Chapter 5: The Dog And The Cat.

AN: Hey everyone! Happy New Year ! :D

Here's a new chapter before going back to school. The title is an homage to my new OP's favorite characters. If you're following the scans like I do, then you already know who I mean. :D By the way, thank you to those who corrected me on the last chapter.

Have a good read !

Monkey D. Luffy was wandering around the streets of Orange Town, the village where Buggy the Clown was, at least before Luffy's arrival. The young pirate captain was holding a large bag containing the entire treasure of the Clown Pirates, not like he knew it of course.

"These guys were kinda nice." He said to himself, grinning. "All this gold will make Nami happy, that's for sure!"

As he walked, Luffy thought about his past adventures. Of course, the odd event that pushed all of his crew into the past made him feel nostalgic. Neither Luffy nor Nami and Zoro knew what kind of phenomenon provoked this, but the captain didn't really care about the 'how'.

"I'll make friends with everyone again!" Luffy said with a huge grin on his face. "And …" His face was now getting more serious. "I swear…"

He closed his eyes. A tear was dwelling down his cheek. "I'll save you this time, Ace."

Luffy wiped out his tear and smiled. "I'm way stronger than last time. This time, I'll be the one who'll protect you."

He walked in silence during a minute, remembering how he felt powerless and weak during the battle of Marineford. 'It'll me different now.' He thought solemnly.

Suddenly his face brightened upon seeing a familiar being.

"Shushu!" Luffy exclaimed.

The small white dog was sitting next to his master's pet shop, staring and barking at the human intruder.

Luffy cocked his head. "You don't recognize me?" He asked.

Luffy posed his bad near the pet shop and sat next to the dog.

Just when Shushu was biting his rubber chin, Luffy had a realization. He hit his fist with his other hand.

"That's right, you don't remember me." He said dumbly.

The dog was still chomping a part of his face, but Luffy didn't seem to care. He searched into his bag and sorted one piece of meat.

He gave one to shushu. "Want some?" Luffy asked before removing the dog from his face. "It tastes better than my face, you know."

The dog sat again.

"Woof!" He barked. The dog didn't want food given by strangers.

Luffy shrugged. "Oh well, do whatever you want. This shop is your treasure, right?"

The dog cocked his head.

"I beat up the lion and the guy with weird hair." Luffy explained after finishing his piece of meat. There was nothing but the bone remaining, and even if the dog refused the meat he couldn't help but salivate at the sight of such a delicious thing. "So you see, you don't have to worry."

Luffy was about to eat the bone when he noticed shushu's expression.

'Heroes share their meats. Me, I want all the meat for myself!'

"Here, you can have it." He said before giving the bone to the dog.

Shushu hesitated, then approached him slowly and bit the bone the stranger gave him. He wagged his tail in sign of joy.

Suddenly an old man approached. He was wearing armor and held a spear on his back.

'Ah, armor-ossan.' Luffy thought with a smile.

"Oh, hello kid!" Chief Boodle greeted.

Luffy raised his hand in order to salute him. "Hello, armored old man."

"This dog is named 'Shushu'." He said, ignoring Luffy already knew it. "And I'm the village leader, or in other words, the chief!"

Boodle approached the dog and caressed him. Then, he gave him his daily food.

"I'm Luffy." Luffy said. "Nice to meet ya."

'This kid seems familiar.' Boodle thought. 'I wonder …'

"Hey, are you Monkey D. Luffy, a pirate whose bounty is worth over 10 million Berries?"

Luffy nodded. "Yeah that's me."

Boodle stared at the Pirate with astonishment, then at Shushu who was chewing a bone, then at the suspicious bag posed next to him.

"Why are you in this town?" He asked angrily.

Luffy stood up. "It'd be too long to explain."

The village leader stared at Luffy, ready to fight to defend his treasure.

Luffy put a finger into his nose.

"Hey, Luffy!"

Zoro and Nami chose this moment to appear.

Luffy waved his hand at his nakamas. "Hey guys!" He cheered.

Boodle looked at the green-haired swordsman.

"Are you there to rob this town?" He asked.

Zoro shook his head and pointed a finger to his captain. "No, we were just looking for this guy."

Nami noticed the bag. 'Is that what I think it is?' She thought.

"Good." Boodle said. "Don't be in my way. I'm gonna defeat Buggy and protect my treasure."

The chief was determined. He was ready to put his life at stake in order to protect his town from the pirates. He was …

Luffy cocked his head. "Buggy? I've already sent this guy flying."

Boodle didn't know his jaw could drop that low.

"Hey Luffy." Zoro said. "What's in that bag?"

Luffy opened the bag, revealing food, gold, silver and jewels.

Nami's eyes turned into Berry signs.

"Oh, you finally understand meeeee." She said in bliss.

Luffy took an apple from the bag and threw it to Zoro. "Want some?"

Zoro nodded and caught the apple.

"Is that … Buggy's loot?" Boodle asked, trying to hide his astonishment.

Luffy nodded. "Yeah."

Zoro bit into the apple. "That's weird. It doesn't look like you to steal other people's loot." He pointed Nami, who was already checking her new treasure with bliss. "It's more of Nami's style."

"I didn't steal them." Luffy said. "They offered me as a present. It was impolite to refuse."

Nami nodded. "Yeah, really impolite…"

Luffy sensed people coming.

"Hey, chief!" One of them shouted. "Buggy's ship is leaving the harbor!"

"The nightmare's over!"

Boodle widened his eyes. "So you've really…" He said on a low tone.

Luffy stared at the old man and grinned. "I told you so!"

The villagers stopped when they noticed the three strangers.

"Who are they?" One of them asked to the Chief.

Another one held a piece of paper. "I know who this straw hat kid is!" The villager shouted. "His name is Monkey D. Luffy! He's wanted for 12 Millions Berry!"

Luffy grinned. "Shishishi! I'm famous!"

"He's a pirate!" They shouted. "You, get out of this town!"

Zoro had finished his apple. "Well, we won't stay much longer."

Nami stopped fantasizing about her treasure and retook her serious stance. "We've got to go."

Luffy raised his fists in the air. "Yosh! Let's set sail! Good bye Shushu! Good bye armor-ossan!"

And the trio of weird pirates left, under the angry shouts of the crowd and the grateful look of the chief.

Boodle ran to the harbor after he shouted at the villagers for their behavior. There he found a sack of gold. He was a bit smaller than the one Luffy was holding, but it would be enough to make the village prosper again.

Their boat was still in sight.

"Thank you, Monkey D. Luffy!" He shouted. "I owe you!"

Luffy, Zoro and Nami grinned. "Don't worry about it!" Luffy shouted. "Just live happy lives!"

A moment later. The boat was now away from Orange town and the small pirate crew was heading to Syrup Village, also known as Usopp's hometown.

Nami had a thoughtful expression on her face. "And what about the Grand Line Map?" She asked. "I remember stealing it from Buggy. Are you sure that's everything they had?"

Luffy scratched his head. "Well, I did ask about the map…"

Flashback:

Luffy got off the ship, carrying the Clown Pirates' gift on his back.

Suddenly he turned around, remembering something.

"By the way." He said, and the pirates flinched. "Do you have a map of Grand Line?"

They gulped, sweating furiously. The Clown pirates remembered the anger of their Captain once he learned about the map's disappearance.

"Well…" One began.

"We had one." Another admitted.

"But someone stole it from us." The third said, his legs shaking in fear. "I swear it's the truth!"

Luffy shrugged. "Oh. Okay."

Then he walked away.

End Flashback

Zoro had a thoughtful expression on his face. "It's strange. If they actually told the truth, then…"

'Did the map disappear because …' Nami thought.

Luffy had that dumb smile on his face. "Someone stole it before you, Nami!"

Nami sweat-dropped. 'No, there's probably another explanation.'

Then she weighed up the bag. "Wait a minute…"

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"It doesn't match!" She shouted. "You gave them some of my treasure, don't you?"

She was about to hit her captain in the face, but then she stopped. 'On the other hand, it was to help a village, so…'

Luffy and Zoro watched their navigator acting oddly.

"It's like she's in an internal conflict between her greed and her conscience." Zoro said in bewilderment.

Luffy nodded in agreement. "Uh uh." 'What's an internal conflict? Is that some kind of meat?'

And it is on this chaotic ambiance that the three first members of the strawhat Pirates headed to their next destination.

Syrup Village:

The sun was rising on Gecko Island, and every people of this town called Syrup had the very same question on their mind.

'Where is Usopp?'

For ten years, the villagers had been accustomed to this kid's antics. Usopp was known to be a liar, and every morning he ran into the village and screamed 'Pirates are coming!' but it was always and always a lie. It might seem that the people had enough of his antics, but in reality they were accustomed to it and lived along with it.

However, this morning Usopp didn't come, and no one knew what happened to him.

Well, this statement wasn't quite correct. There was at least three people who knew where he was; the members of his Pirate crew, the Usopp pirates, knew exactly where his captain had spent his night.

"And then…" Usopp sobbed. "We reached the fishman Island! It was such a wonderful place!"

The man known as 'Usopp the liar' was moored at the coast of Gecko Island, crying and talking to himself. Well, only the ignorant would say that, because Usopp wasn't really talking to himself.

"Oh, I had wished you could've brought us here, Merry!" He cried.

Suddenly Usopp stood up and wiped his tears. When he saw the Going Merry, moored at the coast, Usopp didn't believe it; it was as if everything was just a dream. But after spending time talking to Kaya's ship he finally understood what was happening.

"I shouldn't be sad." Usopp said solemnly. "We will set sail with you once again, and you'll lead us to many other adventures."

Then he walked away. It was time for him to meet Miss Kaya.

Usopp was wandering in his village, and the people were giving him strange looks.

'They're probably surprised about my new appearance.' He thought.

"Hey, Usopp!" A man shouted over his window. "Are you sick or somethin'?"

Usopp tilted his head. "No." 'What's wrong with these people?' Then he hit his hand with his fist in realization. 'Oh, that's right. I didn't spout my lies about the pirates coming today.'

"You probably wonder why I haven't shouted that the pirates were coming!" Usopp declared in a loud tone.

Those who were leaned across their window nodded.

"Well, that's because there is no pirates this morning." Usopp answered.

"No kidding!" Someone shouted.

Usopp raised a finger. "But, if I continue this little ritual, and that one day, the pirates really come, then you won't believe me. That's why I stopped."

"Makes sense." They chorused.

Usopp was now sitting below a tree of the mansion's domain, and was now talking with a young blonde lady.

"So, which adventure are you going to tell me today, Usopp-san?" Kaya asked with a bright tone.

Usopp smirked. "Well, there was this time where I visited a country of dwarves."

"Dwarves?" Kaya asked.

Usopp nodded. "They were small, but they were good warriors. They even managed to capture a giant fish. And with thanks to this, they had food for, like, three years!"

Kaya snickered.

"But, Usopp!" She exclaimed. "You've already told me this story last week."

Usopp tilted his head. 'Really?' He thought. 'But that was what happened in 'Green Bit' ! Did I really tell her a similar story?'

But suddenly a man got out of the mansion and noticed Usopp. "You…"

Usopp tensed. The man was not unknown to Usopp, far from it.

"You're Usopp, right?"

His name was Clahador, or rather Kuro, and was the butler of Kaya's mansion. He approached the little liar slowly, like a cat.

Usopp stared at the man in the eyes. The one in front of him was in reality a dangerous pirate who was aiming for Kaya's life and wealth. Usopp knew what this man was about to do, but his captain told him to wait for his arrival. Usopp respected his captain, and trusted him for taking care of Kuro, but…

"Clahador…" Kaya whispered.

"I've heard some rumors about you." Clahador, or rather Kuro, said while readjusting his goggles with the back of his hand. "You're known to be a liar, and…"

Usopp sighed. It was hard, but he would let Luffy fight him. It was his orders, after all.

"…You're the son of a filthy pirate." Kuro said.

Usopp's eye twitched. 'The hypocrite.' He thought angrily. 'He's a pirate too, so he can talk.'

Usopp decided to be smarter than him. "Your taunts don't reach me, Kuro." He said with a smirk on his face. "My father is one of the best men of red-haired Shanks, one of the four Younkou. I'm not ashamed to be the son of Yasopp, you can believe me."

Kuro stared at Usopp.

Usopp stared at Kuro.

Kaya wondered who this 'Kuro' was.

The butler widened his eyes. "How do you know my real name?"

Usopp put a hand in his mouth, realizing what he just said. 'Oops.'

Fortunately, he wasn't the only one who made a slip of the tongue.

AN: So, you expected it ? Usopp vs Kuro is coming next chapter! I'll profit of this time-travelling fanfiction to make such 'unusual' confrontations. This is merely the first brick of what I've already planned for this story, mwahahahahahah !

Anyway, please leave a reviex if you enjoyed the chapter, I won't be able to read them now because the site is ... well ... having some problems with them but I'm sure I'll be able to read them later. They are always appreciated and motivate me to write :D

Take care