"So are we ready to go soon..?" Karin asked Naruto, who was tinkering with the interior rooms.
"Sure… Sure… Give me a bit more time." He muttered absentmindedly, buried nose-deep in scrolls.
Karin threw her hands up in the air and got out.
Naruto snorted. She should be glad he wasn't planning on modifying the interior rooms while they were on the sea. If anything went wrong then… Eh.
They could likely teleport back, — unless things went very wrong — but what a waste it would be.
Long ago, he had managed to goad Orochimaru into explaining how the room-expanding thing worked. That was how he had built some of the training grounds in the old base. Rooms bigger on the inside than the outside.
He was glad for that. Fitting more room in a boat that was less than seventy meters long would go a long way, when it came to privacy.
Now, he just had to make sure that in case a hole blew through the wall, the water wouldn't drown them instantly because it decided to shift size to match the room as well.
And well, since he actually had to buy the damn ship outright, he might as well make the most of it.
"All right, this should do." Naruto nodded to himself, pretty proud of his work.
"Welcome aboard." Takaya smiled at the girls when they boarded. "Your friend, Naruto-san, has taken care of arranging the cabins, as he says. We found it very, very impressive."
The captain, Shinjiro, called from the bow. "Everybody aboard? Propeller seal loaded?"
"Aye, sir." Heizo replied from the bridge. He was a taciturn sort.
"Ahead, then." Shinjiro called.
Just like that, they departed. The propeller seal glowed, next to the ship's wheel. It used chakra to turn the boat's propeller, making the boat move forward.
The Kujira left the city of Naita in silence, at around midnight, at the end of May.
It went along the Earth country coast, at first full of big stone houses. Slowly, the space between them grew, until the only light Naruto could discern was Naita's lighthouse, kilometers away… and their own.
When three in the morning came, he yawned and told the girls he was going to sleep. They came with him.
"You… did this?" Sakura asked in wonder, seeing their cabin, now three times as large.
"That's right." He managed to sound humble, he thought.
"I have to say that's pretty impressive." Karin added.
"Thought you'd like it. We'll build some separators for privacy. Tomorrow, though. I'm dead."
He passed out in his futon.
Shinjiro was a good captain, and an experienced seaman.
Naruto realized they had lucked out by finding him and his men. He took this contract with all the seriousness you'd find in a ninja going on an A-rank infiltration mission.
Three young, unknown people wanted to go explore a specific spot, thousands of kilometers away, in the open sea… and they could only tell them where that was exactly once they were on the sea…?
Sure thing. Just give me the general direction and I'll head towards that, until we're on our way. We'll adjust then. It was a simple application of enough money to not raise too many questions.
Heizo and Takaya trusted the man's word without any question, and everything seemed to move smoothly.
They had a supply of freshwater sealed in a jar, as well as a boiling plant to desalinate seawater.
Food reserves were kept in a large scroll, but for most of the journey, they would fish to eat, and ration their rice, fruits and vegetables.
Near the middle of the day, bored of staring at the open sea, Naruto went to the third cabin he had expanded.
If they were to spend two to three months on a boat, they'd need a training room. He'd teach the sailors some basics if they were interested, too.
The walls were not reinforced yet, so he'd stick to Taijutsu and weapons. He created a clone using half his chakra, ensuring that he could take a few hits.
Naruto summoned a weapon, basing it upon Sasuke's. He focused on creating a blade as dull as he could, then handed it to the clone.
He'd practice dodging and blocking today.
"Poems?" Karin asked, looking over Sakura's shoulder.
She looked back at her, tilting her head back. "Sure. I like some of Kamei's works. Well, the more recent ones. The man used to be too long-winded."
Karin took a seat next to her, on the deck. The boat rocked slowly, steadily.
"You're a big reader, aren't you?" She asked.
Sakura nodded. "I used to read more as a kid, though. I've got less time now, since I have to stay sharp. Actually…" She thought. "I think it's the first time in a long while I don't have to sleep with my guard up. I feel my body… relaxing."
"Damn."
"Yeah." She nodded. "I still wouldn't go back to Konoha, though."
"What made you leave, in the end…?" Then she added hurriedly. "You don't have to answer, if you don't want to."
Sakura shook her head. "No. It's fine. Well, you met after I got… 'crippled'. Being a shinobi was all I knew, and to be honest… All I wanted."
Karin nodded.
She continued. "But once Konoha discharged me, they wouldn't take me back in the corps. No matter how much I insisted. And I couldn't get anybody to train me. Not that my parents would have paid for it, they insisted that I go to civilian school."
"Ah."
Sakura made a face. "It's not that it's bad on its own… But the more I thought about what kind of future awaited me… The more I wanted to go back to being a ninja. Which I couldn't. I became… very hard to deal with, I guess. My parents and I ended up having a big fight… And I decided I couldn't stand it anymore. I left soon after, with a merchant troupe. There was an old shinobi in the group, escorting them, and I guess he took mercy on me."
"Ooooh, that's where you learned this triangular chakra blade thing?"
Sakura laughed. "Nah, this I figured on my own, because I needed a weapon I could carry anywhere, even in an onsen."
"…That's specific."
"Don't ask." She shrugged. "But anyway. The man taught me many things, including how to be self-reliant. Kiyoshi was a mercenary, and that's basically how I became one, too."
"Is he…?"
"Yeah." Sakura nodded. "He died a while ago, apparently. I heard a few months later."
"Sorry to hear that."
"What's done is done. The year I spent with him was worth more than he would ever know, and that's my only regret." Sakura smiled.
She thought for a second. "Well, I wish he could see me beat the shit out of Naruto, too."
Karin laughed.
The next day, Karin joined Naruto for his physical training.
She specialized in hand-to-hand combat, while he specialized in weapons and elemental style jutsu.
As long as they kept to Taijutsu, without using chakra to enhance their strikes, or Lightning to enhance his speed, they were on a similar level.
Naruto was way stronger, but their base speed was comparable.
Naruto parried her right-hand chop, and deviated her following punch. He countered with a rising kick, forcing her to step back.
He threw a flat palm attack at her face, making her lean back until she was in a reverse bridge position. Instead of standing back up, she put her hands behind her head.
She moved into a handstand, then did a split. Karin started spinning her legs extremely fast, kicking at him while moving forward.
He parried the strikes, but she was spinning fast enough that he could not grab her.
He leaped back.
"What the fuck was that?" He laughed.
She smirked, jumped back on her beet and delivered a barrage of kicks aimed at his face.
He dodged all of them, a few coming close. He threw a punch toward her torso and she weaved to the side. It only grazed her shoulder.
Naruto was about to go on the offensive again, but then noticed that she was bleeding from where his fist had grazed her.
"Ah, sorry, Karin. You're bleeding."
"It's practice, don't sweat it." She laughed. "Break?"
He nodded. "Sure, clean that up too."
Karin took off her over-shirt, only now noticing how sweaty she was, and started cleaning the wound on her shoulder.
She noticed Naruto's eyes on her tank top, and the way the fabric stuck to her breasts. She felt slightly self-conscious. Her hard nipples were clearly visible through it.
He averted his eyes.
"Wanna go for round two?" Naruto asked, going back to more familiar territory.
"Sure", she said quickly, glad for it.
"Wow. You ever seen this kind of fish before, Shinjiro?" Karin whistled.
He looked at her, amused. "Yes, several times. They're native to this part of the North Sea."
Around the Kujira were schools of fish with oblong bodies, skin that looked like scales, and green eyes. Around them, red and white fishes with flat bodies undulated.
It seemed like the fish stuck to the boat for a few hours, with no clear reason.
Karin felt all of their small chakra.
The ocean truly was full of life, and she realized for the first time what it meant.
"Still looking for ways to improve the boat, I see." Sakura said, when she came into the room, the next day. They still haven't put any kind of separators, and the futons are basically on top of each other.
He grumbled, still reading the scrolls Orochimaru had left him. "Might as well, considering how much it cost me."
Sakura laughed. "As far as I remember, you always loved hoarding money."
He looked at her. "I needed it back then, Ino would always take us to fancy restaurants."
And she had forgotten her wallet a few more times than he cared to remember.
"Yeah… Remember that little ice cream cafe, near Wakui's house?"
"Definitely. Why would I pay the price of a full-meal for two mochi..?"
"It's all Ino's fault."
"Yup. That's probably why I had to become a one-man team back then. To afford ice cream."
"I guess doing all these construction missions will finally come in handy, once we find an island to build something on." Sakura joked.
"If it doesn't, I'll still have a decent career to fall back on." He winked.
They had stopped the boat, and started fishing.
Well, the fishing part was pretty easy. Naruto focused Lightning into his hand and put it into the sea, and they just had to pick the dead fish that floated up afterward.
So they were mostly taking a break, since it was a nice day, sunny, but not too warm.
Sakura came out of the water with a smile, squeezing the water out of her hair.
Naruto stared at her, his eyes slowly trailing down. His cheeks reddened a bit and he looked away.
She caught it but said nothing. Karin did, too.
Sakura can't help but take a look herself.
Naruto… grew up very nicely. Tall, — and still growing, somehow — with long, thick blond hair.
His abs are thick, flat and defined. His chest is full, and his shoulders and back look powerful. There's some light blond hair on his torso, and surprisingly for a ninja, he's got no scars at all.
Once, he said he had a few that had taken a long time to fade away, but even these had, in the end. She's not sure what he's talking about.
And scars are not supposed to always fade out, but he's an oddity.
There are many seals covering his body, though, all of them composed of only a few bold lines — he told her he would tell her about them, at some point.
She finds them pretty interesting.
And… he's got very nice legs. Very, very nice legs.
From an objective point of view, she thinks… He's attractive.
But she sees him as Ino's. She won't interfere in that.
After a full week on the sea, Naruto felt like it was never going to end.
When they saw an island, thousands of kilometers away from their destination still, he asked Shinjiro if they could stop for a second.
The man shrugged and called for Heizo to stop at the island.
Naruto asked for an estimation of their position on the world map. They had done a tenth of the way.
A tenth.
He jumped on the water in frustration and ran to the island. There was nothing here.
It was just a stray piece of desert land in the middle of nowhere.
He still walked in the sand, just glad for the distraction. And for being able to step on stable ground for the first time in a while.
Deep down, he worried if they would even find a suitable island where they were going.
What if settling closer was a better idea, in the end?
The risk of being found out was bigger, though…
He decided against it.
It was not long before Sakura and Karin joined him, and they play-fought in the sand.
They were back on the boat, and Naruto noticed that he could not remember the last time they had seen human life.
For several days their awake hours were spent on training, reading, talking and experimenting. Seals, jutsu, ideas for their pet projects…
How to start a village. How to recruit people.
None of them knew the first thing about it, so they would likely have to leave the operating part to Orochimaru.
By early June, a hazy mist floated over the water. There were heavy clouds up in the sky, and nothing to see.
The only reason Naruto wasn't worried about it — too much — was because the sailors didn't seem to care much. They ran the boat efficiently, always keeping two people in charge of navigation, while the last one either rested or ran maintenance checks on the boat.
They were in a strange area the day after that, too, with luminous animals shining brightly.
It was very strange weather.
Humid and heavy while it looked as though it should feel cold.
The sea was illuminated, while the sky was so dark you couldn't see the stars.
The crew spent three entire days in this environment.
"You know, there are some days I want to curse Orochimaru." Naruto said.
"Don't like our little trip? I'm hurt." Sakura chuckled.
"I've spent the last forty hours trying to understand what the hell his notes on natural energy's influence on the human body meant. It's sooo dry."
"So you're bored?"
"Hell yeah I'm bored."
"Want to let off some steam with me?" Sakura asked, looking him in the eye.
…And his newfound sex drive was acting up. These damn seals.
"…Sure." He said hesitantly. This was Sakura. Was she…?
"Aight. Pure Taijutsu or chakra allowed?" She asked, stretching her arms.
"…Eh. Let's go with chakra, I reinforced the walls some." Naruto sighed.
"Damn, but you're really fast." Naruto commented, seeing Sakura practice moving on the water.
Dashing, weaving. Stopping.
"Thanks. Turns out having great chakra control really helps with speed. I may not have fancy Lightning or Wind tricks like some… But I manage."
"Any cool tricks you picked up?" Naruto asked.
She smiled.
"I thought you'd never ask. Watch this." Sakura said, leaping over a wave.
She caught the back of it, gliding down on its surface. She picked speed as she surfed, until it looked as though she were flying.
Naruto tried not to look too jealous. He didn't have the control for this, and likely never would.
She smirked, noticing his envy. He cleared his throat.
"That's pretty neat. You probably don't even need a boat, then. Should have gone to the islands on your own, big girl."
"Yeah… And where would I sleep…? I'm not exactly a fish." She said, rolling her eyes.
"Smell like it, thou-"
He choked on the water jet she hit him in the face with.
"Why do I feel so depressed?" Karin asked, laying on her back, staring at nothing.
Naruto chuckled. "You've read the same books as I did. It's the lack of sun."
"Yeah, yeah. Still though."
"…Wanna fight?"
"Taijutsu again?"
"Nah, wrestle me."
Naruto's eyebrows rose.
"Do you even know how to?"
"I'll learn." She said, confidently.
"You sure…?"
"Are you afraid of me?" Karin smirked.
He shrugged.
She pulled on his arm, pretty uselessly. He didn't hesitate, slipping in the opening she left, pinning her arms down at her sides and trapping her against him.
She squirmed, trying to loosen his hold. Naruto just grabbed her tighter.
Her legs were free, but once she tried to use them to kick him, he just used his own to block her.
It was probably the first time she really got how much stronger than her he was.
"Concede?" Naruto asked, close to her ear.
"I can still move." She managed to get out.
"Suit yourself."
She started squirming against him again. He could smell her, now. Not the perfume, but her natural scent.
She got one leg out, and used it to push herself back, surprising him. They rolled and tumbled in a mess of limbs.
She fell on top of him, landing her hands on both sides of his face.
Sitting on his belly, Karin was breathing hard, her face flushed. She was smiling proudly, though.
"See? I got out."
"Sure. You forgot you were supposed to try to win, though." He smirked, pulling her down to the floor again.
She yelped.
It was six in the evening, and the sky was starting to turn gray and heavy. The wind picked up a bit too, and soon it was raining heavily.
Heizo triggered the release seal and soon enough, pillars extended from the floor, allowing them to pull the wooden roof over it.
Naruto stayed to watch the rain under its protection.
An angry wind raged, the ocean was rough, and thunder was striking.
Karin came to sit next to him, their legs touching, without a word.
They stayed there to watch the thunderstorm, some of their worries fading away.