The Sun of The Strawhat Pirates

12: Meeting The Fox

Nami and Usopp groaned in pain.

"Damn, that hurt," Usopp muttered as he held his head, trying to shake off the pain. He then turned to Nami and asked, "Are you okay?"

Nami responded, "Yeah, just bruised." She tried to mask the pain in her voice, but it was clear she was hurting.

Usopp scanned the area, trying to locate Naruto. His eyes widened as he realized the young boy was nowhere to be seen. "What about that kid?" he asked, concern lacing his voice.

Nami's eyes darted around frantically, searching for any sign of Naruto. Suddenly, she spotted him lying motionless on the ground, one of the pirates repeatedly kicking him. "Naruto!" she yells as she struggles to get up.

Their attention was then diverted back to the approaching pirates. They were running up the slope, their weapons were drawn, and there was malice in their eyes.

"Stop!" Usopp yelled, but they didn't listen. They continued to run towards them. "Wait, you bastards!" he cried, grabbing one of the pirates. "Don't attack the village!" he pleaded.

"You're so annoying!" the pirate yelled, kicking Usopp away with a force that sent him crashing.

The pirates charged up the slope, yelling, "Chaaarrrge!" In a final attempt to stop them, Usopp stood before the pirates and begged, tears streaming down his face, "Please, I beg you! Please don't kill the villagers!" But it seemed his pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the group of pirates were pushed back to the bottom of the slope. Usopp was taken aback and asked, "What-?"

Nami let out a sigh of relief as she stood up. "What took them so long?" she asked, clearly annoyed.

Footsteps could be heard approaching the battlefield as Zoro and Luffy emerged from the forest.

Zoro looked at Luffy and asked, "What took us so long?" as they approached Usopp and Nami.

Luffy looked straight ahead with an annoyed look on his face. "How the hell should I know? Right now, I just want to kick some ass!"

Zoro turned his attention towards Nami and asked with a glare, "Nami! Why did you kick me?"

"They're so strong," Usopp said in amazement.

"Oi, you're late!" Nami scolded. "What the hell took you so long?" she asked, agitated. "Naruto's hurt because you took too long!"

Zoro snapped his head towards Nami. "You were the one who made me fall down," he stated. "And you're blaming me for this?" he asked.

Nami shrugged her shoulders. "I couldn't help it!" she said. "It's better than one person falling down than both of us."

"Then you should've been the one to fall!" Zoro yelled as he walked away from Nami and headed toward Naruto.

The pirates were too scared of him to attack, so they all stepped behind where Jango was.

Zoro took the blunt end of his sword and poked Naruto with it. "Oi, kid. Why are you sleeping?" Zoro asked.

Naruto opened his eyes and sat up. "Oh, Zoro, when'd you get here?" he asked.

"A couple of minutes ago," Zoro replied as he held his hand out to help Naruto up.

Naruto smiled at him and took his hand. Then, the two walked towards the others.

Nami and Usopp were shocked to see the young boy still standing. "How are you still walking?" Nami asked.

"Are you invincible or something?" Usopp asked.