Another chapter!

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"No way... I'm... dying?"

Now, he was a shinobi, so dying wasn't really bothering him...much. But the fact that he'd had no idea... You'd surely know when you were dying right? But he felt nothing; actually, since Kushina's cooking he'd even gained some weight. He felt more powered up than before, the only thing that was bothering him was that he had a feeling he'd forgotten something. He knew he should have remembered it, but he just didn't. Was that a clue that he was dying? He didn't think so.

"Calm down, you're not dying."

"Oh I think I'm rather calm for someone who- wait, I'm not?"

Akio let out a relieved breath and grabbed the cloth around his chest while giving his partner an angry glare. "What the hell, Kurama? You almost gave me a heart attack."

But the fox's expression didn't change nor did his demeanour. He still radiated an air of seriousness and the sadness in his eyes was still present too. Akio shifted uncomfortably, he didn't like the look his friend gave him. They'd been together for his whole life and never had the fox looked at him like that, not even after the war and that was saying something.

And since he wasn't dying, everything should've been fine, but his companion didn't seem any less troubled and the things that came to mind couldn't possibly be worse than dying right now except-.

"I'm going to fail this mission, aren't I?"

The fox shook his head again and stared glassily in front of him, as if he saw something that Akio couldn't.

"Right before he disappeared, the sage of the six paths left a prophecy to all of us tailed beasts."

Akio froze, his eyes slightly narrowed turned blank and emotionless, his heart began to beat faster with every passing second. "A prophecy."

Kurama eyed him carefully, ignoring the wave of worry that washed over him. He couldn't blame the kid for reacting like that. The last time he'd heart a prophecy his village had been destroyed and not too long after that the world.

"To restore a home wounded and overthrown.

A hero will journey to land unknown.

A kage loved and related to all but one.

Shall have to choose: fight or run.

Burdened with something worse than death.

All will be known at his final breath.

Beware those allies who cannot be named.

For a hidden past and troubled future only one can be blamed.

It was foretold that in time there would come a soul who was different than all of the other humans. He would change the world and everybody around him. This would be his prophecy and his only. At first we thought that Killer B was the one, after all, he and Gyuki have trusted each other almost since the beginning, but then you were born."

"So... the prophecy is about me?"

"That I do not know, but you are different then my other jailors, that cannot be denied. And as far as I'm concerned you've proven yourself by changing me. This prophecy may very well be about you; after all, you are the child of prophecy."

"Why haven't you told me about this before?"

He didn't do it on purpose; making it sound like he was hurt, but the truth was that he did feel a bit left out. After all, it was his life and the prophecy didn't exactly describe a happy vacation. If he was going to die, he wanted to know.

"It is for the same reason that I wanted the Hatake kid to know everything. You already have enough on your shoulders and.. I was in denial for a long time; I didn't want the prophecy to be about you, for you would lose everything, for a second time. But days past and then I couldn't deny it any longer; there are too many similarities between you and the prophecy. And if it is about you, then you'll have to prepare for what's coming. I can feel it. Something bad is going to happen."

Akio sighed in defeat and mumbled under his breath. "Of course it's something bad, you never talk to me just for fun."

"Watch it, brat."

The teen snorted and turned his back to the big fox. "Stupid enhanced hearing."

Kurama looked down at him and grinned. "If you live long enough to get through this we can have a talk just for fun."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we both know that that's not going to happen."

The fox knew better than to comment on the double meaning, so he just nodded once and waved his tail as a goodbye gesture. "See ya, kid. And don't let your guard down."

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Akio opened his eyes with a sigh and stared at his hands. Another prophecy, another chance for him to screw everything up for a second time. Another- "Hey Akio, Rin wanted to know if- is everything alright?"

The teen turned around and noticed the worried look Obito gave him, but it didn't seem to get through to him. "You look a little pale. Is it your wound? Maybe you should lie down for a while."

The Uchiha had already started to push him down when Akio began to tremble. His with shock filled eyes stared blankly at his hands. Obito stopped putting pressure on his shoulders and took a step back. "Akio?"

Suddenly he knew exactly what he should've remembered. "The academy...I...I can't remember when I..."

"What do you mean? What's wrong?"

Finally his words seemed to get through to the teen as Akio blinked a couple of times and frowned. His colour got back to him and the trembling stopped. "I-it's nothing, I'm fine."

Obito gave him a confused look, but was smart enough to let it slide and put on a smile. "Anyway, Rin wanted to know if you want to go eat something with us. This new ramen shop opened up and she wants to try it out."

Akio nodded slowly, his eyes still focused on his hands. "Ehh sure."

"Let's go, they're waiting for us."

The teen raised his head and looked around one last time before following his teammate to the direction of the village.

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He watched the two friends go back to their village with a tension that couldn't be described. He was itching to finally do something. But it wasn't the right time, not yet. The kid still had a way to go before they could start their plan.

A yipping sound reached his ears and he looked down. Bright yellow eyes met his as the small red fox studied him. "Junko, go back to your master and tell him that it's almost time. Let him know that the mission has finally begun."

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"It's getting cold."

"Hm yeah."

"Maybe you should eat it."

"Hm-hn."

"Akio.."

"Hn?"

"What's going on with you? You've been staring at your bowl for almost half an hour now. Don't you like ramen?"

Akio froze. Had he been lost in thoughts that long? A sigh escaped him and he shoved the bowl out of the way. He really had been happy to see Teuchi again (even though the man hadn't known him yet), but his mind wasn't set on eating right now. He couldn't help himself, he kept thinking about what had happened at the lake.

That feeling that he was missing something. It was like a part of his memory had been erased. He knew he'd been on the academy and passed the exam to become a ganin, he just didn't remember...how he did it.

A hand on his arm made him look up and big brown eyes met his. Rin. "Is it your wound? Does it still hurt?"

The teen let out another sigh (what that made it like the 9 hundredth time?) and shook his head. "I'm fine, just a bit tired." He looked up again and showed her a faint smile. "I take it that Kakashi and Obito have already gone home?"

Rin nodded, noticed that her hand was still resting on his arm and pulled away while blushing furiously. "T-they wanted to get some sleep before tonight."

Akio gave her a blank stare. "Tonight?"

"Kushina nee-san wants to celebrate our save return. Sensei told you that, didn't he?"

He scratched his head in embarrassment and showed her an apologizing smile. "Sorry, I guess I forgot."

They met each other's gaze and for a second Akio had the strange urge to run away. Those piercing brown eyes were looking at him with something more than just curiosity. As if she knew that he was hiding something.

He ran a hand through his hair and placed some money on the counter while getting up. "I'm going to go train for a while. I'll see you tonight."

"Wait. Now? We just came back from a mission. And your wounds haven't even completely healed yet."

"It's nothing serious; I can handle a small training." He started to walk away, hoping the girl would leave it at that. But she didn't

Rin stood up too and laid some money on the counter. "Then I'm going with you. I need to make sure you're not overexerting yourself.

Akio stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. His eyes blazing with frustration. "I've been through a lot more than you and I know my body better than anyone else, so stop patronizing me and treating me like I'm some little kid that doesn't know what he's doing. I don't need you to look out for me."

Her arms lowered to her sides as she stared at him, a cross expression between shock and anger was written on her face. "I've never patronized you or treated you as a kid, why would you think that?"

"Are you kidding me? I've seen the looks you and Minato share before looking at me! It's like you're waiting for me to collapse and start crying. Yes I've lost everything, but I don't need your damn pity!"

Rin shook her head and took a step forward. "Nobody pities you, Akio. But we're worried about you. I know that you don't sleep well because of nightmares, Minato-sensei told me and I just want to help-"

"Well I don't need your help! All I need is for everyone to just back off and let me live my life!"

He regretted the words as soon as he had spoken them, but it was too late to apologize. The damage had already been done. Rin stared at him, the hurt in her eyes clearly visible, before she turned and walked away. For a second he thought about going after her and apologize anyway, but a part of him agreed with what he'd said. And maybe it would be better if they all hated him, cause the only thing he could do then was going forward.

The teen let out a frustrated sound and turned back to the direction of the training fields. With his hands in his pockets he started walking.

'Well done, kid. Now she's definitely not going to help you anymore.'

'Nothing of this would've happened if she'd just let me go train.'

'Maybe not, but it's not her fault that she's worried about you and it wasn't really nice to just blow her off like that.'

'Than she shouldn't have stopped me.'

A sigh could be heard and Akio stopped as he took his hands out of his pockets.

'Stop kidding yourself, kid. You're not mad at her, something else is bothering you.'

'I'm fine.'

'Fine huh, than why are you shaking?'

The teen clenched his hands into fists and started walking again.

'Shut up.'

It seemed the fox listened to him, because it stayed silent in his head and somehow that just seemed to make him even more frustrated.

Someone bumped into his shoulder and he let out a threatening growl. "He pal, why don't you watch where you're going."

"What are you talking about? You bumped into me."

Akio turned around and faced a mid-sized man, maybe twice his age and definitely twice his size. He had short brown hair and light brown eyes. He wore brown colored jounin vest and under that a red turtleneck, followed by the same colour pants. Taking everything into account, the man wasn't a jounin from the leaf (his headband proved that too), but Akio was too caught up in anger to notice.

"Oh yeah? I think it was the other way around and last time I checked you apologize when you bump into people."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"Hell yeah I do and a cowered too, cause your too scared to admit that you bumped into me!"

Okay, so maybe it was childish to play with the man like that, but he really needed to lose some stress and this seemed to be a good way to do it. Of course he hadn't taken in the man's short temper.

The man growled angrily and took a step forward while swinging his fist back. Akio saw it coming just in time and he sidestepped him easily, which only seemed to make the man even angrier. He turned around and threw another punch, this time followed by a roundhouse kick.

The people around them had stopped walking and were watching them closely. Some shook their heads in disapprove, while others started to cheer them on. After a while there were even some bets going on.

Until now Akio had only dodged the man, after all he hadn't really been planning on a taijutsu fight in the middle of the street, but after a close call he started to throw in some punches of his own. The man was a good fighter alright. He was slow, but his power made up for that.

Akio threw a punch to the man's face and sidestepped the others kick. Unfortunately the man dodged it just in time and was able to land a blow on Akio's wounded shoulder. He hissed in pain and backed away. Kurama had healed a big part of his wound already, but it was still a weak spot. His green eyes glared daggers at the man who took a kunai out of his sleeve.

Things started to get serious and the teen had no longer intentions to just play with the man. Against all the odds the man had hit his weak spot and that had pissed him off. Not caring about the consequences anymore, he took his own kunai and waited for the man to charge. He didn't have to wait long, as soon as they met each other's gaze the man dashed for him, his hand with the kunai outstretched in front of him. Akio bended a bit through his knees and flipped the kunai in his hand once. He was ready.

He pared the man easily with his own kunai but had underestimated his strength and that's when things started to get ugly. The man had put so much force behind his attack that Akio got driven back, straight through the crowd, through a wall and into a yard, leaving a trail of destruction behind. With a gasp he fell onto his back with the man right on top of him. He was still able to hold his kunai in place, but with the way things looked it wouldn't be long before he would lose. The man was obviously stronger and now he had the power of gravity on his side too.

Akio let out a groan as the kunai came closer and closer to his exposed throat. He was pushing with all his might, but strength had always been a hard case for him. Physical strength was always something he'd lacked in. Against normal opponents he could stand his ground, but every time he had to fight opponents who were specialized in strength, with taijutsu only, it was another challenging task that drained a lot of his strength. It wasn't that he was weak; he was just more a ninjutsu person. You know, blowing stuff up with something flashy, that was kind of his thing. Blowing stuff up with bare fists was more Lee's way of fighting and not to forget Sakura's as well.

His muscles began to ache from all the weight and for a second he didn't know what to do. But a plan came soon enough; years of fighting against strong opponents had given him enough time to train. He stopped pushing back with his kunai and for a moment the man last his balance and started to fall forward. Using the momentum, Akio brought his feet up and kicked the man right in his stomach, causing him to stumble back and fall to the ground. Without wasting time the teen jumped to his feet and watched as the man slowly got to his feet too. The two glared at each other, both were panting slightly, but Akio obviously had it worse. His muscles were aching from holding all that weight and his shoulder wound had opened again when he flew through the wall earlier. All in all he was tired, frustrated and more than all just plain angry.

This time he didn't wait for the man to attack him. Making the first step he threw his hand backwards, ready throw the kunai, but a voice stopped him. "It's good to see you again, although I guess it would've been better if you weren't trying to kill my teammate."

Akio straightened. Wait.. I know that voice." He turned to the right and stood eye to eye with none other then-.

"Sasori?! What are you doing here?"

The red head gave him a knowing smile and pointed to his teammate. "We're here for political reasons. The war is coming to an end and we need to start covering all the damages, and since the leaf and the sand are now allies we thought maybe we could work together, you know, trade materials.

"Sasori? You know this kid?"

Almost immediately Sasori's warm expression changed into a cold one and the temperature seemed to drop a couple of degrees. " 'This kid' has singlehandedly defeated the one tail and saved our village, something, I might add, that our kazekage wasn't capable of. On top of that he's the reason why our villages are allies now and part reason that we are here. So be a little more respectful to him, Tora."

The man let out a snort, telling them that he didn't believe it for one bit, but he made the smart choice to stay silent. He shot a nervous glance at Sasori, shook his head once and turned to give them some privacy.

Akio had to hold back a chuckle when he heard that name. The fact that a true powerhouse had the same name as the devilish little cat was just too funny and he had to agree that the name suited the man quite well.

"Sadly we don't have much time, we'll have to get back to our village, but I want to thank you for everything you've done for us. We owe you and I want you to know that if you ever need help, you just have to send a messenger and we'll come."

The teen smiled warmly at the sand ninja and for a moment he felt better, he didn't feel as frustrated as he'd felt before. He'd made an important friend and even though it hadn't been that long since they'd met for the first time, he felt a strong connection to the red head.

His warm smile faded slowly and got replaced by a sad one. "I guess you'll have to go now, huh?"

Sasori nodded and lifted his right arm. In his hand he held a small scroll and Akio stared at it in surprise. A feeling told him that he'd seen the scroll before.

"I was just back from my mission when the kazekage informed me of everything that had happened. He also gave me this: it's supposed to be something written by one of the sannin? The kazekage told me it was meant for you, but you had already left. The scroll is sealed by some kind of seal, I suppose only you can open it."

Akio knitted his eyebrows. "One of the sannin?" For a second his expression turned darker, but it soon got replaced by a bright smile. "Jiraiya!"

The red head gave him a confused look at first but it quickly changed into a smile when Akio's eyes began to shine as he took the scroll as if it were the holiest thing on earth. "I'm guessing you know what's written in there?"

The teen just nodded his head; he was too busy with examining the seal to answer differently. After a while he shook his head and looked up. "Yes and no. I'm guessing that it has to do with my training, but you never know with that man. He's as unpredictable as can be. It might be the first example of one of his perverted books. Maybe even something about frogs."

Sasori sweat dropped. "Forget I even asked." Then he turned around and waved his hand as a goodbye. "Until next time, Akio."

Akio waved too and after the sand nin had disappeared he locked his eyes onto the scroll again. His smile had faded completely know and he was looking at the seal with a grim expression. 'I swear it, if this is going to be one of your perverted books, I'm going to burn every inch of it until there's nothing left but a pile of dust!'

Without looking back he disappeared into a swirl of leafs, totally missing the two pairs of eyes watching him.

He re-appeared in his own room and immediately began to unseal the scroll by using a bit of his blood. He sat down on his bed and carefully began to open it. With a rustling sound it opened and Akio started to read.

Brat.

You were right. N and K are still alive.

They'd been expecting me and know about you.

Things are going too easy.

I think you've been followed.

You're going to have to watch your back.

Ps. they told me about THE prophecy.

You are the one.

Akio froze as his eyes widened. His mind went blank as he read the last two sentences over and over again. Even after he'd read it a hundred times, he still couldn't fully register what the words meant. He shook his head furiously and was about to close the scroll when he noticed that something was written at the bottom. There were only two words: Don't die.

Oh how he wished that the scroll had only contained a perverted book. Getting a scroll with the words don't die in it didn't exactly reassure him that everything would be alright. Now he was sure, this day couldn't get any worse.

A knock on his door told him he was losing his touch and he let out a soft 'come in'. The door opened slowly and several ideas just crossed his mind, all included suicide. 'I just had to think it didn't I?!' He let out a sigh and turned to the visitor whose grey eyes examined him briefly. "You said you would tell me the truth."

The raven haired teen rolled with his eyes and braced himself for a long night. "This is going to take some time, so if you want to, you know, sit down..?"

Kakashi nodded and sat down in front of him. His grey eyes darted around from time to time as Akio struggled how to begin.

"Nice room."

Akio forced back the urge to groan and let out another sigh instead. A long night indeed.

Next time in: 'A new beginning.'

A horrible truth covered by a simple lie.