Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or One Piece.

Punk Hazard V

When Law heard Monet's sudden scream, he had just finished dealing with Vergo. He turned around to look at what happened and couldn't help but to be shocked at what he saw.

Why?

Because of all the things that went through his head at that moment, none of them was about the sudden appearance of one Monkey D Naru who had just appeared from out of nowhere. He clearly didn't expect to see his new boss so soon after they had just gone their separated way not too long ago.

The woman had Monet staring dazedly into her eyes with a pale and terrified face that Law had never seen on the face of the winged-woman before.

In Law's point of view, the two women were just staring at each other without saying any word. The green-haired woman was on her knees, while the black-haired woman was standing before her as she stared down at Monet. Suddenly, the winged woman closed her eyes as she fell to the floor, unconscious.

When the Uzukage turned to stare at him, Law was surprised to see a pair of glaring red eyes instead of the calm sapphire blue. He also flinched when he was suddenly exposed to the cold and suffocating aura coming from her. However, despite his natural instinct of wanting to escape from a dangerous predator, he remained still on his spot with several drops of sweat running down the sides of his face.

The woman was staring at him just like how she did to Monet just a few moments ago. She was staring right into his eyes as if she was trying to look deeper into his soul to judge whatever sins that he had committed in his life.

His instinct was telling him that if he moved his gaze away from her now, he would regret it.

Therefore, he stayed still on his spot. Even if he wanted to move away, his body refused to listen to him. It was as though there were several invisible chains trapping him there and unable him to move.

Thankfully for his own peace of mind, the staring contest didn't last for that long as her pressuring aura suddenly disappeared like it was never there. Her eyes also slowly turned back to their original color as she allowed a small innocent smile to appear on her face.

He almost let out a sigh of relief. What was that all about? Was he being tested just now? He couldn't help but to wonder.

Even if they were now on the same side, but Law had to admit that Monkey D Naru was one terrifying individual. Even her aura alone was enough to subdue him and strike fear into his whole self.

"What's wrong? You look like you have just seen a ghost. Did I frighten you?" She asked with a light smile.

"I… just didn't expect to see you this soon." He grimaced at how awkward he sounded at the moment.

"Sorry for the sudden appearance, but I saw that you seemed to be in a struggling position against these two, so I decided to come out and lend a hand." She claimed as she walked past Monet who was like a lifeless doll on the floor. When he looked at Monet, he couldn't help but to think whether the green-haired woman was frightened by the Uzukage that badly that she actually fainted out of fear.

Recalling the awful feeling that he himself had experienced earlier, Law almost shuddered physically and was thankful that he made the right choice in joining the Uzukage's side. If not, he didn't have any doubt that he would also end up like Monet.

His eyes then wandered to the two weirdly shaped knifes that were deeply stabbed at the back of Vergo's knees. They were so deeply stuck into his flesh that the only thing could be seen was their long handle with a loophole design at the top.

It was quite impressive at how fast those knifes were flying at their target without making any sound until the target himself was hit. Thanks to that, Law managed to grab the opportunity and fight back against his opponent. At the same time, he also wondered if the blue-eyed woman had always been somewhere, observing everything from the beginning since none of them had managed to detect her presence until she had shown herself.

He couldn't help but to wonder whether she would remain undetected in the dark if he wasn't forced to be in a disadvantageous situation.

Law gave it a thought and his eye twitched. The possibility… was quite high.

Naru glanced at the severed head not far from where they stood and said "I didn't expect to see this man here."

Law looked at her, surprised. "You know him?"

"I paid enough attention on the World Government to know of him." She answered simply. "When I encountered him earlier, he was being all suspicious, so I decided to follow after him. Good thing I did so, hm?"

Under her gaze, Law had no comment.

Earlier, as she was wandering around the facility doing her own things, she suddenly detected a strong and foreign presence from somewhere inside the building. Heart filled with suspicion, she then decided to look for the person, only to see a man in white coat that she instantly recognized with just a glance.

As she had been keeping a close eye on the World Government, it was unavoidable for her to also pay attention on those capable people in the marine force as well. And this man who seemed like he knew his way around the facility was also one of those people that she had taken note of due to his position as a Vice Admiral.

Coincidentally, he was also the leader of the unit that Smoker was currently in.

Since Luffy had once talked about Smoker during their first reunion two years ago, it was only natural for her to pay a close attention on those that her brothers had mentioned before. And it just happened that this person that she was secretly following after was also included in the social circle of Smoker, hence why Naru could recognize him with just a glance.

That person was none other than Vergo, a Vice Admiral and the leader of G-5.

The only question that she had when she first saw him was that, why was this person here, seemingly relaxed and unbothered while his other comrades were suffering in the cold outside?

What a suspicious man.

Taking advantage of her superior strength, she had her presence completely concealed as she continued to tail him from the shadow like a proper ninja. In the end, she eventually saw the 'friendly' interaction between Law, Vergo and Monet.

'So you have been there since the beginning?' Law inwardly grimaced at the thought of letting her seen his somewhat pathetic self.

However, Law considered that he wasn't really at fault there. He knew that he would still be able to handle both Monet and Vergo if he was being careful enough. But unfortunately, he was caught off guard when he was suddenly being attacked by a sudden sharp pain in his chest. Recalling that moment, his eyes darkened as he stared at Vergo.

A strange thought then went through his head. 'Could it be…?'

Vergo who wasn't dead yet despite having his head being cut off from his body, was able to hear the two people talking.

"…Who are you..?" He asked. Although he was beaten by Law, but just like the Sichibukai and Monet, he too experienced the suffocating presence of the unknown person. That should be what affected him the most right now.

A trail of blood could be seen at the corner of his lips as he tried to guess the identity of the person who was radiating such a strong overbearing presence that reminded him so much of his Young Master. If he didn't feel that sudden burst of presence a while ago before it suddenly disappeared like the wind, he would never have thought that there was actually another person besides them here.

It was a proof that this person, whoever they may be, was way above his level.

There were not that many people who could rival Doflamingo's presence. But many faces that went through his head, none could match the idea that someone would be kind enough to help someone like Law.

And based on the voice that had spoken to that brat Law, the unknown person was definitely a woman. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar to him as well. However, no matter how hard he tried to recall any woman with a voice like that, nobody came to his mind.

"Who are you...?" He asked once again, still trying to guess the identity of the person. But without a body to move and his head was also forced to face the ceiling, he had no way of trying to catch a glimpse of the woman.

"Who am I is none of your concern." Naru responded. "However, instead of worrying about my identity, I suggest you to worry more about your upcoming fate."

Confused by her words, Vergo wasn't ready when he saw a slender hand suddenly appeared in his line of sight, nor was he ready for the sudden sharp pain that came the moment that hand touched his head.

It was just a normal gentle touch, but the pain that came gave him the impression that there were thousands of tiny needles stabbed into his head at once at the same time. Helpless, Vergo could do nothing but to grit his teeth as he tried to hold on. However, despite his effort and willpower, he still ended up letting out a groan when he failed to suppress the pain.

In the end, he was eventually greeted by the darkness as he lost his consciousness.

While Law was taken aback wondering what the heck just happened, Naru who didn't feel like explaining her action merely went over to Monet next. Under Law's curious gaze, she then proceeded to press her two fingers at a certain spot behind the unconscious woman's neck. This was to make sure that she would remain in that state for a longer time necessary.

Before Law could ask what was she doing, Naru spoke first.

"These two won't wake up for the time being, so you don't have to worry about this woman waking up and trying to kill you. And as for him…" She glanced at the cut off body parts scattered on the floor. "… I don't think you have to be worry about him anymore."

Then she looked at him.

"Anyway, I don't plan to stick around here any longer since I have completed my task as I have been instructed to do. So I'll be going first and you can handle these two as you see fit. And also, while I have no interest in knowing how are you going to handle them, it's better for them to be alive. You get it?"

"I-" Law opened his mouth, trying to say something but was cut off.

"Well then, you will see me later!"

With that, the woman suddenly disappeared in a poof of smoke along with the two kunais that she had thrown at Vergo earlier, which caused more blood to gush out of his wounds.

The blank Law could only blink his eyes at the empty air.

Turned out, the Naru that had been talking to Law the whole time was just one of the several clones that the real Naru had summoned out before they were scattered throughout the building.

.

.

.

At the same time, somewhere in Section C of the facility.

Naru stopped walking when she suddenly received a new set of memory from one of her clones that had recently dispelled itself.

That clone was precisely the one that had just been with Law earlier.

"Vergo, huh? What an unexpected fellow." Was her only comment regarding the new development before she resumed her movement.

Although Vergo's appearance here was truly unexpected, Naru didn't consider it to be such a big concern. After all, wasn't he had already been dealt with by her clone? With him being done for, he wasn't a problem to her.

Even the woman that was acting as Caesar's assistant was already done for.

Hence, the lack of reaction coming from her.

Perhaps, the only thing that she was expecting to come was the possible reaction of Smoker and the rest of the marines once they found out about Vergo.

Anyhow, now that her clones were almost done with whatever they were supposed to do, it was now good to say that Caesar Clown was no longer the master of this place.

Earlier, as soon as the group had split up with their own task to do, Naru didn't waste time as she immediately summoned several clones to 'clean up' the whole place. And of course, by cleaning up the place, she meant dealing with the rest of Caesar's people in this building and also to find, destroy or sabotage every single form of communication that enemies might be able to use to contact for some reinforcements.

Especially that Doflamingo.

She definitely didn't need that man to have his focus on her, Luffy and his crew at the moment.

Plus, they would see each other soon eventually.

For the time being, she would like to do what she was able to do here without any disturbance from any unwanted problem.

Now back to the flashback of what Naru had been up to since earlier.

Once she had seen how there were so many things had been packed up and most of the rooms that she had looked into previously were almost being emptied, it seemed that their suspicion was indeed right for saying that Caesar might be planning to leave the island.

And he was also in a hurry to do so as well.

How could he not?

Now that the marines were here, Caesar's illegal presence and activities on this island might have already been reported to the Marine HQ. Scared of getting caught and thrown into prison, he then decided to abandon this place and run away to save himself.

Naru would even bet her entire fortune that he was probably planning on escaping to Doflamingo's place which was the closest. After all, the crazy Sichibukai would never let a valuable ally like Caesar Clown to be harmed or taken away from him.

Caesar's existence was equal to his business lifeline and the fate of his life and death.

Although she had discovered earlier that Caesar was nowhere to be found in this building and she also had no idea as where the guy had wandered off to, but she was still confident that he would return back sooner or later eventually. Plus, even if he wanted to leave the island now, it would be impossible since there was no available transportation that he could use to bring himself to Dressrosa. Even the two ships that were docked alongside the Thousand Sunny from earlier were destroyed thanks to the sudden ambush from the Yeti Brothers.

Anyway, she wasn't that worried about Caesar running away for the time being. She would just wait for him here and ambush him when he least expected it.

It would be fun to see his helpless reaction once he realized that he couldn't escape from his impending doom anymore.

Taking the chance of him not being here, Naru decided to settle everything inside the facility first. Which included the rest of Caesar's men, and those many Den Den Mushi off all types that could be find anywhere in every part of this building. And as she was also in a hurry to leave this place as soon as possible, she ended up summoning several clones to share her works.

By now, half of them had already dispelled themselves once they were done with their task, including the one that with Law earlier.

Giving a small hum as she thought of their current situation, Naru continued to walk forward.

However, a faint presence of someone from somewhere suddenly attracted her attention.

Based on the feeling, the person didn't seem to be a dangerous enemy. Especially when the person radiated such a strong but weak presence that gave off the feeling of helplessness and desperation.

The most interesting thing however was that, this presence that she felt bore the same feeling as when she first felt Kin'emon's presence hours ago.

It was the presence of Chakra, or to be exact, Ryuo.

Suddenly, Naru disappeared from her spot.

In just a flash, she arrived at a certain hallway, and there at the end, she saw a huge hole on the wall. Despite the little unpleasant smell coming from it, it didn't stop her from getting closer to it. As she got near it, she titled her head slightly and looked down, but all she could see was a total darkness.

But even if she wasn't able to see anything with her naked eyes, she was sure that the person she was looking for was down there.

A second later, she suddenly jumped into the hole and her body instantly glowed in her golden chakra cloak which illuminated the whole place as she let herself to fall down freely.

When she reached the end, her feet landed gracefully on the floor as she looked around the place that reminded her of the Grey Terminal back in Goa Kingdom. Her glowing eyes then immediately spotted a little figure that was a few distances away from her.

"So there you are." She muttered softly as she proceeded to head towards the little person, whom she later noticed was without any piece of clothing on him as he laid there shivering on the cold dirty floor with his back against the wall.

Naru frowned upon seeing him curling into a ball as he hugged himself with his two frail arms, trying to keep himself warm as he tried to hold on to whatever little energy he had left.

As if sensing that somebody was finally here to take him away from this cold and dark place, the boy slowly opened his eyes slightly and started to mumble something under his breath.

But his voice was too soft and quiet that even someone like Naru who had heightened hearing sense failed to hear what he was mumbling about. Then she saw how he shakily tried to reach out his little hand towards her direction.

Quickened her speed, she eventually reached his side in a blink of an eye before she knelt down with both of her knees on the floor as she reached out her two glowing arms towards the child. She then took him into her embrace and held him like how she often did to Tama and her brothers when they were children.

"You're safe now." She murmured softly. "Hold on. Your father is waiting to see you, Momonosuke-Kun."

Sensing the sudden warmth that enveloped himself, the boy sniffled as he held tightly onto her clothes with his tiny hands, not wanting to let go. He then opened his mouth and mumbled something once again.

But this time, Naru could hear it clearly.

"Father… I miss you."

Then they disappeared, bringing the light out and the place turned dark once again.

In another part of the place, there were Luffy and Kin'emon.

Although these two were given the task to look for Momonosuke, in reality, they were actually lost.

They had no idea of where they were supposed to go as everything and everywhere looked the same to them, and they didn't even know in which part of the building they were currently at. All they knew was that, ever since everyone had split up a while ago, the duo had been running left and right, up and down, looking into one room after another, and yet they still failed to find even one single kid in this entire damn place.

And it couldn't be denied that doing a continuous search without an actual plan was also tiring, and Luffy was even starting to get bored. So the younger man started a random conversation with the samurai.

This time, Luffy had just finished boasting about how cool his big brother Ace was for his ability to use fire.

"So your big brother is a Katon user? Amazing!" Kin'emon exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Luffy actually had no idea what was it and what did it mean, but he agreed anyway since it sounded cool to his ears.

"We also have some people in our country who can use Katon, like me! Most of my attacks are fire based, and because of that, I have been given the title, Foxfire Kin'emon!" Claimed the samurai with pride displayed on his face.

"Cool!" Luffy had stars in his eyes as he stared at the grinning samurai. "Does that mean that you have a fox as a partner? Can I see it? Can I?!"

Kin'emon suddenly became flustered at the sudden request made by the younger man. He coughed awkwardly before saying "Foxes are considered to be the sacred creatures of Wano, Luffy-Dono. Just touching one is already considered a crime, let alone having one as a p-pet! How could we treat the creatures of the Sun Goddess as something like we treat a normal house pet like cats and dogs? Absolutely outrageous!"

"But my sister has one." Said Luffy as he blinked his eyes innocently at Kin'emon who was gaping at him in horror mixed with disbelief.

It was as if he couldn't comprehend the thought of someone daring enough to keep a sacred creature as a companion. Although, that someone was not even from his land and that nobody from the world outside was even aware of the cultures and beliefs of his people, but it still appeared to be quite a surprise to the samurai anyway.

"R-Really? Well, since Naru-Dono is not a citizen of Wano, I… I guess that's fine." Replied Kin'emon, trying to convince himself that Naru was not a person of Wano. Therefore, she wasn't bound by the strict laws of his country.

"Nee-Chan can glow into golden light too, ya know? And her fox too. I didn't see it since I was unconscious at that time, but I was told before that Nee-Chan and Kurama were glowing and they even used combined attacks together! How cool was that?!"

Then Luffy proceeded to retold the story that he was told to him by Usopp the dramatic story teller of how his older sister and her fox partner combined their energy balls and shot a big and strong beam of light towards somewhere that had to do with someone called 'Mary' or something.

Although there was a huge possibility that it could be exaggerated by Usopp and later by Luffy himself, Kin'emon was still amazed.

"That truly happened?"

"Yeah!"

"What an interesting ability. Then I'll be bold to say that Naru-Dono and her fox are battle partners?"

Luffy was in a deep thought for a while, before he nodded his head as he recalled that Kurama had always been by his sister's side ever since he came back with her from one of her journeys before they left to the Grand Line together.

"But how come I haven't seen a single fox around Naru-Dono at all?" Questioned the samurai.

Usually, an animal battle companion would never let its master's side. And since the brother himself had said that Naru-Dono had a fox as a battle partner, then there should always be a fox by her side. But so far since their first meeting a couple of hours ago, besides the talking raccoon, he didn't see any animal around her at all.

"Oh, I guess Kurama is sleeping at the moment." Answered Luffy. "And only Nee-Chan has the power to summon him out."

In truth, he didn't know much about what his sister could do other than the fact that she was a ninja who was a lot stronger and powerful than everyone else he knew. He also didn't know much about Kurama that fox, but he remembered that Naru had once said to him about how Kurama was actually living inside a space that could only be accessed by her. She might have said something else too, but Luffy certainly didn't remember or he just didn't get it.

However, he understood that only Naru could call out Kurama.

"Ah! So Naru-Dono is a summoner!" Kin'emon had the look of 'now I understand' on his smiling face as he nodded to himself. "So this Kurama is not actually a real fox, but instead a fox spirit from the spirit realm! How fortunate!"

"Huh? A spirit?"

Kin'emon continued to speak. "In my country, there are not that many people that can use summoning jutsu. Those who can are called 'summoner'. Most of them are able to summon a spirit animal from the spirit animal. However, although summoners are rare, summoner who can summon a fox spirit is even rarer!"

"Why is that so?"

"I'm glad you asked, Luffy-Dono." Kin'emon was more than happy to explain about why a fox was considered a sacred creature of his homeland. "You see, our people believe that foxes are the animal companion of our Goddess. Anything that has to do with a fox symbolizes the power and presence of our Goddess."

"Goddess? Is she really that strong? I think I met someone who called himself a god before." Luffy said as he tried to recall his vague memories of this 'god'. He didn't remember much, but he did remember that the guy had extremely long earlobes and used lightning, causing troubles for his crew and the people from the sky island.

"You met a God?" Kin'emon couldn't help but to stare at the younger man with a trace of disbelief in his eyes.

"Yeah, he was really strong too, but I still managed to beat him anyway. Shishishishi!"

"A God that can be defeated by a mere mortal?" Kin'emon couldn't help but to look at the young man beside him from head to toe, before shrugging his shoulders as he came to his own conclusion. "Must be a fraud then. How could a mere mortal beat a divine being so easily?"

Then he continued.

According to the samurai, ever since the country was first established for more than a thousand years ago by the first Shogun of Wano, the people had long believed in the existence of multiple deities that were said to possess great power that they used to protect and bless the country. Each deity had their own area of expertise and what kind of blessing could they do. However, there was a female deity that was said to be the strongest of them all as she held the power of the sun.

Hence, her title.

The Sun Goddess.

Being the symbol of light that represented life, the Sun Goddess then became the deity that the people of Wano mainly worshipped as there were many temples built dedicated only to her. Of course, the other deities were also worshipped, but the people's faith and loyalty to the Sun Goddess were much stronger compared to the other deities.

In a form of hierarchy, the Sun Goddess stood above others, including the ruler of the country himself.

And as for the reason why the Sun Goddess was associated with a fox among other animals, that would be because of the myths and stories of how she had a battle companion in a form of massive fox with nine tails that were said to be strong enough to cause a huge tsunami with just a swing of one of its tails.

And just like the legendary Phoenix, that divine fox was also known as the legendary mythical creature, the Kyubi!

However, before Kin'emon could tell the mesmerized Luffy about the legendary fox, the older man suddenly paused what he was doing as his body went still, confusing Luffy.

"What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

Instead of answering Luffy's question, Kin'emon widened his eyes that filled with a flash of surprise as he looked ahead with deep concentration. Then, a big smile appeared on his face.

"It's him! I can feel his Ryuo!" Kin'emon suddenly exclaimed.

And just like that, before Luffy could even react, the samurai started to sprint away with a speed that no ordinary people could achieve.

But who was Luffy?

This guy was far away from being ordinary.

With a loud 'hey', Luffy immediately went after the samurai, catching up to him in no time with his own speed.

.

.

.

Somewhere else not far from Kin'emon and Luffy's location.

Inside the empty dining hall of the facility, Naru was sitting leisurely at one of the many empty tables. Beside her was a young boy who seemed to be between the age of 6-7 years old.

This boy was the little fellow that she had rescued earlier. He was also the son that Kin'emon have been searching for with his life on the line, Momonosuke.

The child had the similar topknot hairstyle at the back of his head just like Kin'emon. However, unlike Kin'emon who had a full head of hair, Momonosuke was bald at the front top of his head. Unlike when he was naked when she found him earlier, the boy was now wearing a small yukata for children that she had bought with many other children clothing, in which she was planning to donate to the one and only orphanage house in Uzu once she had returned home.

As Naru was looking at him who was eating the bento made by Sanji earlier, she was glad to see that he seemed to be in a better condition now than he was before.

After she had taken him out of the dump site, she didn't hesitate to transfer a little bit of her chakra to him enough for the boy to regain energy. Only when she saw that his complexion had gotten better did she take him away, in which she ended up at this place.

Once he had woken up, and after convincing him that she knew him and his father, she then took out the bento that she had received from Sanji earlier and handed it to him.

When he had finished the bento, Naru asked "Was it good?"

Momonosuke blushed when he realized that he had finished everything cleanly. But he still nodded his head.

"I'm glad to hear that." She said, before taking out a bottle of water from her storage seal. She opened it before giving it to the little boy. "Here, have some."

Momonosuke only stared at the bottle in her hand for a few moments as if he was deciding whether he should take it or not. But as he remembered that he had already eaten the food given by her anyway, he might as well just accept the water too. Plus, he admitted that he was really thirsty.

"… Thank you." He said as he accepted the water from her.

Usually, he wouldn't even take any food from a complete stranger. These past few days ever since he got taken away by the bad people, Momonosuke had been rather cautious with everyone and everything around him. He kept his guard up and he never let a single soul to get near and closer to him, including those naïve and foolish children that were easily duped by those bad people.

But ever since he met this woman, which was really not too long ago, something had been whispering in his ears that he could trust this stranger.

It wasn't just because she was the one that had appeared in front of him when he was losing hope and almost gave up or the fact that she managed to prove that she really knew him and his father. But her presence was giving off the feeling that made him at ease, making him feel assured that he would be fine. His own instinct was telling him that he could put his trust on her.

It was hard to explain, but there was just something natural about her that made him feel safe.

Therefore, when he opened his eyes and met her gaze for the first time not too long ago, he didn't push her away when he realized that he was being embraced by a total stranger. All he could feel was that he was safe and that she gave him the feelings of great comfort and warmth that he had missed so dearly.

…

Momonosuke knew that one wrong mistake would lead to his possible demise. And he couldn't afford to be dead now.

Therefore, ever since the first day he was on the wrong ship with many unfamiliar people with hidden motive, he hardened his resolve and never took anything that was given or offered by another person. Not even when some harmless children were trying to get close to him and attempted to advise him to eat something. He didn't even reveal his name.

When he overheard the conversation between the bad guys, he then ran away and hid himself.

He was tired.

He was hungry.

He was frustrated.

The only thing that he managed to eat was that one awful fruit that was so bad that it made him feel funny. Not only it made him feel strange but it also turned him into something else. It was only temporary, but he vaguely remembered that he wasn't his usual self after he ate that rotten fruit. And for some reasons, after he realized that he was himself once again, he was without any clothing.

Eventually, he ended up in the dirtiest but also the safest place of the building because nobody would be looking for him in the dump site.

He didn't know how many days had passed since he was there without any light, food and warmth.

In the end, before he could succumb to his hunger and weak body, bright light suddenly came down from above, and there she was landing in the middle of the dirty ground gracefully as she was glowing brightly in gold.

As the dark place suddenly brightened with her presence, young Momonosuke was stunned and touched. Her arrival was like a miracle that came in the moment of despair. When he saw her golden form, all he could mumble to himself at that moment was that…

"Kami-Sama… has finally come to bring me home…"

He didn't know what happened after that. But when he heard a gentle voice telling him that his beloved father was waiting to see him, he surrendered to his desire and fell asleep. But not after voicing out his true feeling that he missed his father.

Then when he woke up, a pair of bright eyes with the color of the sky suddenly greeted him.

She wasn't glowing anymore, but nevertheless, he knew that it was her.

She had the same voice, and the same warmth.

She who dressed like the people of his homeland, but was actually a person from the outside world, had introduced himself as Naru. She who claimed to have known his father, which then quickened his heartbeat and gave him that sense of expectation.

Then she said it.

"Kin'emon-San will be glad to know that you're safe now."

…

After taking a few gulps of the water, Momonosuke looked at the woman beside him. He was then distracted by the lines on her face which reminded him of those animals with whiskers. Unconsciously, an image of a fox suddenly appeared in his head.

Of course, Naru also noticed the very obvious gaze on her. "Is there something wrong?" She asked.

The boy was startled with her sudden question and immediately shook his head. Cheeks flushing red for being caught staring, he turned his head away from her to look ahead of him, which all he could see was several empty tables and chairs.

"Are we going to find my… father… after this?" He asked after a few moments.

Smiling, she replied. "Of course. I'm confident that your father will be very happy to see you."

Momonosuke didn't respond.

"Kin'emon-San has been doing his best to find you ever since you were taken away by the bad guys. Don't be mad at him for not finding you sooner. He was facing some… difficulties when he arrived here."

"I'm not mad at him." He said softly as he looked down to stare at the table.

Naru didn't know what kind of expression that he made, but she could still detect the feelings of grievance, sadness, anger and disappointment all mixed together coming from him.

She figured that the boy must have been quite upset for what happened to him. Recalling his poor condition when she found him, her heart softened even more. Gently, she placed her hand on top of his head, and she could feel the rough texture of his shaved head.

Momonosuke was surprised by the sudden touch, which then caused him to look up at her with his two big eyes.

"You have gone through a lot." She said with a gentle smile. "You're such a brave and strong boy!"

And somehow, the words that just came out of her mouth just touched the most vulnerable part of Momonosuke's heart. The eyes that were looking into his eyes were as though they could see through his soul.

Slowly, an image of another woman was starting to get overlapped with the blue-eyed woman. A woman with a different face but with the same soft gentle smile and gentle eyes. He was reminded instantly of the warmth and the comfort that he was familiar with, but could never obtain again.

Tears welled in his eyes, but instead of letting them to fall, Momonosuke hardened his vulnerable heart before he wiped his tears away with the sleeve of his new cloth.

Then he looked at her once again, before saying "Thank you."

Those negative feelings were still there, but they were not as strong as earlier. Naru was relieved to see that his eyes were now glowing with some sparkles which gave her the impression that he wasn't being that upset anymore.

Smiling, Naru took out a couple of cup ramen that she had in her food storage seal. She opened the lid of one of them first before placing it in front of Momonosuke who was staring at her with amazement in his eyes.

"Here, have it. Ramen is my favorite food!" She said as she poured enough water from the bottle earlier inside the cup ramen before using her palm to cover the top part of the cup. She then heated the water using her chakra which carried a small bit of fire nature.

Momonosuke stared at the long bowl of noodle that she called 'ramen' and couldn't help but to say "This is ramen? It doesn't seem like the one that I always had."

"It's instant ramen, which you can cook under 3 minutes. Cool right? At least I don't have to wait for a long time for my favorite food to be cooked." Naru said as she did the same thing she did to Momonosuke's ramen cup to hers.

"…You remind me of the ninjas back home."

"Probably because I'm a ninja as well."

Momonosuke had guessed that after seeing what she could do but was still surprised anyway. "And where are you from actually?"

"I come from the kingdom of Uzu."

For some reasons, he became excited upon hearing the name of a country that he never heard before. "Uzu? Do you have samurais in your country as well? What is it like in Uzu?"

Naru was amazed seeing how excited and eager he was. For some reasons, the expression that the boy displayed on his face reminded her so much of Konohamaru. As an image of a young teen showing off his newly mastered Rasengan, Naru was hit by a wave of nostalgia and sadness.

'He should a Hokage now.' She thought fondly.

Hearing his questions, she shook her head and answered "No, we don't have samurais in Uzu. But we do have warriors that can use sword. Our warriors are not limited in using sword as a weapon as well. We don't have ninjas as well. It just me."

Ignoring the slight disappointment on the boy's face, Naru continued "Uzu can be said to be the same as Wano. People there wear the same style of clothing that you and I are wearing right now. Some of the structures of our buildings are the same as the ones in Wano as well. But we do not have the exact same cultures nor do we have any Shogun or Daimyo. However, we do have an Uzukage."

"Uzukage? Is that equal to a Shogun?"

"You can say that."

Momonosuke became silent as he processed the information of this kingdom that was similar to Wano and yet so different at the same time. Then he realized something.

"Why do you know so much about my country if you are not from there?"

"Because I have been there before."

He widened his eyes at her. "You... You went-"

Before Momonosuke could finish his words, Naru cut him off "Your ramen is about to cool down. Trust me, it will taste better if you eat it while it still hot."

When the blue-eyed woman turned away from him and proceeded to focus on her own meal, as young as he was, the small child of Wano understood that the woman was trying to prevent him from speaking about Wano. Recalling that she knew his father, Momonosuke understood that she must have known about how bad Wano was at the moment and refused to talk about it to a child like him.

"Thank you for the food." He said as he also focused on his food with a heavy heart as he couldn't help himself but to think about his country.

Noticing that he was getting upset once again, Naru held back a sigh as she recalled the extreme reaction of Kin'emon when she talked about Wano's poor condition. No matter what, in her eyes, Momonosuke was just a small child that shouldn't be burdened by the cruelties and ugliness of the world.

However, as soft as her heart was, she couldn't bring herself to ignore the sad emotion coming from the boy.

In the end, she said "Don't worry. As long as there are people like you and your father who love your country with all of their heart, Wano will always be blessed. And as long as there is tomorrow, there is always hope."

Momonosuke let her words to sink in. It was unknown what he was thinking about, but a smile immediately bloomed on his face. Just like that, each enjoyed their own cup of ramen with one of them marveled on the new taste that this new type of ramen on his tongue.

The two accompanied each other like that, surrounded by a comfortable silence. Although this was just their first meeting, but there was no such thing as awkwardness existed between the two of them. Momonosuke was willing to get closer to this stranger because he knew that he could trust her as based on what his instinct was telling him. Whereas Naru find no trouble in interacting with Momonosuke because she herself had a lot of experiences in dealing with children.

Not long after that, Naru tilted her head slightly towards the door with a knowing look.

"It seems that we won't have to look for your father anymore."

"Huh?"

Just then...

"Momonosuke! Are you here?!" Shouted a wide-eyed Kin'emon who had just showed up, bursting through the door.

"Nee-Chan?" Luffy appeared soon after that and his eyes immediately landed on his older sister. Then he saw the boy next to her. "Eh, who's that? Is he Momonosuke?"

"MOMONOSUKE!" Kin'emon cried out with a big smile and a pair of teary eyes when he saw Momonosuke who was looking well. "Momonosuke! It's me! It's... It's... F-Father is here!"

Seeing the samurai, Momonosuke also had tears in his eyes. Without saying anything or waiting for another second to pass, he then went ahead and ran towards Kin'emon who was ready to welcome him with open arms.

Both Naru and Luffy watched silently as Momonosuke fell into his father's embrace.
Kin'emon then proceeded to engulf the boy with a tight hug. Soon, a soft cry could be heard as Momonosuke poured out every grievance that he felt ever since they were separated.

"Father..!" Cried Momonosuke.

Holding back his tears, Kin'emon's heart almost shattered as he listened to the child's heart wrenching cry. But as sad and guilty he was, there was nothing that he could at that moment other than continuing to hug him and to let the young child know that he was not alone anymore.

He was safe now.

While the father son duo had their emotional reunion, Luffy had gone to his sister's side. They watched the reunion in silence as both siblings couldn't help but to recall the time when they first met their own parent.
In Naru's case, instead of thinking of Dragon, she was thinking of her first time meeting Minato and Kushina. And of course, while there was 'hello', there was also 'goodbye'.

When Naru was immersed in her sad but fond memories of her late parents, Luffy opened his mouth and said "So that's Momonosuke? His hair is kinda funny."

Naru smiled in amusement when she heard Luffy's blunt comment.

"That's the traditional hairstyle of their people. It's common to have that kind of hairstyle in their country." She tried to explain.

"But Kin'emon has a lot of hair!"

He meant to say that unlike Kin'emon who had a full head of hair, Momonosuke was bald at the front top of his head.

"Well, you're right." Was what the amused Naru could say.

A few minutes later after the father son duo had calmed down from their emotional reunion, Kin'emon went to express his gratitude for helping him to find Momonosuke.

"I didn't do much. It was a great coincidence that I managed to find Momo-Kun since I was nearby from where he was."

"But still, I, Kin'emon would like to thank you with my utmost sincerity!" Then he bowed to her and Luffy's direction in 90 degree.

Momonosuke was temporary stunned upon seeing how the samurai was willing to be humble enough to bow to another person who wasn't his superior. But that was only for a moment, before he too went ahead and bowed to Naru.

"Thank you!" He didn't know about the man with the straw hat, but he knew that Naru was his savior. Hence why he only bowed in gratitude towards her.

"My pleasure." Naru said as she accepted their bows.

"Nee-Chan, do you still have any food left?" Asked Luffy suddenly as he stared at the empty ramen cups and the bento box that he recognized to be from Sanji on the table. "I want to eat meat!"

"There's no meat, but I can give you some breads and fruits if you still want it." She said.

"I want!" Luffy replied eagerly. Breads and fruits were not meat, but food was still food anyway. He'd want anything that could fill his stomach.

Shaking her head at her brother's obvious desire and greed for food, she summoned out the scroll that contained her personal food supply. Under the other three's watching eyes, she took out many different types of fruit and dessert like breads, cakes and muffins before placing them on the table.

Luffy , Kin'emon, and Momonosuke were staring at the pile of food with sparkles in their eyes. Especially Momonosuke who had been starving for many days. It was obvious that he was still hungry as the food he ate earlier was not enough.

"Thank you for the food!" Said Luffy before he started to stuff every food that he could grab into his mouth.

"Don't just stand there and stare, go ahead and eat." Naru said to the other two.

Though it had only been a few hours, but it seemed that Kin'emon was already familiar and closer to the two siblings as he didn't feel shy and immediately joined Luffy. Momonosuke hesitated only for a couple of seconds before he joined in the older man's footstep in trying out the desserts that were actually made by Sanji when they were on their way to the surface from the Fish-Man Island.

They had plenty of free time before, so the chef decided to spend most of his time in his kitchen preparing all kind of food.

While the other three ate in bliss and happiness, Naru was just about to pick up a shiny red apple that caught her attention, but her hand stopped halfway when she suddenly received a new set of memory from one of her clones.

Processing her new memories, Naru smirked before she turned to look at the other three who were busy eating.

"The three of you stay here for a while, and wait for my return." She said.

"Huh? Nee-Chan, you're going somewhere?" Asked Luffy after he gulped down everything in his mouth.

Giving them the eye smile, she nodded.

"I'm going to welcome a new... friend."

- End of Chapter 30 -

Phew. Finally. Here's your long awaited chapter.

I want to say thank you for the kind words of motivation and continuous supports that I have received from you guys. As I have mentioned the reason for the late update on the previous author's note, my life is getting better and stable now. Unfortunately, my laptop cannot be fixed so I had to say bye bye to all of my documents.

As I am still studying, I'll be 50/50 active on this site. But don't worry, you can expect a faster (not that fast) update from me heheh (hopefully).

Anyway, thank you very much for all of the supports! You guys don't know how much I appreciate it as I keep coming back to read the positive reviews many times. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

Stay healthy and have a nice day!