Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A young man twiddled with a golden medallion with a purple design emblazoned on it. It was unfamiliar to him, but he knew, in theory, whom the symbol belonged to. His grandfather. A man who had outlived his son. Probably unknowingly, the hidden countries, the Elemental Nations, were very cut off from the rest of the world. Sure, everyone knew, in theory, that there was a vast world out there, but not many wanted to actually go and explore it. His grandfather was a man of the sea, his father had mentioned in his journals. His grandfather, Edward Newgate, was from the Outside. The journals of Namikaze Minato didn't go into much detail on the man, since he'd left early in the late Hokage's childhood, but his son knew enough to be able to find him if he was persistent enough.

And let it never be said that Uzumaki Naruto gave up easily. After the Fourth Great Shinobi war, Naruto had achieved his dream. No, he had not become Hokage, but then again, he'd never actually wanted to be the Hokage. Not really. Being Hokage would just have given him what he truly desired. To be acknowledged by everyone. Well, he had that now. He was acknowledged by everyone in the Elemental Nations... but it wasn't enough.

The blond sighed and tucked the purple crossbones sporting a white moustache and grin under his jacket, out of sight. His grandfather didn't know of him, probably didn't know his son was dead, had been for 17 years. What the old man's grandson craved now wasn't only acknowledgment, he craved the acceptance of the only living relative he had left. The only problem was, how does one earn the approval of the strongest man among pirates? Personally, Naruto scoffed at the title his grandfather had been given, knowing he'd be able to beat him if he wanted to. The strongest had been Kaguya. There was no way the old man was at her level. Heck, Naruto wasn't at that level, but the teen had one thing going for him, no one from the Outside actually knew anything about him. The thing going against him... he didn't actually want to fight the man unless he absolutely had to. He couldn't win if he didn't actually want to.

And he was scared of being forced to fight the man if he resented him for...
“Don't be stupid, kit, that night wasn't your fault, you were barely a few hours old.”
“Didn't really stop the village, now did it?”
“The village was full of sheep, I doubt this “Whitebeard” is stupid. If he sired your father, he's got to have some intelligence.”
“Are you insulting or complimenting him?”
“Either or, does it really matter?”
“I guess not... d'you wanna come out and stretch your limbs?”
“No, kit. I'll just sleep... yes... sleep sounds good...”

Naruto smiled at Kurama's antics. At least he'd always have the fox, even if worst came to worst and his grandfather rejected him... he'd always have his partner. He was just about to stand up to leave the seedy bar, not having heard any new intel when a discarded newspaper caught his eye. Picking it up, he read the headline.

Public execution of Portgas D. Ace to be held in one week in Marineford

Naruto had heard the name before. Fire Fist Ace, 2nd division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.

If Naruto had learned one thing about his grandfather's fleet, it was that they would do anything for one of their own.

The Marines were declaring war.

Whitebeard would answer the call.

Whitebeard would be at Marineford in one week.

Naruto would be at Marineford in one week.

He would help save Ace and prove himself to his grandfather.

He only hoped it would be enough.

Chapter Text

Naruto was ashamed to say he'd gotten lost, but at least he made it to Marineford before his grandfather, if only just barely. Looking at the 47 pirate ships ready to attack, the Jinchuuriki had to admit that the man knew how to make an impression. And an entrance. Perched on the roof of the headquarters, Naruto had a great view of everything. The teen shivered as his grandfather's voice rumbled through the air for all to hear as he ascended to the top of the whale figurehead of his ship.

“My beloved son had better be unharmed!” the man said strongly with a smile, and though it looks menacing, Naruto can see the resemblance both he and his late father share with the man.

“Oyaji!”

Naruto turned his gaze to the man kneeling on the execution platform, his hands shackled behind him. The utterly defeated look on his face caused a brief flash of Kakashi-sensei's face when he saw Obito to appear in the blond's mind before he dismissed it. He didn't like that look on allies. He didn't even like the thought of his enemies looking like that. No one should feel so utterly defeated. Like they've failed everything they'd ever stood and worked for. Naruto knew that feeling all too well.

He cast his gaze once again out to the bay and felt his heart clench just a little. If this was what the man would do for the people he considered his sons... then what would he do once he found out Naruto was the cause of his biological ones death? True, most people wouldn't blame the one who'd been protected by the one who died while protecting, but Naruto did not know this man nor his thought process. He'd either hate him or forgive him and Naruto wasn't sure which option would hurt more.

He was brought out of his musings by the deafening noise of his surroundings quaking. Looking closer, he could see two points in the air behind his grandfather's fists now sported spiderweb cracks. Naruto grinned, he was about to witness his grandfather's power firsthand. The two gigantic waves were impressive. As he listened to the loud exchange between Ace, Whitebeard and the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates, Naruto couldn't help but smile. Yeah, this was a real family. He wouldn't mind getting used to them, if they'd have him.

The sound of churning water came back, stronger than before and the blue eyed shinobi watched in awe at the devastating tsunami his grandfather had caused. Truly, this man was on par with even a Kage. All five of them. At once.

The seagull marine standing next to his... what would their relationship be anyway? Uncle? Probably. Seagull-Marine who was standing next to his adoptive uncle started talking “We may have the greater force, but we must not take this opportunity lightly! It may as well be us who will meet our end here today... for that man hast the power to destroy this very world!”

Naruto scoffed “You haven't seen world destroying power... you have no idea what your talking about.”

The man may be strong, but Naruto had seen stronger. Naruto had done stronger. An earthquake had nothing on a Bijuudama.

“Indeed, the war... is beginning!”

“ATTAAAAACK!!!”

With this, the war had begun. But Naruto would not move just yet. It might be selfish and childish, but he really wanted to see his grandfather in action. He'd already witnessed his dad fighting, but he hadn't been able to truly observe it since he'd been on the battlefield too. Now he had a great opportunity to witness his family in action. He might never get this opportunity again. But he wasn't going to be completely passive. The Konoha shinobi took out four Hiraishin Kunai and four regular kunai with paper tag bombs attached to them. He threw the Hiraishin kunai into the ground around him and took out four more explosive tag kunai, ready to attack at a moments notice. He truly loved storage seals, because the one he'd tattooed on the small of his back gave him access to a virtually unlimited amount of ammo. It also gave the impression he was pulling things out of thin air, which made him look cool. Either that, or out of his ass, which just made for a great distraction when people tried to figure out what the fuck just happened.

It was funny seeing attack after attack against Whitebeard get thwarted, even if Naruto was still trying to get over the instant freeze of the tsunami. Also, the flaming blue bird-man was cool. It was hard not to collapse laughing when someone threw a chunk of ice a couple thousand times bigger than the thrower themselves, though the reactions were even better. Not even a moment later, Naruto learned to very much dislike the magma man, if only because of his disregard of life. Gaudy funerals Kakashi's lily-white butt.

As the giant named Oars got more and more injured, Naruto readied himself. Throwing his eight kunai and picking up the Hiraishin kunai, immediately throwing two but keeping the two remaining ones on him, Naruto leapt into action. He paid no mind to the explosions and screams, knowing he'd only hit clusters of Marines and not pirates. Landing on Oars, Naruto readied one of the two Hiraishin kunai and threw it to the ground right by the giant's left foot. Before the kunai even made it to the halfway mark, the blond shinobi had already whipped out a paper tag with a stasis seal on it. Wasting no time, he slapped it onto the giant's back.

“Fuuin!” Naruto yelled as he slapped his hand on the seal tag and pumped his chakra into it, causing it and Oars to glow green and halt. Sealing done, Naruto Hiraishined to the ground and unsealed a big storage scroll he had no idea why he'd ever made, but was so relieved to have on hand now. In just a few seconds, Oars disappeared from everyones sight and Naruto was already moving with the rolled up scroll slung across his back. Picking up his kunai and making his next Hiraishin jump towards another seal, he disappeared in a yellow flash.

The battlefield had been in chaos before, but this was ridiculous. Right before their eyes, Oars had disappeared. It was only natural none of them had noticed the strangely shaped dagger buried in the wood of the deck. They did, however, notice the yellow flash it emitted before leaving a person standing in front of it with a scroll as tall as himself slung across his back. The boy, for he looked younger than any crewmember on Moby Dick, had spiky blond hair held back by a headband with a metal plate attached with a strange symbol etched on it and blue eyes that were staring straight at them with no fear or hostility. Three whisker marks stretched across each cheek of the young face, visible to most looking at him as he turned his head from side to side, taking in his surroundings. The boy was wearing a long black coat with orange flames on the hem and sleeves, an orange and black tracksuit and sandals. He was smudged with dirt and his clothes looked worn, but he made no move to attack them even as a few drew their swords. Whitebeard looked over his shoulder at what was happening, but made no move to get involved.

The stranger set the giant scroll on deck with a thud and looked around before addressing them all “This scroll contains Oars in stasis, he'll be safe in it so long as the scroll remains intact, where should I put it?”

You could practically hear crickets chirping at that sentence. After a moment, someone asked “What?”

The teen blinked before repeating in simple terms “Oars sealed in this scroll, keep scroll safe, where do I put it?”

“Gurararara! Someone take the scroll below deck. If what he says is true, then we must protect that scroll with our lives.” Whitebeard called with a smile “Thank you, brat.”

The boy smiled, his eyes closing from the gesture “You're welcome, Shiro-jiji. And it's not brat, it's Uzumaki Naruto!”

With this, the now named stranger disappeared in a yellow flash, leaving the scroll behind and appearing somewhere else on the battlefield, leaving behind a stunned crew.

“Shiro-jiji!?”

Chapter Text

Naruto laughed as he left the Moby Dick, feeling just a bit lighter knowing he'd made a somewhat positive first impression on his grandfather and part of his crew. He then proceeded to cause havoc amongst the Marines, thinning out their forces significantly. He didn't even need to kill them, since he had an ample supply of paralyzing seals. The best part was that the white of the paper tags blended in with the white of their clothes so no one had managed to spot them in order to remove them. Not that anyone present had any knowledge of seal tags, which pretty much meant that it sucked to be them. Naruto wondered how long it would take for them to be able to move again.

Distant yelling made Naruto pause in his assault. Normally, he'd never let something like that distract him, but he was pretty sure that the yelling was coming... from above. Looking up, the shinobi scanned the sky before stopping and blinking at the rather ridiculous sight. An upside-down ship plus people was falling from the sky.

“I told you you were going over the top!”

“It's this idiot's wink that did it!”

“What?! You mean to blame me, Croco!!?”

“WHO CARES WHO'S FAULT IT WAS!? WE'RE DEAD MEAT! IT'S ALL SOLID ICE DOWN THERE!”

“What in the world is that? Something's falling from the sky!”

“Aaaaaaagh! Oh, I'm rubber, so I'll be fine!”

“That's nice for you, but what about the rest of us!!? Do something, quickly!”

“I do not wish to die this waaay! Somebody stop uuuus!”

“I should have never listened to an idea you came up with, Strawhat!”

Naruto and all others on the battlefield watched in stunned silence as the ship plummeted and landed in the one place void of any ice with a big splash.

“... what?” Naruto deadpanned, punching the nearest Marine, who'd also been staring in shock at the now in two pieces battleship.

Naruto could faintly see a young figure clamber up on a high point on one half floating in the bay, facing the execution platform.

“Luffy!”

“Aaaaaaace! I finally found you!”

Naruto looked back and forth between Ace and the now named Luffy “Ok, this is kind of ridiculous even by my standards. Whatever, reinforcements are good.” looking around at the various reactions, Naruto grinned “And these reactions are golden-”

“Crocodile is after Whitebeard!”

The blond snapped around to look towards the Moby Dick and was just about to Hiraishin there when a red and yellow blur blocked whom Naruto supposed was Crocodile.

I wonder how these two are connected... if memory serves, that's “Mugiwara no Luffy” and he's been sailing for less than half-a-year yet already has a 300,000,000 bounty last I checked. Pretty good for a rookie, I guess. I'm still not as familiar with the bounty system as I'd like to be.

The fighting had already gone back to what it had been before the unexpected crash-landing, which left Naruto flitting from place to place, making as much damage as he possibly could without getting hit once. He'd have to make sure to announce himself at some point, he wanted a good bounty too. He only listened with half-an-ear as Mugiwara back-talked Whitebeard and couldn't help but smile, he'd probably be great friends with the other teen if he got the chance, he'd have to make sure to keep an eye on him. Maybe he could place a Hiraishin marker on him if they stayed in contact for long enough. Naruto had only barely figured out how to transfer the seal onto any surface on the go, he had yet to perfect the technique.

“I'M YOUR BROTHER!”

The exclamation from the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates made Naruto pause only momentarily before resuming his assault. Well, that explained it.

“That man is another future dangerous element!“

He wondered what it was like, having a brother. Sasuke was the closest thing to a brother Naruto had ever had, but even he could acknowledge that their bond was different.

“Not only was he raised together with Ace as an adoptive brother, he is also...”

They knew each other better than they knew themselves, but he couldn't really call them brothers.

I wonder where Sasuke is right now...

“The flesh-and-blood son of the Revolutionary Dragon!”

Naruto paused momentarily even as his foot connected with some poor random Marine's face. This was stupid, were they seriously condemning this boy for his bloodline? This was what Iwa would've done had they known of Naruto's existence. Wait, “another future dangerous element”? Yeesh, did that mean Ace was being executed for his bloodline?

“Aaaace! I don't care what you say, I'm gonna save you even if I die!”

Naruto smiled at this bold declaration.

“Who would have thought... that I'd find people bearing the Will of Fire here?”

Continuing his assault, Naruto created a few clones to keep an eye on Strawhat, in case he needed help. Naruto might be here for the sole reason of rescuing Ace, but even he could see that it would be better for Luffy to do it now that he was here. That did not, however, mean that the ninja wouldn't meddle. He'd just give Luffy the chance of doing this on his own.

Naruto wouldn't have wanted anyone else bringing back Sasuke, either. That had been his responsibility. This, it seemed, was Luffy's responsibility. However, if, for even a moment, Naruto thought he'd fail, that responsibility would fall onto the Jinchuuriki.

One way or another, Ace was going to live and Marine HQ was going to be razed to the ground. Speaking of...

“Ooooooh, this would look nice as rubble!” Naruto gleefully exclaimed, throwing one exploding tag kunai after another at the cannons surrounding the bay, scaring many Marines with this monologue. His wide grin illuminated by the following explosions didn't help.

“Fuck youuuuuu~!” the blond sang as he practically flew through something that reminded him of chakra strings the puppetmasters of Suna used. He'd been covering himself in wind chakra, which meant he sliced through every singe string he touched and propelled him forward.

“Why you little-!” the walking pink feather boa growled, but was cut off by a Kage Bunshin slapping a gravity seal on his back. The man faceplanted as his gravity was multiplied by ten.

Thank you, Lee...

The idea for that particular seal had in fact come from Lee and Gai's training weights. No one would've guessed the field-application Naruto came up with, though, even if it was laughably obvious.

Now, it was about time to commence the second phase of his introduction. And yes, for once, Naruto had an actual, detailed plan on what he was going to do. It didn't matter he'd only come up with it ten minutes before arriving at Marineford. It was a good plan, dammit!

“Boss! We've set up!” one of his Kage Bunshin yelled, waving at him with one hand cupped by its mouth so that its voice would carry.

“Right!” the original yelled and performed the Substitution Technique on one of the clones near the one that had called him. He also absently noted Luffy's position “Huh, half-way mark already? He sure is determined.”

Shaking his head, Naruto turned to the set-up his Kage Bunshin had been working on. On top of a somewhat tall building, the roof being below the execution platform in order for everyone to see what he was about to do, was a Proco, a Cameco and a baby Den Den Mushi with a speaker-attachment. Just as he was about to begin his plan, a Kage Bunshin dispelled itself, giving him some disturbing and frankly disappointing intel.

“Now then... let's start the show.” Naruto said with a devious smirk, cracking his fingers in front of him and stepping towards the set-up “I'll blow your schedule out the window, that'll show you what happens to liars...” his smirk widened as his Kage Bunshin gave him the ok to start “I never go back on my word...”

The sound of a loudspeaker being turned on rang through the battlefield, causing many to pause and just as many to be cut down due to pausing. Others paid it no mind, thinking it was Sengoku with another announcement. Imagine their surprise when a voice unfamiliar to many rang out over the plaza.

“Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3... good. Hello! And welcome to the first, and most likely last, Uzumaki Naruto special broadcast. Straight from the war at Marineford! My name, as you all know, is Uzumaki Naruto, an all around nuisance and destroyer of carefully laid out plans. In other words, sucks to be you.”

By now, people were trying to find the source of the voice, (and in the case of the Marines, eliminate him) before most spotted a screen that was painfully out of place on the top of a building. On-screen everyone could see a grinning, whiskered blond talking into a baby Den Den Mushi. Instantly, one of the Whitebeard pirates who'd met him yelled out “Ah! That's the kid that saved Oars!”

Immediately, those belonging and allied to the Whitebeard pirates took a liking to the boy, while the Marines categorized him as dangerous.

The grinning young man lifted his leg to lean on a wooden box in front of him, leaning forward on his left elbow, which was planted against his raised knee, his posture screaming confidence as he continued “Marines, if you're wondering where I got this equipment, then... you really shouldn't leave your storage rooms unlocked.” Uzumaki mocked, wagging his finger at the Cameco as he tsked, accompanied by laughter from the pirates “Truly, your security sucks. You declared war and didn't even prepare for saboteurs. Truly, you are idiots.” the blond deadpanned, causing even more laughter. He then squinted at something off-camera “Ooooh, that's gotta hurt, a logia-user received a Rasengan to the face. Thank you for that, by the way, I now know I can hurt you.” the blond said, smirking sinisterly.

The teen grinned wider, leaning forward once again “But speaking of you being idiots, why don't you give up? You're not gonna win. You wanna know why?” the self-proclaimed nuisance asked “Because unlike you, we have things we want to protect. Living, breathing things. We don't kid ourselves or hide behind some false declaration. Whitebeard, his crew, Mugiwara, even me. We're all here for the same reason. Family. Friends. Unbreakable bonds which we cherish.” as Naruto spoke, his voice got softer and softer, as did his expression.

The next minute, however, his face turned cold and serious “Unlike you filthy excuses for dogs who care naught for your fellow human beings. You, who answer to an entity so rotten even someone suffering from a cold can smell it. You, who claim to have outlawed slavery and do nothing as it happens in front of your eyes. You,” the blond spat furiously, blue eyes ablaze “who let the Tenryuubito do as they please. You, who let a group of people stand above the law you claim to uphold. You liars, thieves and murderers. You claim to stand for justice, yet do nothing as innocents suffer. At least pirates don't claim to be heroes, even when they're doing your job for you.” a pause “You wanna know why you'll lose? Because we, at least, are not actively lying to ourselves or claiming to be just. We're here for one reason, and one reason only, to save Ace.” a confident smirk “But that's not all. You will lose simply because, if Mugiwara is anything like me, and trust me, he is, then nothing you do will stop him.”

Naruto stood up straight, his eyes boring holes into all who watched “If you rip his arms out, he'll kick you to death! If you rip his legs off, he'll bite you to death! If you rip his head off, he'll stare you to death! And if you gouge out his eyes, he'll curse you from the grave! Even If he's torn to shreds, he's taking Ace back from you Marines! Believe it!”

This declaration caused all pirates to cheer loudly, becoming much more motivated when they realized that this kid knew what he was talking about. Even Luffy, who'd only been listening with half-an-ear, grinned and bellowed “OF COURSE I AM!”

The teen currently on screen looked, presumably, to where he could see the pirate and raised his fist in the air “GO, LUFFY! SHOW THESE SONS OF BITCHES WHAT IT MEANS TO BE FAMILY!”

Another cheer rose as Marines seethed “Kill them all! And someone eliminate that filth!”

Somehow, Naruto heard that too and looked straight into the Cameco, dragged one of his eyelids down and stuck out his tongue “Nyeh!”

Straightening up with a smile, he then announced “And now, Kage Bunshin with battle narrative.” before disappearing in a yellow flash, the baby Den Den Mushi spinning in the air before it was caught by an identical blond sans the black coat “Yo.” 'Kage Bunshin' said, one hand raised in a greeting, looking completely unfazed.

Meanwhile, Naruto laughed at the dumbfounded faces he came across as he fought. This was bound to distract the Marines from Luffy, at least some of them. Hopefully he wasn't distracting his allies. A quick look around revealed that he'd only succeeded in boosting morale amongst the pirates, with very few getting distracted. It sure was convenient that pirates in the Grand Line saw all kinds of weird stuff, so this wouldn't faze them much.

Now, he thought, gaze turning forward as he kneed someone in the face, to win another war.

Chapter Text

Naruto was staring with his jaw hanging open, speechless at what he'd caught a glimpse of and had to turn his head to confirm.

Someone had cut the iceberg in half.

… Ok, he had to admit, that, that was impressive.

Looking around, Naruto tried to find the culprit and his eyes landed on the Cross-sword Shichibukai. It couldn't be anyone else. The man was systematically herding Strawhat away from the execution platform by forcing the boy to avoid getting hit by the black blade.

“You are moving farther and farther away from your brother!”

Seeing nothing that would help the younger pirate get away, Naruto made the sign for his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and executed the first in a series of Kawarimi.

Luffy looked frantically around for anything to block Mihawk's next attack when suddenly, the Shichibukai was no longer there. Instead, the blond dude wearing a coat that looked like the one Ace had had in Alabasta stood there with a grin, waving.

“Yo! I'll keep him busy for a moment, but Kawarimi tag isn't gonna keep him occupied for long.” he said, while pointing behind Luffy.

Turning to where the other was pointing, Luffy could see a group of five bunshin rapidly switching places with a very irritated Hawkeyes. Grinning, Luffy ran full speed ahead past the older teen, yelling “Thanks, Natto!”

A beat of silence, then:

“IT'S NARUTO!”

Meanwhile, Ace was torn between crying and laughing. Crying because his nakama and his brother had come for him, were fighting for him, dying for him, and he couldn't do anything but sit there and watch. Laugh because... well...

“-and another bunshin bites the dust! Mihawk looks pi~ssed I guess anyone would be after being an unwilling player in Kawarimi tag, I wonder if he's dizzy.”

The narration... the battle narration that was being given by the unknown variable known as Uzumaki Naruto. Or, to be exact, his 'Kage Bunshin'. The Marines were still failing in trying to make him stop.

“Oh, come on, be a man! Kawarimi tag is a completely legit past-time! I'll have you know no one wants to play with me anymore, 'cause I'm so good! Or maybe it's because I always use Kage Bunshin...”

The so called 'Kage Bunshin' had to duck out a sword-strike's way, but it soon popped back up.

“Fine! Be that way!”

Ace couldn't take it any longer and burst into giggles, leaning forward, forehead almost touching the platform and shoulders shaking, tears rolling down his cheeks. The entire situation was absurd and he couldn't help but feel happy. He wouldn't fight anymore. Whoever reached him first would have his co-operation.

Though, for the first time since he'd been forced on this battlefield, Ace wanted Luffy to rescue him.

“Wait, what the hell are those?”

Ace looked up at the question and saw a row of Bartholomew Kumas behind the Whitebeard forces.

“I'm pretty sure no one here knows the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, or the Bunshin no Jutsu in general, so what the hell are those!?”

Before a single one of the Kumas could attack, the blond continued “You know what, screw it, bye-bye.”

With that, all Kumas were assaulted by a copy of the blond, slapped with a piece of paper on varying places on their body and blown up.

“There. That takes care of them. Never try to outnumber an Uzumaki with Kage Bunshin at their disposal, it's not gonna work. Seriously, I don't know how many I can make.”

Well... that's a scary thought... ran through Ace's mind as he imagined thousands of super powered blond waging war on the world. The next minute he shook his head, trying to rid himself of the disturbing image.

“Mobilize the encircling wall!” Sengoku ordered, but before he could continue, Uzumaki's voice cut him off.

“Uhh... yeah, Seagull-ossan, about that wall... I might have broken it.”

Silence... then:

“WHAT?! HOW DID YOU FIND THE CONTROLS?!”

“Funny thing, that... I may have, kinda, maybe, accidentally destroyed the control-rooms while looking for the Den Den mushis... So not sorry.”

Sengoku was visibly seething “SOMEONE TAKE OUT THAT ANNOYING BRAT ALREADY!”

“I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY, OLD MAN!”

Meanwhile, Luffy had been thrown back by Kizaru and was just standing back up when a hand slapped his shoulder. Not even a second later a bubbling, orange energy encircled him and caused him to stand straighter.

Looking at his hands in confusion, he asked faintly “What... is this?”

“Chakra cloak.”

Jinbe and the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates turned to the voice and spotted one of the coatless Narutos standing beside them as others flitted around them, trying to distract Kizaru as the Division Commanders were doing.

“Chaku- what is it?” Luffy asked, tilting his head, still a little dazed from exhaustion, but that feeling was disappearing rapidly.

“Chakra cloak. At the moment I can't really distribute it to just anyone and even coating you had its risks. Luckily, it seems these 'Devil Fruits' I keep hearing about work partly with the help of chakra, creating pathways similar to that of an average Genin. This is a very weak variation of what I'd normally do, but this is the strongest I can make it without causing you harm, at least without further information. At the moment, it's little more than an energy boost and weak healing boost, but anyone you touch might get burned by it's corrosiveness. It will also disappear soon, depending on how much of it you use up since you don't actively use chakra. Most of this will go into healing you.”

“I didn't understand any of that, but thanks, Natto!” Luffy shouted as he ran forward again.

A pause, then:

“It's Naruto! Na-ru-to! Not Natto! My name is not that hard to pronounce, teme!”

“Warui, Naro!”

“... I give up.”

“There there.” Jinbe said, patting the bunshin's head as it slumped forward, moping, only to be startled when it popped and left behind a cloud of smoke.

Naruto barely stumbled as he received yet another set of memories, his headache steadily growing. The memories were not enough to cause a backlash yet, since most of his bunshin dispelled soon after he'd made them. It was the ones that had more time that were the problem. That and the sheer number he was using, he hadn't used this many since before he left on that training trip with Ero-Sennin.

Exhaling through his nose, Naruto Shunshined onto some poor Marine's head, causing them to crash face-first into the ground. He'd thinned the forces quite a lot and not a single one he'd taken down had stood back up, though it seemed they were getting trampled by pirates and comrades alike. That had to hurt. Hopefully no one got nailed in the-

Never mind. Ow. Naruto winced at the painful sight. He had not intended for that to happen, even he wasn't that cruel. He usually gave his opponents the chance to protect that area.

Before he could continue, however, he was suddenly assaulted by the memories of five clones and one clone's worth of Nature chakra. It seemed like a stray cannonball had exploded on them. Shaking his head and shakily standing up from where he was kneeling, Naruto blinked open orange eyes with square pupils and orange eyelids. He hadn't intended to use Sage Mode yet, he didn't actually need it at the moment, but might as well put it to use. He was just about to once again advance when he caught sight of something that made his blood run cold.

A long-haired pirate had just impaled Whitebeard with a sword.

“Jii-chan!”

Chapter Text

Edward Newgate had always been a patient man. Age had only reinforced that trait. Age had also given him the advantage of insight. There was always a reason for ones actions, whether they be good or not depended on the person. The Captain also knew Squardo, had known him for a while. These few facts were the only reason he didn't lift a finger to retaliate when he was stabbed in the chest by the man. As he listened to his son's plight, he understood. He was disappointed, but he understood. And he forgave.

There were only two things keeping Squardo alive instead of dead by Rasengan. One: Marco the Phoenix had gotten to him first. Two: Shiro-Jiji had forgiven him. After hearing why the man had done what he'd done, Naruto could let go of the sudden anger the man had lit inside him. False information was a perfectly valid tactic. It did not, however, mean that Naruto would forgive the source of it. He had not heard who it was, but he knew this: It had to be someone high up.

So, Admirals, meet the Toad Sage.

And an advancing Whitebeard.

Even Naruto felt intimidated in a way that hadn't happened in a long time. This was similar to the feeling of standing in front of an enraged Kyuubi, even with bars separating them. Except this time, Naruto didn't need to fear a raging monster being set loose, instead he watched as a man with the power of multiple Kage finally entered the battle.

However... now that he'd entered Sage Mode, the shinobi was a natural sensor. This was why he noticed something even the Marines were not aware of. Whitebeard was sick. His life-energy was strong, his will was strong, but Naruto could sense a disharmony in the flow of chakra. Whitebeards body was slowly failing him. With this revelation the blond grit his teeth and Shunshined towards the last relative he had.

Whitebeard grunted as a small (compared to him, everyone was small) hand slapped his right shoulder and a short figure landed slightly in front of him. He recognized the coat even as a dark orange tint overtook his vision. Looking down at himself, he saw a film of orange energy coating him and felt the blood trickling from his would stop. The blond brat that had turned the battlefield into his personal playground turned slightly to glare at him.

“Kuso-jiji! I need you alive after this ordeal, so don't go pull stupid shit when my back is turned!”

“The World's Strongest Man” quirked an eyebrow “Are you going to lecture me on helping Roger's son too?”

The blond head shook from side to side, glare turning venomous “Like I care! Blood of Roger, Dragon, Pirate, Marine, Noble, who cares about all that! Cut us open and we all bleed the same! All I'm here for is to make sure the idiot gets it out of here alive and to talk to you! So at least have the courtesy to stay alive until this is finished, Baka-jiji!”

The both of them could faintly hear the cries of: “He talked back Whitebeard/a Yonko!” and “He insulted Whitebeard/a Yonko!” but neither party moved, until...

“Gurararara! I wonder what could be so important that you'd try to scold me, brat. You're a hundred years too early for that to work. But no matter, we'll see what happens.”

The brat had the audacity to roll his eyes “Stubborn too, huh? You're leaving this battle alive even if I have to Hiraishin you.” he said before disappearing in a yellow flash.

As the 72-year-old man turned back to the battle, he could've sworn he heard a muttered “Guess it does run in the family...”

Naruto now made his way towards the three Admirals that were blocking Strawhat's way. He started building a swirling sphere of chakra, before adding his Wind Release into it. The battlefield was assaulted by the sound of a horrible screech as Naruto threw the attack.

“Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!”

The raven-head was able to pass them due to the attack, since the wind blades were cutting on a molecular level, not to mention all the pure chakra that went into the attack. The result was slower regeneration from the logias and actual, bleeding wounds.

“How scary, you actually made me bleed...” the yellow man said, eyeing Naruto as the shinobi landed in front of them.

Naruto cricked his neck and stretched his arms in front of him, fingers entwined and palms facing outwards “Trust me, I can do much more than that.” he said before dropping into a Frog Kata stance, knowing he'd need as much speed as he could muster to fight against this one.

Naruto then lunged forward, actually managing to plant his fists into Borsalino's stomach, sending him careening into the brick wall beneath the execution platform.

Naruto blinked before face-faulting “OH, COME ON! DID NO ONE TEACH YOU HOW TO DODGE?! HOW ARE YOU IDIOTS EVEN STILL ALIVE? BACK HOME WE LEARN TO DODGE WHEN WE'RE SEVEN!”

Kizaru didn't utter a peep, having been knocked out by all of his broken ribs and concussion.

(A/N: No, seriously, this is a huge problem, I have barely seen any of the three admirals dodging any attacks. Frankly, I can't actually remember them dodging. They never seem to dodge anything and it never seems to bite them in the butt like it does for Luffy. So before you start ranting about Naruto being OP, check how many times these bastards actually dodge and compare it to the amount of times they don't)

The remaining two admirals were wiser than their fallen comrade and instead focused all of their attention on the blond Shinobi. Or, Aokiji did. Akainu, on the other hand chose to attack Luffy's unguarded back.

Or, well, seemingly unguarded.

Before the punch of pure lava could touch the boy, a blue and yellow inferno blocked it. Marco the Phoenix had taken guard of his honorary little brother.

“Thanks!” Luffy yelled, skidding under another Marine's sword, having noticed the danger he'd almost been in.

“Don't mention it, yoi!”

As Marco engaged Admiral Sakazuki, Naruto slashed Aokiji with a wind-enhanced kunai. The man grimaced as it actually made a wound before sending an ice-spear at the blond. The spear clipped Naruto even as he dodged, causing his bicep to bleed from the first wound he'd received in the war.

Jumping backwards and covering the wound, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki smirked “Congratulations, you get first blood. As in, you're the first to have actually landed a blow on my original body, don't you feel special?”

Aokiji frowned “Don't mock me, you annoying brat. It doesn't matter how much you fight, Fire Fist will die today.”

As he said this, he shot some shards of ice at the ninja, who sliced them all out of the air and sent his own barrage of kunai, which were also evaded.

“You think so? I don't. Maybe if I hadn't shown up to create chaos, you'd be right, but aren't you forgetting something?” Naruto asked, pointing at the huge screen still dominated by his narrating Kage Bunshin “Whether or not Ace dies, the world will know of your plan to execute him before the set time. Either way, we win.”

Aokiji's eyes widened. He knew the boy was right, win or lose, the world's trust in them would be shaken. They could probably still print something in the press, but the situation could not be completely salvaged.

“Also-”

Aokiji blocked Naruto's kunai with an arm coated in Haki and pushed him back, trying to freeze the nuisance in his tracks, only for the attack to be evaded once more.

“You seem to think I couldn't just go up there, take Ace, and leave.”

The ice logia eyed the still figure wearing a cocky grin “So why haven't you?”

Naruto's grin widened as he twirled a kunai with his finger “Because, to put it simply, I don't need to.” the whiskered youth's eyes sharpened “You haven't seen even half of what I can do because I don't need to put my all into keeping you all busy. And that's all I'm doing. I could kill everyone here with minimum effort. I could end this war with one attack. But I won't.”

“Why?”

Naruto stopped smiling and twirling his kunai, instead balancing it on one finger “Two reasons. One: At the moment, using that attack would kill everyone present, which would be really counter-productive. Two: because if I do, no one who survives on our side will strive to get stronger. I'll become a crutch, like Whitebeard has unknowingly become. It's good to have a figurehead, but if you use them as a shield you won't get stronger. If they succeed effortlessly, they won't feel the need to become stronger. I know this firsthand.” Naruto fell silent, the memory of failing to bring Sasuke back that night he defected prominent in his mind.

“If they don't feel like they're not enough, they won't get stronger. I'll hold back, let them feel the strain, give them the drive to be stronger, like I became stronger.” Naruto met the ice logia's eyes head-on “So that something like this sham of an execution never happens again.”

With this, Naruto lunged faster than Aokiji could see and planted his feet in the man's chest, sending the man into a building and burying him under rubble. The son of Konoha's Yellow Flash stood there for a moment, just in case the admiral got back up, before turning and using Shunshin to catch up to Portgas' little brother.

Chapter Text

Luffy was running like there was no tomorrow, the orange haze fading at last, leaving Luffy with half the energy he'd started with and half the damage he'd arrived at the war with. Right after the aura had left him, Sengoku ordered the executioners to start.

This was soon accompanied by the narration of “And the Marines, like the lying liars who lie that they are, have decided to execute Portgas before the scheduled time. And this is the authority we're supposed to trust? Tsk, I'd rather take my chances with any pirate that's known for their honor. Let's see, who'd fit that bill? … oh, right, he's fighting the Marines for his son, my bad. I guess I already am taking my chances, and just look how well I'm doing!”

Before the executioners could even get halfway through the motion of bringing the blades down, Luffy felt something in him burst.

“STOP IIIIIIT!”

His powerful yell was followed by a strange pressure like that of being underwater, but soon faded as half the battlefield fainted, executioners included. Luffy didn't care what just happened, he was just glad he hadn't missed his chance to save his brother. With this, he sprinted even faster towards his goal.

“Oi.”

Luffy turned his head to look at the voice and found the blond Uzumaki running weirdly beside him. Torso leant forward, arms straight behind him. This one was wearing the flame-coat, so Luffy supposed this was the original one.

“Do you actually have a plan for when you get to the platform?” the blond asked, dodging a marine and sending some sort of throwing knife at them, not breaking his stride.

Luffy nodded, using a marine's head as a springing board “Ah, somewhat. Hancock gave me the key to Ace's shackles, so I just need to unlock them and Ace will be free.” His running companion was silent for a moment “Yea, but what about those two marines? They'll attack you once you get close, ya'know?”

“... um...”

A sigh “Ok, I'll take care of the marines, you take care of the manacles.”

“Ok!”

“Heh, don't fall behind! Doton: Doryuuheki!” (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall)

With these words along with four weird hand-movements, the blond slammed his hand into the ground, causing a wall made of stone to shoot towards the execution platform, forming a ramp straight to Ace and connecting with a resounding thump that shook the platform slightly.

“What is that?”

It's a ramp, duh. Were the words running through many people's minds at that stupid exclamation, but none voiced it. As both Luffy's and Naruto's feet hit the ramp, the war truly seemed to be nearing its end. There was nothing in between the two running figures and Ace saw light at the end of the dark tunnel that was his situation.

Before either Sengoku or Garp could make a move against the two running figures, Naruto disappeared into a swirl of leaves, only to appear by Sengoku's side, hands flashing through signs as he went before bringing his fingers to his lips.

“Fuuton: Daitoppa!” (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

The following gust of powerful wind blew Sengoku clean off the platform and before the man was even completely airborne, Naruto flashed over to Garp who'd only started to stand up from his sitting position. Without further ado, Naruto jabbed two fingers into Garp's lower back.

“Konohagakure Hiden Secret Taijutsu Technique: One Thousand Years of Death!”

This sent the old Vice Admiral flying off, screaming bloody murder.

Spotting Ace's horrified expression, the Shinobi hurried to explain “Don't worry, despite the name, it only causes pain... well, in my case, since I tend to overload my techniques, it causes excruciating pain, but no real damage. He'll live.”

Just as he finished saying that, Luffy's sandaled foot connected with the wooden planks in front of Ace. The boy then bending over as he gasped for breath before lifting his head up to beam at his brother.

“I... haah... finally made it... Ace!”

Naruto grinned before jerking a thumb over his shoulder “Hurry up and let's go! The old man's gonna keel over before I get to talk to him at this rate!”

Luffy jerked “Ah, right!” he exclaimed before digging his pocket for the key to the cuffs.

Meanwhile, Ace was torn between yelling at Naruto for disrespecting Whitebeard and vibrating in place because he was gonna be able to burn shit again.

And no, he was not a pyromaniac, thank you very much.

Boom!

Meanwhile, someone had found a bazooka and was firing at them, but hadn't managed to hit them.

“You have terrible aim!” Naruto yelled, shaking a fist at the Marines below.

His proclamation was soon followed by an ominous creak.

“Uh-oh.”

With that, the whole construction started to tilt dangerously and Naruto had to brace Ace and Luffy while sticking to the surface using chakra. Thank god for the tree-climbing exercise. Luckily, Luffy was finally able to stop fumbling and managed to slot the key into the lock.

Not even a second later, the platform toppled completely and everyone watched with bated breath, waiting to see what happened. Then, amidst the tense silence, the clink of the Kairouseki shackles hitting the ground echoed across the battlefield. This was followed by a towering inferno engulfing the execution stand, turning it to molten metal and ashes. Out of the blaze shot three people, two black heads followed by a yellow one, hands linked as the Fire Logia that was 2nd division commander Portgas D. Ace propelled all of them to a somewhat clear spot on the ground.

While this was happening, the Whitebeard pirates and the crews allied under the flag all cheered at Luffy's success “Ace!”

“You haven't changed at all, Luffy! Never listening to anything I say, always doing the craziest things!” Ace gently scolded, too happy to actually mean a word of it.

Luffy said nothing, instead letting a genuinely happy and carefree smile dominate his face while he gripped Naruto's wrist, his own arm in the firm grasp of his brother as they fell towards the ground.

They landed noisily, kicking up a cloud of dust which was quickly dispelled by Naruto's Gale Palm. Naruto, unlike the two pirates, had automatically landed silently and was already scanning his surroundings and checking the positions of the Hiraishin Markers he and his Bunshin had been littering the battlefield with even as the two brothers readied themselves for a fight.

“Can you still fight, Luffy?” Ace asked, not even glancing back at the younger as he readied himself to attack.

“Yeah!” the other black-haired pirate said, wide grin on his face as he copied his brother.

“Oh, no you don't.” Naruto contradicted, grabbing the back of Luffy's vest and Ace's belt before using the marker he'd first thrown onto the Moby Dick to pinpoint where he was going before disappearing in a yellow flash, cargo and all.

The brothers landed hard on the deck, not used to the technique while Naruto wasn't used to transporting others while using the Hiraishin, thus losing his grip on them. After catching his lost breath, he Hiraishined to the marker he'd tagged Whitebeard with when he'd covered him with a small amount of Kurama's chakra.

“-and looks like we're done. Well, it's been fun, but this is the first, and last, Uzumaki Naruto special broadcast. It's been an honor to distract all of you idiots from my real plan.” the Kage Bunshin on screen said with an evil smile.

This made everyone pause as a feeling of dread washed over them. Even the Whitebeard pirates started to sweat, now not sure if it had been a good idea to trust the stranger, even if he had saved Oars.

“Oi, old man.”

Whitebeard turned to the blond addressing him with a raised eyebrow, curious to see what he would do now.

“Ace and his brother are on the Moby Dick. I need you to retreat with everyone. I'm about to destroy Marine HQ.”

The giant man raised his other eyebrow to keep company with the first as he peered down at the cheeky young'un in front of him “Can you truly do that, brat?”

Naruto grinned, putting his hands on his hips and puffing up his chest “You're not the only one holding back over 50% of your power.”

Newgate stood silently for a moment before smiling “Alright, show me what you got, brat.” he then inhaled before bellowing “My sons! Let us return to the New World together!”

There was a resounding cry of agreement as all pirates began to retreat, making sure to take their wounded with them. However, Whitebeard waited beside the blond Shinobi. Said Shinobi glanced up at him, having already turned to face the giant building “Aren't you gonna leave?”

“Call me curious.”

A sigh “Fine, just don't get in my way.” with this, he stepped forward, his eyes bleeding orange, pigment around his eyes following before a blazing, golden energy enveloped him, leaving him looking like a Zoan eater of some sort and his pupils to resemble a cross. He then extended one hand to the side where Whitebeard was not standing, palm facing upwards. Another step and a black ball began to form in his hand, growing until it was the size of a cannonball, a couple of dark-coloured spheres revolving around it. But the attack wasn't done yet as a semi-familiar screech filled the air and blades of wind started spinning around the ball, making all Marines take a step back in fear and some retreating pirates pause and look behind them, before continuing to run for the ships which had been freed from the ice by the first to reach them and left-over Kage Bunshin.

Naruto finally put one foot forward to brace himself for the throw, a guttural voice overlapping his own as the demon inside him woke for the first time during the battle.

“Fuuton: Bijuudama Rasenshuriken!” the Jinchuuriki yelled with a mighty heave, sending the attack careening towards the building.

The attack went straight through the outer wall before exploding spectacularly, reducing the once proud building to nothing but rubble, burying any stragglers that might've been inside. None would live.

(Unknown to all present, this was the fate of the Blackbeard Pirates and its Captain, may they burn in hell forever. Naruto had just unknowingly avenged his adoptive uncle Thatch's murder)

Naruto stood there a moment before turning, grabbing Whitebeard's wrist and Hiraishined onboard the Moby Dick, before letting go and jumping to the front of the ship, ready to defend the retreating forces, only to be stopped by a gigantic hand.

“You've done enough, I will guard my sons backs.”

With a Nod, Naruto stepped back and watched as the air fractured and a deep trench was created between the majority of the marines and the remaining Whitebeard Pirates.

Luffy and Ace were watching with awed expressions at the power the old man exhibited, with Luffy letting out a drawn out “Cooooooool...” with stars shining in his eyes. This caused his brother to eye him exasperatedly and sigh.

“You really, really haven't changed a bit, Luffy.”

“Shishishishishi...”

Soon enough, every last Whitebeard Pirate had boarded a vessel and it was time to set sail. As the sails were unfurled, Naruto grinned and helped them along with a Fuuton: Daitoppa. This way they'd have a significant head start on the Marines once they got their wits together and started chasing them. However, they'd be long gone by then. All in all, Naruto was satisfied how it all turned out in the end. He looked up when the grand presence of his grandfather came into his vicinity and stopped beside him. Naruto turned to face the man he hoped would not remain a stranger to him as the man spoke “You wished to talk?”

Naruto opened his mouth, but closed it and adopted a thoughtful expression, scanning the man's crew and laying his eyes on the giant sealing scroll. He could see that everyone was tired, he himself felt worn out and he was sure the old man was as well, though he did not show it.

He turned to look at the man again and smiled sadly “Maybe later, I don't think either of us has the mental energy to go through what I came here for. Besides, you and your crew need healing, if not rest.”

The World's Strongest Man raised an eyebrow “You seemed eager to talk to me on the battlefield, what changed?”

There was a threatening note in his voice, but Naruto only averted his eyes and sighed “I guess... I'm not as ready as I thought I was...”

“Ready for what?”

“The potential consequences, your reaction, talking about the topic in general, take your pick. I just can't face any of that at the moment, I'm too worn out.”

The tense silence continued, before it was broken once again by the blond “Look, I know that sounds bad, but I just wanted to talk. Then when I saw the execution announcement, I thought I'd help out since it would piss off this stupid Government and because from what I'd heard about you, you'd be there to rescue him. I can admit that I helped just so I could talk to you, but that was before I actually joined the fight. Then it became a mission to rescue someone who didn't deserve to die for a stupid reason like his bloodline. But I just can't do this right now and as strong a front as you're putting on right now, neither can you.” Naruto said, sounding much more worn than he had a minute ago before he walked past the man, slapping a tag on him as he went, which started to glow green “Now sit down and let the medical tag do its job, I'm gonna tend to the ones with the worst injuries.”

Whitebeard watched from his chair as the blond brat with eyes too old for him went around and slapped the strange pieces of paper on his sons. Already the one he'd received was doing a good job of healing his own injuries, so he let the boy do as he pleased. Though he did wonder what sort of business the boy could be on for him to set out just so he could talk to a Yonko. Edward was a smart man, he'd heard what the boy left unsaid. The brat had set out with the sole reason of finding him. He'd only decided to help rescue his son after he was already involved with the fighting. He wondered why the boy felt so strongly about being killed because of your blood. Had he been victim to such prejudice? Or had he lost someone to such prejudice? He'd let it sit for now, after all, they still needed the brat to unseal Oars from the scroll so that he could be treated, but they could only do that once they reached an island.

“Neh, why are you blue?”

Newgate turned his attention back to the brat, who was talking to Jinbe, who was looking slightly uncomfortable at the question.

“I am a fishman.” was the somewhat tense answer.

Naruto blinked “Never heard of you. I wonder if Kisame was a fishman. He was blue too, and he had gills and shark-teeth.”

“I don't know a 'Kisame'.” Jinbe replied

Naruto rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest “Well, duh. Kisame was an S-rank Nukenin from Kiri who joined Akatsuki. Of course you wouldn't know him. You're neither from the Elemental Nations nor a bad guy.”

Whitebeard had to blink at this before the names clicked in him mind. Oh, the little brat was from Konoha. No wonder the symbol on the metal plate looked familiar. It had been a while since he sailed those waters.

“How do you know I'm not a 'bad guy'?” Jinbe asked, for the moment ignoring the unfamiliar terminology.

The blond teen blinked “Easy!” he beamed, pointing at Whitebeard “I heard you call Shiro-jiji 'Oyaji'! So you can't be a bad guy!”

Everyone who heard this exclamation stared in stunned silence before Whitebeard burst out laughing, soon followed by some of his sons.

“That's what you base your opinion on?” Haruta asked, incredulous.

Uzumaki only turned to face him to nod “Un! Anyone who's part of the crew and cares about the crew has to be a good person, since Shiro-jiji accepts them as his family.” he said with a Duh-expression, as if this was an obvious conclusion to make.

After a brief silence, someone yelled: “I like this kid! Pops, can we keep him?”

Newgate chuckled “We'll see.”

His response elicited a cheer, but the Captain could see the conflicted and unreadable expression on the blonds face at his admission. After a moment the child turned and disappeared into the crowd, towards to where Ace was sitting.

Ace looked up from his seat on the deck, leaning against the railing as the kid that had helped his little brother free him slipped through his brothers and sisters and came to lean his elbows against the railing, looking out to the ocean as they sailed towards a safe place to lay low for a while.

After a short silence, the 2nd division commander decided to try and make the younger feel better “You know, if you're worried about Oyaji's reaction to your parentage or something, then you should know that that's not gonna be a problem, the Old Man doesn't care for that kind of stuff.”

With that, the raven-haired man stood up and joined his brothers as someone broke out the beer.

He didn't see the sad smile or hear the forlorn words that left the blond “Thanks. But that, exactly, is the problem.”

Chapter Text

The Core-Whitebeards and their allies had split as to make it harder for the Marines to track them down. Oars' crew had stayed with them, since the scroll containing the ginormous giant was in Whitebeard's possession, not to mention the giant would be injured when he was finally released from the paper.

They docked on an island under Whitebeard's protection that had enough empty space to release Oars' body on without destroying anything important. Many held their breath as Naruto carried the scroll into the middle of the chosen area and unrolled it, placing his hands on the seal. In a poof of smoke, the teen was crouching on Little Oars Jr's body instead of the scroll and everyone cheered, relieved he'd been telling the truth and causing what little distrust lingered to dissipate. Naruto didn't waste time and quickly littered the injured areas with a medical tag each, making sure they all were active before he deactivated the stasis he'd placed on the gentle giant. Everyone was relieved to see the giant chest rising and falling, telling everyone that Oars was, in fact, very much alive.

Many of the crew came forward to thank the sunny teen, be it with words or a hearty slap on the back, and the Shinobi reveled in it. It reminded him of the welcome he'd received after the ordeal with Nagato. He then begun distributing the rest of the medical tags, until he ran out and was forced to sit down and create more. The monotonous, repetitive work forced his mind to wander to pleasant and not so pleasant places. In the short while he'd been among his grandfather's crew, he'd started to feel at home in a way Konoha had never quite managed to make him feel. No one knew anything of his past, they only knew he was powerful and that no, he wasn't a Devil Fruit eater, he'd actually been born with these powers and no, he didn't think he could teach any of them sealing even if he wanted to. It wasn't that they couldn't learn, it was just that they were too old to start training their rather non-existent chakra-coils. And no, he wasn't going to explain chakra right now, he was creating seals.

They all welcomed him and even his grandfather, still ignorant of their connection, liked him on some level. And Naruto... Naruto didn't want the warm, fuzzy feeling to go away. He paused in his brush strokes, before sighing and finishing yet another tag before setting it aside to dry and putting down his brush. He then turned his gaze to the sea, eyes tracing the gentle waves as they crashed on the shore. He bit his lip as the thought entered his mind. He would soon have that talk he'd asked for. And he was terrified that his grandfather would reject him. After all, Naruto was the reason his own flesh and blood son was dead.

“Don't be stupid, kit.”

Naruto jumped at the voice “Oh, you're awake now, Kurama?”

“Shut up, you didn't really need me during this time, and I actually like my sleep when I can get it in this hyper mind of yours. It's especially comfortable without that stupid cage.”

The Shinobi chuckled “I bet it is. Still, there's no guarantee he won't hate me.”

“And no guarantee he will. Kit, you need to stop comparing these people to the bugs in Konoha.”

“Don't call 'em bugs, partner. And I can't help it. I grew up expecting people to always hate me, no matter what I did. I guess it's just so that I won't be disappointed when it actually happens.”

“If, kit. If it happens. Don't sell yourself or that old fart short. Didn't he forgive that one human that stabbed him?”

“Yeah, but-”

“But nothing, kit. If he won't judge that human, then he won't judge you. Now put your ass in gear and go talk to him.”

“Yea, yea, just as soon as I-”

“Now.”

“Geez,” Naruto grumbled as he got to his feet “grumpy, much?”

Then again, he was only making excuses. He wouldn't know until he actually spoke with the man and said his piece. He didn't want to lose this sense of belonging, but he couldn't keep it a secret either. At some point, everything would come crashing down and it was better to reveal everything voluntarily. That way he'd at least have a head-start if things went south.

He ignored the exasperated sigh from the fox as he made his way towards where they'd set up camp around Oars' resting body. Luffy had left the day before with Silvers Raleigh and the Heart Pirates, who had a freaking submarine, after Law had operated on Oars. Apparently the white-capped man had been tailing them all the way from Marineford and Raleigh... well, Raleigh had swam. Naruto didn't want to know how he'd managed, lest he'd accidentally stumbled upon some sort of variation of Gai-sensei. Shudder. He landed in a crouch beside Ace, who didn't notice him until he stood up and the man turned towards him. He immediately jerked back.

“Gah! How do you do that?”

This exclamation caused those nearby to notice him too and snicker at Fire Fist's misfortune. Before Naruto could answer the question, the deep, rumbling voice of his grandfather answered the question.

“The brat is a ninja. Boy, you're from Konoha, aren't you?”

Naruto took a deep breath before he turned to the old man with a smile “Yeah, born and raised, straight from Hi no Kuni, nice to meet you!”

“Gurararara! Tell me, how does the Leaf Village fare? It has been a long time since I sailed those seas...”

Yeah, like 40 years... Naruto thought, only slightly bitter, but not showing this emotion outwardly “Well, we went through the Second, Third and Fourth Shinobi World Wars in your absence, but the Shinobi Nations are at peace now. There are only three Jinchuuriki with two of them being Kage of their respective Villages. Konoha got razed to the ground briefly two years ago, but no one died... or well, no one stayed dead, anyway.”

There was a stunned silence, before someone asked “The hell is that last bit supposed to mean?”

Naruto turned towards the one who spoke “Well, Nagato did this jutsu-”

“You know what, never mind, Oyaji, are you telling us there's an entire country filled with ninjas?”

“Continent, actually.”

“How does no one know of this!?”

“The Continent is located in the Dead Man's Sea.” Whitebeard intervened before the argument could escalate “It is rumored to be an area made almost entirely of whirlpools, which is why very few sail there. The continent is surrounded by whirlpools, making it near impossible to reach or leave. Which begs the question how you managed to do it without a crew?” the man asked, eyebrow raised.

Naruto rolled his eyes before jabbing his thumb at his chest in a grand gesture “Old Man, I am an Uzumaki. I'd bring shame to my mother if I wasn't able to do something as simple as navigate through whirlpools, what do you take me for?”

To those present, this made little sense, but Ace noticed the little tidbit mentioned here “So Uzumaki's your mom's name?”

The blond turned to face him “Yea.” he looked down, looking sad at the topic “Dad was... really strong. He'd been a real force of nature during the Third War, so he had a lot of enemies... I wasn't allowed to bear his name growing up, since I was an orphan with no way to protect myself if they found out about me. Hence, I was an oddball Uzumaki with blond hair instead of red. No one even thought I was part of the Clan, so no one who wanted to finish the job of eradicating the Uzumakis came after me, either.”

Whitebeard eyed the boy gravely “So that's why you feel so strongly about the reason behind my son's execution.”

The Konoha Nin sighed “If Iwa had know of my existence, I doubt I'd still be alive. Iwa Shinobi used to hold deep hatred for Konoha's Yellow Flash, my father. Iwa was also one of the major contributors in the attack on Uzu, making my mother one of the few surviving Uzumaki. I have a suspicion that Red Haired Shanks is an Uzumaki, since no one seems to know his last name and his hair matches the shade Uzumaki usually possess.”

“But I'm not here because of that.” the blond continued, however, before he could utter a word about his real reason for sailing to meet Whitebeard, the man wearing women's clothes Naruto had seen wielding pistols ran up to them, yelling one thing which caused everyone to turn their attention to him.

“Teach is dead!”

There were a bunch of “What?”s, “Really?”s and the inevitable “Where'd you hear that from, Izo?”

Izo gestured at them with the newspaper in his hand “It was in the paper! They found his body under the rubble of Marine Headquarters along with some convicts from Impel Down.”

After hearing this, everyone turned their eyes to the blond behind the destruction, only to see him looking at them with wide eyes before saying “Um... oops?”

This caused everyone to face-fault “That's all you can say!?”

Naruto shrugged helplessly “Well, I didn't actually check if there was anyone in there. So, oops.”

Someone snorted in the following silence and a few cracked up at Ace's “Damn, I wanted to do him in.”

Naruto turned to look at them all “So... it's not a bad thing?”

Jozu grimaced “Hell no, the bastard killed our 4th Division Commander, Thatch, before leaving with the Devil Fruit he'd found. Ace got captured while he was chasing him.”

Izo then continued before he could be interrupted again “And our blond here has an official wanted poster!” before showing it to everyone.

It was a screenshot of Naruto leaning one foot against a wooden crate, a devilish grin on his face and a baby Den Den Mushi in his hand. It had obviously been taken from his broadcast. Under the picture was the text:

Thousand Flash Naruto

Wanted: Dead or Alive

500,000,000 Beri

Naruto nodded “Ah.” he then looked back at the Whitebeard Captain “Um, should I continue this later...?” he inquired as the others marveled at his huge first bounty, which from what he heard from them wasn't as high as it by all rights should be.

Whitebeard shook his head “You've been avoiding this talk for long enough. So, tell me, why did you leave your village just so you could talk to me?”

Naruto winced and rubbed the back of his neck “Noticed that, did ya?” he then sighed “This concerns you as an individual, so do you wanna do this in private or?” he then asked, gesturing around them.

The old man chuckled “I don't tend to keep secrets from my family if I can help it. Now, mind telling me how you even knew when I'd last visited your home?”

Nodding, the blond closed his eyes and steeled himself for what was to come “Noticed that too, huh? I assume the name Namikaze Minato is familiar to you?”

Whatever Edward Newgate had been expecting, this was not it. He had not heard the name of his own son in 40 years now. He assumed the boy had grown to be a Shinobi, since he had not seen a bounty poster bearing that name. With the sea around the Shinobi Nations the way it was, it would have been exceedingly difficult to visit, not to mention dangerous if anyone were to find out he had a biological child. Thus, he'd left that place alone, no matter how much he would've liked to visit. He knew nothing of his son's life, he didn't even know what the boy had looked like while growing up. He could only be confident in the fact that the medallion he'd left the woman he'd fallen for would be able to lead him to his father should he wish to find him.

What did this boy know?

“How do you know that name, child?”

The blond blinked at the change of address, but answered anyway “I know enough. I know Namikaze is the name of his mother. I know he was a one-year-old toddler when you saw him last and I know his true name. Had his mother's wishes been heard, he would've grown up Newgate Minato.”

His sons gasped, wearing varying looks of shock, having never known that he'd actually fathered anyone. Meanwhile, Marco only raised an eyebrow, having suspected the man had to have some sort of family somewhere, but even he hadn't expected this.

The blond shinobi carded a hand through his hair, gazing into the horizon “Minato grew up an orphan, I'm not sure what happened to his mother, but he was placed in an orphanage in Konoha with nothing to to his name but a medallion and his mother's diary. That's the only reason he was aware of your existence.”

Newgate closed his eyes in pain. He had not known of this. Had he known, he would've returned for his son.

“Minato grew up to be one of the strongest Shinobi of his generation, married Kyuubi's second Jinchuuriki and was named Fourth Hokage.”

“What's a Jinchuuriki?” someone asked before Naruto could continue, prompting the shinobi to elaborate “A Jinchuuriki is a human container for one of the bijuu. After the First War, Konoha was in possession of the Kyuubi. Suna Followed with containing the Ichibi, Kiri the Sanbi and Rokubi, Kumo the Nibi and Hachibi and Iwa the Gobi and Yonbi. Taki might've had the Nanabi at that point too, but I'm not sure.”

With this, the Shinobi once again turned to face Whitebeard “Minato was a great Hokage and loved by Konoha. His reign, however, was the shortest of all Hokage. Namikaze Minato died at age 24, re-sealing the rampaging Kyuubi no Kitsune that had been unleashed from his wife's seal.”

There was a brief silence, but Whitebeard didn't get the chance to speak before the ninja continued in a much more subdued tone “The thing about the Kyuubi is that, since it has the most chakra out of all the Tailed Beasts, there are few people that can actually contain him. His previous container was dying from the fox having been forcefully ripped out, so that wouldn't work. The only people able to safely contain the Kyuubi are the Uzumaki, but Konoha only had one, and she was dying.”

At first, no one could see where this was going, until the boy mentioned Uzumaki and lifted a hand to his stomach.

“Luckily for the Yondaime, on that very same day, a Half-Uzumaki boy was born. The man was now faced with an impossible choice, doom a child to a life burdened by the status of Jinchuuriki, or let Konoha be destroyed. On that day, I lost everything.” he said, letting his head and hand drop towards the ground “On that day, Minato Namikaze took off the only memento he had of his father, put it around his son's neck, and sealed a demon into him.”

At this proclamation, everyone stared at the teen with wide eyes, the meaning behind the words slowly registering even as Naruto lifted his gaze to meet his grandfather's eyes “On October 10th, almost 18 years ago, the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, drew his last breath, leaving behind the third Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, his son. Me. Had grandma and dad gotten their way, I would've grown up Newgate Naruto. My parents gave their lives that day so I could live. Half-a-year ago, I found dad's journal and decided that I should find you, if only so that you'd know what happened to him.”

Naruto breathed in deeply before reaching up and grasping the chain around his neck, unclasping the lock and bringing it up for all to see as he stepped forward, arm outstretched towards the towering man he was related to.

“Growing up, I wasn't allowed to wear this. Now that you know what happened, do you want it back?”

Ah, shit. My hand is shaking...

His hand was shaking, quite obviously even. As he awaited judgement. When he saw a large hand move, he lowered his head, knowing what was coming. He was preparing to let go of the chain...

When he was engulfed in a one-armed hug that almost made him drop the only thing he had left of his father. He stiffened in the hold as his hand dropped down to his side, unsure what to do. He hadn't received that many hugs in his life, and not a single one had felt like this.

“You have been alone for a long time, haven't you?”

The disturbingly understanding tone made Naruto's eyes tear up, so he closed his eyes as he nodded, knowing he wouldn't be able to talk without his voice cracking.

“You came searching for family, because you had none.”

Naruto's breath hitched as he nodded against the man's chest again. Why did the man have to be so damn observant? He was doing fine with keeping his composure!

He ignored the snort from the fox, no one asked for its opinion.

“Would you like to stay?”

Naruto looked up into the kind eyes of his grandfather, his own brimming with tears “Can I?” he asked pathetically, voice cracking.

Called it.

“Had I known of Manami's passing, I would've come for him.” his grandfather said, sounding regretful.

Naruto closed his eyes and smiled a little, feeling much lighter “Nah, it's better this way. Dad was happy in the end. That's what counts, right? Jii-chan?”

“Gurarara! I never thought I'd see the day I had grandchildren!”

And just like that, tension was broken and Naruto was soon assaulted by his so called uncles and teased relentlessly for crying, especially by Ace. All the while, Naruto couldn't help but feel happier than he could ever remember feeling. He knew the talk wasn't really over, but he could appreciate his grandpa's silent We'll talk about it later. This was about as much emotional turmoil he could take at the moment.

At least he hadn't asked about Kurama yet.

Chapter Text

Naruto looked out towards the sea, deep in thought. Oars had woken up a few days ago, which everyone was relieved to see and Naruto had been introduced to the gentle giant as not only his saviour but the Old Man's grandson.

And wasn't that good for the heart? The Old Man didn't hate him, wanted to get to know him, allowing him to get to know his family. He was teased, of course, for being youngest and an over-emotional brat, he was never gonna live that little crying episode down, but Naruto gave as good as he got, calling every single one of them uncle, then running away while laughing and pointing at them. He also pranked them. It had been a great morning when every single Whitebeard Pirate had discovered a crescent moustache stuck to all of their upper lip. It took them three days to figure out they needed sea water to dissolve the glue. Oh, how the Devil Fruit eaters had glared at him. It had been a while since he felt so carefree and he could tell that a lot of tension had dropped from the crew.

He glanced to the side when a shirtless figure plopped beside him and tried to keep his lips from twitching from the remainder of ink that was on the narcoleptic's face from when Naruto decided to draw whiskers on him after an attack.

The raven looked at him with a deadpan expression, causing the Jinchuuriki to say “I regret nothing.” with a huge grin.

Ace snorted and rolled his eyes “I figured you wouldn't, with how you pull all these...” he said gesturing to his face and a stray Whitebeard moustache floating past.

Naruto snorted at the sight of it, he guessed someone had to have gotten sick of it and had thrown it in the ocean instead of doing like Ace and burning it. Then again, that part may have been his pyromaniac tendencies rearing their head. Not that Naruto could blame him, it was fun to destroy things with elements, even though he preferred shredding things with wind. It might be why the two of them got along so well, wind attacks could amplify fire attacks very well after all. It made him think of Sasuke.

“So...” Naruto glanced back at the elder of the two as he started to speak “what are you gonna do now?”

That was a good question, one Naruto had thought about already “I'll probably set out again after a while. I need to find out the locations and names of all Celestial Dragons. Then I will kill every single one of them. Maybe set free the slaves first. Cause havoc and destruction which I will be known for for years to come.” the blonde revealed before pausing “I'll probably leave a Hiraishin seal here with Jii-chan, just so I can visit easily. Possibly retreat to you if I need to. If Jii-chan will let me.”

Ace leaned back on his hands and looked at him with a thoughtful expression “Are you gonna take Oyaji's mark?”

Naruto paused at that, thinking. Honestly, he hadn't even thought of that. He still wore his Konoha headband, so taking on another symbol seemed wrong. But it was his grandfather's symbol. Sure, he had the medallion, but no one could actually see it since he always kept it hidden beneath his clothes.

“I... I'm not sure. I guess I could, but I'm not sure if I want to let people know how I'm connected to Jii-chan. No one is gonna be able to find out he's my grandpa unless someone tells them.” blue eyes stared at the ocean before their owner spoke again “Jii-chan would probably be proud to announce it to the world... he'd let me wear his mark, he'd be so goddamn proud to do it, too... but I just don't know...” he bit his lip before slowly pinching the metal plate of his hitai-ate between his thumb and forefinger, sliding it up and off of his head.

The headband identifying him as a Konoha shinobi sat in his palm as he stared at it “D'you wanna know what this is?”

Ace leant closer, his elbows resting on his crossed legs as he peered at the unnamed thing.

Naruto lifted it up only slightly “This symbol is the symbol of Konohagakure no Sato. My home. It tells everyone I'm a Konoha Shinobi, just like Jii-chan's Jolly Roger identifies anyone who wears it as a Whitebeard Pirate. This piece of metal,” Naruto continued as he tapped the mentioned piece “has been with me ever since I was 12 years old and it means more to me than anything else.” a beat of silence, then “It's another reason I'm not sure about wearing Jii-chan's mark. I already have this.”

Ace was silent. He couldn't really argue with the blond. The symbol on the headband sounded an awful lot like what Jolly Rogers were to all pirates. Or, well, all self-respecting pirates.

“Maybe...” Ace started, making Naruto look at him “Maybe no one needs to see it.”

Naruto tilted his head questioningly and the elder elaborated “You could get Pops' mark tattooed somewhere where it's can't bee seen by just anyone, since unlike me, you actually wear a shirt.”

Naruto snorted and turned to look at the sea “Yeah...”

Ace waited a moment before rising to his feet an wandering towards the ship, leaving the blond shinobi to his musings.

Chapter Text

Uchiha Sasuke was not one to express his feelings, however, nowadays he'd been smiling. It might have been the fact that he was away from any and all Shinobi, which he hadn't thought possible. He'd heard of the Outside, but he'd never thought of actually going there. Until now. He'd been traveling from island to island for a while now and he liked the anonymity. No one had heard of the Uchiha, shinobi or the Hidden Villages. He didn't think he'd ever felt so free.

Of course, all good things come to an end eventually and the last Uchiha's sense of euphoria came crashing down when he spotted a very familiar blond idiot. Not in the flesh, oh no, if only it had been that simple. No, he spotted a Wanted Poster with the idiot's picture plastered on it. It was only natural he took someone's paper and didn't pay any mind to their indignant sputtering as he read through the article.

“... Usuratonkachi...” Sasuke sighed in exasperation as he read of the Marineford War. He knew how to filter the propaganda to get the actual story and what he was reading made him want to strangle the Dobe. Why had he decided to involve himself in the affairs of the strongest Pirate Captain currently alive?

… actually, that was a very good question. Why had the Dobe gone to Marineford? The raven-haired Shinobi narrowed his eyes. There was more going on than what the government knew. Naruto might be a bleeding heart, but even he wouldn't meddle in something like this without a reason. Furthermore... this reason was something Naruto had left the Leaf over. This was serious. Naruto loved Konoha, there was nothing that could make him...

Sasuke dropped the paper and crossed his fingers in front of his face, eyes narrowing as an idea formed in his mind. It was a long shot, but Sasuke did know of something that would make the idiot leave the village.

Family.

Naruto had found someone related to him among the Whitebeard Pirates, and Sasuke was going to find out who. He was also going to track down the Dobe and have words with him. His left arm ached, reminding him of their final fight at the Valley of the End. Both of them had almost lost their arms that day and boy had Sakura chewed them out over that.

He hadn't been able to stay. After everything he'd done he'd... he'd decided to wander. If his journey took him as far away from Konoha then, well, no one would know.

Sasuke stood up and tucked his sword in his belt, leaving the appropriate amount of money on the counter as he left, the Wanted poster tucked in the inner pocket of his jacket. The high collar obscured the lower half of his face but everyone would see his frown as he departed. He had a pirate crew to find.

He was on his way towards one of Whitebeard's islands when he bumped into him. A blond man with a burn scar on his face, wearing what looked like Noble attire... and a lead pipe strapped to his back. He was talking into one of those strange snails that weren't summons yet worked similarly to Sakura's slugs... the only difference being that you could actually hear the person on the other end instead of it being Katsuyu narrating.

“-just a little while, Koala! I need to go see him now, before it becomes awkward, I've remembered for a month now, if I wait longer and he finds out, he'll fry me for real! It's only a slight detour to the Moby Dick, I won't even be that late.”

Sasuke couldn't hear the other person that clearly, he was too far away for that, but he was close enough to be able to jump down behind the man when he hung up mid-sentence.

“You know where the Whitebeards are?”

Sasuke had to admit, the man had great reflexes, even as he blocked the ridiculous weapon with his sword.

“Calm down, I'm looking for them myself. A friend of mine knows them and they probably have a way of contacting him. You won't even notice I'm following you and can claim ignorance once we're there.”

The man still looked dubious and didn't seem like he'd relent anytime soon, so Sasuke sighed and resorted to underhanded tactics.

Sabo shook his head, looking around, not remembering what he was supposed to be doing. Oh, right, he'd argued with Koala and then hung up on her, deciding he was going to visit Ace on the Moby anyway, no matter what she said. Turning around to head tot he docs, the blond ex-noble didn't notice the dark shadow following him, red pinwheel eyes fading to black.

Now, where was it the Whitebeards had been going again?

Chapter Text

Sabo made what could be considered a beeline to the Moby Dick, the journey only taking a week. He wasn't sure why he was in such a hurry, but he was taking very few breaks. He didn't want to miss the crew, it was more difficult than people would assume to track down a crew as big as the Whitebeards. Especially if you were looking for a specific member of the crew. Thankfully, Ace would most certainly be on the Moby Dick, if only due to the fact that his chosen family would be overprotective.

This, he supposed, could make his appearance a bit problematic, but he only needed to get enough words in before Ace could react. Should be easy, he supposed, but only if no one managed to interrupt him, so he had to talk fast.

He made it to the island only a couple of days after the Whitebeards had docked there, which was actually quite impressive. The blond didn't waste time congratulating himself, however, and instead made his way towards the ship. He'd tied his own little boat not too far off, but it was still a short walk to get to the gang-plank, due to the sheer size of the vessel.

Once he did get there, he stopped and eyed it, then the ship, then pursed his lips as his thoughts whirred.

This was going to be awkward no matter how he introduced himself.

With a sigh, he secured the pipe on his back, clutched the bottle in his hand and marched up the ramp, trying to convey that he was not a threat with his body-language. He seemed to have succeeded, since the pirates that noticed him looked only slightly weary. It might have had something to do with the fact he was just casually strolling onboard or the fact the sun had almost set already, but at least no one appeared hostile.

Sabo scanned the deck once he made it that far and spotted his target pretty easily. He then started walking towards a familiar figure, even if he mostly remembered him as a ten-year-old, while expertly dodging the pirates trying to talk to him. Evidently, the raven had noticed something was amiss, as he had started to rise from his position on a barrel and turn his way when he froze at the words that left Sabo's mouth.

“I was surprised it was Luffy who did it.” the blond said breezily, apparently his voice somehow ringing bells in his idiot older brother's brain “Punching a Celestial Dragon? Honestly sounds more like something the Ace I know would do.” he then sighed forlornly “But, I don't really know you anymore, do I? Ten years is a long time, after all, so I'm... not as surprised as I perhaps should be that you mellowed out somewhat.”

By now, everyone had stopped what they were doing and were staring at him and Ace, but he didn't pay them any mind, the Revolutionary only had eyes for Ace, who finally straightened up and turned to face him, eyes wide.

“Sabo?”

The way that name left Ace's lips made Sabo's eyes soften, he'd never heard the other sounding so lost and broken “Did you guys know?” he asked, repeating words Ace had once said, tossing the bottle to Ace, who caught it just barely, staring at the label “If you share sake, you become brothers?”

His brother looked at the bottle, before staring at him, then it, then him again, before putting it down. “Is it really you?”

The blond smiled at him “Yeah... sorry I didn't come back.”

The raven-haired man's face screwed up as he lunged and Sabo braced himself. Only, instead of the punch he'd been expecting, he received a bone-crushing hug instead “You idiot! Where the hell have you been?!”

Arms trapped, the Revolutionary couldn't reciprocate the embrace and instead answered “Well, after the World Noble sunk my boat, I was saved by the Revolutionaries. Unfortunately, I had zero memories of anything except the fact that I did not want to return.”

Ace's arms tightened and Sabo marveled he could still breathe, but once again paid attention when he heard a whispered “I missed you so much...”

The Chief of Staff swallowed “Yeah,” he choked out “missed you guys too.”

“How touching.”

Everyone whipped to face the unknown voice, their tone bored and dark with something none could name. The word one could use to describe the person would have been 'black'. The man had black hair, black eyes and black clothes, though the shirt under the black cloak was lavender. The man possessed open-toe sandals that otherwise obscured his feet, fingerless black gloves that reached under his sleeves and a katana which parted his black cloak.

All in all, he made an intimidating figure. One that had snuck onto their ship without alerting anyone of their presence.

The man shook his left hand free from the cloak and brought it up towards his face, his thumb, index- and middle-finger extended upwards while his ring- and pinky-finger were folded down “Thank you for leading me here, but your usefulness has run out.” he said drolly, eying his surroundings disdainfully “Kai.”

Everyone could feel a pulse of something from the man and then Sabo stumbled and clutched his head, face scrunched up, before his face cleared and he sprung a few steps backwards “You! What the hell did you do to me?”

Ace stepped in between his brother and the apparent threat, who only shrugged, left arm once again obscured by his cloak, his right resting on the hilt of his sword “You wouldn't co-operate, so I cast a genjutsu to make you ignore my existence and essentially forget you'd ever seen me. It worked out wonderfully, but I'm not cruel enough to let someone live inside an illusion for all eternity.”

There was something in his words that weighed down on everyone, but the fact still stood that he had used his powers on Ace's brother... well, other brother, and had been pretty antagonistic ever since he'd brought attention to himself.

“Now,” the man continued, his eyes roaming over all the people present “which one of you is related to that blond idiot?”

What?

Everything came to a screeching halt.

It was Ace who realized exactly who he was talking about, and more people would have been offended by that fact if they hadn't still been reeling from the question “What do you want with Naruto?”

No way were they letting this unknown harm Oyaji's grandson.

The black-haired individual zeroed in on the Fire Logia “He stuck around then, good.” his eyes narrowed slightly “The fact you care means he probably left you a way to contact him.”

It was stupid, but many of them glanced at the kunai their technical nephew had left them if they needed him urgently. It hung from a hook in the main mast. Those glances were all it took for the unknown to spot it too and everyone could tell he knew exactly what it was used for.

“Hiraishin. The Dobe actually mastered it.” they all could hear the disbelief, before the man continued, sounding smug “Good.”

They knew what he wanted a moment before he moved, which meant there were already people in between him and the kunai when he lunged.

They may have been better equipped to deal with shinobi than they had been before they got to know Naruto, but they were still no match for a ninja on a mission.

Secretly grinning, Sasuke grasped the kunai. Now he'd have some answers.

Chapter Text

Naruto wasn't doing anything important when the Kunai hit. He was actually sitting on the edge of some cliff not too far from the Marine Laboratory he just thoroughly ransacked and blew up. This was why it took him no time at all to react to the feeling of the Hiraishin Kunai being thrown to the ground. Quick as lightning, Konoha's most unpredictable shinobi jumped up and went to the marker. He didn't know why they'd used it, but his family was the only one he'd given a Hiraishin kunai to and told how to summon him with it. He hoped it wasn't anything too serious.

The scene he arrived to was confusing, considering he was facing a bunch of Whitebeards, all in battle-stances. The whiskered ninja slowly straightened from his crouch and scratched his head.

“What's up?” he asked, knowing there was something wrong, but not sensing anything dangerous.

It was Marco that broke the silence, gesturing at him as he said “Naruto, get over here, yoi.”

Before said blond could even open his mouth, a voice from behind cut him off “Hn.”

The change in posture was so abrupt it's a wonder he didn't suffer from whiplash. This was the thought going through everyone else's minds as Naruto turned to face the only person that grunt could possibly have come from.

And lo and behold, in front of Naruto stood the broody bastard himself, alive and well. A sunny grin split his face in two as he stepped towards his team member “Sasuke!”

Sasuke's lips twitched, making Naruto beam even more, even though he knew the bastard would never admit it, he knew the Uchiha was happy to see him. Before he could pull him into a hug though, the ravenette's hand shot out, hitting Naruto in the face with a paper.

“Hn, Dobe, what the hell is this?”

Taking a step back to look at a familiar wanted poster, Naruto pondered how he was supposed to answer “It's, uh, a long story?” he ended up saying sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

He was actually proud of the fact that instead of being able to come up with a retort, Sasuke instead brought his other hand up to his face and sighed.

Holy crap, he just made Uchiha Sasuke speechless.

Naruto laughed sheepishly as he continued “I, uh, may have demolished one of the Marines' most important landmarks? I didn't even go into full Bijuu-mode!” he hastened to explain when a single black eye stared at him from between Sasuke's fingers.

Removing his hand, the Uchiha sighed “Honestly, can you go somewhere without causing panic and mayhem? Have you ever heard of stealth?”

Naruto became affronted at that “Excuse me? You're one to talk Mister-Suddenly-Appears-On-A-Battlefield-To-Announce-Changing-Sides.”

Sasuke huffed, mock-annoyed “I was not noticed until I was already there, besides, I can be stealthy because I am not wearing Kill-Me-Orange.”

Naruto took a faux threatening step forwards “Don't diss the orange! I painted almost the entire Hokage Monument before I was caught! At the age of 12!”

Instead of a comeback, Sasuke became silent, before softly murmuring “Ah, the Hokage monument...” his eyes glazing over for a moment before he sighed “'I will become Hokage', huh?”

Naruto blinked and straightened at the change in tone, not understanding.

Sasuke continued, looking out to sea “What happened to that dream? Becoming Hokage, being acknowledged by everyone... I never thought you'd leave the village, Naruto.”

That was the first time during this entire exchange that the ravenette had spoken his name, heck, it was the first time since he'd stepped onto the ship that he'd spoken his name.

“So, why did you?” he continued, looking the blond straight in the eyes.

The Jinchuuriki met his gaze head on and said nothing for a moment, before smirking lightly “I think you know why, you were always the smart one.”

Sasuke's lips twitched to mirror his smirk and he shook his head ruefully, eyes closed

“Usuratonkachi.” he chuckled, unfolding his arms, having stashed the poster away sometime after the face-palm “So, which one is it? If I didn't know better I'd say it was Portgas, but if the two of you were related you would have rescued him on your own instead of just sitting back and playing around.”

The Whitebeards shuddered in perfect unison if Marineford was Naruto just 'playing around', then what would he be like when he was serious?

Naruto shrugged one shoulder and grinned “Can't deny that. C'mon, where's that Uchiha genius?”

The raven tsked with a grin that matched the blond “With your track-record? It's Whitebeard, isn't it?”

The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki clapped almost sarcastically “Theeeere it is!”

Another exasperated sigh.

Sabo decided to pipe up “I take it you two know each other?”

Naruto turned to the one person he didn't recognize at all “Yeah. Everyone, this is Uchiha Sasuke. We're best friends.”

“You make it sound like I had a choice in the matter.” the Uchiha deadpanned.

Naruto laughed, then realized something “Oh yeah, why were you looking so hostile when I Hiraishined here?”

There was an awkward silence at that. The blond Uzumaki slowly turned to his brother in all but blood with pursed lips, an eyebrow rising at the sight of the Uchiha not meeting his eyes.

“Sasuke... what did you do?”

Instead of answering, the Konoha Shinobi vanished.

Naruto stomped his foot on the deck and practically breathed flames “Teme! Come back here and face me like a man!” before disappearing too.

What followed was a bunch of waves and many gusts of wind coming from a spot on the water where, apparently, the two shinobi were fighting.

Izo suddenly spoke up “You know, I can't tell if they're married, they're rivals, siblings, they owe each other money or if they want each other's head mounted on the wall...”

There was a brief silence before Ace said “I kinda don't wanna know what's going on... but I don't think this guy is actually dangerous to Naruto.”

Marco had hopped up on the railing and was looking through a telescope at the two fighters “Well, they're smiling, so there's that, at least. Wow, it's like watching Ace and Luffy fight together at Marineford, except that they're fighting against each other, yoi.”

There was another moment of semi-silence, before Sabo thought of something “How powerful are their attacks if we can feel them from all the way over here?”

At this point, Whitebeard also showed up “What is going on?”

Marco absently answered “Naruto's sparring with his... whoever. Also, Ace has another brother, yoi.”

Newgate nodded “I see.”

A pause.

“Please tell the brat to introduce me to his friend as soon as they're done.”

“Roger that, yoi.”

Eventually, the duo returned to the ship, sweating and breathing heavily, but grinning like idiots. Well, Sasuke was smirking, but it was his equivalent of a silly grin. Once they'd cought their breath a little, Naruto extended his right hand, two fingers outstretched. No one in the audience understood what he was doing until Sasuke did the same. The two of them hooked the fingers as if shaking hands and even though none recognized the gesture, they understood it was significant.

Naruto grinned “It's great to see you again, Sasuke.”

The raven smirked as he replied “Stop getting in so much trouble, Uzuratonkachi.”

“No promises!”

“Hn.”

“C'mon, I need to introduce you to the old man.”

“Hn.”

“Hey, I'm not that bad!”

“Hn.”

“Teme!”

“Hn...”

Sabo stared after the duo as they disappeared in the same direction as Whitebeard “What the heck just happened?”

Ace laid down on the deck, his hat over his eyes “Dunno, but if I ignore it, it will go away.”

Sabo turned to stare exasperatedly at his brother “I take it back, you haven't changed a bit.”

“Hey!”

As the two bickered, the rest of the Whitebeards smiled. It seemed things were looking up after all.

Almost two years later, they pinned a new Wanted Poster to the wall. Their little nephew and his friend were doing just fine it seemed.

Uchiha “Hellspawn” Sasuke
Wanted: Dead or Alive
650,000,000 Beri

And,

Newgate “Thousand Flash” Naruto
Wanted: Dead or Alive
700,000,000 Beri

The kids were alright. And they couldn't be prouder. Now, if only the Straw Hat Pirates would resurface, then Ace would stop driving them all up the wall.