Disarm

Epilogue

Months passed.

The sand gushed into the crevices of his feet, filling between his toes and brushing his ankles. It was ruthlessly hot, almost stinging his skin. He lifted a leg and shook it off. Pointless, sure, but it gave him something to do.

He pulled out the board from the sand and heaved it over. "You know… I was kidding when I said I wanted to surf," he grunted, staring ahead.

Sasuke also looked out at the restless waves, dancing back and forth in surges. "Well, tough." The ocean wind tugged at his hair and kissed his face, cooling the sweat on his forehead.

"Can't be that hard… you just throw this on the water and ride it like a skateboard, right?" Naruto grunted, mostly to himself. Sasuke shrugged anyway. Bastard didn't give a damn, he didn't even have a surf board.

"You're the one who's never even been to the beach before!"

"Stop stalling."

"Fine," Naruto growled. He turned to yell at Sakura, "HEY! WATCH THIS!"

She flashed him a thumbs-up from her seat in the shade. He turned back and pounded his feet against the sand as he ran straight at the water, lugging his board beside him, then throwing it in. He followed shortly.

But his feet slipped, swept under him, and he slammed stomach-first into the board, which capsized and plunged him in.

After a bit of flailing he got up and coughed out water.

On the beach Sasuke was laughing hysterically.

Naruto glared, rubbing his tender stomach. Sakura had taken off her sunglasses and was looking at Sasuke in surprise, but she was smiling.

"Asshole," Naruto pouted when he was at Sasuke's side again.

"Amateur," Sasuke wheezed, grabbing his knees as the hilarity overcame him. His whole body shook with it. Naruto could see the scar on his back, where Toby's blade had cut him clean through. The raised skin glistened in the sun.

Naruto kicked sand at him.

Sasuke staggered back and hacked, wiping his eyes. When he looked up he was no longer laughing. Naruto blessed him with a brilliant smile, dropped the board, and ran for his life.

Sasuke was close behind, and in five seconds Naruto was down, ducking punches. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm as it came down and planted his feet right on Sasuke's chest, pushing up and flipping the boy over his head. But as Naruto tried to run for it Sasuke got his ankle and Naruto slammed into the sand as well. He was going to retaliate, when Sakura caught his flying fist in one hand and Sasuke's in another. She looked down at them disapprovingly, peering above her sunglasses. "Really, haven't you had enough fighting? This was supposed to be relaxing." She threw away their punches.

Naruto sat up. "Yeah, I guess I have." Sakura sat beside him.

Sasuke brushed the sand out of his hair and sat on Naruto's other side. "I'll get you back for that later."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure you will, bastard."

"Loser."

His fingers ghosted over Sasuke's arm and tangled themselves in Sasuke's own. Sakura pretended not to see. The boy squeezed back and turned to look over the ocean.

Naruto did too, letting the sun's rays melt on his face. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. The gold dripped through his pores and seeped into his veins.

He was warm.

They let the silence pass comfortably. Finally Sakura looked toward her boys. "I can't believe how beautiful this place is." The beach had emptied as the sun set, the inhabitants being local natives for whom the place was a boring constant.

Naruto dug his toes into the sand. "Sure is. It'll make it hard to go back."

Sasuke squeezed his fingers again. Sakura chewed on her lip. "So you'll go back?"

After a long sigh, Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I think… I can't really do anything else now. Even though everything has changed." He pressed a hand to his chest. His pendant dangled there, useless and cold, but still a cherished friend. Inside him, the place that Kyuubi had occupied was empty. He traced the scars on his face. If it weren't for them, he'd almost swear this had all been a dream. "I'll have to learn how to fight without Kyuu- er, Nine now."

"There's no longer anything to fight for." Sasuke said, with a slight hesitation. But Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Really? You really think that?"

Sasuke looked at him a long moment.

"No. I guess I don't."