Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Inspired by the story of the U.S.S Indianapolis and in honor of those who lost their lives. Such fascinating history.
This came to me in a dream after watching a documentary before bed actually. It was a really cool dream...
(This timeline is COMPLETELY fictional. Please do not try to tell me my references are off or other such nonsense... Heheh, there are no references people.)
Summary: He couldn't love anything with her, so he came up with a plan. He'd simply have to bring her back. It just took a while to get it right...
Some time in the early 1800's.
. . .
"It was always cold this close to the sea at night. But it never bothered her much. The wind was blowing from a northerly direction, so the chill in the air was to be expected. It made her feel awake, even this late into the evening.
The sky was a deep violet and the sun had already settled into its nook for the night. A bright blossom of orange, yellow, and red painted the western sky. The sight of it was almost hypnotic in the sense of being a foreign beauty; so different from the rest of the early evening, as it was. It reminded her strikingly of herself, except she was more of a plain beauty in a world of vibrant color.
"May I take your bag, Milady?" One of the bobby pins holding her hair up dug into her scalp when she turned her head suddenly to greet the young man that had addressed her. She dismissed him with a slight wave of her hand and adjusted the almost masculine hat sitting atop on her head.
"No. Thank you, sir. Although, if you would, please escort my sister and I aboard. We are to meet with the captain within the hour and we simply cannot be late."
"I understand, Miss. Please follow me." The attendant turned on the heel of his shiny boot and strode onto the boarding dock. The two young women collected their bags and followed along closely behind the tall brunette. The sleeves of his overcoat were a tad too tight on his muscled arms. "Is this your first time sailing abroad?"
"Pardon?" The brunette turned to the younger of the two female travel companions and appeared stricken momentarily before his brows lowered and his shoulders squared off a bit more firmly.
"I apologize if I offended you by inquiring. It's not my place."
"Sister, it's quite alright. I've heard that it is an American custom, 'southern hospitality,' if I am correct. It's an easily excusable stumble."
"I see, thank you for clarifying Mirasol. Please, continue sir." The guide dipped at the waist and tucked the hat that had been keeping his unruly hair back against his right hip. He replaced the cap on his head with a toothy grin and spun on his heel on the polished deck.
"Once again, I apologize." He continued walking again. "It was not a warranted question to ask."
"Nonsense Mr. Inuzuka. You shouldn't let this upset you. In your own culture, you were simply being polite. You are no more at fault here than we would be for wearing traditional garb to a ceremony of importance."
"I understand. Sincerely, I am grateful. You are very knowledgeable Miss." He smiled crookedly at her in a boyish fashion. "Please, enjoy your stay on board. We humbly welcome you." He stepped aside, bowed deeply at the waist, and then took his leave. His shoes squeaked quietly with every step on the polished wooden deck, and the ravishing young woman watched him until he'd disappeared around the corner they'd come from.
Little did she know, but someone was doing just the same to her as she shut the door to the captain's quarters behind her."
"Hanabi, will you cut it out already. And put that pamphlet down! We didn't buy it." Hinata snatched the neatly folded souvenir from her sister and replaced it on the rack she'd taken it from. She apologized to the humored clerk behind the stand before tugging her younger sister by the wrist closer to the boat that had yet to begin loading passengers. They were forced to stop at the edge of the mulling crowd.
"Would you chill Hina. It's not like I was stealing it." Hanabi stuck her tongue out childishly at her older sibling. "Anyways, I was having fun. The story was really neat."
Hinata adjusted the backpack that was hanging on her shoulders to a more comfortable position and fixed her sister with a disbelieving look. "What was that dumb thing even about?"
"Supposedly a local legend. According to the pamphlet that you didn't let me buy," Hinata rolled her eyes, "Hundreds of years ago, one of the first major ocean-liners was launched from this port. It tells a story of how a young noblewoman named Mirasol falls in love with a mysterious stranger aboard the ship, but soon after, it was attacked by a battleship and sunk, never to be recovered. I didn't get to read the ending, thank you very much."
Hinata ruffled the hair of her sibling, much to the teen's distress. While Hanabi fixed her hair using the reflection in a window as they passed by it on the side of the street, Hinata fished their tickets out of her pocket and scanned the information printed on them for the twelfth time since she'd woken up earlier that morning.
It had taken years to be able to go and see her favorite cousin, Neji, again, but she'd finally saved enough money on her own to purchase a ticket for the ship he ran. Granted he'd given her a few big discounts- why were cruises so expensive!
She glanced at the nearly seventeen year old ranting next to her and frowned. Father had jumped at the chance to send Hanabi along with her. He'd even bought her ticket, no hesitation. The frown darkened to a scowl. 'Damn favoritism.'
The two young women turned out of the small market district. The magnificent port came into view. Crystal blue waves lapped gently against the wooden docks, making the fishing boats sway where they were tied up. The ocean met with the horizon at some point, but even with Hinata's abnormally sharp vision, she couldn't quite find the distinction between the water and the sea. It was beautiful.
"Hina, someone's got a sign for us." Hinata glanced up from the tickets in her hand, her expression lightening, and in the direction her sister was pointing. Indeed, there was a handsome- very much so if you asked Hinata- young man with wind-ruffled brown hair, islander tan skin, and eyes the color of melted milk chocolate holding up a blank sign- what the hell?- and simply yelling out 'Hyuga' over the sound of the waves. What was it with these islander folks and being so naturally. . . at ease with everything? And good-looking, not forgetting that fact too.
Suddenly, the young man was in front of them, smiling brightly. "Hiya! You must be the Hyuga cousins, right?" He had a higher voice than she'd been expecting, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant.
"Y-yeah." Hinata swallowed her surprise. "I'm Hinata and this is Hanabi." She shook hands with him before letting Hanabi do the same shortly after. "Are you the person Neji said would show us to the place we'd be meeting him?"
"Sure am." He smiled so widely that his eyes were forced shut. Dimples showed easily on his boyish face. "Name's Inuzuka, but my friends and pretty ladies just call me Kiba. Nice to meetcha."
Something sparked in Hinata's mind. Inuzuka? Hanabi spoke up before she could finish her thought.
"Inuzuka? Like in that legend thing printed on the tourist stuff back there?"
"Yessiree little Miss. My family has lived here for generations. We've always been a bit drawn to the sea, and if that's how it is, this is the spot to be." He smiled again, perfectly straight white teeth peeking out from between his cherubic lips.
"Pretty cool. Our family goes back a ways, but we don't have anything as interesting as what was written back there in our family tree." Hinata elbowed her sister when Kiba turned his head to look behind him.
Hinata glanced up at the handsome islander skeptically, her arms crossed over her chest. "Is that story really true, or is it just some local lore with a few bits of history woven into it?"
Kiba snapped back to attention, his dark eyebrows knitted together, turning his once friendly smile into an almost sad expression. He glanced between both of them before speaking in a low voice, "Every word of it is true."
. . . . . .
"Well this stinks, I didn't even get to finish the story!"
"Would you lay off of that already?" Hinata dumped her carry-on bag onto her bed and started unloading the neatly folded stacks of clothes. "He obviously wasn't telling the truth. He was probably just trying to rack up the tourist points to get us to buy stuff." She pulled her hair back into a messy bun to keep it out of her face.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. But still, you know how much I'm into those kinds of things." Hanabi clutched her hands in front of her and spun in a circle on her heel. "I'm a romantic at heart!" Hinata scoffed quietly and pulled her hair dryer from her backpack. She set it aside on the bedside table and zipped up her backpack.
"Whatever Hana. You ready to go?" Hanabi nodded, already heading for the door. She held it open for her older sister and locked it behind them with the card key. There was a soft click as the lock activated.
"Alright, so we have about," Hanabi started, checking her wristwatch, "30 minutes before we need to meet up with Kiba on the deck. Would you mind if I ran off for a bit and checked something out?" Hinata pushed her glasses up on her nose and nodded slowly.
"Fine." Hanabi started off around the corner excitedly, only half listening to Hinata when she yelled after her, "But be back in twenty minutes!" Hinata sighed, staring down at the converse on her feet and the frayed ends of her jeans. "No responsibilities, that child. I swear." An odd feeling prickled in the back of her mind, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She glanced up and had to bite her lip hard to contain her scream.
There was a man. A creepy young man. Just standing there. Staring... at her!
His pants were black and baggy with more pockets on them than she could count. Bright blue Vlados were tapping away on the ground to some invisible beat, the ends of his pants tucked into them. A jacket with the BATMAN insignia in bright black and yellow across his chest was zipped up to to his neck, the yellow strings tied into a neat bow and the hood over his head. Purple headphones covered his ears, blaring music so loudly, that in the awkward quiet of the hallway, Hinata could hear every word the singer was screaming-err... singing.
His hair was black and spiky in the front, bangs hanging over his heavily-done up eyes. Surprisingly, aside from the eyeliner- which was almost tasteful- his face was smooth and clear, the skin a beautifully pale complexion that contrasted nicely with all of the dark colors. He dropped the hood from his head, a brown beanie tugged on underneath his headphones, and pulled the purple and white Beats down onto his neck, music still playing loudly from the speakers.
Hinata swallowed. His gaze was intense.
Eyes so dark that she couldn't distinguish pupil from iris blinked slowly, captivating her. She suddenly realized he'd shut his music off.
"Mirasol?"
1. This is fun. I'm enjoying this. I've had this saved in my computer for a while and just now decided to test it out. I don't know how popular this'll be, but I wanna try it out anyway. It's a bit different then what I've written before, a lot actually, and the plot is something that no one will ever expect. Let me know what you think, yeah?
R & R, Love AMB11!