[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~!581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxT87ENxPny
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dMQXIiBxE
By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtneV4srDg
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWi2M6vw19M
Word Count: 8.810581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCwpYHtdgi
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwGkZe2rR5
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIx13luSNnB
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvW0i20PO9
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuGa9vWG4YS
A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplB22SiFdA
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYyWxc8lcJ
To the stars that played with the darkness581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLx9OvK1RJ
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaV1uhAfHxx
by Kanae581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0PvloJxhE
-
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKpbmXrE3D
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhV95cTroZ
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujU9XusZSY
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7byJBltjJy
Something in his chest tightens.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIxuHtkDJP
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVow5TvTGH
He is looking back before he knows it, uncharacteristically standing still as his eyes seek the source of the red; a girl’s ponytail.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZvVRzRZYW
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNcK1ophuD
Just a girl.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9dusEVXIA
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BxFc5R2Bq
Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCubUESpgM
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BcPk8pETB
He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYT7A0VaP5
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvndouzq0xx
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqkefg1G6cD
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIqAQS3DBEj
The girl.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcaXJCFwEbw
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPSMD7n46o
The redhead.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlY0uhmFs7W
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgVqRNQqOq
“Sorry,” she says, and she is a little out of breath. Had she run to catch up with him? “Do I know you?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfObVREcA7X
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AhrIvn2nx
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ847KcbjOER
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioceBXA8Gj
“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8oHDX2dd1
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIz8uYXAgq
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZ3HGeJKcM
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdwmKnxxKi
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—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUxvNKxV44
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1iVSgT0Itd
“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdx1jom3QW
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwxODO6MiT
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUCyrkAp7m
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdm7H0Wkvr4
“… 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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkb8iPL4fb
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdSECApg1O
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrylM8PPaPp
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTCuS5CoV9
She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBswLxRDcd
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ONGPvbRPI
He was severely mistaken.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡot36Kn2cAD
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOOs8HlgXp
“And, when you were eight…” she suddenly whispers, her voice vague, “when you were eight, your mom gave you a dinosaur-shaped toy.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxt69kqG5N
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX09mgHWDti
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yYVPq0IZO
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGLTFoCc5K
It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJTpUUelJo
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vhnhExquR
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsU8ONFBDd
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLLzuoeDeR
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkw0rqFDOk
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGT4UITDneA
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jJRI3tt8X
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpuunwqXTz
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGaPlRssX3Y
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaDAmKU8Yv
“Let me go,” he mutters, though he can’t find it in himself to oppose any resistance. “I can walk by myself.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKqveDV6dG
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQil5MIS9W
She does not let go of him.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbT9HA9bGF
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIUsDeYZIX
And the déjà vu only worsens.
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOdK8cVyhq
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4MkwUTOp6q
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPub4SHwFeE
“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mdn7j1JD1
“Huh?! Why should I go anywhere? I’m in charge of this place!”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWvkO7PZcE
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydE3rUamAI
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93VdWawnJG
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbL9Fx80Yy
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQejnSQRUSU
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9Galjr4Fb
“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIpazUhSWK
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn04qPqCxIt
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcjsxbI3zs
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8E15KXXZJV
“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuH7I0oFBH
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVsy5sFKwG
“Not all of them,” she retorts thoughtfully, if not a little defensively; but then she shrugs. “But you were always there.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FPESj7Rkc
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2I9tABe4c
“Doing what, exactly?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nrLmzs4mE
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Emuj3TqxF
“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jOuKYrLqb
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcpilW1HCq
“…A ninja?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyw0zWIr8HO
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PVQbeGkU3
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBW3r7WkQ8B
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sgGfUyXs8
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZBvdhNXLc
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsBdZIe68P
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZULfDiZo4
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAM7JurdolD
“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7VY68VcZo
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJmC5mIZYhR
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFKwAEcwgf
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmQNOChuqJ
Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6HKO6JMtX
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jDOpIz1F3
Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOqiBjyi0x
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5V0ejya7Fj
Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGZORkmTP7
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82EHNX9v14
“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6lwTNgDMA
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqFiCt43Q0
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZBlawnKmC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPRo29p4lB
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CSfXuJfj9
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRubAOXD00T
“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfjilGcPKs
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FLMu0pCqb
Karin blinks at him and then promptly snorts. “The you in my dreams was nicer to be around, I’ll give you that.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX59IL3Ce1k
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3Dw2b89xX
He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8vXDHPo6k
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5N7yqqSTwA
But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfFWjM7ETf
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMbgzJmInMw
“I know why you’re so afraid of losing your parents, someday.”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHQ5um6lzV
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gE0KrarMd
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJyGHgFw7e
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEfbRKCto4
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmaQVwUHYJw
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5ki4vJ8DJ
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkWwAwpDuk
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgfIE7iHj3
They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YYK3FzdyL
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cwnesWzkf
“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPr1VnGuRdT
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuXbmdeSnC
“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEyw1CSesX2
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtOm5l4Cqo
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdfVB5e74p
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWbjB0UjiM
“I promise.”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLQnNwfc1Z
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXr2eIkOJld
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNIDdi4SHe
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QQr71fqAY
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Yfiqiwoo3
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79UqJv9iwf
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8y1E6Jb8Ey
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWbxOFT2qD
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiRd3F3FHI
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbXxLVK46oT
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdylA1631X
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblEsCk7qHt
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXwGlxs7pk
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWryYPZcqib
“… 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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3EkIMRMQN
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8L3qk7Toe
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0UQYtbc0B
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNVjX8ckY2
He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfv80CRGbEk
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49TRXgd0tK
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdiqB9AktkN
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2guyvGxWI
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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbXB78v7JR
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnC2CnhVsOq
Karin shrugs, unfazed.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5x3iJknpa
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7UhrTdUqH
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXeclUGoQws
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUi64C63sFj
That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGuvfaKZ8HV
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95OInUll0Y
“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZYVJRimM6
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBnOM4JhX3
Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxQWETEzmC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DEXR8YRCf
For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrU4PIl3LUf
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60r2P1o1SA
“...You.”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xs7vmxLU5
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinyBh3ytUR
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMq2ein1GvN
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhW4MNtR6Y
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IgNj5xjSr
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8A99iEnS4
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8jtauQUpH
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56q1pkWSaO
“Karin… the moment you were taken hostage, you became an encumbrance.”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8s8MFkkij
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11VWrVJkoh
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtas2LBeSJY
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJGOzsJFDp
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FRLycxtiA
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSsv7a2pPi
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQD7o7cGPke
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoA6YCqTBas
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kwe1sCKbj
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEZemLTEcT
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTV7OGpXubO
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwr0kBoVbqj
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJQmNlKIsa
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuLJZlidx7U
“Always.”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoURemchnb
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvDMgmwZRn
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hq7WvDnjG
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbGNF0fLeK
It happens on a rainy night.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrABoP3QDM
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrFbN44pPk
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgOHS7W3jw
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDY77ylon2X
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFlNvsYHbL
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlWvVgyzEaq
She hadn’t been.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYH23HLlEmi
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAUDOLLfCs
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCF1ZlmVKe
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhkgZei412
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeFWRwJFQc
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOLxQgzET0
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHx9T2PmKU
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXK8P2Sje8B
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKKeQYknW7
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Ant0dDBfY
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3Vmc2ROuZ
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡilhJAdWt29
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnyh9tNcvh
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnesT8wJxB
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYa3TL30Iq
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0Ne9BsVXG
“Hey, you! Wait!”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcWVgVsZMG
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo09iibfcy3
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlHmAfkaz2
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jeBG276LF
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDs5bRfePNC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gVWouAc1A
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmS7Mrt5ba
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPULEI4prbd
“… 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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWm0DNnh9YI
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHYwSQBANt
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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGpHag0Fsg
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvY22hn9nG
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOnooTALvz
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkODjTlw0v6
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrs0ISbCZK
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1n0TAuItgP
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjo85voLJEK
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdYtcHize6
By the time they place their orders, she is already in love with him.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKbQ2SMLV6
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIo0clnc1C6
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySp1fifgGu
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhIiE6Q4ja
He thinks that maybe he should be surprised, but the truth is that he isn’t.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWr0UWeWWe
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclqrjXhUov
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TOLCdW9wr
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZIPa3IAT6
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MjlaV4ek3
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJSRORhQhX
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrniLI4qAFf
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJaY38KE8d
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWoBKJe7gS
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsotQVsFHvO
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmDLCwbY2c
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21Kw0cqtN8
'Always'.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡth3xMJEI6h
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBI9RTVXAKC
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLY7jIqOel
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ255npnFRSz
“Huh?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pLWW0aYEB
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8NOO9VT8z
She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EbrCsc9nt
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9CM9Lt9Zj
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaNvpDgylC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rH2qqUG8z
“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—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZpHTDMzYf
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMX05yJyvq
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5gpGQn2Oq
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8my0LDOEZ
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDdczJjjOm
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIfVnHuSn8
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ199EGNHcEn
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3RZ4JtCv6
Damn her.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0RTMOcxsR8
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QOpcjC8vX
“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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsv2gtnOvjn
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSW4RmgsZw
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4bbaGB4Ud
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQseenUim5c
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfsUkYKsYX
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxxDdsBpvC
“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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjI0i6Lup49
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhpTFg3yUV
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2gc9dSiq8
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YCH3umUOW
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNS7fkzVpx
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDXPMk4vcj
“I brought you the papers you requested,”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgVyUIsB96
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrpAxM61Hi
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvzCHDE5wL
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYD1vhhrD8
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcPhEJOjZC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNqUsKbW39
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeN2CwpGrY
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsEqlsntdE
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3Av16SnQr
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzduKP0sGMa
“Any complains?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfK5Xzg0BXB
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymzOExtw0D
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJHeLy1GYde
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmwrumCInP1
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjN4bZppZG
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGAVdBfZpQ
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKE7rNfzRg
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wkk0Cr8xy
“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUt8aA5gq8p
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoplGejcdkz
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdGrldyzok
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljG4YMndfZ
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVaekxq7iP
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNxh4yXlcG
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStDdM2IFle
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNbD4Pif1o
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rFPyEK3N7
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGKEeqGGfo
'Always'.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3KoWaF1fFl
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ51iqbnBeAp
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDc29hymnQ
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zkDOsTtsY
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfLiHtzcFc
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfeMWUvPR9z
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9J5bsm6oC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFS7GUD503
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFbjTDkJIw
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1pqQB7D6B
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0P2wHl9e6G
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIC7dXAi4DR
“Karin.”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzVP1bvw9h
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv3hcmK4wmz
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpe3Rb2abYv
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwyoUtKAZQ
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60lyANK1r0
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtrjiYHBPX
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5tLv6qmO7
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnXZox0eGH
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPQErFlTCv
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPVI1yiEqZ
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfSQ9m5rK7
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLAhcwbFhl
“…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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cq6DP3OJk
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qK3enEoGS
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAizDJwN8vc
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRGHie7X55
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtXcFmOG9Y0
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jMBmDFx1E
“…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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRCHJUx05Z
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC28Q6ZzhcW
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJsDnK4CaP
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqfOUWiuGD
“What?” she snaps.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJE3Fw0qn1
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmjeHBDtyJ
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8q7pUX4g28
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnreFt3nbwk
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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gBisJbTfD
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6lfUq1v4w
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bCoLzNEuw
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAN6PnH0kv
And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWKwWW5Qt7
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPvfrQCgae
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdwa3iaxy6
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwSCYRRYYf
“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ9kxUGUw0Z
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6ePlKFYs0
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHylsscaV0
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4QfJDrC8i
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGQibyDq14
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK69ZAoBaCE
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7ItDFXX66
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGcUiiGF7P
“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?581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vhOBVh0Ct
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxuUO7T0zF
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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kfDVvMLf8
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDe2yzgXPL
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Tn2mV4FtH
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS5HSG0NLu7
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwWSVMPLY2T
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKJqB3WxGz
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVbTvLEoQI
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vzb55klyz
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBLrfJoXay
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlz1SJMoSw
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCuuY9IPDe
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcvaNFFFGkO
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VUdFIpx9D
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4582ULOCBJ
Damn you, brother.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GAZJcyyhC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmh507YhcLS
“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hkVoChk2G
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZODnd1ZI0
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcjeUjdugM
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhSNrMCThH
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRzvQm5U1i
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrv0kAndnqx
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujtMwt6F06
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHhwjF8Y8O
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmtOPpOIsV
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bCjrK5zat
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOF7VdxykmJ
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNJ9O79QFl
“… 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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSu3205utQ
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24VdntLAhe
“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknEY1ZUSV9
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgmIa8b2Zl
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwT3Jb8otfR
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7sD9KDPai
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.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1dj0OUuoAM
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmdSVX1J4p
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eyCvHkah8
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ZQxXbX9wl
“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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsiWc54VPF
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwcrdUAWOr
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—581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymw4L07eWX
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWn4tK0pDsx
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqMCL5qlJ1
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwIMC2Wx7YD
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMetl7xgzb
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZZyUDEN3Q
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSPN23cuXe
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5Izxr8gBp
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GXZVfqx1r
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73K3HOxZ9H
And then she is grinning.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINOQ7DJ4ti
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKgfXrAtCHR
“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaA9JwwkWCp
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDGPgyxFfw
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRwL49f6lB
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQ8p8co2eD
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8czAaYVjW6
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaI8RL0gwNL
“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI01w7NelvN
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcEDNT2MZj
“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.”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rDmQpjaWK
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08qPJfKNQs
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWyrsHjuQc
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGxRS5DnoF
“You won’t find anything better for a more reasonable price, I assure you, Uchiha-san. This is the absolute best—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYLnMtvqsf
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVSIWe8MAD
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNJG99V2US
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hOecv0Cv3
“Excuse me.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCezph8cAf
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52Sr1JzFzo
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9Wiit1lhh
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJF0LIy1pxO
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDELE3osRIp
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbzvrZI42p
Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTX5xK23z9T
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTt9M596Us
He could feel it, too.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQoylEQFVC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ127c2fCfpP
Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7McWBfAfb
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokdumWXMfd
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtX989JE9GF
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2otZCVHD1
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLOBWgvasy
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GB9HKTOSN
She can hardly believe it.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7Wie8EDfN
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWO12LpxLul
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevBnNdgYtp
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWr3ea00xbt
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtKRpZGtRr
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYREDI6cuQH
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcic6T0E1VT
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnONYCIcrE
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3ncHsGMqG
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsLahlFXKX
“What’s so funny?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yAjjAKNza
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgpGSJPZir
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgSsmTCYjU
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMZfec9gxK
“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58mbMTqHKC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84110TzTBz
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwakaHGuO20
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3WYFMvvsj
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7pV2cf82Ko
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSPfRiZTRX
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESNq0E2dFo
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuc8W3inf7
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdS5OoLAtL
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdu96yQ5e1X
“S-asuke—” she chokes.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVw4W3nxNjm
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOW7usJ2FH
But he does not listen.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6E7OpKWyXb
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsI9HDTmbbW
“…mine.”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfmEE0uZ4W
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvr98uVzT8r
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8d7HnJ4pnW
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIPnfKZs6I
She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlyxHzGzqO
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57a3kwc8Es
“Sewing again?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpuL1UMtde
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYw4nOQxqa
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0aAi4Xrqi
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYrHJGVdux
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OW7BJisCI
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbqxnoELYJ
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQiYMjjyJUy
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7dk9Xpehy
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqgBHi1gLD
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRFKi9aSzn
“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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlZtwEBE5R
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl37PaiEum2
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQlzKu2dn1
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfs5r8SPmr
And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyMlTSWh1G
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunxL9mIeXP
But it’s just, back then—he had never thought someone could actually make him this happy.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwIvEPYzMp
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZzBUq1RnK
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSizNBPx61q
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzrS5F9dnM
“Stop doing that, Sasuke.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ610tjxBtem
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qL4GUYEVJ
“Doing what?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnrT5ujfQl
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtqrlRcHJO
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ328o8yAh4s
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1QPlMigRm
“Or what?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3G3jrJe9g0
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mUKTFfGwo
“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5e2XNDv3xA
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxy5CULCXha
She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8li1OcCWAN
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9ge8nUSAk
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkQgjpTYVo
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQOvdyGb7N
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGmerPEN2q
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvHjYIprnA
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA61aM1FybC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHS7Cpuqmq
Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalfTuxFhl0
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YBNYhKa03
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusCog6q72n
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tDQIFV5kr
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Eq1fn5DVt
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUfNut5vF0
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—581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSkzKIIqPL
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡideF1rBBOD
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDoAXqimll
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyvwbqHUOm
And, really—who would have thought that a monster like Uchiha Sasuke was capable of making a face like that?
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lK4ObDwMf
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyQfrOeeAd
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmTk2d2A1W
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JOTpr3EFD
Sasuke was just putting a plate aside when the sound of porcelain breaking reaches his ears.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIurOifcORU
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdptrKbktDh
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7MTEYW131
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpUrPPhSLal
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3N4yJzVzC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxGGGQbOSm
“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17yccqUgUE
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSX1MTAy5MZ
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevy5uxJ2oe
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB14uOtTl5H
“I told you, it’s fine.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMTVLN7Rvn
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1J9ODjSbri
He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡav60lMcl14
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQzP9xUVxw
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviTAznudqW
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtQPQlVDXR
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5aBcYnlCK
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQNOyHCrkO
“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu9LDdOhCfy
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxowYAKB0Pt
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qsMg179TN
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJolHnuvKW
He doesn’t know what he would do if he were to see that same fright reflected in her eyes again.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00LgfenULt
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhw2wArmDwV
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAsGEfXSSY
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenw07Z9FVd
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS62Li1wTsE
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94XJNlSJjJ
“S-sasuke, what—?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0AlJo4WSW
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWhCwsi0bS
“Where were you, Karin?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUQAG0mFY7
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxkWydRKxI
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQn2SaXhZe
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatDhLCHebN
It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxHajBW1Cg
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqbk2qUuGE
But she holds her ground.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacOmVHjNEK
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgZ1FyIPnz
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5OlZn4Dnl
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrc1VAIRyL
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2ZcXDCWki
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7xayTgYgd
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—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTI76VipHhN
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5GUGmVnQpY
“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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RBau5X5xJ
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluJ6JcwFI7
“Sasuke, I—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKWaQqcXZh
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnR2cRG6iL
“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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsK5sJKwPiz
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoGYpTmU6J
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVPXbRWXIS
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zCHQhnXga
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyL6Ycn0BdL
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGn9altXvQ
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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAvJno2bCo
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCNbGmRPC6
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFaCBatzMv
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxOBcjoAVN
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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Aow25KKwK
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVIt5Dlgdw
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhukdMd5jWq
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7NMoFZXzEs
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfX0qcrE7A
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZze9jv4kgN
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWge8offuIj
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBYEAevDHkp
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQG0U06VLuU
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeX2pB7RUi1
Even himself.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpa8uSXY8hD
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHoAbksqUw
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnV30pvSGOd
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLT20imqW1l
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcscJMKkql7
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVRZP6P88X
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWH2Znmh41U
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSMwzpZVto
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BPz39mLet
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSABwTVYcWi
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5V9qISc2K
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1XtzJCUvd
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZwkOb4VZIJ
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGKffPBhNZ
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nlUmsydaa
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1aaCz8TPKx
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGeY2igM95D
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3e8fIExm7G
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpemMQOfS2
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Vgc5AUmWZ
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVrasfyy1v
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6lBGQpn6G
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9seKf5rcpX
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkxP6A8Y34
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbWGTulwil
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPKQyxw4c9
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCqp3uHVBv
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhzWMPoeg4W
In this case, it is both at once.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8c07wrZ2B
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7bljmBRPqz
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhk6nDBd8Fk
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOOdqZ3wBA
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gk2YN8JTt
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyU0Mu1jYx
Broken promises.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWczMajhQtb
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Jj22DrjBo
A call. A funeral.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKdxag3AF1
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgEyxz0O60H
And tears.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRCn8HtcAe
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwcTSLRLIa
Heartbreak.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXj9XRp4ub
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjXFIqNAv9
Loneliness.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6jwsB0P88
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXbKEFTGOH
…then there was nothing else.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5w1WmnxAzE
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivklmIZcfT
And then there was everything all over again.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzr4z3lhwIZ
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExevmj2GD7
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcc9oj1bhma
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOJTGfJtAc
He can’t stop.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjFgfHGNCl
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBVmcND2kE
He does not want to.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhR5N6dI1r
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFuZvneM1Y
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9HMjoec62
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiuXvu1oCC
The door creaks open.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfD5rIPuX9
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEE8cZ6vzTr
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvC8JEXK5Kf
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXhgUBQugw
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡop1bzTEazC
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSodxmf7Vy
(“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.)581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTKvwCult1
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXPT7b2Hl1
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXJYBXCXAg
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJUzvSfL8K
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqzKHa2RYd
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJnQbq498k
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wIAf6s3y5
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjFvOt49o3
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRaaLWlmB1
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBpNHHN7Hn
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBXOoQn5SH
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡps9o8VNmlH
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcYOEJaolj
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZgYr3ZJdu
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWepKWPcUpJ
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjGRFZk9B9
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcc7kdlhXxz
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOCm91e0XR
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMTmkrngZa
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0cQIT2lA7
And then she parts her lips.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkuW49SORS
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkfI5ZHESlx
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd86sPs3Ne4
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4J5NXeuRh
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFynNvkC16C
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMuPEHunt7
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSkNqiXpMGc
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLB7tLtCBa2
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7ll9uqqlX
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrSLO09bVL
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0w7ilISEW
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzW5J2dMECH
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYvmxx229w
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufFOPMM3lr
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1D10CxOkiH
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAIuuCQWq1
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuY3GVIYxks
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnYTYKmvlz
It makes something in her tightly clench.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhIBDydXwi
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwYtBmXhHd
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsU49TVe7a
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhekNToZzXQ
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbEb2pNhMw
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEYAznQixr
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUcLTQeHWS
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LEpafeHPH
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoJ2GspsrA
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2OmIWbOOD
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JuYEYQwon
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjNYynxEoU
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlLmCsJ8vv
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFG1IIqeuO
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjpjkk3v5o
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4cFWelaKq
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgiUjfNZJ4E
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYSca8cCoR
He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNr4n7m9Vq
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKbT0jBLKA
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7rJTvIwN3C
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OYNK4REd9
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnMKPqtBmZ
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJzbOpIveL
“Sasuke, no—!”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMUbqWu3Bu
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzGy7FwjoE
“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—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiRkgwkf15
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJiF5TQHs2O
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLadSxohV0
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdEMqNwJmF
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzUxfn8nwG
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvRN3oNt5r
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BSj6hpyvg
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0J9vCkDLM
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtls5UorfQ7
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nC8nR8tLp
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlG5N3VujPr
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ380JROey61
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxrFLdplEH
‘What weren’t?’581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAbrjTYmeq
‘...You.’581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIjhgOwBsA
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaVLCgZtbF
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPnFCh0eNn
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoS2RGghZAw
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyuE68WXcI
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7ExWherEQ
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKAwVeTFwo
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuj9euah2U
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllels8mj3t
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcc95opvEr
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0wPviKJIE
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBkQNCeBNz
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyznpPCjZih
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnG1zvwpeXP
“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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbauPnb6c4
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rjlEglG4k
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9GN2zoiyk
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6l5vK4hwa
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5Cmo2O5HK
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltPUwI8JGQ
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6naWE2VyU
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYr0Sl0EGC4
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxWlzb1R8B
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQQYTrGcav
“What was I doing to you?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrThgt8eAw
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlSLaskIbC
“… I don’t remember.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuwfYKXcEM
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCRus68iw0
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYm3mqyMxSP
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ldhinxkmw
But he has played that game long enough.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBSRyUaj3o
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMJCiNuX95
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTSOI2DYkm
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmqEqxMbdJ
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgHjjBVGMA
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMCbRKljtR
“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.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLo5k67swzd
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6iMoWz9uI
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGA6GJU47H
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnae7U0JPuN
“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVPjaFhmDJ
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvosCmL4buN
Karin takes a deep breath, and Sasuke braces himself.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYRePd5gOq
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mEVjecgH2
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSkkijt9Dj
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIXEJxwYRw
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF56nnh26tI
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WLtIHcCd9
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—581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PF3dLwHoX
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7EnPH61Sl
And her name leaves his lips in the form of a horrified call—one that is cut short by her strained smile.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHPRAu4km3
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEXOGn2rMl
“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOAPMtBx3H
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTDsU195U1
“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—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiCPhTGsWX
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBB6DeelSTC
“Sa…suke,” and though her voice is nothing but a dying whisper, he is rendered silent at once. “Promise me… you won’t… die.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhaaiu8KfV
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZZ5vispuu
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—”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpSl2CeKRa
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXM6Wz38HJt
“—make you… regret it… I know,” her smile looks like unleashed tears. “I admit… this… wasn’t exactly… what I had… in mind.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrL7sJhLbY
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWy8M54OCn
There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jvcfdAp93
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCfPHqo2OC1
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9Hh8J3PYl
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIZLWLXeVq
“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyyfEob8Qq
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzcOwayUiE
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrG9XTEfAF
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbTyymF7dm
And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDhdAQJlfv
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGlblJI6mN
“See ya… Sasuke.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvfgBjWI1cK
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPARJN2dk3
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpu1IjkGYo0
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmkEz0AG71
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—581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jTTVjqDSB
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu97lj6M3FN
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.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZyLKNvUbB
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkQcEPdUhU
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjkYt80rCb
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkOUzDnmEKK
A terrible silence has descended upon them.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCaZJvZmd7T
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcxVjv7eM6
He has retreated to the edge of the bed, his elbows sinking on his knees and his horrified face cradled in his shaking hands.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFeML27Kgv6
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgakTEScd0
“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?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uu16CDQBU
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTKVrhBySP
Karin watches his desolated back and has a hard time swallowing the lump in her throat, “Because… they are not you, Sasuke.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡga51U9iOOc
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbplRqPwMVb
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCO0Rp7n0B1
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIxSjcJoUz
“And, above all…”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWngqGypXlh
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SNZ68dR0V
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjf1sSditQi
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAwoCKoEYK
“…Above all, I want to see how this one ends.”
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRwxTq42P1
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxMiSFnvbQ
.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5ZPwOvv8G
.
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoBHQaGioe
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMts8n38X45
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99CQ31fyXV
Except that it doesn’t get to.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlz3OTbhej
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtf87Mrr0UM
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wFZlyxvPQ
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡridYemYRXD
“See ya.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqSEudjzmkz
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyxQIixUTO
This is what I give,581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuV5heJZ5k
A circle is complete.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcg9tM4FRi
Another circle spins581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrB6pJpZR9
There's life within,581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0EBRzpqYi
Within
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuyHroGZln
end.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKbkTV80Wy
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxStxHnNPHV
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71IBWxqNq7
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvALEqniQb5
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.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbEkDslIFyS
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyPxvvsMJu
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~!581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaWZ5vvMqp
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzijCY4vWt
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 lol581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJZ0b91RNt
581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIxHXb9053
Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
ns216.73.216.203da2
