“Before the Blue Pirates began, before we all met each other, I met her. She wasn’t known as the Blue Tiger of the Mist then. She was just Kasumi Mayonaka. You all know of what transpired between her and her family and friends. This story takes place perhaps only two weeks after that. That day… that’s when things changed.”
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A year had passed since he had left his family. A year had gone by since he had become a missing-nin. Since he had escaped the place where had been abused all his life, he had nowhere to go. He wandered aimlessly around the world for a year. He had no aspirations, and he had nothing left for himself.
His entire life, Masaru’s only goal had been to make his parents proud. Only when he had turned fourteen did he realize that it was impossible for them to take pride in anything he did. He was a puppet, a mere toy for his parents to show off to other shinobi. But in the confines of the Inoue home, he was whipped for not perfecting a jutsu, he was slapped for speaking out against them, and he was beaten for not being the best.
Scars have littered his body since he was five years old, an age that is supposed to be filled with innocent laughs, playful games, and childish dreams. But not for him. For him, his fifth birthday marked the day his mother and father began training him. Ever since then, he firmly believed he had at least one blemish on his skin for every day that had passed while he lived under his parents’ roof.
Masaru subconsciously fixed the red scarf around his neck and the sleeves of his black shirt, making sure none of the marks that marred his body were visible.
The fifteen-year-old continued his trek through the forest. He had just left a small village that he didn’t even take the time to learn the name of, and after making sure his supplies were restocked, he walked on. He had no destination, but he concluded that he didn’t need one for now. He just hoped that he’d find a place where he’d fit in soon. He had felt lost for the past year; he had nowhere he felt he belonged.
The distant sound of splashing waves made the boy stop in his hiking through the dense green forest. Masaru absentmindedly wondered how he could hear water through such thick woods, but he blew it off as he followed the echoing noise. Straying off the dirt path that coursed through the jungle, he pushed against the bushes and branches that blocked his way.
After less than a quarter mile of walking, the endless forestation ended, and Masaru stood by the edge of the tree line. There was a small area of open grass, and then the land ended. He had made it to the edge of the mainland. There was a cliff that began in front of him and then extended for as far as he could see to his right. To his left, the cliff expanded but also sloped downwards until it morphed into a sandy beach. The seashore also seemed to reach for miles. Directly in front of him was a giant body of water. Even though he wasn’t standing on the edge of the cliff, he could see the vast ocean stretch out before him. Its sparkling cerulean color held no boundaries, and it seemed to blend with the light blue of the sky.
For the first time in what felt like forever, a sincere and genuine smile appeared upon Masaru’s lips.
His emerald eyes glanced around, and they landed on the figure of a girl sitting cross-legged on the cliff. Masaru blinked in surprise when he noticed her; he had been too preoccupied with noticing the beautiful scenery to see the hunched form of the young girl there. Though her shoulder-length bright blue hair, which was most of what he could see at the moment, definitely blended in with the ocean water that she was staring at.
Masaru contemplated approaching her to be friendly, but he halted in his steps when she suddenly stood up. Her back was still towards him as she reached up to untie something around her head. The boy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as she suddenly threw the object into the air. The ex-Waterfall Village inhabitant curiously watched the cloth fly upwards before it slowly picked up speed to drop towards the water.
The sunlight reflected off the metal plate, and it was then that the Inoue realized that the item was a shinobi forehead protector. He was unable to make out which village insignia was engraved into the metal, but he didn’t much care. The headband quickly disappeared behind the cliff, out of Masaru’s view, and he assumed it splashed into the water within seconds.
So she was now a rogue ninja. Just like him. Well, at least they had something in common now. He again thought about going out to greet her.
Once again, the boy moved forward, but he stopped a second time when the girl leaned down to reach into a brown backpack by her feet. Her loose blue hair shrouded her face, causing the black-haired male to wonder just what she looked like. Judging from her height, she had to be at least a few years younger than him. She was wearing dark blue pants, a white three-quarter sleeve shirt, and standard blue shinobi sandals.
The mysterious girl finally pulled the designated objects from their place in her bag. From his spot a distance away from her, Masaru was unable to see what exactly the girl was now holding. She remained hunched over as she tied the strange items to her ankles.
The boy furrowed his eyebrows in bewilderment and cocked his head to the side in puzzlement. He took a quiet and cautious step forwards and narrowed his eyes against the bright sun to see what exactly the odd things were. After squinting against the sunlight, he realized what they were, and his green eyes widened in fear and shock.
They were weights.
Masaru was about to call out to her to stop, but he was suddenly struck to his core when he saw her face. She was staring out at the water with a longing expression, and tears had spilled from her charcoal eyes to leave salty liquid trails along her cheeks. He saw her mouth moving, and even though he couldn’t hear what she had said, he could have sworn she had whispered an apology. In all honesty, the girl looked just as lost as he felt. He was mesmerized by the sheer emotion that he saw in her depressed black orbs.
She sniffled lightly, and that was when the fifteen-year-old remembered what was happening. He pathetically reached an arm out to stop her, even though he was so far away from her position. The blue-haired girl painfully lifted her now heavy right leg until it hovered over the edge. Her body moved slowly forward, and then she fell off the cliff.
“Shit!” Masaru yelled.
He bolted forward, throwing off his backpack as he ran to the side of the precipice. His feet led him to the side of the cliff but suddenly stopped, almost as if his body refused to let him go while his mind was screaming to move and save the unknown girl. Masaru watched with frightened jade eyes as the girl’s body disappeared with a white splash into the water at least a thousand feet below his spot.
When he could no longer see the other missing-nin, Masaru threw precautions to the wind and leaped off the side. He felt himself falling fast, and the intensely cold wind pushed against his eyeballs, causing his lids to close. Goosebumps broke out across his skin as he felt the misty spray of the water on his back, and he tensed for the hit. He quickly turned over so that his back faced the water, and the moment he did so, the cold water enveloped him. The freezing seawater came crushing down on him, the waves tossing his body back and forth beneath the surface.
The squeezing feeling on his lungs began suffocating him, and he pushed his feet downwards so that he could tread to the surface. His head lifted from the water, and he heaved in massive gulps of air. Oxygen had never tasted so good.
Once his breathing had returned, he casted his green eyes back to the ocean floor, but he couldn’t see passed the black water. What had happened to the crystal blue color of the sea? It was as if the surf had changed to a much darker color to match the dim atmosphere that arose the moment that girl had initiated her suicide attempt.
Taking in a deep inhale of air, Masaru plunged his body back into the freezing water. He pushed his legs forward, kicking and propelling them so that he could dive deeper into the dark depths. The further he submerged himself, the more he could feel the waves fighting over his body, jerking him back and forth like he was a rag doll to be fought over by children.
Masaru blinked against the salty sting of the seawater, his vision blurring now. It was difficult to just see where he was going, let alone trying to find a person in this darkness. The current battered him around, and he no longer knew which way the surface lurked.
Then he felt the ocean floor collide with his shoulder. He jerked slightly, happy that he had some form of direction, even though he was still completely lost within the cavern of icy water.
He flung his body around, trying to find some inkling of the girl. The suffocating feeling erupted within his chest again, and his left hand clawed at his heart, as if that would stop the heaving sensation in his lungs. He was just about to propel himself upwards, where he hoped the surface was waiting for him. But then his hand brushed against cold flesh, another hand, he realized.
Eyes widening in astonishment, he grasped the other hand, praying that it was the blue-haired girl’s and not some random dead body lurking at the bottom of the sea. The raven-haired boy tried pulling himself and the girl up, but the extra weight held him down.
He mentally questioned why a girl smaller than him was giving him such trouble while trying to carry her. Then he remembered the weights. Keeping a secure hand on her body to make sure she didn’t drift away with the strong current, he reached for where he assumed her legs were.
The Inoue’s hands found the soft material of her ninja sandals, and then his fingers made contact with the iron weights tied to her ankles. His eyes failed him as the saltwater blinded him, so he was forced to rely solely on his now numb appendages.
His digits worked clumsily yet forcefully against the ever-moving tide as it tossed the girl and himself around ruthlessly. He didn’t even realize he had removed the first weight until he realized that the unconscious preteen was floating away. Masaru cursed beneath the water, letting loose a precious amount of oxygen. This made him hiss a second time, though he made sure to not open his mouth again.
He blindly reached out his arms to grab the comatose female, but it only led to the tiring and straining of his muscles as they uselessly flailed about against the icy black currents. Stretching his elbow out straighter only pained him more, but when his fingers lightly brushed against the thin cloth of what he assumed to be the girl’s shirt, he pushed against the aching just to reach a little further. He tugged on the soaked material and fumbled around with the body to find the second heavy metal.
This particular iron piece took longer than the first, or so it felt to Masaru. It was either that or the fact that his lungs were compressing agonizingly from the lack of oxygen. Bubbles leaked from his lip, taking away his limited source of air. Even against the dark water, he could see black spots invading his vision. He hoped that it was from the salt, because if not, then it meant he was losing consciousness.
Precious seconds passed by, but he finally felt the steeled weight disconnect from the girl’s leg. Dropping it to the ocean floor, he grabbed the body and forced his legs to kick to the surface.
However, the closer he felt himself get to the top, the more he felt the tides attempt to rip his muscles apart. His legs ached from the strenuous work, and his right arm strained from trying to fend off the waves. He continuously felt the unknown girl slipping from between his left arm, and it took everything he had to keep his muscles coordinated enough just to keep a hold of her and swim to the surface.
Masaru’s final resource of air left him, and through the black dots corrupting his sight, he watched the bubbles drift to the top, carrying away the last of his oxygen. With the last ounce of his strength, he pushed against the brutal waves and thrust his head out of the water, carrying the suicidal female with him.
Air wonderfully graced his lips, and the ex-ninja gratefully heaved incredible gulps of it. He glanced with tired green eyes to the unconscious girl in his arms. She wasn’t relishing in the free oxygen like he was, and then he realized that she wasn’t breathing at all.
“Damn it,” he muttered, spitting out the foul salted water as he did so.
He turned his head this way and that, trying to find some place where he could bring her to rest. He saw the sandy shore a distance away, half of a mile if he was judging correctly. A length such as that wouldn’t have bothered him had the circumstances been different. But his body was aching from being underwater for so long, and his muscles were still struggling just to fight against the riptide he was still captured in.
Masaru blinked the salt from his burning eyes as he frantically looked around again. This time, he spotted a small cavern at the base of the cliff from which the pair had jumped. Ten columns of rock surrounded the entrance of the cove, giving the appearance of sacred protectors guarding a blessed temple. It was maybe only a quarter of a mile from his spot; it was still a painful distance to swim in his state, but it was better than going to the shore.
With renewed vigor, the Inoue pushed his legs behind him, forcing them to move. Slowly but surely, he felt his body remove itself from the awful current into a less aggressive tide, allowing him to approach the small cave quicker.
Within moments, Masaru had entered the hidden cove, and he swam through it until he felt wet sand beneath his boots. With shaky legs and tired feet, he picked himself up so that he was standing and carried the cerulean-haired young girl bridal style. Her frame was slightly muscled from her training as a kunoichi, but as a whole, she was tiny and frail compared to his masculine and built body. However, due to the arduous work he had performed out in the sea, he found he could barely keep the girl from slipping from his over-exerted arms.
Once they were well inside the cavern, he placed the female on the sanded ground as gently as he could. He collapsed to his knees beside her, and he was fully prepared to pass out and rest his tired body, even if the gravelly ground beneath him was uncomfortable. Then he remembered that she wasn’t breathing.
Cursing loudly, he moved so that he was seated by her head. Her skin was ghostly pale, and her lips were turning blue. Swearing again, he placed two fingers to the skin beneath her jaw; he nearly jumped in gratitude when he felt a faint pulse. Pulling his hand away, he tilted her neck so that her face was elevated slightly; keeping a somewhat steady hand on her forehead, he placed his lips on hers and breathed as much air as he could muster into her body. He gave her another rescue breath and then broke away to give compressions to her chest.
Masaru repeated this process again, yelling at her comatose form when there was no response. He broke his rhythm to place his ear beside her mouth, and he swore for the umpteenth time when he couldn’t hear or feel her breathing.
The Inoue boy tried the procedure again, breathing into her mouth and exhibiting chest compressions as he had before. He was about to begin another round of rescue breaths when the girl’s body jerked suddenly.
Masaru froze in place at the abrupt movement, and he watched as her chest heaved again. The girl turned to the side away from him and threw up the seawater she had ingested along with whatever she had had for lunch. Tears involuntarily leaked from her coal eyes as she vomited, the murky beige color mixing with the salty water to make a rather gruesome picture. The teenage boy turned away at the disgusting sight, combing his hand through his drenched mane of black spikes.
The ex-kunoichi transitioned from barfing to painfully dry-heaving, and Masaru reached a cautious yet caring hand out to pat her back in comfort. The moment he made contact though, the girl whipped around and crawled away from him, leaning on her hands and knees as she glared dangerously at him.
“Who the hell are you?!” she hissed, her voice coming out hoarse and scratchy.
The fifteen-year-old gawked at her offensive behavior, and then he remembered that the only reason why he had gone through this whole ordeal was because she had tried to kill herself. “I think I’m the guy who just saved your life, you ungrateful brat!”
“Who the fuck said I wanted anyone to save me?!” the girl screamed, her tone still ragged from abuse of its horrible condition. Her soaked blue hair whipped around wildly as she stood up to prepare to attack him.
“I think a better question is why the hell are you trying to kill yourself?!” Masaru shot back.
She narrowed her eyes threateningly, and her voice dropped to come out in a guttural yet dangerous whisper. “That doesn’t concern you.”
The boy met her harsh glare with a glower of his own. He untied his red bandana and squeezed the water from it, taking out his growing frustration at the girl on the crimson article. “You know, I would think most suicidal people would be flattered that a stranger actually cared enough to save them. Apparently not.”
“You’re damn right ‘apparently not’,” the girl huffed in annoyance.
She suddenly turned away and headed for the cove’s entrance, obviously prepared to leave. However, the moment she took her first step, her legs wobbled beneath her. Masaru was there in an instant, catching her in his arms the second she couldn’t keep herself up any longer. She blinked in surprise at how her strength had vanished from her, but she nevertheless squirmed out of the elder teen’s grasp, crawling away from him.
Masaru sent a scowl her way as he stood up on his own shaky legs. “Tch, you’re welcome…” he muttered sarcastically.
Slowly and clumsily, the raven-haired teen made his way to the back of the cave, where a small glittering pond was settled. The darkness of the cavern prevented the sparkling water from glistening to its fullest, but its beauty wasn’t what Masaru wanted anyway. Plopping himself on a stone by the edge, he plunged his hand into the cool liquid. The previous Waterfall resident flinched as the cold water met his freezing skin, but at that point, he didn’t care for the temperature. The teen cupped his fingers and brought some of the cleansing liquid to his mouth, relishing in the feel of the fresh water on his chapped lips. He did this again, though this time he used the water to rinse out the salt from his mouth. The boy spat the nasty salty flavor from his mouth, allowing his tongue to ease comfortably again.
Masaru remained in his spot, staring at the dark yet calm pond. He heard the tapping of footsteps approaching him, and he visibly tensed, fully prepared to attack should the girl decide to strike him.
However, she surprised him when she sat beside him, crossing her legs beneath her. She casted her eyes to the water as well, and for a moment, the Inoue thought she was going to completely ignore his existence.
That notion was rebutted when she spoke to him, though still not looking in his direction. “You don’t know me… You’ve never met me… You don’t know who I am… ” she whispered, her voice laced with a sudden and unknown sadness. “So why would you save me?”
Slightly astounded by her question, Masaru could do nothing but shrug. A few minutes of silence passed, and she did not respond. He realized that she was waiting for a more suitable answer, an answer that he could not form into words.
With calloused and rough hands, he rubbed his cheeks nervously in thought. “I don’t know…” he finally managed to say.
“Why?” she asked, still in a whispering tone but a bit harsher than before.
Masaru sighed. “It’s just… I don’t know… I saw you crying before you jumped…” he uttered, looking away so he wouldn’t see any accusing glares she might send his way. She didn’t say anything, so he took that as his cue to continue, though he still didn’t look at her. “I figured something bad must have happened for you to feel like killing yourself would solve everything.”
He heard her shift slightly, and he took the chance to glance at her. She had scooted closer to the water’s edge and had dipped her hands into the slightly frigid liquid. Unlike him, she was unfazed by the cold that the water produced.
“You’re partially correct,” she murmured, glimpsing at him from the corner of her black eyes. “Something bad did happen…”
Masaru shook his head at this. “Nothing is bad enough that you should feel compelled to take your own life,” he whispered. He glanced down at his hands as they rested on his legs. “Trust me, I’ve had my share of bad experiences. Nothing is so bad that you should feel that detached from the world…”
“But it wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for something I’d done…” the blue-haired girl croaked out, her voice suddenly breaking. Masaru turned to her in alarm to see tears streaming down her soft face. She clapped her hands to cover her cheeks and eyes in what appeared to be shame, and she began to sob hysterically into her palms.
A deep frown etched across the boy’s face as he awkwardly began to rub his hand across her back in comfort. “It’s… okay... We all make mistakes…”
The mysterious girl shot up so quickly that Masaru almost fell off his perch in surprise. She paid no mind to that as she glared daggers at him, liquid sadness still leaking from her charcoal orbs. “My family and friends are dead because of a stupid decision I made!”
The Inoue’s green eyes widened, and his jaw dropped slightly. His still outstretched hand slowly retreated in fear. This girl was the murderess of her own family and friends?
No…
She had said a decision she had made caused their deaths. That couldn’t mean she actually committed the crime, right?
He looked up at her as she towered over his still seated form. Gradually picking himself up from his position, Masaru looked at her, a question hidden in his emerald orbs. “Their blood is really on your hands?”
The previous kunoichi turned away from him, her azure hair swishing as she did so. “It’s my fault they’re gone…” Her legs collapsed from under her, and she fell to the ground to land in a sitting position, her calves tucked beneath her body. “I don’t deserve to live after what I’ve done…”
For some unknown reason that Masaru couldn’t fathom in that moment, he was angry at her last statement. He abruptly grabbed her by the shoulder and forced her to stand so that she was facing him. Her stature was probably at least six inches shorter than his own, and he towered over her menacingly. He made sure that his gaze was firm enough so that she would listen to what he had to say.
“That is the most pathetic thing I have ever heard anyone ever say,” he growled out to her. He felt an inner sense of triumph when she blinked in surprise at his intimidating tone. “I don’t care what you’ve done. No one should ever have the gall to say that they don’t deserve to live.”
Masaru suddenly backed away and stripped away his black long-sleeved shirt. The cerulean-haired girl was about to question what he was doing when her coal eyes finally landed on the sculpted tone of his upper body. But it wasn’t the muscles that had captured her eyes.
It was the scars that plagued his body.
The fifteen-year-old watched as her eyes looked over the overwhelming number of different-colored marks on his chest and neck, and then he turned around to show the aftereffects of his whippings that were spread across his back. Slashes crossed over one another in a sickening manner.
After only a few more seconds, he tugged his shirt back over his head, and once it was securely on, he glared at her with intense jade eyes. “I’m the abused child of two overly proud shinobi of the Waterfall Village. I’ve been both physically and mentally beaten. I’ve gone to bed bloodied and bruised for as long as I can remember. I’ve been told that I am a worthless good-for-nothing. So if my own parents constantly told me that I was useless, tell me something. Why don’t I think I am?”
The mysterious ex-kunoichi glanced around nervously, trying to look at everything except the boy’s questioning orbs. Still looking away, she whispered, “How do you know you’re not?”
Instead of taking it as an insult, Masaru simply shrugged. “I saved a life today,” he replied easily. “I don’t think that makes me worthless. And I especially don’t think you’re worthless either. Everyone has something to live for. You just have to find it.”
The girl bit her lip thoughtfully, silently mulling over his words. She sent him brief and nervous glances, almost afraid to ask him her inquiry. “And what… what is it that you have to live for now?”
The Inoue shrugged again as he ran his hand through his spiky mane. “It used to be making my parents proud of me, but that kind of went down the drain when I ran away…”
“Then I don’t think you should be preaching to me about me finding my own purpose,” she suddenly interrupted harshly.
Masaru narrowed his eyes dangerously at her. He contemplated her words and realized that there was some truth to them, so he slowly released his intense gaze. With a nod of his head, he murmured, “I’ll give you that one. But how about this then?” She looked up to him on cue, and he continued. “You’re a mentally unstable wreck right now, so my purpose for the time being will be to watch over you.”
“I don’t need you to babysit me,” she countered childishly, which made the elder teen internally snicker.
“Right…” he drawled out sarcastically. “Because I am that stupid enough to leave you alone so you can jump off that cliff again.”
“Maybe you should just leave me alone!” the girl shouted angrily. Her frustration seemed to boil when she saw the amused smile on the older adolescent’s face. “I didn’t ask you to get involved in my life!”
“You didn’t have to,” Masaru shot back as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m choosing to butt in.”
Her dark eyes squinted at him ferociously as she mimicked his movement to cross her arms over her chest. “So let’s say you choose to follow me. What if I decide to do horrible things? You’re going to let me?”
This caused a frown to appear on his face, and he steadily uncrossed his arms to let them plant themselves on his hips. He looked away in deliberation. “I would rather make sure you didn’t hurt yourself again. Suicide is more disgraceful than any other crime I could think of… It would pain me to think I let you kill yourself if I left you alone now…”
His last statement made her release her crossed arms, and they fell dejectedly to her sides. Her hands helplessly gestured out to him as she tried to form words. “Why do you care so much?”
Masaru’s frown was still etched across his face, though it deepened as an immense yet familiar sadness overwhelmed him. His emerald eyes fell to land on the gravelly ground beneath his feet as he mumbled, “Because no one should ever feel like they have nowhere they belong, and no one should ever feel like no one cares about them…”
The girl blinked in surprise at his deep reflections, her mouth opening and closing pathetically as words came at a loss for her. “What… What was your name?”
“Masaru Inoue,” he responded, lifting his gaze to lock eyes with her. “And you?”
“Kasumi…” she replied. “Kasumi Mayonaka.”
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The seven other members of the Original Nine looked to their temporary captain in what could only be shock. Nervous and anxious glimpses were sent to one another, for no one wanted to break the tense silence that had fallen once the tale had been told. Behind them, the golden sun was slowly peeking over the azure water, blending oranges and yellows with the cerulean color of the sea. Unbeknownst to them, the other members of the crew were resting in the place where their true captain and first mate had officially met. The Midnight Thief rocked gently in place as the wind and ocean worked together to move the anchored ship ever so slightly.
“I can’t believe it,” Tsubame uttered to herself as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the railing in astonishment.
“So…” Akira mumbled quietly, still trying to comprehend everything, “the reason you became Captain Mayonaka’s first mate was because…”
Masaru nodded, already knowing where her train of thought was going. “Because she needed someone to make sure she didn’t fall back into instability. Each of you knows how she feels about losing her family and friends because of a mistake she made. That ultimately threw her into a mental unsteadiness. I wasn’t prepared to just leave her in that state, so I followed her to make sure she could take care of herself…”
“Well, she’s not suicidal anymore,” Hayashi concluded with a slight scoff. He frowned as a sudden worrying thought struck him. “Is she?”
The captain shook his head. “No. Or at least not that I’m aware of. I believe she’s locked those thoughts away just enough that it doesn’t haunt her to the extreme anymore.”
“So then why are you still here?” Kaito asked suspiciously. The others turned to look at him, surprised at the accusing tone in his voice. “If you only wanted to make sure that she’d be alright on her own, why did you decide to stick around?”
“Oh!” Rikuto asked, snapping his fingers excitedly as he thought of something. “Is it because you have secretly fallen in love with her after all this time?”
Despite himself, Masaru couldn’t help the light pink blush that dusted itself across his cheeks. The question mixed with his reaction brought along a few snickers amongst the group. Luckily, the azure-haired woman came to his rescue, in spite of their previous spout in which she had insulted him about his past, and slapped the red-haired boy in the back of the head. “Get your mind out of the gutter, idiot,” she hissed.
The scarf-wearing pirate coughed nervously into his fist to regain his composure, and he sighed as he remembered the original question asked of him. “I’m here because of the same reason you all are here.”
That response brought on several different reactions from his crewmates. Some gave him confused expressions while others began to murmur amongst themselves, trying to understand the reply he had given.
“It’s the anger,” Masaru finally said, catching everyone’s attention once again. “It’s the contempt for life that each of us holds… That’s why we’re here. You can narrow it down to your own personal ideas. Maybe you’re trying to escape something; maybe you’re trying to extract your rage on something else; maybe you’re just trying to stop feeling so much damn pain…”
He casted his jade eyes away from his comrades to look over the edge of the ship and into the ocean water. He could faintly see his blurred reflection in the shadowy sea, and he briefly wondered just what he had hoped to find by looking there in the first place.
“But it always comes back to anger,” the male continued. “It’s the penned up frustration for life’s cruelty that keeps us here. Is it demented? It definitely is, I’m man enough to admit that. But I have yet to find any other place where I can say what I feel and not feel threatened.”
“And we allow Kasumi to lead us because she understands pain and anger better than anyone else we know,” Osamu added. He closed his onyx eyes and sighed deeply.
The eight pirates glanced around at each other, and for the first time in a long while, their pride simmered down several notches. Each person steadily began to realize just what brought them here in the first place and why they stayed there. None of them were able to deny that Masaru and Osamu were right.
“So…” the stone-colored-eyed Kaito murmured, breaking the intense quietness, “you have stayed as Kasumi’s first mate because she needs someone to rely on…” Everyone turned to see his calculating gaze eyeing their captain shrewdly. Masaru was slightly worried that he would unleash his stoic and accusing thoughts on him again, just as he did before. But the Blue Pirate chief was proved false when the older man smirked. “Perhaps you have proved your worth then.”
The captain stared at him with a perceptive expression before he, too, let a smirk grace his lips. “Well of course.”
“Alright, alright, so we learned some secrets, and we shared our feelings,” Tsubame interrupted, a growing irritation emerging in her tone. “That doesn’t shroud the fact that we’re unhappy with your decision to retreat. That fight was a result of your misjudgment, Masaru.”
This brought a grimace to replace the smile on the captain’s face. “I’m aware.”
“And what do you intend on doing about it?” Hayashi asked reproachfully.
“We know now that you are a good first mate,” Akira commented, casting an eager glance toward the boy. “So now all we need is for you to find a way to be a good captain.”
Masaru bit his lip in thought, reflecting on his crewmates’ words. Even though they may not say it in the kindest of ways, they just wanted things to be better. After the tale he had shared about how he and Kasumi had met and the circumstances that came in both preceding and following that particular event, the bridge of trust that had been initially formed upon the creation of the Original Nine was strengthening. That was all he could truly ask for at this point.
“I suppose… that a good way to start… is to reorganize ourselves so that we can function without Kasumi,” Masaru suggested, rubbing the back of his spiky dark hair nervously. “We did somewhat decide that we can’t work without her here. We’ll need to change that.”
“So you’re suggesting a change for the crew then?” Osamu inquired with a quirked eyebrow, a knowing smirk appearing on his face.
The scarf-wearing missing-nin casually crossed his arms over his chest, and his jade-colored eyes lingered to the horizon. The sun had risen just enough so that its rounded bottom lightly touched the water in the distance. The golden color that had mixed with the painted blue of the ocean receded slowly as the large orange orb ascended higher into the sky. Masaru stared intently at the scene for a moment, observing the yellow and red colors disappearing from the thick cobalt sea. He absentmindedly wandered away from the group to stand on the other side of the ship to be as close to the sun as the boat would allow. He leaned forward onto his forearms as they rested on the dark blue wooden railing.
The commander remained mesmerized by the beauty that the sun and the ocean created, and he almost forgot that his first mate had asked a question. Blinking in surprise, he turned his head, glancing out of the corner of his eyes at his teammates.
With a nod of his head, a light smile fell upon his lips. “Yes,” he responded in answer to the white-haired male’s query. “The sun is rising now, changing into the new day. I think we should do the same and begin our own reformation. Let’s get to it.”
Smiles and nods broke out among the group in that moment. Masaru watched as they all left the ship to retrieve the underling crew members from their slumber. In only seconds, he was alone on the boat to await the return of the remaining Blue Pirates.
Pursing his lips, he grabbed one last meaningful glimpse of the sun hovering over the water. The blue sky was now tearing away from the black cover of the night sky, creating a light azure color to match that of the sea.
A sudden memory came rushing back to his mind in that instant, making him blink in astonishment. Only a few days before, Osamu had been telling him of the beauty of sunrise…
“The ocean and sky, huh?” Masaru thought to himself with a chuckle, silently praising his first mate for being a cunning manipulator with metaphors. “How fitting…I always figured we had our differences… I guess we do have some similarities as well, Kasumi…”
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Chapter notes: Wow, two updates for the same story in the same week. I haven't been able to do that in a long time...
Thanks for 3403 reads and 75 reviews! I really appreciate it, you guys are just seriously awesome!
Special thanks to Sasaui Uchiha for the new and wonderful summary. It's so amazing, thank you so much!
This is the chapter I've been waiting to write since the summer. I'm really excited that I finally got the chance to write it and share it with you guys. We shall finally get the chance to see how Masaru and Kasumi met.
The first part is in present time, and Masaru is preparing to tell the story to his crewmates. The second part is the actual story. The third part is back to present time with Masaru and the other pirates discussing their dilemma. Just thought I'd clear that up so there's no confusion.
I do not own the Naruto universe, but if I did... ah, who am I kidding? It'd be a disaster!
How To Save A Life by The Fray (I normally would try to avoid using the same artist two times in a row, but their songs are just beautiful.)
Read on and enjoy! And Happy New Year, everyone! May you have many more, and I hope your year of 2012 is blessed with good fortune and good health!
Chapter end notes: And there you have it. The epic story of how Kasumi and Masaru met. Remember, this is told through Masaru's POV, which is why you didn't get any glimpses into Kasumi's mind except for what she said.
I really hope you guys like this chapter! I know that Masaru and Kasumi have different backgrounds, and their situations are definitely not the same. But the point of this was that Masaru saved Kasumi after she tried to kill herself, and then he followed her to make sure she'd be okay. Even if she did bad things, at least he knows that she didn't commit suicide. Suicide for personal pity is considered worse than killing others or giving your life for what you do.
Anyway, feedback? Anyone? I'd really like to know what you think of this chapter! Please leave some reviews!
Thank you all for reading! You rock my socks!