A Voyage Ordained by Destiny
"Come on, your Highness! It's fun to be on the ocean!"
Gaara grumbled under his breath at his retainer, Naruto. Being stuck on a small schooner set for the royal family's private island a days' voyage from the mainland was not his, a desert kingdoms prince, idea of fun. True, he mostly spent his life in the small, lush bay that was surrounded by mountains that kept the ocean air confined and the small plains and diminutive forests alive. But he had always preferred to spend his time on the mountains, or at the steep valley that was the only passage to the harbour of Dissubu, the capitol city, watching the desert sands outside the mountain range writhe and shift, creating fleeting images that disappeared before the mind could identity them.
And yet here he was, stuck on a boat, half seasick, with the most annoying of all his servants as his main companion for the trip, because his father decided he needed some R&R from the disputes that were forming with Iwa no Kuni, a neighbour country to their own Kaze no Kuni. Gaara knew better, though. If anything, his father would try another assassination attempt on him. In Kaze no Kuni, those with red hair were thought to be natural-born leaders, and in the royal family they could supersede the current monarch. Gaara's father had resented his wife, the Queen, for the fact that she was natural-born royalty, and he was nothing but a glorified consort. For a few fleeting moments, when she was announced dead giving birth to Gaara, he thought he would have nothing in his way of ruling for the rest of his life. But that hope was dashed as soon as the midwifes' assistant ran through the double-doors screaming about the newborns' hair. Even Gaara's siblings hated him for it; Temari and Kankuro would have had an equal bid for the throne, one being the firstborn, the other the eldest son, but they too were shoved aside, for the law of Kaze no Kuni stated that once Gaara turned the age of majority in his country, 23, he was to take the throne, able leader or not.
Though for now it was entertaining to watch Naruto as he strut around the deck, thinking he could help, yet only getting in the crew's way. Despite having been a fisherboy before he met Gaara, he knew almost nothing about rigging and sails, and his abilities seemed limited to being able to cast a net.
Gaara had found the blond half-drowned on the beach years ago, while on a solitary excursion, when they were both very young boys. Naruto had been firmly lodged in the arms of his father, who had spent the last of his energy getting his only son to shore when their boat capsized during a squall. He had managed that, and having exhausted himself, died on the beach with Naruto still clinging to him, unconscious. Naruto had looked up to Gaara for not only saving him from exposure and giving him a place to stay as his playmate (since his mother had also died in childbirth), but for giving his father a noble burial; a small mausoleum in which a sarcophagi with his facial image carved into it lay, in a copse near the formation of rocks he had died at.
Gaara gripped the rigging as a particularly strong crest struck the prow. One of the sailors, a large, scarred one with a bandana covering his head of the name Ibiki, smiled at him reassuringly.
"Nothing to worry about, your Highness. A good brew's coming from the south, but we'll be on the Royal Isle before it hits."
"We'd better…" Gaara mumbled to himself again.
"I think She heard Ibiki." Naruto smiled wryly to Gaara.
"She?" Gaara lifted a nonexistent eyebrow as icy rain hit his face.
"The Sea of Matme. Seamen always call the sea and their ships She's. I don't know why…" Naruto gripped Gaara harder, trying to secure them while still attempting to help the sailors. The 'brew' as Ibiki had called it had turned into a healthy squall, the waves rising up to twenty feet in the air, and rain falling like icy daggers on the unprotected heads below. Both the boys had refused to go below deck, insisting that they would be of more use following the captains' orders.
"Naruto! Pull the rope cough to your left!" another sailor, Hayate, called across the deck.
"This one?!" Naruto tugged one of several ropes to his right. Gaara reached over before Hayate could yell again and pulled hard on the rope that he had indicated. It slackened, tightening the ropes that led to the sail.
There was a loud snap from the prow. One of the thick ropes had snapped, letting the largest sail loose. All of the small schooners' six-man crew, except for Iruka, the helmsman, dashed to secure the line. But the wind fought back, nearly taking the large-sized Asuma overboard. Without a second thought, Gaara loosed himself from Naruto's protective grip to help. However, he chose the worst time to do it. A great wave crested over the deck, sweeping Gaara off with it. His cry of dismay was drowned by the water as he was pulled under into the cold, black waters.
It took a moment for the crew to hear Naruto's cries of 'Man Overboard!' and "Gaara!" over the rain. Ibiki had to grab Naruto to keep him from going overboard after his friend. The rigging was forgotten as the crew searched the tempest-tossed waters for a hand, the white of his shirt, his red hair.
But it was in vain. Gaara had well and surely disappeared into the ocean.