Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Come on folks, you know me by now, I just don't.
"Talk" Talking
'Think' Thinking
The first human I ever met was Saint Mjosgard, a man I would later learn was related to the most horrific human scum on this earth. I do not say this out of racism, this man and his entire family are demons disguised as humans. Apparently he was a World Noble, and they were descendants of twenty old fossils that established the World Government.
At first glance he looked odd with that ridiculous hairstyle of his, but the words that sprang from his mouth were pure poison. He demanded a doctor, and various slaves that escaped from him to return with him, regardless if they wanted to or not. The crowd wanted to kill him, and I could not blame them for wanting to do it.
They almost succeeded too. One bullet would have killed a menace to this world, but Queen Otohime took the bullet for him. I watched as her royal blood spilled to the ground from a shoulder wound, she preached, begged the citizens to not harm the noble for the sake of the children watching and not pass their hatred onto the next generation.
Her reward for sparing the World Noble was nearly being shot by the same man she was protecting.
The next thing I knew...I saw red.
Fifteen minutes later, Naruto and the paint defiled, and battered, not to mention newly named Nautilus docked onto Drum Island. The entire island was freezing, the drum shaped mountains disappeared into the clouds, and oddly enough the snow was pink.
"A...all right, we get what w-w-e...need, an get the hell out. Agreed?" A slightly, yellow-faced Naruto asked his ragtag group of stowaways.
"Agreed." The ones who could stand agreed, each tightening their respective blankets tighter around their bodies.
Bashura, the only one who did not have a blanket on, and volunteer to stay behind to watch over Gin and the hyped up Miss Goldenweek lowered the gangplank of the ship down onto the docks. It didn't take long for the remaining crew of Naruto, Kotetsu, Igaram, and Carmen to run onto the deck, and all nearly slipping thanks to the ice and into the frigid water.
"Dammit! What ki-kind of hell is this place!" Naruto bellowed, moving what Bashura liked to call 'the flopping shark', as he tried to find his balance, and nearly falling on his ass.
"It's a winter island Uz-Uz-Uzumaki! Achoo!" Kotetsu sneezed, slipping, and falling flat on his face.
"Oh you men, it's all in positioning your weight properly." Carmen said, only slightly shivering.
"You are digging your heels into the icy wood, that does not count!" Naruto pointed at her hot pink high-heeled shoes digging into the ice.
"Whatever works. Come on we don't have time to waste, with each second your friend grows worse." Igaram trotted on with purpose, despite nearly slipping several times, ruining the image of a determined man.
The four managed to reach the end of the dock after a few minutes of slipping and sliding. They thought that sort of hell was done and over with. Unfortunately they were wrong. Out of the snowbanks, white-clad men and women popped out, and with the clatter rifles cocking back did the four realize this was some sort of ambush.
"Don't you move a muscle." One of the white, snow covered men said. "One step further, and we will blast you."
"Ko-Kotetsu, explain this to me." Naruto demanded the swordsmen of the ship. "For a i-sland full of doctors, they seem to be...willing to kill us."
"Fu...fu...I don't know. My data is off by three years."
"Dammit. What the hell are you stopping us for? We just freaking arrived!" Naruto gritted his teeth from shaking so hard.
"We have not had good luck with pirates. The last lot were all right, but the rest nearly destroyed us." Another one answered, gesturing towards the flag. "Now either come with us or get the hell out of here."
'Damn it Goldenweek, when you get down from that sugar high I am going to have some words with you, and that damn paint.' Naruto mentally cursed the more recent, and hopefully temporary stowaway of his ship.
"Listen this is all just a big misunderstanding." Igaram raised his hands up despite it being colder than hell. "We just found that flag this morning, if you would take us to-"
"No nothing! Get the hell out of-" Before the man could say anything further, the sound of steel scraping against a scabbard rang in their ears, and the next thing the assailants knew a small breeze blew to their right, and the barrels of their guns fell into the snow with a loud plop. What followed was an eerie wind that sent shivers down their spines, and it wasn't from the cold.
Turning their heads, a shivering Kotetsu sheathed Nidai Kitetsu. "Now you listen here. I'm tired, I haven't had a decent night sleep in weeks, and I'm freezing my balls off right now. I'm far from interested in dealing with this crap. Now get us your leader so we can get a damn doctor!"
"All right that is enough!" A commanding voice ended whatever violence was about to erupt.
They were greeted by an imposing man, with slicked black hair, and a goatee. His attire consisted of a long, white fur-lined green tunic and had armor plates on his arms, and long black boots. Strapped on his back was his weapon of choice, an extra-large spade, in a sheath that looked to be made of strong leather.
"Dalton, thank God you are here. Listen we have a situation regarding these pirates!" The man was rewarded with a kick to the face that sent him flying into the town.
"You fool! We advised you all to be cautious, not this!" The "flying" man was bellowed at by an old woman. Seriously, the woman was ancient. And yet she dressed in a style more suited to women one-seventh her age. That included a navel ring, short flower-print shirt with an exposed midriff, a purple blazer and hipster pants. Throwing back her long white hair, the woman moved her dark spectacles to the top of her head to expose regular spectacles. "And that goes for the rest of you! Escort these people to my office before they freeze to death!"
Damn, this just got very weird, very fast.
Not more than ten minutes later everyone, and I mean everyone from Naruto's ship was settled into Kureha's office within the village. Her office was massive, well furnished, and way better than what they had on their ship. Currently, Naruto, Kotetsu, Bashura, and Gin were sitting on their respective beds while the remaining three were off to the side, waiting for something to happen for their own amusement.
The woman, Doctor Kureha, while an old hag knew exactly what she was doing. Currently she was finishing up bandaging Kotetsu's chest after slathering some strong smelling cream on the burn he suffered from Mr. 5.
"All right, keep applying this to your chest three times a day until you run out." Kureha instructed the swordsman after handing him a vial of the horrific smelling stuff, plus another plastic container holding some sleep medication. "And these will help you sleep."
"I don't need to sleep." Kotetsu protested tiredly. "I am just freaking fine-"
"Oh no you're not." Kureha said, smiling eerily. "You got second degree burns on your chest, three cracked ribs, a bruised sternum and several cuts that need proper stitching or they will become infected, not to mention sleep deprivation by the obvious bags under your eyes. Now keep your ass in that bed so I can do what I've been doing since I turned twenty!"
"Yea...about that..." Kotetsu slowly got out of the bed and backed away towards the exit. "I'm not sure that a woman of your age should be putting stitches in me, I mean you are probably great..." Almost there, just a little more and he would be free. Cold, but free. "But...but I think that I rather test my luck with-"
He was interrupted when Kureha pulled a freaking iron frying pan out of freaking nowhere and nailed him right in the head, sending the tired swordsman into blissful unconsciousness. "You need to get some sleep you idiot!" The elderly woman hit him in the head one more time for good measure, freaking the remaining conscious members the hell out, especially when she grabbed him by his ankle and dragged him back to the bed.
"Gah! Away from me devil woman, keep your violent claws away from me!" Naruto attempted to bolt away, only to be met by the woman who used one of her legs to slam the door shut.
"Don't even think of running away son, you're not in the best shape either." The old woman said, pushing him back onto a bed. "Now stay still, or I will have to sedate you as well."
"You hit him with a damn frying pan!" The blonde protested.
"To prevent him from harming himself any further." Kureha said impatiently. "The boy needs some sleep, sleep will help him heal."
"Sleep also induces nightmares." Bashura raised his arm awkwardly. "I, uh, hear him screaming and thrashing at night when I prowl around the ship."
"You prowl around the ship at night?" Igaram dead-panned.
"I can't help it, it's my devil fruit that keeps me up at night." The savage-looking man protested. "Like any cat I enjoy fish, dairy, and sleeping in the sun. Half the time I'm up at night checking to make sure we don't get any intruders."
Again, Naruto began to question his sanity. Because a month ago he would not even tolerate that type of behavior, but now he found it...reassuring? Accepting? Crap, he was starting to like these guys. That was not good, nope, not at all.
"Well...continue the good work." That was all the fishman could say. Smooth Naruto, very smooth.
"Speaking of which let me get a look at you." Kureha made her way over to Bashura, and using her old, but steady hands she literally poked and prodded his body, testing for any signs of pain of discomfort. She checked his thighs to see well healed cuts that came from Kuro's Cat Claws, his intricate tribal tattoo's to see if there was any infection, and his muscle density. And just for the hell of it she swiped his top hat off his head to reveal a shaven head.
"Is that even necessary?" Their top hat-wearing navigator demanded, almost in an angry voice as he snatched the hat back and put it back on his head again. Naruto raised an eyebrow when he crossed his arms, and pouted? Huh, looks like the big kitty cat didn't like having his hat touched.
"Not even remotely, I just wanted to see what was under there." Kureha said, pulling out a jug of plum sake from absolutely nowhere. Seriously, it was beginning to piss Naruto off. Was it a devil fruit or some other ability? (1)
After the woman wet her whistle, she saw Bashura moving to get out of bed. And surprising every conscious member in the room, she grabbed him by his left bicep and slammed him back onto the bed with wood rattling force. "Keep your ass in bed you idjet, that's doctors orders!"
"Y...yes ma'am." Bashura blinked several times to make sure he was not imagining he was just manhandled by an old woman. He wasn't, damn.
The old doctor then went over to a violently shivering Miss Goldenweek. It was obvious the girl wasn't cold, but it didn't help that it looked like she could vibrate through the bed at any moment. "All right, what happened here? It looks like this girl was given drugs or far too much sugar." She asked.
"That was my fault." Igaram raised his hand in confession. "To make a long story short, she was a former enemy and I gave her Alabasta Honey Sweet Tea as some sort of deal to give us information. She drank three pots of it."
"That would explain it. And I'm guessing she painted your faces." Kureha nearly cackled looking upon the remaining stains of paint that were on Bashura's and Naruto's faces.
"I don't want to talk about it." Naruto said through gritted teeth.
"Well I can solve this easily. First you cut her off." That caused the young woman to stop shaking, her eyes widening in horror. "Second..." Without any warning she stuck a needle into the Baroque Works agent in the arm, once again pulling it from nowhere. "This should clear it out of her system."
"What are you..." Miss Goldenweek did not have a chance to finish her sentence. A rumbling sound erupted from her stomach, and the next thing every one knew, she bolted from her bed and slammed the bathroom door shut.
"Give her ten minutes and she will be back to normal. All she's doing is purging her system." The old woman cackled before drowning more alcohol down her throat.
"Gross." Naruto murmured before noticing that the doctor was heading towards him next. "Oh no, I'm fine," He protested with false bravery. "Go check on Gin, he needs your expertise!"
Raising an eyebrow, Kureha turned towards Gin resting on one of the beds. "He's alive? I honestly thought you brought in a corpse." Curiosity peaked, she moved over towards the man and placed a palm on his forehead. "Ohh, he had quite the fever. What happened to him?"
"He used to be the Combat Commander for Don Krieg. He betrayed the man and breathed in MH5 poison gas as a result of punishment." Naruto gave her the simple version of what happened to his First Mate. "He has been infected with it for nearly two months now, is there a way you can save him?"
"Two months? This guy must have the will of a king to live this long." Kureha exclaimed in surprise. She then checked his arms, and saw that they had round teeth marks; clear signs that leaches were involved. "Who used leeches?"
"That was me." Bashura piped up.
"Fine work for an amateur, but let me see what I can do." Kureha pulled out a syringe and drew a vial's worth of blood. Soon after she disappeared into the backroom, and by the sound of things she was running tests on a possible antidote, or any way to slow the poison running rampant in his blood.
"So...is it just me, or am I the only one finds this woman freaky?" Naruto question everyone in the room.
"You aren't the only one." Carmen responded, a light smile forming on her face. "I like her."
"Of course you like her. Right now she's the only one who's putting the most stubborn jackasses in their place." The blonde fishman indicated towards the unconsciousness Kotetsu. "Or is it because we're finally getting our sorry asses patched up."
"A little bit of both." The chef confessed.
"I'm hoping to get some one on one time with her. Hopefully the Straw Hats and the Princess stopped by this island." Igaram said, nervously tugging on the loops of his tie. "I hope she's doing okay."
"I'm sure she's fine." Bashura assured the curly-haired man. "The crew she's with is strong and dependable. If anything we can catch up to them in three days if we don't get caught up in anymore delays."
"I hope so!" Carmen exclaimed tiredly. "If we keep getting into anymore trouble, I'm going to get premature gray hairs."
"Oh they aren't that bad." Kureha said upon entering the room. "In my honest opinion they make you more distinguished. Just look at me, I'm a too young one-hundred and thirty-nine year old woman, and I still feel fresh as a spring daisy."
Blatantly ignoring the fact he was talking to a woman that was older than dirt, Naruto managed to work up enough words to ask the diagnosis. "So...can you cure Gin?"
Kureha's face turned completely grave. "No, I cannot. He was poisoned by a plant only found in the East Blue. If I were going to cure him, I would have to send some of the Isshi-20 to Rubar Island. And even if they went their fastest it would take them a month for them to retrieve the plant and three days for me to work up a cure...and by then, your friend would be dead."
"Bullshit!" Naruto loudly protested, exploding off his bed, his body posture ready for conflict. "You're telling me that you cannot help him!?"
"If I had the plant I would have injected it into his bloodstream by now, and even then there was no possibility that he would make it. I'm sorry boy, there is nothing I can do for him here-"
"Then fuck you and your island! Bashura, when Goldenweek comes out grab Kotetsu. We're leaving." Getting off the bed the blonde shook his head to shake off the anger that was nearing its bursting point. When he reached the door, he was met with Kureha's glare, and the next thing he knew he found himself sprawling on his bed again.
"Oh boy, you sure got a temper on ya." Kureha said before looking towards Bashura. "How do you all put up with him?"
"Oh, he's not that bad. The Cap'n is just stressed out is all." The Catman assured the old doctor. "Now, I believe you were about to continue your sentence?"
"Ah yes, thank you dear. As I was about to say, I know a doctor that's a poison specialist no more than a day of sailing from here. Sail south and you should reach the ship she's on." Kureha said, finishing what would have been good news if Naruto didn't nearly blow a fuse.
"Well then lets go, we don't have another second to waste then." Before Naruto could take command or do anything to leave once again, he found himself wrapped in gauze and tossed onto the bed for hopefully the final time. "Oh come on!"
"None of you are going anywhere, not tonight." Kureha said, patting her hands. "You got second decree burns on your forearms, several cuts on your arms and torso, and I am suspecting that you have some cracked bones. You're in need of a check up, boy."
"Ah, screw you lady. I don't need a human doctor to look at me, I'll wait until I get back to Fishman Island." Naruto retorted.
"Idiot! Without any proper care you could lose those arms, then what use will you be?" She demanded. "You put so much work into that body of yours, so much care that I find it admirable. But without it who could you protect? It's a doctor's Hippocratic oath to help their patients, no matter what species they may be, and whether they like it or not."
Naruto wanted to retort, say something racist, to do whatever he could to prevent any treatment from a human. But her words they stunned him. What use would he be if he lost his arms? He worked his ass off to see Shirahoshi again, to protect her from Vander Decken and put a stop to his merciless terror towards her once and for all. If he lost them due to his foolish pride, and Hody Jones' teachings then what would he be?
In that exact moment something changed inside him. A voice that was always urging him to disregard humanity, that roared as loud as a Sea King mating call fell to something more quieter. And the words of Queen Otohime's lessons and how the human race could just surprise him rang true.
"Just get it done." He finally said.
"Oh don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." Kureha smiled.
Unfortunately, that was a lie. Medicine can hurt quite a lot.
Later that night nearly everyone that lived on board the Nautilus were either shacked up in a hotel, or resting in Kureha's office. The night was cold, the snow was pink, and most residents were either asleep or patrolling the island. The only three that were awake was our favorite blonde fishman, the Captain of the Royal Guard of Alabasta, and a near century and a half old witch doctor. All three were located in the temporary town hall.
"Kureha, while I do feel better, I am just going to put it on the record that your treatment of patients are completely inhumane." Naruto grumpily commented, his eyes observing the wrappings on his forearms and resisting the urge to scratch his new stitches.
"Oh quit your complaining, boy." Kureha said before taking a swing of her plum sake. "You're lucky that I took care of you in time. Now, curly you were going to ask ask me about something, correct?"
"Ahem, yes. Miss Kureha, you would not happen to have met a pirate crew traveling with a blue-haired girl in the past few days? Would you?" Igaram asked, coughing once to cover up a growl for the curly remark.
"Pirate crew?" The old woman asked, lightly tapping her foot like she was in thought. "Oh yes, four days ago a pirate crew lead by an idiot in a straw hat came by to fix up their navigator. Ha! The girl managed to get herself infected with a disease that was long thought to have been extinct, I had to use up the last vial of my NHC10 to cure her."
"Was she safe. Is she in good health!?" Igaram asked, almost frantically.
"Dammit, quit getting all worked up Curly. Let the woman talk." Naruto stopped the man from going onto another one of his worry rants. He had heard one too many already to even care about.
"Oh she was here. The crew she was with helped this country out of a jam when Wapol came back."
"Wait, wait, wait! Wapol?" Naruto interrupted her with frantic waving of his hands. "Wapol as in a big, fat, metal tub of shit asshole that caused a scene roughly eight or so years ago?"
"The very same one." Igaram growled lowly. "He struck the princess and nearly shot her. God, if it wasn't for the intervention of a young man I don't know what would have happened."
"Yea I remember the guy, I was the one that kicked his sorry ass into a stone column." Naruto said with a prideful smirk on his face. "You're welcome by the way."
"That was...that was you?" Igaram's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "Naruto...I...I don't know what to say. You saved the Princess and prevented an all out war."
"And you knocked tin head down a few pegs." Kureha lightly cackled. "Dalton saw the whole thing as well. I must say, it took balls to do that."
"I did what I thought was right. He pulled a gun and...well I don't like firearms in general, so kicking him was the only logical thing to do." Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Now, tell us where did they head off to? And why is the snow pink?"
"After they recruited my apprentice, they headed off towards Alabasta. As for the snow being pink, well that is a tale in itself." The old doctor said, pulling her sake jug to her lips.
"Hold that thought for a moment, I need to get some fresh air." Naruto removed himself from the chair he was sitting in and headed outside. Upon opening the door, he was greeted by Dalton when he had his cigar half way to him mouth. "Uh...hey."
"Hello. You're the pirate from this morning correct?" Dalton greeted him with a smile.
"I wouldn't say I'm a pirate. I'm the Captain of my ship, my First Mate and Navigator used to belong to pirate crews, and the newest one that we managed to pick up painted graffiti on my ship, and that pirate flag." The blonde scratched his cheek. "It's complicated."
"It sounds like it." Dalton said, rubbing his chin idly. "And by the looks of you. You've been through some rough times ever since I first saw you during the Reverie."
"You got that right." The blond lit the end of his cigar and took a few puffs. "So, the Straw Hats came here and beat up your former King. Now what? Do you hold a vote to be your new leader or something?"
"Actually, the people of this island elected me to be the new King." The large man said.
"Oh." Naruto said after blowing out some smoke. "King Dalton of The Drum Kingdom...that doesn't have a nice ring to it."
"We're actually thinking of renaming it to The Sakura Kingdom." Dalton said smiling in thought. "It seems more appropriate with all this pink snow."
"Sure why not." Naruto pulled the coat that was loaned to him tight against his body, by the seas he hated his weather. "You can take this snow and keep it."
"Haha! Your species probably never experienced snow before. But then again I doubt you even experienced much other than dry land and water. Why I remember seeing my first fishman when I was...actually it was during the Reverie. I must say, Jinbe was quite impressive." The new King said, accidentally giving out trivial information the blonde never asked for.
"Uh, right. Well thank you for that." Naruto stamped out the cigar, suddenly losing the urge to smoke it. It was just too damn cold to enjoy it. "See you later Dalton."
"Goodnight Naruto." The big man said to his retreating form.
The next day the crew of the Nautilus sailed south of Drum Island thanks to Kureha's advice. Clad in warm blankets and thick coats; purchased by Carmen, the recovering miscreants sailed with a clear purpose in order to save Gin, and hopefully recruit a doctor to patch up their sorry asses whenever they got into a fight.
"So, Kotetsu you're looking a little better." Igaram commented the swordsman of the crew. "I hope you slept well."
"I slept like the dead. That crazy old woman nearly sent me into the afterlife." The sandy-haired teen rubbed his head irritably.
"Oh don't be so melodramatic. You needed your rest, and honestly you started to look like the living dead. A young man such as yourself needs plenty of rest." Igaram said, lightly waving him off.
"Sleep does not stop the nightmares. Every time I try to sleep, I see Master Mifune getting gunned down, Ai's blood coating my face, and all them men I've killed." He looked over to Naruto at the helm, steering the ship towards their destination. "I don't know how he can do it. He's killed a great many people, and yet he sleeps peacefully at night."
"That's because he is a warrior, and has a goal to strive towards." The curly-haired man said, lightly leaning against the mast. "Not all men are meant to be warriors, Kotetsu. You can train all your life, but in the end some cannot just do it."
"And you know from experience?" The sandy-haired teen asked with a scoff.
"I do, actually." Igaram said, a dark look coming to his face. "Before Vivi was born, there was a skirmish in my country. Some pirate crew, I forget their names tried to invade Alabasta. I was no older than you when I killed my first man, and I did it for days at a time until they retreated and never came back."
"You're kidding me." Kotetsu exclaimed in disbelief. "You don't look the type that seen hard battle."
"But I did. And for many years I lived with the guilt of killing those men, or failing to save my comrades. I had to do things in the Baroque Works that I will regret until the day I die, and probably many other things until I can finally live a peaceful life." After all, one did not become a Frontier Agent by luck, or Captain of the Royal Guard through connections. He earned all of it through sweat and blood.
"How did you live with yourself? How do you not have the nightmares?" Kotetsu was now wide-eyed, nearly to the point of begging.
"I found my peace in my wife, Terracotta." The man answered him, a smile soon came to his face from the happy memories of her. "She brought me from the brink, and makes what I do worth fighting for. Maybe that will help you, find something that you can be at peace with. It could be anything from simple meditation to eating your favorite food. Trust me if you are willing to work at it, the nightmares will stop."
"Igaram! Get your butt in here Goldenweek is going crazy!" Carmen called from the entrance of the ship that lead into the bowels where everything was stored.
"Oh my, pardon me." Giving the swordsman of the ship a nod, he left to help tend to Miss Goldenweek. The poor girl was in a state of withdraw from her sugar rush, while temporary, it required her to be restrained.
Once Igaram left, Kotetsu blew a few strands of hair from his face and looked up towards the crows nest where Bashura was keeping an eye out. "Find my own peace. Hmm, its worth a shot." He murmured to himself.
"Goldenweek get back here!" That was the only alert the swordsman was granted before feeling something wet touch the back of his hoodie, and then collapsed over with a figurative cloud hanging over his head.
"Damn it, Goldenweek! Am I going to have to confiscate your paints again!?" Naruto barked upon seeing Miss Goldenweek paint one of her color traps on one of his lackey's again. Hey calling him that was a step up from a hitch hiker, or what ever the hell he called him in the earlier weeks.
"Keep away from my paints Sharp-teeth! I have paints and I am not afraid to use them!" Miss Goldenweek held out a wet paintbrush, dripping with gray paint out at the tiger shark fishman threateningly.
"Get real. Unlike Kotetsu or whoever else you fight, my mind is as solid as steel! There ain't no way you can get the drop on me!" Naruto proclaimed, focusing, and then manipulating the water in the sea the surge around him like a twister. "Bring it!"
"All right, that's enough." Igaram emerged from the ships entrance, grabbing Miss Goldenweek by the scruff of her jacket, and keeping well out of reach for her rapid, and desperate flailing. "I apologize Naruto, she got away before I could help restrain her."
"Just have her get that out of her system, She looks like a burned out junkie." With a swing of his arms, he broke up the water tornado, sending it back into the sea.
"I know what I must do." The big man said, also picking up a muttering Kotetsu who was crouched in the fetal position, and going back into the ship once again.
"Poseidon's beard. What am I going to do with them?" Naruto reached into his pouch, procuring a cigar for his nicotine fix. He was going to need it.
(The Grand Line - One day later)
The following day, the crew looked high, and low, or in Naruto's case; under water to find a trace of the ship their miracle doctor was on. They found nothing, not a single clue to where the doctor was.
"I have a good mind to turn this ship around, and kick Kureha's disintegrating ass right into the sea." Naruto said, chomping in a half finished cigar. "We're at the right location, aren't we Bashura?"
"We went south and it took an entire day to get here." Bashura squinted his yellow eyes at the map, his large index finger tracing south from Drum Island to where they were currently located. "I see no island for the next hundred nautical miles."
"Not to mention we've been searching since the sun came up." Igaram butted in, "We only got a few more hours of daylight left before we have to turn in for the night. I'm afraid to say this, but we may have to think of-"
"If you say funeral arrangement, then I will rip your hair off your head." The blonde threatened the man from Alabasta.
"I am just being realistic." Igaram raised his hands defensively. "He has been poisoned for roughly two months with little treatment. No one can live forever."
"No one is dying under my watch." Naruto gritted his sharp teeth harshly. He could not protect her back then, nor could he protect Shirahoshi from Vander Decken's insane, deranged, and so very wrong affections towards her.
So now, a part of him, the good part of him; Otohime's part of him was substituting his failure to protect both of them for these...misfits he was slowly beginning to take a liking to. Were they annoying? Yes. Were they turning him into a chronic chain smoker? Yes. Did they grate his nerves? Oh, hell yes. But he didn't necessary hate them as much anymore. So he would be damned if any of them died on his watch.
The other part was not all too happy about that. But fuck that guy, he was not in control. The one who Captained the ship was dammit!
"Hey Uzumaki! I think I found something!" Kotetsu hollered from the crows nest.
Immediately turning his head towards the swordsman, the fishman immediately started climbing the ropes up the the crows nest. When he got there, he looked upon the swordsman. He was stiff as a board, pale as a white sheet, and resisting the urge to tremble from whatever he was looking at. "All right what do you got?" He asked.
"Something to the southeast." Kotetsu slowly handed him the brass telescope, pointing in the direction towards the object in question. "I think it's a ship."
Looking through the glass, Naruto's eyes widened. He saw a ship all right. A large ship who's hulls were painted sea-green blue, and the trimmings painted gold. Three masts lined the deck, white sails and black flag were painted with the Jolly Roger that had a large mustache and bones that resembled a cross behind it. It was the Jolly Roger of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Holy shit." Naruto whispered.
"What do we do now? We can't just hail them." Kotetsu said.
"No we won't." Shoving the telescope into Kotetsu's hands, the blond jumped from the crows nest, and dived into the sea.
"What the!? Damn it Uzumaki! Bashura, alert everyone the Captain's gone after one of the Whitebeard Pirates ships!" Kotetsu shouted at the catman.
"Are you serious!" The Navigator hollered up at him.
"I'm dead serious!"
"There goes the neighborhood." The Zoan-user palmed his face. His Captain must have had a suicide wish to go up against the strongest crew since Gold Roger roamed the seas.
Under the sea, Naruto slowly circled the ship, calmly observing the bottom of it with keen interest. With one or two techniques, he could turn the ship into nothing but splintered lumber. But he was not planning on doing that; especially to a ship that belonged to Whitebeard.
Kureha said their miracle doctor was on some ship a day from Drum Island. They were exactly one day from Drum Island, and there was a damned ship right were that crazy doctor said it would be. It was not all how he planned it to go down, hell he was hoping that they would run into a wandering hermit sailing on a schooner or something.
Oh well, nothing in his life ever came remotely easy. So why the hell would it start now?
Flipping once in the water, the blonde faced up towards the ship, while his feet faced the bottom of the near infinite deep blue depths. He focused on the water around himself, manipulating it to his will. Then when it was at its peak, he unleashed it!
It the span of five seconds Naruto shot out of the sea like a bullet. A waterspout followed him soon after raining, raining upon the ships deck and the unsuspecting henchmen that were working on it. The blonde landed gracefully-or as gracefully as a person could when landing feet first on the bow of a ship, that more of less made it rock violently, causing more than a few people to fall straight on their asses or faces.
"Freeze! Don't move a damn muscle!" One of the Whitebeard pirates screamed. He was pretty nondescript, average-looking. Oh, and he was pointing a flintlock rifle right at Naruto's face.
He was rewarded with the blonde grabbing the barrel of the gun, and with a simple twist of his wrist, he bent the barrel of the gun in a three-hundred and fifty degree angle. The pirate let out a squeak of fear seeing the barrel of his own gun pointing right at him.
"Shut it, and get that disgusting gun out of my face." Naruto pushed the man away, and manipulated the water out of his clothes and onto the deck. "Now, someone get me Whitebeard, or one of his Commanders!"
"Ah geez, you're just as flashy as the day I met ya." A voice alerted the tiger shark fishman. Emerging from the bridge of the ship.
"Holy shit. It's you!" Naruto actually smiled for the first time in almost a month since his fight with Arlong.
The person he was talking to was a light gray-skinned, unidentifiable type of shark fishman, with his shark-teeth sticking out of his mouth from his lower jaw similar to his teacher, but unlike Jinbe he had three small teeth on each side instead of one large, a shark fin protruding from his back, black eyes with bags under his eyes, and three pairs of gills on his neck.
He was somewhat short and rotund in shape, and his hair was arranged in spikes pointing upwards. He had the number eight tattooed to the left side of his neck to represent the division that he leads. He also wore a white t-shirt with sky blue sleeves with an orange colored star logo for the Criminal clothing brand on his chest. A belt secured his gray pants, and he carefully stepped over one of the men, being extremely careful to not step on them with his bare feet.
"Uzumaki Naruto, I am honestly surprised to see you on my ship." Namur greeted his fellow fishman with a wave of his right webbed hand.
"Namur. You are just what I wanted to see." Well either Ace, Vista, Thatch, Jozu, or Marco, hell he would have taken Whitebeard himself. Any of those guys would have helped him, but Namur was probably what he needed at that exact moment. "First, I apologize for my entrance."
"And doing this to my men." The Eighth Division Commander gestured to his men.
"That too. But I find myself in a bit of trouble." Naruto scratched the back of his head, and gestured towards his ship in the distance. "I don't know if you know this. But I'm apparently wanted by the World Government."
"Yes, I've seen the latest wanted posters. Forty-five million beli, not bad for a first bounty. Plus killing Arlong and his entire crew, and two Marine Captains plus a bunch of Marines with various ranks." Namur nodded his head in recognition. "You know I never liked Arlong. He gave fishmen like us a bad name."
"Damn right he did, but that's not why I come to you guys. I got a guy who has been poisoned and he doesn't have much time left. Now this old crazy hag named Kureha pointed us this way, so please tell me you have a doctor that is a master poison curer."
"I got just the person. Go get your crew, and I'll prep the doctor."
"All right Uzumaki, I think we are owed an explanation." Kotetsu said nearly thirty minutes into Gin's lifesaving procedure. Leaning against a wall in the room they were provided for their stay with both his hands clutching Nidai Kitetsu by the sheath, he stared at the blond fishman with a scrutinizing stare.
"I don't gotta explain anything." Naruto replied, leaning back against a chair loosely.
"Actually," Carmen spoke up, "I think you do. From what our resident swordsman told us, you jumped into the sea, and invaded one of Whitebeard's ships and did not end up dead as a result. In fact that you managed to get them to help us is another matter entirely. I think we deserve to know something."
"I will have to agree, Cap'n. It will at least kill some time." Bashura added his input, just for the sake of arguing.
"Oh very well." Naruto sighed out, giving into their demands for knowledge. "As some of you already know, I got into a fight with "Fire Fist Ace" and he beat me." He got nods from Kotetsu and Bashura, but wide-eyed, blank stares from both Carmen and Igaram. "Well, it was not some random encounter on the sea, nor did we bump shoulders and start fighting like brutish gorillas, it was more...well I better start from the beginning."
The tiger shark fishman then told them about him becoming an apprentice to Jinbe; The second Captain of the Sun Pirates, and Shichibukai, leaving out the event with Otohime's assassination and exactly why he became his student. They did not need to know his connection to the Royal Family, not one damn bit. He briefly told them that he trained under the man while learning how to fight in the Fishman Karate Dojo, then when he was just fifteen years of age, Jinbe took him on an "assassination mission" to kill Whitebeard. But instead of killing the man, Jinbe drank and talked important business with the man.
That left him to wander the Moby Dick for a spell before following Namur and intruding on his bullshiting with five other Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates. Just to gauge a reaction he listed off "Marco the Phoenix", "Diamond" Jozu, Thatch, "Fire Fist" Portgas D. Ace, and "Flower Sword" Vista as the people he met with. After their seeing a near shit-your-pants look from all of them, he began telling them the confrontation.
He described in explicit detail of their fight. The heat of the Flame-Flame Fruit, the feeling of losing his teeth, the entire slugfest at the ending of the fight. He smiled through it all, it was his first loss, and it was still refreshing. It taught him that he was not even remotely invincible, and got him to train harder until the day they met for their rematch.
"And that's what happened, any questions?" Naruto asked after finishing his story. Upon seeing their faces he let out a burst of laughter. They looked absolutely stupefied, and he loved it!
"I, uh, you met Whitebeard? The Whitebeard?" Igaram asked, his right eye twitching. "And you're the apprentice to Jinbe "The Knight of the Sea"?"
"Duh, you got corn in your ears?" The blond sighed at the question. He was not going to tell the story again.
Before anymore questions could have been asked, the door to their room flew open.
They were greeted by a fair-skinned woman of average height with a slender build with black eyes and hair. Her hair was straight and shoulder-length with bangs that covered her ears and framed her face. She was wearing a figure hugging white nurses outfit with a satchel around her waist.
"Good news," She greeted them with a smile. "Your friend is going to live-"
"All right, about damn time we got some good news!" Naruto cheered in exhilaration, finally that was a load off his shoulders. Gin was not gonna die, and he had his First Mate back. That meant many things, mainly Gin could finally take up some responsibilities again.
Seriously, running a ship was more work than he ever thought it would be.
"But..." The nurse continued, a little miffed from being interrupted. "He's not out of the woods just yet. I need to keep my eye on him just in case he takes a turn for the worse."
Oh hell no, she was not going to say what he thought she was gonna say. Naruto's stomach suddenly had a sour feel to it, it always happened when something was royally going to screw him over.
"So, I'm afraid that he will have to stay here for the time being." And there it was, damn it.
"I'm afraid that can't happen." The blonde fishman said. "You see, he's the First Mate. And leaving him with you guys is just not an option, and neither can I just replace him. He's far too valuable." He was not afraid to admit that, Gin knew more about how to run a ship than he ever would in two lifetimes.
"I see no other options, I cured him of his ailment. And I'm the only one in the entire area that can take care of him." The woman said, crossing her arms under he decent sized bust. "It's either leave him here, or at least wait for him to heal properly, and that could take a few weeks."
"We don't have weeks." Igaram said, his voice nearly squeaking at the mere thought of leaving Vivi alone for that amount of time. Cobra would kill him! "Naruto, I fear we-"
"Finish that sentence, and I will make sure you never grow your hair back." Naruto threatened the man before turning away and pushing past the nurse. "I got an idea, you're all just going to hate me for it."
Kotetsu's eyes widened. "Oh no, Uzumaki you're not seriously gonna-" Too late, his Captain was already out the door.
"Kotetsu, what is he going to do?" Bashura raised a non-existent eyebrow in confusion.
Not a few minutes later, Namur looked at his fellow fishman within his cabin with a bewildered expression. "You cannot be serious."
"Does it look like I'm kidding?" Naruto pointed at his face. He was dead serious.
"Naruto, you're not that bad of a guy. I will fully admit that, but Shizune needs to stay on our ship. She isn't our only doctor mind you but...well she found us and demanded we take her back to her master." The Eighth Division Commander shrugged his shoulders. (2)
"Her master? Is she a part of the Whitebeard Pirates?" Putting the discussion of taking her off to the side for now, Naruto crossed his thick arms over his chest, tilting his head in question. He just had to hear this.
"Yes, she has been apart of it for nearly six years now. In fact, she was the one who healed you after you got your ass kicked by Ace." Namur said.
"Wait, the blonde-haired one? Looked to be in her late twenties, small purple diamond tattoo on her forehead? Kind of bitchy?"
"The same exact one." Namur tapped his nose, showing that he was correct. "That girl is her only apprentice, taught her what she knew, and then abandoned her in a small town. We found her no more than a month ago, and brought her on so she can see her again. We just can't, you know, give her to you just like that."
Oh, so that was the reason. Huh, Naruto placed his chin into his right hand and rubbed it in thought. It seemed that they were at an impasse.
Finally, after several long, and suffocating minutes. The cogs in his head started turning in Naruto's head, chipping off the cobwebs and rust from the lack of use before an idea popped into his head. It was not the best one in the world, but it was better than sitting with their thumbs up their asses.
"Well, hear me out. We need a doctor quite badly, and it has to be her. So, why don't we contact Whitebeard himself?" Naruto suggested.
"Contact Whitebeard? Are you nuts?" Namur asked.
"A little bit." The tiger shark fishman shrugged his shoulders. He had to be considering his situation. "But I have a deal for him. He'll hear me out at least."
"Hmm, true. He is always willing to talk to potential allies." And Namur knew from experience, The Strongest Man in the World did not earn that title by just punching people. He made deals, alliances, the whole ten yards until he was the man closest to One Piece. "Give me a minute and I'll help you with that."
Namur left his cabin, leaving the blonde to look around the room, finding it very plain. It had a simple bed, one chair, a bookshelf that was filled with thick books, and a closet that was full of clothes. That was it. But then again it was unlike his room that was in some need of repair, and filled with the deceased Captain Kuro's furniture. Seriously, he needed to get that changed out one of these days, it was just creepy that he was sleeping in a dead man's bed.
A few minutes later, his fellow fishman came back into the room, carrying in his right hand a Den Den Mushi with a prominent crescent-shaped mustache on its face, and Whitebeard's Jolly Roger painted on the sides of his shell.
"All right. Here you go." He handed it to Naruto. "I told him the gist of whats going on. The rest is up to you."
"Thank you, Namur." Looking at the odd device, he spoke to it. "Uh, hello? Whitebeard, you there?"
"Naruto my boy! It is good to finally hear from you." Whitebeard's strong voice echoed throughout the room. "What's this I hear you getting a crew together? Is that true?"
"It's a little more complicated than that, but long story short I have a crew member down from poisoning and I need the girl that cured him. I assume Namur told you the situation?"
"He has, it's an odd situation I will admit. But I think we can negotiate something."
"Yes, Whitebeard. I need her badly so I am willing to make a wager. Either way, we both get what we want."
"Go on, you got my attention."
"I propose three fights. Three of your fighters against me and my crew. If we win we get Shizune, at least until we run into her old master that I'm guessing is residing with you. But if you win...well we still get her with the same conditions, but me, and my entire crew become your newest sons."
Things got awfully silent after that. A bold deal, something that was not the most common occurrence in the world anymore. Whitebeard took in anyone he desired at his leisure, this was the first time someone actually bet on it.
"We got a deal. Give me a few hours, and some of my sons will join up at Namur's location. Make sure it's somewhere on land."
"Glad we could have this talk Whitebeard." Naruto thanked the powerful pirate Captain before handing the snail to a wide-eyed Namur, and walked out the door to inform his crew of miscreants of how screwed they could be.
"You did fucking what!" Normally Igaram never cursed, he had not since he was a young soldier, and stopped when Vivi was born. But what Naruto just told them was just...just...inconceivable!
"I saw it coming, unfortunately." Kotetsu sighed.
"In theory it is sound, but us losing is quite...well I don't know what I could do being part of the Whitebeard Pirates." Carmen confessed. "Plus, he said "sons", I don't think he needs daughters."
"From what I heard, he has pirate allies that are women." Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "So you could be a daughter."
"I don't care about him having sons or daughters! We cannot join him! I cannot be a pirate!" Igaram was practically on his knees, his hands tearing at his hair. "All I wanted to do it get home to Alabasta and stop Crocodile. I cannot do this as a wanted man."
"Igaram, for the love Poseidon. Shut up, listen it is not the most ideal thing in the world. But it's a win-win situation for all of us. Win or lose, we get a doctor and Gin gets back to health. If we lose, we join the Whitebeard Pirates. I can probably haggle you out, but the rest of us will keep to the deal no matter how much it pisses you off." Naruto explained to the curly-haired man, again shrugging his shoulders. "Like I said, it's a win-win situation no matter how you look at it."
"You're insane." The Captain of the Royal Guard sighed out in exasperation.
"Well, sanity is overrated." Naruto said a little too smugly.
(A deserted island - Three hours later)
Three hours passed since the talk with Whitebeard. In that time two more ships arrived at a small deserted island with hundreds of palm trees for the impending fights. Tensions were high, uncomfortably high, and that was the way Naruto wanted it. He found that he always fought better when the stakes were high, making him prone to less screw ups, and more focused. It was how he endured the sadistic tests Suikazan Fuguki to reach level forty, and now he was going to employ it in his fight.
Currently, Naruto was leaning against a palm tree, arms crossing his chest, and his crew of misfits surrounding him. Kotetsu, like always was clutching the hilt of Nidai Kitetsu. Bashura's massive hands were gripping the haft of his harpoon. Both Carmen and Igaram were settled on the side lines, Miss Goldenweek was there as well, but she was shivering from her withdrawal symptoms.
On Namur's side, a bunch of his men were looking on in interest with the Eighth Division Commander at the head of it, and an annoyed-looking Shizune with her cheeks puffed out by his side.
"So, here we are Namur. I see two other ships, but none of the crew occupying them." Naruto impatiently stomped his foot against the soft sand. "Are they coming or what?"
"Oh, they are coming. They just like to take their sweet time." Namur replied, a confident smile adorning his face. Oh, Naruto didn't like that smile one bit.
At that same exact moment, two dozen men emerged from the forest of palm trees, and the man that commanded emerged like a foreboding shadow.
He was a tall, well at nine foot eight, muscular, broad-chested, tanned man with a curly black mustache and a dark blue top hat on top of his black curly hair and an earring in each ear. He wore a semi-open dark blue shirt with a white diamond stripe pattern near the top that revealed some of his hairy chest, as well as a cape that matched the color of his shirt and white gloves. He was also wearing light blue pants with a belt that held two sword sheaths.
"Vista!" Naruto greeted the giant swordsman. "By the seas, I never thought I would see you here."
"Uzumaki, is that really you?" Vista laughed kindheartedly when his black eyes looked upon the fishman. "I cannot believe it! It really is you. Namur, you neglected to tell me that I would be fighting against his crew."
Namur gave the Commander of the Fifth Division an amused smirk. "I figured it would be a delightful surprise."
"Haha! It certainly is delightful." Vista settled his gloved hands upon the purple hilts of his blades. "While I wished we could meet under different circumstances, we might as well get on with it. Who will I be fighting?"
Before Naruto could speak up on exactly who would fight first, Kotetsu moved in front of him, "That will be me." He declared.
"Kotetsu. You sure about this?" Naruto asked their resident swordsman.
"Vista is one of the strongest swordsmen in the world. Did you really think I would pass up the opportunity to fight a man of his caliber?" The sandy-haired teen questioned before strutting to the middle of the field.
Vista's looming shadow soon covered Kotetsu's slim body. By now most men would have been running to change their pants, but not the former Ensign. His hands tightened around his swords in anticipation, all of his training came down to this.
"You..." Vista bent over to look at his opponent, frowning. "I know you. The Butcher of Iron Island."
"The only people I butchered were the Marines. They attacked first." Kotetsu narrowed his eyes. That was a greatly sore subject for him. "Don't tell me you buy into the lies the Marines cooked up to frame me, and cover up their atrocities."
The giant swordsman was silent for a long moment. He peered into Kotetsu's pale gray eyes, judging the soul of his character. His frown turned into a smile. "No. You do not strike me as the mass-murdering type, but there is something inside you." He unsheathed two swords, a pair of similar-looking sabers. "Lets see what that is."
Vista swung his blades, a halfhearted attempt to separate his head from his shoulders. It was an easy attack to duck under, and Kotetsu used that to leap to the side, feet sliding in the sand and drawing his Marine-issued cutlass into his left hand.
"Mirage Sword Style: Trial of the Three Path!" Bursting forwards using the power of his devil fruit, Kotetsu lashed out with his left arm, like many other times, his arm moved so fast it appeared that he had three arms instead of one. His sword swung towards Vista's torso, even if he could parry with two swords, there was a twenty-five percent chance he could have blocked it.
However, this wasn't some run of the mill Marine, or pesky pirate. This was one of the Strongest men in the world. He didn't even come close to striking his torso, instead his cutlass was easily blocked by one of the man's sabers. A stab came from Vista's remaining sword, something Kotetsu could barely avoid in time, and he still received a nick to his right side for all his trouble.
"What the...how?" Kotetsu demanded.
"You think you're fast enough to fool my eyes?" Vista demanded with a wide smile. "I fought Dracule Mihawk many years ago, and you don't even come one tenth to matching his speed."
From the sidelines Naruto winced. Ouch, that was one hell of an insult. Kotetsu was one of the fastest people he had ever seen, not to mention his devil fruit was based around high speeds. And to be told that, well even his pride was hurt, and he was not the one fighting.
And indeed, Kotetsu felt a mighty sting to his pride. Ever since he accidentally ate the devil fruit that gave him his powers, he practiced thousands of hours to become the fastest person on the island, and eventually the fastest person in the Marines. To the Seamen Recruits and a few Commanders, he was considered the fastest of his position, so fast that he left after images. A fact that he took great pride in.
But now, against a man of Vista's stature, he felt as powerless as a fish flopping on land.
But...
Kotetsu gripped his cutlass until his knuckles turned white, and unsheathed Nidai Kitetsu with his right hand. Even if he was considered slow, that did not mean he would give up so easily!
"Nidai Kitetsu?" Vista, for the first time since the fight started dropped his guard. "How did you get in possession of a Cursed Sword? Better yet how are you still alive?" Every swordsman worth his or her salt knew the legends about the three swords that claimed more lives then a plague; or so they compared them to it.
"It chose me." The sandy-haired teen responded, eyes hardening from the memory of how he exactly came into its possession. "The day I got him, he spoke to me, and had allowed me to wield him until the day I die."
"I'll be damned." Vista said, eyes brightening up and a grin crossing his face. That may have sounded insane to many other people, but to him, it made perfect sense. "Come on then, show me how you use it!"
"Mirage Sword Style: Moon's Gentle Touch!" Kotetsu hollered before literally disappearing into thin air. Many blinked at the young man's sudden disappearance, and gasped when he appeared at Vista's side, both blades poised to cut into him.
Vista snapped back into his stance, blocking the attack again, rotating his body, and interlocking their blades and sending against one of the palm trees. Kotetsu hit the trunk of the tree feet first, bent his knees, and ricochet right off of it, and back towards his opponent.
"Mirage Sword Style: Moon Wheel!" Kotetsu spun both his swords like saw blades. The two swords spun so loudly that it made loud whistling noises as they cut the air. When he was barely a foot away from Vista, he quickly increased the speed, creating crescent shaped blades of air that resembled crescent moons.
The attack hit Vista hard, sounds of screeching steel caused several members of the audience to cover their ears to cancel out the noises. It ended, and failed spectacularly. It failed to harm the Fifth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and it failed to even move him from his spot.
Vista retaliated. His swords moved in a blaze of blinding metal, that not even Bashura with his keen eyes could keep track. The strikes hit Kotetsu with such forced that he was literally propelled backwards. His tan hoodie and navy blue shirt became nothing but rags, small wounds opened up on his slim, but athletic torso, and he hit the sand with a harsh jolt that stole the breath from his lungs.
"Kotetsu, are you okay!" Igaram bellowed with worry. From the start the fight had not gone in his traveling companion's favor, his magnificent speed was all but useless against a man with much more experience, and he could not land a blow on him at all. It definitely put a grave emotion in his stomach.
"Fine...ow...not really." Kotetsu coughed raggedly. Looking down he saw shallow cuts adorning his torso and arms, sluggishly bleeding to the helm of his pants. They hurt, but they weren't life threatening. It was another insult, Vista could have easily killed him, he was practically toying with him now.
That made Magara very, very mad.
Vista let out a small yawn of boredom. "Come on lad! Stop holding back, I rather not fight someone who restrains himself!"
The younger swordsman harshly gritted his teeth. He tried getting up, but his body protested, it told him to stay down. To quit. To live and fight another day.
"Kotetsu!" Naruto barked out for the first time since the fight started. "I do not ask much of you. You know this perfectly well, but we cannot afford for you to hold back! Do what you need to do, unleash it!" Never before had he given an order to any of his hitchhikers that would conflict with their moral beliefs, but the stakes were too high. As powerful as Whitebeard was, he did not want to be in his crew. Not when he had to get home, not only would Shirahoshi cry that her brother was never coming home, but Hody would probably kill him.
Eyes widening, Kotetsu's head turned towards the sky. Not a single cloud was obscuring the blue sky, the white sun beaming down on his battered, bleeding body. To unleash Magara was a war crime in itself, and he would rather die that willfully bring him out.
'Well, we all have to die sometime.' He mentally sighed. It took all his concentration and effort just to lift himself to his feet. He was shaking from the pressure, blood pumping down his body faster now. He stabbed his cutlass into the sand, and cupped his left hand under his naval. Hot blood pooled into his hand.
With only a bit of hesitation, he splashed the blood onto his face, enacting sounds of disgust from the Whitebeard Pirates on the sidelines. But he didn't care, or more specifically Magara didn't care. Kotetsu didn't tremble like the previous times his psychotic other self emerged, he simply regressed back into his head, ashamed as his other half came out.
Magara opened his eyes, revealing constricted pupils that showed absolutely no mercy or sanity, and his psychotic grin came to his face once more. The face of insanity, he loved to call it that.
"Well, well, well. Looks like the pussy finally gave in." Magara said, bursting into high, hysterical laughter. "About fucking time! Fish-guy I could kiss you for freeing me, but I rather tear this guys guts out and skip rope with it!"
"Captain...what is that. No, who is that!?" Carmen asked, eyes wide as saucers, and dread filling her entire body.
"It's Kotetsu, or his other half at least. It's a long story, but he's in control...I think." That did not fulfill any confidence in her at all.
"Are you sure? This is...I'm glad I went to the bathroom before this." Igaram cleared his throat, not minding at all that Miss Goldenweek was hiding behind his legs. He wanted to hide behind something too.
"I can restrain him." Naruto said, glancing at Bashura by now looking intensely at the fight by now. Not a lick of fear was in him, that was good at least.
On the sidelines, Shizune clutched at her heart, and her body began to shake. "Namur are you seeing what I'm seeing?" She asked the Eighth Division Commander.
"I-I honestly don't know." Namur admitted. He had been up and down the Grand Line dozens of times, and fought in the New World against pirates that would eat your bones for breakfast, but never before had he encountered anything like this.
"It's-it's the most severe case of multiple personality disorder that I have ever seen in my life." As a girl, her master Tsunade trained her in everything that could be taught. From identifying cholera to curing poison. She also taught her about mental conditions, and Kotetsu was the worst case she had ever seen in her life. (3)
"What could have happened to make him snap like that?" Namur wondered.
"Intense trauma most likely." The doctor replied. "He could have been born with it, and it lay dormant inside him until something happened to unleash it." Oh she hoped that Vista won now. Being a bargaining chip was bad enough, but to go over to them now she shuttered to think about it.
Even in the field Vista, a longtime veteran of the seas was feeling a bead of sweat beading up on his forehead. The bloodlust radiating from the kid was nauseating, he took a quick glance over towards the men he brought with him, and saw that they were holding their stomachs in discomfort.
"Who are you?" He demanded.
Magara tilted his head at an unnatural angle, his smile making him look like a man possessed. "Who me? I am the thing inside this fucknut. I am the guy that claims ownership over Nidai Kitetsu. And I am the monster that butchered all those Marines on Iron Island! Hahaha! Man, that was a good day." He pointed at his head, index finger digging into his temple. "Sissy cuntbag here hesitated, could not bring himself to kill anyone, not then, and certainly not now. That is why I'm here, to be the bad guy, to "spare" him from bloodying his hands again. Bah, if he wants to hide, then let him hide. He still knows what I do." The psycho then began to giggle, like he just told a joke. A vile, disgusting joke. "But that does not really answer your question does it? Well my new stab sack, you can call me Magara!"
Vista got into a ready stance. His smile long gone by now, now was not the time to be playing around like he was earlier. Now it was time to act.
Magara glared, then disappeared. He appeared at Vista's back, stabbing towards his kidneys. Vista defended himself from the attack, and retaliated by quickly turning and striking at the young man. Magara jumped into the air, somersaulting at an attempt to into his thick neck, which ended up being another easily blocked attack.
"Blood Sword Style: Eight Ways to Die!" Magara screamed. Drawing on the power of the devil fruit, the madman struck at Vista, desiring to puncture his vital areas and bathing in his blood. He struck for the liver, Vista blocked it, he went for his lungs, also blocked, the heart, arteries, kidneys, everything was blocked. The psychotic swordsman was beginning to get really angry. He jumped to impale his back, only to be deflected and tossed away like trash.
Magara slammed into the same tree Kotetsu rebounded off earlier. But instead of bouncing off of it, he crashed through it, and several others, scattering the onlookers.
"This...is still not looking good." Naruto sourly commented.
"You think?" Igaram responded, a little harsher than he intended. "We have lost this round."
"Not yet." Bashura held up one beefy hand. "Duck!"
"Blood Sword Style: Bloodstained Lotus!" When the name of the attack was heard, everyone minus Vista dove for the ground. A powerful blade of energy flew from the forest, cutting down many trees. A second blade of energy soon followed. The second blade struck the first one, and shattered it, unleashing a massive swarm of shards that resembled a giant energy lotus flower.
Vista took the attack head on. His sabers cut the shards into pieces, dispersing them into nothingness. But for all his skill, he could not block the hundreds of shards, a few cut into his outfit, and one or two actually cut into his skin. He felt no pain, only focus.
The attack ended no more than thirty seconds late, but it felt so much longer. A few beads of sweat actually fell from his face and exposed chest, he felt a cut or two upon his arms and legs. It had been years since he had been harmed in any way, a notch of respect went towards his opponent, but also dissatisfaction as well. It wasn't the true swordsman who made him bleed, but an abomination of a broken spirit.
"I must say, I am impressed." Vista said to Magara, He looked down to see that he slid five feet from where he had been standing the entire time since the fight started. "You actually made me move."
"Like I give a damn, up and die mustache needle-dick!" Magara hissed as he emerged from the torn down forest. He could not believe his strongest attack was blocked, dispersed even by this man. And worse off he killed no one, that was bullshit!
"I was not talking to you. Rose Round Dance!" Jumping backwards and swinging his swords, Vista launched several red rose petals that flew towards his opponent. Magara could not even remotely dodge int time and was caught up in the technique. He screamed as the rose petals pelted him, cutting into his skin and sending him to the ground in agony. (4)
Calmly, Vista walked over to his downed opponent. He approached the young man, bleeding, shaking from exhaustion, and on the edge of consciousness slowly rise to his feet. He let out ragged breaths, eyes glaring defiantly at him. However it was not Magara that was glaring, it was Kotetsu.
A smile came to the old swordsman's face. Even after all of that punishment and surviving one of his attacks, the kid stood back up. His swordsman spirit was strong, one day he would prove to be one of the greatest of his generation.
"You fought well Kotetsu." Vista congratulated him. "I am proud to say you have been a thorn in my side. You can go a long way, but only if you conquer your fear."
Kotetsu said nothing. Both his cutlass and Nidai Kitetsu clutched in his bleeding hands, he tried to lift his arms. Tried to continue the fight. He could not lose now. "I will not go down like this." He hissed through his teeth.
Vista's smile widened. "That's what I would expect from a true swordsman." Without any warning, the giant man's arms moved faster than anyone could see. A whooshing sound a second later, followed by the sounds of swords sheathing in their scabbards.
"Wha?" Hot white pain erupted from him, Kotetsu looked down to see a giant red X carved into the front of his body. "Shit..." His legs gave out, he turned his head to see the eyes of his Captain staring at him. "Sorry Uzumaki...I failed." And then Kotetsu knew no more.
"Kotetsu!" Naruto exploded from his downed position. Turning the swordsman over, he saw a good amount of blood falling from the blow dealt to him through all the sand that clung to him.
"He will not die." Vista said to Naruto when he reared his head, snarling. "The wounds are deep, but he will live. Perhaps it will give him incentive."
The blonde did not answer. Even as the doctors removed Kotetsu's unconscious body from the field, trying to desperately remove the swords clutched in his iron grip, he could not help but get a bad feeling about all of this.
The first loss was theirs.
Armageddon: Hello my adoring fans! I am glad to present you the latest chapter to Spiraling Shark! Now normally I would have my lovely band of not-traitors being jackasses with me, but I don't got that much time left for this day. So I will leave off with a few things in case you are curious. This chapter was not a spur of the moment thing, but a carefully planned idea between Agurra and I. This will show that our characters are not all that invincible, as shown with Kotetsu here. They can still get their asses kicked, badly I might add.
I don't want it to be left on a cliff hanger, but I figured that this will keep you all coming. After all I got two more fights lined up, and they are planned so I do not need suggestions. Now have a Happy Fourth of July, I know I sure as hell will!
(1) I know it isn't a Devil Fruit ability. That old bat is just a master of hammer space. Man I would love that power.
(2) Finally the big reveal! As you guessed their doctor will be the lovely Shizune. *Everyone woos and catcalls* One way or another she will join the crew full of misfits, but what shall it be, them as pirates under Whitebeards flag? Or her being borrowed because of the bet? Stay tuned to find out!
(3) Yes, if any of you looked or paid attention for chapter four, the busty nurse that healed Naruto was indeed Tsunade. She will make another appearance, but it will not be anytime soon.
(4) That is Vista's only named attack, and I only learned this recently by watching the anime. Now I checked the wikia and saw that the attack's effect is unknown, so I just made it up. It will be changed depending on the continuity of the manga if we ever see Vista again, but that will not be for many, many, many years.