The Wanderers
Bonus Chapter – A Long, Long, Long Voyage
A/N: I know they've been out of the story for a while, but this should explain why. And yes, some of this chapter is ridiculous. It's a Bonus Chapter, so that comes with the territory. So don't take much of this chapter seriously, just enjoy it. And yes, there is some shameless stuff in here.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, people would DANCE!
Naruto's arms burned as he swam through the ocean, he could be feel the salt water slam into his eyes painfully. His lungs stung at the lack of oxygen, though he would hardly considered himself to be at his limit. It was the same thing every day, but Naruto never felt like it was enough.
After a few minutes his lungs screamed out for air and he emerged from the ocean with a powerful kick of his feet. His throat stung painfully as air rushed down to his lungs and he performed a flip in the air to land on the ocean surface, using chakra to steady himself on the ebbing waves.
Naruto took one breath after the other, feeling his strength rejuvenate as the sea breeze blew through his blonde hair. It was moments like this that he enjoyed the most.
Well, for the most part.
It was difficult to tell with the raging waters around him, but Naruto turned around as he heard an out of place splash. He saw a large dark figure moving rapidly towards him under the water surface, one that would reach him in moments.
Naruto couldn't see land anywhere, but that wasn't unusual considering how long he had been swimming so he wasn't so concerned.
The shadow leapt out of the water at him, revealing itself as a giant over-sized shark bearing rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth. It aimed to bite the blonde shinobi's head off, though Naruto could see that it would just swallow him whole.
He wasn't going to let that happen, of course.
Naruto kicked at the air in front of the shark's face, sending a crescent of wind spiritual energy to drive the shark high into the air. He teleported just underneath the flying shark and threw an uppercut into the shark's stomach.
The shark flew up even higher as Naruto continued to throw uppercuts, ignoring the tired muscles in his arms as the spiritual energy flowed out of him far easier than chakra could.
By the time he had landed the fifth strike, he couldn't see the ocean beneath him anymore, and the shark was practically in the clouds.
"Okay, maybe that was a bit excessive…"
With his momentum spent, Naruto began to fall back to the ocean, his arms crossed over his chest as he was trying to work out what he should do in this situation.
I guess I haven't tested that in a while…
Dismissing his spiritual energy, Naruto pushed out his hands and legs and hardened himself as much as possible with physical energy. He was falling at a frightening rate, but Naruto felt confident that his technique would prevent any harm that the fall would deal.
About a hundred metres from the ocean's surface, Naruto regretted thinking with such hubris.
oOoOoOo
Naruto dragged himself up the wooden side of the war galley, trying his best not to use chakra to stick to the surface and failing. With one final gasp he hurled himself onto the deck, panting heavily as his muscles ached from the running across the water he had done to get to the ship.
He glanced up to see a pair of black boots in front of his face. He didn't have to see the rest of her to guess the look that the captain of the ship was giving him.
"Permission...to come aboard...captain?"
The Dread Lady's captain scowled and tapped one of her boots on the side of his head, "Even for you kid, this is just sad."
She took a step back and stared up at the crow's nest, placing a hand to her mouth. "Oi! Shinobi girl! Your idiot of a husband is back!"
From the wooden floor, Naruto smiled with a sigh before losing consciousness.
"What a pain in the ass," said Grace, running a hand through her hair before scratching at her eye patch. She watched as a figure jumped out of the crow's nest and slowly floated down to the deck of the ship, looking like she had a pair of invisible wings.
"How's the fleet?" she asked, as Hinata's feet touched the deck and she smiled down at her husband's passed out form.
Ignoring Naruto for the moment, the white-eyed shinobi nodded to the captain of the ship, "The captain of the Flux has recovered from his bout of scurvy, and the Righteous Fury has counted that the last take was four thousand and ninety seven."
Upon hearing those numbers, an evil grin came over Grace's face. She reached out and patted Hinata on the shoulder, "Good work. Ulysior should be presenting his report in half an hour, so I want you to read that and get back to me." She indicated to the body beneath the two of them with a thumb, "Might want to take care of that first though."
Hinata chuckled and reached down to pick up her smiling husband, hefting him over her shoulder like he weighed nothing before smiling back at her captain.
"The crew is talking again by the way."
Grace groaned, placing a hand on the sword hilt at her belt, "I told them I'm not interested. A title like that is meaningless."
Her Hyuuga subordinate grinned and looked over at the five ships that were sailing beside the Dread Lady, "Even pirates want someone to look up to. You shouldn't have been such a good commander."
"Go away now, little girl. Give me the report when you see it."
The next day, sitting under the cover of the cabins, Naruto took a slurp of the stew in his hands, wincing before placing it down next to him.
Still tastes like crap. How she thinks that man can cook is beyond me.
He looked over at the deck, noting that the heavy rainfall wasn't relenting at all. It wasn't the first storm they had sailed through, though it did make navigation difficult.
"Watching the rain?" came Hinata's voice behind him, rubbing a hand on his neck before sitting down beside him.
Naruto nodded, leaning over to peck her on the cheek before threading his fingers into her hand. "It's nice today. Almost feels like we have no cares in the world."
His wife chuckled, kissing his hand for a moment before taking a step forward, running her hand down her front to undo the zip. "Can you hold my jacket?"
"Gonna do more practise?"
She nodded, stepping out into the pouring rain. "The final form is tricky, and this storm is perfect conditions."
Wearing her mesh shirt and purple pants with no shoes on, Hinata walked into the middle of the empty deck and placed her hands up to her sides.
"Hakke: Arashitai no Odori." (Eight Trigrams: Dance of the Storm)
Her hands began to move in circles around her body, as she dragged her bare feet along the drenched war galley deck, her hair flying around in slow motion. The large globes of water started to follow her hands, forming into a long stream of water that she moved with acute amounts of chakra.
As her movements quickened the rain that fell around her appeared to move much slower than the rain that was slamming into the deck around her, kicking up with her feet in deliberate motions that didn't appear to be doing anything.
She flicked her hands sporadically, moving with a grace that only a dancer could hope to achieve. The stream of water under her control grew in size with each drop of water, but with each flick of her hand she shot a part of it out into the distance with immense speed.
Hinata continued to push her feet out and around, concentrating harder as small pockets of air started to be pushed away in deliberate movements.
For fifteen minutes she practised her technique, moving water around with expert precision and chakra, while using her spiritual energy to send out sharp waves of condensed air.
From his seated position, Naruto swelled with pride at his wife's demonstration. He knew he would never have that level of control, and he wasn't ashamed of that at all. Hinata had her strengths, and he had his.
Theirs was a marriage of equals.
Once her practise was done, Hinata walked back up to Naruto, her hair and clothes drenched in water and a wide smile on her face.
"It looks like you've got the hang on it," commented Naruto, his eyes unable to take themselves from her drenched face. Even after dating her for two years and being married to her for another two, he was still head over heels attracted to the blue haired shinobi. Her smile always set him off.
"Thank you, honey." She reached forward and kissed him lightly, smiling with her eyes before stepping back and stretching her arms out. "Can you dry me off?"
Naruto nodded and put up an open hand in her direction. With concentration that he wouldn't have been able to perform years ago, he sent a small burst of air at her drenched body. Hinata used chakra to attach herself to the deck of the ship as her hair flew backwards with the edges of her shirt and pants, drying her in an instant.
Hinata sighed happily; it was a nice breeze, if a bit strong. She cracked her neck softly before running her hands through her long blue hair, it was better than any hair dryer, though she was grateful that he had left some dampness in her hair.
"You're on duty now?"
Her husband nodded, standing up slowly with a depressed look on his face, "Everyone else is inside, and I want to get some more training in."
Hinata placed a hand on his chest and lightly kissed him on the lips, leaning her forehead onto his. "That seems like all you have been doing. You can relax at times, you know."
With a soft chuckle, Naruto rubbed at her hand for a few moments before kissing her and walking into the rain.
Hinata picked up her jacket and threw it over her shoulders, watching as her husband looked up at the rain for a few moments before turning his head slightly to look at her.
"We have to be ready when we get back, Hinata. The others are going to need our help, and I don't want to let them down."
Hinata smiled proudly, though she felt the same way.
We'll get home one day, Naruto. One day.
The tension was clear in the air as the grinning toothless pirate pushed his chips into the middle of the dirty table. "All in."
A shirtless pirate beside him glanced at his cards for a moment before throwing them down in disgust, turning to the only other player still in the round.
Looking at the cards on the table, the other player knew what her hand was, so she stared at the toothless pirate without a word. Her white eyes were something you had to get used to, but in a game like this he couldn't afford to give anything away.
"Just throw them in, missy. You can't beat my hand."
She placed her hands together slowly, rubbing her fingers together.
He's probably bluffing, but it's not worth the risk, even with my chip lead. I can take this much.
With grace that seemed out of place on the pirate ship, Hinata pushed her cards into the middle, folding the pot to the toothless pirate.
He looked at her for a moment before dropping his cards into the middle, flashing a pair of Aces before they fell into the pile of cards. "Damnit, you don't crack easy, do you little girl?"
"Not if I don't need to, Guji." Hinata watched another player pick up the cards and begin shuffling while she mentally counted how many chips she still had left. With that pot she had fallen beneath another threshold, which only meant one thing.
"I'm below 800. Which do you want?"
The pirate called Guji stared at her with his ugly grin for a few moments before pointing to her shoulders, "The jacket."
She smiled sweetly at him for a moment before reaching forward to undo the zip of her jacket. With deliberate dramatisation she shouldered it off and turned in her chair slightly to hang it off the edge. Sitting in her chair with her usual smile on her face, Hinata still wore a white shirt and mesh undershirt, but judging from the reactions from the men at the table she could tell they were already beginning to enjoy themselves more.
"Let's keep playing," said the dealer, handing them their cards quickly.
Hinata glanced down at the two cards she'd been dealt, a King of Hearts and a Three of Clubs. A rubbish hand most of the day, but as the big blind she saw no reason to not enter the pot with the other five players, she was feeling like playing today.
The first three cards were dealt onto the table, with the small blind checking in the dark. A Three, a Four and a Nine, all Hearts. Ever the student of hiding her emotions, Hinata kept her happiness to herself, this would be a fruitful hand.
Known as an aggressive player that likes to play a lot of pots, Hinata made a medium-sized bet, one that was called by two of the five remaining players, including Guji. The next card was dealt, a Three of Spades.
Now Hinata knew she must have the best hand, and made a small value bet on the pot. The pirate beside her called her bet, while Guji raised her four times more than her bet.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" she asked, fishing for information. He was a more aggressive player than she was, but was also known to be quite wily at times.
He said nothing back to her, but considering she already had a set and was close to a King-high flush, it was worth the risk. She pushed in the chips to call the bet, with the other pirate folding his hand.
The last card was dealt, a Jack of Hearts.
Hinata checked, confident that she could trap him when he bet. Surprisingly he checked as well, indicating that she should be the first to show her hand. The Hyuuga heiress flipped her hand with a smile, surely that was enough to beat him.
Guji grinned when he saw her cards and slowly flipped over his, revealing an Ace of Hearts with an irrelevant secondary card, winning the pot.
Hinata sighed loudly, she hadn't been expecting that. With that hand lost, she was down to less than half her starting stack, making her the biggest loser at the table so far.
"Why didn't you bet there?" demanded one of the other pirates, "You could have taken more of her stack!"
"If I had bet heavily there, she would have sensed the strength of my hand and folded."
"It was the same result anyway!"
"Don't you tell me how to play!"
Staring down at her dwindled chip stack, Hinata let out a short sigh, hoping that Naruto didn't come in at this moment.
Guji collected his chips and turned to her with a lustful look in his eyes. "You ready?"
She looked down at her shirt; this was going to be troublesome.
The door to the cabin shot open and the captain of the ship stomped inside, slamming her boots onto the table and scattering some of the poker chips. "What's all this then? Playing poker without me? This is mutiny!"
"You weren't around, captain," said Guji quickly, as Hinata was mid-way through taking her white shirt off. "We were bored."
Grace slammed a hand onto the table beside her boots, "Just because it's raining doesn't mean you get to slack off. Now deal me in before I put you below deck for insubordination."
The other pirates nodded quickly and scrambled to add their captain to the game, while she turned to Hinata with a raised eyebrow. "You've been losing?"
The Hyuuga shinobi smiled awkwardly, placing her shirt to the side and flipping her long hair so that it fell straight down her back. "It hasn't been a good start."
"Well, if we are playing that way..." Grace took her boots off the table and threw off her shirt and jacket in a single motion, tossing them to the wooden floor and letting the other pirates glare at her intently.
The captain winked at Hinata with a smirk, "Let's teach these boys a lesson."
Hinata grinned back; she enjoyed the captain's company. Though she did sometimes wish she wore a bra though, since the other pirates seemed to have little interest in actually playing cards now.
oOoOoOo
An hour later the door to the cabin opened again and Naruto walked in with his body shivering, his clothes drenched in rain. He looked up at the table with a dull expression on his face. The five male pirates that had been playing where all reduced to one item of clothing, with three of them being socks. The captain of the ship was draining a mug of beer and slamming her boots into the wooden floor to some unknown beat in her head, uncaring about the chilly temperature in the room as she sat with just her underwear on.
Naruto's gaze was immediately drawn to his wife, and he wasn't sure how he was meant to react. She held her cards in one hand, with the other across her chest to salvage some form of dignity at her lost clothing, though he was pleased that she was at least still wearing underwear even with her legs crossed.
Hinata looked up him with an apologetic look on her face, having hoped that she could have turned her luck around before he came back from his duties.
Her husband made no comment, pulling up a chair beside her and waiting for Guji to deal him in. He picked up his cards and looked at them before gazing at the table.
"So, what are we playing?"
The next morning, Naruto stretched out his arms in the sunlight as his wife folded up his shirt and placed it on her legs as she rocked back and forth on her chair.
"You sure you are ready for today, boy? I ain't gonna take it easy on you just because you haven't been sleeping lately."
Naruto grinned and slapped at his bare chest dramatically before putting out his arms towards the approaching captain of the ship. "This is nothing, cap. We had a deal, right?"
Grace rolled her eyes and drew her sword from her belt, flicking it a few times before aiming it at the ground. "You are dumber than spit, you know that?"
Clapping his hands together, Naruto readied himself for their fight. While Grace planned to use her sword to fight him, Naruto was determined to complete his technique for barehanded fighting.
Summoning his spiritual energy, Naruto activated his Kattoken style and took up a stance.
Grace grinned and leapt at him, swinging her sword at his neck. Naruto put up an arm to block the blade, the steel sparking against the swirling wind energy surrounding his arm. He tried to strike at her exposed stomach, but the captain of the Dread Lady pushed down with the hilt of her sword to push away his fist and stabbed at his face rapidly.
Naruto dodged away from the sharp steel, wary of the fact that despite this being a sparring match she would happily skewer him and leave him for dead. He jumped back to avoid a sweeping strike at his stomach and punched at the air towards Grace, sending two spiralling blasts at her.
Not one to dodge that much, Grace simply slashed at the blasts with her blade, causing the steel to shake for a moment while the spiritual energy spun harmlessly away from her.
"You don't have a good imagination, do you?" she said with a smirk.
Naruto sighed and stood back in a defensive position, "It's hardly my fault you know my techniques so well. That would work against most opponents."
"I'm not most opponents." Grace placed her hand behind her belt, watching Naruto patiently for a few moments before jumping towards him with her sword held in a classic fencing position.
As Naruto prepared to defend himself against her thrust, he flinched as he saw her flick five small daggers at his chest. Seeing that he wasn't going to be able to block them all with his Kattoken, he decided that he needed to change his battle plan.
He cancelled his spiritual energy technique, manipulating his body so that he took the initial thrust of her sword in his shoulder, while only two of the daggers struck him in the stomach. The moment her blow struck home, Naruto reactivated his Kattoken to cover his whole body in a single flash. The wind power blew the sword out of her hands and sent her flying, with Naruto teleporting behind her and driving her into the deck of the ship.
Ignoring his deep wounds, Naruto placed a fist in front of her face, with large wind blasts flying around his hand. "I got you."
Grace grinned under his fist, even while pressing a dagger at the blonde shinobi's throat. "Not bad kid, not bad. Still a ways to go yet though."
Her opponent smirked, cancelling his Kattoken and standing up with a grimace, wrenching her sword out of his shoulder and handing it back to her.
"It's still not perfect…"
Grace picked herself up and sheathed her sword before waving over the young man's wife to come and heal him. "That was pretty dull, for a first fight."
Naruto chuckled and smiled at his wife as she removed the daggers from his chest and healed his wounds quickly. "I'm not done yet…"
The captain of the ship sighed at his stamina and yelled at a nearby crewman to bring her another sword. While she admitted that he was a better overall fighter than she was, but his sword techniques were abysmal.
If he was going to be a good pirate, he would need to be able to at least fight against swords better, and she was determined to continue beating techniques into his thick skull.
Besides, beating him up was all there was to do when they weren't busy on the large oceans around them. They were still nowhere closer to getting the two of them home.
Naruto collapsed onto his double-bed, his shirt discarded in a nearby basket. He sighed loudly and spread out on his stomach, their bed was surprisingly comfortable considering the ship they were on.
"Long day?" came Hinata's voice behind him, closing the door to their personal cabin.
Her husband grunted into a pillow, making a motion to his wife before continuing to do nothing at all.
For a few seconds he didn't hear a response back from her, until he felt a nice sensation down the middle of his back. He breathed out slowly and relaxed completely, feeling Hinata sit down beside him and place both her hands on his back.
"How much longer do you think we'll be doing this?" Hinata kissed the back of his neck before slowly tracing her fingers over his shoulder blades.
Naruto sighed at her light touch; she knew exactly how to work out his muscle strains, one of her more exceptional skills. "It's been over two years..."
"Do you think we'll ever get home?" Her fingers found the tense muscles in his back, working them out with the affection that only a wife could produce.
Her husband gave her no response; he was too caught up in enjoying the massage. She smiled above him and moved her hands to his lower back, the touch causing Naruto to shiver and made a noise he had never made before.
Hinata stopped massaging him and leaned her head down closer to her husband's, "Naruto...did you just..."
"You heard nothing," said Naruto stubbornly, his head buried into the pillow to hide his embarrassment. He tried to struggle on the bed, but Hinata swung her legs over him and trapped him under her weight.
"Now this is interesting…" she said with a low purr. Since their small wedding ceremony they had become very comfortable with each other, and Hinata had developed a full confidence in their relationship, so this kind of physical connection came easily to her now.
She carefully pushed her fingers up the centre of his back, feeling all the little knots and rips in her husband's muscles. "Naruto, how come these bruises haven't healed yet?"
Naruto moved his head slightly so that he could talk properly, "The Kyuubi…oh that feels nice…said that I…he isn't going to…" He moved his head back to cover the sound that came out of his mouth, but Hinata heard it perfectly.
The young woman smiled and leaned down to kiss his bare back, "That's pretty cute, Naruto."
"No it's not…it's not manly at all…"
She began kissing across his back, taking as much care as she pleased. "They aren't girly moans, darling. I think they are quite manly."
His voice was mumbled by the pillow, but as Hinata continued to massage and kiss his back Naruto couldn't help but relax completely and enjoy the experience. "It still feels weird though…"
The tips of Hinata's hair fell onto his back as she leaned forward and kissed at the side of his neck, working her way methodically until she reached his ear. Naruto gripped his fingers on the sides of the bed, still trying to resist letting himself go completely.
In a slow motion his wife reached up and lightly bit his ear, sending a massive shiver up Naruto's back. Unable to restrain himself, Naruto moaned louder than before, clutching at the sides of the bed tightly while biting his lips.
Hinata wasn't going to relent though, taking another light bite of the tip of his ear while pressing her hands down the middle of his back. She didn't have to use chakra to stimulate the nerves in his back; she knew where each of his sensitive spots were and how to make him feel as nice as he did.
After nearly a minute of teasing, Naruto decided he had had enough.
In a single motion he spun around and flipped his wife onto her back, holding her wrists with one hand and staring at her smiling face with a hungry look in his eyes.
Hinata wasn't scared at all by his actions; it was strangely exciting that after two years they were still physically crazy for each other. His grip on her wrists was tight, but not painful, and Hinata sighed in pleasure as he ran his hands over her stomach under her shirt.
"I love you," she whispered, but Naruto was too preoccupied to hear her. She tried to say it again, but gasped as he started to get his revenge on her.
She didn't even care anymore that the door to their cabin was still open.
Staring through her spyglass, an evil smile grew on the captain's face. "Well isn't that a lovely sight?"
Naruto and Hinata emerged from their cabin, curious looks on their faces as they saw the majority of the crew gathered on the main deck of the ship.
Grace closed her spyglass and turned to her first mate, "Pull the crew from the oars and take up the rigging. I want everyone ready five minutes ago, or I'm cutting rations."
Her toothless first mate nodded and started barking orders at the pirates around, while Naruto and Hinata came up to Grace through the chaos of moving bodies.
"What's going on?" asked Hinata softly, the two of them had just woken up so they were still fairly tired.
Grace pointed with a long sleeved arm to a section of ocean to starboard, "What do you think, missy? What have we been doing for the past two years?"
Naruto's eyes lit up at the prospect, but a single glance from his wife reminded him of the vow they had made before embarking on the ship. He let out a short sigh and placed his hands together, "Shall I take the oars then?"
"Do it, but keep it at an easy pace." Grace turned to Hinata, "You've got the defence of the ship. If I catch you cleaning my cabin again…"
Hinata smiled slightly, watching as dozens of Naruto clones ran towards the staircase leading below deck. "I wouldn't dream of it. Are you capturing or destroying?"
Grace stared at the ship she had spotted, wary of the fact that it ran up a pirate flag similar to her own. They were still in unknown territory, so she didn't want to take any chances. Her fleet had grown in size since departing the Quiraji homeland enough to sate her greed for the time being.
"No quarter men!" she called out, causing a roar of approval to run through the pirate crew that had gathered on the deck.
Hinata watched as the pirates of their crew pulled out their weapons and began hyping themselves up for battle, while her husband looked at them longingly before moving back to her side and nodding to their captain.
"Everything is ready, Grace."
The one-eyed pirate glared at him angrily before slowly pulling out her gold hilted sword, "Call me captain while we are working, you maggot. Turn us to point, and signal the fleet to surround the enemy ship."
Naruto and Hinata both nodded and went about their duties, while the pirates prepared themselves for the reason they had embarked on the Dread Lady in the first place.
oOoOoOo
Naruto sighed loudly as the young married couple watched the fires and explosions on the enemy ship from the Dread Lady.
Hinata turned to him with a sad look, "Naruto, I know it's frustrating, but you know why we can't help them."
"It's not that," said Naruto, though that wasn't a debate they hadn't had before.
"Is it because you haven't been sleeping well lately?"
Her husband nodded, pressing his fingers lightly on his temples. "It's getting worse. I think the Kyuubi is bored."
"Naruto, what is going on? Why were you keeping this to yourself?"
Naruto groaned, rubbing his fingers on his head sorely, "It wasn't so bad at first. Mostly just messing with my vision and hearing. But now, it's singing Bink's Sake."
"Oh, I love that song, it's really catchy."
Naruto groaned and indicated to the bow of the ship with a thumb, "Not when it's the ninety third time."
Hinata could sympathise with his pain, but a part of her found that quite funny. Despite herself, she stifled her giggle and patted him on the shoulder supportively. "It's okay, Naruto. Why don't you offer to give back its paintings, or give it fresh water again?"
"Never!" said Naruto with a horrified expression on his face. "After what it did, I refuse to give it that level of freedom."
His wife rolled her eyes; there were times when the blonde shinobi could be so stubborn. She didn't have to use her Byakugan to see that the battle on the other ship was going well; the pirates would be back soon.
"Naruto, you should bring the ship around, they'll be done soon."
Her husband nodded and stood up from his seat, stretching before reaching out and punching at thin air. He stepped back with a satisfied look on his face before turning around and kissing his wife lightly and going down below deck to yell orders at his clones.
oOoOoOo
Grace barely acknowledged the two shinobi as they entered her captain, shutting the wooden door behind them. When building the ship, they had made her cabin the largest and most extravagant, and even though Grace didn't like the idea of having a lot of her possessions in one area, she had settled right in.
Maps of the areas they had sailed across were struck to the walls, surrounded by a variety of weapons that made Naruto extremely jealous. It wasn't there first time in her cabin, Grace was quite an open pirate despite her personality, but every time they did there was always an aura of power within.
"Did you get good stuff from the enemy ship?" asked Naruto, always curious about the raids that the crew conducted.
Grace nodded her head to a chest sitting in corner next to her bed, "Enough for the losses we took. We'll have to do some repairs on the deck of the Dread Lady, and the sails could use replacing, so we should be afloat for a while longer."
"That's good to hear," said Hinata, thankful that they were able to keep going.
For a few moments they didn't say anything, while Grace drained the remainder of the rum bottle in her hand. She slammed the bottle onto the table and wiped her mouth before taking her feet off the table and crossed her legs so that they couldn't see up her short skirt.
"The captain of the other ship had something that I think the two of you might be interested in."
Both Naruto and Hinata frowned, that could be any number of things. While they didn't have the pirates love for treasure, they had developed their own hobbies on their long voyage.
It was something he had only started developing since embarking on the Dread Lady, but Naruto had started carving little wooden figurines. There cabin was full of them. He'd even made little battle scenes and chess board pieces.
Hinata, on the other hand, had developed a penchant for fine wine and rum, which caused endless amusement for her husband, since he still occasionally called her an heiress. As shinobi they could drink with the best of them on the ship, though Naruto was yet to see his wife anywhere near tipsy.
However it wasn't either of those things as Grace pushed a closed scroll towards them with a serious expression on her scarred face.
"It's sketchy, but considering how much he spat out before we skewered him, I'd say it is legitimate."
Naruto and Hinata shared a look for a moment before Naruto reached down and opened the scroll so they could both look at it.
Wide smiles grew on their faces as they realised what they had just found. Hinata looked over the details while Naruto nodded to Grace, who already knew what they wanted to do.
"What are your orders then, captain?" asked Naruto, clenching his fists in anticipation.
Author's Note:
Despite being ridiculous, this is what Naruto and Hinata have been up to for the past two years. They'll be back, of course, but not quite yet. They have their parts to play, but the focus is currently on Neji and the Kages.
I don't doubt I've bitten off more than I can chew with this story, but it's too fun for me to change the direction I've taken it in. I don't know how many more chapters there will be, but it's likely that it'll go past 60. I know the ending and how it will play out, that is pretty much set in stone.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to take each review into account, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.