Diamonds and Pearls
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you guys all enjoy this chapter.
Viewers' Choice: In the next chapter there will be a fight scene. Feel free to weigh in on who you would like to die or if you would like everyone to survive. Also you can choose a dramatic battle or one that is fairly short, with a quirky ending.
Chapter 17
The remaining pirates head towards the waterfall. Sasuke and Itachi stop them before they try to walk past the water though. There was a cave behind it. Gaara grabs a tree branch and hurls it into the cave.
The sounds of metal shredding through the branch are heard. A few minutes later, it's ejected. The branch was now reduced to splinters. All of the pirates gulp at this.
"Figures. Madara wasn't going to make it that easy. There's some sort of trap in there. We can get by it though. I mean there has to be a way to do so. Otherwise he never would have gotten to it." Sasuke muses.
"Well I can't argue with the logic. But who is going to want to go in first and test out that theory?" Kakashi asks.
Itachi smirks. He shoves Kakashi through the water. The sounds of the silver haired man's protests are heard and then silence. There was silence for a few agonizing minutes.
"I'M OKAY! You fucking bastard! You could have gotten me killed! Kurama and Madara hooked up a bunch of large axes and swords. They are swinging across the place. If you had shoved me even a little harder, I would have been cut to ribbons!" The CopyCat Pirate snarls from behind the water.
"Pity. I should have shoved him a little bit harder." Itachi muses.
"Itachi." Gaara says warningly and his lover raises his hands in a gesture of surrender.
Alright. Itach knew why Gaara was annoyed. If Kakashi had died, they wouldn't have found out much about what was behind the water. Still he was so fucking annoying.
"Well it's safe for us to at least take a few steps behind the water." Sasuke muses as he follows Kakashi inside.
Naruto wasn't going to leave Sasuke alone with Kakashi. He quickly bounds after his lover. Gaara and Itachi sigh, following. It didn't take long for the other pirates to follow suit.
Gaara blinks. There were hundreds of swords swinging from one side to the other. There were also massive axes doing the same that were bigger than him. They'd be shredded if they even tried it.
"Stand back. I can try to disable the weapons." Tenten says.
"If I know Madara, he probably has another trap set, in case someone tries it. Everyone get down and if you have anything that can cover you, make sure you use it." Temari warns them.
The other pirates all quickly sink to their knees. All the couples try to cover each others and those that were single, either found a buddy or tried to find something to cover themselves with. They were all braced for what was undoubtedly coming.
"Alright. Here goes nothing!" Tenten says as she hurls a giant boomerang at all the weapons.
The chime of the boomerang striking one of the cords, is heard. That was all the warning they had before thousands of needles came out of flying various locations. Obviously, they had been situated in a way that they would be released when a direct attack like that was launched.
"Shit. They were psychotic." Hidan grumbles once the needles finally stop flying.
"AHHHH!" Sasori cries out in agony and Deidara looks at him in confusion.
"What's wrong? It's only a couple needles. We can get them out of you easily. They aren't even that deep. Yeah?" The eccentric blonde asks in confusion.
Sasuke's eyes widen when he saw that the needles were coated in a familiar substance, venom. Most likely sea snake venom. Thankfully, the venom was slightly diluted. It wasn't as strong as it could have been.
Most disturbingly though, venom would have eventually dried off after centuries. Someone had been here and been here fairly recently. Sasuke frowns.
"Deidara, he's been poisoned. Sea snake. Get the antidote out of his pocket and fucking give it to him. BE ON GUARD. WE MIGHT NOT BE ALONE HERE! That venom is somewhat fresh." Sasuke snaps at him.
"That was clever of you. How did you figure it out so quickly?" Itachi asks his younger brother.
The flustered blonde didn't need to be told twice. He quickly gets the antidote and administers it to Sasori. Sasori was their poisons expert and had figured out that you could count snake venom with…snake venom.
"We are on an island. The most logical choice for poison was sea snake venom." Sasuke replies and Itachi nods in agreement.
It didn't make a lick of sense to Deidara. But he knew that the red head knew what he was doing. So he forces the medicine into his mouth.
"Thanks." Sasori mutters.
Itachi sighs and glances at the weapons. Most of them were still going. Though Tenten had disabled the largest of the axes. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Someone will have to stay behind and care for Sasori. Sasori, you can't go on while you are recovering from what amounts to a snake bite." The Sharingan Captain reasons.
"I'll stay with him. Yeah?" Deidara offers.
The elder Uchiha nods his head approvingly at Deidara. That was the spirit. All for one and one for all. Pirates were loyal to their fellow crew members. You had to be, if you were going to survive on the High Seas.
"Good." He says.
"I guess we can throw another shot at the weapons. I mean there's a chance that Madara and Kurama figured the needles and the swinging weapons would do the job. Maybe that's the end of it. If not, at least we know to get down now." Naruto offers.
Gaara nods in agreement. It wasn't like they had any other choice. Everyone gets down as Tenten gets ready to hurl boomerang back at the weapons. Everyone waited with baited breath to see what the result of this one would be.
Meanwhile Guy was counting the survivors of his crew. Their causalities had been heavy, but they hadn't lost the whole crew. That was something. Guy was an eternal optimist. As long as he still had a few good men, they'd find a way to save Kakashi.
"You there. Do you want some help?" Obito calls out once their crew reached the reach.
"Oh thank goodness!" Guy sighs in relief as he rushes over to the other English crew.
He knew that they were English because most of them were wearing English clothes. Fate must be on their side after all. This was surely a good omen.
"How many men are injured and how many can fight?" Haku asks softly.
The Captain looks around and sighs. It was an even split. About half of his remaining men were fit for battle. Half needed medical care. It could have been worse, but overall his crew was in a sorry state.
"I'd say about 20 men can fight. About that many aren't in any condition to march off to any battle." He admits sheepishly.
"Twenty is better than none. We'll have some of our men take your men back to our ship. The one that aren't injured. In exchange for our help, the rest of your crew will help us save Kakashi. Do we have a deal?" Obito asks.
Guy nods his head in agreement. It was more than a fair trade. Quickly, Haku and Obito's crew starts helping the injured men back to their ship. They put them in the rowboats and take them back to their ship.
"Thank you for your kindness. To whom do we owe our gratitude?" The bushy browed Captain inquires.
"I am Obito and this is Captain Haku. You must be Guy?" Obito replies.
Guy blinks. How did this man know who he was? Obito. Obito. That name sounded familiar. He knew that he had heard it somewhere before. But where? Ah ha. Now he remembered. The shipyard owner.
"Do you own one of the largest shipyards in all of Europe?" Guy questions him.
"Aye. That I do. I see my reputation proceeds me. It's a damn good thing that I do. The Queen didn't want to lend us a ship. Haku's lover was killed by these pirates. She didn't trust him to keep a level head. I wanted to rescue my friend and Haku wanted revenge. It's been a fruitful partnership thus far." Obito explains.
The other sailors watch the new crew warily. They were really going to help them? Well they certainly weren't in any condition to reject the aid. Still most of them couldn't help but think their sudden reversal in fortune, might be just a little too good to be true.
Meanwhile back in the Triangle of Death, Tsunade and Jirayia were sitting down for a drink. They were both drunk off their arses. Which meant they were exchanging stories.
Oh it started off innocently enough. Most of their stories were about their time as Sannin. Eventually, the topic drifted back to the pirate crews that had wrecked their tavern and gone after Kurama's treasure.
"Was that Captain Uzumaki that I saw?" Tsunade asks.
"Aye. I believe it was. Quite the interesting tale that one has." Jirayia says as he pours them each another glass.
"Oh really. That sounds like an interesting story. Go on. It's not like we are going to have any customers for awhile." She says with a shrug.
Jirayia chuckles. Yes, word had spread about the fight. They hadn't seen anyone for weeks. Still it didn't matter. They had more then enough treasure to last them ten lifetimes. The taverns were mostly something to do. It passed the time.
"Alright. I'll tell you what I know about the blonde Captain." Her friend says as he sits back and pictures it all in his mind's eye.
Naruto was an Irishman. Oh no one would guess it by the look of him and he had long ago lost his accent. But he was Irish were it really counted.
His family had been English but moved over there when he was just a babe. There had been a Plague going on when Kushina was pregnant. Naruto was born on Irish soil and that was good enough to consider him an Irishman in Jirayia's eyes anyway.
So they poured all their savings into fleeing. When they got there, they became tenants to a Land Lord. They'd grow the crops and give him a portion of their harvest. They didn't own the land, but they cared for it. This was a common practice.
Naruto was a boy of 15 summers when his father got called off to war. He just missed being sent off to war himself. If he had been one year older, he probably would have died on a battlefield somewhere. His father, didn't make it home.
Naruto and Kushina struggled to maintain their farm. In the end, his mother had died of illness. The young boy knew that he'd never be able to manage the farm on his own. So he had snuck aboard a pirate's ship.
Somehow, he was able to convince the Captain to keep him around. Eventually, he took over for the Captain when he passed on. Ever since then, Naruto had been one of the most infamous pirates of the day.
"Kid is lucky that he didn't get thrown overboard." Tsunade muses.
"You're right. Damn lucky, but he didn't really have any other choice. Well that's assuming the rumors are true. You never know what is real, what's exaggerated, and what is outright made up because a pirate wants to craft their reputation to suit their liking." Her friend reasons.
Tsunade couldn't disagree with that. Lord knows she had started her fair share of rumors about herself. Your reputation was everything when you were a pirate. There was just no getting around it.
Being a woman meant that she had to be even more creative, in her tall tales than most men. Fortunately, she had always been gifted with quite an impressive imagination. This was especially true when she was intoxicated. Honestly, she couldn't remember half of the stories that she had made up and made sure reached every tavern possible.
"That's true. Well lets just count our blessings that they haven't come back. Hopefully business will pick up. We are going to run out of old stories to tell each other soon. I doubt there are very many new ones that we have left to tell each other either." Tsunade says.
"That bored of me already? Well I'm sure we could find much more interesting ways to pass the time?" Jirayia replies suggestively.
The busty pirate shakes her head. Some things would never change. Once a pervert, always a pirate. She knew that it was only spoken in jest. At least that is what she thought anyway.
"You are such a deviant. No wonder you own the Isle of Lust." She states in amusement as she finishes her drink.
Back in England, Mei was relieved that for the moment she didn't have to deal with the Spanish King. He was so taxing. Honestly, she didn't have any idea how she was ever going to survive him staying in her home for so long.
"Well at least I know I can get some privacy in the royal baths." She mutters to herself.
Mei sighs. She didn't know what she was going to do. On the bright side, his pride might very well be his downfall. The fool was rather content to babble happily about his Armada.
"Still that does me no good, if I don't have a fleet that can sink his ships." She murmurs.
The Queen couldn't help but wish her lover was here. He was quite clever at coming up with solutions to such things. Kakashi always thought out of the box. That was going to make dissolving their romantic relationship harder. It was the right thing to do though.
"He's too adventurous to be happy at Court long-term and the people would never accept him as their King. It doesn't matter how much wealth he acquires. In their eyes, he will always be a pirate." She muses.
Oh you could marry royalty, without royal blood yourself. Provided you were wealthy or attractive enough to overlook your humble origins. Most of the time. Unless you had a scandalous past. Kakashi most certainly had that in spades.
She didn't know all of the sordid details of his past, but she knew enough. Mei knew enough to realize that the English people would never accept them as their King. It was a pity, but it was also reality.
"I'll have to begin looking for a suitable match." She mutters in annoyance.
She didn't like the thought of a marriage. As soon as she wed, she'd lose most of her political power. At most she'd be a figurehead, unless her husband happened to agree with her.
It was just a fact of life. Truly, it was amazing that she had managed to rule as long as she had without the Vatican intervening. She knew damn well that they had it out for her.
"They might not detest me personally. But the fact that I'm a woman sitting on the throne without at husband, upsets them." She mutters in disgust.
There were very few things that Queen Mei could truly say that she feared. Upsetting the Vatican was one of them. You would have to be a fool not to fear them or the Spanish King's fleet. Mei was not a fool.
That was why she knew that she had to dance a very delicate dance. One that looked just submissive enough to keep them satisfied, but not so submissive that it would provoke them to take advantage of you. Provoking either party right now would likely be fatal.
"And I would rather die of my bed in old age than by an assassin's blade." She whispers to herself and sighs as she looks at the window at the night sky.
It was a beautiful night. She could only hope that the seas were fair and that Guy would be successful. At least that way, she would know Kakashi was still alive. He would bounce back. She knew he would. He always did.
Kakashi was like a cat in a lot of ways. He always landed on his fleet and seemed to have nine lives. By all logic, he should have been dead at least ten times over by now. Yet, her silver haired lover had continued to survive despite the deck being stacked against him. Time and time again, he pulled off miracles. She could only hope that his luck wouldn't run out this time.
Warning Another Boar Battle
Back on the island, Guy and Haku's crews head further onto the beach. They blink. It was a gruesome sight. There were dozens of wild boar carcasses thrown around. Fresh kills.
"Men, be careful. Whoever killed those boars is likely still around and we don't know if all the boars are dead." Guy calls out.
That was the only warning they got, before a handful of boars charged at the crew. Obito managed to kill one, but not before one of them gored a sailor. Guy cries out in horror and fiercely avenges his comrade by killing the man slaying beast!
Fortunately, luck was mostly on their side. They didn't have face nearly as many boars as the pirates had. Haku slams his sword into the heart of one of the massive animals, killing it instantly.
He pulls his sword out. It was stained red with blood. He quickly wipes it off on the sand. While he was doing that, the final beast charged at him. Thankfully, a sailor was able to save Haku by smashing his sword against the boar's skull, killing it instantly.
End of Boar Battle
"We are barely on this God forsaken island and it's already trying to kill us." Obito mutters in disgust after they defeat the boars and head off.
They head into the forest. A few men start screaming for help. Haku blinks. He looks around only to discover they'd gotten caught in quicksand. Damn it.
"Obito, get a branch! We are going to need to pull them out." He says.
Obito quickly grabs a long tree branch and they begin the long process of slowly pulling them out. It took all their strength to do it. In the end, they managed to save two men, but lose the third.
"Damn it. Well where would Madara hide his treasure? More specifically, where would a bunch of pirates think that he hid his treasure?" Guy asks.
Obito pauses and frowns. That was a good question. The island was only so big. They'd eventually run into the pirates. But this place was a death trap, the sooner they found the pirates, the better.
"Caves would be too obvious. The next logical choice is waterfall." He states.
"ALRIGHT MEN! LET'S GO TO THE WATERFALL!" Guy says and they charge off.
It didn't take long for them to find the waterfall. Unlike the pirates, they didn't test first. Obito, Haku, and Guy cautiously step behind the water. Their eyes widen. They saw lots of pirates and lots of weapons swinging, but it wasn't the pirates wielding them.
"Obito?! Guy?!" Kakashi calls out in disbelief.
"Kakashi! You're alive! Thank goodness! I see the power of youth hasn't left you!" Guy says as he rushes to embrace his friend.
"I didn't know he liked men. Did you?" Gaara whispers to Itachi.
"Me neither. Perhaps he likes men and women or he just pretends to like women to gain the Queen's favor?" The elder Uchiha brother suggests.
The red head nods. Well that was certainly possible. That theory made more sense than any of the ones that he was currently thinking up.
"Obito?!" Rin gasps as she sees her long lost childhood friend.
She couldn't believe it. Obito and Kakashi were both alive. This had to be some kind of miracle. Idly, the assassin wondered if she was merely dreaming or if this was actually happening.
Rin pinches herself. She winces. Owe. That hurt. Yes, this was real. She races over and hugs her two friends tightly. She still couldn't believe it.
"Rin! Kakashi! You're both alright!" Obito exclaims.
"Well as alright as one can be when they are kidnapped by other pirates. But I suppose it's really all relative." Kakashi muses.
Obito swings Rin around happily. He blinks at the silver haired man. If Kakashi was kidnapped, why wasn't he tied up? What on Earth was going on here?
"I thought you were kidnapped, yet you walk like a free man. I confess myself rather confused at this contradiction. It's one that I'm grateful for, but it is confusing nonetheless." He says.
Kakashi nods. Yes, he could certainly understand why Obito was confused. He sighs. It was a very long story.
"We were attacked by wild boars. They needed every man that they could to fight them." He explains.
"AHEM!" The women all snap at him and Kakashi rubs the back of his head sheepishly.
"And every woman." He adds and this seems to pacify the female pirates (and assassin.)
Rin blinks. Maybe they could all slip off. They could be free. She didn't care about at treasure, that she didn't know if it was still there. They could escape with their friends.
"Well that's all very touching, but we have a treasure to find. So either you are helping us or you are getting the fuck out of our way." Kisame says with a smile.
Haku takes a step back from Kisame. He had never met a man like him in all his life. He was convinced that the giant blue skinned man must actually be some kind of demon.
"Don't worry about Kisame. He might look intimidating, but he's no more vicious than any other pirate." Konan reassures Haku.
The young Captain wasn't entirely certain that he believed her. It didn't matter though. He was here to avenge his Captain!
"We'll make this simple, you can help us or you can die. I'm sure that your Queen will forgive our transgressions, if you give her enough treasure." Sasuke says.
Haku felt himself twitch. It wasn't about money! They had killed his lover. They were all going to pay.
"It's not about the money! You shot down my lover in cold blood! All of you deserve to die!" Haku yells at him.
Sasuke sighs. He couldn't help but feel a stab of pity for the man. He would be a wreck if he lost Naruto. Still if the feminine looking man thought for one minute that he was going to go down easily, he had another thing coming.
"Unless you wish to join him, I suggest you stop threatening my lover." Naruto hisses at Haku.
Haku braces himself. Odds are he was going to die in this fight, but he would go down fighting. It looked like the blonde pirate wanted to be the first to face him. Fine by him.
"Haku, don't. Don't throw your life away. He wouldn't want you to end your life like this." Obito says and tries to reason with him.
"Honestly, we just want our treasure. We'd rather not have to kill you all. But if you insist on being annoying insects, then I'm afraid we will have no choice." Itachi says.
Everyone froze. There were a fair number of men in Haku and Obito's crews. The pirates had them outnumbered, but everyone knew the truth. If a fight broke out in close quarters like these, it was going to be a bloodbath.
