Itachi burst through the clouds before landing lightly on more...clouds?
All around him was a sea of white. He took a step forward, reaching for his scroll when the sea beneath him lurched and the ship from before came flying out underneath him, its mast directly under his feet. Instantly sticking to the wood, his world tilted 90 degrees when the boat came crashing back down into the water.
Looking onto the deck of the boat, he saw people sprawled out tired and wet, one of them laughing quite loudly.
"AHAHAHAHA! That was fun! Let's do it again! Shishishi!" A young boy with a straw hat laughed out loud as he got up.
"Shut up, Luffy! Idiot captain!" An orange-haired girl yelled, punching him in the head.
Luffy? Straw hat?
Ah. This was Ace's little brother. What a pleasant surprise.
A green-haired swordsman and a well-dressed blond both groaned as they got up.
"Is everyone alright? Does anyone need medicine? Is anyone hurt? AAAHHHHHH! Usopp! Doctor! We need a doctor! Usopp's dead!" A little reindeer? Raccoon-dog? The thing was frantically running from person to person.
"That's you!" The swordsman growled at the thing.
"Oh yeah," the thing rubbed the back of its head bashfully and walked back to a long-nosed individual, probably the aforementioned Usopp.
"Ara ara. While it's nice to get our bearings, I think we should attend our unwelcome guest. It wouldn't be very gracious of us to leave him...hanging." A tall woman with black hair said as she stared straight at him, looking quite exhausted from the ride.
"Huh?" Luffy questioned before looking where she was. "Oh."
"Oi! You." He pointed at Itachi.
The rest of the crew turned to look at him as well.
"Are you a sideways person?"
His crew immediately turned on him. "NO! You stupid captain! He's just a person!"
"Then why is he sidewaaaaays?"
Itachi smiled as he walked down the mast.
It immediately put some of them on guard, so he raised his hands.
"None of that now. I don't mean you guys any harm. You guys just happened to fly out from under me. I had no choice but to stick to your mast."
He reached close to the bottom and hopped off the mast and onto the deck.
"My name is Uchiha Itachi. It's nice to finally meet you, Luffy."
Luffy crossed his arms and tilted his head. "Do I know you?"
Itachi only laughed. "No. No. But Ace has told me far too many stories about you."
Luffy's and the rest of the crew's demeanor changed instantly.
"You know Ace!? When did you see him? How is he? Where is he? Did he find Blackbeard?" Luffy instantly jumped close to him, shooting off too many questions at once, although the rest of the crew shared the same sentiment in wondering how Luffy's older brother was doing.
"Calm down a second," Itachi waved Luffy off. "I haven't seen Ace in two years. I used to sail with him with the Whitebeard Pirates. Although he's my little brother, I don't keep tabs on him all the time."
"You're Ace's older brother? Does that make you my older older brother?"
"Whitebeard Pirates?! Aren't they like super strong? Are you one of them, Mr. Uchiha?" The orange-haired girl asked him at the same time.
"Strong? Are you really strong, older older brother? Fight me!" Luffy pushed his face into Itachi's vision.
He pushed him away, answering the girl's questions, "Yes, they are one of the strongest crews in the world. I did sail with them, but I'm not a part of their crew. Left around two years ago."
Luffy threw a punch, one which Itachi easily dodged.
"Come oooooooon," Luffy whined. "Fight meeeeeeee."
Itachi continued to ignore him, addressing the orange-haired girl, "How do you guys know Ace? It's been a while since I last saw him. How was he doing, last you saw?"
The girl tilted her head, pondering, "Well, we met him by chance in Alabasta. Really helped us out against this marine, Smoker, and some cannon fodder from a criminal organization. He seemed to be doing well, although he seemed in a hurry? Um, I think he said something about tracking someone, an old crewmate. Said his name was Blackbeard and that he had killed a friend."
The temperature on the deck of the ship dropped a few degrees, the look in Itachi's eyes taking on a hard glint.
"Did he say who this Blackbeard person is? Who he killed?"
She could barely stammer out a "No."
The sudden pressure on the deck let up, to which everyone sighed relief.
Itachi sensed one of his crows flying towards him and looking up, could see it descending towards him.
Landing on his shoulder, he looked into its eyes to see what it wanted to show him.
Stroking the corvid's head, he said, "Just a warning, but it seems like someone is coming our way."
Just as he said that, the little reindeer thing fell off the railing, dropping the binoculars it had been holding. "There's a bull charging us! A bull riding on the clouds! There was a ship and now there isn't and the bull is coming straight for us!"
Itachi understood what the thing was trying to say, but the rest of the crew was only confused. The swordsman and the blond both stepped to the railing where the creature stood and looked out.
"Oh, there really is someone coming this way," the blond said. He called out, "Oi, what are you doing?"
A person jumped up, a bull mask covering his face, a bazooka in one arm, a shield in the other. "I am here to destroy you. You are not welcome here."
"Seems like he wants to fight."
"That's fine by me."
The blond and the swordsman readied themselves, but the mysterious person instantly shot through the air and kicked the blond in the face, sending him flying into the wall. Pivoting mid-air, he pushed off the mast, kicking down both the swordsman and Luffy. The orange-haired girl cried out in shock at seeing the three of them being taken down so quickly.
The bull-mask man charged at Itachi, pushing off the deck and attempting to kick him, only his heel never connected with Itachi's head. Instead, the tip of Itachi's umbrella pressed firmly against the bottom of the skate-like contraptions, stopping the man's kick instantly. With a light swing, Itachi pushed the man away, forcing him back.
Shaken, the man instantly jumped back onto the railing and pushed off into the air, aiming the bazooka at the ship. Itachi had jumped after the man immediately after, aiming to block the mouth of the launcher with his umbrella. At the same time, a gruff voice called out from the sky.
"That's enough!"
Leaping off a bird, another mysterious man came flying down, a great lance aimed at the bull-mask man.
This newcomer reached the bull-masked man before Itachi, his lance hitting the bull masked man's shield and sending him flying back down into the sea below.
Then with a graceful flip, the armor-clad individual fell to the ship, Itachi falling to the sea.
He was prepared to land on the water when a hand grabbed the back of his cloak and pulled him back to the ship. Turning, he expected to see Luffy's hand, having heard all about his rubbery abilities from Ace. He was surprised to instead find a chain of hands sprouting from the mast, swinging him in the direction of the ship, before disappearing in a flurry of petals. Looking back onto the deck of the ship, Luffy's face was still planted in the floorboards, as were the other two men.
His eyes landed on the black-haired woman. She was looking straight at him, her arms crossed over her chest. She smiled at him.
Ah. Another devil fruit user, much like Luffy. He landed back on the ship, right next to the woman.
"Thanks," he said before extending his hand. "I don't believe I ever caught your name."
"Nico Robin. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance," She shook his hand.
The name stirred a memory in the back of his mind. He had heard that name before, but he couldn't remember precisely from what? He just remembered Marco and Jozu had something to do with it.
"I am the Knight of the Sky!"
They both looked at the knight, who was talking to the others from the top of the helm.
"What's your devil fruit, if you don't mind me asking? It's quite intriguing." Itachi said.
Robin giggled into her hand. "It is indeed. I ate the Flower-Flower Fruit. It allows me to sprout any part of my body anywhere."
"Ears and eyes too?" he inquired.
Robin understood what he was getting at, "Yes. Quite useful for learning things that you shouldn't. Perfect for a certain line of work."
Itachi was intimately familiar with the line of work she was referencing and could think of a few people back in the Nations who would love to get their hands on an ability like that.
The Knight of the Sky tossed a whistle onto the deck saying they only had to blow for him to come to their aid. Itachi and Robin were listening to him as they had their own little conversation. Then with morbid curiosity, they watched the rather gruesome transformation from bird to "pegasus" for Pierre.
They, as well as the entire crew, watched him fly off into the distance.
"That… was something," Itachi said.
"We didn't really learn much from him though," Robin said as she bent down to pick up the whistle, it had bounced quite far despite the rather soft toss Gan Fall had used.
"There's another sea 3,000 meters above us. How are we supposed to get there?" The orange-haired girl looked questioningly at her crewmates.
"Oh, I know. Let's call the old guy and ask him." Luffy stretched an arm towards Robin. "Oiiii, Robin, give me the whistle."
Before his arm could reach her, the blond kicked it down while the orange-haired girl and Usopp violently shook Luffy, scolding him for being so careless with such a valuable item.
Robin only laughed at the scene. Seems like it happened quite often. Looks like Luffy hadn't really changed much from his younger days with Ace.
"So I only know your name, Robin. Mind introducing me to the rest of the crew?"
"Not at all." She pointed at Luffy. "I assume you already know all about our captain from his brother, Ace."
She then pointed to the swordsman, "The man with the belly warmer is Roronoa Zoro, a specialist in the Three Sword Style. He's the first mate."
She then pointed to the blond, "Sanji, our resident cook and a terribly perverted flirt."
The orange-haired woman. "Nami. She's our navigator."
The tiny reindeer thing. "Tony Tony Chopper, our ship's doctor. He's a reindeer that ate the Human-Human Fruit."
Usopp. "Usopp. An infamous liar and a rather inventive individual. He's our stand-in shipwright until we can get a real one."
"As for myself, I only joined the crew a couple of weeks ago, but I'm an archeologist."
Satisfied with learning everyone's names, Itachi smiled at her. "My thanks. As I said earlier, My name is Uchiha Itachi. I'm a traveling artist."
"An artist, you say? You fight quite well for an artist." Robin mused.
"Mah, I found a passion for it over a year ago. Before that, I worked a number of odd jobs all over the place. Before that, I stayed on Whitebeard's ship. Before even that, I was in a line of work that, ah, you're probably familiar with." He replied.
"My my. What a history. You seem quite interesting. Do stay awhile; you'll find that you won't regret it." Robin walked off, heading into the ship's interior.
What an odd group of people. So vastly different compared to most other pirate crews. It reminded Itachi of Whitebeard and his commanders.
Luffy sure was an interesting character, and his crew seemed like great fun. He wouldn't mind sticking with them until they got back down to the Blue Sea.
Itachi watched from the ship as the rest of the Straw Hats enjoyed themselves on the beach. The lovestruck look on Sanji's face as he looked for Nami was quite funny.
"You've killed before."
The statement came from behind him. There was no malice in it, but a warning could still be understood in it.
Don't hurt my friends.
Itachi's respect for Zoro went up. "Yes. Before journeying out to sea, I was in a line of work where killing was inevitable. It was the lifestyle of my home country. It was something you could not escape, and I hated it. I killed, but only when I had to."
He felt Zoro's piercing stare on his back. Then with a grunt, Zoro jumped onto the railing. "I respect it, and I'm not one to judge. But hear this, I will not hesitate to kill you or leave you out to dry to save my friends, Ace's older brother or not."
He hopped off the railing to the shallow water below and began walking to the shore.
"Seems like the bonds that hold this crew together are quite strong. They would not hesitate to put their lives on the line to save each other."
Itachi watched all of them from the ship, playing, laughing, enjoying themselves on the beach.
It was the perfect image of love and friendship, and it made his heart ache.
That's what he wanted.
That friendship. That love.
It was something he had only ever had with Shisui and Izumi. He realized why he felt so uncomfortable with Whitebeard. There were just too many people. Whitebeard's crew was massive, and among all of them, Itachi had only really bonded with the commanders and some of the nurses.
He just couldn't throw down his life for the hundreds of other nameless pirates aboard the Moby Dick like Whitebeard and the other commanders would, but with a group like the Straw Hats?
It would be possible. Itachi clutched at his cloak, gazing longingly at the Straw Hats. Whitebeard had been right, a family was more than enough of a reason to live, and he wanted one of his own. His thoughts drifted to Keoni, making him blush. Perhaps in more ways than one. When he got back down to the Blue Sea he would go and find a family for himself. Find himself something much like what the Straw Hats had.
Somehow that thought didn't feel right, but he ignored it and jumped off the ship.
Notes from a harp drifted through the air.
Conis and Pagaya were wonderful hosts, easily catering to the many needs of the Straw Hats. A mountain of food for Luffy, of which Sanji had enjoyed learning to make. Booze for Zoro, Dials for Usopp and Chopper. Books on the history and culture of Skypiea for Robin and Itachi. Nami was still out by Angels Beach, enjoying herself on Pagaya's Waver.
"Yummy! This food is so GOOD! Sky Island is amazing!" Luffy cried, stuffing his face.
Sanji couldn't agree more, "Aye, the cuisine here is quite interesting. I might integrate some of this stuff into my own cooking."
"So you're telling me that I just need to click the top of this shell and it'll record my voice?" Usopp asked Conis. "And then by pressing the button again, it'll play it back?"
"Why yes, of course. This isn't the only type of dial we have though. The Waver that Nami is riding uses a Breath Dial, which sucks in air and expels it. Sanji probably used a Heat Dial and a Flavor Dial to prepare the food in front of you" Conis replied.
"Conis," Robin called from across the room. "What is Upper Yard?"
Conis's face took on a serious tone. Walking to the center of the room, she addressed everyone.
"If I could have your attention please, I must tell you something vital."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her.
"There is a place adjacent to the Island Clouds of Skypiea, easily accessible by Waver. You must never set foot on it. It is our Holy Land. The Place Where God Resides, Upper Yard."
"God?" Itachi questioned.
"Yes," Conis confirmed. "The God Enel and his priests reside on Upper Yard. Those who break the laws here must face their divine judgement. The Almighty God Enel is a powerful being. He can hear everything that happens on this island. He can hear us as we are talking right now."
"D- Di- Divine punishment?! Li- Li-Li-Listening to us now?" Usopp stammered out, curling up on the couch and rocking back and forth. "Sky island's scary... Sky island's scary
Conis nodded again. "Class 2 criminals and above are sent to Upper Yard to be judged. Class 1 criminals are to be dealt with by the White Berets, Angel Island's police force."
Luffy decided to butt in, "God? Forbidden sacred land? Divine?"
"Sounds like an adventure! Let's go! Shishishi!" He said as he laughed.
"NO!" Usopp instantly head chopped Luffy. "Did you not just hear Conis?! Upper Yard is forbidden. That means we should definitely NOT go there!"
"But it sounds fun…" Luffy pouted.
"IT DOES NOT!" Usopp began to throttle Luffy's rubber neck.
"Ah! Nami's out there on the Waver! What if she went there? Conis, do people ever come back from Upper Yard?" Luffy asked, his head still swinging back and forth from Usopp's shaking.
She shook her head, "No one that has gone to Upper Yard has ever come back. They are all sentenced to die by the divine judgement of God and his priests."
"Then we must go there. To save Nami!" Luffy said that a little too happily, the unsaid statement that he was really just looking for an adventure easy to see.
"Luffy," Usopp looked at him seriously. "I'm going to need you to stop making sense so that we don't have to go on a sensible journey to Upper Yard to potentially save Nami from God."
"Alright, let's go!" And with that Luffy bolted out the door.
Usopp dramatically fell to all fours wailing. "He just doesn't listen to reason."
Itachi found the entire exchange quite funny. Luffy indeed was a free spirit. To have a captain like that, he wouldn't mind.
He got up and followed Luffy out at a more sedate pace.
It was a truly spectacular entrance from Nami, easily on par with Might Guy and Rock Lee's Dynamic Entrance.
Itachi would give it a seven out of ten. It would've been a ten out of ten if they could get out of their current situation scott-free, but that just wasn't the case.
Luffy had easily dispatched the rest of the White Berats, while Nami had quickly explained the priests attacking a man, the pillar of lightning, and the fact that they had been marked next to be judged.
"We need to leave immediately. Who knows when this God person will strike us. That lightning pillar is nothing to scoff at," Nami finished.
"I don't wanna," Luffy said sullenly.
Nami looked annoyed, "We don't have time to play games now, Luffy. This is serious."
"And I'm serious about going to Upper Yard." He retorted back.
That earned him a punch to the head.
Nursing the newly sprouted goose egg on his head, Luffy apologized, "I'm sorry, Nami. I'll listen to you, and we leave immediately."
Nami nodded approvingly before heading towards the Going Merry.
Luffy turned to Sanji, "Sanji. Let's go back to the old man's house and pack up all the leftover food. It'd be such a waste to leave it all behind."
He nodded in agreement.
"As long as that's alright with you, old man," Luffy said to Pagaya.
"Of course. Do help yourselves, Conis and I could never hope to finish all that food in a timely fashion."
Usopp perked up at this as well, "Do you mind if I come as well to grab some materials to patch Merry up?"
Once again, Pagaya affirmed that this would not be an issue, and the four of them headed back.
The rest of the crew plus Itachi and Conis followed Nami back to the ship.
She was lying.
Itachi could easily tell.
Conis was in the midst of telling Nami of a unique cloud that would safely get them safely down to the Blue Sea. She looked nervous, scared, and was fidgeting far too much, but Itachi could feel the weight behind her words, or the lack thereof.
Something was going to happen, and he could hazard a guess that they would not be returning to the Blue Sea anytime soon.
Conis eventually left, Nami in a happy mood with the "information" she had been fed.
Chopper went to go raise the anchor, while Robin pondered Conis's words.
"If such a cloud were to exist, I feel like there would be far more Skypieans down in the Blue Sea."
Nami snapped back, "Maybe they just don't want to live in the Blue Sea and are perfectly content with their lives up here."
"They're not. They live in fear. Even the White Berets are not free of that fear. This God is nothing but a tyrant and he's beginning to annoy me," Itachi interjected.
Nami whipped towards him, "You can shut up. Conis is doing her best to help us out right now, and all you're doing is ruining it, by angering God! Honestly, you're not even part of this crew, so you should shut up and be grateful that I'm allowing you to stay."
"She lies. She is scared. Frightened. And rightly so. Even if there is such a cloud, I fear that we will not be leaving this island very soon."
Itachi was only stating what he believed to be true. 21 years of living in the Elemental Nations had taught him many things, one of which was to trust his instincts.
"That's it. Off my ship, you bastard! I will not have you bad-mouthing Conis after all she and Pagaya have done for us. Get off! NOW!" Nami yelled at him.
Itachi sighed. He expected as much. He walked to the railing. "Heed my words, Nami. In these seas, always expect the unexpected."
Just as he was about to jump off, the ship lurched backward. He could sense something underneath the ship, soft whispers floating into his ears.
Fear. Fast. Please. Grab. Alter. Fast.
Zoro made to cut the claws gripping the sides of the ship, but Itachi stopped him.
"Wait Zoro. Don't hurt it. It's saying it fears something."
Zoro questioned him, "Huh? How can you-? Nobody is speaking right now."
Itachi only smiled, "All things have a voice. You just need to know how to listen."
Robin looked at him when he said this, a contemplative look on her face. "Everything has a voice?"
Itachi's answer was still kind of bullshit because he could only understand snippets. He really wanted to be able to listen to swords like Makani. To actually talk with them instead of just listening to their intents and desires. But hearing the shrimp had been nice. It showed that he was progressing and that was good enough for him at the moment. He would try and listen to one of his swords when he could.
Zoro accepted his words reluctantly and resheathed his swords. "Guess we just have to wait and see what divine judgement God has in store for us.
Itachi was painting.
They had entered Upper Yard a while ago, but it was much larger than he had anticipated. The shrimp that was pulling them along, had slowed its pace, drifting almost lazily up the Milky Road. The ride was so smooth, that Itachi had decided to break out his easel, brushes, and paints.
Robin was the only one watching him. Zoro was napping by the bow, Chopper was making some medicine, and Nami had retreated into the ship, intent on avoiding him.
"You're quite talented, Itachi," Robin commented. "It's a beautiful piece."
"I studied on the island of Artopoki for a year," Itachi replied. "I learned from the best in the world."
Robin hummed in agreement, watching him fill in the little spots of the sea kings in his painting.
The piece was truly breathtaking. She felt like the waves of water would splash right out of the page, the vicious faces of the sea kings ready to lunge at her.
It's true of what they said; the Pokians were truly some of the best artists in the world. Itachi had commented that he wasn't even their best painter, so it made her wonder, what was the best piece of art that the island of Artopoki had ever produced?
Chopper called from the bow, "I see something coming up! Some sort of structure."
Everyone turned to see what exactly it was Chopper had spotted.
"It looks like a sacrificial altar of sorts," Robin observed. "Perhaps we are being offered as sacrifices to this God? To appease him of our sins?"
"Ple- Plea- Please don't say that, Robin!" Chopper cried out fearfully.
Itachi added on further, looking up from his painting, "Mmmm, perhaps so, but I would expect it to be far more bloody. Perhaps their form of execution isn't as messy?"
"PLEASE NOOOOOO!" Chopper fell on his back. "Sky island is scary. Sky island is scary. Sky island is so so scary. Luuuuuuuuffy. Come save me."
"Now now, don't be like that little doctor." Robin picked Chopper up and brought him into a hug, stroking his fur. "I'm sure it won't come to that."
He calmed down a little, but continued to lay in her arms, clearly enjoying the petting.
Reaching the altar, the giant shrimp lifted them off its back and gently placed it on the altar. As it left, Itachi waved it off, thanking it.
"Thank you, Mister Shrimp, I hope you feel better soon."
Nami looked at him, annoyed, "Why are you talking to it? It's not like it'll-"
She choked on her words when she saw the shrimp wave back. Being proved wrong by Itachi once again, she stomped across the deck to stand by Robin, who was inspecting the altar.
"This altar seems very old. At least a thousand years or so. The possibility of such ancient pieces of history just waiting to be discovered excites me a lot if I'm to be honest. I would love to explore Upper Yard to see what else has been left behind."
At that moment, a massive Skyshark jumped out of the water around them, but Zoro easily killed it.
"I'm bored here. I'm going to head out and see what else is around here." He said yawning.
"Well, I will be staying on the ship where it's nice and safe," Nami stated. "Take the freeloader with you if you want to explore so much."
"I don't know, Nami. The rumored City of Gold is supposed to be up here. I'm sure you wouldn't want a random stranger to discover such a treasure before you, right?" Robin said offhandedly, the intent of manipulation clear in her eyes.
Nami took it hook, line and sinker. Berries in her eyes, she cried, "Alright! Let's go explore! For treasure! Zoro lead the way!"
They quickly departed, using the vines and Robin's devil fruit, leaving Chopper and Itachi to protect the ship.
Chopper walked around with a small hammer in his hands and Gan Fall's whistle around his neck.
"I can do this! I can protect the ship! I can protect Merry with Mr. Itachi!"
He was pumping himself up in an attempt to ward off the fear in his mind.
With a flap of wings, one of his crows landed on Itachi's shoulder, ready to tell him whatever information it had.
"You can come out now, Mr. Priest," Itachi called out.
He turned to see someone step out onto a branch.
"Oho, you're quite observant. Still, only two sacrifices? I was told there would be five. This will be boring."
That statement annoyed Itachi. Arrogant people, especially weak ones, were disgusting in his eyes. Chopper on the other hand, began to panic at the priest's words, the threat of death scaring him immensely.
A shrill tweet sounded through the forest.
"How quaint little reindeer. No need for that, especially with him there."