Disclaimer: Once again, I owe nothing except the basic plot.

This chapter is dedicated to DaFicFixer, who tragically lost his/her ability to have fun with fanfiction years ago. Hopefully one day they will regain it ;)

Also, content warnings:

- Sexual content! Featuring het and homosexual couplings.

I tried to revise the language to make it as non-explicit as possible, so it will still follow ffnet's guidelines but yeah...it's pretty obvious what's happening.

Chapter 2: Of all the Gin Joints

Once upon a time in the Grand Line, a year after leaving Konoha and wanting to experience new things out at sea—months after being liberated by Luffy from a sadistic scientist who was holding them and many people prisoner for his own amusement and experimentation—Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura were once part of the Strawhat crew. With that came a lot of things that the three shinobi had been hoping and longing for since they started this journey: adventure, laughter, friendship, and freedom.

However, because their crew is led by probably the maddest of men, a lot of their time was spent—like much of the rest of the crew—keeping Monkey D. Luffy in check.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow—!"

For Hinata, whenever Chopper was busy taking care of someone else or buying medical supplies, that came in the form of helping to heal her Absolute Idiot Captain and his equally idiotic first mate from wounds earned in a bar fight.

"Hold still, sir, I still have to apply this salve," she was saying in a cool tone as they sat outside the bar they were just kicked out of, her hands instantly rubbing into a particularly bloody welt.

"Okay, but do you have to go so rough? Damn," Luffy groaned, sending her a pout. "And here I was thinking you were the nice one in the Fox's little…girlfriend collection thingie."

Hinata scowls, one of her eyebrows twitching. Then she lifts a hand and lightly smacks him upside the head, making the rubber boy let out another yelp— more in shock than anything else.

"I am the nice one," she said to him, her gaze cool and merciless. "But an idiot like you would test anyone's patience."

"Just be glad it's her and not the other one here," Zoro snorted, then smirked. "Knowing Cherry's temper, she'd probably leave us to bleed out if the fight got bad enough— or finish the job herself."

Luffy let out a snort of his own, then a chuckle. "That's true! Sakura's punches hurt as bad as Nami's a lot of the time. And she can be a bit scary when she's mad."

"I know, right? It's like she has a whole other person inside her— someone with the wrath of a demon."

Hinata rolled her eyes. "She only gets like that because she cares, sir— but again, you tend to test everyone's patience. Now, hold still again please," she added before performing the Healing Jutsu to another, much worse looking wound that came from a knife carved from seastone. Her gaze softened when she saw the bloody wound, even as the cells activated to stitch the skin back together, but when she looked between the two pirates again, she was sending them a firm frown. "Captain, Zoro— you two have to be more careful when it comes to these things. You both could have seriously gotten hurt!"

"Eh, we won and we're alive, that's all that matters," Luffy said with a nonchalant wave.

"Besides, it's not like we started the fight. We finished it. Big difference," Zoro added with a shrug before leaning back against the wall, his fingers laced behind his head.

For the hundredth time that night, Hinata let out a tired sigh and rolled her eyes skyward, wondering how precisely this had become her life.

Heat begins welling behind Hinata's eyes as she continues staring at him, still processing that of all the people in the Grand Line to come help, it's him. The last person who should help her, all things considering what happened two years ago.

She's forced from these thoughts the minute Luffy stretches out his leg to stand in front of her. He gets out a key from his pocket and reaches up above her head, muttering, "Hang on, I'll get these off you in a sec…"

Hinata numbly watches him, lets her arms flop down when she's free. When his hands touch her bare shoulders, she gives a jolt but no other movement. She looks up at him with clouded eyes, looking closer to silver than the usual pale lavender, that begin gleaming when she realizes his touches are gentle and searching.

"Are you hurt anywhere? Chopper's back on the Sunny, but we've got another doctor with us, if you need him…"

She slowly shakes her head.

"That's good! I was actually about to kill Jaggy and the mask guy back there—but it looks like they get to live another day!"

While Killer shows no reaction, Kid lets out a growl, then roars, "Hey fuck you, damn monkey—!"

"—which is good, I'm actually starting to like the assholes," Luffy continues with a snicker.

Then he smiles at her, as if what happened two years ago never happened, as if seeing her is all he's ever wanted—but there's no way that can be true, Hinata beats this certainty into her head as best as she can, to bring herself back to reality. There's no way he considers her even the slightest bit important. There's no way anyone in the Strawhat crew even remembers her. Naruto leaving the Strawhat crew was a loss. Sakura leaving with him was a loss. But Hinata? She was nothing more than a side character to another's story. Easy to forget and just as easy to push right into the background. And considering what she did two years ago, she isn't worth remembering.

(Honestly, it's a near miracle that Naruto didn't break up with her sooner.)

But he's here.

And just like that, the walls around her heart begin cracking. Everything about this night, everything she's been experiencing since she left the Strawhats just hits her all at once. Slowly, perhaps as if she's been holding them back for two years, Hinata feels her eyes fill with tears that roll down her cheeks.

Luffy freezes when he hears her sniffle, and his whole expression falls when he sees her begin sobbing, tears flowing from her eyes like little rivers. He watches as she slowly walks up to him, her hands curling into the dark overcoat he's wearing over his red cardigan, and gently leans her head against his chest, her forehead right against the raised skin of his scar.

"Please, just get me out of here," she whimpers through her tears. "Please..."

A flash of emotion goes through Luffy's eyes, one that's hidden from the shadow of his straw hat. Then his expression hardens.

After a beat, Luffy moves to remove his black coat and drapes it over Hinata's shoulders, making sure to lace the front closed to keep her covered up. Then, after a thought, he places his straw hat on top of her head. As Hinata curls her fingers around the lapels of the coat, her head tilts so she's looking up at him with big bemused eyes, still glossy with tears. Luffy sends her a reassuring smile, then turns to the tall shadowy figure hanging out by the door.

"Hey Tra-guy, could you take Hinata upstairs to the rest of the crew? I think Nami might have some spare clothes for her," he says, his tone super casual.

"…Yeah, sure," replies Law, also seeming casual. His gold eyes lower to pin Hinata with a piercing gaze, his emotions hidden but holding an intensity that sends cold shivers down her spine instantly. Then he nods his head towards the exit. "Let's go, Bunny-ya."

B-Bunny…? Hinata frowns, tilting her head. Then she shakes it off. She doesn't know a lot about him, but she figures that when it comes to the infamous Surgeon of Death, it's best not to question things. Placing a protective hand on top of the straw hat, she gives Luffy one last glance before walking out of the room, following Law to the dark hall outside and then up the stairs.

"Hope you're ready for what you're about to see up there, little rabbit," he mutters.

Hinata blinks after him as she tries to keep up with him—Sugar snaps, he's tall—and asks, in a slight stammer, "U-um, what do you mean…?"

Law remains silent.

Luffy watches them go until they're nearly swallowed by the darkness. Then his own expression darkens. Without turning around to face either Killer or Kid, he lifts two fingers in the air. Kid watches him closely, knowing that this isn't the idiot monkey he's used to bickering and bantering with. This is the man who defeated Kaido, who would go through fire for those he loved and send fire (and possibly worse) back to anyone who dared hurt them.

"Three minutes," he says. "You two have exactly three minutes to explain to me two things…First."

One finger drops.

"How in the hell one of my ninjas ended up in this shithole— and second."

Just as the second finger drops, Luffy turns to send over a glower promising nothing but pain and maybe death, if he's feeling particularly merciful, right over his shoulder. If Kid was a lesser man and pirate, he probably would have started shaking in fear.

"What were you two doing down here with her?"

Hinata's mouth drops open the minute her feet touch the platform of the upper level. The lights above are already overwhelming enough to her already sensitive eyes, a blaring mix of salacious purples and pinks and some sensual blues, and the music a series of low beats and rumbles that resemble the smooth rock and roll of the ocean sounding loud from the surrounding speakers. But the people. Oh, sugar snaps, the people—

"Fuck, fuck," cries out one woman hanging from a wall, suspended by leather straps keeping her legs spread. She stares forward at her current lover, her eyes dark and smoky as she bites her lip. "Mmm yeah, baby, right there! Right fucking there—"

"What a good little girl, you take it so well," growls out a man behind a young woman with gold hair, whose eyes roll back as he moves.

"…You're so good, baby. Keep going," says another man, who is sitting in a chair and lustfully watching the other man on top of him.

"…Fuck, I'm so close," whines another woman, arching her back off the couch she's laying on, just as another woman furiously licks between her legs. Her hand dives deep into russet hair and tugs. "Love, please, please, please—"

Hinata blinks dumbly at the scene of people and their bare bodies sliding together in some way or another. Men with women, women with women, men with men, old with young, young with young, old with old— going two by two, to three by four, to possibly even more than that. The whole room, perhaps even the whole building, is filled with nothing but sex and everything having to do with sex, the heat of it all causing a near fog only visible through the theater-like lights hung along the walls and ceiling. Nothing but sweaty skin and fluids, and the sounds of pleasure, voices mixed with the slap of bodies connecting with each other in the most carnal way humans can. And mixed with that, insanely enough, are a series of waitresses and busboys delivering drinks and moist wipes, and taking new orders from the people as they enjoy each other.

"This is…" she mutters, unconsciously moving to Law's side, as if to shield herself. Her hands move to the brim of Luffy's straw hat and dips it low to hide her eyes, her heart battering wildly against her ribs. Then she hears someone moan, and she can't seem to help lifting the brim to take a look. Her eyes go wide. "This…!"

"Yep," Law gives a sly drawl from beside her as his eyes take it all in, glowing like molten gold freshly melted and poured to form an object. When Hinata gapes up at him, her deep flush visible even under the lights, he can't help but let his mouth spread into a wide smirk as he sends a theatrical wave to the crowd. "Welcome to The Goblin Market."