“Are you here to bring me back to Konoha?” Akashi was walking behind him when he heard the question. He glanced at the boy in front of him and an immediate thought went through his mind. Was he? He didn’t know what to do… What was he supposed to do? Sasuke was weakened now, he could easily bind him with the chains and place a seal on him… But… As he looked at him, he saw the vulnerability he was showing to him. His back was turned to him, nothing indicating that he was on alert.
Nothing indicating that he believed Akashi would try and bring him back.
“No…”. Sasuke stopped and Akashi stopped along with him.
“Then, why are you here?” He asked the same question as he did before, but Akashi didn’t know the answer.
“I do not know”. The answer didn’t come as a surprise to the raven-haired boy, so he continued on his way, with the redhead slowly trailing after him. They spent their time in silence.
_
“Someone is approaching us”. The two of them stopped in their tracks and Sasuke looked at Akashi. The said boy was looking in front of them, awaiting the oncoming people. “There’s three of them”. Akashi reached for his sword and gripped around the hilt, beginning to draw it. “Now!” He grabbed a kunai and threw it forward, subsequently teleporting to it.
“Ah!” A girls voice rang out as his blade settled against her throat. Her red hair gave Akashi a shock, but he didn’t move an inch.
“She’s with me”. He glanced back at Sasuke and lowered the blade, pulling the kunai out of the tree it embedded. “Karin, Juugo, Suigetsu”. The Uchiha glanced at her and the other ones who were with her.
The girl walked past Akashi and stopped next to Sasuke, taking off her glasses and leaning against him. “Sasuke, who’s this? Another member?” Akashi sheathed his blade and pocketed the kunai. Another member? Was Sasuke gathering people for something?
“No”. Was his simple answer and Karin glanced at Akashi.
“Who are you?” She asked, snuggling closer to Sasuke, who didn’t really look like he was minding it.
“Uzumaki Akashi”. Her eyes widened and he glanced at his hair.
“Uzumaki?” She asked, pulling away from Sasuke and walking up to Akashi. “You’re an Uzumaki?” She reached her hand to his hair, but her wrist was soon grabbed in a harsh grip.
“Do not touch me”. His blank tone surprised her and she ripped her hand back out of his grip.
“Sasuke, you’ve got a sour one there”. Akashi peered at the person who said that. Sasuke called him Suigetsu. Bright purple eyes and white hair, a large sword at his back… That sword… Why was that sword with him?
“Why do you have Zabuza’s sword?” He walked past Karin without another word and stalked up to Suigetsu. The said boy leaned back once Akashi came too lose, a grimace on his face.
“This sword belongs to me now”. Was the answer he got. It was then, that his whole demeanour changed. Noticing the change, Suigetsu whipped the sword out just in time to block Akashi’s blade. “What the hell?!” He exclaimed as he slid back on his feet.
“That sword is Zabuza’s”. How dare he take it?! How dare he steal it?! “You have no right to take it”. He pushed forward and Suigetsu pushed back. But… He stood no chance. The giant sword flew out of his hands and a chain whipped out of Akashi’s hand, wrapping around the handle and bringing it back to him.
“Akashi”. The sword ended up in Akashi’s right hand and he moved back away from Suigetsu. “Akashi”. His name was called out once more and he glanced to the side. Sasuke was looking at him and the sword in his hand. “Give it back to Suigetsu”. He said, but Akashi made no move to do that.
“This is Zabuza’s… You know that, right? You were there with us when it all happened”. He received no reply in return and watched as Sasuke walked up to him.
“It is Suigetsu’s now, Zabuza is dead”. The hand which held the blade twitched at the reminder. He was right… Zabuza is dead, the sword was no longer in his possession. But, still… A hand wrapped around his wrist, snapping him out of his thoughts. He glanced up and was met with coal-black eyes. The fingers holding the sword slowly released their hold on the hilt. The sword clattered onto the ground and Akashi took a step away, separating from the boy.
“So be it”. He sheathed his blade back into its sheath and watched as Suigetsu picked the sword up.
“Now that this is taken care of, why are you so messed up?” The white-haired boy turned to Sasuke, looking him over. Akashi had done his best to heal everything, but Sasuke was visibly exhausted.
“We were hit by a blast. My opponent was from Akatsuki, so he was stronger than I expected”. Suigetsu looked at Akashi.
“Him, too? Why isn’t he messed up?” He asked and Akashi glanced at him.
“Sasuke fought him before I arrived… I just saved us from the explosion”. Finishing his explanation, he looked to the side and noticed Karin was looking at Sasuke with a blush on her face. How nice…
“Anyway, you should rest a little… Right, Karin?” Suigetsu turned to the love-struck girl and she was snapped out of her fantasies. She coughed to clear her throat, before pointing at Sasuke.
“Weakling! And to think you’re the one who killed Orochimaru!” She exclaimed and Sasuke glanced at her.
“Orochimaru was already weakened”. That was new information to Akashi. So he didn’t take him head on? Could he even take him head on? “That’s all there is to it”. He added, looking at the ground.
“So, is this one coming with us?” This one… Akashi turned to the one who said that and saw the orange-haired boy who hadn’t spoken a word since he had arrived. He was looking at Akashi as he said that. Sasuke turned to look at Akashi, not saying anything to that. Was he waiting for his answer? Would he be disappointed if he said no? What is he said yes? What would he do then?
“I am”. Was what he settled with. There was no use thinking things over. He still had a mission to complete… And it proved to be even harder than before.
“There’s your answer”. Sasuke took a step forward and a wince escaped his lips. He gripped at his ribs, gritting his teeth together. He might have broken a few ribs, the redhead deduced. Akashi shifted and walked up to him, extending a hand in his direction. Sasuke looked at it and then looked at Akashi. The hand wrapped around his arm and put it around the redhead’s shoulder, while the other one wrapped around his bare waist.
“Your ribs are broken and you need bandages”. He pulled him forward as he walked and the others just trailed after them without a word.
_
They rented a hotel room in the nearest city and Juugo bandaged Sasuke up while Akashi leaned on the farthest wall. Karin stood in front of Sasuke and Suigetsu was sitting down and leaning on a wall. “You act high and mighty about wanting to kill Itachi, but if you keep messing yourself up like this, you won’t be going anywhere”. Karin lectured the injured boy. Akashi grabbed his sheath and placed it against the wall along with the blade in it. So… Sasuke was still after Itachi… How unsurprising…
“Well, we’ve been travelling non stop for quite some time, so now is a good chance to get some rest”. Suigetsu glanced at her as he said that.
“You’ve done nothing but rest since we started, you lazy ass dipshit!” She yelled out and pointed at him. Akashi noticed Juugo was done with bandaging Sasuke, so he walked over to him and crouched down in front of him.
“Your bones need to be set back in place”. He said, ignoring how those two fought in the background. Sasuke gave him a somewhat reluctant nod and Akashi pulled his sleeves back. “Lay down”. Sasuke did as asked and Akashi pressed his fingers over his rib area. “One… Two… Two are out of place”. He glanced down at the boy and found himself being looked at. “What?” He asked and awaited the answer that never came. “This may hurt”. He placed both palms on his sides and pressed, an immediate crack resounded in the room and the bickering behind them stopped.
Sasuke had grit his teeth, but no sound escaped his lips. “That should do it”. He grabbed at the bandages and tightened them, before standing up and going back to his previous place next to the wall.
“Suigetsu, Karin, did you obtain any information on Itachi?” Sasuke had sat up and asked the two who had finally stopped arguing.
“You’re a bit too screwed up to try and be bossy, you know!” Karin answered back.
“I got some information on Akatsuki, but nothing specific on Itachi”. Suigetsu added.
“I got zero”. Karin raised her hands in the air.
“It seems they’re aiming for specific targets”. Suigetsu said, before continuing. “People with a special type of chakra”. Akashi immediately shifted on his feet. He knew exactly what they wanted… The Tailed Beasts. Itachi had once said that it didn’t matter if they got Akashi or Naruto, they needed only one.
He glanced at Sasuke and saw that he had lowered his head in thought. Sasuke knew about the Nine-Tails… Naruto had used its power against him when they fought those three years ago. Then, as if something clicked inside the raven-haired boy’s mind, his eyes snapped to the redhead leaning on the wall. Their eyes met, but no one said anything.
“After talking to a few animals, I was able to discover some of their hideouts”. Juugo spoke up. “They’re always sensing a huge, sinister chakra, coming from their hideouts”. He added and a small bird sat perched upon his shoulder. “That’s what the animals are saying”. He glanced at the small bird.
“So, even those retarded animals can feel chakra, huh?” Suigetsu asked. “Or, maybe it’s due to the fact that they’re retarded”. He closed his eyes. “Just like Karin, eh?” Karin dashed at Suigetsu and kept kicking at his head, but it kept turning into water and it just kept splashing around. Akashi sighed, before his eyes snapped to the orange-haired boy who sat at the window. A seal, one similar to Sasuke’s, spread along his shoulder and to his face.
“Kill… I wanna kill”. Karin and Suigetsu were snapped out of their bickering as they stared at the frenzied Juugo.
The moment the boy took a step forward, chains burst out of Akashi’s body, successfully wrapping around his big form. His arms were pulled to his body and as much as he struggled, he couldn’t do anything to free himself. His mouth fell open and he released a loud yell.
“Relax, Juugo”. Akashi glanced to the side and saw Sasuke was looking at the boy with his Sharingan activated. At his words, Akashi felt the struggle stop. The chains slowly receded back into his body as Juugo fell onto his knees.
“I’m sorry”. There they were… Those words again… Akashi just couldn’t understand them… No matter how hard he tried to, he couldn’t understand their meaning. People said those words all of the time, but they never asked themselves if they meant them. As soon as the chains were fully inside his body, Akashi walked over to the window and jumped out, disappearing from the room.
“Ah! Where is he going?!” Karin hurriedly pointed at the window.
“He’ll definitely come back… He left his blade…”. With that, Sasuke passed out and Juugo walked over to him, gently tucking him under the covers.
_
Akashi roamed the streets of the little town they were at, not looking at anyone or at anything… He just kept on walking and walking. What was he supposed to do now? He was confident he could take all of them on and bring Sasuke back to Konoha, since he was weakened. But… Was even going back to Konoha a good decision? At all? Wouldn’t it be better for him to just stick with this group? To leave everything behind? The pain? The little moments of happiness?
The memories?
Shinya?
Naruto…?
He didn’t know what to do… Is he-! His head snapped to the side. Chakra signals? There’s a lot of them and they’re all coming this way… It can’t be? … … … They’ve found them! He whipped back around and red hair entered his field of vision. “Karin! We have been found, we need to move, right now!” He grabbed her by the shoulder and teleported back to the hotel room. He found Suigetsu in the same position as before and Juugo was sitting close to Sasuke, who was asleep.
“Sasuke!” The said boy blinked his eyes open and glanced at him. “We need to leave, right now”. Hearing those words, he sat up and hurriedly dressed himself.
“Juugo, mark all of the Akatsuki hideouts we know of on the map”. Sasuke told the orange-haired boy, before the five of them left the hotel.
_
They went through the gates of the town. “You holding up okay, Sasuke?” Suigetsu asked.
“Yes, my body’s ability to heal is much faster now after obtaining Orochimaru’s powers”. He said, while throwing a cape over his body.
“If it’s Akatsuki or Konoha, they may have some info on Itachi”. Karin said, but Akashi immediately interrupted her.
“It’s Konoha and they are after Itachi… But, if they run into Sasuke, they will want to bring him back… By any means necessary”. Karin raised her brow at his words.
“Aren’t you from Konoha?” She asked, gesturing at the forehead protector around his neck. “Why haven’t you tried to bring Sasuke back yet?” That was a question Sasuke also wanted an answer to. But, judging my the expression on the redhead’s face, he wasn’t going to tell them anything.
“We need to move”. Akashi evaded the subject and started walking, Sasuke following after him and Suigetsu following after him. Akashi noticed Karin and Juugo had stopped for a moment, but continued onwards.
_
They had arrived near one of the hideouts Juugo had marked on the map and Akashi had immediately sensed chakra come from inside. “There is someone inside”. Sasuke glanced at him, but Akashi shook his head. “It feels familiar, but I cannot pinpoint the exact person it belongs to”.
“Wait, I forgot to ask about that, you can sense chakra?” Karin asked a question again and Akashi found himself feeling tired of them.
“Yes”. Was his simple answer. She opened her lips to ask another, but Sasuke interrupted her.
“Karin, Suigetsu, Juugo, you three stay here, Akashi and I will go inside”. He spoke up. “You wait here and await further orders”. Without another word, Sasuke jumped forward and Akashi followed after him.
_
The two of them found the entrance and went in.
“Are you still going to keep quiet as to why you’re even here?” Sasuke spoke up in the darkness they found themselves in. Akashi walked along with him, blade drawn and in hand. What should he say? He wondered.
“I am”. He replied and in a moments time, found himself forced into the wall. The hand which held the blade was pinned on the side with a harsh grip. They were so close… Almost chest to chest. He could see how his Sharingan glowed in the dark and briefly found himself mesmerized with the crimson colour.
“What happened with the ‘I don’t know’? You’re a liar”. The grip on his hands tightened and he leaned his head back, something akin to a laugh escaping his lips.
“I am a liar? How nice of you to throw my words back at me”. The last part ended up being almost growled out and Akashi felt a twisted sense of satisfaction fill him at the sight of those mesmerizing eyes widening. “Oh? Did you forget about that? How cruel…”. He relaxed his body, the only thing holding him up were those hands of Sasuke’s. “That makes me sad… So, sad… You are breaking my heart over here…”. Tilting his head to the side, his lips curled up into a smile.
“You…”. Sasuke was at a loss for words. What was even going on? What was with this sudden change of personality? This wasn’t how Akashi used to be. Not at all! What the hell happened in these three years?! What the hell happened to him in those three years?! “What the hell happened to you?” The smile on the other boy’s face widened even more and he leaned forward, face inches away from Sasuke’s.
“What? Is that concern I hear? How nice… A little bit too late, but nice nonetheless”. There was a brief moment in which Sasuke’s grip loosened and Akashi used that as a means to pull his hands free. He slipped behind him, grabbed his arms and forced them behind his back, subsequently pushing Sasuke into the wall. He leaned closer and tightened the grip on his arms. A wince escaped the boy in front of him, but Akashi paid it no mind, he just tightened his grip even more. “A lot of things happened while you were gone… Most of them were bad, but there were instances of it being amazing…”. He whispered into his ear, sending a chill down Sasuke’s spine.
Is he going to kill him? That was the single thought that ran through the Uchiha’s mind.
“What are you planning on doing now?” Sasuke asked, his cheek brushing against the cave walls. His arms ached in pain. He felt his bones gritting against one another, but no matter how much he pulled, the grip didn’t loosen… Not one bit…
“Who knows? I don’t know myself”. Sasuke froze as Akashi leaned closer, settling his body against his. “The only thing I know, is that we’re not alone in here”. Then, without another word, he pulled away, letting Sasuke go. The said boy whipped around, Sharingan blaring in the darkness, before it was replaced by black orbs.
“I don’t understand you”. He admitted and watched as the expression on the redhead’s face didn’t change. He just twirled the blade between his fingers, expertly flipping it in the darkness.
“Nobody does”. He said after a moment and glanced up at Sasuke. “Nobody will”. Without another word, he walked past Sasuke and deeper into the cave. Sasuke followed after him, not knowing what to make of the situation he found himself in.
_
“So you’ve arrived… And not alone”. The moment Akashi heard that voice of his, was the moment a kunai flew through the air and embedded into the wall behind the man. “How unexpected… The two of you together… What would Naruto think?”
“Who’s there?” Sasuke asked.
“It’s me, Sasuke”. At the sound of his name, Sasuke activated his Sharingan. “You’ve gotten taller”. He told the younger boy.
“And you haven’t changed a bit, cold eyes and all”. Sasuke said back, staring at Itachi through the darkness.
“Do you plan on attacking as recklessly as you did last time?” The older man asked.
“You don’t know anything about me”. Without another word, Sasuke slipped behind him and activated his Chidori. The Chidori extended into a long sword of lightning and impaled Itachi through the back. “The hatred I hold within me… and the strength I’ve obtained because of it…”. Itachi let out a cough and blood splattered out of his mouth. “You don’t know shit about me”. Sasuke turned his hand to the side and multiple lightning blades pierced out of Itachi.
Blood dripped onto the ground.
The lightning receded and Itachi fell in front of Sasuke. He weekly turned his head to face his brother. “You’ve… become strong”. He said and a moment later, his body disappeared in a flock of crows. “Come to the Uchiha hideout alone, we’ll settle this there”. Itachi’s voice echoed through the cave as the crows flew away, leaving only black feathers in their wake.
“You’re finally going to achieve your all time goal… Isn’t that nice?” Sasuke glanced to the side and noticed Akashi had stuffed his hands inside his pockets. Their eyes met and there was a brief moment in which they were crimson, rather than the usual violet.
“The goal you left me for”. His Sharingan deactivated and he was met with pure darkness, but he could still see the other boy. “Don’t you remember? That day, three years ago, when you said you were sorry?” He watched as Akashi walked up to him, eyes flashing crimson a couple of times, lighting up his expression. The blank expression. “Did you know…”, he stopped in front of the him and reached a hand forward, “… that was the day…”, fingers trailed down the side of his face, “… I started despising the words ‘I’m sorry’?”
Sasuke couldn’t move a muscle. Did him leaving leave such an indent in the boy’s heart? Did he really leave such a mark on him?
“I found myself thinking ‘liar’, every time someone said them…”. A cold palm settled on the side of his neck, fingers slipping to the back of it. “You really fucked up my way of thinking, you know?” Akashi’s thumb brushed the front of his neck and his breathing slowed down. “I don’t even know what to think right now”. He raised his eyes and violet clashed with abyss-black ones. “You’re here, in front of me…”. Cold hands touched the side of his jaw and his heart throbbed inside his chest.
“Stop”. Sasuke said, but the other boy made no move to stop.
“And it would be so easy to do this…”. The redhead ignored his, almost, plea and leaned forward. His lips brushed against the raven-haired boy’s own and he watched as those dark eyes of his closed shut. He pushed forward, hands grabbing at Sasuke’s wrists, holding them in place. Holding them in place even as the other boy didn’t try to fight it.
He pulled back, hands releasing the boy’s wrists from the hold they had on them. He watched as Sasuke’s eyes opened, something akin to confusion swimming in his irises.
“I hate you”. He took a step back from him. “I hate you”. He repeated. “You have no idea how much I hate you”. Sasuke reached a hand forward, but it was harshly slapped away, the noise resounded inside the dark cave they were in.
“Then why did you kiss me?” He asked the important question. “Why did you come here? Why did you save me? Why are you still here if you hate me?” He got a laugh as an answer.
“Do you wanna know the truth?” Akashi leaned his head back and looked up at the dark ceiling of the cave. “The Hokage sent me on a solo mission to bring you back to Konoha”. He admitted, not even looking at Sasuke. “You’re probably wondering why they sent me, right?” When he received nothing in reply, he continued. “I was held captive in one of the torture chambers of Konoha, in which my mind was constantly forcefully searched through”. He glanced at the boy in front of him, and even in the darkness he found himself in, he could see those wide eyes of his.
“Torture? They tortured you?” Sasuke asked in disbelief. Konoha did that? The Hokage allowed that to happen?
“Yes… That day, when we met again, at Orochimaru’s hideout, I did not wish to tell anyone about what happened while we were alone”. He shook his head at the thought. “So, the Hokage ordered for my mind to be searched through… I do not know how much time I spent down there… A month? More? The man came almost every day, and with each day, he learned more and more, until… He found my every memory of you…”. Sasuke’s eyes widened at his words.
“The Hokage ordered for you to be tortured?” That seemed unreal to the Uchiha…
“Yes. The man told the Hokage everything and she used that as a cause for me to go on this mission… She told me to bring you back by any means necessary”. Any means necessary meant any means necessary, even if it meant for him to use his body for that… To lure him back… “But I can’t do that…”. He lowered his head, evading Sasuke’s eyes.
“Why? Why didn’t you even try?” The Uchiha took a step towards him, only inches separated them now.
“Because… As much as I hate you, I don’t want to doom you… If you returned to the village, they would have never let you go…”. Sasuke reached a hand forward and, this time, it didn’t get slapped away. He placed it on the redhead’s shoulder, before he slid it to the side of his neck.
“Look at me”. He said, but Akashi did no such thing. “Look at me”. His words almost came out as a whisper. Reluctantly, Akashi raised his head, sombre eyes staring straight at Sasuke. The said boy didn’t know how to feel about any of this. A lot of time had passed and he didn’t know how to deal with things like this. It’s been a long time since he felt something like this. Longing? Want? Someone to be by his side? He didn’t know…
So he did the only thing he could…
“Stay with me”.
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