Title: Notorious

Summary: The World Government has other reasons to hunt the Straw-hats thanks to these two.

"Psst!"

Nami heard the hiss issue forth from the hole that lead to the Soldier Docks as she crossed the lawn, an alcohol-laden, banana-mikan daiquiri in one hand, a roll of charts in the other. She casually glanced around at the rest of the crew. It was almost lunch-time, which meant that almost everyone was preoccupied: Luffy, Chopper, and Brook were busy banging on the galley door; Sanji was thoroughly engaged in the defense of his precious meal till the very last second of preparation; Zoro was still on his 15th set of tricep extensions; Robin was ensconced in the library translating another ancient text, leaving Franky and Usopp unaccounted for.

"Nami-sis, you okay?"

The cyan cyborg in question was coming up the ladder that led to the underbelly of the ship, easily scaling the ladder and hopping onto the main deck. Nami smiled warmly,which was slightly unnerving, but Franky was confident that he hadn't incurred any more debt. He'd learned about her predatory lending services the first time she'd suggested a game of poker; he wouldn't be falling vistim to his macho bravado again any time soon.

"Hey, Franky! I think lunch is almost ready. Is Usopp downstairs?"

"Nose-bro's squirreled himself away in his workshop most of the night, even though we've cleaned up after Bones-bro. I called him a while ago, he said he was coming in a sec, but you know how he is when he's inventing something."

Nami nodded absently as she downed her cocktail. She was well aware of how engrossed the sniper could become when he was concocting something. However, she nearly had a heart attack at Franky's next words.

"Maybe I should go down and get him-"

Nami gave the metal-inlaid man a loving slap on the back that nearly knocked the cola out of his stomach-fridge. Seriously, how the hell did such skinny wrists connect with such power?

"Nah, I'll go get him, Franky. You go on and get lunch," she encouraged him with false cheer, ignoring the fact that the man had almost become a soda vending machine. Pushing him none too gently across the lawn, Franky finally got the hint, and sent his condolences to Usopp's parents for leaving him to the orange-haired woman's cruel hands.

"Hey Cook-bro, open up man!"

***

Nami's knuckles rapped on Usopp's factory door three times, paused, then rapped seven times. The door was opened just the barest minimum to allow the navigator to slip into the room.

"Took you long enough," Usopp grumbled, clumping back to the depths of the workshop.

"Is it ready?" Nami asked breathlessly, the strong lantern light creating a halo around her head. The sniper didn't bother to answer, simply wiggling his fingers to encourage her to venture deeper. They stopped by a large machine that looked like a printing press.

"It's a good thing I got Franky to salvage this machine for me. It's the only one perfect for the job."

"Franky? Shit, does he know what we're up to? Those idiots will just go wild if they know-"

"Relax. I told him that I needed it to make prints of my drawings, so I can sell them when we hit the archipelago."

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Watch this."

Usopp grabbed a handle on the machine, and manfully began to crank it. It was hard going at first, but soon the press was moving smoothly. He stopped cranking after a small sheet of paper came out, which he presented to Nami with a smug grin on his face. The orange-haired navigator drew a similar sheet of paper out of her bosom and compared it to the crisp new print. A slow, self-satisfied Chesire cat grin grew on her face, as she carefully placed both sheets back into her bra. Grabbing the sniper's head, she planted a solid kiss on his mouth, not caring one bit as he spat and wiped her gloss off vigorously while muttering about Kaya.

"This plate is even better than the first ones you did! Consider your debt reduced by 40%!"

Usopp thanked the heavenly powers above that his inventive mind and artistic skill might actually allow him to hold on to real money before he died, as Nami sauntered back out of his domain, beri signs in her eyes.

At the very least, his carpal tunnel would get better.

***

Sengoku looked at the beri bills in his hands, sighing loudly as he still couldn't tell which one was real and which was fake.

"Which one is the blasted counterfeit?" he snapped at the distinguished elderly woman in front of him, dark eyes flashing in fury.

Vice Admiral Tsuru used her devil fruit ability to wash and hang out the bills. One was slightly faded, while the other was still as vibrant as it was before she had rinsed them. There was no other difference, not even in the position and clarity of the watermark. Sengoku peered at the bills, even taking off his glasses to eye them closely, before coming to a conclusion.

"It's the one that's still got its color, isn't it."

Tsuru smirked and nodded. An exceptionally perceptive man like the Fleet Admiral would guess the difference, but the average person, marine or otherwise, would expect that the real money would hold up better under water. Sengoku leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. A new problem to consider was the last thing he needed right now.

"How long have we been seeing these counterfeits in circulation?"

"Well, those bills you just saw were both from marines on Smoker's ship just before he entered the line, so Loguetown would be a good guess. There was a batch taken from a remote village in East Blue named Syrop a few years ago, and then they've also been seen in Arabasta, Mocktown, and Water 7. Never in noticeable quantities, but there has been a slight increase in the money supply as a result."

Sengoku plotted the points in his head, and cursed silently.

"Garp's benighted grandson has passed through almost of those places in the past few months. I'm certain it's connected with those damn Straw-hats! At least they don't seem to have a printing press going, or else they'd really be notorious!"

***

Author says:

I've always wondered what money Usopp had to survive on since his mother's death, so I came up with my own explanation. Naturally, Nami would sniff out anything money-related and turn it to her advantage.