That sickness was back.
She could feel the vomit forcing its way up through her throat again, the rocking and swaying of the boat not making her situation any easier. She threw her hand to her mouth in an attempt to keep it down but it was a lot harder than she thought. Her stomach and chest jerked, but this time her mind overcame her body and she managed to keep herself from bringing up everything from inside her stomach.

The sickly smell of freshly cooked meat filled her nostrils. She looked to her right to see the Commodore seated at the small dining table in the centre of the room, wearing a small smile and a napkin tucked into the collar of his white long-sleeved shirt. "Good morning Sakura," he said cheerfully as he looked towards her. "Would you like some breakfast?"

Clearly he hadn't noticed her just almost throw up. She looked at the way the table was set up; two plates covered in bacon and eggs, with a glass of fresh orange juice positioned on a coaster next to it and a small vase with a single red rose sitting within. As much as she wanted to dig into the breakfast and feed her face, her stomach had other plans. She was still nauseous and even if she did eat there was no way she would have been able to keep it down. "No thanks, I think I'll pass on breakfast this morning."

"Very well, I'll just put it aside for later in case you get hungry." He smiled gently before finishing off his breakfast and moving over to the cabin sink to wash off his plates. She lowered her head shamefully, feeling slightly guilty that he was being so nice to her. As his back was turned, Sakura slowly started to slip out of her night dress so she could get changed into the dress he had provided her at the beginning of the voyage. It was awkward, getting unchanged in front of him, but the cabins on board the ship were all fairly tiny so she didn't have many options. It was a lovey dress; the white silk and lace felt amazing against her tired skin, and it hadn't lost a single bit of its condition even after it had been worn daily and dragged along the dirty ship floor. She reached her hands behind her back to tie up the laces of the corset. She frowned when she couldn't do it properly, becoming frustrated with herself as her hands struggled to reach and tighten the laces correctly. Her body came to a slight jolt as she felt a pair of hands on top of hers, gently but firmly pulling the laces to the corset tighter. The material pressed uncomfortably tighter against her stomach. Tighter than it was before.

When he was finished, he gently rested his hands on top of her shoulders. Her heart beat softly against her chest. Nerves, maybe? Or the awkwardness from the uncomfortable distance between them? He used his arms to slowly turn her around so that he could look at her. "You really do look beautiful in this dress, Sakura."

She looked into his eyes, then blushed and quickly turned away. "Thank you, Commodore."

"Please, Call me Neji." He replied with another smile.

"Erm, uh sorry, Neji." She held her hands at her stomach and fidgeted with her fingers. "Do you mind if I go for a walk along the deck? I just need to get a bit of fresh air."

"Sure. Ill just be at my desk doing some mapping. Just ask me if you need anything." He turned away and sat at his old timber desk, flipping through paper work and old books that sat within the drawers and on the surface. "And Sakura?"

"Yes?"

He turned to her, this time his expression more serious. "Try to keep yourself out of trouble."

She nodded yes, and exited the cabin.

As soon as the salty air hit her nostrils, her mind couldn't hold back her stomach any more. She rushed over to the edge, throwing her head over the railing and vomiting into the navy blue ocean beneath her. Up came all her food from dinner last night until there was physically nothing else left to bring up. She breathed heavy, continuing to dry reach and wiping her damp hair out of her face. She hated this feeling, and the longer she stayed on the ship, the more common it was becoming. Pulling her nauseated body away from the railing, she turned away quickly to make sure no guards had witnessed her throwing up; she didn't need the Commodore becoming suspicious and concerned.

She spun around quickly and attempted to act normal, but instead bumped firmly into someone. Sakura stood up and apologised, dusting herself off and feeling awful about almost bowling over one of the prisoners. She noticed it was a woman, not one that she had seen yet, so she figured she might have been from the Orana Bay shipment. She was a brunette, her hair scooped up into two messy buns on the top of her head. She had big, soft, dark brown eyes, and looked to be at least two or three years older than Sakura.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said, offering the woman her hand. "Please, let me help you up,"

The girl smiled softly and accepted her hand as she was pulled to her feet. Her russet eyes were warm and showed no sign of anger or disgust for someone who had just been knocked over. And for that, Sakura was relieved.

"Please sweetie, it's fine!" she smiled, mentally identifying the pinkette. A small smirk crept across her face. "Pink hair, bright green eyes. So, you must be Sakura?"

Sakura frowned, puzzled. How did this girl know her name?

"Y-yes," she stuttered, still trying to wrap her mind around her current situation. "Excuse me if I come across as rude, but how on earth do you know my name?"

"My name is Tenten, I'm from the Orana Bay shipment. I know this might sound strange, but I've heard a lot about you."

Sakura frowned again. All this confusion was not helping her already unclear circumstances, or her still present nausea. "What-how, from who?"

Tenten took a deep breath. "Well to simplify things, my friend Shikamaru was talking to your friend Kiba last night. He told him about what had been happening on-board the ship; the fights, the way things worked, the unclear destination… and how he didn't really have anyone. No one besides you, that is." She tried to give Sakura a reassuring smile to make her feel a little more at ease. "That's when he asked for some of Shikamaru's help, and Shikamaru then offered me a chance to help out too. Kiba figured the more people he could trust on board this ship, the easier this whole voyage can be." Sakura nodded for Tenten to continue. "Kiba mentioned the plan you two had come up with to get some answers, the plan you two had devised and you so bravely agreed to. And from then on, he told us a lot about you, Sakura."

Something registered in Sakura's head. She thought back to last night, and how she waited until the Commodore was fast asleep before sneaking out to the entrance of the hull. She had the key in the lock, ready to open and check on Kiba, but she could hear way too much commotion and voices coming from within. It must have been Tenten, Shikamaru and Kiba talking. As horrible as she thought she was by turning around and not visiting Kiba, she knew she had made the right decision regarding keeping her cover safe. She couldn't have angry and jealous prisoners finding out about her having proper bedding, being fed, and showered properly. She couldn't have them finding out that she was secretly smuggling food for Kiba, and she definitely couldn't have them finding out about the plan they had put together in hope of finding out the answers to this so called 'project'.

Sakura smiled, thinking about what stuff Kiba must have said about her. But the smile soon vanished when nausea got the better of her again, and once more she found herself stumbling towards the side of the deck to vomit. "Oh, you poor thing…" Tenten sighed as she held the small pink strands of hair back from Sakura's face.

"Thanks," she said as she used the back of her palm to wipe her mouth. "But I'm fine, I don't need any help."

Tenten laughed. "Kiba said you'd say that. But he also told us to ignore you if you said that."

A smirk crept across Sakura's face as she continued to look down into the waters cobalt depths. This boy's starting to know me too well.

When Sakura was finished she turned to Tenten. "I trust Kiba," she began. "So I understand his decision to let you in on this is a good one."

"Don't think about us too much Sakura, if anything we've made this whole thing a little bit easier." Tenten smiled warmly, grabbing Sakura's hand gently in hers. "You need to focus on your own little situation, the one that's going on there. Does he know?" She narrowed her eyes to the pinkettes stomach.

Sakura's eyes froze open in shock. Her chest tightened. Her heart began to thud uncomfortably. She… she couldn't possibly know… could she?

"How... How did you know…?"

"I've had two of my own. I know the symptoms when I see it dear."

Sakura's eyes narrowed to the deck and she tried to hold back her tears. Her tears of fear, of nervousness, of sadness. She didn't want it to happen and she didn't mean for it to happen. She was already scared, being on a boat with dangerous people, with a man she didn't even know and a plan she couldn't figure out. Falling pregnant to a dirty criminal who raped her in her cell in Konoha wasn't on the cards. None of this was.

"Does the Commodore know?" Tenten repeated sympathetically. She rubbed Sakura's arm to try and comfort her from crying. Sakura shook her head from side to side, still looking at the ground and refusing to let her tears spill. Tenten continued. "Well that little bump isn't going to stay that small forever. Eventually you'll need to tell him, Sakura, and to be perfectly honest with you, I don't know if it's going to settle with the Commodore real well."

"I'll tell him eventually. He's actually not a bad person, I-I'm pretty sure he'll understand,"

"For your, sake, I hope he does sweetie." Tenten pulled Sakura into a warm, reassuring hug. "Now I need to go before the guards get suspicious. If there's anything I can do for you regarding the baby, don't hesitate to let me know. You're a brave girl Sakura."

As Tenten turned away and started to head back towards the other labouring prisoners, Sakura snapped upright. "Tenten?"

The brunette turned around. "Yes?"

"Can… can you please not tell Kiba about this?"

Tenten nodded in understanding, and proceeded to turn away.

"Those boxes go on top of the pile to the left."

Kiba ran his hands through his messy brown hair which was damp along his hairline. The sun blistered his skin and caused sweat to drip slowly from his brow, the rays burning agonizingly hard onto the bodies of every slaving prisoner. The heat was by far at its worst that day. There was no wind to cool them, and there was no rain to soothe them. The days felt as if they were getting longer, like they were getting even more scorching, and the work felt like it was getting more exhausting. The lacerations on his back were burning in pain beneath his dirty white shirt as he shifted boxes from pile to pile. The sea was rather still and Kiba was thankful the boat was sailing quicker than usual. With the seas acting calm the boat was able to sail a bit faster, hopefully making Kiba's desire for land come quicker than expected.

"This is such a drag, the quicker we get off this boat the better." Shikamaru groaned as he placed a crate of cargo on top of an unstable pile of boxes. His skin too was damp with perspiration.

Kiba laughed, securing a rope hanging from one of the sails around a tall wooden post. "Ya might want to get used to it buddy, because I still haven't seen an ounce of land appear on that damn horizon."

"Why do we have so many damn supplies anyway? Supplies definitely are outweighing the people on this ship, yet we're still getting limited rations." Shikamaru grunted. He reached for another box, shifting it to the other side of the deck so he was able to scrub the mouldy floor beneath where the pile of crates once stood.

"Because we don't know where we're going, or who these supplies are for. And as much as I hate working for these jerks, I know that I'm just going to have to grin and bear it until we figure out what the hell is going on." Kiba gritted his teeth in anger and continued to fold up the ropes. He was so angry inside. The urge to hold back from knocking out all the surrounding soldiers and guards was becoming harder and harder each day.

He glanced up for a second, catching a glimpse of pink hair further up along the deck. Walking along the side of the top deck with her hand brushing along the rail was Sakura, wearing the beautiful white laced gown that Neji had provided her with. She looked a little tired, but Kiba still secretly thought she looked beautiful. She deserved to be out of rags and treated properly. Not down here with grimy criminals and dirty no-hopers. She scanned her eyes until her glance caught him, and she smiled. Kiba smiled back, cheekily winking at her which caused her to laugh and roll her eyes in the distance. She had come a long way since when he first met her, she had begun to let people in, and let people help her. He would have loved it if they could talk, interact, reassure each other, but they had both promised one another that it was too dangerous and they would catch up on conversation late that night. And surprisingly, Kiba was looking forward to that.

Shikamaru looked over to Kiba and caught him looking at something further up deck. He followed his gaze until he saw the pink head of hair which his eyes were rested on. So, that's the girl he won't shut up about, huh. He smiled and shook his head, rolling his eyes at his lust struck partner and continuing to work.

Kiba's gaze quickly faltered as a striking pain tore through his back. The heat of the sun had finally become too much, taking its toll on his still tender lacerations. His legs weakened as he rested his weight on the side of the ship, Shikamaru walking to his side. "Kiba, you Ok?"

From a distance Sakura's eyes watched in horror. She wanted so bad to rush over and help him like all the times he had helped her, but it was too risky. She knew exactly what was causing him pain and couldn't do a thing to help. People would see and get suspicious.

"I'm... I'm fine," he said bravely through painfully gritted teeth. His hand clenched his back in an attempt to apply pressure and ease the pain. "Let's get back to work. Maybe we'll get let off early."

"It's probably not a wise idea for you to keep working like this." Shikamaru replied with his arms folded. Although lazy, Shikamaru was smart and far from being an idiot.

Kiba grinned. "Well it's a good thing I'm not wise then, isn't it?"

"Alright you pack of scum, water break. And make it quick!" one of the larger guards bellowed from his observing point in the middle of the ship. One by one the prisoners slowly lumbered over to the singular tap with their empty water bottles, forming a single line as they waited to have their bottles filled. Kiba and Shikamaru stood in the middle of the line patiently with the sun still heavily hammering onto their tired skin. Both of their heads throbbed, dehydration and lack of sleep was getting the better of them and their body's neared exhaustion. Shikamaru's state wasn't as bad as Kiba's, for it was his first day working whereas Kiba had been doing it for about a week now, and it was starting to take effect.

It was at that moment Kiba heard some bustling towards the end of the line. He and Shikamaru turned their heads to check out what all the pushing and shoving was about, only to see Rakon pushing his way through a bunch of patiently waiting people. It instantly made Kiba angry.

"Get out of my way, move!" he roared as he pushed a bunch of men and children out of his way. Everyone was too scared to speak up to him and defend themselves so they stood back reluctantly, too exhausted to even argue. As soon as Rakon's oversized hand landed upon Kiba's shoulder, Kiba knew it was enough. "That means you get out of my way too, you little punk."

Swiftly turning around and clasping Rakon by the throat, guards and prisoners watched in awe as Kiba angrily pushed Rakon back into the side railing of the ship.

"Oh, hey there Rakon," Kiba said only inches away from Rakon's face. His hand gripped around Rakon's throat with such immense pressure that Rakon could barely breathe. "Now if you were a smart man, you'd make your way back to the end of the line now, wouldn't ya?"

Shikamaru watched from the line wondering if he should step in and break it up. He realised that the heat and pain that Kiba was experiencing was fuelling his anger, and didn't know if he should let his current situation slide or not. "Get…get off me…!" Rakon wheezed as Kiba's hand gripped tighter. Like Kiba, Rakon was also feeling the effect of the heat, making him feel a lot weaker than usual.

"Listen to me buddy; I'm not putting up with anymore of your shit. Nothing makes you better than any other person on this boat. Now like I said before; you'll walk back to the end of the line, and wait your turn like everyone else. And if you don't do as I say, I won't hesitate to kill you."

Kiba's hand released from his throat, his teeth still clenched angrily to the bottom of his jaw. Rakon's face was pale from the lack of oxygen as he slid to the floor with his back still leaning against the ships railing. "Just letting off a little steam, hey Inuzuka?" Shikamaru said as Kiba positioned himself back into the line. For the first time since he had been on the ship he had seen a violent side of Kiba. A scary side.

Taking a deep breath, Kiba replied. "You can only deal with someone for so long until you can't deal with them any longer." He did although, despite his anger, allow a self-satisfied smirk to crawl across his face, content with the way he may have temporarily frightened Rakon. Maybe it would teach him a lesson or two or put a stop to mistreating himself and the other prisoners on board the ship. Whilst Kiba was busy dwelling in his contentment, his gaze unintentionally shifted to wear Sakura was standing on the upper part of the deck. His smile slowly disappeared as Sakura's eyes looked dull with sadness. Had she seen that whole show?

Kiba started to worry. He didn't want Sakura thinking he was a violent person or one of these aggressive inmates. Hell he didn't want her to be scared of him at all, certainly not when he was really the only person she could depend on right now.
But after witnessing one of his outbursts, Sakura's shaken eyes seemed to be looking at Kiba a little differently from before. He shot her an apologetic glance before watching as two hands rested comfortably on her shoulders. He resented the way she was startled at first, but then smiled once she realised the Commodore had approached her. It was like she was happy to see the man, she even looked relieved in a way. The two exchanged words that Kiba couldn't quite hear before turning around and heading towards the cabin again.

His chest felt heavier after that. His jaw softly clenched at the way the Commodore looked at her, His eyes wandering aimlessly over her body, his mouth curling into a greedy smirk when they talked, and his hands held her as if she was his possession. Was it jealousy? No, it couldn't be. Kiba couldn't be jealous when he was the one who insisted that she stayed with him in the first place.

And then, as if it was Sakura's turn, she turned towards Kiba one last time, returning the sad apologetic expression he had shown her earlier.

"Kiba?"

Sakura peered through the bars which sealed closed the hull door. She was relying on the light from the moon to guide her eyes as the candle she had lit beforehand had been blown out by the chilly night wind. "Kiba, are you awake?" She repeated at a whisper, peering closer.

There was some hustling from beneath the stairs, and then soon enough Kiba's face appeared under the dim light of the moon. "About time you showed up," he smirked as he cautiously walked up the stairs.

Sakura's face lit up with excitement as she stared at Kiba's cheeky grin. "If you want to keep being a smartass I can just leave and let you starve?"

"You wouldn't do that,"

"Try me." Sakura smiled cheekily, before taking the key out of the lock. She knew she would never bring herself to actually leave him down there, but playing a little game now and again helped take her mind off things.

But Kiba's playful smile soon faded as his eyes clenched shut and his hand went to his back. A painful expression crossed his face as he groaned in agony. "My…. Back…"

"Kiba!" Sakura gasped as she quickly fumbled with the keys to unlock the padlock. As soon as she opened it she quietly pulled open the door. "Are you ok? I'm sorry, I-

"Gotcha." Kiba's head lifted giving Sakura a mischievous grin. "I knew that would get you to open it. Don't think you can win with this whole game thing Sakura, I can play back twice as hard."

"You, you liar! You had me thinking you were actually in pain!" she punched Kiba hard in the arm, not taking his little 'joke' as lightly as he did.

Kiba quickly through his hand to Sakura's mouth to quiet her down, realising how easily her voice echoed amongst the sails. "Hey, hey! Keep your voice down, they'll hear you."

"Oh, right… sorry,"

Kiba smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Just remember what we're doing is highly against the rules and could get the both of us killed?" he laughed before noticing a blanket gripped gently in the palm of Sakura's hand. "What's the blanket for Kiddo?"

"Oh, this? I thought maybe instead of sitting down in the hull, you know, where it's smelly and stuff… that maybe we could sit out on the deck instead?"

Kiba smiled, enjoying her idea much more than the original one even though it meant having to be more on guard. "Sure. Ladies first," he took the blanket off of her hand and gestured for her to sit down.

"So," Sakura began, handing Kiba over her left over dinner from that night. She had managed to smuggle him a perfectly untouched bread roll, alongside chicken meat and a fresh apple. "This was all I managed to get tonight. It isn't much, but its more than you'd be getting down there."

"It's more than enough, Sakura. Thank you."

She smiled before turning away from him and looking up at the sky. It was perfectly clear, each star feeling close enough for Sakura to touch. Again the night was awfully brisk but she knew Kiba wouldn't mind; the days were getting so excruciatingly hot that she knew the prisoners would be painfully waiting around for the cool night air to hurry up and arrive.

"What's on your mind," Kiba asked, snapping Sakura from her thoughts. "You're thinking about something, I can tell."

"Well of course I'm thinking about something. I'm thinking about a lot of things."

"Like?"

Sakura positioned herself on her back so she was now lying down, continuing to look at the sky. What was on her mind? Everything. Whether each drawing day was getting her closer and closer to being caught sneaking out to see Kiba, Where the boat was sailing to, Why they were being sailed there, The commodore, And most of all, her baby.

"Kiba, do you think… do you think, that we're going to survive this voyage?"

Kiba frowned as he positioned himself next to Sakura on top of the blanket. "Well, I know I will. Not sure about you though."

"Excuse me?" Sakura questioned, sitting up and staring daggers at Kiba from above him. "What do you mean you will and not me? I'm just as strong as you! And I can look after myself a lot better than you can too. I know you've had to help me with a few things so far but I've had to deal with the same and if not worse problems back at Konoha, and I was doing just fine until I met you. Of course I can survive this, how dare you underestimate me!"

Kiba started to laugh to himself, confusing Sakura, as he bit down into his apple. "See Sakura; you just answered your own question."

Her face turned slightly pink in embarrassment. If there was one thing she had to control other than her need to find out things, it would be her anger.

"I… I didn't mean that, what I just said about you."

"I know, I know. You got angry and said stuff you didn't mean, everyone does. But I just need to make you realise that sometimes it's this temper of yours that helps you solve your own problems."

Sakura smiled at him before returning her gaze to the dark sky above her. The baby appeared in her mind again. "Not every problem."

They talked for a while, as if they were like teenagers on a date. Sarcastically throwing insults at one another, the occasional braise of each other's skin, even those moments of eye contact which one would break due to the subtle feeling of awkwardness. They talked about everything and anything that would temporarily take their minds off of their problems and fear on board the ship.

The large white sails rippled as the ocean wind started to pick up, and Kiba realised that they had to quickly talk about what they gathered to talk about in the first place, before they both caught serious cases of pneumonia.

"Now I know it's the last thing you want to talk about, and I'm not too thrilled to discuss the situation either," Kiba started, his tone becoming more serious. "But you gotta tell me more information about this jerk you've been living with."

"He's not a jerk," Sakura said defensively. "He's actually a nicer guy than you think."

"Pfft, yeah, of course he is. Hence why he's keeping me and fifty other prisoners cramped up inside that filthy hull."

"He doesn't have a choice, Kiba."

"That's bullshit!" Kiba could feel the anger build inside of him the more Sakura defended the commodore. Didn't she realise that he had taken away so many people from their homes? "Oh, I'm sorry Sakura, I didn't realise that you'd decided to take his side now?"

"I'm not on his side!"

"Then why are you defending him like this? Have you forgotten about me and the rest of the other prisoners struggling to survive down there?"

"Kiba, shut it!" Sakura threw her hands to her ears in an attempt to block out his words before running over to the other side of the deck, peering over the railing. It was getting too much for her; having to be so stealthy all the time, helping Kiba, yet backstabbing the Commodore at the same time. She hadn't realised what she had gotten herself into.
"Hey, Sakura…" Kiba's voice appeared softly behind her after a short while. He rested a hand on her back and gently rubbed, trying to comfort her from his sudden outburst. He stood beside her as she peered into the water, her watery eyes catching the glare of the silver moon. "I'm sorry for what I said back there. I didn't mean it. I'm just tired, I'm sore, I'm hungry… it's just all a little much, you know?" he continued to look at her, using his words to seek forgiveness. "I never meant to upset you. You know I would never mean to do that."

Sakura took a deep breath. "There's more people already there."

"What?" Kiba asked whilst raising an eyebrow, confused as she completely changed the subject.

"The Project, there's already more people at wherever we're headed. I found pieces of paper, something like, like a receipt on the Commodores desk concerning the arrival of three hundred other prisoners from a few months back." She cleared her throat and looked at Kiba, looking into his eyes whilst trying to hide the fear in her own. "Wherever we're going… There's already a community waiting for us."

Kiba was still for a moment, taking in her words. He didn't know whether to feel angry, shocked, or maybe a little relieved, maybe it was a good thing that people were already there, at least it provided a sense of comfort knowing there were actually people surviving under the commodore and his forces.

He thought hard over Sakura's words, and tried to stick the pieces of the puzzle he had gathered so far together. So they were heading overseas, for starters, and there were people already there. They were planning on starting a nation of their own, where only the 'stronger people' were determined to survive and make the Project successful. Kiba felt a little more comfortable knowing this, and relaxed a little.

"Wanna do something fun tomorrow night?"

Sakura's eyes squinted in confusion. "…You're not going to ask anything more about the Project?"

Kiba turned around and headed back towards the rug which still nestled upon the opposite side of the deck. He gestured for her to sit next to him before resting his elbows upon his knees. He knew enough for now. "I know you don't like talking about it Sakura. I can see it when you speak; you feel guilty and scared, and to be honest I don't blame you. Sometimes I just get a little carried away with trying to find out information that I forget about the strain it puts on you."

"Doesn't matter Kiba, I'm getting used to it-

"No, tomorrow night you don't have to tell me anything." He smiled cheekily, plotting something behind his mischievous grin. "I'll plan something fun. Hopefully it will take your mind off things,"

"Are you asking me on a date, Mr Inuzuka?" smirked Sakura as she raised an eyebrow.

"A date? No. Dates are where you take a woman somewhere nice and treat them to dinner. Since I can't do that on this ship we're just going to have to wait until we reach land."

They both smiled at each other foolishly before Kiba continued. "Tomorrow I'm just going to call it, spending time with you."

"Sure, Kiba. I'd love to just spend time with you." She laughed at how it sounded, but knew that his intentions were good ones. Her tummy started to churn with a sense of excitement and she felt a wave of relief knowing that she didn't have to spend the next day hunting for information, although it wasn't the idea of scavenging up facts that was worrying her. Well, not as much as her other situation anyway. As thoughts of the Project pushed to the back of her mind, worries of her own little problem were pushing forward, literally.

Im so sorry about the wait! R7R if you have nothing better to do! :)