I do not own Naruto or One Piece.

XxX

Gadou was a man who had seen death; he was with the marines before he retired; he was the executioner of the marines; and he was the one who, along with his partner, executed Gol D. Roger in Logue Town. He later left the marine force to take care of his ailing father in Alabasta. His father didn't make it, but he left Gadou his shop in his will. Just like that, Gadou took over the family business and started living in Alabasta. After a number of years, he moved to a town called Yuba where his old friend Toto was mayor. Toto and his son, Kohza had helped build the city.

Yuba was an oasis town; a rest stop for weary travelers. But three years back, a drought started and there was no rain to replenish the oasis. Soon the town was deserted with only his friend Toto staying there to dig up the lost water. After the news that King Cobra had used dance powder came out, Gadou was justifiably enraged. In his fit of rage Gadou joined the Rebel force led by Toto's son, Kohza. They set up shop in Yuba, but had to move to Katorea later on as the supplies were dwindling. Gadou was named Second in command of the rebel army because Kohza and the others trusted him.

The rebels were unsure about attacking Alubarna and dethroning the king. The morning the king visited Katorea, kicked a child, and proceeded to boast about using dance powder in Alubarna was the last straw for Gadou. He spoke with Kohza and insisted that they attack the city to show the king they were serious. His insistence left them riding towards the city. He was in the front along with Kohza when they spotted the flag of peace raised. Kohza signaled for the rebels to stop. Gadou insisted that they ride in and take the city while they had the chance, but a few stern words from Kohza were enough to shut him up.

Gadou spotted the princess just as they were slowing down. She was trying to stop them by pleading to her friendship with Kohza, but thankfully for Gadou's plan Kohza hadn't spotted her.

As they were slowing down a cannon shell was fired at them. It landed among the rebel forces, followed by two more in close succession. There were no more shells fired after that, but stopping the firing wasn't enough as the rebels were again moving towards the city. A sandstorm kicked up and they lost visibility. Gadou rode on ahead of everybody, intending on riding princess down but…he didn't know if he was hallucinating, but she disappeared in a yellow flash. No matter, she would die when they took the city, he would make sure of that.

As they rode into the city, they were met with resistance in the form of royal guards and the marines. Why the marines were here?

The royal guards were a hassle to deal with and the marines they came along were very few.

The marine who was attacking him was generic looking, an average marine. He shouldn't be a problem thought Gadou. But before he could even make a move the marine disappeared. After that all he saw was black as he slumped to the ground.

XxX

'Time to end this' he grimly thought.

Naruto quickly made hundreds of clones and mentally gave them a command to transform into a marine. All of them chose the same look and thus they now had hundreds of clones that looked like clones of a generic-looking marine.

As if a button had been pressed, all the marines went to battlefronts to inform the royal guards to defend the city.

In his Kurama Chakra mode, he sensed malice coming from a large portion of rebel army, as well as from a portion of royal guards. If he didn't tell the royal guards to defend the city then they would get slaughtered and the city would be pillaged. A major portion of rebels weren't here to dethrone the king; they were here to kill him. The man who had been riding ahead had seen Vivi and was aiming to kill her.

The clones that had been sent to inform the guards would then take part in the fights, and the majority of them would go towards the palace.

Half of the rebel army and some undercover Baroque Works agents in the royal army were knocked out with the help of Naruto's clones.

It was then that his first clone popped, and then various others in succession. It was Crocodile; they were trying to fight and none of the attacks were working on him. They couldn't use water ninjutsu as the air was arid. He saw glimpses of Luffy from various angles and a woman in purple clothing with a cowboy hat leaving the palace with King Cobra in tow, captured. So many clones bursting at once made him slow down, even though he was commanding his body to move fast.

The latest bit of memory feedback told him that the clones had managed to corner the woman when hands sprouted from the clone's shoulder blades and snapped his necks. The only clones that were not dying were the ones fighting the rebels; they were quite weak. At least one hundred of his clones had died at the hands of Crocodile. It couldn't be helped; he would have to beat Crocodile himself, whatever it took. The last flash of memory he got was of Luffy lying down on the ground mummified after his last attack had been dodged. Naruto quickened his pace towards the palace grounds, he wasn't worried about Cobra much because whoever that woman was, she had no evil intentions. He felt like he should know her…. maybe one of his clones had seen her somewhere in Alabasta before. Idiot.

He arrived at the palace grounds to find Luffy, he was fine except for a few scratches here and there; it was odd but a good thing. Luffy spotted him, ran towards Naruto and asked,

"Naruto! You saw where Crocodile went? I have to beat him."

"Let me do that Luffy, you nearly died at his hands…I think." Naruto told him

"No, I promised Vivi that I would defeat him, point me where he went." Luffy told him very passionately.

"You sure? If you can't this time, I will." Naruto said.

"Just point, I won't lose this time" Luffy said.

So Naruto pointed him in the last seen direction of Crocodile.

Naruto was leaving the palace by roof-hopping when his enhanced senses heard gun shot. This was bad because up till now they had been fighting with clubs and swords but now…now a guard had shot someone even though his clones had specifically stated not to kill, only incapacitate.

He quickly zeroed in on the guard who had fired. The guard had a manic grin on his face, and the one who had been shot was a kneeling Kohza, who had his hands up.

Naruto understood the situation and was enraged. Kohza had surrendered, and yet he had been shot. He saw the other guards preparing to shoot Kohza and reacted. He got in front of Kohza and in an instant the guards were down on the ground, a few bleeding from their noses. All of them sported the Baroque Works symbol on their left arms.

But the damage was done, the rebels who had stopped fighting when Kohza had surrendered were screaming bloody murder. They went berserk at seeing their leader shot for surrendering and started attacking royal guards with the intent to kill.

Naruto felt helpless at that moment. It was his duty to help people as a sage, and it was his duty as a marine too. He had seen needless bloodshed in the previous war for the sake of one man's ambition. This was same; people were being killed because one man wanted a throne. He didn't want this; he didn't want people to get slaughtered needlessly. He now realized it would be hard to bring peace to such a world; he had it easy back home. But that didn't mean he would back down; he wouldn't give up. His will to stop all the people from needlessly killing others manifested. He felt a strong force within his head, expanding and he allowed it, he didn't resist it. It culminated into a wave of will force that spread throughout the city with him at the center; as it travelled people started dropping down like flies, it didn't differentiate between a good-hearted person or evil, you would get knocked out either way.

XxX

Tashigi and Smoker were leading the remaining forces from Rainbase to Alubarna to provide backup to Naruto, but they got a call from Marine Headquarters and were ordered to go back to G-3 base. Smoker protested but was told that he would be dismissed from marines if he didn't obey. He reluctantly went back to the ship, but not before relinquishing command to Tashigi and telling her to do whatever was necessary. He asked marines if anyone would volunteer to back Naruto up. Almost all of them raised their hands up, but Smoker only chose formidable marines and put them under Tashigi's command as he wasn't going to allow so many marines to lose their job because they did what they felt right.

So now Tashigi was at the gates of Alubarna, where they had been hijacked by the rebels. Just as she was going to order her marines to incapacitate the rebels, a generic-looking marine arrived and did their job for them.

"Tashigi-chan, what took you guys so long? The rebels are fighting and boss is helping in any way he can," the marine told her.

Tashigi was taken aback by this. Only Naruto called her Tashigi-chan, so why was this marine being so familiar? And was the person he was calling boss Naruto?

"Lead me to Naruto, and tell me about the situation here on the way."

"The rebels invaded after some Baroque Works members inside the rebel army shot at them. Right now boss is holding them down and succeeding. He asked me to tell you that the king has been captured and you should look for hi-" in mid-sentence the marine disappeared in a puff of smoke, which was surprising because normal humans didn't disappear in puffs of smoke. Just then a really strong force hit them; the pressure was indescribable really. Her mind was resisting it as much as it could, but the result was that she was sweating profusely and could feel her legs shake, after a moment it was too much for her too handle and she slipped into blissful unconsciousness. The marines didn't fare well either and dropped down seemingly knocked out.

XxX

Nico Robin had been running for her life since she was eight years old. She couldn't stay in one place for more than a given time; always on the run, always looking behind her back. Truth be told she was ready to die that time the Chesskippa pirates had caught up to her, but then… then HE came and he saved her. She was saved by someone. She, who was hated by everyone, who was chased out of stores and houses once they knew her name; she was saved by him and she had been sure he would leave her too once he knew her name but no, he didn't desert her. He came by again, she wasn't even sure if he was human, not with the feats he was capable of. Sometimes she liked to think that God had sent her an angel to protect her; after all, he had appeared from the sky and disappeared into it the first time she met him. He himself told her that he would protect her.

He had given her a weapon; kunai it was called. He had told her to keep it on her forever, that it would bring him to her when she was in trouble, that he would protect her.

Had she done something wrong?! Had she made him angry? She didn't know what she had done wrong so that he wouldn't visit her after that. She had been in trouble so many times and was beaten by people for who she was, but she never lost hope. It dwindled down to a flickering flame, but she never lost it. That was, until 'that' happened. She lost all hope after 'that,' she didn't even want to see his face…. that LIAR!

But somewhere in the depths of her mind, that little girl still lived, the one that hoped, the one that was saved, the one that believed; but she was so deep within her that she didn't even know of her existence. But maybe a part, however tiny it might be, wanted him to come; maybe it was unintentional, but she still kept the kunai on her. She didn't want to lose that memory after all, but that wouldn't stop her from killing him for giving her false hope.

Now she was walking with a MAN, even touching him with her devil fruit ability made her skin crawl, but she endured; she needed to-to find the truth. She detested working with Crocodile, he was the worst kind of 'man,' but he was a means to an end. The king was leading her to the Tomb of Kings, to the poneglyph, to the truth.

The force that attacked them both mentally and physically hit them when the stairs leading down to the chamber appeared. Her will to decipher the poneglyph was greater than the force and enabled her to continue, but not without any side-effects. She was finding it hard to keep walking and fell down the stairs, taking the king along with her. They were both alright, just a few bumps and bruises. The king was sweating and shaking, but he led her towards the poneglyph nevertheless.

That was when Crocodile arrived and asked her to read out loud the location of the weapon, Pluton. She told him that the poneglyph said the history of the kingdoms and not the location of the weapon.

Crocodile, who had suspected this treachery from before, attacked her with a sand arm that was protruding from his left hand. That was when the pirate boy arrived and beat Crocodile after a long, arduous fight, hitting him through the bedrock that held the tomb even though he was poisoned.

The effects of that strong wave were still acting on her body, leaving her a trembling mess. She somehow passed the antidote to the king and he administered it to the pirate boy. What was the use of that, she thought. They were going to die anyways because the roof was going to collapse.

It was at that moment that she realized that she would die alone there, no one would save a villain like her. She clutched the kunai inside her coat pocket, and thought that maybe now she could meet her angel. How ironic it was that she, who had been running for her life for all those years, was now welcoming her death. She closed her eyes, seemingly accepting the end, but she felt someone trying to lift her up. It was the pirate boy; he was straining just to carry the king but he was trying to save her too.

'NO! Let me die, let me meet him,' she wanted to scream but the base human part that wants to live overwhelmed her thoughts. Now she was just thankful for being saved, even if the odds were that all three of them would die here.

The boy somehow managed to get them out before the tomb fell upon itself. It was raining now, and people were waking up from their slumber. Now was the time to make her escape. She left without turning back.

XxX

After the explosion of the willforce happened, most of the people were knocked out and those who weren't were in no position to fight. Vivi was one of the few left standing, for her will to save her country overcame the power of willforce. She managed to stay standing by taking support of Naruto.

Naruto couldn't describe the feeling that came over him, it was like killing intent but so….so…pure? It didn't have any malicious intent in it like killing intent did. It was just pure force that exploded out of his head. He had a severe headache as if a ship had been smashed into his head, when the explosion of willforce happened all his clones popped, and the memory feedback of hundreds of clones was a bitch. He tried to emit it again but only succeeded in looking constipated. Then he felt Vivi and asked her what happened.

It was then that Vivi managed to tell him about the bomb. He started his search for it along with the remaining Straw-Hats, at least those who were left standing like Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper. The Straw-Hats search was turning up nothing and that moment Naruto decided to use his speed to speed search the city. He donned his telltale golden cloak again and blitz-searched the city. It was near the clock tower that he felt the passive hatred. It was miniscule, but it was there. Acting on his suspicions he ran up the side of the tower and entered it by clock structure.

There, he saw two people lying on the ground with an armed canon. The canon had a bomb in it, and it was time based. With only a few minutes left on the bomb, Naruto got an idea. He fished out a blank scroll and began writing seals on it; a minute later he held a special Uzumaki sealing scroll capable of sealing almost anything.

He sealed the bomb within it and destroyed the seal, which was one problem taken care of.

The bomb would've gone off any minute now, he got out of the clock tower to see Crocodile come flying out of ground from the direction Luffy had gone. It started raining and people were waking up from their slumber.

He zeroed in on Luffy's direction and started moving there. He reached the area to see Luffy collapsed on the ground along with the king. The woman in purple was walking away from them, limping. He was just a few seconds away from calling to her when….

XxX

Tashigi was a child again, by the river where she used to sit and lament in sorrow. Ever since her friends had ostracized her, she had no one. Children could be so cruel sometimes but adults would know better… right? Well NO!

Tashigi's mother and her friends had started ignoring her existence. Her mother had lost faith in the idea that Tashigi would marry into a rich family, and the rest of the adults scoffed at the idea of a swordswoman or avoided her like the plague because her father was a pirate.

Theirs was a town that prided itself on being an elite one, everybody was rich and kids were all Ojou-sama and Waka-sama type. On the other side of the island lived the poor and the unfortunate, people who worked every day just to be able to buy food for that night. But not the people in Tashigi's town, they were literally like nobles of the island, government was run by them and they hired policemen from other islands so there was no chance of uprising among the police. Their town was called Mumba and the island was Twilight Island. It was an island in East Blue and shared too many similarities with another kingdom on another island in East Blue.

In her mindscape she was surrounded by grey, faceless people; they did nothing but whisper harsh words to her and throw things at her. She could hear them all, things about her father, about her family, and about her dreams. She bore them all silently, but inside she was on the verge of breaking down.

Then the people started shuffling and you could hear a man's voice saying 'let me ahead.' She perked up; had her father come to save her?! There was tiny bit of hope there but she knew he wouldn't be coming back. Then a blonde man in a blue t-shirt and orange overcoat broke through the crowd of people and came to her side. He saw what they were doing and clenched his fist in anger. He then shielded her from the things being thrown at her with his body by hugging her.

She could almost remember the man; his identity was just out of her reach. She felt safe in this man's embrace. He was warm and full of safety, she thought. The tears cascaded down her face; not in sorrow or shame, but in hope. Hope that she was not alone, that someone at least cared for her. She felt the warmth slip away as the man was torn from her. She was pulled apart from him, and then she was all alone again. It was all black; darkness surrounded her. A cold feeling of peace swept through her, and then she opened her eyes and found marines standing over her, looking at her in concern.

Then she realized that she was lying on the ground, she racked her brain for the last thing she remembered, that she was heading in a particular direction. Her clothes were muddy and wet from the rain.

The marines were looking at her expectantly. They seemed confused as well.

"How long have I been out?" she asked one of them.

"I-I don't know; we woke up just a few seconds before you." He spoke, a bit afraid of her.

She surveyed the surroundings and saw the floor littered with rebels and royal guards. She commanded the marines to restrain the rebels and then took off to find Naruto.

After about a minute, she managed to find him. He was standing over the two bodies, one was Cobra and the other was a boy in red vest and a…a Straw-Hat?

Then realization dawned over her, this was Straw Hat Luffy. Had Naruto had managed to catch him?

She looked at Naruto and then she had an epiphany, the man in her dreams, the one that had saved her looked so much Naruto…he was Naruto!

Then things started to make sense, he was her friend. He would of course protect her but…. but then why had she felt the warm feeling in her chest? Did she see him as more than a friend?

Argh! This was confusing. Anyways, she had to capture the pirate before he woke up.

Naruto was looking at the receding figure of a woman. She called out to him,

"Naruto!" grabbing his attention. He looked at her in relief and then looked back at the street again, the woman was gone in the split second their eyes met.

"Good job Naruto, you'll surely get a promotion for this. You captured someone who even eluded Smoker-taichou." She said smiling brightly, pointing at the body of the unconscious pirate.

"Have I Tashigi? Have I really caught him?" He asked her almost whispering.

"Wh-What do you mean Naruto?" she was a bit taken aback, out of all things that surprised her, him not calling her Tashigi-chan was the one.

"He, he almost gave his life to save this country from a problem the government had created. While, we marines, were ineffective to stop it. Where are the reinforcements anyways? Wait…I know, the world government ordered them to return, didn't they," he asked her.

Tashigi was speechless. Why was her Naruto defending the pirate? Sure he helped the country, but wasn't it their duty to capture the pirates? He spoke again,

"I am not going to capture him, I am simply going to ignore their incursion here and hope for the best. You might be my superior, Tashigi-chan, but I am asking this of you as a favor. Let them go this time. They only helped the country, and if you take them in, the country might start disliking the marines. It's your choice, but I hope you choose to let them go for all the good they have done."

She watched as he helped the king up, and they both started to carry the pirate boy towards the palace.

She didn't know what to say, but she decided to heed his words. The government needed to have a good relationship with the kingdom, thus taking the pirates who helped them to HQ would be a grave error. She couldn't help but feel apprehensive about doing so. Her thoughts switched back to Naruto and she found a blush crawling up her face as she remembered how she thought of him as 'hers'. The warm feeling had returned when he had called her Tashigi-chan again. She didn't know what to make of this feeling. She never had experienced this before.

She returned to report back to Smoker and await further orders. She was contemplating whether or not to tell her taichou about the pirates' presence here.

XxX

(A few minutes ago)

In an alley nearby, Nico Robin was sitting on the muddied ground in shock, not caring if her clothes got dirtied. She had heard 'his' name. Was he here? She didn't want to wait and see as that girl who called him was undoubtedly a marine. But how could he be here? And if he was here then why hadn't he reached out to her? She gripped the kunai strongly, enough to draw blood. NO! A dark voice inside her whispered, he had abandoned her, just like everybody else. He deserved her hatred; because of him 'that' incident happened. She couldn't fathom what she would've done if she had met him face-to-face, latch onto him and ask why he didn't come? Or hurt him for not coming?!

She was a mess and she needed time to think, she left walking in the direction of Straw-Hats anchored ship.

XxX

Naruto had Haō-shoku no Haki and a very strong one at that, though he doesn't know how to control it. The reason Chopper and Usopp weren't affected was because at the moment of Haki's release, they were out of the city limits.

This chapter took a lot of time as I had lost inspiration but thanks to my two of my betas I was able to finish this.

Lightningblade49 helped a lot with the plot and so did The God's eye. Thanks to KizunaUzumaki for helping me out with sentence structure and flow of the story.

Next chapter might take more time than this as I'm not feeling motivated enough and I have to study for my HSC exams.

Have a nice day readers :)