Staying or Leaving

A/N: Hey, Dreamwritergoddess here! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted or faved this story. Thanks for your motivation!

And sorry for the long wait; I had yet another presentation and project. I know it sounds like another excuse, but it's the truth and when you go to my school, you get at least 2-3 projects per month.

Summary: At the show, Suki seems to notice something is off. People with… let's say, similar careers show up, and Suki can't stop thinking about them.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. Credits to Pokepika's Haunt's Growing Up with Whitebeard for the beginning.

Chapter 14: Performers

Same time frame as before

The three raced towards the main tent, as people started to enter it. By the time they reached the tent, there were only a few seats left, but luckily, they weren't as bad as they thought. There weren't many people up top so they had a better view. It was pretty quiet, or at least it would've been if Luffy wasn't there. But since she was there, silence was not something they had.

"Bwen fill fe bwow shart? (When will the show start?)" Luffy asked, her mouth stuffed with popcorn.

Suki glared at Luffy, "How would I know? Be patient. And leave some popcorn for me!"

Suki reached out to grab the popcorn, but Luffy kept it beyond her reach. Suki started to aim for her straw hat, and Luffy yelped in surprise, but still managed to keep the popcorn away. Suki, being as stubborn as she was, continued to reach for it, whacking Luffy as she tried. Nite, sadly, was wedged between the two girls and stuck in the middle of their fight. After a few more minutes of screaming girls and flailing arms, he snatched the popcorn away from Luffy, and poured what remained into his mouth. The two girls stared in surprise and anger, but Nite returned the looks with a glare worthy Mihawk's, daring them to make a move. The two girls sat back down in silence, still fuming, but made no move. A few moments later, the ringmaster walked onto the middle of the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, people of all ages, welcome to Canon Circus, where we're sure to give you a blast!" the ringmaster called out, starting the show. He was rewarded with cheers and applause, the crowd excited for the show.

"First off, we have our lion tamer Mohji and the lion, Richie!" With those words, a giant lion came out, with a man riding it. The man wore a fur vest, and a fur hood like thing on his head, covering his head. The lion was white; or at least, it looked like it was supposed to be white.

When Suki saw the lion tamer, she recognized him from files the Marines kept. With the Marines, there was nothing to do and so she made it her business to memorize most, if not all, the files the Marines had.

Who is he again? I know I saw him in the files before! He's a pirate, I think. On the crew with Bucky? Biggy? Buggy? Wait! Buggy the Clown! So that Mohji… what is he doing here? I mean, I know Buggy is a clown, but still, why? Suki thought.

She didn't even notice the act end, and it wasn't until she heard the crowd's cheering did she noticed. She watched as the ringmaster walked up and announced another act.

"Did you enjoy Mohji's and Richie's tricks, hmm? Well, here comes more! I show you Alvida, the world's most beautiful and slippery person!"

Out came a slender woman, sliding around. She had long black hair and she was true to her title. Or at least, that's what the men thought. So when the women saw their husbands and boyfriends gap at Alvida, they started to frown and glare at her, their faces scrunched up in jealousy and distaste. She sent air kisses around and some men fainted. She continued to slide around, as if on ice.

Suki wasn't focused on how she looked, though. She was trying to remember the woman's information. She knew she was a pirate, that was for sure as she had seen her name in the files, but her appearance was way off. The one she knew was fat and ugly, pimples all over her face and short as a child.

As the show went on, several other pirates appeared amongst the acts, most being former captains. Cabaji, another member of Buggy's crew, and Kuro, former captain of the Black Cats Pirates, were two that stood out. Although she was thinking hard about the pirates, she still had a great time, enjoying the show as much as the others.

It wasn't until the show ended did she start thinking about the pirates again. Nite, noticing that Suki seemed worried, went up to her as they were walking back to their ship.

"What's on your mind?" Nite asked casually.

"Huh?" Suki said, deep in thought, "I guess it's nothing, but I think I saw pirates in the show."

Nite nodded, signalling her to continue, "Well, I think I saw about ten well-known pirates: Kuro, Mohji, Cabaji, and Alvida. There were others, but I'm not familiar with them. I doubt there up to any good, but they wouldn't be a problem to us."

"True; they are all rookies, ones who've never been to the Grand Line." Nite said, and after a moment, added, "How'd you recognize them? From what I last heard, they were defeated and haven't been seen in a while."

"Eh, well, when I was younger and with the Marines, I got really bored. I found these files and I decided to memorize them all, or at least most of them." Suki answered, earning a smile from Nite.

"Bookworm."

"Loner."

The two smiled, and started to throw insults around playfully. At some point, Luffy joined in as well, but what she said made no sense at all. Once they got back to the ship, they were all laughing, or in Nite's case, chuckling, trying to be emotionless as always. They headed off to their own respective cabins, falling into deep sleep.

Present time, mystery location

"Did you locate them?" said someone, the voice full with authority.

"Of course I did; pretty hard to miss them." said another.

"Finally! They will pay, or more to the point, she will pay." said a female.

The others nodded in agreement, smiling evilly at what they were about to do.

A/N: Sorry for the really long wait! I had minor writer's block and a huge presentation. And sorry about the length of this chapter! The next will be better (hopefully…)!

Please review! Pretty please with sugar on top?