Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece. However, that doesn't stop me from writing stories set in their worlds! Though, if they really wanted to, they could probably stop me from doing so.
Whisker-marked Pirates
Chapter 4: Hunger, in more ways than one!
The three men and one woman sat around a small plate filled with red and orange-striped fish in it, each locking eyes with one another, emanating an air of deadly intent. Undoubtedly, a battle worth fighting.
The Yellow Star had been sailing towards Loguetown for a full week and it was abundantly clear that a single backpack filled with canned food wasn't going to make this voyage enjoyable, especially considering the presence of not two, but four famished souls aboard the ship.
Breaking the silence, Naruto began, "How about—" but before he could finish, Karin swiftly interjected, "How about next time you think before going to sleep? Who knows for how long we've been sailing in the wrong direction!"
Naruto sighed, recognizing the fact that arguing with Karin was pointless. Fortunately, Shikamaru came to his aid, "Don't be too hard on him, Karin. Even the strongest among us can fail at staying awake."
Before Karin could launch into her habitual argumentative routine with the dark-haired boy, Obito spoke without hesitation, his eyes on the gray clock adorning his right hand's wrist, "Naruto, it's time for training."
Naruto struggled to rise from the fatigue brought on by the lack of food, yet he pulled himself and stood up. Weakness was not an option; the tales of his parents and Obito had instilled in him with knowledge of the New world, and just how dangerous and strong foes there are.
Shikamaru, as per usual, layed near the ship's wheel, gazing out over the edge of the ship. However, this time Karin was having none of it.
"Take the fishing rod and catch something. NOW!" she demanded, noticing the lack of… anything that the boy had done for days.
"Do you not remember my role? I am the navigator, after all," Shikamaru retorted with a yawn.
Karin scoffed, "And how's that been working out? Maybe if you had bothered to check during the night, we would already be anchored at some island by now?"
Shikamaru raised his hands in surrender, unwilling to engage in further bothersome arguments. "I thought I had finally escaped my mother," he muttered under his breath silently, so as to not get any more annoying complaints from the red head.
Karin herself started cleaning the cabin for what it seemed to be a thousandth time. 'I'm not some sort of maid,' she thought angrily to herself.
XxX
As Naruto readied his long gray sword, the scarred man extended his hand, signaling him to halt.
"Huh?" Naruto's reaction seemed more childish than he intended.
"That training part is done and dusted. Your grip and swings have improved just enough to advance to the next stage, or more accurately, the first one I intented" Obito grinned, his gaze turning menacing as he locked eyes with the blond.
"So, what comes next—?" Naruto attempted to ask, but before he could finish, Obito swiftly launched forward, striking him in the stomach with the wooden sword. The whisker-marked boy crumpled to the ground.
"What's gotten into you, old man?" Naruto barely managed to utter his last words.
Obito seized Naruto by the collar and gently set him on the ground, the young ninja struggling to maintain his breathing.
"The next step is combat. And I intend to show you that it won't be pretty. Stand your ground and fight!" Obito commanded, even though Naruto's stance was shaky.
"So I guess we're back at square one? Heh, I guess I improved enough," he said to himself, thinking back on the fact that the initial form of training involved straight-up fights. For whatever reason, it seems that this time Obito is a lot more serious about hurting him.
Naruto unsheathed his incredibly sharp sword, assuming his improved fighting stance. His left foot was positioned behind him, while his right leg extended farther from his body, aligned with his sword. His right arm was aimed at Obito, while his left aligned with his opposite leg.
In mere moments, Naruto lunged at Obito with a speed that surprised even himself. However, as usual, Obito's reflexes outmatched his, allowing him to evade each of Naruto's swings effortlessly.
'Is there truly no opening to strike him? Does he honestly believe I'm incapable of landing a hit? Why does he insist on training with a real sword instead of a wooden one?' Naruto questioned himself internally after every missed strike, while the scarred man appeared thoroughly uninterested.
It wasn't long before Naruto's determination began to waver. It took nearly an entire day for him to exhaust himself completely, achieving the feat by the time the ship's interior was scathed with numerous sword slashes.
Once Naruto fell on the ground, without uttering a word, Obito returned to the cabin. Naruto found himself ruminating aloud, "How am I supposed to overcome this?" he voiced his thoughts.
"You don't," came the nonchalant response from the bored Nara, who seemed engrossed in a book given to him by Obito.
The blond just grumbled under his breath, knowing full well just how much of a difference there was between the two of them. "Just you wait, old man," Naruto said aloud, and started doing his previously neglected morning training: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 pull-ups, and repeat until you can't stand up. However, he couldn't go further than 10 push-ups before falling on the ground out of exhaustion.
Shikamaru, seeing that Naruto was more fatigued than he was alive, decided to step in. A shadow lurked around Naruto, and stopped him in the midst of a sit-up.
"Get that thing off of me, Shikamaru," Naruto gasped, his breath now fully gone.
Shikamaru just sighed and mumbled something about "bothersome," before moving along with Naruto and sitting him down on the ground. "Don't you think that training too hard might be a bit bad for you?" the black-haired boy asked.
Naruto stayed silent, acutely aware that excessive training could and would indeed hinder his physical state and endurance—or worse, lead to his death.
"Whatever," he grumbled, before heading to the cabin to get his so much desired sleep.
XxX
The Uchiha's ship, named "Armagedon," sailed swiftly across the sea, making remarkable progress. It had been a considerably long journey, but with each passing day, they drew nearer to the East Blue, where their intel indicated Obito's whereabouts.
"Sasuke, keep some distance from the edge. The sea's currents can be unpredictable," Itachi advised, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon, his expression inscrutable.
The raven-haired boy grinned, a sight of eagerness in his eyes. "At last, I'll be a part of something important. We'll execute the traitor." The words carried more venom than Itachi had anticipated Sasuke ever having.
Itachi was renowned across the world as a formidable force. Despite possessing average Haki skills and not possessing a Devil Fruit, he had defeated some of the world's strongest beings solely with the prowess of his clan's iconic Sharingan. Even a Yonko would have trouble fighting against him.
"Remember, he was one of us that took the wrong path. If it were up to me, I'd let him be and move on," the elder Uchiha confessed.
Sasuke scoffed, his tone dripping with disdain. "Traitors deserve death. What kind of coward abandons his homeland in its darkest hour? What kind of coward switches sides, aligns with the traitors of the whole Ninkai country, joins the Yellow Storm Pirates, and then decides to become a part of the World Government?"
Before Sasuke could escalate further, Itachi intervened, his voice calm yet firm. "And so what if he did? He had made his choices, and if our paths cross again, we'll meet as adversaries. But to go to such lengths, to go out of our way seeking revenge, it's irrational. Our father is a brilliant man, but his bloodthirst always get in the way of achieving something big."
"Why do you always try to paint yourself as a 'Pacifist'? We're Uchiha, and that man is a disgrace to our clan. It's our responsibility to eliminate scum like him," Sasuke persisted.
Itachi just sighed. He knew that his brother wasn't reasonable, or experienced enough for a trip like that. The world Sasuke has witnessed was small; he had only left the Ninkai country a couple of times.
"Don't act recklessly, Sasuke. Your pride isn't worth throwing your life away for," Itachi said before retreating into the ship's entirely black cabin.
"Weakling," Sasuke muttered quietly, watching his brother's slow walk towards the ship's wheel.
XxX
(A few days later)
Every day seemed to blend into the next, a monotonous routine for Shikamaru. Mornings began with Karin screaming at them, followed by Naruto's inspection of the ship while he worked with compass and map to steer the ship in the right direction. While Karin took charge of cleaning and cooking.
Hours later, after the boys were up, Obito would awaken, and the brutal training would start between him and Naruto. To call it a fight would be an overstatement; Obito essentially pummeled Naruto into submission for a four-hour stretch, leaving the blond practically dead for the rest of the day.
As the long day drew to a close, the usually pathetically small rations awaited the exhausted crew.
"Come on, Karin, can't you spare a bit more?" Naruto pleaded, and slumped near the mast.
"Not a chance. Y'know, It's better to ration and eat a little each day than go without food for the entire day," she responded, pouring into the bowl something that barely resembled a soup.
"Still tastes better than my mom's cooking," Shikamaru joked, a wry smile on his lips. Karin didn't appreciate the sarcasm that much.
It appeared that mere moments passed since Karin served Obito his portion, yet he had devoured it in record time. "Think this is rough? Consider yourselves lucky you don't have crewmates that you don't know in the slightest. Imagine being surrounded by hungry, ruthless pirates," he remarked.
"So, you were a pirate?" Naruto teased. Obito offered no reply, swiftly retreating to the cabin where he spent most of his time in, when he wasn't training Naruto.
"Sooo," Naruto turned to Shikamaru, curiosity evident in his gaze, "can you share anything about the Uchiha? You seem to know a lot more about them than us."
Shikamaru was a bit taken aback by this, realizing that they hardly knew anything about the Uchiha. "They are a clan that lives on an island in Ninkai country. I assume that's where you're both from, right?" Both gave him a nod.
"According to my father, the Uchiha live secluded on their own island, separate from the rest of the country, although it's still considered part of Ninkai country. Over the past century, the World Government has repeatedly attempted to assert control over the country, yet remarkably, the entire nation united against them, including the Uchiha who are known for their bad attitude towards cooperation," Shikamaru continued explaing, gazing up at the void black night sky in the middle of his monologue.
"That's it? Is that why you seemed so afraid by him?" Karin probed.
"That's what my father told me. The books I found revealed a different tale," he replied, his expression growing grimmer. "They're dangerous individuals. If even a fraction of what those books stated is true, anyone from the Uchiha clan isn't one to be trusted," he concluded before extinguishing his cigarette underfoot before going to the cabin.
Karin exchanged a concerned glance with Naruto, prompting him to instill a better mood with a confident smile. "Didn't Obito say he's only an Uchiha in name? Besides, he seems decent enough to avoid causing trouble on our ship."
Despite Naruto being the official captain of this ship, the one that worried for it's safety maybe a bit too much was Karin.
XxX
"Finally! The last few islands sort of sucked," he glanced at Shikamaru with a sarcastic grin, but he didn't see any offense taken by him, and continued, "I can already picture it in my head: we'll find some princess that wants to save her kingdom with my help and—" Naruto's monologue about "adventure" was cut short as Karin seized him by the ear.
"This time, we're prioritizing food and water. Nothing else matters," Karin declared firmly, prompting a quick nod from the blond.
Once they reached the shore and anchored the ship, to their surprise, Obito emerged from the cabin. "Perhaps it's time for me to stretch my legs just a bit," he remarked.
As the crew readied themselves, Naruto singled out Karin. "You'll remain here," the blond instructed.
"Why me? Let the lazy-ass stay on the ship," Karin grumbled.
"I promised his father an adventure. How can it be an adventure if he stays on the ship?" Naruto said with his shoulders raised, though Shikamaru offered himself to stay behind without qualms.
"Fine, whatever. Just make sure you bring back loads of food. If you don't, I swear to Jashin—" Karin's threat was cut off as Naruto stepped off the ship, leaving her with a disgruntled scowl.
The island they landed on was home to a small village. Obito even doubted whether a Marine had set foot on the island in the past decade.
"It seems... rather compact," Shikamaru noted, contrasting it with the village he grew up in, where houses were spread far apart from each other.
"Indeed it is," the tallest man in the group concurred.
While the two black-haired men ambled somewhat aimlessly, Naruto's eyes darted around in search of his next target.
'There it is!' he thought triumphantly. "You guys enjoy the scenery and all that. I'm heading to that bar!" he exclaimed.
Obito sighed, then turned to the less-than-enthused Nara. "How about we have a little chat?" Shikamaru cast a brief glance toward Obito's intense black eyes before nodding, and they set off along a rocky path.
The Nara could definitely feel the reason as to why Obito had invited him for a walk, but he was still figuring out as to what would be the most respectable way to decline his offer.
Obito gazed out with a faint smile and remarked, "Living in such a secure island must have been peaceful."
Shikamaru nodded in agreement, prompting Obito to continue, "You know, the Nara clan has always been associated with a specific approach to life." Obito gestured to the tall trees nearby, drawing a not-so subtle parallel. "The Nara seek to lead lives akin to trees: long, tranquil, and, above all, unwavering in their essence. You're not cut out to be a pirate, and you'll never truly be one."
Shikamaru just yawned at that, but Obito pressed on, "Sooner or later, Naruto will find himself in a fight against the Marines—I can see it as clear as day. What if, once we reach our destination, you join us instead?"
"No," Shikamaru responded bluntly, punctuating his reply with another yawn.
"I can put you on a relatively low-risk ship, the Marines could offer you a safe haven. It would be far less troublesome dealing with them," Obito proposed, his tone sounding as pleasant as he could possibly muster.
Shikamaru finally looked at the man, and gave him a loud sigh before responding, "I'm already far out of my comfort zone, and you want me to go even further and become some military slave to the World Government? It seems that I'd have to work full-time to some organization that would hardly care about me and vice versa. Maybe someday I'll join'em, but for now, I'm fine where I am."
"Suit yourself then. But don't come crying to me after you see what it's like to live in constant danger," Obito snorted. After their short conversation, they continued walking along the path, not saying a word, as both knew that neither one particularly enjoyed each other's company.
After a few long minutes, what felt like hours to Shikamaru, Obito broke the silence. "A shop! We've been without rum for far too long for my liking."
Shikamaru observed the visibly pleased man and couldn't help but wonder what the other Uchiha were truly like. Obito was nothing like the genocidal maniacs that Uchiha were stereotypically portrayed as. Even if he could be slightly menacing, he was still relatively normal and acted as you'd expect a marine to act.
XxX
"At least I won't get myself in any trouble. I'm not a pirate, so I can't simply steal everything at every opportunity," Karin muttered, her gaze fixed on the vast ocean.
As her thoughts drifted, a peculiar ship caught her attention. Its appearance resembled the creation of a candy-obsessed maniac. Even its name, "Pop Rock Candy," was emblazoned in large, colorful letters across the vessel's right side.
Cursing under her breath, Karin couldn't believe her luck as two eccentric figures, as you'd expect from the ship's design, disembarked from the ship and headed onto the nearby island.
She stared at it for only a handful of seconds, and shouted aloud, "Does fate itself want me to become a pirate?" before getting out of the ship and quickly going in the direction of the ship plastered by bright red and white, which made it look like an actual candy from afar.
Upon closer inspection, Karin found the ship's insides deserted from people, so it seemed the plan was in the clear.
The redhead entered the ship, and started to quickly scavage it for anything useful. There was plenty of meat, fish, and very obviously, candy. All of it she poured into her green backpack and decided to quickly get out of there, before noticing a peculiar thing.
The chest she saw was locked, and she didn't know for how long will the people that left the ship will take. 'I have gotten this far without getting spotted,' she grinned, and quickly started looking around for anything to break into it. Soon after, she took knifes and forks from kitchen and tried to pry open the chest.
"Screw it!" the readhead said aloud, before taking the whole chest into her arms, and holding it near the chest, while bending her back slightly back so as to ease the weight of it.
Slowly, but surely, she made her way back to the ship without any problems whatsoever. Well, besides the back pain.
XxX
Naruto burst through the door, the force of his entrance causing it to slam into the wall with a resounding crash. His loud arrival drew the irritated gazes of the bar's already miserable visitors.
Inside, the bar seemed smaller than it appeared from outside, enveloped in almost total darkness save for the flickering glow of a few scattered candles. Amidst the obscurity, two figures shone like stars to Naruto's eyes, immediately catching his attention. Driven by his genius, never-failing strategy, Naruto marched over to them, his presence irritating the entire room, and sat down.
The man right next to the blond was rather tall and had dreadlocks with some spiky hair in between them. Even more unorthodox was his outfit and glasses: he wore brownish red eyeglasses with white metal surrounding them, and also a brownish red coat that had the number five printed on it, and an unnecasary big pink scarf around his neck.
Beside the man sat a woman who radiated a glowing light amidst the dark room. She stood moderately tall, having a lime green umbrella with blue stripes resting on her shoulder. Her slender frame was accentuated by short blond hair, barely reaching her neck, concealed mostly beneath an incredibly round orange hat. Her dress matched the hat, featuring multiple lemon-like symbols scattered across it. Completing her look were pristine white high-heeled shoes and matching same shade of white gloves.
A few awkward seconds passed, as the blond hadn't yet figured out how to start a conversation. Those few seconds quickly turned into minutes, as for whatever reason it felt a lot more tense in this bar than In the previous one.
Noticing Naruto's curious glances every now and then, the brown-skinned man, growing wary asked, "What's your problem?"
Naruto rubbed his head, and responded, "Nothing. Just checking out the island, hoping to find something interesting."
The man stood up, noticing that the blond wasn't going to move an inch, and looked him straight in his eyes. "Get out of here you idiot!"
Undeterred, Naruto stood his ground, returning the intense gaze without flinching. "And what if I don't?" he retorted. His challenge was met with a sudden burst of laughter from the woman on the other side of the table.
"Kyahahaha!" she cackled, her hand muffling her mouth. "You've gotten yourself into quite a situation, it seems," she continued grinning, not taking this situation in hand in anyway serious.
The man with the number "5" on his coat shifted into a combat stance. Naruto, looked around the bar and noted that this might not be the best place to fight, suggested, "How about we take this outside—" but before he could finish the light brown skinned man delivered a right hook punch to the blond's face, and it seemingly exploded and made Naruto go through the door, making it completely collapse.
"Hmph," the spiky-haired man grunted as he resumed his seat, but to his surprise, Naruto barged in just a few seconds later, with some small damage seen on his forehead.
"How about we settle this outside," Naruto repeated, his expression now marked with more seriousness than before. The dark-haired man exchanged a glance with his female companion, nodding in agreement. The man walked towards Naruto, and the blonde girl following him close by.
As weird as it was, Naruto couldn't help but feel excited to finally fight. He had been utterly destroyed by Obito for his entire trip, and he couldn't help but wonder how he faired up with someone who obviously had a devil fruit.
Drawing his gray double-edged sword, Naruto assumed a practiced stance. Mentally reminding himself of the proper technique, he prepared for the upcoming clash.
The man facing him smirked, a hint of amusement visible in his eyes. "What's your game, kid? We're associated with some serious folks. You shouldn't mess around with big fishes like us!"
Naruto quickly responded with a smirk of his own, "Well, if you're only working for serious people, and not serious yourself, than I have nothing to worry about, right?"
"Hmph," the man grunted before lunging at Naruto. The blond swiftly sidestepped, evading the punch that collided with a nearby tree, exploding and shattering it.
'He's slow, but I shouldn't underestimate him,' Naruto thought to himself as he moved to the right, a twinge of pain where he had been hit reminding him to stay focused.
The man grumbled, and soon after launched himself to Naruto once again, missing him. At that, Naruto couldn't help but sigh mentally at the brashness that would make the blond himself look good, and he swinged his sword in a way that wouldn't kill him, but would hit his abdominal area instead, not going deep enough and only handicapping him for some time.
As a large amount of blood, ironically seemingly exploded, the man crumbled to the ground. He coughed up blood, his defeat now apparent. The woman with the ball shaped hat, who was beyond confident before, now looked far more distressed.
"What the hell? Get back up, Jemu, right now!" she demanded. However, the man lay still, appearing utterly defeated.
Enraged, she raised her umbrella, a move that intrigued Naruto. Without warning, she dashed to the sky, her speed astonishing. Once she reached a height of around 100 meters, her voice started echoing unintelligibly as she started bragging something about her certain victory.
Concluding her monologue, she went rapidly down with her "Kiro Kiro no Mi" devil fruit power, which let her manipulate her body weight. In a split second, she plummeted with astonishing speed, aimed directly at Naruto. He managed to move to the right just in time, avoiding the full brunt of her impact. Her landing created a massive crater, rocks and dust billowing into the air.
"For pirates, I thought you'd be better than that," Naruto lazily walked towards the girl, who just came from the hole made from the impact. To irritate her further, he started yawning. Naruto wasn't a bully, but it felt unnaturally good to finally be the one winning.
The girl grumbled, "Who do you think you are?" She made another attempt, mirroring her previous strategy, and just like before, failed miserably to connect. The same repeated for several minutes, each of her attempts falling short of her target.
The blonde woman's frustration boiled over. "This is your last chance. Surrender now, or you'll be... reported to the Baroque Works!"
Before Naruto could start saying his response, a man that wore the usual vice-admiral uniform came out of nowhere behind the girl and hit her neck with a karate chop. "Good job, Naruto!" Obito said with a smile.
XxX
"I was just getting to the fun part," Naruto mumbled, squinting his eyes and glaring at Obito, who was busy dragging the two pirates by a rope tied around each of them.
Obito shrugged indifferently and replied, "Well, you can't hog all the fun, can you? It's been ages since I had the pleasure of dealing with pirates."
As the two engaged in their bickering – Naruto passionately arguing why he should handle the situation alone and Obito calmly defending his actions – Shikamaru's attention was fixated on the unconscious pirates. He wonder what kind of strength the marines truly had at their disposal, thinking that he needed to grow stronger to survive in his newly made crew. Even Naruto, despite being vastly overshadowed by Obito's strength, held a power beyond Shikamaru's current reach.
In a short span, the group returned to the ship, and Obito secured the captured pirates to the mast. "That should do it," he said, and removed the non-existant sweat from his forehead.
"I guess I'll head back to the island. We still need supplies and—" Naruto began, only to be abruptly interrupted as Karin burst out of the ship's door, causing it to slam against the wall with force.
Karin walked towards her crewmates, while wiggling her finger, "What would y'all do without me?" and once she came close enough to Naruto she grinned even more, "Let's get going! I've had enough of him!" She pointed at Obito, not really seriously in any shape or form.
Naruto took a wipe of his sweat that he didn't know formed on his head since the place had relatively low temperatures. "Good! Loguetown shouldn't be that far away anymore. A week or two and we should be at it."
Right after the news, Naruto went and raised the ship's anchor from the ocean by using a device, which required rotating the ropes as to pull the anchor to the surface. For most, it would require multiple people to do, however, Naruto kept up with training and has built more than enough muscle to pull it by himself. Once it was all done, he then raised the sails and the ship started to move.
'Where's Shikamaru?' Karin wondered internally as she assumed control of the ship's wheel.
Shikamaru, without anyone noticing, passed right from them, and went to the cabin to do a thing he never thought of doing. Training.
As the ship's routine operations continued, a sudden sound, or rather a loud scream, escaped a woman's mouth that was heard throughout the ship, stunning everyone on board. Karin couldn't fathom how she had missed the fact that now there were people tied to the wooden mast.
The scream belonged to the blonde woman with yellowish orange dress who now looked bewildered as to what exactly happened. The same scream, woke up the man that was previously unconscious.
"What the hell!" they exclaimed simultaneously, their voices intertwining in an almost comical unison
.
The cousins quickly came to them, Karin with a raised eyebrow, and Naruto with a goofy smile. Shikamaru couldn't be bothered by it, while Obito had been already sitting right behind the mast for the entirety of it all.
"What in the world do you think you're doing?" the woman exclaimed, her voice seething with fury as her eyes blazed with anger. Meanwhile, her companion scanned the surroundings, his expression transitioning from confusion to realization as he spotted the vice-admiral. He shut his eyes, conceding defeat. It was game over, and he knew it. Even the likes of Mr. 0 would be in a verge of giving up.
"Shut up, Mikita," he loudly instructed to his partner, "there is nothing we can do against him."
Miss Valentine gave a snort to his partner, but after she looked and found the marine herself, she understood what he exactly meant. Obito was known throughout the whole world as a Pirate hunter, then a pirate in the Yellow Storm crew, and yet somehow managed to get out of it and become a Vice-admiral. Somehow. The woman started shaking her head with her eyes closed, almost letting out a few tears. That's how every pirate in east blue felt once they encountered the Phantom.
Naruto just gave them a look before glancing at Obito, who looked rather smug about the fact that each pirate were afraid of him. "What are we going to do with them?" the redheaded girl asked the captain of the ship, though it was hardly his decision to make.
Naruto responded with a nonchalant shrug. "I'm not sure." His gaze locked with Obito's, and a clear sense of threat emanated from the scarred man's features. Naruto raised his hands in a defeated fashion. "Do whatever you want with them, I guess."
Obito nodded, his satisfaction evident in his gaze. He produced seemingly out of nowhere a small, handle-less knife and advanced toward the captived pirates.
"Give me answers. I won't accept 'no' or 'I don't know' as an answer," Obito declared, each step taken with an ominous intent. He continued, his tone low and menacing, "Lies won't end well for you. Say the truth, and only the truth."
Both of them gulped at the same time, giving a glance to each other, and the man, who had blood all over him responded as a matter of factly as one can, "Mr.5, a member in Baroque works," he then let out an obnoxiously loud sigh before continuing, "Real name is Jemu."
The girl, feeling that the smugness, which was always prevalent in her comrade vanish in the blink of an eye, she decided to say the truth herself, "Miss Valentine, also a member in Baroque works. My name is Mikita."
To his own surprise, Obito released a sigh of mild disappointment. "Well, that was easier than I expected. I thought I'd have a bit more fun than that."
Karin put her hands on her hips, and bent slightly to the right. "Could it be that the candy looking ship was yours?" she asked them, Mr.5 nodding soon after the words. Karin then put her right hand on her chin, before glancing slightly to Obito, without moving her neck. 'It's probably not a good idea to admit of stealing now. I should play It a bit more safe,' she thought.
Then, the woman with lemon-like symbols on her dress asked, "Why do you care? Not like it matters much. I doubt you'll go back just to take it away."
"No. But I'm surely reporting it," Obito said, and seemingly out of nowhere he got himself a wooden bottle full of Rum. Then, the scarred man turned to the redhead. "I was meaning to ask for some time," he put on just slightly visible smile, "how are you always getting these supplies? I remember you two saying that you had absolutely no money with you."
Karin, her lips curling into a sheepish smile, replied, "I took on some... odd jobs while we were in Ineimori."
"I see," Obito said, having his eyes closed and a genuine smile visible on his face. It was clear as a day that Karin had stealed it all. In fact, he was more angry at Naruto for not noticing that than he was on Karin for stealing. It made him slightly disappointed, after all, he was the son of his teacher.
"Hey, where did you get that rum?" Naruto, still sweating from the various ship jobs he had to do, inclined to give him some rum by stretching his right arm with the same wooden bottle in hands with Obito obliging.
Naruto, happily chugged it all in one go and said, "Guess we're not that far away from Loguetown. Can't wait for the devil fruit and the Berry."
Obito then ruffled Naruto's hair playfully, a gesture akin to what an elder brother might offer. He then said, "You're a good kid, Naruto. Remember, the world is far larger than any single person can comprehend."
"Did you pick that line from some old-man quote book?" Naruto quipped, brushing Obito's hand away. He met Obito's gaze, determination blazing in his eyes. "Maybe the world's too big for me, but that's why I'm travelling with a crew."
"Very lame, "Karin said with a dulled expression.
Naruto then pointed his finger at her and said, "Hey, I'm not lame! Would a lame person be travelling around the world?"
Karin chuckled. "Well, you're cheesy and you're still travelling around it."
The two pirates, heads hung low in a defeated posture, exchanged glances. In silence, they shared a wordless understanding, Mr.5 developing some sort of a strategy in an attempt to exploit their situation. Their odds of escape seemed slim, but the crew, besides the Phantom, didn't seem all that threatening or scary.
As the wind picked up, Naruto's excitement grew. The ship was making remarkable progress and speed, far faster than initially expected. If all went as planned, they would soon arrive in Loguetown. Well, if everything went to plan.
I had a bit of a break from writing fanfics. Sorry, but replaying Chrono Trigger took up most of my free time. Also, some parts of this chapter got accidentally deleted. That means I had to rewrite a big chunk of it and I hope it doesn't feel too disconnected.
I promised some characters from One Piece, but I didn't say that it would be anyone particularly relevant :)
Do you have any concerns or ideas? I always read the reviews, and most of them have been helpful as I've forgotten a thing or two about One Piece since I watched it a long time ago.