Yo. Somewhat good news, in about a month or so classes end and I'll have much more time available for writing. I managed to get this done and I'm aiming to get a chapter of Reality Mage done next. Hopefully you guys enjoy it. If you wanna see what's going on with me and chat with other writers and readers alike, join our discord community and have some fun.
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"We're really going to Dressrosa dressed like this?" Naruto commented in a disbelieving tone. The two Heart Pirates had ditched the coats they donned on Punk Hazard in exchange for something more suited to the warm weather. The blond had a pair of black pants on along with a short sleeved maroon button down shirt. That part of the outfit wasn't bad, in fact he quite liked the look.
No. The problem was the two items that had been placed in his hand. He'd been handed a fake mustache as well as a pair of black glasses that was meant to disguise them when they entered the island.
"What's wrong? You don't like it?" Luffy asked, oblivious to the problem. "Wanna switch?"
"No. I mean how does this help us? Law you have a giant heart tattoo exposed on your chest." He said, pointing the sheath of his blade in his captain's direction before turning to the captain of the ship they were on. "Straw Hat. You have your straw hat that's easily recognizable."
At this point Kin'emon made his way over and shook his head rapidly. "No, no, Naruto-dono. I made those items myself, believe me, we will be unrecognizable."
Law nodded, as did everyone else, causing him to shake his head. It was clear they wouldn't listen to him. Stuffing the two items into his pocket he got closer to the group in order to listen to Law outline the plan. He was curious as to how they would go about roaming Doflamingo's territory.
The Heart Pirate's captain went on to explain how they would be negotiating Caesar's return to Doflamingo at Green Bit which was a small island near Dressrosa. Before he was able to continue however, the Straw Hat's cook interrupted.
"So we're handing the clown over just like that? After all the trouble we went through?" He asked. There was no malice in his voice but rather genuine curiosity.
Naruto waved his hand in front of his face to fan the smoke away from him and turned to Law.
"Of course not." The tattooed man replied easily. "Before we left Punk Hazard I let Smoker know where we would be doing this little exchange."
Robin, who had been listening silently with her arms crossed was the next to pitch in having pieced things together. "You forced him to relinquish his status as a Shichibukai so the marines have full authority to arrest him now. You told Smoker where you'd be in hopes that he and the Marines show up to get him."
"That's what I'm counting on." Law responded.
"We should still be prepared for anything. The papers said he's resigned but the man is crafty and won't be taken down easily. He only just made it out alive at Marineford, we'll be sure to finish the job this time." Naruto added.
Law nodded in agreement. "If the Marines don't get him for whatever reason then we will." He replied, emphasizing the word 'we'. Naruto still didn't know what the story between his captain and Doflamingo was but it didn't matter. All he knew was that he wanted him either locked up or dead and they would make it happen.
"Anyway, delivering Caesar is just a part of the plan. The other part is to find and destroy the factory on the island. Destroying the SAD room in Punk Hazard was only step one, they still have a large amount to continue making SMILE's. In order for our plan to succeed we need to destroy the factory here as well.
We'll break up into three groups when we arrive. Straw Hat, Zoro, Black leg, Kin'emon, and Franky, the five of you head into town and try to find out where the factory could be. I doubt it'll be in plain sight so be observant."
The five men nodded in understanding. Law turned his attention to Nami and continued. "Nami, Brook, Momonosuke, and the racoon will stay here and protect the ship while we're gone." The aforementioned people also nodded, with the exception of Chopper who began yelling that he was not a racoon.
"The last group will consist of Ussop, Nico, and myself to go deliver Caesar."
"What do you want me to do?" Naruto asked, having noticed he hadn't been included in the groups.
"Dressrosa is Doflamingo's kingdom, which means his entire family is here." Everyone noticed a dark look quickly pass over the man's face before it disappeared. "I need you to find out who's running what and where they stay, how many people they command, everything. If we know who to look out for, our chances of taking Doflamingo down will increase. I'm hoping this takes us no longer than a week at most."
"Didn't you want the Marines to take him?" Nami asked.
"I do." Law replied. "However, things never go smoothly when it comes to that man. Even if the Marines do their part the rest of his family would still need to be taken care of. Having this information makes it easier in the event of any outcome."
Naruto smirked. "Sure thing."
With the plan laid out everyone went back to whatever it is they were doing before. Naruto stood near the front of the ship for the next few hours, mentally going over how the next battle with Doflamingo would go. He didn't believe for a moment that the man would be at the same level of strength he was at Marineford. After his close call he expected him to be stronger.
That wouldn't be too much of a problem though, he and Law were also stronger, much stronger than they were two years ago. Both had new techniques up their sleeves and while he was sure he'd be able to kill the man by himself, it seemed only right for his captain to get his revenge on the man.
His thoughts were broken as he saw large brown rocks in the distance, getting larger as they approached.
"We're here." Law said as he stood next to him. His eyes were sharp and focused, more than they'd been during any other island they'd visited. "Dock the ship somewhere it'll be partially hidden and get ready." He ordered.
Naruto sighed, shook his head and put the glasses and fake mustache on. The ship eventually came to a stop and very quickly before disembarking, Law went over the plan once more. Naruto saw only a handful of them paying attention and knew the man was wasting his time but he wouldn't say anything. If there was one thing he learned in his short time with the Straw Hat's it was that they had very selective hearing.
Naruto stood on the railing of the ship and jumped down as soon as Law finished talking. Those who would be making their way on the island followed suit, with Luffy blasting past him in the blink of an eye.
"I give it less than a day before he disregards the plan." Naruto muttered to himself.
"You're being generous. Give him an hour at most." Sanji commented, taking a pull of his cigarette as he walked past him.
The blond hoped he would follow up with a 'just kidding' but he never did. As much as he hoped things would go smoothly, something told him the exact opposite would happen. Looking over he saw his fellow mustache'd captain handing something to the Straw Hat's navigator before jumping down with Nico Robin and walking alongside him.
"What was that?" He asked.
"A Vivre card to Zou. On the off chance that something goes completely wrong I instructed them to head there while we handle things here." Law replied.
"A pretty good idea. It wouldn't do to have all of us killed." Robin said in a cheery voice with a smile to match.
The blond didn't know how she could say that with such a cheery tone and simply wrote it off as a side effect of being a Straw Hat. "Right. I'll go ahead and start looking around. Give me a call if there's trouble." He said before separating at a junction and catching up with the big three of the Straw Hat crew. Upon entering the town, a few things caught his attention.
First was the town itself, he could hear music playing loudly and people all around enjoying themselves. Second was the nice architecture of the buildings themselves, they had a strange but not unappealing look to them. In fact he quite liked the look. The buildings were colorful and some even had strings with different colored decorations that added to the aesthetic of it all. While the man was a piece of shit at least Doflamingo had good taste if he chose to base here.
As he walked down the bustling streets of Dressrosa he couldn't help but let his mind wander just a bit. 'Maybe after Doflamingo has been taken care of I can have a house built here.' He thought to himself as he moved aside to let...a small robot pass him by.
That was the last and biggest thing that had garnered his attention. There were toys all over from what he could see. Some interacting with the locals, others doing things on their own but no one seemed to be concerned or even curious about them. It looked like they simply accepted that toys walked among them and saw no issue with it.
Naruto turned to ask the others what they thought but stopped as soon as he saw them. Luffy had stars in his eyes as he looked around, Black Leg Sanji had hearts in his eyes clearly mesmerized by the women. Not that he could blame the man, they were beautiful. Zoro, well he was just missing.
'We just got here, there's no way he could've gotten lost. We walked in a straight line.' He thought to himself in amazement and disbelief. Kin'emon and Franky were up ahead also doing their own thing which meant he was on his own.
'They'll be fine. Hopefully.' He thought to himself with a shake of his head. 'I'm probably better off on my own anyway.' He glanced around the area, trying to see if there were any notable buildings or people who could work with Doflamingo. There weren't any generic goons around and no one following him just yet.
Naruto continued walking, slowly making his way past the locals while politely declining the many offers for food and other goods that people were trying to sell. Making his way towards the center of the town he couldn't help his eyes from wandering. Dressrosa really did have the largest amount of gorgeous women in one place he'd ever seen.
'Yeah. Once our adventure is over, Dressrosa is the place for me.' He thought happily. His thoughts were once again halted when the sound of applause, feet stomping, and louder music reached him. Looking left he saw a rather large crowd gathering around a small stage. Walking closer he noticed all the men had hearts in their eyes as they stared at the woman dancing.
The woman had long brown hair with a red rose on her left side and wore a white dress with light purple polka dots all over. Below the waist it had four maroon colored layers that gave the dress a unique look. The dress hugged her upper body tightly, making her chest stand out nicely. She moved in an almost hypnotic pattern, motioning her arms up and down her body and lightly pulling the hem of her dress up occasionally showing that she was dancing in purple heels which made it that much more impressive.
Not only was she a good dancer but she was easily the most beautiful woman he'd seen. Bonney was a looker, Nico Robin more so, but this woman was something else. He blinked in slight surprise when she looked directly at him and continued her dance. Their eyes were locked on each other, only breaking momentarily when she would twirl around but they'd make their way back to him.
She grabbed another rose and placed it in her mouth by the stem and motioned him to get closer with one finger as she danced. Seeing as he hadn't gotten any leads just yet he saw no harm in doing so and made his way through the crowd until he was just a foot away from the stage.
The woman smiled down at him and took the rose out of her mouth before bringing it down to him. Knowing what she wanted he opened up and let her place the rose in his mouth and continued to dance for the next minute until the music stopped and the crowd cheered. She took a few deep breaths and waved at everyone before looking back at him and making her way down the stage and towards him.
"Hello. I hope you didn't mind me adding you to my performance." She greeted and apologized. "I'm Violet." She introduced herself while extending a hand.
Taking her hand in his he shook it and replied. "Not at all. Na..Nanami." He replied, introducing himself with a false name. He'd almost slipped up and given his real name, a mistake that could have potentially put the entire plan in jeopardy.
"Well Nanami, I'd like to thank you for going along with my performance. I don't have another performance until later tonight, until then would you let me treat you to something to eat?" She offered.
Naruto's eyebrows rose slightly at the sudden offer. His eyes gave her another once over behind the black lensed glasses and he couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly. Something wasn't sitting right with him but his Haki hadn't alerted him to any potential attack the woman might try. Deciding to simply proceed with more caution he nodded his head in agreement. This could also be a good way to gather some intel.
"Perfect." She said with a bright smile. Violet moved to his side and wrapped her left arm around his right and gently pulled him deeper into the town.
The two walked at a slow pace, Naruto continuing to take in the sights, doing his best to not look inconspicuous as he looked for anything that looked out of place. So far only a few structures caught his attention, those being stone slabs that had the Donquixote Jolly Roger on them.
"Come on, it's just up ahead. They have the best food in all of Dressrosa." Violet said excitedly. They came up to a small restaurant where they were quickly led to a table on the second floor balcony that overlooked the streets below. Naruto didn't miss how they were quick to serve them, even going so far as to skip the people outside that were waiting for their turn to be seated.
"They seem to like you." Naruto commented as he pulled out the chair for the woman to sit. She shot him a grateful look and sat down.
"A lot of people come out to see me dance and the owner says his business has increased since I began. So as a token of his appreciation he has his people wait on me as quickly as possible." She answered as he sat down.
It made sense but still did nothing to relieve the feeling of doubt in his mind. Pushing that thought aside he ordered the same thing Violet did and enjoyed the small pleasantries between them. He learned she'd lived here all her life and made a living dancing. Her people were strict about her spending time frivolously which was why she was quick to drag him away from the stage.
"Not to say that's the only reason." She added quickly. "I was going to escape for a little while to enjoy myself but when I saw you I thought 'why not do so with a handsome man if I can? Then I saw you and knew who I'd invite.'" She finished.
The feeling of doubt crept up in the back of his mind again but he didn't show it. He smiled and rubbed the back of his head in false embarrassment to sell the act. In his mind however, he was racing through the possibilities.
Violet was a charismatic intelligent woman. She could articulate well, spoke easily to him and had a great sense of humor as far as he could tell throughout their impromptu date but something wasn't right. Their disguises, if they could be called that, were horrid. There was no way she could genuinely know that he was handsome with this fake mustache on.
"Well, I'm flattered." He replied, accepting the compliment. "If anything I'm the lucky one. From the looks I've been getting from all the men, it seems like you're probably the most desired woman around." He shot back.
Violet laughed, twirling a stand of hair with a finger as she did so. "Just ignore them. I appreciate that they show up all the time to watch me dance but a large majority of them simply see me as an object so they'll never have a chance." She replied seriously. "Most of them wouldn't look me in the eyes and listen to me the way you have."
Naruto had to admit he had snuck glances at her ample chest when he got the chance but for the most part did his best to maintain eye contact, listen, and respond to her questions which seemed appreciated.
"Mind if I ask you a question?" Naruto asked in between bites.
"Sure." She replied curiously.
"I heard that the women in this part of town are very….passionate. Enough to stab someone actually."
Violet smirked and stabbed a fork into her food a little harder than necessary and took a bite. "That's very true. We're passionate about love here, Nanami. It's something the ladies take very seriously, but you don't have to worry. You've been a complete gentleman so you don't need to worry about me stabbing you." She replied with a wink.
The two stared at each other for a moment before chuckling silently to themselves and finishing their food. About an hour had passed by the time they finished eating and the two went back to walking through the bustling streets.
"Nanami." Violet called softly to get his attention. "I still have some time before my next performance. Would you mind keeping me company until then?"
Naruto blinked behind his glasses and glanced over at her. The look she gave him was a suggestive one that he'd seen plenty of times before in his life. Almost as if reading his mind the woman continued.
"The truth is...this next performance is really important and I'm stressed like you wouldn't believe. I don't want you to think I go around propositioning every man I see, but you've been nothing but polite and have actually treated me like a normal person. If you don't want to, though, I'll understand." She said, letting go of his arm as she did so.
That feeling of unease returned but didn't stop him from reaching out and grasping her arm. "I'd love to." He replied.
The smile Violet gave him was vibrant but he could see something more within it. She took him by the hand and led him to a large house that was about half an hour's walk away. It was a large colorful three story house that they walked up to. Violet looked around quickly and opened the door before quickly pulling him inside. Violet led him up the stairs to the second floor. As he went up the stairs he closed his eyes and focused, this turned out to be the right move as he could feel multiple people in the third floor and the first.
'A trap' He thought to himself. He continued to let her lead him, not too bothered due to the fact that he could tell they were no more than fodder to him. 'She must have an idea as to who I am if she targeted me specifically.' He continued in his mind. The smart move would've been to take her out right then and there, but like with Monet, he wanted to see how far he could get. Violet was hands down the hottest woman he'd seen, and he'd be a fool to pass up an opportunity if it presented itself.
"We can lose these." Violet said, spinning to face him as soon as they entered the bedroom. Her hands grabbed his glasses and fake mustache and quickly tossed them away. A quick use of his Kenbunshoku haki told him she wasn't going to attack, which was the only reason he let her do so.
Violet wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips onto his, slowly maneuvering them back towards the bed on the far side of the room.
'I'll peek into the future every few seconds and shut her down the moment she goes for the kill. My Gift Bad can easily cover the entire house.' With that plan in mind he reciprocated the action and pinned her under him on the bed the moment she fell back.
Violet wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist to keep him close and raised her head slightly. Naruto got the hint and moved down towards her neck, he was further egged on to continue by the wonderful sounds of her moaning sensually. He could feel her body warming up and her breathing becoming more erratic as he attacked her neck.
The blond felt her arms move from his neck up toward his hair, running her fingers through his locks while pulling him closer. Naruto was happy to oblige and continued his assault on her neck, making sure to leave noticeable marks along the right side of her neck. One of her hands moved from his head up towards her own and reached into her hair.
To anyone else this would've been an inconsequential move but not him. At the moment her hand reached into her hair he stopped his movements. Almost as if his Haki was sentient, his Kenbunshoku Haki activated at that moment. The world went slightly dark with a blue tint, a tell-tale sign that he was peeking into the future.
He saw Violet reach into her hair and pull out a thin blade she had hidden somewhere in her locks and proceed to stab him in the back. The following moment the doors opened and a horde of people rushed in to apprehend him. The people he'd sensed in the first and third floor began shooting while Violet moved aside and watched with what looked like regret on her face.
The world came back to normal and in a split second he acted. No one around knew what happened but around the base of the building, a black pool formed, slowly affecting everyone inside.
Naruto pulled back and quickly pinned her arms above her head with one hand all while unsheathing his blade with his other hand and putting the blade up to her throat. "I wouldn't if I were you." He threatened.
Violet glared back at him and tried to move out of his grip with little success. "If you yell out loud I'll speed up the process." He said when he saw her take a deep breath.
"What process?" She asked angrily.
"Hmm. My devil fruit lets me control the lethal doses of anything I pick. Around the house I have a pool formed, and anyone inside is now being poisoned by the amount of Nitrogen in the air. The lethal dose their bodies can take has been lowered considerably. It looks like Doflamingo sent you after me with next to no info huh?" He questioned.
Violet's eyes widened in shock at his words and he knew he was spot on. "How?" She asked, referring to him knowing about the ruler of the country.
"You picked me out of the crowd the moment I arrived. You came on strong and made sure to drag me into a house full of people hiding. The only reason you would go this far against me specifically is if someone put you up to it. The only person here who has a reason to want me out of the way is that nuisance Doflamingo." He explained.
Violet stayed quiet but he could tell by the look on her face that he was right. "I can tell you didn't wanna do it but you don't seem to have a choice do you?" He continued.
"It doesn't matter." She said in a defeated voice. "I failed and he'll kill me and my family for it."
"What did he tell you?" Naruto asked, pushing the blade closer to her throat.
"He knew you would be coming and had me use my own devil fruit to find out when you'd arrive. When you did he ordered me to get rid of you by any means necessary. I had never seen him this stressed about a target." She revealed.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the information. So Doflamingo knew they were on the island the moment they arrived...which meant Law was most likely walking into a trap. He calmed himself down by taking a deep breath. Law was strong, incredibly so after the training they went through. Still, he'd make sure to call him after finishing with Violet.
"Your fruit. How does it work?" He asked, wondering how she knew when they arrived.
Seeing that she had no choice but to answer or die she answered. "I ate the Giro-Giro no Mi. It essentially let's me see through everything, even people's minds. I used clairvoyance to extend my reach throughout the whole island and saw when you arrived."
That was an incredibly useful ability. One that could definitely be of use to them if applied correctly. He could see how Doflamingo managed to stay in control, knowing when someone would try something and where they'd be gave him an advantage. That thought immediately gave him an idea that, if successful, could be a huge boost to them.
"If I told you I could help you, would you be willing to help me?" He offered.
The woman narrowed her eyes in doubt. "How could you help me? You don't know Doflamingo like we do. The man has been in power for this long because he's strong. No one is able to stand up to him."
Naruto laughed, much to her anger. "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you or your people. It's just you think no one can stand up to him." He got himself under control and looked her in the eyes. "You said you could see through everything right?"
She nodded slowly.
"If you have clairvoyance, you must have other abilities similar to it, correct?"
Another nod.
"Can you delve in people's minds?" He asked and received a positive answer.
"If I let you see a memory, maybe you would be more inclined to help me." He used his Haki to see if she'd attack the moment he released her, fortunately for her she didn't. Letting go of her arms and pulling away he let her do her hair again and watched carefully as she approached him. She brought her right hand up to her eye and peeked through a hole she created with her thumb and index finger.
Naruto stared blankly at her, noticing the way her eyes widened in shock at what she was seeing. He decided to show her the memory of Marineford where Doflamingo was choking on his blood on death's door. Violet finished the memory and brought her hand down while looking at him with a mixture of surprise and hope.
"As you can see, I'm more than capable of handling him. In fact, we're here to take him down." He revealed. "Violet, if you join us, it'll make things go much smoother. I promise you, Doflamingo's reign of terror here will come to an end by our hands." He said with conviction.
The woman looked at him, staring into his eyes looking for any trace of deceit only to find none. All she saw was the look of conviction in his eyes and the memory she saw told her exactly why he had that look. He was strong enough to kill their dictator, strong enough to save her family, and strong enough to give her people their happiness back. If there was ever a time to put her trust in someone, it was now.
"Very well. I'll help you. Just, please help us get our home back." She pleaded.
Naruto nodded. "I promise." He looked up and down, using his Haki to sense where everyone was at and to his delight they were all laying in place. His training with Gerard had made his use of 'Gift Bad' even more efficient. He could now control who was affected within the pool and how their bodies reacted. This was the reason that even though Violet was in the area of effect, she was seemingly unaffected by the technique.
"Thank you. So what's the plan?" She asked.
Naruto rubbed his chin in thought and glanced out the window to see the streets down below. If there were people stationed here it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think there were others nearby. "Gathering info first and foremost. How did Dressrosa take the news of Doflamingo's resignation from the Shichibukai?" He questioned.
The beautiful woman frowned. "At first everyone was in disbelief, but soon we were told that it was untrue and that he was still one of them. The paper we received corrected what we'd been told."
'I knew things wouldn't be this easy.' He thought to himself angrily. "So he played us." He muttered to himself. "Do you have anything here that could cover you up? We need to get out of here."
She nodded and went through the closet of the room they were in, rummaging through the various clothes until she found another dress, this one slightly shorter along with a cardigan and dark tinted glasses. Violet removed the flower from her hair and redid her look until she looked as different as she could manage.
"Alright. What now?" She asked.
Naruto peeked out the window again and nodded his head in that direction. "I need to warn my captain that he's walking into a trap. After that we'll head somewhere else, I have a few more questions I hope you can answer."
The disguised woman nodded and quickly bent down to pick something up and hand it to him.
"We can't risk you going out showing your face so please put it back on for now." She pleaded, handing him his fake mustache back.
The blond sighed but did as he was told. Hopefully they could get this over with quickly so he could ditch the thing. "Alright. Let's go Violet."
"Viola." Naruto turned to look at her with a look of slight confusion. "My name is Viola. Violet is the name I've used as an assassin of Doflamingo's family. I want no part of it anymore."
Naruto smiled and nodded once. "You'll never have to use that name again. Come on."
The pair made their way out of the building and disappeared into the crowd. Viola looked at the faces of all the people they passed and could feel her resolve strengthening. She knew the true feelings of her people and while some put up smiles, she knew they weren't real.
'Just hold on a little longer. This will all be over soon.' She thought to herself as she followed the blond. For the first time in years she felt hope that the nightmare would soon be over.