Happy new year guys!!!!!
Enjoy !!!!!
"The Grandline truly is a mysterious place" Naruto muttered as he observed the open desert in front of him, "A few days ago we were stuck in freezing cold and now we're here in this scorching hot desert."
"Drum Island was a winter Island" Kushina explained, "Meaning, it is perpetually covered in snow all year long. Similarly, we are on a summer Island now and it's hot and dry here throughout the year."
"So what's this town's name?" Naruto asked as they all exited the ship.
"We are currently in Nanohana" Vivi replied, "It's a port town, It handles most of the import and export throughout Alabasta".
"Let's go then" Naruto exclaimed as he started walking into the bustling town but was stopped by Vivi.
"I'm too recognizable here" Vivi replied, "Crocodile will know we are here if I'm discovered".
"We can take care of-" Kushina was cut-off as a sudden commotion arose in the town square.
"Pirates" Naruto informed as he grasped one of his swords but before he could interfere a cloaked figure suddenly jumped down from a nearby building.
"Crocodile-sama!" the crowd cheered in relief.
"Shut up, ignorant people!" he exclaimed, "I just came to get that pirates' head."
"That's what you always say, but you always save us anyway, You are our hero!." one of the villagers replied.
Suddenly they all began cheering for him, "Alabasta's Guardian Angel!" "King of the desert!".
"Pirates don't dare to cause a ruckus in this country as it's protected by me, you are either very brave or very dumb" Crocodile stated as he pointed his hooked hand at the pirate captain.
"Are you underestimating us you bastard?!" one of the pirates yelled, pointing his sword at Crocodile.
"You're just the government's lapdog, one who sold his soul to authority!" the pirate with a captains coat yelled, "Who do you think you are, acting like a hero?!"
"Those who don't want to die, lay down on the ground quietly" Crocodile spoke, completely ignoring the pirate captain.
"Get him!" the captain yelled in anger and ran towards Crocodile.
Quickly surrounding him, the pirates all stabbed their weapons into Crocodile's torso.
"This is what you get for angering me!" the captain yelled.
Appearing utterly unfazed, Crocodile raised his left arm causing a sudden gust of sand to spiral near his golden hook. The spiralling sand began to grow in size and engulfed him and all the pirates near him, the sand vortex cleared a few seconds later leaving behind the desiccated husks of the pirates.
"I'm a pirate on a different level than you, you pig bastard" Crocodile grunted in annoyance as he began to walk away from their dead bodies all the while the villagers cheered him on.
"Let's get this over with" Kushina spoke as she laid her hand on her katana, "I'm starting to hate all this sand and scorching heat"
"Not now" Naruto replied stopping her, "The villagers seem to be very taken with him, if we defeat him now it will only make him a martyr, further instigating the civil war" he explained, "For now, let's get to Alabasta, we can discuss a plan on our way".
"I think Naruto is right" Vivi agreed, "Simply defeating Crocodile will not be enough, we will need to expose him first, only then can we stop the impending war"
"Fine" Kushina huffed as she walked ahead in annoyance.
Seeing that Kushina seemed very annoyed by the heat, Naruto suggested "How about we have something to eat first".
Kushina paused mid-step, her annoyance long forgotten, "Ok, but you are paying".
Naruto sighed and nodded.
Kushina cheered up a bit and took off towards the nearby restaurant, Vivi and the rest following after her.
On their way to the restaurant Naruto over-heard someone asking about Luffy.
"Just a quick question. Have you seen this guy?" A teen around the same age as Naruto asked a nearby shopkeeper while showing him the wanted poster with Luffy's face on it.
"Monkey D Luffy?" the shopkeeper read the wanted poster's name.
"He might be here in town. I've been looking for him for a while now" the teen replied.
"I don't think I have" the shopkeeper returned the poster while shaking his head, "You should try the nearby restaurant, the owner meets all types of people there".
"Thanks" the teen bowed in gratitude and turned towards the restaurant.
"And what business does a Whitebeard pirate has with Luffy?" Naruto asked as he approached the scantily dressed teen.
"Ace" the teen introduced himself.
"Naruto" Naruto replied.
"I've heard that name before, you were with Luffy at Logue town," Ace recalled "the one with the highest starting bounty".
"You still haven't answered my question?" Naruto replied as he discretely placed his hand on his katana.
"He is my younger brother" Ace revealed, "Last I heard, he was coming here so I thought I would catch up with him since I too have some business here".
"He never mentioned he had a brother" Naruto replied as he started walking towards the restaurant motioning Ace to follow him.
Ace shrugged as he followed Naruto.
"I met him on Cactus Island last" Naruto started, "That was a few days ago, he's probably passed through here already, that is, if didn't decide to take a detour".
Entering the restaurant, Naruto quickly spotted Kushina and motioned Ace to follow him.
"Ace!" Kushina exclaimed, spitting some of the food she was still eating.
"You know each other?" Naruto inquired.
"Yes," Ace replied, "I've met her a couple of times when Shanks used to come to visit pops".
After finishing the food in her mouth she stood up and hugged him.
"I heard what happened" she spoke softly as she sat back on her chair, "I'm sorry for what happened".
"Yes," Ace replied as he too sat on a nearby chair, "What's done is done but I can avenge him, that's why I'm here".
"He's here?" Kushina asked in surprise.
"For those who aren't in the loop, can you please elaborate" Naruto stated after he ordered some food.
"Marshal D. Teach" Ace spoke the name with disdain, "Now known as Blackbeard, he was a member of the 2nd Division of the Whitebeard pirates, my division, until he betrayed the 4th division commander, Thatch, stabbing him in the back and running off with a devil fruit which rightfully belonged to Thatch".
"That's terrible" Vivi replied as she covered her mouth in shock.
"Thatch was a dear friend of mine" Ace continued, "and Teach was a member of my division, I'll do everything in my power to bring him to justice".
"I'll help you" Kushina stated, "Thatch was like an uncle to me, avenging him is the least I can do".
"I appreciate it" Ace replied.
Suddenly, the doors to the restaurant flung open and a woman with a white coat and long black hair entered, she looked around for a bit and on spotting Naruto, slowly made her way over to him.
"This you?" She asked as she dropped a wanted poster with Naruto's name on it, it also had a bounty of 120 million berries.
Taking a close look at the poster, Naruto returned it to the woman and replied, "Sorry, not me", and continued eating the food.
"Then I assume she is also not the Princess of Alabasta, Vivi Nefertari, and her, Kushina of the Red-haired pirates and him, Portgas D Ace of the Whitebeard pirates?" she seemed a bit surprised to find Ace here but she was quick to cover it up.
"That's right" Naruto replied, "He is naked Ned, he's a dancer," Naruto said pointing at Ace, "She is amazing Annie, a magician," he said pointing at Vivi, "She is Ruby, a Painter and I am Nick a Singer" he finished pointing at himself and Kushina.
No one spoke as they all attempted to stifle their laughter at Naruto's blatant lies meanwhile Naruto continued to eat with a straight face, after a few seconds passed the Woman pointed at Ace's arm where his name was tattooed onto.
"Why does he have Ace tattooed on his arm then?"
"It's his boyfriend's name" Naruto replied.
"And the Whitebeard's tattoo on his back?"
"Drunken misadventure".
The woman inhaled angrily and stated, "If you all are artists then why are you carrying weapons?".
"Self-defense" Naruto replied, "Can't be too careful these days, what with all the pirates roaming about"
Getting irritated by Naruto's blatant lies, the woman seemed to finally have enough, "I'm Commodore Mikoto from the Marines, you are under arrest for the crimes against the world government" she introduced herself and placed a katana on Naruto's neck.
"Aren't you too young to be a commodore?" Naruto asked as he finished his food and used a toothpick to clean his teeth.
The comment seemed to have struck a nerve as Mikoto got livid, "Age has nothing to do with my rank!" she yelled in anger.
Suddenly, with a quick flick of his finger, Naruto launched the toothpick at Mikoto's face, who caught it between her fingers with no problem, but the distraction seemed to have worked as Naruto quickly flipped the table and jumped out of a nearby window with Vivi tucked under his arm.
"To the ship!" Naruto shouted as he started running, Kushina following closely behind.
Ace created an enormous wall of fire to cover their escape and followed after them.
"Set the sails!" Naruto shouted as he neared the ship, Igaram, who had stayed behind to refill supplies quickly prepped the ship.
After everyone got on the ship, Naruto spotted Mikoto just as their ship left the port.
"You shall remember this day as the day you almost caught- Oh shit!" Naruto had to cut off his gloating and duck as a small projectile flew over his head, "Shit! that was close" he muttered as he spotted the toothpick he threw at Mikoto buried deep in the ship's wood.
"I thought no one knew Haki in this part of the sea" Naruto commented as he tried to remove the toothpick.
"It's rare" Ace replied, "But not impossible, From what I've heard Mikoto is the youngest Marine to ever reach the commodore rank and Haki is a must to at least reach that rank".
"But why was she after me?" Naruto asked.
"The marines probably know that you can use haki as well, that's why they sent a higher ranked officer".
"That's a drag, I'll have to be extra careful when facing her again".
"Where to now?" Kushina inquired as the ship entered open waters.
"Vivi?" Naruto asked.
"This route shall take us directly to Alubarna, the capital of Alabasta and where the royal palace is located, we will be safe once we reach there" Vivi replied, pointing to the route marked on the map.
"Speaking of safe" Kushina pointed towards a fleet of ships following after them, "I think Crocodile knows we are here".
The five ships all belonged to Baroque Works as the word was written on their sails.
"For a secretive organization, they sure like to advertise themselves to everyone" Naruto commented as he spotted their sails.
"Leave them to me" Ace replied as he jumped on a little boat tied to the ship.
"Was that boat there before?" Naruto asked in surprise to which Kushina just shrugged.
Ace, using his devil fruit to power the boat, sailed towards the approaching ships. When he was in range, he jumped up in the air and punched forward with his fist covered fire.
"Fire Fist!"
An enormous fireball erupted from his fist and destroyed all of the five ships as the fireball continued to plough through them one after the other.
"Well there goes our plan to remain hidden" Naruto muttered as Ace jumped back on the ship, "It seems Crocodile already knows we are here".
"What was your plan anyway?" Ace asked as he sat beside Naruto.
"Well, I planned to reach the capital undetected then take down Crocodile while he least expected it but now that he knows we are here, that plan is useless" Naruto replied, "Enough about me, Why did you come to Alabasta?"
"As I said earlier, I received a tip that Blackbeard was seen in Yuba, I'm here to get rid of him".
"That's where the rebel army is located" Vivi replied, "If I can get in touch with their leader then I can explain everything to him, it might even be enough to stop the civil war before it happens".
"That sounds like a plan" Naruto replied, "Since Ace is already heading there, you can tag along with him if it's not a problem with you?".
"No problem" Ace replied, "Happy to help".
"Then it's decided, Vivi and Igaram will head to Yuba-" "Quack!" "Vivi, Igaram and Karoo will head to Yuba with Ace and sort out the situation there while Kushina and I will head to Alubarna to deal with Crocodile".
As everyone accepted the plan, Naruto headed inside the cabin and returned with 2 snails, He then gave one to Ace and the other to Vivi, "This will help us be in touch if any problems arise".
"You can contact me if you have any news on Blackbeard" Kushina stated, "I deserve to make him pay as well".