Chapter 28

The atmosphere in the Den-den office was grim and revolutionaries continuously came and went with reports, none daring not to rush but still trying to keep some form of order. They only succeeded partially, but things surprisingly didn't devolve into full-on chaos. This was the result of Itachi's efforts during the last months as well as their leadership's actions.

While the tree took on the likeliness of a beehive on the inside, the permanent fixtures in the office were surprisingly calm. Serious and plagued by uncertainty and anxiety, but calm on the outside.

The three vice-leaders sat around the table, each busily accepting reports and handing out orders. Itachi had been asked to stay and give his input as well, in exchange for the last 'advice certificate'. They hadn't hesitated to use it, since this situation could get tricky fast. There was no telling if the inhibitors they'd installed would hide their base from the strong Haki of someone like Garp.

And hadn't that particular power come as a surprise to Itachi? He knew what forms of Haki existed now, the bare basics that was. He'd have to find a teacher later. If he could learn it, the power could come in handy, especially the Observation Haki.

Especially Itachi's tranquillity and usual calmness assured their everyone on base somewhat, so emergency protocols were executed without much fuss.

"Shit," the doc couldn't help but curse. "Still no getting hold of Lind or anyone higher up. We'll just have to make do by ourselves. Fucking typical."

The other two grumbled in agreement and took the chance to take a small break.

The base was nearly completely shut down now and emergency evacuations could be performed anytime.

Since his job was basically complete, Itachi decided to speak up one last time.

"Raiju and I will stay in the village outside", the teen said to the surprise of everyone in the room. "There are several people who knew we were coming here. Since that's the case, there's the real possibility he found out about her real identity and isn't even here for your base but tracking her. If that's the case, we'd avoid a lot of danger for you, as well as trouble for the whole army. Our connection also wouldn't be exposed."

Coco shook his head. "No, it's too risky. What if he's really here to kill you? What if he really kills you!? As unbelievable as that may be to you, brat, we actually like you two. There's no way we can allow you to take a risk like that."

"Hn," Itachi merely snorted, inwardly kind of happy they thought so, even though he at least didn't deserve it, "I am 99% certain we can escape unharmed even if he attacks as soon as he sees us."

Coco sputtered.

The doc merely raised a brow. "Are you serious? Don't overestimate yourself."

"Positive."

At the assurance, the doc nodded, satisfied. "In that case, I at least agree."

"What!? How can you-"

The doc cut off Coco's vocal objection with a wave of his hand and a penetrating glare. "You're letting your emotions get in the way, Coco. I'm a realist. First of all, I trust Itachi's judgment. He's proven himself objective, if not a bit pessimistic when it comes to security. If he estimates they can escape, then I believe him. If they aren't here for us at all, then we are giving up our foothold in South Blue for nothing. We'd set our objective back for years, Coco. All because we didn't make sure. I could never forgive myself if that happened."

Coco quietly stared at the doc for a moment before turning to Itachi. "How certain are you they're here for you?"

"I don't have any information indicating her being found out. The possibility isn't 0 though. My information network isn't as developed as I'd like it to be yet. What makes me raise the possibility is that it's only Garp's ship approaching. If they had information on the base and your presence here and wanted to capture you, only he wouldn't be enough. He may be able to stop many of you, but not all. It'd be a waste."

That… was true. They hadn't really thought about that, too preoccupied with the presence of the Hero of the Marines to really consider it.

Coco closed his eyes, a pained expression on his face.

"Alright. OK, I can't argue with that. Just… promise you'll be careful. And if you need to, contact us for backup. We are allies now, yes? Though it's not official yet." He smiled weakly at the teen, worry written all over his face.

Itachi stared at the older man, trying to make a decision. Finally, he decided to extend an olive branch, so to speak. They already knew about her to an extent anyhow, so he didn't mind revealing this information.

"You remember how we got here, right?"

All three vice-leaders nodded, surprised he was volunteering information on his own accord. He'd been tight-lipped about their secrets until now, unsurprisingly.

"Our transport is on standby already. If she wants to, we'll be above the clouds in 2 seconds," Itachi didn't say anymore, but the stunned silence that answered him implied that they were assured enough by the information. In fact, he was downplaying her speed. But this much should be enough to ensure their new allies didn't worry too much, or do something stupid when they thought they were in danger.

He hadn't spent all that effort to prove himself trustworthy to them only for them to destroy it in a moment of worry.

Thus, with all three vice-leaders agreeing with Itachi's proposition, the teen made his way to the library, where Raiju had just finished helping to pack away all the books.

"Raiju,"

She turned around and threw him a smile in greeting, only slightly puzzled at the bags slung over his shoulder. "Itachi! How are things going?"

"Well. We are going to stay down in the village."

"Huh?"

He waved her to follow him, performing his usual signal to warn her he'd use an illusion to speak with her as he did.

In understanding, she nodded and followed him as he led the way to the elevator. It would be turned off and concealed right after they left. The revolutionaries would then stand by on the giant birds, ready to scatter as soon as leadership gave the signal. For now, the take-off platforms remained closed.

"Don't be alarmed. The ship approaching is under the command of Vice Admiral Garp, as you probably already heard. There are two rumors about the man. The first one is that he was the one who captured Roger. We, of course, know that he handed himself over since that was what he told you the last time, so likely, Garp was the one he went to to do so. This could imply that he is the one Roger told about your pregnancy. The other rumor says those two were rivals but also friends. This one I only heard by chance from a pirate crew passing through an island I was on and isn't as widely spread."

The illusion quietened as they got out of the elevator, giving her a chance to think the information over in her head.

Resignation spread over her face, followed by anxiousness and a little bit of fear. She couldn't help herself but shuffle closer to her brother's side and take hold of his cloak to ground herself, assure herself she wasn't alone. "So, he likely gave him some way to locate me, didn't he? Even if we run, he'll just locate us again. Will… will he take my baby?" They were nearly at the village as she asked this, her voice shaky with anxiety.

Itachi abruptly stopped walking and turned towards her, fixing her with a serious look. His illusion answered instead of him once more. "We'll talk to him if he's indeed here for you. If he even thinks of demanding something unreasonable like you giving him your child, we'll just get out of here and I'll kill him if he comes knocking again. I'd rather not expose my strength so soon, but I will if it's necessary. Nobody will take your son from you, Rouge."

Rouge… It was the first time in months he'd called her that, even as an illusion. Tears rose into her eyes, making them glister traitorously. She forced them down and smiled at Itachi instead, grateful and trusting.

Since it was him saying it, she'd believe it.

The amount of trust she'd developed in the ninja was frankly disturbing if she thought about it. But… she couldn't help but continue doing so. After all, if it hadn't been for him, she may well be dead already, along with her son.

He noticed she'd calmed down a little, so he gently untangled his coat from her grip and took her hand in his instead. She graced him with a smile and squeezed her hand slightly, taking comfort from the teen's warmth.

As previously discussed with the revolutionaries, they'd be given a room at the chieftain's house they would pretend to have stayed in for the last months.

Itachi quickly spread their belongings around the room, not forgetting to add a little bit of clutter and even a hamper with a few pieces of laundry.

Not even 15 minutes later, it looked like they'd truly lived in this room for a while.

Satisfied with his handiwork, Itachi turned to Raiju, who had quietly watched him work, deep in contemplation.

"Shall we go outside? Let's have a picnic at the seaside as I fish. After all, we should catch some food for the village since they allowed us to stay. Around 20 fish would do."

Her eyes brightened at that. They hadn't really eaten outside ever since they left Baterilla. She'd missed their picnics and the sun's rays on her face as she enjoyed some iced coffee afterward. She graced him with her best puppy eyes, silently hinting and praying to the god of food.

Itachi merely huffed in amusement at her expression but nodded regardless. He'd prepare some for her.

Unbeknownst to her, she was already calm once more. His scheme had worked.

"You guys stay here," the Vice Admiral instructed as they finished securely docking the ship a suitable distance away from the shore. "I won't take too long, since we were ordered to reach Sorbet Kingdom as soon as possible. Guess it was already asking a lot to take just this day off, huh."

"Yes, sir! In that case, make sure not to destroy any walls this time, sir… since we won't be around to fix them," his second-in-command advised with some worry in his tone, completely ignoring the vice admiral's grumbles.

"Aaaa… just what kind of image do you have of me!?" A small vein started pulsing in Garp's forehead as he indignantly stared at the Marine.

"… Would you like an honest answer to that, sir?"

Cheeky bastard.

With a huff, Garp merely waved him off and hopped into the boat his sailors had let down for him, paddles in hand.

Now then, it was time to see what kind of place the little fox had been hiding in.

Garp grinned as he was met by the pointed end of the natives' spears and raised his hands to indicate he meant no harm.

"Stranger. What you want?" The party he'd run into seemed like hunters, what with the spears and dead beasts carried over their shoulders. The apparent leader fixed him with a suspicious look and a pointed gesture with his spear.

"Hello," Garp gave a smile full of teeth to the group, causing them to tense even more, "I come in peace. I'm just here to meet an acquaintance of sorts. A woman, she is also a foreigner here like me."

The natives whispered to themselves for a while, throwing suspicious glances at him all the while. "She know you come?"

So, there was indeed a foreigner here currently. It was good the Vivre card hadn't let him wrong this time. Last time she'd already been gone when he'd reached her location, causing him to squander his vacation for nothing. She seemed to have quite a fast way of transportation.

"A mutual friend should have mentioned the possibility, yes."

They whispered to each other again before seemingly coming to a conclusion.

"Wait here. I go home ask her, no come village."

So, they didn't trust him, did they? Well, that wasn't strange. From what he was seeing they didn't get visitors often and weren't even using English regularly. He wondered why Rouge had chosen a place like this to hide out in.

"Wahaha, no problem," he conceded and plopped down to the ground unceremoniously. If the hint didn't work to make her agree to a meeting, he'd just have to chase her again, wherever she decided to hide next time.

He needn't have worried, it seemed.

Not five minutes later, two sets of footsteps approached, but from the opposite direction of the village.

The group and the Marine all turned toward the sounds in surprise.

Approaching them were a man and a woman, their shadows stretching before them as they walked with their backs to the setting sun. The woman only held a small basket while the man carried a long rod from which many fish hung, freshly cleaned and ready for preparation or preservation.

"Itachi, Raiju! You here!" the group greeted the two with smiles on their faces.

"Hello, everyone! How was your hunt?" Raiju greeted with a gentle smile as she waved, then motioned at Itachi. "We caught a lot today."

"Not bad. We make big pot of soup for village today"

They chatted for a while, Garp watching the interaction with interest, especially how at ease the villagers seemed with the presence of the two obvious foreigners.

While she had managed to change her appearance a lot, Garp was sure this was the woman he was looking for. Yet, who was her companion? The one who rescued her, perhaps?

He stared at the young man curiously, carefully scrutinizing each of his moves. They were all normal, deliberately so.

When the man looked back at the Marine, Garp's eyes widened ever so slightly and he tensed unconsciously, unable to avert his gaze from those black eyes. He couldn't read those eyes. Not really. Yet, what little he could see… Cold sweat gathered on his hands.

This young man… was dangerous.

He exuded the same kind of feeling as a veteran assassin he'd met once. A professional who'd nearly slaughtered him with a casual flick, mockingly looking down at his weak self from high above.

That encounter had been what set Garp onto the path he was walking today. He'd eventually caught that man, like many other dangerous elements. He had never expected to meet someone like that again, someone who could make him feel pressured without even meaning to.

He could smell the blood clinging to him like a second skin. This man… just how many lives had he taken? How had he never heard of him before?

Itachi hadn't missed the intense gaze of the middle-aged Marine, nor the sudden stiffening of the man's muscles as he sat unnaturally still and watched them.

"Oh, how impolite of me. To think, you were here to meet me, and I've just been talking to everyone else," Raiju finally greeted the Marine, effectively breaking the man out of his stupor. She approached the still-seated man without any hesitation and offered him her hand with a smile.

Only stumped for a moment, Garp immediately stood up and took it, shaking it firmly. "Bwahahaha, don't worry about it. You weren't expecting me after all!"

"Indeed," she confirmed and then continued on, sounding apologetic, "I'm sorry to say, we'll have to hold this meeting outside though. The villagers don't seem comfortable with us inviting you inside. We could grill some of the fish though and fetch some drinks if that's alright with you."

"That would be lovely, thank you. Now that I've seen all those fish, I realized I'm starving! Bwahahaha!" Garp unabashedly accepted the invitation, laughing loudly. He was certainly unique, wasn't he? If this wasn't an act, she could see why Roger may have befriended the man, despite the different beliefs they may have held.

"Then, I'll fetch some. Would you mind preparing the fish for us while I'm gone, little brother?" She asked Itachi, before turning to the surprised Garp with a wink. "He's a really great chef, you know?" As if she'd let herself be alone with the man. What did he take her for?

"Wahaha, then I'm looking forward to it. In that case, I'll set up the bonfire."

"That would be a huge help. Thank you. We saw some dry-looking wood just around the bend there. The branch is a bit huge, so just breaking off a few pieces should be enough," Raiju advised as she waved, already heading to the village.

The two men worked surprisingly well together, never breaking the peaceful silence, and a fire was dancing merrily soon after. Itachi was still carrying some appropriate seasonings from their impromptu picnic earlier, as well as four sticks they'd used to prepare the fish. He now only used three of those, but skewered multiple fish on them horizontally, breaking the fourth one and tying the other three to it in two places to secure them together.

Garp had watched all this with interest, a little less wary but no less aware of Itachi's motives and actions as time went on. If the man had wanted to fight, he'd have had plenty of opportunities by now.

The ninja had kept ten fish, just in case, since he'd heard rumors of Garp's large appetite. Any more than that and the man may get suspicious though, so he'd have to make do with only a half-filled stomach.

Raiju returned a few minutes before the fishes were ready, a bottle of fruit wine, some sake and some juice and water in her basket.

The Marine merrily accepted some sake and toasted with the plain old water the siblings had chosen.

"Bwahahaha! To be honest, I hadn't expected a welcome like this," Garp broke the silence casually after he had emptied his first small cup of sake. "I was half expecting you to make a run for it or something. And I certainly wasn't expecting you to have company."

"Oh?"

"I'm glad you survived though. Nearly had a heart attack when I read that report! Wahaha! Should've expected the woman that that man picked wouldn't be done in like that though."

"So, he did send you after all, huh."

"Yeah, he sure did. Gave me a right headache, too. Have to admit, you're quite crafty. If he hadn't given me that Vivre Card I'd have been fooled."

So that was how he'd tracked them. A Vivre Card. Itachi didn't react to the unfamiliar term, but judging from Raiju's look of comprehension and slight annoyance, she knew what that was. He'd have to ask her later.

"Judging from that expression, he never told you he'd had one made, huh?"

"He didn't, no. Though I have to admit, I hadn't expected anyone to come anymore at this point. It's been months after all. I nearly forgot he ever mentioned one of his friends coming to help."

"Aaaah, sorry about that. I could never get enough time off to head there without suspicion. Especially during the search they got going there. Thought I'd just make things worse for you."

He sounded genuinely regretful as he said that. And with his position and the rumors of their friendship, she could see where he was coming from.

"No, I understand. Still, I was starting to get desperate, you know?"

"I could imagine. The stunt you pulled can't have been easy. Your friend even died."

"Yes… I never imagined that once I was cleared by your doctors, I'd still be executed just because of something as stupid as a power play."

Garp solemnly stared down at the half-empty cup of sake in his hand and threw away the fishbone he'd fished out of his grilled fish just then. "The Marines… aren't what they used to be." That was as close as he'd probably ever get to criticizing the organization. He had really loved them when he joined and still did… he just saw their flaws clearly now.

"Why are you here?" Raiju finally asked straight out, her tone unreadable.

"I promised him I'd check on you, make sure you were safe and take in his kid in case something happened to you. The Vivre card showed you were safe once I checked it, but that doesn't mean you were never hurt or how your child is doing. So obviously, I had to come."

"I see. Well, we're both doing fine, as you can see. Itachi saved us."

"So he did…" Garp narrowed his eyes at the man as he was mentioned. He hadn't heard him say anything at all the whole time he'd been here. Since she was blunt in her question, he'd return the favor. "Are you aware of what he is? How dangerous he is?"

Raiju blinked. What did he mean?