Sasuke's jaw fell to the ground and he stared at Naru with wide eyes. "Excuse me?" he said, his voice drenched in disbelief.
"You heard me," Naru grinned. "You said you owe me your life. So repay me by traveling on the seas with us."
Kurama released a bark of laughter from behind them. "That's how ya were gonna ask him?" he snickered. "Seems like ya got that hint of honest piracy in ya after all, cap'n."
The smirk on Naru's lips grew wider, but she didn't take her eyes off Sasuke. "You told me you've sailed to East Blue and back without a scratch," she said. "Kurama tells me your skills in archery are one of a kind. To have you as a crew mate would greatly help me en route for One Piece."
"I... that's... you can't... you're blackmailing me into becoming a pirate?!" Sasuke asked and freed himself from Naru's hold.
"If putting it like that makes it easier for you to join, then yes," Naru said and crossed her arms over her chest. "Although I think the answer would've been the same even if I'd asked in any other way. You want to be a pirate, don't you?"
After opening and closing his mouth a few times, Sasuke scoffed and turned his back to Naru. "Don't... don't decide for yourself what I want," he muttered.
Naru tilted her head to the side. Sasuke had clenched his fists and his shoulders were stiff, but judging from his tone, Naru could've sworn he was grinning.
"So." She equipped a serious expression. "Are you coming with us?" she asked. "Or are you gonna stay here with your debt pressing on your conscience?"
"You're asking me to leave behind my home and my family to roam the most dangerous sea in this world? To throw away my ambitions and sail under the command of a pirate?"
"I'm not asking you to sail under my command, and I'm absolutely not asking you to give up on your own ambitions!" Naru said as if the mere thought was ridiculous. "I'm asking you to sail as my companion, as my friend."
Sasuke released a sound what could've been either a sigh or a chuckle. "... Fine," he said. "Looks like I have no other choice than to come with you."
An excited laugh escaped Naru's lips, and she hooked her right arm around Sasuke's neck and tugged him towards Kurama. "Looks like we found both a sniper and a navigator," she said, completely oblivious to Sasuke's loud protests.
"I think yer suffocatin' him, cap'n," Kurama jingled and bent down so he was face to face with the archer. "Nice ta have ya on board, duckass."
"Nice to be on board, fox face," Sasuke retorted. He managed to struggle free from Naru's grip, and he coughed in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. "So," he said, ignoring Kurama's amused smirk. "Where are you... we heading now?"
"Not sure," Naru said. "We need a ship to head to the Grand Line, and to get a ship, we need a shipwright."
Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "You don't even have a ship?" he asked. "How did you get to this island then?"
"The cargo ship."
"The cargo..." He shook his head, but he quickly recovered. "Okay, well, I've got my small sail boat, we could use that to get a little further on the way," he said.
"Perfect," Naru grinned. "You wouldn't happen to know if there's an island with good shipwrights, would you?"
Sasuke furrowed his brows. "I think there might be one pretty close," he said. "I once sailed to Umibe Island to sell some of the skin from the animals I hunted, and I happened to hear of a mechanic who knew how to repair ships. Dunno if he's any good though."
"Alright!" Naru clapped her hands together. "Let's sail to Umibe Island! Oh..." She glanced at Sasuke. "Do you wanna say goodbye to your grandmother?" she asked. "You're not gonna come back here for a while."
"Nah, that's okay," Sasuke said and shrugged. "I'll do it my own way. I just need to go get a few things from my house, alright?"
Somewhat surprised, Naru nodded. "Sure," she said. "Where's your boat? We'll go ahead and wait for you there."
"A little bit north from the docks. I won't be long."
"Alright, see you in a bit."
This time, Naru and Kurama took the trail back to the docks, which brought them to their destination in almost half the time it had taken them to get to the crossroads when they'd arrived on Wayward Island. They had walked along the shores and found Sasuke's sail boat a few minutes later.
It was small, but it was enough to carry the three of them. The sails were white and clean, and the deck was indeed without a scratch. It looked like it had never been used before.
Sasuke arrived about twenty minutes later, with a bag thrown over his shoulder, along with a quiver filled with arrows, and his bow. In his right hand he held a somewhat worn out spyglass.
"What?" he asked when he noticed Naru was observing all his equipment. "You can't underestimate the sea. You need tools if you want to survive."
"No one was sayin' anythin'," Kurama remarked and grinned as Sasuke's left eyebrow twitched in frustration. "Yer too easy ta pick on, ya know?"
"Up yours, fox face," Sasuke growled and threw his bag into his boat. "Hold this." He passed the spyglass over to Naru, who curiously extended it and looked out over the sea.
"Are you sure you're not saying goodbye to the villagers?" she asked without looking at Roa.
"I said I'll do it my way."
Naru lowered the spyglass when she heard Sasuke pull an arrow out of the quiver, and she arched an eyebrow as she noticed the arrow had a small note tied to it. "I hate farewells," Sasuke said and grabbed his bow. He nocked the arrow and raised the bow to point high towards the sky. "You should be able to see the village from here if you climb up to the topgallant and look through the spyglass."
With an excited grin, Naru did as instructed. "Alright, fire away," she called when she'd climbed to the top of the sails. She took her seat and brought the spyglass to her right eye just as she heard the sound of the arrow taking flight.
It took her a few seconds to locate the village, and when she found Satsuki's house, she saw the arrow had landed right outside the door. "That's amazing," she said and chuckled at Sasuke's satisfied expression.
"Alright, let's get out of here," Sasuke said and released the boat from its ties. "We'll reach Umibe Island in two days tops."