Chapter 80: Though the Desert
As the crew got into land a strange animal surfaced from the water. It looked to be some sort of seal with a turtle shell and wore a bandana for some reason.
"What is that?" asked Usopp.
"I don't know it looks like a seal or a turtle can't really tell." Said Kiba.
"Usopp get away from that! It's a Kung Fu Dugong!" yelled Vivi.
"Kung Fu?" asked Usopp.
"It's dangerous!" yelled Vivi.
And that's when Usopp got his ass handed to him by a seal thing. Which forced Kiba to the ground laughing.
"You let that thing beat you?" asked Zoro with a sweat drop.
"Idiot…" muttered Sasuke.
"Um… Vivi… Luffy beat up one." Said Nami.
"No, Luffy!" yelled Vivi.
"Why what's wrong?" asked Sakura
"It's the code of the Kung Fu Dugong to become the apprentice of those that defeats them." Said Vivi.
"A disciple of Martial Arts." Said Zoro.
"I pray that they never meet those two…" said Kyubi referring to a certain two that Naruto knew in his childhood.
"You have that right…" thought Naruto with a sweat drop.
That's when suddenly Luffy had a ton of apprentices of Kung Fu Dugong.
"When did that happen?" yelled Sakura.
And so in order for them to not follow them, they had to bribe them with half of their rations.
"Thanks a lot Luffy… there goes half our food." Said Ino.
"Luffy and the idiot would have eaten it anyways. So why bother getting upset over that." Said Sasuke.
"I heard that." muttered Naruto.
"Why couldn't we let them come with us?" asked Luffy.
"No town would let us in with those things." Said Nami.
"So those things, do they live in the river?" asked Sanji.
"No they live in the sea." Said Vivi, "Over the years the river has been losing strength and the sea has been overcome by the sea."
"So that was sea water in the river right?" asked Kiba.
"Yes, it can't be used for drinking or watering." Said Vivi.
"Is that what made this city dry up?" asked Zoro.
"No, it used to sustain itself with rain until recently Erumalu was green and full of life." Said Vivi.
"Now it's a creepy ghost town." Said Naruto.
"In the last three years not a drop of rain has fell in the entire region." Said Vivi.
"But that port looked okay." Said Chopper.
"It gets water from the nearby Oasis of Katorea." Said Vivi, "Throughout the long history of Alabasta there hasn't' been a drought until recent years. But one place had a lot of rain… the Capital City of Alubarna. The people called it the King's Miracle, until recently."
She began to explain about an incident involving a broken cart of Dance Powder.
"Dance Powder?" asked Luffy.
"I've heard of it." Said Nami.
"So what is it?" asked Naruto.
Nami began to explain the way dance power works, when burning it, it created a mist that stimulates the growth of clouds that make artificial rain.
"So it makes rain…" said Naruto.
"That's what I just said!" yelled Nami.
"So what's the big problem then? I mean if people were pissed off." Said Kiba.
"The problem is that it had a terrible side effect. While people did rejoice where it was created it caused a "dry curse" upwind." Said Nami.
"In other words they were stealing rain from other countries." Said Sakura.
"It caused wars and many people lost their lives, because of that, the World Government banned it's use and production." Explained Nami.
"When that huge load of dance powder dumped during a time where the only was where the king lived." Said Vivi.
It's only natural for people to assume the king was doing it." Said Zoro.
"So wait! It'ss your father's fault?" asked both Luffy and Naruto at the same time.
This earned them both a kick in the head.
"Weren't you listening? Her father was framed. He would never do such a thing!" yelled Sanji.
"I know now it was all part of Crocodile's scheme. There the king had no idea how but a large quantity of Dance Powder was placed inside the palace too." Said Vivi going to her knees to look at skull that was found in the sands, "It was all a trap set by Crocodile! Just as he planed a drought ravaged the land and peopled anger and aided by their hunger began to rebel. The people lost faith in the king and the peace of this land was shattered, towns were lost, people were lost. And who is responsible for this? It was all Crocodile's fault! He's the one behind this!"
That's when Naruto, Luffy, Sanji, Kiba, Usopp and Akamaru went somewhere.
"I will never forgive him!" cried Vivi.
That's when a nearby building closed due to the 6 attacking it.
"What are those idiots doing?" asked Sasuke.
"Stupid kids…" muttered Zoro.
"Hey was are you doing?" asked Nami.
"Hey, I'm itching for a fight." Said Luffy, "Let's go!"
"Okay… I better ask this now… what was the point of all that?" asked Kyubi.
And so they headed into the desert…
"I'm so hot…" whined Naruto.
Luffy was panting…
"Stop doing that Luffy." Said Nami.
While everyone was tired or hot, Chopper seemed to be the worst off, Sakura was dragging him on a special thing.
"I'm so hot… I can't go on." Cried Chopper.
"Why can't you just take off your fur?" asked Usopp.
Chopper got up and turned into his human form, "I'm a reindeer you idiot!" he yelled.
"Chopper! Please become small again… it's easier to drag you." Said Sacra.
"But you have massive strength." Said Ino raising an eyebrow.
"It's a size thing." Said Sakura glaring at Ino.
Vivi on the other hand seemed to be fine.
"The heat doesn't seem to be getting you as badly." Said Sanji.
"This is my home. So I'm used to it." Said Vivi.
"What about you Ino-Pig." Said Sakura.
"I haven't lived here since my parents split up and that was almost 10 years ago." Said Ino.
"So how are your memories anyway?" asked Sanji.
"I'm missing a lot of gaps still, but I'm recovering." Said Ino.
Sanji nodded .
"I'm so tried." Sighed Hinata.
"Why don't you ask Naruto to carry you." Said Sakura.
Hinata blushed a little…
"Um... that's okay…I'm fine enough to walk." Said Hinata still blushing slightly.
"How big are these sand dunes?" asked Usopp.
"This is an ancient desert, so these dunes can get up 1,000 feet high sometimes." Said Vivi.
"That's as big as a mountain." Whined Usopp.
"Can I have some water?" asked Luffy.
"Just enough to wet your lips." Said Nami.
That's when Luffy filled his mouth full of water… remember… he's a rubber man.
"Don't drink that much!" yelled Usopp.
"Stop that!" yelled Nami whacking him on the head.
"Hey Luffy! We need that water for some instant ramen." Said Naruto.
"Um… I didn't' pack any ramen." Said Sanji.
"What! How can you not pack the ramen!" yelled Naruto.
That's when two fights broke out, between Usopp and Luffy over water and Sanji and Naruto over ramen.
"Stop fighting! You're wasting energy!" yelled Vivi.
After a while things have calmed down.
"Can we eat now?" asked Luffy.
"Who cares about eating…" sighed Naruto.
"You're just upset because there's no ramen." Said Kyubi.
"So…" thought Naruto.
"We'll eat when Vivi says so." Said Sanji.
"We're only one 4th of the way to Yuba." Said Vivi.
"But don't you know the old saying, eat when you're hungry." Said Luffy.
"You just made that up." Said Usopp.
"When we get to the next crags we'll stop and rest." Said Vivi.
Sometime later for some reason Luffy came up with the idea of whoever loses rock paper, scissors would have to carry all the bags… Of course he lost… the only one unwilling to give him his bag was Sasuke who knew something bad would happen if he gave Luffy his bag that and it held the Chidori scroll inside it and he wasn't giving that up to any on no matter what.
"Poor Luffy." Said Naruto.
"He's an idiot for coming up with that idea, I bet within in the next 5 minutes he's going do something stupid." Said Kyubi.
Less than a second later Usopp saw some crags and Luffy ran to it so fast it surprised everyone.
"Something really stupid ids going to happen at those crags." Said Kyubi.
Less than a second after that Luffy came back running about sick birds.
"Chopper! Sakura! You have to help the birds!" yelled Luffy.
"Okay." Said Chopper getting up.
"Right!" said Sakura.
"Wait Luffy! Those birds are fakers." Cried Vivi.
When they got back they found all the bags were gone.
"See… I told you so." Said Kyubi.
"Those were the evil herons. They're con artists that pretend to be dying then steal the items. I should have told you about them" Said Vivi.
"Well excuse me Princess." Said Kiba glaring at Vivi.
"If you get the joke about Kiba's line then you are a huge nerd!" said Kyubi.
"Who are you talking to?" thought Naruto with a sweat drop.
Sanji and Luffy were fighting about it…
"Right now let's not worry about that…" said Sasuke who was eating his lunch, "And let's not play the blame game."
"You have food!" yelled Luffy.
"Because I was smart enough not to give you my bag… idiot." Said Sasuke.
That's when Luffy saw the birds with their stuff and began to chase them.
"Wait for me! I'm coming too!" yelled Naruto going into half demon form to help Luffy chase the birds.
"Wait stop you two! You'll only get lost!" yelled Nami.
But it was too late… he was already gone.
"Those idiots…" muttered Ino.
That's when they came back… with a giant lizard chasing them… and what looked to be a camel near them.
"It's a Sandora dragon!" yelled Vivi.
"Those idiots…" sighed Sasuke.
"What star were they born under?" asked Zoro no one in particular.
"Let's just help them." Said Sanji.
With that Sanji, Sasuke, Zoro, Luffy and Naruto all attacked the giant monster lizard.
"Should have seen that coming." Said Sakura with a sweat drop.
"Couldn't they have just kill it?" asked Usopp crying.
"Against those 5… the poor monster never stood a chance." Said Nami.
"You think we can eat it?" asked Luffy.
"I think so." Said Sanji.
"Yay!" cheered Luffy.
"But it's not ramen…" whined Naruto.
Everyone who heard this sweat dropped.
And so they cook the dragon's meat on the rocks which acted as the perfect grill.
"So what's with the camel?" asked Zoro.
"I don't know." Said Luffy, "We were chasing the birds by they flew away"
"But we ran into this guy. Who was running from the dragon too." Said Naruto finishing the story.
"It has a saddle so it's tame." Said Ino.
"There looks to be room for two, so two of us can ride it." Said Hinata.
"That will be a relief." Said Sanji.
"I sense a kindred sprit in the camel." Said Kyubi.
Naruto sweat dropped, that sentence can only mean one thing.
Luffy tired to get on the camel, but started biting his head.
"Hey!" yelled Luffy.
The camel grumbled something… which Chopper translated, "He says he thanks for saving him and he's willing to give rides but only for women."
That's when the guys began to beat him up.
"You ungrateful little…" yelled Luffy.
"I knew he was a pervert… I sensed it…" said Kyubi.
Naruto on the other and helped beat up the camel… when he stopped.
"Naruto hat is it?" asked Luffy.
"I don't know… I thought I sensed something close by…" said Naruto, "Why do I get the odd feeling of death and fury nearby…"
Kyubi chuckled as silently as he could, "So she's nearby… I better not tell him… I don't know how he'll react." Thought Kyubi.
Zoro who didn't help beat up the perverted camel also sensed something, "Someone, or something is following us." He thought, he decided it was best to wait for the person to reveal themselves before he attacked them.
After the guys beat him up, Nami was treating him kindly, "Oh did the mean pirates beat you" said Nami.
"Um… Nami… the camel… his nose is bleeding." Said Sakura with a sweat drop, knowing right away she was not riding that camel.
"What should we call you?" asked Nami.
"Idiot!" suggested Luffy.
"Moron!" suggested Sanji.
"Jerk!" suggested Usopp.
"Super Perv!" suggested Kiba.
"Pervy Camel!" suggested Naruto.
"I know eyelashes." Said Nami as she got onto the camel.
"I think that might be the weirdest of them all." Said Zoro with a sweat drop.
"Come on Sakura!" said Nami.
"No way!" yelled Sakura, "I don't want to be anywhere near that camel."
Eyelashes the camel stared at Sakura who glared back… the Camel inched away slightly.
"Okay… I guess your scaring him." Said Nami, "How about you Vivi."
"I don't know…" said Vivi.
"Come on!" said Nami.
Vivi sighed and knew since she didn't scare the camel like Sakura did she didn't really have a choice and jumped on.
And that's when the two of them sped off.
"Why you!" yelled Usopp.
"Traitors!" yelled Kiba.
"I still love you Nami!" yelled Sanji.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Sasuke getting everyone attention.
They all turned their attention to Luffy who was currently falling about talking about a tidal wave.
"What did he eat?" asked Ino with a sweat drop.
"He ate some cactus along with the meat." Said Usopp.
"Was it that kind?" asked Chopper pointing to some cacti.
"Yeah. And I think Naruto ate some too." Said Kiba.
"What are you talking about you space coyote! Why do I need to find my soul mate!" yelled Naruto… pointing to an invisible… space coyote.
"I'm going to blow you all away! Gum Gum!" yelled Luffy.
That's when Chopper knocked him out with some sedative.
"Good job Chopper!" said Sanji.
"Now about the other idiot." Said Sasuke pointing to Naruto who looked to be trying to get the "Space Coyote" off his leg.
"You should get him too… you don't want him babbling about that Space Coyote." Said Sakura with a sweat drop.
Chopper all knocked out the other idiot who ate the cactus.
"We better hurry! We have to catch up." Said Ino.
"Let's go…" said Hinata.
Zoro began to drag Luffy while Sakura carried Naruto. They went through the desert trying to catch up to the camel, dragging the two unconscious, suffering though sandstorms, and at one point almost getting eaten by a giant frog. Eventually Luffy and Naruto woke up… which made almost everyone else beat them because of the stupid thing they pulled, ironically at the same time Usopp passed out from exhaustion…
Eventually they caught up with the came at night.
"It's cold…" whined Naruto.
"It's the desert… of course it gets cold." Said Kyubi, "At night that is…"
"You've been here?" asked Naruto.
"Never been to this island… this land was ruled by someone else if you get my meaning…" said Kyubi.
"Which one..." asked Naruto.
"If you haven't studied up on my kind then I'm not telling you… other than the fact he's a drunk… a really big drunk…" said Kyubi.
That's when they saw a town in sight.
"There it is. Yuba." Said Vivi.
"I can't see anything with all this sand." Said Luffy.
That's when the ground began to shake.
"What that?" asked Hinata.
"I don't know…" said Vivi.
They got closer and saw Yuba… which was being destroyed by a sandstorm!
Next Time: The Crew makes it Yuba and finds it's in ruins and there's an old man digging for water. What are Vivi's ties to this old man and the leader of the rebellion. Find out next time!