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CHAPTER 34: Sakuar's Dilemma
"Have you noticed Zoro's been acting strange?" Sakura and Nami were comfortably settled in the girl's room, readying for bed. Sakura decided to bring out her thoughts while Robin was taking a shower.
Nami raised her eyebrow, "What registers as strange to you?" Because after just a short while with this crew, that word had lost all meaning and she would've thought Sakura was around them long enough to erase it from her dictionary.
"It's just I think Zoro's been a bit skittish since we left Alabasta. But it's only with me."
Nami tapped her chin, her Zoro was still being Zoro. The typical louse who trained all hours of the night slept during the day, and drank all the alcohol he could get his hands on in what little free time he had. Just thinking that thought made Nami's vein tick and her eye twitch. The only time they really saw Zoro was in a life-threatening emergency if he wasn't sleeping through it.
Of course, there was a contagious habit of this for everyone on the ship. There was no pressure of an obligation to constantly function together as a unit when the situation didn't call for it. Nami spent most of her free time drawing her maps, Sakura and Chopper worked on improving their medicines and learning new medical skills and procedures, Sanji saw to a lot of the chores in the kitchen, and was preparing meals on a constant to fight against Luffy's appetite, Usopp worked on his inventions and Luffy spent most of his time finding ways to disrupt each of these units for the sake of his amusement and cure his boredom. That was another way to say he wanted to spend time with his friends even if they were busy with something important.
"Why exactly do you think that Zoro's avoiding you?"
Sakura recounted the few times she had attempted to interact with Zoro and how he basically dashed away every time.
Leaning on her hand, Nami asked, "Why don't you just go and talk to him about it?"
"Because he isn't giving me a chance, I can't interact with him longer than a few seconds before he ignores me and goes off to do something else," Sakura scratched at her forehead. It perturbed her with how much of a bother it was to think about. But perhaps it was due to her own expectations. She thought that they had a pleasant encounter back in Alabasta that time, but that was the first and last time. He was having better encounters with Robin right now.
Sakura hugged her knees tighter. "I don't know... it just feels like something's off. And then, earlier, when we were washing the dishes, he seemed so... tense around me. Like he couldn't wait to get away."
Nami paused, then shrugged. "Honestly, Sakura, it's probably nothing. Zoro's not exactly the most socially aware person in the world. He's more concerned with his training and his swords than with people. Maybe he's just going through some kind of swordsman thing."
It would be great if that was it, but it simply didn't feel like the arrow was pointing in that direction.
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..
..
Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead as she sat up in her hammock, her breath shaky and her shoulders trembling as her heart raced from the vivid nightmare she just endured. A recurring and vivid dream that would hold her heart but release her mind the moment she woke up. Leaving her with unclear images of holding a devil fruit, the stormy seas, and the devastation on them. She pressed her hands to her face, trying to shake off the heaviness that clung to her like a thick fog.
'So it's going to be one of those nights,' Alabasta had kept her mind occupied it seemed and when there was peace, there was a crack in her defenses for those nightmares.
She quietly got out of the hammock, careful not to disturb Nami or Robin. The ship creaked softly as she slipped out of the girls' cabin, making her way onto the deck. The cool night breeze hit her face, offering a welcome relief from the heat that her nightmare had left behind. She took a deep breath, hoping the open air would clear her mind.
As she stood on the deck, staring out at the calm ocean, she heard the familiar sound of Zoro working out. She guessed lifting weights and coming to the upper deck, she found it to be correct.
He hadn't noticed her yet. Zoro was focused, swinging his weights with precision as if they were swords, holding a ridiculous amount of weight on his shoulders, sweat dripping down his brow as he pushed himself hard, as usual.
"Zoro," she called out softly, but her voice startled him.
Zoro flinched, and in his distraction, the weight in his hand shifted awkwardly, he fell off balance, and a sharp pain shot through his shoulder as he lost his grip for a moment. "Shit!" he cursed, dropping the weight and clutching his shoulder.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to—"
He grits his teeth, trying to hide the pain as he rubs at the sore spot. "What the hell are you doing sneaking up on people like that?"
Sakura quickly moved to his side, her medic instincts kicking in. "Let me see," she said, gently pulling his hand away from his shoulder. He tried to pull back, but she was persistent. "Stop being stubborn. You've probably pulled something."
Her fingertips were cool with the energy that flowed through them as she pressed into his skin, which tensed the moment they made contact. The blood in his veins grew hot, as he felt her presence. What was wrong with him? Why was he acting as if she were an enemy trying to launch an attack from behind?
That was as close an expression to what this sensation was. Why was he so wary of Sakura when he knew she was an ally?
"It's fine. I can handle it," he muttered, trying to brush her off.
Sakura didn't listen and instead focused her chakra, sending a warm, healing energy into the muscle. "You were handling it. Now let me fix it before it gets worse," she replied sternly, her voice leaving no room for argument.
Zoro was uncharacteristically silent, not because he had nothing to say, but because he was suddenly hyper-aware of how close she was to him. Her hand on his shoulder, the warmth of her touch—it was making him feel... off. He couldn't place it, but he didn't like it. Or maybe he did. Either way, it was messing with his focus, and that irritated him even more.
"There," Sakura said after a moment, pulling back. "You should feel better now."
Zoro flexed his shoulder, and to his surprise, the pain was gone. He grunted, more out of habit than anything. "Tch," he muttered, not looking at her. He didn't want her to see whatever the hell was going on with his expression.
Sakura stepped back and folded her arms across her chest. "Next time, be careful. You're going to wear yourself out if you keep pushing like this."
Zoro finally turned to face her"Wearing myself out is the point. I'm not going to become the world's greatest swordsman by taking it easy."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."
Zoro huffed. "And you're too nosy."
There was a moment of silence between them, filled only by the sound of the waves gently rocking the ship. Zoro glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, trying to understand why her presence was making him feel so damn... unsettled. His gaze lingered on her for just a second too long, and Sakura noticed.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
Zoro quickly looked away, running a hand through his hair. "No. Just... keep your voice down next time."
Sakura blinked, confused by his sudden avoidance. "Okay... sure…." So she wasn't imagining it, and he really was acting odd towards her. Now she had that confirmation, Sakura needed to decide if she wanted to confront the issue with him.
Zoro found himself speaking before he could stop himself. "What are you doing up here anyway?" He had noticed the bags under her eyes.
Sakura hesitated, glancing back at him. "I was just...nothing,"
No, for some reason she couldn't admit that she was being kept awake by unpleasant dreams. The reason was that perhaps she didn't want to delve into them with another person. Especially not someone she was feeling so much strain from.
"Okay…" Zoro started walking away, "Well night,"
"Wait," Sakura called, realizing that he was once again attempting a hasty exit from her. "What's been going on with you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Ever since we left Alabasta you've been avoiding me, and I want to know why,"
"What are you talking about? I'm not doing that?"
"I've got a great memory Zoro, I know you've been ducking out every time I enter a room. So what is it? Why are you suddenly acting like this?"
"I don't know what you want me to say, I told you it's nothing,"
"That sure sounds like something,"
"What's going on why are you acting this way? We're supposed to be friends," Sakura was now in his face, basically posturing and Zoro became unnerved.
"Gah, can't you just drop it? You're so annoying!"
Something shifted in Sakura and it was so loud that even Zoro heard that noise within her. Unknowbist to him, Zoro had managed to hit the jackpot of Sakura's pain points. A trigger that instantly deflated every ounce of confidence in her being.
There was only one person who had the code to this lock of insecurity, but Zoro managed to find it involuntarily. However even so it didn't hurt any less.
Sakura's face twisted in the devastation that just made Zoro's chest tighten worse than before and he felt like he swallowed a stone the way his stomach churned.
"Hey, hold on I didn't-" Zoro reached out to her, but he felt a sharp sting at the back of his palm as Sakura smacked his hands away from her and made her own exit without even raising her chin to meet his eyes.
As she vanished, Zoro was left gaping like a fish out of water trying to breathe. 'What just happened?
..
..
..
Zoro believed that Sakura ignoring him would return his thoughts to the way they were, redirected to his ambitions. It was the only place he held focus before she infected them like some curse he inadvertently incurred. But as Sakura kept making her best efforts to avoid interacting with him, in any and all settings, the discomfort only festered further and gnawed at him.
She barely glanced his way, never mind a customary greeting for the day. She kept herself busy working with Chopper on their medicines, chatting with Nami, and even helping Usopp with his inventions. If they ever ended up in the same room, like for meals, Sakura would ensure there was no contact above sharing a space. Otherwise, for anything that wasn't a group gathering, she would excuse herself from any space he entered where there was a chance for eye contact.
It was messing with his head in a way he hadn't anticipated.
Even as he was training intensely, straining his muscles and sweating bullets from the efforts of lifting tons of weights over his head over and over, he couldn't draw his thoughts away from her, especially that expression she made. Why had she looked so…hurt? Was that the best way he could describe her? Yes, he thought so at least.
And he couldn't help thinking what brought this on? And why now, he felt like standing near her was like standing on a frozen lake in spring, with the floor ready to give way at any minute?
'Seriously, why is she acting like that?' Feeling the sweat collect at his chin and drip, his jaw clenched painfully with the barbell he had wrapped his teeth around.
Inadvertedly Zoro's wish to forget about thinking of her seemed to be received as something strange happened from the skies.
"What now?" he muttered, his brow furrowing as he caught sight of something small fluttering down from the sky.
It wasn't water.
Small pieces of debris—wood, nails, and scraps of sail—began raining down over the ship. The rest of the crew had noticed it too, and everyone had their eyes glued to the sky in confusion.
"What the hell is this?" asked Sanji as he caught a piece of debris in his hand, its rough edges showing that it was wood. And there was more to come.
A looming shadow began to stretch across the deck until it covered the entire ship and continued to grow past the edges into the ocean, craning necks. The light of the sun was blocked out by the dark silhouette that continued to grow until its entire shape came to light. A ship, worn out with time, twice as big as the Merry, a galleon falling in shards from the sky.
"A ship! It's falling from the sky!" Nami screamed. "We need to move!"
But the ship above them was falling too fast. Even if they were able to move, the collision it would take with the ocean would create a massive entourage of waves. And that's exactly what happened. The Gallion had fallen directly behind their ship and caused the ocean to stir as if there was a storm. Everyone grabbed onto whatever part of the ship they could to keep from being thrown overboard. They were shaken and rocked and crashed against the sea, but eventually, the oceans calmed once again and they were left observing the aftermath.
The whole experience made for a chaotic chapter, and it didn't improve when they were facing the few remains of what they believed used to be the crew. Although things had calmed down, the mystery that remained had everyone moving to find answers. Their recovery period was less than ten minutes before Luffy and Usopp were jumping overboard to explore the wreckage.
While Robin, Sakura, and Chopper investigated the corpses.
What really brought on this investigation started with Nami noticing the Log Pose. At first, she believed it had broken in the fray, but Robin asserted that was not the case. However what she said next was far out there.
"The Log has been caught by a sky island,"
Sakura pulled in her chin, "Sky island, as in?" She pointed up, looking at the sky, partially expecting another chapter to fall. "That's impossible,"
"As impossible as a giant ship falling from the sky," Zoro pointed, but she didn't respond nothing but a glare.
"To be precise, a sea is what's floating,"
Again that was far out there. But Robin explained that this was just information she had gathered on her travels through the Grand Line. There was no physical confirmation, but she pressed that the log pose never lied. So they shouldn't be questioning the existence of the Sky Island, but merely the method to reach it.
Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were more than enthusiastic to start looking for a way to get there. The rest of the crew still had heavy doubts, but if someone as rational as Robin was willing to investigate, there was at least cause for probable belief.
Robin started putting the pieces together by taking pieces of a skull together with Sakura's help. But their new archeologist was the one who could gather information from the body.
"That is so disgusting," Nami said, hiding behind the mast, as she watched them piece together a body.
"You can tell a lot about a person just from their bones, from their occupation, age, how they lived, based on the composition of their bones. Even medical history," Sakura explained, her fingers running along the edges of two holes in the man's skull, "This was obviously made by tools,"
"A medical procedure known as Carterisation I believe, isn't that right?" Robin looked to Chopper who was also hiding behind the mast, but the reindeer confirmed it was a surgery done 200 years ago. Robin confirmed that timeline by observing the teeth in the skull that were in pristine condition, due to tar. A common practice in North Blue, 200 years ago.
It was this that led them to find the very ship, looking through a history book from 200 years ago. An illustration of the exact ship that had fallen, but in much better condition of course.
"If the ship ventured to the sky island, it should have records on board,"
Sakura's eyes widened as she peered over to where the ship had landed and where Luffy and Usopp were exploring. It was already on its last minute for the surface while the rest had sunken and unfortunately, Luffy didn't think to leave before then.
"Damn those idiots!" Sanji jumped overboard to retrieve them.
Sakura was about ready to give her captain an earful for his continued reckless actions but Luffy was too elated to hear anything, as he found something on the ship. He presented a worn-out and very damp scroll, opening revealing a map of a land called Skypia.
"So the sky island does exist," Sakura rubbed her lips together in uncertainty. "It doesn't matter though because we still don't know how to get there."
That statement made Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper's faces drop, as if she had just poured dirt all over their fire. She wasn't sure how to react to those expressions.
"Don't be childish! There's no way an ordinary ship could've just gotten up there without some method! Unless we find the way then we can't go," Sakura tried to explain but their faces just dropped further with her and it felt like she had done something wrong.
"Yes," Robin agreed, glancing over to the part of the sea where the ship had fallen. "We need to look further into this matter,"
Nami caught on quickly with her intentions, she wanted them to explore the ship for more clues, except it was now at the bottom of the ocean. Salvaging was the only solution, but the Going Merry would not be any help in lifting that up to the surface again.
Usopp grinned, pointing a thumb at himself, "Leave it to me!"
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- (Bleach crossover) Kunoichi amongst Reapers: exclusive chapters (Sneak peek on Tumblr)
-Commission: Demon slayer x My hero academia (PART 1 & 2)
- Kunoichi amongst Benders (Avatar x Naruto crossover) (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes chapter (81, 82, 83, 84)
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes WHAT IF SPIN OFF: Dorms and Exams
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter (35, 36, 37)
-Crossroads of Fate chapter 26, 27, 28, 29
-Through the Looking Glass chapter 31, 32. 33, 34, 35, 36
-(SEQUEL) Through the Spyglass chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6
-SPECIAL HALLOWEEN CHAPTER: Shinigami amongst Shinobi
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