Commandeer
Everyone was bound to the wall.
The rope was thick, and bound so tight some of them had a hard time breathing.
"Now don't get too comfortable now!" One of them joked as he and his buddy exit laughing.
"What now Grandma?!" Naruto asked angrily.
"Shawn?" she said turning her head towards Shawn.
"Right." Shawn said smiling.
Bones sprang out all over his body, slashing the ropes that bound him.
The bones then sank back in, except for a long sharp one that came out from his elbow and extended alittle past his fingers.
He began to cut the others loose one by one.
Once they were all loose, Grandma said, "Now let us retrieve our weapons and take over this ship."
"Go check on the prisoners." They heard one say.
Everyone hid as they heard footsteps.
The door opened as the pirate walked in.
"Enjoyen' ya sta-what?"
Shawn came from behind and held the sharp bone to his throat.
Everyone came from hiding as Sarah went and asked, "Where are our weapons?"
"You'll get no answers from me!"
"I don't think you're in a position to be difficult." Shawn threatened.
More bones grew from one side of the bone sword, poking the pirate in the neck.
He began to whimper and said, "All right! All right! They're just in the next room, on the table!"
"Why thank you!" Sarah said before Shawn knocked him out.
Once they retrieved their weapons they decided on a plan of action.
"We should just go up there and take em down!" Naruto suggested.
"No we shouldn't. We don't know how many are there." Shikamaru said.
"About twelve." Neji said, his byakugan active.
"Where are they?"
"They're all on the deck. Looks like they're celebrating." Neji answered.
"I agree with Naruto, the faster we defeat them the faster we may continue our business. We are at sea, so there will be no one here to help them." Grandma said.
"She's right, out here, they're pretty much done for." Shikamaru said.
"Then let's go!" Naruto said happily.
On the deck, one of the pirates was imitating a chicken when a kunai flew and hit him in the head.
He fell to the floor, blood squirted from his wound.
The other pirates looked up to see their prisoners had escaped, their weapons pointed to them.
One went for his pistol.
"You'll lose your arm doing that." Sarah threatened, three shuiken between her fingers.
The pirates looked at each other and raised their hands in defeat.
"What do we do with them?" Sakura asked.
"If we keep them on this ship, they could prove troublesome in the future." Grandma said.
"Let's just dump them into the water, let the sharks have em." Kiba suggested.
"What if they get help?" Shikamaru asked.
"True. Though both situations are bad, dumping them in the ocean is our best bet. It is a chance we must take." Grandma said.
One of the pirates facing Bara said, "I won't go down tha' easily!"
He spit a needle from his mouth and it caught Bara in her neck.
She fell to the ground.
"BARA!" Sarah yelled.
Shawn thrust his bone sword through the pirate's head, then detached it, leaving it in there as a reminder to the others.
Sakura quickly removed the needle and checked her pulse.
"It's alright, her heart stopped for a moment, but she should be waking up in a minute."
The plan after that was then to throw them over board and let any sharks in the vicinity have them for lunch.
Bara was placed in one of the crew's quarters to rest.
Shawn took the wheel and Grandma told him to sail east.
Everyone began to relax as the ship sailed.
Choji and Rock Lee began to get sea sick and had to sit down.
Sasuke sat at the bow of the ship, lost in thought.
Night crept up slowly, and the stars's reflection joined their heavenly dance.
Sasuke hadn't moved from that spot.
He sat there, his mind in conflict and torment.
He wanted to her room and wait for her to awake.
At the same time, he wanted nothing to do with her to avoid the tragedies of having a bond.
As he thought this, a memory of what Grandma sang rang in his head. Bonds can also serve another purpose besides the darkness you give them.
What other purpose do they have? She almost died, and now I feel horrible because of it! I should sever our bond like I should've done to Naruto.
"Sasuke, I need to see you." he heard Grandma say from the deck.
He got up and walked up to her. "What?"
"It is time to unlock the first gate. I did promise to do that." she said.
He followed her down to a room that had a large circle drawn in the middle with candles around the perimeter, giving it a dim glow.
"Sit down."
He sat.
"We shall open the first gate, The Gate of Strength. You might want to remove your shirt for this; it is located at the base of your spine."
Reluctantly, he removed his shirt, and closed his eyes to meditate.
"This gate is only opened by stength, courage, and self-confidence, and is blocked by cowardice, fear, and insecurity. I'm going to probe your mind and evoke the thoughts that scare you most. Are you ready?"
Sasuke took a deep breath. "Ready."
Though his eyes were closed, images flashed in his head: Bara's corpse, defeat by Itachi, himself without power, etc.
"I know these images cause you discomfort, but you mustn't let those fears run your life. Do not ignore them, but do not let your obssession for that fear keep you from being strong. True strength, is going about life knowing your fears are there, but not having it in front of your mental eyes all the time. This shell you keep yourself in is an evolved fear, that has sadly become as apart of you as your arms and legs; however, knowing and believing that you will never let these things happen, despite anything that has caused you to think otherwise, is the true sign of strength, overcoming all odds, physical, mental, and spiritual."
Sasuke concentrated hard, trying with all his might to convince himself of what she just told him.
After what seemed like hours (but it actually took him 30 minutes), he felt a new sensation wash over him.
"Congratulations, you've done it."
Sasuke opened his eyes and stood up.
He clenched his fists and flexed his arms.
He never felt so much power.
He felt free, invincible, unable to be conquered by anything.
"This gate unlocks all the physical and mental power that would usually be activated by that seal on your neck. I hope you have no more use for it."
With this kind of teacher, and power...he really didn't need it anymore.
He had a sudden urge to go find Bara.
He dashed through the hall, shirtless and feeling like a juggernaut as he made his way through the maze of crew quarter's.
He ran past Naruto.
"Hey Sasuke what's the hurry?"he yelled after him.
He found her, awake and on the bridge looking at the stars.
She turned to leave while he was walking up to her.
"Sasuke, what are you doing up here...without a shirt or shoes?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
He closed the distance between them and gave a her a full embrace.
She was dumbstruck.
He released her.
"Sasuke, wha-"
He interrupted her with a deep kiss.
Still a bit confused, the mentally shrugged her shoulders and returned it.
Sakura had come up for some fresh air when she saw them.
A bit envious of Bara, she closed her eyes and reopened them, this time with a 'at least he's happy now' expression, and walked back inside. Wonder what Ino will say? She thought grinning.