Well I guess this long gap between updates is a normal thing. I really apologize about that, but my life has completely changed since the last update… I've moved to a new city, taken a break from school, I'm working full-time, I'm part of two huge projects (a comic and an animated movie), and I travel from time to time. The good news is that I always jump into fandom when I'm lonely, and I really have no social life atm… so maybe I'll start working on Disarm more?
Also, just because I'm interested to know – how folks downloaded/enjoyed the OST and chapter soundtracks? I like posting songs that are directly relevant to the themes & moods of the chapter (they're not just to make me look pretentious haha) but they're not just for decoration. Does anyone actually look them up? Don't feel bad if you don't, I'm only curious. If no one bothers, I'll stop posting them.
Chapter Soundtrack: Alex Clare – Relax My Beloved, Puscifer – Tumbleweed, Placebo – Blue
Usual warnings.
Disarm
Chapter Twenty-one
Sasuke opened his mouth. Naruto's eyes narrowed. Sasuke's torso turned, Naruto raised his arm –
Rolling out of the way, Sasuke barely dodged the black ball of energy. He twisted to face his attacker and leapt to the side. Naruto's returning volley flew past. It hit but had little effect.
Nine was barely recognizable – though it could be none other. His shape was vaguely humanoid, but his arms were long and his fingers were longer, and his ears resembled more a rabbit's than a fox's. He was grinning, though. Sasuke could tell because the cavity where a mouth should be was somehow illuminated from the inside, letting the silhouette of fangs stand starkly against the light. The eye sockets, too, glowed with a strange inner light. And the tar-black skin… if it was skin, it was melting. Fizzling, bubbling, something grotesque that skin definitely shouldn't be. Nine was just a form of pure hate and evil.
THE BOY STAYS, he said, and the voice grated like nails on rust.
"Fuck you," Naruto said cheerfully.
He dodged the blast, vaulting sideways and letting the gate absorb most of the attack. Sasuke slapped his hands together and conjured a blade of electricity, gripping it like a sword. He jumped to swipe at Nine, but a black form came cracking like a whip, and Sasuke barely blocked it. He gaped. It was a tail, growing out of what he assumed was Nine's tailbone… but there were eight others too; moving, gigantic things made of the same stuff as Nine's skin. They moved with a life of their own, completely defending the demon.
"You get uglier each time I see you," Naruto yelled from further down.
Nine ignored him, a tail slashing at Sasuke. The soldier landed in a splash of water and attacked again, but was only deflected. He landed with his back to the gate.
"He's too fast to-!" Sasuke started to yell at Naruto, then had to dodge again.
"I'm thinking of something!" Naruto announced, standing back. Sasuke made a noise of arrogant disbelief, and had to keep moving. Undeterred, Naruto grinned. His hands were cradling a simmer of energy, slowly expanding, demanding more and more…
Nine was not a fool. Turning to the blond he swallowed a gulp of air, spitting it back out as black ball of power. It sliced through the air straight for Naruto. Moving instinctively Sasuke was in its path in an instant, swinging his blade and deflecting the attack right back to Nine. It happened so fast that it struck Nine in the eye, making the demon rear back in agony and screech curses. The strange glow was dripping like blood from Nine's eye socket and the skin around it was hissing and bubbling faster.
"Are you going to help?" Sasuke hissed, dancing backward from the retaliating flurry of tails.
Naruto did not answer. Something new was being born. Something he'd never attempted… something he hadn't been capable of. Sweat trickled down his brow and his arms trembled with the surge of power he sent through them, coursing from his very heart. The mental stream was no longer a struggle to control – it still raged strong, but this time it was easier, softer. Something else was helping him guide it. His heart beat harder, and the power just came at will. At some point he had closed his eyes. He trusted Sasuke, and he needed all his concentration for this.
Sasuke, however, was still active. Maybe Naruto had something up his sleeve, but they were still in the middle of battle. He couldn't land another hit; instead he was forced to constantly defend himself and Naruto. All he'd managed to do was piss Nine off. Whatever remained of the eye-socket was a gurgling liquid, slowly spreading to the rest of Nine's face. A crack in the shield. If only he could get past the –
"UuaaaaAAAGH!" Sasuke went crashing to the floor, the strike of Nine's claws burning through his skin. In the blur of the moment he felt the rancid water embrace him, his spine hitting first, his blade of electricity fizzling out of existence... but not before a spark met a leaping droplet. The effect was immediate. The electricity spread.
"Naruto!" He tried to warn, struggling to get up – there was water in his eyes, he couldn't see, but he could hear Nine, very close, thrashing in pain as his skin crackled with yellow sparks. Sasuke felt the pain too, but his body was used to the manifestation and he absorbed the energy back into himself. Hurriedly he backed off and wiped his eyes to see - Naruto was unaffected, as if the gate had swallowed the electricity. And between his hands grew a spinning ball of such tremendous force, it was creating a wind, stirring the water and his clothes. The light emanating from it was a dazzling blue.
"PEST!" Nine roared, seeing the danger.
Naruto's eyes snapped open. They were as blue as his energy.
"You cause a lot of trouble, don't you," He said in a voice Sasuke had never heard. "I should kill you."
The laugh was atrocious to hear. "LIKE YOU COULD, INFANT."
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I could. But I'll do better. I'll force you back into slavery, feeding me your energy, never again able to escape."
Nine's response was to leap at the gates, tails lashing through the bars for their prey.
The gate did not let them. It glowed a strange rosy pink when struck, but otherwise created an impenetrable shield between each bar that did not let Nine land a single blow.
Naruto's grin was vicious. "The best way out… is through. RASENGAN!"
He released his energy, so strong that the accompanying wind battered against everything. The blast was headed straight for Nine, who gathered all his tails in front of himself as a shield. But behind him, Sasuke saw the opening and jumped, throwing his arm back – when he swung it forward again he was armed with his electricity blade. It and the Rasengan hit at the same time – the energy tearing through the tails like leaves and while the blade sunk into Nine's unprotected back, smoothly sinking to the hilt. Sasuke ripped it out quickly. The Rasengan ripped away Nine's torso, dissolving it until Nine was a blur of blue and black, light and dark. The corridor was echoing with the roar of noise, so deafening Nine's shrieks could barely be heard above it. Then the remnants of malicious energy exploded in a blast of black that forced Sasuke had to shield his face with his arm. Naruto stood defiant against the onslaught.
And then… Nine was gone. And so, Sasuke realized, was the gate. Sloshing through the sudden gloom, Naruto hurried to his side. "Quickly, we have to leave before Nine regenerates, and then the gate will come back."
Sasuke blinked to gather his thoughts. "He's not dead, then?"
Naruto winced. "No, I'm not actually strong enough to do that... uh, yet. Besides, if I did, my mom would go too…"
"Your what?"
"Yeah! My mom's stuck in my head too. Isn't that weird? She's the one that protected the gate from Nine."
Sasuke stared as darkly and incredulously as he could. Naruto grinned.
"I'll tell you later, okay? We need to get out of my head. It's crowded in here."
Sasuke made a 'tch' sound. "It's usually so empty. Take my hand, and look into my eyes."
He activated his eye technique, preparing himself to be released of this mental world. But as their fingers skimmed and their eyes caught, something sudden gripped Sasuke, and for an instant he saw only Naruto, only him, only blue, pulling him in –
Naruto felt the cold seeping through his clothes and the gale nipping at his face, and knew he was back. He opened his eyes slowly to find Sakura's brilliant green eyes looking into his.
"Yo," he smiled.
She punched him in the gut.
"Whyyyy," he wailed as he writhed in the snow. "I'm tender! Just got my own skin back! Mind being careful, you crazy hulk?"
Her lips were purple with cold, turning almost white when she bit them. "I expect more than 'yo' next time you get possessed by a demon, jerkwad."
"Did you want an ode? O Sakura, most beastly of all she-wolves, your fists are like the – oomph!"
"Sakura, medics don't beat their patients," Kakashi's voice drifted over the howling wind.
"He's fine now," Sakura rolled her eyes.
"And Sasuke? Shouldn't you be worried about him?" Naruto slowly tried to get up, wary of more punches.
"I've been waiting for you."
Naruto turned to see Sasuke, awake and standing, giving him the usual darkest stare. He beamed at all three. "Gotta say, I'm glad to see your gloomy selves again."
Sakura bit her lip again and launched forward to give Naruto a massive hug. Naruto joyously accepted it.
"You smell pretty," he told her hair, peeking from her hood. It was crusted with ice.
"I'm going to punch you again," it said. He laughed.
Naruto and Sakura detangled and he managed to stand up. The air was sharp enough to cut his nostrils and fuck it was cold. He'd lost a lot of equipment and he was a little woozy. But inside his mind was clear, Nine still weak and quiet. He felt… almost good. Or lucky. Yes, lucky to be alive and breathing.
"Good to have you back," Kakashi clapped Naruto on the back. "Sasuke filled us in."
"Alright," Naruto nodded. "So yeah, Nine's still here, but I should be able to defend myself better against him now. I've got stronger shields. And I don't plan on dying again anytime soon."
Kakashi's visible eye crinkled with a smile. "Good plan."
"Are we going to talk here all day?" Sasuke said gruffly. "We're still at war, in case you forgot."
"What happened while I was gone?"
"Let's move out," Kakashi indicated to the vehicle. "We'll tell you on the way."
They piled in, got going, and told Naruto everything. Akatsuki's retreat, the emptying ofOlympus, and the losses. They had not been ready for the ambush of Guards to practically annihilate their fighting forces. After the sweep, and finding that Akatsuki had indeed locked themselves inside their holdout, the remaining cells returned to base. Kakashi had already informed Tsunade and the higher ranks of Naruto's wellbeing. He radioed in again to report his awakening. As Kakashi put the radio back, Naruto leaned forward.
"So the next step?"
"We inform Tsunade of the story with Nine. I know you don't want to make a big deal of it, Naruto," Kakashi said sternly as Naruto sighed loudly – "but it's relevant toOlympus, and therefore the whole operation."
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto grumbled. "Another boring interrogation. So what do we do withOlympus?"
Sakura drummed her gloved fingers against the door. "You said we shouldn't destroy it. So we'd have to let it be, and annihilate Akatsuki instead."
"LeavingOlympusopen to the next psychotic group who wants to take over the world," Sasuke grunted.
"If you have a better idea, we'd love to hear it," Naruto raised his eyebrows at him.
"The higher-ups probably have something planned. Stop acting like everything rests on your shoulders. Really, you two bicker at the slightest opportunity." Sakura rolled her eyes. "Get married already."
Sasuke and Naruto both shot her deadly looks.
The rest of the ride was silent. Just a pane of glass away, the storm raged as usual - though now there was a reason to it, and it no longer scared Naruto. He felt so much surer of himself and his actions. The blizzard barely bothered him; the mental tug was dim, almost nonexistent, like a lurking headache you could ignore.
Immediately upon their arrival in Konoha Naruto was whisked away to Tsunade's office. Waiting for him was Iruka, Jiraiya, Tenten, Itachi, Shikamaru, and anyone else he'd ever care to see. Iruka and Jiraiya both gave him bruising hugs that brought tears unbidden to Naruto's eyes – he had to blink them away quick because Shikamaru was smirking at him. Jiraiya even ruffled his hair like a child, but Naruto could only grin at him and swat him away. He felt guilty for the emotional strain he'd put these people – these friends – through. He knew what it was like to suffer a friend's death – Naruto swallowed hard and cast those thoughts aside.
Once the pleasantries were through, they took their seats and Naruto related what he could. Nine had escaped, but now the demon was locked away again the barrier should hold even stronger than before, thanks to his mother's help. The necklace was now just that – an empty gem, its protection used up. Naruto still wore it, however.
"So now what?" He asked.
"Destroy Akatsuki," Itachi said. His traitor's robes were gone, replaced with a standard Konoha outfit. "Their base is protected by both technology and energy. The doors have no outside override outlet – when in lockdown, they can only be forced from the inside."
Shikamaru sighed loudly. "This is where I come in, right?"
Tsunade nodded. "More on that later. First the energy barriers – we'd need our strongest Special Forces units to negate it. Doing so would probably alert the caster, however. Then we have a small window of time for the doors to be mechanically opened."
"What if we blast our way around it?" Naruto interrupted. "It's still ice."
"Depends on what we'd find on the other side, and besides, I don't thinkOlympuswould be that weak." Iruka frowned, looking at Itachi.
"Correct. Remember, Naruto, that the walls inside the base are backed with steel."
"Oh yeah," he said glumly. Whoops.
Tsunade leaned forward and interlaced her fingers, propping up her chin with them. "So how much time do you think we have to open the doors?" She asked Itachi.
"A few seconds. Toby can teleport instantly. Even if he is not the barrier's caster, he could immediately find out about it. All of Akatsuki would be in communicating distance."
"We also need to consider their counter attack. I'm certain they have something else planned." Jiraiya wondered, leaning back in his chair. "Itachi?"
"There are a few countermeasures I know of, but Toby is hard to predict."
"Of course. We'd have another team to prepare for that…"
The discussion continued to fly over Naruto's head. He yawned and turned to Tsunade. "Permission to go? I got possessed today, and I didn't know this would turn into a brainstorming party."
She dismissively flapped a hand at him. "Go. It's nine anyway – have you been up two days?"
"Yup." Time flies when you're fighting demons and saving the world. "G'night."
Naruto left them to it and tried to remember where his room was. His fatigue hit him all at once. Now his bed was all he could think about…
He found his room, and a Sasuke waiting for him outside of it. Curious. At the sight of him, Sasuke straightened from the wall and set his dagger eyes to 'penetrate'. Naruto stopped short.
"What," he sighed.
"Do you regret it?" Sasuke said bluntly.
"Regret what?"
Sasuke tilted his head.
"Is this Twenty Questions? I'm tired, Sasuke."
"What – what we did. Do you regret it?"
It was hard to name. "The, uh. After. When we… …Wow, way to bring up sour memories, Sasuke."
Sasuke's expression turned nasty. Naruto backed off fast. "I meant about Gaara's death."
There was a moment of silence. Naruto hadn't forgotten. He just didn't like thinking about it.
"There'll be a funeral." Sasuke said quietly.
Naruto looked up from the floor. "Yeah? Good. That's good."
"So answer the question."
The blond threw his hands in the air. "What are you getting at? The kiss? I don't fucking know, Sasuke, I had just witnessed my friend dying. I was in a lot of pain. You were trying to comfort me. It doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to."
Sasuke crossed his arms and looked the other way. Naruto was losing his patience.
"So you're going to interrogate me now? Conversation takes two, buddy. What about you, huh? Why are you bothering me about that right now?"
Sasuke answered him by grabbing Naruto's forearms and dragging him forward to meet Sasuke's mouth.
Naruto was so surprised he instinctively gripped Sasuke's shoulders hard, but didn't resist otherwise. Sasuke's teeth bit into his lower lip and Naruto breathed in deep through his nose, gathering the heat and the smell of the other. The kiss just tasted like… skin. Skin and warmth. He forced Sasuke against the door and released his shoulders from a death grip, instead wrapping his arms around his neck and bringing him closer. Sasuke's hands slid to his back. Their mouths, too, became gentler. Naruto pushed his lips against Sasuke's and stopped thinking.
To Be Continued