In the weeks following Luffy's sudden but welcome intrusion upon their lives, both Sabo and Ace found a home with Makino, more so than at Dadan's (for Ace) and amongst the rubbish heaps of Gray Terminal (for Sabo). It was something of a relief for them, to not have to worry about the dangers of Gray Terminal when trying to scrounge up something of interest for any amount of Beries they could get their hands on. Instead, they did simple odd jobs around Fuusha, much to the amusement of many of the villagers living there, who occasionally chipped in a little extra for the hard efforts the trio made. It was a slower, but steadier flow of money, and none of them minded. The only person still sour about them, and Luffy, was Woop Slap.

Wiping some sweat off of his brow, Ace straightened up from the rather tidy stack of firewood he had been making. Next to his stack was Luffy's rather sloppy effort, but it would hold. With a glance over his shoulder at Sabo, who was manning the axe for this job, he grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "We're all done, Sabo. Let's go get our payment then head back over to Makino-san's." The coveralls that Makino had made for them to do their work in were surprisingly dirty. That was Luffy's fault of course, but that was just him turning their work into a form of training.

"I could use some of Makino-san's cooking," Sabo commented, returning the axe to the tool shed before joining Luffy and Ace on the back stoop. Luffy was already knocking on the door, a smile splitting his face in half.

The villager who had given them the job, a gentleman in his elder years, opened up the door and took in the sweaty, messy boys. His gaze roamed over to the two stacks of wood, one neat and the other a little messy, then he smiled and pulled out his money purse. "What a fine job you three have done." He handed them a little extra, followed up by a cold bottle of cola for each of them. "Thank you so much for your help."

"You're welcome Odachi-san. Thank you for the work!" Ace and Sabo chimed in together, while Luffy had already opened his bottle of cola and was drinking it down.

"Take care now," Mr. Odachi said with a smile before ushering them off of his stoop and closing the door.

Sabo carefully counted the money and grinned, adding the total to what they already had stashed away, now moved to between Fuusha and Dadan's at Luffy's urging. "This is much better than digging through scraps at Gray Terminal," the blond voiced as he pocketed the money for the time being, and opened up his own bottle of cola.

"And Makino-san is really nice," Ace commented while he watched Luffy literally bounce ahead of them. It probably hadn't been the best of ideas to let Luffy have a whole bottle of cola to himself, but the five-year-old was easily able to outmaneuver the both of them. They had complained about it only once before and the expression Luffy had given them sent chills down their backs whenever they recalled it. "I will not watch you die again," he had said, looking directly at Ace with an expression that was far too serious for the exuberant five-year-old they had come to know. It was sometimes hard to remember that despite his physical age, Luffy technically was older mentally. He certainly didn't act it.

Luffy disappeared into Makino's house just ahead of them, but within seconds darted back out and was running towards them. "RUN!" He yelled at them as he passed them by, leaving them a little confused. They blinked and looked at each other, then at Makino's house. For a second it seemed like there was nothing wrong, then a wall exploded. They didn't wait to see what came out of the wall. Sabo and Ace dropped their drinks and turned to run after Luffy, who was already way ahead of them.

-CtC-

He knew it was horrible to not wait for them to catch up, but he had his reasons. Sabo had been the first to get caught, just outside of Fuusha. It wasn't really the blond's fault, per se, but he was exhausted from chopping wood for the better part of the afternoon. While his training for them was paying off, they were still in the beginning stages where exhaustion came easily.

Ace was caught next, and the older brunet being present had given him a bit more time to run and hide. Logically he knew there was no such thing as running and hiding, not from…

WHUMP!

CRRRAAAACCCCKKKK!

The tree Luffy had scaled to the top quickly became unsteady and began to fall. "AHHHGGG!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, clinging to the treetop for dear life.

THUD!

Luffy screwed his eyes shut and waited for the inevitable pain that always accompanied one of his grandfather's visits. After several seconds of silence, the young rubber-boy opened his eyes a sliver and hesitantly lifted his head to look around. Ace and Sabo were standing over him, each with a somber expression on their faces. A cracking noise sounded behind Luffy and he could hear the foliage of the tree shifting as someone approached him.

Just before a loud whoosh filled his ears, indicating that a fist was heading for his head, Luffy remembered that Garp was able to use Haki: Busoshoku. Making a split second decision, that was most likely going to haunt him for the rest of his life (at least while Garp continued to breathe), he rolled out of the way of his grandfather's punch, which happened to shatter the thin tree top that had been under him.

"Uwah! Are you trying to kill me?!" Luffy cried out once he caught sight of the shattered tree top. He ducked behind his brothers faster than anyone else could react, and even caught the narrowing of his Grandfather's eyes, despite the action being very minute. Peeking out at Garp from behind Ace, Luffy made sure to keep a firm grasp on the back of the older brunet's shirt. He ignored Ace's immediate protest and stared up at his Grandfather.

While Garp would have normally made another attack, despite Luffy using Ace as a shield, the Vice Admiral had paused at the expert dodge his grandson had used to evade his punch. Not that it was even expert. Luffy had used pure speed, speed that he shouldn't have at five years old or anywhere close to his age. There had also been a touch of something else, which niggled at the back of his mind, but he pushed it aside for the time being. "I see you've been doing some training, Luffy, and heading out of Fuusha on your own," he commented, his gaze sliding over each of the boys. It had been a surprise to see Ace down in Fuusha, and with the way that his Grandson was clinging to the back of the boy's shirt he figured that Luffy had something to do with it.

It was such a perfect opportunity to cover up his use of the speed he had been training his body to be able to handle again that he nearly missed the glint in Garp's eyes. The old man was suspicious. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," Luffy stammered out, looking away from his Grandfather.

What a terrible liar, Ace and Sabo thought together, the blond edging away from the two brunets and certain pain, while Ace tried to tug his shirt out of Luffy's grasp.

"Oh?" A sort of dark aura seemed to surround Garp and his cracked his knuckles in a threatening manner.

Ace's tugging became a little more desperate while Sabo outright fled, or at least attempted to. Garp was suddenly blocking his way, having decided that all three boys, even if he was unfamiliar with the blond boy, were in on it together.

-CtC-

"Owww…" Luffy groaned out, rubbing at the sizeable lump on the back of his head. Two small fists immediately smashed into said lump, sending another lance of pain through his body, though it was incomparable to the pain of the single blow that Garp had managed to land on him while using Soru.

"Shut up, idiot. It's your fault 'cause you chose to run," Ace grumbled as he and Sabo went back to nursing the half dozen lumps each were sporting on their heads.

They were all still out in the forests between Fuusha and Dadan's mountain bandit home, Garp having temporarily left them to go and fetch some firewood. They didn't dare slip off since the old Marine proved that he could track them down regardless of where they went, and that was without the use of Kenbunshoku. He had an uncanny sense of where they were.

"I only ran 'cause I knew he would hit me," Luffy pouted and laid out on the ground. He craned his neck to look at his brothers, even if his view of them was upside down. "And he still got me," the five-year-old muttered. It was a little unfair that his Grandfather had used Soru, but it was completely expected of Garp to do something like that. At least that opened up an avenue for him to question his Grandfather and ask him to teach him the technique. Hopefully he could also get him to teach him the rest of the Rokushiki techniques.

There came a rustling from the surrounding forest, followed by the cracking of branches being stepped on. All three boys unconsciously tensed as Garp appeared with a whole tree over one shoulder, that was at least a few feet wide, and a large tiger slung over the other one. "I came across dinner while I was out looking for firewood."

Luffy's stomach grumbled at the mention of dinner, and it was quickly followed by Ace's and Sabo's stomachs as well. The youngest of them, however, ignored his stomach and instead sat up to give his Grandfather a serious expression. "Ne, Ojii-chan, what is that superfast move you used called?"

"Hm?" Garp tossed the tiger corpse then proceeded to stand the tree up so he could punch it into suitable pieces for firewood with his fists. He glanced at Luffy for a moment, taking in the look his Grandson was giving him, before he began to pulverize the tree. "It's a special technique that only strong Marines are taught, along with a few others. It's called Soru."

Luffy could hardly believe that Garp was telling him about the Rokushiki techniques, or that he was even mentioning it in front of Ace and Sabo. This was more than perfect, and he could only wonder at why Garp would be willing to reveal such coveted information. The Rokushiki techniques were not even known by the majority of the Marines that patrolled the four Blue Seas. It was uncommon for Marines to know them in Paradise, but in the New World… It seemed like a vast majority of the Marines in the New World knew the Rokushiki techniques. "Soru?" He said it slowly, his eyes purposefully large as he stared up at his Grandfather. "Ne, Ojii-chan. Could you teach us to do Soru?"

Garp paused in his task of making firewood with a splutter, a stricken look on his face as he turned to answer Luffy. He also took in the sight of Ace and Sabo, who looked confused about this line of conversation but also interested in what his answer would be. They also looked a bit hopeful. Normally, he would have never used Soru to catch up to his Grandson, so he wouldn't have been put into this position. Still, the boy had been unusually quick on his feet. "I suppose I could… But none of you have the proper training so that your bodies can handle Soru, or any of the other techniques." He was wary of teaching them any of the Rokushiki, especially since he didn't know Sabo, and only had a vague relationship with both Ace and Luffy. None of that hardly mattered, because he hadn't questioned Ace's presence in Fuusha, nor did he need to know the blond boy's identity. That they were apparently fast friends with Luffy was more than enough for him to accept their presence.

"Then could you train us?" Surprisingly the question came from Ace, whose expression became determined. "Could you teach us to use that Soru, and the other techniques?"

Garp knew that it wasn't easy for Ace growing up here, even in the far corner of East Blue. The hatred directed towards the child's father was commonplace, and he knew that the boy occasionally wandered out from the safety of Dadan's mountain hideout thanks to the annual reports he had the woman send him. "You boys will need to work hard. Learning these techniques will not be easy, at all, and it usually takes years for them to be mastered. I won't tolerate any slacking, from any of you." He had wanted to give an overblown speech about how they should also join the Marines, but they were young, and he had plenty of time to convince them.

"Yosh!" Luffy cried out, pumping his fists into the air. His celebratory mood quickly halted however, as his stomach gave another loud, plaintive growl and he gave a groan as he put a hand over the rumbling organ. "Can we eat yet?"