Prologue
Legends. The stories of old, of heroic deeds, terrifying beasts, magnificent creatures, awe-inspiring powers, bountiful treasures and the chaotic destruction of others. Legends inspire others to become something more and achieve greatness, fame, wealth, power. Yet, all stories come from somewhere because everything is based off something; a piece of history to inspire the tall tales of humanity. One such legend is of a land, filled with beings of great and devastating power, of a land in a distant corner of the world that nobody knows, of a land that is thousands of years old. It is the land of the shinobi, the Elemental Nations. But only few have heard of the power of the shinobi, to bend the elements to their will, to summon powerful animals to do their bidding, to wield powers equivalent to that of the Akuma no Mi and still retain the ability to swim. Centuries of adventurers have embarked on the journey to find the Elemental Nations and the untold power they could achieve, but even after hundreds of years, nobody has ever found those legendary lands, not even the World Government whose influence stretches far and wide. One man is the key to finding those illusive lands, one known as the most powerful of them all. He can call upon the greatest of storms, crush the tallest mountains and create incredible islands but no one knows who he is or where he is, only a title to call him - The Heavenly Sage.
Chapter One: Before It All Began
Him
Something stirred deep inside him.
It was a feeling.
One he hadn't felt in centuries.
An instinct that had developed over time.
Change was coming.
And he was needed once again.
Golden eyes opened for the first time in 900 years.
Robin
Robin was alone again.
It was a fact that she had come to accept in her short life of ten years.
Another family had taken her in only to betray her for her bounty. When she was 8 she cried every time they betrayed her, always hoping they would take her in, but by the time she was nine, she understood how greedy humans could be.
She stopped crying after that.
Currently, she was aboard a ship she had stolen away on, taking only the barest minimum of food and water as not to bring the attention of the crew to their unintended passenger. Robin was eavesdropping on the captain having a conversation with his navigator.
"How far out from Klaroen Island are we?" the captain asked.
"We're less than a day out. The island itself is remote, no civilization whatsoever, just a few ruins. We should be able to stop to restock our water supply and maybe grab some fresh fruits if the island has any," the navigator replied.
Robin decided that that was all the information she needed and promptly dissolved the ear she had grown on the wall. She then shifted onto her side and let the waves lapping against the hull, lull her to sleep.
The Next Day
Robin awoke feeling slightly refreshed and groggily rubbed her eyes. She got up and stretched, shaking some cobwebs out of her hair, and proceeded to creep? to the kitchen. She immediately noticed that the ship was emptier than it should be and concluded that they had reached Klaroen Island, which meant that most of the crew would be out on the island looking for water and food. With that thought, Robin's spirits rose a bit because she realized that she had more freedom aboard the ship and started to hum a little tune as she began walking to the kitchen.
But sometimes good things lead to bad endings.
In Robin's little moment of delight with her extra freedom, she failed to take her normal precautions when walking through the ship and thus, failed to realize that the ship's cook had stayed behind to take inventory of the remaining food.
She opened the door and froze on the spot.
In front of her stood the cook with his back turned to her, he was, at the moment, taking stock of the amount of fruit left, but turned when he heard the door open.
"Finished already? Well tell me, what di-," He stopped mid-sentence at the sight of Robin standing in the doorway.
"What are ya doing here," He demanded, stepping forward menacingly, "Better yet, why are ya on this ship ya little stowaway?"
Robin didn't answer. She did the only thing she could do.
She ran.
She ran out of the kitchen.
She ran onto the main deck.
She ran down the plank passing surprised crew members carrying barrels of water back to the ship.
The cook burst out from the galley screaming, "STOP THAT LITTLE BRAT!"
The rest of the crew stopped what they were doing and began to chase her.
She ran into the forest, heart racing, adrenaline pumping through her small body.
She could hear them behind her, crashing through the forest searching for her. Ahead of her she saw a mountain riddled with caves and it gave her hope.
"I can lose them in there," she thought.
Behind her, the crashing sounds became louder as the faster men began to catch up with her. She pushed herself thinking 'Faster. Faster. FASTER.' And with a burst of speed, broke the treeline careening through the field and into the first cave she saw.
The first crew members broke the treeline and saw Robin just as she entered the cave.
"After her," one screamed, "Don't let her get away!"
Hearing that last statement sent Robin dashing even faster through the cave. She went deeper and deeper. The air cooled, the light darkened and before long, she was running blind.
Darkness surrounded her, but she kept running. What she didn't notice in her terror filled flight was how the tunnel split into two paths and ended up running into the right one. The crew not too far behind her ended up taking the left path, which led them straight to their deaths. Running right off the edge of a deep abyss tends to kill people.
Hearing the sounds of the crew fade behind her, Robin slowed down to a walking pace, regaining her breath after her mad dash. She trudged slowly through the cave, deep in thought about what she was to do next.
She knew that she was on Klaroen Island somewhere in the West Blue. The island had no civilization, but had plenty of fresh water and food. She realized that she had no way off the island, seeing that she couldn't go back to the ship, and that she would have to try her luck by signaling other ships. So lost in thought she was, she failed to check ahead of her for obstacles and ended up tripping over a small bump in the pathway. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms protectively around her head as she tumbled down the pass. The further she went, the more rough the ground became. It became to painful to bear, as she felt her skin being broken by sharp rocks she cried out in pain. One particularly large rock tore into her face leaving a sizeable cut on her cheek. All of a sudden, she hit something very soft that immediately halted her descent. Slowly, she unwrapped her arms from around her and looked up … and saw the biggest tail she had ever seen. She tried to stand up, but immediately fell down head spinning.
"I guess I hit my head harder than I thought," she mused right before falling back and succumbing to the sweet embrace of darkness.
Him
He had found an island after a couple days of running across the ocean and decided to explore it. He found it to be unpopulated with some old castle ruins and a mountain riddled with caves and small caverns. Right beside the mountain was a large lake filled with crystal clear water and the entire island was covered by a lush green forest. A perfect place for a being such as him. He proceeded to pad through the forests to arrive at the base of the mountain. Seeing as he felt quite tired, he decided to find a nice little cave to curl up and nap in.
He awoke a few hours later when he felt something bump into one of his tails and then heard it collapse. He unfurled his tails to glimpse at who or what had disturbed his rest and was surprised to a see a young girl no older than 10, on her back, unconscious. He noted the cuts and bruises all along her legs and arms, the ripped dress she was wearing and the rather large cut on her cheek. The girl was in dire need of medical aid, aid he was very willing to give. He gently wrapped a tail around her and lifted her up. He pulled the tail around until he was curled up around her and pumped medical chakra through her body. Instantly, the cuts and bruises began to heal and after a minute or two, they faded to nothing, leaving no indication that she had been injured at all. Satisfied that she was healed, he curled up once more and fell back asleep.
Robin
She snuggled deeper into the soft, warm blanket wrapped around her. It was so comfortable, more comfortable than anything her aunt Roji had ever provided or any other person for that matter. A small frown marred her little face when she felt the blanket shift and loosen, and immediately tightened her hold on it to keep it from slipping. What she didn't expect to happen was to be dropped unceremoniously onto the ground. It didn't hurt, but it jolted her awake. She slowly picked herself off the ground, dusting her tattered dress, and looked up. She found herself staring into the giant mesmerizing eyes of what seemed to be a fox.
A very, very big fox.
But she noticed that despite there being a huge carnivorous beast twenty times larger than her, she wasn't terrified in the slightest. She was entranced by the beauty of its eyes, always shifting colors and covered in the most interesting of designs. She saw the most beautiful sea green eyes, which changed into eyes as white as snow and then into eyes blue as the ocean she sailed. She saw a lavender eye filled with a ripple pattern and a red one with spinning tomoe on the inside. The beast startled her out of her trance by asking her a question.
"What is your name, young one?"
She thought she was going crazy. She had heard the beast speak, yet she hadn't seen its mouth move. Telepathy? Even more surprising was that it spoke in the language of the Poneglyphs. A language as old as history and one that very few could read, much less speak. Robin was one of the last few people in the world who could decipher the Poneglyphs and probably the only person who could speak the dead language, or so she thought.
"My name is Robin," she replied. She followed up by asking the creature, "What is your name and why do you speak the ancient language of the Poneglyphs?"
The beast looked at her in surprise.
"Ancient language? Poneglyphs? What are you speaking of child? I have only known this one language my entire life."
Robin was shocked by this revelation.
"Just how old is this thing!?" she thought, "It has to be at least 800 years old!"
She answered replying,"Um, the ancient language that I'm talking about is the language that we are speaking right now. It's a dead language in the world and I used to be the only person who could speak it, but that isn't the case now that I know you speak it. As for Poneglyphs, they are giant stone blocks with the history of the world written on them. Truly, I still don't know all that much about them still as I am still researching them. I only know how to read them."
The great being looked deep in thought, mulling over this discovery and it asked, "You speak as if there is another common tongue in the world. Do you also speak such a language?"
Robin responded with an affirmative nod.
It also asked, "Could you teach me?"
She hesitantly nodded again.
She wanted to ask what she got in return, but fear of what the fox might do to her stopped her from doing so.
"In return, I can offer a place to sleep, food to warm your belly and water to wet your throat," it said.
She sighed in relief, a small, genuine smile gracing her lips as she nodded.
"To answer your first question, my name is Naruto. It is very nice to meet you."
Naruto
Two Years Later
Robin had grown on him.
He couldn't deny it.
They had been traveling together for about 2 years and he knew she had made herself known in his heart.
Despite losing much of her childhood innocence in her early life, she still acted very much like a child like her amazement at his water walking, when she asked if she could sleep in his tails or if he could change his eyes to a violet color. He granted her such simple, innocent requests and enjoyed her amazement and awe at his abilities as it warmed his heart to see her act her age. She reminded him very much of his own daughter, Himawari, and it made him want to protect her even more. But he knew that he wouldn't be able to stay with Robin forever, that she would have to grow up on her own, so he taught her all he could to help her survive in the world. He taught her how to fight along with helping her train her devil fruit powers. He also taught her the finer aspects of being a shinobi such as stealth, spying, assassination and advanced survival techniques. She was a fast learner, which made teaching her all the easier for Naruto.
But she also taught Naruto many things.
All that she knew of history from the end of the Void Century to present day. The common tongue as well as slang (Naruto was able to speak like a normal person compared to his old, sage like voice.) She told him of the Akuma no Mi. All that she knew of the three great powers in the world: The Marines, the Shichibukai and the Yonko. About the World Government and how she hated them, and about Ohara and its destruction. She ended up breaking down after speaking about what happened at Ohara.
Naruto tried his best to help her, but he knew from experience that she would have to battle her demons by herself. Whether she came out on top depended on if she had the willpower to do so.
Robin
Robin had enjoyed the last two years traveling with Naruto. He gave her the closest thing to a childhood that she had ever had. He became a role model in her eyes with his endless patience, immeasurable knowledge, and his passion for teaching. He had taught and helped her so much, more than anybody had ever done.
She knew he had to leave, that she would be alone again and she didn't want that. She knew she was being selfish, but she did NOT want to to let go of the only good thing that had come into her life.
They had arrived on an island that was on one of the biggest trade routes in the South Blue and she had a feeling in her stomach that they wouldn't leave it together.
Naruto had checked them into a modest hotel (she had no idea how he did it, him being a fox and all, but she suspected it had to do with that chakra stuff he had told her about.)
They had already spent a couple days there visiting the different shops and markets that littered the city. He bought her books and clothes. They had gone to the park, where he told her epic stories with little wooden figures to act them out and they had laid back to watch the clouds. Her laughs and her smiles were all the payment Naruto needed because he knew they would be in short supply once he left.
It was late in the evening of their last night together. Robin was trying to sleep, Naruto curled up beside her. Robin tried to stay strong, to not show her sadness, but she was failing miserably. She shoulders were shaking ever so softly, her breathing was hitched and she was trying ever so hard not to let the tears spill.
She heard a sign behind her.
A shifting sound and then a sudden increase in weight.
And then warm, comforting arms wrapped around her.
She slowly rolled over, and looked into the familiar amethyst eyes of Naruto… in human form.
She had never known that he could shift forms, only change his size.
In her opinion, he was fucking gorgeous. His long, untamed, snow white hair fell around his face. Whisker-like markings on his cheeks made him look for handsome. He easily dwarfed her petite frame, almost twice as tall as her. She noticed how well toned his body was, no excess fat or overtly large muscles, just the perfect amount to look absolutely amazing.
Robin let the tears spill out in a wave and hugged Naruto as hard as she could.
She buried her face in Naruto's chest, and bawled her eyes out.
She felt strong hands gently stroke her head and rub her back, and she just let out all the pent up frustration and sadness that had built up over the past week out.
She looked back up into his face and could see a pained look in his eyes.
She said (more like hiccuped out) ever so softly, "I… I *hic* don't want you t-*HIC* to go!"
He continued to stroke her head, but she could see that he was struggling too.
She continued to cry for some time, Naruto trying his best to comfort her.
The room descended into silence with the occasional sniffle, its occupants thinking about what lay in the future for them.
Naruto
Fūinjutsu.
That was the answer to his dilemma.
He couldn't believe he hadn't thought about it earlier.
Stupid.
He could create a seal to do whatever he wanted. After all, he was a Grandmaster at the art.
He heard Robin's breathing deepen and slow to a more rhythmic pace and he got to work. He entered his mindscape, already bringing old seal designs and new ones he just made up to float around him. He sat down at a desk, the floating seals hovering behind him, and began creating a seal most complex. He already had what he wanted it to do listed out, all he had to do was mix them together without it exploding. He wanted it to be his parting gift to Robin, so it had to absolutely amazing.
Robin
Robin woke up to Naruto gently shaking her.
"Get up," he said, "I have a gift for you."
He rolled out of bed, got up and only for his massive frame to fall to the ground.
"Oh. It seems I have forgotten how to walk."
Robin burst out laughing.
She continued to laugh her ass off as she watched Naruto struggle to reacquaint his human legs with the concept of walking. When he finally succeeded in making it out the doorway, she scrambled out of bed and followed him out of the hotel.
They ended up walking out of the city and into the forest that made up a large part of the island. They walked into a clearing when the ground began to shake and a small wooden house grew from the ground. Robin was unfazed by this as Naruto had demonstrated what he called Mokuton a long time ago. What she did question was why they were all the way out here in the woods.
"Maybe he's going to rape me and then eat me alive," she mused. Let it be known that Robin developed her morbid and grisly sense of humor during her time with Naruto.
As they walked through the doorway, she saw Naruto slap the side of the building, and watched a sealing matrix spread from his hand. She recognized it is one of his many warding seals that he had used in the past, which meant that whatever his gift was, it was only between the two of them.
As Naruto closed the door behind her, she noticed that there was no wood floor, which made her curious as all the houses he had made in the past had floors.
"Robin, my gift to you is something I made just for you. Something that'll stay between us and only us."
Robin nodded noting the seriousness of his tone.
"I need you to take off your dress."
She began to nod, but stopped realizing what exactly he just said.
"WHAT?" she exclaimed.
"Nonononono. I didn't mean it like that!" Naruto started to wave his arms around in a comical fashion, frantically trying to defend himself, "It's just that my gift involves a majority of your skin and so I need you to take your dress off. I'm not trying to force you into anything unpleasant or sexual or-"
Robin cut him off by taking her dress off and throwing it at his face.
As he swiped the dress of his head to look at Robin only to stop… and stare.
Naruto
Naruto realized how weird this situation was.
In front of him was a twelve year old girl, practically naked except for a pair of panties, and then there was him.
A very, very old being, someone a whole lot older than the young girl in front of him.
Pedophile.
Oh wait, Robin just said that exact same thing just then.
He agreed. It was a very pedophilic situation and he was to blame.
Back to the situation at hand, Robin was standing there, arms covering her budding breasts, looking down, her face blushing up a storm.
Cute.
Wait, WHAT!
"NONONO! BAD NARUTO! NONE OF THAT THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" he shouted internally.
"Robin, I need you to lie down on the ground for me," he said as he lowered himself to the floor.
As she lay in front of him, he began to explain what he was going to do, "Alright Robin, my gift to you is a multi-purpose seal. I haven't actually told you about seals, but I know you've already seen what they can do. I'll just tell you that I'm absolute badass with these things and can basically do whatever I want with them. The one that I will be giving you is based off a mind command matrix, which has a basic health monitoring matrix, a teleportation matrix, multiple storage seals and a shape animation matrix integrated into it. Basically, this seal will tell me how you're doing, allow me to teleport to you and multiple storage seals for you to seal money, books, trinkets, condoms, even a dildo for those lonely nights!"
Robin slapped him for the last two.
"Okay, okay. But really. You can put whatever you want in these babies, even living things, but I wouldn't recommend keeping them in there for long. They tend to die. Now the shape animation matrix will animate the seal itself, allowing you to make it do what you want. For example, if you want to deposit some money, you can move the seal to the palm of your hand, touch it and think 'Money' along with the amount that you want and POOF it'll appear in your hands. Now that I think about it, I never explained what a mind command matrix is. A mind command matrix is a extremely complex and advanced seal that I came up with that helps control seals. It allows a user to control different seals using their mind and a bit of chakra to choose the seal they want. Now I've tweaked this entire matrix to rely mainly on natural chakra, seeing as you barely have any to begin with, so you only have to think about what you need and it will filter the natural chakra to allow it to mix with your personal chakra. It has plenty of other smaller seals that can make it do some pretty cool stuff, but that's for you to figure out. Now for the final part, what do you want your seal to look like?"
Naruto saw a confused expression spread across her face and he quickly explained to her, "The entire matrix will condense into an image, which is why I left a small part of the sealing matrix open, so I could incorporate an image of your choice into it. So… what do you want?"
Robin spent a few minutes deep in thought, while Naruto patiently waited beside her.
"Crane. I want a crane." She finally said.
Naruto smiled, "Interesting choice. Let's begin."
Robin exclaimed, "Are you telling me that I didn't need to take my dress off until now!?"
Naruto slammed his head into the ground.
Pedophile. Pervert. Idiot. Dumbass.
Naruto pulled himself off the ground, "Let's just do this."
Using chakra with surgical precision, he drew line after line on Robin's petite body. His fingers brushed past her breasts tracing delicate, yet complex designs. His right hand began to focus on her left breast, drawing more intricate and swirling patterns. His fingers scraped against her nipple, causing her to gasp in surprise (and a bit of pleasure). He finished drawing on her chest and moved to her stomach where his left hand had already started drawing the rest of the seal. Once he finished, he placed one hand over her heart and activated the entire seal. Immediately, the golden chakra flared to life, swirling around Robin. It began to condense around her left breast becoming smaller and smaller until she could see a golden image of a crane swathed in flames. Once settled, the seal lost its golden color and turned black making it look like a tattoo. A very fancy tattoo.
Naruto couldn't help but beam with pride at the ethereal beauty of his creation.
Robin
She looked at the *animal* with amazement in her eyes, her hand stroking it in wonder.
It was beautiful.
"Move."
The crane sprang from its resting place, flapping its wings and began to fly around, drifting over her stomach, racing across her back and fluttering down her arm. Subconsciously, she wanted it to be violet, like Naruto's eyes, and much to her astonishment, it changed itself from black as a starless night to a deep, mesmerizing violet.
She felt tears welling up in her eyes, emotions overwhelming her in a way that she hadn't felt in two years.
She wiped her eyes.
"Do you not like it? Is it not what you wanted? I- I can change it if you want!" Naruto began to panic again when he saw her crying.
She let more tears leak out her eyes, shaking her head, "No. No, Naruto. I absolutely love it. I'm not crying because I'm sad, but because I'm happy. This is the most thoughtful and the best gift that anybody has given me. Ever."
She tackled him, wrapping her small arms around her, "Thank you so much Naruto! You have no idea how much this means to me."
She reflected on the past two years, on how Naruto took care of her, how he stayed with her no matter what, how he made her laugh and smile and feel happy.
She realized how much Naruto meant to her.
It made her release the iron grip she had on her emotions, and she let them all out right there into Naruto's chest.
She cried, just like the night before, but for entirely different reasons.
"How can I ever repay you? You already have so much money and knowledge and power and I just don't know how to repay you for everything that you've done for me!"
Naruto just hugged her back and whispered in her ear, "Your happiness, your smiles, your laughs, they are all I will ever need, Robin. Remember that and also that I will do everything in my power to keep that happiness. After two years, you have become someone very precious to me and I will do anything for the people close to my heart."
Robin felt her heart beat a little faster after that declaration. She had found someone that truly cared about her and it made her oh so very happy.
"Then can you stay with me? You are the sole reason of my happiness." she asked softly, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Naruto's eyes clouded with guilt, "I want to stay with you, you have to believe me, but I need you to grow up. There are somethings I just can't teach you if I'm there with you every step of the way."
Robin glumly nodded her head, she knew exactly what he was talking about, but she just didn't want him to leave.
The two of them stayed there for a while, hugging until Naruto broke the silence, "Erm, Robin. Do you mind putting your dress back on? This situation kinda screams pedophile to pesky commoners."
Robin blushed deeply, "Yeah, I can do that. Could you turn around please?"
Naruto did so and Robin picked up her discarded dress, slipping it over her head.
"Let's go back, Naruto." she said, opening the door.
Naruto smiled and followed her out of the house.
As they walked back to the city together, the small wooden house sank back into the ground.
Naruto
They were at the port.
Robin's ship to Loguetown was about to set sail.
Naruto was crying (comically), while Robin was ready to leave, adamant on making her own way through the world.
Oh, how the tables have turned.
Robin turned to Naruto, "I guess this is goodbye."
"No, this is more of a see you later," he said pulling Robin into one last hug, "I'm going to miss you a lot, kid."
Robin returned the hug, "I'm going to miss you too, Naruto."
He asked, "You have everything right? Money, books, dagger, medical supplies, dil-."
"Yes mom," she cut him off, "I have everything that you suggested sans a few items."
The boat rang its final bell, captain shouting the boat would be leaving in five minutes.
Robin motioned for Naruto to lean down, "I have something for you."
When he bent over enough, Robin leaned up and planted her lips on his.
"My first kiss." She turned and walked up the gangplank, a small sway in her hips.
Naruto could only watch dumbly as she walked onto the ship and out of sight.
Pedophile.
Naruto smacked himself.
An old as shit person such as him, with thousands of years of experience, just had a move made on him by a 12 year old girl. She even swayed her hips! Twelve! Hips!
Naruto fell down to the ground crying dramatically, beating his fist against the ground, mumbling about twelve year olds who act older than they are.
After Naruto finished his little show, he got back up and watched the ship depart into the horizon.
"Good luck Robin. Give'em hell." He turned on his heel and vanished in a swirl of golden flames.
Fisher
Fisher Tiger stood tall on the Red Line, looking at the Holy Land of Mariejois, pure rage burning in his eyes, war pounding in his ears, death itching in his hands, passion hot like an inferno burning in his heart.
This was it.
Armed with a sabre, a pistol, a blunderbuss and two extra swords, he was ready to make his bloody mark on history and risk his life for the sake of thousands of others.
He marched forward.
There were plenty of rocky outcrops covering the top of the Red Line between its edge and the gates to the Holy Land, he was passing one of them when he met the most interesting animal. Sleeping behind one of the outcrops was a giant fox, one that easily dwarfed him, it's head bigger than he was standing up and he was one of the tallest fishman from Fishman Island. He could feel the raw power rolling off of it, giving him a peek of the immeasurable strength the great being wielded.
Despite that, he felt absolutely calm around the great beast, not feeling even the slightest bit of fear.
It opened its eyes.
Slitted eyes the color of blood, dark with rage and pain and suffering. Eyes that burned with a fire from the depths of Hell. Eyes that understood the horrors of what humanity could do. Eyes that didn't seem to look at him, but his soul, his very existence.
"I see you have arrived young adventurer."
Tiger jumped in surprise, not expecting a voice to appear in his head. He instantly assumed it was the fox in front of him, as there was nobody else besides them by the outcrop.
"I see you have come prepared, but have you prepared enough? What is your plan? How are you going to get the slaves down to the sea?"
Realization dawned on Tiger. He hadn't thought about that last question. Mariejois was 10,000 meters above the sea, 10,000 meters he just climbed, and 10,000 meters the slaves had no way of going down.
He whispered out, "I have no way of getting the slaves back down. How could be so stupid! They're just going to be captured again!"
He punched a boulder in frustration, shattering it to bits and pieces. He sat on his heels, head in his hands trying to come up with a solution. Sadly, he couldn't think of anything that could get the slaves down safely with what he had at hand.
"You do not have to worry fishman, I can get them down safely, I only asked to see where your true intentions lie."
Tiger perked up at this, "You have a way to get them down? That's great, wonderful actually! I can go through with my original plan!"
"And what is this 'original plan' you speak of. How do you plan on freeing the slaves?"
Tiger took his saber and began to trace a crude layout of Mariejois, "Up here in the northeastern sector, is a huge warehouse filled with oil. Across from it is the armory, which means gunpowder and lots of it. I plan on using the gunpowder to light the oil and send it exploding throughout the northern half of the city, which will then spread to the southern half. After doing so, I will move to the southern half of the city where the slave pens are located and free the slaves. On my way there, I hope to break into every house that time allows and free the slaves part of each noble's private collection. The slave pens are right next to a gate that leads straight to the edge of the Red Line," he pointed to a the southwestern section, drawing an 'X' to indicate the gate, "By this time, the guards and the marines stationed will have realized that the fire can't be controlled and instead, check the slaves. Bastard nobles love them too much. I plan on taking on any forces that could hinder the escape of the slaves even cat the cost of my life! My only regret is that I won't be able to get all the slaves locked away in the mansions."
"Good plan, but what matters is if you can execute it properly and efficiently. Do not worry about the slaves in the mansions, I will take care of them. Also, do you plan on killing anybody? Such an act would make this easier for you."
Tiger shook his head, "Killing is not my focus here, I will only kill when absolutely necessary. What I want to know is if I can trust you to get the slaves to safety."
"I have an ability to send objects to an alternate dimension of my own creation. I can put them in there. I can also teleport to a premarked destination and create boats for the slaves to return to whence they came. Finally, I have abilities that would allow me to create a pathway down to the Sabaody Archipelago. All are safe ways to escape, but I'll leave it up to you to decide. This is your plan after all."
Tiger mulled over the options before asking, "Which option has the greatest chance of returning the slaves to their proper homes?"
"Most likely sending them to the alternate destination. That way, I can let them out once we reach the correct island without the hassle of worrying about them, ships or such. As the dimension is my own, I can control how time flows, so a couple minutes in there could be years back here."
Tiger nodded, thinking about the information the fox had provided him, "Alright, but how do I know I can trust you?"
"Have you ever heard of what happened to Ohara?"
Tiger nodded.
"Have you heard of Nico Robin?"
Tiger nodded again. He thought the stuff they were spouting about the scholar island and the young child was absolute bullfishshit.
"I have taken care of and helped Nico Robin for the past 5 years, 2 of which I traveled with her."
Tiger understood now. He knew of the lies spread about Nico Robin. He knew of how she would hate the World Government for what it had done to her. He understood that the fox was here for a friend that had been wronged. His respect for it went up many notches.
"I understand. Alright, the plan starts at midnight. My name is Fisher Tiger, adventurer and captain of the Sun Pirates."
"Hello Fisher Tiger, my name is Naruto and I will help you make history."
Midnight
Tiger stealthily moved through the paved streets of Mariejois. Not a soul in the streets, the nobles confident that nobody would dare do anything against them.
That was going to change tonight.
Naruto was clearing out the nobles' houses of their private "collections" using clones, leaving Tiger to free and direct the rest of the slaves to the original.
He reached the armory, easily breaking in. He grabbed four barrels of gunpowder, slinging them on his shoulders as he made his way across the street to the warehouse. There, he began to set up the oil and the gunpowder in such a way that it would explode outwards, to the rest of the northern sector. He set two slow burn fuses to give him an ample amount of time to exit the building and make his way to the slave pens. He thanked whatever deity was out there for having Naruto help him because the fox made the operation happen more quickly and efficiently than he could ever hope to do.
The first explosion rocked through the city, just before Tiger entered the first pen. A curious guard stepped out the door to see what the explosion had been only to see Tiger standing over him. Faster than the guard could react, Tiger backhanded the guard, sending him crashing into a wall and knocking him out.
Entering the pen, he found the key ring on a hook next to the previous guard's desk. As he looked at the rest of the room, he realized that it was the branding room, the irons hanging on the wall to his left, the coal filled brazier in the center of the room. Rage filled his heart at the site of the hated brands and what they represented and with superhuman strength, tore the iron brands to pieces. His violent outburst awoke the rest of the slaves who hadn't waked from the explosion.
The slaves looked at him fearfully, one asked, "Who are you?"
"My name is Fisher Tiger," a second explosion sounded behind him bathing him in an demonic glow, "And I'm here to free you.".
Naruto
Naruto sat by the cliff edge, waiting for Tiger to free the slaves from their pens. He had sent clones armed with the Sharingan and the Rinnegan to each of the many mansions in the city, stealing away into them and warping the slaves to a safe place. The World Nobles were so secure with their own superiority, they barely had any security allowing someone of his skill to just walk in, take what he needed and walk out without even trying.
His clones had already cleared out the northern sector of the city, and half way through with the southern half when he heard the first explosion. Fire exploded out and covered the surrounding mansions with burning oil, signaling the demise of the city. Through the Rinnegan, he saw Tiger making his way to the pens and he knew that he now was the time to open the gate. Using a single tail, he punched a neat hole through the gate and the wall surrounding it.
And he waited.
The last slaves in the houses had been sent to his alternate dimension, all that was left were the ones in the pens.
Soon after, slaves began to trickle through the hole and wake their way to him. He could smell a multitude of emotions from them.
Fear.
Hope.
Desperation.
Happiness.
Rage.
The slaves reeked of pure, raw emotion.
The first group to reach him was a group of women, children and mermaids surrounded by a group of fishmen for protection. The leader of the fishmen, a tall, blue catfish fishman, stopped in front of him, "Fisher Tiger has sent us to you saying you can help us."
"And so I shall child." Naruto's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun within his eye, a vortex sprouting from it, enveloping the slaves and teleporting them to where the other slaves resided. As the slaves flooded through the gates, Naruto could see that the fire had already spread to the south side of the city, and while the slaves were fleeing through the southwest gate, the Celestial Dragons were being escorted out the East Gate by a few powerful marines. He could already sense quite a few marines converging on the slave pens, but Tiger was there to fend them off. As he sent more and more slaves into his alternate dimension, he sent a couple clones in there to explain what was going on at the moment and what was going to them after Tiger finished up freeing the rest of the slaves.
At long last, Naruto sensed Tiger moving back towards him, but he was also fighting the marines who had come to get the slaves.
Tiger was moving too slow and Naruto could sense more and more marines coming to join the fight, but he wouldn't move until Tiger threw the kunai he gave him.
Manly pride and all that (Would it be called fishmanly or fishy pride?).
The last slave had been sent to safety and Tiger was still fighting the marines.
"Damn it Tiger! Get your ass over here! I can feel a really strong marine approaching your position!" He roared in Tiger's mind.
"I'm trying dammit! These marines will kill me if I turn and flee right now!" Tiger shouted back.
"Then use the damn kunai you fucktard!
"Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Let me me get it out."
No sooner had Tiger said that, Naruto felt a tug at his mind indicating tiger had thrown the kunai and barely in time too cause the strong marine had arrived.
Naruto disappeared in a flash of golden chakra and landed in the middle of a raging inferno of magma.
He shook himself free of the magma which earned him a surprised gasp from the soldiers around him.
"How did it do that?!" one asked.
"It shook off Vice Admiral Sakazuki's 'Dai Funka' like it was nothing!" another exclaimed.
"What type of monster did that stupid fucking fish summon!?" yelled another.
Naruto could smell the fear coming off of them (the smell of urine came from a few of them) except for one. The powerful one that he had sensed earlier. He turned a crimson eye on the individual noting his solid build, clean-shaven face, his hate filled eyes and his lava covered fist.
The lava man only growled at him and launched another attack. The man jumped straight at him, fist reared back and magma bubbling all over it, "MEIGO!"
His hand began to morph into the head of a hound, magma turning an ominous red, but the technique never touched Naruto because he used a tail to send the lava wielding being flying the second he left the ground. Naruto then used a second tail to smack away the rest of the marines away, sending them flying after their superior. He grabbed Tiger with a third tail and jumped.
They went high above the tallest building of the holy land until they were floating far above the blazing city. There, Naruto took in a deep breath, molding fire chakra within his lungs and breathed out an enormous fireball, sending it crashing into Mariejois.
The entire city was razed to the ground in an instant, flames dancing upon the fallen buildings, burning wood, melting metal and scorching rocks.
When the fire died out and Mariejois was nothing but a giant burn on the ground, the giant fox and its fishman companion had disappeared.
1 Year Later
Naruto and his clones had been hopping all over the world, from Paradise, to the Calm Belt and to the furthest reaches of each Blue. The slaves ranged from beautiful women, the strongest or strangest men, children of all ages (pedophilic bastards those nobles), and exotic animals. His first stop had been Fishman Island where he had released all the fishmen and merfolk. He had stayed on Fishman Island for a bit to enjoy what it had to offer along with fending off many pirates and slavers attempting to make a pretty penny. He had sent out 10 clones to help with sending the slaves, who weren't from the Grand Line, home, while he would focus on getting the rest who lived in Paradise and the Calm Belt home. 6 months had passed by the time he had dropped off the final group of slaves- a trio of girls around 16 years of age.
Seeing so many 15 and 16 year olds made Naruto think of Robin and he wanted desperately to see her, but his seal told him that she was fine. He knew she had seen the news about the attack the day after and would immediately identify him despite the news claiming him as Tiger's summon. Along with the news came a few wanted posters including Tiger's. It showed just his face during the attack surrounded by tongues of flame, under it was a substantial amount of ฿300,000,000, the highest starting bounty for anybody ever. The lies the World Government spread about what happened at Mariejois disgusted him, but at the same time he understood why they did it. He had lived for a very long time and seem generations of past humans do the exact same thing. Cover things up, lie to make them look good and the others bad. He accepted it knowing that's just how humans are.
Finishing his mission of sending the slaves home, he went back to Fishman Island to tell Tiger and to relax a bit (he really enjoyed the Mermaid Cafe. Good food, good drink, and plenty of pretty mermaids to scratch him).
Currently, he was by the Sea Forest laying beside Queen Otohime as she scratched him behind the ears. He had found her sitting here once during one of his trips around the island and they had ended up staying there together. At the moment, the Queen was having a small breather for herself after a long day of royal duties, taking care of her son and other such responsibilities.
"I truly wish that the others would see the truth instead of what they think and the prejudice of others. It pains me to see the rift between humans and fishmen." Otohime said.
Naruto opened an eye, colored a dazzling emerald, "Humans are foolish and selfish beings, thinking that they are right, that they are better, but at the same time the fishmen think the same. Both sides are hypocrites by doing so, but it is within their nature to do such. To accept prejudices that they have lived with all their life, to accept their parent's teachings and act upon them much like how they were taught. But ever so often, people rise and fight against what they believe to be wrong. Some like you try for peace and nonviolent ways to make a change, others like Tiger use physical means to send a message- fight fire with fire. In the end, it is up to individuals like you to start the change, many obstacles will block your path, others will not accept, but when you start to win a few, many will follow. Talking about such things with me won't change things here. Power I have, wisdom even more, but I have long lost my ability to draw others to me much like how you can do now. You are respected for your compassion, intelligence and persistence, use that respect to gain support from the entire island and fulfill your dream. Remember, change begins with one person and it's all up to them to pass it on to the next."
Naruto stood up, tails sweeping around him, knowing that Otohime would take his words to heart. He hoped she succeeded as it was a worthy goal.
He hadn't been to the surface in a couple months, maybe he should visit.
Reviews are welcome. Comment on the flow of the story, elements of the story, grammar, writing, whatever. Compliments are appreciated but critiquing is more appreciated.
Thanks, Z