Departing for Whiskey Peak

Sakura took a deep breath once the sun touched her face again. Crocus had politely shown to the exit after their debacle, following a canal that finally lead out of the whale Laboon. They had taken the two strangers that Luffy knocked out, back with them as well since no one wanted to leave the two when they were trying to kill the whale.

Crocus also gave them an explanation of why the whale was carved out and propped with a building structure. Crocus told them he was a doctor that had been treating Laboon, who continued to batter his head against the walls of the Red Line. It was easier to treat the gigantic creature when he was able to access it from the inside.

Crocus was not surprised about the question of why Laboon would hit his head against the Red Line like it was his worst enemy, despite admitting he had told the story many times before. He had no problem explaining to the pirates the origins of the whale.

He was a rare species that was found in the West Blue but had come over the Red Line when he was a lot younger and a lot smaller. That was in the pursuit of a pirate ship. Though he was a social creature, Laboon had somehow ended up following the crew of that pirate ship and had bonded with them. However, when the pirates intended to enter the Grand Line they chose to leave the young whale behind and asked Crocus to look after it until they returned.

They promised to come back for Laboon however that didn't happen. And 50 years had passed.

"I can't believe he's been waiting 50 years for his friends to come back," said Usopp.

Sanji gave a puff of his cigarette, "Idiot this is the Grand Line. His friends are dead,"

Nami crossed her arms, "That's probably true. The Grand Line was an uncharted sea back then, more terrible and chaotic than now,"

"You don't know that for sure!" Usopp said, irritated by his friend's pessimistic behavior towards the sad topic. "They could still come back. That's a true bond, right pops,"

"Yes," Crocus pushed up his glasses, reliving the past, "But reality is cruel. I actually discovered that the pirates had left the Grand Line,"

"So they abandoned him," Sakura confirmed.

"Does that mean they made it through the calm belt?"

"Can't say for sure. On the Grand Line, nothing is certain. Seas, weather patterns, currents, wind direction, nothing is typical,"

"So what I'm hearing is these pirates were more concerned about saving themselves than fulfilling the promise they made to a friend," stated Sanji.

Sakura had the same line of thought as her friends. To abandon someone as loyal as that was more than just cruel.

Another amazing fact about Laboon was that he could understand human speech, and Crocus had tried to tell him what happened to his friends. That hadn't gone over well and turned into fifty years worth of him slamming his head and howling at the Red Line.

"For years he's battered himself while I've patched him up, a strange friendship but it works,"

Sakura heard a ripping sound behind them and saw Luffy taking off with the mass, flags, and all, and started running up Laboon's head.

"What is he doing!?"

"Something stupid," Sanji clicked his tongue.

"Luffy stop wrecking the ship!" Usopp called.

Luffy stabbed the broken splintered piece of the mast straight into one of the fresh wounds in Laboon's old scars. A gush of blood erupted as he shouted.

"Gomu Gomu Flower arrangement!"

His crew called out to him, "YOU ASS! LUFFY STOP!"

It was no use though, the damage was done, and the whale was thoroughly agitated and aggravated with pain. He started thrashing around and causing waves threatening to swallow the ship. Then he leaped out of the water, despite his size, in the air and crashed near the Twin Cape light towers. Trying to crush Luffy.

"What the hell is he trying to get himself killed!? "

"Oh don't worry, he won't die that easily," Nami assured.

The two were exchanging hits in the oddest ways, Luffy tried going for Laboons soft spot being his eyes, and Laboon just kept slamming his body down. Until Luffy hit one of the towers and called out to Laboon who was ready to end the match.

"It's a draw,"

The creature stopped.

Luffy grinned proudly, "I'm strong aren't I? You wanna defeat me don't you?'

"Has he lost his mind?"

Usopp muttered, "Can't be sure,"

"Our fight isn't over yet. So we'll have to fight again. Your buddies are dead but you'll be rivals forever. After me and my buddies travel the Grand Line we'll come back here and visit. When I come back let's fight again,"

That made Laboon's eyes fill with tears, as he had a new promise to hold him through his existence. And even cried with happiness.

Sakura's sweat dropped, "Should we get the mass back now?"

..

..

..

Luffy was rambunctious, to say the least. Somehow seemed even more airheaded than Naruto. He had taken the time to splatter on a kiddy grade-level drawing of the ship's flag right on Laboon's forehead so that he wouldn't be tempted to hit his head anymore to avoid rubbing it off.

'I would want to rub that off,'

It was truly a terrible sight, but also endearing.

Sakura sighed, leaning back on the ship. Usopp was already trying to repair the mass. "Seriously, I had no idea he was this crazy,"

"I know right, he should come with a warning," said Usopp. Then glaring at Zoro who had fallen asleep on the deck.

"Hey, Zoro help me out here!"

"I'll help you guys," Sakura said moving to get hold of the mass that Sanji was holding onto.

"No, no Sakura darling, a delicate flower cannot risk splinters. Please sit back and relax,"

"Delicate?" Sakura raised her eyebrow. That was not a typical reference for her. Her reputation as Tsunade's apprentice, inheriting the women's monster strength had deleted any labels like that. Especially when she showed off her strength.

Then it occurred to Sakura that while she had shown off her healing skills, not only was she yet to reveal her chakra-enhanced strength, she hadn't even gotten the opportunity to show she was able to fight as well. Sanji, Luffy, and Zoro were also well adept in combat, Usopp admitted to being a sniper but Sakura didn't know anything more concerning his skills in that department. And Nami was a navigator, who wasn't afraid of making demands of the others but Sakura hadn't seen her in combat either.

Suppose that since she showed off her powers, they likely assumed she was a healer and didn't have combat experience.

'Whoops,'

From the way things were moving with the crew, there was no time to stop and give a demonstration of her strength.

'Well I guess this is fine too,' She thought, watching Sanji and Usopp fix up the mass. Then she looked around the ship, moving to the upper deck, and realized they were missing two passengers.

"We lost those weirdos who tried to kill the whale," Looking out to sea, she couldn't find them. But if they jumped overboard they couldn't be that far either right? They didn't have their weapons anymore.

"It's fine," Nami said, she came out carrying a map and the compass. "I don't think they'll try going for Laboon now since we took their weapons."

"Okay…." Sakura didn't know why she felt like there was a small tremor. "What was that?"

"Did you hear something Sakura dear?" Sanji asked.

She scratched her head, "I'm not sure,"

..

..

..

When the mass was more or less standing on its own and Usopp could be left to fix it, Sanji went into the kitchen to prepare a meal for the crew. Zoro was still taking a nap while Luffy, Sakura, and Nami went back to the shore near the lighthouse. Nami intended to draw up their plans for the journey through the Grand Line and Sakura wanted to know what those were going to look like. She was already completely ignorant about this world and sailing the most dangerous seas so close on arrival, she wanted to have some idea of what she was getting herself into.

However, when Nami set the compass down, Sakura could see the needle spinning continuously around the points clockwise.

"Nami,"

"Mmm?" The navigator muttered, staring at the map.

"I think we have a problem, look at the compass,"

Her eyes were saucers, and she screamed at the top of her lungs. "AAAAAAAAHHHH"

Sanji was up on the hill in less than a few seconds, carrying four trays of elephant tuna fish, one in each hand, one on his head, and another on his leg.

"What's the matter Nami-san? If it's the food you're worried about it's ready!" He had the same swooning expression.

"The compass is broken!"

Usopp, Luffy, and Sanji gathered around the table to look at the compass, watching the needle continue to spin with no end. Sakura wasn't a navigator, but she knew how to use a compass and she knew that when the needle wasn't facing north, there was no hope of using the device to find your way through anything.

"Wasn't it working fine before?" Sakura asked.

"Yes but now it's not and we don't have another one and we can't set sail without it!" Nami puffed, clutching her bangs.

Crocus heard the commotion and came up to the group.

"It's clear that you kids came here without any knowledge of the Grand Line. Did you all just come here to die?"

It was a harsh delivery but Crocus was blatant in his reasoning. "The compass isn't broken. It just can't be used on the Grand Line."

"That doesn't make sense,"

"Common sense is useless on the Grand Line girl," Crocus told Sakura. He explained to the group that the Grand Line had unusual magnetic fields as the island on the sea contained a lot of magnetic minerals so a normal compass was rendered useless. It wasn't just the strange magnetism that was problematic. "The weather is also an anomaly there is no constancy, including the wind. Which can be an issue for sailors naturally."

So in other words the Grand Line was an inhospitable environment for voyagers because of its corrupt weather and magnetic islands.

"Then how do we know which direction to head?" Nami asked. There had to be a way because while there have been many deaths at the hands of this sea, pirates and marines have sailed on it.

"You need a log pose, it's a special compass that can record magnetism."

"Is it a strange-looking compass?" Luffy asked. While everyone had turned their attention to Crocus, Luffy was stuffing his face full of elephant tuna that Sanji had prepared for the group. They didn't see that he was eating it without discretion or remorse for the rest of his crew's stomachs.

"Yes, it is an unusual shape,"

Luffy held up an item that he had found on the deck of their ship a while back after they escaped Laboon, "Something like this?"

"Yeah, that's it,"

It had a wristband on it, and a small globe with an arrow but there was no north, south, east, or west like a regular compass would have. It just had a needle.

"I see, hold on a moment," Nami turned to Luffy and punched the captain in his face. "Why didn't you tell me you have one!?"

"I found it on the ship!" Luffy defended. "Those two weirdos must've dropped it when they left,"

Nami inspected the object, "There's no dial face, "

"You don't need one. It's known that the magnetism of islands on the Grand Line follows a certain rule. By recording the magnetism of two islands against each other, you can find a route to the next island. That's the only way you can travel through the Grand line. At first, you can pick one out of the seven magnetism produced by Reverse Mountain but no matter which one you choose eventually they will pull against each other and form one route. The island at the end of that route is Raftel,"

Raftel was the last point in the Grand line and its existence was only confirmed by Gol Roger who managed to make it there. He was the only one who managed that ever.

"Then the one Piece is there?" Usopp asked excitedly.

"That's the most prominent theory, but no one else has been able to reach it,"

Luffy grinned. "We'll know once we get there,"

"You're very confident," It seemed like an impossible stride given that the pirate king had passed away almost twenty years ago and no one since had been able to complete the Grand Line. Made Sakura wonder what else was hidden beneath this sea besides its hostile environment and weather patterns.

Luffy let out a huff, "Well I'm full is everyone ready to go,"

Sanji gaped in disbelief as he realized that Luffy had eaten the entire fish, along with the bones. The rest of them had been concerned about the compass and how they would be navigating the Grand Line, that they failed to notice Luffy scarfing down and emptying every tray Sanji had laid out.

"You bastard that was for everyone!"

Sakura was amazed, "Luffy that fish was twice your size and five times your weight, where do you put it all?"

She was more in awe than upset that their meal was gone.

Sanji on the other hand was still seething. "You damn rubber man! I wanted Nami-san and Sakura-chan….to…eat!"

Kicking the straw hat captain hard enough that he was air born, and went right along Nami's path, Sanji watched satisfied by the results but it didn't last long. Luffy's body didn't so much as graze her, but she had been looking at the log pose and admiring it like a treasure talking about how they would have to treat it as their most valuable possession only for the globe seal to shatter as Luffy flew across from her.

Nami was coughing on her shock, her smile was frozen in place but her eyes were blank as she registered what they had done.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Sakura watched as Nami stomped over to Sanji who was scolding Luffy and calling him. He turned with a smile but Nami then sent both of the idiots into the ocean.

"Oh great now what are we going to do?!" Usopp panicked.

Crocus came up to them, "Don't worry. I will give you mine,"

"REALLY?"

"Think of it as a thank you for helping Laboon,"

The new log pose that Crocus gave them was no different from the one they had found before. Laboon resurfaced to bring up Luffy and Sanji but the whale had inadvertently given a lift to two more passengers. Mr. 9 and Ms. Wenday. Full of salt water and demands.

"Hey, we have a favor to ask. Since our log pose is gone, could you bring us to our hometown, Whiskey peak?" Mr.9 said head bowed with Miss Wednesday.

Sakura looked at Luffy who was sitting on the table cross-legged, deeply considering. "You can't be serious,"

"What happened to your ship?" asked Luffy

"It's busted," Miss Wednesday replied, looking up at her and Sakura could see that she was searching for sympathy. She wasn't going to get much from the kunoichi though, as she huffed and turned her head.

Nami got in Mr 9 face with a smirk, "That's sure gutsy asking us for a favor after you tried to kill the whale."

"Please we just want to get back home,"

"There's something fishy about you guys," Sakura said, narrowing her eyes at them. They floundered from their postures, still on their knees.

"W-What are you saying?!"

Sakura turned to her crew, "I'm not sure about this, I just know there's something up with these guys, and now we have to take them home?"

Nami nodded, "Yeah, what are you two?"

"We can't say," Miss Wenday lowered her head, brow sweating.

"Please we just want to get back to our hometown. We don't want to be secretive, but mystery is our companies motto,"

Sakura raised her eyebrows, "That's even shadier!"

The interrogation didn't go further though because Luffy intervened nonchalantly waving off everything including concerns for what the future would hold if they accepted.

"It's fine. We'll take you home,"

"HUH?"

The two were even pleading for the crew to trust in their motives and character as they were willing to give the pirates the same courtesy, even Crocos attempted to sway them from helping the two. Sakura didn't think he took into account that would leave them at the Twin Capes with him and Laboon.

"Don't sweat the small stuff we'll be alright,"

Although there wasn't a moment of hesitation or consideration for any consequences they might endure. As the captain, Luffy had the final say, despite Sakura wanting to fish with more information, Luffy had taken away the bait by agreeing to bring in the odd strangers aboard and get them home.

Hence the first top they would be making on the Grand Line was Whisky Peak.

"You can only choose your route from here, once you head out that's the course you'll stay on," Crocus warned them.

"It's okay, if we don't like it we can just try another route next time,"

Sakura smacked her forehead, "Wasn't the point Crocus was trying to make that we wouldn't get the next time?"

"As long as you kids manage to survive it might be possible,"

Nami gave a stiff smile, "Swell, let's get ready then,"

While they were clearing the tables and prepping to head out, Sakura took this chance to try and get more information out of Crocus. He showed that he had an abundance of knowledge on the Grand Line even though he was only at the start of it. She waited until the others were out of earshot, moving so that she seemed to be engaging only in casual conversation rather than the life-attaining information that she was hoping for it to be.

"Crocus, you know about devil fruits right?"

"Yes,"

"Is it true their origins are in the Grand Line?"

Crocus held his chin, "That's how the rumors go, whether you can find those origins is another matter. Is that something you're interested in learning about?"

"Sort of, I did eat one but I can't remember what happened afterward,"

"Mmm," Crocus seemed in thought, "I believe that certain devil fruits can react in certain ways and affect the user, I don't know anything about amnesia after consuming one, what kind did you eat?"

When he saw her eyes glittering with no pinpoint, he realized that she didn't know any way to answer him.

"Normally a user would know what type they have after they've eaten it. What kind of powers has it given you?"

Again she was silent. Her crewmates assumed that her healing jutsu was a result of the devil fruit, and she didn't know how to find the answer to this question.

"I'm not sure, Luffy's body became rubber, but I don't feel anything unusual with my own body,"

"So it might not be a logia type, That's right, she had read about the different types of devil fruits that existed. There could only be one at a time until a current user passes away and there were certain categories that a devil fruit would fall under with others.

"I can't say for certain, but I believe that a person who eats a devil fruit should be able to call on its power, what have you been able to do?"

Glancing back to ensure the others would overhear or come back, she spoke softly. "I…haven't done anything,"

Crocus seemed confused now. So if someone ate a devil fruit then they should be able to call on its power at will? But she could barely remember consuming the fruit but the proof that she had eaten one was clear as day when she discovered she lost the ability to swim.

'Why did that women want to consume it?' What had Kaguya been planning?

Sakura thought that she could get to that answer if she could understand the devil fruit she had and maybe that would lead to more clues, such as how did Kaguya get a hold of a devil fruit when the origin was in this world? Even if she could willingly bring herself into different dimensions, all the ones that she had sent them through didn't have any signs of life.

Even when Sakura was looking through the different worlds with Obito when they were searching for Sasuke, none of them had any signs of life. That factor might not lead to anything, but Sakura didn't have a lot of variables to work with.

"I'm certain that you'll discover the truth behind your power if you truly want it. And if you are looking for the origins of the devil fruits, chances are it's' in the Grand line. It's a place where you can likely find the answers to everything in this world, as its waters hold the greatest phenomena in existence, but let me tell you this. Things in the Grand Line can't always be taken at face value, but if you look and listen I'm sure you'll find everything you desire,"

Sakura didn't bother to ask what he meant.

..

..

The log pose was set for Whisky Peak, Sanji, Usopp, Nami, Sakura, and their two passengers gathered on the ship. Zoro was still napping obliviously on the deck, while the rest of them gave their thanks to Crocus and said their goodbyes. The Going Merry took off towards the setting sun, and already its captain was bouncing around with the crew, full of jovial energy.

"To Whisky Peak!"

Sakura stared off, wondering if she really would be able to find answers in this sea.