[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~!572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnHswtfmHO
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By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzcv4PoJHm
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxtFE04n1N
Word Count: 8.810572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHCVyTHQ6B
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJYA2pBFfj
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZD18ElIh8f
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUR7ri0uY7l
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A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzZ3LaRcgb
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To the stars that played with the darkness572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUOrBciuJB
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6SFfAtvXo
by Kanae572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89bMYfXs9C
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It happens a hot Thursday afternoon as he goes through the tourniquets of the subway and catches a glimpse of red from the corner of his eye.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWyNL9JnZ2
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Something in his chest tightens.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxHd8luQ4C
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He is looking back before he knows it, uncharacteristically standing still as his eyes seek the source of the red; a girl’s ponytail.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Cf5c0MlME
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Just a girl.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQF6hItagdp
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Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cA2lvQRUd
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He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSq1DbhyZ1n
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He has almost reached the escalators when someone steps in front of him, blocking his way—and he can’t help the slight widening of his eyes as he realizes who it is.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqm9bk4DlDG
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The girl.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP97g2ZzOX8
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The redhead.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHszu2uBkv
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“Sorry,” she says, and she is a little out of breath. Had she run to catch up with him? “Do I know you?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XliqV3V5U
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An alien reply makes its way from his chest up to the tip of his tongue, but Sasuke does not recognize it—and before he can even deem it worth his time, it is gone. And all that remains is the same disinterest from before. Just a girl.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyoZomCq4v
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“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvW92v9mAXr
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“No, I do know you. I mean—” Sasuke narrows his eyes, irritated, but the girl looks too caught up in her thoughts to notice, “I have dreamed of you.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC65ambvAxq
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Sasuke gives her a blank stare and the girl turns a little pink. “I-I mean,” she stammers, pushing her glasses further up her nose. The gesture stirs something inside of Sasuke, and it is powerful enough to the point he almost misses her next words “I know it sounds weird, but—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0oj82MCQJ
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“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90TCT2pqgf
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“Wait!” she calls, and Sasuke finds his legs answering in kind even before his name comes out of her lips. “Y—your name is… Sasuke, isn’t it? Uchiha Sasuke.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVM2bcRxTc
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“… So what?” his reply is brisk, and it comes out through gritted teeth. This was ridiculous; both the girl and his reactions to her. What had come over him, anyway? He has never seen this chick. Ever. “Knowing that is no feat.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNEijI0pzjY
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It wasn’t. More than a quarter of the city knew his family’s name. Knowing who he was simply was part of the package.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Aew1bhOYM
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She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1GBISjHd9
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He was severely mistaken.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAxxeHtY7G
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“And, when you were eight…” she suddenly whispers, her voice vague, “when you were eight, your mom gave you a dinosaur-shaped toy.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJETUD3r4EI
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Sasuke’s eyes widen, his body freezing upright. Her voice gains momentum. “You said it was childish, and pretended to have thrown it away; but you still have it.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEL4kjtA09
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It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVpmMxoCiu
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Obsidian meets pointed red, and it is something in the calculating edge of her gaze more than her words that which turns Sasuke’s skin into gooseflesh. “…You keep it locked in a box inside your closet, just like you keep locked away that irrational fear of yours of losing them someday.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7xBtSzlRR
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Them. His parents. The one thing he has never told anyone—not even his brother. The one thing he has never been able to face, regardless of how much he has tried to do so.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzOgi2mSjB
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He wants to say something—anything—but words just won’t come. He feels utterly intimidated and exposed before this stranger; before this redhead whose lips quirk up in the barest traces of a smile, her shoulders relaxing.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjfiB2u3Ww
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“Come on, there’s a café down the street, we can talk there.” She does not wait for a reply, simply reaching out and taking a hold of his sleeve—and as she pulls him towards the escalators, Sasuke feels an unexplainable sense of déjà vu.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyqQNhF1Da
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“Let me go,” he mutters, though he can’t find it in himself to oppose any resistance. “I can walk by myself.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mbwSi3zJr
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She does not let go of him.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38uFtlhgDV
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And the déjà vu only worsens.
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“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNqrpUcWHF
“Huh?! Why should I go anywhere? I’m in charge of this place!”
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“They started… around 3 months ago, I think,” the girl—Karin—says, after the waitress has brought them their respective orders; Sasuke, a black coffee, Karin, a cappuccino with amaretto.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58ViRr844u
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“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsdIFEkqme
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“Yeah, the dreams,” Karin agrees, taking a sip of her coffee and giving him a pointed look over the brim of the cup. “At first they were sporadic. Just once every few nights or so, but then I started to get them every night… every single night.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNOshaoXow
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“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwXYbI8Fdj
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“Not all of them,” she retorts thoughtfully, if not a little defensively; but then she shrugs. “But you were always there.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAVS0rHR20
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“Doing what, exactly?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQ3vlcUoS0
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“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡReTpOYH4MJ
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“…A ninja?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXek9tbK6u
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“Yeah. A very powerful one, at that. Don’t—” she warns, before Sasuke could have the chance to interrupt with a snide remark. “I know how ridiculous it sounds, but it’s the truth.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAeyOEQMFJ
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He crosses his arms with an eye roll. “That still does not explain how you knew about the dinosaur.” Just mentioning the toy makes a wave of embarrassment wash over him, but he tries to keep at bay and not let it show.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1eqzvzolJ
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Karin smiles, and the gesture looks sour. “Not every dream took place in the same world, Sasuke. Those—the ones where we were shinobi, those were the firsts, and also the most recurrent. But I have seen you as you are, too. And as you were.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8J7Wvw5lj
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“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRS7vCzVuoz
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It’s her turn to cross her arms. “Tch, you already know, don’t you? You’re smart, Sasuke. Don’t take me for a fool.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7CISU1HtL
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Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaMxHQ9uYD
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Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwkh87MyQI
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Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14PezopAlb
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“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxxYPSzp7y
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“Stop,” Sasuke demands, his patience running thin at being lectured by a complete stranger. “Stop talking as if you know me, Karin. You don’t.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55smaoLWcR
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“Actually, I do,” Karin shoots back without missing a beat, her red eyes steadily holding his even despite his threatening glare. “And from the looks of it, I know you better than you know yourself—stay there, Sasuke,” she stresses, and his glare only intensifies. He hadn’t even had the enough time to move a muscle. “I am not finished yet.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPxctKXEOP
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“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKK03c5h4g1
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Karin blinks at him and then promptly snorts. “The you in my dreams was nicer to be around, I’ll give you that.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnH2sjBE8x
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He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QvPhfJ0cE
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But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4uznu3x6F
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“I know why you’re so afraid of losing your parents, someday.”
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“Shhh” she coos, cradling his trembling form in her arms and making him sink his face on her chest. It’s her favorite new shirt and it’s getting soaked and soiled by his tears and the soot, but her heart is too busy breaking over him and his pain and her mind is too shaken by the explosion and the death—by the smell of burnt flesh, by the screaming figures of his parents and brother as they were consumed by the fire.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdz11XWGG1
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“Shhh, Sasuke, it will be alright,” she isn’t sure if she believes what she is saying. Not when there are tears beginning to leak from her own eyes and dripping onto his hair—not when his sobs twist her soul and worsen the despair. Why did this have to happen to them? Why did they have to—? “I promise you, it will be alright, we will get through this.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4E2wLetZWj
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They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gj4LoYlg4
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“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oyKcg9Vf6
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“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBwJPT3nQp
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Despite her bravado her voice breaks at the end and Sasuke clutches her shirt—holds onto her for dear life and hastily pulls her together again.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXWTM3Tm65
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“I promise.”
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Sasuke fists his hands to prevent them from shaking as his very soul seemed to be doing. He sets his jaw, tries to regularize his breathing and his pulse—tries to not show any signs of inward struggle.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AfhqihcTo
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No that it would make much of a difference, since Karin was deliberately keeping her attention elsewhere. She had barely looked at him from the moment she started to tell him all she knew—all she had seen—about his parents, and weren’t he so troubled by everything he heard, he would have realized he was thankful for her tact.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZanOMRiKl
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As things were, however, his brain was having troubles assimilating Karin’s words; how his parents had died over and over again. Killed by his brother (by his brother, out of all people! What kind of bullshit was that?), in an accident, in a fire—Sasuke had tuned out, then. The images such stories enticed were too vivid, too troubling—they made the hairs on his arms stand on end, made cold droplets of sweat roll down his neck.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHshOWH31g
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Everything was preposterous, absolutely unbelievable—and even then he could not dismiss a word she had said, even though he desperately wanted to. Something in the way she had spoken—in the way her voice had quivered, her stare grave and set on her lap—and even more so, something in the things she had known; habits that Mikoto and Fugaku had and that no one but him and Itachi would know about, made her words all the harder to shake off.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOd6GDOnzq
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So he aims for the next best thing—he tries to push the thought aside and latches onto another one, one that has slowly but surely been demanding his attention.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCkNCI3Zao
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“… Where do you fit into all that?” he murmurs, and has to swallow to help ease his dry throat. “Why is it you, and not me, who is having these dreams?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHhOxP1DLN
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The ghost of a smile touches her lips, “I don’t know. I guess it’s because you’ve closed yourself off, again,” it fades. “You always close yourself up.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxJ8p4QFpZ
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He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNvraEZz5S
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Karin hardens her expression, her eyes squarely meeting his own. “In that first world, I was your teammate. In the second, I was your friend. In the third, your lover.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorNlXo4mPt
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Sasuke cannot really help the way he feels his throat clog up, his cheeks warm. So he fakes a cough, looks away; “And this is the fourth?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qwB4KqO2N
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Karin shrugs, unfazed.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIHOswVIZW
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“I don’t know, I guess there may be more. I haven’t remembered them yet, though.” Her voice lowers, “…I don’t know if I want to, either.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡim4gqEXBnZ
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That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkxo1IysEm
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“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmWkqqsFGl
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Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgJWI74yhE
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For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeGBulj7yw
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“...You.”
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There is lighting prickling her skin and piercing her chest; it has missed her heart by an inch, a miracle improbable enough to be deliberate—but one that is a curse in disguise, for his eyes do not miss the mark.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02t0hQnJR6
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They hit the bulls-eye dead on its center, and she feels it freeze and then wither and die, disintegrating into a worthless pile of ashes that, with every single word he says, scatter like the wind—never to be recovered again.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3HF8VlpkF
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“Karin… the moment you were taken hostage, you became an encumbrance.”
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She leans her head on her propped up palm, and the pair of red eyes that were fixed into his look sage and tired all of a sudden. “…But I guess it never made much of a difference.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1XYCHnNHo
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu9htnKlQS6
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3yjbeQs7B
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdVTDxQx6d
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUbZwFVBmD
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVExd7qq3w
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hNwmmd9yx
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2k7dP2C7uz
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeGne8WQfg
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfgzpG9ZP1
“Always.”
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572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMu5hoJ4Zu
It happens on a rainy night.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAr8EG7wG2
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzH45kQCJE
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUfnkYtnVe
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3f6fUReZy
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vDi0UsUHB
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡug875ZBUqr
She hadn’t been.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTWHqV3X4p
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5LEjEdjIzU
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxglxG8uq2
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDw1nmS7zxw
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IlLJAIhkl
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyrDJh8ttKb
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeQvHcUxra
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXYUEAyGN4
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaui9JRsH6D
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eIQHvSDEi
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpeIpmdZJ5
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbkmZEVCIz
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmj4Ie3iyUV
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNahZEyieH0
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRgPNdPLMe
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdKpLiVKsN
“Hey, you! Wait!”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8tCVuJkNoI
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbufBQyIkwO
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqW6dDSmyf6
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJ3u4FggVO
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynfDrEGy0S
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOIS7yFoWB
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpe1jBtdieI
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlywpsegws
“… 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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcv1wKSyui1
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7hhkLT7bg
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?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaF4pcjOEDp
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHbTcN3CEF
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4zG8DvYWd
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡll2yoULIGK
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWVRWNGUTT
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡct24OO9pqB
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpFybW12r5
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IFUiK3lzJ
By the time they place their orders, she is already in love with him.
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He thinks that maybe he should be surprised, but the truth is that he isn’t.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEohgQj2PfJ
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwytjuuBFae
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ktfWGjNsn
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOTr4vGtoX
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVez69bx2H
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCaY5Lr0p8
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTr4dONkTVS
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWPDVUEBOV
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6qjlBHUxD
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtsYLNLY3j
“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJ9O6bgMOj
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSOpQPoahY
'Always'.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JvM1aEBu5
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpq7BvKNZN
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSyDdSsTLI
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ070WWxPuIX
“Huh?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCdaSgqPt6
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She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdk1N5xHITj
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXbjx23emc
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QKF8Ye9d6
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnUNhWEnLN
“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—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡid99LXWM6L
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWAXibszfk
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3gWFxythU
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwALOzcR94M
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4sRFAzwmP
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SSmsvmtAi
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqN00Z1FN1
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRuUu3MvxY
Damn her.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnD6rCmyyim
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DGtnh2ScY
“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?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvXVEu6TlC
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Esl3GcB8R
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdP5gBNHbRe
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbQaDmCFTl
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhJ0EPOwCz
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUb7FvbvZd
“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?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1x0qOntoCM
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHf7ci4ZDCy
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
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“I brought you the papers you requested,”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnBFyzMKz0
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJxc7DPvdY
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzMeAxa4RF
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjYYF57PzF
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkwmnsMm0E
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3kTCX71Zw
“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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6X9vD8hLLR
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfcfGDhTYD
“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjNtDWheNX
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlUpnFYzxB
“Any complains?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJnJhpkCga
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsGZnLqf2M
“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFHe7cdjWF
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJRxSpmtEa
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
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572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrnJXQUFSw
“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uiAolk736
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pl6bVtajM
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4A2Yw7KlNm
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVis3z5UGg
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfs5VPaURn
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmY6Ieskkb
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3WH8K4tkr
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8hDDgATcv
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSAOAHAL3Q
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMPwnJBjHs
'Always'.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5GGgMAxNz
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCvBLwOdpx
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9S55O3sIhx
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ggAaQR7X2
“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmq9k7rCJsz
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUPGrthnTQ
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZcY90T9JR
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WevgkVuUk
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uwUfrtUhT
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibp0M8BbxV
“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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCWC0DWEta
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9Pc7mABRg
“Karin.”
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“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbL1s3q8KGT
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtn58jeUxk
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8jmjf1Gll
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYl4GQqmwOn
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5dkDWNADi
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkhoJaPwS5
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3sXPTgaGUM
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJ3AKESYC6
“…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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WL8Hxpk15
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06gTonsmZj
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBnDggMa4M
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvzHr7l5NV
“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7StATewrNi
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4JcKt6aC6
“…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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMbcDE1Ve6d
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8NC8obxsY
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7IxWSa98oC
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjsGV6p26K
“What?” she snaps.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdMulGAdwi
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4KNv57YVI
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxFWbpFHz0
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PyyH75eBT
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?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZinSvlWMz
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTi50KxNyqI
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8mCgjuldKE
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And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
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“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgo98LOPa6t
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2YdWVQJrR
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMCpWmSRvz
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUbgZ881OL
“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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTb3ixY2iUg
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazpWzhsw6K
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9snrAm7Yt
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5NqMUiP400
“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?572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOU0ddyQjEY
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34F9gA4GVf
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?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmeXlGkw5n
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVy6YRGqq5O
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyNzhm6TBB
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlURbj31EIa
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2k6bUE6W9R
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vPsUTjrBg
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SRHdsObfj
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrtA073AeP
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5ZzMZAlS5
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpT0Jo6lWFK
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0XHQLqvXH
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyGbBOm5yd
“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfckPNencKo
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Damn you, brother.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbcfVOqEcA
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“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSAezWUYQn
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPwFNBvC93
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“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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93awcm9NGw
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Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyU5ijBFK3n
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FWiVUY40N
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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0BMSTsNfM
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5GtuWCYva
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“… 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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVis7KcDfo
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“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxWlIksxpg
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡleyJzNn0Bk
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgXL9NzygG
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfM2njDd8ia
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.
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“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?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUWl5sfQke
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdZZpkBdE2
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—572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCbgy2qBhT
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgdAnE982r
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeA5G7OxFOw
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuS7edQ2no
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgv4kT2ufa
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUp4dCicuy
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“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysCWjMFHYq
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And then she is grinning.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwoEbfSIkYw
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“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXZerxh1g4
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPEovbsNA0
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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8flxk46Cl
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZSeSrM0Im5
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUnPzLeOKip
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“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxABjdVv3wG
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“Not a chance,” their noses touch and her voice lowers to a mere brush of air against his lips, “…it’s too fun to watch you squirm.”
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“You won’t find anything better for a more reasonable price, I assure you, Uchiha-san. This is the absolute best—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8cIvvtS3dS
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCnXjsXpVP3
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“Excuse me.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMeAQd5Gu5
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToJC7vYim5
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmohzPeenOh
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“This house is ours, Sasuke,”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6H2a2rYqQ
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Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSXU8gJNRN
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He could feel it, too.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkPos6EJr6
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Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa8RbrbN9Q8
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“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
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She can hardly believe it.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSjwmKBvQI
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmdNp7Dscw
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcZKRCbUYi
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjGkCKPnCO
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw00k4r1pU6
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSCSrwzwAI
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadtrGLE59l
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLR9F7fbfp
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSrDmbtvFI
“What’s so funny?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNLAvylE5j
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3g8yCfbPRO
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“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjYAXGqydL
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenJy0yMbo1
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DtCVuN1yu
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLsCq6LWPO
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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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9S2iSqk8hq
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And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE740qYa1D5
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrOYw042Za
“S-asuke—” she chokes.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3ckPAiMgi
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But he does not listen.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0uXx8D51G
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“…mine.”
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She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4azBcX6GA
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“Sewing again?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡam93uPc5O8
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhsXGelTLr
“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FrGXDIzis
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8YBfw4wyp
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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwxj9A38Pn
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwa9nQYEKUD
“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kK0eSxJNg
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“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47PBX7DPef
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8O3CKem98
“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?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMifIXMiTgU
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72mMxUL7hb
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcVAVBUPUG
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And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ec9UZdH2y
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But it’s just, back then—he had never thought someone could actually make him this happy.
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“Stop doing that, Sasuke.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkC0eAf0sX3
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“Doing what?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Vzy8J7rNU
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gokjhIqji
“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6Z1B71Rek
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“Or what?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElKeTdtWJq
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“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEjN40xDN1
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She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8YIf8Xzyg
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“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYU91PXD9i4
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dbR4e3czi
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Al4BFqnvS
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Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfb3Nkey4kX
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8cV9Z0dEz
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBmXe2h3x2
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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—572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsah8NxugMk
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To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZredjevVd
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And, really—who would have thought that a monster like Uchiha Sasuke was capable of making a face like that?
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Sasuke was just putting a plate aside when the sound of porcelain breaking reaches his ears.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgeuCpNzCzL
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KKVC8EY0Q
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2C6SpsMov4
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7CwcZ7OhRE
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“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwylm7Jt78G
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“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOvfpgcfO3
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“I told you, it’s fine.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9az47v4yl
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He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Eq2HVR3rf
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDM6RODiAQE
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhol7jwLWW
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“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWai2xKSR92
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEunnV6ywaE
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He doesn’t know what he would do if he were to see that same fright reflected in her eyes again.
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxHop79gRk
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“S-sasuke, what—?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGeMEv3Sde
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“Where were you, Karin?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLZhUgmlIK
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpG2g6DUjyJ
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It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbTqVODtEAI
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But she holds her ground.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fBifsBnx4
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“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpdMwSUnde
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“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexZziR4vXE
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDWUM4BMyy
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—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RK3YCOnrC
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“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?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87vfrxCPXA
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“Sasuke, I—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSz4OLlmq4
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4S8NuMHjZB
“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?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqKvvczaNE
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbuJpevr6XP
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvzaCVs1apI
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She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPpzS3zGxl
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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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKmS9Cx7Y5
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeStwBOKwzD
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeoNM6cBpjP
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93oUcEhgMR
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?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1OhdmYXXc
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9IvzHqTY3
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKB3NDwTjv
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And that frightens her more than he possibly could.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zCDnzUhTC
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“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVn0AvEVC1
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNChCZWjpA6
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Even himself.
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The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hprD2jKoW
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesWERAddOU
“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHtdukiFHh
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She doesn’t bulge. “What?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWOD6dkEXv
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And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpLwOaFcw8
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQlp6YTqKa
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“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniRUY4jK8I
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8W76niRGXl
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtuEUWIsXF
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And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcFmfow3xM
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“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
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He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXw04SCqC06
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeFytSaWBmS
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gKgpvwXnL
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In this case, it is both at once.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJG1MdJkDJ
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslH9aTFVrm
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A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeURNvAlHg5
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Broken promises.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2ZpiBmTrt
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A call. A funeral.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQrOgQ6P9k
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And tears.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJNZszllg6
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Heartbreak.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYeVYoagPOI
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Loneliness.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCx4nDVUPSb
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…then there was nothing else.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYuBmtZAwN
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And then there was everything all over again.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmrFXqNEEk
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3qYgH95Cgb
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He can’t stop.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUppLYZvWK
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He does not want to.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBUb6P6yCY
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One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouGPHwYNF0
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The door creaks open.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7ntfx2nmB
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“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8ewZjRPd7
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The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AdC8779im
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(“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.)572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqzjzndwXw
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49E7B27CBb
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkVLKu9Hkm
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjLbzhassj
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lrTglE8oH
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbDpByR0RA
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxENz62PDmb
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Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8JGEfWfsL
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6O050143Ae
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOklC5VfXVU
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlM7sEDKADt
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjofCHK3Pb
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And then she parts her lips.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGsgHrue24
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfozBW9zVO
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxJSebgE4L
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ETonsXTII
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphWQ59JVTK
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODkfoeJRxa
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0rQ5fLeUF
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“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qh8RWu7Hf
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfH8zUvGTAD
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIxDaAYAgZ
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkpCjhB6B4
“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZTmvH4oE5
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It makes something in her tightly clench.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVP7Z5ggc4E
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“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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAO0aRnmSCC
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzN7QmfLRc
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZUTyYj8fj
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXk87CeJlt0
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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8VEw8AqcS
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She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwYoY75Q6W
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She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsu0brPWT5
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“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMae9Mqs0vC
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—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
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He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDxCpk39g7
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVH6Q3fTaf
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In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4xsIGBDQw
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“Sasuke, no—!”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnR3i0LrQ3Y
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“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—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0d2HgCpEN
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But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHrtsX8Mfo
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“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nn1eURrCk
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAImrgiQ7o
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIugUstOWr4
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He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ueIDN09M2
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejhJoWApF1
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‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGwkvTSdEs
‘What weren’t?’572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakoYNcy6bF
‘...You.’572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Nxs57ZyLc
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnB57N2XaqY
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Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
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“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcE0BpmIqla
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxuMzFKr6G
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkgvRNT21s
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“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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqu3EmZXne
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“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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9liBlusKfF
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“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwMM0CgGgZ
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He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzwQcdb2WV
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And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
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“What was I doing to you?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIV8OI57A81
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“… I don’t remember.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWLUVRun9h
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFf3CP4hm6
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But he has played that game long enough.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJVdxNYkh0
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He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpPYAYYanD
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzeGpIK0HX
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VQAgii49j
572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJX8SDVCJ9
“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.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThEau7kmsX
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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.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZrTepw6Kl
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“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyHKCvDfYI
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Karin takes a deep breath, and Sasuke braces himself.
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The world seems to slow to a halt as she coughs up blood, the sword cleanly piercing her chest and stopping dangerously close to his own heart.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPI6jxfXAf
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He can only stare, eyes wide, at the back of her head—the vibrant strands of hair tickling his face as she takes an involuntary step backward—and then there is a cold flush of liquid splaying all over his shirt as the sword is pulled out and she begins to crumble down like a leaf—572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxJtcphTZi
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And her name leaves his lips in the form of a horrified call—one that is cut short by her strained smile.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXak5W2l0T
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“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztxGzrGQmZ
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“Stop talking, Karin,” he ushers, and his vision blurs. Despite it he thinks he sees her smile widening, and he cradles her closer to his chest, tries to ignore the blood seeping from her body at an alarmingly fast pace. “You need to save your strength, Sakura is c—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYrBYO6c31
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“Sa…suke,” and though her voice is nothing but a dying whisper, he is rendered silent at once. “Promise me… you won’t… die.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvltxgP4QxC
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His teeth clatter and sink on his lip, drawing blood—and suddenly he is yelling. “You are the idiot, Karin! Why?! Why would you do that for me? Did you forget what I did to you? I thought you said you wouldn’t! I thought you said you would—”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SuBhqpYV6
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“—make you… regret it… I know,” her smile looks like unleashed tears. “I admit… this… wasn’t exactly… what I had… in mind.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMkhY62owk
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There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡot7uPHN1Xt
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She does, though—and her fingertips come to softly brush away the tears from the corner of his eyes, leaving telltale traces of crimson instead.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDUtr25Nsc
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“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPz6ntjp7wj
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He knows at once what she means—but the memories feel light-years away; they are colored in grays and smeared with blood, and for the life of him—for the life of her—he cannot find it in himself the will to smile.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLsNw2NJwP
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And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7Sz8Cu2U9
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“See ya… Sasuke.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XiWih5v3v
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Her hand drops and her body goes cold, and all his lips seem to be able to do is call her name—a name accompanied by lonesome apologies and regrets that would never get either of them anywhere.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEu9fZT4QdO
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He never seems to be able to get anywhere, ever, not even when he is trying to—but if he could—if only he could do it all over again, he—572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYlukJCfqG
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Mere hours later, his body is the one to drop lifelessly to the ground—and it’s all over before he can realize the smile that grazes his lips.
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A terrible silence has descended upon them.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPX85rsr6Wg
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He has retreated to the edge of the bed, his elbows sinking on his knees and his horrified face cradled in his shaking hands.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyh1dklW4BW
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“Why…?” and he does not know it, but it always seemed to come to this very question. “Why are you with me, despite all the things I’ve done to you?”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uv1l6MDaC
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Karin watches his desolated back and has a hard time swallowing the lump in her throat, “Because… they are not you, Sasuke.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhbV1iUUbz
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He says nothing in response—can not possibly wrap his mind around her words, Karin knows. And so she softly crawls to him and drapes her arms around his neck, leans her cheek on the side of his head, closes her eyes, and smiles.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQrwnnJMs4
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“And, above all…”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYzPNBWgHH
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The smile is strained—but resolute. Serene. It says nothing and everything at once. And despite himself, Sasuke finds solace in her touch—his own hand coming to seize her own as her words carry over to him, a simple truth that at once gives him hope and clogs his throat with trepidation.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7oZoGG77N
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“…Above all, I want to see how this one ends.”
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It happens a sunny morning as she trips and a bear lunges at her, its roar so deafening that she thought her head would burst before the beast would get to sink its teeth on her flesh.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDVWiZ9c6i
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Except that it doesn’t get to.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqQNXIBuBd
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And when she puts her glasses back on, her sight is met by a smile that would carve itself on her mind and set ablaze a flame that would burn just as strongly and lastingly as the eyes of the boy she would never, ever forget.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrnPRfzwmS
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“See ya.”572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqg0EQ2y0w
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This is what I give,572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbCXddYqfm
A circle is complete.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3V3C7liVSg
Another circle spins572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZiEcF8FK7
There's life within,572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkAjXVl2YB
Within
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end.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Gtw4Ke4mI
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Ok! Now you guys should understand what I meant by the warnings at the beginning; I tried to make each SK set of reincarnations distinctly different from each other, both in personalities, dynamics, and backgrounds; so they indeed diverge from the Sasuke and Karin we're used to, as they have all grown in different environments. All the same, I tried to keep some traits of their canon personalities, so hopefully, they aren't absurdly OOC.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDGo0qvh18
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That said~! The song used at the beginning is Kitade Nana’s Tsukihana, and the one at the end is Blue Foundation’s Bonfires. Now, onto random details about the fic~ there are five versions of SasuKarin total in the fic; the originals, and 4 pairs of reincarnations.572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1ThpZbhxn
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The format of the fic didn’t allow me to expand and truly explain each particular set, so if you are curious about any of them drop me a comment and I’ll tell you their background and/or explain anything you may be wondering about~!572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsc2RHVqbW8
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For now, though, I must mention a couple of things about the 4th SK pair (aka, the most controversial - the one with cute!Karin and businessman!Sasuke); their meeting (the umbrella thing) was completely inspired by a real-life story I read here, and overly-jealous-and-possessive-Sasuke was inspired by might 'Anyone's Ghost' SK AMV, here. I debated a bit about this version because it's kind of hard to imagine a Karin who would allow Sasuke to be that way with her; but then again, this particular Karin is less headstrong than the one we know and love. So I decided to leave it as it lol Also, his overdone “I love you(s)” and cheesiness, while sincere, were meant to be creepy and manipulative; I really hope they came out that way lol572Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjbIgm0cCB
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Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
ns216.73.216.24da2
