Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Faerie Tale ❯ Chapter 4

Title: Fairy Tale Part 4

Author: Theablackthorn

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Sasuke/Naruto

Warnings: BL

Note: Part of my 100 themes Challenge no:61.

The group stepped out through the doorway into a cemetery, the bright sunlight that had lit the mound of Naruto's den was nowhere in sight instead a thick, cloying darkness swallowed them in, time always passed differently between realm's and it seemed day turned to night in this instance. Nobody could affect that natural magic between; the magic that existed there had existed from time out of mind and had its own sentience in reward.

The distance they had covered was considerable; they had journeyed from the den to the Unseelie Court's Hollow Hill, a good 100 miles over mortal lands. The moon was just rising over the horizon, adding a ghostly glow to the headstones and mausoleums that surrounded the barren hill they now stood upon long fronds of grass brushing across bare and armoured legs.

Sasuke heard the Karin and Suigetsu slip out from between, the doorway sealing shut behind them making the air tug and twist for a moment before the sensation was gone, and the pair had apparently had the sense to lower their bickering voices to a fierce whisper the sound still carrying across the open ground. It was late, the sound of the mortal world did not reach here and it felt hollow - the quiet that fall's in the presence of death itself.

Sasuke turned and gave the pair a dark look and they fell silent, Juugo had more sense than these two combined apparently, the larger man remain his usual stoic self. Sasuke's hand rested on his sword hilt, the leather warm under his un-gloved hands, leather creaking softly as he turned and quietly made his way around the hill.

He scanned the ground with a sharp obsidian gaze, a magic len's before his gaze to aid in the hunt for the entrance to Underhill, to the Unseelie courts and him.

Though Sasuke had been here a hundred times over the entrance had a tendency of moving around, that renowned sentience of old magic making it more a game than a true challenge. If you knew what you were looking for, knew the words, signs and the feel of the magic here then you would know where to find the entrance to the fey realm it was a fairly good way of keeping unwanted guests out - though it did not always work. Sasuke almost grimaced at that thought, a flicker of pale feminine features much like his own entering his vision before he pushed it aside once more.

A mere mortal couldn't know of it and did not have the magic to use it. There were mortal's with magic but fae magic was specific and entirely natural - whole different from the often bastardised version mortals tried to manipulate.

It had always puzzled Sasuke why when you travelled between you couldn't enter into one of the fairy mounds directly - you must open the door on the mortal plane. He had always assumed that it was to do with the magic used in the barriers surrounding the various mounds, but his brother hadn't had a chance to explain it to him and he had no one else he could ask at present.

All the old ones, who might answer his question, cowered in fear of the current Winter King - but not for long.

Sasuke's eyes ran over the ground seeking the entrance and on his second sweep he found it. He didn't make a sound, his lieutenants coming to him as he signalled to them one by one with small almost imperceptible gestures of his hands. He could not chance the risk of being watched out here. He did not feel the prickle of awareness at the nape of his neck that signalled unwanted eyes watching but that did not mean they were not there. Even he knew there were creatures beyond his own strength - he was only a one hundred years old.

The ring of mushrooms, amanita phalloids or death caps, grew in a small ring they were a clear sign of the entrance, though hidden well by the long grass. The poisonous mushrooms were lethal to mortals, which seemed to encourage them to keep their distance though they were a delicacy amongst certain fae.

The small mushroom's were also a clear reflection of the inhabitant's of the hollow hill, Seelie court's often had fair less...lethal... mushroom's at their door. Though you should not mistake them for being whiter than white - they were fae after all.

Sasuke lifted one hand and pressed a finger to his lip's nipping the tip before shifting through a series of hand seals, words spilling from his lips in the ancient elvish tongue before he pressed his fingers into the earth at the centre of the circle.

There was no sound but the wind blowing through the grass in a soft shush of sound and then a deep boom filled the night and made the stones shake and the earth shift like a wave before it settled again. Were there was once a flat expanse of grass and mushroom's there was now a large square of earth that had to all appearances disappeared inwards, a rattle of pebbles and loose soil tapped against the solid wooden steps just inside the lip of the entrance.

Sasuke motioned his head at the others and rose slowly; his bloodied finger already sealed shut as he stepped into the Winter Kings domain closely followed by his lieutenants. Determination and anger bubbled hot and tight in his belly as he thought of all the things that could have happened to the blond ball of sunshine that had saved his life in the last two months. Would he find him bloody and broken? His dark gaze stared down the hall as he strode forward, feet whispering across the wooden planks of the stares which changed into the muted brush of soft leather on stone as they reached the long hall down into the earth.

It was time to take back what was his, to take revenge for all the things that the Winter King had stolen from him and his. Time to get even.

Sasuke approached the audience chamber quietly, he knew that their arrival had been noticed; nothing entered Underhill without the King knowing. He was flanked by his lieutenant's, Suigetsu bringing up the rear, Karin between Him and Juugo. Suigetsu and Karin had been unusually silent as they'd walked from earthen floors and hanging roots into increasingly extravagant hallways but he trusted that they understood the magnitude of this situation.

Sasuke's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, finger's occasionally squeezing the leather bound handle and causing it to creak under his firm grip a reassuring gesture. Sasuke's senses were attuned to everything around him; he could literally feel Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo behind him. But he could also feel the malice and darkness that coloured everything, could feel it thickening up ahead were he knew the hall opened up into a high ceilinged chamber fit for a King.

Sasuke grimaced at the thought, trepidation and anger seething and roiling in his gut in equal measure. He wasn't sure what he would find in that chamber, it had seen some of his darkest moments, but he needed to get to his Dobe, needed to put this right. Naruto should never have caught the King's attention, the only reason he had was because he was always at Sasuke's side whenever they weren't in court, he was Sasuke biggest weakness - for all Naruto had shoved his way into his life and made a home for himself there.

The Dobe had never been to Underhill before; he was a member of the Solitary fey and had been warned away by many of his friends. At one time many of the solitary fae had visited all the court's, but since the loss of its former King none dared enter these wall's for fear they'd never leave. Solitary fae kept a peace with the court closest to their home's, every seven years a tithe was payed and it gave them safety. But the new King didn't acknowledge or follow the old laws as he should. The tithe was still performed and Sasuke had often wondered why he hadn't seen Naruto there but could safely assume that the fox had managed to do something about it.

He squeezed the hilt of his sword again feeling the pulse of magic inside the sheathed blade tickling at his palm. He pushed all thoughts of the sunny blond haired fox changeling from his mind as he stepped out from the dim hallway they had been walking along focus was imperative from here on out.

“Welcome Uchiha S-sssasuke,” came from the shadows that Sasuke knew housed the great throne of thorns, and that sibilant hiss he loathed.

Sasuke's gaze landed on the half shadowed form of Orochimaru the current Winter King, the lank black hair hanging straight around his face, pale skin was almost sickly in its pallor and Sasuke felt revulsion fold around him like a dark cloak that covered the simmering hate.

He could feel beady eyes looking between him and the King, could hear the faint rustling and shifting of restless bodies but otherwise the room was silent, tension singing in the air.

Sasuke glared hatefully at the throne were the King sat, taking in fairly simple silver adornments a crown wrought in a wreath shape, leaves and thorn's curling amongst it like briar's tangled in ebony hair. But there was something inherently insidious about Orochimaru and there was a single tell as to why he had always felt that from the man, the detail was in eyes. The snake patterning gave away his heritage to those who knew what to look for. His brother had taught him well before he was gone.

“Orochimaru.” Sasuke voice was cold, empty of emotion even when he saw Naruto; the blond haired man crouched beside by the throne, stripped down, almost naked but for a thick iron collar at his throat and cuff's at wrist and ankle that he could see from here were singeing the tanned skin red raw.

He could see the faint curve of whip mark's curling around from his back to his chest too and he bit down on the inside of his mouth, tasting blood as he tried to reign in the urge to attack, take vengeance for every pain that had been dealt to the cowed blond. There was only a small scrap of cloth to cover his manhood and the sight of Naruto so debased had his eyes flashing with fury, his gut roiling and his magic itching against his skin to be set free.

Sasuke's fist tightened on the hilt of his sword and his chest ached, muscles twitching under boiled leather, eager to shift and twist into movement at the sight of his Dobe kneeling at another man's feet, bound and clearly in pain from the pinched look and the lines carved at the corners of his lips.

“Now S-ssasuke, is that anyway to speak to your King.”

Sasuke eyes lifted, red blooming in the dark depth's as he glared daggers at the snake that sat on his Father's throne. Sasuke's voice did not change in pitch or volume and yet it echoed across the room, all eyes shifting to stare at him, “You are no King.”

That got Orochimaru's attention.

Pale mouth twisted in a sneer and Sasuke could see thin almost needle like fangs between the thinly parted lips. He knew that those teeth were no idle threat. Orochimaru was only part elf, the other half was the subject to rumour and speculation. Most believed and could see that the man had snake genes, likely from the unwilling joining of elf and the offspring of one of the great beasts that used to roam the land and could take semi-human form.

But no one knew for certain. Sasuke didn't care, all he needed that information for was so he didn't underestimate his opponent - he'd lay bet's the other man was venomous.

Sasuke's voice echoed through the silent chamber as he spoke, eyes never leaving that golden gaze even though he wanted to glance at Naruto again, “You have taken something of mine, Orochimaru.”

He watched those thin lips lift in the mockery of a smile.

“Yours Sasuke? I was not aware that you had laid a claim upon this little fox.” Sasuke saw Naruto flinch from the corner of his eye but ignored it, his attention needing to be focused on his opponent because he had no doubt Orochimaru would attack.

Orochimaru's golden gaze made a round of the room, and Sasuke could see from the periphery of his vision that the fey surrounding the open audience chamber floor coward away from his sight, shifting to try and hide behind each other. Orochimaru held this court through fear alone and though that was not unusual in the Unseelie court, the courtier's still had a voice.

They did not any longer.

Sasuke saw how the snake's eyes opened a fraction wider when they landed on his subordinate. “Kabuto?”

Sasuke deigned to turn and look at the silver haired man, a master of medicine and deadly with a scalpel. He was one of Orochimaru's most steadfast supporters and Sasuke eyed him with disdain. That so called elf was poisonous, evil and malicious in his dealings with anyone.

Kabuto's eyes locked with his own but immediately shifted away to his King's. Kabuto's voice was soft but still audible by all within the confines of the room, “No, Your Highness. He has not publically declared his intent, not followed the traditions of his people as any good Prince should.” Those eyes turned back to him again, a knowing gleam in the depth's that he loathed almost as fiercely as the snake that sat on his Father's throne.

Sasuke's frown deepened, the dark tomoe swirling faster as his magic begged to escape and burn Kabuto were he stood. Instead his gaze shifted, ignoring the so-called King and locking onto Naruto. He didn't move any closer, but it was the blond haired man that he spoke to, letting his magic reach out and stroke across tender skin.

“Naruto.” Sasuke's voice was a tender caress of sound as he spoke the single word that could change their world forever.

He could see Naruto's head jerk in his direction, his eyes cracking open just a bit to reveal bright blue surrounded by a faint ring of red. That crimson ring was new to Sasuke but he didn't waver, didn't need to think as he spoke with authority and volume so that all could hear his words and the power that was laced with magic inside them. He could see Orochimaru attempting to speak but ploughed on over his voice, “You have a riddle to give me, Dobe.”

That riddle would be a clear declaration of Naruto's feeling's or lack thereof. It was tradition amongst the noble fae to publically request a riddle from the person they wished to court formally. If the riddle that was given was impossible it was clear there were no feelings on their side, if it was simple - as Sasuke hoped it would be - then it would be a clear sign to all stood within the room that Naruto wanted Sasuke's affection's. Therefore denying anyone from attempting the same.

It was old fashioned but tradition was still tradition and he wanted to show Naruto that his intention's where open and clear for everyone to see. Naruto's eyes were completely trained on him now, searching his gaze for something he wasn't certain of and Sasuke stared back - open - trusting. When Naruto's eyes slid shut for a moment Sasuke felt his heart leap and his blood roar, fear and anticipation fighting for dominance inside him. Was he wrong? Would Naruto refuse?

Sasuke was so fixed on Naruto he ignored everything else, unwavering, he waited with anticipation as Naruto's lips eased, the line of tightness around them lessening though Sasuke could still see the pain in his tensed form.

“S' `bout time, Teme.” Sasuke could hear the strain in Naruto's voice, raspy and pained as though parched of all moisture.

Sasuke didn't smile with his lips, but his eyes softened at Naruto's words. He felt relief ease through him like a cold draught of water on a hot day. In his own Narutoesque way the Dobe had confirmed his affection - anything else could be left for later.

“The riddle Dobe.” Sasuke pushed. He watched Naruto's lips twitch in something approximating a smile though it came out more like a grimace.

“Impatient bas-tard.”

Sasuke nodded once, his hand still firmly on the hilt of his sword. He knew if he answered Naruto's riddle correctly then Orochimaru would attack instantaneously. The snake had eased back in his chair, one dark brow arched as he tried to feign nonchalance at Sasuke's disregard. He could feel the eyes of the court on him, could feel the tension of bated breath.

“What is it that you can keep after giving it to someone else?”

Sasuke stood, a smile almost twitching to life on his lip's as the answer was already there, “My Word.”

Chaos. The tension in the room released instantaneously and he spun his gaze to watch as Orochimaru launched himself from his throne, intent clear in his slitted golden gaze.

Sasuke reacted on instincts honed from years of practice, drawing fast and smooth as he repositioned his body for the best possible defence and balance. He could feel Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo forming up into a diamond behind him and then his blade was clashing together with Orochimaru's and his mind narrowed down to this single fight, this person who had been the source of so much pain.

Orochimaru would die today.

It felt like hours as they blocked, parried and struck with almost premeditated movements. Sasuke's chest ached fiercely as he swung the heavy weight of his normally light blade, the jar of each contact shaking the still healing muscles painfully.

He couldn't keep up the constant clashing of blade on blade, normally it wouldn't have been a problem, but as he was still healing from the iron poisoning he needed to alter his strategy. His magic roared up through his body in a wash of sharp tingles, electrifying his body and syncing with his heart beat. His eyes focused and without even needing to speak, his hand raised and fire flew from his fingertips in a ball of super heated flame.

The surprise attack didn't even singe Orochimaru, Sasuke watched him dodge and weave with the grace of his heritage before unleashing a host of serpents that he pulled from the very earth itself.

Sasuke hacked and slashed at the creatures until he stood in a sea of blood coated scales and flesh. His shoulder shot blades of intense pain through his chest, but he restrained the wince, not willing to show any weakness.

His gaze caught and held reptilian gold and he sneered, “You are weak. You took my Father's throne through betrayal and poison. You think to rule them for the length and breadth of my Father's reign?” Sasuke's free hand arched around, gesturing at the masses as they seethed and screamed, crushing each other in a flurry of motion as they tried to escape.

“You are a misbegotten Halfling. You are no true member of the high court. You are nothing!” Sasuke launched himself at the snake, but at the last moment he vanished. Sasuke landed on the empty fold's of cloth that had once encased the false King. Sasuke looked around, searching for Orochimaru yelling taunts and jibes that he knew would poke at the fey's ego.

“Snake, half formed, deceitful, useless, weak....”

Sasuke heard the subtle shift of something and he spun on his heel to come face to face with a towering black mamba. The snake was twice as wide as he was, its length coiled tightly in numerous loops taking up two thirds of the floor and yet it had been silent.

Sasuke glared at Orochimaru, gaze filled with burning hate as he spoke with cold fury, “You do not deserve the throne my family have sat upon for generations and you will never touch Naruto again. You hear me Orochimaru. Your false reign is finished!”

He heard the deep vibrating just as a raspy hiss fell from widely parted jaws, fangs openly dripping with venom. “You think you can take me S-sssasuke? You, who hid behind his brother when his parent's were murdered, who couldn't even stop his brother from being banished for a mistake you made?”

“You are weak - no more than a child.”

And with that he struck.