ONESHOT - SASUKARIN; MIDNIGHT TALK
Fellow SK shippers and I have been discussing how do we envision Sasuke and Karin as parents; and while I was thinking about that I was hit by a sudden mental picture. And so, this little drabble-turned-one-shot was born.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XvAJQcKOa
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnSFSeiElz
Title: midnight talk529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd07bj2KL4d
By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRl9j7jEcy0
Rating: T529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VmnEF9v24
Word Count: 1.462529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQFI0iIAoQ
Author's Notes: Takes place post-series.
midnight talk;
A spark of alert flashes through her consciousness, briskly pulling her back from slumber. For a moment, she is disoriented—but then she feels it. That ghost of a caress, his finger absentmindedly tracing that particular spot above her left breast. The spot that was buried underneath bite marks but that he somehow never failed to find.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡieVvqfaoup
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqStgApMLvJ
“Sasuke…?”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGH6wERpO0
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BhQoYQM4P
He does not reply straight away; rather, his body speaks for him—the hold of the arm circling her waist strengthening, his fingertips pressing against the tender skin of her hip and his toes coming to rest against her ankle. But when his voice joins his body language, it is nothing more than a mere murmur.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8KZ27kOIM
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3ZosetkHt
“…What if I’m not a good father, Karin?” he inquires, his breath tickling her bare breast. “What if… they hate me?”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLs0lYbVNVU
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhpTuMVIgH
His free hand travels from her collarbones to her swollen belly, and Karin has to resist the urge to swat it away out of annoyance at his insecurities. Letting such a thing get to him, this was so unlike him.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN1wRgIOWKN
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPB6HLduBLl
“Why would they hate you, Sasuke?”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGETc9bXNW
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXuqMKulLhM
His fingers move up, up and come to lightly trace the tear-shaped scar that both of them knew only too well, and she feels it again, then—that fluctuation in his chakra. That drop of mud that had sent ripples to what used to be a peaceful current and that had pulled Karin back from her own rest.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDr7Y75srWc
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2KUpr40Eo
“… I almost killed their mother, didn’t I?”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27cRfrGlTw
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBVLsB2Fza
So this is what this was about, huh?529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡns5wWO2ARp
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsFVXuRbl2
Karin sighs, raising her hand and letting her fingers entwine with locks of Sasuke’s jet-black hair. “We’ve been over this before, Sasuke.”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPM1mui1Evk
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMdtosgo0T
“I know,” he acknowledges, but his chakra is still stirring and his voice is still a strained whisper. “I know, Karin. But…”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4K4mGIVw8N
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJw1JwGZ4AC
“Sasuke—”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOk0RQb090H
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJeftET4Ak
“—What I did was… still is unforgivable,” he says, his voice gaining strength in order to overpower her complaints. “What right do I have to be the father of your children, Karin?”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VzcXCdvcz
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnS3KSpLrRe
Their eyes meet, then. Karin’s glasses lie discarded on the nightstand, but she does not need them—not when he was this close, with his head lying on the crook of her neck. Not even the darkness of the room could prevent Karin from reading the look in his eyes as clearly as she could read the turmoil swimming inside his chakra.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfrKU96R9S
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTEYefsGgo
It makes her frown, her hand slipping down his hair and to his neck.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkfvCPnVWLf
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaaz7KzH4Z
“Don’t be stupid, Sasuke. This isn’t about rights—you are the father of my children, whether you like it or not. It’s too late to turn back, now.”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlbZ0K6esU
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19MNBDZ3fv
I wouldn’t turn back even if I could, is what remains unsaid, but Karin hopes Sasuke will be able to pick it up from her gaze, from her touch. It is an undeniable truth that Sasuke should know well by now, and Karin is not going to indulge him by voicing it aloud.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2bXzxHKm7
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQaxPrUYC2
So focused is she on her thoughts that she misses his movements. When his warm fingers come to lay against her cheek, delicately, as if afraid that she would disappear with the lightest of touches, Karin finds her breath leaving her in the form of a stifled gasp.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHEESz7DyI
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHclSx2uItR
“Why…?” he asks, his eyes boring into hers, and Karin finds her edges rounding and becoming cotton-soft under his touch and the urgency behind his gaze. “Why did you give me a second chance, Karin? Why… why do you allow me to stay by your side, despite everything I’ve done?”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNyih37zrk
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZMCmy0UAN
“I’m… no saint myself, Sasuke,” Karin finds herself muttering, but anything she may have added slips through her mind and remains forgotten, as Sasuke pushes back the bangs from her forehead and begins to trace the contours of her face.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQuvkaemajs
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6kM2NndLI
“No,” he agrees thoughtfully, voice soft. “You are not, Karin… But you are no devil, and I—”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiycfaSmQ4
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwthN9TNgWJ
“A man,” Karin cuts in, firmly, and Sasuke’s fingers halt their ministrations. “You are nothing but a man, Sasuke. And men make mistakes.”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0kWJJWDIx
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hDi26dD99
“…Mistakes that could’ve cost your life, Karin,” Sasuke reminds her, his eyes narrowing. Karin’s mirror his look, faded annoyance beginning to come back to life yet again.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagTxQtpxue
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGxoM4oNhf
How many times would they have to go through this before Sasuke let it go? When would he learn that clinging onto the past never did any good? All his mistakes—all the pain he caused himself and those surrounding them steamed from that stubbornness of his, from that apparent incapability of living the present for what it was. And Karin—Karin refused to let him continue to chastise himself in her name’s sake.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ThEliM59F
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42ZqavB4c3
Not when she had already forgiven him a long time ago.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCbno5StET
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpkZdl7XRq
She would not play his game.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIdJeerWqh
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXgYvJGMCv
“If you feel that way, then why are you with me, Sasuke?”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡultaBaC4IV
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaRviniHMs
“… Because I’m selfish,” he replies after a breath, and his fingertips are tracing her lips, now, “I’ve always been selfish, Karin. You know that well.”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBao0JOD2lJ
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMakFzSJPz
A ghost of a smile curves the corner of Karin’s lips, but she forces herself to hide it before he could have the chance to notice it through his touch. It was no time to humor him; not yet, at least.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZbcmZO28J
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lcpwzI6Cf
“Is that all this is to you, then? You not wanting anyone else to have me?”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKGoBnAv4D
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgOyRIMnU8
“No,” Sasuke states, and he is frowning, as if indignant by the suggestion alone. “You know that’s not how it is, Karin.”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErJr7nSP00
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDwFqAIk3i
Oh, she knew. Of course, she knew, she would not be with him otherwise. But Sasuke needed to learn how to say it; because while she did not need to hear it, his children would.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGCNBxTgR0
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkxwGgFbpS
“Then let me hear it, Sasuke.”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPywLNnYARZ
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvppW543LwS
There is hesitance showcased in his eyes and expressed through the way his fingertips linger, unmoving, ghosting over her cheeks; but Karin did not allow herself to feel like she was being unfair to him, asking him to say words that she had yet to say aloud herself. But the difference was that Karin knew how to do so; she had not forgotten.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4w4k4khrNA
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLc1jYA7ss
But Sasuke? Sasuke had. And Karin knew that was one of the thorns that kept jabbing at him whenever his eyes flickered across her swollen belly. A thorn embodied by the scar that remained as a memento right above her heart.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ass2aS9gR
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMoecIB75s
“Karin…”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFS8UFIzvF
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OoxcL0wCW
And so, she does not back down.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiisVWGSnYB
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaXfBMzfbE
“Say it.”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPuumtXDNP
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEF3WfIVKz
Sasuke heaves in a sigh and closes his eyes for a long moment, defeated. Karin reaches out, then—reaches out and traces his face with the same adoration with which he had been tracing hers, using her warm touch as encouragement.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0vTujSADy
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsmCYyQNXS
When his obsidian eyes open again, what she sees in them steals the breath right off her lungs.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeTKQY2Btm
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNkazeOVVOR
“Karin, I…”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97tdITW9CM
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdpQGKuy0N
His voice fades into silence as the words stumble over each other inside his throat, inexperienced, alien to his lips but overpowering in their truth—and so Sasuke leans in and lets his lips speak wordlessly directly to Karin’s own, which answer their call with a hunger that would never cease to set his very veins aflame.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2WeYkophW
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOGJHoEmSW
When they part, Karin’s arms, which were circling his neck, hold him in place; and so he lets his forehead lay against hers, his lips lightly brushing her own with every word he spoke.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHMy8ATjYw
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAh02ZzuPpj
“I want you, Karin,” are the words he says aloud, but Karin hears beyond them and into the feelings he expressed through his kiss—through his gaze, through his touch. And it is to them that she replies:529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfI23e4uSeN
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV39fmEsZcn
“It’s the same for me,” her voice an intimate whisper meant for him and him only. “Always.”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxGX5HbzSn
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UehXio5SA
Her name leaves his lips in the form of a shaky breath, and Karin holds him close, gives him solace in the modest curve of her breasts. “They won’t hate you, Sasuke,”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHcY4eaNyK
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGAkQIZum5
“… How can you know that?”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0niAeHn3s
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6c6490GiCT
“Don’t you trust me?”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZVpy7dDJQ
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnaTzYpJfvU
Sasuke says nothing; he does not need to. Karin smiles. “Then trust me on this, Sasuke.”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUeqj5JC40
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmql9jOHEjl
There is no way they will hate you, is what Karin tells him without words as she plays with his hair. Not if you look at them the way you looked at me just now.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mHi2Fg9Nr
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8brhVpiOAx
“…Alright.”529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVXeo3ZPPI
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJt196bOIB
Karin’s gaze darts to his face, and she is pleased to see a peaceful expression taking over his features and reflecting on his chakra. The sight softens her smile, and she feels a surge of warmth expanding through her body as Sasuke unconsciously places his palm over her belly, the chakra of the two beings resting inside stirring to answer his call.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPVrN4utMx
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QhBQFPIq7
You idiot, Karin thinks, fondly. They love you, already.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5fsbHXFUh
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVr2pzYa8rP
As did she. And that was all she needed to know to quiet down her own fears; her own insecurities.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxsDfW31og
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PssJuRW6T
We will be fine, she knew.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXdIhvEZ1b
529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN1uEiXMab0
They would be.
—529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzyWL46oOt
.end
tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
ns216.73.216.166da2
