The destruction & the capture
Chapter 4
Naruto woke up to the sound of loud footsteps, panicked screams and loud noise. When he opened his eyes, a golden and red glow could be seen in his room. 'What the hell…?'
He rubbed his eyes, still tired from the few hours of sleep and from his job.
A loud shrill made Naruto's eyes widen in surprise. He rushed to the window and barely his eyes registered the commotion he had to dodge an arrow, wrongly thrown in his room.
His head snapped to where the arrow was dangling on the wall and he gulped. That was a close one… it could have perforated his skull.
He slipped his sandals on and he ran to the street.
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His blue eyes were still wide. He couldn't take them from the horrible scenario. Pirates were attacking the villagers and the military force of Konoha miserably failing to protect them.
Blood was dripping from the pirate's swords. Violent sneers on their face and predatory glint for more death made Naruto's stomach churn. 'G-god, what's happening here?'
He dodged another arrow, yet this time, it looked poisonous, his sensitive scent could describe it was a mortal one. He knew they weren't joking here. He started running down the streets, dodging random involuntary attacks and funding himself with the shadows that the night provided.
Yet, he knew that with his appearance, he wouldn't last that long. He was like white on black, making a huge contrast between himself and the entire village.
He was terrified at least, pits of rage forming in his being as he saw death embracing many of the villagers and peasants. He rounded an alley, trying to escape the blood bath that was making him nauseous to the point of loosing consciousness.
He arrived at the docs and what he saw made him sigh in relieve and stress at the same time – all the young woman and children were there, 'guarded' by the pirates, two of them who Naruto immediately recognized as the red haired and blond men from the bar where he worked.
He noticed that they were forcing some of the prettiest women and small boys who held a promising future to embark. Naruto thought they were going to keep the women for them and make from the boys proud sailors. Yet, what he heard made his heart clench.
"This will make fine slaves, Hm."
"I don't understand why we'll take the boys and not the girls, Deidara."
"That's easy. Men today prefer little boys, Hm. I myself, do too."
The last sentence made Naruto almost gag. The pirates were repulsing. How could they even think about making them slaves? Did they knew how bad their 'masters' were to them? Well, Naruto knew because he had seen how rough was to be a slave when he was almost made one if not for the man with the red hair and red eyes that had bought him. Yet he didn't used him, he released him after with a flick on his forehead and with a 'be careful little one, you belong to someone else' and just like that, the man left.
Naruto had a plan – he was going to save them.
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The cerulean eyed blond waited until night was pitch black and there was no way to spot him easily as in day. Grieving for his Konoha, he was sure that almost all the men were dead, hopefully some refugees that took shelter.
He was still at the docs, in an alley behind a box that covered himself perfectly. With no one in view, only a few pirates on the ship, probably too drunk and distracted to even notice him climbing the board to enter the ship.
That's what he was doing now, climbing the creaking board, as silently as he could. He thanked heaven for his lightweight, as he didn't make much noise.
Silently stepping onto the ship he glanced at his left and he saw some pairs of stairs leading to where the captain could control the route of the ship.
On the right he saw a big compartment with two doors, certainly one leading to the corridors where the pirates' and captain's rooms were, and the other one maybe for… kitchen and other rooms?
Yeah, maybe it was that way. As he silently made his way to where the prisoners where supposed to be, he heard some laughing and some stumbling (maybe the drunks) and he quickly made his way to the 'door's underground compartment' and tried to open it quickly. Guess his luck wasn't on his side today – the 'door' was locked. 'Guess they aren't that stupid.'
'Someone has to have the keys.' He glanced at the drunks' pockets and sighed to himself. Way to easy, the left drunk that was singing with the other had them, from his spot, it was easy to sneak behind them and knock them both. That's what he did.
With silent footsteps, he hurriedly himself to them with a two bottles of… something…. and, standing behind them, a quick motion of his wrists made the bottles collide with their heads. 'Yes! Now, only to grab the keys…' He took them, and ran all the way to where the women and children were, some crying, and he opened the compartment.
With a hearty smile he reassured them. "It's okay now. You are free. Just hurry up and get out of here… Maybe out of the country too." He added as an afterthought.
The people looked at him mesmerized. Some of them recognized him, the most part of the women, and were glaring suspiciously at him. The kids were looking at him as he was their hero and were prepared to hug him to death.
He scooted himself up from his previously crouched position and ignored the still suspicious glares sent at him. It was no wonder, after all, some still hated him and they were in a stressful situation, being kidnapped and seeing your family being killed in front of you.
He ushered them to climb the stairs to the engulfing night. They didn't had much time left. He was sure the captain, whoever was, would notice the many footsteps on the boards.
As he turned around, he could see thanks to his sharp eyesight, the mob of pirates heading to the ship caring stuff (as food, clothes and weapons) that weren't theirs, far away.
He alarmed and told the prisoners to rush themselves to get out of the ship and hide themselves as well as possible. The women grabbed the children, even if they weren't theirs and headed as fast as they could out of the ship, Naruto always staying at a spot to be aware of the pirate's arrive.
When he glanced over, he felt frustrated – there were still boys on the ship, some crying silently for their mommies. Where were they anywhere? Maybe hiding. He ran over to one brunette 5 years old and smiled warmly as he could at him. "I'm going to take you to the gentle women over there okay? They will help you to find your mommy." The boy stopped crying and looked at him with green eyes and suddenly he latched himself at Naruto's neck. The blond took the chance and scooped him over, running as fast as he could to where he saw the group head – a small hospital, which gladly, seemed intact.
He entered the building and gently laid the boy on a chair and said to not make any noise and to head in search of any woman.
He ran with lighting speed to the ship – still more 4 kids to carry over there.
He scooped another crying kid to his chest and another to his back, caring him piggy-back style. It was faster this way.
His legs were aching, yet he ignored them, hewouldn't leave them there. He did the same to the two kids as he arrived at the hospital and they thanked him, making him smile. That was one of the rare times he got a 'thanks'.
He ran, and ran, his legs aching, his muscles screaming in protest and his tear soaked shirt (from the crying boy) clinging to him making him wince at the coldness.
He almost was seen by a pirate if not for his fast reflexes to hide in an alley. 'They're moving fast. Crap.'
Channeling the small amount of the stamina he had now in his body, his eyes gleamed with determination to save the kids, and dashed as silently as he could to the ship. Only caring one, his body already to its limits, he scooped almost the last boy to his back and shushed him soothingly from his crying.
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'Just… J-just one m-more…' he thought tiredly. His mind couldn't process more then one thought, only the raw determination guiding him to the last one. He took the kid by his hand, telling him everything was going to be alright without even thinking, and started climbing down the board.
"Sneaky little brat. You ruined our business!"
His breath hitched and he felt really dizzy at that moment. Looking down at him was a gruesome pirate – blue skin, golden eyes and dark blue hair. If not the circumstances and the time, he would have laughed on the man's face and point to him that he was actually blue, something impossible in the laws of nature.
Yet, he was trapped. The worse was that he was trapped with a kid inside. 'Oh god, please make it be that the fish man has a heart attack or drops dead… Please…'
Naruto glanced at the frightened boy in his 10 years who probably was afraid of the 'big shark'. He grasped the boy's hand harder, assuring him that he wasn't letting him alone.
"Move out of my way." Naruto fiercely glared at the giant man in front of him, which the other returned to the blond.
"Who do you think you are, midget?" He said, half making fun of him, half harshly.
Naruto looked at the right and then at his left. He was still down there, the boards of the deck above him. He sighed in frustration.
He let go of the boy's hand and told him to hide in a corner, and the kid obediently did as he was told.
Naruto took a fighting stance he knew too well. It was his own style of fighting, yet he knew every move he created and every combo he trained daily by heart and instinct. The man only shrugged his shoulders, took his Samehada (a big sword, looked ready to shred you in pieces), and took his fighting stance too.
The blue man made the first move, swaying his sword to chop off Naruto's legs. Yet, Naruto buckled rapidly and jumped above the sword, landing effortlessly and taking the change to swing his right feet to the shark man's stomach, trying to knock out the air out of him.
Naruto smirked when his kick connected yet, he frowned immediately when the man didn't even flinched – his stomach was rock. He glanced up into the golden eyes and smiled sheepishly. The man returned the smile, yet he grabbed Naruto's leg and let him dangle a bit, upside down. Naruto had no time to make his next move as he was tossed as a rag to the wall, knocking the breath out of him. He landed on a few boxes, adding pain on his sides. He clenched tightly his tummy and on shaky legs he lifted himself up. He glanced at the boy who was behind a box, silent tears falling over his cheeks.
Naruto glanced ahead of him and with little adrenaline and stamina he had left, he did a front flip and landed on a crouch, swinging his slim right leg underneath the blue man's feet, trying to knock him out of his feet. Yet his tentative failed as the huge man's leg lifted quickly and stepped on Naruto's right leg, spraining his ankle. Naruto winced in pain, yet he wouldn't give up.
He balanced his body on his two hands, rolled himself in front and lifting himself with a jump. He punched the man's chest, stomach, yet nothing. The man only flinched slightly. Nothing more. Naruto continue repeatedly punching him, trying to inflict some actual damage. When he pointed to his face, the shark-like man caught his hand in his bigger one and returned the punch to Naruto's face which such brutality that made Naruto stumble back, a bloodied sleeve already at his nose, adding the forming black eye.
This time, when he tried to lift himself up, he couldn't. His legs would always buckle beneath him and give away making his knees collide painfully with the creaking boards.
The man advanced to him, a sneer on his face, making some of Naruto's unpleasant memories resurface – the villagers, how they hated him, the beatings and the insults. The kids running from him with fear and some glaring and shoving him with hatred.
He pushed them back. He was too tired, exhausted to deal with that again.
The man grabbed a fist of his blond locks and pushed the bloodied and beaten boy to his feet, actually, his feet hovering above the ground. Naruto gritted his teeth in pain, feeling like his scalp was being ripped. The man's face inched closer to his, and examined his pained face, a pleasant smirk forming on his lips. "You're pathetic." The man's breath ghosting over Naruto's cheeks.
Those words made Naruto cringe harder. He knew they were true.
His internal pain seemed to please more the other.
He let go of his hair, making him stumble on the boards even more painful. He winced silently. He felt so weak. So useless. He couldn't protect even a kid, he couldn't protect even himself…
His eyes followed the man's steps as he went for the kid that was still 'hiding' on the corner behind a box. He struggled with himself. 'Get up. Get up. GET UP!' It was futile… his body wouldn't hear his brain's commands.
He feared for the boy as the man dragged the kid by his shirt's neck. The boy trashed hopelessly, yet stopped when the man gave him a low growl as a warning.
The blue man returned to where Naruto was, hovering over him and grabbed him by his arm, digging his nails into the soft young flesh, drawing blood. Naruto flinched slightly. It hurt really bad.
He was sometimes dragged and sometimes walked on his feet. The man mostly dragged him and the boy to the deck, where he saw, with reluctance, that some pirates were already very close to the ship, 2 or 3 already on the it and preparing for departure.
One of the very few that were on board, he recognized. It was the boy from the other day (Chapter 1 and 2) with the peacock's raven hair and pale skin.
The boy glanced at him without much importance, not even acknowledging his existence. 'Arrogant bastard. Yet, it's now his fault. Pirates don't have manners and I'm just… nobody.'
Sasuke walked away. He had a slight idea what Naruto was doing here, bloodied and broken with and angry Kisame. Maybe it was Naruto that had freed the slaves. Oh well, it was his own messy job. Yet, he felt a bit of pity for the boy…. His brother wasn't someone to mess with, not even in your dreams.
Naruto felt being tossed to the ground harshly, his back colliding with the ship's mast, knocking the breath out of his lungs. He glared fiercely at the man, his eyes burning with rage, yet his debilitated state didn't intimidate anyone. Kisame went down the basement and shuffled through some things. When he returned, he was holding two pairs of heavy looking handcuffs and Naruto had the chance to determine that they were really heavy as Kisame handcuffed him. He couldn't even lift a hand, and the handcuffs were not tight, on the contrary, they were a bit loose on his small wrists. He wriggled and tried to get them off his hand, yet he ended only with bruised wrists and hands.
He glanced at his side and sighed. The kid was still crying and Naruto was surprised that the boy had so much tears inside him. Maybe life was harsh for him. He sighed again. Life was harsh for everybody. Nobody had a perfect life. Perfect life didn't even exist.
He stopped struggling when he heard more footsteps on the deck. He looked above and saw some men sneering at him, others smirking predatorily and others smiling at him in a malicious way. Naruto gulped.
Then, he felt more than saw the last man entering the ship. The man irradiated power, wisdom and respect. A dark aura surrounded him and Naruto couldn't tore away his eyes from the man's. Blood. He had seen him before. Red blood eyes filled with… Nothing… Absolutely nothing. The more he looked into those eyes he could see less. They were hypnotizing.
The man stood on the deck, his eyes never leaving Naruto's. This boy intrigued Itachi since the first time he had seen him. He reminded himself of when he was younger… And in a way, as he is now. Years of experience gave him the advantage to see beneath masks. He knew Naruto had a mask, yet, he couldn't see what was beneath it, he had only saw what was on the surface. That's why the boy intrigued him.
Itachi's eyes 'disconnected' from Naruto's who made the boy blush for gaping stupidly at someone for such long, and his red eyes directed to Kisame's golden ones.
Kisame needed no more.
"Captain, it seems that the brat here" he tilted his head to Naruto "freed all the prisoners, all except one, who he was still in the process to free him."
Itachi listened carefully. And, hell was on loose. What were his guard men doing?! Didn't he ordered them to keep a tight watch on the slaves? They were going to be punished.
"Call Kotetsu and Hayate immediately." His voice made almost all pirates freeze, yet they tried to maintain their composure. They knew how much Itachi hated weakness.
"Aie aie, Captain!" With that, he opened one of the doors and dragged the unfortunate to their Captain.
"Shall I even ask what were you doing during your watch duty?" he asked coldly making Kotetsu and Hayate gulp.
"Y-you see, C-Captain… We were j-just c-celebrating…" Kotetsu abruptly shut up at seeing Itachi's genkai spin slightly.
"Pathetic excuse. You shall be whipped 30 times tonight, including scrubbing duty without sleep. Tomorrow you shall be whipped 30 more times and you shall not sleep this week until I give you permission." Both winced mentally. Itachi was very harsh on his punishments, yet the guard duty was left only to them, and what did they do? They drank themselves until they couldn't even distinguish their wife from their sister (if they had).
"Y-yes, Captain. We shall retreat now, with your authorization." Hayate said.
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"Where are the others?" Kisame interrogated Naruto. Their Captain still wanted to gain profits by selling slaves. In these days, they were worth as gold for some customers, if the slave was in the customer's taste.
"The hell I'm saying!" Naruto spat angrily.
Kisame quirked and eyebrow – the kid still had the energy to shout. Itachi was not very far from them, watching intently the interrogation. Mostly of the crew made a circle around Kisame, Naruto and the boy.
"I'm asking again" He lifted the boy by the hem of his shirt "Where are the other slaves?"
Naruto glared a whole on Kisame's head. "And I'm going to say it again. The. Hell. I'm. Saying!" He was roughly pushed against the mast, his ribs making some nasty cracking sounds. Some of the pirates surrounding them were laughing at the boy's idiocy.
"Kisame. Drop the boy." He said icily and Kisame 'happily' complied. He looked at Itachi in a waiting manner. Itachi advanced towards Naruto who was now cringing at his sore bottom. The raven haired man inched closer until his breath caressed Naruto's face, making the blond blush at the proximity and turn his head to the side.
The red eyed man grabbed Naruto's chin between his index finger and thumb and turned his eyes to face him. Naruto's blush deepened. No one had ever looked at him with such intensity. Itachi smirked. He now knew a little more about the blond boy. He had a weakness… A very dangerous one. He cared too much for others.
He took his hand away and turned his back at him. "If you will not tell us where did you hide the women and children, the young one will die." He tilted his head to the side, his Sharingan facing Naruto.
Naruto's eyes widened. 'Omg… What should I do now?!" He glanced at the sleeping (because of exhaustion) kid and then his gaze burned into the boards. What should he do? Risk a life for many or deliver the location of the others and be sold as slaves? His brain was thinking hard, tiredness long forgotten. A pained expression could be read on his face as he thought. He… didn't know what to do…
Itachi smirked again (the blond seemed to make Itachi smirk more times in a day than he would in a week). The boy was debating himself. He had to admit, it was a difficult decision. His crew seemed to even ponder about the fact, the whispers between them giving them away immediately.
Naruto thought harder... and harder… and harder, until his head started hurting badly. His gaze was fixed again into those red pools, and then to the boy's surprisingly still sleeping frame. He couldn't decide… Why was everything on him?
"I choose none." He said defiantly, now his gaze never leaving Itachi's slightly amused one.
"So, you choose to let the boy be killed? My, my, so insensitive." Naruto snorted at Itachi's sarcasm. He was he insensitive one… Right.
Kisame on the other hand was a bit surprised to see his boss being sarcastic in such a long time.
"So shall it be." Itachi drew his katana out of its hilt and advanced towards the sleeping boy. Only a few steps were required to be near the little form. He grabbed the boy by his hair jerking him awake. Brown eyes filled with fear and tears as he felt an unfamiliar feeling of a knife near your neck.
Naruto jerked, not believing that a boy was going to be killed right in front of him and because of him. "N-no! Stop it!" He shouted in a pained voice. Itachi looked at him emotionless.
"Well, have you decided?"
"P-please… I'll exchange my life for his. Just let him leave!" Naruto bit the inside of his cheek. His heart clenched. He was going to die… Yet, Itachi didn't seemed satisfied.
This time, he bit his tongue as the next sentence was forced to escape from his mouth, almost not being able to say it. Yet, he forced it even more out when he saw a thin trail of blood sliding down the boy's neck. Itachi's pressure was growing.
"I-I'll do everything you please, and you can do anything you want with me… I don't care… Just… Please, leave him free and well." His blue eyes softened when looking at the boy's face.
"Very well. You should remember every word you said… For you are going to be my slave." Naruto's eyes widened in horror, his mouth opened in a small shocked 'o'.
Itachi let go of the small boy and nodded to Kisame who took the boy and dragged him out of the ship. "We shall depart now." Itachi commanded to his crew, who in return, took their posts and started preparing the departure.
Naruto looked to the skies, now filled with dark clouds. His eyes wandered to the flag, where he could see a white and red fan. 'Shadow Ship… I have heard many tales of it, yet I never truly ought to believe all of them…' he felt a small drop on his nose and he felt rain start pouring softly over him, making his hair flat and his tears unknown.
Itachi scooped Naruto up and brought him inside. Calling a servant, he told him to clean him and bring him to his study. He tried to give Naruto a 'comforting' smile and Naruto automatically gave him a small smile of his own that didn't reach neither his eyes, neither his face.
Itachi went to his study. He had a lot to plan and to do tonight.
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Quizz
(level difficulty from 1 to 5)
Difficulty level: 1,9
- When Deidara and Sasori mentioned their 'captain', who do you think their captain could be?
Response: Certainly, almost everyone answered this question correctly! Congrats! It was Itachi! (you can see it from this chapter!)
Difficulty level: 5
- Naruto has extremely good senses. Why? (this one is really really difficult, so don't be afraid to say 'because he eats onions' or something like that)
Response: Kyuubi (the read haired and read eyed man from Naruto's memories) gave Naruto a necklace. I'm just going to tell you it is the necklace. All things in its due time, right? Congrats for those who tired and for those who actually got to the point! Well done ☺
I'm stuck… so I need your help. Yep, yours only. I want to make this fic a Kyuunaru, because I thought it would be way better than Itanaru. I'm not implying that Itanaru doesn't rock and that Kyuunaru is way better, I'm saying that in this fic, with the plot I have in mind, Kyuunaru would definitely be more exciting and different at the same time. That's where I need your help… I need your vote to see which pairing you would like. But, think about it, don't say immediately that you want Itanaru because you've never read before a Kyuunaru or you think that that is bestiality. No. Kyuubi will be a really hot man, better saying, a demon with the ability of transforming in human form.
I'm more leaned at Kyuunaru. Yet, you as a reader have the right to choose.
So, please think carefully about it, read some Kyuunaru if you don't have the slightest idea how the pairing copes.
Well… Please start voting as soon as you read this, because, the sooner the votes come, the sooner the chapter will be finished!
Voting:Starts at 9th August and ends at 13th August
Kyuunaru
Itanaru
(Make it your choice)
