[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~!665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2hzrN3T4o
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By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWS2Twv9ir
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsgcf2dbIP
Word Count: 8.810665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeGqQrLk10
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonUXWXLRT5
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPRaGhNkmh
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Qhowc68R5
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A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEBjy3Y6fJ
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To the stars that played with the darkness665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytFiVXeuTX
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQxNHSzP32
by Kanae665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8CLOQeo59
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkVVXzMziH
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Something in his chest tightens.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGmVFxFVgM
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnypWci6DR
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Just a girl.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRd2MUtw23a
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Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxN0dBNeVw
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He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpmnJInSnD
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3N8YKF6mGs
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The girl.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFHWdLV8Ea
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The redhead.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OJIAyyFBV
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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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBb0VCvULIu
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDforTMVP73
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“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0rT7tUfdn
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAUdDEkKnF9
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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—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZK1vZeUlNU
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“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLKHusWbRq
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9VmbEsmG6
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGpuBDzWys
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjLKhHfWAK
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She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAYVAWLedl
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He was severely mistaken.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUtw5rukiM
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMz2QUNIkX
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkYbxlShr9
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It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ln0HFfAkc
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIG3teYWqM
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjw4O8P20gc
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYJA7bCRsI
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pYQqrtx5W
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTde8U0bCrG
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She does not let go of him.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Tucib6R8Q
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And the déjà vu only worsens.
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“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXM5Nx7NF7T
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrQOP9OONo
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“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEmbk79xh7
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbFyYo1Zsp
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“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVf0W2eJKk3
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMusCvcIrpR
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“Doing what, exactly?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASZatzUxF8
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“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KMFfXnAST
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“…A ninja?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1o6hJcahq
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ861BHhPsmp
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SnYpbJ5WS
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7vFyCDk3N
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“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBIAnLKzSv
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSzV9quXIK
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Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinxibrmnIj
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Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTWKdasRVI
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Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TcFNeIM36
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“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNq8zUQZv6
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKiCEQcplOy
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUp4Jcl3yR0
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“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglrQvWjr7l
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSPfbIxEUi
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He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTUKE1BMqr
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But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwcGqvDYAx
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIaAFj0Z8V
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTmg2e7f7Y
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They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJlr3OEsEB
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“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfk0itp4gnF
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“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCAOcg25Qz
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcf6cI7mjO9
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1PoCMCdJ6
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xDf5f6b93
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEIkieq7pZ
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgfFjzNx3h
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRZCR7CwcO
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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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeXBRMpobu
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qNoXGtxiO
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He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFogQuBLCC0
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLJl4Tfqb3
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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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zxjv76LmV
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Karin shrugs, unfazed.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBcKBvaqdcd
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMn4ggXPW1Q
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That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡko9PAKLTeV
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“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV84sBTqA36
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Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcpU7X1IkU
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For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPoT12TNsa
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUOgNaMZMv
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWATeGaFFM
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOqJ6H707e
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzG5Bx4Ds7R
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCTc5dXlmf
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjk2vMaK5tM
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WkwuULXEq
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpaA9q5mtR
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhm2fCCjzsC
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2qbPmD1rS
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5AypeGm62v
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3N4zsJxYJn
“Always.”
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665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyz1G6A3ER
It happens on a rainy night.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQSEKb4uE8
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6T53WZPYc1
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoUAx5krPy
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshBV3E6wAq
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmZHBgsEpW
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRC3C7zOesD
She hadn’t been.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEnWHXzlem
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTTR5QyL1w
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0R0PaYY7h
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1YoC9DVlN
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQvm9qDMG0
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVS0obU3TGO
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQLSTvPiIF
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2BjCuDsPf
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQxtm6P3YQ
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByn80xioQA
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUs39kQmph
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDawAIsKx97
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVgmsBpcPD
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhdVoSqiyv
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTj5GPAKxF
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSrwasi8YE
“Hey, you! Wait!”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw40B3B99OK
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGoMdq0D13
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsoYMo5vBDh
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwRBLjKkkx
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGdaRY8KFY
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6BUi53qEq
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPOseuhqDea
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7LtbQRBQC
“… 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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡViTkmeQTSu
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBRCxrkxDC
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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvbE7vL40q
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEV0mpeSwY
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3euB0aqRm
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIZs8g7AS9
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmR8OiP4BoX
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvi5jB9bCQ
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5hyQZR2O4
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfo37bhzkf
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UakTzbaRy
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH710iyDdV3
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoj80gOQgv9
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJAbEBHzXe
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1b1yU9lutQ
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhb9JWRatl
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKaOWaPJac
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34lsfA5dKs
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouIvX8LU3u
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2C3yskRkdP
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCHFFoiJjS
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3E6A9XT1I
'Always'.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRYMs1YH1A
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQBgoOQghG
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvI4VGPM19
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijPJagRype
“Huh?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLipvNZFiIw
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUZR8Y11wJ
She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXpG9HJqcV
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfohkkgIecZ
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkf9IOPIwm
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRd7xmmQ5Rh
“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—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTxgVrGYTe
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgEPmEm9pGC
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpep4GWfnV5
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ790oK5VDRB
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ322zJFqbs2
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuxXcTsBET
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqcwoEWxEv
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcFZGffpUQ
Damn her.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUpLAlFfN5
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXi4V5ew7Ni
“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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqaxLGhF8b
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtedKiASkYL
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKOvjuW7aD
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzAKI0lq99
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7G58Xl8Mss
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIvJMxNWNG
“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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtfgtdRvno
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVKoqoiIu4
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
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“I brought you the papers you requested,”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtH8jMKzm5
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8PFwJxsSL
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEYyXfhqxr
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRGcHlDvKH
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVpU0xRDC9
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY76OdiHJsS
“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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTId6SlBlP
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3wR311T0D
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyvc4SSFuo
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpcO6MpdQS
“Any complains?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7MZOZgajF
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCysPVMMntO
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡike2lkGrx9
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRDbpG9T4G
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
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“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkY3fetRsL0
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡarp1aCEWar
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkKU75uK6u
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpa40knxJbd
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUF94kNzG2
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrRQX3RVow
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQqiABHz0m
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQBn9KpfKF
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0GSbNMAZ6
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTMOWdv4ue
'Always'.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39CjtcG6Jb
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpPkzK6Uvb
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5ns6pw0AN
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZZMVa5B64
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUsbaLaCI9
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Q3vd9TXsn
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0z7N53ip9A
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7eafkcf0DP
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkx182oRsum
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQomtdSp1R
“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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJcoQCOHjs
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7futZifLM
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnd374Z9e2k
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmTdt8dY6l
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXH52HCFxkt
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdD2RdrCDoS
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10pmcwCG9D
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7UY0Ttnjb
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5EG47da3C
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5s5waAfNS2
“…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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDt6BIRE2I
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpswcE19XBh
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqC0yATjII
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2pnKHaEsI
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGAwZggEGC
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAeoEfX3sE
“…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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgTvHlCyTLg
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDg52DW3M6r
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdTKE5op4Y
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5bJ72wWrq
“What?” she snaps.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJt7d9ZpOR
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1pKEf7PZf
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxm9VIXtHM
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Uqub6iAPl
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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWmDyDgiIK
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDiEvcv1CGm
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDtOlvziDJ
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZeAhnFo11
And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
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“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8qSnyawbQ
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zAua56Sd0
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2a9NodEgHh
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1obd8j4FQ2
“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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDeNEZdgBr
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTw4UB8K67
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WqQflTTGw
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysY8JHrG30
“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?665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOntIYm9mRG
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AQTgwjJnH
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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6A2ZJIosf6
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRZi4YowuZ
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0GDg189QY
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01wWdOA68k
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1L2Fh9dyJ
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXUsfR1iBy
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡir0JZnydst
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxIY2m818r
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJFerOsua4
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jKWgVhglI
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsp3zMDmob
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcTNi57od3
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ98ej69fNXt
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UC85oNvAk
Damn you, brother.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTbhM32yTr
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGr7S8J0JKm
“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICZYD4nTra
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUs2DYiRxo9
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzJpkn9UXu
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAYHCE8yeT7
“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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrr8RHSRzk
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ246eO65gtF
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOgzjQp56e
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmGLdXSKWa
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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mxzYTu558
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BBWbgjIuE
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXI8CfQvgp0
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdC0DadS8L
“… 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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHOW2KwtNe
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41OZHkC7fG
“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukd6Qla6FO
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSw1SVEsObS
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUx5SpaNWAA
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlVuAxeDMr
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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZDzYsJBJ5
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Khundd9JJ
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—665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMVzXSFaB8
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YyUdR4gFQ
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5ODTPbTid
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKAyUmnN0Bh
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kNL8fV66E
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMA0ynCRQm
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhJyuXSJlz
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vEJ8fHVSK
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGs54NRLhwl
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFoOs2683w
And then she is grinning.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0NOWRHBks
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpcHkxbpvB
“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAWpY5ZZPq
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcW1IyGgXu
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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKqqUyOlRz
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZ4evVU3zf
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrgVmT9aHl3
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhncLm13SvS
“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXx5DtR0tad
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8snnlebid
“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—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuM6S5JGTf
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSNFUHepxC
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaM09o031Ag
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmkm8A4r9a
“Excuse me.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7X0DLTJz5
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aK6h1IHrI
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgmMHzyaeq
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwzlZdkMJQ
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLMOUF72UM
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcIu1yr9aL
Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6fDx1hoTM
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXdJrPyeJs
He could feel it, too.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIM6lDXB7q
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYKKUHUu98
Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwOghvPnXN0
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNmLarqQZ5
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
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She can hardly believe it.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9bfZcylrF
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXIJMJ5juV
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBNcVFoHTZ
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Vka0QxLyD
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbCVmr4iTD
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvsNxDlKYb
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHyadNMttAm
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjg3Lk04NAv
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFD2zAbob0
“What’s so funny?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Tsd34B5Rx
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6ZtNJ9CFO
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBDvOafoV2
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU23J31J61f
“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjgQvRyLPO
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxh3z2CmAX
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjK2JaRvwb
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYDMbJKoRU
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYnqfpQxiN
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyeiRTkF17
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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HW65V8I5B
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FcWivspU1
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOH1SlSa4F
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SzqYPU6N4
“S-asuke—” she chokes.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYStsaJsAx
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvaHVomcGBC
But he does not listen.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0w5nW0Syd
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpreC9fdpVA
“…mine.”
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She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7isXjUy36K
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XtXy3k1sD
“Sewing again?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMx65X590WC
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZN2UDV7Mf
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNbL5CoXlL
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6wRpWW3Bj
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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh0mtzy3Yx3
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJDgEh4DWG
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSt8NKZi212
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOZ2VWiQdH
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfQO4rvFLo
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6oIa50koN2
“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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgZVK9pYmd
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHt3QVGe49
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVzuE7pnkb
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrq6xRlWJSK
And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmhziPF7xG
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKs4mCyng6U
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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkKrNy2G8a
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JyylYgBjR
“Doing what?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYd3cSBw3Ld
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzbcaGXBKa
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkTtuzHeZu
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“Or what?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡev2VPRDz3D
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlOY4E6VTE
“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtv95ZDx0OH
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxHAowgxGt
She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Lc9STq0Yr
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYf08Gwr04A
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlFPCL82nV
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkym4sRAFeG
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLUkja1zcu
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzg64yuOKI
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wRThHqC3H
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmAtWHWMqU
Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizJEfHj0Iz
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjpMozXWuq
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡim01SJznAk
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfpgEiQmcK
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZG6ixBrsM
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDXleqgpNX
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—665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAB9QEvemY9
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2TgjnebByQ
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdlOYFG4cE
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIi0jJCUc6
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3IX9qMUZ1
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qFNSVJc40
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29GsmJ99Rb
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EwU27ZHW4
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFbuclZGdj
“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vLjyxtBx3
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7qtmyFpno
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQa0hxeQQVE
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“I told you, it’s fine.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeByldbqx0P
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He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uJBG1cwo6
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvLfSgSjc6
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK20KbfbT6u
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjxDyEM2JMU
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYnEWh6nTL
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0BucmVXuW0
“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TfSRLv0jx
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRULzk5ovK
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXECCrzDLoA
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBSJ5CHctXD
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPU8SvWrF0
“S-sasuke, what—?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZEKCcEPuv
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroC71zYROX
“Where were you, Karin?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi93sN7uoIK
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDctlFfYPEV
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexWYZBI2cR
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMp6DWjgZ1e
It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMy2HLmOoT
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But she holds her ground.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdyBl9ZEvB
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7maa0L8d3
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQK6LHAI6N
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxO2FHAdBuU
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2L5LLqXup
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjHaKqaoX2
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—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCTbx2FxjR
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JKwSE9NuO
“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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5fEZbfWAE
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9xLzEwoWN
“Sasuke, I—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9qEjarOOw
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTfPqLL5m4
“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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvh84xnmRVL
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGUs5COnAx
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyVSHvSSAv
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GCxyFL02Y
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDS9kZFZdbi
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiXPKZrgVE
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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhl5Wjbmo6
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfXWWvIpXY
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWfd6fz22f
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdw6srQQwpW
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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzglk1nxU5F
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOP5aPPQ0T
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkt0YuZeKV
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHMeRz8SQz
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2WsDIdYjUA
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDcsocaEGH
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5V34yL4sY
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodtdWNnfaT
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXdZXltzIy
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsjHSFhY7c
Even himself.
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665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUOuUfImIpv
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzWW1NpIKP
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4r3TlpUicW
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSTtuVB7uu
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyrxLH4J5kt
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTsVAibkKd
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLAjBJRatG
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvU5EBLCit
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxB3qxmyQJ
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnP4eXzTWE
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthhjwFbDkd
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XAiBjVfEs
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4zDXt0IND
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBaTTeW2FD
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81QXiiLKvH
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVO5n0GoabB
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwLQ8KKfry
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktjhzVONtc
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665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFleuy024fY
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyMEgRrF4F
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoo4UO72OV8
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoMDKGb7u1
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSu4l840JB
In this case, it is both at once.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrJhl00VGQ
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVc3aAT0UZ2
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SQCCdAIdB
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACQGnYzqIz
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ivmptO4rs
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGJqa9dNfs
Broken promises.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Zw8CYAxd4
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7oPBhr63fY
A call. A funeral.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYRgw6Q1MZ
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXtHVuyLnxw
And tears.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52iaUlvMEF
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLycMfDvF69
Heartbreak.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDZ681W9LC
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7HvNsFZsi
Loneliness.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqKrNsOznvQ
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1dQ9oGlrcx
…then there was nothing else.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqNKvRtPsd
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hlEnRrX7c
And then there was everything all over again.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFd8531JQY8
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MvH109QDy
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDV0rZTcjl
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVA1gDwqg1
He can’t stop.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVG55cXDzk
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vVmhrJjw1
He does not want to.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcQDropM3G
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJWcCPKhj2
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAYIPu3OG3
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLRABy5n88
The door creaks open.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDK5ezLOkkQ
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pliFgnq7l
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3u7QzYRmYT
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAdumQHCk4
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFgCvhMH6LI
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs29iCSejnZ
(“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.)665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgr4eD39Y5
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9beLHPXvJe
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLsfM1akAo
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbxmovvG80
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
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665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapTPr6gn6D
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYBrumfPj9
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgFfZh3UZP
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6bkcfcA7P
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDI00zlbJRx
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjBmMsh0aY
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLonE0efwsa
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTEA3NabOt
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFqQpnU5kb
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOii8D6z1X
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6P4y8GXFU2
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38QGXjTAve
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEotJIL33Tn
And then she parts her lips.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2kgNbqR0j
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1lXUdrb32r
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGaOBHD6Cer
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82ZvJdhRuZ
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYT5SM2G1XS
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lb4hqheri
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLOcCu0bSwF
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZu7JeBlX27
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
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665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCuOZ005Hv
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAlKcrkkec
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ32yu9af86
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYACqfLqBS
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWLeqbxg2i
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa47v96Dxqj
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJ2Ck2oPQ4
It makes something in her tightly clench.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDjaFlwOE1
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0P1u3qMQa5
“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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpGqepzJhu
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPL7r9mlMj
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTdU5gxaqn
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcYzHo2x2c
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkrAFAMCz9
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUo4sdDnLgo
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpjmFzvpOb
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4vSctsbVg
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqZ70RZAZH
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyglJjVsxu
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUhm2ba4Jb
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJ8pu6zZqn
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
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He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXkZR650iO
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1llt4zPwD
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRlp1bBBjt
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwnljymUMt
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9zQOGOpzO
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc23SD9tdIg
“Sasuke, no—!”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4Ixp9iKRj
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7qgGx4dAR
“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—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMt3oyDoTdc
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BcyjZiZZ1
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlhY91dPL9
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklNmdLT4EE
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwjjxEPzCM
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwW5srvr6O
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvWv1wUwAJ
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBMYZUDliP
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSsknqyYlwr
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbErxQjdx6
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUIsSphhTa
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1Eoxjni9I
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNq3MeX2Dk
‘What weren’t?’665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLMsRnFvN3
‘...You.’665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTYUKJ8Rho
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEugK4V3oFC
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDm7TmMr2Pp
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfnAq2UcYm
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
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665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6SquWeWrg
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6doPdFctSz
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17tYFdveVf
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvWm0Cxv1a
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbiaDNQjMA
“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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0PDK32eF8
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2JnXtOFIs
“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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIamIqPiPk
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XcadqtUMi
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvgeJhEXfkC
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5kR8WDWWs
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCI4xIoGwDZ
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAf74drstun
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
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665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfDrePaWhz
“What was I doing to you?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMBVXermU2
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeH1bfiCZWn
“… I don’t remember.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7V1KnKIwt
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8J7HyLfRm
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjFbequ0Be
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvOBUvxZ5ux
But he has played that game long enough.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtv4mXEzAVN
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsksUSScG2
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18ggZxnDZd
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgLAJRhFdi
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgSlt6RjUk
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjFlSUnw8A
“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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjbDf4NQds
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdA7A9S9ywi
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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAo2HKJlZXH
665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdHPjQSFiU
“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIisCsSbh3
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYNutPFiwm
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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—665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFoEMlf0Xnv
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpqjMa7eiY
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“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooZppnNWAi
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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—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXPcsqC9zf
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4f9k37CX2
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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—”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioV2d6MJ4o
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpqrjI9Q6W
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There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXCGrdQiW9
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZLByBsjg3
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“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLpQWUQFJf
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6McCH0J4M
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And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRqWkA8jYN
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“See ya… Sasuke.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDg7YLl3kjQ
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHufiR5TnU
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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—665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoy4PeIvWTV
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKa2WbYYw2
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKi7pacIGP
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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?”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuCwBo6VT2
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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.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyyX52D4Df
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYTgiTbwwB
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“And, above all…”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5iyBT9pJi
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3ZSqpcvj4
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupZxmiGM9j
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Except that it doesn’t get to.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZ4gmdAGvj
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUf4KPXrSEg
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“See ya.”665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3n9c5DzkQq
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This is what I give,665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmsB1BAeWt
A circle is complete.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsO1Uk9Tv2
Another circle spins665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2BHVsA3FH
There's life within,665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKF8VuZVblJ
Within
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end.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovTyS66TIi
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBz2sPXWzdc
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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.665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MXvstaRnV
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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~!665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HvfZfGpZb
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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 lol665Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhL6zVTmjq
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Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
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