Chapter 2: A Reckless Rescue
"Before we start the official rescue, do we even know which direction they went?" asked Zoro as he looked around. They were surrounded by trees and bushes and two roads intersect each otheron where they stood, which meant 4 possible paths.
"Don't worry, it'll be alright!" Luffy said with a goofy grin.
"There he goes being groundless again…," both the cook and the swordsman thought in unison. It was going to be a while before they can actually reach the people they're supposed to rescue, that's for sure.
-SCENE-
Once the sun was about to rise up into the sky again, the captured Straw Hat Pirates were finally released. They left the building that held the vicious interrogation room with exhausted faces.
"Jeez, you would think that saying we had no affiliation with whatever that organization was a thousand times would make them lift their suspicion off of us, but no! They just extended it to 3 more hours!" Nami complained. She was fed up with how she was treated and now just wanted to go sleep on a nice bed.
"That Ibiki guy is lucky that I didn't get serious!" Usopp roared loudly in an obvious bluff. "Man, Chopper you had it so lucky. They just thought you were our pet!"
Chopper had a satisfied look on his face, while he patted his stomach. "They have good food here. Luffy would love it!" he said with a laugh.
"Talking about Luffy, I think it is best if we head back, or the rest would be worried," considered Robin as she looked toward the direction that they were dragged from.
"No way! That tough, blonde lady apologized and gave us tons of coupons for all their shops, so I intend to make worth of it all for being dragged through all this hassle!" Nami declared. She wasn't going to let those 5-6 hours of meaningless questions go to waste. She had to make a profit out of this situation or she wouldn't feel right. "They'll probably find us here in…, what was this village called again?"
"Konoha, if I remembered correctly…," stated Robin. She then turned her head and stared at somebody walked past her.
"Mask-san…," she stated.
The blonde man stopped with a sweat dropped from his face. "Eh…, how did you know?"
"I have a keen sense of observation, so I know that you were one of the guys that captured us…" she said matter-of-factly. She didn't show any kind of anger or hatred in her tone, she just pointed it out casually.
"WHAT? So, you're one of those guys that made us put up with all of this. Soon, you will fear the wrath of Captain Usopp!" the long-nosed sharpshooter cried out loudly.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about all of that. Please don't shun upon the actions of Konoha because of this," he said with a bow.
-SCENE-
Naruto bowed down apologetically at the people he mistaken as enemies. He truly was sorry for what he did.
"Mask-san, you also helped us get freed earlier than scheduled, so it's kind of even," the black hair woman mentioned.
"How did you know?" he asked. She should've been in a cell or interrogation room when he came in to asked for a pardon for the prisoners. Those areas were very far off from where he was at.
"I have my ways of listening to conversations from a distance," she said with a slight smile.
"Hey guy, you know any good places where I can cash in some of these coupons?" the orange-haired girl asked rudely as she showed him the gift Tsunade had given them to make up for their recent mistake. Of course, her current nature is only reasonable. He sure as hell knew he wouldn't be one happy camper after spending over five hours with that creepy Morino Ibiki.
"Well, you guys must be starving. I know a great place to eat," Naruto started with a wide grin. He joined into the center of the group and decided to show them around town. "Oh yeah, I'm Uzumaki Naruto by the way."
-SCENE-
Soon the time reached when Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji finally entered the right village. What bad luck to have to go 4 out of 4 possible paths to finally reach the right one. One path led to a very big body of water (perhaps the ocean). They decided to travel across it last if it comes to that point. The other path just led to a dead end. The most recent path that they took led them to a small quiet mountain town. Before the Luffy could come in, wreaking havoc upon the town before examination, the other two stopped him and persuaded him to calm down. They searched around the town, but it seemed like a quiet place with not much activity involving gangs, army, or anything of a threat. But their questioning also led to another clue, Konoha.
"This is the place, right?" Luffy asked as he stared down at the front gate. The gate was huge and a couple of men guarded it. He had a serious look on his face and was ready to burst into action.
"Yep, Konoha, alright. Do we have a plan?" Sanji asked. He turned toward the captain to see how they were to infiltrate the place, but then he was already gone! Suddenly, a huge crash came from in front of them. There stood Luffy and huge gate that had just fallen over. Stick the two together and you can see what happened.
"THE IDIOT ALREADY BROKE DOWN THE FRONT GATE!" he shouted as he dropped his jaw in disbelief. They'll be facing a whole gang of highly skilled ninjas before long now.
Zoro smirked and continued forward at a casual pace. "That's our captain. Didn't expect him to act any other way."
-SCENE-
"What was that?" Neji responded once he heard the sound of a huge crash. He immediately activated his bloodline ability, Byakugan, to see what was in store ahead of them. His vision zoomed in on three suspicious men. One had a straw hat on with a red shirt. The other wore a plain white shirt, equipped with 3 swords, and a hachimaki covered his green hair. The third had a tuxedo suit on with blond hair with a lit cigarette in his mouth.
"So, Neji?" Rock Lee asked calmly as he stretched his body.
"Three guys just came barging through the front gate on the east side. We should hurry," he told.
"Wait, wait. Do all of us need to go? I'm sure the other chuunins and jounins positioned there can handle the problem," said Tenten. She was in the middle of her breakfast and wasn't in the mood to fight just yet.
"Hanging around Shikamaru too much has made you grown lazy, Tenten," Lee said with a smirk.
"What? It was only one date, and he's such a boring guy! Anyways, let's hurry over to the scene. I don't want to keep the intruders waiting," she said, avoiding the topic brought up by her comrade. She re-attached her pouch to her belt and swiftly jumped from building to building to reach the front gate where the three intruders were at.
"Osss! I hope these guys are strong. If not, they have attacked the wrong village!" Lee said with a boost of confidence. Then he dashed forward at an unbelievable speed.
"Lee's just as confident as ever," thought Neji with a slight smile. He was about to advance over also, but the waiter immediately stopped him.
"Hey, I'm not letting any more shinobi go without paying the bill!"
"Sorry." He pulled out some cash, sorted it, and gave the appropriate amount of cash plus tip while still looking forward. Ah, the convenience of 360 vision. Then without warning, he jumped up high to the rooftop of a building nearby and decreased distance between himself and the destination point, where the new enemies lied.
-SCENE-
Luffy was pulling on most of the stops for these ninjas. "I don't see what's the big deal there are for ninjas? They're so weak," he commented as his right leg stretched long for the next attack. "Gomu Gomu no Muchi!" The circle that surrounded him immediately fell down to their rears.
"That's what happens when we are underestimated," Zoro replied with a confident smirk. All shurikens and kunais that were thrown toward him were immediately split in half with the assistance of Yubashiri.
"You shitheads should stop overrating yourselves. This is only the appetizer so far. I'm sure the main dish hasn't come yet…," Sanji yelled back at them. When the enemies started crowding around him, he dropped to a handstand position and spin-kicked all the enemies that dared to stand near him. After the surrounding enemies fell unconscious, he popped back to his feet and lit a cigarette. But before he can take one puff of it, a quick blur of green knocked it out of his mouth with a strong kick to the jaw. Sanji fell to the ground on his side as he looked up at the new enemy.
"You shouldn't smoke, it's bad for you," the green jump-suit man commented as he got into a fighting stance of one arm in the back and the other in the front while bent and pointing up. Of course the most noticeable feature was…
"What's with his eyebrows and haircut…"
"I know a regular kick like that is not enough to hold you down. So why don't you get up and continue this?" he continued.
Sanji pushed himself to his feet and dusted himself off. "Well, let's see who have better kicks. You or me?"
"Osss! Let's make this a good fight then."
-SCENE-
"Ah, Lee, he's always so reckless," Tenten observed on a rooftop. She wanted to make sure what she was getting into before she entered this fight. And the situation seemed almost like unreal. Their opponents were tough ones, that's for sure.
"The green-haired one is a powerful swordsman, the straw hat guy was using some kind of jutsu to stretch his body and he's very strong on top of that, and the cute blonde that Lee's handling seem to do pretty fine with only using his legs… They took care of the chuunins stationed near the gate pretty quick, so it's not ridiculous to say that they're near jounin-level, and maybe even beyond that."
"Regardless of their strengths, we will stop them here and now," Neji said from behind her.
Tenten jumped from the voice that just came out of nowhere, according to her. "You should give me a warning before you arrive!" she yelled softly at him.
"I'll take care of the stretchy one and you can take care of the…"
-SCENE-
"Marimo! I'm done!" Luffy yelled out cheerfully after he finished his group of ninjas. "I'm going to go on ahead to find Nami and others!"
"Since when did you start calling me, marimo?" Zoro cried out in comical anger.
"I just did. Are you a baka or something?" he asked.
"Just go!"
As Luffy started running eastward, a figure came from up top, ready to attack him. Zoro saw this and was about to warn his nakama, but a female ninja landed appropriately in front of him.
"You made a wrong choice when you guys decided to invade Konoha!"
Meanwhile, on Luffy's side, a quick figure landed behind him and forearms him hard in the back of the neck. Luffy fell forward while tumbling on the ground. In mid-roll, he immediately recovered and got back on his feet.
"I guess I have to kick your ass if I want to get to my nakama, right?"
"Your story ends here!"
-SCENE-
Three major fights have just broken out all around the east gate. In one area, in front of the east gate, stand both Sanji and Rock Lee. A cook prepared to take down a whole village for his precious female nakama and a hardworking ninja who will do whatever it takes to take down whatever threats toward Konoha.
In another, there are Tenten, the female ninja ready to prove why she has been a successful jounin sensei for 2 years now, and Zoro, whose dream to become the best swordsman and prepared to face the obstacles that come with it.
And there is of course, the last battle of the three and possibly the biggest. ANBU captain at jounin rank versus the future Pirate King and leader of the well known Straw Hat Pirates. Who will be left standing?