A/N: Onward I say! I made a minor change; Mei's cursed fruit is now the Kiri Kiri no mi, otherwise known as the mist mist fruit. I know a lot of you didn't like the idea of magma and lava being so damnably similair, so I decided to change it. I also went back and changed the last chapter to make absolutely certain no mistakes are made. Also, just picture these guys singing Bink's Sake. Ima having a freakin' laughing fit imagining it! Let's also clarify a few things, Sasuke's Devil Fruit is a rare one, to be named soon! And we see another interesting one the Ushi Ushi no mi Model...well I can't tell ya just yet! SPOILER! If I told you it now, I'd ruin the chapter! And with that...
...let the long awaited rebirth of this story begin!
"Teach...your head...IS MINE!"
~Naruto D. Uzumaki.
Fate
The fighting had already broken out in full force by the time Naruto and co. reached the next level. They felt the heat long before they reached where the arch had once been; a blistering, sweltering haze that reached down deep into their bones beneath their fur cloaks and proceeded to throttle them senselessly. It could be felt even here, from the staircase. The higher they ascended, the worse it grew. Even Sasuke, it seemed was not immune to the rising heat. Naruto was perversely pleased to see that not even his first mate could keep a straight face during their ascent.
"God," Tayuya gasped beside him, dabbing at her brow in a furtive effort to keep cool. "Its so fucking hot...
"I agree." Mei sighed, loosening the hem of her collar, "It is quite warm."
Naruto shared their sentiment and was about to voice his own discontent when an idea struck him. Discarding his own coat, he threw the encumbering garment to the wayside and raised his right hand, calling forth the lightest of breezes to his side. Tayuya was the first one to notice the change. She all but purred as the breeze passed over her, providing momentary relief from the roiling inferno surrounding them. The sound of battle rang out somewhere to the north of this burning hell, but right now, all she felt was contentment. She shot her captain a warm and genuine smile.
"I fucking love you." She sighed. Naruto started in surprise.
Craaaaaaap… His heartstrings felt like they were being attacked by invisible baby chipmunks. His own eyebrows shot up in unexpected surprise, but before he could comment on her impromptu confession, Mei beat her to the punch; sidling up to the other side of him and looping an arm in his own.
"Ara, I didn't know you felt so strongly for him...
Tayuya's face flushed darker than her hair.
"B-Baka! I didn't mean it like that!"
"Here we go again," Sasuke rumbled. This was precisely why he avoided females...
It was times such as these that made him wonder why exactly he'd decided to follow Naruto in the first place. Well, that was simple enough, when he thought about it. Naruto was strong. Sasuke needed stronge allies if he was ever to find his brother. Althhough he himself would've preferred being in charge of said group, he didn't mind handling the reigns over to Naruto who had been the one to free him in the first place. The blonde's fixation with procurring a crew and get the hell out of this hole was almost as single minded as his own desire for vengeance. The Uchiha respected that.
The man had drive; he knew what it was like to want someone dead.
Just like him...
(Flashback)
They were back in level six once more, mere moments from ascending the impromptu staircase to level five. Sasuke had taken Naruto and Tayuya aside and confided in them, revealing to them just how he intended to track down his brother and kill him. Much could go amiss here in Impel Down; he felt safer explaiing his purpose to the redhead and the blonde now, in case he should fall before the time came. Naruto and Tay listened in intent silence but the moment he mentioned the organization with which his brother was associated...well, there were some questions. Several questions.
"Akatsuki?" Naruto tilted his head to the side, "What the hell is that?"
"I've heard of them!" Tayuya exclaimed. "My old captain, Orochimaru used to work with those assholes! They're sorta like the Shichibukai. You know, pirates that have joined the government?" A lesser man might have missed the darkness that flitted over the blonde's visage just then. Sasuke was not a lesser man. He chose to keep it to himself, however, and let his captain speak.
"So they work for the marines?"
"NO!" Tayuya slapped Naruto on the shin. "I just said that they're like them! Rumour has it they work for the whoever's the highest bidder."
Naruto shot Sasuke a glance.
"Which would probably be...
...the Tenryubito." Sasuke finished. "You're correct. Regardless, they're a ruthlesss band of powerful pirates, the Akatsuki." He continued bitterly. "I was no match for them in Mariejoa. They defeated me in less than an instant and turned me over to the marines; I've been trapped in this hell ever since." This time there could be no mistaking the shadow that passed over their captain's face. His words seemed to drift by on a breeze as light as velvet and, had Sasuke been listening, he might've heard him say:
"At least you didn't get that damned mark on your back."
"Huh?"
"Nope, nothing!" Naruto beamed, his sudden bout of depression gone with the wind. "Still, thats all the more reason to get a good crew! Then we'll kick all their asses!"
His nakama sweatdropped.
"Oi oi...
(End Flashback)
"HEY!"
A sharp cry of indignation dragged Sasuke back to the present.
"Thanks alot, mist bitch!" Tayuya was cursing as Naruto, having somehow disentangled himself from the two of them was now walking a good ways ahead of the group. "Now I've lost my breeze!"
It was all the Uchiha could do not to snort. He would follow this man, if only for a little while longer. It wasn't like he had anything better to do...
Naruto said nothing as he stormed forward, his eyes darting about, absorbing everything. Bodies were strewn everywhere, some withered to dried husks, others, beaten to a bloody pulp, still others little more than that of crimson smears on the pavement. A small smile played at the edges of his mouth. Evidently, they were not the first ones to make it here after all. He could hear gunfire in the distance, the screams of the guards and jailors as they were overpowered by Luffy and the others. Naruto paid no heed to any of that. He glanced left, then right, as though searching for something. Or someone? Abruptly he sucked in a breath and held it. For a moment-just a moment!-the avenger couldn't help but wonder; what was his captain thinking?
"OI!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "IS ANYONE STILL HERE?!"
Sasuke facepalmed.
That's what he was up to?!
Silence reigned supreme. It seemed Ivankov had already released the prisoners on this level. Sasuke sighed; thanking the gods for this gift. The last thing he wanted was another wierdo in their little band of misfits and vagabounds. Now, if they could just proceed without further incident-
"Yo!" A voice answered. "Over here, baka yarou, kono yarou!"
Damn you gods!
Naruto blinked, his verbal tirade cut brutally short.
"Did you say something? he asked Sasuke.
The swordsman shook his head vicsiously.
"I didn't hear anything."
But Naruto would not be so easily dissuaded.
"Ladies?
Tayuya and Mei simultaneously shrugged.
"Nope."
"I thought I heard something, too...
"Over here, ya fool!"
Naruto paused at the edge of the catwalk and rounded on the voice; bringing himself face to face with one of the few cells lining the length of the wall. He could see any number of figures hunched down in the dark, but those were the ones too weak to move; too broken by a life behind bars. Who then, had spoken?
"Who said that?"
"Here!"
Naruto snapped to attention, leaning his head through the bars.
"You?" he asked, adressing a shadow figure way in the back.
There was a moment of silence as the man behind the bars adjusted his sunglasses which impossibly, glinted with light. Yes, sunglasses. Why anyone would wear such a thing in a prison-or even be allowed-was beyond him. But no one could have been prepared for what came next.
"Yo say ho! Know my name, know my fame, don't be lame! Eight tails, that's me, da rappin' Killer Bee!" Somewhere behind them, Mei stifled a giggle. Apparently she found his routine endearing. Sasuke didn't. A fierce, predatory gleam entered the Uchiha's eye as he regarded the man crouched behind the bars.
"Why should we release you?" he demanded. "What skills do you have?"
"Ain't got no skills, fool!" Bee replied, "But I know how ta fight, dat be true!"
Naruto shot Sasuke a pleading glance.
"No." He replied.
"But Saaaaaaasuke-
"We are not letting him out of there." The Uchiha's scorn was barely concealed. "He's annoying!"
"We can't just leave him." argued the blond.
"Oh, yes we can." Sasuke insisted.
"We can't!" Naruto snapped back. "I'm the captain! I say he comes!"
Exasperated, the avenger drew his blade.
"You want me to cut you?!"
Naruto raised an arm in retaliation, the invisible eddies of his element swirling at his sleeve.
"What was that, duckbutt?!"
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Tayuya shrieked, her fists raising merciless lumps on both of their heads. "Will you two take this seriously?!" Both men winced, mildly alarmed that Tayuya had been able to strike them despite the fact that they were far from a solid. Haki...? They wondered at her for a moment before lowering their respective gazes/weapons to the floor.
"Tch," Naruto grumbled, rubbing at his scalp with a sore hand. "Lets have a vote, then! You first, Sasuke!"
"I think it's best we leave him," the swordsman told his nakama, decisiveness like iron in his voice. "He has no skills we can use other than that abyssmal rapping." As if on cue Killer Bee chose that very moment to pipe up again, much to Sasuke's charign.
"A devil fruit resides inside my hide! Makin beats and rhymes and I'm makin' 'em live! Its what a pirate needs ta survive, battle after battle up here in the Bee hive! Toss me the keys bro and I'll come alive!" A viscsious glare coupled with unsheathing of Kusangi silenced the up-and-coming rapper, dissuading him from continuing any further. When Sasuke was certain he wouldn't be interrupted again, he sheathed his sword and offered a final retort to make his point.
"Do we really want to put up with that?"
"I think we should release him." Mei put in, her words soft and fluid as her own element. "He could be useful. We'll never know if we don't take a risk here." All eyes fell upon Tayuya, the only crew member who had yet to voice an opinion; yet to cast a vote in favor or against for the releasing of prisoner.
"Oh hell no." the muscician raised her hands to ward of their stares. "I'm staying out of this one!"
Sasuke frowned.
"Tayuya...
"Ugh, fine!" she growled. "We already have a musician, in case ya've forgotten! So leave him locked up! That's what I say!"
Naruto regarded the keys-and his nakama-for a precious secondlonger, as though he were deciding whether or not to give a dog its bone. "Alright then," He whispered softly aloud. "If that's your decision then as the captain...I hereby overule you!" With a flippant flick of a wrist he flung the keys air and into the cell. There was a harsh rattle as they skidded across the floor, punctuated by a stunned silence as his three crewmates gawped at him. They had never once thought
"Why the hell did you do that?!" Tayuya shrieked. "I thought we took a vote!"
Naruto gave her a pointed look.
"Nakama can appear anywhere, Tayuya-chan...don't you forget that."
"But-
A loud clack pierced the silence as someone unshackled themselves. Silence. then-
"Weeeeeee!"
Naruto froze, his head turning in the direction of the voice as a wet squelching sound resounded from beyond the bars.
"Maybe we shouldn't be standing this close...
Mei was about to respond to that when all of a sudden a horde of tentacles-eight in total-came at them like mini torpedoes. Sasuke hissed.
"Move!"
Everyone lurched backward in surprise as octopus tentacles stabbed outwards and burst through the bars; tearing the grate to pieces like so much timber. Naruto laughed aloud; well, this was unexpected! He danced a yard backwards, skipping in retreat as something monstrous took shape beyond the bars. He couldn't quite make it out for certain in the faint glow offered by the flames but he was vaguely certain it looked like a cross between a large ox and...an octopus?
"What the fuck is that?!" Tayuya gawped. "It's...huge!"
Mei's reaction was only slightly less subdued, she simply arched an eyebrow and laughed softly at the otherwise grotesque display. Sasuke muttered blackly to himself, something about the four of them running a freak show and charging for admission. Naruto heard all of this and grinned; he was actually enjoying himself! To think, they'd find another nakama! Granted, the man didn't seem to possess any skills beyond that of this, his devil fruit-the ghastly rhyming didn't count!-
Without warnning, the tentacles retracted from whence they'd come, resolving into the large body of a tan, musclebound man bearing the Kanji for 'iron' upon his right shoulder. His fair, blond hair and mustache stood out in a sharp contrast against his skin. Dark shades obscured his eyes and whatever else might have lurked behind those glasses. Much like the other prisoners, he wore the black and white prison garb of Impel Down, minus the sleeves. He strode out of the cell as if he owned it, whistling softly to himself, a spring in his step and a gleeful glint behind his glasses.
"Yo!" He rapped, walking up to Naruto and, flashing the peace sign. "Thanks for letting me go, bro! I promise ta follow ya wherever, dont'cha know! Yay!" Instead of extending a hand he offered a fist. Naruto hesistated a fraction of a second before he raised his own. Without a word he thrust forward, smacking his clenched kuncles against the man's with a resounding thwack. Both men grinned.
"Great." Sasuke grumbled. "We've picked up another stray."
"Will we clash or be a smash?" Bee wondered aloud, peering at Sasuke. "I dare say it'll be a no go! I'm a brat hatin' outlaw, yeah!"
Sasuke glared bloody red daggers at Naruto.
"Next time, I get to pick the nakama."
The logia user laughede and slapped Bee on the back.
But the rapping pirate wasn't finished.
"Yo!" Killer-Bee rhymed, thrusting two fingers imperiously toward a wide-eyed Tayuya and an amused Mei. "Sound da alarm! Da captain's got a woman on each arm! Sexy, lovely, full a' charm! Better watch out, 'for yo come to harm! Weeeee-
WHAM!
Half a second later, Killer Bee found his face intimate with the deck in a way no self-respecting pirate desired, simultaneously nursing a rising welt upon his skull. Sneering dangerously, hand clutched into a fist, Tayuya stormed back to Naruto's side as though nothing happened. As though she hadn't singlehandedly knocked out a man with a single punch. In that area alone she clearly exceeded his expectations. Who would've thought such a spry little thing could be so damnably strong?
Oh cruel ordainer of fate… he thought to himself.
"Oi?" he asked, nudging Bee with a toe. "You okay?"
The man jerked back to life and leapt to his feet.
"Hey ho! I'm okay, dont'cha know!"
"Good." Without another word Naruto started forward, moving from a walk, to a jog, then an all out run. "Because from here on out, we're not taking a backseat to the action!" Footsteps told him that his nakama were following him matching him stride for stride. He grinned, looking briefly over his shoulder. "Shall we show them...how real pirates fight, everyone?" He was rewarded by a chorus of affirmatives: Sasuke unsheathed his sword. Tayuya sneered. Mei smiled. Killer Bee pumped a fist.
"LET'S GO!"
Luffy knew something was amiss the moment the wind began to pick up. Because there could be no wind in Impel Down. Sound itself seemed to fade...before a piercing shriek slammed into his ears and left him all but deafened. He wasn't the only one; even as he and the others struggled with their sudden deafness a sudden chill descended upon the sweltering hell that was level four. The flames themselves seemed to flicker, fading as he looked on. But the silence was short-lived. With a sharp 'pop!' sound returned to Luffy's world. That was when he heard it. When he saw it.
A keening green gust swept across the catwalks like a silent scythe, scouring them clean of enemy and ally alike. Someone screamed. Screamed, as they were flung into the flames of hell, as a blur of white gold zipped past and snatched them from the jaws of death at the last moment. The sounds of battle fell away into silence; everyone was shocked by the sudden prescence of the new arrivals. A dense fog hung over them, lifting a tad reluctantly before their passage. As one they advanced, walking right into the fray without so much as a care in the world.
"Heh." A familair voice chortled from within the fog. "Well done ladies. It seems we've made quite the entrance."
"Mmm...I'm glad you liked it, Naruto-kun."
"Hey! Don't get so cosy with him, Mei!"
"Oi...
"Weeeeeeeeee! Let's get this party started!"
The fog continued to spread, stretching its fingers through the hordes of Blugori and men nearest them, clinging to them like a second skin. It passed through the pirates harmlessly; the marines and jailors were not so fortunate. Several gagged as the mist suddenly solidified in their throats; sticking inside their lungs, gagging, choking, drowning them where they stood.
"It's him!" One of the guards wailed in despair. "He's finally here!"
Luffy's head snapped back and forth, a puppet severed from its strings. Because he was here. In force. The jailors of Impel Down seemed to realize this as well if the puddles of urine pooling beneath their feet were any indication of how they felt. And still, none dared strike Abruptly the murky mist fell away, exposing five faces to the burning hell. Five faces that would stand forever in infamy.
"Whitebeard's Grandson, Naruto Newgate! H-He's got a bounty of 500,000,000 Berrie!"
"Will ya stop calling me that?!"
"And he's not alone!" Luffy realized this was truth; as he recognized a host of other individuals crowding up behind the blond, four in total. "Look there! Beside him...that's...
"!"
"The avenger, Uchiha Sasuke! 450,000,000 Berrie!"
"Hn."
"Red Mistress, Tayuya! 400,000,000 Berrie!"
"Where the hell is Saldeath?!"
"Water Shadow, Terumi Mei! 399,000,000 Berrie!"
"Ara, it feels so nice to be recognized."
"Ox of the sea, Killer Bee! 420,000,000 Berrie!"
"That's Killer Bee-sama, baka yarou, kono yarou!"
"T-They all have bounties over three million!"
Jailors guards and Blugori alike, everone grew paler and paler as they recognized each individual, their own peril becoming more and more apparent with each passing second. Some seemed to wilt. Others simply soiled themselves where they stood. It had been bad enough that they were forced to face this crowd of okama, but now...this?!
Luffy was almost jealous; all of their bounties were higher than his!
Naruto said nothing more; he simply stood there, eyes agleam with controlled bloodlust. He brought with him not an army, as they'd expected, but rather, a small group. Luffy didn't have to look at them, to know they were strong; there was simply an aura of supreme confidence about these people. Confidence in themselves, and confidence in their captain.
"Shishishi!" Despite the direness of the situation, the strawhat captain couldn't help but chuckle. "Looks like he found some nakama of his own!"
"Lets play a game, shall we?" Naruto announced suddenly. "Whoever defeats the most wins."
The guards didn't take very kindly to that, no they did not!
"Get him!
"Get him!"
Naruto whirled as three of the blugori charged him at once, driving one's brain against the inside of his skull with a flying kick – then following through, grabbed the other two's head, cracked them together like eggs, and dropped them. A fourth came from the side, roaring like a barbarian with its axe raised over its head. The grandson of Newgate snorted and rolled his eyes at the sheer imbecility of such a tactic, before breaking the creature's nose with a simple swing of his wrist. Then he let it lie down.
"That's four, Sasuke!"
"Che!" The Uchiha snorted somewhere to the east, pausing briefly in his bout with a quartet of hapless prison guards. "I'm already on-
Ba-kram!
With a sudden swing, he sent them sprawling.
"Eight!"
"Nani?!"
"Sixteen." Mei chorused calmly as she dealt one of their jailers a smoldering look that could melt bone. The man noodled and sank to the ground in a boneless heap. "Oops," she ammended with a sultry smile. "Perhaps I meant seventeen."
Both men blanched.
"Thats not fair!"
"Weeeeee!" the newest member of their crew cackled. "Fear the Bee! He's already got twenty-three!"
"NANDA?!"
Ignoring her crew, Tayuya snarled and stalked forward into the fray. She'd glimpsed someone during the lull, and now she was intent on finding him. There would be time for games later. Now she wanted nothing more than to find that little imp and crush him to a bloody pulp! With her ability, it didn't take long for her to discern the sound of a flute in the rising cacophony of cries and curses surrounding her. Gotcha! Tayuya shouted a hairsbreadth louder than she normally would; the sound slammed into the guards like an invisible wall, casting them aside like so much refuse and presenting her a path forward.
Presenting her with her long-awaited prey.
"Saldeath!"
The little imp paled at the sight of her; this vindictive redhead back from the pits of hell; her mouth twisted into a devilish smirk. It didn't take him long to realize what she was after; what she'd come to reclaim. It took him even less to turn tail and run. Sasuke felt a touch of pity for the fool as he fled; there was no chance in hell that he was going to escape from her, no matter how fast he ran.
"Gimme back my flute you little fucking midget!"
"Get her, Blugori!" The imp wailed, pressing the flute to his lips, playing with a desperation born of both fear and terror. "Don't let her get meeeeee!" The Blugori themselves stiffened in response to the melody, pausing only for the tune to send the horde of monsters swarming toward the startled redhead.
"Asshole!" She snarled, chasing after the impish little man. "That's my technique!"
"Allow me." Mei stepped forward, the slighest of smiles playing at her full lips. "I suggest you stand well back from this." Without another word, the mist woman drew in a deep breath and exhaled mightily. She lived up to her name well; spewing an acrid cloud of dense fog from her lips to envelop most of the walkway. The Blugoiri charged into the mist without thought or care, heedless of their own potential peril. It was their first and last mistake. Sasuke watched them keenly, ready to strike them down with his blade if need be. In the end, he needn't have bothered.
Because the Blugori began to melt.
Their features sloughed off their faces, their bodies withering in the seemingly innocuous mist. Naruto gawped at them in disbelief; leaving the abominsations to paw and claw at one another in their feebble attempts to save themselves. But to no avai. Their struggles only hastened their decay, leaving them to collapse in a pool of melted metal and sludge. For the first time Bee was left without words. Sasuke seemed to share his keen sentiment.
The swordsman actually jumped. "Nanda?!"
"Well...shit." Naruto gawped, nuding the goopy puddle with a toe. "Acid mist. That's a new one."
"Do you like it?" Mei offered a small smile. "I can change its PH level at a whim; its completely harmless now. And of course, I'm immune to my own technique." Naruto didn't know what to say to that. A mist that could melt just about anything in the span of several seconds...scary stuff. Reminds me to stay on her good side. He shook himself with a shiver. Where was Tayuya, anyway? They'd lost track of her in the chaos. Fear lodged itself in the pit of his stomach. Surely the redhead hadn't been-
"Victory!"
Everyone craned their necks at Tayuya's piercing cry of triumph. The redhead practically bounced back to them, her most precious possession clutched firmly in her hand. The flute. It was a small, almost tiny thing, but then again, appearances could be deceiving. She was covered in blood from head to toe; leaving little guess as to Saldeath's end. "I killed him!" She cackled gleefuly. "I killed the little bastard!" She thrust her hard-won prize up for them alll to see, delight prancing in her hazel eyes.
"Yo!" Bee cackled. "Tay knows how ta fight, Tay knows how ta sing! Don't mess wit' her or ya'll feel her sting!" Everyone-even Naruto-cringed, in preparation of another scathing rebuttal from the redhead; imagine their surprise when she offered a sly smile instead.
"You know what, Bee?" she grinned. "You keep flattering me like that, and I think we'll actually get along."
"It'll be a smash!" Bee chorused.
"I'll kick your ass!"
"Not on da grass!"
The two of them laughed at their impromptu rhyme and struck a simultaneous pose, fingers splayed toward the scalding ceiling.
"Yay/Yay!"
Sasuke sweatdropped.
"I'm surrounded by idiots...
"Does that include me?" Naruto asked innocently.
"Urusai!"
The dull creaking of a door ended their little game, drawing everyone's attention. Was the enemy giving up so easily? Naruto frowned, a prickling of warning from his Observation Haki told him all was not well. He flung up a gale and just in time; prison bullets whipped past them, the nets spiralling harmlessly away in the wind. Others weren't so lucky. Lacking the elemental prowess of the logia they found themselves captured, bound in the mesh like a spider trapped within a web.
"This is the fortress of hell!" They balked, alarmed to find themselves face to face with the assistant warden himself, Hannybal. "You shall not pass!" The astonishment swiftly wore off as a weary exhausted Luffy took a step forward, demanding that the man move. Did he move? He did not. He watched them for a time, even admired Hannybal's refusal to fall after the first few jet pistols. Naruto sighed, and pulled down on the hem of his collar. They didn't have time for this.
"Sasuke?"
"On it."
The avenger stepped forward, fixing Hannybal firmly within his gaze, an easy fact when one saw that he'd just been knocked down again by Luffy. A small smiled played at the edges of the avenger's lips, his coal black eyes flaring a harsh crimson as the world looked on.
"Don't kill him." Naruto warned as Sasuke's right eye began to bleed. "We just want to scare him a little. Maybe knock him out."
The Uchiha snorted.
"Amateratsu."
But before he could fire off the lethal technique, the guards on the stairwell started screaming.
"Help!"
Sasuke blinked, his concentration sahttered by the sudden tide of shadow that came sweeping down the stairs; it was if the ground itself had swallowed the guards whole. Luffy and Hannybal froze, their bout ended in an instant by this sudden intrustion.
"Just give it up!" A rough voice cackled from out of the blackness. "Spouting all that crap about 'Justice' or 'Evil'! You can look all over the world, but you'll never find an answer!" A booted foot materialized deep within that sick swirl of shadow and smashed itself into the assistant warden's face, putting him down for good. "Ridiculous!" Its owner materialized, a large, pot-bellied man wearing a dark coat and even darker trousers. His broken teeth bore all the semblance of a smile, but it did not reach his eyes. Shadows spouted from his back, disgorging all the guards he'd captured, spewing them out like so much refuse.
It was as if the man were darkness itself.
"Oh?" the man laughed aloud as his crew materialized behind him. "Well this sure is an impressive group. We've walked in on a pretty major incident, huh?"
"Teach!" Jimbei growled. "What are you doing here?!" His white eyes narrowed. "Or I suppose I should call you Blackbeard now?"
Naruto and Luffy bristled as one, but it was the blonde who was truly affected. In his minds eye he saw it all over again. The blood. So much blood...
"Blackbeard..."
"Hey, hey, no need to be so violent." The now-named Blackbeard grinned jovially. "Mind unclenching that fist of yours? Oh yeah, I heard you and Ace were good friends, huh? But I'm not the one you should be blaming here, zehahahaha!"
A tiny smile broke out on Naruto's chiseled face, like a crack etching along a stone surface. He laughed, then; it was a deep, throaty sound, not a thing like himself. The wind, keening like a lost child, stirred his ragged blond hair caressing it with cold fingers, gathering in the palm of his hand as the whole of Level Four looked on.
"Blackbeard!"
Teach frowned, rounding on the blond as though seeing him for the first time. His eyes widened in recognition. "Hoh!" He laughed. "Well, if it isn't Naruto! Long time no see! How long has it been? A decade? Two?!" His grin grew lecherous as he beheld Tayuya and Mei. "Nice pair of broads ya got there. Looks like prison life has treated you well, eh?" His gaze found Sasuke, and Killer Bee. You've even got yourself a crew! I'm proud of ya, kid!"
"Proud?"
Naruto snarled, his pupils dilating as increased adrenaline began to pump through his system, his visible eye blue. And bright with bloodlust.
At the sight, their cook felt her blood vibrate.
Mmmm…
His teeth gleamed wolfishly in the shadow of his ragged locks.
"You have some nerve saying that, Teach." His voice rose over the din. "After what you did...after what you did...
"Ha?"
...to my mother!"
The keening of the wind erupted into a furious roar; a veritable tornado swirling in his palm, compressed into a sinister sphere. Teach balked at it, his crew balked at it, hell, everyone did! Naruto thrust his hand toward the ceiling, his scream lost over the howling storm.
Naruto snarled and flung his hand even further to the heavens.
"Teach...your head...
...IS MINE!"
"That's some screech," Tayuya winced, crincing as the wind whipped itself higher and higher. Even with her own devil fruit abilities she found she had to cover her ears just to drown out the incessant shriek of the rising maelstrom. The bitter keening of the wind rose in pitch, scouring the tormented hell that they found themselves in. And still it spiraled higher, sparking and spitting in the blonde's upturned palm. His eyes flashed a foul crimson color, his pupils snapping slitted as he brought his arm back to launch the massive technique.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!"
Mei didn't waste any time; she ducked backwards, as did Bee, dragging Tayuya with them.
Sasuke had less than an instant to register these words before Naruto flung his technique forward. The Uchiha lurched into motion, arching his back in mid-lunge. His hair blew across his face as something passed with impossible speed overhead. He glimpsed nothing more than a ripple in the air itself, the faintest whisp of steam or mist wadded into a ball like so much discarded parchment. Had he not been looking right at it, indeed, expecting something very much like it, he'd never have known it was there.
Blackbeard didn't even have time to blink; one moment Naruto was holding it, the next, he flung it, just like its namesake.
"Rasenshuriken!"
And the world erupted.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! My damn keyboard keeps acting up, so I apologize for any grammatical errors. Naruto's gone to war with Blackbeard! What the hell did that man do to his mother to get him so riled up all of a sudden? Find out next time in...My Pride is a Hurricane! I know I've been away frofor awhile, and for that, I apologize. I fully intend to continue this story! Updates will come much sooner now! Anyone who has suggestions for the rest of Naruto's crew, to fill the remaining positions, by all means, suggest it! We still need a shipwright, a sniper, a doctor, a navigator, and so much more! Feel free to let me know in your review! I worked uber hard on this grand chapter! And one final thing, yes, Naruto MAY have relations with Boa Hancock in this story as well, if you catch my hint! The War of the Best is coming up soon! Look forward to it!
So...in the immortal words of Atlas...
...Review, would you kindly?
R&R! =D