~Y/n pov~

Blood spurted out of Zoro's wound.

"Hey, Zoro. You're hurt, you know.." Luffy commented.

Zoro gritted his teeth, "I know that."

Luffy shuffled and laid his head on my shoulder.

I held him tighter as we ran a bit further away.

"Who is this guy?" The ginger asked.

"Luffy, who is that?" I asked him.

He shuffled a bit and turned to face her, "Oh, she's our navigator."

"Who are you guys?" The girl asked again.

More blood spurted out of Zoro's wound as he continued to push himself.

I placed Luffy down and propped his against a wall.

"Oi, Zoro. You're injured."

I pushed him, making him fall over.

"Stop trying to push yourself."

Fortunately, I had some bandages in my pocket.

Zoro grunted, "You're injured too. Don't think I didn't notice."

I sighed, "Fine if you let me treat your wound you can treat mine too."

Zoro nodded, "Deal."

He shuffled to the wall and propped himself up against it.

I sat beside him, lifting his shirt up and pulling out a wipe to clean away the blood.

He shivered slightly as the cold wipe made contact with his skin.

Surprisingly, he stayed silent and let me treat the wound.

Gently, I wrapped the bandage around it and secured it in place.

"There now don't push yourself."

"No promises." Zoro smirked.

The ginger haired girl was just stood there watching us.

"Your hand." Zoro commanded.

I grumbled under my breath before placing my hand in his, palm up.

The cut wasn't that deep but Zoro insisted on cleaning it and bandaging it up.

A few minutes later, my hand had been bandaged neatly.

I ignored Zoro's protest as I grabbed his sword and cut the ropes of Luffy.

Luffy grinned and wiggled his arms, "Finally."

He hopped up.

Zoro stood up too, walking at a slow pace.

We made it a bit further before Zoro fell to the floor.

The ginger haired girl was still following us. Well, Luffy did say she's a part of our crew.

Although, I don't think she willingly joined.

An old man walked towards us and noticed Zoro on the ground.

"Who're you, old man?" Zoro asked.

"I'm this town's mayor! Who are you?!" He replied and then seemed to notice Zoro's injury, "My, what a terrible injury! I take it Buggy went after you folks, too?"

"Do you have somewhere Zoro can rest?" I asked.

He nodded, "Follow me."

Zoro slowly stood up.

I quickly went to his side to support him.

We were almost the same height so it wasn't that hard to support his weight.

He leaned on me, his arm around my shoulders.

Though, he did complain at first.

The mayor led us into a house and I guided Zoro over to the bed.

He crawled into it and then fell asleep instantly.

That was fast. He must've really been exhausted.

My gaze softened as I observed his peaceful sleeping face for a few moments.

~*~

"So, this dog's name is Chouchou?" The ginger asked while petting the dog.

"What's it just sitting here for?" Luffy asked.

"It's guarding the shop."

"Guarding?" The ginger asked.

"Yes.."

"Oh! This is a pet food shop!"

"Yes." The mayor replied again, "This shop's owner is a good friend of mine..."

He walked into the shop and then came back out, placing a bowl of food in front of the dog.

"I'm here to feed his dog in his place." The mayor told us,

"In his place?" I asked.

"Yeah. He died three months ago, from an illness." The mayor smiled, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Don't tell me he's been waiting for his master to return all this time?" The ginger haired girl frowned.

"That's what everyone says..." the mayor trailed off for a few seconds before continuing, "but I don't think that's it. Chouchou is a smart dog. He's probably long known that his master is dead."

The ginger looked confused, "Then why is he guarding the shop?"

"I think it's because this shop is a treasure in Chouchou's eyes. I think he continues to protect it because it's a memento of his dog-loving master. I tried to make him evacuate on many occasions, but he won't take as much as a step away from here." The man explained.

There was a loud animalistic roar and the ground started shaking.

"What's that war cry?!" The ginger exclaimed in a panic.

"It's him! Beast Tamer Mohji!" The mayor yelled.

"What do you mean?" The ginger asked before running after the mayor as he made his retreat.

There was a huge lion coming towards us.

"Who're you?" Luffy asked, looking up at the man riding the lion.

"I am Beast Tamer Mohji, a member of the Buggy pirates." He introduced himself.

"That sure is a weird animal suit you've got on." Luffy commented.

"How rude!" Mohji yelled, "This is my hair!"

"That's even weirder."

I held back a laugh as Luffy insulted him.

"There is no animal in this world that Beast Tamer Mohji can't tame." He hopped off the lion and made his way towards Chouchou.

Chouchou bared his teeth and growled.

"Shake." Mohji commanded, holding his hand out to Chouchou.

Mohji yelped when the dog hit his hand.

In a panic, he shook his hand, trying to shake him off.

Chouchou wouldn't let go of his hand.

Eventually he managed to shake him off.

"I have no interest in killing you. Tell me where Roronoa Zoro is." Mohji commanded us.

"No." Luffy instantly refused.

"Sic him, Richie!"

The lion charged towards us and swiped his claws at Luffy.

Luffy quickly jumped out of the way, avoiding the hit.

I held my hand up and sent a powerful blast of water towards the lion.

It was pushed back a few feet.

The lion charged again, this time with more speed.

I was caught off guard when it came after me.

It swiped its paw hitting us both back.

I groaned as I sat up in the rubble.

Although, I was unharmed as Luffy took most of the blow for me.

He was also uninjured so it was fine.

I quickly jumped up and ran back towards them, Luffy following me.

To my horror, Chouchou was all beat up.

He's only a small dog.

The shop was also destroyed. It was on fire.

I blocked on of the swipes aimed at Chouchou.

Shallow claw marks appeared on my arm, blood dripped from them.

"Wait. I just killed you." Mohji exclaimed.

"Well, you didn't do a very good job." I smirked, "We're both still alive."

"I won't die that easily." Luffy added.

"Crush their heads." Mohji commanded.

The lion let out a roar.

"I won't lose to a lion." Luffy yelled, stretching and twist his arms, "Gum gum hammer."

He grabbed the lion by the face and slammed him down into the ground.

"Richie!" Mohji cried, "What are you?"

"I ate the Gum Gum Fruit!"

"You mean you have Devil Fruit powers, just like Captain Buggy?!"

Luffy's hat had flown off when he attacked.

I saw where it landed and went over to it, picking it up.

"Alright. I peacefully apologise to you."

"Save your apologies. That dog's treasure is never coming back." I stated.

"I'll kick you ass." Luffy stretched his arm and punched him in the face.

The ginger came over to us and started yelling angrily about pirates.

Luffy ignored her and sat beside the dog.

I placed his hat back on his head, placing a bag of dog food in front of Chouchou.

"I'm sorry. This is all we could get." Luffy smiled, "That bastard ate the rest of it."

Chouchou grabbed the food in his mouth and walked off.

There was an explosion and the house Zoro was sleeping in was destroyed.

"Zoro's sleeping in there!" Luffy yelled, standing up.

We all stared at the smoke, waiting for it to clear.

"Zoro!" I yelled, running towards the rubble.

"That's one hell of a way to wake a guy up.." Zoro stood up from under the rubble.

Ah, so he was still alive.

I kept running and wrapped my arms around his waist when I got to him.

"Are you okay?" I peered at him.

He looked away, the tips of his ears red with embarrassment, "Yeah."

Zoro gently pat my head.

I quickly stepped away, not wanting him to feel uncomfortable.

He scanned me and noticed the new injury on my arm.

"You got injured again? Be careful, woman." He scolded me, grabbing my arm to examine it, "It's okay, it's not that deep."

I felt my face heating up, his face was so close to mine.

He looked away for a few seconds and then grabbed some bandages.

I have no idea where he got them from.

Zoro gently wrapped it around my arm before letting it go.

"Eh? Y/n was injured." Luffy exclaimed, hugging me tightly for a few seconds.

Luffy grinned, "Zoro, you're okay."

"I refuse to let them get away with him." The mayor frowned, "I can stand this no more! Some random scum has no right to suddenly destroy our forty years! I am this town's mayor! I will protect this town!"

He charged in the direction of Buggy and this crew.

The ginger wrapped her arms around his waist to try and stop him but he managed to shove her off.

Luffy ran after him and knocked him out.

He would only get killed if he tried to face Buggy.

I'm sure Luffy is determined to beat Buggy now.

"Our destination is the Grand Line. So we're gonna steal that map back now." Luffy stated.

Zoro smirked, tying his bandana around his head.

I grinned at them and stood beside them, "Let's go beat up that clown."

"Join our crew, Nami." Luffy grinned.

Ah, so her name is Nami.

"I'll never be a pirate." She replied seriously, "Bow about we team up for our common goal?"

Luffy grinned. I guess that was good enough for him.

But I knew Luffy wouldn't let Nami leave that easily.

Once he decided someone was joining the crew that was it.

~*~

"I'm here to kick your ass just like I promised." Luffy told Buggy.

"Straw hat?!" Buggy exclaimed, "How dare you just come waltzing back here, to Captain Buggy!"

"Listen." Nami told us, "All I want is the map and the treasure!"

"Yeah I know." Zoro responded.

"Time to blow up!" Buggy yelled.

"Gum gum..." Luffy inhaled deeply, "balloon!"

He inflated just like a balloon and the cannon ball just bounced off him.

It bounced back towards them, blowing up the roof they were stood on.

"Alright, now there's fewer enemies." Luffy smiled.

"What the heck are you?!" Nami yelled.

"You really know how to freak people out.." Zoro stated.

We waited for the dust to settle.

"I knew something was weird from the time you fought that lion!" then Nami turned to me, "And you! How the hell are you shooting water out of your hands? No human can do that! Explain yourself."

"I ate the Elemental Devil Fruit." I stated.

Buggy suddenly stood up.

"How dare you flashily try to do me in.." he was holding two of his men in front of him - he was using his own men as a shield - who does that?

"He used his henchmen as shields!"

"What happened here?" Mahji jumped up and then spotted us, "The Straw Hat guy and the h/c haired girl! Be careful, he's a rubber person."

"Rubber person?" Nami asked.

"Yeah, see." He stretched his cheeks.

Nami recoiled in shock, her hand over her mouth as she gasped in surprise.

"A Devil Fruit? That explains how he bounced a Buggy Ball back."

Another person emerged from the rubble.

His name seemed to be Cabaji.

"Buggy."

"What, Cabaji?"

"Please leave this to me."

"Alright! Show them your acrobat show!"

Cabaji grinned, jumping up high into the air.

He landed on a unicycle and started coming towards us, a sword in his hand.

"I, Acrobat Cabaji, Chief of Staff, take on Captain Buggy's anger!" Cabaji stated.

He pointed his sword in front of him and headed towards Luffy.

Zoro blocked his sword, "I'll clash swords with you."

"It's an honour, Roronoa Zoro..." Cabaji replied, "To think I would get to slay you, as a swordsman myself."

"Hey, Zoro. You should really rest. We'll handle this." Luffy told him.

"Stay out of this!" Zoro growled.

Cabaji blew fire at him and then kicked him where his wound was.

Zoro fell back in pain.

"What? I didn't kick you that hard..."

"He fights dirty, going after his injury like that." Nami exclaimed.

We watched him fight for a few moments.

He was being beaten but I believed he wouldn't give up.

"Let's leave him to it, Luffy." I told him, "We need to take out Buggy."

Luffy nodded, "Right."

Nami gasped at us, "Are you crazy? He's losing."

She ran off a few seconds later.

I noticed Buggy interfering with their fight.

A jet of water shot out of my hand, blasting his hand away.

"Stay out of Zoro's fight." I told Buggy sternly.

Using his three-sword style, Zoro managed to defeat Cabaji.

Zoro collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

"Luffy, Y/n. I'm going to sleep now!" He told us before instantly falling asleep.

I almost laughed at the weird situation.

"This fight is mine." Luffy told me.

I nodded.

I knocked out a lot of his pirates earlier anyway.

Then all of them - except Buggy and Cabaji - were knocked under the rubble.

"You guys are pirates?!" Buggy mocked us.

"Yeah, we're going to the Grand Line." Luffy replied.

"That's no simple voyage nameless bums like you can handle, dimwit!" Buggy quipped, "What're you going to do in the Grand Line anyway, go sightseeing?"

I sat down beside Zoro.

If anyone else wakes up and decides to attack, I can protect Zoro.

Not that he needs protecting. He's really strong.

"Become King of the Pirates."

"Get real, you flashy idiot!" Buggy yelled angrily, "You, King of the Pitates?! Would that make me God, then?! I'm gonna be King of the Pirates and obtain this world's treasures! Quit your dreaming!"

"You're annoying." Luffy said bluntly, "Just bring it on already!"

Buggy pulled out a bunch of knifes, "Seeing that star hat of yours brings back memories of him... and irritates me! Memories of that damn cheeky red haired man!"

"Red haired?" Luffy questioned, "Does that mean you know Shanks?"

"Huh? Yeah, but why?"

"Where is he now?"

"Dunno! Maybe I know where he is, or maybe I don't!"

Luffy looked at him blankly, "What're you talking about? Are you stupid or something?"

"Not as much as you!" Buggy yelled in response, "I ain't nice enough of a guy to just tell you what you wanna know."

"Then, I'll make you tell me." Luffy got in a fighting stance.

"I'll kill you before that ever happens! I doubt rubber can bounce back blades..."

"Nope. It can't." Luffy responded.

I mentally facepalmed.

"Chop-chop rice cracker!" Buggy threw a bunch of spinning knifes at Luffy.

He jumped to dodge them.

It was a good thing I went off to the sides and pulled Zoro with me.

"Can't move in midair, can you?!" Buggy threw some more knifes while Luffy was midair.

"Can too!" Luffy stretched his arm and grabbed onto a pole, pulling himself towards it.

He completely dodged the knifes.

"Gum gum pistol!" Luffy threw a punch towards Buggy's head.

The clown tilted his head and dodged it.

"I'm gonna cut you up!" Buggy yelled.

"Gum gum sickle!" Luffy came flying towards Buggy, chopping his head off before he had chance to react.

Luffy fell into a pile of rubble.

He quickly hopped to his feet, "Damn, you keep breaking into pieces!"

Buggy threw some more knifes.

Luffy couldn't dodge in time so he caught it, but got a few scratched on his face.

He frowned, "You bastard!"

"Oh? Was I not supposed to scratch your face or something?"

It was then I noticed a tear on his hat.

"How dare you..." there was a dark look on Luffy's face, "How dare you damage this hat!"

"Huh?"

"This is my treasure!" Luffy yelled angrily, "Whoever damages this hat absolutely must pay!"

"It would seem that hat has a history to it." Buggy commented.

"That's right."

"Is it that important of a hat?"

I noticed Buggy's hand was behind Luffy but before I could warn him it threw knifes at him.

Luffy managed to dodge, but the three knifes pierced through his hat.

The black haired boy yelled out in shock.

Buggy's hand reattached itself, the hat still on the knifes.

"How is this old, tattered hat a treasure?" Buggy laughed, "Treasure refers to sparkly gold, silver and jewels.. that display their owner's grandeur! You call this filthy straw hat a treasure? Cut the crap!"

"That's the hat Shanks and I swore over." Luffy gritted his teeth angrily.

"What? Meaning this is Shanks' hat?!" Buggy threw it on the ground, "No wonder it seemed familiar. He always wore this by my side!"

This seemed to catch Luffy's attention.

He stared at Buggy in surprise, "You and Shanks sailed on the same ship?!"

"Yeah, back when we were pirates in training." Buggy responded, "We were comrades. That damn detestable, red haired bastard!"

The clown stomped on the straw hat.

Luffy sprinted towards him, "Shanks is a great man! You, his comrade?! Don't compare yourself to him!"

"Chop-chop quick escape!" Buggy's head unattached itself.

Luffy kicked his body hard, "Never say you and Shanks are comrades ever again!"

Buggy's body toppled over.

His head reattached itself and he coughed a bit before choking out a response, "I can say whatever I want about Shanks!"

Luffy grabbed Buggy's face and stretched his cheeks, "Tell me! What happened between you and Shanks?"

He then dropped Buggy back on the floor, "Damn it.. How dare you tear up my treasure!"

Buggy coughed a bit before standing up, "Do you wanna know that badly? He's the one person I absolutely can't forgive! I'll curse him for the rest of my life! I'll never forgive him!"

Luffy just stared at him blankly as he explained what happen.

~*~

Luffy smiled, "So Shanks saved you?"

"That's not what I'm trying to say!" Buggy screeched, "Because of him, my plan in life was suddenly delayed by ten years! And then I had a revelation! If underwater's no good, I'll obtain all the treasure on land! ..Using this Chop-Chop power. That's why I won't let anyone who touched my treasure live!"

His upper body unattached himself and he came flying down at Luffy.

"Let go... of my treasure!" Buggy flew past Luffy and towards someone else.

That's when I realised his target wasn't Luffy, it was Nami.

Nami was stood a few feet away from us, holding a bag of treasure.

I jumped up, quickly placed a wall of ice between them.

Buggy whacked his face on it hard and fell to the floor.

Blood was trickling out of his nose.

He suddenly yelled in pain.

Was that a slow reaction?

I noticed Luffy had kicked his lower body in the crotch.

Sucks to be him.

"You're still dealing with me." Luffy told him, "Leave that treasure and get out of here."

"No!" Nami responded instantly, "Leave the treasure and go?! Absolutely not! Why should I have to leave my own treasure behind?!"

"Your treasure?" Buggy grumbled.

"Duh! I'm a thief who only steals from pirates, and I just stole from one! Which means this treasure is mine now!"

"Ah, I see." Luffy stated.

I can see this being a big problem in the future.

She said she wouldn't join our crew but Luffy won't let her go that easily.

"Nonsense! That's my treasure!" Buggy yelled angrily, "Do you think stealing it makes it yours?! Honestly! What kind of upbringing did you have?!"

Nami narrowed her eyes at him, "A criminal, trying to lecture another criminal? Ridiculous!"

"What?"

"I haven't fallen so low that I need to be corrected by pirates!"

Buggy grit his teeth, "I hope you're ready to face the consequences, Nami... Chop-Chop festival!"

His body split into several pieces.

They all floated near each other.

Luffy grabbed his legs to stop them from going over to the rest of his body.

He pulled his foot out of his shoe and started tickling it.

Buggy laughed uncontrollably.

Luffy then stretched the skin on Buggy's foot, making him scream in pain.

"Knock it off!" Buggy yelled.

"No, you knock it off!" Nami hit Buggy around the face with the bag full of treasure.

Damn, what a good show. (If only I had popcorn)

"Thanks for the treasure back." Buggy snatched the bag from Nami's hands.

"Let go!" Nami yelled, trying to snatch it back.

Luffy whacked him back and Nami tied up some of his body parts so he couldn't get them back.

"Looking for these?" Nami asked.

"My parts!"

Luffy laughed, "Way to go, thief. Gum gum... bazooka."

He sent Buggy flying.

"I win!" Luffy cheered, raising his arms in victory.

I decided to wake up Zoro now.

"Hey, Zoro." I tapped his arm a few times before shaking him.

After a few moments, he woke up.

"Is it morning?" He asked, yawning.

I furrowed my brows, "What? No! Luffy beat up Buggy so we need to go now."

The swordsman nodded and got up at a painfully slow pace.

Luffy frowned as he looked at his hat with cut marks in.

Walking next to him, I observed his sad expression before looking at his hat.

"It's fine. We can fix it." I told him.

"Really?" Luffy smiled and enveloped me in a hug, "Thanks, Y/n."

He squeezed me gently and held me for a few seconds before letting go.

Nami agreed to stay with us for a little while.

And so we were off.

Of course, the villagers ran after us because we knocked out their mayor.

~*~

"Careful. I sense people." Zoro told us.

"Where? Where?"

"Watch out." Zoro turned to Luffy.

Luffy jumped around, dodging the things that were being fired at us.

Flag came out of the bushes that were on top of the cliff.

"So cool!" Luffy yelled.

"Is this the time to be impressed?" Nami sighed in exasperation.

"I am Usopp, leader of the great pirates who reign over this village." there was a boy stood on top of the cliff, "People praise me and then praise me more as Captain Usopp. If you're thinking of attacking this village, then forget it! My eighty million subordinates won't sit by quietly."

"Awesome!" Luffy yelled.

"He's lying." I stated.

"Eh? Really?" Luffy asked.

Usopp shrieked, "Yikes! She saw through it!"

"You just admitted it." Nami added.

"I admitted it to her!" Usopp yelled, freaking out.

"Eighty million may have been an exaggeration, but I do have great men under my command!"

The flags started moving up and down.

"Like maybe, three people?" Nami smirked.

Three kids shrieked and jumped out of the bushes, dropping the flags and running away.

Usopp was sweating nervously.

Nami picked up a stone off the ground, "I've never heard of pirates using slingshots before!"

Luffy laughed, "You're neat."

"Don't insult me!" Usopp yelled, aiming his slingshot at us, "Because of my great pride, people call me Proud Usopp. You saw it before. My slingshot skills are far greater than your average pistol."

"Now that you've drawn your pistol, put your life on the line." Luffy smirked.

I recognised that.

"Huh?" Usopp hesitated.

"I'm saying those aren't for threatening people."

"What you're looking at now are real pirates." Zoro told Usopp.

Usopp stopped pointing his slingshot at us and fell to the ground.

"We stole those line." Luffy laughed, "From Shanks, a pirate I respect."

"Shanks? You know red haired Shanks, the great pirate?!" Usopp exclaimed.

"Yeah. Your dad's Yasopp, right?"

Usopp yelped in shock and fell off the cliff.

"Yeah, Yasopp is my old man... But how do you know that?"

~*~

Next thing we knew, we were eating food with Usopp.

They were both talking about Yasopp and Shanks.

"Do you have any friends in this village who know how to sail.. and anyone who can supply a big ship?!" Nami asked eagerly.

"As you can see, it's just a tiny village. Sorry, but we can't live up to your hopes." Usopp replied.

"On top of the hill.. There was a huge mansion." Zoro commented.

"Say! Do you know them, Usopp?! Think you could ask them to help pay for one?"

I sighed at Nami's antics.

"You can't go there." Usopp yelled, "I just remembered something I have to do!"

He quickly jumped up and ran off.

"Why was he in such a rush?" Nami asked.

"He's hiding something." I stated, "I think he knows the people in the mansion."

The three kids suddenly ran in.

"Meat?"

"Don't tell me the captain..."

Nami laughed at them.

"If you're looking for your captain.. we ate him." Zoro smirked at them.

They screamed and fell to the floor.

Zoro started laughing at them.

Why did he do that?

I sighed.

~*~

The three kids led us to the mansion.

"If our captain ran off at this hour, he'd be here." One of the kids told us.

"I told you he was lying." I stated.

Luffy nodded, "Good job."

He patted my head.

The kids told us about how Usopp cheered up the girl who lived here because she was sick.

There were guards stood at the gate.

Luffy grinned and stretched his arms, grabbing onto the fence.

"Oi, Luffy." Nami yelled.

We all grabbed onto him.

"Pardon.. the intrusion." Luffy yelled as we all went flying over the fence.

We all went crashing into the ground.

I cushioned my fall with some water so I didn't land o my face.

Usopp was sat in a tree talking to the girl.

"That worked great." Luffy said.

"Did not." Nami disagreed.

"Are you alright?" The girl asked.

"It's alright. They're new recruits who heard all about me and came from afar to join the Usopp Pirates." Usopp lied.

"No, not me." Luffy stated, getting up and looking up at them, "I'm here to ask a favour!"

"A favour? Of me?" The girl asked.

"Yeah. We want a big ship." Luffy requested.

"You there! What are you doing?!"

There was a man dressed in black walking towards us.

A butler?

"I don't appreciate you breaking in here without permission!"

"Who's he?" Luffy asked.

"Actually Klahadore these people are.." the girl started.

Klahadore cut her off, "That can wait for now. I can hear all about your reasons later. Now leave, all of you. Or do you have so's thing to say?"

"Well, actually, we want a ship!" Luffy spoke up.

"No!" Klahadore exclaimed, "Usopp, I've heard all about you. You are well know in the village."

Usopp laughed nervously, "Yeah?"

"I hear you've been on many an adventure. Quite impressive for someone so young." Klahadore continued.

"You can call me Captain Usopp, too." Usopp stated confidently, "Since you admire me so much."

"Captain, huh?" Klahadore smirked, "I've heard all about your father, as well."

"What?"

"Klahadore stop!" The girl yelled.

"You're nothing but the son of a filthy pirate! Nothing you do will surprise me, but I ask that you stay away from the lady of his house!"

"Filthy?" Usopp frowned.

"She and you are from completely different worlds!" Klahadore continued, "Is it money you're after? How much do you want?"

"That's enough, Klahadore. Apologise to Usopp!"

"Hey now. Be careful, Kaya." Usopp told her.

So her name is Kaya?

"What reason is there to apologise to this savage man, my lady? I am merely saying the truth. I feel for you. You just truly hate your great idiot of a father for abandoning his family and village because of his lust for treasure!"

"Don't you dare insult my father anymore!" Usopp yelled angrily, jumping down from the tree to face Klahadore.

"What are you getting unnecessarily riled up for?" Klahadore smirked, adjusting his glasses, "Why not simply tell another of your special lies at a time like this? About how your father is really a travelling salesman, of how you're not really related by blood."

Usopp was getting angrier by the second.

He gritted his teeth and glared at Klahadore as he talking, his hands clenched into fists.

"Shut up." Usopp ran forward and punched Klahadore around the face.

Klahadore fell onto the floor.

He sat up, "See! You immediately resort to violence! Like father, like son."

"Shut up! I'm proud that my father is a pirate. I'm proud that he's a brave warrior of the sea. You're right, I am an exaggerator. But I'll never lie about my pride to be related by blood to a pirate! I'm the son of a pirate." Usopp told us proudly.

"A pirate, a brave warrior of the sea? That's quite a twisted way of putting things..." Klahadore got up and patted the dirt of his clothes, "But you're the undeniable proof of his savage blood! You run around spouting lies, and act violent whenever you're angry. And to top it off, you cozy up to the lady of this house so you can get her fortune!"

"What? I only.."

Klahadore cut off Usopp's protests, "The fact that you're a son of a pirate.. is more than enough proof that you'd hatch such a scheme."

"Damn it, you won't let up!" Usopp grabbed Klahadore by the collar.

"Stop, Usopp." Kaya yelled, "Please, no more violence."

~*~

"Hey, where'd Luffy go?" Nami asked.

"Who knows? Probably ran after that 'captain'." Zoro responded.

"Yeah." I agreed, "He's always running off and causing trouble."

I sat down beside Zoro.

We sat and talked for a while before deciding to go and find Luffy.

~*~

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5023 words

A/n I'm trying not to drag on the part where the first five original crew mates get together.