Ayeee! Welcome back everyone! It's fuckin' snowing here like crazy. My college got cancelled, so here I am, typing my next chapter for you guys. I'm going to make this descriptive, but not TOO descriptive. I'm going to start the chapter. Enjoy!

"Rayleigh gave me no food…"- Speech

'Shitty captain knows what it means to starve, eh?' – Thinking

"Kokujo: O Tatsumaki!" – Attacks

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I'm running out of ideas for disclaimers!

Chapter 10

Sanji and Pudding were flying through the air on Rabiyan. Sanji wanted to look for Baratie, if it existed of course. While Pudding wasn't aware of Sanji's intentions, Sanji was a bit nervous. IF, by chance, he found Baratie, what would he do? He couldn't just walk up to him, and say "Hi Zeff, I'm Sanji, and I'm your son-like figure from the future." That would earn him a kick, or maybe multiple, from Zeff.

He looked into the sky. 'I wonder what the shitty captain and the swordsman are doing…' Sanji thought, with a smile. Without those two, Sanji had began to feel bored. There wasn't anyone that could match up to his skill level at the moment, other than the two. Not even Pudding-chan could, not that he would kick a woman.

He still remembered the time that he and Pudding set off to search for Baratie, trusting Syrup Village to the other two monsters.

Flashback

When Sanji woke up from his sleep, he found himself in Pudding's lap. He looked into Pudding's warm and caring eyes, and smiled. He was lucky to have a partner like her. He still had problems with hot women. But after sticking with Pudding for so long, Sanji learned to control them. She was there to take care of him.

Now that he thought, Zeff was the one who raised him, took care of him. But… where WOULD Zeff be? Would he be on his pirate ship? Or would he be at Baratie? 'Does Baratie even exist?' Sanji thought, smiling sadly, as he remembered the memories of him working in Baratie, him learning how to cook, as well as the father-son bond between him and Zeff.

He sat up, and looked at Pudding in her eyes, making her blush, and confused. "Pudding-chan, do you still have Rabiyan with you?" Sanji asked, forming a plan in his mind. She nodded. "Yes I do Sanji-kun. But why are you asking?" Pudding replied with a confused expression. Sanji smirked. "It's because we're going on a trip." Sanji said with a knowing smirk. Pudding frowned. "What about Luffy, Zoro, and Nami? Will it be safe to leave them here alone?" She asked, concerned about her crewmates. Sanji just laughed. "Don't worry about those idiots. I'll leave a note for them. Other than that, they'll be okay. And plus, the captain's stronger than me" Sanji replied. Pudding sighed. She had no argument to that. Well except for the strength of the captain and the first mate. Since she had never seen them at full power, she couldn't judge their full power. She couldn't tell if they were as strong as they were said to be.

"Okay, let's go."

Back to the present

Sanji chuckled to himself. He could remember the concern that Pudding had shown for Luffy, Zoro and Nami. They would be just fine. He knew it.

Meanwhile, On Syrup Island

Kuro was staring at Luffy. Luffy was staring at Kuro. Both of them were staring each other down. Luffy let Kuro make the first move. Kuro rushed at Luffy, as fast as he could, intending to cut his throat. Luffy just stood there. To him, Kuro was running in slow motion. Kuro appeared behind Luffy, and swung his claws.

Nami was shocked. One moment, she saw Luffy and Kuro staring each other down. The next moment, Kuro was behind Luffy. As he swung his claws, Nami yelled "LUFFY!", trying to warn him. It was too late. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see Luffy dead. The claws hit the target. Nami heard a *clang*. She opened her eyes, thinking that Zoro helped Luffy. However what she saw shocked her.

Usopp was going to shoot Kuro with a pebble, while he was staring at Luffy. However, before he could've taken a shot, Kuro disappeared, and appeared behind Luffy. He was shocked. He heard Nami yell out "LUFFY!", which honestly worried him. He had spouted lies all his life. He had lied about his adventures. He had lied about his fights. However, he had yet to see a death – by fighting that is. He watched as Kuro swung his claws, Luffy's neck turned black. Was that there the entire time?

Zoro yawned.

Luffy smirked. He used his bare minimum amount of Busoshoku to cover his neck. As his claws connected, they produced a *clang* sound, and with that, Kuro's claws broke off. Luffy turned around, facing Kuro, smirking as took a step towards him. Kuro took a step back. Luffy took another step forward. Kuro took another step back. Luffy vanished. He appeared behind Kuro, his arm stretched back, and muttered "Gomu Gomu no Bullet", as he casually punched Kuro, cracking his ribs. He was sent flying, landing next to his crew. Luffy walked over to him, and picked him up by his collar. He whispered to him, slowly and in a serious tone. "If you think you can take over this village, I'll make sure you won't be able to even crawl again." He was releasing a small portion of his Haoshoku towards him. Kuro was practically shivering in fear. "I-I-I-I won't! I won't come to this village. Hell, I won't even think about coming here. So please. Let me go. Please!" Kuro babbled, pleading Luffy to spare him.

Satisfied with his answer, Luffy let him go, letting him fall to the ground, watching him scramble away. He walked back to his crew. He raised his hand, and just let a "Yo!" from his mouth. He never expected Nami to latch onto him. This set off a few reactions:

Luffy's face went bright red, blushing furiously as Nami hugged him.

Zoro chuckled, watching his captain and the witch get together.

Usopp smiled, secretly wishing it were him and Kaya, the very thought making him blush, sputtering out weak denials. Not that anyone was listening to him.

When Nami let go of Luffy, she bopped him, emitting a whine from him. "Baka! Why did you do that? Did you know how worried I got? I almost had a heart attack, for fuck sake!" Nami ranted, shaking Luffy by his neck.

At that time, Kaya appeared, with a gun. Apparently, she was yelling "Klahadore!", the caused everyone to look at her with a confused look. She stared at everyone. Everyone stared back. Usopp was the first to open his mouth. "Kaya! What are you doing here? Did I not tell you to stay home?!" He asked, questioning her appearance. "Usopp! I'm so sorry for not believing you! You warned me to stay aware of Kuro, and yet, I didn't listen!" She cried back. Then she paused. She looked around. There was no Kuro, nor any pirates.

"Luffy beat Kuro, while those two sent his crew packing. I gotta say, I was impressed." Zoro answered her unspoken question. This had Nami and Usopp blushing, inwardly happy.

Kaya, on the other hand, was shocked. She couldn't believe these people chased the other pirates away. She had expected them to have at least SOME difficulty. However, the way they were talking as if it were an everyday thing, it seemed that they had no difficulty whatsoever.

All of a sudden, Luffy fell to the ground, worrying everyone. He seemed to be muttering something. They moved towards him, and tried to listen to what he was saying. "...d …od … food…" He muttered. He hadn't eat anything because of the attack. Everyone chuckled.

'He hasn't changed after all.' Zoro thought with a smile.

A few hours later

"I'm leaving Kaya. I want to go out and explore the seas. I want to complete my dream." Usopp said, looking at her. Kaya could only give a sad smile. She knew that he was going to go someday, but it still hurt. All of a sudden, a pair of arms surrounded her body. She blushed. Usopp was hugging her. "Don't worry Kaya. I'll come back some day for you." He said with a smile, causing her blush to deepen. She nodded, her head buried in his chest.

After a few minutes, Usopp pulled away from Kaya, much to her disappointment. He smiled, and to the both of their surprise, he kissed Kaya on the cheek. This made her faint. Fortunately, Merry was there, so he took Kaya back to the mansion.

Meanwhile, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami were staring at Going Merry. Luffy and Zoro with a nostalgic smile. Nami with an excited smile. Luffy and Zoro knew that Merry would last them no further than Water 7. As they were going to get onto the ship, they heard a yell. They turned to the direction, and saw Usopp – rolling down the hill with a huge bag on his back. He was yelling for help. Luffy and Zoro sighed. They walked into Usopp's path, and stuck their foot out. When Usopp collided, he stopped. Their feet collided with his face. When they removed their feet, he weakly croaked out a "thanks".

Usopp climbed to his feet. He walked over to a boat beside the Going Merry. He began to get in it, when Luffy shouted "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET OVER HERE! YOU'RE OUR NAKAMA NOW!" At this, Usopp got a hopeful look in his eyes. He ran over to Merry, and quickly got onto it. "Wait, does that mean I'm the captain?" He asked, with a gleam in his eyes. "No." That was all that was said, that made Usopp deflate. "Then, can I be the vice-captain?" Usopp asked, only to receive another "No". "The vice-captain is Zoro. However, you can be our sniper. You do have a good aim after all." Luffy explained, offering the position of the sniper to him.

Before he could answer, something came from the sky. It was Sanji and Pudding, coming back from their trip. Luffy and Zoro noticed them, and waved at them. They waved back. Rabiyan landed on the ship. "Welcome back! So… Did you find it?" Luffy asked Sanji and Pudding. They nodded. "Yeah. We found it." Sanji replied with a smile. "There was also a rumor going around that the Krieg Pirates were seen around that area." He finished off with a smirk, looking at Zoro, who had a gleam in his eyes.

Luffy pouted. He was jealous of Zoro. It was going to be a while, before he would get his challenge. He shook his head. He had time to think about it later. "Alright! Let's set sail!" He yelled with a smile. Everyone on board cheered.

A few hours later

"Hey guys! How's the new flag? I painted it myself." Usopp asked, showing them the flag. Luffy had asked him to do so. And so he did. It was a Jolly Roger of a skull, with a straw hat on top. Everyone yelled "Amazing!" And so, they continued their journey, towards the restaurant, which was Baratie.

Later in the day

"Yosh! Nami and Usopp! Come here!" Luffy called, catching their attention. They walked up to him. "I'm going to teach you about Haki." Luffy continued. Nami tilted her head. "What's Haki?" She asked, clearly not knowing what Haki is.

Luffy grinned. He was going to have fun teaching them.

The Next Day

"Who's the captain of the ship?" A voice came from the side of the ship. It came from a marine ship. The voice belonged to Lieutenant Fullbody. He wore a white pinstripe suit. His hair was combed and he had a scar under his right eye. He had bolts attached to his knuckles.

Luffy came, and introduced himself as the captain. Fullbody frowned. He had heard that name before somewhere. But he couldn't remember. He then looked at the flag. They were pirates. "That flag is ugly. Shoot them down men." He ordered, before walking away for with date.

Nami and Usopp screamed in fear. They hugged each other in fright, which caught Luffy's eyes. Now Luffy knew that Usopp had feelings for Kaya. But when he saw them hugging, he couldn't help the jealousy creep inside him. When he turned his focus back to the marine ship, a cannonball was flying towards Merry. Before he could react, the cannonball was kicked. It flew back at the marine ship. When it impacted, the cannonball cut through the ship like butter. At that moment, Sanji landed back on board.

Usopp, and Nami were gaping. They had never seen anything like this. 'Is this the power of Haki?' Was what they were thinking. The marine ship was sinking, while all the marines on board were freaking out.

Luffy ignored them, and told the crew to move forward towards Baratie. And so they did.

A few minutes later

Luffy and his crew were inside Baratie. They were asked to be seated. They sat down, waiting for their waiter. All of a sudden, the waiter… no... the waitress came from the kitchen. She walked up to the group, not focusing on their faces. The crew was busy reading the menu. Except Sanji. He was staring at the waitress. He sure as hell recognized her.

"Reiju?"

And that's it for this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. For all the readers, thank you for reading. My goal is to make this fanfic on the level of "The Second Wind". However, for that, I would need to end the East Blue Saga first. To be honest, it's up to you. Do you guys want me to skim through the East Blue, and move on to the Grand Line. Or do you want me to write everything in detail? I'll be waiting for your opinions. Thanks for reading! See y'all next week. Bye!