The Dark Side of Akatsuki. Chapter 20

Title: And Then There Was One

-Urasoe no machi-

-Late Evening-

Naruto and Sasuke met soon thereafter to exchange notes. It didn't take much to connect the straw-hatted man Naruto had engaged to the ship with the straw-hat flag, but they were going to have to work together if they wanted to get anywhere with this group.

As the sun set, they tracked their targets to a port tavern in a lively part of town. Once again, it was clear something was wrong even before they arrived. Broken glass and braying laughter were paired with people rushing out of the tavern's entrance, seeking safety in the street. Naruto and Sasuke entered through an upper floor window, moving like shadows as they scouted the scene.

Surprisingly, it wasn't their targets that were causing the problem.

"This is so pathetic I can hardly even laugh," said a hyena of a man at the largest table, "Sure, if you wanna get out of here so bad, you can go right ahead and fuck off. The Log Pose sets in just a day and a half. The island's field is so strong now that travel is an easy affair. Ours already set, but we've got a bit more… hah- 'business' to attend to in this town before we move on. Don't need pissy-pants children getting in the way, anyway."

"Hah, you tell 'em Bellamy!" yelled the blue haired man beside him. Bellamy's nine followers laughed heartily at this.

The three Straw-hat pirates were just standing there, the center of attention for a larger group of miscreants. Luffy was dripping with some sort of drink that had apparently been emptied over his head, and Zoro was scuffed and a bit cut up, food staining his shirt. To the side, a buxom, short-haired redhead stood by nervously, watching the two. The two men, meanwhile, were wearing utterly blank faces, devoid of all emotion.

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a few wordless glances, then got to work.

The scene that followed was a strange one. Bellamy had an immense torso and arms, but a tiny head and lower body. He really did look like a hyena. He carried the conversation like it was a performance, pretending his victims had a choice in how to proceed, but using his henchmen to keep things moving the way he wanted it to. All the while, he laughed, and his followers laughed along with him.

"You know, I was actually testing you lot to see if you had what it takes to be a part of my crew in the New Era, but now… Well, don't I feel like an idiot!" he said.

Bellamy's eight henchmen laughed cacophonously.

"You start talking about the One Piece? Seriously?! Oh man, that really gets me going. I mean, not even kids are talking about that shit any more!"

Bellamy's seven henchmen laughed uproariously.

"The era of the 'dreaming pirate' is long over! You're just rushing forward so fast you're tripping over your own bibs. Look at this place! These people haven't ever even heard of a Devil Fruit! It's new, and ripe for the taking. As a future leader in Warlord Doflamingo's army, this island will be perfect for us!"

Bellamy's six henchmen laughed raucously.

"And that's what really bugs me about trash like you... You pathetic dreamers are so busy chasing after your rainbows and fairy gold that you can't even focus on taking what's in front of you. What a fucking Joke!" At this, Bellamy hurled a mug of beer at the straw-hatted captain. It bounced off, drenching him and forcing him a step back.

Bellamy's five henchmen laughed boisterously

"When I see idiots like you just 'living your dreams,' or whatever it makes me sick to my stomach."

Bellamy's four henchmen laughed somewhat awkwardly.

Zoro, Luffy, and the young woman were now looking rather puzzled as they watched Bellamy and the henchmen behind him. Bellamy, however, sneered, enjoying having an audience for his abuse of these captive victims.

"Wimps like you give us pirates a bad reputation. Because of people like you, people like me have to kick twice as much ass to get taken seriously."

Bellamy's three henchmen chuckled nervously, starting to feel like something was wrong. Bellamy himself, however, pressed on without a care, dropping his voice to a menacing growl.

"So, here's my suggestion. Why don't you babies get the hell out of town before we kick you out ourselves?"

Bellamy's two henchmen started looking around, confused.

"Okay, seriously, are you guys even paying attention back there? What the hell do I pay you for?" Bellamy asked, taking a swig of his drink and turning to his followers to see what the problem was. Behind him, his last henchman, the blue-haired guy with the odd sword, fell to the ground unconscious, hands tied behind his back. All the others were in a similar position. Whoever had attacked them had disappeared without a trace.

Bellamy immediately spat out what he was drinking, a mist of ale coating the mound of fallen henchmen. Luffy and Zoro looked at each other, shrugged, then turned to Nami.

"Nami," said Luffy, "I know we said no fighting while we're here, but this isn't gonna be a fight any more, so…"

"Luffy," said the woman, clenching her teeth, "Forget the promise. We got what we came for. Kick his ass."

"Yeah, sounds good," said Luffy, cracking his knuckles with a blithe expression on his face.

"Whoa, wait, what the hell?!" shouted Bellamy, backing away from the other man.

But it was too late.

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