This chapter was taken down and rewritten for plot purposes. 8/29/18
"Walking on water? How could that be possible?" As if it was impossible to do such a task, Sakura's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "In fact, I had swum all the here when I found myself in the middle of the sea." She diverted her eyes away from the man to look at the boy next to him with pink hair and glasses. Behind both of them, were some of the people she saw at the docks.
"Residents of this town had reported a woman with pink hair that was walking on water. You fit their description." The people behind them agreed it was definitely her. One even accused of her being a pirate. It was an absurd claim, she looked nothing like them but here, they may dress a lot more different than the people back from where she was. Nevertheless, she gasped in shock to keep up with her act.
"I'm sorry but as I said, I had swum my way to shore when I found myself in the middle of the sea. Honestly, I don't even know how I got myself there." She started with a lie but covered it with the rest of the truth. She reached for her shoulder and began rubbing it in pain. She groaned softly as her eyes started to water up. "The last thing I remember was getting home when I was attacked and kidnapped. I just want to be able to change out of these bandages because the salt water is irritating the wound. Could you possibly help me out?" Sakura's hand clasped together like she was silently pleading for aid.
The man tilted his head down so the cap would cover his eyes but he failed to notice that Sakura could still see them. She could tell that he barely believed her story but barely was good enough for her. He didn't trust her, so he would either try to capture her or keep her close to watch her every move until he discovered the truth. She had her money on the second option. He had to be the type to only attack when needed to, which left a lot of room for manipulation on her part. Kind souls were always the easiest to deal with.
"Koby!" He shouted as he looked at Sakura straight in the eyes. The boy next to him saluted as he waited for an order. "Show this young lady to one of the vacant quarters in the base and see to her needs until further instructed." He tipped his cap at her before placing his hand out. Sakura's slim fingers wrapped around his hand and shook it. "Please make yourself comfortable here until you are ready to leave. I'm Commander Ripper of 153rd Marine branch."
"I'm Sakura. It was a pleasure to meet you." She gave a quick bow and thank you before following Koby to the base. The warmth of the sun pushed onto their skin like a heated towel. The boy was only a few feet ahead of her but she felt the uneasiness radiating off of him. "Koby, right? If you don't mind me asking, what do you do besides following orders from your commander?" She knew for a fact that it wasn't high.
He paused, turning his head towards her. "I'm a chore boy for the Marines." He began with a timid voice but he said the last part with pride. Oddly, Sakura couldn't help but smile at it. His ambition was nice to see even though she knew nothing of him.
"It sounds like it is a dream of yours to be a part of." Without realizing it, she had hit the nail on the head.
"It actually is. I came here only a few days ago with a friend of mine. He helped me accomplish this. Even though I am starting out like this, I know if I work hard, I will become something great." He continued to talk about the events prior to her arrival. She had concluded that the previous Marine Captain was corrupted by power. Then a boy her age that went by Luffy defeated him and saved the town from the man's clutches. Though it didn't change the fact that he was a pirate, they were natural enemies, to begin with. By the time they knew it, they stood in front of her room. "This room is filled with all the necessary utilities that you need. Just leave your clothes outside of the bathroom so, when I come back with your spare clothes, I can go wash them."
She approved before going into the room without saying anything. The decor was very simple, white painted walls, a bed in the corner with a nightstand, diagonal to it it was a closet, and another door leading into the bathroom. Sakura dragged herself into the bathroom to see her own eyes looking back at her. Pink strands of hair laid stiff on her head, she didn't realize how much of a mess she looked. She wasn't sure to be happy about the situation she was in but it was better than being dead.
Her gaze then traveled to her shoulder, where the sight of the bandage over her shoulder caught her attention. She didn't have time to think about it then but she started to remember smelling burnt skin. She slowly began to unravel it, making sure to be careful since the salt water had made it stick like a band-aid. She was surprised to see a long line of missing flesh with the burnt skin around it. Whatever she was hit with, grazed it only but she wondered what exactly it was since it sounded like a firework.
In the end, she cleaned it before using her healing chakra on herself. She knew she couldn't heal it all the way because she only assumed that Ripper may want to see it later on. Stripping off her clothes, she laid them on her nightstand and went back into the bathroom to start her shower. The water felt refreshing as it ran down her pale slim body.
Back in the room, Koby knocked on the door to gain entrance. When she didn't answer, he placed his ear against the door to hear the running water. Hesitantly, he twisted the knob and went inside with training warms in his hands. He placed the pieces of clothing onto her bed and grabbed onto her dirty ones but he froze when he saw a piece of metal shine from the corner of his eye. He walked towards the pillow while moving his arm to pick it up.
"Koby?" He jumped at the call of his name. He quickly turned around to see Sakura damped and only in a towel. Even though he may look like a little kid, he was fifteen and full of awaking hormones. His cheeks began to redden in embarrassment. "Are you okay?" Sakura moved closer to him but he back away to the exit.
"L-let me go get this washed for you. I-I'll be back." He stormed out of the room. Sakura exhaled in relief as she made her way to the bed. If she hadn't gotten out of the shower when she did, he would have found all the weapons she still had. She ruffled her wet hair in annoyance. She couldn't let herself get caught, especially if she didn't know what to do with herself just yet. Sakura quickly dried herself off, redressed her wound, and got dressed before exiting the room to be greeted by Koby, who had been waiting for her.
"I didn't know that I took so long to get dress." She gave an apologetic look.
"N-no, you weren't taking long. The laundry room is just down the hall from here." He rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous smile. The truth was that his Commander had come by and took the clothes for him after he reported nothing was wrong. He sure wasn't going to tell him that he saw her in a towel. Shaking his head, before fake coughing. "Since it is only nine in the morning, what do you want to do?"
"I like to read. Do you guys have a library?" She was sure a big place like this had their own library. She wanted to see if their history was the same.
"Yes, the base has a private library. I am sure if I ask the commander, he wouldn't mind let-." Before he could finish his sentence Ripper came behind them and interrupted him.
"Of course she can. Koby, escort her there and report back to me for a new chore list." Ripper winked at Sakura as he did a two finger salute. Sakura's head tilted a bit to watch him turn a corner. Koby called out for her attention so she could follow him. They both set off to the library, carefully staying away from the prying eyes of other Marines. Though, Sakura thought it was rather weird that Koby kept on looking over his surrounding as if he didn't want to run into anyone or someone.
"What are you doing, Koby?" Blonde bowl hair shaped guy called out for him. Koby jumped a little before freezing in his tracks. He slowly turned towards the guy with a nervous smile. In an instant, the guy had grabbed the collar of his uniform and brought him closer to his face. "Because of you, I had to mop the whole left corridor by myself this morning! Where the hell did you disappear to?"
"Well, H-helmeppo... I wa-." The guy shook Koby roughly for him to state his reason faster. Sakura didn't know why but she interrupted the two.
"Excuse, not to be a nuisance but Koby was escorting me to the library. Also, he has been busy with me all morning." Helmeppo cracked his neck to look at her. He was astonished to see the pinkette next to him. The training warmups caught his eyes next. He straightened his posture and gave a charming smile but in reality, it was kind of creeping Sakura out.
"I'm Helmeppo. You are?" He thrust his hand in front of her. She didn't hesitate to shake his hand with a sickeningly sweet smile of her own.
"Sakura Haruno." Within seconds, she let her inhuman strength take over and began to squeeze his hand. He flinched in pain as he howled in pain. Pulling away, he gripped his hand with his other hand. He was about to retort back at her but Sakura turned her attention back to Koby. "Can we please get going? I don't mean to be rude but I would like to go sit and read in silence." Helmeppo wasn't about to let this girl treat him in such a rude manner but when she gazed her way to him,.he became stiff as a board. She had those eyes...
"Oh right! Um, it is just down here." Koby showed her the way in seconds as Helmeppo stayed far behind them. Koby bowed his head as he arm stretched out to the inside of the library. "I will come back later to bring you lunch. Enjoy the rest of your morning." Sakura waved goodbye at the two while she watched Helmeppo catch up to Koby to whisper a few words to him.
Instinctively, Sakura began to wonder the aisle without even looking where she was going. She had found herself in the fantasy section and she grabbed a random book. She flipped a page every time she felt a new chakra presence enter the room. When they finally stopped coming in, she was on page fifteen that was labeled 'Chapter Two' in bold black letters. She blinked repeated before squinting her eyes. Was this some kind of joke that fate was doing onto her?
Sakura's mouth quirked upwards and slammed the book shut. Her head snapped to the left to make direct eye contact with a random Marine. He quickly turned away as if he was caught but her eyes began to look over the room to see that others were also watching her. She placed the book back and moved from her spot to another empty area of the room. She quickly began to do the hands signs to activate a genjutsu over the library before someone decided to follow her. Though she didn't even know if it would work, the moment she walked out in the open, no one turned her way.
She slipped her way through people until she found the history section. She scanned over the aisle until she found a book base on the timeline and the brief history of the world. Sakura's index finger scooped the edge of the book swiftly and began to read the contains of the pages. She skimmed to see if there was anything that she would notice but the more she read through it, it started to confuse her. This place was nothing like her home... Maybe even the world? Pirates made havoc, marines ruled the sea, and a thing called a devil fruit to exist.
It was strange though, she noticed a gapping period that wasn't explained in the book. She was about to look more into it when she heard Koby call out her name. She put the book away and re-entered the fantasy section with another random book in her hand and broke the genjutsu.
"I'm over here, Koby." She turned to see Koby with a tray of food with him. He gave her a nervous smile as he placed it in front of her.
"What are you reading?" They both looked at the cover of the book then at each other. The girl before him had calm composure but on the inside, she was screaming her head off. Koby was oblivious to her inner struggle as she placed the book back on its shelf and smiled at him.
"Oh, just about a girl that falls for the worst guy ever while she ignores the guy that has always been by her side affection. It is a very sad story." She lied through her teeth. Koby made an 'oh' face before guiding her to a table. He sat across from her while he fumbled with his hands. He was a little nervous because his commander had requested information about her and he was the other person she was willing to talk to. Since she practically scared Helmeppo off. Still, he was a little scared of her. The calm and collected aura surroundings her was somewhat intimidating to him.
"W-where did you live?" He gulped as he rubbed the back of his neck. The moment she looked up to him, he had quickly gotten up from his chair with a nervous smile. "I w-was just wondering."
"I am from Foosha Village ." It was an obvious lie. She had remembered seeing a map in the history book and that was the first place that came to mind. Koby face immediately grew shocked and leaned forward. Sakura eyes grew slightly scared of why his face express became like that.
"You're from Luffy's hometown!?" Koby couldn't help but stumble over his words. "Why didn't you say it before when I was talking about him?" He was eager to know why but in reality Sakura had dug herself a hole.
"I actually didn't know he was from there but know that I think about I remember hearing his name throughout the village." Sakura held her hands up. This wasn't good. If he didn't believe her, she was sure it wasn't going to end well. "I was more of an inside kid. I rather read than play with the other kids anyways. I only heard about him from my mother when she would talk with the neighbors."
"That makes sense." He leaned back before apologizing for his rushed behavior.
"It's fine. I think I may go looking for him." Sakura tapped her chin as she thought about. When Koby explained that Luffy wanted to become pirate king, he was going to travel to find his crew. She didn't want to join him but the best bet for answers was traveling.
"He is a pirate, Sakura," Koby said angrily, plopping down back in his sit with a serious expression on his face. Sakura's eyebrow shot up at the change of attitude. This was interesting, she wasn't expecting for him to be so critical. Was it because she could get into trouble for crashing after a pirate? She knew it was bad but it wasn't like she was going to be a pirate herself. There was no way of that happening.
"And?" Sakura's tone was soft but stern.
"If you go after him then we must assume that you want to become a pirate too." Koby's fist clenched as he said it. As though it was painful to say it but he didn't understand why. This girl was nothing to him but the thought was an unthinkable act to do. It could be because if he told his Commander, he would have to throw her in prison. Ripper already didn't believe her as much now. If he heard her, she would be a goner.
"No, that isn't it. I have been wanting to travel for a while but I don't have any money. I think I can catch some bad guys and turn them into the government for some cash." Sure, even a place like this should have bounties on people's head. She might look weak but she was sure she could handle herself. So what harm would it do?
"You want to be a bounty hunter?" He said exasperatedly.
"Sure, that sounds fun." Sakura snapped her finger with a wide grin on her face. She reached for her lunch and began to eat it
Koby stayed seated with a baffled look at her sudden playful aura.
Total word count: 3,000
FYI: I couldn't find Koby's actual age.
He is 15 in the fanfic
