Hey guys, what's up, I'm back with a new chapter of Draconic Strawhat that I hope you'll enjoy and love.

Anywho, please drop a fav and follow and maybe a review, but no flames please.

By the way, Luffy will be Ace's age in this fic if you were curious at all.

Signing off,

SubZeroDragonSlayer

(A year later)

"Luffy what do you think you're doing up there?" Shanks loudly questioned to the 10 year old child that was standing on his ship's figurehead.

"I'm gonna make everyone take me seriously around here!" Luffy exclaimed with a furrowed brow.

"Oh? And how will you do that?" Shanks asked curiously with a joking tone that heavily annoyed the young child.

Luffy's eyebrow twitched in annoyance and he raised his hand and curled his fingers slightly inward.

"I'll show you." he said before his arm turned red and scaly with obsidian black claws protruding from his fingers, shocking the pirates.

Before Shanks could shout at the child, Luffy had already dragged his claws across his face, cutting deep into his flesh and creating deep scars across his face and left eye.

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Luffy's painful scream echoed throughout the village, making them all turn to the pirate ship with worried looks.

"LUFFY! YOU DAMN IDIOT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" almost immediately afterward, Shanks' angered and worried voice boomed out.

(scene skip)

Luffy was sitting at the bar with Shanks sitting next to him. Normally, you'd expect the small child to be in tears from the pain, however, Luffy was no normal child.

Luffy, instead of having bandages covering about half of his face, he already had deep scars where he had carved into his face.

"Luffy, you know we could've just sewn your cuts closed, right?" Shanks asked the slightly scowling child.

"Of course I do, I just wanted to show that I wasn't afraid of pain." Luffy said, idly carving a jolly roger into the bar counter.

Shanks was going to retort before he noticed what Luffy was doing and leaned over. "Whatcha carving there, Luffy?"

Luffy looked up at Shanks with a large smile. "This is what my jolly roger is gonna look like when I've got my own pirate crew."

"Is that so, Luffy?" Shanks asked curiously, receiving a nod in response. He then smirked mischievously. "Well how the hell are you gonna be a pirate if you can't even swim?"

Luffy's brow twitched with annoyance at that. "Well I'll just stay outta the water, you damn drunk!" Luffy shot back, only making Shanks laugh boisterously.

Luffy would've continued on if he and Shanks weren't smacked upside the head. Looking up, they saw Makino with a smile on her face and a dark aura around her. "What did you just say, Luffy?" she asked with a sweet tone.

"U-ummmmm," Luffy stuttered before looking at Shanks and getting the greatest plan ever. "I don't know, I've only heard Shanks use it around me." he said with the most innocence he could produce at the moment.

The look on Shanks' face was one of comic betrayal and shock but turned to fear as Makino turned to him with a glare. "N-now, now Makino, let's not be rash." he pleaded, holding his hands in front of him.

The barmaid simply narrowed her eyes and looked to say something when the door was slammed open by a man with tanned skin, black hair, an x-shaped scar above his right eye, a goatee and a long coat reaching his ankles.

Behind the man was a group of people all wearing white shirts, trousers and turbans on their heads with sabers strapped on their waists with red sashes.

The man in front had an air of arrogance and confidence about him as he walked right up to the bar counter with a smirk on his face.

"So these are pirates? They all seem pretty damn week to me." the man in front said, glancing around at the pirates presence before slapping his hand on the bar. "Wench, grab me and my men here 10 barrels of your alcohol and make it quick." he said with blatant disrespect.

Hearing the man's tone, Luffy quietly growled and clenched his fist, annoyance rising in him.

"I'm very sorry, but these other gentlemen already finished off my alcohol stock and I won't be getting another shipment for a whole week." Makino explained with a false apologetic tone, discreetly reaching under the bar counter.

"I'm sorry my crew and I drank all of the alcohol," Shanks said holding an unopened bottle of sake. "You can have this one, it's unopened." he offered with a smile.

The man's brow twitched in annoyance and his eye's narrowed in anger. "You think one measly bottle will satisfy us?" he questioned before shattering the bottle with his sword. "Who the hell do you think I am?" he asked angrily.

"Now look at what you did, the floor's all wet." Shanks said, bending down. "Makino, could you get me a rag to clean this?" he asked politely.

"Sure, just give me a second." Makino said, about to grab a rag when she heard a loud smash and the sound of shattering glass.

Now on the floor, Shanks was soaked and had food on the ground around him while the rugged man stood above him with an angry look in his eyes.

"Tch. Seems you need to be educated, you dumbass pirate." he almost growled, pulling out a bounty paper with his face on it. "Can you read this? It says, 'Higuma the Bear, wanted dead or alive for 8,000,000 beris.' This means I'm a dangerous criminal, so you should be treating me with respect." Higuma said, putting his bounty poster away. "We'll be back again, and I don't want to see you weaklings here again." Higuma said with a chuckle, his men following him out.

"Shanks, are you okay?" Makino asked worriedly, kneeling beside him.

"Don't worry about it Makino, I'm alright." he said, placing a hand on his hat before he began laughing, with his crew following soon after.

"Captain looked so silly!"

"He sure did!"

While the others were laughing in good humor, Luffy wasn't.

Now, the young child wasn't mad at Shanks or the rest for treating what had happened as a joke, he was mad at the bandits from before for disrespecting his idol and family.

"Hey, Luffy, why don't you get that scowl off your face. It's nothing to worry over too much." Shanks said with a large smile.

"I know it isn't, it just ticks me off so much." Luffy said, his frown deepening before he noticed a sour smell coming from a small chest near him. "Hey Shanks, what's in that chest?" He questioned, immediately getting the older man's attention. "It smells like burning rubber." he said, pinching his nose in disgust.

"Oh, thanks for reminding me, Luffy." Shanks said, reaching over and grabbing the box. "Hey, Roo!" He exclaimed and one of his crewmen walked up to him.

"What's up, cap'n?" The man asked, eating a large piece of meat.

"Could you take this back to the ship real quick for me?" Shanks asked.

"No problem, Cap'n." Lucky Roo said, grabbing the box and heading to the docks.

"What was that, Shanks?" Luffy questioned, looking at the red-haired man.

"That was a devil fruit, Luffy. That actually brings me to my next question." Shanks said. "What fruit did you eat to make you grow claws?" He asked Luffy.

"I ate the Ryū-Ryū no mi about three years ago." Luffy explained.

"Are you talking about, like a Komodo Dragon or an actual, fire-breathing dragon?" Shanks asked the child.

"An actual, fire-breathing dragon." Luffy said, shocking the red-haired man.

"Never thought that you'd even see a mythical zoan fruit in the East Blue, they're super rare." Shanks said, taking a sip of his ale.

"So Shanks," Luffy said, getting a hum from the man next to him, "can I come along on your next journey?"

Shanks let out a deep, thoughtful hum. "Maybe," he said, making the child grin widely, making him smirk. "Only if you beat me in a fair duel." Shanks said.

"Then fight me! Right here, right now!" Luffy exclaimed, already standing on his stool with his fists up and clenched tightly with a large grin on his face.

"Not now, Luffy, I'm tired." Shanks said before promptly slamming his head on the bar, shocking Luffy.

"Seriously!?" the young boy exclaimed, then soon hearing snores coming from the red-haired pirate. Luffy clicked his tongue in annoyance and sat back down with a frown on his face. "Stupid frickin' tomato-head." he muttered in annoyance.

"Not….tomato-head." Shanks grumbled in his sleep, making Luffy snicker.

"Whatever." he said with a smile, grabbing Shanks' leftover plate and began eating the rest of his meal.

(scene skip)

Shanks and his crew had been gone for about two weeks now, and in that time, Luffy had been training in his downtime, or even volunteered to help Makino out in the bar sometimes. Right now, he was sitting at the counter in the bar with a plate of food in front of him and a glass of water with it.

"Thanks again for the food, Makino." Luffy said, grinning up at the woman.

"Don't worry about it at all, Luffy. You've been helping me out here so much it's like this place runs itself." Makino said with a large smile.

Looking around the empty bar, Luffy slightly sulked with a frown.

Gaining a concerned look, Makino leaned down to the child's eye level, resting her arms on the bar. "You miss them, huh?" she questioned the boy.

"Yeah, I just wish they brought me along with them." he said with a sad tone.

"Try to look at it from their point of view, Luffy. You're still a kid and the open sea is a dangerous place. They're only looking out for you." Makino said, placing a comforting hand on Luffy's shoulder.

"I guess so, doesn't mean I have to like it, though." Luffy said with a pout at the end.

"If you say so, Luffy." Makino said before smiling widely. "Anyway, it's almost time for lunch rush hour, so I'm gonna need your help again, Luffy." She told him, clapping her hands together.

"Alright, Makino!" Luffy exclaimed with a small grin that instantly dropped as the door was slammed open by none other than Higuma the Bear, making the child scowl in annoyance.

"Hello, how can I help you today?" Makino asked with a fake air of friendliness.

Sitting down at a table and placing his feet on a table, he smirked arrogantly. "Get my men and I alcohol, and lots of it." He said, or demanded, hard to tell.

As Makino left and got the men their alcohol, the bandits began speaking Ill of Shanks and his crew, making Luffy slowly clench his fist tighter before scales began slowly travelling up his limbs and his fingernails extended to sharp claws as black as night.

"Heh, I guess it's good that those pirates left. They finally realized how truly pathetic they are, especially compared to us." Higuma said with a rancid air of arrogance about him, making Luffy growl audibly in anger, drawing attention to himself.

"You have no right to talk about them like that." He silently ground out, making the bandits confused.

Since Luffy was facing away from the bandits, they didn't notice that his arms and legs were now covered in scales and his nails were now dark black claws carving into the wooden counter.

"The hell did you say, brat?" Higuma questioned with annoyance in his tone.

"I said," Luffy growled before turning around, shocking the bandits with his golden eyes and draconic limbs, "you have no right to talk about Shanks and his crew like that!" He exclaimed, his golden reptilian eyes glowing with anger directed at the bandits.

"And what makes you say that?" The bandit questioned.

"You're all nothing but a bunch of drunks that don't know anything about Shanks." Luffy said with a glare focused on Higuma.

Returning with a glare of his own, Higuma stood and drew his sword, pointing it at Luffy. "I don't care if you have a devil fruit, brat. Either way, you're still a kid who shouldn't be pokin' his nose into other people's business, just like those weak pirates tried to do." He said with a scowl on his face.

Launching forward with a surprising amount of speed, Luffy punched at Higuma's gut with his scaled fist.

Barely having time to react, the bandit tried to block the strike with his sword, only to have it be shattered by Luffy's punch that soon made forceful contact with his stomach, making Higuma cough out spittle and throwing him out of the bar doors, making him tumble in the street.

By now, Higuma's lackeys had all fled the bar towards the mountain in fear of the demon child that they had angered.

Running out after Higuma, Luffy practically pounced outside and landed on the bandit, his claws nearing his throat with his hand holding the bandit down with a feral glare pointed at the terrified man below him.

Rearing his hand back, Luffy was going to strike forward when he felt a strong grip on his shoulder, making him stop. Looking to punish whoever stopped him, he snapped around with a snarl, stopping as he saw a concerned and worried Shanks looking down at him with a frown.

"S-Shanks." the boy muttered as the bandit below him fainted in either fear or relief, it will never be known, Luffy's transformation dropped as his eyes watered before he was picked up by Shanks and held close which made him start full on bawling into the red-haired man's shoulder, repeatedly muttering tear-stricken apologies and explanations that were interrupted by hiccups or were just incoherent.

"It's alright, Luffy. You did good." Shanks quietly told Luffy, rubbing the child's head in comfort with a small but proud smile on his face. "Let's get you some rest, huh? You must be pretty exhausted." Shanks said, getting a small nod and a tear-stricken look that he instantly understood. "We'll talk more about it tomorrow, Luffy."

Luffy could only nod once again in response as he nodded off to sleep, still tightly gripping at Shanks' shirt as his vision faded to darkness.

(scene skip)

Luffy blearily blinked his eyes open as a small yawn escaped his mouth, he looked around and saw that he was in a room he often slept in when he worked at the inn.

His ears perked up as he barely caught a piece of a muffled conversation. He got out of the bed and slowly walked towards the door, slowly opening it and tip-toeing to the hallway where he heard the conversation more clearly.

"...take him with you?" he heard Makino's questioning voice, slightly raising his hope.

'Maybe Shanks is gonna take me with him.' He thought with a slight smile.

"I'm sure, Makino." Shanks' voice sounded out next, though there was a hint of regret in his voice. "I'd take the kid in a heartbeat if it wasn't for Garp."

'What does gramps have to do with this?' he thought in confusion.

"If Garp came back only to find his grandson missing, you know he'd be hot on our tail and I'd rather keep Luffy out of that stress." Shanks reasoned.

The downstairs was silent until Luffy heard Shanks' voice once more. "I know you're there, Luffy." he said, slightly shocking the child. "Come on down, buddy."

Luffy slowly walked down the steps and saw Shanks sitting at the bar with Makino on the other side while the rest of the bar was shockingly empty.

"Where's everyone else?" Luffy questioned.

"They're preparing the ship to leave." Shanks answered, making Luffy's mood slightly fall.

"So you're leaving?" he asked, getting a nod in return. Instead of feeling sad like he thought he would, Luffy accepted it and even smiled. "I hope you're ready for our future fight, then." he said, confusing Shanks. "'Cause when you see me again, I'm gonna beat you as the pirate king!" he exclaimed with a wide grin.

"So that means you're gonna get a crew better than mine, eh?" Shanks asked, getting an excited nod from the child. "Well," he said, reaching up and taking his old straw hat off of his head, "take this as a sign of our promise." Shanks placed his hat gently on top of Luffy's head, shocking the youth. "This hat is a very dear treasure of mine, so take good care of it, will ya?" he asked Luffy, taking his hand off of Luffy's head and making his way out of the bar. "I'll see you on the Grand Line someday, Luffy. And when I do, I ain't holdin' back." he said with a smirk, waving his hand in farewell.

Luffy stayed silent as tears began streaming down his face and he clutched the brim of the straw hat tightly.

'Shanks.' the boy thought, wiping the tears off of his face and grinning. 'I'll definitely become pirate king and surpass you!' he thought with confidence as he ran out of the bar.

"Luffy, where are you going?" Makino asked him in confusion.

Turning to the woman, Luffy simply smiled and answered in a happy tone. "I'm gonna start training for when I see Shanks again!"

The answer left Makino smiling in the boy's direction as he ran out of the bar and to the forest, ready to continuously get stronger.

I'm sorry that this and many other updates took so long to get out, but I'm glad you all are patient enough with me to deal with it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, there is more to come, I'm just not sure when and that sucks.

After this goes up, Monster Trio Time-Travelers should also be updated. If not, then I'm a dumbass and I hate myself and my computer.

Signing off,

SubZeroDragonSlayer