[FANFIC - HBD, KARIN! PII] READING BETWEEN THE LINES ; (SK)
By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY825m9y8IW
Rating: K+488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LuyOAIvbd
Word Count: 1.956488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvezhxppjn6
Author's Notes: A lighthearted, crack-ish piece, in contrast to the overly fluffy one. I didn't have a clue of what to call it though, so the title is pretty random lol488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qx2tw5Ubt
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEg64CoSRWQ
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7SP8Rk74C
reading between the lines ;488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRCqcIJu5h
by Kanae488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXRh8FfRWL
-
Stupid Orochimaru.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3fyp2OHGs
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4QYMoeyVU
Figures he would push her transfer to the Southern base to tomorrow, out of all days. At the tender age of fourteen, there are many things that Karin has shed and discarded—girly emotions and interests that she has cut loose, as a meaning to let go of unnecessary weights that would do nothing but hold her down.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8rQjqW5fT
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlNdecuNq0
This particular weight, though, was proving to be quite hard to seize and dispose of. It only came once a year, after all.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypNNihku5i
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZ961yNI9e
And now it would be ruined.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyYmn14fqL
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9lga3FWpL
The thought makes her lower lipstick out in a pout, which promptly gives way to a scowl as she concludes—not for the first time—that the man had probably done it on purpose.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9u4gYsiFq
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7nMVPcfo6
No, he had definitely done it on purpose. Forget that such a childish action should be leagues beneath a power-hungry maniac like himself; when it came down to it, Orochimaru’s hobby was making people miserable. He got a kick out of it, so in retrospect, Karin guessed she should have seen it coming.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWMkzV5INS
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBl7oJ9SYG
Still, stubborn and proud as she was, she had not given him the pleasure; she had taken the news with a straight face and easily slipped into the act that had taken her months to perfect, but that had started to bear its fruits—even if it had yet to stop making her sick.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnQBLWz8hp
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuuXEq56GZ
Understood. You won’t be disappointed, Orochimaru-sama.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhuoF7f7Q85
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0Qu8tFYaN
The man had simply smirked, mirth in those gashes he had for eyes. I know.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceB5Fz2ER9
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQMW8bMxH9
Karin knew, too, even though she rather wished she didn’t.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQ8sNbXH0w
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxpYoRDwaG
It was embarrassing—more like humiliating, actually—to acknowledge that, while she had gotten playing the part of the loyal subordinate down to an art, she had yet to master the act of not having feelings for Sasuke.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmAjHVvyAi4
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZ7R0POxJF
She would do well most of the time; great, actually—no one would dare to second-guess that she held no interest in the boy, aside from a begrudging partnership.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1NFcVYJnl
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBI2BAOCbH
But then Sasuke would unexpectedly do something—a brief touch, a compliment, a look—and her façade would bend at the seams and the truth would sneak out in the form of traitorous blushes and awkward stuttering.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfcliZkh0i
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RqiAa1P01
Stupid Sasuke, Karin curses inwardly, her frown deepening as she airily snuck another shirt inside her bag. Making her expose her only weakness while simultaneously remaining completely oblivious about it.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6NsDbWj8l
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwr5HibKl3T
It was no wonder that Orochimaru would want to separate them; Karin had seen that much coming a mile away, so while disappointing, it had not been a surprise. But this—the freaking timing was definitely beyond her expectations.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMiFryQ3KLa
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCnWNBabhK
So focused was she on her thoughts, that she does not realize the chakra approaching her until he speaks.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡafD8Z4u7CN
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFLXDfJKw6
“Still packing, Karin?”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRm4FUhCaN8
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZub7RUu5wh
Startled, Karin turns only to find Sasuke casually regarding her from the threshold of the door, against which he was leaning. It takes her all of two seconds to get over her surprise and a couple of extra ones to stop chiding herself for letting her guard down.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbcBfEag5q
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78xIam5kmM
“I’m almost done,” she states, shifting her gaze back to her open bag. Not like she had much to pack, anyway; she had not taken anything with her when leaving her burning village to join Orochimaru—Sasuke—almost whole year ago, and since then the items of clothing she has acquired have been scarce. Such commodities were unnecessary given the new type of life she lead, and moreover—“Tch, Sasuke, when will you learn how to knock? I could be changing, for all you know.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UU0gJSBYa
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIRKUDqJTZ
Karin does not look at him, there is no need to; she can easily picture the way he tilts his head to the side, bangs falling on his eyes and giving him an impossibly sexy aura as he smirks. “You would’ve stopped me from coming in, if you were.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXuSLfZBCE
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxIHKSUxAV
Damn him. All plain logic even in the face of the prospect of seeing her in her underwear; why did she have to fall for such a clueless, hormone-less idiot, again?488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8sUPeFsuK
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZjxX9NJMD
Oh. Right.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWEJ4ZAcy6
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uxVVqG8eL
It takes her a considerable amount of will to repress the sigh that wanted to leave her lips, “Whatever.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFeakvBjzz
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBwqaUbLNA
Suddenly she hears him shifting, straightening; and her hands halt in expectation, her thoughts and irritation quieting down to a soundless tune as she patiently waited for the words that would follow.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvpEnWwyNd
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKH3vT2yNB9
“…You shouldn’t leave your door open like this, there.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Pavs39uiX
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5pSkLEip1
He finally says, and Karin is thankful that her back is to him, or else he may have noticed the way her gaze softens, “I know.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfshErcAMDp
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTLKU2Rwhw
It’s Sasuke’s turn to wait, now; he seems to know it as instinctively as Karin herself did, and he does not utter a single word until she has gathered enough courage to ask what she has been wanting to—but refusing to—ask all along, not wanting to be perceived as weak—as scared. “How is it…? The Southern base, I mean.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWqhXar074
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCviXziVrr
“I’ve never been there.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj06cQxBD5i
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNdwhbV0zk
“… I see.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRjikgjexB
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUzuXzkeeT
Silence. For Orochimaru to have never taken Sasuke there, it could only mean one thing—488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmamWSCLau
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD7s6E4wt9Z
“…Orochimaru told me it’s the less dangerous of them all,” the boy says, and as if to confirm her thoughts, his voice carries a different savor within it—one reserved to accompany his gaze whenever he regarded Orochimaru, or Kabuto, or those that bit—“You won’t have much on your case, aside of…”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZmz2FQQoc
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0NTtfAHr2
He does not need to finish; the unsaid rings loud and clear between them and both direct a look to her exposed, tarnished arms. There weren’t that many scars in them, yet—but she got the feeling there would be, soon. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why Orochimaru wanted her as the sole jailer of the base—the thought makes her stomach clench, and so Karin pushes it away and focuses on something else before the feeling could threaten to take over her.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0Z9tcQnbI
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI31k4zNBBa
She focuses on the one thing—the one person that had singlehandedly managed to help her endure everything she has gone through ever since she lost her family and village.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96hv0b0JZa
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdEhFk9wPz
Sasuke.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5bqoPca5y
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9O9ElDwqx5
“Heh, so you asked him?”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Yh8dKQ2F7
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fu1H6CdPA
He must have heard the mocking note in her tone, because he crosses his arms across his chest and furrows his brow, “Hn, so what?”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGidv52EOYb
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFbTE5T5ke
She pretends to not have heard him, throwing him a roguish look over her shoulder and enjoying a little too much the way his frown deepens in response. He could be so amusing, sometimes. “You should know better, Sasuke; you don’t need to worry about me, I can defend myself just fine.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdiEGwjZJzQ
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwwmhjqh2s
“I’m not worried, Karin.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHig4c2rbH7
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGBp3tJN0w
Karin snorts, “Sure you aren’t.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMayLWdNCSk
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSqy1iVyDx
Sasuke wisely keeps his retort to himself, as expected—it’s been a while since he had realized that arguing with her took him nowhere. Both of them were too stubborn, and unlike him, Karin wasn’t planning to put leashes on her temper anytime soon.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Uafap8Ijs
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4z8yxGMLT
Anytime soon. Her eyes widen.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKr0LUCGjnN
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcjG5WLJp0
“Say, Sasuke, did you ask Orochimaru for how long will I be there?”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTU69kMrc8k
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9bYTOCvDp
He does not reply immediately; and in his silence, Karin hears the reply loudest of all. “… It’s undetermined.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIqkZw7cWn
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3HHmt4dZV
“Oh,” is all she can muster, suddenly all too conscious of a single fact—just how long would it be before she saw Sasuke again? He was busy training, and Orochimaru rarely let him out of his sight as it was, and she—she would have her hands full handling the base by herself.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3HVCws28j
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQspgBJIQH0
Chances are she would not get to talk, feel or bicker with Sasuke for months.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1Aso9Tzwn
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyyeNkQGSk
Perhaps even years. The thought alone is able to make her blood run cold, and she almost lets out a gasp when Sasuke’s voice breaks through the heavy silence, as if reading her very core.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFtwYs0NkQ
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlPOVTiTUV
“… It won’t be that long, Karin.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgHNJ4vzxiH
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wIR70VCub
When she looks at him, she finds a dangerous glint sharpening his eyes and at once knows what he means.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJQvXGlun2
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZRzBnFdKN
Orochimaru would not be around for much longer.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aLQVjFEEw
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjJhyj5Zeg
Karin swallows, a shot of adrenaline reigniting her veins.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfRYRROAtC
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbcT9O5xQq
It is the unavoidable future; one that had been decided even before their paths crossed again, and one that Sasuke had set in stone ever since. Nothing Karin could do or say would change his mind, and so all she had left to do was trust him.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7buyZMfuc
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwrUg4037L
“…Right,” she smirks, and makes a point of passing her concern as taunting mockery. “Just make sure to keep your head attached to your neck until then. You won’t have me around to heal you anymore, so you will have to get used to Kabuto.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbr3THyDKgD
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPenAaxBBn1
“Hn.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRTDZNTuMD
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCW4hIVx3c
She sees his scowl, his derisive eye-roll—and somehow is suddenly acutely aware, to the point where she can almost feel it as a physical affliction, of how much she was going to miss him.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7YTaG9zEG
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEymvIrnPrz
Everything about him. From his ways to his silence to the way his chakra felt and the way he made her feel, in turn.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElXtKgwNJt
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVdmALv7oe
And for the briefest of moments, Karin cannot help but to indulge herself and wonder if he would miss her, too—though she knows better. Sasuke was too single-minded, too focused on his revenge mission to give a thought to anything else, but still—488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQigPbpd9og
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqSMsTcAcpO
Of course he would. He was only human, even if he would rather pretend—believe—otherwise, and she was the only person he spoke to out of his own volition. The only person he trusted; enough to rely on, enough to keep her around. If he is not lonely yet, then he is going to be lonely, now.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkKqdjSd6i
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8ObN4cm28
As will she.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwjN5fu2cw
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVAMdxAPPt
It is that thought that prompts Karin to entertain being forward for a change and asking Sasuke to spend the night—if only as a birthday present.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszGdmyqeYB
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGONWhZFtN
She is merely wetting her lips and preparing to take the chance and let out a say, sasuke when he beats her to it and calls her name.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpHvqeVvnK
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY14xN24R4e
Flabbergasted, Karin can only catch the pouch that is suddenly thrown at her, “Huh?”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyu1eBibv8
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSHi3gvL3V
“Poisoned kunai,” Sasuke states with a slight, nonchalant shrug before sticking his hands into his pockets. “I thought they may come in handy.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQKmi9aBwK
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrTmqIqI2B
She feels warm all over, and prays that Sasuke won’t notice the way her face seemed to be burning like a bonfire, “R-right.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRT9cZ3flK3
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡal6dzj4MCr
“See ya, Karin.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gndy35Zoj
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUtyb5mw8M
“Later, Sasuke.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpSqvdvCVV
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwiuMCGEsI
It is almost as embarrassing as her treacherous blush, but for a moment, Karin had actually thought—488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQi9EG1WB2
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2O2HyWMiO
“Pft, as if.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFS1xYQ1Id
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmzqrSv98M
She should have known better—Karin thinks, as she opens the pouch and takes out one of the kunai—Sasuke was not the kind to care about birthdays; and neither was she, for that matter. Not the Karin she was growing up to be, at least; she has no doubt that by next year, June 20 would be just another date.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJBRzkK2i5
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqgh8GmYpy
Still… while it had not been a birthday present, it had been a nice gesture nonetheless. And then he went around denying that he cared, the nerve of him.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSY25madjnp
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGzpq0DFAI
Seriously, Sasuke, you can be so basic sometimes. The thought makes her smile fondly, and she is just about to put the pouch away when she notices the inconspicuous little fan carved on its backside, just a small dot of reds and whites in what was otherwise an immaculate sea of beiges.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUD6efOdfwr
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65jBpm2wwI
She blinks—once, twice—and then her smile morphs into a full blown smirk, her fingertips longingly tracing the pattern.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpl3k6YeBH
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJB3dsqqPE
Sasuke probably had not even noticed it—old habits die hard, after all, and he seemed to be as obsessed with that crest as he was with his revenge—but that hardly mattered, for at the end—488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYroq0E3EZz
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStxuDoPCbV
At the end, it all amounted to the same.488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQZ2m1NPxm
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJV0OFY6kK
“Happy birthday,” Karin mutters, an enthusiastic glint in her eye. “Uchiha Karin.”488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwYibeTj3K
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr27dq51QvL
488Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQzdHYPRtn
end.
tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
ns216.73.216.19da2
