Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
"S-Sakazuki-san," Nao utters, stuttering despite how every bit of her urges herself to bury her fear and mask it in faux arrogance as she's always done.
She bows her head, clenching her teeth to keep them from chattering—a side effect of the sheer terror that's rushing down her spine. It's an ironically freezing tingle—a contrast to the overbearing heat that often resonated from Sakazuki—spanning the length between her temples to her toes, courtesy of the man who is certainly trying to be intimidating on purpose.
And it works—it works damn well, in fact. If intimidation is his goal, then Nao sure as hell has been effectively intimidated. Unfortunately, though, intimidation can't be all there is to it—a man whose role was pivotal to the original timeline could not be so one-track-minded. There's more to it, and Nao wishes nothing more to indulge herself in that same knowledge; this is what she has lived for—throwing herself into the thick of every shitshow she can possibly create through the ripples of her actions.
But to find herself in the middle of this particular situation requires something that she's never been all that great at having.
Respect.
She hates it—hates that she has to pay respect to a man who she'd much rather manipulate in her own twisted way if her body and mind would let her, but as she is now, she's only a few degrees from melting into a puddle right before him. Swallowing her pride, bowing her head down, addressing him as formerly as her insolent streak will allow her—it's all something she must do to make the most of this predicament.
Heat presses against her body—a result of the then-Vice Admiral's devil fruit that so ironically contrasted that of Aokiji. A sly smile crosses his face as he acknowledges that, yes, the level of his power is eons beyond that of the little 'kid' that his fellow vice admiral dragged in. It's a sick show of superiority—a blatant display of her inferiority—but Nao can't fault him for that. (After all, creating relatively sick shows seems to have become her guilty pleasure in recent years.)
"I see you've learned something from Kuzan," he remarks, referencing the fact that Nao is able to stand in front of him at all without completely crumpling under the force of his presence. "Maybe he's not hopeless after all, if only a little too… charitable."
Nao is ticked off—undeniably so at her new station at the marine base being said to be more like a charitable act than anything—but showing annoyance would only prove a lack of self control. This, overbearing presence aside, is a battle of mental fortitude, and Nao will be damned before she loses in a battle of wits. Physical limitations aside, her mental will power is the thing that put her where she is in the first place.
A sickeningly sweet smile makes its way onto her face.
"Charitable, yes, but the same can be said about Sengoku-san, no? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember a certain blond being brought to the marines in a similar fashion by the now Fleet Admiral. Perhaps his charitability is why everyone suspects that Kuzan-san will eventually rise to the same rank as Sengoku-san!" Nao chirps cheerfully, at the same insinuating that Sakazuki's lack of empathy is why he wouldn't become Fleet Admiral (though Fate has made it so that he, unless Nao pulls some wicked shit, probably will become the face of the marines).
Sakazuki returns her smile with one of his own, but there's something about it that throws Nao off. It's neither malicious nor cruel—rather, it's almost the opposite. (Almost, but still a chilling sight nonetheless.)
"Maybe a sharp-tongued brat like you will be able to whip Kuzan into shape. If he becomes strong enough to lead the marines as a sturdy head, then I have no qualms against it," Sakazuki hums, and Nao is so bewildered that she swears she's been thrown into yet another alternate universe.
"A sturdy head?" Nao repeats, more curious about what the surprisingly amiable—or at least, as amiable as someone as widely known as a despicable man can be—vice admiral means than she is eager to escape from the originally unwanted interaction.
He gives her an odd look, as if to say, 'Duh.'
"Who's in charge doesn't matter—it's who will bring justice as a whole to this world. What, are you a pirate sympathizer?" he asks, sounding just as curious as she had about his own words.
It comes to her as quite a surprise—the lack of insufferable arrogance in his tone. He's speaking to her as, shockingly enough, somewhat of an equal—perhaps as one would speak to a fellow underling. As strange as it is, though, it makes sense. Simply being powerful couldn't allow someone to climb the ranks of an organization as dependent on leadership as the marines. Having a despicable leader would only bring down the age-old military force—to have become the Fleet Admiral in the somewhat near future would require more than just brawn.
"And if I am?" Nao shoots back, taking a chance with her reply to what would usually be an accusatory question.
Sakazuki simply shakes his head. Still condescending, yes, but not in a way that makes Nao want to drag the man to the grave with her. A pang of guilt hits her—a side effect of her short yet enjoyable meeting with Ace—but her need to know more about everything triumphs that guilt.
"Most young marines are," Sakazuki continues, surprising her with an attempt at explaining his train of thought. "Spend enough time on the hellish sea, though, and you'll eventually see that the weight of a few good pirates is nowhere near enough to make up for the crimes committed by those other bastards."
"But—" Nao's almost at a loss for words "—it doesn't mean that they all are guilty of those crimes."
He looks her dead in the eye as he makes his next, and final, statement on the matter.
"They might not do any harm themselves, but they keep that evil world alive with their existence in it."
Nao can practically feel the hatred in his voice as he states those last words. She's a fool, but she's nowhere near dumb enough to try to continue a conversation that has clearly been brought to an end. Gritting her teeth to stop herself from spouting out anything that she would regret, Nao bows her head once more.
"To what do I owe this meeting, though. You've had to have noticed the way your men avoid this bathroom like the plague for hours after Kuzan-san and I are done training," Nao elaborates on her confusion as to why Sakazuki has found himself in 'her' bathroom in the first place.
"I'm tired of my men leaving to take a piss while we're training because they couldn't take one beforehand. This will probably convince them to not be so frightened of a brat." He shrugs—a gesture almost too casual for a man as fearful as him to do. Almost as a side note, he adds one
more thing. "Kuzan and I's promotion announcement will be given soon. I guessed his one and only student wouldn't be informed of such an event if the only person in contact with that student is the unreliable bastard himself. It'll be announced at the courtyard in half in hour."
Nao blinks—did she hear that right?
Sakazuki—big ole', terrifyingly powerful, almighty murderer of a boy whose company she rather enjoyed—has gone out of his way to tell her that someone he's figured is important to her has a vital event planned? An event that he thinks she'd want to see? Has she finally lost it, or has she just hit her head a few too many times to get any other meaning out of what Sakazuki said?
Whatever it is, Nao figures a respectful reply is the way to go.
"Thank you for telling me," she speaks almost robotically, still not believing what her own mind is telling her.
Sakazuki nods uncomfortably before making his exit, leaving her to her own devices.
Alone again, Nao lets herself relax, only just now noticing the slight tremble that had taken over her since the moment she'd locked eyes with the terrifyingly powerful man. As odd as it sounds, she can no longer fully see him as she had prior to this interaction—he's more than just any other villain now. His future atrocities aside, she's finally been given insight on more than just what he did.
She's finally figuring out why—a feat her childhood-self would've died to have been able to do.
But this is no time to spend working out the plans that had once depended on the stagnant state of everyone's characters before meeting the beloved protagonist.
It's almost, she thinks as she rushes out of the dingy bathroom, silly that such a thing has never occurred to her. These people around her—both the ones playing both major and minor roles in her life—aren't just characters. This isn't the world she had known through pages in a manga or through images on a screen; these people are just that—people.
Real, living, breathing people.
People with dreams, ambitions. People who had a past before her, and people who will have a future after her. They're people with their own demons in their head—with their own motivations for why they do what they do.
Clambering down the hall in an attempt to find a good spot to witness her impromptu teacher's promotion, Nao hums in excitement. It's strange, really, how such a setback in her once well thought-out plans can make her so eager to write up another one—to web out all the alternate outcomes influenced by factors she had never even thought to take into account.
These people are just that—people—and like all people will do, even the slightest push in one direction can alter their paths forever. All Nao has to do is figure out which way she should push her pawns in, and how hard she should shove them down that road. If she plays her cards right, and if she makes good use of the knowledge that has practically been given to her through her new home in the marines, she can truly manipulate this world however the fuck she wants to.
It's almost too good to be true.
And as she steps out of the main building and into the courtyard, a new angle crashes down onto her, proving that it is too good to be true.
The sight that graces her is one that she'd seen before, though it had admittedly been much more flat and two-dimensional back then. The execution stand stands tall behind her, placed nearly directly above the base's main exit. Seeing it all is surreal—the crescent moon that acts as nearly a death trap for intruders, the soft roar of side chatter between the thousands of marines gathered to witness the announcement.
A different image appears in her head, though, and just like that the grandiose feeling induced by the vastness and bigness of it all disappears. In its place is a sadder feeling—a solemn wave of guilt as the execution of the now-innocent little boy replays itself in Nao's head.
Except this time, it's different. Physically, it's all the same, but the mental anguish she feels goes beyond that tinge of sadness that had come from when she had first seen it behind a screen. It hits her then, suddenly and hard—the fact that this world is no longer the result of some form of entertainment. This is now the world the she resides in—an entire world pitted against a boy that she'd basically sworn to save this time around.
It's almost too much to bear—suffocating, really—but she will take on the burden of it nonetheless.
As quickly as it had gone, the sound roaring crowd and the glory that encases all things concerning the marines comes right back, and almost in tenfold at that. Nao puts on a fake smile—one that has become a little too familiar for her own tastes— and finds herself shyly greeting the now-semi-familiar faces that have become a part of her everyday life at headquarters.
A familiar face here, a familiar face there—it's almost all too easy. Without having to really lift a finger at all, Nao has somehow wedged herself in the thick of it all. A few hands reach down to ruffle her hair, giving her friendly, touchy gestures inherent to any organizations made up of mostly men.
It's strange, to say the least, but now is no time to ponder how odd it is that she's found herself a place in such an unforgiving world—in such an unforgiving life.
A bell rings, and the chattering men fall silent as Sengoku takes the stage. No one—or at least, no one with more than half of a braincell—is paying too much attention to the Fleet Admiral. This announcement has been a long time coming. Even Nao doesn't care enough to hang onto every praising words he says about the two promoting vice admirals.
Instead, Nao focuses on observing their actions—the strange way they're carrying themselves. Perhaps she had been too shallow when she had first seen One Piece through a screen—or maybe too young to notice the underlying relationships not frequently spoken about. Seeing it firsthand, however, makes it almost too clear to see.
While not exactly looking elated to be standing so close to each other, Kuzan and Sakazuki don't look all that upset either. In fact, at most one could assume that they had a begrudging partnership—a strange thing to see when, up until thirty minutes ago, Nao has been certain that Sakazuki is the devil incarnate.
Sakazuki turns his head ever so slightly, locking eyes with his icy counterpart. To Nao's surprise (though to her discredit, nothing should be all to shocking at this point in the shitshow) neither of them look away, nor do they exchange some sort of suspicious glare towards each other.
Instead, they laugh—a snarky laugh, sure, and one with just a pinch of animosity in it, but no more than what would be in a glance shared by two lifelong rivals.
It basically confirms what she's already known.
That morning's breakfast climbs up in her throat.
This world has changed far beyond what she's expected.
Thank you for all your kind words regarding my situation! I'm okay now, really, but your support means the world to me. I tried my best to update ASAP with a quality chapter! Let me know if you enjoyed this little insight on Sakazuki's character. My biggest pet peeve is underdeveloped characters, so don't fret about me not fleshing out all of these prominent people.
Did you like seeing Sakazuki interact with Nao? How do y'all feel about where this is headed? Don't worry, Nao isn't becoming a full fledged marine in this story, though that would be cool!
If you liked it, let me know with a review! I'd love to be able to hit 150 reviews soon! Much love to you guys!
Have a great day!~