Chapter 7: Enter Sakura Haruno

Naruto's heart was beating even more furiously when he heard Sakura give her name. 'Sakura' he repeated in his mind over and over. Instantly, his imagination went on overdrive and he was thinking of hundreds of possibilities that could happen when he made Sakura his girlfriend. That's right. Not if. When. As he was lost in la la land, he began drooling out his mouth.

At that sight, Sakura quietly stepped back a little and walked toward to the sane one to talk. "So, you guys are ninja? What are you doing in a place like this?"

Shino said nothing as he deliberated on how much to tell this girl. Finally he said, "Our ship is in need of a navigator and we stopped by here to see if we could recruit one. However, we did not know that Buggy the Clown has conquered the town."

The name rang a warning bell in Sakura's head. "Oh, crap! I forgot!" Instantly she reached down and picked up the box she had been carrying. "I've got to get this new batch of rum to that clown fast!"

That statement brought Naruto back to reality and even Shino stepped back in surprise. Sakura started running again. This Naruto ran in front of her, blocking her path. "Wait a minute…you mean you're part of Buggy's crew? I thought you were one of the villagers."

"Listen idiot. I don't have time to sit here and keep chatting! I have to get these new rum bottles to him right now. Move it!"

Naruto started protesting again, but Shino grabbed him by the collar and pulled him away. "Shino! What do you think you're doing?" he screamed as he watched the hot girl ran away.

"It seems that I also need to improve your listening skills as well as your attention span. I told you already that Buggy is a foul tempered pirate. His favorite hobby includes blasting cannon balls at everything. It is also his favorite method of punishment." He then turned Naruto around, grabbed him by the face and looked at him strait in the eye. "Knowing this, tell me: what do you think will happen if Sakura fails to deliver the alcohol in time?"

Naruto's eyes went wide. And Shino nodded in approval.

Then Naruto instantly started running again in Sakura's direction. This time, Shino used a little brute force and shoved him to the ground. While Naruto was rubbing his butt, Shino stood in front of him. "Care to explain your intentions?"

"You said it yourself! She's going to Buggy and she's going to get blown away by a cannonball!"

Shino shook his head. "Your attention span is incredibly short, much shorter than it should be. What, did you plan just to rush in there, beat everyone up and rescue the 'damsel in distress?'

"…Pretty much. You just left out the hero's kiss." Naruto replied and instantly went off daydreaming about doing all the heroic stuff until Shino spoke again. "While your goals are honorable, running into the situation without learning all the facts will only land both you and Sakura into vast trouble."

Once again, Naruto snapped out of dreamland and glared at Shino. Before Naruto could comment, Shino started walking away. He then turned back and asked. "Are you coming? If we want to find where Sakura is going, we had best start following, least we lose sight of her." With that, Shino leapt to the rooftops again, with Naruto a split second behind. Once on the rooftop, Naruto scanned the horizon but didn't see Sakura anywhere. "Great…we've lost her."

"She's in this direction." Shino said simply, pointing towards center of the town. He then started running in that direction.

"How do you know that?"

"I have my methods."

The two ran along the rooftops towards the former city hall. Once the said building was in sight, Shino gestured for Naruto to follow him quietly. The two landed on a rooftop next to the former city hall, and Shino pulled Naruto into the shadows and the two looked on. Shino had chosen this spot well: they had a clean view of what was happening on the nearby building. They watched as the pirates partying all over the place. Buggy himself was sitting in a chair in the middle of it. To the far end, a large steel cage was there.

Shino said nothing, but released several dozen of the insects and had them fly to the party. Naruto looked at Shino and asked, "What's going on down there?"

Shino said nothing at first, then, "It would appear that the clown pirates are celebrating a new member joining them…as well as capturing 'the real thief.'"

Shino then had the bugs form a jagged line from the party back to themselves, with one bug telling the next what the pirates said, that bug would tell the next in line and so on. Similar to a children's game of leap frog, or telephone. Shino could then hear the conversations as they were spoken.

"It would seem that their new crewmember is someone called Nami…Sakura has dropped of the box she was carrying…Nami has just been challenged to a drinking game…Buggy is now ranting about how they've got the map back and how they can finally go the Grand Line and raise hell…Sakura is walking away towards one end of the party…Nami was won the contest…she is now taking to the prisoner inside the cage…well, this is inconvenient…"

"What? What is it?"

"It would seem that the prisoner is none other than Luffy." Shino's graze never left the city hall rooftop, but his hand instantly went to Naruto's mouth before the other ninja could start yelling. Shino then spoke without looking at Naruto. "Allow me to speculate: you want to rush in there, kicked the pirate's butts and rescue both Luffy and Sakura."

Naruto still wasn't able to speak, but he did nod vigorously and had a look that said: 'what's wrong with that?' This time Shino turned his head and looked Naruto in the eye.

"One: running in there without a plan will only result in you being captured. Two, even if we did have a plan, we still don't know what Buggy's Devil Fruit ability is. Three, we should wait for Zoro to arrive and use all our available skills. Four, there is no need to rush."

At that Naruto shook off Shino's hand. "No rush!?" he asked, though thankfully in a whisper. "Luffy's been captured! We can't wait!"

"What you say is true: Luffy's been captured." Shino made sure to emphasize the word. "For the moment, he is not in any danger due to the pirates partying. This will allow us the time we need to devise a plan and ensure that a rescue attempt will b-" Shino abruptly cut off as a large cannon blast went off, leveling an entire section of the town.

Both Konoha ninja instantly looked back at the party. "What the hell just happened? Are they under attack?" Naruto demanded.

Shino said nothing at first, merely waiting for his bugs to report. A few moments later, he said. "Change in plans…we're doing it your way."

"Huh? I mean…yeah! But why the change of heart?"

"Because Buggy has just pointed the cannon at Luffy's cage and ordered Nami to shoot him with it."

"What?!" Naruto screamed, though somehow, no one heard him. Shino then came up with a quick plan. "I want to you create a horde of Kage Bunshin and send them to the rear of the party. DO NOT bring them out until I tell you. Meanwhile, the two of us will attack the party at the front. Now follow me. We must be quick, accurate and quiet."

Naruto nodded. He and Shino jumped down to the street level out of the roof's line of sight and Naruto quickly created two hundred shadow clones and set them in position. He and Shino then quickly scaled the wall and stop short of the rooftop. Shino held up three fingers and Naruto nodded. Shino let one down. He let down a second. Before he could let down the final finger, he suddenly jerked back up. "It seems that Nami has refused to fire the cannon…and the pirates are about to attack her. Let's go!"

XXXXXXX – 'Buggy's Island', former City Hall

'Darn it' Nami thought bitterly. She had just stopped one of the pirates from lighting the cannon with her staff. 'I couldn't help myself. At least those three Sound ninja aren't here.'

"TRAITOR!!," Buggy roared. "AND AFTER I WELCOMED YOU INTO MY CREW!"

"Whoa, are you going to save me after all?" asked the still tied up Luffy in the steel cage.

Nami jerked her head back a little in his direction. "Don't be stupid!" She then turned her head back to Buggy's men. "I just got carried away. I just don't want to become a low-down murderer like all of you!"

Her hands tighten on her staff until her knuckles were white with strain. "You pirates took someone very dear to me…I'll never become what I hate!"

Luffy's face actually fell a little at that statement. "Oh…so that's why you hate pirates." He then looked at the cannon and saw the fuse had been lit. "YIKES!!! THE FUSE IS LIT!!!" Luffy cried in a panic voice. He then began chopping on one of the steel bars with his teeth, trying to chew through it as a beaver would a tree. "I'M GONNA DIE!!!"

Nami looked back in horror and that's when Buggy shouted. "Little girl, you tried to make a fool of me!! For that you die!!" That's when Buggy's pirates attacked, all of them grabbing weapons and charging Nami.

Nami looked back and muttered that the fuse was still lit. At that moment, several pirates attacked. Nami countered by swinging her staff at them and caused all but two to jump back. Those two merely jumped over and prepared to butcher the girl. That's when two figures suddenly ran past Nami and attack. The larger one simply planted a right hook into one of the pirate's face, while the shorter one kicked the other one in the stomach. Both men were thrown back to the other side of the rooftop.

"What the hell…who are you two?!" Buggy demanded.

Nami used the brief distraction and ran back to the fuse and put it out by grabbing it. Luffy meanwhile, cried out. "Naruto! Shino! What kept you?!"

In the back part of the roof, Sakura decided to calmly back away, while Buggy and his pirates were concentrated on the two newcomers. If Buggy knew that she had talked to them before... he would probably outright kill Sakura and her parents. She then quickly glanced at her parents who were also in the back. Sakumoto, her father, met her eye and seemed to understand her position and why she had been late on her delivery. Quietly, he nodded, and nudged in his head towards the stairs. But, like always, Sakura shook her head and refused to abandon her parents.

As Sakura had told Naruto and Shino, her father had been a former Konoha chunin. However, since the attacks, Sakumoto had been on the disabled list for active ninja status. His lower right leg was a mere wooden replacement and his left arm was heavily bandaged, for it was a mass of burns and sores that had never fully healed. Sakumoto had been on the front lines when the Kyubi attacked Konoha, and he had considered himself lucky for merely losing a leg and permanent damage on his arm instead of his life.

Sakumoto was a man of average height. He had bright red hair, with a small goatee. He currently wore a forest green shirt and black pants with sandals. His old Konoha hitai-ite was nowhere visible on his person, for it was tucked away in one of his pockets. If fact, he hadn't worn it since he and his family fled Konoha. His personality was what one would call playful as he constantly loved being out and about doing things with either his friends or daughter.

Maria looked a lot different than her husband. She stood nearly a full head over him and long, flowing blond hair. Unlike her husband, she hadn't been a shinobi. She had been a simple banker in Konoha. She wore a dark blue shirt with light brown pants. Unlike her husband and daughter, she wore small black boots. Everything about her, even her stance, said that she was a business woman who held little tolerance for childish behaviors. She and Sakumoto had only been married for a year and a half until Sakura had been born to them. Then came the Kyubi attack, followed by the rest of the chaos.

All three Harunos continued to watch in silence as events continued to unfold. Naruto looked back at Luffy and was about to answer who they had met when Shino spoke up first. "We were exploring the town, hoping to see if any of the villagers remained there. That is all."

Naruto just looked at Shino, who quickly silenced him with a stare. Naruto obviously did not understand, but Shino knew that if Naruto blurted out about them meeting Sakura, then things would get ugly for her. Shino looked through the crowd and found Sakura in the back, along with two people that were probably her parents.

At this point, Naruto finally spoke up. "So…is that Buggy? The one with the freakishly, huge red ball for a nose?"

All the pirate's, Haruno's and even Nami's jaws dropped. Nami instantly smacked the blond brat and yelled. "YOU BLOND BRAT! DON'T EVER SAY THAT!"

"Why?" Naruto asked, rubbing his head.

"KIIIIILLLLLL HIIIMMMM!!!!" Buggy roared. Many pirates instantly lunged forward, all doing their own battle cries.

Naruto gave a small sigh. 'Don't tell me that Buggy goes off just like Alivida did over a small comment. Damn, and people tell me to grow up. Are ALL pirates complete idiots?'

Nami looked at the two in confusion. Luffy had told her earlier that he had three crewmates here, but she didn't guess that he had shinobi in his group. Nor that one of them would be a complete idiot like him. She hoped that the other one and the unknown person had some sanity in them. She watched as six pirates then lounged forward at the two shinobi. The small one in orange –Naruto, she thought was what Luffy had called him-, grab a weapon that she recognized as a kunai, while the taller one in the trench coat –Shino, she guessed – simply raised his arms. However, their preparations weren't need as yet another person entered.

This person calmly blocked all six of the pirate's attacks with two sheathed swords. What was also weird was that this person had a third sword strapped at his hip. Luffy then cried out, "Zoro!" Nami thought her knees would give out as she heard the name. Zoro then smirked and shoved his arms forward, throwing the six pirates to join the other two at the other end of the roof.

Zoro looked at Nami and asked a quick 'you hurt?' After getting no for an answer, Zoro then looked and saw Naruto, Shino and Luffy in his cage. Luffy screamed out first. "ZORO!! YOU'RE HERE!! NOW GET ME OUT OF HERE!!'

Zoro simply shook his head. "Always goofing around. First you fly off with a bird and now you're playing in some cage. Idiot!" Zoro then turned his attention to the other two. "Naruto, I'm not surprised to you in the middle of this mess, but you Shino? I thought I told you to keep the rodent out of trouble."

The pirates had frozen in their tracks. Many of them were repeating the name to their fellows. Nami herself was also coming over her shock. 'His third crewman was the famous pirate hunter? This idiot has him and two ninja in his crew. Who the hell are they?'

Naruto snapped again. "Dead man! Will you lie off the rodent crap! I'm sick of and tired of it!"

"No."

Shino answered as Naruto gave Zoro the finger. "Circumstances force us to act earlier than I would have liked. Namely, the one called Nami was ordered to shoot Luffy with the cannon that is now aiming towards him."

Zoro looked at the cannon as Buggy walked over. "So, you're Roronoa Zoro, eh? You must have come to capture me."

Zoro didn't even look at Buggy as he responded. "I gave up pirate hunting. I have no interest in you."

Buggy whipped out several knives and began twirling one in his right hand. "Well, I am interested in you. Killing you will be a nice feather on my hat."

Zoro finally looked in Buggy's direction. "Back off before I pluck all your feathers."

Buggy attacked, running blindly at Zoro. Zoro simply put a sword in his mouth, grabbed his other two and countered. He easily got past Buggy's knives and cut Buggy through his right arm, right leg and strait through Buggy's waist. All four pieces of Buggy fell to the ground with one thump. Zoro looked at the pieces and muttered in disgust. "Not even worth the effort of a technique."

"That was almost too easy!" Luffy added happily.

Naruto's jaw dropped. "ZORO!! I knew you were bloody thirsty! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BUTCHER HIM!!!"

Shino said nothing as he stared at the scene. He did note that the pirates were laughing softly amongst themselves. Curiously, he ordered some of his insects to inspect Buggy's body.

Zoro sheathed his swords, walked over to Naruto and smacked him on the head. "What did you think would happen? Pirates don't play nicely. If you don't like it, you can go home and play pretend."

"ZORO! NARUTO! ARGUE LATER!" Luffy yelled. "Zoro! Get me outta here!"

"Oh right." They said simultaneously.

Nami was looking at the pirates. They were stilling laughing…and their laughter was going louder. 'What's with those pirates? Their Captain gets killed and they just laugh about it?'

Zoro beckoned Shino over. "We can't open this thing without the key and it's too thick for me to cut through. Can your little 'friends' help out?"

Before Shino could respond, the pirate's laughter reached a new extreme. Naruto looked at the crew and said, "Shut up already and give us the damn key!"

One of Shino's insects returned and suddenly his eyebrows raised in surprised. Quickly he turned to Zoro and yelled. "ZORO! BUGGY'S NOT– !" Zoro let out a scream as his face burst in pain.

Buggy's knife had struck Zoro in his lower back. The knife was being held by Buggy…or to be accurate it was being held by Buggy's hand. That was all.

Luffy. "ZORO!!"

Naruto. "What the hell!?"

Shino. "Problem."

Nami. "What the…THAT HAND!"

Zoro grunted as he grabbed the hand and pushed it away from his body. Buggy's voice came from behind and said. "Chop-Chop Fruit." Everyone looked in his direction. Buggy's floating right hand was floating next to the other three pieces of Buggy. Then all four pieces of Buggy pressed themselves together and Buggy was whole again. "That's the name of the Devil Fruit that I ate!" Buggy cried. "You can slice and dice me, but you can't kill me! I'm a Chop Chop Man!"

"His body is back together again," Nami said in disbelief. "I thought the stories about Devil's Fruits were just myths."

"I assure you, they are not." Shino stated.

"OBVIOUSLY!!!"

"Chop Chop Man?" Luffy repeated. "Sounds like a freak to me."

Naruto gave Luffy a look that said you're-one-to-talk-Gum-Gum-Man.

Buggy was advancing on Zoro once again. Naruto instantly tried to ran and stop the clown, but Shino stared at him again. This time Naruto got the message: now was not yet the time. They still had their secret weapon after all. Naurto let out an audible grunt as the famed Pirate Hunter was on his knees with his hand pressed against his back to try and stop his guts from spilling out. Buggy knelt down, placed one knife underneath his chin and raised Zoro's head. "Roronoa Zoro!" Buggy said with a huge smile. "Looks like I missed your vitals…but you still took a serious wound."

Zoro was breathing too hard to reply. 'Well this is just perfect. I came to save Luffy, now we both need to be saved. Shino told us that he was a Devil Fruit user, I should have been prepared. Damn it, I guess I have to rely on Shino and Naruto to save us. Which I guess means that everything is in Shino's hands seeing how Naruto is just as stupid as Luffy.' He then shot a glance at the orange haired thief. 'I hope that broad is able to help out. We don't have time to rescue someone else.'

Buggy then withdraw his knife from Zoro's chin, stood up and began twirling all of his blades. "Now then, Zoro…how shall I kill you? Should I skin you alive? How about if I stab all of your non-vital areas and watch you bleed to death? Or should I simply throw all of my knives at once and see what happens?" All of his crew began laughing hard.

Naruto whispered to Shino. "Now?" He was itching to unleash his shadow clone horde and clobber the pirates

Shino shook his head. "We need to draw their attention off of Zoro first. Or else our trump card will be useless."

Nami gulped. Things were not looking good. She knew that if she, or even one of the two ninjas, didn't do something fast things would get ugly very soon.

"STABBING SOMEONE IN THE BACK…THAT'S FIGHTING DIRTY!!! YOU GOT THAT BIG NOSE!!!"

All of the clown pirates' jaw dropped three feet. Nami was yelling at Luffy and Buggy popped several veins in his forehead and pointed an arm strait at Luffy. "YOU DARE CALL ME 'BIG NOSE!!!'" Buggy's right hand then launched from Buggy's arm and flew strait at Luffy at an incredible speed. It went sailing through the bags of the cage and struck Luffy in the face.

"LUFFY!!!" Zoro and Naruto cried.

Luffy let out a chuckled. He had got the blade with his teeth. "I swear…" He then bit down on the knife and broke it in two. "I'm gonna clobber you!"

"Naruto. Now." Shino said all of the sudden.

"Music to my ears." Naruto replied as he sent a mental order to his clone army.

"Heh, heh…clobber me? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Clobber me?! Don't make me laugh. After all, you five are about to – " Buggy was cut off by several loud screams.

Instantly, all of the clown pirates turned to find over two hundred Narutos charging them. The first wave of them clashed into the pirates and battle started. Nami rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing anything then Naruto grabbed her and the four of them quickly ran towards Luffy's cage. Naruto crossed his fingers again and created ten clones. Nami gasped this time and said. "What the hell! Who are you!?"

The original smirked and pointed at his hitai-ite headband and answered with pride. "Naruto Uzumaki. Future Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village." The other ten then gathered around the cage and all tried to pick up the cage. It didn't move at all. After three mores attempts, all ten of the clones collapsed in exhaustion. "It's…too…heavy…" one managed to say before all ten vanished.

During the battle, Sakumoto had taken his wife and daughter and hid them in the corner. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the wounded pirate hunter pick up the cage by himself. The one called Luffy then called Nami their new navigator, to which she promptly denied. Sakumoto looked at his wife and they both nodded. Buggy was going to be furious when this fight ended and he discovered that his enemies were gone. He would most likely take out his frustration on the three Harunos. They had to get Sakura out of here, at the very least.

In one swift motion with his good arm, he grabbed his daughter in the arm. Sakura tried to protest, but Maria covered Sakura's mouth. The two elder Haruno's managed to weave through the battle chaos and arrive near the five people, who were about to flee. Desperately, Sakumoto cried. "Wait!"

Naruto stopped and looked back. He instantly recognized Sakura and waved, causing the rest of the group to stop and look in their direction. Sakumoto was breathing hard and said. "Please…take Sakura with you!"

Sakura instantly got herself out of her father's arm. "What? No! I told you: I'm not leaving you two!"

Maria shook her head. "No. Now's the time you get out of here. Buggy's going to be furious when he learns you've all escaped. He'll hurt us. I am not going to let that happen to my baby."

"Then come with me!" Sakura protested

Sakumoto gave a small smile. "Sorry, dear. Neither your mother, nor I are strong enough to run. I'm injured and you're mother hasn't had our training. Besides…" he grinned. "It's about time I stood up to Buggy. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. I'll be able to buy you a few minutes at least." He looked at Luffy. "Please…I'm begging you…take Sakura with you."

None of the others said anything, but Luffy held one of his rare serious looks. Slowly, he nodded. "We'll keep her safe. I swear."

"Thank you." Sakumoto and Maria said together.

Sakura shook her head harder, tears streaking down. "No! I'm not leav – " Sakura was abruptly cut off as Shino delivered a blow to the back of her head and knocked her out. He then gathered the girl in his arms, much to Naruto's displeasure. "Are you sure that you won't accompany us?" Shino asked

They nodded and both yelled "GO!" With that, the small group leapt off the roof top and disappeared. Sakumoto looked back at the Buggy pirates and let loose a grin. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his old hitai-ite. For the first time in twelve years, since the fall of the Shinobi villages, Sakumoto put on his leaf headband.

About a minute later, the last of the Naruto clones had vanished. Buggy was furiously looking around and saw the two Harunos. "Where the hell did those bastards run off to?!"

Sakumoto answered. "Sorry…they're gone." Maria grinned. "To bad…Big Nose."

"YOU TWO ARE SO DEAD! AND SO IS YOUR DAUGHTER WHERE I GET MY HANDS ON HER! GET THEM!"

Sakumoto then bent down by the cannon that had been pointed at Luffy's cage. With all of his strength, he managed to stand up and push the cannon over and in the direction of the pirates. They all stopped instantly. "THE BIG CANNON'S POINTED RIGHT AT US!!!" Several crewmen cried.

"YAAAHHH!!!" Buggy added his face full with terror. "AND THAT ONE'S LOADED WITH ONE OF MY SPECIAL BUGGY BALLS!!! STOP HARUNO!!! I'LL FORGIVE YOUR DEBT!!! WE CAN WORK THIS OUT!!!" Maria smiled and lit a match.

Sakumoto grinned. "I believe you said it yourself once: never barter with a pirate." And with that, Maria lit the fuse.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!"

XXXXXXX – 'Buggy's' Island, South End

The five figures had retreated via the roof tops many blocks away. During that time, Nami had slipped away by herself, but the others didn't have time to worry about her. Zoro was having a hard time lugging the iron cage with Luffy in it, so Shino had then drop to the ground and forced Zoro to take a brief rest while they decided their next move. Shino then gently laid Sakura on the ground, while Naruto fumed at the sight and looked at their surroundings. They were in front of a pet food store.

Zoro was breathing heavily. "We got away…for now…but what are we going to do about the cage?"

No one offered an answer. So Zoro collapsed on the ground, panting he had to rest. Shino deployed several insects to use as scouts and Naruto was about to wake Sakura up when he noticed the small, white dog in front of the pet food store. "What's with you, dog?" Zoro asked it.

"Dog?" Luffy asked. He looked in Zoro's direction, shouted and said happily. "Hey, dog!"

Naruto, briefly curious, went from Sakura to the dog and held out his hand. "Here puppy, pupp…OW!" The dog's jaw clamped down on Naruto's hand.

"HA! HA!" Both Luffy and Zoro laughed, while caused Naruto to started swearing at the two idiots and the dumb mutt.

Luffy stretched an arm out and moved Naruto. He then said. "Now this is the way you….OUCH!!!" The dog had now clamped its jaw on Luffy's hand. This, of course, caused Naruto and Zoro to laugh, while Luffy started cussing.

At this point, Nami came walking up. "Playing with dogs in the middle of the street…is this really the best hiding place you guys can come up with? I can't tell if you people are geniuses, or just plain idiots."

"He's the idiot!" They said together. Naruto pointed to Zoro, Zoro pointed Luffy, and Luffy pointed to Naruto. Then they noticed who was talking and shouted. "Hey it's our navigator!"

"I never agreed to that!" Nami sighed and turned to Shino. "How do you stand these fools? They drive me crazy and it's only been ten minutes."

"While each of their respective intelligence levels are severely low, we do share a come dream and desire. In addition, there is always…activity going on." Shino replied.

"Ok," Nami said slowly, still not sure if she understood. She then turned on gaze on the entire group. "Well…I just wanted to thank you for saving me."

"Thank us?" All four asked.

Nami shook her head in disbelief again. She then tossed down the key she had stolen for the cage.

"THE KEY!!" Luffy shouted excitedly. "You stole the key to the cage!!"

Zoro smiled. "Then the rescue was a success after all."

Naruto thanked Nami and added. "Seems our new navigator is fitting in quite well."

"I said I didn't agree to that." Which only made Naruto throw his head back and laugh. "What's so funny, idiot?!" Nami demanded.

Naruto pointed at Zoro. "Sword bastard said the same thing when Luffy first invited him into the crew. Yet, here he is. You're in…you just don't know it yet."

Before Nami could retort, the dog swallowed the key.

Silence ruled as they all looked at the dog.

Luffy then grabbed the dog by the throat and shaking it vigorously, demanding that the dog cough up, poop up, anything to get the key out. While he was doing this, Shino said. "We have company."

"Dern whipper-snappers!" a voice cried. All heads turned to the source: it was an old man wearing a set of homemade armor with a spear on his back. He had busy hair and wearing glasses. He continued shouting. "Don't you pick on poor Chou Chou!"

"Don't pick on him?" Naruto asked. "He's picking on us!"

"Quiet!" The old man's graze then fell to the unconscious form of Sakura. "SAKURA!!"

The old man quickly leaped to Sakura and gently woke her up. "Mayor Boodle?" she asked. She looked around her and her face turned to realization when she realized where she was. Quickly getting up, she ran off towards the old city hall. The mayor protested, but Sakura ignored him.

Nami grunted and pointed at Naruto and Shino. "You two. Go and get her and bring her back. We don't need a second rescue to deal with."

Naruto began ranting about how no girl was going to boss him around. He was in the middle of his rant when Shino grabbed him by the collar and said. "Come on." Shino then dragged the squealing Naruto away.

Two minutes later, both Naruto and Shino jumped down and landed in front of Sakura, who simply shouted. "Move!"

Shino simply stood in front and grabbed her by the arms. Sakura instantly began protesting and saying that she had to help her parents. Naruto said. "We will!"

At that, Sakura stopped and looked at him. "You will?" She repeated. "Then why the hell did you abandon them!?"

"It was a tactical retreat." Shino stated, surprising both Sakura and Naruto, "We were currently at a disadvantage: Zoro was wounded and Luffy was stuck in a cage. We needed to retreat and reorganize ourselves for a counterattack."

Sakura seemed to calm down, until Naruto said. "We are?"

Shino simply stared at Naruto, while keeping his grip on Sakura. "You should know Luffy, Zoro and yourself well enough to answer that question. Would you simply run off without confronting Buggy?"

"Hell no," Naruto said without hesitation. Realization hit him. "…And the others, even you, wouldn't either."

Shino nodded, and then turned his direction back to Sakura. "Now…I'm going to release if you promise not to run back to your parents until we have formed a battle plan."

Slowly, Sakura nodded. After letting go, Shino gestured to a nearby step and the three sat down. Shino then looked at Sakura and said. "Now…we are going to have to wait a little while we figure out a way to free Luffy and allow Zoro to recover a little. While we're waiting, if you're willing, I would like to hear why your family is with Buggy's pirates. From your precious actions, it seems obvious that you are not members of the crew. Yet, you did not evacuate with the rest of the villagers. Why?"

Sakura looked down and said. "To understand that…I would have to tell you my past a little."

Both Naruto and Shino nodded and waited for Sakura to speak.

Finally she did. "You both know that the shinobi lands were destroyed over twelve years ago and that all families were running in every direction. My family wasn't any different. Like most people, we only had the clothes on our backs nothing me. I was a baby at the time and my parent's didn't have anything to feed me."

Shino nodded. "I sympathize. Several of my cousins…did not survive the first week at sea. I am glad that you were fortunate."

Sakura looked at Shino in the eyes and said. "I'm sorry about your cousins. Anyway, after two days, we were 'rescued.'" She said rescued like it was some disgusting swear word.

"What did you mean?" Naruto asked. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Sure. It's a good thing when you're rescuers aren't pirates."

Shino said. "They were Buggy's pirates, weren't they?" It sounded more like a statement than a question.

Sakura nodded. "You're bright, unlike the other three idiots."

"HEY!!" Naruto protested, only to have his mouth shut once again by Shino. Muttering through the hand, Naurto added. "Your hand is developing a nasty habit."

"Please continue, Sakura-san. I am assuming that you use the honorifics."

She nodded again. "Thank you…Shino was it?" After receiving Shino's own nod, she continued. "Well, Buggy found us and my parents were able to 'barter' for some basic supplies. Food. Water. Medicine for me. In exchange, they were to work on the ship for a month. Well a month past, then two. Buggy kept adding more and more to their 'debt'. My parents didn't object too much because they felt they owed Buggy, specifically because my life was saved. Then two more weeks past and my parents realized that Buggy wasn't going to let them go and just keep them for free labor."

"So…in the dead of night. My parents stole some supplies, a little treasure, took a lifeboat and ran. We managed to get to a small island that was nearby. We hid amongst the locals until Buggy's ship disappeared. Once it did, my father was able to barter for some more supplies and we quickly left."

Shino interjected. "You feared that Buggy would find you again and seek revenge on your thefts."

"That's right. So…for seven years, my family jumped from island to island, hoping that Buggy would lose our trail and never find us." She gave a small smile. "I must admit…during that time…it was kind of fun. I enjoyed going to new places and meeting new people. I met a person called Ino when I was six. Oh…the fun we had." Her smile disappeared and she shook her fists in anger. "Then she had the nerve to scare the good looking boy away. His red hair was so dashing and his eyes…" Naruto cleared his throated. "Oh…right…um…when I was seven, we decided to settle on this island."

"During all this time, my father had never said that he was a former ninja. We knew that many people didn't trust the ninja, another reason we moved so much. But when we came here, the Mayor, he was so friendly. Both him and Chou Chou's master, who always said to call him 'Uncle.'"

"Chou Chou?" Naruto asked and jerked his thumb back the way they came. "Isn't that the dog from back there by the pet food store?"

She smiled fondly. "I grew up with that lovable dog. Oh, the fun times we had." Her face fell. "Unfortunately, Uncle passed away three months ago. Since then, Chou Chou changed a little. He went to the fun loving dog to the guard dog an instance."

"What about Buggy's return?" Shino inquired. "Why did you not evacuate with the rest of the citizens?"

"When the pirates came about a week ago…I didn't know who they were or what they meant. My family hadn't told me about them. Buggy recognized me." She gave a small flick of her hair. "He then discovered my parents. He rounded us all up and said that we would now serve him for as long as he wanted. To pay off the 'debt' we had earned by 'bartering with him'. He also said that he would collect on twelve years interest." Her face grew angry. "He also said that if he didn't do what he said, he would attack the others. So…we agreed. My parents tried to get me out, but…"

"You didn't want to abandon them," Naruto supplied, his voice dead. Sakura looked at him with surprise in her face. Naruto gestured to his own headband and said. "I know the feeling."

"So, that's why I have to go back! Not only will my parents be hurt or worse, but Buggy will demolish the town and kill everyone. I have to stop them!"

"No." Shino said, surprising them both. "We will stop them. You do not have to fight alone. Even if the others weren't involved with Buggy due to Luffy's kidnapping, there is no doubt that we would not help you."

Sakura smiled and muttered a quick thanks when her face dropped. "Look! Fire!" It was in the direction that they had come from. Without a word, the threesome made a mad dash back to the pet food store, but when they got there…

The store was on fire and blazing brightly. Chou Chou was badly injured and was barking desperately at the small shop, with Nami and Boodle staring right at it. Naruto looked at Sakura. "I don't get it. Why is that dog barking so loudly at the store?"

Both fury and sadness wear coming out of Sakura's voice. "It's his treasure. Uncle and Chou Chou built this place together. To us, it's just pet food, but to Chou Chou, it's memories, his treasure and hope."

Naruto blankly stared at the burning building and memories started flashing. His own home back in Meadow Village burning, and how he wasn't able to save Iruka-sensei's old scroll. He remember the rage and pain he felt at the sight of it burning. And now…this dog, Chow Chow, or whatever it's name was, was going through the same thing. In a heartbeat, Naruto brought up his fingers and created 40 clones. Before Sakura could say anything, or Shino could stop him, all the Narutos ran inside the burning building.

"What's that idiot think he's doing?" Sakura screamed at Shino.

"It seems…that he understands exactly what the store means to Chou Chou." Shino said simply, not moving a muscle.

They flames grew and grew and no Naruto returned. Finally, as the building was giving a final collapse, 22 Narutos quickly jumped out, each held a large box filled with pet food. The original sat down in front of the dog. "Sorry, boy. I saved as much as I could."

Shino spoke up, and pointed to the direction where Luffy was walking back, a small box in his hand. "Here's one more for you, boy. I clobbered the lion for you."

Nami's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe that Luffy went and wrested a lion. Sure, it was for a good cause, but it was also stupid and dangerous. And Naruto runs into a burning building to save pet food. Again, a good cause but just as stupid as Luffy's stunt. She briefed wondered which one would win the 'Ultimate Idiot Competition.'

Luffy continued. "You did good. You fought well. I didn't get to see you in action, but I know you fought well."

Chou Chou simply grabbed the food box Luffy had placed in front of him. He then looked at Naruto, then the rest of the stuff. Naurto smiled in embarrassment and said. "Oh yeah…you can't carry it all, can you?" Thinking quickly he said. "I'll have my clones follow you with the stuff and they can leave it at a place of your choosing. Will that work?"

Chou Chou barked happily and led the other Narutos away. The scene had moved the Mayor Boodle and then announced he was going to fight. Nami tried to calm him down, but a cannon blast rang off and destroyed the entire block, including the Mayor's house where Zoro was sleeping.

Zoro simply shook off the debris and said, "Ouch. What a wake up call."

After that, the Mayor took off shouting that it was time that Buggy the Clown faced the Mayor. Zoro smiled. "Things are finally getting interesting." Naruto and Luffy laughed in response.

"This is no laughing matter!" Sakura and Nami yelled. Nami added. "He's going to get himself killed!"

"Nah. We won't let that happen," Luffy replied casually. "We like the old man." He then turned to Nami. "We're headed for the Grand Line! We'll steal that map back and go together!" He raised a hand. "Join up with us. You want the map and treasure right?" He then looked at Sakura. "You too. We'll see the world!"

Sakura said, "I won't become a pirate."

Nami added. "Same here." But she slapped his hand anyway. "We'll just say that we'll join forces for now. We'll work together towards a common goal." Sakura nodded in agreement.

Naruto raised a fist in the air in triumph. "Call it what you will, let's go kick butt!"

End of Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto. They belong to their respective owners: Eiichiro Oda and Masashi Kishimoto.