Chapter 19: Old Faces; New Friends
XXXXXXX – East Blue, Going Merry
"IT'S FINISHED! LUFFY'S PIRATE FLAG!!!"
The entire Straw Hat crew was lined up in front of their Captain. Luffy was holding up a pirate flag with a poorly drawn skull and crossbones wearing a straw hat on it. The skull looked like it had been squashed, the bones were twisted and its facial features were completely out of proportion. Luffy himself had the look of a first-grader who had just turned in his first piece of homework and earnestly thought he was to receive an A, even though the homework was –how shall we say? – far below average.
"HA! HA! HA! I already had the symbol thought up!" he cheered.
Sakura reacted first. "Our symbol?"
He then put on a bigger smile. "You like!?" he asked eagerly.
"It sucks," Sasuke stated.
"This guy's a little low on design sense," Usopp said, his jaw hanging.
Shino merely gazed not commenting at all.
"Hmm…" Nami considered. "Or is it avant-garde?"
"It's downright terrible," Shikamaru said, stretching. "And I usually don't give a damn about these things."
"A pirate flag is supposed to inspire terror, and this is pretty scary," Zoro offered.
"It just needs a few things!" Naruto said happily. He ran over to the paint and started drawing on it. He drew pointed triangles on the crossbones, drew some lines on the cheeks and started drawing a leaf symbol in a rectangle on the forehead. After his additions, he showed it to the others. "Isn't that better!?"
There was no verbal response, they just sweatdropped. "What are those triangles for, loser?" Sasuke asked.
"They're kunai, bastard! Can't you tell!?"
"No one can. It only shows how your artistic skills are inferior to even Luffy's. And that's saying something."
"Now, now," Usopp said before the two broke out fighting again. "Let me try!" He ran over and quickly drew on a blank flag. About two minutes later, he revealed it: a skull with a long nose looking off to the side and one crossbone with the other being a slingshot and a star on the side.
"That's not our symbol!" Luffy and Naruto yelled, hitting Usopp on the back of the head.
A few minutes later, Usopp had drawn another symbol: a standard skull and crossbones with a simple straw hat on it. "Good!" Nami stated. "I like it!"
Naruto looked it over. "It'll work," he consented
Shino merely nodded, while Sasuke hmphed and Shikamaru shrugged. Sakura thrust a fist into the air yelling 'Shannaro!'. "It looks like a new flag," Zoro stated.
"It's great!" Luffy cheered. "Let's paint it on the sail too!"
Sakura looked at Usopp. "Where did you get your art skills anyway?"
"I've been drawing things on walls for years," the liar answered immediately. "I'm a man of many talents."
"Sorry I asked," Sakura replied.
They all set off to work then. Shino and Nami took the completed flag up to the main mast, while Usopp drew a second, smaller flag for the secondary mast in the stern of the ship. After he finished, he gave that flag to Naruto and Shikamaru of all people to set it up. Afterwards, Usopp then directed everyone to help draw the symbol on the main sail. Due to the fact that many of them were… artistically challenged… it took several retries to finally get it right. One hour's effort to be exact.
"Now the Going Merry is complete!" Usopp shouted. A second later, he collapsed on his back. Who knew that directing and arguing with stubborn crewmates could be so exhausting? Naruto, Sakura, Nami and Shikamaru were also lying on their backs, while Shino was leaning against the side of the ship, as was Sasuke, while Zoro was sitting on the deck, propped up by the mast itself.
Then a large boom went off, startling nearly all of them.
Zoro reacted first. "What are you shooting at!?" he demanded.
"That rock," Luffy pointed. "Target practice. But this thing doesn't shoot right!"
"Let me try!" Naruto shouted. He ran over to the cannon, while Luffy loaded it again. Naruto focused the cannon for a minute, and then lit it. The cannon erupted violently and shot the cannonball, falling short a good ten meters from the rock itself. "Aw crap!" Naruto whined.
"Loser," Sasuke said, walking over. He knocked Naruto aside and knelt by the cannon, taking a few seconds to aim it. Once he was satisfied, he nodded, lit it, and stood back. The cannon fired… and soared over the rock, landing a few meters from behind the target itself. For a brief moment, Sasuke had a stunned look on his face before he quickly restored his normal, impassive face.
"You missed too, jerk!" Naruto yelled in glee.
"Told you this thing didn't shoot right!" Luffy repeated, interrupting before the two could start arguing. Usopp walked over next. "Let me take a look."
"Hit that island over there," Luffy challenged as he moved off to the side and pulled Naruto and Sasuke out of the way. Usopp nodded and looked at the cannon. "Judging from the previous shots," Usopp muttered, mostly to himself as he slightly adjusted the cannon. "That should do it." He lit the fuse and the cannon shot out, hitting the top portion of the rock outcropping.
"You really hit it!" Luffy and Naruto shouted (Sasuke had a dumbstruck look).
"I really hit it!" Usopp said at the same time, just as surprised. He quickly recovered himself and stood up straight as he faced the three. "See? Didn't I tell you that I always hit what I aim at?" he asked them. "If you're truly impressed, just call me Captain!"
"Nah," Luffy replied with a grin. "I'll call you our sniper!"
After that, everyone went into the lounge to grab a bite to eat, with Shino once again rationing the supply, much to Luffy's dismay, while Naruto whined for several minutes due to the fact he was on his No Ramen diet from the bet he and Zoro made on Gold Island. Usopp continued trying to convince whoever he could that he should be the Captain. Nami had finished early and was working on something, while Zoro was sitting in the corner. Sasuke had chosen to eat while standing away from the table, leaving everyone else at the table itself.
"I've been thinking," Luffy said, stuffing his mouth as he talked. Chunks of food went flying out, hitting the unlucky person sitting next to the Straw Hat Captain: Shikamaru. "There's one position we need to fill before we head to the Grand Line."
"The Galley has all the equipment," Nami said, taking a break from her work. "I'll do it… for a price."
"Is it always money with you?" Shikamaru asked her as he took a cloth and started wiping his face again. Sakura merely nodded at the boy. Zoro looked over at the navigator with an approving look on his face. "That's good. That skill is essential on a long voyage."
"It would be nice to someone like that," Naruto muttered. He drifted off into a daydream, where that person would be able to make all the different types of ramen he wanted as often as he wanted. Oh yeah… that would be the life!
"Then it's agreed," Luffy said cheerfully. "A pirate ship must have… a MUSICIAN!"
Que sweatdrops and/or facevaults.
"A MUSICIAN!?!"
"ARE YOU NUTS!?"
"Yes, he is."
"I thought you were going to say something intelligent for once!"
"What the hell do we need a musician for!?"
"Pirates have to sing, don't they?"
"COME OUT AND FIGHT, YOU DAMN BASTARDS!!"
"Huh?" all nine people asked. That hadn't come from any of them. A moment later, the same voice continued. "I'LL MURDER THE LOT OF YOU!"
Luffy immediately ran out and saw a swordsman with sunglasses and a strange tattoo on his left cheek. He was currently wrecking whatever he could get his sword on. Seeing how it was only one opponent, none of the others felt obligated to help Luffy out. Not because they didn't want to help, it was simply because against one man, Luffy wouldn't need any help.
A split second later, Luffy grabbed the man and threw him hard against a part of the Merry, where he collapsed on the deck, muttering "A… hair's breadth… from death…"
Sakura walked out the door. "Is it over?"
"Uh huh," Luffy said, taking his hat off and looking it over for damages. Once he was satisfied that there weren't any, he put the hat back on and looked at the man. "What the heck was that about?"
Several others came out, with Zoro lagging behind. Once he saw the figure on the ground, he was genuinely surprised. "Well, I'll be… it's Johnny."
"Huh?" asked the man Zoro had identified as Johnny. "Zoro!?!" he cried in pure disbelief. "MY BROTHER!!"
Brother? Naruto did a double take at the two. They looked nothing alike and they were brothers? The wonders that you find at sea.
"Zoro knows him?" Usopp whispered to Nami from inside the lounge. Out of all the people, he, Nami and Sasuke were the only ones who remained in there. The former two stayed simply because they felt it was safer that way, while Sasuke didn't give a damn what was going on and simply remained behind.
"Apparently," Nami answered.
"What are you doing here?" Zoro asked Johnny. "Where's Yosaku?"
"That's just it!" Johnny replied tearfully. In between sobs, he continued. "My pal… my brother… is dying!"
"Dying?" Sakura asked. In response, Johnny merely pointed to a side of the Merry. Luffy, Shino and Sakura all walked over and looked down. There was a small ship tied to the side of them, with a single occupant in it. The man was lying on his back and was bleeding profusely in several spots, most notably from the nose, mouth, and stomach. He was brought to the deck and examined more thoroughly. His gums were deteriorating and his tongue was an unhealthy shade of pink. Yosaku was constantly moaning, often trying to reach up with his hand but getting no further than a few centimeters before letting it fall back down.
"Teeth falling out, gums and tongue are unhealthy, constant bleeding from old injuries, slight immobility," Shino spoke out loud, as if reciting a list. He pressed two fingers against the man's neck. "Pulse is fluctuating as well." His voice seemed its normal calm and blunt tone, yet there was a faint trace of softness in his voice. He was currently kneeling down on one side of Yosaku and looking him over. He seemed to go into deep thought.
Johnny was kneeling down to his fallen friend, whimpering with his hand in his face. "He was as fit as a fiddle until a few days ago, then he went pale and started passing out! I don't know what's wrong! I didn't know what to do… so I went to get some rest and think on that rock." He pointed at the small island the Straw Hats had been using for target practice. "Then one of you shot a cannonball at me!"
Oops…
Luffy, Naruto and Usopp all immediately lowered their heads. "Forgive us."
"That's history, forget it." Johnny said. He faced up to the sky. "What good are apologies anyway?!" He looked back down at his partner. "Our reputation has grown. Pirates fear the names of Johnny and Yosaku. He's my trusted partner… we've hunted pirates for years! My brother's gonna… is he gonna die?"
"I do not know," Shino answered, looking over the places where Yosaku was bleeding. "I am unfamiliar with these symptoms. Medicine is not my field of expertise."
"He's not going to die!" Nami interrupted loudly, getting everyone's attention. "Luffy! Naruto! Usopp! Sakura! There are limes in the galley! Squeeze some and bring me the juice!"
"Okay!" all four shouted as they ran off.
"Limes?" Zoro and Shino asked together.
A short time later, Usopp was holding Yosaku's head up with his mouth open, while Luffy poured the bucket full of lime juice into the man's mouth, while everyone else just stood and watched. "Its scurvy," Nami told the group. "With any luck, he should recover in a few days."
"Really, sister!?" Johnny asked happily.
"Don't call me that again," Nami told him sharply. "A generation ago, scurvy was the bane of sailors. It's simply caused by poor nutrition, mainly that of Vitamin C. Fruits and vegetables rot on long voyages."
"I see," Sakura spoke up. "So that's why you had us gather lime juice: not only to get those essential nutrients back, but also because it's easier for him to drink juice, rather than to chew and swallow something."
"And since limes are composed of 48 percent, or roughly 29 milligrams, of Vitamin C, that makes them the most efficient source of Vitamin C we have on this ship," Shikamaru stated. "And with the amount those guys gathered, it should compensate for the lack of Vitamin C Yosaku here lost, since it's only been a few short days. Any longer and it would have been too late."
Nami nodded.
"Wow! You're like a doctor!" Luffy yelled happily.
"I always knew you were a brilliant woman," Usopp added.
"So she does have some good qualities besides being a Thieving Witch," Naruto said.
"Most impressive," Shino said simply.
"THESE ARE BASIC THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW IF YOU EXPECT TO SURVIVE AT SEA, YOU MORONS!!!" Nami roared at them. Unbeknownst to her, that was when Johnny and Yosaku got on their feet and started dancing and singing. Luffy nearly joined them, only to be stopped by Nami, who roared "YOU'RE NOT WELL ENOUGH TO DANCE!!!" They didn't listen, so Nami hit them both on the head.
"That was anti-productive," Shikamaru commented. "He's bleeding all over again."
The two bounty hunters recovered (though they both sported a large lump on each of their heads now) and faced the crew and introduced themselves properly as Johnny and Yosaku: Zoro's old bounty hunting partners.
"Why do you call him Brother Zoro?" Naruto asked. He looked at Zoro, then the two others. "You three aren't really related… are you?"
Yosaku spoke up. "When you have shed blood together, faced countless perils together, and braved the dangers of the sea, it doesn't matter whether you're related by blood or not. We're all brothers. That's what matters."
"Still, I can't believe that Pirate Hunter Zoro is a pirate now," Johnny added. "But it doesn't matter a bit to us. If that's what Brother Zoro wants to do, then we we'll support him. That's what brothers do!"
Naruto looked thoughtful at that, but then Yosaku coughed up blood and collapsed again. "LIE DOWN AND REST!!!" Zoro, Nami and Sakura yelled at him, despite the fact he was already unconscious.
Johnny and Naruto helped Yosaku get to a hammock in the men's cabin. Once the two returned, they got back on the original topic, this time without Luffy doing his usual stupidity.
"We still need someone who can transform the ship's stores into something edible: a ship's cook," Usopp declared from his position of lying against the ship's mast.
"He's right," Nami agreed. "It's an absolute necessity."
"I've gotten tired of just eating the basics," Sakura whined, looking at Shino. "I'm ready for some real food."
"Your attempt to blame that on me is noted," Shino answered casually. So far, he had been the one in charge of handling the food, which included rationing it (i.e. preventing Luffy and Naruto from stealing food for their snack runs) and making sure everyone had the basic essentials such as vegetables and fruits, but he was no cook. He pushed up his glasses once again and added, "Perhaps in the future, you should be more observant of your surroundings and grateful for what you do have, lest something crawls into your bed at night and gives you a most unpleasant bite."
Sakura wisely decided not to comment further.
"Okay!" Luffy said with a big smile on his face. "We'll go look for a cook. What good is a ship without some decent grub?"
"That's what we've been saying all along, you moron," Sasuke spoke up. "The question is: what to do about it?"
"Brother! Brother!" Johnny spoke up, hand in the air.
"Speak, Johnny," Zoro told him impatiently.
"If you need a cook, I know where you can find one. Whether one will join up with you is another matter." He gave a big grin. "The place is an ocean-going restaurant."
"An ocean-going restaurant?" everyone repeated.
"That's correct," the bounty hunter confirmed. "It'll take around a week to get there. But be careful, it's near the Grand Line. Some rough customers have been known to frequent that place." He shifted his gaze to Zoro personally. "Brother, they say even that Hawk-Eye person you were hunting goes there." He turned to back to the others and offered to guide them there. Naruto, Sakura, Luffy and Usopp all cheered. Even Shikamaru looked a tad bit excited at the prospect of some good food.
"Hey Sakura-chan…" Naruto said hesitantly, blushing and pushing his fingers together. "When… when we get there… can we…?"
"Yes, yes," Sakura told him. "I haven't forgotten." Naruto cheered anew.
Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw that Zoro had an anxious grin on his face. So… Zoro was also hunting someone, was he? For revenge? Well… whatever it was, Sasuke had every intention of finding out.
XXXXXXX – East Blue, Baratie, one week later.
The time it took for the Straw Hats to get to Baratie had been well spent, such as for Naruto, who had finally mastered the tree climbing exercise by continuing to train using the mast of the Going Merry itself (as well as getting his butt kicked by Shino in their spars). When they finally arrived at the infamous Baratie, the Straw Hat crew was overtaken by the sight. Baratie, as Johnny had said, was an ocean-going restaurant. It looked like a normal cruise ship, though it had several additions to it. The most obvious was that there was a fish head in the very front and the rudder was tail-shaped. Off to the side were several smaller ships. Everyone figured that nothing could go wrong.
As fate would have it, a Navy ship came sailing right next to them, commanded by a Marine named Ironfist Fullbody, a Lieutenant, who had a brass knuckle on his right hand that seemed to be screwed directly into his hand. After he demanded to know who was the captain of the ship (both Luffy and Usopp answered, much to Luffy's annoyance), he recognized Johnny and Yosaku and berated them for being pathetic bounty hunters and that they had finally gotten caught by pirates.
Six seconds later, both of the bounty hunters were back on the deck lying in pain: two for Johnny and Yosaku to rush him, two for Fullbody to beat them up, and two to send them soaring back to the Going Merry, after which Fullbody ordered one of his men to sink the ship, despite it being his day off. Fortunately for the Straw Hats, Luffy blocked it with his Gum Gum Balloon. Unfortunately for Luffy, he rebounded the wrong way and ended up hitting the restaurant itself. Nami gave Luffy three points for that (she originally gave him eight). While he stupidly redirected the cannonball in the wrong direction, he did protect the ship. That counted for something. Five points worth in this case.
Luffy – being the honest fool that he was – immediately rushed over to Baratie and apologized for blowing them up. That had been fifteen minutes ago and Luffy still hadn't returned.
"Isn't Luffy back yet?" Naruto asked. He was barely able to contain himself. The time limit for his No Ramen time was finally up, plus he had a date coming up with Sakura-chan! He wanted to get started RIGHT NOW!
"No," Zoro answered. "Maybe they're making him wash dishes for a month."
"Why didn't he just blame it on the Navy ship?" Shikamaru asked.
"Because he's an honest fool," Nami said immediately.
"Why is he the Captain again?" Sasuke asked.
"Hey!" Usopp spoke up immediately. "Let me be the Captain and solve that problem!"
"Sorry, Luffy's Captain," Sakura told him, making Usopp slump in defeat.
That's when they noticed that Shino had left the ship and was walking to the main entrance of Baratie. "What are you doing?" Naruto called to him. "Aren't you going to wait for Luffy?"
Shino stopped and looked at them. "I am, but I'm going to enjoy some lunch while I wait, and with Luffy's desire to find a cook in here, the odds are likely that he would come in immediately after he has settled affairs with the manager. If you all wish to remain out here on the ship, I will not stop you." He then headed to the main entrance and entered.
There was a moment of silence as the remaining Straw Hats looked at each other. Without a word, they all immediately walked after Shino.
They arrived and were seated at a table, led by a large man with long flaming red hair, a bandage around his forehead and two lines along his cheeks. He wore an apron that covered from the waist down, light grey pants and similar sandals that the shinobi wore. At Naruto's request, both he and Sakura were given a private table. The two sat down at a table and were given menus. "I've been looking forward to this, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said eagerly.
"I figured as much," Sakura told him. She saw him reaching for his frog wallet and put it on the table, then started reading his menu. Sakura glanced at the wallet. "You sure you're willing to pay for all this?"
"Yep!" Naruto said, still skimming the menu. "That Thieving Witch was the one that stole Gama-chan and gave it to you after all, not you. Plus, you're making up for it. That's more than enough."
"Well… yeah… that's true…" Sakura admitted. "But I was still the one that spent it… so… I'm sorry about that."
"WHAT!?" Naruto shouted.
"Naruto…" Sakura said slowly. "That's what I've been telling you. I spent your money and I'm sorry about that."
"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!!"
Now Sakura felt a tab bit hurt. "What's so hard to believe? I'm trying to make amends here." She could feel the gazes of all the other people now looking at them. Why did Naruto have to make a big scene wherever he went?
"HOW CAN THEY NOT HAVE IT!?!"
What?
Sakura gave Naruto a confused look and did a double take. "Naruto… are we talking about the same thing here?"
"THEY DON'T HAVE RAMEN ON THIS MENU!!!" Naruto whined loudly.
That's what he was talking about?
By this time, a small plump boy came walking over. "Is there something the matter?" he asked Naruto. He wore the same style apron as the man out front and had a white shirt with the shinobi kanji for 'food' on it. He also wore a green jacket, along with a scarf around his neck. Sakura's eyes went up to his forehead and widened in shock. On the boy's forehead was a Konoha headband! Unlike hers and the others, though, this headband was more like a bandana than a simple cloth. Though… the boy's hair stuck out of both sides of his bandana, which resembled a butt more than anything. She laughed mentally.
Naruto, however, didn't notice that hitai-ite. Instead, he pointed at the menu. "Your crappy place doesn't serve ramen!"
The other boy's eyebrow rose slightly. "Sorry about that, sir," the word was said with a sneer. "But what you see is what we got."
"How can a dump like this not have ramen!?"
"Naruto… calm down…" Sakura tried. The other boy was looking quite annoyed now. "We. Don't. Have. Ramen," he repeated slowly. He gave Naruto the menu again. "Now please kindly choose something else."
"Just go and get me someone with the management, fatty!!"
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?!?" The boy roared. He threw his head back and yelled, "I'M NOT FAT, I'M JUST BIG BONED!!"
"That's enough, Choji!" came the voice of a young man wearing a black suit, with an orange book held directly in his face. He closed the book and looked directly at the boy. The man's hair completely covered his left eye, and his exposed eyebrow had a unique curl to it. He also had a cigarette in his mouth. "You calm down," the man told the boy named Choji. He then looked at Naruto. "And you, sir, either find something you like on the menu or get out!"
"Aw… come on!" Naruto asked desperately. "You guys must know how to make ramen, right? It's not that hard. Or I could do it for you!"
"We don't. And there's nothing you can do that would change my mind to make it, much less allow you to try."
Naruto made a single hand sign and muttered 'henge.'
XXXXXXX – New Konoha, Sarutobi's house
With the current situation the shinobi faced, there were few times that Sarutobi felt excited or happy. But now… he was both.
He had finally found something!
It had happened three days ago, when he was conducting his nightly search for Naruto. He had been looking through several of the small islands in the East Blue. Several of these islands had lingering chakra signatures, but he did not detect nor find any shinobi around them. Then on the last island – which featured a small village by the name of Syrup Village - he made a discovery: there was a lingering chakra signature there. Very faint, but still there.
And it wasn't human.
Sarutobi recognized it immediately. It was chakra of the Kyuubi no Kitsune!
He had finally found something of the boy!
He immediately redoubled his efforts. After three days worth of very careful searching, he finally tracked down where the boy currently was: at a floating restaurant known as Baratie, a place he was familiar with since an acquaintance of his frequented that place. Sarutobi could hardly contain his excitement. In a few short moments, he would finally set eyes on the boy. He was so excited; he almost didn't notice his grandson 'sneaking' up behind him with a large stick. What did that make it, Konohamaru's 13th attack today?
He focused on the crystal ball. The image shifted to the interior of the Baratie restaurant and he saw the scene: the place was quite crowded, and nearly everyone was looking a large puff of smoke in the center of the room, near a man in a black suit and a chubby busboy.
'That must be Naruto…' Sarutobi thought to himself, as he prepared to raise his left hand to block Konohamaru's strike, then the smoke cleared…
…and a nude woman in ponytails appeared. "Please… my dear, handsome man?" the girl told the man in black, who was squealing in detail.
"WAHHH!!!" Sarutobi shrieked, his pipe falling out of his mouth. What the hell!?
"I'VE GOT YOU!!!" Konohamaru yelled. He jumped up and slammed the stick down on the Hokage's head. The old man recoiled from the shock and fell to the ground with a loud thump. As he did, the crystal ball went blank, since Sarutobi was now unconscious.
"Huh?" Konohamaru said. He looked at the stick, then at the knocked out Hokage, then back to the stick. Slowly, a big grin emerged on his face and he held the stick up high, cheering.
"Honorable Grandson!" came Ebisu's voice. He ran into the room. "Honorable Grandson, I've told you that you must cease these attacks on Hokage-sama!"
"I just clobbered him!" Konohamaru told him happily. "Now you have to address me as Godaime-sama!"
Ebisu's jaw dropped as he looked at the scene and sure enough, Hokage-sama was unconscious on the ground. Was his tutoring really this good?
XXXXXXX – back at Baratie
Sakura tried to sink into her seat. Naruto did not just do that. He couldn't have been stupid enough to transform into a naked woman in front of the ENTIRE RESTAURANT! She groaned into her hand, hoping this was a bad dream. At the other table, Nami gave Naruto 15 points for that stunt, while she and the others quickly returned to their own menus, hoping that they wouldn't be associated with him.
The 'lady' walked up to the man and rubbed his hair. "Please… you can try and make some ramen for little old me… can't you?"
"OF COURSE! JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!" the man said immediately, his single eye going heart-shaped. He led Naruto to the back of the restaurant, where Naruto dropped the henge. Once inside the main kitchen area, the entire dining area could hear several loud voices rising, Naruto's included.
"HEY!!! WHERE'D THE BEAUTIFUL LADY GO!?" they heard the blond-haired man whine.
"Then we need some noodles… these will do just fine…" came Naruto's voice.
"THOSE AREN'T DONE YET, BRAT!!" shouted a chef.
"Then we need to boil some water… and let's add some of this… and this…"
"DON'T TAKE THOSE OFF THE PLATES, YOU MORON!!!" another one yelled.
"And let's take some crab… crab's good…"
"THAT'S FOR SOMEONE ELSE!!!"
"Then we put it all in the water… and we wait for it…" By this time, Sakura had completely sunk past the table and was hoping that would make her completely invisible. The other Straw Hats were snickering under their breaths. About three minutes later… "Yuck! This sucks! You guys can't make decent ramen at all!!"
"GET OUT!!!" rang many voices, including the voice belonging to the man in the black suit. A few seconds later, Naruto went soaring through the restaurant and crashed through the main doors, where a loud splash was heard. "He'll be fine," Shino stated evenly, looking over the menu. "Roast duck sounds good." Nami mentally added another 12 points for Naruto.
There was a mutter of agreement from the other Straw Hats, as Sakura came to join them at the table, making sure Naruto's frog wallet was safely in her pocket. After all, she wasn't about to leave it on the table alone for someone to steal it. A short while later, a loud voice rang out. "WAITER!"
The Straw Hats looked at the source of the voice. It was that Marine again, Fullbody. He was currently sitting at a table with an attractive woman with him. The same young man wearing a black suit – with the orange book back in his face again – halted and came over to them. "I told you," the man told Fullbody, the book never lowering. "I'm no waiter." The head turned in the lady's direction, with the book quickly being stuffed the man's back pocket, allowing everyone to see his face. "My, what a lovely young lady. How about it, Miss? Care to sample my private stock? It's real wine!"
The woman replied with an eager look, to which Fullbody quickly responded by slapping his hand on the table. "Hey! What kind of third-rate dump serves bugs with soup!?"
"Bugs with soup?" Sasuke repeated as all seven of them looked at Shino. The bug user didn't so much as acknowledge the accusation.
Fullbody made another dramatic gesture at his soup. "What is this bug doing in my food!?" he shouted.
"Forgive me, sir," the man replied smoothly. "It's hard to tell, but it appears to be the backstroke. Or perhaps the butterfly stroke, I always get those confused."
Laughter roared out in the entire restaurant, including Nami, Sakura, and Usopp. Even Shikamaru cracked a smile.
In response, Fullbody slammed his right fist on the tabletop, smashing it completely. Both his and his date's soups spilled out everywhere. His date immediately protested to the violent behavior, but Fullbody completely ignored her. He looked directly at the man and growled, "You have no idea who you're messing with."
The restaurant went completely silent and everyone was curious as to how the smartmouthed man would take this. The man's next actions weren't to mouth off to the Marine, or even attempt to attack the said man.
Instead, the smoker bent down and looked at the wasted food. "If you had just removed the bug, you could have eaten the soup."
"Isn't that unhealthy and against restaurant regulations?" Shikamaru muttered. No one commented.
"I am a customer!" Fullbody roared. "How dare you take that attitude!? You're just a pathetic cook in a cheap and worthless restaurant!"
The man now looked directly at the Lieutenant. "Does money make up for lack of courage?"
Fullbody moved, his right fist swinging directly at the other man, who immediately delivered a devastating kick to the Marine's stomach, even while still in his kneeling position. Fullbody bent over, gasping like mad and holding his stomach. As the man stood up, he then kicked Fullbody right in the chin. Fullbody began stumbling back, as the man closed in him on quickly, delivering a severe kick to the Fullbody's face. He let out a loud moan of pain and started to collapse, only to have the other man's hand firmly clasp on his face and hold him up above the ground.
"To offend a cook at sea…" the man told the bleeding Marine. "…is a fool's mistake. Remember that." His eye darkened. "And food must never be wasted."
The only response Fullbody was able to give was a painful moan.
End of Chapter 19
And so ends the first chapter of the Baratie arc, with the appearances of Akimichi Choji and Choza (Choza was the man that seated the Straw Hats). When planning out this story, Choji was immediately decided to appear at Baratie. It just fit so well: restaurant for the big appetites, known for hiring 'pirate cooks' and the personalities of Zeff and his employees accommodated the Akimichi's perfectly, in my opinion. It was perfect and appropriate, no offense to Emma Iveli and the character Emma chose to appear at Baratie in Biju Biju Fruit.
And it appears that Naruto and Sakura's date has ended before it even began. This is more or less how I intended to do their little date. Though I don't think it came out as funny as I originally pictured it. Oh well…
Manga to Anime Difference: on a more interesting note, the scene where Luffy redirects the cannonball is different between the manga version and the anime version. The manga version has Luffy use his balloon to stop the cannon, and he tries to bounce it back to Fullbody's ship, but instead bounces to Baratie itself. In the anime, Luffy uses a move called Gomu Gomu no Pachinko (Gum Gum Slingshot) and braces himself against the ship. When the cannonball hits him, one of his hands slip and the impact cause him to face a completely different direction, thus hitting Baratie. I typically use the manga as a direct reference when I write these chapters, since I have easier access to it than its anime counterparts, so that's the version I went with.
Nami's Ultimate Idiot Competition – Luffy: 34, Naruto: 52
May the Kage Bunshin and Gomu Gomu no Bazooka be with you!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto. They belong to their respective owners: Eiichiro Oda and Masashi Kishimoto.