Chapter 22: Disaster Arrives
Arc – The Captured Rain Genin Resolution, part 2
Title Page: All five genin are now awake and looking at their surroundings and how they're tied up and in a dark basement, with a collective thought-bubble with a question mark inside. Unbeknownst to them, a looming shadow is hovering over them.
Subtext: Where are we?
XXXXXXX – East Blue, Baratie, Akimichi quarters
Kakashi looked out the window, seeing the sun rising higher into the sky, signifying late afternoon. It had only been about five hours since the end of the bell test and about an hour since Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke had been released from their 'posts'.
He heard Choza's loud footsteps coming towards him. "Kakashi-sa..."
"Don't call me that," Kakashi interrupted. "I get too much of that back at home and I don't need it here as well."
Choza gave a small nod. "Very well, Kakashi-sa..." he trailed off, noting the copy ninja's resentful look. "I mean, Kakashi," the other man amended, deciding to drop the honorifics altogether. "So... are you sure it's alright to be wearing that attire? Especially the headband?"
Kakashi shrugged, not bothering to answer. Instead, he turned around and faced the restaurant bouncer. "So... have any other potential prospects shown up lately, other than the kids?"
Choza answered by shaking his head. Baratie was one of the few places left where a shinobi could freely be themselves and didn't have to hide. There was so much chaos, and with the small Marine presence in the area, the World Government didn't bother to try and crack down on it. Not when there were so many other pressing matters. That meant it was one of the safe harbors for the shinobi and was Choza's sidejob here: he was to spot any shinobi that arrived here and, if he deemed them trustworthy enough, send them along to where the Five Main Villages were recovering. That had happened about a month after he and his son arrived at the place when Kakashi made one of his stops at the place. The thought of that meeting brought a smile behind his mask. "It's amazing, isn't it? Two out of three here."
"Not something I would have expected," Choza admitted. He had nearly jumped the lazy kid when he first saw him. The resemblance the boy had to Shikaku was uncanny. But like a true professional, he kept himself composed… meaning he would have jumped the boy after they had finished eating. At least he would have if Kakashi hadn't come and stirred up mischief. "But it brings back some great memories as well." Pausing for a moment, he looked at Kakashi. "So, tell me... how is Inoichi doing?"
"Things have gotten worse," Kakashi admitted. The Yamanakas had fled to Alabasta when the attacks had come. King Cobra had always been a friend of the shinobi and took in any that fled to the country. Under the table, of course, since the World Government had become a whole lot more proactive against the shinobi now that their villages – the backbones of their society – had been broken. "The situation has gotten worse and they're still nowhere close to knowing who the true mastermind is behind everything. And I've heard the rebels' numbers have reached into the hundreds of thousands now."
Yamanaka had chosen to remain in Alabasta even after the villages had reformed, along with several others. He felt inclined to return the favor Cobra had done for them. But even with them helping the investigations, no answers came, and Kakashi – along with the other shinobi – refused to believe the reports that Cobra was responsible. There were even reports of a sand demon in the area, but Kakashi wondered if people just mistook Sir Crocodile for that. He didn't trust the Warlord, but there was no evidence pointing to the man either, and he was helping the country.
"Still... he's got his daughter..." Choza said softly. "We get the old team back. And a next generation to boot." Noting that Kakashi didn't answer, the obese man decided to change the subject. "So how did you sneak out of the villages this time around?"
"Shadow Clone," was the reply.
"How are things in the villages?"
"Worse," Kakashi said, but didn't elaborate.
"What brings you here, then?" the Akimichi asked, annoyed with the abrupt replies.
That smiling eye answered. "Something very important." With that said, he started walking towards the doors. "I've got to go. I told the three brats I would talk to them once they were free."
"Only keeping them waiting an hour?" Choza quipped as the other man walked out, who merely said 'Talk to the other two' as he disappeared around the corner. Shrugging, Choza walked off, only to see Choji in his room, grumbling to himself. The boy wasn't scheduled to work at the moment, but he still wasn't the type to just lie down on the bed. Leaning against the door post, he spoke up. "So, where were you this morning? You were the only one who didn't show up to see the test."
"Sleeping."
"Try again. You're not the type to sleep in as late as eleven. And you enjoy it whenever the cooks start fighting, so what's the deal now?"
The boy was silent for a moment. "They offered me in a position in their crew. Wanted me to go with them and be a pirate."
Choza raised an eyebrow as his son continued. "I'm not interested in going. I like being in one place and not traveling around so much."
"No one's saying you have to," the man replied, but Choji made no comment. So, he was so deadset against the idea that he was determined to completely avoid the Straw Hats until they left? Maybe all the eat-and-run they had done earlier in life had left a deeper impression on his son than he thought. And while Choza had to admit he wasn't fond of the idea of Choji leaving, there was no one else around his age to interact with and he would like to see his boy mingle with the younger generation somewhat.
Weighing the options in his mind, he reached down and grabbed a pair of waddled up socks from the floor and threw them, resulting in the young boy being hit in the back of the head and falling on his face in surprise.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"
"For being off guard," Choza answered, laughing. He then gestured to Choji to come. "Alright, time to go. We've got things to do."
XXXXXXX – Another part of Baratie, roughly thirty minutes later
"YOU'RE LATE!!"
"Sorry, sorry, but I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life."
"WHAT!?"
Chuckling softly under his breath, he looked at the three. "Alright, down to business." Holding up his hands, he calmed the three pre-teens down as he added "First off, why don't we introduce ourselves properly."
"Introduce ourselves?" the pink-haired girl repeated.
"Things you like, things you hate, dreams, ambitions, that sort of thing."
"Well, why don't you go first, show us how it's done," Naruto suggested.
Kakashi lazily pointed at himself, faking surprise. "Who, me? Well... I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate... hmm... I'm not going to tell you that. Dreams for the future... never really thought about it... and for hobbies... I have lots of hobbies."
The three young pirate ninjas just glared at the man. He didn't tell them anything!
"Alright, your turn," Kakashi said, pointing at Naruto. "Let's start with you."
In response, the boy held up a photo. "Have you seen this man?"
Curious, Kakashi took a look. "No. Why?"
"I'm looking for him," the boy answered defensively. Putting the picture away, he continued. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki... or Uzumaki Naruto, whichever way it is. I like ramen, Sakura, and ramen, but I hate the three minutes I have to wait for ramen, as well as Sasuke. My dream is to be Hokage, reunite the villages, and find Iruka-sensei!"
Kakashi was only half listening, hearing the last name. Uzumaki. The same Uzumaki? As in Uzumaki Kushina? Kakashi had half a mind to ask, but he doubted the boy knew. Still, if he was really an Uzumaki, thenit must be the same name. He certainly was the spitting image of the Fourth and had the last name, so it must be their kid. The fact that he had the whisker marks on his face only further confirmed it. He wondered if the boy or this Iruka knew the meaning behind the whisker marks, since few did.
That was because when Namikaze Minato, otherwise known as the Fourth Hokage, had stopped the demon and sealed it in the baby, Kakashi was one of the few to witness the act. When Sarutobi got a hold of the babe, he had decided against revealing the exact nature of the sealing. It was too soon, the old man had said. He felt that if the village learned the truth when the Fox's attack ended only hours ago, chaos would come back with many demanding the death of the boy.
Sarutobi wanted to wait a month before revealing the exact circumstances to the village. By then, he felt that the village would have calmed down enough and would be at peace with the new revelation. So in the meantime, Sarutobi had told the vast majority of Konoha that the Fourth "forever sealed the Kyubi in a prison." Which was true. It just wasn't the type of prison everyone else thought it was. But as history showed, the villages weren't at peace for that long and were destroyed not long after. As such, Sarutobi never got around to officially saying what had happened to the Kyubi.
Kakashi wondered if should say anything on the matter, but decided against it. It wasn't his place to do so, plus he didn't know all the facts himself. And he thought that there was no need to place a burden on his crew by sharing the secret. Noting the three staring at him, he forged a yawn. "Oh, sorry. Were you done?" he said lazily.
After a death threat from the said boy, the girl spoke up. "I'm Haruno Sakura. What I like..." She shot a glance at the Uchiha and gave a small smile. "And what I dream about are pretty close. Though I also hope to visit new and exciting places."
So she wasn't completely love-sick then. That was a relief. The name Haruno didn't ring any bells in his memory, so instead, the silver-haired man asked "And what do you hate?"
The answer was immediate. "SHIKAMARU!!"
All three males looked at her. The Nara kid? Why him? The girl didn't elaborate further, so Kakashi looked at the Uchiha. "Last one."
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," the boy answered stiffly. "I hate many things, including the loser ("HEY!!"), and there are only a few things I like. What I have is not a dream, for I will make it a reality: I'm going to revive my clan and destroy a certain someone."
Naruto looked at Sasuke with a look that wondered if that statement was directed at him, while Sakura looked excited. Kakashi, however, wondered just how much the boy had witnessed of the clan's slaughter.
Since the Uchiha were not in New Konoha, he himself had only found out recently about it. While the Shinobi spy networks were decimated and no longer reliable, Jiraiya of the Sannin's personal network was still very much alive and kicking. The World Government and Navy never seemed to try very hard to stop that. Or to stop the publishing of the Make-Out Paradise Series (it was no secret who the author was). But as a result, Jiraiya's information network was the Five Main Village's main – and only – source of information now.
The news of what had happened to the Uchiha had only reached the villages a few months prior and many things were still sketchy, such as why it happened and by whom, but it had been reported that every member of the clan had died. Obviously that was not true. From the boy's statement, he knew. And again, Kakashi wasn't sure if he should ask.
So instead, he gave a half nod. "Excellent, you're each unique and off to a good start." He gave that smile with his eye. "And since I'm going to be here longer than I expected, I'm going to give all three of you a crash course in training. Show you how it was done in the olden days. With that in mind, how long are you going to be here?"
Sasuke and Naruto shrugged, so it was Sakura who answered. "Our Captain has to work off a debt due to damages he accidentally caused, so I imagine some time."
"Perfect. Let's get started tomorrow morning. 8 o'clock sharp." With that, he started to get up and leave, but stopped when he felt their glares on him. "Oh... right..." he said, turning back to them. "Okay... here's the information you've been waiting for about the Five Main Villages."
That wasn't exactly what the three had been glaring about, but the new revelation certainly caught their attention.
"Considering what your Captain is trying to accomplish, you can consider this an act of fate or just good fortune on your parts. You see... the villages are located in the Grand Line."
XXXXXXX – One Week Later
And so a week passed with Kakashi drilling his new 'students' while Luffy worked off his debt. That isn't to say that the others were just lying about and doing nothing, except Shikamaru, who was perfectly content to just lie on the deck of the ship cloud gazing. Zoro was seen generally doing one of three things: sleeping, drinking, or training. Nami was quite content to be spoiled rotten by the assistant chef, while Usopp locked himself in a cabin to do who-knew-what, and Shino read his book (which turned out to be about old war tactics, something he hoped to adapt with the insects living inside of him) and talked to Choza whenever he could.
The first time, Choza came directly to him, dragging his son along, hoping that the two would get along. What did happen were many loud words, snide comments, lots of destruction, and bugs flying around the place. After that, Choza no longer tried to drag Choji to these little meetings, but he was delighted to learn that his old friend Shikaku wasn't that far off, as well as the others the Straw Hats had contacted.
On the third day, Shino sent off his report to his clansmen and, as he promised to Sasuke, sent a description of the man the young Uchiha was searching for (which Kakashi made a point of overhearing). A small man only a few years older than him. Hair tied in a ponytail, distinctive facial lines on his face, and cold attitude, with the name of Itachi. Shino attempted to press more details of the man, like his last name, but Sasuke stubbornly insisted that that was all to tell. Regardless, Shino sent off the report, while Kakashi tried to match the description to anyone he knew.
Speaking of Kakashi, he refused to tell his three unofficial students the precise location of the shinobi villages. They weren't easy to find, after all. If they were, then the Navy and/or the more powerful pirate groups would have crashed them.
"Don't worry," Kakashi had said to them. "Just don't hide the fact that you're shinobi once you get to the Grand Line. Do that and they'll find you."
The first two days of their makeshift training involved water walking, while Choza took it upon himself to teach Shino, Choji, and Shikamaru (or, more accurately, taught Shino and had to throw the other two boys in to make them learn). To neither of the boys' surprise, Sakura got the hang of it first. To their surprise, Naruto picked it up next, causing Sasuke to get it last. Shino's earlier training had helped Naruto more than he thought. Go figure!
The next four days involved Kakashi working on their taijutsu skills, specifically Naruto's and Sakura's, since Sasuke was rather adept at it already. So during that time, he helped Sasuke refine his fire techniques, making him able to produce more flames with less chakra through a few more additional control lessons.
The seventh day was spent helping them work better with their equipment and become more proficient with them, as well as a genjutsu lecture and a few ways to dispel lesser ones. He did this through the usage of his Hell Viewing technique (showing Naruto locked in a Kitchen with no way to get ramen, Sakura growing very old, and Sasuke being thrown into a horde of fan girls until they were able to break it).
At the end of the seventh day, the Straw Hats were eating inside the restaurant again while Luffy worked. Kakashi had taken his three to a separate table. "Well... I must say that it's been fun, but I must take my leave of you now."
"Why?" Sasuke asked. "So you can read those books in peace?" added Naruto.
Kakashi gave the trio that smiling eye again. "Funny you should mention that." At that moment, Zeff himself walked over and tossed Kakashi a small brown package.
"Here it is," Zeff said. "Apparently there was a bad storm in the area, so that's why it's late."
Curious, all three kids looked at Kakashi as he opened it.
"WAAAAAAHHHH!!" they heard Sanji shout out, making everyone jerk in surprise as the blond man ran flat out over to the table, putting his face directly on the item Kakashi had just unwrapped.
"YOUGOTAPRERELEASEDSPECIALLIMITEDEDITIONCOMPLETEWITHBONUSMATERIALSIGNEDBYTHEAUTHORHIMSELFCOPYOFMAKEOUTVIOLENCE!!" Sanji yelled out at the top of his lungs, not bothering to take a breath and causing his face to turn blue. "HOW!?THOSEDON'TEVENCOMEOUTFORANOTHERTHREEMONTHS!!"
"I know some people, who know some people who know some people," the other one-eyed man answered snidely. That was a fancy way of saying he knew the author personally.
After about ten minutes of prying off the desperate man – who offered everything from the restaurant (even though he didn't own it) to the customer's wallets, to his own liberty to get that book – was finally pulled away back into the kitchen by no less than half of Baratie's entire staff, while Sanji just cried pools upon pools of tears and hollered all the way.
"As I was saying," Kakashi said, ignoring the three's looks. "I have what I came for, so now I must be off."
"He just wants to read that thing in private," Naruto grumbled.
"But before I go," the silver-haired man continued, acting like Naruto hadn't said anything. "I want to leave you three some last-minute instructions so that you can learn to grow stronger even without me.
"Sasuke. Your speed is your greatest attribute right now, so you should work on that right now. Get to the point where you don't tire out easily.
"Sakura. You are quite talented at Genjutsu. I want you to take that a step beyond just identifying it and canceling it out. Learn to create and use your own.
"Naruto. Work on your basics. ("WHAT!?") What you need most is to learn your Chakra control. You waste too much chakra doing even the basics. Even you have limits."
He stood up and gave them a small wave. "Until we meet again." With that, he walked out of the main dining room and outside. Once he was alone, he opened the book and looked at the front page, which was always a personal note. Giving it a quick read, he memorized the page numbers, making sure to keep those in since he was not the type to skip ahead.
Hours later, he did finish the book and deciphered the first part of the latest intel message by putting the first word on the page in order of the numbers of the personal note.
I found them.
XXXXXXX – The next day
It started out like a normal day at Baratie, though fighting plagued the restaurant a little more than usual since because of the bad storm, the place was in need of more supplies, so Choza – his position being the expendable one – had been sent to the mainland to go shopping. Until many people starting screaming when they saw what appeared to be a ship coming straight towards them. Now that in itself wouldn't be cause for concern, but it was when the people noticed the flag that they started screaming.
It was a stretched out skull with two hourglasses on its side. Those hourglasses signified that time had run out for the enemies of that ship. For that ship was known as the Dreadnaught Sabre, the flagship of Don Kreig's armada.
"Now look what you've done, Patty!" Carne shouted, pointing at the ship that was slowly coming closer.
"It's... it's n-n-not my fault!" Patty attempted, panic swelling inside him as well. "K-kakashi was the one who kicked him!"
"But you were the one who threw him out! So you deal with them! All five thousand of them!" another chef shouted.
The Straw Hats were looking at the ship as well while the rest of the customers were fleeing from the scene via the customer boat out back. "So this Kreig guy and all his men came just to avenge Gin's mistreatment here?" Choji asked, who was right beside them and Sanji. Sure, they had heard the stories that Kreig would retaliate if one of his crew was mistreated... but no one seriously believed that he actually would! Or at least... they hoped he wouldn't.
"That ship is huge! Maybe Gin's come back to say thanks!" Luffy exclaimed positively.
Sanji just shook his head. "I doubt it... but something is quite off."
As the ship fully came into view, everyone remaining could see why it seemed off.
The thing was a complete wreck. All the sails were torn and one of the masts was busted, hanging by only splinters. Holes of various sizes were all over the ship and the ship appeared ready to snap in two at any moment. Even the panther-like figurine had a severe crack in it.
"A great Galleon, ravaged to that degree," Sanji continued, blowing out a puff of smoke. "That's not the work of men. They must have sailed through a typhoon."
Some heavy footsteps were heard, and the Baratie staff's breathing slowed as those footsteps came closer and closer. The Straw Hats were watching intently because some were ready to flee with the other customers, while others were quite excited to see this Don Krieg and if he was as powerful as the rumors proclaimed he was.
The doors swung open the next instant, revealing Gin half-carrying, half-dragging a large man over his shoulders, who was wearing a pirate Captain's robe, bandages around his forehead, grayish pants, and black shoes. "Please... may I have... some food and water? I've got money... lots of money..." The words said were barely above a whisper, with hardly any force in them.
Patty reacted first, saying the words that everyone else was thinking. "What? Who is that? That shabby man is Don Kreig?"
"He looks hungry," Sakura commented.
"And pathetic," Shikamaru added, noticing that Sanji had turned around and headed for the kitchen area. Now what was he doing at a time like this? Looking further, he saw Shino leave as well. What was with those two?
With that, Don Kreig tumbled over and fell face-first on the ground. Gin knelt down beside him a moment later, shouting "Don Kreig!"
"...please... food... water..."
"Food! Water!" Gin repeated loudly, panic very notable in his voice. "The Don's on the verge of death! If you don't help him, he's doomed!!'
The Straw Hat genin weren't sure what to make of this development. Naruto couldn't help but feel a sense of pity for the starving man. This big shot of a pirate was now begging for food and he could only imagine what that felt like. Wondering what to do, he looked at the others. "Um... what should we do?"
"Let him starve," Sasuke answered matter-of-factly.
Sakura looked at her crush, then back at the begging man. "Can... can we really do that? I mean... it doesn't... feel... right..."
Shikamaru spoke up, crossing his arms. "It's practical. If the guy's half the man the rumors describe him as, then the second he regains his strength, he'll come after us. Best to avoid that."
They were cut off by Patty's loud roar of laughter. If a warthog could laugh, it would sound like Patty. "How rich! What a laugh! This is the dreaded Don Kreig?!"
"This time I have money! We're customers!" Gin pleaded, hoping to appeal to their business nature. As an added gesture, he reached into his pockets and threw out a small horde of jewels, gold coins and other riches, easily worth tens of thousands. "And we have plenty more, too!!"
"Let's alert the Navy!" Patty replied immediately, the other cooks echoing him. Looking at the payload excitingly, he reached down and picked up several large jewels, berry signs in his eyes. "They'll want to catch this slim – "
"Out of the way, Patty," interrupted a voice. A split second later, Patty crashed head-first into a wall, while Sanji knelt down by the two pirates, a plate of warm food and a wine bottle there. "Here, Gin, he can eat this." His eye then wandered down to the rest of the loot Gin had thrown. With a simple gesture, he slid the rest back to Gin with his foot. "The ones Patty took will be more than enough. Take the rest back."
Gin just stared at Sanji in pure disbelief, while Don Kreig began stuffing his face. This guy was not only feeding them, but turning down all this extra cash!? Just what kind of cook was this person? Tears streaked down Gin's face as his head banged the floor in a grateful bow. "I can't thank you enough!"
"Sanji!" All eyes turned to Carne. "Take that food away right now! Don't you know who he is!? He's "Foul-Playing Krieg", tyrant of the East Blue Seas! He started out in prison! Then lied his way onto a Navy Ship! He killed all the officers and took over! That's how he got his start as a pirate! Flying a Navy flag, he sails into ports and attacks both town and ships! Sometimes, he'll even wave a White Flag and then open fire! He'll stoop to anything to win! His duplicity is legendary! At full strength he'll be unstoppable! He says he'll go if we feed him, but we can't trust him!" Carne pointed directly at the person he was talking about, who was halfway through his meal. "That two-faced scoundrel should starve! The world would be a much better place!"
"I thought as much," Shikamaru said. Sasuke caught his eye and gave a short nod. Shikamaru began to bring his hands together while Sasuke dashed forward.
At least, that would have happened if Sakura hadn't grabbed Shikamaru's hand to prevent him from forming the hand sign and if Naruto didn't stick his foot out, tripping the Uchiha and making him fall flat on his face. Sasuke was about to shout but Naruto planted a foot on the back of his head, while Shikamaru glared at Sakura. Her grip was tightening as she stared directly into his eyes with her own, shaking her head.
The lazy kid regarded her for a moment. "You heard the cook, right? About how he'll stoop to anything to win and won't honor his word?"
She merely nodded. "I heard. But we can't just let him starve either. I wouldn't want to go through that and I don't think we should force someone else to, either."
After a moment, Shikamaru snorted. "Troublesome woman."
As for the other two… "What the hell do you think you're doing, loser!?" Sasuke yelled at Naruto, despite the fact that his face was shoved against the floor. "He's the enemy! Not us! If the situation was reversed, he wouldn't hesitate to let us starve to death."
"But we're not him," Naruto said softly, praying he wasn't making a huge mistake. If nothing else, it felt good to get the upper hand on the Uchiha bastard. That was certainly worth it. "And that's what makes the big difference. I'm not about to sink to that guy's level." Seeing Sasuke try to get up, he applied some more force to his foot.
That's when he and the others in the room saw Kreig finish his meal and, in one swift motion, he hit Sanji in the chin with his arm and sent the one that brought him food soaring all the way over to the other side of the dining room.
"SANJI!!" Cook, Straw Hat pirate and Gin yelled. The last one grabbed hold of Don Kreig's robe. "YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T, KRIEG!! YOU SWORE THAT YOU WOULDN'T HURT ANYBODY IF I LED YOU HERE!! THAT MAN SAVED OUR LIVES!!"
In response, Don Kreig merely reached down and grabbed Gin by the throat. Bringing his subordinate to eye level, he spoke. No longer did he speak in a broken, pleading voice, but with force and authority. "The food was good. I've regained my strength." He looked around at the place and a small smile came forth. "Nice restaurant. I'll take it."
"There. Are you happy now?" Shikamaru asked Sakura, who was very worried and seriously wondering if she shouldn't have stopped the shadow user. As for Sasuke, he took advantage of Naruto's shocked state. Rotating his body on the floor, he swept the blond off his feet with a sweep kick. Before Naruto could fall on the floor, Sasuke's foot swung back and shot a kick directly in the other boy's stomach. Naruto crashed against a table and tumbled through to another one before coming to a stop. That felt good, Sasuke thought as he got up, staring straight at Kreig while keeping Naruto in the corner of his eye.
By this time, Patty woke up and saw Kreig standing upfront. Panicking, he crabwalked back a bit.
Don Kreig simply looked at the assembled cooks and pirates. "My ship is a wreck. I need a new one. When I'm finished with you, I'll dump you." He jerked his thumb in the direction of his ruined ship. "I have about a hundred men on my ship who still draw breath. They're dying from wounds, thirst, and most of all, hunger. They need a hundred rations of food and water." He pointed directly at the cooks in front of him. "You will prepare it. There is no time to waste as some have certainly starved to death by now. So get cooking. Now."
"You expect us to feed a hundred pirates so that they'll have the strength to take over our ship!?" Carne shouted in disbelief. "We refuse!"
Don Kreig looked directly at the cook, who gulped in fear. "Refuse?" Kreig repeated mockingly. "You don't understand. It's not a request. It's an order. Do. Not. Defy. ME!!" All the cooks flinched with the last word.
By this time, Patty got to his feet and looked directly at the one-eyed blond man. "You! You got us into this mess! So you what are you going to do about it!?"
"I'm going to get started. We have a hundred meals to prepare, don't we?"
Several seconds of pure stunned silence followed, followed by a loud "WHAT!?"
Don Kreig smiled deviously, while Luffy looked amazed, very curious as to what his would-be cook was thinking. By this time, Naruto was rubbing his head and getting up from where Sasuke had kicked him, sending a death glare to the Uchiha.
The other cooks, however, all drew weapons. Guns and oversized silverware were pointed directly at the blond man in the middle.
"Are you Kreig's dog now, Sanji?" one asked.
"We can't allow you into the kitchen," another added. "We're not going along with this!"
"It's an outrage!" a third one added.
In response, Sanji merely spread his arms out. "If you want to stop me... go right ahead and shoot me."
The cooks and Straw Hats in particular looked at the man puzzled, with Luffy listening closely. "I know that they're unredeemable," Sanji said. "But my job is to feed people, not judge them. It gets too complicated. If a man is hungry, I feed them! That's a cook's job!"
Watching, Naruto was worried that the cooks might actually fire at their assistant chef. As the seconds ticked on, he was relieved to see them hesitating.
Though... that might be because Patty just bashed Sanji to the deck with a fierce double back-knuckle.
"Hold him down!" the chef ordered as four of his fellows tackled Sanji.
"Sanji," Patty started, his voice surprisingly normal and forceful compared to his usual yelling. "I know that you feed the people I chase off. And sometimes, maybe you're right to do so." He pointed directly at Sanji now. "But not this time! Now you keep still. I'm going to defend this restaurant!"
With that, he walked to the back part of the room and opened a small door, apparently getting something. "He may be Don Kreig, but he's still just one man! He can't beat us all!" It would have been easier to take Patty seriously if his butt wasn't high in the air as he said all this. "This is Baratie! We deal with rowdy pirates everyday! And we know just what kind of customer service to give them!"
With that, Patty triumphantly turned around, holding what appeared to be a lobster-shaped handheld cannon. "You've eaten, Kreig! Now for your dessert! The Meatball of Doom!"
Patty opened fire on Don Kreig, who merely looked annoyed and simply said "Impudence." The cannonball hit him dead on. The Pirate Armada Captain went crashing through Baratie's main doors and towards the railing, which he smashed into a moment later.
"DON KREIG!! Gin yelled
"Damn, I busted the doors," Patty said, as everyone looked at the results. "Chef'll have my hide for sure."
"It's nothing," Carne insisted. "A small price to pay for saving Baratie."
"There's still a shipload of Kreig's men to worry about," Sasuke said loudly.
"Small fry," Naruto said, walking over to the group. "I can take them all myself!"
"Send a small fry to deal with more small fry?" Sasuke asked him, earning a glare. "Sounds perfect."
Before Naruto could utter a comeback, Patty interrupted. "Don't worry about it, boys. We'll just smear butter on the ship and set it on fire."
Sakura looked uneasy at the suggestion, while Shikamaru just looked at her, shaking his head as if he didn't know what to do with the troublesome pink head.
"That sounds delicious, Chef!"
The entire group turned to see Don Kreig standing, perfectly unharmed, as it could now be seen that he was wearing a brilliant gold armor that covered his chest and arms, with two large shoulder plates with his jolly roger insignia on it. There wasn't so much as a speck on the armor from Patty's Meatball of Doom earlier.
Both enraged and fearful, the Chefs – minus Sanji himself – grabbed their weapons and charged the Pirate Admiral, determined to bring him down by sheer numbers. In response, several slots opened on Don Kreig's armor, revealing double-barreled guns popping out as he took a double-barreled pistol in each hand, for a total of twelve rounds. All of which fired at the incoming horde of chefs at a fast rate. After about ten seconds of this, all the Chefs fell to the ground, groaning in pain. Fortunately for them, Don Kreig only grazed them, obviously not wanting to kill his precious food sources just yet.
"No one defies Don Kreig, you worthless scum! I am stronger than anyone!"
He flexed his right arm. "Arms of steel! Stronger than any flesh!"
He tapped his chest armor with his left hand. "A carapace of the finest steel!"
He took off his left glove. "Diamond fists to demolish anything!"
The gun slots on his armor opened and closed. "And a built-in weapons array!"
"I command fifty ships and five thousand fighting men! I've never lost a battle! I am the Don of the Pirate Armada!! If I tell you to prepare food, then you'll shut up and do it!! NO ONE DEFIES ME!!"
That's when a large bag flew out and landed at Don Kreig's feet, surprising even the Pirate Admiral. Everyone looked to see none other than Zeff himself walking towards them. "There's food for a hundred," the Head Chef stated evenly, no fear at all in his voice. Merely annoyance. "Take it to your men."
"Chef Zeff!?" all the cooks (minus Sanji) cried out in amazement.
The Straw Hats looked from Zeff, to Kreig, to Zeff, to Kreig again, only to see that Kreig's face had faltered just a bit. "Zeff?" he repeated. There was a touch of amazement in his voice. Like a boy meeting one of their favorite idols. "Did you say... Zeff?"
Zeff merely snorted as he pointed to the door. "You have what you came for, now go!"
"Chef, no!! If we feed all those pirates, they'll come and overrun us all!!" Several chefs, including Carne and Patty, shouted.
In response, Zeff turned around and faced his employees and the Straw Hat pirates. "Unless... they're all spineless dogs."
Everyone just looked at him and uttered, as a group, "Huh?"
Turning back to Don Kreig, Zeff looked the man in the eye. "You went to the Grand Line, but you ran off scared, eh? You coward."
Everyone looked at Kreig and Gin in pure amazement. Zeff had just called Don Kreig a coward!? Don Kreig of the Pirate Armada, who commanded fifty ships with five thousand men... the tyrant of the East Blue Sea... whose strength was legendary and his arsenal of weapons was vast... a coward who couldn't handle the Grand Line!?
"The Grand Line?" Luffy repeated, looking at the two rival pirates. Seeing that Gin was grabbing his head in despair and on the verge of tears, it must be true. Was it truly a fearsome and terrible place that not even Don Krieg's crew could handle, and more importantly, ran from with their tails between their legs?
"You're..." Kreig said slowly, his gaze still boring into Zeff. "Red Leg Zeff!"
XXXXXXX – In Baratie's storeroom.
"Urg... seafood... again," Zabuza groaned, eating another bite of fish.
The shinobi on board Don Kreig's ship had also left the boat to get a much-needed meal. The small amount of food that Haku had brought back wasn't nearly enough to quell their hunger among a hundred some men. Though the shinobi had rationed their share, that unexpected storm had stopped any progress the ruined boat hoped to make. 'What is it with the bastard and storms?' Zabuza thought to himself, taking another bite of crab. Kreig seemed to have an unnatural knack for getting caught in those things. First when they left the Grand Line and then when they tried to reach this place.
So when they finally did arrive, Zabuza had accurately predicted that Don Kreig would confront the chefs of this place. Which would leave the storerooms unsupervised. So while Kreig caught everyone's attention in front, Zabuza and the rest helped themselves to the stores. After all, they needed more food than those spineless wimps that called themselves pirates on the ship.
Feeling satisfied with the meal, he walked out into the hall where Haku and their two comrades were, with the last two hidden in the shadows, concealing their looks. With a simple gesture, Zabuza indicated the way to the main dining room.
"Let's go. Time to make our entrance."
End of Chapter 22
A/N: This chapter took awhile to finish for a few reasons. The primary reason was that I was working on my other fic and had a bit of an author's block on the chapter. And being the stubborn fool that I am, I was determined to finish that chapter before working on another. Second was that I struggled with this one. I don't know if it's because I didn't have my 'muse' for the chapter or whatever.
Okay, enough of my whining. So we see Kakashi teach Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke some before leaving Baratie... with Zabuza on the way, that can't be a good thing. And Choza's gone somewhere else as well. Hmm... who to fight the Demon of the Mist? Probably not a big surprise, right? Though I have to confess that when that fight does come, I'm going to be handling it carefully, so that a certain canon event still has an effect at the same time, though in a good original fight. Let's hope it all comes out as well as I hope!
And the Five Great Villages are hidden in the Grand Line. Who saw that coming?
Nami's Ultimate Idiot Competition – Luffy: 49, Naruto: 58
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. Big thanks to Paintball-gamer for beta-reading this!