«I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it to end like this... I will make everything better... You of all deserve better. I hope you forgive me for this, I know you would never approve of this. I love you, Shikamaru. Please live a long and happy life."

Temari...

Monkey D. Jume awaken with a startle as her slightly older twin brother demanded meat as soon as his eyes opened.

"Nikuuuu~~~(1)" the six year old boy whined and flapped his arms around, demanding his sister attention. "Wake up, Jume(2)! I'm huuungry~~~~"

The black haired girl sighed, she sat up and rubbed her pitch black eyes, obliterating the eye boogers. "You're always hungry, baka (3). Can't you at least wait until 10 O'clock before you start to fuss like a baby over food? Or better, leave quietly and go to Makino's bar and get something to eat alone."

"Nikuuuu~~" Luffy rambled on without hesitation or acknowledging the glare his sister sent him. "Come on, let's go! Jume! I'm hungryyy~~" Luffy grabbed her left arm and yanked her with him as he ran. The energic idiot's laughter echoed in the newly awoken avenue. Some of the small populated island's resident witness the all so familiar sight. Some complained about noises while some of them just chuckled at it. The boy kept dragging the stumbling girl toward their destination.

Jume eyes detected the uneasy gaze of the residents as she was being pulled down the street. A frown marred her young face as her eyes ran over any indication of trouble.

Her eyes hit the big boat that undoubtedly was a pirate ship. The jolly roger was a big skeleton head with red marks over it's left eye that looked like scars, two big swords crossed each other behind the skeleton head, the tip of the sword and the bottom was the only thing that was visible.

The ship's itself was hefty and furnished. No ambiguity that the pirates had money with that size and standard of the ship. This was not a ship a weak pirate crew could afford. No, this pirate crew was big and strong, not one she should let Luffy get anywhere close to. Jume could not know if this pirate crew would take lightly a kid as rude as Luffy poking around. Thank god Luffy's mind was occupied by meat to notice anything else.

How many pirates? Jume's eyes scanned over the ship looking for clues to how many pirates could resident at the ship. The ship was tremendous which meant more people needed to work on it. The ship was obviously big enough for the crew as the ship was excellent condition, which indicated that they didn't try to save for a new ship, and as there were no other ships around, she could assume that this was their only. There is a possibility that all the crew's ships weren't here, but that didn't seem that likely as pirate crews tend to stick together at all time from what she has seen in the papers and read in books. As she at the moment eliminated the possibility of more ships, got back to the main thought. How many pirates?

The ship had three masts; a mizzen-mast that was in the back, main-mast, that was in the middle and a fore-mast that was in the front. They were large, the mizzen-mast and fore-mast were probably around 32 feets while the main-mast was approximately 49 feets. All the three masts had a crow's nest on the top.

Jume calculated how many they needed to have to keep the ship going, to take care of the damage, clean, cook and, of course, the people in charge. The sum was the ship needed around 50 at least to keep everything in order, counting on shifts, but the ship could have up til 86 crew members in total.

So she had to keep Luffy away from possibly 86 pirates. Great. Just great. She was going to keep a pirate craze energic idiot away from 86 potential baby killers. "Mendokuse (4)"

They reach the bar in what seemed like a long time while it had just been two minutes. Just as they were about to enter, the lazy eyes of Jume blasted open. "Baka" She pulled Luffy back from the door.

"Why did you do that Jume? I'm hungryyy~~" Luffy complained. His stomach began to scream out. Jume bit her lip as her head browsed over a feedback.

"I heard that Kari-obasan (5) is serving her special meat and pancakes at her home today. She told some kids that we are all welcome to come." Jume thanked her lucky stars as she cursed them too. She had no intention to reveal this to Luffy since Kari-obasan lived on the other side of the island. But it was either that or walking into a bar full of pirates. It was a close call, as Jume almost stupidly didn't think about the option of pirates being in the bar. Of course they would be there! Pirates and bars go hand in hand. Even a stupid person like Luffy knows that.

As expected, as soon as meat was mentioned Luffy sprang up in the air and ran toward Kari's house, once again dragging the stumbling Jume with him. "Nikuuuu~~ Nikuuuu~~~" Luffy kept singing off pitch as he hauled Jume with him. He was doing his little happy dance and beaming at everything.

Jume's plan was to keep Luffy busy until the night came. She was not ignorant to believe that she could keep him away from the bar forever, neither did she want to keep up this troublesome act. But hopefully, the pirates will grow bored of the bar and leave peacefully. Though, she has a doubt about the pirates leaving peacefully is even possible. Pirates were known for their reckless and violent actions.

Two days past and Jume was beginning to get tired of Luffy. Oh, she loved her brother, she really do, but he was a drag. Too troublesome and stupid. She sometimes wondered if the reason she was above average... okay, maybe not just above average.. a genius if you may say, was because her brother didn't get any of the brain or common sense. The boy was sometimes so brash and impetuous that even a wild animal seemed to have more common sense than him.

Then again their grandpa wasn't any better. Luffy at least had a possibility to grow out of this stupidity, their grandpa, on the other hand, is a lost cause. Not a tooth worth picking for.

Everything was going alright until som brats at the age of 12 told Luffy about pirates being docked here. I was so close of losing my cool and giving them a beating of life. Here I had been struggling and working hard to protect Luffy, and they just ruined it. One word and Luffy was running like mad towards the bar.

Jume sighed and ran after her brother in a leisurely matter, her eyes were dropping a bit. She didn't get the sleep she craved, and lately the sleepiness had become hard to resist. Her mind wasn't working as effective lately. She kept having these weird dreams that she couldn't remember that well. One thing she knows, there was always ninjas in it and this chubby guy eating chips and a nagging blond girl, always complaining that she was so lazy. That boy, she liked him, like a friend. The girl, well, she cared for her, but god, that mouth needs to be shut more.

Jume frowned as she ran, maybe she is losing it? Connected to people from a dream? Well, she had read somewhere that people with high IQ has a bigger risk of losing themselves to insanity. So she was going insane now, dreaming up people.

"OYY, I want to be a pirate! Take me with you one an adventure!" Jume cursed under her breath as she heard her stupid brother confront a pirate. She pushed herself harder and ran inside the bar. Her eyes scanning the bar looking for escapes, the enemy and Luffy.

To her relief, the pirates didn't appear to be angry or distressed, rather they seemed amused. Her brother being the center of amusement. The man he was talking to had red hair and scars over his left eye, the captain, judging by his similar look to the jolly roger. None of his crew members appeared to be worried for their captain, most likely because of the lack of threat her brother poised. The respect and fondness that reflected from their eyes showed how cable and strong their captain was. Strong, how strong didn't Jume know, but he was certainly much stronger than Luffy and herself.

She walked slowly towards them, her eyes didn't waver away from her brother or the surrounding, her shoulder tense and hands twitching. Right now, her brother wasn't a target for theirs. The captain seemed to be goofy and fun loving guy, but Jume wasn't going to let her guards down before she could be 100 percent sure her brother was safe.

"YOU? A PIRATE? PUHAHAHA, impossible kid, I bet ya can't even swim!" the red headed man said as his crew howled in laughter with him.

"DON'T MAKE FUN OF ME AND LET ME JOIN YOU!" Luffy screamed over the laughter, he was fuming in humiliation. His small fists on his side trembling. "I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO SWIM BUT MY PUNCH IS AS HARD AS PISTOLS!"

"Eyyh, pistols you say? Really, anchor?" Shanks tilted his head mockingly, his teasing voice making Luffy jump in his seat.

I walked behind Luffy and grabbed his shirt and yanked him down from the chair.

"OYY, what are you doing bast- oh, it's just you" Luffy stopped his yelling as soon as he realised it was me and sent me a big smile. "Jume! Look a pirate! He even has a ship!"

I looked at the red haired man carefully, seeing him peer down at me with a curious expression. I turned back to Luffy, but not completely, just enough so I could see the pirate and Luffy at the same time.

"I know Luffy, they have been here for three days now." I stated simply. Luffy lip trembled in a pout.

"You knew all the time that the pirates were here all the time, why didn't you tell me?" Luffy's puppy eyes stared a little down at me. I sighed and muttered under my breath on how troublesome this is.

"Because of your idiotic way of taking on pirates that could kill you as easily as breathing. You are a lunatic, Luffy. Jumps in and never ask questions, even when you should have."

"Who is this little miss?" The red-headed man asked.

"Ohh, it's my twin little sister, Jume!" Luffy shouted forgetting what I said to him. I jabbed him in the head. "OWW, why did you do that, meanie?"

I was going to answer but decided against it. Luffy forgot about the punch and turned around to the red-headed pirate and demanded to join the crew, which got denied harshly.

"What is it with the glare, Jume-chan? You worried I will hurt your brother?" Shanks asked with a grin. He frowned, she appeared to be so distrusting and on guard. Her eyes never let one thing pass it, her shoulder raised so high and her hands seemed like they were ready to grab anything to defend herself. Even though all that set him off, the thing that stood out where the feeling of power in such a small body and the calculating eyes.

"An unusual perk for a little girl" He whispered this to himself.

"Why don't you just sit down, Jume? You look tired. And don't worry, Shanks and his crew have been nothing but nice people. You can relax." Makino said entering the room. I sat down beside Luffy and laid my head on my folded arms which laid on the table. My head hurt. I couldn't sleep yet. I do trust Makino, but I don't trust that man, Shanks. He is dangerous, nice, but dangerous.

Jume knew she couldn't go on like this much longer, she needed rest and she needed it now. Her body was beginning to betray her, so she did the next best, she meditated. It made the weird warmth inside of her expand and cover her skin. It felt nice.

This is the new story that just popped into my head one night. I have written the plot down, and is quite happy. As soon as I'm finished with the childhood, I can begin with the serious stuff! Shikamaru as a girl is really funny for some reason.

I need help to decide who is going to end up with mah shika female! Comment who YOU want!