Mihawk couldn't quite believe what was happening.
He had finally found a clue! A clue that may help him return to the lands of his ancestors. If only… if only the ninja in front of him would agree to help him to get back.
For a long time, there was no response. In fact, he almost feared the man had simply left.
Mihawk did not lift his head regardless.
He had already lowered himself like this. He may as well see it through to the end.
Finally, there was a sigh.
"That's not something that's up to me to decide", the ninja finally replied.
Confused, Mihawk raised his head to look at his previous opponent. He was about to open his mouth to question him when the other pre-emptively explained.
"Our captain will decide."
At the samurai's stunned look the ninja snorted.
"You didn't honestly think I'd confront you completely alone, did you?"
He had, actually… His lips twitched slightly at his own stupidity. They were ninja, of course there would be a degree of subterfuge involved. Mihawk hadn't known that when he confronted the other though, to be fair.
"Right, of course. Then, would it be possible to speak with them?"
"Hn, it would", an unexpected voice behind him replied.
Mihawk whirled around in shock. He had nearly gotten a heart attack. How…?
Right… ninja.
He subconsciously placed a hand over his chest to calm his now racing heartbeat.
The man, or should he say teen in front of him was quite unassuming at first glance. He was shorter than himself, for one, and had long, currently wet black hair that was tied back in a low ponytail, except for some long bangs that framed his face. His pronounced tear-troughs made him look slightly older than he probably was. He was only wearing shorts, obviously just having come out of the water, revealing his lithe but powerful build. Various pouches and weapons were strapped to his body though, revealing his readiness for combat.
He lightly shook his hair to get some of the water out and re-tied it as he observed Mihawk in turn.
Looking closer at the young, 18 at most, more likely 16, face of the ninja captain, Mihawk's eyes widened. His eyes were blood-red but for 3 small tomoe spinning lazily around his iris.
He was most likely quite powerful, considering he commanded the much older ninja he fought before as a team leader. At least that's the meaning of captain he assumed the ninja meant. Life on the seas wasn't really that widespread in the Nations, as far as he knew anyhow.
Suddenly, the ninja tilted his head and raised his arm.
Thinking he had messed up already, his thoughts having led him elsewhere, Mihawk blinked as instead of the attack he had feared, a crow landed on the outstretched arm.
He knew that crow…
Mihawk's lips twitched in bemusement.
They had known he was coming for quite a while, hadn't they.
Itachi gently caressed the feathers of his faithful nin-animals, smoothing out any feathers the sea breeze had ruffled as he did.
His eyes never left the samurai before him though, observing, cataloguing.
Mihawk shuddered slightly as he noticed the crow had the same eyes as the captain in front of him. That was, quite honestly, unsettling as hell.
"You wanted to talk to me", Itachi said to remind him, his well-hidden amusement was only caught by Sasori, who shared the sentiment.
"Ah", Mihawk stuttered. Since when did he stutter!?
He took a deep breath to settle himself before trying again.
"Yes. Thank you for indulging me." Thankfully, any sign of his shock had vanished from his voice.
"I would like to return to the Elemental Nations with you, if at all possible."
He got straight to the point. Ninjas were rarely ones for pleasantries if what he was taught was correct. Thus, it was best to be direct.
"Are you unable to return there yourself?"
"That is… yes." Mihawk wasn't getting around telling this story, was he. As reluctant as he was to spill his family history to a stranger, this clue, this chance to fulfill the dream he had inherited from his ancestors would slip away if he didn't.
"It's… quite a long story to explain. Would you like to come in? I have some towels to dry off and a place to sit."
Itachi tensed slightly at the invitation but ultimately decided to take the chance. He had already placed the samurai under a genjutsu when the man had locked eyes with him. Plus, the man had not shown any hostilities after his not-quite serious scuffle with Sasori's puppet.
He nodded, motioning for the swordsman to lead the way before releasing his crow to once more join its companions in scouting for threats.
The inside of the cabin was simple. There was only a single room with a small table with two chairs on one side and various supplies in crates and barrels on the other. The samurai seemed to have used one of the chairs as a dresser if the hastily put away bundle of clothes was any indication. Other than that, the space was tidy. A small cabinet functioned as a divider to not have the room feel completely like a storage place. There weren't any windows but a small round one by the table. It was simple but it worked. He could respect that.
He took the offered towel with a thankful nod and quickly dried off most of the water he could.
Once he was done, Mihawk offered him the chair facing the door. Smart choice.
It also showed that he was somewhat sincere in his request, leaving his own back facing the door where he was aware his companion was waiting. That or he was just incredibly stupid. Itachi was hoping that second option wasn't it.
"First things first, let me introduce myself. My name is Dulacre Mihawk. My family is part of the Sanada Clan of Iron country."
He had never before gotten to introduce himself properly like this. It felt nice, finally being able to entrust someone with his true origins.
Itachi showed no reaction to this information, despite his inner surprise. The Sanada were a famous Clan of Samurai all over the Elemental Nations. Even more so in recent years, when the current head, Sanada Mifune had become the General of Iron Country, its leader. No wonder Itachi found the cross around Mihawk's neck so familiar. It was something he'd seen the general wear before.
"Uchiha Itachi", he finally decided to follow suit. It was only polite after all. That being said, this was a bit of a gamble and a test. Itachi was a known criminal throughout the Nations and the Uchiha a prevalent ninja clan, known far and wide. He carefully watched Mihawk's reaction.
Mihawk wasn't surprised. He recognized the Uchiha name from some of his childhood teachings as a prominent ninja clan. One that had been constantly at odds with the Senju clan, if he recalled correctly, before finally creating a treaty with them and forming a ninja village.
"Konohagakure, was it?", he muttered to himself. The Land of Fire and the Land of Iron were neutral, last he knew so that was good news, as long as that fact hadn't changed. Judging from the fact he still enjoyed an attached head though, Mihawk chose to be positive for now.
"Hn."
A non-answer was best, Itachi felt. He had caught the recognition at the Uchiha name, yet the man seemed not to recognize him personally. That was good. He didn't quite know how the samurai would take their status as criminals. Mihawk was the only source of information they currently had and torture never did sit right with him.
"My family came here as escorts to a merchant 4 generations ago. There used to be a large island here at the time that had a travel point to and from the Elemental Nations. They used seals for it, as far as I know, to instantly travel between the places… Both sides flourished from the trade. It was too good to last, of course. At one point, the world government took offense to the growing strength of Hien, that's what the island here used to be called, and attacked."
"Stupid control freaks", Mihawk muttered bitterly before soldiering on.
"The attack managed to damage the network of seals badly enough for it all to blow up, killing everyone present and sinking the whole island into the sea. The whirlpool is where the travel point with the seals used to be located. There were no survivors. Only the remnants that had been away at the time of the attack were left. Some merchants, a few civilians on vacation, and a few samurai, that's all. If any ninja remained, they never did contact us and we never heard any rumors about them. By that time the seal had been in use for such a long time that nobody among the people remaining knew how to return without it. They eventually settled on another island, from where they tried to find a way back until a war slowly killed them off. We never did find anything, until today. Currently, I'm all that's left of them, as far as I know."
Itachi closed his eyes in sadness. A whole island with thousands of people... destroyed due to what sounded like selfishness. And wasn't it telling just how unsurprised Itachi was at that reason. He tried to recall if there had been signs of something that could fit with the man's story in recent history. Indeed, around 130 years ago the trade route between Rain Country and their long-standing trading partner had been cut off suddenly. There was news of disappearances and nobody ever returned, which eventually caused the Daimyo at the time to decree a travel ban and now nobody even remembered who that partner had been or how to contact them.
The ban never had been lifted. Now he knew why.
"I see.", was all he could finally say.
"I will not lie to you." Itachi decided to be honest. Mihawk's explanation had confirmed some theories he'd had and filled in holes he had not connected until then. Their mission was now complete and all that was left was to return. Which, judging by their experience and Mihawk's words, was likely to be the most challenging part. Returning the man would buy them some goodwill with the Iron Nations, which was never a bad thing. And if they couldn't return, then it was best they had a source of information on the area. Thus, he would play with open cards in this case, in order to win the samurai's trust and cooperation. If worse came to worst, they could still trade for information. And if the other didn't cooperate at that time… then even Itachi would do what must be done.
Mihawk held his breath. If that's how the ninja chose to start, then…
"We currently aren't certain we can return the way we came."
As expected…
"May I ask… how it is you arrived here?"
"A seal. We arrived at the bottom of that whirlpool."
Mihawk's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Just how had the ninjas survived that? Speaking of which, how many of them were there, really? Also, did this mean the seal was, against all odds, still intact down there? Would his ancestors have had the opportunity to go back all this time?
He had so many questions to ask he didn't even know where to start. He didn't know which of them, if any, the ninja would answer either.
"Then, what do you suggest?", because the ninja wouldn't have shared anything at all if he didn't want to cooperate in some way.
"Join our team until we return to the Nations. We work together."
Mihawk blinked before lowering his head in contemplation.
'Good, he didn't jump at the suggestion despite his apparent eagerness.', Itachi thought. He had also proven that he could hold his own in a fight to a degree, keeping up and pushing back Sasori, albeit the ninja hadn't been serious. Neither had the samurai though. He would have to properly test the man if he agreed. He needed at least a rough understanding of his strength to do his job as a captain properly.
The samurai was in two minds about the offer. On one hand, this could be the only chance he ever received to return to his ancestral land and to fulfill the dreams of his family, to re-join the clan and make sure they were safe.
On the other hand, joining their team would mean putting himself under the command of the Uchiha. He would have to follow his orders until they reached the Nations, even if that took years. And Mihawk had always liked his freedom. The ninja obviously knew his own honour wouldn't allow him to bail on this deal if he agreed, even if the seal did indeed not work anymore.
Itachi Uchiha had proven himself level-headed and his strength was apparent from the way his teammate chose to follow his orders without any reluctance. He seemed stoic and quiet. He also didn't try to trick Mihawk into anything by deceiving him about the chances of return, which meant he was willing to truly cooperate, not just order him around one-sidedly.
At least that's what he hoped this meant.
"If you agree not to order me to act against the core of the Code, I'll agree."
Right. The team consisting of ninja, Mihawk couldn't expect to keep completely to the Samurai Code. The very nature of the ninjas would clash too much with that. The core though, he would not compromise.
"Children, pregnant women, cruelty, keeping your word, loyalty", the Uchiha counted off.
Mihawk nodded. Those were the cores that had the potential to affect his membership of the team. He doubted anyone had a problem with him practicing the inner virtues, like self-control.
"Hn. We can work with that.", Itachi smiled slightly. He himself wasn't too keen on breaking any of those after all. Though he had, sadly, had to break four of them already. Making the samurai compromise this much was already surprising in itself.
Mihawk sighed in relief.
"Then for the duration of our agreement, I'll be in your care", the samurai stated. With those words, he was no longer a lone wolf. He couldn't help but be nervous about what the future would bring.
"Hn. Welcome to the team."
"Thank you, captain."
"Then, it's only fair for you to meet your teammates.", Itachi said as he got up and motioned his new subordinate to follow.
When they stepped outside, three unfamiliar faces greeted the samurai.
A small redheaded boy looking to be around 15, was casually leaning against the cabin they had just vacated. His hair was quite short and messy, his eyes a greyish-brown and he wore a long wine red hooded cloak that covered him fully otherwise. He seemed quite bored.
A taller blond ninja wearing the same getup was dangling his feet off the side of the boat while sitting casually on top of the cabin roof. His hair was pulled up into a high ponytail except for the long bangs covering his left eye. His eyes were an expressive leaf green colour. He flashed him a quite manic looking grin when he noticed his stare.
The last person was… a fishman? He hadn't known there were fishmen living in the Elemental Nations. Perhaps the reverse of what happened to Mihawk had happened to the ninja? It was possible.
Anyhow, he was tall, the only member of the group taller than himself and he had light blue skin. His hair was a short midnight blue, his eyes small and beady, accentuated by three sets of curved markings. The teeth he spied as the ninja grinned at him were sharp and triangular. Despite the lack of other distinguishing traits he could see, the man reminded him strongly of a shark. He, too, donned the full-body cloak the other two were wearing, over which a light brown strap was draped, which held the oversized bandaged sword on his back in place.
He was kind of happy he wasn't the only swordsman on the team.
Was that cloak some kind of uniform? They were all wearing it so he'd assume so.
His captain coughed lightly to get his attention before gesturing to each of the members in turn, beginning with the fishman.
"Hoshigaki Kisame, specializes in swordsmanship"
He moved on to the blonde.
"Deidara, specializes in explosives"
Finally, he turned to the redhead.
"Sabaku no Sasori, specializes in puppetry. You fought him earlier"
Ah… That explained the absence of his previous opponent. It turned out, he hadn't even fought a cyborg but a puppet… Huh. No wonder its eyes looked so dead. Other than that, that puppet was scarily realistic though.
"I'm Uchiha Itachi, specialty Genjustsu"
Genjustsu, huh… weren't those illusions? Mihawk had never fought against a proper illusionist before. Out here, the only ones remotely capable with them were only some specialized Devil Fruit users, which meant his chances of running afoul of one were slim.
"This is Dulacre Mihawk. He will be joining the team. Specializes in swordsmanship. Also will act as an informant should we not manage to get the seal to take us back."
'Ah', Mihawk thought in realization. That last part was most likely why Itachi had truly invited him to join them at their first meeting. The ninjas had no information on what lay outside the Nations. That explained a few things. It also relieved him a little, to be honest. He had wondered what the ninjas really got out of helping him.
It was nearly completely dark by now. It was probably safe to say that the team wouldn't do anything else today.
"Uh, I'd like to offer the boat's usage to the team. I did end up destroying yours after all."
He must have imagined the redhead's hand twitching slightly at the reminder.
Author's Note:
Here we are! Just to clear things up a bit... this is happening pre-canon. Pre-canon for one piece AND for naruto. That's why Mihawk seems weaker than he is in canon... please don't kill me? Take this second chapter for the day as a peace offering and forgive me, for I have sinned.