This is most likely a short story/one-shot. It was a plot bunny in my head and I couldn't help but develop it more into what should be a short story. I will confirm right now this will have more of a sporadic update than any other of my stories... just like the rest of them at the moment. So... yeah, have fun with this story.
In the Naruto-verse, this kinda takes place Post-4th Great Ninja War. What I mean of kinda is that there is canon alternation in the Naruto timeline for this story to process as I want it to. In the One Piece-verse this takes place during Thriller Bark. As in the beginning of it, not the end or the middle.
I do not own One Piece nor Naruto Shippuden, please support the official releases of these titles.
"You have to run-!"
"I can't if they're-!"
"If you won't do it for me then do it for-"
Pain trembled down his spine, a shiver raking through his skin. Wind was raking at his skin in a fury, trying to push against him. For what reason, he didn't know.
"-finish up here! Leave it to-!"
"I'm not gonna let you-!"
"Come on you usuratonkachi! We have to run or we're going to kill them all!"
Cold. It suddenly attacked his body in rage, cloaking him in its embrace. The feeling was... wet. It was soaking through his skin, better cooling it rather than the wind much earlier. His chest lurched from the sudden slam into whatever was soaking his skin in cold water, forcing a scream to erupt through copper tasting lips. His cerulean colored eyes snapped open, catching sight of something rushing at him and tugging him into an embrace of sorts.
"-if I even throw a fist at them... I'll never forgive myself!"
Air became the number one priority, his chest was burning. He needed air and he needed it now. Fortunately, whatever had him in a hold seemed to agree. In minutes the person holding him dragged him to the surface, and the sunny colored haired man gasped for fresh pure air.
"D-Damn... damn it!" One of the voices he faintly recalled erupted in a fit of sorts. "Those people... all of them! Why are they like that?! All that we did for them... fuck!" A dark color seeped into the water and all the teen saw was crimson red as the person stifled a loud scream as they couldn't keep hold to the surface any longer. Both submerged into the grip of the icy water underneath them and the blonde cried out, losing the fresh air that he had begged for earlier.
The last thing he could faintly recall was the sight of the teen with red and purple eyes before the water cocooned him into darkness.
"...Ah!" Warm liquid spewed form his lips, his throat dry enough to throw him into a coughing fit.
Someone sighed from above him, and the blonde snapped his eyes open to stare down a teen with his left eye colored a thistle purple while his right colored a dark onyx. The teen sighed, grabbing the blonde's hand and pulling him to sit up. A clammy hand ran down his bare back. Wait, bare? "Don't worry about us, usuratonkachi. I think... I think we got away from them. I... I don't think they care about us anymore... Until we recover... I don't think we can fight to return back home or figure out what happened to them because of that god damn tree..."
In the back of his head the blonde could feel a faint bubble of annoyance with something more, diminishing as fast as it appeared. Instead of complaining about it or trying to understand what the other emotion was, all he could muster is a croaky, "That's n-not my n-name."
"I know it isn't."
The blonde quietly took in his surroundings, ignoring the burning sensation in his throat and the thick, stench of copper making his nose wrinkle in distaste. The two were sitting on a semi-large boat. The mast's flag was pained with a skull and cross bones, though the skull had the decoration of black feathers on the top of it. A thin wire hung clothing of black, grey and orange ranging from shirts, pants to even cloaks of red and black. The deck, colored in the star colored night, was mainly a dark shade of brown, little spots on deck colored an actual wooden color. The blonde couldn't help but question if the retched scent was emitting from the different shades of the deck, but decided not to ask about it.
He stared at the other man, faintly recalling their fall into the cold clutches of the sea around them to remember the colors of red and purple in his eyes. Though, he decided to say it was a hallucination of sorts if one of the eyes were colored black of all things. The teen was slightly aged, he couldn't be younger than seventeen by his complexion. As of right now, he was draped in a woolen blanket that covered most of his body by the length. The man's raven hair cascaded just about everywhere due to the dip into the icy sea. "If you do..." He glanced over himself, scowling at being covered by an itchy blanket himself. He tugged it over his upper body, the winds howling and threatening to make him even colder, "...then who am I?"
Silence cloaked the deck for a couple of minutes until quietly, the man uttered, "You... you don't remember?"
His voice was crisp, void of any emotion. It pained the blonde and he mumbled a soft, "No."
"...I see." The raven haired teen uttered, "Then you wouldn't recall who I am either. I am Uchiha Sasuke and you, you are Uzumaki Naruto."
"Hmm..." Naruto hummed. The name, it rang like warning bells in his head. It had to be right, or else why would it even feel that way? "It... it sounds right." He confessed, catching the bright glow in the onyx eye. He decided he wanted to keep that glow in his eye, it made the blonde feel... alive, in a way.
"Good," Sasuke responded, "Then your amnesia shouldn't last long." He placed a hand underneath the chin, the woolen blanket falling to the deck and showing off thick, red marks on the left side of his body where his arm... used to be.
"W-What happened to your arm?!" He shrieked, staring at the mangled mark that should at least hold another arm or a stub at most.
Sasuke's lips curled into a sort of fond smile, "That? It's nothing... just a reminder to protect everything that I hold dearly to me. Do not fear that I may miss it... it can always come back when I call for it."
"Huh-?!"
"I think we may need to call it a night. The moon is in the middle of sky and I prefer to help you regain your memory when its daylight rather than dusk." He added on, obviously ignoring the predicament the blonde was in, "Go through the hatch closest to you and the closest door to the right once you reach the bottom should be a room. I'll keep watch for the night and after breakfast in the morning we'll chat more. Maybe your memory will return to you as you sleep."
His body had thrummed with weariness ever since he had awoken, his eyelids weighing down at every second, "...alright." Naruto conceded, finding himself standing up and heading towards the hatch attached to the below deck. "Good night, Sasuke."
"Good night, Naruto."
"Demon!"
"Monster!"
"Get rid of them before they kill us all!"
What... what is this?
"They've been roaming free for far too long... execute them!"
"Why had the hero given up to-!?"
"Ridiculous I tell you, that damn man is-!"
Why are they saying these things!? Why... I did so much for them!
"Pathetic! He's obviously working with that devil to-!"
"Get rid of them first-!"
"Kill those damn monsters-!"
I'm not a monster...! LEAVE ME ALONE!
KA-BOOM!
His head throbbed as his body flopped to the wooden ground, pain shooting through his body to quickly wake him up. His ears were pounding, his body alert and ready at a moment's notice. "Ugh... what was that?" Naruto murmured, yanking himself to a stand with the help of the small cot he was laying in. The room was basically barren, expect the bed and the nearby dresser. It looked like the room was brand new for nothing was out of place nor were there any articles of clothing that he could say belonged to someone else.
The teen glared at the itchy blanket that still clung to his skin greedily, as if it was leeching off his building warmth. He quickly peeled it off, sighing in relief at the air cooling his too warm body. All he had left on is his black boxers, but he didn't mind much about it. "Ugh... this blanket..."
Soft knocking echoed behind the wooden door for which the blonde answered, "You can enter, 'ttebayo!" He frowned, quickly biting his tongue a bit. What was that all about...?
The door slid open, a... young child of all things walking in with a pile of folded clothing in hand. "Put these on, they finally dried off this morning." Naruto continued to stare, albeit a bit confused until the kid answered, "I'm still Sasuke, just looking... a bit different." The blonde snagged the pile of clothing, studying the grey tank top, black (with red lines) jacket, orange pants, and red cloak with black flames decorating the ends.
"This... this is what I wear, right?" He looked at Sasuke, blinking dumbly at the sight of him dressed in a grey shirt covered in a black cloak, black pants and black sandals (they looked more like boots, but with the toes exposed the blonde had to guess sandals). He also quickly noticed that the Uchiha kept his thistle and onyx eyes but also had another arm as well. After what happened the night before, Naruto decided not to pester about why he suddenly had his left arm back.
Sasuke firmly nodded, "You chose that outfit yourself, much like I chose mine." He paused, staring at the "older" blonde for the moment before adding, "Your sandals should have been in the pile."
Naruto shook his head, unable to help the chuckle that left his lips, "They're there. Don't worry about it." He finished donning his cloak, already finished with his dressing within minutes, "Though... why are you like that?"
"...to make whatever is out there doubt our strength." Sasuke admitted, looking away to the side with red beginning to decorate his cheeks. "I... made a stupid mistake and opened a barrel that was floating around in the sea. The loud sound that you heard was the explosion coming from it, there was a flare inside of it. It went off in the sky, all bright and glowing. Whatever left that out there is going to come here, so I don't want them to think that we're strong. Right now, with your memory gone and my power... inaccessible at the moment... I think fighting isn't going to be good for us."
Naruto jumped, feeling a tiny hand try to clutch at his bigger one. He felt his body churn, twist and turn and he couldn't help the yelp escaping his lips once his view was taken away. His size was around Sasuke's new height, albeit a bit smaller. He stared at his pudgy fingers, scowling at them lightly.
"I'll release the... illusion, when we're out of this mess. But for now, I want you to believe in me, okay?" The child, most likely six years old, muttered, his eyes glistening with something the blonde couldn't identify. "Please."
Naruto released a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Okay."
But it looked as if Sasuke wasn't listening anymore. Instead, he was staring at the nearest wall with his thistle and onyx eyes blown wide. All he uttered was one word before everything exploded in misery and darkness, "Ghost."