Naruto and Sasuke crossed the great forests east of Konoha, moving quickly through the ancient trees. After a time, the terrain began to open up, settling into more civilized roads and vegetation that they crossed on foot. Eventually, the trees thinned to a degree that the two ninja had never really found normal. They'd spent their entire lives surrounded by the giant forests of Konoha.

They crossed the open terrain at a reasonable pace, stopping to camp just once before reaching the coast in the afternoon of the next day. During that time, they got caught up with the events of the last year.

"So you were only gone for a year with some toads," mused Sasuke, "How the hell do you get crowned as the child of some prophecy?"

Naruto's face assumed a familiar grimace as he continued setting the leisurely pace through the increasingly civilized terrain. "Well, it kinda boils down to how the Old Pervert's student is supposed to save the world or something, and he hasn't taught anyone jackshit besides me. Not that he bothered warning me or anything. Look, you gotta promise me you're not gonna tell anyone about this. I'm not even supposed to tell you, alright?"

"Sure, sure, you're a terrible ninja, I already knew that-"

"Hey, screw you!" Naruto interrupted, grinning.

"-but, what is that all supposed to mean? You're supposed to save the world? Do you have some new responsibilities to go along with this?"

"Not… really? I was supposed to keep training, but that's kinda out the window for right now. They just told me there was a lot riding on me and kept talking about right and wrong, and peace, and… well, you know."

"I really don't know."

Naruto shrugged. "Just a lot more secrets being kept. I mean, I guess I've already got a demon in me, so what's one more big surprise?" He paused. "But, hey, on the plus side, they pretty much all agreed to help me, so I can get all the toads I need, whenever I want!"

Sasuke looked doubtful. "That sounds… great?"

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, they're cool people, but there's only so much toad a guy can manage, you know?"

Sasuke wasn't sure where to go with all this. It was great talking to his friend again, but acting like everything was just normal was getting tougher and tougher. He really should be leaving the village for good during this trip, when security and organization was scattered, but… He glanced at Naruto, who had stopped talking, lost in his thoughts. How do you tell your best friend you're leaving forever? Especially one who was so terrible at keeping his mouth shut.

They reached the port town of Urasoe an hour later, and Sasuke still hadn't come up with anything.

-Urasoe no machi-

-Fire Eastern Territories-

It was well past midday, but Naruto and Sasuke still had plenty of time to begin their investigations. First, though, they had to prepare. It wouldn't do to just barge in and start asking questions while still wearing a name-tag that read "HELLO! I AM A NINJA!" They had to be a little more circumspect.

Luckily, they had plans for these sorts of missions, even if one of their teammates was currently absent. Subterfuge, that was the key.

Naruto and Sasuke split up before reaching the town after agreeing on their rough destinations. Each of them was capable of using a Henge technique to change their form into something less suspicious, but each of them also brought a different strength to the table.

Sasuke had almost perfect control over his transformations, and could choose a form for any specific situation. Naruto, lacking Sasuke's finer chakra control, was limited to a few well-practiced forms when mimicking other humans, but made up for that disadvantage with the enormous chakra well that allowed him to engage in other forms of espionage. Thus, Sasuke would target a couple of the most likely places to find information and craft a disguise specifically for the job, while Naruto would spread out a dozen or so shadow clones and cover a wider area.

Sasuke moved through the noisy streets looking short, surly, and red-skinned. He liked this disguise well enough, since in reality he was still fairly small for an adult and being in a disguise that was similar in height to your natural stature was more convincing. Besides, the short, angry sailor look was pretty easy to sell.

The town was lively, but not overly-crowded, though if anything the people here just seemed noisier than those in Konoha or the outlying towns. It was a warm day, but the sea breeze carried cool, salty air along with the distressing smell of fish. It seemed like everything was about as normal as could be, but how could he really tell? Regardless of his target, he needed to spend some time acclimating to the town if he wanted to understand what was going on, so he meandered through the market streets, glaring nonchalantly in no specific direction. There were definitely people talking about the unknown arrivals causing trouble, but he didn't hear much usable information to go after.

He hadn't expected to get his first real hint so soon.

A man standing at a market stall that sold a variety of simple weaponry was arguing with the harried shopkeeper about the wares. From the three swords sheathed in his waist-wrap, Sasuke could only assume the swordsman wasn't pleased with the selection. A town like this wouldn't carry much, being nowhere near a ninja village nor any source of samurai power.

Actually, he would have guessed the man was a samurai, but it didn't seem to fit. For one thing, the man didn't move as if he was accustomed to armor. For that matter, he had hair that was short, spiky and weirdly… green, and had an odd sort of outfit, even for a place like this. No, samurai didn't seem right.

Then, the man drew one of his swords, showing the blade to the shopkeep as part of his argument. Was he threatening the man? Sasuke was moving slowly down the street and was growing closer to the two by the second.

As he drew near, he began to hear what they were saying.

"Like I said, I'm looking for a shop with specialty cleaning supplies. Anywhere with swords that look like this should work fine."

"Nosir, Nosir, ain't got anything like that here. It's real good work alright, but we're just knives and a few throwing stars, you know, so the kids can play pretend, gods bless 'em. Don't think our main shop's got anything of the quality of that piece of work either."

As the shopkeep yammered on nervously, Sasuke had closed the distance to the swordsman. Fifty feet, thirty feet, fifteen feet-

The swordsman froze, and the world slowed down.

Pressure. A sense of menacing pressure that stretched out time to unbearable lengths. Sasuke had paid too much attention to the man, and somehow he'd made him wary. A murderous sort of energy was bubbling up from the swordsman's skin.

If Sasuke reacted poorly, he would have to defend himself.

Step by step, he moved closer, and he knew he had to do something. Moving in a straight line, he'd pass within striking distance, and the swordsman might make a move. Oh well, time to take a chance.

"Hey! Don't just swing that thing around, ya bum!" Sasuke called out, in his assumed voice, made rough and slurred from years of hard drink, "Damned tourists think ya can just do whatever ya please…" he growled, almost to himself, as he passed.

The swordsman relaxed quickly, and the pressure abated. He shook his head slightly, as if confused, then responded, "Yeah… sorry…"

Sasuke continued on until he could round a corner and disappear. That had been close to breaking out into some sort of confrontation, which was rarely a good idea when collecting intel. One thing was for certain though, every instinct he had was telling him he'd just found a lead. Now, it was time to capitalize on it.

After a while spent laying low, Sasuke leapt up to the rooftops to scan for his mark. It wasn't hard. The guy was asking somebody else for directions to a store that sold some odd-sounding oils for weapon maintenance. Nothing that Sasuke had ever heard of, and that was strange in and of itself.

Sasuke examined his own sword, now unhidden, removing it slightly from its sheath. 'Kagerou,' or 'Heat Haze', was a treasure of the Uchiha Clan smiths. His straight-blade had been appropriated from clan storage, since it was unlikely anyone else would ever get any use out of it. One of the benefits to being scion of a dead clan, he supposed. Regardless, the sword was a masterpiece, and was guaranteed to get the attention of any sharp-eyed swordsman.

Leaping lightly from roof to roof, he made his way quickly to the path that the swordsman had been directed to. Left, straight for two blocks, take a right, and you can't miss it.

Cutting ahead, he descended to the streets in an alley and emerged transformed as a scarred old man, clearly a retired samurai relaxing in the sun and cleaning his weapon on a stone bench. There he waited.

Ten minutes later, he realized he had somehow missed the swordsman. Perhaps the green-haired man had made a wrong turn?

Another round of spying. The swordsman was asking for directions again. Another dash ahead, another disguise. Nothing.

Sasuke tried this one more time before he got nervous, pausing in a corner of a shaded warehouse rooftop. He'd been made? The swordsman had somehow known he was being followed and was dodging him? It didn't make sense!

He hunted the swordsman down one more time, still in disguise. Finally, he saw his target three blocks away and moved to shadow him from above. The green-haired man was staring intently at a fenced off alleyway, his arms crossed. It sounded like he was talking to himself.

"Didn't that old hag say it was right past the first alley? This is the first alley on my right, but I can't pass through here with this fence in the way. Was she just senile, or what…?" he muttered.

Sasuke was stunned. Was the guy just lost? Should he approach? This seemed way too suspicious.

His decision was made for him a moment later when the swordsman climbed quickly up to the rooftop Sasuke was on and blinked, surprise evident in his face.

"Huh, I thought that old hag was lying to me when she told me to go this way, but I guess people here must use it after all," he said to himself, before continuing, "Hey! Do you know where the harbor is? I'm a bit lost, and want to get back to my ship."

Sasuke stared at him blankly for a few moments, then turned his head slowly to look at the ocean water and varied assortment of fishing boats that were visible about a quarter mile away. In fact, the harbor was clearly visible from any of the main streets he'd been on in this area. Sasuke opened his mouth and tried his luck.

"You… wanna know where the harbor is?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's what I said. I asked a couple of old grandmas, but they clearly didn't have a clue."

Sasuke paused, weighing his options. Finally…

"Yeah, ya know what? The old women here? They're all crazy. They gave ya bad directions. Think the sea air does somethin' to their heads, ya know? Why don't ya come with me and I'll take ya right there."

"Huh, yeah, thanks, that'd help a lot."

Sasuke bit back a sigh. What had he gotten himself into?

-Urasoe no Machi-

-Late Afternoon-

Sasuke had guided the swordsman (Zoro, it seemed, was his name) to the harbor in terrible time. Sasuke was certain he had never before committed such severe crimes against navigation. He'd taken a path about five times longer than was necessary once he'd discovered Zoro didn't notice anything unusual about it. In the process he'd learned three things.

One, the swordsman was a crewmember of a pirate ship down in the harbor. Two, they hadn't expected to land here, though where he was from was still a mystery. Three, Zoro didn't know anything about any plans they might have.

Of course, Sasuke didn't believe that last bit for one single second. The idea of a ship's crew that would enter enemy territory and have literally no idea what they were doing, well… it was ridiculous. Soon, he reached the ship, and bade farewell to his brief traveling companion, catching a glimpse of a few odd people on board as he left.

Then Sasuke disappeared into the crowd and returned to survey the harbor from a distance, which had been his original goal, anyway. Looking out at it all, it was obvious that something very strange was going on.

Sasuke scanned the assorted ships. Fishing boats, trawlers, small-scale transport, nothing at all that was meant to get out of sight of shore. He didn't really know why, but it was common knowledge that leaving sight of the shore could mean a death sentence. Stories abounded of people showing up weeks later, half-starved, because they'd gone just a bit too far and been unable to find their way back. Far more cases of ships simply disappearing forever.

Sasuke had never understood that part, really. It seemed like it shouldn't be that hard to come up with some navigational aids like the ones they used on land, but he was no expert and he'd long since learned the hazards of looking down on a subject you knew little about.

By contrast, there were also a few ships like the one Zoro had come ashore on. Big things that looked like people were meant to live in them, with odd shapes and powerful sails. The port wasn't really built for traffic like this, and there were one or two even larger ships anchored off in the distance that couldn't have fit in the port proper.

What was strangest of all were the flags. Skulls, and bones, and all sorts of lurid imagery. The one that Zoro came in on had a skull, crossed bones, and a straw-hat. Sasuke's eagle eyes saw a flag far off in the distance that looked like… bones crossed behind red lips and a lolling tongue?

What in the world was the point of it all?

Hidden in an alleyway behind a nearby warehouse, Sasuke transformed into the body of a down-on-his-luck dockworker. Unbeknownst to him, a single eye watched him from the darkness, sprouting from the wall as if by magic. Stepping out of the alleyway, he gradually moved along the stone pier toward his target. He made a show of inspecting each ship along the way, taking his time to avoid seeming suspicious. Finally, it was the moment he had been waiting for. He approached the ship with the straw-hat flag, the deck towering at least four meters above him.

Something was clearly odd up above. He heard screeching, hammering, arguments, and the occasional small explosion. Looking closer, he saw that the ship itself wasn't even in very good shape. It had pieces torn out and replaced, or even just tacked back on with haphazard nails and rivets. The thing was a wreck, really. Somehow he got the feeling a normal dockworker would just move right along, no matter how much work he was looking for, but he wasn't about to back off now.

"Ooiii~! You alright up there?! Sounds kinda dangerous!" he called out.

More screaming. A few seconds later, someone stepped up to the railing. It was a beautiful woman with striking black hair and an unusual nose. Sasuke was sure she was older than him, but he couldn't guess by how much.

"Oh, hello miss, how do ya do?" he called out, genially.

"Why hello there, curious one," she said in a rich and musical voice.

"Just checkin' to see if you needed any cargo moved, ya know. I've got some guys I can round up if ya need the help?" he asked, trying to put just the right amount of hopefulness into his voice.

"Cargo? Oh my, no. Wouldn't last long with this group," she said, pleasantly. Saying that, she leaned forward, resting her head on her hands as she looked down at him.

Well that ruled out some of the more peaceful reasons for a pirate to visit this port. Not looking good. As she said that, there was another shriek from above, followed by surprised shouting, followed by another explosion. Sasuke winced, visibly.

"Er, miss, are you sure you're alright up there?"

"Oh yes, everything's perfectly fine. Why would you ask?" Her face was completely innocent.

At that moment, a figure ran past on deck, only visible to Sasuke below because of the cloud of smoke following him, shouting, "Put it out! Put it out! Put it out! Put it out!" Then there was a loud *THUD*, followed by silence. Sasuke really began to wish he could see what was going on up there.

The woman didn't react in the slightest, still smiling down at him.

"Oh, ah, well, alright then, if'n you say so…" he said, uncertain.

Suddenly, there was another scream from on deck. A very high-pitched shout that almost sounded like a child.

"Ahhh! Usopp! Hang on! Doctor! We need a doctor! Ohh-oh wait that's me… Robin! Can you get me my bag from inside the storeroom?!"

The woman, who was presumably 'Robin,' responded without taking her eyes off of Sasuke. "Certainly, Mr. Doctor." Then, there was a series of odd, almost musical sounds and, seconds later...

"Thanks, Robin!"

"Not a problem."

She hadn't moved even one finger the entire time, nor had she broken her gaze that was still locked on his eyes. Suddenly, Sasuke realized he'd made a mistake. He felt it deep in his bones. It was the same feeling you have when you suddenly realize someone's in a darkened room with you. He had no idea how or when it had happened, but he'd been unmasked. Robin's eyes now reminded him of the focused stare of a cat or a bird of prey.

Quickly, he excused himself and left the premises. As he left, he heard her call out after him.

"See you later, oh Curious One…"