Here we are again setting up for another update on Boundless Opportunity. Before we get into things I really want to ask that you guys check out the poll I have on my profile page as it pertains to this story specifically. Do you want to see Naruto start his own crew, join the Straw Hats, or temporarily join them until he figures out what path he wants in life and creates his own crew. The poll for that can be found at the very top of my profile page here on the fanfiction site, just click vote now and cast your ballot on what you want to see.

With that out of the way let's respond to a couple of reviews, shall we?

Review: It's all good really, a nice concept for naruto's origins too, but the only thing that's disappointing is the rate of update. 2 chapters in 2 months with the length of adventure the one piece world have? This will take forever.

Response: That is correct, though you do need to take into account that this story will not be showing every single moment not to mention some arcs that took forever to get passed in the series will not take that long with this fic. For instance this chapter will end the Arlong arc, which going simply off of episodes front eh anime is about 14 episodes long. SUmming that up in around 12-14k words split between two chapters seems reasonable and expeditious. As for my update schedule…what can I say? I have a lot of stories.

Review: would luffy recognize Naruto? although luffy being luffy probably wont with his hair dyed lol

Response: No, Luffy doesn't know about Naruto actually beyond a throw away line from like a decade prior of Shanks saying he reminded him of his own children. That can't be said for Naruto who is definitely interested in a boy that his father felt interested enough in that he lost his arm and gave up a treasured memento of his time on Roger's crew.

Now since this has drug on so long one more thing before we jump in. I am once again asking for your support in populating the discord server hosted by AizenTheGoat. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed. An invitation link can be found right here→ /dV9hH5zd5F

Now onto the real stuff.

Chapter 3

A Brief but Fated Encounter: Part Two

Naruto grumbled as he came back into Cocoyashi village. Wherever Usopp had run off to, he had made good time. As far as he could tell he also escaped the three fishmen chasing him, as Naruto had watched them returning empty handed and disappointed on the road to Arlong Park.

He'd also watched Nami start heading back to the pirate base carrying a letter from Nojiko. Probably meant for the girls' mother. He frowned. He wanted to step in. He had no doubt he could help, but they had outright refused it and it was a great way to turn someone against you by forcing your way into problems they felt they had resolved.

That left waiting around till this so called plan went to shit, and with outsiders trickling in with Usopp and whoever else had been on Luffy's crew with him, not to mention the Pirate Hunter Zoro evidently being a part of their merry band…on second thought Naruto might not need to do much of anything.

"I really do want to see what you are all about Luffy. Hurry up and arrive, your crewmates are waiting for you." Naruto thought aloud as he walked. Suddenly he paused in his stride though upon seeing someone he knew to be an interesting figure.

"Pirate Hunter Zoro?" Naruto asked aloud, catching the guy's attention.

"Yeah? Who are you?" The green haired man asked.

"Ah, nobody, it's just that Usopp guys said you were held captive by Arlong. Kinda surprised to see you in Cocoyashi. You literally just missed your friend. He shot something at Arlong with that slingshot of his and booked it." Naruto said getting Zoro to blink in surprise. He hadn't thought Usopp would do something like that to someone like Arlong.

"Well, which way did he go?" Zoro asked.

"I-" Naruto began only for a man, one that appeared to be roughed up to stumble into town.

A few villagers headed over to give him a helping hand. He waved them off before spotting Zoro and being a bit surprised. Slowly the bruised up man made his way over to him to deliver the bad news to the swordsman.

"He got captured. They took him to Arlong Park." The man said.

"That's terrible." One of the villagers said.

"That boy defied Arlong. He's dead for sure." Another added in.

Zoro clenched his fist before practically growling. "Of all the times to get grabbed it's right after I killed some of them."

Naruto was a bit surprised by that but before he could intervene Zoro was sprinting out of town and Naruto simply watched him go.

'Like I was thinking earlier, Luffy. Your people need you right about now. I want to see you fight this asshole Arlong too, so hurry up before I have to handle this for you.' Naruto mentally grumbled as he began heading slowly toward Arlong Park. Without a doubt that was where things would kick off when they finally did get interesting.

Nami boldly strode up to Arlong and the other fishmen. It seemed that Zoro wasn't hanging around anymore but he had made a big damn mess before leaving. The weakest members of Arlong's crew had been butchered and it was clear who was the culprit. Nami had already heard their suspicions about her involvement begin to circulate.

She needed to put an end to them. Luckily Usopp was there to help, willing or not.

"Watch what you say. Me, a traitor? I swore I was a member of this group eight years ago with this tattoo!" Nami proclaimed as she pushed some of the fishmen out of her way to approach Arlong.

"Sorry, Sorry. Nami it's only natural for you to be upset. But rest easy. I don't suspect you one bit." Arlong said. "You and me, have known each other for eight years now. We were just a little on edge is all. Right, Nami?"

"The ones we need to get rid of are Roronoa Zoro and his group." He declared turning to look at the cowering Usopp.

"Hey Nami, Say something!" Usopp begged.

"Why so pale, Nami?" One of the Fishmen asked picking up the knife beside Usopp. "As for Long Nose here, not even you can save him now. Not after he defied Arlong."

"Just how long are you going to suspect me?" She demanded.

"You're too smart you see." He responded.

"I'll have the amount Arlong and I agreed on soon. Why would I betray you now?" She asked.

"Oh, I know. You agreed eight years ago to pay for the ransom of your poor mother and to buy Cocoyashi village from Arlong for 160 million berries. But I just can't make sense of it. You betrayed your fellow villagers and even your parent and only trust money. So why does Cocoyashi Village mean so much to you?" He continued on interrogating the girl before pulling a rolled up piece of paper from his shirt and revealing it to be a map.

"Not to mention I found this in your room." He pointed at a clear X on the map. "It looks like a treasure map and it's pointing at Cocoyashi village."

"That's my own personal map, it has nothing to do with you at all!" Nami stated reaching for the map.

Suddenly the group's attention was taken by Hacchi as he discovered the bodies of the other crewmembers.

"This was the work of Roronoa Zoro, but where were you Hacchi? This could have been prevented had you been here!" Arlong shouted.

"Of course it could have, if only I'd been here!" The Octopus Fishman agreed.

"So you don't know anything about the Pirate Hunter?" One of the crew asked.

"Well, there was this one suspicious swordsman whom I'd never met before. Wait, It was him?" Hacchan rambled as he realized what had happened. As did the rest of the crew.

"So you did see him, you idiot. Where did he go?" A crewmember demanded.

"Well he wanted to see Arlong so I took him to Cocoyashi village." Hachi replied.

"Meaning there's no reason to rush out in a hurry. He's looking for me too." Arlong commented smirking as he grew excited to avenge his crewmates.

Usopp realized that Zoro was no doubt on his way back to Arlong Park now. He just needed to buy himself some time so he didn't end up dead. As carefully as he could he began withdrawing his slingshot from his bag and taking aim to launch a surprise attack so he could run for it. He never got the chance to though as Nami saw him and in a single motion pulled out her collapsible bo-staff and cracked him across the face with it. She felt terrible doing it, but Usopp just kept getting in the way.

"Damn you! You picking a fight?" Usopp asked as he wiped at the blood from his face.

"You're getting in the way! You're the one to blame!" Nami barked out with a forced smile and cold eyes. "This is what you get for messing with Arlong."

"Nami, you really disappoint me. Even after you stole our ship and ran off, Luffy didn't suspect you one bit! Even now he completely trusts you. How can you trick someone like that with such an uncaring face?!" Usopp screamed.

"The only thing I trust is money. Those that get fooled are the fools." She said calmly. Slowly she dropped her staff and grabbed the knife from a crewmember's hand and began approaching Usopp.

"Everything was going smoothly. You guys are going to make my eight years of business meaningless. So the least I can do is get rid of you by my own hand." Nami said as she continued toward him.

"Hah, seems like you became a lot more pirate like since you were last here." Arlong laughed as he watched.

"You, get rid of me? Don't make me laugh." Usopp said not taking the girl seriously.

"If I were you I wouldn't underestimate me." Nami responded coldly, with an even colder smile.

Thinking fast as he realized that Nami might very well do it, he launched a smoke bomb to try and cover his escape. It didn't work though as Nami stepped in his way. He was too predictable.

"This is just like something you would do." She said as she plunged the knife forward.

As the smoke cleared the sight of Nami stabbing the boy became clear to the crew. She didn't look back up at Usopp's face as she quietly spoke to him.

"This is for the sake of my business. You didn't leave me a choice." She said before withdrawing the knife from his body. "Now die like a good little boy."

Usopp lifted a bloody hand as he began stumbling forward. He was as shocked as the crew but soon fell forward into the water. As he did the crew broke into cheers celebrating Nami getting some revenge for their crew. They happily reminded themselves that she was a leader amongst their crew for a reason.

None noticed Johnny watching from the gates with tears running down his face as the girl he had come to call Big Sis so easily killed Usopp. He continued to watch as Nami denied friendship with the Fishman that had been accusing her earlier and announced that she was only concerned with buying Cocoyashi village.

"I'll have the 160 million soon. So keep your end of the bargain." Nami shouted out to Arlong as she headed back inside the building.

"Of course, I'd rather cut open my belly and die than break a promise regarding money." Arlong replied with a smirk. "That's the kind of man I am."

"Glad to hear it Arlong. You know the score." She said before disappearing inside.

Johnny continued to watch before shaking his head clear and running away from Arlong Park.

"She's a witch!" He declared as he disappeared down the road back toward Cocoyashi.

Nami walked up the stairs to her room before slowly opening the door revealing a room filled with plenty of maps and the like and two beds. Sitting on one of the beds was a redheaded woman in her thirties that smiled sadly back at Nami as she came in.

The woman watched silently as Nami turned and locked the door behind her. She slowly crossed the room until she was only a few feet from the woman before launching forward into her arms and immediately beginning to sob, catching her off guard.

"Nami? What happened?" Bellemere asked.

"We're so close. We're so close and they are going to ruin it." She cried.

Suddenly both had to brace themselves as everything shook. Bellemere looked out the window wondering what had happened. Perhaps a freak earthquake. Neither could have guessed it was the arrival of the rest of the Straw Hat crew in typical reckless fashion.

"We told you to leave." Nojiko said with a glare as Naruto helped himself to another of her tangerines.

"That does sound familiar." Naruto replied before popping a slice of the fruit into his mouth.

Nojiko stared at him for a while before groaning. "Just tell me what you want. Then you can leave."

Naruto shook his head though.

"Why not?" She asked.

"You can't give me what I want in all honesty, that's pretty much it. I'm going to be sticking around until the whole thing is over with." Naruto replied.

Nojiko stomped past him into her kitchen to begin making herself something to drink. Hopefully something to help her nerves too. Obviously this guy would leave when he was good and ready and not a moment before. It was annoying but patience was something she had used her whole life at this point so she could bear it.

"Cocoyashi is a pretty shitty place." Naruto commented while staring out the window at the orchard of tangerine trees.

"What would you know?" She growled.

"Well I mean, leaving all this one the shoulders of one family. A family that is broke as hell to begin with and struggling to get by. One that was made up of a young woman and two little girls and they all left it on you to handle. Cocoyashi is a shitty place, full of shitty people." Naruto said.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Nojiko said as she went back to her drink.

"Maybe, or maybe I can see it better than you can. How is it right that they all just sit around and wait for you three to handle things. Your mother is a hostage, probably withering away in Arlong's dungeons. Your baby sister is practically a slave, and you all alone out her away from town. Like they keep you at a distance." Naruto said getting only silence from her.

He sighed before turning to face the door. Nojiko blinked at the action and opened her mouth to ask before suddenly there was pounding against it and the sound of a little boy shouting for her to come quick.

Nojiko opened the door and before she could even ask the little boy that was there grabbed her hand and began dragging her along behind him as he ran down the road. Naruto shrugged before he followed after them. He imagined things would be heating up soon.

"Hurry!" The kid shouted as he drug the woman along after him.

"What's the big rush?" Nojiko asked.

"It's the navy! The Navy is here! Some survivors from Gosa managed to contact the government. The Navy's come here to pick us up. See!" The boy shouted as they joined a group on the shore line staring off at a large Navy ship off of the coast.

Naruto frowned as he saw another ship, the Arlong Pirates vessel no less begin closing in alongside the navy vessel. He knew Arlong was likely still in his castle with the majority of his crew, but the fishmen had enough forces to crew their ship a couple times over. One of his officers was likely leading on it and sending them in to negotiate with the navy.

That ended when they opened fire with a shot toward the approaching ship, narrowly missing the ship and crew but tearing holes through it's mast. Naruto stood and watched as the Fishmen responded with rapid and vicious attacks. They didn't even fire any cannons in response, instead diving into the water and boarding the Navy ship quickly. The sound of gunfire, clashing blades, and screaming could soon be heard as they echoed over the small inlet from the deck of the ships.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as the water itself began to grow more agitated and a whirlpool began to stir to life in front of the ship.

"Fishmen are something else." Naruto idly commented, catching Nojiko and the other civilians attention.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"They are insanely strong, even more so in their natural element under the sea. One of them has torn the rudder off of the navy ship and they have changed the landscape under the water to affect the current. They made that whirlpool.

"This can't be happening!" The little boy said as he fell to his knees.

"This is reality. There's no way we can escape from Arlong's control." Nojiko responded, sounding defeated.

Slowly the people filtered away from the shoreline leaving only Naruto who continued to watch as the whirlpool gradually stopped and the fishmen laughed and cheered on their ship. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a den-den mushi and called his partner.

"Miss Valentine, I need a lift." He said before having to lean away from the snail as she screamed a response.

"I'm not some taxi! I've been waiting beside this damned snail all day long and you call just asking for a lift?!" Mikita yelled back.

"Well, I want you to pick me up so we can have a bit of fun cracking some skulls together. I could always just swim though." Naruto replied.

"Where are you at?" She huffed back in response.

"I'll meet you in Gosa again. Then I will tell you the plan." He answered.

"Whatever. Don't make me wait." The woman commanded before hanging up.

"So worked up." Naruto rolled his eyes. At least he could focus her on some targets here soon so maybe she would be in a better mood.

"Wait, that's it?" Mikita whined.

"Yeah pretty much. I just want to make sure they won't be leaving the island. They use two docks. One at Arlong Park itself and another on the opposite side of the island where they collect 'taxes' from the various villages. That was where I saw the ship headed. So we'll go smash it up." Naruto said as they approached the docks.

"I'm really feeling like a glorified chauffeur right now." She complained.

"Well look at it this way. Once we are there you can let all that anger out. Plus this gets us closer to being done here and afterward we come completely clean… then we can get dirty again." He whispered the last into her ear, with hot breath causing her her to shiver lightly.

Mikita bit her lip but nodded. "Fine, but you best hurry up with whatever you are trying to do on the island. I may not be in the mood anymore if you take too long."

"Right." Naruto replied with a sarcastic tone.

"Okay, close enough lets get going." Naruto said as he dropped down onto the smaller rowboat on the side of their ship and began paddling them over to the dock. It didn't take long before they drew up alongside the ship moored there catching the attention of all the fishmen present.

"Who the hell are you two?" One asked as he began pulling his knife from his belt.

"It really doesn't matter." Naruto said before drawing his own sword in a quick flash and separating the man's hand from his arm.

"What the hell!" Another shouted moving to attack, until he was cracked across the head with a fist weighing over five hundred pounds turning him to pulp.

The dock turned to chaos as Naruto and Mikita crushed through them. Smashing and slicing. Anytime they nearly got a blow in Naruto simply hardened himself with armament Haki and shielded Mikita. It was almost as easy as a normal band of pirates.

"I thought fishmen were supposed to be tough to kill or something?" Miss Valentine asked as she pulled her shoes free of a dead man's chest.

"They are, I think they just got a little too accustomed to life in the East Blue. Naruto said as he pulled the shirt off of a corpse to clean his sword.

"Well, that was hardly fun, now what?" Mikita asked.

"Now head back to the ship. I'll scuttle this one and get a hold of you when I am done on the island." Naruto replied.

"Wha-...No, you know what fine, whatever. I'm going to take a nap." She said as she opened her umbrella and floated off back to the ship.

Naruto turned back toward the Arlong Pirates ship. Slowly walking to the front of the vessel he lined himself up with the prow and pushed Haki into his sword before lifting it up over his head. With a sudden swing he brought the blade down and split the ship almost in two. Not quite though.

"Damn, still not quite there, huh. Next time for sure." He said before turning away from the massacre he and his partner had committed and heading back inland at a casual pace. He kind of wanted another tangerine from Nojiko's orchard. They were far too good.

"So now you know. They found Nami's map when they raided Cocoyashi. It actually worked out nicely. Had they found the map a little later they probably would have killed Bellemere, but instead they just beat her up real bad and drug her and Nami off to their castle." Nojiko began to conclude her explanation to Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji.

"They roughed up nami too, but she watched them kill five whole units of marines and sink their ships like it was nothing. So she agreed to Arlong's offer. She would draw sea charts and maps for him, and in return Nami would be able to buy the village back from Arlong for a hundred million belli. To make sure she cooperated they keep Bellemere hostage in their castle and to get her freedom it's another sixty million." Nojiko finished.

"I'll make anyone who makes my beloved Nami suffer-" Sanji began, only to be clocked over the head by Nojiko.

"I told you, I came here to tell you to stop! If you cause a problem the pirates will grow suspicious of Nami and everything will have been for nothing. Not to mention they'll hurt Bellemere." Nojiko said.

"We have to do something though." Usopp argued, pushing past his normally cowardly traits.

"You can, by staying out of the way. Tell that Naruto guy to stay out of the way too if you see him. Nami is so close. Don't mess this up for her, or us." Nojiko stated.

The boys shared looks and looked back at Nojiko slowly coming to a decision.

Naruto watched with narrowed eyes from back in the tangerine orchard as the village representative Genzo led a group of marines to the house. He had a rough idea of why they were there but he would wait to let it play out a bit before he got involved just like with everything else in regards to these people. He knew they were working to achieve their freedom on their own, even if he thought it was shitty how they were all leaving it on the shoulders of one little family.

He wasn't sure but he felt that it was about time to really step in. He had told both girls he would stay out of it for now. But while he might have told them it would be a shame if they would die, he wasn't going to just let that happen either.

He watched on as Nami confronted the group outside her home. The frown already on his face deepened as his suspicions proved to be all but confirmed as the leader of the marines spoke.

"Are you the girl thief known as Nami?" He asked. "Our information has it that you have hidden treasure you've stolen from pirates. The government hereby confiscates all of that stolen property."

The area became silent as Nami stared back at the colonel and Genzo looked shocked. He clearly hadn't known their intentions.

"What's the matter, did you not hear me? The government hereby takes possession of everything you stole from the pirates." The man repeated.

"You're very passionate about your duties I see. You're not brave enough to stand up to pirates, so you deal with sneak thieves instead to earn brownie points." Nami seemed smug as she spoke. "Listen up, I'm a leader of the Arlong Pirates so he won't sit by quietly if you mess with me."

"Silly girl, do you think you're dealing with me on equal footing? Men, find the stolen goods." He ordered his troops.

Nami refused though and in a fluid motion, surprising Naruto and the other men, she assembled her bo-staff and struck two marines, knocking them unconscious. She began laying into the Colonel, hollering at him and reprimanding him about doing nothing about the Arlong pirates while coming after her, for being a thief.

"Colonel, this tangerine orchard seems suspicious!" One of the men called out as they ignored Nami entirely.

"Dig it up." He simply commanded.

"Keep your dirty hands off of Bellemere's orchard!" Nami said as she knocked down another marine.

"Just leave her alone! That money is meant to save Cocoyashi village!" Genzo shouted.

Nami froze at that and looked over at the man. He sighed as he realized he couldn't hide it any more. He gave Nami a sad look before explaining.

"That day, when you came back from Arlong Park, I knew something was going on. I talked to Nojiko afterward and she told me everything that you planned. The whole village has known this entire time." Genzo explained.

"But-" Nami began.

"We unfairly pinned all our hopes on your plan but pretended we felt betrayed by you. We wanted to leave you an out so that if you chose to just run away some day you wouldn't feel regret. You never did though. All this time, eight years you endured and we watched on and refused to be there for you." Genzo was nearly in tears as the guilt of their plan washed over him.

"Hmmm, so what you're saying is the entire village are thieves and should all be arrested." The Colonel laughed, not taking the situation seriously at all.

"What he is saying is that each and every one of us is fighting to live. But only because we can't rely on any of your government people!" Nojiko called out as she began storming over the hill. "If you're not going to save our village then get the hell out of here! Dilly-dally and Arlong'll go after your ship too!"

"Arlong will, huh? I wouldn't be too sure." The Colonel hollered. "You lot, it's 160 million belli, not a grain of rice!"

"Wait. How do you know how much there is?" Genzo asked.

The others in the clearing slowly realized just what the Colonel had let slip.

"Arlong…" Nami hissed as she realized the reality of her situation.

"Colonel! I found it!" One of the men shouted.

The officer quickly head over along with the rest of the marines and stopped at the buried box. With a snap of his fingers the troops quickly got to work digging up the entire box before pulling it out of the ground. The navy man dropped to his knees and pried off the lid. He nearly began salivating at the sight of so much gold and money saved up.

"I'm impressed you could gather this much girl." The Colonel said as he played with the coins in his hands.

"It's all rugged and stained with blood." One of the marines observed.

"Who cares, money is money." The Colonel said.

Nami began breathing heavily and her pupils dilated as she began approaching the marines again.

"Don't touch that. Don't touch that….Don't touch that!" She screamed as she ran right toward the Colonel.

Unlike earlier when he simply ignored it as she assaulted his men the officer was not about to stand by and allow himself to be brutalized. He drew out a pistol taking aim to shoot the girl as she charged forward. Nojiko and Genzo did their best to try and stop her.

The gun went off but everyone blinked as they saw Naruto tightly gripping the Colonel's wrist and holding the pistol up into the air.

"This is getting to be annoying to watch. So everyone here, listen up. You, snivelling little marine shit, fuck off." Naruto said calmly clenching his hand and snapping the Colonel's wrist easily. "You three, take your money into the house. I will be there to talk with you soon, and the rest of you marines. If you don't take your boss here and fuck off like I said I will fertilize this whold orchard with your corpses."

The men hesitated briefly but their commander howled in pain so they grabbed him and hauled him off back toward town.

Naruto stood and watched them as they went to make sure they didn't come back. He was happy to see the Navy ship begin to depart within a few minutes. It was so nice when people actually listened to him without causing a fuss.

Now though he needed to talk with the family inside. They really needed to be lectured about their planning skills. Fuck him it was bad.

Striding into the house he settled into a seat, the same one he had been in previously in fact and took a moment to look each of them over. They were all in decent shape, in fact the only relatively fresh injury was on Nami's hand.

"Hello again." Naruto said with a small smile.

The trio glanced at one another before Nojiko stepped forward. "Thanks, for that. One of us could have died and you helped us save this money so that we-"

"It doesn't matter does it." Nami suddenly said.

Naruto looked at the youngest girl's eyes. They were so hollow and grief stricken. It felt wrong to see what happened to her. He really had a bone to pick with the villagers for their stupid plan that they had consigned to.

"I really think your villagers are dumb, Genzo. Putting all the weight of this situation on the backs of one family, or more like on one little girl growing up. Look at that money she brought back. How much of that blood is hers I wonder." Naruto said, looking down at the man.

Genzo trembled in rage and shame but was shocked as Nami reached up to slap Naruto only for him to catch her hand. He twisted it around to look at the red stained bandages before sighing.

"I recognize that style of a dressed wound. Marines…your mom is something else huh. Still you cracking those marine skulls earlier opened this back up. We better go get it checked out." Naruto said simply.

He then held the door open as the trio awkwardly walked out. They quickly came back to the village catching Luffy's attention from where he sat against a tree. The villagers began to gather as Genzo called for the doctor. Stopping at a market stand the people began to slowly gather as the Doctor began looking over Nami's hand.

"What happened? We saw that Colonel and his men hightail it through here a little bit ago." The Doctor asked.

"They tried to grab Nami's hidden money, Arlong's been working with the Navy all along." Genzo said, causing the villagers to grow angry at the lie.

"That bastard never intended to keep his word." Naruto commented.

"What?" One of the members of the crowd demanded.

"He lied to our Nachan!" Another growled.

Naruto eyed Nami carefully as she tensed up. He knew that she had wanted to carry the burden all alone so no one, especially Bellemere, would be hurt by Arlong anymore. As she stood up, pulling her away from the worried Doctor. Before she could say anything though, Luffy suddenly jumped into the group, happy to see his friend.

"Heya Nami, what's up, need help with anything?" Luffy asked.

Naruto turned to look the boy over. So this was him. Monkey D. Luffy, the one who ate the Gomu Gomu no mi. The one his dad lost his arm for and gave up his last reminder of his time in the Roger Pirates. He seemed unnaturally joyful and despite looking unassuming, Naruto was smart enough not to judge a book by its cover.

After all, if his father was certain Luffy was going to be making big waves in the world, Naruto wanted to see him at the start of his journey. Right now though, he seemed to be watching a fight between friends.

"You're still here?!" Nami demanded as she glared at him before snatching up the boy's collar. "This has nothing to do with you! Leave the damned island already!

She then threw Luffy to the ground and attempted to run off before being caught by the arm by Naruto. She tried to yank herself free but the older man kept a tight hold of her before pushing her into her sister's arms.

"Calm down. Running off to Arlong Park won't accomplish anything but getting you or your mom killed." Naruto said, causing her to stop fighting to leave again.

"No more of this. All of you take up your arms! Lets Fight!" Genzo rallied his people.

"Hold on there, you're all forgetting something." Naruto said.

"Yeah! All of you stop! If you fight back they'll hurt Bellemere!" Nojiko shouted at the others. They all began murmuring among one another as they realized the girl was right.

Naruto sighed as he watched the sisters cry and the villagers quickly deflated as their hopes seemed to evaporate. However the leader of the villagers didn't waver. Not this time.

"We can't keep holding back. We have to try and rescue her then." Genzo said, riling up the villagers once again.

"Eight years ago we swore we would fight the patient fight. We have no hope now. Arlong took advantage of our Nami, they beat and held our Bellemere hostage, and they mocked and berated our Nojiko, and we stood by and did nothing! Now though it's time we fight back!" Genzo bellowed, getting a roar of agreement from the crowd.

"No! Everyone, wait!" Nami cried out standing up to face the villagers.

"I am so close to earning the last of the money. The marines didn't steal it so I'm really close to having all that we need to buy our village and get Bellemere back. Just be patient a little longer and this will all be over, Arlong is reasonable-" Nami tried to convince them only for Genzo to pull her into a hug as she began to shake in his arms.

"You can stop now….even you know that there's no point now. You fought very well, carrying all our lives on your back all this time. Joining them must have been even more painful for you than being cut through the heart. You fought very well." Genzo comforted her. She pulled back and drew her knife.

"No! I won't let you go. Please! I don't want anyone else to get hurt by them!" She slowly lost her fire as tears began to run down her face. "You'll die, you know."

"We know." Genzo replied simply. "Now get out of our way Nami. Even if we can't win, we'll fight!"

The crowd roared and began sprinting past them toward Arlong Park causing Naruto to quickly glance between the various people remaining. He sighed as he saw Nami collapse to her knees. The look in her eyes was miserable and Naruto could barely stand the sight of her.

"Well then." He said before taking off after the villagers. He wouldn't stop them if they wanted to fight, but removing the leverage the fishmen were holding over them all was leveling the playing field in his mind.

He passed by the rest of Luffy's apparent crew as they waited for their leader's decision. No doubt they would be heading to fight Arlong and his remaining crew shortly. That meant Naruto had best move fast if he wanted to have this Bellemere out of there before the real fight began.

Stopping outside the walls of Arlong Park, Naruto took in the scene of the villagers having stopped their charge in front of two badly beaten swordsmen sitting in front of the gates of Arlong's base. It was odd, but it was good that the people were stopped from doing something stupid and charging to their deaths.

Naruto turned and walked away from the gates around the back wall looking at the best ways to get into the compound. A few trees were close, so if he climbed up them he could land on the other side of the wall with a strong jump. As he scaled and jumped for it he was a bit surprised by the fact no guards seemed to surround Bellemere and Nami's room.

As a loud crash and rumble sounded across the region he peeked over the edge of the building to see what was happening. What he saw brought a grin to his face. Luffy stood on top of a pile of rubble that had previously been the gate to Arlong's castle having clearly smashed it down with his bare hands.

"Now that is more like it." Naruto said with a grin as he popped the door off its hinges with ease.

Inside Bellemere blinked in surprise wondering what was going on. First the explosion outside and then her door being ripped off its hinges.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked.

"Hah, you are definitely their mother." Naruto said with a smirk.

"You know my girls?" She asked warily.

"Yep, now come on. Time to head out and meet them." Naruto said.

He then smoothly tossed the older woman onto his shoulder getting a surprisingly girlish yelp as he leapt from the balcony to the top of the wall. Precariously balancing there for a moment he then hopped down and casually walked over toward the gathered crowd of villagers who had still yet to notice them.

Their attention was too taken up by the spectacle unfolding before them as the Straw Hats began the fight with Arlong and his crew.

"They're not human." Nojiko replied.

"You'd be surprised at the level a human can reach." Naruto said as he sat Bellemere down beside her daughter causing the villagers to gasp and nearly dogpile the woman in joy.

"Bellemere. You're free!" Nojiko sobbed as she clung to her mother.

"Yeah, it was thanks to this guy." The redhead said pointing at Naruto who simply relaxed and watched as the Straw Hats fought.

Even as the supposed sea monster of the Arlong Pirates arrived and turned tail to flee upon seeing the crew, the villagers focused on Bellemere. Naruto, though, was having a blast watching the show. He saw it, at least a glimpse of it. Whatever his dad knew was in Luffy. The kid was something else.

As the sea monster turned back at the command of its master, Luffy simply responded by planting his feet into the concrete and grabbing the massive beast and spinning around to launch it away through the sky and proceeded to call Arlong out.

By now the townsfolk had returned their attention to the events within Arlong Park and were stunned by what they were seeing. Naruto snorted as the rubber man realized he was stuck but nodded in approval as his crew members proved why they had been chosen to join his group.

"They're all so strong." Bellemere said in shock. "Nojiko are they…"

"Yeah, their Nami's friends." Nojiko nodded.

"I see." The woman said with a fond smile spreading onto her lips.

The pace of the battle changed suddenly as the concrete Luffy was in was broken off and hurled into the water. Realizing the danger for the boy and his crew. Naruto started stepping forward.

"All of you stay here." He commanded before diving underwater and smashing the concrete around Luffy's feet apart and carrying him back up to the shore. He pressed all of the water out of the kid, in a motion more resembling wringing out a rag than pushing water out of his lungs.

Luffy sputtered and coughed before catching his breath and blinking up at him.

"Hey, you kind of look familiar." He said as he tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah, I'm Naruto. You saw me in Cocoyashi village earlier." Naruto replied.

"Oh, okay." Luffy accepted his answer.

"Listen you best get up there and kick Arlong's ass already. You promised you would help your friend right? She means a lot to those folks watching over there so you need to make a statement." Naruto said.

"You don't need to tell me." Luffy said simply as he made his way back into the compound. "Oi! Sanji, Zoro…I am the one fighting Arlong." Luffy said as he stepped back in.

The older boys glanced at one another before stepping aside to let their captain at the opposing captain. Before Luffy could begin battling the fishman though, a sharp voice cut across the area causing the fighting pirates and villagers all to turn to see Nami standing just outside the group glaring darkly over at the fishman.

"Oh, Nami. What are you doing here?" Arlong said with a smirk.

"I'm here to help kill you." She replied.

"Really? I'll tell you what. I need you. Your skills are what will let me build the Arlong Empire like I wanted. So since I can't kill you, I'll just kill everyone else here but you." The Fishman said with a chuckle.

"Just shut the hell up!" Luffy demanded launching into his attack and starting the fight. The rest stood back and watched with Naruto gently laying a hand on Nami's shoulder to comfort her.

"Your crew won't let Arlong win. He isn't going to harm anyone else here." Naruto said.

It was brutal. A few times the Straw Hats began to step forward to support Luffy only to be ordered back by the young captain. They even had to back up out of the compound's walls as the entire complex was gradually reduced to rubble as it escalated more and more. Eventually culminating with Luffy bringing the building down on top of Arlong.

As he stood on top of the ruins he had created he bellowed out his promise that Nami was his friend. Slowly the fact that Luffy won began to settle into the hearts and minds of the audience. One by one they seemed to repeat the simple phrase that 'he won'. Smiling, Naruto simply slipped away and drew out his den-den mushi to call for his pick up.

'I can't wait to see what else you get up to out there, Monkey D. Luffy.' Naruto thought as he heard his partner's agitated voice on the other end of the connection answer his call.

As promised, once done with everything, Naruto had come clean with Mikita. To say she was stunned was an understatement. It would have been a huge reveal to learn he was the son of a Yonko. Or to simply learn he was formerly part of the Revolutionary Army, and still helped them.

To learn he was a full on traitor to the Baroque Works organization was just another mental slap the poor woman had to endure. Still she seemed to do so rather well. Taking a few moments to process it all before agreeing to help him with his plans and infiltration of Baroque Works.

"Now can we finally get back to more pleasurable activities?" She asked him, causing Naruto to smirk.

"Oh for sure." He replied only for her to press a finger to his lips.

"We both need showers and cleaned up first. I am going first." Mikita slipped out of bed and down the hall of the ship.

Once out of earshot Mikita began to panic and fumbled for her communication snail. Making the connection as quickly as possible she was breathing heavily and nearly yelped when she heard the voice on the other end.

"Miss Valentine? What's the issue?" Miss All Sunday asked.

"I-I need to report. My partner Mister Five is actually the son of Red Hair Shanks, Naruto. He's a spy for the Revolutionary army and is plotting against the organization." She said in a hushed tone.

There was silence on the line for a long moment before Miss All Sunday replied. "Are you certain?"

"Yes!" Mikita hissed.

"I see. Where is he now?" She asked.

"In the other room. I told him I was going to go shower." Miss Valentine explained.

"Alright, go shower then pretend that nothing has changed. Go along with him and we will ambush him when you get back to Arabasta." The organization's second in command said.

"Alright, that sounds like a good plan." Mikita said, reassuring herself.

"Remember to act natural." The other woman pressed.

"I will." Mikita said.

"Good. I need to tell the boss and get others in position. I will contact you later with details." Miss All Sunday explained.

"Okay." The connection went silent after that.

Miss Valentine realized she forgot to grab her clothes though and went to grab them while trying her best to act natural. As she drew closely though she heard the ring of the den den mushi that Naruto kept on his person at all times go off before overhearing him answer it.

"Robin." Naruto said, sounding pleasantly surprised.

"We have a problem." The voice responded, causing Mikita's eyes to widen in horror as she recognized the voice. It was Miss All Sunday.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Miss Valentine tried to warn me about you. She isn't an ally." Robin replied, causing Mikita to begin backing away from the door until she accidentally bumped into the wall.

Naruto was silent as he slowly turned to face the doorway, seeing Mikita standing just outside. He had a sad expression on his face but a determined look in his eyes as he sighed.

"I see. I'll call you back in a little bit." Naruto said before hanging up his call.

Mikita was terrified. She knew he had held back in every fight she'd seen, but even then he was far out of her league. No-one was coming to help her either.

"I really wish you hadn't done that Mikita. I really did like you." He said sadly.

The woman tried to run but didn't get far as a chain of seastone whipped out and wrapped around her throat and pulled her back into the room. Fear swelled in her eyes as Naruto towered over her.

"I'll make it as painless as I can." He said, grabbing his sword off of the counter next to him.

That is that. Obviously that is the end of the Arlong Arc. Next chapter we move toward the Arabasta stuff, but obviously things will be a bit different. I mean Miss Valentine is dead. Naruto and Robin are actively not just reactively plotting on Crocodile. And Bellemere and Nojiko have just been reunited with Nami….would they really say goodbye when they could go on an adventure together?...maybe but not in my damn story.

Anyway

Till Next Time