Reading Guide

"Gaki" Biju talking

'Gaki' Biju thinking

"Hello" Person talking

'Hello' Person thinking

"Gaara stared up at the half full moon" Flashback

"Negative Hollow" Technique name

- Elemental Countries - Place

"LUFFY!" Boa Hancock (Fangirl Mode)

Disclaimer: When Naruto gives up ramen I shall own his show and when Luffy gives up meat, I shall find a bomb shelter to hide in for the end is nigh.


- Konoha: Barbeque Restaurant -

Neji frowned, "Zoro, huh? And where might you be from?"

The man smiled, "And why does it matter to you?"

"I'm a ninja of this Village, and as such protecting it is my duty," Neji responded. "You are hardly unthreatening. Understand?"

"Ha, yeah I get it."

The man continued to smile. "Whatever, I'll tell you, but your buddies don't need to know, understand?" the man said, his smile widening and his tone becoming slightly patronizing.

"Fine," Neji replied, only slightly annoyed. Sitting down across from Zoro he waited for him to speak.

"Well, if I'm going to give you information, why don't you give me some? How did you pick me out?" Zoro asked.

Neji began to respond, but Zoro held up a hand. "No, honestly. If I was just a ruffian you would be able to tell. I could cause serious damage to this Village if I so chose, but how did you know that?"

"The aura around you," Neji said. "Both the feeling you exude and the aura I can see."

Zoro was already lost, "See?"

Neji sighed, "Where are you from?"

"Nowhere around here," Zoro responded.

"I would say," Neji said. "Hn, I assume you wish this conversation to be private?"

"Yes, I would," Zoro agreed.

"Very well, I will erect a privacy barrier, but in exchange you have to answer my questions, you can ask your own later."

"Ha, straight to the point, huh? Well, whatever. And perfect timing, my food is here," Zoro commented. The waitress served Zoro his sake and them placed a large platter of meat on the table before walking away. As soon as the waitress was done Neji erected the privacy barrier, and the discussion began in earnest.


"What's Neji doing?" Tenten asked.

"Troublesome. . ." Shikamaru sighed.

"You know, don't you?" Tenten accused. "Tell me."

"Whatever," Shikamaru said, sighing again. "That guy's a threat, and Neji is trying to avoid pissing him off. Just by looking at him you can tell he's not the type you want to cross."

"Yeah," Choji said, "But really, how strong can he be? He said that he 'could cause serious damage to this Village,' but how much could he really doo against all the ninja of Konoha?'

"I don't know, but Neji only took serious interest in him after using his Byakugan. I have a feeling that he saw something that the rest of us didn't," Asuma said.

"Exactly, and it's also probably why he said that he didn't know what that guy was. Still, if Neji doesn't know what he is, then what could he possibly be?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know," said Asuma, "But probably nothing good."


(30 Minutes Later)

The barrier went down allowing Tenten Asuma Choji and Shikamaru to see the table once again. The all let out a sigh of relief. They had only seen enough to confirm that neither Neji or the man was fatally wounded, but that was almost what they had been expecting. The aforementioned pair then rose and calmly walked out of the restaurant, leaving four very confused shinobi behind them.


- Konoha: Training Ground 2 -

Training Ground 2 was Konoha's largest training ground, even bigger than the forest of death. Around the edges it had terrain meant to simulate almost any environment, but the real portion of interest was the center. The center consisted of a massive clearing, almost four kilometers in diameter. This was the area where Neji and Zoro had chosen to fight.

The two warriors stood across from each other, completely still. Looking into each other's eyes they gauged their opponents strength. After a moment Neji shot forward. As he sprinted forward he activated his family techniques.

Entering range, he sent multiple high speed jabs towards Zoro, who managed to dodge them all. Jumping back, Neji began to launch kunai at high speeds. Kunai really weren't his style, but after spending a few years on a team with Tenten, he fully understood the value of using them. Zoro looked at the incoming kunai and smirked. With that he closed his good eye.

'What's he doing?' Neji thought. 'Closing his good eye, how does he hope to avoid my attacks?' Despite Neji's thoughts, Zoro managed to flawlessly dodge the first wave of kunai. 'Amazing,' Neji thught. 'Well, let's see how he deals with this.'

Using his Byakugan, Neji focused on Zoro and began throwing his kunai again. Just like last time, Zoro began to dodge with very little effort. Kunai whizzed by on his left and right, some even flying over his head. 'NOW!' Neji thought.

Time seemed to slow down. Zoro had kunai all around him, preventing him from dodging in any direction. Racing towards him was another kunai, aimed at his heart. To dodge it he would to have to throw himself into the path on another kunai, but to remain still was suicide. Using his Byakugan Neji had created an inescapable midair labyrinth of kunai. 'Time to see if he's really as good as he said he was,' Neji thought. Zoro's smirk only widened.

Launching himself into the air, Zoro leaned forward to avoid the kunai that had been heading at the space that was previously above his head. Letting his feet rise off the ground, his body became perfectly parallel to the ground. He watched as the kunai which was aimed at his heart sailed below him and the kunai that had been preventing him from going up sailed harmlessly over his head.

'Amazing, he not only managed to pull off a move like that, but he did so facing the ground,' Neji thought. 'But, not good enough.' Applying chakra to his feet he Shunshined above Zoro, a kunai in hand. If it was possible, Zoro's smirk widened, although Neji couldn't see it. Reaching behind his head, Zoro grabbed the kunai that had previously been aimed above him. With it firmly in his grasp he reached up and executed a midair roll. Holding onto Neji.

The move threw Neji to the ground. Realizing his peril, he tried to move, but he wasn't nearly quick enough. Landing on top of him Zoro pinned one of his arms so he couldn't perform a Substitution and held the kunai he had caught up to Neji's neck.

Opening his eye, Zoro spoke. "I win. Looks like our little deal will be coming into play, huh?"

Sighing, Neji nodded.


The swordsman and the ninja walked down the road, each still not completely trusting the other. They were saved from their awkward silence by a blonde. And no, it wasn't Naruto, he was busy training with a certain white haired man who would later become great friends with Sanji.

"Who are you?" Ino asked curiously. "I saw you earlier and I was wondering who you were."

Neji grimaced. Noticing his look Zoro frowned. "What's wrong?" the swordsman asked.

"She's Ino," Neji said, introducing the girl to Zoro. "She's one of my friends. She would have been eating with me and her team, but she had to run some errands for her mom's flower shop. She probably saw you while she was making a delivery."

"Alright," Zoro responded, "What's the problem."

"She's a hopeless gossip."

"Am not," Ino pouted.

"Really?" Neji asked. Sighing again, he turned towards Zoro. "Knowing Ino, every single person in the Village knows about you. It's probably best to tell her the things you told me."

"Why."

"If you don't she'll make up rumors ten times worse than anything you might be hiding. I didn't get the full story, but what you told me and our agreement should be enough to satisfy her."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here," Ino said, continuing to pout.

"Fine," Zoro growled. "I'll tell you."


- Grand Line: Paradise -

"Thank you," Law added as he left the bar. Luffy had left some time previously, but Law had remained to hammer out the details. 'We have our first ally outside of the Alliance,' Law thought. Sure, the Alliance was strong, but they weren't strong enough to take the World Government head on. As pirates they the World Government had to come to them, and even then, the could always escape. Once the war began, though, that would all change. They would be forced to fight the World Government and running wouldn't be an option.

Luffy and Law both understood this, and so they had compiled a list. The list was made up of powerful people and groups that were not directly associated with any other Superpower that might be willing to aid them. If they managed to convince everyone on the list to join them, then they might be able to hold off the World Government. Might. 'Worst case scenario we can always retreat, but that option has it's own problems. Losing in that type of situation, it would be bad. It might even, no, it wouldn't. Could it. . . ?"


(A/N: Okay, two major things I want to go over. The first is the timeline. When stating times I will use the same format as I do for places. As for when I will state times, I will do so whenever there is a time skip of 2 weeks or more or it is need to understand the story. Next up is the move Zoro used. Think of it as a backwards version of what the Third Raikage did to avoid Naruto's initial attack. Basically, instead of facing up like the Raikage was he faced the ground when he used the move. Oh, and I just wanted to say that this story now has 5,000 views, so thank you.)