Н‘¾Ð‘¯Ð‘¬Ð‘Μ Ð‘»Ð‘¯Ð‘¬ Н‘¾Ð‘°Ð‘Μ𝑫 Н‘©Ð‘³Ð‘¶Ð‘¾Ð‘º €¢Ð’Ƒ𝒙Н’Ƒ• Chuunin exams pt4

Once Naruto’s sobs subsided, he sat up and wiped at his eyes. His face was red from all the crying, but a smile was still on his face. Akashi raised his hand and settled it on Naruto’s head, affectionately running his fingers through it. “Crybaby”. He grinned, fondness shinning in his eyes. Naruto puffed his cheeks and turned his head away, crossing his arms. “Am not!” That brought a laugh out of Akashi. “Oh, yes you are!” Akashi argued back.

Naruto glared at him, an annoyed look on his face. “Who’s my little crybaby~?” His cheeks were pinched by the older boy. “Stop!” Naruto whined and pushed his hand away. That didn’t discourage Akashi. He brought both hands back up and grabbed at the skin near Naruto’s whisker marks and pulled them at the same time. “Stoooop!” Naruto grabbed his wrists and pulled them away.

“Why am I the only crybaby?! You cried too!” He pointed an accusing finger at Akashi, who, in turn, shook his head. “Nuh-uh! I didn’t cry”. Naruto gasped as if someone told him he won’t be able to eat ramen anymore. “Liar! I saw your tears! Crybaby!” Akashi sighed and cleared his throat. “Okay, how about this? Neither one of us is the crybaby?” He could almost see the gears turning in Naruto’s head.

“Okay, deal!” Naruto extended his hand in a handshake. Akashi shook his head in amusement, before taking his hand. “Now, get off me”. He playfully pushed Naruto off his lap and snorted when the blond yelped and fell on his backside. “You’re so mean”. Akashi blinked at his words, before he snorted once more and offered his hand for the blond to take. Naruto begrudgingly took the hand and was pulled to his feet.

“You have dirt all over your face, did you have a match?” Akashi asked as he flicked the dirt off Naruto’s cheeks. His hand got pushed away and Naruto used his sleeve to wipe at his face. “Yeah! I kicked Kiba’s butt!” He raised a fist in the air, a grin on his face. A pang ran through Akashi’s heart. He missed the fight. He clenched the muscles in his jaw and took a deep breath.

“Oh, did you now?” Naruto started nodding excitedly. “He was no match for the future Hokage!” Akashi watched as Naruto smiled in delight at his own words. “Of course he wasn’t, I’m proud of you”. Surprising even himself, the redhead brought the blond into a hug. “I’m really proud of you, Naru”. He whispered into his shoulder, arms wrapping tighter around him.

A few moments later, Akashi separated from Naruto and took a step back. “Now, let’s head back, the others are probably wondering where we are”. Naruto threw an arm over his shoulders. “Yeah, I also don’t want to miss the next match”. He proceeded to pull Akashi forward, all the while grinning from ear to ear. Akashi closed his eyes and sighed. He wasn’t that excited about seeing the others.

_

Kakashi was standing near Sakura and they watched the fight between the Hyuuga relatives about to start. There was something else at his mind. Naruto and Akashi were gone for about 10 minutes, and there was still no sign of them. He knew Akashi wouldn’t do anything to hurt Naruto, but he was still worried. Words are sometimes crueler than acts.

If Naruto reacted differently than what Akashi expected, that could put an uncrossable bridge in between them. Their fight could ruin the team much further than the fight between Naruto and Sasuke. It could break the whole dynamic they built. It could also push Akashi closer to the edge even more. He was still sensitive after what happened with his match, there’s no telling what could happen if Naruto got mad at him, or worse, told him he hated him.

As he unconsciously started shifting on his feet, he was snapped out of his thoughts by laughter. His eyes glanced in the direction it was coming from, before relief flooded through his body. Naruto had his arm around a visibly nervous Akashi, and he was pulling him forward. Well, at least their relationship remained the same. The others seemed to have noticed the arrival of the twins, because as soon as they came in, everyone looked at them.

“We’re back, Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto removed his arm from around Akashi and ran up to Sakura and Kakashi. Akashi quietly trailed after him, not meeting the gaze of anyone around him. He only looked at Kakashi once he stopped in front of him. “Sensei, I won’t be continuing with the exam”. That didn’t surprise Kakashi in the slightest. He kind of expected this kind of answer from him. He nodded at the boy, and watched as he leaned on the rails.

His gaze shifted to Sakura. The girl was warily watching Akashi, as if she expected him to flip a switch and kill someone. He could not blame the girl, the sudden shift in Akashi’s behavior was stunning, but he wasn’t at fault. Maybe he should have a talk with her. Kakashi brought his attention back to the fight. He’ll talk with her after the matches.

Neji was spewing nonsense about how people can’t change, that they will always remain the same. Akashi was gripping the railings under his fingers. His teeth were starting to grit as he listened to what he was saying. Naruto was in no better shape, but he decided to speak up. He defended Hinata and told Neji off. He also cheered Hinata on, telling her to fight Neji.

The scared look in Hinata’s eyes changed to a determined one as she activated her Byakugan. The two relatives started fighting, exchanging blow after blow, blocking blow after blow. Kakashi explained that the Sharingan originated from the Byakugan and he added that the Byakugan can see Chakra paths. Guy jumped in and said that the technique he and Lee use, focuses on physical strength, but the Byakugan uses a technique that focuses on damaging the internal organs.

Akashi’s attention was brought back to the match when he saw the two of them slam into one another and stand still. He didn’t know if Hinata hit him or not, because he couldn’t see anything from where he was. A cough escaped Hinata’s lips and Akashi’s eyes widen. Neji shifted and Akashi clearly saw the blood dripping from the side of her lips.

She hit Neji’s arm away and went for another hit, but he dodged, grabbing her arm and slammed his fingers from beneath her forearm. He moved her sleeve up and red dots were all over her arm. Kakashi said that Neji blocked the Chakra paths inside her arm. Neji brought his hand back and then whipped it forward, palm open, into Hinata, making her fly away.

She shakily stood up. “I’m not going to take back my words, that’s my way of the ninja”. The blood was still dripping down her lips as she said that. “I didn’t know that Hinata was so tough”. Naruto spoke up from next to Akashi. “She’s very similar to you”. Akashi heard Lee speak to Naruto. “Come to think of it, she’s always been watching you”. Sakura added. Naruto was too dense to notice that Hinata liked him.

Hinata activated her Byakugan once more, but then she winced and bent over, gripping the area over her heart. More blood fell from her lips and splattered on the ground. Without another word, she dashed forward, intent on defeating Neji. They started exchanging hits again, but after a few moments, Neji landed a hit on her and she slid back on her feet.

She lunged once more, palm open towards Neji, but it was futile. She missed her hit and Neji thrust his palm forward. The dust around them rose as his hit connected with her. The Byakugan dissolved and she coughed out blood, before falling onto the ground. The judge walked over to her unmoving body and was about to declare Neji the winner, when Naruto spoke up. “Don’t stop the match!” He yelled and everyone looked at him.

Akashi raised his head in alarm. There’s no way Hinata can fight anymore, she’s completely spent. Naruto was looking at Hinata. Everyone’s eyes, including Akashi’s, widen once they see her start to get up again. “Impossible…”. Akashi whispered as Hinata stood up. She told something to Neji that made his eyes narrow. A murderous look appeared in his eyes and Akashi feared for the worse. If Hinata gets injured some more, she will die.

Neji opened up his palm and sprinted at Hinata. “Neji! The match has ended!” The judge yelled, trying to stop him, but it was no use. Akashi thought that was it, Hinata was going to die. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see it happen, but sudden Chakra bursts made him snap them back open. He looked down and saw Kakashi, Guy, Hayato and Kurenai standing next to Neji, the latter three holding him back.

Hinata gasped from behind them and fell onto her knees, coughing furiously. Akashi bent his knees and jumped, sliding over the railings. Naruto, Sakura and Lee followed after him. The four of them reached Hinata and stopped next to her. “Move!” Akashi shouted and dropped to his knees, hands already glowing green. He forced as much Chakra as possible into his hands, intent in helping until the medics arrive.

“Naruto… I-“. Akashi shushed her. “Stop, don’t speak”. He bit his lip when he noticed that his healing was barely doing anything. He felt the skin break when she slowly closed her eyes. “Damn it!” He yelled as the green light faded. “You there, the dropout”. They heard Neji call out. Both Naruto and Akashi turned to him. “If you’re a ninja, stop with the unsightly cheering for a stranger”. Naruto’s eyes narrow at his words.

“And one more thing… a dropout is a dropout, they cannot change”. Naruto slowly stood up and turned to him. “Do you want to try?” Neji sent him a mocking smirk and that seemed to further annoy Naruto, but before he could dash at him, Akashi grabbed him by the hand. “Don’t”. He slowly raised from the ground and looked at Neji. The boy still had that mocking look in his eyes. “Are you sure you should be saying that? You may have killed her”. Neji laughed at that.

“Are you sure you should be saying that?” He repeated in a mocking tone, before something flashed through his eyes. “You did kill him”. Akashi’s grip on Naruto’s hand disappeared and the hand slipped down, until it hanged at his side. “Neji!” Akashi could barely recognize Guy’s voice over all the ringing in his ears. How dare he say that. What are you going to do about it? The Nine-Tails decided it was the perfect moment to speak up.

Shut up. The fox was taken aback at the pure indifference in the boy’s tone. Before anyone could stop what was about to happen, Neji was thrown back, feet sliding over the ground, barely stopping before he hit the wall. Akashi was no longer next to Naruto, but at the place where Neji was, arm extended and his palm open. Guy was standing next to Akashi, a confused look in his eyes. He was too surprised to do anything.

Kakashi’s one visible eyes was focused on Akashi. The boy looked normal, no foreign Chakra was shifting around his body, which meant, the fox had no hand in this. This was all Akashi’s doing. The boy was standing still, back facing everyone except Neji. “You had to go there, huh?” He shook his head and dropped his arm as he shifted on his feet. Neji was momentarily frozen as he didn’t know what happened.

One moment he was standing still, the other, he was thrown back. But what confused him the most, was the fact that Akashi didn’t want to hurt him. He wasn’t hit away, but pushed at an enough force to reach the wall and not slam into it. He didn’t want to injure him in any way. He blinked and looked at the redhead. There was nothing on his face that indicated that he was going to fight him.

A sudden feeling of regret washed through his body when he noticed the look in Akashi’s eyes. They were staring straight at him, but what caught his attention was the look of pure hurt that was present in them. Full of pain and sadness, regret and grief. They showed such open emotions, he almost apologized on the spot. Then, Akashi blinked and they were gone.

He heard the boy sigh and turn around. “Disqualify me if you want to, either way I quit”. He was about to walk back to Naruto, when he heard Hinata cough, even more blood spilling. Kurenai unzipped Hinata’s jacket and placed a hand over her shirt. Akashi could see that things weren’t good. Kurenai turned her head and looked at Neji, anger clear in her eyes.

“If you have time to glare at me, you should look at her”. He bit back, the cocky smirk back on his face. Akashi whipped back around and, this time, glared with as much ferocity as possible. Neji frowned at him and stayed quiet. “Medical team! What are you doing? Hurry!” Kurenai called out and the medics came. They took Hinata and hurried out of the arena.

Naruto crouched down to where Hinata was laying and placed a hand on the blood marks on the ground. He swiped down, making the blood stain his hand and stood up. Akashi internally flinched when he saw the blood on his brothers hand. Turning his eyes away from the sight, he met eyes with Kakashi, who smiled a sad knowing smile. Akashi grit his teeth and looked away.

Naruto extended his arm towards Neji and made his hand into a fist, a serious look on his face. “I will win!” In that moment, Akashi believed him. Akashi believed in him. Once his brother was determined to do something, it was over, he wasn’t going to rest until it was done. As he looked at Naruto, he knew. He knew his brother would become the Hokage. No matter what happens, he will become Hokage.

And he will be with him every step of the way.