Shinobi of the High Seas

Chapter 21: I'll Hold Them Back Myself

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece. I do however own a gallon of PCP. Now if you'll excuse me it's party night kemosabe, and the PCP? Well... Got a gallon right here.

Chapter 21: I'll Hold Them Back Myself

'A Shichibukai...' Naruto thought to himself as he absentmindedly manipulated the wires for Vivi's training while sitting in a meditative posture. He had been thinking on this ever since he had his little run in with Donquixiote Doflamingo and had been weighing the positives and negatives of accepting. The negatives; it could be a trap to sucker him into an ambush, Soren would be completely pissed and would probably leave the crew if he had to be associated with Doflamingo in any way, he didn't really want to listen to anyone tell him what to do about anything, and from what he had seen of the World Government thus far he didn't particularly want to side with them.

The positives; he wouldn't have to worry about Marines coming after his crew, he might be able to steer interest away from the Elemental Nations if he had some stroke with the higher-ups in the chain of command, he might be able to convince Soren that being closer in this way to Doflamingo would help him in the long run towards his ambition, and if he decided to leave what did he care? He was already a pirate with a monster of a bounty, what would they do, send Marines after him? They were doing that anyway.

"Penny for your thoughts Naruto?" Miss Valentine asked him, coming up to him with a smile, "You usually don't seem to be the type to think so hard about things."

Naruto looked up at the bright blonde woman before blinking in confusion, "What do you mean? What makes you think I'm wondering about something?"

Pointing towards Vivi in the midst of springing, jumping, and rolling through Naruto's rapidly shifting wires, Miss Valentine answered his question, "Because normally by now you would be all fired up to finish Vivi off in there. She's been going at the same pace for about five minutes, she's got to be exhausted in there."

Naruto looked and began paying attention to the ship's resident princess and was actually impressed. It had been over two weeks since Vivi had begun and she was showing marked improvement. Her reaction time and reflexes were utterly impeccable. With a grin, Naruto stopped his fingers movement and allowed the wire obstacle course to go slack, "That was great Vivi, it looks like I'm going to have to start using my dominant hand and start paying attention when we do this."

"You weren't even using your strong hand?" Vivi said in exasperation, "I thought I was almost done!"

Naruto grinned at her, "No, you've been doing great, but you're not done yet. You still have to learn to do this blindfolded! Then you're done. Or have you forgotten?"

'Blindfolded? Who does he think I am?' She wanted to say that, but then again she was the one who asked him to train her in the first place. He didn't want to do it, she more or less pestered him into it. Who was she to complain about it?

A nod came from the blonde captain, "But you're not that far along yet. We'll step it up next time around, for now you're done for the rest of the day. Go get something to eat." He looked up at Miss Valentine, "I think I heard you call for lunch didn't I?"

"Yeah, lunch is ready." Miss Valentine said, backing up Naruto's statement. Vivi went inside, leaving Naruto and Miss Valentine alone on the deck, "So are you going to tell me what's wrong with you today or do I need to start withholding meals from you until you cough it up?" She said playfully.

"Alright, there's no need for that." Naruto said, laughing slightly, "Actually you might be able to give me some feedback on this." That had firmly gotten her attention, "Doflamingo said something about inviting me to be a Shichibukai when we met. What do you think about that? I've been mulling it around in my head for weeks."