[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~!578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4AVUf62QF
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By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSoSIJi9bC
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSjt29oBo0
Word Count: 8.810578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWynzZO8xtV
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZAmtfF0hh
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4o3vuUb2z
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQ6swMqn1A
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A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIR3dal4CY
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To the stars that played with the darkness578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdxLDAOS3v
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLn6TvRv9j
by Kanae578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcB4K4nRPKm
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsptNSIOlb
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Something in his chest tightens.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtSE7xJvTO
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZnhOu0KoN
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Just a girl.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kVs8CHszS
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Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTrwFGAHjA
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He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMENXeAEFl
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXQrGgFduR
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The girl.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5egG4qVA8g
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The redhead.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfHq6ZvOih
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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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXH1MjnRsmJ
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUA4P42VaRM
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“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9fQ1TcnVg
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnNL4Ld3xt
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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—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJwf15Wuu0
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“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqf87WqZJr
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FSqIgdKDT
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25a6V8qTfj
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZknDV7eHy
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She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLHr1yyBNP
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He was severely mistaken.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuC8EpiN3R
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKkFfN54jZ
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2omlk8qY72
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It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsHO6R5EJK
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYWA475aNg
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVm4wXUF4bq
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXV9SXHwvB
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLVwF4E7gC
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MG73A2FOB
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She does not let go of him.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoUOCIr5bAs
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And the déjà vu only worsens.
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“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQknLdgdv48
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexp4QjgLy7
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“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg023bs2YdY
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbdMy6FFBAN
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“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0y7TM0PDw
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegWjbsDZIW
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“Doing what, exactly?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36LdhxZKRP
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“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAPIjK6iz1
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“…A ninja?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSM2qKN7jK
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pjY5lhvD8
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3ms65gtlP
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaa8muaqVXi
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“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1hwg03Wzu
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqpxwiomCP
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Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcjRpzG95H
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Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAXHNhbsBO
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Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBjvdNHQDR
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“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETaq3CUeCj
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhegaqe92a
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynhBg10jeC
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“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YF3H73aKQ
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFULFc9xy0
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He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbrac5QC5v
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But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBlYBbGIQd
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsDU0fgRnC0
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡurm4sj2nlu
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They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcY2frPASd7
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“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHOSsZPjvh
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“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrErcg6HAo
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFNzjqRUgU
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCKAFRTwVG
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOIfQ50Fvf
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCT1IeLQIni
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYpDjz2dcs
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitNjFbmEOy
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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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejArcEWbJs
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmJp2Bz74F
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He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLiXdW8bNJ
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDZH4WoScW
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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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmZnC2CqgJ
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Karin shrugs, unfazed.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MRPF9xQWU
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKu1IkBTuN7
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That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiN7mib0zVy
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“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASRq3F4GfY
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Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFZfPeGlqx
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For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1tyAcPCgc2
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYo2P39waS8
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ279nXMGqzJ
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISdFJKyIAP
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81wg9vC2AM
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqSKHPczSOz
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hvMDyNMDm
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIg9mMD5abb
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRXxL9Kx0m
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYgtgVQeg8
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoS7InF48e4
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkeQjnV0PZ
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10gXpBM2CV
“Always.”
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoVIiISXYQ
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqjh3qUVTb
It happens on a rainy night.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLwcPWtW3u
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2idUcNawlh
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWSxq28vkr
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTvqCydJwF
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNIiEczlCl
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxF1o47YUSq
She hadn’t been.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcAmgf92YA
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8D3jvxGSaB
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAPBcNFCIu
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLr7c6yy2z
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwmz6WKFC8
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTRk1v6UKt
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7q5gGaUq7v
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHpS26FQrGJ
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEikRvhMVlz
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq99NbD8lKL
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0g22UpIEwe
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIsttl0EQ3F
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDi5VHbEeB
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOuq0bNh7s
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHct9dmICi
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRub1EmXpk
“Hey, you! Wait!”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsqIX1J3GI
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fYhmC51MB
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEweC3hRUI6
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmtufKeBsU
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWm2bPxzsdH
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0etftqkGB
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjE0VebWIgE
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68IjbxC2OC
“… 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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RcW5LnYGg
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0RLiz4PZQP
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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vQS52L6pf
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1emFgrdg0T
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LJ8IFeK6J
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpvm9gdcrK
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lx0UY7NSU
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRwEyIoXup
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrI2KkIoBcT
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAC4WJS8vY
By the time they place their orders, she is already in love with him.
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TlRuy54Pj
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Sq3E8sf09
He thinks that maybe he should be surprised, but the truth is that he isn’t.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SCfIOKKdK
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsYCw4H3f4
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXi1V1LLcm
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqBw1qMBU3
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPZulI98Xj
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPoBAijyTWe
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77ndw2UDqj
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzwZ3cR6MI
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNzQFVxPVd
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjW8jmj2Xi
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVaoiJj9aO
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡea2fJT9IrL
'Always'.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssa5MRu1fg
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0TmskJ1MBz
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnWbJNIDD1
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeex3h68AE
“Huh?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7itJb5kNT
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQeI3GE13tp
She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMREIRsXugF
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BP4mkT6Ut
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYG4hMNXbn
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8OCpE2rtj
“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—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcBUn4jYB0
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9logIry9o2
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXd63GE5qb
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAbTLYxjeS
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDg9cbK4fz
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DU4Gjm1Jz
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ612FbnQuzU
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXtnN6FF3N
Damn her.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRzci56s3s
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNbqTeuS7k
“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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6qJrViGcb
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Ii96OzxsA
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KfARRlTb8
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ofZiWvh2F
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOf82h2gH4
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPQaGCL0bD
“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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepvGgmwRST
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VKJBudMV9
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99tVamSm7a
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCfOxgqosv
“I brought you the papers you requested,”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKFx62VX1A
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGHvwDXEGc
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNmjNDTFrZ
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGJKbqMfJ3
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVcXnYdKYV
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMVbNT8NCH
“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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiF8KqHYMs3
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhpH9igakK
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlLSaoXusg0
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbn7sUPkudL
“Any complains?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZMYjlgnnD
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeenGHEjz4H
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFQxiQQNlm
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfjzzSxBJI
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4k7kUYk5v
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeCbiL0ggV
“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6qj3eRywr
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbVJObZ24Y
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjCD0ccoVY
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYALyOAeT6
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHynW2kUZkB
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBICbXQ8sG
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSd6avB6Lm
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVNTZ8J0fg
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6Hf5dXhoz
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiGAIcFdrK
'Always'.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAi3dwVFf64
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrmB9UTssZ
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlrINbMdE2
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv42qhoJuKE
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSW0OiVvqJj
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWPwg5764n
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlT2FaxneLP
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UGQsWu1ak
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYcHXd0VRF
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOaxMUvfpC7
“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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqayFrA80r
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQIR79gLRa
“Karin.”
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUBaP7qE01
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZoOzj5Uz4E
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyVtGPolv3
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuaUA66TZO
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSPktEujOt
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgvNo9JSYR
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cumLFCVzs
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsyVL2h3ZA
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz75H6yv2rN
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcCVtVSEM8
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62fUeu37z5
“…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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx99LH26ZJf
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTz0Tp5H2HF
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQV26UG0lr
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63iqKuSxm2
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosmWmZyaGo
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5neOYfyNe
“…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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlkcVDb6x1
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeShGhthWo
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22jZpTbk6n
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZiQJAC1xR
“What?” she snaps.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbfWHfrBxF
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5FQlQbkA5
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcAPwneSNZ
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJDVeZR0ta
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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1ASqzHOeL
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpq9pMPqDXZ
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxzpUQRxIm
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZXAX01ZrZ
And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Kjy3JUVxM
“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtF96uKLmOR
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKOiqW2ej7
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1oQBkHFcB
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgq5y18wxH
“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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5NsDobBqgi
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcW6Zw7cBkG
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9B3SBNq5YA
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgdlHQdJIb
“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?578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnR8d5rS3U
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT5yUrKCrE4
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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxv4krTpEc
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHniNzeimL
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAYxe4wIwv
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TtXMTDk1g
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4A55KLosb
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBUjVZSvEO
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBELUeUFW6f
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYaMlXdTL6
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtaW43uQTd
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWx3lhGBIyl
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqWVrzG6y9
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOkoyoWe9XE
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWi7a3zVvx
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEzltxXPaxD
Damn you, brother.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJY1sTdpbyX
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgPjMV6rI8
“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPop1OeuVK
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMR8Op0AjA
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAXT658ccX
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxTO6GWOMW
“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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0lyXPjUlQ
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGri4jsHIOS
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9A40CgfWO
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WFKN1n6pR
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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBJ2C7CIsT
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡha4qVAktPO
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRIaxfZABg
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7KSKLUG6L
“… 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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKsajVxtncK
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpe2JSmYUVl
“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUllr8swlpd
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZU8l1aD4po
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOzDxXDRFV
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLwG4XS1Qq
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.
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVij3skDuNE
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2sHQomcBCV
“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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWu5glZS3PD
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnde7COccWs
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—578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YKzqsYNYW
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNkyI8z90l
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vFVvcSZGy
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpFxVCcSFS
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfg7O4WoVZ
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXeJDr6rexO
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSITzmOYKPa
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLKxrW43hu
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhQpwSZleG
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2k9DbDShJ9
And then she is grinning.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkJn7Tb8xO
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPlCkBPmxP
“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFit4iRYHx
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44UOLfTtng
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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VdAhFLuGK
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq72PANP6n1
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9G5etiCaD
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bw2OForRp
“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCfmtGzWb08
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbVm1Iq5xJ
“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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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WZpve1kiR
“You won’t find anything better for a more reasonable price, I assure you, Uchiha-san. This is the absolute best—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQx9xqn560
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlOZERGZzE
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkJfpNLFvl
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0AjT3XSml
“Excuse me.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HHplI36iL
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrnGFVvN4b
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7uAnBafJr
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3U4NxER0w
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2cYbjacEs
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5JttApnFl
Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOH3562UKQS
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9VabpZHBo
He could feel it, too.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf39IjfRf85
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5oToHBqmX
Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnj5OgVNLVj
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDjRrJsBv5
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStKzKycjLQ
She can hardly believe it.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cKQghFpDh
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqtRUFeDo4
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDar587X2xX
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6yV9m0Lvo
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpx3uBMK5u
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1j38Qk1su
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVTSdFtL4I
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKJbmGdJfU
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpXB6m7Ydy
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgogULOahvy
“What’s so funny?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzhZNAcXkx
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFh0PAV6Pf
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYZCVespiw
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4SLhGUjL8
“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0oSyW7aPd
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNn36P5VjFV
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zXMUtq070
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10vNqtBvRC
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQchkVBrx2
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjO050tsF71
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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGAbKXeR00
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV61rhQypsn
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWPyRZo8TT8
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GuM1A3kLw
“S-asuke—” she chokes.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLsQBhI4es
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTK3UFUeMCJ
But he does not listen.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5norPreRI2
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtXvhfSLrN
“…mine.”
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcW94zUPiA
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlehwxwVZSK
She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JeFlR2tQt
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyIjdPj6cV
“Sewing again?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUtezMiAt7
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZZuGPrKPo
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLyRJ1jwGT
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0XFNc6EZ5
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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoM8zHn6qri
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vG31USAmX
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI47K6TPYj5
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3hPLjJ4Iy
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Ejn0AvtTD
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtGLKOv1aO
“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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIx45M3oIY
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJCVn8OiNQ
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUODAVl4OOr
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcXYoXZGpu
And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRNMXh0WZx
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyj4ZjX2C0
But it’s just, back then—he had never thought someone could actually make him this happy.
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡML7wr2U4cF
“Stop doing that, Sasuke.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNu6S2FFwo4
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfy0mWhJWFX
“Doing what?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcV7AEG4Hq
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjAN4vYAlo
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtS6WlTZbG
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqUcXZCaqs
“Or what?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKlUPniv6Q
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RHfApJKan
“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkh67B1eX0
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kSUuUIr0H
She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIjGADlNRp
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNgRI9qJSv
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqebYwezk3d
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uNfJyfaCX
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5veiE2QxO
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMggGhTfxmS
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4AEZAnORcr
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNX8r6onVD
Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oQiVBM2Aj
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfg6PGgghi
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2MLNuOZoM
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8rV0NIwuk5
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAWL2uK17z
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetgFku8JEu
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—578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoATTpZflOk
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQeXjoPPfgF
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQMUyzFEVL
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡml243vxYJh
And, really—who would have thought that a monster like Uchiha Sasuke was capable of making a face like that?
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMrLcuSXDe
Sasuke was just putting a plate aside when the sound of porcelain breaking reaches his ears.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEQc6LFliI
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhbd6AUfEu
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKSVWMoTeb
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRIcy65rbx
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsahaMR17YQ
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpcljDLTpLx
“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwW4h1yBQn
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovUfTzJbmf
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LyUpJuYvB
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbTccX1jRl
“I told you, it’s fine.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJB3RQJvnv
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrkOC9xqqo
He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YzLQPMk3E
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvTVxdcaAu
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PH0blYl1R
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8d6uzCpFR
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6Izbd48Fl
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3XUOuNK57
“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcvhpJ0FxyJ
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslU6a94EoX
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLymKducbzn
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnd0IcWZFp
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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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8qIiK8hYN
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylX7la66L0
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGB0k8IasU7
“S-sasuke, what—?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquloYIaJ8q
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbzPAfVF9Y
“Where were you, Karin?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCu57GJmxMj
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtyYNLw2AO
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJHgPXyOgK
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2PdlT84zk
It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbRvoaLhn5
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCa1vhLUVaB
But she holds her ground.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr40f95x7Tv
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzNRTRcnPa
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdPyCtf49J
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ563dUtUlLm
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeJhJWz9SY
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SdsiTbsum
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—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSD5fUtYrki
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30nIrOFBNM
“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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVENXtnR9jy
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq48BYnh4Wc
“Sasuke, I—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KEzyIfu0r
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlGDuuKOkE
“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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SS92UFT62
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljumcYnmPh
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1RUL3hQvZ
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKweHCg5Xt
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswFUUXxbvz
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UjDsaRv3t
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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCFkFhyZUS
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVhu7lG6TV
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVPdzsjcNI
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkhdyEV8eg
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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunAr8SrIpY
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTHCc8SkR0
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9BMAsfrNF
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkr0geSPRg8
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaa0fIiEjjp
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYLwcaNS9f
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PFttLVa7Q
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcRupaSlac
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQcb6IwsyL
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18DLAyPdpD
Even himself.
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2Vr4ddEgW
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRNeYwNIGi
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv14yiSohxH
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWo8fkSUgRr
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJK19BvP1Fv
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGjVzg2xlPi
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHQypYfeqT
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnV8NGC5tW6
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhT0uoZt8P
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3wf70Pcd5
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZFY0ZE2tk
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedYTXol6qd
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hzJuUop5u
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJYKhFbLxi
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdl8k1CZwD
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tyTCsdSAB
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMS7YXoSRu
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbONYyJpK4N
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwITTMq8hj
.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3tNesXol7
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVOIdPGVXN
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1giE9VJ31X
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrecmWOlck
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6jGmiEC8L
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wGUqKQMe1
In this case, it is both at once.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gy6JnUvY7
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAr2ncApe9C
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHnqX2hdYa
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXr4lSFPYr
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeFjFyVtdv4
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZZFSZof7u
Broken promises.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA8L4Q0GuoO
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGtz9XCnQE
A call. A funeral.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZI82Bz9We
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGKypZp53h
And tears.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdEuXyF7H8
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8oRq75FV5
Heartbreak.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtZZwdxKCO
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7O7ciUKhu
Loneliness.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrd7fGs8b5h
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsGT9KDiLP
…then there was nothing else.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzOXq13qo7
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutP43tjoRM
And then there was everything all over again.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjWlXISlcr
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LeynqS5YG
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38r0GmH6Jf
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6tkqDpM6T
He can’t stop.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUz79k8U3Ys
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4VCwiXmhJ
He does not want to.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQTUzREFHK
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLkPMF9VNQ
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRfltg6H8W
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9eRGHezhI
The door creaks open.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wTH1Aw9VH
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoOn6maneF
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuZ0844681
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCoIWuvkOs
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFnkDQHRB4
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1QFbVCTEB
(“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.)578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrgD78HGB6Y
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuhTseK19Y
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQ1O1tsHLS
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdr1uVRa1Q
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV77i1GT9xt
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdvbzYuJJc
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKwrqlJOAq
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8UOvyRVcqu
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wrQmd0DKb
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnQ06kGA9C
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxaBsWLa5Qx
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnggvnvQson
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0z9zBfhey
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7b5nqfbBxw
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsIlR760y6
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInrZrBZDAl
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLmnu23hcL
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROOyupcldp
And then she parts her lips.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7ieZyfWxX
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgk3Sd661I
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXh4P5Tq8so
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqJumZKENS
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOKl608Jc0
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7GCSQ5kWo
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmK0Fug7irH
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJhvzelymz
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKOvPiTOx2
.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ98Jv9OEafR
.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcLbNv50IC
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbK01PTHEK
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEOx3CCWroO
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTH4y6qNn4
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaOwYki0ZE
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCttpUKryYB
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsKU01T5WM
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqR7Ka03wkt
It makes something in her tightly clench.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdoP2dPNUn
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEsRsh7sLR
“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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3YnSD44kF
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrx9ztsWrr3
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRkK6oJfa8
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptwwPc3ecs
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrN5SPw2pk3
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0tOEUvclD
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu70wqi5EIQ
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvOWREbg41j
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60leEzKXpm
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZu2OiE1tq7
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJho0TIxUA
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoOnzqxtPe
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4pKVnJfMY
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs30QefSgcb
He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvzjFceTn8S
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9H0wAarSa
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09IUz1TCjA
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9n5OyBdwFu
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWGDGUFda9
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡehYwWFIqOp
“Sasuke, no—!”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNJfuw9lts
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctvgWQy5W8
“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—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqolMR6ti7O
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKF94MrGfla
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMNf8AA5Wc
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RbyZ6RZjR
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIk8SNSr6Y
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FWtUAiNfc
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmC8YLeUurW
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIsl6X97uw
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULpGnKQJSh
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpiXh9aOqnw
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8O33ArPYoT
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyK5zDyUbY6
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtYabnTpvn
‘What weren’t?’578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqXyFX9BYf
‘...You.’578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8W7VUvlq8
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQBefLYJo4
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXOefex1vD
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMhPj3uBgZ
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9oHsCyFNK
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAbGBXPIBD
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRPEkL7d4o
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxD1Gimpwu
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DcU7aiJeH
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjCmYXEZPb
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fn96P6dxP
“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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxGL4uMV4F
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqUo0sFAx1
“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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8sfcdiHIj
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsZGi0bSEa
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDNsbjtvoV
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDbbRQWB86
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAXEAx7x1o
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5gtjOKT5k
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxg0ua7VuC
.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQW5045gQJn
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578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3SoMfjQid
“What was I doing to you?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gt3aMdvfi
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKLA4UCsFX
“… I don’t remember.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOEjTezIn9
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNtrk7DoBz
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5NTNdH0suw
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZIxCnBv4P
But he has played that game long enough.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKft5y5jrJh
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogeEpRN5dq
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwRjGWQUvF
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7k2FSUgn6
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKWL3mpH3t
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaO88kl3EF
“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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQy3gHR6DY
578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVXYsjA4SU
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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrHG8tKKUG
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“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjNXGL9GoO
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Karin takes a deep breath, and Sasuke braces himself.
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The world seems to slow to a halt as she coughs up blood, the sword cleanly piercing her chest and stopping dangerously close to his own heart.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMZwNWLfkG
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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—578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJo4GRaETvT
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnlbV1buw5
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“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtyjrl5nOn
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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—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb6c0McD0ZS
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“Sa…suke,” and though her voice is nothing but a dying whisper, he is rendered silent at once. “Promise me… you won’t… die.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kTQNnRnbc
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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—”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pZWJgLHNV
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“—make you… regret it… I know,” her smile looks like unleashed tears. “I admit… this… wasn’t exactly… what I had… in mind.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsupB5WmMmy
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There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3HImSU0wk
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHyH1xeOZE
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“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡERuIw4PTja
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oz6UH4SoR
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And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSh8n0PMye
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“See ya… Sasuke.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDAKqXdQTe5
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeG2FdFhkRW
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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—578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡldQiX8zs0r
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbZcGdodlX
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhiifuXBZH
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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?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8sORPzBAR
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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.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSn4FYud33l
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XJWg0g1im
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“And, above all…”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHrzUdBhey
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMEXdCdy3x
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7JA207nVYF
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Except that it doesn’t get to.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrL5W71pYl
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82mfuerxLw
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“See ya.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsu4WhQSnm
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This is what I give,578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXWOWDcMpxf
A circle is complete.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡelbBqULA5d
Another circle spins578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtogcyfUk6
There's life within,578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUyqvLtXej
Within
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end.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNg2xzk1Mt3
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJl2sdj9nd
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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.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQ62RhZeDP
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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~!578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpNFMZIupz
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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 lol578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6pFKr8DRt
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Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
ns216.73.216.203da2
