By Your Side is Where I Belong

by TexasBean

All he was supposed to do in Konoha was collect the reward for the bounty and be on his way. But when Zoro defends some kid from a drunk during a festival, he didn't realize he'd get stuck with Naruto. Arriving in Suna, the pair meet Gaara, who ends up leaving with them when he sadly has no reason to stay. Luffy is overjoyed to get three nakama at the start of his journey...

14. Very Unwittingly Found Himself a Family

Thanks for the well-wishes, ya lovelies. Things are slowly getting back to normal. With sleepless nights in the hospital, that gave me plenty of time to brainstorm. This chapter is actually going to cover the next few years, ending right around Shells Town, since that's where the next chapter will start.

Warnings: lengthy chapter, fluff (some of it may be so sweet you'll walk away with a sugar-high), language, violence, creeps, violence against creeps, death, various OCs, bad haircuts everyone has regretted at some point, slight filler, mild angst, reluctant self-discovery

0o0o0

Chapter Fourteen: In Which Roronoa Zoro wonders why those Two Brats are looking at him with Expressions Like that on their Faces and he Realizes he has Very Unwittingly Found himself a Family

*0*0*

Getting through the other side of the Barrier had been easy enough, and now, Zoro was rowing the little boat out from between two stone spires that were covered in hundreds of Seals. Looking at them made the boys' eyes feel strange, so they focused on the scene ahead of them. There was a pole with a tattered, faded flag that held no hint as to what the color used to be. Naruto and Gaara both stared out at the ocean, truly fascinated. Somehow, the ocean seemed so big compared to the one they had seen before. It looked endless, and the sky – it was so big and so open, and the clouds!

They looked so fluffy and so much bigger than the ones back home. But maybe that was just excitement fueling their imaginations.

Naruto's smile matched the sun as he stood up and leaned forward, gripping the edge of the boat tightly. "This is so cool, Dattebayo!"

"Brat, don't do that, you'll fall in!" Zoro shouted at Naruto, who was leaning precariously over the side.

Gaara groaned as the boat rocked, the feeling of his breakfast wanting to make another appearance burned in his throat. While he could appreciate the beauty of the ocean around them, he hoped that they would be on dry land again very soon.

"Here, you two," Zoro handed both boys an oar. "Start rowing – at the same time. Otherwise we'll go in a circle."

"Why?" Gaara asked, as he began to row.

"For one, its good training. Another; that stupid Gate is distracting." Zoro indicated it over his shoulder. "I feel this weird need to go towards it…"

It was pretty much like a moth to a flame. He had a natural instinct to head towards the thing. Probably if he could do that stupid chakra pulse thing he could push away from the Gate. As they rowed further away, Zoro slowly stopped feeling that pull, and finally relaxed.

"So…where're we headed?" Naruto asked when they stopped briefly for a break.

"Eh…" Zoro looked around. "I wanna get to the Grand Line…" Zoro trailed off, thinking that he would be prepared soon enough. "That man is waiting there…" Zoro glanced down at the two boys. "But before we do, you two are gonna have to get stronger. I'll have to learn more of those Jutsu…" Zoro finally removed the hitai-ate and looked at it thoughtfully. "I wonder if I could improvise…"

"Who's waiting at that Grand Line place?" Gaara asked.

"A man called Dracule "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk."Zoro replied with a smirk. "The greatest Swordsman in the world. And I intend to dethrone him."

Both boys were looking at Zoro in awe, although they had to admit that Mihawk's name sounded funny.

"You're so cool, 'ttebayo!"

"That's amazing, Zoro-nii!"

Zoro blinked and stared at the pair for a few seconds before muttering under his breath, "Yeah, whatever, you brats."

Zoro silently hoped he'd get used to those expressions eventually.

"So, before heading to the Grand Line, where will we go first?"

"We'll head up that way." Zoro offhandedly replied. "Go wherever the tide take us, hope for the best and all."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You have no idea where to go, do you?"

Gaara frowned. "I don't know how to navigate the ocean…" he felt slightly queasy again staring at the water, so he turned to Naruto to distract himself. "Do you, Naruto?"

"Ehhhh…" Naruto blinked and said, "Well…the sun's over there, and we're floating this way…so um, east?" At least he thought so. It helped having scenery that had shadows. "We aren't gonna get lost, are we, 'ttebayo?"

"I don't get lost." Zoro muttered from his spot. "We'll have to get some supplies at the next island. I still have a few hundred bellies left from before I came to the Elemental Nations. But we'll have to get more, considering there's three of us."

"…we're going to die." Gaara muttered. "People will find our corpses adrift at sea."

Naruto easily imagined some ship coming upon their small boat with all of their skeletons sitting inside and shivered.

"That's not gonna happen, right, Zoro-nii?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"Not unless we find an island." Zoro replied, not comforting the boy.

Naruto hoped they would find an island soon.

00oo00

Since there wasn't much to do while waiting for an island to appear, Zoro decided to start training the boys how to use basic Fuuinjutsu. Of course, all he knew was weight and strength repressing Seals, along with how to Seal away items and dead bodies.

"Alright, listen, you brats." Zoro explained, "The thing about Seals is that they're delicate. When writing 'em down, you've gotta have your handwriting exact, otherwise the Seal could backfire and cause you to lose a limb," Naruto winced at the idea, and Gaara blinked. "Fortunately, the Seals I'll be showing you won't do that."

Naruto grumbled, "Couldn't you have left that part out? Dumbass, 'ttebayo…"

Zoro either didn't hear or completely ignored Naruto's comment. Pulling a scroll out of his bag, Zoro said, "If you two wanna to learn Sealing, I suggest getting your handwriting down first, then we'll look at how Seals work."

Naruto grumbled again about studying, but since there wasn't anything else to do except stare out at the ocean or sleep, Naruto decided to practice his handwriting.

A few days later at some island, Naruto and Gaara were both studying how a Sealing scroll for items was written out.

Practicing with Sealing small rocks into a scroll, Gaara ended up not putting enough chakra into the Seal, so the rocks – while they had been pulled into the Seal, were sticking out at odd angles.

"You're not putting enough chakra in the Seal, sand-brat." Zoro supplied from his spot a few feet from the two boys. He took a sip of some cheap booze he had gotten at the local tavern. "Focus again. This time, pretend you're controlling your sand, like a small section of it. Sort of like you're spreading out a thin layer."

For Naruto, he was successful with Sealing the rocks, but the problem came when the rocks had retained their weight when they had been Sealed within the scroll.

"You forgot to write something down, brat." Zoro yawned as he laid back. "Look at the scroll I gave you and compare it to what you've written."

Naruto double-checked the scrolls, and he went, "Oh!" and quickly filled in a few characters where he had forgotten to add something about carrying weight and making it lighter. After that minor adjustment, Naruto was rapidly making strides in learning how to Seal. It was freakishly as if he were a natural at it. In just a few hours, Naruto has already mastered quite a few storage techniques, just from reading a book that Kakashi had given Zoro at some point.

Naruto then began trying to Seal stuff into his clothing so that he could have access to items such as weapons – or maybe something for a prank. It was an aspect of his repertoire that will take some work, but he didn't mind at all.

Within his mindscape though, Kyuubi can't help but sigh in mild irritation. Of course the kid would take after his father and Uzumaki lineage.

00oo00

It was weird, and it was different, but it was nice. Naruto stood at the counter where he purchased a variety of food, and the storekeeper simply rung up his things without overcharging him or denying him a sale, or even demand that he buy something rotten, only to overcharge him for that, too.

Back in Konoha, no-one wanted him in their stores; and if he was successful in buying something, they always made him pay more than everyone else. In other parts of the Elemental Nations, Naruto had been treated with suspicion, but not the hostility. Here, he was just another face in the crowd – he was a kid, and the people treated him like it.

It was his first experience of boring normalcy. And it was elating.

Silently, as he ate lunch with his brothers, Naruto contemplated what he would do when he went back to Konoha and tried to purchase something from one of those stores. Would they still treat him like that? He'd probably be an awesome Ninja by then, and they would have no choice but to respect him! Naruto giggled to himself, as he thought of a prank he had pulled on a store owner one time. He'd probably be able to do something more elaborate if something like that ever happened again.

00oo00

One evening, Naruto pulled out the book, The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi, and sort of shoved it into the teen's face.

"Zoro-nii, will you read to us?"

Zoro took the book and scowled, and felt whatever resolve he had crumbling at the sight of two sets of eyes looking at him hopefully. "Fine, but don't expect me to do any weird voices."

Both boys snuggled on either side of Zoro, not caring that there weren't any pictures to be seen.

The main character's name was Naruto, funnily enough.

Both boys were entranced by the story; a tale of a Ninja named Naruto, who vows to break the cycle of war plaguing the Ninja world.

"That's so cool…!" Naruto said with a happy sigh as he yawned. "I like that dream…"

Gaara was asleep, drooling on Zoro's shirt.

In Zoro's opinion, the book was sappy and slightly unrealistic at parts. It was still entertaining to read, though. In truth, it showed how limited the knowledge was of someone who lived in the Elemental Nations – not that it was Jiraiya's fault. There was always a war being fought somewhere, in some other far-off country, something that Koshiro had never liked.

But it was an admirable goal – sort of like those Kiri-Nin who wanted to stop war from plaguing their country. He wondered if they had been successful. Stuffing the book into the pocket of Naruto's bag, Zoro settled down to sleep.

00oo00

Within Gaara's Mindscape:

Gaara sat silently in front of a screaming and cursing Ichibi, until finally, upon not eliciting any sort of reaction, Ichibi quieted down to stare scathingly at Gaara.

"Are you about done?" Gaara asked with a disinterested gaze that very nearly matched Zoro's.

That set off Ichibi again.

"YOU FUCKING BRAT! YOU DARE TO TALK TO ME LIKE THAT?! I'LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS AND SHOVE THE REMAINS UP YOUR ASS!"

Gaara stayed silent for a few minutes longer, before responding, "I'm not going to put you in the sphere today," Ichibi rolled his eyes, "on the condition you don't scream and shout in my head. Any screaming, shouting, or insults, and I'll lock you away for a month."

"It's already been a fucking month."

"Then I'll make it two."

Ichibi glared, and Gaara blinked.

"Anyway, our travels have been kind of boring," Gaara started talking. "Zoro-nii has been training Naruto and me in a lot…"

"I don't fucking care."

"…and I'm learning how to manipulate my sand better. I like carving, that's fun. I've started making Ninja weapons for Naruto, but I'm not very good, yet."

"You can lock me away now…"

"I like manipulating the grains of sand to make patterns in our boat, that's fun."

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you, you fucking bastard?"

"I wish you would tell me some of your hobbies, so I'm not the only one talking. But since you won't talk to me; it's really like a giant Sea King ate your tongue out of your head. Speaking of tongues, I like eating grilled tongue a lot."

"STOP IT!...Please?"

"I also like gizzards…"

This was torture! Cruel and unusual punishment! Ichibi was becoming increasingly annoyed, and Gaara ignored his shouts for a while before giving him a pitying glance.

"You aren't a very good conversationalist. Why can't you be more like Kyuubi?"

It was as if steam shot out of Ichibi's ears. "HOW DARE YOU COMPARE ME TO THAT FUCKING STUPID FOX?! I'M NOTHING LIKE MY STUPID BROTHER!"

Gaara blinked and went wide-eyed. "You and Kyuubi are brothers?"

Ichibi froze, and mentally cursed at unintentionally revealing personal information that was quite frankly, none of anyone's business. The real question was why he had revealed it in the first place. Something about his container had influenced him into revealing that information, thanks to the frustrating impassiveness that Gaara was giving him, along with completely ignoring him.

"You talked about yourself!" Gaara was ecstatic. "I'll see you later!"

With that, Gaara disappeared, leaving Ichibi not locked up in a water sphere. That little… Ichibi slammed a fist against a pole, rattling his chains. For now, Ichibi chose to sulk in his loss, and not take for granted that Gaara didn't put him to sleep this time.

Within Naruto's Mindscape

If there was one thing Naruto could do well, that was ramble. He could ramble off about many things, somehow get sidetracked and ramble about that, too. After exhausting whatever topic it was that sidetracked him, Naruto would mutter, "Now, where was I…? Oh, right!" and then he'd get back to whatever it was he was originally talking about.

Kyuubi sighed, heavily.

Naruto continued talking. "Did ya know? Gaara's making me Ninja weapons now… kunai, shuriken, and stuff like that! I've had to improvise Ninja wire with fishing line, and that's okay, 'ttebayou…" Naruto grinned, happily. "I'm used to improvising, ya know. Not many people wanted to sell me stuff because of you, but that's okay, I don't blame you. They were being stupid, 'sides, it's made me vers…versatill? Versatile, 'ttebayou."

Naruto sat on his rock and swung his legs, lightly splashing the water with the tips of his toes.

"The only things I can't really get my hands on is the right kinda paper for Sealing stuff – it has to be a certain, sturdy material, but Zoro-nii told me I can use my arms and legs once I'm good enough to not like, tear stuff up. I could lose a limb, not that I want that, 'ttebayou."

Sighing, Naruto continued, "I'm learning stuff from some of the scrolls that the old man left with us, and even Dog-chan gave Zoro some stuff to use. I can't wait to see Dog-chan, again."

Kyuubi didn't bother to respond, and simply let Naruto talk.

"I also can't wait for you to tell me your name, I bet it's awesome. Once I'm an amazing Ninja, you'll tell me, right?"

Kyuubi just rolled his eyes, letting his irritation be known, but of course it went ignored.

Naruto was silent for a moment, and Kyuubi wondered if graciously if the kid had finally run out of material. But then…

"Hey, Kyuubi? What were Zoro-nii's relatives like?"

Kyuubi blinked, because that was such an out-of-the-blue question.

"…Why do you want to know?"

Naruto shrugged. "I think it would be nice, ya know? If I had someone who knew about my family, I'd want 'em to tell me…"

Sighing, Kyuubi said, "Look, it's been a long time since I've seen a Kūhaku. I've never had a reason to even think about them, at least not until a few months ago. Even then…"

"But you know something, right?"

"Nothing worth mentioning."

Naruto scowled and huffed, crossing his arms.

"If I tell you something about them, will you leave me alone?"

The blond looked up at the Fox expectantly.

Honestly, the memories he had of them were vague, but the bits and pieces that came through left things to interpretation. From what he could gather, Kyuubi said,

"Ryuuma was a stubborn idiot; clearly, those genes were strong enough that Roronoa inherited that aspect of him. He claimed to have slain a dragon. Ikue was… she was stubborn too. Could be a bit intense if it was something she was passionate about."

"Oh…" Naruto looked slightly disappointed. "I wish there was more…they sound like they were pretty awesome."

"It's what you're gonna get."

"Do you miss them?"

Kyuubi stared at the boy, and something uncomfortable stirred in his gut. "I have no reason to form attachments with Humans – you are born and then you die; from dust you came, and to dust you will return. Your lives mean nothing in the grand scheme of things; like a pebble's ripple in this ocean."

"Oh. Okay… I guess… I guess I'll go, now. Later, Kyuubi."

Naruto disappeared, and Kyuubi sighed, yet again. The holes in his memories hadn't really bothered him so much, before. But now that he was reminded of those memories and could dwell on them… it was bothersome.

*0*0*0*

Outside, Gaara nearly pounced on Naruto when he came out of his Dreamscape.

"Naruto! Guess what? Ichibi and Kyuubi are brothers!"

Naruto gasped, wide-eyed, before he grinned. "Know what this means, Gaara? We were practically brothers before we met, 'ttebayou!"

Gaara grinned, and covered his mouth, shyly. "I like that."

"Mm!" Naruto beamed.

00oo00

At an island in the East Blue, several weeks later:

Kefir Brutus was a large man that neared a good eight feet in height; was strong like an ox, and he was known around Vereen Island as Big Ox. He was a bandit that had tormented the locals of Vereen for a good three years. He had mastered hiding from the local authorities and the Marines within the island's thick forests and caves.

Kefir was proud of his 17,000,000 bounty, and often bragged about it quite loudly. The locals could only glance away and begrudgingly give him what he wanted. For anyone who disagreed with him, he would ram his fist into them, and toss them through walls.

He sauntered through the marketplace, and approached a stall where a woman was handing a blond kid some food. Before the kid could take it though, Kefir swiped it from the kid's outstretched hands.

"Ha, thanks, kid!"

"HEY!" the blond swiveled on his heel and growled, "That's mine, Dattebayo!"

Kefir merely shoved the kid back by his head as he took a bite out of one of the sandwiches. "Well, it's mine, now. Fuck off, kid."

"My brother gave me money to buy us lunch!" the kid insisted. "So now, you gotta pay me back, 'ttebayou."

"I ain't gotta do nothin', kid." Kefir swallowed the rest of the sandwiches. "Do you know who I am? Big Ox Kefir! I have 17,000,000 berries on my head! That means I can do this-!" Kefir grabbed the kid and threw him through a wall, and the various stall owners and villagers screamed and shouted. "And no-one can stop me!"

Kefir walked off, laughing, unaware of the calamity that was to befall him.

Naruto groaned as he pulled himself up, and out of the wreckage of the building.

"Oi, brat!" Zoro called. The teen was next to Naruto within seconds, having unwittingly used his Kekkei Genkai. Zoro was pulling a bit off wall out of the way. His voice sounded slightly concerned as he asked, "You alright?"

"Ow, ow…" Naruto climbed out of the building, rubbing his head. He then walked up to the teen. "He stole our lunch, Zoro-nii! He's braggin' all about how he has a bounty on his head, and he threw me into that wall, the jerk!"

Immediately alert, Zoro asked, "Who?"

"Big Ox Kefir," one of the villagers supplied, looking nervous. "He has a bounty of 17,000,000 belli on his head…"

"Does he now?" Zoro asked, silver eyes glinting to where Kefir had disappeared to. Kefir, who by now had wandered off, feeling that the stupid little kid wasn't worth his time. After all, what could that kid hope to accomplish?

After having thrown that stupid kid through the wall, Kefir took a few more things with little to no resistance from the villagers, and made his way to his hideout. He had just settled down to read his favorite magazine, when the wall to his hut exploded, and sand surrounded him. Kefir shouted and screamed, employing his strength – and he managed to break out of the sand.

A redhead that housed a glare within freaky raccoon-eyes that seemed to root Kefir on the spot, but…heh…that didn't make any sense! The kid was barely passed his knee, if that! His breaking free of the sand was clearly a surprise to the redhead, who appeared to be controlling the sand. His expression slowly went from shock to something else… Kefir actually shivered when a wide-eyed, maniacal grin made its way onto the kid's features.

"No-one's ever broken out of my sand like that before…" the kid said, laughter laced into his words. "I think we're gonna have…FUN!"

For some reason, he wanted to put as much distance between him and that redhead. It wasn't like he was scared, or anything…

A wall of sand shot at him, and Kefir moved to dodge it, when suddenly out of nowhere, a green-haired teen appeared before him, wielding three swords. The teen performed a spinning motion that would have resulted in Kefir losing his arm; but only sliced off his fingers when he jumped backwards to avoid the attack. He landed roughly and rolled across the ground. The pain hadn't even registered thanks to a rush of adrenaline.

"So, you're a couple of wannabe bounty-!"

Kefir was cut off when someone shouted, "Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu!"

Kefir had no idea what happened, but he was buried up to his neck in the earth, and he couldn't move. The earth several feet away from him rose up, and that blond kid from the market crawled out. "Awesome, I did it!"

"Hey!" Kefir shouted. "What is this?! Wait, maybe…let's strike up a deal!"

The teen glared at the man, and he quickly stopped talking.

"Does he need his body?" the redhead asked, and Kefir balked.

"Yes, I do!"

The redhead just blinked. "If you're dead, you don't."

"They'll probably take a few hundred away if he's dead," the teen replied, sheathing his swords.

That was when the blond kid walked up and kicked Kefir in the face – the blond was surprisingly strong – but it only resulted in a broken nose and a few missing teeth.

"Oh…he's not knocked out, 'ttebayou…"

"DON' KIGG ME, YOU LIDDLE BASDARD!"

The redhead looked down at him before speaking again, "He doesn't need his limbs."

The blond winced. "That seems a bit harsh, though."

"He threw you through a wall."

"But, still…"

"He also stole our food."

"Well…True."

Kefir hypocritically didn't think that those things were good enough reasons to mutilate someone. He began trying to wriggle free, but to no avail.

The teen sighed as he finally spoke up, reaching a compromise. "Sand-brat, just break his legs."

Kefir didn't like how the sand-kid looked at him just then.

Of all the sights the townsfolk of Vereen ever thought they'd see; seeing Big Ox Kefir Brutus with broken and twisted limbs tossed over the shoulder of a teen with two young boys following after him wasn't one of them.

They were extremely grateful of course, and a few townsfolk gave the trio food and clothing, and thanked the Bounty Hunters profusely.

Over time, people of course began talking about the odd trio of Bounty Hunters that aimlessly wandered the East Blue. The rumors about them were quite frightening, and no-one could say for sure whether or not the rumors were exaggerated. They sounded so outlandish, most anyone who heard them was sure that they were hearing mere stories told by bored islanders.

Phantom Blade Roronoa Zoro – a young man who had the uncanny ability to appear and disappear as he pleased, cutting through his enemies. People who witnessed it claimed that it seemed like he phased through his targets.

Mad Grin Gaara, who appeared to enjoy fighting a little too much, and carried around a large gourd of sand that seemed impossible for a boy his size to carry.

Naruto unfortunately, hadn't earned himself an epithet yet, much to his annoyance. People knew that he flawlessly switched between a short sword and an odd, chain-weapon that was like a small scythe. He also had various abilities that many people could identify as being Ninja-like, but no-one had really come up with a name that stuck.

Particularly because in most people's minds, Ninja weren't supposed to be so loud, or flashy. Plus, Naruto didn't display the usual techniques that most of the residents of East Blue associated with Ninja. Besides, Naruto could claim to be a Ninja all he wanted, but the fact was, he didn't exactly look like the typical Ninja either.

Everyone thought that Ninja wore black, and Naruto was still wearing the blue samue and gray pants that Zoro had bought him months before.

"Don't worry, Naruto," Gaara said, comforting his brother where he could, "you'll get a name, too."

"'You'll get a name, too…'" Naruto mocked bitterly under his breath. "I already have some awesome ideas for names, but no-one wants to use 'em, 'ttebayou!"

God of Shinobi; Naruto the Ninja; Naruto the Super Awesome Ninja; among others that Naruto had tried to convince others to call him, simply had never stuck, and many people called Naruto 'cute' for 'playing' Ninja.

"Huh, maybe Cute will end up being in your epithet," Zoro teased, ruffling Naruto's hair. Naruto scowled and swatted Zoro's hand away before he pulled his legs up to his chest, and buried his face in his knees and groaned about the unfairness of it all.

00oo00

While many would think that sailing through the ocean on a small boat would be adventurous, peaceful, and romantic, such a thing could unfortunately also cause people to go stir crazy. That was the case in the early afternoon of that day. A shout cut through the calm:

"Cut it out, 'ttebayo!"

"I didn't do anything." Gaara replied, glaring slightly. "You're just upset that I was able to do it better than you."

Naruto pointed to the marble game that was set between them, and accused, "You cheated!"

"You can't prove I did. Perhaps you lost so many times in a row is simply because you…what is the phrase? …You suck."

"RRGGHHH!" Naruto clenched his fists. "You cheated because otherwise you couldn't win!"

"I followed the rules exactly as you said them! You're the one who kept changing them because they didn't suit you!" Gaara stood up, and even though he was shorter than Naruto, he had a large enough presence to cause the other boy to take a step back where he could. "Don't think I didn't notice the pattern of you suddenly "remembering a new rule" whenever I got a lead."

"But I've played this game lots of times, and I'm the one who had to tell you the rules! No way you could beat me, 'ttebayo!"

Just then, Gaara suddenly reached out and conked Naruto on the head. It wasn't hard enough to injure, but it did hurt; Gaara was surprisingly strong for a boy his age and size, thanks in part to carrying a large gourd and the Weight Seals that Zoro had put on him.

Naruto groaned as he rubbed his head and glared at Gaara. Because Gaara had his gourd over on the other side of the boat by a snoring Zoro, Naruto took a chance and tackled Gaara. The two boys shouted and cursed at each other, with Zoro snoring away none the wiser.

Zoro was jolted awake by the combined action of the boat rocking as if they were in the middle of a storm and the two boys landing on top of him.

At first, Zoro did in fact think that there was a storm, but then Naruto's foot connected with his jaw, while Gaara's foot connected with something delicate, and the color drained from Zoro's face. He moaned in pain as the two boys wrestled while hurling threats and obscenities.

Zoro growled in frustration, suddenly sympathizing with his sensei when he had to deal with numerous rowdy boys.

"That does it!" ignoring the painful throbbing that coursed through his jaw and his manhood, Zoro shakily stood up, and grabbed both boys by their collars. Both Naruto and Gaara suddenly felt an increased weight come over them, and Zoro dropped them to the bottom of the boat. Zoro growled out, "You dumbasses."
"I can't move!" Naruto whined.

"He started it." Gaara said.

"I don't give a damn who started what, you two are gonna stay there until you can either move on your own, or learn to get along." Zoro said with finality.

Both boys glared at Zoro, who was unfazed, and purposefully ignored each other.

True to his word, Zoro refused to let the heavier Seals off of them. But he kept an eye on the two as they forced themselves to stand mere hours later. He had only increased their weights by about fifteen pounds each, so they could still move easily enough once they got used to the increased weight.

Both Naruto and Gaara had seemingly forgotten their argument from earlier, and now were looking at Zoro and whispering and grinning. Zoro felt a cold sweat form, wondering what the two were conspiring. He didn't like the looks those two brats were giving him.

Over the next few days, whenever Zoro did anything, Naruto would giggle, and Gaara would smirk, and they'd whisper excitedly to each other, sending him odd glances as if something were about to happen. Zoro took to checking his food before eating, but never found anything, and neither of the two did anything like draw on his face. Zoro even checked all of his clothing – nothing… what were those two up to?!

Seeing Zoro grow increasingly paranoid over something that wasn't going to happen was vastly entertaining for Naruto and Gaara.

It wasn't so entertaining anymore when Zoro smirked at the two, and an ominous sensation hung over them. "If you two insist on playing games," he cracked his knuckles, "I'll more than happily oblige."

"We're sorry!" both boys said quickly.

Zoro smirked in satisfaction.

Normalcy had returned for the trio once again.

00oo00

There came a day when Gaara held up his sandals to Zoro, saying, "Zoro-nii, these are hurting my feet…"

Zoro frowned when he looked at the sandals, and he took one from Gaara. "It seems you've hit a growth spurt… we'll have to get you shoes from the next island we go to." Handing the other sandal back to the boy, he said, "Just go barefoot for now."

The island they came to had a decent-enough town that there was a shop available where they could get everything they needed.

Gaara stared at the dark brown shoes on his feet – close-toed, and practical for someone who would be traveling – and he wondered if he would get used to wearing them.

"They feel weird."

Zoro scratched the back of his head and asked, "Weird how?"

"I feel like they're eating my feet. I liked my sandals."

Zoro sighed, and said, "Sand-brat, they don't have shoes like that here." Waving to the selection of shoes on the floor, "This is what they have. So, you'll either have to pick something from here, or go barefoot."

"Maybe we can get sandals some other time?" Naruto suggested hopefully.

Gaara sighed, pouting to some extent from not being able to get something like the sandals that were now a size too small for him.

"I don't like them. They squeeze my feet."

Zoro sighed again, and brusquely said, "It's either the shoes or you go barefoot."

Gaara pulled the shoes off and wiggled his toes. Well… he did have his second armor, and he could just add an extra layer of sand to the bottom of his feet if the lack of shoes were a problem.

"…I'll go barefoot."

Zoro just shrugged. "Alright, then."

In all honesty, Zoro probably shouldn't have been trusting a nine-year-old's reasoning for not wanting basic necessities, but he didn't see the harm in it. What was he going to do? Force the kid into buying shoes? Zoro wouldn't put it past Gaara to throw the shoes into the ocean and claim that a Sea King was trying to chew his legs off; and getting rid of the shoes was the only way to save himself and be rid of the creature.

Zoro could only sigh yet again in exasperation, when he realized he was starting to think up the altogether ridiculous and macabre tales Gaara liked to talk about at random without any help from the boy whatsoever.

"If we aren't buying anything, let's go."

For now, it appeared that Gaara was perfectly content going barefoot.

00oo00

There came a day when the trio came upon an island with a town called Termia that had a certain, mysterious air about it. Kyuubi and Ichibi both would describe it as being 'ancient'. The architecture of the town was made up of skillfully crafted stone and carved wood, with a large clock tower in the center of town. It was a peaceful town that obviously had little to no trouble from invaders.

Naruto and Gaara followed Zoro closely as they walked into a clothing store, because Zoro wanted to get another bandana. His reasoning for not keeping the Kiri hitai-ate was that it would bring about unnecessary attention to him. Plus, if they were to ever dispel that annoying barrier, and the Ninja decided to venture out, anything he did while wearing the hitai-ate would reflect on the actual Kiri-Nin. There were those idiots who had thought that he was from Kiri, when he so obviously wasn't, due to wearing that hitai-ate. If he were in the Kiri-Nin's position, he wouldn't have cared, but this was just to make any future Kiri-Nins' lives easier. Not like he had a sort-of respect for them or anything.

While Zoro hunted down the perfect bandana, Naruto came across a curious section in the store: it was entirely devoted to a golden fox with three tails. There were masks of various sizes and colors, along with clothing and toys.

The shopkeeper approached Naruto, putting on a naturally warm smile as she did so. "I see you've taken an interest in Keaton."

Naruto turned to the girl. "Keaton?"

"Mm-hmm!" she nodded happily, and held a finger erect. "Keaton is something of our local lore. He's a fine trickster! Legend has it that if you wear one of his masks in certain areas of our island, he'll appear and play games with you. If you win, he'll give you a prize!"

"Really?!" Naruto's eyes shined in excitement.

"Oh, yes," she spoke conspiratorially, "But he only appears at certain times of the day, and he only ever appears before children. It's considered very lucky if Keaton appears before you."

"So cool…" Naruto breathed, looking over the fox masks. He then glanced over to the wall, where there were hoodies of various colors and sizes; featuring fox ears on the hood. His gaze landed on one of the red hoodies. Kyuubi was more of a red-orange, but the hoodie was close enough. Naruto grabbed one of the red hoodies and ran over to where Zoro and Gaara were standing.

Holding up the hoodie, Naruto asked, "Zoro-nii, can I get this?"

Zoro glanced at the hoodie, then at the boy holding it, and felt whatever resolve he had at replying 'no' crumble. Besides, it wouldn't exactly be fair of him to buy a bandana and then turn around and deny Naruto a simple hoodie.

"Not that one. Get one that's a few sizes up."

"Thank you!"

Naruto went to grab the desired hoodie – a sleeveless red one because it looked cool – and held it close as he grinned at Zoro.

Gaara on the other hand, had been attracted to a large, dark-purple scarf that was extremely long. He had to wrap it around his neck numerous times in order to wear it. In all honesty, it looked as if he were drowning in the fabric as it settled around his shoulders, with it nearly covering the bottom-half of his face.

"Zoro-nii, can I get this?"

Zoro blinked at Gaara – dark gray shirt, burgundy pants, gourd, oversized purple scarf – and don't forget the kid still insisted on going everywhere barefoot – his fashion sense was likely nonexistent.

"…Are you sure you want that, sand-brat?"

"Yeah!"

Zoro complied. "Well, alright then."

Gaara beamed up at Zoro, and Zoro found himself feeling flustered. Whenever the boys looked at him with those expressions, a feeling like… happiness washed over him. He didn't really understand why, but he wasn't going to complain. Zoro reached out and ruffled Gaara's hair, and Gaara let out a laugh.

Zoro was quick to notice that this time, Gaara didn't stop himself from laughing; nor did he cover his mouth and act shy upon making such a noise. Gaara joined Naruto, who was excited about his new hoodie, and Zoro just rolled his eyes good naturedly as the shopkeeper smiled at the younger two.

00oo00

Today was a special one – extra special in Naruto's opinion. They were currently on an island somewhere in East Blue – called Remini, if he remembered correctly. Naruto was thankful that they were on an island on this particular day.

Naruto grinned up at Zoro, his smile matching the sun. "Ne, Zoro-nii… know what today is, 'ttebayou?"

Zoro yawned, "What is it?"

"It's my birthday."

Zoro halted, and looked at Naruto, suddenly realizing that he didn't have anything to give to the kid… other than some belli.

"It's your birthday?" Gaara asked, also coming to the realization that he didn't have anything to give Naruto.

"Uh-huh." Naruto latched onto Zoro and said, "It's also been a year since we met, 'ttebayou."

"Has it?" Zoro muttered. He hadn't exactly bothered to keep track of time.

"Can I get my ear pierced?" Naruto asked, hopefully. "I wanna get earrings, kinda like you."

Zoro blinked, slowly comprehending the request and reason for it. Something like pride and flattery rose within him. Crossing his arms to be as nonchalant as possible, he replied,

"Yeah, if you want to, brat."

Naruto cheered, and then turned to Gaara. "Gaara! Can you make me a pair of earrings? Sort of like small loops. I want 'em to fit against my ear, like this."

Naruto excitedly described what he wanted; and Gaara smiled, glad that he could give Naruto something that he wanted.

Several hours later, the three found themselves outside of a tattoo and piercings shop. Naruto had a pair of bone-white earrings in hand.

The tattoo artist didn't even blink twice upon the request, which said a lot about what type of cliental came through her store. Naruto barely even winced as both earrings pierced the skin of his right earlobe.

She handed Naruto a small tub of salve. "Put that on your ear once a day for like, four weeks. Trust me, you don't want your ear getting infected."

Naruto nodded in thanks, and beamed up at Zoro. "Doesn't this make me look cool?"

…Zoro resisted the urge to tell the blond that he looked more 'cute' than cool, and simply smirked, a feeling like pride washed over him. "Yeah, like a real badass."

Gaara tilted his head. "…But nothing about you has changed?"

Naruto collapsed to the ground, and practically demanded, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"You just have pierced ears now…does that somehow make you stronger?"

"It makes me look awesome, 'ttebayou!" Naruto insisted.

"That's debatable." Gaara said. "I think you should let your ear rot off – that would make you look badass. Think of how that would look – ear bloody and swollen, along with tiny flesh balloons that appear where the infection is."

Naruto shivered at the awful mental imagery that assaulted his brain. "Why do you have to say stuff like that, 'ttebayou?!"

Gaara laughed, which only seemed to irritate Naruto further. "You're always saying creepy stuff like that!"

"It's funny."

The two boys walked off, half-heartedly arguing with each other, and Zoro shook his head in exasperation as he paid the woman.

"Those two sound like a handful…"

Zoro didn't really know how to respond to that, so he just muttered 'thanks' paid the woman before joining Naruto and Gaara outside.

"Isn't this great?" Naruto was ecstatic. "Next month is Zoro-nii's birthday," he briefly pouted as he added, "he didn't bother telling me, so I couldn't get him anything."

"How old are you going to be, Zoro-nii?" Gaara asked.

"Eighteen."

Gaara looked up at him with wide, considering eyes. Yashamaru had told him once that eighteen was an important event for people for a variety of reasons.

Naruto was determined to do something for Zoro this time around.

But that left the question: what exactly were they going to do for Zoro's birthday?

000

For Zoro, his birthday had never been that big a deal. It was just another day, in his opinion. But then, those two brats would have ran up to him if their boat hadn't hindered the action, with smiles on their faces and emanating excitement. "We got something for you, 'ttebayou!" Naruto said, grinning so wide, it was surprising his face didn't crack in half.

Gaara was smiling as well, though not nearly as exuberantly as Naruto. "We think you'll like it."

The boys had a few hundred belli between them, though they were limited in what they could buy. While most people probably would have gone for some kind of alcohol; that was something that Zoro got for himself all the time. This had to be something special.

Naruto held up a small box, "Happy birthday, Zoro-nii!"

Zoro decided he would just go along with it just to appease the two. They both seemed to shake in anticipation as he removed the lid to reveal… it was a dark green bandana, but it had golden-colored clouds and numerous red dragons on it. The pattern was intricate, and it was…

"Do you like it?" Gaara asked, though there was a tone in his voice that seemed to fear Zoro would reject the gift.

"…I like it." Zoro said, giving the boys a warm smile.

Both Gaara and Naruto were slightly taken aback, because this was the first time they had seen Zoro with such an expression. It only lasted for a few seconds, before Zoro took off the old bandana from his arm, and tied the new one there.

"It's perfect." Zoro ruffled both sets of hair. "Thanks."

000*000

Christmas was a holiday that was completely foreign to Gaara. It appeared to be something that was a big deal, according to Naruto. Zoro simply shrugged, not really caring either way, but he did have a small, rare smile on his face.

The island they were at looked festive; with people lighting intricate paper lanterns, hanging them in front of their homes. The trees were covered in colorful decorations, and people wore colorful clothing and some people wore garland as hats or necklaces.

"In Konoha, this was called 'The Festival of Lights'." Naruto said, but his smile didn't really look happy. "There was food and music, and people would line the streets with lanterns that would be lit on the 24th of December before midnight and stay lit all through Christmas Day. People would share presents and stuff."

Naruto wasn't exactly bitter about missing out, but the day didn't hold the best memories for him. Someone ruffled his hair, and Naruto glanced up at Zoro.

"I want booze. There's likely gonna be some snacks, so get what you want."

Naruto paused briefly, looking up at Zoro. The boy grinned as he grabbed Gaara's hand and then Zoro's. The bitter feeling slowly melted away into a peaceful and happy one. He finally had his family – and could make new memories.

0-0-0

Gaara was anticipating New Year's, because at least this was a holiday that he was familiar with. His uncle always gave him a present on this day, and Gaara had given Yashamaru crudely made childish drawings and clay statues. Now, Gaara had Zoro and Naruto.

Eliciting Naruto's help with Zoro's gift, Gaara spent his sleepless nights using his sand to carve bits and pieces of the bone he had gotten from Kimimaro into a bracelet. Naruto carefully painted a number of the bone-beads black – using paint they had bought from a nearby store, and Gaara carved out two small pendants – one was a fox and the other a tanuki. They held it together using several strands of fishing wire, and it would certainly hold fast.

"Channel some of your chakra into it, Naruto." Gaara said, as he let some of his chakra flow into the bracelet. A small smile appeared on Gaara's face as he explained, "My uncle told me that when you give something personal like this to someone you love, you channel chakra into it for good luck, peace and safety…things like that."

Naruto grinned. "I like that. Konoha doesn't have anything like that."

Naruto channeled a bit of his chakra into the bracelet as well, and soon it was ready.

The two approached Zoro who was snoring away under a heavily decorated tree, and Naruto poked him. Zoro sat up so fast, he nearly head-butted Gaara, but the boy quickly took a step back.

"Is everything alright?" Zoro asked, looking bleary-eyed.

"Yeah!" Naruto said excitedly.

Gaara held out the bracelet. "Happy New Year's, Zoro-nii."

Zoro took it with a curious expression on his face. He looked at the two charms connected to the bracelet, and at first he honestly had a difficult time telling what they were. One was more monkey-like and the other looked like a cat. But upon closer inspection, he could see the resemblance to a tanuki and a fox. Zoro put on the bracelet – which fit perfectly – and no, Zoro wasn't feeling emotional.

He ruffled both boys' hair, and then reached into the bag he had and pulled out a pair of silver goggles and handed them to Gaara.

Gaara looked at the goggles wide-eyed. They were the ones he had been admiring at a store a week or so ago.

"I was gonna wait till your birthday to give these to you. Since we're exchanging gifts now…" Zoro shrugged lazily. Turning to Naruto, "As for you, brat, I'm gonna show you a few new techniques. You've been training hard, so you're ready for the next step-"

Naruto was so excited, he grabbed Zoro in a tight hug. Not to be left out, Gaara hugged Zoro as well. Zoro scowled and complained under his breath about 'overly affectionate brats' but made no move to push the boys off.

Gaara's voice was muffled from burying his face into Zoro's shirt as he quietly said, "I love you, Zoro-nii."

Zoro froze, and slowly glanced down at Gaara. He could only see the top of the boy's head, and was unable to read his expression. Not knowing what else he should do, Zoro simply ruffled Gaara's hair again and awkwardly responded, "Y-yeah…me too, sand-brat."

Zoro's face flushed though, when a few people who were walking by commented on how cute they were.

"Alright, you two, that's enough, you're suffocating me." Zoro said, finally pushing the two away. That was enough with all the feely emotional stuff for him.

Naruto's grin was brighter than all the lanterns, and Gaara slipped on the goggles so that they were around his neck, buried within the folds of his scarf, and a small, contented smile was on his face.

000***000

None of them could say when or where it had happened, or who had even started calling them the name. There came a day when Zoro, Naruto, and Gaara came to an island with a few small towns scattered across it. While in one of these towns, an older woman holding a wanted poster in a tight grip approached them, exuding nervous tension.

When three pairs of eyes glanced up at her with curiosity, she swallowed her nerves and asked, "Excuse me, but are you the Roronoa Brothers?"

Both boys looked to Zoro, and the teen merely decided that instead of trying to needlessly explain that he was just watching out for them or something, and going into a complicated tale that was quite frankly no-one else's business; simply responded with,

"Yeah, that's us."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" the woman said relieved, and she held out the wanted poster to him. "There is a man who lives in a shack in the forest west of here…"

Whatever the woman was saying was lost on the boys, because they both were looking at Zoro in a different light. While they both thought of Zoro as an older brother, this was the first time Zoro had said anything about all of them being brothers; being a family. They were the Roronoa Brothers, and Gaara was coming to the realization that he now had a family name.

Naruto was sounding the name, 'Roronoa Naruto' out in his head. He liked how it sounded. While he definitely was overjoyed to "officially" be considered Zoro's brother, he certainly didn't want to give up his family name. But 'Roronoa Naruto' was a name that was special in its own way, because of the one who had given it to him.

"It could be a fake name, Kit," Kyuubi's voice sounded from the back of Naruto's mind.

"A fake name?" Naruto muttered.

"A fake name that is used to hide your real one, the affiliation you have with both Uzumaki and Namikaze. 'Roronoa' is the name everyone knows you as, but only close friends and trusted allies will know your 'true name'." Naruto could feel the toothy smirk that graced Kyuubi's lips. "Then, there will come a day when you reveal your 'true name' to the world."

That sounded pretty cool, actually…

Gaara whispered, "Roronoa Gaara," to himself, testing the name out. There was a small smile on his face. He felt happy. Zoro thought of him as a little brother, and that was one of the most wonderful feelings in the world.

Zoro turned to look at the two boys, saying, "Well, that lady wants us to-!" he was cut off when both boys grabbed him into a tight hug as if he would float away. "Oi! What're you two brats doing?!"

Zoro was obviously irritated, but he didn't shove either boy away. Instead, he just glared at them unamused. He had no idea what had brought this on. It was mildly annoying; like having a pebble in his shoe. Well, maybe not exactly a pebble. Maybe more like two ankle weights he couldn't remove easily – or at all. Or whatever.

Zoro just sighed, accepting whatever brought this sudden bout of affection on. Huh…he noticed that both of them were taller. Naruto was now a head and several inches passed his waist, and Gaara was only shorter than Naruto by about three inches. His growth was more obvious because he had just barely been passed Naruto's shoulder when they first met.

He ruffled both sets of hair, with a small, genuine smile on his face. "Let's go get that bounty, brats."

Two beaming smiles accompanied by shining blue and green eyes looked up at him and nodded. "Hm-hmm!"

00oo00

Ten years old seemed like a responsible age, in Zoro's opinion. Since they had the privacy of being in the middle of the ocean, it was safe enough to have a conversation without fear of being overheard.

"Naruto, I have something I need to talk to you about."

The fact that Zoro had used his name got Naruto's attention. "Zoro-nii?"

"Gaara, you might as well hear this too."

Both boys paid full attention now.

"You two remember those Uchiha cousins, right?" at the nodding of a pair of heads, Zoro continued, "They asked me to look after you because the Head of their Clan wanted to use the Kyuubi to attack the village."

Naruto's jaw dropped, and he was angry for his friend. "They want to use Kyuubi?!"

"Yeah. Do you remember that bandaged guy with a cane back in Konoha?"

Naruto had vague memories of a man covered in bandages that always looked at him with an expression he didn't like. "Sort of…"

"Well, if you had stayed in Konoha back then…he would have ordered the killing of all the Uchiha. The Kyuubi's presence was enough to balance out power." Zoro was very serious as he spoke. "Look, I'm telling you this because you need to understand that when you go back to Konoha, you need to know who your enemies are and who to watch out for. That means getting strong enough so that if anyone comes for you, you can kill them before they have a chance to do anything."

At the gravity of the tone, Naruto nodded silently.

"I'll kill anyone who tries to take either of you from me." Gaara said very seriously. "You're my brothers."

That comment got Naruto to grin. "Right!"

Zoro smirked and ruffled the hair of both boys.

00oo00

There came a day at a certain island in East Blue; their boat given to them by the Toad Sage had finally met its end. It wasn't built for the sort of travel the trio had been using it for, and none of them could really do any repairs beyond basic patches. Now, Zoro was wondering what they were going to do. Working on merchant vessels would only get them so far.

It was late evening and Zoro grimaced once he realized that he was unwittingly leading a couple of ten-year-olds through the Red Light district of the town. Actually, maybe the entire town was disreputable – hell, even the island. At least, they'd only be here for the night. The two boys were staring at the colorful lights and the women (and men, sometimes) wearing costumes and thick makeup – were they circus performers?

A man suddenly approached them, and he got on one knee to look at the two boys at their eyelevel. He then reached out and brushed Naruto's cheek, and Naruto stared, unsure as to what this man was doing, instinctively backed away from the unwelcome contact.

Gaara didn't like how this man was looking at Naruto; it felt almost predatory. Gaara's sand started slowly whirling around him, in subtle, unnoticeable waves in preparation for some sort of attack.

Naruto frowned, wondering who this weird man was. He smelled funny – like some sort of alcohol and sickly-sweet medicine. Internally, the Kyuubi growled, making Naruto all the more nervous, almost as if he could hear faraway whispers of the man's intentions, but none of them were clear. He just knew he didn't like what those voices were saying.

Something protective flared within Zoro, and the man didn't seem to realize the dark aura that was emanating from the green-haired teen.

The man stood and smirked at Zoro. "How much for…" his words trailed off while his eyes widened and fear washed over him as he was positive that there was a Demon standing before him. The Demon drew his blade, and with a dangerous glint in his unnatural silver eyes, he growled,

"That's my little brother you just laid your grimy hands on, you sick bastard."

Unbeknownst to Zoro, Gaara and Naruto were both gaping at him with wide eyes.

The man quickly raised his hands in what he hoped was a placating manner, and decided that begging for his life was his best option. "I-I-I'm sorry! I had no idea! Please, don't hurt me!"

"Money, now."

The man quickly surrendered his valuables, and he smiled hopefully as the teen took his bag of belli from him. "So we're good then?"

"Not yet."

The man's face fell. "Huh?"

He screamed in pain when Zoro smashed his face with the butt of his sword, resulting in a broken nose and several missing front teeth; both top and bottom. There was scream as blood poured out onto the ground, and the man writhed where he lay. Some people stared, but only for a moment – believing that this was a dispute that was none of their concern. Others quickly turned away – business was business, and it was a person's own fault for getting caught in whatever bad deal they had entangled themselves in.

"Be grateful I don't cut off your hands and feet too!" Zoro just about snarled as he gave his sword a quick swing to get rid of the blood. He sheathed Wado Ichimonji and dragged his brothers away by their shirt collars. He was damn pissed off.

"Naruto! Gaara! If anyone ever approaches you like that again, you have my full permission to kill them however you wish. Understand?"

"Okay." Gaara agreed easily, a small smile on his face.

Naruto just looked at Zoro, and compared the dark expression on his face as being very similar to when that drunk guy had attacked him years before. He wasn't sure what the man's intentions had been, but for him to have had that disturbing feeling, and for Zoro to have done what he did to the stranger, it couldn't have been good.

But there was something else about that conversation that had stood out to the boys:

This was the first time Zoro had ever said anything about them being his brothers without prompting. Such a thing had never bothered them, because Zoro had never denied them being his brothers to anyone, simply agreeing with anyone who asked. A feeling of pure bliss washed over the two younger boys, replacing any of the negative feelings they may have had after that encounter.

000

At a dingy restaurant and inn located within the town that made the one in Kiri look relatively upscale, Zoro stared intently at his beer and flavorless, grease-covered food that was barely even passible to be called such.

Recalling his thoughts after running into that creep, he realized that he had thought of Naruto and Gaara as his brothers. Huh…when exactly did he start thinking of those two that way? Sure, he cared about them and wanted to see them succeed, but didn't anyone who cared about the people in their lives wish for such a thing?

Back when that bastard dared lay his grubby hands on Naruto, something foreign yet so familiar had reared its predatory head in Zoro. He had always been a violent person, even as a child; possibly even more so ever since he had trained under Sword's Spirit – and his bloodlust often had to be reined in, finding a delicate balance somewhere within controlling his temper and wielding his blades.

That feeling he had the moment when that man put his hands on Naruto felt like a personal attack; the bloodthirsty monster in him was furious; and a protective instinct that declared the man a threat that needed to be obliterated. Zoro had actually held back from cutting off the man's head – his death likely would have brought trouble they didn't need. Even though any established laws here were altogether questionable and unspoken, and people seemed to have their own rules while simultaneously sharing a form of twisted honor and anticipated respect.

Zoro never had anyone to care for, before…and now…he glanced at the two who were adding their own graffiti to the table. This was just like the time at the coast back in the Elemental Nations when they were still in Fire Country.

He remembered something Koshiro had told him:

"We do things others don't always understand when we love someone. You'll understand if you ever have to look out for someone else's wellbeing."

…Zoro had essentially irreversibly mutilated a man simply because of how he had looked at Naruto, even when the boy was fully capable of protecting himself; and would have dished out a far worse punishment if he had felt threatened enough to do so.

Zoro sighed heavily, then took a swig of booze. Dammit. He realized that he really cared for the two brats – it wasn't just that he wanted them safe. He found himself wanting to be there when Naruto finally would return to Konoha as the world's greatest Ninja; shoving his success in the face of anyone who dared think that the 'Fox-brat' was nothing more than a tool or a nuisance. It seemed that for now, Gaara was happy where he was. But whatever the kid decided to do with himself, Zoro wanted to see him succeed in that, too.

Zoro's musings were interrupted when a couple approached them. The man was round-headed, his hair consisted of four thick braids, and his lips were painted black – other than the number 7 tattooed on his left cheek, there wasn't anything distinguishable about him. Zoro glanced down at the cutlass at his hip.

The woman who was with him was dressed like a poodle – fluffy hair, cat-eye glasses, and coat, wearing white gloves, a poodle skirt and hot pink heels. Her makeup was done elegantly in a way that spoke of professionalism. She didn't seem like the type of person who would even want to be seen in the company of a man like the one she was with.

Naruto and Gaara couldn't help but gape at the sight of the two, because this was the first time they had ever seen the true eccentricities people on the Outside were capable of.

The man's voice was just loud enough to be heard above the din of the restaurant, "Good evening, lads," he gave a bow that was bulky and not at all graceful, despite his lithe form. "I'm Mr. 7, and this is Miss Father's Day. Might we have a seat?"

Those were certainly weird names…

Neither Mr. 7 nor Miss Mother's Day bothered to wait for an answer and simply sat down, easily ignoring the incredulous (and slightly murderous stare from the redhead) and made themselves comfortable.

"You're the Roronoa Brothers, right?" he didn't wait for confirmation as he continued, indicating each in turn. "I've heard they call you Phantom Blade, and Mad Grin, and there's a third brother, Roronoa Naruto," Mr. 7 shrugged, saying, "You're certainly difficult people to track down."

Naruto muttered under his breath about the unfairness of his brothers having nicknames but he didn't. For now, it seemed that Miss Father's Day was content in letting Mr. 7 do all the talking, as she simply sat and observed the brothers through her cat-eye glasses.

"I want to make a proposition to you boys," a sly smirk was on his features, "We're from an organization called Baroque Works, and our boss is interested in recruiting a people with your unique skillsets."

His gaze wandered over to the two youngest at their table, "We've already got a few kids within our ranks; I wouldn't be surprised if you two were to gain numbers early on. You see, we have the goal of changing the world."

…Three of the five people seated at the table thought that sounded eerily similar to a madman back in the Elemental Nations.

Zoro smirked as he leaned back in his seat, precariously balancing the chair on its back legs. Taking a swig of booze, he said, "I'll join – on one condition." Everyone looked at him; his brothers in surprise, and the two people appeared smug, "You make me the boss of your little organization."

Within their respective mindscapes, the Biju were laughing at Zoro's audacity.

Mr. 7 gaped, and it was Miss Father's Day who spluttered, "W-what?! Where do you get the nerve to disrespect Mr. 0 like that?!"

"That's a stupid name, 'ttebayou…" Naruto not so subtly whispered to Gaara, a sentiment that was agreed upon.

"I don't like being told what to do."

Clenching his fists, Mr. 7 then growled out, "So you won't be joining us, then?"

"What about you two?" Zoro asked, casually ignoring Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day.

"Don't wanna." Gaara shrugged.

"Nah, not really…" Naruto said.

"Well…since you know about our organization and yet have refused to join us…" Mr. 7 with surprising speed, drew his cutlass, "then you must die!"

At that moment, Zoro let his chair drop back down, and he kicked the table up. Seeing Mr. 7 move for his weapon, both Gaara and Naruto moved quickly, widening the space between them. Their food went flying (no real loss to the three), one plate landed on top of Miss Father's Day head, the greasy food ruining her hair and makeup, along with her fur coat. The rest of the food shot over the heads of several patrons before one plate hit a large man on the back of his scarred head, and the other plate hit a stern-looking woman in the face.

All was quiet with the faint music of the radio den-den mushi making the only noise for a mere few seconds. Then all hell broke loose as the two people who had unwittingly been caught in the confrontation between the Roronoa Brothers and the Baroque Works agents started yelling accusations at those who they believed had thrown food at them. Tensions rose, and within minutes, the bar descended into chaos as people started fighting.

0o0

While Zoro's epithet gave plenty of forewarning as to what he could do, Mr. 7 had been under the unfortunate assumption that Phantom Blade meant that his swords were what earned him the infamous name. One second, Zoro had kicked the table up and obscured his vision, and he was prepared to cut the table in half; when suddenly there was a terrifying presence behind him.

Mr. 7 turned, and while he was able to block one sword, he quickly jumped to the side to avoid being skewered. But Zoro didn't want to drag this out. This man's level was… perhaps close to a fresh Chunin. He was skilled, but wasn't a challenge. Unless he wasn't showing everything he could do.

Zoro smirked as he wielded his three blades, and once again, disappeared.

"Oni Giri!"

Mr. 7 managed to block the attack, but then Zoro called out, "Sora surasshu gihō!"

Mr. 7 went to block the attack, but Zoro seemed to vanish, and the man felt something ripple through him. Like it was far too large and forcing its way from the inside out. Seconds later, his body exploded in pain, and the world around him went black.

Zoro frowned in dissatisfaction as the cuts still weren't clean enough to pass for what he was supposed to be able to do. It was still too bloody. It had to be when he was releasing his chakra… He glanced over at his brothers, to see that they were talking to the woman.

What was going on?

0o0o0o0

Miss Father's Day made a face of disgust as she grabbed the plate atop her head and threw it to the floor. Her hair, makeup ruined! Not only that, but her clothing! It was expensive getting grease out of these kinds of materials!

Her eyes scanned the room, and it was easy to spot the all-too distinctive hair colors of the younger Roronoa Brothers. The agent drew a small pistol, and fired – Naruto instinctively moved to dodge, but then the agent fired a second round.

Gaara grabbed the back of Naruto's shirt and yanked him back, and the second bullet scratched Naruto's cheek. Naruto shuddered at the close call, putting a hand against his stinging cheek which was already healing.

"Damn…" Naruto muttered, pulling out his kusarigama, figuring he would have an advantage by using both a long and short-range weapon. Smirking, he asked, "So…which one of us gets to fight her?"

"Since I prevented you getting your brains blown out, then it should be me." Gaara reasoned.

"Oi, oi…" Naruto disagreed, and a wall of sand went up around them in response to several bullets being fired. "By that reasoning, I should get to fight her because she targeted me first, 'ttebayou!"

Their argument was cut short though, because Gaara decided that he'd much rather attack the woman than argue with Naruto about who go to fight her.

"HEY!" Naruto went after Gaara.

Miss Father's Day didn't know what to make of it.

Naruto charged in, using his kusarigama as a distance weapon, with Gaara coming at her with sand. She barely managed to dodge the double onslaught, and when she collapsed to the floor to dodge all of that sand – seriously, how was the kid carrying that much and how was he even controlling it? Was he one of those Fruit users? That was when she saw it: her partner was dead.

Shit.

If Miss Father's Day was anything, she was a survivor. But it was this fight that she realized she was losing, and Naruto only injured, while Gaara was perfectly willing to kill her. Roronoa had already killed her partner, and she didn't want to be next.

As a giant sand-claw shot towards her, the woman quickly dropped her pistols, and held up her hands. "Nya! I surrender!"

Thankfully, the claw stopped – although Gaara continued staring at her suspiciously.

"Look, boys…" she smiled, "If you let me go, I'll let you have my ship, along with everything on it."

The two boys' eyes widened for just a moment, and understandably, they stared at her incredulously.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "You'll let us have your ship?"

"On the conditions you'll let me go. I'll never bother you again."

"Why shouldn't I crush you here and now?" Gaara asked in a dark tone that caused Miss Father's Day to shiver in fear.

"Because I failed my mission." Miss Father's Day stated simply. "Mr. 0 will very likely send a higher ranking pair to kill me. I'd much rather not die for a long time, you know."

Naruto and Gaara shared a glance, before responding,

"Alright, it's a deal, 'ttebayou!" followed by,

"If this is a trap, I'll hunt you down and kill you myself."

Again, Miss Father's Day shivered, because she could actually feel the truth in those words. What was it with this kid? He was terrifying! "Nya! I understand…my ship is at the far-end of the harbor. It has a logo on it – a skull with wings and crossed sabers. Not easy to miss."

"You should run." Gaara said, and his tone of voice almost made Miss Father's Day wonder if he was changing his mind. Not giving him a chance to do so, Miss Father's Day ran out of the door as fast as she could – thanking the deities that she came out relatively unscathed.

The woman made her way towards the red-light district, as she formed a plan. She would have to disappear. To do that, Miss Father's Day would have to die, too. She had heard stories about Miss All Sunday, and they were terrifying. Rumors and horror stories that served as a warning to all those who betrayed and failed to do Mr. 0's bidding.

That meant someone had to take her place – and it was a hard truth, but the majority of hookers didn't have much to their name, and were hardly ever missed if they suddenly disappeared. Although here… there would likely be someone who noticed one of their employees was missing. If so, she would have to act fast.

She stuck to the back alleys, and finally found someone who was her height and had similar build. She grabbed the other woman from behind, took out a knife and – it was over before anyone had noticed.

"I'm sorry…" Miss Father's Day whispered, as she began taking the other woman's clothes – a large coat and puffy pants that had a zebra pattern. "You understand, right? I don't have much of a choice. We do what we must to survive."

As she donned the other woman's clothes, Miss Father's Day spoke softly, "I gave you a far kinder death than what Miss All Sunday would certainly give… or one of the others."

Miss Father's Day quickly put her own clothes onto the other woman, she only kept her basic top and a few other small things. Then, she reached up and pulled off the wig, and her long, dark blue hair fall around her shoulders. It was a good thing she had always worn the admittedly silly poodle-girl disguise around everyone.

After making sure that everything was set – that Miss Father's Day was going to be found dead, the former agent began wondering how she should go about leaving the island. She could make her way to the Marines – perhaps they could unwittingly protect her. Or maybe a Pirate crew, since they were always on the move. Besides, she had never used her real name, and no-one should have known what she looked like.

It was just her luck that she ran into the Captain of a small Pirate crew who was visiting the East Blue to recruit members.

"Fuehfehfehfeh!" the man laughed, "I'm Foxy the Silver Fox! And who might you be?"

The woman smiled, "I'm Porche. Happy to be serving under you, boss!"

"We have a new member!" the others cheered.

00oo00

The ship was certainly eye-catching, mostly because of the large logo on the sail. Small as it was, it was big enough for all three of them. Zoro smirked as he looked over the vessel. It would certainly fit their needs.

Gaara glanced at the Baroque Works logo carved into the side of the ship, and he knew that he could easily get rid of it in a few hours with his sand.

Naruto went into the cabin to look around. There was a desk with a few maps, along with some sort of thing…the boy picked it up to examine it. It was a globe that housed a needle, and the globe was encased in wood.

Naruto read the inscription on the wood out loud. "'Alabasta…' Huh…wonder what that is? What is this thing, anyway, 'ttebayou…?"

Naruto put the weird globe into the desk, not seeing any real use for it just yet. The maps these people had were more up-to-date than the one Zoro had. That was useful.

Because he had mutilated one guy and killed another, all within the last forty minutes, Zoro was ready to leave. They set sail within the hour, and were off.

When Zoro checked the fridge, he smirked with sweet satisfaction. There was a collection of booze and plenty of food. What luck it was to run into that weird pair.

00oo00

A few weeks later, when Zoro was checking their food supply and he cursed silently to himself. Sure, they had been eating sparingly for the past few days until they reached another island, but he was quick to realize that there wasn't really enough to split between them. Well…he could eat a smaller meal, and the boys could eat a smaller, but still decently-sized meal—

Zoro cut off that train of thought. The boys were still growing brats. So he served the two their usual, if not slightly smaller portions, and simply settled down for a nap.

"Aren't you gonna eat something too, Zoro-nii, 'ttebayo?"

"What?" Zoro snorted. "As if, brat. I'm training."

"You look like you're sleeping," Naruto said doubtfully, while Gaara took a bite of his grilled fish.

"What kind of training? Can we train, too?"

Zoro looked at the two before glancing off to the side. "This is super-hard extra training. You can only do it once you're at a certain level of experience."

"Oh…" both boys said simultaneously.

"So…" Naruto grinned. "Which one of us is closer to that level, 'ttebayo?"

"…It's a level you can only achieve if you eat well and let me sleep, brat." Zoro threw an arm over his face, adding, "If you wanna train so bad, talk with your inner Beasts. Wake me up if you see an island, brats."

Both boys pouted at Zoro's response, but did as they were told.

"I said that he was sleeping…" Naruto muttered under his breath. There were also a few muttered complaints about Zoro keeping cool training techniques to himself.

The following days were much the same; Zoro forwent eating, while both Gaara and Naruto ate their normal meals, even if they were a bit smaller than usual.

Both Biju were quick to catch on to what Zoro was doing. But neither of them could really put their claws onto exactly why Zoro was doing it. Neither of the boys seemed to realize that Zoro was skipping meals so that they could eat.

But children can only be fooled for so long.

Zoro was looking more tired, and was more irritable than usual. He mostly slept, or looked out for an island, and he started looking disheveled. His "this is training" excuse wasn't really working any more, and Zoro could tell that the two boys were looking at him with worry and suspicion.

The weight and strength-suppressing Seals he wore were even more of a hindrance than before, and he knew that he was straining his body beyond limits that were healthy. It wasn't a good idea to strain the body when you were starving. But his pride and stubbornness wouldn't let him remove them to make his life easier.

"Zoro-nii…" Naruto finally asked after what had been nearly a week-and-a-half of Zoro not eating. "Are you really training?"

"'Course I am." Zoro lazily muttered. "Now let me sleep."

This time, neither of the boys believed him.

Oo0***0oO

Inside Naruto's mindscape, Kyuubi was shifting between amusement, fascination, and confusion as he observed what the Roronoa brat was doing. It was odd; back in that accursed Konoha, the foolish Humans were more than happy to let his container starve, with only a select few ever showing compassion and giving Naruto food – though, there were times that compassion was false because the food had been rotten. But here, Roronoa was willing to starve himself so that Naruto and the Ichibi's container could eat.

The sudden thought of, *'That brat is far too much like his grandfather'* entered his mind, and Kyuubi blinked and snorted at the unwelcome thought. But as he observed Roronoa, he couldn't help but be reminded of a starving Samurai who had graced their precious Sanctuary with his presence so many years ago.

What was it with this kid?

Kyuubi failed to understand it. Roronoa constantly did things for both Jinchuuriki that no-one back in Konoha did, save for the select few people he could literally count out on one paw did for Naruto. He trained them; protected them; fulfilled basic needs; starved himself…

Roronoa treated both Jinchuuriki like… like they were nothing more than normal Human kits, and it annoyed Kyuubi because he couldn't understand it. Humans were supposed to be cruel, selfish, utterly foolish beings hell-bent on war. While Kyuubi could occasionally sense some sort of darkness emanating from Roronoa, none of it had ever been a concern because none of that animalistic bloodlust had ever been directed at the Jinchuuriki. But those who had the misfortune of earning that particular bit of Roronoa's ire never came out unscathed.

Roronoa was an anomaly. Maybe it had to do with both his Kūhaku and Ryuuma's bloodlines. Somehow, Kyuubi knew that for people he had never met, Roronoa was very much like them.

0000o0000

Ichibi for once, wasn't forced to sleep within a watery sphere, so he was able to observe the current goings on. Humans were odd and stupid things who did odd and stupid things for reasons he failed to understand. For one, why did this damn Roronoa kid insist on starving himself so that the two Jinchuuriki could eat?

It would be way more fucking practical to kill someone and feast on their flesh until reaching the next island. Well…that was just his opinion. Not like anyone would listen to him. Wait…that sort of sounded like something Gaara would have spouted off. Dammit, was that stupid kid influencing him?!

A part of Ichibi considered whispering to his prison and mocking the stupidity of Roronoa, but then stopped and wondered if it would even be worth it. Considering how long Gaara tended to leave him dozing whenever he wasn't mad at him, how long would Gaara leave him if he was? Gaara had surprisingly petty tendencies, and it was best to avoid them.

Instead, Ichibi began trying to understand Roronoa's reasoning; the pros and cons of starving himself and looking completely ragged. This stupid kid had so much pride, he was willing to push himself to this extent, almost as if he were testing himself. Fucking dumbass. That's what he was.

Far too much like Ryuuma in both personality and appearance – minus the green hair and silver eyes.

Ichibi actually let out a laugh at the idea. But then paused, because he thought about the memories that had come to him upon seeing that Ikue woman's sketchbook and how he remembered miniscule details that didn't seem important; but added to the bigger picture that was actually more of a jigsaw puzzle that had blatantly missing pieces.

Ichibi could sense the doubt and the worry Gaara had after a few days of this ridiculousness. But when a few days turned into a week, then two weeks – even Ichibi maybe – maybe was a little concerned. This type of stupid stubbornness mixed with pride was how people got themselves fucking killed.

000***000

Quiet relief came when they finally reached an island where food was available. But both boys and Biju quickly came to discover that whenever they started to get low on food, Zoro would start "training". His way of trying to get them to not worry.

Neither Naruto nor Gaara bought that excuse a second time.

0000

At first, it had started as a ploy to get something to eat while they were staying at a town but had no money.

\ "Maybe the Fox-brat could transform into a beautiful woman and get people to give him food that way." \ Ichibi had snarked.

Gaara took what his Biju had said as an ideal suggestion. "Ichibi says that Naruto could just transform into a girl and get people to give him stuff like that."

Naruto grinned, and Zoro rolled his eyes.

An unsuspecting shopkeeper reading the newspaper frowned when an unkempt-looking blond kid entered his shop.

"Mister, can I have some food?"

He didn't even spare the kid a glance. "You have money?"

"No…but I can work for it?"

"Don't need help from the likes of you urchin," the shopkeeper growled. With a violent wave of his hand, he shooed, "Now scram!"

There was a *poof* noise, and a sensual, distinctly female voice asked, "But please, mister… I can work so very hard…"

The shopkeeper peeked around his newspaper to see a…very naked blonde woman with soft, pink smoke hiding her…her… blood spurted from the man's nose, and a grin appeared on his face.

"Can I have some food now, mister?"

"T-take whaddever you want…" the man slurred happily.

A poof of smoke filled his vision, and that same blond kid stood in the place of the woman. "Thanks!"

While it wasn't exactly ideal, it worked.

Naruto remembered some of the lessons that both Gramps and Iruka had instilled into him – and that was to offer to work for what you wanted. But often, people didn't want some dirty kid off of the street anywhere near their place of business. A voluptuous blonde on the other hand… that was an entirely different story.

When they did have money for food…

Naruto transformed into one of two personas; the brash redhead or the busty blonde – both clothed, and both were very effective.

The blonde was the one to make the most appearances, smirking and winking at waiters and asking for discounts and even free food. More than once, Naruto asked for ramen, but no place in East Blue seemed to have heard of such a dish. Naruto could only curse his poor luck at not being able to eat his favorite food in so long.

"I think I'm forgetting how it tastes, 'ttebayou…" the boy lamented.

"You're being dramatic." Gaara stated, only to receive a scowl of mild disgust.

"You only get to say that because you get to eat your favorites…" Naruto muttered.

Gaara just shrugged, and turned back to eat his salted tongue and gizzard. It wasn't his fault that his tastes weren't nearly as exotic as his brother's.

Rumors began that two mysterious women would make a sudden, unexplained appearance wherever the Roronoa Brothers went, before disappearing.

0000

There came a day that they had no money, but passing by a billboard advertised the wanted posters of someone named Dick with a bounty of 10,000,000, and Billy with a bounty of 5,000,000.

"I'm hungry, Zoro-nii…" Naruto muttered tiredly.

Looking over the wanted poster, Zoro simply responded, "We'll get food, brat; no worries." Zoro's gaze went to the left, and he smirked. "In fact…there goes our paycheck."

A few blocks away, Billy and three other men were heading into a small pub.

Gaara let a grin come over him, because he was starving and he looked forward to the meal that was to come.

The three waited for about ten minutes to ensure that Billy wouldn't think he was being followed or something; plus it gave them a bit of time to come up with a mish-mash of a plan. Gaara took two of Zoro's swords and strapped them to his gourd, as a way to throw people off of who they were.

The three of them entered the pub, and Gaara made a face at Billy who was sitting at one of the tables and lapping at his drink much like a dog. Perhaps the man's tongue was far too big for his mouth or something. A dark thought of taking his tongue entered Gaara's mind, but that must have been the hunger talking.

There was an uneasy air in the pub; likely from the presence of Billy and the men with him. Zoro and his brothers all sat down at the bar, and the barkeep gave them an uneasy and scathing look as he took in their dirty appearance.

"Give us some food, old man." Zoro said, in his ever so brusque manner.

"Please." Gaara added quietly, like an afterthought.

"You got ramen?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"You got money?" the barkeep countered.

"Yep." Zoro jerked a thumb behind them, obviously indicating Billy. "It's sitting right there."

Now, the air was nearly suffocating for those who were observing this exchange. Billy glared, as he slammed down his drink and slowly stood. His men smirked, and Billy took the appearances of the people at the bar; a dirty teen with a simple, white sword; an equally dirty blond kid with a small sword carrying some sort of chain weapon, and a red-haired boy with a giant gourd and two swords. They didn't look like anything he couldn't handle. And here they had the nerve to march into his territory and think they could take him.

"What was that?" Billy asked in a mocking tone as he slowly drew his oversized sword. The gasps from the people around him only fueled the tension and he enjoyed it. "What makes you think you can face me, kid? I have a bounty of 5,000,000!"

The man raised his sword as he charged towards them and swung downwards, while Zoro simply responded by drawing his sword and easily blocking the strike with one hand. It was almost pathetic, Zoro observed, that here he was starving, and a man who obviously wasn't couldn't even make Wado Ichimonji budge.

Naruto took that opportunity to suddenly charge, wielding his kusarigama and hooked his weapon through one of the odd crescent-shapes in Billy's sword and easily ripped the weapon away from the man. Gaara easily caught the sword with his sand, and already began grinding away at the metal, while another large portion of his sand grabbed one of Billy's arms and one of his legs.

"Sabaku Kyuu!"

Billy screamed as his limbs were partially mutilated, and now his men stood up in shock. They were ready to fight as well, but hesitated when taking in Gaara's smile; a mad-looking, wide-eyed grin.

"I'd suggest you run," Zoro said to the others, as he sheathed his sword, but he did smirk. "Or… we can relieve you of your limbs like your boss here."

The men left quickly, leaving their commander behind. Looking at the dumbstruck and slightly green barkeep, Zoro motioned, "There's your money right there."

"Of-of course!" the barkeep quickly got down to business. He looked at Naruto curiously, and Naruto grinned.

"You got ramen?" Naruto asked again.

"…I'm sorry, I've never heard of that dish." The man seemed nervous, as if he expected Naruto to suddenly start flipping tables or something.

Naruto pouted and complained that the barkeep had raised his hopes, but ordered some kind meat and noodle dish, while Gaara went with vegetables and chicken, and Zoro was content with some sort of pasta. The three of them dug in, not caring about table manners in the slightest.

"Oi, oi, mister," a voice from behind them said, and the three turned, each with a face full of food. A man with a red Mohawk and another with pale blond hair stood over Zoro. "If you're a Bounty Hunter too, then you've gotta abide by our rules."

Mohawk glanced uneasily at Gaara who quietly growled at him, slightly throwing him off from why he had approached the three in the first place.

"Uh…" the blond man took over, "We didn't want to make any trouble for the pub, so we were waiting for him to leave."

Mohawk recovered from Gaara's rumbling threat, adding, "We had first dibs on this guy; he was our prey."

The trio just stared at the two for a few seconds before going back to eating, while only Gaara stared unblinkingly at the two while he ate.

Unnerving as it was, it was also irritating that Zoro hardly even acknowledged the two. "O-oi!" Mohawk nearly shouted, "Didn't you hear me?! There's rules among fellow bounty hunters, you know!"

"If you wanted to claim him you should have acted first." Gaara said. His gaze drifted upwards to Mohawk's hair. "…Your hair looks like a rooster."

Naruto snorted then stuck out his tongue, "Rooster-kun is so stingy."

"Rooster?! You impudent brat, I'm Johnny and this is my partner Yosaku!"

Zoro's spoon clunked down on his now empty plate, and he rolled his eyes. He easily dispelled the situation by asking, "Do you know Hawk-Eye Mihawk?"

"Hawk-Eye…one of the Seven Warlords?" Yosaku questioned.

"I'm on a journey, with the aim of defeating him and becoming the world's greatest Swordsman." Zoro shrugged. "So we collect bounties in order to eat; so it's not like we're officially Bounty Hunters."

A smile came over Yosaku as he laughed. "The world's greatest Swordsman? Hey, did you hear that, partner? There's no way! You must be dreaming!"

Yosaku yelped when a large knife landed mere centimeters from his foot.

Gaara was glaring at Yosaku, and he snarled out, "Don't you dare mock my brother's dream."

Naruto slammed down his fork and stood up on his stool so that he could tower over the two men. "You're just mad 'cuz we got that guy first, Dattebayo!"

"I-I…" Yosaku started dumbly, but Zoro just ruffled Gaara's hair and gave Naruto a flick on his forehead.

"Calm down, sand-brat. Just finish eating, brat. You two can't go starting stupid fights just 'cuz someone says something you don't like. If I cared about the shit people said about my dream, I'd never've left my home island."

Gaara backed down, but still glared at Yosaku. Naruto gave the two Bounty Hunters the finger, much to their chagrin, and plopped back down in his seat and began stuffing his mouth.

"It was what I was determined to do since I was a kid, that's all." Zoro said. Yosaku would have continued saying how laughable Zoro's dream was, but the unblinking glare of the redhead boy made him hesitate. "Anyway, I didn't know you had claim to him; sorry."

Zoro smirked as he motioned to his brothers. "You can have the bounty, but my brothers need to eat; so our lunch here is on you." Zoro turned to the two beside him. "Eat up, you brats."

"Hai~!"

"Fine…" Johnny agreed, only slightly hesitant. He didn't like the conspiratorial glance the two boys shared. Perhaps the two men wouldn't have agreed so readily if they had known just how much two growing boys could eat…

0000

Johnny and Yosaku counted their belli from Billy's bounty.

"4,970,571 belli…" Yosaku said. "Well…that's not too bad. We can still split it."

"How could two kids that small eat so much?" Johnny wondered aloud. Sure, the blond had eaten more than the redhead, but still; they could pack it away.

"You think that guy really was Zoro?" Johnny finally asked.

"What, no way…" but the way Yosaku had said it showed that he wasn't completely sure himself. "I mean, he had that white sword, but rumors are he carries three; and he only had one. And it's not like he's the only green-haired person here. There also weren't any girls with them…"

It was an odd thing, because neither of them could say whether or not that they had made a mistake. The boy's hoodie was red, and that was what they could have seen; he could have been wearing it up and then took it down, revealing a mess of blond hair. Sure, that redheaded boy had a gourd for some reason, but he was carrying two swords…

The Roronoa Brothers were dangerous, but…there wasn't a girl in their group as far as the rumors had stated; having heard that sometimes a foxy vixen would make an appearance before misfortune befell the prey.

Johnny wondered about the odd teen back at the pub. It was silly, saying things like 'the world's greatest', but the way the teen had spoken to the redheaded boy;

"You can't go starting stupid fights just 'cuz someone says something you don't like. If I cared about the shit people said about my dream, I'd never've left my home island."

"Hey, aren't you happy about the money?" Yosaku asked when he realized that Johnny was spacing out.

"Why'd you become a Bounty Hunter?"

Yosaku was surprised by the question, "What? So I could eat of course!"

Johnny glanced up towards the village. "Growing up, my village was much like this one…bandits came in and did some pretty deplorable things. But then that would bring in the Bounty Hunters as well…I so badly wanted to be like those dashing men, you know? I thought they were heroes. It wasn't until I was older that I realized it was their job, but still…" Johnny had to smile. "They saved lives."

"Yeah," Yosaku agreed as he thought about when he first became a Bounty Hunter. It was a chance for adventure, and to be a hero for those who couldn't defend themselves.

Their reminiscing was cut short, though, when there was an explosion a few blocks away. Both men jumped, and quickly faced towards the noise.

"Oh, no…that's Dick!" Johnny stated, as 'Dick' made his way through town, carrying his hand-cannon; with his men following close behind. They were looting the town, while Dick had a frown on his face.

"Someone here beat up my little bro and took him away," Dick said, although upon closer inspection, the frown was mocking. "This is just reimbursement for his loss."

"Stop, you jerk!" a voice shouted, and a small boy ran at the men.

The boy didn't make it very far when Dick simply kicked the boy to the side. The boy slid into one of the buildings, and groaned painfully as he curled into himself.

"We gotta do something!" Johnny said, drawing his sword.

"Y-yeah," Yosaku hesitantly agreed. This was a man with 10,000,000 bellies on his head – Yosaku was fairly certain they could take him if they worked together, but even if they couldn't, Dick fighting them meant he wasn't killing anyone else.

The two men charged forward with their blades drawn, yelling out, "Surrender, Dick!"

Dick just looked at the pair and smirked.

It was over before it barely even started.

Both men laid there, bloody and beaten, and Dick was ready to crush their skulls.

That was when a voice declared, "Oh, hey, it's Rooster-kun and Mop-Head!"

Everyone glanced at the owner of the voice, and that was when they noticed the trio. A blond-haired boy; a redheaded boy; and a green-haired teen.

The redhead stared at Johnny and Yosaku with impassive sea-green eyes. "Oh…it's them. Let's leave them to die."

"NO!" both Johnny and Yosaku quickly protested.

"Hey…" the green-haired teen started as he tied a bandana that had a cloud and dragon pattern around his head. "You two don't mind if we take that guy's head, do you? We need the money."

"Yeah," the blond agreed, pulling his fox-eared hood up. "Stupid boat people won't fix our mast unless we have enough money; stingy bastards."

The redhead pulled a pair of goggles over his eyes and grinned. "We won't need to claim another bounty for a while if we turn your head in. I don't think it matters if it's attached to your body or not."

"It can't be…" Yosaku said under his breath as he watched the teen draw three swords. Yosaku felt a sudden urge to go skewer himself because he had been giving Roronoa Zoro a hard time. No wonder the younger boys had been so annoyed.

Dick either didn't know or didn't care about the three newcomers, because he just smirked even more as he gloated. "Oh? You think you can beat me?"

"Hey, boss?" one of the men spoke up nervously. "I think that's the Roronoa Brothers…"

"Is that so?" Dick questioned as a bloodthirsty grin came over his face. "Then the bounty on my head will go up if I kill the three of you!"

Dick fired a cannonball at them, and everyone prepared for the worst when the three didn't immediately move. But they were all in for a shock when a wall of sand suddenly appeared in front of the brothers, effectively stopping the cannonball. Gaara grinned as his sand morphed into a large hand that clutched the cannonball and easily threw it at the rest of Dick's gang who screamed as they quickly scattered.

That was when everyone who was observing let their jaws drop. The area that Zoro had been standing was now empty. Zoro was simply gone.

Dick rapidly looked for his target, while his men tried to fend off the two boys.

"Oi, Gaara, leave some for me, 'ttebayo!" Naruto complained, as he took out his kusarigama and charged at the men.

One man charged forward with his sword raised against Naruto, and he swung his sword down with the intent to kill. But, his sword was stopped just feet from Naruto's head, thanks to a wall of sand that had encircled the blond. The man blinked dumbly, before the sand suddenly whipped around, and he was forced back. The bandit tried to dodge the odd attack, but suddenly; a chained weapon swung by him, and he fell to the ground in a bloody heap.

The other bandits gaped as they watched one of their own get killed by two kids – they obviously weren't mere children. That was a combined attack that had been purposeful.

It was a lethal combination as Naruto charged in; followed closely by Gaara. From what the others could see, the pair were a near-flawless tag team. Whenever anyone tried to attack Naruto, a wall of sand would rise up around him; which would then whip around and force them to dodge – right into Naruto's swinging kusarigama/short sword combination.

Naruto suddenly broke away from the shield, and spun with his kusarigama through the bandits.

"Akuma-hō no Kaze no Setsudan Gijutsu!"

A cutting whirlwind sliced through them, and they could barely defend against it. One would have thought that the attack would have cut through those observing, or even the buildings, but it was as if the wind was perfectly controlled by an external force.

"In-incredible!" one of the villagers watching exclaimed.

If anyone of the bandits tried to attack the redhead directly, the sand around him rose up too fast for any one of them to get a proper hit in – not even guns worked. Sneaking up behind him proved useless as well.

Another bandit thought that he could break the sand shield, and struck the sandy dome covering the kid as hard as he could with his club – only to have the sand wrap around his weapon and his hands. The man screamed when the sand crushed his hands – and then wrapped around him completely, before crushing him.

That sand acted as both an offense and impenetrable defense. And now, the bandits were scared. There was no way to fight these two!

Dick snarled as he fired another cannonball at Zoro who was simply too fast to get a proper hit in. It was as if Zoro was simply "ghosting" in and out of sight as he fought Dick, and those watching it couldn't believe their eyes.

"Sora surasshu gihō!"

Zoro suddenly appeared behind Dick; as if he had phased through the Bandit, and simply sheathed his swords. At first, it didn't look as if anything had happened to Dick, but then he jolted as several cuts appeared on his torso as if something were slicing its way out. Dick collapsed to the ground, and Zoro smirked slightly as he turned to look.

"Damn, that was still too messy. Still an improvement, though." …Considering what had happened to the others.

Johnny blinked dumbly as he watched the scene unfold. The two younger boys easily dispatched the rest of the gang, and then made their way towards Zoro.

"Not fair, Zoro-nii, you had that big name guy all to yourself, 'ttebayo." Naruto complained half-heartedly.

"None of them really had anything worth taking." Gaara added in a bland tone. Still, he held up a mishmash of weapons that he had filched from the men in a sand-hand. "I got this, so maybe I can make some of Naruto's weapons with them."

Naruto grinned at Gaara in thanks.

"Good job, brats. Next time, I'll let you two take on the bounty."

"Really?!" Naruto asked excitedly.

"You mean it, Zoro-nii?" Gaara's eyes shined.

Zoro nodded. "I'll only step in if it looks bad."

"You killed him…" one man said, as he checked Dick's pulse. "Not that I'm complaining…I don't think anyone is."

"That…that was amazing!" both Johnny and Yosaku shouted elatedly.

"Aniki, you were so cool!"

"Let's work together!"

"What?" Zoro questioned after taking in their declaration.

"We aren't sharing." Gaara said defensively. It wasn't clear if Gaara was talking about the bounty or Zoro; but it was likely both.

"Are we gonna team up with them, 'ttebayo?" Naruto asked.

"I guess?"

"Yay!" the two men cheered.

0000

As they sailed along with their small ship that was tied to the Roronoa Brothers' slightly bigger ship, Johnny and Yosaku were certainly happy that they had teamed up with the Roronoa Brothers; but the brothers were even crazier and stranger than the rumors had led them to believe.

When they saw Zoro training with large weights that he had gotten from somewhere, while he had his brothers sitting on the dumbbells while they lifted their own large (but at least still normal sized) weights, they were certainly surprised. Johnny and Yosaku were oblivious to the longsuffering manner that Zoro sometimes used when it came to the crazy amounts of energy they exhibited; they got along well with Naruto who shared their crazy energy; and Gaara…well… Gaara didn't seem to like them very much.

It seemed that Gaara could hold a grudge, and he often glared unblinkingly at the men; Yosaku specifically. Yosaku chose to keep himself busy and did his best to ignore Gaara whenever he was within the boy's sight. But even being on a separate ship didn't really allow Yosaku the escape he would have preferred, but he did his best.

After five days of this, Johnny then took it upon himself to play peacekeeper.

So, one afternoon, Johnny approached Gaara. He balked for a second when he saw the smattering of weapons with hundreds of thousands of grains of sand flowing over them. The sand wasn't exactly corroding the weapons as it normally should have, but rather was shaping them into star-shapes and there was a collection of odd-looking knives next to Gaara. They weren't smooth by any means, but definitely looked lethally sharp, and had a circle on the bottom of the handle for holding? Johnny couldn't remember what the knives were called… kuna…kunai?

He watched as Gaara was also rolling a shiny ball of sand around in his hands, and a few minutes later, a kunai slowly emerged from the ball. Gaara broke up the sand ball, picked up another one of the swords and began winding a new ball of sand around the sword before it was completely absorbed by the sand.

"Uh, hello, Gaara-nii-chan."

"I'm not your brother."

The tone was icy, and Gaara's sea-green eyes glared daggers at Johnny.

Johnny had come this far and had worked up the courage to talk to the off-putting boy, and he wasn't sure if he could work up the courage again sooner than he would like, even if the boy didn't have weapons surrounding him. "Oh…okay…um, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Listen…um…Yosaku is scared of you-"

"He should be."

Johnny sort of balked at that statement, but he persisted. "He does want to be…friends with you, but he thinks you're…" Johnny wasn't sure if he should use the word 'scary' as aptly as it described Gaara, but thought better of it – he didn't want to insult the boy. "…intense. Why don't you seem to like being here? Your brothers seem to enjoy it."

Gaara was quiet, and Johnny wasn't sure if he would get a response. The redhead continued rolling the ball of sand around in his hands as it slowly developed a pleasant sheen and another kunai dropped to the deck.

"He laughed at Zoro-nii's dream."

Johnny blinked and looked at Gaara, who was staring intently at the ball. "He laughed and it's not nice to make fun of people like that. He laughed without knowing what Zoro-nii promised and how hard he works to become the best Swordsman. He will become the best." Gaara glared defiantly at Johnny now, as if daring him to disagree, adding, "The only reason you like Zoro-nii is because you know who he is now. You didn't care when you didn't know who he was. Now, you're calling him 'brother'; but you don't have the right to."

That was the most Gaara had ever said to Johnny, and now the man thought that he understood where Gaara was coming from. For Gaara, the idea that Zoro couldn't do something was unthinkable. His admiration for Zoro was so strong, that he felt he had to defend Zoro when others looked down on him. And the fact that both Johnny and Yosaku had only showed their admiration and respect after Zoro had beaten Dick… Plus, Gaara must've thought that they were trying to replace someone in their family, given how he didn't like them referring to him and his brothers in such a familial way.

"I see, so that's it then?" Johnny asked. "You know… your brother's dream to become the best Swordsman is laughable in the 'it's unbelievable' kind of sense. I mean, you've gotta understand: this is East Blue. Sure, Gold Rodger came from this ocean and did the impossible; but… not many people have the same courage as Aniki does. They say dreams like that are a fool's errand."

Gaara's stare wasn't as intense as he looked up at Johnny. "Gold Rodger?"

"What? You don't know who Gold Rodger is?" Johnny asked in genuine disbelief. Gaara shook his head.

Johnny sat down across from the boy, and animatedly began talking. "Alright, let me tell you…let's see…it all started around 20…22…years ago? Anyway, the greatest Pirate to ever live was Gold Rodger, and he started this Great Age of Pirates by doing the impossible…"

Gaara listened intently as Johnny told him what amounted to the greatest story to ever come out of East Blue and shook the world to its core. It was so fascinating, that Gaara didn't even realize he had stopped working on Naruto's weapons.

After talking with Gaara, Johnny approached Yosaku and whispered, "Listen, Yosaku – I think what you need to do is apologize to Gaara."

"'Apologize'?" Yosaku whispered back harshly, not at all believing that a simple apology would be all it would take for him to not feel as if his very life were being threatened. "Seriously?"

"Gaara threatens new people all the time."

"AHHH!" both Johnny and Yosaku screamed at the sudden appearance of Naruto, who grinned at them.

Both men gave Naruto a glare before getting back to their conversation.

"Look, the kid thinks the world of Aniki, and well…just do it, okay? Apologize for laughing at Aniki's dream."

"That's what this is about? It's been over a week!" Yosaku exclaimed.

Johnny just gave him a pointed look, and Naruto was more fascinated with the apple he had pulled out of the barrel he was sitting next to.

"Fine," the man relented. "But if it doesn't work and he kills me, I'm coming back as a spirit and haunting you."

That same evening, Yosaku approached Gaara nervously, and quickly muttered, "I'm sorry for laughing at Aniki's dream."

Yosaku had honestly never been so scared in his life – and he had gone up against dangerous criminals – but Gaara was in his own league. He honestly didn't think it would change anything. So after apologizing, he quickly retreated below deck and busied himself with cleaning his sword.

A few days later, there was a skirmish with a few Pirates who had low bounties, and Yosaku had gotten a nasty gash on his leg that most definitely needed stitches. It was in an awkward location, and if he had been by himself, Yosaku would have had to contort his leg in attempt to suture it.

Surprisingly, Gaara stepped up to help him treat it before anyone else could.

"Zoro-nii gets hurt a lot, and Naruto and I help bandage him." Gaara stated very seriously. "But he always sleeps and he gets better like that, too."

Yosaku only nodded at that weird statement, and sat down at their dining room table so that Gaara could work on his leg. He was only slightly nervous, as this was the first interaction the two had had in days – at least Gaara wasn't glaring at him anymore.

"Oh…" Gaara said gravely when he saw Yosaku's wound.

"What? What's going on?!" Yosaku twisted around trying to see what Gaara was.

The redhead was very serious as he said, "That looks really bad…I think it'll have to be cut off."

Sand slowly started emerging out of Gaara's gourd.

"WHAT?!" Yosaku shouted, recoiling. He had seen what that sand could do, and it was altogether unpleasant.

Offering a smile, Gaara replied, "It'll be okay…you can get a peg leg – just like that one Pirate had."

"LIKE HELL!" Yosaku shouted, another octave higher.

Johnny, who had been observing the exchange quickly stood and was ready to intervene, but was stopped by Zoro, who shook his head. Looking back questioningly at the teen, Zoro just smirked. Looking over at Naruto, the other boy just shrugged. His expression was that of someone who was resigned.

Before Johnny could say a word, Gaara had a pleased smile on his face that honestly got both Johnny and Yosaku to stop what they were doing. Neither of them had any idea Gaara could have an expression like that.

Poking Yosaku's knee, the boy said, "I'm joking."

"Why the hell would you joke like that?!" both Yosaku and Johnny demanded.

Once again, Gaara was very serious as he replied flatly, "It was funny."

And with that, Gaara started suturing Yosaku's wound closed.

Johnny looked at the boy disbelievingly, and slightly disturbed. He snuck a peek at the other Roronoa brothers – Zoro was simply snoring away with his fingers laced behind his head – how could someone fall asleep that fast, Johnny couldn't help but wonder, and Naruto was cleaning his short sword with an intense look of concentration – even though it looked perfectly clean.

"…I really don't think that sword could get any cleaner." Johnny pointed out, deciding that he'd much rather focus on something than wonder at Gaara's odd humor. He was now accepting the eccentricities that encompassed the brothers.

"I have to take good care of it," Naruto said with a smile. "It's the first thing Zoro-nii gave me. It's my treasure."

000

It was more than obvious that Zoro had different goals than Johnny and Yosaku. While the two were happy simply sailing around East Blue and collecting bounties, both Zoro's and Naruto's dreams would be taking them elsewhere.

But that had brought up another conversation altogether.

"So, you can navigate, right?" Johnny asked, concern evident in his voice. "When I say that, I mean, beyond the basics of well, sailing out here in East Blue."

"Yeah," Yosaku agreed. "You do realize how dangerous the oceans are in the Grand Line? And don't get me started on some of the stories I've heard about the islands!"

"Is it really that dangerous?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto-nii-chan, when people go to the Grand Line, they want actual navigators!" Yosaku replied. "There are stories of people getting lost at sea or shipwrecked, and those are the tame ways for people's adventures to end."

Johnny was speaking now, "I've heard that in the Grand Line, there's a phenomenon called "Weather Spots" – or "patches". Basically, they're areas varying in sizes where multiple types of weather exist at once."

The man nodded gravely, to show the seriousness of the conversation. "These patches can last several minutes, and it that time, they can tear ships like ours apart."

"It's not that big a deal," Zoro said with a yawn. "We'll just sail around 'em."

"Aniki, these patches are entirely unpredictable!" Yosaku nearly shouted. "That's what makes them so dangerous! You can't just see them and decide to sail around them! You'll never know when they'll happen, how big they are or how long they'll last!"

Zoro frowned. "We're in the ocean, and those storms are in the sky. All we've gotta do is just cut through it."

"You can't just-!" Johnny started, but then he stopped, and briefly removed his glasses so that he could pinch the bridge of his nose. Replacing his glasses, Johnny spoke slowly, "Aniki… you're an amazing swordsman – incredible, even. But you can't just cut through one of those storms like that. I mean, I've heard of people dealing with typhoons, ice storms, and giant waves, all at once. Those things alone wreck ships."

Zoro shrugged. "We're strong enough to deal with it. The brat can just use his Wind Jutsu, or I can use one of my Demon Cutter techniques."

"I don't think it'll work for me like that, 'ttebayou…" Naruto muttered.

"We're going to go to the Grand Line to die." Gaara said very gravely. His eyes landed on Naruto. "You'll be the first of us to die, because Zoro-nii and I will have no other choice but to feast on your flesh and break your bones for the marrow."

"Why does it have to be me?!" Naruto demanded.

"Because you're the youngest." Gaara explained simply. "Natural selection."

"'Natural selection' my ass!"

Gaara ignored Naruto as he looked up at Zoro. "Zoro-nii will be the next of us to go. By dysentery, I imagine."

"What?!"

"Then, I'll eat him, too." Gaara's eyes then went to the horizon. "Since I'll be all alone, I'll have no other choice but to kill myself. I'll randomly select a spot in that vast expanse of ocean, and throw myself overboard into the dark abyss."

Gaara nodded, as if he had made the decision final. "All of this tragic misery could have been prevented…" his gaze slowly landed on Zoro. "If we just had a real navigator."

Zoro stared at his younger brother for a moment before sighing and putting a hand up, "Alright, you know what? Fine, fine. We won't go to the Grand Line without a real navigator. Happy?"

Gaara smirked in his victory. "Elated."

While Naruto didn't like the fact that he had been cannibalized in Gaara's absurd and macabre fantasy, he was glad that they weren't heading towards their watery deaths.

00oo00

There came a day when it was time to leave Johnny and Yosaku. The two men cried manly tears as they simultaneously called out from their boat, "A-NI-KI! GA-ARA-NII-CHAN! NA-RU-TO-NII-CHAN!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Zoro muttered. He wasn't sure how he attracted these sorts of people; and he hoped that their travels would be relatively peaceful from here on out.

"Bye, Rooster-Head! Bye, Mop-Head!" Naruto called out, waving both arms.

"…Don't die a stupid death." Gaara said very intently, staring at both men with unblinking sea-green eyes.

Somehow, he made it sound like a threat. But it was the thought that counted.

0o0o0o0

**About Belonging**

"You must go on adventures to find out where you belong." – Unknown

"After all this time, I know exactly where I belong." – Meg Rosoff

*00o+o00*

A/N: So much happened here.

Blatant Shout-out to LoZ: Majora's Mask. Yes, I know it's Termina, but the spell change was for reasons.

BigBrother!Zoro has finally, fully accepted his role. Also, he now has a different epithet, since he has a Kekkei Genkai and all.

Gaara will find his sea-legs eventually. I also figure he'd be selfish when it came to "sharing" Zoro.

Naruto is well on his way to becoming an awesome Ninja – he's making it up as he goes. It's what he does best. He'll get his epithet, no worries!

Kyuubi and Ichibi are also slowly coming 'round.

As for Mr. 7, when we saw the pair in Alabasta, they didn't strike me as being particularly strong. So this guy simply didn't last that long.

00oo00

Christmas celebrations in Japan is completely different from how it's done in the US. It's actually more like a romantic holiday than it is a religious one. I figure that in the OP world, they do have variations of Christmas, and would have their own forms of celebration. Different islands/countries + different cultures = different customs.

8i8

Another thing – I'm looking at you, OP-filler writers – Okay, so Wado Ichimonji withstood Mihawk, the world's number one Swordsman, mind you – while Zoro's other swords broke – and YET, and YET Zoro freaking broke his most precious sword because he was too rough with it? It couldn't withstand Zoro's strength but stood up against Mihawk? What, did the blacksmith repair the legendary sword to be much stronger or something? I demand answers for something inconsequential that happened like 20 years ago! *bangs desk*

"4,981,571 belli…" Yosaku said. "Well…that's not too bad. We can still split it."

29,429 belli worth of food was pettily consumed, and it was delicious.

Next chapter will be posted soon, I promise.

*This here's some Q&A*

CloudZzFluffyBedsOfWhite: *realizes that you also left a review on Mind Flip* Oh, wow – thanks so much for enjoying my stories! I'm glad you're enjoying Gaara's character so much, along with liking the dynamics between everyone.

There's a slight time skip to the next chapter – I'm figuring 3-4 months later, when things pick up in Shells Town.

Gamelover41592: Thanks for the review! You didn't miss anything; there's an upcoming chapter that addresses Koshiro's sexism. But there's a hint at something more involving Kuina in the last chapter; it was just a single line.

Fido123a: If you see my Author's Note complaining about Zoro's flashback to his bounty hunter days, then I hope that shows I intend to show at least a preview of Mihawk, similar to what we got in canon. I have notes for how I want things to go down, and Mihawk is the best for a reason.

CRUDEN: Thanks! Health's getting better. Glad you liked the chapter.

Traveler's Co: Thanks! I have so many plans… things will be altered more and more…

McGwee: Gaara's sand has so much potential – especially with upcoming opponents/islands.

Fox Boss: Thanks for the review! Their weapons aren't based off of anything in particular, I just think that the kusarigama is a cool weapon, and I haven't seen something with Naruto using it. Gaara's getting creative with his sand, realizing that he can extend/multiply his limbs, and I have ideas for expanding his sand usage.

ThatOneGuyUpstairs: Oh, yeah… they'll be the best of friends… heh…