A/N: Well it's the chapter that you've all been wafting for! Hinata shows up! Prepare for some award blushing, cute moments and perverted comments from Kyubi... Also I should point out that in that she's not the only character appearing... some else appears... I wont' say who... you have to read! Also three other characters are mentioned (2 by name, one not...)... enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 38: Familiar Faces
The crew had arrived in Loguetown…
"This is where the Age of Pirates began! I always wanted to visit here!" said Luffy.
"Race you the execution scaffolding!" said Naruto.
"You're on!" said Luffy.
The two ran off… making everyone else sweat drop.
"I'm not really surprised…" said Sakura.
"There's something I want to buy…" said Zoro.
"Don't' worry, I'll lend you the money at 300 percent interest…" said Nami.
Sakura immediately sweat dropped.
"That's just evil…" she thought.
"I'll go with you." said Sasuke knowing that he wanted to buy some swords.
"But Sasuke…" said Ino.
"I don't want to go out on a date with either you or Sakura…" said Sasuke.
Zoro and Sasuke walked off… causing Sakura and Ino to hang their heads in shame and everyone else went their own separate way.
Back with Naruto and Luffy the two ran…
"I'm going to make it first!" said Naruto.
"Oh no you're not!" yelled Luffy.
The two were neck in neck… but that's when the two crashed into someone carrying some boxes…
"Oh man!" said Luffy getting up.
"I'm so sorry…" said Naruto bowing.
"Me too…" said Luffy.
"Oh that's okay…" said the person, "Naruto? Luffy?"
Luffy and Naruto looked up and a girl around Naruto age with long indigo hair, pale lavender eyes wearing a sky blue turtle neck like blouse and blue-green pants.
"Hinata?" asked Naruto.
"It's been such a long time!" said the girl named Hinata.
"It has!" said Luffy happily.
Hinata grew up with Naruto and Luffy back in Fuchsia Village but 4 earlier she moved to Loguetown with her family, she was one of the few children who would play with Naruto so they were very close.
"It's good that you're here…" said Hinata.
"Yeah…" said Naruto.
"I don't think she joined the Marines…" said Kyubi.
"Will you shut up…" thought Naruto.
Meanwhile with Zoro and Sasuke.
"Are they following us?" asked Zoro.
"I doubt it…" said Sasuke.
That's when the two saw rather big ugly men were about to fight against a woman… Zoro and Sasuke's were about to draw their swords when the woman managed to take out the two men with no problem… Sasuke seemed to flinch from some reason when she defeated them.
"What is it?" asked Zoro.
"I don't know…" said Sasuke.
That's when the woman tripped and dropped her glasses… causing the two former bounty hunters to sweat drop, the woman began to look for her glasses which Zoro picked up.
"Do these belong to you?" asked Zoro.
That's when the woman took the glasses, "Thank you…" she said.
Both Zoro and Sasuke stared at the woman… for she looked exactly like Kuina… Sasuke's late sister who was also Zoro's rival.
Back with Naruto, Luffy and Hinata…
"Naruto…" said Hinata.
"Yeah?" asked Naruto.
"Are you planning to keep your promise?" asked Hinata blushing slightly.
"Don't tell me… you listened to your bastard cousin and joined the Marines…" said Naruto.
"No!" said Hinata blushing, "We made a promise that when we meet again that I would join the crew… sometimes he would try to get me to join… but I would never listen… even one his fellow Marines whom I'm friends with would sometimes try to get me to join… but we made a promise I always intended to keep."
"Hinata…" said Naruto.
"Hey!" said Luffy, "Why don't help Hinata with her stuff and I'll meet you at the scaffolding…"
"Okay…" said Naruto, "Later bro!"
"Bye!" said Luffy.
"So where's your house…" said Naruto.
"I'll show the way." said Hinata, "But first we should pick up my boxes…"
"Oh right…" said Naruto.
Naruto and Hinata picked up the boxes she was carrying and they headed to her house.
"So Naruto…" said Hinata as they walked, "What has been going on?"
"Well me and Luffy the other day beat up this Fishman named Arlong!" said Naruto.
"You defeated Arlong? The Arlong?" asked Hinata.
"Yeah!" said Naruto, "Oh yeah me and Luffy just got Bounties!"
"Really?" asked Hinata.
"I wonder how other people are taking the fact me and my brother are famous…" said Naruto.
At that moment at an unknown island in an unknown location…Mihawk landed which caused many of the pirates stand in shock… one of the pirates went to tell their captain, who Mihawk was there to see.
"I'm in a bad mood… are you here to challenge me?" asked the captain.
"I don't' challenge one armed has been…" said Mihawk, "I ran into two interesting pirates that reminded me of a story you told me long ago, about two boys in some village."
Mihawk took out Luffy and Naruto's wanted posters and gave them to the captain who shouted "What! No way!" surprising everyone else.
The captain smiled… for this captain was Shanks.
"So you're here… Luffy… Naruto." said Shanks.
And so they began to party… despite the fact that Shanks had a hangover.
Meanwhile in Fuchsia Village, Luffy and Naruto's home town, at the tavern it was a big celebration.
"I can't believe those D Brothers are famous!" said a random town's person.
"You know despite having a demon inside him Naruto wasn't such a bad kid…" said a random towns person.
"He painted my cat!" said another town's person.
"Two celebrities! Whoo!" cheered one town's person.
Though out the years about half of the people pf the village came to see Naruto as Naruto, not the demon inside of him.
"Shut up now! What so great about having two criminals?" said the Mayor walking in.
"Oh man! It's the mayor." said one of the town's people.
Ayame laughed, "They look so happy in the pictures." She said.
"So what a pirate is a pirate." said the mayor.
"But their following their dreams." said Makino.
"Dreams or destiny?" asked the mayor.
Back in Loguetown with Sasuke and Zoro… both were walking to a weapons shop while in shock.
"She looked so much… like her…" said Sasuke, "And he's a swordswoman…"
"You seem to be taking it hard…" said Zoro.
"Did you forget…" said Sasuke, "I saw her murder… I sometimes have nightmares… seeing someone who looks just like her and a swordswoman… how do you think I fell…"
"Hey it's creeping me out too…" said Zoro.
"Yeah, yeah…" said Sasuke glaring at him lightly.
The two walked into a weapons shop.
"I need a sword!" said Zoro.
"Yes… welcome…" said the shop owner.
"I don't' trust him…" said Sasuke.
Zoro ignored his friend's advice.
"I have 100,000 berries I need two swords." said Zoro.
"50,000 Berries sword are dull…" said the shop owner with a sweat dropped.
"I don't care right now… I'm low on funds…" said Zoro.
"Which I think he's going to regret soon…" said Sasuke with a smirk.
The shop owner looked at Zoro's sword…
"Can… I see your sword!" he said.
"Why are you shaking?" asked Zoro with a sweat drop.
"My guess it's the sword… I remember dad once saying it's a family heirloom…" said Sasuke, "Don't know what else…"
Zoro game him the shop owner looked at the sword and began to shake even more.
"This sword isn't good!" he said.
"What?" said both.
"I'm sorry I was kidding…" said the shop owner, "Look here friend… Maybe we can work around you lack funds, your sword isn't anything special… but I'll sell you it 200,000 Berries…"
"No deal…" said Sasuke.
"This transaction doesn't concern you!" said the shop owner who turned to Zoro and said "That way you can buy three swords for 100,000 each."
"What are you talking about?" asked Zoro.
"Uh… forget that… how about 500,000 Berries…" said the shop owner.
"If you sell that then I'm going to kill you." said Sasuke.
"Don't worry… I won't… like I would sell it anyway…" said Zoro.
"I'll give you 650,000 then!" said the shop owner.
"It's not for sale!" yelled both.
"Whoa look that sword!" came a voice.
The woman who look like Kuina came in and began looking at the sword.
"What is she doing here?" thought Zoro.
"Oh great…" thought Sasuke.
The woman looked over Zoro's sword, took out a small book and relived a lot, that it was famous sword called the Wadou Ichimonji… and was worth 10 million berries.
"What's wrong with you! Are you trying to ruin my business?" asked the shop owner.
"I'm sorry… I couldn't help myself…" said the woman.
"Right, whatever… here's you Shigure…" said the shop owner, "I have no idea why someone like you has a famous sword."
He tossed it her and unfortunately when she caught she fell into nearby sword rack.
"Hey you! Pick out two swords from that barrel over there… then get out!" said the shop owner.
"Hey I met you two on the street…" said the woman.
Zoro glared at her while Sasuke helped up the woman.
"That sword is a family heirloom that belonged to my sister…" said Sasuke, "She gave it to him as a gift…"
"Really?" said the woman, "Wait why are you telling me?"
"Because my swords are also family heirlooms… I want to know more about them…" said Sasuke.
The woman looked at the swords at his side.
"No way!" she yelled, she began to examine the dark blue one first, "Umi no Hikari… one of the 21 Great Blades! Worth about 9 million Berries."
Sasuke smirked… "What about the other one…" he said.
She began to examine the red one, "Akai Itachi… one of the 40 fine grade… for some reason it has the nickname "The Blade of Betrayal"."
"Did you say he has the Blade of Betrayal?" asked the shop owner, "There's a legend that states that all owners will try to betray the ones who trust them…"
"It's just a legend right…" said Sasuke with a smirk, "Not like I'm really going to betray anyone…"
"Hey aren't you going to help me!" yelled Zoro.
"Fine…" said Sasuke, "Not like you can tell a good one from a bad one anyways…"
"Three swords?" asked the woman, "You must be like that bounty hunter…"
"Bounty hunter?" asked Zoro with a smirk.
"Haven't you heard of him, Roronoa Zoro of the Demonic Duo…" said the woman.
"I think I've heard of him…" said Sasuke, "But I heard some interesting stories that he's extremely lazy and a heavy drinker…"
Zoro stared at Sasuke with a raised eyebrow.
"But I do know the name well…" said Zoro.
"It's the name of the master swordsman in the East Blue… but it's an evil name." said the woman, "Using a sword to make money. That's unforgivable!"
"Why?" asked Sasuke.
She looked at her sword sadly, "Why is there so much evil in the world today? All of the famous swordsmen are pirates or bounty hunters and most of the famous sword belongs to them. Those swords must be crying…" said the woman.
"There's a good reason for that… a man's got to eat in hard times." said Zoro.
"After all booze doesn't come cheap…" said Sasuke.
"What are you trying to say?" asked Zoro.
"Nothing… just nothing…" said Sasuke with a shrug.
"I like the bad guys, they kept the business going… then that monster took over the town and what happened? The costumers stopped showing up… it got even worse when that Gentle Fist kid showed up." said the shop owner.
"Captain Smoker is no monster!" yelled the woman.
"He ate a Devil Fruit." said the shop owner.
"Devil Fruit?" asked Zoro surprised.
"Doesn't matter…" said Sasuke.
"In any case I will use Shigure to hone my skills then I'm going to collect all the famous swords that have fallen into the evil hands of the world. I'll get the 12 supreme grade, the 21 Supreme Grade and the 40 fine grade!"
"Do you plan to ours too?" asked Zoro.
"After all you said they were famous." said Sasuke.
Both of them unsheathed their swords slightly.
"No… it's not that I want the sword, I just don't want evil to have them." said the woman.
"Oh…" said Zoro and Sasuke.
"This sword! I've seen it in my book!" said the woman she took one out of the barrels.
"It's Kitetsu III… This one! Take this one!" said the woman, "It's a fine grade, the sword's predecessor Kitetsu II was an excellent grade sword and the original Kitetsu was a supreme grade sword."
The woman handed the sword to Zoro… who began to examine it…
"So what do you think?" asked Sasuke while the shop owner and the woman talked about the sword and why it was in the barrel.
"It's cursed, isn't it?" asked Zoro.
"So you've heard of it?" asked the shop owner.
"No, I can just tell." said Zoro.
"That's right, the first Kitetsu and its successors are good blades but their all cursed." said the shop owner, "Famous swordsmen have died tragic deaths because they wield the Kitetsu swords…"
"Isn't that just a legend…"said Sasuke.
"You owned a cursed blade too… has its past owner betrayed any one you knew?" asked the shop owner.
Sasuke was silent for a moment, then said, "That's none of your business…"
"By judging from your face the past owner did…" said the shop owner.
"I didn't say anything all I said it's none of your business…" said Sasuke.
"I'll take it." said Zoro over the arguing.
"Are you crazy!" yelled the shop owner, "If you died then it would have been like me killing you with that sword."
"You're the one that's crazy! Just left him buy it so we can get rid of it." said shop owner's wife.
"But honey buns…" said the shop owner.
"How about this then… my luck VS the curse." said Zoro, Why don't we find out which his stronger?"
Sasuke only smirked as Zoro tossed the sword into the air and tossed it high into the air.
"If I lose then I'm not man enough to possess it." said Zoro, "Am I?"
He held out his arm as the sword spun back down to earth.
"Stop fooling around! That's blade's razor sharp… you'll lose your arm." said the shop owner.
The woman stood in shock while Sasuke leaned against the wall and smirked.
The sword missed Zoro's arm shock most who watched and embedded itself into the floor.
"I'll take it." said Zoro.
"You got lucky…" said Sasuke.
"Wasn't that the point." said Zoro he turned to the woman, "Will you find another one for me."
"Uh… okay…" responded the woman.
"Wait!" said shop owner he ran to the back and brought back a sword in a black sheath… it was called the Yubshiri and it was the best sword they had… what was better is that both swords were free…
"Forgive me for trying to trick… it's been a while since I saw the eyes of a true swordsmen… A sword chooses it's owner…" said the shop owner, "I pray for you good fortune."
Both Zoro and Sasuke left the shop…
"And I didn't even have to use Nami's money…" said Zoro.
"Why do I have the feeling that your still in deep trouble?" asked Sasuke.
Meanwhile with Sakura and Ino they were walking around town together.
"Why are you following me around?" asked Sakura.
"I could be asking you the same thing forehead." said Ino.
The two were hopping to bump into Sasuke and hang out the rest of the day with him.
"Really?" they heard a voice laughing.
"Was that Naruto?" asked Sakura.
Both turned around and saw him talking to Hinata.
"It's true… everyone laughed at him for the next month…" said Hinata giggling.
"Is that Naruto… on a date?" asked Sakura.
"I think so…" said Ino, "Let's tail them…"
With Naruto he laughing at the story Hinata was telling him.
"I can't believe Lee showed up and challenged him to a Push up competition in front of everyone." said Naruto.
"Yeah…" said Hinata, "But I feel sorry for Lee… Guy is such a bad influence on him."
"I know…" said Naruto, "You saw Lee's new hair style and the fact he's dressing up like Guy… right?"
"Yeah…" said Hinata.
For those wondering, Lee is a childhood friend of Luffy, Naruto and Hinata's, a year before Naruto and Luffy left, Lee joined his mentor Guy on a martial arts train joinery…
"I'm glad you didn't join the Marines after all…" said Naruto, "I mean… Neji… that bastard hate pirates to such an extent… that he blames all pirates for your uncle's death… that I thought it would have spread to you…"
"No… but I understand…" said Hinata, "You weren't planning on looking for me when you came… were you?"
"No…" said Naruto, "I wasn't sure if you were going to keep you promise…"
"That's okay…" said Hinata.
They got to a building…
"This is where I live…" said Hinata, "I'll be out shortly…"
"Here's your box…" said Naruto handing Hinata her boxes.
Hinata went into the building while Naruto leaned against said building, he looked up into the sky.
"So Neji did join after all… should have figured…" said Naruto.
Meanwhile in the Marine Headquarters… a boy no older than 15, with long brown hair and pale lavender eyes who appeared to be a lower ranking officer was walking through the hall.
"Have you seen Tashigi?" he asked.
"She's still haven't come back from the sword's shop." Said a lower ranked Marine.
The boy looked at the Marine's hands were wanted posters.
"New wanted posters?" asked the boy.
"Yes, I was going to report them to Captain Smoker." Said Marine showing them to the boy.
The boy looked at the posters which were of Naruto and Luffy his eyes were wide when he saw them.
"Neji, sir… what is it?" asked the Marine.
"It's nothing…" said the boy named Neji.
When the marine was gone Neji Chuckled, "Well Naruto… Luffy… I always hopped that you would become wanted... Maybe when she finds out Hinata will join up after all…"
Neji walked away chuckling after all, it wasn't every day that your childhood nemesis is a wanted man.
Next Time: Hinata talks to her father about joining a pirate crew... Afterwards Naruto and Hinata meet up whi Luffy but a mysterious woman shows up... who is she and how does she know Luffy and Naruto? Find out next time!