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

Minato bit his lip at the boy’s words. He was right. He had made a mistake. How could he have done that to his sons? Because he thought they could handle it? As he looked at the older twin, one who looked so much like Kushina, but was so different from her…

He was so different from him, too…

He had made a terrible mistake and there was no way to make things better now…

It was too late…

“And you showed up now, to do what? To save me from the Nine-Tails? Hadn’t it ever run through your mind that I came here by my own free will? Of course it didn’t… Seems like nothing goes through your mind at all!” Minato raised his hand to wipe at his cheeks, clearing the transparent liquid from his skin.

The words stung… They stung so bad… His heart broke and broke and it just continued breaking…

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”. He knew that all of the sorry’s in the world couldn’t make things better… The sorry’s came too late…

“Everyone keeps saying that they’re sorry! What the hell does that even mean to you all?! You fuck things up and then think that everything can be solved with a simple ‘I’m sorry’?!” Akashi stepped over to him, his expression twisted in fury. “It doesn’t make things better!” His fist whipped forward and Minato didn’t even try to dodge it.

It connected with his jaw and he felt something crack. He stumbled backwards, but had no time to rest. Another hand grabbed him by the collar of his robes and pulled him forward. Something harshly connected with his nose and another crack resounded through the dark scenery around them.

He was released and nothing was left to hold him up.

He crashed into the wet grass.

“I hate everything… I hate the village… I hate its inhabitants… I hate the ninja system… I hate the Nine-Tails… I hate you…”, his teeth grit as he looked at the man on the ground, “… but most of all? I hate this fucking world…”. He growled out and Minato couldn’t help but regret everything he’d ever done in his life…

If only he had tried more… If only he had survived… If only Kushina had survived, things would have been different…

Things would have been better for his sons…

“Why was I the one who suffered the most?!” He slammed a hand on his own chest. “Why was I the one who lost the most people?!” He took a step forward, but stopped. “It’s fucking unfair…”. He felt his eyes sting, but he wouldn’t let the tears drop…

He wasn’t weak.

“Why didn’t you try more? Why didn’t you? Why didn’t you give it your all?” Minato gripped the grass between his fingers and lowered his head.

“I did-!” Akashi laughed out loud at his words.

“You did?! If you did, I wouldn’t be here! You wouldn’t be here! Naruto wouldn’t be where he is! Everything would be fine! My mother would have been alive and it’s your fault she’s dead!” He screamed out, the rage and sorrow overflowed inside his body…

He was filled to the brim and there was no free space left…

“Everything is your fault!” The air around the boy shifted and Minato’s eyes widened.

It was as if the air near him was breaking…

… as if a hole in time and space was trying to open…

“It’s your fault he died…”. The boy’s words echoed with grief. He? Minato wondered. Who was he? “If I never had the Nine-Tails inside me, then he would still be alive and I wouldn’t be in so much pain…”. Before Minato could ask who he was, the boy in front of him leaned his head back and…

… the sky above their heads exploded with thunder and lightning…

The rain descended upon their broken forms, but it couldn’t wash the pain away…

Nothing could wash the pain away…

“I’m done… I have nothing else to say to you… “, he glanced at the man on the ground, “… goodbye, father”, and sneered out the last word. Minato didn’t even have time to stand up… He just had time to watch as the boy disappeared from in front of him… Never to be seen again… Leaving him in this forsaken world…

One filled with rain and lightning.

One which perfectly described how he was feeling inside.

_

Akashi blinked his eyes open and found himself in the all familiar rocky field. His hands were shaking at his sides and he clenched them into fists, trying to stop the shaking. It took some time, with him standing there in the light of the setting sun, to calm down… But he managed somehow.

He had met him.

His father? It hurt to even call him that.

Minato, he had met Minato.

The man who sealed the Nine-Tails inside him was also the man who was the Fourth Hokage… He had already known this information, but it still seemed too unreal to be true…

But it was true.

And he hated it.

He hated it with a passion.

_

A message was sent to him once morning came. He was supposed to meet up with Naruto, Sakura and his two new team members. Kakashi was ordered to stay in the hospital until he fully recovered, so the new members were replacing him and Sasuke.

Akashi clenched the paper in his hand.

Great…

He threw the message into the bin and went to change into his ninja outfit. () After he put it on, he raised his hand and activated the seal on the hilt of his blade. It appeared in his hand a moment later. () He reached into his little side-table and grabbed a few of those special kunai.

That should do. He thought as he stared in the mirror. This is fine.

He was fine… He reached a hand down to his hip to grab his mask, but once his hand touched nothing, he remembered.

He was no longer a member of the ANBU. He grit his teeth as he started at his own face in the reflection.

Dark lines were under his eyes and his skin was paler than usual…

His eyes looked more glazed over than before… He can’t hide this now, there’s no mask to help him do it.

He gripped the blade in his hand. He was fine… This was fine… Everything will be alright. Carefully raising his arm up, he sheathed the blade on his back.

Everything is fine.

_

He arrived at the meeting spot just in time to see two unfamiliar people next to Sakura and Naruto. What caught his attention though, was the fact that Naruto was glaring at a pale, obviously fake-smiling, boy. He glanced at the older man beside him and instantly recognized him.

He was an ANBU member.

As Akashi cautiously approached them, the man had raised his head to look at him. The redhead noticed the man was momentarily surprised, before his expression was quickly wiped blank.

Akashi stopped once he reached them. “We meet again, it seems”. The man nodded his head at him.

Sakura used the opportunity to ask a question. “How do you know Yamato, Akashi?” The said boy peered at ‘Yamato’. So his name is now Yamato, eh? The man sent him a look and Akashi understood.

Don’t tell them the truth.

“I saw him once when I was at the Hokage’s office”. Her lips opened in a silent ‘oh’, before she turned back to Yamato. Akashi looked at the boy besides the man. “What’s your name?” The boy’s obviously fake smile widened.

“My name is Sai, you are?” He asked while extending his hand forward. Akashi noted that he didn’t sound that interested in learning his name.

“Uzumaki Akashi”. He took the boy’s hand anyway and shook it.

“Okay, we’re not going to have many chances to get to know each other, introduce yourselves”. Yamato said once they all stood in a line.

Sai, Akashi, Sakura and Naruto.

“Uzumaki Naruto”. Naruto grumbled while introducing himself.

“I’m Haruno Sakura”. She sounded the same as Naruto.

Sai either didn’t care about their tone of voice, or was completely oblivious to the dislike they held towards him. “My name is Sai”. He introduced himself again and that tone he used rubbed Akashi the wrong way. What the hell was wrong with that guy? He didn’t know the answer.

“Okay, that’s enough introduction for now. Now, I’ll explain our mission”. Yamato spoke up. “Our objective is to head towards the Heaven and Earth Bridge, in order to capture the Akatsuki spy working under Orochimaru”. Akashi shifted on his feet at the mention of the snake-man. “This is also a rare chance for us to obtain information on Orochimaru and Uchiha Sasuke”. Naruto immediately gave off a physical reaction when Yamato mentioned Sasuke.

Akashi had taken in an inaudible deep breath. The name still haunted him to this day and it was even worse hearing someone say it out loud.

“We’ll have a valuable source of information for planning Orochimaru’s assassination and Sasuke’s retrieval… if we can capture this spy…”. He said. “Be sure to proceed with caution”. He added.

“Yes, sir!” Naruto and Sakura echoed.

Akashi and Sai stayed silent.

“Assemble at the main gate in an hour. We will depart once you’ve equipped yourselves”. The others nodded at his words and left. Akashi stood still, silently looking at Yamato.

“Yamato, eh?” He stuffed his hands inside his pockets as the question left his lips.

“It’s for this mission…”. He answered, peering at the redhead.

“That Sai fella… Where did Tsunade dig him out from? I’ve never caught his signal before”. Akashi asked, remembering how Sai acted. Something was going on with him.

“That’s confidential, since you’re no longer a part of the ANBU and this is a personal mission given to me by the Hokage herself”. Yamato replied.

Akashi almost laughed at the word ‘confidential’. Seems like it will also haunt him. But, he had realized something from the man’s answer.

Something really was going on.

“That’s fine, we both know I will find out sooner or later… I always do”. He grinned, teeth flashing at the man in front of him.

Yamato believed he would.

_

An hour later, all of them had met up at the Konoha Gates.

“Okay. Team Kakashi, we head out now!”. Yamato turned away from them and towards the road that led out of Konoha.

_

“What is it?” Sai spoke up and turned to Naruto. Akashi glanced at them from behind. Naruto was staring at the other boy, an annoyed expression on his face. “Please stop staring at me like that, or I’ll have to smack you”. He said with all seriousness. Naruto reacted just as Akashi knew he would.

“Every time you open up mouth, you piss me off!” He clenched his fist in the air.

“It’s nothing personal”. Sai said.

“Yeah, right!” Naruto pointed at him in disbelief.

“I’m just portraying myself as the kind of person who says things like that”. He added, causing Sakura to look at him.

“Portraying yourself?” She asked.

Naruto stopped and annoyance took over once again. “That’s what makes it personal!” Sai ignored him and just walked past him. “That settles it! You don’t belong on this team!” Naruto yelled after him and only then did Sai stop.

He turned around to look at the blond. “You’re the biggest asshole I’ve ever met”. Naruto deadpanned.

Yamato had also stopped. “Hey now, that’s no way to act in front of your Captain, is it, Naruto?” He asked and Akashi sighed at his question.

“Yamato, you will get used to this really quickly”. The others looked at him, since this was the first time he spoke after they had the introduction.

“Trust and teamwork are the most important attributes of of a team. I know Kakashi taught you that”. Yamato glanced away from Akashi, so he could continue his reprimand. “Kakashi is a great man, and considering that you’re part of his team, your attitude worries me”. Naruto, once again, pointed his finger at Sai.

“It’s because he’s not a part of Team Kakashi!” He yelled out. “The other member of Team Kakashi…”, he stopped for a moment and everyone knew what he was going to say, “… is Sasuke!” He said. “This guy was only chosen to fill in the gap Sasuke left”. Akashi turned his gaze towards Sai and saw him observing Naruto. “I refuse to accept him as a teammate!” Naruto clenched his fists as he looked at the ground.

Akashi could say that he agreed, but… Sasuke was no longer part of Team 7.

Not since a long time ago.

What Akashi didn’t expect…

“Well…”, Sai placed a hand on his hip and looked at Naruto, “… That suits me just fine”. He said and Akashi scrunched his brows. What? What did he mean by that? “Betraying Konoha…”, Sai started and Akashi felt his heart stop at his words, “… running off to serve Orochimaru…”, he continued, “… Don’t put me in the same group…”, Akashi noticed Naruto had clenched his fists even tighter, “… as that gutless little homo”. He finished.

That was the breaking point for Akashi.

He lowered his head and his fingers twitched.

“You bastard!” Naruto prepared to take a step forward, but a hand stopped him. It was Sakura’s hand.

Akashi heard her say something about teamwork being put first, but it all became static to him. The only thing he could hear were Sai’s words spinning over and over inside his mind.

“Teamwork?” He asked out loud, interrupting Sakura’s next words. “Do you really expect us to work with him after he said such things, Yamato?” The said man glanced at the redhead.

“Well-!” The man was immediately interrupted.

“Such things? I only said the truth, I don’t see what the problem is”. Sai had spoken up once more and Akashi’s fingers itched for the blade which resided on his back. “Or… Do you not like the truth? It’s okay to not want to make peace with it, but it is what it is, the truth”. He gave out that fake smile again and Akashi had enough.

He whipped out his special kunai and threw it at Sai. The boy’s eyes widened and so did the rest of the team’s. The kunai whipped past his head and Akashi appeared next to him. He thrust his hand to the side and wrapped it around Sai’s neck. “I don’t care about teamwork, nor do I care about you… So tell me, what stops me from snapping your neck right now?” His grip gradually grew harsher and harsher.

Yamato froze in place. Shit. He needed to do something and quick. Akashi wasn’t joking around with things like this. He knew from experience just how serious the boy could get…

“No answer? Suit yourself…”, his grip turned tighter and tighter and Sai felt something pop in his neck.

“Akashi! Stop!” The tightening stopped and if Sai could breathe out in relief, he would.

The redhead peered at Yamato from over Sai’s shoulder. “Why should I?” He asked, but didn’t proceed to finish the deed. Yamato felt sweat drip down the back of his neck. He had no valid reason to say to the boy! Shit! Think! Think! Think!

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Sai’s body fell onto the ground. He let out an audible sigh of relief when he saw he was still alive… Still breathing…

Akashi ominously stood over the boy’s collapsed frame, before he crouched down. “Don’t talk trash about a person you know nothing about… Sai”. Without another word, he stood up and walked over to the kunai he had thrown. He bent down and picked it up, stuffing it back into his weapons pouch.

“Okay… I’ll make sure to never mention him in front of you again”. He heard Sai speak, his voice sounded a little raw, but that was to be expected after what happened. Maybe he had used too much force?

Or maybe… Too little?

“You seem to really care about him”. Akashi glanced back at him.

“About who?” Sai fake-smiled at his question.

“Sasuke”. His teeth slowly and harshly grit against one another at the mention of the boy’s name.

“What did you say a moment ago? Oh right, you said you were never going to mention him again? Then, what the hell is this?” He demanded, but Sai’s expression didn’t even shift.

“You didn’t answer my question”. The pale boy’s smile widened.

“Neither did you answer mine”. He bit back.

“I asked first”. He felt his patience run thin, but chose to answer anyway.

“He’s was my teammate, of course I care about him”. Sai tilted his head to the side.

“Only a teammate? If a person reacts that way to defend someone, that means they like the person… That’s what I read in a book”. Akashi’s eyes widened at the other boy’s words.

“What the hell did you just say?” He demanded.

“Seems like Sasuke isn’t the only homo”.

The cold steel of the blade was narrowly blocked by a wooden beam, before Sai could even blink. “You fucker!” He pushed at the wooden beam with all of his strength, but the blade just wouldn’t cut through. “I’ll fucking behead you!” He screamed out at him.

“Akashi! Calm yourself!” Yamato struggled to hold back the boy’s attack. He was pushing even harder at the wood and Yamato noticed it was starting to crack. Another wooden beam burst out of the ground and wrapped around the boy’s blade, effectively pulling it out of his hands. “I said calm down!” He repeated and watched as the boy growled and raised his hand in the air.

A moment later, the sword disappeared from inside the beam and reappeared in the boy’s hand. He gripped the hilt and brought the blade down. It slashed through nothing, but pure nothingness. Sai had managed to move out of the way in time. “Akashi!” As the boy glanced at Yamato, he was late to notice him do a hand-sign.

Giant wooden pillars burst out of the ground around the redhead and trapped him inside a cage. He pulled his hand back and slammed his sword onto the wood. It did nothing and the blade bounced back. It hadn’t even left a scratch on it. “What the hell is this?! Let me out!” Akashi demanded, slamming onto the wood over and over again. Yamato wiped the sweat off his forehead.

It was alright now. No one had ever gotten out of this cage once they were caught in it.

The others watched as Akashi slammed into the wood like a wild animal trying to set itself free. “Yamato!” He called out to the man, causing him to glance at the boy.

“You will stay in there until you calm down”. The boy’s lips curled up into a sneer and he pulled his arm back, ready to throw the blade out of the cage, but multiple beams burst out of the ground, closing even further around the cage, leaving almost no open space.

He barely had enough to be able to breathe.

Growling out, he threw the blade into the ground, but it just bounced away again, narrowly missing his head. “Fine!” He yelled at the outside and plopped onto the ground. He crossed his arms and huffed in exasperation.

And so, almost fifteen minutes passed without another sound from Akashi.

Yamato came closer to the cage and peeked inside. He found the boy sitting with his eyes closed, a concentrated look on his face. Seems like he calmed down enough. He thought. He raised his hands in a hand-sign. The wood in front of him shifted and opened up. Akashi blinked his eyes open and stood up upon noticing the exit was revealed.

He reached for his discarded blade and slowly sheathed it, wary of the alarmed look Yamato threw him when he saw him grab it. He sighed and sauntered out of the wooden prison he was in. Naruto and Sakura were sending him wary looks and Sai still had that fake smile on his face.

“I hope you’ve calmed down”. He said and Akashi almost growled at his words. He didn’t reply and instead chose to walk over to where Naruto and Sakura stood.

Yamato let out a breath of relief and did another hand-sign.

The wood slowly receded back into the ground.

He managed to hide the fearful look on his face upon spotting multiple cracks in the wooden cage.