Neither One Piece nor Naruto are owned by me. They belong to Eiichiro Oda and Masashi Kishimoto respectively.
XxX
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the man who will bring peace" Naruto said confidently.
The man's grin stretched impossibly wide, "Interesting, I believe we may have something in common Uzumaki-san. I have a proposition for you. Interested?"
-And with another flash of lightning, they both disappeared.
XxX
The man was fast, as fast as 'A' though he didn't have anything on Naruto. They appeared on a nearby cliff under a large oak tree, safe from the rains.
"So, why do you have a proposition for me?" Naruto asked.
"Well I believe that a man with your morals would find what we do interesting. You see my spies have reported to me of your feats. You singlehandedly defeated a notorious pirate and destroyed his base all for what? Because you believed that what he was doing was atrocious. We heard you did the same to another pirate called Buggy. We have need of people with moral compasses like yours." Dragon told him, his grin never leaving the face.
"Well I didn't do it just because of my views towards the world, I did it for my friend too, and she needed it." Naruto told him, "What do you do anyways?" he further asked.
"I am the part of an organization that seeks to overthrow the World Government." He simply said as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Huh?! And you expect me to help you. Take away the only semblance of peace this world might have. Why would I do that?" Naruto asked sceptically.
"You could help me, if not now then in future. When you will see the true face of the World government, you will help us." He said cryptically yet again.
"Wait, what do you mean true face of the World Government? And stop talking so cryptically, Explain to me what you mean and I might just help you." Naruto sort of commanded him.
Dragon was taken aback by this tone, that tone was that of an experienced leader and made him want to comply with him, but he held his ground
"Tell me what you know about the World Government." He asked him
"Hmm…well they are the government that keeps peace of the world. They help keep law and order I guess." Naruto said as putting a hand under his chin
"So naïve, so innocent. Once I was the same, believed the world to be black and white. Believed the marines were good, the world government our ally. Then I came out of my little shell that I had created. Saw the injustice done to people by World Government, saw its ignorance to anything not affecting their image. Saw them on Baterilla trying to kill an innocent unborn baby just because his father was a pirate. They massacred a whole island just because a group was researching their past. Destroyed the whole island, only one soul managed to escape and she was an eight year old kid. They made her life a living hell, what more do you need to know about the world government's atrocities against the innocent?" Dragon finished talking.
For a full minute there was silence, Naruto was mulling over the things he heard, then he spoke
"Well, all that sounds bad but as you said, the world isn't all black and white." Giving Dragon a stern look he criticized, "Look, I don't know you. Perhaps you will be correct about the world government being corrupt. But I sense you're no saint either."
Continuing he divulged,
"Back where I came from, there was an organization whose goal was world domination but even then, some people were there just because they were misled, hell the whole organization existed because someone twisted its goal of peace into that of world domination. So what I am saying is I'm not ready to accept an organization as evil just because you say so. I'll see for myself how bad it really is and then decide whether to help you or find my own path." Naruto finished talking.
"Hmm…so be it. See for yourself but marks my words that you should come to me when you realize how misguide your attempt was." He said matter of factly as lightning flashed ominously behind him darkening his face
"Fine, I will. I'll see what happens as I journey these oceans, who knows perhaps you'll be right, in every organisation there is darkness after all, and I know that from experience." Naruto sighed.
"What do you mean you know from experience? Where exactly are you from? What is this organization you keep talking about? Why do I not know about it?" Dragon blurted.
Monkey D. Dragon was a calm and patient man, but this boy in front of him was an enigma. HE came out of nowhere one day and was now acting like a war veteran. He had the aura of a leader and a commander was only a kid. All this things combined made him loose his cool, what was this organization he was talking about?
"It's doesn't concern you, not yet" Naruto concluded.
"Now, the question that remains is how you will get into contact with us, if your travels lead you to the same answer as the one I have reached, then you'll need a way to reach us. How will you do that?
"I know!" he said as he rummaged under his cloak, he pulled out a tri-pronged kunai out of his pocket. "Keep this somewhere in your base, safe and don't scratch those seals. Basically don't try to have it analysed, you would regret it. It will allow me to get to you quite quickly." Naruto told him.
"Ohk" he said sceptically but kept it nevertheless.
"So what's the plan now kid?" Dragon asked Naruto.
"I am thinking of joining the marines, I've already seen one side of the world with pirates, might as well do some of that with marines. I'm thinking of joining that smoky marine's group. Let's hope he didn't see me give Luffy the thumbs-up."
"Well, all the best. You chose quite a nice captain though. From what I hear Smoker is a good man, has his own sense of justice, in a good way I must say." Dragon told him as he picked his ear.
"Well, from what I saw he was unlike any other marines I saw. Mind you I've only seen one marine and he was quite corrupt." Naruto said solemnly.
"Well Kozo, I must go. It was nice talking with you, I'm looking forward to working with you in future." And he disappeared with the next flash of lightning. Naruto didn't gave him chase this time.
He went back to the town, the storm was receding.
Citizens of the city were doing their best to overcome the damage the storm had caused. You could see people helping other people. A little kid crying because he couldn't find his parents and then a woman consoling him. Another man giving the kid some fruits from his fruit stand. A few other people helping a man trapped under a collapsed roof. Naruto went over there to help them, mustering their strength, they managed to lift the roof enough for the man to escape. Naruto could've done it singlehandedly but he didn't want to attract attention.
He saw a woman searching for something on the floor, glasses they were. He picked them up and went over to her, "Here." He handed them to her. She was wearing a colourful shirt with a waist length blue leather coat.
"Thanks, thanks for helping me." She made her gratitude known
"'Twas nothing, fair lady." Naruto said chivalrously which was very unlike him.
She giggled at his, Kami knew what was with people with glasses finding his jokes funny?
'I'm Tashigi" she curtsied and said, playing along with his joke.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, man who wants to join the fair knights of the sea." Naruto continued
"Oh, you want to join the marines?!"
"Yeah, I was thinking of joining them but I don't know where to start. By any chance do you know where I can join them?" Naruto asked
"Well you're in luck, I'm the master chief petty officer of the base here." Tashigi said proudly.
"Wow! That sounds pettily important position."
"Well, it's the thirteenth highest rank in marines. It's pretty boring here though, but I heard Smoker-taichou say that we are sailing to grand line in a few days' time." She told him.
"Sooo….what do I have to do to join marines, I don't want some boring position like chore boy or something." Naruto told her.
"There will be a physical fitness test and if you pass, you can take a combat test after which captain will determine your position. Don't worry I'll put in a good word for you though I doubt he will be partial towards you." Tashigi gave him the information.
"Oh I see, so when can I take the test?" he asked
"It's quite late now so tomorrow morning would be best, meet me here again tomorrow at nine and I'll take you to the office." She said.
"Thanks Tashigi-san"
"It's the least I could do for helping me in this storm."
XxX
Naruto had met Tashigi the next day and passed both the tests with flying colours. After an additional aptitude test, Naruto had been given the position of Chief Petty Officer under the command of Tashigi and Smoker. Tashigi and Smoker and a few other marines were to set sail for grand line in a day's time. Since Naruto was a new recruit, he wasn't allowed in grand line until they deemed him ready enough to face the perils of grand line.
Naruto had been given a uniform but he chose to wear his own clothes with the sage coat with marine cap on his head.
He was bored for the day and would be until they set sail. Looking for something fun to do, he went to explore the island.
His marine cap gave him recognition everywhere he went, people would smile at him and little kids would wave at him. This felt nice, it reminded him of how people would treat him back home.
He was walking through the seedier part of town when he heard what sounded like a little girl screaming.
Naruto immediately followed after the voice, there were two gruff looking men dragging a blonde little girl into a nearby warehouse.
"Unhand me you filth, when papa finds out about this he will kill you."
"Stop acting like an Ojou-sama brat, we are doing this because your father captured our friend. We will have our revenge." The man with a cross shaped scar on his chin said.
"Hey! Leave the girl alone." Naruto shouted at them.
Noticing him the two men visibly stiffened. Turning back to look at him, they relaxed. It's only one marine they thought. He wouldn't be a match for them, after all they had bounties of 13 and 14 million respectively, and oh how wrong they were.
Taking out a knife and placing it against the girl's throat, they warned him, "Marine, don't come any closer. We'll spill her blood if you do."
Naruto backed down a little, then the one with blue hair asked the scarred man, "What if he calls for backup? We should deal with him before that."
"You're right deal with him." The scarred man told his partner.
"Why should I do sully my hands with a measly marine, you deal with him. I'll take good care of the brat." He said emphasizing good.
Whilst they were fighting amongst them, Naruto had approached them. Within the span of time it took for both of them to blink, they were on the ground, knocked out on the ground courtesy of Naruto's fists meeting their guts with force.
The little girl had been on the verge of crying after the pirate pulled out knife was looking at Naruto with amazement.
"You okay little girl?" he asked her. Truth be told she looked like one of the Ojou-samas he had the luck of escorting. She was blonde with blue eyes, she had a dark green ribbon on top of her head and was wearing a light green dress.
"What's your name?" Tried asking her to calm her down because she was in hysterics.
"Look I might not look like it but I'm a marine, so it's okay to tell me your name."
"Ca-carol, its Carol." she mumbled.
"I want my papa!" she demanded from him taking a 180 degree turn changing her demeanour
After scratching the back of his head unsurely about regarding what protocol dictated he decided to look for her papa.
"Hai-hai, we'll look for your papa but first let's report these men responsible for kidnapping you back to the base, then we'll look for your papa. Okay?" Naruto asked gently.
"Okay" she agreeing chirping.
He held out his hand to her which she grabbed, and they walked hand in hand. They almost passed for siblings if not for Naruto's one raven coloured eye. He even got her an ice-cream
"So do you have any idea why they kidnapped you?" Naruto inquired.
"I don't know, I guess papa captured their friend and they wanted revenge because of that." She confessed.
"Is your dad a marine too?" Naruto queried.
"No, well papa was a marine sniper before but he left. Now he is a bounty hunter."
"What were you doing when they took you?" Naruto asked as he looked around.
"I was looking for goggles for papa, since papa gave the one I picked for him before to a long-nosed pirate boy."
"Oh, by any chance his name was Usopp?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Yes! How did you know?" She asked surprised.
"Well he is my friend you see-" that's when Naruto realised his blunder. He had just admitted that a pirate was his friend. Before he could think of anything, Carol asked.
"But aren't you a marine? How can you be friend with a pirate?"
"Well before I decided to be a marine, I met them and we had adventures together. So that's how he became my friend. Could you do me a favour? Can you not tell anyone about this? I could probably get in trouble for having a pirate friend." Naruto asked of her
"Sure, you saved me so that's the least I can do, right?" Carol assured him
As they were walking towards marine base, he was spotted by Tashigi.
Coming over to them, she spotted Carol and was confused. Why was Naruto holding a kids hand while she was eating ice cream?
"Hey Naruto, who is she? Your sister?" Tashigi asked.
He laughed and replied "No Tashigi-san, she was being kidnapped by pirates and I walked in on them so I helped her out. By the way could you send some marines to get the two pirates I tied up there, they are at the warehouse buy east coast."
"Su-sure" said unsurely, pulling out a mini Den-Den Mushi from her pocket she asked some marines to take care of them.
"Where are you taking her Naruto?" she asked.
"Well now that I've reported those men, I guess I'll help her look for her father." He told her.
"Can I help, I just finished my packing for tomorrow's journey." She offered.
"Sure, the more the merrier I guess." He said.
As they were walking around, Naruto asked her fathers' name.
"Edward, papa's name is Edward Masterson." She said as she licked her ice cream.
"Masterson…..where have I heard that." She mumbled.
"You know of her father?" Naruto asked.
"No…but I've heard that name somewhere.
It was afternoon now and all of them were famished so they chose to eat in a nearby café, it was the same chain of cafés Naruto and Nami had eaten at.
An old lady waitress came by to take their order. Her hair were grey but she looked beautiful in a mature way.
"What would be your orders?"
"I'll have a two sandwiches and a tea." Naruto gave his order.
"I'll have one of those, she said pointing at the board cut out for special in-house burger" Carol said politely.
"I'll have the same a Naruto but only one sandwich." Tashigi ordered.
"I'll have it here in a moment" the waitress told them as she moved towards the kitchen.
"So Tashigi-san, aren't you excited about going to grand line? " Naruto asked her
"Yes I am. I want to go to Wano Kuni. It's the land of swordsmen I want to see how they live. I'm so excited." She squealed like a little kid in a candy shop.
"So you're a swordswoman?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Yes, I aim to be the best and my dream is to collect all the Meito (named swords) from people who would use them for selfish purposes." She fiercely said, determination shining within her eyes.
"Oh! You have my support then, not many woman dream so big nowadays. I too have a friend who aims to be the best swordsman alive. I think you two would hit it off." Naruto told her.
Tashigi didn't know how she felt about Naruto now, well she was grateful to him for helping her during the storm, she thought of him as a Good Samaritan. But now he said he would support her, aside from Smoker-taichou, not many people said that to her. Mostly they looked down upon her for being a swordswoman. Now maybe she could see him as a friend, a friend that she won't have time to spend with as she was going away to grand line she realized
"Oh…what's his name? Your swordsman friend's I mean." She asked curious
"Oh his name is Zo- I mean Gekko, Hayate Gekko. "He said successfully saving himself. 'Safe!' thought Naruto.
"Here you are." The waitress who had returned with the orders said to them.
"Thanks" all three of them thanked her
Naruto was drinking his tea when the waitress said, "Such a nice family you are. Most costumers are rude here."
Naruto spitted out the tea while Tashigi choked on it they were drinking, blubbering, "N-no, w-we are not a fami-family." Naruto told the waitress while Tashigi nodded feverously.
"Oh!" she the lady as she held her hand over her mouth, "Not yet married and already a daughter. My! How scandalous. Ah! young love."
Naruto who had calmed down again started blubbering, "We're not…She's not….we're not like that. We are looking for her father, she's lost." He said hoping she would stop making the situation any worse while Tashigi once again nervously nodded.
"I know that silly, I know Carol. She always comes here with her father and always orders the same. I was just teasing you young'uns." She laughed beautifully.
"Oh! You know her father then?!" Tashigi perked up.
"Yes her father's a pretty big shot bounty hunter, Daddy Masterson."
"Crap! How could I not connect the dots?!" she said to herself aloud.
Grabbing Carol by her hand, she dragged her out. Naruto quickly paid from his pocket and went after them he had asked for an advance from the officer-in-charge because frankly he was broke.
Jogging to their side, Naruto asked her "What happened Tashigi-chan, why did you leave in such a hurry?" calling her chan for the first time
"I just remembered where I had her last name before. She's HIS daughter, the famed sniper Daddy Masterson. He was with Smoker-taichou asking for help regarding his missing daughter. I didn't think this girl would be her. Come on, let's get her to the base quickly." She told him.
"Okay."
XxX
They reached the marine base and there was Daddy Masterson just about to rip into a marine for not being able to find his daughter when he heard a voice he longed for,
"Papa!" she went running towards him
"Carol!" He picked her up and hugged her as she reached him.
"Oh Carol! Where were you making papa worry so much"
"Papa some bad guys took me and then that marine beat them and helped me. We were looking for you papa" Carl said pointing towards Naruto
Noticing Naruto he walked towards Naruto and grabbed his hands feverishly and, "You saved my daughter. How can I ever repay you?!"
Getting his hands out of his grasp, Naruto said to him, "Please sir, I did what any good marine would do. No need to thank me for that."
"You're humble, I like that." He said as he bear hugged Naruto.
Smoker was watching this from the side-lines. He had been curious about the new recruit Tashigi had brought in. He passed the two tests and the additional aptitude test with flying colours. He could've been given the Ensign position if not for his lack of experience.
Now he had helped his personal friend and surprise surprise, he defeated two pirates with a combined bounty of 27 million Beli singlehandedly. And he wasn't even boasting about that fact, on the contrary, he was quite humble. Just how perfect could this boy be? He thought.
XxX
Naruto was ready to sleep in now, his day had been interesting. He had potentially saved a girl's life and probably made and friend here.
He was on the line separating the land of consciousness and blissful dream world when there came a sharp knock on his door. He was in the marine's dorm room so who would disturb him now?!
It was Tashigi knocking on the door, "What is it Tashigi-san, why are you here this late at night?"'
She was panting, seemed like she ran all the way here.
"It….it was Smoker-taichou, he…he said to pack your belongings. You're coming with us" she said the last part with excitement.
Tashigi was excited because she had finally found a friend who she could actually spend time with. You see, ever since she was a child, she wanted to be a swordswoman but most people laughed at her dream. Her girl-friends started avoiding her saying if she wanted to do a boy's job then she should play with boys. It didn't help that she was quite a reserved and shy girl.
She had once tried to go to the boys group because she didn't want to play by herself. They only made fun of her for her dreams. She had lost her friends just like that. Then her father left her mother for a life of piracy, that's why she hated pirates so much. Her only living relative, her mother wanted her to grow up to be good looking so she could get a rich husband but Tashigi wanted nothing to do with men. She thought all men to be like her father, fickle and fake.
She ran away from home and joined the Marine Corps as a chore girl, she was fifteen then, almost a woman grown.
The lieutenant-commander of the base was a kind man, he saw her skill in kenjutsu when she was practicing with a broom. He offered to teach her some as he was an apprentice swordsman back in the days.
From then on she improved by leaps and bounds, after two years of training, she was noticed by Smoker who took her on as his protégé. There, her view towards men changed drastically, men didn't laugh at her dreams though if that was because of her skills or Smoker, she didn't know but she liked to believe it was because of her skills. Though people still laughed at her behind her back for being clumsy, they didn't dare say anything to her face because of fear of Smoker-taichou.
They didn't befriend her because they feared Smoker, so she lived mostly alone here. With no on to listen to her aside from Smoker-taichou and he wasn't too keen on every day talks with her either.
Now, she didn't know if Naruto was her friend at all, for all she knew he had helped her because of her position in marines and wanted to benefit from it, maybe he was just like all the other people. Laughing behind her back at her clumsiness, looking down upon her, but she couldn't help but hope that she was wrong because when he had said that he would support her, he said it with such a sincerity that she couldn't help but believe him.
"Really!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Really, now pack your bags, we leave tomorrow morning at six." She informed him.
"Bu-but why me? I'm just a new recruit." Naruto inquired
"Well it turns out the men you defeated had a combined bounties of 27 million Beli. Smoker-taichou thought that gave you enough experience to deal with the obstacles we might face in grand line. Aren't you excited?!"
"Well yeah, I am truly. Thanks for telling me Tashigi-chan." He voiced his excitement, this was the second time he called her –chan, seemed like his old teenage persona bled through his wise exterior when he was happy.
Tashigi noticed this slip. He would always refer to her as –san politely, but now he called her 'Tashigi-chan'. Could this be how friends referred to each other, she never knew. Anyways she was happy at being called in a sincere friendly manner even though he was her subordinate.
"I'll leave you to your musings now." She said with a smile.
Tashigi left him and he was forced to think about his power level. He had lost his edge after so many years of no combat. He couldn't control his power levels with ease as he could in olden days. He needed a solution because he meant to remain inconspicuous.
So Naruto reached a solution, he would supress his powers forcefully. He drew a seal that would do his work for him, he had gotten the supplies after his induction into marines.
He applied the paper on the back of his headband that he fished out of his sage coat. I should thank Ma for sewing the extra hidden pockets he thought. The seal was a complex array which took most of the space of the back of the headband. He wore the Hitai-ate on his fore head and wore the marine cap sideways so he could proudly wear his protector.
He had stopped wearing the protector when he left Leaf to live as a hopeless wanderer but now he was in another world, here no one would mind plus he needed something to remember his home.
He couldn't sleep that day and he only realized it was time to leave because Tashigi knocked on his door.
"Grand Line, here I come."
XxX
Please don't kill me for depowering Naruto. It's not like he lost his power for good, anytime he wants he can remove the Hitai-ate and be back to his old God Mode self plus I'm thinking of bringing Kurama back. But he will only do that if he feels like he is in a pinch.
I MUST SAY, TASHIGI AND KUINA ARE NOT ONE AND THE SAME PEOPLE IN THIS STORY. EVEN THOUGH I BELIEVE IN THE THEORY THAT THEY ARE PROBABLY ONE AND THE SAME. THEY ARE NOT IN THIS STORY. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Anyways I gave Tashigi a sad backstory so you can consider this story slightly AU. She has lived a mostly introverted lifestyle so she doesn't have much friends and she is quite reserved. I don't want myself to get my hands on Tashigi because I feel like she belongs with Zoro just as Boa Hancock belongs with Luffy. But I don't know because as I write I feel the compulsion to add her to Naruto's ever-growing list of love interests. What do you guys think? Should she just cherish him as a really good friend or perhaps as something more?! Leave your answers in the reviews or PM me. But add some reasons as to why you want her in the possible harem and I'll try my best to write her without making her loose her personality.
Have a nice day you guys.
