The storm brewed in the eastern sky, winds whirling in a gale. The ship crashed upon the shore, slamming into the rocks. Passengers flailing about madly in the cabins of the Cio, a ship that had only left the port two months ago. The prisoners in the hold of the ship scrambled, some drowning as the water flooded into their cells. One prisoner was able to struggle to the surface, crawling through a hole above the rafters, and hoisted himself onto the deck. Suddenly a twenty foot wave crashed into the side of the boat. He stumbled backward, pulling a barrel down with him into the briny deep.
After the ship had sank, its main mast disappearing under the waves, the foul hurricane cleared. Almost all of the passengers had fallen onto rocks, death coming almost instantaneously, the others had probably drowned. A lonely figure of a woman, half-drowned and battered, dragged herself onto the sandy beach near the base of the treacherous cliffs. Her hair was a strawberry blonde, now soaked with seawater. She wore what was once a stunning red gown, now a tattered mess. The Cio was supposed to dock there, no one had ever explored it though, so the passengers were told to remain on the ship. They saw how well that ended.
She stared up at the sky with her emerald green eyes, questioning the blue sky. How quickly it had returned to its innocent looking self. She kicked at some of the pieces of wood that had drifted in from the wreckage. She had no idea where to start. What should she do? Slowly starve to death and wait for rescue? See if any other passengers survived? (She doubted that) She sighed and bent down over a barrel that had washed up. She grabbed a piece of metal that was resting nearby, from one of the unfortunate barrels that had been smashed and had its contents washed away. She pried of the top of the barrel, finding inside some soggy but edible salted fish. Then she realized something. Would anyone even know she was here? Or that the boat had sunk?
"Lord Uzumaki!" A wealthily dressed man walked down the ornate hall as one of his advisors called to him. "Lord Uzumaki, Lady Haruno has not returned from her voyage yet, and the ship has not—""I am aware of this fact." Naruto Uzumaki said not breaking his stride to talk. He already was aware that she had not returned. The ship was scheduled to dock a week before. It had never arrived, and was starting rumors around the city. Of course he thought these were just dribble from the many gossiping old woman that lived in their great city. He thought that they might have made a miscalculation in navigation or something similar. Or maybe, the gossip was right?
Sakura stared at a group of barrels and a trunk that lay semi-submerged in sand nearby. "Well," she thought to herself. "The owner will not need it now." She kneeled in front of one barrel and started to pry at the top… when a hand with mouth on it slammed on the barrel! She jumped back surprised, her dress tearing on the edge of the barrel. The hand didn't really have a mouth on it, it was just tattooed across the palm on both hands. Behind the barrel was a half-drowned man, a few years older than she was, wearing soaking tattered rags. Sakura gasped and stared at the long gash in his side, which was staining his -barely passing as- clothing. She immediately remembered her training as a nurse from when she helped in the war a few years back. She grabbed the torn parts of her dress and used them to dress the man's wounds. He smiled and then fell asleep. It was then when she gazed upon the mark on his wrist. An A. Branded on his wrist. Marking him as an arsonist. And a criminal. He was one of the prisoners the ship was escorting to jail. And then Death Row.