Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece. However if I did I would have an eternal grin on my face due to the amount of money that would currently be in my Swiss bank account ya heard?
Chapter 3: Anything For a Pretty Face (or two)
"Show yourself! I'll kill all of you!"
Luffy immediately made his way to the deck where a man with short black hair, sunglasses, a blue hoodie with a purple shirt underneath, and white pants was kicking things around on deck, "Hey! Who are you?"
Upon hearing Luffy's voice the man brandished a sword from his waist that looked like some kind of cleaver, "It's none of your business to know who I am." HE then lunged at Luffy and slashed at him forcing Luffy to dodge, the attack took out the banister, "Remember that!"
Naruto sighed, "If you're attacking the ship then yes it is our business who you are you idiot."
Nami and Usopp were watching inside through a window, "There's only one guy out there."
Zoro was sitting inside without caring, "Leave it to Luffy then."
Naruto shrugged and went inside to sit down. Luffy could beat this guy up himself, and if Zoro didn't even care enough to get up and look then he sure as hell didn't care.
"I've killed many pirates. An infamous pirate like you…" The man lunged at Luffy with his sword once again, "Shouldn't dare to kill my buddy!"
Luffy was getting pissed off at getting accused of doing something he no inkling of doing, "I don't know what you're talking about." Luffy jumped over the attack and grabbed the man's head, "But stop destroying my ship!" Luffy flipped over his back with his head in his grasp and threw him face first into a wall.
The man passed out after peeling off of the wall and hitting the ground, "…I almost got him…"
After hearing the loud smash of the strange attacker's body hitting the wall Zoro walked out, "Huh? Isn't that Johnny? What happened? Where's Yosaku?"
Johnny miraculously jumped right to his feet at the sight of Zoro, "Zoro-aniki!"
Naruto walked back outside, "Zoro you know this guy?"
XxX
Apparently Johnny and his friend Yosaku, a man with strange headgear, a green trenchcoat with a black shirt underneath, and yellow plaid shorts, were bounty hunters that had worked with Zoro in the past. While they had been resting due to Yosaku's sickness at the island that Usopp shot their cannon at it ended up getting blown up by the aforementioned cannon fire.
Apparently as alluded to by Nami, Yosaku had scurvy, and after being given vitamin C he would recover shortly. This drove home a point into the rest that they needed a chef for their crew. Joni recommended a floating restaurant two days from their location, and gave Zoro information on a man named 'Hawk-eyes' that was thought to be in the area.
It was a nice looking place called Baratie, however they found a Marine ship floating out nearby. A man with iron bolts attached to his knuckles noticed their presence, "I've never seen that flag before. I am Lieutenant Fullbody, the iron fist, of the Marines. Who is your captain?"
Luffy stepped up, "I am, me, Luffy. I just finished my flag two days ago."
Fullbody then noticed Johnny and Yosaku, "Oh I've seen you two before in some government office. You're the two shabby pirate hunters Yosaku and Johnny right? You've been caught by these pirates?"
Johnny and Yosaku took offense to this and went to teach him a lesson but were thrashed by him and thrown back onto the Going Merry. Fullbody then took a woman from the ship and entered the restaurant claiming to be on vacation.
Naruto kicked at their flattened bodies, "Kami you guys suck… Am I going to see anyone in the East Blue that isn't a total wimp?" He asked to Nami, but she was unresponsive as she had a firm glance on one of Johnny and Yosaku's wanted posters. It must have been angering her because her hands were shaking with the paper in her grip.
"Hey! Danger!" Usopp pointed out at the Marine ship, "Those Marines are pointing their cannons at us!"
Luffy jumped up and expanded his body to its balloon form to send the cannonball back, however he ended up sending it at the restaurant instead. Sending it crashing through the roof. Naruto palmed his face as the rest of the crew freaked out. Luffy started running around frantically, "Oh no! That could have killed somebody! What am I going to do?"
Naruto shook his head as he saw people walking outside with chef's gear on. Naruto pushed Luffy off of the boat onto the floating restaurant, "Well then captain. Go and handle that for everyone then."
Watching Luffy get carried inside by the chefs brought an amused smile to Naruto's face before he climbed up to the crow's nest and laid down. The others crowded below him when Usopp pointed at the restaurant, "Um, Naruto was that really the best idea?"
Naruto yawned and looked up at the clouds, "Hey, he's the captain right? Well the captain has to be responsible for stuff like that." Crashing could be heard from inside, "Yep, he'll be fine." Naruto shut his eyes and took to sleeping.
XxX
Luffy ended up as a worker in the restaurant in order to pay off the damages he caused with the cannonball. He met Sanji, a blonde cook that he demanded be on his crew, but before that he had more pressing issues to take care of.
For two days the crew had to stay at the restaurant to wait for Luffy. The others got their kicks by going inside and eating there while simultaneously messing with Luffy. Luffy was constantly chewed out and rotating jobs due to his complete inability to handle even the most mundane tasks and a bored Naruto got his kicks by making Luffy's job that much harder by sneaking around and setting pranks for the rubber man as he went about his day.
Eventually after two days passed Naruto was sick of the place. While Nami was able to get Sanji to give her food for free everyone else had to pay, and Naruto didn't have much money in the first place therefore he stopped going inside the restaurant and stayed on the ship to eat. He took to spending his time in the crow's nest, sleeping while the others went about their own business.
One day however he woke up when he felt his body moving inside of the crow's nest. Getting up he blinked in surprise when he found that the boat was moving. He saw Nami steering the ship, but no one else on deck. Figuring that everyone else was inside or something, Naruto used Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Jutsu) to speed down behind her, "What's up Nami-chan!"
Nami screamed in surprise and turned to face Naruto like she had seen a ghost, "N-Naruto what are you doing here?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion, "I was asleep in the crow's nest, that restaurant was boring as hell after I got sick of making Luffy mess things up. So where are we going now?"
Nami got back on the wheel, "I'm going to Commi Island and Cocoyashi Village."
Naruto smirked, "What about me Nami-chan? What about the rest of the crew? What am I a figment of your imagination?"
Nami looked down, "Everyone else isn't here. I left them back at Baratie."
Naruto's jaw almost dropped at that admission from the orange-haired girl, "What? Is Luffy really in that much trouble that you had to take the ship? Why are we the only ones here, couldn't someone else have come?"
Nami flinched somewhat, "Well you see I kind of stole the ship."
Naruto simply stared at her blankly. After a minute he spoke, "Alright then."
Nami couldn't believe what she was hearing, "What?"
Naruto walked over to the side and sat down leaning against the railing to get some more shut eye, "Alright then. I told you all I'm not a part of your crew, I'm along for the ride. The ship is moving, thus I am moving therefore I am riding. It doesn't matter to me who's running the ship as long as the ship is running. So let's chit-chat! What's in Cocoyashi Village that has you stealing ships to get there?"
"It's my home." She didn't bother hiding it. Nami believed that he really didn't care what she had done, he really was just there for the sake of being there, "Why did you even come with us in the first place? You don't seem to want do do… well anything."
Naruto sighed and cracked an eye to look at Nami, "Honestly Nami, I've seen a lot of things. I don't think there are a whole lot of things that can surprise me anymore. I'm bored, very bored. I'm out on the ocean to find something to do, anything to occupy my time because time is one thing that I have nothing but. Whether that anything is a purpose to live for, or a person to help, or someone powerful to fight, that's why I'm here."
Nami frowned, "Why would you want to leave your home so badly? Was it that bad?"
Naruto let out a laugh, "It's not that I hate my home. Quite the opposite actually, I love my village. But they didn't need me anymore. Ninja are fast becoming a relic in the Elemental Nations Nami-chan, there was no more reason for someone like me to be there. I fought for my village, I lived for my village, but now they don't need me so I left years ago to wander the land, eventually I got tired of that too. I never realized how small that place was until I left, this world is huge. I know I can find something out here if I keep searching." He smiled at her, "So what about you? Why leave your home and come all the way out here, then steal your friend's ship to get back."
Nami got a somewhat dark look on her face, "You'll see when we get there."
Naruto's face turned serious at this. Nami had changed clothes now to a more revealing green top that revealed a tattoo on her right arm. Once again he decided not to press the issue because she was right, he would find out when they got there. And that was more than enough for him, he just hoped that whatever was happening to put such a look on Nami's pretty face was fixable… and maybe able to give him a decent fight too.
XxX
They landed outside of Nami's home village in order to disembark and walked east on Commi Island silently with Naruto following closely behind Nami taking in the things that he saw, 'This is a really nice place. What could be going on here to make her so somber right now?'
Soon they came upon a gate walling off an area from the rest of the island by shore. Naruto had to blink as he pointed blankly at the massive building and structures behind the gate, just sitting pretty in clear view of anyone "How the hell did I miss this when we sailed over here?"
Nami kept her eyes on the place ahead of them, "We didn't sail this way when we came here. It's not like it's hidden, it's out in the open to show that they don't fear repercussions from the Marines… although it helps that Arlong has them in his back pocket."
Naruto nodded, "So what do I call this monstrosity, who the fuck is Arlong, and why should I not kick his face in with my fist as I am wont to do from the displeased look you have on your pretty little face?"
Nami simply stared at the gate as if she were preparing for something until they heard rapid little footsteps behind them. A little boy brandishing a short sword stopped in front of them pointing it at them. Naruto raised his eyebrow at the boy while Nami just looked at him coldly, "Get out of my way so I can kill Arlong! If you don't get out of my way I'll kill you too!"
Naruto gestured towards the boy, "Is this kid serious?"
The boy had tears running down his face, "I said get out of my way!"
In the blink of an eye Nami whipped out her staff and cracked the kid in the side of the face, busting his mouth and sending him to the dirt before planting her foot on his chest. Naruto could see the strained grip she had on her staff, "Now that you understand just go back to your house!" She dropped a stack of bills beside him, "I'll give you my money, it should protect your life."
Naruto simply gestured towards the fallen boy, figuring that this warranted some kind of explanation, however Nami just moved past him and entered the facility. Naruto shook his head and spared the boy one last glance as he watched him pick himself up before he followed Nami inside.
Naruto had to blink as everywhere he looked inside he saw human-fish hybrid people. What was Nami doing with these guys? They looked like they wanted to tear him apart simply for just being there but him being with Nami kept them from acting, thus he stayed close to her for the time being, no need for a senseless fight… yet. However this didn't keep him from throwing out an aura of 'come and try it' as he gave the fishmen a look of challenge. He could feel the tension rising by the time Nami reached the main building.
There was a merman in a hat with a sawfish nose and long black hair going down his back sitting by himself on a patio. He wore an unbuttoned yellow tropical shirt showing that he was very physically imposing as well as brown shorts. The way he carried himself Naruto figured he was the boss of these mermen. He looked at Nami with a sharkish grin, "So you're back? It's been a long time!"
Nami put a smile on her face, and Naruto now knew why it took so long for her to come inside, she had to paste that artificial smile on because he could just feel the ire for this guy radiating off of her, "You still have a very weak security system."
The merman laughed, "You think anyone would dare to go against me?"
Naruto blocked a snort, 'Yeah because that little kid that was coming to filet your ass shows just how much you're loved here.' Of course he kept that little thought to himself for the time being. Nami was trying to keep up her act here, no need to blow it all himself.
He motioned to the sack that Nami was carrying, "How much did you get this time? Come now, don't leave me in suspense."
Nami waved the sack in her hand, "I got a pretty good amount, but I felt a little lonely this time." She gestured back at Naruto who smirked upon being introduced.
The boss fish started laughing, "Where did you get that from? The person who loves to betray people like you?"
Nami smiled faintly, "You think so Arlong?"
Arlong pointed at Naruto, "You, filthy human, who are you and what are you doing in my territory with Nami?"
Naruto shrugged, "Nami-chan stole the ship I was sleeping on to get here and I figured why not go along with her? I'm just along for the ride. Besides, she did say she was lonely, right?" Naruto finished, throwing a sly grin in Nami's direction.
Nami broke her character and started sputtering nonsense in Naruto's direction. Naruto smirked and sidled up to the girl, throwing an arm over her shoulder and pulling her close, "Nami-chan, we can't keep this a secret for long. Just think about it, all that time alone together on the ship… how we just stole away, leaving everyone else behind… you can't fight it girl."
Nami finally got him off of her and cracked him in the head, or so she thought before he vanished in a puff of smoke, a log dropping to the ground in his place.
"Now that wasn't nice Nami-chan, and after all I did for you." Naruto said from the seat next to Arlong on the patio, surprising everyone there, "After I let you steal all of that crap from everybody and didn't say a word." He looked around from his seat, "Man you've got a nice place here, the mortgage must be a killer though."
Arlong had to hide his surprise at the boy just appearing from Nami's side next to his own, "Who are you boy?"
Naruto looked at Arlong and got a grin on his face, "You wouldn't happen to have an old relative by the name of Kisame would you?" Naruto quickly waved his own question off, "Nevermind. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm just some random guy, just passing through. Don't mind me."
Arlong gave Naruto an appraising look, "I see. What is it that you do with skills like that Uzumaki Naruto?"
Naruto shrugged, "Whatever I need. I do what I want, and I take what I want." He raised an eyebrow at Arlong, "Why do you care, I thought I was just some 'filthy human'."
Arlong slapped his webbed hand on the table and grinned, "Then it's settled! You work for me now!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes, "I work for money."
Arlong's grin got strained, "Like I said, you work for me now."
Naruto didn't blink, "I work for-."
"Enough!" Arlong broke the table with his fist, "I'm trying to spare your filthy human life because I can see that you have some skill, I should kill you out of principle just for daring to set foot in this place. However, you're also familiar with our little Nami and you look like you carry yourself well, better than the rest of the humans on this island, thus this makes you somewhat potentially valuable to me."
Nami's breath hitched as she watched Naruto unflinchingly stare down Arlong without a thought. Naruto was currently weighing the positives and negatives of standing up and headbutting this guy in the face.
The positives were that for one, it would make him feel better. That guy seriously had no idea who he was talking to. For another, it might make Nami smile, and not a fake one like she had been doing since they had arrived, a true smile like the ones she used to give when they were with Luffy and company.
The negatives were, if Nami was holding back her anger then chances were that she wanted to do it her damn self but something was stopping her from doing so, and if he acted on his desire to break this guy's jaw, that might have some negative repercussions for Nami that would really force Naruto to kill this guy, and he didn't really feel like slaughtering a base of mermen today… not without a good reason anyway.
Naruto simply smirked and stood up, "Okay Arlong, you've got me. As long as you can pay me some good money I'll work for you. What do you want from me?"
Arlong grinned once more, "A good choice. The job I have for you is quite simple. Just stay with Nami and keep her safe. She's very valuable to us you see? She seems to trust you enough to bring you here and believe I wouldn't eviscerate you thus you must be somewhat reliable to her."
Naruto looked at Nami. Her eyes were very sorrowful as she looked at him. She didn't want him to get involved in this, but in response he simply gave her a huge foxy grin and turned to Arlong, "Deal. However I don't answer to you." Arlong was about to snap again when Naruto raised his hand, "I answer to Nami, who answers to you apparently, therefore you are still indirectly my boss, but Nami is the only one that can tell me to do anything. That isn't too bad is it? I don't think your mermen would accept me as a regular member of your crew anyway so this should work out better."
Arlong chuckled, "You don't fear us do you Uzumaki?"
Naruto shook his head, "If I told you all of the things that I've seen in my time you'd understand why your appearance means very little to me." Naruto reached his hand out, "So do we have an accord?"
Arlong grinned and slapped Naruto on the back, "Very well Uzumaki." He turned to the rest of the mermen, "Our sister has returned and she's brought us a new ally! Let's celebrate!" The mermen all let out a loud cheer at Arlong's proclamation.
XxX
Nami wasn't very pleased with Naruto's actions at Arlong Park, but what could he have done? She didn't want him to haul off and start a one-man war against them and he was stuck there until he could find a way to leave, not that he was leaving anyway with all of these questions of his still up in the air. Nami had basically taken him aside in the middle of the mermen's party and told him to leave.
At first he was apprehensive about leaving her there but she simply laughed bitterly, "Arlong would never harm his golden goose. Just head to a village a short ways away from here, that's Cocoyashi Village. There should be a house with a tangerine grove in the back."
Naruto walked through the village of Cocoyashi and apparently word of him more or less joining up with Arlong moved fast because he was getting looks from the people ranging from fear to outright hostility, 'It's been a long time since anyone has looked at me like that.'
Naruto eventually made it to a quaint looking place at the top of the hill. Naruto made his way to the front door and gave it a spirited knock before being greeted with a pistol in his face, "Well hello to you too."
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Naruto tried to look around the gun to get a look at the feminine voice. The person threatening him with a gun was a woman with bluish hair with a red tie keeping bangs from her face. She wore black pants and a yellow sleeveless top that showed off a tattoo that reached from her shoulder across her chest… where Naruto's eyes stopped. A pistol being pushed against his cheek attracted his attention back up, "You should answer now before I pull the trigger."
Naruto calmly placed his hand on the gun and lowered it, "Nami sent me here for some reason. Apparently she didn't want me around Arlong or something. Now pretty lady, what may I call you?"
"My name is Nojiko and since you know her well enough, I'm Nami's sister." She lowered the gun, "What are you doing with Arlong's men?"
Naruto shrugged, "Following your sister I guess."
Nojiko sighed and moved out of the doorway, "Well come on in I guess." Naruto walked inside at her behest, "Why she would send you here in this village I don't know."
Naruto smirked, "Well maybe she was trying to keep the mermen at Arlong Park from murdering me just for standing around. They don't seem to tolerate me like they do her."
Nojiko sighed again as she led him through the house, "She's too valuable to them to harm. And they've gotten used to her by now, in hindsight it probably was a good idea for her to send you here."
Naruto walked into a room where Nojiko sat at a table across from a little boy, "Hey you're the brat whose ass Nami kicked outside of Arlong Park! What the hell are you doing here?"
The boy jumped up and glared at Naruto, "She didn't kick my ass, she just caught me off-guard!"
Naruto snickered, "Yeah, because you having a sword pointed at us threatening to kill us is you off-guard. She flattened you. If I wasn't so confused by it I probably would have laughed my ass off."
The boy was about to shout at Naruto again until Nojiko gave him a stern glance, "Chabo settle down."
Naruto looked to the side and had to do a double take as he saw an unconscious Usopp laying on the ground, "Holy crap, they caught us fast. How the hell did they get here? Nami stole their ship."
Nojiko looked strangely at Usopp on the ground, "You know this person?"
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, he's a part of the crew that Nami was travelling with. She stole their ship and came here while we were at Baratie. I was asleep somewhere where she didn't bother to look so she couldn't really kick me off. Who beat him up?"
Nojiko laughed slightly, "It was me. It was either that or let him get killed by the mermen in Gosa Village." Nojiko noticeably flinched after mentioning Gosa Village and turned to look at Chabo who was holding back tears.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, "What exactly happened to Gosa Village?"
Nojiko looked away, "Arlong and his pirates happened to Gosa Village."
Naruto stood up and walked towards the front door, "I'm going to see for myself what exactly you all aren't telling me. You and your sister are keeping something very important from me and I plan on finding out what that something is." Naruto exited the premises before vanishing outside of the window in a whirlwind of leaves.
XxX
Naruto stomped back to Cocoyashi Village forgoing an outright run to stomp back and cool himself off. The village of Gosa was completely destroyed, houses had been upturned like some kind of joke, there wasn't a soul in the entire village. There was something seriously wrong with that Arlong guy, Naruto hoped that for Nami's sake he didn't have to see him again or he might just forget Nami's apprehension towards Naruto trying to kill him.
Apparently there were still lunatics outside of the Elemental Nations that had no problem destroying lives out of personal greed and evil. Naruto was just waiting for one good excuse to crush that fool under his heel and be done with it. No one would miss that scum if he suddenly up and got vaporized one day, he was sure of that.
"Arlong Empire! They're thinking of building their own empire?" Naruto heard Usopp's distinctive voice by a few buildings near the outskirts of town, "He'll conqueror all of the towns in the East Blue, that means my town too!"
He saw the two of them leaning against a wall watching Arlong shake the people down. Nojiko closed her eyes lazily, "Maybe. The best thing we can do now is stay quiet and be patient."
"No pretty Nojiko… The best thing you can do is give me a reason to kill him and be done with it." They both jumped in surprise as Naruto appeared between them with a perturbed look on his face.
Nojiki recovered first, "Where did you come from?"
Usopp pointed at Naruto angrily, "You and Nami stole our ship and left us at Baratie! How can you show your face to me?"
Naruto looked at Nojiko, "I came from Gosa Village. I shouldn't have gone actually, I'm so pissed off right now I couldn't see straight half of the way here. But that's a conversation for another time that I will be having with both you and your sister about exactly what the hell is going on here." He then looked at Usopp, "I can show my face to you here because I'm not a coward and none of you scare me. Besides, I didn't steal anything. Nami stole it, I was just asleep in the crow's nest, so sue me."
Usopp's jaw was slack, "Well why didn't she just kick you off?"
Naruto grinned, "Because I'm too awesomely sexy to just throw off of a perfectly good ship like that. Right Nojiko?" Naruto finished with a wink sent her way.
Nojiko rolled her eyes and rested them back on the spectacle Arlong was causing, "Gen-san!"
Arlong had grabbed a scarred man in a police uniform by his collar and hoisted him up, "You've been stockpiling weapons… A person with a weapon is one that wants to go against me and I can't forgive that. Because that person has destroyed peace in my area!" Arlong smirked cruelly, "So I guess I have to kill you as a lesson for the others, so that everyone knows what will happen to anyone who dares to go against me."
Usopp's eyes bulged out, "Are you kidding me? He's only got a sword and he's going to be killed?"
Naruto kept a stone gaze on the proceedings with his fingers tracing the kunai pouch on his thigh, "Give me the okay Nojiko… I'll cut that arm that's holding that man up right off for you. He'll never see it coming I guarantee it."
Nojiko suddenly ran out into the open, "Arlong you can't do this to us! We have always paid you for the last eight years! Until now there has been absolutely no one who has gone against you! Release Gen-san!"
Arlong looked at the girl in amusement, "I already told you that owning a weapon means trying to go against my rule. I have to kill this man to maintain peace in the areas under my control. Or do you want me to destroy the whole village? You can choose. If you hurt any one of us the village will be completely destroyed."
The villagers all backed off with anger in their eyes. Naruto clinched his fists alongside Usopp, "Usopp you have no idea how much I want to kill this person right now… I'm just fucking begging him to give me a current reason to do so."
Usopp kept his eyes on Arlong, though his hands were creeping uncharacteristically towards his slingshot, "Why don't you go out and do it? You weren't scared of Kuro and you destroyed him. That's what Nami said."
Naruto scoffed, "He was going to kill you and that girl Kaya right in front of me. I wasn't going to let decent people like you die right in front of me if I could help it. I like to fight, true, but I only really fight when there's a good reason for it."
Usopp shot him a quick look, "Well then why not fight him now? He's threatening that man out there and saying he'll destroy the village."
Naruto's eye twitched, "Because from what I've seen this place seems to want to handle its own problems. Like I said to you, they want to defend this place with their own hands, apparently their doing it in their own way, how I don't understand but they are, I can see it in their eyes." Right then Genzo yelled to the people not to fight, to be patient. Naruto cringed when Arlong slammed him face-first into a beam, "That man is doing that right now. He's trying to save himself and the village without fighting. Jumping in when he's so sure it will work would just be an insult to him and these people."
Arlong grabbed Genzo and lifted him over his head to slam him on his neck, "The ones who dare to go against me will end up like this! This is an example!"
Naruto's eyes widened, "Uh oh! Murphy's Law I swear!"
Usopp placed his goggles on, "On it!" He fired a shot at Arlong that hit home right in his face, "Explosion marble!"
Everyone buzzed about what just happened, "Look there's someone on the roof!"
"Who the hell are you?"
Usopp stood with his arms crossed, "I am the bravest warrior out of the East Blue. Captain Usopp!" He spoke bravely but his knees were shaking. All of the villagers were wondering who this guy was. Nojiko just looked concerned, "Everyone calls me Evil Usopp from Hell and are afraid of me! If you go back to where you came from I'll forgive you, for I have over 8000 crewmen with me!"
Arlong stood up, smoking from the explosion, "I don't care if you have tens of thousands of men with you… I will kill them all." He looked at Usopp with murder in his eyes, "You puny human you dare to go against me? You're just a weakling!" Arlong lifted the house that Usopp was standing on up off of its foundations before throwing at the protest of the rest of his crew.
Usopp survived and took off running to escape. Arlong had to be held back to keep from causing more damage to the surrounding buildings. Naruto decided to reveal himself and try to run damage control, appearing in the middle of the ruckus with a shunshin, surprising everyone there he looked over at Arlong, "What the hell is wrong with him?"
A towering fishman in a karate gi walked up blocking Arlong from Naruto's view with a strict gaze, "Nothing you need to concern yourself with Uzumaki. What are you doing here anyway?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "I came here because you all seem to want to cut me a pair of gills and staying in Arlong Park with the rest of you didn't seem to be the smartest move in that instance. I don't work for you anyway, I work for Nami, and until she tells me to do something I do whatever I want."
The fishman walked closer to Naruto in an attempt to tower over him, "As long as you're on our island human you listen to what all of us fishmen say. We control everyone that lives here."
Naruto scoffed and turned around, "Then it's a good fucking thing that I don't live here huh? You might want to handle Arlong before he razes this place to the ground." He kept a heated glare on Naruto who was walking towards the villagers. Naruto felt his eyes on him, "Well? Are you going to just stare at my back? I know I'm sexy and everything but I wasn't aware you were into the interspecies thing, let alone with a dude." Naruto walked through the crowd of people to leave a fuming fishman to attend to his boss.
He sneered at Naruto and then looked at the villagers, "This time you're safe, we'll be back."
Naruto sat on the rooftops as he watched the villagers fuss over Genzo's wounds. They were talking about some system, but Naruto couldn't hear what this system entailed.
"Long time no see everyone."
Everyone's attention turned to Nami entering the village. She frowned at the village and widened her eyes at the sight of Naruto waving at her from the rooftops before he jumped down and landed next to Genzo and Nojiko.
Nojiko smiled at her sister, "What's wrong? You don't usually walk through the village?"
Nami looked around, "I heard the noise so I came through. It's Arlong, right?" Genzo just kept looking down, as if to ignore her. Nami just kept on walking up the hill. Nojiko looked over at Naruto and walked off after her.
Nami sat down by a grave at the edge of a cliff and placed a bouquet of flowers on it, "Seven million beli to go"
Nojiko came up from behind her, "Your name is still pretty bad."
Nami chuckled humorlessly, "I am a pirate, but Arlong is an understandable person. I collect and steal money for them. Soon I'll be able to fulfill my promise." She smiled back at Nojiko, "If I can get 100,000,000 beli I'll be able to buy this village."
XxX
Nami left soon thereafter to head back to Arlong Park. Nami told him that the fishman he attempted to provoke was Kuroobi, one of Arlong's elite pirates. After scolding him for being an idiot she left to head to Arlong Park once more.
Naruto sighed as he sat with Nojiko inside of her house, "I don't understand. Why won't you all just let me kill Arlong and be done with all of this? I'm begging you, tell me something that will make me go off and kill him. I need an excuse, please give me one."
Nojiko set her cheeks in her hands as she rested her elbows on the table, "Is that why you intentionally provoked Kuroobi back there? Because you wanted a reason to fight them?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah, I'm that transparent huh? If he had tried to attack me all bets would have been off. But still I've told you I can do it, I told you I'm willing to do it if you would let me. I could torch Arlong Park to the ground after I beat the shit out of all of the fishmen, why not let me do it? It would be so easy."
Nojiko shook her head, "No it's not Naruto. You just don't understand, it's our problem, not yours."
Naruto gave her a dry look, "It's been my problem ever since I landed here. As long as I'm here or stuck with Nami per the terms of my agreement it's my problem, now spill it. What exactly is going on here? What is this guy doing to you all?"
Nojiko looked at Naruto, "Arlong has been taxing us all for eight years. We are all forced to pay a tax regularly to Arlong and his crew. 100,000 beli per adult and 50,000 per child."
Naruto almost fell out of his seat when he heard that, "That's insane! Who the hell has that kind of money to spend regularly in this little place?" Naruto clenched his fists, "That's just unreasonable! This is almost like Nami no Kuni all over again! Doesn't anyone patrol this place?"
Nojiko sighed, "The man that does is on Arlong's payroll."
Naruto growled, "Tell me again why I can't just smash him?"
Nojiko rolled her eyes, "Because the marine that watches this place is on Arlong's payroll."
Naruto stood up, "Then why don't I just drop him too?"
With her hands on her hips, Nojiko stood up with an angry look at Naruto, "Because he's a Marine captain! Do you know what will happen to you if you hurt him? The entire force of the East Blue's military will come down on you!"
Naruto stood up face to face with her and looked down into her eyes, "As if. The only thing a rat like that does is hide behind his money and status. If he comes here, and I get a hold of him I'll put him down. Maybe then somebody competent'll be stationed nearby so that some actual justice can be carried out. So far I'm not liking what I see of your Marines. Most of them are corrupt, incompetent fools. I would actually pay cash to meet one that was actually doing their job. If the Marines will come after me for actually doing the right thing then fuck them. They can try to kill me, I'm not as weak as you seem to believe, you don't even truly believe I could beat Arlong even though I repeatedly assure you he has no chance against me you still think I can't win."
Nojiko had tears beginning to form in her eyes, "Arlong and his crew have beaten everyone! The only way we can be free is if Nami's plan works!" Nojiko bit her tongue as she didn't want to say that to an outsider.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, "What plan?" Nojiko averted her eyes from his. Naruto grabbed her chin and turned her face back towards him, "Nojiko, what plan? Talk to me, you've already told me this much and I'm as involved as someone like me can get without directly marching on Arlong Park with intent to kill."
Nojiko broke down and told him everything. About how Arlong appeared and took over, about her and Nami's adopted mother Bellemere, about how he shot her in front of the girls for not having the money to pay the tax for them all, about how Nami was forced to join Arlong's crew and her plan to free the village, all of it. By the end she was in tears in Naruto's arms who could do nothing for her but let her cry, as far as he could tell it had been a long, long time since she had allowed herself to do so.
Naruto sat with her in his lap, just letting her cry on him as he silently tried to comfort her. Eventually she stopped shaking in his grasp, "Are you okay?"
Nojiko looked up at him with puffy eyes, "Yes. I'm sorry, this is really embarrassing, breaking down like that."
Naruto smiled at her and rubbed her back consolingly, "It's no big deal to cry Nojiko. Everyone has to once in a while, and you've been through a lot. It's alright, it didn't bother me at all. Although you got my sage coat totally soaked." He finished with something of a chuckle.
Nojiko blushed as she saw the large wet spots on Naruto's red coat, "Sorry Naruto-kun." Nojiko blushed deeper as she realized what she just called the blonde foreigner, "Um, could you put me down?"
Naruto grinned at her, "Why Nojiko-chan?" He held her a little bit tighter, "What? Is this making you uncomfortable? I thought you liked it."
Nojiko hit him on the chest lightly, "I don't know you nearly that well to be cuddling with you new guy."
Naruto put on a mischievous smirk, "Well you could get to know me."
Suddenly there was an uproar from cliffside that gave Nojiko an excuse to hop out of his lap and run to the door, "Oh would you look at that! There's something going on outside, I guess I should go and check it out!"
Naruto laughed loudly as he saw how abruptly she bolted from the house.
XxX
Naruto leisurely made his way to where Nojiko had run off to and found her along with the other villagers staring out at a ship just off shore, "So what's going on here?"
The villagers were wary of his presence and telling him anything due to him working with Arlong. Naruto rolled his eyes at their hesitance as Nojiko answered his question, "There's a ship here to help get the survivors from Goza Village out of here."
Naruto nodded, "Okay I understand that, but why is it firing on Arlong Park?"
"What!"
The ship fired a cannonball at Arlong Park but no explosion ever rang out. Naruto shook his head, "Those poor fools…"
Nojiko looked at him strangely, "What do you mean?"
Naruto's eyes were locked on the Marine ship, "Do you really think Arlong is going to let that slide? You should all stop watching this right now, it would be better if you didn't see what was about to happen."
Suddenly cries went out on the ship before a whirlpool opened up underneath it. Nojiko kneeled down to a little boy who was watching in horror, "Even though they came to rescue us…"
Nojiko put a hand on his shoulder, "This is the truth. No one can escape from Arlong's power."
As the ship was sucked into the whirlpool Naruto scoffed at Nojiko's words, "What did I just get through telling you Nojiko-chan? It's not that, it's just that the right people aren't doing anything to stop this."
Genzo turned to Naruto, "Don't you work for Arlong? Why are you speaking like this?"
Naruto gave the scarred man a smile, "I don't work for Arlong, I told him I work for Nami so that I could stay here until this was finished. And I'm speaking like this because it's the truth. Let me loose on Arlong, stop putting all of your eggs in one basket." The village gasped when Naruto said that, "If she can't pull it off then that would break her heart. Not letting her know that you all know what she's doing is even worse because you're making her feel alone."
Genzo moved towards Naruto, "We're trying to give her a way out, in case she ever does want to just quit and have her own life."
Naruto shook his head, "She's in too deep now, Nojiko told me she only needs 7 million more. She won't quit now no matter what, you can at least let her know that you support her. Trust me, there's not much worse than having no one on your side." Naruto walked off, "I'm going back to Arlong Park to get something kickstarted here, I'm sick of all of this posturing and sitting around, it isn't my style in situations like this."
Nojiko blinked and ran after him, "Wait you idiot!"
XxX
On the path back to Arlong Park, Naruto stopped and blinked at the sight of Usopp being mashed between Zoro's sheath and Sanji's foot, "Hey guys, you made it here after all. Seriously, you guys were fast."
"Naruto!" Was the collective cry from the crew minus Sanji who didn't know him that well at all.
Naruto noticed the new member, "Well it looks like you got that cook you were looking for."
Usopp stroked his chin, "There must be a reason she joined those mermen."
Naruto smirked, "Yeah there is, but it's not my place to tell. This place likes to keep their problems local." Naruto looked around, "Where are those other two swordsmen guys that were with you?"
Sanji pointed back the way they had come. Naruto sighed, "Of course I just missed them, that's just my luck." Naruto kept walking down the path, "Alright then, I'm going to Arlong Park. You guys can do what you want but I will be looking for any reason to kick Arlong's ass, of which I hope will be coming soon, he'll fuck up and overstep his boundaries very soon. Later."
Nojiko just watched Naruto walk off towards Arlong Park whistling a jaunty tune. She looked at the rest of Luffy's crew, of which most were just relaxing, "Are you just going to let him go right into their base alone? That's so reckless!"
Zoro looked up from where he was sitting against a tree, "Well he says he's not a part of the crew therefore Luffy doesn't have any say over him. I don't think Luffy would stop him if he was anyway. The guy knows what he's doing I guess."
Nojiko rubbed her temple, "If I tell you Nami's story for why she joined Arlong's crew will you leave?"
Luffy stood up, "I don't need to hear this because I don't care. I'll be taking a walk."
Usopp watched Luffy walk off in the opposite direction than the one Naruto went in, "You don't want to hear about her past?"
Luffy didn't turn around, "No, I don't."
XxX
(A Few Hours Later)
Naruto quickly got bored waiting at Arlong Park for anything to happen. Nami hadn't even come back. He hadn't seen her for most of the day and he knew that she could take care of herself, but the thing that had unnerved him more than anything was that whenever he looked at Arlong he had a satisfied look on his face and whenever he locked eyes with Naruto he would give the immortal a smug grin.
Naruto's senses started tingling and he shunshined out of Arlong Park.
Upon being sure of the blonde's absence, Arlong let out the victorious laughter that he had been holding back in Naruto's presence.
XxX
Naruto arrived back in the village to find many people crowding around the doctor's office. Naruto pushed his way through them all and found Genzo sitting by a bandaged up Nojiko. Naruto let out a low growl, "What happened?"
Genzo gritted his teeth, "That rat Major Nezumi came and took all of Nami's money. Arlong told them where it was and they tore apart the property looking for it."
Naruto looked at Nojiko and noticed that her bandages were on her back. He gently ran his hand over them as his eyes softened on her, "What did they do to you?" Upon primarily getting silence for his question his eyes sharpened, "Hey!" He snapped, getting everyone around to jump at his tone of voice, "I said what did they do to you?"
Genzo looked away with his fists shaking, Nojiko looked down, "That bastard shot me in the back."
Naruto didn't say a word. He simply turned and walked out of the building, passing all of the villagers with a stern look on his face. As he came to the outskirts of the village he saw Nami running towards it with tears in her eyes. He caught her and held her in his arms for a moment before lowering his mouth by her ear, "I said that all I needed was an excuse. Just one good excuse to raze Arlong's fortress to the ground and he gave it to me."
Nami's eyes widened, "W-What?" Like her sister not long before her he could feel Nami involuntarily shaking against his chest.
"He broke your heart. He used you and tricked you." Naruto let her go and continued to walk along the path towards Arlong Park, for the last time, "No one hurts my precious people…"
Nami stared at his back until he walked out of sight before continuing to run into the village as she heard the people begin to rally.
XxX
Naruto came to the east gate where he saw Johnny and Yosaku get thrown out by a group of mermen. They looked extremely beaten up. Naruto looked them over with a raised eyebrow, "So I guess you all know what they did to Nami already right?"
Johnny and Yosaku nodded, "We accused her of being a witch, of killing Usopp-aniki… After understanding the situation we tried to fight for Nami-aneue. We almost had them… We can't face her after all of the things we said."
Naruto wanted to roll his eyes but he really didn't feel like being sarcastic or witty right now, "You guys are both weak you know that right? Did you really think that you had a chance of taking Arlong and his men out as you are? That was just asking for trouble."
Johnny and Yosaku both looked down without saying a word. Naruto walked forward and patted them both on the shoulder getting them to look up at the whisker-cheeked blonde's smiling face.
"That being said, I have to say that fighting like that for a friend definitely puts you two up a notch in my book." Naruto walked past them towards the gate, rolling his shoulder to get any kinks out, "That puts you both at notch one."
Getting over their momentary shock, the two swordsmen jumped up to try and stop Naruto from confronting the fishmen, "Wait Naruto-aniki! You should wait for Luffy-aniki, Sanji-aniki, Usopp-aniki, and Zoro-aniki. You can't go in there alone."
Naruto looked back at them and saw that the villagers were coming up armed with anything that they had to fight, "You might be better off trying to stop them than me. It just occurred to me that none of you have ever seen me fight before have you? I mean Nami saw a little bit, Luffy and her have seen me use one real attack but other than that there hasn't been much of a reason for me to cut loose."
Johnny and Yosaku now had people at their back as they stared at the mysterious man in the red coat, "What are you saying Naruto-aniki?"
Naruto cracked his neck, "What I'm saying is; Luffy and the others better get here soon or there won't be anything left of Arlong Park for them to attack." Naruto formed a blue ball of energy in his hand and thrust it into the iron gate, sending it flying off of the hinges. He created three Kage Bunshin to stand outside the gate when the people started making for the entrance, they simply stood there shaking their heads and blocking the way.
The ruckus brought a bunch of Arlong's men rushing towards the gate to see just what had caused it when they found Naruto and the entire village of Cocoyashi a good way behind him outside of the threshold, "What are you doing here Uzumaki? Arlong-san didn't call for you or Nami."
Naruto bared his teeth, revealing his naturally sharpened canines, "I told Arlong already, that I don't work for him… I'm here for Nami and nothing else. And from this day forward the little arrangement he had with her is null and void."
"You think you can take my prized map maker away from me Uzumaki?" Arlong's laughter came as he sat on his patio looking over Naruto with an amused face, "And why would that be puny human?"
Naruto lifted his cold blue eyes to Arlong who almost shivered at the lack of emotion in the usually vibrant blue orbs, "Because I'm going to cut your heart out for breaking hers, and 100,000,000 beli is worthless to a dead man."
Chapter done. Alright, due to reviews saying such, yes, Naruto is ridiculously overpowered in this story, I didn't say it outright but here it is. He's been around for at least 100 years, how would he not be? This was by design. Although he's super strong the basis of him entering this world is that he's bored, simple as that. He can't just fade into the background and let things lie, that's not in his character so he moved on.
Any other questions that anyone would like to ask me go ahead, I have no issue with any concerns or thoughts that you would like to share as long as it's something that I can actually answer, I am by no means a professional, I'm just a guy trying to expand and improve on my writing experience as well as provide the good people of with more decent reading material. Remember that there are no stupid questions… unless I read it and say, "Damn that's a stupid question."
Alright, enjoy your day, I need to get to class. 8 am classes are a pain in my ass.
Kenchi out.
