Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece; that right belongs to Eiichiro Oda.

A/N: Sorry for both the late Update and short chapter, it was originally going to have Luffy getting his Straw Hat too but there was a Parent Teacher Interview Night that I thought we weren't going to but ended up going too. This will be short too.

Big thanks to yggdrasil001, catscats1223, and Wordlet for reviewing, to FlyingPotato63, babayaga89, mugiwarasinger, and tygrad for Favouriting, and to FlyingPotato63, KUMA-Fury19, LirialRaito, Mercy Smith, theorbess540, and duchessliz for Following. Here's the chapter.

Chapter 4-The Gomu Gomu no Mi

Luffy didn't like how Shanks and his crew always looked down on him. He wasn't that strong yet but that's why he wanted them to take him with them. How else was he going to get strong without Grampa's help? He didn't want to train with him, he was scary.

He decided that Shanks wouldn't take him unless he was tougher, so he grabbed a knife and headed to where they were docked. He'd prove he was tough, and then Shanks would take him along!

"I've had it with you guys! Now you'll have to take me seriously!" He held his dagger high. "This is how tough I am!"

He shoved the knife underneath his left eye. It really hurt! Not that he said so or showed it. He had to get stitches to help heal it and it was going to scar but he didn't mind. After the Red-Haired Pirates patched Luffy up they went to Makino's bar and they toasted to his courage. It cheered him up a bit. Though he didn't like how Shanks still looked down on him and made fun of him. He didn't seem to believe that he could become a good pirate, just because he couldn't swim that well. He was trying to get better damn it. He took lessons with the others on how to swim by Jimbei and Franky; they were both really good swimmers.

Luffy really didn't like how Shanks tricked him with the milk. Brook was a pirate and he drunk tea, and tea had milk in it so it should have been fine. Besides, milk strengthened the bones and healed them quicker; Brook was proof enough of that.

Mr First Mate tried to comfort him but it didn't really work. Luffy knew Shanks just wanted to make him look dumb. Shanks even admitted to it.

Being more serious, Luffy asked how much longer Shanks was going to be staying at the village, turns out that after two or three more trips they were going to leave for good. He then promised Shanks that he would learn to swim better by the time he leaves, so then he could go with them.

He finished his meal and saw it.

Inside of a chest was a purple round fruit with swirly patterns on it. Luffy didn't really think before grabbing it and taking a bite of the disgusting fruit. But he swallowed it, after what happened to Nami, Sanji enforced that they were to not waste food no matter what.

A loud slam made him look to the doorway. Standing there were a bunch of men that, other than one of them, were all wearing the same thing. He always found that weird, if pirates were free then why did they all seem to wear uniforms? He wasn't going to make his crew have a uniform, they can keep their own style.

The only one not wearing the same outfit walked right up to the counter, and announced who they were: Mountain Bandits. They then asked for some grog and Makino told them they were out. The guy wasn't happy and a few things were said before Shanks offered them a bottle of unopened beer. Then it happened.

The mountain bandit broke the bottle of beer and spilled it all over Shanks. The guy was obviously angry, but that didn't give him the right to do that to Shanks.

Luffy's image of Shanks started to fracture as Shanks ignored the bandit and apologised to Makino about the mess. Why wasn't he fighting back? The bandit then broke more stuff and headed out calling Shanks a coward. Why wasn't shanks crew doing anything? Laughing broke out and he snapped.

"You think it's funny?!" The laughing stopped and they all looked at him. "He made you look like a weakling! Why didn't you fight him?!" Luffy didn't understand. "Sure they outnumbered you, and maybe they looked pretty tough, but what kind of man lets himself be treated like that then laughs about it? You're a disgrace to all pirates!" Didn't he have any pride?

Shanks just told him that he'd understand when he grows up. So Luffy turned and started stomping away, saying he was going to find a real role model. Shanks had grabbed him and he felt his arm stretch.

He stared in shock, everyone around him panicking and asking if he had eaten the fruit he just had for desert. They said it was the Gum-Gum fruit and that it was a devil fruit that made the eaters body become like rubber. He wasn't going to be able to swim again.

He reacted a lot differently than people thought he would. He yelled out in happiness and announced that he was just like Brook, Robin, and Chopper. He couldn't wait to tell them he had eaten the fruit so he willed himself to fall asleep as fast as he could.

He awoke in the men's quarters on the Sunny. When suddenly a thought struck him.

"Chopper's going to kill me."

Maybe he shouldn't have stabbed himself. At least not in an easily noticeable place such as his face. Luffy didn't like getting lectured by his baby brother, it was worse when he brought Robin in. He knew that Robin had a soft spot for Chopper, she always gave the reindeer food but she never gave him any. He still had no idea where Robin and Sanji got all the food from, he asked once but Sanji had just stared at him. He doesn't know if Sanji actually heard him.

Luffy was stuck in a mental debate before Zoro suddenly woke up. He seemed a little surprised that he was awake but went into his hammock anyway. The look on his face was all he needed to spill everything that happened. He even pulled his cheeks out to prove he ate a devil fruit.

He got a big bruise on the top of his head after he said he stabbed himself in the face. Zoro did not look happy to know that.

Five minutes later, he told everyone else what happened and he was being checked over by Chopper for both the stab on his face and the bruises on top of his head.

Inwardly, Chopper was slightly more relieved after finding out about Luffy's Devil Fruit. He was reminded that not all monsters are bad ones, there are still good ones who protect others.

Still, while he was happy to find out that blunt forces now don't hurt Luffy as much and he's now immune to bullets, he wasn't happy with how they found that out. He didn't see why Luffy even let Usopp shoot him as a means of training.

Coming up next: The Straw Hat and the Promise.

I hate it when you write something and then something happens and you have to rewrite it. That just happened to me.

Responses to Reviews: (They were rushed so sorry)

yggdrasil001: Thanks! I said they were going to change in the Summary kinda. We'll have to find out about what the Crew thought in the next chapter, Patience is a Virtue and it'll be rewarded. I really want to know how'll they save Sanji and Jimbei, with the exploding shackles and the Roulette thingy. I need to know. I won't consider that guy Sanji's father, I'd rather imagine that Zeff is Sanji's Father, much better. Thank you, I saw an opportunity and took it. Also i completely forgot about Garp's training... It'll be shown later. Sorry for the late update.

catscats1223: Yay, thanks! I'm pretty sure I explained how Sunny got her name in Franky's chapter, I even put in that Brook found it was funny because of that.

Wordlet: You did, it just was a guest review. It's alright, things have for me too, that's why this is so late. Anyway, need to respond to all your reviews let's get started. Yeah, we did, and I didn't know another method for Yasopp to believe what happened other than the letter and Luffy admitting it was real. I'm open to suggestions. Thank you for getting it, I actually haven't read any Whitebeard AUs yet, planning too but I'm writing.

I'm answering them! The increase in time was very nice, a whole lot easier too. Thank you, I was really proud of it. You're making me blush with that last comment, really. Yeah, Brook is kinda like that, isn't he. Also, that weight is the reason why he stored it al in the crows nest. I'm pretty sure that's where Zoro trained with that weight. I don't know what I'm going to do with that possiblility, should they be able to communicate while unconscious or not? We'll see eventually. It's alright.

Haha, yeah, that'll remain a mystery. Though I now feel tempted to let Tiger know. Should I or Shouldn't I? Oh well. And yes, he can be very overprotective. Chopper is also the 'baby' of the family so that increases protectiveness ten fold. Thank you.