVtfhJcfsS
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUupDHvT5Z
“Sa…suke,” and though her voice is nothing but a dying whisper, he is rendered silent at once. “Promise me… you won’t… die.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBd1DoNjuI
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His teeth clatter and sink on his lip, drawing blood—and suddenly he is yelling. “You are the idiot, Karin! Why?! Why would you do that for me? Did you forget what I did to you? I thought you said you wouldn’t! I thought you said you would—”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbw8uczO5jI
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNqp6gW9Z6
“—make you… regret it… I know,” her smile looks like unleashed tears. “I admit… this… wasn’t exactly… what I had… in mind.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaVaPzZKET
478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcIpq3nNLC
There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDlff4IN1M
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She does, though—and her fingertips come to softly brush away the tears from the corner of his eyes, leaving telltale traces of crimson instead.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqJFj7B7qq
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“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTTDVNTAGH
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He knows at once what she means—but the memories feel light-years away; they are colored in grays and smeared with blood, and for the life of him—for the life of her—he cannot find it in himself the will to smile.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApL5kYlaDx
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And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNoycyDghHP
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“See ya… Sasuke.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxvTfI1rovw
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Her hand drops and her body goes cold, and all his lips seem to be able to do is call her name—a name accompanied by lonesome apologies and regrets that would never get either of them anywhere.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkqq3olRn6
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He never seems to be able to get anywhere, ever, not even when he is trying to—but if he could—if only he could do it all over again, he—478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGH6ZgNu3UR
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Mere hours later, his body is the one to drop lifelessly to the ground—and it’s all over before he can realize the smile that grazes his lips.
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A terrible silence has descended upon them.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9LYAcoAWn
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He has retreated to the edge of the bed, his elbows sinking on his knees and his horrified face cradled in his shaking hands.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIlDZB3n4E
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“Why…?” and he does not know it, but it always seemed to come to this very question. “Why are you with me, despite all the things I’ve done to you?”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7zTVJeG9z
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Karin watches his desolated back and has a hard time swallowing the lump in her throat, “Because… they are not you, Sasuke.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yrQCYkRig
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He says nothing in response—can not possibly wrap his mind around her words, Karin knows. And so she softly crawls to him and drapes her arms around his neck, leans her cheek on the side of his head, closes her eyes, and smiles.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCos8EwiUE
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“And, above all…”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJd5HDkaCfs
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The smile is strained—but resolute. Serene. It says nothing and everything at once. And despite himself, Sasuke finds solace in her touch—his own hand coming to seize her own as her words carry over to him, a simple truth that at once gives him hope and clogs his throat with trepidation.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS01ahuKYUa
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“…Above all, I want to see how this one ends.”
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It happens a sunny morning as she trips and a bear lunges at her, its roar so deafening that she thought her head would burst before the beast would get to sink its teeth on her flesh.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtO6O5CWemB
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Except that it doesn’t get to.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgkUHPaZ38
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And when she puts her glasses back on, her sight is met by a smile that would carve itself on her mind and set ablaze a flame that would burn just as strongly and lastingly as the eyes of the boy she would never, ever forget.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4faPXHjBq
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“See ya.”478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW5rcki5H2O
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This is what I give,478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwRzhxDZ3m
A circle is complete.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlFvukfZxa
Another circle spins478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwqVYpQ6aF
There's life within,478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCMtgYiq8T
Within
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end.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdSXg34bzS
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Ok! Now you guys should understand what I meant by the warnings at the beginning; I tried to make each SK set of reincarnations distinctly different from each other, both in personalities, dynamics, and backgrounds; so they indeed diverge from the Sasuke and Karin we're used to, as they have all grown in different environments. All the same, I tried to keep some traits of their canon personalities, so hopefully, they aren't absurdly OOC.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEt0fhwMI2
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That said~! The song used at the beginning is Kitade Nana’s Tsukihana, and the one at the end is Blue Foundation’s Bonfires. Now, onto random details about the fic~ there are five versions of SasuKarin total in the fic; the originals, and 4 pairs of reincarnations.478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmS56d9X8a
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The format of the fic didn’t allow me to expand and truly explain each particular set, so if you are curious about any of them drop me a comment and I’ll tell you their background and/or explain anything you may be wondering about~!478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRIqsUPHq0
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For now, though, I must mention a couple of things about the 4th SK pair (aka, the most controversial - the one with cute!Karin and businessman!Sasuke); their meeting (the umbrella thing) was completely inspired by a real-life story I read here, and overly-jealous-and-possessive-Sasuke was inspired by might 'Anyone's Ghost' SK AMV, here. I debated a bit about this version because it's kind of hard to imagine a Karin who would allow Sasuke to be that way with her; but then again, this particular Karin is less headstrong than the one we know and love. So I decided to leave it as it lol Also, his overdone “I love you(s)” and cheesiness, while sincere, were meant to be creepy and manipulative; I really hope they came out that way lol478Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVySR2Gf7W
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Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
ns3.137.183.239da2
