AN: Oi! A rather quick update I must say! But, I have finished this story already and am now debating whether I should keep you all in suspense or put your minds at ease and just updated the chapters back-to-back. Hrmm... what to do... well, while I decide, you all continue to read and enjoy!

Pairing(s): Sasuke/Naruto- Naruto/Sasuke

Warning(s): Yaoi, lemon in later chapter, sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language and drama.

Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto


Chapter 2

Past: April 10, 1912- 9:04Am Chp. 2

It's such a beautiful day outside, how I wish I could just spend the whole day out there relaxing with a hot cup of coffee and watch my mother fiddle away in her greenhouse or even compete with my older brother in some various games. But no, my family is just too adamant about being the first of many wealthy families to be aboard this new ships maiden voyage of which I couldn't remember the name of, even if my life depended on it, but the main reason for us boarding that ship and heading to America, was so that I and my fiancé could wed. Horrible, just awful! Here I am fidgeting by this window while my older brother is practically beside himself in joy, though you couldn't tell just by looking, he's all too excited about going to America and being that he was already married to the woman that our parents had chosen for him five years ago, he had every right to be happy. If you ask me, marriage should be between two people who deeply love each other, granted that he did harbor such feelings for his wife, but I truly loathed my fiancé. I really tried to convince myself that I truly did love the woman, after the many years that I've known her, but the girl was just too full of herself for me not to feel the way I felt about her, she looked down upon anyone who did not have even a fraction of the wealth and title that she held, so it didn't surprise me when she more than gladly agreed to the proposal between our parents that we should wed. When my father first told me that I was to marry her I was elated, after all she was one of the most eligible and sought after beauties in the country, what with her amazingly good looks and social standing, but I soon saw through all that and saw her for who she truly was…. as I said, just awful.

"Little Brother, come from the window and sit with me. Mother or father should be sending for us any moment now." My brother, Itachi, called to me from the other side of my room.

"If your wife were anything like my fiancé you would be just as reluctant to leave as I am, I'd like to enjoy this trip, but with her coming along it's going to be impossible!" I walked over to the table set in the center of the room where he was seated with a cup of tea.

"Oh come now Sasuke, she's no different than most of the other women who hold a high social standing here. You haven't even taken any additional time out of your schedule to get to know her like you use to, so it's understandable that you should feel this way towards her. Besides, deep, deep down I know you truly do love her." Itachi chided and smiled at me as I sat down and watched a maid pour me a cup of tea before bowing and going to stand by the door.

"All she cares about is my money, good looks and is constantly nagging me about starting a family as soon as we get to America, like we're already married. And she's already trying to change how I act around her! I am not about to belittle myself just so she may be satisfied that she has obtained one of the most handsome and wealthiest men in the country, she's just the worst type of woman, Itachi, and I do not love her!" I exclaimed at him as he looked at me the way a mother would look at her child should they behave badly or being caught in a lie, as I was, to put it mildly. I really tried to tell myself that I held no such feelings for her, but as I mentioned before, she was a different person when we first met and that's when I fell in love with her.

"Sasuke… I suggest that you keep those feelings to yourself. Our parents just want to ensure that we marry into socially fit families, even if we are from wealth. I'm sorry I can't share your feelings, I truly am, but this is how it is." He sighed and took another sip from his cup.

"I know," I sighed and picked up my cup, only to put it right back down as I saw the newspaper I had been reading earlier still on the side of the table, "Titanic, a very unique name." I spoke aloud as I read the title that had a picture of the massive ship we were going to be on shortly. I don't know why I couldn't remember that, after all the reading I had been doing about it for the past month, maybe it was just one of those names that's too easy to remember and you simply forget it.

"Indeed it is," A deep voice spoke from the door, "Now, sons, it's time to leave. Come along now, I have a surprise for both of you down in the foyer." My father told us before heading back out of the door, only to be replaced by two butlers who gathered the rest of my belongings by the door. He didn't even wait for a reply, how nice.

"After you." I stood and motioned for Itachi to leave ahead of me.

"Cheer up, this'll be fun." Itachi smiled at me before following the men out the door… I really hoped he was right. As I followed after him, I paused at my bedroom doors and bid a final farewell to my room and my home for almost my whole life, having lived in America for some time before, I wasn't even sure if I may see this place again, and with that sad realization on my mind, I turned and continued down the hall and down the spiraling staircase into the foyer where… I'll be damned… my fiancé was waiting for me, great.

"Ah, darling, you look as handsome as ever today." The highly insufferable twit greeted me and offered me her hand as I approached her.

"Good morning Sakura, I didn't know you would be accompanying us to the port." I kissed her hand and smiled sweetly as I held out my arm for her to loop hers through mine, I truly couldn't help but to smile once I saw her, she was even more beautiful than my memory had perceived.

"Yes, your father met up with me the other day and mentioned that it would be a good idea to board the ship together, I completely agreed with him of course." Sakura gave that one smile that I just cannot stand, it was a smile he gave when something she thought worthwhile was happening, like us boarding the ship together. No doubt she and my father thought it good for only publicity. There went my sincere smile.

"Oh… how thoughtful." I mentally rolled my eyes as I held the car door open for her, then circled around to get in as well and, to my surprise, Itachi and his wife were already in there waiting, "Ah, good morning Konan. I'm surprised to see you here as well." I smiled genuinely at her and my brother.

"Yes, Fugaku caught me at the studio yesterday and thought it would be great if we all show up at the ship as a family." Konan said and smiled at the last part as she looked at Itachi, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit jealous at their happiness and just in time to banish my nostalgic feelings, the pink haired twit sneered at the show of emotions as she sat in the car.

"Keep smothering him Tenshi and you'll scare him off." Sakura chuckled.

"A little attention is never a bad thing Haruno, especially once you're married." Konan stared pointedly at her, "Oh, and to correct you, it's 'Uchiha' now." She added with a cocky grin to my disgruntled looking fiancé. I honestly had to fight back the chuckle that threatened to burst out at that little comment.

"Hmm, Yes, I suppose that is true… with men as handsome as these two that is, they deserve all the attention they can handle." Sakura agreed, choosing to ignore that last comment, and had the gall to grab my hand, as if that was some kind of assurance to what was said. But despite the way she had aggravated me by saying that, my heart thudded happily in my chest as she held my hand, though I only smiled and spared my brother a passing glance, I could feel him staring, and looked out the window as we drove away from our villa, and soon enough we were in the packed city streets of Southampton, England, these people were no doubt on their way to see off the people boarding the Titanic. Even though it wasn't scheduled to leave for another two hours, so it was still fairly early for them heading there already, but if the streets stayed like this, it would take us forever to get to the port. However, during the ride I had originally planned to read an excerpt by Piaget on Egocentrism: Personal Fable, I had once joked with Itachi that Sakura fit this concept perfectly, but of course the twit had to pull me from my pleasant memory with her observation of what I was reading.

"Piaget, hmm? Honestly Sasuke, I think you read more than any man I know. Shouldn't you be doing something more useful, like deciding how you'll entertain me during this trip?" Sakura blatantly asked. Did I mention how insufferable she was?

"Hn, I was under the assumption that you would be manipulating all of my time on this trip, are you saying you'd wish for me to order you around the whole time?" I looked at her with a skeptical expression, she really knew how to ruin a peaceful ride.

"Why of course not! But having you plan out a few things couldn't hurt any." She smiled and smoothed a strand of her cherry blossom pink hair behind her ear.

"I see, well I suppose you'll just have to wait and see." I smirked at her and watched how her sea foam green eyes lit up with excitement. 'She truly is gorgeous.' I confessed to myself, maybe I could grow to love her for whom she is… maybe.

"Well, seeing as how there will be nothing but aristocrats on our part of the ship, the only entertainment will be drinking and dinner parties. Unless you venture down to the lower level, where the lower class guest are going to be and engage in whatever merriment they partake in." Itachi mentioned and smirked at the disgusted look on Sakura's face. He knew how she felt about the ending part of his suggestion, so my guess was that he simply did it to see her reaction. Well, he got what he wanted.

"Are you insane Itachi?! I wouldn't be caught dead fraternizing with the likes of those people!" Sakura nearly shrieked and made a disgusted face, as if she'd just been insulted.

"Sakura, they cannot help what fate has forced upon them. Their lives are not that much different than ours." Konan mentioned to her with a calm expression, though I could still see the aggravation towards her deep in her violet eyes.

"Be that as it may, I still wouldn't be caught mingling with the lower class." Sakura stated stubbornly. My only reaction to her was to shake my head and give my brother an 'I told you so' look and received a knowing smirk from him as the car slowed to a stop, as I glanced out of the car window my eyes widened, and if my pride weren't so strong my mouth would've popped open, the ship was indeed as massive as the press proclaimed it to be. Though, I had my qualms as to whether this ship was even bigger than the Mauretania. As the driver came around to open our doors, I stepped out with my eyes still on the magnificent ship until Itachi's voice brought me back to me senses.

"It's something else isn't it Sasuke?" Itachi questioned from my side.

"Hn, I don't see what all the fuss is about now. It doesn't seem much bigger than the Mauretania." I voiced my thoughts as Konan and Sakura came to stand on either side of us, once we offered them our arms my mother spoke up from behind us.

"Well darlings, what do you think?" My mother, Mikoto, asked. I turned around to see that she was smiling warmly at us with her arm through our fathers.

"It is very impressive mother, to think that something of this magnitude could be built." Itachi answered before I could and motioned towards the ship.

"Oh Mikoto, your son is just too hard to impress! He thinks this ship to be beneath the Mauretania!" Sakura explained to my mother.

"Now Sasuke, you can be blasé about most things but you know this ship has to be at least a hundred feet longer than the Mauretania, and far more luxurious. Even I can see that." My mother giggled and patted my cheek. Hn, I suppose she was right, and now that I looked at the ship further, I could see my earlier doubts being washed away.

"Yes, the fellow who designed it will be traveling on board as well. We'll be dinning with him tonight, if you have any further inquiries about the ship, he'll brief you on the specifics then." Our father, Fugaku, informed us, then motioned for his lackey to insure that our luggage was properly taken care of and proceeded to lead the way to one of the ramps that was meant for aristocrats only, and without any further words, we followed behind them to board the ship. It was the ship of dreams to everyone else, but to me it was a slave ship taking me back to America in chains. Outwardly I was everything a well brought up boy should be, inwardly I was screaming over the painful fact of having to spend nearly a week with Sakura in such a confined space.

Once we finished our check-in at the doors to the ship, we leisurely walked down the hallway greeting the many other wealthy families as we made our ways to our separate suites, Sakura and her mother, who was to be boarding tomorrow, would be rooming together in an adjourning room next to our parents room, while Itachi, Konan and I would be sharing the statesuite that was set up in almost the same fashion. I was inwardly thankful that Sakura's room was further down the hall instead of right next door to us, which would only give her even more reason to come pester me about wedding details and the goings on around the ship. Though, somehow I know she will still manage to do just that. With that annoying thought on my mind I came to a stop in front of my and Itachi's room.

"Well, boys, we'll let you get settled in before we come to collect you for lunch, okay?" My mother smiled at us.

"Very well mother, we will see you all then." I said and leaned down slightly to kiss her cheek, then turned to bid the same farewell to Sakura but in turn kissed her hand, then finally gave my father a curt nod before turning to head into my room. Itachi followed my farewells in the same way and came in shortly after with his wife as I had slumped down onto a very comfortable couch in the center of the room and closed my eyes, the ride here was longer than it should've been, all thanks to the many people that crowded the streets on our way here and now the ship was to disembark in about fifteen minutes.

"You're wise to rest now Sasuke, because once lunch begins, father will not let us rest until we've greeted every last one of his associates on board." Itachi smirked as he passed me in favor of going out onto our rooms' private promenade deck to look out the window at the busy pier below.

"Pardon me, Master Uchiha, but where would you like us to set up your belongings?" One of our butlers spoke to my brother, obviously having thought I had fallen asleep on the couch and bypassing Konan as well, as he stepped into the room followed by several others, who carried our bags in.

"I believe the bags should be labeled, the room on the left is my room and the other is Sasukes'. The set up should be done the same as our original bedrooms." Itachi glared menacingly at the man who had inadvertently ignored me, poor fellow.

"Y-yes sir." The gent stuttered and motioned for the men to move at a quicker pace and disappeared into Itachi's room first.

"That was fairly harsh don't you think big brother?" I questioned him and stood up to join him by the window just as the ships horn sounded, possibly announcing to any remaining boarders that the ship was to set sail soon.

"No, he knew better than to enter without knocking first and to just ignore you and Konan. It's his own mistake." Itachi explained and raised a raven brow at me, people always told me that we could've been twins but I didn't really think so. Sure we had the same pale skin, onyx eyes and everyone in our family had the same bluish-black colored hair, but he beat me in the height department, even though he had every right to that height because he was five years older than me, and his hair was halfway down his back while I kept mine short and slightly mussed up in a style that Itachi claimed resembled the backside of a duck... the moron. Though, with all that, I guess I could see how people could make that assumption.

"Sweetie, how were he to see me if I weren't visible, being that I was out of view on the deck?" Konan mentioned with a small smile. He knew he she was right, and from grunt and smirk he gave her before pour himself a glass of wine proved as much.

"Hahah, she's got a point brother." I chuckled and stared out the window at the people waving down below, but as I watched them I could've sworn I saw a something yellow flash through the crowd at random points, 'What in the world was that?' I thought and squinted my eyes, though that was just a reflex, because my eyesight was perfect. But what was that light?

"Pardons again young masters, Madame, but master Sasuke where would you like your paintings to be hung? They majority of them will not fit in your room alone." The butler walked out of my room to question me directly, I hadn't even recognized when they had finished up in Itachi's room.

"Oh, alright, just hang them here in the sitting room." I instructed him and pointed to a few spots that I actually would like to see my paintings hanging.

"Little brother, why are you so infatuated with these paintings?... Who was the artist again?" Itachi asked me as he picked up a picture and took a long baffled look at it.

"Because these paintings have a certain charm to them, like he's captured all of life's true essence, truth but no logic and even his abstract paintings are amazing. I believe his name was… uh, something 'Picasso', a truly talented man none the less." I smiled at him as I took the picture from him, he just didn't seem to get it.

"Hmm, I see, his pieces are obviously meant to be waned to." Itachi grinned somewhat cockily at me. It seems like I'm going to have to have another talk with him about art, and I had about two hours before lunch was scheduled to begin to do so.


AN: There you have it! Another great chapter! I honestly cannot tell you all, who have commented, subscribed and favorite(d) this story, how utterly ecstatic I am that you enjoyed it enough to do so! I truly had my doubts that this would even appeal to anyone, but you lovely people have proved me wrong! And for that I thank you a thousand times over! So, until next time... mata ne!

- Anna Uzumaki