A/N: My apologies for the late update. A combination of work, a sudden illness, and the fact that I thought these parts would be much smaller than they turned out to be delayed me severely. On the plus side, I now have a buffer of material to edit again. Also, apparently since I didn't watch most Naruto filler I wasn't aware that filler Naruto is supposed to be afraid of ghost ships. EH, whatever.

The hollow ball of volcanic rock went up and down in the air, smacking lightly into Aokiji's tanned and weathered hand as he reclined in Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office. He'd been tossing this one for nearly fifteen minutes, and he was no closer to figuring it out than he had before. He'd opened half-a-dozen of these things that the Marines had recovered from the wreck of Thriller Bark, and they were all identically boring.

Pretty, maybe, but boring nonetheless. Completely unremarkable, except that these were undoubtedly Admiral Sakazuki's dying messages.

You'd think something as significant as the death of an Admiral would have delayed some of the constant storm of tasks, duties, and meetings they had to deal with, but no… It only made things worse.

His thoughts were interrupted as Sengoku finally took the expected incoming call, the desk-mounted Den-Den Mushi clicking to signal its connection as it developed a ruff of wavy, black hair and a carefully-manicured beard.

"King Nefertari, my greetings to you," said Sengoku, as Aokiji perked up. "It's very unusual for you to call us directly, Your Majesty. What can we help you with? I have you on speaker-snail, and Admiral Aokiji is in the room as well."

Kuzan gave a hurried series of hand-signals to indicate that, no, he wasn't a part of this conversation, but his superior silenced him with a tired glare. Ever since the Marines' public failure to protect the sovereignty of Alabasta from the predations of former Shichibukai Crocodile, the famine-stricken desert country of Alabasta had become something of a public relations project.

"Ah, excellent. I know you're extremely busy, so I don't want to take up much of your time," spoke the friendly and carefully cultured voice on the other side of the line. "That said, I'm afraid I am going to have to make a request of you. It's about the Elemental Kingdoms."

Sengoku winced, but soldiered on. "...Yes? What have they done now?"

"Oh, no, you misunderstand me. I'm calling about the diplomatic efforts. Specifically, the lack of them."

"Yes… well, diplomatic enquiries have been rather dampened ever since the Diplomatic Division's ambassador was killed before even reaching the island. They're understandably very unwilling to proceed with talks until their safety can be guaranteed."

"That's actually just what I wanted to speak about," said the voice of Nefertari Cobra. "You see, we want in on the next mission to meet with the 'Land of Fire,' and the protection of the Marines would be absolutely necessary for such a trip. I'm thinking of sending my daughter Vivi down there personally, and it would be a pity if something were to happen to her..."

Sengoku's wince returned with a vengeance, and his fingers tapped against the wood of his desk one after another.

"Your Majesty, it's becoming rather difficult to free up ships at this time. You must know of the situation by now."

"I know that my people are still dying as we speak. Though the rains are finally returning, it will be months before crops again grow. Years before cities swallowed by that scoundrel's sand return to life. Decades before children no longer grow up stunted by the famine. These are problems that can be greatly alleviated by trade with the Elemental Kingdoms. They are our new neighbors, and I think it's time we went to say hello."

Aokiji scratched his head uncomfortably, as he watched Sengoku squirm. This wasn't the situation either of them wanted to be in, and though the King of Alabasta was clearly restraining himself, his true feelings were shining through.

"Yes… yes, of course," said Sengoku. "This is a terrible situation you are in, but I'm hesitant to say whether we can protect someone as important as your… daughter at this moment. Something as hazy as trade negotiations with a new kingdom are time-consuming enough, but here we don't even know whether or not they would be willing to go along with it at all… Perhaps you could wait until our scouts report in?"

"I think we've learned enough about the situation to say we're confident negotiations would succeed," insisted Cobra.

That was a very odd thing to say, but Kuzan was pretty sure what it meant. He raised a hand to interrupt whatever Sengoku had been about to say.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty. Pardon me for presuming here, but… am I right in thinking you've already talked to these people?"

Sengoku blinked owlishly his way, but his suspicions were proven moments later.

"You are correct. My Royal Guardsman, Pell, flew to their island personally to meet with them. You are aware that most Log Pose traffic from AIabasta arrives at the Land of Fire, correct? These ninja villages appear to be subsidiaries to a larger kingdom that would be more… let's say… 'familiar' to us, and it appears as though the leader of that kingdom is quite interested in reaching out. The three leaders of the ninja village of Konoha have agreed to follow their 'Daimyou's' wishes and will assist with protection for any such missions, as well as interdicting the piratical activity of their eastern islands. However, given the difficulties of navigating at sea we would first need to meet them halfway, so to speak."

Sengoku had been itching to get a word in, but no matter how tolerant Nefertari Cobra was known for being, interrupting a king was simply not done. When the moment came, he struck.

"You're saying your guardsman has first-hand aerial intelligence from the island? I think I'm supposed to express concern that you're bypassing the Diplomatic Division, but frankly, we're dying for that kind of detail. What could you tell us?"

The snail smiled, completely without malice, but filled with accomplishment.

"Well, I'm sure we would be more than happy to provide that information to the Marines. But there is- unfortunately- still the matter of my daughter to deal with."

Sengoku sighed.

"Alright. I hope you realize how stretched we are at this moment, but we'll provide… two battleships as well as another contingent of official liaisons for the escort. If the ambassadors can reach an official arrangement, pulling ships away to protect trade convoys should be much more straightforward."

"Excellent! Then I'll leave it at that! Thank you very much for speaking with me. It's wonderful to do humanitarian work for a change, isn't it? Farewell."

"Wait, but you didn't-"

"*CLICK*"

Sengoku stared down at the snail with a sour expression.

"He didn't give us that information."

"Probably wants to make sure the ships don't fall through at the last minute," said Kuzan. "The man's a softy, but he's shrewd enough to make up for it."

"What a month this has been," muttered Sengoku. "I'm at my wit's end here, and everyone's only making my job harder. I swear, if I get one more call about one more complication…"

Kuzan was opening his mouth to speak when the Den-Den Mushi rang again.

"Son of a…" Sengoku picked up the receiver as it turned into the face of a gruff older Rear-Admiral. "Hello?"

"Sir! Reports are in from Bartholomew Kuma! He says that he's found no trail of any of his targets."

"What do you mean, he hasn't found anything?!" yelled Sengoku, face turning red. "We sent Kuma down there to flush out Fire-Fist Ace, Straw-Hat Luffy, or Akatsuki, and he's found no one?! Make sure he understands that the Shichibukai are in a very tentative position here. This is the time to get results, not to play coy! Make sure he gets that message!"

The man hung up with a bit more force than was necessary, and Aokiji couldn't blame him.

"It won't work, you know," said Aokiji, tossing the geode into the air once more. "If Kuma's playing the kind of game I think he is, he's not going to give us what we want here. He might even have been the one who leaked Sakazuki's death."

Sengoku stalked around his desk towards the door, brow clenched together until it seemed his forehead was collapsing in on itself. In one smooth motion he smacked the airborne geode out of the air as he passed, cracking it against the wall and showering the floor with crystalline rock fragments.

Once he reached the door, the Fleet Admiral paused, hand raised as if he wanted to say something, but then he cursed and stomped out of the office.

Silently, Kuzan pulled another geode out of his pocket and resumed tossing it into the air. For now, he was alone.

Akainu was dead. Kuzan couldn't have cared less about the man personally, but professionally it affected him a great deal. The loss of one of the three Marine Admirals like this was a tremendous blow, and it'd be affecting his life one way or another for years to come.

Oh, there were certainly more people in the Marines with the strength to wear the mantle of Admiral-rank, but it wasn't exactly a gladiatorial title belt. There was a great deal of political maneuvering involved in choosing a new one, not to mention the approval of the Nobility. The Celestial Dragons would not tolerate a weakling, or someone they doubted would defend their interests, to reach this highest of ranks, and with the current emergency state every major house head had retreated to Mariejois and was playing hard-to-get. It might be a week before prospective candidates could return for vetting, and in the meantime each one of them would be unavailable to do their jobs out at sea.

Honestly, this had all been more simple when replacement candidates had been pre-evaluated in case of emergency, but for some reason this practice had gone out the window in the last decade. In the past, when he had asked Sengoku about this, he had been told it was because of how unusually invincible this group of Admirals were. Sengoku had elaborated only to say that Kuzan was forbidden from dying without prior approval.

When he'd asked Commander-in-Chief Kong the same question he'd received the same answer, except without the warmth. This hadn't exactly been pleasing, especially considering Kuzan wanted to retire some day. Honestly, he'd assumed this was a politics thing, and they really did have a successor lined up. Clearly, his superiors just hadn't wanted to tip their hand or cause early bickering.

Well, it looked as though he had been wrong. Everyone was stuck running around with their heads up their asses and there was no plan in sight. Meanwhile, whoever had killed Sakazuki was presumably still at large.

How in the world had this been allowed to happen?

Until there were three Admirals again, the Marines would seem weak, emboldening anti-government forces all throughout the world. Even just on the rumors of Akainu's death the Revolutionary Army was seething with new recruitment, and it would only get worse. That meant Marine forces were being sent out in record numbers, suppressing rebellion as thoroughly as they could.

But Aokiji was being kept at Mariejois. Borsalino was the most mobile of the two of them, which meant that until this crisis was over the capital city would require Aokiji's personal protection, just in case someone else decided to attack the Celestial Dragons at their home.

Which was, of course, stupid. There were plenty of capable fighters here- especially if you included the private armies of the Nobility- enough to make any direct attack on Mariejois laughably suicidal, even for the most powerful of Pirate warlords.

Even for Akatsuki.

Why did he keep coming back to them? This was clearly a calculated political attack, and there was an abundance of reasons it couldn't be the work of that new ninja group. The biggest reason, of course, was that a group of isolated warriors wouldn't have any reason to launch a major, well-planned political assault on the World Government only a month after escaping isolation. They had no stake in world affairs, and even power-players like Doflamingo or the Yonko wouldn't trust any group of unknowns with something like this.

And yet, here he was, holding his former peer's dying message. Because that's what it was, even though there was nothing like a message inside it. Little more than a hollow crystalline globe, it was an example of delicate craftsmanship out of a man that had been known for anything but. To his eyes it meant one thing.

Surprise.

This wasn't something someone would do under Perona's influence, and nor was it something he would have done if he'd died to Moria's forces. Even Sengoku agreed with that, though the Nobility weren't impressed with this reasoning. There was the official story, and then there was the truth, and the truth was that this wasn't Moria's handiwork.

So, if this was really Akatsuki, what had this been meant to accomplish?

They knew Tobi was going after powerful Fruit-users, but surely no sane person would commit the worst possible crime in the world just to get access to one Admiral. It was wasteful in the extreme, not to mention dangerous. There were plenty of other Logia Fruits out there.

He sighed.

He couldn't see it. The only target worth a damn in the area was Mariejois itself, and that was far too well protected. Impel Down would normally be a thought, but these ninjas wouldn't even know anyone in prison. Besides, that was the one area that guards weren't being transferred from.

But if it wasn't Akatsuki, then who was it? Most people capable of even standing up to an Admiral were tracked, and no one was in the area. The only pirates entering that area were Fire-Fist Ace, Akatsuki, and the Straw-Hats…

A burning beast, roaring with an energy that tore up the landscape itself. As a third tail began slowly forming, the demon fixed its malevolent gaze on him.

Come to think of it, he didn't really know how long that beast thing would have kept powering up. That Naruto kid had received an absolutely ridiculous bounty, even considering how scary that transformation had been, and the only piece of information Kuzan had been able to glean about it was that the bounty had been specifically ordered by one of the Nobility. What did they know that he didn't? Could Uzumaki Naruto have killed Admiral Sakazuki?

No. No, probably not. Sakazuki had gone in knowing that the boy's transformation grew in power, and he was ruthless enough to reduce the boy to ashes the moment he saw anything odd happening. Maybe, given a couple years...

Still, something to keep in mind…

He turned the geode over and over in his hand, thinking carefully through everything he knew about the power-players in the area, Akatsuki included.

Answers refused to come.

-Grand Line-

-Thousand Sunny-

"Ahh! The sun! Who would have thought it could feel so good against my skin! Finally, I can live in the light once more!"

The crew tossed a slightly worried glance in Brook's direction as he stood with arms outstretched at the stern of the ship, basking in the light of the beautiful day. Honestly, the poor man had been so deprived for so long that it was a wonder he was still sane. Though, sometimes you had to wonder.

When Chopper came up on deck, the skeleton saw him and approached.

"Excuse me," said Brook. "I seem to have developed a case of sunburn. Might I get some skin cream to help with the issue?"

Wide-eyed and still very nervous, Chopper glanced down to see the same pure-white bones as always. He didn't argue the matter. If Brook wanted skin cream he'd take the excuse to run back to the infirmary. The young reindeer nodded and dashed off.

"Ah, such a diligent young lad," remarked Brook, watching the departing doctor with fondness. "Reminds me of myself when I was his age. Only… perhaps a bit less fuzzy."

From her seat on the grass below, Nami was still struggling to understand the newest member of their crew, which had led her to ask numerous less-than-helpful questions. Nevertheless, she tried another one.

"How… how did you get sunburn if you don't have any skin? No, wait… How are you planning to put the lotion on in the first place?"

Brook blushed.

"Oh… oh my! That wouldn't be an offer to assist me, would it? Oh, so very forward of you. But, I accept!"

She reacted immediately.

"LIKE HELL! Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"Oh, how harsh!"

Chastised, the skeleton staggered backwards out of her view.

She sighed. Once again he had avoided answering a question in a helpful manner. She was already growing to accept the fact that she would never really understand the mechanics of what was driving Brook's not-quite-undeath.

Shaking her head, she turned back around, only to scream in shock.

In the clear, sunny day, there was a towering two-hundred foot wave bearing down on them. Usopp saw it at almost the same moment she had and began screaming for help.

"AHHH! It's a rogue wave! Quick! Hard to port! Err, wait a second…"

The wave was just standing there, taller by far than their ship and crested with white foam, but completely immobile. As the ship's sails pulled them forward in the breezy day the wave turned slightly in their direction. Most of the crew that was on deck was now glaring suspiciously at the tremendous wave.

"That's awesome!" yelled Luffy.

"That's scary!" cried Chopper, who had returned from the infirmary.

"It… It's not moving," murmured Nami.

"Anyone get the feeling it's watching us?" asked Franky.

"What's causing this?" asked Sasuke.

Robin looked up from her deck chair, finally noticing what was concerning them all.

"Oh, that?" she asked, completely unbothered. "That's a Standing Wave. It happens sometimes in this area of the sea. They're harmless. And yes, that's how it says hello."

Everyone on deck took this in with differing measures of skepticism. Awkwardly, several people moved to bow in their own versions of a greeting as Chopper mumbled, "It's nice to meet you," but everyone was halted as arms blossomed from their chests, stopping the bows before they could begin.

"Now now," chided Robin. "Don't bow to it, or it might bow back. I don't have to tell you how dangerous that would be. Give it a wave if you want to greet it."

The people on deck gave a hesitant wave, and the wave rocked violently back and forth in response, showering everyone with sea spray. Apparently satisfied, the wave turned around and left, zipping away and shrinking down until it had submerged.

"Whoa! Where did it go?!" asked Luffy.

"No one knows," said Robin.

"What happens when a wave goes underwater?" asked Chopper.

"Why, perhaps it falls asleep?" said Robin, smiling down at the young reindeer. "But, it's alright. You made an excellent first impression. I'm sure if it has any friends it will tell them about the polite young reindeer it saw up on the surface."

"Do… do you think so?"

Robin reached down to ruffle his fur.

"I know so. Be sure to practice your introductions in case you see more of them, alright?"

"Okay!"

The Thousand Sunny advanced further into the bright day.

-Hours Later-

"Rocks ahead!" shouted Sasuke.

All around them, spires of rocks were creating a channel of safe passage and dangerous currents. Nami was on the job, directing them through the swirling waves with ease as they passed through this unexpected sea challenge. Hinata was at her side, using the Byakugan to point out any rocks that didn't quite pierce the surface of the water, but might pierce an unaware ship's hull.

Just as they thought they were through, another challenge arose before them. Sasuke called down from his position in the crow's nest.

"It's… uhhh…"

"What's going on up there?!" Nami yelled back.

"It's a bunch of jellyfish operating a tollbooth!" he yelled.

"... Repeat that, please?!"

"Giant jellyfish! A tollbooth!"

Though the creatures in question weren't yet visible, this prompted a wild discussion from the crew.

"Jellyfish?!" exclaimed Luffy. "Do you think they're tasty?"

"Jellyfish will kill you if you get the wrong ones, you know," chastised Sanji.

"I… I wonder if they wanna be paid in jelly?" asked Chopper, looking curious about this development.

Sanji started to shake his head. "Nah, that's just…"

Then he paused, turning to Robin, who was barely paying attention.

"Robin? Do you know what this is all about?"

"Hmm?" she asked, looking up. "Oh, yes, this isn't that unusual."

"…I hate to ask this, but do we need to pay them in jelly?" asked Sanji.

She smiled.

"Yes, that would be most expedient."

Sanji sighed, shaking his head in dismay. "Alright... I'll go whip up a batch… Goddamn Grand Line…"

Robin watched him go to the kitchens before turning to the others. "Did he think I was being serious? That was just a joke. Of course they accept normal currency, and their prices tend to be rather reasonable."

"Why didn't you stop him?" asked Chopper, looking up at the smiling dark-haired woman.

"Because this way you'll get some jelly out of the deal," she said, patting him on the head.

Chopper couldn't quite hide his excitement at that. Sometimes, it was the little things in life that mattered.

Soon, Sasuke gave them the prices and they were through the toll booth, passing the blobby translucent creatures without incident. It was only after they had made it out into the open ocean again that the crew relaxed. Hinata, however, was starting to have some questions about current events.

"So… this has been weird, even by the standards of what I've seen out here. Were we just lucky before, or is there something odd about this place?"

"Excellent observation," said Robin. "You are correct. This area of the sea is one of the most unusual in the world, and strange phenomena are reported regularly as one draws closer to the Red Line. Though many explanations have been posed, the truth is that no one knows why that is the case."

"Yeah, I really like the Grand Line," added Luffy. "It was so much more boring back where I came from."

Sasuke was soon down from the crow's nest.

"So, you're saying that outside the Grand Line things are a lot more normal?" he asked.

"Yeah," agreed Luffy. "Our sea-kings were a lot smaller, our mystery-animals were a lot less cool, and it hardly ever rained frogs."

"... Oh, okay then," said Sasuke, frowning.

-The Next Day-

Naruto was sitting peacefully in the deck-grass, eyes closed and his body utterly still as Hinata watched over him. His chakra flowed and pulsed in her sight, mingling with a steady flow of natural energy that came from the world around him. The waves rocked them gently, the grass blew this way and that, and the sea breeze danced across the ship, but Naruto remained completely still, anchoring himself in his meditation. Slowly, the coloration of his face began to change as Sage chakra flowed out to his skin.

He was growing very good at this indeed, but Hinata's watchful eyes caught the momentary fluctuation of natural energy that crashed against Naruto's chakra. In a single second, the mounting energy multiplied until it threatened to go out of control, merging wildly with Naruto's energy like an infectious disease.

Hinata didn't wait. She clobbered him with the staff that had been provided by Jiraiya, knocking him to the grass in a moment and cleansing the natural energy from his system with the staff's power.

A moment later, Naruto got to his feet, wincing and rubbing his shoulder where she had hit him, then stopping as he saw her pained expression.

"Sorry," she said. "I thought I had missed it, so I struck a bit faster than normal..."

"No, no it's cool. Thanks a lot, even. I just forget sometimes that you're one of the only friends I've got who doesn't enjoy beating me with a stick."

"Umm… Well, uhh, you're really doing a lot better with this, Naruto. You almost had it, and that was the first time you've needed the staff in hours!"

Naruto grinned. "Hey, it's 'cause you've been keeping a good eye on me, you know? I wanted to push a little harder and see if I'd screw it up. I… uhh, I guess I did, so maybe I need a bit more practice…"

Hinata opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted as Sasuke's voice called down from up above.

"Sea Serpent coming up! Starboard side, quarter mile!"

Luffy perked up, dashing to the starboard side and getting a good look at the tremendous sea-king that was cresting the waters. Moment later he slumped to the ground in disappointment.

"Aww, just a sea serpent. I was expecting something weird. Hey, Sasuke! Find us something weird!"

"What? I found you a sea serpent, didn't I?" he called down.

"Yeah, but I've already eaten… like, a bunch of sea serpents!"

There was silence from up above in response to this. Hinata looked to Naruto uncertainly, but if Naruto noticed anything odd about that statement then he didn't show it.

The conversation looked to be over when the sea creature opened wide its titanic maw and let out a squeaky roar.

"AHHHHHH! HELP ME! HELP ME BEFORE I-"

Then the serpent closed its jaws, and the noise stopped as swiftly as it had started.

Luffy perked up.

"Well that was kinda cool," he remarked, as Naruto and Hinata stood up and looked out at the sea serpent in confusion.

The serpent roared again. The voice was feminine, and it sounded quite frightened.

"ANYONE! IT'S STINKY AND HORRIBLE IN-"

The jaws closed once more.

"That… couldn't be a person in there, could it?" asked Hinata, checking her equipment in preparation for a possible rescue.

As Hinata began to activate her Byakugan, Luffy shrugged and looked to the side.

"Hey Robin!" he yelled.

"Hmmm?" asked the bikini-clad woman sunning herself on the deck.

"Are there any Sea-Kings that scream like people?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, quite a few. They lure people in by pretending to be sailors in distress. I'm afraid they're quite normal," she said. "Why do you ask?"

Hinata and Naruto looked a little uncertain at this, and then the sea serpent opened its jaws again.

"I'M SERIOUSLY TRAPPED IN HERE! HELP ME OUT BEFORE I'M DIGESTED!"

"Awww," groaned Luffy. "I thought we found something cool, but it's just a dumb trick, huh? You think it'll talk to me if I say hello?"

Robin, meanwhile, had closed her book and stood up from her chair.

"Hmm, actually, that doesn't sound like anything I recall. Either this is an undiscovered species, or someone's really trapped inside that sea-king. If you'll hold on a moment I'm pretty sure I have a reference guide down in the library."

Hinata met Naruto's eyes, and then they were off, leaping off of the ship to the water below in a headlong rush to take on the sea-king. Their feet struck the waves in unison, and then Sanji jumped down after them, kicking up a spray of water with each step as he joined the assault force.

[WAVE DASH]

Naruto laughed as he looked over his shoulder. Sanji's progress was uncomfortably reminiscent of his own overly enthusiastic attempts to learn water-walking, but he was keeping up with them through the application of excessive force.

"Hey, calm it down!" said Naruto. "It's not a super-move, you know?! You gotta let it flow."

Sanji gave him a nasty look as he continued his assault on the waves.

"Ah, give me a break. I don't have your goddamn ninja magic, alright?"

"But you're doing a great job!" exclaimed Hinata. "It's hard to learn that!"

As Sanji started to preen under the female attention, Naruto tossed an exasperated glance her way.

"You know, one of the things you're gonna have to learn here is not to feed the chef. He eats up compliments from cute girls, and it makes him go absolutely crazy."

"C-cute?! W-well… I mean, it's not right to pretend someone's not good at something when they really are…"

Naruto was taken aback by this comment, looking shocked and then a little bit guilty in turns before he nodded along.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that. I sure coulda used more of that type of thinking in my own childhood… But, if you've got something nice to say to him try to let one of us guys say it instead."

Sanji gave Naruto a scowl so foul it seemed to darken the day around it, growling out, "Compliments that come from shitty guys are like someone trying to butter me up by smearing fish guts on a strawberry sorbet."

"There, you see?" said Naruto. "I don't even know what that meant, but he only gets like this when cute girls are involved."

Hinata nodded, blush rising furiously against her pale, sun-freckled skin. "I- umm… O-okay…"

"Come to think of it," said Naruto, oblivious to the girl's happy discomfort, "We really are attracting a lotta showoffs recently, aren't we?"

"Naruto! Sanji! Look out behind you!" interrupted Hinata.

Naruto whipped his head around, and that was when Brook skittered right through their formation, dancing across the waves as if he weighed nothing at all, his sword-cane at his side. He zipped past at high-speed, outpacing even the ninjas as he simply refused to sink.

"Yo-hohohohohoho! Now you shall see the true power of a gentleman! I shall be the one to rescue that damsel in distress!"

Naruto's jaw dropped, and his eyes boggled, and for just a second he missed his step, tripping over a wave and flipping ass over teakettle as he skidded to a halt along the surface of the water. This turned out to be a lucky break, as he narrowly avoided being clobbered by Luffy's extending arms as he latched on to the distant sea serpent and rocketed away from the ship.

"YAAA-HOOOOO!"

Luffy covered the distance in no time at all, slamming into the sinuous behemoth. It let out a double-throated roar of pain and surprise as the female voice from inside clashed with the rumbling bellow of a sea-king.

Brook arrived a moment later, dancing across the waves and slicing across the monster's chest with his cane-sword. It reared into the air, exposing its belly.

Hinata was next, scanning the serpent's organs until she found the trapped woman. Gaining Sanji's attention, she pointed to indicate the victim's location, and Sanji rushed in on a spray of disturbed water, kicking the serpent in the gullet so hard it was lifted up and out of the water.

Looking further at the now-uncovered creature, Hinata found the next thing she was looking for and thrust out a glowing palm. Her chakra crashed through the creature's body, damaging its stomach and triggering a wave of nausea.

Naruto arrived last, forming the great swirling sphere of the Rasengan that struck the creature in the gut like a spiraling hammer. The serpent was ripped completely from the water with a noise like thunder striking. Then, its maw gaping open, two figures were expelled to soar into the air and plummet to the ocean below.

Sanji's speed increased to superhuman levels, nearly duplicating Sasuke's stolen Soru technique as he dashed to the feminine figure's location, catching her in a bridal carry and burning energy as he bolted back to the ship. The other, smaller, ejectee plopped unceremoniously into the water, left for Naruto and Hinata to rescue as Luffy and Brook returned, laughing, to the ship.

It was a few moments before Naruto emerged from the waves with a very unusual squirming creature held at arm's length.

"Uhhh, is this what we're looking for?"

The creature was bright orange with short, stubby limbs and bumpy skin. It might have been impossible to tell which way was up, except that one side of its body was decorated with a brightly-colored hat. Abruptly the creature spat out a stream of seawater and started screaming in a hoarse, high-pitched voice.

"AHH! Keimi! What the- Where the- WHO THE HELL ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?!"

"What the hell?! You're a person?!"

Naruto was so shocked he dropped the odd little creature. It disappeared until it popped above the surface, spraying a jet of seawater in his direction that was easily dodged.

"Rude! I'm not a person, I'm a starfish! Wait, I mean, yes I'm a person!"

"What? But, starfish don't… they can't…"

"Stop mumbling and tell me where Keimi is!"

Naruto and Hinata both boggled at the enraged orange starfish, but she recovered first.

"Are you talking about the other person who was inside the sea serpent? She was taken back to the ship."

"What?! Kidnappers?! Slavers?!"

"N-no…? Look, why don't we go after her? I'm sure she's being taken care of."

Back at the ship, Sanji had arrived in a blur of speed, and the confused young woman in his arms found herself in a shaded deck chair with a refreshing iced drink before she could even process what had happened. The chef moved even faster than he had during combat as he tended to their new arrival.

The reason for this became clear as soon as everyone's eyes stopped spinning.

A rather dazed-looking mermaid sat in her chair, looking around at them as if she had no idea what she was doing there. She had short green hair and was wearing a rather stylish cropped shirt that looked as though it had just seen the inside of a sea-serpent. Aside from a few scrapes and cuts, she seemed mostly unharmed.

Since a new woman had just stepped aboard the ship, everyone spared a glance towards Sanji, expecting him to lead the welcome by force if necessary. He, however, was staring, wide-eyed and blank-faced, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

But no, Brook was the first one to approach her, and everyone knew the question he was going to ask. He bent down over her, taking her delicate hand in his, and popped the question.

"Excuse me, miss. Might I borrow some money?"

The mermaid's eyes bugged out and her mouth shot open in horrified shock Moments later, Sanji tackled the skeleton from the side, sending him to the deck in a rolling, clattering heap.

The crew quickly moved in to support her, insisting that the horrible skeleton she had seen was merely a result of fatigue. Eventually she calmed down enough to feel safe.

"Oh, wow!" she exclaimed. "You all saved me, didn't you! Thank you all so much! My name's Keimi! Sorry, I have a really bad habit of getting caught by slavers, or eaten by sea monsters, or getting horribly lost, but I rarely run into friendly people! You saved my life! Just in time, too, because I was almost about to *bleh*"

The mermaid collapsed mid-sentence so suddenly that for a moment it wasn't clear if she had just been acting out that part of her statement. She flopped bonelessly to the deck, out like a light.

At this point, the strange starfish creature that had returned moments ago with Naruto and Hinata leapt onto the deck and rushed to the mermaid's side, shouting vague snatches of sentences as he stared helplessly down at her.

By this time, Sakura had also arrived on deck, curious about the fuss. She was just about to step in to help the young lady, but Chopper acted first, dashing to the mermaid's side and pulling the struggling starfish away from her.

"Everyone, give us room! She doesn't have any serious injuries, but she needs our help. Sanji, grab the stretcher from the infirmary and help me get her down there. Everyone else, stay away!"

Chopper had chosen the right man for the job. Sanji rushed off so fast he blurred, making it back to the deck in no time flat. In seconds they had the young woman up onto the stretcher, then they were off to the infirmary.

Sakura couldn't help herself. She followed them through the halls, keeping the starfish out of the way as she dodged his frenzied attacks without even registering them. Moments later, Sanji left back down the hallway, floating pink hearts emitting from his body.

Shaking her head in exasperation, she continued on. As she stopped outside the infirmary, the starfish leapt for the door and she snatched him out of the air with barely a thought.

"LET ME GO, YOU DUMB HUMAN!" screamed the starfish.

This actually got Sakura's attention.

"What…? You can talk? What are you?"

"I'm a starfish, for crying out loud! Are you blind?! Let me in to see Keimi!"

"I'm not going to let you get in the way of the doctor… whatever you are."

"I JUST TOLD YOU I'M A STARFISH! The name's Pappug!"

"Yeah, well, starfish don't speak," insisted Sakura, quite reasonably. "What is this, a Devil Fruit thing?"

"I'll have you know I learned to speak human because I grew up thinking I was human, human!"

Sakura glared at him and the temperature dropped. It took only a moment before he felt her icy gaze chilling him deep down to his hydrostatic skeleton. Pappug gulped, growing more and more certain slavers were involved after all.

"W-whaddayou want…?" he asked.

Sakura ignored his question, saying, "So… since starfish actually can't speak no matter how you were raised, I'm guessing this is really a Devil-Fruit thing, right?"

"No way! If I ate a Devil Fruit then I couldn't swim, you hag!"

The temperature dropped again.

"So, then, 'starfish'... How can you speak without vocal chords?" she asked.

Pappug sneered, seeing an opening.

"Well, you see, the answer to that question is- HNNGG!"

Kicking out with all his might, the starfish attempted a daring escape from Sakura's grip, but all he managed to do was slam himself into the doorway.

Distracted by the noise, Chopper yelled out into the hall.

"Luffy, I already told you to stay out of here when I'm working! I know she's interesting, but you can't be in the way!"

"Sorry," said Sakura, leaning inside. "It's me, not Luffy. Not about to get in your way, but I'm training to become a doctor myself, which makes me interested in how you do things out here."

"Oh, umm, alright then?" said Chopper, looking around uncertainly as he busied himself over the unconscious mermaid. "She's not actually in any danger, so… if you wanna watch quietly then go right ahead?"

Sakura smiled and nodded, stepping inside and tossing the struggling starfish right out the door. She closed it a moment later, after nudging the squirming creature back with one foot. His plaintive cries came muffled through the door, but she paid it no attention, looking around at the well-stocked room with some amount of professional interest. She had known that doctors out here were very reliant on herbs and medicine, but this setup was far superior to what she'd seen on Buggy's ship.

Her attention was broken by the tentative voice of the young reindeer boy.

"Umm, what do you think?" asked Chopper.

Sakura looked over and smiled. He didn't sound very sure of himself, but she could tell when an expert wanted to evaluate a student from a mile away. Of course, Tsunade had always included implied threats of violence if she had failed...

Sakura stepped over to look at the mermaid. The young lady had the lower half of a fish, but that was hardly surprising at this point. Her short green hair framed a face that was quite cute, in a fat-lipped sort of way.

More importantly, she looked to be in good enough health, barring a few minor problems. Sakura stepped up and ran a glowing hand across the woman's torso, looking for signs of internal injury. Nothing. She could begin disinfecting and closing the few cuts and abrasions right away, except...

Wait… there was a little more to this, wasn't there?

She gave her assessment.

"No signs of internal injury or trauma. Her brief period of consciousness upon arrival suggests she succumbed to acute exhaustion, exacerbated by a mild dose of some venomous compound which probably entered her bloodstream from the shallow cuts on her side. I'd guess it's something to do with the Sea-King's digestive enzymes, but it seems to possess a sedative effect rather than anything else. I'm supposing you know something about this?"

Chopper smiled, and it was difficult for Sakura to avoid responding the same way she might to a cute kitten or puppy.

"Yes, that's right," he said, walking over to his medicine cabinet. "Sea-Kings tend to be large enough to ingest prey without chewing, and some species secrete a sedative to make their food more agreeable. She was very small compared to its normal prey, so it was probably quite diluted by the excess seawater that it swallowed at the same time."

Soon he had what he was looking for, and Sakura watched as he quickly prepared a compound to counteract the poison. He treated the young woman's wounds with speed and care, and Sakura couldn't help but notice he hadn't referred to a book at all.

"So, this is a fairly common treatment out here?" she asked, once he was mostly done.

"Umm… no, not exactly. I've never seen this toxin in person before."

She blinked. "Really? I have something of a specialty in antivenom myself, and I'm well aware of the number of compounds that you have to memorize. You must have had excellent training or an excellent memory. Or both."

The reindeer's reaction was something wonderful to behold. Completely gone was his nervousness from speaking to a relative stranger. Instead, he practically twirled on his hooves, a tremendous smile covering his face as he squealed with delight. His words, however, told a different story.

"S-shut up, you asshole! That doesn't make me happy or anything! Y-you're an idiot! But- but I'll show you what I know if I have to!"

Sakura chuckled, watching skeptically as Chopper eagerly pulled a seat out for her. Together, she and the young reindeer talked about everything that interested them until Keimi recovered.

When Sanji returned to the deck, he was uncontrollably ecstatic.

"I can't believe it! A real live mermaid! I'd heard the stories, but they pale in comparison to the real thing! My dreams have finally come true!"

Naruto laughed. "Really? I thought your dreams were all about cooking things. You didn't say anything about mermaids last time."

Sanji's cheerful expression didn't waver as he gave Naruto the middle finger and pirouetted off to the other side of the ship. Franky and Zoro gave him uncomfortable looks as he approached.

"Who would have thought I'd help save the life of the very first mermaid I've ever met!" exclaimed Sanji.

"Huh?" asked Franky, looking up from the tinkering he was doing in the deck. "Nah, that's not the first mermaid you've met. Old lady Kokoro from Water-7 was a mermaid."

Sanji slowly stopped spinning.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Kokoro. You know, you met her at the lodge that one day? Terrifying beyond all reason?"

Sanji turned to the cyborg, and his face settled into a dark glower. "I don't know who you're talking about, buddy. I never met her."

"Nah, you totally did. She was the conductor of the Sea-Train. You saw her loads of times. Sure she looks a bit like something outta your worst nightmares, but she's a genuine Icefish Mermaid."

Sanji moved so fast he appeared to teleport, stopping directly in front of Franky and grabbing the cyborg's chain necklace to pull his face close. Reflexes honed by a thousand street-brawls, Franky moved to punch Sanji, but froze when he saw his face. The chef had stepped one pace over the bounds of sanity, strength honed by blessed madness, and only willful disbelief was keeping him from murder.

"I don't know who you're talking about. I never met the woman," whispered Sanji.

Gulping, Franky did the unthinkable. He backed down.

"Yeah… yeah, my mistake... Guess you never met her... which makes this the first mermaid you woulda seen, huh?"

Slowly, blinking in a dazed sort of confusion, Sanji returned to sanity. He slapped Franky on the shoulder before spinning away to resume his earlier excitement. "Yeah… Yeah! That's right! Finally! A mermaid!"

Sanji's happiness was infectious, if only in how it made everyone nearby feel vaguely ill, but it wasn't long before Sakura and Chopper returned from below deck, leading a pair of worried sea people behind them.

The two were finally introduced, but shortly after that the source of their worries was revealed.

"Well, I'm afraid we've got bad news and we've got good news," said Sakura. "The good news is that Keimi here is alright. The bad news is that one of her friends is in trouble."

"Trouble?" asked Sanji, eager to jump into the fray.

"Yeah. So, what do you guys know about slavers?"