Disclaimer: (in Yoda costume) Nothing, I own. Ideas the original creators belong.

AN: Here's a small fun idea on a challenge. This is a Naruto/One Piece crossover where Naruto, instead of the standard 'Kyuubi Fruit' or 'whatever-the-heck-Godlike-chakra-fruit-and/or-fighting-style', Naruto will eat the Kamui-Kamui Fruit where it gives him similar powers to Obito minus the Sharingan. This means he will have abilities similar to a Logia, minus the element use and be able to avoid physical damage, as well as teleport and have his own dimension. An idea for an attack is Janemba's (from the DBZ movie) one teleporting attack where Naruto fires physical attacks into a Kamui portal only for them to attack where his opponent is at. He'll join the Straw Hat crew around the same time as Sanji, meeting up with the crew at the Baratie. Also after the time-skip Naruto will learn to unlock Susanoo, but it'll seriously weaken him after a few minutes use (like Chopper's Monster Point) so he won't be overpowered, and he can transport near simultaneously. No planned pairings but please no harems. The rest of the details can be ironed out when it's adopted. Again, sorry for the slow updates and postings, it's just life is being the cruel mistress as always and keeping me on the verge of a mental breakdown, but I should be good when spring and summer hits, cause then I'll have some free time and get back to the things I love! Anyway, the usual drill for the challenge, if you want to adopt it please let me know either by PM or Review and I'll get back to you ASAP, otherwise no more chapters will be done for this story. In the meantime: Read and Review!

The Straw Hat and the Maelstrom

Along the East Blue, called the tamest of the oceans, there sailed a single person dingy with a young man calmly napping as the boat went towards its destination. The boy looked to be between the ages of 16 to 17 with orange tinted goggles pulled down over his eyes. His blond hair spiked in all directions, giving him a wild look that matched the strange whisker-like birthmarks on both his cheeks. He wore an orange shirt that had long baggy sleeves that partially covered his hands and there was a red spiral located on the back of the shirt. His pants were black with an orange stripe down the sides and on his feet he wore dark blue sandals. Around his waist was an orange sash that had the butts of several pistols poking out, along with the handle that belonged to a curved dirk short sword, indicating this teenager was a fighter of multiple weapons.

This man's name is Naruto Uzumaki of Leaf Island, a placed known to hold nearly all species of trees from around the world. It was a quite village that was fairly prosperous for having lumbering contracts with multiple shipping and building industries for their lumbar, including the famous Galley-La Company of Water 7. This, however, was not what Naruto wished for his life. As long as he could remember, Naruto had dreamed of going out to see and having a grand adventure. His mother was a retired pirate named 'Bloody-Habanero' Kushina Uzumaki while his father was a former Marine Lieutenant named 'Yellow Flash' Minato Namikaze, the two of them met when Minato was chasing Kushina's old crew and over time they fell in love with each other. Knowing the World Government wouldn't allow their relationship, the couple faked their deaths, making it look like they'd taken each other out in battle while in actuality they both hid out on a more obscure island which thankfully didn't care about their relationship. The two always told Naruto stories of their time at sea from the four oceans to the one that connected them all, the Grand Line.

Their stories inspired the whiskered child and as of a couple weeks ago, the blond had set out to see the sights his parents talked about for himself. After packing some essentials and saying goodbye to his loved ones, the boy took one of the many ships the island helped build and set out for his own destination. Right now, the blond was looking for a crew to join as he knew that, while he was no slouch with fighting and was decent with navigation, going to the Grand Line by himself was just plane suicide. Plus, he always wanted to meet new people and become part of a crew like his parents. At first Naruto considered joining the Marines but quickly dismissed the idea. Not only was there the fact that if his heritage was discovered, both he and his family would be in serious trouble but also because the Marines themselves were such sticklers for rules and didn't have nearly the same amount of freedom as what he wanted. He could have joined a merchant ship or something, but he'd still be fairly tied down by that so the only option really left for him was the life of a pirate.

While Naruto didn't mind the idea of becoming a pirate, he preferred to join one of the crews that cared only about fun and adventure as opposed to those who were just in it for treasure and killing. He also didn't really want to form his own crew, as the blond figured that it'd be too much of a pain to do so (1). This led him to his current destination: the floating restaurant, the Baratie. He'd heard about how many pirate crews frequented there, but only the toughest of the tough actually stayed lest they be chased away by the fighting cooks of the restaurant. Naruto figured he'd stick around for a couple days (he had some savings so he figured he could stay and grab some ramen while he waited) and if a crew struck his interest he'd offer to join. Failing that, he'd go to another island known for pirate crews like Loguetown.

Back to the blond, the bump of a particularly strong wave woke the dozing teen up. With a yawn, Naruto lifted up his goggles to shown his crystal clear blue eyes that sparkled with life. Looking ahead, Naruto grinned as he spotted what could only be the Baratie floating only a few miles away. "Finally almost there," he chirped happily as he grabbed the oars and helped speed the boat towards the restaurant, getting the feeling that he was getting closer not only to his destination, but towards his future as well. Oh, how right he was…

Baratie

Naruto tied off his dingy to the multiple docking areas surrounding the ship before standing up with a stretch. "Now, to get me some grub and a crew!" he cheered happily as he started walking towards the entrance of the restaurant before he stopped and stared at one of the ships. "…Now that's an awesome ship," Naruto whistled as he stared at it. The ship was a caravel and, while not too big, was very colorful and had what could only be described as a fun aura around it. The figurehead on the bow of the ship was a smiling lamb and the sails had a grinning Jolly Roger with a straw hat on it. Appreciating the ship for a few minutes, the Uzumaki then gave a shrug with a grin as he headed back towards the entrance. With any luck, the crew he'd join would have an awesome ship like that.

Once inside, the blond took an empty seat near the left side of the restaurant while looking over at the atmosphere inside. It was almost like the inside of a regular restaurant, though Naruto did notice there seemed to be a lack of waiters as people in chef uniforms were serving the patrons. Speaking of, most of the people being served looked fairly wealthy, hinting that a majority of the people here were on a vacation or date of sorts. There were a couple people a few tables away from Naruto that caught the blonde's eye though that looked slightly out of place among the other patrons. The first man looked to be a couple years older than Naruto and he had green hair ('Is that natural?' Naruto wondered) and three swords strapped to his waist. The next was a young man who looked around the same age as Naruto with dark curly hair under a beige bandana and brown, but what really stuck out was the long nose that rested on the boy's face ('…I'm not even going to touch that,' Naruto mentally snickered at all the potential joke material). The last was a fairly average looking teenage girl with bright orange hair (which automatically made her alright in his books) and brown eyes. They seemed to be laughing at a boy the same age as Naruto, who had raven black hair, a scar under one eye, and a straw hat placed on his head ('Must belong to that ship outside,' Naruto deduced).

His thoughts were distracted when a chef walked up and asked him for his order. "Hmm…I'll have 10 bowels of miso ramen and twelve bowels of shrimp ramen please," Naruto said after a moment of going over the menu, ignoring the strange looks he got from the chef and some of the nearby patrons who heard the order. While he waited for his food to arrive, Naruto's attention was drawn back to the odd group from before. They were now joined by a man in a suit who was around the same age as the green haired one with long blond hair that covered his one eye while his other eye had a curly eyebrow above it. The new arrival seemed to alternate between chastising the straw hatted kid and attempting to flirt with the orange haired girl. 'Great, another pervert,' Naruto thought with an eye-roll, as he'd dealt with similar behavior from his godfather and adopted uncle. His thoughts were interrupted though, as his orders came.

Some of the patrons openly gapped at the blond as he put away bowel after bowel of ramen. Soon, stacks of empty plates lay in front of the blond as he patted his stomach with a satisfied belch. Little did Naruto realize that he also gained the attention of the group he was eyeing earlier.

"Jeeze, and I thought Luffy had a huge appetite," the green haired man named Roronoa Zoro chuckled amusingly, too used to his captain's pig outs to let this bother him.

"Ugh, I didn't even think it was humanly possible to eat so much in one sitting," the girl named Nami groaned as she looked slightly green after watching the ramen binging blond. The long nosed one named Usopp could only nod his head, too dumbstruck to think of anything to say, lie or otherwise.

The boy with the straw hat, named Monkey D. Luffy just laughed as he said, "I like him. We should have an eat-off sometime!" He was then grabbed by the blond haired chef, named Sanji, before he was then dragged back to the kitchen.

"Back to work, chore boy!" Sanji snarled before he spun around back to the table and tried to woo the lovely Nami.

Naruto witnessed this with a chuckle and he muttered to himself, "Heh, I should keep an eye on that group. They just might be the crew that I'm looking for!"

Time Skip

A couple days had passed and Naruto was able to learn a bit more about the crew that had spiked his interest. He found all their names by listening in on some of their discussions and he discovered that the blond chef Sanji wasn't a member of the crew yet, but the captain, Luffy, was determined to get him to join. Speaking of Luffy, he found out by listening to some of the chefs that apparently the straw hatted boy was involved in an incident that had part of the roof of the Baratie blown off a few days ago, and he was being forced to work as a chore boy for one year in order to pay off his debt. Though, judging by what some of the chef's said, he probably wouldn't be forced to stay that long, as trying to get the boy to work was like trying to herd cats. They'd end up saving money by just letting him go, but the head chef, named Zeff, was planning on keeping him around for as long as possible in the hopes of having at least some of the debt paid off.

Naruto was brought out of his musings when he heard a shout from one of the patrons, "PIRATES!"

With narrowed eyes, Naruto learned that the pirate Don Krieg's ship appeared in the distance. At first, the chefs and the customers were terrified at the idea of getting into a fight with the supposed ruler of the East Blue, Don Krieg. However, what they saw was anything but a dangerous pirate. The enormous ship looked like it had seen one too many storms and it looked ready to sink at any moment. The men on board were barely alive, looking thin and starved… and when Krieg finally appeared, he was too weak to stand on his own feet and had to be assisted by another member of the crew named Gin, who had apparently been to the restaurant early and had been saved from starvation by Sanji.

Krieg was an enormous man with short cut gray hair and long sideburns, with a thick gauze wrapped around his head. The most notable aspect of Krieg's appearance is his golden wootz steel armor that was made up of a chest plate, shoulder guards, and elbow guards, and it all seemed to be fur-lined.

With a great effort, Krieg made it to the deck and began asking for food before he fell to the floor. Gin begged them all to help his Captain, but some members, like Patty, laughed at that. Gin continued to beg, saying that they could pay so they were customers. The rest of the cooks refused, knowing all about Krieg's dirty reputation. Krieg was then bowing his head and begging for food as well and Gin was trying to stop him, tears in his eyes.

Naruto was thinking about saying something, but then Sanji had come in with a large bowl of food and actually kicked another chef named Patty out of his way—who couldn't believe what he was doing. But as Krieg eats, another chef by the name of Carne told Sanji and the rest of them about all the horrible things that Krieg had done over the years. When hearing this, Naruto mentally shakes his head. The Krieg Pirates definitely didn't sound like the type of crew he'd want to join.

Soon it became clear that Krieg lived up to his reputation; for once he had finished eating, he attacked Sanji and even Gin was shocked at what he was doing. Krieg even went as far to injure Gin's shoulder as the rest of the customers went screaming out of the restaurant in panic.

Krieg glanced around at the restaurant and stated that he liked it. He said that the second reason he had come here was so that they could take the restaurant. His old ship would soon sink and he wanted the Baratie as his new vessel. He then demanded that they serve food for the rest of his crew.

Predictably, they all refused and ready to fight. Naruto even subtly reached for one of his pistols while his other hand made a flicking motion and a knife appeared in it, showing the blond had throwing knives hidden in his baggy sleeves (2). Krieg laughed as he yelled at them that he wasn't ordering anything—but that he was giving them all an order. And no one had ever disobeyed him before and lived to tell the tale.

Holding onto his hurt shoulder, Gin apologized to Sanji, saying that he didn't think that Krieg would do this. Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard that, as Krieg seemed like just the kind of person to do that: a man who never got out of the schoolyard bully phase.

Sanji stood up and was actually heading back to the kitchen and the rest of the cooks were horrified and shocked when he said that he was going to start cooking. The cooks, who each had giant knives and forks, were now pointing their weapons at Sanji ready to fight him if he set foot in that kitchen. He then explained as to why he is giving them food, how he was a cook and it was his one job, but was then smashed to the ground by Patty, who then turned a cannon on Krieg and attacked—asking him if he wanted 'dessert'. The man was unhurt though, as his thick armor protected him from the blast.

Krieg complained how awful the dessert was and then pulled out a private arsenal of weapons and began firing on them all as he screamed out why he was the strongest.

But before Krieg could get into another rant, Zeff almost knocked Luffy off the stairs as he had a giant sack with enough food for a hundred people, which shocked the chefs. However, upon hearing Zeff's name, Krieg's jaw fell open in horror and he was gaping at Zeff.

Zeff turn and looked like he wanted to leave the room. The rest of the cooks were all demanding to know what he was thinking for feeding them… about how they'd lose their ship for sure if the pirates got their strength back.

"That would be true," Zeff answered coolly, but not sounding at all worried, "If they still had the will to fight," much to the other chefs' confusion. "Tell me…" Zeff went on as he looked back at Krieg. "Did your will survive defeat?"

The words slowly dawned on them all. That Don Krieg had run away from the Grand Line and now they were all staring up at him… his face replaced with a very ugly look. But he never stopped staring at Zeff as Gin cowered by his side. Naruto, meanwhile, couldn't help but grin. He liked Zeff's attitude, and it looks like he was right in not wanting to join Krieg's crew as one of his personal policies is 'Never give up,' which ran in stark contrast to the enemy pirate captain.

Krieg then told the story about Red Leg Zeff: the once famous pirate who was both chef and captain, and that it was his ability to kick that gave him his name. How he could smash bedrock and even leave footprints on steel… the nickname 'Red Leg' or even just 'Red Foot' came from the blood of his enemies.

Krieg also stated that Zeff was supposed to have died in an accident years ago, but he realized that he had only lost a leg which made him unable to fight anymore and forced him to retire as a chef of a restaurant… how he was now defenseless.

But Zeff didn't show any fear as he continued to look at them with a bored expression.

"I don't need to fight anymore," he said coolly, as he held up his hands, "I'm a cook. As long as I have my two hands I'll be fine. Now enough chit-chat. What do you want from me?"

The restaurant and Zeff's logbook was what the villain wanted. Since Zeff once went in the Grand Line and returned safely, Krieg said that he wanted the journal written at that time. Naturally, Zeff refused. Krieg said that he'll then take it by force. He stated that Zeff's journal will give him the information he lacked when he first tried to enter the Grand Line, eventually making him the King, this leads to Luffy boldly (or foolishly depending on who you asked) stating in front of everyone that he will be the one to be the Pirate King.

The other chefs told him to back off but Luffy wouldn't listen as Krieg snarled. Naruto, meanwhile, couldn't help but smirk. It looks like he found his future captain.

"This isn't a game," Don said to him.

"Yeah, I know," Luffy said confidently, his eyes defiant, "But still… I'm gonna conquer the Grand Line."

His words just seemed to tick Krieg off. "NO YOU WON'T! It's true we didn't have the information we needed but my fleet of five thousand men were wiped out in just seven days you brat! That place is a nightmare!"

Most of the people in the restaurant were stunned to hear that and when Krieg was about to fight, Zoro and Usopp made their presence known. Krieg saw them and mocked Luffy for having a tiny crew.

"Well, that's not all!" Luffy said, holding up two fingers as his eyes went back to normal. "I've got two more!"

"I'm not a part of your crew!" Sanji yelled in the background.

"Actually, you've got three members," Naruto's voice chimed in as he casually walked between the two groups and turned to Luffy with a grin. "That is, if you'll have me?" he asked playfully.

Luffy's eyes gained a similar playful look to the blonde's and he chimed, "Sure! My name's Luffy, welcome to the crew!"

Naruto offered his fist for a fist bump which Luffy returned and said, "Name's Naruto. Thanks for having me, captain."

Meanwhile, Don Krieg grit his teeth as he felt that the group was now ignoring him as he barked out, "HEY! This isn't a game, boy! You better get back before you get hurt. Besides, if you are looking to join a real crew, you should have tried to join mine, not that I'd have a scrawny little weakling like you in!"

Naruto, instead of being insulted or intimidated, merely scoffed and shot out, "Oh please, like I'd want to join the crew of a coward who ran away," ignoring the gasps of everyone except the Straw Hats, Zeff, and Sanji as well as Krieg going red in the face, Naruto continued, "Plus, looking at all your weapons, the size of your ship and crew, I'd have to say you're seriously overcompensating for something."

Most of the people in the restaurant could only gape at the obviously suicidal boy, minus Luffy who just laughed and Zeff who looked like he was fighting back a chuckle. Krieg, meanwhile, was positively livid. His face went from red to purple in his rage as his eyes turned completely white. He roared, "YOU JUST SIGNED YOUR DEATH WARRANT, BRAT!"

With that, Krieg pulled out one of his many pistols at shot the boy straight in the head as some of the people in the restaurant screamed at the murder. However, Naruto just stood there with a wide grin on his face with not even a drop of blood on him. Krieg looked puzzled for a moment before snarling and pulling out another pistol and shot the boy again, this time in the chest. Again, nothing. Giving an angry bellow, Krieg pulled out two pistols and stomped right up to Naruto who just stood there calmly with a smug grin on his face. Shoving the pistols right in front of the boy's eyes, Krieg once again fired but could only stare in shock at what happened. Due to the close proximity, Krieg actually saw the bullets enter through the boy's eyes and out through the back of his head where they impacted against the far wall of the Baratie harmlessly. Naruto, meanwhile, was just as uninjured as before and tilted up his head to look at the gaping larger man. He then asked in an amused tone, "So…you done yet?"

"W-WHAT KIND OF FREAK ARE YOU?!" Krieg shouted out while most of the other people in the room could only look on in awe and shock at what just happened, including some of the Straw Hat crew. The only two who didn't seem as shocked was Zeff and Luffy, the later of whom looked excited.

Naruto grinned and stated, "Well, since you asked so nicely, I ate the Kamui-Kamui Fruit when I was four. It means that physical attacks don't do a thing to me," his grin turned mischievous as he noticed Krieg backing up to where the food sack and he continued, "Oh, and I can also do this!"

With that, a strange ripple in the air seemed to flow from Naruto until it encircled both Don Krieg and the sack. The pirate captain gave a shout as he started to distort, as if his body was being sucked into a whirlpool. This lasted only for a few seconds before the rippling stopped and the area that held the pirate captain was now completely empty. Silence hung in the air for a few minutes as everyone just tried to process what happened.

Finally, Gin said in a shaky, croaking voice, "W-what did you just do?! Where's the captain!?"

Naruto just waved it off and explained, "Ah, I just teleported him and that food back to your ship. He was kinda annoying me anyway, and I figured the old man there," Zeff scowled at the crack at his age, "wanted to get the food to your crew as soon as possible. It's a win-win as far as I can tell."

Suddenly, Luffy appeared before Naruto with stars in his eyes. "THAT WAS SO COOL! Can you do that whirlpool thing again?! Oh, oh! What about that thing where you became all ghosty!? Can you do anything else? Will you join my crew?" he shouted out excitedly.

"He already said he'd join our crew, Luffy!" Zoro called out from across the room, quickly getting over his shock as he learned to expect the unexpected ever since he joined up with Luffy.

"…Oh, right," Luffy muttered while scratching his head, causing the chefs and other patrons to face fault.

Naruto meanwhile, just laughed at his new captain's antics. It looks like he made the right choice for a crew!

1. Please keep in mind that this is a Naruto who was raised in a fairly normal setting, so he wouldn't have the same grand ambitions he did in canon and he'll be more easy-going. Plus, I kinda prefer stories where Naruto joins the Straw Hat Crew as opposed to starting his own. It's easier to write, and more fun to read in some cases.

2. Think Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

3. You might notice some of these scenes are written from my other story, Chimera Luffy. I assure you that it was intentional, as I didn't really feel like writing out the entire Krieg scene again but I still wanted to give enough details for you readers.

AN: Not much else to say here, except that if you want to adopt this please let me know either by PM or Review, as there won't be any more chapters for this story from me. Also, if you know anyone who might be interested in writing this, please point it out to them. Thanks, and I'll post one more challenge fic before going back to my main stories.