Chapter 8: Our first real fight

XXXXXXX – East Blue, 'Buggy's Island', South End

Luffy cheered at Naruto's last statement of 'kicking butt' by adding. "Damn straight! I'm going to send that clown flying!"

Nami looked at them. "Whatever, I just want the treasure." She looked back at the destroyed Mayor's house. "Um…wasn't Zoro sleeping in there?"

Naruto's jaw dropped as he looked. "WHAT!?" He ran towards the rumble. "So Zoro's dead? For sure this time?"

With that the debris went flying all over the place, several pieces striking Naruto. One in particular struck him in the face, to which Naruto merely cried, 'OUCH!!'. From the source of the debris, Zoro was sitting and rubbing his forehead. "Man…what a wake up call." Zoro comment, as if a building collapsing on him was an everyday occurrence. But then again…knowing his previous lifestyle and short temper…maybe it was.

Naruto instantly recovered and ran at Zoro and hit him in the head. "Bastard! Watch out when you do stuff like that!"

Zoro replied with a backknuckle to Naruto's face. "Shut up, rodent. I do what I want."

The two continued arguing while they sorted through the wreckage and walked to the street. Sakura was mumbling to herself. "A head shot…" She repeated it over and over as if trying to remember something.

Nami had a slightly different reaction to this scene. "Wait a second, Zoro should stay here. Not only did he just have a building drop on him, but he was already wounded." Zoro continued to sneer at Naruto before finally pushing him away. He then responded to Nami's statement with. "I got better."

"YOU GOT BETTER!?" repeated Nami, Naruto and Sakura in disbelief.

Zoro grinned at Nami. "I care more about my reputation than some injury." With those words, he reached for his black bandana and tied it around his forehead. "Let's go have some fun."

Nami looked at Luffy, who merely grinned and said. "It's cool."

The group started walking, but Sakura said. "I remember now!" All stopped and turned their heads to her. She was mad about something. She stomped over to Shino and Naruto. "One of you hit me in the head and knocked me out while I was talking to Mom and Dad." She cracked her knuckles. "Who was it?"

"Naruto," Shino answered without hesitation, causing Naruto's jaw to drop. Seconds later, Sakura cried. "Shannaro!!!" And she delivered a solid right punch to Naruto's face. Naruto was then lying on his back, bleeding on the ground and groaning in pain. Sakura then stomped off to the head of the group and shouted. "Follow me!" She began walking towards City Hall. The other four started walking after her. Inner Sakura roared. 'That felt great!!'

Naruto rubbed his face and noticed everyone was leaving. He quickly got up and ran to the others, namely Shino. Walking up to him, Naruto said. "Why did you go and do that? You were that did it."

"So she wouldn't punch me." Shino replied evenly.

"So you let her do it to ME!?"

"That is correct."

"…I hate you."

"Noted."

The group walked on and Sakura gasped and pointed. Boodle was somehow hanging in the air and he seemed to be struggling. "I WON'T LET YOU DESTROY THIS TOWN! COME DOWN HERE AND FIGHT!!" From the sound of his voice, it sound look he was being strangled (which he was courtesy of Buggy's hand).

A split second later, Luffy appeared by Mayor Boodle and grabbed the Buggy's hand, while holding the Mayor in his right hand. Luffy then looked in Buggy's direction with a grin. "I'm back! I'd told you I'd clobber you!"

Naruto walked up and pointed a finger at the pirates. "I'm going to kick all your butts!"

Cabaji, also known as Cabaji the Acrobat and Buggy's Second Mate, spoke up. "I can't believe that they are actually showing their faces. Their stupidity knows no bounds."

Buggy looked and quickly counted. "Six of them. Six little ants." He then recalled his hand and reattached it. "None of you will escape this time!"

"Shut up!" Sakura said. "Just tell me where my parents are and we might go easy on you!"

Luffy laughed and Naruto cheered. "You tell them!"

Buggy shifted his focus on Sakura. "You want to know?" He grinned. "Why don't you make good on your threat and clobber us first?" He began laughing, as did the others.

Nami said. "Well…you guys have fun. I'm just here for the treasure and the map."

"Whatever." Zoro said. "Your loss."

By this time, Boodle started getting up. "You young whipper-snappers…most of you are outsiders…Sakura, you should run to the shelter…this is my battle…" Boodle managed to stand up and lifted his spear again. "I'll protect this town and save your parents! Now get out of – " Boodle was cut off as Luffy punched him in the back of the head, making the old Mayor fall unconscious.

"Mayor!!!" Sakura cried, running to the old man, even Buggy looked surprised. Zoro and Shino didn't say a word, simply looked on without commenting. Naruto was ranting on how big and stupid Luffy truly was.

Nami was the first to get over her fear and started shouting at Luffy. "WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON!? WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO THE MAYOR!?"

"He was in the way," Luffy responded.

"What kind of reason is that!?!" Naruto roared. "He's just a harmless old man!!!"

"That is the point, Naruto." Shino said simply.

"Huh?"

Zoro continued the explanation. "He would have gotten himself killed. He's safer unconscious." Naruto didn't know how to respond to that, so Zoro looked at Luffy. "Good call."

"You're too reckless!!!" Nami and Sakura shouted.

Luffy ignored them. He merely turned his attention to Buggy. "Hey! BIG NOSE!!"

Buggy instantly shouted to kill them and a Buggy Ball was fired dead center of the group. Luffy countered by expanding himself with a Gum-Gum Balloon, scaring the hell out of many people, including, but not limited to: Buggy, Cabaji, Nami, Sakura and even Naruto. Zoro merely commented that Luffy should have told them his plan and not make him worry. Shino seemed to be the only one unaffected.

"You've got some nerve." Buggy's voice said. It came from within the smoke. Buggy and Cabaji were standing, completely unharmed by Luffy's attack. Cabaji was holding up Richie as a shield, but Buggy was holding two different people.

"MOM!!! DAD!!!" Sakura cried as Buggy showed off her parents in his hands. Buggy merely grinned. "You want them?" Buggy's hands then threw the two elder Harunos to the six people. "Take them!"

Luffy stretched out his arms and caught both of them. He then handed them to Naruto and Shino, who carried them to a nearby building. Sakura followed them and the three of them laid down the two grown adults down comfortably. Although when the three of them walked back, Sakura had her father's kunai pouch on her right leg.

"Seems that you have quite a problem, Lord Buggy."

All the six of the heads turned to Buggy's left side. A weird little boy was standing there. He was hunched over and his face was almost covered completely in bandages. At his side were a girl and boy, dressed in slightly similar attire. The thing that caught Naruto's eye was the fact that they each wore a headband like him and Shino. "My teammates and I have been itching for a fight. We will assist you in this and show you just how powerful the Sound Village is."

Buggy grinned. Naurto whispered to Shino. "Are those guys' ninja? I don't recognize that symbol."

"There was no Village Hidden in the Sound," Shino said, surprisingly in a loud voice, drawing everyone's attention. "It would seem that it is a new village, created, perhaps, by a former Jonin of one of the Great Five. In any case, they are allied with Buggy and thus our enemies."

Naruto nodded. "Fine with me. I don't think Iruka had these guys in mind when he mentioned his dream."

Zaku laughed. "It seems that coat freak is the leader of the wannabe ninjas!" His laugher began increasing. "He's mine!"

Neither one of the other two Sound ninja said anything. Cabaji then said. "Let's get started."

At this moment, Mohji then regain consciousness and then frantically yelled that Luffy was a DF user. Angry that Mohji didn't say anything earlier, Buggy threw his First Mate at the group, only to have Luffy kick Mohji out of the way. Cabaji used the act to wheel forward and attack Luffy, only to be blocked by Zoro. "If you want a sword duel, I'm your man."

At the same time, Zaku came running forward, a kunai in each hand. He attacked Shino, who was forced to leapback. Zaku continued to pursue Shino and the two were leaping away like a weird game of tag. Naruto shouted. "Shino!"

"Naruto!" Shino cried as he continued to retreat from Zaku's attack. "Focus on your opponents!"

"Huh?" Naruto and Sakura asked. Kin then appeared right in front of Sakura. "You're mine, pretty girl." Kin punched Sakura right in the face, crashing her into a wall.

Naruto then turned to Sakura and cried her name. As soon as he did, Dosu was at his left side. "You should be more focused." Dosu gathered charka in his amplifier on his right arm. "Oto Geiru (Sound Gale)!" The blast caught Naruto right in the chest, sending him flying through a window in a nearby building…on the second level.

And so the first round battles are set: Zoro vs. Cabaji, Shino vs. Zaku, Sakura vs. Kin, and Naruto vs. Dosu. But seeing how we all know how Zoro vs. Cabaji turns out from Canon, we shall start with Shino's fight.

XXXXXXX – 'Buggy's Island', Southeast end: Aburame Shino vs. Abumi Zaku

Zaku continued chasing Shino through the southeastern part of the town. Shino continued jumping back due to Zaku's relentless frontal assault. Zaku continued to chase Shino and they began jumping from building to building. Finally, Shino stopped and held his ground.

Zaku came running strait at the young Aburame, his right kunai aiming for Shino's throat. Shino countered with a left outward block, followed quickly by his right fist to Zaku's face. The blow sent Zaku to the ground and dropping his kunai. Zaku grunted and launched himself from the ground kicking Shino in the chest.

Shino stumbled back and retaliated by bring a right hook strait to Zaku's stomach. After coughing up blood, Zaku put his hands together and did a double backhand to Shino's chin. Zaku then leapt back and threw many shuriken in Shino's direction. Shino brought up another kunai from his weapon's pouch and deflect them. He then threw the same kunai at Zaku.

Zaku grinned and prepared to catch the blade. Then he realized something. 'CRAP!!! There's an exploding tag on it!!!' At that moment, Shino gestured and made the bomb go off. Shino looked into the aftermath and saw that Zaku was no longer there. Shino was not surprised and quickly looked for Zaku. He found him on another building top across the street, and quite ticked as well.

Shino and Zaku continued to face each other. They both knew what they were trying to do: both were testing each other, probing for weaknesses in their respective fighting styles, and most importantly, trying to force their opponent to reveal their trump card.

Zaku grinned. "You're a lot more fun that I originally thought! This is a blast!"

"Why are you here on this island?" Shino asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know, freak boy."

"Yes, I would. And many other things."

"Like my dashing good looks?"

"Your intelligence quotient."

"My what…HEY!!!"

"I see…it's nonexistent."

"That does it!" Zaku roared. Zaku ran down the building he was on. Shino stayed put as he watched Zaku ran across the street and then up Shino's own building. Shino readied himself by grabbing several shuriken in each hand. As soon as Zaku appeared, Shino noticed that he had his hands clasped together. Shino quickly threw his shuriken, but Zaku just dodged them. He ran forward to Shino and attacked by thrusting both hands towards him. For the first time, Shino got a good look. There was a small hole in the center of each of Zaku's palms.

"Zankuuha (Decapitating Air Waves)!!" Zaku screamed. Shino barely had time to cross his arms to shield his body. The resulting force sent Shino soaring into the air, off the building and over the street.

"I'm not done!" Shino looked to see Zaku right above him. Zaku twisted in the air and delivered a powerful axe kick in Shino's stomach. Shino was sent crashing into the ground. Zaku landed and started laughing. "Take that, Mr. High and Mighty! That's what you get! Ha! Ha!"

"The absence of your self restraint and lack of control leaves much to desired." Zaku looked at the small crater. Shino was standing back up, seeming normal. As Zaku looked on, his jaw fell. There was a wound on Shino's check and several bugs were crawling out of it. "Holy crap…you really are a FREAK!! And your back should be broken from that fall!"

Shino simply looked at him, and Zaku looked at his back. There were a large number of bugs on Shino's back. "You mean your bugs cushioned your fall?!"

"Insects," Shino replied. Zaku snorted. He took off at a running charge. Shino stepped forward and tried to punch, but Zaku dropped to the ground, channeled his charka into his foot and kicked Shino in the chin. The powerful blow sent Shino soaring into the air. Zaku pumped more charka into his legs and launched himself up towards Shino.

Still in the air, Shino managed to grab Zaku's foot before it could hit. Shino then twisted and threw Zaku into the air above him.

"Like that'll work!" Zaku screamed and shifted his position, looking strait down at Shino and readied his hands again. "In the air, you can't move. Meaning you can't dodge me now!" Zaku put his hands together. "You already met the Zankuuha." His hands began powering up. "Now…meet the Zankyokukuuha (Extreme Decapitating Air Waves)!"

Zaku tried to use his technique but something was wrong. Seriously wrong. His arms were on fire! It felt like a bomb went off inside them! Seconds later, Zaku's right arm completely blew off and his left arm wasn't much better. Shino simply straiten himself up and managed to land on the ground safely, while Zaku came crashing down.

"How…what did you do? What the hell went wrong?!" Zaku demanded from the ground.

Shino responded by pointing to Zaku's detached right hand. Several bugs were crawling form the hole. "I plugged your 'wind tubes' with my insects." Shino replied calmly as Zaku's eyes widen in realization. "The effect was similar to that of 'plugging up a gun' and shooting it off. With no exit for the force to go, something had to give. In this case, your arms."

"Damn you." Zaku said. Shino calmly reached down and grabbed Zaku's hair and met him at eyelevel. "Now…we are going to have a little chat." Shino said in a voice that could had easily been mistaken for a sadistic tone. Zaku gulped loudly.

Location: Southeastern part of town. Winner: Shino

XXXXXXX – Middle of the town: Haruno Sakura vs. Tsuchi Kin

Sakura was rubbing her face from where Kin had attacked her. Kin herself was standing in front of her. "Little crybaby wants to play with a real ninja?" Kin taunted. She raised several senbon. "Let's play." Kin throw the senbon at Sakura.

Sakura grabbed a kunai and tried to block, yet she only managed one or two. The other five struck Sakura in the right arm and she screamed.

Kin laughed. "You can't even parry a few senbon? How do you expect to win?"

Sakura simply grunted. She grabbed two shuriken from her father's pouch and threw them at the girl. Kin stood perfectly still, merely turn her head and the two shuriken flew by harmlessly. Kin wasn't even scratched.

"Shannaro," Sakura swore. "Not even a strand of hair." She perked. 'Wait a second…her hair!'

Sakura then jumped to her feet. She brought her right fist back and ran towards to Kin. Kin laughed again. "There's no point in trying for a punch if you broadcast it for me." Kin easily sidestepped Sakura's punch, causing Sakura to stumble and fall to the ground. Kin grinned. "Now, what sh…AHHH!!!" Kin's head jerked back and she felt pain.

Kin looked at the corner of her eye. Sakura was on the ground, but she had grabbed Kin's hair and was now pulling Kin down, making her lose her balance. Screaming again and falling backwards, Sakura quickly took advantage of the opportunity. She sprung up and got in front of Kin. Sakura smiled. "Let me help you DOWN!!" Sakura's fist hit Kin's face. Sakura's punch then turned into a grab and she slammed Kin's head into the ground.

Sakura leapt back. "I admit that broadcasting my punch was kind of embarrassing to do…but my real target was getting past your guard and grabbing your long hair." Sakura smiled and cracked her knuckles. "You may be faster and better trained, but I bet that my punches hurt a lot harder than yours do."

Kin slowly got up and she was far from happy. "You have no idea what you've done." Kin then grabbed two senbon with bells on them. "NOW YOU'VE MADE ME MAD!!!"

Kin threw the two senbon at Sakura, who managed to dodge. "You missed!"

Kin smiled. "Did I?" Sakura then heard the bells ringing. She looked back at the senbon and noticed string was attached to them. Kin then used the distraction to throw several more senbon at Sakura, striking her in the shoulders.

Kin then grabbed Sakura and kicked her in the chest, sending her into the middle of the street. Kin smiled. "It's hopeless." Sakura shook her head at what she was seeing: three Kins standing there.

Sakura tried to stand, but felt dizzy. The Kins smiled. "My Suzu Senbon no Genkaku (Illusion Bell Needles). By throwing bells attached to senbon at my opponent, I can ring them via an attached string. The bells ring at a frequency that directly affects the brain, causing the opponent to see multiple copies of myself, making it impossible to tell the real me from the illusions." Kin paused and her smile increased. "With increased exposure to the ringing, an opponent, namely you, can start losing their motor functions."

Sakura grunted and forced herself to stand up. She then formed three hand signs. Ram. Serpent. Tiger. Four more Sakura's appeared. Kin laughed louder. "You really are stupid. The sound waves have already affected your brain. Sound isn't confused by illusions."

'Don't I know it,'Sakura thought miserably. 'But it's the only move that I can think of. Even if I can't stop the sound, I can still stall you. For a few moments anyway.' The Kins threw several senbon, one of which hit the real Sakura, while the others hit the clones and made them vanish. 'Or maybe not. I'm in serious trouble.'

Kin threw several more senbon at Sakura. "You are pathetic!" She mocked. "You and everyone in this pathetic little village!" Sakura froze and looked at the seven Kins. They smiled. "The mayor!" Kin threw a senbon at Sakura's left knee.

"That stupid little puppy!" Sakura's left arm was hit.

"All those other fools who took off running when Buggy first arrived!" Sakura's right upper thigh was hit next.

"And most importantly: you're two stupid parents!" Kin threw a senbon at Sakura's neck.

Sakura grabbed it out of midair. The Kins look of amusement disappeared. "What the hell?!" They cried.

"That's it." Sakura stood up, rage filling her. She took out a lot of shuriken and threw them at the Kins. The real one blocked, but the other shuriken went through the illusions. Sakura now had her target.

'Impossible!' Kin thought desperately. 'The bells affect should be in full force, but they're not working anymore! What's going on?!'

Kin threw another senbon while Sakura did more hand signs. Tiger. Boar. Ox. Snake. Kin's senbon hit a piece of building debris. Kin looked to her right and saw Sakura running towards her. Kin snarled and threw three at the girl. Sakura performed the Substitution again and was replaced by a stick. Kin looked again and saw Sakura in the air. Kin yelled in frustration and threw more senbon while Sakura did hand signs yet again. "Stop playing around!!" Kin said, already looking for Sakura's next appearance. She then noticed the shadow on the ground getting larger.

Kin looked up and saw Sakura was still in the air. 'Damn it! This time it's real!'

Sakura punched Kin in the face as she landed. Kin staggered back. "That was for the mayor." Sakura said, slowly walking towards Kin.

Sakura hit Kin in the stomach. "That was for Chou Chou!" Kin keeled over.

Sakura kicked Kin in the chin. "That was the villagers!" Kin's head was knocked backwards and she started stumbling worse.

Sakura punched her chest. "That was for mom and dad!" Kin tumbled right into a building.

Sakura cracked her knuckles once more. She threw her right arm back. "AND THIS IS FOR ME!!!" Sakura's punch hit Kin strait in the face. Kin's head was collided with Sakura's fist in front and the wall behind her. Sakura was sure she heard several cracks. Kin gave a small moan and feel to the ground, knocked out.

Sakura was breathing hard as she started pulling out the senbon. Once they were all gone, she fell off her feet and landed on her butt. "I…I won," Sakura said in disbelief. "I…actually…won…" Inner Sakura cheered. 'Damn straight I did!'

Location: Middle of town. Winner: Sakura

XXXXXXX – Middle of town, former Post Office: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Kinuta Dosu

Naruto was lying on his back in an old room. He slowly got up and was rubbing his back. "Ouch. That seriously hurt." He muttered.

"If such a simple attack injuries you that greatly," Naruto looked over and saw Dosu speaking. "then this fight isn't going to last very long." Dosu said fight with ridicule in his voice.

"Oh yeah!" Naruto took out several kunai and shuriken and threw them as hard as he could. "Eat this."

Dosu calmly brought up his right arm and blocked the projectile weapons with his arm. "Pathetic." Dosu ran towards Naruto. "Let's see how well you do in a taijutsu exchange!"

Dosu brought up his left hand and punch Naruto. Naruto managed to catch the blow, but wasn't able to intercept Dosu's kick to the stomach. Naruto doubled over, and Dosu's leg shifted and kicked Naruto in the face.

Naruto crashed to the floor again.

"Damn you," Naruto cried. He ran forward and sent a series of his own punches, all of which Dosu casually blocked with ease. Dosu even forged a yawn. He then grabbed both of Naruto's wrists and pulled Naruto's face into his right knee.

Naruto crashed to the floor again for the third time in less than five minutes.

"I stand corrected," Dosu stated. "This isn't a fight…its butchery."

Naruto gave Dosu the finger, called him several names and crossed his fingers. Ten more Naruto's appeared.

Dosu looked at them. "A clone jutsu?" he asked, mistaking them for ordinary bunshins. They started running towards Dosu. "Do you really think that – " A Naruto smacked Dosu on the right side of the face. "The hell?!"

"It's not regularly clones," Naruto smiled, enjoying this. "It's Kage Bunshins."

Dosu actually looked surprised. "Kage Bunshins?!" Dosu repeated in disblief as he continued to fend off the Naruto's. "How can you do that?!"

Naruto smiled. "Easy." He crossed his fingers once again and cried out. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Ten more Naruto's appeared and joined the other six that were still standing. All sixteen ran towards Dosu.

Dous jumped into the air and made a hand sign with his left hand. He then swung his right arm at the group of Narutos, destroying them all.

"What the…?!" Naruto said. "What did you do? What's with that weird arm thingy!?"

Dosu smiled under his bandages, though Naruto couldn't see it. "This thingy…," Dosu answered as he ran towards Naruto. "…is the key to my victory!"

Dosu swung his arm at Naruto's head, but Naruto was able to duck. "Hah! You missed!" Naruto then he suddenly felt dizzy. He collapsed on the ground and grabbed his left ear. "Crap! My ear!" Naruto could feel blood coming out of it. He then dropped to all fours and vomited.

Dosu held his right arm. "This is my Amplifier." Dosu said proudly. "It is the basis of all my Sound techniques. Like Oto Geiru and my personal favorite: Kyōmeisen (,Vibrating Sound Drill)."

"O to Guru?" Naruto repeated, butchering the words. "K yoyo men seen?"

"You are truly an idiot," Dosu said.

"I'm stilling learning, dammit!" Naruto protested.

"Doesn't change the fact that you're an idiot," Dosu countered.

"Shut up! What did you do to my ear!?"

"Kyōmeisen," Dosu repeated. "or Vibrating Sound Drill in the common tongue. I'm equipped with a special speaker implanted into my wrist, the Amplifier, which serves to amplify sound waves and dramatically strengthen my sound-based attacks. With my speaker, I can use Kyōmeisen, to damage my opponent's inner ear, throwing them off balance and making them nauseous."

"Inner ear?" Naruto asked, the only part he understood (kind of). "I only have two ears and their both outside!"

"The inner ear you nitwit," Dosu repeated. He then pointed to his own ear. "When you hear a sound, it's actually vibrations displacing the air (Naruto's lost at this point) which trembles against your eardrum. And the human eardrum – the tympanic member – ruptures when exposed to sound levels in excess if 150 phons. Moreover, if sound is powerful enough to upset the liquid within the semi-circular canals of the deepest inner ear. By upsetting that, it becomes impossible for you to maintain your balance."

"Whatever! Too many big words!" Naruto tried to get up, only to stumble and trip. "Ouch! Your stupid noise is messing up my balance!!"

"…I…just said that." Dosu said as he sweatdropped. He then leaped forward and backhanded Naruto with his Amplifier. "You can't win."

"Shut up Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Ten more Naruto's appeared, but they too all started falling over. "What the!" Naruto exclaimed.

Dosu calmly walked forward and kicked a bunshin. "An idiot through and through. You don't even know the limits of your own technique. Creating shadow clones means creating an exact copy of yourself. If your inner ear is damaged on the original, then the clones are going to have the same problem." Dosu then destroyed the rest of the clones.

"Shut up!" Naruto created ten more clones and they tried to rush Dosu. Dosu simply used his Kyōmeisen and destroyed them in one swing. He calmly walked through the smoke and encountered a second batch. Repeat. Then a third batch. Repeat again. "You are truly pathetic. I'll simply kill you now."

That when several papers on the floor unhenged and three Narutos popped up. One grabbed Dosu from behind, another grabbed him in front and the third grabbed his legs. "What the hell?" Dosu called out in frustration. "Get off me!"

"Now why would they do that?" Naruto asked calmly. "I admit that the first attempt with my shadow clones was for real, but the next two batches were a setup. To get you thinking that I was too stupid to try anything different. Then in the last batch…I purposely held three back. You went and casually destroyed the others and that created smoke. It doesn't last long, but it's long enough for my clones to transform into discarded paper. With a surprise on them."

"Surprise?" Dosu repeated. He looked at the clone grabbing his front and legs. They had exploding tags on their backs. "W-wait a second!" Dosu panicked. "Y-you don't have to d-do that! We can – "

"Boom," Naurto said, setting the bombs off. The explosion went off and destroyed the clones and then hit Dosu. About ten seconds later, the smoke cleared and Dosu stood there moaning in pain for a few seconds then tumbled backwards. Naruto looked at him. The tags he used had a low charge on them, so the three explosions wouldn't kill the guy, but Naruto was willing to bet he wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

Location: Middle of town, former Post Office. Winner: Naruto

XXXXXXX – Middle of town

"Good bye, Buggy!!!" Luffy said as he stretched his arms backwards. "Gum-Gum…"

"WAIT!!!" The midget Buggy cried.

"Bazooka!!!" Luffy shouted and hit Buggy with full force. Buggy cried out my in fear than in actual pain as he went soaring through the sky and vanished.

Sakura let out a visible gasp: she had seen the last half of the fight. "Whoa…" She said as she fell to her knees. "He's…really strong."

"So are you dear," Sakura turned and saw her father smiling and looking at her. "I saw your fight with that Sound girl. Most impressive."

"Dad!" Sakura cried and threw herself on him in a big hug. "You're alive."

"…Sakura…" Sakumoto said in a chocked voice. "…can't…breathe…"

Sakura let him go. "Sorry." Her father smiled. "You didn't really think I'd let that clown kill us did you."

Sakura looked at him. He was bleeding all over, his good limbs looked like they had been bent in the wrong direction and he was barely conscious.

"Um…this is part of the plan?" Sakumoto asked. Sakura punched him in the arm. Softly though.

Sakumoto smiled. "Come here." Sakura did so. Sakumoto took off his headband and handed it to Sakura. "Take it. After that fight, you deserve it more than I do." Sakura started protesting, but Sakumoto held up his hand. "Take it. I no longer deserve it. Take it."

Sakura smiled and undid her red ribbon. She gave it to her father and he gave her the Leaf hitai-ite. Sakura then proudly put it on where her ribbon had been. Sakumoto then looked at Luffy, who was talking to Nami and both looked quite cheerful. "Sakura…maybe you should go with them."

Sakura looked at her father. "What?"

"Go with them." Sakumoto repeated. "I know you enjoyed traveling in the early years and that you loved seeing new places and new people. Go with them."

"B-but…" Sakura stuttered and looked at her mother, who was still unconscious. Sakumoto smiled and understood. Maria would never approve of this. She was a banker, not a ninja. Hell, she didn't approve Sakumoto training Sakura in the first place. Sakumoto smiled. "I'll handle her. It won't be pretty, but I'll do it." He then smiled. "But if you do decide to leave, you should leave before she wakes up…there's not much she can do. It's your choice, dear."

Sakura looked at her dad and then at Luffy, or more accurately, what Luffy represented. Slowly she smiled and hugged her father. "Thank you."

Sakumoto nodded. "Go get your things." Sakura nodded and left. Somehow…they're old house was still standing. Sakumoto then called Luffy over. "Captain Luffy. My daughter has decided to go with you, if that is alright."

"Great!!" Luffy yelled in joy. Sakumoto gave a small chuckle. "She's getting her things now." Sakumoto's eyes then closed and he muttered. "Nighty night." Sakura then walked out with her bag. She looked at Luffy and smiled. "All set."

By this time, Naruto had wobbled out, carrying an unconscious Dosu. "Yo guys!" Naruto sat down in the street and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "What a fight!" He said. He looked at Luffy. "I saw and heard the clown go flying, good job!"

Luffy grinned. "Of course! I said I would send him flying!" He then pointed at Sakura. "Sakura's coming with us!"

"Yahoo!" Naruto managed to walk over to Sakura without falling over. "Does that mean I can call you Sakura-kun!"

Sakura gave a small laugh then stopped. "No." Naruto began pouting. "First: the correct honorific is chan not kun. And no…you can't say that either."

"Ok Sakura-chan!" Sakura hit him, lightly though this time. She then looked and saw Shino walking forward, Zaku being carried by a mass of bugs. Shino then throw the traumatized Zaku on the ground. Sakura said, "Hello Shino-san!" she looked at Zaku. "What did you do to him?"

"We…talked." Shino replied causally.

Naruto and Sakura looked at him. "Are you going to tell us what you talked about?"

"Perhaps later." Shino said. He then looked at Sakura. "I see that you are going to accompany us?" Shino gave a slight bow. "I am honored that you will be joining us. Shall I lead you to the ship?"

Sakura smiled. Naruto fumed. Luffy laughed. Nami shook her head. Zoro snored. Shino then grabbed Zoro and picked him up. "Us three will await you at the ship." Shino said and they walked off.

Luffy then looked at the Mayor sleeping on the ground. "Oh yeah. Better wake up the Mayor."

"Hold it you guys!" Naruto, Nami and Luffy looked in direction of the voice. There was a crowd of townspeople there. One stepped forward and said. "We're the citizens of this town. Did the pirates mutiny or something? C'mon, you talk!"

Another looked at the mayor. "The Mayor's knocked out! Who did this?!"

Luffy raised his hand. "We did!"

Nami looked horrorified and Naruto said. "No…YOU did! I'm innocent here! I'm just a ninja and pirate."

Nami slapped her head. 'Idiots!'

"GET THEM!!!" the mob cried. And so the usual chase was on. With the help of Chou Chou, the three managed to get away to their docked ships. Nami got into her boat that she had 'borrowed' from the three pirates Naruto and the others had meet earlier. Shino and Zoro were about their boat while Sakura, Naruto and Luffy climbed in.

The two ships cast off and started sailing. Before anyone could say anything, they heard a loud scream. "Hey kids wait!" They group looked back and saw the mayor standing on the dock. He shouted, tears in his eyes. "Thank you!! I won't forget!!"

Luffy waved back. "You're welcome mayor!" Sakura also cried out a farewell, but for better or worse, the Mayor didn't hear her due to Luffy's loud voice.

"Well that's got to be a first," Naruto said. "Never heard of villagers thanking pirates before."

Shino merely nodded and Naruto looked at him. He was writing. "What are you doing?"

"I am keeping a log of our journey." Shino replied, still looking at his paper, obviously more focused it than Naruto.

"You could at least look at me when you talk to me!!"

"Shut up rodent! I'm trying to sleep!"

"I'm hungry! I want some meat!"

Sakura sat back. "What have I gotten myself into?" Though, there was a small smile on her face.

Nami gave a small laugh. "I'm wondering that myself."

End of Chapter 8

A/N: We this chapter was a lot of fun and one I've been looking forward to: writing my own fights. I'll admit that Shino vs. Zaku was the most fun, and Naruto vs. Dosu I had a hard time thinking of a way for Naruto to win. Partly because I wasn't sure if shadow clones would act that way they did if Naruto's inner ear was upset. Makes sense to me that they to would lose their balance.

But the one that give me the most difficulty was Sakura vs. Kin. Specifically the image of Sakura bashing Kin like that at the end while still having her long hair and wearing her red ribbon. I found the image of Sakura fighting like that with her red ribbon, instead of her normal headband, disturbing for some reason. Even now, I have a hard time picturing Sakura fighting in with her ribbon. Maybe it's just me.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto. They belong to their respective owners: Eiichiro Oda and Masashi Kishimoto.