Chapter 14

[A/N: For you super nerd critics that want to be judgemental about everything, until you write your own story, keep your useless judging to yourselves. This is an Alternate universe in a fanfiction that I'm writing for free. Unless you decide to pay me, this is the story you're getting.]

Ronin quickly regained his composure and stared at the crying Bonney. The feeling of being obligated to help her only intensified as the tears in her eyes made his heart break for some reason. But he had to be careful, as not only did she just say his first name, she was highly emotional and the nature of their relationship was still uncertain.

"I'm sorry to hear that about your friend, but, I'm just a Bounty Hunter that came here to drop off my targets, and now I'm done... Look, it seems like you have had a rough go of it and could use some help. It's up to you whether you want to or not, but you can come with me and my crew. We'll make sure you're fed, safe, and you can earn some nice coin hunting bounties with us. The choice is yours, Little Rose." Ronin said, as he unintentionally used Bonney's nickname again.

Bonney was surprised and highly skeptical of Ronin's offer, as her time on the sea has shown her most people are untrustworthy. But, not only did he pay her tab without asking for anything in return, he even gave her a choice of whether or not to join his crew, offering food, shelter, and money. But the biggest thing was this sense of familiarity she felt towards Ronin and this strong sense of being protected that she hadn't felt since... well since she last saw her dead friend, Warren.

After what felt like forever, Bonney finally spoke. "What do I call you?" Bonney asked, gazing at Ronin's mask, burning a whole where his eyes would be.

"Well, you can call me Daddy, Master, Oni-chan, King-" Ronin joked before he was interrupted by a blushing and angry Bonney.

"I meant your name, you fucking asshole!" Bonney growled. Only her friend, Warren, had ever teased her like that, as even when they were kids he would always tease her a tell perverted jokes.

"My name is Ronin, Captain of the Shinigami bounty hunters." Ronin said with pride clear in his tone.

When Bonney and everyone else heard his introduction, they were completely shocked and slightly intimidated. There were few people who hadn't heard of Shinigami's exploits by now, as news of powerful people tended to travel quickly, despite Ronin just starting his journey. But it was his latest feat of not only taking out a small fleet of ships with only a few people, but also managing to capture most of them alive that really sent a chill down people's spines.

The South Blue wasn't weak and peaceful like the East Blue was known to be, so just how powerful did Ronin have to be to already be considered the powerhouse of the South Blue?

Hearing that Ronin was a powerful Captain of a popular Bounty Hunter crew of the South Blue, Bonney's attitude changed slightly. Though she was brash, had a temper and came off as rude, she still knew how to respect people that has earned it and when not to make trouble for herself, hence why she tried to cut a deal with the Owner, and why she stopped Zoro from killing a World Noble in the original Canon.

"So you're THAT, Ronin. Judging from you looks and that pirate fleet you took out, I can see now why people are taking to calling you, Sea Reaper, though personally, I feel that name better fits your deadly friend behind me with the scythe." Bonney said, casting a quick glance back at Devon.

"Fine, I'll join you guys. It's not like I had any set plans any way, and this way will give me a chance to pay you back for the tab. I don't like being in debt to others." Bonney said as she held her hand out to Ronin, and he took it in his, making her hand look tiny compared to his. With the handshake done, Bonney was officially a part of the Shinigami crew, but many of the people watching were wondering why such a powerful Captain wanted a girl to join his crew when she seemed so weak, and Devon was also one of those people. Though Devon figured that Ronin probably knew something he didn't.

Ronin didn't have any particular idea about Bonney's strength, but outside of their possible connection with each other, he had a strong gut feeling that the girl was capable and would be a great asset one day to his crew. Plus, everyone had potential once their chakra was unlocked. Even Rock Lee who couldn't even use ninjutsu became easily one of the most powerful people in the Naruto world through hard work. So in Ronin's mind, as long as they had a somewhat decent personality, anyone could be of value to him.

After setting things straight and buying some to-go food for Bonney, the three left the tavern. Now that they had the funds, Ronin wanted to completely outfit the whole crew, maybe even have a uniform commissioned for them that would be the basis of his future army. But most importantly, Ronin wanted new weapons and armor for his crew so that they'll be safe in the future confrontations. And so, they headed back to the ship to meet up with Meli, so she could also choose a new weapon, as well as meet the new crew member.

Back at the Static, Meli was practicing on the main deck, waiting for Ronin and Devon to return. She has already mastered running on water, and had already learned a few Jutsu, putting her not far behind Ronin and Devon on terms of power, but she had recently been trying to mix her Lightning and Wind chakra natures like Ronin suggested, stating that if she could, she'd unlock something called, Swift Release, which would make her so fast, she'd be virtually untouchable. Hearing this, Meli was super excited to finally be of use and get more praise from Ronin, but combining the two nature's proved to be far more challenging than she expected.

While practicing, Meli finally saw Ronin and Devon making their way back to the ship and a smile lit up her face, but smile dimmed once she saw a new pink haired girl walking, what she felt to be too close next to Ronin. As if sensing Meli looking at her, then through woman's intuition realizing why she was staring at her like that, Bonney gave off a smirk then immediately clung to Ronin's arm in a romantic way, making Meli's dimmed smile turn into a visibly strained one.

'Who is this whore with a death wish, and why is she clinging to my future husband!!" Meli thought as lighting sparked between Meli and Bonney as they stared at each other.

Seeing the drama already unfolding, Ronin and Devon let out a heavy sigh, as Devon turned to face Ronin. "I told you it was going to cause drama. You can't keep avoiding the talk, Ro, it has to happen, preferably before the claws start coming out. I'll head out first and let you do what you need to do. I'll meet y'all at the weapons shop." Devon said before he disappeared, tactically avoiding the drama.

'That damn bastard,leaving to deal with the drama by myself!Some Vice-Captain he is! Plus,what the hell am I even supposed to do in this situation that won't make things worse?!' Ronin thought to himself, as he suddenly felt drained.

"Okay you two, stop staring daggers at each other so I can talk. Meli, I'd like to introduce our new crew member, Bonney. Bonney, this here is Meli, my first crew mate and our ship navigator. Meli, I have something extremely important to discuss with Bonney, but so that you two aren't at each other's throats in the future over any misunderstandings, I want you to come with us to my cabin." Ronin said solemnly.

Ronin knew he was taking a risk, but the first clue to his identity in this world literally just fell on his lap, so he had to take the chance. Seeing Meli give a small nod, the three of them headed towards his cabin, and once inside, Ronin activated a protection barrier over his room that he has been working on, that way, there was no one who could ease drop on their conversation. He had been working hard on getting better at Fuinjutsu, this barrier was the result of his hard work.

After everyone was seated, Ronin took a deep breath and turned to Bonney. "Little Rose, I know it may be hard, but can you tell me more about your friend you were talking about before? I promise this will all make sense soon." Ronin said sincerely.

Bonney was slightly apprehensive about talking to a practical stranger about her dead childhood friend, but since Ronin said everything would soon make sense, and he hadn't given her a reason not to trust him yet, she relented. Bonney was still visibly shaken by his lose, which showed how close the two were, so after taking a few deep breaths to steady herself,she began.

"Warren and I have been friends ever since we were babies, as even our parents were childhood friends." Bonney said with a shaky voice.

When she heard the name Warren, Meli grew incredibly shocked, but a sharp look from Ronin forced her to calm down and stay quiet, Though she was now far more invested in Bonney's story.

"I wasn't going to tell you about it, since it could cause trouble, but seeing as you're my captain now, I don't see why not. I come from and island known as the Sorbet Kingdom, where my father, Bartholomew Kuma ruled as the King, before he became a revolutionary and was forced to step down by the government. They used me to force him to take up the Warlord of the sea position and even made him into a cyborg, just so that I would be safe." Bonney said with full emotions, tears now streaming down her face.

Both Ronin and Meli were shocked by this revelation, as they had both heard of Sorbet Kingdom, and if what Bonney said was true, that made her a princess!

"Warren's parents were just like mine, but that was as much as I knew since they were very secretive. I know that his mother is also a World Noble and was childhood friends with my mom, but from what I gathered, his father was a high ranking leader in the revolutionary army, and was the one who convinced my father to join them after the Marines caused my mother, the Queen of the Sorbet Kingdom to die... It was thanks to both of our parents being so busy all the time that lead to me and Warren spending a lot of out time together."

Listening to this, Ronin was even more shocked, as not only was he the son of an important Revolutionary, apparently he too was a World Noble! That drastically changed things, as now he had to make new plans.

"Warren was a year or two older than me and was always tall for his age, that plus him always watching over and protecting me, is what lead me to always see him as kind of my big brother. But... a little over two years ago, after he just got back from some special training with his father, his father sent him out on some sort of errand, but then the ship he was on ran into a really bad storm, and there shipwrecked. Only 5 out of the original hundred of his crew managed to make it back to report what happened."

"Ship after ship, and team after team was sent out to look for Warren, but all they found was this," Bonney said before she reached deep into her mouth watering cleavage and pulled out a silver dog tag necklace with 'Warren D. Tempest'. When Ronin saw the dog tags, flashes of memories went through his mind, from him as a child and sneaking extra food for a hungry little pink haired girl. Images of an older black man with black hair that looked like a bodybuilder and a gorgeous light-skinned woman with long, curly white hair entered his mind, and he knew right away these were his parents, as a flood of emotions came over him.

Though he didn't get all of his memories back, Ronin saw enough to know that God wasn't lying to him, and that Bonney was telling the truth about him and her being close, extremely close. The two were practically like siblings until one night the two of them got a little too close, and they gave each other their first kiss, among a few other "Firsts", though they never actually took each other's virginity, at least not in the traditional sense.

Slowly, Ronin began sliding of his mask, much to Meli's surprise, until his mask was completely off. Bonney blinked hard for a few seconds, before her mouth grew more and more agape, quickly bringing her hands up to cover her mouth. Before Ronin could say a word, he was being tackled to his bed, with Bonney clinging tightly to him, sobbing into his chest. Not knowing what else to do, Ronin brought his hands up and gently started rubbing her back, just then remembering he would do the same thing as a child whenever Bonney got scolded for being bad.

"Nii-san, Nii-san! Is it really you?! How is this possible?" Bonney asked between sobs.

Still running her back, Ronin let out a heavy sigh. "I think so. A little over two years ago, I woke up alone on a deserted island. I had nothing, not even memories of who I was, but I found a great treasure on that island that taught me to be strong, and using that, I finally left that island some months ago now. I had no memories prior to waking up on that island, but when I saw you holding up that necklace, I started seeing flashes of memories from a life I do not remember. I saw you, either constantly in trouble or eating, and I saw a man and woman I feel may be my parents. Beyond that, I can't remember anything." Ronin said truthfully.

Ronin saw no reason to lie to Bonney, as from his own memory, he could see the two were nearly Inseparable.

Hearing this, Bonney nodded furiously, as she climbed up on top of Ronin, held his face in her hands, as a before smile bloomed on her face, despite the tears still pouring from her eyes. "It really is you! War-chan, you have no idea how much I missed you! After Father was taken and you disappeared, I felt so alone and lost. Grandmother tried to force me into marrying one of the losers that kept pestering me, saying that I had to get married for the good of the crown. So I took some of my savings, took a boat, and I ran away! I tried calling big sister Hina, but she let the Marines brainwash her and refuses to come home and help!" Bonney said once again as she proceeded to start sobbing again.

Ronin was confused by the mention of this "Hina" until he remembered remembered another pink haired girl named, Hina. Hina had straight light-pink hair with a part down the middle, a striped burgundy and purple dress, with purple shoes. Hina was the exact opposite of Bonney. Where Bonney was brash, temperamental and rude, her older sister Hina was quiet, reserved, and respectful. Hina was a whopping 8 years older than Bonney and only 6 years older than Ronin. Thanks to Hina being older and having a desirable personality, Ronin remembered having a big crush on Hina growing up, a fact that peeved Bonney to no end.

Ronin remembered joking with Bonney one day when they were older, after he had an encounter with Hina, that he loved mature women with pink, heart shaped lips, and the next day, Bonney began drawing a tiny pink heart on her lips, refusing to take it off. Ronin laughed for days after he saw her lipstick for the first time, as he clearly meant a different set of lips, but Bonney was too innocent to understand, and he didn't have the heart to break it to her.

Ronin remembered the day Hina left the castle. Hina complained that she was treated like a caged bird her whole life, always forces to be a princess and live under her parents name, which was the reason she left all the way to the West Blue in order to join the Marines, just so that her parents name wouldn't help her in any way when joining, as Hina didn't want any special privilege and wanted to succeed with her own strength, quickly becoming the top of her class. The name Black-Cage Hina might actually be in reference to her previous caged lifestyle.

Remembering all of this, Ronin let out another sigh. Due to the big difference in their personalities and age, Hina and Bonney we're never truly that close, but Hina still performed her duties as a big sister and watched over Bonney together with Ronin, which is what lead to two forming a sort of bond, much to the younger Ronin's delight.

Back to the present, Ronin found himself getting increasingly in a bad position. From her constant fidgeting on top of him, her warm breath on his neck, that despite all of the food shit ate still smelled like sweet flowers, and this surge of emotions he was feeling, Ronin found his good judgement constantly slipping. Ronin had yet to have sex ever since he came to this world, and to say he was ready to burst was far from an understatement.

Ronin tried to gently move Bonney from on top of him, but she only clung tighter to him, unconsciously grinding on his gardening meat. Feeling the danger of the situation, the only thing Ronin could do was damage control. Leaning around Bonney still sobbing figure, Ronin spoke to Meli. "Hey, Meli, I think we may be here for a little bit. Do you think you can take the list from my desk and meet Devon at the market? I don't think it good her her to go anywhere crying like this, and I don't think she's letting me e any time soon." Ronin asked with an apologetic expression.

Now knowing the truth and seeing the awkward emotional situation, Meli gladly agreed and quickly grabbed the list from his desk before she left the room. The sound barrier reactivating once the door was closed again. With Meli gone, Ronin let out a heavy sigh, as he turned back to face the troublesome girl on top of him.