Trouble with Pirates

Trouble with Pirates - Prologue

After completing her speech Hinata's silent sobs turned into full blown tears. She fell to her knees in front of his grave and Naruto rushed to embrace her. Her tears might have been for Neji or his daughter, but they were probably for both.

"Neji knows you'll keep your promise, Hina-chan. He always believed in you since you ever since you started training with him. I'm sure he's watching Tenten and Hizana (slightly named after Neji's dad Hizashi). He loved Tenten and he would have loved Hizana. Tenten told me that she's grateful that you're helping her out as much as you are and that Hizana's crazy about you." Naruto leaned in and kissed her on the forehead before pull her back up and giving her another long hug. The silent embrace lasted for several minutes before it ended.

"Come on, let's get something to eat! You in the mood for ramen? I know I am," Naruto asked with his trademark grin, she had told him she couldn't resist it and he was more than happy to abuse the little fact.

"The world would probably break in two if you weren't in the mood for ramen," she said while she nudged him.

"That is not a no, let's go!"

The pair walked out of the cemetery and Naruto pulled Hinata closer to him. 'She still blushes when I do that. It still looks so cute on her,' Naruto thought to himself. Unfortunately, before he could yank her in to an alley to get some privacy, Shizune appeared. 'Damn it!' he thought to himself.

"Ohayo Naruto, Hinata," she called.

"Ohayo Shizune-san," Hinata replied.

"Tsunade needs you at the Hokage tower, she has a B-rank mission for you two," she said and then disappeared as quickly as she had arrived.

"Nani? A mission? FINALLY! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that there's peace between villages, but those D and C missions are kinda boring and A and B rank mission are becoming more scarce with every passing day," Naruto exclaimed and smiled widely.

"What about the ramen?" Hinata asked.

"Food can wait!" he responded, still sporting his happy grin.

"Well then let's go before the world breaks in two," Hinata laughed. Naruto wanted to say something in return, but he changed his mind when he see her eyes. She was just as excited as he was.

- The New World -

"Oy Law, this alliance thing. . . it was fun. If you ever have a good plan again, give me a call on the denden-mushi," Luffy said with a big smile.

Law let out a sigh."Mugiwara-ya, this alliance isn't over, we need to split up for the moment, but we'll be meeting up again."

"Oh, okay then. See you later!" Luffy replied, totally oblivious to the meaning of what Law had just said.

Law let out another sigh, then counted to ten and dropped the subject. 'Note to self, when working with Luffy not responding is a valid option.'

"Till we meet again, Mugiwara-ya."

The Strawhat crew then wished goodbye to the Heart pirates and watched them disappear into what seemed to be the end of the world.

"Luffy, where are we going to now?" Chopper asked with anticipation and a little bit of fear.

"I don't know," Luffy replied, "Nami, which way do we go from here?"

"Well. . . there are two needles that are as unmoving as can be. We could take an easy route this time, we could all use a break," she offered hopefully. When Luffy didn't react she sighed and continued, "The other needle is spinning out of control, it looks like that island is really somewhere best avoided." Unfortunately for Nami, Luffy was completely oblivious to her pleading voice.

"Spinning out of control, huh. . . Oy! Zoro! Sanji! Doesn't that sound like lots and lots of fun?"

Zoro woke up, yes he had already managed to fall asleep, and smiled. "Dangerous huh? Probably a swordsman or two for me to fight."

Across the Thousand Sunny Sanji looked up as well. "Dangerous. . . that usually means people in danger, which means. . . women waiting for me to come to their rescue!" he exclaimed with hearts in his eyes.

Luffy smiled at the responses of the two, then looked at the rest of his nakama. 'They've gotten so strong, I'm lucky to have such good friends,' he thought to himself.

"Franky! Nami!" He yelled. "Set course for the dangerous Island!" Then, almost as an afterthought, "Sanji, I'm hungry, what's for breakfast?"

- Another place in the New World -

'Strawhat', Blackbeard muttered, looking at the paper in his hands. 'He and Trafalgar Law actually managed to take down Kaidou the Beast and Doflamingo.' He had to laugh out loud at that. 'He's managed to take out multiple Shichibukai and a Yonkou, but not only that, he also managed to piss off Big Mam and the World Government. I knew he had guts, but this is just downright insane,' Blackbeard thought. His thoughts as of late had revolved around the Strawhat wearing captain he had only met twice but was deeply connected to nonetheless.

Blackbeard's thought process was interrupted when a nameless crewmember began to talk to him.

"Uhhm, Captain? We're nearing the unknown fog."

"Good, good. I have a good feeling about this. Keep the ship steady as you enter the fog and keep your eyes open at all times. Return to your post."

"Uhm. . . Captain. . ." By this point Blackbeard was getting annoyed by the little man. Unaware of this, the crewmember continued, "The men have some doubts about entering the fog. No one has ever returned from these waters. We don't know for sure if One Piece will be there. It could be further in the New World. Do we really have to take this risk?"

Before he could react or even process his situation, he was surrounded by darkness which promptly sucked him in.

"EVERYONE LISTEN UP!" Blackbeard yelled. "All of the Yonkou have already been through the New World, but One Piece still has not been found. If there's even the slightest chance that the it's in those unknown waters," he said, pointing at the fog in front of them, "Then we'll go there and investigate. IF ANYONE STILL HAS DOUBTS, SPEAK UP NOW! I will happily take away any uncertainties you might have."

Dead silence followed his proclamation, no one on any of the four ships he controlled was willing to risk his wrath by commenting.

"Good. Now then, set sail into the Fog!"