A/N: This is my new story, I hope you like it :)

It was a clear and sunny day when Nami spotted her next victim. She was just back from Cocoyasi Village after she had hid the money from her last journey there. Only a few more trips like this and she was sure that she could finally buy her village back from Arlong.

Maybe the green-haired guy sleeping in front of her could provide her with a little bit of the money she still needed. Carefully, so she wouldn't wake him up, she approached him. He didn't look wealthy, but the swords that were leaning on the tree next to him promised to sell for a good amount of money, especially if she used her negotiating skills. Taking another quick look at the man, she reached out for the next source of her income, only to be stopped by a strong hand.

Despite that he had appeared to be sleeping seconds ago, now he seemed wide awake and looked at her with a cold expression on his face. Not releasing her wrist and not letting her out of his eyes, he stood up.

"What do you think you're doing?" His deep voice made her shiver.

Now that he was standing so close to her, she could see the well-defined chest and strong muscles under his shirt as well as his masculine facial features. Nami had to admit that he was quite attractive, not that it mattered in this situation.

"I was just about to admire your swords, you know I used to fight with this kind of weapons as well." She was quick to make up an excuse.

"Liar." There was no hesitation in his words and Nami found herself confused. How had he known that so quickly. Normally men fell easily for her lies and bright smile, but this one seemed different. Forgetting that she must have a really strong swordsman in front of her, Nami was interested in why he saw through her lie so easily. Who knew, maybe that could help her convince people better in the future.

"What made you think that?" She challenged.

"Your hands." He stated with an emotionless voice and turned the hand, that he was still holding from when she had reached for his swords, around. "There are no calluses on your fingers or palm. A true swordsman has proof of his hard work."

Now that was an impressive answer. Nami had thought that he would be an easy target, but she had clearly been mistaken. Not only had he been able to hear her approach, but he was also very attentive and judging from his physique he was a strong fighter. Maybe she could talk him into helping her with a few pirates, who she was sure had money but no chance against someone like him.

"You're right. I wanted to steal them." She didn't know how far her honesty would get her, but seeing that lying to him was useless anyway she had changed her strategy.

He only grunted in reply and let go of her hand. Leaning back against the tree he closed his eyes. It was obvious to Nami that he didn't saw her as a threat. Now it was time for another approach, this time in a different way.

"I'm Nami." She smiled at him, even though he couldn't see it.

"What do you want woman?" He opened his eyes with an annoyed look on his face and Nami realized that it wouldn't be easy to convince him to work with her. However she wasn't one to give up.

"You know, I just thought that we could go for dinner or something like that." She leaned closer to him, purposely giving him a nice view of her body. Her flirting had often help her distract men so she could steal from them, so maybe it would help her convince the man in front of her.

For the first time Zoro looked closely at the woman in front for him. Sure, he had to admit that she was attractive, but did she really think something like this would work on him. Shaking his head Zoro pushed himself away from the tree and picked up his swords. He had enough of whatever she was trying to do, he needed a nap in his hotel room and then some sake. Without even answering her, he walked away in the direction where he thought his hotel was.

Nami watched with surprise how the man with three swords left in the direction of the forest. Normally he should have agreed to go on a date with her, after all her flirting worked every time. However it seemed that once again this man proved to be different. Now that he had refused her, she wanted even more for him to work with her. It was almost like a challenge for her to convince him when clearly he was not interested in anything. Smirking slightly Nami turned in the opposite direction where the village was, this could get interesting.

After years of searching for people that she could steal from Nami knew a bar was always the place where everyone ended up. Tonight when she entered the resident bar she hoped that she would meet a certain green-haired swordsman again. This seemed like a place he would go to and she hoped that her instincts weren't misleading her. In the village she had informed herself about him and it turned out that he was a well-known pirate hunter. Seeing that she herself didn't like pirates because of Arlong and his crew, she thought even more that they would make a good team. Now all she had to do was wait for him to show up.

Two hours later Nami was about to give up when finally the door to the bar opened and a man wearing three swords entered. From her place at the corner of the bar she watched him sit down and order a mug of sake. Taking her own drink with her, she walked over to him.

"I thought you would be here." She smirked at him when she sat down. Seeing that he wasn't even looking up at hearing her voice she just continued talking. "I have an offer to make to you. I heard that you're a bounty hunter and I would like to work with you."

Zoro had intended to ignore the woman next to him after she had already annoyed him a few hours ago, but her words made him curious.

"What is in it for me?"

"I'm very good at finding out information about people and I can bring you to any island you want. I'm a navigator and I have a boat. It would make it easier and quicker for you to find your targets and we would share the earnings we would get from the bounty." It was the only thing that she could offer him, because there was no doubt in her mind that he already knew that physical fighting wasn't her strength. Neither lying nor flirting had brought her anywhere with him so for the first time she tried it with the truth. "I could really use your help." All she could hope for was that he would consider it.

"I could use a boat and a navigator. They built these cities so weirdly that it took me two hours from the hotel here." He mused out loud.

At that Nami's eyes widened. This village had only one hotel and it was around the corner. How could it have taken him two hours to get here? However it probably wasn't the best idea to voice this thought, seeing that he seemed to consider her offer at the moment.

While Nami was waiting for an answer, Zoro thought about her offer. His boat crashed on the way to this island against a rock that wasn't supposed to be there according to the map and he was tired of walking around in circles in search for his next target. Even though this woman, who's name was Nami if he remembered correctly, had lied to him when they first met a few hours ago this time she seemed sincere. Zoro always trusted his instincts and right now they were telling him to give her a chance.

"I'll make you a deal. This is the reason I'm on this island." With that Zoro pulled out a wanted poster and lay it in front of Nami. "Find out where that man is right now and I'll accept your offer."

Nami couldn't believe her luck. If she was honest with herself she had thought that he would surely reject her after she had tried to steal from him, but he was willing to give her a chance. Now the only thing she had to do was to prove to him that she was worth it to be working with him and she already had an idea how she would get the information he wanted from her. Without hesitation she stood up and made her way over to the bartender pulling her shirt a little more down.

Zoro watched the whole scene and rolled his eyes at the display Nami was showing. When the bartender even reacted to it, he snorted, how he hated men that were so easily manipulated by a women. However this time it benefited him, because it seemed that the bartender knew a lot. Ten minutes later Nami sat back down next to him with a smile.

"He comes here every Wednesday night and his ship is anchored on the east side of the island."

"Well if that's the case, let's find him and see if you're right." With that Zoro emptied his mug of sake in one gulp and stood up.

After she had basically dragged him all the way, because he kept walking in the wrong direction, the two finally arrived at the ship. Zoro smirked confidently when the pirates were about to attack them and drew his swords. It had been a while since he had a good fight.

Nami could only watch in wonder how Zoro took quick care of not only the pirate with the high bounty but also his entirely crew as well. Sure, considering his physique and the way he hold himself Nami had already guessed that Zoro was a great fighter, but that he defeated a whole crew all by himself was impressive.

When all pirates were defeated Zoro turned to Nami. She had been right about the location and on their way here she had done a good job with navigating them. It seemed that his instincts had been right and it payed off that he had given her a chance. He had promised her to work with her if she would find out the information he needed and he wasn't one to break promises.

"We're partners now." Zoro smirked at her.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think :)