Н‘¾Ð‘¯Ð‘¬Ð‘Μ Ð‘»Ð‘¯Ð‘¬ Н‘¾Ð‘°Ð‘Μ𝑫 Н‘©Ð‘³Ð‘¶Ð‘¾Ð‘º €¢Ð’Ƒ𝒙Н’Ƒ• Team 7… Reunited?

“The Sharingan is proof that one is an Uchiha”. Sasuke said, dashing forward as soon as he finished. “You’re just an outsider, so don’t you dare flaunt that eye in front of me, you piece of shit!” Akashi immediately kicked off after him, blade at hand. Sasuke activated the seal on his wrist and multiple shuriken were thrown at Kakashi. The man slammed his hands into the ground and a giant wall of earth blocked them.

Akashi slid under Sasuke as the boy jumped, with his Chidori active, and threw his kunai forward, waiting until it reached Kakashi so he could teleport next to it. He gripped the kunai and swung his blade at the silver-haired man at the same time Sasuke descended with his Chidori. Unfortunately, Kakashi rolled out of the way, barely evading the attacks.

He jumped off the bridge and onto the water below, almost instantly being followed by Akashi and Sasuke.

“You’re good at using the Sharingan; despite only borrowing it”. Sasuke said. “But can your Sharingan do this?” He questioned and Akashi sensed an oncoming wave of chakra from him. He’s going to use Susano’o again, huh? “I’ll show you the difference between our Sharingan!” The giant purple skeleton formed over his body. It drew its crossbow and fired an arrow at Kakashi.

Akashi knew it wasn’t going to connect, since he sensed Kakashi’s chakra spike. The falling water cleared and the boy saw that the man was unharmed. Seems like he used his Mangekyo’s power… One similar to that of Madara… His eyes narrowed at the thought…

He glanced to the side as Sasuke started taking deep and fast breaths. This was too much for him… He used too much against his fight with Danzo, and now this? He was going overboard…

“So that’s Susano’o?” Kakashi enquired.

“Who would have thought someone who’s not of the Uchiha could awaken the Mangekyo?” Sasuke questioned. “It seems you were saved by the power of that eye”. He deduced. “You should be grateful to the Uchiha for giving you such power!”

“Sasuke, I know there’s more to you than your clan, there’s more than hatred! Akashi, whatever it was that happened, we can fix it, just come back… Look down within your heart, one more time!” The man told them, intently staring at them…

It was as if he thought words could solve everything… He was wrong…

There was no fixing what had happened…

“You’re still going on about that?” Sasuke asked and Akashi looked back at Kakashi.

“It is too late for the two of us… Why can you not just give up?” Akashi took a step closer and stared at the man with no expression on his face. Why didn’t the man just go away? Why couldn’t he just leave them alone?

“You should understand”. Was his answer. Understand? He thought they understood?

“What is there to understand?! You say that as if we are still part of Konoha! We left! Get it through your thick, fucking, skull!” Akashi growled out at him, taking another step forward, but a hand blocked his path.

Sasuke…

“They’re laughing…”, he mumbled out, “They’re all laughing”. Akashi knew who he meant… He meant everyone back at Konoha… The ones who had not went through what they’ve gone through… “They laugh because of Itachi’s sacrifice!” He yelled at the man. “They’re all laughing together in ignorance!” Akashi felt the boy’s chakra grow even colder as the words left his lips. The Susano’o around him changed its shape. “Your laughter sounds like scorn and disdain to me now!” It grew even bigger, stronger, than before. “I’ll change those laughs into screams of dread!” He yelled out as Susano’o let out a low growl.

Sasuke started laughing as the Susano’o spread around him. “Well, how about it? Do you think your borrowed Sharingan can erase this?!” He questioned. “I’m going to show you the difference between your borrowed Sharingan and the real deal!” But, before any of that could happen, Akashi felt Sasuke’s chakra falter and not even a moment later, the Susano’o above him disappeared. Sasuke placed his palms over his eyes in pain and Akashi grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Sasuke”. He said, lightly shaking his shoulders. “Look at me”. The boy slowly lowered his hands and his unfocused eyes shifted all around Akashi’s face. Something was wrong with his eyes… Something-! A memory snapped through his mind at that moment. Before Akashi fought Itachi, a while back, Kakashi had mentioned something was going on with his eyes… That he was losing his sight? Was that happening to Sasuke?

Then, sensing an oncoming chakra signal, Akashi whipped his head to the side just in time to see Sakura push her kunai towards Sasuke. The raven-haired boy heard her and whipped around, grabbing her by the throat and raised her up. Akashi twirled the blade in his hand and lunged forward, thrusting the blade at the pink-haired girl.

Akashi felt his blade cut something, but it wasn’t the girl. She was taken from Sasuke’s grip and away from them.

“Naruto!” Sakura exclaimed and Akashi straightened up, staring at the blond in front of him. Their eyes met as the blood dripped down the blond’s cheek.

Then, Akashi heard the water splash from behind him and he turned around just in time to see Kakashi attack Sasuke, before the two of them jumped up, continuing their fight on the side of the bridge.

“Your timing is nice”. He turned to look at his… twin… The blond was glaring at him as he held Sakura in his arms. Akashi felt his lips twitch, but he bit back a smile.

“Why are you with Sasuke?” Naruto quietly asked, staring at him. Akashi raised his brows at the question. Why was he with Sasuke? Really… He wondered that himself… Why was he with him? Was there any reason to be there? … He could think of none…

“I actually ran into him by accident”. He told the truth and immediately saw the suspicion in Naruto’s eyes. Of course he wasn’t going to believe him… It’s Naruto! He never listens to anyone.

“Did you plan this all along?” The blond questioned and Akashi tilted his head to the side. Plan? He thought he planned all of this? What else did he think he planned? His pain? His grief? His sorrow? His agony?! Gritting his teeth, the redhead’s sharp teeth flashed at the boy in front of him.

“Plan…? Plan for myself to be hurt? To be in pain?! To suffer?! Do you think I planned all of that?!” He growled out at him, watching as those blue eyes of his widened at the words. Those blue eyes so similar to that man’s own…

It hurt each time he looked at them after finding out about Minato… They filled him with an unbearable sense of abhorrence…

“I planned none of this! This is how things turned out!” He took a step forward, prepared to engage with him, when Sasuke dropped next to him and Kakashi dropped in front of him. A hand grabbed him by the shoulder and he barely held back the urge to shake it off…

Naruto settled Sakura down and stood up, facing the two boys on the other side.

“Akashi… Sasuke… Sakura is a member of the same Team 7!” There he was again… Mentioning that team name… As if it was still active… As if it still had all of its members.

“Former Team 7, we’re no longer in it”. Sasuke said and Akashi couldn’t agree more…

“You understand now, right, Naruto, Sakura?” Kakashi asked. “What dwells within him now is a true intent to kill… And it seems like it’s no use in trying to get Akashi back to our side… He has chosen the side he is on already…”. He said. “They’re no longer the boys we once knew”. Sasuke tilted his head and grinned at the man’s words.

Naruto stepped closer and stopped next to Kakashi.

“Sasuke”. He said.

“What?” Sasuke asked.

“Some guy named Tobi told me the truth about Itachi”. Sasuke’s expression shifted and the grin fell from his face. “I don’t know whether he was lying or not, but no matter how you put it, what you’ve been doing… I understand it!” He exclaimed.

Akashi saw Sasuke’s fingers tremble and he watched as they were clenched into a fist. “Naruto, I’ve said this once before”. He began. “What do you understand about me?” He grit his teeth. “Outsiders should shut the fuck up!” Sakura stood up at his words.

“You don’t know what Naruto has gone through for you! For Akashi!” She exclaimed and the redhead glanced at her. “No matter what bad rumours he heard about you, Naruto always considered you a friend!” She yelled with an angry expression on her face. Who would have thought? She could get angry at Sasuke! “Even when everyone is after you, now after Akashi, too, only Naruto wants to save you!” She glanced at the two boys in front of her. “Even now!”

“Save me?” Sasuke questioned. “From what?”

“That’s…”. Sakura trailed off, wordless.

“From revenge… The both of you…”. The blond spoke. The both of them? He still thought there was a way he could talk Akashi out of his goal? There was nobody who could so something like that! Nobody! He was too late! “I’m definitely going to save you from the dark abyss of revenge!” He declared.

Sasuke let out a chuckle at his words. “There’s no need for that”.

Akashi stepped closer to the Uchiha boy. “The curtains of our revenge have already been raised”. Their ex teammates grew alarmed at the redhead’s words.

“Just earlier… we finally defeated one of Itachi’s enemies”. Sasuke said.

“Just earlier… we finally defeated Shinya’s enemy”. Akashi said. Kakashi’s eyes snapped wide at the mention of that name… That name… Akashi had mentioned that name once… On that night…

…

Thunder and lightning roared on the outskirts of Konoha, but that didn’t mean they weren’t heard by its inhabitants.

Kakashi was one of them.

The man was inside his apartment, about to prepare to head on to bed, when he suddenly heard loud and frantic knocks come from his front door. Confused, he slowly walked up to them, peeking through the peephole. He felt his eyes widen at the sight. A clearly distraught Akashi was standing in front of the door in his ANBU gear, but the mask was nowhere in sight.

As soon as he could, he unlocked the door and the boy stumbled inside, right into his arms. His grip was painful as he grabbed at him, shoving his face into his clothes. “Shinya…”. The boy sobbed out the name and from the sound of it, Kakashi guessed that his throat was already raw…

Who knew for how long the boy had been crying for….

“Shinya…”. He sobbed out once more, fingers digging into Kakashi’s skin, but he didn’t release the boy. No… The thing he needed most, right now, was comfort… That much was obvious…

“Come on…”. He whispered, shifting the boy’s weight into his right arm, as he used his other one to close, then lock, the door. He carefully picked Akashi up, since the boy’s legs weren’t functioning at the moment. He carried him over to the couch and settled him down, just to be immediately grabbed by him again.

“I am sorry…!” He sobbed and sobbed… Tears streaming down his bloodied face. Just what the hell had happened on that mission?!

“Shh… Everything is fine… Everything will be okay…”. Kakashi tried to comfort him, but it didn’t even look like he was hearing him speak at all… His eyes were clenched shut and he wasn’t responding to anything… The only thing he did…

Was cry and cry… Tears staining his cheeks… Washing parts of the blood away… Leaving pale pink in the place of crimson…

After Kakashi had checked for the trembling boy’s wounds, he found out that none of the blood on him was his… The only thing that indicated that he was hurt, was a hole in the vest above his collarbones…

There was no wound underneath it…

Either he healed it, or the fox did…

Since the boy wasn’t letting him go… And since there was no need to go to the hospital… Kakashi stayed on the couch with him, tightly wrapping his arms around the hurt boy… Akashi had leaned into his neck, sobs still raking through his body, and continued mumbling that name over and over again…

Shinya… Shinya… Shinya…

Shinya… Shinya…

Shinya…

Over and over and over again…

_

Snapping awake, not even realising he had fallen asleep, Kakashi wildly looked around himself just to find that he was left alone. There was no trace of Akashi… Except the blood stains on his couch and on his own clothes…

The boy was gone without a trace…

_

He could not come into contact with Akashi… Either he was constantly away on missions or he didn’t wish to speak with Kakashi… So, the man stopped trying…

What use was it to try and talk with someone who didn’t wish to talk?

…

Now… The man regretted not taking any more action back then… He regretted not realising the fragile state of the boy’s mind earlier… If only he had tried, if only he had been the sensei he needed to be, then maybe Akashi would be on their side right now…

“We killed one of Konoha’s superiors, right where we’re standing”. Sasuke spoke up, snapping the silver-haired man out of his thoughts. “Someone named Danzo”. The three people in front of them flinched as if they were slapped. “It’s a sensation I’ve never felt before!” Sasuke spread his arms in front of himself, a twisted grin on his face. “The sensation of the stained Uchiha being purified! The sensation of separating the Uchiha from this rotten world of ninja! There’s no way you’d understand it!” He was right… Nobody could understand it…

“What I’ve been doing is what you, of Konoha, have desired all along! Just like you, who continue to oppose the Uchiha since the old days, have wanted!” He stopped for a moment, the grin on his face widening. “I’m going to erase the Uchiha from your memories!” He said. “You! And all of Konoha!” He added. “I’m going to kill you all!” He declared, raising his voice at the end.

Naruto stared at the boy in front of himself…

“By cutting all bonds with Konoha, it will be purified!” Naruto’s gaze shifted to the redhead on the side… The boy who was so similar to himself, yet couldn’t be more different…

“Akashi… And you’re going to let that happen? Let him destroy Konoha along with the memories you made there?” He asked, baby-blue eyes staring into his blank, violet ones… Twins… Meant to be the same…

But turned out to be polar opposites…

Akashi clenched his fists at his sides, letting his bangs cover his expression. “Destroying Konoha was never my goal…”. His voice trembled as the words left his lips.

“Then-!” Naruto started and then felt his heart throbbed inside his chest at the sight of the redhead’s expression. His eyebrows were raised, eyes crinkling at the corners as he grinned at them, sharp teeth dangerously flashing in their direction.

“Destroying the world is!” He declared, looking at them, his grin widening even more.

It almost looked frenzied…

“You… You were really serious, huh?” Naruto asked, clenching his fists at his sides. Damn it… To think that his brother would end up like this… Would end up wanting to destroy the whole world… “There’s nothing I can do or say to change your mind, right?” He asked, even thought it wasn’t a question… It was more of a statement…

He was stating the truth…

“Right”. Akashi replied and placed a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder, leaning into him. He wondered what they looked like to the rest of them. “Neither can you change his… The two of us have goals that need to be achieved… Goals that cannot be thrown aside for anything…”. He tilted his head, placing his temple on the Uchiha’s shoulder. “Not even you, dear, little, brother… Not… even… you…”. He felt some kind of twisted feeling at the sight of those baby-blue eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Noticing Sasuke’s chakra shift, Akashi leaned away from him and released his chain, forming it into a blade at the same time Sasuke’s Chidori blared to life. He gripped onto the hilt when he noticed Kakashi shift forward.

Unsurprisingly, Kakashi was grabbed by one of Naruto’s clones, and the real Naruto dashed forward with his Rasengan in hand. Sasuke did the same, forcing his Chidori forward.

Akashi twirled the blade in his hand and grabbed the hilt, throwing a kunai towards Naruto. The kunai reached the blond before Sasuke did and Akashi teleported right in front of his twin brother.

As soon as the redhead’s blade collided with his brother’s Rasengan, the world around them stopped and they stared at one another in that brief moment of time.

This fight wasn’t going to end up like the last one… This time, Akashi will be left standing… With that thought in his head, he felt chakra surge through him and into the blade…

The Rasengan stood no chance…

A great explosion occurred and the world around them lightened up in a bright flash. The water beneath their feet swished and swirled, raising around them as it was forced to shift away from the blast.

Naruto flew backwards, sailing through the air as a trail of blood followed after him. Kakashi spread his arms, catching the boy mid flight as he stared at the sight before him.

Akashi, in all his glory, stood still with his bloodied blade in hand… Red chakra violently flashing through the silver steel. Kakashi watched as the boy raised his head to look at him and felt the breath leave his lungs.

Crimson eyes stared straight into his own ones…

At the sound of sizzling, Kakashi’s eyes trailed down the boy’s arm, to the hand which held the blade, before finally, he stopped at the blade itself. The blood atop it started evaporating, disappearing from the blade, leaving nothing but shiny steel in its wake.

“You cannot stop us…”. The boy blankly said and raised his right hand, a kunai appearing in it a moment later, before the hand dropped back down. “It is too late for that…”. At the sound of water splashing, something Kakashi never expected, happened.

Chains burst out of the boy’s body, all covered with the same red chakra which violently flashed across them, and whipped towards the man who had just arrived.

“Akashi”. At the sound of Madara’s voice, the chains froze in place.

“Madara…”. The redhead turned around and the chains slowly returned back to him, but didn’t disappear. Akashi glanced at the Uchiha next to the man and turned his back to Kakashi.

Seeing an opportunity arise, Kakashi quickly gave Naruto to Sakura and dashed forward, intending to at least get one of them back to Konoha…

At least one of them!

He reached his hand forward, fingers just about to grasp around the boy’s arm, but then, he disappeared from in front of him. “I said it is too late”. Kakashi heard from behind him. He whipped around just in time to feel a chain pierce through his shoulder. “Nobody ever listens”. The chain twisted and turned like a snake inside of him. Wanting to get rid of it, he grabbed it and immediately released it with a wince escaping his lips. It burned… It burned… His shoulder burned… His hand burned… “Why does nobody ever listen?” A flash of pain went through Kakashi’s body and he fell onto his knees, the chain still slithering inside him.

Damn it…

Damn it!

“Look at me”. Heavy breaths left his body… Those chains… They were infused with the Nine-Tail’s chakra… Raising his head to look at the boy, he was met with an indifferent expression.

Was this how far he was going to go to achieve his goal? This far?

The blade in Akashi’s hand disappeared and he reached the same hand forward, wrapping it around the metal chain. He didn’t remove his hand… His skin didn’t burn… Then, without warning, he harshly ripped it out. Kakashi let out a gasp, a heavy tremble raking through him at the feeling of blood spilling out of his wound. He watched as Akashi opened his lips to say something, before they clamped shut, not a sound escaping them.

Without another word, he walked past him, leaving him on the water.

Akashi didn’t look back at the injured man. “Until we meet again”. That was the last thing he said, before both he and Sasuke were sucked up in Madara’s jutsu.