So, this cruise ship is based on the Harmony of the Seas. I have never been on a cruise so I had to do some research. I hope this Ship seems realistic.

I do not own these series, nor do I make any money off of this.

"talking"

'thinking'

Chapter 73: The Gift

After eating, Sophie, Will, Naruto, and Sasuke returned to their rooms. Sophie, Will, and Naruto changed into their bathing suits. Naruto turned towards Sasuke who was going through his bag. "Are you sure you don't want to join us?"

"I'm fine," Sasuke said. Naruto frowned. Not wanting to start a fight, Naruto just grabbed a towel out of his scroll. He hesitated for a few seconds before deciding that he really didn't need to bring his backpack with him. He knew that if anything happened, he could handle it. Sasuke watched Naruto leave without saying a word.

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Naruto stepped into the water, rinsing himself off. Sophie, Will, and Naruto had spent about three hours swimming in the pool. They had also gone down both of the slides. Will didn't really like the second one. Sophie and Naruto went down it twice. He split from the two and headed back to the cargo hold to grab a change of clothes. He was going to meet up with them at the theatre. When he got to the room, Sasuke was gone. Naruto briefly wondered if he should try to find Sasuke, but he knew Sasuke could handle himself. His hand touched something metal and he pulled it out. It was his headband. It had been a long time since he last wore it. His finger brushed across the Leaf symbol. He glanced down at the mirror on his bracelet. He wanted to see them again.

Watanuki appeared in the mirror and took one look at Naruto before sighing. He quickly grabbed a bowl. Naruto's clawed finger sliced his palm. Naruto watched as his loved ones appeared in the mirror. While watching Sakura, his eye caught something written on the paper in her hands. He frowned. Would Sasuke even care?

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Sasuke pulled out the various items he'd gathered from some of the worlds he'd gone to. His eyes fell on the white stone. He picked it up and inspected it. He could tell that it had some strange power, but he didn't know exactly what power it had. Not wanting to mess with it, Sasuke put it away. He pulled out a strange red and black ring. He had found it in a shop after collecting the money from the Galphines. Sasuke didn't know why he had bought it. He stared at it for a few seconds before he sighed and put it to the side. He continued to take out some things. He made a pile of things he didn't need. His eyes fell on the ring and the stone. Sasuke hesitated for a few seconds before putting them back in his bag. He then grabbed the pile and tossed them into a garbage bag. Grabbing the bag, Sasuke left the room.

Sasuke made his way through the halls until he reached the office for the ship's crew. He knocked on the door only for a woman with brown hair to open it. "Um… hello," the woman said. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if there was a place I could toss this," Sasuke answered. He held up the garbage bag.

"Oh, you could have just called for room service," the woman said. Sasuke remained silent. "I'll have someone take care of it." She took the bag from Sasuke. "Is there anything else I can get for you?" Sasuke shook his head. "Ok!" She smiled and dragged the bag into the room. Sasuke waited for a bit before he walked away. When he got to the fork that led to either the cargo hold or what they called the Gym. Curiosity made Sasuke walk towards the Gym. He found the room nearly empty except for a few men and women who were working out. Sasuke looked at the equipment around him, wondering what they were for. He saw someone in a room who was smacking a ball against a wall and running around to hit it again.

A crew member walked up to Sasuke since he was just looking around. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Sasuke sighed. "I was just looking."

"There are plenty of things to do here," the crew member said. He pulled out a pamphlet and began showing it to Sasuke. "We have the usual treadmills for running and some various exercise equipment to work your muscles. You can also go to the spa if you walk down that hall and take a left." He pointed at said hall. "If you go to the right, it will lead you towards the basketball court. And if you continue to go straight, it will lead you to the Yoga room." Sasuke had no idea what Yoga was so he knew right away that he wasn't interested in it. He remembered that Helena and Shirley were in the spa. He wasn't going there either. That left going to the basketball court or choosing one of the things to do here. Basketball, he didn't know what that was either. "Not sure what to do?" Sasuke's gaze returned towards the other. "I can get one of the trainers and they can help you decide."

"No, that's fine," Sasuke said. His eyes went towards the room where the man was still hitting the ball.

The crew member followed Sasuke's gaze and smiled. "Racquetball. Usually you play it against someone else. But you can practise alone. There are rackets and balls in the room." Sasuke nodded. "Feel free to come find me if you need anything." Again, Sasuke nodded. The man walked towards another guest. Sasuke entered one of the empty rooms and picked up a racket. He swung it a few times, getting the feel of the new object. He then grabbed the ball and tossed it into the air. He quickly hit the ball. It slammed into the wall and came flying back at Sasuke. Sasuke smirked as he hit it again.

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After explaining things to Sophie and Will, the three of them went to the dining room and spoke to a crew member by the name of Sally. She smiled as she told them their options. Naruto selected the cheapest option mostly for Sasuke's sake. Naruto was asked several questions and he answered them easily. It was a bit surprising how well he knew the other even now. After everything was planned, Naruto left Sophie and Will to do some shopping. Naruto headed for the mall which was down on the middle deck. He had to dodge a lot of people who were also shopping. He went into several stores, but he ended up empty handed. Naruto frowned. Nothing caught his eyes. He wandered around for a little bit until an idea came to his mind. But the question was, how could he do it?

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Sasuke replaced the racket and the ball before he headed to the shower area. He cleaned up before walking over to what looked like a bike. He sat down and began to move his legs. There was a screen in front of him. He turned it on and some random show popped up. The crew member from before, that Sasuke finally learned was named James, handed him a pair of headphones. Sasuke hesitantly accepted it before plugging it into the machine. Sound instantly came to his ears. He changed the channel until he found something interesting. The first thing he saw was a masked man talking to a girl with pink hair. He was about to change the channel when the phrase "Is that why you killed my brother?" was said. Sasuke pulled his finger away as he continued to watch the show.

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When Naruto found Sasuke, the raven had just finished watching three episodes of Code Geass. Sasuke had decided to watch it from the beginning. He was heading to the mall area as the crew member told him he could buy the entire series in one of their shops. But Naruto found him before he could even step into the mall area. Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the arm and dragged him towards the dining area. He nodded to the lady at the entrance who just pointed to a private room. Naruto smiled as he pushed the door open. Sasuke glared at Naruto for the rough treatment. He looked around the dark room. He was about to use his Sharingan when the light flickered on. "Surprise!" Sasuke flinched. In the room were the people he had met this morning. They smiled at him as Naruto maneuvered him to sit at the head of the table.

"Happy birthday Sasuke," Naruto nearly yelled. Sasuke's eyes widened. He looked down at the cake in front of himself and nearly choked. He could already taste the sugar. His eyes took in the words on the cake: Happy 18th Sasuke. He glanced at Naruto who looked ready to jump out of his shoes. He knew what Naruto wanted him to do. He sighed, closed his eyes for a few seconds, and then he blew out the candles. The others cheered as Sophie and Naruto managed to get Sasuke to sit down. Sally brought in some pizza along with a salad for Sasuke. Sasuke happily ate the salad while the others quickly devoured the pizza.

Gifts were then presented to the raven. Sasuke wondered just what these strangers, because to him that's what they were, could have gotten him. He opened each gift, only mumbling a simple thanks. He honestly didn't care for most of them, but his mother did raise him to have some manners. When he opened Sophie's gift, he raised an eyebrow. It was a portable dvd player. Sasuke was confused at first because he remembered seeing a laptop before but he never saw one so small. It also didn't look like a laptop nor did it say it was one. He read the words of the box again. Portable DVD Player. He was tempted to ask her what it was, but he didn't. He just thanked her and finally moved on to Naruto's gift. The box was small and he wondered if it was even safe to open. He glanced at Naruto who was smiling. He then looked around the room. Sasuke knew that Naruto wouldn't do anything to harm the others so whatever it was had to be safe. He opened it and frowned. It was a keychain with a picture of the cruise ship on it. The room fell quiet as everyone seemed to agree that the gift was really lame. Sasuke glanced at Naruto who pointed to his eyes. Sasuke looked down, his hair hiding his eyes. His Sharingan caught the traces of chakra on the keychain. He flipped it and was able to read what Naruto wrote on it. Your real gift will be given later when we're alone. Sasuke let the Sharingan fade before he nodded and gave Naruto his thanks.

The cake was cut and passed around, but Sasuke said he was good. Sally came in a few seconds later with a pinkish-red drink. She set it down in front of Sasuke. "It's a Tomato smoothie," she whispered. "Naruto asked us to make it specially for you." She then smiled and walked away. Sasuke couldn't help but smile as he took a sip of his smoothie. Naruto could be so thoughtful sometimes.

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An hour later, Naruto and Sasuke were back in the cargo hold. Naruto finished setting up the barrier before sitting down across from Sasuke. "Are you ready?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded. "Alright. I hope this works." He closed his eyes before he made a clone. The clone smiled before it Henged into Itachi.

Sasuke was about to yell at Naruto when Itachi's voice came from the clone. "Ototo." Sasuke's eyes widened as he froze. He shifted to face Itachi. "You must be surprised. I myself am a bit surprised. I didn't think Naruto-kun would be able to do something like this."

"I-is it really you?" Sasuke asked. Itachi nodded. "Aniki!" Sasuke tackled Itachi to the floor, not noticing that Naruto had left the room. Sasuke began to tell Itachi everything that had happened since they last saw each other.

"I see," Itachi said. "You've been through a lot."

"Aniki," Sasuke's voice darkened. "I can't forgive them."

"I never expected you to," Itachi admitted. "You said you broke the seal and heard Shisui's words. Then you know that he gave me one of his eyes. Danzo took the other." Sasuke clenched his fists. "I implanted the eye in a crow."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "The one Naruto said you forced him to swallow?"

Itachi chuckled. "I suppose that is what happened. Yes, I gave it to Naruto."

"Why?"

"I knew Madara would tell you everything and I made plans just in case you agreed with him."

"I was right then." Itachi raised an eyebrow. "After listening to Shisui's crow and what Naruto said about your crow, I put two and two together."

"And what did you think of it? Do you hate me for willing to go so far as to use Kotoamatsukami to insure you won't destroy Konoha?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I wasn't happy and I'm still not, but I could never hate you. I understand why you did it. I just… I hate them."

Itachi nodded. "That is to be expected. To be honest, I too hate what happened. But I know that if I went back in time and was given the same options, I would have done it again. I did my duty not only for the village, but I did it to give those I loved a bright future. The Uchiha Clan had lost their way. Nothing we did changed that. You may not understand me, or my actions. I don't need you to. You may call me cruel, but that's just how things are." He paused. "The village does have its dark side and its inconsistencies, but I'm still Konoha's Itachi Uchiha."

"Would you hate me if I went against your wishes?"

Itachi smiled. "I could never hate you." He glanced at the door of the cargo hold. "Time is almost up." He stood up.

Sasuke grabbed his arm. "I don't want you to go."

Itachi carefully removed Sasuke's hand before he raised his own and pressed a few fingers against the other's forehead. "If I had been open with you from the start… and looked you straight in the eyes and told you the truth, then I wouldn't have had to stand before you, from above, as a failure, telling you all of this. So this time, I want to impart this truth to you… You don't ever have to forgive me. And no matter what you do from here on out, know this… I will love you always." Smoke surrounded him as he turned back into Naruto. The clone smiled sadly before it dissipated. A minute later, the real Naruto walked into the room. He didn't know what to say.

Sasuke sat still, his mind processing everything. He knew Naruto was there, watching him, but he didn't move. He didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to yell at Naruto and force him to bring Itachi back while the other part of him wanted to be left alone. He glanced at Naruto who grabbed his bag and pulled out a set of nightwear. Sasuke's eyes followed him as the blond grabbed Sasuke's bag and brought it to him. Sasuke didn't say anything as he changed. He let Naruto lead them to their sleeping bags. Naruto spread one of them out before he lowered Sasuke on top of it. He sat down next to Sasuke before he pulled Sasuke's sleeping bag over them. Sasuke said nothing as Naruto took him into his arms, not saying a word himself. Sasuke finally gave in and began to cry. Sasuke would never admit it, but he was glad that Naruto held him. He felt warm in Naruto's arms. What felt like hours later, Sasuke's breathing evened out. He glanced at Naruto whose eyes were closed. "Thank you, Naruto." Sasuke closed his eyes, not noticing the smile appearing on Naruto's face.

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Sophie got into the bed next to the one an already sleeping Richard was in. Her mind went to Sasuke and Naruto. She had seen Sasuke's eyes change colors. It was clear that he had tried to hide it from everyone. Sophie wondered if anyone else saw Sasuke's red eyes. Naruto clearly knew about Sasuke's eyes as he had motioned to his own before the change. It was clear that Sasuke needed to use his red eyes for something. Sophie remembered that Sasuke had flipped Naruto's gift over. It was as if there was something written on the back of the keychain that only Naruto and Sasuke could see. Sophie wondered if Naruto's eyes also changed. She looked up at the ceiling. "I don't think they are bad people, but I don't think they're human either. What could they be? Are they fairies like you? Or are they something else?" Her mind went to the real Boogeyman. 'Could they be related to him? I really doubt it.' Sophie sighed. "I'll have to ask. You'll protect me, won't you?"

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Far away in the world of fairies, the Sandman sat watching over Sophie. Her question reached him and he decided to look into it. He searched the records for Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, but he never found them. This meant that they were not human. The Tooth Fairy, Nixie, and Dwarf were called in, but none of them knew anything. He even went to the Unicorn but nothing. The Sandman made his way back to his room to take another look at Sophie. He silently promised her that if Naruto or Sasuke were up to no good, he'd protect her.