Manga/Animé: Naruto de Masashi Kishimoto/Studio Pierrot
Words: 1 934
Published: 03/13/2020
Summary: It's time for Hinata to think about the past.
Author's note: This short story has been inspired by shamyliciouss fanart

Flashback

It's the day when the boat trip - on which she was working as a cleaner - sank that Hinata discovered Uzushio island. She had washed overboard in the water and the ocean's eddies - which were described as uncontrollable whishpools that no captain even succeed to cross - had washed her up on the fine sandy beach.

When she woke up, she felt overwhelmed by firstly relief to be alive then fear at memories of the shipwreck flashed in front of her eyes and finally panic when she realised she was lost. She stayed sitting for a while on the sand, letting her wet body because of her marine uniform shiver with cold. Finally, once she accepted the idea that nobody was going to notice her missing, she decided to explore the island which, catching her by surprise, was inhabited.

There was everything : several small wooden cabins, hammocks, a meat safe, things to cook, things to grill all types of meat and even a barque protected from the rain by banana tree leaves. Not knowing what type of civilisations she could encounter, Hinata was on the lookout while she was stealing food then clothes in the messiest habitation.

Among the mess of the owner, she was certain that nobody will notice someone was here. She then started to search, to take off her full-of-salt clothes and to be ready to leave when a hat caught her attention. The red and the gold had lost a bit of their colours and the edges were worn but the quality of the fabric was remarkable. It was a piece worthy of a high-ranking privateer suit.

"Who are you?"

That deep husky voice made her jump and once she had turned around, the tip of a sabre blade was on her throat while at the extreme opposite, a tall blond - wearing a coat with the same colours as the hat - gave her a death stare with his blood-like red eyes. Under the threat of this stranger's terrifying eyes and weapon, Hinata was speechless and her heart was throbbing. As if she wanted to protect herself to regain her composure, she clutched her poor spoils against her which caught the pirate's attention.

"You didn't hesitate to steal us..."

Ruthlessly, Naruto caught her arm and pulled her towards him to take a good look at her. Her doll-like face, her wide panic eyes, her petrified body, the delicacy of her arm and her sailor clothes made him understand she was out of place. At that, he frowned and Hinata's heart flutter of anxiety. That man smelt alcohol and tobacco and he seemed nearly sick since his skin lacked of sun. Despite that, his pupils were dimly shining with a spark of curiosity.

"...and yet, you look nothing like a thief."

Still mute, he dragged her outside his cabin to find again the eight members of his crew who had get back to their activities after their return of fishing. When they saw their captain stood before them with a woman and not laying with a bottle of rum between his lips, they froze.

"That's someone from the outside!" Fu exclaimed with excitement.

Like one man, the crew gathered around Hinata who, completely lost, didn't know where to start thinking. Without her noticing it, the blond let go of her and the others pulled her and sat her by the fire. They gave her water to drink, food and even their whole attention: they wanted to know what happened to her. In front of so much kindness, she felt much more comfortable and she told them her woes.

"These eddies are deadly" Roshi affirmed

"It's indeed surprising you survived." Yagura noticed.

"One less body drowning in the sea." Gaara gloomy muttered

"Maybe it's luck!" Han exclaimed

"Of course since only the captain can sail on this sea" Killer B reminded.

"That means" Yugito continued "We'll surely go back sailing on the sea if we have to bring back this poor child to her home!"

"You... You will really bring me back home?" Hinata asked with a teary voice.

"Of course we will." Utakata assured her. "But let's think about that tomorrow after a good feast and a good night sleep."

The new expedition's anticipation agitated them a little bit more and, while they continued their talk, Hinata glanced towards the habitation she had searched but not once Naruto came out of it. Good, she thought, he was making her quite uncomfortable and after having regained hope, she wouldn't like to ruin her good mood.

However, the next day didn't go as planned since Naruto refused to cross the eddies at that period of the year, disappointing his crew and also Hinata.

«"The whirlpools are too dangerous. We'll wait for the ocean current to calm down like every year. And my decision is final." He added towards his companions who had tried to argue. »

"I don't understand." One day, Hinata exploded while the girls were plaiting palm tree leaves to make baskets. "Why does he refuse to leave the island? Why does he never go out of his cabin? Why does he never help you with the work? Why do you always obey to his orders?"

Once they glanced at each other, Fu and Yugito - on their little wooden seat - came closer to the young girl to whisper to her ear.

"Once upon a time, the Uzumaki were a formidable family of pirates on seas. They had dozens of ships and thousands of men under their commands." Yugito started.

"Of course, Naruto didn't make the exception to the custom and as soon as he could hold a sabre, he joined the main crew, the one executing his maternal grandmother's orders."

"Women can really be pirates?" Hinata was surprised.

"Of course and Mito and Kushina were the most populars until Naruto reveals his power."

"His power" the young girl repeated as she thought of his red eyes.

"Our captain can control the ocean current. You can imagine it brought admiration as well as fear among the Uzumaki's enemies. All their ships could be twice as fast as other ships and of course, the sea was affected by that phenomena." Fu was marvelled. "Thanks to this and his talent for piracy, he rapidly made a name for himself."

"Unfortunately" Yugito cut. "At their return from their journey around the world to Uzushio, he lost control and the eddies around the island were ravaging. The whole fleet was shock but the worst was the main galleon, with on board the Uzumaki family, which sank.

A shiver went down Hinata's spine as flashes of herself tossed, powerless and suffocating under water came back in mind. Her heart squeezed as she thought that Naruto must have felt far worse than her since he had always been able to control the eddies of the waters around here. Yet, that very day, he killed his whole family.

"Like you, he was the only survivor and to honor his family's memory, he kept his pillages going. It's like that we met him, right Yugito?" Fu smiled. "Unfortunately, each of his attacks were more and more brutal and more and more pirates wanted to leave him because they thought he was too bloodthirsty. It's like that we understood that he was still traumatised by what happened."

"When he saw what he had become, he freed all of the other crews from their engagements and he decided to withdraw to his island. Because we had nowhere to go and we didn't want to leave him alone, the eight of us followed him but despite us being here, he still is someone who hardly smile."

"Even when he allows us to sail again when the winds are calm, he isn't the great Kyubi anymore. He completely lost interest in everything he does."

Crossing her fingers against her knees, Hinata deeply felt sorry for the pirate. She knew the feeling of losing family. That's why she must go back home.

"And when will we be able to leave?" she asked, her stomach knotted.

"Well, we just arrived so if we are optimistics, we can say that in six months we go back on the Kurama but it has happened we have to wait longer."

Hinata's face became pale. She never had a luxury life but this small camp was worse than the situation she had back at Kumo. Her hammock wasn't comfortable, her clothes were itching and being able to wash just one time per week bothered her. More, she thought she was like a dead weight for the others who knew how to fight and knew all the corners of the island.

That's why, after having took her courage in both hands, she decided to go talk to Naruto, to give him her point of view but everytime she went to his cabin, he was dead drunk on his bed, noisily snoring.

Thus, day after day, despite the great mood at the camp, homesickness made her lost sleepiness, the lack of freedom made her morose and going round in circles on this island drove her crazy.

"This fucking island!" she screamed one morning towards the horizon.

Suddenly, a rustle behind her caught her attention and, jumping on her feet, she took the knife she used to cut wood for the fire. Usually, animals were never close to the beach but the crew advised her to always be armed to be able to wander as freely as she wanted to.

The only problem was that she never used a weapon in her entire life. So, without really thinking, she threw the knife which did several rotations before disappearing in the greenery. The noise stopped and Hinata took advantage of the opportunity to gather her things before running away. But, at the moment she was leaving, she recognised Naruto who stepped outside the forest. For once, he seemed sober.

"It was only you" she sighed, letting her shoulders relax.

However, her body tensed again when he came closer to her, frowning. Unexpectedly, he put his hat on top of the pile of wood she was carrying in her leaf basket and, catching her by surprise, she found her knife deep in the fabric.

"That's yours."

Panic dried Hinata's throat as she tried to swallow before looking up towards him to see he was, indeed, angry.

"I'm sor-"

"You damaged it, you fix it."

For a few seconds, she stayed still then, bravely, she cried out for him.

"I wanted to talk to you about-"

"You'll talk to me once you've done what I asked you to do."

And he continued to walk. That was the final straw. Hinata dropped her things which crashed on the floor, strode towards him and stopped before him. With her forefinger, she pounded his torso.

"I don't know what I did to you but I won't let you talk to me that way. I'm not in your crew so you don't give me orders. More, you keep me with you against my will and wind or not wind, I will not stay here. You're a pirate, right? Give me your price to bring me back home."

Breathless, she hid her shaking finger behind her without letting go of his gaze. They stayed still like this until he opened his mouth to say no to her offer. However, Hinata hadn't said her final word.

"Then, let us battle!"

At her words, she believed to have seen a playful look on his face and the dimly spark of curiosity back in his blue pupils. 

For now on, I'll stop calling them OS because I always wrote several parts per months haha