Apprenticeship Not Required
By Silver Dragonfly
"Captain! Mihawk's sail has been sighted." A crewmember called out.
Shanks looked up from the maps he and Naruto had been going over and arched an eyebrow. "He must have seen Naruto's poster. I thought we might be getting a visit soon." He then turned to Naruto, "Hey kiddo, mind stepping out of sight for a little bit? Let's see what Mihawk has to say before you reveal yourself."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and did as asked. The island they were on was heavily covered in vegetation so it was simple enough to vanish into the surrounding forest.
Shanks, meanwhile, took some time and gathered up the maps before rolling them up and tucking them back into their carrying case. They had begun working out tentative plans for Naruto to up his bounty to something a bit more respectable for the New World and, as his nephew had put it, one he had actually earned.
Shanks patiently awaited Mihawk's arrival, and the man soon appeared on the trail leading to the clearing the redhead had claimed for the day. "And what brings the Government's Shichubukai, Dracule Mihawk, here to visit a well-known pirate, today?" Shanks asked, mirth in his tone.
The man in question stared at him without blinking and in one quick motion a piece of paper appeared pinned by a dagger to the tree beside the Red-haired Pirate's head.
Shanks glanced at the poster and then back to the man. "This is not new news, Mihawk, this was in the papers a week ago."
"Explain." Mihawk demanded his tone dark.
"Oh you know how these things work, Hawkeye. One's siblings have children, which mean one has nieces and/or nephews…"
The long black blade of Mihawk's sword arched over the table resting its tip a scant distance from the redhead's throat.
"Do not make me repeat myself, Akagami." Mihawk demanded icily.
It was at that moment that there was a brief displacement of air, indicating movement, and Mihawk found his gaze filled, not with red hair and an insufferable smirk, but by blue eyes, blonde hair, and a teasing grin.
"I've seen some crazy eyes before, but never ones that looked like a bird's. That's where the alias Hawkeye is from, huh?" The teen asked as he crouched, perched atop the black blade, studying Mihawk closely.
Shanks chuckled. "Mihawk, meet my nephew, Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto, this is my longtime friend and rival, Dracule Mihawk. He currently works as a pirate for the government and, as you can see, has a fixation with long pointy objects."
"Get off, Boy." Mihawk snarled.
The blonde grinned and calmly leapt from the blade to the ground without any worry.
Mihawk studied the youth a moment, finally letting out a long sigh as he sheathed his sword. "I was unaware you had any siblings, Akagami."
Shanks shrugged dismissively. "I've had no contact with any blood kin for over thirty years. I had not known I had a nephew until Naruto, here, found me. He does remind me of his mother, though."
Mihawk raised an eyebrow at that. "You have a sister?"
"Had; she seems to have passed some time ago. Now: surely curiosity about my family isn't the only thing that brought you out to see me. Itching for a fight?"
Mihawk scoffed. "Hardly; there is no challenge in facing a cripple."
Shanks pouted.
Mihawk then produced another bit of parchment from his coat, and offered the other man what appeared to be another wanted poster, this one still rolled up.
Shanks accepted the tube of paper and unwound it.
"These two posters should be in the public papers this week." Mihawk stated as Shanks' eyes opened wide, a grin spreading across his face.
"That crazy kid! What did he do to triple his bounty!? And is this the swordsman you mentioned?" Shanks asked, his grin becoming wider each moment.
"Yes, that is Straw-hat's first mate. As pictured, he has a unique three-sword style. The upper tiers of the Marines were all ruffled about Crocodile being up to mischief in Alabasta. Straw-hat got tangled up in it and took him down. Officially, the credit is being given to some marine captain who happened to be investigating in Alabasta at the time. The fact that a rookie out of East Blue has taken out a Shichibukai so soon after entering the Grand Line has gotten their attention."
Naruto peered over Shanks' shoulder at the two posters. "Who are they?"
Mihawk blinked, surprised. "He hasn't told you about his apprentice?" Mihawk hadn't been able to get the Red-haired Pirate to shut up about the straw-hat kid on his last visit.
Shanks just grinned, "Oi, Benn, Yasopp! Tell the Crew we are having a party! Luffy's bounty went up!"
There were answering exclamations of surprise and excitement and it was clear that soon the entire crew would know of the news.
"Will you be staying to drink with us, Mihawk?" Shanks asked unable to stop grinning as he glanced up from the two posters.
"No." Mihawk stated quickly. "I will leave you to your drunken foolishness."
Shanks only laughed and then focused his attention back to his nephew. "Drink with me, Naruto, and I'll tell you all about this loud-mouthed brat I met back in East Blue."
Mihawk's lips twitched in a smirk as he turned to head back the way he had come. His gaze slowly tracked over the other visible crew members, noticing now that there was much more 'red' present than he'd ever noted before. Mihawk paused in his steps and turned to face the Red-Haired Pirate's first mate. "Beckman…"
The first mate remained silent, as he drew in a long breath through his cigarette, and exhaled slowly. "He's the Captain's nephew all right. Damn brat."
Mihawk snorted and grinned. "Good Luck," was his final parting words as he left the clearing to the sounds of Shanks' storytelling and laughter.
Beckman watched the Shichibukai until he was out of sight and then turned back to watch his Captain and much younger crewmate. His lips curved into a smile as he listened to the enthusiastic re-telling of how this loud-mouthed kid had stabbed himself below the eye in his attempt to convince Shanks to let him join the Red-Haired Pirates.
Other crewmembers wandered in and out of the group surrounding Captain and nephew as stories were told. Those who had been present, at the time, added bits to the story as they came near, while others completely side-tracked the conversation into various tales of adventure before it came back to their time spent on that particular island in East Blue.
Benn remained at his post, watching in amusement as the afternoon progressed into nightfall and the pile of empty bottles surrounding Captain and nephew continued to grow. He had been tempted to intervene when the impromptu drinking contest had started (after all the boy was still just a kid), but the blonde had assured everyone it was fine when questioned, as this would not be the first drinking contest he'd been dragged into. Naruto had at that point shared a few stories about his godfather and adoptive grandmother and their drinking habits and vices that nearly had the Captain choking on his own booze.
Really, with the surrogate family the kid had told stories about, it was no wonder he fit in so well with the crew. The kid was practically raised as a pirate, minus the sailing. Although, when this thought had been voiced, he had vehemently declared he was a shinobi. Benn suspected it was close enough to be a moot point, but humored the kid anyways.
Evening and night had blended into the darkest hours of morning before Benn's attention was spiked once more by the drinking duo. A muttered groan from his captain that was answered by a very cheery tone caught his attention and he raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Hey, Shanks-oji, you all right?" Naruto asked, amusement filling his voice.
Shanks groaned and glared at his nephew. Was there three of them now? "Kid, how are you still sitting upright? We've had more than enough alcohol to knock someone of your size out hours ago."
The blonde shrugged. "Did we? I couldn't tell."
Shanks gave in and flopped on his back with another moan. Sleep sounded good about now.
"How…"
"No blood."
Shanks blinked at him blearily, what was the kid going on about now?
"Kage Bunshin. I'm a chakara construct. Means I have no blood stream. No blood, no way to get drunk." The blonde explained with a cheeky grin.
Shanks stared, uncomprehending, for several long silent moments and then let out a long string of curses which slowly morphed into cries about wasted alcohol.
Benn chuckled as the blonde poked his slightly twitching uncle with a toe to see if he'd be moving more than his mouth anytime soon. Yeah, the kid was a pirate all right.
Thank you for reading! Lost Uzumaki is now my story with the most favorites and follows. Thank you for all the support!
One Piece and all its characters © Eiichiro Oda
Naruto and all its characters © Masashi Kishimoto
Special Thanks to my beta readers (and sounding boards): Blue Melodie, Mira Inazuma & Aria Ino.
