Parallax: Epilogue

(***)

Damn him.

Sasuke threw a rock into the pond, the resulting ripples disturbing the serene surface in an artful display of sound materialized. He searched around him for another pebble to throw, the tiny thing his only outlet for the anger and frustration he felt.

Damn Naruto and his stupid need to upstage him.

And he ... he had actually needed to be saved!

Another pebble met the water with a lone 'plop' as he forcefully tossed it in.

/ All those you know will fall by your hand until you are all alone and left with nothing ... /

That man's voice ... no, his voice still rang clear in his head, a macabre premonition of things to come.

He bit his lip - hard - until the pain brought unshed tears to his eyes.

It wasn't true. It couldn't be true ... could it?

"Hey, Sasuke! Sa - suke!"

The dark-haired genin heard Naruto before he even saw him, and when the boy marched up beside him, he fought the urge to knock the blonde out for disturbing his peace.

"C'mon, Sakura's waiting for us so we can get our next mission."

He glanced over at the loud boy, and wondered how his exuberance could remain so untarnished after what had happened.

"Do you think that that's the person I'm going to become?"

The query escaped his mouth before he even noticed, and it stopped Naruto in his tracks. Sasuke quickly turned his attention to the pond, silently berating himself for asking such a revealing question.

"I don't know, Sasuke," the blonde finally replied after a minute of silence, serious for once. "But if you try not to become that person, I think you can change it ... the future, I mean."

At the hyperactive boy's response, Sasuke didn't react. He continued to stare into the pristine waters of the small pond before him.

Eventually, Naruto understood that he wouldn't get anything more from his rival, and began walking away to leave the other boy alone.

"Parallax."

That one word made the blonde pause. He turned back to the dark-haired genin. "Huh?"

"Parallax," Sasuke repeated, eyes still riveted on the pond. "It means seeing the same thing from different points of view. He saw everything as someone who has lived it. I'm seeing everything as someone who has yet to live it. But no matter how it's looked at, it's always the same thing."

Naruto stared, clueless, at his teammate. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, scratching his head. "I just live each day as it comes, and beat whatever bad guy gets in my way of becoming the next Hokage. Now, c'mon, Sakura's waiting."

But the dark-haired boy didn't move, and after a brief moment of stillness, Naruto decided to leave his teammate to brood on his own.

Sasuke listened to the receding footsteps of the blonde, somehow missing the commotion that usually accompanied the annoying genin. Finding one more pebble, he threw it as far as he could into the pond.

"Live each day as it comes, huh?" he said under his breath as he turned to follow his rival. "So it's a challenge then?"

End Epilogue

End Parallax