"Why in hell are you two not worried? You have a marine captain and commander on your tails! Is that not an emergency?"
Sakura had been running after Luffy and Zoro for the past few minutes, unsuccessfully trying to warn them of their impending danger. It already pissed her off to learn that the annoying Pirate Hunter was actually a Straw Hat (honestly, why did every one of her actions somehow connect to a Straw Hat pirates?) but this was annoying her even more. Both men seem uncaring of their current situation, despite her constant pleas and warnings.
"Hungry, hungry! Zorooo, I'm HUNGRY!" Luffy cried, pumping his arms up and down, "I want food! Meat!" Sakura scowled.
Oi, turnip heads! They're Marines! Dangerous ones! Trying to find you, and kill you! Smoker and Valier aren't people to be taken lightly!" she yelled, exasperated. To her surprise, Zoro started chuckling.
"Look shortie, we're pirates. Angry marines aren't anything new to us. And what's with that insult? You a five year old or something?" he asked, not even bothering to turn his head and look at Sakura.
Oh, that did it. If Sakura had to pick something that she hated most in the world, and she hated a LOT of things, it would be being made fun of for her height. Being under five feet tall, it was something she expected to hear, but it always resulted in someone being beat up.
I'll show you five year old shortie! She thought angrily as she quickly stepped in front of Zoro, preventing him from taking another step. With a lunge, she roughly grabbed onto the collar of the man's shirt and jerked him forward until her face was only inches away from his.
"Call me short or a five year old again, and I will murder you, Pirate Hunter," she hissed. Zoro audibly gulped. Damn, she could scare the pirate hunter? Cool.
"Shishishi, Sake's scary, isn't she! That's why she should join my crew!" Luffy said as he laughed at the scene. Sakura glared at him.
"My name's Sakura not Sake. Did you not hear Raoul when he said my name?" she hissed as she shoved Zoro aside.
"Who's Raoul?"
"You're hopeless, aren't you?" Sakura turned around, "And I already said, I have no interest in joining you guys."
"Yeah, Nami's enough, I don't want another she-devil for a nakama," Zoro grumbled, straightening his shirt. With a frustrated scream, Sakura took off running, not really caring where she was going. She had had enough of that idiot Straw Hat and insufferable Pirate Hunter.
"Eh Zoro, you scared her away with your ugly face," Luffy whined, scratching his neck. Zoro glared back at him.
"Shut the hell up."
"Hai, hai."
This is what I get for trying to help somebody, Sakura dashed into a nearby alley, where she leaned against the building wall, panting. She watched as the pair walked past the alley, oblivious to her crouching figure. They're messing up my head! Focus, Sakura. Calm down. You know better than to let some pirates get you worked up.
With an angry groan, she pushed off the wall and walked away. She needed some fresh air.
Gasping, the marine soldier burst into the room, where Valier lay on a couch, lazily reading a newspaper.
"Commander Valier, sir! We've received word of five marine soldiers who have been attacked near the town market! Judging by their lack of physical wounds, we've deduced the attacker to be the troublemaker Sakura!" he announced, saluting as he gasped for breath. Valier sighed, slowly folding up the newspaper and glancing at the soldier, his eyebrows arched.
"Do you never knock before entering? Should I have all soldiers go through a manners course?" he asked. The marine soldier, not knowing what to say, stood there silently sweat dropping. Valier got up and stretched. His right hand slowly went down toward his hip, where a large thorned whip hung on a belt. An identical one would be seen hanging on his left hip. He lovingly stroked the handle of the whip as he gazed out the window.
"Tell those five marine soldiers that they're fired. We can't have any weaklings at this base. Other than that, leave it. Dismissed," he said, gripping the handle with so much force that the marine soldier fled without another word. Valier spat at the door with contempt before turning back to face the window, deep in thought.
"Sakura….what a sweet name for such an annoying little shit," Valier growled, "I should have killed you that night. Would have done the whole world a favor for getting rid of a little nuisance. I'll hunt you down no matter what!"
With a flick of his wrist, the whip lashed against the couch, easily slashing it up. With another flick of his left hand, his other whip appeared, slamming against a nearby table and reducing it to splinters. Chuckling, Valier exited the room, allowing his whips to trail behind him. For almost seven years, he had been hunting for Sakura. While not a big shot criminal, she was responsible for a multitude of skirmishes, thefts, and injured marines. How was it possible for a little girl to stay so hidden that they couldn't even get a picture of her?
Just you wait, little flower. You can't keep running away from me! He thought savagely, chuckling to himself.
The crate shattered into a pile of splinters. A trash bag followed, exploding into mess of old food and a mysterious gray sludge. With a scream of frustration, Sakura grabbed a moldy potato from the pile of trash and flung it against the wall. She collapsed, her hands clawing at the ground underneath her.
What the hell is wrong with me? She thought angrily, shaking her head wildly. Nothing had been going right that day. First the stupid Straw Hat who probably couldn't even tell left from right, then the even stupider Pirate Hunter who seemed to make it his personal priority to piss off everybody in the whole goddamn world. To top it all off, Sakura's concentration had gone down the drain. Throwing her focus and caution to the wind, she bumped into multiple marine troops, tripped over several tussling children, even walked straight into a wall! The gods themselves wouldn't have been able to help Sakura calm herself down.
Sakura hated marines. They claimed they fought for justice, but in her opinion, that was just a load of crap. She hates pirates too, but at least they didn't pretend they weren't full of shit. Until now. Stupid stupid Straw Hat pirates.
"A walk. I just need to cool myself down. A walk will do that...maybe," she muttered, grinding her teeth. She shoved her hands angrily into her pockets and tried to calmly walk out the alleyway. The attempt to calm down failed unsurprisingly when her foot snagged into another trash bag, causing her to fall clumsily into a foul smelling pile of something she would rather not know the name of.
"I….am going...to kill a man," she groaned, trying her best to wipe the muck off her cardigan.
She staggered into the open street, continuing to mutter random curses as she attempted to straighten her outfit. Sakura was so consumed with herself that she failed to realize that she stood right in the middle of a confrontation between a rather strange looking woman with bright pink hair and a blond man with swirly eyebrows. She only noticed when the air around her became rather quiet, and looked up in confusion.
"Uhh, hello…" she said, awkwardly smiling at Ms. pink hair, "How are you?" Pink hair fumed. Well, this wasn't good. What else was she supposed to say?
"Carmen-sama would appreciate you getting out of her way when she's trying to challenge her long lost adversary," a rather porky boy sneered, shoving his face towards Sakura. Another boy, a scrawny one with a large face attempted to shove Sakura out of the way with a frying pan, but she neatly sidestepped, smiling as he went sprawling into the dust.
"Try to touch me again, bacon brain, and it'll be the last thing you do," she spat. Mr. Porky attempted to make a rebuke, resulting in Sakura taking his frying pan and smacking in the face.
"You should teach your children some manners, lady!" she remarked to the pink haired lady, who was probably Carmen. Sakura watched with pleasure as Carmen's face turned the same shade as her bright pink hair.
"THEY'RE NOT MY CHILDREN! HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM, BRAT?!"
"Ummm…"
Carmen glared down at Sakura, who stared back, completely unafraid. Scowling, Carmen decided to stare ahead, blatantly ignoring Sakura's presence.
"Ignore my two brainless idiots and that cheeky brat, whoever she is," Carmen cried, pointing at curly brows, "Face me, Sanji! Come to the #1 Cooking Contest this afternoon at 1 o'clock! I will skillfully defeat you there!" With that declaration, Carmen began twirling around, eventually transforming into a tornado. Sakura watched, amused (and slightly confused) as Carmen spun into the air….before collapsing back onto the ground as a dizzy mess.
"Okay..." she muttered, watching the two boys hurriedly carry Carmen away. She turned back to face blondie, who was apparently named Sanji. With a start, she realized she had seen him before. He was one of the Straw Hat pirates.
Out of all people, why do I keep getting involved with them? She thought angrily. She expected him to laugh at her, make a rude comment, maybe just flat out ignore her. To her surprise (and disgust), he began to wiggle around, waving his arms as he made strange noises.
"Umm...you drunk or something?" she asked, hesitantly taking a step back. The man continued to twirl around, hearts popping out of his eyes. Oh yeah, definitely drunk. The best thing to do would probably be to leave. Now.
"What a wonderful woman! Such fire, such strength within such a delicate, lovely frame! OH my dear lady, I must know your beautiful name! Please, allow me the grand pleasure of your acquaintance!" he crowed before leaning in close enough to fill Sakura's entire view with his head.
"Personal space, man!" she yelped, leaning backwards. She was about to just leave then, but Sanji quickly grasped her hand and jerked her back.
Oh, even a humble, worthless fool like I requires the luxury of knowing such a fiery woman. To stand up to Carmen-san, a woman of such passion, oh my dear, you must be the greatest of the great! The boldest of the bold! The loveliest of the lovely!" he was suddenly kneeling at Sakura's feet, his lips inches away from her hand.
"Flare!" she thrust her hand, alight with energy, straight into Sanji's face. It had been pure reflex to try and get the disgusting man to move away, but it came with problems. Instantly she knew that she was in trouble. Most of the townspeople didn't know what she looked like, only aware of rumors of a strange girl who lurked in the shadows, disappearing without a trace. Stories of her devil fruit power was the only hint of who she could be, and now that she used it in front of the public, her identity was in the clear. Cursing, Sakura aimed her focus at Sanji. At the very least, she could inflict some damage to a straw hat pirate. She expected him to fall back in pain, maybe utter a few curses, and then cower back in fear. What she did not expect was for the man to start rolling around, making gleeful noises.
"OH! This pain in my chest! It is, without a doubt, the pain of love! Oh, my sweet lady, I have been ensnared in the power of love. I am defenseless, a servant to your wishes," he crowed, continuing to wiggle around on the ground. Sakura watched silently, a disgusted look on her face as a shopkeeper attempted to drag Sanji away.
"You better stay away from her if you know what's good for you! That's probably the she-demon Sakura! If you get on her bad side, it's said that she'll hunt you down and curse you with her strange powers! You'll live the rest of your life with an invisible hunter shadowing you!" the shopkeeper hissed. He looked up to see if Sakura was still there, and was shocked to see that she had already disappeared. The other townspeople murmured amongst themselves urgently, with some quickly fleeing the scene. Sanji propped himself up while pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up.
"So that lovely lady is famous around town? Sakura-chan! What a lovely name to befit a lovely lady..." he mused, staring at the spot where Sakura had been just a moment ago. The shopkeeper gaped at Sanji.
"You just got a first hand view of her magic! Nobody knows what that stuff is! It's witchcraft, sorcery! You need to stay away from her," he cried, unsuccessfully trying to convey his fear to Sanji. After dusting off his pants, the cook got to his feet, taking a drag from his cigarette.
"I'm quite aware of her magic….It's the power of love!" he cried, hearts popping out of his eyes once more. The shopkeeper sighed. There was no hope in talking sense to Sanji.
"Well, anyway, are you really planning on entering that contest?" he asked, trying to steer Sanji away from the topic of Sakura.
"Ah! That's right, Carmen-san! The wonderful, passionate woman from before! But...nah, that kinda thing doesn't interest me," Sanji replied, dusting himself off and walking away.
Hidden in the shadows of yet another alley, Sakura studied the scene. As soon as the focus of the townspeople had shifted to the pervert, she had bolted, running to the first hiding place she could find. She shook her head in annoyance, anger racing through her veins. Those stupid Straw Hat pirates! Why did all of her problems have to stem from them? She needed to try and avoid them until they left the island. Yeah, that was the right idea. Then, she could have her regular routine back in place. The pervert Sanji had already said that he wouldn't be entering the cooking contest. If he wasn't then none of his crewmates would be entering either. Triumphant, Sakura set off, confident that she had found one place where she wouldn't have any run-ins with the straw hat crew.
What. In. The. Actual. Hell. Is. He. Doing. Here.
Sakura stared in absolute shock at none other than the damn cook Sanji, who, at the moment was frolicking around an orange haired girl and a long nosed guy whom Sakura also recognized as part of their crew. Sakura glared at them. All she had wanted was some peaceful time spent watching the cooking contest, AWAY from any mention of the Straw Hat pirates. Shoving past a wailing baby and his annoyed mother, she made her way closer to the trio.
"...why are you participating in this contest?" she heard the long nosed guy ask.
"Oh, Usopp, you're here too?"
"I WAS THE ONE WHO CALLED YOU FIRST!"
"Tch. What an annoying group of people," she muttered, turning around. Time to find another place to relax.
"OHHHH! YOU'RE THE LOVELY LADY FROM BEFORE! DID YOU COME TO SEE ME AGAIN, MY LOVE?!"
Dammit. Sakura whirled around, her eyes wide, to see the pervert cook waving wildly at her while his two friends peered at her from behind. She briefly considered running for it, but with the amount of people crowding her, escaping without making a scene would be impossible. With a sigh, she adopted an air of cold unconcern and walked towards the trio.
"Look, will you just shut up and leave me alone?!" she hissed, glaring at the cook.
"Oi, oi he's just trying to be nice. Let's try to be friendly, right?" the long nose guy, presumably Usopp, said as he tried to settle the tension, "Ehem, well hello, my name's Usopp and this is-"
"I don't give a crap. I'm well aware that you guys are pirates. I've already met some of your crew and they pissed me off, so can you please just leave me alone?" Sakura shot back.
"Wait, you know we're part of a crew?" the orange haired girl asked.
"Straw Hat pirates with Straw Hat Luffy and Pirate Hunter Zoro yada yada yada," Sakura replied dismissively, "Anybody with half a brain could see that."
"Wait, what?" Usopp yelped.
Sanji, the idiotic banana, continued to twirl around. "I would be so so happy if you would want to cheer for me Sakura-cha-mmmphhh!"
Sakura had lunged forward, slamming her hand into Sanji's mouth.
"You say my name aloud here, and that elephant tuna over there won't be the only thing that's dead today," she warned, sparks shooting out of her eyes. Sakura heard the announcer explaining the contest rules and could see the pink haired lady Carmen staring daggers at them. "Hurry up and go," she said, roughly shoving Sanji away.
"Oi, oi, she's scary. And how does she know about Zoro and Luffy?" Usopp asked nervously. Sakura ignored him.
"I apologize for the knuckleheads we have on our crew," Sakura turned to see the orange haired girl smiling warmly at her, "And judging from the fact that you know us and haven't called the marines yet, I'm assuming we're good? I'm Nami, by the way, and this is Usopp."
"And I don't really care" Sakura said bluntly, clenching her fists around her necklace charms. She sighed, her anger deflating like a balloon."But I'm not so tight with the Marines either, so I guess you guys are good. For now."
Nami could see that Sakura's tough facade was fading, and continued her efforts. "Sakura, was it?"
Sakura scowled. "Like I told your cook, I would appreciate you not saying my name aloud. I don't really have a good reputation."
"Ah, sorry about that! It would be the same for us, I guess," Nami chuckled lightly, "Anyway, how did you know about us being pirates? Only our captain has a bounty, and I don't know about Usopp and Sanji, but I look prettier than the average pirate, right?"
"Hey! That's mean!" Usopp cried.
Sakura narrowed her eyes. Nami's bright smile was all it took to show how sly she was. "It's easy to find information if you know where to look."
"Oi, that's a vague answer!" Usopp complained, "And you know, Luffy isn't really the captain of the Straw Hat crew! I am!"
Sakura took in the guy's scrawny, puffed chest and trembling knees. "Then you must be insanely strong! I've heard stories of a long nosed fighter who could defeat enemies by the hundred!"
"You have..? I mean, of course you have! Nothing can stand in the way of the great Usopp-sama!" he cried, sticking a finger in the air
"Is that so?" Sakura replied, smirking, "Well, I happen to be quite a fighter myself, you know. Maybe we could have a challenge after this cooking contest? I would love to brag to others that I fought against the great Usopp-sama."
"Well ehh, maybe another day. I'm feeling a bit below the weather, you see..."
Sakura laughed openly now, a genuine laugh of happiness. "I guess I should get going. You guys seem nice, even if your crewmates aren't."
"Sanji can be a big idiot, and don't even get me started on Zoro and Luffy, assuming you've met them," Nami said, "But nakama are still nakama."
Nakama? What's nakama? Before she could ask, Usopp cried, "Oh look! Sanji's going on! Let's get closer!"
She shifted uncomfortably. "I guess I should get going then."
"Huh?" Nami faced her. "You're not gonna' watch?"
Why did she sound so confused? Sakura barely knew them! "I mean..."
"C'mon, Sanji's really great at cooking! It'll be fun!" Nami gave her another dazzling smile.
Sakura sighed. "I guess I'll stay a little bit."