Zoro woke up to light in his eyes. He lay comfortably on a small cot made of some type of bear fur material.
Zoro looked around the room. It was a very comfortable and hospitable looking cabin; he could smell the tea as it floated through the air, a fireplace keeping the room warm.
"Where am I?" Zoro asked out loud to himself.
A bandaged woman in marine garments walked into the room with warm towels.
"Oh, you're awake! How do you feel?" Amaiya asked.
"I feel fine. I just needed some rest. What happened to you?" Zoro asked.
Amaiya looked down.
"I don't want to talk about it..." Amaiya said sadly.
"How did I get here?" Zoro asked.
"You came flying out of the sky! Your body was completely harded by haki... that takes an incredible amount of haki mastery to do!" Amaiya said.
Zoro looked at his body and remembered the last time he saw something like that, it was during his fight with Pica.
"My whole... body?" Zoro asked.
"Mm-Hmm!" Amaiya sounded with a smile.
"An impressive amount of mastery indeed!" A man said.
Zoro looked past the marine at the man with closed eyes behind her.
"They call you a lot of bad names in the paper, Pirate Hunter, but I see they're mistaken!" The man continued.
"Who-Who are you?" Zoro asked.
"My apologies! My name is Iwataka Tokisato! It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Zoro-soro!" Iwataka said.
"Soro?" Zoro asked.
"He says it any time he says someone's first name. It doesn't mean anything." Amaiya cleared up.
"I see... but that last name... Tokisato... why does it sound familiar?" Zoro asked, looking down.
"You've heard of my family, Zoro-soro? I would be surprised honestly... our name doesn't get around too much these days! Wa ha ha ha ha ha!" Iwataka laughed.
Zoro thought hard, then remembered!
FLASHBACK
"What do you mean, you r last name is dangerous?" Zoro asked.
"My last name, Tokisato... someone in our family did something bad and the government erased our last name from existance... if we go by our real names we could be killed..." Kuina said softly.
"I thought Kuina was your last name?" Zoro asked.
Kuina shook her head.
"No, my dad taught me to go by either my first and middle name only, Shimotsuki Kuina Tokisato is my full name." Kuina said.
"That's not fair! What do you have to do with what they did? What did they even do!?" Zoro asked angrily.
END OF FLASHBACK
Iwataka stared seriously at Zoro.
"So my older brother trained you and my beautiful young niece was your rival! What a world!" Iwataka yelled out happily, "But I had a feeling, that sword, I can feel my niece's spirit..." Iwataka said, referencing Zoro's blade.
Zoro's eyes widened and he looked at the sword.
"But it's true. The government banned our last names. A ban that lasts to this day!" Iwataka said.
Zoro slowly looked at Iwataka.
"I always found it odd, they went by their first and middle names. What happened?" Zoro asked.
Amaiya got tired of listening and butted in.
"And why's my last name so important? You said you're keeping me here because I won't embrace my last name but you know what devilish evil is attactched to it!" Amaiya yelled, tears beginning to come down her face.
Iwataka walked over to the fireplace in the middle of the room and sat down indian style.
"Amaiya-soro, Zoro-soro, please." Iwataka said.
Amaiya and Zoro looked at each other and then back at Iwataka.
The two walked over to the swordsman and sat down.
"Both of your questions... actually share the same answer!" Iwataka said, "If you would bear with me for a moment.. while I give you my story.." Iwataka said.
Zoro and Amaiya nodded and let Iwataka speak.
"The Tokisato used to live on top of the Red Line. We weren't exactly royalty.. but our ways with the wind were useful to the Celestial Dragoons." Iwataka explained.
Zoro and Amaiya listened.
"Eventually we were trusted enough... to assist the World Government in the "draft" as they put it..." Iwataka said.
Zoro had heard about the draft from Psycho at Mariejois, but Amaiya had never heard of it because only Admiral's and up are told of the draft.
"Thousands of shinobi from the ninja world are drafted or should I say forced to become marines, slaves, or whatever the World Government sees fit! It's pure evil!... all for some centuries year old grudge!" Iwataka said angrilly.
Amaiya was shocked and held her mouth.
"Oh my god.." Amaiya gasped.
Zoro stared angrily, thinking about his newfound shinobi friends in Team 7.
"I don't know what happened all that time ago, but when the elders are the only ones old enough to remember what happened... how is that fair for the people of today?" Iwataka asked, "That is how mother and father felt too.. and their next move would change our family forever."
Iwataka took a sip of tea. Zoro and Amaiya stared nervously.
"They began smuggling the same ninja they were sent to receive, back into the nina world and reporting them missing. When the government started wondering why so many ninja were missing, my parents brushed it off as "they're getting tricky." Iwataka explained.
"CP Nega began looking into the "missing ninja" and kidnapped some ninja that were supposed to have already been drafted. They tortured them until they admitted my mother and father were the ones smuggling ninja back..." Iwataka said softly.
Amaiya continued held her mouth, trying not to cry and Zoro stared angrily, clenching his fists.
"They called our family to the Holy Land and we stood before the elders. They wanted to kill our parents personally given what they had done. This was "a crime above all crimes" they said." Iwataka said softly.
"Our parents... they begged the elders to let us go because we were just kids and hadn't done anything wrong. The elders agreed and kicked us out the manor. Our parents were murdered soon after." Iwataka said.
Amaiya cried as she looked down and Zoro lowered his head.
"For years we lived as ghosts... only going by our first and middle names and never using our last, but what would mother and father thinkg of us living in cowardice? They risked their lives to save thousands of innocent Shinobi and we dare fear to share such a heroic name!?" Iwataka said, then sipped some tea.
"Years and years went by, I did nothing but train. I trained and trained because I knew they'd come for me after I did what I was about to do! Which was proudly claim the Tokisato name!" Iwataka said.
Amaiya spoke up.
"The government... found out, didn't they?" Amaiya asked.
"Of course!" Iwataka said, "They sent marine ships after me, Koushiro, Mihawk, and Okua..." Iwataka was stopped.
"MIHAWK IS YOUR BROTHER!?" Zoro yelled out.
Iwataka was surprised.
"Yes. My brother's names are Koushiro, Mihawk, and Okua!" Iwataka said.
"NOW YOU SAY SOMETHING!" Zoro yelled while Iwataka nervously rubbed his head.
"Please don't kill me!" Iwataka pleaded.
Zoro felt the scar on his chest.
"Mihawk... gave me this scar." Zoro said.
Iwataka became serious.
"May I?" Iwataka asked.
Zoro let Iwataka touch his scar, since Iwataka couldn't see it.
"Wow! And you survived this?" Iwataka asked.
Zoro nodded.
"That's Mihawk for you! Wa ha ha ha ha!" Iwataka laughed, "But that brings me back to my story."
Zoro's eyes widened slightly.
"They even laugh alike.." Zoro said.
Zoro and Amaiya listened again as Iwataka got prepared to finish his story.
"We were taken to the Holy Land and as if life came full circle, we found ourselves at the mercy of the World Government; the fiends told us they had warned us all those years ago what would happen if we claimed that last name! Then they ordered our execution..." Iwataka said.
Iwataka paused for a moment.
"I was the only one that had been claiming that last name, so I asked the elders to spare my brothers and kill me instead!" Iwataka said loudly.
Amaiya and Zoro were shocked.
"They said they spared us once before and weren't going to let us slide this time, but I insisted I was the only one claiming that name, my brothers did nothing wrong! CP Nega agents in the room confirmed what I was saying was true. The elders excused my brothers and said I'd die in their place, but there wouldn't be any more chances." Iwataka explained.
"As my brothers left I yelled out to them to always be proud of who they are and never let anyone tell them how to live their lives! Always be proud of your name because at the end of the day it's who you are! I was beaten and tortured badly for this of course..." Iwataka said, sipping more tea.
Tears slightly formed in Amaiya's eyes. Zoro stared with a straight face.
"How did you escape?" Zoro asked.
Iwataka smiled.
"It's actually a funny story! I was definitely supposed to die that day. My goal was to save my brothers; but as crazy as this might sound, a giant bird guided by the wind attacked the Holy Land! In the confusion I was able to escape the mansion. I made it down the Red Line and a nice young man gave me his boat to leave, unfortunately.. he was executed for the gesture... I was able to escape here, to the North Blue and have lived here ever since." Iwataka explained.
Zoro and Amaiya both stared in awe.
"I would probably never be able to see my brothers again, my parents were gone... I was basically dead! So, one day I closed my eyes for good... because this is the closest to death I'll get!" Iwataka said.
"That is why Koushiro and Kurina didn't go by their last names, and that is why you shouldn't disregard your name, Amaiya-soro, your father, Cyclone, made that name evil. You need to show the world why it isn't!" Iwataka said.
"Cyclone is your father!?" Zoro asked.
Amaiya hugged herself softly and hid her injuries.
"And he... did this to you?" Zoro asked.
Amaiya, hiding her wounds, cried out of her good eye. Zoro became filled with rage and stood up.
"Zoro-soro, sit down, please." Iwataka said, softly.
"Cyclone's gonna pay for what he did." Zoro said.
Amaiya looked up at Zoro with shock.
"You're in no position to fight, Zoro-soro, you still need to-" Iwataka was stopped.
"I've healed up enough." Zoro said.
Iwataka smiled.
"I'm not denying that Zoro-soro! Wa ha ha ha. After you told me you took a slice from Dracule and lived I knew you weren't an average man! Also, not to mention you flew here from who knows where and lived!" Iwataka said.
Zoro thought back to his fight with the Coated Pirates, specifically Renji.
"Yeah... I've got someone else to pay a visit too, and I need to get to my friends! Robin... she's supposed to... be going to some library with Psycho, I have to stop it!" Zoro said.
Iwataka was surprised.
"Library?" Iwataka asked, "You wouldn't be talking about Won Shi Tong's library?"
Zoro looked at Iwataka.
"I don't know, he didn't say specifically. He just said some old library that was buried now." Zoro said.
Iwataka stood up.
"Yep, I've been before!" Iwataka said.
Zoro couldn't believe it.
"Really!?" Zoro asked.
Iwataka smiled.
"That's right! I went when I was a young lad, learning the ways of the wind and different forms of swordsmanship. People from all over the world used to share their knowledge there." Iwataka said.
"You have to take me!" Zoro said.
Amaiya stood up.
"I'll go too!"
Iwataka smiled.
"I'll take you both! On one condition..." Iwataka said.
Zoro and Amaiya looked at each other.
"I get to teach you a thing or two along the way! Including... how to defeat Psycho and Cyclone!" Iwataka yelled.
Zoro and Amaiya couldn't believe what they had just heard. Both smiled big.
"Sorry everyone... I'll be late getting back!" Zoro said.
IN THE OCEAN
Kraken's marine ship slowly sailed through the sea. The rain had long stopped so it was safe to walk on the deck, but Kraken had everyone lay asleep in their cabins to make sure they were safe.
Kraken surveyed the area and removed his binoculars when he saw the giant fog headed their way.
Kraken sighed deeply.
"Here we go.." Kraken said.