The Fire Shadow of the Straw Hat Chapter 1: Luffy has Landed!, a Naruto + One Piece Crossover fanfic

The Fire Shadow of the Straw Hats

A flock of gulls on their daily fishing trip fly over the seas with grace. Gentle blue waves slash under them as they scoured them for any shoals of fish. The head gull in the front of them kept a sharp eye ahead of them when he noticed that the waves just ahead suddenly went still. He looked up to see that clouds had ceased moving without any wind. Thanks to his mother's teachings, he instantly knew what was before them, the border to the Calm Belt.

He gave a cry and flew a harsh 180 to turn away, the flock followed him instantly. They were taught that to enter where the sea and sky stop moving meant instant death for a gull. So not taking any chances the whole flock flew back to where they came, hoping to find a better fishing area.

They flew a distance away when the leader spotted something else ahead of them. It was strange, there were no birds that he know of that flies that fast, even on the Grandline. The strange bird was closing in so fast that the leader gave a loud hurried squawk when he and his fishing group scattered as the fast bird flew through the space they were before with the weirdest birdcall.

"SNORE!"

The flock continued to watch it fly toward the Calm Belt, it must be a fledgling that didn't know any better. They felt pity for it when it reaches the place, but at this point they couldn't really do anything, that's how life it on the Grand Line. The leader gave a call and they continued on their flight never seeing that the 'bird' was still fling into and through the Calm Belt.

The ocean was still, like it always was and the clouds never move from their positions in the still air. There was nothing around for miles, no ship, no bird, and no other living soul. However, just look to the horizon and there a dark mass is visible. By looking closer the mass is actually an island, about the size of a major city, the entirety of the island was covered with a thick immense forest. No leaves moved, everything was silent in the forest, even the great village that hid within it.

The forest seemed to form a natural barrier around the perimeter of the village, keeping the interior safe. While the majority of the buildings were a hodge-podge of homes, apartments, hospitals, and shrines, there were areas of grand mansions and compounds. At the furthest distance toward the end of the village was the main square and a massive building at the base of a great rock face. The building was obviously the main center with its red walls and the large kanji for "fire" on it. The rock mountain behind reached high and wide for all the village to see and overlooking it was the stone faces of leaders that protected the village in the past.

The first five, four strong men and one powerful woman, looked on in their silent sentinel with the looks of authority, power, and compassion. There was one more face of stone that joined them, however—

GROOOOWWWLLL!

The sound came from the top of the third man's head since it had the highest view point.

On its head sat a small figure, upon a closer look the figure is revealed to be an orange-red fox. The fox looked like a normal one, about the size of a large cat, expect it had nine fluffy tails behind it. Bored red eyes looked beyond the great trees to the ocean that surrounded the island, then it gave a great yawn revealing rows of sharp teeth. It looked out again, where long ago more land mass had once been.

"Groooowwwwlll!" went its stomach.

"Sigh, when is she going to come back? I'm hungry."

Sighing again the fox turned from his vigil toward the surrounding forest behind. No bird sang as it walked into the tree line, then it leaped down the vertical cliffside of the mountain. Once it reached the bottom it trotted down a steep slope for a time toward the sudden cut of the forest and sat on the sand of an open beach. He looked out to the still waters and the empty horizon.

"What could be taking so long?"

Then his long red ears twitch.

"Hm? What's that?"

Its ears twitched and moved around the pinpoint the target.

A low whistling, and (was that snoring?) was coming closer. After looking around he looked up over the ocean and his keen eyes saw the source. He saw a black shape increasing in size as it came flying closer with great speed.

"Are those bastards back? They know cannonballs don't affect us. Wait-"

The fox then noticed that the object was coming straight at him.

"Gak!"

With only seconds to spare the fox twirled around for an escape route and ran off just in time to avoid the impact.

"THOMP! … Thud!"

After waiting for the dust and debris to clear the red fox came out from behind a tree and cautiously crept toward the impact zone. Most of the dust was clear save for the center, but it could see that strangely the crater wasn't very deep, more like half a foot deep. What also was strange was the shape of it, which made him tilt his head curiously.

"A paw print?"

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Chapter 1: Luffy has Landed! Meet the Demon of the Hidden Leaves!

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The red fox looked closer at the crater.

"Well, not the most unusual weapon I've ever seen, but it's interesting."

"Ugh…"

The fox brought his head up at the sound, then quickly turned and fled to the tree line. He hid behind a tree then peeked out to witness something strange.

The dust had cleared to reveal a lanky boy of about seventeen or so laying right in the exact center. The boy sat up and looked around in a daze.

"… I'm alive!"

He got up from his spot and started dusted his red shorts, then his light blue vest and tanned bare arms, save for his left arm decoration. Finally he delicately dusted the straw hat hanging behind his head before placing it on his dark haired head.

"And I don't think I'm alive just 'cause I'm made of rubber."

He turns back to the crater.

"What's with this huge bear paw print?"

"If you were to go on a vacation, where would you go?"

Then he stills and his face became stern.

"Oh yeah… I've got to go and find the others. Where am I? Which way's that Sabaody place?!"

He looks around and sees that he was on a long beach.

"Rrrr, which way?! Haaarrrgh!"

He then takes off, with is sandaled feet, along the beach with great speed. Leaving a curious fox, who had come out of his hiding place, behind in the sandy dust.

"… Okay, that was strange… Should I follow him? … Hmm, maybe if I wait awhile and if he stays along the shoreline he might eventually be back here, but that could take a long time."

He thought hard for a while and nearly went to follow when his ears perk up again at a sound behind him. He turns and looks incredulous at the sight of a determined boy running toward him.

"RRRRAAAAGHHH!"

"The hell?! The island perimeter is over 32 Kilometers (20 miles) around, how did he run that far in such a short time?!"

The fox quickly heads back toward his tree as the lanky boy skids to a stop at the crater.

"Aw man! I'm back here already! Where the heck am I!?"

The boy growls again then looks into the forest, he turns and runs in, plowing any tree that gets in his way. He ran up the slope without stopping. His mind focused on finding a way to get back to Sabaody and to find his crew; he gritted his teeth at the memory of their separation.

"Huff! Huff!"

"Right now… We can't beat these guys!"

Zoro! Brook!

"Huff! Huff!"

"Aah! He's coming this way! Help!"

Usopp! Sanji!

He continued running harder up the forested slope, he even kicked a tree out of his way.

"We gotta get out of here!"

"Help… Me…"

Franky! Nami!

"Huff! Huff! Grrr…"

Stop! Stop!

"Luffy…"

Chopper! Robin!

"Huff! Huff! Gaaah!" He tries to close his eyes to stop the stinging sensation of tears forming.

"I COULDN'T SAVE ANY OF THEM!"

SLAM! CRASH!

"Ow!"

Luffy found himself falling from the vertical cliff he ran into, leaving a good body impression in the rock. After a second he sat back up again.

"Huff! Huff! Wait… That didn't hurt!"

He looks at the rock wall before him.

"A dead end? Rats!"

"…We'll never see each other again."

A look of fury crossed Luffy face as he jumped up to stand, then he bit into his right thumb. He blew into his hand until it expanded into a huge fist and threw his arm back.

"GUM-GUM-!"

"…Farewell."

"GIANT PISTOL!"

The giant fist slammed into the rock, hard. After it was brought back out it left an impressive deep hole into the wall, but not all the way through. The giant hand shrunk along with the boy's body. He groaned in exhaustion as he fell back again to the ground and panted hard with his shrunken lungs. His voice squeaked as he panted.

"Ugh… huff, huff, darn, I'm still too weak… huff, huff, I need food… Sanji, food! Oh, wait, he's not here… ugh…"

After a minute and his body reverted back to its true size, he heard the soft sound of something approaching him. Without raising up, he moved his head back to look at the sight of an upside down view of an orange-red, big eared, and those are a lot of tails, fox looking at him. It sat down a few feet from him, looked at the new hole in the cliff then back to him and stared curiously with a tilt of its head.

He stared at it, it stared back.

For a few moments the two silently studied each other.

"GROOOOWWWLLL!"

Luffy's stomach echoed into the air and the fox's ears folded to the back of its head with a sweat-drop. Luffy then smiled a hungry looking grin.

"You look tasty!"

The fox fled.

Luffy jumped up and gave chase.

The boy ran behind the fox as it weaved through the trees, he followed right behind and made a move to grab it. However, the fox jumped up out of reach and made a sharp turn away. Luffy was too late to stop his lunge and face planted into a tree trunk. He recovered quickly and maneuvered at the fox's new direction. They continued weaving, dodging, and running through the forest, Luffy nearly had a grasp of the fox but it kept leaping out of his hands. He growled in frustration.

"Grr! Hey, come back fox-snack!"

"No way!"

Black eyes went wide. "You talk?! That's so awesome, but I'm still hungry! Haa!"

Luffy made another lunge but missed again and slammed into a huge and tall tree. The fox had jumped before that and used the boy's face to spring off from and quickly ran up the trunk with ease. Once he reached a high branch to sit look down he turned his head to smile smugly at the boy's sour face, small paw prints were visible on his face. The fox settled more comfortably on the branch, looking away for a moment.

"Ha! Let's see him get up-"

"Gum-Gum…!"

He was shocked to see a hand appear next to him as it grasped the branch. He looked down with a dropped jaw at the stretched out arm from the boy.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Rocket!"

He flew quickly up as the fox fled into the thick tree canopy, Luffy was right behind him. The leaves shook at the movement of the two, their growls and cries magnified their chase further as some leaves fell.

"Stop fox! I just want a bite!"

"What the hell are you?!"

"I'm a rubber man!"

"I didn't want an answer!"

"Ha! Got'ya! Oof! Rats!"

"Get away from me!"

"But I'm hungry!"

"That's what concerns me!"

"Gum-Gum-!"

"Oh no you don't!"

"Hey! Ow! Oof! No fair!"

"Try to follow me now, rubber brain!"

"… That was lame!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Got ya now! What the-! He turned to smoke! ... There you are! Come back!"

"Leave me alone!"

A change of view at a higher elevation showed the chase moved from one tree to another throughout the forest. It went like this for a couple hours until Luffy lost sight of the fox.

"Aww. Where'd he go?" Luffy looked around then walked back up a side slope toward the top of the mountain. "Hey fox! Where are you?! Hey, can I least know what you taste like?!"

As the straw hat wearing boy left the forest, the red fox watched him through the thick leaves of a tree with an irritated frown.

"… Like hell."

Giggle, giggle.

"So glad you enjoyed my torment," he sneered at the new arrival landed silently beside him on the branch. All his tails twitched irritably. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Getting dinner of course. Who's your new friend?"

"He is not my friend, just some brat with devil fruit powers. He fell from the sky."

"From the sky?"

"That's what I said."

"… Is he with the marines?"

"His behavior for one thing says that he's not, he also isn't wearing a uniform," he looked back to watch the boy call out further up the mountain. "Whatever scent that can indicate more on him is being overwhelmed by mangrove resin, a lot of it. The only place that comes to mind with that much resin is at the Sabaody Archipelago. And he was there very recently."

"That's impossible, that place is over 300 nautical miles from our current position. How did he get from the Grandline to here?"

"Why don't you ask him? It looks like he's heading for the village…" He looked up to his companion. "… Aren't you going to stop him?"

The tall figure's full shape was shadowed in the shade as it watched the boy reach the mountain's top.

"… Let's watch what he does first."

The sky had gone to approaching toward the evening over the solitary island. Once Luffy reached the open clearing at the top of the mountain, he had since given up looking for the fox. Instead he held his growling stomach and swayed in his steps toward the edge, groaning with his tongue hanging low from his mouth.

"Man, I'm so hungry, I could eat a boar."

He walked to the ledge and looked through some strange pointy rock formations and looked down below. His suddenly grinned and laughed loud.

"Yes! A town, I hope they have lots of food!"

With a huge smile he backed up a bit then jumped from the top without any regard of the height.

"YAHOOOO!"

He held his hat down on his head as he fell, then stretching his arms, he grabbed hold of some roof sidings and landed on the ground in the center of the square. He straightened up and smiled wide with his fists spread out in the air.

"And he makes the landing! Hahaha!"

He then looks around the square and cups his mouth with his hands.

"Hey, does anyone know where the nearest restaurant is?!"

He waited but then frowned as no answer came to him. Looking around again he saw that no one was in the square, in fact there wasn't anyone around. The streets leading from the square were empty, the open stores were bare, and there wasn't even food in any of the fruit stalls. It was quiet, no sound could be heard; there wasn't even the sound of a breeze.

"Hello?!"

Still no answer.

"Weird. Maybe it's a holiday and everyone is sleeping in. Hmmm."

Luffy starts to walk around looking for anything that moved, but still nothing. He scratched behind his head as he turned around for anything living. He took in all the details of the buildings and surroundings.

"Wow this place looks really clean."

He then looked up to the rock mountain he jumped from and his jaw dropped.

"WOAH! I didn't even notice those stone faces earlier, they're huge!"

He then tries to imitate each of the stern faces, though his faces looked more comical. When he looked at the last one he stopped and stared for a bit at it. Then he grinned wide and giggled.

"Shishishi! That one's my favorite!"

Turning away he continued his search, but with every passing minute he became more frustrated that he couldn't find anyone, and his stomach was even more irritated. When he came down one street he noticed a single vender's stall that had a familiar product it advertised.

"Ramen!"

He then ran up to the stand and sat on one of the bar stools before the serving bar.

"Hello, I'd like a beef ramen, heavy on the beef, please!"

However, no one came into view and the kitchen was dark; there wasn't even any flame from the stove.

"… Hello? … Jeez, what's with this town, where is everybody?!"

That was when the smell floated to his nose. He gasped, then stretched his head outside and then gave a tremendous inhale to get as much of the scent as his rubbery lungs let him. After exhaling in delight, stars formed in his eyes and drool dropped from his lips.

"MEAT!"

He preceded to follow the scent out of the ramen stand and ran down the streets. So focused on his objective he never noticed the extra two shadows that followed him.

-*-(Luffy eyecatcher) -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Sandaled feet ran down a back street as Luffy continued to follow the smell of meat. Soon the back street ended and he ran along a paved pathway toward a high fence. Drool still dripping from his lips, the rubber boy pinpointed were the scent was strongest, a spot from the other side of the fence.

He jumped and grabbed the top of the fence and looked over the edge. He cried out in excitement and awe. A yard of a grand compound had the perfect setup of a barbecue with trays of grilled shrimp, tenderloin, and cubes of beef were still steaming. There were bowls of cooked vegetables and dressings on an elegant quilt. But what Luffy drooled for the most was the giant slabs of meat cooking over an immense grill. His stomached reminded him of its existence and not waiting any longer he called out to the compound.

"Yum! It smells so good! Hello?! Is that your barbecue, it looks delicious! Can I have some, please?! ... Hello?!"

Yet again, no answer came. However, Luffy heard a squeak of a door opening. Looking toward the sound he saw a fence gate he didn't notice before open… all by itself.

"… Cool! Thank you!"

Luffy ran through the gate and immediately headed for the big pieces of meat. He grabbed one, sat on the large sitting quilt by a warm fire pit, and began chopping with gusto; tearing off chunks, chewing, swallowing, and repeated again.

"Harromp, chomp, gulp! So yummy! Harromp!"

"… He's eating my share."

Luffy's ears perked up at the deep voice.

"With your size, how can you even eat that much?"

He looked around at the dark canopies with full expanded cheeks at the softer voice.

"You know this isn't my real size, kit, and that's still my share. And do you see how he's eating? The way he eats matches that of feeding the entire clan of the Akamichi and the Konoha military. Why did you invite this stranger in on our dinner?"

"He asked to?"

"And now he's eating all our food!"

"… We have plenty."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

Luffy looked up and around then gulped his food down.

"Gulp, hey are you ghosts? … Cause if you are then maybe I shouldn't eat this then. I had to deal with ghosts and zombies recently and let me tell you that wasn't a fun experience at all. So are you ghosts?"

He listened, while subconsciously grabbing another piece of meat from the grill.

At first there was silence, save for what seemed like one of the voices whispered, "Zombies?", until the softer voice answered.

"… No."

Luffy smiled gratefully. "Oh good, then thanks for the meat!" He then went back and started chomping on his second slab of meat.

The forest was still as ever silent as the straw hat boy continued to eat. Then the soft voice chuckled and the deep voice gave a harsh exasperated sigh.

"Haha, well we better go introduce ourselves or else he'll think us as rude hosts."

"Sigh… are you sure he's not a danger?"

"… Yes, I'm sure."

"Fine, then let's go before he eats all the food."

Luffy perked up at the sound of something approaching from the tree line in the great yard and saw a familiar fox walked out. It looked more annoyed at him as it walked close and sat down by the grill in a haughty manner. Luffy smiled big at it then took another bite at his meat.

"Oh hey fox! Nice ta see you again!" he spoke with the food in his mouth. "Gulp! Don't worry I'm not gonna to eat anymore, this meat is more delicious! Chomp!"

The fox's tails twitched and a tick of his eye brow of its irritation was ignored by the boy. It took a breath and closed its eyes to control its temper as it replied dryly.

"Yes, how nice, I appreciate that. But you should know that the meat you are eating is my share."

"Huh?"

Luffy pats his inflated stomach and the grill was bare.

"YOU ATE IT ALL!?" the fox growled and took a stance of fury, despite his small form. "What a rude child! First you nearly flatten me, then you tried to eat me and chased me for several hours, and now just as we invite you here, you go and eat all the food without consideration of others!"

"Uh, sorry?"

Luffy's stomach suddenly shank back to his slender form, much to the fox's shock and all the tails were curling even tighter, its orange-red hackles rose higher. Luffy just scratched behind his head and smiled.

"That was good, do you have anymore?"

"WHY YOU LITTLE-!" The fox looked ready to pounce.

"Kurama, calm down. We have plenty of food left."

Luffy looked up and the other voice and saw a figure coming from behind the compound with a large plate of newly cut slabs of meat. As the figure came into the light of the fire of the grill the boy witnessed a woman, she looked maybe a little younger than Robin but she was just as tall, speaking calmly to the furious fox.

"That's not the principle of the situation, kit!"

"Forgive my furry friend," she grinned slightly at her 'friend's' snarl. "He can be pretty possessive of his food."

"I am not possessive! He is a stranger who just appeared out of nowhere!"

"Which I'm sure he'll tell us why over a nice hot meal."

The woman plated the plate down then proceeded to skewer the meat slabs on long iron poles. She was really strong, those poles looked heavy. Then she cleaned her hands in a washing basin and went to one side of the quilt to grab a platter of grilled shrimp and vegetables. As she walked forward, Luffy got a better look at her.

As he thought she was as tall as Robin, but she didn't have the raven colored hair as the archeologist. Her hair was as if the sun had colored it itself, tied as a large low ponytail, and it ran down her back and stopped at her waist. The crown of the hair looked like short spikes which he found interesting, with a long single curl going up from her forehead, and long bangs framing the sides of her face. Tied across her forehead was a headband with a steel plate in the center with an etching of what looked like some swirly leaf, maybe. She wore long black pants, a dark orange long sleeved shirt with a dark green combat vest, and open toed covered black sandals on her feet. Blue eyes looked back at him with a soft smile, somehow she looked familiar, but that was not what Luffy blinked at.

"Are those scars on your face? They look weird."

The blond woman just smiled.

"No they're not scars, I've had them since I was a baby."

"There you go being rude again, you rubber twit!" called out the fox from his spot on the quilt, with a small bowl of shrimp the woman gave him.

"Easy Kurama, anyway," She looked at Luffy and motioned her free hand at herself then to the fox. "Hello there, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and this is my friend, Kurama."

"Ahem!"

She mock-gasped and bowed with flourish, while balancing the platter. "Oh, forgive me, I mean the great and mighty Kurama, the nine tailed demon!"

"You forgot 'all powerful'."

Naruto just rolled her eyes and sigh in exasperation. "Sigh, ego much," she stage whispered to Luffy, who laughed, while the fox just harrumphed with his nose high.

"And who might you be?"

Luffy blinked, then grinned wide and pointed at himself with his thumb.

"Oh! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be king of the pirates!"

"…"

He just continued the smile, not caring for the sudden silence, he was used to it. But when he opened his eyes he looked at them curiously.

While the fox looked wide-eyed, but Naruto's face was blank. She just stared at his smiling face and looked to be thinking of something else.

After a couple moments, she blinked, the look gone, and raised a blonde eyebrow at him.

"… You're a pirate?"

"Yup!"

"You don't look much like one," Kurama said skeptically, also losing his look.

Luffy puffed his cheeks indignantly. "But I am! And you don't look like much of a demon!"

"What was that?!"

"Boys…" Her tone reminded him of Makino.

Luffy calmed down and stuck his tongue out at the fox, who snarled back. He then looked at Naruto. "Is that a problem that I'm a pirate?"

"I've come across a few but they were never a problem for us," Naruto responded with a smirk. "But you want to be the pirate king?"

"Yup!"

"That's a lofty goal for someone your age and all by yourself."

"I'm not by-!"

Suddenly Luffy's face goes blank, making Naruto and Kurama look on in surprise as he looked to the ground with a stern frown.

"I wasn't alone, I had a crew, nakama, but then we got separated." He slammed a fist into the palm of his other hand in anger. "Damn that Bear-guy, Kuma! I've got to go find them!"

Naruto blinked at the name. "Bartholomew Kuma?"

The boy looked sharply at her. "You know him?!"

"I only know of him, I believe it was at the time when he joined the seven warlords of the sea when I've heard of him. That was some time ago. He's the reason you're here?"

"Yeah, he had some weird paw-paw devil fruit power that got me and my friends separated!"

"I see," Naruto had a thoughtful look as she placed the bowl down in front of him. Then she went to take the grilled meat off the grill and put them on the large plate in front of Kurama.

"I couldn't stop him."

She looked back at him, shocked, at his dejected voice. His shoulders sagged and his straw hat blocked his eyes, but she knew he was trying to hide his emotions.

"We just made it to the halfway point of our voyage at Sabaody, we we're gonna go to Fish-man Island next. Then Kuma, some stupid admiral, and some sumo-guy with an axe came. But they were too strong for us. I couldn't stop them… I was too weak."

Naruto just looked on in silence.

That explains the resin scent, but facing an Admiral? Kurama blinked in surprise as he ripped off a piece of his meat and chewed. He then noticed a winding stretched out arm and the wriggling hand heading straight for one piece of meat.

SLAP!

"OW!"

A quick tail whip from one of his tails was enough for the hand to retract and be held by the would-be meat thief.

"Ow! How did that hurt?!"

"Wait for your own meat, glutton. This is mine."

"But I'm hungry, that was the reason how those guys beat me!"

Naruto was trying her best not to snort loud, which she failed, as she got more meat over the grill. "The next round is all yours, Luffy. In the meantime, why don't you have some of that for now."

Still rubbing his hand, Luffy looked at the bowl of grilled vegetables she pointed at. His mouth grimaced, then he looks at the fox.

"He's not eating any," he whined.

"I'm a predator, twit, I don't need it."

"I thought foxes were omnivores."

Kurama just looked sourly at the 'innocent' grin Naruto gave him. He just moved to where his back and twitching tails faced the two humans.

Naruto chuckled as she added sauce to the cooked slabs, before looking back at Luffy. "I hated vegetables too when I was younger. But my sensei always said that every growing body has to have all the nutrients it needs to get stronger."

Luffy starts to chew on a cob of corn. "… Sanji says that too. He's our master chef! I mean your cooking is delicious, but Sanji's is way better."

"At least he's honest," Kurama dryly mumbled, before tearing off a big chunk of meat. "Never heard of a pirate like that."

"Hmm, so Luffy, you said you fought against an admiral?" Naruto asked as she sat on the quilt and took a tray of grilled shrimp and a pair of chopsticks. "How'd that happen?"

Luffy growled as his chomped on some tomato slices.

"Grr! Chomp! It was all because I punched that stupid Celestial Dragon wimp!"

"WHALCK!?"

He looked sharply at the sound and found that Kurama looked to be chocking with a large lump in his throat. His paws pounded on his chest and messaged his throat to get the meat lump down.

Naruto had wide eyes, and she lost her grip on her chopsticks.

Finally, Kurama was able to swallow the meat and took deep breaths before looking incredulously at the confused boy.

"Gulp! Gasp! Gasp… You… punched… a Celestial Dragon?!"

Luffy just frowned, puffed his cheeks, and crossed his arms with his nose raised. "So what?! That guy deserved it! Him and that stupid family of his!"

"Fami…? Okay! That it!" Luffy suddenly found himself with a fox on his chest, a claw pressing onto his nose. "You are going to explain everything, now! Starting from just before your crew landed on Sabaody!"

A ship sailed across the open waters of the Grandline under the last colors of the sunset. It was a grand galleon of maroon and white, the prow showed a figurehead of a brown bird with a long upturned beak, and high sails with the mark of a large black cross with filled in circles on each end.

The mark of the World Government.

One uniform sailor marched down a hallway toward an elegant door, he stopped presently and knocked.

"Enter."

He opened the door, trying to hide his grimace of the strong perfume scent, and saluted smartly.

"Sir!"

"Well, any news?"

"Sir, our scouts retrieved one of your spies and reports that the target has been sighted and its location was last recorded in the Calm Belt, sir!"

"Well then, don't stand there, you worm! Sail for the belt at once!"

"Sir!" The marine promptly saluted again and left, closing the door.

The occupant of the room moved to the large windows, looking out to the sea.

"Gehehehehe! You won't escape me this time. Soon, not only will I have the all the last treasures of that wretched race, but I'll finally have the greatest prize of all…"

It slapped a thick curled whip lightly on its hand, greedy eyes looked out with glee.

"My very own pet demon! Gehehehehe!"

Luffy chomped and chewed his meat and drank cups of water as the evening got darker.

Naruto had piled the finished plates to the side, marveling at the growing belly of the boy, while trying to contemplate his story.

"So after Kuma sent you off with his ability, you traveled in the air before ending up here?"

"Gulp, yup! Harromp!"

"That's quite a story, Luffy. I'm amazed you survived that. And if Kuma had sent you randomly here without major injury, I'm sure your friends are just as well."

"I'm still trying to get over that there's a 'living' skeleton on his crew, a cyborg, and he punched a Celestial Dragon before I could!" Kurama grumbled as he curled up on her lap. He noticed her look. "Okay I would have eaten him instead."

"I don't care! The jerk hurt Hachi and said awful stuff about him! I don't regret it!"

"Are you sure?"

Luffy looked at the blonde woman in surprised at the tone of her voice. One of someone who would judge him with experience and wisdom. He looked at her relaxed position on the quilt, her chin resting on her fist, those blue eyes gripped his full attention.

It reminded him of some looks Shanks had made to other people.

"Are you sure you don't regret it, even if it meant that was the reason you lost your friends?"

The boy blankly stared into her eyes with his own, never looking away. Kurama, just laid silently with one eye open at them. (It would have been a funny scene with the boy's inflated belly, if the situation wasn't serious.) In the distance the moon was starting to rise over the solitary mountain.

Naruto just waited.

But Luffy looked straight at her, he never hesitated.

"No, I don't regret it one bit. He hurt a friend of mine and I wanted him to shut up."

Naruto continued to look at him.

"However, as captain, I was supposed to have protected my crew and I failed. I take full responsibility for that. But I know my friends are alright, they're very strong. I believe in them and I know we'll find each other and we'll all head to the New World together! Besides…"

Naruto blinked at Luffy's confident grin.

"If we see those guys again, they'll have nine angry pirates ready to kick their asses!"

For a few moments no one spoke.

"… Pfft!"

Both Luffy and Kurama looked at the blonde in surprise. Her face was red as she strained to keep her mouth closed but…

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Kurama was shocked and avoided getting squashed as she bent over her lap in laughter. Luffy just blinked at her, wondering what was so funny. She had a nice laugh, though.

After a few more loud giggles, Naruto finally slowed her breaths and wiped tears from her eyes with a large grin.

"Well said, Luffy! Well said. If your nakama are just as crazy as you, then I'm sure you'll find them and get back to your voyage."

Luffy grinned back.

"Shishishi! Thanks!"

Kurama looked up.

"And just how are you and your friends going to find each other if you don't even know where you all are?"

"Way to ruin a moment, Rama-chan."

"Do not call me that!"

Luffy however held a look of concentration and crossed his arms over his big belly.

"Hrrmmm! I don't have any id-"

His head snapped up at a realization, then he reached into the inside of his straw hat.

"Wait a minute! We all have these!"

He pulled out a small piece of paper.

The fox stared at it with an annoyed look.

"A piece of paper. And I didn't think he'd get any weirder."

Luffy frown and pointed at the paper.

"You're a weird one and it's not just paper, it's a vivre card!"

Naruto perked up. "I thought those didn't exist beyond the New World."

"We all got one from Rayleigh back at Sabaody after we saved Caime."

"You don't mean 'Silvers Rayleigh' do you?"

Luffy just looked at the blonde.

"Jeez, do you know everyone?"

Naruto looked embarrassed. "Let's just say 'I've traveled a lot'."

The boy just looked at her curiously. "Anyway, Rayleigh gave us each a piece of this card so that we would find him. If I follow mine, and the others do the same, no matter where we're coming from we'll all meet where ever he is!"

He put the piece on his flat palm and all three watched as it started to move to the left of his palm.

"It looks like I need to go that way," Luffy smiled as he pointed at the direction. He suddenly frowned and looked back around their surroundings to Naruto's confusion, until he looked at her.

"By the way, what island is this, are we still on the Grandline?"

"NOW YOU ASK THAT?!" Kurama's tails twitched and his hackles rose again.

He calmed down when he felt a hand smoothing the hackles gently.

Luffy was confused at Naruto's sudden somber mood change.

She just breathed in and the look was gone when she answered him strongly.

"This… place is called Konoha, and I'm afraid we're somewhere in the Calm Belt just outside the Grandline. But if you're determined to go back to Sabaody, I'll move us closer so you could get back."

Luffy's mouth jaw dropped.

"You can move the island?! Really?! Wait, islands don't move… do they?"

"Konoha isn't an island."

"Huh?"

Naruto looked up and around toward the mountain and the lighted, empty village it overlooked.

"This land… is the last part of what was once a great continent. Home to a powerful culture of people, that I too am the last of."

Luffy's eyes went wide as he looked around.

"WHAT?! This was a continent?! It must have been huge! Who lived here before?!"

"… The continent was once known as the Element Nations and we were called… Shinobi."

The moon was now high in the starry sky, there were lights in the buildings that had lit up for no one. The fire pits had faded into embers, plates had been cleaned, and one boy was smiling in his sleep.

"Haahhmmm… so full… yummy… snore!" He scratched his now thin belly as he tried to get comfortable on the quilt.

Naruto smiled as she stood over him and shook her head.

"I imagine the girls of his crew and/or any woman, who have witnessed this part of his ability, were pretty jealous of him."

Kurama used his tails to place his last clean plate on the plate stack. "At least you don't have to worry about getting fat anymore."

She smirked at him, before looking back at the boy. "And it only took me 800 years. I shudder at the thought if he had ever were to meet Chogi."

Kurama just poked the boy's cheek, receiving no reaction except a loud snore. "I shudder at the eating contests if they did."

Naruto chuckled as she moved her arms to gently move under the boy's head and legs.

She lifted up the boy and held him to her as she entered the compound. The boy was mumbling in his sleep, subconsciously holding her vest and pressing his face to it.

"…snore… Sanji… more food… I'm going to… kick… ass… … snore… urrmm! ...look out … Zoro… Nami… Uso… get away… stop… Choppa… where are… you …snore …"

Naruto slid open a door to a room and quietly lifted the covers of the bed. She gently pried his hands off her vest and put the boy on the mattress. She moved to remove the straw hat from him, but he had a tight grip on it, even in his sleep. Yet, she just moved him so the hat hung from his hand as she put his head on the pillow and covered him. After giving his black hair one last comforting pat, she silently walked out the room and closed the sliding door. She ignored the tiny tears from his dreaming eyes.

She walked away from the compound silently until she came to the center of the village's square still lighted by the full moon. Her gaze was firm on the mountain faces that seemed to glow at her in the moonlight, reminding her of an era.

She didn't mind the feeling of her friend climbing up her back and resting over her shoulders.

He too looked at stone faces quietly, waiting for her.

"Did you see his face?"

Kurama glanced at her.

"Did you see the look of someone who knew of what they wanted to be, with no regrets?"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be king of the pirates!"

He still said nothing.

"That smile, that tone of conviction in his voice… I thought I would never see or hear it again."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going be the next Hokage!"

"I did see something that reminded me of a younger you in him," the fox finally replied.

"… a much, much younger me. One I haven't thought about in a very long time. Ha, and it took a rubber boy pirate to remind me."

"I'd never thought I would hear you laugh like that again… Are you really going to get him back to Sabaody?"

"I made a promise. You should know me and my promises."

"What about our… problem?"

"We'll deal with it, Kurama. And we'll hide again into the shadows of the sea."

To Be Continued...

A/N: This crossover is part of a One Piece story spree I'm on, I love the manga and anime. I'm stuck on some of my stories but I've not forgotten them and I'm still writing them. This crossover also features a female Naruto with some maturity, this'll be interesting. Hope you enjoy.

*-The bird figurehead is called a Marbled Godwit, a long beaked shorebird.

A/N (one day later): Sorry to all the readers before this little update of them finding out that Naruto will be a woman in this story. I didn't want to list Naruto as 'Naruko' because the name would be shorted anyway in the story and also I hate that 'Naruko' name. My main reason will come in later chapters.