Libera Me From Hell
AngolMoaChan
Pirates seem to be all the rage these days, ne? :3
It was a clear night in misty Spiral Harbor, stars twinkling over the small city and reflecting on the murky black water below. Ships bobbed rhythmically with the water, some big and some small, keeping time with the lapping waves that broke against a stone wall surrounding the city. A man with blonde spiky hair stood on the bow of one of these ships, a white cloak behind him blowing in the wind. He sighed and ran a hand through his windswept hair, a smile dancing on his face, "Home sweet home."
A woman standing behind him wearing a simple pair of ripped pants and a tanktop with a bandanna in her red hair nodded, a grin on her face. "And it's so much sweeter when you've been gone from it for so long. Am I right…Minato?"
Minato turned back to her, his smile now a full blown grin, "Of course, darling, but shouldn't you be calling me Captain, Kushina?"
Kushina rolled her hazel eyes, crossing her arms. "Ha. In your dreams, Captain."
He shrugged as he carefully stepped onto the dock, then held out his hand to her, asking playfully, "Can you make those dreams reality?"
Kushina blushed prettily and took his hand, climbing out of the large galleon. "No way."
"Weeelll…come on." Minato stretched luxuriously, a hand brushing the saber at his waist, "We should be reporting to the elders."
"Yeah." The redhead nodded, following him out into the streets of the city.
"So that's Reikatsukan City?" A voice echoed out into the night. Several miles from the harbor was another ship, this one small with black sails. A teen was standing on the bow, a pair of binoculars in his hands, "It's big…and filthy. You ever been there, Sasuke?"
He hopped down from his post onto the main deck and grinned at another teen, this one with spiked raven hair and deep onyx eyes, who was polishing a sword. "Once. I care not to repeat the experience."
"You're gonna have to. We're after the biggest bounty in the country of Konoha." A fox-like grin spread over his face as he flopped backwards with a cheerful noise, "And once we get it, nobody can mess with us. Not even the Akatsuki."
Sasuke opened one eye to look at his partner, then shook his head. "Knowing your luck, we're going to somehow fail this spectacularly, Naruto."
"Oh shut up, you bastard!"
"You shut up, you loser."
"Boys, boys! Cut the crap!" came a feminine voice from behind them. The duo turned around to see a pretty teen with cherry-blossom pink hair, her small hands poised on her hips. "I can hear you all the way in the galley. Stop arguing."
"Hn. Stupid woman." Came Sasuke's grumbled reply as he turned back to his sword.
"Sorry Sakura-chan…" Naruto mumbled, looking defeated.
Sakura sighed, dropping her hands from her hips and bringing them back up, crossing her arms. "It's not your fault you have horrible luck, Naruto."
"Hey!"
"Bad luck follows you like a black cat." The pink haired woman chuckled, leaning over the edge of the boat and tracing the thick black letters that spelled out "BLACK CAT" on the port side, "And you know it."
Naruto pouted. "Bah. Whatever. Why can't we just go attack the place now? I'm sure a few cannons could blow it to the heavens."
"Because, Naruto, you idiot, there are three of us and an entire army of them. Our target is a bit smaller, and you know it." Sakura chided, waving a finger, "We're going for—"
"Aoryu City, I know, I know!" he grumbled, folding his arms, "We're after the princess-chick, aren't we?"
"Princess Hinata, and yes."
"Why again?"
Sasuke was the one to speak up next, sounding irritated. "Because we can hold her for ransom, and we need money."
Naruto stuck out his tongue, "Why is she worth anything? It's just another princess."
"Well…" Sakura smiled eagerly, leaning back on the rails, "Legend says that Aoryu City is cursed. On the first dawn of the new year, it's supposed to sink into the sea."
"Sink into the sea?" the blonde pirate asked, squinting and crossing his arms, "That makes no sense."
"Shut up and listen to the story!" the pink haired girl hissed, clenching her fist. Naruto abruptly shut his mouth and put his hand over it. "Good boy. Now then…"
"Once upon a time there was a beautiful woman by the name of Shiroko who lived on the island that Aoryu City now occupies. She was the only inhabitant besides the animals, and knew nothing of human life outside of her own little island. One day, a man by the name of Narue arrived on her shores. He had been thrown overboard in a mutinous act by his own crew, and had floated on a piece of driftwood to the tiny island. Shiroko nursed him back to health, and in return, he told her of the human world, taught her to speak the human language, and before long, the two fell deeply in love."
"However, trouble was soon to befall the couple, as the crew that had committed treason against their captain arrived on the island to boast. They brought fire, and sabers, and guns, and before long the island was aflame. The former first mate of the aforementioned ship, a man by the name of Lazarus, was quick to find Narue and Shiroko, who were hiding out underground in a vast maze.
'It pains me to see you so happy, Narue-sama' said Lazarus with a sneer, holding him up by the shirt and pinning him to the wall of the maze, 'Why don't I kill you? My problems would be solved.'
Within moments, Lazarus gutted his former captain, letting him slide to the floor in a puddle of his own blood. He turned to Shiroko, who fell to her knees, a strange light emanating from her. "You will pay!" she screamed, the light blazing through the corridors of the maze, "I curse you! You will never see a woman on this island ever again! May your happiness be small and your fortune be smaller!"
Lazarus considered it as a joke and promptly killed her as well, letting her fall beside her lover Narue…"
"But to this day, a girl has never been born upon the island." Sakura finished ominiously, closing her eyes.
Naruto stared at her, shocked. "Wow."
"That's why the princess is such a big deal. She just washed up on the shore one day, stunning the people. They made her a princess and treat her like royalty. And that-" Sakura lifted a finger, grinning, "Is why we're gonna steal her away and make a clean ransom off of her. Understand now?"
The blonde nodded, entranced by the story. "Yeah…"
"Well!" Sakura smiled cheerfully, clapping her hands together, "We've got a long road ahead of us. Why don't I make some ramen so we can eat something?"
Naruto gasped, eyes sparkling, "Seriously?! ALRIGHT! RAMEN!"
Sasuke shook his head. This trip wasn't going to go well.
"So, that's the plan. Take the princess, take her supposed magic."
A man with orange spiked hair looked out upon a ragtag group of pirates, candlelight glinting off of the piercings in his nose. "Does everyone understand?"
A chorus of "Yes sir!" echoed throughout a large ship. A black haired boy with spiky hair raised his hand, "Um, Leader-sama?"
"What, Tobi?" 'Leader-sama' asked, looking down at the brunet boy irritated.
"Well, um, do you really think we can do it?"
"Of course we can, dumbass, un!" came a voice from beside Tobi. A blonde man whapped him in the back of the head, then grinned brightly, "We're the Akatsuki! The best pirates on the Sorairo Sea!"
"We'll be fine, Tobi-kun" came a soft feminine voice near the head of the table. A blue-haired woman nodded her head towards the boy, "Don't you worry. Just focus on keeping your sempai safe."
"Of course Konan-sama!" Tobi replied enthusiastically, snapping a salute, "I promise to take care of Deidara-sempai!"
"Psh, yeah right, un!" I don't need you to protect me!" the blonde man from before snapped, folding his arms, "Besides, if I ever do need it, Sasori-no-danna will protect me!"
"Tch!" scoffed a redhead sitting across the table from him, "Save yourself."
"Anyway" growled the man at the head of the table, gathering the attention of all of his subordinates. He looked at each member's face in turn, starting at man with long black hair and a man who looked suspiciously shark like, moving down the row until he reached an angry looking shirtless man and a tan man with black hair, "Don't screw this up. Do you understand me?"
"Yes sir…" came the crew's less-than-enthusiastic reply.
Konan tapped the orange-haired man on the shoulder, "Are you sure this is going to work, Pein?"
"No." he grumbled, sighing, "But I can cover their idiotic asses if necessary."
"I can only hope…" Konan murmured, looking to the side.
Pein rubbed his temples. At this point, hope was the only thing keeping him from booting all eight of his charges overboard.
"Hinata-sama?"
A pretty woman with long black hair and pale eyes that looked almost white, wearing an elegant dress, jumped and turned around from her position at the balcony of her room. "Ah! Neji-san, you scared me!"
"I am sorry, Hinata-sama" a boy with long black hair bowed politely, then stood fully, "but your dinner has been prepared."
A small smile crossed the woman's face; she poked her fingertips together nervously and asked, "Can you…um…"
"Save it for later?" Neji finished her sentence easily, a wry smile on his face, "Sure."
"Thank you so much Neji-san!" Hinata smiled, relieved. Neji nodded, bowing once more, then left the small balcony, closing the glass doors behind him.
Hinata turned back out towards the railing of the balcony, staring out at the crystal blue sea below. A smile danced across her porcelain cheeks as she watched the waves crash against a ring of pure white rocks, desaturated by the sun. "I wish I could go out there."
She breathed a sigh, looking downwards. 'It's so…boring here.' Hinata thought, frowning slightly. But it's not like someone is just gonna come kidnap me and take me out there…
The waves continued to crash as the woman sighed once more and entered her room in the tall white castle, shutting the glass doors behind her.
--
Man, I'm so irritated, this thing just refused to save on my flashdrive. DX So this one is shorter than my first draft cause I got annoyed and didn't want to type it all again XD. Anyway, this is my next chapter project, and no, I'm not going to stop working on YuruShin, so you can just stop hyperventilating now. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Libera Me from Hell; please make sure you keep up and read the next one!
Love, AMC