Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer

~N~

All the World's Wonders, Chapter 3

~N~

It had been about a week since the Doomed and her crew left Go Island. The three men had settled into a routine as Sasuke and Shikamaru got used to the galley's peculiarities. Each had their own room, and they had shared the ship's duties evenly.

Sailing was a calming experience, for the most part. A nasty storm had struck up during the fourth day, but some quick thinking from Shikamaru had allowed them to escape it mostly unharmed.

They would be arriving to the first destination of their Log Pose, Jaya island, within the week, according to Shikamaru. He warned them that it was mostly a pirate hotspot and to be careful.

At the moment, Naruto was inspecting something in the sky above.

"Oi, guys, what's that?"

Shikamaru drifted from his lazy goofing by the railing to approach the helm. He raised a hand to block the sun and squinted to see what Naruto was pointing at.

"What are you seeing, Naruto?"

"It's a weird bird. It's … wearing a hat and carries a … bag?" Naruto frowned as he said it, as if disbelieving his own eyes. Shikamaru scowled, because he could barely spot a flying shape, never mind a hat or a bag.

"It's the News Coo, Naruto."

Naruto blinked. "The what?"

"The News Coo. They're delivery birds that spread the newspaper. Don't you have that in Konoha?"

Naruto shrugged. He'd never noticed any such weird birds. He raised his hands to his mouth and yelled at the top of his voice.

"Oi, newspaper bird! Down here!"

"Pipe down, moron." Sasuke's voice drawled from where he was rounding up some rope. Nevertheless, Naruto's holler did draw the attention of the News Coo bird, which cawed before swooping down. It landed on the railing and turned on its side, so that the pack of newspapers was presented to them.

Seeing as Naruto was too preoccupied with stammering how cool the bird was, the navigator of the Doomed approached and removed a single newspaper. The News Coo bird immediately took off again, continuing its way.

Naruto was busy watching the bird fly away, so Shikamaru returned to his slouching position and opened the paper, a bored look on his face.

"Anything interesting?" Sasuke called.

"Wait a bit, I'm reading."

"Let me know."

Shikamaru grunted in reply, continuing to read. His eyes widened slightly from their usual half-closed state as he read the front page.

"Hmm."

"What is it?"

"One of the Warlords was given the boot."

This drew Naruto's attention, who rushed to his side.

"Eh? One of the Warlords?"

"The Seven Warlords of the Sea? Pirate lapdogs of the government?"

"I know who the Warlords are! What happened?"

Shikamaru could tell Sasuke was paying close attention, though he didn't stop his work.

"Well, it says here that Warlord Crocodile was the mastermind behind the unrest and civil war in the country of Alabasta." His eyes kept going further and further down the page. "His list of crimes is quite extensive."

"Damn. A civil war? What for?"

"Some plot to take over from the Royal Family, apparently."

"Where is Crocodile now?" Sasuke asked.

"Probably on his way to Impel Down." Naruto muttered.

"Our illustrious captain is correct. Crocodile has been confirmed to have been sentenced to Impel Down. He's no longer a Warlord."

"How did he fuck up?"

Shikamaru frowned. "The article is not really informative on that. It just says that a captain Smoker defeated and arrested him. Apparently his heroic actions were enough to promote him to Commodore."

"Must have been pretty strong to take down a Warlord."

"I heard that Crocodile was a logia type." Sasuke said.

"No way!" Naruto said. "What type?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No idea."

"There's also a list of new bounties." Shikamaru whistled. "Some impressive rookies."

"Oh?"

"Check this out." Shikamaru said, turning to the right page. "These guys are from the same crew. Zoro Roronoa from the East Blue, first bounty, 60 million Beli."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "That's impressive for a first bounty, even in the Grand Line, never mind the East Blue."

"Wait till you hear this, then. Monkey D. Luffy from the East Blue, bounty updated from 30 million to 100 million, captain of the Straw Hat pirates."

"100 million? Seriously? For a seventeen year old rookie from the East Blue, that's damn impressive. Who the hell did the kid piss off?"

Shikamaru frowned again. "It doesn't say."

"What, nothing? 100 million bounties don't just grow on trees." Naruto said, rolling his eyes.

"Nothing, but they purportedly caused chaos in Alabasta about the same time Crocodile was defeated. Their crew has more members apparently, but none of them have bounties."

Naruto scratched his chin. "I don't think we're getting the full story, here."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his captain. "You think? Usually the Government likes to stress out the crimes of pirates, yet not a word on these guys. Whatever they did, they must want to keep it a secret while still bringing those guys down."

Naruto shrugged. "Well, good for them."

"For the pirates?" Shikamaru asked. "They'll have tons of bounty hunters after them now."

"Well, yeah, but bounties are cool, aren't they? Don't the pirates use them in dick measuring contests? Well, this guy's dick just got a whole lot bigger."

"Naruto," Sasuke said in a monotone "you're a real idiot."

"And you're even more of an idiot because you follow me."

Sasuke froze. He opened his mouth, frowned, paused, and closed it again. After a few seconds of thought, he shook his head and returned to his work.

"Anything else that's interesting?"

"Shikamaru skimmed the rest of the pages. "Nah. Some new Marine regulations, but nothing we should care about."

"Man," Naruto whined "are we there yet?"

"We'll get there when we get there, Naruto." Shikamaru sighed. "It'll be a few days more, so pipe down, would you?"

"Whatever." The captain dismissed as he headed to the bow of the ship, to the long mast that extended from there, called a bowsprit. There was little actual work for him to do at the moment, and he was bored, so he took to staring out at sea.

Three days later, the peace of their voyage was interrupted.

"Oi, I see something." Naruto said from his normal position on the bowsprit, one hand up to block the sun. His yell pulled Sasuke's attention from where he was tending to the sails of the foremast, and he looked in the direction his captain was looking.

"It looks like … a ship?" Was all Sasuke could make out from this distance. "I think the flag is black, but it could be a trick of the light."

"It's black alright," Naruto said "they're pirates."

"How can you tell? You don't have a spyglass."

"Mythical Zoan senses, right here baby."

"Hn. You're still a loser."

"Would you quit it, ladies?" Shikamaru admonished, walking out of the ship's interior and coming to a stop near Naruto.

"You say they're pirates?"

"Yeah. I think their Jolly Roger has … long blond hair?" Naruto asked, sounding puzzled.

"Really?" Sasuke asked, causing the captain to shrug his shoulders.

"That's what I'm seeing."

"They seem to be heading straight for us." Shikamaru noted. "We could probably evade them if we open full sail and turn tailwind-"

"Wait, evade them?" Sasuke cut him out, before scoffing. "Don't be ridiculous."

"You want to wait here for the pirates?"

"Not wait. Continue our course. If the pirates want to come to us, let them."

Shikamaru turned to the captain. "You agree with letting a probably hostile pirate crew approach us?"

Naruto shrugged again. "None of the bigshots I'm aware of have this Jolly Roger, so how tough can they be? Besides, it's getting awfully boring lately. Some exercise would be great."

"The fact that they're not well known doesn't necessarily mean they're weak."

"Regardless."

Shikamaru groaned and rubbed at his eyes. "Whatever. Just don't sink us, don't die, and don't involve me. I'm not a fighter."

"Dibs on the captain!" Sasuke called from above.

"No way!" Naruto yelled. "The captain is mine. You had those seven dudes back on Go Island! Don't be greedy."

"I did that on your orders."

"You still did it."

"Whatever. Then I want everyone else."

"You can deal with the small fry, I'll take the captain."

Shikamaru, who had watched the byplay, had few things to say.

"Tche. Troublesome crew."

The pirates caught up to them within the next two hours, and Naruto obligingly ordered that the Doomed halt and wait for them while they closed the last leg of distance between them.

The pirate ship was bigger, at least three times the Doomed's size, and came to a halt a dozen meters away from them. They could see pirates on the railing, holdings swords and flintlocks and laughing.

One man stepped forward above them, and they instantly recognized him as the captain from flowing blond hair, matching that from the Joly Roger. He was wearing a stylized captain's coat, colored in shades of red and black. He was relatively young, probably no older than thirty.

"Greetings, unfortunate crew of the sea." The captain called in a smooth, almost silky voice.

"Greetings, yourself." Naruto, as the captain, responded. "Can we help you?"

"Indeed you may." The pirate captain said. "By relinquishing all earthly possessions, including this fine galley of yours, to our care. However, I am kind, and shall not kill you. You need only evacuate the vessel. I do not see a dinghy on your ship, but I'm sure we can repurpose a few barrels for your convenience. Jaya is not far, and you should be able to make it, sea willing." The captain finished his speech with a smile.

"And who exactly are you?"

"Ah, what terrible manners that I have. You must excuse me. My name is Bill Cartor, and I am known in these seas as 'Kind' Bill."

"Say, Bill," Naruto began, tapping a finger on his chin "your ship is reaaally big and your crew looks reaaaally scary. Surely a pirate such as yourself has a bounty, right? A high one, certainly."

Kind Bill, obviously very flattered, blushed and shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot.

"Your compliments have no effect on me, you poor unfortunate captain." He said as he waved some air at himself.

"Of course, of course. Do tell me though, do you have a bounty?"

"I am the owner of a 52 million Beli bounty, as it happens. The Government does not agree with my actions, you see. They call it 'piracy'." Kind Bill chuckled, amused at his own wit.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, who had joined him by the railing, and raised an eyebrow.

"Good enough." Sasuke shrugged.

"Interesting as meeting you has been, I think it's about time we got on with our business." Kind Bill said. "We'll be taking your ship."

"No Bill, I don't think you will."

Kind Bill raised an eyebrow. "And how will you stop us? You're not marines, and I am aware of all bounties above 40 million. I don't want to kill you, but I will if you resist."

"Don't worry about killing us, Bill. We're coming up."

"Eh?"

That said, Naruto and Sasuke jumped, managing the dozen meters in height difference between their ships with no problem. They landed on the railing and before any of the pirates could react, had hopped again and landed in the middle of the deck.

To their credit, the pirates didn't stay dumbfounded for long. They surrounded the two of them, and Bill walked out of the crowd to stand in front of them.

"You wish to fight me in the middle of my ship and all of my crew? Brave, but foolish. You can't take on all of us."

"I won't." Naruto stated. He pointed to Sasuke with his thumb. "He will. I'll only take care of you, and you better be worth the trade I made, or I'll be pissed."

"Fool!" Kind Bill shouted. "You have spurned your chance to leave here alive!"

"And who will take me down, you? Don't make me laugh."

"Witness my power!" With Bill's shout, his hair, for lack of a better expression, came alive. It started waving by itself and lengthened, forming in shapes around Bill's head.

"I ate the Nobi-Nobi no Mi, and can extend parts of my body at will!"

"I'll let you have fun with the weirdo captain." Sasuke said. With that, he walked towards the rest of the pirates, slowly removing his sword from its sheath with an almost lazy move. He popped his head to the left side to a satisfying crack, and finally let his gaze rest on the enemies in front of him.

"Alright then, who's first?"

Watching Sasuke begin to tear into the pirates, Naruto turned his gaze back to Kind Bill. His hair had now grown long enough to cover him completely and form shapes around him. Layer upon layer of blond hair knotted and formed itself into a dense armor around his body, covering him completely. At the same time, several tuffs of hair formed themselves into a sword. Despite being formed out of hair of all things, it looked pretty sharp to Naruto.

"Nobi-Nobi Armor! Nobi-Nobi Sword!" Bill declared once his technique was completed and his hair stopped growing.

"Before I kill you, I want to know your name, stranger."

"Naruto Uzumaki. I do have a question of my own, though. Is your hair the only thing you can extend? Can you actually extend your limbs or something like that? Do you ever extend your nose hair or chest hair? That could be uncomfortable, I bet. Not to mention, y'know, disgusting."

His words had the intended effect of angering the pirate captain.

"Enough talking! Die!" With that yell, he rushed at Naruto and swung his sword.

Naruto cursed inwardly as he barely dodged the swing in time. He'd severely underestimated Bill's speed of overestimated his own. Regardless, his clothes now sported a fresh cut along the torso. He had to focus or he'd get skewered by Bill's hair.

Bill rushed him again, and Naruto sidestepped the weapon, bringing his fist crashing down on the side of the pirate captain's head. When his fist made contact with the blond hair, Naruto felt like he was hitting solid stone. His punch did throw Kind Bill away from him, but his hand ached.

"Shit, that's some tough hair you've got."

Bill didn't reply, instead coming for another bout. Naruto once again dodged the sword swipe and the follow up slash, but failed to nail Bill with another punch. He and Bill danced around the deck, avoiding the gaggle of pirates who were running after Sasuke who was picking them off one by one. Like Naruto, he seemed to have underestimated the pirates a bit. Though they still posed no threat to him individually, they were skilled and organized enough to try to fight him as a group.

Avoiding another slash, Naruto decided to put some distance between him and Bill, and jumped all the way up the first mast, landing softly and looking down at his opponent to see what his next move would be.

Bill extended his hand towards him and a few strands of his hair followed his movement.

"Nobi-Nobi Rain!" He called, and the strands of hair flew in Naruto's direction.

"Shit!" Naruto threw himself to the side of the beam he was balancing on, letting the hair embed themselves harmlessly on the wood. Seeing the hair vanish in the wood made Naruto thankful that he'd decided to throw caution to the wind and dodge.

"By rapidly extending my hair and cutting their connection, I can create hair bullets with immense piercing power." Bill explained.

Naruto jumped off the beam, bringing his entire momentum forward and aiming an axe kick towards Bill. The pirate wisely decided to dodge, and Naruto's foot foot landed on the deck where he had been standing a second earlier.

The heavy wood broke, Naruto's foot sinking into it up until his ankle. He rose and shook his foot off the hole, just in time to duck under Bill's hair sword.

"I've about had it with this sword." Naruto growled. He snapped his hand forward, gripping Bill's hand on the sword's handle Naruto twisted his hand, forcing Bill to let go of the hair sword with a grunt of pain. Naruto managed to get rid of the sword, and he accepted the punch to his chin in exchange for it. It stung, but Bill wasn't particularly strong to actually deal enough damage to worry him.

"Nobi-Nobi Claws!" Bill shouted as he swung at Naruto. The younger blond managed to duck under the swipe of his hand and kick him in the chest as he rose again. The kick didn't seem to damage him through the hair armor, but it did push him back and putting some distance between them.

Naruto saw Bill's nails extended and sharpened, resembling claws.

"Okay." He said, and rushed him. Having seen what Bill was more or less capable of, Naruto decided to go on the offensive. He engaged the pirate in close combat, taking care to dodge the man's sharp nails while landing his own blows.

"Give it up!" Bill shouted after he took another of Naruto's punches to the gut and only grunted. "Your hits can't hurt me."

Naruto didn't say anything, only grabbed the man's wrist and twisting his arm behind him, trying to bring into a hold from which he could overpower the pirate. Bill was crafty, however, and managed to twist himself so that he turned rather than have his hand forced behind his back. His free hand surged forward and he was too close for Naruto to stop him.

Kind Bill drove his elongated nails deep into Naruto's gut, making him cry out in pain as the force of the stab lifted him off his feet and threw him several meters away. Naruto landed heavily on his back and his right hand immediately found the wounds on his abdomen, holding them to try and stem the blood flow.

"It's over." Kind Bill said as he slowly approached Naruto, the younger man's blood dripping from his nails. "You were a worthy adversary, but it is your time to die."

After a few seconds had passed, Naruto stopped wheezing in pain and his hand dropped from his gut. Despite this, no fresh blood flowed.

Kind Bill stopped moving when he saw Naruto slowly rise to his feet. He was even more unnerved when he heard him chuckle.

"That really fucking hurt, you know." He stood straight, and through his torn clothing Bill could see unmarred skin.

"What are you?" For the first time, wariness found its way to Bill's voice.

Naruto ignored his question. "You know, I really underestimated you. I guess I learned something from our encounter, eh? You're better than I thought, I'll give you that, and I never expected to have trouble from someone whose power is to lengthen their hair and nails. However…"

When Naruto looked at Bill again, his eyes were feline slits and his irises were an eerie red color.

"It's time I showed you my own Devil Fruit."

"Your own Devil Fruit…" Bill repeated, as if in a daze as he watched Naruto. Red energy had began to swirl around him as his nails elongated and turned into claws. His whisker marks grew more pronounced, and his face turned feral.

"Prepare yourself!" With that, Naruto made ready to pounce.

Which he would have, if Sasuke hadn't sailed through the air between him and Bill, to crash heavily against the mast. Naruto stopped his movement and tilted his head to look at his first mate. Sasuke's lip was split and blood was running from a gash in his head. Naruto looked towards where Sasuke had come from and saw that while the Uchiha had taken care of all of the pirate crew, one person remained. He yielded a sword and a confident smirk was on his face.

"Having trouble?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"Shut up." Was his first mate's gruff reply as he picked himself up. "I thought I saw two guys climb down to our ship, earlier."

"Eh, Shikamaru can take care of himself. I think."

"Hn." With that said, Sasuke rushed back to his opponent, brandishing his sword.

Naruto returned his gaze at Bill, who had watched the exchange with a half interested half incredulous look.

"Where were we?" Naruto asked, and vanished.

He reappeared behind Bill and swiped a clawed hand at him. Instinct or experience made the pirate duck and roll forward, which enabled him to avoid the swipe and the follow up kick. As Bill rose to his feet again, they both watched the tuffs of hair that Naruto's swipe had cut fall to the ground.

"Pretty sure that can hurt you." Naruto said with a smirk.

Kind Bill said nothing, only condensed his hair armor even more as he formed two small, wicked knives with his hair, before charging at him.

Brave as it was of him, Naruto clearly had the advantage in speed with his partial transformation. He ducked under the first swing of the left knife and caught the second in his claws. He had no trouble tearing through the weapon. Sharp as it was, it was still made out of hair.

The pirate captain let go of the ruined weapon and aimed a punch at Naruto, which he tilted his head to the left to avoid. He pushed Bill's remaining weapon to the side with his left hand and punched him in the gut. Bill doubled over in pain as he was driven back by the force of the blow. He found his balance quickly, and when he spat blood on the deck he looked more angry than hurt.

He pointed his hand at Naruto. "Nobi-Nobi Rain!"

Even with his enhanced speed, he couldn't dodge all of projectiles at this range. A few of them pierced into his right shoulder and hand. They stung, but didn't do too much damage. A brush of his left hand freed the now limp hair and the wounds closed. They were small, but deep.

Naruto charged Bill and grabbed the wrist that still held a weapon in one hand. With the other, he swiped at the pirate's chest. Being held and being so close, he had no chance to dodge. Naruto's claws tore through the man's hair armor and dug into his chest, forming four long gashes. The wounds would have been much worse without the armor, but Naruto managed to break through it, nonetheless.

He blinked, and looked at his left shoulder where Kind Bill had buried his own elongated nails, his fingers digging into Naruto's flesh up to the second knuckle.

Naruto blinked again, and then casually swiped his claws over the left side of the man's face.

Bill released him immediately, falling to deck and holding his head as he screamed in pain, which was adorned by five new gashes that would probably be with him for the rest of his life.

"My face! What did you do to my beautiful face you animal!" Bill managed to yell between pained cries. Interestingly, his hair shortened back to their normal state, as did his nails.

"Now you look like an actual, seasoned pirate." Naruto said as he tested his left shoulder. The wounds there were healing slowly, but it would still take a minute or two for the deeper ones to close completely.

He looked further down the deck, where Sasuke and the unnamed swordsman were still exchanging blows. Naruto could follow their moves, but the skill displayed went right over his head. Sasuke seemed to have his hands full, and Naruto wouldn't interfere.

He retrieved rope, which he used to tie up the skill crying pirate captain.

"Oh settle down, it's hardly fatal." He admonished the older man. "We'll find you something to wrap it with while we sail."

"Wha-… what do you mean?"

"You have a bounty, right? We're giving you to the marines."

Naruto ignored Bill's threats and bribes and begs, which got progressively more outlandish, in favor of looking down at his own ship and trying to spot his navigator.

He saw Shikamaru on the deck of the Doomed, sitting on top of a rather fat and unconscious pirate, while playing with a sword, obviously stolen, in his hand. The Nara saw him and waved lazily. Naruto couldn't see the other pirate anywhere, but assumed that he'd been taken care of, as well.

A loud cry of pain drew his attention, and he saw Sasuke finish his own battle. He was sheathing his sword as the enemy swordsman fell to the ground, clutching an massive cut on his chest. Naruto approached and came to a stop besides his panting first mate.

"He is …"

"I didn't kill any of them." Sasuke cut him off. Naruto nodded.

"Good, good. We'll be delivering them to the marines, so let's tie them up."

Shikamaru climbed up to help after being asked to, and he whistled appreciatively at the carnage. They set about tying up the beaten pirate crew.

"So how was that swordsman?" Naruto asked Sasuke as they worked.

"Much better than I expected. After dealing with the small fry I thought he'd be the same. He wasn't. I could predict his movements, but he was still tricky."

Naruto scratched his hair. "You could predict his movements?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'll explain some other time."

Shrugging, Naruto moved on. "He injured you?"

"Some nasty hits, and a few cuts here and there, but nothing serious. How was the captain?"

"Better than I expected, as well. His Devil Fruit was retarded, but he had some pretty good moves with it. Even got me a few times." Naruto said with a wince, as his left shoulder sent a stab of pain through his senses. "You probably would have had an easier time with him, with your sword and everything."

"Eh, I'm glad things worked out as they did."

"Yeah." Easy fights were boring, anyway.

After tying up the crew, they searched the ship for anything valuable. They took several barrels of rum and crates filled with food and transferred them to the Doomed. The ship would be searched by the marines, anyhow, and everything in it confiscated. They found a single trunk full of money, and several of them full of books and maps. The last victims of the Kind Pirates must not have been as loaded as the pirates must have hoped. They transferred those as well.

After they were done, they released a few of the least injured pirates to steer the pirate ship, and scaring the crap out of them to make sure that they wouldn't try anything. Bill, the swordsman, and the majority of the crew remained tied up and under watch. They gave some basic first aid to the more injured ones.

"Jaya should be a few hours away." Shikamaru noted. "But it is a well known pirate haven. Despite this, it has a small marine outpost, but it is on the other side of the island. It'll take us a few extra hours to get there."

"How long until the Log Pose resets?" Naruto asked.

"Four days."

"Okay, that gives us plenty of time."

The two ships left, with the Doomed leading the way and the pirate ship following close behind, Sasuke still onboard.

By the time they had arrived within view of Jaya island, it was almost nightfall. Shikamaru led them along the coastline of the weird island, while relaying the legend that it used to be shaped like a skull, before part of the island vanished in the sky. Naruto scratched his head at the weird legend, but accepted. This was the Grand Line. Crazy shit happened.

Shikamaru explained that while the marines of this base never ventured near Mock Town, Jaya's biggest town and port, they had an outpost on the island with ships ready to sail at any time for cases exactly like theirs. With so many pirates gathered, bounties were bound to come up. The marines were there to take care of them, and to keep an eye on Mock Town so it didn't grow to be an actual threat.

The base itself was not particularly noteworthy. A complex of buildings by the sea, with a walled-off port containing a few marine vessels inside. They were hailed before they were allowed to enter the port, and made to explain the reason of their approach. After everything was sorted, they entered the port and landed.

Marines flowed into the pirate ship, taking custody of the tied up men and women and dragging them inside the base. A lieutenant took Kind Bill after identifying him as such, and informed Naruto that he should proceed inside for his reward.

Sasuke and Shikamaru opted to stay in the ship, Shikamaru because he was bored and Sasuke because he wanted to sleep after the fight they'd had earlier. Naruto shrugged and followed the marines inside the base.

There was nothing of particular interest to the building, and when he asked where he was supposed to go he was lead to a waiting hall for bounties. There he was asked to sit on a chair and wait.

"The Commander will see both of you soon." The marine that had led him here said before he left. This surprised Naruto because he thought he was alone. He looked around and spotted a woman sitting in a chair. She must have been who the marine meant.

Naruto inspected the woman more closely. She looked young, maybe about his age or a little older, with blond hair that were caught in four ponytails. She wore a short-sleeved, black kimono that reached down to her legs, with slits along the side and a lightly colored cloth wrapped around her neck and jaw that fell down her front and back. She had a red sash tied around her waist and sported fingerless black gloves.

Was that a slab of metal strapped to her back?

The woman must have noticed him staring, because she turned to look at him and scowled.

"What?" She asked tersely. He noticed she had blue eyes.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and flashed a smile, walking confidently to sit next to her. She stiffened, obviously not wanting him to sit there, but he ignored that.

"Nothing, nothing. I was wonder what that was." He asked, pointing at the piece of metal on her back.

"It's my weapon." She replied. Not very informative, but Naruto didn't expect much more than that.

"I figured that. Are you a bounty hunter?"

She seemed annoyed that he appeared determined to speak to her. Well, tough luck.

"On occasion. I dislike pirates. I dislike being attacked all the more."

"You must be strong." Naruto noted. She threw him a sideways glance.

"Your point?"

"Join my crew."

Whatever she had bee expecting, this mustn't have been it. She just stared at him for a few seconds, gathering her thoughts. Then, her scowl deepened.

"I have no desire to be a pirate."

"Ehehehe, I'm not a pirate, stupid." Naruto laughed. "Would I be standing in the middle of a marine base if I was?"

The blonde blinked a few times, and then she looked away, obviously embarrassed at her mistake.

"I'm not joining you, regardless."

"By the way, you still haven't told me your name."

"I know."

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

The woman huffed in annoyance at his inability to get the hint. Now she would be the rude one if she didn't reply.

"I'm Temari Sabaku."

"Nice to meet you, Temari."

She didn't reply to that, resolutely staring ahead.

"So where are you from?" Temari groaned again.

"Sandy Island."

"Alabasta, right?"

"Yes."

Naruto was about to speak again, but he was interrupted by the entrance of a man. He was a fellow in his fifties with greying hair, wearing a suit and the marine coat above it. He carried two cases.

"I am Commander Greyhan. I'll be giving you your rewards." He said as he approached. Both of them rose, and he stopped walking in front of them. He addressed Naruto first.

"For the capture of 'Kind' Bill Cartor, 52 million Beli. For the capture of his crew and his ship, 30 million Beli. Here you go."

He gave Naruto one briefcase and removed a sheet of paper from one of his pockets.

"State your name and the name of your ship for logistic purposes."

"Naruto Uzumaki, of the Doomed."

If the Commander found the name weird, he didn't say anything. He wrote it down with a disinterested look and turned towards Temari.

"For the capture of Suito Kareha, Mane Alerto and Jimmy Cranberry, a total of 45 million Beli. Here you go."

Temari accepted the briefcase with a nod.

"Name?"

"Temari Sabaku. I do not have a ship to declare."

"Very well." Grehan drawled. "Miss Sabaku will be escorted outside and mister Uzumaki back to his ship. Thank you for the captures and the Marines hope that you continue your exemplary behaviour."

His piece said, Greyhan turned on his heel and left. Behind him entered two marines, clearly waiting for them.

Temari nodded to one marine and motioned for him to lead the way. As she walked off, Naruto called after her.

"Yo, Temari!" She did stop and turn her head to look at him, so Naruto took that as a good sign. "Come with us, we can take you wherever."

"No thanks." And then she was gone. Naruto sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

He noticed the sympathetic smile of his marine escort. Despite himself, some color found its way to his cheeks.

"I'm usually smoother than that." He told the marine, who laughed and shook his head but didn't comment.

He was lead to where the Doomed was docked and he waved at the marine as he boarded.

He found Shikamaru dozing off next to the mast.

"Did you get the money?"

"Yeah, plus some extra for the ship and the crew."

"They give you any trouble?"

"Nah. I did meet someone interesting though."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah. Some girl from Alabasta. She'd taken out three pirates with bounties by herself."

"Shimakaru groaned. "Tche. Please don't go skirt chasing right now."

Naruto glared at him. "I was not!"

At Shikamaru's deadpan look, he amended his statement. "Okay fine, maybe I was. If you'd seen her you would have done the same. Plus, she must be strong. And she looked pretty angry."

Shikamaru scratched his chin, trying to follow Naruto's logic. "So because she looked angry you decided to hit on her?"

"I didn't hit on her, alright? I just made conversation. I don't know, I just got this feeling that she didn't know what she was doing, y'know? That she was lost."

"You got that feeling from seeing her for the first time? Are you sure it wasn't a different feeling you were getting?"

"Oi, what's with the interrogation? Let's just get the ship going."

Shikamaru shook his head at his captain's antics. His inability to stay away from hot women would get them all in trouble, eventually.

They let Sasuke sleep, as they guided the Doomed away from the marine base and closer to Mock Town. It was getting pretty late, so they decided to sleep onboard and disembark tomorrow.

The next day, the crew of the Doomed took their time finding a somewhat hidden cove that was suitably close to Mock Town. Shikamaru had told them that this was basically a town of pirates, so they took precautions. Ship hidden, then entered Mock Town proper.

Mock Town appeared peaceful from the outside and to the untrained eye. A resort, even. Hotels, bars, restaurants and welcoming smiles all around. However, the majority of the visitors, and quite a few residents, were pirates, so the three were very careful with their purses and other assorted items.

They spent the rest of the day exploring and buying provisions, which they then transported to the Doomed, themselves. At night, lacking anything better to do, they visited one of the bars.

They drank in peace for a few hours, until a group of pirates walked up to them and tried to intimidate them. Naruto, already well into his cups, would have none of that, and a massive bar brawl erupted, in which even the reluctant Sasuke and Shikamaru were pulled.

Half an hour later, a livid bar owner threw the three of them out, yelling all the while. Naruto was having the time of life and laughing merrily.

The next day was their last in Mock Town, as the Log Pose would have reset by morning and they would be able to leave.

They spent most of the day on the ship. Sasuke decided to train, explaining to Naruto that he'd had more trouble with that swordsman than he was comfortable with. Shikamaru decided to examine their loot from Kind Bill's ship, pouring over the various books and maps. This left Naruto quite bored, whose training could hardly be done in a ship and who had no desire to sit with a stuffy book.

He ended up doing various jobs around the ship, fixing stuff here and there or messing with things, rearranging supplies or whatever else came to mind.

By the time the sun was going down, he'd had enough.

"Gah!" he exclaimed. "Let's get out of here. I'm bored out of my mind." Shikamaru looked up from the chair he was sitting on and raised an eyebrow. His inquisitive expression was broken by a yawn.

"Whatever." He said as he rose.

"Oi, Uchiha! Stop swinging that thing and come out here. We're going to drink something."

He didn't receive a reply, but Sasuke did emerge from the ship's interior. The three set out, heading towards the town.

Expertly avoiding gangs of pirates, sober or drunk, they made their way towards a bar that seemed somewhat decent.

Taking a table for themselves, they ordered drinks and something to eat. The barman grimly told them that they were lucky Bellamy wasn't in the bar tonight. Naruto wondered who this guy was, but didn't much care.

They spoke in quiet tones for the next hour, enjoying their meal and drink.

Suddenly, Naruto's eyes landed on a person just entering the bar.

He waved his hand and hollered. "Oi, Temari! Over here!"

Shikamaru and Sasuke turned to look, spotting the woman who had frozen on the entrance. The blonde turned, spotted Naruto who was waving and smiling, and seemed to considering turning and marching right back out.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she seemed to resign herself to her fate and walked towards their table. Naruto scooted over and pulled a chair between himself and Shikamaru, patting it deliberately. Temari took the hint and slowly sat down.

"Hello Uzumaki." She said.

"What's this Uzumaki crap? I'm Naruto, yeah?"

"Fine."

Naruto looked at his crewmates.

"Hey guys, this is Temari. She's the strong woman I told you about that brought in those pirates. Temari, this is Sasuke Uchiha and this is Shikamaru Nara."

"Greetings." Temari said. Sasuke simply nodded at her.

"Our captain can be troublesome, so I apologise for whatever problems he caused you." Shikamaru said over his drink. This drew a small smirk from Temari and an angry shout from Naruto.

"I won't stay for long, anyway. Just a little while."

"You wanna order something?"

Temari seemed to consider it, then took one look at Naruto's exuberant face and ordered the heaviest drink the barman could make.

Sasuke leaned forward on the table.

"Naruto said you come from Alabasta. Is that true?"

Temari nodded. "Yes. From Nanohana."

"We read what happened on the newspaper. Pretty big upheavals, no?"

Temari frowned. "Yes." She replied, but before she could say anything else her drink arrived and she took some time to sip it. She grimaced at the strong taste, but accepted it.

"This Crocodile sounds like quite the character." Sasuke continued. "Do you by any chance know what his Devil Fruit was?"

"Suna-Suna no Mi." She replied in a whisper. "Sand logia."

"Ah. Sounds pretty strong."

"He was. Undoubtedly the strongest person in Alabasta."

"Hn. Not as strong as that Smoker guy, apparently."

Temari's brow furrowed.

"Who is Smoker?"

This drew confused looks from the three men.

"Commodore Smoker?" Naruto asked. "Reported to have uncovered and arrested Crocodile? It's all over the papers."

Temari shook her head. "I don't know what the paper say, but I received a message a few days ago and was told what happened in detail."

"You weren't there, then?"

"No, I-…" She paused suddenly, as if gathering her thoughts. "I haven't been home in over a year."

No one pressed what was obviously a sore issue as Temari drank from her glass again.

"So … what did happen?"

"Well, it was all that Straw Hat kid and his crew, you see."

Naruto's eyebrows vanished into his hairline, Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.

"The Straw Hat kid? He's the one who took down Crocodile and Baroque Works?"

Temari nodded. "Yes. I don't know the details, but apparently the Straw Hat crew are friends of the royal family and took down Baroque Works as a personal favour to the princess, Vivi Nefertari."

"Well, that explains their mysterious bounties, at least." Shikamaru said.

"Tell us something about Sandy Island, Temari." Naruto asked. Though appearing reluctant, Temari replied. For the next half hour, Naruto chatted with Temari while Sasuke and Shikamaru talked among themselves. All of Naruto's probes on Temari's past were rebuffed, and he eventually stopped asking about that and moved on to other topics.

"He's actually not hitting on her." Sasuke noted to Shikamaru.

"True. I don't know what's going on, but he must have some goal in mind."

Some time later, Temari had finished her drink. She pushed back her chair, ready to get up. She seemed much more amiable after a full cup of whatever it was she had been drinking.

"Thank you for inviting me, but I have to go now. I'll pass by again when I'm done with my business, maybe I'll see you guys then."

"Sure thing Temari." Naruto said. "We'll probably be here."

The other two waved as well, and Temari left the table and walked out the door.

Naruto turned to his crewmates. "So, what do you think?"

"Why weren't you hitting on her?" Sasuke asked him suspiciously, eyes narrowed.

"Bastard, don't ignore my question."

"She seemed to hate your guts at first, or at least highly dislike you. If what you said about the pirates is true, then she has good potential as a fighter. I assume the piece of steel on her back is a weapon, which is curious. Now, why weren't you hitting on her?"

"Because I want her to join us."

Both took a few seconds to process this.

"I'll come back to the fact that you apparently want someone you've met only once before to join in a bit, but do tell me because I'm curious, why does that stop you from hitting on her?"

Naruto made a face. "I want to, believe me, but do you have any idea how awkward the crew dynamics would be? Nah, she's hot, but I'd rather our crew not get splintered by something so silly."

Sasuke blinked once, because Naruto's thought process actually made sense.

"Okay, I'll grant you that. Now tell us why you want her to join us."

"I just do."

"You just do?"

"I have a good feeling about her, you know? It's not like she has something better to do."

"And how would you know that?"

"Weren't you listening to us talk earlier? She's drifting, basically. She tried to hide it, but she has no goals, nothing to do. And for whatever reason, she doesn't want to go back home."

"So you figured that it fell unto you to rescue the damsel in distress?"

Naruto snorted. "I dare you to say that in her presence. We'll see how much of damsel she is when she's wacking you over the head with a fifty pound slab of solid steel."

Shikamaru decided to intervene. "It's not like she showed any inclination to join us, Naruto. How do you plan to go about it?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm sure something will come up."

"That's it? That's your brilliant plan?"

"Hey, if it's meant to happen, it will happen."

Shikamaru opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted when a man noisily pulled the free chair back and sat on it.

"Hello friends, mind if I sit?" The stranger asked, immediately drawing the attention of all three.

He was a kind of weird, Naruto thought. He didn't look older than them, with black hair falling in bangs over his face. He wore black boots, black knee-length shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt, and a blue pouch belted around his left leg. He also wore a short second belt with a large red "A" on the silver buckle over his right hip, but left it unfastened and threaded the free end along the back of his shorts. A dagger in a green sheath hung at his left hip. On his left arm he had strapped a Log Pose, and a red and white striped bracelet around his wrist, an orange elbow guard, and sported a tattoo that spelled 'ASCE'. He wore a red beaded necklace and an orange hat with two blue faces, one frowning and one smiling, and a string of red beads sitting above the rim. Two long orange side straps hung down sides of his hat and met at a large medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels. He wore absolutely nothing to cover his chest or back.

From his position next to him and due to the man's hunching forward, Naruto could see another tattoo. One that chilled him to the bone. Two bones crossed under a grinning skull that sported a curved white moustache. Oh shit.

Whitebeard.

"Sure." He told the man, partly because he'd already sat and partly because he didn't want to potentially anger a member of the strongest pirate crew in the world.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, blunt as ever.

"Hm? Oh yes, I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm-" the stranger paused mid-sentence as the bartender passed next to him, and his hand shot forward to grab the man's wrist. "I'm sorry sir," he addressed the bar tender "Could I bother you for food? I'm quite hungry, you see."

"Right away sir."

"And I do mean hungry. Bring me a lot of food, if you would."

"Of course, sir."

That done, the topless man turned back towards them.

"What was I saying? Ah, yes. I'm Ace, nice to meet you all."

"I'm Naruto."

"I'm Shikamaru."

"Sasuke."

"Great, great. You see fellas, I was passing by while on my search and decided to get some food, and then I saw you guys. I look at you all and I think, 'Hey, these guys look alright, nothing at all like the rest of the scum on this place', right?"

Naruto shrugged, accepting what the guy said as truth. The other patrons didn't look exactly the image of trustworthiness.

"I guess you're right, Ace." He said. "Say, I couldn't help but notice the tattoo on your back. It's real, isn't it?"

This drew the attention of his two crewmates, who weren't in a position to look at his back.

"Oh, that?" Ace said, turning his head as if looking at his back, which was, of course, impossible. "Yeah, my pride and joy. It's real."

"So you're one of Whitebeard's, eh?"

"Eh, pops? Yeah, I'm gonna make the old man the Pirate King."

Naruto blinked at the simplicity of the man's statement. He was still reeling over the fact that he was in the presence of a member of the living legend's crew.

At this point, several plates of food had arrived in front of him. He thanked the waiter and dug in. Despite his earlier good manners, the man dug in with a gusto Naruto usually associated with pigs.

He looked at his two crewmates, but Sasuke and Shikamaru looked as bewildered at this turn of events as he himself felt.

He jolted after a particularly loud burp from Ace. The crewmates shrugged at each other and returned to their drinks, watching the Whitebeard pirate devour his meal.

After he was done, Ace flopped back on his chair with a contented sigh.

"Ah, that hit the right spot. Too bad they didn't bring more."

He was still hungry? Naruto had a healthy appetite, but this guy was a bottomless pit.

"So Ace, tell me," he began "what's a Whitebeard Pirate doing this side of the Grand Line?"

Ace's countenance immediately turned serious, and he folded his arms in front of his chest.

"I'm … looking for someone." He said eventually. "I guess if anyone has seen him around here, it would be you guys."

Naruto wanted to argue, to say that they'd only been there for two days, but he didn't.

"His name … is Marshall D. Teach. I've heard that he goes by the name Blackbeard nowadays. Ring any bells?"

Naruto did try to remember that name from the day he'd spent here, but drew a complete blank. The name didn't stir anything in his memory. Similarly, Sasuke and Shikamaru shook their heads in the negative.

"No, sorry." Naruto told him.

Ace's grim expression vanished and he let out a boisterous laugh, while his left hand rubbed the back of his head.

"Nah, don't worry. I'd received a tip that he was nearby, but it's okay that you guys don't know anything. Say, what are you drinking? Could I possibly have some of that?"

They ordered some rum for Ace as well. Naruto couldn't help but smile. Ace was kind of weird, but he seemed like an alright guy. He laughed a lot, and for seemingly no reason. The four of them toasted and drunk deeply.

Ace stayed at their table for a while. He ordered more food, and this time so did Naruto, who had gotten hungry watching the guy eat.

Ace finished the bulk of his food first, and when Naruto wasn't looking stole half a chicken from his plate, devouring it as fast as he could.

"What the fuck, you bastard!" Naruto yelled.

"Hey," Ace said through a mouthful "your food, unless properly defended, becomes my food."

"Bastard! I'll kick your ass!"

Ace gulped down the food and glared at Naruto, their foreheads practically butting. Sasuke had his head in hands and hands and muttering denials, while Shikamaru was just drinking and watching the exchange with mirth.

"Bring it, then!"

As they glared at each other, Naruto's hand shot out and grabbed a loaf of bread from Ace's plate, and he stuffed the whole thing in his mouth, doing his best to chew it and not retch. How the hell did Ace do it?

Despite his discomfort, he smirked at the topless man as soon as he swallowed. For a second he looked incredibly angry, but then that expression vanished and he was laughing uproariously.

"You learn quickly, Naruto. Well done."

Ace leaned forward on the table, resting his elbows on it.

"Now, here's what I want to-"

He didn't complete his sentence, because he paused mid-speech. His eyes fluttered and closed, and his whole body pitched forward as he fell on the table, his face landing on his plate.

The three of them sat straighter in alarm at the sudden fall, and Naruto grew increasingly worried when he didn't see any signs of movement from the topless man.

"Do you think he's dead?" Sasuke asked. Naruto poked Ace on the side, and received no response.

"It's possible someone slipped poison in his food." Shikamaru said. "He is, after all, one of Whitebeard's-"

At this point Ace sprang up suddenly, startling the three of them, sitting straight and wiping his face as if nothing had happened.

"Sorry about that, what were we saying?"

"What the hell was that man? What happened to you?" Naruto asked.

Ace rubbed the back of his head, grinning. "Oh, I'm a narcoleptic. Means I can't control when I fall asleep, basically."

"That … must suck."

"Eh, it's not so bad. I'm used to it."

Another round of drinks arrived, and Ace's narcoleptic tendencies were soon forgotten in the merriment of toasting.

Some time later, Naruto saw Temari once again enter the bar. She must have finished her business. Once again, he waved her over.

"Hey, Temari."

His yell drew her attention, and this time she headed straight for them. Once her eyes landed on Ace, though, she froze. She just stood there for a few seconds, staring at the topless man. Naruto was about to admonish her for openly perving, but then her expression turned furious and she marched up to their table with heavy steps. The others had noticed her, as well.

"Temari, what-"

"Fire Fist Ace!" She shouted as soon as she reached their table. Her fists were balled and she was almost shaking. "Portgas D. Ace. You are wanted by the World Government for a slew of crimes. Surrender yourself or fight me."

Naruto's eyes widened and his head whipped to the hat-wearing guy next to him. This was Fire Fist Ace? He'd thought the name merely a coincidence. This was the guy worth 550 million Beli? The second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates?

He looked at his two crewmates to gauge their reactions. Sasuke was staring at Ace with calculating expression, obviously he hadn't made the connection, either. Shikamaru shook his head at him, urging him not to interfere with whatever this was.

For his part, Ace looked at the seething Temari and tilted his head.

"I don't know you." He said.

"That doesn't matter! Will you surrender?"

Ace scratched his cheek. "No, I don't think I will. Are you here for my bounty, then?"

Temari ignored his question. She reached behind her back and procured her weapon, the massive piece of steel, holding it in her hands. "You will resist, then?"

"Eh, fine. If you want to fight me, I guess you can go ahead. We should step outside though, yes?"

What the hell was Temari doing? Did she really think she could defeat Fire Fist Ace?

As Ace rose, so did Naruto. He walked next to Temari and grabbed hold of her elbow.

"Listen Temari, what-"

"Stay out of this, Naruto!" She all but snarled at him. Naruto immediately released her arm, surprised by the vehemence of her tone.

Ace walked out of the bar and lead the way to the edge of town.

"Mah, have I slighted you in some way, miss bounty hunter? I don't recall meeting you before."

"My name is Temari Sabaku. Remember this name, for I will capture you." She said resolutely. Ace shrugged.

They had left Mock Town and reached the edge of the forest. There, on the empty field, both stopped. Naruto and his crew had followed, and stood a small distance away. A few others who had watched the interaction at the bar had also come to see. The rest probably thought that they'd rather be far away when Fire Fist Ace engaged in combat.

"I'm ready, miss bounty hunter. Show me what you can do." Ace called out to Temari.

Piece of metal held in front of her, Temari snarled and charged. Naruto had to give it to her, she was fast. She reached Ace in a second and swung the piece of steel with surprising ease. Ace leaned backwards to avoid the max range swing, and then ducked under Temari's follow up, which was closer.

When next Temari brought the weapon down, Ace used his left hand to push it off-course and downwards, then snapped forward with a quick punch. Temari deftly avoided it and tried to sweep Ace's legs from under him, but he jumped over her foot. As Temari swung around herself she brought her weapon to bear and went to bash Ace on the chest as he was still mid-air from his hop. Ace crossed his arms in front of him to block, and the blow threw him away and on his back. He swiftly rolled backwards and jumped to his feet.

"Your weapon is pretty interesting." He said, tilting his head to the side again. "What else can it do?"

"I'll show you!"

Saying this, Temari held her weapon in both hands and pulled. The sides of it separated, to reveal a material unfolding between them. It was lightly colored and had a big purple dot in the middle.

"A fan?" Ace said, surprised. Naruto didn't fault him, his own eyes had widened at the revelation of Temari's weapon.

"One Star." She declared. Then she brought the gigantic fan backwards and swung it with monstrous strength. "Wind Style, Scythe!"

At the apex of her swing, the air current that the fan created took a distinctive form and rocketed towards Ace, who hurled himself to the side to avoid it. The wind slammed itself into the ground he'd stood on previously, and a deep gouge marred the ground. Ace climbed to his feet and studied the results of Temari's attack with interest.

"Hey, that's pretty dangerous." He said cheerfully.

"Don't mock me!" Temari snarled. She swung her fan again once, twice, and a third time by bringing it downwards.

"Wind Style, Scythe Barrage!"

Ace ducked under the first wind blade and sidestepped the second. He barely managed to turn his torso just so that the third and bigger blade would cut him from head to crotch.

As he was dodging, Temari had closed her fan and jumped at him again, swinging. Lacking time to dodge, Ace raised his hand to block the massive piece of metal with his forearm. If he was hurt by the collision with the weapon, he didn't show.

Temari grunted in anger and brought her fan around for another pass. Ducking under this swing, Ace snapped his right arm forward to jab at Temari's grip on the fan, forcing her to release that arm from the fan with a hiss of pain. Unable to balance the huge weapon correctly with only one hand, the fan's momentum threw Temari off balance. Ace surged forward to press his advantage by aiming a direct punch towards Temari's gut.

Or he would have, if his eyes hadn't fluttered closed and he'd stopped mid stride. He body slowly pitched forward, then back wards, before finally falling on his back and releasing a loud snore.

Temari regained her balance and immediately whipped around to look for her enemy, fan raised in a defensive move for the attack that surely would be coming.

Instead, she saw Fire Fist snoring on the ground.

"He's a narcoleptic." Naruto supplied helpfully. "He randomly falls asleep."

Her expression turned murderous and she let out a snarl of frustration. She walked up to him and landed a massive kick on the pirate's chin that forced his head the other way.

"Wake up, you bastard!" She yelled. "Quit mocking me and fight!"

Ace's eyes opened and he blinked in confusion up at her.

"Oh, we were fighting, weren't we? Sorry."

"Get up." Temari spat.

"I said I was sorry! Geez."

As soon as he was up, Temari unfolded her fan again. This time, she unfolded a bigger part of it to reveal a second purple dot.

"Two Star." She spun the fan around herself and brought it downwards in a wide move. "Wind Style, Crescent Blade!"

A much bigger wind blade than the previous headed towards Ace, who once again focused only on dodging Temari's attacks. She continued to send blade after blade after blade at him, yet Ace continued to dodge, seemingly at the last second and at the slightest possible margins.

"Why. Wont. You. Fight me!" Temari shouted, frustration emanating off of her in waves as she continued her attack.

"I have been fighting you." Ace pointed out.

"Bullshit!" She yelled as she suddenly closed the distance between them and swung her still open fan at him. Ace, who hadn't expected it, moved to dodge, but didn't make it in time. The open edge of the fan bit into his chest in a move that should have killed just about anyone.

Rather than blood being sprayed from the wound, flame followed the fan's path. Naruto watched in fascination as flames burst forth from the massive gash on the pirate's chest.

"So that is the power of a logia." Naruto whispered in awe. Though Konoha was rumored to house a logia user or two, he had never seen one in action.

"Hey, you managed to land a solid hit. Good job." Ace congratulated Temari as the wound sealed itself up. "But it won't do you much good, you know. You must have known about the Mera-Mera no Mi before fighting me."

"Shut up!" Temari once again yelled as she walked backwards and opened her fan further, to reveal a third dot. "Three Star! Wind Style, Great Breakthrough!"

This time her swing didn't so much release a blade as it released a hurricane. A gale of twisting and biting winds hurled themselves at the Whitebeard Pirate, who simply stood there waiting for it.

The force of the winds drove him backwards several meters, though he managed to stay on his feet. His body was cut up again and again, flashes of fire where blood and muscle should be erupting all over his body.

At the end of the attack, he stood there, unharmed.

Temari pounced again, swinging her closed fan and destroying Ace's right shoulder. It began to reform on its own.

"Fight me, damn you! Stop making a mockery of me! Fight me seriously!" Temari yelled as she bashed him with her fan.

Ace dodged the last strike and jumped backward. When he did, his body had already fully reformed. He didn't look worse for wear, while Temari was panting heavily and sweating with the exertion.

Ace reaching his hand to the back of his head, under his hat, to scratch at his hair.

"But if I do that…" he said, "you'll die." Not even a note of doubt in his voice. He was simply stating a fact.

Rather than be intimidated, Temari just seemed to get angrier.

"Fight me seriously if you have a shred of honor in your body! Fight me as the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!"

Ace's eyes narrowed at this, and the silence grew heavy.

"Very well." He announced, taking his stance for the first time. Slightly hunched, feet apart, and one of his hands pulled back.

Temari prepared her fan. Then Fire Fist exploded.

There were few words Naruto could have used to explain what happened better than that one. Fire erupted from Ace's body, curling around him like an eager pet at his command.

A torrent of flame headed towards Temari in a straight line, and Naruto was sure that she would roast, but she was ready. She swung her fun to her left, creating a massive draft that redirected the fire away from her, and followed it up with another swing that sent a blade of wind at Ace.

However, the pirate was no longer humouring her. He simply let the wind cut through his logia body and leave no damage. He sent another wave of flames at Temari, this time wider.

Seeing the massive wall of flames headed towards her, Temari desperately swung her fan upwards before being swallowed by the fire. Naruto called out, but it was too late.

Once the flames subsided, they revealed Temari, laying on the ground in a sitting position with her legs under her. She was singed and had burns all over her arms and several on her torso, but she was alive. Her last swing had managed to separate the wall of flames ever so slightly, and the worst of it passed her by. By some miracle, her ponytails had not been burned off.

Nevertheless, she couldn't hold her fan anymore, much less swing it. Her hands were on her lap, smoking and shaking. Her face was blackened by soot, with only two clear lines where tears ran unbidden.

Ace smothered his flames and approached the crying woman slowly.

Temari coughed, smoke rising from her lungs. "You've won." She said weakly. "Finish it."

Ace looked at her, a troubled expression on his face.

"I don't have to." He said.

"You've won!" Temari snarled up at him, which seemed to sap all of her remaining energy as she fell into a coughing fit. When she spoke again, her voice was barely audible, and she couldn't lift her gaze from her burned hands.

"Finish it."

Ace regarded her for a few seconds before nodding, though he knew she couldn't see it.

He slipped back into his stance, and his hand was wreathed in flames. Naruto knew Temari would not survive the next attack.

"Fire Fist!" Ace declared as he punched the air in front of him. A massive conflagration erupted, heading straight for Temari, ready to devour her and leave nothing in its wake. For her part, she'd simply closed her eyes and held her breath.

Naruto had seen enough. Red energy erupted around him, and he vanished from his position. A split second later, the fire attack reached Temari.

Sasuke and Shikamaru were forced to protect their eyes from the heat and the light, being so close to the attack.

When it was safe to look again, they saw Naruto standing over Temari's form, red energy sticking to him like a second skin and forming another layer over his natural one. His eyes were red and slitted, his nails had turned to claws and a pair of red tails made of the same energy swished behind him of their own accord. He had protected Temari. Burns along his hands and shoulders, from where he'd redirected the flames, were already healing.

"Enough." He said in a low growl, his voice sounding much deeper than his usual cheerful tone. If Fire Fist was intimidated at all by Naruto's display, he didn't show it.

"I have to end the fight. You heard her."

"The fight is over." Naruto snarled. "If you still want to fight, I will be your opponent."

He didn't really believe that he could defeat Fire Fist, but he would fight, nonetheless. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sasuke and Shikamaru tense, ready to spring to action. He knew that if a fight broke out Sasuke would rush to help him while Shikamaru would get Temari out of there. He trusted both of them.

Ace didn't say anything for a few seconds, watching Naruto from under the brim of his hat. In the end, he relaxed from his stance and nodded once.

Naruto released the partial transformation, allowing the energy to dissipate into thin air, but didn't take his eyes off of the pirate.

"I'll be going now." Ace said. "I think I've overstayed my welcome."

Naruto nodded at this.

"It was fun meeting you guys. If you ever find yourselves in the New World, look me up, yeah? If you namedrop me to one of Pops' people, he should direct you to me."

"We'll do that." And he wasn't lying. Ace seemed like an alright kind of guy.

At least, when he wasn't burning his future crewmates alive. Naruto was quite irked with him at the moment.

Ace waved over his head as he walked away. He seemed to reconsider, as he stopped and looked behind him.

"And Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care of her." He said, nodding towards Temari's catatonic form. "She's strong."

"I know."

"Alright. Later."

Naruto didn't stand to watch the man leave. He turned and kneeled by Temari's side, checking her over to take stock of her injuries.

She was, miraculously, still conscious. When Naruto gently lifted her chin, her eyes snapped to his, unfocused.

"You should…" She croaked out. "You should have let him kill me."

Naruto gently placed his finger on her lips, shushing her.

"Hush, now. It's gonna be alright, you hear? You're going to be fine. Sleep, now."

Temari had already passed out before he'd finished speaking.

~N~

When Temari woke up, she did so with a pained groan. For a while, all she could think about was that she ached everywhere. When she tried to move her hand to rub at her eyes, her hand fell back onto the bed she was lying and she cried out in pain. Her arms must be pretty bad if she can't move them at all without screaming in pain.

"Easy, now." She heard a voice she could vaguely recognize. "We cleaned your wounds and bandaged them, but none of us are very good doctors, so take it easy."

Temari finally opened her eyes, and realized that she had no idea where she was. She was in a bed in a room with wooden walls that she'd never seen before. From the way everything swayed slightly, she guessed she was in a ship.

Her eyes focused on the source of the voice, sitting on a chair by her bedside.

"Naruto…" She croaked out, her voice still hoarse, and fell into a coughing fit.

"Easy." The blond repeated. Temari stopped coughing, and examined herself. She was covered in bandages everywhere except for her head.

"You undressed me?" She said, rage once again finding its way to her voice. Naruto only raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"You have nothing I haven't seen before, you know. Besides, would you have preferred we let your wounds get infected and stay untreated?"

Temari couldn't say much to that. It hurt to think. She allowed her head to fall back onto the pillow with a groan.

When Naruto spoke again, his voice was grave.

"Why did you fight Fire Fist, Temari?"

"For … the bounty." She said between heavy breaths.

"Don't give me that!" Naruto said, his voice unusually harsh, causing Temari to flinch and hiss in pain.

"Sorry." He said. "I'm not buying it, though. You're not stupid. You must have known you couldn't win. Why did you fight him?"

"None … of your… business."

"I have a theory and I want to share it with you, yeah? Answer me with yes or no. Okay, here I go. You knew you couldn't beat him, is that true?"

Temari stayed quiet for a long time, not wanting to play his game. Eventually though, she couldn't take his piercing stare and nodded.

"Those pirates, they didn't attack you, did they?"

Temari shook her head no.

"You went looking for them, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You hunt pirates with bounties. You challenged Fire Fist Ace as soon as you saw him. You practically begged him to finish you off. Temari … do you want to die?" By the end, his voice had softened to barely audible levels.

She couldn't raise her voice, so she simply nodded. Her eyes were closed, but a few tears escaped anyway.

"But … why?"

She found some energy to answer. Sadness, anger, she couldn't distinguish them anymore.

"And why do you care?" She shouted, not letting the tears stop her. "We've met once! You don't know me so don't you dare judge me! Just take your nose out of my business and let me die."

Naruto was frowning, obviously troubled. Temari's anger had vanished as suddenly as it appeared.

"What happened, Temari?"

A loaded question. It could have a dozen different meanings. A hundred. Yet, Temari realized what he was asking. And why should she answer him? She met him two days ago for the first time. She owed him nothing.

Or did she?

He had saved her. Even if she'd been trying to get herself killed, he had stepped in the way and saved her.

"I had … two younger brothers." She began, voice subdued.

"Had?" Naruto prompted gently when the silence stretched too long.

"We lived in Alabasta, in a northern village of little significance." She continued. "I was the eldest, so I took care of both of them."

"Your parents?"

Temari shook her head at the mention of parents, and continued as if she hadn't heard the question.

"Five years ago, Crocodile came to our village. He … he took my youngest brother, Gaara." She stopped, her voice catching in her throat, fresh tears spilling at the memories.

"But, why?"

"Gaara was … Gaara had eaten the Akuma-Akuma no Mi, Model: Ichibi. He was a Demon user. His Devil Fruit allowed him to control sand."

She saw Naruto freeze, but didn't stop. If she stopped now, she didn't know if she could continue.

"Crocodile took him. Gaara couldn't fight. He was so young, he could barely control his powers at all. He stood no chance. And who would believe me? Nobody. Crocodile was considered a hero."

Temari paused, gathering her thoughts and cursing her injured arms for her inability to wipe at her eyes. To her surprise, Naruto was pulled out of his stupor enough to gently dab a small tower at her cheeks.

"My second brother, Kankuro, died in a sandstorm two years ago. He was part of the Rebellion."

"Was it Crocodile?"

Temari shook her head. "I don't know. He's not the only source of sandstorms in Sandy Island, but it is likely."

"So what did you do?"

Temari let out a dry laugh. "What could I do? I had nothing left. No family, no friends, nothing. My brothers, for whom I had cared for all my life, had been stolen from me. I trained, tried to become strong to get my revenge on Crocodile."

"And then Straw Hat came along."

"And then Straw Hat came along. He revealed Crocodile's plots and sent him off to Impel Down, so now I don't even have revenge. I have nothing, Naruto, can you understand that? No reason to live, no reason to go on, nothing to go back to or look forward to."

Her whispered tirade done, Temari closed her eyes again. It was tiring to say all of that, but at the same time liberating. This was the first time she'd opened up to anyone.

"So that's why you've been going after strong people. To find someone strong enough to kill you. And I ruined that."

Naruto was quiet for a while, and Temari had nothing else to say. As soon as she was healed, Naruto would release her and she would continue her pointless existence, looking for some way to end it all.

"Well, I'll take responsibility for it."

Her eyes snapped open. "What?"

"If you need a reason to live, live for us. Live for me. Join my crew. You're strong, you can help us. Help me achieve my goals, and I promise you that in the process you'll find a dream of your own."

Temari was speechless, trying to process what she had heard. Did Naruto mean that? Why? Why would he want someone like her?

"Are you … serious?"

"Yes."

"But … why me? I- … I'm not as strong as you think. I couldn't-… I couldn't protect them. I can't protect anything."

She was crying again, but harsher this time. She didn't even know what she was feeling anymore. Happiness that someone accepted her, despair over her inability to protect anything she loved. Her family, her village, her own country, she had been unable to do anything to help any of them.

Naruto had risen from his chair and gently sat on the bed next to her. His hands went around her shoulders gently, not wanting to aggravate her wounds, and he gave her a hug that spoke volumes.

"It's gonna be okay, Temari. It wasn't your fault, you hear? None of it was your fault. It wasn't your fault. We'll be here for you. All of us will be here for each other. You won't be alone anymore."

Temari found the strength to raise her arms and hold onto the body next to her like a lifeline. Her wounds ached and had probably opened again, her thoughts were running a mile a minute, her eyes could not stop producing tears, but one thought was clear in her head.

"Fine. Yes, yes I will join you."

Naruto patted her back, trying to be as comforting as he could.

"You'll be okay. You're going to be fine."

And she would. Eventually, her wounds would heal and she would be fine.

Temari weakly pushed him, and Naruto took the hint, releasing the hug and stepping back, looking at her. She had the most curious smile on her face.

"Naruto … thank you."

They all would be.

~N~