Chapter Text
“Listen, Lu.” Sabo's firm voice sounded as he pointed to the scrawnier boy who was making a large grin whilst picking his nose with his finger.
“This is a mission, we are to sneak in- quietly without being noticed- then sneak out without getting caught, understood?” Luffy flicked the booger.
“Yeah! Rog-” Sabo slapped a hand over Luffy's mouth.
“Quiet. If you screw up this mission and get us both caught, no meat meat for dinner for an entire month. You hear me?” Sabo growled, Luffy quickly nodding repeatedly. God, why was almost everyone else busy on missions? Luffy was only a rank below him, no.3 of the Revolutionary Army, but for the love of God, he sucked at doing anything involving lies and stealth. Which is literally almost all the missions they did.
“Ok so,” Sabo began, “I'm going to be the one doing the sneaking in. You're going to be here in this exact spot and you're not to move unless you're caught or I call for help, or when I give the usual signal that it's time to go, understood?” Luffy nodded again and Sabo pulled his hand away with a sigh of relief.
Relief never lasted long with Luffy.
“Yosh! Leave it to me, Sabo!” Luffy declared much much more loudly than Sabo would've liked. Flinching, Sabo hissed out,
“Lu I said to be quiet-” Luffy jumped down from the building they were supposed to be hiding at, landing right in front of the entrance of the Marine base. Now surrounded by Marine soldiers. Oh for the love of-
“Yo everyone! How are ya?” The cloaked raven haired boy grinned widely. Sabo gripped his pipe and covered it in haki as the Marines all turned to Luffy. But to Sabo's surprise, they didn't attack.
“Luffy? Again? Lieutenant Condoriano isn't gonna be very happy that you managed to sneak in again.” One of the fodder soldiers sighed. Sabo's jaw dropped.
’Again?’
“Shishishi! Sorry sorry! What's on the menu today?” Luffy didn't seem apologetic in the least and all the soldiers sighed.
“Ah, there it is there it is… Luffy's bottomless pit of a stomach that's never satisfied for long. How much you guys wanna bet on how much he's gonna eat this time?” Another one scoffed.
“No way no way! The head cook was crying tears of blood last time Luffy was here! He said no more of those games or we'll be out of stock for months!” Luffy just laughed louder at the soldiers talk.
“Oh right, Luffy, what's with the cloak for?” One rose a brow. Sabo was about to jump right down because everyone in the goddamn Revolutionary Army knows Luffy can't lie for the life of him.
“My brother told me to wear it! We're playing hide and seek! Plus it does this flutter flutter thing, 's cool!” Luffy grinned as he grabbed the end of his cloak, fluttering it around to show the Marines who were laughing, their guards completely down. Sabo had to rub the bridge of his nose and sigh so that he wouldn't go insane again. Why is his little brother so inhuman? Why was he so reckless? Why is he so incredibly incompatible with being in the Revolutionary Army despite being it's no.3?
“Brother? Oh, right you mentioned that. What's his name?” Sabo paled- oh f-
“S- Ah wait! My older brother told me not to never ever tell anyone his name! 'S a secret!” Luffy placed both hands on his mouth to further prove his point, one of the Marines gave Luffy a playful slap on the back as they all laughed again. Really, from how cheerful they were, you'd think they're a group of drunk cheery pirates rather than a bunch of stiff government Marines.
“Haha! I bet he told you to follow that rule too but you still carelessly tell strangers your name huh?” Luffy visibly flinched like the open book he is, “It seems your brother has some common sense unlike you. You should follow his example, you're almost 17 yet you still act like a kid!” Luffy puffed out his cheeks. God Sabo couldn't agree more with these Marines. And he hates agreeing with Marines.
“I ain't a child!” Luffy crossed his arms and huffed. Sabo bit his lip, how much did the Marines know? Did they know Luffy's occupation? Information about the Revolutionary Army? How much did that damn idiot spill? They always try to refrain from giving any info to Luffy because he's stupidly honest, something a Revolutionary shouldn't be.
“So? Is your brother here too? If he's caught here in a Marine base he'll get in trouble, children shouldn't be sneaking around here.” A Marine pointed out. Luffy furrowed his brows.
“Forgot. I'm supposed to hide here until the games over, I think.” Luffy gasped, “Ah- I ain't a child dammit!!” He scowled as the group of Marines laughed.
“Yes yes, want a candy?” Luffy's eyes lit up.
“Candy?!” Luffy's eyes were practically sparkling. Everyone burst into laughter again as one of the Marines whacked the back of Luffy's head.
“You shouldn't just accept food from strangers! Or tell your name to them! Or follow them. You're gonna get kidnapped one day Luffy I swear.” Oh that happens on a daily basis, Sabo thought. Luffy puffed out his cheeks and frowned.
“S- My older brother always tells me that also…” He pouted.
“And you never follow it, do you?” Luffy frowned more, making frustrated noises as they slapped his back.
‘It… it doesn't seem like they know anything? But it might be a trap… are they trying to get friendly with Luffy to get information out of him? Have they found out who Luffy is or not..?’ Sabo warily eyed the Marines, hoping to find any cracks in their masks. That was his specialty after all, but he couldn't find any cracks. These were obviously just fodder and not really trained well enough to even hope to attempt in deceiving Sabo. So… Luffy actually managed to keep a secret? Is the world ending? They continued bickering and laughing, acting like pals in a bar, rather than Marines on duty. Luffy is normally always used as a distraction. He'd be sent to fight enemies while the other Revolutionaries used that distraction to sneak in and do whatever their mission was. Luffy was satisfied because he got to fight so it all (usually) worked out in the end.
Guess he can be used as a distraction in other ways besides fighting.
Sabo relaxed, hiding his presence as he began to sneak in, using his observation haki to check for enemies or if anyone has noticed him. And well… the mission was to say… unbelievably easy to do. There was close to no one inside the base, no one on watch, and he was able to quickly copy down the information word for word whilst stealing a few documents in the process. No one came after him and there seemed to be even less guards than before. Should he be worried? Well he hasn't heard explosions, fires, yelling, or destruction yet so Luffy probably hasn't done anything yet… hopefully. Sabo made his escape and returned only to see the damn Lieutenant and practically the entire base all laughing and talking with Luffy.
“Huh? I just realized, where's curly ossan?” The lieutenant whacked Luffy's head.
“Don't call Commander Naol that! He's out on a mission so I was left in charge.” The lieutenant huffed. Sabo froze- he's friends with the commander too?!
“Huh…. So does that mean you're important? Cool!” Luffy beamed. The lieutenant began smirking and saying things like ‘I guess’ and 'it's only expected’. All of the Marines groaned.
“Gah, C'mon Luffy! Don't compliment Lieutenant Condoriano! His head will get even bigger than it already is!” Condoriano growled and pointed a finger to the soldier who dared to say that.
“You! No dinner today and you're running extra laps!” He yelled out, the soldier flinched and automatically saluted as if he just remembered his place.
“Y-Yes sir! Please excuse my rude comment!” The other soldiers quietly snickered at his screw-up. Except Luffy. Luffy was loudly laughing on the floor. Sabo simply face palmed. Of course. Of course Luffy would make friends with their enemies. Sighing, he pulled out his mini Den Den Mushi and called Luffy, the signal to leave. Luffy, in the midst of laughing, heard the ringing and hopped up, pulling out the snail that was ringing.
“Aw. Games over. Gotta go! Cya!” Luffy began running off to where he sensed Sabo heading to. For some reason Sabo always wanted to make it confusing and make him take a detour rather than run straight to him, so annoying!
“Don't get lost on your way home!” One called out.
“Remember not to accept food from strangers!!” another yelled.
“Don't get yourself kidnapped!” Luffy turned around and stuck out his tongue as he continued running until he was out of the base and couldn't be seen by the Marines anymore. Luffy ran up to a cloaked figure wearing a familiar top hat.
“Yo Sabo! Finished? Can we get something to eat? I’m hungry.” Luffy ranted on as Sabo rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“Lu, pray tell, why the actual hell are you friends with our enemies?” Luffy tilted his head innocently.
“We can be enemies and friends?” Luffy replied.
“Lu, Lu please… you can’t- you-” Sabo groaned, Luffy only looked more confused, “Nevermind. More importantly, how much do they know about you?” You could practically see the question mark pop up above Luffy’s head.
“Do they know that you’re a Revolutionary, or that you have connections with us? And have you given out any of the others members name or information about the army?” Luffy rubbed the back of his neck with a confused expression.
“For some reason they think I’m some farmers boy, won’t believe me when I say I’m not.” Sabo glanced at Luffy’s straw hat, “N’ don’t worry! I kept everyone’s name a secret! Even yours! For what they know about me… hnnn… I told them I have two older brothers and that I love meat! And that my brothers are super strong!” Sabo sighed in relief, Luffy can’t lie even if he was trying to save his own skin, so he hasn’t told any imformation. Well, besides his name. Which is pretty similar to the codename he uses in the Army. Most of the top Revolutionaries don’t bothere with codenames, but Luffy’s a special case, he seems to have an absolutely horrible habit of screaming his name left and right. Telling it to people whether or not they asked for it. He also has a horrible habit of getting kidnapped by pirates who unfortunately do not know who he is and his strength. Luffy tends to not realize he’s kidnapped even when he’s tied up and having weapons aimed at him- until they say they’re going to kill him, then it finally clicks into place and Luffy breaks free.
“Good, don’t let them know anything else. In fact, try to refrain from going into Marine bases. You can still go to that one for while we’re on this island but… just try not to give anything away alright?” Sabo turned around once he recieved a nod from Luffy, beginning to head back to where the informant was waiting, into a forest.
“Naa Sabo, I’m hungry. Can we get food? Can we?” He peeked up at his taller brother. Sabo sighed.
“After I pass on the information alright?” Luffy eagerly nodded and basically marched as he followed Sabo. Following to where Sabo sensed the presence, he pushed back the branches in his way to see a man who was dressed normally. Confirming it’s the informant, he passed the information to them and let them on their way. Lufy was already boucing in impatience.
“Alright alright, take off the cloak and put it in the bag.” Sabo began taking off the cloak as Luffy nearly tore his in half as he hurriedly removed it, leaving him in a red shirt, blue shorts with a fuzzy white lining on the bottom, and wooden sandals. He pulled the hat hanging around his neck and placed it atop his head. Sabo neatly folded his cloak and put it inside the large bag that was hanging on his side while Luffy shoved his cloak inside, ruining Sabo’s effort. Dusting himself off, Sabo fixed his tophat and nodded at Luffy. Luffy already started running off much to Sabo’s annoyance. Luckily, even without using observation Haki, Luffy is quite hard to lose track of with his loud “WHOOOO!!!”’s and “MEAAAT!!!”’s.
x.x.x.x
“C’mon, Lu! I’ll even ask Pops to let you join! I’m sure he’ll let you join in a heartbeat!” Ace’s voice sounded from a Den Den Mushi wearing a imitation of Ace’s orange cowboy hat. Luffy stuck out his tongue.
“No way! I’m not working under anyone!” Luffy huffed.
“Lu, you’re working for your dad!” Ace groaned and Luffy frowned.
“I’m repaying a debt.” Luffy corrected.
“You’re still working for him.” He ignored Ace.
“What about your promise with Red Haired Shanks? Are you just gonna go back on it?” Luffy slammed his hands on his desk, causing a loud bang.
“Of course not! I’m gonna become the King of Pirates like I promised him!” Luffy yelled, full of fury. It was silent for a few moments before the Den Den Mushi sighed.
“But Lu, you’re a Revolutionary. The Pirate King needs to actually be a Pirate.” Luffy sat himself back down, furrowing his eyebows as he was deep in thought, something his brain wasn’t used to doing and was already about to overheat.
“But I can’t quit, Sabo will kill me ‘n I’m still repaying my debt to Dad…” Luffy grumbled.
“Lu, I’m sure they’ll understand… it’s been our dream since we were-” Suddenly, Luffy jumped up and cut him off with a loud gasp,
“I got it! I’ll be a Revolutionary AND a Pirate! Who’ll be the Pirate King!” Luffy declared with a wide grin like it was the most perfect plan in the world.
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“.... Is what he said, Shanks-san.” Another Den Den Mushi that looked like Ace said with a bewildered expression, “...When Sabo hears of this he’s gonna be pissed....”
“Dahahaha!!!” A loud laughter echoed off the walls of the cave, “That sure sounds like something Anchor would say! He hasn’t changed in the slightest! Well, good to know I put my hope into a very interesting future Pirate King!” Shanks bursted out into laughter, the rest of his crew that knew Luffy joined in after hearing Ace.
“You don’t really sound relieved, weren’t you worried that he might not become a Pirate and you would’ve gave up your arm for nothing?” Ace’s Den Den Mushi rose a brow.
“I gave up my arm to save Luffy and show him that being a pirate isn’t all fun adventures with friends. It wasn’t for nothing, Ace.” His crew quieted down, “And even if he didn’t become a pirate, that would be fine. I wanted to help Luffy achieve a dream, not force one on him.” Ace remained silent, not sure if he offended Shanks or not.
“But still, I’m interested in what kind of pirate he’s going to become if he’s seriously going through with that! He’s gotta be stronger than the little anchor from before right? He can’t be the no3 of the Revolutionary Army just because of his father!” The light tone from before returned in Shanks’s voice.
“Haha, I ended up seeing him while he happened to be on the same island as me during a mission about a year ago. He was already pretty strong then, I can only imagine how strong he’s gotten now that he’s the no.3! Marco’s been whopping my ass with training since I said I can’t fall behind my monsterious little brother.” The Den Den Mushi grinned an imitation of Ace’s signature smile.
“Oho~?” Shanks wiggled his eyebrows and smirked, “So how’s things going with the First Division commander, Ace? Hmmmm~?” Shanks sneered as the Den Den’s Mushi’s jaw dropped with wide eyes before spluttering.
“I- wh- Shanks-san! I told you it’s not like that!” The Den Den Mushi hissed and began blushing, much to Shanks and his crews amusement. They all began joining in on the teasing of their precious little fire kitten.
“Daha! I’m pulling your tail. Tell the first division commander that he’s always free to join my crew!” Ace sighed.
“Shanks-san, I don’t think he’ll ever consider it. He was just here in my room earlier but when I said I was going to call you he made a face that was a mix of digust and annoyance before he left.” Shanks’s previous sneer returned and he wiggled his eyebrows again.
“Oho? In your room hmm?” The Den Den Mushi blinked twice as if he was trying to figure out what Shanks meant before turning beet red again,
“We were just talking! Talking! He was here to give me some paperwork since I’m a commander too and- Gah! I said I don’t like-” A door that was hurriedly opened sounded from Ace’s side, “Huh? Seriously? Are they stupid? No one was hurt right? K good. Alright I’ll be there in a sec.” Ace mumbled to whoever was with him.
“Sorry, Shanks-san, gotta go. Some rookies are here with a fleet of ships, they’re weak but everyone wants me to just sink all their ships since it’ll be quicker. They aren’t even worth Pop’s time really.” Ace said.
“Alright, sink em good! Oh wait! I heard you guys were heading to a winter island? Heard birds aren’t fond of the cold, why don’t you offer to be Marco’s personal heate-”
Clachank.
The Den Den Mushi went to sleep.