Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto Or One Piece

MarineFord HQ

"Garp, what did you find out on Fiore Island?" Sengoku asked trying to rub away the migraine that always reared its head when he dealt with his friend.

"Hm?" Raising a finger Garp tipped his bag of rice crackers into his mouth eating the last little bit of crumbs inside before giving his report.
"Gekko Moriah was stealing the inhabitant's shadows. That brat Uzumaki apparently inspired them to fight back and without his shadow army, Moriah lost. Afterward, they discovered who he was and chased him from the island."

It was a lie if Garp had ever told one and both Vice Admiral and Fleet Admiral knew it. But both knew that Sengoku did not want the truth. Whatever he was told he would be forced to report. So Garp kept how the islanders now had a strong dislike for the Navy and World Government to himself.

"Not that I blame them." It was the duty of the Marines to keep pirates in check and Fiore had been attacked by a pirate who was allied with the World Government. He had been the one to tell them that the Moriah would retain his Shichibukai title and the privileges that came with it.

With Crocodile being arrested for trying to overthrow a Kingdom that was part of the World Government what happened on Fiore had to be brushed under the rug. If word got out that another Shichibukai was out of control it would make the Marines look incapable of protecting the world from pirates.

"We'll have to raise his bounty again. To be able to defeat a Shichibukai takes power most of the rookie crews do not possess." Sengoku said as he stared down at the bounty poster on his desk.

The most wanted man in paradise.

Uzumaki had been dangerous before because the brat had information about the Navy that other pirates did not. That and access to even the small sliver of Vegapunks research made him more of a threat than the other rookies sailing for the New World.

"Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Jewelry Bonney, Eustass Kid, Trafalgar Law, Capon Bege."

They were all part of the Worst Generation. The pirates that would be sailing the Grand Line in the New Era that was coming.

"The others brats are too full of themselves. Their heads filled with delusions of grandeur. But Uzumaki," Sengoku tapped the wanted poster lying on his desk. The boy was smart. Had planned for his journey through the Grand Line.

Out of the Worst Generation Uzumaki seemed to be the most reasonable.

"Garp, go get Brannew. I need to speak with him about Uzumaki."

o0o

"You have to be faster than that, Ryuma!"

Laughing as he ducked under the samurai's blade Naruto sliced through the white gi Ryuma was wearing drawing a line of blood on his arm.

"Valentine was nice enough to help you train. You should take it seriously."

"I am," Ryuma swung his sword again only for it to miss as Naruto danced out of the way. "I weight more than ten times my normal weight."

Naruto stopped his sword inches away from cutting his opponent again. "You should get used to the weight before we spar again. As much fun as it is to be winning for once me cutting you isn't helping anything."

Since Ryuma had decided to join the crew Naruto had talked Valentine into using her Devil Fruit power to change the weight of the samurai's clothes and sword when they trained. When they had been fighting back on Fiore he had felt how much his strength had grown since Valentine started helping him. Ryuma was already a great fighter. During their spars, without Valentine changing the weight of their clothes Ryuma was always the victory when they fought with just their swords.

"Keep training," Naruto ordered. "I'm going to check the map for islands past Water Seven. We can spar again when you've gotten used to that weight."

"Hai, captain." Ryuma bowed.

Sighing at the gesture Naruto walked away. He had told Ryuma not to bow to him a thousand times since they left Fiore. Why couldn't the samurai listen?

"Puru. . .puru. . .puru. . ." Pulling out the baby Den Den Mushi he kept in his pocket he answered the call coming in. ". . .click. Kuma, is Ratchet causing problems?"

"No, captain. He has had a breakthrough in Vegapunk's research." Kuma's emotionless voice came through the small snail.

Closing the door to the navigation room behind him Naruto set his sword on top of the map. "So it's finally time. Does Ratchet have a timetable for comp-"

"Naruto!" Miss Valentine burst into the room colliding with Naruto.

Grabbing Valentine Naruto stumbled back a few steps as the blonde woman's momentum nearly knocked him off his feet using it as a distraction to end his call with Kuma and stuff the snail in his hand back into his pocket.

Frowning he looked at his frantic crew member. Valentine always kept her emotions in check and rarely lost her cool. He hadn't seen her this out of whack. . .ever actually. It was a little disconcerting.

"What's wrong? Are we under attack?" He asked.

They had just taken down a Shichibukai, what could possibly be worrying her so much?

"Worse! I was listening in on a call between Marines on the Den Den Mushi and they confirmed that 'Fire-Fist' Ace is near Water Seven." Miss Valentine moved out of Naruto's arms.

Her captain was strong, like really, really, strong. But she wasn't dumb enough to believe that he could go toe to toe with one of Whitebeards commanders. Not even Admirals picked fights with the strongest crew in the world.

Whitebeard was someone even the World Government was afraid of.

"Whitebeards Second Division Commander?" The frown on Naruto's face deepened.

Fire-Fist Ace had been a Super Rookie before joining the Whitebeard pirates. The World Government had even asked him to become a Shichibukai. What was a guy like that doing in paradise? Whitebeard and his sons usually stayed in the New World. What business did one of their strongest commanders have in the first half of the Grand Line?

"We should look into why Fire-Fist is here. It could be important."

"What? Naruto, are you crazy! We can't fight Whitebeard, it's suicide!" Valentine bit her lip. "Even if we do by some miracle beat Fire-fist, we would have the strongest man in the world as her enemy."

"You're right, we aren't ready for anything involving the Whitebeard pirates. I'll send Kuma it investigate." Naruto hated to admit it but he knew his strength couldn't match one of Whitebeards Commanders. And that if things went sour he wouldn't be able to protect his crew.
"Don't worry about it, Valentine. Just stay on course for Water Seven and we'll be fine. We can wait for this whatever is going on to blow over."

Naruto thought about what to do. "Fire-Fist was in Paradise for a reason. And with someone that notorious away from his crew the Navy won't be far behind."

He would have like to believe that the Marines were smart enough not to start a war with Whitebeard but he knew they weren't. One of Whitebeard's commander would warrant the deployment of an Admiral, if not two just to lower the chance of failure and he knew his crew wasn't ready for a fight with Admirals.

"Maybe we should stop before we reach Water Seven." There were a few islands nearby that weren't connected to the Sea Train. They could hole up on one of them until Fire-Fist left and the Marines cleared out.

"You look troubled, Captain-san." Ryuma said as Naruto stepped out onto the deck of the ship interrupting his training.

"Have you ever heard of the Whitebeard Pirates?" Naruto asked.

Ryuma had been dead for years and he wasn't sure if the samurai was still alive or not when Whitebeard took the seas by storm.

"Yes," Ryuma answered swing his sword through the air. "In my time as Moriah's genera,l I heard much about the four Yonko. Whitebeard is said to be the strongest. Why?"

His ex-leader had talked much about the Yonko but had mostly stayed on the topic of Kaido. The creature who had slaughtered his first crew when they sailed into the New World.

"One of his crew is in the area. I think we should change our course." Naruto answered. "I'm going to send Kuma to investigate but until we know whats going on with Fire-fist I'd appreciate it if you don't go challenging people to sword fights."

Naruto glared at the Samurai half-heartedly. He was fine with being challenged every day, it kept his sword skills up to par even if he lost most of the time. That didn't surprise him though. Ryuma had said he was hailed as the greatest swordsman of his time when he was alive.

"I don't want you accidentally fighting Fire-fist or attracting the Marines attention."

Ryuma bowed his head accepting the order.

Leaving his newest crewmate to his training Naruto walked further out onto the deck pulling the baby Den Den Mushi from his coat.

"Puru. . .puru. . .puru. . .click. Captain?"

"Kuma, Fire-Fist Ace is somewhere near Water Seven. I would like you to find him and follow him." Naruto ordered. "Don't engage, recon only."

"Yes, captain."

Looking up at the sky as the line to Kuma went dead and the baby snails head drooped down he the storm clouds gather overhead. Something big was coming, he could feel it in the air.

"What the hell?" Blinking as a black dot in the sky started to grow larger as it came closer to the ship Naruto frowned when he made out the shape of the figure. It wasn't a bird. . .but a bat.

A carrier bat that the World Government used to send messages.

Holding out his right arm so the bat could land on his arm Naruto caught the letter the bat dropped with his left.

"What is that, Naruto?" Valentine asked looking over his shoulder. "A letter from the World Government? You think they're asking you to turn yourself in?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, Sengoku wouldn't bother with something pointless like that."

There was only one reason that the World Government would send him a letter.

"This is an invitation to fill Crocodile's position as a Shichibukai." He said ripping open the envelope and pulling the letter out handing it to Valentine.

Taking the letter Valentine read through it her eyes growing wide and her jaw-dropping as Naruto's statement was proven correct. The World Government was actually asking her captain to become one of the people that made up a great power in the world.

"Why would they do this? To the world, you just kicked the shit out of one of the Shichibukai. Not to mention your false reputation for slaughtering entire islands of civilians."

"They'll spin it so that it looks like me joining the Shichibukai stops the massacres because I will be under their control," Naruto explained already guessing what this was.

It was an attempt to make the Marines look good in the face of two of their Warlords being beaten by rookies. Taking one of the worst of the Worst Generation as he and the other rookies were called was showing the world that the Marines could protect the innocent, even if it meant working with the people they hated.

"It sounds like you plan on accepting."

Naruto waved his hand sending the carrier bat away and turned to look at Valentine who was staring at him expectantly. "I am. For the time being becoming a Shichibukai is the right move."

Bobbing her head Valentine handed the letter back to Naruto. "Fire-fist being in Paradise really has you rattled doesn't it?"

"The Whitebeard pirates have been in the New World for years, Valentine. Coming to Paradise is a step back for them." Naruto folded the World Governments letter sliding it back into the envelope it came in.
"Whatever reason Fire-fist has for being in Paradise will cause problems for us whether we are involved directly or not."

Working with the World Government wasn't something he wanted to do but it gave him and is crew opportunities that could be exploited in time.

"Whatever you say, captain." Valentine shrugged.

She was still worried but Naruto had planned extensively before setting sail as a pirate. One walk through their ship would show that. For all she knew becoming a Shichibukai was part of his plan to find the One Piece.

Leave a review with what type of Devil Fruit you want to see Naruto eat!