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Time passed and Jiraiya finished up his training with Naruto. Akashi was grumbling something about wasting time when Jiraiya said they were going to a hot spring, but he still went there with them. They relaxed for about half an hour and when it was time to leave, they got out and went back to the village. “Naruto”. Akashi said as they got nearer to their apartment. “What?” Naruto closed his eyes, yawning. After today’s events, no wonder he was tired.

“I forgot to buy something, you can head on home before me”. Naruto squinted suspiciously at him, but when another yawn got out of his lips, he nodded his head. “Okay”. He turned around to leave, but Akashi grabbed him by the wrist. “Don’t forget to lock the door, and don’t make a mess, eat something for dinner and wash your teeth”. He reprimanded him and Naruto groaned.

“Yeah, yeah, you know where the spare key is”. He went to remove his hand from Akashi’s grip, but it tightened all of a sudden. When he turned to look at him, he noticed a weird look in his violet eyes. He almost looked… scared. Scared about what? “What’s wrong?” He asked him, but he just shook his head and let go of his wrist. “Nothing, sorry, it’s nothing”. Akashi took a step back, the look in his eyes still there.

“Get going now”. He shooed him away, a smile on his face, but… Naruto knew, the smile was hiding something. “Okay”. He wanted to pry, he wanted to know, what bugged his brother so much? What was going on? But he knew he wouldn’t get an answer. Even before, he never got an answer. He waved goodbye and Akashi waved back, posture stiff. Naruto turned around and went home.

Jiraiya watched their exchange from the sidelines, a thoughtful expression on his face. He knew the boys for less than a day, but even then, he realized something. The older twin cared about his brother, he cared so much, he hid how he was feeling, because he didn’t wish to be a bother. That look he had in his eyes… he was scared, but about what? Was he scared that the sealing was going to go wrong? That the Nine-Tails was going to do something?

Or… was he scared that the Nine-Tails was going to take control of him again? Make him do things he never wanted to do? He was snapped out of his thoughts when Akashi turned to face him. He wore a mask of indifference. “Let’s get this over with”. Without another word, he walked past him and towards the Hokage Tower. Jiraiya quietly followed after him.

_

Jiraiya led Akashi to a building near the Hokage tower. Once they were inside, the met up with the Hokage and an Anbu squad. What confused Akashi, was the fact that another man was there. He had a bandage covering the side of his face and was leaning on a cane. Akashi noted that he looked quite frail. “Akashi, I’m glad to see you”. He glanced at the Hokage and refrained from sneering at him.

“If only I could say the same”. The Hokage laughed in an obviously forced way. “Now, now, I know we separated on bad terms, but there’s no need for such distaste between us”. The man besides the Hokage scoffed, an annoyed expression on his face. “You should watch your manners when you speak to the Hokage”. He directed those words at Akashi, who in turn, raised his brows.

“And who might you be, certainly not someone that matters, since I’ve never seen or heard of you”. From behind him, Akashi heard Jiraiya release a breathy laugh, before masking it with a cough. The Hokage shook his head and gestured at the man. “This is Danzo, he’s a trusted friend of mine, and I found it convenient for him to be here, if you don’t mind that?” Akashi remained expressionless and silent.

A clap behind them broke the tension. “Okay! Let’s get right to it, Akashi, if you’re fine with that, can you lay there?” Jiraiya pointed at a circle in the middle of the room. It was cover with all kinds of seals, mostly ones which Akashi had never seen before. “Well that’s not ominous at all”. Jiraiya placed a hand on his shoulder, intent on giving a little bit of comfort. Sadly, his try was disregarded when Akashi shook his hand off.

He slowly advanced towards the circle and before he stepped on it, he crouched and touched the seal. There was a lot of Chakra put into it. Casting a suspicious at Danzo, he sighed and shifted in a laying position. From the side of his eye, he saw Jiraiya exchange a look with the Hokage, and the Hokage raised a finger. The Anbu squad lunged at Akashi and bounded his arms and legs to the ground.

“What the hell?!” Akashi tried to struggle, but his strength was nowhere near to that of the Anbu. “Jiraiya?! What are you planning on doing?!” Jiraiya shook his head and crouched beside him. “This is precaution, in case something goes wrong, the Anbu are here to hold you down if the Nine-Tails tries to take control, please calm down, we won’t hurt you”. Akashi still had an unsure expression on his face.

Jiraiya extended a hand and moved his bangs out of his face. “I promise I won’t do anything to hurt you”. Akashi hesitantly nodded his head and Jiraiya brought his hand back. “I’ll need to move your shirt up so I can see the seal”. At Akashi’s silence, he grabbed the hem of it and pulled it up, exposing his stomach. The forehead protector around his neck was in the way, so Jiraiya untied it and placed it to the side.

“Now, can you focus Chakra so the seal shows?” Akashi did as he asked and the seal appeared after a few moments. It was… not like Naruto’s. Jiraiya’s brows furrowed as he looked at the seal. “This is going to be harder than I thought”. He sighed and scratched his neck. That alarmed Akashi. “What do you mean?” Couldn’t things go his way, just once?! Why does everything in his life have to be so complicated?!

“The seal, it’s totally different from Naruto’s”. Hearing a sigh in front of him, Jiraiya locked eyes with a clearly worried Akashi. “Jiraiya”. The said man hushed the boy. “It’s going to be okay, trust me”. Akashi nearly popped a blood vessel at that. “Trust you?! I barely know you!” He screamed out, sitting up, which made the Anbu force him down again. He slammed into the ground with an audible groan.

“Be gentle, I’m fragile”. He bit back at the masked ninjas. Jiraiya raised a brow at his statement. He was everything but fragile. Jiraiya pulled his sleeve up and focused Chakra in his hand. “This is going to hurt”. Akashi’s eyes widened. “Wait, wait, you said it wasn’t go-!” Jiraiya slammed his hand atop the seal. “Complete Seal!” He twisted his hand and another seal appeared over the Nine-Tails’s one.

Five dots, resembling small locks, locked into place. Akashi’s eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out. Huffing out a breath, Jiraiya pulled his sleeve back down and shook his hand. “That hurt even me”. Disgruntled, he stood up. “He won’t be waking up for a couple of hours, I’ll bring him home”. The Hokage nodded and gestured towards the unconscious boy.

“Jiraiya, take care of them”. Confused, Jiraiya between Akashi and the Hokage. “They need someone to guide them in the right direction, Naruto not so much, but…”. The Hokage glanced at the sleeping boy. “He’s starting to question about his parents, and I don’t think it would be a good idea for them to find out”. Jiraiya scoffed at the man’s words.

“He’s suspecting about Kushina, it’s only a matter of time before he finds out, you can’t hide it, maybe you can from Naruto, but not from him”. A somber look passed though Jiraiya’s eyes. “He’s too much like his father, you won’t be able to fool him forever”. Sarutobi closed his eyes. “I didn’t need forever, just until he grows strong enough to protect himself”. Jiraiya flexed his jaw, feeling like he should just tell him the truth.

It wasn’t fair, this secrecy that they had going on. A child had the right to know about their parents. As he looked at the redhead on the floor, it seemed like he had no rights at all.

“Jiraiya, I’m worried about him, Naruto has a goal in mind, but Akashi… I don’t know what kind of person he wants to be, I spoke with Kakashi about him and said that he has only one goal in mind… Protecting Naruto, keeping him from harm”. Sarutobi said, a faraway look in his eyes as he remembered Kakashi’s last words. “He said he will burn the whole world to the ground if it meant Naruto gets to be safe”.

The moment he finished the sentence, an inhale of breath came from Akashi. He snapped up, struggling against the Anbu which were holding him in place. Jiraiya hurried over to him, worried about his state. He shouldn’t be up yet! He should have been knocked out for a couple of hours! “Akashi? Are you okay? Does anything hurt?” Akashi pushed at the Anbu. “Get off me, I’m fine!” He snapped at them and went to stood up.

They released him when they got the signal from the Hokage. Akashi stumbled to his feet, forehead protector in hand, and glared at Jiraiya. The said man froze in place, wide eyes staring at enraged violet ones. “What’s wrong?” He dared ask, immediately regretting once the glare grew harsher. Akashi stomped up to him, a tick mark on his forehead, anger rolling off in waves.

He jabbed a finger in his chest. “You said you weren’t going to hurt me! That hurt more than when I got stabbed! With a blade! Through my body!” Jiraiya sweat-dropped at his words. He was worried for nothing, he’s fine. “That’s a relief, you’re okay”. Akashi crossed his arms, a disgruntled expression on his face. “Of course I’m fine, I’m not fragile”. Jiraiya almost fell over along with the Hokage.

“But you sai-!” He was waved off and Akashi turned around. “Where’s the exit, I’m tired and I wanna see Naruto”. The Hokage sighed and pointed at a door. Akashi turned that way and went through the door, escaping from their view. Jiraiya, the Hokage, Danzo, and the Anbu squad were left standing there, baffled.

“That boy needs to be contained along with his brother! What have I been telling you? They would be useful if only you just handed them over to me!” Danzo’s voice rang out through the dark room. He was looking at the Hokage, intent at having it his way. The Hokage sighed at his words. “How many times have I told you this; they’re not mine to give!” His tone got louder towards the end, effectively shutting Danzo up.

Jiraiya watched their exchange in silence. Danzo… there’s no use in declining him, he’ll do anything to get what he wants, and Sarutobi is a fool for not doing anything about it. Shaking his head, he leaves them, thinking about doing some night ‘research’.

_

The pain was unbearable, hot, searing straight through his nerves, lighting aflame every atom in his body. This was the worst pain he felt in his life, but he carried on, walking aimlessly through the dark streets of Konoha. He didn’t feel like going home, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep after today, so it was no use in trying. If by some miracle he managed to fall asleep, it wouldn’t be for long, his dreams wouldn’t let him rest nearly enough.

The moment Jiraiya joined the seals together, the fox spoke to him. It spoke of pain, of death, of the horror that will await him. It spoke of his weakness, his naivety, his love for his brother. It threatened total destruction of the world he lives in. The world Naruto lives in. In some cruel way, the fox was right. He is weak, he is naive, and that will cause him pain.

He knows the fox will always be a part of him, he knows they will never be apart from each other. He made peace with that fact. But he will never make peace with it. No matter what happens. He won’t let it take control again. It will never hurt anyone again. Not while he’s alive.

He grew alarmed when a Chakra signal entered his field of sense, but relaxed when he recognized it. “Why are you alone in the night?” The man spoke, walking closer to him. The moonlight casting a ominous glow atop his silver hair. He leaned on a wall, hands stuffed inside his pockets. “Couldn’t I ask you the same thing?” He countered, feeling his face shift into a scowl.

“Touché”. The man laughed and Akashi found no humor in his words. “You should know why I’m here, haven’t they informed you yet?” He plopped on a bench, the action causing him to let out a wince of pain. “They have, and judging by your appearance, I can only guess it went well”. Kakashi joined him on the bench, crossing his legs and leaning back.

“It went more than well, I found out about something”. The silver-haired man turned to him in interest. “Yeah? About what?” He asked, not worried about the answer he would get. Akashi shifted on the bench, hands gripping his knees. Kakashi looked at him and his eye widened in return. The boy had tears in his eyes, but his expression wasn’t sad… he could even say it was a happy one.

“My mother’s name was Kushina”. That name was like a trip down memory lane. Flashes of her smile and kind eyes went through his head in a moment’s time. He straightened up and uncrossed his legs, hand whipping to clench over his chest, because his heart felt like it would burst out. Furiously blinking, he couldn’t calm himself down. This was too much.

Hurriedly standing up, he staggered on his feet, balance suddenly disrupted. “Sensei?” Akashi’s worried voice rang out from behind him, but he didn’t turn around. His mind was blank, no thoughts to fill it up. “Kakashi, are you alright?” He snapped back around as the voice he never thought he would hear again called out his name, and there she was.

She stood there, with the same look in her eyes she had when he returned without Obito. She spoke with the same worried tone she used when he returned without Rin. He reached forward, trying to grasp at the image in front of him, trying to grasp at her, but it wasn’t meant to be. The image swirled and in her place was Akashi. “Sensei?” Confused, Akashi repeated.

That seemed to snap Kakashi out of his thoughts, because the man blinked and the distraught expression on his face disappeared, replaced by a nonchalant one and the hand, which was held in front of him, dropped, lifeless, at his side. “Kushina…”. Kakashi whispered, before he dropped onto the bench, a faraway look in his eye. “You knew her, right?” The boy asked, sitting back on the bench.

“Yeah… yeah, I knew her”. He finally spoke up and cleared his throat, scared his voice was going to betray him. “What was she like?” Kakashi was silent for a moment, thinking back at the moments they shared, how she always reprimanded him when he acted out of order or when she dragged him to her house to eat dinner together with her and Minato, because she knew he had nobody else.

How she teased Obito, how she had girl-time with Rin, how she visited their practices when she had the time. How happy she was when Minato finally proposed, but mostly, he remembered how excited she was when she delivered the news that she was pregnant. He knew she would have been even more excited if ,in that moment, she knew she was having twins. He remembered all of it, and he knew he would never forget any of it.

“She was… amazing in every way possible. Caring to the bone with warmth radiating from every part of her being”. Akashi shifted closer, eyes filled with tears and Kakashi’s heart almost broke at the sight of that. “Naruto’s personality is a carbon-copy of her’s, but you look a lot like her, that’s why I was stunned a couple of times, you just reminded me a lot of her and it was…”. He trailed off and Akashi understood what was left unsaid.

It was painful.

“You have the same maternal instinct towards Naruto, as she had towards me. You also have the same temper as she did. She was scary when she was mad, I guess you got that from her”. He let out a small laugh as he remembered how her hair always stood up when she got angry. “She was also very forgiving and couldn’t keep a grudge for a long time”. He shook his head as a memory hit him.

She and Minato had a fight about something and he arrived to their practice all sad and miserable. When he was asked what happened, he said he accidentally broke her favorite cup and that she wouldn’t speak to him. The next day he arrived, he was carrying lunch boxes for everyone, with a huge grin on his face. When they asked him what happened, he explained that she apologized for her temper.

“What did she look like?” He was brought back by another question. Her long red hair filled his mind, bright violet eyes looking down at him with a grin on her face. “You have her eyes, the exact same shade, it’s the same with the hair”. Akashi unconsciously brought his hand up and touched his hair, a fond look on his face. “I used to hate my hair, because it made me stand out even more”. The redhead sighed sadly.

“What changed that?” Kakashi found himself asking and the boy grinned at the memory. “When I was little, I got teased for it, kids from class told me I looked like a tomato, but Naruto defended me, saying that no one should call my hair ugly, because it was prettier than most of their faces”. He snorted at his own words and Kakashi let a smile grace his features.

“It felt like a huge weight was taken off my shoulders when I heard her name”. The boy leaned back on the bench, head hanging, looking up at the moon. “How even did you hear the name?” Kakashi asked, genuinely wondering, because, nobody is stupid enough to say that name in front of Akashi.

“When Jiraiya combined the seals, I momentarily passed out, and when I woke up, I heard him say I was going to be out of it for a couple of hours, so I used the opportunity to eavesdrop”. Akashi grinned, mischief shinning in his eyes. “I’m glad I did it, because now I’m halfway done”. Kakashi furrowed his brows, confused as to what he meant. “Halfway?” Akashi straightened up and looked at him.

“I still need to find out who my father was”. Kakashi kept his expression neutral and his mouth shut, because the only thing he wanted to do was tell him the truth, but he knew he could not, finding out his father was Minato would bring him in danger, and he couldn’t let that happen. Akashi pointedly looked at him. “There’s no use in trying to get me to say anything, I knew your mother, not your father”. He tried to convince him.

Akashi snorted. “Yeah, right, I know you know”. He stood up and stretched his body, briefly wincing as pain washed over him. “You can’t tell me, I get that, but why can’t you tell me?” He asked, trying to get as much information as possible. “Was my dad some big-shot? Someone not worth anything? Someone who did something bad?” He watched Kakashi’s reaction to each question, but not even his Chakra sensing gave him an answer.

“I’m sorry, It’s confidential”. There it was, that word again. Confidential. The word which the Hokage used when he said why he couldn’t tell him. Laughing, Akashi shook his head in disbelief. “Fine, are there any records on my mom?” Kakashi shook his head at his answer. “They were all destroyed during the Nine-Tail’s attack”. Akashi flexed his jaw, feeling the muscles contract.

With barely suppressed anger, Akashi spoke up. “So be it… I gotta go, thank you for telling me about mom”. Kakashi harshly took an intake of breath when he heard the boy call Kushina mom. “Wait! Naruto-!” He was interrupted. “I know, I won’t tell him, even though it’s the only thing I want to do, I won’t tell him”. He narrowed his eyes. “You do realize when he finds out, he will hate me for not telling him?” Kakashi nodded and stood up.

“I’m sorry”. He apologized, not only for that, but for everything up till now. Akashi scoffed and turned around. “Good night, sensei”. With that, he stuffed his hands inside his pockets and walked away.

The pale moon casting a bright glow on his being.

And as Kakashi looked at him, he knew.

He was nothing like Kushina.