Chapter 8
"You guys really haven't noticed all these posters of missing people?" Asked the green haired swordsman.
The crew suspiciously checked their surroundings but the scene seemed far too normal to indicate something odd had happened. The streets were clean and people were going on with their usual lives, however, there was one thing Sanji kept noticing from the corner of his eye.
"Now that you mentioned it…"
Turning to her left, Nami spotted a single sheet of paper with big red words for a heading stuck on lamp post. She departed from her group to take a closer inspection.
Her crew mates questioned her actions as they watched the navigator walk off to the lamp post nearby. Not knowing what to expect, they quickly followed her to check whatever it was that caught her attention.
Gathering and acknowledging the paper, it was indeed a poster of a missing person, a 25 year old man with a wife and two children, who are desperate in finding their loved one.
Naruto was the first to speak up. "This must have something to do with Takumi's warning, I don't see how it couldn't."
Nami nodded in agreement. "We need to be careful and not draw too much attention to ourselves otherwise any one of us can end up on these posters."
The remaining crew members took a moment to internalise Nami's notion. But before anyone could reply, a faint voice originating from around the corner echoed the streets. Judging by the fading voice it was obvious that this person was yelling.
Taking interest in the new development, the Straw Hats decided to follow the mysterious voice. With each step, the voice became more audible, certain words became more interpretable and it was soon obvious the shouting voice came from a pleading women.
Successfully tracking the location of the voice, the pirates found themselves in what appeared to be a town square behind a large group of audience listening to a women standing on a wooden box with another group of men, women and children holding signs and banners.
"We need to find them! Those men were your friends, family members, neighbours, colleagues and fellow citizen. We can't give up on them!" Screamed the original voice.
Standing next to an older citizen, Sanji lit a cigarette, inhaled and puffed. "What's happening here?" He asked the man.
Without acknowledging the cook's presence, the said man replied. "Another rally, that women and the people behind her with the banners are all victims to what happened a month ago."
"Victims?" Sanji repeated. "What happened a month ago?"
"What happened?!" The man questioned dubiously. "Where have you been living all this time son under a rock or something?"
Puffing another fog of smoke was Sanji's response.
The elder man continued. "Well if you really want to know… last month, over one hundred men suddenly disappeared. Overnight."
The shock from the news nearly made him drop the cigarette in his hand. His other crew members were also in stunned but wanted to keep quite in order to listen to the pleading women and the rest of Sanji's conversation.
"People don't just disappear into thin air! I am begging each and every one of you to help us in finding them!"
Unsure what to say, Sanji stuttered anything he could muster. "H-H-How?"
"No one seems to know, unbelievable right. But that's what this peaceful island has to live with now." The old man finished.
"Anyone, please anyone, we need your support! We are so desperate…" The women pleaded on the verge of releasing a waterfall of tears.
"Why do you need us? What about the Marines? Isn't it their job to fix things like this?" A man from the audience questioned the women.
"The Marines have done nothing for us! Every time we ask for their help, they say they're sending their best men to investigate, but it's been a month now and have you seen any marine walking by?!" She spat in irritation and disgust.
A large number of the audience dropped their heads in shame, it's not that they didn't want to help, it was just that those men had been gone for such a long time, that they had lost hope that the men were still on the island or alive for that matter.
"We can no longer count on the Marines, by ignoring us in our time of need they have shown their true colours can't you see? The Marines are a selfish, self-centred organisation who only look after themselves and do whatever that only benefits them. That's why I'm placing my faith in you, the citizen of Tesa to find our missing friends, lovers, fathers…and my husband." The distressed lady whispered her last word as a single tear escaped her eyes.
Watching the emotional scene transpiring, Naruto instantly felt a trace of disgust towards the so called peace keepers of the sea. "Hey Zoro." He asked quietly but in a hard edge tone.
"Hmp?"
"The Marines, why haven't they done anything about this yet?" Naruto's voice grew with more disdain with every word.
Pondering on his question, the swordsman shook his head. "No idea, but this whole thing doesn't make any sense."
"No it doesn't Swordsman-san, the Marines usually don't leave an incident like this unturned especially in the New World." Robin added, feeling fearful for the people of the island.
The orange hair navigator who had been strangely silent all this time had just about enough, thinking about the potentially widowed women and their children who will grow up without experiencing the love of their fathers had broken her emotional limit. She may have seemed to have worn an unbreakable exterior but deep down she was the most sensitive Straw Hat, especially when it came to children. Her actions in Punk Hazard demonstrated that.
Without so much as a word of warning, Nami slowly peeled herself from her group before tears could fall. Her crew mates were quick to realise her disappearance.
Naruto was first to call her out, from the very beginning he suspected something was wrong, her odd behaviour at breakfast, being unusually distant and passive throughout the day and now this? He was determined to figure what she was thinking.
Just as he was about to chase her, he was stopped by a huge robotic hand.
"Give her some space for now, she needs it."
"But Franky…"
The cyborg shook his head. "If there's one thing I know about Nami is that there's so much more underneath her tough girl personality. I bet she's feeling down for all these kids who have lost their dads."
Naruto fixed his gaze to the remaining Straw Hats in search for some support but upon seeing their unmoving faces he unwillingly decided to listen to those who knew Nami best and conform to the group. Understanding a little more of her nature, Naruto watched her receding back in acceptance and worry. "I see." He replied sadly.
"But is it safe for her to go out on her own, I mean this isn't exactly the safest place in the world."
"She's a big girl who can look after herself, you don't need to be concerned Naruto-san." Robin replied with a smile. "She'll come back when she feels ready."
The blond nodded reluctantly. Even with his friend's reassurance, he wasn't so convinced on Nami's peculiar behaviour. Naruto was never the type to ignore his close friends when in he felt they were in need thus he decided to get to the bottom of the navigators endeavours.
"Well…" Zoro scratched the back of his head thinking the whole situation is troublesome.
"There's nothing we can do about Nami or whatever's going on here, so if you guys don't mind I'm going to pick up a few things on my own." He said before departing at a random direction.
A nerve popped on Sanji's forehead and yelled. "Oi Marimo! What happened to stay together as a group?!"
Zoro merely shrugged his shoulders to disregard the angered cook as he continued to draw distance.
Thinking the best opportunity to carry it his new formulated plan had arrived, Naruto jogged past his crew mates to catch up to the older swordsman. "Zoorrrooo! Wait up I'm coming too!" He yelled to his nakama.
Because Straw Hat after Straw Hat had opted to discount their plan of sticking together as a group, it didn't take very long for the rest to follow Nami, Naruto and Zoro's example and explore the island individually or small groups to quench their personal taste of entertainment. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper had wanted to return to a large food court they previously spotted to eat to their hearts' content. Sanji, Brook and Franky developed a great interest into the disappearance of civilians of this deceptively peaceful island and decided to stick around to talk to the victims of the tragedy. Last but not least, Robin took off on her own in search of the largest library she could find to extend the Sunny's own book collection. But as she walked on the streets of Tesa, she noticed how much easier it was to spot the tattered month old missing posters that littered the streets and her only thoughts were on the missing men and their concerned families.
Half an Hour Later
After some time of aimlessly following Zoro in finding a weapons shop, Naruto had begun to understand why everyone avoided Zoro when it came to directions. After half an hour the blond had detected why their search for a weapons shop was such a failure, it was because they had been walking around in circles and Zoro was too co-ordinately challenged to notice. Luckily however, the men's common interest into swords had kept them entertained during their travels.
"Do you mind me if I ask you a question?" Zoro asked curiously.
"No not at all go for it?"
Zoro took a glance at the black sheathed blade on Naruto's back. "Your katana? Is it cursed or something?" He asked bluntly.
Naruto chuckled nervously unsure whether that was an insult as Zoro continued.
"Just standing next to it I can already feel its presence, one of my katana is cursed and I can always feel its essence when it's with me but yours… I don't know it just feels different?" The one eyed man replied whilst gripped the purple handle of Shusui.
"Well… I don't know if I can call it cursed but let's just say it wasn't created like any ordinary sword." Naruto replied. "Yugao-sensei had me put some of mine and Kurama's chakra into the blade before it was finished. At the time I thought it was pretty pointless but I couldn't have been more wrong." Naruto finished with a giggle as he reminisced on his naivety of his younger years.
Narrowing his eyes as his curiosity reached its peak, Zoro fired another question. "Why? What happened after you added chakra to the blade?" He asked rather sceptically. Armed with very little knowledge of chakra, the older male found it difficult to understand how it could have made much of a difference.
Naruto smiled all knowingly before replying. "Let's just say that if anyone else apart from me tries to use this sword… they'll wish that they hadn't." He said with a cold hearted voice that could deliver goose bumps to anyone in the Alabasta desert.
Zoro's throat suddenly became dry as he shot his attention on the blade behind the blond's back. Although it was a vague answer, the Straw Hat first mate wasn't so sure if he wanted to dig deeper into the subject. All he knew was that under no circumstances was he ever going to touch that sword.
Satisfied that his threatening joke made its impact, Naruto chuckled to signify his amusement before noticing a distinctive shop with words 'Weapons' on the sign above the door from the corner of his eye.
Stopping his stride to gain Zoro's attention, Naruto pointed towards their desired location. 'This is the perfect chance for me to carry my plan and get out of here.'
"Finally! I thought we was never going to find this place." Zoro spat with obvious irritation just as he made his way to the store.
However when he noticed that his newest nakamas was no longer following him, he turned around to question. "Oi Naruto what's wrong with you, let's go inside?"
Naruto gave a half smile whilst he nervously looked at anything apart from Zoro. "It- it's alright I'll be just a minute, I need to use the little boy's room." He chuckled hopelessly hoping he lied convincingly enough.
"Oh, you should have just said? I'll wait for you inside."
"Y-yeah." Was the last thing Naruto said before turning around in the opposite direction to get away from Zoro. Five minutes later the blond stumbled upon a small dark alley way that he found adequate to carry out his plan. After a final look to ensure no one was looking or had followed him, Naruto promptly summoned a single shadow clone. Since ninjutsu is an alien concept to the people of this world, he was going to make sure that all jutsus outside of battle was done as decrepitly as possible to avoid unwanted attention.
"Alright me, go back to the weapons store with Zoro and pretend like everything's normal. Since no one here can sense chakra, he shouldn't even notice that you're a clone."
"Roger that boss!" The clone playfully saluted to the original. "But I don't get what's the point in all of this?"
Naruto sighed deeply before responding. "Everyone told me earlier to give Nami some space to think after what happened earlier with the missing people. But it doesn't take a jounin to realise that she hasn't been acting herself all day long, I'm just going to check if she's alright that's all."
The clone pulled a teasing face towards the original before speaking in a bantering tone. "Just going to check if she's alright" He repeated mockingly. "Yeah right, are you sure that's all you're doing, boss?"
A deep shade of red developed on the young blond's face upon hearing him tease himself. Naruto punched the clone in the back of the head with enough damage to cause pain but not enough to dispel him.
"Of course I'm sure! We're just friends you idiot! Now get out of here because I'll make sure my next punch will be a lot harder, and you and I both know what would happen to you if I do."
A sweat trickled down the neck of the clone as he gulped nervously. Deciding not to have that fate, the second Naruto quickly bolted out of the alley way heading towards Zoro's location. The real Naruto shook his head while he wondered if there was a way he could somehow remove the cheekiness of all his clones.
Eventually letting the subject slide, he stood rigidly to start his search for the Straw Hat navigator.
A motionless minute has passed and Naruto flashed his newly formed sage eyes. 'Now, where could you have gotten to Miss Navigator?'
Mountain Ranges of Tesa.
Nami walked everywhere and nowhere, her aimless travel had took her on a deserted walk path deep within one of the mountains that surrounded Tesa. She knew she needed some space from everyone but if she was being completely honest with herself, her reasons for leaving remained a mystery even to her. Although it was true that she felt bad for those poor women and children and she didn't want anyone to see her so fragile, truthfully all she really wanted was to get away from the one person who had caused her mind to be in such a disarray.
'Naruto.'
Feeling the gentle breeze swaying her long orange hair on the peaceful pathway, Nami had been wrestling her mind in an attempt to make some sense of her extremely erotic dream. To her, the whole thing was completely unexplainable and shocking. She vowed to herself that she would to take things slow and get to truly understand Naruto before even trying something with him but now she doesn't know what to think?
What should she do now? What does she really want with him? Was this dream a sign from her deepest desires to stop preventing herself from achieving happiness and just go for it? Was she so preoccupied about supressing the truth that she had managed to turn a blind eye on her true real feelings for the ex-shinobi? Even if she did somehow manage to get the two of them together, would she really be so enthusiastic to offer him her virginity so willingly like she did in the dream? Or was she merely overthinking this whole situation?
Frustration quickly settled in as all these unanswered questions jumbled her already disorganised mind. The girl unleashed a loud throaty groan releasing some built up stress and even mentally cursed Naruto for making her feel this way. She knew he didn't do anything wrong but she needed someone to blame.
Her irritation got the better of her when Nami kicked a small rock beneath her feet and watched it travel past some trees and disappear down a steep slope. She guessed that she was too distracted to notice the thirty feet drop just several meters next to her. Out of pure curiosity she opted to see where this slope headed and hope to find something that will put her mind at ease.
Pushing past several trees, Nami cocked an eyebrow at the sight below. It was a grassless plane scattered with old, dirty buckets, wheelbarrows, shovels and many other digging equipment and at the far end of the plane was what seemed like the dark entrance of a cave or a tunnel?
It didn't take long for Nami to realise that what she was seeing was in fact an old, abandoned mining facility. But reaching upon this new piece of knowledge had the Navigator asking several questions to herself.
'Why would anyone build a mining site here? It's in the middle of nowhere and getting people to work here from the city everyday must have been hard? And why would they leave all their equipment behind? Oh well it's not like it's any of my business?'
"Now that's something I didn't expect to find up here."
A new but an awfully familiar voice announced it self behind Nami causing her to heart miss a couple of beats and her skin to tingle. Knowing exactly who it was Nami froze like a statue, but the next thing she knew the man that she couldn't stop thinking about was standing right beside her and taking in the sight below.
"N-n-Naruto! W-wh-what a-are you doing here?" She stuttered nervously as all forms of emotions began rushing back.
The blond male turned and gave her a gentle smile. "I came to make sure you're okay of course?" He spoke with clear concern.
His smile almost took the air out of her lungs it was that genuine, but for some reason his act of kindness had forced Nami to remember it was that exact kindness that lead her to question all of her feelings, she recalled that he is the one responsible for making her mind such a mess with so many unanswered questions and she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed with the blond.
With newly harden eyes Nami turned around and made her way back to the pathway but with a confused Naruto close behind.
She turned once again to face him straight in the eyes. "And why wouldn't I be okay?" She replied sharply with her hands placed on her hips, she was a complete contrast to her earlier stuttering self.
Naruto winced and was taken aback by the sudden disdain that she openly expressed in her voice. Was she angry at him for some reason? And if she was, why? If there's one thing Naruto was sure that he'll never understand, it was women.
"Well…" Naruto started nervously. "I think well um, you've been-"he laughed anxiously as he rubbed the back of his neck. The blonde's uncertainty and stutter add more fuel to Nami's frustration.
"You've been acting a little weird today so I just wanted to um, check up on you that's all." Naruto said as he found the courage to look into the eyes of a pissed off women.
Nami instantly bit her lip and formed a questionable smile but inside it felt like someone had just threw match in her metaphorical fuel of frustration.
"And just what makes you think I need checking up on huh? You don't think I can take care of myself is that it!?"
"What are you talking about?! No it's not like that?!-"
"That's it isn't, I can't leave for five minutes without everyone worrying about me!" Nami spat back with deadly venom.
To be strictly honest, she wasn't angry about everyone thinking she's weak because she knew her nakamas wouldn't think that way about her, she wasn't even mad that Naruto was checking up on her, in fact if she wasn't so mentally disorganised and fuelled with bottled up anger she would have actually found his gesture sweet.
But everyone has a limit and Nami had just reached hers, she knew she had no legitimate reason to be angry at Naruto but once she opened the flood gates it was nearly impossible to stop.
"Nami please-"Naruto pleaded desperately "I don't understand why you're so upset? You know no one thinks you're weak and we all know you're more than capable to look after yourself. I only came up here because I was genuinely worried about you, but if what I did offended you then all I can say is that I'm sorry."
Nami took a minute to acknowledge his apologetic face and while she felt slightly guilty for putting him in this unnecessary situation, she also couldn't let go of the fact that he's the root of her distress.
"Well you should be, I'm not a little kid who needs a babysitter to watch my every move, Naruto."
Her words may have been insulting but deep down she knew it carried no truth. All her sudden aggression was all a way to get away from Naruto since he was the last person she wanted to see right now.
"Of course you don't and I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, just come back when you're ready okay? I'm sure everyone's missing you."
It was then Naruto reached out for the girl and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. But as soon as his hand made contact, it was quickly slapped away by Nami's. Naruto's eyes widened as the sound of the slap rang through his ears. He found himself lost for words while he stared at her face in disbelief that the innocent girl he thought he knew had shown a whole new side to her.
Said girl couldn't begin to explain why she slapped his hand away so violently. She didn't even think about it, it was just a reflex, a grave mistake that she regretted immediately. A heart wrenching sensation of guilt flooded her system whilst any words of an apology had jammed itself down her throat. The guilt was as clear as day on her face, her lips stuttered as she struggled to release a single word. However, the look of hurt and dismay displayed on Narutos face was enough to keep her mouth shut out of shame.
After a pall of unmeasurable tension and uncertain silence that lasted for what seemed to be an eternity, Naruto didn't know what to think nor what to do, he could tell from the horror on her face that she obviously didn't slap him out of spite and it was probably a mistake. But she did it nonetheless, so in the end he opted to give her the space she so desperately desired.
Turning to face the opposite direction, the blond kept walking without even attempting to talk to Nami. But as the busty women watches his retracting back and his black cloak swaying in the wind, her sense of guilt seemed to multiply with every step he took away from her.
'He hates me now I just know it, God I'm such a stupid idiot! How can I let something this happen?'
Evening, Somewhere Within Tesa Island.
Rushing. Rushing was the best way to describe the man named Takashi. Dark blue haired and charcoal black eyed Takashi was rushing his way down the corridor to his captain's office to tell him some very important news.
Entering upon his captains office, Takashi promptly knelt down to his bald, over 6 foot captain whom had a body any body builder would be proud of. The giant of a man had his sights out the window that overlooked a garden that looked more like another mining facility which had a spectacular view of the full moon.
Takashi lifted his head to speak to his captain. "Good evening Jagger-sama, I'm sorry for interrupting your night but there's something we urgently need to discuss."
Juggernaut Jagger, one of the four members of The Chosen Ones kept his gaze on the moon. "What seems to be the situation first mate?"
"There's been rumours that's been spreading amongst the crew today, if true can be a potential threat that could compromise our search in this island." Takashi nervously announced.
"Stop wasting my time Takashi and say whatever it is you have to say." Jagger said with a cold shoulder.
The dark blue haired man bowed his head once again. "My apologies Jagger-sama. From what our crew had been saying is that the Straw Hat Pirates are here on Tesa."
"The Straw Hats? You mean those insignificant little worms who dare call themselves pirates? Why should I care if they're on the island?" Jagger retorted condescendingly.
"The Straw Hats, especially their captain have a reputation of causing a lot of trouble wherever they go, and lets not forget to mention they were a crucial part in the downfall of Doflamingo's reign on Dressrosa. But more importantly, earlier today we received word that they may have been meddling around in our business, scouting around the city, asking people about the missing men and even one of our own crew members had sworn that he saw two of them by the old search site."
"Mmm-" Jagger hummed as he pinched his chin. Takashi lifted his head once again in awaits of his orders on how to eliminate the Straw Hat threat.
"Speaking of search site, how is our search in finding it?" Jagger questioned completely ignoring Takashi's warning.
The first mate for one was a little stumped by the new direction his captain had took the conversation, but he knew exactly how unforgiving his captain Jagger is and there way Takashi would even dream of questioning the bald man's intentions.
"Ah, we um, are yet to find it Jagger-sama. Even with the workforce we acquired last month, its location remain unknown. We may have to call it a lost and move onto the next island."
Taking a moment to absorb the report, Jagger shook his head in disappointment. "One year, for one whole year we've been looking for this thing that will supposedly change the world in our favour but yet we still come up empty handed. It is essential that we find it soon Takashi, Azazel is growing more restless by the day."
"I assure you we are doing everything possible to complete our search Jagger-sama, we will find it but in the meantime please remain patient." Takashi said reassuringly. However as his captain stared out the window with no hint of replying, the first mate continued.
"If I may, we have still yet to discuss about the Straw Hats? We aren't fully certain that they're planning to get involved with our affairs but they're movements today were indeed suspicious nonetheless." Takashi quizzed anxiously. "What should we do about them?"
"Oh yes, I almost forgot about them." Jagger said cockily. "As you know I'm not a man who likes taking unnecessary chances. Takashi!"
"Hai?"
A sinister smirk developed on Jagger's face. "Find Angel, tell her to pay our new guest a little visit."
1 hour later, Back on the Thousand Sunny
[Knock Knock Knock]
"Zoro-san, may I come in? There's a matter that I would like to discuss with you." Robin whispered on Zoro's bedroom door.
This was it, with all the recent events Robin had found it difficult to find the appropriate time to get the things off her chest.
"Robin? Sure just let yourself in."
With the permission, Robin calmly allowed herself in Zoro's room. But her tracks came to a quick stop as she noticed the man sitting on the edge of his bed while cleaning his katanas.
"Oh I apologies, I didn't know you were occupied, I'll just come back again later."
"No it's fine I just finished." Said Zoro stopping Robin's retreat in the process. "What is it that you wanted to discuss with me?"
The archaeologist took several steps towards the bed and analysed the tiny details of Zoro's room. The plain bed with pillows, a desk, one chair and a book case stacked with books she was sure was only there out of the courtesy of Franky. But the room's furniture, or the lack there of had never surprised Robin no matter how many times she been there for one of their secret meetings. Zoro is a simple man who only loved and needed three things in life, his nakamas, katanas and alcohol. But was she one of those things that he couldn't live without? Unknown to Zoro, her sudden visit was to find the answer to that exact question.
Taking a seat next to the green haired man as he sheathed the white blade of Wado Ichimonji, waves of nervousness and uncertainty quickly surfaced. She thought she had strengthen her resolve to talk to him about their little situation but now she wasn't so sure that it was the right idea.
Zoro's quick wit and keen observation had him questioning Robin's sudden silence and conflicted expression. "Hey what's up with you? You said you wanted to talk so let's talk?"
She interlocked her fingers while circling her thumbs like a nervous little school girl. "Wh-what are we Zoro-san?"
Meanwhile, Kitchen/Dining Room
It's been several hours since Naruto left Nami up in the mountain ranges. He felt a little guilty for leaving her all by herself however, she made it crystal clear that she didn't wanted company, especially his. To say he wasn't affected by her earlier behaviour would have been the lie of the century, in truth he was still is disbelief that she did what she did. It wasn't merely the slap but the unexplainable anger she displayed towards him.
As the young blond slowly played with his food completely isolating myself in his own little bubble and disregarded the multiple conversations and laughter brewing around him, Naruto relentlessly searched every one of his memories in an attempt to discover the reason for Nami's quick change of personality. But much to his displeasure, nothing resurfaced that could explain her hate for him.
Naruto was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the sudden figure that had entered in the room that stopped all forms of communication.
"Hi guys, sorry I left all of a sudden earlier." Nami surprised everyone with a nervous voice.
"Nami!" Yelled an over excited group of pirates except the now frozen Naruto.
"We're glad to see you're back!" Chopper smiled warmly.
"We missed you the whole day!" Luffy kindly announced.
"It's true but I missed you the most Nami-Swan!" Sprung around from the kitchen.
Although she loved how welcoming and understanding her friends were on her return, she couldn't help but feel a ache in her chest from seeing how Naruto wasn't as overjoyed as the rest. He kept his head low on his plate frozen like a statue with eyes as round as the plate itself.
Not wanting to overwhelm the navigator or talk about her sudden disappearance and create an awkward atmosphere, the Straw Hats continued their previous conversation allowing Nami to take a seat around the table. However, as the orange haired women made her way to the table she was faced with an immediate dilemma. Since Robin and Zoro were nowhere to be found, there were multiple available seats that she could take, one of those included next to Naruto. So she had a choice, sit away from the blond and endure a very painful dinner or face her problem head on and fix the situation?
In the end, she decided with the latter, letting the awkwardness mature with time will only harm her more right?
The frozen Naruto anxiously gulped as Nami did the unexpected and sat down right next to him. Unknown to the rest, but the atmosphere around the two was thick enough to cut with a hot knife. Nami stared down on to her lap while her fingers nervously played with one another.
"H-hi Naruto." Nami silently whispered to ensure no one else could overhear.
"Hey." He returned a whisper with an emotionless monotone voice.
The busty girl flinched by his expressionless tone, she had known him for nearly a month now but have never seen him like this before. Compared to his old friendly, loving self to see him like this actually hurt.
"I-um, I want to say that I'm sorry for what happened earlier and-"
Narutos eyes widened. "Nami you don't need to do this." He interrupted the girl, all he really wanted was an apology to move on and forget the whole ordeal. Since his academy days Naruto had always hated conflict between him and his closest friends, but if he was completely honest all he desired was to be able to talk to one of his precious friends normally again.
"No Naruto, I do. I was a total bitch to you earlier and what's worse I did so with no good reason at all. You were just being a good friend by checking up on me and I threw it all in your face, please understand that I didn't mean anything I said earlier and I sure didn't wanted to hit you, I don't even know why I did it I think it was just a reflex. Please forgive me, I wasn't really mad at you I just um, I just, had a weird dream last night that had me confused the whole day and I took it all out on you. I hope you can forgive me so we can move on from this."
Naruto for one was completely speechless by Nami's lengthy heart-warming speech of forgiveness, but overall he was just relieved that she was no longer angry and that she wanted what he wanted, to move on and forget.
But that small smile on his face was awfully short lived as his shinobi senses and intuition interrupted his reply, Nami took her eyes off her hands to raise an eyebrow at Narutos hand that was reaching for his katana.
"You can come out now! I know you're out there!" Naruto yelled out of nowhere consequently halting all background conversations. Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Franky and Brook all froze in their seats as they wondered what on earth Naruto was going on about.
Nami gave a questioning stare at the blond. "Hey were you even listening to me? And who were you talking to just now?" She asked rather annoyed.
"Oh alright fine I'll come out, but I must say pretty boy I am impressed that you managed to figure out I was out there." Cooed the busty, beautiful green eyed blond who pushed pass the door and entered the Thousand Sunny kitchen. She wore a tight white shirt that revealed too much cleavage accompanied with a very small skirt that displayed much of her long creamy legs. Her face, hey body, her hair and even the tiny beauty spot on the bottom right side of her mouth was stunning.
Usopp and Chopper screamed in terror by the sexy intruder, breaking glasses and plates in the process while the pair and the rest of the crew instinctively leaped to opposing end of the table readying themselves for combat.
"Oh come on guys and gal relax, I'm came here for a little chat so let's all try to get along and besides I don't bite, unless you ask me of course." The women said seductively and gave Sanji a playful wink.
Sanji being Sanji immediately grew love hearts for eyes and exploded with energy for meeting such a sexy lady. But Nami was less impressed by the busty intruder, number one she snuck on board their ship without an invitation meaning she's an obvious threat. But most importantly she became overly defensive at the fact she called Naruto 'pretty boy.'
"Sanji-kun." Nami deep serious, ice cold voice stopped the cook's overzealous confession to the girl.
"S-sorry Nami-swan."
Luffy took a step forward to face the intruder. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy, I'm going to be the king of the pirates! Who are you?" The captain voiced confidently.
The women tilted her head and hummed. "Ohh I know who you are but you are much cuter than I expected." The blond gracefully took a seat on the end of the table and crossed her arms and legs.
Luffy narrowed his eyes completely unaffected by the lady's complement. She was a potential threat that could hurt his friends so he had no time to fool around.
"My name is Angel and I-"
"What the hell is going on here!" Zoro roared as he and Robin busted through the second entrance into the kitchen. The pair stopped to assess the situation but seeing the stranger at the end of the room and their friends threatened faces, the two instantly rushed to their crew mate's side of the room.
"Nami, who is she?" Robin worryingly questioned her best friend.
"We don't know she just came out of nowhere?" The navigator replied.
Angel gazed upon the one eyed swordsman. "Oh my, another cutie, it's making me want to leave my crew and join you guys. What do think captain, got room for one more?" The blond playfully teased causing Robin to clench her fists.
However, Usopp, Chopper, Franky and Brook failed to identify her sarcastic tone. "NO LUFFY, DON'T ASK HER TO JOIN!"
"Relax guys, I'm not going to do anything like that. But hey you, I didn't catch your name."
"My name is Angel." The flirty women said nonchalantly with a cheeky smile.
To say her flirty, teasing personality annoyed Nami and Robin would have been a colossal understatement.
"What are you doing here, Angel-san?" The raven haired aerologist asked with her calm, poised self.
"Like I told these guys earlier, I only came here for a little chat."
5 Minutes earlier.
Zoro for one couldn't pick up on her hidden question. "What are we? Isn't obvious? We're nakamas of course?" He reply like she had just gone crazy.
Robin shook her head slightly. "No that isn't what I meant, I mean what are we, me and you?"
It took several moments for Zoro to realise exactly what she was questioning, but when he did his eye popped with surprised. "W-wh-what are we? M-me and you?" The man failed to supressed a visible gulp to hide his nervousness. It was obvious where this conversation was heading and to be fair, he wasn't so sure he was ready for it.
"Yes Zoro-san-" The older women stared at her fidgeting hands. "Don't you ever wonder why we do what we do? I mean, since this thing between you and I started after we left Water 7, have you never questioned what this is?"
Zoro choked on his words as he was trying to say something, anything. "I-ah-um, never really thought about it before." Despite his nervous stutter, his answer was the absolute truth.
Robin's hands stopped their play. "I see." She said solemnly.
A pall of intense silence developed for a moment.
"Have you thought about it?" Zoro asked to break the awkward silence.
A small tingle ran down Robin's spine as she was so sure that this conversation was over. "I, I don't know? I mean I guess so? After all these years with everything we've done and been through, you can't blame a girl for thinking can you?" She formed a small curl on the edge of her mouth.
A speechless Zoro met the eyes of a smiling Robin. He knew this conversation was one day inevitable but the short answer was that he wasn't expecting it to be now or any time soon. Therefore he never had the need to think about their secret sexual relationship or what she really meant to him.
So as he stared into those dark beautiful eyes, he scrambled his mind for any form of a reply.
"What, what is it that you think about?" He mentally sighed in relief.
Robin raised a playful eyebrow and grew a fuller smile. "You know, all this stuttering you're doing won't be good for your overly manly image." She joked with a giggle.
An instant shade of red rushed to Zoro's cheek before he shouted. "Sh-shut up and answer the question you troublesome women!"
Enjoying another round of giggles, the atmosphere was quick to continue where it left off. Robin restarted to play with her fingers.
"What do I think about us? That's a question with many answers that are just as true as the next. But if I'm completely honest, I truly don't know what to think about us, perhaps that's because this is the first time we've ever spoken about it before but that could just be an excuse I made for myself." Robin sighed and took a minute before she continued. "For years I thought I knew and was content with the way our current relationship was, just drunken, unattached, emotionless sex right?"
Zoro nodded his head in agreement but found it a little awkward now that someone had finally labelled their relationship.
Robin took the man's silence to carry on. "But recently I believe to have developed certain um… How can I put this?… feelings towards you."
The swordsman's eye rounded at the women's sudden comment.
"But before you suffer a heart attack let me say that I have yet to determine what these feelings are Zoro, I don't know if I like you or if want to be with you but it's just every time I look or think about you, there's this feeling I get that I can't explain."
Zoro gulped once again as he was completely astonished.
"I apologies for my vagueness but if you consider how I grew up, it's not much of a surprise that these type of feelings would be foreign for me. But anyway, I just thought that you should know."
Zoro choked on another set of words he struggled to release. 'Something! Say something damn it!" He scolded himself.
"So my question for you Zoro-san is, how do you feel about me?"
Her dazzling eyes pushed the man's cognitive limit to the max. He was already struggling to say something about her not-so-confession but now he was tasked with answering an actual question? Absolute absent mindedness, no thoughts or idea in how to answer.
"I, I-"
Screams. Broken glasses.
Zoro mentally sighed in relief as he was saved by the commotion originating from what seemed like the kitchen.
"What was that?" Robin's head darted towards to the door.
Zoro equipped himself with his katanas and took Robin's hand. "I don't know but it doesn't sound good, let's go check it out."
Present Time.
"Like I told these guys earlier, I only came here for a little chat."
"Ow! And what is it that you wanted to chat about?" Questioned the brief wearing cyborg.
"Well as you can probably guess I didn't really wanted to come here on my own accord, I was actually order by my captain to give you guys a little message." Replied the ever smiling blond.
"And who is this captain of yours who doesn't know the meaning of manners?" Naruto spoke up.
"Oh hey pretty boy, wow I can't believe I took my eyes off you, you are one fine hottie." Angel teased once again.
'This little slut!' Nami furiously thought to herself.
Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Don't play around with me lady. That would be a grave mistake on your part." He snapped back coldly.
"Ohhh so scary, how I love tough manly guys like you. Although I doubt you would ever speak to me that way again if I told Jagger-sama how mean you've been to me." Angel spiritedly used her hands to shield her face to display her sarcastic fear.
Learning the name of the blond intruder's captain had immobilised the two female members of the Straw Hat pirates. "Y-your captain's name is Jagger?" Nami asked weakly.
"Yup." Angel smirked victoriously.
"So you are telling us that the man that sent you here tonight is the Juggernaut Jagger?" Robin questioned while masking the hint of anxiety in her voice.
A confirming hum was what the Straw Hat ladies had received from the women sitting on the other end of the table.
"What's wrong Robin-san, Nami-san? Why do you guys look like that?" Brook quizzed the frozen women.
"What's wrong?! Don't you idiots ever read the newspaper?!" The ships navigator screamed in fury but only to receive small shrugs from her male crew mates.
"Why did I even bother asking?" Nami rolled her eyes before continuing. "If this women is telling the truth then we may be in big trouble."
Pairs of eyes narrowed as the males tried to interpret Nami's warning.
"What I think Nami is trying to say is that Angel-san's captain is a very dangerous man." Robin supported her friend.
Nami scoffed loudly. "Dangerous would be one hell of an understatement."
A shared shiver ran amongst the Straw Hats backs. "Y-you can't be serious? H-how powerful is this guy?" Usopp stammered out of pure terror.
Robin stared into the eyes of the smiling women across the room. "Very. His name is famous in the New World for arguably being in the top tier of the strongest pirates in the world. So powerful in fact that after Whitebeard was killed in Marineford, I heard that Jagger was even considered to take his place in becoming one of the Four Emperors. But that's not all, although I don't know the specifics, but from what certain rumours have been spreading is that Jagger has a crew of over one thousand."
"One thousand!" Chopper, Brook and Usopp screamed from the top of their lungs.
"And Luffy, one thing I am certain about Jagger is his bounty. And there's no easy way to say it but, it exceeds yours by 200 hundred million."
A moment of pure astonishment lingered in the air as the male Straw Hats absorbed the information and accepted the gravity of the situation. However as every eyes settled on the rubber captain, a misplaced smile took shape on his face.
Luffy punch the pad his free hand. "200 million huh? Sounds like fun, let's go find this Jagger guy and kick his ass!"
His crew dropped their heads in disappointment.
"Baka! Did you not listen to anything Robin just said! Her captain is dangerous, why would you even want to fight a man like that?!" Nami scolded her captain.
"I don't know?" Was the simple answer Nami received that made her want to slap her fore head.
"Now as much as I admire your fighting spirit, no one here is going to be fighting Jagger-sama tonight." Angel announced with authority. "As I would like to remind you guys I didn't come here for a fight, I was order to find you and relay a simple message."
Chopper and Usopp both sighed in relief in knowing that their safety was ensured.
"And that message would be?" Sanji asked politely.
Angel lost her smile and shifted to one of deadly seriousness. "To stay out of our business and leave this island immediately or else we will be forced to eliminate you."
Frowns grew on the faces of the Mugiwara pirates before Zoro spoke up for the group. "Stay out of your business? I don't remember any of us sticking our noses into your business, right guys?"
"Yeah, I know none of us is stupid enough to get into trouble here after everything we learnt about the missing people… unless." Nami concurred but then shifted her sights to her captain.
"Luffy! What did you do now?!"
"Huh?! What did I do?! I didn't do anything Nami I swear!" Luffy shot back in defence.
The navigator squinted her eyes to display her doubtfulness.
But it was then Usopp stepped in to support his best friend. "Woaw woaw calm down Nami, me and Chopper was with Luffy all day and we didn't do anything that got us into trouble!"
Satisfied with Usopp's answer, Zoro crossed his arms and smirked. "You heard them, we are not in your business, so if your captain thinks for one second he can force us to leave this island with false accusations and a little warning, he's got another thing coming."
Angel shrugged her shoulders then got up from her seat to take her leave. "Your funeral, but if I were in your shoes I wouldn't take my chances and leave right now, there's no way in hell would I want to get in the wrong side of Jagger-sama. But whatever, my job here is done so I guess it's my time to leave. Such a shame though, I don't want to say goodbye to all you cuties." She finished with a lick on the lips for all the males in the room before turning around to head for the door.
"Wait a minute!" Zoro called her out while taking a several steps to chase the blond. "If you really think you can just come in here and threaten us without a paying the consequences then you must be delusional!" However, Zoro's advance was put to an instant halt as in a blink of an eye the women that stood in front of him had somehow transformed to someone he knew all too well.
"Those clothes, that sword, no, but how? How can you be here!?" The green haired swordsman questioned in a panic.
"Delusional you say? But I think you're the one who's most delusional for believing you could ever surpass me, Roronoa Zoro." Said the new figure as he turned around to show his face to the Straw Hat crew.
Everyone with the exception of Naruto had their minds blew away by the realisation of the new individual that took Angels place.
"Dracule Mihawk!" They screeched in unison.
"But how did he- where is- what the hell is going on!" Usopp shrieked in bewilderment.
"Mihawk, is that really you? What happened to the girl?!" Zoro asked sceptically to his former sensei as he took a couple of unconscious steps away.
"What's the matter, Roronoa Zoro? Is that anyway to speak to the man who trained you for two years? At least come here and give me the curtsey of a handshake?" Mihawk purposely taunted his former student and followed him step by step.
"No, there's no way your Dracule Mihawk, Angel what did you do!?" Zoro spat with aggression.
"I see your keen observation skills has not failed you, but it's already far too late." Said the fake Mihawk before his yellow eyes glowed like the first glimpse of the morning sunrise.
One look into his eyes and Zoro experienced an excruciating tightness in his chest before everything went dark and he suddenly collapsed unconscious on to the kitchen floor. Robin's heart froze for a single second as she gazed upon the unmoving body of Zoro and she couldn't help but fear for the worse.
"Zoro!" Shouted his crew mates in a panic and wondered how one of their strongest fighters was defeated by a stare. The Straw Hats quickly surrounded their fallen comrade with Chopper and Robin being the first to arrive.
The next second the room was filled with a sinister giggle coming from the other end of the room.
"That was so much fun!" Angel who supernaturally return to her former self shrieked in pleasure. "But it's such a shame I had to do that to such a fine looking man." She ended with a deep sigh.
Robin who knelt down to aid Chopper's treatment switched her attention from the unconscious Zoro to the sadistic Angel.
"Just what did you do to him?!" She retaliated with more aggression that she thought she could ever have.
"Oh relax, he's not dead. He's merely experiencing his worst nightmare." Angel retorted with a single flick of her golden long hair.
"What the hell is going on here?! Who was that guy and what exactly did you do to Zoro!" Naruto yelled violently to the female blond.
"Whoever you saw was the root of that person's worst nightmare. I am the consumer of the Mare Mare fruit and it allows me to take advantage of anyone's memories, feelings, emotions and most importantly fears. And use them to temporarily take shape of the person who will lead them into an unescapable nightmare that's sole purpose is to cause the maximum amount of physical and psychological pain."
Naruto gritted his teeth and reach for the katana on his back while Luffy readjusted his hat and faced the women with so much hidden rage that he was ready to tear the room apart if that's what it took to defeat this sadistic women.
"Wake him up now! I don't care what happens to me but I swear if you don't wake him up this moment I will snap your neck so fast you wouldn't even know what hit you." Robin threated with overwhelming terror, even Nami was a little frightened as she had never seen this much hostility from her usually polite roommate, and it was all for Zoro's sake?
"Ah Ah Ah-" Angel countered whilst shaking a her index finger. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, unless of course you want to end up the same as your friend over there, and from the looks of things he isn't looking so good."
Everyone froze for a single second to spare a glance at the fallen Zoro with Chopper doing everything he can to wake the swordsman up but was miserably failing.
"So if you guys don't mind I'll be taking my leave, you cuties take care now." Angel waved with a little smile on her face.
"Zoro was right, you are delusional." Luffy addressed the girl to stop her retreat.
"What did you say?" The bust blond questioned in an icy cold tone.
"You heard him, he said you're delusional, did you really think we were going to let you walk away now after what you did to Zoro?" Naruto spat in disdain.
Taking notice that most of the men of the pirate crew had shifted into their fighting stances, Angel formed a menacing smirk. "I guess I won't be leaving here in peace after all. And such a shame, I was willing to let you guys off simply because I couldn't stand to see another handsome man perish, but oh well." The blond flicked her hair once again.
"So, who wants to experience their worst nightmare next?"
AN/
Finally, some history had been shown between Zoro and Robin, some reviews said they would like to hear Zoro's side of the relationship so this chapter was to introduce that. Also some tension between Naruto and Nami, I wrote the argument for a littlle development as we all know relationships are not as perfect as we would like them to be. But what will happened between them two of them now? Will there be more hard times ahead or will everything be forgiven?
I would like to thank skg1991 for his work. Secondly, Oh how I love Angels character and personality, she pretty much wrote herself it was that much fun to write. And finally, I would really like to see some reviews on this chapter because the last one didnt get very many so if you could spare a minute of your time it would be really appreciated.