Diamonds and Pearls
Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews. Well so far Itachi and Naruto are viewed by the majority of people as being a better fit to make the first move. Itachi doesn't surprise me, though the hilarious Naruto/Sasuke explanations did. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Privateer: Basically these people are more or less doing the same thing as pirates, but they have been hired by someone to do so. Queen Elizabeth I is famous for using them.
Chapter 3
A few hours later, Naruto sighs when the messenger pigeon arrives. He quickly reads the note attached to its foot. He couldn't put it off any longer, the blonde knew he was going to have to talk to Sasuke.
"Sasuke!" He calls out as he knocks on the raven haired pirate's cabin door.
Sasuke rises to his feet and heads to the door. He wasn't surprised that it was Naruto at this point. He recognized the Captain's voice and knew that any pirate worth their salt wasn't going to let Sasuke's challenge go unanswered. The younger Uchiha was fully expecting a confrontation and mentally braces himself for it as he opens the door.
"Yes, Captain?" Sasuke asks in a mocking tone.
He knew it was childish, but he couldn't resist. There was just something endlessly entertaining about riling the handsome blonde up. Idly, he wonders if maybe that was just the ale talking.
"Sasuke, don't sass me. We got important news. Itachi and Gaara want to go to the Isle of Lust. They think we might find out something about Kurama's treasure there." The Captain of Konoha informs him.
Sasuke blinks. All traces of amusement and teasing were suddenly gone from his demeanor. Had Itachi lost his mind? Surely, there had to be other places they could investigate first. Why would he want to go to the Triangle of Death?!
"Do you agree with that decision?" The raven haired pirate asks.
"I don't know. I'm shocked that they would suggest going THERE. The people on that isle are dangerous." The blue eyed Captain replies.
The First Mate nods. There wasn't much that shocked Sasuke anymore when it came to deviancy. The Isle of Lust was one of the few places that made him uneasy. Just hearing the name, made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. This was also true for almost anyone who hadn't gone at least half mad.
"We should probably try to dock somewhere first. Perhaps we can talk them out of this insanity." Sasuke mutters and the blonde nods in agreement.
"That's a good idea. Oh and one more thing." Naruto says.
"What is it?" Sasuke asks and umpfs when he felt himself pushed against the wall.
Sasuke's back was towards Naruto and that made him very nervous. Having your back exposed to an armed man, was never a good thing. He tries to slip out of the blonde's hold, but it was useless. Naruto had him held firmly in place.
"Don't do it again. Don't challenge me like that in front of the crew again. I don't want to have to fight you, but I will. Don't think for one second that I won't knock you on that pretty arse of yours." Naruto whispers hotly into his ear and keeps Sasuke tightly pinned against the wall.
Naruto knew that he had to pull rank. This was one way to do that. Though privately, the blonde realized that he didn't have to assert his authority over Sasuke in such a provocative way.
"Didn't realize that my arse was such a fascinating topic to you. Pretty?" Sasuke taunts him.
There were a million ways he could have punished Sasuke. He could have demoted him. The blonde could have hit him. The Captain could have assigned him to do some harsh manual labor on the ship that the raven haired pirate would likely view as an insult to his skill level.
He didn't have to shove Sasuke against the wall like this. Like he was going to take him against the wall. But he did.
He couldn't deny that he enjoyed the sight of the defiant First Mate like this. Completely at his mercy and for some reason his creamy neck was taunting him. Just like its owner.
"It's an expression. Don't get cocky, Uchiha. Besides the shape of your backside is not the point. The point is you are a member of my crew now! You need to act like it." Naruto growls at him.
The blonde had the impulse to mark it. It would teach him a lesson. Thankfully, he still had enough common sense not to give into that whim. Sasuke would have probably tried to kill him, if he had.
"I suggest you get off of me." Sasuke hisses at him.
Sasuke whirls around the second that Naruto releases him. He slams the other man onto the bed and straddles his waist. The Uchiha was pulling back his arm and probably about to punch him when the door opened.
"Sasuke, someone said that a pigeon just arrived. Thought you ought to know." Jugo says as he walks into the room.
It took a minute for the large man to register what he saw. Naturally, he saw Sasuke straddling Naruto's waist on top of the bed and his mind jumped to conclusions. Anyone else would have done the same really.
"Well I had hoped that you two would work things out, but isn't exactly how I pictured you doing so." The orange haired man observes.
"It's not what it looks like. We weren't about to do anything! I was about to punch him for being an idiot. This dunce actually thought he could pull rank over me." Sasuke exclaims.
"Sasuke, it doesn't matter to me, if you prefer men. I'll just leave you two alone. It seems like you would appreciate the privacy." Jugo says as he wanders off.
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Sasuke protests, but Jugo was already gone.
Naruto blinks. He looks up at Sasuke in confusion. The Captain of Konoha had been positive that he and the larger man were lovers. Jugo hadn't acted as a lover though. He hadn't been jealous, more surprised than anything.
"So you two aren't…together?" The blue eyed man asks.
"No. Jugo isn't my lover. He's more like a second brother than anything. Wait. Why am I telling you this?! My relationship with him is none of your business." Sasuke says as he gets off of Naruto.
He couldn't help it. Sasuke felt embarrassed. Jugo had walked in on them and now thought that they were lovers. Well at least Jugo had walked in on him, while he was on top. So that was a small mercy.
Sasuke knew his preferences. He'd known them from a young age. His bedpost had a lot less notches on it than most pirates. But that didn't mean that he hadn't taken any lovers.
He had taken a few men and women to his bed. In general, Sasuke knew that he preferred men. It was a rare woman that caught his eye, but it had happened before.
"Guilty conscience for insulting threatening your captain, would be my guess." Naruto says.
He wasn't ashamed that if given the choice, he'd choose a man over a woman to warm his bed, more often than not. Most pirates did eventually explore what both sexes had to offer. Sasuke just didn't make it a habit to let everyone know what he liked and didn't like when it came to carnal delights.
"The only way one could have a guilty conscience, is if they had a conscience in the first place. I have none. So I don't feel any guilt." Sasuke says with a smirk.
"Right. Well if you keep acting like a badly behaved Cabin Boy, I'll just have to discipline you more later. I got more important things to do now though." Naruto says as he begins penning a response to the message.
"I'm the badly behaved cabin boy?!" Sasuke asks in disbelief.
"Yes, that's right. You should respect your Captain's authority. You are an experienced First Mate. You should really know better." Naruto says with a nod as he continues writing.
Dear Itachi and Gaara,
We should dock at the next Port. Sasuke and I want to discuss our next move.
Captain Naruto Uzumaki
He heads out of the room and straps the message to the pigeon's leg. It soon takes off. Sasuke follows him and watches as the bird soars through the sky.
"Hopefully, they listen." He mutters.
"Yeah, hopefully." Naruto agrees.
Meanwhile back on the Sharingan, Gaara just gapes. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Just how drunk where these men?
"Don't mind them. They get quite theatrical after they've had a few drinks." Itachi muses.
There was a man with long blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed up as a woman. A rather foul-mouthed man was performing with him. To say the least, the scene was rather suggestive.
"So then I offer to show the tavern wench my sword. She was just as pretty as could be, with hair just like Deidara's here!" Hidan continues on with his tale.
"Their stark raving mad. The entire lot of them are." Gaara muses.
"Aye, but they are the finest crew that ever sailed the Seven Seas." Itachi counters.
Gaara had never met a man who swore even half as much as Hidan and that was saying something. The red head had sailed with Captain Kisame after all!
"The second finest." Gaara informs Itachi.
Itachi raises an eyebrow in amusement. It seemed his little red head had decided to be competitive today. Hmm should he debate with him or just humor the young Captain? It might be fun to rile him up.
"Yes, your crew is probably the second finest on the Seven Seas." He teases him.
Itachi barely manages to suppress a chuckle. It was fun to see Gaara bristle like an angry cat. Red heads were just so amusing to provoke. The entire lot of them were sinfully easy to rile.
"No, my crew is the finest and yours is the second finest." The Captain of Suna insists.
"Oh I am sure that they are a fantastic crew. They just aren't as fantastic as mine." Itachi says.
Gaara twitches. He knew that Itachi was ribbing him. Still he couldn't let that go. He unsheathes his sword.
"Take that back at once!" He warns Itachi.
Itachi smirks. He gets behind Gaara and disarms the red head. Then he pushes the feisty captain against a large barrel of ale, keeping his hands over his head.
"You are a good Captain. So protective of your crew, even when they aren't here to hear what I said." Itachi muses and he was about to lean in to steal a kiss, when one of the men started yelling.
"CAPTAINS! I SEE A ROYAL SHIP APPROACHING US!" He yelled.
"A royal ship?!" Itachi demands and the pirate nods in confirmation.
"Damn it. Try to evade them. If it comes to a battle, they likely will have the advantage when it comes to cannons." Itachi thunders.
"AYE, AYE CAPTAIN!" He says and the crew quickly scatter to their positions.
Gaara looks. Damn. It was flying an English flag. This wasn't going to be easy. Konoha was about half a day behind them. They likely wouldn't get caught up in the battle, but they wouldn't be able to tell them what happened.
"We'll have to outrun them. Sasuke and Naruto should be able to figure out that we went to the Isle of Lust." Gaara states and Itachi nods in agreement.
The English ship soon chases after them. It was apparent that whoever was in charge of that vessel, recognized the Sharingan. It was after all Itachi's ship. Itachi was one of the most wanted men in all of Europe.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The sounds of cannons was heard as the English fleet fired on the ship. Thankfully, Konan had managed to take the wheel. There were few sailors who were better than she, when it came to speed.
She was one of only a handful of women on the crew. Konan was the first women to join the Sharingan. Perhaps that was why she was so skilled. Itachi suspected that she felt she had to prove herself the equal of any of her fellow crew members.
"Can we really out sail them?" Gaara whispers to Itachi.
"We are going to try." The other Captain says.
"TAKE THAT, YOU FUCKING SCUM!" Hidan cries out madly as he fires off some of their own cannons.
Sasori sighs. Hidan really did have such a filthy mouth. It wasn't as if screaming at the other ship was going to help things. He shakes his head and mans his own cannon.
"This isn't good! Sooner or later some of those balls are going to hit our ship. We need to get to a port and hope they don't see us dock." Zetsu calls out.
"KONAN, FULL SPEED AHEAD!" Itachi cries out and the pirate woman does exactly that.
Pein quickly scales the mast. He takes out his crossbow. The English ship was gaining on them. He needed to even the odds. He takes the shot and the arrow strikes the English Captain right in the chest. He falls over dead.
"THAT SHOULD BUY US A FEW MOMENTS. GO! GO!" Pein yells.
Konan didn't need to be told twice. The Sharingan quickly sails off. She glances over her shoulder and was relieved to see they were putting some distance between them and the ship. Maybe they would get out of this alive after all.
Back on the English ship, it was complete chaos. Their Captain was dead. The First Mate had to step in. He was a young man named Haku. Despite his youth, he was a fine sailor.
"Captain, what are we to do now?!" Someone asks.
"We will give Zabuza, a proper burial and pursue them as far as we can. Someone get in touch with Kakashi. This has been allowed to go on for far too long. Her Majesty will not be pleased at this latest attack. The best way to kill a pirate, is to send another pirate after them. Kakashi is the best privateer we have. If anyone can avenge our Captain, it is he!" Haku exclaims.
Some of the crew members looked at Haku as if they feared he had gone mad. Captain Kakashi had a reputation that could make anyone's blood run cold. Many were shocked that the Queen would have such a man in her employment to begin with.
"Aye, aye Captain." One mutters and goes off to pen the letter.
He didn't agree with this. It was the height of lunacy. You don't put down a mad dog, by sending another after it. If you did, you should expect to get bitten. Grief must be making Haku act this way. Everyone knew that he and the Captain had been lovers.
Dear Kakashi,
We humbly request your aid. Our ship encountered the Sharingan. We gave chase. They are trying to out sail us as we speak.
It pains me to say this, but our Captain did not survive the encounter. We simply must put an end to this. You are the only man that we know of, who can do it. Please tell us that you will assist us in this endeavor. I'm certain that the Queen would reward you most handsomely, if you do so.
Sincerely, Mifune
He sighs and sends the letter off. Honestly, the elderly sailor didn't think anything good was going to come of this. Haku was grieving. It was understandable, but didn't make it any less of a foolish decision.
"Did you send the letter?" Haku asks a few minutes later, when he enters Mifune's cabin.
"Yes, I did. You realize that Kakashi is a loose cannon, right? This may very well backfire on all of us." The other sailor demands.
Haku bites back a snarl. He knew exactly what kind of man Kakashi was. He was the kind of man who was a survivor. The CopyCat Pirate had never lost a battle, not even to his late lover. If anyone could take down the Sharingan, it would be him.
"I am aware of that. Be that as it may, the man gets results. Whatever your opinion of him, you can not deny that." Haku replies.
Mifune sighs and nods. That much is true. Still he couldn't suppress the feeling unease that was building in his gut. Instinct told him that this would not end well and he had long ago learned to trust his instincts.
Meanwhile at the Sannin Port, Jiraiya and Tsunade were having a meeting. The two pirates knew that a decision would have to be made quickly. What were they going to do with Orochimaru's island?
"We've managed to keep it from spiraling out of control for this long, but that won't always be the case. The smartest thing that we could do would be to sell it." Tsunade muses as she takes another hearty drink from her glass of ale.
The ale was powerful. The busty blonde prided herself on her excellent taste when it came to liquor. She sold the finest drinks in the world, in her mind.
"You may well be right. Still that begs the question. Who could we sell it to and what would be a fair price?" The white haired man replies to his drinking companion.
Tsunade smirks. She does her best to bite back a laugh. A fair price? Since when did either of them care about fairness?
"As much as they are willing to offer. Still you are right, we have to choose carefully. Neither of us wants to deal with some upstart, who will try to take over all three isles." The pirate woman admits.
Jiraiya nods. That was the biggest problem. He and Tsunade were not as young as they used to be. Quite honestly, they had already lived at least 30, if not 40 years longer than the 'average pirate.' There would always be some newcomer, who thought that he or she could make a name for themselves by challenging a Sannin. It never ended well for them, but it was annoying.
"We will need someone wealthy. Someone who wants land and doesn't mind using it for less than ethical purposes, but whose ambition is fairly limited. Hmm… this is a difficult decision." He muses.
"Obito might be a good choice. He certainly has the money and the man has become a recluse in recent years." Tsunade suggests.
Jiraiya considers her suggestion. It was a good one. There was just one problem. The blonde wasn't kidding when she called him a recluse. It was almost impossible to find the man. Oh well. They would manage.
"That's a good suggestion. The only issue would be finding him. Do we have any other candidates?" He asks.
"Well there is always the English Queen. She might want one of the Isles so she can monitor the pirates that come through this region." His friend continues.
Jiraiya immediately shakes his head. A Monarch would put an end to their less than ethical activities. He couldn't allow that to happen. A man had to have some fun, did he not?
"Not a good idea. She could well afford it, but she would ruin all of our fun. You know as well as I, that I speak the truth on this matter." The elderly pirate chides her gently.
"Yes, I suppose that's true. Well she might not shut my business down. She would certainly close yours though. You filthy deviant." Tsunade teases him.
Jiraiya shrugs. He had certainly been called worse. He was used to the other Sannin's gentle teasing by now. It didn't impact him in the slightest.
"Perhaps, but my Isle more than keeps up with yours when it comes to producing funds. That is what we desire most, is it not?" He inquires.
"I can't not argue with that. Giving people an outlet to slake their lust, is always going to be a very profitable business venture. We both know that." She says and giggles slightly.
Jiraiya blinks. Maybe Tsunade had had too much to drink. He hadn't heard her giggle in years. It was somewhat disturbing.
"Perhaps you have had enough. You should retire for the evening. I will make certain that the rowdy patrons do not destroy your establishment. You have my word of honor on that." He promises.
"I don't need you to pretend to be my father. I am just fine. Besides, it's still early." Tsunade replies.
Jiraiya did not think two in the morning was early. Well perhaps it was for Tsunade. She did run the most infamous tavern in all the Seven Seas.
"You should get some rest. It must take quite a lot of sleep to stay that beautiful. Come now. You need to sleep it off or you will regret it in the morning." He chides her gently and Tsunade shrugs.
She gets up and allows him to lead her up the stairs. Tsunade would never allow any other man to do so. She would never allow another man to boss her around. Jiraiya was different though. They had known each other since they were children.
"I suppose you are right. Good night, Jiraiya. See what you can do about getting in touch with Obito. I'm certain that if he is unreachable, we can find another buyer." The elderly woman says.
"I will see what I can do. I make no promises. The man is harder to find than Kurama's treasure sometimes." Jiraiya declares with open amusement.
"I can argue with you there." Tsunade agrees and shuts the door behind her.
She sighs as she looks out the window of her room. The sky was just beginning to lighten. That's when she saw the red. Uh oh.
"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning." She murmurs to herself.
Like most pirates, she was superstitious by nature. That was certainly a very bad omen. The busty blonde considers going to find Jiraiya Then she shakes her head. He would just laugh her off. He was one of the few pirates that didn't believe in good luck or bad luck. Jiraiya always said he made his own luck.
"Best stock up on supplies. We are likely going to need it." She muses.
Tsunade had survived to the age of fifty-five because she was always prepared. Most pirates were lucky to live to see their 25th or 30th year, but she and Jiraiya were different. They were a team. He had the people skills and she had the intelligence that meant they would always find a way to land on their feet. This time would be no different.
