Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or One Piece. If I did I would have ALL THE GOLD! ALL OF IT I TELLS YOU!
"Talk" Talking
'Think' Thinking
"Captain, oh Captain~" Carmen sang as she roamed on the deck of the ship searching for Naruto.
The tiger shark fishman himself was hiding from the pink-haired woman. Why you ask? Because the woman would not leave him alone! For the last week and a half she kept asking him things. "Where is the next island?", "How on earth are you okay with wearing the same outfit?", "What do you mean there are no other dresses on this ship!?". It was driving him crazy, who on earth knew that having a woman on the ship would be such a pain in his ass?
"You know, she is just going to keep searching for you." Kotetsu dully said to his fellow blonde.
"That is why I'm hiding in the crows nest with you." Naruto harshly whispered.
"I'm not hiding, I'm keeping watch. The Grand Line is much different from the East Blue you know."
"Tell me about it. I had to punch out twenty Sea Kings before I got to the East Blue."
"Again, I am not surprised." Kotetsu said before feigning surprise and pointing to the east. "What the hell is that!" When Naruto stood up to see, the swordsman pushed him out of the crows nest. "Sorry Uzumaki, but you distracting me will put all our lives in jeopardy!"
Naruto hit the deck with a loud thump. Nothing was broken, for him, or the ship, except for his severely bruised pride. "I will remember this you son of a-oh hey Carmen."
"Good afternoon Captain." The Pink-haired woman greeted him. "I need to ask you something."
"No, we do not have any other dresses on this ship."
"That is not what I'm asking." The chef rolled her eyes before handing him a small notebook. "We are in need of supplies."
Grunting as he sat up, Naruto looked over the list with irritation. The list was unfortunately for him, extensive; ranging from various foodstuffs to toiletries, cleaning supplies, and ammunition? Oh he was really beginning to regret this. "We don't need all this stuff. The last I checked we were fine on everything." The blonde fishman stubbornly tried to deny the need to go shopping.
"Actually Cap'n, Carmen is right." Bashura's polite voice caused him to turn towards the Zoan-user. "With Gin's treatment we are nearly out of toilet paper, and he is concerned about us not having enough black powder for our cannons let alone our ammunition for them. Plus I'm gonna need a Log Pose."
"Plus, I know we need some clothing or the clothes we're in will stink horribly with no way to wash them out!" Kotetsu hollered from above.
Gin would have voiced another thing or two, but unfortunately for him he was busy screaming from his afternoon Mogwort and Crabapple treatment. Seriously, Naruto pitied the poor guy. He spent more time on the toilet in a day than any of them combined in a single week.
"All right, you win." Naruto sighed in defeat. As much as he wanted to deny it, they were right, a restock was in order. "Bashura do you have any idea where the next island is?"
"I believe so," The former navigator of the Black Cat Pirates pulled out a map from his satchel. After unfolding it he laid it out on the deck and pointed to their location. "We are here, and the nearest island is..." He trailed his finger until it landed on a small island. "Here, yes. It will take one day for us to get there if my estimation is right."
"An estimation? I don't like the sound of that." Carmen said with a twinge of concern.
"Well that is why we need a Log Pose. It will help me get a sense of how long it will it takes to lock onto the magnetic waves that varies from island to island." Bashura folded his map back up and placed it back in his satchel. "It will help us in the long run."
"Wait a second. Are you telling me that we have been just-"
"Yep! Lucky that we have not gotten lost."
"Fuck my life." Naruto palmed his face. "Seriously, fuck my life."
"Quit your bitching Captain! At least we aren't dead!" Kotetsu hollered down at them.
"I'm not your Captain dammit!"
(Three days later)
It took three days for them to reach their destination. Not one, but three, and it was no easy picnic trying to find the place either. Their regular compass kept screwing up, spinning wildly due to the magnetic waves of the Grand Line. Bashura was right, they needed a Log Pose because if it cause them this much trouble to fine what should have been a simple island, they who knew what would happen to them further down the line?
Once they docked and set anchor, the motley crew departed from their ship.
"All right, Carmen do you have the list?" Naruto asked the chef.
The pink-haired woman produced the paper she was carrying and handed it to the fishman. "I'm assuming that you're going to split us up?"
"Damn right, it'll get us done faster than going in a group." Naruto tore the list into several pieces. Taking the first one he handed it to Bashura. "Bashura, I'm leaving you in charge of your Log Pose and any other navigational equipment that we need. And also anything medical-wise."
"You can count on me Cap'n." The navigator grinned cheerfully.
"Gin, and Kotetsu. I need you guys to handle the black powder, ammunition, and toiletries." Naruto handed his piece of paper to Gin, who only nodded weakly. The blonde saw Kotetsu look over at the former member of the Krieg Pirates, a flash of concern came across his face before nodding as well.
Handing the third to last piece of paper to Carmen Naruto spoke one last time. "And Carmen, I leave the food to you."
"I will handle it Captain." She said with a grin on her face. "But you do not expect us to pay for all this stuff out of our pockets do you?"
"...What?"
"She's right," Bashura spoke up. "Kuro didn't have much money left on the ship. And I hate to be the downer, but we may have to use your reward money."
"Why can't you use the seventeen million beli I gave Gin?" Naruto asked.
"Because I gave it back to you." Gin coughed for the fiftieth time that day. "I told you already, I have no need for money, not with-"
"Your soon to be demise." Naruto rolled his eyes. For a rough-looking guy, Gin could be quite the drama queen. "Fine, fine," Reaching into his white pouch behind his back, the blonde pulled out a neat wad of bills. Fingering through the stacks he handed them off in somewhat equal portions. "That much should cover whatever you need to buy and then some. Keep whatever is left over, seriously. And when you're done head straight back to the ship, I don't need us staying here any longer than we should." With his peace said, Naruto departed in order to do his own thing.
Once he left Kotetsu looked at the various thousand beli bills in his hand. "He gave us far too much."
"I wouldn't complain. That means we can get the best of what we need." Gin said, a smile starting to form on his tired face.
"I'm just glad those suitcases were waterproof." Carmen idly commented before departing.(1)
(With Naruto)
Unknown to the hitchhikers, or as Naruto liked to call them that, he went to the one place they never thought he would go to. It was a post office. Yes, a post office. Not a bar, a brothel, or a weapon's shop, but one of the most boring places in the entire world.
But to him, it was going to be a lifeline. Over a month had passed since he left Fishman Island, that was far longer than he expected. Not only was Shirahoshi crying her eyes out about now, but Hody was more than likely furious.
Thinking of Hody, Naruto's mind stalled while he held the pen and paper. What could he say to his Captain? He was pretty sure writing out, "I'm sorry that I cannot come home right now, after killing Arlong; your long time idol, I learned that he destroyed my only means of getting home. And oh yea, I'm traveling with humans." Yea, that would not even go remotely well.
"Screw it for now. I'll just tell him in person." Naruto muttered to himself. He fully knew that would not even remotely go over well at all, but he rather take his lumps like a man.
So instead of writing to his Captain, the blonde wrote to Shirahoshi. The letter contained exactly what he had done-censored of course, he didn't have the heart to tell her he killed Arlong and his crew, let alone a bunch of Marines, and a thought to be dead pirate Captain. He also wrote why he was late, again censored, but telling her that because of Arlong's actions his Eternal Log Pose became broken, and that was why he was late. Naruto also wrote, for whatever reason, that he was traveling with humans, he listed off their names and everything retaining on how they joined up with him-which was again censored.
After double checking for any mistakes, and anything that detailed explicit violence, Naruto nodded in satisfaction before folding it into an envelope, and stood to wait in line.
Naruto was honestly surprised to see that the people of this island didn't mind his presence. At first they stared at him, but that lasted barely ten seconds before going about their business. It left him a little...disappointed? Was that what he felt? As the line moved up he couldn't help but grimace at the nagging feeling his head. Where were the stares of hatred? The snarls of disgust? The rock throwing? The mobs?
When the line moved up again Naruto felt himself pinching the bridge of his nose. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' He thought to himself, 'Am I so desperate for them to hate me? People who I have never met, nor should I give a shit about.' Again his thoughts went back to Otohime's lessons. Her speeches about how humans and their people could get along, and how they weren't so different. This was true, from his experience with Arlong he learned that Fishmen could be just as cruel as humans. After all that pointy-nosed jackass enslaved an entire island and killed anyone who did not pay his ridiculous taxes.
When he became second in line, his thoughts turned to what Hody drilled into his head. Humans treated their kind like abominations; Saint Mjosgard proved that in a heartbeat. There were also the stories of pirates storming Fishman Island with fleets of ships, capturing and selling his kind as slaves would forever stick with him. After all he lost his parents to slavers, and that was something he could never forgive humans for...but then again Namur was a willful member of the Whitebeard Pirates, hell he even had Ace as a rival.
God dammit all these contradictions were beginning to make his head hurt.
Finally he became the first one in line. Naruto handed the elderly postman his envelope, and was a little taken back when he gave him a grin. "So, Fishman Island I take it sonny boy?" The man asked without even looking at the envelope.
"Uh, yea. To the Ryugu Palace, it's kind of urgent." Naruto said, his hand slowly reaching to the back of his neck and scratching it.
"Oh? Royalty, my that is a new one." The postman held the envelope to his squinted, bespectacled eyes and narrowed his white bushy eyebrows. "All right, that will be a total on one-thousand beli. For the long distance of course."
Ouch, that was pretty expensive. But he knew that he had no right to complain. Without a grumble or complaint, Naruto reached into his pouch, and sifting around; feeling his roll of medical tape, the pouch of whatever Hody gave him, two cigars, a small matchbook, and what felt like dried seaweed he found his roll of bills. Taking it out the blond took a single thousand beli bill out and handed it to the man.
Without batting an eyelash the postman took it, stamped the envelope, and placed it in a sack full of other assorted envelopes. "Is there anything else you need?"
"Some stamps, envelopes, and I guess more writing paper?" It sounded lame even to him asking for this stuff, but that was all he could find in Kuro's ship.
The man only nodded. He hopped off a stool that he was standing one and went into the back room, and returned three minutes later with what he asked for, and a large, leather bound book.
"Uh, I didn't ask for a book." Naruto said, his right eye twitching a bit. Honestly if he was going to pay for something he did not need...
"This is on the house lad." The elderly postman said with a smile. "I got a feeling you will need it when you're adventuring and whatnot."
"What? How did-"
"Oh I got a keen eye for this stuff lad." The old man said with a chuckle. "I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took a bullet to the knee." He began to laugh a little bit and patted his right kneecap. "Without the book, it'll be forty-two beli." (2)
With a little bit of hesitation, Naruto handed him another thousand beli dollar bill. It was really all he had on him at the moment, and he really hated making people give change for such big bills(3).
But the postman took it and gave him the right amount of change without any complaint. After Naruto pocketed his items, he left with a nod of a quick thank you.
However when he exited the building, he was hit with a blast of white smoke. The unexpected hit sent Naruto sailing down the street and he hit the cobblestones hard before rolling once, and landing square on his feet. Regaining his composure Naruto was greeted with the white-haired man with two cigars firmly clutched in his mouth glaring at him. Why did he look so familiar? Oh yea, he was that Marine Logia-user that got his ass kicked by Dragon.
"Sword of the Sea" Uzumaki Naruto, you are under arrest." Smoker said through gritted teeth.
"Hold on a fucking second!" Naruto held up his right arm, and to his surprise his attacker stopped. "Okay, what the fuck are you talking about? What is this Sword of the Sea nonsense? And what the hell did I do to piss you off?"
Smoker raised a glaring eyebrow. Seriously? Was the fishman joking? "Are you kidding me?" The look on Naruto's face showed that he was not playing with him. "Kid, you killed a Marine Captain and his entire crew."
"I killed two of them, so you need to be more specific."
That threw Smoker for a small loop. Two Marine Captains? "You killed Nezumi of Unit Sixteen and his ship-full of men."
"Oh that asshole? He was going to kill an entire village for all their money, and declare it an unfortunate tragedy on Arlong's freshly killed corpse. Did you know Arlong was bribing him to keep that sector quiet? Because I sure do, those were his last words before I crushed his fucking skull!" Naruto's eyes flashed crimson for a brief second out of anger.
This information did not surprise Smoker in the slightest. It was heavily rumored Nezumi was taking bribes, but from who he had no idea. "That does not explain the second one." Now he was goading for some information, incriminating and useful ones to get the facts straight.
"The second one was Captain Stark of Unit Thirteen. He attacked first, and it was out of self-defense because he thought I was Kotetsu's underling." Naruto spat to the side, as if he would be a human's underling. That was the greatest insult imaginable.
Frowning Smoker reached into his coat and pulled out Kotetsu's wanted poster. Yep, Tashigi's information was correct then. That just made this hunt a little more exciting for him. Especially the last crime that was quite personal for him. "You are also under arrest for theft."
"What the fuck did I steal!?"
"My cigars!" Smoker bellowed hotly and soon inhaled from the two cigars in his mouth. "Those were imported from the West Blue, and my personal property."
"First of all asshole, Gin was the one who stole those." Naruto said, his sharp teeth grinding against each other. "However," He reached into his pouch and pulled one of them, lit it with one on the matches and placed it within his mouth. "I have grown fond of these things. They steady my nerves." He inhaled and soon exhaled a small cloud of smoke, mocking the Marine Captain. "I ain't giving them up."
Shoving Kotetsu's wanted poster back into his coat, Smoker's fists soon turned into giant clouds of white smoke. "I don't care about that, I'm still going to take you in for all the murders you committed. Once I'm done with you, I'm going after your comrades. "Blood-Soaked" Kotetsu, Gin "The Demon Man", and those two others on your ship are going to hang along side you."
Narrowing his blue eyes, Naruto soon slid into his Fishman Karate stance. He was completely unsure how he was going to defeat a Logia-user, after all his fight with Ace didn't go all that well. But that was then, and this is now. He had information on how to defeat them...but not the materials like Sea Stone, or Haki. Oh well no guts, no glory.
"Bring it on you fruity asshole!" Naruto bellowed.
(Meanwhile - With Kotetsu and Gin)
"Gahh! Why does this stuff have to be so heavy!" Kotetsu complained louder than he should have.
"Quit your bellyaching, and push!" Gin retorted with sweat pouring down his face.
The reason for the swordsman of the crew was complaining was due to the face that he was pushing a heavy cart full of cannon balls. The two did what they needed to do, after some asking the two found a shop that sold the ammo they needed. Gin, being the more experienced man to sail on the open seas handled everything. With the money they had combined, the two bought fifteen crates of round shot, ten crates of chain-shot, ten crates of grapeshot, twenty barrels full of black gunpowder, and no more than three crates for pistol and rifle ammunition, and crate of buckshot for Gin's shotgun.
In total they purchased a total of thirty-nine crates of ammo and twenty barrels of gunpowder, the cost being one-hundred and forty thousand beli, plus another thousand to hire three of their strongest men to push three carts full of their purchases. It would have cost another thousand more for another two men, but Gin insisted that both Kotetsu and himself could push the other two carts without any problems.
Unfortunately for Gin, he did not think Kotetsu was so weak.
"Seriously Gin. Why did you buy so freaking much?" Kotetsu asked.
"Because someone has to keep the ship stocked. I can rest when I'm dead, and that is only a matter of time!" Gin coughed harshly before calling them to stop for a second. The Combat Commander wiped his forehead and looked at the sandy-haired teen. "And why are you complaining? You're a swordsman, aren't you supposed to be stronger than a normal person?"
"I built my body to endure extreme amounts speed thanks to my devil fruit. And Master Mifune..." He paused for a brief second, his pale-gray eyes gaining a haunted look when the memory of Mifune getting gunned down in front of him flashed through his mind. "During my three years on the island, he helped improve my physical speed, strengthen my core, a good deal of arm strength, sword offense and defense. I can cut through wood, and stone, but I do not believe I can ever cut through steel."
Gin spat to the side in response. "I call bullshit, with enough work it can be possible. After all Mihawk cut through Krieg's Man o' War's like a hot knife through butter."
Kotetsu however said nothing in response. Any swordsman worth his reputation knew of the world's best swordsmen, a man who's yellow eyes shattered the souls of weaker men, his sword that could cleave through anything, a man who was undefeated. "Maybe one day Gin, maybe one day."
"That's better, it's a shame that I may not see it though."
"I wholeheartedly agree." A female's voice broke their tender moment.
Turning around, the two men were greeted by the glaring visage of Tashigi, wielding a Marine-issued cutlass, and surrounded by a group of twenty Marines aiming their muskets straight at them.
"Son of a bitch!" Kotetsu cursed out loud.
"'Blood-Soaked" Kotetsu, and Gin "The Demon Man", you're under arrest for murder, piracy, and kidnapping, put your hands up where I can see them." The swordswoman ordered the duo.
"Hey! We're just delivering their purchases." One of the workers barked in protest.
"What he said, I'm too pretty to go to jail!" Another one nearly went into hysterics.
"Shut up you two!" The third raised his voice in displeasure.
"You three are free to go. There is nothing in the law with taking money from a pirate." Well technically there was, but Tashigi knew that it was impossible to not buy from a pirate since there were hundreds, if not thousands of crews roaming the seas. So Smoker, and herself usually let many shop owners slide should they catch them selling their wares to pirates.
The three workers nodded in gratification, and bolted back towards their place of work. Gin glared at their backs and gave them the middle finger.
"Of all the times for you to be weaponless." Kotetsu looked over, seeing Gin without his baldric full of pistols, or his cannon ball tonfa's. "This sucks."
"Please, I was once caught butt-ass naked in a brothel. That didn't stop me." Gin retorted with a roll of his eyes.
"You were at full health." The sandy-haired teen replied.
"Watch and learn junior, I ain't out of the fight yet." However before Gin could do something that would be considered badassed, he went into a horrific coughing. Despite his hand covering his mouth, a good amount of blood sprayed out, and further staining his shirt.
It was at that time Tashigi ordered her men to cuff them. Ten of them separated from the group, two producing a pair of manacles, and when one of them came near the collapsed Combat commander, he made the mistake of thinking he was safe. Without any warning, Gin's right arm shot up and grasped him by the neck, and using this surprise to his advantage Gin stole his flintlock pistol from his belt, aimed, and fired at the nearest Marine.
When the Marine leveling his rifle in-between his eyes went down with a bullet in his belly, Kotetsu unsheathed both his swords at a second's notice. Tapping into his devil fruit power he disappeared, and reappeared in front of Tashigi and her men. "Mirage Sword Style: Moon's Gentle Touch!" Once again he disappeared when the Marine's opened fire, and only succeeded in hitting the broad side of a building. It was then Kotetsu's blades struck flesh, the cuts were deep and precise enough to send them toppling to the ground.
However only Tashigi managed to block his strikes and pushed against him. The Chief Petty Officer gritted her teeth at him a twist at her waist, the woman maneuvered herself to cut him in half at the waist. Kotetsu however anticipated the strike, he blocked the strike with his basked shaped guard, and moved to strike her with the back end of Nidai Kitetsu. Tashigi however ducked her head and pushed herself away to give herself some breathing room.
"And so you follow me. Wow, I honestly wished I anticipated this." Kotetsu sarcastically remarked.
"Shut up Kotetsu. It's my job to place you under arrest." Tashigi narrowed her eyes in disgust.
"Oh I'm sure that is one reason." The swordsman said before sheathing his cutlass. "But we both know the real reason, and no, no, and hell no. I'm not giving Shigure back until you learn how to respect the swords. They aren't tools you stupid twit."
Before Tashigi could respond, she felt a blinding pain in the back of her head and fell to the side. Kotetsu didn't even blink when he saw Gin standing behind her, the butt of a flintlock pistol used as a club to knock the swordswoman out. "Took you long enough."
Gin only spat to the side, and looked over at the bodies cluttering around their cargo. "Shut up, we need to get these back to the ship."
(With Naruto)
Once again Naruto found himself cursing, and running to escape from another Logia-user...well not essentially escape, but more like dodging, ducking, and throwing stuff at the Marine Captain. However, just like with Ace whatever he threw at him just passed through him leaving him unharmed. That really pissed him off.
"White Blow!" Smoker's shot a cloud of dense smoke from his arms, and blasted Naruto with a vicious strike. Once the fishman was airborne, he shot clouds of normal smoke from his arms and used them to engulf his opponent, then he willed the smoke to be so dense that it trapped him inside. The Marine Captain grinned, inhaling the sweet nicotine from his cigars. It was a victory well earned for him.
Suddenly he felt his smoke prison expanding, the technique that he created to be a perfect pirate catching ensnarement exploded open, and to his surprise a powerful jet of water was flying at him, and he had to let go of the blond fishman in order to have the technique pass through his body. After all, while he mastered his fruit to an extent, Smoker knew that he had a bit to go before he could turn into smoke out of reflex. (4)
That left Naruto landing on his feet, hacking out cloud of smoke from his lungs. "You pansy ass coward!"
"What did you call me boy?" Smoker narrowed his eyes.
"You heard me, you pansy ass coward. You and that Logia fruit of yours is nothing more than a shortcut for cheaters." Naruto ranted loudly. He knew that at this point in time he could not beat Smoker, the man just had far too much experience, and he could not hit something that just passes through him. Instead he was getting the civilians attention, to try and get them over on his side to put the odds in his favor.
"Look at you, a big, tough Marine man. You may be a Captain, but to me you're nothing more than yellow-bellied wimp, one who can't take one good punch." Naruto cracked his knuckles, his face slowly morphing into his infamous shark-like grin. "Now tell me fruit-boy, are you a man? Or are you a bitch? If you are one then fight me, man to man!"
His rant was rewarded with the sound of guns clocking back.
Apparently Smoker was not alone in his mission to capture him, that did not surprise Naruto at all. However, he saw the looks on their faces. They were subtle hints like raised eyebrows, narrowed eyes, pronounced frowns, and questionable looks. It was apparent that his opponent, whoever the hell he was never fought without his devil fruit powers.
"You know," One of the Marines finally worked the courage to voice his thoughts, "The kid has a point."
"What did you say?" His companion said.
"Well think about it, Captain Smoker has always caught his prey with his devil fruit powers. And not once did he not use them to do it."
"That's ridiculous."
"Actually it's true." One of the older Marines said. "I've served with Smoker for a number of years, and so far I have not seen him not use his powers."
"I hate to admit it but he's right." A fourth Marine joined their conversation. "I have never seen him take a punch without turning into smoke. Huh, it really makes you think; can he really take any sort of physical punishment?"
"Wow, who knew our Captain was such a wuss?"
"Hold your tongues!" Smoker's voice silenced the entire street. The Marine Captain spat out the butts of his cigars from his mouth, and just as quickly he took two more cigars from the left sleeve of his jacket and popped them into his mouth. Upon lighting them with his zippo lighter he turned to glare at his subordinates. "I am not a coward. Unlike the lot of you I got the shit kicked out of me patrolling the streets of my hometown as a kid without the use of a devil fruit."Smoker reached behind his back and pulled his jitte out of its leather holster that was strapped to his jacket. "And only three things have changed since I was a kid."
With a sudden burst of speed Smoker got fact to face with Naruto. With a simple movement he kneed the fish man right in the stomach. "I joined the Marines," Then gripping hilt of his jitte with both hands, the Marine Captain twisted his hips and swung, nailing Naruto right in the mouth that sent him into the a street light. "I traded in my baseball bat with nails hammered into it," He then lashed out with a kick that sent Naruto to the side and into a stall. "And I gave up my ability to swim. If you want me to prove I'm superior without my devil fruit, the fine I will beat you right here without it!"
Spitting out a mouthful of blood and teeth, Naruto pushed himself to his feet. His left eye was closed from the blood falling from his head, and he clutched the area that was forming a massive bruise. However instead of being mad, he actually chuckled. Not only was his plan working, but Smoker hit hard, real hard, just like Ace.
Perfect.
Reaching into his pouch Naruto pulled out his second cigar, since the first one had long since gone out. Placing the bottom end in his mouth, he struck the match against the side of the small matchbook and lit the lit the cigar. After taking several puffs he took it out, regrew his teeth, and placed it back in between his two sharp dentures. "All right, my turn!"
Smoker was greeted by the sight of of Naruto's infamous shark-like grin, and then a super fast right hook coming straight at him. The Marine raised his jitte up and successfully blocked the strike to his face. He moved his right leg up for a devastating knee strike, it was blocked by Naruto when he lifted his left leg and blocked it. Snarling in response, Smoker raised his left leg to knee him, but yet again Naruto blocked it with his right one.
The two scowled at each other, both trading blows, but not landing anything other than some painful shock that both their knees were experiencing. Naruto unclenched his right fist to grab the jitte, with a sudden yank to the side he made Smoker lose the grip on his weapon. Ignoring the sound of the weapon breaking through the wall, Naruto laid on a vicious barrage of punches. He hit him in the chest, the stomach, and the face, each punch resounding throughout the street like a baseball bat hitting tanned leather. However despite all the punches Smoker did not turn into smoke, instead he took each hit like a champ.
Smoker however did not just take those punches laying down. Gritting his teeth and inhaling from his cigars, he punched the blonde fishman square in the face. The Marine did not flinch when his knuckles were cut by the sharp teeth, nor did he flinch when he saw his own blood. Instead he took and traded each punch with vicious force. Already Naruto's left eye was swollen shut from the blood running down his head and from his vicious right hook.
The two butted heads, and the resounding force forced them to stumble back from their slug fest. Both of them were panting loudly, large puffs of smoke bellowing from their mouths.
Naruto spat out the butt of his cigar in disgust. Blood and tobacco did not mix, seriously that shit was nasty. Bringing his left forearm up he wiped away the blood from the side of his mouth and grimaced when one of his own teeth fell from his gums and into his hand. Narrowing his eyes he gripped the tooth between his fingers.
Smoker however did not spit out his cigars, he let them burn to keep him awake and focused. He could feel his white hair becoming matted with his own blood, his torso ached, and his fists were bruising underneath his gloves. 'Damn it this kid is good.' He thought to himself. The Logia-user never fought against a fishman before, especially without his devil fruit powers. And he was not weak by any means, he was a Cadet during the time of Admiral "Black Arm" Zephyr; the man who trained all the people who became Vice-Admirals and Admirals of this day. That was the time the Marines really prospered in manpower, and becoming real threats to the pirates of the world. He became strong during that time, and he was not going to lose to some punk!
The two opponents yelled at each other and rush at each other once again. Smoker landed a clean hit on Naruto face, the blow of the hit rattling his brain inside his skull, but Naruto punched Smoker on the right side of his chest with his left hand. The single tooth dug into his flesh and he moved it downward leaving a bloody gash. Then letting go of the tooth, Naruto grabbed the Marine by the throat and hit his ten times in the gut before punching Smoker right in the nose.
Letting go of the Marine Captain's neck, Naruto allowed Smoker to drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes completely unconscious.
The street was silent after that, no one said a word, no one even dared to breathe.
Finally Naruto regrew his teeth and spat out whatever remained. He carefully lifted one foot up and began walking back towards his ship. The Marines did nothing to stop him, how could they? Without using any of his Fishman Karate techniques he beat one of the strongest Captains in the Marines.
"He sure knows how to take a punch." Naruto said out loud. Smoker earned the right for him to say that at least. (5)
He didn't remember much after that.
(Bashura and Carmen-Fifteen minutes Later)
Along the busy streets of the island the residents parted ways as the eight foot tall navigator walked with a woman wearing a dark red flamenco dress at his side. It was an unusual sight, but seeing as they were causing no trouble they let them be.
"All of that is for cooking?" Bashura raised his tattooed eyebrow in curiosity. Normally he would have sniffed the bags she was carrying, but that would have been rude in present company. He would know, because he did it earlier in his life and got slapped for it, and was called a pervert.
The pink-haired women shook her head in a negative. Despite her womanly appearance the chef was holding five large bags each in her hands, each were full to bursting and probably weighted a hundred pounds each on her arms. She did not look to be out of breath or uncomfortable, instead she just gave her savage-looking crew mate a smile. "Only seven bags have our needed supplies that will last two months. The other three contain clothes for myself and the four of you."
"Clothes? Why spend money on something so unneeded?"
"Well tell me, how long have you worn that outfit?"
"Um, a while?" Bashura honestly lost count on how long he wore his single outfit, it was the only thing that fit his large body, and reminded him of home.
"Exactly. That is just unsanitary and disgusting." Carmen scrunched her face in disgust. "You make take care of the ship, but you do not take care of yourselves. After all your Captain still wears those bloodstained pants of his, and do not get me started on Gin's shirt."
The Catman had to agree with her on that one. Despite his best efforts he could not find any clothing on the ship for Gin or anyone that seemed appropriate. Whatever was left over from their original burning was quickly thrown overboard because it had Kuro's Jolly Roger. The Black Cat Pirates were dead and gone, and there was no need to have their symbol pop back up ever again. Speaking of which, he really needed to speak to the Captain about changing the name of the ship. But in the meantime he hoped Carmen succeeded where he had failed.
"Are you sure you don't need any help carrying those bags?" Bashura had to ask one more time, "They look to be awfully heavy."
"Oh don't worry yourself over me." Carmen laughed with a surprising amount of dignity. "I'm far from being weak. Besides you have enough on your hands all ready."
"I'm only carrying the toiletries, some maps, and medical supplies." That was only five bags he had to carry, did that mean she could carry more if needed? Huh, well you needed to be strong to survive at sea, and Bashura guessed women weren't any different.
A sudden crashing sound caused both of them to turn around. Immediately dropping his bags, Bashura brought his right hand to his belt and pulled out his tomahawk. Upon bringing out his weapon the people screamed and dispersed, but instead of attacking the savage-looking man froze and immediately holstered his weapon. Laying collapsed in an alleyway, and crushing two overturned garbage cans was an unconscious Naruto. "Cap'n!?"
"My goodness, what happened to him?" Carmen asked.
"I dunno," Bashura knelt down and shouldered the fishman in the fireman carry. "I think we best get back to the ship."
"I agree. Don't forget your bags."
It took under ten minutes for the three of them to get back to their ship, and they were immediately greeted by both Gin and Kotetsu loading the last of their cargo onto the ship. "Kotetsu! We require some assistance!" Bashura yelled out.
"Bashura? What happened to Uzumaki?" The swordsman demanded.
"No idea, but I think we need to go!"
"No shit, we were ambushed by a bunch of Marines. Gin!"
"Yea, yea I got it."
(Thirty Minutes Later)
"I'm assuming you got everthin-FUCKING OW!" Naruto cussed out when Bashura dabbed his head with a swab soaked with rubbing alcohol.
"Everything and more thanks to you Cap'n." The grinning navigator replied when he began to bandage Naruto's head with gauze. Bashura held his right wrist out to show off a wrist watch with a glass orb sitting on top of it, and a needle floating inside the middle of that orb suspended from the top by a thin piece of metal. "I got the Log Pose, a dozen sea maps, and everything else on the list. Oh, and Carmen got a lot of food for us."
"That's great and all, but now we're in a load of trouble." Kotetsu rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly, honestly who knew it would be that hard to move so many crates of ammo?
"I still cannot believe you tricked Smoker, let alone beat him." Gin said with a coughing laugh. Gone was his old bloodstained outfit, thrown overboard by an irate Carmen who demanded he change clothes right away. He now wore a black t-shirt, a open gray jacket that went to his waist, a pair of black pants, and his well worn brown boots. After they escaped from the island he immediately equipped his leather baldric that held his four flintlock pistols for his torso, and his leather belt that carried an additional two pistols, and his tonfa's tipped with heavy iron balls secured in their snap-away holsters; just in case they were attacked. (6)
"I'm just glad he took the bait, but man that guy can throw a punch." Naruto winced when their navigator secured the gauze wrap on his head, "Thanks for that Bashura."
"Not a problem Cap'n," Bashura chirped brightly before his face became deadly serious. "But I cannot keep doing this. We need a doctor."
"I thought you were a doctor?"
"I am not one." The navigator said. "I can bandage cuts, and set bones. But I'm best with the weather and the sea, they speak to me, warning me about any sudden changes."
The three on deck sweat-dropped, and nearly came close to face-faulting at that proclamation. They were trusting their lives with that mumbo jumbo? God help them should they survive the Grand Line.
"Speaking of which, Uzumaki," Carmen's voice interrupted their thoughts. "I believe I should have a word with you about our positions of this ship."
"Positions? What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto demanded.
Ignoring his outburst, the chef of the motley crew walked down the steps with a bit of flair. Gone was her dark red flamenco dress with white frills, instead it was replaced by a emerald green dress with dark blue frills, and matching high-heeled shoes. She still had that green sash on her waist with the large red rose on her hip, and the same exact jewelry they met her in. "What I mean is, since we are going to be traveling together for an undetermined amount of time, we might as well have specific roles if we are to survive on the sea."
"Now wait a minute-"
"I vote Gin to be the First Mate!" Kotetsu exclaimed loudly.(7)
"What!" Gin demanded.
"Oh don't look so surprised, you have more experience running a ship than all of us." Kotetsu crossed his arms in statement, "I have no leadership qualities, but I know how to work on a ship from my time in the Marines, and how to use a sword. That's all I have to say about that."
"I agree, but that is why he should be the Captain!" Naruto pointed out, to him that meant that if they could promote Gin as Captain they would stop calling him that.
"Nope." Bashura pointed at the blond-haired fishman. "You got up all together, you're the Cap'n, Cap'n"
"I not your Captain dammit!"
"Actually I'm agreeing with the big lug." Gin coughed out, the initial shock of his promotion to First Mate being over. "Despite you not liking us all that much, you somehow managed to bring us together. Now you may be a pain in my ass, but you've shown to be good people." The irony was not lost on him, despite giving them all the cold shoulder, and yelling he did at them, Naruto was a much better man then Don Krieg ever was. "You are the Captain of this ship."
"But...but...but..." Try as he might, Naruto could not come up with an explanation as to why he could not be their Captain. The different species was not an excuse, and he could not tell them he was already in Hody's crew, he just couldn't. The way they looked at him sent shivers down his spine, and made his guts twist in knots. Damn them all.
With a reluctant sigh, Naruto finally gave in. "All right, I'm the Captain."
Clapping excitedly, Carmen could not help but twirl in delight. "Excellent! Now as Captain we all have some things to say to you regarding the ship, and our next course of action."
Goddamn it.
(Meanwhile on the island)
Smoker finally came out of his unconscious state, his face twisted in a scowl. He automatically knew that he had gotten his ass beaten by Naruto, and he realized that he was tricked into it. The reasonable thing he could of done back them was not take his challenge and just captured him right then and there. Instead, he stupidly gave into peer pressure, fought the fishman like in the old time Naval boxing matches, and let him get away.
That was the second time this happened. First it was Monkey D. Luffy that escaped him, and now Uzumaki Naruto. Ain't life just a bitch?
"Captain?" One of his subordinates greeted him with a stern expression.
"What is it?" Smoker irritably demanded. "Where are my fucking smokes?" He badly need a nicotine fix after this fucktastic day.
"The doctor's took them when we brought you on board the ship. Sorry Captain, no smoking in the medical bay."
"Fantastic." Smoker dropped his head on the pillow. "What is the damage? Did we at least manage to capture any of Uzumaki's crew?"
"I'm afraid not. All of Uzumaki Naruto's crew escaped capture." The Petty Officer said with a small bit of hesitation. "Group two could not find Bashura, or "Five-Alarm" Carmen the supposed kidnapped chef from Loguetown." The Marine flipped though the report until he found what he needed. "Group one was annihilated by Gin "The Demon Man" and "Blood-Soaked" Kotetsu."
"So Tashigi is dead." A pang in his chest was all Smoker felt when he heard that. It was such a shame, Tashigi has so much potential.
"Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi took a bad blow to the head, she is resting in a separate room." The Petty Officer said much to Smoker's relief. "Out of the twenty men that accompanied her, ten sustained deep lacerations that should heal up completely in a weeks time should they not move. Another ten however had the displeasure of encountering Gin. There were thankfully no fatalities, but umm..." He grimaced when he looked at the extent of their injuries again. "They are not going to be able to perform their duties for quite sometime."
"I see." Smoker looked over to his bandaged right side, grimacing when he moved his shoulder. "Ugh, damn that Uzumaki. He will pay for this. Next time we meet, I will capture him my way." Laying his head back onto the pillow he watched the Petty Officer leave him to check up on the other members in the medical ward. (8)
After five minutes passed he spotted the Chore Boy passing by his room. "Hey you!" The young lad stopped and looked into his room. "Go get me my cigars."
(Fishman Island - A Few Days Later)
"Captain Hody! Captain Hody I got something for you." Hammond cried out in glee.
Sitting upon his throne in the Fishman District, Hody Jones regarded Hammond bordly. Their newest recruit was a slim-looking bright yellow skinned fishman with medium-length, puffy orange hair and a long and squarish neck with a small beard. His facial features were quite sinister: they included a long and sharp beak-like muzzle, razor-like teeth, and dark, glaring eyes. On his neck he had the tattoo of the Arlong Pirates Jolly Roger symbol near his left shoulder, and the tattoo for the New Fishman Pirates on the right side of his torso. The new guy wore a long sleeved black coat with a striped undershirt, both of which he always kept open to display his tattoos. He also wore shin-high, frayed white pants with a mint-green sash and black sandals. On his head he has a black fedora that drew away the earrings he had on both ears.
"Huh, I wonder what he fuss is about?" Ikaros Much scratched his bearded chin.
"Hell if I know. Maybe he is trying to brag about all the human's he killed today." Zeo crossed his arms in from of his chest in displeasure.
Stopping in front of the throne, the daggertooth pike conger fishman panted loudly. Bringing his right hand into his coat, and pulled out a piece of paper. "I killed some bounty hunters on the surface."
"Big deal. Get on with it newbie!" Zeo barked at their new member.
"Yes, sir! You know how Uzumaki has not reported in yet? Well I believe I found out why!" Hammond gestured at the piece of paper in his hand.
"Gimme that!" Ikaros Much snatched the paper from his hands and glared at it. The glare soon turned into astonishment before he barked out laughing. "Captain Hody. You might want to take a look at this."
Grabbing the piece of paper out of his hands, Hody Jones took a look at what was written. And like Ikaros Much, he barked out laughing and tossed the paper until it drifted down onto the ground to reveal it's contents.
Wanted Dead or Alive
"Sword of the Sea" Uzumaki Naruto
$45,000,000 Beli
"Ah, that makes much more sense now. He finally got out of Jinbe's clutches and killed so many humans that he now has a bounty on his head! God I love this kid!" Hody continued to laugh uproariously.
The various of them members of The New Fishman Pirates joined their Captain in joy. To them this was a major victory that was long overdue.
Armageddon: Hey everyone, another chapter out and ready for you.
(1) This as brought up to me by reviewer NeoNazo356, seriously thank you for that dude, I forgot how money could get ruined when wet. Thanks for the briefcase being waterproof idea.
(2) If you don't know what this is based off of, well I do not know what to tell you. And yes I know, that joke is like kicking a dead horse, but I always wanted to write it in a story of mine. So there.
(3) That's me all the way. Wherever I go I don't always have the right amount of change, buy a pack of gum, pay with ten dollars because that's all I got on me. It always makes me feel bad since that constantly happened to me when I used to work retail. Seriously, fuck that!
(4) According to the wikia, Smoker did not have the ability to do that until Marineford. Look it up if you don't believe me.
(5) All right, now I bet you're wondering what the fuck that was. Well Naruto simply tricked Smoker, and had a old Naval boxing slugfest. He won because he was physically stronger, you know being a fishman and all. I really wanted to write that scene out.
(6) What can I say? Gin needed an outfit change, and the same went with Carmen. I mean after all Nami changes clothes like crazy, so why can't she?
(7) Yes, I made Gin the First Mate. After all the shit he put up with Krieg he deserves it, plus what I wrote is also a reasonable explanation.
(8) Smoker does have a scar on the right side of his chest, the wikia never said how he got it, so I decided to have Naruto be the one to do it. Because, well why not?
And to the anonymous reviewer called Zed, no I am not going to do that. They just got into the Grand Line, and her island is somewhere off in the deeper parts of the Grand Line. Plus, what would she bring to the crew huh? She is a twenty-one year old civilian before the timeskip, and more than likely has a life that does not need to be filled with violence and danger. Will they meet her though? Well that has the remain to be seen.