I'm not dead! "I" being this story!

Disclaimer: You already know...

Grammar is a bitch. Any grammar issues, endure it. We did the best we could.

Beta: Chaos-PSD

Middle of the Ocean

It was the middle of the night, the ocean blanketed in darkness as the wide clear sky of stars and moon reflected off the calm waters, displaying a beautiful image one could only hope to see once in their lives. The ship known as the Black Pearl sailed calmly in the gentle wind, many of its passengers resting below deck, while the night crew kept watch and steered.

In the captain's quarters, Naruto gazed up at the starry sky through the viewing window at the back of his room. Starring outward as he leaned against the glass, while Kurami slumbered in his bed, the sheet covering her naked waist downward. Beside her, the small fox laid curled as it slept. His other pets also resided in the room; the monkey slumbering in a small hammock hanging from the ceiling, and the parrot slumbering on a bar, strangely upside down. Then again, it was always a weird bird. Probably the only one to drink rum.

Smirking for a sec as he stared at the surprisingly snoring parrot, Naruto shook his head, before turning his gaze out the window. Naruto was wide awake, his mind not able to sleep as it was clouded with thoughts. He couldn't help but think back to how far he's come since he arrived in this world.

Six years have passed since he arrived. Though Kurami theorized that time could work differently between different dimensions. Maybe. She didn't know. This was the first time she has ever been in an issue of dimensional travel. She had never even been to the Summon Realm. The fact that they even made it to this dimension, much less survived, was a miracle. A miracle that was completely accidental.

Or was it?

Either way, in the time he's been in this world, he had bled, sweated, and shed tears, all leading up to the man he was that day. Doing what he did best. Train, get into trouble, and get stronger doing so.

He spared a downward glance at his naked chest, Muscles sculpted from training and harsh movement. A far cry from what he possessed during his weeks as a genin. Training as a shinobi was one thing, training as a pirate was something different entirely. A shinobi's usual training goal is focused on speed and agility, stealth being their main tool of combat.

A pirate, however, is something of a trade of all fields. Speed, agility, endurance, strength. Each, and more, is a pirate's weapon. As a pirate, you never know when you will be forced into combat against other of your kind or against marine or creatures of the deep. A genin never usually had to worry about stuff like that until they made chunin or jonin.

In a pirate's world, it's a struggle for survival each day, or find yourself shark food.

Everything he endured would be like stuff he used to dream about doing as a ninja when he was a kid before graduating. While there weren't really moments of "saving the princess", he has seen a lot of incredible things.

However, he wasn't a dreamer. Seeking adventure like some knight in shining armor. His mission to Wave had opened his eyes to the real facts of the world, be it the Elemental Nations, or Oceanus.

His meeting with Zabuza and Haku opened his eyes.

You are either a weak fool that gets lucky to live another day, or a warrior that fights for his place in life.

He most certainly fell under the latter, and he fights to keep it that way.

He was no longer that small, weak - and admittedly - annoying brat he used to be. He was now smart, tall, wise, strong, and not to mention having skills under his sash that made him famous. No longer a brat with a dream of becoming Hokage, but a fierce pirate who only sought adventure and freedom. He was still annoying, though, mostly when messing with his opponents or assholes.

He had done many things under the watch and teaching of Blackbeard, as well as several others. Seen many things, and experienced so much.

All evidenced on his upper body, as the light of the moon illuminated him.

All over his chest, arms, and back, tattoos littered his skin. Designs of different shapes and sizes covering him. All illustrating adventures he partook in. They covered nearly 80% of his upper body. Each holding a different tale. A fierce shark, swimming down his left bicep. A chain, circling his neck. A cracked compass on his right shoulder. A monstrous creature near his left hip. A skull with a blade in its mouth on the left side of his neck. And nearly taking up the full of his back...

The image of an octopus.

Flashback

Six Years Ago – Davy Jones' Locker

Naruto cursed under his breath as he scrubbed hard on the moldy and barnacle infested deck of the feared ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman. Around him, humanoid fish people moved about, working around the ship and setting everything up for sailing. He growled when one of them – a certain 'fucking hammerhead shark bastard' – 'accidently' knocked over his soap bucket. "Hey!" He shouted, getting up and glaring up at the bastard. The shark man – 'Maccus' or some other shit like that – stopped walking and glared down at him, towering immensely over the brat at a large 6' 5" to Naruto's short 4' 5''.

Not that Naruto care about that fact. He was Naruto Fucking Uzumaki! He never backed down! Especially against assholes.

"You've got something to say, human filth?" Maccus growled. Naruto returned the growl as he shifted his glare between the shark-man's eyes, one human eye visible on his face while a shark eye looked at him from the left side of his extended head. His body was covered in barnacles and wore wet rags, which like the other crew members, was constantly dripping water despite not having been jumping into the ocean. On the shark-man's back, several pairs of lobster legs grew out of his back, along with his left arm, much to Naruto's disgust.

"Yeah! You knocked over my bucket teme!" Naruto shouted at him, pointing at the turned bucket and spilled water. As that went on, the other fish men crew members saw the incoming fight, and began muttering amongst themselves in the excitement of a hopeful fight, making service bets on Maccus, knowing that there was no way a brat of a human could stand up to the first mate of the Flying Dutchman's crew.

Maccus grinned savagely and bent down, his face getting close to Naruto's. "So? What are you going to do about it?" He mocked, making Naruto growl in anger and clench his fist. He truly wished he had his chakra back, then he would beat the bastard up. Unfortunately, with his chakra and the Kyuubi somehow locked away, while he was no weaker than a civilian, he knew it would be impossible for him to even strike this bastard, who had proven from previous events, to be stronger and faster than him.

"What is this?!"

Everyone flinched, the cursed fishmen quickly getting back to work as from the captain's room at the back of the deck, a tall squid faced man in captain's clothes came out. Naruto shot a glare at the being, but quickly looked away, his anger leaving at the phantom pains from the slash marks on his back from when he was being 'disciplined'.

This man was the captain of the ship, and Naruto's capturer and warden. His head resembled an octopus, with his tentacles acting like a beard that flowed down to his chest. His body and clothes were covered in barnacles. His left arm was actually a large crab claw, with his right hand having a tentacle for an index-finger. His right leg was a peg leg, which gave him an awkward gait when he walked. He was actually the most human in appearance compared to the rest of the ship's crew.

'Squid-Face' as Naruto had dubbed him, was actually known as "Davy Jones" and apparently he had a fierce reputation as given by the crew's reactions and expressions as he began walking toward them.

Naruto tensed as the tap tap of the squid man's peg leg echoed through the ship. He tried to ignore it as he grabbed his bucket and went back to scrubbing. He flinched when a tentacle grabbed him by the chin, and was forcibly turned to look up at the captain's dark cold eyes. "Boy." Jones growled out. "Get that bucket refilled and get back to work!"

Naruto gulped and nodded shakily. "Y-Yes...captain." He hated the fact that he stuttered, seeing it as a sign of weakness, but what could he do? With his chakra and jutsu gone, the bastard would just rip him apart. And so, he had no choice but to follow the captain's orders.

Grabbing his fallen bucket, he moved quickly and headed below deck to refill his bucket. He walked down the stairs to the cells below, where the groans and moans of the poor souls captured by Davy Jones echoed. 'Poor bastards.' He thought as he passed them and moved to the sink at the back side. As he filled the bucket, he thought.

He didn't know how long he's been under the servitude of Jones. It felt like days, when it could have been days, or weeks when it could have been months. Hell, it could even just had been hours. Time was strange here. In this afterlife hell.

Yeah, from what Squid-Face revealed to him, Naruto has somehow ended up in actual hell. It was literally the first thing the Squid told him. "Welcome to Hell, boy." All with his weird smile on his face. Now of course, Naruto at the time didn't take that literally, and figured the bastard was talking figuratively. But as time passed and he was constantly tortured, he slowly started to believe he really was in hell. Meaning, he somehow died. It also explai why his chakra didn't work, as you had to be, you know, alive to have chakra - he wasn't stupid, he paid attention to that in class! Didn't mean he liked the thought.

'Kami Damn that Ero-Sennin for pushing me down that pit and killing me!'

Anyway, the sun seemed to constantly be stuck in the sky, only to become night in a blink, and back to day in a few hours. The dessert he had come to actually miss – it was much better than this hellhole – had all but disappeared before he even knew it.

After being knocked out, he found himself onboard this ghost ship, face to face with Squid Face himself. He was told that he was now nothing more than a slave, forced to work as a cabin boy for Jones. Immediately after being told that, he attacked the Squid-Face.

Or at least tried to.

With a simply backhand by the bastard's claw, he was sent flying back onto the wooden ground of the ship, before he was pummeled by the crew of freaks. He was then strapped in chains to the big pole of the ship, his jacket and shirt ripped off and whipped a dozen times in the back. And to make it worse, with his healing gone, he suffered the pain of having his skin ripping open, and wounds struck by the leather band.

For what could only be weeks, he has been a slave to this ship, forced into cleaning and having to endure the torment of the fish crew.

He winched a bit, the scars and burns on his back pulsing a bit as he moved. He pulled his torn orange jacket closer, trying to ignore the pain. 'Bastards. If I had my chakra…' He thought as he glared. Feeling something move in his pocket, he reached in and took out a familiar white 'rock'. He smiled at it as it cracked and his friend the crab revealed its true form. It has stuck with him being captured, and always reveal itself when it needed to. Crazy as it is to say, it's thanks to the crab that he endured all of this for so long. He named it Shiroshi. White Stone. The little guy's been with him through all his torment. And while he couldn't talk, the gentle rubs on his cheek showed it cared.

Smart crab.

Putting the bucket in the sink, he turned the lever and he and the crab, as it climbed up to his shoulder, watched as the water filled in. As they watched the water flow, the blond narrowed his eyes.

He was getting off this ship, one way or another.

What Naruto could only think of as a long-ass hellish time has passed, and since then he's been putting all of his ninja skills to the test.

Hey, just because he didn't have his chakra to use anymore, didn't mean he wasn't still a shinobi either. If he could prank around Konoha and graffiti the Hokage Monument in broad daylight, in an orange tracksuit, and finish before anyone was the wiser, than even as a 'civilian' he could hold his own skills.

With his keen eyes and patience – something he was forced to practice given the treatment these assholes gave him – he memorized the night shift patterns of the crew. And thanks to the gossip of crew below deck at night, he learned some interesting things.

Apparently, the Flying Dutchman was only able to resurface back into the living world every 10 years. That, or when a thousand souls were sacrificed under a full moon. But he focused more on the first option.

Why? Because as Lady Luck would have it, the time for the ship to surface is coming up.

In a month.

Convenient, huh?

From what he heard, it was a one-chance way. The dickwad Squid-Face wanted to use it to get to the mortal realm and rack havoc.

Asshole

Naruto had other thoughts, though. He was going to use it to escape this ship, and hopefully, this damn world, to where, he didn't know, nor care at the moment. Anywhere was better than that dessert and this damn ship. However, there was a problem. The gate only allowed one person, or object with a collection of people, to enter. The latter meaning the Flying Dutchman.

So he had a choice, go to the other world with the ship, and remain a slave...or go himself before Jones had the chance to. If he traveled through the portal, the Dutchman and its crew would remain in this accursed hell for another 10 years.

The choice was clear.

And so, he needed to prepare for his escape. However, one thing was vital. He would need to prevent the ship from making it to the portal first. Meaning he would need to do something to slow it down.

The solution came in the form of gunpowder barrels located at the storage level of the ship. He recalled hearing how it was explosive.

Lady Luck was practically stripping for him! (Damn that Ero-Sennin for corrupting him!)

However, he wasn't leaving without getting back at that Squid bastard!

And what better way, then with a bang?

Naruto smirked a dark, terrifying smirk. Payback time.

And so, he waited. Spending his time acting the role as 'cabin boy', while at night, as everyone slept, he snuck down below to grab small barrels of gun pounder. Thankfully, he still had his weapons pouch, with all the necessary tools inside. Being a master of pranking since he was 6, Naruto knew just how to create different types of bombs. Smoke bombs, paint bombs, pepper bombs, and his favorite...

Regular bombs. The big and loud kind.

Who needs chakra, when you have a devilish pranking mind?

He had explored the ship, either while doing his forced labor or when everyone was either asleep or not paying attention to him, taking anything he would need. Rope, some knives, a sword or two, guns - he learned how to use by observing the crew use them in their fights with one another - food – which was mostly rotten bread, but beggars can't be choosers – and several maps collected in the ship's years. Those took careful snatching to make sure no one noticed them missing.

While he didn't understand them, they looked important, so why not?

He put all the items in a duffle bag he stole. He was also going to use the small boat on the ship's side.

Time moved and went, and soon it was time. The ship would be sailing for the portal tomorrow. But before he left, he was going to pay a visit to the captain's quarters.

Laying in his dark corner of the slumbering chamber, facing the wall and away from the rest of the crew, his eyes closed to appear to be sleeping, Naruto tuned his ears, picking up every sound around him. He heard the snores of the crew, and the soft thuds above as the night watch patrolled around. Listening closely, he heard the breathing of the sleeping crew, determining if they truly were asleep. Having been here as long as he had, he learned a few new things.

Once he knew they were actually sleeping, he opened his eyes. Glancing down at his side, where the rock-form crab rested, he gently tapped it on the top. Cracking in its true form and standing up, Shiroshi looked at him. He nodded at it, and it seemed to nod back – at least he thought its eyes moving up and down meant nodding.

It squired off around him as Naruto sat up. Being trained to be a shinobi since he was 8, growing as a genin, and being the awesome Prank Master since...ever, Naruto knew how to move like a ghost, no sound, no taps, absolutely nothing to give away his presence.

With silent, gentle steps, Naruto moved through the sleeping seamen, Shiroshi following behind him with equally gentle movements. They froze when one groaned, shifting. Standing still, a leg in the air each, they made no movement whatsoever as the fishman - a squid/starfish hybrid - grumbled as he turned on his side. Staring at the man for a few tense seconds, Naruto relaxed as the man's snores sounded out.

Moving on, he made it to the stairs that led down below to the cargo hold. Looking down at the darkness, Naruto looked around for a light source. He found it as he spotted a posted candle lamp beside a sleeping Maccus. Gulping, Naruto slowly approached him, making sure not to do anything that might wake up the bastards. Once close, he carefully leaned down to grab the lamp, freezing as Maccus grumbled something. Rolling his eyes to him, Naruto watched him sleep, before reaching and grabbed hold of the lamp's handle. As careful as possible, Naruto picked up the candle lamp, and stepped back. Unfortunately, he didn't see Maccus's spread out leg, and bumped into it.

Naruto stiffered as Maccus grunted, his eyes opening half way. Being as still as possible, the whiskered blond watched horrified for a while, before the shark man closed his eyes, and quickly went back to sleep. Sighing in relief, Naruto stepped over the leg, and made his way back to the stairs, going down to the cargo hold, Shiroshi climbing back up onto his shoulder. He silently cursed as the step boards squeaked below his feet, forcing him to take his movements with even more caution. Luckily, he soon made it below deck, with none of the fishmen disturbed.

Looking around the cargo hold, Naruto turned to a direction, and walked on, heading to a corner of the room. Going to the corner, he saw the small crates of explosives, before he looked around behind some crates, and took out a potato bag he swiped from the kitchen. Opening it, he took out a box of matches he also took from the kitchen, and placed it on the ground. Once more reaching around the crates, he brought out a bag of gunpowder.

His plan/prank was simple. He would set up several explosives near the gun barrels stationed directly below, with a line of gunpowder from the stairs to the bombs.

He would set a second bomb at the ship's sails, so when it went off, the ship would be unable to sail.

And finally, he would set a third bomb at Jones's quarters, a nice 'thank you' for all he's done to Naruto.

And by the time the bombs went off, he would be far away on a boat, towards the gateway that'll take him back to the land of the living.

Only question was: where was the gateway?

Blinking at the realization he had no idea just where the exit was, or even what it looked like, Naruto face-palmed, unable to believe he forgot to find out the direction of the gateway. He shook his head. "No matter! I just need to get a map before I leave!" None of the maps he took were about this place, but there should be something around the ship.

Nodding at the plan, Naruto got to work, picking up the gunpowder bag, and started sprinkling it on the bomb crates, before dragging it in a straight line, moving backwards, and slowly to the stairs.

Satisfied with the line being long and thick enough, Naruto withdrew the bag, and shaking it a bit, saw it still had much left, at least half. He then moved on to ready the second bomb. Luckily for him, there seemed to be more of the bomb crates stationed around the cargo hold.

Why? He hadn't the slightest clue. But hey! No use overlooking a gift horse in the mouth!

So, grabbing a few more crates, as many as he could carry without dropping them, or slowing him down, he moved to the stairs and climbed up. Peeking through the opening, Naruto looked at the sleeping seamen, his eyes and ears sharp, looking to see if any of them were awake.

He sighed in relief that no one was, and silently climbed up and moved to the other set leading up to the deck. He would need to set the bombs before lighting the fuse, giving him enough time to head to the boat and leave before anyone woke up and caught him.

Walking up the second flight of stairs carefully and keeping his body low, he peeked out a bit, before quickly ducking back down, hiding in the shadows, as a guard passed by overhead. Thankfully, it didn't look down the stairway, or it could have spotted him. Once the guard moved far away enough, he peeked out once more, staring at the guard as it walked around the deck, holding up a lantern.

He wondered why there was a guard stationed, when they were in the supposed afterlife/hell. A part of his mind debating on there being creatures even in the afterlife, like demons or…*gulp* g-ghosts. Shivering at the thought of his worst phobia, Naruto shook his head, getting rid of the thought process before it distracted him.

His eyes rolling across the field of the deck, Naruto was confident that there was only one guard. He looked at the ship's mast, where he would plant the bombs under. No sails would keep the ship stuck, preventing it from moving, and going after him. He then turned his attention to the walking guard, narrowing his eyes.

Now for the hard part, handling the guard.

It was pretty obvious, at his weakened state and no chakra, he was no match for these fish freaks in a confrontational fight. Fish freaks who have clearly shown to be as strong as Zabuza, who could lift a giant sword bigger than himself, and swing it around without trouble.

Pursing his lips, Naruto thought on how to handle the fishman as he put the crates down for a bit. He could try and knock him out, but if the hit wasn't strong enough, or failed, he would be in big trouble. As he thought on what to do, his hand unconsciously moved to his jacket pocket. He snapped out of his thoughts at the feeling of cool metal on his skin. Taking out his hand from his pocket, Naruto looked down at the knife in his hand, something he placed in his jacket pocket mostly out of subconscious shinobi instinct of always having a weapon in hand for emergencies.

Staring at the knife, Naruto bit his lip. He knew what he had to do, but could he do it? Could he really do it?

Could he kill the guard?

He knew he had to escape the ship to get freedom, but could he really kill someone to do it? Could he? Sure these bastards had held him prisoner for long, and treated him like crap, but could he really take a life? Even from one of his tormentors?

Climbing up to the blond's shoulder, Shiroshi looked at its friend, wondering what the human was thinking.

Naruto stared at the knife for a while longer, before closing his hand around the handle, clenching it tightly. Narrowing his eyes in a glare, Naruto nodded.

He knew what he had to do.

Turning his head, he looked at Shiroshi. The white stone crab seemed to get the message, and climbed onto the hand Naruto held up for it. Gently placing the crab down on the top steps, Naruto looked at the patrolling fishman, who stood facing the sea at the edge of the deckside. Taking a deep breath, the blond shinobi silently climbed onto the deck.

The patrolling fishman, a cross between a goldfish and a shark, sighed in boredom, wondering why he had to be the one on patrol that night. 'There isn't even anything to keep a watch for anyway. The Dutchman's the only sailing ship in the locker anyway. All souls here are nothing but husks of sorrow and misery. No one would dare try a coup against Davy Jones, unless they wish to suffer everlasting torment.' The patrol thought, sighing again, and moved to continue aimlessly walking around, when he heard the sound of creaking behind him. However, before he could turn around, he felt something impact his back, a pair of legs wrapped around his waist, as a hand covered his mouth, before he could struggle, felt a sharp pain in his neck. He could only give a muffled gasp, and widen his eyes, before a cold feeling passed through him, after which all feeling left his body.

Naruto grunted as the large fishman began to fall back. Unwrapping his legs, he dropped down, taking out the knife from the man's neck. With both hands, he pushed against the man's back, preventing him from falling down and crushing him with his large body. Grunting from how heavy the guy was, Naruto maneuvered out of the way as he slowly lowered the man down, before placing him on the floor, careful as to not make any noise.

Staring at the still man, Naruto gulped, pushing down the bile that wanted to crawl up his throat, but couldn't afford to puke now, he had a job to do. So, shaking his body to get it out of its frozen state, Naruto debated on whether to hide to body. Last thing he wanted was for one of the crew members to wake up, go up to the deck, see the dead body and raise the alarm. So, he would need to put it somewhere out of sight. Glancing at the deck edge, Naruto debated throwing the body into the ocean, but quickly discarded that thought.

The body hitting the water would make a loud splash, drawing attention.

Looking around for another option, he founded it as he spotted a group of crates located at the back of the deck, with a flapping sheet over them. Grinning at the great luck, Naruto got started on the hard issue of dragging the large and heavy fishman towards the crates.

It...was not as easy as it seemed. The man weighed a ton! It was like trying to drag a bolder!

But with gritting teeth, pulsing veins, and great determination, Naruto somehow managed to push through, and pull the fishman all the way to the crates. Dragging the man behind the crates, out of sight, he grabbed the sheet, and draped it over the body for good measure.

Wiping his forehead, cleaning off the sweat gathered from the effort, Naruto nodded in satisfaction. "Now that that's taken care off, time to finish setting the bombs."

He managed to grab four bomb crates. Three for the sail spars, and the final for Jones. With the mast being large, as well as the center of the ship holding the most people slumbering, the blast should hopefully make a large hole on the ship, maybe even sinking it, and/or kill a lot of the seaman, lowering the number of crew. Either way, it should stop them from following him. If his math was right - something he'd never thought he's say - there were still two or three bombs at the cargo hold as far as he knew, but figured a few were enough, as he didn't want to waste too much time.

He was a shinobi, and shinobi didn't waste time! At least that was what Iruka-sensei always said.

So returning to the stairs as fast, but quietly as possible, where he grabbed the crates, holding them carefully in his arms and careful not to drop them, Shiroshi once more on his shoulder, he moved to the middle sail spar, and placed two bombs under it. Moving to the spar at the back of the deck, he did the same thing and put the last in place.

Looking around to make sure he didn't miss anything, Naruto nodded. "Alright, now that that's set, time for the powder." Grabbing the bag, he laid out a tail from the rear bomb, to the stairs, with a branched off line leading to the bombs in the center spar.

Seeing he was done with planting the bombs, Naruto sighed in relief. "Alright! Now to leave Squid Face's 'present', and get out of this stupid ship.

Turning his head, he looked at the door to the captain's quarters with a glare.

He knew this was a terrible idea. The rational side of his brain was telling him to just light the fuses, get to the boat, and get as far away from the ship as possible. To not screw all his waiting and plans up just to get back at Jones.

However, his pride demanded he get payback on all the whip lashes and forced labor he suffered under the Squid/Crab man's rule. A final prank to the monster man. A hard "Fuck You!".

As well as a goodbye gift.

He clenched his hands into tight fists. "It'll be quick." He muttered reassuringly to himself. "Just plant the bomb, light the fuses, find the boat, and leave." Nodding, he grabbed the last bomb, and slowly made his way to Davy Jone's quarters. HIs heart raced faster with each step he took, his forehead glittering with sweat.

Grabbing the handle, he slowly pulling it open, cringing as a squeak sounds from it. Cursing, he stopped. Waiting a minute, to see if it drew any attention. Once nothing came, he sighed in relief. Opened the door quickly to not drag any infernal squeaks, he silently entered the room, closing the door behind him, cursing the following squeak.

Looking around the dark room, he saw that it was large, but also compacted and narrow, like a one way corridor. Like the rest of the ship, it was crafted by dark, wet wood, with barnacles on the floor, and some on the walls. There were candles around the room, granting light. He also spotted a desk, and several chests at the sides. But the thing that truly caught his attention, was the large contraption at the back, in front of the window.

He didn't know what it was, having never seen anything like it before. It had tubes sticking out of it, with white and black buttons laid in front of it.

However, pushing his curiosity on what the thing was for another time, Naruto turned to the person seated in front of the thing. Davy Jones, aka, Squid-Face, aka, the asshole who's been keeping him prisoner for who knows how long.

A silent voice in the back of his head - maybe Kyuubi? - told him to find take the knife in his hands, and slit the bastard's throat in revenge.

However, he silenced the voice with a shake of his head. There's been enough deaths tonight. He told himself. He just came here to plant the bomb, and leave the ship forever.

Whether the bombs killed anyone or not, wasn't his problem. They were dead anyway right? Or was the term 'undead'? Was he even to believe what they told him about this being some form of afterlife? They could be lying to him. Trying to mess with his mind. But what if they were telling the truth? What if-

Cutting off his raging thoughts, Naruto shook his head. This whole mess was starting to drive him insane the longer he stayed here! 'Let's just get this over with.' He thought, and with silent steps, moved towards Davy Jones, bomb in hand, knife in the other. As he slowly approached the slumbering squid man, Naruto could not help the curious impulse, and looked at the long shelves decorating the sides of the room. He mostly saw skull - shivering at the thought of the sheer torture Jones no doubt put the victims through - but he also spotted other trinkets. Some, he didn't know what they were, others, he ignored.

This wasn't the time for sightseeing.

After too long seconds, feeling more like hours with every step taken, Naruto made it to the sleeping captain. With a gulp, feeling more sweat gather at his forehead in nervousness, Naruto slowly got closer, until he stood front to back to Jones.

'Okay. Slowly…' As careful as he could, Naruto knelt down, and gently placed the bomb crate right under Jone's chair. He flinched when he heard Jones snort, and stood still for a few seconds. When he heard the continued snoring, he sighed in relief. Getting up, slowly in the case Jones jolted away, he made to turn to finally head to the boat, when he paused, seeing something glint in the candle light from the corner of his eye.

Brow raised, Naruto looked at the direction of the glint, coming from Jones. More specifically, from his neck.

There, hanging from his neck, was a key.

It was a large key, made of rusted, silver metal.

Blinking, he wondered why Jones had a key around his neck, before grinning, a mischievous, almost dark glint in his eye.

It must be really important to Squid-Face to have it so close with him…

With his decision made, Naruto, very quietly and carefully, moved beside the sleeping man-creature, and reached over with a slow hand, and grasped the hanging key.

Now for the hard part, taking it off.

He obviously couldn't simply take off the key, as the string was concealed under the mass of tentacles, and would risk waking Jones up.

Meaning, he'll have to cut the string. And with all the tentacles in the way, moving around, he would have to be really careful.

No pressure, right?

Looking at the crawling mess of tentacles, he winced. This will take great patience and precision. Both of which he was not known for. Placing the knife in his mouth, biting the handle, Naruto slowly reached over, and gently grabbed two tentacles, shivering at the feeling. 'Oh man! I think I'm going to vomit, dattebayo!' He mentally cried, but had to push the feeling back. Slowly, he moved the tentacles out of the way, taking things slow, as to not awaken Jones, who grunted in his sleep. Sweat dripped down his cheek in tension, a shiver down his spine when a tentacle unconsciously wrapped around his finger. After managing to free his finger, he continued moving tentacles out of the way of the key, revealing the string holding it.

Biting the handle of the knife, he moves the wriggling tentacles, making sure they didn't get in the way, shooting a glance at Jones to make sure he didn't wake up. Keeping a hand to separate the tentacles, he reached up and grabbed the knife, before slowly moving it towards the string.

Once more, he felt the compulsion to slit Jones neck, seeing how close the knife was to the flesh, but pushed it aside. He wasn't a murderer, going around killing all that got in his way, or those who he hated. No, he promised himself long ago that he wouldn't be the type of ninja someone like Zabuza Momochi was. Earning a reputation through endless killing.

He would be better than that, dattebayo!

Biting his lip, he inched the blade closer to the string, glancing once more at Jones, surprisingly still asleep. 'Okay...one, two...three!' With a quick jerk, he cut the string, grabbing the key before it could fall.

Freezing in place, his eyes rolled to Davy Jones.

He was greeted with a snort.

Blinking, key in hand, Naruto slowly moved back, sweat-dropping. 'Wow, talk about heavy sleeper.' Looking down, he looked at the key. While he didn't know the importance of it, obvious it held some value to Squid-Face, and that was good enough for him. Pocketing the key into his pocket, he grabbed the gunpowder bag he placed down, and began drawing a line to the door.

Once that was done, he grinned at the slumbering captain. 'Hope people are in the mood for cooked squid.' He thought, holding in a snicker. Turning to leave, he paused, looking at the shelves. Seeing on the strange items placed, he felt curious on them.

Shrugging, he grabbed an item, a small black box case.

If nothing, he could sell it for some money.

Ready to finally make his escape, Naruto, silently, once more headed back down to the storage hold, sneaking past the slumbering crew mates. He moved all the way back, where both figuratively and literally…

The line began.

With Shiroshi perched on his shoulder, and match box in hand, Naruto knelt down to the small pile of gunpowder. Scratching the stick in a small flare, he placed the small fire onto the powder file, keeping it there until there was a spark, igniting the powder. Two pairs of eyes watched as the ignition moved along the trial, moving slowly. "That's one, dattebayo." He muttered, before standing and walked towards the stairs, passing the decreasing fuse length.

For the third - and hopefully last - time, he moved up to the sleeping hold. Standing by the stairs, Naruto cast one last glare at the slumbering sea-pirates, his tormentors in his time here.

Would it be wrong to say he wished most, if not all of them, died in the explosion?

Feeling a tap against his cheek, he turned his head, and looked at Shiroshi perched on his shoulder, staring at him with its full black eyes. While he could not understand the rock crab, but either through madness or something else, Naruto...got the gist of what Shiroshi was...um, saying?

Either way, he sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Gotta focus on getting out of this Kami damn boat." He muttered, before climbing up the steps. Getting on the deck, he paused, frowning as he stared out at the dark ocean. The water looked so...black. Like it. And not because it was night. It gave him an eerie feeling.

Hopefully it was just nothing, and he wouldn't have trouble locating the gate out of there, wherever it was.

Shaking his head, he moved to the second made bomb line, where he shortly started the voice. Now for the last one. Entering the captain's chambers, he moved to start the fuse, when he froze, eyes wide.

Davy Jones…

He was gone.

'No. Nononono!' He mentally shouted, panicking at the thought of Jones being away. Where the hell could he-

"And just what are you doing up so late, boy?"

Eyes widening, Naruto turned away, only to gasp as a crab claw grabbed hold of his throat. "Gah!" Hands shooting out, they gripped the large crab hand, trying to get free from the hold, to no avail. Glaring ahead, he locked eyes with Davy Jones.

Flashback - Intermission / Blue Sea

The creaking of the Black Pearl sounded hauntingly, as the feared ghost ship calmly sailed through the waters. Being out in broad daylight lessened it's ghastly image, but only by a bit.

"YAAAAAAHHH!" His mouth stretching wide open, Naruto let out a yawn, smacking his lips as he stopped. "Kami, I'm bored." He grumbled, lazily resting an elbow on the wheel, laying his head on the fist. Even the cheerful singing of his men as they worked couldn't keep him entertained long enough. Just then, his stomach growled. "And hungry, dattebayo." He rolled his eyes to Kurami, who was sitting on the floor beside him, playing with the pet fox, Yoko. "How long till we reach the Coromi Islands?"

Looking at him, the former Biju shrugged. "Not sure, all I know is that it usually takes around 2 weeks in the distance between Tortuga and the island. So far, it's been 5 days."

Naruto groaned, moving his head forward, looking at his crew, who either worked around the ship, or did their own things. "Don't we have a navigator?"

"We did. He died in the battle at the port, remember? I told you when we were in Tortuga." The red haired vixen stated, returning to playing with the young fox, smiling at it as it yelped happily.

Naruto frowned, looking at her from the corner of his eye. "Really? Damn. I liked Jacob." He muttered, sighing. "Guess we'll need a new navigator. Kami knows no one on this ship knows how to read a world map correctly." Kurami huffed, picking up the fox kit.

Why would she, the Biju Queen and Crimson Demoness of the Sea, waste her time trying to understand a dumb ol' piece of paper with stupid lines?! So what if she couldn't read it! It was stupid! Hmph!

"What about Bepo?" Kurami asked. The two look over at the bipedal talking panda in an orange jumpsuit, currently lying on its back on the deck, peacefully asleep, with his partner leaning against him, also asleep.

"Depends if we can get the lazy panda to wake up." Naruto muttered.

~!~

"Aaaaahhhh~" The captain moaned, grabbing his stomach in hunger. "So...hungry…Is there any ramen left?"

"You ate the last of your ramen supply yesterday. I told you not to, but like an idiot, you ignored me as usual."

"I did? Damn it, dattebayo. Stupid metabolism..." He grumbled, before perking up when he spotted a certain someone appearing on deck. "Oi~! Jewelry-chan~!" He called out, waving towards his pink-haired cook. "Is dinner ready yet?"

Looking at her captain, the cook, Jewelry Bonney, put her hands on her hips. "Not for another hour or so."

"What?" Naruto asked, his face dropping in disappointment. "But I'm hungry now."

"Then eat one of your ramen cups or something! Don't you know how hard it is making food for a crew this big?!" Jewelry shot back. The crew currently consisted of 30 or so people, including the animals they had. They only had so much amount of food and ingredients, not to mention she was the only cook on board. So she had a hard enough job to handle.

Kurami chuckled, speaking up. "He can't, he ate it all yesterday."

Jewelry gapped at her. "Say what?! There were more than 50 ramen cups in those weird scrolls of yours! How the hell can you have eaten them all so quickly?!" She shouted at the sheepish looking Naruto, who rubbed the back of his head.

"I was hungry, dattebayo!"

"You eat more than 10 people! The only reason we've been able to stabilize our food ration is because you had your stupid ramen to eat! There is no way I'm letting you eat the rest of our supply to fill that black hole you call a stomach!" Jewelry proclaimed, pointing a finger at the now pouting Naruto.

"That's funny, coming from you, big mouth."

Freezing, Jewelry spun around, directing a hard glare at the smirking individual leaning arms crossed against the spar. "What was that, you pale-faced asshole?!"

"You heard me, princess. You say Naruto eats more than people. Well, you're no slouch yourself. We've all seen you go through 10 pounds of food like a hippo in the desert." The man stated, his grin growing.

"That's it! You're dead flame head!" Jewelry shouted, launching herself at the man, who actually looked excited, getting ready to launch his own attack.

However, before such a brawl could occur, the two found themselves frozen in place, Jewelry suspended in mid air.

"Would you two cool it? Unlike you, I'm actually taking the opportunity to relax." A voice to the side called out, the source being the man leaning against Bepo.

While his body may be frozen, the pale-skinned, red haired man, Eustass Kid was still able to move his head, and thus, able to turn his head to glare at the person laying down on the ground, arms behind his head. "Oi! Panda Head! Let us go!"

The man, his face shadows by a white furred, black polka-dotted hat, merely grunted. "And let you two possibly wreck the ship more that it already is? No thanks."

"Oi! Settle down!" Naruto called out from his position, seeing what was happening. "Last thing we need is another hole on the deck from you guys rough housing! No matter how fun that would be, dattebayo." He said, grinning at the last part.

In a flash, Jewelry lost her angry expression, turning her head and looked at Naruto, hearts in her eyes. "Of course, Naruto-kun! What was I thinking, letting flame head get to me like that?!" She always liked it when the blond turned serious. It was hot.

Eustass tisked, grumbling about bipolar annoying woman.

"Law, let them go."

The hat-wearing man, raised a hand in the air, waving it. "Yeah, yeah." Instantly, Jewelry and Eustass found themselves able to move again. Unfortunately, this had the pink haired cook fall to the ground on her face, making Eustass burst out laughing. Getting up, Jewelry glared at the laughing man, before shooting her arm out.

"OOH!"

Eustass's eyes nearly popped out of his skull, staggering back, before falling to his knees, holding his crotch where the cook punched him.

For a slim body, she sure can pack a punch.

Getting up, Jewelry smirked at the man on the ground. "Take that, you asshole." She said, before walking away. Around them, crew mates laughed in amusement at the down man.

Naruto sighed, shaking his head. Such a scene was common, especially with those two. Don't get him wrong, he was all for a good fight, and would gladly join in, but he forbid any combat, other than sparing, on his ship.

He loved his ship, and didn't want it to sink by his crew playing around.

Didn't help that many of his crew, himself included, did not understand the word 'restraint', and if a fight did break out, they would no doubt go overboard.

Wouldn't be the first time, with several towns suffering casualties more from them than the actual fiends.

~!~

"Hungry~"

Kurami rolled her eyes at her strange mate. One minute who could be a stone cold killer, the next, he acts like a kid. How did he get her to fall for him again?

"Calm down, you big baby." She said, standing, Yoko in her arms. "If I get you an apple, would you stop your crying?"

"It wouldn't be ramen, but fine, dattebayo." He muttered, watching as his First Mate walked towards the steps to head down and get him something to eat. As she left, he let out a sigh. "It would solve my hunger, but I'm still bored."

"Captain! Ships spotted off the starboard bow!"

"Hm?" Raising his head, Naruto looked up at one of his men up at the lookout nest, seeing him point off in a direction. Following the arm direction, he blinked when he saw something off in the distance. Moving away from the wheel, he walked down on deck, and towards the side. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a folded telescope. Enlenghing it, he looked through at the distance.

"Hmm?" Lowering the scope, he raised a brow. "Ships?"

Plural

Off in the distance, were a whole mass of pirate ships. There had to be around 50 or so.

Walking up to his captain, Eustass whistled, accepting the telescope so he could look. "Damn, that's a whole bunch of ships."

Also walking up to stand a bit beside the whiskered blond, Jewelry chuckled nervously, sweating a bit. "I-It's like they're preparing for war or something." While she was used to crazy events, her crew usually finding themselves up against troublesome situations, like Sea Kings, or Imperial Arm groups, they had never come face to face with such a large battalion of ships.

While the Black Pearl had faced some incredible odds and survived, she didn't think even the fastest ship in the known seas - proclaimed by her captain - could handle such overwhelming odds.

Eustass smirked in excitement. "Yeah. Question is, who's the target?"

Covering a yawn, Law walked over, followed by some of the other crew members. "And today was such a nice day too." He muttered, rubbing a sleepy eye.

"What shall we do, captain?" A tall, muscular black man asked, his head bald, covered in a golden bandana, wearing an open sleeveless white shirt, revealing a muscular chest, and armored vest, dirty white pants and boots.

Crossing his arms, Naruto stared at the ships, humming in thought, before a smirk broke out, just as Kurami reappeared on deck, Yoko wrapped around her neck, raising a brow at the gathering on the side. "Well, looks like things are getting interesting. What do you guys say we go see what all the commotion is about?" He asked, accepting the apple Kurami got for him. "Arigato, Kura-koi."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Jewelry shouted at the blond as he took a bite from the apple. "NO WAY WE'LL SURVIVE A FIGHT WITH THOSE SHIPS IF THEY DECIDE TO ATTACK US!"

However, Eustass smirked, excited at the idea of a battle. Things at sea have been too dull lately. "I'm game. We faced tougher threats. What's a measly 50 ships going to do against the fearsome crew of the Black Pearl?"

"You can count me in as well." A female voice spoke. The voice belonged to a Fish Woman. She had light blue scale-skin, long dark blue hair reaching the middle of her back in a mane, with a shark-like face, including sharp pointy teeth as she smiled a deadly smile. For clothes, she wore a black sleeveless shirt, dark blue pants, and had sandals on. On her back, were two short thick bladed swords in a cross position. What was interesting was that the blades weren't smooth, but instead had numerous deadly spikes jolting out, pointing in the direction of the handle.

Other cries of agreements echoed out, making Naruto grin, and Jewelry groan.

Not for the first time, she questioned why she joined a pirate crew in the first place. 'I should have stayed home.'

W/ Konoha Group

Staring out the window of their inn room, Kushina sighed. Staring out at the ocean waters in the distance, the red haired woman's thoughts, like always, drifted towards her son, wondering where he was, if he was alright, and if she would ever see him.

See him...for the first time since his birth.

She had heard stories from his friends about him. Of how he was a prankster in his youth. The fact making her proud, seeing that she too used to pull pranks like him when she was his age...as well as sometimes during her teenage years.

But she was also told of his troubles growing up, of his loneliness. Of his struggles. The hatred he suffered by the villagers.

Such tales made her cry, weep, and most of all, rage. The number of people, shinobi and civilian alike, she sent to the hospital with broken noses or bones, were large, until Minato made her stop. At least, he stopped her before she could go overboard and kill the Elders, Danzo and Jiraiya. Everyone else, he let her take her frustration on.

Leader or not, he was a father! Father of the boy they've been tormenting for years! By his own people nonetheless!

One time, he actually had the thought, 'If I could go back, I would have just taken Kushina and Naruto, and left the village to the Kyuubi'.

A dark thought, but what else could he say after finding out his village, his home, had been treating his own son, a child, like the demon they all thought he was!

There were some exceptions of course, like Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku, and Iruka-sensei, to which the parent would forever be grateful. The clans, their childhood friends, while having never treated their son badly, also never really took the time to be there for him.

Of course, the fault mostly fell under Sarutobi Hiruzen, and his law on forbidding any clan from taking in and caring for Naruto, in fear of political and power imbalance.

But for Kami's sake! Did he really have to forbid allowing a family to care for their son when he needed it the most?! What in Kami's name was the old man thinking?!

There was also the clan heirs, who were luckily Naruto's friends. Though more than a few times, it angered the parents on the bad things they said about their son. The prime examples being the Yamanaka and Inuzuka Heirs, and Haruno girl. It made them wonder if they truly were friends of Naruto, if they proudly label him as a talentless idiot. Be it true or not, those words seemed a bit harsh.

Looking up at the sky, watching seagulls fly through the air, Kushina sighed. "Soichi...where are you, dattebane?" She wondered, jumping when she set a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Minato give her a sad, understanding smile.

"We'll find him, Kushina. I promise. Even if we have to search all over the world, we'll get our son back and be a family again. A full family. Like we always wanted." Minato told her, smiling at her. They had waited so long to be a family of three, and feared that dream never happened when they gave their lives to protect their newborn son from the Kyuubi. Now, however, they had a second chance at life, and will not let anything stand in their way for reuniting with Naruto after 15 years.

Smiling back, Kushina placed her hand over his, nodding.

Just then, the door to their room opened, getting their attention. They saw Jiraiya entering. "Sensei." Minato began, standing up straight. "What do you have?" He was still mad that his teacher recklessly endangered their son by stupidly tossing him over a deep pit, not to mention not being in his life till the Chunin Exams, but would force the man to make up for it by aiding in locating Naruto any way possible.

"A boat." The toad sage said, grinning as he held up the map. Moving to the table, he spread the map, as the parents moved over to look at it. "I was able to get someone to sail us wherever we need for a short time."

"Okay, but to where? We don't even know where Naruto is." Kushina said. Jiraiya pointed to the edge of a landmass.

"We know he's recently taken over a fort called Chinchorro located west of here. We can check it to. At best, he's still there. If not, we can also head here." he moved his finger down to the left, pointing to a small island near a continent. "Tortuga."

"The so called 'Pirate Paradise'." Kushina muttered.

"These two are our best shots on where Naruto could be. If he's not in either, we could maybe get some info on where he could have gone."

Minato frowned. "Problem is, those are pirate territories. Getting near them could be trouble, and with no experience of the working of this world, and having a group with so little chakra, we won't be able to water walk all the way."

Out of the group, only he and Kushina still retained enough large chakra within them, due to their prior bond with the Kyuubi's chakra stretching their reserves to grand proportions. While the Chunins has Academy Level to Mid Genin Chakra, and the rest having Mid to High Chunin, the Parents had around Mid Jonin levels. Even those of normal high reserves like Kakashi and Jiraya, had nearly 50% of their chakra sucked when passing through dimensions. To make matters worse, they couldn't recharge their reserves with their being no Chakra in this world. Meaning that they couldn't waste their remaining Chakra, or risk depletion, or worse death.

Jiraiya nodded. "Meaning we'll have to sneak our way in. The fort is on the edge of landmass, so we can use the land behind it as cover. Tortuga will be tougher, but we can figure out plans later."

Minato nodded, as long as they found his son, he didn't care how long it took. "Alright. Tell the others to get ready. We'll leave in a half-hour." He ordered. Nodding, Jiraiya turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind. Turning his head, he looked at Kushina, who stared at the map with a longing frown. Sighing, Minato inched his hand closer, before intertwining his fingers with hers, getting her attention as she looked at him. "We're almost there, Kushina-chan. Soon, we'll find our son."

Smiling, even if slightly, Kushina nodded.

They will find their son and be reunited. That was a promise.

A promise of a lifetime.

Krieg, also known as "Foul-Play Krieg", was a feared pirate amongst the Blue Sea. He was feared, not because of his power - which is not something to be underestimated on its own - but in his ability to gather followers, as well as tricking his way into an enemy's guard and launching an attack when they least expect it.

Standing at the hem of his ship, arms crossed, the large form of Krieg, wearing his gold plated upper armor, his long coat flapping in the wind, stood arms crossed while wearing a smirk filled with great arrogance and utmost self-pride and confidence, as he stared out at his gathered fleet.

In the 5 years after starting his journey as a pirate, he had managed to obtain his own large army of pirates. A fleet of 50 pirate ships!

A fleet, a mass of manpower, that will help him accomplish his goal of becoming the most feared pirate in the seas! With his army, he will conquer the Blue Sea, kill the Pirate Lord of the Blue Sea, gain control over their army, before turning his attention to the Grand Line!

Krieg was always arrogant, believing power was everything, and the more one had it, the stronger they were. He had his faults, he would admit that, like when he first gained a mass of followers in his crew, and attempted to hit the Grand Line, believed it would be easy. Of course, he soon learned his error when the power of the Grand Line struck back, wiping his crew, with only few remaining along with him.

But he will not fail this time! He will first conquer the known oceans, dethroning the Pirate Lords one by one, building his army far beyond anyone else, before returning to that world to claim the infamous treasure of Gold Roger, the One Piece!

He will become the most powerful pirate in all of the sea, more powerful than even Blackbeard and Whitebeard!

"Captain!"

Being taken out of his self-gloating, Krieg turned an annoyed glance at the incoming crew mate. "What?!" He asked, tone heavy with annoyance, resisting the urge to kill the mongrel for his interruption.

"A-A ship has b-been spotted approaching!" The man stuttered in fear, nervously pointing off into the distance, hoping to golden armored man didn't kill him.

Raising a brow, curious on who would be stupid and foolish enough to approach his large fleet, Krieg looked at the direction the man was pointing to, and spotted a blanket of mist gathered in the distance. Narrowing his eyes at the strange phenomenon, as the seas and weather have been clear earlier and it wasn't hot enough to cause for saturation, he asked the man for his scope. Being handed the scope, he looked through it at the mist, having a gut-twisting feeling there was something hidden in the mist.

And he was proven right, when he spotted a faint shadow from within the ocean fog. Focusing on the spot, he narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the shadow, and what it was.

Luckily for him, he got his answer, as the shadow cleared up a bit. What he saw made his eyes widen slightly.

It was a ship. But not just any ship…

It was the rumored cursed ship.

The Black Pearl

And he wasn't the only one to recognize it, as the crew man beside him let out a gasp as he recognized the ship, even from the distance.

There was only one known ship as black as shadows, partnered with a haunting fog clinging to it and surrounding around it.

"W-What should we do, captain?! Th-That's the D-Demon of the Sea's ship!"

Krieg glared at the man for showing such weakness. There will be no weakness in his army! He considered killing the pathetic man, but decided not to - just this once - as he turned his attention back on the approaching ghost ship.

He considered ordering his ships to all fire and sink the black ship, taking out the feared 'demon', maybe collect the reward on him for himself.

However, looking back through the scope at the ship, he got a surprise.

"Ahoy, there~!" Naruto called out, waving as he stood on top of the front mast, waving his arm at the ships, smiling wide. Krieg blinked, not sure what to make of what he was seeing.

This was the feared "Demon of the Sea"?

"Permission to come aboard, captain?!"

Krieg was unsure of what to do. What sane man, pirate or not, would ask to approach, much less climb aboard the ship of someone with a fleet? This was obviously a trap.

'But what could he do?' Krieg thought, smirking. 'It is but one ship, against 50. Demon or not, one wrong move, and the Black Pearl will sink before that idiot even blinks. Besides, this could be my chance to earn another follower.' He thought, before ordering the pest beside him to spread the word to the other ships to allow the Pearl through.

Soon, the Black Pearl stood in the middle of the fleet, surrounded on all sides by the Krieg's other ships.

"Oh yeah, this isn't troublesome at all." Law muttered, looking at all the ships around them.

Eustass grinned, crossing his arms, while a very nervous Jewelry hid behind Kurami for possible protection, as the fox woman merely smirked. She ordered Yoko to head to the Captain's Room for its safety.

Things were about to get wild.

Naruto smirked, crossing his arms as he stood at the front of the deck, meeting eyes with Krieg as the golden armored man stood on top of his personal ship a bit distance off. "Captain Krieg if I'm not mistaken. Also known as 'Foul-Play Krieg'." He called, loud enough to the large gold armored man to hear him.

"Naruto E. Uzumaki, Demon of the Sea. Also known as 'Demon of the Red Sea' for the amount of blood you stain the waters with." Krieg said, nodding as he smirked at the blond. "Your reputation precedes you."

Naruto chuckled in amusement. "Good to know, else the past 4 years would have been for nothing. So, what's the deal with the ship masses? You'd having a party or something?"

Krieg chuckled, his tone dark. "Oh yes, a party. A celebration of a new upcoming world order!"

Deciding to humor the man, Naruto raised a brow, appearing intrigued. "Oh? New order, you say?"

Smirking at the blond, Krieg continued. "Oh yes! One in which the rule of the old Pirate Lords is done, and a new rule begins!"

Blinking at the man, blue eyes glanced at the ships around them as he hummed. "Let me guess...you plan to use your little army here to overthrow the Pirate Lords, and rule over the sea." He stated, mentally shaking his head at the idiot. The Pirate Lords held such titles for a reason. They were the most powerful pirates to roam the seas, either through power, or influence. Each led armies that rivaled the Marines together. They were in a position of power so large, even the World Government knew not to underestimate them, and instead acted neutral towards them until forced to act.

And this fool thought this little army of his would actually allow him to take on a Lord? Especially the Pirate Lord of the Blue Sea?

Red Hair Shanks

He never really met the guy, but Blackbeard told him that the guy was really tough. Easily ranking top 5 of the Pirate Lords.

Even an army of 50 pirate ships would be nothing to the guy!

Pirate Lords were called as such because they were more powerful than regular pirates. Their word was law amongst pirates, obayed either out of fear or respect. Similar to Kages, or many even Daimyos.

Then there were those above even them…

The Pirate Warlords

Practically gods among pirates. Their power could shake, destroy, and remake the word as they wish. At least that's what Blackbeard told him. He might have been exaggerating, who knows.

Either way, Red Hair Shanks was one of them, and was not to be underestimated. He only knew three out of the five Pirate Warlords; Blackbeard, Shanks, and Whitebeard. The other two were a mystery.

But clearly this guy was dumber than he looked to attempt such a thing, clearly shown by the arrogance in his eyes. "That's right! With my army, I'll overthrow the Pirate Lord of the Blue Sea and rule it myself! Maybe I'll increase my army and target the other Lords, before setting my sights on the Grand Line!" He declared, before throwing his head back, and began laughing. As the man laughed, Naruto glanced behind him at his crew, all who had bored looks or gave exasperated head shakes. All thinking the same thing.

'What an idiot.'

Once the man finished his moment of laughter, he looked back at the whiskered pirate. "And my victory would no doubt be assured, with the famed 'Demon of the Sea' behind me."

Hearing the 'behind', Naruto held back a scoff. The man sure didn't hold back on stating his thoughts. No doubt, to him, everyone here were but replaceable pawns and meat shields for his cause. And he expected him to follow under his rule?

Not on his life.

"You want me to join you." Naruto said slowly, getting a nod from the giant of a man.

"That's right! Your current predicament shouldn't be too hard to see, matey. Either you surrender your allegiance to me, or my troops send you into Calypso's embrace at the bottom of the sea." At his words, all the ships around them opened their sides, bringing forth canons, all aimed at the Black Pearl.

"Eep!" Jewelry sounded, ducking under Kurami, as the redhead scoffed. Like some measly metal balls would scare Naruto's crew. Not counting Jewelry of course, but she was a fragile, bipolar little thing.

"Oh joy." Law droned, picking his ear with his pinky as Bepo whined beside him, while Kid and the Shark Woman laughed crazily in the face of danger.

"So, Mr. Demon. What's it going to be?" Krieg asked, grin widening, thinking the threat would scare the man into siding with him.

Looking lazily at the ships around them, Naruto rolled his eyes back at the golden armored man.

"Take your offer, and get fucked."

. . . .

Everyone of Krieg's crew, dropped their jaws in shock and horror at the blond's words to their captain, before looking fearfully at Krieg, who was gritting his teeth as he glared at the smirking blond. "What...did you say?" He gritted out, a pulsing vein on his forehead.

"I think you heard me." Naruto said, taking a step back, shrugging. "I heard quite a lot about you, Krieg, learning more from this talk. You're arrogant, self-centered. You crave power, and proudly show it. You also treat your crew like crap, sacrificing them to save your own ass without a second thought."

With every word, Krieg grew more and more angry. How dare this little asshole talk down to him?!

Ignoring the glare, Naruto turned around, his back to the angry giant, as he began pacing around the deck, entwined hands behind his head in a lazy manner. "You would willingly sacrifice your own men, if it meant you gained the advantage in battle, or to save your own skin..." Tilting his body slightly around, a shiver went down Krieg's spine, as the famed Demon of the Sea peered a crimson slit-pupil eye at him. "Just as you did when you tossed one of your own men to the wrath of the sea, just so you could get away from the monstrous man that ripped your first fleet apart."

His anger suddenly being put on pause, Krieg froze, wide eyes looking at the blond in surprise. "What?!" He stuttered, mind replaying the words as his memory went back to the event the man spoke off, recalling his first week in the Grand Line the past year. A week that was cruelly ended when his ships made contact with a lone man in the middle of the ocean. A man with a large sword, of which he used to single handedly wipe his entire force in seconds. Recaling how, fueled by fear and the desire to survive above anyone else, he tossed one of his own overboard to distract the beast in human form, as he and his destroyed ship escaped, ignoring the frantic man's calls as he was left to both the monster, and the wrathful seas. "How the hell could you possibly know that?!" He demanded.

Smirking, his red eyes seemingly glowing an ominous light, Naruto hummed, as if in thought. "How indeed. You know the saying, 'Dead Men Tell No Tales', but the living hold sooo many juicy stories." He stated, loud enough for Krieg to hear from his ship, before turning his head to the side. "Isn't that right, Gin?"

At the name of his thought to be dead former Combat Commander, Krieg snapped his head to the side. There, climbing up from below deck, was a man of average height with toned skin, trimmed mustache and short, scruffy beard, with dark hair in a gray, blue striped headband around his forehead. He wore an open gray jacket with a red sea-serpent design on each front side, a green undershirt, and grey pants, with two spherical earrings in each ear.

In his hands, were a pair of iron tonfas, the tips being large, heavy iron spheres the same size as cannonballs, carrying them easily, one resting on his shoulder like nothing.

Dark eyes, with dark shadows under them as if from lack of sleep or stress, glared hard at Krieg with great fury.

"Hello...captain." Gin hissed out through gritting teeth, glaring at his former captain, as well as the one who tossed him to be bait for a monster that still gave him nightmares, or to be food to a Sea King. In either case, he would currently be dead if Naruto hadn't appeared and saved him.

"It says a lot, when a man is used as a sacrifice by his own captain. Speaks of their cowardness. After all, what be a captain, if not one unwilling to go down with his ship?" Naruto asked, glaring at the golden armored man.

Finally tearing his eyes away from Gin, Krieg turned to Naruto, before scoffing. "You speak like a fool! The only thing that mattered in the ocean, is survival! Survival of the captain! Survival of yourself above all! You do everything you can to survive, and cut down all that stand in your way, and threaten your power!" He declared.

Turning around to fully face Krieg, Naruto closed his eyes as he crossed his arms and shakes his head as if in disappointment. "And that's why so many pirates are being hanged. For being idiots. Thinking they are above everyone else, and look where that gets them. Getting cut down like dogs by the Marines. We survive through the strengths and bonds of our crew, helping each other out. We survive by the sweat of our brows, and the strength of our backs. Not by tossing the men that follow you away like trash!"

Krieg scoffed. "Then you are a fool! Bonds? Friendship? You really think such pathetic stuff will keep you alive for long? Don't be a fool, Demon. Stuff like friends won't keep men of the black flag safe! Power will! And once I've become Pirate Lord-"

"You'll wage war with the Marines and Kingdoms with your little army." Naruto finished, guessing right by Krieg grin. "You're an idiot." He stated, getting a glare. "Your little army won't do shit against them. You'll only send these men to their deaths. There is a reason why legends like Whitebeard and Blackbeard have stayed their hands from straight up waging war with the World Government and vice versa. Doing so will only bring a wrath none could hope to defend against, let alone the wrath of Calypso for staining her waters red with wasteful, dirty blood." He stopped as Krieg began laughing.

"Calypso? The so called Goddess of the Sea? I thought you were a man of reality, Uzumaki, not ghost stories. And who are you to talk about spilling blood?" Shaking his head, Krieg held his hand out to the blond. "Now, I will give you one last change. Join me, or join your precious goddess." Staring at the hand, before glancing at the surrounding ship, Naruto closed his eyes. Everyone staring at him, wondering what would be his answer, all except for some of his crew, who smirked, as if already knowing what he would say. Finally, Naruto smirked, opening his eyes, back to normal ocean blue, but the pupils still slits.

"Fuck. You."

Gritting his teeth, having had enough of this brat mocking him, in front of his own army, Krieg slammed a fist on the ship's gunwale, cracking the wood a bit, as Krieg wailed, his voice echoing throughout the whole area. "ALL SHIPS! FIRE ON THAT FUCKING BOAT! BLOW IT TO SMITHEREENS!"

At their captain's command, all 50 ships surrounding the Pearl, opened fire. Balls of iron flew forward with blasts of smoke, coming in pairs each, one following the other, all heading toward the center target. Through it all, the smirking Krieg and silent Naruto kept their eyes locked on one another. "Goodbye, Demon of the Sea!" The fleet admiral gloated.

Blinking, Naruto smirked, opening his mouth.

"Kid"

The pale, flame haired engineer of the Black Pearl smirked as he walked forward, standing in the center of the deck. Standing still for a bit, as the cannonballs drew closer, Eustass then held his arms up, spread out, palms facing the sides.

Then, the impossible happened before Krieg's eyes.

The cannonballs, speeding over the waters like missiles, actually began slowing down, until, mere 20 feet from collision with the black ship, they stopped, hovering silently in the air as if gravity was simply taken away. "What the hell?" The golden armored man muttered in shock.

Eustass grin grew deadly as he slowly crossed his arms in front of him. "Thanks for the gifts. However, think we have enough cannonballs. SO YOU CAN HAVE THEM BACK!" With a roar, he threw his arms back out to the sides. Immediately, the floating cannonballs shot backwards, heading back to the ships at tremendous speed.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Shouts of warnings could be heard from the ships as the panicking crews quickly ducked and covered just as the cannonballs impacted the sides of the ships in explosions, shaking the waters.

Krieg stared wide-eyed, trying to comprehend what just happened. That man, he just stopped the cannonballs like nothing, but then, that would mean… "He's a Devil Fruit eater!" He exclaimed, a small shiver of fear going down his spine.

While he's never seen one, he's heard of the monsters those who ate the famous Devil Fruits became. Just one, even weak, would equal several pirate crews! And with what just happened, it looked like the guy's power seemed to control metal or something like it.

Which means cannonballs and bullets might be useless against him!

Gritting his teeth at the fact that his army was getting damaged by one measly ship instead of the other way around, Krieg turned around to give orders. However, before he could, something hard slammed into the back of his head, the object hard and heavy enough that it caused the surprised large man to topple over and fall flat on his face. Groaning, his nose throbbing from the impact, Krieg put his hands on the wooden floor and pushed up, lifting his head as he glared at whatever hit him.

He came face-to-grinning-whiskered-face with Naruto, the blond standing in front of him. "Pardon the intrusion, Captain Gold."

"You!" Gritting his teeth, Krieg pushed himself up, towering over the blond. Raising his arms up above him, the man brought them down on Naruto, who dodged by taking a step backwards, allowing the large man's diamond-knuckled armored fists to crash through the wooden floor, causing a large hole.

Naruto laughed amusingly. "Missed me!" He mocked, making Krieg growl angrily. Ripping his arms out from the ground, the man began throwing punches left and right at the whiskered pirate, aiming to punch the bastard's face in, all of which were dodged effortlessly. Each punch missing its target mere centimeters apart from his nose, with Krieg grew more and more annoyed and angry with each miss, to the point his nostrils were flaring, a large vein pulsing on his forehead. The fact that the whiskered bastard continued to hold that infernal grin of his, only served to anger him even more!

Smirking as he bobbed left and right, Naruto walked backwards, luring Krieg with him, until they were near the middle of the deck. Glancing behind him from the corner of his eyes, Naruto saw some of Krieg's men rushing towards them, swords held up to aid their commander. He waited for them to get closer, and once they got in a suitable range, Naruto stopped moving, his hands shooting up, and grasped Krieg's arms by their wrist, surprising the man. Smirk growing, Naruto pulled the arms down, at the same time leaping up, slamming the armored fists into the ground once more. Knees bent in front of his chest, he then thrusted them forward and slammed his feet onto Krieg's face, before pushing off, leaping into the air, and over the pirate's behind him. In the air, he flipped over, as he pulled out a pistol, and shot several bullets down. Not hitting anyone, but piercing through the floorboards, leaving sizable holes. Cracks began appearing and spread as Naruto landed a good distance away. Smirk still on display, Naruto raised a foot, before stumping it down hard on the floor board. Before anyone knew it, the floor under them broke, weakened by the holes put on it, causing the men as well as the stunned Krieg to fall through and below deck with startled yells.

Peering down at the tangled mess of bodies and wood down below, he chuckled. It grew when he saw Krieg glaring at him with untold amounts of hatred.

He reminded Naruto of a bull.

Ugly, easily angered, and with a one track mind.

This should be easy to handle, maybe fun too.

Straightening up, Naruto put two fingers in his mouth, before letting out a loud whistle. No sooner that he did, grappling hooks appeared from the side of the ship, clinging onto the railings.

From his ship, several members of his crew began sliding through the ropes on hooks, heading towards the large galleon ship he was on. The others stayed behind on the Pearl, to take care of the other ships through cannon fire.

Climbing on board, Kid began giggling darkly, a large sack held over his shoulder, as he shot at the incoming members of Krieg's men. "Come on!" He roared, tossing the sack into the air, spilling the contents, revealing amounts of metal objects, from pipes, screws, bars, plates, etc. Grinning, Kid threw a fist into the air, as the falling objects began to drop towards him, using his Devil Fruit powers to command the metal, before they began coating and covering his right arm. The charging pirates froze in their tracks, staring in shock and surprise at the large metal arm before them. Grinning savagely, Kid threw his arm down on them. While some managed to snap out of their state and move out of the way, one poor man was not so lucky, and got squashed by the large metal fist, killing him, and breaking even more of the floor.

Standing still, as the ship shook, Naruto shook his head at Kid's antics. 'This keeps up, the ship will sink in seconds. I want to drag this out as much as I can. It's been a while since I had a good fight.' He thought, eyes rolling as he watched the rest of his crew go about their battles against the mass of Krieg's troops, before blinking as a large shadow covered him. Bending his head back to look behind him, he saw the angry Krieg over him. "Oh, hey." He said casually.

"You...BASTARD!" Krieg roared, before throwing a hard punch at Naruto. Hands grabbing the handles on his sides, Naruto pulled out his two cutlass, crossing them over him, blocking the punch. Feeling the power behind the fist, Naruto pushed his feet back, moving straight into Krieg's guard. Before the man could attempt to grab him, Naruto flipped over, his feet landing on the man's armored chest, before pushing off and away from Krieg. Flying through the air, flipped himself once more, his feet landing on the side railing facing the infuriated Krieg. Knowing what he was doing to the man, and enjoying every second of it, Naruto pushed off, and sailed back at Krieg. The golden man threw another punch forward to strike him. However, maneuvering around the punch with a roll, Naruto slashed his swords out in an X-cross, slashing against the golden armor in a shower of sparks as he passed by. Landing behind the large man, Naruto stood up, turning. Krieg laughed as he too turned to face the blond. Other than two faint lines, there was no other sign of damage on his armor. "Ha! You fool! It'll take more than that to penetrate my mighty armor! This baby can even take on the full force of a cannonball, and not even suffer a dent!"

Smirking, not the least bit disturbed, Naruto flipped his swords, holding them in reverse grips. "Well then, I'll just have to keep hitting you until you do crack. Now, shall we dance?" He asked, getting in a low stance, before charging at his fellow pirate captain.

Grinning madly, his massive metal arm held to the side, Kid leered at the terrified crewmen, as they shook in their boots. For good reason. Krieg's army did not consist of powerful individuals. The arrogant man focused more on quantity over quality and simply added any men into his legion, through force or bribe. Their strength came from their numbers and masses, but other than that, aside from the main few, everyone else were basic pirates.

Sure, together their combined might could barrel down any normal pirate crew or marine.

But against a Devil Fruit user, they were nothing but easy prey. With their current predator standing right in front of them.

Eustass Kid

Alias: "Metal Master"

Position: Traffic Control

Power/Ability: Magnetism

Throwing his giant metal arm forward, metal pieces shot from it, shooting through the air like bullets. "Argh!" With startled and pained grunts, followed by the sound of thuds, the enemy men each fell, pieces of metal sticking out of their chests, piecing into their bodies in various places before they had the chance to react. Kid grinned, before the sound of rapid steps reached his ears. Head turning, he saw more men approaching, all carrying firearms.

Stopping a good distance away, they raised their guns, aiming at Kid. Grin growing, Kid stood still, merely turning to face them, not the least bit intimidated or scared.

"Ready! Aim!" The leading commander ordered as the pirates steadied their pistols and rifflers at Kid. "Fire!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Loud booms echoed as bullets were fired one after the other at Kid. Smoke from the gunpowder gathering in the air, before after a few seconds, the commander ordered a cease fire. The shooting ceasing, the pirates looked at the smoke field formed in front of them. Holding their positions, they stared at the smokescreen, waiting for it to disband, and hopefully show the corpse of the enemy.

Soon the smoke cleared, only for the men to be horrified by what their eyes came upon.

Kid smirked a deadly smirk at the stunned men, hands up in front of him - his right arm cleared of any metal - as in front of him, the bullets fired floated mid air, frozen, along with the metal pieces Kid had used to create his metal giant arm, all floating around him, in the stunned men's opinion, menacingly.

Grinning maniacally, Kid chuckled. "Hehehe...you're fucked." Kid stated, before with a twitch of his fingers, all the metal objects shot towards the pirates in blurs. They were vastly unprepared for the assault, and as such, suffered for it, screams of pain echoing throughout the ship's deck as the blizzard of metal began piercing through their bodies.

All the while, Kid laughed like a madman.

With the men dead, Kid turned his attention to the ship parked to the side.

So many ships.

Plenty for everyone.

With a charged stance, Kid began running to the back of the ship's deck, using his powers to attract any and all nearby metal weapons to his hands, a sword grabbed with his left hand, pistol on his right, before he began mowing down any enemy in his way. Reaching the end, he bent his knees, before leaping into the air, using his powers to have his bottom steel plated boots push upward higher into the air, arcing at high point, before coming down on the deck of the ship beside the one he just left. Landing hard, the wooden floor splintering, Kid smirked at the startled men.

"Hello there, let's have some fun, shall we?"

On another ship, stepping on board after swinging over, Law sighed, rubbing the back of his furred hat, lazily looking around. "You know, a doctor really shouldn't be taking part in a fight." He said, as Bepo climbed down from his back. The polar bear mink shivered as he looked around nervously at all the fighting. Seeing this, Law placed a hand on Bepo's head, patting him like one would a dog. This managed to calm the bipedal bear's nerves a bit. "Relax, nothing's going to happen to you. I promise." He said smiling at his friend, before looking beside him with a deadpan look. "By the way, why are you here?" He asked.

Jewelry scoffed, crossing her arms. "How should I know!? Kurami-sama made me come with you! Damn it, I should have stayed on the ship! At least it'll be safe there!"

"I doubt it." Law said, glancing at the Black Pearl, seeing enemies launch grappling hooks on it to invade. However, he wasn't worried. The crew had some strong people, so those staying behind on the ship should be able to easily handle the invaders.

Hearing explosions, the two turn their heads to the other ships, and saw smoke rising from several of them, one sinking.

BOOM!

Blinking, the two watched as one ship literally exploded into a massive tower of flames. It wasn't hard to figure out who was the cause, easily picking up the familiar laughter.

"...This crew is filled with insane people." Jewelry muttered, getting a chuckle from Law.

"Tell me about it."

At that moment, their presence was noticed, before they were surrounded by enemy pirates. With a yelp, Bepo hid behind Law, as the doctor gripped the katana he had. Glancing beside him, Law raised a brow when he saw Jewelry smirking. "What happened to all that previous worry and fright?"

"That was when we were the target of 50 ships. These guys? Piece of cake." She stated, stretching her arms out. Shrugging, Law turned back to the surrounding soldiers.

"Either way, how should we go about this?" He asked, gesturing to the - quickly growing impatient at being ignored - enemy pirates.

"How else? Kick ass and break some legs! Isn't that how we usually go about things?" Jewelry asked, punching her hand with a smirk.

Law smirked. "Spoken like a true Red Sea Pirate."

"Oi! Quit ignoring us!"

"We're part of the Krieg Pirates! You are severely outnumbered!"

The two members of Naruto's crew turned to the gathered group of enemy pirates to see them glaring at them. Jewelry scoffed, hands on her hips, while Law simply cleaned his ear with his pinkie in a show of boredom. Getting tired of being underestimated, the men all began charging at them.

"I got the twenty on my side, you take the twenty on yours?" Jewelry asked, getting ready for action. Jaw shrugged, unsheathing his nodachi, Kikoku, while Bepo ducked to the floor to avoid the incoming clash. As the marines in front of her were getting close, Jewelry smirked devilishly, as her hands gained a soft pink glow. "Naruto-kun told me to take down as many of you assholes as possible, and I'm doing just that!" She yelled, thrusting her hands forward. From her hands, pink energy shot out in a wide wave, heading towards the charging pirates, who seeing the energy, skit to a stop. However, before they could attempt to move and dodge, the energy overtook them as they gave startled shouts. The beam held for a second, before vanishing. In place of grown pirates, were shaking young children, and quivering old men.

Jewelry smirked at a job well done. Naruto said did to "take care of the enemy", not kill them. So messing with their age should work just fine.

Jewelry Bonney

Alias: "Big Eater" or "Pink Haired Time Mistress"

Position: Cook

Power/Ability: Age Manipulation

Her power was more for distraction/stalling than being offensive like others of her crew. Still, that didn't mean she was useless. She knew a thing or two on fighting. Seeing more appearing and running her way, Jewelry cracked her knuckles, ready for more action.

With Law, he grunted at his approaching enemies. 'And to think the day started out so nice and dull.' With his long blade held point first to the ground with one hand, he raised the other, holding his thumb and middle finger against one another.

SNAP!

A ripple of energy surged from his body, spreading out around the area. The charging pirates paid no attention to the ripple as it passed through them, only focusing on their target. Law smirked as the first two got within range.

Slash! Slash!

It happened in a blink of an eye, as the next thing the pirates knew, Law raised his sword up, before swinging it twice as the two men passed by him.

…

…

…

Thud!

Thud! Thud!

The enemy pirates who had been charging at Law, came to a complete halt, freezing in horror as they stared at the still bodies of their comrades as they laid on the ground, one missing his head, the other bisected by the waist, split in two.

Law smirked at the shaking men, bending down and picked up the severed head. "What's the matter? What happened to that bravo you had?" He asked, tossing the head up into the air and catching it like a rock. As he juggled it, the head flipped to face the group.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Suddenly, the head started to scream, making the others scream in horror and fright. Another scream was added as the second supposedly dead man, the one cut by the waist, also revealed to be alive.

"What the fuck?!"

"What is going on?!"

"Zombies!"

Smirk growing, Law threw the screaming head to the group, watching in amusement as they began to play 'hot potato' with the head. He held his blade against his shoulder. "You ready Bepo?" He asked.

"Hiyah!"

With a cry, Bepo leaped into the air above the pirate group, and getting close, began launching a fury of kicks, hitting several in the face, launching them away. Landing in the middle, the polar bear mink got in a crane stance. Growling, Bepo glared at the pirate.

Smirking at his friend, Law nudged his fur cap over his eyes. "Well, let's begin the operation." He muttered, before running at the group, sword held up high behind him. Getting close, with a mad smirk on his face, he slashed down.

Trafalgar D. Water Law

Alias: "Surgeon of Death"

Position: Doctor

Power/Ability: Living Body Dismemberment

Under the ships in the waters below, a certain shark fishwoman smirked as she swam under Krieg's ships, her spiky blades in hand. WIth a mad glint in her eye, she moved/swam fast to the corner of a ship, swinging a blade, watching in glee as it began to tear into the ship's wood, making water gush inside the hollow opening. With a cackle, she made her way to the next ship.

'So many ships, so little time.'

Ursula

Alias: "Sea Monster"

Position: Underwater Assistance

Power/Ability: Shark Physiology

The former Queen of the Biju and 1st Mate of the Red Sea Pirates, laughed darkly as she watched the ship she set ablaze crumble down in a glorious fashion. There was nothing more fun than causing destruction and hearing the screams of her victims. Other world or not, she will rule this pathetic world as its future Pirate Queen!

Now she knew why her idiotic little brother Shukaku loved destruction so much.

Behind her, two women shook their heads at her. "Good grief, and I thought the boys were reckless." A gorgeous woman with long red hair in a braid muttered, hefting up a pistol to her side, and with a loud bang, shot down a pirate that tried to attack them. She blew away a stray bang as it fell over her eyes.

"Would make sense. Only someone insane could handle our even more insane captain." The other woman said, her shoulder-length dark brown hair blowing in the sea wind. As she waited for Kurami to calm down, she made sure her weapons were loaded and ready. She took a glance around, watching as the rest of her crewmates did their own things in sinking the enemy ships.

What started out as 50 ships, was reduced to around 30, and decreasing by the minute. Thanks to the monstrous members that made up the pirate crew under Naruto Uzumaki.

Speaking of her whiskered captain, she could hear his amused laughter in the distance, followed by several loud explosions. 'At least he's having fun.' She thought, shaking her head lightly with an amused smile.

The sound of approaching steps getting their attention, the three women turned and saw more of Krieg's men heading their way. Smirking, Kurami turned fully towards them, stepping up between the two females. "Oh good, more toys for me to bat around." She practically purred, licking her lips, her eyes glowing in demonic lust.

Chuckling, Kurami held up her hand. In an erupting blaze, fire coated her fingers, illuminating her face in an ominous orange glow, her crimson eyes shining through.

Time to have more fun.

Kurami Uzumaki

Alias: "The Red Queen"

Position: First Mate

Power/Ability: Fire Manipulation

The second redhead held up two pistols, sharing the fox woman's smirk. "I can't wait to cash the bounty on these idiot."

The brunette rolled her eyes at her as she took out a pistol and sword. "Is that all you can think about, Sarah?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the enemy.

Sarah chuckled. "No, but I can share with you, and whatever else I think about the next time we reach land, Lucia~" She said seductively, getting an eye roll and light blush.

"So not the time for this! Especially when dealing with this!" Lucia stated.

Sarah giggled. "Like this will be hard to handle. I've faced worse with Naruto. I almost pity these idiots. It seems fortune doesn't favor fools." She mocked.

Sarah Fortune

Alias: "The Scarlet Terror"

Position: Bounty Hunter

Power/Ability: Skilled Sharpshooter

Lucia shook her head, while Kurami giggled at the two. "Good grief." She muttered, before getting serious, aiming her pistol at the enemy. Still, even with what she said, she couldn't help the smirk that grew on her face. If she were to be honest with herself, joining the Red Sea Pirates…

Eyeing the first man she saw, she aimed towards his head, finger on the trigger.

...was the best decision she ever made.

BANG!

Lucia Márquez

Alias: "Lady Black"

Position: Sniper

Power/Ability: Assassination

Back on the Blackpearl, a tall, dark, muscular man was giving out orders to the remaining crewmates on deck. "Hoist down the sails! Arm the cannons! Without Kid to hold back the remaining enemy fire, we need to make sure the ship still stands until the captain returns! That means removing these roaches!" The man shouted, armed with a sword as he watched as several of Krieg's army not held back by the off board members began to launch hooks onto the ship, climbing on board. With a roar, he leaped at the enemy, slashing and stabbing any he could while also ducking and dodging sword swipes and bullet fire. The rest of the crew also faced the enemy, dividing their manpower between fending off the enemy while those below deck armed the cannon to fire at the ships. Charging at them, he rammed his sword through the chest of one man, before using his strength to throw him into another, knocking them both down. Before the floored man could recover, he had a pistol to his head. With a bang, all he knew was darkness.

Not having a moment to rest, the Red Sea Pirate member turned to the other, and pulling his sword from the corpse's chest, spun on his heel before slashing at his head, cutting a line on their face. As the pirate cried in pain, he was silenced by a bullet. The enemy attempted to surround him, but he showed his impressive speed and agility as he dodged their attacks, countering with his own that hit true. "It's a fine day to die, you damn scum!" He roared as he continued fighting, his enemies dropping one by one.

Adewale

Position: Second Mate

Power/Ability: Expert Close Fighter/Swordsmanship

Gin glared at his former 'crew' as he span his iron tonfa around, slamming the spheres hard against their men, sending them flying over the ship with pained shouts. With those taken care of, he shifted his focus to the others, gripping his weapons tightly. With impressive skill and strength, he swung them around easily, the spheres slamming into every enemy's face, back, chest, and legs. The sound of bones breaking heard by all. With each hit, blood and/or saliva would hit his face, but were ignored as Gin continued to brutalise the members who serve under the man he himself once served, and was sacrificed for.

This was a good way to relieve stress.

Gin

Position: Heavy Hitter

Power/Ability: Iron Tonfa Expert

"Hehe! Well, what do we have here? A couple of beauties?" A Krieg pirate asked with a grin as he and his mates looked at a pair of Chinese twins in dark kimonos with red sashes, their dark hair pulled into buns with needles keeping it together. The two stood side by side, looking back nonchalant at the Krieg Pirates surrounding them. They could see the lust in the men's eyes, staring at them like they were meat. The twin on the right scoffed at them, while her sister merely just blinked. The man who had just spoke chuckled as he stepped forward, holding his sword towards them threatenly. "Now, how about you two come with us quietly, and we can show you girls a...fun time." He said, getting chuckles from the other men.

Glancing at each other boredly, the twins reached behind their backs, and each took out what looked like a pair of paper fans. The men laughed as the twins spread the fans open, getting into stances back-to-back.

The same Krieg pirate got tired of the silence. "Fuck this! Take them!" He ordered, and with shouts, the Krieg pirates charged at the Chinese women. Sharing a nod at the other, the two female shot at the enemy, fans held up, a metallic glint reflecting off them.

Lian Park

Position: Twin Assassins

Power/Abilities: Assassination Experts

Meeting the first group of pirates, Lian slid under a sword swipe, watching as the blade sailed over her head, before making it behind the attacker. Spinning on her heal, she swiped her fan horizontal at the back of the man's neck, the implanted blades on the fan cutting deep into his skin. As the man attempted to hold his spilling blood in, Lian moved on to the next victim, kicking their legs out from under them. Raising a leg, exposing high heels. With a snkt!, a blade came out of the heel. Smirking at the panicking man, Lian dropped her leg, sinking the blade into their neck. As more men charged at her, Lian held up her fan, and with a twist of her wrist, threw it towards them, the item spinning like a disk as it flew towards the group from the side in a curve. Like idiots, the charging man paid no attention to the deadly fan, merely focusing on their target standing in place. They suffered for it, as the spinning fan moved through their necks in a straight line, killing them all practically simultaneously. Catching her returning fan, Lian smirked as the bodies dropped. Seeing more coming, she shook her head.

Like damn roaches.

With Park, the woman was slightly enjoying herself, dancing around sword strikes and attempted grabs. With her metal fans, she would counter with deadly swipes that would leave either multiple light cuts, or even deep gashes when applying more pressure. Some outright losing their fingers in the process. However, her most deadly trait was her agility. As stated, Park danced around attacks, moving with a hypnotic grace, with equal graceful counter. To the enemy, it was like trying to slash a fly buzzing in the air, or fighting the wind. Whenever the metal of a blade seem close to hitting her, she would maneuver out of the way easily. With closed fans, she blocked a strike, and pushed it to the side, before jabbing the other into the man's throat, making him choke. Following that up, she threw a high sweep kick to their head. A knife coming out of the heel, she cut the man's throat out. As the man bled out, Park threw her closed fan at another, hitting them in the head, dazing them. Moving up close, she leapt at him, grabbing him by the shoulders, and with a second blade out of her other heel, unleashed a deadly barrage of stomps on their chest, stabbing them multiple times. With a final stomp, she kicked off of him. Landing in front of the last remaining enemies, she held out her hand, catching her falling fan. Suddenly, in what seemed like a blur, she was joined by her sister, standing back to back with her. Staring at the remaining enemy, the two shared a deadly smirk, before getting started 'removing the remaining scum'.

Back with Gin, he managed to lower the number of remaining enemies down to only a handful, However, as evidenced by his increase in breathing, he was getting tired. It took a lot of strength to wield his iron tonfas, much less swinging them around angrily to let out his past frustrations. Needless to say, he recklessly used up his energy. 'Damn it! I'm so stupid.' He mentally growled as he glared at the remaining pirates. He shouldn't have wasted so much energy. 'I thought I learned better under Naruto.'

An enemy chuckled darkly at Gin. "Looks like the traitor's tired."

"Not so tough now, huh?"

"Let's show him why you don't turn your back on the Krieg Pirates!"

"Yeah!"

Gin scowled as the enemy neared. His right hand, gripping the iron bar of his tonfan, began to shake. 'They are starting to feel heavy.' He groaned.

He was so foolish.

The enemy was several feet from him, when gunfire struck their feet, making them leap back. From above, a green haired woman dropped down on a rope, landing in front of Gin with a smirk. "Stay back, Gin. I'll handle this."

"Olive" Gin said, lowering his weapons so the spheres landed on the ground.

Reaching behind her back, Olive pulled out an iron mallet, holding it tightly. She winked at the men. "Alright boys, let's have some fun, shall we?" She asked seductively.

Olive

Position: Seducer/Heavy hitter

Power/Ability: Feminine Wiles/Incredible Strength

The enemy looking at each other before they glared at the two Red Sea Pirates, and continued their attack. With a grin all members seem to share, Olive heaved her mallet over her shoulder like a baseball player ready for a pitch. Once they were close, she swung.

"Hold still, you bastard!" Krieg shouted, throwing down his weapon - a spear created out of two of Krieg's shoulder plates put together, a blade and stick coming out of it - on Naruto's position. With his constant smirk, Naruto jumped out of the way. However, his smirk lessened as once the spear made contact with the wooden floor, there was a large explosion. The ship shook, breaking apart. With a leap, Naruto landed on the ship's front rails, watching the cloud of smoke and splinters. 'Is that guy an idiot?! Well, obviously he is. Still, to put explosives in his weapons? What else could he be hiding?'

From the smoke, a smirking Krieg emerged. Behind him, a large gap was visible, cracks spreading from it to both sides of the deck. Naruto saw this, and knew it was only a matter of minutes before the whole ship sank. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the splintered remains of a ship. He turned back to Krieg as he began to laugh.

"Nowhere to run boy! Well you stand against me, or sink into the waters?" The man asked.

Naruto scoffed as he stepped down from the rail. "I never turn away from a challenge, Goldy. Come on..." With the sound of sliding metal, he readied his swords, smirking at the man. "Come on, laddy. Let's dance."

Growling, Krieg charged at the blond, his heavy feet cracking the ground even more. Getting in a low stance, Naruto moved to the side as his blade made contact the spear, pushing it away. Stepping to Krieg's side, Naruto swiped at him, only for Krieg to move his arm in the way, using his gauntlet to block the strike. Krieg smirked madly. "I have you now!" He declared, as from his shoulder, two gun barrels popped out.

"Oh!" Naruto blinked, and quickly leaped out of the way as the barrels fired, following him. Dashing back through the deck, docking under the fire, Naruto clicked his tongue in annoyance. 'Now I see how this idiot managed to gather such an army. A walking tank is pretty hard to say no to. What other surprises does he have in that armor of his?' He wondered as he avoided fire. He paused in his movement, feeling the ship shake even more. 'Any moment now.'

Krieg also felt the ship at it's last stand, and smirk. "It's over boy! You shouldn't have messed with me! You should have taken my offer! Now it's time for the captain to go with the ship." He mocked. Raising his spear up high, he moved to slam it down on the deck.

'Oh no you don't.' Twirling his swords around once he stabbed them into the wood floor, before reaching behind him and pulled out triangular blades, which he proceeded to throw them hard at Krieg. However, they sailed past him, making the man smirk, thinking the idiot boy missed.

Too bad for him, he didn't see the slight glint in the air.

Smirking, Naruto waved his arms, controlling the thin wires connected to his blades, causing them to wrap around Krieg's arms, taking him by surprise. With his hold on Krieg secured, Naruto ran forward in heavy speed, quickly entering the man's space. Leaping into the air over him, pulling Krieg's arms with him, Naruto kicked hard at the spear, snapping the weapon in half. Grabbing the main part, he held on to it as he planted his feet on the back of Krieg's head, using it as a platform as he pushed off. Jumping into the air, he grinned down at Krieg, reiling the spear in his hand, aiming down at the Gold Armored pirate. "You're right, captain! It's time for you to go down with your ship!" He shouted, throwing the spear hard at Krieg.

Seeing what the brat was planning, Krieg growled, crossing his armored arms in front of him to shield him from the fast approaching blast. Unfortunately for him…

He wasn't Naruto's intended target.

He only realized it too late, as the spear tip pierced the floor under him. Krieg only had enough time to widen his eyes before…

BOOOM!

As the ship's deck exploded in a mighty blast, causing any passengers still on board to fall over with shouts, Naruto let the airwaves push him backwards away from the ship, catching his flying swords. Looking down at the ocean waters below him, he looked around for anything to land on. Finally, he found a lone board floating in the water, wide enough for him.

With a flip, he landed on the board, smirking as he stared at the burning inferno of Krieg's main ship.

Flashback - Continuation

Naruto struggled to breath as the claw of Davy Jones pressed against his throat. As he gripped the claw arm in an attempt to get it to release him, mentally he was cursing all kinds of fucks. 'Damnit! Damnit! DAMNIT! This wasn't supposed to happen, but I should have expected this! Kami, I should have headed straight for the boat, not waste time pranking these assholes! Kami I'm such an idiot!' Raising his eyes, he met with the glare of Davy Jones.

"Now, may I ask why you are scurrying about at such a late hour, Mister Uzumaki?" Jones asked, his voice heavy with suspicion and aggression if he didn't get an answer he didn't like. The tightening of the claw let Naruto know the consequences he would suffer if he didn't answer or gave a right answer.

'Damn, what am I going to do?' He wondered, seeing his one chance to escape this ship and captivity slowly vanishing. Was he doom to be the slave of these bastards forever, until they eventually kill him?

So much for Lady Luck loving him…

"Well, Mister Uzumaki. What say you and I have a little...chat?" Jones asked, a deadly grin on his face.

BOOM!

Suddenly, following a mighty explosion, the entire ship shook as the fuse Naruto lit down at the cargo hold met the bomb crate, igniting a blast that exploded the sleeping chamber above.

"What?!" Jones shouted in surprise, momentarily distracted by the blasted. Giving Naruto the chance to take out his knife.

Slash!

"ARGH!" With a pained shout, Jones released Naruto, using his human-ish hand to grasp his bleeding stump of a tentacle Naruto cut in half with the knife. Not having a chance to relax, Naruto slammed his foot hard on Jones's stomach, pushing him back till he slammed into the wall behind him. Without a moment's hesitation, Naruto booked it and ran off as fast as he could. His destination?

The side boat and his way to freedom.

"UZUMAKI!"

The roar of Jones sounded throughout the whole ship, as the once slumbering fishmen began to exit out from the exit. The blast had taken them by surprise, and had killed a few, the others waking up alert and ready for action. Spotting the running Naruto, it wasn't hard to put two and two together, and moved to grab him. Afterall, he just just a simple human.

With a leap, Naruto jumped up onto the head of the lead fishmen, using his head as a ramp to bounce off. He used the heads of his capturers as he made his way to his destination. With a final leap into the air, he twisted his body to face behind him, sighting the increasing number of Dutchmen fishmen, with the infuriated Jones glaring at him with all his might at the back.

He also spotted the unignited bomb crate posted at the spar beside him. He took out his trusty knife. With the accuracy only a trained shinobi could have, Naruto threw the knife as hard as he could. The metal blade soared through the air above the fishmen, cutting through the air.

In a display which truly proved Naruto had the love of Lady Luck with him, the knife passed the middle spar, passing by a metal right wrapped around it. The metal blade razor edge brushed against the right, friction causing the edge to burn fierce orange with a small spark. Continuing on, the knife dove downward, before piercing the bomb crate, hot edge first.

BOOOM!

The fishmen were unprepared for the second blast, none more so than Jones, who stood at such close proximity, he suffered more damage from the explosion. The sails got caught in explosion, erupting into flames.

Naruto, however, ignored this as he landed on the ground and quickly kicked off. Running to the edge, he grabbed hold and pulled himself over, dropping down to the posted boat on the side. He quickly took a second to insure he had his bag of essentials he took, the key, the black box, and finally...

Shiroshi

Smiling at the white crab on his shoulder, Naruto just needed to unfasten the rope holding the boat. Opening his bag, he took out a knife and quickly starting sawing at the rope. He could hear the recovering assholes above, and knew he had to hurry. "Come on! Come on!" He urged as he cut into the thick rope as hard as he could. He could see shadows gather at the edge of the deck above, making him panic. "Come on! Come on!" Gritting his teeth, he worked as hard and fast as he could to cut the line. He felt the boat shake, before it began to slowly rise. "Shit!" He only had seconds left before he got recaptured and tortured, possibly worse being wiped. "Come on! Cut damn it!" He shouted, until finally, the line cut and the boat fall into the waters below. Holding on, he waited for the boat to stabilize. Once it did, he grabbed the oars on the boat, and began to row the boat.

He could hear the shouts of the fishmen from the large ship, and he grinned towards them. He grinned even more when he spotted the form of Davy Jones in view. Unable to help himself, he waved at him.

"UZUMAKI!" His enraged roar echoed throughout the seas, as Naruto Uzumaki calmly sailed away from the burning Flying Dutchman.

Flashback - Intermission

Kid scoffed in annoyance as he stood arm crossed in the middle of a mess of scattered, unconscious enemy pirates. "Pathetic." He muttered, annoyed that no one here seemed to be able to give him a challenge. He glanced off to the side were the remaining Krieg ships were sunk by large explosions. He tsked, before deciding to go search the ship for anything of possible value or interest before tearing it down.

You never know what could be hidden around.

"Hold it right there!"

"Hm?" Pausing in step, Kid moved his head over his shoulder, gazing behind him. Standing a couple of feet behind him, stood a man near his tall height, dressed - in his option - incredibly stupid.

The man had iron plates around his body, fastened with straps, mostly on his hands, elbows, and knees, while having a large one on his front and back. Said plates also had strange clear half-spheres at their centers. And most stupid of all, was the thing on top of his head. 'Is that a pearl?' Kid wondered, eyeing the large, round, clear white, rainbow tinted orb.

Turning fully to face the man, Kid raised a brow at him. "What the fuck do you want?" He wanted to hurry up and finish his job, and maybe see if he could join Naruto against that Krieg guy. He seemed strong, a lot more than these canon fodder.

He was also getting hungry.

The pearl man smirked arrogantly at him. "My, I must say you and your little crew sure are making a mess of the mighty Krieg Pirate Fleet." Kid didn't even bother to hold back his snort. Mighty? A half hour hasn't even passed, and he and his crew cut a fleet of 50 ships down to just below a dozen. The pearl man either didn't notice his snort, or ignored it. "However, your fun ends here. While you and your friends may have dealt with the pathetic fools of our crew, you are powerless against me. Devil Fruit power or not."

Staring at the man like he was insane, Kid was about to question his balls (and he wasn't talking about the ones on his shield thingies), but decided to humor him. "Oh yeah?" He asked, crossing his arms.

The man chuckled, gaining a creepy smile. "Oh yes. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Pearl, the Iron Wall. The commander of Krieg-sama's second unit. My armor has never been pierced, nor dented, by either bullets or even cannonballs. I have been in 61 battles, and have never bled. So it is useless to defeat me."

Kid stared at him for a moment, before he started to laugh insanely. "HAHAHAHA! Oh man!" He continued to laugh, much to Pearl's confusion and growing annoyance. He was about to demand what was so funny, when he spotted metal tools fly by him towards Kid. Even his plates tugged towards the flame haired pirates. The metal pieces once more collided and gathered around Kid's arm, piling larger and larger, before forming his giant fist.

With a devil fearsome grin, Kid stared at Pearl. "Finally! Something interesting! Come on then, Iron Wall. Let's rumble!" He cried as he charged.

Back on the Black Pearl, sitting at the crow's nest, a figure chuckled. Legs dangling from the edge, swaying back and forth, a young woman with shoulder-length orange hair with a crimson newsboy cap on top, gazed at the battlefield going around. Ships sinking, the should of gunfire and swords meetings echoing around, it drew an amused smile on her face. Though her large, round, koala-like eyes were mostly upon the captain of the Black Pearl.

With her elbows on her knees, she rested her head on her arms as she watched him. "Never a dull moment." She muttered, her smile growing as she observed the captain's 'battle'. "Truly a scary phantom~" She giggled, seeing that not once was the blond hit. She then looked up at the sky. "This battle's just about wrapped up."

Koala

Powers/Abilities: Martial Arts Expert

Naruto tapped his foot against the board he stood on top of. He stared at the blazing ship as it continued to burn. He sighed. "Come on already. He can't be dead that easy. Isn't he supposed to be the supposed "Strongest Pirate" around here?" He heard rumors of Krieg around some towns he went by, but now he wondered if they were just that, rumors. 'I mean seriously, over five thousand men against a few of mine, and they aren't even putting up a fight. I haven't even shown an ounce of my true power.'

Scratching the back of his head, he wondered how Kurami was doing. Knowing the scary fox woman like he did, he had no doubt she was torturing some poor fool for her entertainment. 'Yet strangely...she's hot when she gets like that. Not that I'm into pain or anything. Kami no!' He thought with a shiver. The day he's into SM, especially with Kurami, with him being the masochist, is the day he gives up ramen. Never going to happen!

!

From the inferno, a large spiked iron ball shot out, heading towards him, a connected chain behind it. Turning to it, Naruto stood calmly as it got closer. Once it was a few feet away, he jumped up, avoiding it, before landing on the chain. With a smirk, he began running down the chain toward the remarkably unharmed, but infuriated Krieg.

"YOU DAMN BASTARD!" Krieg roared.

"Heh!" With but a flinch of his wrists, two kunai blades were in his hands.

Seeing the blond bastard coming towards him, Krieg aimed his shoulder guns at him, and fired a barrage of shots. Continuing his charge, Naruto switched his blades in reverse holds, and in a shocking display of skill, began to deflect the bullets.

"What?!"

Deflecting the first round, Naruto continued onward, getting closer and closer. Growling in anger, Krieg fired a second round, labeling the first attempt as a fluke. However, to his growing shock and anger, instead of deflecting the bullets this time, the whisker faced bastard was...dodging the fire!

Such a thing would be impossible, as the brat was in a straight path with no chance of escape other than jumping away. But lo and behold, still running the chain, the whiskered man's upper body seemed to move out of the way of each bullet, with his feet still running the chain!

Krieg gritted his teeth hard enough to chip them. "This cannot be! I won't allow you to make a mockery of my power!" He roared, and on his hands, he held black spheres between his fingers. With a mighty swipe, he tossed them towards Naruto. The sphere hit the water in front and around Naruto, before erupting in explosion.

Smoke blocking his vision, Krieg smirked, thinking that did the asshole in, when from the smoke, Naruto shout out of it, much to Krieg's further shock and annoyance. "Why won't you die!?" He shouted, and opening all the panels in his armor, revealing all of his implanted guns. With a roar, he launched everything he had, straight at the annoying pest.

Seeing the incoming storm, Naruto neither blocked nor dodged the rain. Instead, getting low, he pushed off the chain slightly, paralleling his body to the chain line, and in an inhuman display, moved past the fire, not a single one hitting him, stunning Krieg silent. That wasn't all, however, as with a tight grip on his kunai, Naruto twisted his body, his arm held straight out. His kunai connected to the side of the chain, and for a second, it met resistance. However, with a push, the blade cut through the metal.

"WHAT?!" Krieg shouted, observing the action.

Continuing his rotation, Naruto's other hand grabbed the separated chain, and with a tug, pulled the large spiked ball towards him. Still spinning, he righted himself upward, his feet making contact with the falling chain, and actually pushed off it like a solid platform.

With a high leap, Naruto shot over Krieg, pulling the wrecking ball with him. Smirking down at the stunned gold man, Naruto called out. "Say hello to my big friend!" Pulling the chain over his shoulder, Naruto hurled it down at Krieg.

Snapping out of his state, Krieg debated on managing to survive his former weapon. In the end, however, Krieg leaped back, dodging the spiked ball as it crashed down in front of him, wrecking his ship even more. "You damn bastard!"

Landing on a part of the ship still stable, Naruto grinned as he looked behind him at Krieg. "Not done yet."

CRASH!

"Show time!"

From below, the floor broke as Ursula burst through with a wide smirk, her swords in hand. With maddening glee, she X-slashed Krieg's back, causing a shower of sparks as her sword's spikes scraped against the gold steel armor.

Now, normally his armor was impervious to just about any weapon. Iron, steel, and even seastone. Only something of immense force and power could even crack it - not that it has even happened before. So, it was to Krieg's shock and horror, when the scales began to cut through his metal, leaving gashes.

"Impossible!" The man shouted as Ursula jumped back beside Naruto.

Naruto smirked as he glanced at the merfolk. "Nice of you to show up."

Ursula snorted. "I got bored being underwater for so long. Though, why is this guy still alive?" She asked, looking at the angrily shaking Krieg. "I know for a fact that you could end this battle in seconds in 10 different ways. I mean for goodness sake, his head in unprotected!" She exclaimed, knowingly speaking loud enough so the man could hear her, as evidenced by his gritting teeth and pulsing vein. She ignored the angry man, as she looked at her whiskered captain. "So what's the hold up?"

With a small smirk, Naruto shrugged. "I was hoping for some passing entertainment. Sadly, I'm not getting much of it."

Ursula chuckled, shaking her head. "Well, sorry for that. But what'd you expect? Even with a crew of over one hundred men, this guy couldn't even survive the Grand Line." She said, bringing up another, though not as well known, rumor they picked up about the fearsome Don Krieg. Of his attempt to sail and conquer the Grand Line with an army of men and obtain the One Piece.

Naruto nodded. He thought as much when he saw Krieg on a regular gallon. Normally the commander of a wide army would have a larger compensating ship, given the man's ego. For him not to have that, would mean that either he didn't feel like having one - which he highly doubted - or he lost his original ship. 'Which tells just how deadly the Grand Line is.'

Hearing the two conversing, it made Krieg angrier and angrier. How dare these fools mock him?! Talking about defeating him?! Bringing up his failure to conquer the Grand Line?! How dare they?! HOW DARE THEY?!

"Don't you...don't you...DON'T YOU MOCK ME!" Standing up straight, Krieg's armor opened, the guns inside once more popping out. Naruto and Ursula watched as the guns aimed at them.

"Captain?" Ursula asked, though she didn't appear the least bit worried.

Naruto smirked, reaching behind his head, and pulled up a hood, casting his face in darkness.

Time to get serious.

Pearl was confident. After all, his shield armor was impenetrable. With it, he was perhaps the strongest of the Krieg Pirates below Krieg-sama himself. Even then, the captain himself was scared of Pearl's true power when unleashed.

But such power wouldn't be necessary. Not against small vermin. Not against rats.

He was after all the invincible Iron Wall. He was unbeatable.

He was safe.

He was-

BAM!

Like the force of a hundred cannonballs, or one massive one, Kid's large metal fist crashed into Pearl, causing him to fly back in a blur, and crash into the wall behind him, leaving a hole.

Kid scoffed as he pulled his arm back. "Was that it? We barely even started! What a waste..."

Grumbling about pathetic opponents, he watched the hole, wondering if he killed the pearl guy. After a few moments of silence, he believed so, when he spotted movement inside the hole. Soon after, Pearl walked out, shaking. Kid smirked. "Still alive huh? Good! Try not to bore me!"

"..."

At the silence, Kid raised a brow. "Huh? What's the matter? Don't tell me I punched you so hard you bit your tongue off."

"..." Pearl was still silent, shaking harder.

Kid scoffed. "If you aren't going to say anything, I'll just end this!" He declared, raising his fist.

"...You...hurt me..." Pearl muttered, his head low, face hidden in shadows.

Hearing him, Kid scoffed. "Well duh! What did you think was going to happen when you slammed into a wall? You'd bounce off with a squeak?"

Quaking, Pearl raised his head, face covered in dripping sweat and blood, a strained smile on his face. "You...hurt me! You hurt me! YOU HURT MEEEE!"

"What the hell is wrong with this guy?" Kid asked as Pearl started screaming, slamming the plates in his hands together.

"MY IRON WALL HAS BEEN DESTROYED! DANGER! DANGER! I'M IN DANGER!"

Scoffing, Kid readied his giant arm.

Around them, some of the unconscious members of Krieg's Fleet, awoke. Weak and helpless, but miraculously alive.

Not from a lack of trying on Kid's part either. Guess some people have some form of luck.

"P-Pearl-sama..." A man croaked out in pain and fear.

"Oh no...he's...losing it!" Another gasped out.

"We're...all dead!"

Kid hummed, hearing all the worried comments around him, keeping his eye on the frantic idiot.

"DANGER! DANGER! I'M IN DANGEEER!" Pearl screamed and, to Kid's surprise, Pearl burst into flames.

Blue Flames

Grunting, Kid moved his arms in front of him to protect his face from the flames as it erupted from Pearl. He heard the screams of some men as their bodies got caught in the flames and were burning.

"AAAAHHH! IT BUUUUURNS!"

"PEARL-SAMA! PLEASE STOP!"

"HE'S GOING OUT OF CONTROL AGAIN!"

Said maniac ignored the burning men. "DON'T EVEN GET CLOSE TO MEEEE!" Pearl shouted as his shields got coated in blue flames. "BURN! BURN! EVERYTHING MUST BURN!"

Kid tsked. 'And they call me hot-headed...'

With crazed eyes, Pearl glared at Kid. Pulling his arms behind his back, he seemed to grab something. "Ultimate Ball of..." Throwing his arms up, Kid caught the sight of metal balls between each of his fingers before Pearl threw them in the air, each sphere coated in blue flames. "FIRE!"

As the flaming spheres rained down on him, Kid used his metal arm to protect himself. The same could not be said for the surviving Pearl Pirates, as they scream while attempting to escape the rain.

"EVERYTHING MUST BURN!" Pearl shouted madly, uncaring if he burn those in Krieg's army. In fact, Kid wondered if the guy even remembered they were fighting. "THIS FIRE ARMOR IS EVEN GREATER THAN THAT OF MY NORMAL IRON WALL!"

Kid grunted. "Damn it! This asshole is going to burn the ship down before I do!"

"HAHAHA! I AM INVINCIBLE!" Peal cackled insanely. "YOU CAN'T GET CLOSE TO ME!"

Humming, Kid stared at the crazed flaming man, before grinning widely. "Invincible, huh? Well, let's test that theory, ne?" Holding up his metal scrap arm, he tensed his legs. Eyes set on Pearl, he shot off, charging at the crazed lunatic.

Seeing the Red Sea Pirate heading his way, Pearl didn't look worried whatsoever. "IT'S USELESS! MY ARMOR IS INVINCIBLE! ATTEMPT TO HARM ME, AND YOU WILL BURN!"

"WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT, YOU FUCKER!" Kid roared as he pulled his metal first back. Once he was close, he thrusted his arm forward.

With a mighty clash, Eustass Kid's Giant Metal Fist met with Pearl's Invincible Blue Flame Armor.

Raising her sword, Lucia parried an attempted slash from one of the very few Krieg Pirate members still standing around. With a strong kick to his stomach, she sent him back, allowing for Sarah to finish him off with a gunshot to the head. "And that's another one down." "Lady Black" muttered, a hint of boredom in her tone. "How many does that make?"

Sarah shrugged, hoisting her pistols. "Don't know. I lost count after the 255th one."

Sitting on top of a barrel, Kurami yawned. This was getting boring. She thought facing an army of thousand plus pirates would be more fun, or at least a challenge. Then again, she was a bijuu in human form, even severely weaker than her true power, but against these insects, she didn't even have to try! She hasn't even worked up a sweat. 'Nothing but ants. Wonder if facing one of those Warlords would a better challenge?' She thought with a mad grin. If she fought and managed to defeat a warlord, that would truly show everyone she was the Queen of the Sea.

After all, she was the Great Kurami Uzumaki! The fearsome Kyuubi no Kitsune! The walking disaster in both land and sea! She was a walking god to these puny mortals! Hahahaha!

"She's daydreaming again." Lucia muttered to Sarah, gazing at the cackling red-eyed redhead. The crew have gotten used to the 1st mate's...moments of daydreaming. Though they wouldn't dare ask what was one her mind, the insane laughter she gives being enough to scare them. Only Naruto seemed to know what she was thinking at those moments.

"As long as she doesn't start giggling weirdly again, it's not our problem." Sarah said as she sat on a crate, taking out her pistols and a rag from her pouch on her waist and started cleaning the guns.

Lucia nodded, leaning back against rail. "True. Not too hard to figure out the cause though. She and Naruto seem to always get it on when possible. Thankfully they do it when the ship's empty. Wouldn't want to walk in one them accidentally." She muttered. She raised a brow at Sarah when the other redhead in the crew made a choking sound. "You okay?"

"I-I'm fine!" Sarah said, clearing her throat with closed eyes, refusing to look at the brunette, her cheeks slightly red. Unknown to Lucia, Sarah had once had the...misfortune of entering the captain's quarters during the night in order to talk to him about something. At the time, the room from outside was quiet, so she was certain he was either sleeping or at his desk at work. However, the door was unlocked, so she believed it to be the latter.

However, once she opened the door, she was proven wrong.

She has never been so embarrassed in her life! Nor so turned on, given the penetrating smell of sex in the room, as well as the sight of Naruto and Kurami's naked, sweating bodies. She was left frozen as she stared at the busy duo, her presence going unnoticed for a while, and when she was noticed, instead of being embarrassed at being caught…

"Hey, Sarah!" Kurami grinned at her fellow redhead, nonchalant about being found naked on all fours on the bed, her sweat and other bodily fluids staining the sheets, with an equally naked and sweaty Naruto bent over on her back, hands on her large breasts, and pelvis connected to her own, going back and forth hardy, giving her quite a glimpse. Naruto didn't seem to care or notice the new person in the room, too into his lust, something Kurami knew, making her grin widely. "Care to join us~?" She asked.

Sarah couldn't have exited the room fast enough, slamming the door behind her, back against the door and face glowing red as her heart struck her chest rapidly. Breathing heavily, she tried to erase what she witness from her brain, and was very much unsuccessful. She glanced down to the small fox laying in a small bed next to the door, watching her silently before going back to sleep. Now she knew why Naruto's pets were outside his room.

'It took several weeks to get Kurami to stop teasing me and get her invitations to stop!' Sarah thought, shooting a small glare at the still absent minded Fox woman. She knew Naruto would sometimes spend a night with another woman or two along with Kurami, mostly sluts from Tortuga and on the latter's persuasion/demand, but she wasn't going to spread her legs to her captain!

She wasn't some whore! She was a pirate and will be taken seriously!

Even if a small part of her was curious on how it felt to be pounded by her beast of a captain.

But no! She will resist the urge to jump her hunk of a captain! So she swore!

…

'Damnit! Now I'm horny!'

Kurami was knocked out of her daydream as she felt something pick her senses. "Hm?" Blinking, she looked towards the ship she knew Naruto was on, no doubt still playing around with the gold armored behemoth.

A mad grin soon spread across her face.

It's time.

"Hm?" Law looked up at the sky, feeling the wind shift, growing faster. He hummed, pondering on this before turning his gaze towards where he knew Naruto was at. Something told him his destructive captain was about to finish off Krieg. Around him were the separated body parts of the enemy pirates. Some dead, some alive, screaming in terror from either being living severed heads or missing their limbs. "Looks like whiskers is just about done." He muttered. Next to him, Bepo whined, getting a head pat from Law. The doctor looked towards Jewelry, who stood proudly with her hands on her waist in front of a group of groaning old man and crying children. "Hey, Pinkie!"

"My name's not 'Pinkie', you lazy asshole!" Jewelry shouted at him angrily. Law ignored her.

"Come on, we're done. Let's return to the Pearl." Law stated and moved towards the connected grappling line to the Pearl, thankfully it hadn't gotten loose in the fighting or the two Devil Fruit users would be stuck in the near unstable ship until their crewmates got them.

Jewelry grunted as she followed the doctor and his panda...pet?

"While I'm glad not to have fought monstrous enemies, these guys were...easy."

Law yawned, approaching the line. "Give it time. Knowing our captain's luck, we'll run into stronger enemies sooner or later."

"I suppose you're right."

"Now let's hurry up. We don't want to miss the show?"

"Huh?" Jewelry looked at Law with a raised brow. "What show?"

Law smirked. "The Captain's true power."

"Looks like Naruto's finally ending this." Adewale muttered as he looked towards where his captain was, feeling a few raindrops hit down on his shoulders as above him, clouds slowly began to gather. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at Naruto's location, where currently, large explosions of water erupted upward. He could faintly see the forms of Naruto and Ursula moving around the destroyed ship as Krieg seemed to be throwing explosives at them.

With him, Gin, Olive, and the Twins stared at where the captain was. They heard what the 2nd mate said, and were curious, having never seen Naruto fight serious first hand. He always seemed to toy with his enemies, even when he was killing them. Simply dodging and dancing around their attacks, as he cut through enemy forces. As far as they knew, they had never seen their whiskered captain take an enemy seriously, not even other pirate captains or Marine troops.

Up at the lookout, Koala giggle in glee, nearly bouncing in excitement. "So cool! So cool!"

Suddenly, a swirl of fire erupted from the deck, getting everyone's attention. The swirl dispersed, revealing Kurami, Sarah, and Lucia. The Kyuubi smirked. "Hey! Missed me?" She joked.

"Kid's still out there." Adewale called out, not looking her way.

Kurami clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I'll get him." She said, before vanishing in a blur.

Adewale hummed as he stared at the explosions.

"So you want to be a pirate, right? Why? Do you also wish to find the One Piece?"

"I don't really care about Gold Roger's treasure. I just want to be the best!"

"The best?"

"Hehe! Yeah! I want to be the best pirate in the whole ocean! The strongest there is! A legend like Beard-jiji! I want to sail the whole world, and see a lot of incredible things, with a whole incredible crew with me! Whether I decide to find the One Piece or not, I want to be known as one of the strongest, if not THE strongest! To be known far and wide!"

"..."

"That's why...I want you to join me! Come on! We'll have lots of adventures and find tons of treasure! We'll fight assholes and have fun along the way!"

"...You're insane."

"Hahaha! Maybe. I've always been called an idiot, dattebayo!" Naruto grinned widely. "Just call me Naruto Uzumaki! The Number One Most Insane Pirate of the Sea, hehe!"

Adewale smirked. 'An idiot indeed. One I proudly call 'captain'.'

Flashback - Continuation

Naruto made it far enough away from the Dutchman, he could no longer see it in the distance. Right now, he was in the middle of nowhere. He couldn't see anything, and to make matters worse, a fog seemed to be settling in.

"I don't even know where I'm going." He muttered, looking at Shiroshi. "Do you?"

He got two clicks.

No

He sighed. "Great. So we have now idea where we are, or where this portal thing that's supposed to get us out of here even is."

He looked around, hoping to see something that could help them. 'Man, this fog is not making it easy to see.' "At least we have some time before it closes." He said, before his stomach growled. He smiled sheepishly. "Guess I'm hungry. Good thing I brought some food, even if it might not be good." He said, grabbing the bag. Reaching inside, he took out a loaf of bread. He frowned when he saw that it was starting to mold, sighing. "Never before have I been glad for my crappy childhood." He muttered, taking a bite. It wasn't that bad, compared to when he had to eat out of trash cans. This was before the old man Third got him an apartment. Taking off a piece, he held it towards Shiroshi. He didn't know if crabs ate bread, but Shiroshi was his friend, and wanted it to be happy.

Staring at the piece held towards it, Shiroshi eventually held out its pincher to which Naruto placed the piece on top of it. Watching as Shiroshi nibbled the piece, Naruto smiled and continued to eat his own. As he ate, he reached into his pockets, and took out the things he took from Jones. Bread in his mouth, he held out the key and small box in his hands.

He first looked at the key. Rusted, silver metal. It had a strange design. It had a hollow ring with the string tied to it, the shaft was separated in two, with a bar connected to the two near the ring. He raised a brow at it, having never seen a key like this before. He wondered what it opened. "If Squid-Face kept it close to him, it must be important." He muttered, putting it back in his pocket.

He turned his attention to the black box. It had eight sides, with the corner sides being shorter in length, with light colored lining. Moving it around to see all sides, he shrugged, and flipped the lid. "A compass?" He asked himself, seeing a compass display inside, with a red arrow on a rotator. Now, Naruto wasn't an expert in compasses, but even he knew that they had directions of North, South, East, and West. Four things this thing was lacking. "Huh?! What kind of compass doesn't have direction?!" He complained. He was about to throw the thing away, labeling it as useless, when suddenly, the arrow started moving, spinning around, making him blink in surprise. "Huh?"

He watched the needle spin like a top, before it suddenly stopped, facing a direction to his right. Blinking in confusion, Naruto followed the direction it was pointing, then back at the compass. Moving the box around, he saw the arrow continue to face the direction it picked. Turning back to said direction, he looked at Shiroshi, who stared at him. Back to the compass, Naruto sighed.

"Well, after finding myself in a desert, then being a slave to a bunch of walking sushie, and meeting an asshole Squid-Face, nothing really confuses me anymore." He declared, before placing the compass down in front of him, and grabbing the oars. With nothing else said, he started to row the boat towards the direction the compass was leading him to. Beats going around in circles.

Which after what felt like hours of rowing, made him wonder if he was doing just that. Nothing has changed in terms of the environment. Water and fog was all he could see. The fact that it was still night didn't help.

Still rowing for no other reason than hoping he will eventually come across something. Looking at Shiroshi, who was back in his 'rock form', no doubt sleeping, making him sigh in boredom. His only friend there was sleeping, and he still couldn't talk to the Kyuubi - even though the fox would probably just ignore him - for some reason. He has never been so bored in his whole life! Not even Iruka-sensei's lectures were this boring!

That thought made him pause in his rowing, frowning.

Iruka-sensei

Old Man Hokage

Kakashi-Sensei, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, Kika, Shino, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Old Man Teuchi and Ayame-neechan…

All the people who have become so important in his life, saving him from loneliness and depression, saving him from the darkness he endured since forever.

Would he ever see them again? Do they even know what happened to him?

Did they miss him?

Did they even care?

His head lowered, gripping the oars hard. Gritting his teeth, he shook his head. 'No, I can't think like that! Of course they would miss me. They're my friends, aren't they?! Friends miss friends!' He assured himself, nodding. Taking a deep breath, he continued to row, eyes burning with determination. Determination to escape this hell.

Determination to return home!

Determination to return to his friends!

Suddenly, the boat shook, catching him off guard. With a startled yelp, he gripped the edges, holding on tight. Shiroshi was also startled, popping out of his shell. It scurried to Naruto, climbing his knee and climbing inside his jacket pocket.

His head leaning over the boat edge, Naruto faced the waters. He blinked in surprise, when a green glow suddenly appeared below the waters. "What they?" He asked, as the waters began to go crazy, nearly knocking him over. "Whoa! Whoa!" He held on to dear life as the frantic waves rocked the boat. "What's happening?!" He questioned, grabbing the compass and putting it in his pocket so it didn't fall overboard.

The green glow began to glow brighter, spreading in size all around him.

The waves continued to go crazy, until they changed.

It started out small, with a small hole in the middle, before that too began to increase in size.

With wide eyes, Naruto watched as a whirlpool began opening up meer feet from him. "Oh shit!" Grabbing the oars, he paddled as hard as he could, hoping to drift the boat away from the swirl before it got pulled in.

Unfortunately, the whirlpool grew too fast for him to get away, his small raft getting caught before it got away. "Shitshitshitshit!" With that repeating mantra, Naruto tried to fight the pull of the swirl, and was quickly losing as his boat got dragged towards the center. WIth wide eyes and frantic heart beating, Naruto could only watch in horror as his boat began to break apart from the force, the pieces getting pulled into the swirling vacuum. With him soon following.

As he fell into the waters and was pulled down my the whirlpool, Naruto gave one last shout.

"KAMI DAMN YOU PERVY SAGE!"

Flashback - Intermission

"DON'T YOU MOCK ME!" Krieg shouted as he continued to throw his bombs at the two, who continued to dodge them, moving around the wrecked deck. More and more of what's left of the ship is wrecked down in structure. A fact that Krieg ignored as he aired his guns at the two, firing a barrage. Seeing this, Naruto moved towards Ursula, the shark woman being within range of the attack. Lifting a leg up, Naruto stomped down hard on the floor, causing it to crack. It also had the effect of causing the boards he stomped to rise upward in front of them, blocking the bullets. Though they cut through, Naruto and Ursula ran out from the sides before they could get shredded, heading towards Krieg. Looking between them, Krieg turned and aimed at the Sharkwoman, and was ready to fire. However, Naruto reached into his attached pouch, and took out several of shuriken, throwing at him, the stars cutting through the air like saws. As they got close to Krieg, Naruto smirked.

POOF! POOF!

"What?!" Krieg shouted, as the tools exploded, not into smoke or blasts, but strange pink goop. Before he could react, the goop hit his armor, covering his guns.

Seeing her change, Ursula grinned, and with a grip on her sword, threw it with a wide throw. The strange blade shot like a spinning saw, speeding towards Krieg. Seeing it, Krieg tried to move out of the way.

However, he found himself unable to. Looking down, his eyes widened when he saw his feet covered in goop, keeping him in place. "No!"

"Yup!" Naruto said, appearing behind Krieg. Wrapping his arms under the man's own, he held his arms in place so he wouldn't be able to defend himself.

"You damn bastard! Let me go!" Krieg shouted, trying to pry him off. Grinning, Naruto kept his hold on the large man. With wide eyes, Krieg could only watch as the spinning spike blade crash into his armor, sawing against the front in a shower of sparks. The blade span with speed and power, keeping its place, pushing against the armor with all it could. Soon, cracks began to appear, much to Krieg's horror, fearful it would break through and cut him open.

Naruto watched over Krieg's shoulders, grinning as the cracks spread. Before the blade could fully break through, Naruto moved his arms and wrapped them around the man's waist. Pulling, he pulled Krieg back, bending backwards. The man's head crashed hard on the ground, as the spinning blade moved to sail over them. Before it could get too far, Naruto shot his hand out, and managed to grab the sword by the handle. Moving from under Krieg, Naruto placed his hand on the man's shoulder and pushed himself up and over the man, and while in the air, slammed the sword against the cracking armor's front.

In a shower of pieces, the armor's front shattered.

Krieg laid on the ground silently, staring at the sky with wide eyes. How was this happening? How was he losing? He was the strongest pirate in the East Blue Sea! He commanded 50 ships! He isn't supposed to lose! Especially not to some snot nose brat!

HE WAS DON KRIEG! HE WILL NOT LET THIS BASTARD TO MAKE A MOCKERY OF HIM ANY LONGER!

Naruto stood over Krieg, that despicable smirk in place, Ursula's sword placed against his shoulder. "You still alive, Kriegy-chan?" He teased.

Krieg gritted his teeth. "How...is this...possible?!"

"Easy. You were overconfident and underestimated me. That, is why you lost." Naruto stated, and began to walk away, meeting up with Ursula, passing her her sword. "This battle is over. Your army has been destroyed, and you can't possible continue. It's over. Walk away while you still have some pride left in you."

As the words echoed in his head, Krieg got more and more angry. How...dare...this...bastard! "I...will NOT...CANNOT…LOSE!" He roared, and with all of his will, shot upward. Yelling, he pulled his feet free from the glue. "I AM DON KRIEG! I WILL NOT LOSE TO SOME PUNK!" Grabbing his destroyed Battle Spear, he separated his shield, holding it in front of him. "YOU WILL DIE HERE BOY! IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!" His shield began to open up, revealing a barrel.

Looking at it, Ursula narrowed her eyes. She had a bad feeling about this.

"THIS IS IT, DEMON OF THE RED SEA! TIME TO DIE!"

"Naruto..." Ursula muttered to her captain.

"Don't worry." Naruto responded, and with a blur, turned around and threw his arm at Krieg, a kunai shooting out, flying into the barrel in a second. "Katsu."

BOOOM!

"AAGH!" Krieg shouted in pain as his shield exploded before he could fire his MH5 poison bomb. The explosion also damaged his hands. "GOD DAMN IT YOU BASTAAARD! HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DEFEAT ME?! HOW?!"

"I gave you a chance to walk away." Naruto said, appeared in Krieg's guard, his eyes cold, making Krieg's widen his. "No more chances. This ends now." He held out his arm, his fingers curving in a clawing motion.

"Rotation"

Wisps of blue energy began to appear around Naruto's hand. They moved towards the palm, where they began to gather, coming together in a swirl, forming a sphere. Krieg stared in shock.

"Power"

The energy sphere grew denser, energy in side of it spinning in every direction, like a miniature hurricane.

"Containment!"

The wind began to pick up, blowing hard around the two, making Naruto's clothes ruffle.

Stunned by what was happening, Krieg could only mutter. "What...what are you?"

Naruto gave him a smirk, his eyes glowing a fierce blue through the darkness of his hood. "Something this world has never seen before. A walking maelstrom. A Ninja Pirate. It's over Krieg. You lose. Naruto Ninja Art: RASENGAN!"

With nothing holding him back, he slammed the sphere into Krieg's unprotected front. The sphere sank into the shirt under the armor, continuing on till the shirt burst into pieces, and sank into the skin. Krieg's mouth shot open in a silent scream, feeling like his skin was being torn apart, as well as his insides. Naruto pushed his arm forward, and downward, along with Krieg's body, thus slamming the man into the ship's deck, his attack still drilling into him. "Go to HELL!" The whiskered pirate shouted, and with a mighty blast of air, Krieg blasted through the deck, into the ship, and onward through the bottom into the sea below.

The sphere went with him, acting on a force as it pushed him, pushing far enough, before it exploded, causing the water under the wrecked ship to pulse, before with a mighty blast, a tower of water erupted upward.

"What's going on?! I can't see what Naruto-kun is doing!" Jewelry whined, trying to get a better look as she leaned against the side railing.

"Looks like we're done here." Law said, laying down against the already slumbering Bepo.

Olive let out a breath. "Good. This took longer than needed."

"Though it was kinda fun." Lucia stated, smirking. The twins stayed silent as they stood at the quarter deck. Sarah leaned against the mast, feeling bored now that the action was over and one with. Good news though was that they managed to find and salvage any treasure on Krieg's ships before they destroyed said ships.

Once more appearing in a swirl of fire, Kurami appeared on deck along with Eustass Kid beside her, as well as Pearl, who was either unconscious, or dead, not that anyone cared. His front shield plate was completely destroyed, as well as his body looking messed up. The observers didn't need Law's diagnosis to tell that his bones were broken. "I'm back!" She called, before looking around. "Where's Naruto-kun?"

"Present!" Naruto called, appearing behind the twins, making them jump. Naruto chuckled as he wrapped his arms around both women. "Sorry about that girls." He apologized as they glared at him, Lian slapping him on the chest for scaring them.

Kurami didn't see Ursula with him, and questioned it. "I have her fetching Krieg from the water. He has a pretty nice bounty on his head, and it'd be stupid not to him or that member of his *points to Pearl* in."

Hearing that, Sarah smirked. "Glad you didn't forget." Pirates turning in bounties of other pirates is not that rare, just uncommon. Mostly because bounties are issued by the World Government and Royal Kingdoms, and turning in bounties must be done through first hand meetings with Marine or Court Officials.

A death wish for pirates who have their own bounties on the line, and would be immediately captured on sight.

Sarah herself was a pirate hunter before joining the Red Sea Pirates, and still technically operates as one, considering her status as a wanted pirate has not yet been discovered as she was very careful to remain unseen when in towns and eliminate any witnesses. As such, she was able to turn in bounties her crew caught and not get in trouble. Of course, she knew this wouldn't last, and sooner or later she will be discovered and thus prevented from turning in bounties.

Though Naruto keeps telling her that he had a plan on how to fix that, but won't tell her. Stupid sexy bastard!

Of course, even if they would no longer be able to rely on bounties, it wouldn't be a problem for the crew, considering they attack and take over forts and all their in-house treasures and fortune.

The sound of water splashing got everyone's attention. Looking at the side, they saw Ursula climb up. Over her shoulder, was the body of Krieg. With a huff, she tossed the large man's body onto the deck, before climbing onboard herself. "Brought back Goldie like you asked, Whiskers. Had to take off the rest of his armor. Guy weighs a ton!"

Naruto nodded in thanks, letting go of the twins, and walked over as Kid tossed Pearl beside his captain. Releasing his hidden blades, Naruto stabbed into their necks. "Just in case."

"You know the Marines prefer their captives alive for public execution." Kurami told the blond with a smirk.

Standing up, Naruto snorted. "Like I give a damn on what the Marines want." Looking at his mate, he nodded to her. Understanding, Kurami walked over, and grabbing the bodies, began to drag them towards the captain's quarters.

Best way to hold corpses is by keeping them in Sealing Scrolls. Less chance of the smell of rotting flesh stinking up the ship.

The others didn't know about the usage of Sealing Scrolls, at least not yet, so were confused about what she was going to do with the bodies, but didn't question it. Once she was done, Kurami joined the others, standing next to Naruto, as they crew gathered.

"So what now?" Kid asked, crossing his arms.

Naruto opened his mouth to answer, when…

~!~

The blond groaned, falling to his knees. "So...hungry~..."

Everyone sweatdropped, though Kid started laughing and Kurami facepalm. Adewale shook his head at his captain. It sometimes stunned him how his captain could be a deadly serious and deadly killer one moment, and a child the next. Still, he decided to help him out.

"It has been some time, but I have heard stories of a restaurant in the middle of the sea."

At that, Naruto quickly stood up, turning to his 2nd mate, eyes wide in anticipation. "A restaurant?! Seriously?!" He asked, excited at the thought of getting foor. The others were also curious at the mention of a restaurant all the way in the middle of the ocean. Such a concept seemed to strange them. Who would have a restaurant all the way in the middle of water?

Adewale nodded. "It's called the Baratie. It's actually located close to the Conomi Islands, so we might see it on our path."

"Is the food good?" Jewelry asked, curious. Adewale nodded.

"From what I've heard, it has the best food in the whole East Blue."

Naruto and Jewelry began drooling at the thought of eating such food. The blond then grinned widely, pumping his fist. "Alright! Then before we reach the Conomi Islands, let's eat some awesome food!" He declared, getting smiles and nods.

"Sounds good. We're done here anyway. Though before we leave, we should maybe fix the ship from the damage it sustained." Kurami stated, looking around at the wreckage the ship's deck sustained, not to mention the enemy bodies cluttered around.

Smirking, Naruto nodded, and walked to the edge of the deck. At Kurami's command, everyone else stood back, watching what their captain was about to do. With his grin in place, Naruto unsheathed one of his blades. Spinning the sword till he held it in reverse, he held it up. To the other's eyes, the blade began to glow with a soft white light. Holding the blade high up in the air, he then thrusted it down, and sank the blade into the deck.

For a moment, nothing happened, causing an awkward silence throughout the deck. Snorting, Kid made to comment, but before he could the ship began to shake. Everyone but the Uzumakis held on to something to keep standing. A pulse of energy surged out from the bottom of the ship, spreading throughout the area.

The floating parts of the wrecked Krieg ships suddenly seemed to move on their own, heading towards the Black Pearl. Once there, the parts began to attach themselves to the ship, snapping onto any holes. Some shot out of the water, falling to the holes on the deck. To make things even stranger, pieces that were of a different color, shifted to match that of the Pearl's.

Within a matter of seconds, a once damaged Black Pearl was back to full health.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...What the hell?!" Kid shouted. Taking out his sword from the deck, Naruto sheathed it before he looked at Kid, smirking before he gave a shrug.

"What? I did tell you this was a Ghost Ship." He reminded with a grin, before he clapped his hands. "Now! Let's toss these bodies overboard for the Sea Kings before they start to smell, and then onward to Baratie!" He declared with a fist in the air.

Shaking her head, Kurami chuckled. Looking at the grinning blond, she smiled.

Now she remembered how and why she fell with this idiot. There was never a dull moment with him. She just knew that he will shake the future with his presence, and she will be by his side every step of the way.

Such was her duty as the wife of her former container, and 1st mate to the captain of the Black Pearl.

The sun shined brightly, barely any clouds in the sky. Birds sang as they soar through the air, their untranslatable words drowning over the sound of waves crashing as the wind pushed the currents forward until they crashed into something.

Birds landed soundlessly on a sand floor, walking around in search of food. One such creature came upon something that caught it's attention. With a tilt of its head, it stared at the large object lying in the sand, its body halfway into the water, splashing waves wetting their clothing. Staring at the human before it, the bird nudged closer, its beak curiously pecking the three lines on their face, getting a groan.

Continuing its pecking, the bird soon flew away when the human swatted an arm at it. Left on the sand shore, the human groaned as the sun hit their face. Luckily, something came along that block the sun, casting a shadow over them.

"Time to wake up, boy!" A rough voice called, a boot hitting the person's side, getting a loader groan. The 'shadow' continued to kick the person, until said person finally opened their ocean blue eyes, looking up at the asshole kicking him, glaring at them through half-lid eyes. "Only dead men allow the sun to roast them. Get up." The shadow demand, landing another kick.

Glaring at the person, Naruto grunted as he rolled over on his front, hands on the ground to push himself up. Kami, he felt so drained. What the hell happened? As he tried to recall his last memory, he managed to get to his feet, though nearly fell back down, if a hand didn't grab him by his jacket to hold him up. Groaning as the world seemed to spin, Naruto held his head, raising his eyes up at the person.

"Who...who the hell...are you, datte...bayo?" He practically slurred.

His answer was a rough deep laugh that made him cringe his face in confusion. He tried to get a better image of the person, blue his vision only showed a large black blur.

"Only those who have power have the courage to demand one's name before giving their own, boy." The blur said. "Lucky for you, I've come to the need of your aid, so I can't well kill ya. The names Blackbeard, laddy, but from today onward, you will address me as 'Captain'!"

End!

That's right! I have returned to this grand story of pirates and ninjas! I apologize for taking so long to get back, and am grateful for you sticking with me.

Please, take note, UNLESS I come out and announce it, I will NEVER abandon one of my stories. I WILL eventually return to it when I can.

Guys, I love writing. It's my passion. It's also what keeps me sane. I literally have nothing else going for me. Sad, I know. I also know that many authors also tend to call it quits and give up.

I can't promise there may not come a time I may have to do so as well, but I can and will continue my stories because I know how much you guys enjoy them.

This story has become the FOURTH most popular story to reach ONE THOUSAND FAVS AND FOLLOWS! To me, that's amazing! Incredible! Never would I have imagined that one thousand people would like something I made.

That's why I'm going to try and keep going with my work. For you.

So, thank you all.

Now! Enough with the mopey stuff!

As you can see, I've changed some things from canon. Luffy and gang did not take down Krieg. Instead, Naruto did. But don't worry, Sanji still joins Luffy's gang. Why did I do this? Because I wanted to. I'll be honest, it's been YEARS since I watch One Piece. Think I stopped somewhere after the situation with Vivi and Alabasta.

I am actually starting to rewatch the series from the beginning at a slow pace. Mostly 'cause I'm watching it at the same time I'm watching other stuff. I'm also using the Wiki for some aid, and may possible continue shifting canon around if I think it would be cool, like having some events happen sooner than they're supposed to be.

Like I said, I'm starting the series from the start, and there is a WHOLE BUNCH of episodes still popping up.

Yeah, this is not going to be easy.

But, I'll try my best. Can't make any promises though, I can be labeled as a "Newb" about One Piece.

But whatever, it could be fun. XD

Anyway, you guys now know what Naruto's crew currently holds. There WILL be more people joining in later. If my sources are correct, the Black Pearl is a Galleon type ship, of which a galleon is able to hole a "crews of 600 to 800 men".

If I'm wrong, someone please correct me.

Does this mean Naruto will have a crew of "crews of 600 to 800 men"?

No

No he won't.

He WILL however, eventually have a sizable large number of crew. I KNOW who will end up in his crew, and it will easily be quite large.

Does he need to have such a large crew?

No, but I'm doing it anyway.

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed my little gift of a nice long chapter as an apology for being away for so long.

Please tell me what you think, and I'll be sure to update more chapters of this story before moving on to another story.

Naruto's Crew: "The Red Sea Pirates"

Ship: The Black Pearl "fastest ship in the known seas"

Members (currently):

Kurami Uzumaki / Kyuubi no Kitsune (2/9th of full power) - 1st Mate

Adewale - 2nd Mate

Trafalgar D. Water Law - Doctor

Bepo - Navigator

Jewelry Bonney - Cook

Koala - Close Combat Support

Ursula - Underwater Assistance (AN: OC. For display, imagine a female Kisame with long hair and curvy body.)

Eustass Kid - Traffic Control (handles any...free loaders on board the ship)

Gin - Heavy Hitter

Olive - Seducer/Heavy hitter

Lian Park - Assassins (AN: Characters from "Pirates of the Carribean" for those who don't know.)

Lucia Marquez - Gunner (AN: Character from "Assassin's Creed Black Flag")

Sarah Fortune - Marksman/Bounty Hunter (AN: Character from "League of Legends")

Yoko - Naruto and Kurami's pet fox, and more

Denrei - Naruto's pet parrot

Roger - Naruto's pet monkey

10 Unnamed/Unimportant Workers

Review, if you'd kindly.

Ja ne!