I make no money off of this work of fiction. One Piece is the work of Oda Eiichiro and Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.

Ninja Pirates

Chapter Six: For Your Lives!

Merissa was walking through the lab, not bothering to hide herself from onlookers. She didn't need to hide, no one was looking up. Using her chakra on the bottom of her feet Merissa was walking along the ceilings. It made for a convenient eavesdropping experience. As she was walking along she spotted a most curious sight. A little reindeer that was walking on two legs wearing clothes and a hat. He was acting like he wasn't supposed to be there. Hiding around corners, the wrong way she noted, and very skittish around loud noises. She then decided it would be a good idea to follow him around.

A few minutes tailing the smallish creature Merissa heard him muttering about finding out the chemical composition that was used to drug children. Having been eavesdropping the entire time she was in the building, she knew a little bit of what he was referring to. The two were in Ceasar's personal laboratory when some prisoners were brought in. The reindeer didn't have another exit. Merissa decided to stick around and find out what all the commotion was. She continued to watch as he listened to Ceasar's plans and the revealing of the Shinekune experiment.

The four men continued to run across the snow covered land in an attempt to escape from the poisonous jelly turned gas that was rampaging around them. They had witnessed the smoke turn the subordinates of Ceasar into some type of statue. Zoro moved the unconscious woman over his shoulder so that it was easier to run. The four were looking back towards the gas. "Oi, this doesn't look good," Nami/Sanji yelled.

Zoro's right arm tightened around the woman's legs. "You guys run as fast as you can," he ordered. He turned to face forward once again. "If you get caught, I'm leaving you behind! I already have one person to look after."

Brook let out a terrified scream at the prospect of becoming a skeleton statue. "Zoro-san, at this rate we're going to..." The men continued to run, letting out fierce growls and cries as they tried to gain more speed. "We're done for," Brook announced.

"It's at our heels," Kin'emon announced.

"Run faster than the wind!" Zoro demanded. The four concentrated more on their speed, their cries getting louder as they picked up the pace. They were running so fast that each of their legs were nothing more than a blur to any that was crazy enough to stick around and observe.

"Perhaps we've gained some distance?" Kin'emon ventured.

"Don't look back!" Zoro snapped. "Just think about running as fast as you can!"

"If only our Sleeping Beauty was awake," Nami/Sanji lamented. "She would be able to lift her beautiful eyes and tell us how much distance we've gained."

"Shut it you damn perv!" Zoro yelled. "Quit thinking about women and think about getting away from the gas!"

"Don't tell me what to do you shitty swordsman!"

"If you have the energy to argue perhaps you can run faster," Kin'emon observed.

"I could certainly use some of their extra energy," Brook commented.

The argument ended and the four continued their frantic running and screaming. "We can't keep running like this forever!" Sanji pointed out. More screaming was the response that he was given.

Brook paused in his screaming as he took an inhaled gasp. "Unidentified object at twelve o'clock," he announced. All the men looked forward as they tried to figure out what it was that Brook had spotted.

"What is that thing?!" Sanji yelled.

"It's a..." Zoro took a long look at the creature that was running ahead of them. He couldn't completely comprehend what he was seeing. "A dragon?" he finished.

"A dragon!?" Everyone else demanded in unison.

"Don't be stupid shitty morimo," Sanji yelled. "Dragons aren't real!"

"They have them on this island," Zoro corrected. "But this one is a lot smaller than the other one was. Maybe we can capture it and use it to fly away!"

"That's a splendid idea!" Brook cheered.

"Then it's decided," Sanji chorused. "We can't keep this pace up forever! We're going to capture him! Hold it right there, Dragon!" He developed a fierce look on his face. "You have to fly Nami-san's body and our Sleeping Beauty to safety!"

"What about the rest of us?" Kin'emon inquired

"Who gives a damn about you guys!?" Sanji snapped with sharpened teeth.

Merissa stared at the projection with wide eyes. "Ah, that's my crew!" Luffy announced. "They're being chased by the smoke. But, who is that Zoro is carrying?" Merissa slapped a hand to her forehead. She should have known something like that would happen when they split up. Thankfully the noise from the projection covered the noise from her slap, mostly. She didn't notice a pair of steely gray eyes under a brimmed hat look up and in her direction.

"What are they doing out there?" Franky asked. There was a brief moment of silence. "And what kind of running do they call that?"

"Oh, she's so getting reported to the Hokage," Merissa groaned under her breath. One of Law's eyebrows lifted at the muttering woman on the ceiling. He was concentrating on her, trying to figure out how she was on the ceiling to begin with so it wasn't hard to miss what she said. She was becoming a puzzle that he was now focused on, despite the situation.

With Ceasar announcing nothing outside of the lab would survive his experiment the cage the six captives were in started to move through an newly open exit in the wall. Ceasar laughing at how they were now doomed to face his 'pet' and die. Merissa's eyes narrowed at the prospect. It was becmoing more and more obvious who's side she was supposed to be on. She started to move out of the lab, still on the ceiling and unnoticed by all as far as she knew. Law was still focused on her as he wondered what she was planning to do.

Merissa's attention was brought back to the little reindeer as his knees started to tremble. She could see the internal struggle on his facial features. That's when she understood that those in the cage were his friends and that he wanted to help them, but he was unsure of himself. He then started muttering about what he should do. Whether he should stop Ceasar or what.

With a roll of her eyes, Merissa quickly scribbles a note. She crumbles it into a ball and then throws it. It smacks the reindeer right between the eyes. Naturally this caused the little guy to panic and resume his hiding behind a door. He had left the note in the doorway in his rush. She had to refrain from laughing when the reindeer dashed to the note and back into hiding. 'It's best if he stays hidden,' she thought. 'I can't imagine him being able to fend off Ceasar on his own.' Merissa then walked off, now on a mission of her own. 'Time to maim me a best friend.'

The four men continued to run with such speed that their legs blurred. "Even with this strange method of running," Kin'emon began. "The gas will soon be upon us!"

"The dragon is still so far away from us," Brook cried.

"We gotta hurry up and catch up to that dragon," Zoro pointed out. He looked to his side to check on his passenger. Her skin was starting to turn a strange color of blue. "Not just to get away from this gas. She's not looking so good!"

"It's that stupid way you're carrying her!" Sanji snapped. "A gentleman would never carry a woman over his shoulder like some barbarian! Though I shouldn't have expected anything else from you!"

"You want to say that to my face love-cook!" Zoro's teeth became sharp as he glared at Sanji. "Why don't you help and give useful information or even catching the dragon so we can fly away!? You're even more useless now than ever before!" Zoro sped off a little faster, pulling ahead of the others.

"I can't..." Sanji started panting heavily, gasping for breath. He was beginning to slow down.

"Sanji-san," Brook called out. "Just hang in there!"

"...can't run anymore," Sanji finished. "Nami's heart and lungs are only so strong. My chest...hurts." Sanji put an hand over his heart as he closed his eyes. "Chest..." he was still gasping for air. "Chest..." His hand lowered just a touch further so that he was now cupping the full-sized chest. Sanji's head snapped up then. "Oh! Chest!" Stars flashed in his eyes and he suddenly gained a boost in speed. He zipped past the others before they even realized what had happened. He jumped onto the dragon and brought it to a complete halt in one swift move. "Got 'em!" he called to the others behind.

Zoro's teeth became sharp and he glared in the direction of Sanji and the dragon. "What kind of strange power did you just tap into!?" he demanded. They were all jumping onto the back of the dragon as it started to get back up.

The dragon began running again just as Brook started to jump on. He missed landing on the thing's back, but he did manage to catch the tail. He was holding on for his very life now since the gas was coming ever closer to their position. Zoro moved the woman from over his shoulder and lay her on the back of the dragon in the crook of it's wing. He loomed over her and watched as the blue coloring in her cheeks began to fade and resume a healthy pink. Between the heat from the back of the dragon and his own she was starting to warm up. He platantly ignored the glare that was being sent to him by Sanji from his position on the dragon's neck.

"Why don't you run a bit more calmly!?" Brook cried to the dragon.

"More importantly," Zoro added. "Why don't you fly away!?" The dragon was screaming, now upset with the added weight of passengers.

"To think I've lowered myself to accepting help from a dragon," Kin'emon lamented.

"Quit acting so high and mighty," Sanji stated. He was looking ahead towards the front and at the lab that was getting closer. "It's thanks to Nami-san's nice body that we were able to catch it." He then began to blush. "Just thinking about it..." Hearts flashed in his eyes and he started to get a nosebleed.

The vein in Zoro's temple protruded as he snapped. "This isn't the time to be getting nosebleeds, you damn perv!"

Sanji's head snapped around to glare back. "Just because you have no appreciation for the ladies does not mean you have to crush my dreams," he yelled. One hand pointed at Zoro while the other held tight to the dragon. "Don't you dare try anything funny with my Sleepy Beauty while we're at it! I'm only letting you protect her because Nami-san's body wouldn't be able to and you're also keeping her warm. You make one false move and I'll have your long shanks on the grill!" The two then began a glaring contest.

"Not to interrupt you," Kin'emon started calmly. "BUT THE GAS IS UPON US!"

None paid much attention to what Brook was saying until he lost his grip. Zoro and Sanji looked behind them in terrified shock. Brook was nearly engulfed by the gas when another large creature landed on the ground behind them. It was a man with a brown-beard with the legs of an alligator. On his back was Nami in Sanji's body and Usopp. Usopp reached out and caught Brook before he entered the gas. "Now let's get out of here!" Usopp called.

Brownbeard caught up and matched paces to the dragon. "What are you guys doing here?" Zoro asked.

"I'd like to ask you the same thing, but that will have to come later!" Nami replied. "Right now I want to know who that is with you?"

"We found her in the snow," Sanji replied.

"Actually," Brook took over the explanation. "I tripped over her and thought I had found a dead body. Zoro found that she wasn't dead, Kin'emon gave her that blanket and she's been out like that ever since before I tripped on her. So we actually don't know who she is."

Usopp then started to scream. "She could be one of Ceasar's henchmen."

"She's not," Brownbeard chimed in. "I've never seen her before. Everyone on this island had to have their legs replaced with an animal's of some kind. She looks like she's whole."

"Couldn't Ceasar have henchmen that look normal?" Nami asked.

"The only two that I've seen that look somewhat normal are Ceasar Clown himself and that pirate warlord Law," Brownbeard answered. "I'm sure that you know this already, but Law would never lower himself to following Ceasar's orders."

"That's true," Nami agreed. "Alright then, let's just keep running for the lab."

The dragon the others were riding started slowing down. "Hey, this guy is getting tired," Sanji pointed out.

"At this rate he's going to be caught by the gas," Zoro noted as he looked behind.

"Hey, jump onto me," Brownbeard offered.

Kin'emon leapt over as soon as the words left him. "I am in you debt," he said.

Zoro carefully picked up the woman he had been carrying all along and leapt over. He placed her down next to Nami and Usopp. "Make sure that she doesn't fall off," he said. The two nodded their heads in agreement.

Sanji hadn't jumped over yet when the dragon bit Brownbeard's tail. Brownbeard shouted in alarm and started running faster. Kin'emon and Zoro were smiling at the new turn of events. "Oh," Kin'emon raised a fist in triumph. "That works quite nicely."

In the burst of speed Sanji had lost his grip on the dragon's neck and was now holding onto it's thrashing tail. "Yeah, keep it up!" he cheered.

Brook cheered Brownbeard on as Usopp called, "We're counting on you Brownbeard!" Nami had a pleased smile on her face. She had one hand on Brownbeard's back while the other held onto the arm of the unconscious woman.

With tears in his eyes Brownbeard called, "You all could show a little more concern!"

Merissa remained on the ceiling as she approached the sealed gates to the lab. She wasn't about to let anyone die if she could help it. She approached the lever to find it being guarded by 'sheep in jumpsuits' as she dubbed them. With a few well placed kunai they all crumbled to the ground. "Placing guards on a lever in an area that should already be well guarded," she tsked. "Ceasar certainly isn't paranoid." The sarcasm in her voice was dripping in it's venom. "Although with someone like me hanging around, he has reason to be." She was about to drop down and pull the lever when a hole appeared in the wall. She stopped herself from moving. She wanted to see how this was going to play out.

"What happened to them?" Tashigi asked. She was kneeling in front of the guards. She pushed one onto his back and let out a gasp. A strange knife was protruding from it's neck as blood was rushing out.

"It was a quick death," Law intoned. "It severed a main artery. He would have bled out quickly without a lot of pain." He knelt down and felt the blood that was pooling. "It's still warm, whoever did this could still be here." The others looked around nervously. Law straightened to a standing position. "It doesn't matter right now. What matters is striking Ceasar."

"Not before we save our troops," Smoker growled. He pulled the lever that kept the gate from opening.

Luffy took a spot on one of the bodies. "Whoever did this is strong though," he commented. He looked towards Robin then. "Right?"

"It goes without saying," Robin agreed. "Although, who they are and why they haven't revealed themselves are questions that I would like answered."

"We all would," Law stated. He cast a glance to the ceiling, but he was unable to see the person he had before. "We can only guess that for the moment they are on our side." The gates became fully opened and the G-5 soldiers rushed in. From the shadows Merissa held her breath. She was wondering how Law knew where to look for her. As far as she knew she hadn't left a clue to her presence besides just now.

A few more minutes of running and the lab came within sight of Brownbeard and his passengers. "We made it to the lab!" Usopp cheered. A round of cheers came up from everyone else as well. "Hey, hey! Wait, wait! The gates are shutting!" Usopp screamed.

"Just when we came so close," Brownbeard lamented as he kept the pace. They might make it if he kept running, but they would be dead for sure if he slowed.

"Open up! Let us in," Nami cried.

"It's no use," Usopp negatively screamed. "We're going to be caught by the gas and we'll all die!" The two started crying together.

Brook's soul left his body in his fright. "We're too late," he said morosely. "We're no longer meant for this world."

"Oi Kin'emon," Zoro called out. The attention of the samauri was drawn to him. "Can you cut through iron?"

Kin'emon looked to the gates and grit his teeth. "If that is all then it is but a trifle," he announced.

"Brownbeard, just run right into it," Zoro called.

"What are you saying!?" Brownbeard cried. "Then we'd crash head first into a solid wall!"

"Then you'd rather become consumed by the gas?" Zoro teased. Everyone shouted their words of disagreement. Zoro took that as his cue and stood with a serious expression on his face. Kin'emon followed his actions.

Brownbeard's face went from frightened to determined. "Then it's time for desperate measures. I'm going in!" He continued to run as he picked up a giant metal tube, not slowing his pace for an instant. He lifted the tube over his head.

"You're saying that this is our only choice?" Nami asked. She climbed onto Brownbeard's right shoulder, dragging the rescued woman behind.

"Whether we live or die is all riding on this," Usopp announced. He took up a position on Brownbeard's other shoulder.

"Are you ready?" Zoro asked.

"Of course," Kin'emon answered. Both of them then jumped onto the top of the metal tube that Brownbeard carried, one on either side. They each put their hands on their chosen swords and leapt for the gates. The area then flashed with blue and orange flames as they cut through the iron gates.

With a burst of both strength and speed, Brownbeard broke through the gate where Zoro and Kin'emon had cut. The two swordsmen were landing on the floor of the lab as Brownbeard skidded to a halt. "It's Zoro's group!" Luffy called.

"They've made quite the entrance," Robin noted.

Merissa's eye twitched in annoyance. "All that commotion and she still sleeps," she hissed. "The woman could sleep through the middle of a hurricane while riding a small boat. Forget reporting to the Hokage, I'm gonna kill her myself."

The G-5 soldiers started crying out. "They cut through the gate!"

"Hey! You guys made it!" Luffy called out. The new arrivals of the Straw Hat pirates looked up and smiled. Most of them called out to their captain. Only Zoro remained silent, but he did have a pleased smile on his face. Luffy then made a show of putting his hat on purposefully and inhaled deeply. "We're all here!" he yelled out. "YEAH, LET'S GO WILD!"

AN: I wrote this chapter a little differently than I normally do. I'm following the series pretty well through this chapter. The reason being Merissa is trying to stay out of sight while watching the series of events and Reecheru is out cold, literally. I felt that Reecheru's time with the crew needed to be noted whether she was awake or not. I will carry on with this writing style until I have Reecheru regain consciousness. Once that happens then I'll happily defiate from cannon once again.