A/N: Trying my hand at Naruto. This is from the third volume; I don't know what anime episode (since I caught the show late). Hope you like?

Disclaimer: Not mine, although I wish it were. Woes.


Acceptance

He didn't know why he did it. He didn't know why, after all those years of hating and loathing and wanting to kick his butt, he did it.

But he did, and that's all that seemed to be processing through his foggy mind at the moment.

At first, piercing pain blasted his body everywhere he could feel; neck, arms, legs, stomach, head…everywhere was burning with such a terror that he couldn't focus, could barely stand. The needles stuck out of his body at strange angles, and through eyes that seemed to be not his own, he saw one of the acupuncture needles slice straight through his arm, right through his wrist.

He stared at it, unable to blink. Feeling the blood dripping from his neck, he knew that similar needles pierced there as well. He could barely breath…his mind was flickering, like an old machine that was losing its life.

Maybe that's what he was.

A dying machine.

He coughed up blood, feeling it rise through his throat. It was painful, so painful he just wanted to die. Why was it taking to so long to die, already? He had known the consequences. He had known that saving Naruto (at least for the moment) would result in his death.

But maybe he had had a tiny glimmer of hope in the back of his mind that maybe, just maybe, he would live.

He'll never forgive me, he thought hazily, unknowing if he was speaking of his brother or Naruto or maybe even the boy in the mirrors. Nothing was registering anymore. He saw Naruto, with a look of utmost horror on his face. He could see his own blood dappling Naruto's orange jacket. He felt his knees weaken beneath as he mumbled incoherent words. He didn't know what he was saying.

"You ask me why?"

"My brother…"

"The oath…"

He could only babble as his body finally gave into the darkness that was seeping into his mind, screaming for him to let go. He obliged as he felt himself collapse. He blinked groggily, seeing the mirrors in the sky rotating slowly above them. He saw his own reflection, and it horrified him.

For those last few minutes of his life, he was horrified.

I'm a monster, he thought grimly, staring at the blood and the needles that were poking into him even harder now that he was lying on his back. I'm a monster and I deserve to die.

His eyes flickered shut, and he could hear Naruto's fast-paced breathing as his own slowed down. He wanted to smile, wanted to smirk one last time, just to aggravate Naruto. He wanted to leave with a bang—something completely his own.

But he knew he was ugly now. He was dying and bloody and ugly. Another thought occurred to him. Sakura definitely wouldn't love me now. The words made him want to laugh, but all he could do was choke up more blood. His lungs slowed, his brain fuzzed out, and he remembered; he was a monster and deserved to die.

Thank you, he thought, not knowing if he was saying this to the darkness or death or that boy; maybe all three. All he knew was that as his eyes closed and his heart slowed, all Sasuke could think was:

Thank you.