Ink's Notes:

Well here's a chapter, may be a little while 'till the next one since I'm starting to feel really sick, but hopefully it's nothing...

Chapter Seventeen

Lee adjusted the large backpack that carried the belongings Vivi had managed to accumulate in her month-long stay at Suna, before turning to the group and giving them a thumbs-up and wide grin, his teeth glistening in the sunlight. "All set to go!" he proclaimed, getting ready to take off towards Konoha.

"Ah… Lee-San," Vivi sweatdropped, though it seemed like she was used to this sort of thing somehow, "Are you sure you don't want Carue and I to carry that? We can manage it…" The duck quacked in agreement.

"No need to worry, Vivi-San!" Lee grinned. "I can handle it! Something like this is no trouble for the burning passion of YOUTH!" With that, he turned towards Konoha and prepared to take off.

"Lee," TenTen spoke up, "If you go too quickly, you might damage Vivi's things, and that would be very un-youthful of you," she smiled sweetly as Lee froze in place. "Try and keep the same pace as the rest of us, okay?"

Sakura could see the words take their effect on Lee as he slumped over. "Guy-Sensei, I have failed you…" he sulked. "I am not taking into account the consequences of my actions, and how they will affect the fires of youth…" Lee suddenly shot straight up, brandishing his fist to the sky. "I swear to you, I shall learn from my mistakes and make certain that my flames burn as brightly as they can!"

"Well… he's no Mr. Bushido…" Vivi deadpanned.

TenTen's eyes went straight to her. "Mr. Bushido? Did you remember something from your past?" she asked, taking Vivi's hands to encourage her.

"I…" Vivi hesitated a moment, and Sakura figured that she was trying to determine just how much information to give. "I remember green hair… and swords… three of them… always trying to get stronger…" She pulled her hands out of TenTen's grip, then held her elbow and pressed two fingers into her forehead. "…I called him Mr. Bushido… but I don't remember his real name… or how I know him, or what he was to me…"

"That's okay!" TenTen reassured her. "You're remembering things, and that's what's important!" she smiled, holding her hand. "If Lee reminds you of someone you knew, maybe more people in Konoha will remind you of other people you know!"

"Ah- Maybe!" Vivi smiled brightly. "Thank you, TenTen-San!"

TenTen smiled in response. "Great! Let's head on to Konoha!" She began pulling Vivi along by the hand, followed by Lee and Carue.

Sakura looked over at Marco as they began walking along after the group. She watched his eyes trail the group, more specifically Vivi. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Just wondering if her nakama know," Marco responded. Seeing Sakura's confused expression, he elaborated. "I hadn't actually heard of her until one of my nakama told me about her. She was traveling with his little brother's crew, but it seems as if she remained in her kingdom. And…"

"And?" Sakura blinked.

"I was thinking of teaching you both Haki at the same time," Marco grinned. "Might do you good to have a training partner, and it would help her to protect her kingdom as well. Besides, as they say, a friend of my friend is my friend."

Sakura nodded. "I suppose… besides, she's probably going to be hanging out with us a lot, since we know about… well…" Marco just nodded in response. "She'd probably pick some stuff up if she was just watching, anyway."

"Sounds about right," he smiled, picking up to a jog to catch up to the rest. Sakura caught up soon afterwards.

"Ah- Sakura-San, Edward-San," Vivi greeted as they came up next to her. "How long is the trip to Konoha?"

"Three days at our current pace," Sakura responded.

"That's… an awfully long time to be traveling with, um…" her gaze went to Lee, and Sakura silently agreed as Carue quacked out a complaint.

"Don't worry. It'll be done before you know it," Marco grinned, before speaking in a low voice so only Sakura and Vivi would be able to hear him. "I personally go by how long it'll be until I can fly again."

"Ah- that's right, they think Marco and Edward aren't the same person…" Vivi whispered with a nod. At Sakura's confused expression, she elaborated. "While you were briefly comatose, Marco-San explained his situation to me so I wouldn't accidentally call him the wrong name in front of people."

"Ah. Thanks, Vivi," Sakura smiled gently.

Vivi smiled back. "You know, you kind of remind me of Nami." Sakura waited, and Vivi, sensing she wanted more information, continued. "She was the navigator of the pirate crew I traveled with briefly – um, I'll fill you in later – but she was also kind, if not a bit strict with the others when they were goofing off." Vivi gripped her left wrist, and Sakura wondered if it held any significance. "She also was very fond of money. Actually, they agreed to help me because Nami was trying to get a billion berries out of me because I was a princess…"

"Berries?" Sakura asked. "Why would she want food?"

"Berries are our world's currency," Marco helpfully stepped in. "Another reason I didn't just stop being a bird. Our currency is useless here."

"Oh…" Sakura wondered why she had even been inclined to think that their two worlds would have the same kind of currency. It made absolutely no sense. Still, for a currency to be named after a kind of fruit was a bit silly. Sakura briefly wondered what the exchange rate would be, before realizing that was a stupid thought since there was very little chance that there would be any way for constant trade to happen between the two worlds. Actually, she was still having trouble wrapping her head around the whole thing. Entirely different worlds… this was going to need to be kept under wraps, especially considering how many shinobi might try and use Marco and Vivi's world to their advantage…

Sakura shuddered at the thought of shinobi running around with devil fruit abilities, especially with the examples that Marco had given her when explaining what types there were. No hand signs were needed, if Marco himself was any indication, so they'd give the user an advantage over an ordinary shinobi… still, the 'sinking like a hammer in water' thing seemed very inconvenient, and she imagined it would suck for someone who was made out of fire to go up against a shinobi that could use water jutsu.

"Sakura-San?" Vivi cut into her thoughts. "Sakura-San, are you paying attention?"

Sakura snapped back to attention, turning to look at Vivi as the group walked along. "What is it, Vivi?"

"I just wanted to ask you where I'd be staying when we get back," she replied, glancing away awkwardly. "I don't want to inconvenience anybody, but at the same time I don't know if I'd be able to constantly afford paying rent for an apartment when I could leave at any time…"

"Eh?!" TenTen cut into the conversation. "Why would you be leaving at any time?"

"Ah… for the sake of travel," Vivi explained. "I might go places often to try and regain my memories further."

"Why not stay with Sakura?" Marco suggested, and TenTen pouted, upset that Sakura's apartment had been offered before her residence.

"Oh- That's a great idea!" Vivi exclaimed, looking over at Sakura. "It would be okay, right? It's just – you remind me of someone who was like a sister to me... It might help me remember more…"

"What, I don't remind you of anyone?" TenTen smirked, playfully jabbing Vivi in the side.

"Actually," Vivi thought for a moment. "I vaguely remember someone with a long nose who used a slingshot…"

The rest of the trip back to Konoha consisted of many similar conversations – TenTen and Lee would encourage Vivi to talk more whenever she mentioned something that seemed vaguely familiar, and she would occasionally move closer to Sakura and Marco to talk to them about something they weren't quite comfortable sharing with the others yet. They also agreed that once they'd officially finished the mission, Marco would 'leave to find a place to stay', find a secluded area to change to his phoenix form, and head back to her apartment that way so as not to raise suspicion.

The group was in high spirits when the gates of Konoha came into sight. Vivi herself was left speechless at the sight of the hidden village, and it took TenTen telling her it looked better when you were walking through the streets to get her to actually walk through the gates.

Sakura heard Marco groan as they walked in. When she turned to question him, he just sighed.

"I just realized," he elaborated. "We're going to have a lot of explaining to do to the Hokage."

And that ends this chapter.

Out of curiosity... I'm probably gonna be having more people from the One Piece world showing up in the Naruto world, but I don't really know who to use. Out of the overly large cast, who would you like to see?

And, as always, thank you for all your kind words. See you next time.

-Ink