So this story has gained a remarkable following, not gonna lie. So I'll continue it.

Bit of a short chapter, but I hope you all will like it. Please feel free to leave reviews and follow the story.

Enjoy it!

Baratie

"CLEAN, CHORE BOY!"

Mopping the floor was Luffy, having just finished his first day of work, the Straw Hat boy was under the observation of one of the staff.

"Man, I'm hungry…"

"What kind of pirate are you? Just mop already!" The cook said while grabbing the last tray of dirty dishes he was to bring to the kitchen, "Just finish it up and go to sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day."

"But-"

"No buts!" The cook went inside the kitchen with that final order, leaving Luffy alone in an empty room with only chairs, tables, and no empty plates, even the crumbs were not for the picking.

*Growl!*

And here came Luffy's stomach growling.

Luffy sighed in defeat, it looked like he had to give in and just mop onwards.

"Hey, Chore boy."

Then Luffy saw himself a plate of food shoved underneath his nose. What he was served was some mashed potatoes, some beef, and beans, and the person giving this was Sanji.

"Here, you earned that meal."

Seeing this got Luffy drooling in happiness as he began eating everything on the plate as fast as he could, where he in only a matter of moments stuffed his mouth with the food he was given and turned the floor into a mess once again.

Sanji didn't mind seeing this, even if the person in front of him was a buffoon who had damaged the ship or eaten like a starving pig. It was nice to see someone liked appreciating his cooking.

Then outside, the music was heard.

Outside the Baratie

On the 'Finns' platform of the Baratie laid the outside seats and tables for late customers who were here for drinks and laughter, with it essentially being an outdoor restaurant in the night with the customers being lucky.

It was not only a warm night that accompanied them as they also were given live entertainment music by a band and some campfires that the customers were sitting close to.

Usopp who was seen drinking from a big cocktail with a couple of straws, attempted to empty the drink within minutes while the others sat around the table with Zoro and Nami looking at him as if he was crazy.

"Pace yourself," Zoro warned him while holding his drink, "You'll drop to the ground soon."

Removing his lips from the straws, Usopp's eyes were showing he was drunk, "But it tastes good."

He wasn't the only one, with both the bounty hunters Johnny and Yosaku also having been downing their drinks faster than the sniper, resulting in both of them getting intoxicated fast on the beverages.

"I love this…its good…" Yosaku's eyes were barely open, leaning back his head against the seat, "Johnny, you tried this?… Johnny?"

The sunglass-wearing Johnny was already sleeping, having already passed out.

"Oh..you're sleeping…good…"

*BOINK!*

Falling face down on the ground, Yosaku also succumbed to the drink that had knocked him out, leaving the others to laugh at the unfortunate event of their friends.

Zoro especially couldn't help but smirk. "Told you…"

Nami was a bit surprised and took a look at her beverage, dipping her finger in the mug and tasting it.

"Wow, it is strong."

"Huh, it is?" Zoro asked, taking a swig to taste it, having no reaction to it, "Tasts fine by me."

"You must have an iron stomach, Roronoa."

The straw hats turned and saw that it was Naruto approaching their table, along with the better-looking Gin, both holding their mugs, they caught sight of the sleeping figures of the bounty hunters and the barely conscious sniper.

"Don't tell me you three downed the captain's brewage in go…"

"N-No! Of course not!" Usopp initially tried to deny it in his state, "I can hold down my liquor…"

Usopp's words died down quickly when he fell asleep as well, with his head hanging forward, this left only now two Straw Hats.

Naruto however shook his head at them, "Lightweights…"

"Say, were you trying to drug us or something?" Nami asked with an accusatory tone, "One mug shouldn't be enough to knock out three people."

"Unless it's Naruto's brewage, lady." Gin said sitting at the table, smirking while turning to the blond, "He doesn't like to brag but the captain here can make and mix good drinks with any kind of ingredients."

"Ah, it's not much," Naruto chuckled while rubbing his head, "It's just one of those skills you learn in the Marines, that's all."

"Well whatever they taught you, I say it's a damn good drink," Zoro complimented him, appreciating the brew, "So what's in it anyway?"

"That's kind of a secret recipe of mine, but know you're only drinking the mild version of it," Naruto told him while sitting down, "Gin and I are drinking the stronger stuff so I tuned it down a bit."

"The mild version?!" Nami stated in near astonishment, "It knocked out three people."

"Well, you guys aren't just nobodies yourself, if you can tolerate it." Naruto said turning to the swordsman, "But I guess that's what you'd expect from Roronoa Zoro, the best swordsman in the East Blue."

Zoro grunted dismissively. "Best in the East Blue is nothing compared to best in the world. Wouldn't you know that, former Marine Battalion captain?"

…

"Division, actually, but close enough." Naruto corrected him, asking, "How'd you recognize me?"

"A few hours, but I'd be damned to not recognize you." Zoro said, "Nice to meet you."

"Wait, you were a Marine Captain?" Nami pointed at the blond.

Gin chuckled and glanced away, while Naruto only shrugged and replied blithely,

"Well, it was a bit of a well-known division."

"The 9th Raiders Division."

Nami's eyes went wide, face paling at Zoro's words.

"NO WAY!"

Nami's mug spilled over, with the table covered in the brewage, her shock reaction was all that was needed for the other patrons to glance over to what was going on.

"Huh…Nami…" Usopp's eyes twitched for a moment as he shuffled around in his drunken sleep, "Don't yell…"

Sitting back down, the navigator's initial reaction calmed down, causing Gin to ask her.

"I believe you know the name?"

"Of course, I know it! Who doesn't? You guys were in the newspapers constantly for your efforts." Nami started, speaking in a lower voice to not attract attention, "The 9th Raiders were an elite unit of the Marines."

Gin added, "An elite unit that was started as a penal battalion."

"Wait, what?" Zoro was confused, "A penal battalion?"

"You idiot, and I thought you knew more than me." Nami gave Zoro a nasty look before she went on to explain, "The 9th was in the beginning a reserve company that was where the Marines would dump their rowdy or punished members in for bad behaviour."

"The Marines play around with those terms, if I can say, basically anyone the Marines does not like," Gin said by naming, "Bounty hunters, political-minded members, banished soldiers, pirates given a second chance…"

"Like you?..."

"...I didn't start as a pirate, but that's enough you are getting out of me," Gin responded by then drinking from his brewage and turning to the blond, "Captain here was given command of it because the brass didn't like him for a few reasons."

Naruto chuckled nervously at that mention.

"Well, some was legit, but other reasons were…"

"You know they didn't even need evidence to find out you pranked them…" Gin stated with an obvious face, "Even if you covered all of your tracks they will still know it was you."

"Oh, you still do pranks, Naruto?"

Hearing then coming from behind was Luffy and Sanji both joining in the conversation with the two having overheard that part just in time.

"Wait, Choir boy, you mean your brother used to do pranks when you were young?" Sanji asked him in peak interest, "He never mentioned it."

"Well, I…"

"Oh, he does, a lot of course," Luffy smirked when he cited one from his mind, "Like the one where he pranked the old mayor into doing inspections across town, having faked documents I think…"

"Falsifying documents you say?" Gin sly smiled at his captain, "Where did that happen before?"

Naruto looked nervously away from it, not wanting to be confronted about it.

"Oh that's nothing, he also pranked some mountain bandits I used to live with, he covered them all in red paint and hide soap in Dadan's room, she wasn't all too well happy about it-"

"Wait, that soap I didn't plant, that was you, Luffy."

"Nu-huh."

"Of course, you did, you and-"

"Can we get back to the topic, please?" Nami asked, slightly irritated but then asked, "You used to be the commander of the 9th Raiders Division - correct?"

"Used to be - yes." Naruto said while facing her, "I got to be Commander for a brief moment before the unit disbanded."

"And for what were you disbanded for anyway?" Nami asked, leaning in on the questioning, "You guys were famous for combating powerful pirates in the Grand Line, where you specialized in taking out powerful enemies."

Luffy wanted to know "Powerful enemies like…"

"Devil Fruit Users…"

Joining this time was Zeff himself, causing everyone still standing to turn to the Head Chef who uninvitingly entered into the conversation and took further word.

"The 9th Raiders were specialized Devil Fruit Power hunters, who with a mixture of close combat and new technology invented by World Government scientists combat many of the worst groups the seas can provide. A unit the Navy could be proud of if it wasn't its usual self…"

A short awkward pause was left there until it was broken again by Zeff who directly told Nami then.

"It is not my place to explain to you what happened, but these two lads can, but only if they want to." Zeff tapped the shoulders of both Gin and Naruto who were in their minds for now, "But I can only tell you this about them."

Nami asked, "What is that?"

"They were willing to fight…"

The three Straw Hats and Sanji turned to the blond and messy second-in-command, both of whom gave no reaction to follow up.

"..I'll be sleeping it off early tonight," Gin said standing up while turning around to his captain's brother, "Mind if I do on your ship? I'll just sleep outside-"

"Sure, a friend of my brother is a friend of mine." Luffy smiled at him.

Gin nodded back and turned around to grab the three knocked-out drunks, Usopp, Yosaku and Johnny who he saw were still lying there.

"I'll bring them to the ship."

"You sure, I can…"

In a moment, Gin picked all three up at once with only one arm, surprising the others with how strong he was.

"...Help…"

"I get that often," Gin responded by then going for the Straw Hat's ship and waving everyone off, "Good night."

"Night."

Taking off, the beat-looking Gin carried the three intoxicated guys on his shoulder to the surprise of all except Naruto.

"If that surprises you all, you should see him using his Tonfas," Naruto said while taking another sip from his mug, "He can handle anything, from knuckle dusters to cannons, he can lead a hundred men into battle in the worst conditions possible."

"Huh, if you say so…" Zoro said, yawning as he rubbed his eyes and stood up, "I'll go to sleep to sleep too. I need to get up early to train."

"Yeah, I wanna sleep too," Luffy said, nervously turning to his boss, "Hey, old guy-"

"Go on, but get up early too." Zeff said turning around and walking back inside his restaurant, "And not a minute later."

"I'll be off to bed also," Sanji said getting up, but his eyes and smile fixated on Nami, "Maybe I could escort you to your bed, my lady?..."

Nami however declined politely, "No thanks, I'm still not ready to sleep yet."

"Alright, I'll see you all later then," Zoro said leaving.

In seconds the only ones left at the table were the navigator of the Straw Hats and the former dishwasher of the Baratie, none of the two were in any hurry to go to sleep but weren't sure how to start a conversation.

"Mind?"

Nami reacted confused until she saw him pulling out from his pocket a pack of smokes.

"Oh, no problem, go ahead."

Naruto put one in his mouth and offered her one.

"No thanks, I don't smoke."

Naruto ignited his cigarette and took a drag from it before exhaling it out, some of the smoke managed to reach Nami's presence, and the stuff he was smoking caused her to react.

"Wow, that's strong stuff," Nami began waving it away from her, tasting the smell, she asked, "That is no normal smoke, what is that?"

"My creation, it is a bit strong but it helps," Naruto said pushing the smoke out from his lungs, looking satisfied, he laid back in his seat. "I either make this, drinks or ramen?"

Nami raised her eyebrow, "Ramen?"

…

Several hours later

After a while, the duo at the table were seen laughing and enjoying themselves. With empty mugs and an ashtray on the table, both were also having just finished eating a snack or two. Having exchanged stories about their previous occupations, it was a bit of a shocker to find out.

"So you and your men of fifty Marines managed to evade getting surrounded by like four big pirate crews in the Grand Line, with no casualties?" Nami summarised what she'd just been told, holding back a smile, "All that because you said to heck with a Vice Admiral."

"To be fair," Naruto raised his mug, holding back some laughter, "That guy was asking to be called out in the open, even when he was about to get a promotion."

"No way…" Nami asked, holding her mug, slightly tinted on her cheeks from the drink, "What happened then?"

"He got demoted and I got the promotion."

Nami held her hand up and giggled, the story would be quite hilarious if all the details were retold, but this ending alone was sweet to hear.

"I…cannot stop…"

"Oh please, my stories are not as funny as yours - the one who stole from pirates and marines?" Naruto recounted her stories from before she joined Luffy's crew, "I must say, that's quite impressive you weren't caught yet."

Smirking in pride, Nami replied, "Well, I can take some pride in my talents…"

Both noticed that the evening was about to end and that the outside customers were making their way out.

Proceeding to get up, Naruto extended his hand out, "Shall I escort you?"

Nami looked at him funny, "Excuse me?"

"I mean, you have been drinking a lot - so I figure you'd be needing a bit of a hand."

"Oh please, I can stand up on my own…" Nami tried to get up but felt herself a bit unbalanced, "Oh!"

Tripping over something, Nami happened to fall over the table and nearly crash on the floor, but Naruto managed to catch her before she faceplanted.

"I'll just bring you there to sleep, and I'll make my way out."

"...Don't try anything funny…"

"From a thief like you? Like I would try."

Being a gentleman, Naruto began helping the tipsy Nami to the Going Merry, where she would be sleeping off the drinks she managed to get for free (at Naruto's cost) for the night, and having some fun time.

"Ooooo!"

Landing on her bed, Nami was dropped off by Naruto whose own legs were getting a bit problematic, seeing the alcoholic beverage was sinking to his nerves too.

"Here you go, have a nice sleep," Naruto said as he was about to make his way out of the room until he noticed his shirt was covered in rum.

"Ah crap…"

"Hey, what are you…" Nami said turning her head and noticing something.

Naruto removed his shirt and revealed his upper body, which not only showed he was quite muscular and well taken, a body she could not turn away from - but what caused her to pay closer attention was what was on his back.

Something that sobered her up faster than anything else.

"My apologies for removing my shirt, it is not what it looks like." Naruto said turning around to Nami and holding his hands out, "Zeff doesn't like buying multiple sets of clothing, prefers his staff to clean their clothing after each shift so-"

"Sleep on the ship…"

The interruption was something that Naruto did not expect, let alone the sudden invitation of her, she still lay there on her bed, but her words were clear.

"Zoro's got a spare shirt so you use one of it for a while - but feel free to sleep on the ship." Nami said, specifying, "But not here, alright?"

"Okay, okay," Naruto said as he nodded to her suggestion, "I'll just sleep outside on the deck, it's warm weather anyway."

Going outside, Naruto was about to close the woman's door behind him-

*THWACK!*

A blunt object smacked him in the back of his head - knocking the blond to the ground, he went unconscious the moment his head fell to the floor.

An action he should've seen come even in a drunken state like that - Naruto let his guard down…for a reason.

Next day

Awoken up, Gin was walking over the floors of the Baratie, having decided to sleep it off, he just took a water bottle to sober up. Not realizing what just happened in the past few hours, like the moment he turned around he saw a massive ship had docked.

Not just any ship, Don Krieg's flagship the Dreadnaught Sabre That was in its abhorrent state, its presence alone should be problematic.

That however didn't make a reaction come out of the man - but instead, what made him react to what was to come next:

The ship got sliced several times with it imploding into several pieces out of nowhere as it was disintegrating into multiple pieces across the ocean with screams heard coming from the dreadnought.

"IT WAS CUT! IT WAS CUT!"

The desperate cry was everything Gin wanted to hear about what had just happened, with only one person coming to his mind that he came across.

"Mihawk returned…to finish the job?"

The impact of the attack was so powerful that the chunks of the ship caused waves and instability in the nearby waters, forcing him to grab something to make sure he didn't fall into the water himself.

"Damn it!" Gin held onto something, he cursed himself, "This is not good!"

"BIG BRO GIN!"

"BIG BRO!"

Turning around, the shouts came from the water and there he saw the two bounty hunter friends of Roronoa swimming to the restaurant, both panicking as they extended their hands for help.

"What happened to you two-"

"BIG SIS NAMI STOLE THE SHIP!"

Hearing that shot Gin's head up to where the Going Merry was docked - seeing it was indeed gone, and instead saw it sailing out into the sea - with the woman handling the helm.

About to reach for something to try and stop her, it was Yosaku's arm grabbed for him, forcing him to then help the two up.

"Damn it."

Meanwhile

On the Going Merry, Naruto was slowly waking up, finding himself having slept overtime, something he normally shouldn't do, yet he now had a reason that wasn't completely his fault.

Because he was tied up against the mast of the ship he felt his body being numb, with neither his legs nor arms responding, which meant-

"Ah crap," Naruto groaned at what he could guess, "I was drugged."

"Nothing lethal."

Turning his head up, he saw that the girl Nami was on the helm, and there she was sailing the Going Merry out into the sea, with a grin on her face as she told him something.

"Let's go to the Conomi Islands."

Well that was needed - sorry if it felt too short but I was stuck at this chapter.

Have a nice evening to you all - Stay tuned!