Shinobi of the High Seas

Chapter 22: Water Under the Bridge

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece, but in Kenchiland I own everything! I am everything! There can be only one! UNLIMITED POWER!

Chapter 22: Water Under the Bridge

"Damn Doflamingo, wasting my time..." Garp said to himself as he stood in front of a rather large Marine ship, with all of his men giving him a rather wide berth, "He said that the Uzumaki Naruto kid that has Sengoku gnashing his teeth would be out here soon." He punched his fist into his palm, "It's been days! He isn't here." He saw two young Marines coming up to him, "Coby, Helmeppo, do you have anything on an Uzumaki Naruto from around town?"

Both stopped in front of Garp and saluted as Coby spoke, "No sir, nothing. No one matching any description of Uzumaki Naruto at all."

"Damn it..." Garp said again, 'I wanted to take that bastard down myself. There's something about that guy that seems like he could be a threat. He already kidnapped the princess of Alabasta and he's a rookie... just like my grandson. Apparently they're accomplices as well...'

(Meanwhile – Nearby)

Soren and Naruto stood crouched stealthily atop a rooftop with a pair of binoculars for each man as they looked at the ship planning to disembark, "So this is the hero of the last era? Monkey D. Garp?"

Soren nodded, not that Naruto could see it from how he was looking. Garp was walking around flanked by two young men, one in a marine outfit with pink hair, a scar on his forehead, and glasses placed on his forehead. The other was blonde, wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with a green sweater-vest and purple pants, "Yep. And it looks like he's leaving. Thank God, because three days of not getting drunk or going where I wanted to in this town was getting irksome."

Naruto smirked as he kept looking through his binoculars, "Amen brother. But it's alright now, because he's going, going, gone and I can officially act a nuisance again!" Naruto held up his hand that was quickly slapped in a high-five by Soren, "And that's our good luck-bad luck exchange for the time being. You got your ass whipped by Doflamingo..." Naruto ignored Soren's angry growl at being reminded of his defeat, "And in return we dodge having to fight a hero that you seem somewhat scared of."

"You don't even know who that guy was Uzumaki." Soren said, not disagreeing with Naruto's statement of saying that he was somewhat afraid to fight Garp, "That man is a monster. He could be the Fleet Admiral of entire Marine force if he wanted to be, I'm sure of it."

Naruto watched Garp and his two young trainees board the ship as the crew began making preparations to leave Water 7, "I'll take your word for it. You know more about the world at large than I do." A grin came to Naruto's face as the shouts of Marines preparing to leave rang out, 'So many strong people in the world, and I'm going to take my spot at the top... I have to.'

Soren nodded contently, "Good. You're starting to take my advice sometimes. I was wondering if you were just asking me stuff so that you could figure exactly the opposite of what you wanted to do. Now what's going down with the ship?"

Naruto and Soren stowed the binoculars away and stood up, stretching their legs from being crouched down for so long, "Alright so check it out; the entire deck needs to be redone, the masts need to be re-layered because of all of the damage we do to it, the nicks and dents in the walls and railings need to be fixed up. Our hull is actually in great shape, we never take any damage to the hull."

"So how long are we going to be here?" Soren asked Naruto, "I'm in no real rush and I don't think you are either, but having a time-table helps me stay calm most of the time."