1,638Uta smiled as she gazed out over the seemingly endless ocean that made up most of the world. The salted breeze was a welcomed call back to when she was on Shank's crew. It seemed like so long ago when she thought about it. Back then, she had just been a small girl raised on the ship with a bunch of pirates.
It had all been so much simpler back then. She had been so naive about the world. Now she knew how evil pirates could be and thanks to Naruto she also knew that the Marines and World Government were no better and took advantage of those who relied on them for protection.
But over the year she had known him, she had grown to trust the blond who fought for the Revolutionary Army. Unlike many in this cruel world, he genuinely wanted to help people. Same with Yamato, even if she was weird at times when they talked about Naruto.
They had just entered the East Blue and things had been going pretty decent for them. They had changed the sails before leaving to pure white ones to avoid being spotted by a passing Marine ship.
Looking over, Naruto came out in his new outfit meant to at least attempt to stay hidden. He said it was in honor of his old team. He wore a light purple hooded cloak over a black skin tight thermal shirt to symbolize his best friend and rival. Around his neck was a black mask that he could bring up to cover the lower half of his face like his sensei used to. Lastly was the fingerless gloves that reminded him of what his former crush used to wear. This was rounded out by the black pants with an orange strip on each side to keep some personal flair.
"Looking good Naru!" Yamato yelled as she lounged on the deck, her kimono open so that her breasts were exposed to the sun while she tanned. Since Naruto could just make clones of himself, there wasn't much need for them to do anything. Granted she did give small personal concerts here and there.
Naruto had even let her have an extra room to hold her streams so that she could continue to connect with her fans. All in all, it was the happiest she'd been in years even if she missed Gordon. Luckily Naruto said that they would be able to visit him whenever she wanted thanks to his ability to travel instantly back to places he'd been to before.
Guessing being an alien superhuman had its benefits.
"Oi boss! There's a ship getting attacked by a Sea King!" one of the clones called out as he spotted a ship being attacked by what looked to be a cow-shaped fish.
From the looks of it they were also heading in the same direction as them, only their boat was significantly smaller than theirs. If they couldn't beat that creature then it would probably kill them…
"I got it! I've been itching to strech my legs!" Yamato declared, putting her top back on before rushing to the side of the deck. With a mighty leap, she crossed the distance towards the other ship.
"Look at all that beef!" A dark-haired teen yelled at the sight of the massive cow-like fish monster that came out of the ocean. Yet before any of the three men on board the ship could react, a giant of a woman appeared behind it and swung down with her equally large weapon.
With a single swing, the monster's head was slammed down into the water, a massive wave lifting up the boat and nearly capsizing it over from the force of the impact. Pushing off the creature before it sunk, Yamato landed on board the small vessel with a wide grin on her face. "Hey!" she greeted, waving at the three.
One of the three, a blond nearly had a heart attack as he caught sight of the beautiful woman who had just landed on their ship. His eyes shaped like hearts as he grabbed a plate of food and got on one knee, "Fairest beauty, I offer you my finest!" he declared.
"Sanji! That's our food!" the dark-haired kid shouted, upset that his new cook would offer all their food to some stranger.
"Not to be rude," the third man said a bit conscious of the giant woman in front of them, "But who are you?"
Yamato hung takeru over her shoulder and pointed at herself with her thumb, "Name's Yamato! We saw that you guys were being attacked by a Sea King and figured an extra hand wouldn't hurt," pointing back she motioned to the larger ship coming towards them.
"Woah! That's a real ship…" the man wearing headgear muttered as the Piece of Spadille pulled up next to the smaller boat.
Naruto pulled his mask up and walked up to the side of the boat, "You three okay?"
"How could I not be in the presence of such a beauty!" Sanji declared before Yamato leaped up back onto her ship and kissed Naruto on the cheek. It was a simple gesture and to Sanji it felt like a knife had been stabbed through his heart as he collapsed on the floor.
"Sanji! Are you okay?! Did they do something to you?"
"Brother Luffy, we shouldn't be so rude to the people who saved us! That monster was from the Grand Line!" the third member said before waving at Naruto who threw down a ladder for them to climb up onto their boat. "Name's Yosaku by the way, " he introduced himself as he climbed up the latter and boarded the ship.
Luffy grabbed the heartbroken Sanji and carried him up while a copy of the masked man came down to tie their boat to his own so they could tug it along. "And my name is Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" he declared to the two.
"Monkey D…" Naruto repeated before Uta came up behind them.
"Luffy?!" Uta exclaimed, shocked to see the young boy she had spent time playing with in her younger years here on their ship.
"Yes?" Luffy asked before looking at the famous singer with a confused look before it dawned on him who she was. "Uta?!" he questioned as he dropped Sanji and walked over to the newest member of Naruto's crew.
"You remembered!" Uta replied, happy that her childhood friend remembered who she was.
"Of course I did, but…what are you doing here?" Luffy asked as he always thought of her as a member of Shank's crew before she mysteriously vanished. Shanks had been acting weird that visit but he decided not to make a big deal about it. And yet here she was with these guys.
Naruto looked between the two as he thought about what he had just heard. Monkey D. Luffy…there was no way that he was meeting his boss's son so randomly in the middle of the East Blue. Granted that was where Dragon had left him, but in such a wide ocean, the chances of them randomly bumping into each other were slim.
Dragon had made it clear that he shouldn't mention their connection should he ever meet Luffy.
"Wait!" Yamato said getting between them before looking at him closely. Her eyes squinted a bit, "You're the guy Ace told us about?" she asked recalling how Ace had told her and Naruto about his younger brother, one who dreamed about one day becoming the King of the Pirates. It was a truly wonderful goal in her mind.
"Eh?! You know Ace?!" Luffy asked shocked that they knew his older brother too. "Wait so is he here?" he questioned looking around hoping that maybe the brother who had left years ago on his own journey would also be on the ship.
Naruto shook his head, however, "Sorry to tell you but Ace ran off with another crew. But he left us his ship before he did," Naruto told him. Part of him was still a bit upset at how Ace had decided to just leave them behind to go join the Whitebeard Pirates but if that was where the winds took him then who was he to judge?
Luffy looked at him with a confused look, "Who are you?"
Naruto smiled with his eyes before waving it off, "Just call me Kurama," he said figuring that if people didn't know his name then it would be best for him to keep an alias for the time being. He knew that there were plenty of bounty hunters in the East Blue due to it being the weakest of the seas. He didn't need anyone trying to pick a fight with him just because of his bounty.
Yosaku looked at Yamato for a moment, part of him felt like he had seen her somewhere before but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"So where were you guys heading?" Uta asked her friend, arms behind her back as she was positively ecstatic to see Luffy after so long.
Luffy picked his ear, "Arlong Park, we have to go find Nami so she can join my crew," he replied casually. Yosaku looked away as if he wanted to say something but held his tongue.
"Arlong Park huh? Wait! Na-Kurama! Isn't that where we're going?" Uta asked, catching herself before she accidentally revealed Naruto's real name. She recalled that their mission was to deal with the Fishmen and Marines who had been oppressing the people of the Conomi Islands for so long.
"Wait you guys are going there too?" Sanji asked, having recovered from his earlier episode. If they were then maybe it would give them a better chance against Arlong if Yosaku was right about them having ties to a Shichibukai. As strong as Luffy and Zoro were, he doubted that they could take on someone so strong that even the World Government would sanction them.
Yamato smirked, "We're gonna beat the hell out of Arlong and anyone working with him," she revealed.
"Then why don't we travel together?" Yosaku asked figuring that they would have a better shot with allies. If that woman could beat a Sea King with one strike, she was no joke. And it seemed like the masked blond was the leader, so he probably was even stronger.
"Sure! I'll have some clones prepare some beds for you guys," Naruto said as he conjured some clones to go prepare some of the extra rooms he had. The Piece of Spadile was made for a larger crew than them so there was plenty of space around for people.
"You guys have your own rooms?!" Luffy asked in shock as they had been sharing rooms back on the Going Merry before she was stolen by Nami.
"I mean, unless you wanna hear-" Before Yamato could finish her statement, Naruto jumped and whacked her on the back of the head. "Ow! I was just joking around!" she complained, rubbing her head.
"How dare you strike such a fair maiden?!" Sanji shouted but was ignored by Naruto.
"So why do you guys want to get this Nami person back?" He asked as he took a seat on a barrel.
"She's my navigator, and I need her on my crew," Luffy replied ignoring the fact that she had betrayed them and stolen his ship.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, "Was she taken prisoner?"
"So she stole our ship and went there herself," Luffy answered casually, almost causing Naruto to fall off his seat. Looking at the young pirate, he couldn't imagine him being Dragon's son. Sure they looked vaguely similar but they were so different from one another.
"I feel like she might have been playing with you guys?" Uta said frowning at the thought that someone had stolen her friend's ship. Sure, she wasn't happy that Luffy was a pirate, but right now there was nothing she could really do about that.
However, Luffy's resolve was unshaken.
Naruto's Room
After everyone had decided to go rest for a bit in their rooms while a clone drove the ship, Naruto decided to give Dragon a call and explain the situation to him.
"Yes, Naruto?" Dragon's voice came from the other end of the orange Den Den Mushi Naruto kept in his room to communicate with his leader and other members when they had to.
"You won't believe who I ran into today?" Naruto said laying down on his bed and staring at the ceiling. Yamato had gone off to help Sanji cook so they had the room to themselves and a few seals made sure that not a word made it through the wooden walls.
Dragon on the other end rolled his eyes, "I don't have time for games Naruto," the serious leader of the Revolutionary army replied, not really being one for casual calls, especially when he had plenty on his plate with the recent advancements they had made over the last year with the Admirals around to hinder them.
A sigh escaped Naruto's lips, "Well his name is Luffy…Monkey ," he told the dark-haired man who went silent on the other end of the line. "Dragon?"
"Naruto…please…" Dragon said not wanting to get too involved in his son's life given his status as the world's most dangerous man. A title he was nearly sharing with the blond he was talking to now due to his sheer power.
"Oi! Don't act like I would do anything! I'm just letting you know," Naruto yelled back over the snail as he didn't exactly appreciate the insulation that he would do something stupid. He would never betray the man who gave him a purpose in this new world unless he decided to majorly stray from their mission and started to actively harm the people they were trying to help.
"How is he?"
Naruto chuckled, "A ball of energy, I don't see how the two of you are related, to be honest, he's literally nothing like you," the blond pointed out as he rolled over in bed. "We happened to be going the same way. Apparently, the person he wants to be his navigator is at Arlong Park and they were going to get her back. They were on a tiny ship, so we're giving them a lift," he explained to the tattooed man.
Dragon could almost laugh at the twist of fate. That he had sent his subordinate to the same place that his son was heading towards at the same time. "Just keep our connection a secret," Dragon replied wanting to make sure that Naruto knew that he didn't want the world knowing of his son.
"Yeah yeah," Naruto replied. "Anyways what do you want me to do with that Nezumi guy when we get him?"
"That's up to you, dig up dirt to get him imprisoned, or deal with it permanently if you want to. Just make sure he doesn't cause those people any more harm," Dragon answered.
"Aye aye captain," Naruto said before hanging up and getting up from bed. The smell of fresh food was starting the fill the ship. Undoing the seals he walked out just as Luffy ran by, drawn in by the smell.
"I smell MEAT!" he cried out as he went to the kitchen only to be kicked out by Sanji who came out with a pissed-off look on his face.
"Don't come into the kitchen while we're cooking," the straight-haired blond said to his captain who rolled on the ground with a bump on his head.
Naruto laughed as he walked over and picked Luffy off the floor. "So are these two your only crew mates?" Naruto asked as he guided Luffy away from the kitchen so Sanji and Yamato could finish cooking.
"Huh? Well Yosuke isn't really part of my crew, we're just traveling together for now. But I have Zoro and Usopp who were on the ship! So maybe they already found Nami," Luffy replied nursing the wound on his head.
Naruto reached up and placed a hand on the bump, orange energy covering his hand as Luffy felt a soothing energy dull the pain from Sanji's kick.
"Woah! You can heal?!" Luffy asked before looking at the clones. "But I thought you had the power to make clones?"
Naruto chuckled, "Well, I ate a fruit that lets me…copy some powers," Naruto lied figuring that the easiest way to explain his abilities would simply be to tell others that he could just copy the abilities of others.
"No way! You gotta join me, crew!" Luffy said figuring that he could use someone like Naruto on his crew.
"Sorry," Naruto said shaking his head. "But right now I have a lot of things that I need to do and tying myself down to a pirate crew would well…let's just say it wouldn't end well for either one of us," he told the younger teen who looked disappointed that Naruto had turned down his offer of joining the Strawhat Pirates.
In reality, Naruto knew that anyone involved with him would always be in great danger. If he joined Luffy and anyone found out who he was, then the entire might of the Marines would be brought down onto them. They would try and capture them to use as bait or hostages to get to him.
He couldn't put them at risk like that. If something happened to Luffy, he was sure Dragon would be furious.
"Fiiiine," Luffy said figuring that he probably wouldn't be able to convince the blond to change his mind.
"Food's ready!" Yamato announced a Sanji and her came out with a bunch of dishes.
"FOOD!" Luffy yelled, his earlier question all but lost to the ocean wind as he rushed over to grab the largest piece of meat on the table before anyone else could.
"What an interesting man," Naruto said as he walked up to eat some food. It was rare for their food to look as good as it did today. Normally either him or Yamato would cook, but today it all seemed so expertly made. "How about you join my team instead Sanji? We could use a good cook!" Naruto joked.
"Hey! He's my cook!" Luffy yelled, mouth stuffed with meat as he refused to let anyone take the blond cook from him. He was growing accustomed to the delightful food and he wouldn't let the spiky-haired blond stop it.
"Joking!" Naruto replied as he opened a bottle of sake and pour himself and Yamato some. "So tomorrow we should get to the Conomi Islands. From there we should try and find your crew and regroup before we go take on Arlong," the former shinobi planned as it was best for them to get everyone together to make sure no one was caught in the crossfire if he had to 'flex' a bit.
?
Three tall figures entered the office of Fleet Admiral Sengoku. In reality, they were the three Admirals who had been missing for the last year.
"So, how has your training gone?" Sengoku asked as he looked over his three subordinates. After their defeat at the hands of Uzumaki Naruto, they had been sent to an island away from the eyes of the public to be trained harder than ever before. It was a plan they thought up in order to prevent their image from falling further than it already had.
The survivors of the clash between the three Admirals and the monster that was Naruto had spread the word of how one man had bested the strongest that the Marines had to offer. Many had quit due to being discouraged that such inspirational figures had been felled by a criminal. Many islands lost faith in their ability to protect them from pirates and instead turned to the Revolutionary Army who arrived to clean up the mess.
Had they known what would have happened, they never would have challenged Naruto to a battle. But they had grown arrogant. They assumed that as Admirals they would be able to beat him and capture him. A horrid miscalculation.
"It went well," Akainu, a look of pure hatred on his face as he had spent the last year stewing over the savage defeat he'd suffered. Naruto had engraved his victory on the man's very flesh.
The stronger lava of the shinobi had left half his body scarred. His entire right arm was covered in burn scars along with the majority of his chest. It was only through the World Government's medical technology created by that he survived.
The ultimate humiliation in his eyes.
Aokiji himself had burns on his chest from the burst of steam that Naruto hit him with, but they weren't as bad as Akainu nor did he hold as much of a grudge.
Sengoku nodded his head, "Then effective immediately, you three are to return to duty," the Fleet Admiral declared.
So what did you guys think? I figured that it was about time to introduce Luffy since we started the time skip. Man I'm on a roll right now!
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