Growth through Chaos

by Animephilosopher1

As they return from the Land of Waves, Team 7 fall into somewhere far more chaotic and divided than the Ninja World. Follow Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi, after they find themselves in the World of the One Piece. Growing through a Special brand of Chaos across trials, battles, training and more as members of the Straw Hat Pirates on the Grand Line.(LuffyxNami, Kakashi x Robin)

19. Chapter 19: The Gathering Storm

Growth Through Chaos: Chapter 19:
The Gathering Storm.

"…."=speaking.

'…'=thinking.

"'Inner thoughts'"=images or memories within somebody's head.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece They are the property and brainchildren of Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda, respectively.

Please, Read and Review. I really, really like Reviews.

It was evening, and aboard the Going Merry in the docks of Loguetown, the crew were ignoring rowdy noise from the town in favour of listening about Naruto. Especially Luffy as Nami repeated what she'd learned to him, standing in the women's quarters while said boy was asleep in the bed.

"And everyone in his home agreed Naruto should be the outlet for their anger and grief. At best, growing up they saw him as trash or a monster even worse than Arlong. All because of the day he was born on. So today when nobody was that unkind here, it was all too much for my little brother to handle."

"Little brother," Luffy repeated, sitting on the floor beside the occupied bed. While Nami stood leaning against a wall. Looking over the sleeping Naruto, his peaceful smile warmed her heart.

"Yeah," Nami confessed. "Since he never had any family and we both suffered because of hate, I asked him if he'd like to be my younger brother. That's why I have to watch over him tonight."

Looking between them both, Luffy scrunched up his face; "So Naruto didn't get beaten up today, but he cried because others were just nice to him? Everybody left him alone, and it hurt too much to think about?"

Nami answered, but the captain didn't listen to her reply. Luffy was thinking back to some days he knew from a long time ago….

'"I was scarred—AWWWHHAAAWWWHHAAAHHHH-Thought I was gonna die-!" At night, in the middle of a forest, he cried his eyes and face to pieces after getting rescued from Porchemy. His brother Ace was there, with someone else that Luffy refused to think about at all.' '"RAWWW! Would you shut up?! You're not hurt that bad! So stop crying already! When are you gonna stop being a Baby?! Don't you wanna be a pirate!" After Ace complained, Luffy clamped shut like a snare; forcing with all he could muster not to do something and make Ace go back to not liking him.'

'Next, he bowed, thanking both the other boy. "You…saved me." A fresh deluge came, and Ace came forwards but got stopped by something.' Reflexively, Luffy's mind refused to think of who it was; '"I was afraid." Inside the memory, this message crept past his lips while everything in his body still hurt, "that you wouldn't be my friend." The other boy claimed dying was worse than telling, but Luffy knew somewhere deep that wasn't the truth.'

'"Why'd you want to be my friend? That's dumb. It's not like I've been nice to you. In fact, I've given you hell ever since we first met. It's been months why haven't you just given up?"'

'Think of what it be if he wasn't there, Luffy shouted back to Ace: "Well...cause-cause I-I got no one else to turn to! I can't go back to Fusha Village! And I don't like the mountain bandits either! I'd be all alone all the time if I didn't follow you. Getting beat-up hurt but…BUT BEING LONELY HURTS MORE!"'

Blinking, Luffy's attention came back to the present and kept staring at his younger Nakama. 'So…Naruto knows that. About being alone, and he was stuck that way all the time? He's twelve and he stayed alone for every year?...how… …how can he smile or get strong? No Grandpa, no brother, no nobody…'

"Luffy? Luffy?" Nami tried to capture his attention. "Hey, there's meat in here."

"Huh? Food?" Luffy questioned her. "Nami, why you think about that at this time? There's more important stuff."

Nami fell backwards, sinking into a chair after she was knocked for a loop in dismay: Monkey D. Luffy had ignored FOOD. A rumble came from his stomach the next second. A rumble Luffy still won't move for, instead just staring at Nami. "Is Naruto gonna be okay? He knows he got us here, and we're friends?"

Nami just kept staring. 'Get a grip,' she shook her head, then swallowed. "I think so. But, it might take a bit until that truly sinks in. He'll probably sleep until tomorrow. But right now Luffy, are you hungry?"

Luffy's lips puckered, twisting to his right while his eyes turned the other way, and he was sweating. "Uh-uh. I'm fine." His stomach loudly refuted that claim.

Above them, the hatch opened and a plater came flying down, filled with a mound of sizzling roast flanks. "Eat up." Sanji gracefully descended the ladder balancing a plate covered with a Vogue on his head. Depositing the meal before Nami, he lifted the vogue then glanced at Luffy tearing into the meat, and turned his full attention to Naruto.

Even Nami heard her own stomach complain at the scent of roast pheasant in tangerine sauce wafting from the plate. "Thank you Sanji," she spoke, from under a deep shade of pink.

"I doubt Naruto got any lunch before things fell apart. And after today skipping dinner won't do him any good. Somebody should—"

"Touch him, and I will drown you," Nami hissed, and Sanji felt the touch of death tickle down his spine. Luffy almost choked on his mouthful, and looking towards the danger he found Nami transfixing them with a look that resembled a ferocious lioness. Survival instincts overcame Sanji. "I'll be cooking up extra breakfast tomorrow, then. But make sure he gets a huge lunch to go with it while you're out tomorrow, Nami."

Satisfied, the girl nodded and went back to her meal. Luffy meanwhile stood up beside his ship's-cook without looking at him. "Sanji. You remember what I ordered Zoro after he promised to train Sasuke?"

"Say the word, captain," Sanji pledged. "Not even the command from any lady or even Zeff himself could get me to ensure Naruto's dream will be real." Looking over at each other, both idiots embodied fearsome mountains.

"Take Naruto and teach him," Luffy order his cook, "not just about fighting but cooking, too. If someone cooks great meals, it's impossible for anyone not to like them. Food brings everyone together. And what Naruto feels is worse than knives or spiked knuckles or a sword cut. All he had through being lonely was one dream, and it got him through the time with pain."

Sanji and Nami felt their mouths turn dryer than a desert, stirring over not solely at Luffy's words, but how he spoke of them as old wounds. "Nobody is gonna give him that much hurt again, so we've gotta get him strong to keep that dream and make sure everyone likes him, too. Right?"

Under LUffy's glare, Sanji snapped at attention; his brisk nod pacifying the captain.

"Awesome! Glad we solved that!" Luffy's trademark smile back, and he left through the hatch to the lounge. "We got more adventures tomorrow; sleep good Nami," and he was gone.

Sanji stayed there staring before he shook his head. 'Okay, if he bipolar or something? That might actually let some things about Luffy today make sense.' Nami meanwhile had different thoughts: 'Luffy, do you know about that's like? Actually, what was your childhood like?'

The cook soon left after Nami finished her meal. Next, the Navigator changed into a new set of pyjamas she'd bought that day, a green set with light pants and a button collar, and climbed in with her younger brother. Naruto shuffled about, reflexes unsure of this sensation; but slowly he pressed in closer, with one hand grasping Nami's arm.

Her lips trembling, the girl had to bite them to stop. Swallowing she wrapped her free arm around him over the covers, a shield from anything and everything.

'Naruto…..you won't be alone again. And you'll always have another home on this ship. I promise that' she silently pledged. Thinking back on the minor parallels between them, the navigator looked over at a picture on the bedside table: one of herself and Nojiko with Bellemere.

Frowning, she thought of her true mother the moment Arlong shot her…next the hatred her former 'crew' had given out to Humans…the reflections from those in Cocoyoshi village and herself…and now….

'"What are you hiding? I mean, that can't be the truth; nobody is ever that blind or terrible when they're angry!" she demanded.'

'"No?" Kakashi questioned her, calmly. "Would you say the same thing about Arlong and everyone who followed him?".…..."If we were to find another fishman right here, today. Would you be able to look at them without memories of what Arlong, Chew, Kurobi, Hatchan and others did? Or would those memories come back and influence what you would expect or give to that Fishman?"'

Her eyes travelling back to him, someone who personified the dangers of guilt-by-association, Nami's thought became roving between reflections of him and Bellemere. 'Would you hate pirates like my friends? Or did you feel any doubt or worry like this after adopting Nojiko and me?'

Dusk evolved into night leaving most of the crew asleep; the men finally used to Luffy's snoring in the men's cabin. Up on deck, Sakura had her eyes in the distance; where the moon hung and a match reflection rippled on the sea.

Behind her, one man looked over at his crewmate, chewing on his lips to think over the matter on his mind. A grunt echoed over the deck, ignored by Sakura while she continued staring off; curious. 'Naruto. Is this why he kept asking me about dates at the Academy? Or why he called Inari a coward?' Silently, she thought back over the explanations he gave to the crew about Naruto. 'Whenever I do think back about it, he really did suffer. Sasuke-kun definitely suffered worse, he knew his family for so long and found all of them dead; that must leave a deeper wound, but….maybe they are the same; quality and quantity. Naruto got mistreated more often, while Sasuke experienced a singular, terrible horror.'

'What kinda teammate have I been, and why didn't somebody tell me? I'd definitely have treated them both so much better.'

"Yah mind looks like a hurricane's a rangin' in there, Sakura." Beside her Gin's raspy tone drew her attention. The man leaned on the railing, arms folded over it and staring.

"Ummm…..well….after we heard about both Sasuke and Naruto this week. I'm wondering, why they didn't say something about it earlier. Naruto, he would shout whatever was on his mind for as long as I've known him, and the Uchiha massacre wouldn't be something people could stay quiet about. But...I never knew..."

"Hmmm. Yeah, those kid-…" Gin caught his breath. "No. There ain't no way anyone can call the two ah them boys a'tall. They've experienced darker sides to life than most in any lifetime. Yet…"

Looking over at her, the pirate swallowed back to brace himself. "What about you, little lady? Between you and Kakashi, do all ninjas have tragedy in their lives like Naruto & Sasuke do?"

Sakura looked up in surprise, thinking back to her own teacher, and some words from him.

'"You are the only person between the Genin of this team, who has had any support or stability in their lives. Naruto and Sasuke have both suffered, but their goals and ambitions prevented them from falling into despair and anger. Now. Those goals have been ripped away." Kakashi spoke to her.'"

'The only person…did he include….'

"Um. I'm not sure," she replied, Gin making a face at this. "I mean about Kakashi-sensei," she clarified. "He never talks about himself very much at all, so I don't know. But I haven't had anything like what they've suffered from, no."

Just as she spoke, Sakura felt something crawling over his skin, shuddering in the warm night. The girl worked to ignore it. "I always had family who were there, sometimes they were annoying, but now I just wish I could see my parents again. I've never suffered like what Sasuke and Naruto, or Nami-san and Sanji-san have, ever. Or even you after running into Hawkeyes-san."

Looking down on the deck, the same sensation from before crept deeper into Sakura's skin. She shook her legs and arms, rubbing her hands over her elbows, until Gin surprised her.

"Ah see. Guess I'm actually glad to hear 'bout that."

"Huh?" Looking up a question expelled through her green eyes, one the outlook picked up on.

"Between all that we've found so far, a person who ain't got that kinda trauma hiding in their closet is a blessin'. All ah us are misfits in one way or more, and we all know dangers are lurkin' out there. Goin' forward, I'm a measure concerned there might be more tragedy in the past to come back and bit us in the butt."

0…0

"Vice-Admiral, sir! We will reach Loguetown tomorrow, sir."

"Hmmm." On the deck of his warship, a certain wreaking-ball bulldog leered out ahead, grinning. "Luffy, you're not getting' out from my watch this time, kiddo. Beating-up pirates is the most fun the world. I'll drag you and every miscreant you've dragged into a crew straight to Headquarters and start training for life in the Navy."

"BWAAAAAHHHHAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAA!" A booming laugh continued, echoing over the water…somehow reaching the Going Merry several clicks away where it touched the sleeping Monkey D. Luffy; shuddering right through him and—

"Pistol!"

"Wha' the hell is that!" Gin shouted, waking up most of the crew to the fresh hole in the middle of their deck.

"Huh? What? What's this mystery feeling!" After complaints, indifference and a few bonks-to-the-head, the Straw Hats wrote off their Captain's move to be a random nightmare. Getting back to sleep, Monkey D. Luffy kept tossing left and right.

Nothing more happened that night. Dawn announced a fresh day and everyone got up earlier than normal; Sanji, Kakashi, Sasuke and Zoro left Ussop and a snoring Luffy behind; one to get breakfast ready and three for training while the night-sift took a slight nap.

When sunlight came basking over the harbour, it found Sasuke kneeling over holding his own bokken, with Zoro and Kakashi sparring with their own blades.

The jagged edge scythed overhead, parried by Zoro's blade as he dashed in. Kakashi didn't miss a beat, bending his knees to evade the cross-slash, then spun around to whip what used to be Arlong's Saw Blade over his shoulder. Zoro blocked it and both men locked their weapons together briefly as the ex-bounty hunter pressed in on Kakashi's grip.

They jockeyed around to press one angle and block the other from a good position, but Kakashi's weapon favoured that setting and without a 2nd or 3rd blade, Zoro felt a prick of the weapon touch his neck.

"Don't be so determined, without thought," Kakashi admonished him. Zoro grit his teeth but only nodded, flexing his free hand, then drew Wado Ichimonji into a high guard, while Kakashi weighed the massive weapon in his hand.

'This isn't so bad, but I'm barely able to use it with one hand now, unlike when we started. Zabuza's Kubikiribocho was similar, but how much strength training did he need to master that weapon first?' Kakashi levelled the saw-blade into an angle, his wrists groaning at the strain of the near-4-meter long weapon.

Kakashi dashed in, cutting a diagonal-slash Zoro moved to block—and nothing! Kakashi vanished from Zoro's sight. Dropping low, he rolled under the same weapon from behind him and then slashed low at Kakashi's legs. The jonin stepped over the cut, then paired a rising slash.

"Well, done. You picked up on my flicker attacks," Kakashi praised, his posture pausing as Zoro returned a grin, then came dashing in to meet his partner. The two men circled around one another: Zoro was stalwart and strong, equal to Kakashi in pure swordsmanship as the Jonin's evasive habits kept building momentum for his weapon.

Sasuke watched in envy at just how intense the pair were. The scale they moved at was too risky for any novice or intermediate swordsman to partake in. Now the first-mate was pinned down fending off a flurry of strikes from Kakashi the Jonin pressing the weight behind the blade over Zoro's smaller weapon.

"Wa-Hoo! Yeah! Go Zoro, beat him, beat him!" Luffy rocked in his heels, cheering at the show.

"Come on Kakashi, he's only got one to use! I have chores on the line betting for you!" Ussop joined in.

"Alright, the meal's on the table!" Sanji's call ended their spar, neither man cut anywhere however Zoro panting in fatigue and excitement while Kakashi's wrists were raw. Then one hand landed on each man's head. "Food!" Luffy catapulted over them, using both warriors as a pommel horse. Ussop scurried after him while Zoro shrugged it off.

"Kakashi," the swordsman declared, "whether Naruto wakes up soon or not we're buying those extra swords I need right after breakfast. And Sasuke here is coming with me," the first man declared.

"Oh, that goes with saying," the other man cocked his head, eyes closed in his own smile. "Hopefully, I can find somewhere which offers kunai and shuriken; my cute little Genin and I are getting low."

"Cute? Hh," Zoro chuckled, dropping one hand as his own disciple strode past. "That sounds about right with these kids." Sasuke grumbled but nevertheless did not try and shrug off the hand ruffling his hair.

The smell also coaxed Gin and Sakura back to their feet. While others moved towards the kitchen, Kakashi braved the door to the girl's cabin.

Opening the trap door easy as he could, nobody inside heard or saw a thing. One form was still curled up in bed, while Nami sat at her desk still in pyjamas. While he spied, Nami kept stealing glances at the bed.

The navigator looked over at the window, the ceiling and finally back to her work. 'Things suddenly got quiet up there. Maybe I should—'

"Yo."

"AHHH!" The chair fell back over itself while Nami spun about at the voice right in her ear. Closing her arms across her chest, she look at who was there. And promptly tried to slap him.

"Huh? Yaaww—AAAHHHHH!" Yawning, Naruto sat up to stretch. Scratching his head with both eyes still closed, the boy tried to fight off the grip of sleep.

"Good morning, little brother." Everything stopped, as those words sparked light in his memories of someone else saying the same thing one day ago.

Shooting both eyes open, Nami and Kakashi were both right in the centre of the room. She was smiling and Naruto's mouth fell open before she closed it with a tap on his chin and smiled down to the boy.

"Listen," Nami spoke, "I meant what I said yesterday. If you ever feel lost or broken again, or if anything or anyone bothers you. Come straight to me, okay?"

Azure eyes of wonder stayed transfixed on her own warm brown ones. Naruto himself started shifting. "Uh….nee-chan. Nami-nee." Naruto kept stealing glances up at Nami, with both his arms twitching. "Can I…can I hug you again?"

A moment later, Nami gave her own embrace. "That is something you never have to ask for."

Naruto relished this for several moments, the warmth beating back a further wave of regret. 'This….this is really a hug?... Nobody but Old Man Hokage ever gave me one….Ji-ji…I really want you to meet Namii-nee-chan one day when we get back home.'

Then, Naruto noticed Kakashi was watching them. "Sensei. Did…did you tell everyone in our crew about me last night?"

"Almost," Nami answered instead. Letting go for a bit, she stepped back to face both shinobi. "Kakashi told most of them but Luffy came straight in here without waiting. He wanted to see you himself, so I told him instead. He even ordered Sanji to help you train for fighting and cooking lessons twice as much now. Then he walked out and asked to know the moment you woke up."

With a swallow, Naruto slumped over. "So…what do Sasuke and Sakura think of me. Or Zoro and everybody?"

Kakashi remained neutral before gesturing at the doorway. "All of them were extremely understanding, Naruto. They admire you now more than before. Why not come upstairs and ask them?"

"Oh, and Sanji has breakfast," Kakashi casually slipped, and Naruto suddenly grasped how much his stomach felt empty. "I might recall that Nami mentioned something about a shopping trip. Let's give her time to change or get a bath. Maybe clock in a little training in the meantime."

Naruto nearly tripped over his own feet moving for the trap door. Back up on deck, something delicious hung in the air while Gin and Luffy were both looking outside.

"Don." Luffy looked over at Gin, then followed his nod towards Naruto. "Naruto!"

"Uh…yeah, captain?" Walking over, one idiot was staring right into another; with Luffy's face uncharacteristically passive. 'Would I be like him if I didn't get Ace for a brother?' the Straw Hat pondered. He didn't move, and Naruto merely kept staring up at him, growing fidgety. Until a familiar grin broke out and he ruffled Naruto's hair.

"If anybody glares at you again, just come and get me," Luffy pledged. "Nobody will do that to my friends, and you will always be one to me no matter what. And you're mystery-powers are too great and you are too much fun to leave behind. SHhshishishishishishishishi!"

"Kid," Gin captured Naruto's attention next, looking down over his young crewmate with respect. "Yer stronger than anyone around, ya hear? Never let anybody say different. Or doubt that about yah self."

Naruto was smiling now…yet it was raw, true and real for the first time in a long time. He didn't say anything, only smiling as it wore deeper and deeper into his face.

"Naruto." A certain Uchiha announced himself, staring directly at 'the fool.' Facing him square-on, the Uzumaki didn't dare to speak while his teammate kept staring, searching him deep enough to invoke discomfort.

"Look, Sasuke I—"

"You really are strong, aren't you?" he finally said. It was the last thing Naruto expected, and the one thing to leave him utterly lost for words.

"Naruto. The man who…" the fellow Genin had to swallow for a moment. "The murderer who orphaned me. Who massacred my clan," Sasuke shared, and tension in the room suddenly grew dense. "He told me that I should hate him, and let that hate dictate everything I did. I followed that without hesitating, and I think you know for how long." Tossing throughout the night, Sasuke recalled how Naruto caught one thing in him during their one-sided spars.

"Now I think," Sasuke continued. "You were strong enough to throw aside everyone's words and become yourself. I bent over for what another person said I should be, and his instructions led me to my worst mistakes. That proves how you managed to accomplish something I wasn't able to. You are strong, and I…am….sorry." Looking down, the 12-year-old slunk away, leaving Naruto behind him, flabbergasted. Nearly the entire world faded into a dense black haze, with all of Naruto's attention fixed solely on Sasuke's retreating back. 'Sasuke...thinks I'm...that I can be...'

"N-N-N-Naruto?" Looking to his right, the Uzumaki's tunnel-vision cleared to find Sakura beside him now; holding her arm and shifting while her long pink hair covered both eyes. Confused, Naruto started to move towards her, until the girl faced him instead, her face a picture of guilt. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry."

"I…" She had to swallow a trickle of bile, then recalled how to speak of what she felt. "I used to see how other people treated you but didn't think at all about it. And then I followed the crowd and did nothing, or I added to how much you were hurting more than anybody had any right to; not only here but also back in Hanma village, or whenever you wanted to have company, and all in our time at the Academy. I'm so, so, so, sorry."

More apologies followed, so many that lost track of how many times she gave until he caught a grip on his own feelings. "Hey. Hey, Sakura-chan!" The girl stopped, only to shake at a smile and thumbs-up Naruto gave at her. "Hey, it's all okay now. I mean, nothing like that happened in a long time and right now we're friends, right? Let's look to that and tomorrow, not what happened before. Ya know!"

"Guha-hahahahahaha!" A rubber arm roped around each Genin, pulling them and holding each face cheek-to-cheek with Luffy. "That's right. The past, that's just who somebody was. It's not who they are right here and right now, so don't think about it and go find a new adventure! That's what all of us will do together, right!"

"Right, Captain Luffy, believe it!" Naruto nodded up at him, while Sakura looked from one over to the other, and broke out in her own grin.

"Well-spoken Captain," Zoro announced, coming up with Ussop beside him. The sniper walked over to Naruto and was grinning down at him. "Yeah, none of us cares about anything else but you and what you see about yourself. Those are the qualities that define men, Naruto, so don't ever go and forget them! To all of us, you are our big, orange, lovable goofball, and our home is right here on this ship. Right?"

"Yeah!" Jumping for joy, pure elation and joy were coursing through Naruto; deeper and more true than ever since the shackles of his repression and desperation were snapped and thrown away. Bonds were building between him and the Straw Hat pirate crew, forgetting anything that would upset them.

Still, Kakashi was looking on, hiding something else in the back pocket of his mind. 'Telling them about the Eight Sign Tetragram Seal and his burden might be too complicated. And, by all the laws that matter, that is Naruto's tidbit to share, not mine.'

'I should give him a few days to enjoy all of this. Then we'll broach crossing that bridge.'

"Alright, come and eat, everyone," Nami called over, clad in a dark teal t-shirt and navy skirt resting on her thighs and matching rings on either hip. "We've got a laundry list of shopping to do. Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi and Gin can go find the weapons they need, and I'm taking Naruto for the whole day, brother and sister only. Sanji and Ussop, you both stay with the ship."

"And what gives you the right to dictate orders like that," Zoro growled out, moving right into Nami's face.

"Hey back off, Lost-boy," Sanji shot back. "If that's what Nami wants, everyone will follow it."

"See yay!" Luffy waved behind him, then took off running from the ship again, gone before anyone could do anything. "What!?"

Nami had some presence of mind to try her new fallback.

"buda—buda—buda—buda—buda…buda—buda—CLICK. Hey, what's up?" the den-den-mushi on her wrist replied with Luffy's attitude.

"Luffy, where are you running to at the drop of a dime?" Nami demanded.

"I wanna explore again and Naruto's feeling fine," the snail answered. "Zoro's first-mate, you and Old Man Kakashi can handle anything. Why stick around? There wasn't any food left from breakfast." Sanji went pale at the last bit, then shot for the kitchen and seconds later the boat was vibrating from his shout. "GREEDY PIG! That Uncouth, rubber-bastard! That was meant for everyone, especially Naruto and Nami-swan, not just her rubbery, black-pit stomach!"

Nami sighed before glancing over to Zoro. "Usually the captain should direct their own crew," she dryly crewed out. "Luffy even proved he can do it when things get bad, to our immeasurable surprise. But right here, I don't think any more elucidation is necessary. Do you?"

"No, not at all." 8/10th's of everyone answered in unison. Zoro was embarrassed to speak; 'You know something's wrong with this world when I am the one acting that much of an idiot.'

After Sanji quickly revised their meals, everyone finally got food in their bellies. "I've got to prepare that Elephant Blue-Fin Tuna from yesterday, Sanji shared his own plans, "so staying with the ship is a necessity. Actually, after what just happened, Luffy running off instead of stealing more whenever I take my eyes away might not be a bad situation."

"I'll go lookin' for'em." Ussop volunteered. Consent echoed through the room, with the others finishing up and then set off for their errands; Naruto was especially grinning as Nami walked off with him, hand-in-hand.

Ten minutes later and the girl was at her worst inside another clothing shop. "But Nami-nee-chan, I like this and it looks so cool!" Naruto struck a pose, decked with a neon-orange trench coat; his older sister not even sparing a look. "Nothing goes with orange but black, and that is an abomination to all the rules of fashion. If you wear that, I will ban Sanji from any training or cooking lessons for one day." Like a whimpering puppy, Naruto slunk over to put the coat back while Nami wisely did not look towards him. 'I don't think I could say no to any puppy-dog eyes right now. And with his cute whiskers, it'd be even worse.'

Back to her job, a found a bright-blue t-shirt with swirling waves and a V-neck collar. "Ah, this would be adorable, and we'd match!" She added it to the basket taken from the door; already overflowing with her choices.

The next half-hour passed with Naruto forced to try on one outfit after another; answering Nami's proclamations with wonder and questions.

"But you said I look great in this, why can't I have those green pants with this pink shirt?" holding them up side-by-side, Nami rested her headache by caressing her own brow. 'This, might be the single greatest challenge of my life.'

More and more ensued until she finally dragged him out of the store without buying anything. Giving the same lecture forced upon Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto didn't get the point and only kept talking.

"If we finish faster, won't that mean more time for sailing, cooking and training? Or you can draw more maps, nee-chan. Let's go back and get those then, find somewhere with Ramen!"

"Never," Nami dead-panned him, still leading the boy by his hand. "How about this. Would you just get a plain package of cup ramen, or take the time to find the best Ramen restaurant around, then spend the money there?"

The knucklehead thought this over, while Nami herself saw her favourite 4-letter word. "SALE-OOOOO!" With stars dancing in her eyes, the girl took off in a sprint; with Naruto dangling airborne in her wake.

Inside, Nami began browsing all the options; still the impossible happened as she was looking for somebody else and not herself. "Hmmm…okaaaay, but we can do better. AHHH, perfect! Never, I'll let you wear plaid before that. Ah-ha, this might match your headband! No, no, no, no. Ahh….that is a good pick, little brother, you are learning." Nami was beaming towards a black collared t-shirt with orange-shade cargo pants that Naruto was holding up. Nami let him try them on and after finding the right size, bought them on the spot.

Naruto could barely measure how happy he was, not only under Nami's attention but for the common-kindness of other people all around them. After letting out his emotions, the boy could smile back at other people, so long as he didn't stay too long else a pang would form in his heart.

Nami noticed this and kept him moving. He even felt happy helping her make different choices, but disagreed with the more risqué options; 'It feels weird having my sister wear those. I don't know why, but I don't like it.'

Soon they left the store will several different bags each; Naruto even made extra clones to help carry them. More and more, the pair continued visiting shop after shop. They had fun together, Nami glad to see Naruto enjoying himself, even both snatching a few things, and with additional clones appearing with every purchase they made.

"Naruto, I love how much of a big help you are," Nami praised him, leaving her brother a fresh shade of red. "Now if we could only-ah!" Nami saw a furniture store hosting its own sale. Looking between it and towards all the Naruto's, she grinned. Soon the pair were lounging on various couches throughout the store, Nami wanting to get a wider one for the Going Merry since their crew hand doubled in size from the time Merry and Kaya had given her to them.

Naruto even started bouncing on one, which Nami put a gentle stop to. "Something like that might break it in half, and we couldn't use it at all. Never do that again, especially to someone else's."

At her scolding, Naruto hung his head. "Now don't hide like that," Nami coaxed him. "If someone does the wrong thing, they should look right up towards it. Alright?"

Passing on Bellemere's own lesson to her, Nami made sure Naruto understood then whispered in his ear. '"Just make sure to point other people away from it. If nobody notices, then nobody cares."

Soon the pair were giggling together and went back to their shopping day.

0…..0

Elsewhere, Zoro's group had their own excitement. "Ah, this place looks promising." The First-mate, both Cabin-Genin, and the Jonin stood together before a weapon's shop.

"I hope so, Zoro-sensei. Especially for their quality. We'd get in big trouble if sensei didn't have a second sharp eye." At Sasuke's comment, Sakura swallowed back her shame at a near miss an hour earlier.

"Ahhhh, you really shouldn't beat yourself up, Sakura," Kakashi gently spoke. "Only ninjas who have needed to restock their equipment outside of a village often know what to look for in a good kunai. That shop you found earlier were swindlers, but useless choices and mistakes are part of learning."

Smiling towards her, Kakashi's face fell at how Sakura dropped over herself; curling into a ball of shame.

"You really need to work on your words, Kakashi," Zoro muttered. Looking from them up to the sign, he and Sasuke were both eager to get inside.

"Well, without Nami around, we should be able to get exactly the right stuff without her complaints. And maybe this guy'll have some kunai and shuriken for you four."

"Oh, no, no, no you don't!" Sakura somehow got in front of them, blocking the doorway. "Without any jobs anymore, our money isn't infinite. I get the privilege to screen anything that you buy. Two swords alone are going to cost enough as it is, and we have a whole lot more to get. Kakashi-sensei gets to choose anything he sees, but you don't."

"Oh yeah, why do I have a limit like that?" Zoro shot back at her.

"That's because you want two of them and that'll be double the price. Sasuke-kun can choose whatever he wants."

The pair continued bantering, while Kakashi and Sasuke walked around them right into the shop. Inside, they paused, admiring the variety of weapons arranged on display and even sets of armour going with them. Kakashi especially felt a wave of relief, spotting several familiar killing tools. 'Naginata's, Kusarigama, even Odachi and whip-chains. But there are see several other blades in different styles I haven't seen before.' The Jonin slid one hand into his pocket, pulling out a certain book from his pouch he flipped the pages and started cross-referencing. 'Warriors, weapons and armour. It's a good thing Sakura bought two of these yesterday. I'll have to comb through it in more detail later.'

"Huh? Oh, why hello there, fresh customers." A red-nosed man with wings of black hair to frame his face stood up, rubbing his hands eagerly. "Take a look around, choose anything you'd like, or perhaps you're looking for a specific piece?"

"We're looking for swords, two for my sensei and one for myself," Sasuke announced. "We also need three separate tonfa's, one in a matching set. And do you have any kunai, shuriken or nin…..uh, steel wire?"

"Absolutely, we have a fine collection here," the merchant informed them. "Rapiers, Broadswords, Jian, Cutlasses, Falchions, single-edge, double-edge, even rare Hook-swords. Now looking for tonfas. Those are a less-than-common choice, but this is the only shop in town where you might find any these days. Do you have any figures for a price range between the pair of you?"

"I want a katana. It's my sword-master's weapon so—" Immediately, Sasuke's request was silence as the door got flung open and struck a wall.

The shopkeeper jumped backwards as Zoro strode in with Sakura behind him. "No. You aren't going to imitate me like that, kid."

Surprised, Sasuke looked up at the swordsman. "Why, Zoro-sensei? You use that weapon so it'll be the best one to practice under your watch. I might even train my eyesight to copy your—"

"NEVER!" The shade of a demon pulsed from Zoro, even pulling at Kakashi's patience. The Jonin watched carefully, ready to interject. While Zoro drew his remaining katana from his belt and held it before him.

"I started out in a dojo, then this sword was bequeathed to me. And you aren't just going to take that easy way." Glaring at his disciple, Zoro continued: "I won't tolerate that from my student. I invented sentoryu, it's an extension of myself. If you just try to follow my every step to propel yourself forward, that's not real skill or any strength to be proud of."

"Choose your own weapon," Zoro insisted. "I found what suited me, and you'll do the same. We're going to try out all the different swords here," the green-haired figure gestured around the room. "You can still learn different moves from me, then tailing with them your own flare and grow into a swordsman in your own right. That is the path towards building your own power, and the personal strength to fall on when you face true dangers beyond your own level. The first step is to choose your own weapon, not have it chosen for you."

Looking away from Sasuke, Zoro fixed his attention on the shopkeeper and jabbed one thumb over at Kakashi and Sakura. "Help him and her out first, then I hope you got a clear schedule for today, cause this might wind up taking a while."

No reply came. It was only then how much everyone noticed the shopkeeper staring directly at Zoro's sword, the one still held in the air.

"S-S-s…s-say now. H-How by chance did you come by that sword? Are you here to trade it in for another one? I'd give you 100,000 for it."

"Hm?" Zoro looked down, then drew back his white-sheathed weapon; a casual but immovable look grew on his face. "Not for sale, and we have enough money."

"Wait, that's not true!" Sakura came in, her arms shooting out at each man to stall the offer. "We…could always use some extra, if you are willing for it. For the right price."

"Oh, w—w—w—well then, c—c—c—c—can I take a look at it a second?"

That answer got Kakashi interested. Looking between the weapon and the salesman, he caught on.

"No." Zoro slid the blade back into his belt with his refusal. "Not for sale, and my word surpasses hers. Now, are you gonna get those weapons Kakashi asked about?"

"Now, now, now, hold on. What if I raised it to 300,000, or gave several swords in trade for this old one. What do you say?"

"Old one? You mean the Wado Ichimonji?" Kakashi slipped in. At that one name, the man went pale as the moon, before searing red to glare at its source.

"Wait...wait a second?" Sakura flipped through her own sword handbook before landing on a certain page. "Oh, here it is? The Wado Ichimonji. Forged by the blacksmith Shimotsuki Kozaburo. One of the 12 O Wazamono swords of renown. Hailing from the country of Wano. Worth: at least 10,000,000 bellies! You swindler!" At the accusation, the man slammed his fist on the table.

"Well that's called business, and I'm perfectly entitled to it. Besides, if that's the standard price then I still need to make a profit on it. Don't even think of starting there. In fact, I might be doing you a favour since all the rouges in town at the moment might target this blade and give you too much trouble."

Sakura thought this over, all until a fist slammed over her head. While shaking it clear, she looked up to find the shopkeeper now had a problem: a point of a sword resting at his throat

.

"Do you have a name?"

"Uh…uh..Ip…" As he had to swallow, Zoro eased off enough to give him the space without stabbing his own throat.

"What is…AH!" A woman came around the corner near the back wall, then came bounding for Zoro.

"No! No, Ipponume." The salesman, inexplicably, was completely calm now. Looking back along the edge of the blade, he met Zoro with a surprising amount of spirit.

"My name is Ipponmatsu. And I am sorry," the merchant apologised. "If the blade is yours and you truly wish to keep it this badly, I won't press the matter further."

Zoro did not move, holding the tension in the room a while longer. All until a tap on his blade sent it to the open air, and his wrist came locked in a vice. "I believe that is enough," Kakashi lent more pressure to his hold, enough for Zorro to wince but still not release his own sword. "Now that the matter is settled. We have a business to complete. Why not look around at different katana that fit your preference, Zoro? Sakura can look over the cheaper merchandise, or wait here to select her own weapons, while Sasuke and I stay with Ipponmatsu-san."

After he let them go, Zoro re-sheathed Wado Ichimonji then flexed his hand, muttering about a sore wrist. "Sorry about that, Sakura," he muttered, then leisurely strode over to a set of blades hung from a wall stand.

"Ah, you don't need to worry," Ipponmatsu assured them, standing more at ease than before. "My shop often has all kinds of rouges: pirates, bounty hunters, big-shot Marines, you name it. Business here slowed down after Captain Smoker drove them all away, but since he left I've had an uptake in sales. Suppose, greed got the better of me."

"Anyways, the cheapest stuff I have are in those barrels there," Ippomatsu pointed over to the vessels, with neatly-spaced arrangements of different sub-par weapons. "All of them have dull edges, but they're the best price if you want to keep the cost low. Ipponume? I'll buy you some extra bath salts if you could get the case of throwing knives from the back."

At this his wife are glaring, planting both hands on her hips. "How do you know exactly how to pamper me into doing things like that!" With that proclamation, her walking back through the doorway muttering about cheapskate, adoring men. Kakashi and Sasuke were both lost over this play-by, as Ippomatsu came around from behind his desk and waved for Sasuke. "Alright kid, let's see what kind of sword you like."

For the next several minutes, the Straw Hats moved around the store. Ipponume returned and revealed she was carrying a surprise.

'These…these are authentic shuriken,' Kakashi grasped while examining one, 'and even kunai throwing knives…wait—.' Holding one up, the Jonin felt their weight and handles before doing the same with a separate one. 'These kunai each have a different balance and edge. While the shuriken are almost ornate. Not the utilitarian ones we have from Leaf Village. Each was probably made by various craftsmen, not mass-produced.'

Noting these differences, the Jonin began selecting each one with the utmost care, disappointed there were not more available.

Sasuke had the most action, testing different swords as Ippomatsu directed him on how each one should be held and used. First, a "Rapier," which he felt like a showman on a stage; not a ninja. The next was a "Longsword," demanding two hands to lift, with a T-shaped cross guard; Sasuke declined, asking for a one-handed weapon. Several more followed, even a straight Jian blade, that Sasuke admired. But Zoro's words rang true within his mind, and he prefer to slash over thrusts.

They continued further and further, until—

"Uh, Mr. Ippomatsu. I think you have some missing stock. There's a legendary sword in here." Everyone turned, while the salesman grew pale with fear. Right beside Sakura, Zoro careened his neck to examine what she'd found.

"This sword. I think it's Kitetsu III," the kunoichi spoke up. "A successor of the O Wazamono sword Kitetsu. It's...quite a famous sword and a very expensive one." After reading from her hand-book, Sakura looked back to their host, while Zoro eased the blade from her grip. 'This blade. It…..what is…..' The Swordsman felt something.

"UH…no, no mistake. Just, put it back, you hear." Beads of anxiety were rolling down Ipponmatsu's face.

"Well," Sakura had a glean in her eye, "if you're really selling it for under 50,000-"

"No. You-you don't understand, I can't." Panicking now, Ippomatsu nearly ripped extra tuffs from his hair at the strain. "I put that blade there so nobody would notice it. I unconditionally cannot sell it."

"Why? It looks like a good blade," Sasuke cut in. He was about to ask more, but Zoro got the place first. "Looking underneath the underneath...This sword. It's cursed."

Now the shop went quiet, even the Hatake giving his undivided attention to Zoro as the teenager angled the blade to the ground.

"Huh? H—how did you know that?"

"I just…do," the swordsman answered. Everyone, even Ipponume leaned in, looking between the two men and the sword.

"Well, you're right," Ippomatsu confessed, "The Kitetsu swords are superior in all respects. But they've been cursed since their beginning, you have to believe me. There are stories from all over of master swordsmen, legends in their own right. All of them met their end after taking up a Kitetsu sword. Nobody is stupid enough to even touch them, these days."

"Hh. A curse on a weapon? It sounds a little far-fetched," Sasuke snarked at the explanation.

"Oh? Like Devil-fruits," Kakashi casually dropped. "Or men who are part-fish, part-human? Or how a genie's wish altered our lives completely? Turning aside from near-mystic subjects seems rather reckless after what we've encountered, Sasuke." As usual, Kakashi enjoyed trolling his student, leaving the younger Sharingan wielder completely silenced. Yet the majority of his attention remained on Zoro and the blade,

"Well, sounds like one of you has some deep wisdom," Ippomatsu continued. "If anyone else decides to take that blade, they might fall to its curse. I'm scared to let anyone buy it. I'm afraid that curse will come back to me too. Just put it back and forget about it."

"Hh. Nope,," Zoro replied, grinning like a shark. "I'll take it."

"Zoro, that sounds terrible; don't do it!" "Sensei, you're acting like the captain." Sakura and Sasuke each declared, while Kakashi, did nothing more than cock his eyebrow.

"Didn't you listen?" Ippomatsu had turned white. "I can't sell that sword you fool! If I do you'll die, and the curse might come back to me!"

"Oh, shut it," the man's wife complained, knocking him over the head.

"Well, then. Why not we put it to a test," Zoro declared.

The swordsman's proclamation left the others bewildered. Looking around, all but Kakashi felt something freeze their legs in place.

"Sasuke," Zoro decalred. "Whatever happens now. I accept the risks," Zoro spoke as he turned the Kitetsu in his hand. "Hide your eyes if you want. Or watch."

Zoro strode away from Sakura and stood in the empty centre of the shop. "Let's find out which one is stronger. The sword's curse? Or my good luck?"

Then he casually tossed Kitetsu III to the ceiling! Everyone assembled gasped, then First-mate closed his eyes…..and raised one arm straight in the path of the falling sword!

"WHAAAA!" "EERHHK—No, you stupid-!" "Reckless!" Kakashi was the last to speak, cursing himself!

"Do nothing!" Zoro's command echoed through the room, still holding his limb out, unmoving and emotionless as a marble block. Sakura made to dash in but ran straight into Sasuke's outstretched arm.

"Sasuke-kun, we—" "SHHHHH!" silenced by his hush, everyone followed the trail of the falling cursed blade. Lower…lower…it's spinning edge scything through the air…Zoro remained still, unmoving, utterly committed. Within his mind, the only image was the blade, the only sound he heard the edge slicing the air; sharper than a razor, thinner than the wind, ready to easily remove his arm.

Nothing around him had any form; only himself and the sword existed.

Kitetsu III was honing towards him. First, its shadow came for his head….next the tip aligned with his collar straight to his heart…..and finally his arm at the shoulder. Spinning over itself-it was level now, the tip millimetres from skin…..the blade rotated over Zoro's bicep….falling around him to land in the floor…. Harm undelivered.

No…..body…..moved. Sakura couldn't even cover her mouth, as her legs gave out and she fell backwards to the floor. Sasuke….the intensity of how he nearly lost a friend, a mentor, and a guide was paralyzing. Only for the weight of reality to flood his consciousness. The awe and emotional intensity...one of his eyes was changing.

Kakashi was utterly immovable….his sharingan was out, in time to spot the blade falling around Zoro's limb and what he'd just witnessed had been seared into the man's memory; something to follow his thoughts for a lifetime. 'N….not even any hairs were cut. Neither…were they even raised. Zoro-sensei, he was…completely calm.'

Zoro opened both eyes and was grinning towards Ippomatsu. "I'll take it."

"Hhhh…hhh…..hhhhh…." Sakura tried to grasp her bearing; while Sasuke gasped, and as Kakashi looked at him the Jonin caught something.

'His eyes. Three tomoe, and two?' Glancing over at Zoro, the Jonin made a silent groan as he grasped what had just happened.

Ippomatsu had fallen to the floor, while his wife still had her hands over her mouth. "You! Wait here!" The shop owner went scrambling to the back room, while Zoro drew the sword from the floor planks. "That's one down for me. Sakura. You have a good eye. Keep looking around, maybe you could find another one."

"That won't be necessary. Please, take this!" Looking over, the ninjas and swordsman could see Ippomatsu brought a sizable package down, covered with a purple cloth. Removing it, even Kakashi did a double-take at the quality of the blade unveiled.

"It is covered in a black lacquer finish. With an uneven temper pattern. Come here, draw the sword and see for yourself!"

Zoro shrugged, walking over and soon the blade was in his left hand. Nodding at its quality, he looked over at its current owner. "It's light and sharp. I like this one too. How much?"

"Hmmm," Ippomatsu was grinning now; showing a pride that hadn't been there beforehand. "For you. No charge, Kid. I haven't met someone like you in ages."

"Our shop, is small. But this is the finest sword I have. I never sold it to anybody, nor ever made an offer before. Been saving this for an owner who proved they had the mettle to carry it." Dipping his head towards Zoro, Ippomatsu was grinning. "You are a true swordsman in every sense of the word, I can see that now. I'd merit that you're more than worthy to carry Wado Ichimonji as well; alongside this sword. It is called the Ryo Wazamono Yubashiri. You must have some damn good luck friend, the swords are yours for no charge."

Zoro agreed with a shrug. While Kakashi took the distraction to pull himself together, finishing the sale on the kunai and shuriken. "My students and I train to use these weapons, and we honestly need the lot. I'll take all of them."

Both the husband and wife nearly fell flat on their faces at this offer, even more so when Kakashi pulled out enough money and then sealed the collection away in a scroll.

Hile the couple were muttering 'Devil-fruit,' Sakura came forward with her own order while Kakashi pulled out Gin's own tonfa. Ippomatsu happened to have a matching one as his last in stock and brought out a regular set in a package. Kakashi himself tested all of them, finding the weight and balance points did match Gin's, then passed the other set to Sakura.

She held them tightly in her hands, thumbs curled under or resting on top of the Tsuka-Gashira cap, shifting her forearm in line with the Shomen under-strip and trying different stances Gin had been practising.

It was awkward but expected.

"You will certainly need a lot of time before they'll become fluid and reliable weapons," Kakashi coached her. "Still, those can be used to defend and attack in several ways. And few people use them, leaving them unprepared again enemies who do wield these with skill. Since they're metal, that could go a long way towards anyone who comes at you with a sword. And if Naruto's testimony holds any truth, you can hit very hard when you want to, Sakura. A bludgeoning weapon like these will focus and complement that."

In a blink, Sakura fell from curious to depressed; folding in her knees but still holding the weapons.

'Did I….say something?' While the Jonin pondered, Zoro smacked his head. 'Great job, Kakashi. Really good way to remind her even more of Naruto's tough life and her own regret's over smacking him around.' Stepping forward, Zoro paid for the tonfa's and congratulated Sakura on her choice, raising the girl's mood.

All that left Sasuke, with the undivided attention of the weapons merchant. "No worries kid," Ippomatsu assured him. "You aren't leaving here without a sword to match you; that I promise." Further browsing ensued Sasuke tried more and more swords, even some katana he'd eyed after stepping in, but none of them matched his preference completely; only several close-to-the-mark that Zoro insisted he not settle on.

"You need to have no sliver of doubt. Feel more than think."

This continued, all until a specific weapon came to Sasuke's hand. Styled similar to a katana, this one had a straighter edge and was some inches shorter. After taking it up Sasuke somehow felt, at ease. One part of his mind recognized the style, on the uniform of his unspoken older brother; but following what he felt over what he thought, the Uchiha came to a surprise.

The weapon had a stripped hilt, patterned white and navy; with a crimson guard treated with lacquer and the blade carried an unusual temper pattern. Sasuke turned it over in his hand, stepping away to give experimental swings, followed by thrusts, then recovered to a guard position. From the sidelines, both his senseis nodded.

"Well. It looks like you found your own blade, Sasuke," Kakashi smiled at him. Turning around, the Uchiha looked straight over at Ippomatsu. "This one. This is the exact blade I want."

"Hm. Good choice. That there is a Ninjato. Similar to a katana, it's got a straight edge over a curved one, leaving it moderately thicker than other weapons of i's style. Plus it's lighter but the steel doesn't sacrifice weight or strength, courtesy of it gomai[1] forged steel. That one even has a name of its own: "Kazoku Shugo."[2] It's yours."

Sakura came up and paid for Sasuke's sword, while the Uchiha took the weapon and its sheath. Turning them over in his hands, the boy felt….strange. 'This. It's one thing that I chose. Something unique to me and will influence how I gather more skills; all towards my goal. No, my goal and…' He decided the think more about a second concept in his head later.

Together, the group thanked the owners and strode out of the shop, Zoro and Sasuke leading them with confidence and satisfaction. While Sakura and Kakashi followed them, and he glanced up at the skies. I wonder how Naruto and Nami are doing together?'

The answer: not well at all. Once they left the furniture shop the pair continued their day in search of lunch.

"What do you mean we can't eat here? Is that any way to-"

"No service! By…popular demand." The cook inside a Ramen restaurant blurted out at Nami. The girl stood in front of Naruto, with a glare boring deeper and deeper into the difficult man. While looking around the dinning-room, every pair of eyes held revulsion towards the pair.

"N-Nee-chan. Lets… let's just go." Naruto mumbled, and that did it: Nami started swinging! The guy before her landed on his back after 6 fists turned his face black-and-blue; followed with another three more bastards inside arm's-reach of the Navigator.

"Alright, now don't say a word and clean the gunk from your ears!" Nami hauled her victim to his feet with both hands, nobody daring to come to rescue him after the demoness's rush. "First, nobody mistreats my little brother in front of me; he's already had to suffer enough in our lives from filthy bastards like you." Nami felt a mental prick, of Bellemere doing a similar thing when boys had complained about her in her childhood.

"Second, both of us are part of one pirate crew. With the Marines absent for the moment, who can really stand up to us at all? Or to other pirates who might come here for a meal? Third and final, I do have money to pay and Ramen is his favourite meal, so we'll each have one bowl to start. Deal?"

A shadow was covering her face, with a crimson flare of hell masking her eyes and mouth, daring the restauranteur to refuse. The same man glanced over to find most of his customers had dropped cash on the tables and were gone, and those still left in the background but did nothing.

"UH…..alright, ma'am."

Slowly, Nami set him back down and took a breath. 'Man, how can somebody be that unreasonable?'

"Alright, come on over Naruto. Let's eat." Walking up to the bar stool, she was surprised when he didn't join her immediately. Looking back, Nami found her younger brother looking forwards wide-eyed and shocked. He stayed there for a moment before she walked on up to him. "Naruto? You okay?"

"Uh….um…." he mumbled something out at her. Drawing him over to the counter, Nami sat down herself and asked again with worry. "I'm afraid I didn't hear you Naruto. What did you say?"

"Thank you….nee-chan…" looking over at her, one bright smile coloured with trembling lips replied. "This is kinda like what used to happen to me, but nobody ever stood up like that for me before."

"Hey, that's a big sister's job," Nami grinned, leaning over with her hands on her hips. "Nojiko did that same if anyone bad-mouthed me or Bellemere too, or she'd turn around and do the same anyway.

"

"Really!" The pair got to talking more about Nami's own family before their meals came. She took the time to enjoy it, and barely got 1/8 finished before Naruto asked for another one. At 5 more bowls, Nami put her foot down. "That's enough, our wallet isn't bottomless and you need some healthy food too."

"But Ramen is too good, nee-chan. Come on, just one more bowl. Pleeeeeeease!" Folding both his hands together with watery eyes, Nami nearly broke. Nearly. Instead, she paid and walked out with Naruto.

Still, their trouble did not end there. Further outside, glares, whispers, and fear continued circling them both. And the longer they walked the worse it grew: parents would herd children out from their way while others glared over towards them.

"Whitchy sea-bitch." "Hey, what was—" "Bastard!"

After one person spat a curse at Nami, she whirled about but Naruto acted first; flying at the other man like a wreaking ball. One solid kick had that poor sod spinning off right into a wall.

"Nobody gets to bad-mouth my sister like that, or any kind of woman at all in front of me," the boy proudly declared. "Come on, why is everybody getting mad all of a sudden? We haven't done anything bad right here, are you all just listening to some stupid rumour?"

That brought a halt to the mood hanging in the air. A few people glanced around to their friends who shared their reasons around; fear and paranoia found themselves muscled out by guilt.

"It don't matter at all." From further up the road, things got bad fast; two brigands in shiny new clothes strode out towards them, holding a sword and spear ready. "Nobody can get in our way, and that hot piece of ass is too good to pass up," one man licked his lips at Nami. A handful of blocks away, another two were in a similar predicament. "Uhh…hey, hey Gin? Why's everybody looking at us like we kicked a puppy, or just want us to do them a favour a disappear?"

Ussop looked around to the crowds engulfing them while the rouge marched on. "No idea, Ussop; and Ah don't really care much for 'em either. Maybe Don Luffy crashed into anotha buildin' and get'em grumpy."

"That's true. Let's hope not," Ussop deadpanned, walking on. Nonetheless, the mood surrounding them persisted no matter which lane they walked along. 'This kinda feels like after I'd run through Syrup Village shouting about pirates. What could'a happen to stir up this big a crowd?"

"Oh, hey guys!"

"Huh, oh Luffy!" right up ahead, their captain waddled towards them; his stomach illogical swollen to wider than he was tall.

"Uhhhh, did you enjoy a big lunch or something?" Ussop asked him.

"Uh-huh, I sure did. Still, some people were chasing me around and around and I don't know why," the pirate laughed, patting his greedy stomach.

"You…didn't wreak the place at all did ya, Don Luffy? Some people 'round these parts are statin' to give us the stink-eyes."

Luffy only frowned a smidge; "I don't remember," scratching his hat. "I think somebody shouted after me about money or something. I didn't have any so I figured it wasn't about me and took off. Shishishishishishi!"

Gin smacked his face, while Ussop almost fell over. "Dine-and-dash. Why am Ah not surprised?"

"I just hope this doesn't cause trouble for Nami and Naruto," Ussop drawled.

"Trouble!? No way, nobody is gonna do that!" Luffy shouted, looking left and right. "I'm coming, Naruto!"

"No, Luffy!" Too late, defying all logic Luffy got thin again and took off before they could stop him. Running down one road, then another, and another, until he found a crowd assembling and sounds of a fight up ahead.

Inside said crowd, Naruto and Nami were indeed fighting back-to-back.

She just whacked somebody sideways with a long bo staff assembled from pieces hidden in one, compartment, then glanced about and spotted another leaping from behind herself. "Nee-chan!" Turning, Nami panicked at an iron chain swinging out but—

"Gum-gum: Pistol!" one fist hit the guy first, sending the fool spinning over the sidewalk. Nami followed the fist until it snapped into place and Luffy was charging forward mad as a bull. "Who's trying to hurt my crew this time!"

Drawing back another fist, he threw it passed Nami's shoulder to punch away someone else from Naruto. The Genin dropped and spun, his heel knocking more guys off their feet then he went somersaulting over to his sister. "Nice timing Captain Luffy, just like the hero in a story, getting there in the nick of time!"

"No way, I'm not any hero," Luffy exclaimed. "I just beat-up guys who hurt my friends!" Spinning one arm in circles, for some reason just having him there sent the thugs scrambling in terror.

"Come on, we ain't got no chance against him, again. Let the captains handle that Devil-fruit freak."

Just as quickly as it erupted, the fight came to an end. Luffy shrugged and then looked over at his crew. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered first, while Nami needed longer. 'That guy really almost got me, but Luffy came in the nick of time, again.' Smiling over at him, Nami broke apart her bo into three smaller poles and walked closer to Luffy. "We were alright, but thank you for the save, Captain."

"SHishishishishi. Oh, no problem. You know that Nami." Both the pirates stayed there grinning at the other, one with a little more feeling than the other. Until a sniper and Man-demon caught up.

"Wha, the? Did we miss a good fight?"

"Yes, excellent work Luffy! Rushing to the rescue, just like I suggested you do!" Ussop's declaration went unnoticed while the others look about.

"I don't know why," Nami observed, "but everyone suddenly got especially hostile towards us. Maybe we should head on back to the Going Merry, try and find—"

"Attention Everybody!" from nowhere, a large announcement sounded through the streets. "Should Straw Hat Luffy be anywhere, this is a Flashily challenge for him to man up as a real Pirate Captain. Half your crew are right before me and moments away from becoming flashily destroyed by us. Come on out and settle this instead of hiding from my challenge like the coward who you are! You shall find us in the plaza right where the Great Pirate Era began from. This is a challenge from Buggy the Clown, to that treasure robbing runt Monkey D, Luffy!"

Nobody moved. "Sakura, and sensei, and Zoro, and Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed. "Somebody got them! Who'd do that" "Gin." Luffy turned his gaze towards one of them. "I don't know who this Buggy guy is. But which way is this plaza from right here?"

"Uh…that way Don," Gin pointed one finger"If we—"

Luffy ran the other way, back up the road opposite to the plaza. "Luffy-" at Nami's cry, Lurry kept running, then pivoted and cast one arm up overhead of his crew, latching to a chimney's top. Then a spring sounded, and the group found Luffy's other arm encircling them, snapped all four together and raised them off the ground to hold under one arm.

"Huh-what-no-!" "Luffy-don't-!"

"Gum-gum: Rescue Rockeeeeeeeet!" with a leap, Luffy launched himself to the sky with half his crew flying with him. "WWOOOOOOOOOOO!" Naruto shouted with glee.

"I thought you were gonna run there Don," Gin complained. "Luffy, you're going to crash us into the sea!" Ussop cried, while Nami had comical tears falling from her eyes.

"Oops." Luffy cocked his head, then stared down below him at the rapidly shifting landscape. "plaza, plaza, plaza...ah!" Next, the idiot spun around, throwing his free arm to the ground, caught something, and turned his face grinning at his friends. "Let's go rescue them!"

"How?" "NOOOOOOO!"

0…..0

"Alright, tell me again why got stuck right here!" Zoro complained, loudly. He was standing with all three swords with 12 beaten goons at his feet. To his right Sakura and Sasuke were also surrounded by downed enemies sprawling over the floor, while Kakashi stood on the first mate's left, glancing behind them.

"Well," the Jonin answered him, "somebody here walked off on us, got lost 3 times, we found him that same number of times, until the 4th disappearing act happened."

Zoro winced, clenching his teeth around the sword in his mouth. "I told you, I heard Luffy and was looking for him before that idiot could stir up a riot!" Nobody believed him, Kakashi even patted his head and continued drawling on. "Sakura suggested coming back here, again and that impossibly beautiful woman over there," the Jonin gestured, "declared she wanted revenge on us for something. That was how this fight began. Until you tore through a wall of these ruffians from one alley."

The four of them were still surrounded and outnumbered, with Gold Roger's execution platform behind them, and a mottle crowd in front, lead by a very shapely beauty resting an oversized club on her shoulder.

With raven black hair framing a flawless heart-shaped face and clad only in pants and a white bra, Kakashi couldn't help staring at her alluring features. 'This feels like something out of Lord Jiraya's novels.'

"Why is it that anywhere we go," Sakura complained. "Someone just always winds up attacking us out of nowhere?" Sakura complained her words at odds with another opinion in her mind. '"Grrgrrrggrrrrgrrrggrrrgggrrrggrrrrr! How are somebody have such big boobs everywhere while we're stuck with these tiny ones? DHOH-NOOOO! I just confessed my boobs are tiny!" Inner-Sakura was pulling at her hair.'

"Oh, you are far beneath even my conceit," the enemy leader declared. "But the four of you can lead me to the one I desire. Oh, boys! Who is the singular fairest woman to sail any a sea?"

"You are, beautiful!" her followers roared in adoration. "And what should happen to anyone who dares to raise their hand on any part of me?" Shifting her profile, one hand moved over her heart, making her assets tantalizingly bounce. Kakashi felt himself itching for some ice water, while Sasuke's face matched the same dead-pan gaze as his other sensei, while Sakura appeared pensive, hiding how much she wanted to ignite.

"I'll kill them!" "Who'd dare upset the epitome of beauty!" The other pirates exclaimed. "Their manhood should be cut and hung off from the mast!" "Enslave them, to only kiss Captain Alvida's toes! Everybody, charge!"

A stampede came for the ninjas and one swordsman. But Sasuke had an idea. "Zoro-sensei, wait one moment."

"No way. Whatever you're doing brat," Zoro spoke, grinning like a hungry beast as he raised his own weapons, "leave it in my wake! These swords are in need of a test run." In seconds Zoro met the charge with his own, cutting one down, then the next, a streak that left two's and three's of his foes falling in a spray of blood. "Hawk-wave!"

With a shrug, the Uchiha followed him, cutting down any left behind until his teacher stopped. Pivoting, Sasuke sheathed his sword, freeing both hands to fly through different signs then drawing in one breath: "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" The erupting inferno finished off any left, while Zoro himself looked up from it, then to his student, and finally back to the swords; Kitetsu III. 'I didn't intend to draw blood from anyone.'

"You're something of a troublemaker," Zoro hissed. "A good sword should only cut when their master directs it to," glaring down, he turned the edge to see his own reflection. "You may be sharp, and cursed. But you will follow my will from now on."

The other three were ignoring him, as Sasuke's fire-jutsu ended with several foes burnt in its wake. Elsewhere an unseen apparition was weaving through anyone who stopped to look at the flames, picking them off one by one; save for three who found their legs swept off the floor and knocked out with solid steel to their skulls.

Kakashi stopped just short of Zoro, appraising at his student's handiwork. 'Sasuke's fireball was too excessive, Zoro already dealt with them. We still don't know why they assaulted us.' He glanced over at the men Sakura tripped. 'She really is learning quite fast, those basic manoeuvres wouldn't work against more active enemies, but Sasuke's distraction created an opportunity, and she took it.'

"I…I'm sorry boss…" one man with two burnt left limbs crawled over to where Alvida stood. "This…you deserve stronger men than me. I'm sorry that—"

"Stand back boys, and pick this one up." As her men obeyed, Alvida strode forwards, tapping her club over the shoulder it rested on. "Looks like that Mr. Monkey D. is not the only one special among them. Buggy! No holding back!"

Zoro's face crawled with horror at this news. "Hey wait, when you say 'Buggy' do you mean—"

"Attention Everybody!" All throughout the town, a separate voice rang from across the plaza. "Should Straw Hat Luffy be anywhere, this is a Flashily challenge for him to man up as a real Pirate Captain. Half your crew are right before me and moments away from becoming flashily destroyed by us. Come on out and settle this instead of hiding from my challenge like the coward who you are! You shall find us in the plaza right where the Great Pirate Era began from. This is a challenge from Buggy the Clown, to that treasure robbing runt Monkey D, Luffy!"

Right up on top of the Execution stand, another figure in bright and tacky pirate clothes had a transponder snail in his hand, complete with an orange cocked hat sporting twin blue tuffs on each end, face paint in lines across his brow and cheeks and one giant—

"What's up with that red nose. Do you know this...clown, Zoro," Sakura spoke up. "He looks real strange." While inside of Sakura's head: '"Chaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! That looks ridiculous, the picture of all things ugly!"'

Said clown froze, then his head slowly came with a burning white glare in his eyes toward Sakura. While close by, Kakashi was whispering to Zoro. "Is, that the same Buggy, you and Luffy spoke about, Zoro?"

"Yeah, and if we never ran into him and his wack-jobs again it would still be way too soon. I need you or one of the kids to take that guy, my swords don't work on him at all."

"They most flashily do not!" Buggy proclaimed. "Cabaji and Mohji, go in now!" Two individuals came out from behind the Execution platform while the circus clown came flying right towards Sakura and Sasuke, cackling as knives in his knuckles gleamed in the sun. One low and hungry roar mixed with a rhythmic tweaking tickled their ears from a certain direction, too.

"Scatter!" On Kakashi's orders, a lion tore Sakura off the ground right in his mouth; Sasuke grabbed Zoro before getting impaled from behind, and Buggy thrust his knives right into Zoro's chest.

"Gyahahahahahahahaha! So, you still flashing suck at dodging, don't you Mr. Pirate Hunter," the clown smirked at his fresh pin-cushion. Yet…'What the? Why aren't my knives coming out, or any blood trickling in his shirt?'

The next second, one solid stump replaced Zoro's body. Sasuke did the same too, leaving Buggy's weapons stuck deep in the bark. While the Lion meanwhile spat out one long metal pole.

"Huh?" None of the pirates moved until several men near Alvida went flying and she found a single weapon resting on her throat. Next, the Lion fell over sideways, with its paws tied up in wires nearly too thin to see, "Richie!" As a tamer ran to his partner, the rest of the bizarre and beautiful pirates caught themselves, with several dozen copies of a certain pinkette appearing all around the plaza.

"Hehehehehe, maybe you should wait before running on us," each of them chorused. Leaving the pirates beyond any kind of stunned. While Buggy felt something or someone behind him.

"Don't move. This fight is over." This voice of death itself stopped Buggy cold until he found a small kunai pressing on his throat. "I'm not certain what—"

"You think that can hurt me with that! Chop-chop: Surprise!" Buggy's head flew right off his shoulders with its neck attached. Then the head went floating right for Sasuke, shocking the boy who held Alvida at knife-point. "Sasuke, dodge kid!" The boy rolled off his target passing right through two Sakura's and making them dissolve into mist. As the illusions vanished, Buggy's body spun around, nearly catching the Jonin in a bear hug, yet Kakashi slid out of the way. Flipping back to put distance from them, Kakashi looked back while the head and body reattached themselves, creating a foot-less pirate clown floating in the air.

'Just how many bizarre abilities do people here have?' Kakashi groaned, with exasperation in his eyes.

"Ahhhh! That-that-that-head-up-floating-talking-whaaaaat?" Sakura whined from her place, beside Zoro.

"Well, great work kid, you just ruined our ambush," the first-mate grumbled to her.

"Bu-bu-bu-but-Zoro-san-but he-"

"Relax," Zoro spoke with sympathy, his eyes still on the battle. "This is one case where I'll forgive you screwing up. That big-nosed dumbass is even more of a whack than our Captain, after you see him for the first time. Buggy's got the Chop-Chop devil-fruit, so he can split his body anywhere, and nothing with an edge can bother him at all."

"Gyahahahahahahaha!" Buggy swung around. "Very good Bounty Hunter. And with the pretty Alvida right here, all four of you are about to die! Alvida, take the runts and the tall one. Zoro is mine! Chop-Chop Scatter-Shot!"

Every piece of the pirate clown's body burst apart, flying right for Zoro. While Buggy's compatriot made her move, throwing off the cape and snapping one set of fingers.

Sasuke let loose several different shuriken through the air for Buggy and the slicing edges merely passed through their targets creating extra pieces of Buggy to fly right for them. A few spare thugs came for the Uchiha, while three ordinary men set up a ramp while Alvida's shoes disappeared and she stepped over a fourth to reach the top.

"Keep him busy boys!" Pointing right for Kakashi, the acrobat on a unicycle and lion-man charged him, while Sakura looked around until she noticed something.

"Aw crap!" Zoro grimaced as the clown made right for them; "Now, here your face the flashily, terrifying hurricane of—"

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A second inferno erupted, this one moving straight for Buggy. Zoro smirked and stepped back, while the clown lost his cool. "AHHHH! What-Huh-no-OOOO-burns, burns, burns, burns-" More followed as the clown kept patty out flames and soot, so Zoro spied more thugs running for him. "Sasuke," Zoro called over, "keep Buggy under fire. I'll mow through the rest."

Meanwhile, Kakashi wove around his attackers, parrying with kunai and letting them press in

"Slip-Slip: Open-stage Delivery!" At impossible speeds, the pirate lady sped down the ramp into a rapid glide across the dry, hard ground. Her mace was cocked back for a wall-breaking hit aimed for Kakashi, and the ninja found his enemies pressing in before they dashed away; ignorant of exactly who they were facing.

'She'll land directly there,' Kakashi measured, 'then I can duck under the club and give a solid kick to remove her from the fight. Guess I'll have to think up an excuse for Sanji.'

Even without his own special eye, the Hatake had no trouble evading the club, yet when he spun around his leg slipped over and around her body with no solid impact as she sped right on past him.

'…so, she must have a devil-fruit, too,' the Jonin realized too late.

"Hahahahaha! So…you buffoon never heard of the Smooth-smooth fruit before?" Alvida called, winking at him over one shoulder with a cute grin. Some men behind Kakashi fell over, himself almost among them; almost.

"This is the reason I have grown so beautiful, especially since my freckles all slid right off from me," the pirate lady continued. "Anything I touch will slip, even something so unbefitting as your kick. Boys! Set him up again, then we only have 9 to deal with."

Kakashi took stock of what they had: 'This might be tough. Sakura and I'll have to take her and that clown together since he cannot be hurt by anything which cuts. Alvida wasn't hurt by kicks or fists, but perhaps a blade will do? Zoro should try against her, or maybe—'

"WOOOOOOOOOO!" Above the skirmish, a familiar call coaxed several eyes to glance up at the sky.

"Luffy,you're gonna hurt all of us!" "Shadow-clone jutsu!"

Looking up, Zoro smacked his head, while Sasuke and Sakura both paused. Kakashi wanted to act until he saw no reason to. With the other half of their crew under one arm, Luffy collided right into the crowd of pirate underlings with dust clouds erupting with impact.

'Damn it Luffy! Are the other four…still alive?' "Hey, Sasuke. Zoro. Why did you guys all start a fight without us? Ya know?" At that call, the first mate turned and found Gin, Usopp Naruot and Nami behind him, with several shopping bags between them. "What! How'd all of you get there, from there!?"

He was pointing back towards Luffy's landing zone, where the dust cloud was clearing away to reveal dozens of KO'ed pirates left and right. Plus a certain butt high in the air with its chest buried in the concrete and two legs pressing to get their upper half free.

"Nice save with those shadow clones, Naruto" Sasuke complimented.

"Hhh?" Zoro didn't have to ask, as Kakashi appeared beside him to explain. "Naruto made clones, then the clones each substituted with one of the others before Luffy came crashing in."

"Hey! Hey, you! You stupid, lying thief! What brought you all the flashily way here?" Buggy's shout cut between the crewmates, and he was pointing directly at Nami. Meanwhile, Gin glanced between Buggy, then Luffy's lower end, and Zoro.

"So, y'all really did beat th' Immortal Clown, huh Zoro?"

"All of that aside, you all chose a perfect time to come here. Gin," Kakashi looked over, reaching for one scroll. "Here's the tonfa that I promised you," In a puff of smoke, the weapon appeared and was flying for Gin, who caught it easily. "Buggy is immune to edge weapons, so put that to good use again the clown. Zoro, I need to trade with you for that woman, she's got a devil-fruit of her own, too."

"HEEYY!" Luffy had pulled himself free and was looking all over the place. "Huh? Big-nose? What are you doing here? Do I need to hit you again for hurting my crew?"

"OOOOOOOO! DROP THE MATTER OF MY NOSE STRAW HAT! YOU'RE EVEN WORSE THAN SHANKS!" Buggy's own pieces circled through the air, his feet travelling down to join a reassembling lower half beside his crewmate. "Still, now that you are here we can settle things or good, especially my unfinished business with that treasure-stealing sea-bitch Nami and—"

"Hey, nobody says that about my sister!" Naruto roared in return, as Luffy got back on his feet and cocked one arm, ready for a brawl. "I'm gonna hit you so hard you never come back, stupid clown. Even that girl beside you too."

"Girl? Now that's just rude. Did you of all people forget my face, Monkey D. Luffy?" she asked, sauntering forwards while Gin had hearts in each eye. "You were the first man who ever truly struck me." One hand came low to cross over her stomach, while Luffy cocked his head even more.

"Even though it felt so good, both Buggy and I, the Iron-Mace Alvida, share unfinished scores with you, Monkey D. Luffy."

"Iron Club Alvida?" Gin's mouth dropped over, letting loose the deluge building there since he laid eyes on the promiscuously clad captain; the cowgirl hat almost right out of his fantasies. "She ain't looks nothin' like her wanted poster."

"Luffy? Do you remember her?" at Nami's call, Luffy finally noticed Alvida, then began rubbing his chin while he looked her up and down at. "Nope. I never met her before. But I got a bone to pick with Bogger the Clown."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ussop and Naruto both bent over, shaking at the name. "Really? Bugger the Clown, and that's his pirate name? Shouldn't that be scary, cause it's a pretty bad one," the coward declared.

Up above, Buggy grinned right for his enemy. "Still rude and mean as ever, aren't you Straw Hat? Now it's time to flashily-GGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" All the pieces of the froze uproze-up again, dangling in the air. Buggy had his mouth wide open and was not moving at all.

""Ahhhh—aaahk-ow-again-my-balls, my, balls, why right there agaaaaiiiiiin?" the cranky clown croaked. Down below, his audience were starring up bewildered. "Ah, Sakura!" Naruto's shout pulled their attention away, and everyone spotted the pinkette with her right foot planted square in Buggy's manhood.

'Please tell me she don' plan on makin' that a habbit," Gin siletnly prayed. Sasuke in the meantime grabbed Ussop and Zoro out of the way as each piece of Buggy hit the ground.

"Damn cheap shots," the clown moaned. "He's down, everyone, fight off the enemy pirates!" Sasuke's command ignited the rest of the crew, and they all made for their enemies.

From a short space away, Alvida felt something meet her cheek, then slide off-course and exploded on the wall.

"Huh, M-m-m-m-my exploding star," Ussop cried. "No way that missed, but how'd it get over there?" Then two particularly giant windmills came flying for the enemies of the Straw Hat crew. Sakura had disappeared again, all until someone thrown by Luffy collided with something unseen; the kunoichi skidded with him out over the concrete, dropping her tonfa's on the way.

Cabaji and Mohji were jumping to get away from two flying saw-blades, neither hitting anything as they sped back to the Straw Hats. Sasuke caught them as Luffy and Naruto finished, him running over to Sakura while Luffy glared over to Alvida.

"Pssst. Luffy?"

"Huh? What Old-man?" Kakashi stood beside him, whispered something quietly then stood back. Luffy looked over, then to his crew and shrugged. "Well, okay. Gum gum-Whip!" The leg extended, arcing just outside of range from Naruto at Sakura; Buggy didn't get hit down on the ground while his men leapt over Luffy's attack, save for the lion who went flying into Mohji.

When suddenly explosions shook the plaza. More dust surrounded the group as the Straw Hats each covered their faces.

Once the area cleared for the second time, nothing was left of the pair except for a conspicuous grey dome right where they stood.

"Huh?" "What was all that about?" "Kakashi. He made that wall," Sasuke announced, his eyes on the chakra traces of the structure.

"Earth style: Rock Shelter jutsu." Gin, Nami and Ussop all leapt to the skies at the voice right beside them. As ever, the Jonin ignored them while waving to their captain.

"Very nice distraction, Captain Luffy. That jutsu should leave them enclosed but it often takes some moments to rise and escape from. They should be stuck inside for a short while, so let's return to the Going Merry. We have to plan our next move and ensure nobody triesvto attack Sanji either."

"How could you do that! Captain or not, there is no acceptable excuse!" Sanji was fuming as he kept slamming his heel over Luffy's head with each syllable. "Why…did…you…hit…a…lady… Luffy!" They were back aboard the Going Merry, and somebody made the mistake of asking when Luffy met Alvida right in front of Somebody. The same Somebody driving one kick over the Monkey's rubber brain with every word, almost driving Luffy overboard.

Zoro jumped in next, sparking a full-out brawl between them: "Enough, this is not a time for chivalry, curly-brow!"

"You're overdue for an ass-beating, too, moss-head! And major lessons in common courtesy!" Sanji rounded on him. "No man should ever strike a lady, that's been around longer than dinosaurs! Now-"

"Knock it off!" Nami drove two hands between them both, Sasuke and Naruto joining in to hold their own teachers back.

"Sanji-senpai, Kakashi-sensei wants to talk, ya know. You and me, we'll beat up the First-mate together later, believe it!"

"Huh?" Silence followed as Sasuke looked over at the yellow-haired duo. "Loser, what are you dreaming of now? Zoro-sensei would destroy our cook at anything, I've been watching Sanji since the Baratie and if he were stronger Zoro-sensei would no longer be our first mate."

"Nuh-uh, Sasuke. Sanji-senpai is way, way, way better. He'd never make someone else so directionless and lost they'd stomp into a girl's changing room like you two did yesterday! Pervy-sword-boys!"

At that, the crew went dead silent. The student-teacher pairs looked right at each other. Sasuke and Zoro felt a certain pressure building, while Naruto pouted towards them and Sanji's entire body twitched.

The students of the sword looked over to Nami, standing with her mouth open before landing one smack on her forehead. 'Why did you say that! I didn't mean for it to get thrown around, only to cheer you up after lunch, Naruto.'

"You…lucky...BARBARIAN!" Sanji and Zoro met head-to-head, at the same moment Sasuke and Naruto did. "You both wanna go right now, swirly brow fool!? See who's the better fighter and the better teacher!" Zoro challenged. "Take that back, Loser!" "No way, it's the honest truth, Sasuke!"

Luffy, Gin and Ussop stood side-by-side, cheering on the sidelines. "Go Zoro! Show them why you joined me first!" "Come on Sanji, you and Naruto got this!" Even Gin hoped in. "Eh, Sanji I'll put down 20,000 on ya!"

"No."

Someone appeared between the rivals, both hands up to separate the pairs. Kakashi was ready and set for a fight: his wild wiry hair, lanky form and one dead eye stopped both the elder ones in their tracks. Sasuke and Naruto were transfixed, not even twitching.

"I suggest you both step away for now. Unless you would prefer for Sakura to end you both the same way she chose to against that clown? Our…Manhood slayer Sakura?"

With a shudder and a gulp, Zoro and Sanji both slid their hands to protect something very precious to each. Sakura look over, blinking from the mast as the name clicked.

"Huh…huh-what-how-no, no, Kakashi-sensei, please don't call me that," her hands waving forward.

'"CHA-AWESOME! That'll teach anybody not to mess with us!"' Her other half declared. Before both sides of the kunoichi could argue though, Luffy sealed the deal.

"Manhood-slayer! Cool!" Several different heads turned to a particular idiot. "That sounds bas-ass, and Sakura gets an awesome nickname. Yup, good idea Kakashi!" Luffy declared. Any thoughts about fighting vanished at that moment, as 7/10th's of the crew once again were blow-away by just how stupid their captain could be.

"Alright," Nami eventually took over, "Now that we're on to important matters, I think we should set sail tonight before that group can try anything more."

"Oh, not quite," Kakashi interjected. "Zoro and Sanji were not the only reason I came down here from the crow's nest. Look," pointing far out into the bay. As the whole crew look over, a particular, bizarre pirate ship was departing into the night; three masts, a canon inside a model elephant, with a single pirate-jolly-roger on its sail. The image held a large red nose, matching the real Buggy's.

"While the two with Devil-fruit powers were challenging, they did lose several dozen men in that fight and may have decided to leave."

Gin stepped forward, while Sakura stood beside her still-unmoving teammates. "Kakashi? Your certain they're on that ship? Don Krieg often used a bait-and-switch, havin' one ship sail off but leaving more behind."

"It's possible," the Jonin nodded. "But, after we departed from the plaza, I left one clone behind to watch them. It took some time before the others under their command could dig a whole wide enough for that Avlida to slip through. After they were free an argument followed before the groups just sped right back to that boat and cast away from the pier. So, we likely do not have any worries tonight and can leave around mid-day tomorrow."

While the Jonin-sensei pondered, everyone looked around until Luffy made the final say. "We beat them, so no reason to run after and fight nobody. And I'm hungry, too. Sanji, let's eat."

The men nodded, especially Gin as he walked over to Sakura about more formal lessons as she now had weapons all her own.

But…somebody forgot something.

Nearly 1 hour passed until Luffy bumped directly into Sasuke."Huh? Sasuke why aren't you moving? Sasuke?"

"Not just him!" Nami cried, pinching Naruto by his shoulder. "My little brother won't move either!"

"Genjutsu," a jonin replied, scratching one cheek. "I cast a paralysis genjutsu on them both to stop the fight, since those two can still fall under it and I wanted both hands to keep Zoro and Sanji apart."

Chuckling at his own forgetfulness, after letting his Genin move again Kakashi slipped away and pulled out Icha-Icha: Tactics. While Naruto went to help Nami with her maps and Zoro took Sasuke aside to start training with their new swords. Luffy and Ussop held a contest, throwing things up for one to hit and grab with their different skills in the fading light. Dinner had some entertainment as Luffy told everyone how he met Alvida. Although nobody would believe what Alvida used to look like until Gin pulled out a wanted poster he'd nabbed from the town that day.

"Uwgggghhh! Is that thing even a woman or whale?" Naruto exclaimed, and it cost him one kick to the gut from Sanji. After dinner, chores and a strong goodnight from Nami to Naruto, Ussop and her together had the night shift and all was quiet and calm.

The next morning was uneventful; a normal day entirely as they prepared to leave. Kakashi had been watching out into the bay and no sign of any ship linked with either Alvida or Buggy came back before Ussop and Nami decided to make some last-minute window-shopping before they left.

"I need to feast my eyes on everything this town can offer before we leave," the navigator gleefully chimed.

"Feast? A feast? Yeah, that is what we need!" Luffy declared, dropping his fist into one hand. "This is a really big matter! I decided to go to the Grand Line and have 10 people at least on my crew! Now we've got that many, and it's out last night here! Let's all find a restaurant and celebrate!"

Jumping from the deck, not even Kakashi could stop Luffy when he'd start thinking with his stomach. With a groan, everyone looked around and gave a shrug.

"What's the worst that can happen?" Sanji asked them all. "Usopp and Nami-swan can do their shopping, then meet us at a restaurant. Why don't we find some place first and they can meet up after?"

Unanimously, they left behind another Naruto shadow clone platoon and moved further into the town as one large group. Still, nobody turned out to be friendly in any way, glares, distance and a few curses met them left and right. By the time the crew got their captain, he was inside a restaurant beside a wizened old man in a purple torque.

"This young lad here, he's the real thing. Nothing like those cowards or fools that others were. It may be one week late, but I'd like the honour that day by having him and his whole crew eat here on that card game table the owner owes me. What say you to that?"

The restaurant owner looked between them all and sighed. "Come on in then, what'll your first orders be?"

"I need meat!" After walking in, the older man sat back down with everyone while Nami, Naruto, Ussop and Sakura walked off.

"You know, we don't need you two to come along if you're hungry," Ussop politely told the ninjas.

"Nu-uh, after everybody keeps glaring at us, I'm not letting my big sister go out alone." Naruto's pledge left Nami smiling, but she leaned over to whisper something in his ear.

Ussop watched it, surprised at how no matter what got thrown their way, Naruto seemed totally unbothered at all. 'I wonder how he can take it all so easy, after what happened the day we got here. Does just having friends and Nami as family, really make this big a change?' Ussop and Sakura both shared the same thoughts while they kept walking.

While the quartet strode along peeking through separate store windows, the other Naruto stood ready by the Going Merry. One looking around to the harbour when "AAAH!"

"Huh? "Hey, not cool, ya know." "What's going on?" "Pirates and ninjas neither shout like that, believe it!" While most berated their copy, the screamer pointed right for the open sea.

"Marines! The Marines are back!" All the different ones looked-and there it was. A massive warship, marked with a prow shaped like a bulldog. Thralls of men ran across the deck, some even dropping boats filled with more Marines to get inside the harbour. The Naruto clones on deck were scrambling together with ideas. "We have to get to everyone and get out of here!" "No, let's stay here in case someone steals our home! This ship is our first real home, believe it!" "How about we sneak up close to them and see who's there then go get our nakama?"

They agreed on the last one, then spent 3 minutes drawing straws to see who's have to stay behind and took off right along the wharf.

Back with the original Naruto, he was beside Sakura and Nami as they looked gushing over jewellery in one display. "Those diamonds would be perfect with the outfit I got yesterday."

"Oh boy, I can't wait to get to the Grand Line and find such treasure to wear; and all of it without costing anything," Nami was bouncing so high nobody would guess she and Naruto weren't related.

"Too bad that shall never happen," one slick, austere voice announced to them.

"Gyahahahahahahaha! Now our Flashily Revenge begins!" Nami's blood froze. Sure enough, right above them was Buggy the Clown again, sneering down with knives in hand. Whirling around, she tried to shout but Naruto and Sakura both fell.

"Ahhhh!" "HHHrr-RRRRHHH!" Cuts opened between both Genin, spraying blood through the ally as Sakura and Naruto both dropped, their knees meeting the ground, hard.

"Stealth-Foot." Right beside Ussop, a black-clad figure came to a stop; his round glasses were obscured with shadow, and ten katana blades dangling around his hands. Rising up to glare straight at Ussop, the sniper fell over backwards.

"Huh-Whay-Klahadore?"

Five blades pierced the Sniper's leg, his pain announced to everybody there, civilians frozen in place or backing off where they could.

"That alias shall only incite my anger further, you repulsive filth. Now your execution is scheduled and demands such attendance promptly." Drawing his cat-claws free, the newcomer spun around the glare over at the navigator, as she tried to hit him with her bo-staff.

"Captain Kuro!" Nami missed her mark, the man bending around while one leg stuck out from the alley. Nami slipped clean over it, tumbling across the pavement to a slow stop. Pushing herself back up, she could only watch while Captain Alvida and Buggy were both fighting with the Genin and Kuro snatched Ussop away.

"Alright, time to go, all according to plan!" At Buggy's word, both he and Alvida were moving off, her sliding out over the cobblestones while he flew in the air. "Be careful not to drop my feet, Pussy-foot!"

"No, Ussop! We're coming for you!"

"No, Naruto!" Nami grabbed his shoulder before he could leave. "That third man was another old enemy, Captain Kuro. He's a murderous and scheming pirate captain. We have to get the others, and plan together; I bet he wants us to just run straight after him."

Pulling out her snail, the girl dialled their numbers, until Naruto froze in place again. "Marines!" He shouted. "Nee-chan! Nami-nee! The Marines are here, they just got inside the harbour. And led by some real, real strong guy called Garp! Believe it!"

"Naruto, this is no time for wild stories." Sakura shot at him.

"Come on, just look for the bay, you can see it from that road!" Pointing only a block away, Naruto ran over, giving Nami and Sakura no choice but to follow. Sure enough, after stepping around the corner, they saw it.

Sakura staggered backwards while Nami barely kept standing, their eyes on the massive warship down the lane; a behemoth measured to the Going Merry.

Things just went from bad to worse, Nami felt lumps and weights inside her head growing; the same kind as when she lost it over Arlong's treachery, but not to the same extreme.

"Garp! You…..are you certain that's him, Naruto? That's the name of a famous Navy Hero! One of their best, like a really dangerous man for any pirate to meet!"

"Yeah, that's what one of his guys called him. I don't know how but I just saw one of his men saying that up-close before he flew up at me with a real-hard punch. Wait….."

Raising both hands, Naruto held his head, the rusty gears inside his brain stalling as it tried to think; hurting him quite badly on their way. "I don't know. Something flashed inside my head after Ussop got taken away, believe it. It just popped there, and my memory stops after this guy and some real big fist hit my head. I-I don't think I imagined it, and it feels too real but I'm right here, ya know!"

"Then let's not worry about it now!" Nami declared, drawing up her snail again.

"Not our snails!"

Sakura snapped, closing Nami's forcefully. "I read a book last night on them, and some can be used to intercept others. If you do send that message, then the Marines might hear it and trap everyone at the restaurant. We have to run back there.

In a second, Nami agreed, and all three took off at a sprint.

Elsewhere, three particular captains were running for the plaza, their leader giving no hint of the excitement or satisfaction he felt. "All the elements for my plan are set, including how this imbecilic refuse of a human may entice the further plebians of that mob into this trap. Following which I will gleefully spear 5 blades through his heart."

Back inside the restaurant, everyone was laughing, drinking, or stuffing their mouths. Until their nakama burst through the doors.

"Kakashi-sensei!" "Luffy, Ussop's been kidnapped!" One look at the group and everything hit a steel wall. Luffy leapt first, knocking the table clean over at how cut and bloody his Cabin-Genin were.

"What, who keeps hurting my friends!? I've gotta go beat them up right now! Then we're leaving, this stupid town isn't worth staying in if they keep hurting us!" Gin and Zoro both held him down while Kakashi darted up to see about their injuries. While he bandaged them up, Nami went right to the first mate.

"Zoro. Buggy and Alvida weren't alone. Captain Kuro is here too, and he kidnapped Ussop!"

"Awe crap! Not that maniac, again."

"Kuro. As in Kuro of a Thousand Plans?" Gin asked him. Zoro and Nami both told them what happened, her adding in how Buggy and Alvida were with him and were back in the town. Kakashi listened in as he finished with his Genin.

"There's more, the Marines are here too! And some really, really, really big man called Garp!" Naruto announced, loud enough for everyone inside to hear. Including Luffy…..

"I see," Sanji nodded, his teeth grinding as the situation turned over in his mind. "They might have taken Ussop as bait to lure us out. And I'll bet that fight they started yesterday must have been a ruse. Do you agree Kakashi?"

"Yes, but thankfully, we did not show all of our skills or abilities," the Jonin nodded, dead serious. "They don't know about you for one thing, Sanji, and we ninjas have more tricks up our sleeves."

"That won't matter!" A patron shouted out, stepping forward to face the pirate crew. "No pirates are going to get away today. Not if Garp the Hero is here in town!"

"Hero? Who's he?" Naruto asked them. A question Sakura answered.

"Oh no!" she cried. "Garp the Hero. I know of him from a book that Chef Zeff had. He's a Marine Vice-Admiral, and somebody who had more fights with the last King of the Pirates than any other Marine around. That man is a legend, and a monster of the Grand Line!"

"Hmmmmm," Kakashi deliberated. "All of that aside, we need to save Ussop, fast. If these Marines do capture Buggy, Alivda and this Kuro, it could be more difficult to save Ussop from them and escape from Loguetown. If they follow a pattern from yesterday, an announcement should come declaring where they will try to kill them; then we can run there with all of us ninjas on the rooftops. Calling them out could spark a fight while we snatch Ussop away and then disengage to reach the Going Merry and sail out."

"Captain, what do you think?"…..

…no reply came. that was the moment everyone noticed Luffy was trembling, paralyzed, and utterly filled with fear.

"Luffy? Uhhhh…you're not freezing up on us now are you?" Zoro asked.

"Don, what's disturbin' ya?"

"Come on Luffy, we need our captain here!" Sanji snapped at him. "What's gotten into you, I know you only got to eat a carp but this is a bigger deal than food!"

"Carp? Garp? Garp? Garp? Garp? Grandp-" Luffy repeated slowly, sweat forming a waterfall down his face, drowning out a certain instinct that somebody was just one wall away from him.

"Nami? Naruto? Did you just say, Garp? And that's he's here? Like right here, in this town?"

"Yeah, Garp, believe it," Naruto shouted, impatiently. "But what's up with that, you can beat him captain then we go save Ussop!"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You really think one tiny pirate can beat me at all!" A new voice bellowed from outside. Followed by something bursting through a wall!

Chunks of wood, brick and more were flying everywhere, a dust cloud with them to highlight where the sudden force came from. Shouts of shock rang around, the Straw Hats braced against it, and Luffy yelled in horror!

"NOOOOOOOOOO! I-UH-HEY-HEY-HEY-YOU'RE AT THE WRONG PLACE! THERE'S NO MONKEY D. LUFFY HERE AT ALL!" he shouted back, desperation clear to everybody's ears.

"OH? Then how come you know his name, then?" That same voice sent back, a powerful base tone with the strength of a tsunami. It was clearly old and matched the Titanic monolith coming into everybody's view. The man was half a person taller than Kakashi, dressed in a smart white suit and his head was hidden underdog-styled mask. Stepping through the massive hole he made as the dust settled, the tell-tale cape and symbol for the Marine declared who it was.

"Aw-crap, the Marines got here already! Wait, Luffy? Where'd he go?" Zoro cursed as he drew his swords, Gin levelled his pistol and Sanji get ready to kick. All of them were ignored though, the new arrival kept looking around the room until he found one table. Raising one hand to his lips, the man casually breathed over his solid fist.

"TH-th-that's him! That this Garp-guy? What do you want!" Naruto shouted back at him.

"For somebody to come be a Marine already. And how stupid can you grow, kiddo? First, you try at lying to me, then just hide under a table?!" Faster than a flash, the brick wall of a man flew right past everyone straight for Luffy. Kakashi, with only one eye, whirled at him, 'That's fast!'

"LUUUUUFFFYYYYYY!" Landing, a left hand shot through the table and yanked Luffy from underneath it, holding him high by his shirt, with the right hand cocked back.

"Fist of LOVE!" A wreaking ball nailed Luffy dead in the head, launching that head across the dining room and through another wall before his neck yanked it back. "OW!-OW!-OW!-It hurts, that hurt's so much!"

"How could, but our captain is made of rubber. No punch should hurt him at all," Sakura spoke aloud, as a melon-sized lump grew from Luffy's forehead, red and steaming from the hit.

"There is no defence against a fist of love!" The Marine declared, only now removing his mask. Showing off a grin all too familiar to the Straw Hats and Team 7, yet none could place it.

Kakashi was already moving, until a new announcement came.

"Are you ready to be a Marine now, Luffy?"

"Huh? NO way GRANDPA!"

End.

Cut, stop, and wait for the next one.

I felt this story did not have enough action across so many chapters; this one would start ease, and then building to a BANG! The next chapter will have all the rest; a three-way fight with previous enemies, if the Straw Hats can do what Luffy, Sabo and Ace never could and slip away from Garp.

I also have one particular moment planned out; Dragon is not going to sit on the side-lines, no leave without some words to the crew.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and get ready for some major fights in the next one.

[1]-Japanese forging techniques are labelled by the number of layers of steel arranged during the smelting stage. Including "Go-mai" (5 layers) or the more widespread "San-mai," or three-layers. Both involve stacking individual strips of steel, with lighter ones on the outside and the stronger, denser sections in the middle, then packing them arranged in these layers into a billet, then heating said billet in a forge. When forged properly, the layers meld together so the thinner sections lend sharper edges and the denser sections remain enclosed in the centre. It's usually done in 3-layers, 1 in the centre and 2 on the outside, while rarer pieces can have 5-layers of steel done together within the blade.

[2]-"Kazoku"=Japanese for "Family." "Shugo"=a Japanese verb meaning "guard" or "protect." "Kazoku Shugo" =guard of the family.