Sabo made what could be considered a beeline to the Moby Dick, the journey only taking a week. He wasn't sure why he was in such a hurry, but he was taking very few breaks. He didn't want to miss the crew, it was more difficult than people would assume to track down a crew as big as the Whitebeards. Especially if you were looking for a specific member of the crew. Thankfully, Ace would most certainly be on the Moby Dick, if only due to the fact that his chosen family would be overprotective.

This, he supposed, could make his appearance a bit problematic, but he only needed to get enough words in before Ace could react. Should be easy, he supposed, but only if no one managed to interrupt him, so he had to talk fast.

He made it to the island only a couple of days after the Whitebeards had docked there, which was actually quite impressive. The blond didn't waste time congratulating himself, however, and instead made his way towards the ship. He'd tied his own little boat not too far off, but it was still a short walk to get to the gang-plank, due to the sheer size of the vessel.

Once he did get there, he stopped and eyed it, then the ship, then pursed his lips as his thoughts whirred.

This was going to be awkward no matter how he introduced himself.

With a sigh, he secured the pipe on his back, clutched the bottle in his hand and marched up the ramp, trying to convey that he was not a threat with his body-language. He seemed to have succeeded, since the pirates that noticed him looked only slightly weary. It might have had something to do with the fact he was just casually strolling onboard or the fact the sun had almost set already, but at least no one appeared hostile.

Sabo scanned the deck once he made it that far and spotted his target pretty easily. He then started walking towards a familiar figure, even if he mostly remembered him as a ten-year-old, while expertly dodging the pirates trying to talk to him. Evidently, the raven had noticed something was amiss, as he had started to rise from his position on a barrel and turn his way when he froze at the words that left Sabo's mouth.

"I was surprised it was Luffy who did it." the blond said breezily, apparently his voice somehow ringing bells in his idiot older brother's brain "Punching a Celestial Dragon? Honestly sounds more like something the Ace I know would do." he then sighed forlornly "But, I don't really know you anymore, do I? Ten years is a long time, after all, so I'm... not as surprised as I perhaps should be that you mellowed out somewhat."

By now, everyone had stopped what they were doing and were staring at him and Ace, but he didn't pay them any mind, the Revolutionary only had eyes for Ace, who finally straightened up and turned to face him, eyes wide.

"Sabo?"

The way that name left Ace's lips made Sabo's eyes soften, he'd never heard the other sounding so lost and broken "Did you guys know?" he asked, repeating words Ace had once said, tossing the bottle to Ace, who caught it just barely, staring at the label "If you share sake, you become brothers?"

His brother caught the bottle, staring at him, it, then him again, before putting it down. "Is it really you?"

The blond smiled at him "Yeah... sorry I didn't come back."

The raven-haired man's face screwed up as he lunged and Sabo braced himself. Only, instead of the punch he'd been expecting, he received a bone-crushing hug instead "You idiot! Where the hell have you been?!"

Arms trapped, the Revolutionary couldn't reciprocate the embrace and instead answered "Well, after the World Noble sunk my boat, I was saved by the Revolutionaries. Unfortunately, I had zero memories of anything except the fact that I did not want to return."

Ace's arms tightened and Sabo marveled he could still breathe, but once again paid attention when he heard a whispered "I missed you so much..."

The Chief of Staff swallowed "Yeah," he choked out "missed you guys too."

"How touching."

Everyone whipped to face the unknown voice, their tone bored and dark with something none could name. The word one could use to describe the person would have been 'black'. The man had black hair, black eyes and black clothes, though the shirt under the black cloak was lavender. The man possessed open-toe sandals that otherwise obscured his feet, fingerless black gloves that reached under his sleeves and a katana which parted his black cloak.

All in all, he made an intimidating figure. One that had snuck onto their ship without alerting anyone of their presence.

The man shook his left hand free from the cloak and brought it up towards his face, his thumb, index- and middle-finger extended upwards while his ring- and pinky-finger were folded down "Thank you for leading me here, but your usefulness has run out." he said drolly, eying his surroundings disdainfully "Kai."

Everyone could feel a pulse of something from the man and then Sabo stumbled and clutched his head, face scrunched up, before his face cleared and he sprung a few steps backwards "You! What the hell did you do to me?"

Ace stepped in between his brother and the apparent threat, who only shrugged, left arm once again obscured by his cloak, his right resting on the hilt of his sword "You wouldn't co-operate, so I cast a genjutsu to make you ignore my existence and essentially forget you'd ever seen me. It worked out wonderfully, but I'm not cruel enough to let someone live inside an illusion for all eternity."

There was something in his words that weighed down on everyone, but the fact still stood that he had used his powers on Ace's brother... well, other brother, and had been pretty antagonistic ever since he'd brought attention to himself.

"Now," the man continued, his eyes roaming over all the people present "which one of you is related to that blond idiot?"

What?

Everything came to a screeching halt.

It was Ace who realized exactly who he was talking about, and more people would have been offended by that fact if they hadn't still been reeling from the question "What do you want with Naruto?"

No way were they letting this unknown harm Oyaji's grandson.

The black-haired individual zeroed in on the Fire Logia "He stuck around then, good." his eyes narrowed slightly "The fact you care means he probably left you a way to contact him."

It was stupid, but many of them glanced at the kunai their technical nephew had left them. It hung from a hook in the main mast. Those glances were all it took for the unknown to spot it too and everyone could tell he knew exactly what it was used for.

"Hiraishin. The Dobe actually mastered it." they all could hear the disbelief, before the man continued, sounding smug "Good."

They knew what he wanted a moment before he moved, which meant there were already people in between him and the kunai when he lunged.

They may have been better equipped to deal with shinobi than they had been before they got to know Naruto, but they were still no match for a ninja on a mission.

Secretly grinning, Sasuke grasped the kunai. Now he'd have some answers.