Chapter 3
It has been about a day since the leaf ninja embarked on their journey to the sand village to attend a legendary meeting. A meeting that would open the ninja world to the outside world of more than just ninja and villagers. Their goal: To escort the princess back home to her kingdom of Alabasta once the meeting is over. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi are jumping from tree to tree in the land of fire making decent time.
"Everyone, remember, the princess was reported to have left a few days ago! I'm assuming three. It'll take us about two more days to get to the sand, so we'll have a couple days of down time left." Kakashi said. "If we keep moving at this pace at least."
"Alright! We can grab ourselves something to eat and relax while we wait for the princess!" Naruto exclaimed.
"No Naruto, we're spending our first day getting things organized for the meeting. If we do have another day left to relax, we can use that day." Kakashi said.
"Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asked.
"Yes, Sakura?" Kakashi responded.
"What does this princess look like? And what's her name?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah. I've got questions too." Sasuke chimed in.
Kakashi looked at the two.
"Hm. They're really into this..as they should be. We're going to be in front an unfamiliar face and even more unfamiliar territory." Kakashi thought to himself.
"I'll fill you all in some more the next time we set up camp. Any questions you have are sure to be answered there." Kakashi said.
Sakura and Sasuke looked at Kakashi, then at each other, then back at Kakashi and nodded.
"This feeling? What is it? Excitement? We're about to be the first ninja's to step outside of the ninja world we were used to." Sasuke thought to himself. "I bet there are so many new people with different abilities. I'm itching to fight someone and get a taste of power outside of fellow ninjas."
"I wonder what kind of new food they have in this new world! He he I can't wait! But, also, I can tell Sasuke is getting just as excited as I am. There are bound to be some tough people out there. I can't wait to fight them!" Naruto said to himself.
"A whole new world outside of the ninja one huh?" Sakura asked herself, "Could there be medicines that ninjas don't know about? Medicines that even lady Tsunade doesn't know about? I already have the jump on ninja medical ninjutsu so mastering that medicine can make me the greatest healer in the world!"
Kakashi looked at the three. He already knew they had their own goals respectively once they finally touched down in Alabasta. But that was a while from now. For now, they had to make the rest of the journey to the sand and then travel a week back to Alabasta. The ninja all continued to jump through the trees.
OUT IN THE GRAND LINE. ONE DAY AWAY FROM ALABASTA
BOOOOOOOOM! BOOOM! BOOM!
The sounds of cannons thundered through the sea.
"Sanji! Man the sails! Chopper check for damages! Usopp keep your eyes on them! Frankie and Brook tie down any loose items! Luffy help Sanji with the sails! Robin go steer the ship and Zoro watch over her." Nami ordered.
"Watch her for what? Shouldn't I get ready to fight?" Zoro asked.
"Robin hasn't steered the ship much she may need help! Plus, we're not fighting these guys right now! We need to get to Alabasta in one piece!" Nami said.
Zoro puffed but followed the order. And followed Robin into the steering room.
A little further behind the straw hats, a tall bearded man with a white suit and black tie with matching white pants and slick black shoes held up a stack of wanted posters. He also wore a pure white with red interior high ranking naval jacket. On the back it said, "Master Chief."
"Over 3 billion berries for their heads huh?" He asked out loud. "The Straw Hat Pirates. You've caused quite a mess for the navy for a long time now. IT ENDS TODAY! AHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Keep firing men! Blow them out of the water. Four of them are devil fruit users! Getting them into the water will eliminate four immediately!" The Chief said.
"But chief!" A navy officer said while saluting, "You don't want to bring them back alive to stand trial sir chief sir?"
The master chief grunted.
"Bring them back alive for what you fool?! They're wanted dead or alive for a reason! I'll never underestimate an opponent. The straw hats are a force to be reckoned with. It's only right we execute as many as we can now before we capture any survivors! Also…" The chief stopped talking.
"Huh? Sir!" The officer said, still saluting.
"We need two of them alive anyway. Sanji, as his poster says, and..Nico Robin! Those two must live. The rest can die." The chief said.
"Why must Robin live sir?" The officer asked.
"I have my reasons you fool! Keep firing before you upset me!" The chief yelled.
"AHH! YES SIR!" The officer said, running off to fire the cannons.
Back with the straw hats they were still trying to withstand the onslaught.
"GRGH!" Usopp grunted, "It's hard to get a good shot off with all of these cannons landing around us!"
In the steering room Robin and Zoro were following Nami's navigational orders via the microphone system they had set up.
"DOING A GREAT JOB YOU TWO! SLIGHTLY TO THE LEFT NOW!" Nami ordered.
"Tsk. That woman. I'm not even doing anything. It's not like this is the Going Merry, we have an actual wheel now. I should be out there on the deck fighting the marines." Zoro said looking out of a window at the marines chasing them.
Robin knew why Nami had Zoro come in here with her, but this wasn't the time for any of that. She didn't need Nami to play matchmaker. She'd end up telling Zoro what she was feeling sooner or later.
"Eh. I'm taking a nap." Zoro said.
"OH NO YOU AREN'T! WATCH OVER BIG SIS OR THERE'LL BE HELL TO PAY ZORO!" Nami boomed over the mic.
"AYE! LISTEN TO NAMI-SAN!" Sanji intervened.
"YOU WORRY ABOUT THE SAILS!" Nami yelled.
"YES OF COURSE NAMI-SAN!" Sanji responded.
Zoro looked up annoyed.
Usopp was trying to line up a shot and used his goggles to focus on the ships chasing them. His serious face turned into fright and worry when he noticed what ship was chasing them. He screamed and ran up to the dock of the ship.
"Oi! Luffy! Come here quick!" Usopp yelled.
Luffy stopped helping Sanji with the sails to go check out what was worrying Usopp.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" Sanji said.
"Aye Usopp! What's up?" Luffy asked.
"What's up? Look for yourself!" Usopp said while forcing his goggles onto Luffy's head.
Behind them was a giant purple and gold ship. It was much bigger than the marine ships that were on the sides of it. It had a giant chimney that burned massive amounts of coal to keep it running, also a giant gold crocodile on the front. Nami ran to the back of the ship to check it out for herself.
"Isn't that?!" Nami said.
"Crocodile." Luffy said. "Back for round two ya bastard! I'm gonna kick your ass all over again!" Luffy yelled.
"No Luffy! We REALLY don't have time to deal with him! We need to keep moving!" Nami explained.
Luffy stared angrily at the giant boat. While Usopp inspected closely.
"Wait. Wasn't Crocodile stripped of warlord status? Why would he be with marines?" Usopp asked while zooming in with his goggles even further.
Usopp was able to make out a faint figure, but then got a clearer look at the man on the ship.
"It's not Crocodile! There's a navy officer controlling the ship!" Usopp said.
"Hm?" Luffy asked. "How did he get the gator's ship?"
"Remember Luffy? The navy seized Crocodile's ship after the events in Alabasta." Zoro joined.
"YOU! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING ROBIN!" Nami yelled.
"She's got it calm down!" Zoro yelled back.
"Right! The navy took Crocodile's ship and are now using it to get the jump on pirates." Luffy said slamming his fist into the palm of his hand.
Usopp, Nami, and Zoro all bowed their heads in shame.
"We know….we just told you…" They all said in unison.
Back on Crocodile's ship the master chief was getting impatient.
"Admiral!" He yelled out.
The admiral of the boat approached him and immediately saluted.
"Master Chief sir?" he said formally.
"All this chasing is getting old. Blow them out of the water with that cannon." The chief said.
"But sir, you said you need Robin and Sanji alive. This would surely kill them." The admiral argued.
"Aim towards the bottom of the stern. They'll sink rapidly. But will be immobile. We'll use that opportunity to seize them!" The Chief spoke.
The admiral stared at him for a moment.
"NOW YOU IDIOT!" The chief said.
The admiral saluted again and went to the captain's quarters and found a lever that went outside the captains quarters and attached to the gold gator on the front of the ship. He pulled it and the gator mouth slowly opened.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Usopp yelled.
"What now?" Nami asked annoyed. Then her eyes shot open in fear.
The giant gold gater opened its mouth to show a huge cannon inside.
"There's no way we're dodging that! They had to have added that to Crocodile's ship while they had it!" Zoro said.
Frankie slammed down onto the stern and locked his hands into a diamond position.
"We don't have to! Usopp grab my cola from the room! I'm gonna need a lot of it!" Frankie ordered.
Usopp wasted no time going to grab Frankie's fuel.
"Awaiting further instructions, Captain!" Frankie yelled.
Luffy looked up at Frankie and smiled a huge smile.
"When they fire their cannon shoot your Frankie beam!" Luffy said.
Frankie smiled and waited for Usopp to return with his cola.
On Crocodile's ship the chief was looking at the straw-hat boat.
"Light it!" He ordered.
The officers lighted the long fuse and prepared for fire.
"Usopp where's those colas?!" Frankie asked.
Usopp had just returned and let Frankie drink the colas.
"WOO HOO FULLY CHARGED! BRING IT ON!" Frankie yelled.
The Crocodile cannon fired a huge cannon ball that would've surely destroyed The Thousand Merry had they not intended to take the ship out from below.
"AWAITING ORDERS CAPTAIN!" Frankie yelled.
Luffy waited a moment.
"LUFFY HURRY UP AND SAY SOMETHING!" Usopp yelled.
Luffy continued to wait.
"LUFFYYYYY!" Nami and Usopp said in unison.
Chopper was running around the ship in a panic while Sanji ended up having Brook help him with the sails. Zoro waited patiently for Luffy to give the signal, having faith in his captain.
"NOW FRANKIE!" Luffy yelled.
Frankie smirked then looked at the cannon ball.
"FRANKIEEEEE BEAMMMMMMMMM!" Frankie fired his Frankie beam at the cannon ball. DIRECT HIT!
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!
The explosion was incredibly loud and blinding. Both the Thousand Sunny and Crocodile's ship were pushed away even further from each other, giving the straw hats some breathing room.
"Look Luffy." Zoro said, pointing at the three ships in pursuit, "They've fallen behind."
"HEHE!" Luffy laughed. "Good job Frankie!" Luffy said.
BOOOOOOOOOMM BOOOOOOOOOMMMM
A loud noise got the attention of the straw-hat pirates again. Two of the marine ships had been blown up and were starting to sink.
"Aye! Good shooting Usopp!" Luffy said with a big smile.
"That….wasn't me.." USopp said, very worried.
"Hm?" Luffy asked. "Then who was it? Frankie did you hit them?"
"No sir. My beam was cancelled out against that huge cannonball." Frankie answered.
Luffy stared at the sinking ships and the, now idle, Crocodile ship.
"No time to worry about it! Come on let's get out of here!" Nami said.
With that the straw-hat pirates made their escape.
ON CROCODILE'S SHIP
"What the hell was that?" The chief said.
"Sir. It would appear an unknown force blew up our ships sir." An officer replied.
"HMPH! NO MATTER! CHASE THE STRAW-HAT PIRATES! THAT'S AN ORDER!" The chief said.
Before the officer could respond. A calm deep voice spoke.
"Now what kind of Major Chief would you be if you let your men die?" Psycho said.
"Who the hell are you?" The chief asked.
"That's not important. What's important is that this ship isn't your property. I'm requesting you give it back this instant." Psycho demanded softly.
"I'm not giving a damn thing back! This ship is navy property! MEN! FIRE!"
Marine officers all fired their weapons at Psycho who just stood there. Suddenly his hands started moving faster than they could see. It looked like he was blocking the bullets, but when they stopped firing Psycho held his hand out to show he had caught every last one of them.
"WHAT?! NO WAY!"
"THIS GUY ISN'T HUMAN!"
"DO WE FIRE AGAIN?"
Navy officers asked questions amongst themselves. The Major Chief stood looking at the deck.
"A special one you are, aren't you? You couldn't possibly be human." The chief said.
"Oh, but I am chief. I'm very human. Just as human as you. The difference in us is only our upbringing. We've gone through different types of training to get where we are." Psycho said clenching his fist and raising his arm.
The chief raised his eyebrows in anticipation of what Psycho was going to do next. He ended up being right as Psycho threw the hand full of bullets back at the marine officers at full speed, penetrating everyone who didn't get out of the way. The chief was able to back flip out of the way.
"You're more agile than you look old timer." Psycho joked.
"Hmph. You underestimate me." The chief said. "Never. Underestimate. Me." The chief said again while rockets formed out of his arms.
Psycho stared blankly at the transforming man. When the Chief Major was fully transformed his arms had grown rockets out of them, as did his legs.
"AHHH HAHAHAHAHA I ATE THE ROCKET ROCKET FRUIT! MY ARMS AND LEGS BECOME ROCKETS AT WILL! I CAN DASH AT GOD SPEED!" The chief major said.
"Oh really." Psycho said nonchalantly.
"Oh, a carefree one, are you?! It's okay! Let's see how carefree you are in the afterlife!" The chief major dashed towards Psycho at such speeds he disappeared.
Psycho stood completely still the entire time the Major dashed around him.
"Why isn't he moving? No matter I'll finish him now since he thinks he's so cool!" The Major thought to himself.
The Major did more laps around Psycho before he decided to finally charge Psycho up front. Right before the major could make contact he ran into a wall of sand. The rockets on the major's arms and legs did a 180 and he flew backwards and into the air. Before he could think, the sand shot up at him in the form a hand trying to grab him, which the major was easily able to dodge, but he didn't expect Psycho to jump in front of him with his hands clasped together and hit him down towards the ground. The major fell towards the ground at very fast speeds but turning his rocket arms and legs toward the deck he was able to slow his fall. Psycho appeared right in front of him before he could settle again and did a 360-body kick and the major flew into a wall on the ship. The major was in a lot of pain and bled out the top of his head and mouth. Psycho walked up to him.
"Don't do too much damage to my ship, Psycho-san." Crocodile said.
The major's eyes shot open.
"Ps….Ps….Psycho?!" The major said looking up.
"Don't worry, Crocodile, he's done." Psycho said.
"You….you….how are you here?!" The major asked. "The navy never forgot about what you did. All the blood you spilled in these lands."
Psycho looked back down at the major and picked him up by his collar.
"I'm flattered. The dear old navy hasn't forgotten about me after all. It's been so long since that day. Hmph." Psycho said calmly.
The major struggled to get out of Psycho's grip.
"How about you let them in on a little secret, I'm back." Psycho said while holding his hand up. A loud shrieking sound was heard as his hand turned into lightning.
The major's eyes widened in fright as Psycho launched the hand towards the major's heart.
SPLAT
Blood dripped from Psycho's hand as it rests inside of the major's now lifeless body. Blood stained the walls the major had hit when he was kicked by Psycho earlier.
"Great. You got blood all over my beautiful ship." Crocodile said.
"Sorry about that. I'll clean it up. Set sail for Alabasta. I have a few D.E.A.T.H members waiting there. I'll finish giving you the rundown on your mission there."
With that being said. Psycho and Crocodile were on their way to Alabasta for the next phase in Psycho's plan.
NIGHTFALL IN THE FOREST.
The ninja team from the leaf found a nice clearing to set up camp in for the night. After they had all set up their sleeping arrangements, they gathered fire wood and started a fire. Once everyone was gathered around the fire Kakashi broke the silence.
"So. Who's first?" Kakashi asked.
All of them raised their hands.
"Oh boy…" Kakashi said with a sigh, "Sasuke let's start with you."
"This mission..how did it even get brought up? Who asked you to do this? And when we're you going to tell us? When we got to you the princess was already a few days into her trip." Sasuke asked.
"Well. I received a letter from the Kazekage actually." Kakashi said.
"Garra?.." Naruto asked softly. Kakashi nodded.
"Yes. He sent me a letter asking to send three of my best out to the sand to be her escort back." Kakashi said.
"So, wait, he had already asked you to send escorts to protect her before this weird organization showed up?" Sasuke said.
"Yes. I brought up the organization because I wanted to give you more motivation to take the mission. I didn't want you flaking on it thinking it was just some everyday escort." Kakashi answered.
"So, the princess. What's her name? What's she like?" Sakura asked.
"Well, according to Garra's letter her name is Vivi. She has a duck companion she rides around on named Karoo. She's apparently a brave girl who helped save the kingdom from civil war. Apparently, a man was manipulating the citizens to go against the king by stealing Alabasta's water to get them to fight. His ultimate goal was to wipe out the rebel and royal armies at one time and take the throne." Kakashi explained.
"Wow. She is a brave girl." Sakura said.
"Yes. She is. She had the help by a group named the Straw-Hat Pirates I believe." Kakashi said.
"Straw-Hat Pirates? Like, pirate pirates?" Sasuke asked.
"I'm not sure on their abilities. But if they can stop the man responsible and stop civil war then they must be powerful. Considering they helped Vivi they would be on our side I'd like to think." Kakashi said.
"They sound strong out there. In the world." Naruto said.
Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke all looked towards Naruto.
"I'm itching to meet em. I want to spar with them." Naruto said.
"Hey hey remember this is also a peace mission, don't do anything to make them think we want to fight against them seriously. This alliance could be big for the ninja world." Kakashi stressed.
"Don't worry Kakashi sensei. It'll just be a friendly spar!" Naruto said. "Straw-Hat Pirates huh? ALRIGHT!"