Disclaimer:

I do not own any of the characters portrayed in this fic, any events taken from real life are based on my sources and I've tried to keep them as true to the original event as possible.

I make no profit on this.

Genre:

Drama, historical fiction.

Prompt:

Historical events

Warnings:

mild language, angst, yaoi, anal, death fic.

Authors note:

I have no idea where this came from... My original submission to the contest was 'Macaroni' in the 'Family ties' category, but I didn't like it all that much, and then all of a sudden the idea for this thing fell into my head.

It's very...melodramatic and angsty... but I love that kind of thing.

Titanic may make you think 'sappy love story', but this isn't the movie, 'kay? I did ALOT of research for this thing, to make the event fit as much as possible with what really happened. It's not a tragic love story, or, you can interpret it that way... But it is Sasuke and Naruto, destined for disaster and spiraling towards despair; finding comfort in each other.

Sources:

'A night to remember' - Walter Lord
'The discovery of Titanic' - Robert D. Ballard
'Titanic' - Robert D. Ballard
Wikipedia
Encyclopedia Titanica

1. A Chance Meeting

Wriggling into his tweed suit, Naruto cast a long glance at the other male sitting on the bedside, silently tying his tie,
sliding his feet into his shoes.
His ebony hair was falling into his face, still messy.

The blonde's lip quirked; he smiled.
Continuing to button up his shirt, he mused over how things could happen so suddenly and change the course fate
had staked out for you.

Just twenty four hours ago he'd been on his way to America under the watchful eyes of his parents, heading for new riches
and a new life in their new country. Initially his family was well off, but a crash in the stock market, followed by the bankruptcy of the family company had hit them hard, and his father had invested the last of their money in this ticket to the 'New World', where Naruto himself was to be married to a young woman from a well off family. It was all covered up nicely; no one was to know that they were bankrupt, which was why they'd gotten tickets to the most prestigious ship in the world.

It truly was impressive, Naruto thought, but he still felt captive, no matter how grand and impressive this ship was.

He didn't like the thought of someone else deciding what he was going to do with his life. One thing was to force him into the family business, but now his entire life seemed to have been laid out for him; a wife, home...kids? Naruto was only nineteen, he couldn't picture himself with all of that, not yet.
Maybe in the future, but certainly not now. And with all these people surrounding him at dinner; his family, other wealthy families and the captain of course; his mother and father playing the pipe and him in the middle; dancing after it, agreeing silently, but screaming on the inside, wishing to get far, far away.

Excusing himself, he left the table, wandering out of the dining room and out on deck.

The air was chilly.
He wanted to go back and get his jacket, but decided against it, not wanting to get caught in the conversation again.
Rounding a corner, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, staring down at his shoes, thus not watching his step.
In the next moment he was scrambling around on the floor, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Watch it idiot," the person he had crashed into said, looking down at him.
Naruto mumbled an apology, while mentally wondering why the other guy hadn't looked out himself.
Brushing himself off, he scrambled to his feet, scowling at the other.
"Watch it yourself," he snarled, stuffing his hands back into his pockets.

Now that he got a closer look at the other man he recognized him; he'd seen him prancing about on deck and then in the dining room earlier in the day. He and his family had boarded one day after Naruto's family; when the ship had stopped in Ireland. The other was easily recognized with his posh appearance; a tall, slender frame, raven hair and porcelain skin. And Naruto was fairly sure he'd seen him somewhere else too; he was traveling on first class after all, so maybe he'd seen him in a newspaper or something?

It wasn't important.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" the raven asked him, "Shouldn't you be at dinner?"
"What about you? Shouldn't you be having dinner as well?"
The other stared at him, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I saw you in the dining room, captain's table, right?"
"And?"
"It's impolite to leave the captain's table, didn't you know?"
"Whatever," Naruto turned his back on him, walking back in the direction he'd come from.
"It's also impolite to walk away from someone when they're talking to you," the raven called out after him.
"It's not like we won't see each other again," Naruto countered, looking back at him, "This ship isn't that big."

He might not know the other man, but he knew his type; stuck up rich brats who thought they owned the world, just because they were born with a silver spoon up their ass.
This guy was definitely one of those.

It was part of what he hated about the upper class: everyone were so stuck up and full of themselves. He'd thought that the bankruptcy of his father's company would end up teaching his parents that money wasn't everything; that family was much more important. He'd been hoping for them to change for the better. And instead they decided to trade him off so to speak as a final resort.

Sighing heavily, Naruto walked along the railing, staring down into the dark blue depths, contemplating whether or not he should jump in and swim back to shore. It looked cold though.
Too cold.
Like that bastard's eyes. Wrapping his arms around himself to shield his body from a sudden gust of icy wind, Naruto headed back inside, to his cabin, wanting to avoid his parents for just a little longer.

Being on a ship after all, Naruto had been expecting to run into that guy again, but not this soon, and certainly not like this.
Annoyed, he stuffed a fork-full of shrimp into his mouth, glaring at the raven on the other side of the table. Like the night before, his family was dining with the Captain, and apparently, so was this guy and his family.

"What are you dong here?!" he snapped at the raven as he approached the table.
"Naruto!" his mother hissed.
The other man rolled his eyes, sitting down. He was joined by another young man, also clad in a suit, and looking much like him. Naruto guessed it was his brother.
"Do you know each other?"
Naruto exchanged glances briefly with his father, and shook his head.
"We met last night..."
"I see," the man nodded.
The conversation came to a close as the Captain came over to the table, grinning at them.
"Sorry I'm late," he said, sitting down at the end of the table, "But you know, I've got a bit of a job to do here."
"I'd imagine so," Naruto's mother smiled coyly, "It's such a large ship, and a marvelous one at that."
"Yes, truly impressive." his father echoed.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the stiff, pretentious conversation.
The Captain however, was just nodding and smiling, turning his attention to the ravens at the other end of the table.
"Itachi, Sasuke," he smiled, "It pleases me to see you."

Naruto eyed them curiously.
Sasuke.
There was something about that name that was definitely familiar to him.

"It's an honor to sit at your table," the elder of the two said.
"Will your parents be joining us this morning?"
"They'll be here shortly," the older brother assured, "I'm sorry they're late."
"Women you know..." the other muttered under his breath.
"Sasuke!" his older brother hissed, glaring at him from the corner of his eye.
Naruto couldn't help but snicker faintly. His mother too was always late for everything.

Minutes later, the other couple joined them at the table.
Although his own parents hadn't said much to the two on the other side of the table, they lit up at the sight of the couple.
"Well I'll be damned!" the man said, "Fancy meeting the Uzumakis here!"
Naruto's parents both stood up, to greet the other couple, his mother nudging Naruto in the shoulder, urging him to do the same.
"My, my..." the dark haired woman took his hand, smiling, "Could this be little Naruto?!"
He nodded, a little confused; he couldn't remember having met this woman before.
"I take it you don't remember me?" she laughed.
"It's to be expected, isn't it?" his mother chirped, "You were barely two years old when we did business with the Uchihas."
"Uchiha," Naruto mouthed, turning his gaze to the raven from last night again.

So that was it! He remembered seeing Sasuke in a newspaper a few weeks earlier. The paper had said something about the Uchiha son getting married.
He caught himself thinking that whoever the girl was, she'd be thrilled to marry someone who seemed to possess only one expression; indifference.
Then again, the man was fairly handsome, no doubt about it. The whole family was good looking actually.

Naruto sat back down, watching the others, listening to the two family overheads and the Captain talking about business; the stock market and naturally about Sea-fare and the ship itself.
It bored him.
Sure, the 'Titanic' was impressive and grand, but why talk about it for hours on end? From what he'd read and heard, the design on the inside wasn't that different from that of the 'Olympic'.

Now and again, Itachi would interject his opinion into the conversation, but Sasuke remained quiet, eating his food, refraining from looking straight at anyone.

"Oh yeah," Naruto thought dryly to himself, "That girl is in luck..."

He sighed with relief as the Captain excused himself and went to talk with a man over by the door leading out of the dining room, causing the rest of the party to stir, his father and mr.Uchiha standing.
"We'll be heading into the smoking room for cigars and brandy then?"
Their wives smiled and nodded politely, continuing on with their chat.

Mr. Uchiha turned to his oldest son; "Itachi, come."
Itachi stood, turning to Naruto; "What about you? You're not coming?"
Naruto shook his head.
"My son still finds brandy, cigars and business to be a bore," Naruto's father said, eyeing his son, "I think it's time he grows out of that habit, but my wife keeps telling him to do what he wants, so I suppose there's no helping it." he laughed good-naturedly, and for a moment Naruto found it strange that this was the same man that was marrying him off.
"Do as you wish then," his father gave him a pat on the shoulder, and then started to walk away.

Naruto heard him asking Itachi about his plans for the future.
Shaking his head, he reached for a biscuit from the plate on the table; the best thing about this entire trip so far was the food.

Sasuke's voice snapped him back to reality.

"Don't tell me you care enough about sewing and embroidery to stay here with the ladies?"
Naruto glared up at Sasuke's smug face.
"Or maybe knitting is more your thing?"
Naruto didn't grace him with a reply.
Nevertheless, he excused himself and found himself following Sasuke up on deck.

He felt their mothers' eyes on his back as he walked away. The two women were quiet now.

There was something about the way Sasuke's entire family had looked at him, and the way Itachi was the only one joining their father, that made Naruto curious.

Most likely the Uchihas weren't your picture perfect rich people either. Just like everyone else on this ship; Naruto looked around. He estimated that more than half of the people on first class were all escaping to America because of a secret they'd rather not share with the English circuits. They were all on search for something better, or just a better excuse.
So what was Sasuke's crime?

"What?" Sasuke looked back at him.
"Nothing," Naruto shook his head.

Sasuke stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, looking out at the horizon. The ocean was all around; brilliant blue on every direction, melting together with the light blue sky.
A gull cried out somewhere over them.
It was amazing how far they'd got since last night, when you could still see the shores of England in the horizon.
He didn't miss it, but he wasn't looking forward to arriving in America either. He didn't belong, looks and money aside.

"So what's your excuse?"
"Hm?" he looked over at the blonde at his side, almost having forgotten that he was there in the first place.
"For not joining them in the lounge for brandy and cigars?" Naruto asked, imitating the voice of his father.
Sasuke shrugged, following a gull with his eyes.
"You could say that my father and I don't really get along lately," he said, smiling faintly, "Not that we ever did."
The other man looked curiously at him.
Sasuke shook his head, he'd said too much. It wasn't necessary to start blabbing to strangers about things that didn't concern them, even if it was subconscious spite that urged him to do so.
"It sucks, doesn't it?"
"Excuse me?"
"The upper class," Naruto continued, placing his hands on the back of his head, tilting it upwards, squinting towards the sun, "All the unwritten rules ad expectations. How no one acts like themselves."
"I have no idea what you mean," Sasuke looked away.
"Sure you don't," Naruto snorted, "I can read people, I know you're thinking the same as me."
"Oh?" the raven cocked an eyebrow.
"Yeah; that they're all liars. That's what you think, and that's the truth. Image is everything, and emotion is nonexistent, isn't that how things work in your family?"
"Is that how it is in yours?" the Uchiha retorted.
"Definitely," Naruto promptly assured.
Sasuke chuckled softly against his will. Whether he liked it or not, it was amusing to talk with the blonde.

They continued to walk down the promenade deck, looking down at the people on the deck below them.

"Do you think there is anyone on this ship that aren't liars?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke looked back at him, his cool gaze catching Naruto's and holding it for a brief second. His look wasn't as hostile anymore, but it wasn't friendly either.
"Maybe," he replied, taking Naruto by surprise; he hadn't been expecting a reply.
"Some of the people on the third class may be truthful..."
"Ah," Naruto grinned, "The normal people."
Sasuke smiled a little.
"Normal. It's rare to hear someone of your standard referring to them as anything but filth?"
"Aren't we of the same standard?" Naruto reminded him, gesticulating at the high class deck they were standing on.
"Hardly," Sasuke snorted, his eyes glinting slightly.
"With that attitude you could never be anything other than a snob," Naruto said teasingly, grinning at the raven.
"Then I'm sure you're right," Sasuke begun walking again, "About snobby liars."
"I should know," Naruto caught up to him, "I've been surrounded by them all my life. Raised by them even."
"You poor thing," Sasuke said flatly, "You think you're the only one?"

Naruto didn't answer, it was a rhetorical question anyway, and Sasuke was definitely in the same boat as him. Quite literally.

"I think that I'd like that better..." Naruto suddenly said.
"What?"
"Belonging to the lower class. I think they're truer to themselves than we are. More down to earth."
"From what I've heard, you're already well on your way to getting that wish granted, isn't it so?"
"Huh?" Naruto blinked, staring back into cold, dark eyes.
"Didn't your father's company hit the wall recently?"
Naruto gaped at him; "You know about that?"
"Obviously."
The blonde averted his eyes, looking at something far away.
"No one was supposed to know..." he mumbled.

Then his expression changed; breaking into a grin. He laughed.

"My parents should've known! They think they've saved our reputation and name. They are convinced that it's been covered up so well that no one would ever find out," he laughed harder, "It serves them right!"
"You laugh about it?" Sasuke asked in disbelief, "I wasn't wrong when I first saw you then."
"Oh?" Naruto glanced at him.
"You're an idiot."
"Birds of a feather flock together," Naruto retorted, winking at the Uchiha.
"You wish," Sasuke brushed him off and headed back inside, leaving Naruto standing on deck by himself.

A lapdog was barking at him from it's owner's arms as a middle aged woman, dressed in an expensive-looking dress and a huge hat passed him by.
He stared after Sasuke, muttering under his breath.
But it would be a lie to say that he wasn't intrigued. This trip had taken a turn for the more interesting, that much was certain.

"I'll see you at dinner!" he yelled after the Uchiha, earning him several shocked and disapproving glares from the people surrounding him.
Grinning sheepishly, he excused himself and continued his walk down the deck.

TBC.

Reviews are love.