Н‘¾Ð‘¯Ð‘¬Ð‘Μ Ð‘»Ð‘¯Ð‘¬ Н‘¾Ð‘°Ð‘Μ𝑫 Н‘©Ð‘³Ð‘¶Ð‘¾Ð‘º €¢Ð’Ƒ𝒙Н’Ƒ• Love Lasts

“How does this look?” Sasuke heard him ask. Turning around, he was met with the other boy. Akashi was standing in front of a mirror, hands tightening the sash around his waist as he tilted his head, “Sasuke?” The said boy blinked, but still did not answer. Akashi turned around and looked at him in confusion, until his eyes widened at the sight of him, “Oh,” was what left his lips, “Yours… looks nice on you.”

He watched as Akashi averted his eyes, “It matches the colour of your hair.” Sasuke said.

Damn it. They were so awkward.

“So does yours,” Akashi mumbled, shifting on his feet, “We better get going or we will miss the festival.”

Sasuke stood still as Akashi walked up to him, a light smile on his face, “Yeah.” He answered, fingers gripping onto his own dark robes.

_

It was dark outside and the little town they were staying in was lit up by lights. People were smiling and laughing as they stood in line at various stands which sold different kinds of food and sweets, “Wanna buy something?” Akashi asked him and Sasuke lightly shook his head in answer.

“Do you want something?” He asked, trailing his eyes over the stands.

“Not at the moment… Let’s look around.” Akashi answered and Sasuke followed after him as they walked through the crowds of people in front of them.

_

“I have a question.” Akashi spoke up.

Sasuke furrowed his brows and turned to him, “Yeah?”

Without missing a beat, Akashi continued, “Have you had crushes? I mean… before and after you left Konoha?”

That question was highly unexpected and it took a few moments for Sasuke to come up with an answer, “No, you were the first and only one.” It took him a second to realise how cheesy his answer was and he hurriedly looked away, feeling his cheeks go hot. The expected laugh didn’t come and he warily looked back at Akashi. The said boy had a thoughtful expression on his face, “What is it?” Sasuke asked.

“You’ve… never thought about anyone else in a romantic sense before?” The redhead raised his brows at him.

“No.” Was his short answer.

Akashi hummed and said nothing else after that.

“What about you?” The question left Sasuke before he could think.

Akashi peered at him, “You know about Shinya, but I’ve not had anyone except the two of you.”

“Have you… always looked only at boys?” Somehow, Sasuke felt the need to know more about Akashi’s life and feelings before the two of them were reunited.

Akashi went silent for a few moments, “Well, I’ve never thought of men and women as separate things,” he blinked, “That sounds… odd. It was confusing to me for a while, until I kind of figured it out. I don’t care about the gender. A person is a person.” As if satisfied with his answer, Sasuke watched as he nodded to himself.

“I see.” Sasuke said.

“Was I your sexual awakening?” Akashi sudden question made Sasuke whip his head to look at him. He had that usual shit-eating grin on his face and Sasuke couldn’t be bothered to get mad.

“Something like that.” He admitted, exasperated.

Akashi snorted from besides him, before a laugh left him, “It’s funny hearing you admit something like that.”

Sasuke looked down as his lips curled into a small smile.

_

They walked next to each other, until something slammed into Sasuke. It wasn’t a hard enough slam to knock him off his feet, nor to make him stumble. He glanced down and saw a small girl, one which had a head full of black hair. She warily looked up at him and her eyes widened in something akin to fear. Not wanting to frighten the little kid, he crouched down and patted her head with a small smile, “Hello there… You should look ahead of yourself next time.” She blinked her dark eyes and her lips pulled back into a little smile.

“Yes!” She cheerily replied, before she moved past him and ran away.

Sasuke straightened up and watched her leave, her shoulder-length hair swinging through the air as she ran. A child. She was a child. Unintentionally, his fist clenched by his side and he didn’t tear his gaze away from her, even as she disappeared in the crowd of people, he still didn’t look away.

A child.

Noticing that Akashi had grown silent, Sasuke turned to look at him and felt his eyes widen at the sight. Akashi was standing a few feet away from him and was looking straight at him.

Pain swimming in his light irises.

His fingers were gripping onto his crimson robe and as Sasuke took a better look, he saw that he was biting his lip.

“Akashi.” As soon as the name left his lips, the said boy turned around and broke out in a run.

Sasuke, not knowing what else to do, ran after him.

_

Really, it was a known fact that Akashi was the faster of them two. Probably even faster than his father, the Fourth Hokage. Still, Sasuke chased after him, not wanting to let him out of his sight.

Somehow, they had ended up outside of the small town and inside the thick forests that surrounded them. It was even harder to spot Akashi since it was really dark out.

Sasuke didn’t give up.

_

Unexpectedly, Sasuke caught up to him. But, he managed to do so just because Akashi had stopped. The redhead was standing still and looking at him, “Akashi.” Sasuke said his name and took a step forward.

“Stop.” Akashi raised his hand.

“I won’t.” He defiantly answered, walking towards him. There was no way he was going to stop. There was no way he was going to stay away from him. There was no way he was-

“Sasuke.” The said boy stopped in his tracks at the tone Akashi used. His voice had cracked as he said his name.

Looking at him, Sasuke could see the way his eyes were glazed over. No. The last time he looked at him like that, he left him. No. Was he going to leave him again? No, “No… You… Are you going to leave me?” He asked, feeling an unwelcome shiver run down his spine.

Akashi didn’t say anything as his hand was being lowered, “Do you think I don’t know?”

“Know what?” Sasuke was confused.

He watched as Akashi lowered his head, body tensing up, “The way you looked at that little girl… You were looking at her in a way which screamed that you wanted someone like her.”

No. No. No. No. No.

“I don’t-!” Sasuke stepped forward.

“Don’t lie!” Akashi yelled, “Don’t lie to me… Please… Just don’t.” He whispered, words barely heard from where Sasuke was standing, but he had managed to hear them. Sasuke felt his heart break at the way Akashi’s voice sounded so weak, “We both remember what you said to Kakashi when asked about your dream… You said you wanted to restore your clan,” Sasuke froze in place, dreading Akashi’s next words, “How are you going to make that dream come true if I’m by your side?”

The corners of his eyes pricked and he grit his teeth at his words, “You are more important than my dream!” He forced out, meaning every word of it, “Why would I need a dream when I have the world by my side?” He asked, harshly swallowing right after.

“A dream is something important,” Akashi wrapped his arms around himself, “I’m a man… I cannot give you a child and it hurts,” he lowered his head, hair hiding his expression from Sasuke, “I love you and yet I cannot give you that which you want.”

“But I want you more! I want you more than anything else!” His heart constricted inside his chest and he felt something slide down his cheek, “There’s nothing that I would choose over you,” the thin grass strands bent under his feet, “You are what I desire most.”

The other boy had stood in place as Sasuke approached him, “I’m not worth that much.” Akashi mumbled out.

“You are to me.” Sasuke didn’t do anything as he waited for Akashi to raise his head. The moment it happened, it took all of his willpower to not just embrace the clearly distraught boy, “To me… you are worth everything.” He whispered, slowly reaching his hand forward.

Akashi didn’t move away from his touch, “I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m sorry.”

Sasuke knew how much Akashi disliked those words and… hearing them from his lips made him break a little on the inside, “There’s no need for you to be.” He brushed his fingers down Akashi’s cheek and stepped closer, other arm sliding around the redhead’s waist. Immediately, Akashi wrapped his own arms around Sasuke and leaned into his neck.

The two of them stood there, in each other’s arms, under the night sky lit up by the stars.

_

The hotel in which they were staying did have a bathtub, but this one wasn’t big enough for both of them, “The water is ready!” Sasuke called out, waiting until Akashi came into the bathroom. The boy looked tired as he slowly walked up to Sasuke, “What is it?”

“Take this off for me? I think I tied a knot when we came back…” Akashi said, averting his eyes.

Sasuke stood up and reached towards the sash around Akashi’s waist. Indeed, it looks like he tied a knot. It took a few minutes, but Sasuke managed to untie it properly. He glanced at Akashi and slowly pushed the robe off, “Get in before it gets cold.”

Akashi did as asked and went in, the water slightly splashing around as he sat down. He leaned against the wall and a small sigh left his lips. Seems like the hot water suited him.

Reaching for the shampoo on the side, Sasuke got the liquid on his hands and slowly massaged it into Akashi’s scalp. The said boy closed his eyes and another sigh left him. Sasuke did that for a few minutes, “Go under, I need to wash it off.” Akashi did as he was asked. Sasuke watched as the redhead sank down, a relaxed expression on his face. After he washed the shampoo out, Akashi sat up and lightly shook his head, making the water fly everywhere.

Sasuke didn’t complain.

“Turn your back to me.” He said and Akashi slowly shifted around, facing the wall. Sasuke’s heart throbbed when he was met with the boy’s back. His pale skin was marred with even paler scars. Reaching forward, he gently traced them with the pads of his fingers. One was on the back of his shoulder, one was just below his shoulder blade and another one was…

“One of them is from the Chunnin Exams… the other two are from Shinya.” Akashi interrupted his trail of thought.

Sasuke knew about the one from the Chunnin Exams, but he didn’t know Shinya was the cause of the other two, “Was it the night…?” He trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

He received a light nod in return.

Reaching for a sponge, he wet it and brought it atop Akashi’s back. In gentle patterns, he swiped across the expanse of his skin, not leaving a single part untouched.

Next went his arms.

Then his legs.

Akashi looked like he was about to fall asleep, so Sasuke hurried up. The water was also cooling down at an alarming rate and he didn’t want the boy to catch a cold, “Okay, can you get up?” Sasuke stood up and reached for a big towel on the side. Hearing the water splash, he turned around and saw Akashi leaning his cheek onto the side of the bathtub as one arm hung off the side. He was looking up at him, eyes barely open, “Seems not.” Sighing, Sasuke placed the towel around his own shoulders and reached his arms towards Akashi.

It didn’t take long for him to get him out and wrap the towel around his body, “Thank you.” The redhead mumbled out as Sasuke dried his hair with another towel. He leaned forward and brushed his lips across Akashi’s temple in answer.

_

After Akashi got dressed and laid down, Sasuke went into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

When he came back, he saw that the redhead was still awake, surprisingly. He had expected him to be out judging by how tired he looked and acted a few minutes ago, “Aren’t you tired?” He asked him as he got in next to him.

“I was waiting for you.” A hand was placed on Sasuke’s neck.

Shuffling forward, Sasuke pulled Akashi closer, “Is something the matter?” He asked, slotting their foreheads together.

“I… want to talk with you about something,” the tone of his voice told Sasuke that he wanted to talk about something important… very important, “There’s still a way for you to restore your clan.”

To say that Sasuke was taken aback would be an understatement, “What?” He dumbly replied, leaning back to look at him.

“Exactly what I said.” Akashi said.

Confused, Sasuke furrowed his brows at his words, “If you mean what I think you mean, I refuse.” There was no way he was going to make a child with some random woman who he doesn’t know. If that’s what Akashi meant, “Even if I were to accept, that child would only have a connection to me… What about you? Don’t you want a child of your own?”

He watched as Akashi sat up, the sheet slipping down his shoulder, “I have someone in mind… A child between you two will share a connection with both you and I.” Was what he said.

Sasuke also sat up, even more confused by what he meant, “What? Who?”

“Karin.”