I forgot to mention this earlier, but I don't own anything to do with Naruto or One Piece

Lower levels of fishman karate are unmeasurably easier to advance when compared to the latter level which is why Naruto and Koala progressed so far so quickly.

In terms of shipwright ability, Naruto only learned theory and has just started on practical stuff which I personally think is fair enough in terms of advancement.

Chapter 3: Betrayals And New Beginnings

Arriving at Foolshout Island, the crew went about their teary farewell of Koala before Tiger took her by the hand and led her back to her village and family.

As he did so, the rest of his crew (including Naruto) hanged about in preparation to disembark on their next journey. While they weren't sure what that journey was yet they were all hoping it would be more exciting than the last one. Naruto was disheartened that his sparring partner and the only other human on the ship was leaving but he had made the decision to repay his captains training and time with his services.

It had been announced to the crew the night before to mixed mash of reactions as many fishmen groaned or even glared at thin air. Some however, such as Jinbe and Kaneshiro had allowed small smiles to cross their faces as it was announced that Naruto would be their new 'cabin boy' from then on.

Still, Naruto was a little unsure if he had made the right choice; after all he was the only human on the crew and definitely knew it due to certain crew 'mates'. He could have just gone with Koala and started an easy life with own kind and it probably would be a happy one to… But then again Naruto didn't believe he was capable of an easy life anymore.

Besides, he already had some ideas for his future and to complete them he would have to be strong which made his choice to stay with the sun pirates all the easier. He had decided to himself that he wanted to go far in this world through his own hard work and determination.

He had decided that he wished to become a symbol…

A symbol of hope.

He had spent a lot of time thinking on what he wished to do in this world, but when it came down to it, his answer was a simple one. He wished to make sure that what he had seen, heard, felt, smelt and even tasted at Mariejois would never happen to someone again as long as he is living and able to stop it.

He had decided that it didn't matter the race, sex, or even past as Naruto was convinced that no one deserved the hell that being a slave was. But he was not yet strong enough to accomplish such a task and would first need to train. Train hard and long enough to be able to best any foe he would ever come across… to be able to best and Admiral.

Back to the ship

As the crew of Sunny pirates went about preparing to set out again they found themselves quickly finished and decided to muck around and generally laze about. That was until roughly 30 minutes after Tiger had left, as a noise that sent a chill down every Sunny pirate's back sounded out. It was a gunshot… and it had come from the direction of the village.

Trepidation ran through the Sunny pirates as they suddenly worried for their captain's life, however they soon had their own issues to deal with as a cannon ball was seen coming towards them. Before anyone had time to get over their shock of being under attack the cannon ball had already smashed a hole through the hull of the ship.

Regretfully the Sunny pirates found themselves having to abandon ship and all jumped into the water. Even Naruto found himself jumping into the water so that he would not be such an easy target. Hiding in the shallows, Naruto witnessed many of his crew mates being shot down in the chaos before Jinbe was able to gain control and organize a more strategized plan of attack.

Using their superior strength and speed in the water, the Sunny pirate's heavy hitters broke the moment of silence that had followed Jinbe taking control as they burst out of the water. Moving quickly, they ran straight for their enemy as they successfully distracted the marines from the fishmen who were tasked with quietly flanking the enemy,

The heavy hitters were able to hold their own as their tougher skin and bodies were able to repel most of the bullets with only heavy bruising forming as a result. Still, even they could not go on forever with hundreds of bullets raining down own them and it was with a sigh of thankfulness that the flankers had finally sprung their trap by closing in on the unsuspecting marines.

Leading the flankers was none other than Arlong who allowed a viscous grin to shoot across his face as he beheaded one of the marines with a saw like sword. The battle was over in a matter of minutes as the number of marines dwindled down from 30 to 0. Quickly taking charge once more, Arlong ordered the Sunny pirates to search the coast line so that they could take the Marines ship.

Meanwhile Jinbe and Naruto found themselves running towards the village and hopefully their still alive captain. It was ten minutes later that the two finally came across a barely standing Tiger who was surrounded by body after body of marines. What amazed the two further was that there was still another 20 or so marines surrounding the captain.

Jinbe instantly recognized the leading officer as Rear Admiral Strawberry who was standing behind his troops as they surrounded Tiger.

Strawberry was a tall, straight shaped person with a long beard. At that moment his eyes were only half open which angered both Jinbe and Naruto greatly. He wore a long bearskin version of the standard marine uniform cap due to his head being abnormally long. Like many high ranking marines, he had a standard marines coat draped over his shoulder like a cape. Under it, and over a shirt left unbuttoned at the neck, he wore a green jacket and matching pants.

Naruto then shouted out to his day old captain, but it proved to be a rookie's mistake as when Tiger turned to see who had called his name he was shot in the back again. Time seemed to instantly slow down for Naruto as he saw his savior fall to the ground. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he instantly blamed himself for Tigers death.

Looking up from the dirt once more, Naruto was surprised to find everything still moving in slow motion. Focusing on what was around him, he noticed Jinbe run towards the marines with a murderous look streaking across his face. Quickly growing embarrassed at his own self-pity session, he stood up once more as time returned to normal pace for the blond.

Noticing that Jinbe seemed to be distracting the marines, Naruto quietly but quickly made his way over to the downed form of Tiger. Sighing in relief that the fishman was still breathing, a renewed hope rushed through his very being. Still, Naruto had a long way to go and Tiger was no lightweight.

It was with an intense struggle that Naruto was able to drag Tiger's upper body onto his back before he began trudging towards the shoreline with Tigers legs dragging behind him. The ten minute sprint from before became a test of Naruto's will power and determination as he trusted the marines to jinbe.

One step after another took Naruto closer and closer to his goal. Ten minutes past but it felt like an hour… an hour of almost no progress as far as Naruto could tell. Still, the man on his back had done so much for him and he was not about to dishonor that.

It was another twenty minute before Naruto came across the remains of battle that he and Jinbe had left behind and he was shocked at the amount of blood that entrenched the sand. His bare feet quickly became bloody as he treaded across the battlefield in an effort to find where his crew had gone. He knew they had won the fight as it was clear as daylight due to the mass of human bodies and lack of fishman bodies that filtered the land where he stood.

Lowering Tiger to the ground in a spot clear of blood, he gulped in massive breaths as he took a moment of rest. Looking across at Tiger, Naruto could see that the man was struggling to stay alive as his breathing was erratic and he was shaking. It was not long before Naruto decided that he had had enough rest and began heaving Tiger back onto his back to travel across the shoreline where he could see the direction his crew mates had gone.

Just before he got Tiger on his back however, he heard the padding of footsteps coming from behind him and so quickly placed the fishman back on the ground once more. Looking over to where the sound had come from, Naruto was a little scared to find three fully grown marines staring down at him.

He may have been training for the last three months, but that was nothing compared to how long the men in front of him had been training for. That coupled with the natural strength difference that came from being fully matured versus a child who hadn't even begun to mature.

Still, he had a captain to keep safe and he would sooner die than dishonor that fact. Setting himself up in a defensive stance that Tiger had taught him, he tried to stay light on his feet but was still a little tired from dragging his captain for so long. This caused the holes in his stance to increase further but his determination and will to win did not falter.

The marines were a little surprised when they noticed that the boy was going defend the dying fishman. The three of them were the only ones to escape Jinbe's wrath before Strawberry could step in to battle and take on the whale shark-man with orders that they retrieve Tiger's body and take it to the ship.

When they had looked over and seen that Tiger's body was no longer were it had been they were shocked. Then seeing the tracks and remembering the boy who had so helpfully distracted their target they couldn't believe what must have happened.

Now standing in front of the boy once more they still couldn't quite believe what they were seeing. A human boy that was prepared to save a fishman at the risk of his own life was a site none of them had or ever thought they were going to see. Then their sight turned to his bare chest and recognized the symbol that made the boy in front of them 'less than human'.

A feeling of guilt and understanding quickly ran over the three marines as they acknowledged the honor that the kid in front of them must possess. Still, they had a job they had to do and as sad as it sounded, they weren't going to hand in their resignations for a random kid.

Naruto felt the hairs raise on the back of his neck as his nervousness skyrocketed out of proportion. He wasn't ready for something like this, facing off against three marines on the first real day as a cabin boy was definitely not in the job description. He may have said that he would sooner die than hand over Tiger but dammit that didn't mean he had a death wish.

Naruto knew that his only hope of victory was if the marines in front of him severely underestimated him. He was down on his luck however as due to the state of their previous brethren lying all around them, they wished to end the fight as quickly as possible and get out of there. He couldn't really blame them as it was exactly what he would be doing in their shoes… but it still pissed him off as his chances of survival (alive with freedom intact) were decreasing by the second.

The middle man, who appeared to be the leader of the three, pulled out his sword while the other two pulled out a flintlock each. No chances were to be taken in this 'battle' if you could even call it that. As they all closed in on the blond, he noticed that his body was twitching unconsciously as he had to mentally tell his body not to lash out just yet.

As far as he was concerned there were two options that had little to no chance of succeeding. One was to lower his own guard in the hopes that they would drop theirs as well before trying a surprise attack, or he could just straight up go for a hay-maker on the first guy and hope to hell the other two somehow shot each other in confusion… in other words, he was screwed.

However, as if god himself was smiling down on the boy he found the answer to his problem in the form of a now decapitated marine… it seemed that Arlong had returned. No sooner had the first fell than the others followed as their bodies fell to the ground as if god were playing human dominoes.

Naruto was no stranger to death, what with being a slave for his whole life and all, but that didn't mean that he enjoyed the sight of three recently decapitated humans. He certainly didn't like the smell either though it was the blood that was flicked onto his chest that freaked him out the most. When he looked up at Arlong however, he realized that his own body looked like a saints… scratch that… a holy… no… noble… you get the point.

He looked very good compared to the monster that stood before him.

Covered from head to toe in the blood of his enemies, Arlong stood straight and proud of what he had done like it was some kind of achievement. Looking down at the frightened boy in front of him Arlong smiled a toothy grin… a very sharp toothy grin which only served to frighten the boy further.

The monster of a fishman moved his vision to the figure lying behind the boy though and he quickly lost that grin. Pushing the boy aside with enough force to send him careening head first in to the sand a few meters away.

"What happened to him?" the sawshark-man yelled in a demanding voice that showed his desperation. Getting up as quickly as possible Naruto was about to respond when he was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"He was shot in the back" explained Jinbe in a clear voice. He stood now behind Naruto and was in a state similar to Arlong in appearance. In fact he might have had a speck more blood on him than Arlong did and if it were in any other circumstance the boy was sure that Arlong would have laughed about finally influencing Jinbe. But now was not the time for jokes.

Arlong quickly took hold of Tiger before he hoisted onto his back as began his sprint across the beach in the direction that Naruto guessed their ride out of here was anchored. Naruto then found himself hoisted up by Jinbe… However, unlike Tiger who was being carried over the shoulder of Arlong, Naruto was being carried bridal style by Jinbe.

Oh the shame.

But Naruto would grit his teeth and endure the torment if it meant that Tiger could be saved. It wasn't long until the group of four had made it to their destination. And what a destination it was.

A marine ship that was easily 2 times as big as the Sunny pirates previous one.

As soon as they arrived they were surrounded by the crew, a crew that was soon disbursed by Aladdin as he quickly took Tiger from Arlong and raced him to the medical bay. The whole crew soon followed but were all forced to stay outside the room so that the crews doctor could work his magic. Jinbe soon ordered some of the lower ranking fishmen to hoist the anchor and set the sails as they did not want to be around if any reinforcements showed up.

It was hours later that the crew were allowed in to the medical bay to see their captain and they were all shocked by what they saw. It looked as if Tiger were on his deathbed as his breath was still erratic and his whole body was still shaking slightly. The only difference from before was that Tiger was now awake.

Gathering round their captain the Sunny pirates all listened in to what he had to say, and to say they were all surprised would be an understatement. It turned out that Tiger really was on his deathbed as he refused to have any blood transfusion where the blood was tainted with humanity's hatred for fishmen.

His whole crew yelled and screamed for him to get the transfusion anyway but their captain was stubborn with his choice and would not budge to even Naruto who was evidence to Humanity's hope. That very thought made Tiger smile as he looked down at the boy who had been in his life for three months now and had yet somehow already found a place in the captain's heart.

Tiger then went on to explain to his crew of his origins and how he had been a slave before forming his crew and the Sunny pirates symbol was created to cover his original mark. He then went on to explain how he could not seem to find a way to forgive humanity as only a few humans seemed to have an element of care to them with Koala and Naruto not being enough.

He told his crew however to believe in Otohime's views and even admitted that he was slightly regretful for making it harder on her by becoming such a renowned pirate and freeing the slaves.

He then told them that none of what he had said was to leave the room and that even the way he died should not be said to anyone else. His crew could not help but cry at the loss of what many of them viewed as a kind of messiah.

Before he passed however, he spoke to Naruto personally as he asked the boy what his dreams were. When Naruto told him that he wished to become a symbol of hope for all slaves and people no matter the race, sex, or past he got a large smile in response. Tiger then told him that if he didn't achieve that goal before he died then he would be dishonoring his name.

This got Naruto's attention as the boy was all about honor to the point where some would call him stupid. After nodding his head in acceptance of this, Tiger smirked before he told the crew that he was just going to rest his eyes. As he closed them for the last time he heard the firm voice of Aladdin telling him how he had truly been a hero that would go down in history.

And with that, Fisher Tiger died with a content smile covering his face.

Chapter End

Alright, hope you enjoyed chapter three of 'Less Than Human'.

In terms of where this story is heading, I am still deciding if Naruto should become a pirate, Revolutionist or something else altogether in order to become a symbol of hope so I was hoping to get some advice from the readers.

Make sure to…

R&R