Icewater
Chapter 5: Shipwreck
Disclaimer: Can't do them anymore. Nope. Nope. Naruto isn't mine for the rest of my fic. Okay. Onwards.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"You sure about this?" Naruto asked, touching Sakura's shoulder. Sakura brushed his hand off, smiling brightly back at him.
"I'm positive," she said. "As long as we're not seen, they won't hurt us."
It was evening again. Naruto had been excited to hear about the shooting stars, albeit disappointed he had missed them; but he was determined to at least catch a glimpse of the human with the red eyes.
The two set off, dropping the occasional seaweeberry from Sakura's seaweed-woven basket to mark their location.
They felt the Ice Ridges before they saw them. The water, a sharper cold than yesterdays, made them both shiver, and they swam quickly to reach the other side. Still, both recognized the beauty of the icebergs within the Ridges, each mentally taking note of the way the fog made the moonlight hazy and the icebergs a dull gray.
I have a feeling, began Inner Sakura, that once we go through here, there's no turning back.
Sakura tried to shove her other half out of her mind.
EVER, it insisted.
Oh, go away, Sakura told it. I'm sick of you.
Her Inner let out an insulted sound before returning to the recesses of Sakura's mind.
"Ne, ne," Naruto drawled, drawing Sakura's attention again. "Sakura? Is that the ship over there?"
Sakura looked up. The edge of the Ridges was just behind them, the surrounding water still chilly from its proximity to the ice. There, floating towards them, was the ship Sasuke was on.
Sakura and Naruto swam forward, and something of a warning went off in Sakura's head.
"Naruto!" she yelled, pointing up at the wooden object. "It's going the wrong way!" At his questioning glance, she waved her arms sporadically, her eyes widening as he herself registered what she said next. "They're gonna crash!"
Naruto and Sakura both went through mental calculations: If they did nothing, then the humans would die and be trapped in the cold; they wouldn't be able to hold out as long as merfolk. If they revealed themselves, they would be risking their lives with no guarantee that they could possibly nonverbally explain the situation; the ship might crash anyway.
And as one, both Naruto and Sakura nodded silently to one another and broke the surface.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Sasuke leaned against the mast. His head throbbed painfully; his churning stomach had calmed itself somewhat since the morning, but its low rumbling reminded him that he still had a hangover. He barely suppresses a groan and ran his hand through his hair in agitation.
Why did I have to get drunk? he wistfully thought to himself. I'm smarter than that! He mentally slapped himself; outwardly, though, he kept a straight, unreadable expression on.
He was beginning to think about going to find some crackers or something when a number of yells and gasps from the crewmen on deck drew his attention. His vision was still blurry from the hangover; he rubbed his eyes agitatedly. The fog only made things worse.
"I... I don't believe it."
Shikamaru's voice drew Sasuke's attention.
"What's going on here?" asked the Uchiha, clumsily pushing his way through the crowd. He looked out and squinted. An orange and... was that PINK? he asked himself incredulously. The colorful blobs floated below, partially hidden by the mist, and slowly it dawned on him that they had to be waving arms, gesturing behind them in what he assumed to be frantic motions.
Sasuke frowned, looking beyond them. He could only make out a grayish mass of something... He activated his Sharingan. It took him a moment, but once it registered, the objects looming in the distance were suddenly very close to the ship. TOO close.
"Turn the ship!" he yelled. "Icebergs! We're gonna crash! Turn the-"
It was too late.
The ship rattled as it hit the first chunk of ice. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"Can you turn us, Juugo?" he called, relinquishing his death grip on the railing. The crew was running madly around, dashing to and fro as they assessed the damage and situation. Sasuke didn't bother; he knew either they turned, or they sank. The iceberg field was too big to easily escape, and they had a big ship that took time to turn.
Juugo hesitated, hands on the wheel, before shaking his head no.
The ship rumbled again as it smacked into another iceberg. Sasuke stumbled, reaching out for the mast to balance himself.
We're screwed was his last thought before another iceberg broke the side of the ship and water plunged inside, slowly but surely drawing the ship downwards.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Sakura cursed.
"Useless!" she said, diving back underwater to avoid being mushed between the wooden structure and a frozen piece of water. "They got the message too late!"
Naruto joined her, eyeing the ship warily.
"What now?" he asked her. The water shook as the ship hit another iceberg, and then another. Slowly, almost unnoticeably, the ship began to creep downwards.
The image of the sunken ship they were staying in flashed through her mind.
As did the mossy skeleton inside it.
Sakura did not reply to Naruto. She swam back to the surface, looking up.
The people on the ship were running to and fro, and Sakura scowled when she realized they were too panicked to use their brains and escape. Grimacing, she looked in vain for something to climb on so she could make her way to the deck. But the only reason she had been able to climb yesterday had been the anchor; it was nowhere to be seen. She swam backwards away from the ship as it slammed into another iceberg. The sinking process was becoming visible, and the sailors surely must have realized they were running out of time; some jumped off the deck and swam around blindly. Others were trying to lower boats full of people.
That won't work, she thought, her eyes scanning around. Even little boats can't make it out of the Ridges unscathed. The fog would hinder their eyesight.
Sakura surged forward. A sailor saw her and he, in bewilderment, did not fight back when she grabbed him and swam him towards a small iceberg. She motioned to it, and he climbed atop it, shivering. Behind her, Sakura heard Naruto's tail splashing as he helped two sailors to the iceberg. They brought a few more to the closest thing they had to land, watching helplessly as the ship went deeper and deeper.
At last, the deck was within her reach. Sakura swam quickly, using her momentum to leap on board. She had no time to reel from the cutting wind or sudden impact. She looked around, saw a few men through the haze struggling to lower a boat, and a few stragglers looking helplessly over the railing. Sakura motioned to the iceberg; the men understood, despite the open gawking she received, and they either leapt overboard and swam, or paddled their way over in the flimsy little wooden boats. Sakura's eyes scoured the deck until they slighted in black ones.
Black eyes that quickly swirled to red.
Her breath caught in her throat as Sasuke carefully approached her. She looked away and dragged herself over to the door leading below-deck.
She looked up to meet Sasuke's gaze.
Are there others below? She gestured with her arms, raising her eyebrows slightly.
Sasuke glanced over to the iceberg, seeming to count. He shook his head.
"No," he said aloud. Sakura looked once more at the door before beginning to move to hop out of the ship.
She didn't get to finish.
She felt herself lifted and let out the breath of a would-be squeal. Sasuke carried her, flipping her over his shoulder like a bag of gully potatoes, and strode over to the railing, not pausing as he unceremoniously lobbed her off the boat into the water before diving in himself.
She spun from the force, bubbles trailing after her. She gained her bearings and whirled around.
"You!" she screamed, glad she could produce noise while under. Sasuke momentarily froze, stunned by the sound she suddenly made, before resuming his swimming towards the iceberg. Sakura grumbled something about "dark-haired jerks" before following after him. He reached the iceberg and climbed on, then turned to offer her assistance with his hand.
She hesitated. Her Inner's words from before echoed in her head: "Orochimaru's net is full. But the humans is empty."
Then she saw Naruto's tail flopping happily about on the iceberg as he conversed with the chubby sailor and the ponytailed sailor. She took Sasuke's outstretched hand, and he hauled her up into his arms again. He carried her to a clear space on the frozen ice and - literally - dumped her there. She landed with a would-be 'oof,' letting out a sharp breath before glaring up at him as he stood looking down on her, arms crossed.
"A real mermaid," he said. His eyes narrowed as they locked on to hers. Green met red. "You were spying on our boat yesterday."
Sakura shrugged, feeling her cheeks going red.
What? she thought. Why am I blushing?
She put it up to the exertion it had taken to haul a bunch of burly human men to a frozen chunk of rock, jumping onto a boat, and being dropped twice by this Sasuke fellow.
It's all his fault, she concluded with conviction.
It sure is, replied her Inner. And you wanna know why? It's cuz he's-
"Why?"
Sasuke's question brought her back to attention.
She opened her mouth, puffed out the air required to say "Because," stopped, let out a sigh of frustration, and tapped her throat.
Sasuke's eyes widened before softening ever so slightly.
"You can't talk above water," he finally concluded. Sakura nodded. Sasuke frowned and pointed at Naruto.
"Then explain why he can."
Sakura turned, frowning. Sasuke was right; Naruto's boisterous voice sprang forth and echoed and rebounded across the ice of the Ridges, and his laughter boomed across the distance separating them, seeming to mock her inability to produce a single vocal sound.
Sakura turned back to Sasuke. He must have seen the confusion in her eyes, because he sighed and ran a hand through his hair again, signaling the closing of that subject to conversation.
"Well," he said finally, "...Thanks." He turned back to her. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha." He scrunched his face up a little, in what looked like pain. "You wouldn't happen to have a ship, would you?"
Sakura shook her head. I've got two of yours, though, she thought, at the bottom of the sea.
Sasuke looked around, and his eyes narrowed on a large floating piece of driftwood.
"Would you and your buddy be able to pull us to shore, then?" he tried again. "Or at least give us some paddles so we can row ourselves home?"
Sakura slowly slipped back into the water, shivering from the near-painful contact with the ice and her skin. She immersed herself in the water and swam over to the driftwood, swimming to and fro, occasionally hitting it with her tail to test its sturdiness.
It might work, she thought, looking back to the few ice chunks blocking the path to the open waters, if we steer properly...
Sakura swam back over to Sasuke, dragging the driftwood with her slowly. About half-way there, Naruto hopped in beside her to help. She nodded gratefully and they connected it to the iceberg. The sailors piled on; some had to hang on to the sides. Sasuke, deciding the merfolk could handle themselves just fine in the water, deactivated his Sharingan. He ordered for routine switches so none would freeze to death or overexert themselves (except us merfolk, she thought, because we've got fins, not feet), and then the sailors took their shoes and pushed off the iceberg. Sakura took the right side of the driftwood, Naruto the left, and together they slowly guided it through to safer water. Sasuke sat after they were out to control the dizzies hitting him because of his hangover, choosing a spot close to her. She suppressed an urge to grin, and let another urge - to scowl at him momentarily - win out. He seemed unfazed as he looked her up and down.
"You know," he said, his dark eyes meeting hers once more, and a smirk appearing on his face, "For a mermaid, your boobs are small."
Sakura's jaw dropped. Her brain slowed to a stop momentarily, and then sped forward.
"Why, you-!" She clamped her mouth shut, anger boiling inside her as Sasuke's smirk widened. Her cheeks flushed again, and she lowered herself in the water so her mouth was under.
"I hate you, Uchiha!" she screamed. The muffled noise drew the attention of a number of the sailors (who had taken a liking to the merfolk) and a chuckle from Sasuke. She didn't care to glare at him this time; she set her eyes forward, mumbling obscenities underwater as her face flamed.
"Hey, Sasuke," called Naruto. "Are we even going the right way?"
"It wouldn't matter which way you went," replied Sasuke. "All the land around this sea belongs to either my country or an ally." Sasuke stood and sat by Naruto this time. Sakura heard them talking quietly, laughing occasionally and mostly making small talk and play banter. Sakura felt a twinge of jealousy before snuffing it out.
None of that, she told herself sternly. Naruto is a friend; it's not his fault you can't talk.
Yeah, it's Mom's.
Sakura mentally slapped her other self.
Don't talk about Mother that way!
Well, it's true, said her Inner, slapping right back. If she hadn't gone and become a human, maybe we would still have a voice!
Shut up, she told her other self, but it continued.
To get feet from the sea witch, you have to trade something! Maybe she offered our voice, the voice of her first-born, it suggested. Maybe she-
Go. Away.
Sakura mentally flung her Inner back to the recesses of her mind, a secluded room.
Wait, but Sakura, you need to kno-
BAM! She slammed the door and locked it, throwing the key away.
I don't need your lies, Sakura said darkly to it through the door. Now leave me alone.
It did not reply.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Sakura could see the coast. It was nearly dawn. She and Naruto were exhausted, but pressed on, because the humans would probably not be able to eat seaweeberries, and in any case, Sakura had none and doubted she would find any around here anyway. But the slightly tired (and possibly, she mused, ill?) look on Sasuke's face (and the more obvious strain on his crew members faces) made her press on, despite her screaming muscles and her tense arms. She pulled and pulled.
A hand reached over to touch her hand; she blinked and looked up to see Sasuke looking down at her, crouching.
"We can swim from here," he said. He motioned, and immediately, the tired men began to move their muscles in preparation. Those hanging on the edge of the wood slid of into the water, starting out for shore early. Sakura tiredly relinquished her hold on the driftwood after witnessing Naruto do the same. She stretched, flexing and coaxing her blood to flow properly again. Sasuke silently slid in next to her. Sakura gave him a quizzical look. He smirked back and dove under, and she followed.
Sasuke swam for shore, and after a moment of hesitation, Sakura followed. Her heart fluttered when the first ray of sunlight beamed forth across the sky. She squinted against it and looked on at the clouds. The mist had receded a bit before, and so Sakura could see clearly.
She didn't know whether she wished she could or not.
Sasuke swam straight for the beach, and Sakura saw him glance back at her when he touched his feet against the sand. She shook her flipper at him. He raised an eyebrow and gestured with his thumb to the side of him, smirking, as Naruto pulled on to the sand to say his goodbyes to his new friends. Sakura shrugged, deciding it was worth it, and pulled herself into the shallow water, letting the salty sea waves crash against her back. Sasuke once again squatted, this time in front of her.
And he dunked her.
"Hey!" she gargled as her head was below. She looked up to see Sasuke's head submerged as well.
She fought out of his hand and popped back up, and he followed suit. He gestured back down at the water.
"Talk." In response to the flabbergasted expression she gave him, he elaborated. "You haven't told me your name yet."
Sakura thought something might be wrong with her heart; it was beating a mile a minute. She ignored it and nodded, going under again. Sasuke's head followed.
"I'm Sakura Haruno," she said, "And I see that you're royalty."
Sasuke smiled at her then; a genuine smile. Her heart fluttered even more (which she would have thought impossible, but apparently not). They surfaced at the same time, black eyes fixated on green.
He patted her pink head.
"I wish I weren't. Nice meeting you, Sakura Haruno." He turned and walked on to the beach, away from the water. He turned to look at her over his shoulder. "I still think your boobs are too small."
Sakura didn't flush this time, but let out a burst of air from her attempted laughter.
Goodbye to you, too, Sasuke Uchiha, she thought. He turned, giving Naruto a goodbye, and Sakura retreated to the water, looking at Sasuke's men headed towards the castle.
It was large, a huge, towering structure of stone, with an ancient feel about it. Something flashed in her memories, something from one of her mother's stories about men, and she dove underwater. She neared the rocks the castle stood on and scrutinized them carefully.
There.
Her eyes widened. There was an insignia scratched on to it.
Arcticia's.
She reeled away from the castle, surfacing as if she had choked on water, gasping for breath. She thought she saw Sasuke's retreating form in the distance turn towards her, but either way, it was of no importance anymore.
She had to get out of here.
I shouldn't have let them live.
She turned and splashed below, swimming faster when she heard Naruto's startled cry to her.
This family...
This BOY...
He was related to that man, the one who had broken her Mother.
The one who had ruined her Mother's life.
She did not stop until she had returned to the Ice Ridges, and she swam down to Sasuke's sunken ship and curled up on the deck, sobbing softly.
She had helped the descendants of the man who had rejected her Mother's love.
Slowly, she began to calm herself. Sasuke's red and black eyes seemed to haunt her.
I cannot avenge my Mother's death, she admitted finally. Naruto's mother, Kushina, would only be able to help until Orochimaru threatened to kill Minato; after that, she would be able to do nothing but hand over Atlantica for her husband or never know her love's fate. And Gaara was brilliant, but he, too, would be threatened with the lives of Oceanica's citizens, as would she; should either of them fight, Sakura's people would be slaughtered for it.
But the humans trusted her. She would not have revenge on them for her Mother's death; they hadn't caused it, after all.
As she fell to sleep, her resolve set.
But I can avenge my Mother's broken heart by breaking the heart of THEIR kingdom's future leader.
"Orochimaru's net is full, but the humans is empty."
Well, so is mine, she thought before drifting off. So is mine.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
AN: It turned out shorter than I thought it would. Hunh. Still a solid chunk of chapter, though.
The tale has turned! Sakura is out for revenge - on the humans! But I wonder how she plans to go about this...? Review, please!
