Title: The Emerald Curtain

Author: KobaltWolf

Rating: T

Warnings: Minor language and violence

Disclaimer: I do not claim to own One Piece or Naruto. They are the property of their respective owners. However, I do own any OCs that might appear

Summary: After his fight with Ichigo, Ulquiorra is dumped in the world of One Piece. Now he's been mistaken for a pirate by Marines, while Whitebeard's 2nd Division Commander seeks vengeance against him. Can Ulquiorra find a way home, or will he die trying?

I apologize for not having posted sooner! I have been having technical issues. My laptop's fan started dying and it took a very long time to get the part. I replaced it just last night and have basically been typing ever since on finishing this story. Hopefully, the problem has been fixed. The fan appears to be working and all the tests I've run show that it's functioning fine. However, it's still making an odd noise. If it continues or gets worse I may open it up again to see if a screw's loose or something.

Nonetheless, here's chapter four! I do not think its my best by any means and I haven't revised it nearly at all. I wanted to get it out to you though, seeing as its been months.

Also, I shout out to Smozzick, KittyWillCutYou, AgniFox, ippus67, Darkfirelight, To a cErTaIn KiTsUnE, bravekid, NoctaLightx, Ciel Black018, EchoUchiha, Aya-chan's Alice, goldenqueenofthecove, Day-ingale, the Original Anonymous, Deadzepplin, Pommyth, Zaralann, HellNyte, Peachcandy, bookwyrm31, kuroyukihime2, and EVA-Saiyajin for their wonderful reviews! (If I missed anyone, message me and I'll add them)

2 hours, 25 minutes, and 34 seconds after arrival on Elbaf

Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.

Ulquiorra Cifer chanted the word in his head like a mantra. Elbaf. Of all the places in this Kami-damned world, he had to land in friggin' Elbaf! Maybe Aizen really was a god, just a really cruel one with a snarky sense of humor. No, no. . . .that was impossible. This was a parallel dimension. Aizen could not affect him here.

The Arrancar snorted slightly.

"Oi, oi!"

Ulquiorra glanced up and raised an eyebrow.

3.24 yards in front of him, the boy stood gawking at a flower.

"What is it?" the Espada asked monotonously.

The boy turned to gape at him. "What is it?" he replied incredously. "What IS it? Look at that thing!" He gestured wildly at the 9 foot daisy towering above him.

He looked at it. ". . . .yes?"

The boy gawked at him for a moment. "It's huge!"

"Your point?"

"Gah!" Grumbling, the younger smacked his own forehead. "Yer impossible."

Ulquiorra cocked his head. "That is a logical fallacy. Someone cannot be impossible, as the person described is already possible."

The boy merely rolled his eyes and stalked ahead. "Whatever."

Ulquiorra calmly strode after him.

"So. . . ." the boy began after several meters of silence. "Where're we goin'?"

"To acquire supplies."

"No, no. Not why we're goin'. Where we're goin'."

"The nearest location stocked with adequate supplies."

The boy shot a glare at him. "And where would that be?"

"I do not know."

"You don't know."

"That is what I stated."

"Well, where the heck are we goin'!"

"To the nearest location stocked with adequate s—"

"No!"

Ulquiorra stared at him blankly as the boy threw his arms up in a very illogical gesture and stomped a foot down on the dusty ground.

"That's not what I meant! I want to know, specifically, where in the heck we're goin'!"

"The nearest location stocked with adequate supplies."

"GAH!"

~/~/~/~

He was impossible. Utterly impossible! People can't be impossible? HAH! Biggest understatement of the millennium.

The boy shot a glare at the stoic, abnormally pale man strolling behind him, emerald eyes fixed blankly on nothingness. It was infuriating! The moron just goes around slaughtering people with his weird, freaky powers (probably ate some sort of Devil Fruit), and then acts like he's the emo-king-of-the-world.

The boy's lips twitched in a silent snarl.

He'd get him back. He'd get him back for all he'd done. No one was invincible, and when Ulquiorra was at his weakest, he'd slaughter him.

~/~/~/~

Oh, my freakin' Kami.

The boy stared dazedly at the town—or, more specifically, up at the town.

"W-what the—" His voice trailed off in disbelief.

"It appears to be the local point of civilization."

"I know that." The boy shot a glare at the apathetic Arrancar. "It's just that the 'point of civilization' is a thousand feet tall!"

"972.3 feet."

"Whatever!"

The stomped his foot angrily but made no forward movement, even as Ulquiorra strolled past him, towards the looming town. He already knew what he would find.

The boy, however, remained rooted to the ground.

This, in itself, did not especially bother the Espada. Fear was the natural (though impractical) response. But fear that impeded the progress of Ulquiorra's plans had to be eradicated. Therefore, as he passed the stricken boy, Ulquiorra grasped his upper arm and began to tow him forwards.

"OI!" the boy yelped.

"Yes?"

The younger glared at him in disbelief for a moment before shouting, "Let me go!"

Ulquiorra gazed nonchalantly at him. "If I were to let you go, your phobia would affect your ability to function."

Despite this seemingly sound logic, the boy continued to struggle vehemently. "I said let go of me!"

"No."

He spat on the floor as he flailed his free arm wildly. "What d'ya mean no?" he protested. "No is not an option!"

"There are an infinite number of options. Therefore, no is an option."

This logic also failed to even slow his phobia. "Just shut up and let me go!"

Ulquiorra stared at him, unimpressed, as he continued to saunter towards the town. "No."

It became obvious that the emerald-eyed man would not sway in his response, and the boy lapsed into frustrated silence. The gigantic town loomed above them as voices began to trickle through the air, and the boy could've sworn he felt the earth shake.

It was then that the first inhabitants made themselves known.

"OI!"

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

Ulquiorra impassively raised an eyebrow as an enormous male emerged from the city's streets, eyeing the miniscule pair with manifest suspicion.

"Wha'cha couple o' little people like you doin' 'ere, eh?" he inquired, bending down on one knee in what seemed to be an effort to make the smaller organisms feel more at ease.

"We require supplies," Ulquiorra responded monotonously, raising his voice slightly so as to be heard by the hulking creature.

The giant grunted in acknowledgment. "What kind?"

"Nutrition, hydration, and shelter for the duration of this solar period."

The giant blinked dumbly. ". . . .what kind?"

"Nutrition, hydration, and shel—"

"What he means t'say is," the boy interjected with an irritated glance at the Arrancar, seemingly overcoming his phobia in order to garner a chance at a warm meal, "we need food, water, and a place to stay."

The giant rolled back on his heels with an explosive chuckle, and the boy once more dissolved into his 'deer-caught-in-the-headlights' stance. "Well, jeez! Why didn't ya just say so?"

Ulquiorra's emerald eyes narrowed as he muttered mutinously, "I did say so."

The giant ignored him as he continued to chuckle. "I can—hic—cert'nly help ya wi'that. But—hic—before I do, what er'ya two named?"

"I fail to see the importance of that piece of information," the Arrancar replied coldly.

The laughter abruptly ceased, causing the boy to choke on his tongue.

"Oi," the giant started, anger obviously tinging his tone. "Names'er important! Don't b'little 'em."

"I am not belittling them. I merely do not understand your obsession with titles," Ulquiorra replied.

"It's notta obs'sion!" he growled and slowly began to gather his height once more. "Watch yer mouth, human."

Emerald eyes flashed as the Espada's lithe form tightened. "Believe me, I am anything but human."

The boy glanced anxiously between the two most impending threats to his life as tension sparked in the air. "O—oi!" he stuttered in an attempt to save the rapidly degrading situation. "M—my name's Saburo!"

Both glanced at him, one more out of irritated stoicism than the other.

Silence reigned in the atmosphere for several moments. A cold sweat broke out on Saburo's forehead.

Suddenly, a grin split the giant's face. "Well, nice'ta meet'ya, Saburo!" He stuck out his enormous hand to shake the small boy's own. "I'm Jetti."

"N—nice to meet ya. . . ." Saburo stammered, at a loss for words.

"Nice'ta meet'ya, too!"

"You already said that," Ulquiorra muttered.

The giant ignored him. "And who'd yer friend be?"

"A—ano. . . ." Saburo threw a glance at his stoic captor, uncertain as to whether he should answer.

"A'ano?" Jetti grinned again and clapped his hands together. "What an unusual name, but a good one nonetheless! After all, no name's a bad'un."

Saburo's eyes widened at the obvious misunderstanding. "N—no! That's not what I—" he started, but his protests went unheard.

"Well, I know a great tavern where ya can stay fer th'night." Jetti continued as he stood, brushing the dust off his black jacket. "The owner's a pers'nal friend o'mine, so I can prob'bly get ya a good deal." He winked and Saburo gulped. "Right this way!" He turned and set off into the over-sized city.

After a moment of hesitation, Ulquiorra followed, still carrying the stuttering Saburo.

"B—but—I—I—" the boy spluttered helplessly. Absently, he wondered how it was possible that Ulquiorra was keeping pace with the far larger Giant despite his obviously shorter step. "H—his names ain't—"

"Boy."

Saburo nearly jumped out of skin at the stoic retort.

Ulquiorra continued without turning his head. "As I stated before, titles do not matter. Therefore, cease in your attempts to explain your folly."

Well, that was sensitive. Nonetheless, the boy's mouth clamped shut. This action, however, did not initiate silence. Instead, it simply allowed both to become aware of Jetti's incessant ramblings about this or that in the enormous civilization.

"An' over 'ere we've the largest fountain in the world. . . ."

Both smaller beings twitched as water was sprayed in their faces.

". . . .an' there's the largest drain pipe. . . ."

Saburo coughed as a dollop of liquidy sludge dumped itself on them.

". . . .an' the largest frisbee. . . ."

The boy yelped as something red and the size and approximate shape of a small ferris wheel whizzed through the air, just feet from his head. In the distance, someone shouted "Worm burner!"

". . . .an' that's—oh, look! The largest albatross!"

Saburo promptly feinted.

~/~/~/~

Ulquiorra felt like stabbing something. First, he'd been sprayed with water. Then, covered with questionable sludge. Next, almost beheaded by a stray, unidentified flying object (he believed humans used the acronym U.F.O). And finally, he had the pleasure of attempting to dodge an abnormally-sized seabird's waste. And if that wasn't enough, the boy had decided to abruptly lose consciousness.

Yes, Ulquiorra definitely wanted to stab something.

"Ya sure yer friends 'lright?"

The Arrancar responded with barely a glance at the passed out Saburo that he towed behind him. "No."

Jetti looked at him with a critical eye. "So. . . .why don't ya check 'im?"

"It is unnecessary."

". . . .why?"

"There is no point."

". . . .why?"

"Because I said so."

". . . .w—"

"Be silent," Ulquiorra commanded.

"H—hai." Despite his comparatively tiny size, the pale man was still quite intimidating. "So. . . .why'd ya come 'ere?" Jetti started, wringing his hands together.

Ulquiorra glanced at him. "I believe we have already resolved this issue. We require nutrition, hydration, and—"

"No, no," the giant interjected. "Not why ya came 'ere, but why ya came 'ere."

"I fail to see the difference."

"Elbaf ain't the place fer ships to be stoppin' at, A'ano, 'specially not pirate ships an'—"

"I am not a pirate."

Jetti paused with a disbelieving look. ". . . .I see. But still, Elbaf ain't the. . . .friendli'st o' places. Yer lucky ya ran into me n' not someone else," he persisted.

"The attitude of the inhabitants does not affect me."

"Well, it should!"

The Arrancar ignored him, not faltering in his step despite the volume of the shout.

Jetti glared, but fell silent.

The pair walked on, Ulquiorra quickening his steps in order to keep pace with the giant and Jetti disregarding the Espada's stoic presence with all his might. Saburo remained unconscious.

Without the constant jabbering of Jetti, Ulquiorra had to admit that the town was rather quiet, even deserted. Other than the enormous Frisbee, he had seen no sign of other inhabitants. It was odd, seeing as the buildings were obviously well-kept and the roads were clear. From what Ulquiorra knew of the culture of the Living, this town was. . . .prime real-estate.

"Wonderin' why ev'rybody's gone?" Jetti commented softly.

The unnaturally pale man glanced at him. "Hai."

Jetti hesitated before answering. "They're all in worship."

Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow. A religious service? Neither Dorry nor Brogy had ever mentioned a spiritual system. Then again, they hadn't mentioned a lot of things. "Hm."

"I'm on patrol duty. Lots git drawn before ev'ry service, 'n I got picked t'day," Jetti continued with a sigh.

Ulquiorra shot a glance at him. Patrol duty? As far as he knew, that phrase normally had a negative connotation.

"'Course, this ain't the first time I've been chos'n. First time I've caught any'un though."

Emerald eyes narrowed. Caught?

"Service should be gettin' out in a few minutes so we should hurry. My house's just 'round the corner."

Ulquiorra stopped in his tracks. "You previously stated that we were going to a tavern," he said, voice dangerously monotone.

Jetti turned to look at him. "Huh? I did? Ya must be mistak'n." He waved one of his hands dismissively. "Don't worry 'bout it, though. I do that sort'a thing all the time." He smiled, revealing a set of yellow, tombstone teeth, and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

The Espada's eyes flashed as he noted the giant's pulse rate climbing. He paused, before consenting with a stiff, "Of course."

"Now right this way." Jetti made a sweeping gesture with his hands, indicating that Ulquiorra may walk ahead.

"Since I am unaware of the location of our destination," Ulquiorra replied shortly, "it would be more suitable that you lead."

Jetti hesitated for just a split second before nodding with a grin and strolling forward.

"Bala."

BOOM!

"GAH!" Jetti collapsed to his knees, clutching the back of his calf in pain as his face twisted. "What the h—"

Ulquiorra cut him off as he appeared in front of kneeling giant. "Your skills of deceit are truly pitiful," he stated as a small black ball began to coalesce before his outstretched index finger. "Ce—"

"DON'T!"

The Arrancar's eyes widened in shock as something grabbed hold of his arm and yanked it away from the direction of the giant.

"—ro."

With an enormous roar, the black and green energy ripped through one of the buildings to the left, incinerating it on contact.

"¿Qué—" Ulquiorra, however, had no time to finish his sentence as an enormous hand swatted him and the thing grappling itself to his arm through the wall of another of the buildings.

CRASH!

The Arrancar coughed slightly as he felt his innards bruise. His lip twisted in a snarl at his own vulnerability. He'd been thrown through steel and stone before and emerged unscathed, but this mortal body couldn't even handle a little wood—he blinked his eyes—but it was not the time to be cursing his own weakness.

BAM!

Ulquiorra flipped himself forwards into the street, hauling the being attached to his arm with him. He glanced down and hissed as he saw Saburo vehemently gripping his bicep. "Release your hold on my arm," he growled.

Saburo promptly ignored his command. "Why are ya attackin' Jetti?" he cried.

Ulquiorra blinked in realization. The boy must have regained consciousness only to see him about to launch a Cero at an injured giant, not realizing the fact that Jetti had been deceiving them. Ulquiorra, however, had no time to deal with the boy's ignorance. "¡Cállate!" he demanded as he sank into a defensive position, eyeing the rapidly approaching Jetti who was now back on his feet with a rather angry look on his face.

Saburo's brow creased in confusion at the unfamiliar word. "Huh?"

The Arrancar gritted his teeth. He continuously forgot the fact that these people were unfamiliar with Spanish. "Shut up!" He dodged to the right as the giant's foot stomped down ferociously at his previous location.

Ulquiorra's mind began to race as he analyzed the situation. His body was weakened and, despite his rigorous training on Little Garden, he still was mostly unaccustomed to its shortcomings.

He dodged again.

If what Jetti had said was correct, the service would be letting out soon, meaning that other giants may come to assist him. Ulquiorra could probably take down Jetti if no one else interfered—after all, the Arrancar was no weakling—but he doubted his ability to defend against multiple attackers, especially attackers of a giant's caliber.

A fist punched the ground beside him.

Therefore he needed to finish this battle quickly and flee.

"Bala."

Jetti roared as the attack hit his ankle.

Taking advantage of the opening, Ulquiorra used sonido to appear behind the enormous being. He once again charged a cero, but the giant recovered in time to knock him backwards with a well-placed punch.

The Espada growled as the reiatsu he had been building up in the cero discharged back into the air.

Saburo screamed as he and Ulquiorra were blown backwards. "Oi,oi! What's goin' on?"

Ulquiorra ignored him as he skidded to the side, balancing his weight on the balls of his heels. "Stay still and don't let go," he commanded.

"H—huh? What are you gonna do?"

With his free arm, the Arrancar gripped the hilt of Murciélago and, with a small tug, unsheathed it. His emerald eyes narrowed, and he shot forward, sword balanced perfectly in his hand.

Jetti raised his hand to block the oncoming attack, but Ulquiorra parried with a quick slash. Without even a moment's hesitation, he sliced downwards, shredding down to the muscle of the giant's arm before flipping backwards to hover in the air. Charging his blade with reiatsu, he began a barrage of rapid strikes and jabs. Jetti growled as he was forced backwards, though he cowered slightly as the attack increased in ferocity.

Almost.

Ulquiorra pulled back his blade for the finishing blow.

BONG!

The Arrancar faltered, just for a moment, but it was enough. Jetti swiped him out of the air with a powerful punch and knocked him to the ground. Ulquiorra's eyes widened as he felt his body hit the ground with a heavy thud. Saburo yelped, detaching from the Espada's arm and rolling several feet before slowing to a halt. A cough welled in the abnormally pale man's chest, but he suppressed it and flipped to his feet. Despite Jetti fierce attacks, Ulquiorra's endurance and power was more than a match for him.

"Oi! Jetti!"

"What's goin' on?"

"Who's tha'guy?"

The Arrancar glanced up and blinked.

But, in his current state, it was almost certain that he could not handle an entire group of giants.

They poured around the corner, faces either twisted in concern for there injured comrade are snarling in anger at the small, pale being that injured him. All were enormous, though their shapes and sizes varied and their visages were all unique.

A few feet away, Saburo groaned in pain, probably having broken something in the fall. His consciousness, however, was not enough to recognize the danger of the approaching horde.

Now, Ulquiorra would never flee if their were any other option, but he was cornered. He could probably escape with a sonido and make it back to the ship before the giants caught up. That was his only choice. He'd have to figure out some way to get nutrition and hydration later. Survival came first.

He grabbed Saburo by the sleeve of his shirt and hauled him up over his shoulder. The boy issued a soft muttering of protests, but his body failed to moved in any way that would threaten Ulquiorra's ability to carry him. The Arrancar paused and began to gather reiatsu in his feet. The giants were still far away. He could make it back to the—

BANG!

~/~/~/~

A man stood on top of a small, crescent shaped raft, face shaded by the brim of his orange hat as he looked down at the wreckage floating in the current. His chest was bare and an enormous skull and cross bones symbol was tattooed across his back. He pressed the corners of his lips tightly together.

"H—help!"

The man's head shot up at the faint call, revealing a freckled face framed by unruly black hair. "Oi!" he shouted, scanning the water for the speaker as he tensed his muscles. "Where are you?"

Splash!

He whipped his head around and his eyes landed on a patch of frothing water, but, instead of diving in to save the drowning person as most people would've, the man simply sailed over, flames issuing from his feet to power the raft. He reached down and grabbed onto the first thing he could touch, which happened to be the terrified man's shirt. With a grunt, he heaved the victim onto his raft.

"Oi!" The freckled man lightly slapped the victim's face in an effort to elicit a response. "You alive?"

"H—hai!" The newly-rescued man struggled to sit up as he coughed and wretched, pounding his chest to clear it of water. "A—arigato. I thought I was a goner. I don't wanna think 'bout what would've happened if you hadn't shown—ah!" The man jumped in shock as his eyes landed on the face of his rescuer. "C—commander Ace!"

Portgas D. Ace ignored the man's obviously stricken look. "What's your name?" he pressed. This was no time for fun and games.

The man swallowed loudly. "Y—yaza, sir!"

"Well, Yaza," Ace continued, "Tell me what happened here."

"W—well, ya see, we were goin' to confront Feather Hat like we were ordered to," Yaza stuttered, "b—but there was somebody else on the ship." He paused.

Ace's eyes narrowed. "Who was it?"

Yaza nervously rubbed his hands together. "H—he said his name was. . . .was. . . ."

"Well?" He didn't have time for this!

"A—ah, Urulkiorra Schiffer!" Yaza yelped. Or something of the like. . . .

Urulkiorra Schiffer, eh?

Yaza cringed as a growl welled in Ace's throat.

"Well," Ace pulled the cowering man to his feet. "We'd better be on our way. I'll drop you off at the next island and another ship will come by to pick you up."

"W—why can't I stick with ya?" Yaza asked nervously, having no desire to be left alone.

Ace's visage darkened. "I need to settle this, and I can't have anyone slowing me down."

~/~/~/~

Japanese Dictionary:

Kami – god/deity

Hai – yes

Arigato – thank you

Spanish Dictionary:

¡Cállate! – shut up!

Uno: Yes, Ulquiorra is showing a large amount of emotion at the beginning of this chapter, most notably annoyance and frustration, but this is to be expected. He escaped from Little Garden only to land on an island with even more giants, a race which he despises due to his experiences with Dorry and Brogy.

Dos: Jetti is far friendlier to Ulquiorra and Saburo at their first meeting for several reasons. Firstly, he wants to invite them in. He can't let them escape or the consequences to himself would be very bad should someone find out. Secondly, he is on the outskirts of the village, so he does not have to deal with the reality that he is basically leading Ulquiorra and Saburo into a trap. Thirdly, he would probably still be very friendly towards them if the circumstances were different. He is not cruel and does not really want to hurt the pair, but he can't avoid it. As such, he becomes more and more nervous until Ulquiorra notices and takes action against him.

Tres: During the scene where Jetti points out several of the world's "largest" things, a Frisbee is thrown and someone shouts "worm burner". This is merely for comedic effect. Most of the giants are in worship and are not playing Frisbee. If you truly wanted an explanation, the explanation would be that other giants are out on patrol and are secretly shirking their responsibilities.

Cuatro: Also relating to the "largest" scene—the entire scene is for comedic effect. I believe I may have gone overboard, but I do not have the time to rewrite it. Also, I wanted to emphasize the fact that Elbaf is a very inhospitable place for a "little person." Not only the people are unfriendly, but the environment is as well.

Cinco: Yes, the boy's name is Saburo. He is an OC, and Ulquiorra's crew will mostly, if not completely, consist of OCs. I do not feel that I could take other characters from the series and adapt them into the environment of Ulquiorra's crew. However, I will try my best to flesh out and develop realistic OCs with personalities and motivations and fears, and no Mary-Sues.

Seis: Saburo reveals his name to Jetti because he wants to avoid violence. He realizes that giants are extremely strong and he does not want to anger one. Ulquiorra won't tell Jetti his name, so Saburo offers his instead.

Siete: Jetti stresses the importance of names for a specific reason. I do not want to give away this reason, but it will be revealed in the next chapter.

Ocho: The giants' worship will also be revealed next chapter. It will play a big role in this story arc.

Nueve: Ulquiorra is still very weak compared to his old body. He does not know the limitations or how to use his new body, which makes him even more vulnerable. Also, Jetti is very powerful, as all giants are. Even Ulquiorra cannot take them out easily.

Diez: Ace has been introduced and is now on Ulquiorra's trail, despite his and Yaza's slightly bad spelling. Yaza will point him in the direction of Elbaf and Ace will pursue the Arrancar, though they will not meet until after Ulquiorra leaves the island.