Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece. Is there not more I can do to prove this?
Talk: "Talk"
Think: 'Think'
"Your directions suck!" Naruto yelled at his 'subordinate'.
"Don't blame me; blame that stupid storm that blew us off course." Kotetsu protested to his 'Captain'.
Five days passed since Naruto 'recruited' Kotetsu; a former Ensign of the Marines. However, the tiger shark fishman found himself a little wary of him due to the fact that he was an apparent psychopath. Well not Kotetsu himself, the guy didn't really look like much. Yea he was pretty skilled with a sword, and he could move pretty fast with that damn devil fruit of his, but he lacked the intent to kill. No that was Magara, the 'other side' of his that loved to kill and soak in the blood of his enemies.
The only reason he did not throw him overboard and watch him sink into the sea was because he knew how to get back to the Grand Line. Or at least he thought he did, but apparently Kotetsu sucked at navigation as much as he did. From the map the two managed to salvage from the only ship that wasn't damaged in their fight, the two were about to hit a place called Warship Island when a freak storm came out of nowhere and set them spiraling out of control, and put them in the middle of nowhere.
Which left them in their current predicament of being hopelessly lost.
"I don't give a damn about the storm. You were supposed to navigate me back to the Grand Line!"
"Well sooorrrrie, if this was a bigger ship we would have been fine. But we were left with a gunboat! So shut up!"
Naruto growled in response. Of course he had to be reminded about that. The both of them tried to find a bigger ship to sail on, but with that fight of theirs the two bigger ones were destroyed beyond repair, and that left them a small, two decked, two sail, one cannoned gunboat to make due with. While the thing was easy to sail, it was one of the most uncomfortable things he ever experienced in his entire life. The ship had no beds, no kitchen, or even a damn bathroom!
"Just pull out the map. Maybe it can point out any landmarks, or at least give us a clue to where the fuck we are." Naruto suppressed the urge to snap at the swordsman. Kotetsu wasn't the cause of his anger, not entirely at least. Naruto was mad that he broke his promise to Shirahoshi, he promised that he would be back in two weeks, and he was going to be late because Arlong destroyed his means of getting home.
"Yea, yea one second." Grabbing the map out of his back pocket, Kotetsu unfolded it and set it on the deck. Placing his right hand on the bottom of it, he used his left index finger to try and trace where they were. He spotted Warship Island and remembering being knocked off course to the south, and pretty much guessing where they were sailing, his finger landed in the vicinity of... "We're near the Gecko Islands."
"Never heard of them."
"I know only a little about it. My former unit docked there for supplies, it has at least four villages and a major restaurant that serves good food in a place called Syrup Village."
"So no Marines?"
"None."
"Then lets go there. I doubt word has spread about you to this area yet. We can purchase some supplies there, and get you something other than that damn bloodied Marine jacket of yours, or those naval pants."
"What's wrong with my pants?" Kotetsu demanded.
"It screams 'I'm in the Marines'." Naruto deadpanned.
A couple miles away the twosome were spotted by a man in basic clothing and an eye-patch settled in the crows nest. A smirk came to his bearded face at seeing his prey from his visible eye, the man gripped the top of the crows nest before leaping off, grabbing the rope attached to the mast, and rappelled all the way down to the deck.
"Did you see something Scout?" One of the men asked.
"I sure did, it's a small gunboat. Not too big of a threat, but it's on the way of the island. And you know what the Captain said-"
"Tell me if anyone is going to get in our way." The crew member finished the sentence. "I know, now got and get him. But be careful he's in a foul mood."
"He's always in a foul mood. I know he wasn't the best three years ago, but now he's just a complete dick. Tell me why did we carry him off after his defeat?" Scout asked.
"Fuck if I know. But just go and be done with it."
"Yea, yea. I'll get to it." Scout waved the man away and walked towards the entrance. Opening the red double doors he was greeted with nothing but darkness, he swallowed out of reflex due to the immense killing intent emitting from the entrance. Good god, how could he forget that his Captain was one of the most terrifying men he ever met. Taking a deep breath, Scout descended into the darkness of the ship.
When there was absolutely no source of light, Scout moved his eye-patch over to his left eye. Immediately his right eye -after being covered for several days- adjusted to the darkness so he could see quite clearly(1). The pirate moved forward, stepping upon the wooden boards quietly as to not disturb the crew members that were to go on night shift in five hours time. Once he arrived at the end of the hallway, his lone eye fixated upon the red and black doors and his heart leapt into his throat when a cold, calculated voice spoke through the door.
"Enter."
Nearly squealing in terror. Scout barely held his bladder together before entering the Captain's quarters. He was greeted with a simple dark room with three windows, a oak desk with a chair to match it, a striped couch, some purple curtains, and a bed. Lounging on the bed was a slim man with round glasses and slicked black hair with a green tinge to it, he wore a standard black captain's coat with a white cat skull with two bones crossing behind its head symbol on the golden epaulette's on his shoulders. The coat nearly covered a simple white shirt and he was wearing a pair of black pants reaching down to his ankles, and his trademark black and white striped shoes. The man looked over to his subordinate, glaring at him with cruel black eyes.
"Uh, C-Captain we spotted a ship, a gunboat. There were only two people, but one was a fishman. I'm guessing they are mercenaries hired by the Mayor of the island o-or something."
The slim man sighed in annoyance and pushed his glasses up his nose with the palm of his right hand. "Wake the men, ready the cannons. We will kill these two before attacking the Gecko Islands tonight."
"Of course, Captain Kuro."
"All right, fine I will get rid of my outfit. Once we hit the island I'll get myself a new jacket and some pants, but that is all." Kotetsu said in a exasperated tone. He knew the tiger shark fishman was right, but he was far too used to wearing his Marine clothing. It was almost like being without his swords, he would feel naked without them.
"Trust me this will be for the best-" Naruto was interrupted by the sound of cannon fire. Both Kotetsu and himself turned and were greeted by a volley of cannon balls flying at them. "Motherfucker!"
"Shit! Get down!" Kotetsu tackled Naruto to the floor of the ship. Just in time to have several cannon balls fly over them, the two fighters heard the balls of deadly iron clip the top of their ship, sending showers of wooden splinters on their backs.
When the volley ended Kotetsu immediately jumped off the tiger shark fishman's back. "Sorry!"
"Just watch it." Naruto grumbled irritably, getting tackled by a human did not really sit well with him, especially when it was unnecessary. "Where the fuck did that come from!?"
"To the east." Kotetsu squinted his eyes against the sun towards the direction the volley of death came from. "I can see a ship, but that...oh shit get down!"
"Fuck that. You forget I'm a fishman!" Forcing two droplets of water into his palms, Naruto waited until the cannon balls were in his sights before he struck. Flinging his powerful arms the blond repeated the process of firing half a dozen water bullet's into the cannon balls. The water technique hit the cannon balls with enough kinetic force to destroy them, however he could not get to several of them in time and the cannon balls obliterated the masts.
The mast near the stern fell over the left side, destroying a section of the rails and deck as it fell into the sea. And the mast near the bow fell towards Kotetsu with the intent to crush the sandy-haired teen, however after a weeks worth of rest and healing Kotetsu unsheathed his Marine-issued sabre, and sliced the mast completely in in half.
"Dammit, there goes our sails. Any ideas Uzumaki!?" The swordsman swore.
"Yea, can you steer a boat?"
"I was in the Marines, of course I can."
"Then I have a plan."
"Hey! Hey, wake up goddammit!" Scout bellowed as he pounded on the last door within the cargo hold of the ship.
Nothing.
Scout's patience was at an end when he heard a third volley of cannon fire. Captain Kuro was very specific when he said wake everyone up, that meant everyone, even if it meant him of all people. Honestly the eye-patch wearing pirate didn't know why Jango recruited the savage, he was a big lazy oaf, a waste of space, and a dairy hog. The only redeemable quality he had was that he was the best damn navigator he had seen in his life, honestly it was like the guy was one with nature.
But it still didn't excuse him from not answering his summons when the Captain demanded it. It also didn't help that he was on the thinnest ice for sleeping through the battle with the Straw Hat Pirates. Pounding on the door one more time Scout wore that is he didn't open the door he would bust the door down and shoot him, and damn the consequences!
After his last knock the wide doors that separated the two areas opened with a loud bang. Scout was greeted with nothing but darkness that even he couldn't see through, all except a pair of glowing yellow eyes. "Yes?" A single tired voice questioned.
"About damn time you woke up Bashura. Listen, the Captain told me to wake everyone up, there is a ship in the area that we're going to destroy before we attack the Gecko Islands."
"Attack Gecko Islands?" Bashura asked in confusion, he even tipped his head sideways to show it.
"Yea, the island attack you slept through! The one Captain Kuro could have taken if you didn't nap!"
"It was too loud to nap. I didn't wanna join anyways."
"It was on the orders of Captain Jango! And then it was on the orders of Captain Kuro when he came back you idjet! I assumed you slept through it like the lazy cat you are." Scout shouted, infuriated that a member of his crew refused to follow the orders of his Captain. That was the number one rule in pirate crews, if you had a problem you either died, left the crew, or challenged the current Captain for control.
"Nope."
"Grr, whatever. I will pretend I didn't hear that, now come on once we deal with these mercenaries you can rest up so we can butcher the villagers tonight."
Immediately after the said that, the entire temperature of hold of the ship dropped fifteen degrees. Scout sensed a great deal of rage coming from their navigator that he never felt before. The Bashura the entire crew knew was calm and easy-going, but incredibly lazy. He would spend his days down in the hold, predicting weather and informing the crew where to go when the wind changed. Not many of the crew had seen Bashura's face, in fact the only two who had seen him face to face were Sham and Buchi; and no one could ask them what he looked like since the both of them were killed by Roronoa Zoro during their first attack on the Gecko Islands.
"Whoa, hold it there. You stay back! What do you care if we butcher some lowly civilians? We're pirates we can do anything we want!" Scout took a step back out of fear. The anger coming off their navigator spiked up after he said that.
"If I knew that you were going to do that the first time, I would have joined the other crew in defeating you all." Bashura hissed at the eye-patch wearing pirate. "In my culture, attack on the innocents prove you have no honor. And that means the life you were is given is forfeit."
"I knew you would say that." Scout's right hand went to the leather baldric that held four flintlock pistols strapped on his chest.
"I would not do that." The yellow-eyed navigator warned his crew mate.
Scout narrowed his visible eye. He gripped the butt of the pistol positioned over his chest, he pulled it out quickly and shot in the direction where their now former navigator stood. However he didn't hear the sound of a human body hit the floor. Dropping the empty weapon on the ground the spotter of the crew pulled out two more from the baldric on his chest and cocked the hammers back. "Show yourself you yellow belly coward!"
"I'm giving you one last chance, stand down. Tell the Captain to cease and desist, and no one will get hurt."
"Kiss my ass Bashura!" Scout shot one pistol in the direction where he heard the voice.
Several heartbeats passed, this time Scout thought he got him for sure. Picking up his fallen weapon he holstered both his empty ones and turned to walk away. He was not looking forward to telling Kuro that he killed the navigator, but given the circumstances for his betrayal it would be justifiable.
"Your chance has passed."
Turning on his heel Scout pointed his flintlock pistol at the yellow eyes again, this time he was not going to miss. He pulled on the trigger of his weapon, the hammer dropped, the flint hit the frizzen, sparks flew, the flash pan lit up, and the musket ball flew from the barrel. Just as it reached it's halfway mark Bashura threw his weapon.
The sharp end of a harpoon shattered the musket ball and pierced through Scout's chest. The force of the throw was so great that Scout was lifted from his feet, and he soared all the way from the cargo hold to the end of of the hallway; which was no small feet since it a a good sixty feet away from each other. The eye-patch wearing pirate choked in surprise when his back violently hit the wall, the light in his eye dimmed as he looked upon the approaching form of his killer.
"This crew has no pride, no honor." Bashura said before pulled the harpoon out of the dying man. Once he set his weapon to the side he stretched his arms out and hummed lowly. "That is the downfall of this crew."
"Are you ready!?" Naruto shouted from behind the gunboat.
"No! This is a stupid idea!" Kotetsu hollered back while he stood at the helm, the steering wheel held firmly his hands.
"No, it's an awesome idea!" The blonde said before ducking under the water when another volley rang out. Checking to make sure both Kiribachi and Saibannin Kayiouumi were strapped to his back, he gripped the sides of the stern with his powerful hands, and kicking with his legs he bolted forward, pushing the entire boat in front of him.
The tiger shark fishman relied on Kotetsu to steer them away from the incoming cannon balls. Thankfully he relied on the right person to dodge the deadly projectiles. The balls of iron hit the water with awesome force, splashing water upon the deck and the swordsman steering the boat.
Kotetsu dourly spat out a mouthful of seawater, "Uzumaki I swear...oh dear crap." Looking upon the ship up close for the first time, the swordsman looked upon the ship with wide eyes. It was a simple Galleon-class ship with red and black paint, it had an unpainted cat figurehead along with the keel that looked like it was recently replaced, and a pair of black ornamental cat claws on the sides. the hulls on the bottom were green, and from what he was seeing it had a maximum of twenty-two cannons; eleven on each side, plus an unknown amount of swivel guns.
"The Black Cat Pirates!? Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Jerking the wheel to the right the sandy-haired teen maneuvered them behind the ship. As soon as they were in the clear, he jumped away from the helm and landed on the end of the ship. Kotetsu reached his arms into the water and Gripped Naruto's shoulders to get his attention.
Lifting himself out of the water Naruto glared at his 'crew mate' in confusion. "What the hell are you doing?"
"That's the Bezan Black. The ship of the late Captain Kuro!"
"...and that's supposed to mean something to me?"
"Maybe not to you, but to me it means an actual ship. And an actual ship means real food and beds. So what we need to do is take this ship as undamaged as possible." Kotetsu said, the pure loathing of the gunboat evident in his voice.
"Oh you're getting tired of spam and fish?" Naruto said with a smirk. The food he could handle, uncomfortable living conditions he could definitely could handle, but that damn gunboat? Hell no. "All right, but tell me this. If we do take this ship how would we work it? There's two of us, and a fuck ton of stuff that needs to be done in order for it to sail."
"What was it you said earlier? 'You forget I'm a fishman'? Well I'm a devil fruit-user, the Quick-Quick Fruit allows me to move at super high speeds so I can do all of that no problem. Maybe I can even teach you how to work a ship properly. Unless you forgot the thrashing I gave you nearly a week ago." Kotetsu said, puffing his chest out in victory.
"And I seem to recall knocking your ass into the sea." Naruto retorted. The wounds he received from the bipolar teen were nearly healed, but the fruity bastard claiming he won pissed him off to no end. The blond knew he won, because he made a promise to Ace that he would never lose another fight until they had a rematch. And Uzumaki Naruto never broke a promise; being delayed however did not count.
"Whatever you say. Listen I can't swim, but if you can get me close enough to the boat I can jump onto it. And when I'm on, both you and I can defeat these pirates and take over the ship."
"What happened to that 'I won't kill anyone' attitude?"
"Who said I was gonna?"
"Ugh, you humans can never make up your minds."
"You lost them?" Kuro pushed his glasses up his nose with the palm of his right hand. "Tell me, how could you lose two people and a simple gunboat!"
"I-I-I'm sorry Ca-Captain, but it's true." The unfortunate crew member stuttered out.
"Disappointing, you all disappoint me more and more every day." The Captain of the Black Cat Pirates sighed. Reaching under his pillow he pulled out a pair of black furred gloves with five small metal plates with holes in the middle of them at the ends of the fingers and thumbs. Placing them on his hands he rose from his bed and slowly moved over to the trembling man. "Get out of my sight."
The man was all too happy to leave the presence of his Captain. However before he could fully get away he bumped into a wall of muscle. The crew member was about to lash out, only to realize he was looking at a tattooed muscled stomach, he looked upwards and paled. Not saying a word he backed away and moved around the large man, and once he was clear he bolted away.
"And who are you?" Kuro asked the stranger irritably.
"My name is Bashura, the navigator of your crew. Or at least I used to be." Bashura said, his voice showing no hint of fear; something that irked Kuro greatly.
"A hell of a time to quit." The merciless pirate said. "No matter, by the time this is all over I will have no use of a navigator anyways. Is that all you wanted to tell me?"
"No, I'm actually here to stop you."
That statement alone threw Kuro for a loop, of course it only lasted for a second before he began to chuckle. "You're here to stop me? Oh that is rich, I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time."
"'Kuro of a Hundred Plans', you should not laugh. I kept hearing that you were a fearsome leader, and an honorable man from your crew. When they lost their navigator a year ago I happily joined up in hoping, just hoping that I could meet the man the men revered." Bashura gritted his teeth, his yellow eyes glaring at the Black Captain. "Instead I find a butcher of women and children, a man with no honor, no loyalty. Your unjust cruelty killed many men who eagerly awaited your return during the fight with that one crew. And if I knew that your were going to massacre an entire village I would have joined them in defeating you."
Kuro only scoffed and pushed his glasses up his nose with the palm of his hand. "I'm a pirate, and pirate's owe no loyalties to anyone but themselves." He flexed his hands, and at the end of each finger and thumb a katana blade slid out of the small metal plates. The Black Captain smirked looking at his recently repaired gigantic iron claws that, overall, resembled long cat claws with satisfaction. "I wanted to wait a little bit, but I guess I can satisfy my bloodlust with killing you."
Bashura only clenched his meaty palms together. Just like with Scout, Kuro would not stand down, nor would any other member of the crew. "Then forgive me when I kill you."
Before Kuro would even reply, the ex-navigator of the Black Cat Pirates in front of him began to morph into something large, and angry.
"All right here we go! Ready Uzumaki?" Kotetsu yelled from the helm.
"If it'll get me away from this stupid boat then yes!" Naruto hollered from behind the boat, his hands clutching the sides with advanced eagerness.
Ducking down into the sea, Naruto once again relied on his 'crew mate' to steer while he kicked to get it moving. Once they started moving towards the ship they were planning on boarding in the most asinine ways imaginary there was absolutely no stopping them from doing it. Kotetsu steered the ship to the right to avoid the shots from the swivel guns, jerked to the left to avoid the volley from the starboard side and circled until they reached the stern of the ship.
Tapping into the powers if his devil fruit, Kotetsu jumped from the wheel, disappeared and reappeared on the poop deck with both swords drawn and ready for battle.
"Ah! Shit it's the Marines!" One of the crew members screamed in fear.
It was after the initial surprise Naruto made his appearance by exploding out of the water. He landed right next to the swordsman, his blue eyes glared at the black cat-ear wearing pirates and cracked his knuckles. "So, these are the Black Cat Pirates? They don't look so tough."
"It was Kuro who made this crew fearsome. But when he was captured by the Marines they became more of a nuisance than a threat." Kotetsu informed the tiger shark fishman.
"Well then, this will be easy as pie." Naruto smirked in reply before cracking his knuckles.
As soon as he said that, the doors separating the deck from the rest of the ship were destroyed. And to the twosome's surprise, a very much alive Captain Kuro was fighting, of all things, a freaking ten foot tall black panther!
The giant humanoid panther was like a walking brick shithouse, the thing looked like it weighed over six-hundred pounds, it's muscles rippled under it's midnight black fur. Claws protruded from the beast's finger tips and toes, it's yellow eyes flashed angrily at the pirate Captain and roared a loud cat-like howl. At first Naruto thought it was a gigantic beast that went awry, but then he noticed was dressed in rough garb. Upon the beast's torso was a black sleeveless vest -that he could barely see-, he was wearing red pants with a brown leather belt, and a black top hat with cat ears on the top of it of all things on his head.
Both Kuro and the panther slashed at each other with their claws, both missing each other thanks to both their impressive footwork. Kuro kicked the deck and flipped himself backwards until he was twenty feet away from the ten foot panther. His panting was the only thing that was out of place with his otherwise calm demeanor. "It looks like that fool Jango managed to pick up a precious jewel while I was away. Too bad it wasn't cut until it was smooth, next time I see him I'll kill him for recruiting you."
"It wasn't like he had a lot of choice." Bashura growled, his voice had gained an edge in a predatory nature. "Your last one died, and he asked anyone within the port I was in to join. I volunteered when I saw the insignia, foolishly thinking your crew were ones of honor."
"Again with this honor nonsense. Pirates don't have honor!" Kuro hunched his body somewhat, causing his crew to scream out in terror "I will not have my flans foiled for a second time! Not by you, not by Straw Hat, not anyone!" The Black Captain began to sway back and forth sideways in a fluid manner, necessary in order to enter the trance for his ultimate technique.
"Shit! He's going to use the Shakushi? Everyone run!" The crew members on the ship panicked, many of them running to try and get away, jump over board, anything to get away from their Captain.
But before they could even move, Kuro simply disappeared and the screams erupted from the panicking crew. Slash marks began to appear on their bodies, some bleeding fatally, some were shallow like paper cuts. But they were eviscerated, limbs fatally cut, grievous neck wounds, and many died in the spots they were standing.
Both Naruto and Kotetsu took to the roped and climbed out of the way. Both of them looked on in horror as Kuro killed the members of his crew, mercilessly cutting them into bloody ribbons. But the crew wasn't the only thing he cut into, he also damaged the ship, his claws cut into the mast, the rails of the ship were now as useful as lumber for a fire, he even nicked the steering wheel.
"Good God, what kind of monster would do that to his own crew?" Naruto whispered in horror and rage. Of course he shouldn't have been surprised, if humans could happily kill and enslave his own people without any remorse, that why wouldn't humans do it to their own kind?
"That is the type of man Kuro is." Kotetsu said, his lazy sounding voice betraying his own anger from remembering the massacre on Iron Island. "He holds no regard for life. If anyone gets in the way he kills them regardless if it's his own crew, the Marines, or even women and children. He's nothing more than a monster in human skin."
Kuro's ultimate technique lasted less than a minute, but the damage was completely devastating. Every man on deck was dead and dying, their crimson blood flowing into the cracks of the planks. The damage to the ship was superficial at most, nothing important was cut too deeply, and what was destroyed could be replaced in an afternoon like the ropes for instance. But the ship now smelled of blood and death, it was sickening.
Bashura was not at all amused with the carnage around him. His yellow eyes flashed in anger at the man who butchered his comrades like they were nothing but disposable pawns. "Are you happy now? You didn't even lay a scratch on me."
Kuro only chuckled and pushed his glasses up his nose with the palm of his right hand. "Who says I didn't?"
Not even a second after he said that, several cuts opened along Bashura's body. Many of them were shallow, a good lot didn't bleed and would heal in a few days. The only bad ones were along his thighs, the cuts were deep that it nearly sent the ten foot tall panther to his knees.
"Sorry to cut this short, but I'm on a schedule, and with so many of my men down I need to keep it more than ever." The glasses glinted in the sunlight as the Black Captain hunched his body, and began to sway back and forth.
"We need to do something." Kotetsu clutched both his unsheathed blades in his hands, preparing to leap in to try and defend the wounded man. It was only a strong hand gripping his shoulder that prevented him from doing so.
Naruto looked upon the fight seeing that the giant cat-thing was wounded, didn't necessary mean he was out of the fight just yet. After all, if you back a wounded animal into a corner they get twice as deadly. "Let's see where this fight leads."
Just like before Kuro disappeared and caused nothing but destruction for what ever got in his path. He cut into the dead bodies of his crew, destroyed the rails of the ship, he even came close to cutting both Naruto and Kotetsu on one occasion. He finally got to the back of his enemy, Kuro brought his right arm out to cut his enemy in half at the waist.
Suddenly Bashura's tail shot out and caught Kuro by his waist. Despite having injured legs he spun in circles several times until he released the Black Captain. His targeting was perfect, Kuro flew and hit the giant mast with a loud crack of bone and wood. The Black Captain choked out in surprise as he slid down to the deck, the glasses upon his face falling completely off and onto the deck.
Bowing his head towards his deceased opponent, Bashura turned his back and slowly limped away from the scene of battle. He didn't notice that Kuro shakily stood upon his legs, that last blow broke something in his back, either he slipped a disc or something Kuro didn't know. But the bloodlust now completely overwhelmed him, the thought of a no-name navigator defeating him, and ruining his plans finally drove him over the edge. Drawing into the last of his strength Kuro launched himself as Bashura, his claws flashing in the light, his eyes burning with murderous intent.
He lashed out with is left arm.
And was clothesline by a tanned, tiger striped muscular arm. Kuro's neck bent at an awkward angle with a loud snap of bone as he fell to the bloody deck of his own ship, his expression taking on a puzzled look as the life finally left his eyes.
Hearing the thump of a body hitting the deck, Bashura turned to see to his surprise a tiger shark fishman. His stomach growled in hunger at the thought of fish, but he crushed that notion right away. He was wounded, and this stranger was fresh...or fresher than him if the gauze on his body was any indication. He looked down at the body of Kuro and raised a furry eyebrow. "Thank you."
"You're welcome...Catman?" Naruto said, unsure of what to call the thing in front of him.
Bashura chuckled in mirth, it was a good name but completely wrong at the same time. Deactivating the powers bestowed upon him the giant panther shrank about two feet, his fur, claws, ears, muzzle, and tail retracted into his body. It was then Naruto was greeted with an eight foot tall human with dark brown skin, and yellow eyes. His entire face was devoid of hair, four golden looped earrings were pierced through his ears; two on each side, two rested upon his earlobes and two more nearing the cartilage area. His entire body was packed with hard muscle from years of heavy lifting, and his entire torso and face were covered in bizarre tattoos completely in black ink.
Naruto couldn't make heads or tails of them, they were in a language he couldn't understand. Upon his chest was a circle with what looked an ancient calendar with various lines trailing across his chest to his shoulders and biceps. His stomach area had two thick lines going across his abs and stopping in the middle with eleven black dots of various sizes resting a few centimeters over them, and various more going down his abs until they disappeared below his wrists held various, thick black lines that trailed up his forearms while all ten of his fingers trailing from near the fingernails to the knuckles, hell he even saw the same black spots on both his elbows! But it was his face that was purely terrifying, for it was covered in the same thick black lines that covered his chin, mouth, cheekbones, and even where his eyebrows were supposed to be, and even an inch above them. The dots were there too, four going from his forehead to the bridge of his nose, and ten going in between the middle the the two lines arching upon his face.
But in spite of his terrifying appearance, Bashura smiled and greeted Naruto with a low, but friendly voice. "My name is Bashura."
"Uh, Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto blinked in response to the greeting.
"And I'm Kotetsu." Kotetsu greeted the big man with a smile and wave. "It's so good to see another friendly human being!"
"He's not a human, the man's a werepanther." Naruto said in annoyance.
"Dude, sorry to burst your bubble but he's a devil fruit-user like me." Kotetsu said, all too happy to pop the fishman's bubble.
"What!?"
A few hours later the Bezan Black was completely clear of bodies and ready to sail. Naruto figured it would not be a good idea for them to head into the island, from the Catman's information they; or at least one would recognize the ship, and that would give them more problems then they needed.
While it was in good shape, the ship was pretty damaged during the fight between Bashura and Kuro, the inside of the ship was a complete bloodbath. The cannon rooms had the torn bodies of various crew members that could only be picked up using a fork, blood stained the walls of the ship along with deep claw marks that made the place look like a horror house from hell.
On the positive side however, minus it being a huge mess and needing a good bleaching, the ship was in great condition. The cannons were still fully functional, the kitchen was well stocked and completely undamaged, the munitions room was also undamaged, albeit a little depleted. And there was space! Oh such glorious elbow room and a freaking bathroom!
However there was one thing that did not set right with Naruto at all. "Are you sure you're not a werepanther?" He asked the giant man.
"Hahaha! Oh no I'm not, it's as your friend said I ate a devil fruit called the Cat-Cat Fruit: Model Black Panther." Bashura assured the blond with a gigantic smile.
"How the hell does that work? I mean this insane bastard," He pointed at Kotetsu, who was helping them piling the bodies into the gunboat. "Flashes all over the place, I could barely hit him like I did with Ace."
"Ace? You don't mean Portgas D. Ace, do you?" Kotetsu asked after hearing the name.
"Yes, he and I fought some time ago. One hell of a fight too, but he kicked my ass real good." The blond admitted, he wasn't ashamed of it. After all he did declare the man his rival after all, even if he was a human.
"I'm not surprised, he did eat a Logia-type fruit after all."
"A what now?" Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Are you serious? You grew up in the Grand Line! How did you not know this stuff!?" Kotetsu demanded.
"Well sorry for growing up on Fishman Island where my species never ate some stupid fruit." Naruto retorted before tossing Kuro's glassless-less and gloveless body onto the gunboat with the other meat sacks. "Where I come from we swim in the ocean to survive, if you can't swim you're as good as dead. So that's my reason for not knowing what these "types" of devil fruits are."
"Ugh, all right since we're done tossing the bodies into the boat, allow me to teach you something that will save your life one day." Kotetsu offered to teach him about the ins and outs of devil fruits.
"Yea, no thanks. I rather not learn something as pointless as overpowered fruit assholes." Naruto said, waving a hand dismissively.
Ignoring the comment the swordsman tried it from a different approach. "I can also teach you their weaknesses."
"Submerge them in water, and boom they're done." The fishman said in a dismissive manner.
"That's not the only way." Bashura said, alerting the both of them. "You only learn if you listen." He continued to prove his point as he poured lantern oil on the bodies, getting them ready for a nice viking funeral.
"Ugh, fine. Whatever." Naruto groaned in defeat as he sat down on the deck. What harm would come of learning something new? After all it could give him an edge over Ace in their next fight.
"All right. First let's start with the classes..." Kotetsu started out.
(The East Blue - Several Days Later)
"Argh! Are we there yet!" Naruto asked for what seemed like the billionth time that day.
"We won't arrive at Lougetown for another few days Cap'n." Bashura said calmly, his voice showing no evident of any irritation from Naruto's complaining.
"For the last time I am not your Captain!" Naruto bellowed hotly, which only caused Bashura to laugh loudly.
Several days passed since the encounter with Kuro and since Bashura joined his crew. Well he couldn't call them a crew per say, they were more of three jackasses who happened to band together under much needed circumstances. Naruto needed to head home, Kotetsu needed asylum, and Bashura desired to travel the world; plus he was the only one who knew how to navigate through the seas. It was clear all three of them were pretty strong, and now with a navigator in their midst the former twosome were now a threesome and a step closer to Fishman Island. (2)
"This would go faster if you had something to occupy yourself!" Kotetsu shouted from the crows nest.
"Well excuse me for not having two swords to clean every single day!"
"Leave my swords out of this!"
Naruto only sighed as he laid on the deck of the ship. He had already done his training for the day, he didn't need to clean anything anymore, whatever repairs would have been done; have been done, and he couldn't practice with his axe due to the fact he might accidentally destroy one of the masts. "Hey Bashura, is there anything Black Cat related we need to get rid of?"
"Not since we burned the bodies and I tore those ears off my hat."
"Right...shit." How could he forget? After Kotetsu gave his boring, but very informative lecture about the devil fruits, the three of them burned the bodies of the deceased crew on the small gunboat giving them a quickish funeral; even though that bastard Kuro didn't deserve it, oh well at least he kept his gloves and glasses as trophies. Afterwards the three of them destroyed everything Black Cat related in order to make the ship seem more like theirs-minus the barrels with their logo on it, the stuff in there was vital to their survival on the sea.
Bashura tore the unpainted cat head off the heel and tossed it into the ocean, Kotetsu chopped off the fingers; leaving a smooth surface by the way, while he had the honor of taking down the flag and tossing it into the sea. But after that, all the three had to do was eat some simple sandwiches and drink whatever was available; since none of them could cook worth a damn. Train in their respective skills for as much as they could, and then sleep on comfortable beds; after taking shifts to make sure they weren't attacked.
That was a week ago, and now Naruto was bored. Man what would he have to do to get some excitement around here?
"Hey Uzumaki, I see something!" Kotetsu call from above them.
"Oh thank God!" Naruto leaped to his feet, and began to climb up the rope going towards the crows nest. "What is it? Pirates? Marines? A Sea King!?" He could honestly care less who or what it was, as long as he got to do something to fight his boredom.
"...Actually it's a boat." Kotetsu sweat-dropped when the blond hopped into the crows nest.
"A boat?"
"Lifeboat actually. Here look."
Taking the telescope handed to him, Naruto peered through the glass and saw a simple lifeboat with a man collapsed in it. He furrowed his brows deciding whether to help or leave him. His gut was telling him to leave the man's ass out to dry, but the brain told him to go do it. Of course Hody's teachings told him that one less human in the world was a good thing, but then Otohime's teaching and gentleness begged him to help a person in need...dammit it all to hell.
"What direction is he in?"
"To the east."
"Hey Bashura, turn to the east!"
"Aye, aye Cap'n!"
"Don't call me that!"
After Bashura turned the ship to the east and got close enough to lay anchor, Naruto was the one who jumped overboard and pulled the lifeboat towards their ship. After latching two boarding hooks in the iron loops he hollered at the two to pull it on up. Once both Bashura and Kotetsu pulled the lifeboat up to the side of the ship, they pulled the unconscious man out before dropping the lifeboat into the water again.
"All right who is this guy?" Naruto questioned them.
"I dunno." Bashura placed his fingers on the man's neck, "He's still alive, dehydrated, exhausted..." He heard the man's stomach growl angrily. "And hungry."
"Yea I get that, what about you?" Hearing no response Naruto looked to see Kotetsu's wide eyes. "Kotetsu?"
"Holy crap! Don't you know who this guy is?" Kotetsu demanded.
Looking down at the unconscious man Naruto saw that he was relatively thin, more than likely stood at an average height with tan skin, short, scruffy black hair, a scruffy beard, and a slight mustache. He had dark circles under his eyes, almost like he lacked sleep. He had both his ears pierced with two red spherical earrings on each year, wore a bloodstained green t-shirt that exposed several stitched scars on his arms, ratty gray pants, and worn brown boots. Weapon-wise he had one flintlock pistol, a double-barreled shotgun, and a pair of tonfa tipped with heavy iron balls that were the same size as cannonballs.
"Uh, should I?" Naruto asked.
"That's Gin the "Demon Man", a infamous member of the Krieg Pirates worth ten million beli." The sandy-haired teen said.
"How do you know all this crap?" The tiger shark fishman demanded.
"Being a Marine has it's a advantages."
Bashura picked the unconscious man up easily in his arms, and was quite alarmed at how light he was. "Now's not the time to dilly dally, this man is in dire need of medical care." He heard another loud growling noise coming from the man's stomach. "And for the love of Yojo, get this man a sandwich."
It would take a day before Gin awoke from his slumber. Immediately he wished he didn't, both his arms were screaming at him for rowing for untold amount of days. His head ached like crazy, his stomach was growing like an angry animal. God everything was pain!
"Ah, I see you're awake." Snapping his head towards the voice, Gin was surprised to see a tiger shark fishman looking square at him. "Hey, Bashura he's awake!"
'Bashura? What's a...oh my God!' Gin mentally screamed in surprise seeing a big savage-looking man walk into his room.
"Ah, at least you aren't dead." Bashura settled onto the stool he placed next to Gin's bed, his entire weight caused the wood to creak loudly. The Zoan devil fruit-user placed his big meaty right hand upon Gin's forehead, and nodded in satisfaction. "No fever, good." He then picked up a glass of water he placed on the night stand next to him. "Drink."
Gin drank from the glass, not completely by choice since the big man was practically forcing the water the water down his throat. But soon he he managed to get the entire thing down his throat and into his stomach. "Ack, warm."
"Yea, we thought you would wake up sooner." Naruto said with a shrug of his broad shoulders. "Now tell us, what the hell were you doing out in the sea?"
"Running, and planning to die." Gin answered them truthfully, much to their surprise.
"Say what now?" Naruto dumbly asked.
"I should have been dead weeks ago. Krieg's MH5 poison gas always proves fatal, and I'm no exception." Gin coughed violently, hard enough that spittle's of blood landed upon Bashura's vest. "Many have died in minutes, the unlucky ones hours...how I survived for this long is beyond me."
"Hold on a second. Kotetsu!" Naruto shouted from the top of his lungs.
A few seconds afterwards the ex-Marine appeared next to the bedside, surprising the weakened Gin by some degree. "You called Captain?" Kotetsu smirked, which caused Bashura to chuckle in amusement.
"For the last time I'm not your Captain." Naruto sighed in annoyance. While it was good to be called the Captain of this...crew he guessed, he honestly wished it was a bunch of fishmen that called him that instead of humans. "Ugh, anyways. You're the guy who knows about pirates. This guy sprouted out the name Krieg and something called MH5, can you explain who or what they are."
"Yesterday I said he was a member of his crew." Kotetsu palmed his forehead at the fishman's absentmindedness. "Don Krieg. Or better known as "Foul Play Krieg" is a ruthless pirate who's main talent is skulduggery, and commands an armada of pirate ships. From what I remember he has nearly an unlimited amount of weapons on his person, and has a bounty of seventeen million beli on his head."
"Your information is a little old there." Gin coughed out in pain. "Krieg does not have that armada of his anymore, it was all destroyed by "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk when we entered the Grand Line. All fifty ships and five-thousand men gone in barely ten minutes, many of the survivors starved to death when we tried to retreat from that monster." The weakened man stopped for a few minutes to steady himself, "I was captured by the Marines, disguised as Krieg..."
When Gin started hacking again Bashura left his stool and brought back another glass of water, this time a cold one with ice cubes and a straw. "Come on, drink, spit in the empty one."
Gin did as in instructed, drinking from the glass and spitting the pinkish water out into the empty one he laid back again before repeating the process several times before he could drink again without the coppery taste of blood in him mouth. "Ahh, thank you. You have no idea how much I needed that."
"You can thank us by telling us the rest of your tale. Come on Gin, we're not the bad guys here." Kotetsu said, being rather patient with all this.
"Ugh, I won't bore you with the small details. But I escaped from my capture, was provided a meal from a chef named Sanji at the Baratie and left. A few days later I brought Don Krieg and the rest of my crew the the Baratie." He noticed their looks of disbelief and explained his actions. "They were starving, do any of you know the pain of starving to death?" He trailed off, his face tight with pain from the experience. "It was pure hell, a torture beyond belief."
"Yea...I kinda know what that was like." Surprisingly it was Naruto who knew what Gin went through. The years of residing in the Fishman District taxed his young body to the breaking point. Whether it was starving, sickness, or fighting in the pits it nearly broke him; hell it could have broken him if not for Jinbe's timely arrival.
"Then you know why I brought them, I could not have them die like dogs. They fed us out of pity, but it was enough for use to regain our strength. I was hoping we would just leave, but then Krieg...he had us attack them in order to take their ship. A fight insured, Mihawk arrived and left, I took the head chef hostage and was ordered to execute him and the other chef who saved me life." Gin laid back, am expression of pain and shame etched upon his face. "I just couldn't do it, and that was when Krieg unleashed his MH5 gas on everyone. It was out of fear from the man that I threw my gas mask away."
"You did what!?" Bashura exclaimed loudly.
"I threw it away. At that time I feared him more than I death. But the chef's...well they did their best to heal me with various antidotes for poison, it may have been the only thing keeping me alive until now. I lost consciousness for a time, but awoke just long enough to see that Straw Hat kid defeat Krieg." He coughed violently again, but thankfully no blood came up this time. "Afterwards...I realized that Krieg was not the strongest, and since he pretty much disowned me from the crew I decided to start anew after I dropped them off on a sparsely populated island."
"So let me get this straight. You followed a complete psychopath because you feared him, but after he was beaten by this...Straw Hat kid you had some sort of 'revelation' and left the crew after you set them on a random island." Naruto relayed the information said to him in simpler terms.
"Pretty much."
'That has to be one of the dumbest things I ever heard in my life.' Naruto thought to himself.
"It doesn't matter any longer. I doubt I'll last another week in my condition." Gin said as he rested his head on the pillow, his already waning strength draining down to nothing.
"I doubt it will come to that, just rest, you're among friends here." Bashura said, his voice surprisingly sincere. What was he planning?
"Uh, wait a second. Kotetsu, if you're up here who is keeping a look out?" Naruto asked.
"Uhh..."
They were all answered when the ship was rocketed by the sound of cannon fire, and the sound of wood snapping like twigs caused Naruto to scream out in anger. "Dammit! Bashura, Kotetsu topside! Ready the yourselves if we're going to get boarded."
"Got it!" Kotetsu disappeared from sight using his devil fruit power, and left a mirage in his wake that faded after a few seconds.
"Aye, aye!" Bashura bounded out of the room, his face set in grim determination.
"And you...just stay put." Naruto barely spared a glance at Gin before heading up to the deck.
Once the three got upon the deck, they were floored seeing a freaking man-of-war class battle ship anchored next to them. The thing was two-hundred feet long with three mighty masts, and what looked like over one-hundred and twenty-four guns. But most of all it had the Marine insignia on the sails!
"Dammit Kotetsu, you're becoming more trouble than you're worth!" Naruto muttered to the swordsman.
"Those are not the Marines. Look at the flag." Kotetsu pointed out the obvious.
Squinting his blue eyes, the fishman saw that it was a black flag that had the standard Jolly Roger with sideburns on it's cheekbones, and two hourglasses to the sides. "Ah shit, pirates. Who are they this time?"
"The Krieg Pirates."
"Are you shitting me!?"
"I don't think he is Cap'n." Bashura said.
"This is unbelievable. Not even a day ago we find a former member of their crew half-dead in the ocean, and now this! God why do I attract these sorts of people!"
Instead of getting an answer from the two strays he picked up, it was Don Krieg who barked at him from a loud speaker on his ship. "You three on the ship! Surrender and prepare to be boarded!"
"Is he serious?" Naruto sweat-dropped.
"Apparently." Bashura answered with a deadpan expression.
"You have until the count of ten! One...two..-" Krieg never even got to the count of three. The threesome came at them with a running start, leaped the full distance that separated their ships, and landed with their weapons in hand.
Naruto decided to forgo his anchor axe, by leaving it on the bow of the ship, and Arlong's Kiribachi was hanging upon the wall of the room he called for himself. Instead he relied on his fists since it had been far too long since he fought with only them. Meeting the first member of he punched him directly in the face for an instant knock out, twirling on his heel he lashed out with a powerful kick that struck three members in the chest and sent them flying backwards. Several men came up, swords flashing in the light raised to slice into him.
Naruto only gave them his infamous shark-like smirk that would haunt them for months. He gabbed two men by their wrists, his iron grip causing them to cry out in pain and drop their swords. The blond fishman then lifted them easily over his head and spun on his heels, causing him to look like a mini-tornado and used the two unfortunate men to slam into their comrades with violent force. Naruto spun like this for barely a minute before letting the men in his grip go-and by go I mean they flew face first into the wooden walls of the ship.
"Oh come on people, at least give me a challenge!" Naruto demanded at the thirty fearful men surrounding him, and the moaning twenty men laying at his feet.
With Kotetsu he was also wrapping up his minor skirmish. His blades flashed with non-lethal force, the flat of his blades hitting the forearms of the crew, knocking them out with powerful kicks, and jumping and fooling them into slashing his afterimages.
"Dammit this bastard's fast!" Hustle, the Combat Instructor of the Krieg Pirates yelled.
"And he's just toying with us too!" Kagikko, the Locksmith of the crew growled in anger.
"Well, he won't won't beat the twenty of us when we gang up on him!" Ideaman, the Staff Officer of Planning shouted when he raised his flintlock pistol to shoot the sandy-haired teen.
"Fuck yea!" The twenty men surrounding him bellowed. Following Ideaman's plan, they all pulled out some sort of firearm, and settled them upon Kotetsu's form.
"Hmph, Mirage Sword Style: Moon's Gentle Touch." Drawing upon his devil fruit's powers, Kotetsu disappeared and the sound of steel cutting into flesh resounded throughout the deck of the ship. Reappearing ten feet away, Kotetsu sheathed both his swords and the men fell to the ground stiff as boards.
"Wha-What the hell?" Hustle moved his muscular right arm to try and get up, only to scream as a cut in his bicep opened up.
"I wouldn't move too much. I didn't cut you guys too deep, but they were deep enough to the point that if you try to move, let alone attack me they will open."
"What?" Ideaman grunted out in pain.
"In idiot's terms, my attack is non-fatal and can easily be healed. But that will change if you move at all, and if you're too stupid to understand that let me make it clear. You move, you die. It's as simple as that." Kotetsu stood over them with a triumphant grin. Nobody died, and that was a victory for him.
For Bashura who was equipped with with a larger than normal tomahawk that was clutched firmly in his right hand, instead of his trusty harpoon. The weapon itself didn't look all that special, the wood was four feet in length with tribal markings running along the enlarged, upper portion of it, and had simple large steel axe head that shined in the sunlight. The Zoan devil fruit-user twirled it in his hand with great expertise, as he looked at his two opponents.
The first was a towering man, wearing a yellow shirt and purple shorts that went to the his knees. One large iron plate covered his backside, as well as two small plates with large pearls embedded in them that rested upon his knees, elbows and hands, hell he even had pearls on his shoes and his freaking head! The man laughed in an obnoxious surfer accent that ruined his otherwise handsome face. "Oh dude, Captain we got ourselves some strong ones."
Don Krieg only looked upon the three fighters defeating his crew with disdain in his cruel black eyes. He was a tall, muscular man, with short cut gray hair and long sideburns. After his fight with Luffy he lost a good majority of his armor and weapons. His signature golden wootz steel armor was missing his chest plate, shoulder guards, and his porcupine cape. All he had left weapon-wise was a simple flintlock pistol, his diamond embedded gauntlets hidden by his black fur-lined gloves, a wrist-mounted flamethrower on his left gauntlet, and a iron net mounted launcher on his right one. All he had left attire-wise was a brown shirt, light-purple pants, a brown belt. and his black shoes.
"Kill them Pearl." He ordered the invincible iron wall of his crew. "All of you get up! None of you are allowed to fall unconscious until you do so!"
Krieg's demanding voice caused an immense amount of fear within his crew. It was just like Gin said, they feared Krieg more than they feared death itself. So, despite their bodies protests, they stood up on their own two feet. Blood from the wounds Kotetsu inflicted upon them opened up and ran down their bodies like a river, the one's Naruto downed with his powerful fists rose to their feet despite any broken bones, or concussions they had.
"The fuck? He wasn't kidding when he said Krieg ruled his crew through fear." Naruto said, completely disgusted at the method one would go to ensure loyalty to his crew.
"Well, duh. He may be a pirate, but he sure isn't a liar." Kotetsu remarked. He gripped his swords tight in his hands to prevent them from shaking, it seemed the only way to end this was to kill them all.
"Disgusting, I can smell the wickedness coming from his body." Bashura holstered his tomahawk onto his belt. He flexed his fingers, preparing to draw upon his devil fruit powers to transform him into his humanoid panther form.
Don Krieg only smirked. "Get them boys."
"Stand down!" A familiar voice to the crew caused them to halt their actions. Turning their head towards the right where the Galleon-class ship was hooked, their eyes widened in surprise, some thought they were seeing a ghost. It was Gin, their former Combat Commander of the crew standing under his own power with his signature tonfa with iron balls on the ends clutched in his hands. The black-haired man was sweating up a storm, and panting heavily, but still alive.
"Gin!" Krieg bellowed in hot rage. "How dare you show your face around me!"
"Not my intention, Captain." Gin spat out his title like it was poison. "I was free from you, free from your fear. But it looks like fate had other ideas in mind." He coughed violently, hacking up globs of blood that stained his already ruined shirt. "I guess I couldn't die before I dealt with you once and for all."
"Hahaha! You deal with me? Oh Gin, you are still nothing more than the punk I picked up from all those years ago." Reaching behind his back, Krieg pulled out his simple flintlock pistol from the holster on his belt, cocked the hammer back and aimed it at his former crew mate. "You're nothing more than a dog, a dog that followed me blindly for years! And like a bad dog you must be put down for your disobedience! Men attack!"
"I SAID STAND DOWN!" Gin roared at the top of his lungs, a roar that was so loud that nearly the entire crew fell unconscious with foam welling up in their mouths. It wasn't necessarily what he had planned, but it had to do. The former member of the Krieg Pirates used the last of his depleting strength to bolt forward, spinning the tonfa in his right hand at high speeds, he swung, and hit a wobbly Don Krieg square in the face. The blow made the pirate let out a painful squeak as the iron ball cracked his skull, and was flung to the ground with such violent force that it cracked the deck.
Panting in exhaustion and pain, Gin looked at a completely terrified Pearl. Despite the blood falling from the corners of his lips, he spoke his final orders to the remaining members of his crew. "The Krieg Pirates are finished Pearl. When they wake up, head for a populated island, I do not care which. When you're halfway there, sink this ship and give up being a pirate. This is not a request, this is an order. And if you do not fulfill this order I will drag myself out of hell and make you suffer! You understand me Pearl?" (3)
"A-h, y-y-ye-yea, of c-ourse dude." Pearl barely managed to stutter out before he too fell unconscious.
"Wow, that was awesome!" Naruto exclaimed in respect. And could you blame him? All Gin did was yell, and boom, nearly seventy men were knocked out.
'Haki?' Kotetsu narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the coughing man. 'First Kuro, then Krieg, and now this guy. The Marine's info have been way off for these guys, even if I have been on the run for a few months.' He then looked at the unmoving form of Don Krieg and bent down to see if he was even alive, to his surprise 'Foul Play Krieg' was still alive. "Hey, Krieg's still alive!"
"Are you kidding me?" Naruto walked over to the defeated man, and gave him a swift kick in the ribs. Krieg groaned in pain soon afterwards. "Well son of a bitch, this asshole is more sturdier than I thought. Want me to finish the job?"
"No, don't kill him." Gin coughed several times, this time needing Bashura to support his weight. "I want him to pay for what he's done, and the only way I can think of having him suffer the greatest indignity of defeat is handing him over to the Marines."
"Then it looks like Lougetown is the was to go." Bashura grinned a disturbingly cat-like grin.
'And more trouble it looks like.' Naruto thought to himself.
Armageddon: Hey everyone, well it's been a while, but I got a chapter out for all of you. Now you see some numbers, those are just things I feel I need to explain.
(1) This is a true fact, pirates covered their eyes with eye-patches to see in the dark for night raids. It worked in a minor degree if Mythbusters showed me anything, but I felt it was needed since cat's can see in the dark. And since Kuro's entire crew is cat-themed...well you get the point.
(2) Now before any of you start bitching that I'm adding in too many OC's, listen to me right now. Naruto is in the East Blue, I checked every source that I could and could find Nami being the only navigator from that part of the ocean. Now I could of used Nojiko like Kenchi618, but that would have been ripping him off, and I respect the man far too much to do that; plus it's pretty damn dickish. So instead of trying to find a character that either made a one second appearance, or too goody-too-shoes would make no sense being in the crew, so instead Agurra of the Darkness came up with this guy who is a warrior with good navigational skills. And if you know your literature, he is based on a character on a famous book. If you know it, the feel proud of yourself. Ahem, but anyways he is the second and last OC that will join the crew, no more from here on out, plus I bet you guys will like him.
(3) Yes, Gin is the third guy to join the crew. He is by far one of my most favorite characters in One Piece, and did not get the recognition he deserved. Honestly, he was strong enough to kick Sanji's ass, destroy Pearl's so-called invincible shield, managed to survive Krieg's poisonous gas, and knocked Krieg out after he refused to quit to boot! Plus I read up on him, he feared Krieg as much as he respected him, but wanted to leave him due to Krieg being...well the wrong guy he should follow. So now I'm giving him that chance, yes he's not a top notch right now, but he'll survive.
Also, please leave a good review. Not a 'good chapter' crap review, I, and many other authors like me work very hard on these chapters. We deserve a little more than 'good chapter', that just pisses us off most of the time.