Akashi slowly blinked open his eyes, before they snapped wide in surprise. The scenery around him was different. He was no longer in a forest, but in a sewer-like space. There was nothing around him except water and darkness that spread on for miles and miles. "Where am I?" He asked out loud, even though he knew no one would answer. He though wrong. He wasn't prepared for what awaited him.
"So, you finally came to visit me, human?" Akashi whipped around and froze at the sight before him. The sewer which he thought was empty, wasn't empty. There was a giant red gate with a seal in the middle. He staggered on his feet, taking a step back. "What... what is this?" A loud chuckle echoed through the sewer. "You know what it is". The voice continued, and in that moment glowing red eyes looked at him through the bars of the gate.
"You know who I am". It said. Akashi's eyes widen as he felt terror run through his body. "Nine-Tails?" He whispered, voice cracking. "That is what they call me, yes". He said. The being came closer to the cage and it showed its full height. It towered over the boy, dark orange fur covering each and every part of its body. "How is this possible? How am I speaking with you?" He dared to ask the questions. The fox dragged a dark claw along the gate bar, making a vile screech.
"I am in your mind". It simply answered, not bothering to clarify anything else. "Why am I here?" Akashi changed the question. The fox removed its nail from the gate, settling it in the water beneath its feet. "Why should I answer?" It taunted, smiling a sharp grin. Seeing he was getting nowhere with this, he stepped closer to the cage. "Tell me how to go back... I need to go back!" He raised his voice at the last word. "We are in your mind". The fox continued evading the answer, enjoying the sight before him.
The human was clearly distraught, it started pacing in front of the cage. "Listen here you damned fox! I have no time for your games!" Akashi grabbed the thick bars of the cage in anger. A moment later, huge tails slammed into the bars with such speed it made Akashi fall back in surprise. The tails started wrapping around the bars, trying and failing to open the gate. "How dare you speak to me in such a way, you puny human!? Do you now know who I am?!" The fox started growling and biting at him.
"I am the great Nine-Tails! The strongest of the Tailed Beasts and I will not help any human!" It finished with a final slam on the gate. The gate didn't budge. Akashi watched in disbelief as the fox raged inside the cage. With a quiet chuckle, Akashi stood up, the water dripping down his frame. "You are 'The Great Nine-Tails?' Don't make me laugh". He placed his palm flat on the gate bar. "I see nothing more than a little fox which has no power". He raised his head and looked it straight in the eye.
"Here, you are not strong, and you will tell me how to get back out". His eyes were narrowed, staring without blinking. The fox was surprised to see the human change so quickly. A moment before, it was covering at the sight of him, and now it was mocking him and making demands of him. How peculiar. The fox thought as it watched the anger roll around in waves in its eyes. "You amuse me, human". It said with a dangerous grin. Akashi separated from the gate and his arms dropped at his sides, useless.
"Is there a reason you act like this, fox?" He lowered his head and asked. The fox was taken aback. "I have no reason to answer your question". It growled out. Akashi let out a loud laugh. "What are you laughing about?" It asked, genuinely wondering what the human was thinking about. Akashi shook his head and raised it, revealing the amusement in his eyes. "Were you hated?" He asked and when the fox stayed silent, he continued. "Were you hunted?" The fox bared its teeth at him. "You were created by someone, did that someone leave you?" He asked the final question and the fox exploded.
"Where are you going with this?! You know nothing!" It desperately started slamming the cage which bound him to this wretched prison he was in. The sight made Akashi pity it. Seeing it struggle to get out. At the same time it brought him joy. To know that it was bound here, nowhere to go. "You're right, I only know a fraction of your pain, after all, you were on this plane of existence for a much longer time than I was". He took a step back. "I'm done with your mind games, I'll figure it out myself". He turned around and started walking away.
Something made him stop and he turned around. "But, know this...". He trailed off and with a dark smile on his face continued. "I will forever hate your sole existence and look forward to your destruction". With that, Akashi walked away from the cage and disappeared in the darkness around it. The fox was left alone, left in the cage, left to think of the consequences of this inevitable meeting. Left to think if this human could have been different from the rest of them. But, as it always is, it was too late.
He indeed was different, but not in the way he would have wanted.
_
When Akashi opened his eyes, he found himself laying on a tree branch. The burn in his body was gone and he felt like he was born anew. Is this because I saw the Nine-Tails? His trail of thought was broken when he looked in front of him. The snake-guy did a hand sight and his neck extended as it raced towards Sasuke and Sakura. Akashi threw a kunai at it, but it moved out of the way. "Sasuke!" He yelled out as the head approached him.
It quickly clamped its jaws on the side of his neck. After a second, it separated and connected with its body. Sasuke started groaning and twitching in pain as he grabbed the side of his neck. The snake-guy looked at Akashi for a moment and a creepy smile appeared on his face. "Oh, you're awake". Akashi said nothing, instead he quickly jumped from branch to branch and stopped next to Sasuke. "Sasuke?" He asked the boy, but he didn't respond, he only continued groaning.
Akashi whipped his head towards the snake-guy. "What he hell did you do to him?!" He growled out, prepared to fight. "I gave him a farewell present". The guy answered and only then did Akashi notice his face. It was peeling off, revealing pale skin and a yellow eye underneath. "Who are you?" Akashi demanded and the man smiled at his question and ignored him. "Sasuke-kun will seek me, he will seek me for power". He said and then started sliding through the tree branch. "It was fun being able to see a lot of your moves". He chuckled as he disappeared.
A groan from Sasuke brought Akashi back. "Sasuke?" He asked again, but the boy didn't respond. The Uchiha wobbled on his feet and fell on his hands and knees. He knelt besides the boy and placed a hand on his neck. "Hey?" He gently called out. Sasuke winced and slowly and painfully raised his head to look at him. "Everything's going to be alright, okay?" Akashi assured him. Akashi moved Sasuke's collar to see the wound on his neck. Above the bleeding bite mark there were three circular seals. "A seal?" Akashi wondered out loud.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when Sasuke started screaming, his whole body shaking. Seeing no other way to spare the boy from the pain, Akashi brought his hand up and hit the side of his neck. "Akashi?! What are you doing?!" Sakura yelled as Sasuke slumped unconscious in his lap. "He was in tremendous pain, I just knocked him out so he doesn't suffer". Akashi calmly explained as he brought his, now, glowing hands to the wound. The bite marks stopped bleeding, but the seals stayed in their place.
What the hell kind of seal is this? It feels so complex. Akashi thought as he held the boy in his arms. "Sakura, here, take him, I'm gonna get Naruto". He carefully handed Sasuke to Sakura and stood up. Naruto was still asleep, hanging by the kunai from the tree. Akashi jumped to a branch underneath Naruto and threw a kunai, hitting the other one away. Naruto started falling and Akashi caught him. He caressed the side of his cheek in worry. He had scratches all over his face. "Naruto...". Akashi let out a sigh and jumped back to where Sakura and Sasuke were.
_
They found a secluded spot under some tree roots and settled the sleeping boys there. Naruto was sleeping like a log, but Sasuke gave out a wince or two every few minutes. Sakura was sitting besides him, while Akashi was pacing around them. "Sakura, who was that guy?" He asked, not stopping his walking. "He called himself 'Orochimaru'". She said and that made Akashi stop in his tracks. "Orochimaru?!" He exclaimed. Sakura looked confused. "Yeah? Have you heard of him?" She asked.
Akashi grimaced and walked over to where Naruto was, sitting besides him. "He's one of the Sannin". Sakura's brows furrow. "Sannin?" She asked and Akashi couldn't believe she didn't know who they were. "You actually don't know this?" He asked in disbelief. She looked away, ashamed. "No matter, they were the greatest ninja of their time, students of our current Hokage". He explained. "Jiraiya, Tsunade, the First Hokage's granddaughter and Orochimaru". He continued. "Orochimaru fled from the village when they discovered he was doing illegal experiments". He finished.
Sakura let out a small 'oh' at the information. "How do you know this?" She asked him. He shook his head and simply replied. "I read". She grew quiet, until a few moments later. "Sasuke has a fever". She said and then watched Akashi come closer. He told her to move away and she did. Settling down on his knees, he raised his hand and placed it on Sasuke's forehead. It was indeed high, much higher than normal. Letting Chakra gather in his palm, a soft green glow emitted from it. "What are you doing? I know you can heal, but what use is that on a fever?" Sakura asked from the side.
"I can lower his temperature this way". With that, he closed his eyes and focused on the task at hand. A few minutes pass and he opens his eyes. Sasuke was no longer wincing and he was breathing normally. His temperature was also lower now. Akashi placed a hand on his cheek and wiped the dirt that was there. "He'll be fine". Sitting up, he went back to Naruto. He didn't have a fever, but was just too tired. "Sakura, you're spent, go to sleep, I'll keep watch". He told her and sat on a nearby rock. She nodded and lean on a wall.
When it was finally silent, Akashi got the chance to think of the events that happened. The exam is a dangerous thing, people die in them and he hoped they will all make it to the end. The Nine-Tails was a creature he hoped he would never have to encounter again. Not because he was scared, but because he despised its existence. It may have 'helped' him back with Haku, but it didn't do it out of the goodness of its heart, no, it simply did it because it didn't want the host to die. If the host dies, so does it.
Orochimaru... he knew nothing of him, except that he was insanely strong. What were those marks on Sasuke's neck? What purpose will they serve? What did he mean when he said that Sasuke will seek him? Seek him for power? The thought of Sasuke leaving with Orochimaru disgusted him. As he looked at the sleeping kids, because all of them really are just kids who were fighting a war for others, he vowed he would not let anything happen to any of them. He vowed he would always place them above himself.
He vowed he would destroy anything standing in the way of their safety.
And God help anyone who wanted to hurt them.