Days passed and he remained in the hideout.
For reasons which remained unknown to him, Madara had not even once tried to capture him and his side of the Nine-Tails. Even though he had said it was because he still needed the Eight-Tails first, none of it made sense to Akashi.
Did he seriously believe Akashi was going to stay there forever? With Sasuke? With him?
Did he think Akashi was going to hand his side over? Give it to him with a smile? Without a fight? Without hesitation?
He was wrong.
Akashi had no intentions of giving the fox to him… Not now… Not ever…
“That’s awfully kind of you”. The fox words dripped with sarcasm as it spoke within his mind. “You plan on fighting Madara for my life?” It questioned and Akashi could imagine the bored look on its face.
“If that is what it takes”. He glanced at the ceiling above his head. Still the pale grey it always was… Never changing…
“This is Madara you’re talking about…”. The fox reminded him as if he didn’t know that already. “That man is too strong for you to deal with”. Akashi clicked his tongue and turned to his side, facing the room door.
“I will deal with him”. He closed his eyes and breathed out. “I have you, do I not?” He questioned, but received nothing as an answer.
It was typical of the fox to bail at moments like this… It just stopped talking with him whenever it saw fit…
How nice…
_
His room door clicked open at the same time Akashi opened his eyes.
What a surprise…
“Yet again, you come to me… Why is that?” He didn’t bother sitting up from his laying position. The raven-haired boy walked up to his bed without a word spoken in reply. “And yet again, you are quiet…”. Akashi laid on his back, stretching his arms over his head. He felt the bed dip and glanced to the side, just to find Sasuke sitting on the edge of the bed.
“I don’t know where else to go”. Were the words that left the Uchiha’s lips. Fair enough. Akashi slowly sat up and shifted so that he was behind the boy. He reached his arms around his waist and placed his legs on each side of him, pulling him back.
“So I am your last resort? That hurts”. He whispered next to his ear, feeling the boy in his arms let out a slight tremble. Sasuke leaned his head back onto Akashi’s shoulder and closed his eyes. Akashi tilted his head to the side and brushed his lips over the boy’s cheeks. “Not denying it?” He questioned and pulled back.
“We both know the truth”. Akashi huffed out a laugh at his words and dropped back onto the bed, pulling Sasuke along with him. The said boy shifted around so that he was facing the redhead beneath him.
“Do we?” Akashi asked, feeling his lips curl up into a grin. “I do not know anything”. Sasuke reached his hand to the redhead’s cheek and trailed a finger down the pale skin.
“Don’t pretend, Akashi”. For some reason, Sasuke sounded like he was serious… Very serious…
“You are no fun”. Sasuke watched as Akashi shifted to the side and started shuffling across the bed. The dark-haired boy grabbed him by the wrist, making him halt in his movements.
“Where are you going?” He questioned him.
“Away? I said you are no fun and I meant it”. Akashi said it like it was something which was supposed to be obvious. But it wasn’t obvious… Not to Sasuke.
“You’re not going anywhere”. Akashi raised his brows at that and glanced at the other boy.
“You think you can stop me?” He challenged, biting back a smile at the surprised look on the raven-haired boy’s face. He genuinely looked confused at his words. “Well? Do you?” Akashi slowly sat up and placed his palm on Sasuke’s chest, pushing him back. In that moment, he leaned forward and caught the boy of guard.
He closed the distance between them and planted his lips on the boy’s. Sasuke gave no resistance as he was pushed onto his back and Akashi leaned over him.
He pulled back and tilted his head, glancing at the boy under him. “You are not trying to stop me?” He asked and let his lips curl into a grin. “Why is that?” The moment he asked that question, he felt the breath get knocked out of him.
Sasuke was looking up at him with those dark, dark, eyes of his and Akashi felt an unexplainable urge to bolt right out of there. This situation somehow felt familiar…
Familiar?
It felt familiar…
Familiar?
Somehow… It felt familiar…
Familiar?
_
“I love you”.
_
He heard static in his ears and he leaned back, clamping both palms over his ears in an attempt to stop it…
It didn’t stop.
He didn’t notice Sasuke had sat up along with him. “Akashi?” His head throbbed in pain.
_
“Akashi?”
_
“I love you”.
“I love you”.
“I love you”.
_
Sasuke immediately noticed something was wrong. He didn’t say a word, but Akashi had leaned back with an alarmed look on his face, before he clamped both palms over his ears, as if there was a loud noise only he was hearing.
He called out his name, but received no acknowledgement in return. Those wide eyes of his were staring right through him.
“Akashi?” He tried once more and reached forward to the quivering boy. The moment his hand made contact with him, he bit back a wince as it was roughly grabbed and twisted to the side, forcing him to fully turn his body to the side. “Akashi!” He growled out through clenched teeth, but still, he received no reply.
He felt himself be forced onto the bed face first and a hand wrapped around the back of his neck, while the other one held his wrist behind his back, twisting it in odd angles.
“Why did you say it? Why did you say it?” Sasuke heard the boy mutter. Say it? Say what? He didn’t say anything. “Shinya”. Sasuke’s eyes widened at the mention of the dead boy.
Shinya? What the hell?
“Akashi!” Sasuke yelled out, almost feeling the bone in his wrist break from the pressure. “Akashi snap out of it!” No matter what he said, nothing got through to the redhead. Sasuke couldn’t even turn to look at him. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke relaxed his body for a moment and then, using the opportunity, kicked his legs out, pushing the both of them up. He quickly whipped around and froze at the sight before him.
Akashi was blankly staring at him, no expression on his face, no emotion in his eyes.
Nothing…
“Akashi?” It was then, that the boy blinked and glanced at him. Sasuke slowly raised his hand and reached it towards the boy. This time, Akashi didn’t move as it neared him. It settled onto the side of his neck and Sasuke leaned forward, connecting their foreheads. “Hey? Are you with me?” He asked and watched as the redhead nodded, breathing out a heavy breath.
“I am”. He answered, moving back and looking away. He couldn’t look at Sasuke now that he knew what he was going to say…
“Listen…”. Sasuke trailed off, furrowing his brows when Akashi shook his head at his words.
“Please do not”. He said it so softly, that it was almost a whisper. “Do not say what you were about to say”. Ah… So he realised what was about to happen, eh?
“Why?” Sasuke questioned, leaning closer to the boy.
“Just do not”. The redhead refused to answer, but Sasuke kind of already knew why.
“Is it because of that boy? Shinya?” It further confirmed his suspicion when Akashi chose to remain quiet and not answer his question. How nice… Still so caught up on a dead boy… “Why can’t you just forget about him?! He’s dead!” He exclaimed, feeling his heart throb inside his chest at the revelation. Why was he still so caught up on him?!
He didn’t expect what happened next… Not at all…
A crack resounded through the room as his head whipped to the side from the force of the punch. Immediately after that, a hand wrapped around his neck and the both of them tumbled onto the ground.
Sasuke hit the harsh ground first.
“Forget about him? Forget about him?!” Akashi angrily growled out at him, forcing the words through clenched teeth. The grip he had around the boy’s throat tightened. How dare he…? He was fucking trying to forget him! It wasn’t his fault everything fucking reminded him of the moss-eyed boy!
It wasn’t his fault!
“Do you think that is so easy?! How about you forget about Itachi?! He is also fucking dead!” He yelled out at him.
Sasuke’s eyes widened at his words. Those dark eyes of his filled up with unrestrained regret, but it was too late for that now. He had made a mistake… A terrible mistake… One he possibly might not be able to fix…
The pressure on his neck disappeared and he watched as Akashi stood up and bolted out of the door.
Sasuke knew it was futile to try and catch him… Once he decided to run away, there was no catching him…
He was left alone in the room, with a blooming bruise across his skin…
_
Akashi raced through the forest he found himself in, ignoring everything around him. He jumped from branch to branch, barely touching the hard surface, before taking off to the other one.
Why can’t you just forget about him?! He’s dead!
Those words repeated through his mind like they were stuck in a loop… A never-ending loop…
“Why can’t you?” The fox spoke up inside his mind. “Why can’t you forget about him?” It questioned and Akashi realised he had no answer to it… He didn’t know why…
Because everything he saw reminded him of Shinya?
That was a lie…
Because he still loved Shinya?
That was a lie…
So why? Why couldn’t he just forget? Why couldn’t he just erase everything?
“Because he was someone important to you… Someone you cared about… Someone who brought happiness into your life…”.
Was that the reason? Was that the reason? Was that the reason? Was that the reason?
Was that the reason?
His head throbbed at the thought and he closed his eyes as a flash of pain went through it.
That proved to be a mistake… A huge mistake…
His foot slipped off the edge of the tree branch and he pummelled towards the ground beneath him. He had no time to do anything, but await the impending pain he was going to feel.
And he felt it.
His knee twisted to the side and he heard a distinctive crack resound through the darkness of the forest which surrounded him. He couldn’t stop the groan of pain that left his lips. His hands immediately gripped the knee, trying to hold it in place.
“Fuck!” He exclaimed and immediately took a deep breath after that. Damn it! This wasn’t supposed to happen!
He sat down and felt around his knee. He deduced that it was a clean break, since nothing seemed to be sticking out through his skin… So, at least he was lucky in that department. He took out a kunai and placed the hilt between his teeth, preparing himself to put the bone back in place.
Three…
Two…
One…
He whipped his hands to the side and another crack resounded through the dark forest. This time, he bit back the groan that threatened to leave his lips and fell back onto the ground, breathing out a deep breath.
“Damn it…”. He sighed out and closed his eyes.
“Seriously…”. He could practically see the fox shaking its head inside the cage.
“Shut up…”. The words were uttered in a whisper. “Not another word from you…”. He heard the rumbling laugh come from deep within his mind, but laughter was the last thing on his mind right now…
Ironically…
He was done… He had no plans on going back to the hideout… Ever again…
Sasuke… That boy… Just what did he expect of him? To love him? To care for him?
How does one care for another when they can’t even care for themself?
That was impossible to achieve…
Maybe… If only… If only Akashi cared for himself a little bit more… Maybe…
Maybe he could have lov-!
His eyes snapped open when he felt the familiar chakra signal appear out of nowhere. Akashi stood up in a hurry, settling most of his weight onto his left leg.
This was bad timing!
“Madara”. He calmly greeted the masked man, careful to not show that he was hurt or that he had ran away from the hideout.
“Akashi… Why are you here in the middle of the night…?” The man asked while walking closer to him. Akashi watched as the man’s one visible eye glanced at his right leg, before it looked back at him.
Damn it… So he knew already…
Madara noticed the hesitation on the boy’s face. “Were you trying to escape?” He stopped a few feet away from the redhead. Akashi grit his teeth at the question… He already knew what was going on, so it was no use in trying to think of an excuse…
“Yes, I was”. He answered, narrowing his eyes at the masked man.
Madara shook his head at his answer. “With my Nine-Tails?” Akashi’s eyes narrowed even further. His Nine-Tails? His Nine-Tails? It wasn’t his! It wasn’t anyone’s!
“The Nine-Tails doesn’t belong to anyone!” He growled out at the man, taking a step away from him. He had a feeling things were going to get rough. Very rough…
“Oh? So you became buddy-buddy now? How nice…”. Akashi’s eyes widened when the man finished his sentence, because, as soon as he did that, he appeared in front of the boy, a hand extended towards him.
Akashi jumped back, wincing when he landed on his right leg. He didn’t have enough time to move away and something harshly slammed into him, throwing him backwards into a tree. His head whipped back and hit the tree behind him. Pain bloomed behind his eyelids, but he shook his head and looked ahead of himself.
Madara was standing still, looking at him.
“Is that all the Nine-Tail’s Jinchuriki has to offer?” He taunted and Akashi took a step forward, before the world around him started spinning, forcing him onto his knees.
This can’t be happening…
Everything around him was spinning around, causing his head to hurt.
Footsteps approached him and he had no strength to raise his head.
“Kid! Get up!” At the sound of the fox’s voice, he stumbled to his feet and turned around, jumping away. He needed to get out of here… Fast… He was no match for Madara… Not now!
Hot flashes of pain raked through his leg, but he ignored it and forced himself even more.
He needed to-!
A swirl appeared in front of him and Madara’s form was revealed not a moment later. “You cannot run away from me… You have something of mine”. He said and the rage inside Akashi grew.
“The Nine-Tails is not yours to own! He is not some tool used whenever you see fit! I will not be handing him over to you!” He extended his right arm and the chains morphed into a blade. “Never!” He pointed it at the man, gritting his teeth together.
“Little boy…”. He heard the fox inside his mind, but it said nothing else after that.
“Ah… Adamantine Sealing Chains… You’ve found quite a tricky way of using them, haven’t you?” Akashi ignored his words, preparing himself to fight at any given moment. “You know… You look so much like your mother…”. That had taken the redhead aback.
“You knew her?” He questioned, watching the man.
“Yes, I did…”. He answered, taking a step forward. Akashi stood on guard. “You know…”, he trailed off, stopping in his tracks, “I’m the reason the Nine-Tails was sealed inside of you and your brother”.
Static…
That was all he could hear in that moment.
Pure… Static…
“You… You?” Akashi stumbled with his words, not believing what he was hearing. Madara? He was the one who attacked the village? He was the reason Kushina died? The reason his mother died? “It was you…”. The blade was gripped inside his hands.
“Kid! Don’t!” The fox yelled inside his mind, but he paid no attention to it…
All of his attention was on the man in front of him.
“Mom died because of you… She is dead because of you!” He took off towards the man, blade extended in front of him. But, the blade never reached him.
It was effortlessly knocked out of his hands and it disappeared as soon as it was out of his grip. A hand wrapped around his throat and he was forced into a tree. He struggled and struggled, but he had no strength in his body…
His leg throbbed with each second that passed and the world around him was spinning more and more…
He must have suffered a concussion…
“It was me… I failed that day because of the Fourth Hokage… But I will not fail now…”. Madara leaned forward, until there was only inches between them. “I will be taking the Nine-Tails”.
Before anything could happen, chains burst out of Akashi’s body and Madara was forced to retreat. The chains hovered over Akashi’s body, but he could barely focus on them…
He was going to pass out and he knew it… He could barely see Madara from in front of him and the wetness on the back of his head wasn’t making things better.
He raised his hand in a hand-sign and closed his eyes.
_
As he opened them, he found himself inside the all familiar sewers.
“You here to say goodbye?” The fox questioned as it watched the boy approach the crimson cage. The water splashed beneath his feet, but he paid it no mind.
“You know why I am here… You can read my mind, can you not?” He stopped in front of the cage and stared up at the mighty beast. He watched as its confused expression shifted into something akin to…
…Disbelief…
It was funny seeing an expression like that on its face…
“You… You cannot!” It slammed into the cage, over and over again, but it did nothing, except show how much the boy’s decision meant to the being. “If you do that-!” Akashi reached a hand forward and placed his palm onto the gate.
“I know… I know…”. He leaned his forehead onto the bars and grit his teeth.
Why now…? Why did this have to happen now…?
Why not sooner? Why not while they still loathed one another…?
Everything would have been easier if they just hated each other…
Why now…? Why now, when he started to see the fox as something other than a beast which yearned for pain and destruction…?
Why now…?
“You can’t!” He leaned back and watched as the fox settled against the cage, its dense fur protruding through the spaces between the bars. Akashi shifted his hand to the side and threaded his fingers through the dark-orange fur.
“So now you care for me, eh?” He tried to grin, but the smile looked too fake… Too forced…
Too sad…
“If only we had settled our differences sooner… If only we had more time to learn about one another…”. He pulled his hand away and glanced at the seal above his head.
“What about your goal?” It asked and Akashi shook his head in return.
“We both know how my line ends…”, his voice wavered towards the end, “… But at least, like this, I can fuck up his plans, right?” He shrugged his shoulders as if this was no big deal… As if it was whatever to him…
“… Little human…”. The fox whispered the words through barred teeth. “… You never cease to surprise me… You know that, right?” Akashi shook his head at its words.
“What can I say? I am full of surprises”. He tried to make the situation less tense, but it just made things worse. He glanced at the fox and back at the seal on the gate. “Could you help me?” He gestured high up and watched as the fox gave a slight nod. The water beneath his feet swirled and wrapped around his legs, bringing him up towards the seal.
As he came face-to-face with the seal, he reached a hand forward. His violet eyes clashed with crimson ones and he ripped the seal off. It immediately disappear from his hand and he was lowered onto the ground.
Stepping away from the gate, he watched as the fox slowly placed its clawed hand on the bars and gave it a slight push. The gate opened and Akashi felt his heart throb inside his chest.
The fox stood in its full height, seemingly looking even bigger than before.
Akashi couldn’t help but think that it looked magnificent…
As the gate fully opened, everything flooded into Akashi… All of the feelings the fox had flowed into his body…
The pain… The sorrow… The anger… The hate… The rage…
Everything… And then…
In that moment he knew what the fox felt…
An overwhelming sense of grief had taken root deep within its body…
“Why do you feel grief?” Akashi found himself asking as he looked at the fox in front of him.
“Why are you crying?” The fox asked him back, not answering his question. Akashi laughed a humourless smile as he reached a hand to wipe at his cheek.
“Because I am sad”. He answered and the tears just kept coming.
“There is your answer”. He glanced up at the fox as the chains slowly hovered behind him. “You’re really doing this?” It asked him as it slowly approached his small form.
Akashi nodded, not even bothering to wipe the tears off his skin… They dripped down his cheeks and slipped down, disappearing in the water below his feet.
Ah… The water… Its-
“I am”. He answered, interrupting his own trail of thoughts. “This is the only way and you know it”. The chains extended past him and went towards the fox.
“I do”. It said and stood still as the chains slowly wrapped around its giant body, threading through its thick fur.
“I am sorry… Foxy”. Akashi found himself saying the words he hated so much… The irony… But, in that moment, he knew…
He meant those words.
The chains slowly tightened around the fox and it stiffened in their hold.
“Kurama”. It suddenly said, making the chains halt their movements. Akashi’s eyes widened as the tears dropped without pause. Ah… Kurama…? He grit his teeth at the newfound information.
His heart painfully clenched inside his chest… Kurama…
“I am sorry, Kurama”. He forced the words out, feeling himself be ripped apart as they left his lips. “I am so, so, sorry…”. He raised his hand and slowly clenched his hand in a fist.
“I am too, Akashi”.
A sob ripped out of Akashi’s lips as the chains ripped through the fox, making it explode into an uncountable amount of crimson bubbles.
He closed his eyes.
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