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Most people wouldn’t have been able to dangle off a ship’s rigging with nothing more than their knees to grip the ropes, but most people weren’t Uchiha Shisui. He laughed, spreading his arms wide on either side to embrace the winds that buffeted him; tasting the salty spray of the ocean that spoke to him of love and freedom.
“Sakura will murder you if you do not survive until the ceremony,” Itachi informed him from his position at the helm, where he was carefully steering the ship. His brows knit together as he peered through his sextant, before returning his gaze to the almanac Naruto was holding up. “I estimate it will be about two more hours before we are safely out of Konoha’s borders, so please try to stay alive until then.”
Shisui’s heart soared at the thought of marrying the woman he loved in a mere two hours, and another laugh bubbled up from within him. “The day I can’t hold on to a pathetic rope is the day I should just throw myself into the water, ‘Tachi.”
Itachi’s lips quirked up in a faint smile. This life – living free on the open seas, attacking only those who attacked them first, with no coercion to see their enemies dead – it suited them both very well indeed.
At that moment, Sakura emerged onto the deck. Her smile turned to a scowl once she spotted Shisui hanging off the rigging, and she brandished a finger at him. “Uchiha Shisui, if you fall, I will let you drown and marry Itachi instead! I mean it!”
Itachi’s brows drew together again as he shot a look at Shisui. He hadn’t yet learned not to take Sakura’s threats seriously, and didn’t seem to realize she was basically a kitten that thought she was a tiger.
As Shisui watched her, his shoulders shaking with mirth, an idea occurred to him. He flash-stepped across the deck, lifting Sakura easily by her waist, before he was back on the rigging, with only his fingers and the tip of his boot to support them both.
Sakura screamed at her sudden change in position, writhing and clawing at the arm that held her aloft. Not a helpful reaction if she wanted to keep from being dropped into the ocean.
“Shisui! Put me down !”
“You’ve got a horrible temper, you’re mean, and you can’t stitch up a wound to save your life.”
She hissed, and he was sure he would have received a solid punch on his jaw if she’d been in a position to hit him.
“Only fulfilling your orders, love. Though, I have to admit you can’t stitch up a wound to save your own life because you’ll be too busy saving other people’s.” That, and her medical jutsu was far more effective. Still, he’d spoken only truth – in all the time he’d known her, she would often heal others to the point of exhaustion, neglecting her own well-being.
As she continued to mutter curses under her breath, he adjusted his grip so that she could cling on to the rigging as well, instead of being held under his arm like a misbehaving chicken. “What are you doing up here, anyway? Thought it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding.”
Sakura rolled her eyes. “That’s only for brides with new wedding dresses. Besides,” she said, a hint of wistfulness in her tone, “I left those traditions behind when I left Konoha.” She leaned against him, burying her face into his chest, and he held her close, shielding her from the force of the winds, as he would shield her from everything the world would throw at them.
It was exactly two hours later when they dropped anchor. Itachi had gauged that they had traveled far enough into Kiri’s borders that the legality of Shisui’s and Sakura’s marriage would not be in question. For in Kiri, a woman did not need her father’s consent to be wed; and no officiant was required – only three witness signatures were needed to attest to the union’s validity.
Shisui’s heart thudded as he stood before the prow of the ship, waiting. It was normal to be nervous. Even though his bride had already tied herself to him by leaving behind everything she’d known, even though she’d already placed her heart and her trust in his all-too-human hands.
For though this was the best possible wedding a pirate could provide for his wife, it was in no way comparable to the ceremony most women of Konoha dreamed of – with silk dresses and sparkling jewels, hundreds of guests toasting to the happiest day of her life.
He only hoped she wouldn’t look back on this day with regret.
There were no soaring notes coaxed from a flute, no gliding chords played on a piano. There was only the sound of the waves, the wind flapping against the sails, and the distant caw of seagulls that said there was land within reach. And as Ino walked down the makeshift aisle she had constructed down the length of the ship; as Sakura followed her in a simple dress and a radiant glow upon her face, Shisui decided this was all the music he needed.
She stepped up to him, and he took her hands in his. They gazed into each other’s eyes, the rest of the world falling away, and –
“Flowers!” Obito’s voice rang out, followed by panting and huffing as he raced onto the deck. “Sorry I’m late, took me longer than I expected to finish growing them –”
Shisui watched with fond exasperation as his cousin thrust the bouquet into Sakura’s hands, effectively wrenching them from his grip.
“So sorry, Sakura, it took me a while to figure out the jutsu to grow them,” he continued, not seeming to realize that the entire ceremony had been halted because of his interruption.
Shisui, though, found himself looking to the woman who had declared herself Sakura’s maid of honour. “Ino, you didn’t notice that Sakura didn’t have her bouquet before the two of you started walking?” he asked. She had insisted on joining Sakura for this journey at the very least, to ensure that her best friend had the wedding she deserved. It did not seem as if she would have missed such a crucial detail.
“Well, I had a whole lot of details to take care of!” Ino snapped. “Too many to notice one was off!”
Shisui and Sakura exchanged glances at Ino’s uncharacteristic outburst. Maybe planning this had gotten to her. After all, he’d also felt the pressure of not being able to give his love a wedding worth bragging about.
He sighed. “Would you mind if we did it over?” he asked. “It would be a shame to waste Obito’s hard work.” It had taken his cousin a lot of effort to figure out how to use Mokuton to grow living plants, rather than simply manipulating wood.
“Of course,” she replied. Selfless to a fault, as always. But then, that was one of the things he loved about her.
Ino and Sakura went back belowdecks, and they began again – with Ino leading the way, scattering flower petals to make a path for Sakura. Shisui frowned. It was odd that Ino would have forgotten they needed the bouquet to start, considering it was on her insistence that Obito had began working at the jutsu.
But as Sakura reached him, his thoughts fell away. And once she had handed her bouquet to Ino, taking his hands once again, nothing existed but the sight of his bride.
Itachi cleared his throat. “Dearly beloved,” he began, reciting the lines he had memorized. While unnecessary from a legal standpoint, it at least would ensure their wedding bore some semblance to a traditional ceremony. “We are gathered here today to unite these loving souls in matrimony –”
“ Naruto!” Ino’s screech echoed across the ship, and most certainly not from where she stood behind Sakura. The Ino who’d stood behind Sakura gulped, and began to hastily back away as another Ino emerged from belowdecks, chest heaving and face red with exertion. “I’m going to kill you, Naruto!”
Understanding dawned on Shisui as the not-Ino poofed to be replaced by Naruto, who promptly went to crouch behind Itachi. As if Itachi would lift a finger to defend him against Ino’s wrath. “I just wanted to be Sakura-chan’s maid of honour!” Naruto protested.
“That’s my job!”
“Ino-san, please take your rightful place,” Itachi said, cutting in. “We will proceed with the ceremony.”
“No,” Ino said. She was no longer shouting, but there was an icy resolve in her tone – one Shisui was highly familiar with, given the number of times he had heard it from Itachi. “I came all this way to see my best friend get married, and I’m not losing my right to be her maid of honour just because Naruto snuck up on me!”
Sakura squeezed his hand, a gentle smile upon her face. “Would you mind terribly if we started over?” she asked. “That way, Naruto and Ino will both have gotten a chance to be part of the bridal party.”
He couldn’t refuse her anything. He nodded, and she walked back down belowdecks.
Third time’s the charm, he thought, and sure enough, they actually made it all the way through their vows. But right before Itachi could pronounce them man and wife, a shout echoed from the crow’s nest, where they’d relegated Sasuke. “Ship sighted, broad on the starboard bow!” A pause. “They’ve got a black flag!”
Oh, come on. Fate was really having a good laugh at his expense that day.
Normally, Shisui wouldn’t have wanted to risk an encounter – not with civilians on board. At this point, though, he just wanted to kiss his bride and carry her into his cabin so he could make love to her all night. Running from a possibly hostile ship would take hours. Might even steer them back into Konoha’s borders.
He unsheathed the tanto he’d been issued back when he’d still been ANBU, and turned to Itachi. “Protect the ship,” he ordered. A pause. “And protect Sakura.” Not that he’d needed to specify it, of course. Still, it made him feel better speaking the words. He turned to Sakura. “Just give me five minutes,” he said.
And with that, he jumped off the ship, running at top speed as only he could towards the other ship.
It was a risky maneuver, of course. He could flash-step, and he could control his chakra to walk on water, but doing both over an ocean was a different matter altogether. Still, frustration was a powerful motivator. As he’d promised his bride, he’d knocked out all the other sailors and dropped their anchor before speeding back on board the Sharingan.
As he hauled himself back aloft, he expected Sakura to give him a tongue-lashing for risking his life. Instead, she simply watched him with a hungry gaze, one which set him aflame as well.
He glanced down at his shirt, which was completely soaked from his sojourn across the ocean surface. Oh. He looked back up, noticing how her eyes dilated, how her tongue darted out to lick her lips, and he could wait no more.
He darted across the deck before he was standing before Itachi once again. “Finish the ceremony,” he growled, as Itachi simply watched him with a raised eyebrow, his lips twitching.
Thankfully, he simply went on. “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Shisui’s lips slammed against Sakura’s without a second thought, no regard given to the fact that he’d ruin her dress too. He simply needed the taste of her on his lips more than anything else.
He supposed Itachi had said more words, supposed their guests had reacted in some way, but they might as well have been all the way across the world for all Shisui cared. He lifted Sakura in his arms and flash-stepped to his cabin, and began their eternity together.