Kin watched those there. She hardly expected there to be an Uchiha here, much less that she wasn't human. Somehow though, she highly doubted that she had the Sharigan that Orochimaru had been so fascinated with. Around her, those that didn't have a stationed they needed to be at began to move into groups. The Sabaku's moved over to the Hakari, Yugito, and Naruto. A few words were exchanged before the blond began to laugh at Naruto. "A cabin girl!?"

Naruto grumbled, "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Yugito-chan." He leaned over and gave her a kiss before casting a glare at Kin. He did not like being stuck with her.

"And what, pray tell, has gotten my raven goddess so under the weather," the accented voice of Alasdair said from behind her.

Kin faced him and frowned. "You..."

"Dear lady, ye sound like yer suspicious of aye," Alasdair said to her.

"I find it an odd coincidence is all, gleeman. First, you show up at my home, trying to sweep me off my feet. Give Bones a note, he ends up dead. Now, I'm off to sea, to who knows where, and you are here as well. I can only ask myself, why?"

"Do ye not believe in coincidence?"

"No such thing," Kin told him firmly.

"Alright, little raven," he suddenly said. "Aye admit it. Aye took one look at ye and decided to make ye mine. So aye formed a plan to make ye want to leave behind all yer suitors and aye take my place beside ye. Then, with words of passion and beauty, ye will confess ye love me as well, and we will make our own happily ever after."

She could hear the over confident grin he must have in his voice as well as the humor. "You, gleeman, are not as charming as you seem to think."

"Yes, aye am," he replied with a bow. "Truthfully, dear lady, Aye be here nay but the promise of adventure. For who but the gleeman can ever tell a story worthy of being told? And what gleeman ever told a story he knew not true?"

"So you sail on the ocean, join groups, and anything else just for the off chance that there will be a story involved?"

"Aye, dear lady, that be the truth."

She crossed her arms and gave him a half grin. "I also noticed something else. That the Princess Cornelia sounded an awful lot like me. And Marcus described as a dashing young man with red hair, a hood, and a mask. A lot like you, highlander."

Alasdair gave a shameless grin under his mask. "And if aye doth say it be nothing but coincidence?"

"I already told you I don't believe in coincidence."

"Exactly, little raven, exactly." He gave her a bow before leaving.

"Ahem," Naruto said behind her. "Obviously I see you have far too much time on your hands. Something I'm going to have to straighten out."

Kin looked at him, then to his bone guitar. Watch out for a man marked with a bone fish, Bone's warning said in her mind. "No need."

"There is a need, lass," Naruto told her. "So, from now on, I am going to work you to the bone. You won't eat, sleep, breath without my say so, understand?"

Kin leaned forward, "Try me."

—oo000oo—

"You missed a spot," Naruto told her, pointing to the deck she was scrubbing on her hands and knees. "And as I'm certain that isn't the only one, you get to do it again once you finish this one."

Kin growled, threw down the brush, and stood up. "You asshole, I'm not going to do it again!"

"No?"

"NO!"

"Well, well, look at the lass, showing who's boss," Naruto said, drawing the attention of everyone there. "So, you must be pretty confident of yourself to say such big words, little girl. Come with me." He started up the stairs to the helm.

"Going to tell the captain on me," Kin growled.

"Far from it lass." He went up to First Mate Sparrow. "Request the wheel, sir."

Sparrow looked at him then her. "Granted." Naruto got on the wheel as Sparrow moved back. Everyone aside from Kin braced themselves. "Stand right there...good." He spun the wheel hard to port, making the side arm of the rear sail swing across the castle, hitting Kin and carrying her over the open water. "Thank you sir," Naruto said to Sparrow. He then walked over to the railing to watch Kin struggle to hang onto it. "Now that I have your undivided attention, I want you to listen. First off, there is no room aboard a ship for someone that doesn't follow orders. Second, I maybe a cook but that doesn't make you more important than me nor does it mean you don't have to listen. I know things about ships you could never dream of knowing. Now, I wouldn't be in the wrong to drop you in the water and leave you out here in the ocean. But, as I am the forgiving person that I am, I will let this slide." He held up his hand and Kin felt like something grabbed her. She was lifted off the arm and set on the deck again. "This one time. Understand?"

Kin grit her teeth, "Yes, sir." She stood back up and rubbed her sore stomach.

"Now, I believe you have a deck to scrub. Get to work before I have you sand scrub it."

"I...don't know what sand scrub is."

"That is where you take a bucket full of sand, a brick, and scrub the deck. The blisters you get after a few hours are a good reminder of what you should and shouldn't do." Kin swallowed and rushed to get the job done. Naruto watched her a moment before saying, "Alasdair."

The gleeman walked over to him and quietly said, "Yes, admiral."

"I want you to watch her, make sure she keeps her nose where it doesn't belong. And your pants on."

"Aye be hurt, Naruto," he said loud enough to be heard. "Ye be too hard on yonder damsel."

"Fly off, you singing jay," Naruto told him.

—oo000oo—

Naruto was peeling some potatoes for a potato soup when Kin entered the galley. "You know Naruto," she said after wiping clean her hands. "That is a very interesting guitar."

"Aye," he replied.

"Actually, a friend of mine told me about someone he knew once marked by a bone fish. Billy Bones, I don't suppose you knew him, did you?"

"Hmmm. Bones? Can't say that I ever met him."

"Okay, I just thought you might have. So, how did you come across that?"

"Fishing, caught the big 'em, reeled it in, ate it, and kept it as a trophy."

"That a fact...and what was that you used to make me float?"

He was quiet a moment as he finished cutting up the potato and dropping it in. "Speaking o' fishing, what are you doing fishing me?"

"I meant no..."

"Don't give me no 'I meant no offense," Naruto interrupted. "Just say what you're looking for lass!"

She was quiet a moment. "I'm done scrubbing the deck."

Naruto sighed, made a handsign, and a clone took his place. "Far too much time." He took her out on the deck. "Now, I'm going to show you how to be a proper sailor. And as you can see, I can be in two places at once so I don't need to worry about losing my time. You on the other hand will not stop until you do everything I tell you and get everything I teach you."

"Baka."

"Fine." He took her to the main mast. "These here are secure rods. During bad weather, all crew above deck tie themselves off to it. Your job, as cabin girl will be to make the knots and test their strength to make sure they will hold. That way real sailors can do their job." Kin grit her teeth at the barb but remain silent. "Now, here is how you tie them."

He showed her twice before letting her try. When she thought she got it, she said, "Done."

Naruto looked it over a few times before grabbing the rope and pulling on it. It seemed okay on the light tug. When he pulled hard and up though, it slipped off. "Congratulations, Kin, you just let a sailor drown."

"I tied it like you showed me!"

"Really?" He did the same to his two examples and couldn't do it. "Keep trying." Kin groaned but did. Several times, Naruto found something wrong with them until finally, Kin got it right. "This one is good." He made a quick count of the secure rods. "Take these three off and do it fifty more times."

"What!?"

"You heard me. There are only ten rods, get me each time you filled it. When you can do fifty in a row, I will say you are done with this." Kin learned quickly to test them herself before letting Naruto know. And yet, even though she knew she did them perfect, there would always be one that wasn't good enough. What she didn't know was that whenever she went to get him, someone would mess with a line. It was her seventh try that she had went to get Naruto but she had turned back. She stood there a moment, seeing Hakari loosening one of them. With a scream of rage, she tackled the fishwoman to the ground.

"YOU! You're the reason why I've been doing this over and over!"

Hakari grabbed her throat, pushed her into the deck, and held her forearm fin to her throat. "That's right! I don't like that a green horn like you thinks you can just do anything you want! I don't know what got you on this ship and I don't care! You don't know nearly enough should we get caught in a disaster!"

"But why do this to me!?"

"Because this is what will save our lives," Hakari shouted. "Look around you!" She did and saw people watching but not interfering. "You showed Naruto no respect! You know nothing but think you know everything! So, if nothing else, I am going to make sure that you can tie these lines in your sleep since I doubt we can trust you with anything else!" Hakari got off her and stomped off.

Akira helped her up. "There you go, you're okay."

"Does everyone feel like that," Kin asked him.

Akira didn't hesitate. "They do. Kin-chan, this is their livelihood. Something they worked very hard to get. To do what you did showed no respect for that."

Kin nodded and went into the galley. "I'm sorry," she told him. Naruto looked at her curiously. "What I did and said was wrong. You're right, I know nothing about sailing. I only did this to help pay to fix my home. If you are still willing to teach me, I am willing to learn, sensei."

Naruto smiled, "Good. Clean start now. Follow me." He went back to the mast. "Which one was tampered with," he called.

"Three o' clock," Yugito replied.

"I won't count that one against you," Naruto told her. "If any of the others are bad, same thing as before." He pulled the first one every which way he could. It held. The second...it held as well. He went through them all until he got to the one Yugito told him about. He could see that someone had loosened it but... He pulled it and the rope had tightened again. They weren't able to finish, it seemed. "Perfect, Kin. Forty more and you are done." Naruto untied them all, nodded to her, and went back to the galley. Finally beginning to smile, she began the rest of them.

—oo000oo—

"Israel Hands," Sparrow said, seeing him leaning against the main mast. "I believe there is work for you to do."

The sailor scowled at him but moved along anyway. "If not for your rank..." he muttered.

"You want to make something of it," Sparrow asked.

"...No sir."

"Didn't think so." Sparrow went back to the helm, "An unruly cabin girl, a questionable cook, and I wouldn't trust half the crew with a butter knife."

"Aye, the ones I brought with me are a bit rough sir," Zack said to him, all smiles. "But they be hard working and know how to sail as fine as any in the Marines such as ye and the Captain."

"I can't complain about that, mister Strife. But to trust the cook enough to go through Mercenaries..."

"Aye...bad luck it be. My father had a very good saying I trust to this day. Never trust the cook and the butler always did it." He gave a heart felt laugh and look at all the women aboard. He leaned forward on the railing, "Aye, it be as bad as singing about pirates in their waters."

"Superstition has no place in the modern navy," Sparrow told him. "Besides, it be worst luck to leave some of them." He shivered at the thought of what Gaara would had done had he been forced to leave Talon behind.

Zack thought about what the fishman Hakari might have done. "Good point."

—oo000oo—

Naruto held the last rope and gave Kin a wry grin. "Last one, nervous?"

"Nope," she replied coolly. "I know I did it right."

"Let's see." Naruto gave it a sudden jerk. Like the forty nine before it, it held tight. "You did good, lass. Now, lets get back to the galley, no doubt your hands are raw." Inside, he grabbed a jar with a cream in it. Taking some out, he rubbed it into her hands and blisters. "This will keep it from hurting for long. First, we are going to finish up lunch and start on dinner." He moved over to a pot that was boiling. "See that crate of fruit?"

"Yes."

"That is gold out on the ocean. Your health depends on it. If you don't eat some, it will deteriorate. If your health deteriorates..."

"You are no use to the crew," Kin finished.

"Correct." He took a ladle full of his soup and tasted it. "Second, you are going to burn and burn bad. I suggest getting it out of the way. So go into the back, find yourself some small clothes." She slapped him upside the head. "DAMN IT GIRLIE! What the hell are you thinking!?"

"This better not be some attempt to see me near naked!"

Naruto scowled a moment longer before nodding. "Go ask Yugito, Hakari, and any other woman then. See if they won't tell you the same thing." He grabbed some salt. "Also, always have a wine skin with you."

"Why? We have plenty of water."

"That water is for cooking lass. Every time we use it, it has to be heated to kill anything that might have gotten in it. Nothing lives in wine. That's watered down to keep you from getting drunk and keep you hydrated." Doing as ordered, she left the galley and headed to Yugito.

"Excuse me, Nii-san," She swallowed when she saw the older girl scowl. "I'm sorry, did I..."

"No, people made fun of me for my name, always calling me big brother. What is it?"

"Uh, Naruto suggested I get the burn out of the way and said to wear some small clothes..." Yugito grinned and began to laugh. "What?"

"And, naturally, you slapped him upside the head, correct?" She looked sheepish about it. "I would have done the same thing had I not gone through it myself. Naruto and myself were on the same ship. I wore a bikini when I saw him change to just shorts." She blushed a little. "He had a nice chest even then."

"Great," Kin muttered. She went and changed. "Sorry," she told Naruto when she saw him again.

He just laughed, "I probably deserved it so don't worry about it. Chop up three radishes." She did and gave it to him. He put it in the pot to boil. He wiped his hands on the apron before taking it off. "If anyone gives you a hard time, lass, and it isn't me, you tell me. I'm the only one that can. Now, we are going to get some fish." He flipped his hat off and threw it on a nail in the bulkhead. His coat, shirt, and boots soon followed. He changed into some shorts and placed his guitar lovingly on his back. Going into the back room, he grabbed two harpoons. "Come with me." He grabbed two ropes and secured them to the railing. Looking at her, she did the same. "There are two kinds of fishing. With a rod and reel and with a harpoon, going down there to spear it." He tied his rope to the ring at the end of the harpoon. "Mind your head," he told her before diving off.

Kin followed and splashed in after him. As her eyes adjusted, she was amazed by all the life around her. Looking around, she saw Naruto holding his spear ready to throw. He heaved it back and caught a giant fish through the gills, in the brain. It thrashed for a moment before beginning to float up. Naruto pointed up and she swam to the surface. "That was huge!"

"Giant Salmon," he told her. "The eyes taste great if cooked right. The meat taste almost like pork." Taking a deep breath, he dived back under and looked around. He had just pointed at a fish when something moved behind them, stirring the water. Naruto spun around and widened his eyes. Kin turned as well and screamed. It was a squid big enough to eat them and that's what it was coming for. Naruto grabbed her arm and pulled as he swam up faster then she thought anyone could. "Climb, lass!" She began to pull herself up and Naruto swiftly followed. He was almost over the side when a tentacle cleared the water, wrapped around him, and took him back under.

"Naruto," Yugito yelled. "Kin, what was that!?"

"Giant Squid! It ate him!"

"Did he have his guitar!?"

"Yes!"

Yugito seemed to relax at that. "It's calamari then."

"How can you be so..." She stopped when the ship jerked. The squid hit the surface, trashing around in pain. A bulge formed under the head and was forced open. Naruto pulled himself out and spit something Kin rather not know from his mouth. "My god..." Naruto dived into the water to clean himself off and climbed up, dragging a tentacle. "What was that word you said? Calamari? That a curse?"

"No," Naruto answered for her as he began to pull the thing up. "Its a meal. Squid flesh, battered and buttered, fried, and served." He lifted it up enough to get a hook in it and used a pulley to get it aboard. Next came the salmon. Hanging it by the tail, he gave it a solid whack on the side. It's stomach emptied, dropping several still living fish on the deck. Kin's stomach heaved and she ran to the side. "And I didn't even tell her about squid sushi. How it's still moving when you eat it." She heard him and got another round of heaves.

"You okay, cabin girl," Zack asked her.

"...Yeah...weak stomach I guess."

"You get used to it. Or don't and quit after your first sail."

"Was he being serious?"

"Oh yes, it taste better than it sounds though." He looked at Naruto. "Got to admit, Even I would have been a goner if that happened to me."

"I feel...so normal," she muttered.

"All landlubbers do. Just don't die before you get to be one of us." He walked away.

"Kin, if you're done throwing up, get over here so we can clean these and have them ready for dinner," Naruto called.

"URK!"

—oo000oo—

"Nicely done, Mister Uzumaki, very nicely done," Captain Portermane said, looking at the feast he had prepared for them.

"I can but try, captain," he said, bowing to her.

Kin was about to start eating when she was stopped by First Mate Sparrow. "Where are my manners sir, eating before the officers."

"Where are your brains, eating before Naruto," he countered.

"Me," Naruto said, giving him a crooked grin.

"Something told to me once, never trust the cook and the butler always did it." Everyone looked at him a moment before they began to laugh.

"Agreed," Naruto said wholeheartedly. He grabbed some calamari and ate it followed by roasted salmon. "Hmm, the fish is a little dry. Have to work on that, Kin."

"Yes sir."

"Here," Sparrow said, giving him a glass of wine, "something to ease that dryness."

"Wine not," Naruto said before taking a drink, grinning at his joke. "Hmm, dig in, dig in. I'd be insulted if you didn't." His friends held no reserve and began to eat. The others soon followed.

Kin, while eating, saw Yugito lean over to Naruto to say something she couldn't hear clearly. "Why didn't...

"...No point without..."

Alasdair pulled out his lute and played a few cords on it. Not to be out done, Naruto pulled Fuka-hone and began singing with Yugito. "Finally, I figured out but it took a long, long time. Now there's a turnabout, maybe cause I'm tryin'. There's been times, I'm so confused. Down my road, will it lead to you? Just can't turn and walk away. It's hard to say what it is I see in you. Wonder if I'll always be with you. Words can't say it, I can't do enough to prove, it's all for you.

"And I'd thought I seen it all, cause it's been a long long time. Oh, bothered that we'll trip and fall, wonderin' if I'm alive. There's been times, I'm so confused. Down my road, will it lead to you? Just can't turn and walk away. It's hard to say what it is I see in you. Wonder if I'll always be with you. Words can't say it, I can't do enough to prove, it's all for you.

"Rain comes pourin' down, Fallin' from blue skies Words give out a sound, comin' from your eyes Finally I figured out, But it took a long long time Oh now there's a turnabout, Maybe cause I'm tryin' There's been times, I'm so confused. Down my road, will it lead to you? Just can't turn and walk away. It's hard to say what it is I see in you. Wonder if I'll always be with you. Words can't say it, I can't do enough to prove, it's all for you.

"Well, it's hard to say what it is I see in you. Wonder if I'll always be with you. Words can't say it, I can't do enough to prove, it's all for you."

"Tha be a right tough act ta follow," Alasdair told him.

Grinning, Naruto gave Yugito a kiss, "I'm going to watch the stars for a bit love."

"Don't stay up to long."

Naruto walked off and stood by the railing. Kin watched a moment before getting up and walking over. "You know, as your cabin girl, I think I'm suppose to worry about you."

"Nah," he replied.

"Is it the joke or mister Sparrow not trusting you?"

"No, no, Lass. That is what his heart and mind tells him. Something that serves him well. Let me tell you something. Mister Sparrow was marooned on an island once. By the cook."

"Ouch," she replied.

"He lives by his mind, that what has happened can happen again. Me, I live by my heart and the stars."

"The stars?"

"Of course, lass." He looked at her a moment and then to the stars again. "Look at them all, you could spend a life time trying to know each and everyone, a thousand lifetimes. Even in the most unruly place on the ocean, the Grand Line, the stars will steer you home."

"How, they're just stars."

"True lass, very true. But that star there is Polaris, the North Star. True north. It never moves, never fails. Anywhere you can see it, that be north."

Kin watched it a moment, memorizing the stars around it. "Where are you from that you learned all this?"

"Oh, here and there, lass. Grew up in a...small village. My godfather was one of the soldiers while I decided to go into...freelance."

"And Yugito?"

"Met her at an inn running from her past."

"Sounds almost too perfect."

Naruto laughed loud and hard, "Trust me lass, when it come to me and love, it be far from perfect." He clapped his hands a moment. "Dinner be almost done that mean it is time for dishes." Kin groaned at that.

—oo000oo—

Kin was heading to her room that night when she heard it. "So, we're really stopping at the port," someone whispered.

"Aye," a second voice replied. "No one suspects a thing?"

"Nah," the first voice stated. "This is going to be perfect." Kin hid farther into the shadows, afraid of what she stumbled in on. Two sailers walked forward, Alasdair and Hakari. "Naruto really should come back home more often," Hakari stated. "This will be a welcome back bash to remember."

"Aye, a bonnie, bonnie sight it will be. Last aye knew, yon lady Hinata was going nuts without him there."

Kin sighed as they walked by. "I'm getting paranoid. I'm seeing mutinies and ghost everywhere." She went to her hammock , laid down in it, and closed her eyes.

"Rise and shine, lass," Naruto shouted, overturning her hammock.

"I'm going to KILL YOU!" The ship nearly shook from the beating that took place. Several people rushed into the room to find Kin tied up, gagged, and screaming in rage.

"I found out the hard way that the cabin girl isn't a morning person," Naruto said, sitting on her back, tuning Fuka-hone. "Go on back to sleep now, I'm fine," he patted Kin's head, "she's fine. We're all fine. And lass," he said to Kin. "Ye be hundreds of years before ye can take me." Her response was a growl. When they left, Naruto used a clone to untie her. "Now, there be two reasons I woke ye up at this god forsaken hour. One, breakfast needs a fixing. Two, the showers be hot and empty. Salt water will have to do ye." He pulled out what looked like a cigarette case and took one out. He snapped a finger, getting lightning to dance on the end of it, and used it to light it. He took a deep breath let it out with a sigh. He cleared his throat and smiled. "Now, I want ye in the galley in an hour, no more."

"Thanks, Naruto," she said before grabbing a towel, a change of clothes, and ran off. She got to the shower, and turned it on. "Aagh! Hot, hot!" Scrubbing clean and enjoying the moment's respite, she gratefully put on the clean clothes and went to work. Where she dropped her jaw. There were Naruto clones everywhere, getting breakfast ready. More over, all of them were doing that trick he did making her float to do the job. They were even using their lighting to even cook the food.

"Pass the salt!"

"Throw me the ham!"

"Eggs, I need eggs!"

"WHAT IS THIS!?" Everything, including the salt, ham, and eggs in the air, froze right where they were. "You had me scrub dishes clean last night until I thought my nails would fall off and you could have gotten it done in five minutes!?"

"Five minutes might be pushing it a little, lass," all of them said. At her near crazed look, they swallowed. "Three minutes sound more accurate."

She started popping her knuckles. "Tell me why I shouldn't keelhaul you?"

"First, you don't even know what a keelhauling is," the real Naruto said, stamping out his health stick. "Second, you'd be facing all of us."

"I am going to make you pay for this..."

"No you won't," Naruto stated. "You won't learn anything if we do the work. Now, since you have interrupted us, grab whatever is floating around, help out, and I'll think about having us do the dishes ourselves. You are still doing the rest of your chores alone."

"Yes sir..."

"Naruto. My friends call me Naruto."

"Naruto." She grabbed the eggs, cracked them in a bowl, and asked him where he wanted them.

—oo000oo—

"Aye, that be good lass," Naruto when it was laid out. "Now, if ye don't mind, I have a 'bonnie lass' as Alasdair always calls her, to sweep off her feet. Have breakfast and serve whoever comes in afterwards. Naruto grabbed a tray with breakfast, a rose, and went to give Yugito breakfast in bed.

Kin grabbed a good helping of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and steak. When she asked him if he was worried about running out of supplies at this rate, he not only reminded her of last night's dinner, but also showed her something else. A ninja sealing scroll. They had enough for a thousand meals like this. She drank her glass of milk greedily. She remembered Dosu and Zaku hated milk but she loved it. "Wow, this looks good Kin-chan," Akira said, getting some. "You cook this or that killer chef?"

"Naruto, mostly." She shook her head, "Akira-san, you know allot about the world, right?"

"More so than others."

"Should a person be able to do what he did? He was eaten and he chopped his way out with a guitar. He was making the eggs float to him this morning. He made me float yesterday!"

Akira thought about it closely. "No different than ninja's I guess."

"Not this, there was no chakra. I can feel him use it but only every now and then. What he did, it didn't take chakra."

He shrugged, "There are unique people in the world, if you can't tell by the crew."

As if summoned by him, Talon walked in. "Good morning, sir, good morning, Kin."

"Talon-chan," Akira said, nodding to her.

Talon sniffed, closed her eyes, and followed her nose. It led her to a pot marked, 'For Talon only'. She lifted the lid and smiled. "Naruto is such a good friend." She lifted a roast still on the bone, and slightly bloody still. She ripped into the meat and bone, leaving nothing left when she finished.

"Excuse me, I've been meaning to ask...what are you," Kin said to her.

Talon smiled meekly at her. "I am Talon of the Dragon Tribe on the Island of Texas. Like the name suggest, I am a dragon."

"A dragon," Kin asked. "As in fangs, long neck, tail, claws."

Talon's tail came up. "Oh yes. Naruto insist that I am the most powerful thing he has ever seen." Kin could barely keep from laughing at that. This shy, unimposing, girl was that? Never. More people came down to eat and Kin did convince Naruto to handle the dishes. Which, wasn't necessarily a good thing. Now he had more time for her to learn other things, the ins and outs of ship maintenance. Like learning how to secure riggings. How to tell what was damaged in a plank just from the sound it made. Navigation by the Sun. Swabbing the deck, apparently, not everything was cleaned from that salmon. And when she realized that, she had to swab the deck again from puking. Checking the life boats and doing preventive maintenance on them. She was going to go nuts when she heard it. The whistle from the man in the crow's nest. "LAND HOE!"

Naruto came to the deck. "There they be, captain," Naruto called. "The Gate Peaks leading to the Isle of Morose, the home port of the Konoha Mercenaries."

"Mister Uzumaki, if this doesn't pan out, I swear, with my last breath, I will kill you."

"Always does one good to know his work is appreciated," Naruto said, bowing and sweeping his hat along the deck. The Godspeed pulled between the two spires and found a dreadnaught there. There was a flashing light. "Godspeed, Godspeed, prepare to be boarded...yo. Oh no, why'd it have to be him."

"What is it," Portermane demanded.

"Replied, 'Killer Bee, its Naruto, want to speak to the boss'." The message was sent over.

Portermane watched the reply. After a moment, she said, "Naruto, if he leaves anything left of you, I am going to kill you."

"It isn't that bad," he said. "I hope." The ironclad dreadnaught, the Enterprise, pulled up beside them, a gangplank was lowered, and a big black man crossed over.

"Where is he, where is the damned fool!?"

"Heya Bii," Naruto said holding up his hand. The big man marched over to him, glaring, before wrapping him in a hug. "AAGH! Bii, you're gonna break my spine!"

"First off, I missed you runt! Second, Hinata was going to start killing people if you didn't get back soon!" Kira dropped him, making Naruto groan. "So this is the ship you're working on now."

"For the moment."

"Wait, wait wait," Portermane said, walking down to them. "You know this scoundrel?"

Kira and Naruto looked at her confused. "Who, me or him," they both asked.

"Either or," Portermane replied.

"Yeah, I know the runt, used to have fun giving him the punt. He'd take it with class, before shoving a boot up my ass," Bii said, grinning.

"Your line are still horrible. What he mean to say is that I, at one time, worked for them."

"And you didn't feel like mentioning that," Portermane asked.

"I put it in my resume," he replied. "Hey, Bii, I want to meet with the Big Boss Man," Naruto said with a wink.

"Well, he's on a mission right now, off chasing buried treasure or some such. You'll have to meet Anko."

"She'll do. How she and Iruka-sensei doing?"

"He's walking funny this week," he said with a grin. "I almost want to say poor guy if I wasn't so jealous."

"Wait," Sparrow said, "he is walking funny?"

"Yes," Naruto told him. "Anko is so hard to please at times. I think she might have rode him hard enough to break his hip once."

"Nah, dislocated it," Kira corrected.

"Look, enough reminiscing, we are looking to pass through," Sparrow told him. "Can we or not?"

"Hey, not up to me. Up to the boss lady. Though, for the whelp, I imagine you can."

—oo000oo—

"Let me get this right," Anko said, sitting in a high back chair. 'Even when Naruto comes back, I keep this chair. He might want to let me have the desk too, after what Iruka-kun and I did. I love that tongue of his.' "You think that just because you have Naruto with you, I am going to let you pass through my port and surrounding waters? When it is well known we are mercenaries. And, of course, mercenaries don't do nothing without getting paid."

"We have little gold if that is what you want," Portermane told her.

"Maybe...and maybe not." She leaned forward, her elbows resting on the desk and her hands clasped in front of her face. "We also deal in information, Captain Elizabeth Portermane, daughter of Admiral Portermane, granddaughter of Captain James T. Hook, one of the worst pirates before the King of the Pirates, Gold Rogers. And my information say you are after something." Portermane growled at her. "And to go through us means that you want it bad."

"Naruto set us up," she growled.

"Oh no, he didn't," Anko told her. "You were never a factor, nor was his involvement. But it does work in my benefit. So, here is the deal, you let one of my chosen mercenaries on your ship. They get a cut of the treasure, an even cut, and you get our services. In the end, you get through, get your fair share, we get ours, everyone is happy. So, what say you?"

"I say I should turn your offer sideways and stick it up where you won't find it to your liking."

Anko grinned, "I don't know, I like a lot of things, but no need to be hasty. In fact I insist you stay here tonight, given time to think about it, and enjoy yourselves."

Portermane thought about it hard. "I'll give it a night. One."

She walked out the door, "Everything go well captain," Naruto asked.

Portermane grabbed him by the throat. "You helped her, you little shit!"

"Temper, temper, captain," Naruto abashed. "Now, what is this about?"

"Like you don't know. When did she arrange for you to get on my crew!?"

"She never did, what did she say?"

"That we go through if we take someone from here on the crew and give an equal portion of our endeavor to them."

"That is robbery," Naruto growled.

"You honestly didn't know," Portermane muttered.

"Of course not," Naruto told her. "Let me talk to her." She let him go and he went in the room.

—oo000oo—

"You got her raving mad, Anko-chan," Naruto said to her as he sat down and put his boot on his desk. "I have never...What is that smell?" He dropped his feet to the floor and leaned forward. "Is that...OH MY GOD! How could you do that to my desk!? Do you have any idea how much this cost!?" He stormed out the room, shouting, "You owe me big, damn it Anko! RAGH!" Portermane watched him as he paced around, not understanding what he yelled in there. Growling he went back in and slammed the door shut. "My desk, my DESK!" The whole time, Anko had been laughing hard at him. "I thought we were friends! I thought we were sensei and student! One month, I leave you in charge for one month and you barely wait a week to...desecrate my desk!"

"Oh no, Naruto-chan," she said, "I waited an hour."

"YOU BITCH!"

Anko hadn't laughed this hard in a year. Not since Naruto caught Iruka-kun and tired him up in a ribbon, naked, leaving him in her room, on her birthday. "Now that the pleasantries are over."

"You're right, of course," Naruto said, sitting back down, smiling. "Time to talk business. One moment." He poked his head out the door, "Heya... Oh, hi Sakura-chan, you got secretary duty this month?"

"Yeah."

"Can we get some tea in here?"

"Of course."

Naruto looked at the captain, whom was wondering why he was just screaming bloody murder. "Hostile negotiations, captain, nothing I can't handle." He pulled back in and closed the door. "I love this part of the job." He sat back down. "So, Billy Bones died and we couldn't get the treasure map," he told her.

"That's how it goes," Anko told him.

"Ah, but a little singing jay has whispered in my ear that a certain raven on the crew was very close to Bones. I wouldn't doubt it if she had the map."

"Which is why you took several of the others with you. In case something like this happened. So, how do you plan on getting the treasure?"

Naruto grinned, "Leave that to me."

—oo000oo—

Naruto walked out, "About time you saw it my way," Naruto shouted back in. "I got us through captain," Naruto told her.

"What did you give her," Portermane asked.

Naruto sighed, "Whatever my cut in the end is going to be. With the concession that an off going member be allowed to join to get to our final destination, no cut. She doesn't get a copper piece that belongs to the crew."

"That...was a very noble thing to do, Naruto."

"Aye...it will hurt the wallet a bit but I imagine I can make it back gambling with the crew," he told her with a shameless grin.

"You're hopeless."

"Uzumaki Hopeless Naruto, at your service, ma'am," he said with a bow.

"Sorry, Naruto it took longer than I planned," Sakura told him.

Naruto took a cup, drained it, and said, "More than perfect. Wish everyone a good one for me."

"Ah, no. You see, now that you are here, and no doubt spending the night, you can say it to them yourself."

"Huh?" She took the rest of the tea in, gave it to Anko, came back out, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him off.

—oo000oo—

Author's Notes: Gomen, meant to put this up a few days ago but have been on Rifle Range. A hot and tiring experience.

It's all for You by Sister Hazel.