Ahoi!
This is my Easter present for you all. I celebrate it with my family, but nooooo, I have to work. Yeah, that's the drawback of working in a hotel. You have to work while the rest of the people can enjoy the holidays... But okay...
Well, I have to thank ForgottenLullaby who had been so nice to read over this chapter. If you still find mistakes... so what? There could be worse things. ^^
With this I hope you'll enjoy this and write me what you think.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor One Piece, only this crossover.
Hello again
Sighing Sakura leaned back in her hammock closing her eyes and stretching her limbs enjoying the warmth of the sunny day, listening to the breaking of waves and the cries of the seagulls. All in all it was pretty relaxing and she could feel herself slipping into a state of drowsiness.
But as it was such peace never lasted long and hurried steps neared her, ripping her out of her mind.
Turning her head to the oncoming annoyance, she pushed her sunglasses up into her hair and glared at Gory who had a panicked expression on his face, his skin ashen and sweat glistening on his forehead. She didn't even had to pay attention to his eyes to know that his pupils had shrunken to little dots.
"Don't tell me that there are problems again! I already told you that you would handle the next occurrence! Now, let me get back to sunbathing!" She made a gesture one would do to chase away little children while pulling down her glasses again and settling back in hammock.
Panting and tearful, Gory stood at her side his hands on his knees to keep him upright but the breathless, stuttered whimpers made a tick appear on her temple and got him a burning glare.
"Well, if you're having a nervous breakdown it has to be something special! Then tell me! Now!" She barked, sitting up and planting her feet on the wooden floor.
The tall, lean male looked up to her with wide hopeful eyes before shrinking back and falling into a kneeling bow, his forehead touching the ground.
"I'm sorry, Sakura-sama! But we sighted a pirate ship on the next island! It is the flag of the Blue Pirates."
The pink haired captain fell back with a moan the back of her hand colliding with a slap with her forehead, almost knocking her sunglasses off her face.
"The captain only has 45.000.000 Belly on his head. You should be able enough to arrest this small fry on your own, or at least with a team. So why do you insist on cutting my freetime short? Did I do anything to upset you?"
It was a good thing that his forehead was still pressed to the floor or she would have seen in his eyes his answer 'Yes you did!' but no she had no clue and continued with lounging.
Peeking up Gory sniffed again, biting his bottom lip and ignored the tears that streamed out of his eyes.
"Please, Sakura-sama! You said that you wanted to stretch again and the island is uninhabited. So, you're fighting won't cost the Navy another million Belly." He sobbed remembering the call he had had to take for his captain. And it hadn't been a nice call! He was much too sensible to get screamed at like that!
Sakura listened to the pitiful noises her second-in-command made for a few seconds longer before she got to her feet and threw her white marine coat around her slim shoulders, not caring that she only wore a red bikini with cute frills and little white bows on the sides of the bottoms. She loved this bathing suit, even if it was too childish for her age. But it wasn't her fault, that she looked so damn cute in this one! At least it didn't have polka dots.
Gory perked up, staring at his captain with glittering eyes. His hands folded in front of his chest, looking like he had just watched an angel descend from heaven.
Out of all his sniffling and hiccuping she could have sworn to have heard a "Thank you, Hime-sama! Thank you!" But that had been most likely just her imagination.
"Well then, Gory-san, give the command to set anchor. We're going on a hunt. And make it quick, I want to get back to getting some sun."
She gathered her hair in front of her and started to braid it, turning her back to her running underling, his happy tears springing from his eyes like fountains.
An older marine, who had been working on some repairs grinned tiredly and shook his head.
"I swear, Gory-san will die prematurely if Captain Sakura continues her teasing. Poor boy."
His younger colleague chuckled and smiled brightly.
"But that is their dynamic! Without this drama they wouldn't be them. And you have to admit that they are hilarious. I, for one, am happy to be under her command, Kintarou-san. She's more fun than Morgan, for sure."
"That is true. But let me pity Gory-san for a bit longer. I don't think he had this in mind, when he had enlisted. Well, let's get back to work. The captain likes her ship in top condition, Max."
The now named marine saluted mockingly and gave a "Yessir!", getting a fist to the top of his head.
Sakura stood in the middle of the small rowing boat, her hands in her hips and her eyes narrowed to slits, both indications of her state of mind. To sum it up, she was pissed. Why did there have to be pirates when she was sunbathing? Couldn't they have been somewhere else?
The wrinkles between her brows got deeper in her annoyance and her fingers clenched harder together. Oh, she would soooo arrest them in record time!
Feeling the keel touch the sand of the shore, she didn't waste time as she crouched down and jumped from the boat landing safely on the beach without getting her black heels wet. They wouldn't have survived a bath in salt water and they had been expensive. Maybe the vendors really raised their prices. She had the feeling that she always had to pay more when she wore her cloak but surely that was just her imagination.
"Sakura-sama, please wait for meeee! You... you can't go alone!" Gory croaked, jumping over board but he didn't raise one foot high enough and lost his balance, falling face first in the water.
The two marines, which had rowed them, sweatdropped and looked away in embarrassment. Well, typically Gory but it still hurt their pride as men to see such a high ranking officer bumbling around.
Spluttering he shot out of the water and tried to get to their captain, waving his arms around and crying again.
"Wait for me! SAKURA-SAMAAAAAA!"
The young woman turned her head to the side, looking over her shoulder back while continuing with her walking and shot him an annoyed glare.
"I won't wait! Stop your stumbling and get going! I wanna get back to my hammock!"
Gory cried harder, biting his bottom lip to hold in the sobs but fastened his steps, as well as he was possible to in water, slowly gaining on Sakura.
The captain stopped at the first trees, looking up to their majestic roofs and a smile softened her features. The plants reminded her of the ones growing around Konoha but the feeling of homesickness didn't come as she had expected. This surprised her.
Sakura had been in this new world of water, abstract animals, crazy islands and even stranger people for almost eight years now, making her proud and strong at 24. The first year had been the hardest, her not trusting anyone and also believing that someone had captured her in a genjutsu, but the details and the sheer size of this new surroundings could have been only created by the sharingan. And that thought had destroyed her beliefs almost immediately because this special doujutsu had died out with Sasuke. So, as crazy as it had sounded, she had been transported into another dimension.
But the strict training with Vice Admiral Garp had been one good distraction from her homesickness giving her no time to relax and let her thoughts wander. And here she was, Rear Admiral of the Navy with an own nickname and respect that hadn't really existed in her old world with powerhouses like Naruto making it difficult for 'normal' shinobi like her to get noticed.
Shaking her thoughts off, a grin spread on her face.
'Time to get started!'
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and settled her mind, relaxing her body and spreading her senses as well as her chakra.
In her minds' eye she could 'see' her surroundings, her energy bouncing off the ones of the foliage around her and creating a rough outline of the living things in a 10 kilometer radius. If she had to describe this technique of hers, she would have compared it to the sonar of bats. And it was useful, but only if she had to track someone down. In a fight she wouldn't have enough time to focus her senses making her vulnerable. But right now it was the best thing she could have taught herself.
Sakura ignored the reflections of her crew and the animals, looking for an especially sharp echo and she perked up, when she got what she had wanted.
A sharp smirk flashed across her features and before Gory had even slowed down, she had vanished, the small crater in the sand the only indication of her ever being there.
A despairing scream made the marines in the rowboat sweatdrop.
"Now boys, that is a sight for sore eyes! The bitch even did our work for us! Look at the bikini!" The weird looking guy with a blue afro laughed, a naughty glint in his eyes.
The other 14 men laughed and it reminded her of a pack of hungry hyenas circling a slowly ending animal.
Sakura made a disgusted 'Tch' and crossed her arms, cocking her hip.
"So, you are the captain of the Blue Pirates? You're Blue Berry? How sad, I really had believed that Gory-san hadn't disturbed my sunbathing in vain but now that I see you..."
The funky captain looked at her offended, his mouth hanging open and a vein puckering on his temple.
With a growl he hit his palm with his fist and fell into an offensive position, signaling her he was ready to attack.
"Boys, get the bitch! Whoever knocks her off her high horse gets a round with her, after me!"
Cheering the pirate crew grabbed their various weapons and yelled, as they stormed, as one, at the female.
But before anyone could even begin to get near the marine, shots rang in the air and the men let go of their weapons, blood dripping off their hands, some rolling on the ground, holding wounds that hadn't been there before.
Sakura clicked her tongue and didn't turn around, when the grass rustled lightly and a form appeared at her side. She only nodded once, her eyes still on the captain, who looked over his men in confusion and slowly dawning horror.
"Please, Sakura-sama, don't leave on your own! I'm here to protect you from everything, meaning also the lecherous thoughts of dirty, stinking pirates."
Gory was like a changed man in this moment. His behavior was calm, his eyes serious and slightly narrowed and now he seemed to tower over Sakura, unlike before when he had cowered before his captain.
In his hands were two smoking guns, they're metal flashing in the rays that fought through the leaves overhead.
"What took you so long? I would have thought you would be here a bit faster."
Now Gory lost his composure and whirled to his captain, tears gathering in his eyes and his bottom lip trembling.
"Sakura-sama is so mean! I had to clean my guns because they got wet and you didn't wait!"
"Enough with your slapstick! You're going to regret taking on the great Blue Berry! Take this, HAAAAAAHHH!"
But he was ignored, his flying fist caught in Sakura's hand and the end of a gun smashing in his nose, both done nonchalantly as if just swatting away an annoying fly.
Woozy and with a gushing nose the pirate tumbled back, stumbling over one of his groaning crew members and fell landing on his back and wailing, as soon as the pain caught up to his brain.
Sakura and Gory both shot murderous glares at the man before turning back to each other, the Rear Admiral continuing with glaring while the other marine started to whimper again, losing his previous 'cool' aura completely.
"I'm disappointed with you, Gory-san. This group could have been handled by you alone easily enough. That reminds me, I really have to say something about the bounties! They are getting ridiculous! How could someone like this idiot get a bounty of 45.000.000 Belly? That's outrageous and makes us marines looking like wusses!"
Gory shrunk into himself and sniffled, staring at the ground and his whole demeanor reminding her of a scolded puppy.
"I'm sorry, Sakura-sama but I thought you wanted to take this personally. You said, that you wanted to do something again, not laying around all day. So I thought that you could get your workout. I never thought that they would be so weak!"
Sighing Sakura lost her aggressive posture and shook her head.
"Well, what's done is done. Now, call the team and get these lowlifes on the ship. We are taking course on the next base. I don't want to have this on my ship and eating my food longer than necessary."
Gory saluted her, his green eyes sparkling and she could have sworn there had been a wildly waving tail and perked ears on top of his head but with one blink the image was gone again.
'I really should get out of the sun. I'm starting to see things...'
Making a 'Tsk' she wandered to a root that had left the earth in an elegant arc and sat herself on top of it, swinging her legs and watching her surroundings trying to find something to occupy herself with, before the arrest team would finally arrive.
Her eyes had just passed the knocked out Blue Berry as soft tremors had her brows furrowed in confusion. Okay, what was going on? A surprise attack from the crew members they hadn't apprehended? Nah, that couldn't have been possible, for she would have felt more echos.
Suddenly and without any warning a person broke out of the treeline and flew right in front of her across the clearing, making her gape speechlessly.
The boy with black hair, red vest, rolled up blue trousers and strawhat saw her as well and to her astonishment, he did grab two trees he was flying through and she could watch how his arms stretched to inhuman length until his body appeared again and crashed into her, sending both of them to the ground.
"Nee-chan! You're here too!" Luffy exclaimed and grinned as wide as he could.
Sakuras mouth moved but no sound came out of it, not even when the boy grabbed her arm, pulled her up and after him, getting a startled shout from Gory, who still was on the Den Den Mushi.
"Wha...?! LUFFY?!", she finally got out, not really helpful but it got her the wanted reaction.
"I wanted to explore the island and came upon a cave. I may have activated a trap. Shishishi!"
And exactly in the moment he had spoken the last syllable a giant, round boulder broke through the trees, felling them with its weight.
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head and she now started to run in earnest, almost overtaking Luffy, who still laughed. Completely wrong in such a situation but she had already understood that the Straw Hat captain was just in a league of his own.
"You little idiot! Couldn't you have looked where you went?!" She screamed and lengthened her steps, seeming to fly through the underbrush, Luffy was hot on her heels, keeping his hat down with one hand.
"Shishishishi!"
More light came through the trees in front of them and she got the impression that they were nearing the end of the forest, her eyes narrowing to slits. Both used a suspiciously strategic placed stone plate as a jump board, catapulting them into the air.
They turned in the air and watched the boulder flying in a high arc, taking direct course on an anchored ship, obviously the one of the Strawhats.
Luffy threw his right arm back, the limb stretching to proportions her medical mind couldn't take, his other hand holding onto his shoulder, stabilizing it a bit.
Sakura glared at the boulder, pulling her chakra from her core, pushing it into her fist and pulling it backwards.
"Gomu Gomu no... PISTOL!"
"SHANNAROOOOO!"
Both their fists connected with the stone and it stood no chance. Cracks formed on its surface and it's flight came to an abrupt stop, crumbling to tiny pieces that fell into the sea under them. But as they were not able to fly, they descended too, rushing to the water in increasing speed.
But Luffy wouldn't have been Luffy if he hadn't been able to save them from an uncomfortable crash. His left slung itself around her waist, pulling her to him and his right stretched again and her eyes could see that he had grabbed onto his ship, changing their flight route to the vessel.
She didn't even had time to scream from the abrupt and disorienting directional change. So it was no wonder that she landed not as elegantly as she could have on the Going Merry. She landed face-first on the deck, rolling a bit before she came to an unwilling stop, meaning she crashed into the railing and stayed there, trying to fight the dizziness and nausea down.
A groan escaped her throat and her head fell forward, the railing her support so that she didn't fell into the water and maybe drowned. In the background and through the fog that had her brain in a stronghold she could hear frantic screaming of "Where is a doctor?! We need a doctor!" and the answering of "You are the doctor, Chopper!", before she was pulled from her resting spot and was sat properly against the railing, her back resting against the wood.
Something hard touched her face carefully, pushing her bangs, which had come loose after her crash to the side and one of her eyes was pried open, letting the light into it. She groaned anew, the sun hurting her with its brightness but she didn't had time to wallow in her agony as her head was turned slowly and a soft high voice asked her questions about her condition which she could answer only groggily and with a heavy tongue.
"I think the landing rattled her a bit but it doesn't seem like she has a concussion. She should be alright in a few minutes."
"Luffy, you idiot! You can't do that to a woman!"
"Are you an idiot?! Why did you bring her here?! We should be happy, that she let us go in Alabasta!"
"Aaah! It's the Rear Admiral again! Luffy!"
Sakura swallowed the gathered spit down and grimaced. Slowly she opened her eyes, blinking a few times to stop the world spinning all around her and to bring the two images of every person together.
"Luffy-kun, you're... really unique. But don't do this ." She grumbled and held her throbbing head in her hands, sending little waves of healing chakra in it.
When she looked up again, she jolted in surprise, hitting the railing again and yelped, for she hadn't expected the little fluffy guy right in her face.
Round, dark eyes stared at her, twinkling in an unsettling light while his mouth hung open, showing her his amazement.
"Your... your eyes are clearer than they should be! And... and what was this green light?! Are you a doctor?!" The little reindeer asked in fast succession and practically sat in her lap, his hooves hovering over her face, almost touching but not brave enough, even in his excitement.
Sakura giggled a bit and took one of his hooves in her hand, letting a bit of her chakra touch his body.
The little guy's eyes widened to unimaginable proportions and settled on their connected limbs, not finding any words for the situation he found himself in.
Letting go of his hoof she grabbed him under his armpits, pulled him up and set him down beside her after getting up. She did not even stumble a bit, unusual after such a hard crash, especially for people without devil fruit powers.
Sakura straightened her clothes pulling the straps of her bikini top in place again and then turned her attention to the Straw Hats, they seemed to be in a conflict.
Nami was strangling their Captain, while the blond stood at her side and looked ready to kill Luffy too, the long-nose was still pointing at her, his mouth moving without a sound coming out of it, Roronoa Zoro had his hands at the hilt of his swords, ready to move to protect his nakama. But there was someone new. Someone she knew of the wanted posters.
"Nico Robin... I'm surprised. I wouldn't have thought that you would join the Strawhats."
The older woman smiled in her mysterious way and just nodded at her, not caring one bit that a Rear Admiral stood on the same deck as her.
"A pleasure to meet you, Marine-san. I've heard of you and your abilities. I'm very impressed."
Sakura bowed to the female pirate and smirked lightly.
"That makes me so happy to hear. My skills impressing the famous Nico Robin. That's something I have to write down. Now, why did you let your idiot captain go alone on this island? He almost killed me and Gory-san... Wait... Where is Gory-san?"
Confused Sakura turned to the island and leaned over the railing as if she could see better now. But she couldn't and whirled back to the crew.
"Well, I think he survived it. Now, answer my question please. He is a danger to everyone health if left alone", she said and pointed to Luffy, who now stood separated from his friends, his hands behind his head and a fat grin on his face.
Zoro, Nami, the long-nose and the blond all waved their hands up and down, all wearing the same nonplussed expression making Robin giggle and Luffy laugh in his distinctive way.
Sakura sighed and crossed her arms in front of her, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"Alright, I understand that you can't tame someone like him but maybe you should keep a better eye on him. Someday he will set off trouble that won't end with a happy end. Just a little warning between acquaintances and the Navy and pirates. I would hate to have to arrest him earlier than planned."
All but Robin and Luffy gaped at her, not expecting words like these spoken by her, a feared marine and known pirate huntress. But this just made one thing so much clearer in their minds; Luffy had the charisma to change much, even the intention of one Rear Admiral. They all turned to their captain, who still laughed and exuded an aura of relaxation and carelessness.
The pink haired woman smiled softly and shook her head.
"You know, you remember me of my best friend. He was as reckless as you and he even had a similar ambitious dream as you, Luffy-kun. He wanted to become the leader of our village, to protect all of its people and his friends. He had the same ability as you. He could turn enemies into friends, he never lost hope and he broke through every limit his skills set. I see so much of him in you; so let me tell you one thing: Don't you dare to die in your journey to become Pirate King. At the end it will be me that gets the honor to capture the strongest man on this world. Understood?!" The last word she barked at him, her eyes narrowed and her hands stemmed into her hips, leaning forward to be nearer to his face.
Luffy grinned brighter than ever before and saluted her.
"Aye, aye, nee-chan!"
Sakura leaned back and smiled satisfied, her expression now open and sunny again.
"That's good. Now, children, I have to get back. I have to find my lost Captain and finish capturing the idiots that call themselves pirates! I hope for you that you get lost before I'm back on my ship or hunting season comes earlier than thought."
The Rear Admiral winked at them and with a hand sign her body dispersed into pale, pink petals of cherry blossoms, which rained down upon the crew, getting most of them to gape again.
Suddenly a loud "Waaah!" ripped them out of their fascination. All turned to the captain, who now pouted.
"I didn't get to ask her, to join our crew!"
All but Robin fell defeated to the floor sporting sweatdrops.
Sakura appeared without warning beside her second-in-command, making him jump frightened into the air and getting a decisively feminine shriek from him.
He whirled around to her, his lip quivering and his eyes wide and filled with tears almost brimming over. This sight made her sigh heavily, fed up with the childish act of Gory.
"Sakura-samaaaa! You left me again!" He wailed and latched onto her waist, wrapping his arms tightly around her body pushing his face into her coat.
The female marine closed her eyes, collecting every last shred of patience she still owed to not hit her Captain but it was difficult. The dispatch team around them watched them with sweatdrops and unsettled snickering, used to displays as these but it still made them uncomfortable. How could a man, a Captain, sink so low? Did he not have any respect for his gender or better yet, for himself? Yes, Sakura-sama looked beautiful and she had a great character but really, was this show necessary?
Finally reaching her point of no return she let her fist drop, with force, onto the top of Gory's head, knocking him out instantly. His muscles relaxed in his unconscious state and he sacked to the floor, freeing her from his unrelenting grip.
"I see you got almost every pirate. Good work, everyone! Now, could someone take Gory-san? I don't have the nerve for his theatrics as soon as he wakes up. Any volunteers? No? Okay, Max-san, I think I just saw your hand twitch. Take him and put him somewhere I don't have to see him. Now, to the ship, we're setting sail to the next base!"
"Aye!"
She nodded and started the walk back to the beach, making the rest of the team follow her with their captives slung over their shoulders.
Left behind was Max, the unconscious Gory and Kintarou with his designated pirate.
The older man couldn't quite hide the smirk that had found a way onto his face because of his younger friends misfortune.
"Well then, Max, grab the Captain and we can go. I just knew that your commentary would come back and bite you in the ass. Oh, and be careful, when Gory-san wakes up, he usually will cling to the person nearest him and only let go after calming down. That can take up to half an hour."
The red haired young marine made a face but crouched down and threw the Captain over his shoulder, following the rest of the group back to the rowing boats, which would bring them back to their ship. A scowl quickly contorted his normally pleasing face as something hard pressed into his shoulder and no amount of shifting could alleviate the pressure. Damn, he should have taken off the guns of Gory before he had picked him up. Well, now it was too late and he would have to live with it. Even if the continuous snickering of Kintarou made a vein pulse on his forehead.
They caught up with their colleagues in no time and joined them in their track back to the ship. Max glared darkly at every man that had the gall to look at him and grin amused, for he made a truly amusing picture. Gory was a tall man, standing over a head taller than Max, who was by far the shortest male on the marine ship, making him famous on the vessel for this alone. He also was one of the youngest marines with his barely 20 years of age.
"Come on, shorty! Don't fall behind or you will be left here with the Captain!" One of the other males said and chortled ignoring the death glare from the other man.
It just was funny to annoy the redhead for he had the most interesting reactions. One could say, that it almost was a free time activity for the older marines to get on the nerves of Max. They had the excuse that he was a willing victim with his behavior. But as one could see, the Rear Admiral also took the mickey out of him.
"Ladies, I can hear you even from here at the front! Keep it down or completely shut! Max-san got enough for today, the next one that opens his mouth for such a ridiculous statement can carry Gory-san the next time he decides to annoy me again! Understood!?"
A collected "Yessir!" came from the group and they moved on, now as silent as they could be with their heavy cargo and their weapons clinking with their movements.
Sakura nodded satisfied with the obedience of her subordinates; she had them trained well but after drilling them in Tsunade-style it was no wonder. Now they had a healthy respect for her and listened to her every command, trusting in her skills as Rear Admiral. That was important for marines as it could save lives in dire situations to follow the orders of their superior without questioning.
And how hard she had worked to gain this trust! It had truly been a grueling time but the fact that almost all of her original crew still stood with her was gratification enough for her.
She left her memories behind when they reached the shoreline, a few rowing boats not far away, waiting for them to get them back onto the ship.
Sakura sighed and stepped to the side, watching her men made their ways to the boats, loading the captives into them and getting in too. The rowers all looked at her, ready to get going but waiting for her. She just made a shooing motion with her hand and smiled at them. Understanding her command they let their paddles into the water, starting to row back to the ship with their cargo tied securely together. But she believed that even if they had been free, they would have stood no chance against her dispatch team. She had trained them personally and knew their strengths almost as well as her own.
Turning away from the men she crossed her arms and looked to the horizon, trying to find anything resembling a caravel class ship but not seeing anything she smiled broader.
It seemed that at least some of the Strawhats had enough sense to grab a chance when it came.
Satisfied with her conclusion she gathered chakra in her feet and stepped onto the water, starting to make her way to the ship. She just loved it, when everything went according to plan.
She stepped onto the deck of her vessel and stretched her arms above her head, happy with how her day had went, when a man run up to her panic glinting in his eyes.
Furrowing her brows, worry made itself at home in her body.
"Fushi-san, report!"
The man saluted and gazed at her, sweat running down his temples and his hand shaking at his forehead.
"We sighted a pirate ship twelve o'clock! We identified the flag as the Strawhats!"
She stayed silent for a few seconds, her eyes gazing blankly at the panting marine until the words caught up with her. Then a groan came out of her mouth and her hand met her forehead soundly. Silently she moved her hands in a few gestures and moved her mouth without a sound until her chin met her collarbone again and her whole body seemed to sack. Then her head whipped up again and a furious expression made Fushi flinch back.
"Ready the cannons and let the crew enter combat mode! Give one warning shot off, if they react with aggression we will fight back. Now go!"
The man saluted and left with a sharp "Yessir!", giving her time to turn around to her dispatch team.
"Get the mongrels down into the cells and a few of you will stay down there, guarding them! I don't care who of you will do it, draw straws or something, the rest of you will join the crew and prepare for battle! Get moving!"
"Aye, aye!"
Twirling around Sakura moved to the bow of her battleship, determination burning in her eyes and her fist clenched at her sides.
Well, it seemed as if the Strawhats weren't as intelligent as she had given them credit for. She had expected more from Nami or at least Nico Robin but to be disappointed like that? They would pay for not taking her warning serious. The best way to learn was out of mistakes and this was one big mistake!
She could hear the preparations going on and she enjoyed the jerk that went through her vessel as soon as the anchor was lifted and the sails let down. For a big ship as this one it could get surprisingly fast, fastened if they started the paddle-wheels but she didn't want to catch the Strawhats, just teaching them a lesson so they wouldn't need to catch up, just get near enough to fire a cannon to spook them a bit.
Sakura heard steps nearing her but didn't turn around; whatever the man had to say, he would say it even if she didn't look at him. She only had eyes for the Going Merry, which came closer and closer.
"Captain, the cannons are loaded and ready to be fired! On your command!"
A smirk slithered on her lips and she cocked her hip, a certain sadistic pleasure running through her.
"Alright, fire E3!"
"Understood! Fire B3!"
As soon as she heard the wrong command she twirled to the marine and grabbed his collar, pulling him to her.
"Are you an idiot?! I said E3 not B3! Damnit, damnit, damnit!"
Letting go of him, she jumped upon the galleons figure and stared in shock at the cannonball which flew in a high arc directly at the Going Merry.
But then something surprising happened, something she hadn't expected.
A skin-colored balloon blew up, catching the cannonball and drove it right back at them making some of the marines begin to scream in terror.
Sakuras eyes narrowed and the chakra made her fist and feet glow eerily. As soon as the cannonball had the right distance, she jumped into the air and hit it, directing it to the sea far away from both ships.
She could hear relieved breaths and some cheers coming from her crew but as soon as she landed again she turned to the man that had conveyed her orders wrongly, staring him down.
He shrank into himself, his knees shaking under the pressure he felt coming off of her. It was as if some invisible weight pressed down on him, robbing him of every last bit of strength until he sunk to the floor.
"You! I do not tolerate mistakes like this one! Do you know what could have happened right now?! Your mistake could have killed some of the men on board and destroyed important areas of the ship! Be happy that I was here and could redirect the cannonball or we could have one very big problem! Now, get out of sight and don't even dare to show yourself around me again. Think about what you have done! Go. GO!"
Nodding the man scrambled backwards until he could get up again and run over the deck, into the direction of the stairs and vanishing down it.
Sakura followed his retreating form until he had escaped her sight and only then she sighed deeply and turned back to the Going Merry, which was distancing itself as fast as possible from them. Good thing too because she had not the patience to deal with the Strawhats again.
Whirling around to the crew around her, she stood to attention again and looked at them with a steady gaze.
"We will abandon the hunt for the Strawhat Pirates! Our next destination is the Marine base on Lorio Island! Set course and get back to work!"
The crew answered in a unison "Aye, aye!" and then tried to follow her orders as fast as possible.
Sakura sighed again, before she made her way back to her hammock, shedding her heels and coat and settling herself down, closing her eyes and relaxing her muscles.
Today could have gone better but she had seen Luffy and his crew again, something that had made her extremely happy.
As she slowly lost herself to sleep, one name crossed her mind.
'Naruto...'