Last time Hay Lin and Eric arrived in Konohamaru to once again recruit Naruto and his fellow Shinobi to combat Pai-Mey Matoya. After several heated moments, including a slapping match between Naruto and Kiba, Naruto and the others left with Hay Lin for Candracar. On with the show!

Chapter 7: Searching for Luffy

"This is impossible!" exclaimed Irma as she and Martin stood in the middle of a town marketplace, said town on the shore of a large island. They had spent the last three hours looking for Luffy and his fellow pirates with no luck in sight. "Nothing is impossible my little cupcake," said Martin, "We still have time."

"First of all," said Irma, "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't call me such names. Second of all, we don't have time. Every second we spend looking for that brainless pirate brings Nerissa and Pai-Mey another second closer to attacking Candracar. We don't have time to waste time!"

"So what are you suggesting," said Martin, "That we just give up and return to the Temple?" "I don't know," said Irma as she sat down on the ledge of a fountain, "I don't know what to do right now. The enemy has the crystal, The Stranger is spouting his usual riddles, and the only one who apparently can help Will get The Heart of Candracar back is her cousin who, in my humble opinion, has less than half a brain."

"I think you're being somewhat harsh on Jaden," said Martin, "From what I heard about him, he gotten himself and his friends out of some tight spots while at Duel Academe." "This isn't Duel Academe," said Irma, "So I sincerely doubt Jaden can help out." She sighed and gazed up towards the heavens, "God, I know I've asked a lot of you, but I could really use a miracle right about now."

Funny thing how miracles work, sometimes you get them when you ask for them, sometimes they don't come when you ask, and sometimes they come without any asking at all. I wouldn't exactly call what happened next a miracle, but it sure seemed that way to Irma. She stood up, turned left and tripped over a reindeer; a reindeer that was standing on two legs, wore a blue shirt, red shorts, and a top hat and had a blue nose.

"Doc Chopper!" exclaimed Martin as he helped Irma up, "Am I glad to see you!" "Nice to see you too," said Tony Tony Chopper, or just Chopper to his friends, "But tripping over people is a strange way of showing appreciation." "I'm sorry," said Irma, "I didn't see you down there." "It's okay," said Chopper, "I'm used to it. So what brings you two to the Grand Line?"

"We've got trouble," said Irma, "Myself and the other Guardians and we need Luffy and the others. You haven't seen him anywhere have you?" "I wish," said Chopper, "I lost sight of him and the others about six hours ago. I walked away for five minutes to use the bathroom, and they're all gone. But I wouldn't worry; Luffy and the others usually show up sooner or later, with trouble about two steps behind them."

Just then Irma began to hear a loud rumble coming from behind her. "What's that?" she asked. "Sounds like a stampede," said Martin, "And it's coming from there." He pointed up a wide street behind Irma. Irma turned around to see a large dust cloud forming from far up the street.

"What is that?" asked Irma. "Well whatever it is," said Martin, "It's coming this way." "It's Luffy," said Chopper as he sniffed the air with his blue nose. "How do you know?" asked Irma. "The wind is blowing towards us," said Chopper as he smelled the air again, "I can smell Luffy, Zolo, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and they're being chased by a large, angry mob."

True enough, there was Luffy with his usual straw hat; first mate Zolo with his three swords; navigator Nami, who was carrying a large sack full of who knows what; ship's gunner Usopp; ship's cook Sanji, and they were being chased by a large, angry mob carrying pitchforks and other lethal instruments.

"CHOPPER!" yelled Luffy as he and his crew ran down the street from the mob behind them, "GET BACK TO THE SHIP!" "We better go," said Chopper as he morphed from his two-legged form to his four-legged form, "Hop on!" "I've never ridden a reindeer," said Martin. "It's sort of like ridding a horse," said Irma as she got on Chopper's back. "I've never ridden a horse either," said Martin. "Then you're really in trouble then," said Irma.

"Just get on!" exclaimed Chopper as Irma pulled Martin onto his back. Quick as lightning Chopper ran towards the docks. "How are you doing this!" exclaimed Martin as he held onto Irma, who was holding onto Chopper. "Its part of the cursed fruit I ate," said Chopper, "When I'm in this form, I gain super speed. When I'm in my more human form, I get a huge brain boost. And when I'm in my third and largest form, I gain super strength."

"We never seen your third form!" shouted Irma. "Well if your trouble is as serious as you say it is," said Chopper as they neared the docks, "You might just get to see it." He skidded to a halt beside a 40-foot ship with three masts. "There she is," said Chopper, "The Merry-Go-Round." "Who named your ship?" asked Irma who was barely able to contain her laughter. "It's a long story," said Chopper as he morphed back to his smaller, humanoid form, "Help me get her ready for sail."

Working with Chopper, Irma and Martin managed to get the ship ready to leave. Irma noticed that the ship's Jolly Roger, the usual flag symbol of pirates, had a Straw Hat painted with it. The sails were also painted like the flag. "Luffy sure does like his straw hats," said Irma to herself.

They then raised the anchor and untied the shorelines. "Aren't we leaving somewhat early?" asked Martin as the ship began to move away from the dock, "I thought we were waiting for Luffy and the others." "They'll make it," said Chopper, "They always do." And true enough; Irma and Martin saw Luffy and co. running down the docks, still being chased by the angry mob. As the ship continued to pull away from the dock, Irma could hear Usopp yelling; "We're not going to make it!"

"Yes we will!" shouted Luffy as he stretched out his arms and grabbed his friends; Zolo and Nami in his left arm, Usopp and Sanji in his right. When Luffy reached the edge of the dock, he coiled his legs into springs; "Gum Gum Liftoff!" Unleashing the pent-up energy of his coiled legs, Luffy catapulted himself and his crew out over the water and onto the deck of the ship.

"That was close," said Nami as she gasped for air. "Well there's another island we can never go back to," said Zolo. "We're not out of the soup yet," said Sanji, "They're still chasing us!" The angry mob had reached several ships still tied to the docks, readied them and continued their pursuit, still brandishing pitchforks and other lethal objects.

"We'll never get away in time!" exclaimed Usopp, "We're dead!" "Not on my watch!" said Irma as she used her power over water to summon two currents; one to push the Merry-Go-Round out to sea, the other to hold back the pursuing ships from chasing them. Ten minutes later the island was a smudge on the horizon, and there wasn't another ship within sight.

"Thanks Irma," said Luffy eagerly, "We owe you one." "My pleasure," said Irma, "But why was that mob chasing you anyway?" "Ask them," said Zolo as he pointed at Nami, then at Sanji, "They were the ones being chased in the first place. We were only in the mob's way."

"What were you two doing while the rest of us were provision shopping?" asked Usopp. "And what's in the sack Nami?" asked Luffy. "Oh this?" asked Nami as she held her sack away from Luffy, "Well," she said defensively and innocently, "I was only liberating a few lonely gems from the cruel fate of being locked up behind glass."

"You were stealing from the island governor's mansion," said Zolo "Weren't you?" "So what if I was?" said Nami as she innocently pushed her loot down a cargo hold, "They were just sitting there behind glass, begging me to take them! But I did everything right, I was almost out of the door without anyone knowing I was there, when Sanji ran by me, he was the one the mob was after."

"Just what were you doing up at the mansion anyway?" asked Chopper. "I wasn't doing anything wrong," said Sanji, "I was in the company of a lovely young lady who was interested in my culinary expertise." "Oh bull sh$t!" exclaimed Zolo, "I know what you were doing." "What was I doing if you're so smart?" asked Sanji. "I know what he was doing," said Usopp, "He got caught getting fresh with the daughter of the island governor."

"Sanji you man-whore!" raged Nami, "Once again you almost got us killed because you can't keep your equipment in your pants!" "I have needs Nami!" exclaimed Sanji, "when a man spends weeks at a time at sea, he gets 'the urge.' And I'm sure you get 'the urge' as well." "I'm not even going to reply to that," said Nami as she went down to the cargo hold to, Irma assumed, count her latest acquisitions.

"So," said Luffy to Irma and Martin, "What brings you two to the Grand Line?" "That's what I asked before you showed up with that angry mob," said Chopper. "As I told Chopper," said Irma, "We've got trouble, but I think I should wait for Nami to come back up." "I'm listening!" shouted Nami from the cargo hold.

And so Irma told Luffy and his friends what had transpired; Nerissa and Pai-Mey havening joined forces, Nerissa forcing Will to surrender The Heart of Candracar, and everything else. "So I was right," said Luffy in a serious tone, "It wasn't over when we stopped the demons." "And this Nerissa has the crystal," said Nami as she emerged from the cargo hold, "You're right Irma, you've got trouble."

"Hay Lin already went to Naruto's world to get him and his fellow ninjas," said Irma, "And here I am, asking you to help again, my friends and I need all the help we can get." "You have it," said Luffy, "When do we leave for Candracar?" "Right now if you want," said Irma as she held the teleportation stone The Oracle gave her.

"Well let's find a safe place to dock the ship," said Zolo, "I'd rather not come back to find our means of transportation gone." "Oh," said Luffy, "I knew that." "Sure you did," said Usopp sarcastically. "There's a small island about 10 miles west," said Nami as she checked her map of the local area, "We should find a secure place to stash the ship."

Using her power to summon another current, Irma had the ship at the island specified by Nami within 20 minutes. Once the ship was secured, Irma used the teleportation stone. With a flash, they all left for Candracar.

The end of chapter 7. Next time, Will looks into the mirror to discover her real self. See you next time!