[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~!493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jiUkrPEQR
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNQVPNzMyN
By: Kanae (Goth-Punk88 @ ff.net)493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlwIKBKR3Z
Rating: M (some suggestive scenes, and some violence.)493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXzcZOTRRX
Word Count: 8.810493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQazRRQUkf5
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTk48Eji8R
Warning: Some OOC-ness due to the fact that I'm working with future SK... among other things you will soon realize lol493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvfKF7eKKx
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVd48qovhPE
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dsNPHNlrp
A heartbeat that awakens from the ashes.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFsammSIQb
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvIeKB0mbn
To the stars that played with the darkness493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplv8D3MG8S
I sang of love and burned up completely
Wildfire493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguyxuFghbH
by Kanae493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQ0c5ZmeZm
-
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7l02v4saR5
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0eGuTDzrH
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLksu8tV3X2
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyGwUSIZo6
Something in his chest tightens.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ioBoTSsVP
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HCERJsw3q
He is looking back before he knows it, uncharacteristically standing still as his eyes seek the source of the red; a girl’s ponytail.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuzxT4zxxu
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2T6D9nv0Tw
Just a girl.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFo1V3jRha
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrssz2HjrR3
Sasuke all but snorts, mildly shaking his head and turning away in wonderment.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oRYLFql8A
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8qlGNA0lM
He misses the way the girl stops, her back straightening as if bolted.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQojmlqjp5
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡanD5DKgdRS
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgzHMtGCq2
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54vGKwapUW
The girl.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxGfGcYvs4
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpxpu09DHt
The redhead.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQxZckIa3V
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxACwApWS9O
“Sorry,” she says, and she is a little out of breath. Had she run to catch up with him? “Do I know you?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6TgM6A1Wd
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfZliflrcH
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡERJ7FlysRG
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ28o6YOrNQy
“Don’t think so,” he replies, trying to sidestep her—but the girl blocks his way again.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4yQ1JbIqA
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwY2S4K7or
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zLUWGqpce
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQvd7jIczh
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—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCyEFbMKnJ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDnD7MJeH8
“You’re right,” Sasuke agrees, clenching his jaw and walking past her.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3FJ3UO2HI
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNycbJGmDrJ
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMGhZQAvez
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡye7tGPCkaK
“… 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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbP4JaYNByU
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡED6FdSMZYC
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uPkuL21Qu
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzekxTEGbR
She falls quiet—and Sasuke thinks the odd conversation has come to an end.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEi7Q8g8hz
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwscU4RIbMe
He was severely mistaken.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWa9mgL4g8V
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61FMkkOHCY
“And, when you were eight…” she suddenly whispers, her voice vague, “when you were eight, your mom gave you a dinosaur-shaped toy.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzG1zDn4fFx
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb44eWxHZsd
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hkJD94r49
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAYBU4lbybB
It is slowly that he turns towards her, eyes narrowed and heart galloping inside his chest. “How…?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBiHPVmS59
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2jKqy5bO3
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK24TilcrUp
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw58MAx9fmR
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV32kUhD8lG
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVV4JtkytwR
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeaytvtuklm
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL969TKXrnH
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UqyPn5nJo
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2pY6mpto6
“Let me go,” he mutters, though he can’t find it in himself to oppose any resistance. “I can walk by myself.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6cmkKMV4V
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAjXG4ExE2
She does not let go of him.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0qBY3ILME
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXxESf2CHZ
And the déjà vu only worsens.
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNY2GYb2dC0
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZ36d4HcRo
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FtpMkZKh6
“Come with me, Karin. I need you.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFnQpZKOzJ
“Huh?! Why should I go anywhere? I’m in charge of this place!”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74Y3zF1pyX
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBT6IGjgHPm
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQl0RZnGHkL
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeoQAa5w2B
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcxgZQAVQz
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2JeJSmeJy
“The… dreams?” he questions, and feels utterly ridiculous just by saying it.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DEW33CjKY
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwntIvLGZD
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VxEkmZzQN
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlF6UiVmS3d
“And these… dreams, of yours. They were about me?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VOnJyrT8a
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDuKqpRn9Y
“Not all of them,” she retorts thoughtfully, if not a little defensively; but then she shrugs. “But you were always there.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8S280zAPd
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7fze9gejb
“Doing what, exactly?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0gfxa4drv
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpNZoe6QQs
“A lot of things. Fighting, mostly. You were a ninja, sometimes. Both of us were.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwwES99r1F
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Uhe45ZOLS
“…A ninja?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzSwnHMOGQ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBK4toahAoN
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzTf7ytTCf
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGPttwalFM
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhJbIATHWG
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ZmOt0lB9q
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcceBYOClK
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOc9m0Fz23
“… What do you mean, exactly?” he prods with narrowed eyes.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ramv3GenC
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kEzX7yt5w
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRHKSZXU4i
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Bar5diLY8
Sasuke frowns. He didn’t like her tone, and neither did he like where she was going with this. “Reincarnations?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkfwYNN39w
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9K2Pf220w
Karin snaps her fingers, “Bingo.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTujauJjqLI
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA40UILWQaG
Sasuke snorts. “That’s ridiculous.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQFwEA7FZQ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMNvdpQ5qR
“I know you don’t believe in them, Sasuke. But that doesn’t mean they do not exist.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE298QlCIhv
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dGu9uHnBE
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUc7SjvgOmb
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZKsBfzMm2
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTRzuS3wjB
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡil3yqbsl1u
“But I am done hearing your bullshit.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEYubaSHzg
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYN198gBRZw
Karin blinks at him and then promptly snorts. “The you in my dreams was nicer to be around, I’ll give you that.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydnRtPklEM
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQ0p3fnwMK
He feels insulted, but he stays. And a little smirk quirks up Karin’s lips; as expected, that smirk said.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoOdaIionb
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByXjIUIDmw
But any comments he may have had about her arrogance promptly disappear as the redhead utters her next words.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEqb7IatJP
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbTvgdtaG1r
“I know why you’re so afraid of losing your parents, someday.”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvStBl98vVp
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEBI7IJLpI
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9fVag9Eoh
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiymFJDkM01
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbcNMwGu8P
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX74LjNtALy
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP05JPKvFHE
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVawBXXttnG
They. Because that was all that was left, now. She was all he had left.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzwv4HBdGF
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIAmC0PLJ2P
“We will get through this,” she repeats, because they would. They had to.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3nxyN5mGJ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURm6wrezBF
“You’re not alone. I’m with you, Sasuke. I won’t ever leave you,”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7aRksJfjU
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsk4okYRefc
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEzFOTVqHX
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtZKkI0Qv4
“I promise.”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUpRVyGzY9
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoj2swjbRax
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuHCJjXuoQ
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3C1eFRouI
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypvmaVyOSL
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Hc9txmtnP
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GJh2UWbUb
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXj5HB7SETD
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUdrFyiNvN
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhWn4p03Hc
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbtHyhibNs
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ScTM5zI4E
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhto54vf3x4
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFuVegbOej
“… 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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFD5ohDMUAd
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmlKcfvTHO
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuhk6VuuFh
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5rT2i7YQ0
He has really run out of patience. “Stop with the riddles, will you? Just answer!”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLCeU2gNVb
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cHempkhNn
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqk8ONUSQO
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8BHkTBg6S
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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vqcjm0qnZ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQrnq9LZIV
Karin shrugs, unfazed.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSwkCIs5sb
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadJVCi3gux
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIyCbQdt5G
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YB0eJBQ7k
That catches his attention. “What do you mean?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJKvojnHni
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4Ba6xtKqg
“… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBSjSEkJYt1
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvyfjJvSTR
Sasuke arches one eyebrow, curious. “What weren’t?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn75MqsFgWT
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEK8aAFzKO
For the first time since they got there, Karin squirms in her seat.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VWKdzgDJi
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjk7R0LTjn
“...You.”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEI9DLJsCf
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUYLAJCHkh
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsECZdKRhrF
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjthvlYHDCI
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPzDlPEs6kd
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeX0YICe7S0
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPwq8Gju20
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lVfXknwdU
“Karin… the moment you were taken hostage, you became an encumbrance.”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3fijMqSFS
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnzZlsYhmg
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcHjZahRzn
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdEZMELcNE
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnzau44Vnm
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBor8RA1Um
Sasuke hates it; having to repeat himself. But he moodily does, anyway. “What do you mean?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4BXezdR8T
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl65xbg7VW7
Karin does not reply right away; and when she does, her voice is the softest Sasuke has heard it sound so far.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozQJQFu2us
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLrAsIO8eW
“I always ended up loving you all the same,” she admits.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHrj17G7ue
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnjACPczSI
Then she looks at him again, and Sasuke finds that he can’t look away.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7qI51hxPk
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeHkEyPghG
“Always.”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68art8UZqM
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKSQHIQLoc
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXnn2Dcg5A
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEH6gsYKVp
It happens on a rainy night.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yIfoUP4Va
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsyuZXU03OL
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSJBALfXRh
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ9Mg1A9oLS
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyc0u199XBr
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvn6MDXs5cF
She hadn’t been.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hL24WQALy
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTA6N8P9rr
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEty99jiTHz
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKR8m81h3Ts
So much for not getting wet, she thinks, and it’s then that an umbrella is placed above her.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlCP41NbtR
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6pidoEsXk
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNl41bum7I
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZB88qtEAiR
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡarCHK0UZEf
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs82W7JBnub
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcg5xnO0Ukw
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XTfZU5g1y
But she can’t look away from him—and before she knows it her legs are moving and the rain no longer matters.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8UTdCPZE2
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTuhy0KsuR
By the time he has hung up, they’re standing at the next intersection and she is soaked from head to toe.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkW0YnrUGVc
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwS70Tqnft
“Hey, you! Wait!”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7J2HWf5Sg
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAjaPYAFapR
The business man slowly turns around, painfully so, confusion apparent on his face.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7uyO9vHM4
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7oqXlYopw
Onyx meets red and her heart skips a beat as his eyes widen ever so slightly.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxcmS0G2ue
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUAuCxeaVm
“Thank you,” she breathes out jaggedly and not exactly from the chasing, “for before.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9oxaMDXsQZ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUkH4fHCfV
“… 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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQue4Jl3qjL
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXARk8WqEU
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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGPIG7zXqH
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Sj11Id942
He tilts his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face. “… Hn, down the street, you say?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmbCt1CzZ3
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFLWQJSV6d
“Yeah. It’s less than a minute away,” she gulps, “so, what do you say?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRJbnlEPJn
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflHkZj12PH
He smiles, and his whole face lights up. “I’d like that.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSgtDlkjpv
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT5BBwoNHNU
By the time they place their orders, she is already in love with him.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJ36HV08Xr
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ936tHlA8vz
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UQBT49x5a
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTPKVpZbAh
He thinks that maybe he should be surprised, but the truth is that he isn’t.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1SaZ7PMBO
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mocvi7LzZ
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETw8vTlWx6
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHxTNFyWTq
“… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxX7spBmRl
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmQ6ndNpzG
Karin blinks innocently, a direct contrast with the amused smirk shamelessly painted across her lips. “What do you mean, Uchiha-san?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjfU2JhX7l
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpRwBau7Rk
“Drop the act,” he glares, matter-of-fact. “You knew I worked here.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHuZ2CSGZY
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ269ORIr7nL
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ovLnqMPes
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZDT8ROgqX
'Always'.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMn0TJqP9u
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxBztXRbcL
“—so not my fault you basically own the damn city,” Karin finishes, and Sasuke blinks.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xOsKiDDKV
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbfWYncSqS
“Huh?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡam5ZFUXqp7
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgo8L33zDKO
She deadpans. “You weren’t listening, were you?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fZJkBXjyj
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyYghDNeuv
“I was,” he lies through gritted teeth, prodded by some unexplainable force. Damn, why did he always have to bicker with this girl?493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMp3XmdDLR
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXfGxfQf8L
“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—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSlb1EQWzT
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj84gDq8mcl
He all but groans. “Stop, Karin. Don’t bring that kind of talk here, someone may hear you.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GSwrS4iTc
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52yeM0OYLO
“Pft, so what?” she huffs, crossing her arms and swaying her hips again. “It’s not like I work here, right?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9pIqnpN1b
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwyTg6YPzD
Her tone and most specially the glimmer in her eye as she looks at him told him otherwise.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRR62fEGAyC
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnmcrteeoM
Damn her.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdwOujiaz3
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyP6y6Y3Ack
“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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwdfaqoMj0
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOHgflBnDN
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqNpF3hvYO
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XHZyANv5i
As if reading his thoughts, Karin calls out to him from the door.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXCpqmkvog
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcQcMR8Ypg
“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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKxhLmDJBg
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9u1ZhzE7aa
And for some unknown reason, Sasuke finds himself blushing.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYffUvzwcER
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKk43gSB4J
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayEoxXnqht
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLCs8t4hzS
“I brought you the papers you requested,”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOFY9bapCI
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYdhkuKcs5
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCUSgvpveS
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFUwL2bOjd
“Idiot,” she manages to reprimand between kisses, “what if someone sees us?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZqZTDUCSC
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwX8eoZpiMB
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gHbNCUtyq
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZcLoUW5Nx
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtVBWZ4n5b
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9rEJseABi
“Any complains?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDeGxkvZhqz
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9aBbpGj8u
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqP8aqiUcL
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUx54ckVcgk
She has a mission to accomplish—but he makes her forget soon enough.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4lpxFfEuw
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTS6uDT2Lu6
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgugYir5Vg
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQkJNjbjEf
“I’ll have some Okonomiyaki, please.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiF2rHzv46
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsEENu8FrP
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡldHdn0AJUz
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TaNADuFht
“Whoa, Sasuke, That girl totally has a thing for you!”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1JdcfedgPE
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybigOxGBQO
Sasuke rolls his eyes; he was so over this subject. “Tch, she and every other employee, what else is new.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt94kgtkZs5
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHS2BOWBZ0
Karin snorts, “Cocky, aren’t we? Do I need to remind you that I am one of your employees, too?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nBjprPMYJ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xjHsXkPiy
'Always'.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhV8D70IFF
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxi2TzHwYPE
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1ljQNGZ7I
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezrCvQ4ZIv
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0MIpZZaqH
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0sRJvGUnY
“You really are no fun, Sasuke.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsNp1gj7Wk
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvkuDDOqhK
“Forget about that, Karin. You said you would tell me more about—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFY6GMS974
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBLonaagFJ
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfZYZCltpo
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJvxNc4THT
“Karin.”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jboogQL0s
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQUfjSExkF
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtX7dE90Y1v
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxB167LzyD
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcyOAQH3wE
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbxzkhEn7m
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgkBTFhnLv
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOm6mlCX6f6
He is the first thing she sees when she comes out of the room.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQPU45jwor
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86bHdBXMBE
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWPEhcapybc
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhy3LYPIeA
“…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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5bzs97zpW
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjy0I3YFKq
“Idiot,” she hisses, and means it. “You are hurt, let me—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbts7GioTS
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1kntWFHms
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTFhjvwIap
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXWEH4y4qA7
“…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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1NvADDvcDS
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbD7YQRTJzy
To her surprise, Sasuke snorts.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBltSYNbtn
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBpkfiiJjL
“What?” she snaps.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXeweysd65
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oLiwB2AZ1
“Nothing,” he says, and he is smirking. “Just, you’re the last person I want to hear that from, Karin.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGwH7qZtrJ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBdTrduZlV
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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJb1IL63WSN
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkWxFyqoUA
He looks down at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk softening around the edges. “…I wonder.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdsLWim8VhF
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7CWidcd2au
And despite her blood loss, her blush only deepens.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46O0J9nmgg
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlQxLobmYq
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOqxGDI2Wk
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61F5pqQmIj
“Would you like more tea, Karin-chan?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cOHxBboow
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ310Tm9hlLU
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtVn94hsyJ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuF7KZKZy4W
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HQpo2piZQ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUBiyFuP2G
Sasuke huffs, halfheartedly batting his brother’s hands away. “I know that—moreover, when will you stop treating me like a child, Itachi?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAMAGzogNv
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGJHE7oS3y
“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?493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8boGQkBIN
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGth8nVzbo
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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiUVNYHlJu
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzN2MNshPdB
Great. So she had been listening in, huh? He should have guessed.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5dKZG3Haz
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQq9pKYpL5
“Not quite,” Itachi replies, but Sasuke’s triumphant smirk is short-lived as his brother adds, “But almost.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxRRXklFnv
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5jlPnIStR
“Brother!” he reproaches, causing the older boy to chuckle again and Karin to smirk widely.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1AVS15r6Q
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJ8BjyhVlL
“You’re unbelievable, Sasuke; I mean, I knew you were an unsocial prude, but almost no girlfriends? Seriously?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUygJmxGLZo
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9hQwnaZkn
He glares, mortified to feel the by-now familiar sensation of his cheeks heating up. “Shut up, Karin.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hTIoYDxxV
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdTiuUaayT
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkQb2mCagr
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRwqbvJ7Q1
Damn you, brother.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmjT3Ebiiw
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNLHE1ZRNM
“Hn, I don’t know what Itachi is talking about.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gNfJgUw2w
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKP3retG1j
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Z880FesgB
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThxA0DoqA8
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAzqM5oLSa
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTMeiV3vn6
Despite his better judgment, Sasuke can feel himself blushing. “Who said I’m enjoying myself?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdI70RWEz9
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPx07Hbochm
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoM1A4NoS4
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY95Ib428Wo
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhzuZjMksl
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lPefhuHbe
“… 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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QlWI0H5oR
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJI7wkVHfk
“I know, dear. But, somehow… it feels like you two have known each other for a long time.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkg5wVXmS5w
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRulyjof3m
Itachi says nothing—but the way in which he warmly squeezes Sasuke’s shoulder is eloquent enough.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNEoqYXYK9
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4beB6qHPF
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.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡut3xOhzQly
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSvR5qeOB2
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZXlTtiKmO
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1yiraE0zx
“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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ382FJKxzMn
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEtfhmH50Yc
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—493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cMo9nphvE
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzS5y9ADDFa
“Sasuke—hey, earth to Sasuke, are you listening? I was just saying that—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJlixEzggr
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPU4LAZ7MFG
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOktJkvQUf5
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXdyEYYLUf
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBGrjW9Ma3
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDjgNe0L4X
“Raspberries,” he states, and that seems to get Karin off her trance, because she blinks at him.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlx1NRC8MMP
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPP0Ko5nxek
And then she is grinning.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGsoj8ViFI
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU54jTn9nPJ
“Had I known you would finally kiss me today, I’d have worn something less sweet.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqaeQwAH8hq
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUf51ksUie
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91VuK4EpX9
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6nWg3QvDm
“I know,” and her grin becomes a husky smirk as she tangles her fingers in his hair. “You’re too easy to read, Sasuke.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOxPftb35c
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbdMGI7jKmQ
“Hn, you could have helped, then,” he says, but the truth is he is too lost in her to really mind.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrDYvmzpIM
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLx056djkXO
“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.”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSswVZsSLjO
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZ1pfRP4nh
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6j3miibHN
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWGXUv3q5E
“You won’t find anything better for a more reasonable price, I assure you, Uchiha-san. This is the absolute best—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4dmIgfsCg
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwHNEqlGOA
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoMylmDuXf
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwCrcvJHnk
“Excuse me.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZ4Xnu1XeT
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHo1vfiRaan
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3TmU1Xd0w
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCeKTEOoYt
“This house is ours, Sasuke,”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktn25R0q7E
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtA96zqLxH
Her fingers find their way around his, and Sasuke gives them a squeeze as he nods, his expression naturally mirroring her own.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerqMgyoGo3
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZG5Y1us4I
He could feel it, too.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkGPWaf37t
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgoUNs07Dv
Behind them, the realtor clears his throat but Karin cuts him short before he could get a single word out.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnueN49DYom
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CEuae5RrY
“We’re buying it,” she states loud and clear, and she is positively glowing.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CWmbal3AF
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqv1JRoiez
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhW2DUUFWBl
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfqifyQzPI
She can hardly believe it.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSntiuXKniB
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdKvtnF2Pd
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡocKaHnhU5E
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzVXToMfYI
It seemed like something straight out of one of those dramas she used to love to ridicule and secretly watch at the same time.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXiqprpc0Z
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfcXO7HSkI
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuW18BtVYBS
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuP1sUWWdk
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEdX2ZaB97
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxooJqQz3rx
“What’s so funny?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhj8lqnv5X
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Qtz75NWcY
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Zu9MGHPuC
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRRUSzqP06
“There’s just one thing off, though—” she observes, as an afterthought, “where’s my rival in love?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhWLoWQU3s
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemnEPELN8j
“Nowhere,” he asserts, grave like only he could be about even the most foolish of things. “I am yours.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwCF5yeBYn
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKlH1QfaOX
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxJvb5dOcn
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUNmSdXj55
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzv7zgYgtft
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrt77taY88A
And he is breathing in her scent and tightly holding her in his arms—so tightly in fact that she can hardly breathe.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbk9XVotoEd
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxswPzPf6Ez
“S-asuke—” she chokes.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSuAT9bQMQ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztVavp7Yfw
But he does not listen.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9THEAhT0C1
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sR5VnOsqn
“…mine.”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡehOvh4ybmA
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXgK9tm7CE
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJAhh9AI6b
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4SCNSv87T
She soundlessly sneaks behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcvYQPZB4AJ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33DTKrzJzn
“Sewing again?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqP5Lafzmfs
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyj1bcd5DZ
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMt14xLpMdJ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBJLzvdphM
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgkyyRn99K
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaA9OPvesTT
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1K2tQRk5k
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TV4LfNHDl
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWfudp6jgM
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYrPK4qPhdA
“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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQinhWgWwar
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjzlbU7zij
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAULHMiLAp
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8rN4MkheM
And he finds himself smiling at her back, like one of those love-sick fools he always used to make fun of.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKffEZtnxF
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOkCWJcziC
But it’s just, back then—he had never thought someone could actually make him this happy.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHC8F3hgBH0
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRmiRgMmj2
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5rLINcKcE
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzG4G2OOGq
“Stop doing that, Sasuke.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5yaGzdFUj
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwoGiND223W
“Doing what?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7kgWTZzSV
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2pLGiYk7k
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiJ8br4ZuU
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNprtGmNEcl
“Or what?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmv21fBeXxF
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTParL7Z1jZ
“…Or I may fall in love with you, Uchiha.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jkmrzHvz6
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwmvGc1d9h
She is both elated and horrified to see how soft and harmless his usual menacing and intimidating smirk looks as he replies.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBv7t7gpUzC
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQjfx0cysn
“… Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiq3VIoa0ni
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqosjaGcMMn
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3s7eIRk7AX
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtvYHXaq1d1
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQsyGM6WXqN
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5GEsAi1qcD
Only a minute would be enough for a spy as skilled as herself.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdZh8veQQV
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IN6PZ3vC4
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMIsJEaDqB
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDLM7IIszJ
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1L9vdUycFT
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPc5MFU2Wgu
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—493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DES9ZtGzj
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDAFPFeoeoV
To forget the atrocities she would find if she did.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhn31Y2IhPe
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0rrZLHuuz
And, really—who would have thought that a monster like Uchiha Sasuke was capable of making a face like that?
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHf4oXdl87b
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WYa1IUm1r
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UpNM4V5Ed
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKp99x4Gl0
Sasuke was just putting a plate aside when the sound of porcelain breaking reaches his ears.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXKowifLnj
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIzkOrxsQt
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaKoJkMR3E
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqfuPxBSti
“Karin,” he calls, drying his hands on his pants—and he misses the way Karin’s shoulders tense, her back stiffening. “Are you alright?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPkWia8EKO
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNeEU5Refr
“Yeah,” she murmurs after a moment, and Sasuke blinks. She didn’t sound alright.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGyRWqoaKj
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTIHgAcI9l
“Karin,” he calls again, approaching her. “Leave that be, I’ll take care of it.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wgoAnftgF
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMf69xupBH
“I told you, it’s fine.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHymD6Csz0P
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVrAYPXujI
He frowns, concerned. “Karin—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡas19qxr1vo
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CNogLeHDD
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡan5mw6TkSP
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUNNIrjS8U
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCYx4OfDX7
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTqNfNO0tx
“Sorry, Sasuke—I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCXzgXNdQa
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3nvWsDMTMo
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgxhnyhQ0z
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqguAgLUHEg
He doesn’t know what he would do if he were to see that same fright reflected in her eyes again.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEKsp68L8H
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyGjXNIKIy
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIi4YhHt6u
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nyADJMcNu
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qdgoCzzmd
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTTgQWjtnSB
“S-sasuke, what—?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVGNsRVWoE
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt37NUk8h5t
“Where were you, Karin?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRqiiFoylY
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kVG3678c8
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcoNyVihjf
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmbAXSkazz
It reeks of lighting and promises pain—it frankly terrifies her.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJW28aPQNb0
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡly75MK1M6x
But she holds her ground.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOO2E4ZtYTv
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWGeNFtdfJ
“I—I was having lunch with my parents, Sasuke. They called to invite us today but you were at—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdj4Rf7FT1
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDpQSP9kcP
“Liar,” he grits out, and Karin’s blood runs cold. “I called them myself. You were not with them. So, where were you?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjn7Wu2Ku2f
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKwaZySCxD
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—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrtsCM73yA
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQirhpaAd6o
“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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7GKynDNHk
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXwZGBcxWS
“Sasuke, I—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKo4eFAnWWK
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhP1UfuIOL
“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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMKVSR0xhW
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMlyH6Rbid
A part of her hates herself for how easily the answer comes forth to her lips. For how true it remains. “… I do, Sasuke.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrXtVOgh8D
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrcoTQ2I4a
She hears his smile, “Good. Then, you will stop seeing them, won’t you? Those girls.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwk1ohak5L
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorvxWpKdGU
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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVhYmW7Yea
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Jdo6uETyd
I want you all for myself—is what Karin hears instead, and she frowns. “Sasuke, you can’t be serious—they are my friends!”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXyyfj8qpZ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlVu6C83kK
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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhRIQptgZS4
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRzgEV8ITx4
“I—” yes, he is—was. Is.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa491EwNdOL
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Ozzo4WWAa
And that frightens her more than he possibly could.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPg0PFhSXo2
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkaEKtw27B
“—alright, Sasuke… you win.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndXH0JRZdw
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzd2orRbrHa
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJPV3yrTHg
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimpy9f8P7L
Even himself.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDkLuC6Di7
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sE5cwv72v
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbPp4hiRIl
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOPJmed2Vd
The silence is deafening. The unsaid drawing knots with his vocal chords, until he decides that enough has been enough.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFovh2nBfSp
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZzTlUGzdL
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNvCz79W1s
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtV1PFA5zwS
She doesn’t bulge. “What?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7tIUJuGvW
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRW9wlP8RT
And perhaps that’s what worries Sasuke the most.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrHHEeVmQ2
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVmtaZGNvZ
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLm77uEvd5H
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuaFhjaJVA
“Don’t try to avoid the subject, Karin. There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04DP37JDd0
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFu8ueNuyQ9
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKb7ykdSNl
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMLaZGHVTY
And Sasuke wants nothing more than to ask her to stop—but he is too scared to do so.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4arZwFeNQ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbrxP5JQ4k
“Eat, Sasuke. It’s going to get cold.”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbTwhqqOOlu
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FcZPEE5aO
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmFY33Xc9z
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMPHrxgkbE
He rolls the raspberries between his fingers, memories swirling in his head.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdvmwVEGRgs
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF60LI04j75
He has always had a very good memory; and throughout his life, it has proved to be a curse more often than a blessing.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBwCGCFEHY
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8D2HG3Buw
In this case, it is both at once.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZGqKTgHJQ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6N6o2cTQw
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscTb4IRbu9
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ05bidME9y
A girl sending him off with a sad smile, and never looking back.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujAfi688lK
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHkVrYcv8w
Broken promises.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDqSgQo7yb
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXcoLuAeis
A call. A funeral.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtAL2HM7EO
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqfc4BhdoH
And tears.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEDDMBK8cT
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDVdiQPGPz
Heartbreak.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡarKZ2XEPSE
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIApTN8Y1V
Loneliness.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvTxIocuel
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyMQULbJud
…then there was nothing else.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhRnKiUv9sJ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJr2Nx3N4J
And then there was everything all over again.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYvo6Vogur
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVIiYPioYz
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡheuwje1qKk
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGPf5LG1We
He can’t stop.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDbmMxAeQB
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQ7b65jen7
He does not want to.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfBNH867dn
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLNcoLPQDv
One of the raspberries snaps, juice rolling down his fingers—but he does nothing to clean it up.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfzuXtJVhR
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNDm4Vulzt
The door creaks open.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHooOCiXONZ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYaffNEqAM
“Uchiha-san, you have to eat.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFQ70UK5oU
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPh7zkQYnoV
The nurse says, more out of habit than anything else; but he is too far away to hear—493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkp2bN749Hp
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5D1u4jmHI5
(“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.)493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmk89QN0uT
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyc8TWUSIbO
—and it’s been a year since the patient of the room 723 has pronounced a single word.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsig4hCGcUs
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzVUKzDqL3
(And a five-year old Karin is smiling.)
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ602ULFeYia
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCvjtRjEyL
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYg1MyALnks
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUUIhPKqnP
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDfcN2ClR7
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMy6M45iy0
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODNmQqRx6P
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgiAZQaMkR
Karin was sitting on the bed, unnaturally straight and still; her eyes vacant and unseeing, telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GOIm93vvO
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSsOIVqAsV
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1XZI7ENJ4
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyby8lcdRH
“Karin…” his voice is faint; a tentative call more to spur himself into motion than to reach her. “Karin, what’s wrong?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVfoP7Eilf
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5UFEicHhp
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsuFH77JlB
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsr1yYNzVx
And then she parts her lips.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3eg32MRHzb
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ssNlbHkq3
“Sasuke… I had a dream… a new one.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNJyyvWCER
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMPSwFWjy7
Sasuke swallows; what could she have possibly seen to put her in such a state?493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN65U7i6HY1
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3d9lvGyux4
“Karin, I…” the redhead simply shakes her head, and to his ever-growing alarm there are fresh tears dripping from her eyes.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhSP97UgRm
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd01wYskrmP
“Forget it, Sasuke… it’s better if you do.”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjifoJnXvg
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGiL2RbrOBT
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3yJOQq3E1
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA66lL16Bn8
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Fqa26YuXz
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUJlwSc2Ql
“Stop it, Karin. You were not supposed to care about him—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Z1gZqP2DC
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOvDT8C9Aq
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡueyQMF9kS9
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VNPp6lpZP
It makes something in her tightly clench.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKysVzNyVr
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1Ig8guGKw
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxNWUSYuAc
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvbbKzNFvj
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv12wfzoKrG
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwUQzuoAzJ
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGA0QYGTWn
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDNmaZ9Nvq
She can hear them coming from her, and she knows she won’t be able to escape—but that was fine.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpH8vb2iP6M
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpZYJYV0vD
She would take as many of them as she possibly could before going down, and—493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFp99jhJGi7
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhvOsiXxtj
“…we’ll meet soon, Sasuke.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUU0W2jU8TA
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIepvoC4l3v
—and Sasuke had always liked souvenirs.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQSU7lobER
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3quVtct7Zs
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTU5F1eV9A
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUH4z9l0mc
He is crudely woken up by Karin screaming his name.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGofLMwVZet
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDYCeShNQp
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa8T4LGfu1d
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGDbmB7CzS
In fact—she seemed to only be getting worse.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1oW9pJYGT
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPU6VMEWYb
“Sasuke, no—!”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7okpMb9jCv
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zbXUitnD1
“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—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAlpEmIILJ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ940fPOjIVY
But his sincere promise is cut short by her terrified sob.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQm0msFh5h0
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbcqrxUpab
“N-no, Sasuke—get away from me!”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJK3LTK5Ce
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBz4UZEJh4k
Sasuke jumps back, as if burnt. “W-what…?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtGIrivOZL
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMMJtXXQMl
He could not believe his ears—she was frightened—of him?493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8aqn421TB
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WX7CYejIw
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYSJp3lUdX
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0h3HxmTjv
‘… They weren’t always nice, Sasuke. They rarely were.’493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPkAgRxIjl
‘What weren’t?’493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTWKDh194X
‘...You.’493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6Z38nYfdq
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAJjwMUXiJ
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZQzKdN73C
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAdJYVcuwg
Ghosts he has started to fear, too.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDTfKyHzr5
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATphxwyMTW
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW09RBiEbX1
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTacN5qQ0sE
“Karin,” he whispers affectionately, caressing her cheek with his right hand, “I need you.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZtLsX4FP4
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTYYZvHdDH
Karin swallows the knot in her throat and forces her knees to remain firm, “I—I know, so plea—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJw4nWhwJbD
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1CdyBCtY2T
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Uaj6p4b04
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwdfObEuGA
“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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqt9G9tgQ4G
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcqwU1HFSm
“I’ll see you soon… Karin.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UafmpTkjQ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EDQ0XIcd6
He says, and his words are as loud as the gunshot that follows.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfsdFGQsJs
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCs3auBj2Tv
And then her lifeless body is crumbling to the ground, his soon to follow.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9ddLif5HB
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTEz4dJN4E
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBD8tn5Mu3W
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPbZfjzKXg
“What was I doing to you?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSHpBm5CPw
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowwCOpcpss
“… I don’t remember.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOgCAKSZei
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BhLxxHyEd
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQiAvkQPy2s
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuLl7nh4uFf
But he has played that game long enough.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGjYlFWL0a
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DH7HRnG1w
He cannot continue to allow himself to remain blissfully unaware while she battles on her own.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfm0c2A6NPx
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKqnBQK5Ko
“Don’t lie to me, Karin.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGBQeLCKsG
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsefKpJlhlv
“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.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlBDf5Dyhq
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQlqNZSKQhH
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0h61wZEwCH
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8F92fhIRQ
“…Tell me the truth, Karin.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡck7zrPTvey
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqdkPbzoNT
Karin takes a deep breath, and Sasuke braces himself.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrltlLRpl4
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHxt9UQ8Vb
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquvpsay7Gn
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcD4zjv1hZt
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydMaMHsPwy
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgfPakgp68
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—493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDvXoEqaRZ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7UnrGxYSu
And her name leaves his lips in the form of a horrified call—one that is cut short by her strained smile.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPjZBF966S
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQOE1urePA
“Idiot, I… told you… to move, Sasuke…”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdYPsaJWcS
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrHkwxEIzc
“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—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDWRs1VRn0
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm7DWVirT0B
“Sa…suke,” and though her voice is nothing but a dying whisper, he is rendered silent at once. “Promise me… you won’t… die.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEcLhUxRCjP
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDL7GJKLq6c
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—”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUR1P9yWOz
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMcE5aqokN7
“—make you… regret it… I know,” her smile looks like unleashed tears. “I admit… this… wasn’t exactly… what I had… in mind.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhlaybLVe1
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4r4gd0OAj9
There is a choked sob—and he barely registers it is his own.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkgWtbMqzt
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHPW7XRET4
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjN32P2jXYS
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYFarG1IMv
“Don’t… all I want…ed… is for you… to smile… like that day.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nm6zKKqyJ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsoU2j50rA
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcG8cx2Ubbu
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8MO7tXuiL
And she slips away through his hesitation like he had always slipped through her fingers.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjidKzH8kL9
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6E4Odlqdq
“See ya… Sasuke.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡispcSnFRkt
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgQL6fiJ6q
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgXrBPFBOQ
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc79aNePCdw
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—493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi98mtuzVdP
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNmKoHEobE
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.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQm5bvZrFv
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnckPFYQx6a
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8KBkepEnIt
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvEUFVRl5k
A terrible silence has descended upon them.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡty3TWbnqGS
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8Iy6gtQI0
He has retreated to the edge of the bed, his elbows sinking on his knees and his horrified face cradled in his shaking hands.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdze0a9OggM
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHklUzBRiG
“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?”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWh2fTBXyY
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnwyVg45To
Karin watches his desolated back and has a hard time swallowing the lump in her throat, “Because… they are not you, Sasuke.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfCFz6Jl8f
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPKcrek9in
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFi7lNCFgfu
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEX7ZW6Fw0
“And, above all…”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzj2BwlZDvX
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2SrprEkxh
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9ruYx2Mft
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHggx5A4Kv
“…Above all, I want to see how this one ends.”
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWK26yGNzqM
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iaC11ucuM
.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcjhIUhOer
.
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymA3LIvkt4
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFcOtLSIuK
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXWyUst7ud
Except that it doesn’t get to.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zbW1OABpN
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bhawm2zhR
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHQ3FOJ4P7
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftu2OM4JZb
“See ya.”493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMcFsC1LA0T
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDeIjhvKhZ
This is what I give,493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqA7fhxH2dW
A circle is complete.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSdPKZZZ2D
Another circle spins493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWSXEXXnZy
There's life within,493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqT5u918CBp
Within
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8MOD04Fhs
end.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT5uojYq2fL
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGjYyMm65A
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIzK49S6j5
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIebrTmVXBl
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.493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBD4lRw7QCp
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SzeUmNpWB
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~!493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6vxGhH6kw
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZU99keNcy8
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 lol493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuEQofCQCm
493Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7XwSPydTF
Thanks for reading! ♥
Tags: fanfic, karin, naruto, sasukarin, sasuke
ns3.140.198.202da2
