Infernal Dragon

by RaisoneDetre

Underneath the thundering storms, surrounded by fierce winds that rarely graced the presence of the holy land one dragon was born. A dragon that will follow his own path while becoming a disgrace to his kind. The Infernal Dragon that strikes fear in the heart of those who cross his path. This is the story of a man who dares to challenge the world, the story of one man named Naruto.

4. The Dragon's Rebirth Part 1

Infernal Dragon

Disclaimer: I own nothing dattebayo!

AN0: Finally I am back! It took me reading Chpater 731 of One Piece to finally get the inspiration I needed to finish up this chapter but before you guys can go ahead and read it here's some answers to some questions that I've gotten for this story.I've got a lot of PMs asking about Naruto getting a devil fruit and to answer those questions yes Naruto will get a devil fruit, which fruit and what type of fruit it is was already planned a long time ago. However do note that Naruto gaining his DF will not happen anytime soon because I consider him getting the fruit as him going over the threshold and reaching power levels of over 9000 and so on. i.e. him getting I really wish his fruit will make him Admiral Level something to avoid since it would make the fights rather boring (some of the opponents I'm building to fight against him are still around his level at this point in time) so for now and majority of the first half of this story it'll be Rokushiki + Haki Naruto.

AN1: People might come to me and say that Naruto might slightly break from the serious and melancholic character that I've portrayed him during the last chapter but I have a reason for that, and it's simply because I want people to remember that Naruto is basically a teenager and this chapter is about him relaxing and mellowing out, plus you know character development. Also the next chapter will come out soon as this was actually just part of it but reached like 30k+ words and it was seriously too long for my tastes so I had to cut it in half and do some minor revisions.

AN2: Naruto's age is fifteen Kushina is fifteen as well.

Pairings: Naruto x ?

Tags: AU (Big Time), Strong Naruto, Smart Naruto, Violence, Gore

Unbeta'd

-Infernal Dragon-

Story Starts

Chapter 3: The Dragon's Rebirth Part 1

On bright and sunny day a defiant battle cry was heard all around Marineford as a certain blue-eyed noble charged against the legendary marine instructor with reckless abandon.

A punch to the face, a kick to the chest, a finger thrust to the forearm, he didn't dare to relent, he just kept attacking furiously. Without a doubt the noble's attacks were strong and would have easily knocked out any other man with their sheer intensity. However not only was he fighting a veteran marine officer with years of experience but his mad assault also lacked the finesse and sharpness that they usually possessed, making his attacks sloppy, extremely predictable, and downright horrible in the eyes of the older Marine.

Zephyr swayed his body from side to side to evade the teen's blows as he tried his best to think of what may have caused his student to act like this. He knew that the kid changed after that whole fiasco with Tiger as the teen started pushing himself harder and harder with each passing training session to get stronger.

Normally he would admire such resolve to get stronger and truth be told he actually did admire the brat for his resolve but the problem was that if the gaki kept going at it in the rate then he was sure that the blond would eventually burn himself out. Well that and the attack on Mariejois occurred more than a year ago meaning the teen have been going all out for each and single one of those days, more than three hundred something days, a really impressive feat but nonetheless it was also insane and reckless.

Taking his time Zephyr used the blond's own assault to his advantage as he carefully evaded all the blows before countering with his own sharp and rock shattering punches, each landing in pinpoint accuracy and damaging the noble's body. Although despite his fierce attacks the gaki whose body has already been pushed to the brink of exhaustion endured them all, he bit back a cry of pain, he held back his brains thoughts of giving up, he said screw it with logic and decided to use his hardheadedness to endure and take all the shots like a man without ever backing down.

The famed Black Arm of the Marine smirked, it was one of the many things he was proud of about the brat, despite being only fifteen the boy had a body and a pain tolerance fitting of that of an experience marine officer. Then again for the last whole year the blond's body has gotten used in getting beaten up by him, Garp, Kakashi, and Kuzan, even one time with Borsalino, he had no doubt that for his age the boy was one of the if not the most durable person in the world. Sadly despite his endurance there was still the underlying problem of the boy's body getting worn out. Truth be told the signs and symptoms were already clearly rearing out their ugly heads. With his eyes Zephyr was able to discern the slight twitching of muscles, the short delays in movement, the sluggishness of every attack, the haggardness of the rising and falling of the teen's chest, and lastly the fluttering of the boy's eyes.

The boy was really pushing himself to the verge of collapsing.

With a Soru (Shave) the blond brat got inside his defenses -more of that he allowed the boy to get within his defense.

"Shingan: Ryuso Rendan (Figner Gun: Dragon Claw Combo)" Naruto's arms and fingers flashed from existence as he began his rapid assault of devastating finger thrusts.

Zephyr frowned as he internally shook his head, this attack lacked the usual sharpness in it making that attack sloppy beyond all doubt. Without even countering the attack the experience marine simply took a deep breath as he reinforced his body with Tekkai (Iron Mass) easily defending himself from all of the teen's jabs before the boy eventually abandoned his attack for the sake of a good old fashion fisticuffs albeit a Haki induced fist fight.

'Yep, he's burning out' thought Zephyr as he blocked a haki infused punch from the teen, barely feeling any strength and impact behind what could have been a destructive blow. "Oi gaki are do you want to take a break?" he asked only to get a point-blank Ryu no Kiba (Dragon Fang) in response before the teen did a quick Soru (Shave) to distance himself. Unfortunately the younger man, he was barely faced by the serrated arc that would have normally bisected a man when shot in full power. "I think you really need one soon." Zephy said, his eyes still focused solely on his disciple.

"No.. I can still go on…" the teen said in between his obviously exhausted pants, unwilling to give up despite his tiredness the teen's legs was still flickering from existence as he fired arcs upon arcs of pressurized wind at that the renowned marine.

The older man frowned as he easily shrugged off all the blows. "You're getting too ahead of your self Gaki. A little rest won't do you so bad."

Naruto panted heavily. "I will… still fight… need to… get… stronger…"

Zephyr shook his head. "And that's' why you need to slow down. Even the strongest of boats, engines, and swords need to be rested, repaired, and cleaned now and then or they will eventually wear themselves down and break."

"I don't need a break, and I will not break." Naruto said defiantly as he adopted a stance still ready for battle, his cerulean blue eyes still shining brightly despite the fatigue that plagued his body.

"Good eyes got a lot of spirit in them, but you still need to rest." The older marine chuckled as he saw his student's unwillingness to back down even from his orders. "I guess we have to do this the hard way." The marine trainer kicked off the ground, vanishing in a burst of speed as he extended his right hand to the side, with one swift motion his fist landed on the blue-eyed noble's stomach, knocking the air out of the boy. Normally it would have ended there but since the brat was being in his opinion an idiot Zephyr decided to add one more blow to the fray. He pulled his left arm back as the palm of his hand grew black signifying the use of Haki. "Goodnight Gaki." The renowned marine said as his left arm blurred from existence.

The blue-eyed noble's tired eyes widened in shock as he lost track of his sensei's palm. "Fu-" Before Naruto could even curse a haki infused palm struck his face knocking him into the realm of unconsciousness.

-Infernal Dragon-

The cold darkness of unconsciousness embraced him while it show cased to him vivid images in the form of dreams.

He dreamed about his battle against Tiger, his battle against the Fishman awakened his drive to get stronger not only for the sake of defending himself against a stronger foe.

He had to get stronger.

He dreamed of a battered child behind a cage who looked at him with lifeless eyes.

He had to get stronger.

He dreamed of another time, a time when he secretly helped several slaves to escape from their captivity only to watch them get shot down and killed by the guards of the holy land.

He had to get stronger and maybe then these dreams will stop haunting him.

However within the depths of his soul he knew, that the dreams will never stop.

With a slight ripple his dreams changed.

He dreamed about a crimson haired girl, the stubborn and hard-headed girl who was slowly catching up to him.

He watched as the images of their daily duels flashed within his mind, each battle being fiercer than the last.

It will only be a short while until she defeated him and earn her own freedom.

That was another reason he wanted to be strong.

Despite wanting her to be free he also wanted himself to be a bit selfish, because he was afraid.

Afraid of losing to her.

Afraid of losing his only friend.

He had to get stronger.

That was why he wanted to be stronger right?

Why was it again?

What was the real reason why he wanted such strength?

Why did he start training in the first place?

-Infernal Dragon-

COLD!

His eyes shot open as the sensation of ice-cold water permeated around his skin, he could feel a shiver running down his spine along with the several of his muscles spasm in pain. Proving that the sudden stimuli was too much the noble let out a painful groan before it turned to pained gasp as he desperately inhaled air while his body rebooted.

"So you're finally up kid. I had to resort in tossing water all over you because it looked like you were having a nightmare." Zephyr said as he held a jug of water in one hand and an empty bucket in the other.

Naruto slowly pushed himself off the ground trying to stand up only to fail as the back of his head met the hard floor of Marineford while he also felt the overwhelming soreness from almost every part of his body causing him to groan out in even more pain. "It's not really important…"

"Are you sure Gaki? Is it one of those dreams that you've had in the past?" The Black Arm asked despite knowing it was a rather sensitive problem for his student who had been plagued with a wide array of traumatic dreams since he was nothing but a small kid. However despite his student's hesitance talking about the subject, it was his job as a sensei to help his student as much as he could. After all sternght didn't just come from muscles, and physical capabilities, strength came from the mind as well.

"No I just had a weird dream about me wearing orange clothing screaming something about being a Hokage what ever that is and then there was this one guy who destroyed the world because he was friend-zoned by his crush who was then killed by her crush who looked so familiar, and lastly there were these two guys in green track suit hugging each other in a sunset background." Naruto quickly lied not even knowing which part of his brain was responsible for those random words the he used to answer Zephyr's question.

The old marine merely raised an eye brow. "Those are some messed up dreams you have there."

Naruto smiled wryly as he endured the pain he felt all over his body. "You have no idea."

"Okay then." Zephyr started as he cut off the conversation before quickly shifting it into one that he felt was necessary for his student to have. "You're weird dreams aside, when was the last time you took a day off?" He asked.

The noble tilted his head to the side, remaining silent for a few seconds as he went over the past year. "Last week?" He said vaguely recalling a time where he was knocked out by Garp for almost a day.

As if reading his mind Zephyr quickly responded. "That one day Garp knocked you out and tossed you over the red line doesn't count. I meant an actual day off with no training, no politics, no stress at all just you resting and relaxing."

Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "Last year?"

"That's more like it." Z nodded as he took in a deep breath readying himself for the possible backlash of his new set of orders for his although he won't admit it, best student. "As your sensei I order you to take a vacation."

The blue-eyed noble blinked while lying on the hard concrete floors of Marineford, his body was bruised, his muscles was sore and throbbing, and frankly he was exhausted to a point that he thought he may have already passed out and was already in a lucid nightmare as he could not believe the orders that came out from his sensei's mouth. "You want me to take a vacation?" He asked not believing what he just heard since as far as he could remember his sensei never gave him breaks or days off. Never.

"Yeah that's what I said…" The former Admiral said as he gulped down the cold contents of his large jug of water. Nothing really beats the feeling of drinking cold and refreshing water after a good workout, not that the brat made him go all out but it was still enough for him to break a sweat.

The noble simply let out a tired sigh in response.

It has been more than a year since he started training himself to death after his defeat in the hand of Fisher Tiger. It all happened in a flash, the days quickly dwindled by the dozens as his days were spent training both his mind and body while also dealing with the world of cut throat politics where he tried to pass of several bills or reforms to free or at least make the slave's lives easier. But alas the views on slaves has not changed over the year. Even the events of what some dub the great fire of Mariejois had little to no effect on how slaves were treated instead the event was greatly exaggerated to the point that it made all the nobles look like innocent victims while the one known as the Adventurer Fisher Tiger was made into a social pariah making him the paragon of pure and unadulterated hate of humans towards fishmen.

It was utter bullshit.

Safe to say Naruto was downright pissed when he learned that a huge bounty was placed on Tiger's head since despite the trying to kill him in a fit of rage part the fishman was a good man. That why he was even more angered when he found out that one of his trainers and acquaintances Kakashi was sent to capture the fishman. So far Fisher and his allies managed to evade Kakashi but Naruto somewhat knew better, he wasn't that close to Kakashi but he knew that the man had an excellent habit of being late at almost every possible situation barring a buster call, meaning before the famous Raiju of the Marine could even get into the scene the Sun Pirates led by Tiger already escaped.

From the rumors he heard around Marineford it was most likely that Vice Admiral Borsalino will be sent to deal with Tiger soon due to Kakashi's obvious incompetence. Heck some even said that the Raiju might even be demoted. However Naruto knew better, to his young yet sharp mind the Marines couldn't afford to risk the possibility of Kakashi wanting to resign when he is demoted since so far only his position was binding the son of the great white fang into service, as the man made it clear during their past conversations that he wanted to quit the marine and travel the world.

As Naruto drifted to his thoughts he was completely unaware that he was actually spacing out unintentionally ignoring a lesson read sermon coming from Zephyr. It took a few minutes for the purple hair marine to realize that his pupil was spacing out, prompting the older man to toss ice-cold water all over the noble.

"AAAHHH COLD! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR SENSEI!?"

"You were spacing out too much." The older man replied, with a small grin marred on his face. He just loved messing with his apprentice from time to time. "Brat I told you in the past that you will follow my orders right?"

"Yeah, you made that very clear even before you started teaching me the Rokushuki and Haki."

"Then I need you to listen to my orders and take a break. Go to another country for a vacation.. why?... since the battle against Tiger I've noticed that you've been pushing yourself too far… so for now I order you to take a month or so of… no training…" At first the noble thought that his sensei was joking but after a moment of tense silence Naruto started to realize that his Zephyr-sensei was not going to take no for an answer.

He had to take a vacation.

Naruto sighed as he began to weigh the pros and cons of taking a vacation.

Pro: It would help him regain strength needed for his training.

Con: It would mean he wasn't allowed to train.

Pro: He can finally sleep for more than six hours a day.

Con: There's a chance that he might get lazy like his old friend.

Pro: No irritating and stressful Jijis for a while.

Con: He'll miss them.

Pro: He didn't have to fight Kushina in duels.

Con: He'll have to deal with her hounding him for a duel.

By that point he was actually already leaning towards the idea of going to a vacation but the last part of his thoughts really bothered him to no end as he was rather adamant about not pissing of Kushina since the red-head had the ability to be really irritating at times."How about the duels with Kushina? Can I still have duels with her?"

Zephyr's brows furrowed before realization dawned upon him. Yes it would be bad to get on the girl's bad side as she had a hobby of pranking people who irritated her and over the past year several younger marine recruits, nobles, and even Naruto had fall victim to her madness. "Ah you can do that…"

"Phew... I'm glad I can since I don't know how Shina will react if I tell her that she can't fight with me." Naruto said in pure relief, honestly the last time she tried to say no to her for several days he ended up having to buy a bunch of new clothes as his old ones were all painted pink. He didn't like pink, reminded him too much of that one noble that he didn't really get along with when he was a kid. Where did that older kid go anyway? What was his name Don something?

The voice of his sensei cut interrupted his thoughts once more. "But don't take those duels too far the last thing I need is infinite energy idiot number one killing tired idiot number two."

"I'm not an idiot! Neither is Kushi... she's just..." The vacationer would-be paused for a moment as he thought of a less offending word to describe his not a friend. "Slow and air-headed from time to time..."

"Bwahahaha Zephyr's right you know." Just by hearing the laugh Naruto already identified who was fast approaching, the tilting of his head towards the source of the noise only confirmed his suspicions. The legendary marine, the vice-admiral Garp still garbed in his white suit was slowly walking towards them while holding what looked like a pack of rice crackers.

Naruto folded his arms across his chest and rolled his eyes. "Hello Jiji Garp, I would say it's nice to see you but since you just agreed with sensei and called me and Kushina idiots I'll just go with what are you doing here?"

"You need to lighten up and relax." bellowed Garp as he sat on the ground beside Zephyr, opening a pack of rice crackers -he offered some to Naruto and Zephyr, who both politely said no- that he started snacking upon.

"I was already told to take a vacation, though I don't know any good places to go to. Do you have any suggestions jiji?"

Zephry scratched the back of his head. "I don't really take that many vacations but some tropical islands along the Grand Line are definitely good spots to take a vacation."

"Well you can try visiting Dawn Island in East Blue where Goa the Kingdom of Gao is located. I was just there a few weeks ago to visit some brats and I could say that the weather there is nice this season." Garp muttered in between his loud chewing of his crackers.

"I've only left Mariejois a few times in the past, actually and most of it were either luxury or business trips with my uncle when he was still alive." Naruto admitted as he slowly stood up, his body was still sore but he could already move properly. "But do I really need one? I swear I can still go a few more days of training."

"Gaki." Garp pointed his thumb right as his chest. "Try firing one of your favorite Rankyaku (Storm Leg) at me."

"Why?"

"You'll see" The ever grinning marine hero said as he patted his broad chest. "Hit me here! Give me your best shot!"

"If you say so." Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment as he concentrated most of his remaining power to the next attack. A flash of blue orbs opening was the only signal to the beginning of his assault. In a flash of movement that would have caught lower class marines and weak pirates off guard the noble vanished in a blur of speed and reappeared only a few inches away from the renowned Marine as he lashed out his black-coated left leg with all his might. "Shinkoryu no Kiba! (Supreme Dragon Fang!)" He exclaimed as he whipped his leg creating a large white serrated arc of both wind and destruction that tore through the small distance in between the blond and Garp.

The marine who went toe to toe with the pirate king didn't bother to dodge as he took the noble's attack head on.

A fierce gale blew over the battlefield forcing Naruto back a few feet away as large amount of dust-covered the immediate area.

The Tenryuubito couldn't help but worry at the site of all the destruction as the blond noble saw the devastating serrated blade of wind crash against the legendary marine's frame. 'Even he couldn't have come out of that unscathed.' Naruto thought only to be quickly disproved when the dust cleared and revealed a slightly dust but relatively uninjured Garp. "Bwahahahahaha do you see it now Gaki?"

Zephyr nodded in accordance to Garp. Though what his friend did was rather reckless he could still see the merit in making his student realize just how weakened he now was."You see Naruto normally your Ryu no Kiba would at least damage Garp's coat but this time you didn't even make a tear on Garp's clothing."

"I see…" Naruto closed his eyes for a moment while he let his body slightly limp as tiredness slowly took over. "I guess, I need a vacation then." He admitted as he let his body slump even further until his own back met the hard floor of the training ground.

"So are you just going to stay there laying on the ground and watching the clouds like Kuzan's cousin?" Zephyr commented as he stared at his student briefly remembering other wayward student who opted on getting shipped out towards the sea in order to skip on more troublesome training. Those were the boy's exact words if he remembered correctly.

Naruto shook his head. "Since you talked a lot about it I'm planning on heading for Goa"

"Bwahahaha sounds fun Gaki, but are you going to bring your girlfriend along?"

Naruto shot out of the ground. "Kushina is not my girlfriend! She's just a friend… well not a friend … maybe to her a rival… blergh… its complicated."

Zephyr tried to shake his head but couldn't help and let out an amused chuckle. "Hehehe kids these days."

The man called Garp the Fist nodded fiercely as he munched on more dry rice crackers. "Yeah it wasn't this complicated when I was younger. You just tell them you like them and they either kiss you or slap you back. Actually it was a bit weird for me since my wive slapped me first before kissing me."

"What ever relationship you two have I say you go after her now before someone else beats you to it." said Zephyr deciding to throw in some well needed words of wisdom towards Naruto who for all intents and purpose was rather slow on the uptake when it came to girls.

"Bwahahaha I agree, can't you see she's starting to fill out nicely?"

Naruto tilted his head to the side in honest confusion. "Fill out? You mean grow? Are you talking about her growing taller? Because Kami help me I know she wouldn't let me hear the end of it if she grows taller than I am."

Zephry sighed in exasperation before looking his student right in the eyes in a serious manner. "He meant her lady assets."

The red couldn't have come so fast in the young noble's face as he finally realized what they were talking about. With a blush still on his face Naruto turned towards the legendary marine officer and punched him in the shoulder, not that Garp would even feel that since Naruto was basically running low on power. "What the hell Garp-ero! Why the hell were you checking out someone way younger than you are? Are you a pedophile? Lolicon?"

Garp's legendary fist bonked Naruto on the head forcing the young noble to stop the insults from flying out of his mouth. "Who the hell are you calling a lolicon!"

Naruto accusingly pointed at gray haired marine vice admiral. "You, you old pervert!"

A small chuckle escaped the purple haired man's lips as he watched the antics of his friend and student. "It's a teacher job to look after their students not only in training but helping them also move towards the path of maturation…" He said while Naruto busily rubbed the large newly formed bump on his head.

"And part of maturation means that you'd have to learn about dealing with your female companions in a whole other level." Garp added his two cents.

"Through the means of perversion?" Asked the noble as he kept rubbing the painful spot on his head. Leave it to Garp to not hold back even with a simple love tap.

The two simultaneously nodded sagely.

Naruto palmed his face. "Perverts… each and every one of my teachers are perverts…" he complained hoping that if he were to have future teachers that they would not be perverted.

Somewhere along the grand line a certain spiky haired white man whose voice weirdly enough was similar to Zephyr sneezed. "Must be some sexy lady talking about my supreme manliness." said the man as he once more attempted to row across the calm belt in order to reach a treasure grove for his fantasies a certain island by the name of Amazon Lily. Why oh why did he have to lose that log pose leading to paradise.

Back in Marineford Naruto couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine as the two older marines continued their teasing which got increasingly descriptive and suggestive. Zephyr when even as far as trying to convince Naruto to read a certain orange book that was always being read by Kakashi.

"Stupid teenage hormones…" he whispered as he desperately tried to hold back a blush.

A glint of mischief shined within Garp's eyes. "I think it's time for the talk..."

"As your teachers it's our duty to do so!" Zephyr quickly added, instantly picking up on Garp's intent of further messing with his student. Normally he wouldn't do this to this student but this was just what the boy needed to loosen up a bit before he went on his vacation.

"No! No! No! I'm not having the talk again! Kakashi and Kuzan already tried before and I'd be damned if I need to hear the mechanics of love-making from the two of you geezers." The noble protested as he inched away from his grinning teachers.

The two older marines just laughed at the still disgruntled blond.

"Speaking of your girlfriend, where is she?" Garp asked as he looked around only now realizing the absence of a certain spitfire.

"With Momonga-sensei." Answered Naruto briefly recalling his not a friend running off upon seeing the Vice-Admiral.

"Did she challenge him again?" Garp asked as he munched on several rice crackers.

"No it's training for today." Naruto responded, his body still aching like hell causing him to let out a pained grunt.

"Bwahahaha still such a feisty girl. I can't help but remember the first time you brought her here."Garp said as he chewed on the rice crackers causing several specks of the staple snack to fly around the air.

Naruto felt the need to palm his face. "Ugghhh don't remind me Jiji"

Zephyr chuckled as he also recalled the day a certain feisty red-haired girl bumped swords with a Vice-Admiral "She challenged Momonga to a duel to the death." The two and even Naruto couldn't help but chuckle upon remembering the feisty red-head boldly challenging a vice-admiral just because the man's sword hit hers.

"I swear that girl is going to be a fine fire cracker one of these days."quipped Garp.

The renowned marine trainer nodded sagely. "I can't help but to agree."

Garp took several crackers and chomped on them. "Gonna be hot too, our Tenryuubito-sama is so lucky to have someone like her at his side."

"Ah what I wouldn't give to be young again."

"Agreed."

The two marine's laughed heartily as they continued to talk about Kushina while also teasing the now irritated Naruto. The noble glared at his senseis hoping that they would one stop talking about his relationship with Kushina. Two that Garp-jiji wouldn't talk while eating his crackers since bits and pieces of it was flying towards his face, and three he'd like to see both of his senseis suddenly get engulfed in fire just to make them stop teasing him, as if Kakashi and Kuzan weren't enough, seriously did they take shifts or something to torment and make fun of his life?

Quickly shaking his head so that his thoughts steered away from an arsonist's mindset, the blue-eyed noble just sighed internally as the two legendary marines decided to bug him about his companionship with the crimsonette.

By the end of the quips, jabs, and innuendos the two were throwing at him the young noble couldn't help but feel that he really did need a vacation.

-Infernal Dragon-

The sky was tinted with orange signalling the inevitable sinking of the sun that came with the normal passing of the day. It was the time of the day where people came back from a hard days work, back into the comfort of their cozy homes where they can relax with their friend and family. Despite being mostly populated by nobles the people of Meriejois also followed this pattern as the streets were relatively empty aside from the a few carriages moving along the roads, marine offices patrolling for the night, and nobles who were heading towards the nearest slave pens or brothels for the sake of a fun night.

Overall, all was peaceful, quiet, and tranquil.

Sadly the ephemeral peace only lasted a few seconds as loud shout that broke several windows, made the peaceful birds fly away, carriages rattled, babies cry, and even several marines and guards to draw their weapons thinking they were being attacked echoed over the entirety of Mariejois.

And the source of the rather loud disruptive sound?

Well it could all be traced back to a certain fiery red head sitting in a carriage, half beaten up from a rough day of training. Normally she would be fine and dandy despite a hard day of being almost cut to pieces by a Vice Admiral but after hearing that she was not allowed to train for a month or so as she had to go with the blonde noble to a vacation made her loose her proverbial shit.

"No training!" Kushina shouted once more comically in horror, her lips quivering madly as tears threatened to spill from the side of her eyes. Obviously such a reaction made the blond noble sitting across her stifle back a laughter as he told her the news of his and by extension her orders from Zephyr.

Naruto slowly nodded as he sat comfortably on the couch of the carriage heading towards his uncle's mansion. "Yeah, no training for a month." He confirmed getting a front row seat at the spectacle of Kushina slowly sniffling at the thought of not training, it didn't really take the blond long to realize that his not a friend was a grade A training junkie.

Hyperactive stamina freak red-head.

The samurai from Wano shot out of her seat and grabbed Naruto by his collar of his shirt, her face mere inches away from his as she pouted, her eyes turning slightly watery "But that's like a month without Ramen!"

Unknown to the crimsonette she was giving the boy a view of her developing cleavage forcing Naruto to turns his head away from the crimson haired beauty who was none the wiser at what was happening. Damn teenage hormones, stupid Garp and Zephy, even stupider Kakashi and Kuzan. Gaaahhhh! Damn them to hell! "Well if you want to train then you could accept Garp-jiji's offer. He told me before I left that he's fine training either of us for a month if we really wanted to kill ourselves."He said still not looking at his not a friend less she spots the blush on his face.

Kushina immediately released her hold of the blond and felt a cold shiver run down her spine at the mention of the older marine's name. "I guess a vacation wouldn't be so bad" She said trying her best not to think of the legendary marine's rather insane training methods, one of which was getting tossed down the red line and being force to climb back up using only one hand. The other being forced to fight a sea king while using a stick. Yep, he was a bastard like that.

Naruto couldn't help but grin as his blush faded away."I thought so, but look at the bright side Zephyr-sensei said that we were allowed to have our daily duels."

"Really! We can still like fight every day dattebane?!" Kushina exclaimed with utmost joy, her eyes were shining brightly as she clung on to the hope that presented itself in the darkness of no training.

"Yep, and think about it when was the last time we." He paused for a second and decide to rephrase his words "No more like I actually had any fun." He continued since to him the crimson haired girl was having fun in her own way twenty-four seven.

Kushina actually paused for a moment, tilting her head to the side while tapping a finger on her chin, the red head found herself in deep thought. "Ummm…When we fought those group of swordsmen that, that one noble hired?"

"No Shina… you enjoyed that fight… I had to deal with the collateral damage…" Naruto quickly replied rather dryly.

"That time when we sliced of that one guy's hand."

"Not, we just you and again I had to pay for the damages for that one."

"Umm how about the time we burned that Shaulia-baka's plushy collection."

"Again not we..." A single eye blond brow rose. "And that was you?"

"No I wasn't. ummm Baka." Kushina replied rather lamely doing a rather poor job at defending her innocence with regards to that case of arson. It wasn't really her fault, Shaulia had it coming since she was such a spoiled bitch. To her perspective at least, just something about that girl that rubbed her off the wrong way.

"I see..." Naruto muttered knowing all too well that there was some form of bad blood between the samurai and his cousin. What it was about he didn't know and quite frankly he'd rather not know.

A light bulb finally appeared a top Kushina's head as she finally recalled a time where she could say that her rival was truly happy."How about that time you skipped training with that guy umm Kuzan's relative what was his name Shukazuki? Shinomaru? Shinobu? Simon? Kamina?"

Naruto just looked at Kushina rather strangely trying his best to figure out where the hell that last name came from at it wasn't even remotely close to that persons' name. "Shina his name was Shikamaru." A small smile made its way to his face as he recalled the rather lazy marine trainee who had a good hobby of watching the clouds in the sky. The guy was really good at predicting the weather cause of that hobby of his. "And yeah he was really fun to hang out with. Really sucks that he opted to get transferred earlier for the sake of not having any more troublesome training."

The descendant of the dragonslaying samurai quickly shook her head in disapproval. "How can any one not like to train?" She asked in an almost philosophical manner. "I mean training is so awesome! The feeling of your body heating up and your muscles becomes sore from all the physical work and then there's the feeling of sweat dripping down your body as you breath rather heavily forcing you abandon your shirt and wipe the sweat of your body. Then there's drinking the cold water after a hard day of training plus the shower that comes afterwards that helps you relax after all of that explosive mind blowing training." She moaned rather sweetly or erotically depending on perspective that is. "It's the best thing ever besides Ramen that is."

Unknown to her was that Naruto wasn't listening anymore or even thinking about his old friend Shikamaru instead his head worked in overdrive imagining the scene which his companion described. Imagining as a bead of sweat dripped down from her forehead trailing down to her neck and eventually down her developing bre... Goddamn hormones! Goddamn perverted male role models! Damn them all to hell!

He blinked as he got an odd feeling of de javu.

He really needed to control his thoughts, less he became a pervert the super or the closet variety which his senseis were. Turning his head towards Kushina who was still heatedly talking about the merits of training while throwing in a quote about the spring time of youth now and then, he couldn't really help but force back a chuckle. Really him being attracted to Kushina? Hahaha what are the chances of that actually happening.

Nope none.

He would later punch himself in the stomach several times when he remembered this particular memory.

It was really as if he was tempting fate, and fate really was a douche toward his entire existence.

The seizing of the sound's of the horse's hooves clashing on the ground signaled Naruto to their arrival to their destination and as if to confirm his thoughts the door's of the carriage slowly opened revealing the familiar figure of one Iruka holdign the door open. "Good afternoon Naruto-sama. Kushina-san" The servant/ guarding greeted.

Naruto bowed his head lightly as a sign of respect to his long time guardian as he got of the carriage. "Good afternoon Iruka."

"Hey Iru-baka!" Kushina waved a hand at the scarred man showing zero signs of respect as usual as she exited the carriage and slowly walked towards Naruto and Iruka who were already heading towards the noble's mansion.

"How was your training today?" Iruka asked Naruto trying his best to ignore the presences of the crimsonette who was the cause of at least half the gray hairs on his head and as well as his stomach ulcers. Yes the fiery brat could be that stressful at times.

"It was-" Naruto opened his mouth ready to reply only to be cut off by his self-proclaimed rival. "He got knocked out bad and was said to take a vacation cause he sucked so bad!" She said suddenly forcing Naruto to shoot a glare right at her. "Shina!"

"Bleh :P" She just shot him a raspberry before she broke of in a run, heading straight towards the mansion, most likely towards the washroom in order to take a bath to freshen herself off. Iruka shook his head ignoring the childish antics of the red-head for now, she'll get her just deserves later on. "Naruto-sama does this mean that you won't be training for a while?"

Naruto turned his face away from the vanishing back of Kushina towards Iruka and nodded. "I'm planning on travelling for a while around a month or two just going elsewhere for a bit of rest and relaxation."

"Then should I get the royal galleon ready then?"

"There's no need for that Iruka since I'm planning on travelling incognito. Don't really want to go waving around the huge ass flag to the world telling them that I'm a Tenryuubito. Yeah I'd have none of that."

"Then..."

Knowing how the older man thought about his safety the blond quickly cut Iruka off. "No Iruka-san you're not coming since it wouldn't be much of an incognito vacation if you're following me around. Two it's supposed to be a vacation and vacations mean that I'm allowed to relax at my leisure and I really don't think I can relax if you and Kushina-chan are arguing."

"But-" Iruka tried to reply only to be quickly cut off once more by the blond noble.

"Don't worry about my protection I have Kushi-chan with me. The two of us are strong enough to kick some serious ass if needed."

The older butler sighed. "That actually worries me even further."

Naruto snickered as he scratched the back of his head. His butler did have a point in that one since the girl had a unique ability of attracting so much trouble. Seriously there was one time when Iruka just asked her to buy some sugar from a nearby store, then she comes back a day later covered in wounds as she spouted out some story about her getting into a death match with an insane looking cat belonging to some fat noble. "Ah… well I'll try to keep her inline."

"Please do so.. and if it's possible."

Naruto shook his head, as he crossed his arms on his chest. "Before you even ask I wouldn't bring a vice-admiral with me for a vacation even if they begged. I mean this is my vacation and I'd rather not have Kuzan or Kakashi come along as they would in no doubt just leech Beli of me while they go into one of their rather perverted escapades."

Elsewhere in another part of this sea filled world both Kuzan and Kakashi sneezed from their locations, and because they sneezed their respective opponents got away, easily escaping the distracted Vice-Admirals, one turning into a swirl of sand, the other jumping into the ocean. Obviously both Kuzan and Kakashi cursed that sneeze before they eventually calmed themselves down and went on with their lives, one reading porn the other lazing around. Unknown to both Kuzan and Kakashi because of that sneeze those two pirates who fled would make their names known throughout the world and one day both individuals would become members of the notorious Shichibukai. They would later curse who ever it was the made them sneeze. Yes the man known as Crocodile and Jimbei avoided capture or even worse death just because of a sneeze caused by a certain blond-haired noble.

For want a sneeze.

"Then how about..."

"Nope.. if it has anything to do with compromising my position travelling as civilian then no."

The scarred butler let out a defeated sigh. "If that is your wish young master."

"Thank you Iruka." Naruto beamed happily before leaving his butler behind for the sake of going back to his room so that he could either catch on some readings or sleep.

The older man only shook his head in disapproval as he walked away from his liege while making a complete mental list of what items were needed to be packed, along with how much Beli would be needed for the trip, there was also the accommodations for where his master will be staying along with the means of transportation for getting into Goa. "The thing's I do for my young master."

-Infernal Dragon-

Two days passed and the preparations were made for the up and coming vacation of one Saint Naruto and his travelling companion the samurai from wano Kushina. Truth be told his up and coming departure was kept under wraps as only a handful of people knew that the young world noble was leaving the land of Mariejois to journey to god knows where.

The early morning sun was shining rather brightly as Naruto walked down the rather empty streets of the holy land carrying a small bay pack containing clothes, money, food, and so on courtesy of Iruka.

Naruto was still wearing his training clothes consisting of a white track suit which remained open showing the mesh shirt he wore underneath that showed off his well-built body which was matched with a pair of black pants and brown boots while his travelling companion who was only a few steps behind him carrying a ridiculously large bag -which was most likely filled with a large stock pile of instant ramen- wore her tan kimono like blouse which now looked a bit tighter on her showing off more of her developing curves. Oh and her sheathed katana was strapped to her side. Truly Naruto had to wonder why she kept the her sword strapped there where it had a high chance of hitting another persons' sword thus increasing the probably of her challenging someone to a battle to the death. Was it actually on purpose for the sake of getting into fights or was his companion truly that air headed that she hasn't noticed such a simple fact.

"Neh neh Naruto..."

Speak of the devil. "What is it Shina?"

"Do you think I packed enough Ramen for the trip?"

"What do you think?" He asked back rather dryly.

Her head tilted rather cutely to the side as she puffed out her cheeks. "That I still need another bag."

"Another bag of the miserable filth that you call food?" A snobbish and rather prideful feminine voice cut in between their conversation just as the two of them approached the docks of Mariejois.

Standing near the Marine Vessel that Iruka managed to convince to bring Naruto and Kushina to Goa accompanied by several men in black suits and slaves was none other than one brown-haired Saint Shalulia. Like most of the other Tenryuubito, Shalulia was garbed in her large white suit and large bubble over her head.

The reaction was instantaneous, the fiery red-head glared at the world noble rather heatedly as she pointed an accusing finger at her rival's cousin."You dare slander Ramen! You bubble headed air headed bitch!" The red head shouted much to the shock of the slaves and the guards in black suits that accompanied the world noble.

"Hn." The saint snorted, opting to ignore the raging Kushina as she turned towards her fellow noble. "Hello cousin." She greeted rather politely.

"Hello Cousin Shalulia." Naruto greeted cordially.

"It's good to see you cousin." She replied politely as her kind eyes shifted to hateful ones as it back towards the red-head. "I see you still have such an unsightly company with you."

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you bubble brain." Shina quickly exclaimed much to the further shock of the guards and slaves surrounding Shalulia. "Did I tell you can speak to me slave?"

Kushina grinned confidently. "You know this slave can kick your ass easily weakling."

"What did you call me?" Shalulia's glare intensified as she bore a hole at Kushina.

"W-e-a-k-l-i-ng" The crimsonette said in a rather sing-song manner.

Shaulia's right hand made its way to the pockets of her suit, quickly pulling out a flint-lock pistol that she then pointed at the slave. "Would you like to take that statement back?" She asked cocking the hammer of the pistol back as she continued glaring rather hatefully at the slave.

A glint of silver was the only signal that the crimsonette moved and drew her blade. "Bring it bitch!" She exclaimed holding her blade with both hands, ready to slice through noble bitches in a moment's notice.

Despite his brain telling him not to get involve the blond noble quickly found himself in between Kushina and Shalulia, the guards in black suit along with the slaves were all shooting him pitying gazes as they knew he just got himself in what would be ground zero. "Okay Shina, Lia, both of you calm down we don't want another incident in our hands and quite frankly I don't want to start my vacation off seeing either of you get hurt."

Predictably he was ignored by the two ladies.

Naruto sighed as he quickly used Soru (Shave) to disarm both of the girls who were too distracted staring off at one another to notice his sudden intrusion. After disarming both of the girls he was also quick to give both a bonk to the head, which was actually a nifty show of skill in Naruto's part as he didn't pop Shalulia's bubble while doing so.

"No fighting we haven't even started our vacation yet and your already planning on killing someone…" He repeated, this time sure that it reached the ears of both the girls who were busily rubbing their heads. "Now why are you here cousin?"

The female world noble sent the red head one last glare before turning her attention to Naruto. "I have come here since I heard you were leaving, I just wanted to inform you that our cousin Jalamak is also visiting Goa in next month or so."

"I see thank you for the news Shalulia. Is that all?" The blond noble asked as his rival already recovered from the blow to her head and was already sheathing her katana while sending a glare right at him. A glare that for all intents and purposes Naruto ignored.

"And.. umm… I was wondering if umm…" The world noble's face started blushing as she started getting a bit fidgety. This was it, the opportunity that she was waiting for. Despite the majority's view on Naruto which was rather negative she couldn't help but feel attracted to her cousin. She didn't mind all the bad things she heard about him because to her he was the epitome of power. He was smart, he was kind, he was strong, he was powerful, he was all that she wanted in a man.

"Hmm what is it?" Naruto asked completely unaware of the thought running through his cousin's head.

"Umm… would you like too…" Before she could even finish her sentence she felt her cousin's hand tapping her on the shoulder. "Ah.. sorry Shalulia… were a bit late… I'll listen to you next time okay?" He said as he quickly ran towards the ship after realizing that he and Kushina were already running late.

"Yeah hope to see you never bubble-head bitch!" Kushina was soon to the blond's footsteps not before turning her head back to the world noble and sending a raspberry at her.

The world noble glared at the crimson haired slave quite tempted to flip the girl the birdie but alas she was a noble of fine pedigree and doing so was was beneath her. Shalulia turned towards the men in black suits and her slaves. "Flip her off." It wasn't a request.

In the next second the group of five men in black suits and ten slaves were all shooting Kushina the middle finger prompting the samurai of wano to shake her fist rather heatedly back at them.

Naruto only shook his head at their antics.

-Infernal Dragon-

When the two were boarded their ship -a vessel smaller than the galeons which travelled in between Marineford and Mariejois- the two were greeted by the captain of the ship a brown-nosing commodore. The man told them that the marine vessel was heading for an Island nearby Gao where they'll eventually get off a ship and transfer to another that will eventually land near Foosha Village as per request of Naruto under the recommendation of Garp.

Naruto was quick to ignore the man after his short briefing as he didn't want to deal with a brown-noser who he knew was just acting kindly for some ulterior motive. Heck he didn't even needed his Haki to see through that one, it was just that visible from the greedy looking man.

"Where's our room?" Naruto asked briefly noting that only Kushina's bag was left to his side as his companion was already in the midst of arguing with a marine officer whose sword hit hers. For now he decided to leave his not a friend alone since he knew she was a bit heated up because of her argument with Shalulia.

Seriously he had no idea what was going between the two and he'd actually prefer if it were to stop but realistically he knew that their arguments would only stop if one of the two were to roll over and die.

He didn't really want that to happen.

"Ah one of my officers will show you to your room Tenryuubito-sama." The commodore turned towards the line off marines which were all standing still and saluting the world noble. "You! Carry Tenryuubito-sama's luggage and show them to their room." The commodore pointed to a rather wimpy looking marine officer with reddish-brown hair.

"Yes sir!" The marine quickly responded as he made his way towards Naruto and immediately took not only his luggage but also Kushina's insanely large back pack before leading him towards the another part of the ship most likely towards their accommodations.

Naruto actually had to feel a bit sorry for the wimpy marine as he saw the marine having a rather hard time in carrying the rather large back pack.

"Hey, are you okay?" Naruto asked, sending the young officer with a look of worry.

"Don't worry about me Tenryuubito-sama! It is an honour to carry you and your companion's luggage." The man replied happily but Naruto could hear the strain in the man's voice.

"You know if you want to you could put my luggage down and rest for a bit. I really wouldn't mind it."

The marine officer laughed rather sheepishly "Ah, I am not worthy for your kindness Tenryuubito-sama. Don't worry about me I can handle it since I see this as part of my training."

"Training huh?" Naruto echoed the man's words as his mind began to spin. It would take several days for the ship to reach their destination since he was not allowed to train then he was basically stuck to duelling Kushina on a daily basis and reading a few of the books that he brought with him for entertainment.

"Yes, I train everyday in hopes to become a great marine officer."

"And why would you want that?" Naruto asked while subtly using his Haki to hear the voice within the marine officer.

"Because one day I want to bring strong enough to protect people I care about from the pirate and criminals who constantly brings chaos to this world."

"Hmm... that's a rather good dream. I see that you're the type who wants to become strong for a good cause." Naruto nodded his head rather happily since it wasn't often that he met someone who wished to be strong for the sake of protecting the weak masses.

"Hey what's your name?" Naruto asked as he looked at the reddish-brown haired petty officer.

"It's Drake, Tenryuubito-sama" The chief petty officer quickly replied making sure to keep his head low so not to show disrespect towards a world noble knowing full well that it could mean his death if he were to be viewed by the blond in a negative light.

"Mah mah no need to call me that." He muttered as he finally decided on something that would most likely entertain him during the duration of the trip. "Call me Naruto." The noble slowly walked towards Drake and gave the man a pat on his shoulder. "If you want to get stronger just ask me or Shina. We'll give you a few pointers about training and we may even spar with you during this trip. After all both of us have been trained by The Black Arm Zephyr and sometimes even Garp the Fist." the blond had to hold back a chuckle as he saw a rather shocked look at the marine's face. "All you have to do is ask." Naruto said as he and his companion -who was most likely beating up a random marine at that moment- began their voyage towards the East Blue Seas.

-Infernal Dragon Interlude: Those who uphold Justice-

Tick, tock, tick, tock, time passes once more as the ripples form across the wide ocean moving along much like the people around the world.

Reflected upon these ripples were those who wore black and white.

The outstanding force who stood against the great wave which will ingulf the future.

They who fight for their ideals.

They who fight for their justice.

It is best to remember that they are not evil but they are the ones who enforces the law and puts a stop to the lawless voyagers who sail through all the seas in hopes of finding the great treasure of the king of pirates.

Yes they are the ones who goes against the currents that attempts to change the world, the ever strong tides that engulfs the smaller waves in their wake to maintain the waves that has maintained this world for aeons.

Five elderly men stood above all, talking, planning, scheming, as hundreds if not thousands of plans were made. Plans for the new era, plans for the previous era, and plans for the current era. They must be ever vigilant, carefully planning each action to make this world run it's proper course. After all they were the ones who lead the forces that stood against the great wave known as change.

The Buddah cringed as he read through various reports of collateral damage done by his marine officers. He cringed once more upon seeing the amount of Beli needed in compensation for the actions of his subordinates. He was getting to old for this job but he knew now was not the time to retire, not when there was no one worthy to take his place.

The Great Staff found herself talking with the Fist, both discussing the recent chaos that the pirates have brought about. The two talked about the Warlords, the Yonkou, The Rebels, The old age, and The new age, talking for hour on end. Though both could be considered as relics of the path both were well aware of the up and coming wave. Call it intuition or call it Haki, the two just knew that a new age was about to begin. The question that lingered however was who or what was going to be at the forefront of this change.

While his prized student was off half way around the world vacationing with his not a girlfriend the legendary marine trainer was busily showing the ropes to the new comers. Instilling unto the new bunch the knowledge necessary when fighting pirates while also concentrating on bringing each recruit in peak condition. From the new bunch of recruit's Zephyr's eyes landed on two particular ones both fruit users, a young woman with pink hair and a young man with grey hair; both smoking cigarettes amidst their training.

The Extremist of Justice annihilated a whole island for apparently holding a member of the Roger Pirates. With his magmatic fury he wiped out all, be they children, women, or men, all of them died within his molten fire. Such was the fate of those who dared to support the loyal allies of that bastard of a pirate king. Yes, this was for the sake of justice. Absolute justice.

The Icy Vice-Admiral was travelling the new world in search of a pirate who escaped his grasp. He knew that he had to deal with this person now lest he becomes a bigger problem in the future. With his goal in set the logia user travelled from one island to the next battling a pirates after pirates in search of that man who went by the name of Crocodile.

The Light ordered several rear admirals to back up his fellow vice-admiral in order to help the man to hunt down the ever illusive tiger who attacked the holy land. He then read through several reports about up and coming pirate/criminals that were making their names known across the world. One particular picture cause the logia user to raise an eye brow. In the picture stood a familiar looking young man with black hair and red eyes wearing a black cloak. Written beneath the picture was number that even the light considered to be absurd to no ends. The bounty for the head of one "Kuroi Shinzo (Black Heart)" a former member of Cipher Pol was a staggering 580,000,000 Beli.

Lightning cackled from the body of the Raiju as he stared down on a group of fishmen that stood against him. Leading the group was none other than the Knight of the seas himself most likely ready for a rematch from their previous bout. Together with the Knight of the sea was no less than twenty fish men most of which were the more prominent fighters of the Sun Pirate. Lightning flashed while the seas roared as both sides clashed.

The would be poisonous warden and his loyal right hand man were busily keeping several prisoners in line. They were having such a though time calming the prisoners who still hoped of escaping. The Warden cursed the Flying Pirate to no ends as he proved that their prison was not truly inescapable. In the midst the great uproar the man turned his attention towards the only silent cell amidst the lowest level of the great prison, he couldn't help but wonder about the man silently sitting within it, a man wearing an orange spiral mask which only showed a single blood-red eye to the world.

The three aces of the strongest assassination group of the government found themselves bleeding, wounded, and beaten half to death as all but one of them remained standing and conscious. The normally cold, collected, and stoic teen failed to hide his emotions as for once in his life it was his turn to experience the feeling of being weak. He knew he was strong, he slaughtered hundreds and even thousands for the sake of the world government but to the teen-no man that stood in front of him it was as if he was an insignificant bug. With reckless abandon the member of CP9 tried to attack once more only for his opponent to easily incapacitate him. The last thing the teen saw as he fell like his comrades was the sight of two apathetic red eyes belonging to their soon to be boss.

The raven haired teen remained cold and stoic as he watched the so called strongest assassins easily fall before him. They were weak yet showed some promise. He'll give them the benefit of the doubt and let them live for now but they should remember that there is no room for weakness in this group, their older boss could attest to that fact. He needed them to be strong, strong for the sake of justice as well as strong enough to assist him in his endeavour, to find his traitor of a brother and personally take the man's life for the sake of justice, his justice.

Yes, these are the lives of the ones who shall go against the incoming wave.

Those who shall desperately try to maintain peace and order.

The lives of those who uphold justice.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, and so time continues passing once more.

-Infernal Dragon Interlude: Those who uphold Justice END-

The sight of the blue seas along with the sound of its soft waves was rather calming to the soul. In his honest opinion these waves were actually making this vacation a bit more bearable and dare he say enjoyable. That was why Naruto was rather disappointed when their boat -a regular ship unlike the marine vessel they boarded from Mariejois- finally docked on the small port of Foosha -a small village in Dawn Island located near the kingdom of Goa.

Naruto sighed and looked for his companion the ever fiery Kushina to tell her that they had to grab their stuff and got off the ship sometime soon. Leaving what was supposed to be their room with his bag already tied around his back the noble decided to walk through the ship in order to find his ever whimsical and mischievous rival. The first place he went to was the mess hall, upon not finding several empty bowls of Ramen or a still eating red-head the noble decided to give his thanks to the cooks of the ship before leaving. As he left though he briefly noted that apparently there was a relatively young blond-haired boy in their kitchen acting mostly as trainee and gopher for chores and such.

"Isn't he a bit too young to be working in the kitchen?" Naruto asked mostly to himself as he resumed his hunt for the ever illusive Kushina. This time the noble opted to go to the main deck of the ship where more often than note his rival could be found messing with the sailors of the ship or practicing a form of hand writing called Calligraphy. Much to his surprise though, Kushina was nowhere in sight. However he did find the captain of the ship and gave the man his regards, thanking the old captain for their ride.

Having narrowed the possible whereabouts of his not a friend to one, the noble decided to make his way towards the main mast of the ship. He stopped at the bottom of the boat and quickly looked up towards the crow's nest where he spotted a familiar mop of red hair.

Cupping his hands around his mouth the young noble suddenly yelled. "Oi Shina! Wake up! We're already here!" He shouted several more times only to receive no response from the red-haired beauty. Naruto quickly came to the conclusion that his not a friend was asleep, knowing just how hard it was at times to wake her up the noble decided to suddenly jump up in the air, kicking off against the air several times as he quickly boosted himself up towards the crow's nest with ease.

"Geppou (Moon Step)." He silently muttered as he landed on the crow's nest which was big enough to hold two people. Almost instantaneously his eyes darted towards the still sleeping figure of Kushina.

His face went red.

She was sleeping that was for sure, as her back was against the hard wooden mast. The red-head was slightly snoring in a rather cute manner in Naruto's opinion, a small trail of drool seeping through the sides of her mouth. What made Naruto blush however was the rather dishevel look of her clothing, her tan kimono like blouse was somewhat open allowing him to see her purple coloured bra and a good portion of her tone stomach. "Shina wake up!" Naruto didn't even know how he managed to shout that one out.

The red-head slightly rustled from her sleep.

"Shina wake up!" He tried once more this time succeeding as he elicited a yawn from his rival. "Mhmm... are we there yet?" She asked is half daze yawning rather softly as she pushed herself off the mast making her rather perky developing breasts wiggle a bit.

"Yeah, get up Shina time to go!" He quickly replied, as he turned his head away from the samurai.

The girl seemed to have nodded for a moment before lying back on the mast. "Mhmm five more minutes Narubaka..." She mumbled as she descended into the realm of dreams once more as evidenced by the return of the cute snores once more.

A tick mark appeared on the young man's face as he glared at the girl in mild irritation. Maybe he really should have just left the girl with Garp since she's been nothing more than a handful during the entirety of the trip. Then again she was already a handful even before the trip. Shaking his head the young noble slowly crouched down until he was facing the unconscious samurai in eye level.

Time to use one of his self developed Rokushiki attacks.

With a mischievous smile on his face the noble began his assault on the unconscious girl. He knew full well that this could come back to bite him in the ass later but he'll take his chances."Shingan: Ryu Kusuguri Rendan (Finger Gun: Dragon Tickle Combo)" he let loose a barrage of quick jab's with his finger's targeting his not a friend's abdomen and sides, hitting them lightly in rapid successions.

She was up and laughing after the five seconds of continued assault.

He would have like to continue his combo but alas any attempts on tickling his rival ended when a Haki enforced fist smashed against his undefended nose. What he didn't expect though was for the punch to actually be strong enough to launch him from the crow's next sending him crashing face first on the hard wooden floor of the ship's deck as he lay face down on the deck he could here the indignant cries coming from the crow's nest knowing full well that he pissed off his not a friend.

Totally worth it.

-Infernal Dragon-

As he went down the stairs towards the port the noble couldn't help but recall when he went of board the marine vessel that brought them to the East Blue seas. It was rather funny when he saw Drake sporting several bandages all over his body with the most notable one being the one on his chin which covered an x-like scar due to the training that the marine underwent through Naruto and Kushina. Well the scar itself was more of Kushina's fault since his not a friend didn't know the meaning of holding back hence Drake almost getting ripped to shred if not for his intervention.

Well on the bright side though the petty chief now had a basic idea of how to train properly and has also figured out what weapons he could use proficiently which oddly enough were a four bladed axe and a sword. He still need some practice with it but Naruto knew that one day Drake was going to be a forced to be reckoned with.

A spike of killing intent snapped Naruto out of his thoughts. "Huh?" He muttered out as his eyes shifted towards the source, a rather ticked off red-head who was carrying a now relatively normal side bag. Yep, she already ate most of her stomach during the duration of their journey to the Dawn Island.

"Umm are you mad?"

She continued glaring at him with blood-shot eyes.

Yup, definitely ticked off and now that he realized his previous question was rather stupid. Of course she was mad, he tickled her awake. Yup just tickled no way in hell he perv'd on her, he jut tickled yeah definitely tickled.

He blinked several times.

What the hell was wrong with him? Ugh. Whatever was happening to his head must be because of the punch and fall earlier. The noble took a mental note to check on a doctor on a later date to see if everything was okay.

Turning his attention to the still glaring Kushina the blond found himself rather apologetic for his actions. "Umm... Sorry?" Smooth Naruto, really smooth.

"Ramen." She replied rather quickly that he almost missed it.

"Huh?"

"For what you did, for tickling me and using such an underhanded technique on a sleeping Samurai you're treating me to Ramen!" She declared with utmost certainty leaving no rooms for any negotiations.

Naruto sighed, damn that momentary lapse of judgement that convinced him it was the right move to tickle Kushina. "Okay I'm buying you some Ramen." He replied in defeat.

"Fifty Bowls."

He blinked upon hearing the rather absurd number or Ramen that his rival wished as payment to appease her anger. In any other time he would have agreed to her demands and given her fifty bowls but now that they were half way away from Mariejois with a limited budget the farthest he could go was to give her thirty bowl's of Ramen. Anything more than that would quickly exhaust their budget."Twenty."He threw in his counter offer without hesitation actually managing to surprise the violet eyed girl as she didn't expect him to try and haggle her demands.

"Forty."

"Twenty Five."

"Thirty Five."

"Twenty Eight."

"Thirty."

"Deal."

The red-haired girl pumped her fist in the air victoriously completely forgetting that she was twenty down from her original demand."Whoo! Free Ramen! Awesome dattebane!"

For some reason Naruto felt that he was tricked. Could Kushina have been faking her anger for the sake of forcing him to treat her to Ramen, or was his rival really just bi-polar.

The fist that was in the air descended before it was pointed at Naruto in a rather threatening manner. "Now then don't ever do that again or I'll fucking cut you dattebane!" Kushina warned as she sent him a wave if killing intent that sent shivers down his spine.

Definitely Bi-polar.

-Infernal Dragon-

Upon entering the small windmill village of Foosha, Naruto immediately found himself being dragged by his companion through the village towards a nearby restaurant/pub. It was called Party's Bar and despite it being the middle of the day the bar was full to the brim with fun and rowdy people. Overall it was a good establishment, a fine joyous ambiance in the air, though there was a small bit that irked the blond to no end.

Why the hell did this bar sell Ramen?

Although truth be told this was the first bar he's ever been in he was quite sure that there was no way in hell that Ramen was a staple food served beside a draft of beer or a strong shot of liquor. No way in hell! Believe it!

Naruto was lightly tapping his fingers over the wooden table as he watched his supposed bodyguard slurp down another bowl of Ramen. Her sixth actually meaning there were twenty four more bowls to go before they could leave this bar and head for Goa which according to local villagers could be reached by either going through the bandit and animal infested mountains or waiting for a boat that came by once a day to bring the people of the village to Goa. He was actually leaning towards the latter cause going through a bandit infested mountain was in no way training. Nope he was just passing by the mountain. There was no way that was training nope, he and by extension Kushina weren't allowed to do that during this vacation.

Suddenly a large mug filled with frothy ale was suddenly place in front of him.

The words "Huh?" could have come out faster in the young noble's mouth. Turning his head towards the hand which brought him the drink, Naruto found a rather beautiful young woman with black hair and yellow bandana tied around her head, if he remembered correctly the young woman's name was...

"Ummm what is the drink for Makino-san?"

"Well you were looking rather bored just watching your girlfriend eat and since she's basically eating a good Belis worth of Ramen I figured I could give you a mug of beer for free." She answered kindly causing Naruto to look at the mug with idle curiosity. Truth be told he has never tasted beer -he has tasted wine and sake- in his life and for that he was quite curious about it's taste.

"Come on drink up."

Shrugging the blond took the mug with one hand before he started drinking the frothy mug of booze. It was fruity, that much he could say as his pallet immediately sensed the presence of tangy orange and sweet strawberries. It wasn't that strong and crisp but its taste was extremely refreshing and somewhat appetizing that he couldn't help but craze for more of the slightly sweet alcoholic drink.

Oh yeah he's going to love this.

"Thank you very much Makino-san." He placed the now empty mug of beer on the table. "Makino-san, what's the drink called?" he asked politely making the waitress/barkeep smile in response.

"Its called Fruity Foosha."

"It's really good."

"Why thank you. This beer is actually home-brewed, a product that's only sold here in Party's Bar and a certain ship where we got the recipe from."

Naruto found himself raising a brow in curiosity. "A certain ship?"

The young woman nodded happily. "Yes, some nice pirates who protected our town from Pirates gave us the recipe for the drink."

"Pirates protected your town? But aren't they all supposed to be... you know..." Naruto let himself trail off knowing full well what the common portrayal of pirates was to the modern society. To the eyes of many pirates were the plague that scorns this world, they were those who goes against justice. They were the villains.

"I understand what you mean but you should know, there are always exceptions to the rule. Not all pirates are evil some are just romantics who wishes nothing more to see the world in all it's beauty. It's like just like not all marines are good, there are still corrupt people even within the organization whose job is to basically protect us normal folks."

"That's a rather interesting approach to the world."

"I actually learned it from my pirate friend. He told me that he learned it from Wano. The idea that there is no such thing as pure good and pure evil in this world. No matter what there exist a tiny tinge of darkness or light in them." Makino tilted her head to the side in thought. "Though I forgot what it was called..."

"Yin and Yang"

Naruto and Makino's attention shifted towards to Kushina who just finished eating a bowl of Ramen. "It's a philosophy taught to everyone in Wano. I still remember it cause Mito-sama basically beat that idea in my head." She chuckled as she recalled getting bonked in the head a few times. "Yang is the white side with a black dot on it while yin is the black side with a white dot on it." She said as she drew a make shift circle using the salt and pepper bottles in her table. "Two opposing force, that are interdependent yet interconnected in the natural world. They represent the duality not jut within all of us but also everything in this world. From the elements, to the ideas of good and evil. Something like that... now that I think about it I often blanked out during that lesson cause I got distracted." The giggled lightly as he bonked her head dispelling any signs of the sudden intelligence that she showed every now and then.

"Oh! Yeah that was what it was called." Makino said as she recalled the words of a certain charming red-headed pirate. "But I don't really think that's how he explained it. Then again he was a bit inebriated when started talking about it."

The idea that not everything in the world is pure good or evil. Not all pirates are evil, not all marines are good. Naruto's reaction to the philosophy itself could be surmised with one word. "Interesting." Naruto whispered mostly to himself, caught in his own thoughts that he didn't see Kushina and Makino having a rather animated conversation with one another until the red head demanded for another bowl of Ramen. "Can I have another Fruity Foosha, one for Kushina as well plus add in another bowl of Ramen for the lady. I'll even pay for the drinks this time."

The black-haired beauty shook her head. "No need to, the drinks are on the house." Makino replied before walking back towards the bar to get his and the other patron's drink.

After a few minutes of idle chatter between Naruto and Kushina which was basically one of them asking if the "Ramen was here yet." and the other saying "No." Makino arrived with their order, placing the bowl of steaming hot Ramen and a mug of beer in front of Kushina who instantly jumped on the bowl like there was no tomorrow while placing the other mug of beer in front of Naruto who graciously accepted the sweet malty drink.

"You know I'm just curious why do you guys even sell Ramen here?" Naruto asked, letting his curiosity take over him once more. It wasn't often that he ventured the world outside Mariejois so he couldn't really help but ask a question or two every now and then if he found something that intrigued him.

Makino beamed a wide smile. "A crew member of the pirate who gave us the recipe of the Fruity Foosha loved to eat and I say really loved to eat. While they were here they often stayed in this tavern and to accommodate them we started to actually sell meals here. One of them just happened to be Ramen since the man liked it so much."

Naruto slightly nodded as he took a sip from his beer. "You know you never told me the pirate's name."

"Oh, his name is..."

Before she could reveal the name of the pirate a now empty bowl of Ramen was slammed down the wooden table. "So good!" Kushina said as he eyes shined brightly as if a fire was lit within them. "One of the best I've tasted! Even better than Iru-baka's Ramen. Oh the broth so smooth and tasty, the meat so tender, the noodles so soft. Such a majestic meal that would be fit for the Shogun's family of Wano." She pointed her chop sticks to the heavens as if she was holding a sceptre or a sword waiting for a miracle to happen. "When I become the greatest samurai in this world I will make sure to spread the word of this great place... The Ramen of Foosha!"

Though before Kushina could even finish her rather heated and passionate speech several bowls of ramen was placed in front of her quickly getting the attention of the Samurai. "Woot! One More Ramen!" She attacked the bowl with renewed haste.

"Thank you for that." Naruto muttered towards a smiling Makino. "She really get overtly enthusiastic when we talk about ramen, swords, Wano, and training."

"You know Kushina-chan really reminds me of someone I know."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "She reminds me of a boy named Luffy. That boy has an appetite likes her and is rather special like her."

'Special?' Naruto tilted his head to the side, what could she mean by special. His brain went a thousand miles a minutes until his brain processed the name that Makino told him. "Luffy? I think I've heard that name before." His eyes widened in realization. It couldn't be right? If it truly is then this really is a small world. "Is this Luffy Garp-jiji's grandson?"

"Garp-Jiji?" Makino looked surprised for a moment until it dawned to her that the blond somewhat new that marine hero."Oh how do you know about Garp?"

Naruto chuckled dryly as he scratched the back of his head. "Known him since I was a kid. You could say that somewhat his student from time to time. Jiji teaches me how to fight whenever he has free time."

"So you're a marine officer?"

"Nope."

"Then what are you?"

Naruto paused for a moment and went through his thoughts before sending the two a sincere smile "Just someone who wishes to be strong." Naruto said innocently with a hint of melancholy in his voice.

Makino couldn't help but stare at the young man for a while, she couldn't help but feel in awe, there was just something special about the man, something extremely noble and awe-inspiring that she hasn't seen in any other man, not even Shanks.

Sadly the moment of awe lasted only for a few seconds as the bar door were opened rather harshly. A loud bang echoing across the entirety of the bar mellowing out the fun and rowdy mood within it almost instantly.

If Naruto could be described as noble, then the people who entered the bar was the exact polar opposite. They were rude, rowdy, butt ugly, cut throat, had no respect for anyone, and just overall unpleasant.

They were bandits.

Specifically the remains of Higuma's bandit group which was now led by a man with shoulder length white hair wearing a blue vest with torn sleeves and tight black pants.

The man's name was Mizuki, a power-hungry bandit who got off on mugging, raping, and killing people from nearby towns and villages, especially the nobles from Goa to the point that the citizens of that country put a bounty on his head and called him The Noble Slayer.

With a bounty of Thirteen Million Beli -which he got after killing and robbing two teenagers from Goa- the man obviously was high off his rockers thinking that he was the law within this parts of Dawn Island.

Mizuki glared at several patrons of the bar who were sitting at the biggest table. "Get the fuck off our spot." It wasn't a request.

Despite having some booze and liquor in their system the patrons still had enough sense to know that it was not wise to piss of the infamous noble slayer. Without even nodding their heads the group of patrons left their seats, paid for their drinks, and promptly bolted out of the bar much like the others who started to leave upon spotting the group of bandits.

This left Naruto, Makino, and Kushina in the bar with Mizuki and his group of twenty something bandits.

With a smirk on his face Mizuki started walking towards Makino. "Hey, Bitch stop fucking flirting with that blond prick and give us some food and drinks. Now!" Makino flinched and took a step away from the rowdy man. Despite wanting to stand up for herself and take no nonesense from the bandit Makino slightly nodded her head before quickly retreating towards the bar. With neither Shanks nor the marines nearby it was extremely unwise to tick off the bandit. It was best to just give them their orders and hope they leave soon. Preferably without doing any major damage.

Not even thirty seconds has passed Mizuki slammed his hand on an empty table actually slightly breaking it with the blow."I said give us our drinks? Where the fuck are out drinks?" His fellow bandits roared in agreement as they stomped their feet and hands on the tables demanding both food and booze.

"Please just try to be patient." Makino replied from behind the bar.

"Oi? Are you fucking telling, me what to do? Are you really telling me what to do bitch? Are you?" Mizuki roared out trying his best to intimidate the black-haired young woman cause you know that shit gets him off and makes him feel more like a man.

"You know that wasn't really a nice thing to do."

Mizuki blinked, his head mechanically turning towards the source of the voice, a blond-haired young man who was busily drinking from a mug. How he didn't notice the boy and his companion was beyond him. "Oh and what is it to you boy? You got a decent set on you to try and talk to the great Mizuki the noble slayer!" The man said in an intimidating manner as he blasted Naruto off with potent Killing intent.

Killing intent which the young man easily shrugged off. "Mhmm... what was that? Did you say something?" Naruto asked innocently as he continued drinking from his mug not really caring about the bandit. Hey he was on a vacation and this drink was the first thing that actually managed to help him relax. Thus he really wanted to enjoy it for now and give the white-haired man a few more seconds to make a fool of himself before he kicked the man's ass.

"Che." The bandit clicked his tongue as he turned his attention away from the young man, shifting more towards his companion, a beautiful red-haired girl who just fit his tastes."Hey beautiful why don't you leave this brat and hang out with a real guy like me."

The slurping of Ramen was his only reply.

"Oi are you listening to me?"

Naruto just watched on from the side with mild interest.

"Bitch I said are you fucking listening to me?"

Yes, she was still eating.

Running out of patience the bandti spat out. "Fucking disgusting Ramen." He took the bowl of Ramen and tossed it in the nearest wall, smashing the bowl and spilling its contents on the group. "Who the hell eats this shit right?" Predictably his group erupted in laughter as they agreed with their boss's words.

"Yeah boss it sucks."

"Tastes and looks like piss."

"Even dogs won't eat this shit."

"Hahaha that's right! Now you're done eating that shit then maybe you'd like to taste something really good." He placed his hand back on the table while sending a lecherous smile at the eerily silent Kushina. "Trust me it's taste really good for you. The only thing you need to do to taste it is to get on your knees and suck my co-"

Two separate waves of intense killing intent flooded the room.

The first came from the red-head was looking at Mizuki with the look of pure and utter murder. Her long hair was flailing about madly in the air, while a coat of red energy surrounded her body as she drew her prized blade which hungered for the blood of the bandits with one hand. "My... Ramen... you... killed... my... Ramen..." She muttered in a soft and cold tone that would never have normally been associated with the air headed bull headed samurai.

Before anyone could even react the red-head used the chop sticks she was still holding in one hand to stab Mizuki's hand with such force that the blunt end of the chopsticks pierced through bones, muscle, and skin until they reached the opposite side of the table.

Obviously Mizuki started screaming like a little girl who got a boo boo.

The second wave of killing intent came from the blond noble, though his gaze was cold and betrayed to show any anger, his expression was oddly emotionless and neutral to a point that it was actually scary. The noble didn't really know why but for some reason the bandit's small remark of having Kushina eat him pissed the blond off to no ends. So without saying any words the blond cocked his left fist back and slugged Mizuki straight in the face, causing the man's eyes to roll to the back of his head, as blood spilled from his mouth which now lacked several teeth.

Mizuki was knocked out instantly.

Being the brainless bandit that they were the motley crew of twenty or so shouted indignantly at the unprovoked (to their perspective) attack to their boss. The group immediately drew their swords, guns, axes, spears, and other weapons before they charged at the two teens. They were out for blood and they would make sure the two would pay in kind for what they did to the boss. They were like sheep walking to a slaughter.

That was such a bad day to be a bandit in Foosha.

-Infernal Dragon-

The mayor of Foosha, an old man Woop Slap felt an extreme urge to go find a certain legendary marine and kick him in the balls. He didn't even have to ask, he just instinctively knew that this whole fiasco had the name Garp written all over it. Lo and behold the two teens who demolished his favourite bar was apparently trained by Garp.

Goddamn it Garp.

The mayor rubbed his temples in frustration before he let out an exasperated sigh. "So you're telling me these two gakis destroyed the bandits that's been terrorizing our town for the last few months?"

Makino lightly chuckled as she stood inside the wrecked bar, together with the mayor, and the two troublemakers. "Destroyed would be a gross understatement. Though yes you could say the blond destroyed them with his fists, the red-head one annihilated their entire existence with her sword."

"Ugghh.. I'm willing to let this one go, as the mayor of this village I'm sure that I should report this to the police but just this once I'm going to turn a blind eye on this mess. You two did this village a huge service by getting rid of it's bandit problem."

A large proud smile made its way to Naruto and Kushina's faces, both proud that they have done this place a great service.

"But you two also demolished the bar! The only bar in the whole village and I expect both of you to pay for it's repairs!" Wood Slap shouted angrily as he glared at the two teens. Kushina deflated, tears streaming down the side of her eyes. For once she thought she would finally be seen as a proud a noble hero much like the samurai from her country but apparently she still screwed up somewhere along the line. 'Need to remember about property damage next time.' She thought to herself as she swore to minimize the damage to her surroundings when ever she fought.

Sadly, that will never come to be.

Unlike the deflated Kushina, Naruto simply nodded his head. "I can accept that, thank you for turning a blind eye for our..." He paused trying to think of a proper term for their one sided beat down of the group of bandits. "...momentary lapse of judgement and I am will to compensate Makino-san for the damages done to her establishment."

"And how are you planning on doing that boy?"

"Well I'm going to pay with money of course."

Kushina's eyes widened. "But you said we only had a limited budge-" A look of horror made its way upon her face. Acting almost on instinct she glomped on Naruto and clung at the noble like a child. "No! No! No! No! Not my Ramen money!" She cried out, the usual pool of tears already forming in the side of her eyes.

It was moments like these that Naruto actually had to wonder if his not a friend really embodied the proud part of the term proud samurai of Wano.

"You don't need to worry aobut your Ramen money Shina." Naruto turned to Woop Slap and Makino. "You guys can have the reward on Mizuki's head."

"But that's more than enough payment to fix this bar." Makino interjected, knowing full well that she only needed a few hundred thousand Beli for the repairs, Thirteen Million Beli was just going overboard.

The blond noble chuckled. "Then consider it a hefty tip for the great service."

"That's really nice of you but that still doesn't change that fact that you cause a ruckus here young man."

"Sorry about that jiji."

"Everybody gets one." Woop Slap replied quite honestly he was surprised at the young man's gesture since thirteen million was by in no means a small amount of money. "But seeing as your making a great contribution to our village if you need anything just ask."

"Actually I have a question I've been meaning to ask. I was planning on asking Makino but you know what happened." He scratched the back of his head while taking note that the black-haired bartender has pulled his red-haired companion to the side -away from him and the mayor- for some reason.

"Go on."

"Do you know how we could get to Goa?"

"There is a boat that arrives every two days which can take you there or you can trek the Mt. Colubo and then pass through the Midway forest both of which are inhabited by wild dangerous will animals animals. If you take that route then it will take two or three days to get to the Gray Terminal and then to Goa. Normally I would recommend people to take the boat but seeing how you and your girlfriend over there can handle yourselves the two of you would probably do better to just trek the thing if the two of you are in a hurry."

From the side Kushina spat out the contents of her Mug towards the ground before freezing as she heard the older man's words. 'Girlfriend?' She thought as she looked at the older man with a dumbfounded expression.

Naruto merely nodded, his head already lost in thought. "Hmm… take the boat… or go through a dangerous mountain and forest…." He said as he went over his options once more. He only had a total of one month off making it best if he were to reach the reservations Iruka made for him in Goa to 'relax'. The blond played the older man's words in his head once more before his eyes suddenly widened a tint of red dusting his cheeks.

He looked to his side and noticed his not a friend friend/not a slave/ eternal rival blushing as well or it might have been the booze.

Meh he really didn't know at that point.

For a moment their eyes met snapping both out of their respective thoughts.

"She is not my girlfriend/boyfriend!" Both of them replied, one louder than the other in full obvious denial.

"Hahahaha no need to be shy!"

"Yes two look good together." Makino commented as she recalled their fight against the bandits. "The way you fought those bandits looked as if you were dancing together… it was so sweet"

"So good to be young again hahahaha." The older man laughed proving once more that in this world if you were an old man then there was a good chance you'd be a closet pervert or a romantic. "And if your not friends and you're not his girlfriend then why did you get ticked off when that bandit made a pass on her?" Woop Slap asked knowing full well from Makino's story that the blond only started beating the crap out of the bandit group after a certain comment was made.

"Well... umm... ahh... I think I need to get something to drink." Feeling that his throat was a bit dry Naruto took a swig from a nearby wine bottle ingesting a large amount of the bitter liquor as he did so. It was bland at most and far from the high-class drinks he had the experience of tasting back in Mariejois bit for some reason the simplicity or rather blandness in this product was enough to appease him. Not that he was hard to appease as he was more down to earth and open minded when compared to other nobles.

"And your answer Gaki?"

"She's my rival/not a friend/ not a girl friend lets leave it at that. Well would you look at the time." He looked at his wrist which definitely didn't contain a watch. "We need to get going if were going to climb that mountain sometime soon. You know since we're in a rush and all." Naruto stammered, intent on dodging the question. "Thanks for everything." He said as he quickly walked towards the establishment's now broken door. leaving behind Kushina who was still busily chugging down her own drink.

"Kushina-chan you better keep a good grasp on him… he's handsome, smart, and strong you better take him before someone else steals him from you." Kushina tilted head to side in confusion, before her eyes widened at what the barkeep was implying as she finished with her drink, she opened her mouth ready to respond but a simple yell from the blond for her to hurry up cut off her plans.

"Oh just go."The green haired woman waved the red-head off.

"Hai, it was nice meeting you Makino-chan." The girl bowed slightly before turning around... "Oi wait for me Naruto!" she yelled before going of on a mad dash towards the noble in disguise.

Makino chuckled as she watched the two slowly vanish towards the horizon. "Ah to be young again. Sometimes you really have to just point them at the right direction. Though I really do hope it works since that girl was rather interesting." she said as she went back to her business while her thoughts went a stray, thinking about a certain red-haired man who she hasn't seen for a while.

-Infernal Dragon-

The path from Foosha to Mt. Colubo, Midway Forest and the Grey Terminal was relatively normal. Normal in the sense that there were giant vultures, giant alligators, giant leeches, giant tigers, bears, snakes, and even gorillas running rampart within the path. Yes, this path for all intents and purposes was really normal and totally safe to venture in by almost everyone.

They really should have just waited in Foosha for the boat.

Several loud roars echoed in the forest a three tigers lunged at the noble and samurai. With their superb combat skills the two dispatched the tigers with ease, however not even ten seconds after the beasts fell several more attacked the two seeing both of them as quick meals to appease their beastly hunger.

"Should have taken the boat!" yelled Naruto as he and Kushina jumped from tree to tree running to avoid a group of fifteen gigantic white tigers that stalked them to no ends. Truth be told they could easily take out the whole bunch but alas Naruto had a soft heart for the animals and this hesitated to commit white tiger genocide.

That was why Naruto and Kushina did their best to avoid the tigers by climbing a top the huge trees of the pathway and jump from tree to tree like the ninjas of the past. The only real problem with using the upper path was that they were open to attacks from vultures and large bugs.

"What the heck is wrong with these animals. Why the heck are they all freakishly huge!" Naruto complained as he scanned the area for any more animals that would have wanted to make him and his companion in to a satisfying snack.

"Maybe this forest is compensating for something..."

"That doesn't even make any sense."

"It's compensating for Papayas or the lack there of." She nodded sagely, as if proud of discovering such a break through as to why the inhabitants of the forest were all freaking large.

"... That Mito person really did hit your head one too many times when you were young didn't she."

"Mhmm... not really." Kushina shook her head. "She only hit my head every time I did something wrong, any time I did something unlady like, every time I screwed up in my study, every time I screwed up with my Katas, every time I break something, and every time I'm oohh bananas." She stopped at a nearby tree and took a bunch of the yellow coloured fruit, peeling them easily before taking a large bite out of the fruit. "I get distracted or do something stupid." The girl finished as she chomped down on the banana, it wasn't ramen but it would do for now.

Naruto palmed his face, the urge to hit his rival rising."Shit."

"Hmmm? What's wrong."

Standing a top several trees to the side of Kushina was a relatively large pack of insanely huge Gorillas, one of which was huge and had a silver back said gorilla was glaring angrily at Kushina for eating it's Banana.

If Naruto were to ever meet this Mito person he would probably tell her that she didn't hit the redette hard enough. "Should have taken the boat." Naruto muttered once more as he and his companion began a deadly combat with the apes of the mountains.

It would take the Naruto and Kushina two more days filled with endless conflict within Mt. Colobo and Midway Forest til they finally reach the large poverty filled scrap yard of the Gray Terminal and by extension Goa. Of course seeing as they came from the slums they were immediately denied entrance by the guards but it was nothing a good sneaking around then a quick application of Geppou and Soru could solve.

And so the two set their first steps in the Kingdom of Goa.

The land in which everything changed.

The land where the future was set to stone.

The land where the dragon was reborn.

-Infernal Dragon END-

EN1: Yep this chapter was the start of Naruto and Kushi's adventure the next part will be the Daily Duels, Meeting with the Three Kids, the events in the Gray Terminal Plus moar character development!

EN2: I'd like opinions about NaruKushi pairings ^w^

Thanks for Reading, hope my readers enjoyed the chapter. If you guys have anything to say Comments/Suggestions/Requests please do so since commenting won't hurt and I'd be really happy to see some reviews, until next time stay frosty. Though it would be nice if we could at least break the 120 review barrier ^w^

Please Review ^w^