Chapter 5: Dilly-Dallying
It was around 3 a.m., and Robin strolled around the streets, observing the unique environment around her. Many questions attacked her curiosity, such as "Where are we?", "Is this real", "Who's behind this?" She wasn't sure if she could ever answer these questions, and that's what scared her. She still had an objective, much like all of her nakama, back in the Grand Line. She didn't wish to be side-tracked right now.
As she was distracted by her constant parade of thoughts, she accidentally bumped into somebody, who was happening to be carrying a lot of paperwork.
"S…," Robin began before the other person cut in.
"Sorry," she quickly apologized, although it was more of Robin's fault than her's. Her nature revealed a shy and modest one, which was a rare feeling compared to her nakama. Robin smiled and helped the person up.
The other girl bowed and said, "Thank you." She then began to pick up her stuff.
Multiple arms sprung out of the ground, making the white-eyed girl jump from shock. The arms immediately organized and picked up all the paperwork on the ground and handed it over to the girl.
"Thank you," she said again once her composure was fixed.
"No problem. I'm Nico Robin," she greeted.
"I'm Hyuuga Hinata. Nice to meet you," she replied.
"You must be the person Mask-san mentioned to me."
"Mask-san?"
"Oh, I mean Naruto-kun. I'm part of the crew that was arrested last night."
"Oh I see. I apologize on…," Hinata began but the archaeologist stopped her.
"No need. But I do have a favor to ask," she said.
"If I can be any assistance, then I'll help," she quickly replied.
"Are you not busy then?" Robin asked as she stared the pile of papers that rested on her hands and arms.
"Oh, I'm just doing some mission reports," Hinata said as she gently placed her files on the ground.
"Well, Naruto-kun mentioned to me about you when I started asking him about the history of Konoha and such. He said you would be a better help than he is in that field."
"Naruto said that about me?" she said with a light blush. She immediately shook it off and got back on topic. "I'll try to answer to the best of my ability for any question you may have."
"Thank you. I'll start with…," she began before Hinata interrupted.
"Before we start, I'm kind of curious where you're from. From the reports I recently read, it doesn't really give a straight answer," Hinata boldly asked.
"Fair enough. Here's our situation." Next, Robin explained what happened to her and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates recently. The details of the warp hole and all.
"Grand Line? I thought don't think we have an ocean called that here….," she replied.
"I suspected so… Is something bothering you?" she asked when she noticed Hinata staring off the distance.
"Well…, I'm just thinking. Maybe we can find some clues on your clothing. If you don't mind, I can scan your clothes with my Byakugan," she suggested.
"Should I take my clothes off?"
"Not necessary. I apologize if we end up where we are before, but this can at least be a step closer to finding the answers if we do find something."
"Please proceed then, Hinata-san."
-SCENE-
Nami didn't get much sleep that night also. She was also curious on where they were now located, but from a geographical view. She just wanted to map out the area and discover the value of this "world" that are beyond ninjas and techniques. Simply said, she thought of the possibility of gold being found more frequently here.
"Considering that the citizens of Sky Island didn't care much about gold, maybe it applies the same here. And this time, we won't let any of it escape our hands!" she thought as a greedy look filled her eyes. "Once we get back on the Grand Line again, we don't have to worry about money anymore!"
After taking a long time thinking in bed, she decided she couldn't wait anymore. She needed to research the area and figure out where these treasures will lie. She silently sat up on the bed, so she wouldn't wake up the others. Actually, they seemed too occupied with sleep-arguing to notice her even if she made a lot of noise anyways.
"Meat! Meat! Meat!" Luffy cried.
"I'm busy entertaining Nami-san and Robin-chan right now. Learn to make your own damn food!" the cook replied gently in his sleep.
"Luffy, promise your eternal allegiance to me, and I'll help you find food!" Usopp declared.
"Really?"
"Of course, I' am Captain Usopp-sama after all," he said with a small arrogant laught afterwards.
"Me too! Me too!" Chopper enthusiastically responded.
"I swear, they're idiots even when asleep," Nami claimed inwardly with a soft smile. She then left in search for the answers to her questions.
-SCENE-
"Eh, the nurse told me to take a left around the corner and I would be at the hotel where the others are staying, but how did I end up here!?!?!" Zoro exclaimed as he looked up and found himself in the middle of a forest.
He started looking around to see if there were any signs to find his way back to the village, but all he saw were trees. "They should really start giving classes on HOW to give directions, because some don't have a clue…" he murmured as an invisible indicated otherwise ("BAKA ALERT! BAKA ALERT!").
The green-haired swordsman continued to walk deeper into the forest, slicing his way through the branches and vines. He stopped when he saw a guy and his dog bouncing all over the place, probably training.
"Oi! Do you know how to get back to Konoha?" Zoro asked loudly enough to catch his attention. The man stopped his training and looked at him questionably.
-SCENE-
"Oh yeah, I remember now! You're with that straw hat guy, right? Zolo, was it?" Kiba said, once he remembered where he saw this familiar face from. He was the one that helped carried him back to the hospital.
"It's Zoro. Please don't butcher my name like that," he replied coldly.
"Touchy, aren't we?" he joked.
"How do you know me?" Zoro asked with his hand near his katanas.
"I'm the one who helped carry you back after your fight with Tenten. Man, do you suck!"
"What did you say?"
"I mean I fought with her once before in the Chuunin Exam. She's tough, but her stamina and strength in general is pretty low, so a tough looking guy like you should be able to overpower her AT LEAST," he commented as he rubbed his nose. "Right, Akamaru?" Akamaru barked loudly and proudly in response.
"I was caught off guard by her tricks, but if you want me to test my strength against you, I won't be very shy," he replied with a smirk.
"I think I'll take you up on that offer. Since me and Akamaru didn't get a chance to get some action yesterday, we've been itching for a fight. But lemme tell you, if you think her tricks are bad, you've seen nothing yet!"
-SCENE-
"I'm so hungry," whined Luffy as he slouched down in his chair.
"You ate like 20 bowls yesterday. I swear you have a bottomless stomach," Usopp commented. But soon his stomach started agreeing with his idiot captain, letting out a growl. "Sanji, cook us something!!!!"
"Stop bothering me," he replied in an annoyed tone. They were interrupting his story of Ichi Ichi Paradise, and he wasn't appreciating it very much. It's hard to put yourself into the picture in an island of only beautiful ladies if all you hear is two male morons.
"Sanji….," they both whined simultaneously to get him to budge.
"Why don't you guys just go buy something to eat? It's not like we have any food anyways," he told them as he paid attention more to his adult novel.
"Have you forgotten? Our money doesn't work here and we don't know where Nami is also. Why did she have to take all the coupons with her too?" Usopp cried.
"Now that you mention it, Robin isn't here also. I have to go look for them!" Sanji declared once he put his book down.
"They'll be fine," Luffy said with a wide grin as he and Usopp pulled him to the door.
"Yeah, the captain knows best. Now that I think about it, there is still food in the fridge of Going Merry. You can make us something there," the sharpshooter of the team added in.
"Gah, what are you guys doing? They need me. They need Mr. Prince to the rescue!" Sanji cried as they dragged him away.
As they closed the door behind them, they seemed to have left a nakama behind. Chopper, who was still sleeping, seemed to be having a dream. He motioned his arms as if he was flying.
"Don't worry….. Chopperman will rescue you…..," he murmured.
-SCENE-
As everybody were off to do their own thing. An evil was lurking nearer and nearer. A group of soldiers were advancing towards Konoha stealthily.
"Bring back those newcomers at all costs! Do you understand?" ordered a short, bald man in a general's uniform.
"Yes, General Hayze, sir!" responded the army of thirty-something men in unison.
With that said, they marched forth.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the long update. I have been catching up to many games, so I was kind of ignoring my duty as an author of this beloved story.
Not much to say about this chapter. It's just setting up the scene in the next chapter. Now, to get some fan participation. People, I need you guys to think of some cool combos for our canon characters. What I mean is attack combinations between two or more people. They could be all OP characters, all Naruto characters, or mixed. And who knows? You may find your creation put into play in my story, so do it if you believe you got the stuff.
Anyways, onto responding to my beautiful reviewers!
baby's breath: Sasuke will most likely not be in this story at all. The same will apply for Akatsuki and Orochimaru. This position might change later on in the story, but for now, no. I will try to fit in Rookie 8 + Gai's team in the next chapter (whenever that will be).
Peter Kim: Nope, no gear moves at all. This story will basically follow after the G-8 arc (the filler arc after Skypiea).
ConanKid: Naruto is good, but I think it would be Luffy no contest in the eating contest :P
Yami Ryo: If I remember correctly, marimo is a green vegitable or something. In case you didn't know, Sanji always attack Zoro with that name.
And to everyone else I couldn't get to, I thank you for your support. So please keep reading and reviewing and I'll try my best not to disappoint (might disappoint the OP fans in terms of power levels though….).