The Twisted Family Tree

Uzumaki D. Naruto knew it was wrong of him to steal money from that straw-hat wearing guy but he couldn't afford to go home empty-handed - that only lead to a lot of pain - so he decided to risk it. Now years later, he still wasn't sure if he regretted it or not.

Young!Naruto, Brother!Luffy, DF!Naruto, SHP!Naruto, ReluctantAccessoryToStupidity!Zoro

THIS WILL SORT OF FOLLOW CANON AND SORT OF NOT (AT FIRST)

GOOD LUCK

Unnamed village in East Blue,

A few days have passed since Luffy recruited Zoro.

Zoro asked himself, not for the first time in recent memory, what on earth he was doing in some unremarkable town in the middle of East Blue. There were countless locals walking through the streets and all of them possessed the common naivety that the green-haired man had begun to recognize as the nature of this sea. Being the weakest in the world, East Blue seemed like a breeding ground for normality and Zoro found himself extremely bored. The only reason he was even in the town was because the silly brat he was accompanying had suddenly decided only days after fighting with Captain Morgan that they had been at sea for long enough and needed a break on land.

The swordsman snuck a glance at the young man beside him as they walked through the street. For someone claiming to be the future Pirate King he didn't look particularly impressive. The boy had a small, lithe frame and black hair while his wide, innocent eyes were tainted only be a single scar under one. Along with his red-vest, shorts and sandals was a shit-eating grin constantly plastered on his face - indeed, the boy was anything but intimidating. Perhaps the most unusual thing about him was the straw hat sat upon his head, something about it reeked of importance but the green-haired swordsman didn't know what.

Monkey D. Luffy - it was the name the boy had provided him when they had travelled slowly across the sea in their small boat. It was a good name, a powerful one.

Perhaps that was why Zoro accepted the boy's offer to be in his crew? Probably not; Zoro blamed it on the intense and foreboding feeling he had gotten when Luffy first revealed his strength, deflecting the bullets intended for him. It was less the fact that the boy had the power of rubber and more the sheer presence he had maintained when he decided to step in. For a few fleeting seconds Zoro had seen a serious side of him - for a few seconds Zoro could entertain the thought of him achieving his goals. And who better to follow than the boy going into the heart of the conflict? The Grand Line was a dangerous place and it was really the only place that one could be crowned the greatest swordsman.

He was knocked out of his thoughts when another body crashed into Luffy. He didn't make much out beyond the individual being small - very small in fact - and having the figure of a male before it had darted away with great speed. A muttered apology could be heard as the person left and when Zoro looked at Luffy the pirate didn't seem to have reacted negatively to the incident beyond a half-hearted wave of his hands.

That was good, because if Luffy was the type of person to blow up at what seemed to be a child Zoro would be leaving his crew immediately.

Regardless of his lack of bother however, the rubber-man still seemed to follow the figure of the person who had knocked him with an intense gaze. The usual grin was absent and was instead replaced by a pensive look. If Zoro didn't know any better he'd say his captain was contemplating something.

"Luffy?" He questioned.

For a moment there was no reply before the boy's head turned to face him, "Huh? Oh, Zoro." A grin returned to his face, "Let's follow him."

"Why?" The green-haired man asked, trying not to sound exasperated. Were they really going to follow up on anything and everything that happened to them? A small part of his mind recognised that yes, yes they were.

"That guy was funny!" A short bark of laughter erupted from Luffy's mouth, "He stole my money."

Zoro's face morphed into a shocked expression, "What? How?" A pause, "You have money?"

"It was to pay for a meal. Mmm~... meat." Luffy began to salivate at the thought, "And he got it by putting his hand in my pocket, duh." Zoro could feel the sweatdrop forming on the back of his head. Trust Luffy not to understand that he wasn't asking how he did it but how he did it to him. After all, from what Zoro had seen so far the teen was head and shoulder above everyone in East Blue in terms of strength. He shouldn't have been caught off guard by some kid.

"Whatever, let's go then." Because if nothing else, watching the pickpocket absolutely shit his pants when they showed up would be mildly amusing.

Luffy didn't bother to reply and instead started laughing and darting off in the direction the figure had taken.

Naruto opened the dilapidated door to the shack he called home as quietly as he could before closing it behind him, slipping his shoes off soon after. Leaving them at the door, the boy tried to quickly slip past the room right in front of him without making any sound but a stray wooden floorboard betrayed him, letting off a loud creak as he stepped on it. His heart immediately began to pump like crazy and fear struck into him. He stood absolutely, perfectly still - hoping the sound hadn't been heard.

"Brat!" A rough voice pierced the air and with it Naruto's hopes were dashed, "Get in here." Naruto didn't dare disobey and meekly entered the room beside him.

He was greeted with the sight of a red-haired man drinking from a bottle on a couch. From the looks of things the individual hadn't been outside for some time - his hair was greasy and clothing dirty with sweat. For all intents and purposes it seemed as if he had been sitting in the same exact position for a very long time. Despite this the man had a handsome face and features were sharp and distinctive. When Naruto was forced to meet his gaze he couldn't help but shiver; the redhead was looking at him like a predator would his prey.

"Kurama," Naruto spoke softly, "I couldn't get much..." He drifted off carefully before stepping forward and dropping the beli he had stolen from the straw-hat wearing teen earlier on the table in front of the man.

The redhead leaned forward and started counting the amount in his head, "1000?" Kurama snorted in disgust, "That's nowhere near enough and you know it." The man shrugged his shoulders before waving Naruto away with his left hand, "You know what this means... now get out of my sight." At the indication that Kurama was indeed punishing him the boy found himself unable to move.

"Nii-san..." Naruto began hesitantly, "I was wonder- well, could you-"

Kurama immediately stood with an angry glare on his face, "Could I what? Forgive you? Feed you? Fuck off." At this the man stepped toward the younger male, "It's not my fault you screwed this up - like you've always fucking done." Naruto didn't bother to reply and instead chose to quickly try and scamble out of the room. It hadn't been worth even trying; he'd just made a huge mistake.

"Oi! Hold it, I haven't finished." Kurama was a few steps away from the couch now which was never a good sign, "You'll have to be punished for that disrespect." A dark grin settled on his face and he cracked his knuckles before stepping within arms reach of the boy. He moved to swing his arm down on the younger male and Naruto fell to the floor in fear but didn't resist, knowing it would only lead to more pain.

Just as the first blow was about to land however, a loud crash reverberated throughout the room as the nearby window smashed into pieces by a slim figure. Before Kurama could even react the person that had broken the window slammed into him and he let out a loud shout of surprise. Naruto himself simply sat in shock at the sight and with a small amount of fear - whoever had broken through the window had certainly pissed off Kurama which probably meant they were going to die.

For a second there was complete silence.

"Phew! that was a crazy landing." the straw-hat wearing boy grinned as he stood back up from whatever had softened his landing, brushing his clothes as he did so.

A voice could be heard outside the house, "Seriously Luffy, I get he stole some money but breaking his window to follow him is a bit much."

"I didn't mean to! I just didn't want to lose him," He started laughing, "At least this guy caught me..." He looked down at Kurama who was only just starting to regain his bearings, "Heh, thanks for that by the way uhh..."

"Kurama." The intoned with silent fury. As he spoke Zoro could be seen slipping in through the busted window while Naruto openly gaped at the two of them. He knew that look on his brother's face - they were going to be murdered.

"Well thanks Kurama! Sorry about your window, I just wanted to follow the blonde-haired guy cause he took my meat money, y'know." At this the boy nodded his head sagely as if what he had said explained all of his actions.

"Sorry?" Kurama growled before considering the latter part of what Luffy had said, "Wait, you're who my brother stole from? Naruto..."

At this Luffy looked over at the boy in question, "Naruto, huh? Maelstrom - cool name!"

"You got caught?" Kurama stepped toward the blonde in anger, "You stupid little brat!" He hissed before raising his hand to strike him. And he would have if Luffy hadn't caught it mid-air.

"Hey, hey. I don't care that much." The boy grinned, "It's just money."

Kurama stared at the man holding his arm with a sneer, "If this disgusting brat got caught then he needs to be punished." At this he shook his hand, "Now let go before I decide to hurt you first." Naruto almost cowered at this; he was surely in for a horrible beating.

"Beating on some kid? That's pathetic." Zoro intruded in on the conversation at this point.

"Do you have any idea who you're messing with?" Kurama was deathly calm as he spoke, "People call me nine-tails around these parts." In the background Zoro let out a small laugh, "It means I'm part of a dangerous group. Do you really want to make enemies out of them? Do you really want to die?"

"No." Luffy replied in confusion - Of course he didn't, what kind of question was that?

"Then get out." Kurama turned to Naruto as he spoke, preparing to resume what he had being doing before being interrupted.

"Hey, hey!" Luffy shouted, "Leave him alone."

Naruto interrupted quickly, hoping to save the two strangers, "Please, don't worry and just leave. I'm sorry about your money. Truly!" At this he bowed on the ground in apology, "But please don't mess with him." He begged.

A kick soon found its way into his side.

"How disgusting. What would tou-san say if he saw you now." Another kick, "You're an embarassment." He moved to kick again but before he could he found himself on the receiving end of a rubber-punch. He flew through the air from the force of the hit before crashing into the wall on the other side of the room.

"I said leave him alone." Luffy's voice had changed, the tone now serious.

Kurama stood back up immediately, his features twisted into an expression of loathing, "You're dead." In the background Zoro drew one of his katana while Naruto simply sat in shock and horror. He couldn't save them now, Kurama was going to kill them.

"Stop..." Naruto muttered weakly.

"Only a coward hurts those weaker than him." Zoro growled but didn't step forward, comfortable with the knowledge Luffy would deal with the situation.

"Stop." Naruto tried again to voice his protest.

The straw-hat wearer ignored him and moved immediately, punching Kurama a second time. This time the hit landed in his chest and instead of flying away Kurama grunted in pain, blood spurting out of his mouth. The redhead moved to strike back but before he could a foot was rooted into his side and he fell to the floor in pain. Luffy moved to slam the man's head into the floor.

He was interrupted by a loud scream, "STOP!" Suddenly Luffy found himself on the receiving end of a hit from... a tree? The teen allowed the strike to send him into the wall opposite Kurama, his surprise from such an unexpected event stopping his thought process. The rubber-man looked over to where he had been previously standing to make sure that yes he had actually been hit by a tree of all things. It had grown out of the floor itself and slammed into him. Beside him, still leaning next to the broken window, Zoro's mouth was wide open in shock. Neither of them had any idea what had just happened.

Kurama however grinned wickedly, "There was one thing you said that was wrong..." He gestured over to Naruto who was covered in all sorts of vines and leaves, his hand outstretched toward the tree that had hit Luffy. The greenery seemed to be protecting and comforting him as it stuck to his body, "He's certainly not weaker than me. He lets me do what I want."

"What?" Zoro spat out.

"He lets me hit him because he knows he deserves it. Because he knows he's scum." At this Kurama glared at the blonde in pure loathing. Luffy watched the interaction in silence, reminded of another person who had stared at their brother - although he hadn't been at the time - like that. It had taken a long time and a lot of convincing for that look to change.

Zoro however, couldn't remain silent, "So you hurt him because he's powerful? Because he has some devil fruit?"

"I hurt him, because he deserves it. Because everything is his fault!" Kurama shouted, "Brat, make yourself useful and kill them."

At this Naruto got a desperate look in his eyes and gestured quickly with his hands. Before Luffy could even protest he was bound by vines that seemed to grow out of the floor. Zoro managed to slice the ones that came near him and responded to the attack by moving quickly toward the boy. In a second he was standing in front of the boy with a katana drawn, it pricking at the neck of Naruto.

"So you won't care if I kill him?" Zoro asked faintly, pressing the blade harder into Naruto's flesh. The blonde himself stared across at the redhead in fear, grasping onto the fact that his life was actually in danger. Surely deep down though, despite everything that had happened to the two of them, Kurama would save him though. Yes, Naruto thought, deep down under all that hatred his brother still surely loved him. They were family.

Kurama paused in surprise at the actions of the swordsman, a conflicted look in his eyes. That was the only hesitance however and he quickly gave a shrug of the shoulders.

"Do what you want, I'll just kill you after you do it anyway." When the redhead spoke Naruto didn't visibly react but inside he was hurting. The nonchalant attitude of Kurama about his life tore his heart in two - he honestly still thought there was enough underneath all the resentment to make the man try and protect him. The vicious denial of those supposed feelings destroyed him. For the first time in his life, he felt truly alone. The death of his parents and the hatred of Kurama was nothing compared to the current pain he was experiencing. It felt like he was dying inside out.

Zoro's face morphed into a look of disgust but before he could even respond Luffy had moved. He broke out of the vines and sent a vicious punch through the air, his arm stretching across the room.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" He shouted as the punch struck Kurama across the face. As soon as it landed the man crumpled to the floor in pain but Luffy didn't let up, immediately pouncing on top of him and hitting him again.

"Brothers," He struck him across the face a third time, "don't," Again, "hurt," And again, "each," This time it landed in the gut, "Other!" The straw-hat wearing boy stood up off the bleeding mess that had once been Kurama. He wound up his fist, preparing to deal the final blow, "Brothers care and protect each other - you don't deserve to have him!" At this he moved his fist down.

"WAIT!" Luffy paused at Naruto's shout, "Please, no more." The boy's eyes were filling with tears, "Please." The boy viciously wiped his eyes before prostrating himself at Luffy's feet, "Don't hurt him."

Zoro's eyes narrowed, "Why are you protecting him? You heard him, he doesn't care about you."

"He's still my brother!" The boy was shaking in pain and Zoro could only assume it was emotional. Luffy analysed the boy's bowing form silently.

"You don't owe him anything, you shouldn't have to put up with him." Zoro muttered absently. The whole situation made him uncomfortable and it was all because Luffy found the pickpocket 'cool' they were even here. Idiot captain.

At this Naruto stood slowly and nodded in agreement, "I won't. I'm going to leave. I'll go somewhere away from here but I still don't want you to hurt him." He seemed to be gaining confidence, "I'll leave and he can stay here. You won't have to worry anymore, he... he won't follow me." At this Naruto bit back the urge to cry.

Luffy was still staring when Zoro shrugged, "Hmph, whatever. Let's go Luffy." He stepped over the unconscious body of Kurama toward the door.

"I've decided!" Luffy announced suddenly, "He was a bad brother so I'll be your good one!" At this he fixed the straw hat carefully on his head before folding his arms, "Join my crew and you'll be my little brother! Oh, oh! And Zoro's too!" At this Zoro, who had been staring at his captain in consternation, now let out a full blown scowl across his face.

"H-hey! I didn't sign up to that!" He sputtered.

Luffy just ignored him, "So what do ya say? Want to be the brother of the Pirate King?"

Naruto looked at the teen with wide eyes, completely shocked by the offer. For a second he felt tempted to take the man up on his offer but he hesitated. He thought of his real brother, currently laid out unconscious and bleeding. He thought of his past, of his parents. He knew he couldn't accept the boy's offer.

"I-I can't... I'm bad news. I'm a monster." Naruto replied in sadness.

"Really?" Luffy's grin extended wider, "Cool! So am I! And so's my brother. You'll fit right in. Besides," At this the teen grabbed Naruto by the waste, easily lifting up the smaller boy, "I'm not giving you a choice."

And with this, despite being picked up and held by force Naruto couldn't stop the tears from coming out. It was a weird combination of joy, anger, sadness and relief all in one and it was so overwhelming the blonde couldn't find it in him to fight to free himself, simply allowing himself to be carried like a ragdoll with a vacant look in his eyes.

A/N: Been saddened by the lack of updated Naruto/OP crossovers so I've decided to do my own. I'm hoping to avoid the typical formula of either:

a.) super-powerful immortal Naruto

b.) powerful captain of own crew whether marine or pirate Naruto

c.) older brother and/or powerful member of SHP Naruto

He's certainly not going to be weak but I hope for him to fit a similar level as Zoro/Sanji at first. In the future who knows, maybe he'll equal or overtake Luffy... maybe he won't.

On Kurama; this isn't meant to be bashing or vilification. He's not evil or bad or whatever. He's just kind of fucked up. Both of them are - their past has been really shit and Naruto... well, let's just say Kurama's mind has twisted the misfortune that has affected them as entirely Naruto's fault. It's wrong of him to do so but he's not inherently wrong. He's foolish, immature and acting like a horrible person but it's mostly a product of circumstances. Regardless, if he ever is redeemed it won't be for ages. He's got to realise how much he's fucked up first.

Naruto's fruit -

Guriin Guriin no Mi (Green Green Fruit)

Type: Logia (leaves and/or greenery of any kind make up the user's body)

Abilities: Grants the user power over nature. This includes but is not limited to all forms of plants and trees. The true strength of the fruit hasn't been seen but it is understood that with great control the user can manipulate nature down to the most basic levels. It's potential is therefore staggering.

Weaknesses: The user is susceptible to most forms of fire. This is a significant weakness however with appropriate training the user can strengthen their resistance.