Н‘¾Ð‘¯Ð‘¬Ð‘Μ Ð‘»Ð‘¯Ð‘¬ Н‘¾Ð‘°Ð‘Μ𝑫 Н‘©Ð‘³Ð‘¶Ð‘¾Ð‘º €¢Ð’Ƒ𝒙Н’Ƒ• A different kind of bond

He didn’t go home that night. Instead, he chose to wait for the dawn to come.

_

A chakra signal from behind alerted him of another’s presence.

He turned around and was faced with an ANBU member. “The Hokage has asked for you”. The masked ninja gave him the message, before disappearing, leaving him alone once more.

The bright sky gave him no comfort as he glanced up at it.

_

The walk to the Hokage Tower didn’t take long. This time, he didn’t wish to use his seal to go there… He felt too weakened to do even that. So, once he reached her office, he knocked and received a ‘come in’ in reply. The door let out a low creak as he pushed it forward and went in, slowly closing it behind himself.

He glanced at the Hokage, not even looking at the other occupants of the room. “Why have you asked for me?” His voice came out more quiet than he wanted to, but she managed to hear it.

“I have important news to tell you all”. She glanced at his, he didn’t even know what to call them any more, former Team 7 teammates and him as she said that. “Orochimaru has died”. Her words clearly resounded through the office. “And it would seem that Uchiha Sasuke killed him”. She continued a moment later.

Akashi didn’t know how to feel about that… Orochimaru was dead, which was a good things, but… What will Sasuke do now? There was no way he was going to go back to the village after that… No way…

“Is… is that… really true?” Naruto asked, baby-blue eyes wide in disbelief.

“There’s no doubt about it”. Jiraiya answered his question. “I heard it from a reliable source of information”. He added, looking at the boy in front of him.

“So then…”. Sakura’s voice trembled as she said those words and Akashi glanced at her. Her eyes were already glistening with tears. A laugh from besides her made Akashi shift his attention to Naruto.

“I knew there was no way he’d ever let himself get killed by Orochimaru!” He nonchalantly crossed his arms behind his head, a grin on his face. “So that means Sasuke’s coming back to Konoha, right?” He excitedly asked as he leaned forward, looking at Tsunade. “Right?” He glanced at Jiraiya. The redhead next to him scoffed and turned to look out of the window.

“You are as naive as you have always been… Sasuke is not coming back…”. Naruto snapped around to look at him, eyes narrowed in disagreement. Akashi didn’t turn to look at him, he just blankly stared out of the window, watching as the birds chirped their life away… Watching as they spread their wings and flew away…

Free…

“He is right”. Jiraiya spoke up, agreeing with Akashi.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Naruto asked, staring intensely at the two people in front of him. “Why isn’t he returning to the village now that Orochimaru’s dead?” He demanded the answer.

“Sasuke has been obsessed with revenge”. Jiraiya said. “In order to kill Uchiha Itachi, he must get closer to Akatsuki”. He explained, making Naruto grit his teeth in anger.

“That bastard…”. He bit out through clenched teeth. “Still? Damn!” He exclaimed and Akashi finally glanced back at him.

How was it that he was still trying? How was it that he still had the strength to try? How did he do it? How was he so positive? How? Just how? Akashi couldn’t understand why Naruto would try so much for a person who did not wish to be in his presence. Why does he try so much? He knew he would never understand how the blond was feeling.

Would not? It was more like he could not understand.

“Then, we have to get moving, too!” Naruto urged the Hokage. “The mission to hunt down Akatsuki is still on, right?” He asked.

“Yeah”. Tsunade said.

“So, our chances of meeting Sasuke are much higher if we look for that member of Akatsuki”. The blond said the word ‘that’ with much more force that the other ones. “In other words, our aim is Uchiha Itachi!” He exclaimed.

“Going after the Akatsuki member who’s most likely to run into Sasuke… It makes sense, but…”, Tsunade trailed off, ” …What to do with Uchiha Itachi then?” She asked the question worth asking.

“If we were to capture even one member of the Akatsuki, I think we could have Ibiki get intel on Itachi from them”. Sakura added.

“It’s true that there’s already an order out for capturing members of the Akatsuki, when and if at all possible…”. Tsunade trailed off once more.

“But that’ll prove difficult, right?” A voice rang out from behind them. Everyone turned to look towards the door, but Akashi didn’t have any intentions of doing that. He already knew who it was.

“Kakashi”. Sakura said and that proved the redhead’s suspicions.

“Getting information out of them won’t be as simple as that”. He said while leaning on the side of the door. “Even the ones we’ve seen already are far too dangerous”. He added and pushed off the door.

“So what do we do now?” Naruto had fully turned around and was facing the man when he asked the question.

“Until we happen to find Itachi, all we can do is remain calm and search”. Was the answer he got. Having heard enough and having had enough of them, Akashi turned around and walked past Kakashi.

“Where are you going?” The boy heard the Hokage speak and he stopped in his tracks.

“Somewhere other than here”. But, before he could take another step, she spoke up again.

“Wait, Akashi!” Closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, he turned to face her again. “Come back here in an hour… We need to speak about some things”. Was what she said. Without another word, the redhead turned around and exited the room, leaving the others to stand there and look at the spot he was previously at…

All wondering the same thing…

… How could he have changed so much?

But they knew… They knew how…

It was because of them, because of their actions.

He had changed and there was no going back.

_

Akashi walked and walked through the streets of Konoha… He walked until he spotted that place.

Ichiraku Ramen.

Pushing the entrance curtains aside, he stepped inside the quiet shop, before taking a seat on the nearest chair. The kind-looking old man had immediately noticed he got a new customer and he walked over to Akashi.

“Akashi! It’s been a long while since I’ve last seen you! How have you been?” The man asked, the ever-present smile on his face. His eyes crinkled at the corners as his lips curled up.

“I am good, how have you been?” The man’s lips curled up even more at the question.

“There are more and more customers coming and going every day, so I am happy!” He replied, genuinely happy at that. Akashi forced a smile in return, but the man didn’t notice.

“That’s great! Could you get me my regular?” He tried to put as much excitement as possible into his own words, but it all just came out barely noticeable. The man nodded his head in reply.

“Sure thing!” Without another word, he disappeared behind the counter and Akashi was left alone. He leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes. This was the only place where he could feel peace and quiet… Those two things were the most needed right now…

And so, a few minutes passed, before the bowl of spicy ramen was set in front of him. “Here you go!” The man said and Akashi reached into his wallet. He pulled out the needed money and gave it to the man who took it and pocketed it. “Oh yeah, I haven’t been seeing your friend at all lately, Shinya, was it? Is he away on some long mission?” The chopsticks, that he had just taken into his hand, clattered onto the ground beneath his feet.

His immediate change in expression didn’t go unnoticed by the older man. “Oh…”. He said, reading the mood in a moments time.

“Shinya had died on a mission… three months ago”. He mumbled, gripping the fabric of his pants under the table.

“I’m sorry to hear that… He was a fine young man”. Akashi’s fingers twitched at his words.

“Yes… Yes he was… The finest of them all”. He admitted, not raising his eyes from the table in front of him.

“The two of you really suited one another… I’ll get you another pair of chopsticks”. With that, the man promptly turned around and disappeared behind the counter again.

Akashi couldn’t help but think back at those words.

They suited one another, eh?

_

When the man returned with another pair of chopsticks, the chair was empty and the ramen was still smoking in the bowl.

_

He wandered the streets until the needed hour passed and when it passed, he went back to the Hokage.

“What is it you wished to talk about?” He asked once he closed the door behind himself. He also noticed none of the ANBU who usually guarded her were here. Gears start turning inside his mind. Seems like she wished to speak about something important.

“Take a seat”. She gestured at the chair which was not in front of the desk before. He did as she asked. “I’ve got an important mission for you”. A mission? Is that what she wanted to talk about? A damn mission?! Is this why she called him here? He felt his eyes narrow at her words.

“A solo mission? Isn’t that a job for someone with a higher rank?” She leaned her elbows on the desk and intertwined her fingers.

“Your skills are higher than the most of ANBU… And this mission is somewhat personal… For you, that is”. Instant dread filled him at those words. “Team 8, along with the current Team Kakashi, excluding you, and Kakashi, will be going on a mission to capture Uchiha Itachi later today”. She said, her honey-brown eyes staring at him. “As for you… The first part of your mission is to try and come in contact with Uchiha Sasuke, the second is to lure him back to the village by any means necessary”. The chair was thrown back and palms slammed atop her desk.

“What is the meaning of this?” His tone may have been calm, but his eyes told another story. “Why am I the one who is going? Isn’t there some better candidate?” His nails scraped along the wooden desk, leaving thin scratches on the surface.

“You are the best candidate”. Was her explanation. Best candidate? Best candidate?! He was anything but that!

“Pick someone else!”. He leaned away from the desk and turned around.

“The two of you share a different bond than he and Naruto do”. He froze in his tracks, body going stiff at her words. “Inoichi has told me all about you and Sasuke…”. His teeth grit against each other. How dare she… How fucking dare she?! “Judging by the last talk you two had, it seemed like he didn’t forget about you… Not at all…”. His nails dig into the palm of his hands, but the pain was nothing compared to the anger he currently felt. “Not to mention that little run in you had with him six months ago…”. That was the last straw.

No matter how hard he tried to hide them, he couldn’t.

No matter what he did, they wouldn’t go away.

The chains that were wrapped around his heart broke and his feelings came to the surface.

“How dare you?!” He whipped around and lunged across her desk. She only had time to open her lips, before long fingers wrapped around her neck. “How dare you?!” He repeated, pushing her backwards until her back hit the window. The glass cracked. “You had no right to do any of the things you did! And yet, you did them, not thinking about how I was feeling! Not thinking about how I would feel after!” The grip consistently got tighter and tighter and her eyes went wider and wider as his eyes flashed between violet and crimson.

Then, without notice, she was released and he took a few steps back, frenzied eyes looking all over the place.

Everywhere but at her.

“You did not think twice before you sent Inoichi to me… And you did not think twice about what Danzo did to Shinya… Not even after I came to you and begged you to do something about it… You did nothing…”. Her heart throbbed more than her neck when he raised his eyes to look at her. This was the first time she had ever seen tears in them. She watched as a translucent one slipped down his cheek and dropped to the floor. “So be it… I will do as you have asked… But… The next time I am pushed to the edge… I will jump and not look back…”. She took a step away and her back hit the window behind her.

Without another word and without even wiping his tears away, the air around the boy shifted and he disappeared in a flash of red.

Her hands gripped the chair in front of her and she leaned her forehead onto it.

She kept making mistake after mistake… And now, with certainty, she knew…

… This one could never be corrected…

_

His fist smashed into the wall in front of him the moment he appeared in his house. The wall gave no resistance as it shattered, revealing the room on the other side. His body trembled in unrestrained anger as he thought about her words. Lure Sasuke back by any means necessary… And then she had the nerve to remind him of his past with him… What did she want? For him to seduce him? That thought almost made him laugh out loud. Nothing made sense any more.

He moved back away from the wreckage he made and went to get his things.

He had a long mission ahead of himself.

_

After he secured the blade on his back and the weapons into his pouch, he made his way out of the village. The gates of Konoha almost seemed to be mocking him as he walked through them. He stopped and the wind whipped at the back of his head. Violet eyes glanced behind at the village in something similar to pain. To be free… He wondered what that felt like…

He was reminded of his wolf summons, but they would be useless now, since he didn’t have anything of Sasuke’s to give them… Also… After what happened with Chrono, Akashi wasn’t sure he was ready to face him yet… He had broken the promise he had made with them… A promise to always be by their side and to never hurt them… A promise he had also made with Shinya…

Taking a deep breath, he bent his legs and pushed off the ground…

He had no time to think about that now, he had a mission to finish.

_

He ran without stop.

Not stopping to rest.

Not stopping to eat.

Not stopping to drink.

…

He wanted the mission to end as soon as possible, but…

… Something told him it wasn’t going to go the way he wanted it to go…

_

A distant explosion brought him back to his senses.

He stopped for a moment and closed his eyes, raising his hand in a hand-sign.

Search… Search… Search… Search…

His eyes snapped open at the chakra signals he sensed. Sasuke was indeed there, but…

… Why was Deidara there? Wasn’t he killed in his own explosion? How didn’t Akashi sense him? Was he too spent after the fight to sense anything? There was no use in trying to think of an answer.

He needed to move and fast.

_

He arrived just in time.

Sensing a giant chakra gathering, Akashi forced himself to move faster. The chakra was such a large amount, he was sure it would flatten everything around him, so he needed to move faster.

He burst through the trees and watched as a blinding light appeared in front of Sasuke. Akashi reached his hand forward and chains burst out of them. They successfully wrapped around Sasuke and pulled him towards Akashi. As soon as he wrapped his arms around Sasuke, the chains enveloped the both of them, completely covering them from head to toe.

He tightened his hold on the boy as the blast went past them. The chains remained sealed, letting nothing come through. Once Akashi decided it was safe to get out, the chains receded from around their forms and back into Akashi’s body.

“What are you doing here?” He glanced to the side and was met with a panting Sasuke, various scratches marred his body.

“Be glad I am here”. He took a step towards the Uchiha and saw him take a step back. “Relax”. Reaching a hand forward, he placed it over the boy’s bare shoulder. “You have really went overboard”. Akashi found himself whispering as he trailed his palm over the injured areas. A green light emitted from his hand and Sasuke closed his eyes at the feeling.

At the warm feeling.

He stood still as the redhead went over every part of his upper body, fingers brushing against his skin. “Why are you doing this?” He asked, really wondering. How did he find him? Why did he come here? Why was he helping him?

“I do not know”. Was what he received as an answer.

“You don’t know?” His words were heavy with disbelief as he saw those violet eyes of his look at him.

“Yes, I do not know”. Akashi repeated once more, gently pushing at his chest, making the raven-haired boy stumbled back into a tree. “Is it such a bad thing that I am doing this? Or that I am here?” Those questions came out of nowhere and Sasuke felt something was wrong. Something was definitely going on and he planned to find out what.

“Maybe”. He answered and watched as Akashi pulled away, something akin to pain flashing across his features.

Pain? Because of what? His words? His actions?

Because of the memories?