Naruto's Titanic Journey
A/N: I've recently become close to obsessed with the Titanic (both the actual events and the 1997 movie). All the what-ifs that could have led to the 1500+ peoples' survival fascinate me at the same time as it saddens me. Anyway, since I can't really find any other way to keep my interest in check, I've decided to write a Naruto version of the Titanic. So, here goes…
Prologue: Tickets on the Ship of Dreams!
Naruto sighed. He looked at his hand of cards. Two jacks, a 3, a 9, and a king. It wasn't anything special, but he and his friend, Neji, had already bet everything they had. Neji had secretly used his Byakugen to spy on the other two peoples' hands, and they had pretty much nothing, but now they had gained two pair through drawing. And now, it looked like Naruto and Neji would lose everything.
But, with the determination of the fact that their opponents had placed two tickets on some 'Unsinkable Ship of Dreams' in the pot, Naruto didn't want to give up. He whispered silently to Neji.
"A nine," he said quietly enough so that only Neji could hear him.
When the two others weren't looking, Neji slowly slid Naruto a nine, and Naruto gave Neji his 3. Then, Naruto placed the king on the table face down, and drew another card. He breathed easy. He had drawn another nine. That gave him a full house.
"I fold," Neji said angrily, putting his cards face up on the table.
He had a 3, a 7, a queen, and two aces.
"Good acting," Naruto whispered, grinning.
Neji smirked, but didn't reply. He secretly used his Byakugen again. Indeed, the other people between them had a two pair, and a three of a kind, both of which were beaten by a full house. They had indeed won the tickets for the Titanic.
"Three of a kind!" one man exclaimed.
"Two pair. Looks like you lose, suckers!" the other one said, throwing down his cards and reaching for the pile in the middle of the table.
"Not so fast! I have a full house baby! Onto the Ship of Dreams we go!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing down his cards and leaping up, his chair flying backwards.
Even cool, calm Neji couldn't contain his excitement. He too leapt in the air, high fiving Naruto and helping him with the pile. One of the men who had just lost stood up, threw his chair into a wall, and stormed out. The other glared at Naruto, looking about to hit him, but just left in a false calm manner.
Naruto grinned, grabbing his ticket, placing it in his pocket, and scooping all the money into his frog wallet.
"So what exactly is this ship?" he asked his friend Neji, who had also grabbed his ticket and was sliding the money into a bag.
"It's the newest, most advanced ship in the entire nation. It's called the Titanic because it's rumored to be literally unsinkable. It also has remarkable beauty, earning the nickname the 'Ship of Dreams'. Its maiden voyage is today, going across the ocean to the Water Country."
"That's awesome! And we just won tickets on it! Shoot, we'll be living like royalty!" Naruto replied, flashing another wide grin, finally locking his frog wallet after they had cleared all the money that was on the table.
"Well, you'd better be hurrying up, because the Titanic's leaving in about five minutes!" the bartender said.
With that, the two friends nodded, and bolted out the door, heading toward the docked Titanic, which was clearly visible from miles away, the four columns of steam rising high into the sky.
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Ino was walking toward the massive ship, arm in arm with Uchiha Sasuke, the man that she had once believed to be the man of her dreams. Ever since she had first seen his pale face and raven black hair, she thought she had been in love. Then, they started talking, and he had finally asked her out. After a year and a half of dating, he had proposed, offering her a ring with a massive diamond in the middle. She had jumped up and down, exclaiming yes and hugging him continuously.
But recently, she had been getting bored and more and more distant from her fiancée. She didn't know why, but she found that she was not in love with him like she had thought. Her mother was practically forcing her into the marriage due to their plummeting economic status after their father had died. Nobody knew that they were actually poor now, and her mother wanted her to marry into money so that no one would ever find out.
And Sasuke definitely had money. Part of the famed Uchiha clan, which ran the whole police force of Konoha, his family was the richest in the village, and he, of course, was spoiled with money ever since birth. His parents never refused to give him money, and, now with his whole clan wiped out by his brother, he was now the sole owner of all of it.
They gazed at the massive ship in front of them as they reached the dock. It really was the ship of dreams. It was huge, the biggest either of them had ever seen, and was painted navy, red, and white. The name 'Titanic' was in letters on the side, and there were four giant columns of steam coming from equally giant steam pipes.
Even Ino, who had been on many big ships in her life, was practically breathless as she gazed at the ship. It was as beautiful as it was big.
"Amazing, isn't it. The unsinkable Titanic," Sasuke whispered into her ear, a grin on his face.
"Is it really unsinkable?" she asked.
"Oh, yes it is. God himself could not sink this ship."
Ino put on a fake smile. Even though she loved the ship, she knew the cruise to the Water Country was still going to be miserable, her and Sasuke going to all these fancy restaurants, talking with all these important people, bragging about why they were rich. Recently, she felt more and more longing for a middle class life, just like she was wishing she hadn't said yes to Sasuke. But it was too late now, especially with her mother pushing her into the marriage like she was.
And, with those thoughts in her head, she kept her fake smile on, and her and Sasuke boarded the ship.
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The ship was about to pull away from the dock as Naruto and Neji arrived at the dock. They bolted toward one of the entrances to the ship, flashing their tickets and jumping inside. Once they finally got inside, the both leaned up against a wall, panting heavily.
"Phew, made it just in time," Naruto said, as he felt the ship lurch before pulling away from the dock.
A/N: I know that so far it sounds like it's going to be a complete carbon copy of the Titanic movie, but don't worry. Though it will have its similarities, it will also have its differences. Hope you liked the prologue.