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, have you thought about a name for the crew, Cap?"
Naruto leaned against the edge of the boat, causing it to rattle just a little bit, as she focused her eyes on Ace. It had been over two weeks since they left that little island and over a month since they joined together in this little adventure. Not once did she ever think of asking him this question but it had to be asked sooner or later if you asked her.
Ace chewed on the apple, its juice dribbling down the side of his mouth, and looked at her with thoughtful eyes. From right beside him, Masked Deuce paused in his rowing and turned his expecting eyes on their captain. His eyes burned with curiosity, no doubt with the intense desire to know what the younger teen had been planning to name their crew.
"I still have no idea," their captain answered once he swallowed his bite. A sheepish laugh bellowed out of his mouth and the black-haired teen continued on. "I mean it still feels weird to know I've got a crew now."
The blonde bobbed her head. She knew what her captain meant because it had barely been six months since she decided to take the first steps of finding her freedom. Just six months ago, she had been sitting in a ramen stand with Hinata and Sakura and telling them about her plans of exploring the world around them. Now here she was with two boys.
Masked Deuce pinched his nose before gawking at Ace. "You had a whole month to think about it!"
"I just thought we could just think about it when we become famous," Ace explained with a laugh. His freckles shone and his grey eyes sparkled with an innocence that made Naruto want to throttle him. Why did he have to be so laid back when it comes to these things? This was his crew, which meant he had to be the one to think about it.
She shook her head and turned her back towards them, facing the bright vast ocean right in front of them. Her hand gazed against the freezing cold waters and her mind began to wander away from her friends. She knew if Sakura was here, then she probably would yell at Ace like Masky did and scold her captain for being so unprepared for their journey.
"You shouldn't wait till then!" Masked Deuce grumbled, drawing Naruto's attention away from the sparkling waters and back to the scowling masked man. "What if it takes years before we become infamous? Or a year before you make yourself known to the entire world? Do you really want us to be known as the crew with no name?"
Ace turned almost pale, as if the mere idea that it would take them that long to become famous was an idea that terrified him. The black-haired male rubbed his chin and stole a glance at her as if hoping she would have an idea of a name. Naruto only sighed. Even when she had been a tiny girl, she didn't think of a name for the crew that she would join.
"Well do you guys have any idea of what should be our name?" Her captain asked. He didn't look one bit ashamed or shy about the fact that he had to ask them to give a name.
Then again should I really expect Ace to be ashamed? She chuckled as bubbles of fondness crept up into her stomach. He was unconventional, definitely not the typical pirate captain, and that was probably one of the things Naruto presumed she liked about him. Ace listened, which was a skill that most boys didn't have when she thought about it.
Naruto blinked when two sets of eyes focused on her as if demanding that she should be the one to name their tiny crew.
"Don't look at me!" she cried, throwing her hands up in the air. "I decided from a long time ago that I should never be the one in charged when it comes to naming things or even people."
Masked Deuce raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because my father was terrible when it comes to naming stuff." She puffed her cheeks and gestured to herself. "Seriously, who the fuck names their kid, Naruto? Do you know how many times I fought with my former classmates about how my name came from a more badass term? My father just had to give me a name that also means fishcake!"
The two boys stared at her like she was an absolute idiot to base her decision on something trivial as her name. Neither of them get it if you asked her. There had been so many times when she came back home with bruised knuckles and a busted lip because some asshole decided to taunt her over her name. She grimaced and cracked her knuckles.
After a couple of seconds, Masked Deuce pinched his nose and cleared his throat. He opened his mouth, only to gulp when Naruto threw him a glare. He shook his head and exchanged glances with Ace, who was now strangely silent over her sudden confession. The black-haired teen tapped his jaw before scooching closer to her.
"Fishcake, y'know you shouldn't judge your Dad's naming skills just because of one name." Ace reminded her. He squeezed her shoulder, rather loosely but it was enough for her to relax her shoulders. She raised a single eyebrow and the male continued on. "Maybe your name was just one bad name from many good names."
Naruto stared at the younger teen for a good twenty seconds before snorting at her friend's words. I thought the same thing until the war, and that was when the image of my Dad being cool was just destroyed. She shook her head. Her mother had told her that her father had been someone she saw as wimpy, but her mother should have also told her that her father was a dork.
Shakuton: Korin Shippu Shikkoku no Ya Zeroshiki.
That had been the longest, most unnecessary name for a jutsu that she had ever heard and Naruto only had to wonder who named the rasengan because it definitely could not have been her father.
"I'm not judging him for my name," she replied, shrugging off Ace's hands. "I'm basing my decision on a couple of names that he also had made when he was alive!"
Her friends blinked and didn't look one bit convinced by her comment. They just looked at her with judging eyes as if believing if they continued to gaze at her that she would confess on basing the decision on her first name. It was absolutely ridiculous if you asked her. She was quick to jump to conclusion but she would never ever judge her father's naming skills on her name.
Ace must have sensed it too because her friend asked. "I thought your Dad died on your birthday, so how would you know his naming skills?"
She grew quiet and swirled her whole body away from them when her two friends stared at her with piercing eyes. What could she tell them? That a well-known criminal used a forbidden jutsu to summon her father alongside her foster grandfather and their previous predecessor. Naruto furiously shook her head and blew a strand of her hair away from her forehead. There was absolutely no way that those two would believe her.
"It is a really, really long story," she quirked her lips into a slight smile and turned her head towards the two males. "And it isn't a story that I'm going to tell you on this boat or even when I'm sober! If we see anything more insane to that story, then I'll probably tell you about the day that I decided that my Dad is a complete dork."
Ace grinned. "So you will really tell us the story if we do something more insane then your story?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die," she replied.
Her captain beamed at those words, almost blinding her with how bright it was, and Naruto turned away from her grinning captain. If her eyes focused on the man any longer then it was possible for her to go blind. Guys with Ace's looks should be brooding because god knows his smiles are doing stupid things to my heart. She shook her head and tried to squash the butterflies in her stomach.
She leaned her whole body forward and squinted her eyes at the scenery before her. There was nothing but the vast, sparkling ocean-blue waters standing before them but if she just squinted even more then, she could see a little blob standing on the edge of her vision. Her heart skipped a beat and Naruto's blood began to boil with excitement as she realized what that little blob might be.
"Land! I can see land!" She yelled, twisting her whole body back at her friends. A huge smile broke out on her face and Naruto clapped her hands together. "You think we can find a shipwright on that island! I like our boat but we need a kitchen and an infirmary!"
Ace laughed and clasped his hands behind his head. His grey eyes gleamed with amusement as if he was holding himself back from laughing even harder at her excitement. All of the blood inside of her body rushed to her cheeks and the blonde couldn't help but cursed herself for being excited. But how could she not be excited? They were going to a new island and possibly get a bigger boat.
They might even find a crewmember who could actually navigate for them too.
"Well we are going to find out aren't we, Naruto?"
Her Captain could say that again.
There is something deeply wrong with this island.
That was the only thought running through Naruto's mind as she took in the sullen, sunken faces of the civilians. She could see the adults eyeing her orange pouch with curiosity and hungry eyes as if they hoped her bags contained money and food. They wouldn't be wrong but Naruto had seen the bad streets of Konoha and knew what people would do to get their bare essential needs.
She darted her eyes to the stalls and curled her lips into a frown. There were so little vegetables and fruits on the stalls and the prices seemed to be over top. That was a warning sign if you asked her. The last time she witnessed those kind of prices, was in Nami no Kuni and Gatou had been in control at the time. He had given no mercy to those poor people.
The rotten scent burned Naruto's nose and the whiskered teen looked to the adults hurdled against the grime walls. Lone cups stood right in front of them and a cardboard stood right in front of them, scribbled in what could be the World Government common tongue. If Naruto knew anything from experience then it must be the fact that they probably scribbled something about money.
"I know my country isn't a part of the World Government, but shouldn't people from the World Government territories be happy?" Naruto asked, flickering her eyes to Masked Deuce and Ace. "It looks like they haven't had a good meal in a really long time!"
Masked Deuce offered her a feeble shrug and frowned as his blue eyes took in the grime-faced children, who cradled their legs closer to their bodies as if trying to make sure that their heat didn't escape. Her friend scratched his neck, almost looking uncomfortable at the sight before them and then looked away from the children.
Ace only gazed at them with unreadable eyes.
She shook her head and stopped in her steps when a bunch of men stomped through the streets. They wore white-shorted sleeves that hugged their figures rather nicely if you asked her. Blue handkerchief hugged their necks but what really stood out to her was the Marine emblemed onto their white caps. At least she could read that much, but that was only because Sakura taught her to read that much.
The word might not be completely familiar to her but she did recall a merchant told her about the enemies of Pirates. They once told her that Marines were enforcers of the law, but there were certainly no friendly smiles on their faces. They looked nothing like the stories that the merchants had told her as a child. If anything, their faces were hardened.
Most of the pedestrians stopped in the streets and paled just a little bit at the sight of them, before they finally scurried like scared little mice into the buildings. Naruto frowned and thinned her lips. She glanced at Masked Deuce and Ace. Her two friends grimaced before looking away from her curious eyes, instead they gazed at the scurrying civilians.
None of them said a single thing. They waited with a baited breath and Naruto kept her expression completely blank as several of the marines glanced at them, inspecting their appearance before dismissing them as foreigner. Well she presumed that huff coming out of their mouth meant a dismissal. What would they do if they had been a civilian of this town? Would they try and hurt them for looking them in the eye?
She didn't know but she certainly wanted to know what the hell was going on in this town.
"I'm not wrong to think that Marines have to be good, right?" Naruto asked her friends with a frown. It didn't escape her notice that some of the civilians shot worrying looks at them, a tiny frown playing on their lips. Dread began to creep inside of her stomach when they made a shush motion to her as if warning her about talking against the marines.
Ace and Masked Deuce exchanged grim looks and then looked at her with raised eyebrows as if they couldn't believe she could be naïve about the law enforcement. Was it because she was a kunoichi? There were some dark things that a shinobi would do, unspeakable things but she had never really done it. Not due to morals but more to do with the fact that there had never been a reason for her to do those things.
"There are such things called corrupt marines," Masked Deuce admitted. He lowered his voice and inched closer to her and Ace; he peaked over his shoulders as if looking for any marines. Their friend relaxed his shoulders and stared back at them with forbidding eyes. "No one really likes to admit it but the World Government is corrupt."
She felt her lips tugged into a frown and Naruto stole a glance at the children. Loud growls sliced through the air and skunky pungent clogged up her nose, almost bringing bile up to her throat. She took in a shaky breath and shoved down the vomit right back into her burning throat. I really hate this. The whiskered teen exhaled and shook her head.
That horrible scent was the result of corruption from the marines, and the knowledge made her dug her nails into the palm of her hand. Why was she so naïve to believe only Konoha had this problem? This was a common problem after all. But there was always a thought that law enforcers should be above this. Corruption was a government problem, but it seemed like if it wasn't controlled then it could seep to the lower levels.
"Don't you have corrupt shinobis back home?" Ace asked, raising his eyebrows at her. He crocked his head to the side and stared at her like he truly wanted to know whether or not she would admit this to them. She couldn't blame him for being doubtful because no form of law enforcement would admit that their own law enforcement could be corrupted.
She shifted her weight to the left and stared back at the dirt-covered children right in front of them. For a brief moment, an image of Mizuki flashed right in front of her and her blood boiled with rage. He was the second person in my life to show me corruption. The blonde tilted her head until her ear patted her right shoulder. The stretch on her neck brought out a sense of delight to her neck muscles.
"Yeah, we have got a couple of them," Naruto grimaced and set her head straight. "But I'm going to change the whole system and that is why I've got to go back home when Kakashi-sensei tells me to come back home and take over his job."
Masked Deuce frowned. "Why must you be the one to take over his job?"
She shrugged her shoulders and zipped her mouth. Masked Deuce slumped his shoulders; he looked almost put out by the lack of answers while Ace scrutinized her. It felt like he knew about the doubts inside of her but that would be impossible. How could he think she had doubts when her own friends back home would never think like that? Maybe it was because he didn't know.
Naruto bobbed her head and turned her whole body away from him. She blinked when a little girl crashed into her, toppled over her. The child's scrawny build might be sprawled over her, but that little girl's arms were grabby. Those little hands searched her, almost pretending to be getting off of her but she knew the trick.
This wasn't the first time someone tried to steal from her.
Ace frowned and leaned over them. His grey eyes searched her and his thick arm reached out to the little girl but Naruto shook her head at him. There was definitely no need for him to interfere with this. I always planned things ahead when it comes to these things. Her lips almost twitched into a smile when the girl reached her hand to her bag.
Three…
Two…
One…
"Ouch! You hurt me!" The little girl cried, jumping off of her. She waved her little hands, revealing to the civilians of what would happen to them if they tried to steal from her pouch of food and clothes. Those small hands burned a brilliant shade of red and a tiny blister formed on the girl's hand. People glanced at them and inched closer to each other, no doubt they wanted to whisper over what happened to that little girl.
Masked Deuce eyed her like he didn't know whether to applaud her or to look at her like she was a paranoid monster. Naruto rolled her eyes at the blue-haired man and shifted her gaze at the little, trembling girl. She kept waving her hand at them and glared at them as if she had done nothing wrong. Naruto thinned her lips and picked the girl up by her collar.
"My bag hurt you and that was because you tried to steal from us," Naruto said slowly. The little girl flinched but did not dare to deny the accusation thrown her. She only lowered her head like a hurt little puppy, and her heart might had just wavered a little bit at the sight. She should be strong but her weak heart always wavered at the sight of hurt, little kids.
It was even worse when the kid was actually the honest type.
The young girl lowered her head. "I'm really sorry, lady but I thought you had some food on you."
At that moment, the little girl's stomach roared with hunger and Naruto let out a sigh. She looped her pouch off of her bag and channeled her chakra to the seal on top of the zipper. A faint yellow glow enveloped the top of her bag, which drew several eyes on them. The blonde exhaled and threw a dark look at the passersby, who happened to linger over her shoulders.
Packets of her instant ramen sat inside of her bag alongside the sealed meat, vegetables and fruits. The fruits were important, it was the only thing she didn't need to cook and the only instant thing that could be eaten in the middle of the ocean. There were some sweets that Hinata had put in her letters because her best friend clearly knew how much she missed her sweets.
The sweets aren't really that important if I think about it. She fished out the sweets and the little girl furrowed her eyebrows together. Naruto pointed to the little girl's hand as her friends looked at her with their head crocked to the side. Did they really have to be curious about this? Did they really believe she would allow a little girl starve to death?
"You share this with your family," Naruto offered the girl a little smile and dropped the sweets onto the little girl's hand. If she ever had any doubts then it disappeared like the wind when those sad, little eyes brightened up. The tiny girl cradled the food against her chest like it was the most precious thing in the world. The tiny girl gave them a slight bow before running away from them.
This is the best thing that I can do for her.
Well until she got more information of what the hell was going on in this island.
She looks like she is having the time of her life.
There was only one tiny bar in this tiny island and despite the obvious fact that the people of this island was filled with so much gloom, this little tiny, seedy bar was filled with joy. Laughter bounced off the walls of the bar and instead of laughing along with his fellow customers, Ace could only stare at the grinning Naruto, who sat on a round table filled with old men.
His cook sat there like a beacon, drawing several eyes onto her. Ace couldn't blame the men for staring at Naruto, not when her whole face lit up the room. He shook his head and took a sip of the fruity sake before darting his eyes to Masked Deuce. His official second mate sipped on the sake like a cautious man as if concerned that someone would put their shifty fingers into his pocket.
The blue-eyed man patted his pocket and fixed his gaze on him. "Are you going to spend all your time watching her?"
A knowing smile was stretched across Masked Deuce's face as if he found the whole thing amusing, and Ace scowled. He turned his whole body away from his smiling friend, only to be greeted by the knowing smile of the bartender. Can a man not watch his cook as she gambles? There is nothing weird about this. He scowled and gulped down his sake like there was no tomorrow.
He hissed and wiped the droplets off of his mouth. "This is the first time I have seen her this happy since we got here! She was mopey while we searched for that shipwright! That is the only reason I'm watching her."
Masked Deuce arched his eyebrow and let out a little snort. The male made no attempt to explain himself; he only shook his head at him before lifting up his own tall glass of sake. There was no sign of his friend opening his mouth. He did not look like a man ready to explain himself; he only continued to snort and chuckle like there was no tomorrow.
"So you are only watching her because you like seeing that smile of hers?" The blue-haired teen asked, lips tugging into a smile. Ace blinked and bobbed his head. Masked Deuce shook his head and stared at him like he was the biggest idiot in the world. "So it destroys you to watch Naruto mope over those little kid, right?"
It was a trick question, wasn't it? It certainly felt like it because his friend had that amused smile tugging on his lips. Ace shook his head and inspected his grinning friend and then looked to the bartender. He was a tiny old man with a bony face and a missing tooth, who now had his starving eyes fixed on his only female crewmate. The whiskered teen made a winning smile and pulled the cash towards her like a hungry bear.
He growled at the old man. The bartender flinched and rushed to one of the other customers, on the other side of the bar table. He let out another sigh and stiffened when Masked Deuce snickered. The black-haired man scowled, pushed away the drink and folded his arms against his chest as Masky continued to look at him with knowing eyes.
"Don't you think the same thing?" He barked.
The blue-haired man adjusted his mask and rested his head on the palm of his hand, an amused smile plastered on his lips. His blue eyes analyzed him like he wanted to pick out everything that was wrong in his statement. Ace grabbed the handle of his tall glass and tightened his grip on the handle as blue eyes began to glint with faint amusement.
"I am more sad over the fact that the people of this island lives with a marines, but they look like they haven't seen a good day in years. I'm not more upset over the fact that Naruto feels sad about them," Masked Deuce said quietly. He waved his hand between them and chortled. "You, on the other hand, seem to care more about the fact that Naruto feels hurt about this."
There was something more to those words but what was it? He scrunched his eyebrows together and not for the first time, Ace wished that Sabo was here with him. His little brother would have been able to explain what could have been the underlying message behind that amused tone of his second mate. Seriously, what was so funny about those words?
"You know damn well it is because I have never seen her this mopey before, Masky!" He grumbled.
Masked Deuce arched his eyebrows. Ace scowled and squeezed the handle of his glass. He felt the veins inside of his arm throbbed and twitched as blue eyes inspected him with those all-knowing eyes. Why did he have to keep giving him that look? There was absolutely no reason for that blue-haired teen to believe that there was more to his words.
The black-haired teen shook his head and looked around the bar. Naruto bounced and pumped her fist up in the air, she looked victorious as the old men cursed and wiggled their fingers at the girl. Their eyes tried to shoot daggers at his bouncing cook, but Naruto did not flinch at all. Why would she? That blonde threw a punch that could break every bone in a person's body.
Ace scrunched his eyebrows together when his blond-haired cook wiggled her finger at the old men. They leaned closer to the blonde with an eagerness that made his skin crawl with disgust. He should pull those dirty old men away from her but he knew his blond-haired crewmate could take care of herself. Actually, it would be better for him to protect those lustful old men from Naruto.
"What do you think Naruto is talking about with those old men, Ace?" Masked Deuce asked. His eyes flashed with unease as Naruto's face changed from her normal peach tone to a flaming red. It would have been attractive if it wasn't for the fact the blond-haired teen looked like she was on a war path.
He grimaced. "I don't know but it ain't anything good if Naruto looks like she wants to murder someone."
"I pity the bastards who made her angry," Masked Deuce said with a shudder.
Ace snorted. It was an understatement because the bubbly blond was definitely not someone that anyone wanted as an enemy. He shook his head and glanced back at the trembling blond-haired teen sitting across them. He watched as Naruto put down the cards and charged right at them like a furious bull. The black-haired teen paused and shook his head.
An angry fox is a better comparison.
He blinked and leaned back in his chair when Naruto finally reached them. She leaned towards them with her hands clasped behind her back; a mischievous smile played on her lips. It should concern him but all he could focus was the citrus scent of his crewmate's hair. He wanted to know how his crewmate could keep smelling that good.
Snap.
Ace jumped up when the blond-haired girl snapped her fingers. Naruto frowned and stared at him with concern, her blue eyes wavered with anxiety. Her hand reached out to him, hovering just in front of his forehead and Ace grabbed her hand. Are you okay? That was what her eyes asked him and the black-haired teen bobbed his head.
The blonde shook her head. She hopped onto his lap, wiggling until he presumed she felt comfortable in his lap, and flicked her finger at Masked Deuce. The blue-haired teen huddled closer to them. Those broad shoulders bumped against him as Naruto darted her eyes to the table of scowling, drunken old man across them.
After three minutes of intense silence, the blonde finally patted their shoulders and offered them a mischievous smile. "Boys, what do you think about doing some mischief down at the marine base?"
Her voice was barely louder than a whisper, but it might as well have been a scream with the way Masky jumped up from his seat. His first mate looked at Naruto like she was an insane woman. In the eyes of his most cautious crewmate, the whiskered teen might as well as had been certified insane for her plans. He could only wonder what Masked Deuce would think if he met Luffy.
His little brother would definitely think of something more insane than causing trouble for a couple of marines.
"What kind of mischief are you thinking, Fishcake?" He flashed her a grin.
"I'm thinking in terms of looting their money and getting rid of their captain! If we get rid of them then we can convince that shipwright to give us a free boat!"
Ace howled with laughter and bobbed his head while Masked Deuce stared at Naruto with absolute horror. The blonde only beamed at her friends and rubbed her jaw. Not once did those three noticed a tattooed man watching them and they would only find out when the three of them stepped out of the bar.
A/N: So Naruto has decided to steal things from the Marines and Naruto begins to wonder the extent of corruption. We also see that the crew hasn't decided on a name as of yet. Please do tell me of your thoughts on this chapter.
