Disclaimer: I don't own anything
A/N: I would like to thank everyone who added this story to their favorites and follows as well as everyone who reviewed the last chapter.
"So what's the plan, Ace?"
Naruto leaned against the boat and smiled as water smacked her face. The fish glared at her before jumping back into the water, their tails almost giving her what could be their definition of a middle finger. Shaking her head, she breathed in the salty air and turned her body back to her captain. The male bit his apple and then blinked at her.
He does have a plan right? The blonde put down the ore and stared at the black-haired teen. It wasn't a big deal if he didn't have a plan but people genuinely had some idea of what they were doing. The only exception had been her, but that was only because she never imagined Kakashi-sensei would actually agreed to her request.
"I have got no idea," Ace finally said once he swallowed his apple. "The only plan I have right now is to find people to join our crew."
Our crew? Naruto's lips turned upwards and the blonde looked down at her feet. She felt her stomach fluttering and dancing around with happiness as black eyes continued to stare at her. It was nice. Ace was a really nice guy because he didn't have to include her. He could have simply said that it was his crew.
'The Matron says that we can't give any of our toys to you because you are naughty.'
She shook her head and took in a deep breath as Ace stared at her. Time to think of something else! What can we talk about? Families? Nah, for all she knew Ace could be an orphan like her and a topic like families might be touchy for him. It had been that way for her at least. It was always difficult to talk about something you never had.
Team Seven was her family but in a different way.
"Well since we're travelling together and everything, wanna tell me what is your dream?" Ace blinked and the blonde sunk into the seat of the small boat before gazing at the clear blue skies. A single cloud loitered around and the blonde tilted her head. "We should get to know each other after all."
The smile on her face faded as a wave of pain tickled her senses. Naruto took in a deep breath and regarded the quiet male sitting across her. No smile decorated his face and his black eyes looked thoughtful, not showing any hints of cheerfulness. Was it a bad topic? Dreams usually made people happy.
Why did the talk about dreams made Ace hurt?
"I want to be the greatest pirate," he finally answered with a grin. "What about you?"
Is it really your dream? Because you don't really seem all that happy? Naruto took a deep breath and looked down at her hands. Could she even call him out? It had been easy as a child but she was 17 now. Sakura and Hinata would tell her that a topic like this should be handled with delicateness.
She never fully understood what that meant but the blonde presumed she couldn't act like Sasuke and be blunt.
"I used to have three dreams," Naruto admitted. She took in a deep breath and felt her ribs groaned with relief as black eyes widened with disbelief. The blonde blinked and furrowed her eyebrows together. "What? You think it's weird that I have three dreams? I used to have four but I already accomplished one of them."
He bobbed his head. "Most people have one dream!"
She rubbed the back of her neck and offered him a sheepish smile before gazing at the sparkling blue waters. One dream. It was rather difficult to keep the numbers low. Two of them were interlinked while the last one is just one that can stand alone. Naruto exhaled and blinked as Ace looked at her with expecting eyes.
"I dreamt of being the strongest female in the entire world," Naruto quirked her lips slightly as Ace looked at her with thoughtful and confused eyes. The blonde shrugged her shoulders. "I think I achieve that but we can see if I did achieve that in our adventures. I also dream of becoming the leader of my village and I'm pretty certain that might come true in the next 10 years. So now it's time to achieve my final dream."
Ace frowned and tilted his head to the side before tilting his hat downwards. He kinda look serious when he does that. Naruto clasped her hands behind her neck. In the past few days, not once had she ever seen him dropped his warm smile. It was odd. It was a type of odd that she didn't know whether to like or dislike.
Finally, her captain leaned forward and fixed his black eyes on her. "If your dream is to become the leader of your village then aren't you taking a step backwards?"
You will be considered a criminal by the World Government. His words might not have been spoken out loud but she could hear it loud and clear. Naruto took a deep breath and cracked her knuckles as black eyes continued to stare at her with curiosity and concern. It was strange. Why would he care about her dream? Strangers rarely cared.
But then again, they were going to be working together and so it made sense for him to care.
"The place I come from has no affiliation with the World Government," Naruto finally answered. Ace blinked and the boat rocked slightly when the male leaned his body forward. He really does have freckles. She blinked and shook her head. "We have our own set of problems, so they aren't going to care whether they will call me a criminal or not. I don't care if they do."
The male frowned. "How can you be so certain your home won't label you a criminal?"
Well I did save them even though they treated me like crap while I was growing up and made me question my own rights to live! I think they will owe me that much and Kakashi-sensei has my back. Of course she couldn't tell him that. This was her chance of making friends the normal way and not be weary of the knowledge they were being nice to her because she saved them.
"I just do," Naruto finally answered with a grin.
Ace looked at her for the longest time, black eyes staring at her like he suspected that there was more to the story. She waited for him to call her out but he only smiled and nodded. Is he going to wait till I feel comfortable around him? She didn't know whether to be happy or not that he didn't push her to tell him anything.
Warmth filled her body and Naruto came to conclusion that she was glad he didn't push her to talk about how she knew stuff.
"So what made you decide to become a pirate instead of being an ordinary traveler?" Ace asked. He twisted his body away from her and opened the sachet of food. Is it normal for an ordinary person to eat that much? This has to be his fifth apple. She shook her head as the birds continued to sing their afternoon song. "Why a pirate of all people?"
I guess the people who seem to me who are the most free are pirates. They don't seem to care about people's origins in my eyes.
She cracked her knuckles and offered him a smile. "Freedom. I heard pirates are the people who don't care about anything and that they are the last people who can judge, then again I heard that from a merchant."
I don't know if the people we meet will be the same and if they can look past my whisker-marks and see me. Naruto smiled wearily and blinked when Ace gazed at her with curious but understanding eyes. For a brief moment, she wanted to ask him if he had ever felt judged for something that was out of his control but she swallowed down the question and shoved the urge away.
For now, Ace was a stranger and a question like hers would mean opening up about her childhood.
She wasn't ready to talk about it.
"Ace, did you finish all of our food supply?"
Naruto clenched her jaws and took a deep breath as her blood boiled with irritation. The heavy bag of food, once overflowing, now had only its bottom looking back at her. It wouldn't be so bad if there was land on sight but only the clear blue waters looked back at her. Nothing that could give her a clue on where they could get some food.
Her captain froze and avoided her eyes before bobbing his head. His black eyes glinted with guilt and for the briefest moment, her anger faded. He looks like a guilty little kid. Except little children definitely did not have any hard lines on their abs and chest. She took a deep breath and pinched her nose.
"I was hungry," Ace explained, letting out a nervous laugh.
If you eat like this then we need a bigger supply of food! I don't think my ramen supply will be enough for the both of us. The blonde folded her arms against her chest as her stomach rumbled with hunger. What could they do? Fishing? That could work but how were they going to cook it? This boat was made out of wood.
A fire jutsu might just burn their boat.
"Y'know we won't reach land for another couple of weeks, don't you?" Ace blinked and the whiskered teen pressed her lips into a thin line and pulled out his map. Rolling the map onto the floor, the blonde pressed her finger onto their approximate location. "And we don't have anything to cook any proper food."
Ace stared at her for the longest time and patted her shoulder. His hand warmed her trembling shoulders and a reassuring smile played on his lips. Does he have a brilliant idea of how we can cook or get any food? She took in a deep breath as her stomach continued to groan with hunger.
"Well we still have sake," he chirped.
Naruto blinked and dropped her shoulders as black eyes gleamed with hope. Will sake be enough for us? Wait, I'm way too young to drink! I'm not even 21! There was a reason Gamabunta and her hadn't shared any sake until now. Beside, her mother might find a way to come back to life and kill her for disobeying one of the three vices that Jiraiya taught her.
"Sake doesn't have enough nutritional value! You can't replace food with sake!" A voice that sounded so much like Sakura echoed in her ear. She exhaled and folded her arms against her chest as Ace offered her a smile. They needed nutrients. She took a deep breath and folded her legs.
"We aren't old enough to drink!" Naruto finally grumbled. Ace blinked and slacked his jaw as the whiskered teen closed the sachet. Black eyes looked faintly amused and the whiskered teen puffed her cheeks. "And sake won't be enough to fix our problems! Kakashi-sensei always told me that I shouldn't overpack but it seems like he's wrong!"
Ace frowned. "I'm sorry for eating most of the supplies."
"You were hungry," Naruto shook her head and rubbed the sides of her head. "We just need to think of a solution. One where we don't have to drink sake to feel full!"
He tilted his head. "I know you are upset…but y'know we are pirates, don't you Fishcake? Who cares about whether we are old enough to drink sake or not?"
Naruto blinked and blinked before curling her lips into a frown. He had a point. Why should she care about what Jiraiya taught her? The rules didn't apply anymore. There were technically no law that stated she couldn't drink because she was considered underage. She exhaled and relaxed her shoulders.
"You know my name isn't Fishcake," Naruto grumbled. The black-haired teen grinned and the blonde felt her lips twitching into a smile. Damn it. Why couldn't she stay irritated with him? It has to be those freckles. When her captain smiled then it made those adorable freckles even more prominent. "And don't think just because you have a nice smile that I'm going to let you off the hook."
The black-haired teen blinked before flushing a faint shade of pink. Is he alright? She leaned her body forward and placed her hand on top of his warm forehead. It was warm but did that mean he was sick? He had been fine earlier. Maybe it was the sun. Her whole body felt like it was on fire because of the blazing sun.
"I'm fine, Naruto," Ace declared, flashing her a smile before putting her hand down. Naruto eyed the flushed teen before bobbing her head. He definitely sounds healthy. His voice was still deep and didn't sound at all muffled. Maybe it was definitely the sun causing him to look as red as those raspberries.
She frowned and then nodded. "I guess you are getting sunburned then."
"Yeah that would make sense," Ace agreed, bobbing his head. His black eyes inspected her as his apple-scented breath filled her nostrils. She felt her whole body shiver and the whiskered teen shook her head. His tone seemed almost uncertain which made her stomach jumped up and down with uncertainty. Why wasn't he certain? It was his own body. Her Captain shook his head. "So what are we going to do about food?"
"We have a very limited amount of food," Naruto muttered, opening her bag. Ace blinked and tilted his head as the blonde pulled out a couple of pieces of paper from her bag. She pulled out her brush. If they wanted to survive until they got to shore then this had to be done. Her supplies were limited after all.
Ace's eyes gleamed with hope and the male flashed her a smile. "So we have food!"
"I'm not giving you any ramen until night," Naruto said flatly. Her captain pouted and his black eyes gleamed with hurt. She felt her heart wavering and then her stomach growled. We have no food because I didn't think Ace can eat more than me. Until Ace, there had been no one who could out eat her except for Choji.
Maybe I have to treat the food supply like I'm dealing with a member of Akimichi.
"Fishcake, are you punishing me for eating up all of our supplies?"
She shook her head. "It won't be enough for us to survive a week if I let you eat all of the ramen without any control."
Naruto knew she could always summoned her toads and get some food from them, but bugs were the last thing she needed. Of course, she could always request for them to go to Hinata. But it would mean admitting to her best friend that she had not been prepared for the journey. God, control is the only thing that I can do right now. She grabbed her pony tail and sighed.
"Again, I'm sorry for eating all of the supplies," Ace rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at his feet. A sheepish smile played on his lips and Naruto's eyes softened. It was clear from his tone that he genuinely felt guilt for putting the both of them in this dangerous position. A position where starvation was a potential cause of their death.
She shook her head. "We will just increase supplies and I'm going to lock it up."
"You're kidding right?"
"Do I look like I'm joking, Card Boy?" He blinked as the blonde poked her finger against his hard chest. Her blue eyes glowed with seriousness as black eyes flickered from her finger to her eyes. His lips twitched and Naruto clenched her jaws. Did he find her words funny? Because she was definitely not joking. "If we are going to have more people then we're taking precaution!"
The smile on his face faded and Naruto blinked. His black eyes widened and for the briefest moment, she wondered if she went too far with allowing her temper to leak out of her tone. Maybe I should say sorry. It was his first mistake and he apologized so many times. People would stop after their first time.
"Ace, I'm s—"
Her words died down when the boat twisted and turned. Naruto gulped and felt her heart racing against her chest as a whirlpool began to form around their boat. She weaved her hands through several handseals and took in several deep breaths, only for the water to smack against her face.
If she didn't hurry then they were going to be sucked into that whirlpool.
"Naruto, what are you doing? We need to row ourselves out of here!" Ace cried, throwing her an ore. Naruto gawked. Did he really believe with their combined strength that they could get away from a natural event without her chakra? She placed the ore to the side and resumed gathering her chakra as her captain gazed at her with wide eyes.
Just a few more seconds and she could fly them out of there but of course nothing ever went to plan. Just before she could finally enter her Sage Mode, the boat toppled and the water began to drag her and Ace. I should have been quicker in noticing it. The last thing, she felt before closing her eyes was a pair of warm hands.
I shouldn't have slack off because I thought I mastered it.
That was her final thought.
"I really need to stop slacking off."
Ace sighed and shook his head as Naruto twisted and turned her hair with a scowl playing on her lips. Her blue eyes glowed with guilt and exasperation as it went from him to their bags. It was a miracle their bags ended up with them and even bigger miracle that his first mate's bag was completely dry.
"You should've started rowing when I told you," he reminded her as he twisted his hat. Naruto flashed him a sheepish smile before heading to her backpack. I don't know what she was trying to do by moving her hands that quickly. He scrunched his eyebrows together and felt his cheeks burning up when Naruto began to unbutton her shirt.
She knows I'm a man, doesn't she? His cheeks burned an even brighter shade of red as tanned shoulders peaked out. Ace gulped when blue eyes rested on him. Irritation colored her eyes alongside a little bit of confusion. Why was she confused? And why was she even stripping in front of him? He was still a hot-blooded male.
"I thought you were the gentleman type," Naruto sighed and shook her head before tossing away her jacket. He blinked and frowned when the jacket smacked him on his face. "Only a gentleman would apologize for ogling a girl. Perverts usually don't apologize and tries to pinpoint the blame on the girl."
Well you are the first girl my age that I interacted with! He bit his tongue and took a deep breath, only to blink when Naruto flashed him a teasing smile. Was she really not mad with him for looking? She was really, really odd. Didn't girls get upset? So why was she acting like this was something normal? He knitted his eyebrows together.
"Why are you stripping?" Ace finally asked, turning his whole body away from her. He placed the jacket on his lap and focused his eyes on the trees as he listened to Naruto zipping her bag. His blood raced and his heart jumped up and down with the knowledge that there was a girl changing behind him.
He wasn't a pervert but he was almost curious because Dadan was too old and ugly while Makino had been somewhat like an older sister to him and Luffy.
"Because I remembered I packed some spare clothes," Naruto explained. Ace nodded as the gravel behind him crunched. Wait, if she had spare clothes then wouldn't it be wet? He furrowed his eyebrows together and snuck a glance at the whiskered teen. He relaxed his shoulders when Naruto zipped up her pants. "Luckily I have Sakura-chan to nag me into bringing more clothes."
Ace nodded. "I wish someone did the same for me."
"Do you really need spare clothes?" Naruto asked. He blinked and darted his eyes to her bagpack before looking back at the curious blond-haired teen, who had her eyes fixated on his chest. "You barely wear a shirt, so it won't be a big deal for you if you went around half-naked."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "What? You want to see me half-naked, Fishcake?"
"N-No!" Ace's lips twitched and a laugh threatened to come out when Naruto flushed a deep shade of red. So she can get embarrassed and frazzled like me! The knowledge made him smile even wider as blue eyes continued to look everywhere but at him. "I mean you don't seem to have a huge problem with showing your chest to the world."
Ace shrugged. "Well I feel hot most of the time."
"I can guess," Naruto said. She flashed him a smile and picked up her bag before making her way to stand beside him. He blinked and frowned when the blonde pointed to the boat. Ah, I'm guessing Fishcake wants to know what we are going to do about the boat. Sand covered their boat. Bits of wood littered around the sand and Ace only rubbed his jaw.
It seemed like they really had only one thing that they could do.
"We should go in another direction," Ace declared as his eyes fixated on the crashing waves. There was definitely no way that their boat could survive another crash. He bobbed his head. "Maybe the other side of this island will have waters that are less dangerous."
"You do realize that parts of our ship are broken, don't you?" Naruto cried, gesturing to the ribs and the half-broken pole. "We are going to be back to square one if we go back on that boat."
He frowned. "Then what should we do?"
"Get a new boat." Naruto scratched her head and eyed the broken boat before flickering her eyes at him. He shivered as the cold breeze tickled his back and offered a reassuring smile to the blonde when she looked at him with concern. I will be fine as soon as we make some fire. "We definitely have to get a new boat."
Ace blinked. "Why do we need to get a new boat? Our boat isn't that bad and we don't have much money on us."
"We can't use a broken boat," Naruto explained, shaking her head. She flickered her eyes at the pieces of wood littered around the sand before kneeling down to pick up a wood. She twirled the piece of wood and bobbed her head. "Maybe we should find someone who can repair it. A perverted man would be the best."
A tickle of concern washed over him and Ace eyed his female crew member. "You aren't going to flirt with him to get us a discount, are you?"
"Does it bother you if I do it?" She raised an eyebrow as curiosity leaked out of her tone. Why was she curious about whether or not it bothered him? He just didn't want her to go that far to get them the things they needed. I'm pretty certain Naruto can take care of herself. The muscles on her arms and legs told him that she was definitely a fighter.
He cleared his throat. "I don't want you to do anything that might cause you discomfort."
"It ain't my first time," Naruto reassured him, tiptoeing to ruffle his hair. He blinked and blue eyes gleamed with amusement and mischief before flickering her eyes to the boat. "But I'm not going to flirt to get them to give us a discount. I have a couple of unedited novels on me that I'm pretty sure a perverted person would like."
"Why do you have those books?" Ace asked, putting his hat back on his head. Blue eyes saddened and Ace winced. He probably shouldn't have asked that question. But how was I supposed to know it would bring up bad memories? They only met each other. "You don't have to answer me if it makes you sad."
Naruto shook her head. "You're my captain so it's only fair that you know about it, but they were the unfinished manuscripts of my Godfather."
That sounds really precious. The word were meant his first mate's godfather was dead and that probably meant that those books were the last things she had of him. He inhaled and rubbed his jaws as Naruto continued to smile at him. It was tempting to go with her offer but it was definitely not right.
"We can find another way that doesn't involve you flirting with them or you giving away those books," he informed her with a slight smile. "You don't need to give away those books."
The blonde regarded him. "Alright but if we can't find anyone willing to repair the boat or find a new boat in the meantime then we are doing things my way. If you're going to become a great pirate then we definitely need to get you out of here alive!"
Ace felt his lips twitched into a smile as Naruto made her way to their half-buried ship. If it wasn't for her, I will probably try to set sail with a broken boat because I don't see any problems. He had just presumed that even if the boat was slightly damaged then everything was going to be fine. That there was no reason for him to try and get a new boat.
He let out a whistle when Naruto pulled their broken ship from the sand and placed it over her shoulders. For someone so tiny, I would never picture her as someone with so much strength. A fighter yes but definitely not someone who could lift a boat like it was no big deal. Ace chuckled and shook his head.
"What's funny?" Naruto tilted her head. "And do you want to get warmed up before we start heading off?"
Ace shook his head and stared down at his silent stomach before flickering his eyes at the concern, curious eyes of Naruto. Would she still be so caring if she knew I'm the son of the devil? Most strangers would hate him if they knew who his father was. Would his first mate be the same? Or would she be like Luffy and Sabo? They hadn't really cared who his father was.
For a brief moment, he contemplated of telling her the truth and seeing what the girl would do. We would be crew mates and she will find out eventually. Except he didn't feel comfortable with telling her the truth. It just was not the time for him to tell her because he still didn't fully trust her. They were still strangers and no matter how comfortable he felt around her, it was still too soon.
He cleared his throat and grinned. "It's nothing funny but I realized I'm lucky to have you."
"You are a crappy liar," Naruto declared. Ace blinked and the blonde flashed him a weary smile. "Did anyone tell you that?"
Ace chuckled. "You aren't going to ask me what I'm actually thinking about?"
"If you aren't ready to talk about it then you don't need to talk about it," she replied. He blinked and stared at the serious eyes of his crew member. The blonde did not have a smile and her blue eyes rested on his lips before moving up to his eyes. She chuckled and shook her head. "If you aren't ready to talk about things Cap, then you can be certain I can understand."
I would never picture her as someone that understands people don't want to talk about things. His lips stretched slightly as blue eyes looked at him with understanding. It was doubtful she could understand but it was nice to know that she wouldn't push him. If it had been Luffy then his little brother would push him to talk.
"Y'know I am happy that you are my first mate."
The whiskered teen stopped in her tracks and swirled her head at him. Why does she look so surprised? It's obvious that she is my first mate. Naruto was the first person to enter his crew which automatically meant she was his right-hand man, or well woman in her case. His frown deepened when the blonde looked away from him.
"You need someone else to be your right-hand," Naruto declared, clearing her throat and juggling the boat closer to her head. She fixated her bright blue eyes on the tree in front of them. "I can't be your right hand woman."
Ace frowned. "Why not?"
"Because once Kakashi-sensei is truly fed-up with all that paperwork then he is going to hand me the hat," Naruto explained. She flashed him a fake smile and Ace fixated his eyes on her tightened jaw. "I'm only able to travel because things are relatively peaceful back home but if that changes then I have to go back."
Do you really want to be the leader of your home? Her tone screamed cheerfulness while her eyes and shoulders spoke of uncertainty. Should he convince her to just stick around? They were going to have fun and he wanted to see what she could do. But if it was her dream then he had to respect her dream.
"Do you really want to be a leader of your home?"
Narurto inhaled. "Yes."
I think you aren't certain about what your dream is. The words were on the tip of his tongue but Ace swallowed it down and gazed at the smiling woman. He couldn't call her out not when they were now acquittances at best. If the blonde could tell him that she understood boundaries then he should respect her boundary.
Once they become friends then it was a whole different story.
"I'm only accepting your reason because it is your dream."
If she ever changed her mind then it was a whole different story for them.
A/N: Please do tell me of your thoughts on this chapter.
