[FANFIC - HBD, KARIN!] PÉRIODICITÉ (SK)
Title: périodicité348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptCmrQ3aPk
By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASKlrAUMoe
Rating: K+348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ888cgTCc6U
Word Count: 2.817348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67Jho9IDB3
Author's Notes: Made for our "Karin's birthday week" over at the Ice&Spice FC @ NF ♥ I... don't even know what this is, or where it came from, and it's possibly one of the cheesiest pieces I've written for SK. But I kind of regret nothing lol - Oh and that novice drawing at the top of the fic? yup, mines. guilty as charged orz348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8q4W8eR2rN
Summary: June 20 has never been an ordinary day for one Uzumaki Karin.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0aZF3OMqWE
périodicité (periodicity)348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7wpELwd6Z
"recurrence at regular intervals of time."
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périodicité;348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZ6rkXSVfR
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by Kanae
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“Don’t look so down, darling. This is a great chance for you.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNSkBM0Jt5b
“…Yeah… a great chance to make a fool of myself, you mean.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLj4bmgBsC
A twinkling laugh, a delicate hand warmly lands over a girl’s head and—
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At twelve, there aren’t many things that Karin has done or that she wishes to do. She is just an ordinary girl from an ordinary family living in an ordinary village; there is nothing special about her, nothing out of the norm, nothing that makes her stand out—if one ignores her flagrant red hair, that is.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibzxkZVGbx
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But that is just what her father seems to have wanted to do all along.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzCNAmj4sp
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You’re going out? Don’t forget to put your hood on, Karin, he would say, whenever Karin had to wander away from the immediate realms of their home. Why, papa? She used to ask when she was no more than a little girl; but that was a habit that slowly but surely withered and died as she began to grow up—as she started to grow aware enough to notice the wary air her father’s kind, wise red eyes acquired as the reminder left his lips.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbiYxkc5KE
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As she grew older, Karin learned to recognize it for what it truly was: more a warning than a piece of advice; and she began to grow more jittery as result, more worn at the seams.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJX1qdb2oDi
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Her red hair was her only outstanding trait, the only thing that made her different—without it, Karin may as well fade into the scenery.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eJHY3u6Z4
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She may as well not exist.
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—and ruffles her hair.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Vh61j53yx
“Now, now, don’t be like that. I have a good feeling about this, you know?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQXBfmDwAp
“…What do you mean, mama?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGWosCzeo3
A secretive smile highlighted by—
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At thirteen, Karin nearly dies.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiZYQPpBvr
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And then she is saved—saved by a striking boy with a rich voice and eyes that warm her up to the core the moment he smiles—at her, for her—and suddenly, Karin does not feel so ordinary anymore.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYlZpTtjBLh
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There is something different about you, her mother tells her once with a knowing smile, ever since you came back from Konoha.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRU9blNuCc
Karin jumps in her seat, awkward denial bubbling up in her throat and evaporating the moment her mother laughs, I like it. You look prettier, Karin.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtE1JFwnJ5
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She does not know about that—can’t see any difference as she looks at herself in the mirror, self-consciously pulling on some strands of red hair and squinting at her reflection.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZPx4NcNmr
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What she does know, though—what she can’t forget, is—348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUwT2mlnV1
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See ya, he had said, and it takes Karin a surprising amount of time to realize that, for the first time since she could remember, there was something she wanted.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlKcszUlzp
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Wanted for herself; not for her parents, not for those she cares about. Something that was completely hers, in all its staggering intensity and youthful hope.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MEdZ66mlr
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See ya, he had said, and until then Karin had never quite known how good it felt to feel alive.
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—by amber eyes that seem to spark.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8DXQXuVPG
“Ara~ I wonder if I should tell you. It is a safely guarded secret, you see.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDxhYEft50
“I will keep it! I promise, I won’t tell anybody, mama!”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkMjkH4qzU
A chuckle, “Alright, alright! Since you insist, I'll tell you. It—”
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At fourteen, Karin breathes her last breath.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAdKlzkLOw
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There is no blood—not hers—involved, nor are there any wounds—not physical ones—or any white walls or tunnels and gates of light—no light, only dark—only smoke—only the smell of burnt flesh and intest—348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCLdSbbGw9
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There is, however, anguish. An agony so great that Karin bit her lip until it bled, fisted her palms until her nails left permanent crescent-moon shaped scars in the contours of her skin, new batches added to already cracked life lines.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekatIffUX7
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There are silent, chocked sobs that made her throat burn and her sight blur until she has ran out of tears.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tyHtBXYlD
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And there is also horror; a burning, paralyzing sort of horror that reaches its peak and fades into a mute but perpetual tune stringing the chords of her being as she comes back and stares at the corpses of her father and mother, unrecognizable masses of ashes retching of burnt blood and bodily fluids that make a pile of vile crawl its way up to her tongue.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OZmZmI2GB
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And then, there is he—sidestepping the man with ominous dark chakra and extending a hand towards her, onyx eyes boring into her own with the same might with which the understanding in his chakra drove her horror away.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYVt8mHzSp
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You staying here will amount to nothing, but you leaving just might, he says. Come, Karin, he calls.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUrj8F1prK
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She takes his hand, and there is hope.
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“—It is said that one too many women in our family have found their fate in the lands of Konohagakure.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJT1wZhcUTY
“Their… fate?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCaxun7lV6
Her voice curls up around the edges, as if it were a spell.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13t4Pjdkbt
“You will understand in—”
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At fifteen, Karin has shed her skin.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzgPxko4Fw
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There are now sharp edges where there used to be soft contours; angry frowns where there used to be kindness, smirks where there used to be smiles; buoyancy where there once was shame, barriers in what once were vast landscapes—and there are also scars.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm54MeX85Xt
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Tell-tale scars of the Karin she used to be and new, revolting ones from the Karin she has become. She hides the latter and denies the former; pretends they’re long gone, never aching, never hurting anymore.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNs8HW1CeEX
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Yet, he sees them all. As if she wore them on her sleeve.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6DhF3Cruo
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“Say, Sasuke, since we’re alone how about we—”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8vYD97ozH
“I have to leave soon, Karin.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzPmPOgpL13
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She puts her glasses back on and crosses her arms with a frown, moving away from him. “Why did you even bother coming, then?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjzaBF5o64
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Sasuke says nothing, then. He says nothing, and Karin straightens, her back suddenly assaulted by gooseflesh; could he—?348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YAIkF1NLj
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Could he have possibly known? Known how before his unexpected arrival, Karin had been hounded by her memories. Seeing familiar faces in the nameless prisoners of the base, ghosts come back to haunt her and pull her down with them to the depths of hell—a hell made of nothing but flames and guilt of mistakes she is not sure she would take back, even if she could.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HRYwysT6n
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“…I had business here, is all.” His voice reaches out to her through the haze of her thoughts, pulling her back with nonchalant words that seemed devoid of any meaning.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPaLMnn7z8d
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But as she turns and her eyes meet his, Karin sees.
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“—in due time, Karin.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTsM15XzG5q
“Still, mama… it just isn’t fair.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR10NPyZ3gy
“What isn’t, dear?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjQm8sfSjF
“… I wanted to spend my birthday with you and papa.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQ1lzmz7ik
Her smile—
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At sixteen, Karin falls.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjM8pcGCMI
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She falls from a great, great height at appalling speed; she hasn’t even had time to acknowledge the abysm before she has hit rock bottom, her goals and dreams spilling through her open chest and pooling on the ground alongside everything she knows.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2W5WhCWgr
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Alongside everything she once held dear. Everyone she relied on. The one she trusted.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcmzqJEJqN
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Now, there was no one left.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeX1BVDBofP
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No one left but the roaming, empty carcass of the boy she once loved; the boy who taught her what it felt like to be alive, the boy who gave her hope and helped her find meaning back when she had lost her way, the boy who helped her to be reborn from her ashes into someone better; someone stronger, someone capable of standing up for herself and for him, too. The boy who flared her will and her drive with a single touch, with a single look, with the simplest of words—348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fyHslb7LE
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I need you348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7m7nKYXV4
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“So much for that,” Karin mutters to no one, her back pressed against the cold walls of a cell and her fingers absentmindedly tracing the ghost of the wound that had taken her heart out for good.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZR12DZe2Bi
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And then it comes. An almost unnoticeable flicker—too subtle to be perceived, but too longed for to be ignored.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUd2HHrdyVu
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No… I’ve had enough, Sasuke but her withered heart is trying to beat again, and it makes up her mind for her.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcP2iaXkspj
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“…So much for this,” Karin murmurs to herself—and then she is on her feet again, her inner eye tracing his every move.
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—melts.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRSZCwH2Bn
“Cheer up, love. There will be many birthdays left for us to celebrate together.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1PoVGatVF
“… You promise?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyHovvchS9
Her gaze softens.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8MldvM1hQ
“I promise.”
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At seventeen, Karin kisses him.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8G64dpsLo1
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She impulsively crashes her lips against his, her arms thrown around his neck in a desperate attempt to hold onto him—to anchor him down before his essence could have the chance to fade into pitch black darkness again, to feel him before he could have the chance to waste his life—her life, their future—chasing phantoms all the way to the death.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnEgOFoY0U
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When the impromptu kiss ends, Karin sees him—the him she knows, the him she loves—flickering across his eyes for the briefest of moments, and she hears her name resounding in her ears even though he has not uttered a single sound.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVU2eRXjac
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She smiles ruefully; trembling eyes boring into his—and then wordlessly lets him go.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLrnrSvdcZ
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She has given him a reason, but the choice is his to make.
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“Ha, so it was about a boy, I knew it!”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3W9CgXAVm
“Shh, mama! I don’t want papa to hear! And… it’s not like I’m ever going to see him again, anyway….”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6k3f8Lbh6
Her mother has to hide her smile, “Actually, Karin… something tells me you just might.”
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At eighteen, Sasuke kisses her back.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tkUr4u6uc
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It is not nearly as passionate as her—their—first kiss had been; there is no desperation, no adrenaline—but there is craving all the same, waving through the serenity threading over her through the gentle pressure of his fingertips over the nape of her neck, enveloping her like a makeshift cloak and warming her down to her very core.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbTbCoezjp
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And Karin feels her very essence quiver under it—under the warmth and the way her heart seemed to want to leave her and jump into him instead, to claim the home it has always longed for; the home it has always fought for.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKefk2jEVw8
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The home it belonged to.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3FxOo31Zf
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As he kisses her, sunrays clumsily dancing upon her lips, Karin feels like she would vaporize into him if Sasuke were to take a single breath.
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“How do you know?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGD3eijGqXk
“Because, that’s how fate works, Karin.”
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At nineteen, Karin smiles.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwvIVBVDrN
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“Itachi,” she says, and Sasuke looks up to her, startled. “The name… Itachi. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdWpTEub7B
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Sasuke parts his lips—once, twice—but no sound comes out and soon enough he gives up altogether, lowering his eyes to stare at the bundle in his arms. It stares back at him, impossibly red eyes widened with innocent curiosity, pink tongue sticking out from underneath rosy lips.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMusbUDN7W
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“Are you sure, Karin?” he whispers after what seemed like an eternity, and Karin’s smile only widens.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNhP0HUDQX
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“Yeah.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUpDdhQ5Kf
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And as she sees them—as she sees Sasuke hold their baby as if he were holding the whole, wide world in the crook of his arms—Karin remembers her mother with such vivid clarity that she catches a breath of her perfume. The memory—the vision is bittersweet, and it makes Karin’s throat clog, because she recognizes that look.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFgwgT2oTPO
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It was the way her mother used to look at her father and her, eyes brimming with love and pride, unspoken but ever-present, never changing. Karin had not been able to understand it, then—348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpvPIXmR7C
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But she did, now. And the understanding squeezed her heart in a way that was both, wonderful and terrible. To think it took her this long to finally understand, once and for all, what it all meant.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9ecYm2nvO
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To understand who her mother truly was, what her mother felt, what her mother desired for her—and how her mother hurt.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UZNZI4Tdj
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You’re special, Karin. She would tell her sometimes, her eyes half-lidded and afflicted by thoughts she would never get the chance to say aloud. One day, you will realize that.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjcgKtUc0b
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She realized it, now; what it meant to love to her roots, what it meant to be a woman.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUJ9QATw8Y
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An Uzumaki woman.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEyVFEQyyXm
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“… Thank you, Karin.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFlnJqCSH5
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“Idiot,” she shakes her head, weakly, traitorous tears prickling at the corners of her eyes and threatening to spill. “That... should be my line.”
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“They will be here soon,”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoUcOArwNmC
“Who will be here soon, mama?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyQBPQcWKX
“It could be anyone,” she finally replies, and her hold is steady as she combs through Karin’s hair, “we have long since lost any care for their identities, Karin. What matters is… what their presence means.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CNYE0tohK
“And what is that?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ69Sjo38qf
Her silence provides the only answer; and Karin wishes it weren’t enough.
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At twenty, Karin celebrates her birthday for the first time in seven years.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFuzIgdgmD
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And it starts with a soft but firm admittance whispered as she caresses the baby’s nose, all too aware of the pleasant weight of Sasuke’s gaze, of the feelings swirling in his chakra.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAOfCkNhQG
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Hearing them is unexpected, however—and her widened eyes snap to his only to find his lips beginning to curve, his own hand coming to caress her cheek in much the same way she was doing to their son.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVO1DHWkJvF
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“W—what was that about?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAa0RChJV9
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She asks; some habits are hard to break, and her awkward way of fighting down her embarrassment seemed to be as persistent as ever.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkecqLIBrL
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Sasuke doesn’t seem to mind, though. If anything, his smile seems to morph into an amused smirk as he shrugs, noncommittally. “I just felt like saying it, is all.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdfKdLqmI6
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“Dumbass,” she mutters, hoping the darkness will hide the way her cheeks have warmed up like bonfires, so reminiscent of her prepubescent days when all she could do was a dream she would one day lay with Sasuke the way she does now. “...You didn't need to.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAofTf1Zlqr
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“I know, Karin,” and this time he is positively smiling, suddenly mutating back into the Sasuke that had stolen her heart so many years ago. “But it still felt good to say it.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBnoBS56DX
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Karin says nothing in response; simply snuggles closer to him, eyes on the baby as he opens his eyes and blinks, his little hands curling and uncurling up into the air.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIMHjpJLDq
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“He is going to be strong,” Sasuke assesses, and Karin would have mocked him by how ridiculous it was that he sounds that proud of Itachi when the baby hasn’t even said his first word yet, weren’t it because she felt the same way.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30WVHEFjKW
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He was going to be strong. A little piece of herself and Sasuke—a memento of those who had given their life up for them; a torch for those who had granted them the chance to live this moment.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0J1OseGOX
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To live this happiness.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAvwWkh0d8
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“Happy birthday, Itachi,” she whispers, and squeezes Sasuke’s hand. “I love you.”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwXqFaeKeY
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The words feel dusty, and unknown—but familiar.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjLnzf3V9j
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She knew them, once.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdE3xvwAU6
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She has known them all along.
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I'm sorry, Karin.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8S6Buy39vi
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Were the last words her mother told her before her father ushered her out of the house and prompted her to run—run as far as she could, away from them—and forced her to leave them to die.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsC3Xo7WiI4
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To survive.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9q4fG4afuw
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Those words used to hunt Karin down in those nights when sleep refused to lend her its hand, the eerie walls of Orochimaru’s hideout caving in on her and Sasuke’s steady chakra being her only relief, her only shield.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD07oyy8z3J
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Yet, what haunted her weren’t the words themselves, but their meaning; Karin had instinctively known then, just as clear as she knows now, that her mother was not apologizing for forcing her to forsake them and live on.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguESEWYAoW
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No, that was not it—that was not the kind of woman her mother had been.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOMlynE5eW
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Instead, she had apologized for something else entirely.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmY488cg5Bh
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For the unsaid.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxWJgZRmUG
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“What are you thinking about, Karin?”348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMe3SvjjB7
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Her lips curl upward as he takes the seat by her side, repentances fading away into the evening sky.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgXnJSRoSH
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“Nothing,” she replies, threading her fingers through his and gazing back to their children, who were laughing and running together through the backyard, a lively mixture of reds and blacks; the Uchiha and Uzumaki crests proudly etched on their backs, on their hearts.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60NqFYCHRR
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“Nothing at all.”
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"You will be fine."348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwBv4wP2wH
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And through the tears and the pain and the loneliness and the longing and the hardships and the fear, Karin should have known better.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBRlzwn7io
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Her mother was always right.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYPUIlo5JY
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end.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnI9ZUGTJAe
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I... seriously don't know where all this came from; my best guess: Uzumaki feelings. Uzumaki feelings everywhere. lol, I tried to play with the different facets of Karin, and how she grows into each one of them; plus SK, of course.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowRfZp2xji
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The stuff I wrote here is not quite how I see things going, though; to do that I would have had to write about 395749574 vignettes per year, rather than only one lol so I went for rushed versions of a couple of scenarios I had thought about.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosEtpM6pWO
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Oh and while I did not state it in the fic: every vignette takes place on Karin's birthday, so the baby was born on June 20, too.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OxcWNFZee
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Anyway, hopefully, it wasn't that terrible! ♥348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqbu7t83HO
tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
i'm : 
cheerful
listening to: never let me go - florence + the machine
ns 15.158.61.44da2
