A/N: Well, the third week had a tie, and I was part of the tie so I had to write an angst fanfic as my entry in the tiebreaker. Here is my entry. It's really—interesting, to say the least. oO;;
Warnings/Notes: Eh, takes place right before Sasuke runs off to Orochimaru.
Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
The Last Moment
by Mint Pizza Queen
They were laughing. It wasn't a mocking laughter either: it had a sweet ringing to its tone and it had the sound of smiles within each burst of air.
He wasn't laughing though.
They were smiling. Not the traditional forced smiles that someone would put on out of respect or just to shut another up. No, these smiles were genuine.
He wasn't smiling though.
The atmosphere at the park at Konoha was alive with smiling and laughing people all filled with joy and cheer. Why not? It was a lovely day, all their shinobi were safe within the village walls, and they weren't in any danger.
Their joy was choking him. It was like a wool blanket wrapped around his head—hot, excruciating, blinding, suffocating. It was smothering him. The laughter was pounding into his skull—beating, smashing, thrashing, pulverizing, torturing.
Their smiles were just as harsh. They were tearing at him on the inside—piece by piece. He was falling apart. Nay, he was being torn apart.
It killed him. It killed him because he was the only one who knew what events would go on the next day. Not even the next day, that very night.
No one would've guessed that amidst this joy and laughter a power-hungry traitor was blooming, and that he, Uchiha Sasuke, would become their enemy in a mere twenty-four hours.
"Hey Sasuke-teme!" Naruto charged over with some dango and handed them to him. "They are a treat from Iruka-sensei, enjoy!"
Sasuke stared at his smiling face for a moment before turning his attention to the food in front of him.
He knew that this would be the last time he would get to be part of the moment—
"…all I can taste is the moment…"
He bit into the food wordlessly and watched Naruto's retreating back.
"…and it poisons me."