Silvers D Naruto: A Search for Belonging

by secretagentman1

Unwanted by his parents, young Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki is treated poorly in Konoha until one day by chance a traveler saves him. This newcomer takes him in, makes him strong, and tells him of the larger world he must seek. Setting out as a pirate, Naruto searches for those like him, in need of a place to belong. Naruto/One Piece/Anime X-over Crew made up of characters from anime

16. Chapter 16

Silvers D. Naruto

AN: Alright, here we are, the end of an arc...after far too long...and way too long as usual.

Fair warning, guys, a lot of sentimental stuff in this chapter...or the attempt to be sentimental anyway, but still fair warning. I wouldn't say I'm the most wholesome guy around, but I tried my best, hopefully the idea gets across.

So, let's get started.

Chapter 16: A Meal's Essence

Cover: Naruto and Toriko sit side-by-side in a clearing, arms hooked around each other's shoulder as they laugh loudly

(Departure Version 1 Opening- See Chapter 12 for visuals)

The first thing that met him when he opened his eyes was darkness.

A tickle on his nose had been the impetus that roused him from his slumber in the first place. At its first occurrence, he'd only brought his hand up to push what had been brushing up against his nostrils away so he could continue slumbering. That had done the trick at first, the irritating feeling leaving him and letting him get back to sleep.

Shortly after, something had plopped down onto his face, and that damnable tickle had returned with whatever it was. Ignoring it was the first choice he'd gone for, but it refused to leave him alone. His next action was to try and remove the object again so he could rest easy, but whatever was lying on him did not want to be moved a second time, so he'd eventually given up on that too.

So, he lay there, doing his level best to remain asleep with the annoying feeling haunting him.

It was only when his cheeks puffed up did his eyes finally open to see what was happening.

Which led to the darkness that was in his vision now...

He was sure that his eyes were open right now...but if it was still dark out, then he should probably just go back to sleep until the sun rose. Decision made, he drifted back to sleep fairly easily...and forgot what had woken him in the first place.

A reason that forced him to wake again when he realized that, as he tried to take a breath through his nose, it was completely blocked off by whatever rested on his face, the same result came when he'd tried to take a breath through his mouth.

Feeling himself beginning to lose consciousness, in a bad way this time, he began to flail around, trying to free himself before all his strength left him along with his life. The bed beneath his body shook and creaked from all the jerky movements he made, the sheets kicked off his body and were strewn about as he continued to frantically move to free himself.

With the darkness at the edges of his vision overtaking him more and more, he could no longer take the burning in his lungs!

Pwah!*

Shooting up from bed with a deep breath that he sorely needed, Naruto finally woke up fully from the recovery sleep that he'd gone into after the harsh battle he had with Starjun of the Bishokukai. Panting to catch his breath, he seemingly missed the crash that happened after he'd so abruptly woke up, as well as the two figures at the sides of his bed that jolted in surprise from the loud noises the blond pirate had made.

"Ah, I almost died! What the heck was that!?"

Naruto's musings as he panted came to an end as he took notice of his surroundings. He was decidedly not in the Gourmet Jungle which was the last place he remembered being before he'd passed out after his fight. Now the blond pirate found himself in what looked to be an infirmary if the white walls and ceiling were any indication. Everywhere he looked there were odd objects that looked like they were to be used to heal people of whatever affliction they had, none of them the traditional type of medicinal tool either from the looks of them. To his side there were also multiple beds to hold many patients in case numerous people would need to be treated at once.

And currently, all those remaining beds were filled with people that Naruto recognized.

"Ah, man, you really can't do anything quietly, can you?" a tired voice came from Naruto's right side, one that had him begin to beam brightly even if it was slightly annoyed, by its tone.

"Ryuko, Ichigo!" Naruto shouted and got grumbles from his female Nakama while his first mate only kept his arms crossed as he leaned back in the chair that he was sitting in.

Rubbing her eye with the bottom of her palm, Ryuko sighed in slight agitation from the rude awakening she'd received thanks to her captain's loud outburst, but on the inside, she was happy that he had the energy to act like he always did.

It meant that he was fine.

And while Ichigo kept his face in its perpetual scowl, relief filled him as well knowing that the treatment of his captain had the desired effect.

Even though the two of them had been assured by the person who had patched them up, and trusted them through vicarious recommendation, they showed that they were indeed concerned for their leader by the fact that they'd sat at his bedside since arriving.

"Hey, guys! It's great to see you!" Naruto put a hand up in greeting, his exuberance brightening up the room in mere seconds. It was then that he blinked, something coming to his mind that he of course voiced as he tipped his head to the side, "Hey, wait a sec! What happened?"

A little bit of panic entered his voice as he grew worried since he could barely remember what had happened to him.

"How long was I asleep!? What day is it?!" he put a hand to his chin and closed his eyes as he tried to think, "I thought I won...I did win, right?!" he asked his companions.

"Calm down," Ichigo finally spoke up, calmly, "It's still the same day."

"And you won," Ryuko finished with a grin that was shared by their orange-haired swordsman who closed his eyes as he did so.

"Oh, that's good," he quieted down once his crew let him know what happened, trusting them instantly.

"It's a few hours later, sun's probably down by now," Ryuko explained, "We're back in the city, and got treated. You've been out long before that, though."

"Hmm, ok, gotcha...but...if I won, then where are Birubī and Toriko?" Naruto asked, taking notice of the absence of the chick that never left him alone and his prospective cook.

"Well...about that..." Ichigo scratched his cheek a little, his eyes sliding to his left.

For Naruto that was directly ahead of him, and what he laid eyes on was the tail end of the babe he'd been looking for.

The unfortunate thing had been the source of the crash after Naruto had shot up from his slumber. Wanting to be close to its 'parent' even as he rested his body after the fight, Birubī climbed into bed and slept with Naruto, specifically on his chest. The tickle on the blond's nose had been Birubī's tail feathers, and thanks to Naruto's attempts at removing the chick it wound up covering his face entirely.

Which, of course, led to the chick shooting off like a rocket when Naruto came up for air and crashed headfirst into the wall.

The chick gave slight twitches every few seconds as he hung limply from the hole in the wall and a few weak peeps.

"Ahhh! What happened!?" Naruto's eyes popped out in surprise, worried about some unseen attack.

A punch to his face came from his navigator who was getting sick of all his shouting.

" You happened! Because you can't do anything like a normal person!" she growled at the downed blond who had a fresh wound forming on his head.

At the side, Ichigo kept a straight face, only watching the temperamental girl scold her captain on proper etiquette, though a thought ran through his head that he kept to himself.

'Yeah...well, neither can you,' he thought silently not wanting to be on the receiving end right now but noted the irony of what she said.

Thanks to the commotion that the two were making, someone had chosen that time to walk into the infirmary to investigate. From behind the door, a small old woman had made her appearance, a smile on her face as she watched the pirates.

She was a small woman, with pink hair on her head that was tied into a very large bun, squinted eyes that made it difficult to tell what color they were, and a wrinkled, round face that had full rosy cheeks. As for clothing, she had on a simple pink sweater with an apron that was a lighter pink on top that had a red heart in the center, and orange pants with a pair of pink sandals on her feet that also had hearts on them. Her look was topped off with the cane she held in her hand to support her hunched form.

All in all, she had the typical appearance of an elderly woman, or perhaps even a grandmother.

After observing silently for a few moments, she made her presence known with a small chuckle, getting them all to finally take notice of her.

"It seems that the captain has finally woken up. That's good," she walked over slowly never losing her smile even as the blond gave her a questioning gaze since he had no idea who she was.

"Hey, who's the Chaki Obāchan (Teaset Granny) ?" Naruto asked in his trademark disrespectful and blunt manner with a blink.

Ichigo nudged his captain in the side, his scowl boring into Naruto's confused face, "Show a little more respect. This hag is the reason why we got patched up," he offered the blond, just as insensitively.

"Really?!"

A pair of fists descended on both recovering ruffians' heads courtesy of their navigator who looked annoyed at their lack of respect...and oddly enough, if the old woman didn't know any better, she could have sworn the girl's clothing had...sweatdropped?

"Why don't you take your own advice..." Ryuko growled at the swordsman with a twitching eye. The fiery navigator then did a complete 180 in her mood, giving the old woman a smile and a bow of respect from her chair to apologize for her crewmembers' comments.

"So sorry about what they said, ma'am. They're idiots, but they do appreciate what you've done for us."

From the wall Birubī had finally freed himself, plopping to the floor with a cute blink of confusion at what had happened to him. Once he'd laid eyes on the recovering blond, though, all of it melted away. Without a moment of preamble, the Billion Bird chick slammed into Naruto's stomach and gave chirps of joy while nuzzling up to his imprinted parent.

The blond gave a wide smile to the excited animal and patted his head gently, the slight sting of his wounds from the impact of Birubī was ignored, instead comforting the chick.

"Hey, did you miss me?" Naruto looked down into the eyes of the Billion Bird who nodded furiously with tears streaming down his face and wetting the sheets along with Naruto's clothes.

The happiness the chick felt could not be fully expressed from its tiny body, but he sure did his damnedest to make it come across. It was a terrifying experience he'd gone through in his short existence on this planet, he was lucky enough to find someone who took care of him...a burden that made a lot of trouble for Naruto as they trekked through the jungle, and even more once the Bishokukai had appeared. Yet...despite how easy it would have been to leave Birubī behind or let their enemies get away with him...his parent and his flock had bled for the chick.

They'd reached near-death for him, even if it wasn't entirely for his sake, and for what he could do for them...it was obvious that they did care.

So, of course, he had to help them after it all.

The chick could only hope they enjoyed it.

"Heh, I thought you'd be tougher after what happened...ya crybaby..." Naruto smiled more when the bird tackled back into him, knowing that the blond did not mean it as harshly as he once did, only serving as a light-hearted jab.

Ryuko smiled off to the side, watching the cute scene with a hand propping her head up.

Ichigo gave a small smirk as well, closing his eyes in contentment, not wanting to give up his tough act even for a second no matter how heartfelt it was.

The knock-kneed old woman had a smile on her face as well while observing, appreciating the respect the three pirates showed such a valuable ingredient.

"Think nothing of it, dear," the woman brought the attention back to her, deflecting Ryuko's apology with grace, "Everyone has to get old sometime, denying it won't help."

Her gaze went over to Naruto now and gave a nod toward him, "It's good to see you all so energetic, it means that the treatment is working."

"Huh...oh yeah!" Naruto seemed to finally take notice of the odd green bandages that were wrapped around his and his Nakama's injuries, how dull the pain was compared to what it was when he was in Gourmet Jungle, and what it could have been without the old lady's help, "Thanks for patching us up, Chaki Obā, but who are you?" he bluntly asked again with a tilt of his head, an action mirrored by Birubī who was now sitting in the hole of Naruto's crossed legs.

"Oh, please, it was my pleasure. Any friends of Toriko-chan are friends of mine," Setsuno giggled.

"You know Toriko?"

Ryuko gave an aggravated sigh at her leader's apparent lack of reverence for the person who had saved their lives before answering his burning curiosity, "This is Setsuno. Toriko mentioned her back in the jungle when we were camping," she supplied.

She could see on his face that he vaguely recollected that conversation, seeing as hers was a name mentioned with Jiro and Mansam as part of the reason why the Bishokukai would not dare launch an attack on them when they got back to the city.

"She's essentially his aunt...or grandmother...she and Jiro took care of Toriko and the rest of his brothers while their old man was out with Gold Roger."

"Whoa, Toriko's Baa-san!?" Naruto was shocked for a second, looking at the woman in a whole new light now.

And when that initial shock wore off, he blinked, noticing something missing from this current picture. He looked from left to right trying to find this missing thing but could not seem to find it.

"What's up?" Ichigo asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Oh, it's just...I was wondering where Toriko is," the light atmosphere dried up at that.

Ichigo leaned back and frowned, sighing but it didn't sound angry or annoyed...more exhausted?

Setsuno's smile flattened, her thoughts completely unknown to the blond since he barely knew her.

Ryuko frowned, pressing her palm against her cheek and, unlike Ichigo, did seem irritated about something.

"He was banged up just like us, so I figured he'd be here," he then looked over to the other beds in the room, "And why are they here?" he jabbed a thumb over to the other residents of the infirmary.

The Bishokukai.

The previous foes were indeed resting in the beds next to Naruto but had not yet regained consciousness as the pirates had. Bandages were wrapped around them as well, showing that they had gotten the same treatment that the pirates had as they slept peacefully without so much as shackles to keep them from rampaging if they felt like it.

"Yeah, that's kind of a long story..." Ryuko rubbed the back of her head, sighing, "Might as well tell you..."

"After everything that went down in Gourmet Jungle, we hurried back to the city before that path had a chance to disappear," Ryuko began.

(A few hours earlier)

The morning was well and truly over now, and the afternoon was beginning, the food capital had gone back to its normal hustle and bustle. As the citizens went about their business, the island's pride and joy with the most famous chef around had yet to open for the day leaving many disappointed customers looking to dine there.

In front of the establishment stood six individuals who were awaiting the return of a friend/employee/godson/soulmate/brother and the three pirates he'd taken with him on his hunt for the Billion Bird.

Rin was practically beside herself with worry, biting her nails as she stood next to the others. Toriko should have returned by morning according to what he'd told her, but it was long after that, and the tremors that they'd all felt meant the island had returned to its previous shape.

Gourmet Jungle would be a whole different beast now...she trusted Toriko to be fine, but she couldn't help herself. She couldn't even sleep last night she was so worried about him!

Komatsu was in the same boat as her. He knew how amazing Toriko was, but he also had seen that same man return from excursions in that jungle half-dead. He hoped the extra help he had would tip the scales and they all would return unscathed.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Coco, Mansam, Jiro, and Setsuno all stood with serious expressions on their faces as they awaited Toriko's return, having faith that he would come back in one piece after all the preparation he'd given this hunt.

Failure was not an option for him...not with this.

"Hmph," Mansam huffed taking a swig of his flask, breaking the silence between all of them.

"Are we sure Toriko's all right...maybe we should go out and look for him," Rin could no longer contain herself.

"He better be alright," Mansam let out a satisfied sigh, lowering his flask, "If he went and died, does he realize how much he'd cut into our revenue?"

"Shut up, Hage (Bald)! " Rin growled at the insensitive comment.

"Boss, that's too cruel," Komatsu tried to mediate, "We know Toriko-san is tough...but the Gourmet Jungle is just as tough...and I'm worried about the others too...we are a dangerous island for rookies, after all..." Komatsu sweat just imagining all the horrifying situations they could be in.

"Others?" Rin asked, forgetting all about the pirates.

"You're cruel too, Rin-san!"

"Calm yourselves, you two," Coco never took his eyes from ahead of him, arms crossed, "The Gourmet Jungle is indeed treacherous...but this mission is one with far too much importance for Toriko, he would never allow himself to fail," he gave them a gaze from his periphery.

"Worrying for him now will only insult all the effort he's put into this...our lack of outward concern does not mean we do not care...it only shows our faith in him."

The words from the man made the two feel small for thinking so little of the blue-haired Bishoku-ya. They'd seen all the effort he put into preparing for this hunt, the grueling training, the constant deadly expeditions into Gourmet Jungle to test himself.

To think he'd fall so easily...how could they call themselves his friends.

"Heh, heh, Toriko's not so weak that a little jungle would knock him down..." Jiro stroked his beard, his jovial smile still in place, "But...if it did get to be too much...don't forget who he's got with him."

He meant the rookies that had muscled into the matter entirely on their own.

Brave fools...he liked that.

"Too true," Coco smiled, trusting those three to protect his brother.

"Are they that impressive, Jiro-chan?" Setsuno, the only one to have not met the trio, questioned her...good friend.

"Words wouldn't be able to express the feeling I got from them...heh, they're some impressive brats."

She only hummed, wanting to see them for herself.

A commotion ahead of them stopped any further talk.

Focusing their gazes, they saw the near-constant stream of people finally let up as they gave a wide berth to whatever was currently approaching. The crowd of people split in two to allow a large creature passage through the city, its destination being where the six were waiting.

"Look something's coming!" Komatsu exclaimed, a hand over his eyes to keep the sun out of them, trying to make out just what it was.

"Hm, an Obsaurus...quite a catch," Mansam stroked his chin.

"Toriko's riding it!" Rin smiled, happy to see him return.

"But...look...he's hurt all over...they all are," Komatsu's eyes widened in shock along with Rin's when they got a good look at the returning group.

They were all worse for wear, clothing torn up in various places, blood dripping from open wounds, dirt caking their sweat-covered bodies, and tired looks on their faces as if staying conscious was a chore. It was a scene that they all expected to a certain degree given where they'd gone, but no matter how prepared, it would always be painful to see people one knew injured so heavily.

And that was only for the three conscious ones, Toriko, Ichigo, and Ryuko. Naruto was still unconscious from his battle with Starjun and draped across Ob's back in front of Toriko so the man could keep him steady.

Rin and Komatsu broke rank to run over to Toriko and assist him, the others remaining in place.

"Toriko-san!" Komatsu cried for his friend, tears threatening to fall from his large eyes, sniffs coming from his nose to keep it from dripping.

Rin called for Toriko right along with the small sous chef, making it to the side of the large beast to try and help Toriko down as the taller one between her and Komatsu.

"Oh...hey, guys," Toriko tiredly smiled, barely raising his head to meet their eyes. Against his will, he slid off Ob's side and fell to the ground, his body finally relaxing now that he'd made it back home.

"Toriko, Toriko!" Rin crouched next to him with Komatsu, the two of them tried to lift him to his feet but he was much too heavy for them.

"Sorry...I took so long...did I make you worry?" he kept upbeat even in his current state, eyes gazing downward and sweat dripping to the ground with a patter.

"Forget about us, Toriko, what happened to you?" Rin asked him in a slight panic. Just placing her hand on his shoulder made it come away with a good amount of Toriko's blood covering it...this seemed way more than just a beast attack.

"Oh...just ran into more trouble than we expected...it was the Bishokukai..." Toriko answered simply.

Those words got the serious members that remained in place to perk up.

"The Bishokukai?!" Mansam frowned, his eyes narrowing.

Beside him, both Jiro and Setsuno shared a knowing look.

"Yeah...they were after the Billion Bird too," Toriko propped himself up on an arm, using the other to reach behind him, "But...we beat them..."

Pulling his arm back, he held the confused Birubī in his hand, the baby bird looking to and fro at his new surroundings, wonder shining in its eyes at the city. They then rested on the surprised faces of Rin and Komatsu, nervous at all the new people it was being met with.

"And we got the Billion Bird!" Toriko's grin came back in full force.

This victory came from a lot more than him, it came from all of them working together for the sake of tasting a valuable dish. Hard-won battles, serious injuries...all the pain would be worth it once they'd all gotten a taste of the dish he would prepare, a dish that the old man wanted to ensure he tasted before he could leave the island.

He had to get to work.

"I have to get cooking," Toriko tried to lift his body up from the ground, wobbling on his arm while trying to support himself.

On Ob, both Ichigo and Ryuko kept silent...not sure what to say to the Bishoku-ya. They knew how much he wanted to prepare this dish, and how much it meant to him to make it...they could tell that stopping him would be as fruitless as stopping Naruto when he got something in his head.

Rin and Komatsu were in a similar situation, lacking any words that could stop him from exacerbating himself even further...how could they stop him when he was so close?

"Toriko-chan..." Setsuno during all the commotion had stepped in front of the man, looking down at him with her hands behind her back.

Finally, Toriko raised his head and saw the full group that had been waiting for him, but his focus was solely on Setsuno. While he was happy to see the woman appear, she was frowning lightly and zeroed in on his injured body.

"Ah, Granny, I'm glad you're here!" Toriko pointed his thumb at the three pirates, "Could you patch these guys up for me?"

The large man ignored his injuries completely and focused on the others, not a hint of hesitation as he did so like it didn't even cross his mind that he should be healed before them.

Setsuno's frown deepened at that, "Toriko-chan..." she said softly, a hint of pleading making its way into her voice that was apparent for those assembled except for the target who had finally pushed himself up onto his feet.

"I need to get cooking now if I want it to be ready by the time Naruto wakes up," he kept focused on preparing the meal ahead of him. Even as he slowly moved forward, each step heavy as he tried to keep himself steady, Birubī nestled in the crook of his arm staring up at the large man in worry as well.

"Toriko-chan!" Setsuno shouted, still in her previous position while the hurt Bishoku-ya had made his way past her.

Her voice was stern, a tone that the quartet of brothers had become accustomed to over the years of being watched over by the woman. It was a tone that promised pain for them if they didn't stop whatever they were doing and listen, something many children had a primal fear of when it came to female relatives.

It did the job and had Toriko stop in his tracks, a quiet moment passed between the two of them with neither turning to look at the other.

"You need to rest, Toriko-chan," Setsuno, turned slightly to regard him, arms staying behind her back, "You need medical treatment just as badly as your friends. You have the Billion Bird, the dish won't be going anywhere if you wait a day or so," Setsuno raised a good point, the exhaustion of the hunting party was clear, their injuries ranging from serious to minimal.

Treatment and rest were the appropriate actions for ALL of them at this point. If Toriko pushed past this, ignoring his body's fatigue, it would only hurt him more in the end, his family and friends as well.

"Sorry, Granny..." Toriko spoke lowly, he stood straight, seemingly losing all signs of his earlier weariness, and spoke with a firm tone. His free hand clenched into a fist and a hard look entered his eyes that only Mansam, Jiro, and Coco could see, being in front of him.

"...I'm not waiting..." he turned to look the woman in the eye, showing that he would not be budging, "...and it isn't just because I want to make the dish," those words made Setsuno's mouth close right as she was about to reprimand the boy for talking back when she knew that he understood that she was correct.

"These guys...they helped me," he looked over to the pirates that were still atop Ob, his gaze straying to the sleeping blond, "I told them the dangers in the jungle...the Bishokukai ambushed us...and this was all before they even knew why this was so important to me!" he raised his voice and grit his teeth, "I promised them that they'd taste this dish, and because of the Bishokukai I've had to push the timetable of the meal back...more than I would have liked!" there was an intense fire in Toriko's eyes as he stared at the old woman who'd cared for him...it was something that never happened.

"I'll be damned if I make them wait any longer! I'm a chef, and I promised them a delicious meal...if I don't follow through, then I'm nothing more than a liar and a disgrace!"

Toriko breathed heavily, previous tiredness coming back after his outburst, but the important thing was that he got his point across.

They hunted together, they dined together.

No ifs, ands, or buts.

Setsuno had fully turned around at this point, meeting the unflinching stare of her surrogate grandson, probing for some chink in this man she'd looked after for so long but could find none.

Behind the blue-haired chef, Mansam had a smile on his face seeing Toriko stand up to Setsuno; similarly, Jiro was chuckling at the situation, having a feeling of why Toriko felt so strongly about this based on stories from a certain man in a similar situation; and Coco only smirked. Komatsu and Rin were only hoping that things would not escalate between the two, wanting nothing more than for Toriko to take Setsuno's advice and get treated with the others.

After a few more seconds of staring each other down, Setsuno eventually relented with a sigh.

"Fine."

"Really?" Toriko's grin came back in full force.

"You obviously won't be letting this go...so I'll treat them..." Setsuno turned back around.

"Thanks, Granny, I owe you big!" Toriko also turned to hurry into the restaurant and get down to cooking once he'd gotten what he needed from the chick.

"On one condition," Setsuno said while looking over her shoulder.

"Condition..." Toriko turned with a nervous look on his face.

"*sigh* If you won't let me treat you, at the very least I want you to clean yourself up and let me put some bandages on your wounds...not enough to be constrictive," Setsuno offered this ultimatum to the chef who was already beginning to frown.

"It won't do to have you sweating and bleeding into the food as you prepare it...it would ruin the meal," she reasoned, something that she knew he would concede to seeing as he was caked in sweat, blood, and dirt and that was not a state to be cooking in.

"And..." she looked at the unconscious blond, "I'm sure this young man couldn't stomach his food knowing that you were injured while making it, he'd be too busy worrying about you."

That seemed to get the man to silence any protest he was about to raise.

"You do these things, Toriko-chan, and I will make sure to heal these three in time for dinner," a smile finally came back to her face. If Toriko, Coco, and her Jiro vouched for these pirates, then she would give them a chance to impress her.

They were already well on their way.

"Alright, Granny, you got me," he chuckled. Using the meal as a bargaining chip like that was a surefire way to get him to listen, he'd never compromise the taste or the experience of a meal for anything.

"Then get going. I'll look them over," Setsuno walked over to the Obsaurus.

But her surrogate grandson had continued to speak, getting her to stop again.

"But...uh, Granny...it's more than just those three I want you to take a look at," Toriko's previous determination gave way to a sheepish, nervous look. He knew how the woman would most likely react to the...additions he'd brought along with the pirates, especially after the actions they'd taken against them.

But he made a promise.

And the scolding he'd get was well worth keeping it, even to them.

"Hm?" Setsuno made a questioning hum, taking notice of the pirates' own unsure looks as they cast a glance behind Ob. Their odd behavior got her to realize that the known beast of burden had been pulling something this entire time, and when she went to investigate what it was...let's just say she was less than enthused with what she saw.

(Present)

"...And he's been in the kitchen cooking since then..." Ryuko sighed, exasperated with the blue-haired chef's decision. "I know how important the dish is and all, but that baka should worry about himself," she frowned thinking about how exhausted he must be, having been working nonstop as far as she knew on cooking. Looking at the unconscious Bishokukai with a scowl, "He even went back for these guys before he left...something about promising a share of the meal. After all the trouble they caused, I would have left them," she explained to her captain, answering why the former foes were convalescing along with them.

"Now that you're up I was thinking you could talk some sense into..." the girl turned her head back to her captain, expecting him to agree with her in ousting their enemies before they had a chance to recuperate and cause more issues.

Only for her eyes to shoot out from their sockets when she saw the daydreaming face of Naruto meet her. He had a hand propping his head up as he stared dreamily up at the white ceiling of the infirmary complete with his tongue lolling out of his mouth with a bit of drool.

It seemed the idea of Toriko's dish being cooked as they spoke was too much for his feeble mind, leading it to wander.

"What the hell's with that face?!" she shouted at him in complete shock and got no reaction from him, "Are you even listening to me?!" her eyes bulged out even harder.

"~Uh-huh...of course~," he said his eyes still not meeting his navigator's, lost in his fantasy.

"I don't buy it! You're clearly thinking about something else!" Ryuko invaded Naruto's personal space by pressing her angered face up against his cheek, knocking him out of the daydream.

"No, really, I get where Toriko is coming from..." Naruto looked over to Starjun's sleeping face, his blue eyes gave a sense of understanding. "We may not have liked all the stuff they did...but when I fought him...I got the feeling he wasn't so different from Toriko," he smiled widely, serving to irritate his navigator even more, "He just really wanted someone important to him to have that dish!"

Ryuko could only give her captain an incredulous look, he always managed to take her by surprise with that innocence. Eventually, she could only rub her forehead, "Now you're sympathizing with them..." she groaned, no way she'd be tossing them out now...she was outvoted.

"Just drop it already," Ichigo piped up, leaning back in his chair with his hands going behind his head, "I told you he wouldn't care, and neither do I," he told her with a flat look, revealing that they'd already had this conversation.

"That's just because you guys lack common sense. They could be a real problem...what if they want revenge and wreck the place?" Ryuko argued back.

"So what if they do?" Ichigo was undeterred.

"Take a look at them," he directed a thumb to the Bishokukai, "They're in just as bad of shape as we are. They'd be morons to start something. That was the whole reason Toriko wanted us back in the city, they're outnumbered. And even if they weren't, we beat 'em once, we can do it again," the swordsman was assured of their ability to bring down the Bishokukai again, not worried in the slightest at retaliation.

"Yeah, Ryuko!" Naruto pumped a fist, Birubī copying him with a wing, "We got this! We should respect Toriko's decision too, it is his food, after all," he went right back to fantasizing about the meal.

"I keep forgetting who I'm talking to...it isn't just about us...haven't we caused enough trouble for everyone..." she ultimately let it go, it was an uphill battle with these two.

All the while, Setsuno continued to watch the pirates interact with one another, arguing about what to do, and showing how close they were at the same time.

'Toriko-chan...' she started to think, unable to help the smile that grew on her face as she observed them, 'I can see why you fought so hard to feed them now...even willing to forgive their enemies all because you vouched for them...' her mouth then went into a thin line. A face she hadn't thought about in a long time came to her mind...the exuberance he had as he spoke about a group of pirates that he'd told her he was going to be sailing with, and leaving four children with her and Jiro-chan.

She didn't understand him back then, but she was beginning to now.

'I think I can see how this will end...I suppose his foolishness can't fall too far,' Setsuno wondered if she could let what she predicted, happen to someone she had raised after losing so many she cared about to the sea...

...could she let another go?

"Oi, Chaki Obā!"

Naruto's shout knocked Setsuno from her musings. Turning her head to the exuberant pirate captain, his shining smile clearing up the dismal thoughts she had upon seeing it along with the gazes of his crewmates.

"If Toriko's been cooking since we came back, that must mean the dish is almost done. Right?" he asked expectantly to the little old woman while getting an eyeroll from his navigator thanks to his one-track mind.

"Don't you think of anything else?" Ryuko pushed him back slightly as he'd been leaning over the side of the bed in excitement. "You need to take a break and heal up, anyway."

The pirate captain huffed, crossing his arm annoyedly, "Haven't you heard the saying, a good meal heals all wounds?" Naruto shot back as if it were the most obvious answer to such a foolish question.

"Whoever said that!?"

Setsuno giggled, stopping the two pirates in their tracks before they could start another argument over the importance of a meal to the health of the injured. A very studied and scientific topic that the woman would have sided with the young blond on in this instance.

"Yes, well, it's lucky that you've woken up, young man," Setsuno started after she'd stifled her giggles at their antics. "According to Komatsu-kun, who's been acting as our relay, Toriko-chan is just about finished with the dish."

The reveal that the muscular Bishoku-ya's hard work was near completion got the trio of pirates to smile, seeing the end to this journey in sight finally, along with the relief that he would finally have the chance to taste the important dish and relax, not being lost on them either.

"Other than coming by to check on my patients, I was also coming to let you all know," Setsuno informed them, "Everyone else has already gathered in the dining room, we should join them."

She stepped aside to get out of the doorway, which turned out to be a prudent move. Not even a second after those words left her mouth, did Naruto leap from his bed as if his body wasn't covered in wounds. His excitement for the meal ahead dulled any soreness he could possibly feel...well, that and his empty head.

"Then let's go! Come on!" he dashed out the door, leaving the sheets of his bed to float down to the floor behind him, running through the hallway with reckless abandon, never mind the fact he didn't know what part of the restaurant he was currently in, and therefore no clue which way the dining room was.

Following right behind him, Birubī's small talons clicked against the tiles of the floor, chirping in happiness that its parent was seemingly feeling better; and following behind the chick, at a far more sedate pace while they headed for the door were Ichigo and Ryuko.

"Damn, how can he jump around like that?" Ryuko groaned as she stood, her body protesting slightly. She watched her captain and the Billion Bird bounding down the hallway without a care, a huge smile on his face and clear joy glowing through the chick's eyes.

"Makes me feel sore just looking at him..."

At her side, Ichigo looked at her from the corner of his eye, a smirk coming to his face, "You telling me you'd prefer if he was run down, like us?" Ichigo said with his arms crossed.

"Never said that," Ryuko answered him, never taking her eyes off her captain's back, her own smile appearing while continuing to watch Naruto and Birubī further ahead. "Just saying, it makes me sore," though even that feeling was starting to disappear.

Setsuno, staying behind the pirates, had her smile still present on her wrinkled face as she strolled through the hallway, and heard echoing laughter throughout. The excitement of the young pirate being infectious.

It was no wonder why her former charge had been taken in as he had.

(Dining Room)

After a few minutes of walking through the restaurant's winding halls, with direction from Setsuno, of course, to keep them from getting lost...or rather the one ahead of them who felt the need to check every door without knocking as they went, the group had finally arrived at their destination.

"Hey! Toriko! Food!" Naruto burst through the door with a shout for there was no other way for him to.

When a reply from his friend never reached his ears, Naruto surveyed the room to see who was present. He saw that the entire space was devoid of anyone, every table within the restaurant was empty.

Save for one.

Not a soul was inside the room, except for the lone table in the center of the room where a group of four were sitting. Those four were Jiro, Rin, Mansam, and Coco, no doubt attending this get-together for the same reason that the pirates were.

The loud entrance from Naruto had caught the assembled people's collective attention, and when they'd seen the blond run in after throwing his gaze around the dining room, Jiro was the first to greet them with a smile.

"Hey~ If it isn't the guests of honor!" he called to the blond and his crew as they finally made their way inside behind Naruto. He propped a sakazuki cup, held by his index finger and thumb, up in his greeting, being careful not to let a drop of sake spill out as he did so. A small blush was on the old man's face, showing that he had already started drinking, Mansam included, though he had a bottle for himself.

"Oh hey, it's the PonpadOssan (Pompadour Old Man)!" Naruto recognized the first person they'd met on the island. Hopping into a chair, Naruto immediately crossed his legs in it, sitting improperly at the table, with Birubī soon taking his spot in the hole Naruto's legs made.

"Partying already, huh, old man?" Ichigo noticed the bottles littering Jiro and Mansam's side of the table as he took his seat on the right of his captain and Jiro's left, a tad annoyed they'd been having a good time while they were out of commission.

Ryuko sat on the blond's left, an empty chair to her right.

"Heh hic hic, hard not to with all the excitement," Jiro took a sip from the saucer, "I thought you kids were special the moment I laid eyes on ya," Jiro said after a sigh from the swig of the alcohol. He then rested the cup on the table, keeping his fingers beneath it as he went to refill.

"But even I didn't expect you brats to cause such a commotion after only a few days!" Jiro cackled.

Both Ryuko and Ichigo made faces at being called brats by Jiro, though Naruto didn't seem to care more confused at the old man's words as evidenced by his blank stare and tilted head.

"Tackling not only the Gourmet Jungle..." Jiro finished topping off his drink, "...but taking on the biggest criminal organization on the island, the Bishokukai!" he downed the whole saucer in one go before he slammed it back onto the table.

The gray-haired man shifted his body so he could look the pirates in their eyes, using the hand with its hold on his saucer to point in their direction as he addressed them again.

"Do you know how many rookies would kill to be in your shoes right now?"

That question got Naruto to blink once he heard it, turning to face ahead of himself, an unreadable look on his face. No one at the table could tell what the blond was thinking in the few seconds that had passed after Jiro's words.

It took Naruto opening his mouth and giving his blunt response for them to understand.

"Oh, that...I don't really care about any of that stuff..." he said simply, resting his hand on top of Birubī's head and absently petting the chick. The pirate looked up at the ceiling, "They just got in the way of our hunt, so we fought...we won, and they lost," Naruto shrugged, displaying what he thought of their conflict with the Bishokukai.

"It doesn't need to be anything more than that."

In the blond's mind, what mattered was that he, his crew, and Toriko succeeded in what they were trying to do. He didn't hold a grudge against the Bishokukai, they tried their best to stop them from getting Birubī, and they returned in kind, the pirates and Bishoku-ya just won.

Plus, if the person that they were working with was willing to forgive their enemies, then there was no reason he shouldn't, especially when he didn't personally feel any animosity against his opponent.

It was no big deal.

He got varying looks across the table for his lack of anger or even bragging about doing what so few rookie pirates did.

Conquering a Rookie Barrier, with so small a crew.

Any..."normal" pirate would be shouting it to the heavens, looking to increase their notoriety, strike fear into islands in the South Blue, and look for the next plunder they could use to advance.

But not the blond.

"I just wanted to make sure I got to eat Toriko's food," Naruto smiled after a brief pause.

Jiro's half-drunken smile only widened at the blond's answer.

'He's humble too...won't even hold their actions against them...heh...Ichi...is this what they were like?'

Jiro wasn't the only one whose opinion of the pirate went up at that table; Setsuno, who was on Jiro's right also found herself liking them more, though she was none too happy about it; Mansam grunted in approval, continuing to drown himself in his alcohol; Coco smiled at the similarities Naruto had to his brother.

While Rin and the blond's own crew were slightly irritated at his nonchalant attitude toward his enemies, his mood was too infectious to really let them be angry at him. The three had to begrudgingly accept the choice whether they agreed or not.

People they cared about were willing to forgive and forget, so they should try their best to do the same...they'd just keep their guard up to defend them if the situation called for it.

"Ah!" Mansam gave a satisfied sigh, removing the bottle of sake from his mouth and resting it on the table, "I agree with the kid. All this buildup better be worth it," the bald man said.

"Closing the restaurant is bad for business."

Rin took umbrage with her boss's casual dismissal of Toriko's personal struggle, "Oi, Hage! This meant a lot to Toriko, show a little concern!"

"I am...need to keep this place open, don't we?" he answered her simply.

"After all that work, it'd suck if this meal didn't live up to expectations," Ichigo chimed in too, leaning back in his chair and putting his arms behind his head, being just as insensitive as Mansam, earning himself a share of Rin's rage.

"Did you really need to throw your hat in this ring?" Ryuko leaned on the table to give her crewmate an exasperated sigh, raising her eyebrow at him stirring the pot just so he could stay the cool one.

"Not like you weren't thinking it too," he shot back, staring at her from his reclined position, "Dealing with that jungle and those guys, the least we could get is a good meal out of it." the annoyance of the Bishokukai was the only thing that was exciting about this "Rookie Barrier" the hype behind their meal was ancillary.

The navigator gave a sly smirk, seeing through the orange-haired swordsman, "Oh, really? You sure you aren't just embarrassed you fought a waiter?"

The vein that appeared on Ichigo's head showed that she was right.

"Even if that were true...it doesn't make me wrong..." the swordsman ground out, reigning the outburst he wanted to have in denial knowing that it would prove her right...somewhat...

And rather than argue, since she was still tired, Ryuko decided to concede to him, "Yeah, yeah, you're always cool..." she rolled her eyes.

"What's the matter with you two!" Rin pointed at the stoic pirate swordsman and her bald inebriated boss. "Toriko poured his blood, sweat, and tears into this hunt for years, ya know! Just look at how beat up he got just to make sure we got fed, all the trouble he put himself through, AND he's still pushing himself to finish it even with all his injuries!"

Rin's words quieted the two, not that they forgot about these facts mind you, they just, in their own way, were focused on the end goal being what Toriko wanted rather than worrying for him when they knew that he knew how arduous this task was going to be for him.

Both physically and emotionally.

They just kept the faith in such a way that others could easily misinterpret it.

"Not that I'm disagreein' with ya," Ryuko started with a hand up, bringing the waitress's attention onto her, "But you do remember that it wasn't just him get tossed around out there, right?" she pointed to the various bandages that were on her and her nakama's bodies.

"Yeah, and not enough by the looks of it," Rin huffed, "Toriko looks terrible, what were you guys doing the whole time! You should have been protecting him!" Rin shrugged off their injuries...they were pirates, they should be used to this.

"The hell kind of logic is that?!" Ryuko slammed her hands on the table, "He knew what he was getting into!" she argued with the clearly over-infatuated woman.

"And you shouldn't have let him be so reckless!" Rin met Ryuko's anger with her own.

"You should've stepped up if you cared so much!"

"S-stop, Toriko...never!" Rin blushed before letting her anger give her the strength to shoot back.

At the side, Mansam laughed heartily at the two women's argument, opening another bottle of sake to down with his show. Ichigo meanwhile looked at their navigator with a judging gaze and a sweatdrop at the blatant hypocrisy she was displaying by rising at Rin's words.

Naruto totally ignored his yelling friend so he could address Coco from across the table, Birubī watching the increasingly heated argument between the two girls with his beak hanging open.

"Hey, Coco, how come you didn't tell me you were Toriko's brother?" the blond asked, somehow being able to be heard over the girls' yelling.

The well-mannered ex-Bishoku-ya gave Naruto an apologetic smile before answering, "My apologies. It came up while you were with Toriko in the kitchen, so you just happened not to hear it," he chuckled at the slightly annoyed pout he got from the pirate captain. "It isn't as if I was trying to keep it from you, I just felt it wasn't important enough to bring up again."

"Mmm, I guess it's ok," Naruto let it drop easily enough, "Toriko told us about your dad in the jungle anyway...I would have liked to meet him, he sounded cool," Naruto smiled at the thought of meeting a pirate that served on the Pirate King's crew.

He could only imagine meeting a legend like that.

"Believe me...I'm sure he would have wanted to meet you as well," Coco closed his eyes, thinking of Ichiryu and the stories he'd told of his adventures with Gold Roger.

Unrelated to all the commotion and small talk that was going on, Jiro turned to Setsuno and held her hand in his.

"You're looking beautiful as always, Secchan," the drunkard gave her a smile that had the old woman blushing and placing a hand on her cheek in slight embarrassment.

"Oh, stop, Jiro-chan~"

"She's right, Jiro," Mansam piped up from beside Setsuno, shaky from the constant drip of alcohol he was on.

"I am flattered...but I prefer to be called...handsome," Mansam cupped his chin and gave a smoldering gaze complete with a twinkle that, rather than coming from his eye, came from the light reflecting off his bald head.

"Heh hic hic...of course, my mistake..." Jiro rubbed the back of his head, deciding to humor the man rather than sober both of them up like a wet blanket, receiving a content nod from Mansam.

"Leave...them alone...Hage..." Rin huffed across from her boss, spent from shouting at Ryuko and leaning in her chair.

"Man...you sure can...yell..." Ryuko wiped her forehead.

" So can you, Ryuko..." Senketsu closed his eye, sharing the thoughts of the swordsman who kept his mouth shut smartly.

Anymore conversation became halted by the loud growl of Naruto's stomach, catching everyone's attention.

"Uhhhh," Naruto slumped to the table, forcing Birubī to shift around or be pressed against the blond's chest, "Soooo hungry..." he groaned.

"Just wait a little longer..." Ryuko nudged him annoyed at the rude noise.

"No...breakfast...remember...?" Naruto reminded.

"Your memory is real good when you want it to be..." Ichigo shook his head.

"Heeey," he turned his head without lifting it from the table to look at Setsuno, "Chaki Oba, you said that Toriko was almost done, right?"

Still smiling, Setsuno nodded her head at the blond, "According to Komatsu-kun, the meal should be coming out any minute now. These things take time, and Toriko-chan wouldn't want to cut corners," she thought aloud.

"Bleh..." he rested his chin on the table and stuck his tongue out.

Ryuko leaned over and gave her captain a half-hearted whack on the head, "Just be patient and get off the table. We're all hungry..." she made sure he knew that so he could see that everyone was still waiting for the food without being overdramatic about it.

Staring ahead for a few seconds, Naruto suddenly shot up and took the knife and fork that were in front of him before he raised his arms up to the ceiling.

"Ok! Then I'm gonna will the food to come out sooner!"

Just as his navigator was going to ask him what that even meant, a ringing clink echoed in the dining room. The only people in the room blinked, taken off guard by the noise when it happened again. Slowly, the clinking became rhythmic, a steady beat is formed from the originators of the noise, the knife and fork in Naruto's hands.

"Will you knock that off?" Ryuko rolled her eyes at the giant smile on his face, wanting more than anything for him to be quiet for once and not be so rude.

When sitting at a table, at the very least, the boisterous blond could, and should, make an effort to control himself.

"Food..." he grinned wider then started to drum his fists on the table in addition to the clinking, just enough to jostle it and the other sets of silverware resting atop it.

"Food..." he looked around the table, wholly unashamed of the disruptive actions he was performing in the best restaurant on the island.

"Food, food, food, food, food," the chanting increased until it fell in with the drumming beat and the clinking of his silverware.

Ichigo only smiled and closed his eyes at the antics, though Ryuko could not stop the blush that came to her face knowing she was associated with this loudmouth who was most likely annoying everyone present who was not accustomed to him.

"Heh, uh sorry about this..." she addressed Jiro with an apologetic smile and her eyes closed, trying not to spit in the faces of the people that have helped them out, "He's a moron with no manners, I'll get him to..."

"Food, food, food," two more voices joined in with Naruto's now, adding their own drumming and silverware noise to his.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IT TOO?!" Ryuko's teeth sharpened in anger watching both Jiro and Mansam imitating her captain's actions.

"Boss..." it was Rin's turn to be embarrassed.

"Oh, Jiro-chan~" Setsuno appeared to be more lovestruck by Jiro than mortified that the much older man was acting like a child.

Coco had a hand to his mouth while he chuckled at the event happening before him.

"Oi, Coco!" Naruto halted his chanting to address the man, "You join in too, or it won't work!"

Even Birubī had taken to pecking the table repeatedly to follow his parent's lead.

"What won't work exactly?" Ryuko said under her breath.

"You're wasting your time," Rin shook her head at the blond, "Coco would never be caught dead doing something like that."

Coco had the reputation of being the 'gentleman' of the Four Heavenly Kings, always conducting himself in a polite, reserved manner befitting the station that he and his brother occupied.

For him to fall so low as to follow the lead of this impolite pirate...was laughable...

"Perhaps I will," Coco took his silverware in hand, shocking Rin.

"Coco! You can't be serious!" she gasped.

Never losing his smile, Coco looked at the waitress, "When you're surrounded by the people closest to you, Rin...I hardly think it matters how you act...besides," he turned back to the blond who went back to chanting, "They are pirates. I think being rowdy is par for the course." With that said, Coco joined in with the others, though he was far more subdued with it, clinking much softer and forgoing the drumming and the chanting.

The dining room's peaceful atmosphere had now become a raucous, party-like one. A cacophony of sheer enjoyment of the act of waiting for their meal, smiles on the faces of the four men and one bird as they lost themselves in it all; Ichigo, unable to contain himself now, was laughing uncontrollably at the ridiculous display, resting his hand on his stomach as the action upset his wounds slightly but could not bring himself to care; Setsuno's smile as she watched them all stayed in place, happy that they were all enjoying themselves more than anything; Rin found herself feeling out of place while watching both her boss and future 'brother-in-law' making fools of themselves, an embarrassed red flushing her cheeks while witnessing this as a third wheel, far too civil to degrade herself with such a display...but strangely feeling left out; and Ryuko, by this point, had resigned herself, knowing that anything she'd say to try to stop this would only be drowned out, so she'd let them tire themselves out...

...surely they'd get sick of all this...right?

"Idiots..." she whispered under her breath with a sigh and a hand to her forehead.

With that, the waiting game began, the group falling into a...somewhat comfortable silence while Naruto, Jiro, Mansam, Coco, and Birubī continued their 'chant' meant to speed up Toriko's cooking process.

(In the kitchen)

Within the normally bustling expanse, in complete contrast to the noise going on in the dining room, it was almost totally silent inside the restaurant kitchen. The only noise that echoed off the walls was the soft bubbling that came from a pot of boiling water. The contents of the pot were unfortunately obscured by the heavy amount of steam that emanated from the evaporating liquid, leaving what was being prepared a mystery.

A mystery to everyone except for the large man who had taken a seat in front of the pot, hyperfocused on the cooking process of its contents. Toriko kept his eyes on the pot, not letting anything distract him from the moment he'd started cooking, after he'd been treated of course. Just like his pirate companions, large green bandages were wrapped around his wounds to keep him on his feet for the work he was so close to finishing, he now wore a white a-shirt while keeping the hunting pants and boots he'd had on in the morning.

A heavy amount of sweat clung to Toriko's body thanks to the exertion that he had to put into preparing this dish. The evidence of many of his failed attempts was littered around the workspace he had around the stove, serving as a reminder of the difficulty that this one ingredient had even for a skilled chef of Toriko's caliber.

When the amount of sweat on his brow became heavy enough that it threatened to start dripping from his forehead, Toriko took the hand that was resting on his knee and swiped his forearm across it so none would get in his eyes or possibly fall into the pot. From the stool he was perched on, Toriko had a leg drawn up across it with the other dangling down propped up on the beam between its legs, his left arm rested on his crossed leg while he returned his right to its original position laying his palm on his knee, elbow bent at a right angle and arm extended.

'I never expected such a delicate and finicky ingredient...' Toriko took a glance at all his previous attempts to make the dish, each one having a different step in the process go wrong along the way, forcing him to restart. 'One wrong move and the entire dish is ruined...I feel like even taking my eyes off it now, when I'm so close, would be a mistake...'

A smirk came to Toriko's face at this great final challenge Ichiryu left him, relishing the effort that he had to go through just to complete this great ingredient that his father had failed to.

"...you really didn't want to make it easy for us, did you, old man?"

Though Toriko did have the recipe for this dish, that only took him so far. Ichiryu's instructions only detailed the broader steps in cooking the dish, such as needing to perform the boiling of the ingredient but not letting Toriko know for how long this boiling needed to go on, at what temperature, or how to properly handle the ingredient for its preparation without applying so much pressure that it became unusable but just the right amount to bring out the most of its flavor. This, of course, while frustrating, was the man's way of testing his adopted son's prowess as a chef that he, through trial and error, would discover the correct cooking method for this ingredient without express instruction from him.

Ichiryu wasn't exactly known to be forthcoming with his sons either since it was always good for a laugh.

All these factors ran through Toriko's mind had his resolve to cook this ingredient stoked all the more by its difficulty due to his belief that, in proportion to how hard an ingredient is to cook, the more delicious it would be.

Toriko was so focused on this final step of the cooking process that he did not notice the pair of large eyes that were fixated on his injured, exhausted form practically the entire time that he'd been cooking this phantasmal ingredient. His eyes filled with worry for his well-being, yet equal parts respect for his determination to their shared craft.

Komatsu, the sous chef to the muscled head chef, stood off to the side of his friend, his large eyes wet with unshed tears and his large nostrils flared to their limit in an attempt to withhold the quivering breaths he'd otherwise release. Eventually, with the cooking in its final stages, the young man found that he could no longer stand by and watch his friend push himself. Mustering up his courage, Komatsu took a small step forward and called out to the focused Toriko.

"T-Toriko-san!"

The shout from the normally meek sous chef managed to break Toriko's intense concentration, as intended. The exhausted, but still pushing, chef blinked when he realized that he had been addressed by Komatsu, turning his head to the young man to see what it was that he wanted though not taking too much of his attention from the boiling pot in case he needed to make any final adjustments.

"Yo, Komatsu, what is it?" he asked curiously. The sous chef had been the one keeping him company during this whole process after he'd been looked at by Granny Setsu, keeping everyone outside up to date on his condition in case he relapsed as well as the messenger for the progression of the cooking.

A sort of happy middle ground for those worried about him, but willing to comply with his mission.

Taking a second to gather himself, Komatsu took a deep breath before he responded to Toriko, "You should probably take a break now, Toriko-san..." he started unsurely...knowing how this might sound, "You've been working nonstop since you came back..." he wrung his hands nervously, glancing at the evidence of his friend's hard work.

Having been a witness to it all, it was nothing short of admirable in the young chef's eyes. He'd rarely seen Toriko fail so many times with an ingredient he'd never handled before, and even then, he'd never seen him this determined to finish a dish.

Hearing of how important it was to Toriko was one thing...but seeing in person just how far he was willing to go, not only to stick to his promise to Ichiryu but also the promise he'd made to this group of pirates...it reminded him of why this man was essentially his chef idol.

Which was why he wanted to step up and assist him in this. He would be just as determined as Toriko, if it was this important to him, then he would be there to help as his sous chef.

"With the cooking so close to completion..." Komatsu swallowed, his eyes filled with determination to help as he brought a hand to his chest, "...then even I should be able to finish it!" he downplayed his skill at the end.

"You've been working so hard for us...I-I want to help you, Toriko-san!"

After hearing Komatsu's reasoning, the exhaustion left Toriko's body somewhat, leaving him sitting much straighter than he had been. He stared into the determined eyes of Komatsu for a few seconds...and then his mouth turned upward into a soft sincere smile, letting out a few soft chuckles as well.

Toriko's hair fell over his eyes to hide just what he was truly thinking of Komatsu's offer, which frightened the sous chef who believed that he might have overstepped or offended his friend with his words.

But the words that had left Toriko's mouth had done away with those thoughts, "Thanks for the offer, Komatsu..." he'd started, lifting his head back up to glance from the corner of his eyes at Komatsu's shocked expression with his regular wide grin on his face.

"...but I can't."

The simple denial rooted Komatsu in place, knowing this would most likely happen but still felt he had to try.

"This is something that I have to do on my own," he looked ahead and had his eyes glaze over, thinking about his father and the trio that he'd hunted with. "Not just because of the promise I'd made with my old man...but to Naruto and the others...they don't deserve anything less than my all for this dish," Toriko turned his head back down to stare into the pot.

"I want them to taste it."

His smile got bigger simply imagining the outcome of this meal, and when seeing that smile Komatsu instantly understood, even if he didn't like his friend exhausting himself, pushing his body beyond its limit to ensure that he fed these people, he knew that there was no way he could do more than he already was for Toriko.

'You'd agree, wouldn't you...old man...' Toriko thought of his father, reminiscing about a conversation he'd had with the man shortly after the challenge had been issued to hunt the Billion Bird.

(18 Years Ago)

Night had fallen on Gourmet Island; construction halted for the day and would pick back up again once the sun had risen again. While most had fallen asleep in their beds, a select few had instead chosen to slumber within the Appetizer Jungle. Surrounded by the ambient noises of the different nocturnal and resting creatures within the usually dangerous expanse, were the peacefully sleeping children of Ichiryu, with the man himself still wide awake.

The retired pirate sat next to the fire they had made earlier that day when he'd pulled his boys aside to cook the Galalagator they'd attempted to capture that ultimately became his prey. The stripped bones of the poor animal were off to the side of the group, there was no chance that, between the five of them, it wouldn't have been completely devoured within hours of capture.

Though the father enjoyed his meal far better than his sons, he chuckled in his mind.

The old man stared into the flickering flames of the firepit as he stood guard over his sons, his thoughts a complete mystery as he did so especially since there could be any number of things that arrested his mind, the construction efforts, fatherly woes, or his past as a pirate.

However, those thoughts would have to remain unspoken, because the continuous rustling noise he heard had Ichiryu lift his head to see what it was. The sound was too constant to be an animal passing by, and too close, something that he would never have let happen even when distracted. After a quick moment of surveying the surrounding trees and bushes for any beast that could have snuck past his senses, Ichiryu eventually found that the culprit of the noise was Toriko as he tossed and turned.

Raising an eyebrow at the boy he'd thought to be sleeping, he was proven wrong when the kid shot up from beside his sleeping brothers with a frustrated look on his face. Toriko heaved a heavy sigh before he scooted himself beside the fire opposite his father, taking to looking into the flames as Ichiryu had moments ago with a contemplative look on his young face.

With a teasing smirk coming to his face, Ichiryu decided to ask his son why he was awake, "Shouldn't you be sleeping, ya brat?"

Normally he would get a small, indignant rise from the boys when he would call them that, even Coco would at most frown slightly, so the lack of response from the son with the title of 'second-most hot-headed' got him wondering what was on the boy's mind.

"Hmm, I can't..." Toriko looked at Ichiryu, after having finished pursing his lips and clenching his eyes closed in order to think harder. Toriko answered Ichiryu's next question before the old man had the chance to ask it.

"What was missing?" Toriko finally said, and that was all the retired chef of the Pirate King needed to hear to immediately understand.

Toriko had been trying to figure out what had gone wrong with the dish of the Billion Bird that his father had failed to make properly.

"That's what's gotten you so agitated?" Ichi leaned forward slightly, smiling wider that Toriko was so troubled by this.

After all, he'd already said they were too young to get it.

"I can't figure it out!" Toriko frowned, completely stumped and hating that his father was getting one over on him...like usual with all the kids really.

"Well, it isn't like you're meant to just yet anyway," Ichiryu smirked, drawing a knee up to rest his arm on to settle in.

"But I gotta!" Toriko said with full seriousness to his father, "I'm the one that has to make it for Coco and everyone, so I have to figure out how to do it..." he rubbed his chin a little, racking his brain for a solution to this predicament, and the answer he came to would probably wind up just as, if not more confusing than the current.

"Give me a hint, old man!"

The demand from the boy had Ichiryu let out an exhale of air from his nose, holding back the full-blown laugh that he wanted to release. Composing himself, Ichiryu looked into the determined and annoyed eyes of Toriko; annoyed most likely because he found himself asking his father for assistance.

"A hint?" Ichiryu asked with mirth, "What good's a hint gonna do you, if you said you've already got no idea?" he asked teasingly and watched an embarrassed blush spread on the young Toriko's face.

"It'll point me in the right direction, old man!" Toriko fussed, pouting and crossing his arms. "Now give me one...give me one or I'll keep bothering you and never go to sleep~!" Toriko threatened with the outcome that would cause a lot of parents to break out into a cold sweat, the sheer inconvenience of their children remaining awake during a time when they were afforded relief from watching over them.

Watching the blue-haired boy begin to roll around on the ground while repeating 'gimme', Ichiryu finally relented with a twitching eyebrow. If he continued on like that, Toriko would probably wake the others up and it wouldn't become any quieter with Sunny and Zebra added in.

"Alright, ya damn brat!" Ichiryu sighed, observing his son almost immediately halt his performance once he saw that he'd gotten what he'd wanted complete with a smile on his face...knowing that he'd won.

A mischievous smile came to Ichi's face, knowing he'd be making the kid pay for playing with him like that.

"Hm, a hint, huh?" Ichiryu rubbed his chin, thinking of what he could say, while remaining vague to tease the boy since he doubted Toriko would get it anyway.

"The best way I could describe it...it's something that most everyone has..." Ichiryu began, gaining Toriko's rapt attention, "...something so common for people that you take it for granted and can even forget that it's there."

A particular image appeared in Ichiryu's head, two familiar faces from the present day though younger, and two unfamiliar, all with smiles.

"...But when it's gone, you can't help but realize what you've lost."

The father looked back into the fire now as his mind wandered to the time he had lost this mysterious missing piece and the emptiness that came with it as he'd begun his hunt across the island for every ingredient.

"It took me joining Roger's crew to truly realize what made the Billion Bird taste as horrible as it did."

A genuine smile came to Ichiryu's lips as he thought of his former crew, different from the mischievous smirks he'd give the boys, or the teasing smile when he mocked them. This one was understated, and simple, and it somehow held a kind of gravity that sucked Toriko in and made him think that this was a moment that needed to be burned into his young mind even if he was unsure why.

"I believe that, without this ingredient, a meal can't truly blossom," Ichiryu closed his wet eyes to cover up any tears that threatened to spill as he finished with one last line...

"A meal's essence, its true essence, can only come out with that essential ingredient..."

A moment of silence passed between the nostalgic father and his clueless son. The words sunk into Toriko's mind as he began to decipher the words that Ichiryu gave him as his hint...and an idea came to him...

"...was it salt?"

...a very wrong idea.

The atmosphere completely shifted after that, Ichiryu's smile faded for the angered snarl that took its place, and his eyebrows knit on his wrinkled forehead. Turning to his obliviously blinking son, the angered man responded to his son in incredulity.

"You really think I'd forget something like salt!?"

The boy's look of sheer disbelief at Ichiryu for 'forgetting' something as simple as...salt, made him all the angrier at his son for thinking that was the answer; Toriko even leaned away slightly when he'd said his answer, seeming surprised at his father's absentmindedness.

Toriko's face almost screamed 'really?' at Ichiryu.

"You said it was something that almost everyone has, and salt is such a basic ingredient that people could get tired of it and forget to even add it to their meal..." Toriko thought that his reasoning was sound.

Instead of being rewarded for guessing correctly, Toriko was met with his father's irritated face before he was pushed down by the man to lie next to his brothers.

"I told you, you aren't old enough to understand! You got your hint, ya brat, now go to bed!" Ichiryu shot him down, and when it reached his son's ears he was immediately sitting back up.

"That wasn't a good hint, old man! Give me another one!"

Toriko tried to go on another tantrum, but Ichi decided to nip this one in the bud early. Taking some scattered vines from the jungle as Toriko called after him, he came back to not only tie his son up tightly so he couldn't move but also wrap his mouth so there would be no more lip from him.

Sure, he struggled for a while, most likely trying to scream his head off for his father to untie him and give him another hint...but he'd tire himself out once he realized there was no way out without help and go to sleep anyway.

Clapping his hands free of the dirt and grime they'd accumulated from handling the useful greenery, and turning his back to his angered kid, Ichiryu gave a small smile with a sigh at his son.

He knew that Toriko would figure out the real answer, sooner or later, and it would become just as obvious to the man he'd grow into as it was for his father.

(Present)

'Hm, salt...' Toriko laughed in his mind at his answer back then. He closed his eyes and smiled, speaking out loud now under his breath, "You were right, old man," Toriko continued as he stared into the pot.

"I was too young to realize back then, but now...it just seems so obvious what was missing..."

From within the boiling pot, the dish had reached its zenith, and the evidence of this was the sudden golden glow that emanated from it, catching Komatsu's attention.

"T-Toriko-san! The dish!"

Before Komatsu's call, even before the glow of the pot, the aroma of the legendary dish's completion hit Toriko, halting his thought before he could finish it as the smell reached his nose.

'...That all-important ingredient...to reach the meal's essence...it could only be...'

With a wide smile stretching his face, deep within himself, Toriko knew that the time had come.

The cooking had been completed, now all that was left was to serve it.

"Komatsu."

The sous chef got over his surprise at the glow emitting from the pot to look at Toriko's excited, determined face as he turned to address the small young man. A muscular arm thrust to his side, bicep bulging as he clenched his fist which was turned upward, and not a hint of doubt or give in his decisive words.

"Go let everyone know..." Toriko's grin became predatory, his excitement reaching its peak.

"...that the meal is ready!"

(Inside the Dining Room)

The chanting was still going strong within the dining room regardless of the amount of time that had passed waiting on Toriko, in fact, the volume had only increased along with the intensity of the chanting...well, at least it had from Naruto.

" FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!"

The blond pirate captain had started to shout at the top of his lungs now, having completely stopped drumming his fists on the table, leaving Mansam and Jiro to pick up his slack with their drunken smiles still on their faces as they did so, while he had his arms fully extended above his head to clang his silverware even more loudly as he shouted with Birubī peeping as loud as he could along with him.

By this time, having dealt with this noise for as long as they had, most of the others had either fallen into silence, seeing as no conversation could be had without matching the loud volume which would add to the noise, or in certain cases...their anger was bubbling up.

Even the lovestruck Setsuno had become weary of the rowdiness, "Oh, Jiro-chan..." she trailed off tiredly, still unable to reprimand him for the noise.

Coco had also halted his addition to the...'ritual' once he felt that he had contributed enough.

Ichigo had long stopped laughing at the chaos, content to tune it out now, having closed his eyes to rest a little more while waiting.

And Ryuko and Rin, well they were the ones that were trying to hold themselves back...though it was far harder for the pirate to rein herself in when the loudest one, the one she'd hitched her wagon to, was sitting right next to her without any sign of stopping.

Her eyes were closed as she tried to calm herself...but she couldn't even hear herself think! Her eyebrow twitched in time with every sharp clink of his silverware, her composure slipping by the second as a vein pulsed on her forehead. Ryuko tapped her right index finger against her left bicep since her arms were crossed, trying to put her energy into anything to occupy her...but her patience had been chipped away all this time and her captain had finally hit bedrock.

" KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!"

Ryuko's shout was much louder than the trio of men and one chick's chanting, most of the outburst directed to the blond on her right. The incensed navigator's head enlarged with her anger to the point that it dwarfed her captain's body, making him take a defensive position by scooting away from her while using both arms to cover his head as he rested his chin on the table with a frown.

"Honestly," she sighed, "Can't you just sit and wait like everyone else? The food's gonna come out whether you scream and shout or not!" she reprimanded him like she was his mother.

"You're ruining the whole atmosphere!"

Senketsu's eye drifted upward, some disbelief shining through it as his partner's shout reverberated within the dining room as the chanting previously had...and this situation was not lost on the others at the table, but they weren't about to get between the two pirates.

While being told off, Naruto idly tapped his silverware together, pouting like a child. He was unwilling to compromise on this, his navigator was just being a stick in the mud, and he let as much be known when she'd finally finished.

"But it'll come out faster if we do it...just watch..." he muttered obstinately.

And that got him clocked in the head with a comical bump forming within seconds.

"Watch what!?" she held her recently used fist up with her hips cocked to the side and her other hand resting against it. "You're done! You're gonna shut up and wait quietly for Toriko!" she told her recovering captain who was holding his new injury with the bird in his lap cowering at her terrifying visage.

Getting upset himself now, Naruto did not back down from Ryuko, instead childishly clapping back at her, "It'll work!" he dramatically pointed at the unimpressed girl.

"It's worked before! It's probably because you don't think it will, so it's taking longer, bleh!"

The navigator was fine with him trying to defend his unfounded position, seeing as she wouldn't be swayed no matter what he said in defense of his actions...but then he stuck his tongue out, and at that point, he should know that he was dead meat.

Her face grew tight with a strained, crooked smile that promised pain that her target was oblivious of thanks to his eyes being scrunched closed with his tongue out. She cracked her knuckles while preparing to set him straight and quiet him down for the rest of their wait.

"How about I put ya back to sleep, and maybe we'll wake you up for the food!" she raised the deadly weapon threateningly above her head to bring it down on his skull and knock him back out and achieve the quiet she wanted.

On the other side of the blond, his first mate put in his two cents, though his crewmates were too distracted to hear him.

"What was that about 'ruining the atmosphere?'"

Just as Ryuko was about to deliver righteous judgment unto her unsuspecting captain, who still had his eyes closed and was putting his full power into sticking his tongue out at her to show his displeasure, her eyes were aglow with a darkened aura surrounding her with her fist seconds from coming down.

Luckily for the blond, the sound of the kitchen doors being pushed open in the back of the dining room caught the attention of everyone, saving Naruto from the fist that Ryuko managed to stop mere inches from the top of his head. The unknowing savior was none other than Komatsu, who looked like he had run through the kitchen to reach the dining room given he was panting as hard as he was and somehow covered in sweat despite the short distance between the two areas.

With his eyes still wet with tears, and snot threatening to fall from his large nostrils, Komatsu did his best to compose himself to deliver the important news to everyone gathered.

"Komatsu-kun, is everything alright?" Coco asked calmly, his unflappable attitude serving to ground the distraught young man while voicing everyone's thoughts.

Steeling himself for this announcement, Komatsu rubbed his sleeve against his eyes to dry them, then took a deep breath that also served to suck back in the snot that threatened to drip from his nose. With that done, Komatsu finally made his announcement...but he could not keep himself together as his dam of emotions broke almost instantly despite his attempt to compose himself. His face was awash with the tears that he'd been holding back, and his large nose couldn't stop running, screaming at the top of his lungs...

"The cooking...is finished!"

His shout bounced off the walls of the dining room, reaching the ears of the assembled to which smiles came to their faces once they received the news from the bawling sous chef.

"It's about time," Ichigo said with a smirk on his face while leaning forward on the table, visibly relaxing now that the news of Toriko's status was known and the ending of this whole adventure was in sight.

"You're telling me," Mansam drank some more from his bottle, "The damn brat, keeping us waiting like that."

"Heh, heh, time's precious for an old man like me...but the sake really helps pass it," Jiro's flushed face drunkenly giggled.

"Toriko-chan..." Setsuno gave a slight sigh, keeping her smile.

"Toriko!" Rin clasped her hands together happiness filling her thanks to Komatsu's news.

"See? It worked after all," Naruto smiled widely, framing his chin with his index finger and thumb, impressed that his idea had, indeed, worked. His words, however, had the effect of revealing that he'd truly had no clue whether his hollering would produce results or not.

And the woman that had been in the process of disciplining him for said noise did not let those indicting words pass her by.

From behind the 'justified' pirate captain, her eyes narrowed, eyebrows knit, and a frown present, even with the good news they'd received, Ryuko yanked on Naruto's cheek leaving him frozen with his smile on his face, too afraid to make any sudden moves or risk angering his navigator further.

"'After all', Huh!?" Ryuko ground out, catching the blond in his lie and making him break into a cold sweat.

"I'm just happy that Toriko-san can finally rest!" Komatsu took his seat, his face still an absolute mess as he sat next to Coco.

"So am I, Komatsu-kun...but perhaps you should clean yourself off?" Coco politely reminded the sous chef with a slight sweatdrop when he turned to the ex-Bishokuya, essentially showing off his messy crying face to him even as he agreed with Coco.

Another loud slam of the kitchen door being opened stopped all the mingling at the table as Toriko backed out. Whirling around with the large pot he'd used to cook the ingredient in his hands, held by the handles, Toriko showed his wide grin to everyone, his previous fatigue fading away thanks to his excitement.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting," The chef laughed heartily while approaching the table.

"Yo, Toriko!" the first to greet him was none other than Naruto. Now that he'd been released by his huffing navigator, his own smile and exuberance had returned full force without the shadow of death behind him, and his little companion in his lap imitated him with a wing up in greeting.

Meeting the blond's smile with his own, Toriko laid the pot down on the table before addressing the pirate captain.

"Naruto! Good to see you up!" Toriko laughed with the blond, Ryuko finding it hard to believe that these two could treat the ordeal they'd been through so lightly...and it hadn't even been a day..."I was afraid that you'd miss out."

"There was no way that I was going to miss this!" Naruto grinned wider.

"Ha, that's good, not that I would have let you, anyway," Toriko admitted, after all this was possible because of him and his crew.

"He wouldn't let us hear the end of it if we did," Ichigo said bluntly, and he wasn't sure if it was sad that his captain gave an unapologetic nod as if he knew that Ichigo was 100% correct.

"Well, the wait's almost over," Toriko raised his hand and let it rest on top of the lid, clutching its handle to remove it from the pot. "But before we do..." Toriko became solemn, a stark juxtaposition from the excitement he was just showing.

The sudden shift in atmosphere had everyone go silent, wondering what Toriko had to say now when they were so close to getting what he'd wanted.

"I wanted to thank you guys," he said simply, looking at the three pirates and continued, "Without your help...it isn't an exaggeration to say that I'd have had no chance at catching Birubī," the tiny chick tilted his head when he'd come up in the conversation.

"What with the Bishokukai hunting him too, I would have been outmatched...and his species probably would have been ended then and there," Toriko said seriously, knowing that the Bishokukai would have easily defeated him, not only with their numbers advantage but their strength as well.

"And we wouldn't be here now, about to eat this dish," his smile returned now, though it was a sincere one, one that conveyed how truly grateful he was that he'd encountered this group of pirates.

"Thank you."

"Heh, no problem," Naruto, without a moment's hesitation, responded to Toriko, cutting through the heavy, slightly dour, atmosphere that had come up almost instantly with his bright smile; Birubī in his lap chirping in affirmation with his parent.

"You really wanna thank us?" Ichigo smirked, leaning on the table with one arm, and the other pointing to the ceiling as its elbow rested on the table, "Just make sure that this dish is half as good as you made it sound...then we'll call it even," he said coolly.

"What they mean to say is, we were happy to help," Ryuko rolled her eyes at her nakama's lack of manners, especially given that someone was thanking them, so, as always, took it upon herself to act cordially..."Even if it wasn't entirely the reason we came here."

Well, mostly, she still seemed a tad miffed they were dragged into all this when Gourmet Island was meant to be a pit stop for them.

"Ha! Then there's a lot riding on this, isn't there?" Toriko took the words in stride, though his smile became more mysterious, a knowing one like he was in on a secret that the pirates weren't aware of.

"But I think this will be more than worth your while."

And just like that, his grin returned to its original state as he now addressed the rest of the table.

"And it isn't just you guys..." he let his eyes roam over everyone, "I want to thank everyone here. You all helped make this possible. Taking care of me, training me...and just being there through it all...watching out for me...all of you have contributed to this, no matter how small you think it was...it means a lot that you were there."

His words made those he was referring to smile, though Rin was blushing very hard taking it as Toriko's declaration of his undying love for her in thanks to her own assistance, and Komatsu was again holding back the torrent of tears that he was about to release with Coco offering him his napkin to clean himself again with his own small smile.

"There's no better way to show my appreciation for all you've done, than making sure you get a share of this dish!" he turned his attention back to the pot, arm tensing in preparation to remove the lid.

"So without further ado! Let's dig into the dish that even my old man, the chef of the Pirate King, couldn't complete!" he said with pride, joy overflowing that this task was about to be done, once the meal had been eaten, the true test would come, and he would see if he had succeeded.

True to his words, the preamble was over, and Toriko lifted the lid from the pot, and instantly, a large blast of steam came from it. The steam was nowhere near what one would expect from the mid-sized appliance, it was as if the group had stepped into a sauna. The wave of warm air spread through the dining room, powerful enough that it actually pushed the hair back on everyone's heads, and the force had them close their eyes. It wasn't unbearably hot either, it was a comfortable warmth that spread over their bodies, a pleasant feeling that reminded them of hot springs, not too cold, not too hot. And the smell...the smell was intoxicating, somehow just the steam released from whatever this dish was had them all on the verge of drooling, it spoke to a base instinct they all had, the knowledge that something delicious was coming their way whet their already heightened appetites.

An extraordinary meal was awaiting them, and they only had to imagine what could create such a tantalizing smell for a few moments longer.

Once the wave of steam had died down, with only a small amount remaining to rise from the pot as normal, Toriko shouted the name of this delicious, phantasmal dish that they would have the pleasure of partaking in.

" Birion Yude Tamago (Billion Boiled Egg)! "

With the announcement of the dish's title, even the steam from the pot somehow taking the form of the characters needed to spell it, the awe that everyone had felt melted away.

...boiled eggs?

Their awe gave way to confusion, surprise...disappointment? Though they wanted to keep that one from showing on their faces...but it was a little difficult.

The dish that they'd all been waiting for...the one that had produced such a delicious smell...enough to have taken up such a large chunk of Toriko's mind for so long, and it was so...mundane, ordinary, simple.

Toriko, even with these less-than-enthused faces did not let his stance waver, he stood unflinching with his arms crossed and smile still on his face, seeming to expect this kind of reaction from everyone...

...almost everyone.

The only two that did not have confusion on their faces at this unexpected reveal were his brother as Coco kept his calm, dignified air without a shred of surprise showing, and Naruto...though he couldn't tell what the pirate captain was feeling at this moment.

Everyone else, though, was struck speechless. A tense silence permeated the table, no one daring to voice what they thought of such a lackluster dish, they were just in too much shock to form the words. There was also the fact that the majority did not want to wound Toriko's pride in his work, it would take some kind of bull-headed fool without an ounce of tact and the bluntness of a bowl.

"...Is that it?"

Ichigo was that person.

A loud thunk rattled the table from underneath, the only other visual indication that anything had happened was the sudden jolt that the swordsman had after the noise which had him hop slightly from his chair.

And then, he was suddenly writhing in pain facedown on the table, holding his leg.

"No offense, Toriko..." Ryuko continued as normal not sparing a glance at the pain on her crewmate's face as he nursed his...suspiciously injured leg, though it wouldn't take a genius to figure out who had been behind the jostling of the table and his sudden injury, but no one need bring it up.

Between the two crewmembers, their captain remained silent even after this, not even reacting to the sudden rattling of the table, while the conversation happened around him.

"...but, with the way you talked about this..." Ryuko looked at the man, trying to find the words to properly convey this without being too rude, "I guess we just expected something a little...more?" she said carefully.

Seeing him continue to look at her, the navigator searched for a way to understand this, and the quickest outlet she could find was the people who knew Toriko and his father the best.

"I mean...were any of you expecting this? Coco, you would've known right?"

The man in question hummed in thought before he answered her, "Believe me, I am just as surprised as you are," Coco looked at the girl, seeming to mull over his own thoughts on this. "Toriko made it a point to keep us all in the dark on just what the dish father had given him the recipe to was when we were kids..." Coco explained simply...

"He wanted it to be a surprise."

And it certainly was.

"But seriously...boiled eggs?" Ryuko frowned.

"Heh, heh," Jiro spoke up, beginning to lift another saucer of sake to his lips, "Well, Ichi was never an extravagant eater..." the old man reminisced on all the simple meals the man had eaten while they were together.

"And he was always playing pranks on those brats," Mansam spoke up, speaking of the many playful jokes Ichiryu would play on his kids.

Like having them go on a quest through the jungle for an ingredient, forcing the four to do battle with many different beasts, returning pretty worse for wear, only for their father to reveal the ingredient was completely inedible for them because they didn't have the necessary strength to open its outer shell.

See? Prank.

"This would be right up Ichi-chan's alley..." Setsuno sighed.

"Wha- B-but the President wouldn't send Toriko-san on a wild goose chase for his whole life...just for a prank, would he?" Komatsu asked, having never had the pleasure of meeting Ichiryu.

"He would," everyone answered without hesitation, including Toriko, with straight faces.

'What kind of man was the President!?' Komatsu thought in shock.

Ryuko scratched at the back of her head, unable to make heads or tails of this...it was just too hard to believe, "But to have Toriko go through all this...and keep him on the island..." she mumbled...something coming to her mind, and it shook her...

"...all for some boiled eggs?..." Ichigo had also recovered from his...accident by now resting his chin on the table as he'd taken in the words while in pain, and realized, just the same as Ryuko, the giant problem that was coming.

'Oh no!' they unknowingly thought at the same time.

From the corner of their eyes, they cast a careful gaze on their captain between them who had stayed silent through these proceedings since the dish had been unveiled.

Naruto looked uncharacteristically stern, his face set in a frown and his eyes covered in shadow with eyebrows furrowed. Somehow, despite the lights being on in the dining room, his face had dramatic shadows cast upon it, making him seem far more rendered and harder than his usual exuberant and exaggerated expressions. In fact, since the pirate captain had woken up, this was the most serious he'd been, even when finding out their former foes had been sharing a recovery room with them had done little to shake him...

...but one thing his two, technical, subordinates knew...was that their captain took food VERY seriously.

A cold sweat formed on the two as they continued their unintentionally shared thoughts.

'If people that know Toriko well can still be this disappointed with the dish...' Ryuko started within her mind.

'...then who knows how harsh a blunt moron like him will be with an unexpected twist like this!?' Ichigo finished.

Suddenly, the uneasy air had become thick with tension...the tide shifted to the silent blond with everyone wondering what he thought of this recent revelation. Expectant eyes fell on him, awaiting his response, but he remained still as stone with a face to match, the only levity to be had coming from the fact that Birubī, the innocent chick, was imitating Naruto's pose and expression, causing the bird to look just as rugged as his imprinted parent with even heavier shadows to show how hard he was trying to keep the stoic expression on his young face.

Finally, Naruto inclined his head down the slightest bit, his left eye coming out from the shadows to show it critically eyeing the pot in the center of the table, then subtly moving to stare at the charge in his lap. When he was finished with his inspection, Naruto spoke.

"Oi...Toriko..."

Ryuko unconsciously stiffened and Ichigo swallowed nervously, their sweat slightly increased from his words, they carried an intense gravity that had the two freeze, wondering what would be coming from the dangerous weapon known as their captain's mouth.

Toriko stared ahead meeting Naruto's serious gaze with a calm one, smirking.

"So you're saying this is the dish we risked our lives for?" Naruto's eyes were shadowed again, speaking seriously, but something was bubbling beneath the surface, "You needed Birubī to make this...right?"

"That's right," Toriko said simply in response.

Going back to frowning, Naruto bared his teeth in a scowl, that being the only part of his face to be shown thanks to his bangs shrouding his eyes in shadow.

"I see..." he muttered under his breath.

Naruto then placed his hand onto the table with an audible slam, surprising his nakama that he was getting this upset about this. They had expected him to say something stupid and hit him much like Ichigo had been for his insensitive reaction...but the blond looked ready to fight!

He used his other hand to rest atop Birubī's head, and motioned to stand from his seat, "Then that means..." he built up his next words, standing fully now, boring his piercing blue eyes into Toriko's sedate black.

"Whoa, Naruto, hang on-!"

"This isn't something to shoot your mouth off over, ya moron-"

Both Ichigo and Ryuko tried to calm the situation before their captain could say something unforgivable, reaching to grab him by the arms and sit him back down as fast as they could...only...

Rather than shouting his displeasure, Naruto had lifted Birubī above his head, holding the confused chick with his palms flat beneath as if the animal was some sort of precious treasure, and shouting something else that floored everyone.

"Birubī was a girl this whole time!?"

A crash resounded from the sides of the blond that made him lower his head to see that both his friends faceplanted onto the table in utter shock!

'THAT'S WHAT HE WAS THINKING ABOUT!?' they lamented in their minds.

It truly was a wonder how Naruto's brain worked.

Blinking at how weird his crew was, and lowering the chick to his side, Naruto asked his crew in a questioning tone that denoted that he thought that they were the weirdos, "What's with you guys?"

That made the two of them shoot back up, the sheer nerve that he had to even imply they were the problem here!

"WHAT'S WITH YOU!?" they yelled at him, having him blink in confusion as he tried to figure out what he'd done.

"We thought you were about to say something serious!" Ichigo said through his grit teeth, grinding his fist into Naruto's cheek.

On the opposite side, Ryuko did the same as their swordsman, the two of them punishing the oblivious blond for giving them a heart attack.

"Nngh!" Naruto removed them from his face, becoming indignant, "I am being serious!" he raised the confused chick in front of himself, "Don't pretend you aren't curious how Birubī could lay eggs if he's a guy!"

Ichigo went to answer but paused when the truth of the matter reached his ears, leaving him to slowly lose his angered expression and adopt one that showed he started to daydream. His mind wandered now that this obvious inconsistency was broached, freezing him as he tried to rationalize this mystery, and staring into space as he did so.

"Don't get caught up in his pace!" Ryuko leaned past her captain to smack the distracted swordsman out of his thoughts. She sighed at the headache she was getting which was becoming normal thanks to Naruto's odd antics, who smiled smugly in the middle as he felt justified after Ichigo had essentially agreed with his thought.

"Look, just try to have your face match what you're thinking from now on...nearly gave me a heart attack..." Ryuko rubbed her forehead.

"Indeed...I can corroborate..." Senketsu nodded, having felt the fluctuations of her blood whenever her captain acted foolishly.

"*sigh* shut up..." she whispered to him.

The loud boisterous laughter of Toriko caught the three's attention once there was a lull in their conversation, and after calming he decided to elaborate on this mystery.

"I can see why you guys are confused but don't worry. Birubī's male," Toriko said and got the questioning gazes of three pirates, so he continued on to answer the unasked question.

"See, Billion Birds are able to reproduce asexually. They most likely evolved this way to offset the numbers they'd lose because of predation in the jungle since they are a delicious ingredient," Toriko explained, "Thanks to us saving Birubī from the beasts in the Gourmet Jungle and the Bishokukai, there's a real chance that the little guy can restart the species all on his own. As long as there's one Billion Bird, more can be born."

The group was once again reminded of just how important and incredible this little guy that they just happened to stumble on was.

"Of course, you don't have to worry about the eggs I used being fertilized or anything," Toriko added on, pointing to the chick, "Since he's still just a kid, that's all he can lay. They won't become fertilized until he comes of age and only if he feels comfortable doing it because Billion Birds have high reproductive ability."

With the explanation concluded Naruto nodded his head while rubbing his chin, humming as well as he processed the new information.

"So, Birubī really is a mystery bird..."

"The natural world sure is amazing..."

Both Naruto and Ichigo stared straight ahead, nodding in sync.

"In through one ear and out the other, huh?" Ryuko shook her head at them clearly not understanding.

"Alright, now that that's settled, let's eat!" Naruto took the insult to his intelligence in stride, slamming his hands together in front of his face, and saying...

"Itadakimasu!"

After saying his prayer, without hesitation, Naruto, rudely, reached over the table to pluck one of the Birion Yude Tamago out of the pot, doubling as a way to show off the eggs' appearance.

It was bigger than a regular egg, given that it came from a larger bird, able to fit comfortably in Naruto's index finger and thumb, but only just, and it appeared to sparkle like a gem.

No one at the table objected to Naruto wanting the first taste of the dish since he was an important facet to its creation in the first place, it was the least they could do to show their appreciation for his and his crew's efforts in assisting Toriko with this.

Though both Ichigo and Ryuko were wondering what he thought of the, admittedly, underwhelming reveal of the dish.

"Hold on a sec..." Ryuko called to him just as he was about to bite into the egg, stopping him, "Are you really okay with this?" she was still so sure that he'd have been upset it wasn't some mind-blowing meal he'd never seen before that teetered on the edge of the unbelievable.

"Yeah..." Ichigo chimed in with a raised eyebrow, "I mean...they are just boiled eggs...how much better could they be?" Ichigo said skeptically.

Naruto's eyes shifted upward as he thought of what to say, pursing his lips, and making everyone wonder what he would say in response to his disbelieving crew.

And he did not disappoint.

"Hm, well, I'm not gonna pretend that this was what I was expecting..." he started speaking, still keeping his thinking face as he did, only for it to fade almost instantly as he went on, a simple answer coming to him.

"But I trust Toriko!" his smile cutting through it all as it often did, reaching the heart of the matter.

"He said this'll be good, so I'm sure it will be! And besides, I'm sure that Toriko's dad wouldn't have him, Coco and the rest of their brothers stay on the island just for a prank."

"You're really surprising sometimes," Ryuko smirked at him, making him tilt his head.

His words got most everyone to smile at his simple view of the meal, rather than worrying about the appearance, he only cared about the taste, doing away with the notion that it would taste as ordinary as any other boiled egg simply because a friend of his assured him that it would be delicious.

Toriko especially was happy with this outcome. He'd expected the skeptical gazes of everyone when the dish had been brought out, hell, when Ichiryu had told him what it was when he was young, he had a similar reaction that the old man had laughed about. Yet now, years later, he'd come to understand why this dish was important, why it had tasted awful, and why he would succeed where his father had failed when making the dish before.

Seeing the pirate captain accept the dish as is, working to melt the apprehension and disappointment away from everyone at the table was something that made him all the happier to have him be the first to taste of it.

"All right!" Naruto raised the egg above him dramatically, "Here I go!"

He immediately shoved the food into his mouth whole, showing his impatience. Everyone else waited with bated breath to see what the blond would think of the peculiar meal, if it would live up to what he expected, or fall short of the high standards that had been built up by Toriko.

With the large egg nestled comfortably in Naruto's mouth, he took his first bite of it...

...and he'd instantly froze in place.

"*Hrp!*"

His chewing halted, the hand he'd used to push the egg into his mouth stayed up since it froze along with him, his cheeks bulged, no doubt filled with the yolk, and his eyes had whited out from the shock of whatever he had tasted.

Thanks to that reaction, everyone was on the edge of their seats. With bated breath, they waited for Naruto to describe how it tasted, but he remained still, not even breathing, he stayed rooted in his chair.

"Well?" Ichigo was the one to break the silence, attempting to break his captain from the trance that he'd found himself in, "Don't leave us hanging. How's it taste?"

The words weren't enough to rouse Naruto, so the first mate shook him slightly with a hand on his shoulder. This managed to wake the blond up, his eyes regaining their color and resting back on the pot.

Rather than answering Ichigo's question, and by extension everyone else's, with words, Naruto showed it through his actions as he often did. The blond swiftly began to shovel more and more of the boiled eggs into his mouth, ravenously devouring the dish by the handful, gnashing his teeth together to chew and swallow as quickly as possible so he could make room for the next batch.

"Whoa! What's the matter with you!?" Ryuko tried to pull Naruto back into his chair, but it was impossible with how determined he was to continue stuffing his face.

"Ah knwo it doeshn't mak shenshe (I know it doesn't make sense)!" Naruto spoke through his stuffed gullet, never slowing in his eating, even as crumbs fell thanks to his messy eating, "But dere's no mishtaking dish tashte (But there's no mistaking this taste)!" he couldn't control himself once the flavor had hit his tongue...it was nostalgic, he'd never forget this taste as long as he lived.

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked. He was floored that some boiled eggs could evoke such a response from his captain, but here he was watching him shovel them into his mouth like his life depended on it.

Naruto swallowed the latest set of eggs he'd shoved into his mouth so he could speak clearly for the table to hear, a surprising set of words ringing out within the dining room...

"It tastes just like the first meal I had with Gramps!"

As soon as the boiled eggs hit his tastebuds, as crazy as it sounded, Naruto immediately tasted the roast that he had shared with Rayleigh back when they had first met. That sensation spread across his mouth before reaching his whole body, making his mind go back to that time, how happy he'd felt eating with his adopted grandfather, his elation at feeling less alone. He even remembered Inu eating with him, the tiny pup as happy as he was simply because Naruto was.

It had Naruto tear up slightly simply from the memory and the influx of emotions it resurfaced.

And each egg he put in his mouth kept that same flavor, which led him to constantly seek the next one to have that flavor linger for just a moment longer.

"Eh?!" both his crewmates gained disbelieving looks on their faces when Naruto told them that.

Obviously neither would expect a boiled egg to taste like anything but a boiled egg, so to hear the contrary was nothing short of surprising. It made them all the more curious about the eggs' taste.

Ichigo was the first to take the plunge and give the dish a try, after finding an opening in the swarm of hands that his captain was creating as he continued to vacuum up as many as he could. The characteristic scowl still present on his face, Ichigo inspected the egg he held between his index finger and thumb, trying to find something that would indicate that this was different than the garden variety egg, but found nothing.

"What's so special about an egg?" he muttered, seeing that Naruto was not slowing down in the slightest, so there had to be something to this...

Ichigo finally popped the egg into his mouth, not knowing what to expect from the dish. The only thing he had to go off was that it apparently did not taste like an egg, but something else entirely, and it was familiar to his captain as well.

As the swordsman took his first bite of the boiled egg, much like his captain had he froze when the taste hit his tongue...it was spicy...

"It can't be..." Ichigo chewed the rest of the egg and tasted fish as well.

He got over his shock much faster than Naruto had and grabbed another egg to verify that what he was tasting was real.

"Karashi Mentaiko," Ichigo said in complete shock.

It was his favorite dish, and this egg replicated the taste perfectly...yet that still wasn't the amazing part.

Within Ichigo's mind, as the oddly fishy taste erupted from the boiled egg he chewed, he could not help but go back to happier times.

A time when he was sat at the dinner table with his family.

Karin and Yuzu were excitedly waiting for their plates to be passed around, Isshin was cooing about how cute his girls were, and Ichigo was smiling widely as he watched a certain person coming from the kitchen.

His mother, Masaki, came from within the kitchen carefully balancing five plates with her hands and arms before proceeding to pass them around to her family.

The dish being served?

Karashi Mentaiko Pasta.

'It tastes just like how mom made it.'

There was no way that Ichigo could mistake the taste of this dish...not even his dad could make it the same way that Masaki would. It was a memory that he would always hold dear to him, one of the happiest he had.

And just like that, he was right along with Naruto in trying to get as many of the boiled eggs as he could.

"Hey! Don't eat 'em all!" Ichigo pushed against Naruto's arm to get at the pot, at least the orange-haired pirate was slightly more put together as he ate the eggs, though he was still trying his hardest to eat all he could. "Save some for the rest of us!"

Naruto looked at his first mate with a grin while continuing to chew what he had in his mouth, "It's good, right?"

"Damn right, it is!" Ichigo said distractedly.

"Yep, just like I remembered. That roast was delicious!"

Ichigo gave Naruto a questioning look when he heard that, "Your tastebuds not working?" he turned to look at Naruto, cheeks stuffed with the meal, stopping so he could speak properly.

"It's clearly Karashi Mentaiko, Naruto."

"Eh?" Naruto stopped too, "Nuh-uh, it's roast pig."

"Can't tell the difference between meat and fish, huh?" Ichigo mocked him.

"There's no way, I'd confuse meat with fish!" Naruto took offense to that, though Ichigo ignored him to keep eating.

Ryuko now chimed in, being the only one left of the crew that hadn't partaken of the dish, "Are the two of you so punch drunk you can't tell what eggs taste like?" she said.

"They don't taste like eggs!" they both said.

"Right..." she took one into her hand now. Observing it much like her crewmates had, Ryuko had started to draw her own conclusions on what this dish was but was finding that it couldn't possibly be correct either.

'One says it tastes like pig...the other spiced fish...maybe the eggs have different flavors stored inside to surprise the eater...but how would Toriko know that they liked those foods?' Ryuko thought to herself. Clearly, the boiled eggs' flavors seemed catered to Naruto and Ichigo specifically...but every egg tasted exactly like the food they loved...it couldn't be possible.

'The only real way for you to find out is to try it yourself,' Senketsu told her, watching from his position on her chest the contemplative look on her face.

Not being able to disagree with her partner, Ryuko joined her crew in the meal, biting into the egg once and leaving the other half in her hand. And just like her crew, she was taken aback by the flavor assaulting her mouth, though unlike them she did not freeze up, instead, she took a bite of the other half of the egg just to confirm what she tasted.

"No way..." her eyes darted to the middle of the table, and grabbed two more. Popping another in her mouth, she was shocked to find that this one tasted completely different from the first, and she expected that the third would be similar. The third egg found its way into her mouth and her theory was proven true when another new flavor hit her.

'But...that's impossible...'

These flavors...she'd tasted them all before, but only ever once.

She'd never had them again until this very moment...

Because, after all, they were always random...

"Ms. Sukuyo, how come your croquettes are always random?" Ryuko found herself asking at dinner one day.

The squinted eyes of the Mankanshoku matriarch looked to her second daughter, the rest of the family only half-listening as they dug into another round of her Mystery Croquettes.

"Hm, well," Sukuyo pressed a finger to her cheek as she thought, "With Mako's tuition taking up so much of our funds, I have to pick up some questionable ingredients sometimes..." she said, knowing some of the gross groceries she's had to grab to get by.

"So rather than have the look be a barrier, I'd rather them all come together to make something delicious for everyone, and the ingredients being a mystery makes each dinner a surprise...one that can last forever..." she smiled sweetly.

"Exactly!" Barazo shouted with a full mouth.

"Your croquettes are the best, mom!" Mako jumped across the table to hug her mother.

"Don't reach across the table, Mako!" Sukuyo bonked her daughter with a ladle while keeping her serene smile.

"Be glad you aren't getting poisoned either...thanks to me!" Mataro whispered, but Sukuyo still heard him, and punishment was coming.

"Guts, Guts!" the pug hopped from Mataro's lap to sit in Ryuko's while Mataro faced his mother.

Always noisy...she smiled.

She cherished that deeply.

'Even Ms. Sukuyo said she didn't remember what she'd put in the croquettes...' Ryuko looked to Toriko who remained in place this whole time just watching the three of them eat, 'There's no way Toriko could know what even one of them tasted like...'

A realization came to Ryuko just then...what these eggs really did for the one that ate them.

"So, what's it taste like, Ryuko?" Naruto's voice knocked her from her thoughts, his smile expectant with Ichigo leaning over to eye her as well with a deadpan expression on his face.

"Karashi Mentaiko," Ichigo said from behind Naruto like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, it tastes different for everyone," Naruto said, getting the same idea that his navigator had, if unknowingly.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, though he did keep listening.

Ryuko thought over her answer, and could only think of one thing to say...

"Heh, I wouldn't even know how to describe it..." she smiled knowingly...just the memory of those dinners was more important to her than the tastes she got to reexperience.

Naruto tilted his head, not understanding her response, but willing to accept it if she was happy with whatever she got out of the dish.

On the opposite side of this though was Ichigo who let out a snort from her answer, continuing to eat, "Who's supposed to be punch drunk again?" he said simply.

Ryuko's good mood did a complete flip when she heard that idiot mock her.

"Neither of you guys know what fish tastes like apparently..."

"It's magic!" Naruto huffed at his disbelieving first mate, "That's why we're all tasting different stuff!"

"There's no such thing as magic..." Ichigo shot him down without a second thought.

"Then how come it tastes different for all of us?"

"How should I know?"

"Hmph," Ryuko shrugged her shoulders with a wry grin, glancing at the swordsman from the corner of her eyes, "I think I get why your favorite is some spicy fish..." her words got Ichigo's attention, "...you gotta push back all that sweetness, don't ya..."

She fully looked at him now and said a word that was like a sword piercing him.

"...Strawberry!"

Ichigo blushed in embarrassment and anger at being called that.

"AT LEAST I CAN TELL WHAT I'M EATING!" he shouted at her.

"I COULD TELL WHAT I WAS EATING, I JUST SAID I COULDN'T DESCRIBE IT!" she yelled back unafraid of his tantrum.

They were so wrapped up in getting into the other's face and making the other yield, they missed the fact that each had placed a hand upon their laughing captain's head and shoved him down onto the table just so they could butt heads. Even through this though he kept his smile, and uttered the only thing that mattered...

"Heh, I'm just glad it tastes good," he grinned at Toriko who smirked back, glad that they were enjoying it so much.

The two shouting pirates seemed to remember that they were surrounded by other people at that moment and became ashamed of their behavior since they were more socially conscious than their captain was. Blushing slightly at the grins that were present on everyone's faces, both Ryuko and Ichigo disengaged from each other, letting Naruto up in the process which allowed him to go right back to eating more of the boiled eggs with reckless abandon, and then also taking another each.

"They're alright, I guess," Ichigo cleared his throat, attempting to reclaim his 'cool', detached attitude. "Though some people's tastes are better than others," he jabbed a little.

Naruto only blinked at him with a full mouth and answered Ichigo straight, "But the roast was good," missing the insult by his friend.

"Yeah, yeah, a spiced fish," Ryuko however did not, "You're really living it up there, such a discerned palette," she smirked.

As the pirates bantered with each other, the rest of the assembled group had taken it upon themselves to give the dish a try. Filling their individual plates with the boiled eggs now that the guests of honor had their chance to have the first taste of the food, though Naruto did so after some 'persuasion' since he was adamant about taking as many as he wanted directly from the pot, everyone started to dig into their meal...that is, everyone sans Coco, who had remained still as the rest had partaken, and Toriko who continued to observe those he was feeding.

Starting with Setsuno, the older woman was instantly taken back to her youthful days.

In the past, she was a much taller, much more beautiful woman clad in a leopard-skin dress that showed off her shoulders and was low on her more bountiful bosom while showing off her shapely legs with a pair of matching armbands on her forearms and her long pink hair in twin pigtails on the sides of her head.

Back when Gourmet Island was the dangerous overgrown jungle that had a reputation of being a deathtrap that the foolish would step on, Setsuno had found herself hunting for her next meal. While searching she had been unfortunate enough to fall victim to the erratic climate and collapsed within the jungle, a death sentence for anyone back then. The unconscious young woman was soon set upon by the myriad of monsters that had been stalking her waiting for their chance to eat, until a certain someone had happened upon her.

That person made short work of the creatures all without killing a single one, only using well-placed strikes on specific points on each beast's body, paralyzing them with no need to finish them off.

When Setsuno had awakened, she was met with the serious stare of a young Jiro, sitting by a campfire he'd made.

Much like his older self, Jiro's hair was styled in a pompadour only it was colored black as it had not grayed with age. He wore an open denim vest showing off his muscular chest seeing as that was all he wore on his upper body, a pair of matching pants that stopped at his shins, and a pair of black kung-fu sandals.

The young Jiro, after seeing that the girl he'd saved had indeed recovered, made to leave shortly after, saying he needed to 'get back before anyone worried', but was stopped by the pleading of Setsuno. She spoke of how indebted she was to Jiro and could not allow him to leave without giving him a proper thank you.

In contrast to his older, more laidback attitude, Jiro waved off Setsuno's thanks since he said he couldn't just leave a helpless little girl in the jungle, keeping the teasing aspect of his personality even in his youth. His dismissal was denied however when the woman assured him that she would not take no for an answer, leading to her following him to wherever he would be going, much to his annoyance.

Throughout their trek he found himself saving Setsuno from many beasts either because she could not care for herself or because she became lost in the hunt for an ingredient...though that pure love of food managed to get the delinquent-looking Jiro to soften up to her, being reminded of someone.

The two found themselves enjoying the other's company, not out of obligation or a sense of responsibility, but genuine care, and shared many memories with one another, sitting by the campfire and eating many meals.

Setsuno blushed at those memories, finding that she had not thought back on them for quite some time, "Oh, you were so handsome back then, Jiro-chan~" Setsuno swooned at the influx of those memories, being swept off her feet multiple times by Jiro, and eventually being introduced to those he had to 'get back' to.

"Remember, Jiro-chan~" she asked nostalgically.

"How could I forget?" Jiro answered after taking a bite and receiving his own memories of meals past, only from how he began to describe the tastes...they were slightly different from what Setsuno was referring to.

"It was a dry taste when I first had it, and that burn was something that stuck with me for the rest of the day, but it was unforgettable," Jiro's face was still flushed.

"Jiro-chan..." Setsuno's eyes glowed in restrained annoyance, boring into the nervous old man who began to experience a similar chill that Naruto and Ichigo often did when they were within their female crewmate's sights.

It was evident just what rather than who Jiro was talking about in his reminiscence.

"Eh, of course, this is second to meeting you, Secchan!"

The speed with which the old man recovered to spare himself from Setsuno's wrath was practiced, making her 'hmph' but accept his word nonetheless.

Though, even before, Jiro was not telling the whole truth when detailing the tastes he'd gotten from the eggs.

No, those specifics were privy only to him, not even Secchan needed to be let in on those past memories...she might get upset.

Jiro was a unique young man in his youth.

Like many children in the island's wild past, he was an orphan, and yet even among orphans, he was unique. He hadn't an idea whether his parents abandoned him, or died, but he rarely paid it any mind, for he was a wild child. Jiro lived within the jungle having literally been raised by wolves, wolves well-known for being quite the vicious beasts, but loyal to those that proved themselves.

Even as a baby, apparently, Jiro had something that the Alpha of the pack deemed respectable and took the babe in with the rest of the wolves. Raising Jiro as one of their own, the child was fed many of the strongest beasts the island had to offer until growing strong enough to hunt on his own.

Eventually leaving the pack, Jiro found himself as a wanderer mostly, taking what he wanted when it fancied him. Whether it was scattered settlements' food and clothing, or laying other beasts low at his feet when they got too big for their britches, Jiro trudged on.

These actions and his sheer strength earned him the title of Bōjū (Rampaging Beast .

And it seemed that nothing would stop him from continuing this trail of destruction...until...he was picked up again.

And from that lucky, chance meeting, the Bōjū had come to an end...though no less remembered, just now as a kinder presence that inspired safety for those he stood with.

He was the second son, at that.

The first...he'd go on to be far more famous.

And the third...more infamous.

But to Jiro, they were his brothers.

His food memories were filled, not with the pilfered meals of the helpless, or the beasts he'd consumed in the wild. They were of him sitting at a table with his two brothers, both being very familiar people but younger and the two others that had taken the three of them in.

"How long's it been since I thought of those times?" Jiro chuckled under his breath. Even at the expense of his Secchan being upset with him, those fond memories softened the blow...he'd be in the doghouse later for that lie though.

"Heh, this dish doesn't pull its punches..." Mansam, also still slightly drunk like Jiro, chuckled mirthlessly at what the boiled eggs had resurfaced within his mind. His smile was a little strained, less-than-pleasant recollections coming first before he could get to the ones that truly mattered to him.

Back in the day, Mansam was an entirely different man.

Much like Jiro, he was a selfish, powerful individual, though unlike the Second Wolf, Mansam did not wander around to find his next prey. Mansam used his power, instead, to gather settlements beneath his 'protection', extorting supplies and food from them or the punishment would be the destruction of whatever they had built while losing said supplies as well.

Put simply, Mansam was a bandit and a ruthless one at that.

And he touted himself as unbeatable.

Using this strength he had acquired, Mansam had gathered many lesser bandits beneath him to help run his criminal acts as proxies, allowing the expansion of his operation across Gourmet Island. He one day hoped to have the entire island running on his word, all the food going to him and feeding any other ambitions he had if he so chose to look further out.

The bandit chief had slowly made a name for himself...yet it was nowhere near the prestige of Jiro and his brothers.

The oldest of which the up-and-coming bandit leader had the displeasure of running into.

The First Dragon, the man that was believed to be the strongest on the island.

Mansam had been relaxing with his ill-gotten gains when he'd been informed by one of his many faceless peons that a disturbance was happening in one of his territories. The overconfident Mansam believed it to be another shoddy attempt at an uprising against his hold, usually, all it took was him making an appearance for those weaklings to bend the knee...and then he got to raise their payment for the slight against him.

Coming down from his 'throne' to deal with this was bound to be a trifle, or so he thought.

Once he'd arrived, Mansam was met with a slew of his followers laid on the ground within the settlement he'd taken control of with only one man standing before them without so much as a speck of dirt on his person.

This man had a familiar look to him, with dark skin and a large mustache, only clearly younger and his hair had yet to yellow with his age, instead being a deep black. In addition, the look on this man's face was devoid of humor or the joviality that would come to color him in his later years, his mouth now set in a frown and his brow furrowed as his eyes fell on the leader of this outfit he'd done battle with.

Seeing the state of these affairs, Mansam did not care for his fallen goons, his predatory gaze focused solely on this powerful enemy in front of him, another chance to prove that he was unbeatable.

As Mansam sized up his opponent, he did not think much of the man.

At first glance, the bandit's musculature outdid the humbler physique of the mustached man, shown off in an open torn purple vest with matching arm bands, and bright yellow shorts with torn ends, along with dyed blond hair, that he would later lose, spiked upward on his head.

The smaller man dressed simply in comparison, his body covered in a black, deep V-neck shirt and a pair of jeans with black shin-high boots. A backpack slung lazily over his shoulder to hold his belongings.

To Mansam this fight would be another feather in his cap before making this nobody grovel in the dirt and beg to join under his umbrella...so it came as a total surprise for the supposedly unbeatable bandit to find himself laid out on the ground just as his followers were, at the mercy of this stranger who had defeated him in an instant.

Struggling to even lift his head from the dirt, Mansam just managed to bring himself to lie on his stomach to stare at this monster before him. He watched the stranger regard him with a cold gaze and for the first time in a while Mansam felt fear grip him...he had no hope to stop this black-haired creature from finishing him or his goons off if he so chose as the winner of this battle.

The stranger started to move his body ever-so-slightly, and that minute motion from him was enough to get Mansam to shut his eyes to prepare for his end, trembling and gripping the dirt in his hands, yet no final blow came. When the fallen bandit leader reopened his eyes, he saw the man walking away from the defeated group, his work done and figuring that this loss would have them disband.

As the relief washed over him, a distinctive noise rang out through the empty space.

The growl of Mansam's stomach.

Before this commotion had started, he was about to be on his way toward one of the settlements he'd acquired to get his payment, so he didn't have the chance to eat.

The man stopped walking once he'd heard that sound.

He took a few seconds after stopping. In that time, he had lowered his head slightly, seemingly thinking over his next actions though Mansam could not confirm as he could only see the man's back.

If the fallen bandit could see his face though, he would have seen the man go through a range of emotions such as apprehension, annoyance, disappointment, sadness, and then finally acceptance. All these feelings flashed across his face in an instant, ending with him sighing as he chose what to do...

Mansam heard the dirt beneath the stranger's feet as he turned back and stalked toward him, fear coming back as he believed that his opponent had decided to finish him off after all which resulted in him shutting his eyes again.

Only, he again heard a sound he wasn't expecting.

The stranger had deftly removed his backpack, took a bowl in hand, and filled it with a stew he had made previously from a thermos. Once the bowl was filled to a satisfactory amount, the man put it onto the ground in front of the shocked Mansam.

The bandit was shaken from his thoughts as they began to form when his opponent had simply given him the command to eat. Despite himself, Mansam obliged the winner of the fight, scarfing down the offered meal with gusto. The stranger sat slightly ahead of Mansam, watching from the corner of his eye as the man hungrily devoured the food.

The man found himself unable to keep silent as he watched this bandit stuff himself, but he found that he was feeling particularly charitable at the moment.

Not that Mansam would know...but this man had just finished a personal mission, one that left him wanting and not nearly as fulfilled as he expected. This empty feeling had him a little introspective now that he had to move forward without this driving force he felt he needed to reach a certain point of understanding that someone he respected had.

Looking at this bandit, especially after what he'd just experienced, also had him feeling quite nostalgic, the bandit on the ground reminding him of someone else he'd met in his past in a very similar situation. That familiarity had the stranger reach out to this fallen man...hoping that he could perhaps stop him from making the same mistake as the person he remembered.

And he let that much be known when he finally spoke.

He told the bandit that his appetite was voracious...and obviously, he meant more than just for food. He made mention of that hungry gaze that Mansam had just at the prospect of doing battle with him, not even sparing his fallen comrades a glance...

The only thing that had come to his mind on this meeting was proving his strength.

It had been correctly deduced by this man that Mansam, despite his position, with all these followers, ate alone.

None of these people knew who they were following, instead they followed in fear, or for survival.

And looking back, Mansam always sat above his men whenever they ate. They had large celebrations with all the food they'd taken, laughing and making merry, but Mansam always ensured he was separate from them. He stayed on the throne he'd made himself, so he could see them all, watching with a critical eye even as he ate and drank, never relaxing his guard.

He couldn't.

Where he'd grown up, everyone got a specific amount of food...and if you couldn't get your own share, it was taken, and you'd starve for all they cared.

You needed to be strong. To contribute. To survive.

So Mansam did just that!

If he was unbeatable, then no one could take anything from him again!

And he found that with that strength he'd gained...came the hunger for more. Even more food, supplies, territory.

Once he'd built up his bandit ring enough...what was stopping him from taking neighboring islands?

All of that was shown in his eyes during their encounter.

The stranger gave it to Mansam straight...if he didn't temper that appetite of his, then there would be no end. He would continue to want more and more, for nothing and no one but himself, and forever 'eat' alone.

It was spoken from experience.

How he knew?

Mansam didn't know.

The stranger stood to leave and offered the parting words that the bandit should take this loss and reflect. He, rather than chasing this unbeatable title in a bid to prove himself and taking to satiate his appetite, should instead chase it in service of those close to him, for defense of what he holds dear, and he'd find that his hole would fill.

Hearing that from this man, made Mansam see him in a new light.

He'd never experienced kindness to this level, charity from someone he'd planned on crushing...and more than that, the stranger was right...always being on guard against the very people he'd gathered...wanting the next piece of territory after taking another...

...never satisfied.

It was tiring.

And then there was the final piece of advice that had Mansam decide the path he would be walking down for the rest of his life.

"Make this the first and last time that you are defeated, bandit. Start fresh and find those you can sit at the same dining table with and share a meal, that's what this whole island needs...and I plan to make it a reality..."

Mansam took those words to heart, he resolved to never allow himself to lose to anyone...

...that is, anyone except this man in front of him, again.

He would fight in service of this stranger.

And so he did...under protest.

Mansam followed his former enemy, ignoring the ways in which he tried to get rid of him. He watched him travel around the island, helping those he'd come across, hunting creatures that even the former bandit wondered if he could have beaten, and eventually returning to a pompadour-wearing man, and pink-haired woman.

Mansam truly believed in his leader's goal and followed wholeheartedly, and eventually during one of their excursions out to a distant settlement to distribute some food for them, they came across six babes, an occurrence not uncommon, of course, but never not surprising to see.

Seeing those poor children, unknowing whether they'd been left on purpose, necessity, or even in loving defense with a shred of hope for people to take pity, the stranger didn't hesitate to take them in.

After all, the work he was doing was, in essence, to assist this next generation.

Yet...despite getting this recent responsibility...the man suddenly decided to up and leave.

He suddenly spoke of some pirate that Mansam, the stranger's own brother, and the pink-haired woman never got the chance to meet...but the exuberance with which he spoke of this pirate could not be understated.

He felt he'd be missing out if he did not board this ship.

So, he left the majority of the children in his brother's care; the lone girl they'd found...well, she somehow landed into Mansam's care, something the former bandit wanted to protest...he didn't know how to care for a girl!

The response he got...which he couldn't deny...but also shocked him given the personality his leader normally had: "And you think I do?"

Mansam was floored along with the pompadour and woman.

The final child...well, Mansam did not know what happened to him, just that his leader had taken the baby out with him, and left after that without returning.

Though the three of them, at least in the present, had an idea what he'd done with the baby...and who he'd given him to.

Left behind as they were, they took care of the children thrust upon them, though Mansam continued his boss's mission even with his new charge. He continued laying the groundwork for the man that saved him so that when he eventually returned the island would be ready for the plans that he had for them. He took many expeditions to give out food, even coming across old goons of his, some he had to deal with, and some that had similar changes as he did, all with a babbling, giggling, baby on his back he might add.

Looking back, his boss was entirely right about him, he was an idiot looking to take everything without end, and his only thought was on the next 'meal' so to speak...but now, he didn't want for anything, following him and learning from that loss, taking his charity, he'd never forget how much better everything had become.

Other than the taste of the stew, he'd tasted something far better, and it was not something that Mansam would ever forget.

Though...

"...hm..." Mansam rubbed his chin with a wide grin on his flushed face, "Now that I'm remembering...it isn't as bitter as people make it sound..." he mumbled mysteriously. Mansam looked around the table, and could not help but realize how right the boss was back then...he was comfortable, enjoying himself, and since that day he hasn't even come close to being defeated.

Across from the bald man, a certain waitress who was very close to him was enjoying her first bite of the boiled egg. As the taste hit her tongue, a blush spread on her face once a precious memory resurfaced.

Growing up around the future Shiten'nō and raised by a Hage, it was a foregone conclusion that Rin would become a tomboy thanks to the sheer masculinity that a good portion of them exuded, not that she couldn't be girly, of course. Whenever her adopted father would stop by and visit the four's intermediate caretakers, she would join them in whatever adventure they partook in, and when their father returned that increased.

With their father being a lot more hands-off with their rearing, the four often got themselves into much more trouble than when they'd been watched by their granny, venturing into the jungle to 'hunt'. Her adopted parent on the other hand did not let her go with them unless he was around...pretty overprotective despite having ventured undaunted with her when she was a babe mind you.

Rin was used to hanging out with the boys, convinced she could do just as much as they could since they could bring back some of the smaller game in the Appetizer Jungle, and they were already getting a reputation thanks to being the children of their leader...so Rin decided that she would prove she was just as good as them.

Foolishly, she went out to capture something that the boys could not, and predictably she got in over her head.

This ended with her trapped at the end of a small cave with a beast too large for it trying to claw its way in and devour her, a gash on its eye to show her piddly amount of damage done to it. Staring into the beast's crazed eyes, Rin wondered if this would be where she would die, all because of some jealousy, tears forming in her eyes as she hoped that her father would come to get her, promising in her mind that she would even stop calling him bald if he did.

Just as the claw of the monster had finally dug around the cave enough to force an opening so it could fit inside and get to its prey, a shout sounded throughout the jungle. A punch to the creature's side jostled it out of the way, the culprit of this attack being an angry Toriko.

Using his sense of smell, Toriko was able to find Rin first. Standing in front of the frightened girl, the young blue-haired boy did not show an ounce of fear in the face of the much larger creature to assure the girl behind him.

"Get out of here, Rin!"

He shouted to her, fully intending to lose his life if that was what it took to save hers. Leaping at the beast, Toriko was continually batted away, not even worth noticing for the creature, but very irritating.

If there was one thing that he had, it was his toughness.

Rin was unable to bring herself to move though as she watched her hero get smacked around repeatedly in an effort to save her, her who had been watching the backs of those four and wanted to receive the praise of the populace as they had been...it was her fault this was happening.

Eventually, Toriko's endurance gave out, leaving him lying in front of Rin, and trying to force himself to keep fighting. Rin cradled the injured boy's head in her lap with tears from all the trouble she'd caused, leading to not only her life being endangered but her friend's as well.

A loud roar from the beast as it pounced for the children drowned out the final, desperate shout for help that came from Rin, but that did not stop help from arriving.

A pair of chopsticks caught the monster in midair before it could land on the children, and a powerful resounding punch resounded that launched the creature far into the jungle no doubt too injured to come back, and if it wasn't it, would think twice.

Both Ichiryu and Mansam had arrived on the scene to save the children, following behind them was Zebra, Sunny, and Coco. Rin could not help the fresh tears of relief and happiness that now flowed freely as her brother ran up to her to make sure that she was okay while the other boys checked on Toriko's condition. Of course, both she and Toriko got scolded for winding up in this predicament, Rin for running off on her own as she had, and Toriko for doing similarly when he'd caught on to her scent and rushed off before even letting them know what was happening.

The young girl was truly sorry for all the trouble she'd caused her adopted family, and grateful that she'd get to live another day, so much so that she couldn't help gripping her bald father's leg and bawl an endless stream of 'thank yous' upon the embarrassed man.

It was such a rare moment of affection for the two that it often left Mansam as putty in her hands afterward just so she would feel better, content to rub a hand on her head to try and calm her now that she'd learned her lesson.

Similarly, Ichiryu was giving his own charge a piece of his mind, commending the boy's fearlessness and readiness to spring into action on behalf of his friend, but also making note of the fact that he, and by extension, all of the kids, needed to be more careful when venturing out into the jungle. Until they all got older, and stronger, hunting alone was out of the question, and Ichiryu had instilled that ethos in his sons.

Yet, even while getting chewed out by his old man and ribbed by his brothers for his foolish act, Toriko's attention was on the calmed-down Rin who was standing beside Mansam rubbing her red eyes. As she wiped the last of her tears from her face, she was met with the wide grin of the blue-haired boy, regardless of the injuries covering his body, the dirt, and the blood that made him look ragged, he beamed at her, and said three simple words...

"You okay, Rin?"

He disregarded his state and focused solely on hers, ignored the trouble they were in, and made sure she was okay...

It was at that moment that Rin fell in love with Toriko.

From then on, she'd become head over heels for the boy that she used to treat the same as Ichiryu's other sons or her brother. Toriko had become Rin's knight in shining armor, her hero, and somehow, she knew that he was the one for her.

From then on, whenever she had free time, she would spend it with Toriko, and he let her tag along with him. She loved those times that they would find themselves alone together, even if he viewed these times as them simply spending time together, they meant the world to Rin.

And those special times bore fruit, in a manner of speaking.

Toriko's journey to become a chef, like his father had, was not an easy one...he had many, many failures. He'd attempted different dishes, looking to feed them to his family to show his steady improvement...but they'd hit the point that, when Toriko came calling with something new on the plate, his brothers would make themselves scarce to avoid the impending food poisoning.

So, he would turn to her instead.

No matter what the food looked like, how it smelled, and yes, even how it truly tasted, Rin treasured every bite because it had come from him...she wouldn't lie and say that they tasted good, she knew how important it was for him to improve...but it was the principle of the thing!

And eventually, all those tastings paid off...

...Rin got to taste the very first dish of Toriko's that was edible!

When the look of pure culinary bliss spread on her face before she could register that she'd made it, she knew that she'd made his day. He took his own bite of the dish and shouted for joy at finally succeeding, marking his first step forward, and it was thanks to Rin's critiques.

Caught up in the moment he'd swept her up in a hug that had her swoon even further than the food had made her. She was practically in a daze as he took her by the hand and flaunted his first successful dish to everyone, their skepticism was palpable with none of them willing to give it a try.

But with Rin there to corroborate his claims the others quickly came around, to the boy's irritation, seeing that they wouldn't take his word but would instantly give it a try due to Rin's.

Rin held this memory dear in her heart and mind, a once-in-a-lifetime experience that she alone held, and shared with the man she loved so dearly.

Rin placed her hands on her blushing cheeks, getting the chance to taste Toriko's first delectable dish again had her falling in love with him all over again. She couldn't help but sneak a glance at him as he still stood at the head of the table watching over his friends as they all enjoyed the meal. Embarrassingly, he caught her gaze from the corner of his eye, making her blush increase and have her shake her head from side to side to rein herself in, only serving to make her look stranger...he was just so handsome standing all serious like that~

Toriko gave her a clueless blink as he watched her...maybe a bad egg had gotten through?

Komatsu still hadn't taken a bite of his boiled egg, as a chef he wanted to examine the dish completely first. He inspected the egg thoroughly, getting a feel for its texture, weight, flexibility, and even its aroma. After finishing...whatever he'd been doing, the young man finally moved on to the all-important taste test, and he was blown away.

Unlike the majority of his friends, Komatsu had a very normal childhood. His parents cared for him, and their settlement had been one that worked together well to survive their harsh environment...the only issue was what they ate.

The taste left much to be desired.

Without the skill to hunt the large game on the island, they relied on the easy-to-capture beasts or ones that could be domesticated as livestock, leaving them with some of the more tough and bitter animals that were in their area...and they did not taste good.

But they survived.

Seeing the dismal faces as his family and neighbors ate tugged on his heart, he wanted them to enjoy eating.

And so, he learned to cook.

Teaching himself, he managed to get their food to have flavor and smiles spread as they congratulated Komatsu on his accomplishment.

And once the island started to turn around, he wanted to spread this feeling to everyone so he set out on his own to become an established chef.

Eventually, he'd managed to find a restaurant that was willing to take a newcomer on, and he was ecstatic. The work was hard and the environment was a bit rough, but Komatsu put his nose to the grindstone to hone his skills for the patrons.

Though, he noticed that they didn't get many...but the cooks definitely were making enough food to feed hundreds of people...and the owner spoke to a lot of men dressed in suits, but he could never hear just what they were talking about...

He didn't think about it too much though, as long as people were enjoying his food.

This ignorance came to a head one day when all of those, admittedly, suspicious occurrences finally added up.

While Komatsu and his fellow chefs were hard at work in their dingy kitchen, a sudden commotion outside in the restaurant proper had them all run out to see what was happening. Before their eyes, the authorities had come in and started arresting all of the higher-ups who kept the place running, and they were not going down without a fight. Bullets flew across the dining room as the clear criminals in this confrontation tried to save themselves and leave the chefs they'd tricked to rot.

They even went as far as to disregard these innocent bystanders they'd roped into this mess in the scuffle. One of the deadly projectiles was making its way towards Komatsu who was still in shock that all this was happening, and did not realize that his life was about to be snuffed out when a heavy thud caught his attention.

A large, hulking blue-haired man had landed in front of Komatsu, protecting the unaware young man with his frame, and saving his life. Falling backward in surprise, Komatsu met the black eyes of this man and saw a feral grin on his face before he joined the others in stopping the owners.

It turns out that the proprietors of the restaurant had been smuggling ingredients off the island, explaining why Komatsu and the chefs rarely saw any patrons sit down and eat within its walls. The restaurant had only been a front to move the ingredients to their buyers, using the chefs to prepare the ordered dishes while they were none the wiser.

And now it had all been broken up by Bishoku-ya Toriko of the Heavenly Kings.

With the culprits rounded up, it was being discussed by the authorities whether or not the makers of the illegal dishes should be punished right along with them. This left the poor unwilling participants begging to be spared from the punishment their employers would receive, pleading for amnesty.

The authorities were skeptical about giving them this chance, knowing that if one was lying then this whole ordeal had a real chance of starting all over again. They were leaning toward arresting them all and wrapping this whole incident up with a bow.

All talks were halted though when a certain chef had thrown himself onto his knees in a dogeza, grinding his forehead into the dirt with tears and snot running as he did so.

Komatsu, wailing all the while, apologized deeply for his hand in this crime. He expressed his deep regret for breaking the laws of the island, but he emphatically stated his and the rest of his coworkers' innocence, how they truly had no idea of the wrongdoing that they were unknowingly taking part in because they were only concerned with one thing...

With eyes filled with determination, absent of any of the uncertainty that normally colored them, Komatsu said that they wanted to feed people.

That was the job of a chef.

Toriko probed deeply into Komatsu's eyes and saw an unshaking resolve in those words, a firm belief and earnest desire to do as he said, getting the Bishoku-ya to smirk.

The authorities were a tad less responsive even with this display, feeling a might guilty for needing to take them in, though that choice was swiftly taken out of their hands.

Toriko decided then and there that he'd be taking the chefs in.

The word of one of the Shiten'nō carried a lot of weight, of course, and they would be hard-pressed to go against it. Deferring to the island celebrity, the rest of the criminals were taken into custody while the chefs had been hired on the spot for Toriko's restaurant.

That charity alone had made him their savior.

Bringing them all in, Komatsu thanked Toriko on their behalf but it had been waved off with the man saying that he should be the one thanking Komatsu.

He revealed to the young man that the reason that the smuggling ring had been discovered was because they'd gotten a hold of one of the smugglers but he did not roll over on the operation. The only lead that had been left to the investigation was the food they'd gotten ahold of, and the reason Toriko had been brought in to assist was that he could track the smell.

The issue had been that the majority of the dishes had been made with common ingredients so sniffing out a specific place would take a considerable amount of time, at least if not for one in particular.

One of the dishes had been made differently from the others, a specific spice had been used that only the most skilled chefs used in their dishes because if used incorrectly, it could ruin the food by overpowering it. The spice was finicky to the point that every use would need the exact amount to truly bring out the flavor, even if someone were to create the same dish using the same recipe, the amount required for each would be different and a keen eye would be needed to discern that amount for each.

And Toriko just happened to know the chefs allowed to use this spice, so all it took was sniffing out the kitchen that had no business having that spice on hand.

Komatsu had, in fact, seen the rare spice in the kitchen with the chefs, no doubt an oversight on the owner's part, and had remembered reading about it in a book once. Wanting to go the extra mile for the patron who would be eating his food, Komatsu broke the recipe because he had such an intense feeling that the spice would perfectly season the dish and make it taste even more delicious.

Without that small change, the investigation would have taken that much longer.

Thanks to Komatsu's intense pride in cooking and desire to please the people who would eat it, he unknowingly assisted the Bishoku-ya and police.

Then they moved on to the taste of the dish.

You see, once Toriko was able to discern his tracking method for the crime, he found himself tempted to give the dish responsible for the lead a try. The larger man gushed to Komatsu about how delicious it had become thanks to that small change, and the base dish was nothing to scoff at either, the spice only added that extra bit of flavor and savoriness that had its taste linger in his mouth long after he'd finished consuming it.

Komatsu found himself equally invested as the two of them began talking about their techniques and even made suggestions on dishes that they could make.

And so, their friendship was born.

Working with Toriko was nothing short of amazing for Komatsu, whenever he saw his friend's skill in the kitchen, he felt invigorated to catch up to him. He kept himself humble when he'd be compared to Toriko, his own insecurities not allowing him to consider that he was on the same level as his head chef friend. Komatsu was content to be the sous to Toriko's head as long as they stayed together.

The two were the best of friends, after all.

The man had even taken Komatsu on a few of his hunts for ingredients, telling the young man that, as a chef, he should see the ingredients before they became nourishment for them and appreciate them all the more.

To say they were nothing short of terrifying at times was an understatement, but for as many that were life-threatening, there was an equal amount that was awe-inspiring. Seeing creatures in their natural habitats, the chance to collect the rarest ingredients that he could only dream of touching, and learning how to prepare an ingredient that he had only seen before...hell, even the heart-pounding danger, he wouldn't trade them for the world.

Those moments where he and Toriko would sit in the jungle at night while camping, eating their catch, and trading with each other so they could taste the other's work and comment on it, they were burned into Komatsu's brain.

Back in reality, again, Komatsu's eyes were overflowing with tears thanks to all the happy memories that were flooding his mind. His sentimentality got the better of him, forcing him to make such a disgusting face at the table where he tried to hold himself back but was just unable to, all while he continued to eat the boiled eggs wholeheartedly contributing to the cycle of eating, remembrance, crying, and repeating.

Everyone at the table was enjoying themselves, speaking about the things that came to their minds as they ate, the residents of the island reminiscing on certain events that they shared, and the pirates enjoying the weird stories from them, laughing along.

At the head of the table, Toriko smiled softly at everyone's faces as they savored not only the dish but each other's company. The overlapping conversations started to fade from his attention as he went into his thoughts, his mind circled back to the answer to his father's hint...the missing piece that had caused Ichiryu's version of the dish to taste foul...

Toriko's eyes watched over everyone in front of him, slowly panning over each of them, and just as he'd predicted, the answer was obvious.

'This is what was missing, old man,' Toriko thought.

'To get the meal's true essence...you need people to share it with...'

Toriko's face became somber...he'd reached this conclusion a while ago, and it begged the question of just what his father had experienced to have lost this...

Ichiryu had spoken of his adventures with the Roger Pirates fairly openly with Toriko and his brothers...but when it came to what he'd done previously, the man had stayed away from the topic. It wasn't so much that he kept it from them...just that he never brought it up.

Toriko was sure that the four of them had wondered what could have happened, but did not want to dredge up the past if their father hadn't wanted to.

Once Toriko had reached the conclusion that his father had been lonely when he'd finally gotten to tasting the Billion Bird eggs...he could only imagine the pain that Ichiryu must have felt.

'A dish that can reignite the tastes of the eaters' pasts...' Toriko finally moved himself from the head of the table and took the final seat available which was situated on Ryuko's left and Rin's right, still lost in thought as he did so.

'...there's nothing more romantic than that...' he gripped his arms, thinking about how his father must have felt at the time he'd consumed the eggs.

Ryuko paused in her eating when she saw that the chef responsible for their meal was so lost in thought that he had yet to even get a portion of his work. Noticing that he didn't even seem aware of his own movements to sit, she decided to act.

'But not having anyone...I can only imagine the pain you'd feel...'

Indeed, to have one's favorite foods at their fingertips all wrapped up in a single egg?

It didn't take a genius to think how valuable that could be...

Yet, it also had the power to highlight what they were missing...

No doubt, Ichiryu felt that intense emptiness as his favorite meals flashed before his eyes, throat no doubt tightening with each image, realizing what he was lacking...

At the same time this painful scenario entered Toriko's mind, Ryuko had elbowed her captain in the side to get his attention. The words that were being spoken between the two were lost thanks to Toriko's focus, but from their movements...it seemed to be a simple argument.

The girl had pointed a thumb in the distracted Bishoku-ya's direction and said something that made the blond defensively cover his plate from her view, serving to agitate her...

'I can see why you wanted me and the others to get this together...' he thought back to his, Zebra's, and Sunny's ideas of leaving the island to experience more, wanting more than anything to leave and have that chance to the point they'd lost sight of each other.

Ichiryu wanted them to undertake this hunt to bring them closer together and have them truly value their brotherhood, to forever keep in their minds that the adventures aren't the most important aspect of the adventure...

'What happened, old man?' Toriko couldn't help but think about what could have occurred in his father's youth that had him so assured that his sons were making the same mistake he did, and even with those pains that he'd taken to enforce this lesson...it still broke down.

"Toriko...oi, Toriko!"

He was shaken from his musings by the voice of the blond pirate captain. Blinking as he came back to the moment, Toriko turned his head to see that Naruto was handing him a boiled egg.

"Here, you didn't have one yet."

Realizing that he was right, Toriko shook his head to chase away his sad thoughts...the old man would be scolding him for worrying about what had happened in his past rather than focusing on the present. He worked hard with the others to bring this to the table, and his dour thoughts would spoil it if he let them keep going.

"Thanks, Naruto," he took the egg from him, "Guess I was too busy watching everyone to reali-!" he stopped midsentence when he saw the blond's face, his jaw dropped slightly in shock.

"No problem, you cooked it, so you deserve your share," Naruto said nonchalantly seemingly ignoring the bruises and bumps littering his face and head, smiling at his friend even giving Toriko a thumbs up.

From the corner of his eye, Toriko could see an all too innocent Ryuko who'd gone back to eating herself, paying no mind to the 'mysterious' injuries that Naruto had incurred...they certainly hadn't come from a bit of persuasion on her part...surely.

Seeing that the blond had also let this slide...most likely for his own health, Toriko wisely did the same, his focus now shifting to the food. He looked at the dish, still in slight disbelief that this moment was finally about to happen and his normally ravenous appetite was stayed for a moment as his gaze went to his brother.

Coco, along with Toriko, had yet to try the eggs, having waited for his brother to finally partake in them. The two of them felt that they should share this experience together, having silently agreed with one another that it should be done for their father.

To be honest, when Toriko had first learned of what these eggs could do when eaten, he had a very good idea what the first food memory that he would get, and he was sure that Coco had reached the same conclusion.

"Itadakimasu..." Toriko said to himself.

The two nodded their heads and bit into their eggs.

As Toriko chewed, closing his eyes as he did so, he could not help himself as he deciphered the dish.

'Even though they're boiled, the white still has a bit of crunch to it...it adds a nice texture,' he noted as he continued to bite. His teeth broke into the center of the egg and felt the yolk flow into his mouth, it having remained liquid, 'The yolk spreads around my tongue, and all from the first bite...it feels like a warm blanket covering my tastebuds...' Toriko's eyes shot open as the taste suddenly hit him, like a firework going off in his mouth it was so sudden.

'The tastes punch you! It holds such weight in a small package...' he finished his thoughts just as the memories began to rush into his head as well as Coco's.

It was early in the morning on Gourmet Island 21 years ago.

Currently, four young boys and their caretakers, a pink-haired woman and a man with a pompadour were standing on the beach, staring out on the ocean expectantly.

"*Yawn*" one of the boys covered his mouth to let out the sign of his tiredness, a familiar one with blue hair.

"Why are we up so early, Granny?~"

This was the young Toriko, aged four, as were the rest of the future Shiten'nō.

"I agree with Toriko..." young Sunny rubbed his eye with a pout on his face, "This is interrupting my beauty sleep~"

Setsuno gave a sigh at the boys' questions. They were right that this early hour was not a normal time for the children to be up and about, but it was a very special circumstance that had them make the trek out here...

...one that would be changing the course of their lives.

"Because Toriko-chan, this was the time that your... 'father' said that he'd be arriving," Setsuno sighed again, the heavy sarcasm was heard in her voice when she mentioned their adopted parent, whom they never met.

"Heh, come now, Secchan, it's too early to be so bitter," Jiro cackled drunkenly as he day drank.

"Hmph," the stern face of Zebra scowled, even at a young age he seemed to be perpetually in a bad mood, "If he cared so much, he wouldn'ta dropped us before we even got to meet him."

"HA!" Jiro gave a single powerful laugh, "I bet it seems that way!"

"Jiro-chan..." Setsuno shook her head at his slightly harsh teasing.

"I'm curious to see what our father will be like," Coco, ever the earnest, polite one of the four had kept his eye on the water with anticipation.

The others clammed up at that, not willing to mention that they, too, were curious about the man that had saved their lives technically, after all, but wondered if he decided he hadn't wanted them, explaining his absence so shortly after finding them.

"If he's cocky...I'm gonna beat him up..." Zebra muttered quietly and slightly defensively.

After a few minutes of waiting, a lone dinghy appeared on the horizon, carrying a single man. With bated breath, the boys watched the boat approach and took in the appearance of their adopted father.

Ichiryu had a large toothy smile on his face while slowly approaching his home island, wearing a dark red shirt with its collar popped up, a cape of the same color that had lighter red pauldrons with yellow tassels, and matching pants. A backpack was slung over his shoulder as well.

Seeing him up close, they were a little underwhelmed, having expected a hulking mass of muscle in Toriko and Zebra's case, or a handsome man of infallible beauty in Sunny's.

Coco, as the odd one out, didn't expect much so that he wouldn't be disappointed if his mental image didn't fit the reality.

"Yo, Jiro, Setsuno," Ichiryu stepped onto his homeland for the first time in years, offering a hand up in a lazy greeting and ignoring the four kids staring up at him for the moment, "Long time, no see."

"Heh, good to see ya again, Ichi...you haven't changed much," Jiro spilled some of his drink, wobbling on his feet slightly.

"And you haven't either..." Ichiryu sweatdropped at his drunkard younger brother. He then turned his attention to Setsuno who had yet to greet him back, "Oi, Setsuno, you there?"

Having turned her head to the side when he'd come onto shore, Setsuno frowned at the cheery man, and decided to get in her licks at his expense, "Oh, are you talking to me?" she put a hand to her chest in mock surprise, "I'm sorry to say stranger, but I don't seem to know you..." a dark aura surrounded her, a petty one.

"Still upset, are you?" Ichi scratched his cheek. He knew she'd be less than thrilled when he'd suddenly pawned the four boys that he had decided to take in on her so suddenly with barely an explanation before leaving the island for years...but not to this extent.

Wanting to divert attention from his...shortcomings as a parent, he finally turned to the children around his knees, brazenly looking up at him with wide eyes regardless of how rude it could be, such were the freedoms of being kids.

"And this must be them, right?" he looked over each.

Hard to believe how much could change in only four years.

"Yes, of course, you wouldn't know, would you?"

Setsuno's words jabbed into Ichiryu like a physical object, only a slight jolt of his back when they'd hit showed any effect they had...a strained smile on his face.

He better get used to this; she would most likely hold this over his head until the day he died.

"But where are my manners, let me introduce you to your sons. This is Zebra, Toriko, Sunny, and Coco," Setsuno gestured to each of the four-year-olds who had now lined up next to each other.

"Boys...greet your father," she then moved her hand toward Ichiryu in a 'go ahead' motion, having taught them the appropriate etiquette for this moment.

Zebra and Toriko nodded begrudgingly with frowns, as the rowdier of the four, being polite was something they struggled with, but Setsuno assured them that it was necessary to learn to be polite.

The four kids bowed at the waist and gave Ichiryu a synchronized greeting.

"Nice to meet you, deadbeat."

"What have you been teaching these kids!" Ichiryu yelled at the giggling woman repeatedly getting her revenge.

"Are we done now, old lady?" Zebra turned away with his brothers.

They met him, so now they could do whatever they wanted.

"Hold on now. Don't you have any questions, want to get to know me?"

"Meh, you're boring, old man," Zebra shot back.

"Let's go bug hunting!" Toriko offered.

"Gross, not for me. I'm going back to bed," Sunny ran a hand through his hair.

"It was nice to meet you, sir," even Coco had lost interest and neglected to call him father.

"Boring, am I?" Ichiryu grinned, a hint of mischief coming to his eye, "Well if you're leaving, I guess that means you don't want gifts~"

That magic word had the four of them shoot back over to the man instantly, crowding around him expectantly for this unexpected surprise.

"Gifts!?" they shouted.

"What is it, old man!"

"A dish from outside?"

"Beauty products?"

"Artifacts?"

"Now you're interested, eh?" he smirked, "I'm not gonna spoil the surprise, and neither are you, so close those eyes," he stipulated.

The questioning gazes from the children had him add on.

"You aren't getting anything 'til those eyes are closed, and it's a good one~"

That was enough for them to close them.

"No peeking, now, I'll be able to tell," he reached into his backpack and pulled out the gifts, getting Setsuno and Jiro to wonder where he was going with such an odd choice.

The four felt something land in their hands, and when they were about to open their eyes to see what it was, they were stopped.

"Keep them closed and take a bite," Ichiryu told them.

If they could see, they'd see that he was trembling slightly from holding back laughter.

Oblivious to this, the four simultaneously took a bite of whatever was in their hands...

...and immediately spat it out when a horrid taste entered their mouths.

It made their tongues go numb, and it lingered for far longer than it should have. In their shock, the boys opened their eyes and saw the culprit for this terrible taste in their mouths.

It was the moldiest slice of bread that they had ever seen, it was a wonder how it even stayed together, and now it was apparent why they were in such distress.

This reaction was punctuated by Ichiryu's loud, boisterous laughter, looking at their faces frozen in absolute shock at eating something so disgusting.

"What's the big idea, old man!?" Toriko and Zebra threw the bread onto the sandy ground.

Sunny looked absolutely traumatized.

Coco was calmer in his reaction but felt betrayed already by his father.

Calming his laughter, Ichiryu answered the question honestly, "To help this moment stick in your memory," Ichiryu saw their confused expressions and elaborated, "Taste can be more reliable than memory."

Turning his head up toward the sky, Ichiryu continued with his speech

"Even as your memory fades, the tastes you've had can make them flood back to you. The foods you've tasted can be your anchor to the past, what you were feeling, and what you experienced."

"You can rely on them to take you back to those precious times, and the memories associated with them," finishing his spiel, Ichiryu looked down at his sons who were looking at him in slight awe, though they were not clear why given they were so young, but the air around the goofy old man had dissipated practically begging for them to take these words seriously.

"And this is one of those moments," his grin widened, a hand resting on his hip while his other he pointed its index to the sky as a teacher would.

"You'll always associate this taste with the day you met your father," and that serious moment went away just like that with the reminder of the prank that Ichiryu had played on them, and their anger returned, especially when seeing him trying and failing to hold back more laughter.

"You cocky geezer!" Zebra jumped at him, winding up caught in an over-the-shoulder carry, kicking to free himself.

Toriko also joined in on the attack, wanting to get back at the old man, and got subdued as well, being slung under the opposite arm of Ichiryu, and joining Zebra in the futile attempt at getting free.

"Now, Setsuno, show me around!" Ichiryu laughed, following the woman and his brother with his two sons still in his arms while Sunny followed behind at a sedate pace with his face still a visage of mortification and Coco staring at the back of his adopted parent, now curious about the strange man.

This was how the Shiten'nō met their father, and though they would not realize it at the time, it did stick in their memory just as Ichiryu had said...and unfortunately, its importance would not be recognized until his passing.

Yet it still rang in their minds.

"Toriko..." a voice from the present had the muscled Bishoku-ya shaken from his reverie, though it took a moment for him to fully wake from it.

"Oi, Toriko..."

Turning toward the voice, Toriko saw the concerned faces of the pirates he'd met. Ichigo, being the one that had called to him was leaning over the table raising an eyebrow, and narrowing his eye, pursing his lips as he looked at Toriko; Naruto, too, was looking at the chef, his blue eyes shining with curiosity while he tilted his head to the side and crossed his arms, Birubī sat in his lap mimicking him, and Ryuko's normally hardened eyes softened.

"You alright?" Ichigo asked, showing his care even if his face didn't.

Toriko seemed to realize then that he was crying, not full-on bawling like Komatsu was, just a few scant dollops of the saline liquid streaking down his face. Realizing this, Toriko wiped his eyes with his thumb, a slightly sad smile coming to his face as he did so.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he grinned.

"You sure?"

"Just wasn't expecting the taste to hit as hard as it did..."

"Enough to cry though?" Ryuko found herself asking.

"...Maybe it was so good that he couldn't help it," Naruto said simply, the explanation making sense in his mind, a fact that his navigator voiced.

"Only you would think that way..."

"Heh, no. Actually," Toriko's smile went back to normal, meeting eyes with his smirking brother he knew that they'd shared a similar experience, reliving the memory of meeting their father and all the complicated emotions that came along with it.

"...it tasted even worse than I remembered," he chuckled a little.

That just confused the pirates even more.

"And that's a good thing?" Ryuko asked...maybe there were a few duds mixed in with the eggs.

"Hmph, you'd never catch me being happy that food tastes bad," Naruto took Toriko's words literally and huffed through his nose.

He'd had enough of that, thank you.

"And what if it was between that and dying?" Ichigo prodded the blond, jokingly of course, but he forgot that his captain's mind wasn't wired like everyone else's so he took it quite seriously.

"Hm...good point," Naruto mulled over for but a second, then his answer came from his mouth without hesitation.

"I guess I'd die."

That was said far too simply.

"That's all it'd take to bring you down, huh?" Ryuko turned her attention to the blond who was all too fine with his outcome in this hypothetical, propping her head up with her hand, "I'll make a note of it."

As another round of back and forthing began between the pirates, Toriko found himself watching them as they bantered. The playful jabs, the camaraderie, the feeling that nothing else in the world, no matter how terrible, could take away this moment from them...that carefree air that welcomed anyone and everyone, a charisma that made him want to be around them.

Thinking of all these qualities, he couldn't help but laugh loudly, gaining the attention of not only the pirates but everyone at the table. Regardless of the stares he was getting, he continued to bellow with laughter, holding his stomach all the while.

Once he finally calmed, a wide grin stretched Toriko's face as he uttered, "ALRIGHT!" he shouted, slamming an open hand on the table to make doubly sure that all eyes were on him for this announcement...

"I've made my decision!"

With inquisitive looks, the table waited for what Toriko was about to say, clarifying the specific decision he'd made, though it did not take much to know.

There was only one big choice he'd been met with, and traveling with the group that had broached it, its answer had only become clearer and clearer in his mind.

And this dinner with them clenched it!

Opening his mouth to finally state his answer verbally, Toriko would forever alter his life from this moment forward.

(The Next Day)

After the dinner party and a full night's rest, a new day dawned on Gourmet Island. Preparations had been made by Naruto and crew to finally depart, they had only one thing to wait for...

...but that would have to come after one more bit of business.

Stood outside of Mansam's restaurant were the three pirates in question and their Bishoku-ya acquaintance, gathered around the entrance to the establishment standing on one side of the fence encircling it. On the opposite side of the fence, were the patched-up bodies of the Bishokukai, covered in the same green bandages as their former enemies.

The two groups stared each other down silently, the air was tense between them, which was to be expected after having done battle the day prior, well, it was tense from Ryuko and Ichigo's hard stares at the Bishokukai, and the Bishokukai's own cold indifferent stares back at the group that caused them to fail their mission.

The two that were not contributing to the choking atmosphere were the twin grinning simpletons that easily met the Bishokukai halfway.

Toriko, with a bag filled with Birion Yude Tamago and an easygoing grin, looked into Starjun's eyes as he handed the dish that they'd fought so hard for over to the dark organization.

Next to him was Naruto, balancing himself on the fenceposts and squatting low enough on them that his knees were next to his head, his arms draped over his knees, and his giant smile on his face even as he looked on the Bishokukai.

"Here ya go," Toriko said, his cheery attitude a stark contrast to Starjun's stony frown. "Your very own share of the Billion Bird eggs," his pride as a chef showed in his final line, "I hope you enjoy it."

Starjun simply looked down at the bag in his hand to see a pot within it that had a glass lid that allowed one to see into it and it was truly filled to the brim with the boiled eggs.

Not a hint of deception that he could see, not that he let on that he thought there was any...it was hard to humor that idea with the two in front of him.

"Heh, you're real lucky you know," Naruto snickered at Toriko's side and got Starjun's attention, only a slight inclining of the head to show that he acknowledged the blond's words, "It's real tasty. I bet whoever you wanted to try it will love it."

He was oddly perceptive when he wanted to be.

"Hn~ I was half-expecting what you said to be a joke, Toriko...but here you are actually giving us the dish..." Tommyrod looked into Toriko's eyes, that derisive smile of his still on his face but more directed at himself for doubting the Bishoku-ya's word.

"I'd never joke about food," Toriko's smile gave way to a serious, resolute expression as his eyebrows set slightly to show how important it was for him, "I gave you my word you'd get a share."

Tommyrod got annoyed at that serious look in his eyes...it just pissed him off how sincere he was, dammit!

"Heh...so you did," he'd let it go, though...he was the loser, after all.

Alfaro, who had an indifferent look on his face just like Star, let his eyes drift toward their...'gift' and could not help the slight frown that came to his face as he thought about their failure to carry out their mission...and then to have a consolation be given to them...

"To have pity be taken on me by the enemy," he looked back up and his large nose crinkled the slightest bit, "Is there no greater shame?"

Ichigo spoke up for that, "You guys should be considering yourselves lucky to be getting that much," rolling his eyes at his more forgiving friends. He then smirked and brought a hand to Zangetsu's handle, making to draw the large blade from his back.

"But if you're really so upset about it, how about we go another round so you can earn it?"

Alfaro saw the look in Ichigo's eyes, it showed that he was not just saying this. The swordsman fully intended to fight him again if he continued to bellyache in the face of this charity, charity that he'd needed to be reminded was wholly on the shoulders of Toriko and their blond leader, rather than Alfaro and his cohorts waking up in a cell.

Which would have been the sane course of action in any other context.

"No, that won't be necessary," Alfaro resigned himself and even bowed his head slightly in thanks...he could ignore this blow to his pride if it meant their failure was lessened to a degree.

"~Nnn~" Grinpatch stood off to the side, staring into space with half-lidded eyes, appearing to not even realize what was going on around him.

"I still got no interest in the Billion-whatever-it-is..." he muttered, focus coming back to his black, compound eyes as they went to lay on one person in particular.

"Buuut~ If this is gonna be the last time we see each other...how about a taste for the road~ Cuuuttiee-chaaaan~"

The four-armed Bishokukai sang to the only female of the group, who also stood apart from everyone else, her back turned to them.

"Pick it up! It's time for us to leave. We've got a tailwind so we'll make good time!" Ryuko shouted over her shoulder.

Completely ignoring Grin's words.

She was done with him.

"As harsh as you are cute~" he didn't seem to mind though.

"We should be taking our leave as well," Star finally spoke for the first time, face remaining unchanged.

With nary a word after, the criminals turned away from the group that had bested them to begin their trek back to Bishokukai headquarters...back to their boss. And even as they walked away, both Naruto and Toriko waved at their retreating backs, wishing their former enemies well and to have a good feast.

For such hardened men as them...it was a little nauseating the sheer positivity they were exuding their way rather than contempt.

"Hn, you know, this is the first mission that I failed for the Boss..." Tommyrod found himself saying contemplatively. Searching his memory, he could not think of a single one that he hadn't executed with optimum efficiency, befitting his insectoid appearance.

He found his curiosity piqued now, wondering if his life would be in danger, not that the Boss had given them any reason to believe he would punish them severely for failure, but they also did not want to find out if he would, either.

"Same with me~" Grin nodded.

Star also never had either, not that he had to voice it, they knew.

"Say, Alfaro," Tommy called the one who had been with the Bishokukai the longest, "What will the Boss do to us for failing to capture the Billion Bird."

If anyone would know it would be the eight-armed waiter.

"I can't say...in all my years of service to the Boss...I have never once failed to serve him the dish that he requested," he took this as a blow. Not only had he failed to procure it, but he had to rely on pity to have something to show his leader...how degrading...

"There's nothing left to be done," Starjun spoke simply, leading them, "We must accept the outcome we've been dealt...we fought with our whole appetites and so did they. We lost, all we can do is return with what we have, and hope for leniency from the Boss," Starjun did not stop his stride as he said all this, respecting the effort that his blond opponent had shown him in their bout and would not disrespect him by not accepting this offering, a slight blow to his pride could be accepted to keep it mostly intact rather than break it more by being petty over the outcome.

He allowed himself a small smile with his eyes closed, thinking about the blond pirate captain and his loss to the young man.

"And, if we had to lose," he glanced back in the direction of the pirates and Heavenly King, "I can't think of a better group to be bested by."

"Damn...I can't disagree..." Tommyrod affirmed, though it was more because their naivety allowed the Bishokukai to walk away, but he could admit they were better people than them...he would have had his bugs eat their carcasses if he had his way.

The rest of the Bishokukai did not let on what they thought, more focused on what would be happening to them when they met up with their boss.

Back with the protagonist group, now that the Bishokukai had disappeared over the horizon, the pirates started to unwind. The more serious members that were on guard against any last-minute tricks by the Bishokukai allowed themselves to loosen up, Ryuko stretching her body and Ichigo removing his hand from his blade.

"Alright, now that that's done," Ryuko said as she stretched, "It's about time we get outta here too," she finished, stepping out of the fence to begin walking back to the ship.

"I'm more than ready," Ichigo followed after her.

"Yeah...how about one more meal before we go, though," Naruto hopped off the fence to start walking.

"NO!" his crewmates yelled, getting him to shrink back and concede.

Though the three did not stray too far from the restaurant, they turned back to the last person in their little group, and the swordsman called back to him.

"Oi, Toriko, you coming?"

Yes, Toriko had decided last night to join the rookie group of pirates, something just told him that he had to, and he would not ignore this gut feeling lest he come to regret his inaction later.

"I'll be right behind you," he smiled back at his new crew, "I just need to grab my stuff and I'll be set."

"We'll see you at the dock then," Ryuko waved behind her, with Ichigo doing the same while their captain was far livelier due to his excitement over gaining a new crewmember, waving with both hands over his head in wide arcs he was so happy about it.

Smiling to himself, Toriko turned around and reentered his workplace for what could be the last time for a long while. The restaurant, as had been common lately thanks to the current goings on, was closed for the day. The empty dining room echoed with the heavy steps of Toriko as he took a look around it, remembering all the different times he'd spent in here after hunting a specific creature, having made a new dish for Komatsu and everyone to try to see the looks on their faces as they all ate together, the times he'd have to feed all those stuck-up nobles that frequented the island simply for the prestige of eating at such a famous island without caring about the food itself.

He'd be leaving that all behind now.

He then entered what could be called his second home, the kitchen of the restaurant. All the blood, sweat, tears...and a good amount of drool he'd shed in here had all been worth it to him. Toriko had honed his skills as a chef within these walls, capturing, cooking, trying and failing...and improving with each and every experience he'd had, putting them to good use to feed people...some more deserving than others, but he did enjoy the act of feeding people.

Assisting the chefs and Komatsu with the rushes and spending time after hours relaxing.

Drinking with Mansam.

Visiting Granny Setsu and Old Man Jiro.

Hunting with Coco.

And just hanging out with Rin.

All things he treasured, and now things that he'd have to give up to follow his dream, getting out into the world and experiencing what it could offer him, especially with the group of pirates that he'd met.

It reminded him of the way his father described his meeting with Gold Roger.

Reaching the end of the kitchen, Toriko put his hand on the strap of a backpack. Glancing around in the space where cooking is done, the Bishoku-ya chef and now upcoming pirate felt now would be the best time to say goodbye.

"Well, this is it, old man..." Toriko said aloud as if his father could still hear him, like the man was standing right in front of him.

"I did what you asked, and now I'm finally leaving the island," he snorted a bit when he thought of everything that happened that led to his decision to leave and couldn't help but think that the circumstances were unusual, yet funny, "But...I don't think that either of us would have thought I'd be leaving like this."

Contrary to the path that he was going down now, Toriko really never had too much of an interest in being a pirate himself. Sure, Ichiryu was a pirate that served on what was widely considered the best, or worst, pirate crew the world had ever seen, but Toriko and his brothers were always more interested in the adventure than the life of piracy itself.

Never against it nor for.

They simply wanted to get that same sense of freedom that Ichiryu had gotten and he had supported them in that pursuit, after all, similar to Toriko now, Ichiryu had no particular interest in being a pirate not with what he'd wanted to do on Gourmet Island, but that had changed when he'd met his captain.

And now, Toriko found himself following in his dad's footsteps completely by chance.

"I'm not upset about it though," Toriko smiled. That group of pirates, their exuberance, camaraderie...and the charisma of their leader had won him over. They made him surge with that same excitement, belief, and...just being around them made doubts and worries disappear.

"I wish you could have met them, old man...you would have liked them," his smile turned somber, thinking about what could have been for a second.

"I get what you were trying to show us, old man..." Toriko raised his head, his eyes hazing over slightly...he could almost swear he could see the man in front of him, that annoyingly playful grin plastered on his face.

"We can't lose sight of what's important, even as we move forward. Me and the others, we were so ready to leave the island, see more than this small plate when there's a whole buffet we haven't gotten to, that we were just as ready to leave each other behind in pursuit of it."

"It all wouldn't have been worth it, not without being able to share it with one another...just like you, it all would have tasted empty."

Toriko thought of his two estranged brothers, wondering how they were right now...if Sunny was happy with his decision...if Zebra was still alive. They did not get the taste that he and Coco had, but he had a feeling they were finding out the answer their father tried to show them the hard way.

"I'm heading out, old man, and I don't know when I'll be back..." he gripped the strap of his backpack, throat becoming tight for an instant, "But, when I do..." he shook off the slight sadness and let a grin worthy of his father come to his face...

"I'll have plenty of new tastes to share with everyone, just like you."

And with that farewell given, more for his spirit than anything, Toriko made his way out of the restaurant, backpack slung onto his back as he stepped out. The sun rose higher into the sky, lighting his way through the jungle, and the sounds of the creatures acting as their own kind of goodbye as the Bishoku-ya took his leave, turning a new page in his life that he had a feeling would be just as if not more exciting than it had been so far.

(At the shore)

Going back to where the adventure on this island of delicious food had begun, the trio of pirates were anxiously waiting for their fourth member to arrive. Their small dinghy was flanked by two large ships that had ferried the nobles that frequented Gourmet Island, no doubt they were currently gorging themselves for breakfast, though there was also probably a good number that were livid that the most famous restaurant on the island was yet again closed for the day, not that they knew or cared about their first-world problems.

Naruto, Ryuko, and Ichigo were all in the dinghy with Naruto being the only one standing in the small boat, shaking in place slightly from impatience. Ichigo was leaning back with his hands behind his head, relaxing and enjoying the breeze washing over him with his eyes closed. Ryuko sat on the side of one of the dinghy's benches, propping her head up on her hand, watching her jittery captain.

"Will you calm down..." Ichigo spoke up, opening one of his eyes to look at Naruto's back, "You'll sink us with all that shaking."

It was disturbing his relaxation.

"I can't help it~" Naruto sighed; he was too excited! They got a new crewmember AND he was a chef, he couldn't sit still, he wanted to take advantage of this new position being filled as soon as he could.

"Where is he? You don't think he changed his mind, do you? Maybe we should go get him?"

Naruto spoke a mile a minute, far too ready to move on with the whole crew for the next adventure.

"He didn't change his mind," Ryuko assuaged the dynamo that was her captain once she'd had time to process the million words he was saying, "You have to remember that he's leaving the place he's called home his whole life, it isn't gonna be easy to up and go just like that," she explained.

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed, "Not to mention the people he needs to say goodbye to, there's no telling how long it'll be until he sees them again."

While the strawberry swordsman could not speak for his captain, he knew that it wasn't all that difficult for him to leave Karakura due to having no one left to really say farewell to, and when it came to leaving with their navigator...there was far too much going on for them to even consider a quiet leaving.

Toriko was the only one of them that had people to still say goodbye to.

"For some people, leaving is hard to accept..." Ichigo eyed his captain when he said that, or rather, more specifically, the blond's back.

Naruto tilted his head when he saw that his first mate's gaze was fixed on him as if he was the one that leaving would be the hardest on...but that'd be weird, he was ready to go!

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Forget it..." Ichigo rolled his eyes and sighed with Ryuko palming her face and shaking her head.

He was so clueless...they'd have to speak up before they left by the looks of it.

Looking between his nakama and seeing their exasperated reactions to his answer, Naruto became more confused and a bit annoyed. He felt like he was missing something and his friends were keeping it from him.

Like he couldn't figure it out...they just needed to give him a hint.

"Heh, heh, maybe they're talking about us?" the chuckle of Jiro came from behind the blond, getting him to remember that the pirates were not alone. And, without the blond knowing, the old man had taken attention away from what his crewmate had truly been talking about...it'd be funnier for Jiro when the blond realized later.

How devious of him.

Currently standing onshore were Jiro, Setsuno, Mansam, Komatsu, and Coco. They had all been waiting to see Toriko off on this new adventure of his, looking to offer their support and assurances that they would do fine without him so he would have absolutely no qualms about departing.

Naruto rubbed his chin, supposing that his friends were right that leaving would be kind of difficult for the parties involved. He couldn't forget that Toriko did live in a food paradise that he would most likely not want to leave if he were born here, full of people that the Bishoku-ya cared deeply for and he had money to burn.

Coming with them meant that Toriko would have to give all that up and start at zero with the rest of them...but it had to be worth it to chase his dreams like the rest of them, right?

"Mm...then where is he...he can't say bye if he isn't here..." Naruto sighed.

As if materialized by his words, Toriko appeared behind the group on the shore, coming from the side as he had, it was no wonder they could not see him thanks to the large ships blocking their vision.

"Yo, did I keep you waiting?" he laughed at the annoyed glare he got from his captain.

"Yeah, you did!" Naruto comically fumed, puffs of hot air coming from his head, "What took you so long!?"

"Sorry, sorry, I took the scenic route...no telling when I'll be back, so I wanted to memorize all I could," he explained easily, he set his backpack down behind the ship to their left as he walked over to his family.

The time was here, and it made it feel all the more real, seeing their friend/brother/nephew/grandson standing in front of the dinghy that would be carrying him off, away from them to who knows where with no idea if/when he'd return, or what he'd be doing.

It was a worrying concept, to say the least, terrifying at most.

Yet they could not deny the bright smile he had just at the prospect of these unknowns.

"Alright, everyone, I'm heading off," Toriko turned to the two that had taken care of him first, "Old man Jiro, Granny Setsu thanks for looking out for me all these years."

The large man leaned down to give the two a large hug to show his appreciation, and upon standing back up the small woman gave a slight huff through her nose, getting him to look at her.

"A lot of good it did..." she frowned slightly but there was no true sadness or anger behind it, just a resignation of what was about to happen, "I thought I raised you better than this, Toriko-chan..." she looked up at the boy she'd used to look down at, he had a soft smile full expecting his Granny to say something like this.

"Leaving your family behind...all to go off gallivanting around in a boat...when you have everything you could want here...just like that fool..."

Knowing exactly who she was talking about, Toriko said the only thing he could.

"Did you expect anything less?"

Setsuno sighed again, remembering how Ichiryu looked when he spoke of Roger, the look of excitement that had been on his face when he told them he'd be going with the pirate before settling on the island to improve it. She smiled again, the vision of the man being transplanted onto his son, only this time she could see in person how these pirates affected him, and understand, if only slightly, Ichiryu's choice back then.

"I suppose not...you may not share blood, but it's clear the two of you are cut from the same cloth...you're both fools," Setsuno relented fully, for Toriko's sake she would let him go.

Chuckling at the two's interaction, Jiro decided to put in his two cents as well, "Ya know, Toriko," the old man started, "I never got to meet that pirate."

Jiro stayed vague to a degree, knowing that Toriko and everyone beside him would know immediately who he was talking about, the pirates behind Toriko might have an idea, but he wasn't trying to offend the blond captain with his upcoming observation, but could not deny the thought he had.

"Never felt like I had any reason to either. To me, they were just another group coming to get a look at the sideshow here in the South, they'd come and go like all the other, whether they ran or actually managed to leave on their own terms," a wistful look crossed the wrinkled face of Jiro, "But, to Ichi, they were much more than that. I don't know what happened, but that smile on his face after each interaction was undeniable, and when he told us he was leaving...I thought he was a fool, but I would never say it out loud."

Shaking his head, Jiro remembered clearly the way Ichiryu talked about Roger, thinking that the pirate couldn't be as great as he said...he spoke about him like he was...but that was impossible...a pirate could never reach him in Jiro's eyes.

Yet Ichi still left with him, even though he had big plans for the island, he'd put them on hold.

"Leaving an island of plenty, where he had just about everything he could want, with the people he cared for. I could never understand it, at least that's what I thought, until he came back. He'd changed a lot, I didn't keep up with the goings on out there...but when he came back as a member of a famous crew, it couldn't be denied. Whenever we got to drinking, the lightweight started spouting off about their adventures...and during those times...for the first time...I felt like I'd missed out on something."

Raising his head back up, he glanced at the pirates and smirked, he'd spoken softly, soft enough that once he'd become more specific about the pirate he was speaking of so that the trio would not hear, and it seemed they did not bother eavesdrop so that their crewmember could have a private moment unless of course what was spoken was not intended to be private, they would not intrude.

Jiro zeroed in on the blond standing at the front of the dinghy waiting as patiently as he could.

"I think now I can really see what he was talking about."

Smirking, Toriko replied, "I thought the same thing."

Finished speaking to the ones who had helped rear him, Toriko moved to the next person in line, his boss.

Mansam had a petulant look on his face, lifting his always-present bottle of alcohol to his lips, and his eyes closed so he would not have to look Toriko in the eye. The man was clearly upset, to a childish degree, that his best chef was leaving...he was even pouting after he'd lowered the bottle.

When Mansam heard nothing from Toriko, fully set on being as resistant to this as possible, he was ready to ignore any words said by the boy. Curious as to why no parting words had been thrown his way, with a little internal deliberation, Mansam cracked one eye open.

It turns out that Toriko had not said a single word, opting, instead, to silently raise a hand up between them, patiently waiting.

Looking at the hand, Mansam gave a 'hmph' through his nose before raising his hand up also.

They both brought their hands back and clasped them audibly with each other, arms at an angle, and their biceps bulging with the strength they'd put into it. The two men looked directly into each other's eyes unflinching as they performed this sign of respect.

"You've always got to be such a pain in my ass..." Mansam eventually said, his straight face falling to the smirk that conveyed his annoyance at the trouble Toriko brought him, but also the truth that had did not mind it in the slightest.

"What am I supposed to tell all these deep-pocket fatcats when they stop by hoping for the famous Toriko's cooking?" Mansam asked rhetorically with a sigh, a grin growing as he answered himself.

"That he ran off to play pirate?"

Toriko matched his smirk with one of his own, and without missing a beat he responded, "I'm sure a handsome guy like you will figure something out."

"HA! Easy for you to say, you won't be here to deal with- wait...did you call me..." Mansam, for once, was sure that he did not mishear the words that were spoken to him.

"Ah, might as well give you what you want at least once, right?" Toriko waved it off, leaving his former boss stunned. "And business will be great, even after I leave, maybe even better."

Turning to the next person in the line, Toriko showed that he was talking about Komatsu.

"After all, I've got a pretty good replacement."

Komatsu like always couldn't stop himself from crying his eyes out. The man he looked up to as an inspiration of a chef, was leaving!

"Toriko-saaaaan!" Komatsu rushed to the larger man and wrapped his arms around his midsection, burying his face in Toriko's gut. "I could never measure up to your skill! What if they don't like my cooking?!"

Slowly, Toriko brought an arm up, looking like he was going to reciprocate Komatsu's hug, only to bring his fist down on the smaller man's head instead, bonking him.

"Ah! Why, Toriko-san?!"

"Cuz, you're never gonna reach me with that attitude," Toriko looked at Komatsu with flared nostrils. "Do you really think that I picked you as my sous chef, out of everyone in the kitchen, if I didn't think that you could handle it?"

Picking his arm up again, Komatsu reflexively covered the top of his head in case he would be hit again. Instead of the pain of a hit, he felt a finger poke his head, Komatsu opened his closed eyes to see Toriko irritated face become softer.

"You've got the skill needed to not only match me but surpass me, Komatsu," Toriko said this in all seriousness, then he moved his finger to his chest, "And you've got the heart needed to drive you to reach those heights...regardless of where they come from, you put your all into your cooking to get those smiles from the ones that taste it."

Sniffling, Komatsu felt his confidence surge hearing this from Toriko, he wiped his face and stopped himself from crying further...a new weight falling onto his shoulders that he braced himself to carry.

"Heh, but don't think it'll be easy to catch up to me," Toriko laughed, "I'm gonna be sharpening my skills out there, improving with each new experience, so I expect you to be doing the same here...I'm sure you'll be hearing about me as we go," Toriko crouched down low and placed his hand on Komatsu's shoulder...

"I want to be able to hear about you as well."

Restraining his tears, Komatsu only let out a, "Toriko-san," somberly as the man stood back up and walked down the line again, offering a little more insight into his thoughts on this decision.

"And plus, I don't have to deal with those guys anymore, have fun!"

He wouldn't have to cook for all those nobles anymore, and Komatsu got to take center stage, that was called a win-win.

"T-Toriko-san! When you say something like that...it makes it seem like that was the whole reason you picked me!"

While Komatsu wailed after Toriko to confirm that what he'd said was only a small part of his reason for letting the smaller man take up his old position, Toriko walked up to the last person in the line-up, Coco.

Smirking at each other the two brothers did not say anything, Toriko offered his arm and Coco took it. They gripped each other's arms and gave a firm shake before pulling themselves in for a one-armed hug.

"So, this is it then," Coco finally said as they came apart.

"Yup," Toriko offered simply, making his brother shake his head at the straightforwardness.

"And you're content with this choice?" Coco knew that being pirates had never appealed to the four of them when they were younger, that life had just been a gathering of fun stories from their father that whet their appetite to go out and see the world for themselves.

"The old man didn't teach us to regret our choices," Toriko answered with his grin getting wider, "I just couldn't shake this feeling that I would have regretted missing out on this for the rest of my life if I didn't take this chance."

Turning slightly, so he could give the pirates a glance, he turned his head around to look at his brother again. He put his fist out ahead of him with absolute conviction held within it and spoke an important saying that Ichiryu had imparted to them.

"It's like the old man used to say, Zen Wa Isoge (Hurry up and Eat)!"

A weird saying to many, but the meaning was not lost on Coco who could instantly understand.

"As long as you're happy..." he then became serious, "Just know, choosing this lifestyle...there's a good chance that you'll run into..."

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!" Toriko did not lose his enthusiasm...even with the rather dour topic that Coco was implying. "I won't judge him for his choice, but that doesn't mean I'll lie down and let him bring any of us in either."

"If you'd like, I could read you so you have an idea what to expect," Coco offered with his eyes closed and a smile.

He was met with a comically annoyed Toriko who stared at him with his hands on his hips, nostrils flared and eyes somehow shrunken to mere dots, "And have you spoil everything? No way, I want to look forward to the unknown and meet it head-on!" Toriko rebuffed his brothers in a heartbeat.

Chuckling lightly, Coco looked back at his brother, "I expected that, but I thought I would at least try," if at least for his own peace of mind, Coco would have liked to have forewarned Toriko but he wouldn't force that on him.

"Hey!" Naruto cut through with a wave, "You're finished saying goodbye, right!?" Naruto was shaking the boat with how fast he was fidgeting, holding it in becoming too hard to handle.

"We can go now?"

Both Ichigo and Ryuko looked ready to stop the blond in his tracks, seemingly for butting into their new member's moment as he had but before they could get a word in Toriko surprisingly halted them.

"We can't, not yet," he said seriously and turned back to his family. "Have any of you seen Rin?"

The question made all those present, except the pirates, wonder what they should say.

You see, last night, after Toriko had announced his plans to leave with Naruto and company to become a pirate, while everyone had more or less accepted the decision, two at the table had disappeared shortly after. Those two had remained scarce for the rest of the night and had not been seen since, and one of those two happened to be Rin.

With her feelings for the muscular Bishoku-ya, all those who knew her could understand the hard pill she was forced to swallow. To have the object of your affections up and leave so suddenly after meeting people he'd known for only a few days, yet not seem affected by leaving everything and everyone he'd known for years?

Add in the fact that he never responded to any of her advances?

It came as a blow.

"It wouldn't be right if I left without telling her goodbye," Toriko said seriously, he would never imagine leaving without speaking to everyone he cared about.

"Hm, well...that girl," Mansam scratched his cheek awkwardly...a failure on his part while raising her was probably how to deal with her feelings...but what could he say? He was a man, and his only love was booze!

"I-I'm sure she'd like to be here, Toriko-san...but maybe, we can just give a message to her," Komatsu offered to try and spare his female friend the pain of watching the man she loved leave.

"No." Toriko didn't even think twice, starting to walk off.

"I have to do it myself...I'll go and find her if I have to."

"T-Toriko..." a distinctly female voice, that was definitely meeker and far demurer than those assembled had heard it before cut through to the shore despite how quiet it was.

Turning to peer into the jungle, everyone was just able to see the form of Rin peeking from behind one of the trees, hiding herself, a stark contrast to the tomboyish, bold personality she normally showed...and the overt affections she usually displayed toward Toriko.

"Ah, Rin, there you are!" Toriko smiled her way, ignoring the situation completely, just content that he would get to talk to her.

Her heart pounded loudly in her chest she was so nervous, but she steeled herself and continued to speak, resolving to get this out since she had no idea when he would return.

"I-I always knew this day would come...that you'd leave the island...and me..." she whispered still behind the tree.

"Oi, Rin, could you speak up? I can't hear you," Toriko said bluntly, coming across as slightly insensitive, though he was earnestly trying to hear what the woman was saying.

Becoming more confident as she finally let what she was thinking out, and wanting to comply with Toriko's request, Rin slowly came from behind her hiding spot and walked toward the others slowly.

"So...I promised myself that I wouldn't get in your way..." she held a hand up to her chest, looking the confused man in the eyes, seeing as he'd missed her opening words, it made sense he was lost on what she was talking about.

"I said that I wouldn't hold you back...from what you wanted..." she stopped in front of him now; Toriko blinked, wondering what she was getting at, neither she nor any of the others were holding him back, even if they didn't want him to go.

A moment of silence passed between the two, Toriko wanting her to finish before he said anything so he would have the full picture...and Rin...

Rin suddenly looked Toriko right in his eyes, her previous shy demeanor disappearing entirely with a determined fire replacing the unsure look, even her stance changed as she planted her feet shoulder-width apart to firm herself up.

A complete 180 from how she'd started.

"But! That doesn't mean that I'm gonna be happy waiting forever, Toriko," she said seriously and pointed at the man who was still trying to suss out what was happening, he even backed up slightly at her personality shift.

"So! I'll let you got on your little adventure for now..." she pointed at him dramatically, her blush returning as the next words formed in her throat, though staying resolved to speak them...

"But when you come back, we're getting married!"

"Oh, okay, sure."

Again, silence washed over everyone, they were all stupefied by the declaration, AND even more by the quick response. The only ones not frozen by this situation were Naruto who was smiling widely, happy for his friend; Toriko, who was blinking at the reactions he was getting, he'd answered her, so what was the problem; and Rin who didn't seem to register what had been said.

"I won't be taking 'no' for an answer, Toriko, so don't-!" the words finally began bouncing around in her head, blush coming back in full force now.

"T-T-Toriko...what did you just say?"

Raising his eyebrow, Toriko responded to this just as calmly and as bluntly as the last time, "I said sure...if that's what you want, I'll marry you."

It wasn't a big deal to him.

Rin had been there for him, so he'd be there for her as far as he was concerned.

"Toriko~" she jumped at him and kissed him repeatedly on the cheek, ignoring how lost he looked even now...but at least she was happy.

"Are marriage proposals supposed to be...this easy..." Ichigo whispered to Ryuko. He had no idea...never really thought about the concept, and despite his father's best efforts to recount his meeting with his kids' mother, he and his sisters often ignored him.

"I don't know...I guess?" Ryuko was equally lost given her background, though she had more of a basis for believing this was the norm because Miss Sukuyo had told her that she practically had to tie down Barazo to get him to marry her.

"Hahaha!" Naruto laughed and started to repeatedly slap Toriko back, "Congratulations, Toriko!"

He for sure didn't really get the concept of marriage beyond staying with someone you care about a lot, and the only example he had experience with was one he decidedly kept from his mind, though he did have a positive one he'd like to experience but that would have to wait until he met back up with Gramps.

From how he'd described her, Naruto was sure he'd love her too.

The overly excited blond was halted from his congratulatory back slaps by the finger that nearly shot into his face, making him recoil slightly. The bride-to-be had broken out of her lovestruck daze now and turned her attention to him.

She looked miffed, switching personalities on a dime once again as she stared down the nervous Naruto.

It made sense she was a tad annoyed at the pirate, he was taking her fiancé away from her.

Right after such an amazing announcement too...she would not be accepting that without some choice words!

"You!" Rin narrowed her eyes at Naruto.

He looked helpless, trained by his navigator to fear a woman that looked at him in such a way, that he made sure not to make any sudden moves.

"I'm letting you borrow Toriko, but don't you forget that he's mine!" she stepped up to look Naruto right in the eye.

"And you better take care of him...if he comes back hurt or upset..." she let the threat hang for a moment.

Yet it all dispelled instantly when Naruto smiled at her.

"Heh, of course," he didn't take a second, "Toriko's part of my crew, there's no way I'd let anything happen to him!"

Rin probed Naruto for anything...mainly an excuse to keep Toriko here now that she'd gotten her hooks into him...but she (sadly) couldn't find anything, so relented.

"Alright!" Toriko shouted once he'd let his fiancée speak to his captain to ease her mind, "Now I'm ready to leave!" Toriko announced with full intent.

He'd said all he wanted to say to everyone who had helped shape him into the man he was today.

And hey, he was even getting married sometime in the future.

Seemed like the perfect time to leave on such a high note.

"Okay, let's set sail!" Naruto was also excited, forgetting all about the threat he was just given, to get back out on the open ocean, anticipating the next adventure he and his crew would be going on.

"We still can't go yet..." Ryuko said with her arm crossed and her eyes closed, annoyance clear on her face along with a vein on her temple, "There's still one thing to take care of..." she looked at her captain...or rather, his back.

"Wh~aat!?" Naruto whined, "What else could we need to do! I wanna go!"

Ichigo sighed, "Come on, how clueless can you be?" he rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

"Are you guys making fun of me?!" Naruto fumed, turning fully around to glare at them.

This movement let everyone on shore see the large bulge on Naruto's back that was hidden beneath his jacket, something that the pirate captain himself failed to notice despite how obvious it was and being on his own body.

Dimwittedness and overexcitement can be quite the shroud.

Ryuko walked up, shoved her hand into her captain's jacket, and pulled the object from his back, too annoyed to sit there and explain in detail why he was an idiot for not noticing.

"This, moron! You have to take care of this!"

Peep*

Naruto's eyes bulged out comically when he saw Birubī get pulled from his clothing by the navigator's hand on the chick's head. Birubī himself looked like a child that had been caught red-handed by their parents doing something that they shouldn't have, eyes shifting side-to-side, sweat pouring from his forehead and all.

"Birubī! What were you doing in there!?"

"He was in there the whole time!" Ryuko screamed in his ear.

"He must not have wanted his 'mommy' to leave him behind," Ichigo chuckled.

"I'm not his mom!" Naruto huffed, holding the chick in his hands now, and looking him in the wet eyes.

"So you wanted to come with us and decided to sneak onboard, huh?" Naruto asked the bird rhetorically. Setting him down onshore with everyone else, Naruto decided to handle this problem the only way he could...

"Well, you're not coming with us."

...bluntly.

"You're too weak," Naruto stuck his tongue out, not to poke fun but more as a show of disapproval of the bird trying to come with them, knowing that he most likely couldn't handle it.

Hearing this so bluntly, which should not have really surprised him at this point, from his surrogate parent had Birubī freeze up in despair with his eyes bulging out from their sockets in shock thanks to how simply Naruto had laid this out without softening the blow. Sniffling, the tiny chick sat on the ground and sobbed slightly, he knew that if he'd gotten caught there was an incredibly high chance that he'd be left behind...but he still had to take it.

These pirates were his family, the only one he'd ever known...and just like Rin, hearing that they planned on leaving right after they'd had such a great dinner...that he'd technically provided...one where they all had such happy expressions...he couldn't take that fact. So, overnight the chick had made himself scarce and come up with the idea to sneak off with them so they could stay together.

He'd certainly picked up his impulsiveness from a certain blond.

"See?" Naruto remained firm in the face of the chick's tears that had just about every female feeling for him...and Komatsu, but the men could understand where Naruto was coming from.

"This is why we can't take you."

Birubī looked up at Naruto who had his arms crossed as he looked down on the chick.

"Even after everything we went through, you're still a little crybaby," Naruto huffed through his nose. He knew that the chick had a fire, he'd seen it, but he guessed he was too young to use it right now.

"If you thought all of that was hard, it won't be getting any easier,"

That idea got the Billion Bird to shiver, remembering the peril they'd all gone through fighting the Bishokukai on his behalf. That experience was harrowing, and dangerous, leaving the pirates beaten and bloodied and needing to take almost a full day to recover their strength afterward.

By all accounts it was difficult.

And yet, they were moving on fully knowing, expecting even, for it to get even harder. They were meeting that challenge head-on with grins on their faces, excitement to meet that next hurdle and surpass it.

While Birubī, only felt fear at the mere thought...and he thought he could go with them?

"It's only gonna get harder, and we can't be looking out for you the whole time."

Blunt as Naruto was, it did help get to the heart of the matter a lot quicker than dressing it up with kind words...if he wasn't this firm with the chick then he wouldn't accept them leaving.

This would make Birubī understand. He'd seen first-hand how much of a burden he could be with Naruto when he'd fought Starjun both times because he was vulnerable...with things guaranteed to become more difficult in the future...what if that burden got Naruto or one of the others killed?

He'd accept being left behind...

"But," Naruto started again, regaining the bird's attention, "It isn't like we're never gonna come back."

Hope grew in Birubī's chest hearing that.

"Once we're done with what we have to do, I plan on coming back through to tell everyone we've visited about our adventures," Naruto grinned, "Plus, we have Toriko's wedding to look forward to, so we'll definitely be back."

"So I'll make a deal with you," his grin becoming the largest it had been, Naruto gave his ultimatum to the Billion Bird chick.

"Become the Boss of the island."

Birubī jumped up to his feet in shock at what he'd been told.

The Boss of the island?

"Do that, and the next time we come around, we'll take you with us," Naruto didn't have a trace of doubt in his voice as he said this, something that the chick did not share in himself.

How could he possibly do that?

P-peep?*

The chick questioned, getting Naruto to raise an eyebrow at him in confusion, appearing to understand.

"What's with that look?"

"It's probably because you told him something so outrageous," Ichigo offered, smirking since he could see where this was going along with the rest of the crew.

"I don't think it is," Naruto said simply, looking back to his former charge, "You should want this too, ya know."

That got everyone's attention.

"He's the last one, right?" Naruto pointed at the bird while looking at Toriko.

"Definitely, hunted to near extinction by larger animals and people," Toriko nodded.

"So that means it's up to you to bring them all back," Naruto pointed out, "You don't want your kids to go through what you did when you met us, do you?"

He could see in Birubī's eyes that the chick would never wish that on his eventual offspring, that terror...even the chance that he might die like his birth parents had before getting to even see them.

"Then get strong," Naruto told him, "Strong enough that you can protect them, strong enough that all the other monsters in the jungle will think twice before messing with you, enough to set an example for them to strive for so they can protect themselves..." Naruto said in all seriousness to the chick who was taking in every word.

Naruto gave a teasing smirk to Birubī and said something that he hoped would stoke the fires he'd lit.

"That way, when you come with us, you'll have nothing to worry about."

Upon hearing that, Birubī dried up and stood back on his tiny feet. There was only pure belief in Naruto's words...he had said when Birubī came with them, not if. He had no margin for doubt, he had a lot to live up to not only for his species...

...but for his father.

"You know, I think you make a pretty decent parent," Ryuko smiled seeing the previously upset bird become so determined.

"Hmph," Naruto didn't deny it this time, if only because he did not want to ruin this for the chick...for once.

He was no one's parent.

"HAHAHA!" Mansam laughed loudly, "You've sure given the little guy a tall order," sake leaked over the sides of his mouth he was laughing so hard.

"How come?" Naruto tilted his head.

"Billion Birds are a prey animal, brat, cowardly and docile by nature," Mansam explained, "And you've gone and asked him to be the island Boss?"

Naruto blinked at Mansam.

"You really think this little guy can go against his nature, fight against it and everything else?!"

"I wouldn't have told him all that if I didn't."

The quick answer had Mansam laughing even harder.

"BWHAHA! You kids are a damn riot!" Mansam slapped a hand over his forehead.

"Don't you worry," Setsuno said from her spot, "We'll take care of him for the time being, that is, until he can take care of himself," Setsuno believed that Birubī would succeed vicariously thanks to Naruto's own unshaking faith.

"Thanks, Chaki Oba-chan!" Naruto then clapped his hands loudly and shouted, "Okay, for real this time, we're setting sail!"

"Thank you for taking care of us all this time," Ryuko said politely since someone had to say it.

"Eh, island wasn't all that...but the food was pretty good," Ichigo said dismissively, smirking at the end.

"I'm heading off, everyone!" Toriko said, having moved back over to grab his backpack from behind the ship he'd placed it. "Rin, I'll be leaving planning the ceremony to you."

Rin could practically feel her heart about to explode in her chest from happiness, "You can count on me...dear..." she whispered at the end and squealed, confusing her betrothed.

"When I come back, I'll have plenty of new tastes to share," he promised them all.

Receiving smiles from his family, along with his crew, they were all distracted until a heavy thud hit the dinghy.

Whatever had just been placed on the small boat caused it to sink toward that end, causing the other to shoot upward, and leaving Ichigo and Ryuko to cling to its edges to keep from falling off.

The culprit of this was the giant backpack that Toriko had brought with him, easily engulfing the Bishoku-ya's own tall frame.

"Oi!" Ryuko said from her position in the air, pointing an accusatory finger at the bag, "What the hell is this?!"

"My bag?"

"Obviously the bag! Why the hell is it so big!?"

Looking the backpack up and down, Toriko came to the conclusion that it may have been a little large.

"Well, last night before we headed off to bed, Naruto told me to pack up all the stuff I'd need on the ocean," he explained.

The piercing gazes of the two fell on their grinning captain who could not be happier at having a chef on the crew.

"It's great, right? Now we can have delicious food whenever we want," Naruto salivated at the idea.

"Look again, idiot!" Ichigo shouted at him, "It's too big! Way too big!"

"We're on a dinghy, you know! We can't have something like that on the boat!" Ryuko shouted at them; Naruto because he should have known better, and Toriko for clearly overpacking.

"Sorry," Toriko looked embarrassed, "I didn't know that you only had a dinghy, or else I wouldn't have taken so much."

"What's in there anyway?" Naruto asked, curious.

"Cooking utensils mostly with some food that I personally caught."

"Great, alright, we're setting off!" Naruto heard all he needed to and pushed the overweight boat onto the open water.

"We aren't finished yet, you idiot!" Ichigo roared at the two who seemed too happy to be sailing like this.

"We need to lighten the load; we'll capsize like this!" Ryuko yelled over their cheering.

Suddenly, Naruto's cheeriness disappeared and was replaced with a serious expression. He looked over his shoulder at his irate, annoyed, nakama with a smile.

"Lighten the load, huh? Then I've got an idea," he pointed a thumb at himself and had a twinkle in his eye as he said this.

An ill omen if they'd ever seen one.

" WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!"

While the two tried to argue with their captain, Toriko laughed loudly at how lively they all were even while departing. Slowly the loud noises of their voices faded over the sounds of the wind and waves, leaving everyone on shore to continue to watch the tiny ship sail away on the horizon until that too disappeared.

"Well, there he goes..." Mansam said slightly somberly, "Komatsu, you'll really need to pick up the slack that moron left behind," he said seriously to the small, newly instated head chef.

"I won't let you down, chief!" Komatsu felt invigorated and ready to get to work, a hand on his shoulder stopped him from running off though.

It was Rin, "Komatsu-kun, I'm counting on you to make me and Toriko's wedding cake for the big day," she said pulling out a sheet of paper that had all the details.

"How long were you holding onto that!?" Komatsu asked shocked, looking over the specifications and seeing that it would be no easy job, he gave her a wavy smile stomping down his nervousness as best he could.

"Count on me, Rin-san. It'll be the best cake you could ever hope for!"

She clapped her hands happily, "Great! I expect five every day until Toriko comes back," she said and walked off, leaving him to register what he'd been told.

"Ehhh!? F-five!? Every day!? WHY?"

"Silly, Komatsu-kun...practice, of course. Everything has to be perfect, so I want to make sure that you get the cake right!" she said simply.

"B-but wait, Rin-san, that's too much! I still have a job to do!"

"As long as you get your work finished, kid, you can make those cakes!" Mansam gave him a thumbs up.

'That wasn't the problem...' Komatsu cried.

Walking off with the other two, Komatsu felt that he would be getting a crash course on becoming a chef on the same level as Toriko.

Coco kept his eyes on the horizon, staying silent as he thought to himself, 'There is an ominous shadow looming over them...' Coco had used his abilities to read the futures of the pirates, unable to resist his curiosity he'd wanted some peace of mind that his brother would be safe with them.

And what he had seen was something...uncertain...not the shadow of death, but something. It left him uneasy not knowing what it could be, but seeing them all so carefree eased him, if only somewhat.

'Be careful, Toriko,' his mind went to the blond, the one where the shadow he'd seen had been most concentrated, 'His future will certainly be interesting, to say the least...' he then took his leave as well, following after the others.

Jiro and Setsuno were now the only ones standing onshore, and for once, Jiro's easygoing grin had been replaced with a contemplative stare. The woman noticed this peculiarity with her partner probed.

"Something on your mind, Jiro-chan?"

"Heh," he chuckled mirthlessly, "Nothing important, Secchan..." Jiro said, his eyes held a nostalgic look.

"Just wondering what that small-fry cat is up to."

Setsuno frowned at the mention of this 'cat', "What could possibly be making you think about that voracious idiot?"

"Well, Toriko did hand over those eggs to the Bishokukai, after all...so he'd probably be getting a taste of them now...just curious what he'll see."

Setsuno sighed, "That boy...he can be far too forgiving sometimes...as if they needed or deserved a share..." Setsuno pouted.

It was up to Toriko ultimately...but she would have let them squirm for it, especially if the moron didn't get what he wanted in the end.

"Maybe," Jiro looked at the sky, "But you could say the same thing about Ichi, too," Jiro's smile returned at the thought.

"You're right..." Setsuno relented, then huffed again as she walked off, "He's an idiot too!"

"No need to speak ill of the dead now, Secchan," Jiro laughed, following after her.

His mind though, wandered back to the 'cat', 'If those days meant anything to you...I'm certain of what you'll see...Midora.'

Down by the two's feet, the small chick had run off into the jungle eager to begin training itself to a level that could take on the larger animals. There was no telling when Naruto would be making his way back, so time was simultaneously short and long.

Birubī had no time to lose...he had to become the Boss!

(Deep in the Gourmet Jungle)

Within the fortress headquarters of the Bishokukai, the boss of the organization still sat on his throne, waiting. His face was calm as he stared into the giant, empty expanse of his throne room, nothing to occupy his time except for his thoughts.

And the ones that just happened to be running through his mind?

A visit from a certain man that led him to the current situation he'd found himself.

(Flashback 18 Years Ago- Shortly after Ichiryu's talk with the Shiten'nō)

"Boss!" a younger Alfaro came into the throne room in a hurry, bowing slightly as he gained the attention of his leader with his shout.

With a silent assent, the multi-armed waiter relayed the pressing message.

"The President of the IGO has appeared at the door," Alfaro revealed.

If this news had surprised the boss, his face did not show it. The man only turned his head from looking at Alfaro back to staring ahead.

"What could that fool want?" he whispered under his breath. After only a moment's consideration, he allowed Ichiryu entrance into his base.

"Let him in."

A few minutes later, Ichiryu strode in without a care in the world a large grin on his mustached face, and he carried a backpack with him. Stopping in the middle of the room, Ichiryu lifted the shades he had on to his forehead and addressed the boss by name.

"It's been a while, Midora," he glanced around their surroundings, "Nice little outfit you've made for yourself."

"I wish I could say the same to you," Midora insulted the man's efforts to build up the island.

Following a tense silence, Midora saw that a fight would not be breaking out between the two and dismissed Alfaro with a simple, "Leave us."

Hesitating slightly, Alfaro complied with the order and left the room, though eyes not his own stayed watching the conversation.

Taking a seat on the floor by crossing his legs, Ichiryu placed his bag in front of him and began rummaging through it. Even with his easygoing, nonchalant appearance, the now-named Boss, Midora, could see that Ichiryu was still more than able to fight. The man's attention was spread out around the entire room, aware of everyone who still kept their eyes on him.

And the man made sure to voice it in a rather jovial way.

"Seems you've gotten yourself some good subordinates as well," Ichi smiled, his pupil sliding to the corner of his eye, noticing the not-so-well-hidden 7-year-old that was behind the doorframe behind him. The long black hair similar to Midora's, scar on his left cheek and neck reminiscent of a burn, and a large kitchen knife that could be mistaken as a sword, made the boy eerily familiar to certain people.

He was also covered in dirt, grime, and burn marks.

Another curious set of eyes was the young man's that had pink hair and insect wings, along with a man with large black pupils, yet lacking a distinct second pair of arms, spacing out rather than paying attention.

"Hm, I see that brat I left you has grown up well," Ichiryu chuckled, recognizing the boy even if the last time he had seen him was when he'd found that group of babes in the wild. He'd noticed the boy on his way into the castle, training hard to please his 'Boss' no doubt.

Sending a commanding look to the assembled onlookers, with the help of Alfaro they were all ushered away so the two men could speak privately.

"He has proven himself useful," Midora responded simply, giving away nothing.

Ichi seemed unimpressed, seeing through the man, "I'm sure he has," the older man then started rambling at length about nothing, irritating the serious younger man.

"And he's shot up like a weed in just 7 years. You should get a load of my boys; I could hardly recognize them when I came back...and don't get me started with Setsuno...*sigh* she hasn't taught them any respect for-!"

"Enough rambling..." Midora's stare bored into Ichiryu, no nonsense would be tolerated.

"What has possessed you to come here, after all this time, to see me?"

The all-important question was broached, neither looked away from the other. Midora's gaze held the same cold indifference, while Ichiryu continued to hold his cheeriness with a tinge of sadness behind it.

Finally pulling his hand from his bag, Ichiryu brandished an empty glass, a single bottle of 'Rainbow Fruit Wine', and two simple bowls of rice. Laying the assortment of objects in front of him, Ichiryu popped the cork from the wine and answered Midora's question.

"I was just hoping that we could sit down and share a meal together."

The simple answer gave Midora pause, though not for long. He made no moves to join Ichiryu down on the floor, choosing to remain sitting on his throne and throwing some biting words.

"Given how our last encounter went, you'll excuse me if I do not come rushing down," he remembered the last time they'd seen each other well.

It ended with Midora barely able to keep himself on his feet, yet determined to continue, propping himself up on his knees, an elbow, and a hand to steady him. His wild untamed hair strewn on the ground while his head stared down, trying to catch his breath, his bruised and bloodied body screaming at him to rest...but his anger demanded him to continue.

He glared from behind his hair at the one to have left him in such a state, Ichiryu without any damage, looking down on him.

An experience neither of them would forget, that splintered their relationship.

No contact whatsoever afterward until the man had quite literally left Starjun on his doorstep without much explanation from what Alfaro, who'd retrieved the baby from said doorstep, told him.

If that past wound bothered Ichiryu, he did not show it, instead laughing hollowly at the reminder.

"Yeah..." he trailed the word off, pouring some of the alcoholic beverage into his glass, "A mistake I don't like to remember, but a necessary one...you had to be stopped, Midora," he said seriously for the first time since arriving.

"But I'm not much better...after that, I tried to live up to their example, but I'd lost that spark...I missed everything that we were taught...I was far too serious back then, don't you think?"

Ichiryu took a big swig of his drink, sighing after. To those who knew him, he was a lightweight drinker, but compared to the regular person...drinking a wine with an 85% alcohol content was still amazing.

"We both strayed from the paths that were laid out for us..." he remembered those lonely days, hunting for no one but himself...trying to understand.

"Who'd have ever thought that drunkard wolf of ours would turn out to be the upstanding one of the three of us?" Ichiryu laughed at the irony.

Midora was unamused, "Especially when the oldest leaves to go sailing aimlessly on the ocean."

Instead of looking sheepish or contrite about his decision to leave the island to become a pirate, Ichiryu gained a sly smile and teased the serious Bishokukai boss without batting an eye.

"Oh~ho, so you were keeping track of my exploits, then?" Ichiryu poured himself another glass of wine.

"Hardly."

"I won't deny that my leaving was a selfish choice," he said easily, raising his glass up to his eye, he saw the memories of meeting the Roger Pirates and their voyage reflected in the rainbow-colored liquid.

"Roger had this way about him," he recalled with nostalgia, "He was like a kid, running around challenging everything on the island all because of the rumors...but the moron had no idea how to cook any of them!" Ichiryu laughed.

Midora merely humored the man, not really caring.

"Where would he have gotten without me..." he drank some more, "Before long, he sucked me in...it wasn't long after I'd found those kids, and I had a responsibility to look after them, but I couldn't deny this feeling...one that urged me to go with him or I'd be missing out on something great...so I did!"

There wasn't a hint of regret in his voice.

"Hmph..." Midora's patience wore thin now, and he voiced as much, "Is this all you came here for? I've had enough of listening to your inane ramblings...do you have such time to waste, you senile fool?"

"Whew, we really have changed," Ichi didn't rise to the insults...he couldn't really deny that he was rambling, after all, he missed those days.

"I remember a certain cat that couldn't stop talking to his brothers at the dinner table."

Midora's eyes narrowed.

"I'll try to get to the point, then," Ichiryu placed his glass down and started to dig into his rice with his chopsticks.

"I learned a lot on that voyage, Midora...like just how small our problems were in the grand scheme of things...I saw things that made our hardships seem like a single grain of rice," he expertly lifted a grain within his chopsticks, "And those things helped me realize I needed to mend bridges, that monsters larger than anything we've seen exist. But we pushed forward, and reached the end of the Grand Line, the end of our adventure..."

"The Pirate King's Treasure?" Midora asked, figuring that's what he was speaking of.

"Curious?" Ichiryu got playful again, "If you ask nicely, I'll tell you all about it~"

"Is it something that will fill my stomach?" Midora asked seriously.

"Not even close."

"Then you have your answer...my sight lies atop a dining table," Midora said cryptically, though the meaning behind those words seemed to resonate with Ichiryu.

"I figured as much...not that I would have answered anyway."

"Are you finished..." Midora growled.

"The things we learned at the end, Midora," Ichiryu became serious again, "They are things that the World Government would go to any lengths to keep under wraps...in Roger's words...we were too early to act on these things, but we won't beat ourselves up over it," he put his bowl of rice down, Midora noticing something peculiar about it but said nothing.

"I'd rather keep my mind on the future, atone for my mistakes, and make this island what they would have wanted...and expected us to make it in their place." Ichiryu smiled widely.

"Then you're as foolish as they were...wasting your time attempting to share food with those undeserving..." Midora's eyes darkened, anger growing at whatever ran through his mind.

"I seem to remember them picking up a certain someone that would fall under his own definition of undeserving..." Ichi pointed out.

And Midora did not say anything to deny it.

"This is something I have to do, Midora. I want their dream to live on, and I have the means to do it now...a world where food can be shared with those that need it without withholding it."

Midora did not miss his moment to criticize this, "Yet you plan to cater to those with the money to pay for such delicacies while banning the export of ingredients from the island," he said matter of factly, a decision that he still did not understand coming from this sentimental fool.

"Have to make money somehow!" he answered.

Midora didn't believe him, there was something deeper.

"But they'll find me eventually with everything I'm doing."

Midora raised an eyebrow, learning this, he found that it was an obvious conclusion. As part of the most famous pirate crew...him creating something as groundbreaking as this, for such high-class clientele, eyes would zero in.

"Then why not simply end this foolish endeavor before you lose your life?"

"I told you already, to make them proud and atone. I want to leave a good mark on this world before I go...make sure that this place will survive once I'm gone," Ichiryu did not speak of this as if it were a far-off thing, he fully expected to be taken into custody due to his actions.

Ensuring this little speck in the ocean would thrive, especially given the tumultuous future that would be coming...

"But there is something that I want to make sure of before that happens," Ichiryu clasped his hands together, looking the most serious he had as he stared directly into Midora's calm eyes.

"Those brats of mine, I don't doubt that they're going to leave the island and start trouble...they don't have much interest in being pirates like me, but I didn't teach them to take anything laying down either, so it would only be a matter of time until they became notorious," he smiled just imagining it.

"With a parent like you, it's an inevitability," Midora did not miss his chance.

"Exactly! Which is why I gave them a little mission before they could leave. A challenge to make sure that, when they leave no matter how far they go or what they do, they're family...And I don't want it to be too easy for them!" Ichiryu slapped a hand to his knee and pointed to Midora.

The Bishokukai boss already did not like where this was going...

"That's where you and your organization come in!" Ichi said assured in this idea, "I want your subordinates...or you if you're feeling up for it, to get in those kids' way on this hunt, make sure they really have to work for their win!"

He really was an evil old man when he wanted to be.

"I refuse."

And Midora would be taking no part in his scheme.

"What do I stand to gain by taking part in this?"

"A favor for family?"

Midora's deadpan was deafening.

"Ok, ok...what you get from this...is an ingredient, one close to extinction," Ichiryu could see a small bit of interest shine in Midora's eyes at that tidbit.

Now he had him.

"This would be?"

"A Billion Bird."

A disbelieving look crossed Midora's features, he knew of the scarcity of this species due to their relative weakness in the section of the island where that was deadly.

Noticing this, Ichiryu explained, "A self-appointed worker of mine managed to come across a couple, very lucky to have a natural birth those two, and they'll be having an egg. Perhaps the last one."

"And you'd risk having it taken by me?" Midora was very serious, he would not hesitate to take hold of that ingredient, even from his adopted nephews.

"It's only fair," Ichiryu smirked, "And if they manage to take the egg from under your nose, they'll be making a dish with it, and I can guarantee that they'll share it with you."

"Really? Someone directly opposing them, aiming to take the bird and most likely end its entire existence?"

"I didn't teach them to hold grudges, Midora. Food isn't meant to be monopolized, it's meant to be shared," Ichiryu assured the man and added icing on the cake, "Either the Bishokukai takes the Billion Bird, letting you eat it or corner the market on the ingredient, or my brats beat you taking it for themselves and making the dish I told them to, and give you a share of it...whichever outcome, you win."

Midora weighed his options, it was a salivating proposition...getting the Billion Bird, he could consume it and see what the many beasts in the jungle saw in the animal, or amass funds through being the only outlet on and off the island to get the rare ingredient.

He didn't even truly humor 'losing'.

He still asked though...

"And what is so special about this dish of yours?"

"I won't spoil that. I'll just say that I can promise it will fill you up."

A bold claim that made Midora take this all the more seriously...even making him curious about what made the man so confident if only a little.

"Very well, then...I'll take part in this little game of yours," Midora finally conceded, loathe as he was to admit that he fell into the man's pace despite how he wanted to remain terse.

"Then I'll take my leave, thanks for the help," Ichiryu smiled, truly thankful his younger brother would assist him, ignoring the businesslike transaction of it.

"Just know," Midora offered some parting words, "If this is some trick, no matter where you are, I will make you pay."

"Oh, is that so?" Ichiryu thought for a moment, then laughed loudly, "Then I've got nothing to worry about, do I?!"

Offering a wave behind his back, Ichiryu left, the deal made.

Midora cast his gaze down to see that Ichiryu had left the two bowls of rice behind, taking the wine with him.

In an instant, Midora's bowl was empty, the man gulping it down without moving from his chair.

The slightest sense of unease was felt inside him though when he looked at Ichiryu's bowl, it had the chopsticks sticking straight up.

(End Flashback)

A lot of the events that his older brother had told him in that meeting had come to pass. The island had gone through a major change from what it once was, a bustling food metropolis. Ichiryu had certainly left his mark before his demise, and even afterward.

Midora honored their agreement and opposed the only nephew that had taken up the challenge with his subordinates, and even assisted him when his victory was assured. Now he waited patiently for the news, though he knew what to expect.

Eventually, the doors to his throne room were opened, allowing his bandaged subordinates entry. He looked upon them as they reached the center of the room and kneeled on one knee, resting a fist on the floor, and bowing their heads to him.

Alfaro spoke, holding a pot within his lowest set of hands, keeping his head low, "Boss...I apologize, but we were unable to procure the Billion Bird," the shame in Alfaro's voice could be heard, angry with himself as he had never failed the man until today. "And even worse...pity was given to us by the enemy..." he grit his teeth.

Midora only listened, he already knew of their failure, after all, but he would not insult them by stating that. They had followed his orders to the best of their ability, unknowing of the underlying goals of this hunt, there would be no punishment.

"It will not wash away our shame...but we were given a share of the dish that Toriko created with the ingredient as consolation," Alfaro placed the pot onto the ground and removed the lid, showing the boiled eggs contained within.

Presented with the prize he was promised all that time ago, Midora did not hesitate to devour the contents of the pot. Once again, he made no movements yet somehow, he had eaten its contents.

Instantly, Midora's tastebuds awakened.

Just like Jiro and Mansam, Midora had a rough childhood...but unlike them where they had at least been taken care of...Midora was born to die. He and all the babies born in his settlement that exceeded the set limit of births were to be used as feed for the livestock.

To keep the number of mouths to feed low, and their food intake high.

All those babies had been killed, but not him.

It seemed the deadly beasts could recognize the scarred babe laid in front of them as a predator, and he was reared on the teats of the beasts, and feared by the people of the settlement for this very reason.

Midora, as he grew, continued to take whatever he could to feed himself. He lacked the strength that Jiro did to simply defeat and demand, he relied on underhanded tactics and quick getaways to survive. The scarred boy held an insatiable hunger that would not be quelled no matter how much he ate, it demanded more and more.

A hunger like this could not be handled, not by him, or by any that met him...he was hated no matter where he went, a monster.

Inevitably that caught up with him, and he was on the verge of starving.

Only to be taken into a family...and gaining two older brothers.

They were taught to share food with the masses, something he did not necessarily agree with, but went along with it for his family's sake. He trained with his brothers and became strong enough to be considered on par with the two of them.

He remembered their dinners, talking with each other, laughing, eating...he was happy.

And during those days, his stomach was full.

"Boss! Boss!"

The calls of Alfaro brought Midora back to reality.

"You...you haven't finished..." Alfaro cast his gaze back down at the pot.

Usually, their boss ate whatever they brought him instantly, not even a speck of whatever had been brought before him left...but this time, there was still more than half the pot left.

All the Bishokukai looked up at their boss in slight worry, wondering if it wasn't to his liking and if he would be angered. But they were surprised to see that his stony expression had changed, if only slightly after he'd eaten the boiled eggs.

His eyes had widened to an almost imperceptible degree, but being around him as they had been it was noticeable, and the slightest bit of drool escaped his lips.

Blinking, mind catching back up with his body, Midora realized that Alfaro was correct...he had left food behind...and yet...

Midora finally stood from his throne and made his way down the stairs leading to it. His steps startled his subordinates as they quickly bowed their heads again in case they'd offended their leader. Each step made them sweat as they drew closer and closer to them, imaginations going wild as they wondered what punishment awaited them for failure, when...

Their boss simply passed them by, offering these words that shook them to their core, "Do what you will with the rest...I'm full."

The Boss!? Full!?

Just what was this dish?!

They dared not question any further.

If he was content...then even through this failure, they had succeeded.

But the surprises did not end.

"Alfaro..."

"Hai, Boss?!"

Midora did not turn, "Have all outstanding contracts annulled, and return the money that was given to us to complete them."

Those words shocked them all.

"The Bishokukai is no more..." he stared up at the ceiling for a moment in thought, "You are free to do as you please..."

The assorted men looked at each other, wondering what they would do now. Their mission was to feed their boss until he had been satisfied...if they accomplished that then all else fell away.

Midora had never cared about the money or the jobs, they were means to an end, things to facilitate his search for satisfaction.

"If you choose to remain, then know that we will be assisting the IGO from now on."

"We'll follow you to the end of the earth, Boss," Starjun didn't hesitate to answer, the others affirming their willingness to follow the man.

Midora thought so, but he still gave them a way out.

'Hm...I'm sure this is what you were expecting the entire time. Weren't you?' Midora thought to himself, imagining Ichiryu's insufferable, knowing smile.

The old man won from beyond the grave.

"Boss..." Alfaro spoke up..."What shall I tell the clients," he asked, "I doubt they will take this development well..."

The air suddenly grew cold, Midora turned his head toward Alfaro with an intense stare, his hair whipping around him and creating ominous shadows across his face. Alfaro considered himself lucky that this powerful presence was not directed at him but at those nebulous clients who would become incensed at this decision.

"Tell them they should consider themselves lucky I'm in such a mood that I've deigned to return the funds that they've given rather than keeping it all...and if they are still bothered with my decision, they can come here themselves and face me."

"Hai, Boss!" Alfaro left after that to do as he was told.

Tommy and Grin left behind him once they'd been dismissed by Midora. Star was on his way out as well but a call from his boss stopped his leaving.

"Star."

"Yes, Boss?"

"Tell me of this group that bested you," Midora turned to the man, a smirk coming to his face.

A questioning look came to Starjun's face...not that he wouldn't want to share given he highly respected them after their bout...but for the boss to take an interest?

"Now that my appetite has been sated, I find my curiosity must be as well."

Star was more than happy to recount the hunt for the Billion Bird in detail, speaking of not only Toriko but a group of three pirates that had assisted him.

(Back on the Ocean)

"Alright, everyone!" Naruto shouted as they continued to sail.

"LET'S HAVE A CHEER FOR A NEW CREWMATE AND THE NEXT ADVENTURE!"

The previous anger that Ichigo and Ryuko had at their ship situation had been forgotten in the wake of their captain's good cheer. The idea the blond had to lighten the load was to have a welcoming party for Toriko, which swept up the annoyed members without them even realizing that they had been.

Now the four pirates all wore smiles on their faces, clutching mugs in their hands that splashed all over from the wild movements they were all making. Their dinghy, which still had the heavier half dipping into the water, and still slowly making its way across the water was the furthest thing from their minds as they enjoyed each other's company.

They slammed their cups together and gave a happy shout of...

" KANPAI (CHEERS)! "

The four laughed and made merry even in their current predicament, sailing on to their next adventure.

(On a certain island)

Within a quiet clearing, in a small forest, with a lake where many small woodland creatures drank, a peaceful hush permeated. Though there was a small disturbance brewing, biding its time. A bob of a fishing line rocked gently on the lake's surface, with the string attached to it leading up into a tree...to a pile of leaves?

Suddenly, the bob was pulled under the surface of the water. The time to strike was now!

A hand came from beneath the leaves, pulling with all its might to reel in the large creature that was yanking on the other end. The figure, who was small, dug its heels into the branch that they were atop, taking steady steps backward to make some progress.

It was then that a large blue fish with shrimp-like legs burst from the lake, this was the chance the figure was waiting for. Pulling quickly the figure managed to capture the flopping fish, and gave it a final punch to stop it permanently so it would be easier to transport.

"Heh, I caught it, the Master of the Swamp!" a wide grin came to the figure's face, a distinctly young male voice coming from his throat.

The sun had just started to become unblocked by the clouds, letting its rays shine down on the island, which brightened up the clearing and showed off the black hair that spiked up over the boy's head.

"Now Aunt Mito will have to let me participate!"

Happiness was heard in the voice as he hefted the large fish and made off with it.

It would be starting soon, and now he had his ticket in!

AN: And there we have it, the Gourmet Island arc is finally over, and we've the teaser for the next crewmember coming up.

If I remember correctly a couple of people had guessed that it was one Mr. Gon Freecss fairly early on when I had started hinting at the crew (It was probably the "head smokes when thinking" one that did it), but other than him I think only one other has been guessed correctly, so far.

And with this reveal, I'll give another (sort of) reveal, during the long-ass time that I've been away from this story I've decided to add another crewmember. Now, they won't be showing up obviously until everyone else has joined up seeing as they're essentially being appended to the back half (that we should all pray I get to, but thanks to this person's addition, as a first hint, they have become the oldest member of the crew, ironically taking Toriko's spot as he was previously gonna be the oldest at 25.

Anyway moving on, as always, some cleanup:

So, this chapter...it wasn't supposed to be this long...never imagined it would be this long...I legit thought it would struggle to reach 30 pages, but it definitely bloated. The dinner scene was the meat of the content...and originally those flashbacks for all the characters weren't intended, or at least weren't supposed to be as lengthy, but it was all to really flesh out them out and reinforce the idea (also to have it handy in case I want to use anything later down the line, so there is a lore base I've established and therefore cannot break). Ultimately, I'm happy, but we'll see how I feel later on...I have this way of souring on what I've written because I see things I didn't before that I could have done better or missed.

Fun Fact of the chapter: This ending was planned before a lot of this arc took shape. After reading Toriko to know what even happened in it in prep for this story, since it wasn't the most popular manga in the world, I felt ending with a dinner with this SUPER corny idea was pretty par for the course...I regret making it so in your face in this chapter though.

Shilling! Shill for the AizentheGoat server! Join up if you want, here the link!

/cfGhZZm435

Lot's of fun times to be had and whatnot, hear about what other authors are up to, concepts, updates, lend a hand if asked, just be cool!

Ok! So, now this is all extra stuff that will not be important, just gonna throw some more crew hints and look at review a few reviews, measuredly of course.

So, if you wanna click off, now's the time:

First the hints, this time around we're gonna do some Color Association, and by that, I mean describing colors that go with that character, AND by that, I mean these colors don't have to be worn by the character. These colors CAN be worn, but also can just be the color of equipment they use, techniques, characters around them, even eye color, or else it'd be way too easy if I just stuck to clothing, a lot is on the table.

Crewmember: Green, Red, Yellow, White, Black

Musician: Pink, Red, Yellow, Blue

Sniper: Orange, Matte Black, Purple, White

Shipwright: Black, Purple, Green, Pink, White

Doctor: Pink, Green, Silver, Red

Recent Addition: Black, Red, Purple, Blue, Silver

And there you have it, pretty cryptic, and let me tell you now, it was very difficult for three in particular because it would be so obvious who they were if I picked certain colors.

Moving onto the last bit, we've got some Review Reviews, I've said it before, I'm sure, but I like to engage with what's being said on here, good or bad, and address some things, this time is different because I didn't front load this shit on at the beginning of the chapter and most of you aren't down here, so it's just for my own sake really, but for those interested, it's a little insight.

We're gonna be sandwiching some good ones with some not so good ones, aight.

Nduna Ye Nkosii: Hey hope you are good, please don't tell us you forgot about Slivers D Naruto. It's really an awesome story. Please don't leave imus hanging like that

Believe me, Nduna (if you're still here), I am not trying to leave you hanging. I'm just a lazy, perfectionist, procrastinator who is my own worst enemy. See, after chapter 15, I had pretty quickly gotten to work on this, if I'm remembering correctly I'd typed up to everyone having woken up and making their way to the dining room before I just kinda stopped, despite having most everything planned out and knowing where I wanted it to end, but I got in my own head and did not think I could do the dinner scene justice because of my high standards, and psyched myself out until I, essentially got fed up with making you guys wait.

Trust me when I say, in my free time, iterations are near constantly in my head, and I have a notebook that I write in to outline chapters, so I have a throughline.

Thebootytroll: Bro why did you do an opening for a book?

Alright, I'm gonna tackle this one two ways; The blunt way; and the thought-out way.

Bluntly, even though this is a bit of a cop-out answer it doesn't make it any less true, because I wanted to...that's kinda it whenever any writer writes something.

Now the thought-out way, the purpose of a written work as opposed to something visual is to paint a picture for the reader due to the lack of visual stimulus.

Tickle the imagination and what-have-you.

So this argument is akin to saying: "Why did you describe the way the sunset looks?" Right? I mean, the sunsets, it looks pink, sun goes down, end of story, right?

Ya gotta establish tone, and feed the imagination, that's why writers don't normally bluntly state what's happening, they dress it up.

And other than that, the openings serve as a way to start a new arc in my story, tease events that will be happening in it, and, if people are curious enough, maybe go give the music a listen if they've never heard of it (as low a possibility it may be). I know the unspoken rule on here is, Opening = cringe, but it all depends on the execution, and I'm guilty of disliking openings in stories too.

I don't like them showing up in every chapter of a story, seems like padding to me. That's why I do it once at the top of the arc when they first show up in my story, then just let readers now where it first started if they want to read it again, that way I don't waste my or their time.

Kid-Kyubbi: oh man, this can't be abandoned its to great would be great to have a one piece character join the crew like uta meeting naruto and he gets her to join as the musician or a mink tribe member hell yamato would be good she was to great to have not join at the last second

Hello to you, if you're still here Kid-Kyubbi, I'm alive. It isn't abandoned, sorry for making you guys constantly think that.

Unfortunately, though, I'm gonna have to burst your bubble. No One Piece characters are going to be joining the crew, I think I wanted to stay away from that subconsciously, though I did toss around the idea of York at one point, before scrapping it. And as an aside, a telling of the future to a degree, Naruto and crew will not be touching Wano at all, so they could not meet Yamato, not saying that it couldn't happen some other way, you never know, but right now, I have a different idea for what will be happening in Wano...even if Naruto and others won't be there themselves.

Browhat: I'll be honest this has to be the worst decision you have made. The plot holes are crazy. You mean to tell me Naruto trained for 8 years and acts weak when you have be super obnoxious? The story had so much potential and I think you wasted it. Naruto should of left, started his own crew and then come back. It would have made more sense if he was older then his siblings

Oh, Boy here we go!

So firstly, let's start with something that I don't take issue with.

Naruto being obnoxious. Purely subjective, I can't tell you what you feel about a character, all I can say is "No, I don't think so," and move on. If anything, to shore this up a bit, you'd want to throw in some supporting evidence of where his "obnoxiousness" crossed your personal line. Everyone's got a limit, and they're all different.

Now the stuff I do take issue are the objective inaccuracies in this that are debunked in story. You said the plot holes are crazy, but none of the thing following that sentence are plot holes, so either you were just stating that plot holes exist, or you don't understand what a plot hole is. This comes back around to showing evidence of a plot hole rather than just saying they're present.

Addressing the inaccuracies now, Naruto doesn't act weak, he just doesn't go around flaunting how strong he is...humans don't generally like people that take the "might makes right" approach. Naruto doesn't want issues before he leaves Konoha, so he doesn't just show-off the results of training or else they'd be curious, upset, and probably track him. He did want to at least get one over on them before he left. There's also the fact that Rayleigh nips any thoughts of revenge in the bud, Naruto is leaving, with no real reason to come back...why make trouble?

Next, a question. Why would it have been better if Naruto left, got a crew, then came back...is it because that's what you wanted? That's all well and good, but this is not what this story is or will be. If you want a Naruto revenge story, trust me, there plenty. You've got a high chance of throwing a rock in a random direction and hitting one of those stories they're so plentiful.

When criticizing you should criticize a story for what it is, not what it isn't.

And this last one is easy...Naruto is older than his siblings, technically...he came out first, that makes him oldest.

Alright I'm done, see ya next chapter!