Shipwreck Chapter 3:
Reunited
The first thing that Haruno Sakura saw when she opened her eyes was… Something that her sleepy brain could not currently identify… Something black… Something blue… Something- Sasuke? Yeah… Sasuke… That was normal, right she could go back to- wait… SASUKE-KUN!
Jumping up and becoming fully alert, Sakura swallowed when she saw where she was.
"A… beach?"
It could be some strange… Sakura scanned the area, searching and looking carefully. No. It wasn't an illusion jutsu. She was sure of it. So… Was this meant to be good or bad?
"WE'RE STUCK WITH SASUKE-KUN! HELL YEAH IT'S GREAT!" screamed Inner Sakura completely ignoring the fact that she had no idea where they were stuck with Sasuke-kun or whether they were even stuck with Sasuke-kun.
Shaking her head to get rid of her inner self's ranting, Sakura gathered her thoughts together and tried to think logically… What was the last thing that happened to her…? Oh yeah… She took a nap… And round up here. That was… illogical. And with Sasuke… Even more illogical in a certain sense. Speaking of whom…
Sakura glanced down at her fellow shinobi. She blushed, upon remembering her childish crush on him, when they were still both genins. It seemed like such a long time ago now… Around two and a half years to be exact. He had left for a while in search of power. He had been brought back a month or so ago and was still under constant watch and care by the ninja of Konoha.
She knew that the others threw bewildered glances at her when she had acted so gleefully and happy when she found out her cabin was opposite his at the start of the mission. The others were bewildered... Why? It was almost obvious. Most of the others on the mission to escort someone were still distrustful and wary of Sasuke for joining the 'enemy'. Even Ino had given up her crush on him a long time ago and who knew who she was chasing now…
Why she acted like that… All happy and hyper… She had no idea. Maybe it was Inner Sakura egging her on and yelling, "We're opposite Sasuke-kun!" that made her do it. Maybe it was something else. Sakura shook her head. Sasuke wasn't her idol anymore. Or the subject of her puppy love. He couldn't even be considered a friend to her or even Naruto. They were still so far apart from when after he came back. So he was… Just Sasuke. He was so different… Like a complete stranger for most of the time… But enough of that anyway… Wait, was that her- Was that…
"My…bag?"
The pastel pink bag that she had brought along with her on the mission was sitting a little bit away from her. Scampering over to it, Sakura hugged the bag to her chest as a small sort of comfort. She was jumping from thought to thought, trying to figure out where she was and what had happened at the same time.
After cuddling her bag for a few more moments, the kunoichi undid the fastener and rummaged through her bag, checking to see if everything was all there. Yeah, just about. Medical supplies, various weapons, various objects, and a few personals were jumbled in the bag, slightly wet from something. In fact, now that she thought about it… The outside of her bag was wet, quite wet actually. What the hell had happened?
After twiddling her fingers in the same fashion that another shinobi, Hinata, did, Sakura wondered if she should try… waking Sasuke-kun. She knew she really should but she didn't exactly want to… make him… into an enraged, maniacal Sasuke who was going to kill her for disturbing his sleep. After all, he did look completely wiped out- and she had seen how powerful he was at times…
The Uchiha was practically sprawled out on the sand… Almost if he had just swam a swimming marathon and just made it to this beach. A spot of tenderness crossed Sakura's face but was quickly wiped away when the kunoichi saw the ninja waking up. Well, at least she didn't have to bother waking him up… The heir of the Uchiha Clan immediately jumped up, brushing sand off him.
"Ah… Good morning Sasuke-kun!" greeted Sakura warmly.
The shinobi responded with a nod and grabbed his bag.
"Um… Where are we are we?" asked Sakura tentatively.
"The boat got shipwrecked on some rocks during a storm. You're on an island." He stated bluntly.
"Oh." Sakura's mind started to process these new ideas, "We're shipwrecked…"
When did that happen? Slowly, very slowly Sakura really realized what happened and she paled. This was getting from bad to worse… You didn't just get… Shipwrecked… It was a once in a million years type of thing, it was too rare… She wasn't that unlucky…
"Oh… Did anyone…" her voice went down, "Drown?"
"I don't know."
Sakura brushed a strand of pink hair away from her face and half flopped down against a large boulder on the sands. Shipwrecked… That was just so very very wrong…. It wasn't meant to happen but it did… And then…
"Did you save me, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's face brightened when she saw the Uchiha pause.
"No. You got washed up."
"But I woke up right next to you!"
"But you washed up right next to me."
"You saved me."
"Believe what you want."
"You saved me."
"Believe what you want."
And that was the end of the particular conversation. Although, both ninjas knew the real truth, they did not say anymore. For both of them, they knew that words were probably useless and that what they already knew was good enough. Good enough to bring them one step closer to each other.
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Inuzaka Kiba usually did not run around screaming. It would have a rather negative effect on his reputation and he just did not run around screaming. It was something Kiba didn't do. However, on this particular occasion, Inuzaka Kiba felt very much like running around and screaming. This may be due to the fact that he was aware of the fact that he had been shipwrecked and Akamaru was nowhere in sight. In fact, there wasn't even a scent of trace of Akamaru anywhere.
The shinobi was in short, not used to being alone. Have a furry companion with you every hour of your life and you'll feel how Kiba felt on this particular day. Kiba had ridden on Akamaru out of the ship last night when it was half submerged in water. He had fallen asleep almost as soon as he hit the shore of this island, resting against Akamaru. This morning when he woke up, well… No Dog in sight. No tell tale paw prints of where his friend was. Nothing.
He had left the beach long ago and into the jungle of the island, searching and looking. No luck yet. In fact, he hadn't seen anyone else yet… If they hadn't drowned… Surely he would've have bumped into them? Is was almost freaky… Surreal… But-
"Kiba-kun!"
Turning, the brown haired ninja saw Naruto and Chouji emerge from around a corner. Chouji was contently stuffing his face with a strange yellow fruit- one pudgy hand of his held a ripe bunch of the fruit and there was a trail of yellow skins behind the ninja. Kiba grinned- he felt much better in a group then off a lone.
"Eh…? Where's Akamaru?" Naruto looked around, puzzled, "Isn't he normally with you?"
"Ah…" Kiba's grin faded away, "Akamaru's disappeared. Have you seen him?"
Both shinobi shook their heads.
"We're trying to find the others…" replied Chouji, in between bites, "I have a feeling most of them are on the island."
"Oh?"
"We heard Yamanako Ino shrieking earlier at someone… So yeah." Answered Naruto while wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead.
The yellowed haired shinobi had his trousers rolled up and was dressed in a black shirt. Red marks dotted Naruto's body… What had happened?
"Oh… Bugs…" answered Naruto when he saw Kiba looking.
Kiba responded with a frantic look on his body, checking for any red marks. Fortunately, there were none… A yellow skin hitting the ground near him, switched Kiba's thoughts to another subject- the weird yellow fruit that Chouji seemed to find so divine in taste.
"What are those things anyway?" Kiba pointed to the fruit that Chouji was eating.
"I dunno. But they taste pretty good. Want some?" The shinobi held out one segment of fruit.
Warily, Kiba took it. He was more of a meat eater- fruits and vegetables just didn't taste that nice to him. The fruit was slightly curved and the skin felt leathery… Was this even edible? Kiba took a bite. But the skin was as he suspected- quite tough. He worked his jaws, biting and chewing, trying to get a piece off.
It was disgusting! How did Chouji actually eat these things! Kiba gagged and turning away from the other two, spat out what he was eating. When he turned around, the shinobi was surprised to see the other two… laughing.
"What…"
But both were still laughing for strange reasons that Kiba did not know… Idiots.
"You've – ate – the skin – of it –" choked out Naruto, gasping.
"And- you're- mean to eat – the inside!" finished Chouji.
Kiba frowned. He didn't find it that funny… In fact it wasn't even funny at all. Sighing, he looked down at the fruit in his hand. The 'skin' of this fruit was a huge hole where he had bit a piece of. Underneath, was a pale yellow thing…? It looked much more edible then the skin. Peeling the skin out, the shinobi took the inner layer out and popped in his mouth.
Sadly, it didn't fit. And the other two were still laughing at him. And sadly, he hated the taste anyway. Again, turning away from the others, Kiba gagged, swallowed, and threw the rest of the fruit away. Ugh… Who would want to eat that? Obviously Chouji. The shinobi was still stuffing his face, the number of fruits growing rapidly smaller by the second. He had to meet two of the strangest ninja on this island… Fate had decided to torture him today. But before Kiba had anymore time to have further thought on this subject, a loud cry from behind them made them all spin around, grabbing for kunais that weren't there.
Kiba cursed, they were all weaponless. Of course- their weapons probably fell out when they were escaping the ship. This was not-
"GOOD MORNING KIBA-KUN! GOOD MORNING NARUTO-KUN! GOOD MORNING CHOUJI-KUN!"
The three stood stock still, realizing who was running towards them. Only one person could run at such a speed that was almost bordering impossibility- and that was Rock Lee. From farther off, there were sounds of…
"Damned speedy freak…"
"SLOW DOWN!"
"Hurry up Shikamaru! You're lagging behind! STOP RUNNING SO FAST LEE-SAN!"
"Idiots…"
Lee stopped next to them, skidding to a perfect stop, and turning around so he could watch the other ninja with him catch up. Turning his head towards Chouji, Kiba, and Naruto, Lee flashed them the infamous 'good guy pose'.
Kiba twitched. That… thing was overused… Very overused. Turning, Kiba ignored the cheering from Lee for the others to run faster. An irritated Kankuro came first, a bag slung over his shoulder. Ino came second, stampeding quite suitably like a wild boar after Kankuro. Shino came, bounding from one tree to another, and landing coolly on the ground beside them… And Shikamaru…?
The ninja was shuffling along, nearly out of sight; he was so far away from everyone else. The black haired shinobi seemed not to notice that he had a numerous amount of people glaring at him, nor that Lee was shouting at him.
"Idiot," muttered Kiba, "Hurry up! We haven't got all day!"
What kind of genius was he…? Kiba shook his head, and sighing, leaned against a tree. It was going to be a very long day.
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Gaara was used to silence. He was used to very long periods of silence. But that was a completely different type of silence compared to the one that he was experiencing now. This silence was a very awkward silence. For the Kaze-kage of the Hidden Sand Village just happened to be walking with Hyuuga Hinata. A kunoichi known to be shy- and he was ninja who wasn't exactly known to be sociable.
"It-it's a nice day, isn't it Gaara-kun…?" Hinata tried weakly.
Gaara responded with an unidentifiable sound. Hinata took that to be yes. Honestly… He had grown up with only one female in his childhood. And that was Temari- any other female had a tendency to run away from him, screaming 'Demon'. He winced at the memories that suddenly cropped up in his mind…
"Do-do you think we should try to find the others?"
Gaara glanced down at the younger teen. It was sometimes hard to believe that she was even a ninja… Hinata, from his limited knowledge of her, seemed quite frail and weak. But, he had to admit, she was decent, even maybe quite good in battle. Gaara blinked, remembering he had a question to answer.
"Yes. That would be a good idea."
The two had gotten out of the boat last night together. Hinata was walking on water, using her concentration of chakra to allow her to stay above the ocean. He too, was walking on the ocean waters, though much more calmly. A falling plank of wood from the crashing ship was dropping onto the Hyuuga and he had stopped it. Even with his limited powers of sand control, Gaara had used it to block the plank, and to alert the kunoichi of the danger. Even now, he was suffering a small lapse of shock every now, and then. After all, that had been his first time on a boat, let alone his first storm and shipwreck. It would probably scar him to be paranoid about ships for the rest of his life…
"Akamaru!" Hinata's voice was evidently surprised, "Eh? Kiba's not with him either!"
It was then that Gaara saw a big white fluffy dog running towards them. It was a giant sized dog… Was that thing going to run them over or something? Oh wait, it was Inuzaka's dog. That dog. It took seconds for Akamaru to reach them, and even less to nearly bowl Hinata over with his licks and snuffles. Gaara kept his difference, preferring to keep his level of hygiene intact.
"Where's Kiba Akamaru? What… Happened? He didn't drown did he… Oh good… So where is- you got separated? No…? Oh… I see. You left him for a while then came back and he'd disappeared… I see… Yes… We'll find him."
Gaara blinked, after hearing the seemingly one-sided conversation.
"You know… dog speech?"
"Yes…" Hinata blushed, "I picked it up, quite a few years with Kiba and Akamaru did that."
"I see."
Akamaru then decided to trot up to Gaara. The dog opened his wide big jaws and… licked the Kazekage on the face. Hinata paled and called Akamaru back, reprimanding the dog while looking anxiously at Gaara. He, himself stood there. That… was an experience.
"I'm very sorry Gaara-kun, it won't-"
"I'm alright."
"Oh."
Akamaru had gone to the other side of Hinata obviously sensing that he had done something terribly wrong. Akamaru just didn't know how wrong. But fortunately Gaara let it go and wiped the saliva of his face. Disgusting yes, but not entirely something he loathed. He would let this slip… A few minutes passed before Hinata broke the silence.
"Do you have a precious person, Gaara-kun?"
Gaara paused for a moment, thinking. Did he? And besides that…
"Define a precious person."
"Someone…" Hinata struggled for a word, "Someone who you love, who is precious to you I guess…"
"No…"
Gaara replied truthfully or maybe not so truthfully. Did he have a precious person? There were his siblings but…
"Do you have a precious person?" Gaara turned the question back at the kunoichi.
Hinata blushed immediately, red tinting her cheeks, "Umm… Ah… Well…"
The look in the teenager's eyes implored Gaara not to ask further and Gaara complied. After all, he had a pretty good idea of who Hinata's precious person was anyway. And… Gaara looked down at Akamaru who was grinning widely at Hinata. He was pretty sure Akamaru knew too.
Mainly to change the subject, Hinata stated quickly, "You are a good person, Gaara-kun… I think."
Gaara's eyes slightly widened. Oh… That wasn't a common thing said to him. Normally, even after he had the Sand Demon taken out of him, he sensed that terms like 'evil', 'scary', and 'murderous' still clung to him.
"How can you be sure?"
Hinata blushed again, "You saved me last night. You could have left me to die… And well…" the teen blushed again, "I know."
Gaara decided not to say anything and let silence overtake them. Compliments to him were rare, very rare actually. He was a good person… She just knew? How… Strange. Even throughout his life, he still never even thought of himself to be a good person… Just more of a… What did he think of himself now? Shaking his head slightly, Gaara glanced back down at Hinata who was still blushing slightly, but overall looking slightly pleased with herself.
"Hinata."
The person who had been addressed looked up, startled. It was normally her who iniated conversation, not him.
"You… Are a good person also…"
"Not really," protested Hinata slightly while adding quietly, "I'm weak. I do not-"
"You are not weak."
Hinata looked up, color going to her cheeks again and the silence resumed again. But at least, as Gaara noticed, this wasn't an awkward silence. It was the silence he shared with his brother or sister during a walk…
"Gaara!" A blonde haired kunoichi, also known as Temari waved to both of them, "Hinata!"
Both knew that this was the end of their walk. They did not chatter away and say much to each other, but it was a start for a both. The start of a friendship? Gaara glanced down at Hinata before smiling slightly at his sister. To say that being together for a short period of time had been futile- would be a complete lie.
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"There they are!" Tenten pointed to some figures in a clearing further off.
Neji followed Tenten's finger, and nodded. That was certainly them. Soon both shinobi were flitting through the dense jungle, approaching their destination quite quickly. The small group looked at them. How many were there…? The chubby ninja- Chouji… Naruto… Lee… The Inuzaka heir… Aburame Shino… Yamanaka Ino… The genius- Nara Shikamaru… that damn Uchiha… Haruno Sakura… The Sand Nin- Kankuro… That made ten, plus he and Tenten and that made twelve. So they were missing… Hinata and the other two Sand Ninjas.
"Neji!" His female team mate got his attention just in time- he was milimetres away from a tree.
The Hyuuga swallowed in embarrassment before jumping out of the way and continuing like it had never happened. Fortunately no one else had noticed and Tenten didn't look like she was going to make a big deal out of it. A thing he was grateful for though he would never admit it.
Both Tenten and he had swum to the shore of this island- they had used up all their chakra in their spar and getting out of the ship. This morning they had both searched the island, trying to find the other ninja who had been assigned to their mission with them. They were of course successful- as of now, that is.
The two soon reached the others, Tenten bounding away to join the other kunoichi, he, Neji just standing there, fading into more of a stoic stance. Lee walked up to him. What did that moron want now? Neji's eyes narrowed slightly. Lee flashed him the traditional good guy pose. Fortunately, the Hyuuga Heir had developed immunity to that pose a long time ago.
"Close shave Neji-kun!"
No… Lee actually saw… Neji winced inwardly. Hopefully, Lee wouldn't make a mess out of it… If that green-skinned idiot did-
"You just nearly hit that tree!"
A few heads turned and Neji visibly glared at Lee. Unfortunately, like Neji, Lee had gained immunity to that glare a long time ago.
"Idiot." The words were practically seethed out.
"He just crashed into a tree? What? Hyuuga Neji!" Sakura stood unbelieving, not hearing quite correctly…
Tenten, who was standing near the pink kunoichi, glanced at Neji, a smile on her lips.
The head of Kankuro turned and Neji saw the ninja smirk before turning back to doing something with his puppets. Neji struck his glare at the Sand Nin but unfortunately, like Lee, Kankuro had developed immunity to it. Maybe it was from Gaara? Damn. This wasn't turning out well.
"Who… Neji? He crashed into a tree? No way…" Shikamaru glanced at Neji, who was devoid of any signs of injury, "You don't look like you've crashed into one… No bruises… Nothing."
Good. Neji allowed himself to breathe easier. Yes- there was no evidence that he had crashed into that tree. No one would believe Lee now… At this point in time, Hinata, Gaara, and Temari walked in, completing the group. There was a small shout of excitement in the background as Kiba was reunited with Akamaru- but they stayed out of the limelight.
"OI OI OI! EVERYBODY!" Naruto jumped up excitedly, attracting everyone's attention like he always did.
Moron. What was he going to do- No, that was just wrong… The byukugen user paled. He wanted to kill somebody- now…
"NEJI-KUN CRASHED INTO A TREE ON PURPOSE!"
Every member of the group turned their heads to meet Neji's cool gaze. Most were smiling widely, giggling, snickering, smirking, or whatever form of cruel smile they chose to give to him. Tenten was chuckling- actually chuckling! How dare she… But if there was a silver lining to every crowd- at least there were all there… He desperately needed to get his reputation back… He needed a plan- Oh… Perfect. Smirking, Neji decided on his course of action.
Walking to the center of the group, the shinobi activated his Byakugen. The shinobi then proceeded to form hand seals. Hand seals that quite a few people in the group recognized… The hand seals for a jutsu that was for a whirlwind of chakra: A whirlwind of chakra that did a lot of damage to people in a certain radius around Neji. More people realized something too… Yes. They were all going to get whooped immensely by Hyuuga Neji if they… Didn't get the hell out of there. So they all did, get the hell out of there. And that, was how Hyuuga Neji got his reputation back.
Chappie 3 Stayed up kind of late doing this… SO please enjoy!
THANKS AGAIN SO MUCH TO HACHINKO WHO REVIEWED!
-StarDragon X