Ink's Notes:
Hullo! I don't think I'll be around tomorrow or on Christmas Day, so I'm giving you guys this update as an early Christmas present!
CrystalHeart27: I know, right?! I was cackling to myself while writing that bit.
Krazyfanfiction1: Well, we'll see, though he'd probably be of more help to Jugo than to Suigetsu.
rainwolf024: Papa Marco is best Marco.
Allykrau: HERE IT IIISSSSS
The Keeper of Worlds: He was dropped like he was hot.
And now! CHAPTER! ...Sakura and Marco are only vaguely in this one WHOOPS
Chapter Thirty-Five
Sakura was thankful that Vivi offered to pay for the rooms at the inn that night, because even when you paired them up, getting rooms for ten people was expensive. The group wound up with three rooms – Sakura and Perona in one room, Vivi, Tashigi and Karin in another room, and Suigetsu, Jugo and Marco in the last one. Bepo and Carue had opted to sleep outside, just in case one or both of the groups that had previously been following them figured out which way they'd gone and continued to do so.
The sun was long since gone and the moon was high in the sky when Jugo and Perona emerged from the inn, Perona sitting against the polar bear that was lying down as if he were some sort of pillow and Jugo stroking Carue's feathers. Bepo mumbled something about his Captain in his half-asleep state, before opening his eyes fully and turning to focus on Jugo. "What were you guys talking about in there?" he asked, and Jugo turned to him, stroking Carue's feathers idly.
"First, we were trying to figure out what we were going to do," he began. "We all left that place to help Sasuke find and kill his brother. With that purpose no longer valid… no longer necessary…" He stopped stroking Carue, who quacked and put a wing on his back. "Karin, Suigetsu and I… we weren't sure what we were going to do." Jugo resumed stroking Carue, who seemed content from the attention. "It was actually Vivi who suggested it, and Karin was surprisingly happy to agree to it. Suigetsu decided it might be interesting, but I'm still not really sure…"
"Sure about what?" Bepo prompted.
"Them traveling with us," Perona informed Bepo, to which the bear yelped. "Sakura's already been recruited as a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, whether she's accepted it or not. So Vivi thought it would be a good idea to ask Karin if she'd like to come back to Alabasta with her, which prompted Suigetsu to ask about where 'Alabasta' was, which meant we had to explain the Grand Line to these guys, and a world covered in mostly water got Suigetsu wanting to go as well, only maybe not sticking with Karin and Vivi…" Perona sighed and cuddled up against Bepo. "So they'll be accompanying us on our journey to find the other three victims of that Devil's Fruit user."
Bepo nodded in understanding, before turning to Jugo. "You're still on the fence about it, though?"
Jugo looked away. "That's right. I… don't know if I'd feel comfortable going to an entirely different world. And I don't know how useful I'd be to you guys. So I'm not sure if I'm going to come with you when you go back to your home."
"Oh…" Bepo pouted. "I'm sorry…"
"There's no need to apologize," Jugo shook his head. "It's not like it's your fault."
Bepo was about to apologize again, but quickly stopped himself from doing so. Carue sat down, prompting Jugo to do the same, and the group sat in relative silence. Jugo continued to stroke Carue, enjoying the bird's company, while Carue began to fall asleep from the stroking and Perona cuddled into Bepo, who slowly wrapped his arms around her to help keep her warm on account of her less than ideal attire for a cold night.
The four sat quietly together, with no sounds to accompany them aside from the sounds of the surrounding atmosphere and nature, for about half an hour. No one particularly felt like saying anything, so they just left it at that, simply enjoying the company. Jugo hummed softly to himself, a melody that he'd learned when he was a young child, giving the rest of the group something to listen to.
At that moment, the birds in the trees near the village scattered, and Jugo, Perona, Bepo and Carue all snapped to attention, getting to their feet and turning to the direction that the birds were flying away from. Perona glanced at Bepo, who nodded and began using his Haki, feeling outwards in that direction. He gasped, turning to them and pointing wildly. "There's someone being chased-!" he exclaimed, before dropping on all fours and charging towards the forest near the town. Perona and Jugo exchanged glances before following Bepo, and Carue quacked a few times and dashed after the three of them, flailing his wings about in a way that seemed to indicate that he thought this was a terrible idea.
It wasn't long before the four arrived on a beaten forest path, back-to-back and looking around. "Are you sure this is the area that you picked up on someone in?" Perona asked.
Bepo nodded in response. "I'm sure. I can still feel their presences in the area…"
"What are you talking about?" Jugo asked, prompting Bepo to apologize.
"I'm sorry. I forgot you didn't know about Haki," he whined, slouching over until Carue slapped him upside the head to get him to focus again. "I'll explain later, but it's basically like hearing voices, and they belong to people, and every voice has a different feel, and…" He slowly trailed off. "And this voice is…"
"This voice is… what?" Jugo frowned, but he didn't get a response on account of something darting out of the underbrush and between his legs, before hiding behind one of them. He spared a glance downwards to see a head of brown hair, but didn't get a chance to process much else as a small group of shinobi burst out of the underbrush, looking very frustrated and very exhausted. Jugo narrowed his eyes when he saw the insignia on their forehead protectors – ninja from the hidden Sound village.
"We finally… caught up to you…" one of them gasped out, and Bepo, Perona and Carue moved to adjust themselves so they were facing the Sound ninja. "There's… nowhere left to…" the ninja fell silent as he realized that he was staring at a polar bear, a floating woman, a huge duck, and a former test subject of Orochimaru's.
The reaction from one of the other Sound ninja was enough to convey the current emotion of all three of them. "What," the ninja deadpanned, looking between the assembled group, before noticing the figure that was hiding behind Jugo's legs. "So you intend to protect the kid?"
Jugo glanced downwards at the kid, whose grip tightened on his pant leg, likely out of fear. He looked back up at the ninja who were confronting them, before a voice caught his attention. "Please," he looked down at the source, the child clinging to his pant leg. "Don't let them get to me. Their voices…" Bepo and Perona exchanged glances at the kid's word choice. "They have scary voices, but you…" Jugo blinked in surprise. "You have a kind voice…"
Jugo stared silently down at her as words from earlier today echoed through his mind. Passion to protect… He gently pat the kid on the head, and she slowly let go of his pants as he moved forwards, easing his arm into its cursed seal state. Perona and Bepo moved to help him, but he held up his other hand to halt their progress while shaking his head. "I'll take care of them." It wasn't a promise, or a declaration – it was simply the truth. Jugo would fight these guys, and he would make them pay for making a kid scared like that. The Sound ninja eyed him carefully, before one of them seemed to realize who he was and was about to say something when Jugo introduced his fist to their face. The Sound ninja flew a few feet back before connecting with a tree and falling unconscious from the force of the blow.
"N-Now-" One of the Sound ninja lifted their hands. "Let's not be hasty here-"
The other two Sound ninja soon found themselves in the exact same situation that the first had.
Jugo eased his body back to normal, walking back over to where the child was. The kid couldn't have been older than twelve, though it was hard to tell many details due to the heavy cloak the kid was wearing that covered the kid's entire body. Looking more closely, though, Jugo could tell that the kid was a girl – she had brown hair that was tied in two pigtails that fell on her shoulders, and had brown eyes to match. She looked up at him, meeting his gaze quietly. Jugo gently crouched down, offering his hand to her. "Don't worry. I've made sure they won't come after you again."
The girl nodded slowly, allowing her expression to slide into a smile. "Thank you," she responded. "You really do have a nice voice…"
Jugo felt himself smiling from her words, before he paused and realized something. "Why were they chasing you?" he asked, concern etched into his tone. The girl recoiled and looked away at the ground, before slowly reaching up and undoing the cloak that she wore around her neck.
When she took it off, letting it fall to the ground, he blinked in shock. The simple, sundress made of fur was one thing. The fact that she had small angel-like wings was another entirely. "They were saying… something about a bloodline limit," she explained, avoiding meeting Jugo's gaze. "That it was a new one, that I'd make a good research subject… so I ran. And they chased me, so I ran some more, and they wouldn't stop chasing me…" She held her arms, shuddering. "Their voices were so cruel, and cold, and so unfamiliar…"
Jugo frowned, before he gently picked her up. "Don't worry," he reassured her. "I'll keep you safe. No one will ever hurt you again."
The girl blinked in surprise, before nodding as Bepo picked up her cloak, putting it over her like a makeshift blanket. "I… thank you, mister," she forced a smile.
"Jugo," he introduced himself.
"Jugo…" the girl repeated, leaning into him as exhaustion caught up with her. "My name is Aisa," she muttered into his chest as she fell asleep in his arms.
Slowly and calmly, Jugo began carrying her towards the town where they were spending the night, followed by Bepo, Perona and Carue, who had taken the liberty of tying the Sound ninja to a tree. Perona floated forwards until she was right next to Jugo, smiling at him. "So, it seems that you've found a reason to stick with us," she hummed in amusement, prompting him to look at her like she had grown a second head. At his confused expression, she laughed. "Horohorohorohoro~ The girl in your arms? She's from the Grand Line as well."
"Wh-" Jugo stared at her, bewildered. "How do you- she is?" He seemed torn between shock from the sudden knowledge and… relief?
"Yeah-" Bepo had apparently just caught up and decided to join the conversation. "She mentioned 'voices', which is a term a lot of people use for Observation Haki- and people from the Grand Line have a slightly different feel than the ones from here when you're using it. Like- it's hard to tell unless you're really good at using it, or you know what you're looking for, but it's there." He nodded, proud of himself for being able to tell what that difference was. "When she mentioned 'voices', I checked, and sure enough, she feels like a Grand Liner."
"She's…" Jugo looked down at Aisa, who was leaning into him for warmth in her sleep. "From the Grand Line." Slowly but surely, a smile crept onto his face, prompting Perona and Bepo to blink in confusion. "That's good. I… can stay with my friends, and… I can protect her."
The group arrived back in town and began making their way back to the inn. Perona stretched widely, letting out a yawn as she did so. "Let's all get some rest, okay? We can talk to our newest party member and introduce her to the others in the morning."
Jugo nodded in agreement as Bepo and Carue yawned, making their way back to their guard posts, and Perona began making her way towards the door. "…Perona?"
"Yes?" the ghostly woman turned to him as she responded.
"…Thank you." Jugo gently bowed, though not much so as not to disturb the girl sleeping in his arms.
Perona smiled, humming happily. "Of course. I have a soft spot for cute things, after all." She let out an ethereal laugh as she floated into the inn.
Jugo stood like a statue, staring at her retreating figure with a befuddled look on his face. Aisa breathing on his chest brought him to his senses, and he quickly moved inside to go to the room he was sharing with Suigetsu and Marco so that he could be well rested in the morning.
Or, rather, so he could protect the ones who were becoming the 'precious people' in his life to the best of his ability.
i don't ship it i don't ship it i don't ship it I SHIP IT OH GOD WHY DO I SHIP IT
MERRY CHRISTMAS HAVE THE INTRODUCTION OF AISA AND THE BIRTH OF THE JUGO/PERONA SHIP
-Ink