-Grand Line-
-Going Merry-
The sea air was warm and getting warmer as they grew closer to their destination. By now, they had learned to feel the signs of an approaching island. So far, this route had been pretty uneventful, and everyone on board the Going Merry was doing their best to pass the time. Luffy was at the stern of the ship, trailing a fishing rod into the water and humming some stupid song to himself. Sanji, Robin, and Chopper were indoors. Naruto and Sasuke were sitting on the lower deck. Zoro was asleep, and Usopp and Nami were near the bow.
Usopp stood in shock, the delivery from the News Coo bird clenched in his trembling hand. Having already seen the incoming delivery-bird, Nami was there with him a moment later. When she saw what he held, she froze in terror.
"Oh, no," she breathed out, reading the papers before him.
"Oh, yes," Usopp replied.
Clutched in one hand were two freshly printed wanted posters, straight from World Government authorities.
MONKEY D. LUFFY
B100,000,000
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
RORONOA ZORO
B60,000,000
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
"What is this?" Nami asked. "Why raise their bounties now?"
"I think this explains it," said Usopp, his voice bitter as he handed the newspaper to Nami, rolled it open and jabbed his finger repeatedly at the front story.
"Kingdom of Alabasta…" she read, "Rebellion… Warlord Crocodile… Interference from rogue pirate crew?! Wait, they've totally rewritten what happened!"
"Yeah, they did, and now they'll want to 'rewrite' us out of the picture completely if you get my drift," said Usopp.
"If people see this we're going to be swamped with bounty hunters and assassins!" she responded. "This is horrible news!"
"Well- Well, it's simple!" Usopp rallied, calling upon his meagre reserves of hope, "If we just make Luffy and Zoro go everywhere in disguise, we'll be perfectly fine! As long as we keep any bounty hunters or assassins off the ship, nobody will even know we're here! We'll just sort of hide the flag a little bit, and-"
"Wait," interrupted Nami. Her eyes were wide, and her voice was shaking, "What did you just say?"
"Uhhh, we've just got to keep any bounty hunters or... assassins… off the… ship…" Usopp tried, suddenly sounding very concerned.
There was a moment of silence. Slowly, their eyes wandered to the lower deck, where Naruto and Sasuke were having an animated conversation. Nami and Usopp turned back to each other.
"Shit," they both said, with feeling.
"I told you we shouldn't have let them on-board!" Nami hissed, trying to keep her voice down.
"Hey! I didn't want them on-board either!"
"Bullshit! That's not what you were saying when they started wow-ing you with those fancy ninja tricks yesterday!"
"They-they-they must have used some sort of hypnosis or something!"
"No, you just couldn't stop yelling about how cool it was when Naruto started dancing around with his talking frogs!"
"He put the chopsticks up his nose, Nami! That's practically a tradition!"
"Yeah, well I didn't find it very funny," she lied.
"Look, that's not important right now," said Usopp, "Right now, we survive." He looked at her, determination burning in his eyes. "The same way we always have."
Nami nodded. "Dispose of the evidence."
With his newfound resolution, Usopp grabbed both of the damning papers and flung them as hard as he could off the ship's starboard side. A gust of wind immediately sent them flying back into his face, Luffy's poster wrapping itself around his long nose. With a grunt of frustration, he grabbed them again, shoving them down and out. Moments later, they had plastered themselves to the rods of the wooden railing.
"What are you doing, Usopp?!" groaned Nami, "Crumple them up or something!"
"Sorry, it just kinda felt wrong," he muttered, dashing over to grab the papers. He crumpled both of them together into a ball and tossed it over the side. In moments, the water had carried them away.
"Good riddance to that," said Usopp.
Nami and Usopp turned to each other and nodded in unison. Someone had to protect the peace of this ship, because no one else would.
A moment later, Luffy called out in surprise. "Oh-ho! Lucky! Caught something!" Continuing to hum, he quickly pulled his catch out of the water. "Hey, wait a minute. This isn't a fish at all! It's got my picture on it!"
Nami and Usopp's jaws dropped to the floor as they turned in horror toward the stern of the ship. In Luffy's hand was a soggy wad of crumpled paper.
Usopp summoned all of his training and talent as a professional liar, screaming, "Luffy! Throw it overboard! That thing's a bomb!"
Naruto and Sasuke immediately dove to the ground for cover. Luffy, however, just blinked and continued examining the paper.
"Whoa! New wanted posters! One Hundred Million Beli? Wow, mine went up by a lot, huh! Zoro! Hey, Zoro! You're here too!"
"Wha-? I'm where?" he asked, groggy, slowly waking up.
"Wanted posters! I'm a hundred million! You're sixty million!"
Zoro started chuckling wickedly. As a former bounty hunter himself, large bounties always made him smile. "Well isn't that something? Still, just sixty million makes me feel a little bit embarrassed."
Seeing the two ninja still huddled in the corner, Zoro raised a curious eyebrow. "What the hell's up with you two?"
Naruto and Sasuke slowly rose back to their feet. Naruto in particular looked rather sheepish. "You guys don't have exploding paper where you come from?"
The look he got back was answer enough for his question.
Nami was soon among the two wanted pirates. "Listen, you two. Until recently I'd never even seen anyone with bounty numbers this high, so you have to be careful now. Especially around any bounty hunters... or assassins," she said, her last word laden with meaning.
Luffy stared back, face utterly blank. Nami tried again.
"Especially if any of them get on this ship..."
"Oh, you mean like Zoro?" said Luffy.
"What?"
"He was a bounty hunter."
"No, no, I'm not talking about Zoro-"
"You mean Robin, then?" interrupted Zoro, "Wasn't she an assassin or something?"
"No! Not Robin! Well, I mean, sure, I guess Robin, but that's not the point."
"You probably shouldn't say things like that if you don't know who you're talking about," said Luffy, his tone dripping with disapproval.
As Nami fumed, Sasuke and Naruto grew increasingly puzzled. This answered a few questions they had had about various members of the crew, but it did so in a very confusing manner. Honestly, as they found out more, it seemed as though every single member of this crew had ridiculously checkered pasts. 'Pirates' out here seemed to be wildly different from the coast-bound types they were used to, but they were still clearly at odds with the law. As a bunch of rogue outlaws from many different countries banded together under a single flag, it should have been easy to draw parallels with Akatsuki, but in practice they seemed to be as different as night and day.
Just what laws had these people broken to have earned bounties like this?
What, exactly, did these people do?
Naruto let curiosity get the better of him. "So, those bounties. Is that, like, a lot of money out here, or what?"
"It sure is!" answered Luffy, "With that kind of money, I could eat more meat than I could even eat!"
"...Wait, what? What the hell does that mean?" asked Naruto, thoroughly perplexed.
Nami interrupted them, jabbing a finger at the two bemused ninja. "Don't you listen to him, and don't even think about those bounties. It's really not that much in the big picture, so if you two are looking for a way to pay off your fare then you'd better look somewhere else. There are other ways to get cash."
"Like what?" Sasuke asked.
"Like, it's not my problem, that's what. Besides, people are rich in the Grand Line. I could get that much without too much trouble."
"Oh? Just you? Not all of you together? What is it that you all do, exactly?"
"It's none of your business how we make money. And yes, I was quite the successful thief before joining this crew. I still am, if you must know."
Sasuke paused, then grinned. So that's what this was. Not what he was expecting from the young lady who had been full of nerves since they had arrived on the ship.
"Okay," he said, eyes glittering, "We're coming up on the next island, so why don't you show me."
….
-Two Days Later-
-Grand Line - Island of Jaya-
- Remaining time for Log Pose to set: Two Days -
-Mock Town-
"You don't think you can do it?" asked Sasuke. The two of them were resting in the shadow of an alleyway, watching the rough and tumble populace stream through the town's main streets.
"It's not that I can't do it," responded Nami, "I just have a bad feeling - completely natural, by the way - about hanging around a town like this with bounties like ours. It's been too quiet. After two whole days on an island with nothing happening I feel like the sky is going to fall on our heads or something."
"It's not like the bounty is on you. Luffy and Zoro aren't even with us."
"Don't remind me. I should be there keeping them out of trouble.
"Naruto can help keep an eye on them. He's actually got a lot of experience making big boneheaded decisions, so he's pretty good at recognizing when other people are about to do something stupid."
"You know, that really doesn't make me feel any better."
"I trust him. He's earned it." Sasuke took another glance out of the entrance to the alleyway, watching another fight break out. "So, anyway, I was wondering. You've been one of the most nervous people on the crew, but suddenly we land in the middle of a nest of almost comically violent thugs and you're only worried about everyone else. You didn't even really try to stop me from tagging along today. Why?"
"You think I should be worried about this place?" she scoffed. "Trust me, this is practically how I grew up." Nami smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "I could spin half this place around my finger in an instant if I wanted. It only looks like chaos. It's all about understanding the signs." Then, she sighed. "Well, none of that matters if Luffy ends up running through here like a wild bull. That's when things would get really scary."
"Huh. I guess that's something for me to keep in mind. Anyway, you were going to show me how you do what you do so I can help out. Ready to get started?"
"Fine. But I'll warn you. If I were easy enough to follow that you could just watch and see it happening, then I wouldn't be so successful. Keep your eyes peeled if you want, but you're not going to see anything."
"I have very good eyes," Sasuke said, dead serious. Nami snorted, turning his way to laugh in his face, and then she saw his eyes. Where they had been nearly black before, now his irises were deep crimson with strange markings.
"Hey! What the hell is that?" she asked.
"Family tradition. It's a ninja thing. I'll show you what they do if you give me something to work with."
Despite herself, Nami was intrigued. After a bit of grousing she went to work, diving into the marketplace like she owned it. She brushed smoothly through the crowds, stopping here and there, once seeming to get distracted and stumbling into a nasty looking man who swore back and forth at her. The man didn't notice what she had taken from him.
Throughout it all, Sasuke watched from the shadow of the alley, red eyes gleaming.
Eventually, Nami returned. She opened a small pack slung over her shoulder to reveal more than a dozen pouches and a fistful of various currencies and valuables. He was impressed.
"Well," she asked, palming a coin and then twirling it between her fingers, "You said you could keep up. If you're going to pay your way, now's the time to show your stuff, ninja."
"No problem. I like having someone good to learn from."
With a hand seal, Sasuke transformed himself into a dark-haired female beauty, causing Nami to squawk in surprise. Then, he stepped down the street in a different direction, slinking through the crowds just as she had before. Frowning, Nami watched over it all.
Ten minutes later, she was growing intensely suspicious. He moved like a natural alright, though as she watched he made a pass at a dangerous-looking thug who she wouldn't have risked pissing off. When the thug noticed something odd he whirled on Sasuke, who immediately clobbered him over the head with an empty jug before retreating into a side street.
Moments later, he approached her, once again looking like his original male self. She gave him a Look.
"So you and your partner both make a habit of going around looking like women?"
Sasuke shrugged, then showed his catch. Not as good as what she had made off with, but, then, she'd never seen someone even come close to being as skilled as she was.
"I copied what I saw you do," he said. "That's what these eyes can do for me. You take advantage of being a good-looking woman, so if I tried doing the same thing without changing my appearance, I wouldn't get anywhere."
Like all others, the compliment slid right off Nami without acknowledgement. "Wait, you copied me? Didn't you say you already had a lot of experience?"
"I have a lot of experience with stealth and trickery in general, sure, but I knew I'd do a lot better with a good pickpocket to copy from."
"You really hadn't practiced this before today? This is more ninja nonsense, isn't it?" she said. Then she paused, something puzzling her. Understanding began to creep in along the edges, followed immediately by outrage. "Wait a minute!" she said, "You have no idea how hard I worked to get this good!"
Sasuke picked out a gold coin and started twirling it in his hand using the same motions Nami had earlier. "That's these eyes for you. The Sharingan lets me copy pretty much anything."
Nami was furious. Then-
"Well hold on! If you wanted lessons, you needed to pay for them! A hundred million! That's how much it cost to learn all this. I had to fight and scrape for each and every Beli of it, and I'm gonna throw that on your tab!"
Sasuke looked horrified, as if no one else had ever tried this on him before. Which was odd, because it was the very first thing that had occurred to her. Whatever he planned to say in his defense didn't get said, as panicked footsteps charged past the alley they stood in. Soon, some of assembled pirates began shouting a warning.
"Hey! Trouble coming this way! Three Marine ships about half an hour from land!"
Suddenly there was a great amount of ruckus, hullabaloo, and generalised chaos in the streets. Shop owners hurried to finish up business, natives rushed into their houses, and a large number of pirates muttered dire imprecations before hurrying off toward the port.
An even larger number of pirates laughed and stayed put, raising their bravado with drink.
Nami had a pained look in her eyes. The two quickly headed back towards the port, dodging fights as they broke out. As they passed house after house, windows were slammed shut by terrified-looking natives. Sasuke looked at all of this with a curious frown.
"Who are the Marines?" he asked.
Nami stared at him for a moment like he had just grown two extra heads, then sighed. "Right. Isolated island. Well… The Marines are a military force controlled by the World Government. They're the most powerful organized force in the world, and they're the ones who collect and issue bounties. That's what's important for us right now."
"These natives look pretty frightened. I take it they're not well-liked. Corrupt?"
Nami worked her mouth for a moment before responding. "They can be pretty damn corrupt, alright. I certainly don't owe them any thanks for all the bad times in my life, that's for sure."
She paused for a moment, still walking beside him. Sasuke waited, silently.
"But, no. It could be that they have a bad reputation here, but in most places only pirates and criminals have any real problem with the Marines. That's not what I think is happening."
"Then, what?" he asked, curious.
Nami pointed toward a group of drunken pirates brawling in the street.
"If you want my opinion, the natives are scared because they know there'll be a fight. Or more like a hundred of them. If they came all the way out here then the Marines will certainly be expecting a brawl. This is a dangerous island, and they're only going to land here if they're armed to the teeth." Nami laughed, a bitter sound. "No one living here wants to be caught in the crossfire."
Sasuke said nothing, thinking about her words.
Eventually, they reached the ship. Well, not so much 'reached', per se.
"The ship's gone," stated Sasuke, as if speaking about the weather.
Nami stared at the spot where their ship wasn't, as if willing it back into being. Then, she scanned the port back and forth, then a second and third time, dread written across her face. She was feeling a sensation familiar to most humans at some point in their life that for some reason had no word to distinguish it. It was the feeling, upon realizing something is missing, of pure and fervent hope that it's not really missing at all, but it's just that you have gone so completely, thoroughly, and suddenly insane that you simply cannot find it until you've searched the empty spot for the tenth or thirtieth time. The crushing despair that comes afterward is similarly nameless.
"Don't look so upset," Sasuke said, "They must be off dodging the Marines."
Nami moaned, placing her face in her hands.
"Well," she said after a moment, "It could be worse. Sorry if I don't include your friend in this list, but there's still Sanji, Chopper, Robin, and Usopp to make sure Luffy doesn't do anything stupid."
"You didn't include Zoro in that list either."
"No. No I didn't." Nami paused, then added, "Actually I really only trust Sanji to be both able and willing to hold him down if it comes to it."
"Sanji? Really?"
"Yeah… despite how he might act from time to time, he's really got the best balance between ability and common-sense among the guys. He'll keep them out of trouble."
"Oh," said Sasuke, "Speak of the devil, here he is now."
Waving, smiling, and occasionally trampling those in his path, Sanji approached like a whirlwind from the former location of their ship.
Some days, Nami just felt like crying.
….
A/N:
Time for a canon refresher! From this point on, events will be happening that are either kind of close to canon, or so wildly different that most people may want a refresher on what the hell was actually happening at this point in the story. In canon, after Alabasta, the Straw Hats were interrupted after meeting Robin by a ship falling from the sky. To their surprise, the Log Pose pointed upward to what they knew as "Sky Island."
Instead of being stranded with no way to get to the next island, they met a crew of Salvage Monkeys, who just so happened to have an Eternal Pose that was permanently set to Jaya, a nearby island. Upon reaching Jaya, the Straw Hats tried to find their way to Sky Island, but came to a confrontation with Bellamy, who thought they were a bunch of idiots.
Some differences between canon and this story:
Bellamy is dead at the hands of Akatsuki.
The Straw-Hats have never heard of Sky Island.
They're a few days slower than in canon, so Blackbeard already left Jaya before the Straw-Hats arrived.
Their bounties arrived before landing on Jaya, rather than right before they left the island.
There are two goddamn ninjas on-board the Merry.