Closest Thing to a Brother Ch 7

sorry it took so long, enjoy.


Ch. 7. The Cursed Gift

When the three brothers went out the next morning, Sabo kept his usual pace alongside Ace, but every now and then would look back at Luffy to make sure he was following them and that he was okay. As happy as he always was to see his little brother behind them, Sabo still noticed that Luffy seemed to be distracted by something on his mind.

"Luffy, is something wrong?" he finally asked.

The 7-year-old snapped out of his daze and looked at Sabo.

"No, nothing's wrong." Luffy replied.

Sabo immediately stopped running and turned fully towards his brother, Ace doing the same when he saw the blond stop. Luffy stopped as well and looked at his brothers in confusion.

"The last time you said that in that tone you all but shut us out for an entire month." Ace said, his voice softer than it usually was.

"Luffy," Sabo said, his voice equally soft, "what's wrong, really?"

Luffy shifted uncomfortably in his position a little.

"I was just thinking about Nati." He said. "After yesterday, I know that he's gonna be very careful and stay hidden for a few days. And until he's certain things have calmed down enough, he's not gonna make it easy for even me to find him."

"Well, wouldn't he be on his ship?" Ace asked.

"No. Those thugs probably know what the Shadow looks like if Nati's stolen them before; it would be the last place he'd be because he knows it'd be the first place they'd look. Besides, Nati's probably moved it by now."

"What about Windmill Village?" Sabo asked.

"He goes there to buy things like spices usually, but he hasn't stayed there for very long since the incident with granddad."

"But he has to be staying somewhere."

"Well, Nati did mention once that he had a special hiding spot where he keeps his most important supplied until his final loading; he could be there. But he never told me where it was, he said it would put me in danger if he did."

"He's probably right." Ace murmured, earning a harsh glare from Sabo, who then looked back at his little brother and smiled softly.

"Well," he began, "wherever he is, I'm sure he's fine."

Luffy gave a small smile in return and nodded.

"I know he is;" he said. "I just wish I knew where he was."

At that moment, something fell out of the trees and hit Luffy on the top of his head before falling to the ground. The three brothers looked down at the object and were surprised and at the same time confused to see that it was a brown roman style sandal, which Luffy quickly recognized.

"Hey, that's Nati's!"

"Well, where did that come from?" Ace said.

The three of them looked up and were once again surprised to see Nati asleep on a branch using his seabag as a pillow with his left leg, missing a sandal, dangling over the side and his Robin Hood cap covering his eyes.

"What the heck is he doing up there?" Sabo said.

"Oh yeah! I forgot Nati likes to be in high places; he says it helps clear his head!" Luffy cupped his hands over his mouth. "Naaaatiiii! Wake uuup!"

The 8-year-old jolted awake and after readjusting his cap, looked around as if confused about where he was, then looked down out of the tree at the brothers.

"Good morning, Nati!" Luffy yelled, waving at him.

Nati yawned, then waved back with a tired smile. "Hey, Luffy! Glad to see you smiling again!" sitting up, the maroon haired boy swung his leg over the side of the branch. "How'd you find me up here?"

Sabo picked up the sandal and showed it to him. "You dropped this!"

Nati looked down at his feet, only now noticing that he only had on one sandal.

"Oops." Nati rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry. Could you toss me that up?"

Sabo happily obliged and after putting it back on, Nati grabbed his seabag and jumped out of the tree, landing on his feet in front of them and was immediately tackled to the ground by Luffy in a tight hug.

"It's great to see you, Nati!" he exclaimed.

"Luffy," Nati gasped, "I'm happy to see you too, but you're crushing my ribcage!"

The 7-year-old let go of his friend and sat back on his hands while Nati recaptured his breath. "Sorry."

"Don't be;" the maroon haired boy stood back up and held out his hand for Luffy. "The fact that your hugs keep hurting more and more just means you're getting stronger with every one of my visits."

Luffy grinned widely and took Nati's hand, pulling himself onto his feet.

"So, where are you guys off to?"

"We're going hunting."

"What about you?" Sabo asked.

"What about me?" Nati replied.

"What are you going to be doing?"

"For the time being, staying out of sight as much as possible."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to risk a run in with those thugs from yesterday."

Ace and Sabo exchanged glances while the two friends talked and an unspoken communication crossed between them.

"Do you want to come?" Sabo asked.

Nati looked over at the blond. "Excuse me?"

"Do you…want to come with us?" Ace muttered. "I mean…if you're not doing anything else…"

Nati eyed the two 10-year-olds, suspicion clear on his face. "Why?"

Ace and Sabo shifted uncomfortably in their positions, both looking everywhere except at the 8-year-old.

"We want to start over." Ace said.

"W-we didn't just mess up with Luffy, we messed up with you too and we want to make it up to you." Sabo added. "So what do you say?"

Nati's dark green eyes locked first with Sabo's blue eyes for a moment, then with Ace's grey eyes but for twice as long. The entire time his expression was blank and unreadable, then he smiled and shifted his seabag onto his shoulder. "Well, if you guys are offering."


After a large meal of crocodile, Sabo told Nati about last night and what Luffy had said. When he was done, the maroon haired boy only smiled and looked at his best friend, who was now sleeping off his meal.

"Leave it to Luffy to worry more about others than himself." He chuckled.

"Yeah." Ace grumbled. "It's an annoying trait if you ask me."

"It's a rare and noble trait that you don't see anymore and I'm glad Luffy has it."

"I'm still amazed that Luffy had so much faith in us even after everything." Sabo said.

"I'm not." Nati replied. "Luffy knows a good heart when he sees one. And he's always been able to make people show it, even rubbing off his own good heart to make them do so, if he has to." Nati gently ran his hand through the 7-year-old's hair. "It's the talent he inherited from his name."

"What do you mean?"

"My father once told me that along with being able to see the nature of a person's heart, every 'D' has a talent that can be a gift and at the same time a curse; Luffy's is that he can make anyone show a good heart because he can see it, no matter how well they try and hide it."

"And you?" Sabo asked. "Luffy mentioned last night you had a talent."

Nati gave an un-amused huff. "Is that what he called it?"

"His exact words were 'something he can do'." Ace said.

Nati looked away and sighed, not saying anything for a long while as if ashamed to before looking back at the two 10-year-olds.

"I can guess anything about anyone; even if it's something they've never told a single person."

"Really?" Sabo said. "So you basically guessed that I was a noble?"

"Well it's kind of obvious, even without the crest. I mean, there are traits about you that would only fit a noble."

"Like?"

"Well, neatness, clean-cut, mannered, good posture, pale compared to Ace and Luffy, and there's a certain pride that you hold that I've only seen in nobles."

"What kind?"

"The kind that says 'I'm better than you in every way'. In your case," Nati quickly added upon seeing the blond about to argue, "it's directed towards the nobles you hate whereas theirs is directed towards us. I've also noticed that unlike other nobles, you're actually intelligent sympathetic, curious, and open-minded."

Ace and Sabo only looked at the 8-year-old in stunned silence at what he just said.

"You got all that just from watching me on the first couple of days?" Sabo gawked.

Nati looked down and nodded.

"Nati, that's amazing!" Ace said.

"It's a nightmare; a cursed gift." Nati walked over and sat by the riverside, the two brothers joining him. "I've made more enemies than I want to admit just from what I've guessed about them, and as Luffy's mentioned to you, I almost lost the only friend I have because of it."

"Luffy brushed over it, yes, but he didn't go into details." Sabo replied.

Nati glanced back at Luffy out of the corner of his eye. After a moment, he looked back at the river and sighed.

"Has Luffy ever mentioned how he got that scar under his eye?"

"Not really."

"I always thought it was from a moment of clumsiness or something." Ace said.

"If it was, it wouldn't look like that." Nati replied. "And the length, angle, and depth are all wrong for it to be from someone attacking him."

"Then where did he get it?" Sabo asked.

Nati looked back at Luffy again, slightly surprised to see the raven haired boy was now awake and looking at them. An unspoken communication crossed between the two friends, and Nati turned his gaze back to Ace and Sabo.

"It's self-inflicted," he said, "from a short knife slowly across his face. Too shallow to cause serious damage, but deep enough to leave a permanent scar, which tells me he wasn't trying to hurt himself that much." Nati looked down at his hands. "When I asked him why he took a knife to himself, Luffy turned as pale as a sheet and started backing away from me trembling. I realized very quickly in that moment that I had just asked Luffy something he never told anyone and didn't like to talk about." As he talked, the maroon haired boy clenched his fists tighter and tighter until his knuckles started turning white. "I bolted back to the Shadow and spent the rest of the day in the crow's nest trying to figure out how to apologize to Luffy for my slip of the tongue and to explain how I knew. I was still up there into the next day when Luffy came to my ship."

"I was worried when Nati didn't leave his ship all day." Luffy said joining the three boys. "I wanted to make sure he was okay."

"I was by that point thinking I should just leave for good. But when I saw Luffy looking for me, I figured I should tell him what happened first before I do." Nati gave an emotionless huff. "Imagine my guilt when I realized I nearly left when he wasn't mad at me."

Luffy placed a hand on his friend's back to comfort him upon seeing his distress. For several moments, no one said anything, only absorbing the entirety of the conversation, before Sabo decided to change the subject.

"So, what do you plan on doing while you're here?"

Nati looked at the blond and smiled in appreciation at what he was trying to do.

"Well, for the next few days, I'll be keeping my head down and staying away from Gray Terminal."

"What do you mean?"

"Those thugs from yesterday will be looking for me and I don't want to get in a fight with them if I can avoid it."

"Why not?" Ace asked. "You could take those guys on easily."

"My father made it very clear only to start a fight when you have to, not when you want to. And I'm not going to give them the opportunity to start one with me."

"But what about gathering supplies?" Sabo asked.

"Until I'm sure those guys aren't looking for or trying to follow me, I won't even be doing that, which is going to set me back by at least four days."

"You can't just leave them on your ship?"

"Unprotected for four days, are you nuts? Besides, I can't go back to my ship; that's the first place they'd look, even if I did move it last night."

"I told you!"

Nati smiled and chuckled at his friend's response, ruffling his hair playfully.

"So, where are you going to be staying?" Ace asked.

"Anywhere I can, and never the same place twice."

"Well," Sabo began, "if I could make a suggestion."

Knowing what he was going to say, Ace opened his mouth to protest but Sabo stomped down hard on his foot and he stayed quiet.

"Yes?" Nati asked, not seeing the action.

"I might know a place where you can stay for a while, and you won't have to worry about being found."

Nati's eyes connected with Sabo's for a brief moment before his curiosity got the better of him.

"What did you have in mind?"

To be continued


I think it's pretty obvious what Sabo's going to suggest. Until next time, I hope you liked it and here's hoping the next chapter won't take as long.