Title: Hell and High Water
Author: Reyn
Rating: M16
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the Naruto-verse is Kishimoto's. Everything else is mine.
Warnings: AU because this is a pirate story, and yaoi elements that may or may not focus on Naruto and Sasuke.
Author's Note: I…am a not-so-closeted pirate fan. So it was only natural that a pirate theme would eventually make its way into something I wrote…in an epic fashion. I just hope I can push my talent hard enough to make this as awesome to all you readers as it is in my head.

Chapter 1

The smell of cooked meat and steamed vegetables permeated the summer air as dinnertime approached, causing many of those who worked at the harbor of Konoha to hurriedly finish their shifts and make their way to the source of the aroma - The Peg Leg. As the door continuously swung open and the clamor increased, one would assume Konoha's liveliness was all by the riverside. But despite being labeled as a port town on any map, Konoha was far enough upriver to avoid troublesome world affairs such as piracy or foreigners in general and managed to exist as a relatively peaceful place.

The land was plenty fertile, leaving the locals with little desire to trade when it came to supporting their livelihoods. That's what the villages further downstream were for. Crimes such as local theft and murder were also practically nonexistent in the area thanks to the Uchiha family's ability to see into history. While this led to an almost lazy pace of life, surprises rarely happened due to the Hyuuga family's occasional luck in seeing the future.

This would explain why Sasuke Uchiha felt a little floored when Hinata Hyuuga, a woman he honestly preferred not to discuss with others seeing as how he had no excuse to call her anything less than a friend, whispered across the table in the crowded pub that her cousin, Neji Hyuuga, was not only alive, but somewhere in Konoha as well.

Neji had supposedly drowned at the age of fifteen when trying to prevent the same fate from happening to a kitten. Even as a boy, Sasuke found the idea of dying over such a thing ludicrous. However, no body had ever been found, so while the concept of him being alive was possible, the time difference of seven years made it highly improbable as well.

Setting down the mug that had been hovering between his mouth and the wooden table, Sasuke folded his hands before him and leaned forward. "You want to run that by me again?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"He's here and he wants to see me," Hinata answered confidently, despite blushing and looking away from Sasuke's intense stare.

"He…wants?" Sasuke was both skeptical and perplexed. As far as he knew, the Byakugan of the Hyuuga family was objective, giving them a way to merely view events of a future that was definite. Just like the Uchihas, they could only observe; sensing intentions was surely out of the equation.

Sasuke looked down at the folded note that Hinata silently pushed towards him and picked it up. Upon opening and beginning to read it, he discovered the note to actually be a letter from Neji.

Oh. Well that explained a lot.

Seeing that Hinata's sudden confidence came from a mere letter and not her Byakugan made much more sense and caused Sasuke to relax a bit. The reason for this being that neither of them had yet to gain their respective Sight despite being on the brink of twenty years of age – the root behind their budding friendship throughout the years regardless of their families' barely cloaked hostility towards one another.

While Uchihas were typically known to get their Sharingan at some point during puberty, Sasuke had found himself on the tail end of his teens with his eyes still just as dark as the day he was born. Being the only Uchiha of his age group, there were whispers of explanation amongst the elders that life was simply too peaceful for Sasuke to gain what was his inherent birthright, leaving most of his relatives to brush him off as one of the few inept family members who were doomed to never gain their Sharingan at all.

Hinata, on the other hand, had been born with her Byakugan as a proper Hyuuga was expected. However, her visions of the future were borderline nonexistent, leaving much of her family to believe she was either too lazy or too weak to become of much use to anyone.

Despite coming from the rival family, Sasuke did not approve of such views aimed towards someone he felt a connection with. As a result, he became somewhat close to Hinata, ignoring the disapproval from both his and her families.

Meetings like this, however, did not take place often if at all. The Peg Leg was a popular pub for visiting sailors and those who worked the docks, making it the perfect location for anyone who wanted to get away from the town's watchful eyes, if only for a few hours.

After taking the time to read the note, Sasuke set it down and returned his arms to their previous folded position and allowed his family's investigative training to take over.

"You do realize this could be a fake, right?" he asked, making no attempts to sound sympathetic or soothing to his companion.

Hinata shrunk back a bit but shook her head, her long, straight black hair swishing a bit at the action. "It's not," she insisted.

"How do you know?" Sasuke challenged.

Frowning, Hinata reached out and took the letter back, gazing at it in a way that made it perfectly clear to Sasuke that the admiration she held for her older, long lost cousin had not faded with time.

"It was slipped into my bag while I was at the market today. No one from my family knows about this."

"That doesn't make it real, that makes it a trap," Sasuke stated, taking a sip from his drink.

Hinata clutched the letter to her breast. "It talks of things only Neji and I know about. The location to meet is where we used to take walks and play together. It is written in Neji's handwriting. It doesn't get any more real than this. He's alive, Sasuke!"

Sasuke stared hard at the parchment, willing the Sharingan he didn't have to show him the past of the letter in hopes that he might see any truth to Hinata's words, but it was a fruitless and disappointing effort.

"If he's really alive, why all this secrecy? Why doesn't anyone else in your family know about this? Surely someone must have seen this coming," Sasuke said as he leaned forward in his seat.

Looking crestfallen, Hinata put the letter down on the table, her hands still covering it as she leaned forward as well. "You know perfectly well that he scorned my family. He could have faked his death all those years ago just to escape! And with his talent, he could have made it possible to not be seen by the Byakugan."

Sighing at the truth in his friend's words, Sasuke looked off to the side to give himself a break from staring into Hinata's pale yet determined eyes. In the corner near the doorway sat two unfamiliar men, one of whom was staring at him despite being huddled in conversation with his companion. Sasuke watched them for a bit, judging them to be sailors based on their worn style of dress. When the one sailor realized the look Sasuke was giving him wasn't something in passing glance, he winked and puckered his lips, blowing kisses in Sasuke's direction.

Drawing back in offense and disgust, Sasuke glared at the man, ordering his nonexistent Sharingan to retrace the man's steps to the boat he came off of, but as expected, nothing happened.

Giving up, Sasuke returned his attention to the conversation at hand and motioned his head to the letter. "So, if you can't go to your family with this, why come to me? Do you want me to ask my brother to look around the marketplace? See if he can find any traces of Neji?"

Hinata shook her head. "I'm already sure it's Neji."

"If you didn't see him specifically, then how do you know?" Sasuke demanded, scowling in frustration.

"It's…" Hinata hesitated for a moment, struggling to think of a way to put what she wanted to say into words. "It's just a feeling I have. Not like the ones sometimes linked to the Byakugan, but something in my gut. I just know without needing to question it."

Sasuke scoffed at the explanation.

"Besides, even if you asked Itachi to look for anything, there wouldn't be enough time," Hinata dismissed. "I'm meeting Neji tonight, when the moon is at its highest."

"That's when thieves are most active; Hinata, how are you not seeing a potential trap in any of this?" Sasuke asked, concern masked by anger tainting his voice.

Hinata looked down ashamedly, but refused to be dissuaded. "I'm not asking you to accompany me. I'm telling you because I really feel like you're the only person I can trust with this."

Sasuke let out an irritated sigh. "Fine. I'll accompany you."

"W-what?" Hinata stuttered in surprise. "I just said you didn't-"

Sasuke waved her off. "Even in the unlikely event that I'm wrong and you're right, you still run the risk of bumping into thieves and the like when wandering out by yourself at that hour."

Hinata stared at him for a moment before hesitantly pointing out the obvious. "I don't think your being there would be enough to actually stop me from getting robbed."

"Maybe," Sasuke reluctantly admitted with a scowl. "But it will be enough to stop you from getting raped."

Not used to hearing such a crude word being said in her presence, Hinata blushed and ducked her head. "Th-that won't happen," she stated quietly.

"And how do you know?" Sasuke had a feeling he was the only person in town with enough guts to question a Hyuuga on such an obvious statement.

"Because I trust in Neji." Was the equally obvious – yet unexpected – answer.

Sasuke scoffed, taking another sip of his drink. "You shouldn't trust a man who faked his own death," he muttered.

"Why? Because you don't believe in running away?" Hinata challenged, her averted eyes making it seem as if this was the first time she had ever stood up for herself.

Frowning at the words that were meant to be an attack, Sasuke pushed his mug back and placed several coins on the table. "No," he responded as he stood, indicating their time together was up. "Because such men always have something to hide – especially from their loved ones."

The implications of his pointed look were not lost on Hinata, who silently got up from her chair and followed Sasuke out the door.

The moon was nearly at its highest and Sasuke was practically dead on his feet as he made his way down the cobblestone road around the side of the Hyuuga complex to where he was supposed to meet Hinata. Sasuke had a feeling she would leave regardless of if he was there or not to accompany her and had stayed up the entire night to ensure he didn't oversleep as a result. Not the best of ideas for someone who woke up at the crack of dawn to train with his brother on a regular basis.

Despite Hinata's timid countenance, Sasuke was one of the very few people who was more than familiar with her stubborn streak. She would make quite the wife to whomever had the guts to contend with her father for her hand in marriage.

Sasuke had a feeling such a trait had been encouraged by Neji when they were younger. While he never knew him all that well, Sasuke had often heard the villagers talk about what a stern yet kind man Neji had been growing up to be, always doting on Hinata despite their differences.

The one memory Sasuke did clearly have of Neji was from shortly before his death. He had been out with Itachi, doing some basic training in hand-to-hand combat when he had noticed the Hyuuga standing near the tree line, simply watching them.

Noticing his younger brother's distraction, Itachi had turned around and partially shielded Sasuke from Neji's view. "Whatever it is you want, couldn't it wait until after breakfast?" he had asked in a polite tone.

"I'm simply observing," Neji had replied, his own voice equally polite.

For some reason, the answer hadn't sat well with Itachi and his shoulders had stiffened.

"Why?" Itachi had questioned, causing Neji's gaze to move to Sasuke.

"I never doubt my Byakugan, but sometimes I prefer to physically see for myself just how some events may come to be." He had spoken with the same mystical, airy way that most Hyuugas did when it came to things such as fate and the future, but his eyes, rather than holding pity for the world around him, had been alight with amusement.

While it had been perfectly clear Neji was referring to Sasuke, neither Uchiha had any idea what the Hyuuga was actually talking about, and so Itachi had asked him to leave.

Thinking back now, Sasuke had a feeling Neji had seen this wayward friendship coming.

A tap on his shoulder startled Sasuke and he looked down to find Hinata standing next to him, her normal pastel colored dresses swapped out for an oversized dark brown jacket that looked as if it belonged to her father.

Even in the darkness of night her reddened cheeks were visible at the look Sasuke was giving her. "I don't own anything suitable for sneaking out in," she explained.

"And sneaking into your parents' room to steal a jacket was the solution to that problem?" The sarcasm was heavy in Sasuke's voice.

Wrapping her arms around her torso defensively, Hinata stared down at her shoes. "It's my uncle's," she sniffed, moving around Sasuke to head to the forested area behind the Hyuuga complex.

Remaining silent until they were well into the woods, Sasuke kept his voice quiet as he frowned at a raised root that almost managed to trip him. "Remind me exactly where we're going again?" he asked, not at all happy that he was stuck bumbling through underbrush as Hinata moved through it in an almost childlike frolic.

"There's a small brook where Neji and I used to go to hide and play when we didn't want to do our lessons anymore," Hinata replied simply before laughing quietly. "Granted, I usually ended up being taught something regardless. Neji was always so far ahead that his lessons bored him, and since I was always behind, he'd find ways to teach me that were easier for me to understand."

Biting back the comment that the impromptu lessons couldn't have been all that helpful if she was still this weak, Sasuke decided to focus on a different aspect of the conversation. "Why did he leave?" he asked, humoring the notion that they weren't walking into a trap.

The question seemed to sadden Hinata, but she answered it regardless. "Because his Byakugan was so advanced, he tended to…" she struggled to find the right word, "…rebel against the family's ways. I think our elder was scared of the talent Neji had and set an example for the rest of us to simply ignore it and hope that by treating him no different he would understand and accept his place within the family."

"And that tactic obviously didn't work," Sasuke stated, pushing aside a low branch.

"I think there was a chance for it to work, otherwise someone would have seen the terrible outcome," Hinata corrected, taking a moment to look around before altering their course slightly.

Scowling, Sasuke followed. "If no one saw it coming, then…?"

"A short while before Neji disappeared, he told me there were ways to hide seeing what could be an absolute future that centered around an individual from the Byakugan. He never gave me the details and as far as my family believes, such a tactic doesn't exist." Hinata slowed in her steps as she got lost in her memories. "It's because of things like that Neji was eventually banned from being my tutor."

"Leaving him to go and fake his own death so that he wouldn't have to put up with your family anymore," Sasuke concluded, ignoring the frown Hinata gave him.

"Yes. And it succeeded because he knew we would accept the evidence as is without asking for your family to look further into the matter," Hinata responded a bit coldly.

Allowing silence to once again fall over them as his form of apology, Sasuke didn't share the fact that the several days that followed Neji's death marked the start of his daily attempts at forcing his Sharingan into existence. In the past, it had been said a traumatic event was normally needed to activate the Sharingan and Sasuke had been unable to understand why the death of someone he knew wasn't enough to trigger his Sharingan.

He had spent most of his free time down by the river's edge where witnesses had said Neji had drown, trying to see just what had transpired for someone so strong to die so easily. Eventually he had been found by his brother, who took the time to look into the past Sasuke had tried so hard to see. Itachi hadn't told him what he had found, however, thanks to Sasuke's stubborn insistence that he didn't want to know; he had just been curious.

In hindsight, it probably would have been wiser if he had let Itachi tell him so that he wouldn't be in this predicament of not knowing what was ahead of them now.

Even though Sasuke still had yet to gain his Sharingan, his situation was similar to what Hinata's once was in the sense that he had an older family member to look out for him. For him, he had Itachi. While the Uchihas were infamous for their ability to see the past through swirling red eyes, they only used it when necessary, having long since known that to constantly rely on their Sharingan would lead to blindness of the present. There were several older aunts and uncles Sasuke knew of whom had slow reaction times due to no longer being able to see things as they were occurring, doomed to be stuck in a state of living anywhere from several seconds to several minutes behind the rest of the world.

In order to fight such a fate, the family often employed more traditional methods of investigation before bothering to use their Sharingan. Clues were used to help them pinpoint a more exact time frame that they would need to look for with their Sharingan in order to focus on whatever event may have transpired.

Itachi had taken such methods one step further when training with Sasuke, teaching him how to use them not only in the way the rest of the family did, but to also unearth clues that would help him solve entire cases without the use of the Sharingan at all.

Unfortunately, Sasuke was still waiting on the chance to employ his training. His family refused to send those in need of assistance his way, often giving him simple chores to do instead such as guard the prisoners until the marines arrive, or entertain the guests until someone worthy had the time to listen to their plea.

Despite such dismal work, Sasuke knew he could never take a path similar to Neji's in order to just escape from a family that refused to properly accept your existence.

"We're almost there," Hinata whispered, her voice tinged with excitement as she clutched Sasuke's arm and pulled him to the side so that they could walk around a large clump of shrubbery together.

Sure enough, just on the other side of the bushes there was a decently-sized babbling brook that was split into a small waterfall not only by the sudden dip in terrain, but also by several large boulders that could be used for sitting and relaxing on a warm summer's day. And standing just above this child-sized waterfall on the other side of the stream was a male figure shadowed under a low overhang of branches, seemingly lost in gazing at the water.

"Neji!" Hinata cried happily, releasing her hold on Sasuke to rush towards the stream, picking up the hem of her jacket so that she could tip-toe across the rocks that acted as a natural bridge.

The figure looked up and waved, stepping forward just enough so that the branches no longer prevented the moonlight from hitting his face.

Sasuke squinted. The man vaguely looked like he could be Neji, but it was hard tell. Seven years had passed since Sasuke last saw him, leaving no definitive way for the Uchiha to feel positive he was looking at Neji aside from Hinata's exuberant enthusiasm.

A splash pulled Sasuke's attention back to Hinata as one of her feet slipped into the water in her rush to cross.

"Hinata, wait!" Sasuke called out, hurrying forward to jump from rock to rock to catch up to her. "Just because he has the same long dark hair Neji used to have and maybe the same nose doesn't mean-!"

The rest of what he had intended to say was cut off by a scream, piercingly sharp that echoed through the night air.

Sasuke's head snapped up just in time to see a second figure that had dropped down from the branches behind Neji thrust his arm forward, the long sword he was holding skewering Neji from his back straight through his stomach, the blood staining the weapon black as it shone grotesquely under the moon's glow.

For a moment, time stood still. Neither Sasuke nor Hinata seemed to be able to register the sight before them. Even the man who was supposed to be Neji looked to be in disbelief that there was a sword protruding from his stomach. But then as the sword was withdrawn and the victim raised his head, it flashed through Sasuke with startling clarity that this man was Neji. The same person whom had forseen Sasuke's friendship with Hinata with amusement was now looking down at them almost apologetically.

Eyes slipping shut, Neji collapsed into the stream, the water's depth too shallow to do more than simply bubble angrily at him for blocking the way to the small waterfall.

A second scream from Hinata brought Sasuke back to his senses, making him aware of the danger they were up against.

Standing above the soon-to-be corpse was the killer, looking triumphant as he clutched what was presumably Neji's moneybag in his hand. The thief smirked as he noticed the shocked faces of the two staring at him and raised his sword to his lips, licking off some of the blood in a simple show of sadism.

Something in Sasuke snapped at the display and he rushed forward, no longer mindful of how wet his boots and pants got as he ran towards the murderer, a fury within him telling him to get back at that man, to make him undo what he had done.

The bandit naturally turned tail and ran, laughing at Sasuke's enraged cry as the Uchiha gave pursuit.

Hinata had been so devastated the first time Neji had disappeared. Sasuke knew only because he had been the one to help her smile again. Would it be possible for her to ever recover now? What right did this lowlife have to step in on such a reunion and take it away for a few shillings?

"Stop running!" Sasuke ordered as he was forced to leap over a clump of large rocks he barely saw in time to keep up with the man ahead of him.

"So you can rip my head off? HA! Not likely!" the bandit called back, performing an unusual display of acrobatics as he jumped up and grabbed a branch to swing over a clump of overgrown thistle that any normal person would have taken the time to go around.

Sasuke cursed and urged his legs to move faster, ignoring the way branches whipped and scratched at his face and pulled at his clothes. In his reading of the articles of recent thefts and murders his family kept, he had never encountered someone who possessed such amazing agility. But then again, the books tended to describe looks rather than talents and traits.

Sasuke would have loved to keep the killer talking so that he could recognize his voice later if his valiant chase failed, but his lungs were too preoccupied with trying to suck in enough oxygen for his body to keep up. The killer was quick and it was pure adrenaline that was enabling Sasuke to keep up.

It wasn't until the bandit made an about-face in his course of direction that Sasuke realized two things. One, his insistent pursuing truly had this other man panicked, and two, the thief was actually trying to go somewhere.

Sasuke was well-versed on criminals' hideouts in the forest; completely invisible to even the eyes of his family unless they were lucky enough to chance upon seeing someone enter such a place with their Sharingan. He knew this chase would be over in a heartbeat if the thief made it to his home base. And by the time Sasuke made it back to with his family in tow, the man would probably be long gone.

He couldn't let that happen. Not when the murder had taken place right in front of him. Not when the victim was someone so dear to his friend.

When the bandit made another sharp turn, Sasuke forced his aching body to keep up, despite the surprise at the scent of the earthy forest disappearing as he suddenly found himself running past buildings instead of trees.

They were back in Konoha. Was this person was a villager? Why else would he have run into town instead of away from it? Unless this man was an idiot. After all, who in their right mind dared to commit a crime in front of an Uchiha and expected to get away with it?

Something was amiss.

The wheels in Sasuke's mind started to turn with amazing focus as he continued to keep up with the stranger. While thieves and murderers typically haunted the woods surrounding any town, they usually stuck close to the roads and well-traveled paths. Neither he nor Hinata had crossed such areas; let alone wandered near them.

Had they simply chanced upon this man's hideout and rather than keep to himself like anyone with brains would do, the bandit had given into the temptation to steal a purse as fat as Neji's?

There were several things off with that theory; such as, why not attack Neji before more people showed up to witness the murder?

Barely rounding the corner of a building, Sasuke caught sight of the tail ends of the long bandana that was wrapped around the thief's head as well as the tip of his sword's sheath as he darted down another alley before Sasuke was struck with the most obvious revelation that caused his blood to run cold.

Long swords weren't the weapons of thieves.

The murder must have been intended from the beginning and in his foolhardy rage, Sasuke had left Hinata alone and defenseless with possibly more men hiding in the foliage surrounding the brook.

He had to go back and save her! What had he been thinking; leaving her alone like that?

Skidding to a stop, Sasuke's worries for Hinata disappeared as he found himself in an alleyway filled with menacing figures, all of whom leered at his arrival. Quickly assessing the situation, he counted five men, none of whom he recognized nor looked friendly in the slightest. Taking in the sight of crates and barrels littered about in a haphazard manner, Sasuke realized this was a dead end and the odds were not in his favor.

Spinning around to run away, Sasuke smacked into a hard body. Staggering several steps back, he realized this person was the one he had been chasing. Fear flooded Sasuke as the bandit walked forward, further cornering him in this ring of crooks.

How was he going to get to Hinata now? She might have been kidnapped already, or worse!

It didn't occur to Sasuke that this elaborate trap had been a set up targeting him until the blue eyes of the killer narrowed as a wide grin spread over his features.

"Sorry, Uchiha."

Something blunt hit the back of his head and as pain flooded his senses, Sasuke knew no more.