Prologue

A young man twiddled with a golden medallion with a purple design emblazoned on it. It was unfamiliar to him, but he knew, in theory, whom the symbol belonged to. His grandfather. A man who had outlived his son. Probably unknowingly, the hidden countries, the Elemental Nations, were very cut off from the rest of the world. Sure, everyone knew, in theory, that there was a vast world out there, but not many wanted to actually go and explore it. His grandfather was a man of the sea, his father had mentioned in his journals. His grandfather, Edward Newgate, was from the Outside. The journals of Namikaze Minato didn't go into much detail on the man, since he'd left early in the late Hokage's childhood, but his son knew enough to be able to find him if he was persistent enough.

And let it never be said that Uzumaki Naruto gave up easily. After the Fourth Great Shinobi war, Naruto had achieved his dream. No, he had not become Hokage, but then again, he'd never actually wanted to be the Hokage. Not really. Being Hokage would just have given him what he truly desired. To be acknowledged by everyone. Well, he had that now. He was acknowledged by everyone in the Elemental Nations... but it wasn't enough.

The blond sighed and tucked the purple crossbones sporting a white moustache and grin under his jacket, out of sight. His grandfather didn't know of him, probably didn't know his son was dead, had been for 17 years. What the old man's grandson craved now wasn't only acknowledgment, he craved the acceptance of the only living relative he had left. The only problem was, how does one earn the approval of the strongest man among pirates? Personally, Naruto scoffed at the title his grandfather had been given, knowing he'd be able to beat him if he wanted to. The strongest had been Kaguya. There was no way the old man was at her level. Heck, Naruto wasn't at that level, but the teen had one thing going for him, no one from the Outside actually knew anything about him. The thing going against him... he didn't actually want to fight the man unless he absolutely had to. He couldn't win if he didn't actually want to.

And he was scared of being forced to fight the man if he resented him for...

"Don't be stupid, kit, that night wasn't your fault, you were barely a few hours old."

"Didn't really stop the village, now did it?"

"The village was full of sheep, I doubt this "Whitebeard" is stupid. If he sired your father, he's got to have some intelligence."

"Are you insulting or complimenting him?"

"Either or, does it really matter?"

"I guess not... d'you wanna come out and stretch your limbs?"

"No, kit. I'll just sleep... yes... sleep sounds good..."

Naruto smiled at Kurama's antics. At least he'd always have the fox, even if worst came to worst and his grandfather rejected him... he'd always have his partner. He was just about to stand up to leave the seedy bar, not having heard any new intel when a discarded newspaper caught his eye. Picking it up, he read the headline.

Public execution of Portgas D. Ace to be held in one week in Marineford

Naruto had heard the name before. Fire Fist Ace, 2nd division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.

If Naruto had learned one thing about his grandfather's fleet, it was that they would do anything for one of their own.

The Marines were declaring war.

Whitebeard would answer the call.

Whitebeard would be at Marineford in one week.

Naruto would be at Marineford in one week.

He would help save Ace and prove himself to his grandfather.

He only hoped it would be enough.