I do not own Naruto.

This one shot is to show my followers (thanks much!) that I still exist. My computer broke, so now we have a new one, meaning I can update and write again.

Last Words

It was a cold night in the cemetery. The bitter air gnawed at the warm flesh of the lone figure standing in the granite field. Moonlight washed over the graves, casting shadows on their carved faces. The grass was neat and trimmed in honor of the hidden bodies. An occasional gust of wind cajoled the clouds, reminding all the place was like any other in the world, despite the unearthly silence.

The young man stood before a holy grave. He was like a phantom, his breath riding the air like fog. Trapped in the night, his colors were bland with the landscape.

Naruto Uzumaki, hero of the hidden leaf, was engraved in the ashen stone.

The fair-skinned man closed his eyes upon reading this.

White flowers, pure as the deceased heart, lay in bouquets before his memorial, similar to the surrounding graves of men and women who had fallen in the war.

A sudden gust howled between the stands of midnight hair. The man opened his onyx eyes to gaze solemnly at the sharp letters between his flailing bangs. He held his breath for a long moment.

"You idiot . . . ."

Memories of him poured sorrow in his heart. In an attempt to suppress them, he tightened his jaw and clenched his fist.

"Sasuke, you are . . ." he had muttered, blood dripping.

A rivulet of lukewarm liquid began to flow down a pale cheek.

He shoved his sword deeper into the fragile body.

His heart tore, and he uttered a shaky breath of pain.

In response he had spit a fresh influx of blood. "My only regret."

"You . . . Idiot. . . . You can't say something like that if you knew I'd survive. Your death was supposed to be in vain."

In the end, he had no one to blame; no one but himself.

A second trail of tears mimicked the first.