ONESHOT - SASUKARIN; 5 TIMES SASUKE FELL FOR KARIN
Back when I wrote 5 times Karin cried in front of Sasuke (and one time she didn't), I mentioned that I had in mind a piece following the same criteria but from Sasuke's POV - now, two years later, I've finally written it lol541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgeuN7Gfk4M
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Title: 5 times Sasuke fell for Karin (and the one time he realized it)541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcZg8k4GAs
By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJj5qMiugx
Rating: K+541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXSpeaxmfy
Word Count: 3.466541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzHoFjewHt
Author's Notes: Most of it takes place during the time-skip; however, the very last vignette takes place post-series. So we're dealing with a redeemed Sasuke who no longer carries the weight of his revenge around and a Karin that has also gone through her fair share of stuff. So their behavior will, of course, be different. - There is also a line that was inspired by a RoyAi (Fullmetal Alchemist) quote ♥
five times Sasuke fell for Karin;541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxdlIQwgZJ
(and the one time he realized it)
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“Do you understand, Karin?”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDuHusGPdc
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“…Yeah.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRKmb4H7Es
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Her agreement is absent-minded, her voice no more than a mere mutter, and Sasuke finds his brows lightly furrowing at the girls’ disposition. Alas, he has not done more than part his lips when an all too familiar rustling catches his ears and takes his attention away from the redhead.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2BPJVCz2J
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A snake was sliding up the trunk of a nearby tree, and as it curled and made itself comfortable on a branch, its reptile eyes squarely met Sasuke’s, its tongue darting out to hiss at him in a language of sounds that he could not understand—but that got the message across, either way.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnP7v7qEcd2
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Orochimaru wants to see you.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjM2QQmQLVR
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Sasuke’s eyes narrow with annoyance, his tongue clicking against his front teeth. “Karin,” he calls, averting his eyes from the serpent and back to the girl, who had been also watching the animal with half-interest.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5IOUJ1crxY
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“It’s fine,” she says, in reply to words that Sasuke had yet to speak—and so the boy closes his lips, evenly staring at her in silence instead. There is no surprise in his gaze; this has been happening with increasing frequency lately, and by now he has almost come to expect it—but there is a certain degree of wariness.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBHjmLhXFr
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If he is that easy to look through, then how can he expect to fulfill his plan without raising Orochimaru’s suspicions? Karin’s acute perception made him question himself, and he did not like that. He most definitely did not like the thought of being read so aptly.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZya56TjCI2
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Despite that, for some reason his annoyance never directed itself at her. “I will be back. You keep practicing.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBuGv4dK4U
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Karin accepts his directions with a noncommittal nod, and Sasuke gives her one last look before jumping to the nearest tree, dashing past the snake that had come to deliver the message and back to the lair.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLYCoYAZR9
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It’s been a little over two weeks since Orochimaru had taken the girl in—a little over two weeks since Sasuke had laid eyes on the redhead for the second time, this time finding her unscratched and unmoving but surrounded by death. By the corpses of those she held dear—and Sasuke, quite frankly, did not know what to make of her yet. Fact that unnerved him, because more often than not he would find himself relating to her; recognizing himself in the blankness of her stare, in the lack of drive behind the movements of her fingers. And that was no good—that was not to be allowed. Last time such a thing had happened, it had brought him Naruto—and he knew damn well how well that had turned out.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbfnjnvLgT
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I can’t afford such distractions, he concludes to himself—even less so when more often than not, he found himself feeling mildly concerned for the girl who had lost everything, just as he had.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hYTGu2POm
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It’s been two weeks, and she still looked every bit as dead as she had when they found her.
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Damn Orochimaru, Sasuke complains inwardly as he rushes back to the lake, dashing through the trees. Calling him for something so trivial, he had Kabuto for such matters; Sasuke was only there to be trained, not to—541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyepRfMmE0j
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His thoughts halt at the same time his steps slow to a stop, as the lake comes into view and alongside it, Karin.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0h5uru7jHU
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A Karin who was soaked from head to toe, but that was standing steadily right on the middle of the lake, her head raised upwards towards the sky, the rays of the sun bathing her form whole and drawing golden highlights on her vivid red hair.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgW3uyJHRe
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Her name comes to his lips but becomes a stifled, unfinished call as the girl turns towards him and gives him a breathless, joyful grin that brought life to her eyes and steals the breath right from his lungs.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMWCfZzE8W
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“I did it!” Karin calls out, an uncharacteristic display of candor that was more in tune with the girl he had come across four months ago than with the carcass he had found two weeks ago.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICrEjMn6m3
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“Heh, I can see that.” Sasuke assesses, and it is only then that he realizes he is smirking.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVTUdpqS5T
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Karin was a fast learner.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6jmOQMz9y
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2.
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“Why are you with Orochimaru, Sasuke?” Karin inquires one evening as they eat in silence, one of those rare occasions where neither Orochimaru nor Kabuto were around to intrude.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uOlXyWgbi
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Sasuke does not raise his eyes from his plate, the reply coming to him entirely too easy, “To become more powerful.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVlKg7vrSVU
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“What for?” Karin asks this time, tilting her head to the side. Sasuke’s eyes do flicker towards her then, and he finds the redhead frowning and giving him a curious look. “You don’t look like the kind of guy who would willingly stick with Orochimaru to grow more powerful, just for the kicks.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKR0GVOB6u
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There Karin went again. Inwardly, Sasuke sighs. Karin was becoming more and more straight-forward as time passed; and that, coupled with her uncanny perception and sharp tongue, was proving to be a dangerous combination.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznIaE1wF4I
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Slowly but surely, Sasuke was beginning to learn that there was no point in keeping things from the redhead.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KgecG0TYC
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“I seek the power to kill one man,” he states, and cannot really help the way his hold on the chopsticks tightens a fraction as that name rolls out his tongue. “Uchiha Itachi.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaijuD2yZSU
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Karin blinks, “Uchiha…?”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aSNvZxLja
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“Yes. Uchiha Itachi, my older brother,” he reveals, steadily. “My traitorous, murderous bastard of a brother.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFw6MrkFhc5
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Silence envelops the table, and when Sasuke raises his face and gazes into her eyes Karin holds them there. To his surprise, Karin did not look startled or disgusted—if anything, the Karin returning his stare looked resolute, reliable, imperious; and Sasuke finds himself incapable of looking away.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡab1OOGjUZw
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When Karin speaks, no whys come out of her lips. “Do you know where to find him?”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoNlx8QV41U
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She asks, and it is slowly that Sasuke shakes his head—a negative. Karin’s gaze sets, then; her eyes boring into his, without hesitation.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYW737wYPxf
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“Then it’s settled; I will help you.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJRRXzdu6Y
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Sasuke parts his lips, but it is a futile gesture—one that draws a tight-lipped, but reassuring smile on Karin’s lips.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuaYsqisjWb
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I will help you, her silence seemed to be repeating through her gaze—and everything falls into place.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqe5Vu3m6NF
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3.
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“Karin,” he calls, but receives no reply.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvFM0RLGwC
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He had come back from a job Orochimaru had asked him to do only to find the lair submerged in silence; an eerie, unnatural silence that made discomfort settle and nest inside of his gut.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJPbV13MYh
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There’s something wrong here, that he knows, but he does not know what—and that puts him on edge. Even more so, because—541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUHXEX7cFN
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“Karin!”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmcCpgXnBb
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The redhead was nowhere to be found. Sasuke does not think Orochimaru would dispose of her, not when she was shaping up to be such a valuable asset—but the man was as unpredictable as he was twisted, and Sasuke had a bad feeling. He has had a bad feeling from the moment Orochimaru sent him out while placing a bony hand on Karin’s shoulder, the girl obviously struggling with herself to not squirm under his touch.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzaSVNvvJb
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I’ll be fine, her eyes had seemed to affirm, wordlessly commanding him to leave, and though unconvinced, Sasuke had left. But now—it seemed his instincts had been right, after all.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyLM255LbL
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“Karin!” He tries again, and while he receives no reply from the redhead, another voice chimes in her stead.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKsYbOZi5zp
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“My, Sasuke-kun, why the ruckus?” Kabuto questions, and Sasuke turns only to find the silver-haired man standing at the entrance of one of the rooms employed for human experimentation. Sasuke is about to rudely dismiss the man’s intervention—Kabuto was always more trouble than he was worth, and he never shut up—when his eyes take in the droplets of blood splattered across his gray sleeves, and cautious—suspicious—his gaze slides back to the man’s black eyes only to notice the weird glint possessing them.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDByEdxiOSQ
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Sasuke’s back stiffens, his features contorting in a vicious frown. “Where is Karin?”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNILzseuGZz
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“Oh, you’re looking for her?” Kabuto says, feigning ignorance—playing the fool in a way Sasuke has grown to despise. His act creaks however as the man cannot hold back the smirk that begins to curve his lips; “You should’ve said so before, Sasuke-kun!”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFv41AR4L9
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Sasuke is roughly pushing past him and into the room even before Kabuto can have the pleasure of saying she is inside—only to come to a halt as his eyes land on the stretcher disposed on the center of the room; the stretcher upon which sat a redhead, her back turned towards Sasuke.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uKAZrlwuF
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“Karin,” he calls, and again the girl remains silent. It is while feeling a strong, wild sense of foreboding that Sasuke circles the stretcher—and the more he saw, the more his eyes widened with agitation.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoJDozYxkg
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Karin was hurriedly buttoning up her shirt—trying to prevent Sasuke from realizing what had just been done to her. But her unexposed skin conveys the message just fine—the bloodied, tattered mess her left forearm had become, chunks of skin cleanly torn off and revealing nothing but a raw, red maze underneath and—and—541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtjKfA1ZEru
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The bite marks. There were two, three, four bite marks tracing Karin’s arm from her wrist up to her elbow, and—Sasuke’s insides turn into stone.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tL9iK8vn0
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There was a bite mark cruelly and roughly carved on the side of Karin’s neck.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVy4OKPxc4o
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Sasuke sees red and the tomoe start to spin inside his sharingan, his cursed seal reacting and burning at his neck, asking for Kabuto’s blood.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xV6MWU57W
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“Wait!”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmv0QwdSTy1
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Karin calls, reaching out and grabbing a hold of his wrist before Sasuke could leave the room. He darts his sharingan to her only briefly, anger making his head throb. “Let go, Karin.” He commands through a hiss, but Karin does not bulge; if anything, her hold strengthens, her eyes narrowing.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8lykldAe8
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“Get a hold of yourself, Sasuke! You will be playing right into his game if you attack him!”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbP6x28JgCD
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The thought of satisfying Kabuto or not mattered little to Sasuke now, even less so as he saw the way Karin’s arm—the one with careless teeth marks carved all over—trembled as she held his wrist. “Let go of me, Karin!” He snarls, but Karin does not back down.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSsiQVYJPp
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“I don’t need you to defend me, Sasuke!” Karin growls, and her words make Sasuke stop, surprise taking over his features and mixing in with the blind rage. “I’m not some useless little girl who needs you to play knight in shining armor, so drop the act!”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kGdYEPJ8l
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That—defending her, it had not been his intention. Sasuke did not wish to defend anyone but his Clan’s honor, the honorable memory they had left behind; that was the only thing he cared about enough to defend. The one and only.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbXNV9XEM1
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His sharigan melts into obsidian once again as his cursed seal stops aching. He had not wished to defend Karin—he had not. Seeing her reduced to a test subject at the mercy of a man like Kabuto made Sasuke feel indignant, was all. Especially when he had left her in such a state.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZuNv9YZug
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“… What did he do to you, Karin?” Sasuke asks after a long moment of silence, and it is only then that Karin lets go of his wrist and reaches out for the gauze and bandages lying on the surgeon’s table by the stretcher.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHxUEwODg7
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“W-well… it seems I heal really fast,” she begins to explain, and Sasuke bites back the no shit that had made its way to his tongue. That much was something they both knew well; it was hard not to notice it when wounds that took weeks to fade for Sasuke were gone in mere days when it came to the redhead. “Apparently, this… regenerative ability of mine’s is related to my chakra. Kabuto wondered if it could be used to heal others aside from myself, and… it turns out that it can.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCK6bOLZdd
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Sasuke frowns faintly, “How?”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hUwXwqMlm
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Karin’s silence confirms his thoughts even before her voice does. “By letting others suck on my chakra. Kabuto made it so that it would be possible through… biting me.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVbg1vVMXC
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The redhead raises her eyes then, meeting Sasuke’s head on and wordlessly daring him to react the way he had before—the unspoken warning helps Sasuke keep his anger under control, but it coils inside of him, cold and dangerous—he knew well just why Orochimaru wanted Karin to heal in such a fashion. “…They will use you, Karin.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ks4ywguUG
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Karin does not flinch at the way Sasuke spits his words, gritted through his teeth; instead, she smiles. “I know.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNytfmvSteu
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Sasuke can only stare, flabbergasted at the serenity present in Karin’s smile—and his surprise morphs and serves as a threshold to something entirely different as Karin looks away, her bangs hiding her eyes from his view.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48JHHh4VTe
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“But this ability is now mine. And... it will help whomever I work with, once Orochimaru is gone.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuobvELEgV9
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The meaning behind her words dawns on Sasuke like a blanket, and as he assimilates it his body relaxes; his fists unclenching.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIVqzUWNLY
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“…Let me, Karin,”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf90HQ5daXe
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He takes the gauze from her hands and cleans her wounds himself; and while Karin does flinch, she does not utter a single complaint—and Sasuke finds his body coiling in an entirely different way as his flesh brushes hers and the weight of her stare sits comfortably on the back of his head.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EFzCZQYbW
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4.
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Sasuke crumbles to the ground with a dry thud, a surge of blood pouring out from the gaping gash in his torso and splattering to the ground with a sickening splash. He grits his teeth as he presses his hand against the wound and looks down to evaluate the damage; it was bad. A little more and he could’ve got a punctured lung.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqn03HcZKN9
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“Sasuke!” calls a voice, and Karin is at his side at once, pulling her sleeve back and offering him her forearm to bite. Sasuke does not hesitate—they had done this enough times already—and this time Karin bites back her usual moan in order to lecture him through gritted teeth. “S-seriously, Sasuke! What were you thinking, charging like that?!”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZuOEnMLMQ
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“Karin’s right, Sasuke-kun,” Orochimaru agrees, his husky voice stretching every syllable and making Sasuke dizzy with disgust rather than out of blood loss, “That was quite the reckless deflection. If I had meant to kill you, you would be gone.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlr19vxtorl
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“Shut… up…!” Sasuke breathes out with some effort, as Karin takes her arm back and pulls her sleeve down. “Stop… talking, and come at me… again!”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8w9SIHw0v
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Karin lets out a surprised huh?! as Sasuke tries to stand up again, but the Uchiha pays it no heed, his eyes set on Orochimaru, who shakes his head with a smirk.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4X7wMbB4lB
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“You won’t be able to lay a finger on me in such a pitiful state, Sasuke-kun.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREhcnlp4bo
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“I said… shut up!” Sasuke scowls, gasping for breath still, but before he could manage to stand on his own two feet a rough pull on his arm has made him sink back to the ground. Startled and indignant, Sasuke looks up only to meet Karin’s angry red eyes.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvcuBBjZB1
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“Are you deaf, Sasuke?! Your state is pitiful! You totally beat up! You don’t even have much chakras left—what the hell do you think you’re doing, asking to continue?!”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErzt3xOeRC
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“Karin…” Sasuke warns, his eyes narrowing—but he cannot even finish his sentence as Karin reaches out and roughly seizes the collar of his shirt, angrily pulling him to her face.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaSxVX9WI1V
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“Don’t you dare tell me to stay out of it, Sasuke! No way in hell am I staying aside while you get yourself killed out of sheer stupidity!” Karin all but growls, those red eyes of hers smoldering with raw fury like Sasuke had never seen her sporting before, her warm breath tickling his nose with her every word, and Sasuke finds himself at a loss of words—his own anger evaporating like wind under the fire burning in her gaze and setting his own body aflame, drying up his throat.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNr2WwNT85k
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Sasuke can distinctly hear Orochimaru chuckling, somewhere—but it sounds far, far away as Karin’s voice softens to a caress.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqajUOE5ssH
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“… I am not letting you die on me, Sasuke. Ever.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxRk31Oejy
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5.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecGR02WiA4
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This happened every year, but somehow it never got any easier—it never got any less painful. The pain scarred, yes; but it never quite faded. And with every memory, with every thought he gave to that fateful day, the pain only worsened.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcKfO4b3Sw
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Back when he resided in Konoha, it was downright impossible to find real quietness; even if he were to remain secluded in the compound, the echoes of villagers laughing and living would always reach him. Like mementos of what his own clan could’ve been doing had Itachi not murdered them.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5oIkAET3H
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Now that he is in Oto, however, silence comes only too easily. It envelops him, overwhelms him—and in it, Sasuke finds no solace. On the contrary, he finds an empty echo that made loneliness soundlessly slide into every single creak of his being, settling in the beatings of his heart and in the creases of his palms.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyDoSmdQ6S
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It threatens to make Sasuke succumb to it—and it is then that Karin wordlessly takes a seat by his side and takes his hand in hers, her warm touch anchoring him down to the present and pushing away—however slightly, however briefly—the ghosts of the past who were trying to take him back with them.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuofnp9QVby
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“Karin,” he whispers, and if Karin notices how choked his voice is, she says nothing of it. “…Will you follow me?”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXPF7Jt7u7
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He does not know why he feels the need to ask such a thing—but when Karin gives his hand a reassuring squeeze, he finds that he does not quite care about the reasons.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHDB0qoysW
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“If that's what you want, Sasuke… then even to hell.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvvDV6N65n
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And suddenly, it gets easier to breathe.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9OzKVUUYA
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0.
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“You came,”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMn2GLuhL2
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He says blandly, and Karin snorts.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaunlM0hPHr
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“I told you before, didn’t I? I keep my word.” Sasuke says nothing in turn—can find nothing to say, and so Karin snorts again and comes to stand by his side, looking over Konoha for a moment before inquiring, with mild curiosity, “Where to, from here?”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mjnXk4jyO
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“I don’t know,” Sasuke replies, with honesty—but he finds himself feeling more at peace with the uncertainty of his future now than he did before Karin walked in. The knowledge picks his curiosity, but he does not feel confused—and somehow it makes the corner of his lips upturned into a smile. “I guess we will find out as we go.”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBzovNFVEb
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Karin accepts his reply with a nod, and as a soft breeze blows past them Sasuke allows himself to look away from the village and at the girl standing by his side—her red hair had gotten longer, and her features had hardened—but she was still Karin. The same Karin whose life he saved back in the Forest of Death, the same Karin who had saved his life more times than he could count.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdd678pFOv
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And right then, under the warm rays of the setting sun, Sasuke found that he thought her beautiful. It is an alien thought—but one that he knows is true given the way it seems to settle in his consciousness as if fitting in like the missing piece of a puzzle.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOw8giaLCZ5
541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpIH4nzK5f
Karin seems to feel the weight of his gaze because she turns to face him—and Sasuke finds a smile dancing in her lips, a knowing but happy gleam in her half-lidded red eyes.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPE6GympIpg
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“It’s about time,” she teases, and another piece falls into place.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8f9OY9RBNh
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“… You haven’t taken your glasses off yet,” he comments, and his words steal a laugh from Karin—the sound is light and merry and enticing, and his heart reacts to it before his mind has gotten the chance to assimilate it—spurring his hand into motion.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnafPiVxNmO
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When his fingers come in touch with her cheek, Karin draws in a breath—but neither of them is truly taken aback by his boldness, and that is, probably, what surprises Sasuke the most.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9JF5FAtTaI
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“…Idiot,” Karin mutters fondly, clasping his hand with her own and leaning into his touch, letting her eyes shut close.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqulW42wy8
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And it’s then that Sasuke understands, once and for all—what had always tied him to this girl above all others, despite his better judgment, despite his desire to remain unaware and think otherwise.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mcr9jdnIP
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But it was impossible to deny, now—and more importantly, he no longer had the desire to do so.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBElq9BBqPk
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“Karin…”541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDUymjEnRK
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“I know,” Karin says, and the look in her eyes makes Sasuke feel at home.541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJZFgfJtaZ
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.end541Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeb2ISK3tt
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I evidently hurried the last vignette a bit; mostly because I wanted to keep it vague, and were I to write Sasuke's realization step by step it would take pages lol it's better to let you guys fill in the blanks~ but to add some context to it, Karin actually kissed Sasuke sometime before he was fully redeemed.
tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, oneshot, sasukarin, sasuke
ns216.73.216.94da2
