Chapter 2
A Meeting of Chance? More History is Revealed!
Everyone looked at Disarray in shock and surprise, Robin being one of the most surprised and shocked. Disarray nodded at that, chuckling slightly as held out his palm, an illusion of a mark of chaos appearing in it.
"You would be right on the Beri, Robin. It's true, I found the Chaos Chaos fruit during my travels abroad and it was only sheer luck I managed to bring it back without any pirate or Navy man stealing it along the way. There were a few close calls, but the fruit made it to the island. Actually studying the fruit was out of the question at the time, since I had no way to figure out HOW it worked, so it came to be that I came to be the Chaos Man, able to bend reality to a limited degree," Disarray expositioned as the mark shifted to a red and blue mango.
"B-Bend reality? Wh-What do you mean by that?" Usopp shakily asked, horrible thoughts running through his head.
"Care to answer, Robin? After all, you helped me with my notes," Disarray grinned at Robin, who was slowly becoming less surprised but still looked shocked to the core at finding a survivor from that terrible tragedy at the hands of the World Government.
"The Chaos-Chaos fruit allows the user to turn anything into anything, seawater the only exception both ways," Robin summarized.
"Eh? I don't get it," Usopp stroked his chin, trying to understand how that made sense.
"To put it this way, I can turn a tree into a giant lollipop, but not into seawater, and I cannot change seawater at all into anything. Regular water is just limited to other liquids, so if I turned a stick into a puddle, I can only change that puddle into something liquid, like cola," Disarray explained.
"Another downside to the fruit is that there's no telling what it might turn into. Usually it's a random object that it turns into. He would have to actually focus his Devil Fruit if he wanted something specific, best explaining why this island is so bizarre and strange. From a further look around, it probably took him months in order to turn a small island into his own little paradise," Robin observed as she looked around.
"That would also be because I can only change so much at one time. Probably the biggest thing I can change to and from is a decently-sized tree or small ship. So don't worry, your ship won't be able to change overnight from my Devil Fruit," Disarray explained further.
"That sounds so cool!" Chopper exclaimed excitedly, thinking of random things that could be changed into other things.
"There was that one big catch though…" Robin continued, looking now worried.
Disarray immediately caught on and shook his head. "Robin, it's been forever since THAT happened. Trust me, it's not a problem anymore."
Nami looked at the pair questioningly, asking, "What exactly are you two talking about? It seems pretty bad if Robin's worrying over it."
Disarray looked at Nami and sighed. "If you really want to know, ask Robin later and more in private. It's her story to tell. Oh yeah, before I forget, where's that boy with the straw hat? I think he disappeared a little while ago."
The crew looked at the spot Luffy was last seen at and groaned a bit at seeing him completely gone, along with Zoro.
"I swear, they always leave during important things like that. Please tell me you don't have any monsters here and know where most of the meat is," Nami bemoaned.
Disarray chuckled nervously. "Well… I was doing a few experiments on the local wildlife that was here and… may or may not have made hybrids of fearsome predators… and released them in the tropical blizzard…"
The whole crew, except Sanji, Robin and Franky all screamed in fear, Robin actually giggling a bit while the other two were just accepting it as is.
"It seems you haven't changed a bit, Dissy," Robin giggled even more at his red face from using that little nickname.
Sanji looked a bit ticked off at that. "Oi, leave Robin-chan alone! Don't get any ideas!"
"Bu- Wha- I didn't do anything! She's known me longer than you, she made up that nickname for me!" Disarray pouted back.
"D-Dissy…" Brook, Usopp and Chopper both sweat-dropped at that.
In the darkest shadow of the trees, a pair of red eyes observed the crew carefully, trying to figure out who was the greatest threat that had to be eliminated first. From its observations, it could see that the cyborg and the blond haired man looked to be the strongest of the group present and the rest were either too weak or cowardly to do much of anything to it. It silently chuckled as it zoomed off towards the sweets part of the island, wanting to get a look at the captain.
At the sweetened part of the island…
"This is so cool! So many sweets here! Maybe I can eat it all without Sanji having to yell at me!" Luffy cheered as he jumped into a giant cake, munching down on it as fast as he could, enjoying it to the extreme.
"Man that Dis is really cool! I wonder if he has lots of meat… I'll ask him later after I'm finished with the cake!"
While Luffy was eating, the shadow was observing from a nearby tall ice-cream that was cherry-flavored. It seemed to it that this captain was a complete and utter idiot and would've left right away… if it weren't for the fact that this captain looked like it was the strongest out of any of the crew members. It knew that a small possibility was still a valid one, if the tiger-geese were anything to go by. It would observe the last crew member next before making any final decisions. With that in mind, it slithered away like a black snake, easily able to find the man due to the path of defeated monsters that were left behind.
Deep within the tropical blizzard…
"Tch, these monsters are starting to be a bit annoying," Zoro spoke as he took the sword from his mouth, sheathing it as the nearby monsters around him looked either dead or very wounded. "Still, they are interesting to fight. Not very challenging to fight, but still interesting." He then looked around and tsked, soon finding a cottage in a small circle of normalcy, with nicely trimmed grass and an overall feel of home to it. "Eh? This must be that red guy's house. Where is everybody, honestly? Did they get lost or something?"
He eventually shrugged and walked on inside, finding a bottle of sake to drink. He grinned as he soon downed the bottle and explored the house, finding strange things along the way.
The red eyes soon found itself following this green haired swordsman, chuckling silently as it observed the man. This was a powerhouse to be dealt with almost immediately, for sure. The swordsman managed to cut down some of the fiercest monsters on this island without breaking a sweat. Luckily, it didn't find the true monsters, hidden away in storage. It soon found a dark corner in an unused room and waited patiently. It would soon come to be time for it and its master to be reunited to show these mortals the TRUE power of the Devil Fruit.
Back with the rest of the group…
"So! Who's hungry? I've got a cottage out around the center of the tropical blizzard that has enough rooms to hold everyone for the night too," Disarray grinned as he saw Chopper and Usopp both raise their hands excitedly while the rest of the group nodded. "Very well then. Hold on to yourselves! Chaos Chaos Teleport!" Disarray cackled as the air around them turned red and quickly shot them all off towards his cottage.
Chopper, Nami, Usopp and Brook were, of course, clinging to Disarray, screaming for dear life while Sanji, Franky and Robin all tried to keep a calm expression as they quickly found themselves at his cottage.
While the whole group was cooling down, Disarray from using his power while the rest of them from experience, Robin and Nami both took note of what kind of weather was in the area, which was to say…
"T-This whole place is… normal?" Nami questioned as she pried Usopp from her.
"It is quite odd to see a small bit of normalcy from someone so eccentric," Robin commented further as she saw a normal looking sized cottage.
Disarray chuckled as he expounded, "I like looking out and seeing what changes I made, not experiencing it myself. Plus, I made sure the inside was stranger than reality. Come along now, I have food and drink. Plus, one of your crewmates might be here."
They all followed him inside, all with different levels of wonder at how… BIG, the whole place seemed to be.
"I-It's a bit bigger than Kaya's mansion… But it looked so small from outside!" Usopp exclaimed as he looked around.
"You live here all by yourself in this big house?" Chopper wondered as he also started looking around.
A twinge of a frown could be seen for a split second on Disarray's face, but soon vanished with a small smile. "Hard to find this island in the first place, not to mention the extreme weather conditions and odd monsters that help protect it from other kinds of pirates."
"Really now? Then your protections suck," The group turned and found Zoro leaning up against the nearby wall, smirking a bit.
Disarray chuckled a little. "I take it you took the long way around and fought a few of my hybrid monsters? This island is kinda brand new, and you guys are the first ones to actually arrive on my island. The rest were too scared off from the crazy weather they could see."
Nami raised an eyebrow at the seemingly changing story that Disarray was going with, but a hand on her shoulder and a look from Robin said to leave it be for now. The same was done for the rest of the crew."Let me show you to the kitchen and sleeping areas and let yourselves be at home here!" Disarray led them on, oblivious to the subtle messages the crew was getting.
"A kitchen, huh? What kind of stock is there and what kind of seasonings?" Sanji asked politely as the group made their way, making sure Zoro stayed close to the group.
"Hm? Ah yes, that. I've managed to stock up on lots of vegetables and fruits. Meat options are a bit more limited, as I'm slowly turning vegetarian for health reasons. Otherwise, I have lots of different spices used to make my meals a bit more spicy. I don't mind you using my stock, it's quite easy to replenish them. If anything, you can use up whatever meat I have left. Ah, before I forget, here's the key to the pantry," Disarray explained as he pulled out a copper key, a loaf of bread on the end of it.
"Kinda obvious where the key goes… Then again, you ARE all alone on an island, so I guess stealing isn't much of a problem," Usopp commented as the group finally made their way to the kitchen.
"Ah, here we are! Pantry is thataway, guest bedrooms are right above the kitchen. If you need me, I'll be around up on the third floor. Ciao!" Disarray smirked before he vanished into thin air, most likely teleporting up.
"Huh, that's a bit odd to see," Zoro calmly stated, not seeing the teleporting beforehand. "I know he's got some booze here as well, just not in that pantry of his."
"So Robin, what exactly was this super secret that you and Dis knew?" Franky asked, causing everyone to turn to Robin.
"Well, if you must know… Dissy also hypothesized that due to the abundant power the Chaos-Chaos Fruit had, there must've been an actual demon locked away inside it, ready to unleash the full force of chaos once inside a host. Like many demons, it could be exorcised, but having to deal with a Devil Fruit user in order to banish it out seemed like too much of a momentous task," Robin explained while everyone listened, Sanji while cooking dinner for the crew.
"That chills me to the bone… Even though I'm now all bones. Yohohohoho!" Brook spookily joked as Chopper, Nami and Usopp seemed to feel the exact same way.
"B-But he said that the problem had been s-solved, right?" Usopp whimpered.
"He said he took care of it… But from the sound of things… That may not be the full case. While indeed he looked completely normal, he also looked a bit nervous about something," Robin thought back to when they were talking with Disarray.
"Plus, his story kept on slightly changing. At first he said it was a brand new island, but then he said that he experimented on the local wildlife. He says that pirates never landed here until we came along, yet he also said that pirates have landed before. He's trying to cover up something, I just know it," Nami frowned as she thought back to the different conversations about the island they had with him.
Chopper's fur bristled a bit as he thought of one memorable moment in particular. "When I asked if he lived here all by himself, I thought I could see a different emotion for a small moment… W-Was he mad at me for asking that?"
Robin giggled as she petted his fur. "Of course not Chopper. Dissy could never be mad at someone for too long, unless they tampered heavily with his work. Even then he'd ask them to help him recover it or pay the price in manual labor needed for his experiments."
"Ah, I've been meaning to ask: Why Dissy? It seems like such an odd nickname," Nami turned to Robin with a slightly confused look on her face.
Robin just smiled and giggled a bit. "Just because it gets such a funny reaction out of him. Plus, I was very young and the name stuck."
Sanji fumed for a small moment while finishing up dinner for the crew. 'Why couldn't Robin, who has eternal grace, give me a cute little nickname to call me by?'
"Oi, shit-cook, give us the food already."
"What did you call me, moss-head?!"
"You heard me the first time, pervert!"
Nami sighed as they started to fight again, Sanji keeping the food from spilling as Zoro made sure that his sake didn't spill either. "Even in a stranger's house they'll fight like cats and dogs."
"Though their balancing act is pretty good," Brook commented as he sipped from his tea cup.
"All in favor of leaving this be…" Usopp deadpanned as everyone, including him, raised their hands.
It was at that precise moment Luffy came flying in through the door, a wide grin on his face as he smashed into both Sanji and Zoro, Zoro's drink landing perfectly on the table without a single drop missing as the dinner Sanji was making landed right back onto the stove, cooking peacefully. All three of them crashed into the nearby wall, which seemed to bend back like rubber, much to the shock of almost everyone, and quickly sent them barreling headfirst into the opposite wall, which was as hard as wood.
"LUFFY YOU IDIOT!" Everyone but Robin and Brook yelled at Luffy, who in turned laughed like he had the time of his life.
"So this is where everyone went off to! I was getting hungry, so I tried to see where everyone went. Now Sanji, make me food! I'm starving!" Luffy boisterously asked as he sat down at the table eagerly.
"Yeah yeah, settle down, it's nearly done. Just give it a little bit to finish cooking," Sanji replied, pulling out and lighting a cigarette.
In another part of the mansion…
The shadow chuckled quietly, but darkly, as he observed the whole entire Strawhat crew gathered in the kitchen. Yes, the time would be perfect to strike and make headway to the New World. After all… he would be INVINCIBLE.
Later in the day: with team 7
Mission underway
The trees that team 7 was hopping through were cool and sweetly scented, a blessing to those traversing them. Thankfully, most of their route would take them overland and not through the desert or mountains, just plains and forests. Ame would take the better part of three days to arrive at, so they wanted to cover as much ground as possible before calling it a night.
Shadows passing by in blurs is what the average person would see, and there weren't many people to see them make their passage through the land.
Truly, there was very little conversation between the six of them as they went, but it was a comfortable silence. Mostly since they were wondering at their leader's words. Occasionally the silence was peppered with insults being tossed back and forth between Naruto and Sai, Sakura only intervening if it got to be too much. Or Yamoto if he thought he needed to step in, giving Sakura a break here and there.
Masika and Kakashi were silent, but ever watchful. It wouldn't do to get ambushed on a peaceful mission. They'd never hear the end of it for certain.
Kakashi knew damn well that Masika had extended a bubble of sorts around them; he could feel the shift in the air. He figured that Naruto or Sakura probably didn't or couldn't feel it. Yamoto was more than likely just as aware as he himself was. Sai on the other hand….The copy nin snuck a glance to the silent young man behind him. Sai probably knows. After all, he and Masika bonded. He chuckled inwardly. He was one of the few people in the know about Sai and Masika.
Yamoto was simply trying to keep the peace. He'd almost forgotten that Team 7 could be quite the handful. Dark eyes looked over the Team. Each one is troublesome in their own way. he sighed internally, sharing a look of exasperation with Sakura. It was a sentiment echoed by many.
"Hey kaka-sensei?" the whiskered blond asked as he bounced alongside his team leader.
"Hm?"
Naruto tilted his head in a questioning manner. "What exactly are we going to do in Ame then? I mean, I know we need to check progress with stuff and all, but why is it that we're really going?" He finally asked what they all wanted to know.
Kakashi considered his former student seriously, proud of the fact that the young man managed to ask the big question first. "Well, for one, we need to scout out certain areas: remember all the Akatsuki sightings? Many have been centered around Ame, and our Hokage wants to make sure we're not walking into a trap or worse. We'll announce ourselves to the Mizukage at some point, but for now consider this a recon mission."
Sakura looked deeply thoughtful, deftly navigating the trees. "Tsunade-sama mentioned something to that effect. This mission to check things is just a smoke screen? Won't they be expecting that?"
It was Sai who responded, absently branch bouncing. "Yes and no. Yes, but they will think it's being paranoid on their part. Right?" He directed the last part to Kakashi who chuckled.
"Correct, so we still have to be careful. The Mizukage expects us to announce ourselves in four days, so we have a small bit of wiggle room." Kakashi acknowledged lightly.
Masika cocked her head. 'Recon only? But why? Hasn't the Mizukage been honest with us?'
Sai relayed what she asked and Sakura hummed. "Many think so-but all the same, I'm pretty sure they know something about the Akatsuki. Why would all those sighting happen in that area and yet have no sort of response from Ame shinobi?"
Masika scowled ever so slightly. 'I see. I've never met the Mizukage, and Ame was merely a village I could do business with occasionally. It wouldn't surprise me if Ame was keeping secrets, but something of that magnitude? Unthinkable.'
Sai sighed. He understood what she was saying. "Again, that's true. Ame wouldn't be able to keep a secret that large so concealed unless…"
Naruto scowled fully. "…Unless they're in on it."
Yamoto took it all in quietly, his own thoughts churning around. The team had a good point, Tsunade had been wise enough to brief him before the mission. The wood user simply listened at the moment, drawing his own conclusions.
Kakashi let it all settle into his thoughts. His team did have a point; one that their Hokage had thought of briefly-hence why she sent them out. He was proud of the fact that they were working it out though. His eye crinkle smile was missed by the other four. His ex students were not only strong, they were fairly smart too. 'Heh, even Naruto has proven himself quite shrewd.' he chuckled to himself, absently noting that night would soon be upon them.
He could feel the slight shift in the air; the humidity spiking ever so slightly.
Sakura picked up on it. "Whew-it feels like it's going to rain or something!" bright green eyes turned to look over to the silent member of the team. "Masika? Is this your doing?"
The silent young woman nodded. 'It's just me-don't worry.' She motioned around them. 'I can't sense anything out of the ordinary yet, but you'll know when and if I do.' She flashed a smile at Sakura. 'Don't worry: it's not going to rain.'
Kakashi and Yamoto caught that and Kakashi laughed quietly. The ANBU captain grinned, not bothering to hide his amusement. That was definitely something Kakashi would tease his former student about later. Trust Sakura to be worried about rain. He sighed inwardly. Then again, no one liked traveling through rain; even he avoided it like the plague when he could.
Naruto snorted. "Good to know. So what did you do? Make a chakra bubble or something?" he addressed Masika with his usual megawatt grin
Masika gave him a cat's grin and shrugged. 'Or something.' She agreed evasively.
Yamoto and Sai exchanged looks. Not everyone knew what Masika could really do. Naruto ought too, but the knucklehead ninja probably wouldn't catch on for a while longer, even though he had spent quite a bit of time with the silent girl in the year he'd known her.
Sakura hummed. "Or something huh?" Masika flashed her a grin and Sakura shrugged. Masika would tell them or she wouldn't, either way it was fine. Sakura understood very well that Masika was just as aloof as their sensei. Maybe even more so.
Sai knew, but he wasn't going to say anything on the matter. It wasn't his skill to explain. He did find it a bit funny that Naruto didn't quite know how Masika operated. It provided endless bits of entertainment for Sai.
Truly, as the day progressed, the six of them made splendid time traveling as they did, going to ground as the trees began to thin out. At the pace they were going they could reach Ame a day and a half early, maybe even two- plenty of time to do some scouting.
It was Sakura who spoke up this time. "So where exactly are we starting then? In the city of around it?"
"Around it. There are certain areas that have held numerous sightings so we are looking around those places." Yamoto hummed, thinking it all through.
Kakashi lifted a lazy hand in agreement. "True, but we also need to extend caution. I'm pretty sure those areas are being monitored by Ame nins as it is."
Masika frowned, electric blue eyes flashing. 'That simply makes it even more suspicious. Why would they add more suspicion to themselves? They are already under scrutiny because of those sightings- why would they send out shinobi to watch those places? If they're in on it and trying to cover it they're doing a very poor job of it.'
Yamoto scowled slightly. "There is that. They are behaving oddly, of that there's no doubt. Hence recon."
"Still. I get the feeling that something big is coming." Sakura sighed, the battle senses honed ruthlessly were chiming louder as they got ever closer to the city of rain.
Naruto could sense it as well; the kyuubi was stirring restlessly as the mere mention of the fearsome organization and the fact that sightings were occurring around their mission. It bothered him greatly the more he thought about it. With a frown he remembered something from a few months back. "Uchiha bastard senior once told me that nothing was sacred when it came to Ame and that nothing should be taken at face value with them."
Everyone shot him startled glances. Uchiha Itachi never said anything without reason. To give a warning, to an enemy no less, was darned peculiar. Especially considering that he was one of the top fighters within the Akatsuki.
Naruto growled softly as he added: "He also said that they keep secrets within secrets." his own blue eyes flashed in anger at the memory. He had lost that particular fight, and it still rankled.
"When was this?" Yamoto asked, brows high black eyes wide.
"Ah-the bridge incident by Cloud." Naruto hummed. "You filled in for Kaka-sensei that mission remember? Uchiha Bastard senior used a genjutsu."
Sakura nodded. "I remember that. He talked to you then?"
"Yeah." the blond ninja nodded over to his teammate.
Kakashi mulled it over seriously. Uchihas were notorious in playing word games, but Itachi...he was a different barrel of fish altogether. The man was cold blooded and despised his former village, and it bothered the jounin that the criminal would do such a thing. Especially because of the fact that they were after the nine-tails container: one never dropped warnings like that unless they had another agenda- one that no one else seems to know either. It was baffling to say the least.
Sakura's jade eyes settled into deep thought, mind at work. Truthfully she was coming to the same conclusions that her former sensei had and she didn't like it one little bit. The Konoha defector who was a part of the Akatsuki clearly was up to something. 'Then again- maybe it was an order-? Maybe he was ordered to cause a distraction of some kind?' she mused aloud now. "Do you think it might have been an order of some kind or something to cause doubt?"
Yamoto gave her an approving glance as did Masika. "That very well could be." the wood user agreed.
Naruto shook his head though. "Didn't feel like that. He deliberately sought a private audience, making sure to keep his partner in the dark."
That got brows to bounce. "...Up to something." Yamoto murmured.
'Very much. One wonders what that man is up to.' Masika agreed with a small frown.
Kakashi shrugged. They'd work it out later. For now they still had ground to cover before setting up camp.
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