The banquet went on, the straw hats quickly warmed up to the two despite the intrusion on their ship and they were beginning to feel like they had known the crew for ages. Naruto and Sasuke were given sake despite being teenagers' and a bunch of delicious food, some consisting of their favorite foods.
Sasuke decided not to drink, simply listening to everybody's introductions and chatting with the girls on the ship about where they were heading, he made a mental note of everybody's names, practicing the pronunciation in his head over and over again.
Safe to say, he didn't have a hang over when he woke up... Unlike a certain blonde. He did have a headache because he had slept on the floor, allowing Naruto to take the spare hammock, since everybody was too wasted to care he didn't complain, but the hardwood floor was pretty cold and rough so he was sure he had a couple of splinters.
He groaned, ruffling his hair and looking around, the sky was mostly dark but the faint light of the rising sun blinded him. He managed to make it to his feet without making too much noise and stretched, hearing a satisfying pop from his joints. Taking in his surroundings, he saw that most of the crew was sprawled out in their hammocks, either snoring or stirring in their sleep. His eyes landed on an empty hammock, he quickly took note of who it belonged to, the strawhat's cook and assumed he was already preparing breakfast.
Sasuke quickly made his way out of the men's quarters and out onto the deck, he made sure to bring his sword and a spare change of clothes, he was in need of a shower.
Heading towards the bathroom and making his way inside was already tiring him, he didn't get enough sleep last night but it would have to do, he'd spent many sleepless nights alone back in their own world... Nothing's different here.
"Dammit..." He felt his eyes warm up, probably tears he thought, wiping them away and stepping in the shower.
The cold water hit his skin and he shivered, quickly finishing his business before anybody woke up, worst of all, Naruto.
'That dobe would probably want to join me...' Sasuke shook his head, drying his himself off and doing the same with his hair.
"Hope that whoever has that pink shampoo doesn't mind that I borrowed from them..." Sasuke went up to the sink, taking out his tooth brush to brush his teeth.
Sasuke nearly gagged at the state of the deck when he stepped out, it was a mess, bottles and clothes were scattered, the plates had probably been taken inside already and cleaned. He sighed, trying to ignore the smell as he swiftly made his way towards the galley. He nearly slammed the door open as he tried to get away from the smell.
"Oh, you're awake?" Sanji looked up from the stove, glancing quickly towards Sasuke.
"You took a shower already?" Sasuke nodded, quickly making his way towards the cook.
"I'm gonna do the laundry, give me a garbage bag as well, I cannot stand the smell outside." Sasuke nearly vomited just thinking about it... How filthy.
Sanji raised his eyebrows in surprise but nodded, pointing towards the cabinet that held the cleaning supplies.
"You know how to do the laundry?" Sanji asked.
Sasuke nodded, he turned away from him for a moment, inhaling deeply and slamming the door open and stomping outside. Sanji only chuckled, shaking his head.
"The kids get weirder and weirder..."
"Oi! Sasuke." Sasuke looked up at Sanji, laundry basket in his hands.
"Are you hungry?" Sanji smiled a bit.
Sasuke perked up, nodding quickly. Sanji chuckled at the action, looking over towards the sun, the morning light gave him a nice glow and his smile grew, it was nice to have an early riser like himself.
"Do you have onigiri...?" Sasuke had turned the washing machine on and made his way back on deck, quickly walking towards Sanji.
Sanji sighed softly and ruffled Sasuke's hair, nodding. "Yeah, come on, they might wake up soon, don't want Luffy to steal your food."
Sasuke followed the cook into the galley, sitting down at the dining table and resting his head on his arms for a bit.
"Didn't get much sleep last night?" Sanji sat a plate of onigiri in front of Sasuke.
Sasuke shook his head, reaching for one and nibbling on it, enjoying the variety of flavor that washed over his taste buds. He closed his eyes in satisfaction and muttered a small thanks to Sanji.
Sanji nodded. "Do you like coffee?"
"Hn..." Sasuke nodded.
"What kind?" He quickly took the kettle, heating up some water.
"Black, no sugar Sanji-san." Sasuke turned his attention back to his food, savoring the taste while Sanji blushed, the formality clearly caught him off guard.
"Right..."
(A couple of hours later...)
"Sasuke?!" Naruto burst through the galley door, scanning the room and seeing both Sanji and Sasuke staring up at him.
"Dobe... Stop yelling, you'll wake the others." Sasuke warned, turning his attention back towards the cook.
"Is that food? Can I have some?" Naruto practically skipped towards the dining table and Sanji nodded, pushing the plate in Naruto's direction.
"Thanks!"
"I've got something to ask you guys." Sanji began, setting down his own mug of coffee and catching the attention of both of them.
"Hn... What is it Sanji-kun?" Naruto stopped eating for a moment, waiting for the other to start speaking again.
"That woman earlier, Valentine-chwan~ Was she your caretaker?" Sanji blushed a bit when he thought about her beauty.
"Sanji-san... Are you thinking perverted things about our... sister..." Naruto smirked when Sasuke unconsciously called Valentine their sister.
"No! Don't worry! I just want to know where you come from, I mean how the hell did you guys survive on fishman island as humans for so long?" Sanji
Sasuke swallowed the last bit of coffee and exchanged looks with Naruto, the blonde nodded back to him and sighed.
"Sanji-san... Can this wait for when everybody wakes up? It would be more practical..." Sasuke wiped his mouth, finished with his food.
Sanji nodded, sighing. "Sure Sasuke." He grabbed the plates and mugs and walked over to the sink, washing them while the two teenage boys whispered.
"Dude- Sanji-san? Also the hair ruffling and the soft tone?! Dude don't tell me... You're replacing ItachI?" Naruto teased, shaking Sasuke a little.
Sasuke nearly popped a blood vessel. "Shut it you dobe... He's just nice company... I mean the whole pervert thing is kind of weird but I can look past it!"
"Whatever, nice save anyways I had no idea what I was gonna say... I mean would they even believe us?!" Naruto whisper yelled, catching Sanji's attention.
They both gave wobbly smiles, clearly sweating. He only shook his head, a bit concerned but went back to what he was doing.
"Shut up! Stop yelling, yeah I honestly just spewed the first thing that came to mind... Let's just hope we can make some excuse." Sasuke rubbed his forehead in an attempt to soothe his headache.
"Mmm, sure teme, for now though... Let me eat!" Sasuke deadpanned.
"Who was stopping you?" Sasuke rolled his eyes, spreading out the newspaper he got from Sanji.
"Hm? Whas wis Sawske?" Naruto spoke with food in his mouth, the action disgusted Sasuke and he backed away.
"Dobe finish eating first, its newspapers from nearly a year back, I'm learning the history of this world..." Sasuke grumbled.
Naruto gulped down his food, taking a hefty swing of water and looking back at his best friend, grinning like an idiot when he spoke.
"You're so smart Sasuke!" He patting him on the back, a little too hard...
"Someone has to be..." Sasuke mumbled.
"MEAT!" Luffy came charging through the door, Sasuke winced at the sound.
"Damn rubber! Shut up you might wake Nami-swan and Robin-cwan!" Sanji yelled at him, although in vein since the two girls walked in right after Luffy.
"Too late for that..." Nami groaned, stretching a little and ignoring the swooning Sanji when the other crew members filed in after them.
"Oh, Sasuke, Naruto, you're already awake?" Usopp raised a brow, surprised.
"Yeah, Sasuke's been awake for like 4 hours, I've only woken up like..." Naruto trailed off, causing everybody to facepalm.
"Dobe it's been nearly an hour since you woke up." Sasuke confirmed, sipping on another cup of coffee, curtsey of Sanji.
"You're an early riser?" Robin sat down and beginning to eat before Luffy stole any of her food.
"Yeah! Sasuke always goes to sleep super late and wakes up super early... Honestly I don't get how he does it!" Naruto exclaimed, earning a shocked expression from many of the straw hats.
"That's not good! Do you have insomnia?!" Chopper sat beside Sasuke, shaking his arm a little.
"Hn..."
Naruto chuckled. "He said yes, or 'I think'." Naruto confirmed.
"What's insomnia?" Luffy titled his head, still shoving food into his mouth and Chopper could barely understand him.
"Don't talk while your mouth is full!" Sanji yelled, delivering a kick to the top of Luffy's head.
"To answer your question, insomnia is basically when somebody struggles to fall asleep and stay asleep." Robin sipped on her coffee, explaining.
"What?! That's horrible!" Luffy yelled, and Zoro nodded in agreement.
Chopper hadn't even noticed when Luffy stole his food and simply kept bugging Sasuke about his health for the duration of breakfast.
"Oh right! Sanji-kun wanted to ask us some questions earlier, but we thought it would be better if we answered them now, instead of repeating ourselves." Naruto exclaimed, smiling.
Everybody perked up, intrigued more than ever. "Dobe we could've avoided it..." Sasuke whispered to Naruto, the blonde just bit his lip and nodded, ashamed.
"Right. I think you should answer my previous question now." Sanji sat in front of Sasuke and watched him intently but Sasuke looked unbothered, staring right at him.
"What was it that you asked?" Robin turned to Sanji.
The cook suddenly got hearts in his eyes and got up to do a little dance while answering Robin's question enthusiastically.
"Well... I'd like to know too... Unless you lied?" Usopp quirked a brow.
"Yeah you'd know..." Zoro murmured.
"Well, we spent the entirety of our stay with Valentine-san and basically stayed out of the spot light." Sasuke finished his cup of coffee, frowning at the bottom.
"Sanji-san... May I have another cup?" Sasuke looked away, blushing lightly.
Sanji hesitated but nodded a few seconds later, going up to make him another cup while he listened to the questions his crew mates asked, incredibly curious to where these two originated from.
"How did you meet her?" Nami sat up, wiping her mouth.
"Ah... Well I don't actually remember?" The strawhats raised their eyebrows in confusion to Sasuke's answer.
"From what she told us we... fell..." Naruto whispered the last word when he saw the glare Sasuke was sending him. He coughed.
"I mean, Valentine-chan found us pretty injured and quickly took care of us... Then she offered for us to stay if we did some chores... and yeah?" Naruto looked at Sasuke for approval.
The Uchiha sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, feeling like he was going to suffocate under all the judgmental gazes.
"Can you two fight?" Zoro spoke up, bored. "I saw that you had a sword, can you actually use it though?"
Nami hit him on the top of the head, cursing at him to be a bit more polite. Zoro groaned and rubbed the bump that was forming, annoyed by her actions but he chose not to speak anymore. Just in time, Sanji sat down and handed Sasuke another cup of coffee, which the raven haired teenager accepted gratefully.
"Yeah Sasuke's great with the sword! I can barely dodge even when he's just playing around!" Naruto chuckled, and Luffy followed.
Zoro smirked a little, carefully taking in the physique of the Uchiha and observing his body language. The boy seemed laid back, unbothered and a bit arrogant but he was surprisingly well mannered... Unless that was some type of trick?
"What can you do Naruto?" Brook managed to turn the whole crew's attention towards the blonde haired man and Naruto chuckled a bit, scratching the back of his head.
"Well I can fight really well! Although I usually specialize in hand to hand combat..." Naruto nervously glanced at Sasuke, the Uchiha bit his lip and nodded.
"Cool!" Luffy chuckled.
"How old are you guys?" Chopper reluctantly asked, clinging to Sasuke's thigh, still worried about his health.
"We're both 17." Naruto confirmed.
"Woah! You guys are super young." Usopp gaped. "How come you guys are.. you know?"
Sasuke huffed, looking away. "Well we train a lot?" Naruto tried, but the excuse seemed far fetched.
"We went through some things, trauma makes you look older doesn't it? Now ask relevant questions, our appearance doesn't matter." Sasuke said monotonously , his sharp gaze made Usopp flinch and apologize.
"Sasuke calm down..." Naruto warned and the other nodded a bit, apologizing under his breath.
"Trauma?" Sanji stood up, walking towards the other side and kneeling next to Sasuke.
The strawhats all looked offended when they started whispering in secret and a few of them were jealous that their new crewmembers warmed up to Sanji first. Sasuke sighed and Sanji smiled, patting his knee.
"Naruto, if I may, why did you want to join us?" Robin spoke again.
"Well we wanted to see the world, and I thought; why not become pirates? Sasuke was a bit skeptical but he worries too much about me so he decided to come along." Naruto teased.
'So Sasuke is the more logical one? I could tell just from their looks...' Nami murmured to herself and earned a soft chuckle from Usopp who heard her.
"That's good! You're in my crew now!" Luffy laughed, pushing his plate towards Sanji and begging for more, he did receive more food but not after Sanji yelled at him.
"Wait didn't you say you heard about our arrival? How? You made it clear it was a long time before we even came to fishman island." Nami added.
"Oh, that would be him." Naruto pointed towards Sasuke, who nearly spit out his coffee from being put under the bus. It worked because the attention shifted once again towards the Uchiha.
"He found some notes, a mysterious figure apparently left them on the wall near a restaurant? I don't know. He's very observant so he immediately sensed something fishy." Naruto explained and the strawhats nodded, taking in the information.
"Impressive..." Robin admitted.
"Yeah, he said he kept the notes because he read about you guys in a newspaper once- actually he wro...ft-" A hand slapped over Naruto's mouth, shutting him up.
Luffy whined, looking towards the owner and finding that Sasuke seemed a bit alarmed at what Naruto was going to say. This didn't go unnoticed, but the Uchiha let him go when Naruto promised not to tell and he went back to his usual unbothered state.
"Teme."
"Dobe."
"Whatever, anyways, Sasuke knew a lot about you guys! He's a nerd..." He whispered the last part to the crew.
"He reads a whole bunch and basically explained everything the news had to say about you. I thought that you guys were cool compared to the other pirates so instead of starting my own crew I decided we should join you!" Naruto finished, settling back down.
Robin glanced at Sasuke for a moment, smiling a bit. "Really? You remind me of our captain in a way..." Luffy either didn't care or didn't hear her because he simply kept eating.
"Very carefree..." Sanji sighed.
"You, duck butt." Zoro stared Sasuke down. "Just how much do you know?"
"Zoro stop interrogating him." Usopp tried to calm Zoro down.
"Yeah bro, you're gonna scare them!" Franky laughed, irritating both of the teenagers.
"What? I want to know what their goal is here." Zoro shrugged.
"They said they wanna see the world... But are you guys really all that you say you are? How do I know you're not lying?" Nami glared at them.
'She's like Sakura!' Naruto paled.
Sasuke sighed, standing up and folding the newspaper he just finished. "We don't want anything from you, everything we told you is the truth, if you don't believe us. Fine, I couldn't care less, but don't assume you know everything."
"We're not some marines, or some dirty pirates who wanna steal your treasure or kill you guys off, we just wanna travel through the grand line and the New world, what happens on our trip doesn't matter. Frankly I couldn't even care about being a pirate, but this is how it turned out, we're apart of your crew." Sasuke spat, the whole galley going silent.
"Either learn to trust us or kick us out, simple." Sasuke started walking towards the galley door. "I'm done answering your questions, ask me later because right now... All you're doing is judging us and its pissing me off." His eyes flashed red, but he quickly looked away, slamming the door shut behind him.
Naruto quickly stood up as well, giving them a nervous smile. "Sorry guys... Sasuke's not the best at talking to people..."
"No way..." Usopp said, his words laced with sarcasm.
Naruto chuckled, jogging to the door. "He didn't have many friends even before we met Valentine... You know many people just wanted to use him so he doesn't take kindly to being interrogated or judged..."
The strawhats (Minus Zoro because he's too prideful) sulked and nodded, feeling a bit guilty after Naruto informed.
"I'm really sorry, I'll talk to him... Please take your time with him! He's grateful and so am I... He's just a bit cold. I hope you understand!" Naruto bowed apologetically.
"Its quite alright Naruto." Robin smiled. "Many of our own crew members were like him at first, we should have been friendlier, we'll apologize to him later."
Naruto smiled and nodded, thanking them again before making his way out of the galley to chase after his friend. The rest of the crew sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, debating on what they should do.
"Maybe we should just apologize? I mean we were a bit rude." Nami glared at Zoro, and he only looked away, a bit ashamed.
"Yeah, its for the best." Usopp nodded in agreement.
"Yosh! Captain's orders, everybody apologize to Sasooke and Naruto!" Luffy chuckled.
Sanji kicked him. "Idiot at least learn how to pronounce their names!"
"Sowwy..." Luffy rubbed his head.
(Meanwhile...)
"Sasuke! There you are!" Naruto jogged towards Sasuke, who was leaning on the railing near the front of the ship, clearly pissed.
"What is it dobe?"
Naruto inhaled and began; "Look Sasuke, I understand how you feel... But we're in a different world, they're nice people! I promise they won't try and use or hurt us... Look trust me on this." Naruto begged, leaning on the railing next to him.
Sasuke bit his lip, looking at the ground, his hands trembling from the cold. "I know Naruto... I mean fuck... I'm the one who made the decision for us to stay but I just don't know how to feel. They asked too many questions, it's like they think we're some parasites..."
Naruto sighed, rubbing the Uchiha's shoulders in an attempt to soothe him. "I don't want them to be scared of me, hell maybe I want them to like me but... They look at me the same way the village did to you and me... Like we're different."
"We are." Naruto spoke without thinking.
"Dobe, I know that, but... I don't know I guess I just lashed out... Damn it should I apologize?" Sasuke looked at Naruto.
Naruto smiled and backed away a little. "Maybe, but they feel pretty guilty as well. Think about it for a bit okay? No rush, we've got the whole world to see so take your time! I know feelings are a first for you!"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he unsheathed his sword, causing Naruto to sweatdrop and back away.
"Hey I was just kidding!"
"Oh no, let me show you what new emotion I learned just now dobe."
"Sasuke- wait!" Naruto's eyes widened and he began running.
Their game of cat and mouse had the strawhats racing outside in worry, thinking they were attacked. Much to their relief they saw the two boys play fighting. Although Zoro observed the way Sasuke swung his sword, his stance was a bit stiff but he was still very skilled, choosing for sharper swings.
'So he wasn't bluffing...' Zoro thought.
The crew was a bit relieved to see that Sasuke was no longer in his prissy mood, although he was only 17 he did look extremely cold and scary, so seeing him let loose was definitely nice.
Sasuke stopped when he saw the crew watching them, he sheathed his sword and looked away, clenching his hands into fists. Naruto noticed and glanced towards the strawhats sympathetically. Sanji was the first to go down towards the pair and apologized to Sasuke, clearly having a soft spot for the boy...
"Is alright..." Sasuke mumbled. Soon the rest made their way down and formally apologized to him, promising to be more considerate.
"Sorry I lashed out..." Sasuke huffed, looking at the grass.
"It's fine, we understand, we were too pushy." Usopp admitted.
"Well... Now that's settled, guys we still have work to do!" Nami yelled, quickly making her way to the front of the ship.
"Right!"
Naruto chose to go with Luffy, nodding for Sasuke to do what he wanted. While he was worried, he didn't want to keep a hold on Sasuke and he wished for the boy to do things he liked so he left him alone. Sasuke reluctantly reached for Sanji, grabbing his arm and halting him.
"Hm? Something wrong?" Sanji turned to him.
"Can I... Can I spend the day with you?" Sasuke hesitated a bit but managed to stutter out his request.
Sanji smiled, turning towards him and ruffling his hair. "Sure, do you know how to cook and clean?"
Sasuke nodded. "Alright, come on now." Sanji chuckled, letting the boy follow him silently.
"How nice." Robin chuckled.
"Hm?" Nami turned her attention to the older woman. "What is it Robin?"
"Nothing much navigator-san, just seems like our new crewmates are warming up to us quite well. I'm glad." Robin grinned.
"Ah yeah... Honestly I'm surprised Sasuke took such a liking to Sanji, the boy is so mysterious and quiet." Nami observed the log pose.
"I think Sasuke-kun is simply a bit more domestic than he appears."
"Maybe... Well I can't deny that I'm a bit nervous but excited about the two joining our crew. Can't help but wonder what the future holds in store for us." Nami smiled.
"Yes, I'm also very intrigued, I hope our future holds many new adventures." Robin chuckled softly, leaning on the railing and looking at the sun.
"I'm very excited."
