Disclaimer: I don't own anything


"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked Sakura as Naruto and him helped the women up from the broken boards.

"We got... A little lost." Sakura said slowly, looking at Hinata.

"Wait, I'm sorry but do you two know each other?" Naruto asked, motioning to Sakura and Sasuke.

"I helped her with an issue while I was out looking for a new sword." Sasuke quickly explained.

Naruto looked at the pink haired beauty with a questionable glance.

"And… You are?" He prompted.

"My name is Haruno Sakura, and this is Hyuuga Hinata." They both gave a slight bow, though the circumstances didn't feel quite right for it.

Naruto held up his hand in an unmoving wave gesture, a perplexed look still on his face. "Captain Uzumaki Naruto."

"I-I'm sorry to i-intrude like this b-but we were having a-an issue." Hinata said, looking at the deck floor.

"Hm, so troublesome." Shikamaru, who had been forgotten about, muttered and walked away not even caring about the situation at hand.

"What kind of issue?" Naruto asked, placing his hand on his sword for someplace to rest. Hinata, taking his gesture the wrong way, gasped and went to Sakura quickly.

"Sakura..." Hinata was shaking now. Sakura held Hinata, she knew how she acted around weapons with people she didn't know.

"Sorry. I wasn't going to hurt you." Naruto reassured her quickly, taking his hand off his sword and crossing his arms.

"The issue?" Sasuke, an impatient person, urged them on to tell the story. Hinata glanced at Sakura, making her sigh.

"Hinata was disowned by her family. Even though that was the case, Hinata's father wouldn't allow her to leave so we decided to escape during the night. I'm the maidservant of Lady Hinata." Sakura looked at Sasuke "That man which you helped me get rid of is a guard there."

Naruto made a whistle sound as he listened to the situation they were in.

"That still doesn't explain how you ended up in our goods." Naruto pointed out.

A cool wind came in and swept the deck with ocean water as the boat crashed into a wave, spraying the group with seawater.

The crew members had begun to take notice of the strange women, becoming very intrigued. They had all started to stare, watching the situation closely to make sure their captains in command weren't in any sort of danger.

"Maybe we should talk about this behind closed doors, Naruto." Sasuke said quietly, glancing at the rest of the men.

Naruto, taking note of this, nodded his head in agreement.

"Please, follow me to my quarters. We'll continue this conversation there." Naruto decided.

Naruto began to head below deck, motioning the girls to follow him while Sasuke followed closely behind. Entering the two door cabin, they found themselves in a fairly large space with smooth hardwood flooring and faded red walls. There was a big window area at the front of the room, opposite the way you walked in that looked out upon the vast blue sea behind of the grand ship. There was a sturdy looking desk with intricate carvings on it, with a chair behind that, clearly the captains chair.

"Can I get you girls anything before we continue to discuss the situation at hand?" Naruto asked politely.

"Some water for Lady Hinata please." Sakura said at once. Naruto walked to a barrel that was located in the corner of the room and drew two cups of water while the women inspected the room.

"Please, sit." Naruto directed them to two chairs that sat in front of the desk. The women looked hesitant, but sat down nonetheless.

Handing them the water, Naruto sat across from them while Sasuke stood a little further back, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

It was silent. It was uncomfortably silent.

"T-Thank you for the drink." Hinata said to break the stillness, looking nervously at the floor.

"Of course. So, you," Naruto said, looking at the Hyuuga, "have been disowned by your family. A very sad thing to hear quite honestly… But again, that doesn't explain why you're on my ship."

Hinata flushed from being put on the spot while continuously being stared at by these two men.

"W-well… You see, I-I was t-trying to escape with Sakura, a-and-" The dear girl could barely speak, her face growing redder every time she stuttered. Thankfully though, Sakura swooped in and cut her off, saving the girl from having a panic attack most likely.

"We were caught escaping, so we started to run for it. We ended up at the port and couldn't run anymore, so we took out your fabric and hid in the barrels. We both fell asleep as we waited for them to clear out. We were going to leave and replace your things but we couldn't get out of the barrels." Sakura explained further.

Everyone was quiet for a moment after Sakura was done throughly explaining. Finally, and oddly enough, it was the Uchiha to break the silence.

"So you're stowaways." He concluded.

Hinata's eyes widened, Sakura just looked surprised and Naruto sat there thinking.

"Naruto, you know we lock up stowaways." Sasuke continued. Sakura started to scowl at Sasuke.

"It's not like we meant to. It was a mistake." Sakura said, defending herself and the Hyuuga.

"No, no we won't lock them up. They don't deserve that for accidentally making their way onto my ship." Naruto said slowly.

There was silence once again.

"I'm assuming you want to stay here then, instead of being imprisoned or thrown out into the sea." Naruto also mentioned, looking at the girls.

"I-it would be g-greatly appreciated if w-we were able to stay. We c-can work for you, e-earn our place h-here." Hinata said quietly, looking at Sakura who nodded her head once, reassuring her.

"We already have a full crew." Sasuke spoke up.

Naruto looked extremely thoughtful. Suddenly, he stood up quite quickly.

"Sasuke, follow me. We need to talk alone for a minute. Ladies, if you would please stay put for a moment we'll be right back." Naruto walked swiftly to the door, motioning Sasuke to follow him. Sasuke looked slightly surprised, but went after Naruto anyway.

Once the door was shut, Sakura stood immediately and went to Hinata's side and took her hand in hers.

"My lady, are you okay? Are you hurt at all?" Obvious concern was laced throughout her clear feminine voice.

Hinata smiled sweetly and pat Sakura's hand that covered hers.

"I'm just fine, Sakura. Th-thank you for your kindness. But I'm just your friend now, n-not your lady. Please t-tell me though, are you okay? Th-this is all quite fascinating, don't you think?" Hinata looked around herself, noticing some things she hadn't before. Like the thin layer of dust covering the bookcases that were placed in here, or the various charting tools and navigational instruments that were scattered on some shelves and the captains desk.

"Fascinating is one word for it, though maybe not the word I would use… And yes, I'm okay. Are you sure you're willing to work for a position on this ship though? We're not even in the least bit acquainted with any of these people and don't have much sailing experience whatsoever." Sakura questioned, skeptical of Hinata's choices.

But Hinata smiled a sweet and reassuring smile.

"That Sasuke p-person did save you f-from that man, and if he did th-hat then he can't be that bad. And I'm very w-willing to work. I use to sail to other c-countries frequently with my family when I was smaller." Hinata then blushed and looked away. "P-Plus, C-Captain Naruto s-seems to b-be nice…"


"Exactly what are you thinking, dobe?" Sasuke hissed as soon as Naruto stepped away from the closed doors.

Naruto turned and surprised Sasuke when he saw a more serious look on his face than he was expecting to. Though Naruto called Sasuke out here, he was silent. He needed to think without looking at the girls, it was easier to make a clear decision when you weren't directly looking at the situation.

"Sasuke… What are your opinions on all this?" Naruto said, stretching and resting his hands behind his head.

Sasuke was quiet, also thoughtful. Sighing, he dropped his hands and threw them into his pants pockets.

"I think you're right about wanting to help them." He said, making Naruto nod his head.

"We still have the last port to stop at before we truly start sailing, we could drop them off there." Naruto mentioned

"We're not going to be at Port Sunagakure for another week though." Sasuke pointed out, looking at Naruto.

"Miss Hyuuga already said they'd be willing to work while they were here…"

They were silent again, thinking things over. Their ship easily glided across the shimmering blue sea, rocking slightly beneath their feet. It was a beautiful day, truly, and Naruto wished he could enjoy it at the wheel of his boat instead of trying to figure all of these things out. It seemed to him that things were moving quite quickly, but there wasn't anything he could do about it! This was a very problematic situation. His crew was already wondering about what was going on, he knew it. Every time he looked passed Sasuke, he saw his crew glancing this way with suspicion written all over their faces. No doubt he would have been bombarded with hundreds of questions by now if it wasn't for the fact that they had a grand vessel that provided good enough jobs to keep everyone busy. Quite suddenly though, a thought sparked in his mind.

"I've got it!" Naruto burst out. "They can just act as our assistants until we arrive at the port." He said grinning, looking proud of himself.

Sasuke, who had been standing there with his eyes closed, thinking, suddenly opened his black orbs staring at the blonde with wide eyes.

"What?" He hissed. The thought of having one of those girls trail behind him as he went about his friends ship was unsettling and, quite frankly, Sasuke was much more of a loner than anything else. Having an inexperienced dame follow him around asking him if they could help in any way sounded… Well, terrible.

Naruto didn't exactly catch on to Sasuke's bad attitude though. Even if he did however, it wouldn't have bothered him, for his mind was set now.

"Yes, that's a good idea. As you said, all the positions on the ship are already filled, so we can make due with them being our assistants. We can decide who will be who's inside. They should have a say in it after all, since they're women and not cargo. C'mon! Let's go tell them we've made a decision." Naruto turned and started walking back to the doors, but Sasuke quickly grabbed his arm.

"We haven't made a decision! That's a horrible idea, dobe! Just stick them in the kitchen or have them swab decks. Don't stick me with one of them!" Sasuke said tightly. He was in no way going to have this happen.

Naruto grinned widely at Sasuke, bringing his hand up to pat Sasuke's arm. "Lighten up, teme! It's only for a week anyway!"

Sasuke sweat-dropped. This idiot… Swatting his hand away, the Uchiha seethed as he followed his captain back into the room where the girls were waiting, his arms crossed with a scowl on his face.

This was going to be painful…


Hinata sat silently for a moment longer, smiling softly to herself. Sure she was scared of what was to come, but at the same time… She was so excited and happy. She had finally gotten away from her family, something she had desperately been wanting to do for so long. She was more than lucky to have Sakura with her was well. Such a beautiful and determined heart she had…

Sakura, on the other hand, was still worried for Hinata. She was in the same position from a moment ago, holding Hinata's hand dearly. She was about to say something when Naruto opened the door and walked back in, grinning while an angry-looking Uchiha followed behind him, his arms crossed in front of his chest yet again.

"We've made a decision." Naruto announced, going behind his desk to sit down once again. Sasuke stayed at the door, glaring Naruto down from behind the two women.

Naruto, ignoring Sasuke, continued on.

"You'll of course be allowed to stay. However, you'll work on the ship until we stop at Port Sunagakure where we can drop you off. Until then, you can work as Sasuke's assistant, and mine as well. Would you like draw numbers or choose-" Naruto was looking at them but was suddenly interrupted by Hinata.

Letting go of Sakura's hand, Hinata stood up and then bowed lowly to Naruto.

"I cannot th-thank you enough for your k-kindness, Captain Naruto. Truly, th-thank you." Hinata, though she spoke softly, said her words with clarity and dignity, despite her stutters.

Sakura, following her lady's actions, also bowed to Naruto as a sign of respect and gratitude.

Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling slightly awkward.

"Port Konoha must really have a few different traditions than I'm accustomed to…" Naruto smiled weekly. "Well anyway, I guess we'll draw numbers. This is kind of an un-classy way of doing things, but alas, I have a ship I need to attend to. So if you wouldn't mind…" Naruto put his hand behind his back, holding up a certain amount of fingers.

"Pick a number between 1 and 2." He stated, looking at the girls.

Though she didn't know why, Sakura was slightly nervous. To be honest, she didn't want to assist either of these men, though if it had to be done she'd prefer the blonde over the seething man behind her. He seemed to be a rather unfriendly person…

Hinata was unafraid though. She stood there with her back straight and a determined look in her eye.

"One." She said calmly, looking at Sakura.

"Two, I guess." Sakura muttered, glancing behind her only to meet dark eyes.

Naruto pulled his hand from behind his back, holding up a one. "I'm number one of the ship, so Miss Hyuuga will be with me. There's not much you have to do, just do as I say and relax. Now, follow me please."

Sakura turned around and was met with the cold stare from the Uchiha. She sweat-dropped. She'd have to attend him for a week? Oh how Sakura couldn't wait to get to the port now. She heard shuffling and glanced to see Naruto make his way around the desk and out of the cabin, his shoulders relaxed with a smile on his face. He must have been relieved to have this situation resolved… Hinata followed Naruto out, with Sakura close behind.

As Sakura was nearing the door however, Sasuke shot his arm out and gripped her wrist, making her gasp in alarm and turn to look at him. He held her gaze, his angry glare never wavering as he waited a second for the others to get only a little ahead of them.

"I don't care what you do, but stay out of my way." He hissed.

Sakura's shock left her quickly, replacing what was there with fiery hot anger. She had liked Sasuke just fine until he suggested they were stowaway's and should be locked up. Yanking her arm away from his gasp, she drew in a breath and stood up straight, staring right back into those black eyes.

"Fine with me." She said briskly. She stepped away and walked out of the captains cabin, catching up with Hinata and Naruto. Naruto was currently explaining where things were on the ship, in case we didn't know and how to do this and how to do that. It was useful information, some of it Sakura knew she'd need for her week ahead.

Naruto started walking up one set of stairs to reach the wheel of the grand vessel. Walking up to the railing that was just behind the wheel, Naruto placed his hand on it and looked out upon his boat. The wind blew, pushing forth the ship. The sun was about to set, painting the sky a beautiful array of colors. The boat rocked and sped across the vast blue ocean, and, unknown to everyone, taking them right in the direction their fate awaited.

Turning around to face the others, Naruto grinned widely at the two girls.

"Welcome aboard the Sharinkitsune."


AN: Hey everyone! Thanks for being so patient with this update! I first want to thank EVERYONE who reviewed and suggested ship names! It was greatly appreciated. Though the name for the ship doesn't have anything to do with the Rasengan, I do have plans for it! The name of the ship is credited to Hoytti, and when I asked them how they got it they responded with "Shar is the beginning of SHARengan the bloodline of the uchiha and Kitsune is japanese for fox. so I took those two and combined them together. I thought it would be a good idea to combine the two most prominent feature of the captains together" So a special thanks to Hoytti!

To be honest, this chapter was pretty difficult to write. The situation didn't really match well for some of the charters and it all had to do with technical stuff. Next chapter will hopefully be better! It's currently 5am and Easter is tomorrow… or today? It doesn't matter, I need sleep. Enjoy everyone!

Much love from this little coffee shop to yours~