[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~!499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF94xyZEX7v
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By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8oQkESEU2C
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvmqwhjWUw
Word Count: 8.810499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd43YELIpst
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2AUZ3s1i5e
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGudwkPnUjD
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcjeozDuXv
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A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouz2xHlPIM
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To the stars that played with the darkness499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrLgi5sa7TD
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvTsAHMwQs
by Kanae499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaQxWW4fiR
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQAV2cDA0l
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Something in his chest tightens.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWUSu6LSbm
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmQkbncMYz
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Just a girl.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37dcfCWEuD
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Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kUfwKhPEO
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He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6h2Iq1Ei4
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJJjq3orE1
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The girl.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgf1AbN9dA
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The redhead.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWCf6u3131
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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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZCL4Ey0AS
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnr0FxsfuGd
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“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CSmvzA1wt
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNvV2ufh6L
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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—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXq5Yr0VGGM
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“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSk14N7MDP
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWCOjbpRBE
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzazkj5ueGT
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmke3w6PrWt
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She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOawvNj9C9
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He was severely mistaken.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRqg5ghQDh
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdPGHL2ZMo
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJEqUODBoy
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It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPePEpgkn5
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrprf1VPL0
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvYQzAsK3u
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtNBZ0CgE4
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzUzOFZcaC
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqT8z27TGK
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She does not let go of him.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFtFcOO9LG
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And the déjà vu only worsens.
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“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0Bc32UHVQ
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrVpd4hoTW
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“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYwBuu4tiv
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtSZJkPgjc
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“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XBAjk5UQN
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRyrKpeel8
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“Doing what, exactly?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1T3JagkjF
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“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2wT2FibGY
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“…A ninja?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqcP1OQiX1
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOCmdrgkfi
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMrisXjsGe
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18qSCTkF4s
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“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBmbPTwHYE
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyhWIRWGAD
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Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeyEF6jZu2
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Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82BZ1S4epD
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Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfiMyVjgQz
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“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjZuAtpZT7
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOzoNYU4ZB
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZYDVyupPy
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“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOQyMismW1
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7SzsWMymh
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He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2FheoaybQ
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But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHR0gMgJDt0
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtWPUKTedt
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiegJIBGsPY
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They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHGVEijvEc
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“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNI0mXcfNq
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“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYbHFP6cmQN
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjKE8Ha9wh
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99eyGYo4A0
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJiIXRn8MB
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkX7lFFJcMP
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEObaP4LV0C
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmaH3XfEsJ
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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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwTPg4RPiu
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5lhTr9uEn
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He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCWnQ3xRs7
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmWb61Pyjb
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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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QMXmwG0Nv
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Karin shrugs, unfazed.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrpiIQYBma
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3FkUTe8F3
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That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvnCCmr5IW
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“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzHuF9RCJ2
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Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMG7Qmmw3Hv
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For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNPpsvsTmZ
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvU2IPVAMx
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHA05SsJIp
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UN6nseExN
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4nS9UUge3
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Bjx8g4Hlj
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsD7pakNSH
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJHBEC8ZQMR
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUU5R0FZ4Fz
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK885PHvnMU
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjq4V7KP7kA
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoseMvA41w
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAN2TXHKCO
“Always.”
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499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfRECJNsCf
It happens on a rainy night.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4W4A7xTkV
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxaB6eRXGVv
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91lunrdWTr
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hfpPTYKhi
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSx6kWWJwKb
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVlXZxmcO7
She hadn’t been.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAITYjpaJm
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY14tPa40IQ
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6XCKu5gwi
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIHQZeE90i
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vj8jEKQVp
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYoze4Wg5RV
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgJNGLGB7D
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQC3u2v84p
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6oAZhAa24
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbiwFdnUPB
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFt53a6ada
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡurPQ8wNWrj
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZre5OAtdN
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPs7p6SpEMe
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LZemInK8t
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HprRlf6g3
“Hey, you! Wait!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWddzskbo2
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpHBznSQ6P
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZaQoebaJhk
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrqzPPvNbU
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPc9xmJx6B
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3jaY88m8f
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1pIr1jq4E
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgz0TVvcKwo
“… 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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAne5971yL
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTDjqwxIGx
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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVqtP6kdVN
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33WPEBenuk
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQBxwZqZaS
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMwmoX8Q00
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXhZWIb1Zl
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9fJmmKfzc
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡanlLpiZAa1
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgtTEfcgg2
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArtP7DCNqa
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCKqTAtqgl
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalGbIVhpOi
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXIpkTfi0S
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFBSNKMOWa
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGubI93OnT
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6q7H3M54Q
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3DzMGDXuH
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQptJ1WfT9N
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnsNAiNWZP
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdwRYvHzSE
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW15U5KIbW4
'Always'.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinkI9ZMUtx
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM698RsknP4
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gwpOHeC79
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“Huh?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5wuoqmsFi
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She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0E97xsWjxs
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdliriN6ylp
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvZxp7MJc4
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhybZfQqBVg
“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—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZgHrFbVz3
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRmuWBwipY
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvGcgGslPG
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpD5t3yUPxi
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xVOhS61ZU
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDQkBU8pt5
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhNIx9ur1X
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHhDkwubCJ
Damn her.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXe0stQBJ7
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡan4HVNpEOE
“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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54xXcz3HHq
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3lXBmA631
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QmrgUuKFG
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHELpp0T9B
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdayq4bCFcb
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcoRAE1oGH
“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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcxMMwMcJR
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozwCYuErDt
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
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“I brought you the papers you requested,”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhyHKh8HyI
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPA0DMArWh7
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGl6dQbnH7q
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL78becXxRX
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWALrrtcxb
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡul8Nh1CUS0
“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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfaOhmpFRJ
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡng6ZoZcYKE
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWvstA0fBy
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsLDwpKE5E
“Any complains?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fidzhsveL
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD25j8NyDmY
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHKaG2FR1S
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZpRkrKkNi
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
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“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztVln8hFzT
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XqpAbKwLs
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJM5yN7Wzhb
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlaXLrs7ufk
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVB8gKh6co
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWx88ovg68
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtWThxLoQP
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRXrTKn0O8
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10lB42qvxq
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxa0SSrFG2
'Always'.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRd4DGMh1W
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxI7uHJg7M
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnXS63vQlH
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGTYFYQo1w
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLcul0ZYVe
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kBegrJCOL
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlh84JVsx5s
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKCUmAAQQR
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsR9hqXhoZ
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyY1V8PqjIl
“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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5aIZNFdCH
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlHd88zwaF
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLOTKW1di0a
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKJ1PnUnZM
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpM4PgGa1R
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY435H9wDZM
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2mnGYNeVs
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlBNIvtv4t
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBG1USRNgT
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ibxrI4jCI
“…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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPu62IZDUG
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBPMEVs7Oj
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3ZDJdfGRa
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hvcKW9mbP
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqURURrdy91
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqSbYfNa7Z
“…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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMszhIwv496
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEwE7kpdQt
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcojYxmHSRw
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGN7VvAQZuR
“What?” she snaps.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKceAOihxdd
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1Bd6LdhvI
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3s8vP5QE5b
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Emxv6EiMf
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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCLgDm6CQU
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCt2fWR78z
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Cy9rhZ8zv
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORub53n6SR
And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
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“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwPCvte3qj
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTA0VhNsZq
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTqiML3Nrn
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VR3KFMOx3
“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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fRUYhriwm
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡocWjfU3rca
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjxat9ooAf
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUgHEkRWi5
“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?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eMqdtPMm9
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIktqk0U9O
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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuo4pd6BsVn
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgx25s6uI3I
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BPa4hqAhC
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jX83swfwU
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjgB9yEukt
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVQOT33rAs
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZanG4lTVL
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“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUYWDv1LQ9
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Wq8HMQASY
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLE99WYbGb1
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh2sxMancc6
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7B2quL1386
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Damn you, brother.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mxlx9I8Ai
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJqxKviDCy
“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNFVIAZVGZ
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFrDIlvN39
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYqKSY5b6C
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYR6JEaYenY
“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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAjPDEKc4Bf
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Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYV9X0Beva2
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOBoAsZqxh
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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDg8vXVyJj
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMcPNMG816
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8nfeeKsQpv
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8eUXRICYO3
“… 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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2oH0NYLbj
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgpxroRpH3
“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSAJdc0HPz
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqEipPMC7U
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSB2F83i7W
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlE0dDYFRhY
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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzgpGKYCDl
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrupOf7jxw
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—499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pebPQWxEk
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcSpCdCank
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4Fpzf5AAm
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRNkIo86Hf
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05FLUq8XWi
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCHofD8OwW
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoJedGyLn8
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDTBUoEXxG
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBJ6KSVToO
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxlObmIja8
And then she is grinning.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlwlB9Qceu
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgxJfdssyS
“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLcSAInLYx
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZmw4yVyX6
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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRZdaHJsax
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡckaYQXIuDW
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdf7P5HBO5
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGH9aJlg7Vk
“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIdMe4bWHo
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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—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsb2MWHyPp
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIGGVkLcKH
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncdJ24XR7I
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiigUqVe9ST
“Excuse me.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAcWeFcgoA
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZOn22Lwty
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwd0hslTPw1
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2GKBlBI7x
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNkyxKERf5n
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLoMvEmHWX
Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBp7zv7YmV
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He could feel it, too.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAVh0brOIf
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qMMLi2SbI
Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvHsyMiwH6
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpCwgvC2Rc
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
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She can hardly believe it.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwaaug7xNk4
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0aDPheDPK
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQTBAzrrkM
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRjF34hw8j
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8M6Quw9kVY
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMUAHpC3Q6
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdnR9pTxxx
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPjDjKd5PP
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeC5lPJIxW
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwA76DTqwPU
“What’s so funny?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGorrO2MJbL
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQybk2ixBj
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DxhqTiJfy
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrj6uNbdWNC
“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeLufhgdwB
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXVVXDzpjr
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0c0tKQ8ExO
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHE6d99Umfw
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7AyxVOGgT1
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPKnLpK8DR
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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAloh9ba1U
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTWgqsyozM
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJSwosfjVZ
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGLODX0yAB
“S-asuke—” she chokes.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2o2MPzPHm5
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxaxmu5wKc7
But he does not listen.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKOraJe5Q1
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvIChNGZN7
“…mine.”
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She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEg15LLFC9
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CPkkYGSU4
“Sewing again?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgNsh9eta3
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcSWURUdHs
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviMx0Fa1sq
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkf9344BS0f
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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41drivvJGM
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZkINFEA4Qh
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLBA4rIFq8
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEe93h2HPCt
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJt4fkQr3u
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptP2VqZdNZ
“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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoJVKyq2ZO
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb533RbfQLq
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWNUzqFWfX
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70Z6Jy7bNB
And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxclz3wkl3m
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHLbnyXjFT
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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJ5znI6NDB
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYEIAUwTMX
“Doing what?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxK1HvKBn1
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOE6Wt7H6nr
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhrGwnycma
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“Or what?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhehgBxUKVn
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“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7re15JoD7F
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzLDz3P0FE
She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqygen7h5U
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXpEZcpDSG
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDLXzYomJL
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDXnL4qkfB
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3c6oN1svNQ
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3fLx7psto
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFTgKR1grM
Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5cNbRvhQ0
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2PUKC5yF3z
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcWSpwbCO8
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88jNzDGp1I
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9he5yf9ip4
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oXDj8RBlB
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—499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLSax3OAfI
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEJ6ClRaRJ
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfQz0l6UGF
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mUBy9EnWK
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhfeVmBsjB
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXccqXYV0c
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71px35ugn4
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpibxM9lsp9
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyxyKwpRk3
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirsgQOPdoU
“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmiqgdXGPz
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZjA4PuuY9
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovnWIuv610
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmZNrlQzZX
“I told you, it’s fine.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUGtZkVFtv
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He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oBn51g71Y
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoW765ZmBvn
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsHEMMZE9Q
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ebHlRr53U
“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUOsNu6uRIc
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCI8d9qg3G
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3YpBqYdH6
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHa2XmkkGP
“S-sasuke, what—?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi30Uquldao
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNk2N2GiDQ
“Where were you, Karin?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4EqtJrUBm
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitnkmniHkF
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluTOijBMmc
It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkOGtoUl6WY
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But she holds her ground.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8UAcf8ExH
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsgXkVpvy1
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPSkYK21AV
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXBhZvuZUo
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZG4wdM4kQ9
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVWrQtfPAm
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—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiG8JhEYB4
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡys3JeExZBP
“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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEmhBUPDUt
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZV7e1pUNXN
“Sasuke, I—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi153bCaVkG
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOp1qErIPnX
“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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRWjUafORt
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGCihy0dd8
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkN0yfusuD
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoo6ZTrpEai
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5r2jQg6Be
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfOiWo8MUm
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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkY7AtRInB
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6CgcLWAZW
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Rt98uEqpt
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDY92J486Q
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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8103mMKRiC
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qIgVuOGab
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JtjMAo4ST
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpTmIVnmus
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1zTrOOmGV
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSzj7Xq8sG
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNbbNzMTYY
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OL3ZhT872
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLeJNLTLgs
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVnxlcMOTL
Even himself.
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499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRemcEukhSs
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcPjY6b4oH
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRB3QbdFiFw
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZ2EjA639C
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYUbQbPUfy
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBSRAfZWC3
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjivcoaVf3h
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxIjHeVCZu
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIFBcPKQK3
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0L0aVRm6LP
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpI4N45wmFZ
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVw1AfMOaOz
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qYqhOqPAJ
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaMZJl1pHb
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSF7VtfbutW
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWs9E5Bbygw
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4P0p8Fbrg4
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPA0xvFrcZJ
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499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjZHg98rCf
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9fyLry7Dx
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpB8gqqIwh
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooBOS6q7Uj
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWj1vBFA0Q
In this case, it is both at once.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5riNpHGlf
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1YazMLomk
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPzStfUzQU
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1sKyNt5Rll
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbN8d49bsc4
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbt8yoZbA5
Broken promises.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqXLGkkF4y
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8THYB2Ui5
A call. A funeral.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgJg1KsxYf
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh95s5Ygg7O
And tears.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBioYc3ZgtU
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyJi5nVdZw
Heartbreak.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtpafSdBAS
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YD4RD3fRJ
Loneliness.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCXe0Q73C0
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTnGgGkOsl
…then there was nothing else.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8S0z8WzJOV
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And then there was everything all over again.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8tQwFCnxb
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXFePfw3wC
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvU8ECqauDz
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskoTBlroNb
He can’t stop.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55DnnqtYUD
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4c015TUeUc
He does not want to.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWMENLV5sF
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvcujhDhdH
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwCAIMfd5E
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYP38JzZOrB
The door creaks open.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhzM275ohiO
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypjIsaVpe1
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPpSYX659mG
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjKpqmP4Fi
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYPw9S1Dov
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNgTItSfoB
(“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.)499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQowgy50Os7
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3G3rktPVAE
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKNBKxHCbw
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2EWwrbZNyY
(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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6J7217qrt
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WVT27QnWA
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEMKnE91pe
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6kcM8isfL
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLojQJXKvr9
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xqr3CvT4q
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8nDFG85x79
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtA8WXhxh9
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8KwKUshwPL
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEg2ui769oy
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNOD3NkoDr
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIts8lEhRTJ
And then she parts her lips.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTKYlrjCf5
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eUQpqFTHZ
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ff9F5YwCX
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrgmySNqmn
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmy8sUcThm
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6WzeXx8nD
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsreO51UMRk
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUOsbI1jsV
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
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499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KEM3QPCHj
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BvylyHeTo
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXdayZgvSd
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGymIOYldXH
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9JSGCWgTz
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWf7G929zU
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxgK49gVI5
It makes something in her tightly clench.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡycQs9HZz59
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCex45X8hr
“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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOf5RtrnfYg
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdBpDlmIpo
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXiiLwOPUTv
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHVlSKJjXn
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBC6lAn6yq5
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJ9iI7akwf
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaB80pRKbq
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlqCjpZd31
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfkxuKt7ag
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyE5rwfttJ1
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9KfT62tmS
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sNtEkrxDc
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
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He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFhWFfd0U1
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv42KdcWCh1
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQzwEgD2MO
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAEiL5K281
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkInWbyeh9
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SbQayodLy
“Sasuke, no—!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsyimfEmFVt
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhML3MfLC8
“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—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTXoa4R0hW
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5ieL839fW
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡliZle2Hd64
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2A9omrsimH
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3WjIKcOh8y
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8u6tSh0tYa
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5JLZWm0sPb
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNoKJVvLDS
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdu0uHs5BHh
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyB1ZHFhIHo
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6rJVPs0gG
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvEOyvX1Zv
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtHKwZFXHe
‘What weren’t?’499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9Ty0BR4h8
‘...You.’499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2h40wX6EfM
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMuMTmRGuI
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcvYAGGhvi
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduNoGtvqrv
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
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499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3rtvSzB9D
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxm72aM0jO
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9KBniaQ1j
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvI01J8yLDM
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WX9FJpkR8
“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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvnfX65eLq
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslTZJxHIlV
“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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4H6ey3NS7
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIQR3MIXn3
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGQC7vLoEH
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHuVi3skT1Y
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEhOfjH0FF
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And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
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499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslPFZIdpV2
“What was I doing to you?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQfi3JyAa2
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6smdonFXDW
“… I don’t remember.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4R6WgdagVp
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSHWw0ffnP
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVclWvD4X37
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmBaS89SaIF
But he has played that game long enough.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6UPT0cqQw
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88MF5cYMWb
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5H0VgDXGS4
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZJPpzAT27
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdhTx1jG6Q
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcrSjlr6qy
“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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWumQpli1Sr
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0PJCzklPf
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobtcZW1D3P
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfFSOKPnlAD
“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdAO77qOaw
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXU4pAXdbJx
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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—499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmUuBfAMBq
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVVZYEXb5Z
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“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtjNSp7X82
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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—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZkw8QmY7E
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4OftcCnyx
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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—”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVW39VnEd6c
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUHWnegQNY
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There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoNrBvg4kR
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFtoNJ8fR5
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“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCq24tDy8qQ
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFvVB8Hl2u
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And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhHPT9EnzK
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“See ya… Sasuke.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46ExG3xnq3
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnx8Yd1Bvz
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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—499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡciqRQgAWjc
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFfqT4fvJS
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxv85Wn0rHk
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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?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtiDDOn7sV
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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.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwgz3m7eHD
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtWIDO5Tcs
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“And, above all…”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmQYETbYEv
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDGDNPMrmI
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMTAoOuYOu
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Except that it doesn’t get to.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtcXCBPHqkh
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNhSnJp9nW
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“See ya.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSHdB6Iu86
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This is what I give,499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlg5xppHzdv
A circle is complete.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZrBgUPQqN
Another circle spins499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1iaxNJQp0
There's life within,499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWshKiCS1L
Within
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end.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0T5DlmT68Y
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKH5wqdpB2
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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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpqkqrnhYi
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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~!499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5IginZ3Lh2
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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 lol499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzxS4dfwBn
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Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
ns160.79.110.91da2
