Diamonds and Pearls
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. This story has a pretty loyal crew of reviewers. ^^. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: Sorry, Sasuke. We are setting the stage for darker Naruto, so it was necessary. Sasuke will be fine. No character deaths in this chapter. Besides, I wouldn't kill off someone from the two main pairings.
Chapter 13
The Sharingan and Konoha had been sailing for about two weeks, when a horrible storm hit. A storm the likes of which even the experienced pirate crews hadn't seen before. The waves crashed into the ship without mercy, spinning the mighty vessels around like mere toys.
"KONAN! SAIL US TO THE NEAREST ISLAND!" Itachi thunders at her.
"Aye, aye, Captain!" The blue haired woman replies and tries her best to steer their ship towards the closest island.
It was no easy feat. She was barely able to keep the ship afloat, even with the help of two crews. The pirates were bailing water out of the ship as fast they could and trying to provide Konan enough cover to allow her to steer.
"This is complete madness." Gaara whispers to Itachi.
The Captain of the Sharingan couldn't help but agree. He had been sailing for years. Never before had he witnessed a storm that was this fearsome. It made him shiver. The sea was angry. Very angry.
He bites his lower lip. Itachi knew that Sasuke was on a ship with two experienced crews on it. Still he couldn't deny that he was worried. Sasuke was the only family that he had left. He couldn't lose him.
"We are docking, Captain!" Konan calls out and the pirates quickly get off of the ship and rush onto the island.
Meanwhile on Konoha, Sasuke was desperately trying to steer the ship towards the island. The waves kept crashing though. People were nearly being swept overboard. Shouts and screams were being drowned out by the sounds of the furious water that was threatening to sink them.
"MAN OVERBOARD!" Suigetsu calls out in horror.
"Kisame, cover Sasuke!" The blonde says as he dives over the edge of the ship and tries desperately to save Kiba.
"Got it!" The blue skinned pirate calls out as he watches the blonde dive off.
Sasuke had never seen waves like this before. It took all his strength to steer the wheel. He manages to get the ship on course towards the island that the Sharingan had just docked at.
He could see the ship. He could see Itachi and Gaara getting off it. They were almost there. They were so close. Just a little bit further.
"HELP!" Karin calls out as she was struggling against a wave of water that was threatening to shove her overboard.
Kisame glances at Sasuke. He seemed to have everything under control for the moment. He decides to help the red head. He'd be back in less than a minute. Surely, the brat would be okay for that long.
He looked away for only a moment, but that was all it took. A massive wave struck right where Sasuke was standing. It slammed him off of the ship and right back into the current.
"MAN OVERBOARD! THE FIRST MATE!" Kisame calls out in a panic and immediately goes to steer the ship.
He manages to steer the ship towards the shore. They were docking a few minutes later. Naruto had managed to save Kiba and was helping him onto the shore, when he noticed it wasn't Kisame that had steered them to the shore.
"Kisame, where is Sasuke?!" The blonde demands.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. I looked away only for a few seconds at most. Karin needed help. He went overboard." The older pirate says.
Everyone went silent. The pirates who were wearing hats, lowered them as a sign of respect. Unless someone grabbed you right away when you went overboard and could swim against the current, you were a dead man (or woman.)
"Sasuke!" Itachi calls out mournfully and Gaara embraces his lover comfortingly.
"I am so sorry." He whispers and holds him even tighter, trying to ease his pain.
Naruto stares dumbstruck at Kisame. That couldn't be true. Sasuke didn't go overboard. He couldn't have. He couldn't be dead! His pearl was always so feisty and full of life! He couldn't be fucking dead!
"I TOLD YOU TO COVER HIM!" Naruto roars and lunges at Kisame.
Kisame jumps back. The kid was deadly serious. The older pirate had been in more than his fair share of fights over the years. He knew when someone was actually trying to kill him, when they were just angry, or play fighting. Naruto wasn't playing.
"Naruto! Stop it! It won't bring Sasuke back." Itachi calls out.
"No. It's HIS fault that Sasuke went overboard! If he had just stayed there and covered him, then he wouldn't have died! You as good as murdered him!" The blonde snarls at the other Captain.
Kisame tries to dodge the blows that Naruto was throwing at him. He wasn't entirely successful though. He didn't have the heart to hit back. The kid was right in a way and he was grieving. It wouldn't be fair. But fuck did that hurt.
SMACK. BAM. CRUNCH. Naruto's punches and kicks were coming fast and furious. The blue skinned man was positive that he had at least a couple broken bones. The other pirates could only watch in horror.
"HELP! COME ON! I NEED SOME HELP!" Jugo calls out.
Naruto pauses briefly. He looks up and sees Jugo carrying Sasuke. Sasuke wasn't moving though. The blonde forgets about Kisame and rushes over to him.
"Is he alive?" The Konoha Captain asks desperately.
"He's got a pulse, but he ain't breathing! Sakura! Karin! We need you." The gentle giant calls out and the girls rush over.
Jugo sets Sasuke down on the beach. Sakura begins pushing on his chest and Karin tries to breathe air into his mouth. Naruto and Itachi watch helplessly. Both of them torn between terror and hope.
A few tense minutes later, they hear Sasuke gasp for air and his eyes fly open. His mouth spits out seawater and blood. Naruto was instantly at his side.
"Sasuke, are you okay? Can you hear me? Can you see me?" He calls out pleadingly.
Sasuke weakly nods his head. Everything was spinning. He knew that there shouldn't be three Naruto's. The pain was intense. When he got thrown overboard, he had crashed into a rock. He was almost certain one of his ribs was broken.
He knew that he was alive though. If he was dead, he was sure that he wouldn't feel pain. It was just really hard to keep his eyes open.
"Thank God." Itachi sighs in relief and Naruto cradles his lover in his lap.
Naruto panicked when he saw Sasuke close his eyes again. Thankfully, Sakura reassured him that Sasuke was still breathing. Therefore, he was okay.
"You had better thank God, Kisame. You are damn lucky that he's still alive or I would have fucking killed you. I still might." Naruto seethes and gently scoops up Sasuke.
Kisame shivers. He didn't doubt for a minute that the kid was dead serious. He looks at Itachi uncertainly. Itachi gestures for his friend to put some serious distance between himself and the anxious blonde.
"At the moment, we need to find shelter. He's been in icy waters. He's just as likely to die from exposure as anything else." Itachi warns Naruto gently.
"I think I saw some caves in the distance. That would be warmer. Someone fetch some blankets." Gaara commands and Temari rushes off to do exactly that.
Naruto follows the red head. He sighs in relief when they get to the cave and gently sets Sasuke down. A few moments later, Temari comes in with the blankets. Naruto nods at her gratefully and wraps them around his lover.
Meanwhile Haku and Obito arrive at the port while A lived. The two of them immediately head to his home. Obito knew exactly where it was located and wasted no time in busting down the door.
"Alright you old curmudgeon, you are going to tell us what we want to know or I will run you through." The shipyard owner warns him.
"I'd like to see you try." A replies and draws his sword.
Haku had to admit that he was impressed. He never would have thought Obito was the type of man who could bust down a door. Well he supposed there was a good reason why people said never to judge a book by its cover.
"Very well. You had a chance to do this the easy way." Came his reply as he rushes at A.
A swiftly dodges. Haku marveled at the speed of the old man. The two were quickly locked in deadly combat. The sounds of their swords clashing could be heard ringing throughout the house.
"Not bad for a recluse." A mutters as he swings his sword.
"Not bad for a walking corpse." Obito counters as he swings his blade towards his opponent.
His goal wasn't to kill him. That made this fight more difficult. Killing him would have been easier, but he needed him alive. He needed whatever information he might have on the Uchiha Brothers.
"How terribly witty." The tan man snarls as he thrusts at the other man viciously.
Obito smirks. He had found his sore spot. It seemed A was more than a little sensitive about his age. This could easily work to his advantage.
The most important thing in a fight was knowing your opponent. Getting your opponent riled up was always a smart thing to do. Angry people tended lash out without thinking. That gave you an opening, if you played your cards right. That was something that the shipyard owner was very good at doing.
"I know. So tell me. What is it like to be older than England?" He inquires and A lunges at him in a mad rage.
Obito smirks. He slams his sword into the other man's side. It wouldn't be a fatal blow as long as it was treated and didn't become infected. Even if A did die from the injury eventually, that didn't concern him. He wanted answers.
"AHHH. YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He hisses.
"My mother was actually a very lovely woman. You should take that back or I will become very cross." The shipyard owner warns him as he twists the sword to emphasize his point.
A snarls in pain. He glares at the other man menacingly. When he got his hands on Obito, he was a dead man!
"Your mother was rather unfortunate then. She gave birth to scum like you. I suppose it's the luck of the draw." He hisses.
Obito didn't take too kindly to that. He slams A against the wall. The younger man keeps him pinned there.
"You have no manners. However, I am not here to discuss my mother or your lack of social skills. I know that Captain Itachi Uchiha is friends with you. I want to know where he went. If you tell me, I will let you live." He promises.
"What good is the word of a man who would attack another who has done him no wrong? I expect you were planning to kill me anyway. So why should I betray Itachi, to help you?" He growls.
"How about you tell him what he wants to know or we hunt down every member of your family. You may not be afraid to die, but can you say that about all of your loved ones?" Haku asks in a deceptively gentle voice.
"Monsters. The both of you are monsters!" A seethes with rage.
Obito shrugs. He had been called much worse and by far better than the likes of him. He twists his sword further until the man begins to talk.
"They are after Kurama's treasure. I heard a tale a long time ago, about an island. I believe it to have the treasure on it. They went there, but there is a vicious reef around it. Any ship that tries to pass it, gets destroyed. I can give you directions, for all the good it will do you." The blonde snarls.
"Well then you had best start talking." Obito says and Haku writes down the directions that the rather reluctant old man gives them.
Back on the Isle of Lust, Jirayia sighs. He was damn lucky that he escaped that bloodbath with his life. His entire tavern was utterly ruined. Thank goodness, that Tsunade was helping him with repairs.
"I can't believe that happened. Sheer madness, I tell you." She states as she sweeps up some of the broken glass.
"I haven't seen the English attack so many pirates at once before. They took the CopyCat Pirate hostage. They probably think they'll get a ransom for him. Do you think they'll actually find Kurama's treasure?" The white haired man asks his companion.
Tsunade pauses. Normally, she would say no. It was nothing more than a fool's errand. Still if anyone could do it, it was probably them. They had easily defeated a the English. That was no small feat.
"I don't know. They seem like a rather fearsome combination of crews. That can't be just one crew. It's too large. I don't care how big the ship is, there's no way that an individual pirate crew would boast that many men and women aboard the ship." She replies.
Jiraiya nods in agreement. Those were some fierce pirates. That was certainly saying something. It took a lot to impress him. He thought that he had seen it all.
"Unusual to see so many women pirates." He msues.
"I've told you and every that would listen to me for years, that women make for just as fine a pirate as any man." Tsunade snaps at him.
"Well one can't argue with the view. I suppose if you are going to be run through, it's nice to see a pretty face before you day." He says cheekily.
Tsunade sighs. Honestly, she had no idea what she was going to do with this man. God help her, she adored him. But he was the biggest deviant that she had ever met.
That wasn't something she said lightly. She had seen many a deviant in her time. She did own the Isle of Liquor. People could do very strange things when they were intoxicated.
"Pervert. Come on. This is going to take weeks to get properly cleaned. They did a fine job, destroying the place." She mutters in irritation.
It was true. Seldom had she witnessed such chaos. There were corpses, thrown tables and chairs, and broken glass everywhere. Not to mention all the blood. This was the Isle of Lust, not the Isle of the Lost. This was completely unacceptable!
To make matters worse, they had waited weeks before coming back into the tavern. Neither of them wanted to risk running into the pirates again. So they waited until they were certain was safe. So the corpses were rotting and that just added to the unpleasantness of the task before them.
They had a reputation to protect. Tsunade, Jirayia, and Orochimaru had been the Legendary Sannin. The fiercest pirates to have sailed the Seven Seas in the last century. Now they were famous for ruling over the Triangle of Death. If they couldn't even control what happened on their Isles, what use were they?
"Yes, they did. Well I suppose we should count our blessings. At least we are still alive. There were so many of them. I'm not sure even we could have gotten out alive, if they had set their sights on us." He admits.
"You've gone soft in your old age. Is your belly full of jelly now? Of cours we could have handled it. It wouldn't have been pleasant, but it will take more than a few crews of snot nosed brats to take down the last two remaining Sannin!" She states.
Tsunade quickly grabs one of the few unbroken bottles of sake. She begins to chug the strong brew straight out of the bottle. She was a pirate, not some pampered noble. Glasses were optional!
"I'm surprised your liver hasn't failed you, yet." Jirayia tells her.
"Oh shut your mouth. I don't need a lecture from a man who has bedded half of the bar maidens within a hundred miles." She snaps at him.
"You are exaggerating. In all fairness it's more like a quarter of the bar maidens within the nearest fifty miles." He corrects her.
Tsunade shakes her head. Honestly, the man was the perfect owner for the Isle of Lust. His libido had not cooled in the slightest in all these years.
"You say that as if it is something to be proud of!" She snaps at him.
Elsewhere in a certain cave on an uncharted island, the Sharingan, Konoha, and Suna were huddling together. Rin was sitting protectively by Kakashi. He was still tightly bound, but at least they hadn't left him on that ship.
"Their all in love." She whispers to him.
"It looks that way. Itachi is particularly fond of the red head. He seems to think that he can provoke me. Likes to make a sport out of it. Gaara has a fairly tight leash on him though. As for Naruto, he hasn't looked away from Sasuke since he was rescued." He muses.
"You can stop your conspiring!" Kankuro snaps at the pair of them and the two reunited friends quickly go quiet.
Suigetsu and Hinata take that as a cue. The two of them quickly sit next to the prisoner and their reluctant comrade, Rin. Neither of them were going to risk letting the pair of them try anything.
Gaara sighs and leans into Itachi's arms. He was perfectly content to allow his lover to hold him as tightly as he desired. Itachi had very nearly lost his brother and was still very shaken for the whole ordeal.
Unfortunately for Itachi, Naruto had claimed Sasuke. The red head wasn't entirely certain if the elder Uchiha could get near his brother, if he tried. Thankfully, Itachi seemed to accept the fact that his brother was in good hands at the moment and wasn't going to push his luck.
"I really thought that I had lost him." Itachi whispers.
"Apparently, Uchihas are too tough even to drown." The other Captain says reassuringly and Itachi nods in agreement.
Sasuke was trying to sleep, but he felt someone holding him. Someone caressing him. He could hear someone whispering words of adoration.
He frowns. The youngest Uchiha knew that he should know that voice. It bothered him enough that he didn't, that he slowly opens his eyes. Oh. It was Naruto.
"Sasuke! You're awake." He exclaims.
"Your blubbering woke me up. Ah fuck! Hu-rts to talk." He hisses.
"You shouldn't speak then. One of your ribs is broken. It's okay. You were thrown overboard, but Jugo saved you. You are going to be alright." Naruto promises.
The First Mate manages to nod at this. He sighs in contentment when he felt his lover holder him tighter and wrap the blanket around him more. It kept out the bitter cold. He knew that he was damn lucky. Logically, he should have been dead.
"I should never have left you. Kiba was thrown over. I thought Kisame would protect you. I swear it Sasuke, I'm going to turn him into sushi. He should have covered you while you were getting us to shore." Naruto growls.
Sasuke frowns. Damn it. He didn't want to start a war between Naruto and his brother's eccentric friend. He knew he was going to regret this, but he had to say something.
"Naruto, don't. It's not his fault." Sasuke says through gritted teeth.
"Yes, it is! He should have protected you. I trusted him to keep you safe and he didn't. I almost lost you. Itachi almost lost you. Our crews almost lost you!" The blonde says and bites back a snarl.
He didn't want Sasuke to think that he was mad at him. No, his fury was reserved for Kisame. He was never letting his precious pearl out of his sight again.
Naruto doubted that he would ever get the image of Sasuke's seemingly lifeless body in Jugo's arms out of his mind. It didn't matter how long he lived. He'd never forget the sheer horror that he had felt.
"Naruto, listen to me. I don't want you to fight him. He was saving someone else who went overboard. It's not his fault." Sasuke insists.
The blue eyed Captain gave Sasuke a rather incredulous look. Sasuke mentally sighs. Apparently, logic wasn't going to get him anywhere.
He hated to do it, but he had no other choice. He had to play the Damsel in Distress Card. (Even though he wasn't a fucking damsel!)
"Please don't. I need you to stay her with me. It fucking hurts and I'm freezing." He pleads.
Naruto's eyes soften. He kisses Sasuke's forehead. How had he let this happen? He'd almost lost his most precious treasure. He should have known better. Someone else could have rescued Kiba.
"Deidara, get me another blanket for Sasuke!" He snaps and the other blonde quickly heads over with the blanket.
"Don't worry. You'll be nice and warm soon. Yeah! We are working on starting a fire." The eccentric man says.
Sasuke smiles gratefully at Deidara and nods. He makes a grand show of snuggling into the blankets, as if seeking out more warmth. He was cold, but mostly he just wanted to distract his very angry lover. In the youngest Uchiha's mind, he was probably saving Kisame's life.
"Is that better?" Naruto asks Sasuke gently and the First Mate nods his head.
Part of him did enjoy being fawned over in this way. It was nice. The raven haired pirate knew that at the moment, he was the center of Naruto's world. That was almost worth the broken rib and nearly drowning. (Though it would have been nicer, if he hadn't just threatened to murder someone.)
"Well that was masterfully played." Itachi whispers to Gaara.
"What do you mean?" The red head asks his lover in confusion once he hears that cryptic statement.
Itachi eyes Sasuke and Naruto carefully. Oh he didn't doubt his brother was in a pain and cold, but he was playing "sicker" than he actually was. He could tell.
"Naruto is very angry with Kisame. Sasuke's just playing to Naruto's need to be a protective lover, to save his hide." The elder Uchiha whispers and Gaara blinks.
It made sense in a twisted way. Still he wondered how effective such an approach would be long-term. Suddenly, the young Captain found himself very worried for his former mentor's safety once more.
Naruto was clearly deeply in love with Sasuke. The blonde was extremely protective of those he loved and would lash out at anyone who threatened them. To the Konoha Captain, Kisame was to blame for his lover almost dying. This might not end well.
"How long do you think that will work?" Gaara asks nervously.
"Reasonably, a couple of weeks at most. Sasuke is not a man who takes being "pitied" well. He wouldn't be able to keep up that act long without it injuring his pride. He's very proud." Itachi replies honestly.
"Hmm sounds familiar." The pirate muses and Itachi chuckles.
He couldn't deny that one. Uchihas were just a very proud family. They always had been. More than once it had gotten him and Sasuke into trouble, but it was just the way they were.
"Let's just hope for Kisame's sake, that Sasuke keeps it up for a good while. Naruto's fury will take awhile to cool. I'm rather grateful that I'm not Kisame at the moment." Itachi admits.
"Me too." Gaara agrees and watches the lovers warily, knowing that it wouldn't take much to set Naruto off.
