A/N: I actually had this thing written last week, but was too busy streamlining some of my stories and doing "manly" things. Direct your hate into the reviews.

Also, I'm planning on making the "River Shouting" technique an initiation rite for all future Straw Hats. Let me know what you guys think.

Chapter 6: Love Backwards Is Evil

As the Straw Hats slowly trekked their way out of the jungle (or what was left of it), most of the tension from earlier had definitely disappeared. Each member made conversations, jokes, insults, or whatever came to mind as they chatted along the way.

"Can you guys please slow down?! My legs are tired from fighting the cat lady!"

"Oh suck it up, Usopp," said Nami, not giving the sniper any attention. "We're all tired, but only you're complaining," she said looking at Luffy who was slumped over Zoro's shoulders.

Zoro thought it was odd when Luffy recovered so fast after using Gear Fourth, especially this early in their journey. Well it turns out that during the brief 5 seconds after the battle, their captain was running purely on adrenaline. His captain could barely twitch, let alone move at the moment. But they both agreed that they would talk about this later. Privately.

"I'll let you all know that I have suffer from inabilitytowalklongdistances-itis!"

"Bullshit..." Luffy murmured. Great. Even the captain was getting in on this.

The crew returned to the beach where they dropped anchor earlier to find the ship of the Black Cat Pirates, alone and crewless. Luffy had recovered enough at this point to walk on his own, but he still carried a slight limp from overexerting himself earlier. No one said a word as they passed by the lifeless bodies that remained on the sands.

"Alright, guys," Usopp spoke up as they climbed on board. "The ancient laws of piracy states that only treasure shall be taken if a crew is to be left alive. We didn't kill Kuro, nor the pirates on the main base so food, water, or medicine is to be left alone 'less we wish the wrath of the seas upon us."

Everyone agreed. While they were slightly skeptical of their supposed ill fate, none of them could deny that honour was just as important as the treasure itself. Pirates were sketchy figures by nature, but even the worst of them followed some sort of code.

"Of course there are always exceptions like Teach," Zoro thought as he loaded several chests on board the Merry.

And of course, "treasure" was always in the eye of the beholder. At least that was Luffy's argument as he made away with the ship's figurehead.

Usopp decided that his room needed a new solid-chrome porthole.

Nami stole a door with jewels decorating it.

But the important thing was neither the food, water, nor the medicine had been touched.

"Are we bad people?" Luffy asked innocently as mounted his "loot" above his bed.

"No," came Nami.

"Yes," came Zoro.

"No," came Usopp.

"That settles it, then!" Luffy laughed. And so the honour of the Straw Hat Pirates survives another day.

The Straw Hats were in the midsts of their second round of looting if not for a few choice people showing up.

"Halt! Pirates!" a loud voice caught their attention.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me…" Zoro thought as he took notice of the source. Two very familiar looking bounty hunting brothers.

"Are you members of the Black Cat Pirates?! We'll take you guys down!" the one called Johnny shouted as he leapt from their dinghy boat... well it was more of a cramped canoe really.

"Come on now!" the other one said. "You sea thugs are gonna feel the wrath of the bounty hunting brothers Johnny and Yosaku!"

The two raised their swords at the crew as the Straw Hats stared at them incredulously. For a second, no one made a move.

Luffy picked up a rock. Confused faces appeared on both sides. He looked at the rock, then up to the duo, then back to the rock.

Luffy threw it. Clonk.

Yosaku went down.

"Bastard!" Johnny shouted. "How dare you do that to my brother!? Well you're not going to finish me off so easily!"

Luffy looked at him incredulously before wordlessly picking up another rock from the sands. Zoro sighed. He better step in before this got out of hand.

"Johnny? Yosaku?" Zoro spoke up, catching Johnny's attention. "Is that you guys?"

"Brother Zoro!?" Johnny shouted in surprise, finally noticing Zoro among the group. He immediately dropped his sword in the sand as he ran to the group. "You've got to help us! Yosaku is dying and we don't know why!"

Nami walked over to the prone form of Yosaku. Johnny immediately tensed, but Zoro held him back. After a few seconds of looking him over, she spoke up, "Can any of you get me a few limes from the pantry?"

Usopp returned a few moments later with the fruits. "Scurvy?" he asked as Nami began squeezing the juice into Yosaku's mouth.

"That's right," she answered. Immediately after doing so, Yosaku sat up instantaneously, headbutting Usopp in the process.

"You son of a-" Usopp began angrily as he got to his feet only to see Yosaku up again and dancing. His anger faded into confusion and then into worry.

"Hey! You can't just recover that fast! It doesn't work like that!" he shouted as Johnny and Yosaku turned their attention to him.

"Oh right," Yosaku said before comically fainting. Usopp sighed.

"Thanks for the help, Brother Zoro and friends!" Johnny said, bowing profusely at their knees. "We are forever in your debt!"

"Hey, hey now," Nami began. "Just do us a favour and keep plenty of fruit in stock. You've got to be more careful at sea. Now come on board, I want to take a closer look at him."

Luffy carried Yosaku on deck where Nami did further examinations on him. As she did, the others sat around the meeting table where they exchanged introductions.

"Sorry about earlier," Johnny said. "We've been following the Black Cat Pirates for weeks now, and when we finally found their base, Yosaku came down with the sickness. We've been on edge ever since."

"Sounds like you've had a rough week," Zoro said, in which Johnny simply nodded.

"What about you?" he asked. "I never thought you'd give up bounty hunting for pirating."

"Yeah," Zoro half said. "It happens."

"And that sword you've got…" Johnny trailed off. "That's some presence it's giving off…"

Zoro wasn't surprised Johnny could feel his sword's aura. While him and Yosaku were kind of lacking in the intelligence department, both of them were still trained, knowledgeable swordsmen of the sea.

Zoro unstrapped it and handed his sword over for Johnny to examine. For a few seconds, silence spilled over the table.

"...Get rid of it."

Everyone raised their eyes in confusion. "What?" Zoro asked, wondering if he heard him right.

"I said get rid of it," Johnny repeated firmly. "I don't know what this thing is, but it radiates evil. I've seen some things in my day, but nothing to this degree. I'm glad Brother Zoro has found a weapon worthy of his skills, but this sword can only bring disaster to everyone around him," he said as he handed the sword back. "...And I'm guessing you're the one responsible for the bodies on the beach, right?"

Zoro wordlessly retrieved his sword before restrapping it on his haramaki. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll take whatever burden comes with this sword."

Johnny sighed. "I can't stop you from making your choices. Just promise me you'll be careful, Zoro."

Nami finally approached the group having finished her examination. "Aside from the scurvy, he's got a few scratches and bruises. Nothing too serious. He'll live."

"I didn't know you were a doctor," said Usopp in amazement. "I thought you only drew maps."

"I'm not," she replied as she removed her gloves. "But I was trained in nursing by my mother."

Yosaku began stirring from his sleep and within a few moments he was up. After some stern warnings about the dangers at sea, the Straw Hats and the bounty hunters exchanged farewells.

"Thank you for everything, Straw Hats!" Yosaku shouted. "And we'll promise to be more careful!" he said, looking particularly at Nami.

"If we catch you with scurvy once again, we will hunt you down and I will take the pleasure of drowning you myself!" Nami warned, but with a smile. Johnny and Zoro shared one last look, before him and Yosaku hopped on their dinghy… or canoe. Whatever you call it.

"Alright, where to next?" Luffy asked, resting his arms around his head.

"Well, we're heading to the Grand Line, right? We've got to assemble a well-rounded crew to survive," said Usopp.

"Right," said Nami. We'll need a diverse group of people with different skills. I'm thinking we either get a doctor, or someone with good knowledge of the Grand Line first."

"No," Zoro interrupted. "A cook is more important at this stage. Someone who can properly keep us fed at sea is the first step in preventing disease and ensuring the well-being of the crew."

"Or we could get a musician," Luffy interrupted. "Pirates love to sing after all!"

Nami picked up a very familiar rock she brought on board for this very purpose. She then threw it at Luffy, which harmlessly bounced off of his rubber body.

"So bad idea?" he asked, in which Nami simply sighed after that.

"Zoro's right on this one. We should definitely get a cook before anything else," said Usopp. "But where would we find one?"

"The Baratie," Zoro recalled from memory. "Apparently, it's a floating restaurant at sea with cooks known for their toughness. We'll find someone there."

"Alright!" Nami shouted excitedly. "That's exactly what we're looking for! Now tell me the heading and we'll be right on our way!"

"Oh shit..." Zoro thought. He completely forgot to ask Johnny and Yosaku for the directions this time around! And they were probably kilometers away, giving up any hope of chasing them.

As the eyes of his crewmates fell upon him expectantly, a voice suddenly appeared in his head. "North 62 degrees west, sail 30 nautical miles, then head straight west from there. You should hit the Sambas region in 2 to 3 days," the familiar child-like voice said.

"Thanks, Hana," he said gratefully in his mind, hoping she heard him.

"We sail north 62 degrees west from here for 30 nautical miles, then turn west. Keep sailing in that direction and we'll arrive in 2 to 3 days," Zoro repeated to the utterly flabbergasted faces of his crewmates.

"Holy..." Nami began.

"...Shit," Usopp finished. "Zoro can navigate. He can actually fucking navigate!"

"Surprised?" Zoro said boredly as he moved towards the upper deck. He would be insane if he let the opportunity to impress his crew get away from him.

"Hey wait! Straw Hats!" a voice called from the beach amidst the bodies. As the crew turned to the voice, they were immediately on guard.

"Alright, just hear me out, guys," Django said as weapons were aimed directly at him. "Please."

After a few seconds, the Straw Hats complied. "First of all, I want to thank you for dealing with Kuro. He threatened to kill us all if we failed our invasion, but because of you guys we're free!"

"Spit it out. What do you want?" Usopp spoke.

"Straight to the point the," Django said as he adjusted his hat. "We want to ally ourselves with the Straw Hat Pirates, well the remainder of us anyways."

That came as a surprise to everyone. Before anybody could interject, Zoro spoke up. "What do you have to gain from this?" he asked, although the idea wasn't a bad one. Having allies this early on in their journey would only be helpful in the long run.

Zoro only wanted to know if they could trust them.

"Not much really. Though you did wipe out some of our crew, we are still grateful for everything that you did for us."

"And if we refuse?" Nami asked skeptically.

"That doesn't matter much. We won't fly under your flag, but we will be there whenever you need help, whether you actually want us there or not."

"I'm saying we go for it," said Usopp, earning odd looks from his crewmates.

"Wait, weren't these guys plan to attack your village at one point?" Nami asked.

"That was Kuro's idea. We didn't see the point in attacking Syrup Village when we could have headed for the Grand Line, but he forced us to make preparations anyways. Really turned off some of the guys, like the Nyaban Brothers."

"It's your call, captain," Zoro said. "Although, I see nothing wrong with obtaining allies who are willing to work with us."

"I'm alright with it as well, I suppose," added Nami. "Marimo here has a point. It's a good idea to start gaining allies early."

"Fine," Luffy said at last. "We'll accept your offer, but on one condition." He said as he walked towards his room and returned with a familiar shaped figurehead. "This thing… belongs to me."

"Fair enough," Django said. "I've always wanted to rename the crew. Maybe I'll get some hipster vibe going on."

"And this belongs to me," Usopp said, showing his new porthole.

"Fine by me. That thing was an eyesore."

"And you'll have no problem with me keeping the jewel-covered door?"

This made Django gasp. "...Okay…" was all he managed to cough out.

"Awesome!" Luffy shouted. "Welcome to the Straw Hat Alliance, hypno guy! See you whenever!"

And so the Straw Hats would sail on to the Baratie only to meet the most expected and unexpected foes. What they didn't see was Django suddenly blinking.

"I remember them!"

A/N: And Django's got his memory back. Will anything good come out of this? Will anything bad? Would any one of you care? Stay tuned and find out!