A/N: ZareEraz here! One more update! Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Ungrateful Little Ass

"Luffy, you were seriously scary," Zoro sighed, leaning against the rail of the Going Merry as Whisky Peak and Miss All Sunday disappeared into the morning fog. Everything had gone to shit during their latest adventure (and Zoro was beginning to see a pattern here), and it was all because Luffy wouldn't listen to him. While visiting Whisky Peak, the Straw Hat Pirates had been wined and dined by the bounty hunters of Baroque Works and they were planning on taking out the small crew and getting Luffy's bounty. However, since Zoro had slept through the crew's first freak storm on the Grand Line, he was actually awake enough to know that something was fishy. While all of his friends were sleeping, he'd confronted the Baroque Works employees and made a mess of their plans. "Making a mess" included screwing with them all over town: running up and down buildings, trashing the place, making them shoot each other while they hunted him, and testing out his new swords on many, many targets. A few of the agents had proven a little troublesome, but the fight had undeniably been won by Zoro. However, when Luffy had finally woken up from his food coma, he'd been horrified and angered that Zoro had beaten up people that he considered friends. That little misunderstanding had caused a debacle as a furious Luffy had challenged his first mate to a fight, vowing to "kick his ungrateful, little ass!" Then, they'd been at each other's throats, catching Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine in their crosshairs and unwittingly saving Princess Vivi of Alabasta Kingdom.

Zoro was thinking about their fight now as the crew began their next journey to Little Garden. Despite living in a bloodthirsty line of work for so long, his and Luffy's undeniable desire to kill each other over such a little misunderstanding was frightening. It was ridiculous that Luffy hadn't listened to him about the bounty hunters and just attacked him, but the swordsman had been stupid enough to stop trying to convince him that he was wrong. He'd given up quite easily like the whole thing didn't matter anymore. Luffy had been furiously unforgiving towards him, willing to kill Zoro for hurting people who had helped them (even if he was completely wrong about everything). That fact hurt more than Zoro had thought it would. It hurt that Luffy hadn't believed him, but it also hurt him to know that he hadn't tried harder to convince the rubber man that he was wrong. Instead, he'd let that hurt fester in his chest and gave into Luffy's anger. What was more, he'd wanted to fight his captain; to see who was the strongest. It had been that simple at that point: would it be his steel that won out or Luffy's fists? Pushing all of his other emotions out except ambition, anger, and desire, he'd let himself go.

"You were scary too, Zoro!" Luffy replied, sitting on Merry's head. "Your eyes, they were as sharp as your blades." And Zoro knew that he was telling the truth. He'd felt it the moment that they'd knocked Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine down for interrupting their fight. They had both glared at each other, their eyes piercing the night like two wolves on the verge of madness, ravening for blood and carnage. It had felt horrible to turn on his friend and crewmate because of a misunderstanding. Luffy had just been upholding his idea of friendship to people who had been hospitable to them. He'd thought that Zoro had betrayed their kindness with merciless violence. Sure, it hurt for Luffy not to believe him, but in hindsight, Zoro realized that Luffy had probably been hurting too. He had been thinking that his friend had turned his back on kind people and attacked them for hardly any reason at all. That almost hurt more: knowing that Luffy had thought less of him than the swordsman ever wanted him to.

Zoro hoped it would be the only time they turned on each other. He never wanted to feel that way again. That pain and emptiness deep inside couldn't be fixed by anyone. Those few minutes of anger and hate rivaled the most horrible days of his life he'd experienced up until now. So, thank god for Nami's iron fists, otherwise, that feeling would've stayed with him for the rest of his life.

"Don't do that again," Luffy continued. Zoro turned to look at his captain, wishing he could see his eyes. "I don't want to fight you like that ever again. It wasn't good."

"That's an understatement," the swordsman replied shortly, not wanting to drag up those horrible feelings again.

"And if you've got something to say, say it. Make me listen so that I don't try to kill you again over something stupid." Luffy dropped his head a little bit, his stomach roiling just thinking about the punches he'd inflicted on Zoro. His hands shook just a little bit as if still horrified by the anger they'd unleashed on a friend. A trusted and beloved friend.

"You wouldn't have listened to me. You were too pissed off," Zoro answered, shutting his eyes. "You called me an 'ungrateful little ass' and told me you were going to kick it. You didn't want to listen."

"No matter how unreasonable I am, make me listen." Luffy's voice dropped low. Zoro cracked his eyes open to see why it changed and found Luffy staring right at him, eyes full of something he couldn't name. They pierced the swordsman to his core, sharper than any glare Luffy had given him during their fight. What was hiding being that gaze? What was he feeling? Zoro wanted to know but was hesitant to ask, as if the answer would be too big to understand, too much to comprehend. "I will always trust you more than strangers," the rubber man continued. "You were protecting us, all of us, while we were defenseless. That took strength. I respect that. More now than I ever have. So make me listen, even if it's hard, even if it'll hurt me, okay? I'll try to listen."

Zoro's heart swelled, seeing his captain trying to make amends for his mistake, at least a little bit. "Right. I'll be sure to make your ungrateful little ass listen to me next time."

"I am not an ungrateful ass!" Luffy's serious mood snapped, sending him into a normal bout of arguing.

"Are too! You're the one that wouldn't believe me! You just admitted that I was protecting the crew and you turned around and stomped on that at Whisky Peak!"

"But I'm not an ass!" Luffy shouted.

"You were too!"

"Was not!"

"You're not listening to me again! You're an idiot!" Zoro snarled as Luffy jumped on him, wrapping his legs around the man's waist. It was a strangely intimate thing to do, but it was undermined by the fact that Luffy was pinching his ear and pulling it hard. The rubber man's other hand tried to get the swordsman's opposite cheek, but Zoro held off that hand with his own.

"Shut up! I'm the one talking here!"

"Would you two be quiet!?" Nami zoomed up to the front deck and punched them both in the skulls, incapacitating them both before they broke out into another fight.

"Sorry…" Zoro and Luffy groaned, trying to avoid any more of the navigator's wrath. Thankfully, they were smart enough to listen to her and just shut the hell up.

To be Continued...

A/N: And there you go! See you next time!