AN: Well I was looking through a bunch of crap yesterday (not literally .) and realized that I don't write a lot of angst. So I practiced by writing this and it turned out pretty good so now I'm uploading it.

Warning: Main Character Death (Gaspeth!) and implied BL (That's boys love for you idiots out there)


Sasuke doesn't like hospitals. He never has. However, even God doesn't know why, he is still walking through the bleak halls. His footsteps, heavy and somber, echo through the corridor. The mood is so thick that he can't breathe... or is it his anxiety that threatens to suffocate him? Perhaps it's the overwhelming fear of not knowing that nags at him so desperately. Maybe it's that fear that brought him here. He isn't sure. The only thing he knows for sure is that he is in fact here. Here, surrounded by the horrible smell of sanitation. Here, surrounded by medics who couldn't actually care less about their patients. Here in this miserable place.

116, 117, 118...

He doesn't know how many doors he's passed already but Naruto's room is still so far away. He can't seem to move faster no matter how hard he wills his legs to move. His whole body yearns to turn around and run away again, but he edges himself forward. He needs to check, he needs to know. Slowly but surely he progresses.

His hands shift awkwardly, weary from the vice-grip he has on the little porcelain statue of a bowl of ramen, but too anxious to loosen his grasp. He considered getting a real bowl of ramen but he wants his gift to last. More specifically, he wants his gift to be treasured.

The number 310 nailed to the door is proof to his advancement. Finally, he reaches Naruto's room. The medics said it was serious. Now he can finally find out.

As he reaches for the brass doorknob he hears a sound that makes him want to die: a single beep that stretches on and on. In reality, it has yet to be more than a minute, but to Sasuke it is forever. Sakura, who is inside the room, screams. It is a sharp scream, but it doesn't cut through the beep. The sound continues, one perpetual beep.

Oh God! Will it never end?

He hears footsteps and he knows that Sakura will heal him. Naruto won't die. He assures himself, even though he knows it isn't true.

The sound of crying verifies it. Naruto is dead. The gift slips from his hands and falls to the floor. It breaks immediately on impact. Tears slip from his eyes. He will never see that dobe again. He will never get the chance to say what always lingers on his lips.

Three words, just three words...

Sasuke runs. He runs like he always does. He runs from the hospital, he runs from Konoha, and he keeps on running. But he can't run from the pain, not this time.