-Urasoe no machi-
-Late Evening-
Naruto and Sasuke met soon thereafter to exchange notes. It didn't take much to connect the straw-hatted man Naruto had engaged to the ship with the straw-hat flag, but they were going to have to work together if they wanted to get anywhere with this group.
As the sun set, they tracked their targets to a port tavern in a lively part of town. Once again, it was clear something was wrong even before they arrived. Broken glass and braying laughter were paired with people rushing out of the tavern's entrance, seeking safety in the street. Naruto and Sasuke entered through an upper floor window, moving like shadows as they scouted the scene.
Surprisingly, it wasn't their targets that were causing the problem.
"This is so pathetic I can hardly even laugh," said a hyena of a man at the largest table, "Sure, if you wanna get out of here so bad, you can go right ahead and fuck off. The Log Pose sets in just a day and a half. The island's field is so strong now that travel is an easy affair. Ours already set, but we've got a bit more… hah- 'business' to attend to in this town before we move on. Don't need pissy-pants children getting in the way, anyway."
"Hah, you tell 'em Bellamy!" yelled the blue haired man beside him. Bellamy's nine followers laughed heartily at this.
The three Straw-hat pirates were just standing there, the center of attention for a larger group of miscreants. Luffy was dripping with some sort of drink that had apparently been emptied over his head, and Zoro was scuffed and a bit cut up, food staining his shirt. To the side, a buxom, short-haired redhead stood by nervously, watching the two. The two men, meanwhile, were wearing utterly blank faces, devoid of all emotion.
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a few wordless glances, then got to work.
The scene that followed was a strange one. Bellamy had an immense torso and arms, but a tiny head and lower body. He really did look like a hyena. He carried the conversation like it was a performance, pretending his victims had a choice in how to proceed, but using his henchmen to keep things moving the way he wanted it to. All the while, he laughed, and his followers laughed along with him.
"You know, I was actually testing you lot to see if you had what it takes to be a part of my crew in the New Era, but now… Well, don't I feel like an idiot!" he said.
Bellamy's eight henchmen laughed cacophonously.
"You start talking about the One Piece? Seriously?! Oh man, that really gets me going. I mean, not even kids are talking about that shit any more!"
Bellamy's seven henchmen laughed uproariously.
"The era of the 'dreaming pirate' is long over! You're just rushing forward so fast you're tripping over your own bibs. Look at this place! These people haven't ever even heard of a Devil Fruit! It's new, and ripe for the taking. As a future leader in Warlord Doflamingo's army, this island will be perfect for us!"
Bellamy's six henchmen laughed raucously.
"And that's what really bugs me about trash like you... You pathetic dreamers are so busy chasing after your rainbows and fairy gold that you can't even focus on taking what's in front of you. What a fucking Joke!" At this, Bellamy hurled a mug of beer at the straw-hatted captain. It bounced off, drenching him and forcing him a step back.
Bellamy's five henchmen laughed boisterously
"When I see idiots like you just 'living your dreams,' or whatever it makes me sick to my stomach."
Bellamy's four henchmen laughed somewhat awkwardly.
Zoro, Luffy, and the young woman were now looking rather puzzled as they watched Bellamy and the henchmen behind him. Bellamy, however, sneered, enjoying having an audience for his abuse of these captive victims.
"Wimps like you give us pirates a bad reputation. Because of people like you, people like me have to kick twice as much ass to get taken seriously."
Bellamy's three henchmen chuckled nervously, starting to feel like something was wrong. Bellamy himself, however, pressed on without a care, dropping his voice to a menacing growl.
"So, here's my suggestion. Why don't you babies get the hell out of town before we kick you out ourselves?"
Bellamy's two henchmen started looking around, confused.
"Okay, seriously, are you guys even paying attention back there? What the hell do I pay you for?" Bellamy asked, taking a swig of his drink and turning to his followers to see what the problem was. Behind him, his last henchman, the blue-haired guy with the odd sword, fell to the ground unconscious, hands tied behind his back. All the others were in a similar position. Whoever had attacked them had disappeared without a trace.
Bellamy immediately spat out what he was drinking, a mist of ale coating the mound of fallen henchmen. Luffy and Zoro looked at each other, shrugged, then turned to Nami.
"Nami," said Luffy, "I know we said no fighting while we're here, but this isn't gonna be a fight any more, so…"
"Luffy," said the woman, clenching her teeth, "Forget the promise. We got what we came for. Kick his ass."
"Yeah, sounds good," said Luffy, cracking his knuckles with a blithe expression on his face.
"Whoa, wait, what the hell?!" shouted Bellamy, backing away from the other man.
But it was too late.
-Urasoe no machi-
-Night-
Naruto had been quite pissed about helping the jackass who had borrowed his food earlier, but really it was the logical choice. The Straw-Hat crew had been outnumbered and outmatched, so kicking that hyena's ass first while they had been distracted was obviously the best move. They'd even managed to abscond with one of the unfortunate henchmen and beaten a bit of information out of them, which helped. Still, they were missing perhaps the most important piece of information, which was a way to gauge the combat strength of their remaining unknown visitors, and what they were even here for in the first place.
So it was that the two shinobi stalked down to the harbor in the middle of the night, their movement hidden in the flickering of torches and the brushing of shadows against the cobbled streets. They should have gone completely unnoticed, but two separate parties witnessed their passage. First, hidden in the shadows of the eaves of a nearby warehouse, a single eyeball watched, blinking once, then disappeared, leaving only the blank wall as it faded away. Inside the Going Merry, Robin opened her eyes.
Second, back in the streets, unseen even by Robin, a cloaked figure melted into existence and began to follow the two boys.
The Straw-Hat's ship was anchored parallel to the dock, and the nearly full moon sat high in the air behind it, illuminating the landscape. By the time Naruto and Sasuke arrived, three foes stood ready for them. The green-haired swordsman from earlier, Zoro, was waiting on the dock in front of the ship with his arms crossed over his chest. Above, Luffy was grinning down at them from the deck as they approached. Visible standing at the stern of the ship, a blonde-haired man in some sort of strange, black, tailored outfit leaned against the railing, smoking a glowing cigarette in the shadows of the night sky. He seemed almost totally disinterested in current events, and neither of the ninja had ever seen him before.
This changed some things. Somehow their surprise attack had been uncovered, and, to make matters worse, there were even more potential combatants. The 'proper' response would be to retreat and wait for a more opportune moment. Naruto fidgeted, lips twitching with suppressed annoyance. Sasuke was going to suggest they do just that; he knew it.
But his partner remained silent. The two ninjas stopped out in the open quite a fair distance away, and their presence was swiftly answered by Luffy, watching them from above.
"Hey! It's you guys again!" he called out, cheerfully. "I guess I owe you, huh? You really beat those guys senseless back there! And thanks again for dinner!"
Naruto immediately started growling and grumbling, though Sasuke wasn't sure what the deal was there. Still, he saw an opening.
"Mind answering a few questions for us, then?" Sasuke asked. When Luffy didn't object, he continued, "Where are you from? Is it true you people came from across the sea?"
"We're pirates from East Blue, and that's a loooong way away from here."
"East Blue? I don't know where that is." Sasuke responded.
"Eh? Well it's gotta be East of here, right? East Blue?" Luffy asked, seeming uncertain. "Zoro, it's East of here, right?"
"Makes sense to me," said Zoro, sounding bored.
Above deck, the man in the black suit pressed his hand to his forehead, groaning.
Beside Sasuke, Naruto muttered, "Totally lying to us."
Sasuke nodded slightly. "How'd you get here, then? Up until a few days ago, it seems, no one could sail to this island at all."
"Ehhh, I let our navigator answer those questions. She knows more about it than me. That's her job."
"Well, we'd like to talk to her."
"Nah, she's asleep," said Luffy.
Naruto frowned and glanced at Sasuke, who nodded back. Then, Naruto said, "If you really wanna pay us back, you could go and wake her up. Otherwise, we're gonna have to beat the tar outta you."
Suddenly, Zoro smirked, and Luffy's grin reached his ears. "Yeah, that sounds more like it! It wouldn't be an adventure on a mystery island without a fight!"
"Shit," Naruto muttered, "They're just mocking us. I'm ready to show 'em who's boss, how about you?"
"Yeah," agreed Sasuke, "But be ready to retreat. All we need from this is to find out how powerful these guys are."
With that, Zoro drew two of his swords, and Luffy began stretching to warm up.
Naruto and Sasuke moved. Naruto covered the distance in a hurry in an attempt to leap up to the ship itself, and with a swift motion Sasuke let loose a storm of shuriken to cover Naruto's advance and prevent the swordsman from engaging him. Swordplay was much more Sasuke's field of expertise. Then he advanced as well, meeting the swordsman in a flash. Their blades met with the resounding clash of steel on steel, and the fight was on.
It was interrupted only an instant later.
The only warning they had was a hissing noise in the night. It was the kind of warning that slithered through their hind brains, making them want to both freeze in place and start running at the same time. A veritable bouquet of serpents came shooting out of the darkness as if they were arrows fired from a bow, forcing Sasuke and Zoro to scramble away from each other, desperately avoiding the opening strike of their mystery opponent. Naruto paused before reaching the ship, reorienting to face the source of the attack.
A man stepped out of the shadows, chuckling in a raspy voice. He wore a long black robe with no adornment save for a number of red, stylized clouds with white borders. His black hair was lank, reaching past his shoulders and covered a fair bit of his face, but his inhuman bone structure and pale skin were quite visible. He was so pale that his skin might have been described as alabaster, but that word didn't fit the deathly pallor they saw advancing on them now. Naruto and Sasuke stared in shock. They had never met the man, but they both recognized him.
Orochimaru, former legend of Konoha, now an S-rank missing-nin belonging to the fugitive organization known as Akatsuki, was smirking at them from his position in a patch of moonlight.
"So sorry to interrupt, but I'm afraid I'll be taking your ship and navigational devices from you, outlanders," he said in a croaking, breathy voice. "You and the two Konoha children should probably pay attention to me instead of fighting each other."