And in the lead for Gale's pairing is... ACE! To be honest I threw Itachi in there as a joke. If you want a say in who she gets teamed up with, hurry to the profile page and cast your votes! Please note I am leaning heavily on Ace at this point. In other news, the mass updates should be returning soon... I just ordered a new charger cord for the laptop I write with. Pray it's the right one!
Gale was eagerly awaiting landfall. They were heading to Fire Island because Shanks had learned the chunin exams were about to start and they were in the area.
If they were lucky they would make it in time for the third exam, which was a battle royale if Shanks remembered right.
Sasuke was currently on Mihawk's island with Kimimaro (they had become friends over their love of swords and having kekkei genkai) on a three-year training session.
Itachi was heading back mostly to turn in his rather long journals filled with information on the islands he had visited and with the request to be taken off the village's shinobi roster.
He wanted to become a full member of Shanks crew, seeing as how he liked them more than his former family at this point.
He knew it wouldn't be that simple, mostly because of his bloodline, but fortunately there was a precedent. He just had to get the council to believe he was undergoing Sage training and was on permanent 'hermit' status like Jiraiya of the Sannin.
If that didn't work, Shanks would adopt him as a full member of the Uzumaki clan, seeing as how he was the closest thing to an Uzukage, despite the fact he was a pirate.
The only reason he didn't use the title was because the last thing he wanted to deal with was the World Government trying (and likely failing) to take control of the Elemental Islands just because the Yonkou happened to be considered the leader of one.
Gale sailed down from the crow's nest where she could be found most days with only one hand on the rope (if only because it was one of the highest points on the ship) reminding everyone she was a natural Wind element with how easy she made the move look.
Shanks chuckled. Gale loved to swing on the ship like it was her own personal playground.
She already had a bounty and a nickname. The Crimson Typhoon, after one particularly dimwitted Marine insulted her red hair before he found out who her father was.
Gale had blasted him out of the bar with one of her strongest wind jutsu and into the next five buildings before she beat the living shit out of him.
After they found out who she was and the fact the winds were hers to command, they had given her the nickname...and paid homage to who she was related to in the same breath.
"Hey dad, you think Gaia-chan is going to be there?" asked Gale.
Gaia Subaku was a girl Gale had bonded with after the girl had tried to kill her on Wind Island a year ago. And she was like Gale, except her family was terrified of her.
If it were possible, Gale would have taken Gaia with her in a heartbeat. Shanks would swear that his daughter was trying to make her own crew while she was still a part of his own. She already had Haku, Sasuke, Kimimaro and now Gaia who were as loyal to her as his crew was to him. And they were all borderline pirates anyway.
Zabuza, Haku's adopted father, had asked if Mihawk had a crew, mostly because the only person on the ship who could even remotely give him a decent spar was Shanks himself. He had been only slightly disappointed to learn the man didn't have a crew per-say, but he did have regular sparring partners.
He had also said that if Zabuza learned how to really wield that blade of his, he had an open invitation to stay on the island that he usually commandeered as his home. It was a rare man that learned the sword and didn't become an arrogant idiot, and even fewer still that caught Mihawk's attention longer than a few days. Zabuza had potential, if only he were brave enough to try and grasp it.
When Gale had visited Suna, she had a run-in with Gaia outside the village near the desert. Shanks was trying to get some wind jutsu from the Suna shinobi and she knew he would succeed because he was armed with two very important things.
One, he was a pirate and therefor not affiliated with the Hidden Villages outside of being the Uzumaki Clan Head. He was a wild card that went where he pleased within reason and the village leaders knew it.
Two, he had plenty of gold on his ship. Gold he was willing to pay to help his daughter learn more of her natural elements. A daughter who was also unaffiliated with the villages outside of having shinobi parents.
And with the Wind Daimyo tightening his purse strings to unheard of levels, the Suna council was more than happy to part with some of their scrolls in exchange for the gold needed to keep their shinobi force strong.
And as an added bonus, Gale was later given command of one of the lesser ships under Shanks along with some of the younger crew members to do supply runs for a year to the other islands in exchange for a proper teacher when she docked and supplies all shinobi had.
However it was what happened with Gaia that had a profound impact on the girl.
Gaia had, at the urging of her 'mother' tried to crush Gale late one night while the shinobi sent to keep an eye on her turned a blind eye. It wasn't their problem if the foreign brat got killed.
Gale, however immediately unleashed a tiny portion of her Haki at Gaia knocking her out cold without harming her. She then patiently waited until she sensed Shukaku trying to wake up before she placed a better seal on her.
Needless to say Gaia had been a bit panicky at the sudden loss of her 'mother' and being all alone in her head for the first time in her life.
So Gale slapped her, forcing her to wake up to reality.
After that Gaia asked her what she should do now that Mother was so quiet...and Gale told her of her family. One not made of blood (outside of Shanks) but by an indescribable bond of trust and loyalty. Of the freedom and joys of living life your own way without caring what people thought of you. Of not giving up until you've succeeded in your goal and protected those you considered family. Of showing everyone that no matter what you wouldn't be broken by circumstance or by opinion.
And Gaia listened, entranced.
Then Gale dropped a total bombshell on her...by revealing her seal. Learning Gale had a similar seal on herself that held the same burden she carried had come to Gaia as a stark reminder how one single change could make things better.
The next morning (after Gaia had a perverse pleasure in nearly giving her blood siblings a heart attack finding her asleep on one of the couches in their home) the two met again and Gaia timidly asked Gale if she could call her sister.
And like that an unbroken bond of companionship was formed between the two Jinchuriki. Gale even gave Gaia a log pose that was made solely so one could find the other half.
It was a pain in the ass to make, but once she had figured it out how to modify an ordinary log pose using fuinjutsu it sold like hotcakes among the pirates and several marines who heard about them from their sources.
Gaia had it hung around her neck so she would always know which direction Gale was in, no matter where the ship was.
And if Gaia's sister Temari showed Gale how to fly using a fan as thanks for saving her sister from herself, no one said a word.
"Passports," said the chunin drone with boredom.
Shanks handed over the items, and Itachi looked around with a bored expression. A few years had broken him of any desire to be a Konoha shinobi. He preferred being a notorious pirate to shinobi life.
He was still loyal to the village, but he had become disillusioned with the shinobi lifestyle.
Shinobi went on missions that included kidnapping and assassination, and started wars for no other reason than pride and arrogance. He had seen war at a tender age, and he had hated every moment of it.
Pirates went where the wind and waves took them, and only killed when needed. They never went to war, mostly because they were a nation unto themselves and it took a special person to bring them together long enough to eradicate the threat. Not to mention they never had to deal with paperwork after every successful raid.
The only real threat to them were other pirates and the World Government.
Sarutobi looked up from his paperwork in relief. Shanks was always a breath of fresh air for him.
That is, until he saw what was in the man's hands.
"Adoption?"
"A fail-safe from the council. Itachi has expressed a wish to be taken permanently off the rosters as an active shinobi of the village to become a full crew member. While he is and always will be loyal to the ideal of Konoha, he has said that he no longer wishes to be a shinobi. He is also insuring that no one unworthy obtains the Uchiha legacy by sealing up their library and armory. Sasuke has also asked that his name be registered as Uzumaki instead of Uchiha from now on, as he prefers to follow his brother's lead."
"You do realize that this will effectively end the Uchiha line in Konoha, unless someone comes to claim it later?" asked Sarutobi raising an eyebrow.
However he had always known Itachi had hated being forced to be a perfect shinobi, having seen the Iwa-Konoha war at a young age. He was a pacifist at heart, and he hated seeing war. Being a pirate had probably been a relief to him, and having his name changed meant Konoha couldn't legally force him to return.
"Itachi has also said he will still send regular observations of the outer islands to Konoha. While he will no longer be an active shinobi, he still wants to help his home by expanding their horizons."
"Giving me the perfect reason to remove an excellent shinobi from the roster by putting him on a permanent mission for the Hokage's office, only to be recalled during extreme war-time measures," said Sarutobi.
Shinobi didn't retire that young. Jiraiya could attest to that, as he was still considered an active shinobi despite his age. It would be interesting to see how he would react to Gale, as he was supposed to be her godfather.
"Frankly I don't care about the name. Family is family, blood or not. But Itachi wants nothing to do with the Uchiha name or it's legacy. He still loves Konoha, but he refuses to be used as a weapon for the highest bidder anymore. If any of their children reclaim the line, that's their business," said Shanks bluntly.
Sarutobi looked at the piece of paper in his hand and without hesitation put his personal seal on it, making the change official.
The Uchiha line was now dead until a descendant decided to reclaim the name. Uchiha Itachi was officially considered dead as well, and Uzumaki Itachi took his place on a permanent mission to explore the world outside the Elemental Islands barring an extreme emergency. Uzumaki Sasuke was still a minor and was inconsequential considering he had only attended a month at the Academy. If he wished to retake the Uchiha name, he would have to do it in person.
Shanks handed over the copies of Itachi's observations of the outside islands to the Hokage directly. He could already sense his daughter's anger from here and he wanted to know what had her about ready to unleash her Haki on shinobi.
Itachi was the only one not flinching at Gale's rage being unleashed.
Jiraiya-sama really had the worst timing he had ever seen. The entire crew knew when Gale and the other females were taking a bath or relaxing in a hot spring that it was very unwise to even come within visual range of the area.
Mostly because despite some of the best efforts of the crew, Gale had definitely inherited her mother's temper. She could care less about perverts in the crew, but when they were stupid enough to turn her attention to her when she was trying to relax, it got messy. Very messy.
The Marines hadn't called her the Crimson Typhoon solely because of the unfortunate incident when a Marine insulted her hair color. There were others that had solidified that particular nickname.
And right now Jiraiya was about to be on the wrong end of Gale's wrath. He was lucky she hadn't unleashed her Haki just yet. She could be vicious when that was out.
Gale's feminine wrath was only paused when she heard a delighted cry from a familiar voice.
"Gale-nee!"
Thank the kami, Gaia had followed that log pose Gale had left.
"Gaia-chan!" said Gale with a squeal, before she asked "Would you like to help me teach a peeping tom to keep his perversion to himself?"
Seeing the evil glint in the Suna kunoichi's face, Itachi openly made a prayer for Jiraiya's health before he promptly left the area.
He paused when he saw Shanks and warned him off.
"The Crimson Typhoon is about to be helped by Suna's Earth Goddess. Unless you wish to become an unwanted victim of feminine wrath, I would turn around now," he advised.
Shanks winced.
"Who and how bad?"
"It's Jiraiya. His luck must truly be appalling to have caught Gale's attention with his incessant giggling while she was trying to relax in the hot springs."
Shanks' winced only grew, as he firmly declared to one and all "It's his problem. Let's go get some ramen or something."
Itachi agreed immediately. No way in hell was he getting caught twice by Gale's revenge against idiots.
The two didn't look back when Jiraiya's pain filled screams erupted in the air. If anything they quickened their pace.
Gale when in full typhoon mode and with an accomplice in delivering feminine wrath was something no sane man wanted to get near.
Sarutobi couldn't help it. He was still laughing at his student for being unlucky enough to catch his goddaughter's attention at the hot springs in the worst way to get her wrath on him.
Gale was definitely related to Tsunade. He hadn't seen anyone beat Jiraiya that badly for his perverted acts since his wayward student was still a loyal kunoichi.
"Who the hell was that girl? I could have sworn Tsunade reversed her age and dyed her head red!" asked Jiraiya. He was clearly loopy if he hadn't recognized Gale on sight.
"Uzumaki Gale. Kushina's daughter," said Sarutobi once he got over his amusement.
Jiraiya fought past the pain medication to actually look at his sensei.
"There is no way that was little Naruko! You told me she died!" said Jiraiya angrily.
"No, I said that her grandfather had claimed her on the night of the attack. Shanks is a good man, and he had legal right to her," said Sarutobi.
"He claimed her that night? But Kushina's father died!"
"Actually she never claimed her father was dead, only that he wasn't a shinobi. Shanks is a pirate, one rather feared by the World Government. He's even taught his entire crew Uzumaki fuinjutsu. Apparently he had been on the way to visit his daughter because he knew she was about due to have her first child and came right after Naruko...Gale...was left in the hospital. He did it through proper procedure and she's lived on the ship her entire life."
Jiraiya leaned back on the pillows. Naruko, no Gale, was alive and thriving from what he had seen. Shanks had clearly taught her the shinobi arts, but a pirate raised brat would never consent to wear a village's symbol.
Perhaps an Uzu headband, but never a Leaf.
Considering how people had reacted when they found out the Kyuubi had been put into an innocent child, it was probably better she had been raised away from Konoha.