Herculean
By annee loves sasusaku
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Summary: It's a voyage on the most gigantic luxury ship of all time: Herculean. And Sakura is getting on the ship, going across the world to be married to her fiancée Neji Hyuuga, who doesn't give a shit about anything else besides money and his family name. So what happens when Sakura runs into a certain black-haired young man that cares more about her than her fiancée? Based on Titanic. /SasuSaku + NaruHina/
Chapter 1
Journey to America
-xxx-
An old lady of about ninety years of age sat on her back porch, knitting a small scarf. She had pink tresses for hair, mixed in with marks of deep grays. She sat there, rocking back and forth on her rocking chair. On the counter of the kitchen, there was a mini television.
"On the news today, scientists studying the ocean floors of the Atlantic found the remains of the greatest ship of all time: the Herculean, the gargantuan luxury ship that had sunk more than sixty years ago in the Atlantic Ocean when it was hit by a looming iceburg. Scientists and researchers have found this small, waterproof camera with a developed picture by its side."
Overhearing the news, the old, pink-haired woman turned her green eyes curiously towards the television before telling her granddaughter (who was feeding her baby boy), "Dear, turn that up, please."
The black-haired, green-eyed granddaughter looked at her grandmother in surprise before turning up the mini television's volume. "What's going on, Granny?" she asked.
She hushed her. "Look," she whispered, pointing to the television. The TV gave the image of a developed picture of a bare lady, wearing nothing but a jewel on her neck. She was a beautiful thing, and the picture was still very much in tact, giving details to the beautiful figure of the large eyed beauty that stared from the picture.
The granddaughter's green eyes widened. "Wow," she breathed. "Who is that?"
The old woman turned to her descendent. "Hand me the phone, dear."
She handed her the phone, watching her grandmother punch in numbers that were shown on the little TV screen.
After three rings, the other side picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, I'm calling to tell you about the picture that you found in the Herculean."
"Yes? Do you know who it is in the picture?"
The old rosette smiled an old smile. "Oh, yes. The woman in the picture is, in fact, me."
-xxx-
The man on the other line hung up the phone after making arrangements for a meeting with the old lady. He breathed out an exhausted sigh. "She says her name's Sakura…" the young man told his fellow staff member.
The other member laughed. "Then she's a lying bitch. It's impossible! She can't be the Sakura Haruno. That Sakura Haruno died on the day of the sinking of the Herculean. It's impossible! In fact, if the actual Haruno lady was still living today, she'd have to be exactly ninety-five years old by now," he pronounced smugly, readjusting his glasses and brushing his brown hair out of his eyes. "Besides, the Sakura Haruno we're talking about changed her last name to Uchiha when she came over here."
The former man chuckled, his blond hair waving in the wind. "She's turning ninety-six next month."
The latter man scoffed at him before readjusting his glasses and looking away towards his workplace… the blue ocean. He murmured, "Fine. Bring her in then."
-xxx-
"Welcome, ma'am!" greeted the blond man eagerly. He couldn't wait. Could he really be meeting a primary source of the Herculean? His hopes soared to the sky as he helped the old, pink-haired lady onto her wheel chair to wheel her out on to the mechanical ship.
The young black-haired, green-eyed girl shooed his hand away, reaching her (apparently) grandmother first. "I'll take care of her. But thanks anyway." She wheeled her onto the deck.
The blond man, although slightly irritated, shrugged off the unwelcoming gesture that the young lady had shown him and ushered the both of them into the technology lab where all the cameras had inputed their images of the sunken mechanical monster that lay nearly three thousand feet below.
Sitting down and making himself comfortable, the blond reached for the old lady's hand to shake it, politely saying, "My name's Alex. Nice to meet you, ma'am."
The old lady smiled at him before returning her introduction. "Yes, it's very pleasant to meet you. My name is Sakura Uchiha."
Alex nodded knowingly. "Yeah, you told me that over the phone." He shifted in his seat before questioning her. "So you were a survivor of the Herculean, if I'm not mistaken?"
The old ninety-five year old Sakura nodded. "Yes," she spoke sadly. "Yes."
"And I understand that you, in the picture that's been developed, are wearing the—"
"Flower of the Sea," they both chorused, one sadly and one knowledgably.
"Well then," the blond haired man began before turning Sakura's wheelchair around to face the images that the cameras three thousand feet below the surface of the ocean were giving to the computer. "Could you tell me if you recognize these pictures?"
Sakura Uchiha pushed stray pink tresses out of her face before staring at the all-too-familiar images in front of her. She looked at one image. 'That's the ballroom door…' The image of a renewed brown-glazed door appeared in her mind before she saw her twenty-year-old self walking through the doors and nodding to a waiting butler on the other side who had graciously opened the door for her. She walked into the room, chandeliers still shining as bright as ever, the stairways giant and swirling higher and higher to the high deck. And at the bottom of the steps stood...
The old lady choked back wracking sobs that came to her.
Her daughter stood up. "I'm taking her to bed—"
"No, Keiko." The ancient rosette childishly shook her head.
"But—"
"No!"
Her granddaughter sat down.
Alex began again. "Could you tell me what exactly happened? What happened to the jewel that you're wearing in the picture?" He reached for a recorder.
"Oh, that horrid thing," the ninety-five-year-old woman spat out with disgust. "It was always so heavy. I hated it dreadfully."
"So, do you have any idea what happened to it? Could you retell your story to us?"
She hesitated. "Well…I—"
"It's okay. You can take your time," the blond assured her.
Sakura stared at the young man. "Do you want me to tell you this story or not, Mr. Alex?"
Alex and his brown-haired comrade both nodded silently, Alex quite amused and his brown-haired comrade slightly annoyed.
And so, settling herself in a comfortable chair away from her wheelchair, the rosette began her story.
-xxx-
Crowds of Konoha civilians stood near the ocean front, waving at the people on the gargantuan cruise ship before them, hats in hand and good-byes at their mouth. On the gigantic luxury ship were big, dark letters in block form that spelled out the word:
Herculean
And the name suited it. The cruise ship itself was gigantic beyond words. So far, it was the biggest luxury ship known to mankind. And it was heading to the most-dreamed about country of all time: the United States of America. The people on the cruise ship were on their way to Dream Land, to a land where everyone could seek out their economic pursuits and start over without anyone caring about their name, their heritage…it was a chance to become a better person, a wealthier person with oppression.
But that freedom didn't include Sakura Haruno, our pink-haired heroine that was now stepping out of her carriage, looking up at the titanic giant that now ruled the ocean front. 'This is one impressive ship…' Sakura thought.
"It doesn't look too big," the rosette uninterestedly stated out loud to her mother and her fiancée that escorted her out of her carriage.
"Sakura, watch your mouth," her mother berated gently before turning to a pearly-eyed young man that presently held Sakura's hand. "I'm terribly sorry, Neji. You know how Sakura can be sometime."
The raven-haired man merely laughed and shook it off. "Do not worry, dearest mother. It's just a part of her that I need to get used to if I wish to court her, correct?" Neji turned to his pink-haired fiancée. "What did you think of the ship again, dearest?"
Sakura scoffed before adjusting her large sun hat. "I think it's no different from the Rosemary. The Herculean seems just as big as the Rosemary. There isn't exactly anything to fuss about." She fanned herself, ignoring her mother's glares.
"Come, dearest. We should go send our belongings on deck before our ship departs," Neji spoke cheerfully before calling up a busboy. The pearly-eyed man handed the boy a bill with an impressive number on it. "Get our bags up to the ship as quickly as possible and you can keep the change."
The luggager murmured excessively, "Yes, sir! Yes, sir!" before leaving with the luggage as quickly as possible, heading away towards the ship.
After Neji had dealt with him, he looked towards his sweet fiancée. "Ready, dearest?"
Sakura smiled sweetly at him before hissing through clenched teeth, "Yes"—Don't say it, don't say it!—"honey."
Giving his pink-haired future wife a genuine grin, Neji looped her arm through his (also grabbing her mother's arm also) and dragged both of his future relatives towards the ship.
And all the while, Sakura was screaming on the inside of her head, begging to be taken back to where she belonged and never see the crazy, money-obsessed man ever again. But sadly, all she could do was stare at her gloating ring that held a large diamond and be dragged away to her unwanted future.
-xxx-
A raven-haired young man sat there in a coffee shop, cards in hand and three other people beside him. In the middle of the table were two yellow tickets that spelled out crudely the words:
Ticket to Herculean
Running a hand through his spikey locks of black-blue hair, the young man sighed before taking the cigarette out of his mouth and snubbing it out on the table. He looked suspiciously to the two men that sat in front of him.
They glared back at him, holding their cards closer to their faces.
The young man smirked. 'Of course.' He turned to his blond haired friend who was shooting daggers at the people across the table, also holding his cards close at hand, whispering, "Hey, dobe."
The blond-haired man turned to him and grinned. "Yeah, Sasuke-teme?"
Smirk. "We're going to win those tickets."
The blond's grin grew wider. "Hands down."
The duo nodded at each other before returning their attention to the two men in front of them who were still smoking their long-ass cigars.
One man blew a puff of smoke in Sasuke's face.
Sasuke resisted the urge to sock him and watch the blood flow out of his nose. That would've been very satisfying right now. But right now, all Sasuke cared about was winning those luxury ship tickets, for both him and the dobe. It was a once in a life-time chance just to go to America. And he wanted to take it.
"Alright," the raven-haired man monotoned. "Cards down." He nodded to the older man across from him. "You first."
He laid his cards down. "Three to a hand."
Smirk. Then he turned to the blond next to him. "Sorry, Naruto."
"SASUKE-TEME, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, 'SORRY'? I'M SUPPOSED TO BE GOING TO AMERICA, YOU BASTARD!" The blond yelled outrageously loud.
The onyx-eyed man winced at the high decibels that came flowing out of the blue-eyed man's mouth, before regaining his cool composure and saying, "I'm apologizing because you'll have to say good-bye to Tsunade and Kakashi…"
He slammed his cards to the table.
"Because we're going to America."
Sasuke smirked as he saw the two men gape at his hand. No fucking way. On the table laid an impossible five cards to a hand. A full house. The two men burst out in argument.
"Goddammit, ya bastard! You stupid idiot, bettin' the damn tickets!"
"Me? Whaddaya talkin' about, you stupid asshole? I oughta—"
Sasuke grabbed the tickets as the fray broke out, dragging the excited blond with him.
Naruto whooped with giddy. "YES! BELIEVE IT! I'M GOIN' TO AMERICA! WHOO-HOO!"
Smirk. "Shut up, dobe," Sasuke replied as he let go of the blond man's shirt and pointed to his old wristwatch. "The ship's going in five minutes. You wanna let this slip past us when we just got the tickets?"
Naruto shook his head violently.
"Then let's go." And with that, the two of them burst out running at extraordinary speeds.
Sasuke, secretly excited (stoic as he was), let a small smile tug at his lips. 'Finally… I'm finally going to America…'
The two of them, black and blond, dashed through the crowd, passing through the inspection, handing the people their tickets and then dashing down to their rooms.
As they settled their little belongings in their little apartment like rooms, Naruto grinned at his best friend. "We're goin' to live the life now, ne, Sasuke-teme?"
Smirk. "Of course, dobe."
Naruto grabbed the top bunk before the black-haired man could get it himself, only to be roughly pushed out of the way and land with a sound 'thunk' on the floor. Sasuke stared down at him, a smirk on his face.
"Who says you get top bunk, dobe?"
"DAMMIT, SASUKE-BASTARD, YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN SUCH A GODDAM PAIN-IN-THE-ASS! WHY THE HELL WON'T YOU LET ME HAVE THE TOP BUNK?"
The stoic young man sighed before kicking him in the chest. "Shut up and sleep on the bottom. Just be thankful you don't have to sleep out in the cold, you idiot."
Muttering something about how bastards always seemed to be so selfish and uncaring, Naruto reluctantly acquiesced and climbed to the bottom bunk. After everything seemed to be settled down, Naruto looked over to his emotionless best friend. "Ne, Sasuke-teme?"
Sasuke grunted.
"Do you think we'll find some people on this ship?"
The raven-haired man turned to look at him from where he was standing, folding his clothes and putting his coat up on a hanger. "What do you mean?"
Naruto flashed him a gigantic grin. "Like if we find anyone special on this journey to America. Ever think of that, bastard?" He gave the stoic young man a playful punch to the arm.
Sasuke scoffed at his best friend's nonsense. "Like that would ever happen," he mumbled before giving his best friend a smirk. "Of course, anyone who actually gives you the time of day has pretty bad taste…"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU BASTARD!"
The raven-haired man gave a half-laugh at his best friend's childish antics before gazing out the window at the open sea front with a dazed look on his face. "That's not going to happen… that sounds too much like a stupid fairytale." Sasuke had always hated clichés. They never made sense to him. Well, they did, but then they were always repeated in a story in different forms. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, then they live happily ever after…something among those lines. Anyways , that was besides the point. The point was that the Sasuke Uchiha did not like fairytales, clichés, or love stories of those kind. He hated them. Hated them, hated them, hated them.
Naruto's annoyed snort at his words broke Sasuke's little rant inside his head. "Heh. Watch it, teme. Someday, sometime, somewhen, you are going to actually meet someone who you actually like. And with your little attitude, I'm pretty sure it won't last long."
"What the fuck are you talking about, idiot?" Sasuke snapped.
The blond shrugged. "I'm just sayin'. You'll meet someone you actually—dare I say it—love." The blue-eyed young man's expression turned soft. "And then…"
His sentence trailed off.
But Sasuke understood it. His best friend didn't even have to say it. And he understood.
'And then they'll leave…'
A twinge of discomfort hit the onyx-eyed boy as he sat there, thinking over his friend's words. "But what are the chances of me 'falling in love'"—he spat those words out with contempt—"if there's no such way that I'll ever make that happen?" He murmured these words as softly as possible, almost to himself.
But the blond had heard. "It'll happen, Sasuke. Just wait. I'll be right, and you'll be wrong…" Naruto said this all very sadly. He knew all of this was going to happen. He was always right about his best friend because he'd known him for so long. But Sasuke, being the unemotional block of ice that always seemed to block human contact (besides him, but Naruto was his best friend, for Chrissake!), Sasuke always ruined every single relationship that had ever occurred to him. 'And he doesn't even care…'
That was when Naruto became determined to help his best friend. Help him…well, help him first make new friends, and then hopefully… hopefully he could help his friend actually have a love life. 'Alright then!' Naruto thought determinedly. 'I'll help the dobe get a girl!'
"BELIEVE IT!" Naruto shouted excitedly…before bumping his head against the metal frame of the top bunk. He rubbed at it. "Dammit…who the hell in their right mind would fucking put a damn metal frame right above a person sleeping right under them? People these days…"
The blond stole a glance at his friend.
Sasuke, unaware of his outburst, was still staring out of the small window, out into the sea. But, knowing him well enough, Naruto knew that Sasuke wasn't looking at anything in particular. He was thinking about what he had said. And what he was going to do about it.
Thinking about his friend's future, the blue-eyed, blond-haired boy once again smiled sadly before laying down on his small bed and closing his eyes to rest.
Once the blond was snoring soundly, Sasuke stood up and walked out of the room. 'I'll just go up to the top deck and walk around for a while. Get some fresh air. That'll clear me up…'
Once up at the top of the luxurious passenger ship, Sasuke stood at the front of the ship, watching the ship, now in gear and already far away from Konoha, cut through the salty sea waters and the dolphins racing around the ship. Onward, the raven-haired man looked, out to the horizon, hoping that soon he would touch his feet to the legendary America land. And start over. It was the most he could hope for. And something that he could think about to get his best friend's words out of his head.
'He's not right…he's not going to be right…' And with that, the Uchiha began his little walk around the deck, carrying around his little waterproof camera with his treasured pictures. "I need to take some pictures…" He muttered to himself. This was going to be a journey worthwhile. And he was going to make himself enjoy it. Without the involvement of girls…hopefully.
-xxx-
Author's Note: Whew! Wow. This idea just came to me when I was reading this one SasuSaku fic that was based off of Twilight. That's when I thought of Titanic. I based it off of the Titanic because I really thought the love story was touching. And I really want to know how I'm going to write a character death. And I know, I know. I should be focusing on writing iSakura. But this idea hit me! It's not my fault! *hids behind my chair* Anyways, REVIEW people! It helps me write! And, I just got over my five year writer's block. I don't want to get on it again. So, unless you want me to discontinue my stories, please review and help the poor girl who is currently typing away on her laptop to entertain you. (laughs). It's a suggestion. Don't take my threat seriously. But, seriously this time, it would really help if you reviewed! Oh, and Sasuke's going to be not like Jack Dawson in the movie. I'm going to make him different. Heh-heh…
REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! :D