Н‘¾Ð‘¯Ð‘¬Ð‘Μ Ð‘»Ð‘¯Ð‘¬ Н‘¾Ð‘°Ð‘Μ𝑫 Н‘©Ð‘³Ð‘¶Ð‘¾Ð‘º €¢Ð’Ƒ𝒙Н’Ƒ• The paths we take

AN: For some reason, this chapter didn’t get published and I only saw this now, so I apologize for any confusion that it caused.

Andou dropped to the ground in a hurry and felt the air above him shift. Raising his head, he looked in front of himself. There was no one there. “Wha… what is happening?” Jumping to his feet, he turned around. There he was, standing still, back turned to him. The air was distorted around his body. His head was bent forward, shoulders stiff. What is wrong with him? His Chakra is totally different than before!

His hand whipped to the handle of his sword when he saw Akashi’s foot move. The said boy slowly started turning around, head still bowed down. Andou’s throat constricted as he tried to swallow and he took in a shaky breath, preparing himself for the upcoming fight. Wide-eyed, his body stiffens when he hears a low growl come from the redheaded boy.

Akashi silently raised his head and locked his eyes on to the target in front of him. Destroy. He lifted his arm. Decimate. He pulled it back. Obliterate. He bent his knees, lowering the center of his gravity. Annihilate. As he looked at the frightened boy in front of himself, the only thought in his head was Kill.

There was a loud shock wave as he pushed off, the ground breaking beneath his feet. The air around him shifted to accommodate to his speed. He thrust his clawed hand forward, merely 4 feet away from the other boy. In a fit of panic, Andou brought his katana down. He didn’t expect the resistance. He could only watch as the strong, steel blade broke under his grasp.

It tore right in half, flying into the air above them. Andou’s instincts kicked in and made him jump away from the threat. The moment his feet touched the ground, he felt a strong kick aimed at his back. The force of it made him fall forward onto his hands and knees. As he tried to stab the broken half of the blade, still in his hand, behind him, his wrist was grabbed and harshly twisted to the side. A loud crack echoed through the room.

He tried to muffle the scream that threatened to escape him, but he couldn’t. Taking a painful breath after his scream subsided, he tried to rip his wrist away from the other boy. Before that could happen, he felt his hair being grabbed and forcefully pulled upwards. A wince exited his lips as he grabbed the hand holding it up, trying to get up to his feet. It proved futile.

He weakly turned his head around and met gazes with Akashi’s slit cold ones. “Let… let me go!” He thrashed around, but the other boy stepped on his calf, stopping his movements. There was a familiar glint of steel in front of his eyes. “No… no… stop… don’t!” He continued thrashing, but it just added to the current pain he felt. Akashi was holding the top half of the broken blade right in front of him… and the tip was facing Andou.

“No! Stop! I surre-!” He couldn’t finish his sentence, because the blade sliced through his throat as if through butter. He stiffened and his mouth opened up in a scream. The blade was shoved deep inside as far as it could go and he felt Akashi’s wrist touch his neck. The blade was then twisted to the side, widening the gaping wound. Only a gurgle was heard as the blood gushed out of his throat and down his clothes. He flailed for a moment more, before his body grew limp.

His arms fell uselessly to his sides.

_

Warm…

It’s so warm…

…

…

Wait…

…

…

Warm…?

…

Why is it warm?

…

…

The blood…

Slipping through my fingers…

Down my skin…

My own blood.

My… blood?

…

No…

Not mine…

It’s not mine…

But… whose is it?

…

…

…

Thump.

Thump.

...

Thump.

A heartbeat?

…

Thump.

…

…

Thump.

…

…

…

Thump.

…

…

…

Silence.

_

Things seemed different. The horrifying pain from earlier was gone, as if it was a faraway dream. He took a deep breath, appreciating the air flooding through his lungs. Blinking, the blurriness in front of his eyes cleared. Only then did he look around himself. There was something in his hands. As his eyes shifted down, the world around him started spinning. Andou’s wide open eyes were staring straight at him.

The warmth that he felt did turn out to be blood… and it really wasn’t his. He felt the shattered blade in his hand cut through his palm, and he whipped his hand away, making it fall onto the ground with a clink. Andou’s head fell forward, the only thing preventing his body from falling was Akashi’s hold on his hair. The latter shuddered and opened his fist, making the lifeless corpse fall down.

His body was frozen, eyes glued to the bloodied skin. He turned his hand around, and followed the bloody drops slipping through the fingers with his eyes. The blood was growing cold at an alarming rate. He hurriedly started wiping the blood on his clothes, trying to erase it. It was no use, it just wouldn’t come off. He couldn’t even concentrate hard enough to heal the cut on his skin.

“The winner of the match is Uzumaki Akashi”. High-pitched ringing began in his ears. He took one step back, then another. This isn’t happening… This can’t be happening… “Akashi-nii?” He stopped in his tracks. Shakily raising his head, he looked towards the stands. Naruto was gripping the rails, looking at him in confusion. No… Shaking his head, he wildly looks around, trying to find Kakashi.

He grit his teeth when he remembered that Kakashi left with Sasuke. Doing the only thing he could think of, he turns around and bolts out of the room. He ignored Naruto’s calls and focused in front of himself. “Why…”. He whispered out loud as he raced through Konoha. Would you have rather died? He ignored the fox and ran straight into a forest. Would you have wanted Naruto to grieve you? He clenched his eyes shut and leaned his forehead onto a tree. You really are-.

“Shut up! All you do is make things worse!” He whipped his hand forward and hit the tree with all his might. The tree shook, making the loose leaves fall down. Make things worse? You would have died without me! The fox growled back in his mind. His head started throbbing and he gripped it with his hands. “Why did you have to kill him…?” He whispered, previous anger washing away as his mind cleared up.

There was silence. The fox didn’t answer. Just as he thought, no, hoped, it left, it spoke up. That’s where you’re wrong, human… I’m not the one who killed him… you were. Shaking his head, Akashi takes a step back. Eyes glossy with unshed tears which were threatening to fall at any moment. “Stop…”. He weakly whispered, trying to fight back, but it proved impossible. “Please don’t…”. He begged and the fox chuckled at his attempt.

I’m just telling the truth, no harm in that, right? I gave you a little push, you’re the one who decided to spill blood, not me. He clamped his palms over his ears and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the fox’s lies. Trying to shut everything out. Trying… and failing. You’re the one who ended his life, not me. The ringing was still there, still present in his ears, making his head hurt more and more.

His knees lost their strength, and buckled under the weight. They made direct contact with the hard ground, but it didn’t matter to Akashi.

The pain was irrelevant.

Because, after all…

His soul hurt more than his body.

_

He didn’t know how long he was out there. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Nothing really made any difference. Nothing really mattered at the moment. Then, a Chakra signal spiked a few feet away from him. He recognized it. “Sensei…”. Tightening the grip around his knees, he hid his face inside his arms. A painful throb inside Kakashi’s chest almost knocked the breath out of him as he looked at the sight before him. He saw a scared boy, curled up as if to protect himself.

He’s a child. Kakashi reminded himself. A child who bore a great burden. A burden not meant for him. A burden which was proving to be too much for him. “Akashi…”. The man came closer and crouched down. “Hey…”. He called out, extending his hand forward. As it was about to touch the boy, he flinched away from it. “I’m scared”. He sobbed out and his shoulders shook with each word.

Kakashi tightened his hand in a fist and pulled it away. With unnoticed reluctance, he started. “It’s okay”. He comforted the crying boy. He wanted nothing more than to reach forward and hug him. To tell him that everything is going to be fine. That he will be fine. He knew better than that… nothing is ever really fine. “Akashi… can you look at me?” He asked, trying to get the boy out of his self-made shell.

Akashi sniffed and slowly raised his head to look at the man. A sad smile grew on Kakashi’s face as he saw the expression the boy had. Not that he could see the smile. “It’s okay if you’re scared, it only makes you human”. Akashi scoffed at the words and turned his head to the side, avoiding eye-contact. “Human, huh?” His voice cracked and he swallowed, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

“What if I feel less and less human each day?” He glared at the ground, new tears dropping down. “You see this?” He raised his hand which was covered with dried blood. “His blood is on my hands”. He let it drop on the ground. “I feel like I’ll never wash it off”. There was something about the way he said it, that made Kakashi remember his own past. The feeling of someone’s blood on his hands, even after he washed it so many times.

Now’s not the time for the past. He brought his attention back to Akashi. “What makes a human?” He questioned the boy, who furrows his brows at that. “What?” He asked back. “Pain… Love… Happiness… Sorrow… Hope… Death… Life… they are all part of what we were, what we are, and what we will become… There will always be a moment in our lives where we will feel like everything around us is worthless, loveless and useless”. He looked up at the sky, a distant look in his eyes.

“A moment where we feel unbearable happiness, love… It is up to us to decide if we want to move on from that moment… choose a different path. The bad and the good memories will always be remembered, but the choice is ultimately on us, to find our path and live life how we wish to”. He looked back at Akashi and smiled at the look of shock on his young face. Carefully raising his hand as if to not frighten him, he pointed at his heart.

“The inside is what matters most”. He retracted his hand and glanced at Akashi. He had a thoughtful expression on his face. He straightened up and extended a hand towards the boy. Akashi looks up and gingerly takes it. Kakashi pulls him up, and then stumbles back as Akashi wraps his arms around his middle. “Thank you”. Kakashi hesitantly pats his head in return. “Anytime… anytime”. Akashi leaned his forehead onto him and let out a breath.

What he needed most is support. For someone to acknowledge him and his actions. For someone to steer him in the right direction. “Sensei… is there any way to stop him from talking to me?” Kakashi was taken aback at the desperation in the boy’s voice. “I don’t want to listen to him… I don’t feel like myself when he speaks”. His arms tightened around him, trembling with barely held back sorrow.

“What about the exam?” Kakashi regretted his words immediately. How could he ask him that? He wasn’t stable enough. If he fought now… someone would die again, and he wasn’t sure if it would be the opponent. “No… what am I asking…?”. He shook his head and the boy stiffened in his grasp. “I don’t trust myself”. That was all Kakashi needed to hear. He gently pushed Akashi away so he could look at him.

“Your seal is too complicated for me, but…”. Akashi sharply inhaled and prepared to move away. Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “You didn’t let me finish”. The boy glanced at him. “I know someone who is far more proficient in that field than I am”. Still, Akashi removed the hand from his shoulder and moved away. “Can I trust them?” He furrowed his brows, an uncertain expression on his face. Distrust shone brightly in his eyes.

“You have no reason to worry, they are a trusted ally of the village”. Kakashi sent him one of his famous eye-smiles, not a worry on his masked face. “Have I heard of them?” Kakashi tilted his head and looked up through the tree branches. The sky was shinning brightly in the sky. “Have you heard of the Sannin?” Akashi’s eyes widen in disbelief and a look of pure amazement flashes across his face.

“You’re kidding me?! Is it Tsunade?!” The childish glint in his eyes returned. Kakashi’s heart clenched on the inside. He’s really just a little kid… He waved a hand in front of him. “Sorry to burst your fanboy bubble, but I’m afraid not”. Akashi’s lips fell apart in disappointment, before he crossed his arms and pouted his lips. “I wasn… wasn’t-!” He spluttered, a rosy blush heating up his cheeks.

“About that… you started learning healing because of her, right?” Kakashi knew only so much about him. He knew the boy was overly protective of his brother, Naruto. He’s conscious of the village’s dislike of their existence. He was almost at the bottom of their class because he was lazy, and that’s it. He knew nothing else about him. He brought his attention back to the boy, who was silently looking off into the distance.

“You know, I read about her a lot. How she saved so many ninjas with her healing techniques, and I decided I also wanted to save people. I wanted to become someone who could be called a ‘hero’, someone others could have looked up to”. Kakashi noticed the use of past tense. “Wanted? Could have?” He inquired. There was a sudden breeze as the wind blew around them, ruffling the red locks of the younger boy.

His teeth were grit and a bitter expression took place on his youthful face.

The leaves were ripped from the branches and slowly fell in between the two of them.

“In life, we don’t always get what we want; hopes and dreams get washed away so easily”.

Through the spaces between the dying leaves, Kakashi met eyes with the boy.

They were as calm as the sky before the storm, but as wild as the sea during one.

Everything, and nothing, all at once.