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

Their time together was cut short when Kakashi appeared in front of them. “Akashi, I’ll need to borrow him for a while”. The two young boys looked at him. Akashi tilted his head and looked back at Sasuke. The raven haired boy was standing with his hands stuffed inside his pockets, a nonchalant expression on his face.

“That’s fine, I wouldn’t want to interfere with his training”. Kakashi smiled his closed-eye smile and gestured at Sasuke. “Let’s go”. The boy started walking over to him without a word. As the two of them went to leave, Akashi called out. “About the talk we had…”, Sasuke momentarily stopped and turned around, “… I quite enjoyed it, we should do it again sometime”. The Uchiha reluctantly nodded his head and jumped away.

Kakashi stayed behind. Surprisingly, he raised his head and patted Akashi on the head. Confused as to what was happening, Akashi looked up at him. His eyes held an indistinguishable emotion, one which he never saw on him. Why did he have that look on his face? His thought process was cut short when Kakashi spoke. “You two seem to be getting along again, I’m glad”. He dropped his hand.

“Yeah, I think we’re fine now”. Akashi shook his head, hair returning to its original messy look, a couple of strands falling in front of his eyes. He blew air upwards, making the strands swing back. It was no use, they fell down again, poking him in the eye.

“Wouldn’t it be better to put the protector on your forehead?” Kakashi pointed at his neck. Akashi grimaced and shook his head. “No thank you, I like it better right where it is”. He tapped on the metal and it glinted. Kakashi furrowed his brows, suspicious at his reason for doing that, but there’s no use in getting too caught up on that.

“I’ll see you at the matches”. Saluting him, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving nothing in place. Scoffing, Akashi pushed his hair back, the strands still intent on ruining his sight. Clenching his fist, he raised the other hand up and gently touched his neck, remembering the cold flash of steel.

Shaking his head, he raised his arms up and after hearing a satisfying ‘crack’, he sighed. The matches were set to begin in a couple of hours. Seeing as though he had enough time to take another nap, he dropped to the ground and closed his eyes, hands placed behind his head to act like a pillow.

_

Time passed and it was finally time for the official matches to start. Akashi headed over to the open arena and met up with Sakura. She still looked wary of him, but she offered him a warm smile as she gestured to the seat next to her. He sat down and waited for the first match to begin.

Luck didn’t seem to be on his side, because Naruto got matched up with Neji. “What a bad match-up for Naruto”. Akashi clicked his tongue at the sight before him. Neji was a close-combat type of ninja, Naruto just had to keep his distance. Neji got into a stance as soon as the new judge said start. About that, Hayate was nowhere to be seen and that seemed suspicious to Akashi.

He also noticed that an Anbu was watching over them. What made it even more suspicious was the fact that he recognized the Chakra as Kabuto’s Chakra. Turning back to the match, Akashi decided he was going to be careful from now on, something was going on.

Naruto started the match by throwing kunai at Neji, which were deflected away. He then charged in, even though that was the most stupid thing he could do in a situation like this, and went to hit Neji, who in turn just pushed him past him. Naruto spun in the air and dashed back in. They proceeded to exchange blows, until Neji landed a hit on his chest and on his shoulder.

Naruto rolled back onto the ground. Akashi stood up, worry carved onto his features. “Naruto!” He yelled, seeing that he was holding his shoulder in pain. They exchanged a few words, before Naruto stood up and did a hand-sign. Multiple Naruto’s appeared around him and dashed at Neji. This was a smart decision because Neji couldn’t see which Naruto was the real one, since they all had equal amounts of Chakra in them.

They stood no chance against Neji. He spun and kicked around, destroying clone after clone, until only the real Naruto was left. They momentarily stopped their fight and had a small talk. Neji started spewing nonsense about fate and destiny and how all beings have one fate and that fate is death. Akashi was taken aback at his words. What could have caused him to be like this? What had he gone through in his childhood?

Naruto started arguing with him, before ending it at one sentence. “I don’t give up that easily!” He pointed his fist in the air and Akashi had never been prouder than he is now. Naruto did the clone technique again, making numerous Naruto’s appear around him.

Naruto tricked him into believing he was one of the clones and did a surprise attack alongside one of the clones. They jumped at him from behind and just as their fists were about to connect with his body, Akashi sensed a massive Chakra burst exit Neji’s body. The two Naruto’s were stuck in place and Neji spun, knocking them both away. The Chakra then receded back inside his body.

A huge indent was beneath Neji’s feet, most likely from the force of the Chakra. Naruto created more shadow clones and they all dashed at him, but it was no use, Neji did the same move and it ended the same way, with them being thrown away. The real Naruto stood up and Neji went into another stance. This one was different than the previous one.

He shifted his body and lunged forward, light on his feet. He started jabbing his finger’s in Naruto’s Chakra points, blocking each and every one of them. With one last jab, Naruto was thrown back, blood spewing out of his mouth. Akashi bit his lip, skin immediately breaking under the pressure and gripped the seat he was sitting in, fingers almost bending the metal.

Neji was too powerful for Naruto to beat. That was a thing Akashi just realized. He hoped Naruto could surpass himself and beat him, but it was not meant to be. Akashi could not see any way for Naruto’s Chakra to go through, all of the exit points were blocked.

Neji said something about how he blocked all his points and that there was no way for him to stand up, but Naruto surprised him, just as he surprised people all of the time. Albeit on shaky legs, Naruto managed to push himself to his feet, whole body shaking in pain.

Furious coughing made Akashi look at the way it was coming from. Kiba was patting Hinata on the back as blood started dripping down her lips. Interestingly enough, Kabuto, masked as the Anbu, went over to them and took Hinata in his arms. Kiba stood up and went after the man. He settled Hinata behind the seats and started healing her chest.

Seeing that nothing important was going to happen, Akashi turned back to the match. In the meantime, Neji had taken off his forehead protector and on his forehead was a green seal which Akashi didn’t recognize. He said how someone’s life was set in stone the day they were born and so was his. He was born into the Branch Family of the Hyuuga, and Hinata was born into the Main Family.

Hinata’s father and his father were twin brothers, and the older brother, Hinata’s father, was set to be the leader of the Main Family just because he was born earlier. He continued his story and said that people always wanted to know the secret of the Byakugan and one person, from an allied village, kidnapped Hinata.

Hinata’s father killed him immediately and was later on blamed for starting a war between allies. To correct that, the other village asked for a member of the Main Family who had the Byakugan. So, Neji’s father Hizashi, was chosen as a replacement for Hiashi. Before that, on Hinata’s third birthday, when Neji was four, he was branded with the seal on his forehead.

The Main Family members had a technique which was used to destroy the brain cells of the person who wore the seal. He then finished his story and got into another argument with Naruto, saying how he could not defeat him, since all his Chakra points were closed. Naruto told him to shut up and he did a hand-sign. Akashi’s eyes widened as soon as he did that.

The Chakra points inside him were indeed closed, but Chakra started coming out of his body. Red Chakra. A harsh throb shook Akashi’s body and he grabbed the place over his heart, exhaling a deep breath. His breathing got out of control as his body’s temperature started rising.

The air around Naruto’s body grew tense as sharp wind started blowing around him, raising the rocks and the dust from the ground. The Chakra stopped whipping around, instead, it settle around Naruto’s body, creating a protective shield.

Neji went into a stance and Naruto disappeared from in front of them. Akashi traced after Naruto’s form, barely able to keep up with his speed. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Naruto… was using the Nine-Tails’s Chakra… willingly. Did he really wish to win so much, that he used its Chakra? Naruto appeared in the air above Neji and threw shuriken at him. Neji blasted Chakra from his body and spun, knocking the shuriken away.

They collided once more, and stopped for a moment. Naruto took out a kunai and lunged at Neji, ground breaking underneath his feet as he run at him. Just before he reached him, he swung his kunai at Neji, who in turn used his spinning to increase the force of his hit.

Their kunai collided and an enormous blast was created. The dust covered every inch of the arena. After a few moments, it cleared and there were two identical holes in the ground. A hand burst out from one and Neji pulled himself out. He was panting harshly as he looked at Naruto in the other hole. Akashi closed his eyes as his teeth grit together.

Naruto lost. His eyes snap back open as a familiar Chakra signal appeared right under Neji. He watched as it got closer and closer to him. Right from the ground, Naruto burst out and landed a hit on Neji’s jaw, hitting him and sending him straight to the ground. Akashi’s eyes shifted to Naruto’s fingers. His nails were broken, blood dripping off them. Did that idiot dig through the ground with his bare hands?

The Naruto that was lying in the hole disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing a hole underneath. He actually did dig through. The new judge raised his hand. “Winner, Uzumaki Naruto”. Akashi stumbled to his feet in a hurry, almost tripping. “Yes! Naruto!” He yelled out and raised a fist in the air. Naruto heard him and raised his head, looking at where he was.

A grin found its way on his face as he, too, raised a fist in the air. Akashi really couldn’t be prouder at him. The whole stage echoed with the amount of applause he got. As happy as he’ll ever be, Naruto started prancing around the arena, happiness radiating off him. He started sending kisses towards the watchers and Akashi dropped back in his seat, embarrassed in his stead.

Really, he always found a way to surprise people.

_

The next match was supposed to be Gaara vs Sasuke, but Sasuke still hasn’t returned along with Kakashi. It was said that is he didn’t come in time for his match, he would be disqualified. That worried Akashi. But, to his luck, the Hokage decided to postpone his match and the next match started.

It was supposed to be Shino vs Kankuro, but Kankuro immediately surrendered, making Shino the default winner.

And so, the next match started.

This one was between Shikamaru and Temari. She had an advantage against him with her Wind techniques. He backed up into a corner where the shadows were present and she was out in the light, so he couldn’t reach her. Time passed and Shikamaru still made no move. He tried attacking her once, but his shadow didn’t reach far enough and she marked up to where it could reach.

Time passed again and he did some weird pose while creating a circle with his fingers. After a while, he opened his eyes and started his plan. He tied his jacket to a kunai and threw it in the air, making it slowly fall upon Temari, creating a small shadow. He used that shadow to reach Temari, but she dodged out of the way.

She started doing hand-signs, but then she suddenly stopped. Shikamaru told her he was going to let her look behind. He moved his head and her’s moved alongside his. When she turned around, she saw that he used the hole that Naruto dug to lengthen the range of his shadow technique.

He started walking forward and she did the same, following his exact steps. Once they reached one another, he raised his hand and… surprisingly, surrendered. Everyone was shocked, but he explained that he had no Chakra left and no time left.

And so, the match finished with Temari as the winner.

_

Still… Sasuke didn’t arrive.

They waited for a while more and just as they were about to disqualify him for real, he appeared with Kakashi inside the arena.

The match was announced and the only thing that remained was Gaara.

Kakashi went up where Sakura and Akashi were and stopped close to them. “Sorry about that, Sakura, you were worried, right?” He scratched the back of his head. She shook her head, a serious expression on her face. “I don’t care about that now, about the bruise on his neck…”. She started, but stopped herself, looking at Kakashi for confirmation.

Akashi’s ears perked up at her words. Bruise? Did she mean the seal? Did she not know it was a seal? “You don’t have to worry about that anymore”. Akashi breather out in relief. He didn’t like how Sasuke acted under the influence of the seal. He seemed so different than usual… so much more colder.

A shiver went down his spine as he remembered how they glowed and spread on his pale skin, covering every part of his body in black circles, staining him. He shook his head and brought his attention back to the match.

Once Gaara got down there, the match started and the judge jumped away.

Sand immediately left the gourd which was on Gaara’s back. It swirled around, slowly inching away from Gaara and towards Sasuke. Suddenly, Gaara grabbed his head, as if in pain, and Akashi immediately remembered the Nine-Tails’s words. That boy… he carries the same kind of beast as you do. Was it affecting him? Was he being manipulated the same way Akashi was?

Gaara shivered, like a tremor passed through his body and the sand around him dropped to the ground. Gaara raised his head, looking more stable than a moment ago and looked at Sasuke. The Uchiha took out a couple of shuriken and threw them towards the redhead.

The sand raised once more and stopped his attack. After a seconds time, the sand turned into Gaara, better said, into a clone of Gaara. The clone spit out a mass of sand at Sasuke once he got too close, making him jump up to dodge it. He threw more shuriken at it, but they were deflected by the previous shuriken he threw. He spun in the air and kicked the clone’s hands making them explode.

He whipped around and hit its neck with his forearm, but his hand got sealed inside by the sand. Using his other hand, he hit it straight in the face with his open palm, making it disintegrate. He threw his fist forward, towards the real Gaara, but the sand almost stopped his hit. Smirking, Sasuke disappeared from in front of Gaara and reappeared behind him.

He threw another punch and this one managed to land. Gaara was hit in the cheek and sent flying away, his sand trailing after him. Akashi watched the fight in barely contained excitement. Sasuke was in the lead! He was able to hit Gaara, which was a big deal, and he got faster than before.

Sasuke lunged forward, throwing hits and kicks at Gaara, which were blocked by the sand. He got around the sand and landed a kick, throwing Gaara away again. The sand followed after him and softened his fall. He managed to land another hit on Gaara and then he jumped back, away from him.

He was panting, breaths coming out in fast puffs of air. He was able to move as fast as Lee without his weights, but it took a giant tool on his stamina, making him unable to do it for a long time. Gaara did a hand-sign, which made the sand move. It started forming a circular sphere around him, stacking layers and layers of sand in a giant ball.

Sasuke ran at him, and then he started sprinting. There was a shift in Gaara’s Chakra and Akashi gripped the side of his chair in fear. Sasuke threw a fist forward, intending on destroying the sand protection he had around himself. Just as he landed a hit, the sand changed form and spikes protruded from the ball, almost impaling Sasuke on them.

A single trail of blood slipped down Sasuke’s forehead and he pulled his bleeding hand away, jumping away to safety. The spikes went back inside the sand and it completely closed, shielding Gaara away from the rest of the world. Blood dripped down Sasuke’s shorts. He was most likely stabbed in the thigh.

Akashi’s attention was directed at a now screaming Naruto. “Kakashi-sensei! You need to stop the match, otherwise he is going to kill Sasuke!” He yelled, a panting Shikamaru bent over next to him. Kakashi said nothing, instead, he turned back to the match, completely ignoring Naruto’s words. “Don’t worry”. He spoke after a few moments, making the others look at him. “We were late for a reason”. He added.

A sand eye appeared above the sand ball, observing everything around it. Sasuke dashed at the ball and threw kunai at it, they were deflected, not leaving a scratch on the sand. He went closer and hit the ball, then jumped away, narrowly evading the spikes that came after him.

Sasuke jumped away from the ball and used Chakra to glue himself on the arena walls. He did a few hand-signs and Akashi sensed massive amounts of Chakra gathering at the palm of his hand. A moment later, bright lightning blazed alive in his hand. It cast a bright light across his face, revealing a dark smirk which was there. His crimson red Sharingan eyes more alive than before.

As he pulled his hand back, the lightning left indents inside the wall. He started running down the wall towards the ground, towards Gaara. Guy explained that that move is Kakashi’s only original move. He said that its used for assassination purposes and because of the amount of Chakra it takes to do it, it shows a physical form. He added that because it can only be used at great speed, it emits a sound of a thousand birds chirping.

“That is why that move is called…”, he trailed off as Sasuke thrust his arm inside the sand ball, “…Chidori”. The hand pierced through the sand, cutting clean through the ‘impenetrable’ armor. A moment later, a horrified scream echoed from inside the ball. “Blood! My blood!” Gaara shouted from inside. In that moment, Akashi sensed the familiar Chakra.

Sasuke barely managed to get his hand out of the sand. As he did that, something akin to an arm followed after him, before retreating back inside the hole Chidori made. Akashi froze in his seat as he felt the Chakra from inside. It wasn’t Gaara’s Chakra… this was something else. Something more… sinister.

The sand ball surrounding Gaara started cracking and then it disintegrated, leaving Gaara in the middle of it. He was harshly panting and holding his bleeding shoulder. A feeling washed over Akashi and he raised his hands in a hand-sign. “Dispel!” The feeling disappeared, but it was too late. The people around him started passing out. There were only a few left awake, alongside Sakura.

Someone cast an Illusionary Technique. Smoke exploded in the place where the Hokage and the Kazekage sat and a moment later an incoming of a lot of unknown Chakra signals neared the village. Akashi stood up in a panic and turned to Kakashi. “Sensei! Unknown Chakra signals entering the village!” Kakashi’s eyes widened as he heard his words.

He and Guy went to go down stairs, but the same masked Anbu who healed Hinata appeared on the bottom of them. “What are you doing? The Hokage is in danger!” Guy asked, but he stayed silent. He raised his hands in a hand-sign and a couple of unknown ninja appeared at his side. “That’s not an Anbu member, that’s Kabuto”. Kakashi whipped back to look at Akashi who spoke the words.

He then looked back down. “Sensei, Sasuke went after Gaara, I’ll follow after him”. Kakashi was silent, but after a moment, he gave a small nod. Receiving the pass, Akashi grabbed a kunai from his back pocket and went around the ninja in front of him, and after Sasuke and Gaara.

_

Akashi was running after Sasuke, it was a little difficult to trail after him, since they were in a forest, but if he follows the Chakra signal, he should be fine. To make things worse, he could sense Naruto and Sakura from behind him and there was something else with them. Forcing more Chakra into his legs, he picked up speed. Once he went past a certain tree, he saw a flash of black. “Sasuke!” He yelled, once more speeding up.

He managed to reach behind the boy, now running a few feet behind him. The Uchiha turned around with a scowl on his face. “Why did you follow me?!” He slipped under a branch and continued his jumping. Akashi almost fell down at his words. “Are you an idiot?! You can’t do this alone!” He argued back, now parallel to him.

Sasuke scoffed but argued no further. Counting that as a win, Akashi stepped on a branch, but it cracked upon impact. A soundless gasp left his lips as he flailed around, trying to grab onto another branch, but he missed and pummeled straight towards the ground.

Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, he awaited the impact. He hissed as something slammed into him from the side and pinned him to a tree. He cracked open his eyes and looked at the sight before him. Sasuke had slammed into him and was holding him against the tree, the two of them hanging by a kunai which was impaled into the bark above their heads.

He tapped Sasuke’s arm and he looked down at him, a permanent scowl etched into his features. “You really are an idiot”. He said. Akashi shifted and slipped down the tree, cloaking his feet in Chakra and soundlessly landing on a branch beneath him.

“And yet you saved me again”. He grinned up at the Uchiha, his smile widening once he saw him shake his head. “Shut up and start moving”. He sighed and pushed away from the tree, ripping the kunai out of the bark it was in. He landed on a branch next to Akashi and started running again. Akashi quietly followed after him, this time being careful about where he was stepping.

_

Soon after, they reached Temari, Kankuro and Gaara. Sasuke threw a kunai at them, barely missing his target. “I’ve finally caught up”. Akashi walked up from behind him and he glared at the Suna ninja. “You’re not getting away”. He spun the kunai in his palm, before firmly grasping it.

Temari took out a few kunai and jumped up. “Kankuro, take Gaara and go!” She yelled as she threw the kunai at Sasuke and Akashi. Sasuke moved out of the way and Akashi deflected the kunai, sending one back at her. It grazed her cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood. “Let me deal with them”. She climbed atop a thick branch.

“You can’t deal with the Uchiha, let alone the two of them”. Kankuro tried to argue, but Temari had none of that. “Prioritize Gaara’s condition, also… this guy’s my type”. Kankuro nodded and left. She smirked at Sasuke, a smile on her face. Akashi felt a growl bubble in the depth of his throat. “Aren’t you like… a little too old for him?” A scowl appeared on Temari’s face.

“Little brat!” She sneered at him, readying her fan. “Eat this!” She swiped it and a huge gust of wind almost blew both Sasuke and Akashi off the tree. Akashi slammed a kunai into the ground, keeping himself on the tree. Sasuke wasn’t that lucky, and was sent flying a branch lower.

Akashi ripped the kunai from the branch and crouched down, before he lunged forward at Temari. “Stop!” Sasuke yelled from behind him, but he ignored his words. As Temari readied her fan again, Akashi jumped to the side, before he pushed off the tree and descended upon her. She wasn’t fast enough, resulting in a kunai being stabbed into her thigh.

He pulled it out, blood spewing from her wound and retreated to Sasuke. He shook the kunai and blood splattered onto the bark beneath their feet, staining the wood a dark red. “I won’t be able to do that again, she will be on guard”. Akashi said to the boy beside him, who just nodded his head. Temari extended her fan and hid behind it, only the top of her head remained visible.

Sasuke threw shuriken at her, but she swung her fan and they were sent flying away, the tree branches they stood upon also got cut down, making the two boys be on constant move. Temari swung her fan again and Sasuke was thrown back against the tree, his back slamming into it.

Akashi grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him behind a rather big tree, shielding him from the harsh wind. “Her fan is troublesome”. Sasuke grunted out, an annoyed expression on his face. “You can say that again”. Akashi agreed, looking around at the damage Temari did.

The trees around them were all cut up, various degrees of scratches carved up on them. Suddenly, Sasuke went out of their cover and did hand-signs. Balls of fire went out of his mouth, making Temari dodge them. She dropped to the ground and the balls of fire surrounded her, trapping her inside a ring of fire.

He did more hand-signs and a huge ball of fire was fired directly at her. She used her fan and all of the fire was put out. Sasuke jumped out of the way and Akashi noticed where he was landing. Instead, he jumped to where Sasuke was about to land and pushed him towards another branch, resulting in him slipping. “Damn it!” He shouted as he felt his foot twist.

He started pummeling towards the ground and Temari jumped up to his height. Her smirk was the last thing he saw before her kunai stabbed into his forearms. He managed to pull one out and impale it into a tree, stopping himself from falling to his death. That gave enough time to Sasuke to do what he wanted to do.

While Temari’s attention was on Akashi, Sasuke slapped an explosive tag near her, making it explode, resulting in her flying away. Akashi’s feet met the ground and he winced as his arms moved. Sasuke landed next to him a moment later. “What was that about?” He asked the redhead, remembering how he pushed him out of the way.

“What was what about?” Akashi flexed his fingers, not looking at him. He was testing to see if any nerves in his arm were severed, but for now, nothing seemed out of place. He hovered his other hand over the wounds and a light green glow covered his palm, stitching the skin back together.

“Don’t act dumb, why did you push me out of the way?” He stayed quiet until his hand healed and then he stretched it in front of himself, testing the feeling. It felt fine. He then turned to face the frowning Uchiha. “Because I could? Also, don’t frown so much, it’s gonna give you wrinkles”. He walked over to Temari.

“Sorry, but we’ll be leaving now, got no time to waste”. Saluting her, he grabbed Sasuke by the shoulder and pulled him away. “Less chit-chat, more action, let’s go”. He jumped up the tree and followed after Kankuro’s and Gaara’s Chakra signal, there’s no way they were getting away from him.

Sasuke quietly followed after him, the frown still on his face.

_

They soon caught up with Kankuro and Gaara, since Kankuro was carrying Gaara, he couldn’t move as fast as he would without him. Sasuke and Akashi were about to fight him when Temari arrived. “Aren’t you persistent?” Akashi asked her, clenching his, now, uninjured arm. Her eyes widen at his unscathed arm. “You healed that in such a short time?” She asked him, voice trembling slightly.

“What can I say… it’s my specialty”. He grinned at her, teeth flashing dangerously. She sharply inhaled and took a step back. “Temari, take Gaara and go, I’ll take care of them”. Temari tried to argue back, but Kankuro gave her no space to do that. “Okay… just be careful, that redhead is not as weak as he looks”. With a final nod, she grabbed Gaara and left.

Kankuro grabbed the bandaged object which he always carried on his back and put it in front of himself. They were about to begin the fight when Shino appeared behind them. He explained he placed a female bug on Sasuke, who’s scent only a male bug of the same species can sense.

He said he was going to take care of Kankuro, since he was supposed to be his opponent. Making that deal, Sasuke and Akashi continued on their way towards Gaara.

_

By the time they caught up with Temari, Gaara was awake. He started groaning, grabbing his head in pain, before something unimaginable happened. Half of his body started shifting into another form. A form so inhumane it was hard to look at it. As Akashi watched it happen, he knew… for the first time, the fox didn’t lie to him.

It told the truth. Gaara carried the same beast as he did. He carried a Tailed Beast inside him, but it seems that his seal is so weak it can take control of him at any time it wishes. Sasuke and Akashi hid behind a tree, not knowing what to do against something like that.

Gaara started slashing trees upon trees, with a flick of his hand it all fell down. Gaara started saying something about ‘proving ones existence’ and ‘proving ones strength’ and Akashi knew where this was going. He glanced at Sasuke and noticed he was preparing for something. He did hand-signs for Chidori and Chakra started gathering in his hand.

“Sasuke! No!” Akashi whisper-yelled, trying not to alert Gaara of their location. The Chidori in his hand blazed to life, making Akashi blink because of the bright light it emitted. Sasuke stepped out of their hiding spot and Akashi lunged forward, trying to pull him back.

He didn’t make it. Sasuke’s shirt slipped through his fingers as he dashed forward. Akashi could only watch as the two of them collided in a bright flash. There was a moment it all stood still, until the Chidori ripped straight through Gaara’s transformed arm.

Surprisingly, Gaara manages to get up, laughter bubbling out of his throat. He transformed even further, gaining a tail. He wrapped his transformed limbs around the tree and catapulted himself forward toward Sasuke. He managed to hit him and slam him into a tree.

Akashi could see that Sasuke had nearly no Chakra left. As he charged another Chidori, he prepared to dash at Gaara. Pulling his hand back, he lunged forward and pushed his hand in front of himself, aiming for Gaara, who had also jumped at him.

Akashi knew this was it. Sasuke’s Chakra had dropped to a zero and his Chidori had almost disappeared. Still, he continued with his plan. Only then, when they were about to connect to one another, did Akashi sense it. The mark on Sasuke’s neck had started to spread… giving him an enormous amount of Chakra.

He did hit Gaara, but it did nothing but further anger him. Gaara stood up, the feral look back in his eyes, saliva dropping from his lips. Sasuke gripped his mark and dropped onto his knees. Gritting his teeth, Akashi dashed out of his hiding spot and in front of Sasuke, arms spread wide in an attempt to protect him.

Gaara’s clawed hand pierced through him, before he could do anything else.

And as his body started to throb from the pain, his knees gave out and slammed into the tree beneath him.

“You idiot!” Was the last thing he heard, before his eyes closed and he welcomed the darkness that overtook him. 

AN: If anyone has any questions about the story, feel free to message me.