Warning: language. sex. slight violence.

Disclaimer can be found on my page.

This is not part of any series.

Unwilling Juliet, Unsuspecting Romeo

I'm Sasuke Uchiha, captain of this ship, the Sharingan. Welcome aboard.

The howl that resounded around Sakura made her fur stand on end. The moonlight lit her red pelt on fire, making her look like a flaming torch bolting around trees and over logs.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Wolves were predators, hunting the weaker animals in the forest. This was how Sakura had known it since she was younger. Now, she was the hunted.

The faint sound of paws thudding the earth reached Sakura's ears. They flicked back in annoyance and, although she hated to admit it, slight fear. It was only one set and she knew exactly who it was and what he wanted, but she wasn't going to give it to him. They were both hard headed and yet she believed she was stronger still. She made up for will in what she lacked physically.

The soil was jagged beneath her paws, the rocks making her skid as she got closer to the ocean. The crashing of waves and smell of salt splintered through the air, filling Sakura's lungs with each burning inhale. Her insides screamed at her to stop, to rest and catch her breath, but she'd been on the run for so long she didn't know how to slow down.

The waves had just come into sight between the trees when something fast collided with Sakura's side. Letting out a howl, Sakura twisted her body and rolled back onto her feet, her head snapping to the side to avoid sharp teeth trying to subdue her.

A growl reached her ears, dominating and low. Sakura growled back with a sharp snap of her jaws, her green eyes landing on the pitch black wolf crouched before her. She assessed the wolf's body, taking in the glinting black eyes, large, thick legs, and razor sharp nails digging into the dirt.

Without a noise, the black wolf came at Sakura. She dodged to the left and took off, her hind legs sinking into the ground with each powerful step. The black wolf was on her tail, trying to catch her back leg with his teeth. She gained distance but mis-stepped and stumbled, giving the wolf behind her enough time to catch up and take her down.

She tried to twist around and catch him in the jugular but he was already biting into the junction of her neck and shoulder, jaws clamping down like iron and steel. She howled and managed to rip free, desperate to get away, but his teeth bit into her shoulder, this time a warning.

And then the teeth were gone and a voice said, "Change. Now."

Sakura growled and tried to get free, but hands and a large body were holding her down. Even though she was terrified, she remained in her animal form because she could take more pain and deal more as well this way. The bite marks stung, but in human form they'd make her dizzy with pain.

Even wolf form wasn't enough to dull the white-hot pain of a knife sliding across her front leg.

"I won't ask again," he pulled the knife away, but it was still in the corner of her eye, "change."

Holding back a whimper, she allowed her body to morph into that of a human. With it came a tidal wave of blinding pain and she swore at him. He flipped her over and she spit blood in his face as he sat on her stomach, pinning her down for good. The blood ran down his cheek but he didn't make any motion to wipe it away. Then his hand lashed out like lightning and backhanded her across the cheek.

"You keep fighting and yet we both know eventually I'll get what I want," he said as he observed the knife before bringing it up to his lips. "I'm the Alpha in these parts now and you'd be best to obey."

"I'll never obey scum like you, Orochimaru," she snapped and turned her head away so she didn't have to watch him lick up her blood. "Not after what you did, you fucking traitor."

Orochimaru chuckled. "If your father had been smarter, maybe he would've stood a chance."

"I'll kill you," Sakura promised under her breath, clenching her fists into the rocky dirt. She could feel the tears, deep down, trying to break free, but now wasn't time to show weakness.

"You're in no position to be making threats, my dear mate." To prove his point, Orochimaru slammed the knife into the ground next to her face, an inch from her nose, and then leaned down to lick at her wound.

"Never!" she screamed and slammed her forehead into his nose. It left her head swimming but she managed to wiggle out from underneath him. She wasn't even on her feet when she changed, racing full force away despite her wounds. It wasn't until she came out onto the ledge that she realized her mistake, having blindly gone the wrong way. She stopped just before plunging over and stared down at the water crashing up against the wall of rock.

Orochimaru came crashing closer. She could smell the blood, the rage, the intent to kill. Looking forward, she saw a boat in the near distance bobbing slightly, its deck lit with light. It was her only salvation, the wall of rocks going on for miles in each direction, the cut off to her father's territory. Without thinking, she changed and ran off the edge.

/\/\/\

Somehow she managed to keep her head above water long enough to not drown. And with luck, she made it to the ship, her arms and legs as liquid as the water by the time she got there. The water was freezing, but it numbed her wounds enough for her to keep going. Her head felt like it was filled with rocks and all she wanted to do was roll onto her back, stare up at the stars and drift off. Surely taking a small rest couldn't hurt.

It was almost dawn when she got close enough to make out the specifics of the flag. She didn't know what the skull meant or the three dots in the space of the right eye, but at this point she didn't care she was so weak that all she wanted to do was get on board and sleep. She was about to start screaming to get their attention when a few heads appeared over the edge, staring down at her with a mix of confusion and surprise.

She lifted a heavy arm, trying to wave, but it only caused her to sink under the surface. Her limbs flailed and she broke the surface again to see a small boat being rapidly lowered. It left wakes in the water that made it harder for her to come closer, but she struggled because dammit she'd made it this far and wasn't going to die for nothing. Her hand touched the boat's wooden surface, relief coursing through her, and then arms were hoisting her up and she leaning against a body. Her eyes briefly found the rock ledge, far off in the distance, and she wondered how she could've swam that far. It seemed impossible now.

"Where'd she come from?" a blond woman asked with a raised brow, eyeing Sakura through her blond strands as they whipped in the wind.

"What's with the pink hair?" a blond man wondered aloud and earned a look of disbelief from the blond woman.

"That's what you're concerned about?"

"I think that's the closest a girl has ever gotten to you, Sasuke. Maybe I should tell them to trying drowning. Bet you'd like that."

"Are we going to get this boat lifted or what?"

"Jesus Christ, Naruto, stop staring at her."

"I'm sorry, it's just...she's naked."

"Like you haven't seen naked women before."

"Not ones that come from the ocean. Do you think she's a mermaid?"

"She didn't come from the ocean, you moron."

"Then where'd she come from? Huh Ino?"

"I don't fucking know. Lift the boat, you imbeciles!"

"Do you have to scream in my ear, Ino?"

"Will both of you just shut up?" The man Sakura was leaning against practically growled. He shifted, pulling off his button up, dirt and sweat stained shirt with one hand while the other supported her. And then he tore it in two, told her to hold one against her neck while he held the other against her back. It hurt worse than she'd thought it would, now that she was out of the cold water, and she winced but made no other sound. The boat started to lift and even though she was alive and away from Orochimaru, she still had her doubts about the choice she'd made. Whoever these people were, they couldn't know what she was. Her kind was hunted, to be used as entertainment or because people thought they were unnatural and needed to be killed off.

"Everyone back to your posts," the man next to her roared as the boat was lifted all the way. All the people who'd stopped to stare scrambled away from the ledge and she was carried onto the deck without a single eye trained on her. But as the man carried her through the door leading to the cabin below, she glanced over his shoulder and saw everyone staring at her, including the two blonds who'd been in the boat.

/\/\/\

"Where did you come from?" the man asked from the other side of the desk. They were alone in what she assumed was his quarters, the windows behind him showing off the ocean behind them, the course they'd just traveled.

"What does it matter?" she whispered and picked at the food on the plate in front of her. While she was hungry, she was also terrified. She sniffed the liquid in the cup and took a hesitant sip. Finding it was beer, she downed the whole thing in one gulp.

So far he'd been nothing but pleasant to her, having the boat's doctor bandage her wounds and then giving her clothes, not that she minded being naked. She was used to the occasional nudity back in her pack —former pack —and she'd never truly understood why regular humans found it so shameful, but here she was expected to pretend to be a regular human so she had to play by their rules.

"It doesn't, really, expect for the unusual circumstances," he leaned his elbows on the desk, cradling his chin with his knuckles. "You're not a siren, are you?"

She shook her head. "God no. Don't insult me like that."

He smirked. "Good."

She looked up at him from under her lashes and studied his profile. While she could only see from his chest up, she knew he held a small gunpowder pistol tucked in his waistband, knifes secretly hidden all over his body and a sword strapped to his hip. Even then, she didn't feel threatened by him physically. Maybe it was because she didn't think he'd attack her, not while he didn't know her secret. That and the hidden strength she had, being a form changer, would make it hard for him to kill her.

"Well, since you chose to be here, you might as well be useful," he said. " I'll find a place get you set up somewhere, but for the next couple days rest. You're not good with those wounds."

"Thank you," she cut herself off at that. She didn't want to say too much because it would only cause more questions.

He nodded. "What's your name?"

She didn't answer at first, still hesitant, but really if her pink hair didn't give her away already then her name sure as hell wouldn't. "Sakura."

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha, captain of this ship, the Sharingan. Welcome aboard."

/\/\/\

Decided to post this while I work on Chapter 17 of No Longer Weak that'll hopefully be up within the next week or two! And boy is it going to be juuuicy! And also, NLW has hit 400+ reviews, how awesome is that!

Hope you all enjoyed this, please leave a review of what you thought & what you'd like to see next, and stay tuned for more!