Last bit of Chapter 13:
Haku was already awake when the first cannon shattered the night's silence.
He glided noiselessly through the corridors and saw quiet enemies swinging across to the ship as an alarm was raised.
His needles were out and three enemies were down before he saw the tall man on the opposite deck – a man with a colossal sword resting across his shoulders.
Haku's delicate features froze. He had a choice to make.
His lover or his friends.
Chapter 14:
'Whaa - ?'
'I said get up!' Hinata shouted.
Kiba rolled over, thinking ah, sweet memories. He propped himself up on his elbows, shirtless. 'Coming back to bed, darling?' He grinned.
She slapped him. 'How many months will it take for you to realise I'm not going to?'
'Okay, okay,' he said, raising his hands. 'But a person can hope, can't they?'
Hinata leaned forward and kissed a very shocked Kiba. She drew back, ripping his blanket off him, 'Now get up! And put some clothes on! Do you still not sleep in pajamas?'
His grin was even toothier this time, 'They're usually more trouble than they're worth, Hinata.'
She hmph'ed dangerously and pointed a finger at the door. 'An emergency signal was sent from Kakashi's ship moments ago. I need you to help me lock Kurenai in her cabin to prevent her going into labour. I'm going to take over the ship.'
Kiba was already dressed.
'I'll send a message to Shikamaru. You wake the crew,' she continued.
'Yes, and I'll get the old man,' the dog-boy said.
Hinata spun round and, after a moment, gave a nod.
xXx
'All hands on deck!' Kiba kicked open the nearest door, 'Get up, you lazy bastards! Stop that snoring! There'll be no rum for a week if you don't!'
Cabin doors swung open with that last threat and disgruntled pirates exited, pulling on shirts.
'All hands on deck! Ready the ship. We're going due south – to Icha Icha Paradise. Be ready for a battle, pirates!'
Kiba continued down into the hold and, sure enough, soon saw an old white-haired man speaking lividly into his tankard. 'What's happening? Where is he?'
Kiba rolled his eyes, thinking him both senile and drunk, until he felt the magic in the room – centered on the cup - and heard Kakashi's disembodied voice.
'I'm not sure at the moment, it's busy as bloody hellfire here, and damn misty. Hopefully they're still asleep-'
Who were they talking about? Kiba thought. Is this sannin interested in Sasuke?
'I'm coming over on a balloon anyway.'
Kiba heard Kakashi's chuckle through the cup. 'Aren't you a bit big for those things?'
Jiraiya knocked the cup over and locked his gaze onto Kiba's. 'Dog-boy, ready a life-balloon. Now! Make haste!'
Kiba flashed a grin when he had it ready and the man was climbing in. 'A mighty sannin on a life-balloon . . . '
'Stop smirking, boy, and push it off.'
'Thanks for the books,' he said as spiky white hair disappeared into the mist.
xXx
Heading back to the bridge, Kiba frowned. Why weren't they heading south? What was the crew doing?
Hinata turned the moment he arrived, her lavender eyes wide, 'Holy shit. Look at this.'
In front of them, to both sides of them, large vessels were materializing, bearing the Uchiha crest.
Shit.
Navy vessels.
Lots of navy vessels.
xXx
Second General Ather of the Uchiren Army gave his orders to his second in command, Rihre.
'We have to get as many as possible – especially the pirate captains-' he said the word derisively – 'Sarutobi Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai. Our priority is,' his face darkened, 'former General Hatake Kakashi.'
Rihre's eyes widened at the name.
'Send eight galleons to corner him and keep twelve to over-power Yuhi and Sarutobi.' He looked out the dark window into the swirling mist, 'Don't allow them to group together. Be merciless.'
'But sir, are you sure the tip-off is genuine? You don't know who it came from, how can it be trusted?'
The Second General didn't turn round, 'The three ships are here, aren't they? We can't miss this unprecedented opportunity. Go.'
'But, sir…'
'Go. I have given my orders.'
xXx
Kakashi was considering sending Iruka back to the cabin and locking him in there.
Kakashi then did this after the poor man had tripped over himself.
'Sorry, love.' he said, locking the door to his protests, 'You're just not suited to fighting.'
The Captain was doubly happy as he returned to the deck and the fighting: Iruka was finally safe and he no longer had to listen to his constant worry about Naruto.
Kakashi was up the centre mast before anyone could see him go – he spied out a shape – ran and swung down in front of Zabuza, one of the Seven Swordsmen.
'Why are you attacking my ship?' he asked in exasperation, tossing his grey hair to the side and stepping absent-mindedly out of the range of the colossal, swinging, beheading sword.
'Heh,' said Zabuza in a deep rough voice. 'Doesn't look like you have time to ask questions Ka-ka-shi.'
Kakashi turned around. He saw six galleons heading towards him ominously. He saw two already pouring hundreds of soldiers onto his deck. He saw his crew struggling to fight them off.
His shoulders slumped.
He saw a lot of work ahead of him.
Behind him, he felt Zabuza jump away. He thought he knew what the man was after, but wouldn't be able to stop anything without the basics – a ship and a crew.
He swore.
xXx
The Captain landed nimbly in the centre of his worried, tired crew.
'Gather!' he shouted and they turned to him, alert. 'Concentrate on the four to starboard, you can deal with that!'
They nodded, but turned to him in wonder, one of the younger mouthing, four ships for the captain?
'No, Udon,' Kakashi responded making the boy jump, 'I'll have help.' The Captain pointed and those who could make it out saw a huge, old, long-haired man perched precariously in a tiny life-balloon, high above one of the navy ships. They turned back to the captain with very skeptical expressions.
Then they heard a thunderous roaring, and stared, wide-eyed, as a ship-sized frog materialised below the old man and crashed onto one of the galleons - slowly and lazily, hopping onto the next as the first plummeted to the earth below, life-balloons pouring off it like swatted flies, following it down.
Kakashi cracked a grin. The old man had a certain style.
Wasting no more time, he bit into his thumb and rubbed the blood down the rest of his fingers, and spread his hand out on the deck. His pack set off immediately to eat away the magic which supported the third navy vessel in the air.
Jiraiya still floated ridiculously, and shouted down to his frog 'The next ship, you old fool!'
The frog nodded casually and shot its tongue out and around the mast of the fourth navy ship, pulling itself onto the suddenly fragile-seeming deck.
Kakashi directed his dogs off the navy ship as he saw it begin to fall and sent them on to the fifth ship.
xXx
'Akamaru! Boy! Dynamic Air Marking!'
Kurenai's crew already knew this shout as a signal to hide under something thick and strong, and, failing that, to hide under anything, preferably their enemies.
Yellow liquid landed mostly on the navy ships around them – burning, sizzling, eating away at whatever it touched.
Kiba landed on an enemy deck riding a large, white dog. He patted the dog.
'Good boy, Akamaru!'
The dog howled in reply – its fangs blood-stained. Looking around for who to attack next, Kiba's eyes locked onto another life-balloon bobbing away. He swore. 'Bloody Shikamaru. That lazy swine.'
He looked admiringly back at Hinata, her graceful movements combined with her magic, her wake of destruction.
They'd catch up to Kakashi at this rate.
xXx
As Jiraiya jumped off his bobbing, inelegant life-balloon, Kakashi stilled.
He could feel where Naruto and Sasuke's chain was because he had made it.
Jiraiya asked immediately, his eyes flashing, 'Where is he?'
Kakashi's shoulders slumped again. He sighed. 'He's been kidnapped by one of the Seven Swordsmen, the Demon of the Hidden Mists, Zabuza.'
The old man stared. 'How did they find out about him?'
'They must have been taken because of the Uchiha.' Kakashi shrugged.
Jiraiya folded his arms angrily. 'You chained him to the heir to the fucking empire and now you're surprised when something like this happens?!'
xXx
Naruto groaned. He tried to move, but was held at his wrists, around his stomach and around his ankles. He opened his eyes blearily. He was still in his pajamas. He looked to his left. Sasuke was chained as he was, right next to him. He was also still in his pajamas.
A part of Naruto wondered how the hell was this training? Kakashi's bloody, weird-assed training.
Someone in front of them was talking. A lot. Too much.
As Naruto's head began to clear he realised something and said slowly, but still without thinking, 'You're not Kakashi, are you?'
The massively tall, spiky-haired man with a mask of bandages covering half his face glared down at him. He wore very cool cow-print pants and was scary.
'No,' the man said.
'So… this isn't… training, then?' Naruto heard Sasuke sigh the minute he finished his question.
The tall man lifted his eyebrows for a moment and flicked his gaze to Sasuke. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Naruto was ranting: as the blond had spotted Haku in the corner.
'Haku! Needles! You bastard! You betrayed us!'
'Quiet, Naruto, please,' Sasuke said softly.
'No! Haku, I thought you were our friend! I thought you were such a cool guy! How dare you!'
Zabuza looked over his shoulder and said, 'Gag the noisy one.'
Haku moved forward with a stricken expression, holding a thick cloth ready.
Naruto stared at him in disbelief. 'You're not doing this. Don't! Why?'
When Haku simply began to tie the gag around him, Naruto tried to bite his fingers.
Sasuke chuckled, but his dark eyes narrowed when he looked back up at the man. 'What are you doing, Zabuza?'
On hearing the name, Naruto stopped struggling and looked up at the pirate, then at Haku, then renewed his biting efforts.
'So the little noble knows about me?' Zabuza said in his strange, low voice. Sasuke's brows drew together disdainfully.
'I've contacted your brother. If he doesn't pay the ransom and meet my demands, you'll both die by my sword.' Zabuza said.
Strangely enough, Sasuke rolled his eyes in a very 'oh shit, I'm going to die' way. What kind of brother did Sasuke have?
The black-haired boy closed his eyes.
There was a dark chuckle above them and Zabuza said, 'I've blocked your magic. You can't do anything here. We'll see what happens at sunrise.'
Haku and Zabuza left, locked the door behind them and Naruto and Sasuke were alone.
Sasuke still had his eyes closed and there were long moments of silence until he sighed and seemed to give up.
When his eyes met Naruto's, Naruto was shocked to see his expression was soft and a little sad.
Sasuke didn't know what to do. Naruto's mind began to race.
Haku. Betrayer. Zabuza. Tall-dark-scary-guy. Evil. Ransom. Going-to-kill-them. He stilled. Going-to-die.
They were going to die.
He wanted to rant, he wanted to shout. He wanted to fight.
He struggled against the restraints, but when he saw Sasuke's gaze again he quietened.
Out of everything that he wanted to scream out of his mind, what came out, muffled because of the gag, was 'I wuvo.'
Sasuke's gaze returned to its usual, alert skepticism, 'What was that?'
Naruto threw all caution to the wind and tried to sound out, 'I wuv oo.'
Sasuke said, 'Wait a second,' and leant forward.
Naruto could feel the warmth of Sasuke's skin and his own began to tingle. His heart was racing; he could feel the other's hot breath as Sasuke gently pulled down Naruto's gag, the material pressed between his teeth.
Sasuke was so close.
The tingles had reached Naruto's fingertips and toes.
Without a single thought, almost shaking, Naruto moved down the centimeter or two he needed to make their lips meet in a kiss.
xXx
ZOMG!
FINALLY!
Yay!
big and little pirate go all fan-girly