A girl about ten years old was running from a mob. She had been betrayed by people she thought that she could trust, again. She had only wanted a warm bed to sleep in and a hot meal. Her stomach growled as she ran. She hadn't even gotten to take one bite before she heard them in the kitchen talking about how rich they would be for turning in the 'Demon Child' to the marines. She ran as fast as she could, cutting the corners fast hoping to lose them. She eventually made her way out of the city itself and saw a forest not far. That's when she knew that if she was to stay free, she had to get to that forest…no matter the cost.

"Look, she's running toward the forest!" She heard someone shout from behind her.

"Damn it! If we don't stop her the demon will get her and then we won't get the money." Another shout was heard.

"Demon? What are they talking about? I thought I was the only 'demon' here. Well, whatever it is, I'll be safe there. They don't look like they want to go there anyway." The girl thought as she sped up a little, desperate to get to that forest and stay free.

With one last step, she entered the forest and kept going to make sure they wouldn't follow her. She turned her head to see that they had indeed stopped. She didn't care though as she wanted to put as much distance between them and her so she kept running.

She kept running and running. She didn't know for how long but she knew that it was well after the sun went down so it had to be for several hours. She slowed down to a walk until her legs couldn't hold her anymore as the adrenaline was wearing off and she plopped onto the ground breathing hard. She sat there for several minutes before her breathing slowed so that it was back to normal. She stared up at the stars between the tree foliage. Her vision slowly darkened before she fell into sweet unconsciousness.

A small boy, no older than four or five, was stumbling through the forest looking for his grandpa. They had been separated earlier when the current in the river got too strong and swept him away, as such he was only in his underwear and he was getting cold. He knew their house was around here somewhere, but he was getting tired. He kept walking, looking around him to see if he saw his house, when all of a sudden he tripped over something. He looked back and saw a girl in a torn red dress not much older than him with midnight black hair. She was sleeping in the forest which he thought was strange as he had never seen anyone in these woods other than his grandpa.

He stepped near her and poked her back, then jumped behind a tree and peered around it to see what she did. She just stayed there unmoving. He walked up to her again and poked her back again. She, again, didn't move prompting him to wonder if she was sleeping forever like kipper, his goldfish. He put his ear on her back and to his amazement she was still breathing. He got excited for a moment before his exhaustion took over. He walked around, lifter one of her arms, and snuggled into her.

"Night, wady." He yawned and fell asleep.

Nico Robin woke up the next morning to the sound of birds chirping excitedly. She opened her eyes only to see nothing but yellow. Immediately she jumped up and back, ready to run if she needed. She then got a better look and saw that it was just a child. He had blond hair as bright as the sun with three strange whisker marks on each cheek and was clad only in his underwear. She saw him stir and sit up while rubbing his eye. She thought it was really cute. He yawned and looked around and stopped on her.

"Hey nee-chan. I'm Naruto." He said with a smile.

"Good morning." She said curious as to why he was out here. "So your name means fishcake?"

"Nu-uh, it mean ma-mae-maelsro." He said.

"You mean Maelstrom?"

"Yea, what you said. Why are you out here?"

"…I got lost. Why are you out here? You don't look more than six years old."

"I got pushed away from grandpa by the mean river and I'm this many." He said holding up four fingers.

"Do you know where he is?" She asked as she sat next to him. He quickly climbed into her lap before answering.

"He'll find me. He can turn into a doggie." As if on cue a silver wolf walked into the clearing. "Grandpa!" Naruto shouted and ran to the wolf and hugged it. As he was hugging it, it turned into an old man with short grey hair, a black vest and green pants.

"Hello Naruto, are you all right? You had me worried."

"I'm okay, nee-chan took care of me." He said and pointed to Robin.

"Oh, and what's a pretty girl like you doing all the way out here?" The old man said causing her to blush a little.

"I got lost."

"Well, I guess we should take you back to town so your parents aren't worried."

"I don't have any parents." She said quietly.

"Ne ne, grandpa, can she stay with us? Pleeeeeaaaaaaasssssseee?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm, I don't see why not. My name is Travis. What's yours?"

"Robin."

"Well, Robin, it's getting kinda late in the morning, why don't we go back to our place for some lunch." The old man said with a smile and held his hand out for her. She looked at it for a second before taking it and then walked with them.

"So, Robin, what's your goal in life?" Travis asked.

"I want to read as many books as I can." She said happily.

"But reading is so boooorrrrringg." Naruto whined.

"Then what's your dream?" She asked.

"I want to see the world. I've never left the woods so I want to see it all." He said with so much excitement she thought he would jump out of the old man's arms and start running around.

"That sounds fun." Robin said before she turned to look at all the plants and wildlife. She then remembered what was said last night as she ran from the villagers. "Travis-san, why did the villagers say there's a demon in the forest?"

"Hmmm, I don't…oh wait, yes I remember now. Naruto and I are the demons of the forest." He said with a gentle smile.

"What? But you're so nice."

"Ah, well, you remember how I turned from a wolf to a human?" He asked as a hut became visible and Robin nodded. "That's because I ate an Akuma no Mi; a wolf type. People of this village have never seen people with the powers of an Akuma no Mi and so they deemed me as a demon. To get away from it all I came out here." He said as they entered the hut. As soon as they did Naruto ran to another room, which she assumed to be his, to put on some clothes.

"But what about him? He seems too nice and he's just a kid."

"Yes, well, that's the cruelty of life. His parents were murdered because he had accidently eaten an Akuma no Mi at a fruit stand. He didn't know how to control his powers at the time and killed four people. I don't think he understands what he did; he was two when it happened. His mother made it all the way out here and asked me to take care of him until he could watch out for himself. I must say though, he's quite the energetic bundle of joy."

"I can't believe people could do that."

"Hey, grandpa, is lunch ready yet? I real hungwy." Naruto said as he came out of his room in a white shirt and tan shorts.

"In a minute Naruto." He said as he stirred some stew. Several minutes later the three of them were sitting at the table eating the stew. "So how is it?"

"It' awesome as always grandpa." Naruto said as he started his second bowl.

"It's very delicious Travis-san." Robin said as she ate.

"Well, thank you. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want." Travis said as he got himself more. Naruto then burped and yawned. "Well, Naruto, looks like it's time for your nap."

"But I'm not-yawn- tired grandpa. Do I have to?" He whined.

"Yes you do. You want to be as strong as me don't you?" Naruto nodded his head furiously at this before jumping down from his seat and disappearing into his room shortly followed by Travis. Several minutes later the old man came out, quietly shutting the door.

He then went to the table and began cleaning up.

"You are welcome to stay here as long as you want, Nico Robin." He said.

"That's not my name." She said causing him to look at her.

"Hmm, just because I'm old and live in the forest, doesn't mean I am ignorant of what goes on in the world."

"Are you gonna try to turn me in too?" She said with a fierce gaze.

"Oh, no, you're just a little girl. That would seem too cruel. Plus, Naruto seems to really like you." He said with a smile. "You can stay for as long as you like."

It was at that point that Nico Robin cried, but these weren't tears of sadness or betrayal, but those of happiness.

And that's the way it was for several years. Naruto and Robin would play in the woods with each other and the more docile animals. Naruto slowly learned to get control of his abilities with help from Robin and his grandpa. Robin hadn't been so happy since Ohara was destroyed. After only a year she thought of Naruto as her own little brother and he vice-versa. They grew stronger everyday as they practiced Naruto's powers and Robin read the books Travis would sneak into the village and get for her. She had even taught Naruto how to read and write, to Travis's relief, but she found out pretty quickly that he didn't like it as much as she did.

However, it all came to a crashing halt after four years when Travis died from an illness. Naruto was affected the most as Travis had been the only family he had until he met Robin. She took it hard as well as he was the only person to truly care for her and not the bounty on her head. They spent several days mourning before Robin made the suggestion that they go see the world just like Naruto wanted to. That had certainly perked him up, which caused Robin to smile. So that night they packed their things and headed out.

It was dark out, which for what they were doing was a good thing, as they snuck across the docks of the village. They hid in the shadows of the buildings as they looked for a good ship to hide on. It didn't take long however as they soon climbed aboard a large ship with a dragon head on the front. They ran across the deck to a door and snuck in. They quickly found a place to hide under some blankets near the back.

"We did it Robin-nee, we're getting outta here." Naruto whispered.

"Yea, we will. Now it's time to go to sleep." She said as she let him cuddle up to her and fell asleep. "Good night, Naruto." She said with a small smile.

The next morning the brother and sister pair were rudely awakened when the blankets were torn from them.

"What the?" A voice said as he dropped the blankets he had grabbed. "What are kids doing on the ship? Captain, we have a problem!" He shouted.

"What are you gonna do to us?" Robin asked as Naruto was too scared to talk.

"Just a second, the Captain will decide." He said. Robin took this chance to study him better. He had black curly hair with a red bandana tied around his forehead, a black shirt and grey pants as well as two guns, one on each hip. A second later a man walked over to them and scratched his head.

"What is it Yasaap? I was still asleep." He said as he yawned. He had red hair, a straw hat, a white open button down shirt and black pants as well as a sword tied to his waist. He then noticed the two children. "Well, what do we have here? A couple of kids, huh? What would your parents think?" He saw them both shrink away at the question and could only guess that they wither ran away or were orphans. "Alright, well you don't have to answer. Would you like something to eat? We have plenty." He said with a bright smile.

"Food? I'm really hungry. Nee-chan can we please get food...Robin-nee…I have to pee pee." He said as he started squirming around.

"Well, why don't I show you where the bathroom is and Yasaap with show Robin where she can eat then we'll meet up with them in a few minutes. I'm Shanks by the way."

"I'm Naruto."

And with that our brother and sister duo began their new lives out in the world.