Our strands of Memories (One Piece Naruto Crossover)

Chapter 7: Party and The Whitebeard's Pirates

Overwork is what Neji would describe himself right now. Ever since Vice Admiral Garp, his superior and teacher, deems that he needs fighting experience after receiving enough training, the shameless man has thrown him into as many missions as possible. Even the missions that were supposed to be his. Needless to say, the young Commodore's rank quickly rises thanks to that.

The break point of this was when he sent 3 bands of dangerous pirates to Impel Down all by himself with little casualties; mostly injuries.

Due to this (as well as the vouches from Garp, Tsuru, Sengoku and Zephyr. There are also words from the World Government, trying to raise the Marine's morale and build up another pillar of power), Fleet Admiral Kong had no choice but to promote him, making Neji the youngest Vice Admiral in the history at the age of 27.

Taking the chance to escape his mountain of overdue paperwork, Garp throws a party for him in the Marine Headquarters' cafeteria. Sengoku, Tsuru and the others also join in. Tables of food with various appealing dishes are set, alluring aroma fills up the whole room. Drinks are passed around with laughter and friendly chats. The bistro stand up table is filled with small bags and boxes of gifts.

Taking small sips of the glass of wine that he is holding, Neji lets out a relaxing sigh. He smiles a bit when looking at Garp who is loudly laughing at the high officials' table. The man is trying to coax Sengoku to a drinking game while drowning Zephyr with alcohol by pushing the bottle down his throat. Lady Tsuru just composedly sips her own glass, completely unfazed by the chaos surrounding her.

Seeing how much Garp enjoys the party, the newly promoted Vice Admiral decides to ignore the stack of rice crackers the old man stole from Sengoku hidden in his drawer. He will give the Buddha fruit user something else later. Perhaps the souvenirs from his last mission . . ?

Kuzan is debating between wooing some of the girls from Tsuru-san's division or joining Garp, his idol and the man's crazy drinking game (who, surprisingly and suspiciously successful at persuading Sengoku and Kong to participate. Guess the Fleet Admiral also wants the chance to get waste once in a while.)

Borsalino is busying himself trying to get killed by doodling on Zephyr's face. The Admiral has already been knocked out by 10 jugs of Garp's weird combination of liquors. The thing's look is a crime to the world of bartender and the smell is shady as hell, but he can't deny that the stuff is strong as heck. The puzzling taste makes you want to drink it again as well. He doesn't want the double terrible hangover the next day though. Testimony from Bogard himself.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Hyuga-san." A rough deep voice speaks up next to him, followed by a small box. He receives the gift, a rectangle shape with black wrapper, trailing along with a red ribbon and opens it up to see a pair of black gloves.

Neji turns to the man, the smile on his face wider. The pearly lavender tint orbs reflect the tall and muscular figure of the Marine Captain.

"Thank you very much. You don't have to do this, Sakazuki." This is a special type of gloves with sea stone weaving in between the fiber. He has wanted to buy this for ages but all the stores had sold out. A lot of effort is being put into this.

The magna devil fruit user's mouth curls up a bit at the fact that the Vice Admiral likes his gift. He himself is also nursing a glass of red wine in his hand. "As long as you like it."

They continue with their talk, updating news and exchanging stories. The hem of their marine coats brushing against each other. A quiet but comfortable conversation between the two of them in the room of booming noises.

Hidden by the dark gray hood and the white marine cap, the grim disposition Sakazuki usually retains lessen the longer he looks at the young man before him. Unknown even to himself, his eyes contain a shade of admiration and tenderness. An identical pair of gloves is shoved deep in his pocket.