Chapter 36: Reunion
Arc – Captured Rain Genin Part 16
Shikaku is speaking with one of the new Aburame, while Muta is conversing with Oboro over a telesnail. Yoshino is speaking with the remaining four Rain Genin and putting to the kitchen, a speech bubble depicting a table with several dishes and drinks on it. Everyone is slightly nervous.
Subtext: Waiting for Hanzo's response
XXXXXXX – East Blue, Konami Archipelago, remains of Gosa Village.
Dr. Amachi was hiding in the bushes not too far away and immensely enjoying himself. His first test subject had done her job splendidly. The entire operation had gone splendidly: the Hyuga taking the bug boy out of their precious compound, allowing themselves to be outwitted, Isaribi conveniently finding the boy and bringing him the long way around to "avoid" the Fish-Men. Far better to let the prisoner think they were in control of the situation. Brute force and confidence were such mundane concepts.
The best part was that it was clear the Aburame had some sort of agenda of his own, but that only added to Amachi's good fortunate and allowed the boy to play into their hands all the more so.
Amachi had no idea what the Aburame was hoping to accomplish with all this, nor did he practically care. He had already persuaded Arlong to allow him to have the youth. He had never experimented with an Aburame before! He was looking forward to it. Then he would find out the Aburame's secrets. ALL of them!
That's when he noticed the Aburame youth confronting Isaribi. Ah, it seemed he had caught on after all. No doubt the girl had screwed up. She wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. It didn't matter because the trap had already been sprung.
So he waited… and waited. And waited some more, before a frown appeared on his face.
Nothing was happening.
Arlong was supposed to have planted some of his crew here ahead of time to apprehend the Aburame kid. Where were they?
Seeing both the boy and his test subject beginning to realize the same thing, his smug smile appeared back on his face. Oh well, this situation would prove fun to watch too.
After all… the best thing about a test subject, was watching them squirm.
XXXXXXX – back with Shino and Isaribi
When nothing was happening, Shino noted his "guide" was started to look nervous. She glanced around all over the village. "I… I don't understand…! The plan was…"
"It seems your plan has backfired. Your allies are not present." Shino didn't know what caused his good fortune, it was something to determine later. For now he would deal with the present matter at hand. He pointed over Isaribi's shoulder. "But mine are."
Isaribi jerked, her eyes widening with fear as she spun around to look. Shino's swarm was already returning back to their position. When she turned back to face Shino, she saw more of the Kikai surrounding her.
"For the record." Shino said in a dark tone as he lowered his right arm from which the Kikai had emerged. "I didn't send my full swarm. Now you will answer my questions. I recommend you don't try my temper anymore than you already have."
Isaribi just looked at him, paling to a decent shade of white. It was clear to Shino she was not a fighter. Used to small and quick actions of deceit against unsuspecting people, perhaps, but against a trained shinobi like himself, she might have bitten off more than she could chew.
The girl looked at the insects encompassing her and then directly at Shino. To his surprise, she began humming.
The woman merely shook her head. She began humming ever so slightly. It was a very calm, soothing tune and Shino found himself completely mesmerized. Even the Hikyarku Ekickuu seemed taken in by the tune.
Shino heard his two pursuers coming closer. Ten paces from the bushes, however, they took an abrupt turn and went the completely opposite direction.
'Dammit!' Shino cried out mentally. She was using the same technique on him she had done to the Hyuga. As he was about to order his swarm to converge on her, Shino felt his world spinning. Everything moved rapidly giving Shino a bad taste of vertigo.
Issuing his commands, he had several of the nearest Kikaichu fly back to him. Landing on him, they injecting chakra into Shino and snapping him back to reality.
Just in time to see Isaribi was now behind him. Her right hand had changed, becoming more slender, with edges blade like. He turned around to met her attack, a kunai appearing in his hand as if by magic as she lashed out at his throat.
An audible clash was heard through the area and an item when flying through the air, landing on the ground between them. Isaribi jumped back her right hand bleeding from the kunai cut as she looked at the Aburame…
And realized she had knocked off his glasses allowing her to see his eyes. The sight of what she saw made her visibly gasp in shock. Even Amachi in his heading place jerked surprised, realizing there was a story behind this.
Shino bent down and retrieved his glasses putting them back on. "That. Is. Private." He said. His voice was filled with anger not normally heard and it hit her to the core.
Jerking in fear, Isaribi began humming. A more frantic and desperate tune as both shinobi and insect converged on her. When they struck, Isaribi merely shimmered away.
Shino gritted his teeth in anger as he looked for his adversary. Even when he dispatched his swarm to search the entire area, the Kikai didn't find anything. She had escaped. Hissing out in frustration, he realized he was now on the other end of the ruined village. Funny, he had not remembered moving from his spot, let alone nearly fifty meters.
'Just what is that technique?' he puzzled to himself. He had at first assumed it was some sort of sound based genjutsu created by her voice through her humming, but now he was not so sure. The deceptions seemed far too fluid and real to be simple illusions. The fact he had moved so far unknowingly also suggested it did more than affect his basic senses. Surveying his kikai, he saw even they seemed puzzled, flying in erratic maneuvers as opposed to their normal flight patterns.
"Time to figure it out later." He was forced to admit. She was gone and he was wasting time. After berating himself for not putting a female kikai on the tall girl, he decided it was time to see what his swarm had learned that made them return early. Singling one of the kikai that he had sent to Arlong Park, it landed on his finger and gave its report. The findings surprised him, making him forgot about the encounter.
"Interesting." Shino said as he sent his swarm ahead of him once again towards Arlong Park. "Perhaps fortune does smile on me." He turned towards Arlong Park and began making his way there at full speed.
From the bushes, Amachi watched him go. Something was clearly happening, which just made him all the more excited. "Next time, Aburame." He promised as he began retreating further into the bushes. "Next time."
XXXXXXX – Arlong Park
There was a flash throughout the air as the sword cut down two of the Fish-Men at once. It happened so fast, they didn't get the chance to scream, same with many of their prior comrades. Out of the corner of the swordsman's eye, he zipped around and cut through another Fish-Men was he was trying to leap into the water.
Another Fish-Man came at him, holding up a crud looking mace and brought it down towards the man's head. The swordsman flipped his blade around and slammed the hilt of his blade against the mace, and much to the Fish-Men's shock as the man jerked his katana upward, slashing upward on the Fish-Men.
The man narrowed his eyes. "Reverse grip really isn't my style." He said as another Fish-Men tried to jump him, but was cut down as swiftly at the rest.
Take breathed out heavily, favoring his right arm. How could this happen! One moment, he was preparing a team to go out and capture some kid from the Hyuga were sending, and the next… they were being massacred by some powerful swordsman! How could this man be the same one they found alone tied up in a ship?
Then to his utter horror, the swordsmen came right at HIM!
A scream appeared from the Fish-Man as he crumpled to the ground. Zoro stepped over him as he looked at the blood on Kuina's sword. With a simple gestured, he flicked the blood off and resheathed it.
All around Zoro were the corpses of nearly two dozen Fish-Men. These unlucky souls had remained at Arlong Park while the Shark Fish-Man was away on his errand. Zoro found it disappointingly easy to cut them all down as he sat on Arlong's seat, crossing his arms behind his head. "Looks like I got carried away." He criticized himself. "Should have left at least one of them alive to tell me where Nami is and I sent that Hinata girl away so she wouldn't be caught up in this. Man oh man… now what am I gonna do? I promised Luffy I'd bring Nami back."
Shrugging to himself, he figured maybe the best course of action was to just wait for the Fish Freak to show back up when he noticed a familiar looking swarm was back at the compound. "So I wasn't imagining it." Zoro said to himself as Shino appeared on the top of the compound's perimeter wall and jumped down.
"So you really did go with Nami on her little runaway." Zoro accused as the boy walked over, the swarm reentered the boy's sleeves.
"I merely took a nap on the ship and was completely unaware when Nami stole it." The boy replied in a completely unconvincing tone.
"Whatever you say." Zoro said leaping to his feet. "Where is she?"
"If all has gone according to plan, she should be at her sister's house." Shino answered.
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Plan?" he repeated dubiously.
Shino gave a nod. Before he could elaborate further, they heard a loud 'I GOT A BIG CATCH' Both glanced over to the front of Arlong Park seeing a fishing pole pull up the rear end of a Fish-Man, leading to. 'OH WAIT, THAT'S ME! GUESS I'M THE BIGGEST CATCH!'
"It seems you missed one." Shino spoke up, looking at that direction as a loud trumpet like noise was heard.
Zoro merely thumbed his sword out of its sheath. "One Fish-Man won't be a…" He trailed off seeing Shino walking inside the compound. "Now where are you going? Another nap?" The swordsman suggested sarcastically.
"Not this time. I shall rendezvous with you later once I complete my objective." With that, the boy disappeared inside the compound.
"Think Naruto's right. Bug Boy likes doing that on purpose." Zoro said as he returned to the task at hand. Recalling that he wanted a Fish-Man to question, he moved his hand away from his sword and jumped up to the ledge.
Below him was an Octopus Fish-Man holding a large roosting pig in several of his right hands, while his left hands held a large fishing pole. To his left was a large looking pot. What was that for? "Strange, where is he? Momo just LOVES roost pig! Did he already eat? Should I eat it?"
"What's with the trumpet?" Zoro asked casually. He startled the Fish-Man, almost making him drop the pig, but he did drop the fishing pole as it disappeared into the blue depths.
"Who are you? I'm Hatchan, but you can call me Hachi!"
"You're one of Arlong's crew?" Zoro asked, trying to recall if he had seen this guy earlier.
"Of course! I'm a cuddly Octopus Fish-Man!" Hachi looked at him puzzled. "But you look human! Are you a Marine? Or a guest?"
'A guest?' Zoro repeated to himself as he glanced behind him at the Fish-Men laying about the compound. "Um… yeah… you could say that. Arlong hired me for a job. You know where he is?"
Three of Hachi's hands came up, all of them shaking his pointer finger. "There's some Long Nose stranger running around. We've had many strangers today! Arlong went to Cocoyashi Village to deal with a pest, and that Long Nose attacked him! So Arlong's looking all over to capture him!"
Zoro felt his chest tighten. Must be Usopp. He wanted to go and settle Nami as soon as possible… but it sounded like Usopp was in real trouble right now. Plus, Shino seemed to have Nami covered. Making his decision, he said. "How do I get to Cocoyashi Village?"
Three hands pointed at a pot. "Get in." Hachi offered. "No charge, no cost, I'll take you right to him."
Taking his offer, Zoro jumped into the pot as Hachi opened his mouth to eat the roost pig, but stopped in mid action. "Want some, guest?" He asked, holding the roost pig right in Zoro's face.
"Um… no thanks."
XXXXXXX – Arlong Park, Fourth Floor.
"As Nami said," Shino said as he entered the floor, his swarm spreading out all over. "There really is no security here, even if Zoro hadn't cut down all here."
Nami had told him that Arlong was so certain no one would be stupid enough to attack him that he didn't need any security, a fallibility that they were going to exploit in their favor. Thanks to Zoro and Arlong's convenient errand, this was going to be far easier than the Aburame thought.
"Seems all that planning was for naught," Shino said, pushing up his glasses subconsciously before realizing what he was doing. Shaking away the memories, he removed his hand and began walking down the floor. There were only about six rooms here, each one for one of Arlong's top subordinates, but that wasn't his concern. There was only one destination he had.
Approaching the door, he gestured his hand. The insects crawled under the door and threw the cracks into the room, scouting it out. A second, there was a large buzzing sound, signaling that it was safe to enter. Opening the door, Shino wasn't a bit surprised to discover Arlong hadn't even bothered to lock it.
Entering the Sharkman's room, he saw his swarm was already at work around the safe at Arlong's far wall. Right where Nami had said it was.
"Now then," Shino stated walking over as the safe door swung open, revealing hordes amount of cash in there. "I believe Nami stated she only needed seven million."
XXXXXXX – In the East Blue
"SEA MONSTER!" Choji and Yosaku's voices filled the air, sweating like waterfalls alongside their trails of tears.
Luffy, Naruto, Sasuke and Sanji looked up at the large creature that had just appeared before them. It was a giant sea cow, about three stories high. He had green like spots all over his body, with cow-esque face and horns complete with a gold nose ring. On that ring was printed the name Momoo.
"LOOK AT ALL THAT BEEF!" Luffy cried out. That last one snapped Choji out of his hysterical state as he began imagining seven different types of meals one could make from this thing.
"A huge swimming cow!" Sanji said blowing out a puff of smoke. Narrowing his eye, he put a hand over his head to get a better look. "Or perhaps it's a hippo?"
"Who cares? Can we EAT it?" Naruto asked. "Bet you could make a mean dish of Ramen out of it! Be a once in a lifetime meal!" At that, he, Luffy and Choji all sighed happily at the thought, smacking their lips.
"Looks all fat, and not enough meat on it to me." Sasuke noted, leaning back on the deck.
Seeing the looks of uttered horror on the three's rejected faces, Sasuke quickly amended. "… or I could be wrong," He rolled his eyes. Bah, at this rate, they're going to turn me into one of them… He shook his head rapidly before his imagination pictured him acting the same way as them. NOT GOING THERE!
"That's a… monster… from the… Grand Line," Yosaku said, his eyes wide with horror. "What's a thing like that… doing here in the nice… peaceful… East Blue?"
That's when they noticed the giant sea cow had been leaning over their boat looking down at the half eaten meal on the table. "He's after our FOOD!" Yosaku screamed. He picked up two plates and prepared to hurl them right at the sea cow's opened mouth. "QUICK THROW HIM THE FOOD!"
"NEVER!" Following that declaration, Luffy punched Momoo right between the eyes. The sea cow's eyes shot wide open as it's holler echoed all over the seas. It practically backflipped on itself from the sheer force of the Straw Hat Captain's punch, kicking up a mini tidal wave as it crashed back on the blue sea.
"DON'T MESS WITH MY FOOD!" Luffy roared, pointing right at the dazed Momoo.
"YOU RULE LUFFY!" Naruto and Yosaku cheered together, both grinning and flashing victory signs, the latter completely flip-flopping on his fear from earlier.
Momoo cried out in rage as it turned back to face the small sailing vessel, showing off its many teeth. "It's coming back!" Choji shouted.
"Oh, oh, oh, let me do it this time!" Naruto shouted, crossing his fingers. "I'll knock that thing to kingdom – "
"Knock it off you idiots." Came Sanji's voice as he slammed his feet down on both Naruto and Luffy's heads. Both of them jerked downward in perfect mirror images. Still standing on their heads, Sanji held up a plate of food out towards Momoo.
"Yosaku had it right. It's just a hungry beast. And as a Cook, it's my duty to feed all that come my way. Man and beast alike." Sanji said, as he looked down on the two he stood on. "Understand?"
"Got it," they replied together. "Can you get off now?"
"You are insane." Yosaku muttered. Sasuke and Choji both gave several nods in agreement.
Ignoring them, Sanji held out the plate towards the sea cow, which had stopped in its tracks. It just looked at Sanji in several directions with a blank stare. Moving his arm around, Sanji indicated the plate once again. "Don't be scared, I won't hit you."
Taking the initiative, Momoo lunged at the blond chef, mouth open wide… which promptly Sanji to kick the sea cow squarely in the roof of the mouth.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Yosaku demanded as Momoo hit the ocean once again. "I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WEREN'T GOING TO HIT IT, DAMN JERK!"
"It was going to eat me with the plate, what could I do?"
Momoo was NOT happy as it roared out in range as it recovered and reached it's full height with the intent of body slamming it's large body right on the tiny boat. "Let's get it!" Naruto and Luffy shouted at once, only for Sanji to once again jump on their heads.
"Stand back, this is my show." Sanji announced, only for the two to utter 'do you always have to stand on our heads to show off?'
Bending his knees, Sanji backflipped off of the two, resulting in them colliding and bonking their heads against each other. Landing on the cabin roof of his small vessel, he ran up the cabin, and on to the ship's mast to gain height. Pushing his foot against the mast, he launched himself right at the Grand Line beast.
"Collier Coup!" Sanji cried out, kicking Momoo right in the throat.
This time, Momoo did completely backflip on itself, going a full 360 degrees in mid air before crashing back down in the East Blue's tranquil waters, kicking water in mini-typhoon in their direction. As the crew – the Devil Fruit members especially – took cover, they unfortunately forgot to save their food as they wave drenched it completely and carried off to the side.
"OUR MEAL!" All six of them shouted together as Momoo resurfaced, a huge goose egg on its head floating belly up. It looked completely out.
"SANJI!" Luffy and Choji cried out together as they pointed directly at the dazed sea cow. "TURN THAT PORKER INTO ROOST BEEF!"
As if the God of Irony deliberately wanted to mock them, Momoo snapped awake. Fear in its eyes, it turned around and began to bolt. Just as the cries of 'get it' were roaring out from the others, Luffy saw Naruto give a smug fox-like grin. "Hold that thought guys; I got a better idea!" the blond kid cried out into the open blue air over the sea, crossing his fingers. "Tajyuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"
Nearly a hundred Narutos sprang to life in an instant. As one they all began landing on each other's shoulders, forming a large human chain. The base Naruto landed back on the boat, using chakra to glue himself to it for a firm foundation. He then threw his bodyweight forward. Like a giant whip, the human naruto chain lashed out forward at the speeding giant sea creature. The end of the naruto chain grabbed tightly at the back of Momoo's neck.
Holding on tightly to each other as they lost the last of the slack, Momoo began pulling the boat as the Narutos' hung tightly. "Heh heh. Now we'll get there in record time!" All one hundred Naruto's said together. This alerted Momoo to what was happening making it bug eye out in horror as it increased speed. "Atta boy!"
"Nice move Naruto!" Choji cheered, clapping over his head.
"Have to admit, not a bad thought." Sasuke admitted even allowing a small smirk on his face.
"COOL!" Luffy yelled happily as he whipped his own arms back. "I like your style!" he shot both of his arms out and grabbed ahold of Momoo's horns. "I always wanted to drive an Ox!"
"It's a cow." Yosaku said.
"It's a hippo." Sanji said at the same moment. Everyone just kind of stared at each other as a result before promptly starting to bicker which species the Grand Line creature was.
Momoo continued blitzing through the sea, the only thing on its own mind was to get away from these crazy lunatics as fast as possible! Racing through the sea, Sanji would occasionally tell Luffy to either pull back on one of Momoo's horns to make it change another direction.
As it turned out, they didn't have to redirect Momoo as much as anyone expected because it was heading right toward the main island in the Konami Archipelago. "That must be the place!" Sanji said, cupping his hand over his eye. "I can see a large compound like structure in the distance. You can slow the hippo down now."
"You got it!" Luffy and Naruto cried out together. They both pulled back. "Slow down boy!"
The only thing going through Momoo's mind was Crazy Lunatics + Hungry + Stopping = Momoo Steak Dinners.
Shockingly Momoo did not like the idea of slowing down and instead speed up even faster.
"HEY! WHOA! SLOW DOWN THERE!"
"STOP! YOU DID GOOD!"
"GOOD JOB THERE DOGGY!"
"IT'S A COW!"
"HIPPO!"
"IT'S AN OX!"
"WHATEVER IT'S NOT A DOG! NOW STOP THIS THING!"
"WHY?"
"BECAUSE WE'RE ABOUT TO CRASH!"
"OH, LAND ALREADY? HOLY CRAP, LAND ALREADY, STOP PIG!"
"STOP CALLING IT WRONG ANIMAL NAMES!"
"FINE, STOP LUNCH!"
"YOU IDIOT! IT'S GOING FASTER!"
"YOU SAID TO STOP CALLING IT ANIMAL NAMES!"
"CALLING IT A MEAL ISN'T HELPING!"
"WELL WE WERE THINKING ABOUT-!"
"DON'T AGREE WITH HIM, MORON!"
"WHO YOU CALLING A MORON?"
"JUST LET GO OF IT, YOU TWO KNUCKLEHEADS!"
"WHICH ONE'S THE REAL NARUTO?"
"THE ONE YOU JUST STEPPED ON!"
"LAND!"
"OH…"
That's when Momoo dived into the sea, heading for its little den. The quick whiplash motion combined with Naruto and Luffy's instant release on the cow gave the boat one last burst forward. Sanji's boat smacked right into the island, completely decimating the front half of the vessel and swiftly launching the six passengers like a catapult into the air, with a rounding chorus of 'CRAP!'
"Well that's one way to travel!" Luffy said happily, cupping his hand over his eyes to look at the horizon.
"You… are insane." Sanji said, flying about six feet to Luffy's left.
"I agree with the cook." Sasuke added. He was about eight feet over the group.
Naruto put on a laugh, soaring through right next to Luffy. "Ah, don't be such downers… this is COOL!"
"SOMEONE GET ME DOWN!" Choji hollered right under Luffy, going green in the face. "LIONS AREN'T MEANT FOR…" That's when Choji lost the contents of his lunch.
"ARGH!" Yosaku, the unfortunate one downwind of the plump Akimichi, yelled.
"No sense in complaining." Luffy declared, loving every minute of this. "Time to split up and search for Nami and the others!"
"You got it Rubber Man!" Naruto replied with a quick salute. Reposition themselves in mid air, they braced their feet together. "You go east and I'll go west."
"Mixed them up, loser." Sasuke pointed out. Neither one heard them because Luffy shouted. "GOT IT" as they shoved themselves apart, flying in opposite directions over the island.
"Oh, brother," Sasuke uttered as he started descended to the land. And that's when he realized Choji was right behind him, his face even greener as he prepared to 'unloaded' again. "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Sasuke roared, grabbing the boy by the collar and throwing him in the opposite direction.
The Uchiha came down right at the trees. Channeling chakra to his feet, he recoiled off the first one he had, then jumped from tree to tree in rapid succession, hoping to control his speed.
Sanji had a similar idea. Spinning around in mid air to build up momentum, he slammed his foot down on the nearest tree top, letting the entire tree absorb the impact as he regained his bearings. Shifting his over foot for balance, it was an easy descent down, landing close to Sasuke.
As for Yosaku he just managed to clear Choji's… leftovers… off his face. The good news was that he landed in a large bush that broke his fall, leaving him relatively unharmed. The bad news was that it was right on an anthill…
Naruto was heading down towards an open clearing, so he created twenty clones to cushion his fall. It worked for the most part but he still went rolling across the ground, plowing right into one of their friends.
The Akimichi crewmember activated his meat tank technique, bouncing up and down like a rubber ball as he hit a dirt road. Shifting to lion in midair, he extracted all his claws and brought himself to a screeching stop.
"Oh, sweet land!" Choji cried out as waterfalls of joyous tears flooded from his eyes. Going back to full human, he kissed the ground several times. "Oh… wonderful LAND… let us never be separated again! For the worst is over!"
And that's when Luffy landed straight on his back, making the poor boy scream out in pain.
"Perfect Landing!" Luffy yelled as he threw his arms up in the air in delight. "Even landed on something soft!" And completely oblivions on just who he landed on.
XXXXXXX – Arlong Park, a few minutes prior.
"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?"
The rage in Arlong's voice seemed to shake the entire Konami Archipelago, nearly deafening his returning crew from the outrageous volume. In fact, it did deafen Pisaro in his right ear.
Arlong's spectacle also happened to drown out the shrilling cries of a certain human pirate crew from behind.
The Shark Fish-Men was currently kneeling down by Take, his party commander. When a low moan had escaped from the carp Fish-Man's mouth, Arlong immediately ran to his crewmen's side. With an air of desperation in his voice, he held the other Fish-Man in his arms telling him to hang on while others went to find some medical supplies. It was a moment that reminded the others a key reason why they followed the Fish-Man. That while Arlong considered humans lower than dirt and didn't give a crap about them, he was capable of compassion and sympathy to his own kind, never once harming another Fish-Man. Even those that disobeyed or failed.
Take only had time to mention one word before the end, prompting Kuroobi to enter the compund. That word was 'Zoro'. So when Take passed away in Arlong's arms just as the others came with the medical supplies, he let a second scream of rage. Sympathy or not, Arlong was not one to cry. Anger was a far more acceptable reaction to him.
Seconds later, Kuroobi came back and confirmed that the swordsmen they had confined earlier was gone. The remainder of Arlong's men began speculating amongst themselves. A few thought that the Hyuga girl might had freed him but it was almost immediately discarded since the girl lacked the backbone shared by the rest of her clan. Now that they knew the swordsmen they had captured was in fact the well known bounty hunter, the most popular theory was that Zoro had some hidden blade on his person that allowed him to escape.
In a way, it was a very cunning plan. By coming with only one visible sword, he hid his most recognizable trait. Combine that with him being tied up on that boat, and it would cast the illusion that he was some weakling, which had been leading factors to not give a full body search on the man.
Still… Arlong dispatched Kuroobi to check on the Hyuga girl just in case she had been involved. It was highly unlikely… but not impossible. And if she was… then blood was going to be demanded from the Hyuga.
That's when they got their only source of good news. Chu had returned… with the long nose sharpshooter, Usopp, from earlier with immediate suggestions to cut the fool's throat.
"Oh Arlong." Came another voice. They all looked at the water gate, seeing Orochimaru walking over. The sight of him made Usopp stop breathing from fear, his voice locked in his throat. "Why do you persist in pointless theories and dismiss the most obvious one? That your precious navigator was behind it all."
"Nami's behavior has been strange." A Fish-Man offered.
"And she did save the swordsman from drowning. Why do that if they weren't in on this together?" Another added.
The more they thought about it, the more it made sense. They all looked at Arlong expecting him to back this, but the Captain had just crossed his arms and looked at the snake.
"And what about you?" Arlong demanded.
"Me?" Orochimaru repeated, that sly grin of his here.
"If you've been close by, then you must had seen what was going on." Arlong pointed out as he narrowed his eyes. "So why didn't you do anything?"
That grin stayed on his face. "You distrust me?" Orochimaru shook his head. "How unbecoming of you. Perhaps you're just too proud to admit your own flaws in your grand crew."
"The only flaw in all of this." They all turned their heads to see Nami walked into the compound. She made no reaction to the slaughter around them. The sight of her seemed to give Usopp back his second wind. "Is thinking I would be involved. Why would I do this?"
She gestured her arm to emphasis her tattoo. "I sealed my loyalty with this tattoo eight years ago! I've almost got the agreed upon amount so why would I mess things up now?" She shot a finger right at Orochimaru. "It's far more likely that YOU did this because Arlong hadn't signed on with your little alliance."
"Nothing about me is little Nami-chan." Orochimaru replied.
The Fish-Men's heads jerked back and forth between the two. Which was responsible?
Finally Arlong gave a dry laugh. "Forgive me Nami. No one is doubting you, we just got a bit excited from… this." He glanced at the dead around them.
He looked to the side and gave a nod. Chu then shoved Usopp right into Arlong's waiting grasp, letting him come into Nami's view for the first time. The sight of him made Nami give a small flinch of surprise.
"So let's clear things up with Zoro's accomplice." Arlong suggested, turning his heard around so the tip of his nose touched Usopp's neck.
"W-wait! HELP ME!"
"Yes, Nami, by all means, help him." Orochimaru taunted.
"You aren't off the hook yet." Arlong warned. Orochimaru made no comment. He seemed way too confident for some reason.
Deciding to deal with the pest first, the Sharkman reached behind him and pulled out a small dagger, holding it right in front of Usopp's eyes, which made the young man pale further. He had noticed Nami's reaction – brief as it was – when he appeared in her eyesight. For a moment, he began wondering if Orochimaru was right. Nami clearly recognized this troublemaker, and she had the opportunity. Arlong just didn't believe she would risk everything at this stage for it. Not wanting to acknowledge Orochimaru being right was an additional reason.
So Arlong turned his attention back to Usopp. "The bounty on my head is one of the highest in the East Blue. Surpassed only by one other now that the fat Akimichi is dead." 'But that would change soon enough' Arlong thought to himself, toying with the dagger at Usopp's head. "Twenty million would tempt any bounty hunter in these weak waters." Pressing that dagger forward, he continued. "So where is Roronoa Zoro hiding? SOMEONE is going to pay for what happened here."
"I don't know! I don't have anything to do with Zoro, HELP!"
"So you're volunteering to pay for this?"
Usopp, if possible, paled even further. "Zoro is MY FRIEND! Touch me and you'll be sorry! He'll do to you what he did to the others!"
"Impressive flipflop." Several of the Fish-Men uttered.
Arlong didn't lower the dagger. "So if I kill you, Zoro will come?"
"HUH? No! NO! You SHOULDN'T kill me! If you keep me alive, THEN Zoro will come back to save me! In fact if you kill me, he'll NEVER show up!" Usopp shot a frantic look at the navigator. "Come on, Nami, tell them I'm more valuable ALIVE!"
"Yes, Nami, by all means," Orochimaru spoke up. "Tell us all how valuable this long nose suck up is."
Arlong gritted his teeth, seeing how Orochimaru was still trying to play up that all this was somehow his fault as the man continued. "One that crafts betrayal and treachery as strong suits can hardly blame themselves for when it back fires on them."
Usopp, using the opportunity to break out of Arlong's grip stepped forward towards Nami, taking her silence and inaction for indifference. "You disgust me, Nami! You really ARE a horrible witch! Even after you fled, Luffy still believed in you! He trusts you completely, even now! HOW CAN YOU DECEIVE A GUY LIKE THAT?"
Nami crossed her arms. "The only thing I believe in is money. Luffy's the dumbass to trust me so easily."
That's when a figure jumped out of the sea, drawling all of their eyes as Hachi as he landed. Two of his arms waved, two of his arms were crossed and the last two were giving thumb's up. "Lord Arlong! Welcome back!" He gestured his arms outwards. "As you can see, everything is…" He trailed off finally seeing all the slaughter around him.
"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?"
Arlong sneered. "This is the work of Zoro, the Pirate Hunter. Now where have YOU been, Hachi? You would have been able to stop him."
Six fists shook furiously in the air. "That's right! I'd never let anyone kill my fellows!"
"But you were here just fishing, were you not?" Orochimaru pressed, looking directly at the Octopus-Man. "Are you sure you didn't see anyone?"
"Of course not! All I saw was Arlong's guest!"
A certain chill went down all the Fish-Men's spines. "Guest…?" Out of the corner of his eye, Arlong saw Kuroobi coming back up, and gave a slight shake of the head. He was convinced the girl knew nothing as Hachi continued, describing the swordsman to the others.
"THAT WAS HIM!"
"WHAT?"
"HACHI, YOU IDIOT!"
Arlong snapped a look back at Orochimaru, who still held that perfect smirk on his ugly face. So that was it! The snake KNEW Hachi had been here and towed him away! He had deliberately played up the angles knowing full well Hachi had royally screwed up. Now Arlong was the one looking bad at his supposed ally… and he HATED that feeling!
'Perhaps it is time to end this deal after all,' The sharkman thought to himself. He had been very careful with the snake during these past few years, always talking about angles and possibilities, and avoiding fully committing or making promises.
After all, he would never break a promise. Smirking to himself, he glanced out of the corner of his eye to his navigator.
Turning his attention back to his idiot crewmate, he demanded to know where Hachi had towed Zoro. Turned out it was to Cocoyashi Village and the fool swordsman was looking for him! "So they'll be no need to look for him," Arlong said, his mood improving over this. "Because he'll come to me."
Orochimaru gave a nod before glancing off to the side himself and offering a small smirk that confused Arlong. What else was the snake man hiding?
Being momentarily forgotten, Usopp was carefully reaching for his pouch, ready to use a Smoke Star to make his grand escape. Seeing this, Nami pounced on him, assembling her staff in a flash and striking him across the face. Everyone looked on as Usopp skidded across the deck. "Nami, you jerk! So you want to fight? I'm not so weak I'll lose to a girl!"
"That's fine," came her response as she shouldered her staff. "Because I'm not going to fight you."
Walking over, she plucked the dagger from Arlong's grasp with her free hand. "You're in my way, and you attacked Arlong. It was my mistake that brought you here. Everything was going smoothly until you guys shoved your noses – "
"HEY!" The long nose Straw Hat member protested.
" - where you weren't wanted." Nami continued as if he had said nothing. "And I won't let you ruin eight years of hard work."
She turned towards Usopp and pointed the dagger right at his heart. "So I'm going to eliminate you."
"Hmm… she's become quite practical," Arlong stated, approvingly. The others were already cheering for Nami to kill the long nose human.
Usopp made the first move taking out several of his stars from his pouch. "Death Blow…" He said dramatically loading his slingshot towards Nami. The words made everyone put up their guards.
"SMOKE STARS!" Usopp finished, aiming at the ground. Smoke burst to life flooding the entire area. The Fish-Men were already scrambling to make their captive wouldn't escape. Under the cover of the smoke, he was making his way to the pool for his gateway.
Unfortunately for him, Nami was well aware of this. Right as Usopp was about to dive, she smacked him across the face with her staff. The young man was dazed from the blow as he stumbled backwards, Arlong's crew already dealing with the smoke.
And that's when Nami made her move. Capitalizing on Usopp's disorientated state; she dashed forward, placed both hands on the dagger and struck.
The weapon found flesh.
When the smoke finally cleared, everyone saw Nami crouched under Usopp's outstretched out with his last feat with his slingshot. Blood was covered all over his stomach and bled on to Nami's hands as well. Usopp was barely able to speak anything as Nami pulled back. "Die quietly now." She ordered.
As if obeying, Usopp crumbled to the ground. Praises came from the Fish-Men, while Arlong let out a haughty laugh. "And you wanted to doubt her loyalty?" He shot at Orochimaru.
The man just gave a shrug. "Loyalty is a rare thing to find on these waters." He conceded as Nami kicked Usopp into the pond. "One must always be on the lookout for it."
XXXXXXX – Arlong Park perimeter wall.
"I don't believe it!" Johnny said to his companion. Tears were flooding out rapidly due to what the duo had just witnessed. "She killed him! Just like that! In cold blood!"
The other companion had wanted to jump in the second they had arrived and found Usopp in trouble. Johnny had beckoned him to wait, knowing they couldn't take out all of Arlong Park, plus Nami still might be able to help. It was only due to this and a certain memory that the companion decided to heed this advice.
Shino shook his head. "Your attention span is incredibly short, much shorter than it should be. What, did you plan just to rush in there, beat everyone up and rescue the 'damsel in distress?'
"…Pretty much. You just left out the hero's kiss." Naruto replied and instantly went off daydreaming about doing all the heroic stuff until Shino spoke again. "While your goals are honorable, running into the situation without learning all the facts will only land both you and Sakura into vast trouble."
Now Naruto was THROUGH waiting! He KNEW he should have acted when he had the chance! 'Sometimes, SHINO, there are times when you need to be RECKLESS!'
That's when Orochimaru looked right at the two once again, that same all knowing smirk back, making Johnny piss himself. HE KNOWS! "By all means, join us."
"BROTHER, WAIT!" Johnny called out as Naruto took the offer. All of Arlong Park turned to see the blond orange clad ninja somersault through the air and landing right at the compound. Nami looked rather pale at the sight of another of the crew having witnessed her deed.
"NAMI!" Naruto shouted with absolute rage. The aura he was giving off was enough to make even Arlong nervous. He ran forward at the young woman ready to avenge Usopp when Orochimaru appeared before him as if by magic.
"Now, now," Orochimaru said, his tongue dancing as he spoke. "If you want to play, Naruto-kun, I'll be the one to oblige you. After all, we haven't seen each other in years."
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"
That smile burst wide. "You really don't remember? For shame, for I remember you." Orochimaru reared his head back, looking Naruto in the eye and laughed. "Kukukukuku!"
Naruto froze.
Kukukukuku!
KUKUKUKUKU!
IT WAS THE SAME LAUGH!
"IT WAS YOU!" Naruto roared, scaring the Fish-Men even further. "YOU TOOK IRUKA AWAY!"
"By all means," Orochimaru taunted. "DO something about it. Show me how you've grown since that night seven years ago."
XXXXXXX – End of Chapter 36
Anyone see THAT coming? Heh heh. Hope you all remember the events from Chapter 2. Has been a long time, but the payoff to it has FINALLY come about. In addition to all the events with Shino, Zoro, Luffy's group and Nami. Not to mention it seems someone has a secret. Several someones, truth be told. Chapter's a bit longer as a result and took a bit longer to produce, but do know that I am still continuing this and I hope the wait was worth it.
Have to admit, there are times I really wish I had some artistic ability. Some moments like the Fish-Men's collective reaction or Naruto's reaction to Orochimaru really can't do justice with just words alone. The image of these things really help sell such moments.
Until next time!
Collier Coup (Korie Shuto): Sanji jumps high into the air and lands a powerful kick to the opponent's neck. Canon Technique.
Nami's Ultimate Idiot Competition – Luffy: 49, Naruto: 58. Currently on hold due to Nami's departure.
May the Kage Bunshin and Gomu Gomu no Bazooka be with you!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto. They belong to their respective owners: Eiichiro Oda and Masashi Kishimoto. Big thanks to Zoneshifter D for beta-reading this!