Chapter 27: A Man's Debt.
Arc – Captured Rain Genin Resolution, part 7
Kagari is standing near a fence, a bucket of white paint at his feet and several boards to the left of him poorly painted as he sloppily works on the latest one. He has a satisfied smile on his face.
Subtext: An ill painter tries his best.
XXXXXXX – East Blue, Baratie, First Level Dining area. A few minutes prior.
A small moan escaped from Akimichi's Choji's lips as he slowly opened his eyes. At first everything swirled around his eyes, making his head throb, before slowly settling down as things came into perspective. He was in the dining area, lying on his back as he stared up at the ceiling. Looking down at himself, he saw both of his arms had been bandaged.
'That's right...' the boy thought as he gathered his thoughts. He gave a quick stretch, only to recoil in pain. 'Okay... bad move. Let's see... I was fighting against the two clingy brothers... I was winning... knocked them out... then Zabuza showed up... said something was... lotioned? No... moistened? No... poisoned... yeah... that was it...'
That's when he heard sounds of fighting. Ignoring the pain he was feeling, he rolled over onto his stomach and began crawling towards where the sound was coming from. 'If... they're still fighting... I... I have to help... I'm not losing... my home...'
It took several minutes for him to crawl across the dining area and out the door. As he looked up, a puzzled look came over his face. It wasn't the cooks, Sanji and the pirates fighting across the Baratie fin, but two boys about his age fighting another figure around their height in a mask. It took a second, but he remembered them. The boys were two members of the Rubber Idiot's pirate crew and the one in the mask had appeared in the restaurant with the Demon Brothers when Zabuza and Zoro started sword-playing.
'This... isn't the cooks...' Choji thought, a bit bewildered. How long had he been out? Had the fighting been reduced to just these three? If that was the case, then where was everyone else? "That's... Saruto and Nasuke? Yeah... sounds right...'
That's when a thick fog began enveloping the entire area, all three of them disappearing from his sight. Very curious about what was going on, Choji closed his eyes in strained concentration. His body began shifting again as he assumed his full lion form, fighting off the pain of doing so. Panting as though he had run a hundred meters in five seconds, his lion eyes were able to see vague silhouettes in the fog. And now he could also smell them. Both attributes allowed Choji to get a rough idea on what was going on.
And the more he watched, the more compelled he became.
XXXXXXX – Sanji.
He had been born in the North Blue, in a town called Coral Ridge, the only child to his parents; his father a fisherman and his mother a seamstress. A simple life, but that was all they needed. Coral Ridge was a fairly large town, with a population of about 8,000. It was also situated on a key trading route between numerous countries, so traffic and commerce was abundant. That also made it a target for pirate attacks, so the World Government established a powerful Navy Base to protect the town. And protect it did, never failing to withstand any foolish pirates that dared to try. For 38 long years.
Until Sanji's fifth birthday.
It came out of nowhere in the early hours of the morning. No one was prepared for it. No one saw it coming.
The Kyuubi no Kitsune.
Like an immense tsunami, it struck hard and fast. It hit the harbor first, destroying dozens of ships in one swipe of its tails. It swallowed entire crews in one gulp. The Marines at their base fired all their cannons it, but the demon didn't even notice as the sheer aura of its chakra incinerated the cannonballs before they could actually touch it.
Sanji, awoken by the screams, came out just in time to see the giant fox raise one of its paws and bring it down to crush the Navy's base, much like one stepped on a bug.
The Kyuubi snickered at the destruction it caused as its gaze fell on the young boy, who reacted predictably by letting out a scream as he ran for his life.
Sanji didn't remember clearly what happened next. He just remembered the screams, the running, and a building falling. After that, the next thing he remembered was a looking at the face of a Marine wearing a dog mask. He was told he was in a Navy ship's sick bay and one of the few survivors of the disaster. His parents, his home, everything he knew was gone.
The Marine Vice Admiral helped Sanji for a few weeks before taking him to a government orphanage that was run by the Marines. The orphans would be raised and trained to be future marines and once they reached the age of fifteen, they would be required to serve in the Navy for a period of six months as a way of 'paying the government' back. Once those six months were over, they were free to choose if they wanted to pursue another career or stay in the Navy.
Sanji had stayed there for two years before deciding to leave. It wasn't that he was ungrateful, he just didn't want to be a soldier. Soldiers had to faces terrors like the demon fox. So he slipped away in the dead of night onto a passenger cruise ship called Orbit.
He had been found out almost immediately, but instead of turning him back over to the World Government or the Navy, they allowed him to stay on the ship until their next destination, provided he helped in the kitchen. And so he did. When the time came to disembark, Sanji found himself liking a life at sea and wished to stay. Since the cooks had taken a liking to him, the Captain gave his consent.
It was during this time he learned of the All Blue, the only place in the entire world where all of the oceans came together, bringing every type of sea fish imaginable. The cooking possibilities in such a place; you could make new recipes for a thousand years and still have numerous possibilities left. Such a place would be a paradise for an seafaring cook. A place Sanji was determined to find. The only problem was whether the All Blue really existed or not. Most believed that it was just a legend, a wild fantasy among crews on the ocean.
But Sanji believed. Why not? The Grand Line was full of many unique and mysterious places. Some even downright weird. In a world like this, was a place like the All Blue really so farfetched to believe it existed? You just had to be willing to look.
So for the next three years, Sanji worked as a chef trainee on the ship. He could never understand why the Chefs ate the leftover food the passengers left. Until the Cooking George appeared, the ship of the Chef Pirates lead by the infamous Red Leg Zeff. A man with a 59 million price on his head.
The crew had surrendered at once as the pirates began raiding all at once. Strangely, though, Zeff wouldn't allow anyone to take any food, going as far as to brutally kick one of his own men over it. Sanji, determined not to die in this place, had attacked Zeff himself, only to be kicked away.
"Someday I'm gonna find the All Blue!" He had proclaimed those words out loud, only to be laughed at by Zeff's crew.
Then a storm came out of nowhere and Sanji found himself thrown into the sea. The next thing he knew, he was on a barren piece of rock with Red Leg himself. The two of them had been the only survivors of the disaster. There were no fruits or animals to eat and it was too high for fish. If you tried to go lower, the raging waves would send you to the murky depths below. Their only saving grace was the two bags of food that had washed up from the wreckage.
So they divided up the portions, with Zeff getting the bigger bag and Sanji the smaller as they sat on opposite sides of the tiny island waiting for a ship. Sanji's food would last him about five days, though he would make it stretch for twenty. On the fifth day, a ship came, but another storm hit at the same time, preventing a signal fire or the crew hearing his voice. And time dragged on. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. He ran out of food on the identified day and his stomach just growled in hunger, sometimes for hours on end.
For seventy days he waited in vain on that little speck of rock, his hunger monstrous. Only his will to live allowed him to survive for so long without food. All he could think about during that time was all that wasted food that people would throw away carelessly while on the ship. Now he understood why the Chefs always ate the leftovers. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore as he grabbed his knife and went to the other side, determined to take Zeff's food... only to discover that the man's bag contained treasure, not food.
Zeff had given all the food to Sanji and kept nothing for himself.
And had eaten his own leg to survive.
Sanji couldn't believe it. Zeff had saved him from drowning, given him all the food they had and eaten his own leg to survive. All because they shared the same dream. The All Blue.
That's when he learned of Zeff's new ambition: to build a restaurant in the middle of an ocean. To be able to feed anyone on the high seas with a good meal, saint or sinner. In this Great Age of Pirates, Zeff was the only one who could manage such a place. Both in cooking and in keeping it from being overrun by pirates.
At that, Zeff collapsed from hunger himself, with Sanji desperate to keep him alive. Finally, fifteen days later, the two of them both on the verge of death themselves, a ship finally arrived and rescued the two.
A month later, Zeff put his fortune to use and built Baratie, with Sanji as the first employee.
"I won't let you have this restaurant!" Sanji roared as he painfully made his way back to his feet, surprising everyone around. "And I won't let you kill the crap-geezer! In order to save a brat's life, he paid an ultimate price! If I don't risk my life, I won't be able to repay what he has done for me!"
"Sanji!" Zeff shouted from his position, while Gin tried to hold his gun steady, not believing his ears. "Don't let your ego control you! I'm not so pathetic that I need some kid to protect me!"
"Who's letting their ego control them?" Sanji snapped back, straightening out his suit. "If you didn't eat your own leg for my sake, these fools wouldn't have been able to hurt you."
The Baratie Chefs were amazed at what they were seeing. Sanji and Zeff had always been at odds with each other, so hearing that they had such a history together was just mind-blowing. All the more so when it was for Sanji's sake that Zeff no longer had one of his precious legs.
"To repay honor..." Patty stated flatly, still not believing his eyes. "He'd take all that beating and more..."
"I never would have guessed those two had such a deep relationship," Carne added.
Krieg's pirates were shellshocked themselves. They had all heard the rumors of Red Leg Zeff's fighting prowess and skill. Many of them believed that if Zeff hadn't lost his leg and was still an active pirate all these years, he could have easily become one of the leading powers in the world! And he gave it up to save some punk kid?
Gin was just sweating hard as he looked at the assistant cook. "Why... why are you standing up, Sanji?"
The blond-haired man, his face covered in blood, just smiled in return. "So that for a moment longer, this place can remain a restaurant!"
Gin didn't reply to that, while Pearl just began cracking up. "If you want more pain, I'll be happy to accommodate you! Pearl Surprise!"
Sanji once again took the hit, slamming the ground. "In the real world, it's the winner who takes all and the loser gets nothing!" He began mercilessly stomping on Sanji's wounds over and over. "It doesn't matter if we use hostages, dirty tricks or foul play! The winner is still the winner and the winner crushes the competition!" He looked over his shoulder. "Isn't that right, Don Krieg!?"
"Absolutely," Krieg responded, pleased Pearl understood the way of things.
"GUM GUM..."
All heads whipped around to see Luffy's left leg stretched high into the air, a look of anger on the Straw Hat captain's face. "Stop it, fool! Don't hurt them!" Sanji yelled.
Luffy ignored him as he swung his foot down hard. "BATTLE AX!!!"
The heel of the Rubber Man's foot smashed down hard into the Baratie Fin, shattering it completely as if it were wet paper. Fragments of various sizes went flying through the air as the large fin now became several large, floating mid-sized pieces and numerous small ones. Most of the men who had been on the once-whole fin now found themselves flying through the air and falling into the sea, both Baratie employee and pirate alike.
"That boy's up to something," Krieg told himself before raising his voice. "GIN! BLOW A HOLE IN ZEFF'S HEAD!!"
The man looked pale at the sound of the order, but Luffy spoke first. "Hold up! I didn't attack you guys. I just busted up the fin."
"Chore Boy!? What the hell are you thinking!?!" an enraged Sanji demanded.
"I'm going to sink this ship," Luffy answered.
"WHAT!?!" shouted all the pirates and cooks, including Zeff himself.
Patty, Carne and the Cooks. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY!!!"
Krieg's pirates. "THIS SHIP IS OURS!!!"
"Over our dead bodies, you half-baked pirates!!!"
"That's the plan, you second-rate cooks!!!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SECOND-RATE!?!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING HALF-BAKED!?!"
"GIN!!" Krieg yelled, cutting off the chefs' and his men's petty argument. "Quit stalling and kill Zeff!!"
Sanji, despite his injuries, also managed to stand up and violently grab Luffy by the collar, holding him close to his face. "Are you crazy, crap-kid!? Don't you realize why I've slaved away all this time on this ship!?"
"But if I sink it, they've got no prize," The Straw Hat replied calmly, as though answering a question on a test.
"My enormous DEBT... and the way I feel about this ship... you could NEVER UNDERSTAND!!!"
That's when Luffy just slapped Sanji's hands off him. "So you're going to die for this ship? That's stupid!" In a flash, he grabbed Sanji's head and turned his face towards Zeff. "Getting killed is no way to repay your debt!!" Luffy roared in the blond man's face as he pointed right at the Head Chef. "He didn't save your life just so you could throw it away!!"
An image of a man with red hair and one arm holding a young boy in the water appeared in Luffy's mind as he said that. "Only a coward would do that!"
"So what am I supposed to do to stop them from destroying the ship!?"
Fortunately, Luffy was spared from giving an answer as Pearl spoke up. "Stop your fighting now! It was your bad luck that you had to meet up with Don Krieg's pirates! While we have our hostage, there is nothing you can do! So just hurry up and die!"
That's when a figure sped past Luffy and Sanji, wielding a pair of tonfas with heavy cannonballs on the end. The man reared his right tonfa back and slammed it into Pearl's chest shield, completely shattering it in one strike with enough force left to deliver a crucial blow on the man.
The man was Gin.
"GIN!?!" the pirates, Luffy and Sanji all shouted out, completely shocked. Pearl just managed a groan before he collapsed on the ground, out like a light.
Don Kreig was not amused by this recent event. "Gin! You swine! How dare you betray me!?"
"I'm sorry, Don Krieg," Gin apologized as he faced the other two young men, whirling one of his tonfas around madly. "But we owe Sanji our lives. So I'll send him to the grave with my own hands."
"Whew! See?" Luffy stated ,looking quite satisfied. "My plan worked! My Lure-Out Stragety!"
"It's strategy, and you're a damn liar! You really were going to sink the ship!"
"Have you lost your mind, Gin?!" Don Krieg demanded to his subordinate. "My First Mate and Battle Commander of the Pirate Armada?!"
XXXXXXX – Ocean, Outskirts of Baratie, Zabuza vs Choza. Written by Shang
Both men stared each other down like ancient warriors of legends. Both were as silent and still as a statue, waiting for the other to make the first move. Choza breathed out hard while Zabuza tightened his grip. They had been standing still for what had to be fifteen minutes now, neither one willing to make the first move and give their opponent an opening.
That's when a fish jumped out of the water.
"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Clone)!" Zabuza called out while the ocean floor started gurgling. Choza merely narrowed his eyes as all around him the liquid began lifting, shaping itself into a familiar form of the shinobi swordsman, surrounding the chubby jonin with a legion of water clones in a flash. "Die."
Without command, the duplicates charged forward, each holding tight to its blade. The Leaf ninja quickly performed a chain of handseals of his own, thrusting his arms to the sides as they began growing in size rapidly. "Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Multi-Size Technique)!" he proclaimed as his hands became huge as mountains.
With a single, swift motion, Choza put his body to a spin, forming a deadly windmill which scourged through the army of the mist-nins in a similar fashion to a sword going through a pillow, splashing gallons of water all around in a furious storm of droplets.
As the last clone met its ultimate fate, the chubby jonin came to a stop, reverting his hands a bit, yet still kept them stretched to the sides, larger then typical human. "Bad move, wasting this much chakra. Akimichi size control technique were specifically invented to allow us to battle greater numbers of enemies. Not good for the Demon of the Bloody Mist…"
"Yeah, I guess I screwed up," Zabuza replied calmly with a stony face. But at that very moment, water shot up from right behind Choza and wrapped itself around him, taking the form of the masked Kiri shinobi, trapping his arms and legs. "Or have I?" he continued, a wicked smirk appearing behind his bandages as he charged forward, his sword ready.
The leaf-nin remained unfazed by the turn of events, however, and without warning he extended the mid-section of his body, blasting the clone binding him into a spray of rain, before he himself retracted his arms, legs and head within his massive body and barreled straight toward his adversary like a bowling ball going out of control.
"Nikudan Sensha (Meat Tank)!" he called out, making the Demon of the Bloody Mist freeze in his tracks, surprised. In a flash he came to a stop and cut the water before him, lifting up a curtain of liquid, which Choza ripped straight through without slowing down. That mistake turned out to be a fatal one as Zabuza, who was now high in the air above the massive Meat Tank, wasted no time.
In a blink of an eye he performed the correct set of seals, thrusting his arm forward. "Suirou no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique)!" his voice rang through the ocean as the liquid soaking into the chubby jonin's outfit began connecting, trapping the huge ninja in a bubble of water, immobilizing him entirely.
"We're in the middle of an ocean," he announced triumphantly with a smirk plastered behind his cover. "Do you really believe a Mist shinobi could lose in this environment? When I have this much water around, there's practically no limit to what I can do. That time the Mizu Bunshin was no more than a diversion. I made all these clones only so that you wouldn't realize one was laying in wait right behind you. When the technique is performed, it's not such a big deal to have one duplicate activate itself later than others. But heck, should you have just gone around the water screen, this fight would still be in progress."
Choza simply said nothing in response.
XXXXXXX – Baratie, Starboard Fin, Naruto and Sasuke vs Haku
"Hyouton: Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ice Style: Hidden Mist Technique)."
The entire area began fogging up much like it had earlier inside Baratie. Only this time it was more potent and thicker than what had been used in the restaurant. Both boys found their vision drastically decreasing as the fog became thicker.
It also became freezing.
Naruto breathed in and out, seeing his breath each time as he hugged himself. "S-say... why'd... i-i-it... get... so... c-c-cold...?"
"H-h-how... s-s-shou-ld... I... kn-know...?" Sasuke chattered, turning blue himself as he started rubbing his arms together. The short sleeve shirt and shorts were definitely not helping!
"You two should have some idea, given you experienced Zabuza-sama's Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Technique) inside Baratie." Haku's voice seemingly came from all around them as both boys' heads jerked around, looking for the source. "The Hidden Mist Jutsu does exactly that, creating a thick mist to blind the enemy. Zabuza-sama used a low-powered one on you all earlier; I will not. In addition, this is my own unique variation of the move with Hyouton."
"H-you-ton...?" both boys repeated together before a figure appeared on Sasuke's left, striking the Uchiha in the face and making him collide with the deck. Naruto's head whipped around as he hurled three shuriken in that direction, but the figure just jumped backward, retreating into the mist... right as Naruto took a kick to his back.
'What!?' Naruto thought as he landed right next to his shipmate, his back aching. 'There's two of him now? How!? Clones? Trick Mirrors? TWINS!?'
"Don't think I'm not going to attack you both while I'm chatting." Haku's voice filled the air once again. "Two foes are now attacking thanks to my use of the Mizu Bunshin Jutsu. But which is real?"
Both Naruto and Sasuke managed to get to their feet, ignoring the cold as best as they could as they went back to back. "You know... I'm really beginning to hate this guy..." Sasuke said, his eyes searching. "More than you..."
The blond just barked a dry laugh. "Careful. You'll... ruin your image... people... will begin thinking... you have a soft side..."
That's when a Haku jumped down right between the two, elbowing them both in the back of the head. Both of them fell forward a bit, but they were half-expecting it this time (just not the direction). Rebounding, Sasuke came in with a kick and Naruto a punch, both aiming for the other boy's head, but he was already retreating back into the freezing fog.
The second Haku came at their backsides, but to that one's surprise, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's outstretched leg as the Uchiha snapped a kick in the second Haku's direction, launching the blond like a missile at this Haku, who barely ducked the blow from Naruto's fist as it just missed the head by inches.
The orange-clothed boy hit the deck while Sasuke launched himself at the Mist Ninja, who merely threw several senbon at him in response, forcing the Uchiha to back off as he dashed to the side back towards Naruto. The Haku seemed to just vanish into the fog, disappearing from sight again.
"A nice attempt," the older boy's voice resumed. "But not enough."
"Shut. Up!" both Straw Hats yelled in response as the cold hit them again.
"Do any of you know what a bloodline is?"
Both of them jerked. 'A what!?' Naruto shouted mentally. 'What the hell is a bloodline?!'
Sasuke had a very different reaction, feeling like someone had dumped cold water all over him. A bloodline? This guy had a...!?
"Bloodlines are unique characteristics in many families of this world. They are primarily found in shinobi clans, but there have been reports of them surfacing in other areas of the world as well." At that, a wall of senbon was shot at the two, both of them barely dodging. "People with these gifts are able to perform feats not possible by 'normal' means. Bloodline families will find their eyes enhanced, their body structures altered, or even producing new elements out of the standard ones." This time what looked like an ice tiger leapt towards the two boys. Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the arm and threw him to the ground, the ice tiger's claws slashing across Naruto's back. "Like that."
"AAAHHH!!" was the only reply Naruto gave.
"NARUTO!!" was the response Sasuke gave.
"If you don't know by now..." Sasuke got a rather angry look in his eyes as he began blasting fireballs in seemingly every direction. "There are five general elements." Haku's voice went on, as though ignorant of Sasuke's attempts. "Fire. Wind. Lightning. Earth. Water. These are the main five. They are deeply intertwined with one another, both boosting and weakening themselves amongst one another like a deeply connected chain. But my blood allows me to possess an element that is outside that cycle: Hyouton. Ice."
"Do you EVER freaking SHUT UP!?!" Naruto yelled, rubbing his back to lessen the pain. He then crossed his fingers, his face enveloped with rage. "You can possess Ice, muscles, or transform into the frickin' tooth fairy for all I care! I'm still beating you down! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
At that, thirty more Narutos appeared all around the two boys and they all went running off in several directions within the fog, throwing shuriken and kunai everywhere, punching and kicking at random, trying to find the two hidden figures in the fog.
Sasuke just watched as best he could as the Narutos were systemically picked off by the two Hakus, with one being slammed down on the deck. Come on, come on! he chanted to himself, straining his eyes more and more, looking for any sort of clue, any sort of lead, any sort of flaw that could let him and Naruto turn the tide.
After about a minute, all the clones were destroyed as Naruto and Sasuke found themselves back to back again, observing. "Which one, which one?" Haku just chanted over and over again as the two just circled around the boys.
That's when the Hakus struck, one aiming for each. The one after Sasuke struck the stomach first; the boy grunted but took the hit as he grabbed the Hunter Ninja's arm tightly. "You aren't getting away this time!" the raven-haired boy yelled, turning around and throwing that Haku into Naruto, who put him in an armlock and ducked with his captive, allowing Sasuke to jump over the pair and slam his foot right into the next Haku's face, where he crashed into the ground and burst into water.
"Now we've got you!" Naruto taunted the Mist boy as he tightened his armlock. Haku didn't so much as blink (Not that they could tell anyway, thanks to his mask) as he looked over his shoulder at Naruto, then Sasuke. "So what did you do different this time?"
"You really want to know?" Sasuke asked as he advanced towards the other two, a wide smirk on his face. "Took a page out of your book. Watch and read my opponent. Keep using the same tactics and even an idiot will come up with a few ways to counter."
"True," Haku conceded as he watched Sasuke raise a fist. "But there's one problem with your theory."
"And what's that?"
"You don't know what my tactics are." With that, the Haku also burst into water.
"WHAT!?!" both Sasuke and Naruto shouted, looking at the now-drenched orange clothes. They were BOTH Water Clones!?!
That's when a third Haku jumped out from the mist towards the two ninja pirates. "I taunted you by saying 'which one was real,'" Haku reminded them, slamming both of his elbows into the younger males. "But I never said it was just between two attackers."
That had been Haku's plan. The original one threw his voice to throw off the boys, distracting them with his conversation while the two Water Clones used hit-and-run strikes, misleading them into thinking that the real one was one of the two while he was in fact watching and coordinating from a distance.
But now it was his turn to enter the brawl.
And that's when Naruto exploded into smoke.
'What!?' Haku thought, shocked. 'That was a clone!? But then where was - '
Sasuke just watched as best he could as the Narutos were systemically picked off by the two Hakus, with one being slammed down on the deck.
' - that one was the real one!' Haku realized. That Naruto didn't explode! How could he make such a mistake!? The Mist Ninja turned on his heel to see that Sasuke was still on the ground. "So you're still the genuine one. One at a time is fine with me."
"Don't be so sure," Sasuke replied as flared his chakra out for a moment. A second later, two kunai came out from the fog right at the Uchiha. He reached out and snagged them both with his hands and Haku noticed that they both had wires tied to them.
"Later," Sasuke told him. Outside the fog and on the water's surface, several Narutos all pulled on the wires as hard as they could, jerking Sasuke out of the fog and right next to them. "Your timing was... perfect," Sasuke admitted a bit awkwardly.
"And you make a fabulous decoy," the six Narutos replied, grinning and giving him a thumbs-up. They had worked out this plan in the midst of Haku's little Bloodline Lecture under their breaths, using it to their own advantage.
"So what?" Haku asked through the mist. "We've switched positions. In case you forget, I can navigate my own fog quite well."
"Look around you more closely."
Puzzled, Haku began searching around the area. That's when he found an explosive note on the deck at his feet. Now knowing what to look for, he saw explosive notes littering the entire fin deck like leaves. "The clones..."
"Righto," the Uzumaki's voice answered. "They were as much for getting me out of the fog as they were for planting explosives everywhere they went. It was a backup plan; in case Sasuke didn't get both of you, I could blow the entire area and get you once I got Sasuke out. Like right now."
With that, Naruto made the tiger sign and all the notes started going off all around Haku. Several exploded one after another, building up until the remaining ones all blew up at once, decimating the entire fin in a blaze as its fragments and pieces flew everywhere, the force completely dispersing the freezing mist.
"How's that for a plan?" Naruto asked proudly.
"It worked out..." Sasuke trailed off as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "... you've got to be kidding."
"Huh?"
In response, Sasuke just pointed and Naruto got a similar dumbfounded expression on his face.
As the smoke cleared, they saw what looked like a large ice orb in the middle of the debris. Thick and solid-looking with not so much as a crack on it. And inside was one Haku, completely unfazed by the explosion in that safe ice globe.
"A nice attempt," Haku acknowledged to the two stunned Straw Hats. "But no." He placed his hand against his Ice Orb and uttered one word. "Tatakikowasu."
Like breaking glass, lines erupted all over the ice orb at furious speeds as the entire thing burst into several small pieces all around Haku. They hovered in the air for a split second before exploding outward at furious speeds in every direction. The side of Baratie was punctured all over with ice shards while others flew over the ocean and fell harmlessly into the waters below. Enough shot towards Naruto and Sasuke, both of whom were barely able to cover themselves as the ice struck them repeatedly, falling on top of the water in a mess of sores, cuts and bruises. Slowly and unsteadily, the two of them got to their feet.
"Backup plans are always a nice thing to have." Both boys stopped dead, hearing Haku's voice behind them. Slowly, they both looked over their shoulders to see the enemy Shinobi looking down on them. "Nice that I had a one as well."
With that, he leaped into the air, kicking both boys in the chin, sending them sprawling onto one of the deck fragments as they both gave a cry in pain.
Haku just walked up onto the deck, never taking his eyes off them as they struggled to get back to their feet. "So you insist on continuing," the boy stated, both surprised and approving. "Good. I hope you don't mind me testing another move on you."
Both boys just snarled in return.
"I'll take that as a yes," the Mist Ninja boy replied, bringing up his hands together in a strange hand sign by placing his hands together and intertwining the first two fingers on each hand. "Makyou Hyoushou (Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors)."
XXXXXXX – First Level Dining Area
Choji just continued lying on the deck, ice shards implanted all around him as he continued to watch the fight in progress. But it wasn't the actual combat taking place or the plans both sides were using to outdo each other that mesmerized the young man as to what was going on.
It was how Saruto and Nasuke... er... Naruto and Sasuke worked and supported each other. To be able to form plans and counterattacks at an instant's notice. At times, Choji was nearly convinced they were reading each other's minds.
Was this what it meant... to have friends?
End of Chapter 27
Another chapter done! Hope you all enjoyed it. It is quite challenging to write multiple fights at once. They are all supposed to be happening at the same time, but I don't think it really feels that way. Well, hopefully they were enjoyable as is. It was also fun because a friend of mine, Shang, has written a fight (Choza vs Zabuza) that I could feature in my work and it's interesting to see how well we can merge our two styles and ideas with this.
I hope you all liked Sanji's history. This is a crossover story of both Naruto and One Piece worlds, but so far all the changes and influences has been mostly limited to the Naruto side, such as the destruction of the Ninja Villages and each of the Rookies' individual pasts. The One Piece side, however, I've barely shown any change, even with the big Ninja factor introduced, except showing hints about the World Government's actions, so it was about time to change that.
Though admittedly, there isn't much on the One Piece side I want to change too much, but at the same time some change and input is needed to keep things fair and balanced. So Sanji became my test subject on the matter. I'll see how successful I am with meddling with his personal history and then decide if more such changes can work in the future. I do hope you'll all comment on it and give me an idea.
And in case anyone is wondering, I made up Zeff's bounty. I personally never found such a figure for him. I felt that making it higher than Krieg's, but less than Zabuza's would be most fitting. The name of his old ship, though, is accurate. At least according to the One Piece Wiki I use.
I always had the general idea for the Haku and Naruto and Sasuke fight in this arc. I didn't just want to jump right in to the Crystal Ice Mirrors. I wanted to branch out a bit, explore Haku's skills and mind, including his Bloodline abilities, such as the Ice Mist he used and the tiger that struck Naruto on the back... and perhaps more as the fight continues on.
I also decided to make Haku's Ice moves a separate element from the standard five and not a combination of Water and Wind that canon has established. I don't have a problem with the idea of combining elements to create something new, it's just that with all the new elements introduced in manga canon now, having new elements being the result of combinations is a bit limited. I mean, only so many combinations exist, which puts a rather limited approach on how many new elements can be created and introducing new elements.
So after a bit of thinking, I decided to make the other elements, Ice, Lava, Wood, etc. their own established elements. For a world like the One Piece one, it'll allow me to have as much room as I want with new elements. That being said, I won't say the possibility of combining elements to create something new in the future is impossible; anything can happen and the possibility will definitely remain open. Who knows what will come about as a result.
Manga to Anime Difference: On how Zeff lost his leg differs from manga to the anime. In the manga, he does what I wrote in the chapter – giving Sanji all the food, then cutting off his own leg and eating it to survive. In the anime, he loses it when he saves Sanji from drowning. It got caught in the wreckage and he was forced to cut it off so he could continue and save the boy. From what I'm told, Oda himself approves of what the anime did since he felt the original version would be too 'shocking' for any young viewers.
And to anyone that says 'They couldn't had survived 85 days with so little food, they would have starved to death!' That's what the original manga has. It's good enough for me.
Tatakikowasu - to tear down; to shatter
Pearl Surprise (Pearl Present) Pearl's standard punch with one of his shield fists. Canon Technique.
Gum Gum Battle Ax (Gomu Gomu no Ono) Luffy stretches one leg high into the air, then brings it crashing down on an opponent or structure for massive damage, strong enough to destroy large buildings and ships in a single hit. Canon Technique.
Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Multi-Size Technique): A Ninjutsu technique used by the Akimichi clan. Using this technique, the clan member can alter the size of their body. Highly skilled clan members can alter the size of their body to a large scale with little trouble. Those with lesser skills can use the Houren (Spinach) pills. Taking the second pill allows them to accomplish the partial multi-size skill if they could not normally attain it. With this skill, the clan member will enlarge one of their limbs. This allows them to stretch and cause a more powerful impact against their targets. No rank. Canon Technique.
Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Clone Technique): A Ninjutsu technique that utilizes water to create a Bunshin clone. Unlike a normal Bunshin, the Mizu Bunshin has the ability to interact more with the environment due to it having physical substance. This allows the clone to carry out limited attacks on its target. The range of the clone is limited, however, as it can not travel very far from the original body. If the Mizu Bunshin is injured, the clone will usually revert back into its natural water state. C-Ranked Ninjutsu. Canon Technique.
Hyouton: Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ice Style: Hidden Mist Technique): A variation of the standard Kirigakure no Jutsu. The fog created by this also acts as a natural freezer, drastically lowering the temperature within its perimeters and chilling any opponents/victims to the bone, often leaving them vulnerable enough to Haku's strikes. Haku himself is affected by the coldness that this technique produces, but due to his nature, not to the same extent as others. C-Ranked Ninjutsu. Original Technique.
Hyouton: Toramisairu no Jutsu (Ice Style: Tiger Missile): Creates a tiger out of ice that rushes towards the target that can cause extensive injuries in the form of cuts, severe blunt damage and crushing weight. This move focuses more on power at the expense of speed. C-Ranked Ninjutsu. Original Technique.
Side note: For those of you that read my Ninja Clash story, yes, this move exists in there as part of Yukigakure's jutsu arsenal. I'm having Haku branch out with his bloodline a bit here, so I figured why not have him use that move. I created it anyway, so I can do what I want with it ^_^
Hyouton: Aisu Kyuutai (Ice Style: Ice Orb): A defensive maneuver, Haku will freeze the moisture in the air around him in a complete globe about a foot thick around his person. The ice is solid enough to serve as a considerable shield against attacks, withstanding small to moderate-sized attacks with ease. In addition, Haku can shatter the Ice Orb himself into many fragments of various sizes that he can launch in every direction with the word 'Tatakikowasu'. B-Ranked Ninjutsu.
Nami's Ultimate Idiot Competition – Luffy: 49, Naruto: 58. Currently on hold due to Nami's departure.
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!