Ink's Notes:

Hello everyone, Ink here. This is admittedly my first fanfiction, so not only do I hope you enjoy it, but I hope that I don't mess up. While I do have experience with writing, I haven't got much with writing non-OC/FC types, so I hope everything turns out okay. Anyway, let's begin. I hope you enjoy!

Naruto and Naruto Shippuden are created by Masashi Kishimoto. One Piece was created by Eiichiro Oda. I do not own either series, nor do I own any characters from said series. I do own any fan characters that may appear for the sake of the story, and I do own this story itself. Thank you.

I would also like to note that this story is told from the perspective of the shinobi, so some details about a certain cast member may be obvious to someone who's familiar with One Piece... but the shinobi are not, so those details will come up when it's appropriate during the story. I apologize in advance if this confuses anybody.

Anyway, on to the story!

Chapter One

The word Sakura would use to describe her current state of mind was pissed. She'd always had a soft spot for animals, so when Tsunade had told her that some traders were illegally capturing and selling rare animals, she had only stayed in the room because she needed the mission form to take care of them legally. Once she'd gotten it, Sakura had charged out of the room, gathered the supplies she'd need and reviewed the mission requirements – rescue the animals, take out the traders – and left Konoha in a blaze of fury.

When Sakura had arrived at the traders' camp, her anger had only amplified upon seeing the cages that were barely big enough to hold the animals in. She'd plowed through the traders and the mercenaries they'd hired to protect them before breaking open the cages to let the animals run free. Now, she found herself standing outside of their leader's tent, ready to crack his skull in, when she heard him speaking inside.

"My, this is an interesting bird! Such wonderful coloration! And these markings… no doubt he will fetch a high price!"

Sakura saw red and plowed straight in, barely taking time to register the sword headed towards her before she grabbed it and crushed it in her fist. She used her now bleeding hand to punch her attacker's face in before turning to the dumbstruck leader of the traders and the cage he was holding.

Inside the cage was a bird that almost seemed to be made of blue and pale orange flames, with markings that almost resembled glasses around its eyes. Against all odds, the bird seemed calm as it looked at Sakura. She felt herself calm down slightly, only for her rage to build up when she heard the leader of the traders speaking again.

Sakura didn't hear his words. She just charged forwards, slamming her fist into his face with a satisfying crunch. The man dropped the cage as he fell backwards, which Sakura caught and set down on a nearby table, tearing its door off. The bird hopped out of the cage, nodding to her in thanks.

"Ah… don't mention it," she sheepishly smiled, turning and making her way towards the exit. She stumbled slightly, catching herself and bringing her hand to her head. Sakura felt dizzy, and when she looked at her hand as she lowered it she noticed her vision seemed to be getting blurry. "What…?"

"Yoi!"

At the sound, she turned. The strange bird was flying over to her, carrying a vial of sorts. It began hovering in front of her, offering her the vial, which she slowly took and examined. It was hard to tell, but it looked like it read 'Antidote'.

Poison. The blade she'd broken earlier must have been poisoned. Why had she been so careless?

"Yoi!" the bird repeated, motioning to the vial she was now carrying. Sakura quickly removed the cork keeping it closed and drank its contents. Before long, she was feeling better as the antidote made its way through her system.

"Thanks," she nodded, tossing the now empty vial over her shoulder and bandaging her hand. "But how did you know?"

The bird looked confused, and Sakura realized why. The leader of the traders had been saying something before she'd punched him. If it was about how the blade she'd broken with her hand was poisoned, this bird would have heard. She cursed herself for being too angry to hear that.

"Where did you find the antidote?" Sakura asked. The bird seemed intelligent, and capable of understanding her words, at least.

"Yoi," was the response as he motioned towards the trade leader. Of course. If the people working for him used poison, he would carry the antidote on hand. She really wasn't thinking straight today. Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose to scold herself before looking at the bird again. He wasn't making any move to leave, despite the fact that he was no longer in a cage. Maybe he liked her? She wished she were from one of the clans that could understand animals.

"Aren't you going to go home?" Sakura asked the bird. The bird sadly shook his head. "You... don't have a home?" A slow nod was her confirmation. Sakura crossed her arms in thought. The bird was intelligent, not to mention it had potentially saved her life… She came to a decision. "Would you like to come back to Konoha with me?"

The bird didn't seem to know what Konoha was, but a nod and a "Yoi" indicated that he approved of the idea. He cautiously flew closer, and when Sakura didn't move he settled in on her shoulder. She smiled and scratched under his beak.

"Wonder how Tsunade's going to react…" she muttered under her breath before gathering up the traders to turn in, as per the mission requirements.

Tsunade could swear she felt a headache coming on as she stared at the bird that was currently perched on her student's shoulder. In her time, she had never seen a bird that looked like him, and to make matters worse she somehow felt like the bird was wary of her, as if he knew what sort of power she possessed. She forced enough focus into her system to listen as Sakura explained how the mission had gone, before handing her the reward money and asking if she could keep the bird.

Tsunade heard herself groan as she reached for the necessary paperwork. Sure, several clans had their own animals, but they were linked through chakra and family bloodlines and a plethora of other things that she really didn't feel like thinking about with her massive headache.

It probably didn't help that she was dealing with a hangover at the moment.

Either way, paperwork was still needed if you were going to have a pet that wasn't in some way related to your jutsu, in case something happened to it or something happened to someone because of it. There was also the fact that this bird Sakura had picked up was definitely some sort of rare animal, especially considering she'd never seen anything like it before. That was bound to cause some headaches in the future.

Tsunade stopped writing as she came to a particular section of the paperwork. "What's his name?" she asked her student, who blinked in confusion before looking to the bird on her shoulder.

"Do you have a name?" Sakura asked him. The bird nodded and hopped off of her shoulder, gliding over to Tsunade's desk and snatching up a pen before looking for something to write on. He then seemed to realize that his talons and wings weren't exactly suited for writing with, and both Sakura and Tsunade could swear that he looked upset with himself.

Tsunade took the pen from the bird and put it away, before producing a blank sheet of paper and using the pen in her hand to write out the alphabet for the bird. "All right, point to the letters and I'll write them as you do." The bird nodded, and using one talon, he tapped the 'M' on the paper. Tsunade began to write.

It took about a minute to transcribe the bird's name, and another ten to finish the paperwork. Tsunade sighed as she put it away and handed Sakura her cut of the reward money.

"Congratulations, Sakura," Tsunade smirked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You are now the proud owner of Marco the Phoenix."

And so ends our first chapter. I hope you enjoy it, and I'll see you when I get the next one up, or if you post reviews and such. Thank you for reading!

-Ink