Chương 18: 2/4
"Well, you came in far too early. Arlong hadn't made any concrete deals for the village to be free no matter this outcome. To be captain, leadership often requires more patience, Captain Luffy," the Jonin lazily admonished him.
"Na, I don't care. Those other you's were taking too long, and it's more fun this way. Stop keeping all of it for yourself, old man Kakashi!" Luffy brushed him aside, while Kakashi sweat-dropped. "I'm only 26, not an old man."
"Still, you're eldest out of us, Kakashi. Th' Don's words do have some merit," Gin chimed in. "Stop complainin' 'bout the sequence. Th' results are more th'n good. And how many differen' kind o' clones can you make?"
"Well, some have called me the man with a Thousand jutsu for good reason," as the second Kakashi nodded, as Luffy strode forward, facing down all of the Arlong Pirates.
"I am Monkey D. Luffy. A Pirate Captain. And I'm here to challenge all of you fishy bastards for hurting Nami, my crew member!"
0…0
Across the island, a party of Marines were surrounding their prisoner, moving him down a pathway. They were not alone as a towering Fishman strode along beside the green-haired bounty hunter, wearing a pair of katana strapped to his back. Chew could not keep the grin off his face every time one of the corrupt Marines struck Zoro along, trying to make the swordsman shout in pain.
'This human certainly has some grit, even if he is a piece of crap. This treatment really is fitting comeuppance for what he did to Hatchi,' the smelt-whiting Fishman spared him a passing thought. Unaware that the group was being shadowed.
"What're we waiting for? He's right there and easy to rescue. My clones could charge in, beat up them all, and grab Zoro-san no problem, believe it!" Naruto let out a whisper, louder than he meant for, towards Sasuke. Both were crouching low in the treeline, Naruto giddy to catapult into action, Sasuke focused with deep intensity, itching to use several Fuam-shuriken in a pack slung over his back. Now incensed teammate was fixing the blonde with a glare, ready to admonish him, before their partner spoke up first.
"Naruto. That attitude caused you to nearly die back at the Baratie and we had to save you from Krieg and his crew, twice," their third member cautioned him.
"This part of the mission is about something you are supposed to able do better than any of us. Grabbing their attention with unpredictable chaos."
The boy chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, "Uh, y-yeah. Sorry, I'm just a little excited that I didn't think."
"You're always too excited to think, Naruto. But you're not wrong about getting Zoro-san out of these and fast." Sasuke acknowledged, his patience made thinner by watching another Marine slamming the butt of a rifle into Zoro's chest. "Let's wait for the right moment then ambush them with your clones. I can follow-up with Shuriken for more precision. That'll create the opening to grab Zoro and move him out of there.
"Not a bad plan Sasuke," the third member acknowledge, another Kakashi. "The both of you need to distract them quickly, otherwise the Marines might kill Zoro before I can take him. Get your clones out there, Naruto."
Sasuke nodded, while Naruto grinned. "Shadow-clone jutsu," he whispered, producing several copies, all of whom nodded as with Kakashi handed them a storage scroll. "Hmm! Time to put all that paint to good use. And Sasuke, how many times did you call my hobby useless?"
The Uchiha rejected the bait, grasping Naruto by his collar, "Then get into position. Stay quiet dobe, and let's get this right." Naruto, for his own part, nodded. Shaking off Sasuke's hand, the pair moved on while Kakashi looked on with a pang from the past.
'They were acting just like me and…' the Hatake sighed deeply, recalling his own demeanor towards Obito and the parallels Sasuke had just shown.
'It's good to see they get along far better than before. Sasuke at least is going this to save a friend, Zoro-san, while Naruto is starting to put their rivalry aside.'
None of this was noticed by the Marines who continued towards their destination. Moving another hundred meters up the road. Before pure chaos unfurled!
"Huh!" "Wha-the-AAH!" "My eyes, it's in my eyes!" "Ghakkk-PLaa-plab-my mouth!"
"Wha-what the-how the hell…chew!"
The Fishman blinked on reflex, hearing pop of air-cannons and splattering waves of paint coat him head-to-foot, while the Marines began shouting in bewilderment.
Colour of purple, yellow, brown, rustic red and, unfailingly, orange were exploding around them, flying over the road.
Brushing the slop from his face, the Fishman looked about, finding the entire clearing covered with stripes of paint, surrounded by walls of smoke. As the thin clouds began to clear, a small army surrounded him and the marines, each figure a diminutive human in orange jump-suits, and everyone exactly the same.
"Is this an attack!" "Devil-fruit powers? I never believed any stories like that before!"
"This has gotta be a trick!" the Marines, complacent with corruption, barely held any sense of discipline, raising their swords or rifles in various directions.
"Charge! Let's go save Zoro!" Several of the beings shouted, as 50 beings converged on the party of eleven enemies. Sauske's teeth began to grind at Naruto's exclamation, and quickly readied his shuriken. The spinning stars arced through the air, cutting down three marines that surrounded Zoro and wounding several more, his accuracy dead-on-target through practiced skill and his Sharingans.
Chew was turning towards Zoro at the outset, in-time to watch the other Marines cut by strange knives. Rifles and pistols began to fire, yet each of the attackers that were hit simply dissolved into smoke, screening the others as they closed-in. The Fishman turned about, scanning the tree-line for the ranged fighter as various swords and guns were kicked skywards.
The Naruto clones ganged up every Marine, kicking some around while disarming others before pummelling them with barrage after barrage of kicks. Chew was a far harder target, knocking aside several dozen of them easily but still gawking as none did any more than dissolve.
"Crap! Wha-What stupid son-of-a-bitch has a power like this!" he exclaimed, watching more of the same attackers pouring from the forest. "They're here to help Zoro. I just gotta—HHHHHH!"
Chew's realization was cut-off, as a solid hold was clasping his ankle, than yanked him underground until the Fishman was neck-deep in the dirt.
Zoro was equally surprised, with layers of realization, 'Naruto's here? Luffy and the others must have arrived too,' just as those thoughts passed in his mind, something yanked him aside.
"Huh-!" Zoro exclaimed, glancing down to see a disembodied arm grasping his leg, and Kakashi's face.
"Yo, Vice-Captain. Time to go!"
"Wha-ghuu-rrr!" The swordsman could not reply, forcibly yanked underground. Below, Kakashi kept him in a firm grip while moving through the earth away from the battle.
"Kakashi-san? What is going on? And how are you doing this?" Zoro demanded from him.
"Earth-style: Hidden-like-a-mole jutsu," the ninja explained. "I can travel through the earth, almost like swimming, through my chakra to make a quick escape, or do something more unexpected. A lot of things have happened. Short version: Nami's sister and Usopp were shot by Marines. They aren't dead, but between that and Arlong's abuse, Nami broke and began stabbing herself in an emotional breakdown. Luffy saw it and learned what happened to you. He wants to fight Arlong's crew because of what he did to her, you and Usopp. Sanji and Gin from the Baratie are here as well, as are Johnny and Yosaku. Naruto and Sasuke are up there distracting the marines while I get you to a hospital nearby."
Zoro were speechless for a time, digesting all the news. Before glaring into space. "Then Arlong is as good as dead."
Back with Naruto and Sasuke, the fight was nearly over. Sasuke watched as every trace of Zoro and Kakashi slipped away, before turning a pair of hate-filled eyes at the Marines.
'Time to make them pay,' the avenger decided, in a blunder.
"Fire-style: Great Fireball jutsu!" Sasuke began, producing a steady fire-stream that engulfed the road, burning the remainder of the Marines. Even the ground beneath them cracked under the flames, taking all of Naruto's remaining clones with it.
"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, with only the Uchiha's Sharingans allowing him to avoid a bonk on the head.
"What the hell was that!" the original Uzumaki was exclaiming, his arms wildly failing before pointing at the battle-site. "You could'a burned me down there, and my clones already had everything handled. Come on, that's really being a bad teammate!"
"Hhm," Sasuke brushed him off, turning to move into the trees. "Kakashi had already moved Zoro-san away. Besides, my fire-jutsu can cause the ma lot more suffering than your clones. Just let it go,"
"Hey, where're you going, ya know?" Naruto demanded, as Sasuke kept looking ahead. "To Arlong Park. The rest of this fight is there, and it's time to link-up with the others."
Naruto grimaced at the Uchiha until-"Boss look-out!"One of Naruto's remaining clones exclaimed.
Suddenly, the orange-clad ninja was several meters away, and watching Chew attack the spot he had just been shouting from. Sasuke whirled around, in-time to see the Fishman with two swords drawn nearly kill Naruto, until the clone who sounded an alarm substituted itself with the original at the…final…moment.
Chew's face was a smoldering wreak, his blonde hair burnt away, lips cracked and scared, with burns checked across his neck and shoulders. Glancing up, the Fishman hateful gaze met Sasuke.
"You damned son-of-a-bitch. Those flames of yours hurt a lot. But they weakened the ground around me enough to pull myself out of that hole. And now, it's time for the both of you to die!"
The Fishman bull-rushed the tree Sasuke was perched from, stabbing both swords through the bark. With the strength all Fishman carried, 10 -old stronger than humans, Chew tore the trunk from the earth beneath it with furry in his eyes.
Sasuke kept his grip with chakra, before his spot nearly collided with another tree, inciting him to jump. Landing on his feet, the boy barely dodged a kick from his enemy. Chew was far from done, draw his blades free, working up a frenzy of slashes toward Sasuke.
"And after that, I'm takin Nami back to Alrong Park myself to shackle her to her work desk until the end of all time. And give her the same kinda burns both of you have caused to me!"
His blades finally hit, stabbing Sasuke through the heart. Chew was grinning with elation, until "Sasuke" was engulfed with smoke, leaving one tree stump in place with Chew's katana stuck through it.
"WHa! Huh! Now this one disappears too!"
"I…don't…believe this! Chew!" the Fishman began exclaiming, his face growing pink.
Sasuke was hidden behind a tree, his gut plummeting downward. Raising a trembling hand, the prodigy reflected over how his own short-sighted firry blunder had given the enemy a way out, and nearly ended with Naruto's death had that one clone not been present.
'How…how could I have been so stupid? Letting him get free?' Sasuke admonished himself. In the background of his mind, two series of words began to voice different answers. '"Foolish little brother. You're hate is not strong enough. You are not strong enough." Itachi,' Sasuke recalled with dripping venom, before another memory echoed in his mind.
'"Your hatred is eating you up inside. Making you unfocused and weak…we're stuck in a pretty dangerous place….I need to trust that you will care and support us, not just yourself. Otherwise, you are no different than Itachi." Kakashi,' he recalled, feeling new clarity pass through his head.
'I….I used that fire-ball jutsu of hatred, and Naruto could have been killed, even as my back was turned on him!' Sasuke realized, turning back to the battle to see Naruto being forced into a corner by Chew.
"No!" Sasuke exclaimed, shooting forward while pulling two fuma-shuriken from his pack. "Don't you dare!" calling Chew's enraged attention to him before tossing the shuriken. The more experienced Fishman parried both of them with his blades while Naruto slipped away from his own predicament. Sasuke was already moving, catching the larger shuriken off their ricochets, and landing beside Naruto.
"Naruto. That was a blunder, I will admit that. Let's end this guy quickly so he can't move back to Arlong Park," the Uchiha proposed. Naruto blinked, looking over his teammate in surprise, before nodding his head and raising two hands.
"Shadow-clone jutsu!" another 2 dozen clones appeared, blocking the path towards that direction. Chew himself glared at the pair, before he noticed a pond off to his left.
"If you think that'll stop me, I'll blast it apart with my squirt-canon!"
Taking off towards the pond, Chew was still beset by shuriken form the two ninjas, but even those that hit were barely move than a painful nuance for the pirate. Quickly, reaching the water he dove in head-first.
'Down here, that fire-ball can't hit me, and I can gather water for-ahhhhhh,' Chew sighed in relief. The cool water was soothing the burns covering his upper torso and face. He took a moment, indulging this sensation before gathering water into his mouth.
Naruto and Sasuke looked on, confused for several moments. "Hey, Sasuke. I'm gonna go sneak around, then hit the guy when he comes outa the water, okay?" Sasuke nodded, his eyes trained on the pond. After Naruto disappeared, a splash came to the surface and the Sharingan's watched to next attack with awe.
"Payback Water-canon!" a visually obese Chew declared. Immediately the source of the fish-man's new girth became evident, launching a giant blast of water through the trees. Each and every Naruto-clone was destroyed as the focused blast collided with the forest, tearing trees from their stumps and leaving even a deep gauge in the earth.
Sasuke had evaded with a substitution and now stayed hidden, while Naruto looked over in awe. 'I hope Sasuke is okay, because I can't think of anything to counter a water-move like that, and all he has is fire. Still….' Turning his eyes back towards Chew, Naruto spied the Fishman bending down to gather more water. With their enemy's butt point high in the air, the blonde got an idea and pulled out one kunai.
Sasuke looked around, keeping his eyes on Chew. 'Damn, and I don't have any earth-style jutsu to counter a move like that. If I can predict those blasts and get close enough things can be different. Naruto is still out there though, maybe-?'
Looking out, the boy's Sharingan picked-up the chakra of one Naruto in the opposite tree-line, and another moving towards him. Soon, the clone was right beside him.
"Hey? Sasuke?" came a hushed whisper. "The other me has an idea. You and I need to keep this guy distracted so he can move and hit him with something really bad. Okay?"
Sasuke glanced at the other Naruto puzzlingly. 'Well, something is better than nothing.'
"Okay," he decided.
"Squirt-Machine-Gun!" Chew announced his next attack, combing through the forest in an arc.
'He's searching for us with the attack!' Sasuke realized. "Alright.' Quickly, Sasuke made several Academy illusion clones.
"Hey! Your accuracy and power are the worst I have ever see before!" the three clones began shouting, then scattering through the trees, leaving the real Sasuke hidden and giving Naruto a good distraction.
"Huh?! More copies of you too! Die you blasted boy! Chew." Chew declared. For nearly a minute, the fish-man's water-shots began combing the area but failed to hit any of the Sasuke's. While Naruto moved into position.
'Now I just gotta wait until it's the best target.'
"Damn it, where the other one of you-chew!" their enemy cried as his water-gun ran empty.
"Right here behind you!" Naruto cried, shooting forwards as Chew bent over to reload.
"Here it goes!" the boy exclaimed, honing-in on his target.
"Take this! Hidden Leaf Village Secret Taijutsu! Straight form the teachings of Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, thrusting forth a kunai with both hands.
"One-Thousand Years Of Death!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! MY BBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTT!" Came a shout that shook the island. Sasuke was frozen, watching the kunai sunk into Chew's exposed rump.
The Uchiha wanted to face-palm, watching Naruto scampering away from Chew with a cheeky smirk. Until…their enemy turned around to attack the fleeing Naruto, and Sasuke noticed something. Or, rather, four things attached to the kunai, with smoke billowing from each one.
"Boom," the original Naruto and the clone muttered.
Chew, who could only look confounded before an explosion engulphed him. Naruto just got behind a tree for cover when it went-off, the blast sending water skywards, causing a light drizzle to cover them.
After the smoke cleared, both Genin looked back to find a very blackened and oblivious Chew, stuck on his feet and literally smoking. A moment followed, until, slowly, the fish-man's legs gave way; his form collapsing forward, face-down, with the kunai still stuck downstairs.
Sasuke moved forward, cautiously and was soon joined by Naruto.
"Hahahaha! Yeah! It worked, and he's totally out! Believe it!" Naruto was cheering loudly, while Sasuke looked over at his teammate, in quiet amazement and embarrassment.
'When Kakashi said "Unpredictable chaos," I doubt he could have imagined even this,' the boy grimaced. This went on for a while, until Sasuke shook his head.
"Naruto! Help me tie-up this guy. Then let's head over to Arlong Park and see if the others need help," he suggested, pulling ninja-wire from his pouch.
"Huh? Oh yeah, good idea, Sasuke."
0….…0
Back in Cocoyoshi Village, Sakura looked out across the town from the porch of Dr. Nako's clinic. Most of the towns people were gathered inside, crowding the area and growing anxious for news. Genzo was watching over Nojiko and Nami. Johnny and Yosaku were present too, kept watch for any dangers and impatient for Naruto, Sasuke and a Kakashi shadow-clone to return with Zoro.
Sakura herself took one-deep breath, noticing her hands had begun twitching again. She tried to push down the dread of ignorance over what was happening elsewhere with her crew and her teammates.
"Hey, little-sis?" Johnny stepped forward, placing one hand on Sakura's shoulder. "You're doing well. Wanna check those traps or set-up a few more? They were a great idea and seemed to kill a lot of the tension in you," he suggested to her.
"Uhhh. Y-yes. Thank you, Johnny-san," Sakura replied, standing up beside the bounty-hunter.
Together, both of them began moving about the streets and alleys of the village, checking various contraptions Sakura had suggested to Kakashi before everyone had left. All were in working order, but Sakura kept glancing over the road to see if someone, anyone, was approaching.
"Ummm… Johnny-san?" she questioned her temporary partner.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"How…how are you so…so calm about all of this? Especially with Zoro hurt and the others fighting one entire pirate crew, a Grand Line crew, with only four people? While we just wait here?" she questioned the older man.
Johnny, to his credit, simply glanced at her, with a deep sense of seriousness. "What makes you think I am calm, little-sis Sakura?" The girl blinked at this answer, while Genzo walked up to the pair and stood nearby, following their conversation.
"I'm more worried right now than any time before in my life, especially about big-bro Zoro. But…I don't know. Right now, I'm just looking beyond that from experience, ready for any fight to come or see him walking down the road," Johnny explained.
"That, and I like the idea of protect this town, truth be told."
The girl blinked at this answer, while the bounty-hunter turned aside, looking up the road.
"You see. Part of the reason I became a bounty hunter was from watching others when I was a little kid. In my home village, a lot of criminals would come through town and make things hard on us. But, right behind them were the bounty hunters who would fight-off those bandits and drag them away. I grew up with those guys as my heroes. And now…."
The man steadily clasped the broadsword at his hip. Slowly, deliberately, the weapon was drawn and held up before Johnny's eyes. "Now, I'm right here doin' the same thing, for people who really need it. Focusing on that and trusting that the others will get through this. That's what I'm doing right now."
Genzo looked over at the younger man, with a growing sense of respect. Sakura herself began to tilt her head, until-
"Enemies!" Yosaku's voice rang out from the roof of the clinic. "A group of ten Fishmen are in the water and coming this way!"
Genzo whirled about, fear emblazoned on his face. Sakura and Johnny were sprinting back to the clinic. Nami and Nojiko met them at the door, both sisters with their shoulders heavily bandaged.
"Do you think they failed!? Johnny, was Arlong with them!?" Nami shouted up to the roof.
"Nah! It's one group alone, I don't see Arlong with them at all, from Big-bro Kakashi's transformation!" he replied, recalling the power the Jonin had used to show them the Fishman he had identified while spying in Arlong Park before leaving with Luffy, Sanji and Gin.
"Still, they look really mad and are coming in armed!" the bounty-hunter described, hopping down from the roof to the ground.
"Everyone, get out here an—"
"No!" Sakura shouted, cutting-off Genzo's orders.
"Genzo-san! Is…." The girl's mind began to race, trying to recall what to do from her Academy classes. Umino Iruka's voice coming through her detailed memory.
'Should the goal of a mission be to defend anything, distance from respective dangers is a golden rule. Avoid them if they approach and you have an inanimate object or work to keep a living client away from any form a danger. Even if you are between them and the threat, just having the client present is not the optimal situation. Avoiding such risks altogether or placing them in a safer location then drawing danger to yourself is the better choice.'
Sakura looked up, to find everyone's eyes on her. "Ummm…"
"What is it little-sis!? They're getting closer!" Johnny began urging her. Swallowing back her fears, Sakura fixed her eyes on a wall and let the ideas spill from her voice.
"Nobody who lives here has any kind of training or skills for fighting. Our goal is to protect all the people. Not lead them into a fight or place them at risk. If they can move somewhere safer, then Johnny, Yosaku and I can fight the Fishmen here in the village then join-up with you there."
Everyone looked at her, before Nami nodded. "Sakura is right. Genzo, Nojiko! Can you both get everybody to the Tangerine orchard?" she questioned her sister and surrogate-father.
"Us? What about you Nami?" Genzo demanded, still wishing to stay and fight. Slowly, Nami's arm rose, touching the hat resting on her brow, Luffy's words coursing through her ears. '"What are you doing! These guys are your friends!...I fight anyone who hurts them!...Without my friends I'd be dead a long time ago. The one thing I can do, is protect my nakama!"'
'My friends…Luffy…the others…all of the mare fighting on my behalf right now,' Nami recalled, clenching the token she had been entrusted with. Some emboldening spirit coursing through her heart.
"I'm staying here to help them," the Straw Hat navigator announced, pulling out the bo-sections from her shirt and linking each together.
"I've been in a few fights with Luffy, Zoro and Usopp before we came here, and survived this long. With Luffy and the other's fighting for me…I want to pitch-in as well."
Genzo was about to argue, until Nami's face stopped him and Nojiko both. The same taciturn, driven expression that she wore around Arlong had returned; save for the burning fire in her eyes. A fire that hadn't been present before, invoking a shakenly echo in Genzo.
'Bellemere…' the man silently recalled. 'She had this same look on her face. The day she chose to join the Navy, and the moments before she was killed.' Catching the same look on Nami struck the man's heart, but someone else stepped up before he could say anything.
"If you want to stay or leave, get going now!" Johnny ordered them, hefting his sword up and ready. "We only have minutes until they get here, so you gonna go or what?" Yosaku encouraged them.
Nami stepped forward to stand beside Sakura, who took a measure of assurance from her company. Genzo's eyes shifted between them all, before cursing himself. Grabbing Nojiko, both ran into the clinic and began herding everyone out the back.
"I'll be back the moment they are safe. Don't let a single figure touch Nami!" he demanded from the group. Dr. Nako stayed begin, with Usopp in the clinic to avoid moving the wounded boy.
Soon the town was deserted, as Sakura and the others waited for their enemies to arrive. The pinkette quickly combed over a few ideas, before giving the other's suggestions and moving to hide close by.
Within 10 minutes, the Fishman arrived. Half the group splintered, forcing doors open to ransack certain houses, combing around for the people and their prey. Many began shouting, growing angered to find the homes deserted and nobody in-sight. Kaneshiro began glancing around, until his eyes rested on Nami.
"Hey, Nami, good you're here!" he shouted, waving her down. "Where did all the scum here disappear to!? Some human bounty-hunters beat-up a group of us, and they're with Roronoa Zoro, the hunter that attacked Hatchi! Get down here and get people out in the open so we can weed them out!"
No reply came.
Nami simply looked on, her face shadowed by the straw hat, confronting the scum before her. A strong breeze fell over the town, fluttering the hat, blowing the surface clear for the coming confrontation.
"Did you hear me!?" Kaneshiro shouted. "You are a fellow Arlong-pirate, aren't you? So, get here and pull some weight to—"
"Fuck Arlong." Nami spoke, heavy with her feelings. A boiling-pot of loathing disgust spilling in her words. "Fuck Arlong, and all of you go to hell," she began to cry; the words held for years in her heart finally able to be spoken.
"IF more of you got hurt, then all the better! You really think I was ever one of you after Arlong killed my mother! Never! I despise him, his ideals and the mark he forced on to me more than anything in this world!" Slowly, Nami's form began shifting, feeling the weight of nearly a decade lifted off her shoulders. She was panting deeply yet had not felt so true to herself within her own home for ages.
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