Peace, order and development. The ninja world had reached a time of tranquility after so many wars until the end. Only one person somehow managed to survive that extinction.
'How can I live with them dead?' Sakura thought in the middle of a crisis.
Her mind was disconnected from her body until for the sake of fate, Sakura came across the whitebeard pirates and her life took a 180° turn and entered a new chapter in her life. The last ninja has entered the great pirate age!
Notes: I have to say that this chapter intro just occurred to me, and I will implement it both here and in Spanish. I love it! The idea arose after thinking that in some stories they put the intro of Gol D Roger in the first seasons of the anime (I don't remember how many arcs they put it in)
When Sakura opened her eyes again, the first thing she noticed was that her body no longer felt on fire just by being aware and breathing didn't cause a stinging pain in her chest, she was definitely much better. She slowly sat on the bed and looked around her, she was in a cabin equipped with basic furniture, a dresser, a bureau, a mirror, and a bed.
Looking down at her hands, she found that she no longer had the chains on.
Ah, I tried to escape Sakura thought when she remembered what happened the last time she woke up, she hit Marco, tried to escape from the pirates, got into a fight with the captain, and ended up making a deal with the captain, he handed over the key to the handcuffs as a sign of trust.
She put her hand to her neck finding that she no longer had that heavy shackle that almost did not let her move her neck, they took it off while she was unconscious.
Silently she examined her body with some chakra. To begin with her levels were still low but at least they weren't dangerously low anymore, she had several old and new injuries, the most serious being her broken bones, if she wanted to recover and get out of here it will take at least a month and a half for them to heal for yes alone, using your chakra is not an option if you don't want to arouse suspicion, the pirates from the other ship knew that your devil fruit power was supposed to be super strength, in case these pirates know and she uses the little chakra she was able to accumulate so far to heal herself will raise suspicions.
Why did this have to happen? In the corner of her vision of her, on her bureau, she saw a glass of water and a plate of cold soup. Her throat felt dry, stretched out her hand and took the glass.
The silence in the room was as soothing as it was stifling. With this silence she could hear as if she were there with the vendors of the Konoha market selling their fresh produce very early in the morning, the laughter of the children once she entered the children's clinic, her friends laughing and complaining when they gathered together at the barbecue stall and Chouji ate almost all the meat they grilled and the smell of Teuchi's ramen whenever team seven met at least three times a week.
How did she end up here? Until now she has gone with the flow, doing everything she was told without any emotion, just waiting for the moment when the emptiness in her chest disappears. Is this a play of fate?
She felt a piercing gaze watch her from the back corner of the room, when she looked up the dull ache in her chest began to sting. There was her last hope and the reason for her abandonment.
"You're back, Naruto," Sakura whispered.
Leaning in the corner was Naruto, as dapper as the last time she'd seen him inside the Hokage's office learning from Kakashi for when he succeeds, only instead of receiving her with a smile, his gaze was cold and emotionless.
The first time she saw him was a few days after being sold to the tenryuubitos, they were on their way to Marie Geoise. That night was freezing, she was huddled in a corner of the deck of the boat, her fingers were numb from the cold and her body did not stop shaking due to the low temperature, sleep was a luxury that she could hardly have, no Because she had to watch out for wandering hands or something, it was more because her dreams were plagued with nightmares of the vague memories of the massacre. That night something made her look up, and she gasped at what she had there in front of her, she couldn't believe it, there was Naruto. She was so happy that the cold that ran through her entire body was replaced by a wave of heat, like a spring she got up from the ground and ran towards Naruto, screaming his name and rushing into his arms to cry on his shoulder or at least that's what she intended.
Passed through Naruto's silhouette
Stunned, her body began to tremble, the cold that had disappeared returning ten times more intense than what she felt before she saw Naruto's silhouette.
It was an illusion.
The staff who were on duty saw the scene and mocked her and she didn't listen to them. Her last hope and the rest of her almost withered emotions were shattered into a thousand pieces when she realized that seeing him fall from the sky next to her was nothing more than her imagination.
She was alone in this world.
Her strength disappeared along with her desire to live, what once was Haruno Sakura now only remained an empty shell that only followed the orders and punishments of those who wanted to break her without knowing that in reality she already was. She only had to wait for that deep pain to disappear like her existence.
Since that day the illusion of Naruto followed her regardless of whether it was day or night, always without her expecting him to appear. He just stood there looking at her with those cold lifeless eyes. A few times she tried to talk to him hoping that her crazed mind was insane enough to interact with her illusion, but she never did. In the end, seeing it was a deeper and more heartbreaking torture than the punishments of her masters.
"At least my mind should be able to make you talk, right?" she laughed emotionlessly, "you always had something to say even if it was the dumbest thing in the world until it irritated everyone, I can't believe I missed it."
As usual, Naruto didn't answer her. That he is there is yet another reminder that she is lonelier than ever.
She unconsciously squeezed the glass too hard, causing it to break and shards of glass to embed in her hand. Her emerald eyes went to the bright hot red blood that sped from her wounds.
This was only a small pinch compared to the pain in her chest.
She heard the door creak open.
"Ace, how many times do I have to tell you this food is not for you?" Marco said, entering annoyed with Ace.
"I'm hungry, she's not going to eat it anyway, she's been asleep for three days," Ace said, raising a spoonful from the bowl of soup in his hand to his mouth.
As the two pass through the door frame and look towards the bed the spoon in Ace's mouth fell to the floor. They were both surprised that she woke up so soon with the injuries she has. Then they noticed the blood dripping from her hand staining the sheets and the glass still embedded in her hand. Marco being the doctor was the first to react, he quickly went to her side and took the glass from her.
"Ace, bring me the rag," Marco said, pointing to the dish with water next to a clean rag on the dresser, he inspected the wound and began to remove the pieces of glass from his skin with small tweezers that were on the kit on the bureau, "Are you OK? It is dangerous to have broken glass, it seems that the wound is not deep."
Silently Sakura watched Marco work on her hand without making unnecessary movements, as a doctor she could see that he was doing a good job. At least this time they showed up she didn't end up hitting them. Now they were focused on seeing her wound and one of them on giving small and discreet sips of the bowl of soup that was supposed to be for her.
Her gaze returned to Naruto who was still in the background watching her silently.
"Sorry," Sakura muttered without really meaning it.
Ace, who was next to Marco watching Sakura, thought that since he saw her fight on the enemy ship, it seemed to him that Sakura was like an animal fighting for her life with the remaining energy she had and now, sitting on the bed, still dirty from head to toe, her hair matted, she looked like a different person. Now he couldn't take his gaze from her because of those lifeless eyes while she stared at the blood that flowed from her wound as if nothing.
He noticed her seeing beyond them, he followed her with his gaze to a corner of the room where there was nothing, he scratched his head in confusion.
"I slept for three days," Sakura muttered.
They both turned to look at her.
"It's normal because of your condition, you moved a lot when you woke up and you even tried to fight with Pops," Marco said, taking more care to stop the bleeding, "I'm surprised you're awake."
Marco began to talk about the injuries that were found on him, both internal and external, and the treatment that both he and the nurses gave him. Since she had already done her exam without their knowledge, she disconnected from the conversation, only nodding when she thought it was necessary.
"Here you go," Ace said from beside her.
Sakura blinked as she saw the bowl of soup near her face. If she remembers correctly, Marco had scolded him for eating the soup without permission, also, there was a trace of soup on one of the edges of the plate where he apparently slurped it. She reached out to take the plate when she took notice of her blackened arms.
"What?" Ace asked, a little impatient as she stopped halfway to take the plate.
Sakura noticed that there were signs that they tried to clean the dirt with a cloth but couldn't. In her arms, there were layers upon layers of dirt accumulated on top of the other due to the poor hygiene conditions she had with the Tenryuubitos for weeks. She wasn't surprised if looking in the mirror she looks the same way as her arms.
How are they holding their scent? She must stink worse than a sewer. At the hospital when homeless people came she would always fight with the nurses and doctors who tried to bribe each other to avoid treating that kind of patient. As a professional, treatment was more important than appearance so she scolded them, punished them, accused them with Tsunade so that she would punish them worse than hers and ended up treating the homeless as just another patient. She felt some respect for Marco for his professionalism, and Ace for coming along and acting like it was nothing until she remembered that they are both pirates.
She can't empathize with them.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Ace asked moving the soup a little closer to Sakura's face. It was still hot so it would be better to eat it now.
"Where's the bathroom?" she asked in return.
"Ah, yes, you must want to bathe," Marco said, since almost all of his patients are men, he forgot that many times women prioritize being clean. The nurses had told her this and tried to sponge bathe her but the dirt was so stuck to her skin that they might wake her up so they stopped trying, "We guide you.
Getting off the bed her legs lost their balance for a brief moment, her body leaned forward, the two boys stretched out their hands to support her and prevent her from falling but Sakura avoided the fall and their hands.
"I'm fine," she said a bit snappishly.
If both were offended they didn't say anything instead they moved on. They led her on the way to the bathroom, fortunately, they have not met any pirates. Lying down was very different from having to walk with her wounds, to prevent the wounds from opening up she had to go very slowly, she noticed that both boys matched their speed It was so obvious that even the clueless Naruto would have noticed even so her pride denied to her feeling even a little grateful, instead she decided this time to pay attention to Marco.
Marco told her a bit about the ship and explained that there are currently three women's bathrooms so they have a bit of privacy. One in the front, another in the back, and one near the commanders' bedroom because they have individual bedrooms near the commanders' room, which is why the trip was not very long.
Marco and Ace went in with her after checking that no one was inside, they heated the water in the tub for her using Ace's power -something that Sakura found ridiculous and useful at the same time, it's like a human heater-, and told her They showed all the personal hygiene products when they finished they left the room saying that they will call one of the nurses so that she can lend them a change of clothes.
Finally, alone in the bathroom, she removed her clothes, carefully wrapped the bandages, and stepped into the shower. With a sponge and a lot of soap, she began to carve her body, slowly and with great care the dirt began to give way on her body and hair until she finally saw her skin color again. When she finished she looked in the mirror, she was covered in wounds and had visibly lost a lot of weight, her clavicle, ribs and hip bones were very marked, and her cheekbones were a little sunken. Without the bandages, she could see every one of her wounds.
If there's one thing she prided herself on as a medic-nin, it's that by operating and healing people she learned not to leave a single scar, that included herself. Tsunade held the title of the best medical ninja in the world but she was also known for her "eternal youth" of hers, her youthful appearance was very important to her. Her teacher passed on all her knowledge of her and among them many beauty tricks, including erasing old wounds she once had from when she was a student at the academy, for example, healing the small wounds left behind by learning to use ninja weapons.
Since the fight in the forest of death, Sakura stopped being so vain with her appearance to focus on her ninja training, even after the great war she didn't worry about looking more feminine like Ino and Hinata, instead, she wore it proudly as a sign of her his hard work as a doctor and the envy of women for having hands as soft as a baby's, not a small blister or scar from his beginnings as a kunoichi and that was the case on his entire body until now.
Now that no longer mattered. With her clean body, she could appreciate the old and recent injuries that she has received since she woke up from falling from the sky. Her gaze dropped to the dragon mark on her leg. She tried not to give it much importance but just by looking at it, she could hear the boy's whisper saying that she is no better than garbage and that once a slave you always will be.
She turned her back on the mirror and went to the tub, carefully getting into it, letting out a sigh of relief when she managed to lie down. The hot water was on point for her, the muscles in her body for the first time in a long time began to relax.
What she did not expect is that when she had time for herself, her mind began to think of home. For a moment she forgot that this was a pirate ship, instead, she was in the Konoha bath house enjoying her day off with Ino, Temari, Tenten and Hinata, complaining about their busy lives and enjoying the latest gossip from the village.
"Ino, spit it out, you're dying to tell us," Sakura giggled until her friends and the bathhouse faded back to the hot tub inside the women's bathroom on a pirate ship.
She made a face.
How stupid he thought bitterly What would they have done in my place?
She tried to think how Ino, Temari or even Kakashi would have acted but his mind was blank. She ended up feeling overwhelmed, she slowly dove into the water until her entire body was submerged. Opening her eyes inside the water she found Naruto looking at her from the surface. They stared at each other.
Why, Naruto? Why did it have to be like this? She wondered for the thousandth time.
If you think this is hell you are wrong, hell has levels.
That phrase had haunted her since that man told her, it seemed almost like a curse that she kept remembering that phrase. A hell with various levels of torture and suffering? In any case, she is already at the lowest level.
At what point did it start to go wrong for her? A year ago? Two years ago? Since Hinata was kidnapped? The fourth ninja war? By becoming a genin? No, in those moments, although she had difficulties, there were also good moments.
Her lungs began to burn, the intensity began to increase as the seconds passed under the water watching Naruto's figure. Curiously, the sensation gradually numbed the overwhelming pain of loneliness and sadness as her vision began to see small black spots.
Suddenly, a pair of hands appeared from the surface and pulled her out, forcing her to take a deep breath interspersed with a violent cough.
De pronto, un par de manos aparecieron de la superficie y la sacaron obligándola a tomar una profunda bocanada de aire intercalado con una violenta tos.
"¿Estás bien?"
Looking up, he met one of the nurses, she had slightly wavy golden hair. The nurse stroked her back as an attempt at consolation.
"Tato, is everything alright?" Marco asked from the other side of the door. He had heard a noise.
"Yes, everything is fine," said Tato, the nurse.
Sakura's breathing normalized after a moment.
"That must have been dangerous, it seems that you're weaker than we thought to not have been able to get out of the water, a few more seconds and you would have passed out," said the nurse.
Sakura stared at him not sure how to respond, it was clear to her and the nurse that she was not in such bad shape that she can't get out of the water or Marco wouldn't have let her use the tub.
"Uh, yeah," she said quietly.
It was the first time she had spoken to one of the nurses so she felt a bit awkward. A part of her brain told her that being nurses they could be allies but another part of her told her that they are part of the pirate crew.
She didn't know how to act with them.
"My name is Tato, I'm one of the nurses, normally we take care of the captain's health but for now we've also taken turns to take care of you," Toto said.
"Sakura."
With the help of Tato Sakura got out of the tub, she was so tired from being out of breath that she let Tato dry her body.
"I was right, you're very pretty," said Tato giving a warm smile, "you have a nice color of hair, I didn't think it would be this color with so much dirt."
"Uh, thanks…" she thanked awkwardly.
"Your hair is very damaged, I think I'll have to cut it," said Tato. "Too bad, I don't have scissors here, I'll cut it another time."
Although Tato sounded a bit sad as she said that while examining Sakura's hair, Sakura wasn't quite sure how to feel, since she had grown her hair a year and a half ago, now it was down to her waist.
"Okay," Sakura said.
Tato finished brushing her hair, putting her bandages back on, and finally dressed her in an old short-sleeved dress that was too big for her because she was so thin. Nothing that a sewing kit can't fix.
"They're very scandalous but they're harmless, you'll see," said Tato.
Sakura snorted. "I don't like pirates,"
"If you think so, no one plans to force you otherwise, I think you've had enough." They both looked askance at the bandage she was putting on the dragon mark. It wasn't necessary to bandage it but she still did it.
When Tato finally finished dressing Sakura, they opened the bathroom door. Marco and Ace were sitting in the hallway when they looked up, their mouths dropped open and the plate in Ace's hands fell to the floor. The two of them were stunned when they saw a girl with cotton candy hair, emerald eyes, and light skin color come out, her white dress was baggy and she was covered in bandages. Who's that Girl?
"What?" Sakura asked with a more brusque tone than she expected. The two of them were making her uncomfortable by staring at her.
The nurse next to her chuckled softly.
"What?" Ace repeats upon regaining consciousness, "Who are you?"
How rude Sakura thought as a vein popped on her forehead.
"Sakura, who else?" she said, crossing her arms.
Both of their eyes almost pop out of their sockets in surprise. Who would have believed that a girl like that was under all that dirt? After all her pink hair was completely black and there was not a single part of her clean skin.
Marco coughed a little.
"I'm sorry, we didn't think you'd change so much after taking a bath," Marco apologized.
Sakura had to reluctantly accept, if she hadn't known each other her whole life she would have been surprised too.
"There are no slave baths."
The three of them felt a little uncomfortable.
"You look much better than before, still you have to be careful," said Marco.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura looked at Tato waiting for her to say something about drowning in the tub but she didn't mention it, maybe she'll say it another time without her being present, after all he's her boss, right?
"I have to go back to the captain, if you need anything you know where to find me," the nurse said before leaving.
Now only the three of them are left standing in the hallway.
"I think the beginning has been a bit complicated, I'll introduce myself again, I'm Marco, commander of the first division of the Whitebeard crew" Marco said, stretching out his hand to Sakura in greeting.
Sakura's eyes traveled from the outstretched hand to Marco's face.
"Sakura, yesterday I said it.
Without saying anything about it Marco retracted his hand and nudged Ace instead.
"Portgas D. Ace, Commander of the Second Division,"
Ace and Sakura didn't make the slightest hint of shaking hands like Marco tried.
"I guess you must be hungry," Marco said, "Ace ate your food, if you feel up to walking we can go to the kitchen and ask Tatch to make you another soup."
"I want to tour the ship," Sakura said. If they treated her as her guest, they wouldn't say no, if they told her no... Well, she could see that they didn't keep her promises and run away.
Contrary to what he expected, Ace and Marco gave him a tour of the ship. On the way they ran into other pirates who, just like them, did not hide their surprise when they saw her clean appearance, some even called her a girl or pinky, earning a withering look that they ignored. She was taken from end to end of the ship, she memorized every little nook and cranny, from places to hide if necessary to useful places to attack. They showed her the area of her bedrooms, she was given a single room that was next to Ace, Marco, the other commanders and the nurses. She couldn't hide her surprise when they took her to the weapons room.
"Don't make that face, you're not a prisoner," Ace said before smiling proudly, "if you dare to attack us you won't be able to beat me, you won't be able to hurt me."
As a matter of fact, he brandished a sword over his hand that passed through it harmlessly, instead small flames appeared where the blade passed on more than one occasion. At that moment when he gloated over her strength, Sakura frowned, now understanding how she saw one of the pirates from the previous ship pierced by some kind of fire bullets.
It is not just a human heater but a torch.
Reluctantly, she had to accept that fighting him would be difficult unless she found a way to throw him into the sea, not to mention that it would be the same with the other companions. Destroying the ship might be his best option.
After that they took her to other parts of the ship until they ended up on the deck.
"It took longer than I thought, Thatch must be serving the food," Marco said.
Beside her Ace began to drool thinking about what Thatch must have cooked. If he remembers correctly that morning they caught huge fish from the ocean, his stomach seconded making noise.
"You can come if you want," Marco invited him.
Being in an enclosed space with a lot of pirates didn't appeal to her much, besides she wasn't very hungry.
"I'm fine here."
The two didn't insist and left Sakura alone on the deck, there weren't many pirates, most likely only the ones who had their turn to watch were left. She walked along the rail for a while until she decided to go to the stern, logically, most pirates wanted to see the sea or the route the ship was taking. As she suspected, there were no pirates so she comfortably sat on the rail and swung her legs in the air. Her gaze was fixed on the vast and immense sea.
Only accompanied by her thoughts, with the wind brushing her face, the sun's rays on her skin, and the smell of sea salt in the air, did she have time to think that the sea now seemed larger and more overwhelming than ever. There was no one on her neck trying to tame her or wait for the moment when she showed weakness. In her missions, only she saw it as the sea, a part of Konoha's geography, she now knew that everything she believed was wrong.
How is it possible that in all these years that she has lived and traveled to other countries and villages, no one realized that the continent was really just an island? Had they gotten so caught up in the wars between the villages that they never thought of exploring beyond the sea?
Not far away, standing on the sea, the silhouette of Naruto appeared watching her.
"What would you do, Naruto?" she whispered knowing she wasn't going to get a response from her hallucination.
Amaba y odiaba el haberse vuelto loca como para ver a Naruto sin meterse en un genjutsu. Amaba verlo porque la reconfortaba el no sentirse sola, pero al mismo tiempo, lo odiaba porque ese consuelo se volvía más doloroso al recordar que todos están muertos.
Only until healed before leaving this pirate ship according to promise.
A couple of steps were heard next to her, and when she turned around she found Marco with a steaming bowl of soup in his hands.
"You need to eat," Marco told her as he stood next to her. "I promise Ace didn't eat it this time, Thatch and I made sure of that.
Sakura caught a glimpse of Naruto's silhouette still there over the sea before turning back to Marco. She wasn't very hungry.
"It's not poisoned if that worries you."
And if I were, it wouldn't be a problem either Sakura thought. It's not like she wanted to die at pirate hands but she didn't have much of a choice with her state.
"You shouldn't sit on the railing."
She was silent waiting for her to continue.
" The weather in the sea of the Grand Line is unstable, it can be sunny and suddenly storms, waterspouts or snowfalls appear. You can lose your balance and you will not be able to get out of the sea because you are a devil fruit user."
Couldn't they put another name than "devil fruit"? Sakura thought.
Sakura had already experienced the whims of this sea on her trip to the Mary Geoise, that time she had to endure the changes on deck with only the clothes she was wearing at the time. She wasn't going to get off just for that reason.
When Marco took the hint, he gave her the bowl of soup and left.
Only two months Sakura thought, fiddling with her soup.
The days consisted of getting up, cleaning up, going to the check-up so Marco can follow up on his injuries and finally sitting the rest of the day on the railing that became her place . There she would stay most of the day, almost like a statue, she would watch the immense sea swaying in the distance until it got dark and she would return to her room.
The first two days after she woke up were irritating, she had to pretend that she didn't see the crew who were curious to see the "pinky guest who almost looked like they changed her for another after taking a bath", on more than one occasion she wanted to yell at them who isn't called pinky but she put up with it, she preferred to have the slightest contact with those pirates. In the following days that calmed down.
Only Marco, Ace - who she took for granted were her watchmen in case she broke the deal - and from time to time Commander Thatch who brought her plates of food or drinks that she hardly touched, approached. Much to her chagrin, Marco and Thatch would sometimes stay with her to see that she ate until they were satisfied or satisfied as far as she allowed them because she ate no more than half, even less when she noticed more portions being discreetly served to her.
The ones she became most familiar with were the nurses, she didn't count them as pirates because they were hired to keep an eye on Whitebeard's health. What she noticed about them is that they accompanied her every time she wanted to take a bath with the excuse that they wanted to help her put the bandages on after the bath. Since she did not feel comfortable revealing that she is actually a doctor, she let them do what they wanted, besides, she suspected that they had done this so that she would not have an "accident" in the bathtub again.
As she began to familiarize herself with her new routine, she began to feel irritated. Excluding Ace, Marco, and the occasional visit from Thatch, no other pirates had come near the stern of the ship since the third day, especially near the corner she had chosen as her zone.
It would not have taken importance if it were not because she noticed the small details put her in a bad mood:
One, they only went if they absolutely had to. Whenever the pirates came near her area, they made as little noise as possible worked fast, and left without even trying to talk to her.
Two, it was always clean. It's not that she likes mess, rather she never saw a pirate go to the stern and clean up, they did it when she wasn't around.
Three, they never behaved rudely or tried to sneak into her bedroom and the captain, especially Whitebeard, there were times when they ran into each other on the way, their eyes met and it didn't go beyond that, he didn't speak to her. A small part of her is grateful for it and the other part irritated her for being grateful and annoyed that it seemed like an invitation from her that he will talk to her until she does. She won't, she's had enough of pirates.
By the time she realized it, almost two weeks had passed since she made the deal with Whitebeard. Like the previous days, currently, Sakura was sitting on the railing looking at the ocean and Naruto standing on it.
"Here you are."
She turned her face towards the pirate who had just arrived, meeting Tatch who had a bowl of soup in his hand. It was already past noon so food was going to be served soon. Sakura had to bite her tongue as she almost blurted out where else would she be if she was always here, instead, she handed over the bowl of half-eaten porridge Marco handed her at breakfast and received the soup before leaving. direct the view to the sea again.
Tatch took the bowl of porridge and laughed nonchalantly. "Isn't the food nice?"
When Sakura turned to see him, Thatch's smile grew bigger, although the pink-haired girl's face was emotionless at least she was paying attention. Both he and Marco are aware that every time they tried to talk to her she pretended to listen to them but it was obvious that her mind was elsewhere, Ace just looked at her from afar and with the nurses she apparently treated them differently.
"No, it's fine," Sakura said, fiddling with her soup.
When Thatch laughed, Sakura tilted her head slightly, she hadn't said anything funny.
"Yeah, okay," she said quietly. It is not whether the food was good or not, she did not feel the taste of the food, she only noticed that the bread was soft and crunchy because it was freshly made and the soups were hot.
"It's just okay," Thatch repeated humorously.
Probably a lot of renowned chefs would be offended if they were told that his food is fine, instead for him it's just fine was refreshing. That a chef stagnates gloating over his achievements and does not reinvent himself is not worth it. Here is just what he was looking for.
"It's good to know that it's not because of the taste that you don't eat." Although the clothes had clearly been sewn to fit her, she still looked very skinny. I accept the challenge, "I will make a meal so delicious that you will cry and not want to stop eating."
Sakura had to bite the tip of her tongue not to comment on it or he'll want to do something more extravagant. These pirates were weird, she never called his food horrible or dared him to do better. She just wanted to sit and look at the sea and Naruto until she was one with the wind.
"A girl as pretty as you should eat more, gaining weight is not bad."
Sakura shuddered slightly when she remembered Ino, there was not a single day that she said how important it is to diet to look good, beside her Choiji and Shikamaru complained that she always said the same thing, Shikamaru told her that she is a troublemaker and Choiji said that he thinks she was fine, that only made Ino angry. There were times that she in one way or another convinced her to both go on diets and at that moment, team seven and ten sabotaged their attempts to break it.
A painful lump formed in her throat.
Wanting to stop the tears from starting to flood her eyes, she turned to see Ace who was not far from them leaning against the railing. When he felt a look on himself, he looked up and his eyes met. For a couple of hours Ace had leaned on his usual spot to keep an eye on her. Neither of them looked away from the other.
Noticing that Sakura was staring at a point that wasn't the sea, Thatch followed her until he found Ace, his big smile softened as he remembered Ace's first steps on the ship.
"He's not as bad as he seems.
"Don't tell me," she said listlessly.
Se sintió un poco emocionado, ella le estaba hablando más de lo necesario. En cuanto el se vaya se lo irá a presumir a Marco y a Pops. Se acercó un poco más a Sakura y le susurró.
He felt a little excited, she was talking to him more than necessary. As soon as he leaves he will show it off to Marco and Pops. He leaned a little closer to Sakura and whispered to her.
"He's just a little grumpy, his pride was hurt when you hit him."
Sakura frowned, a sinister aura escaping from her that disappeared as soon as it appeared, both Ace and Thatch felt a slight chill and wondered if it was an illusion.
"Is it because I'm a woman?"
"What? Ha ha ha no no! Sorry if he sounded like that, Ace is a very impulsive brat. He is like that with any man or woman who catches him off guard.
To Sakura, Ace is the most irritating pirate of all on this ship, more so than Marco and Thatch who were the ones trying to talk to her. Almost every day Ace would go to the stern for a couple of hours and he would watch from a distance, although it didn't seem like it she kept an eye on him until shortly after she lost interest in him.
He's so weird, if his duty is to keep an eye on her then he's the worst for the job. He could be watching her and from one second to the next she would start to get sleepy and he would fall asleep with such peace that he would lie on the floor to snore. She even hated herself once the day he scared her at lunchtime, that time he began to eat the food that Marco brought him near her, while they were eating suddenly Ace's head crashed against the plate, she almost had a heart attack and her medical side almost came to light to go check what had happened to her until she heard his snoring.
He is definitely the most hateful of all the pirates on this ship.
"I didn't ask for a babysitter, I keep my promises, I won't attack you unless you do," Sakura whispered.
Thatch had to resist the urge to sigh. He knew that somehow Ace's behavior would make Sakura misunderstand the situation. She is a patient and a guest, of course Pops asked to take care of Sakura and there is no one better for that than Marco and Ace to trust the task or at least Marco because Ace was not doing that.
"You are our guest. Ace is a good boy"
She couldn't believe that the word "good" could go together with a pirate. She decided not to say about it, instead, she started to play with her soup bowl, if she thought about it it's not like they were mean to her either... Finally, her sight returned to the sea right at the point where she found Naruto. Just looking at her friend brought happy memories of everyone living together in Konoha before being replaced with the few memories of that attack that left her alone. She again felt a lump in her throat and her eyes began to sting until a stabbing pain appeared in her head extending to the tip of her feet, the pain was so strong that she shuddered. Thatch seeing this went to her and held her shoulders so she wouldn't fall into the water when Sakura suddenly pushed him to the ground.
Sakura didn't want to push him so hard, the pain was so intense that she didn't measure her strength. She didn't dare look at him.
"If you don't have anything else to say, go away," she said trying to control his panting.
She waited to hear his claim and perhaps even take this opportunity to say that she has broken her promise to do no harm. Thatch said nothing to her, instead he got up off the ground and walked away. When Sakura stopped listening to her footsteps she turned towards the stairs, he had left, and she bit her lip feeling guilty. She again heard footsteps coming from behind.
Ace.
Spinning her entire body on the railing, she came face to face with Ace.
"Go ahead, I broke the promise, you can attack me now, I owe it to you because I hit you, right?" Her anger exploded, and she flung the bowl of soup at Ace's feet.
To her surprise Ace didn't yell at her or try to hit her, actually, he silently bent down and took the pieces from the plate and left.
Why? Why do things have to be like this? She put her hand to her chest. Alone, she was finally able to lower her guard and take deep breaths trying to calm her heart that was beating a thousand per hour and the headache that seemed to want to split her in two.
She leaned forward as the waves of headache became so intense that she nearly lost consciousness. Memories of that fateful day came to her mind. Chaos, flames burning everywhere, lifeless bodies on the ground, people screaming in despair and terror , among the memories she saw Naruto screaming her name, he had a large head wound from which a lot of blood came out, and his clothes it was stained a deep red color and looked very tired. Despite her injuries, he had reached her.
"Sakura-chan! Hold on!"
Those words echoed. Why until now? As much as she had tried to remember the events of that day, nothing came to her mind until now. She searched the sea for Naruto's silhouette but it had disappeared. Could it be that Naruto was the last one she saw alive and that's why his ghost haunts her? If so, she now understands why it is that she only sees Naruto and she imagined both of them falling into the sea.
Just a little more she thought tiredly. Why does she have to follow through on the promise she made with a pirate? They are famous for being treacherous. Sakura just has to wait to recover at least 50% of her chakra and run away from this place that confuses her. She just wants it all to end.
A huge noise erupted from the front of the ship at the same time as the ship shook. Her emerald eyes widened, in the forward part of the ship from the sea emerged two huge beasts that made the mobydick look like a fishing boat. The alarms were heard when the watchmen shouted kings of the sea. The sea stirred again before a third sea king appeared, the three of them began a fierce fight against each other.
People started to move quickly to avoid the war zone or the ship will capsize.
The water to its side began to churn, something was emerging from it as the water cascaded down from the object. A pair of large yellow eyes appeared in front of her.
Ace entered the kitchen with the broken plate in his hands. In the background was Thatch chopping vegetables on a board, he glanced at Ace before going back to what he was doing.
"She did not eat."
It was not a question. A small bead of sweat rolled down Ace's forehead.
"My plate slipped, that's why it's broken."
"Too bad, I just have to make it more delicious," he huffed with amusement at Ace's poor excuse. After hearing Ace throw the pieces of the plate into the trash, he continued talking, "It reminds me of when you arrived at the ship, distant and distrustful, only she doesn't try to kill Pops, you were tenacious." He could imagine Ace giving him goosebumps, "it was more than a hundred times that you tried it and you always fell into the water, right?"
"You're exaggerating!" Ace said embarrassed.
"Was that so?" he continued, mocking, "I remember the others taking turns to see who was the next to pull you out of the water.
"Ugh…"
Thatch laughed loud and hard.
"Look at you now, quite a second division commander. Even now you're still surprised, I thought you'd be upset, you were always the first to want to jump into action if one of our people got hurt. You just stare at Pinky," Thatch said before realizing anything until now. Of course, no one would suspect that! "ah, I knew that this day would come, I didn't expect it to be so soon."
Ace, who didn't understand what he was talking about, discreetly approached the table where the fruits were and took an apple. Since Thatch didn't seem to be watching whether or not she was stealing food like on other occasions, he ventured to bite into it. "What are you talking about?"
"Ho ho, you don't have to be ashamed, it's something everyone goes through at least once. We were all surprised to see that such a pretty girl was hiding under all that dirt, I don't blame you for being in love with her."
Ace spat out the apple.
"I am not in love!"
Thatch raised her eyebrow, not at all convinced. "Everyone avoids her except Marco, you and me. You go almost every day but you only watch it from a distance."
Ace's cheeks turned red.
"It is not like this…"
"There's even a bet that she'll end up yelling at you that you're a stalker and rejecting you before you even propose, seriously, it's creepy, don't go down that path of love."
"That's not it!" Ace yelled again when he saw that he wasn't being heard. "Aah, it's like you said, when I arrived by force I didn't want to be here, the least I wanted was for people to talk to me, I…"
"I know," Thatch said.
Before continuing to speak they were interrupted by a strong jolt, shortly after they heard the screams of their companions who went up to the deck. When they left they saw three sea kings fighting among themselves. Immediately the two of them ran to give instructions to their subordinates.
Sakura Ace thought, remembering that she always sat on the railing despite Marco warning her that she could fall into the sea. With the shaking and the chaos, if it has fallen, no one will have noticed until it is too late. Taking long, quick steps he went to the back of the ship, almost reaching the bottom of the stairs he stopped abruptly.
Sitting on the railing was Sakura with her face devoid of emotions, her emerald eyes staring straight ahead, a few centimeters from her she had the muzzle of a sea king, and the yellow eyes of that beast stared at Sakura's. It seemed like a staring contest between the two of them as if to determine who was above whom. Neither of them moved and even, to Ace, it seemed that Sakura had an aura of almost resignation around her.
Slowly the sea king opened his snout, only his fangs were the size of Sakura. She continued without moving or showing any hint of emotion.
The black-haired man lunged forward even before his mind could react. He grabbed Sakura by the waist, pushed them both backward just as the beast had pounced to eat her, and then from her fist he released a great flame of fire big enough to draw the attention of his comrades.
Lying on the ground with Ace's arm still around Sakura's waist, they saw several of the crew come up to fight the beast. Since no one was paying attention to them, Ace seized the moment, got up next to Sakura, and pulled her away. Sakura let herself be guided by Ace, not knowing what they were up to until they reached the pinkhead's room. A dark shadow covered Ace's eyes.
Ace took her by the shoulders.
"Are you crazy? What the hell were you thinking?!"
He was so upset, she had only stared at the sea king, she didn't yell, move or show any emotion at the beast. Even now he felt his anger rise as he saw that she hadn't even bothered to yell at him like she did with Thatch, instead her emerald eyes drifted to the corner. There she was again, since the day she woke up after the pact she made with Pops, she has seen her divert her gaze towards a specific point as if she saw something that was not there and in the sea, although it seemed that it was the sea that she was seeing, he felt that it wasn't like that.
"Do you want to die?"
Sakura bit her lip. Why did he have to save her? She had already accepted her fate.
"A sea king is not a game!"
Something inside her snapped. She couldn't stand it.
"Why do you have to be here? You always arrive and keep quiet! Are you looking for a weakness? I don't have, they all died, you won't get anything from me! Why aren't you like Marco and Thatch? They just talk and then leave but you don't! Why don't you go and leave me alone!" Sakura yelled furiously.
All the anger inside Ace disappeared.
"Because being alone is painful."
Sakura caught her breath for a few seconds before regaining her sanity.
"Who said I'd rather be with you?" You don't know me!
"And neither do you!"
Sakura closed her mouth.
"It's clear to us that you hate pirates, I'm not saying that what you went through wasn't bad," Ace said trying to control his emotions so as not to seem angry. Makino taught him to be better than this. He relaxed his grip on Sakura's shoulders, "Not all pirates are so despicable, we want to show you that but no matter how hard they try, you avoid them."
"I didn't ask to be saved, I-"
"Didn't you deserve to live?"
She didn't have to answer how come… Her mind flashed back to the memory of Naruto reaching out to her.
Sakura-chan, hold on
Next to Ace, Naruto's silhouette appeared. Ace noticed that he again saw a point where there was nothing.
"We don't want you to die... I'm not the one who decides if living is worth living or not for them... If you want to die ahead, I won't be the one to stop you. It's your decision."
After that he left in silence leaving Sakura alone and dismayed. Before she knew it, Sakura sat on her bed while she was deep in her thoughts. She carefully lifted her blouse enough to reveal her belly, there were the red marks of Ace's handprints from when he took her away from the sea king, not only there but also beginning to appear on her shoulders. She only made her disgust and confusion increase.
How is it that out of everyone in this crew, it was Ace who knew what she was hiding in the back of her mind?
Why do they have to be so considerate? Why! I hate them! Sakura thought. Her eyes began to sting again. It would be easier if they behaved like the pirates they are.
How can she live when her friends are dead?
It didn't take long for the sea kings' attack to end, yet Sakura didn't come out for a long time. She didn't feel like going to her usual place and looking at the sea.
"What should I do, Naruto?" She asked the figure of Naruto that was still in the corner of the room.
As always, he didn't answer.
Live or die, how could she deserve to live when the others died? Why do they want her alive? Are they up to something once she recovers? She couldn't stay still, she still has to make a full recovery and if she was going to stay on this ship until then, there was no point in confining herself, she was not afraid of them, it was best to watch them and reveal their intentions and thus hate them like to the other pirates.
Full of motivation, she left the room towards the dining room, for the hour they will surely be having dinner. Upon reaching the door he could hear the laughter and shouts of the pirates from the other side, surely they were celebrating. She hesitated for a moment until she remembered Marco, Thatch, Ace and Whitebeard.
I'm not afraid of them she told herself determined.
As soon as the door opened, the pirates fell silent, looking at Sakura in surprise. None could believe what they were seeing. Did they drink too much? Only Whitebeard who was in her seat watched her with her eyes shining with interest.
"What? Have you ever seen a woman?" She said frowning.
Whitebeard and the oldest on the ship burst out laughing. The girl who seemed to live up to a mysterious island that was destroyed. They did not expect her to have decided to come live with them so soon. What else will be inside that pink Pandora's box?
"Come on girl, don't get carried away by these children," said Whitebeard. He patted his table for her to come sit down, "you must be hungry.
Proud still with all those wounds. Whitebeard smirked as she sat down at the table he shared with the other commanders, even though Sakura didn't like them here she was wanting to show that she wasn't going to run away.
"You've finally arrived," said Whitebeard, "I've heard that you spend your days watching the sea, I don't blame you, everyone ends up in love, if you're not careful, you'll want to travel in search of adventure."
Sakura snorted as she smiled.
"In that case I'll be careful, I've had enough of romance for now," she said with a slightly bitter tone.
Some discreetly looked at Ace elbowing each other as they chuckled and Thatch patted him on the back, when he realized what they were trying to say he glared at them. Whitebeard raised an eyebrow before laughing.
"You're just a girl, you'll see."
Sakura frowned. "My name is Sakura," she said a little annoyed, "it's not Pinky or a girl and I'm nineteen years old."
She said it loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Okay, Sakura ," Whitebeard said at ease. "I hope the sea king didn't scare you too much, I was informed that Ace helped you, it's understandable that you got paralyzed, the first time they make an impact.
Sakura glanced sideways at Ace, maybe he told him what happened. "It's no more amazing than other things I've seen," she said with a slight touch of nonchalance.
Apparently this pleased and amused the pirates, some began to murmur that the girl did have guts. Very soon the people began to relax and the atmosphere returned to being boisterous and happy.
Thatch took the opportunity to give him his new and improved bowl of soup. Sakura wasn't very hungry but she forced herself to eat since she didn't have many options. Taking a spoonful of food to her mouth, she felt a penetrating gaze. It was Ace who was on the other side of the table two places from Whitebeard.
"What?" Sakura asks.
"What?" Ace asks.
A vein appears on her forehead. It seems that he was going to continue with the same behavior as always. She wasn't going to fall for his taunts so she refocused on her plate.
Her stomach was actually in a knot from being here with them but at least she was going to force herself to eat half of it to show that she's not afraid of them, that Ace is wrong and will find fault with them.
This will perhaps be her last job as a ninja.
Notes: I hope Sakura's attitude doesn't seem a bit tedious to you, it's like that because she's alone, her people died so she has the symptoms of survivor's guilt plus she ultimately doesn't trust people because of what she's been through.
Leaving that aside I hope you liked the chapter! See you in the next one.
Greetings!