Ink's Notes:

GUESS WHO ACCIDENTALLY MISSED THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THIS STORY? I DID! So when I realized I was like "aw FLUFF" and worked on getting this out, and then this is only ten - *looks at clock* ... eleven days late! ...iamsosorry

Krazyfanfiction1: I have thought about this and it will probably happen at a later date.

Fairy of the Friz: It has gotten much better, thank you~

Allykrau: oh god Garp would be the WORST let's just... let's not touch that with a ten foot pole okay

The Keeper of Worlds: I hinted at it earlier, buuuuttt... well, we'll see~

rainwolf024: HERE IS CHAPTER

Ddash2157: Itachi is actually not dead yet in this story! And I have plans for him. Evil plans. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Marco had been on cloud nine since their rag-tag group of awkward misfits from this world and another world had discovered that they would be traveling on the sea, to the point that he had begun singing out loud. When he finished singing the song the first time, he encouraged the others to join in and sing it with them, giving them a crash course in a "well-known pirate song from the olden days, yoi" as he called it. This was how the group had arrived in the small port town in the Land of Lightning that they'd been directed to, arms wrapped around each other's shoulders and singing the merry tune of Binks' Sake as they walked. Even Tashigi had joined in on the melody, surprising the assembled pirates, but she brushed it off by saying that it was a merry melody and she was looking forward to being on the open seas as well. Besides, she put in, the Marines' traditional song wasn't nearly as upbeat.

Once they were through the town gates, they decided to split up into two groups. The first group, consisting of Vivi, Carue, Karin, Tashigi, and Suigetsu, would head into town and gather any supplies they needed, as well as secure some lodgings for when the night rolled around so they could be well rested in the morning. The other group, consisting of Sakura, Marco (who had shifted back into his smaller phoenix form upon arriving in town), Perona, Bepo, Jugo and Aisa, would be heading for the docks to see what ships were available and figure out which one they would be purchasing (or stealing, but general consensus was to not mention that part around Tashigi) in order to head to the Land of Water and find the potential Grand Liner who had wound up there.

Unfortunately, the group of two pink-haired women, a small blue phoenix, a large man with orange hair giving a piggyback ride to a little girl with wings, and a polar bear in a boiler suit walking on its hind legs was drawing a little bit of a crowd. Okay, maybe it wasn't so little. Or… little at all, really. It was more like half of the small town had gathered in one place because they couldn't believe what their friends or family or the people they passed were saying and they just had to see it for themselves. As she glanced around at the people staring at them, suddenly feeling about ten times more self conscious, Sakura could only think of just how glad she was that Perona was actually walking as opposed to floating like she usually did.

"…Jugo…" Aisa whimpered, pulling herself inwards and towards Jugo as much as she could. "I don't like these people, their voices are scaring me…"

Jugo reached up and stroked her hair, calming her down slightly. "Just focus on the voices that make you comfortable," he encouraged her, and she slowly nodded and closed her eyes to help her ignore the crowd.

The group walked in relative silence, aside from Marco's whistling of Binks' Sake from his perch on Sakura's shoulder. With such a large group of people, they didn't want to say anything that might cause problems for them, so they just kept quiet. Fortunately, aside from a few odd looks, they arrived at the docks without any problems.

When they arrived, a man who had slicked back blonde hair wearing a pair of orange goggles on top of his head, and had stubble forming into a mustache and beard greeted them. He wore a dark blue jacket with several cigars strapped to it that was unbuttoned and over a yellow shirt with cloud patterns on it, as well as blue jeans and simple shoes. The man had a cigar in his mouth, but it wasn't lit at the moment, and he looked the group up and down. "Hey. Welcome to the docks. You guys travelers?"

"Ah, something like that," Perona answered, twirling her umbrella and smiling at the man. Aisa's eyes snapped open and she began staring intently at him, which he acknowledged by looking at her but didn't say anything about it. "We're looking for a ship so we can go to the Land of Water."

"All right," he nodded, removing the cigar from his mouth and doing a mental headcount. "Just the…" The man paused, looking Bepo up and down. "You a pet or one of those summons?"

"Ah- I'm a summon," Bepo quickly lied, his eyes moving to the ground.

The man raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it, instead returning to his previous train of thought. "Right. So, there's four of you, plus one kid and one…" He squinted at Marco, who trilled in response. "…One bird," he finished, though his expression and tone seemed thoughtful.

"Actually, there's four more of us and one more bird, though that one is larger," Sakura informed the man, who turned his attention to her and gave her a once over. He sighed in relief about something, and she blinked. "…Were you worried we wouldn't be able to handle it?"

"No, no-" He waved his hand to dismiss her concerns as he put the cigar back in his mouth. "Something else is all." Sakura stared at him, glancing at Marco, who trilled again in response to her look. "So a crew of about eight. I've seen ships run by that amount of people, shouldn't be a problem. Right this way."

The man motioned for the group to follow him, and he began showing them various ships, periodically greeting other people around the docks. It was through these interactions that the group learned that the man showing them around was a shipwright who had arrived in town a few months ago and quickly improved the quality of the ships in the area. They didn't get a name yet, though, which was growing to be increasingly inconvenient when it came to addressing him.

(He apparently also didn't take kindly to women wearing revealing clothing, but his expression and the flustered blush betrayed his words. Sakura figured that this was what he was sighing in relief about earlier when he'd addressed her.)

The fact that he'd arrived a few months ago was suspicious enough in itself, but Aisa hadn't stopped staring at him, and it had gotten to the point that they were getting worried about they young girl. Jugo was the one who wound up asking if she was okay, and she nodded to signify that she was before she leaned down and whispered something in his ear. Jugo nodded up at her, and he looked at the group, then inclined his head towards their impromptu guide.

Marco got the message quickly enough, fluttering off of Sakura's shoulder and flying towards the man with a quick trill. The man turned to face the bird as he approached, only for Marco to snatch the cigar right out of his mouth, flying in front of him momentarily to taunt him with the smuggest look Sakura had seen on Marco when he was in his bird form before flying off towards the town proper.

"Wh- Hey! That's mine! Give it - Get back here!" the man yelled, halfway flabbergasted that a bird had stolen his cigar and the rest of the way pissed off that a bird had stolen his cigar. He went charging off after the bird, who was flying at a leisurely pace to make sure that no one fell behind. Once the man was running and focused on Marco, the rest of the group tailed him, using Haki to make sure they didn't lose either of them in the crowd.

Sakura blinked a few times as she focused her Haki in on the man, turning her head to look at Perona as they ran. "Hey… is it just me, or-"

"Not just you," Perona curtly informed her. "Hate running," she muttered, before continuing her train of thought. "Aisa must have noticed as well, but yeah. His 'voice' is…"

The group arrived in an alleyway where Marco had landed and given the man back his cigar, and the man was grumbling at the bird, though surprisingly didn't seem any worse for the wear after the impromptu chase through town. He realized that the others had followed him into the alleyway, and the man ran a hand through his hair. "Jeez… sorry about that, but you shouldn't let your bird steal other people's things."

"Well, how else were we going to get a chance to talk to you alone?" Sakura asked. "Besides, he's a pirate. Stealing things is commonplace for him."

The man didn't react to the statement at all, aside from simply turning to Marco. "So you are who I thought you were. And here I thought I was the only one who landed here. Picked a hell of a way to get my attention…"

"Sorry about that, yoi," Marco apologized, lifting his wing in a manner that stated he wasn't sorry at all. "We needed confirmation, though, and I didn't think you would admit it around so many other people."

"You thought right." The man put his hands into his pockets. "So, how many others?"

"Nine total," Perona informed him. "Marco's one, of course. Vivi, Carue, and Tashigi makes it four. Bepo, Aisa and I make seven. You're number eight," she smiled, twirling her parasol.

"And we think that the ninth one is in the Land of Water," Jugo informed the man. "Hence why we're trying to head that way."

"There's also four shinobi who're going to be coming back with us," Bepo smiled widely and outstretched his arms. "Sakura and Jugo here, and Karin and Suigetsu with the others."

The man stared at them in disbelief. "…I'm sure you'll fill me in on that later," was all he eventually provided, letting out a long sigh.

"So you're agreeing to come with?" Aisa asked cautiously, apparently a bit more relaxed now that they were alone, and the man nodded.

"Yeah. You're gonna need a shipwright to help you along and keep whatever ship we wind up using in top shape, and I would like to get back home as well." He offered a hand towards the small group blocking the entrance to the alleyway, and Sakura opted to shake it. "Name's Paulie. Nice to meet you."

*insert Legend of Zelda 'ITEM GET' music* YOU FOUND ONE (1) "PAULIE"! Specializing in rope combat, this man is a Shipwright from Water 7 who will help keep your ship in top shape as you sail towards the LAND OF WATER.

...yeah i don't even know HAPPY LATE ANNIVERSARY!

-Ink