Н‘¾Ð‘¯Ð‘¬Ð‘Μ Ð‘»Ð‘¯Ð‘¬ Н‘¾Ð‘°Ð‘Μ𝑫 Н‘©Ð‘³Ð‘¶Ð‘¾Ð‘º €¢Ð’Ƒ𝒙Н’Ƒ• Sound of The Falling Stars

He could feel it.

The chakra getting sucked out of him.

It felt like he was being ripped apart.

Damn it…

He really screwed things up this time.

Damn it…

Was this it?

The end?

Was this how he was going to go?

By saving people who never bothered to save him?

Was this really it?

He could feel Kurama struggling within him.

Struggling to give his own chakra to the tree…

… trying to save Akashi.

It was useless, no matter how much chakra Kurama pumped out, the tree just kept on taking and taking…

… leaving nothing behind.

Hold on! Kurama would yell inside his mind. I’ll get you out of here! He’d say.

His words were only whispers to Akashi…

… he could barely hear them over the sounds of his soul ripping apart.

The roots tightened around his waist and the air was knocked out of him.

Breathe! How could he? Breathe! There was no room for air. Breathe! He couldn’t.

His ribs bent under the pressure. Just a little more and the first crack would be heard.

Just a little more and he would be gone.

“Akashi!” A distant yell made him open his eyes. “Akashi, where are you?!” He blinked his eyes and watched as the world around him grew blurry. Dark spots began clouding his vision and he couldn’t… breathe… in… “Answer me!”

Vibrant purple filled Akashi’s sight, before everything went black.

_

“Wake up!” Akashi’s eyes snapped open and he was met with the crimson ones of Tobirama. The man barely managed to move out of the way as Akashi hastily sat up. “Hey!” Tobirama exclaimed, but grew silent at the sight of the expression Akashi had.

He was looking over Tobirama’s shoulder and at the ones behind him.

Naruto and Sasuke.

“How long was I out?” Akashi slowly stood up, biting back a wince as his ribs shifted. From the feel of it, he hadn’t broken them.

“A few minutes at most.” Tobirama answered, also standing up.

Akashi watched Naruto’s form. He had barely any chakra left and yet, he wanted to fight.

How typical.

Straightening up, he prepared himself to join those two, but a voice stopped him.

“Hold on,” Huh… Who would have thought the man would come and join the fight, “Karin, do your job.” Orochimaru’s sleazy voice commanded, to which Karin responded with a groan.

The redhead walked up to Akashi and thrust her arm in front of his face, before she looked away, not meeting his eyes. Taking that as a sign to do as he wished, Akashi slipped her sleeve up and bit in, almost instantly feeling his chakra start to replenish. The process didn’t last long, not even a minute and he pulled back.

Kurama should take care of the rest.

Ignoring both Minato and Sarutobi, Akashi summoned his chain and broke it off. He pulled his arm back and aimed near Naruto, before he whipped it forward and the chain sailed through the air. As soon as it was next to the blond, Akashi teleported to it and grabbed Naruto by the shoulder.

Naruto, not expecting it, stumbled back with an alarmed expression on his face.

“Akashi!” He exclaimed, surprised at the appearance of his twin. “You’re okay!” Even though he sounded happy, Akashi could see that something was bothering him.

“Fist bump me.” Naruto blinked, before his lips curled up into a small smile.

“Yeah!” He raised his fist and Akashi did the same.

As soon as they collided, the Tailed Beast State was activated, along with the Tailed Beast Mode. Akashi could feel that his and Naruto’s chakra had connected once again and he stepped behind him.

Chains immediately burst out of his back and quickly covered most of the fox which surrounded them, giving it a sort of armour which protected them even further. The only thing not covered was the face.

“This should do,” Akashi commented and placed his hands on Naruto’s shoulders, “We should finish this, yeah?” He received a nod in return.

“Hey, Sasuke… You realise that only Sage Jutsu works on him, right?!” Naruto called out to the raven-haired boy.

“Don’t compare me to you.” Was the calm reply. Sasuke’s Susanoo had already been activated and Akashi noticed that Juugo was also there. He felt the ginger’s chakra spike and a moment later, the Curse Mark started spreading from him and all over Susanoo.

Was that going to increase the power of Susanoo?

Akashi just hoped it would be of some use.

Naruto shifted beneath Akashi’s hands and the redhead prepared himself. Not a moment later, it happened.

“Aim!” Sasuke called out and lunged at Obito.

“Gotcha!” Naruto followed suit.

Obito created a staff from his black orb’s and jumped away from them.

They followed after him.

Jumping in the air, Naruto started creating a Tailed Beast Bomb, while Sasuke drew the bow of Susanoo.

“Sasuke!” The blond called out.

“I’ll keep in sync with you!” Sasuke said and the moment Naruto fired off the bomb, Sasuke fired off the arrow. Their two jutsu’s collided with Obito’s created shield.

They landed back onto the ground and waited until the smoke cleared to see if anything was done to Obito. And, as it was cleared, it revealed an unharmed Obito.

No matter how much they threw at him and no matter how much they chased after him, they couldn’t catch Obito.

Until that one moment, that is.

Both Sasuke and Naruto had managed to pinpoint his next location and attacked him, but Obito blocked them both with his black orb shields. “It’s about time that you went to sleep,” The man spoke, surprising the three of them, “I’ll guide you into the dream,” Guide them?! “There’s no time left!” The shields extended, changing their shape, and wrapped around Naruto’s and Akashi’s Tailed Beast Mode and around Sasuke’s Susanoo, keeping them in place.

Then, out of nowhere, Obito started descending towards the ground at a fast speed, taking them along with him. He slammed them into the ground, creating a shock wave so large, it hit the surrounding ninja and sent them flying away.

In the last moment, Akashi pulled the chains back from around the TBM and wrapped them around himself and Naruto, trying to cushion the blow as they slammed down. It had worked, but it didn’t do much to save them from the initial hit.

“Why do you get up?” Obito questioned as Naruto got onto his knees, almost falling down if it weren’t for Akashi, “And what are you fighting for?” He demanded, “Is it for your comrades? Or is it for this world?”

This world…

“Listen, friends will eventually betray you,” Shinya’s face flashed across Akashi’s mind, “And this world transforms love into hatred,” Akashi stood still as he stared Obito down, “Shouldn’t you two know this the best?!” He demanded, not averting his eyes from the twins, “In the past, the people of the village and Sasuke betrayed you… And your love for Jiraiya made you hate,” The last part was aimed at Naruto, before Obito glanced at the redhead, “You… I’m still wondering how you’re on their side after all that you’ve gone through… It would be so easy to switch sides, don’t you think so?”

Akashi growled out at him, “As if I would ever join you!” Obito shook his head in disappointment.

“Their words have poisoned your mind, but you just can’t see it yet.” He can’t see it?

“I’ve seen it a long time ago.” Naruto glanced at him from below.

“Then why?! Why do you insist on being by his side?!” He questioned as he stared at Naruto.

Akashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “Because he’s my little brother.” Was the answer Obito got.

The man’s eyes changed and were filled with disappointment.

“The three of us are the same… The cumulative weight of all your suffering will change you in time, and now, even more pain shall assault you!” Obito declared, “And you still insist that you will not change? You don’t know when your friends will betray you again or if the Allied Forces might go back to fighting each other… And you don’t even know if you can defeat me!”

“We will defeat you,” Akashi spoke up as he saw Naruto start to stand up, “We will definitely defeat you.”

“Why?! Why do you still insist on fighting?! This world will be gone in a few minutes, so why?!” Obito raised his voice, demanding answer after answer after answer.

“Because it’s my Ninja Way,” Naruto said, straightening up besides Akashi as Sasuke and Juugo stood up behind them, “I never go back on my word, that’s my Ninja Way.”

Obito narrowed his eyes as he stared at them, “I thought I told you to go to sleep!” He forced out as both Naruto and Akashi switched into their Tailed Beast States.

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Akashi bitterly replied, glowering at the man.

“Let’s finish this with our next move.” Sasuke had stopped besides Akashi as his Susanoo activated a moment later along with Akashi’s and Naruto’s Tailed Beast Modes.

“We’ll sleep tomorrow, dreaming our own dreams!” Naruto declared.

Then, something unusual happened. Sasuke’s Susanoo resonated with Naruto’s TBM and they combined, while Akashi armoured his own TBM. “I believe this is what Madara did once before.” Sasuke said.

“I don’t know Sage Jutsu, but I’ll try and force him to defend against me while you guys attack him.” From the corner of his eyes he noticed them nod. From in front of him, he saw Obito create a giant shield along with something akin to a spear.

“Nothing you try now will change anything,” Obito said, “Look above you…” He gestured above, “What can you see through that hole at the top?” He questioned, “The moon, the time to enter the moonlit dream world nears… The gaping hold of hell that has opened will be filled by the moon’s dreams…”

Akashi sensed people approach them and he guessed that it was time to prepare an attack for Obito. Naruto’s armoured tails started concentrating a fair amount of chakra and Akashi could see that those were large Rasengan’s.

Ah… So that’s why people were approaching.

Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, TenTen, Lee and Sai dropped behind each of the Rasengan’s. A moment later, each of them were given a chakra cloak, one which Naruto and Akashi had.

As the nine of them burst out of the tails and slammed into Obito, Akashi broke off a piece of his chain and threw it above Obito, careful not to alert the man. Then, Naruto and Sasuke thrust Susanoo’s blade forward, breaking through the shield and towards the spear Obito pointed at them.

As Susanoo’s blade collided with Obito’s spear, Akashi teleported above the man. Obito’s brief moment of surprise was forgotten as multiple chains wrapped around his arms and they were spread wide, moving the spear away from his body and making him vulnerable.

Naruto and Sasuke lunged forward, the blade passing clean through Obito’s side.

As soon as that happened, the remaining chakra of the eight Tailed Beasts from within him got out and went after Naruto and Sasuke. Before that could happen, the chakra of the eight Tailed Beasts from within Naruto extended towards Obito and the two different chakra’s slammed into one another.

Naruto’s tails reached towards the eight Tailed Beasts, ready to pull them out, but the One-Tail and Eight-Tails didn’t let him do that.

“One-Tail used to be linked to me, I’ll get him!” Garra appeared out of nowhere and his sand slammed into the One-Tail’s chakra.

“We finally found a weakness, that’s the key! You can leave Eight-o’s chakra to me!” A dark-skinned man appeared, rhyming his words out. Akashi guessed that that was the Eight-Tails’s Jinchuriki. Two octopus tentacles burst out of him and wrapped around the Eight-Tail’s chakra.

Obito struggled to get away, but it was futile.

Sasuke used one of Susanoo’s hands to grab into the dirt way behind them and the nine of the people who helped them with the Rasengan’s jumped onto the hand, keeping it buried in the ground.

It was then, that Akashi got an idea.

Releasing the armour which surrounded his TBM, he whipped his chains towards the remaining ninja behind them all, “Everyone! Grab hold of the chains!” He yelled out as he wrapped the rest of the chains around Naruto’s TBM’s armoured tails.

“Everyone, we’ll do it together on my mark!” Naruto exclaimed, “Pull!” He yelled out a moment after that and Akashi, along with the ninja behind him, pulled with all their might.

And so, they pulled and pulled and pulled, until it happened.

They severed the remaining eight Tailed Beast’s chakra. “They’re out!” Naruto exclaimed and every ninja behind him fell on their backside.

The two chakra’s combined and in their place stood the Tailed Beasts in their original sizes. Akashi willed his chains to return and he deactivated the Tailed Beast Mode.

He watched as Obito’s body returned to its original form and he descended towards the ground at a fast pace, before he slammed into it. Naruto’s and Sasuke’s combined Susanoo and TBM deactivated and they landed onto the ground near Akashi.

All three of them were out of breath as they waited for the dust to clear. Akashi could sense that Obito was alive, but he wasn’t moving, he was just looking up at the crimson moon.

“You kept your promise, Uzumaki Naruto!” One Tailed Beast, which resembled a giant ape, spoke up. Akashi wasn’t really surprised that his brother would make friends with the rest of the Tailed Beasts, “And you really rescued us!” It added.

“Right, Son!” Naruto saluted him and a giant Octopus-Bull Tailed Beast laughed.

“We were lucky.” An armoured Tailed Beast said.

“He did it!” One which resembled a slug said.

“For real.” One which resembled a horse said.

“You’re right.” A blue, flaming cat said.

“I’m so glad!” One which resembled a turtle said.

“Isn’t he…” This one… This one Akashi knew… Shukaku.

The happy moment didn’t last long when Sasuke dashed forward, towards Obito, with his blade drawn, “Hey!” Naruto exclaimed, running after him, “Wait, Sasuke!”

Akashi weighted the options.

One, he lets Sasuke kill Obito.

Two, he stops him.

Now… Which one?

As Sasuke neared Obito, Akashi made his decision.

Obito deserved to die.

Willing a chain to appear, Akashi broke it off and threw next to Naruto, teleporting to it a moment later, “Stop, Naruto,” He pushed at Naruto’s chest, “Obito deserves what he’ll get.”

Naruto pushed the hand away from his chest and almost glowered at him, “No!”

Akashi whipped around as he sensed a sudden chakra appearance near Obito.

Kakashi… What is he doing here? Is he going to try and save Obito? They were teammates in the past, there was no telling what the silver-haired man was thinking at the moment.

Not wanting to risk it, Akashi grabbed another piece of a chain and aimed it at the ground in front of Kakashi, before he teleported to it, “If you’re trying to save him, stop,” He told the man, whose eyes had widened at the sight of him, “He no longer deserves to be saved.”

“I’ll take responsibility for him…” It was then, that Akashi noticed the kunai in his hand.

So he had decided to end it with his own hands?

How unlike him…

Akashi stepped back when Kakashi raised the kunai in the air, prepared to strike at his old friend. But, before that could happen, Minato appeared and grabbed Kakashi by the wrist, blocking the oncoming death blow.

“Akashi…” Minato glanced at him, something akin to disappointment swimming in his ocean blue irises.

Hmm, so he wasn’t late this time, eh? How nice…

He was late when he was supposed to be on time and now he was on time when he was supposed to be late.

“Naruto… You three and the Allied Forces should go and help Lord First, and seal Madara away.” Minato said.

“That’s right! We still need to deal with him!” Naruto exclaimed and whipped back around, running back, “Let’s go, Akashi, Sasuke!” The said boy’s stood still as Naruto ran away from them.

“What do you think? Shall we go now?” Akashi asked, glancing between Naruto’s retreating figure and Obito’s half-dead one.

Sasuke remained silent, not taking his eyes off the redhead, “Don’t you have a question you wish to ask me?” He spoke up and Akashi wasn’t surprised, he was kind of expecting that.

“I do, actually… You saved me, why?” He narrowed his eyes at the raven-haired boy. Honestly… He didn’t really expect it would be Sasuke who saved him from the tree roots. He had actually made peace with his fate…

His fate to die.

“I told you once already, didn’t I?” He asked, “I don’t want to see you die.”

For a brief moment in time, Akashi stopped thinking just as he stopped breathing.

The air had been knocked out of his chest.

“You…” He mumbled out, not having any words to say.

“I’m not letting you go, not this time,” Sasuke stepped closer to him, hand reaching towards him, “I’m not letting you go again.” His fingers brushed over his cheekbone and Akashi stood still, staring into his dark, dark, dark eyes.

A bird screeched above them and the moment was broken. Both of them glanced up and were met with one of Sai’s painted birds, “Let’s go.” Akashi placed his hand on Sasuke’s shoulder and summoned a piece of his chain. Glancing back at Minato and Kakashi, he was met with his… father’s… eyes, ones which looked at him with an unreadable emotion.

Turning away, Akashi threw the chain towards the bird and teleported himself and Sasuke as soon as it reached above it. The two of them landed onto its back and it flew away, taking them towards the last fight they were going to fight.

_

As they soared through the air, Akashi trailed his eyes over the ground, searching for the real Madara. It didn’t take him long to pinpoint his exact location, “There he is.” He pointed at the man and Sasuke immediately activated the Amaterasu.

“Ancient relics… should just butt out!” A drop of blood slid down Sasuke’s cheek as he stared at Madara.

But, there was something wrong.

“He came back to life,” He commented, “Someone had used a jutsu on him.”

“You stole my line!” Madara called out to Sasuke.

“Sasuke! It’s pointless to just throw attacks at him!” Naruto yelled out, “This guy can absorb ninjutsu!” He added after a moment and Madara’s armour fell apart, clattering onto the ground.

From above, Akashi watched as Madara kicked off and punched Naruto away, before he dashed at Sai and kicked him away. Then, he grabbed Hashirama by the neck and Akashi sensed him draw… chakra from him?

“What the hell?” He mumbled out and Sasuke shifted from besides him. Noticing that, Akashi let himself slide off the bird before the Uchiha did so. He willed his blade to appear as he descended upon Madara.

Kurama, it’s your time to shine!

Aye, aye!

A moment later, Kurama’s chakra covered the blade and Akashi pulled his arm back, whipping it down as soon as Madara was in range. The man rolled out of the way and Akashi’s blade slammed into the ground, breaking pieces of it apart.

“Ah! If it isn’t the second Jinchuriki!” Sasuke landed behind Madara and dashed at him. Akashi joined him and the two of them jumped and slashed after him, but they couldn’t hit him.

“This is the perfect chance now that you’re flesh and blood. This time I’ll kill you for good, and send you back to the afterlife!” Sasuke declared, “Regret that you’re still not a reanimation…” He slashed at him, but Madara jumped high into the air, “… as you go to your death!” Sasuke thrust his blade forward and it slid through Madara’s arm, the man catching it with his glowed hands.

Akashi dashed forward, his own blade at hand, but before he could slash at Madara, the man pulled his arm free of Sasuke’s blade and grabbed it, swinging the boy towards Akashi.

It Akashi had faltered for a second, Sasuke would have ended up impaled on his blade.

Somehow, from that small space between them, he managed to shift his body so that Sasuke flew past him and he thrust his blade at Madara. The man had shifted his head to the side, Kurama’s chakra cutting along his cheek as the blade whizzed past his skin. Ducking under an oncoming hit, Akashi kicked his leg under the man, intending to trip him.

Madara had stepped over it and Akashi quickly reverse-gripped his blade and slashed upwards, once again, catching Madara off guard and cutting a shallow line across his chest. Sensing a shift in Madara’s chakra, Akashi slid past his arm as it whipped past his head and thrust the blade behind himself.

He touched thin air.

Madara had ducked under it.

A fist slammed into the back of his shoulder and he was thrown forward, a gasp leaving his lips as he felt the bone crack. He cushioned his blow with his uninjured arm as he pushed off the ground the moment it made contact with it and stumbled once he landed on his feet. Quickly turning around, Akashi sensed Madara’s chakra shift and a moment later, an explosion happened at the place he was, dust spreading everywhere, hiding the man from sight.

A moment later, Akashi sensed Madara a while away from them, near the Tailed Beasts.

“Shit.” That was the only thing that left Akashi’s lips. Naruto being Naruto, immediately shifted into his Tailed Beast Mode and ran off to chase after Madara. Akashi would have gone after him, but the mere movement of his body sent waves of pain through him.

“Are you okay?” Sasuke asked from behind him as he walked up to him.

“My shoulder is broken, I’ll need a few minutes to heal it,” He turned to face Sasuke, “You need to set it back in place, I can’t do it with one hand.” The raven-haired boy sheathed his blade and reached a hand towards him.

“Ready?” Akashi gave him a nod in reply.

One hand was placed on the front side of his shoulder, while the other was placed on his back. Without a word, Sasuke pushed forward and another crack resounded around them. Akashi grit his teeth as he felt the bone go back in place.

Not wasting any time, he reached his other arm and hovered his palm above the injured shoulder, a light green glow immediately covered the expanse of his palm and the expanse of his shoulder.

Multiple ground rumbling slams came from where Madara was and that wasn’t really a good sign, “I had placed a seal on Madara, he doesn’t seem to have noticed.” He glanced at Sasuke and was about to reach a hand towards him, to teleport them away, when Hashirama spoke up.

“Uchiha, lad.” Retracting his arm, Akashi gestured towards Hashirama, before he turned around and disappeared from in front of Sasuke.

_

The moment his feet touched the ground, he saw Madara do a hand-sign. It was then, that he noticed they were atop the Ten-Tails, He immediately thrust his blade in Madara’s direction, aiming for his head. Not expecting what happened next, the Ten-Tails rumbled as a massive amount of chakra was about to be released from it and Akashi stumbled back, almost falling off.

Quickly glancing below, he saw that the other Tailed Beasts were on their back, knocked down by something and then, he saw them.

The chains.

They burst out of the Ten-Tail’s mouth and Akashi jumped off its head, releasing his own set of chains.

Steel met steel and Akashi struggled to hold the Ten-Tail’s chains back. Those chains were headed straight towards the other Tailed Beasts… That wasn’t a good sign. He needed to hold them back at all costs!

“Akashi!” Naruto yelled out.

“Get away from here, all of you! These chains are dangerous!” Akashi slid back a few feet as the chains pushed against him, “Hurry!”

“Uzumaki Akashi… You seem to have mastered those chains unlike any other… You know, those chains have similar properties to that of the Ten-Tail’s own,” Madara spoke up, staring at him from above, “Your chains can bind Tailed Beasts… Aren’t you also a danger to them all?”

Similar…

Similar…

Similar… properties?

Akashi’s eyes widened in realisation.

That’s it! If his chains can bind the Tailed Beasts, then that means they can also bind the Ten-Tails!

Forcing as much chakra as possible into his own chains, Akashi pushed back. He pushed with all his might and the other chains started going back into the Ten-Tails.

Kurama, don’t use your chakra, I have a feeling something bad will happen if you do that.

I do too, those chains are used for absorbing Tailed Beasts, using my chakra will only strengthen it and weaken you.

His thoughts exactly.

Grabbing his chains with his hands, Akashi met eyes with Madara and whipped the chains around.

The collided with the remainder of the Ten-Tail’s own chains and they were slammed away. Using that opportunity, he let his chains race towards the Ten-Tails, “This is all or nothing! Kurama!” In that moment, Kurama coated the chains with his own chakra and strengthened them. They reached the Ten-Tails and started wrapping around it, squeezing tighter and tighter the more they went around, “Just a little further!”

He could feel the chains falter as the Ten-Tails shifted.

No… He was so close… This was what he needed to do… Just this one little thing… And everything would be over…

But, fate had other plans.

The only thing that he could do, was crumble to his knees as he watched the chains shatter into a million pieces.

That had never happened before.

His chains had never lost against anyone.

The Ten-Tails roared and its chains burst out once again. It took no time for them to wrap around every single Tailed Beast.

One by one, they were pulled forward, not even Naruto was spared. His Tailed Beast Mode was bound by the chain and it too, was pulled towards the Ten-Tail’s mouth.

He watched as Naruto was thrown back, Kurama no longer inside of him.

He watched as Naruto sailed through the air and towards the ground.

He felt sand wrap around his body and he was moved away from the battle.

Besides him, he watched as Naruto landed on Gaara’s floating sand.

His heart throbbed inside his chest as the three of them ran away from the scene.