𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑾𝑰𝑵𝑫 𝑩𝑳𝑶𝑾𝑺 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

The Arrival

Akashi glanced at the raven-haired boy. "I will be going on ahead...". He turned to face forward, already bending his legs, before he was interrupted by him.

"Are you alright?" Furrowing his brows, Akashi turned back to look at him. His face may have been blank, but his dark eyes showed the worry he was actually feeling.

He huffed out a laugh and shook his head. "What? Worried about me?" He questioned and watched as Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him.

"Are you sure you're ready to fight?" He asked him ignoring his previous teasing. This was a serious matter... He no longer had a Tailed Beast inside of him and that was something Sasuke didn't understand...

A person was supposed to die after the Tailed Beast was extracted, that much he knew, or in Akashi's case, killed. So... Why was the boy still alive? Something was wrong... Either Akashi wasn't telling them something, or the boy himself didn't know what was going on.

"Don't worry about me... I'm perfectly fine". The redhead practically waved him off as he sent him a smile. Sasuke couldn't help but think it was a fake one.

"I can't help but worry about you". Sasuke watched as Akashi's eyes widened for a brief moment. He looked surprised... Why? Didn't he already know how Sasuke was feeling? So why? Why was he so surprised? "You know that". He added and walked up to him, ignoring everyone who was around them.

"I know...". The words were so quiet, Sasuke barely managed to hear them properly...

But he did...

Sasuke reached a hand forward, but just before his skin met Akashi's own, he halted his movements. "About that day... I had no right to say what I said...". He knew the words 'I'm sorry' were a touchy subject for Akashi, so he didn't say them...

He held back the urge to say them.

Then, unexpectedly, Akashi raised a hand and their fingers intertwined. "I could say the same...". He said, taking a step closer to Sasuke. The said boy stood still as he watched the redhead lean forward. His eyes slowly closed as Akashi inched closer.

But, nothing happened. Onyx eyes slid open and were met with violet ones. Akashi had stepped away with a somewhat faraway look on his face.

Then, the wind blew and the boy before him was no more.

_

As Akashi looked around himself, he found himself in the company of Minato and... the person he wanted to see the least.

Naruto...

"The others should be arriving here soon". Were the words that left his lips, before his eyes widened as they met Akashi's own violet ones. "You... came...?" He slowly asked, as if he didn't believe his eyes... As if the sight before him was just a lie...

Sakura's eyes blew wide as she stared at the redhead. "Akashi...? You...?" She didn't understand what he was doing there... He came back? After what happened? He came back? He still came back?

"I did". Akashi deadpanned and not even a moment later, he sensed three oncoming chakra signals. The Third Hokage landed next to him, followed by the Second Hokage and the First Hokage.

"Minato, you're as fa-!" Sarutobi stopped once he caught sight of the redhead next to the man he was addressing. "Akashi...?" He mumbled, expression the same as Naruto's and Sakura's. "How did you get here so fast?"

Before Akashi could answer his question, the Second Hokage spoke up. "Fourth... You're better at tele-!" Once again, the man's expression mirrored Naruto's, Sakura's and Sarutobi's. "You... You arrived here before us?"