Diamonds and Pearls

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. There are lots of surprises in store in the next one.

Chapter Warning: Minor character death. It's very graphic. I put up a warning. If you are squeamish, skip it. A lot of people wanted to see a dark Naruto. Well you got him ;).

Happy Halloween (Almost): I'm close to wrapping up a few stories. So if you are interested, be on the look out for new stories. I just posted Masquerade. It's my Halloween themed story and Madara is going to be one of the main characters in it. Warning it's pretty exotic. So it may not be for everyone.

Chapter 18

Haku was clearly half mad with rage as he lunges towards Naruto. The blonde manages to dodge. Sasuke shivers when he hears his lover release an animalistic growl at the other man.

Naruto unsheathes his sword as two sides of his personality waged a war with each other. The rational and instinctive side of his mind were clashing. It made him feel almost dizzy. It was just like that time all those years ago, when the blonde Captain had first lost control.

"How does it feel to know you are both going to hang, you filthy scum? You actually thought that you could steal from the King of Portugal's ships and get away from it?! You aren't just scum. You're stupid scum." One of the guards taunted them.

Naruto was inside a dungeon. He wasn't the only one. There were many pirates inside the dungeon. They had been caught on a raid. Currently, he was chained to a wall and there was a red headed pirate next to him.

The young Captain had lost track of time. He was fairly certain that he had been inside that jail for at least a month. He had seen the moon go through an entire cycle. It had been the worst month of his life.

"I'm talking to you, demon." The guard screamed at the red head and punched him in the stomach.

For a month, they had all been left here to rot. Rarely were they fed or given water. Just enough to keep them alive. He was certain that he had probably lost at last ten pounds, maybe more. The others weren't in much better shape.

Everyday, the guards would taunt them. They would tell them that they were all going to be hung the next day. Sometimes they would beat them. Naruto was damn lucky. He was a fast healer, but he knew that if he wasn't… he would have been covered in scars.

"I know. I just don't make it a habit to talk to insects, no matter how annoying they may be." The Captain of Suna replied.

The fact that he didn't scar easily, just seemed to enrage their jailers further. The Captain was one of their favorite targets because of that. It was a rare day when Naruto wasn't beaten.

The only comfort that they had was the fact that the women aboard their crews, had managed to escape. God only knows what would have happened to them, if they hadn't.

"You filthy dog! You are going to learn to respect your betters!" The guard seethed as he punched Gaara hard enough in the nose to break it.

Blood poured form the injury and reminded Naruto that he wasn't the only favorite target. The red head was another Captain. That alone probably would have sealed his fate, but Gaara didn't help his case by sassing their jailers.

The blonde had never met Gaara before they were all captured. Still had couldn't help but admire his spirit. The feisty pirate never gave up.

"His betters? He's not the man who is hitting another that can't hit back. Takes all the sportsmanship out of it, doesn't it?" Naruto seethed.

"You just don't know when to shut your fucking mouth, do you?!" The guard demanded.

"I guess not." Naruto replied with a smirk.

That's when he heard an explosion. The door was blown open and he saw some of his female crew members. They were standing next to some other pirates that he figured were from Suna.

The women rushed inside and quickly rushed to free their comrades. Once Naruto was free, he didn't know what happened. He just blacked out.

When he snapped out of it, he saw the body of guards littering the floor of the prison. Well what was left of them. Which wasn't much. There was blood splattered all over the walls and clearly he had at some point started dismembering them. (In some cases, that was actual castration.)

"What happened?" He asked in horror.

"I don't know. You were like a man possessed. I've never seen such savagery in all my life." Gaara answered him.

"Oh. Well I'm Naruto. Let's get out of here?" The blonde asked as he tried not to throw up at the gruesome scene.

Gaara nods. He gestured towards the door that had been blown off thanks to the efforts of their crew members. Naruto quickly followed the other pirates to freedom.

"I'm Gaara." The red head said.

It was strange. They had been prisoners together for over a month. Yet, they had never learned each other's names. The guards seemed to go out of their way to dehumanize them. That included not saying their names and neither had been in the mood to exchange pleasantries before.

"Nice to meet you." Naruto said.

He didn't know it at the time, but Gaara would eventually become his best friend. That also wouldn't be the last time that he would black out. Sometimes, he just couldn't control it. That was why Naruto tried his best to stay calm. He didn't want to lose it again and become a savage.

Now wasn't one of those times though. He wasn't going to let this heartbroken fool hurt his Pearl or any of his comrades. Haku was going to die. It was as simple as that.

"Rin, pigeon." Kakashi whispers to her.

The assassin blinks and nods. When they were children, they had come up with a code. It was rather elaborate, but pigeon meant an escape plan. She gives the signal to Obito and Obito whispers something to Guy.

"You should have just mourned your lover and left it at that. I'm sorry for your loss, but you aren't going to take him from me." Naruto snarled at Haku in a way that sounded far more like a wild animal than man.

Sasuke felt his blood run cold. He had never heard a person make a sound like that before. It was terrifying and he wasn't even the person who it was directed at.

Naruto charged at Haku. Everyone could only watch in horror as the two men clashed. Haku was a good swordsmen, but Naruto was an animal. The Captain was moving at an almost inhumane speed and practically a blur.

"Naruto, you don't need to kill the idiot!" Sasuke calls out.

"It's too late. Naruto has lost it. This happens sometimes. There's nothing that anyone can do, but get out of the way." Gaara warns him.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. What the fuck was Gaara talking about? Was he saying that Naruto was possessed or something.

"It happens sometimes. When he gets angry, he goes into a rage. A savage rage. He doesn't know what he's doing, not really. He'll snap out of it of his own accord. It's just hard to tell when." The red head clarifies.

The younger Uchiha blinks. Now he understood why Itachi was so worried about him earlier. He never knew that his lover was capable of such brutality. (Well most pirates could be brutal, but this was…madness.)

"DIE!" Haku calls out desperately as he swings his sword desperately.

Warning Minor Character Death

"You're the only one who is going to die here." Naruto hisses at him.

The Konoha Captain slashes his sword across Haku's neck. Blood gushed from the severed artery and the other falls to the ground.

"Zabuza, I'm sorr-y." Haku groans out as he tries desperately not to choke on his own blood.

He was losing so much blood though. There was now a large pool of it surrounding him. Still he died with a smile on his face.

No one knew why, except for the dying man. Haku could have sworn he saw Zabuza reach for him as he slowly faded from this life. He was convinced that he was reunited with his lover and thus died a happy man.

Naruto didn't stop there though. His rage was too great. To make sure that Haku was dead he swings his sword at the other man and separates his head from his neck with one strike. Haku's head rolls grotesquely on the cave floor.

End of Minor Character Death Scene.

Kakashi, Guy, Rin, and Obito were horrified at what they saw. During the chaos, the four of them managed to slip off. Guy tries to grab his other crew members, but Rin wasn't having any of that. She drags his ass behind her as they slip off.

"But we have to save them!" Guy says.

"They might not kill them. If your men are smart, they will help the pirates seek their treasure. Besides, would you rather live without them or die with them?" Kakashi demands of his friend.

Guy sighs. He didn't want to abandon his crew, but Kakashi has a point. He nods his head in agreement and races off with them.

"Where is your ship?" Rin asks Obito and Guy.

"We'll show you. We can get in one of the rowboats and get there. We still have injured crew members aboard. So it won't be just us. I don't know how much help they will be in their current condition though." Guy explains.

Rin nods. It didn't matter. They just needed to get the fuck away from these crazy people. She was an assassin, but she would never forget how Naruto had killed Haku as long as she lived.

The woman knew that she was going to have nightmares about that for the rest of her life. The absolute savagery wasn't something that was easily forgotten. She had no idea how she had managed not to vomit at the sight of the carnage.

"Lead the way." Kakashi says.

Obito and Guy nods. They rush out from behind the waterfall, through the forest, and to the beach. They all quickly get on a rowboat and row towards the ship. The crew cheers when they saw their Captain returning.

Once on the boat, Guy quickly goes to steer the ship. Rin looks around curiously. Well it was a nice ship. It could get them out of here anyway.

"Did you defeat the pirates?" One of the men asks.

"No, but we rescued Kakashi. That was our prime objective." Obito explains.

The sailor nods. He looks around in confusion. Where was Haku? Haku should be with them.

"Where is Captain Haku?" He asks in confusion.

"I'm afraid that he fell in battle. He died honorably. He died fighting. We should all be so lucky. Now if we do not wish to join him, we simply must be going as quickly as possible." Kakashi explains and the ship begins to set sail.

He looks back at the island and sighs. It was too bad about Haku. He could understand wanting to avenge your lover, but the man had been insane. The kid actually thought that he could defeat that many pirates?

Obito sighs. He felt guilty. Haku would never have managed to find a ship to go after the pirates, if it wasn't for him. Even if he did, he wouldn't have found them. The young Captain would still be alive. That kid's blood was on his hands.

"I know that look. You mustn't blame yourself. You tried to stop him. This is not your fault." Rin tries to reassure her firend.

"I know that I tried to stop him, but I'm the one who gave him a ship. Without me, he never would have gotten here. Haku would still be alive. That and I am a horrible person. I still feel relieved. I'm relieved that I managed to get you and Kakashi out of there." He replies.

Rin tilts her head to the side. How did that make him a horrible person? It was only natural to be relieved when you found out your friends were safe.

"What do you mean? It's only natural for you to be happy that we are alive. We are friends. That's normal. That doesn't make you a horrible person." The assassin asks.

"I'm a horrible person because if I knew what I knew now, I would still help him. I'd trade his life for yours and Kakashi's in an instant. That makes me very selfish. He was barely more than a kid." Her friend answers.

Rin sighs. She wraps her arms around Obito. It was hard to see him like this. It was difficult to realize that he now carried the weight of the young man's death on his shoulders. Why? Because he had wanted to save Kakashi and her.

"If you don't stop blaming yourself, I will kick your arse." She warns him.

"Where did that sweet, shy girl go that I knew as a boy? I don't believe I've ever heard you speak that way to anyone before." He muses.

"Oh that sweet, shy girl had to change to survive. You simply must tell me what you have been doing all these years, besides chasing after pirates and rescuing us." The brunette insists.

Obito sighs. Now that was a very long story. He wondered what Rin would think when she found out that he had been living as a recluse for so many years. Would she be disappointed in him?

"That's a very long tale. If you want me to tell it, I'm going to need some ale." He informs her.

"Oh I'm sure that we can find some ale." Kakashi says and winks as they look around the ship for the ale. (It didn't take long to find it because pirates and sailors both loved to drink!)

Meanwhile back in the cave, Sasuke watches Naruto cautiously. Haku was dead, but that didn't mean that Naruto was safe to approach. He could see that his comrades had the same thought.

"Naruto?" He calls out softly?

Gaara grabs Itachi's arm. He had stopped breathing the second that Sasuke called out his friend's name. There was no stopping Naruto when he got like this. Sasuke might have just sealed his fate.

Itachi places his hand on his red head's. He watches anxiously. If Naruto attacked his brother, he was going to step in. Whether or not he would be able to stop the blonde was another matter. That didn't matter though.

Sasuke was his brother. The elder Uchiha would do everything that he could to protect him. Even if that meant that they would die together, he wouldn't stand idly by and watch his First Mate die by his lover's hand.

Naruto grabs Sasuke. Itachi was about to rush over to defend his brother, when he saw that the other Captain was kissing Sasuke. It was with a bruising passion, but it was still just a kiss.

"Mmpf!" Sasuke calls out in surprise and returns the kiss.

He mentally sighs in relief and wraps his arms around his lover's neck. He wasn't sure what the fuck had just happened, but his lovable idiot was still in there. Sasuke just had to help him snap out of it. That was all.

Gaara lets out the breath he was holding. Thank goodness. Naruto was calming down. Maybe they would all get out of this alive after all. (Well except for Haku.)

"Remember your promise." Naruto whispers to Sasuke.

"I remember. I always keep my promises. Try not to go mad again." Sasuke replies with a smile.

Tenten cautiously looks around. Well it looked like Naruto was calm for now. She cautiously moves closer to the weapons.

"Well I guess we can continue then. Everyone duck and cover. We don't know if they have more traps hidden." Tenten says and everyone quickly crouches low.

The brunette hurls her boomerang again. This time a hailstorm worth of arrows is released. Ino cries out in pain as one goes through her arm. Thankfully, she appeared to be the only injury and more of the swords stopped swinging.

"Each time a trap is set off, more weapons stop. This is a system. They probably figured that the reef, pigs, quick sand, and all these weapons would destroy anyone who came looking for the treasure." Gaara observes.

"It's a logical theory. Though it doesn't help us. We don't know how many lawyers of this defense there really are. Every time we attack, we risk losing more of our people." Itachi counters.

Konan frowns. This was not good. It was essentially a rather high stakes game of chicken. Whoever had come up with all of these traps was quite clever.

"I think I saw a fucking shadow in the distance. We definitely aren't alone." Hidan calls out.

Immediately everyone tensed up. Hidan might have lacked manners, but he had good eyes. If he said he saw a shadow, he probably had. He also wasn't someone who spooked easily. It wasn't likely that he had just imagined it.

"Again, Tenten." Sasuke calls out.

The feisty pirate does as the First Mate asks. Everyone gets down and she sends her weapon sailing again. This time a loud boom goes off as all the weapons fall in a section of the cave, revealing that the floor had been hallowed. There as was now a giant hole between them and the next section of a cave. A scroll falls from the top of the cave near Naruto's head.

"What's it say?!" Sakura asks nervously.

Dear Treasure Seeker,

If you have made it this far you must be a rather determined or greedy fuck. Maybe both. You've made it beyond the reef, the boars, the quick sand, discovered the fact that we hid the treasure behind a waterfall, and through several rounds of traps.

But can you get beyond the hole to the other side? It's for you to decide. If you fall, no one will remember you at all. You'll be torn to ribbons. If you succeed, you will be richer than you have ever dreamed.

Madara and Kurama.

PS: If you do decide to attempt it, good luck. You are going to need it.

The blonde blinks as he reads it out loud to everyone. That could mean only one thing. If they could get to the other side, the treasure was theirs.

There was only one problem. That gap was at least ten feet. Sasuke blinks as he looks at the other side. There was a ladder.

"Someone's going to have to jump and get to the ladder. Then they can slide it over to us and we can walk across." Kisame says.

"Are you fucking crazy? Who can jump that far? No one is going to be able to make it. Look down below. It's filled with spikes on the bottom. If they miss, they are going to be impaled." Suigetsu yells at him.

"I can do it." Hinata says.

Everyone looks at the bluenette as if she had just said she was suicidal. Yes, Hinata was flexible. But could she really make a jump that far?

"Hinata, don't even think about it. You are not that insane. Didn't you hear what I just said? If you don't make it, you are going to get killed." The white haired man snaps at her.

"Oh I heard what you said, but I'm a pirate. I'm not a pampered noblewoman. I don't follow orders form anyone who isn't a Captain or a First Mate." She says softly.

Itachi, Gaara, Sasuke, and Naruto all look at each other. None of them was eager to admit it, but Hinata was likely their best chance. They sigh and nod their consent.

"You've all lost your mind." Suigetsu growls and kisses rather passionately Hinata.

Hinata smiles and kisses back. Well at least if she died now, she would have a very happy memory to take to her grave. She backs up towards the edge of the cave and then runs. She runs faster than she ever had in her life and does a flip.

Everyone watches with baited breath as the petite woman goes flying. Faster and faster she spun around. The Hyuga woman was kicking her legs ferociously to try to stay air boar. She leans on the edge. Her fingers were gripping the ledge. If she slipped or couldn't pull herself up, she was going to fall to her death. A very gruesome death.

"Come on, Hinata! You can do it!" Temari cries out.

Shikamaru watches with his wife warily. Hinata was a nice woman. Well as nice as a pirate woman could be anyway. He hoped that she didn't perish.

Hinata was trying desperately to pull herself up. She was so close. She couldn't let the crews down. She wasn't going to die today.

"Whatever you do, don't look down! Yeah?!" Deidara calls out.

"DEIDARA, SHUT UP!" Everyone snaps at him and Hinata makes the mistake of looking down.

She gulps. Those spikes were rather vicious looking. Her hands start to shake, but she manages to keep a firm enough grip, that she doesn't fall.

Suigetsu smacks the Hell out of Deidara. He deserved it! You don't tell someone not to look down. That made them look down. If Hinata died because of his loud mouth, he was going to kill the other pirate!

"Hinata, you can do it!" Naruto calls out.

"Owe!" Deidara hisses at Suigetsu and glares at the other man.

"You deserved that and worse. What the fuck where you thinking, telling her that?!" The violet eyed man demands.

Kisame watches as the bluenette slowly pulled herself up. It took several agonizing minutes, but she made it. He lets out an excited cry when he sees Hinata was on the other side.

"EVERYONE! LOOK! She made it!" The blue skinned man calls out.

Suddenly a chorus of cheers is heard. The young woman smiles. She pants and slowly pushes the ladder across the gap. Hinata gestures for them to walk the plank. Well walk the ladder in this case.

"I think this is the only time that walking the plank is ever going to be a good thing. You go first, my pearl. I'll be right behind you." Naruto says to his lover and Sasuke nods.

Sasuke takes a deep breath and slowly starts walking across the ladder. He just prayed that it was sturdier than it looks. Who knew how long it had been laying there? It might be brittle and snap underneath him.

He could feel Naruto's eyes behind him. He takes several more painfully slow steps before he makes it across. He lets out the breath he was holding when he and Naruto join Hinata.

"Alright. It's safe to cross. But go slow." Sasuke calls out.

The pirates now. They made the sailors go next. They had surrendered after they saw what Naruto was capable of.

The pirates knew that they couldn't let them escape. After all, the sailors would just take their ships. No, they were going to force them to go along or be killed. Wisely, the sailors don't put up any resistance. Shortly, there after the pirates follow.

It took about an hour for everyone to get to the other side, but they all made it. Truly, it was as miracle. They had all survived the walk and were now closer than ever to Kurama's treasure.