A/N: Sooooo this took a while eh?

At this point, I'm starting to think my first fic is a lost cause lol. My muse for it has simply up and gone POOF!

Aight, so I actually have a pretty solid idea for at least the first few arcs of this fic.

For a pairing, I won't announce anything for now because I myself don't know what to do: I might go with one or not.

In any case, it won't be a harem. I simply cannot write those realistically.

Enjoy! And leave a review! I always like those!

P.S: CHAPTER 1 HAS BEEN REWRITTEN

Somewhere in the New World...

Naruto, dressed in an open vest and shorts, leaned on the railing of the Snapper Head and gazed into the sea, just as the sun peaked from the horizon.

It was a surreal experience for him, even two months after he escaped from Marijois, the sight of the endless expanse of blue always amazed him. Despite the world being mostly composed of oceans, it was truly jarring that a boy in his teenage years had never so much as caught a glimpse of it before now.

"Bit early for you don't you think? Nyuu" a voice spoke out from behind him.

He didn't turn around, and instead rested his elbows on the railing and continued staring at the sunrise.

"Sorry Hachi" he began "It's just… this is still new to me" he finally turned around to face the towering octopus Fishman.

Hatchan, or "Hachi" as Naruto had affectionately named him smiled at the much shorter blond, four of his arms were crossed over his chest while the two others were scratching the back of his head.

"I can understand that Nyuu!" The large man nodded "me and the other guys used to feel the same way the first few times we came up to Shabaody"

"Even Arlong?" the teen asked with a smirk to which Hatchan nodded enthusiastically, the slight mocking undertone against their other comrade going unnoticed.

"Especially Arlong" the Fishman nodded and waved his hands enthusiastically, he started recounting some tales from his childhood to the smiling blond.

BAM

Hatchan jumped in surprise at the sound and looked for its source, only to see the blue fist of the aforementioned Arlong embedded in a near wall.

"Hatchi what the fuck are you telling that trash?" The sawshark Fishman growled at his crewmate before turning to the only human on the ship with eyes full of hate.

"You" the man gritted his sharp teeth at the teen's smirk. He turned around to look at the two, revealing a sun-shaped brand on his torso, one similar to his captain and crewmates.

"What's up Arlong? I was just walking down memory lane with Hatchi" the blond asked innocently, although with a mischievous smirk.

"My past doesn't concern filthy humans like you!" The blue-skinned Fishman yelled and advanced on Naruto with malicious intent, his arm reared back to throw a punch at the boy, only to be caught in a full-nelson by the octopus Fishman.

"Hachi! Let me go! I'm gonna pulverize that brat"

"Nyuuuuu! Calm down Arlong!"

Out of everyone on the ship, Naruto and Arlong seemed to get along the least out of anyone. While many of the Fishmen were still very distant from Naruto due to their past treatment at the hands of humans, those like Arlong did not hate him because of past experiences but looked down on him because of his race, age, and Fisher Tiger's apparent interest in the boy.

To Naruto, Arlong was not much different from the Tenryuubito, since they both acted the same way towards him for stupid reasons and thus he would not lie down and take the abuse. He knew for sure that if Arlong had his way, the blond would've been thrown in the ocean to drown or shredded by his ridiculous-looking sword.

So Naruto occasionally riled up the big guy out of pettiness.

'Because fuck Arlong, all the homies hate Arlong' the blond chuckled under his breath.

The shark man seemed to have heard him, and his shouts, and his attempt at choking the boy intensified. He was thankfully stopped from doing so by Hatchan holding him back with all six of his arms.

It's been a couple of months since Naruto had joined the Sun Pirates as a pirate apprentice. Or that was his official title at least, something that the captain suggested to placate his crew since many were notably uneasy around him. The truth was Naruto's reputation preceded him, so much so that other Fishman slaves on the crew had heard of his fighting prowess in passing and thus knew for sure he was amongst the stronger members of the Sun Pirates.

The reason Naruto had joined Fisher Tiger was simple: He owed an immense debt to the Adventurer.

That, and he had no idea where to go. While his mother might have taught him a little about the world outside their prison, he had no frame of reference for the information she gave him. He realized how helpless he truly was the second he stepped on the ship, something that he had never done before.

He idly thought about the irony of being the only person with absolutely no swimming ability amongst a bunch of underwater professionals.

He decided he didn't like it.

'Fuck this Devil Fruit and fuck'em for cursing me with it'

Fuck. Guess he couldn't do anything about it. Good thing he wasn't seasick though, that would have just added insult to injury.

…

Another thing he needed to do was look for the Boa sisters. They had been separated during the chaos in Marijois, it didn't help that he and many other slaves helped Tiger light fires all over the city to divert the marines' attention. According to his captain, they had to move fast before an Admiral could come and answer the distress calls. And as much confidence as Naruto had in his strength compared to the average navy soldier, higher officers like the Admirals were in an entirely different league.

'I hope they're alright' the blond thought. He wanted to go out and look for them, but as he mentioned before, he would not only get hopelessly lost at sea but still had a duty towards his captain.

BLAM

The boy finally snapped out of his thoughts when he felt the two pirates being broken up, or more precisely, Arlong having his head rammed to the ground by a third Fishman.

"For God's sake you idiot! It's barely six in the damn morning!" the new arrival shouted in irritation. He had a noticeably larger stature than both Hatchan and Arlong, although whether that might be due to his greater appetite and stronger build or just his nature as a whale shark Fishman, was a mystery to Naruto.

"Shut it Jimbei! Someone needs to teach that trash his place!" the sawshark Fishman answered with even greater anger, only to receive a firm chop to the head from the big-boned pirate.

"No! I won't have you starting fights at this time in the morning! Now calm down before I make you Arlong!" he scolded the downed Fishman.

"And you!" Jimbei then turned to Naruto, who lost his amused grin at the man's tone "Don't provoke the guy! I know damn well how he is but there's no reason to keep poking at him like a child!"

Naruto chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck

"...yeah, yeah, sorry I guess, was just trying to have fun ya know?" he said while looking at the ground.

Hatchan just stood to the side awkwardly.

Jimbei looked at the now quiet trio and huffed, before going to the eating area for breakfast. Naruto's stomach chose this moment to growl in want and the boy turned, leaving Hatchan to help a fuming Arlong stand and went to follow Jimbei.

Just as the Fishman entered the kitchen and Naruto went after him, a large red arm grabbed the boy's shoulder to get his attention. The teen didn't have to turn to know it was his captain looking down on him.

Fisher Tiger found the young Uzumaki to be a strange human.

Even as a slave he used to hear of the boy's exploits in the ring, something that piqued his interest. Although the rumors described him, he had expected little more than a savage beast if he ever met him. An illusion that was dispelled the moment he interacted with the blond.

The boy had followed him during the escape, even stopping to help other prisoners, three young girls especially, to freedom. Despite the fact he was shackled by sea stone, the young fighter hadn't slowed him down. If anything, he had helped him get even more slaves out before they had to book it.

Helping him commit what would be the largest act of arson in history was a plus in Tiger's book.

He might not be especially fond of needless violence, but he couldn't erase the feeling of vindictive fascination at seeing all his previous masters scramble like chickens when their mansions went up in flames.

The hard part of his mission over, Tiger had then fled the city with a large group of slaves in tow, and Naruto surprisingly joined them. Upon reaching the ships and separating into groups to ride them out to freedom, Tiger had finally climbed aboard his vessel.

Imagine his surprise when upon reaching his crew, he turned around and saw the blond. The young Uzumaki, seemingly ignoring the outright hateful expressions some of Tiger's crew had adopted at his sight, had proceeded to get on his knees and lower his head to the ground in a kowtow.

"Thank you for freeing me! Please let me join you!"

Those had been Naruto's words.

A simple request that had left everyone flabbergasted, but none more than himself, as he had never heard these words come out of a human's mouth.

'Then again, he had suffered just as we have' the Fishman had thought at the time. It had hit him just how similar the blond was to them; regardless of race and origin, they had all gone through the same Hell.

Ignoring the protests of many of his comrades, Tiger accepted the young blond into his ranks as a pirate apprentice or a cabin boy. It had been a somewhat difficult process since many of his brothers in arms still held grudges against humankind, and while none of them other than Arlong had dared raise a hand against the boy unprovoked, he had still been given his fair share of ostracization.

Whether it was being insulted or having racial slurs thrown at him by his crewmembers (away from Tiger's sight) or being left with the hardest and most undesirable chores and tasks to perform, many among the Sun Pirates had tried their hardest to give the boy a hard time.

The boy hadn't so much as protested against the extra work, but he had acted snippy at the comments and insults, something that more often than not led to the alterations escalating into brawls.

The latter is one of the reasons he had stopped the boy now…

"You get on someone's nerves again brat?" the captain asked with a cocked brow.

The boy visibly slumped as he walked behind him.

"...Sorry Sensho"

The sea bream Fishman sighed at the answer. Yes, the boy was immensely loyal and hardworking but he was also a troublemaker and too mischievous for his good.

"You know we shouldn't fight amongst ourselves, we're all crewmates here," Tiger said.

"...Not my fault he keeps being a jerk" Naruto looked at his captain with a hard gaze.

Tiger sighed once again, something he's been doing quite a lot of lately, and just looked into the dining area as many of his comrades started filtering in for their meals.

"I… can't erase someone's hatred Naruto, especially from people like us who suffered at the hands of humans..." he paused to ponder his words before continuing "it'll be hard but you must always be the better person, don't let anger and hate consume you"

"Is that why you have that non-killing rule?" the young apprentice asked in curiosity, as he had always wondered why his savior showed so much restraint towards enemies who attacked them.

"Partly, I don't want to stoop to our oppressors' level, and all it would do is make the life of future Fishmen and Queen Otohime's job harder" Tiger answered matter-of-factly. There was also the issue of these actions coming back to bite an innocent Fishman in the ass later on, but Tiger didn't want to go into a long tirade on the subject for now.

"Queen Otohime?" the boy looked up, intrigued.

"The wife of King Neptune and the Queen of the Ryugu Kingdom, they're the royal family of Fishman Island" the captain explained.

"What's her job got to do with humans?" Naruto scratched his whiskered cheeks in thought.

"It's not technically her job, but our Queen aspires for our people to coexist with Humans on the surface peacefully." the Fishman clarified. If any of his comrades saw him now, they'd notice an expression mixing respect with annoyance on his face.

"...It sounds nice"

"It is...in theory. Unfortunately, I find it too idealistic. For now at least..." Tiger did not find fault in the Queen's desire, it was her naieveté that rubbed him the wrong way. Granted, there were compassionate humans out there who could see beyond racial differences, Naruto being a prime example of them, but there simply was not enough of them to make a difference.

Or that's what he had witnessed over his many years as an adventurer.

"I guess" the blond finally said, seemingly thoughtful.

…

An awkward silence settled over the duo before it was broken by Tiger, who decided to change the subject.

"How's your training been coming along?" he asked the boy who grinned, seemingly forgetting the tense conversation.

"Heh! I'm doing great! I'll get it in no time!" The boy brought both his hands to support the back of his head and puffed his chest proudly.

Tiger was not fooled.

"How is it going?" the fishman asked, a teasing smirk plastered on his face.

The blond gaped at being caught "I... Fine!" he slumped "So I'm having a bit of trouble with control okay? Jimbei says I got enough strength but not discipline. But it's hard! Karate is too stiff for me!" he complained.

Tiger pondered over what the boy said. While Naruto was a good fighter, he was also mostly a brawler and someone who fought using mainly his instinct. His fighting style did not have a solid base other than experience. It was a style built through hundreds, if not thousands of bloody fights.

It made the Adventurer internally wince when he thought about it, especially when he remembered the boy's nickname. The pirate apprentice apparently had no self-preservation instincts, since he had the nasty habit of fighting no matter the number of wounds he sustained.

The Fishman had seen it the first time they've been intercepted by a few marine ships. Naruto had been left to fight multiple navy officers at once with his bare hands since the boy for some reason never used weapons. He won, but only after being shot and stabbed more times than Tiger was comfortable with. To remedy this, the Captain had asked Jimbei to teach the kid to fight more efficiently through the art of Fishman Karate.

The blond's complaint was pretty rational since Fishman Karate wasn't designed for prolonged fights, it used the practitioner's strength to the fullest by aiming for one-hit-KOs. It was a good way for Naruto to use that monstrous power of his to end his fights quickly.

It was also the reason the style was pretty 'stiff'. There was not much need to dodge and play with your enemy when you could punch through their defenses before they had the chance to do any damage to you. (1)

'Hmm'

"Sensho? You there?" Naruto's voice snapped the Captain out of his thoughts.

"Ah yes, sorry, I was just thinking about your problem"

"Ah no! Don't worry about that Sensho, I'll get it down in no time" the blond proclaimed boisterous and proud, making the man laugh.

"Heh, good on ya brat!" The captain grabbed the boy's head and ruffled his head.

Although Naruto struggled against the action, he couldn't help the joyful blush at the affectionate contact.

'Is that what having a dad feels like?'

Somewhere in the New World, in an underground base…

"I'm sorry Sir, but we haven't pinpointed his location yet. The closest we've come is when Rear Admiral Kadar spotted them and attempted to fight the entire crew" the voice came through a Den Den Mushi sitting in the middle of a large oak desk.

A figure drenched in the shadows of the dimly lit room glared at the snail with its lone visible eye.

"It's been two months since that incident, are you telling me the Sun Pirates are somehow not making any ruckus?" the man raised a bandaged hand to his armchair's support and gripped it in irritation, tearing the thick leather under his fingers.

In the man's opinion, Fisher Tiger's greatest crime had not been his act of rebellion against the Government and his partial destruction of Marijois, it was the piece of government property that the Fishman had taken.

Naruto Uzumaki (2) was an asset the government had its eye on ever since several agents witnessed his fights in the Grand Coliseum. Not only that, but as much as he hated to admit it, those foolish World Nobles had done one thing right by giving the boy the fruit, as it seemed to suit him very well.

But that also constituted a problem. They absolutely could not afford the boy getting out of their hands, he had immense potential as a future government weapon. The man wasn't even worried about the boy's aspiration or personal reservation about working with them. Any and all rebellious desire could simply be quelled through mental reprogramming.

The man had done it before with his own subordinates, and even then...

'Vegapunk has been working on a method to instill absolute obedience into subjects and assets' the one-eyed man thought.

Case in point, Naruto Uzumaki was a diamond in the rough, the kind that only appeared once every few decades. The only other time such a gem showed itself, was when Charlotte Linlin was almost sold to them by that witch. The failure to acquire her had led to the birth of one of the strongest pirates in recorded history.

Such a disaster could not be repeated.

"Send Marineford a notice, I want a bounty placed on the boy's head, raise Fisher Tiger and Jinbei's as well" the man ordered.

"On it Danzo-sama! How much should I ask them to put?" the voice of the subordinate rang out through the room.

"One hundred and fifty million for now, alive" the one-eyed man stressed the last word.

As the leader of the notorious CP-0, he had a lot of influence.

A/N: So here it is! R pls and thank you!

(1) This is my personal reasoning for why Fishman Karate is the way it is. If you've seen the anime, you'd see how Jinbei always has to take a stance to use a technique. The style in my opinion is more often than not, very much stiff and it works for it since the strikes are also usually one-hit-KOs.

(2) Remember that the government has no idea Naruto is a D.