𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑾𝑰𝑵𝑫 𝑩𝑳𝑶𝑾𝑺 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

Radiate

AN: A couple of things will be changed from the original anime (as if they haven't been changed already). For example, the whole plot of the last Naruto movie, The Last, never happened. Naruto and Hinata have already started liking one another, but no move was yet made to further their relationship.
That's all.

The remainder of the journey back to Konoha was spent in silence. Neither of them said a word to one another, nor did they look at each other.

Just... silence.

_

Akashi faltered as he noticed the giant gates of the village. The Konoha Gates. It had been about a year since he was last there... It felt as if a lifetime had passed, "Why did you stop?" He heard Sasuke ask.

"I'm... covered in blood." He replied, slowly looking down at himself. The stains on his clothes were clearly visible.

Sasuke blinked, not expecting an answer like that, "It doesn't matter, let's go."

A hand wrapped around his wrist and Akashi was pulled forward. They walked the rest of the way.

Expectantly, two ninjas were standing near the gate, "Hold! State your name and busi-!" The man's eyes widened at the sight of the two of them, "Uzumaki Akashi and Uchiha Sasuke?" He asked, baffled at their appearance.

"Huh? What are you saying, Kotetsu, there's no way th-!" The other man's expression mirrored that of Kotetsu, "What the...? Why are you covered in blood? What the hell happened?" He questioned, warily looking between Sasuke and Akashi.

The former ignored their questions and pulled Akashi forward, "We'll be going in. Don't alert anyone of our presence, we had a long journey and we would like to rest." With that, the two men made no move to stop them from passing by.

_

Since only a part of the Uchiha Compound was destroyed during Pain's attack, unlike Akashi's whole house, that was where they went, "Do you have a change of clothes in your bag?" Sasuke asked him, placing his own bag on the bed.

"I do... Naruto had secretly put it in my bag before we left." The reason he never wore it was because his current clothes rarely got dirtied. When they spent nights in hotels, they washed their clothes and wore the robes they were given at the front desk.

Shifting around, Akashi briefly rummaged through the bag, before he pulled out the clothes (https://ibb.co/FnVGRVc). Not sparing Sasuke a glance, he untied his sash with shaky hands. He couldn't not look at the stains. Would he be able to wash them out? "Akashi?" Snapped back to reality, he realised Sasuke was standing near him, expression twisting into that of worry.

"Yeah?" His voice came out shakier than intended and he averted his eyes, not looking at the raven-haired boy.

Quiet thuds resounded through the room and Sasuke's hand covered his own, "You're fine... There's no need to worry about anything." The words were whispered out and the sash was taken from him. Familiar fingers slowly took off his shirt, before they slid down to his pants. Akashi stood still as he was soon almost bare before the other boy, "Here." The other clothes were presented before him and he hesitantly put them on.

Just the feeling of being out of bloodied clothes tremendously brightened his current mood.

"Are you tired?" A warm palm rested on his cheek and his bangs were pushed back, "We can stay here for a while before we go and meet the others." Akashi lightly shook his head, leaning into the touch.

He stepped forward, nuzzling into Sasuke, "I'm not tired and it would be best to greet them all now, besides, Naruto won't be happy once he finds out we were here and didn't immediately go to see him."