Another purpose

Whitebeard's son

Itachi was packing in his hut having motioned for the three men to wait for him on the beach. He placed everything that he had taken out of his weapons pouch back in it and placed it in a different basket, he grabbed some of his "clothes" as well as his cloak and placed them next to his pouch. He sealed his cooking utensils and some of the food he had made into two scrolls and put those in the basket as well. He reached out and grabbed his sword and stepped out, he snagged the loop of bone carvings off the hut and slung them over his shoulder. Stepping back and looking at what had been his home for half a year, he bowed and whispered his thanks. Flashing through a set of hand seals, that humble little hut crumbled back into the earth.

He walked back to the beach and upon reaching it, was greeted to the sight of more boats beached on the sand, each with a multitude of barrels. There were more people there, laughing and joking it seemed, with Thatch, while Marco and Izo seemed to direct the rest. Upon seeing him, Thatch yelled out a greeting causing everyone else to turn and look at him. He waved back, that pleasant smile once again settled on his face as Izo smacked Thatch once again.

The ship was even larger than Itachi could ever have imagined. Nothing he had ever seen in the Elemental Nations could match the sheer size of the ship Izo asked him to get on to. Men and women rushed about the deck, while some just sat and relaxed. The atmosphere was quite homely if Itachi was to be honest. It felt like his mother's home cooking if he were to describe it at all. Everyone seemed happy and content.

Izo continued to weave through his crewmates, Itachi following suit. Eventually, they reached the front of the ship where Itachi came to view the largest man he had ever seen. His torso alone was probably taller than Itachi. Quite obviously, this was Izo's captain, the respect, admiration and love in his eyes solidifying that observation. The huge man looked down at them, love, and care for Izo and curiosity as his eyes shifted to Itachi.

Itachi looked around taking note of the medical equipment hooked up to the man and the nurses constantly fretting over him. A large booming laugh brought his attention back to the man's face, his eyes filled with interest and curiosity. Itachi's eyes flicked towards Izo, whose eyes were filled with mirth and mischief.

"Now....what is your name boy?" Asked Whitebeard.

"Itachi. Itachi Uchiha." Confirmed by the young Uchiha.

"Huh. Weird name. But anyway, you wish to travel with us?"

"Yes, sir. I want to travel to see what it's like in the sea, its mysterious, its secret, and the enjoyment of a crew."

Whitebeard stared at the young Uchiha after hearing that response and started bursting out laughing. Itachi tilts his head to the side in confusion.

"You're a interesting little squirt are you? It's rare for people like you to accept to be a pirate just to travel into sea. I like people like you, Itachi." The giant old man started to get up to his full height to walk over to Itachi. The nurses were bickering about whitebeard's health but he was just ignoring them. "So are you sure you wanna be here? Would you reign the power of my name as a whitebeard pirate?"

Without no hesitation, Itachi accepted it with a nod towards the large captain. The old man chuckled and kneeled down towards him. Then he put out his his large hand to shake Itachi's hand.

"Welcome to the family, my son." Said Whitebeard.

Itachi blinked a few times. "Son?"

Whitebeard laughed at his expression. "Yeah. I treat everyone on this ship like they're my family. It's my job to protect all of you idiots from doing something reckless. So I'm asking you in return if you would accept me as your father."

It would make sense that the captain would be a father figure for everyone in the crew. They respect him, they appreciate him, they love him. Itachi smile at the thought of them being a happy family by a powerful man. He would be glad that he could experience this once again.

"Of course I will, Father."

Whitebeard smiled and suddenly grabbed a barrel full of beer. He rise it up and shouted, "EVERYONE! LET'S APPRECIATE OUR NEW CREWMATE, ITACHI UCHIHA!"

Everyone rises their mugs as the captain has began the celebration of Itachi's arrival. This will be a crew that he'll be fitting in.