I had to delete the chapter and repost it with breaks becuase the spacing was wrong. I hope it reads better this time.

Chapter 3: He Was The Hunter

Roanoa Zoro sighed as he perused the vacant stretch of beach before him.

"When I become the greatest swordsman in the world, I'm gonna kill Luffy." Zoro spoke to himself.

It was, after all, Luffy's desire to find a musician to join the crew that enabled Zoro to be standing on an island all alone in the Grand Line. Granted, people would have to be ten kinds of stupid to challenge a man such as Zoro, not that Zoro minded a challenge, but it still was not what he wanted to be doing.

He was a warrior, a master swordsman, and he had an oath to fulfill. He was to be the greatest swordsman in the world, and he was going to do it with Kuina's sword. He was not, however, a delivery boy to be sent to find someone to entertain Luffy. Never the less, here he stood. Luffy was his Captain, his Nakama, and Zoro was his first mate. It was his duty to his friends to do as Luffy asked.

He had volunteered to go alone to Forrest Creek. Though he may not have been fond of the mission, he was fond of the idea of a vacation from his crew. They were his family now, and he loved each of them, even the ass-hole cook, but everyone needs a break every now and then. Especially Zoro, he had a lot to come to terms with.

He was the hunter. The Hunter. Roanoa Zoro, the bounty hunter who used bandit sailors as practice and payment to further his own twisted desires. Now, he was one of them. Not only that, he himself now had a bounty on his head, but was it worth it?

He had made an oath to Kuina the night before she died. One of them was to become the best. One of them would defeat all other swordsmen until only one remained. The other, of course, would be second best. But she died. She fell down the stairs while going to sharpen her blade, Wadou Ichimonji. Zoro now had to be the best, for her.

Now, he was a pirate, a noble pirate if there were such a thing, but a pirate nonetheless. He got to fight more tough rouges than he ever would have on his own. He stood up against Hawkeyes Mihawk and lost, but lived. He trained harder and longer than ever before…but still, his heart ached.

He loved his Nakama; there was no doubt in that. But he missed her… Kuina. He missed having that one person in his life that was his driving force. She was his rival, and his friend. They were just children when she died, but he felt the pain of loss to this day. His Nakama were his family, but there wasn't that one person…that person that was only his…only his friend, or even his rival. They were all one big happy bunch…but through all of that, Zoro found himself lonely.

So he isolated himself. He knew he didn't have to, but he did. Luffy loved everyone, and everyone loved Luffy. Sanji loved Nami, and Usopp and Chopper had each other. As for Robin…he still didn't quite know how to handle her. He trusted her more now, but he just didn't know her. He was alone, even if it was by his own making.

Zoro was too lost in his thoughts and hadn't realized he had been walking through his musings until he came to an abandoned boat on the shore. He shook his melancholy thoughts from his head in favor of being aware of his surroundings.

The boat was covered with drying sand, but the bright blue emblem painted on the side was still painfully evident. It was a navy escape boat. The hunter kicked in as Zoro scanned for the boat for information. It looked like it hadn't been attended to in days, but no longer than that. It meant that there was possibly a naval officer roaming this island, and he had to be careful. He searched the beach, but any signs of footprints had been blown away in the sand. His eyes went to the forest line, and if he hadn't have known what to look for, he would have missed it. There was a small path, freshly cut down, just beyond the berry bushes.

She could have kicked herself for believing deserting the navy would be easy. A missing Sergeant Major was a huge uproar, especially when there were rumors flying about how exactly Captain Smoker's favorite marine disappeared. Smoker must have realized she was missing long before Tashigi had expected. Posters with her face, description, and reward were posted in the windows of every business. She suspected that it was the same on similar Islands. Apparently, word travels fast.

Tashigi stopped to examine a poster hastily hung in the window of a dress shop. Her real face stared back at her, with a 1,00,000 beli reward plastered above her head. It was then that she realized her grave oversight. Tashigi was listed to have two highly noticeable characteristics, her red, square glasses, and her sword, Shigure. The poster read that anyone in possession of items fitting this description was to be brought to the Naval base on Autumn Haven for questioning.

Tashigi gritted her teeth. Smoker knew her too well. He knew that she couldn't see without her glasses, and that she would rather die than give up her sword. As long as she possessed these items, she was a sitting duck. She needed a safe place to hide.

Walking as casually as possible, Tashigi turned back to the dirt road that ran along the forest edge. She needed to get away from all these people before someone took notice of the rather distinctive sword on her hip. Unfortunately for Tashigi, she was never able to do anything, especially walking, casually. Before she knew she was falling, Tashigi was smashing into the ground, tangled in her own feet.

"All right there, girly?" Came a gruff voice from a shop door.

Tashigi looked up to see a rough looking man staring at her from his one good eye. He stood in the doorway of a shop that Tashigi immediately recognized. It was the town weaponry. Just her luck.

The man let his eye sweep to the sword on her hip and back up to her face. Tashigi had never felt so small as she did being examined by this man. He obviously knew whom she was, because he inclined his head into his shop, holding the door open so that she may enter.

"If I were you, Darlin', I'd get your sweet arse out of that street before someone gets a good look at ya." The man suggested, his dark, fuzzy eyebrow lifted high above his now glittering black eye.

Reluctantly, Tashigi got to her feet and followed. The weaponry was small, but not insufficient. It had a certain charm to it that only a true warrior could appreciate. The walls had been white washed and were adorned with battle-axes, swords, staffs, and, and guns. Low level shelved were stocked with ammunition, sharpening stones, polishing cloths, and oils. All of the high quality swords were displayed behind the clerk's desk.

The man watched Tashigi as she took in her surroundings. Most of the women who entered his shop read like a book. Most of his female clientele were actually picking up a small item for someone else. They walked into the shop and seemed to shrink, allowing the shop to swallow them up, afraid that the weapons could somehow hurt them with no one wielding them. The other women were rouges; Tough girls trying to look more tough by proving they weren't afraid. This girl who stood before him now, she was neither.

She didn't come into his shop and come straight to the desk, afraid to touch anything lest it taint them. Nor did she barge in, demanding the roughest, toughest blade in the place. This girl, this girl he was certain knew something about that missing marine, took in every inch of his shop like a child in a toy store.

"Pardon me, miss, but I haven't introduced myself. I'm Duke, Forest Creek's weaponry merchant." The man gave a flourished bow as he spoke, waggling his fuzzy eyebrows. Tashigi was momentarily distracted as she thought they looked like black caterpillars crawling on his forehead.

"Hello…I'm, uh…Utomi Katarina." Tashigi gave a weak smile, trying not to look at his eyebrows or the shabby eye patch covering his left eye. Inwardly, she berated herself for stuttering. She needed to be quicker if she was to be believable. It was bad enough that she was winging it, let alone that she couldn't come up with a simple name when distracted.

"Well, then, Katarina, mind you tell me why ya got that missin girl's sword on yer hip?" Duke chuckled as he watched the horror spread across the girl's face. Lucky for her, he was in no position to turn anyone in to the marine's.

Truth be told, he was a pirate, at least, he was. Dark-Eye Duke had been a wanted man for years, but he managed to give the navy the slip when he happened upon Forest Creek. He settled on the island, and had enjoyed anonymity ever since. He wasn't about to risk that for a measly 1,000,000-beli reward.

"Relax, sweet thing. I ain't turnin' no one in. Rewards not worth the trouble. Seems to me though, if ya don't start actin' a bit smarter, them marine's ain't gonna have trouble findin' your pretty little behind."

Tashigi was flabbergasted. She had been in town all of five minutes before a decrepit, one-eyed old man had linked her to her real self. She needed to hide out until she could think of a better plan. Or, she needed to face the music and head to Autumn Haven. The thought of facing her failings turned her stomach…she wasn't quite ready for that.

Duke watched the girl that called herself Katarina from the corner of his good eye. He continued to polish the dagger in his hand, waiting for her response. She obviously knew what he was talking about, and the truth was, he didn't really care if she did do in a marine and steel her sword. The only part that didn't fit was the glasses. Why on earth would the girl be wearing the marine's glasses?

"If yer eyesight be that bad, darlin', ya might be wantin to ditch that girl's glasses and get ya a new pair. Draws attention…"

"I don't know what you're talking about…Duke…I just happen to have a sword that looks like hers and the same glasses. I didn't do anything to her. I'm innocent." Tashigi stood rod stiff, her cheeks coloring as she tried her best to look angered by the merchants words instead of merely uncomfortable.

"Well, all the same, with a missin' marine, ya might want to ditch the sword and get new glasses. Just to be safe, of course." Duke winked at her as he put the now polished dagger in its display case.

Tashigi thought over his words. Glasses she could do no problem. But her sword was a part of her. There was no way she could get rid of it. She just had to lay low until she could get her own ship…her heart sank. Getting a ship of her own meant years of saving. She had no access to her savings back in Louge Town, and only 10,000 beli in her pocket. She needed help.

"Duke…I'm in need of your services." Tashigi began, forcing her voice to be strong.

"I need to disguise my sword's hilt, but I don't want to permanently alter it. It would change the whole balance of the blade…can you do it?" Tashigi asked, thankful she kept her voice strong.

"Hmmm…I could always change the leather for ya. Wouldna change the balance much…maybe adds something to the sheath so ya can't see the hilt as much…I could do it. My price is 30,000 beli for a job like that." Duke said, scratching his scruffy chin with his worked fingers.

"30,000 beli! That's a rip off! I could do it for half that if I had the tools. Less even!"

"Alright, girly, I like ya…how much ya got? Ya still need new glasses and provisions I assume…we'll make a deal." Duke said, his good eye twinkling at the fury he saw in this little girl.

"I can afford 7,000 beli. No more." Tashigi said, irritated at the smug look on Duke's face.

"Well, the way I see it, that be less than a quarter of me askin price. So, either I do a quarter of the job…or ya find a way ta pay me. Give me the 7,000 up front. That'll pay for the tools ya be needin to fix up that sword. Ya can use the back o the shop."

"Deal."

The path was ruined. It was obvious that someone, probably that marine, had entered the forest, but the path had been used by wild game since then. It looked as though a heard of wild deer had trampled it while feasting on the raspberry's along the path. Braches were broken in every direction, and the heard seemed to have bedded down and erased any traces of footprints. To top it off, Zoro had a lousy sense of direction, and before he knew it, he was lost.

Sighing in defeat, the swordsman closed his eyes and raised his sword out in front of him. Concentrating on Wadou's spirit, he let the sword guide him. Feeling the blade fall heavy to his left, he pointed his boots in that direction and started walking. Kuina had never steered him wrong before. Today, he would let her guide him

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. Don't worry, Zoro and Tashigi will meet soon! We'll also find out what happened with Smoker. For those of you concerned, just trust me. We'll find out why he was so ooc. Try not to flame me too badly about that until you get to the end. If you still feel badly about smoker at the final chapter…flame away!

Everything has a reason, and those reasons will help Zoro and Tashigi find their true paths in life. TRUST ME;)