Chapter 15

DEATH members continued to ravage through the Drum Kingdom while the Nami and Sakura tried their best to keep them at bay. Sakura jumped off a roof onto a bunch of men blowing them away then ducking an attack from behind and kicking another man into his partner, both crashing into a building.

"Nami how are you holding up?" Sakura asked.

Nami was facing a crowd of men. She used her trusty staff to beat up the soldiers who tried to take over the city.

"I'm managing! These guys actually aren't that tough!" Nami yelled out.

Just as she said that a DEATH member, whom stood at about 6ft 9in, jumped in front of them. He wore a black headband with the DEATH logo on it, a black t shirt and cape, black shorts, and red boots, his weapons of choice were gold boxing gloves. He stood in front of the women bouncing on one foot with his boxing guard up.

"Who isn't tough girly?" The man asked.

Nami and Sakura stared in confusion.

"Boxing gloves? Really?" Nami asked sarcastically.

"We can't underestimate him, he's a death member for a reason." Sakura said.

Nami looked at Sakura with a serious face and then back at the man.

"Onawagi-san said we'd be dealing with a cocky group of vermin! Let me show you why I'm apart of the island takeover squadron! Remember the name "Golden Glove" Gaston!" He said.

Gaston got in peek a boo stance and shuffled a little, throwing a small combo, then disappeared. Nami and Sakura's expressions shot from serious to surprised.

"Where did he go?!" Sakura asked.

"How am I supposed to-."

POW!

Nami was interrupted by Gaston throwing a heavy over hand right, hitting her in the side of the face. Nami crashed into a nearby building, her back rested on the wall. Gaston then appeared in front of her and threw a vicious combo to Nami's body, alternating between left and right hooks to the body with occasional face shots, his hands moved at incredible speeds. As the wall broke under the pressure, Gaston finished the combo by punching Nami through the wall.

Sakura stared in disbelief at Gaston's speed and power but was more concerned about Nami. She tried to run over to the building Nami was punched into, but Gaston appeared in front of her and threw a hook, Sakura ducked under the hook, put her hands up, and threw an uppercut. Gaston swayed back and threw a straight left, Sakura countered with a right dodge and threw a left kick at Gaston's body, who blocked the kick by tucking his right arm into his side.

"You're good girl!" Gaston said.

Sakura smiled and brought her left leg away from Gaston's body and spun around to wheel kick him, but Gaston saw it coming and ducked to the right and threw an uppercut, Sakura swayed back and Gaston threw a punch at her liver which made her bend over, he used this opportunity to throw a right uppercut knocking Sakura into the air and he threw a hard left straight into Sakura's body sending her tumbling through the snow.

A DEATH member saw her land in front of her and tried to stomp her, but Gaston jumped in front of him gave him a combo that knocked him out.

"You fool! She's mine." Gaston said.

Sakura stared up at the boxer.

"Surely that isn't all you've got! Come on! Up up up!" Gaston taunted.

Nami jumped out the air with her staff and tried to hit Gaston, but he dodged it and Nami hit Sakura instead, knocking her head into the snow. Gaston ended up behind Nami and gave her a hard-left hook to the body and then an uppercut. Nami's head was knocked back as blood came out of her mouth. Gaston finished it with a right straight to knock Nami down next to Sakura.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! If this is all you got then you're in for a rough time!" Gaston joked.

Sakura looked at Nami.

"Look… I don't know what your problem with me is, but we have to work together if we're going to beat this guy… I only need ONE good shot." Sakura bargained.

Nami looked away.

"What the hell is her deal?" Sakura thought to herself while standing up, Nami stood up as well.

Gaston got in peek a boo stance ready to go another round.

DEATH BOAT

Kakashi and Sabo both threw attacks at Eneru. Kakashi using his kunai and Sabo using his cane. Even though they had never battled together before they fought with good chemistry, Eneru took noticed of this.

"YA HA HA HA HA. You both fight well, but I'm a lightning man! You'll never be able to beat me." Eneru bragged.

Kakashi thought back to the sand at how Garra was able to use sand based attacks against Crocodile since both men were essentially sand people.

"Sabo." Kakashi said.

Sabo looked back.

"Provide back up, I'm going to test something." Kakashi said.

Sabo smiled and backed up to give the shinobi his back up. Kakashi charged towards Eneru with his kunai out and Eneru clutched his staff. Kakashi jumped in the air and threw the kunai down at Eneru who sent it back at Kakashi with his staff, Kakashi spun kicked it back down at Eneru who barely dodged it. Eneru looked at the kunai then back up at Kakashi.

WHAM!

Kakashi kicked Eneru with massive force, spit left Eneru's mouth. Kakashi spun around to kick Eneru again, while Eneru stumbled back Kakashi charged at him and kicked him in the stomach, while Eneru's head was down Kakashi issued an order.

"SABO NOW!" Kakashi yelled.

Sabo charged a massive flame fist and sent it flying at Eneru who didn't have time to manifest into lighting and blew him out the back of the boat. Franky turned around to see a hole in the boat.

"Good stuff guys!" Franky yelled before a DEATH member tried to punch him. Franky choked the man and threw him into his friends.

"How in the world were you able to hit him?" Sabo asked excitedly.

Kakashi smiled under his mask and held his hand up to become lightning.

"I'm a lightning person too. We fought a man named Crocodile in the Sand Village who could turn into sand to defend himself, our sand guy could hurt him though no matter what, and once one part of the body was solid any body could attack him, freeing us up for the finishing blow." Kakashi said.

"I see. That's how I was able to…" Sabo stopped.

"Well I guess we'll-."

ZZZZZ BOOOOOOOOM!

Sabo was sent flying into a wall by a streak of lightning. Eneru was barely inside the boat, he wore a serious expression.

"So, another lightning man? Interesting." Eneru said, "But my lightning is stronger than yours."

Eneru beat all four drums on his back which blasted lightning in front of Eneru's face to form a giant electric ball. Eneru held his hand up and grunted and the lightning ball became black.

"YA HA HA HA HA!" Eneru laughed.

"Negative energy?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, pure negative energy. Say goodbye to the top hat." Eneru said.

Kakashi looked back towards Sabo who was unconscious.

"Damn it!" Kakashi said as he ran towards Sabo.

"YAAAA HA HA HA HA HA!" Eneru continued to laugh.

Kakashi jumped towards Sabo whom was about to be hit by the negative energy ball.

ZZZZZZ CRACK BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

IN FRONT OF DRUM CASTLE

Onawagi and Sasuke continued to hold their blades against the other.

"Who's there? State your name." Onawagi said.

"Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke answered.

"Uchiha? You must be related to my boss." Onawagi said.

"Just because he carries the name Uchiha doesn't mean he's any relevant to me." Sasuke said, kicking Onawagi away from Kureha.

Onawagi back flipped and landed.

"That was rude, Sasuke Uchiha. You should wait until a man is ready to fight before you surprise attack him." Onawagi said.

"What the hell do I have to wait on you for?" Sasuke asked, charging the blind man.

Onawagi got into battle stance and waited for Sasuke to attack. Sasuke swung his sword and Onawagi blocked the attack.

"I knew it. He's no ordinary blind man." Sasuke thought to himself.

Onawagi, knowing where Sasuke was now, disappeared.

"Huh?!" Sasuke yelped.

Onawagi tried to stab Sasuke while he was still invisible, but Kureha stopped that.

"Sasuke move! He's behind you I'm sure!" Kureha yelled out.

Sasuke did a back flip and extended his hand to grab the invisible man if he was there and sure enough, he was. Sasuke got a hold of his cape and slammed Onawagi into the ground then lifted his sword up to pierce the doctor, but Onawagi got in hand stand position and kicked Sasuke upward. He then jumped and grabbed Sasuke's legs and threw him back into the snow. Sasuke landed with a hard thud and was instantly pinned to the ground by Onawagi's machetes, he pulled out his giant syringe and brought it down with the intention to inject Sasuke.

"LOVE LOVE: PISTOL KISS!"

A pink heart shot through the chest of the blind man. He coughed up blood as he fell back through the air and then on his head, his body limply falling behind it. Hancock ran up to get the machetes out of Sasuke's clothes.

"Are you okay?" Hancock asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. What was that?" Sasuke asked.

"The pistol kiss! Courtesy of the love love fruit I ate." Hancock explained.

Sasuke looked at the woman and then back at Onawagi, who coughed up more blood and got on his hands and knees.

"Geez, this guy just won't stay down." Sasuke mumbled to himself as he got his sword ready.

DRUM FOREST

Robin stared at the skeleton man who just told her that the reason she's really been acting so out of character is because she won't admit she loves her green-haired, sword wielding companion.

"L… l… love?" Robin asked.

"It has to be… that night in Alabasta… when you went to the roof with him, that's what it was for right? To tell him you had feelings for him?" Brook asked.

"Y… yes." Robin choked out, "We almost kissed… but he got up and jumped off the roof, I figured that's the reason I've been acting strange, because I wasn't sure how he felt."

"Yo ho ho ho ho. Robin-chan, Zoro told you how he felt that night." Brook laughed.

Robin stared at Brook.

"You didn't notice? Almost kissing you, stopping abruptly, both are signs that he feels almost or equally the same." Brook said.

Robin became agitated.

"Then why leave? Why couldn't he just tell me how he felt and maybe I wouldn't feel so weak!" Robin yelled.

"Robin-chan, please sit, I can't answer for why exactly Zoro jumped off that roof and left you alone, but what I can tell you, is that he is hiding something. You'll have to abstract that information from him though, if you really want it." Brook said.

Robin thought about everything the skeleton man was saying. Was Zoro hiding something? What could he possibly have to hide? And did she really… love him?

FLASHBACK

Robin stared down at the Straw-Hats from Enies Lobby. Everyone was there for her: Luffy, Chopper, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro. The tears started flowing. They were tears of joy, she knew it was far to early to celebrate, but what if they saved her here? She would finally be back with her friends, back on the safety of the Going Merry. She missed everything about them: the arguing, the love cook and his complimentary tea, her and the navigator's talks, and especially seeing the green haired man she's developed feelings for sleeping peacefully wherever he could.

"Please everyone… save me… get me away from here… I want to go back to the Merry… I want to go back home." Robin thought to herself.

"WE STILL HAVEN'T HEARD YOU SAY IT ROBIN!" Luffy yelled.

Robin shot her head up, the comment surprised her.

"TELL US…. TELL US YOU WANT TO LIVE!" Luffy yelled.

If the tears weren't falling moments ago, they were falling now. Robin has wanted to die for as long as she can remember. Trying to find the poneglyphs and learn world history was the only thing that kept her attached to the world. Robin looked up at everyone again. With a glance at Chopper she thought about the bonding moments they had playing cards and board games, with Sanji she thought about his endless compliments and sweet attitude, with Usopp she thought about his entertaining lies and stories that he never thought she listened to, with Nami she thought about the time she won her over with Crocodile's jewelry and their friendship ever since, with Luffy she thought about the day he saved her from dying when she really wanted to, and finally with Zoro she thought about the first times she ever saw him.

He was so handsome, so ready for action, something she had grown to like in a man. His constant arguments with the cook and members of the ship only increased her attraction as he was funnier than he looked and most of all his undying loyalty to the ship and everyone on it secured her affections. She tilted her head towards the ground, tears falling heavily.

"If I survive this.. I will tell you all how much you mean to me… and Zoro… how much I …" Robin stopped her thoughts, "I WANNA LIVE! TAKE ME TO THE SEA WITH YOU! TAKE ME AWAY FROM HERE!"

Robin yelled towards the Straw-Hat crew but was talking to Zoro, she felt selfish for that, but it didn't take away how much she cared for the others, she wanted to be on a boat sailing in the sun with them again. Everyone having fun, her reading a book, and Zoro resting. She missed it so much.

END OF FLASHBACK

Robin's tears fell heavily. Was that when she first denied loving him? When she interrupted her own thoughts… she actually didn't even think they'd pull off saving her so she didn't even think to tell Zoro how she felt and just kept it to herself, but seeing him again after two years, and looking the way he does, the feelings all came flooding back, but they never really left truth be told.

"Robin-chan… this enemy we're facing… it's unlike anything we've ever seen before. Zoro-san will survive this, but what if it happens again? And you can't tell him?" Brook suggested.

Robin knew he was right, if Zoro died here or in the future the pain she feels now would be even worse, she already lost her mother and village, she didn't and wasn't going to lose anyone else she loved. Robin stood up, Brook as well.

"Thank you so much musician… I'll tell him soon, I promise." Robin said.

"Don't promise to me Robin-chan, promise to yourself." Brook said with a smile.

Before the two could go back in the tree house they heard rustling in the bushes. A man and a squad of DEATH members appeared in front of them.

"This is the place Onawagi-san told us about men!" The leader said.

As the men tried to get closer Brook pulled out his cane sword out and readied it, Robin crossed her arms ready to use her technique to keep them at bay.

"Doctor! We've got company out here!" Robin yelled.

Chopper poked his head out to see the men standing there and yelped.

"AHHH KEEP THEM FROM GETTING IN HERE! I'VE GOT PATIENTS STILL RECOVERING!" Chopper yelled.

"Patients you say? We'll kill them too!" The leader said.

"Thanks for telling them that doctor…" Robin thought to herself.

The man in front of them slowly transformed and became a man squid hybrid, Brook and Robin stared in shock and disgust.

"I ate the squid squid fruit! I'm a man and squid, one of the most trusted fighters on DEATH's front lines!" The squid man said, "Men! Go!"

Men charged Robin and Brook who began to fend them off.

DEATH BOAT

Kakashi had been hit by the negative energy ball and Eneru laughed in excitement.

"YAAA HA HA HA HA! ONLY FOOLS SACRIFICE THEMSELVES FOR OTHERS! ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'LL ALL BE IN VAIN!" Eneru said.

Sabo watched as the energy ball swallowed the elder shinobi.

"Damn! He was taken out just like that!" Sabo thought to himself, looking back at Eneru, "What the hell am I going to do? I can't just beat him with physical attacks alone, even if I do have rubber gloves."

"You should just give up. You have no hope of defeating me here. That was some lucky move you were able to pull off earlier, but it's unfortunate it's going to result in your death here." Eneru joked.

Before Sabo could get ready to attack, Kakashi emerged from behind the negative electric ball and spit fire balls at the thunder god, who dodged them easily. Eneru and Sabo stared in shock.

"How the hell did you survive that?!" Sabo asked.

Kakashi smiled.

"A trick we ninjas call, substitution jutsu."

IN FRONT OF DRUM CASTLE

Onawagi coughed up blood and continued to stand to his feet.

"Impressive techniques you've all got…I'm tired of messing around… between here and the sand village… I refuse to be embarrassed again!" Onawagi yelled.

Onawagi crossed his arms and his body shone. Everyone looked at him wondering what he had just done.

"I've just covered myself in an invisible and unbreakable forcefield. Now, I won't be beaten again!" Onawagi said disappearing once more.

"Where did he go now?" Hancock asked, looking around.

Sasuke closed his eye with the sharingan and kept his rinnegan open and looking around, he was able to make out a faint image of a man charging them. Sasuke bent down a little and grabbed the case of his sword with his left hand and the handle with his right hand, when Onawagi got close he snatched out the sword and smashed the handle into Onawagi's body.

Onawagi was knocked back by the attack and re appeared.

"What in the hell am I facing?! Why won't they just die!" Onawagi asked.

"ARRGHHHHHH JUST DIE ALREADY! I'M TIRED OF THIS! I'LL JUST BRING YOU TO MY WORLD AND KILL YOU OFF ONE BY ONE!" Onawagi yelled.

Onawagi went invisible and grabbed Hancock making her invisible as well, Hancock screamed as she was dragged away but it didn't do any good against the heavy winds on top of the Drum mountains. Sasuke looked around with his rinnegan and saw them, Onawagi had Hancock by the hair and had his machete raised high to cut her down.

"STOP!" Sasuke yelled, running towards them.

Sasuke was stopped by a man dropping down in front of him and jumping towards the invisible man and woman and threw a heavy punch.

CRACK!

Onawagi re appeared yet again, his invisible force field cracked open, blood coming out of his nose and mouth, Hancock re appeared as well. Hancock breathed in an out heavily from being so scared.

"I thought I was going to die…" Hancock whispered, "That invisibility caught me completely off guard, who… who are you?"

The man's body became a yellow flame with different black patterns showing up all over, when his eyes opened they shone a vibrant orange. His jacket was open with an X bandage on his right shoulder.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Sorry to worry you, Sasuke."

DRUM VILLAGE

Gaston continued to dodge and punch at the two women who fought with everything they had. Their chemistry still needed a lot of work, and if they were fighting anyone else they may be winning, but it was who they were fighting that was the problem.

"Is that all you've got? Weaklings… I expected more." Gaston boasted, "I'll finish you off with my ultimate move…"

Gaston let out a yell and moved with tremendous speed. Right before he could punch Nami he was axe kicked hard into the ground by a flaming leg.

BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

The blonde hair, curly eye browed cook of the Straw-Hats stood in front of the women with his hands in his pockets and a smoke in his mouth.

"Putting your handson ladies? Just ridiculous. You damn idiot." Sanji said.

DEATH BOAT

Eneru stared in shock at what Kakashi had just said.

"What is substitution jutsu?" Sabo asked.

"I can transfer between myself and an object to take my place if I'm attacked. I usually use a log." Kakashi explained.

Sabo stared at the shinobi.

"Hm. Really? That's incredibly handy."

"HOW DARE YOU FOOLS!? WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE!" Eneru said launching himself towards them.

"GUM GUM RED HAWK RIFLE!" A voice said.

Eneru was cracked in the body by a flaming twisted arm which sent him hurtling towards a wall in the boat spinning and on fire.

BOOOOOOM!

Luffy looked back at the two men and smiled.

"Hey guys! Sorry I took so long! Sabo!? How have you been?" Luffy said.

IN DRUM FOREST

Robin and Brook made easy work of the men who tried to attack them. Brook took out plenty with his cane sword and Robin's enhanced devil fruit abilities made taking out even more men easy enough. The squid man had seen too much and decided to fight.

"STOP! I won't allow you to hurt my men anymore!" He yelled.

The squid man stepped up to fight them both. He launched his arms towards the two, but Brook dodged and cut the arm off, but it grew back almost instantly.

"HAHAHAHA nice try skeleton man! But that won't work!" The squid man said.

The tentacle quickly wrapped around Brook's neck and slammed him against the ground then against the tree. Robin jumped away and crossed her arms.

"Gigantic Dos Fluers!" Robin yelled as two giant hands came out of the ground to grab the squid man.

He was incredibly slippery, but Robin had a good hold on him.

"ARGH! LET ME GO YOU BITCH!" The squid man yelled stretching to grab Brook's sword.

Once he grabbed it he lifted it up and Robin's eyes widened. The squid man stabbed straight through Robin's hands.

"AHHHHHHHHH" Robin screamed incredibly loud, blood pouring down her hand. She released the hold and the squid man capitalized stretching to grab Robin by the neck, choking her.

Robin struggled to breathe and couldn't loosen the grip because of the squid's slimy skin.

"HA HA HA HA HA! WHAT A DUMB GIRL YOU ARE!" The squid man taunted, holding Brook's sword.

The squid pulled the sword back with the intention to stab Robin's heart.

"Say goodbye…" The squid man said.

"ONI… GIRI!" A masculine voice yelled.

The squid stayed still for a second and then his chest burst into an X with blood spilling from it rapidly. A reindeer caught him, spun around, and threw the squid man into other men. The DEATH members looked down at the squid man and then up at the swords man who turned his head to look at them.

"Which one of you made Robin scream in pain?" Zoro asked.