Warning: Much cussing in the second paragraph, but beyond that is pretty darn decent in comparison. I apologize in advance to those who dislike swearing.
Thanks again to those who reviewed.
I own nothing. Enjoy. :)
Chapter Three - Harmony
The next morning Sasuke woke to the creaking of a ship and the sounds of the ocean. No, no, no, please tell me it was all just a dream.
He slowly pealed his eyes open and glanced around. Fuck. It hadn't been a dream.
There was that fucking desk, covered in those fucking maps, and those tall fucking bookcases in a desperate need of a fucking dusting, and those large, fucking windows that were showing him that sparkling, cerulean expanse of fucking ocean.
He felt sick.
Then the burgundy carpet got hit with another dose of Sasuke's innards.
---
When he awoke for the second time there was a warm blanket wrapped around him, a cool, wet rag resting on his forehead and a Naruto sitting at his feet.
"It's about time you woke up," the blond said, putting down the book he had been reading. Sasuke groaned. His mouth tasted like bile. "Here." Naruto held out a cup of water, which Sasuke took gratefully and quickly downed.
"Thanks," he choked.
"No problem," he said, taking the cup and putting it to the side. "You feel any better? I came in and found you all… pukey." He made a face.
Sasuke smiled softly. "Yeah, better," he muttered, wiping sweat off of his face and neck with the rag. Naruto smiled back.
After Sasuke cleaned himself up, the two headed to breakfast together. Since everyone else had already eaten, they would be eating alone.
Upon entering the saloon, Chouji rushed from the galley to place mounds of food on the table. "I had to make more food. Looking at how thin you are makes me want to cry," he explained abruptly before darting away. Naruto chuckled and sat down, quickly working away at the heap of breakfast.
While munching on his toast, Sasuke vaguely remembered the night before, when he had been convinced to have a small glass of rum with dinner. Remember not to drink again for a while, he told himself as he felt his stomach stir and his head throb.
"Naruto, you never told me what you do," he said after they had settled, to get his mind off his physical ache. "On the ship, I mean," he added, looking over to the blond sitting across the table.
He swallowed. "I make a lot of repairs. I'm like the ships doctor, I suppose; like a carpenter. But really I'm just a basic deckhand; I help out with everything else too. Except steering. Gaara doesn't let me do that anymore." He sniggered at a past memory.
Sasuke nodded and finished his buttered toast, neglecting to eat anything else.
After breakfast they returned to the room. Cabin, Sasuke scolded himself. You're on a ship now. Though he didn't really know why he cared.
For most of the morning he listened to Naruto talk about all sorts of things; Shikamaru's laziness, how great Chouji's cooking was, Kiba and 'that stupid dog,' Temari's breasts, and anything else that came to the blond's mind.
"How old are ya, anyway?" he asked in the middle of a rant about the crazy storms they'd been getting all summer.
It was a sudden question with no relevance to the topic and it took Sasuke by surprise. "I'll be seventeen in two weeks," he replied after a moment.
"Huh," was his only response, short and surprised.
"What is it?" he asked, looking up to meet Naruto's eyes.
"Just thought you were a couple years older, is all." Naruto picked up the book from that morning and began leafing through it distractedly.
"I get that a lot," Sasuke said after a long while. Maybe too long; the room had gotten strangely tense. "Sakura says it's my eyes."
Naruto looked up, interested. "Sakura?"
Sasuke shrugged "She's just a friend of mine."
"Hmm." Naruto went back to the book and continued reading, and Sasuke returned to picking absent-mindedly at a loose string on the sheet.
---
By that afternoon, Naruto was a good quarter of the way through his book and Sasuke had successfully detached the loose string from the sheet, along with many others from the sheet, his shirt, wherever. He hadn't had the guts to ask for his own book to read even though Naruto was the very opposite of intimidating and reading happened to be one of his favourite things to do.
There was a quick knock on the door and Gaara came in just as Naruto stretched and put his book down.
"We're going to move you down with the rest of the men, Sasuke," he stated without greeting.
"Oh… okay."
"Where's he going to be staying?"
Gaara scratched his forehead. "That's what I came here to talk to you about, Naruto. I would like to move him into your room."
"But Sai-"
"Has already moved in with Kakashi."
Naruto shrugged, obviously content with the situation.
"How's that sound, Sasuke? You can handle sharing a room with Naruto, right?" The blond frowned behind him.
Sasuke nodded then started, "Uh, Gaa-"
"You may call me Captain, or Sir."
"…Sir, how much longer am I going to be here?"
The Captain was quiet, contemplating, for a second. Then, "I'm not sure yet." He turned to leave when Sasuke stopped him.
"If you don't mind me asking… Where do you sleep? Sir."
"For the past few days I have been sleeping in Temari's room," he began, still facing the door. "But now that you're up and about I thought that I might like to have my room back." His voice wasn't stern, but wasn't happy either.
Sasuke nodded slowly, eyes wide. Naruto snorted.
---
For the remainder of the day Naruto took Sasuke around the ship, explaining what everything did. "These are the masts, of course, and they hold the sails. And up there," he pointed up to the top of the main mast, "is Shikamaru's crows nest. You get up there by climbing these, the shrouds." He indicated the rope netting he had climbed up the previous day. "Don't try though… they're harder to climb than they look, especially in the wind, and you're a bit on the scrawny side."
He also allowed Sasuke to spend some more time with some of the crew, although the brunet found he didn't feel near as comfortable with any of them as he did with Naruto, and he felt the extreme opposite of comfortable around a couple of them.
There were a couple times during the day when Naruto left him for a few minutes to help someone with the sails or the swabbing, but then he would come back and the knot in Sasuke's chest would loosen again.
Closer to dinner they found themselves up on the quarterdeck. Naruto's legs were poked through the railings again and were hanging freely off the back of the ship. "And that there is the rudder," he finished, pointing down to the very back of the ship.
Sasuke just smiled and allowed himself to soak up the late-afternoon sunshine. He had taken in more information in the past two days than he had in the last five years of his life. He was exhausted.
"Hey, Naruto?" He broke the silence after a few content minutes.
"Mmm?"
"You never told me how old you are."
Naruto looked over at him. "I'm twenty-two," he said.
Oh. "Hn. Are you all that old?"
Naruto scoffed. "Okay, we're not old. We're all in our early to mid twenties, though, if that's what you mean. Except for Temari, who's almost thirty, and Kakashi, who's, like, eighty or something." He sniffed and nodded. "Now, he's old." He paused. "Why're you asking?"
Sasuke shrugged. "Just wondering."
---
It was on his third morning of being aboard The Shuriken when Sasuke woke, this time certain that it had all been nothing but a dream.
But then he realised that the rocking was still present and that he was just in a different room. He had slept different last night; the bed was smaller, less than half the size of Gaara's, and instead of being comfortable, it had felt more like sleeping right on the floor. But he hadn't been alone while he slept this time, and with Naruto there, he had fallen asleep much easier than the night before.
He sighed and shifted over in to glance at the other cot in the room. Upon seeing that it was empty he had a slight panic attack, but he told himself that Naruto was probably just gotten hungry and left to get an early breakfast.
Rolling out of bed, he pulled off the shirt and trousers he has worn to bed and put on clean ones before tugging on his boots. Then, sighing and rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he made his way down the hall to the saloon.
"Morning," was his greeting from Lee as he pushed open the door.
"Morning… where's Naruto?" he asked uneasily, noticing that the green-clad man was the only body in the room besides himself.
"I'm not sure. Went up to deck, probably. There's a lot of work to do. Here, eat something. You're so thin." He pushed a plate of eggs towards Sasuke, who sat and ate them obediently.
After finishing his breakfast in silence he gulped down a cup of water then excused himself. Lee nodded and continued eating his own breakfast of bacon and beans.
Sasuke's first thought upon arriving on deck was that he should have grabbed something warmer to wear. The sky was overcast and the air was chilly. Just wanting to find Naruto, he ignored the cold and walked over to Shino. "Have you seen Naruto?" he asked.
"Why, yes. Just yesterday I saw him. We were at dinner and he was shovelling his potatoes-"
"Yeah." Sasuke interrupted, and then went to ask Neji the same question.
"I think he mentioned something about a piano while I trying to ignore him."
Sasuke nodded and rushed off to the room Naruto had shown him two days previous, leaving Neji alone to mumble. He knocked quietly on the door, but got no response. He knocked again, louder this time, but still there was no answer. Frowning, he opened the door to find that Naruto wasn't alone in the room. He was sitting at the piano, as Neji had said, while Sai was sitting on a nearby stool, painting scenery on the canvas.
Clearing his throat, Sasuke came in and sat down beside Naruto on the piano bench, in the corner furthest from the artist, who gave him a complacent smirk before returning to his painting.
"Found me, did ya?" Naruto laughed without looking away from his sheet music. Sasuke glared to little affect.
Naruto glanced at him fleetingly and said, "Don't look at me like that. Here, come 'n play." He slid over to make more room.
"I don't know how," Sasuke stated, still frowning.
Naruto gaped. "You mean your brother used to play for you all the time but never taught you?" Sasuke shook his head. "Not even the basics of music?"
"…My father wouldn't let him take precious time out of his practice to teach me," Sasuke revealed sadly.
Naruto sighed and turned back to the piano. "I'll teach you then," he said, wiggling his fingers over the keys and smiling.
Sai laughed from the other side of the room.
"What? Don't think I can do it?" Naruto questioned challengingly, slamming his fingers onto the piano, his smile effectively gone.
"No, I don't." Sai shook his head, continuing to laugh softly. "You can't do much."
"He can play," Sasuke interjected, turning his glare onto Sai.
"Impressive in itself, but I doubt he can pass his only skill onto someone else. Still, I'll tell you this…" He flicked his brush, getting little green splatters on Naruto's shirt, choosing to ignore the ensuing scowl. "Play me an enjoyable song this time tomorrow, and if I like it I'll take your deck swabbing duty for the next week."
"Seriously?" Naruto asked, sceptical. Sai nodded, smiling widely. "And if you don't like it?"
"Ah, my favourite part! - I get to move back into my room, and sonny here can bunk up with Kakashi."
The blond shook his head slowly. "I don't think so, Sai. Maybe-" he began.
"Let's do it."
"Sasuke…"
"I can do it. You can do it. I trust you." Besides, he very much wanted to see Sai squirm when they proved him wrong.
Naruto smiled and nodded, then took Sai's hand in his own. "You're on, pasty-face."
---
They spent the better part of the day practicing. Naruto taught Sasuke all the notes on the piano as well as the basics to reading sheet music, although he was still having difficulties with the latter. Mostly he just taught a short tune to Sasuke by getting him to memorize where and when to place his fingers on the keys, as it was quicker and seemed to be easier for the brunet to catch on to.
He spent most of the afternoon frustrated with himself, but by dinner Sasuke was pretty confident in the song he was learning: a beautiful duet Naruto had chosen. After Naruto had inhaled his daily four plates of dinner, they returned to the piano and made touch-ups to the song.
Naruto looked exceptionally delighted when they played through it perfectly for the first time. Sasuke hadn't been so proud of himself in a long time.
The next morning, after a filling breakfast, they returned to the piano room, this time with Sai and Shikamaru in tow. Naruto had insisted that someone else come so that Sai wouldn't lie and say that it was terrible in order to win, and, since Shikamaru was equally impartial to everyone, he had been chosen the unlucky one.
Sasuke found himself anxious as they sat down in front of the ebony piano. However, he was also confident in Naruto's teaching abilities as well as Shikamaru being fair in judgement. And so, when they began to play, he immediately forgot all about being nervous and focused only on the music.
The song was short but sweet, and when they were finished Naruto looked over to see a very defeated Sai sulking in the corner.
"Fuck… Another night of Kakashi's snoring ahead, I guess," Sai whined.
Naruto grinned broadly then heard a harsh snore in the room. Looking behind him he saw Shikamaru dozing against the wall, still on his feet.
---
That night when Sasuke was lying on his cot, trying desperately to get to sleep despite his discomfort, Naruto tiptoed into the room.
"You awake?" the blond whispered.
"Hn," was the sleepy reply.
"I've got something for you." Sasuke could practically hear the smile in his voice.
He sat up sluggishly and looked over at the blond, who was now sitting on his own bed and lighting the table lamp. "What is it?"
"This." He held out a small brown book. The word 'Beethoven' was printed in golden lettering across the top. "It's about the famous pianist. Since you seemed to enjoy playing so much, I thought you might like to have a look."
Sasuke took it, turning it over in his hands and smiled lightly. "Thanks."
---
When Naruto was sure Sasuke had fallen asleep he snuck out the room and into Shikamaru's across the hall.
"Where's Chouji?" he asked the smoking boy, taking a seat at the foot of the bed.
"Tidying the galley," he replied, blowing smoke from his mouth. "Where's Sasuke?"
"Sleeping."
After an awkward silence in which Naruto began tapping his foot, Shikamaru asked, "So what do you think of him?"
"Huh? Chouji?"
Shikamaru scoffed. "No, idiot; Sasuke."
"Oh! He's great." He smiled.
"Naruto… You can't possibly be thinking about going after that kid, can you?" Shikamaru asked monotonously, putting his cigar out on the wall.
"Wha-?! No!"
"Your eyes were sparkling just now. I know you. Don't lie."
"No! I'm not! I just mean he plays great!" the blond rushed to say. "I mean, did you hear us earlier? We're incredible together!"
"You mean you sound incredible together?" Shikamaru sighed.
The blond swallowed, face flushed. "Y-yeah. That!"
"Naruto…"
The room went quiet again. Shikamaru lit up another cigar and smoked in silence. Naruto's foot tapping increased rapidly until he blurted, "Okay, okay, I kinda like him! Alright? You happy now?"
Shikamaru blew out a puff of smoke and shrugged. "Not immensely."
---
It had been a week since Sasuke had roused, warm, dry and rescued from the storm. Though it hadn't been an extremely busy week, it was more action than Sasuke had experienced in a long while.
In the past week Sasuke had not only slept on a cot for the first time, but had also had the displeasure of throwing up in it almost every morning. There, and on the floor of his and Naruto's shared room. A total of eleven times he had thrown up, and only twice were over the side of the ship. One time, which Sasuke was still liberally apologizing for, he had thrown up not only on the freshly cleaned companionway, but all over Naruto as well. The burgundy rug had been spared.
In the past week Sasuke had experienced all kinds of different foods. He had eaten more strange things for breakfast alone than he had his entire life previous. He also experienced the ups and downs of alcohol. Although they were mostly downs, like discovering that alcohol was definitely not for him, he had also discovered that a drunken Captain was much easier to speak to than a sober one.
In the past week Sasuke had decided that he had made his second friend; Naruto. They had spent practically the entire week together. After waking up Naruto would spend the day teaching Sasuke more about ships, and telling him amusing anecdotes about the crew. They would play piano and eat meals together. And, before dinner, they would sit and watch the sunset.
The only part of the past week that Sasuke could say he didn't enjoy, besides the vomiting, had been one particular night after dinner when everyone had left the saloon but Naruto, Sasuke and Sai. Naruto had disappeared from the table into the kitchen for only a moment when Sai, still sore from losing the bet, had scooted closer to Sasuke on the bench.
"You should be aware that Naruto is not who you think he is," he had commented. When Sasuke had remained silent he continued. "The guy's a tease; he'll fuck anything on two legs before abandoning them for someone new. Don't get involved in anything if you can't handle the heartbreak." Then he was up and gone and hadn't spoken to Sasuke since.
The brunet hadn't mentioned anything to Naruto because he was sure the guy was just pulling his leg. Naruto, a tease? Sure, he was a bit teasing at times, but not a tease. And what did he mean by fuck and heartbreak? Did he think that he and Naruto were going to get together? Because that wasn't going to happen.
Naruto didn't think of Sasuke that way.
TBC
