Chapter 11: Fight In Gunsmith Island
G-4
Paradise; Grand Line
"Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara?" Naruto repeated the name. "Rear Admiral Kakashi sends you?"
"Yeah," said Shikamaru. "To served as your second-in-command of your crew. He thinks someone of my specialty could help you out."
"And what is your specialty?" Tenten asked, curious.
"I'm a skilled navigator," Shikamaru told them. "But I'm also a combat tactician and strategist. The Rear Admiral thinks I would make a suitable member of your crew."
"Well it's good enough to have new blood on the crew," said Naruto. "Welcome aboard Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara."
"Thanks," said Shikamaru. "But I'm not the only new blood into your crew."
"Really?" Tenten asked. "Like who?"
Before Shikamaru was about to answer,
Nojiko, Kiba, and Akamaru return to the ship. They then see Shikamaru and Kiba asked "Who is this guy?"
"This is Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara," Naruto introduced to the rest of the crew. "Rear Admiral Kakashi has assigned him as my second-in-command."
"Second-in-command?" Kiba repeated, not looking happy. "Since when does he get to be Second-in-command?"
"I'm the man with the plane!" Shikamaru told him. "I'm capable of conducting various battle plans or fighting preparations effectively."
"Anybody can make a battle plan!" Kiba counters.
"Is that so?" Shikamaru alleged. "What's your IQ?"
"Huh?" Kiba repeated.
"I say what your IQ is?" Shikamaru repeated again.
"What the hell is an IQ?" Kiba says, looking confused.
"An IQ is a short term for intelligence quotient," Tenten explained it to him simply. "It is a total score derived from several standardized tests designed to assess human intelligence."
"For example," Shikamaru explained he details. "My IQ is 200, the highest in record."
"I know that." Kiba shot back, trying to act like he knows what an IQ is. "Do I look stupid to you?"
"Then tell us what your IQ number is?" Shikamaru persisted with the question.
"I don't have to tell you anything!" Kiba retort, trying to changed the subject.
"So you don't know," Shikamaru guesses. "Then I guess your IQ is low like 75."
"My IQ is not 75?" Kiba angrily snaps. "If you wanted to be Second-in-command in this crew fine—STOP TALKING ABOUT MY IQ!"
Everyone could help but snigger at Kiba's embarrassment.
"Ok everyone," Naruto begins to give out orders. "Let's get ready to sail off."
"Hold on!" Shikamaru stops him. "I'm not the only one assigned to your crew. Another marine and friend of mine is begin transfer to this ship as well."
"Really? Where is he?" Naruto asked, curious.
"He'd just arrived!" Shikamaru says, pointing to something.
Everyone turn to where Shikamaru was pointing at. Arriving on the ship was a young marine, with rotund build and markings on his cheeks in the form of swirls. He has spiky, brown hair that sticks downward to waist-length.
"Ensign Chōji Akimichi," he introduced himself with a salute.
"You're late Chōji." Shikamaru criticize his friend.
"Sorry Shikamaru." Chōji apologies to his friend and turning to Naruto, also apologies. "And sorry sir—I'll try my best not be late again."
"That's ok," said Naruto. "So you're now assigned to my crew, right?"
"Yeah, at Shikamaru's request," Chōji said. "He thinks every good ship needs a good cook."
"Cook?" Nojiko repeated.
"Yeah," Chōji said. "I'm a Marine cook."
"Is that so," Naruto says, looking uneasy. "Well…to be honest with you…I already had Nojiko, a civilian, for a ship cook."
Looking at Nojiko, Shikamaru mumbles "A Woman cook…how troublesome."
Nojiko looked at Shikamaru with ugly look and says "You got something against women?"
"Yeah...they're overburden in life." Shikamaru remarked.
"Overburden?" Tenten reacted, not looking happy.
"Don't take it personal," Chōji said to both Tenten and Nojiko. "Shikamaru finds women to be aggressive, demanding, and sometimes even scary."
Turning to Naruto, Chōji says "Lieutenant I don't mind working with Nojiko even if you hired her as your ship cook. To me two cooks are better than one on a ship."
"I appreciate that Chōji," said Naruto.
"At least he shows some respect for women." Nojiko remarked a comment of measurement between Chōji and Shikamaru."
"Point taken!" Tenten agreed.
0o0o0
It didn't take that long for the ship to reach Gunsmith Island. The voyage to the island took about a half a day. Arriving, all they had to do was waited for 12 hours until their log pose confirmed their destination Rabbit Island.
For Kiba, he took the chance is earn some extra sleep. He likes relax a while before a mission. It's a way to saved energy before going into action.
However, just as he was enjoying a good sleep, Naruto and the others enters his room.
"You could have let me sleep in a little longer," Kiba complained. "We're leaving in less than an hour."
Naruto had been bad enough when he was just a self-proclaimed captain. Now that he legitimately outranked him, he was going so far as to drag him out of bed far too early in the morning for some pointless patrol.
"We're only doing our duty as marines," Tenten countered. "That's more important than a little sleep."
Tenten being so gung ho about it did nothing to help his already poor mood. Kiba couldn't decide if he was more annoyed by workaholics or morning people at the moment. But seeing as his two companions each fell into both categories, he supposed it didn't really matter which came out on top.
"What is so important to wake me up?" Kiba complains.
"I saw the Straw Hat Pirates," Naruto whispered to Kiba. "Their ship just pulls into the harbor a few minutes ago."
"Are you sure?" Kiba asked.
"Yeah," said Naruto. "But I don't think they've spotted us yet. Which mean we have the advantaged in surprising them."
"We don't have time for them," Shikamaru counters. "Have you forgotten—we're on a mission?"
"That can wait," said Naruto. "For the Straw Hats kidnapped Nojiko's sister."
"Nojiko's sister?" Chōji repeated before he says "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"What about our deadline?" Shikamaru pointed out. "We'll lose our log pose to Rabbit Island?"
"Come one Shikamaru," Chōji said, trying to convince his friend. "This is what we do as Marines—help people. And besides…the Straw Hat has Nojiko's sister."
Shikamaru was quiet but show a sign of submission.
"So what are we going to do?" Tenten asked.
"It's simple," Naruto begins to explain. "We're going to saved Nojiko's sister and arrested the Straw Hat Pirates. Shikamaru and Chōji…I wanted the two of you to stay behind and looks after Nojiko. But don't tell her anything until we get her sister back safely."
"Yes Lieutenant." Chōji said.
Naruto, Kiba, and Tenten manage to reach land and sneaks their way into town. It took while due of how large Gunsmith Island is, but they finally manage to find the Straw Hat Pirates.
Tenten gave up her spot to let Kiba have his own look. Sure enough, there they were only forty feet away or so. He saw Luffy, that Usopp kid, and the blond chef. It was only the throng of people on the pier that had prevented them from spotting the group earlier. He didn't see any sign of Zoro or his two bounty hunter friends, but the group appeared to be standing there chatting with two young women.
"You think one of those girls is Nami?" Kiba asked while moving away from the corner to let Naruto look.
"Maybe it's that blue haired girl?" Tenten suggested. "The hair color might run in the family."
"No, I think it's the other one," Naruto replied. "I can't see it clearly from here, but I got a glimpse of a tattoo on her arm that looked similar to Nojiko's."
"So what's the plan?" Kiba asked.
He didn't have much experience dealing with a hostage situation so he wasn't sure what the best way to proceed would be.
"I'm going to go in alone and distract them," Naruto answered. "Kiba, while their attention is on me, I want you to sneak up behind them and get Nami out of there."
"Understood," Kiba replied.
"And once she's safely away, we capture the rest of them," Naruto finished resolutely.
Giving them each a final look, he must have been satisfied with what he'd seen from them. Nodding, he ran out of the alley and toward the pirates. Running right past their group, he turned around and confronted Luffy, who immediately recognized him.
"Ah, Naruto," Luffy said cheerfully, "I've been thinking about it and I'm kind of jealous of your power. You know how when there's beef over here, and chicken over there, and you can't decide which one to eat first? You could just make a copy and eat both at the same time."
"Actually—my clones don't eat or drink anything." Naruto corrects him.
"Ah," Luffy answered knowingly. "They're mysterious copies."
That boy was just as strange as Kiba remembered. But their group looked sufficiently distracted so Kiba began to make his way through the crowd toward where Nami was standing.
"You never told me you were a pirate," Naruto replied, accusation clear in his voice.
"I didn't?" Luffy asked. "Well I'm telling you now. I'm going to be the Pirate King."
"Pirates?" a passerby asked worriedly. "They're pirates?"
The word quickly spread as panicked civilians cleared out of the area as fast as they could. The press of people going the other direction was making it difficult for Kiba to move forward. And once they were gone his cover would be too. He'd have to move quickly when that happened or he'd be spotted the first time one of them turned around.
"You won't be if I have anything to say about it," Naruto insisted. "I'm taking you down right here."
"Is that so?" Luffy responded. "Well you got to defeat me first…and I'm not going to lose to you."
Kiba had finally reached the girl he assumed was Nami and grabbed her from behind, putting a hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming.
"I'm here to help you," he whispered in her ear to calm her down.
But she was anything but calm. Grabbing the arm he had over her mouth, she twisted and threw Kiba over her shoulder so that he landed flat on his back.
"What are you doing?" he yelled accusingly propping himself up into a sitting position. "I'm trying to rescue you."
"The only person I need rescuing from is you!" she yelled back.
Had he gone after the wrong girl? Maybe it was the blue haired one after all. But said girl was now coming at him with some sort of spinning weapon tied to ring on her finger. She didn't look any more eager to be rescued than her orange haired companion.
He heard Akamaru bark a warning at him, and instinctively jumped to the side, avoiding a small explosion where he'd just been sitting. He turned to see Usopp had just fired something at him. But the odd thing was it had come from a slingshot. What kind of a pirate used a slingshot?
Akamaru had moved past Kiba and was now approaching the long nosed boy, growling as he did.
"Nice doggy ... Nice doggy," Usopp said nervously. "I'm not going to hurt you. Look I'm putting the weapon down.
Kiba saw Akamaru relax a bit as the boy slowly lowered his slingshot to the ground. But that had been just what Usopp had been waiting for as in a split second he loaded and fired off a shot at the dog.
"Tamago Boshi," he cried out as the projectile flew toward Akamaru, hitting him directly in the face.
The dog immediately let out a yelp of distress and began to run around frantically pawing at his nose.
"What did you do to Akamaru?" Kiba yelled angrily at the boy.
Not even waiting for an answer he charged Usopp, intent on avenging his partner. But Akamaru cut him off looking him directly in the eye. Kiba had been with Akamaru for so long, he could almost always figure out what his partner was trying to tell him. And this time there was no doubt at all. His eyes clearly said that this one was his.
Nodding to Akamaru he looked around for a new target. Naruto looked to have claimed Luffy already, so he should probably help out Tenten. The other ensign had charged in and was surrounded by all three of the remaining pirates. And that was probably more than she could handle.
Locking onto the blue haired girl, he charged her, quickly ducking under a swipe she made with that weapon of hers. Grabbing her weapon arm, he was able to halt the spinning. He was about to finish her when a kick from Sanji on his arm forced him to release the girl.
"I won't let you harm so much as a hair on Vivi's head," he promised.
It looked like he would have to deal with this jerk first. But that was proving to be more easily said than done. The man was good. More than just good, he grudgingly admitted. He might have his hands full dealing with just him, and having to dodge that crazy Vivi chick's attacks at the same time wasn't going well for him.
He hadn't been able to get in one attack that hadn't been dodged or parried by Sanji, yet he'd taken a couple of glancing blows himself. And even glancing blows from the man's kicks had hurt, which spoke highly of the power behind them.
Tenten was able evade attack from the girl called Nami and pulls out her guns, aiming at her. However Sanji, in a quick of flash, kick away the guns before they were fired at the orange haired girl.
"Thanks, Sanji," she told her savior. "Now pay her back for trying to kill me."
"I'm sorry," the chef replied, "but I could never hit a lady."
"Kyah! You're so frustrating," she yelled at him, turning to run to where her staff had landed after being knocked away.
Without warning, Tenten kick Sanji between the legs, a low blow that causes him to cry out in pain.
"Next time leave your chivalry at home!" Tenten begun criticize Sanji.
Nami and Vivi made a run for it. Sanji attempts to follow after them. However, with his back turn it was that moment Kiba made his strike.
In a flash, Kiba charged forward and uses his body as a powerful force to slam against the man, sending him flying across several feet. Kiba hope it was enough take him out of the fight.
Nami and Vivi finally reach their ship. However, Tenten, despite begin unarmed, managed to tackle her to the ground. Vivi was about to help her when Kiba jumps in front of her, to prevent her in tag-teaming on Tenten. In panic, Vivi turns to the ship and shouted "Mr. Bushido! Wake up! We need help!"
"No where to run now!" Kiba says. "I suggested you surrender!"
Not giving up, Vivi pulled a second one of those weapons from somewhere and was now wielding one with each hand. Kiba would have to approach this carefully. Dodging several of her assaults he finally saw an opening.
One attack went wide and before she could recover, he dashed into her guard, ducking under the followup swing from her other hand. With nothing left to stop him, he planted his fist into her gut, knocking Vivi flat on her rear, gasping from the blow.
Do you surrender or should I continue?" Kiba asked her smugly. "I held back, but I can hit a lot harder than that."
"Interesting," she answered when she was able to speak again. "But how are you at taking blows?"
That was an odd response. Was it supposed to be some kind of a threat? Suddenly he found himself flying through the air, only then registering a throbbing pain in the side of his head. In his dazed state he attempted a controlled landing, but wasn't very successful as he plowed through a street stall of some type.
After taking a few moments to collect himself, he stood up to see Sanji standing there, only just lowering his foot from the kick that had been the cause of Kiba's involuntary flight.
"I'll never forgive any man that hits a woman," the chef declared angrily. "Now prepare yourself, because this fight is about to get serious."
0o0o0
Naruto watched Kiba slam into the ground after his failed rescue attempt. He never should have trusted Kiba with that task. Nami probably thought he was some kind of pervert grabbing her like that. Well, he'd have to leave that situation to his crew. He still had Luffy to deal with. So he took a stance and prepared to fight.
"You don't have a weapon?" Luffy asked. "You can't hurt me with your fists, you know."
"Funny," Naruto replied, "I was about to say the same thing to you."
This could be a good chance to use his Tekkai to demoralize his opponent. The boy was used to being invulnerable to blunt attacks. Let's see how he liked a taste of his own medicine.
"Of course I can," Luffy insisted. "I'm the rubber man. Your power is to make mysterious copies. Did you forget what your power was or something?"
"Then go ahead and try," Naruto challenged.
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Luffy shouted as he sent out his first attack.
"Tekkai!" Naruto shouted in response.
In an instant, Luffy's attack stuck Naruto. And from the looks of it…Naruto has no problem in absorbing that attack.
"Is that all you got?" Naruto mocked Luffy.
Eh?" Luffy asked. "Why didn't that work? I'm not the one who forgot my power is? No, my arms just stretched, so I must be a rubber man. Eh, thinking about this is too confusing; I'm just going to hit you harder."
Not for the first time, Naruto had to wonder if this kid was actually this stupid, or just messing with his mind.
"Gomu Gomu no Rifle!" he yelled as he sent out a more powerful attack.
Naruto grunted when it hit but managed to avoid giving off any other sign of how hard the blow had been. That punch was like being hit by one of Garp's cannonballs. No, it might even be stronger, since he had little doubt he'd improved the strength of his Tekkai since then. But he could still handle it, and soon Luffy would realize how hopeless it was.
"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!" Luffy cried out, sending a rapid stream of punches after Naruto.
But Naruto only grinned. He could hit him with as many of those as he wanted. Neither was as strong as that rifle of his, so he could easily handle them. And Luffy seemed to be getting very frustrated by the situation.
"Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!" the pirate captain screamed at the top of his lungs as he pulled back for a giant double handed punch.
Naruto stood there, waiting to absorb the attack, extremely confident of his Tekkai. Yet the force of Luffy's attack smashes through his Tekkai, sending him back several feet, through he was able to keep standing, while recovering from the attack.
"Yeah!" Luffy mocked back. "That's all I got!"
Naruto was shocked and embarrassed that Luffy broke through his Tekkai. The kid was stronger than he imagined which means this fight really going to be tough. However, Naruto was confident he'll win in the end.
His fists may not hurt his opponent but let's see how much fight he had in him after Naruto had tied that rubber body of his into a knot.
"Ah, no fair, Usopp," Luffy called out to his crew member. "I want to play with the doggy too!"
"What part of this looks like playing to you?" Usopp yelled back angrily from within Akamaru's large jaws.
Luffy may let himself get distracted, but that didn't mean Naruto had to wait for his opponent. He summoned twenty clones around himself. Although he was confused for a second as it seemed somehow more strenuous than usual. But that was probably just his imagination.
His Tekkai might not have been strong enough to withstand Luffy's strongest attack, but it was time to show him how lacking he was in speed. Naruto and his twenty clones all rushed toward Luffy. But the pirate captain wasn't about to go down without a fight.
He threw punch after punch at the approaching targets, but Naruto's Soru enhanced speed proved too great for his opponent. Pistols, rifles, even that gatling move of his had failed to land a single hit. And to be honest, Naruto was deliberately drawing this out as a small revenge for their earlier challenge.
"Hold still and let me hit you!" Luffy ordered.
Naruto was pleased to see the frustration was getting to him. But he'd had enough playing around, now he needed to finish this. Signaling all of his clones to converge on Luffy from sides…victory was as good as his.
"Gomu Gomu no Hanabi!" Luffy shouted.
His opponent began spinning sending a flurry of punches and kicks at a faster rate than anything he'd done before. But he was still being naive. It was a good attack but it just wasn't fast enough to be a threat to him, as he proved by dodging every blow.
However, a flood of memories brought to his attention the unexpected detail that three of his four clones had been destroyed. But how had that happened? He could believe one of them had slipped up and made a mistake, but there was no way that attack could have taken out all twenty clones.
After he'd had a moment to process the new memories, he realized exactly how it had happened. Somehow his clones weren't using Soru as he is. The Rokushiki required the user to be a master of their own body. And something about the sensations of being a clone just felt a little off.
Not surprising for a body that lacked hunger or thirst, a body that didn't even feel pain. And those unfamiliar sensations had prevented him from fully utilizing Soru. He wished he'd discovered this fact sooner, but Luffy had been the first opponent to push his clones to move so quickly.
"Now that all your clones are gone," Luffy said proudly. "You're next!
In response Naruto simply summoned replacements for the twenty clones that had been destroyed.
"That's not fair!" Luffy complained in protest. "Usopp, tell him that's not fair."
But his long nosed subordinate was busy lying unmoving on the ground beneath Akamaru, who was sniffing the fallen body.
"Stop ignoring me and tell him that's not fair," Luffy ordered. "I already beat up all of his copies! That's means they're out, right?"
"Stop yelling at me you idiot," Usopp lifted his head to shout back. "I'm trying to play dead here."
He quickly realized his mistake as the now very angry dog above him began to growl angrily.
"I mean, your noise briefly woke me from unconsciousness but now everything is going black again," he claimed, laying his head back down and going still.
But Akamaru wasn't about to fall for the same trick twice. He was glad at least one of them was doing well. But the revelation about his clones' limited speed made this much harder. If he couldn't reliably count on his clones to avoid taking hits, it could get down to grappling one versus one against Luffy.
That is if he were to stick to his original plan of tying the boy up. It could still work, once he had a hold of an arm or a leg, it should greatly reduce the speed of his attacks. But he couldn't keep up Tekkai while moving.
And close range combat against an opponent who could do so many odd things with his body, was immune to physical blows, and packed a horribly strong wallop was a large risk. If only he'd swallowed his pride and brought a knife or something. He could have diced Luffy to pieces with ease by now.
Although, there might be another way to get the same sort of effect. A properly performed Shigan could tear right through a body. It might be enough to wound even Luffy. He couldn't reliably do a Shigan yet, but it was worth a try.
"Stop complaining," he taunted Luffy, trying to provoke an attack. "You still haven't even managed to hit the real me."
"Which one is the real you?" he replied in confusion.
"I am you moron," Naruto yelled back.
Naruto had been trying to provoke Luffy and instead he was the one losing his cool. The boy was just so frustrating.
"Well then, see if you can dodge this," Luffy challenged. "Gomu Gomu no Gatling."
Luffy was now focused entirely on the real Naruto, which suited him just fine. As he dodged the attacks he rapidly fired off Shigans from both hands, hitting the extending arms repeatedly as he danced around them.
"Quit doing that," Luffy complained. "It stings."
It looked like the move might have potential if he ever fully mastered it. But causing a stinging sensation against his opponent hardly seemed like a fair tradeoff as Naruto examined his two badly sprained pointer fingers.
He supposed that's what he deserved for using the technique in combat when he hadn't even fully learned it. But it looked like it would have to be his original plan, risky or not. In a way Naruto was looking forward to the risk. This was already the most exhilarating experience of his life.
0o0o0
Although Naruto had ordered him and Chōji to remain behind to look after Nojiko at the ship, Shikamaru has a bad feeling that things not going to end the way as plan. Leaving the ship and heading into town, his fears proved right.
It seems the ambush on the Straw Hat Pirates is not going the way as Naruto had wanted. Shikamaru had a feeling Naruto would make a mistake underestimating the pirates. The Rear Admiral was a little too hasty in promoting a guy that went AWOL and giving him a special assignment he was suppose to be working on.
Shikamaru decided to step in and help his fellow marines. While Naruto and Tenten were able to handle their business with their foes, it looks like Kiba needs some help. Whoever Kiba's opponent is, he was very fast and not to mention how powerful those kicks he inflicted.
"Are you all right Vivi dear?" Kiba's opponent asked with concern tone.
"I'm fine Sanji," she replied, struggling to recover. "Thank you…I just to recover for a moment. What happened to guy you was fighting?"
"Don't worry," Sanji replied. "I took care of that bastard personally."
"That just terrific," Shikamaru remarked out loud to gains their attention. "A knight of shinning armor defending the honor of a lady…that's even more troublesome than women."
It was when Shikamaru noticed the light-blue haired girl. There was something familiar about her…and her name.
Seeing Shikamaru, Sanji demanded "Who are you?"
"I'm Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara of the marines!" Shikamaru introduced. "And I happened to be crewmate of the guy you beat up…not to mention I'm going arrested you two for begin pirates."
"I like to see you try it pal!" Sanji counters, getting ready to attack Shikamaru. "And don't worried—you'll get the same treatment as your friend that strikes lady."
Like lighting itself, Sanji charged at Shikamaru, ready to kick him in the hand. But before his foot strike Shikamaru—he instantly stops.
"What the…I can't move!" Sanji said out loud with a surprise tone in his voice. "Why can't I move?"
"Because you fallen victim to mine Shadow Imitation Technique!" Shikamaru lectures with a tricky smile. "All I had to do is link my shadow to yours and your whole body is under my control."
Looking down, Sanji noticed Shikamaru's words were correct as Shikamaru's shadow was linked to Sanji's.
"Devil fruit power?" Sanji guesses.
"Correct." Shikamaru said.
"Hey, what's going on?" a new voice spoken out loud.
Shikamaru turns his head, to see a newcomer leaving the ship—a green-haired man, wearing three swords on his hip. This guy must be the one called Zoro, the Pirate Hunter. Shikamaru heard rumors from the East Blue Sea about man who'd practices three sword style and was hunting pirates. He didn't know why a bounty hunter chooses to become a pirate, but he was going to be a problem.
Then Shikamaru had an idea.
In an instant, Sanji launch himself at Zoro, in attempt to kick. Yet Zoro block his kick with one of his swords.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing you idiot?" Zoro angrily shouted. "Are you out of your mind?"
"It's not me!" Sanji replied. "It's him! He's using—"
Sanji's words were cut off when he once again attacked Zoro. Through Sanji was a powerful fighter, Zoro happened to equally match his opponent as well. Shikamaru knew this fight going to take a while if—
"Shikamaru?"
Hearing his name, Shikamaru turns his head. Speaking his name was the girl Vivi who manages to make a full recovery. Looking at her, Shikamaru's face reacted in shock and says "Vivi—is that you?"
"Yes Shikamaru, it's me!" Vivi reply, also looking shocked.
"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked her. "And what are you doing with these pirates?"
"Stop!" Nojiko yelled out. "Everyone stop fighting! Please stop!"
Everyone turn to see Nojiko running toward them, arriving in the scene. Following her was Chōji. What was Nojiko doing here?
Shikamaru briefly surveyed the area to see how the rest of his crew had been doing. It looked like one of the pirates; a long-nosed kid was completely unconscious this time. Kiba didn't seem to have fared as well, only now pulling himself up from the remains of a street stand.
Naruto and Luffy are still fighting each other. Tenten appeared uninjured and seemed to have been locked in combat with the ornage-haired girl he'd assumed to be Nami, near where Nojiko had just appeared. Why would they have still been fighting? Was she not Nami? But now that Nojiko was here he should be able to get some answers, and he hurried over himself to make certain he didn't miss any.
"Nojiko?" the orange haired girl asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Nami," Nojiko answered, confirming the girl she was now hugging was her sister. "I'm glad I made it in time."
Something wasn't right here. Nojiko looked awfully calm for a girl who was surrounded by the pirates who had kidnapped her sister. And piecing the clues he had together, Shikamaru was pretty sure he knew just what it was that was off.
"Naruto says your sister was kidnapped, was she?" Shikamaru asked accusingly.
Nojiko's guilt stricken face was all the answer he needed.
"Kidnapped?" Nami asked. "Who are these people and what have you been telling them?"
"I believe I can answer that," Naruto replied. "She's been giving us false information, trying to keep us bringing you to justice."
"Is this true?" Tenten angrily questioned Nojiko.
Nojiko was quiet for a moment, but with guilty looks, she admits "Yes…it's true."
"Why would you help the pirates that attacked your village," Kiba asked, having wandered over himself.
"It's not like that," Nojiko insisted, finally finding her voice. "They saved us from Arlong's pirates. They're heroes in our village."
"Even if that's true," Naruto countered, "they still attacked Captain Nezumi and his men."
"Yeah, we attacked him," Nami yelled back unapologetically. "But he was in it with Arlong—taking bribes to look the other way. Then, after we took out Arlong and his crew, he showed up trying to rob the village one last time—only to get his ass kick. What were we supposed to do, let him?"
"That's a lie," Tenten snapped ay her, "No marine captain would behave in such a fashion."
"Actually," Naruto corrected her, "I've actually met the man, and I just might believe him capable of something like that."
"You're not just going to take their word for it and let them go are you?" Tenten questioned him.
"Of course not," Naruto replied, then turned to address Nami. "If you've truly done nothing wrong, then turn yourselves in. We'll see that you get a fair trial."
"Excuse me," Vivi interrupted. "There's something else you should know before you try to arrest them.
"Vivi!" Chōji replies with a shocked look on his face. "Is that you?"
"Yes Chōji, it's me." She replied. "It's…it's been a while."
"You guys know her?" Kiba asked both Chōji and Shikamaru.
"Yeah," said Shikamaru. "She's Nefertari Vivi, the royal princess of Arabasta."
"You're joking right?" Kiba snorted. "You don't expect us to believe a princess is hanging out with a bunch of pirates."
"Are you calling Vivi a liar?" Sanji asked, getting right up in Kiba's face.
"She really is the princess of Arabasta ," said Shikamaru. "Me and Chōji can vouch for her!"
"Are you sure?" Tenten asked, to make sure.
"We're sure," said Chōji. "We grew up together as kids."
Facing his friend, Shikamaru asked "Vivi…what are you doing here, sailing with pirates? The last we heard you hadn't been seen in public for many months since the growing tensions in Arabasta."
"Yeah," Chōji agreed. "And where's Igaram? We heard he disappeared the same time you had?"
Vivi looked uncomfortable and sadly says "Igaram… Igaram somewhere else Chōji…that's all."
Unlike his friend, Shikamaru saw that it was a lied. He has stinking feeling that Igaram was dead. Yet he kept it to himself, out of feeling for Chōji, who looked up to Igaram.
"I'm with the Straw Hat crew Shikamaru because I need to get back safely to Arabasta." Vivi explained.
"Get back safely?" Naruto asked. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"
"A criminal organization by the name of Baroque Works is trying to incite a rebellion in my country," she informed him. "I infiltrated the organization and discovered the identity of its leader, but was found out in the process. It's imperative I get back to my father with this information."
"WHAT?" Chōji cried in shock. "Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure Chōji," said Vivi. "I need get back to Arabasta to warned them."
"If you're telling the truth you won't mind coming with us," Naruto told her. "I'm sure the marines will be more than happy to ensure you arrive home safely."
"Hey, I've got a lot of money riding on this job," Nami complained. "I'm not going to let you steal my client that easily."
"There's no time," Vivi added. "Every second now Arabasta is closely heading to destruction unless I get back on time. Not to mention every delay just gives them more time to send assassins after me. And they could make their final move in Arabasta at any time."
Shikamaru saw that Naurto was in a difficult spot here. As commanding officer, he's the one to make a decision. However she was not making this easy for him. Thinking for a moment, Shikamaru finally made a decision.
"Let them go!" Shikamaru requested.
"Huh?" Naruto respond with a confused look.
"Just let them go," Shikamaru repeated again. "If Vivi trusted these pirates to take her home then I take her word for it. And beside…Arabasta is also my homeland."
"Yeah I agreed with Shikamaru," Kiba side with Shikamaru. "It doesn't seem to me they've done anything wrong. They helped us save the Baratie, saved Cocoyashi Village, and now they're helping a princess save her kingdom? Sounds like they're deserve a medal more than prison."
"That's absurd," Tenten protested. "Whatever they've done they're still pirates. And even what she says is true it doesn't change the fact that we have a duty to arrest them. We'll take Vivi to Arabasta ourselves if we have to."
"Are you forgetting that we have our own mission?" Kiba argued back. "Considering our history, I'm not about to risk disobeying orders and going off on our own."
"We can contact the Rear Admiral," Tenten countered. "I'm sure he'll understand the importance of the situation and let us go."
"And what's about the kidnappers?" Kiba asked. "We just let them go about their merry way? If allow the Straw Hat Pirates to handle Vivi we can solve both problems at once."
"That's enough," Naruto ordered. "You've both made your points."
"So what's your decision then?" Kiba asked.
That was a good question. What was his decision? Seeing him deliberating, Vivi decided to make one last plea.
"I'm begging you," she pleaded, getting down on her knees. "Millions of lives are at stake."
"Please just let them go," Nojiko added the kneeling next Vivi. "I swear to you they're good people."
It seems two emotional young women were enough to break Naruto down, and Shikamaru knew he just couldn't give the order to start fighting again.
"Don't think I'll forget you're pirates," he told Nami resolutely. "If I run into you again after you've delivered Vivi I won't hesitate to capture you. Now get out of here before I change my mind."
"You're welcome to try," Sanji challenged. "I'll be looking forward to teaching this barbarian some manners."
Kiba snarled back but left it at that. And Tenten didn't look very pleased with his decision, but he took it as a good sign that she wasn't openly protesting.
"Are you going to be all right, sailing with them Vivi?" Shikamaru asked his friend.
"I'll be fine Shikamaru thank you." Vivi said. "Although it would be nice if you and Chōji would come along."
"Believed me I wish I could," Shikamaru said. "But we're in the middle of assignment. Maybe after this job is over I'll head back to G-4 Base and tell them what you told me."
"Yeah," Chōji agreed. "And if we're lucky…we could be on our way to Arabasta to help you out."
"That will be nice." Vivi said.
"Now that I've been found out, I guess this is goodbye," she said. "I just want you to know that I really do feel bad about deceiving you. Oh, and I enjoyed our time together."
"You can come with us, Nojiko," Nami offered. "Right Luffy?"
"I don't really understand what's going on," he answered, "but okay, she can join our crew."
"Welcome aboard, Nojiko-chan," Sanji said enthusiastically. "I'll cook a special welcoming feast in your honor."
"You don't have to leave if you don't want to," Naruto told her.
"You serious?" Shikamaru asked, make sure he heard correctly.
"With all due respect, sir, I have to protest," Tenten responded. "She's been lying to us and deliberately attempting to sabotage our efforts."
"Are you suggesting we give her the choice of joining pirates or being abandoned on an island far from her home?" Naruto asked. "Because I'd rather not have to think I all but forced someone into piracy."
"I'm sorry," Tenten replied. "I guess you're right. I have no further objections at the moment."
"Do you really mean that?" Nojiko asked. "You're not just going to dump me somewhere as soon as they leave?"
"You can stay as long as you'd like," Naruto assured her. "I promise."
"Our offer is still open too," Nami pointed out hopefully.
"Yeah, don't trust him," Sanji advised desperately. "He has the look of a liar."
"Sorry Nami," Nojiko told her sister, "but I think it's better if we have our own adventures. We'll get to see twice as many things that way and we can tell each other all about them. Besides, I'm fine with having a dog for a crew member, but I don't think I like the idea of having a captain with the intellect of IQ lower than 75."
"She's calling you stupid," Luffy said to Naruto with a laugh.
"It was you she was calling stupid," Nami pointed out, getting a noticeable tick in her eye.
"Really? Then I take back what I said," Luffy replied petulantly. "She can't join my crew after all."
"She wasn't going to join anyway!" Nami yelled at him. "What part of this conversation were you listening to?"
"He's dumber than Kiba?" Shikamaru remaked.
"Watch it!" Kiba warned him.
Sighing, Nami turned back to her sister.
"Why do I suddenly get the feeling I ended up with the raw end of this deal?" she asked.
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Nojiko told her, then looking at her sister she embraced her in a hug. "Good luck out there."
"You too," Nami replied, returning the hug warmly.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Nojiko, stated.
Releasing the hug, she marched over to Zoro and without warning sent a fist into his gut.
"Do you want something?" Zoro asked nonchalantly, not at all phased by the surprise attack.
Apparently, this was not the right answer as Nojiko followed up with a knee to his groin, a move that made Shikamaru wince sympathetically. This attack had a much greater effect, as the swordsman fell the ground in pain.
"That's for Loguetown," Nojiko told him angrily.
"What did you do to my sister, you monster?" Nami shouted, slamming her staff down over the head of the green haired young man.
"What's wrong with you two?" Zoro managed to gasp out. "I never even saw her in Loguetown. I just bought some swords and then ran around trying to find Luffy. That was it."
Shikamaru didn't know what that was about. But since they had nothing else to do here, it was time they got back to their own mission.
"I believe our hour is almost up," Shikamaru declared. "It's time we head back to our ship."
The crew turned to follow, Akamaru trotting after them carrying Usopp in his mouth.
"You'll have to leave him behind," Naruto told his canine subordinate.
Akamaru whined, but followed orders, dropping the unconscious boy to the ground and following after them.