Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Is Luffy here, Naruto?”

Ace’s words echoed in the quiet chambers of his cell but Naruto saw the burning curiosity, the unspoken grief in his eyes. Water dripped down from the ceiling; rats scrambled away from them and into the hidden cracks on the prison walls. It was only the two of them. The other prisoners were asleep; their snores filled the corridors. But all her eyes could focus were the bruises on him. They bloomed with purples and blues. On the green sea stone cuffs on his arms. The cuts on his cheek, fresh if the scent was any indication.

She took another step forward, legs steady as the male turned his head away from her. The air felt colder here, almost like the same temperatures of the Drum Kingdom, like the Land of Snow. Her body threatened to shiver but she willed herself to take another step forward. Her fingers brushed against the sharp cut on his cheek, just below the freckles. He flinched at her touch. Her throat tightened.

“Luffy doesn’t know you’ve been captured,” she muttered. “He doesn’t read newspaper and Nami didn’t notice the news, I noticed it because it was you. I tossed away the newspaper before he saw the photo, with how overprotective you are and how reckless he can be…I knew it would be better for him not to see it. He didn’t give much thought to why your card was starting to burn.” She pulled out the paper from her pocket. The beginning of the end. “This told me that you were in trouble but…the paper confirmed it. Made an excuse to him about needing to do something, the others should be in Sabaody. Will meet up with them once you’re out of here.”

His eyes refused to meet her own. There was a quiet tremor in his chest, almost unspoken emotions, but she didn’t dare to vocalize her words. Only waited for him to speak, to just look at her. “You left him to save me, why? He’s your captain. You don’t just abandon your captain, Naruto! Not for someone like—”

She slapped her hand over his lips. “We can argue about your self-worth issues later,” she hissed. “And I didn’t abandon Luffy, it isn’t abandoning if I’m going back to him. What I don’t want is for your baby brother to think that you don’t care about your life.” The male lowered his head, body trembling but was it from weakness? Or shame. She tugged on the chain around his legs. “And why the fuck wouldn’t I come for you? I met you first, only joined Luffy ‘cuz I was curious to know about the baby brother you were always boasting about. It was one of the cute things about ya.”

He jerked his head at her and she slipped her hand away from him, weightless. The air began to tremble with unspoken emotions while his eyes fixated on her, at her hair and then to her own lips. For a moment, her mind wandered back to the first weeks of their meeting. When they had been 18, when he stumbled into her village with that reckless desire in him to challenge her to a fight. Sasuke hadn’t been around; she had snorted and handed him his ass.

Idiot still hadn’t learnt his lesson and that was why he was in this mess from the beginning.

“I’m surprised you never told Luffy about how we know each other,” his voice carried hints of his humour, but it felt so wrong with the bruises blooming around him. The chain on his leg crashed to the ground with her final tug. It was almost as if those bastards knew someone was going to save him. “Didn’t really ask how you knew me when I met up with you guys in Alabasta, didn’t ask why you hugged me like that. The cook did though, did not like it.”

She licked her lips as her fingers curled against the chains on his other leg. Grime filled her nose, a reminder of his time here, alongside how the male had a problem when it came to showering. The coldness of the chains slipped into the palm of her hand; the heavy weight of the chain pressed her hands. “Sanji can be nosy but he knows how to read between the lines,” she flickered her eyes at him. “And it wasn’t like he didn’t like it, Sanji just knew I wouldn’t hug you like that if I didn’t know you for a while.”

Physical affection came easily to her, she clung and hugged like a little monkey but with Ace, she lingered until his heat threatened to overwhelm her. She didn’t know when it started, not when he demanded for a fight but when he laughed and ran his hand through his curls, admitting that she deserved the title. When he asked questions about her home, when he ate ramen with her. The nights when she sat on her father’s head, her eyes focused on the twinkling stars.

“He flirted even harder with you when I was with you guys,” he mumbled as she leaned forward to touch the chains on his wrists. “And if he was that smart, does he know that you went on this side quest to rescue me? If he was smart, he would stop you from coming here. I don’t want you here either, the fact you became a pirate instead remaining in your village and being the hero of your land is something I still don’t understand. You have the love of everyone in your home.”

Rats squeaked in the background as her hand tugged on the other chain, this one crashed to the ground. She brushed her fingers against his cheeks, rubbed the blood dripping down the side of his face. “It isn’t real love. Only ones who really loved me are Konohamaru, Hinata and maybe the other members of Konoha 9,” she dropped her hand as his eyes flickered to her lips once more. More heated than the last glance. “You never asked why I hated their words, didn’t I? Why they looked ashamed whenever I glanced at them.”

He shrugged and turned his head. “I was more obsessed with the fact that there was a whole village of shinobi, a whole island filled with them,” his laughter became quieter and almost bitter. “Remember when you beat me, I asked you to help me defeat Kaido and free Wano.” Her heart dropped at the reminder while his eyes focused on the sleeping snails, the ones she covered with seals of genjutsu. “If I die, I think I would regret—”

“—You ain’t dying any time soon,” she said sharply. “Tama is still waiting for you, she talks about you constantly so if you’re going to live then live for the little girl waiting for you to bring her to sea.” He jerked his head, and she whistled. “I did visit Wano; you kept talking about it like it was better than my island and that annoyed me. By the way, you should’ve told me that Tama was a little girl.”

His lips twitched. “What? You got jealous of a little girl.”

Her cheeks threatened to burn at his words, a desire to laugh louder at those words. It wasn’t funny, it was ridiculous because she stormed into Wano with a desire to meet Tama. She expected to meet someone like Ino, like Sakura, but it turned out that the future kunoichi was just a tiny, skinny girl that lacked any real meat. Ace had mentioned about the lack of food, about the rotten food, and she came to their home with scrolls that contained food.

“Deuce made me think a lot,” she mumbled. When the final chain crumbled to the ground, Ace nearly stumbled, and Naruto cradled him against her shoulders.  “He made it seem like Tama was the love of your life, knew it was stupid ‘cuz you don’t even seem to care about women.” He jerked his head, his eyes almost dripped with annoyance, and she mumbled. “I kissed you a few times, no reaction…no care and Deuce mentioned about that marine woman, who kept chasing after ya.”

The air became heavier at her words, the temperature dropped while the rats scrambled back into their lair. It was stupid to mention women. They weren’t together. A few kisses here and there, heated or not, did not mean he was hers. Nor she was his. Rayleigh came when I needed to be rescued, the man you want? If he wants ya, he will swallow his pride and come after ya was what Shakky had told her. She never mentioned love to her, but old women always seemed to have a sense. The Old Hag even noticed her stupid behaviour.

“No reaction? I was trying to be a damn gentleman around ya,” he growled but his voice lacked any heat or bite. Just pure frustration and Naruto stared at him for a moment. Throat tightening as he turned his own head away from her. “Did you keep flirting with that cook because I wouldn’t say a thing! You’re a hero, you’re also a member of Luffy’s crew and…” his voice trailed off when her eyes burned a hole at him. “You deserve better, Naruto. You know that—”

“—Portgas D. Ace, you don’t dare tell me about who I deserve!” She snarled at him as she made her way towards the open bars of his cell. “I get to decide who I love, who deserves it…and that person is you. Of course, I was going to flirt with Sanji because Sanji shows he likes me! You? You keep making me feel like—”

He swallowed and tore himself away from her. “—Because I want you to be with someone that deserves your love! Me? I’m the son of the devil! When I was in Konoha, I heard whispers of you being the hero.” His voice began to crack. “Of your Dad being some bigshot and you expect me to believe that someone as good as you can love someone like me?”

“How many times must I show you before you realise that I love you despite everything? That I don’t give a damn about those things because it isn’t like I was treated like some kind of princess in Konoha! I choose you, you iditot!”

She wondered how she’d ended up here, staking her heart on a man too stubborn to believe he deserved it. She’d left her friends behind, her captain, chasing after someone chasing death. She’d loved him for two years and would probably love him longer...but only if he just let her love him.