Chapter 10: Arriving In the Grand Line
East Blue Sea
Before the paint had even finished drying, Reverse Mountain came into sight. It was then his clone up in the crow's nest pointed out an oddity to him. Off to the side, a fair ways from the entrance was a small marine vessel that appeared to have crashed into the side of the mountain. The currents were supposed to be tricky around the entrance, but they were crashed pretty far off for them to have simply been pushed away by the currents. Either way he decided to investigate and see if they needed help.
"I can see Reverse Mountain," Naruto says as he stares into the looking glass. "And we're getting closer to it by the minute."
"I heard about Reverse Mountain," said Tenten. "That place is unique in that rivers from the Blues flow up the mountain, meet at the top, and then flow down into the Grand Line."
"Yeah, but not to mention it can be very dangerous when trying sails it." Kiba added.
"What do you mean?" Nojiko asked.
"Pirates would try to use this entrance to get to the Grand Line," Naruto told her. "However many of them die before they can even get up to the top of the mountain, because the hostile water currents and storms force them to crash into the mountain walls.
"If it so dangerous why are we still heading towards it?" Nojiko asked.
"Because I've got a plan to pull this off…that's why." Naruto revealed.
As the ship drew closer to Reverse Mountain entrance, Naruto took the helm and approached the treacherous waters at the entrance of Reverse Mountain. After getting a good look at where they were headed, Kiba came up to him nervously.
"You sure you can handle this," he asked. "This isn't exactly your specialty."
"No it isn't," he admitted. "But I have a plan. Look."
Kiba directed his focus at the bow of the ship where Naruto was pointing. There, he had four clones leaning over the edge and examining the water.
"I don't get it," Kiba admitted.
"Then just watch. We're about to enter." Naruto told him, not having time to explain.
They were all closely watching the position of the rocks and examining the currents. Every so often, one of his clones would vanish, instantly giving him the memory of what it had just seen. Which allowed him to quickly react accordingly and steer the ship? He would then summon another which would take its place.
It was still difficult to pull off. Kiba was right, this wasn't his specialty. But he made it through the gates unscathed and from there the current did most of the work itself. Everyone was gathered around him on the deck watching the ship go up the mountain appreciatively.
"This is amazing," Nojiko declared excitedly. "I've never seen anything like it."
"I haven't either," Tenten admitted. "I traveled through the Calm Belt to get to East Blue."
Soon they reached the apex and began their descent toward the Grand Line. He could see his ocean of birth coming into view, but that wasn't the only thing. Waiting at the bottom was a large marine vessel. He saw Kiba growing nervous beside him, but tried to stay calm himself. They didn't know what it was there for.
When they hit the bottom and entered the Grand Line, the other ship began to approach them. Drawing up on the port side of their own ship, he saw a marine officer standing by the starboard railing looking at him.
"Ensign Naruto D. Namikaze and Ensign Kiba Inuzuka." said the marine officer. "We're under orders to arrested you and escort your ship back to base."
"Well, that just perfect?" Kiba cried out loud. "What do we do?"
"We follow them," Naruto replied. "We knew this was going to happen sooner or later, it's time to face the music."
Turning back to the officer on the other ship Naruto called out his response. "Understood sir…We'll follow behind you."
The marine vessel began to sail deeper into the Grand Line, and Naruto matched the ship's heading and sailed after it. Their two most recent additions to the crew were understandably confused about what was going on. Tenten, however, was the first to ask about it.
"What were you two talking about?" she inquired. "And do you have any idea what that was about?"
"I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore," Naruto replied. "It's true that Captain Nezumi sent us after the Straw Hat Pirates. But he didn't give us this ship."
"Then who did?" she asked curiously.
"Actually, we just sort of took it," he admitted. "They wanted it destroyed anyway, so it's not like we really stole it. I think they're more upset with us leaving without telling anyone."
"You mean you're just a couple of rogue marines?" Nojiko interjected.
"It's not like that," Kiba said defensively. "Our commanding officer was imprisoned before we even arrived at our first assignment. The place was in chaos and they didn't even know what to do with us. So we just decided for them."
"Don't worry," Naruto assured them. "We'll make it clear that neither of you two knew anything about this."
"What possessed you to do it in the first place?" Tenten asked. "You had to know you would get caught eventually."
"It just felt like something I had to do," Naruto replied honestly. "I am sorry I won't be able to return you to your captain. But maybe they'll be able to locate him at the base."
"You should be more worried about yourself," she snapped back, surprising Naruto with the force of her reply. "You could have ruined a promising career with your decision. If you don't follow the rules, you're no better than a bounty hunter no matter how many pirates you capture."
Having said her piece, she stormed off and went below deck without even giving him a chance to reply. Naruto was still stunned by the strength of her reaction. He certainly wasn't expecting praise, but that seemed a bit much to him.
And now the part he was really dreading. With Tenten practically biting his head off, he could only imagine how Nojiko would react to this. After all, her sister's life was on the line.
"I guess I owe you an even larger apology," he told Nojiko. "I got your hopes up and now I won't be able do anything for your sister."
"Don't worry about it," she answered without a hint of recrimination. "I'm sure you did the best you could. And it's not like you would have been able to do anything for her if you hadn't taken this ship. Besides, Nami is resourceful, I'm sure she'll be fine."
Okay, now he was really confused. The person he was just giving a ride to was furious with him, and the one with a sister he'd failed to save wasn't upset at all.
"I just want to remind you, this was all your idea," Kiba declared.
Kiba on the other hand was completely predictable. Maybe it was just women being naturally incomprehensible.
0o0o0
Naruto continued following the marine ship in front of them lifelessly. Not even the crazy weather they ran into early in the Grand Line was able to bring him out of his funk. But what was worse was the waiting for the conclusion to come. He needed to find something to take his mind off this mess or he'd go crazy.
He remembered seeing some guns and targets down in the hold when he was taking inventory. He preferred using his fists, but maybe some target practice would make a decent distraction. Heading down to the hold he found the items he was looking for.
There were three straw targets and a big stack of paper with circles painted around a bullseye. You could drape the paper of the targets and replace them when they became too riddled with holes. He also grabbed a handgun and a good supply of bullets.
Going back above deck he gave each of the three targets to a clone to hold over the railing. But after shooting for several minutes it became evident this wasn't helping his mood. He'd only managed to hit the bullseye once.
Tenten had been right. No matter how boring it would have been, he should have just stayed on Shell Island. If he'd just been patient and worked hard, eventually things would have worked out. But he couldn't take back what he'd done. Now he'd just have to hope he wasn't kicked out of the marines.
"Don't get you hope up." said Minato who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "The marines never forgive me for going AWOL from my mission so in order to punish a dead man they reduce my rank from Admiral to Commodore."
"But it wasn't fair dad." Naruto pointed out. "You left because Leaf Island was attacked and endanger."
"Nothing in life is fair Naruto," said Minato. "I knew the consequences if I choose to cease chasing after Shanks so I can return home to save you and rest of Leaf Island and I accepted it. So are you ready to accept the consequences for leaving Shell Island without permission?"
"Yeah—no—it's juts," Naruto tries to explain. "There is so much I needed to do in the Marines like redeeming your good name."
"Redeeming me?" Minato repeated.
"Yeah," said Naruto, trying to explain. "You were a hero of the marines' dad. I know going AWOL was sin to the marines, but don't you think the brass could understand the reason you had go saved Leaf Island?"
"Maybe some marine officers might understand what I did," Minato said. "But others with their way of thinking would think otherwise and will never take kindly of what I did. The rest are bounded by traditional rules which they had no choice to condemn me for my actions…such as you had no choice but get in line and follow the rules."
"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked looking confused.
"Naruto?" said a female voice from behind.
Naruto turn around and sees Nojiko right there behind him.
"Are you all right?" Nojiko asked, looking at him strangely.
"I'm fine." He lied, trying to hide the fact he was talking to his imaginary father who was dead.
"Who were you talking to?" she asked him as she looked around. "Is someone in this room with you?"
"Nobody!" he tries to change the subject. "I'm just training marksmanship that's all."
"Well…mind if I give it a try?" Nojiko asked from behind him.
"Go right ahead," he told her. "My focus is so off I don't know why I'm even bothering. You ever used a gun before?"
"No," she answered. "But how hard can it be? You point and you pull the trigger."
Naruto reloaded the revolver for her, while his clones put fresh targets over the straw. Handing it to Nojiko she deliberately took very careful aim at the leftmost target before pulling the trigger. Checking where it had hit, he saw she was a little low and to the left, but only two circles from the bullseye.
"Not bad for your first time firing a gun," he told her encouragingly. "Try it again."
Firing a second shot, he saw that she'd overcompensated, going high and to the right, but was only one circle of from the center this time.
"I think I've got it now," she said confidently.
Naruto chuckled a bit at that.
"That was a nice shot," he admitted, "but you'll find that being consistent with your aim isn't as easy as it looks. If it only took two shots to get your aim down ..."
"Bullseye!" Nojiko shouted proudly, having fired off a third shot in the middle of Naruto's sentence.
She then quickly fired off two more shots, and Naruto was amazed to see all three targets had now been hit dead center.
"... everyone would be a sharpshooter," Naruto deadpanned, completing his earlier sentence.
Normally Naruto would happy for her success. But they say misery loves company. And with his current sour disposition he just wanted to bring her down a peg or two. And he might have just the way to do that.
"You seem to be quite a natural," he told her. "Why don't we move you on to trying moving targets? But I should warn you, it's quite a bit more difficult."
"I'm willing to give it a try," Nojiko replied, already reloading the revolver.
From the mischievous grins he saw on his clones' faces as they replaced the paper targets over the straw, he knew they were thinking the same thing he was. Completing their tasks they began to move the targets around as quickly and erratically as they could. Even hitting the targets at all would be difficult with their movements. But undaunted, Nojiko fired off three shots in rapid succession.
"You were right," she told him. "That was a lot harder. The third one was a little off."
Sure enough, two of the targets had received a solid bullseye, while the third shot had landed right on the line between the center of the target and the first ring.
"I'm going to my cabin to lie down for a while," Naruto declared, having had his fill of target practice. "You three help Nojiko out if she wants to continue practicing."
"I don't want to do this anymore," one of his clones complained.
"Yeah," the other two quickly agreed.
"Just shut up and do it!" he answered tersely, then stomped off down below deck.
First it's seeing his dead father and now snapping at himself? He was even more on edge and insane then he'd realized. He really did need to lie down for a while.
0o0o0
Finally they had docked their ship next to the marine vessel that had been leading them. All five of them disembarked, finding the captain of the other ship already waiting for them on the docks.
"Welcome to G-4 Base," he told them.
G-4 was definitely the largest base Naruto had seen since leaving Marinford. It was a large complex of buildings, at least ten based on what he could see. There were also a dozen marine ships currently docked and a few more visible patrolling the area.
It had a much more rustic look than Marinford though. Rather than being nothing but buildings and pavements, he could see several open fields. And there were numerous trees and bushes growing, with many marines relaxing under the former.
Even a couple of picnics seemed to be going on. This hardly looked like the sort of discipline he would expect in the middle of a marine base. Didn't they have work they could be doing?
"I wish I could say it was a pleasure to be here," Naruto replied. "But given the circumstances, I'm afraid that isn't true."
The captain let out a deep laugh at his reply.
"I won't hold that against you," he told Naruto. "Now if all of you will follow me, we can get this over with. Maybe when afterward you'll have a chance to relax and enjoy the area."
"Yeah, we'll have plenty of time to relax in prison," Kiba muttered.
"That may very well be," the man answered letting out another laugh.
"I'm not actually a marine," Nojiko pointed out. "I'm I even allowed in the base?"
"Eh, don't worry about it," he replied casually. "No one's going to care."
The five of them were led into a large building in the center of the complex where they were directed to sit down in a lobby area. There were a number of tables set up around the room, and the four humans selected one and sat, with Akamaru lying on the floor nearby.
"Just wait here and the boss will be with you soon enough," they were told, before the man left them to themselves.
"Great, more waiting," Naruto complained.
And they were waiting for more than an hour with nothing more interesting then the occasional marine passing by. Naruto and Kiba's collective anxiety had put a pall over the table that had stifled any conversation. The waiting had become so unbearable that it was quite a relief when a marine who looked to be in his thirties approached them.
"Hey there folks," he greeted. "The name's Karl. I hear rumor that you're the kids who stole a ship to go off on a joyride."
Karl was a thickly muscled man with a shaved head. He appeared to be deliberately going for a tough guy look. But his efforts were somewhat hindered by his less than intimidating height that fell almost half a foot short of Naruto's own.
"It's not like that!" Kiba yelled, jumping angrily to his feet. "We were out ridding East Blue of its pirates."
"Don't lie to me kid," Karl told him. "You do know the marines keep records of who turned in any pirates with bounties on them, right? We just got the latest list today. I got myself a nice five million beli paycheck from a pirate I captured earlier this week."
"Wait, Marines can collect the bounties?" Naruto asked curiously. "Aren't we already getting paid to capture pirates?"
"A marine can collect half the bounty," Karl informed him. "But I wouldn't be too concerned about that. Even if you did catch any real pirates, it's doubtful any of them had bounties."
"Why don't we have a look at that list of yours and we'll find out?" Naruto suggested, knowing for a fact that some of the pirates he'd captured did indeed have bounties.
"Hey Mary," Karl called out to a receptionist sitting at a desk by the entrance. "Bring us the bounty list."
The young woman nodded and carried over a large binder to the table handing it to Karl. Karl grabbed a seat from a nearby table and invited himself to sit down with Naruto's group.
"So, whose name did you give when you turned in these pirates of yours?" Karl asked.
"That'd be mine, Naruto D. Namikaze," he answered.
"Let's see, Namikaze ... Namikaze ... ah, here it is," he declared, then read it silently before giving a small chuckle. "Real funny kid, what's your real name?"
"I told you, it's Naruto D. Namikaze," he answered smugly.
The opportunity to put this guy in his place seemed to have been just the tonic he'd needed to lift his mood.
"You mean to tell me a couple of punk ensigns fresh out of the academy managed to collect 48,000,000 berries in bounties this quickly?" he questioned them, disbelief clearly showing on his face.
"15,000,000 berries for Buggy the Clown, 17,000,000 berries for Don Krieg, 10,000,000 berries for Krieg's first officer Gin," Naruto recited. "I'm not sure where the other 6,000,000 berries came from to be honest, but it sounds about right."
"You were the one who captured Don Krieg?" Tenten asked him. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised with how easily you handled Buggy the Clown."
"Would you like me to request the funds from Headquarters?" Mary asked, as she picked back up the list she'd been waiting for. "If I process the paperwork now, it should be cleared for you to pick up by the end of the day."
"Um, Sure," Naruto replied before he thought "48,000,000 berries huh? That would make a nice little bonus."
"Even if this is true, it doesn't change the fact that you ran off," Karl told him in an attempt to save face.
"It most certainly doesn't," a deep voice announced from right behind Naruto startling him.
It wasn't often he ran into someone who could sneak up on him like that.
"Rear Admiral Kakashi Hatake, sir," Karl called out, jumping to his feet and giving a salute.
Naruto, Kiba, and Tenten quickly followed suit, standing at attention. The Rear admiral was a slender, silver haired man. Not much was visible of his face, with a mask covering his mouth and nose and an eyepatch over his left eye. It caused Naruto's imagination to run wild at what kind of injury would prompt him to cover so much.
"Please, be seated," Kakashi ordered them.
The five of them complied without question.
"Not you, Karl," Kakashi said to the bald man who had retaken his own seat. "This has nothing to do with you."
"Sorry, sir," Karl apologized, quickly getting to his feet and scurrying off.
"I apologize for making you wait so long," Kakashi told them. "But a pirate who had a grudge against me snuck into the base and took me hostage."
"Who was he?" Tenten asked, as shocked as Naruto that a pirate would do something so brazen.
"Who was who?" Kakashi asked.
"The pirate that took you captive," Tenten replied.
"Oh, I guess I'm not used to people believing my excuses," the rear admiral told them. "I'm afraid I hadn't thought that far ahead."
None of their group knew how to respond to that so they simply waited for Kakashi to continue. Instead he took a small orange book out of a coat pocket and began to read it silently as he stood there. After they'd been sitting patiently for about a minute Naruto finally worked up the nerve to interrupt.
"Excuse me sir," he said hesitantly. "I believe there was something you wanted to discuss with us."
"I wouldn't think you'd want to rush me," Kakashi answered, but did put his book away. "After all, these are some pretty serious charges being leveled against you. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"I just want to say that Nojiko and Ensign Tenten here knew nothing about what we'd done," Naruto replied. "We didn't tell them a thing until your ship met us at the entrance to the Grand Line. And if you don't mind my asking, how did you know to have a ship waiting for us there?"
"I have an agent in Loguetown," he answered. "When I heard you were there, I figured you'd be heading for the Grand Line shortly. And since you don't have a marine ship, I knew that would be the only route you could take"
"You seem very well informed," Nojiko told him, finally breaking her silence.
"You look almost nervous," Kakashi replied. "Is there something you're worried I might know?"
"Nojiko hasn't done anything, sir," Naruto interrupted. "I take full responsibility for everything that happened."
"And do you have anything to add, Ensign Kiba?" he asked.
"I was fully aware of the actions I took," Kiba said firmly. "That said, it was all Naruto's idea."
Akamaru stood up and barked at Kiba accusingly.
"What? I told him I'd say that when he talked me into this," he told the dog defensively.
"Sir, if I might add something," Tenten interjected. "Their methods may have been wrong, but you can't ignore the good they've done. They left East Blue a much safer place than they found it."
Tenten had come to his defense? After verbally ripping him to shreds when she'd found out about this?
"She's right you know," Kakashi said. "The two of you deserve to be thrown out of the marines, but your results speak for themselves. I'd rather not lose two officers of your ability. So I'm going to just consider this matter settled."
"Really, sir?" Naruto asked hopefully.
"There is a price, however," Kakashi told them, "I'm not about to let you run around doing whatever you want anymore. From now on, you work for me, understood?"
"Yes, sir." Kiba and Naruto said nearly in unison.
"Good, because I have a mission already lined up for you," the Rear Admiral continued. "We've been receiving reports of citizens disappearing from Gunsmith Island. Based on information we've received, we believe those responsible operate from the nearby rabbit island. However, whenever we send marines to investigate, they find nothing."
"I'm not sure what you expect us to do," Naruto admitted. "Detective work isn't exactly our specialty."
"I was getting to that," Kakashi responded. "We don't have any eternal poses that go directly to Rabbit Island. But if you wait for an hour on Gunsmith Island, a regular log pose will lock on to it. We believe they have lookouts on Gunsmith Island that warn them whenever a marine ship stops by."
"But our ship doesn't look like a marine vessel," Tenten said knowingly.
"Exactly," Kakashi replied. "Obviously you'll also want to forgo your uniforms for the duration. You'll be in command of the mission, Naruto. I'd like you to stay on the crew as well Ensign Tashigi. Oh, and you're welcome to take the young lady there if she wants to go."
"I would like to stay on for now," Nojiko confirmed.
"Good," Kakashi responded. "I'll have an eternal pose sent to your ship. Ask Mary to find the quartermaster for you if you need any other supplies before you leave. Oh, and good luck lieutenant."
"Um, sir…did I heat correctly… lieutenant?" Naruto asked.
"You heard me correctly," Kakashi replied.
Wow, avoiding punishment was more than he'd expected, but a promotion too?
"Thank you, sir," Naruto said enthusiastically. "I'll do my best to deserve this honor."
"Um ... sir?" said Kiba as he got the Rear Admiral's Attention hopefully. "What about me?"
"Didn't you just say it was all Naruto's idea?" Kakashi asked in reply.
Kiba's silent fuming was the icing on the cake for a day that had already made a dramatic turn for the better.
0o0o0
Naruto had been busy loading supplies and preparing their ship for departure. In addition to the eternal pose for Gunsmith Island, they were given a second that lead back to G-5. They'd also been given a den den mushi that would allow them to communicate with the base should the need arise.
But shortly after the sun had set, G-5 as well had slipped over the horizon. And with the ship sailing smoothly along, Naruto found himself with some free time on his hands. So he left a clone at the helm and approached Tenten, who was busy taking practice marksmanship shots.
"I'd like to thank you for standing up for me with the Rear Admiral," Naruto told her. "Especially after how vigorously you expressed your opinion earlier."
"Oh that?" she asked with a touch of chagrin. "I may have overreacted a bit, but only because I expect a lot from you."
"Still, I really do appreciate it," he said honestly. "It takes a lot of courage to stand up to a superior officer. Yet you did it for my sake when you hardly even know me."
"I did owe you several favors," she replied. "I'm just glad I had the chance to pay one back."
Naruto didn't feel like he was owed any favors by the the young woman. Stopping Buggy and winning that naval exercise? Both of those cases were done more for his own sake. Helping her had simply been an unintended benefit. She on the other hand had stuck her neck out for him. Now he felt like he was the one who owed her.
"You want a sparring partner?" he asked. "I'm not very good with guns, but I should be better practice then swinging at air."
"That would be great," Tenten says. "Who would be a better sparring partner than one whose devil fruit power gives him the ability to created clones?"
Just then a new person enters the ship. He was marine officer, narrow brown eyes and a typical expression suggesting he is either bored or irritated. He has shoulder length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail. He has lazy look of face and appered to be the same age as Naruto.
"Is this the ship of Lieutenant Naruto D. Namikaze?" he asked.
"This is the one?" said Naruto. "And who might you be?"
"My name is Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara," he introduce himself. "I been assigned by Rear Admiral Kakashi to your command."