Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or One Piece

Dressrosa Arc I

Looking at the island ahead, Naru marvelled once again that Mother Nature was indeed great for having the creativity to create various islands with unique design.

Beside her, Luffy asked "Is that Dressroba?"

"It's Dressrosa." Usopp corrected him for how many time, he didn't even know.

"That's what I said." Shameless Luffy at it again.

Sigh. "Yes, captain." The sniper gave up. "That's Dressrosa."

"Yoshhh! We are finally going to see Ace!" Luffy was excited with the thought of finally reuniting with his older brother. Oh, and the tournament plus a golden opportunity to finally beat Ace! It would be much better if Sabo was there as well. That way, he could beat them both and be the second strongest among his siblings! Shishishishishi.

Besides him, there was also another person who was itching to use all his muscles and swords in the tournament. With an expectant look, he asked Naru "You think there will be many strong people joining the contest?"

"Well of course. Who doesn't want to own a powerful Devil Fruit like the Gura Gura no Mi? People who will be joining the tournament will definitely not be weak. Who knows, perhaps there are some familiar people that you will see later." She replied.

At her words, Zoro smirked and declared "It doesn't matter who they are, I'll beat them all."

"You have such a big confidence to beat my brothers?" She raised her eyebrow. He may be strong, but he surely wasn't strong enough to beat both Luffy and Ace with his current strength. Especially Ace, whom she had trained personally these past two years.

"There is no such thing as giving up in my life." Beating his captain and his captain's older brother was not his life mission. His goal was to grow stronger, and be the number one swordsman in the world.

Losing, was also a part of the process of growing stronger.

"Well said." Naru nodded in approval. From what she had observed, Zoro had potential and many rooms for improvement. She had no doubt that the man would definitely achieve something great in the future.

Just then, Naru felt something amiss. She felt that she was being watched.

Narrowing her eyes dangerously, she fixed her eyes at where she was sure the person watching her was at, and the island just happened to be in her line of sight. No matter how good her eyesight was, she wasn't a Hyuga who could see farther into several kilometers of distance.

But she could feel their presence.

Having sensed the whereabouts of the person watching her, Naru didn't hesitate to counter back with a mental attack with her chakra. Immediately, the feeling of being watched disappeared.

'That is a warning.'

Whoever that person was, they'd better not let her catch them once again, or else she wouldn't be this merciful on second time.

.

.

.

Once the ship was docked at somewhere secluded, everyone disembarked from the Thousand Sunny.

"We are finally here!!!"

"Pipe down, Luffy!!! We are in the enemy's territory!!!"

"You're not being quiet either, stupid."

"Auhhh I'm feeling ultra suuuperrr this morning!! Let's go ahead and blow off the factory!!"

"I said keep quiet!!"

Seeing that everyone seemed eager to explore the island instead of being serious over their mission, a worried Law was second guessing his decision, wondering if they were going to be fine at all.

According to his plan, their goal was to destroy the SMILE factory while having Doflamingo distracted with Caesar's fake retrieval mission. Since all of them were made aware of the plans that were prepared by Law himself, they knew their roles and was split into three groups.

Team Law, consisted of himself, Robin, and Usopp, would be the one to take Caesar and headed over to the Green Bit. Meanwhile, Team Luffy with the captain himself, Zoro, Franky, and Kin'emon, would be going to the factory, which was hidden underneath the Corrida Colosseum, and destroy it. The rest, as Team Sanji, would be guarding the Thousand Sunny.

"Here, take this." Law gave Nami a blank piece of paper.

"A Vivre Card?" She was confused as to why the man suddenly gave her this.

"Just in chase if something happens to us, leave and head to Zou immediately. This Vivre Card will lead you there."

"What do you mean? With Nee-San here, how could something happen to us?" Nami responded by hugging the smiling Naru's arm.

"Nami is right. Why are you being so negative about our situation anyway?" Usopp asked.

Law shrugged his shoulders. "We'll never know if something unexpected is going to happen and disrupt our goals."

"Errr," Usopp had no words to counter back since Law was making a lot of senses.

Naru had handed over the matter of dealing with Doflamingo to the two pirate captains, so what the others were going to do later were all according to what Law had planned, since it was impossible to depend on Luffy for this type of thing. And thanks to some additional information that Viola had kindly provided Yuzu in order to show her sincerity to secure a meeting with Naru, everyone was well aware of what was happening in Dressrosa.

"Alright everyone, don't forget to disguise yourself first." Naru reminded them.

Thanks to Kin'emon's Devil Fruit ability, the men changed their appearance.

"Alright! We look great! They will never be able to recognize us like this, shishishishi!" Luffy exclaimed with confidence that came from who know where.

Naru, who was an expert in disguising herself, just stared at the men who had just changed their clothes and put on a fake mustache and a pair of sunglasses, and resisted the urge to comment something.

"Let's go to the city!"

With Luffy being the leader, his team had already disappeared. Along with another person that shouldn't have left.

"Ehhh? Where is Sanji?"

"He follows them." Reported the calm Robin.

"Then who's going to protect us?!" Chopper immediately panicked.

"I can't believe they ran off just like that!" Law was annoyed, unlike Naru who didn't seem worried at all.

"Don't worry about them. They will be just fine." She said. Then in front of them, she also changed her appearance, causing them to be in awe of her 'shapeshifting' ability. Especially Law whose first time seeing someone changing her appearance right in front of him.

'With this kind of ability, it was no wonder that she was never caught before revealing herself two years ago.' He thought.

"I'm going to find Yuzu now." She said as she skillfully braided her long hair. With the face that lacked the three thin lines on her cheeks, and eyes the colour of bright emerald, she looked at Law and said "If something happens, you know how to contact me."

Law nodded with a serious expression.

Satisfied, Naru then disappeared from their line of sight like she had never been there.

.

.

.

On a busy street of Acacia, many eyes were attracted to the sight of a beautiful smiling lady who had her long dark hair tied into a low loose braid. She was looking around the place with her bright emerald eyes as if it was her first time of being here. She was wearing a simple dark shirt with a golden coloured sash wrapped around her waist, and a dark baggy pants.

There were some men who wanted to approach her, but when they did, she simply disappeared into the crowd.

Naru, who had been blending well among the crowd, had her eyes roamed her surroundings as she observed the joyous people dancing and playing music everywhere. Seeing how relaxed these people were, it was as though that their king hadn't just suddenly stepped down from his throne, which was supposed to cause a panic among them.

To be exact, everything seemed pretty normal around here, including the abnormal sight of the countless toys talking and walking around the place as if they were actual living beings.

Dressrosa was a country that wasn't only known for its infamous colosseum, cuisines, cultures and ladies, but it was also known for having living toys that coexisted harmoniously with the humans.

Her eyes locked onto a pair of mother daughter right in front of her, and noticed that the little girl was holding a walking teddy bear with one hand.

"Mummy, can I bring Teddy with me when we go to Alice's house later?" Asked the little girl to her mother.

The mother glanced down at her daughter with a gentle smile and said, "Of course, sweetheart. But do make sure to always keep Teddy close to you. You always tend to forget about him every time you go play with your friends. Mummy will not get you another toy if you lose this one again."

The mother then looked at the fluffy toy. "Plus, Teddy will be sad if you were to lose him again. Isn't that right, Teddy?"

In response, the teddy bear nodded its head eagerly before hugging the little girl's arm affectionately, as if begging her to never abandon or forget about it.

The little girl took the teddy bear into her embrace and said, "Don't worry Teddy, you're my best friend and I will never forget about you!"

As Naru walked past them, she could sense many kinds of emotions coming from the toy. Among them were longing, sadness, regret, unwillingness, and a sense of anger. However, despite the unusual reaction, her demeanor didn't betray her thoughts as she continued to walk forward like nothing had happened.

'Right, I need to find Yuzu.' She thought as she continued to head over to where her friend would be.

In her hand, was a piece of Vivre Card that would bring her to the whereabouts of its master.

Although Naru could simply find Yuzu through her presence, her team had long learnt to conceal their own aura and presence after seeing how she did it all the time. Especially Yuzu and Hide who had been with her the longest.

Being with her ever since she had arrived at the Grand Line, those two had completely mastered the art of concealing one's presence, which was a huge advantageous attribute for them as Yuzu could be considered as an assassin, whereas Hide was the type to ambush his opponents and catch them by surprise.

But of course, not matter how well they hid themselves from her, she would still be able to track them down thanks to her highly advanced sensor ability.

However, since there was already this little piece of paper in her hand, trying to lead her to its master, then she shall not let down and just let the Vivre Card to do its job.

It didn't take long for Naru to find Yuzu in a well-known tavern as she enjoyed her orange-flavored desserts. Like Naru, Yuzu was also under a disguise by wearing a white cloak and a mask to cover the upper part of her face. Although she appeared somewhat suspicious with her getup, but her identity was hidden nonetheless.

Unlike the Straw Hats or any other pirate crew that could care less about being recognized by their enemies and often enjoyed themselves without needing to worry of attracting unnecessary troubles, Naru and her gang were the total opposite.

Every time Naru brought her group to some places where there were a lot of people, especially now that they were quite recognizable after having announced their existence to the entire world a couple of years ago, they always made sure to keep a low profile. However, even when she was still under the persona of the mysterious Uzukage instead of being known as Monkey D Naru, she was already fond of changing her appearance ever since she had started to build her own spy network, which had grown tremendously over the years, just like Jiraiya's did.

Thanks to the efforts that she made, starting from Dawn Island, her spy network had expanded to all over the 4 Blues, as well as the whole Grand Line. Wherever she went, as long as that place seemed worthy for intelligence gathering, Naru would always leave behind a clone. It was good to say that those places each had their own base of intel.

And unlike when she only had her clones to do the spying, gathering intelligence and selling information, now she had real people actually working for her. Due to secrecy and loyalty issues, Naru had her own methods in ensuring that those people would remain loyal to her and not have even the slightest thought of betraying her. Which was why she had her clones acting as the leader of the base. Those clones would also be replaced by a new clone every week. Considering that it was impossible for her to keep her clones active forever, she herself had made up a system in which a clone would summon another clone to take over its position before it dispelled itself.

After all, it would be a disaster if dozens of her clones from all across the world would suddenly explode at the same time. Even someone who could bear pain like her would loathe to experience a sudden massive headache out of the blue as she went through her daily life as usual.

Anyway, her habit of changing her appearance was the result of her being a ninja with a large spy network and as a mischievous prankster in her previous life.

Naru looked over at Yuzu through the window from across the street.

Sensing a pair of eyes on her, Yuzu turned her head to the side and saw a woman on the other side of the road looking at her. At that moment, the brunette was stunned as her pair of eyes widened in surprise when she saw the appearance of the woman. When their eyes made contact, the woman 's emerald green eyes suddenly turned into a familiar shade of blue before returning back to its previous color. Three thin lines also appeared on her cheeks in a couple of seconds before they disappeared, revealing a smooth flawless skin.

When Yuzu saw that familiar grin on the woman's face, she came back to her senses as she came into realization that this woman was actually her leader.

"Leader!"

Seeing Yuzu's reaction, Naru smiled in amusement as she kept away the Vivre Card, before heading towards the tavern. Entering the building, she immediately attracted the attention of the other customers with her appearance. Some men were giving her an interested look with a glint in their eyes, but seeing that she was heading straight towards the mysterious woman with a white cloak, they gave up on their thoughts.

As they were frequent visitors of this tavern, who among them didn't know that the one with the white cloak and her partner who ate a lot were actually people that they couldn't afford to offend? Especially the female who often dealt with those who sought trouble with her sword.

Naru wasn't fazed by the stares. She ignored them and calmly took the seat across from Yuzu and said to the absent-minded woman, "Although the color of my eyes has changed and my birthmarks are no more, and I have also cut off the front of my hair a little bit, but certainly I don't look that much different than how I usually look, right?"

Yuzu blinked before shaking her head. "No, Leader-San's disguise is naturally as good as usual. I'm confident that nobody here will be able to tell that you're actually the Uzukage. It's just that…" She hesitated to say more for a few moments, but seeing that her leader was staring at her with a 'go on, say it' look, she finished her sentence by saying, "It's just that, you look a lot like someone that I used to know in the past."

What Naru didn't know was that her current image right now was similar to the woman that had given birth to her current body. As Yuzu used to live in Mary Geoise when she was a child, she and the rest of the World Noble children used to see Lady Maria who often came to the academy. And since Lady Maria was a person with extremely high status in Mary Geoise, it was impossible for Yuzu to not know of her.

Until now, Yuzu still remembered her first meeting with the beautiful Lady Maria.

…

In Mary Geoise, all children of every noble house were required to attend the Holy Academy to learn of their history, philosophy and ethics as a World Noble. After all, as the people of the highest status in the world, they were not supposed to be ignorant of their own origin.

Donquixote Dorothy was among those children.

"I heard that Lady Maria will be coming today." Whispered a boy to his desk mate.

"Really?!" His desk mate responded, seemingly excited at the thought of meeting one of the most respected World Nobles of Mary Geoise.

"Of course! My father said so." Confirmed the first boy.

Murmurs of excitement and awe fill the extravagant classroom as other children who heard the words of the first boy, suddenly started to approach him and seek for more details.

"Lady Maria will be here to send her family's heiress since the heiress will be attending the same class as us." The boy was proud and happy to be surrounded by others so he didn't mind sharing what he knew from his father to the other snotty brats.

"This is our chance, if we can make a good impression in front of the heiress, our nobility will definitely increase!"

"Indeed! I cannot wait to meet the heiress!"

"Based on the status of my house alone, I am sure the heiress will definitely acknowledge me."

As everyone was engrossed with their discussion of Lady Maria and her heiress, young Dorothy was expressionless as she continued to read a book that covered the topic of things that kids her age and status would definitely not be interested in. It wasn't that she was too absorbed with what she was doing that she failed to notice the noises around her, but she just in fact, didn't care.

For her, the two people that these naive and delusional children were dreaming and fantasizing to be acquainted with, were simply individuals that people like them couldn't afford to even hold their shoes. The reality was like this, the people with much higher status and nobility would never even think of interacting with those lower than them.

Just like how these children were disgusted with just the mere thought of breathing the same air as those beneath them, Dorothy was sure that even this Lady Maria and the heiress that nobody had ever seen before were just like the rest of them.

That was how it was living here in Mary Geoise.

Just as young Dorothy was scoffing and looking down on these brats, the door of the classroom was pushed open by an old man wearing a servant outfit, which attracted everyone's attention to the front.

Like the rest, Dorothy watched as the servant led a woman wearing the traditional dress of Mary Geoise, but better in design and quality. Her black hair was long enough that it reached her waist, and the upper part of her hair was tied into a bun which was then adorned by a simple but expensive little crown. The woman was smiling gently as she scanned the classroom, and for a moment, her emerald green eyes lingered on young Dorothy before the woman turned around and urged for a small figure to come in.

From behind the woman, a little girl with long black hair and eyes the same color as Lady Maria entered the classroom. With arrogance and disdain in her eyes, Dorothy knew immediately that she was the infamous heiress that the other children had talked about before.

The one that would replace Lady Maria as the future master of their noble house.

…

"I see that the people here are not that concerned over their king's abdication." Naru spoke.

A few moments later, a waiter came to take her order. After ordering something, the waiter then left with a blushing face when he received a smile from the gorgeous lady.

"That's because the whole thing is a fake." Yuzu replied with a mocking smile as she recounted the situation in the country before Naru and the others have arrived.

As soon as the news of Dolfamingo stepping down from his position as the king and a Sichibukai was announced, the people panicked and the whole country was in chaos. But not long after Yuzu had reported the situation to Naru earlier, some people from the World Government suddenly stepped forward to clear up the confusion and explain that everything was not what it seemed on the news.

Donquixote Doflamingo was still the king of Dressrosa, and the truth would be announced later, which put the citizens at ease as they proceeded to go on with their daily lives as usual.

To say that she was surprised that it was fake, that would be a complete lie.

But she also didn't expect that the World Government would be kind enough to lend a former World Noble like Doflamingo the power to fool and manipulate the public just to capture two pirate captains that had just debuted into the world of piracy for less than three years.

Why?

What was it about Doflamingo that the prideful World Government was willing to help him with such a big matter?

Was it because he used to be one of them?

Or was it because he had something that the World Government was actually forced to help him?

Well, no matter how curious she was, her curiosity could only be satisfied by the right person.

"So, what do you think about the princess?" She changed the topic.

"Foolish, but brave." Yuzu said. "Or should I say that her guts are just too big for a person like her?"

…

After exposing Viola's identity, Yuzu was ready for anything except for the sudden action that came from the long-haired woman next.

Viola shocked the two by dropping down on her knees without any rhyme or reason.

"What's the meaning of this?" Yuzu and Ace looked at the kneeling woman with caution and wariness in their eyes.

"I am not here as an enemy." Declared Viola.

"Oho? Then what are you here for? If you can give me a satisfactory answer, then I'll consider giving you a quick death so that you would only have to suffer for a short moment before your last breath." Yuzu said as she purposely leaked out a killing intent to pressure the other woman. Her sword that was used to rob the lives of several others tonight was also pointed at Viola threateningly.

Besides frowning at Yuzu, Ace didn't say anything to criticize her words. By now, he was already used to the woman's bloodthirstiness. Plus, this was not the time for them to bicker with each other when there was a potential enemy with them.

Although Viola was somewhat affected by the coldness and slightly suffocating aura coming from not just the swordswoman, but also from Ace, she still persevered to deliver the words that she wanted to say.

"I- I am here as someone who is desperate to make a deal!"

Her answer surprised both of them. The two silently exchanged glances with each other. Well, that was kind of unexpected.

Yuzu scoffed. "Are you being serious? You, who come from Doflamingo's side, are here to see us just because you want to make a deal? With us? Is there something wrong with your brain?"

Seeing that his partner was at it again, Ace could only sigh and choose not to say anything.

Despite the insult hurled at her, Viola remained calm as she said "I am being truthful. However, I am not here to make a deal with either of you."

This time, Yuzu was starting to become irritated.

".. Are you playing a trick on us? Is this a stupid stunt that Doflamingo has come up with? Is he going to appear from out of nowhere after ordering you to humiliate yourself like this? Is that it?" Yuzu then looked at Viola from top to bottom, before letting out a 'Tsk'. "Although you are just a former princess with no real power, you still have the blood of a royalty running through your veins. Acting like this, are you satisfied with being an embarrassment to your royal identity?"

It was unknown what Viola truly felt when Yuzu gave immense blows to her pride, but her face was devoid of any emotion as she stared at Yuzu, "I am here out of my own volition. By doing this, I am showing my sincerity."

"Sincerity?"

"To your master."

The Uzukage, Monkey D Naru.

That caught their attention.

Before Yuzu could say anything, Ace spoke first.

"What do you want from my older sister?" He asked.

Viola stared at Ace, and considered that this man might be easier to talk to than Yuzu. "I need her help. I know that with my abilities alone, I will never be able to show myself in front of her. I have known about your arrival since the first day you are here, which is why I am presenting myself to both of you right now."

Seeing the alarmed look on their faces, she quickly added "I swear with my life that I haven't told anyone about you two being here, not even Doflamingo. Though he has the assumption that you, at least, might be here later for the Gura Gura no Mi."

Viola emphasized the word 'later', and Ace didn't deny her words.

When the two didn't seem like they were going to end her life, Viola tried to calm her fast-beating heart and said, "The reason why I am here is because I need your help to deliver my words to the Uzukage."

"And why would we do that? What makes you think that we will do it just because it's a request that comes from a former princess that holds no actual power?" Yuzu taunted her.

Viola didn't mind being labeled as the former princess that held no actual power, because that was indeed the truth. It was because she was powerless that she was here right now, on her knees before another person.

It was because she was so powerless in the first place that she understood that pride had no value and was useless when it was about obtaining more power.

"You will. It doesn't matter if you're doing it because I request for it or not. But you WILL inform your master about this meeting between us just because you're simply loyal to her." Viola said with great confidence.

Ace glanced at Yuzu who was frowning but didn't say anything to refute her words.

Although Yuzu was annoyed at how confident Viola was over her own words about her, she herself had to admit that Viola was indeed right. Her loyalty to Naru was something that nobody could question, not even Ace. If Naru told her to go left, she would never go right. Even if there were obstacles that would prevent her from accomplishing her mission, Yuzu would make sure to destroy every single one of those obstacles first. No matter how small, bizarre or foolish the thing that she might encounter, she would definitely report it to Naru. Especially with this kind of thing happening.

However, a prideful person like Yuzu wasn't the type to back down so easily.

"Where did you even get that kind of confidence from?" Yuzu sneered at the kneeling woman. "What gives you the confidence that you know that much about me?"

In response, Viola calmly uttered one word that managed to stun Yuzu into shock.

"From Miss Leah."

…

"Leah?" Naru repeated the name. "So you know this Miss Leah?"

Yuzu nodded.

"Leah is a World Noble and the heiress of her own noble house. She is the same age as us, but I'm not that familiar with her though. I only had the opportunity of meeting her because we attended the Holy Academy around the same time."

"Holy Academy? Interesting."

When she saw her leader's eyes sparkled more at the mention of the shitty academy than the one named 'Leah', Yuzu wanted to let out a mocking laugh and say that the academy was anything but holy. Just look at the bad attitude of the World Nobles, that happened because of the teaching that they received from this so-called 'holy' academy since they were children.

However, Yuzu resisted the urge and merely resumed the topic about Leah.

"Anyway, Leah is a very important person in Mary Geoise that not even the 5 Elders are willing to offend, let alone the rest of the World Nobles."

"If she's that important, then how come I've never heard of her name before? Surely someone like her would be the perfect symbol of power and influence of Mary Geoise." Not to mention that majority of the World Nobles were narcissistic and prideful, it was a wonder why this Miss Leah was not known by everyone at this point.

"That's because she is so important to Mary Geoise that she is basically hidden from the eyes of the public. From what I can remember, she always wore a muslin to cover the lower half of her face. The only time I have seen her face was on the first day of the academy." Yuzu said as she recalled the memory of that particular day.

She then looked at her leader's face with unspeakable emotions in her eyes.

"In fact, Leah resembles her mother, Lady Maria, very much. They both have the same black hair and a pair of emerald eyes. If the grown up version of that little girl is here, I would say that she would exactly, if not, closer to your current appearance."

"Really? So you want to say that there are two people that look like me?" Naru didn't change her appearance that much. What she did was merely changing the colour of her eyes and erasing her whisker marks that she was known for.

Was it that that much of a coincidence that there were a pair of mother daughter that look like her in this world?

She didn't think so.

After making a mental note to investigate about these two, Maria and Leah, later, Naru wondered "Now, why would someone incredible as this Miss Leah be interested in someone like Viola, someone with no power and influence?"

Right now, her intuition was telling her that Leah had deliberately made Viola to seek her out through Yuzu. Not too mention that whatever deal that the princess wanted to make with her, was still wasn't mentioned. So far, Viola had indeed showed her sincerity by giving a lot of valuable information that gave advantageous to the alliance between Luffy and Law.

But she still wasn't sure what the woman actually expected her to do. Was it truly to assist her in defeating Doflamingo?

"I asked that woman about her connection with Leah, but she refused to say anything unless you come and interrogate her yourself."

"Oh? It seems that she really want to see me. What to do? She did give us some valuable information, so what do you think, Yuzu?"

"Then shall we go ahead and see her right now? That woman should be desperately waiting for us to appear at the place she has arranged herself."

Naru blinked at the smirking Yuzu and couldn't help but to grin as well. "It seems that you are well prepared."

"What can I say? As a subordinate, it is my duty to arrange everything to perfection and make things easier for you, Leader-San."

Naru had no reason to decline a meeting with Viola and she was also rather interested in speaking to about the matters in hand.

After leaving some money to pay for Yuzu's food and the food that Naru had ordered but hadn't been served yet, the duo left.

At another busy street of Dressrosa, a tall blond man with gray mustache wearing a black suit and a pair of black sunglasses could be seen standing alone as he turned his head left and right while cursing under his breath. It was obvious that this man was looking for something, or rather, for someone.

Sanji looked around him once again and angrily confirmed that he really lost sight of a certain someone.

"That stupid mosshead better not cause any trouble!" He grumbled, blaming Zoro for running off on his own.

As to why he ended up in this situation instead of being with Luffy and the others, it was still Zoro's fault. It could not be anybody else but that darn swordsman's fault!

Earlier, since they were already aware that the SMILE factory was hidden underneath the colosseum, all they had to do was to head there instead of wasting time trying to find the secret factory. However, at some point, the group ended up at a local restaurant, enjoying the rare cuisines of the famous country.

There are some unexpected things that have happened to them, and one of them was about the idiocy of a certain marimo who was clumsy enough to get one of his swords stolen. Now that a thief was brazen enough to steal a precious sword from him, of course Zoro would not let it go just like that so he went to chase after the thief to get his sword back.

Knowing that the stupid brute would definitely lose his sense of direction and might disrupt their plan, Sanji chose to chase after him.

At first it was still okay, since he still could catch up to him. But then he got distracted by a gorgeous woman who was dancing quite passionately on the stage.

But he swore that it was just for a couple of seconds!

Next thing he knew, boom! The marimo was gone!

But could he be blamed for getting distracted by a beautiful lady? The lady gave him a wink! Of course he was enchanted immediately!

After grumbling and later, entertaining the idea of taking this golden opportunity to get rid of that brute forever, he then realized that he ended up somewhere with a lot of lovers acting all lovey-dovey around him, causing him to be full of envy and jealousy. Then, as he was fantasizing about Nami and Robin falling in love with him, someone suddenly came at him.

It was the same dancing lady who winked at him earlier.

"Please hold me in your arms!" She said desperately while staring at him with that pair of teary eyes.

"EHH?!"

But the woman didn't wait for his proper response when she suddenly proceeded to put her hands at the back of his head and kiss him, quite passionately if it had to be said. The stunned Sanji was delighted and also confused to react with the sudden turn of events.

While these two were still locking lips, some men wearing soldier uniforms went past them.

"Where'd she run off to?!"

"I think I saw her sneak into the Lover's Alley!"

"Quick! Don't let her get away!"

After the soldiers left and couldn't be seen anymore, the woman stopped kissing the oddly quiet Sanji. Letting out a sigh of relief, she looked up to stare at him to thank him, but was taken aback when she saw his condition.

"A-Are you okay? Did I hit you with my head?" Asked the woman worriedly when she saw the amount of blood streaming down his nose, tainting his gray mustache red.

"No, the only thing that hit me straight to my heart is the chance of meeting between us." Sanji said with a love-struck expression. Thinking of the kiss between them, he suddenly felt weak in the knees, wobbling to the ground.

"B-But there's too much blood..!"

"This, this is nothing." Sanji was just happy to get this kind of treatment from a beautiful lady.

The woman then bent her waist and cupped Sanji's face with her hands, bringing her face closer to his ear and softly muttered something that startled the delightful Sanji.

"Follow me, Black Leg Sanji of the Straw Hat Crew."

Naturally, if someone was able to recognize you even with a disguise, one's reaction would be panicking and be vigilant against that someone. But Sanji being Sanji, confidently decided that a gorgeous lady recognized him because he was just too charming and she ended up falling in love with him. Which was why he ended up following this woman with a foolish smile on his face to this building that seemed to be abandoned.

When a woman brought a man to a quiet and secluded place, who wouldn't think of something naughty?

But Sanji, who anticipated something wonderful to happen to him, was bound to get disappointed when instead of getting another kiss or something more, the woman just stood in front of him with a very serious expression as she started introducing herself.

"My name is Violet, and I am sorry to have brought you here with that kind of method, but I have no choice but to do so, Mr Black Leg Sanji."

When she mentioned her name, Sanji blinked as he realized something. "Wait a minute, you're Violet?"

"Y-Yes." His reaction seemed like he knew of her. Worried that he might think that she was an enemy wanting to eradicate him, she quickly added "Fret no, I am not your enemy. Doflamingo has his men watching my every movements, so I have to be careful. I have no choice but to do what I did in order to get you here."

"So you're Viola, right?" Whatever she said, Sanji's only concern was her name.

"How do you-"

Immediately, a bright smile appeared on his face. "Princess! You're the princess that Naru-San has told us before! Don't worry, dear princess, with me here, you don't have to worry about Doflamingo anymore."

Just like that, Sanji went on one knee, grabbed her hand and kiss the back of her hand like a gentleman. But Viola's reaction afterwards was definitely not like what he had expected.

She grabbed his hand that had previously held her own with her two hands, and gasped "N-Naru-San?! The Uzukage? The Uzukage has talked about me? Does that mean that she has agreed to see me?!"

Having a close contact with a lady, Sanji's face was red. He remembered that Naru-San had said something about wanting to see Viola after meeting up with her friend, so he told Viola that.

Viola's eyes sparkled. "T-That's great!" Then as if she recalled something. "Ah! This is bad! I'm supposed to give you a warning!"

She released her hold on him and started to put on a serious and concerned look. "I'll assume that you have already known about what Doflamingo has done?"

Though disappointed that he wasn't being held by her anymore, he still nodded.

"Then are you aware that everything is fake?"

Instantly, his playful and romantic side disappeared as he frowned at her. "Fake? What do you mean?"

Without wasting anymore time, Viola told Sanji everything about Doflamingo's schemes. His abdication of the throne was fake, and him stepping down from his post as a Sichibukai was also fake. Being supported by the World Government, the matter of fooling the world was not difficult as Doflamingo was using this method to let the World Government handle both Law and Luffy.

Viola had been working for him for years, and she had also been snooping around his matters ever since she had decided to join the rebellion army, so she was deeply aware of the man's schemes.

Upon knowing Doflamingo's plan, Viola had intended to warn Yuzu and Ace, but ever since the night she showed up in front of them, it was hard for her to find them, even with her Devil Fruit ability. As she wasn't able to find them, and they also seemed to be unwilling to see her, Viola had failed to deliver the news to them.

Long story short, from what she had gathered, there was an admiral in Dressrosa that was sent by the World Government to capture them.

Sanji cursed. He figured out immediately that the one who was being lured into a trap was not Doflamingo, but them!

Therefore, Law's group and those at Sunny Go were in danger!

"I must head back to the Sunny! I need to warn them!" Sanji was nervous, and he wanted to leave.

However, just as he turned around, the door of the warehouse was pushed open, and entered another two people, which caused Sanji to be delighted because these two were extremely beautiful ladies! For a moment, he forgot about what he was supposed to do.

Was this his lucky day?

Was this God's way of repaying him from all those nightmares and sufferings?

While Sanji was being love-struck, Viola gasped as she recognized them.

"Miss Yuzu!" Then she looked at the woman beside the swordswoman with a confused and complicated look. "You are here with Miss Leah?"

Naru's eyes flashed when she heard that name. Ignoring Yuzu's side gaze that seemed to say 'I told you so', she dropped her henge, causing Sanji to be even more happy upon seeing her face.

"Naru-San!" He went to her side and acted like he was about to hug her, but Yuzu, who had removed her mask beforehand, immediately had her sword, still sheathed, pointed to his throat.

"Take another step, and prepare to lose your head." She warned him with a murderous glare.

Normal people would get scared, but Sanji was proven to be not one of them.

"Yes, ma'am~" He responded with a perversely happy smile before he went to stand at the side obediently.

"What are you doing here, Sanji-Kun?" Naru asked him.

"I-It was me who brought him here!" Viola answered first. Three pair of eyes turned to look at her. While Sanji's eyes were gentle, Yuzu's gaze was as cold as the last time they had seen each other, whereas Naru displayed absolutely no emotions in her blue eyes.

Sanji smiled, and said "Naru-San, this is the princess that you told us about before."

Naru stared at the obviously nervous Viola, and simply said "I know."

"The Uzukage.." Viola murmured under her breath, not knowing what to do now that the real person was here right in front of her. 'Get a hold of yourself! This is not the time to be nervous!'

"I remember your aura." Naru's sudden words surprised the three of them, wondering what she was talking about. Ignoring the others, she continued. "You were the one who had been watching us secretly even before the Sunny reached the country, didn't you?"

Viola's body went still. She remembered.

Earlier, she was using her power to oversee the whole country, and she didn't expect that her her luck was so great that she happened to catch a glimpse of the Straw Hats' pirate ship.

Concentrating her power more on that tiny ship, she was astonished to have seen the Uzukage among the people onboard the ship. However, her whole body went still and cold when the person suddenly made eye contact with her with the coldest look she had ever seen. Unknown what happened after that, Viola suddenly felt a pain in her head that she was forced to cancel her power.

Recalling that scene, Viola swallowed her fear. It didn't need to be asked who was the person responsible for what happened to her earlier.

Ignoring Viola, Naru asked Sanji "Were you about to go to somewhere else, Sanji-Kun?"

"Oh!" Snapping out from his stupor, he realized that this was not the moment for him to fool around. So he recounted Viola's words to her.

"I know that the whole thing is fake, but I'm not aware that an admiral is here." Thinking that the situation might not be good for Law, she told Sanji, "Alright, you go ahead and warn them first. If something happens, it's okay to leave with the ship first."

"Then, I'll leave first. You have to be careful, Naru-San, Princess, and-" Sanji turned to Yuzu, but was only met with a sneering face. But would he care? Absolutely not! "Have a nice day, mademoiselle~"

Then he left.

Now that Sanji was gone, it was very suffocating for Viola to be inside the building with these two women who didn't appear to be friendly at all. Trying to stay calm, she bowed her body like an elegant noble lady and reintroduced herself to Naru. "Uzukage-Sama, I am Viola, the princess of the previous reign of Dressrosa, and I am standing her today to pledge my loyalty to you, an swear an oath of allegiance of Dressrosa to Uzu."

Once she finished, besides that one particular person who was aware of Viola's intention, the other one was shook, clearly not expecting such a bold declaration coming from Viola.

Naru looked at the person standing beside her with a deep questioning look, as if to say 'explain yourself'.

However, brave Yuzu only responded by shrugging her shoulders. But secretly, she was pleased at herself for being able to get a new territory for her leader and expand her growing influence.

Although she did inform Naru about how Viola had approached her and Ace the other day, and how the princess had requested for the Uzukage's help in taking down Doflamingo from his throne as the king of Dressrosa, but there were other things that Yuzu had deliberately concealed from Naru. Or it was better to say that she just held back some information. Yuzu didn't lie, and Naru was even aware that Yuzu didn't tell her some things.

Such as how Viola had kneeled and swore her loyalty to Naru in front of her and Ace, her promise to hand over Dressrosa to Uzu once Doflamingo was defeated, and how the other leaders of the rebellion army had promised that they would also pledge their loyalties to her once everything was settled.

In exchange of all that, Naru would only have to promise to keep the country and the people safe. Even if she wasn't willing to help them fight against Doflamingo, it was enough if she was willing to protect the country and the people from Doflamingo's wrath.

To show her sincerity even more, she even exposed Dressrosa's dark secret. The information of the SMILE factory's location, the secret behind the living toys, and the dark bloody side of the colosseum were all revealed by her on that night.

Thanks to Yuzu who had purposely hid some things from her leader, Naru was still under the impression that Viola had only wanted to use her to deal with the enemy who had basically ruined her perfect royalty life.

One of the reasons as to why Naru was even willing to meet this Viola were because she had kindly provided them the valuable information that were useful for Luffy and Law. Although the information was useless to her, but she wasn't that ungrateful. It was also a great coincidence that those there (Viola, Law and Luffy) were now sharing one common enemy, whom they had coincidentally planned to strike today. If this wasn't a sign for them to work together, then what else? And lastly, she was also curious of the person named Leah.

And as to why Yuzu had done what she did, the swordswoman would only claim that it was all for the benefits of her leader.

Yuzu was selfish, and she knew that. However, her selfishness did not center around herself, instead it was her leader, Naru herself. She was selfish for her own happiness and satisfaction that were closely related to the goal of making her leader the most powerful and influential 'king' in this world. For her, everything that was the best, needed to be owned by no one else but her leader.

Yuzu was selfish, but was also a blind faithful loyalist of Naru ever since she had figured out her leader's true identity.

Unfortunately, Naru didn't know about the truths yet.

But Yuzu would make sure to be by her side when she did.

Meanwhile, Naru frowned as she still trying to process what Viola had just declared. Looking at the nervous woman who was anxiously waiting for her to say something, Naru resisted the urge to sigh.

A few moments of agonizing silence (at least for Viola) later, Naru finally opened her mouth.

"I am aware that you wish to use my power to strike down your enemy."

Viola held her breath, becoming more anxious as she waited for her next words.

"But you should know I'm really fond of being used in someone else's scheme. So whether you can achieve that wish of yours or not, that is still up for me to decide."

"But I'm not.." Viola wasn't sure what did the Uzukage meant by her words, but her face went pale.

"And you, princess, how did you even come up with the idea of seeking me for something like this?" Naru was calm when she asked her that.

"What do you mean..?" Poor Viola truly didn't understand what Naru was trying to convey with her words, but one thing she understood was that, the Uzukage wasn't really happy with her right now. When she met Yuzu's cold gaze, she subconsciously took a couple of steps backwards.

Naru didn't mind making her understand.

"You, as someone who grew up as a royal princess should know and understand this more than anyone else of how absurd it is for a ruler of another country to get involved with a power struggle of another country. Also, what kind of right that you, a former princess, even have that you actually dared to swear an oath of allegiance of a country that isn't even yours to begin with, to another ruler?"

"I-" Viola was intimidated by the seemingly calm woman and her sharp words that she became speechless. She was nervous and her mind was a mess.

"Princess, do you even realize that you are betraying your country right now?"

"NO!" Shaken by her words, Viola's gaze hardened as she met the eyes of the blue-eyed woman and immediately denied her accusation of her betraying her own beloved country. "How could I? I love this country with all my heart!"

"How could you? Then are you not in the middle of planning the demise of your own king, who is the current ruler of this country? If this doesn't define the meaning of a 'traitor', then what else?" Naru continued to pressure her with a calmness that was intimidating enough for poor Viola.

"I am not! I am not betraying my country! This is my home, how could I not love Dressrosa?" Perhaps she was too intimidated that her mind was a little bit messed up. But Viola let out several deep breath as she hold her temple with her hand, and said weakly, "I love this country so much that I am not willing to see Dressrosa being ruined under the reign of someone like Doflamingo!"

"Someone like Doflamingo..?" Naru repeated her words, before she unexpectedly let out an amused chuckle that startled Viola. "To be honest, Doflamingo is not actually a bad king. From what I have seen, he is capable enough to make Dressrosa a prosperous country, unlike when it was previously under the reign of King Riku."

Widening her eyes in shock, Viola was astonished. Since she had already given the details of the factory, and the secret behind the existence of the living toys, then the other party should be aware of Doflamingo's cruelty. Couldn't accept her words, Viola was angry.

"Why? Why do you even support someone as cruel as Doflamingo?!"

Facing Viola's reddened eyes, Naru calmly said "Supporting him is something that I will never do. Even though I don't approve of his nature and what he has done, but nobody should deny that he is indeed a capable leader."

Viola might think that she was crazy for praising Doflamingo, but Naru had lived in a bloody shinobi era in her previous life. Therefore, it was only natural for her view and idealism of how she define a good leader was not the same as Viola, who thought that a good leader meant that one only had to possesses good morality and humanity.

Being a leader always came with a heavy price. It could be one's wealth for power, or one's humanity for power. Someone could even lose everything that they loved if they wanted to be the king. It all varied. Naru knew it better than anyone that no leader was completely kind and pure while able to protect everyone and everything they loved without having anything to sacrifice in exchange for all that.

Her father, Minato, and the rest of the Kages, were great example of that.

For them to have the hat of the Kage, their hands had never been clean. No matter how much they had been praised for their kindness and heroism, it was a fact that they each had sacrificed something important in their live for the power that they used to protect their villages.

"King Riku is said to be a kind leader that was loved by his people. However in the end, he still wasn't capable enough to either make the country prosper, or protect himself from falling into the scheme of another person. Causing the people to suffer, and losing his throne, it was all because he didn't have the ability."

The words spoken by Naru were not good to listen at, but there was no lie in what she said.

"On the other hand, Doflamingo is a cruel man who used despicable methods to get the throne, but look at Dressrosa today. Isn't it now known as a wealthy country with rich cultures thanks to him? The people manage to eat well because of him, am I wrong? I don't see anyone on the street who is forced to sit and sleep at the dark corner of the alley, starving and shivering at all."

She didn't see it, but Viola had.

In her memories, because the country was poor, she had seen her poor people with thin and weak body at the streets, having no food to eat and warm place to live. No matter how much she and her family had tried to help, there were just too many of them that shared the same fate. Meanwhile, she lived at the castle with nice clothes to wear, warm food to eat, and a comfortable bed to sleep in.

Viola had lived the previous reign and was now living under the current reign, so she had seen then changes. Everything that was said by the Uzukage had no lies, but how could Viola stomach the idea that Doflamingo was a better ruler than her father? Absolutely not!

She refused to give up!

With a determined heart, Viola collected her emotions and stared hard at the woman in front of her. She declared firmly "Doflamingo is not fit to be the ruler of this country, and this princess will make sure that he will be dethrone today!" She had long decided about this. The people may be living well, but they were also suffering!

The princess and the empress looked at each other, with the former didn't want to give up on her standpoint.

Naru was amazed at the sheer determination shown by Viola, feeling that the princess truly as not as weak as she had expected.

"Good, you didn't disappoint me." She applauded her. "However, you still should know the consequences for your decision."

Viola knew.

Doflamingo had the World Government backing him up, and Dressrosa was also known to be one of 20 founding countries that formed the World Government. Therefore, it wasn't wrong to assume that the World Government would never let the rebels go after all the crimes they had committed. It was a huge possibility the World Government would even send several admirals to get rid of everyone that was involved with the rebellion. Once the country's strength and security were weakened during the civil war, there was also a chance that the many pirates that were already here might take the chance to cause more chaos upon the country.

If Naru could think of this, then why couldn't Viola?

"Doflamingo is not just a cunning king, but he also has the power and strength to deal with the enemies that could harm the country. He is the perfect definition of a powerful weapon to attack, and a good shield to protect. But what about you?"

Yeah, what about Viola?

What could she, and the rest of the rebels behind her, do to protect Dressrosa once the country lose its weapon and shield?

"If you and your army couldn't even defeat Doflamingo and his people, then what makes you think that you can defend another greater power than his? Or even if you managed to defeat him, then what next? Would you be able to protect yourself, the people, and the country against the World Government, and those pirates?"

Naru thought that after pressuring her with her words, it might take a long time for Viola to respond.

However, as if a switch was pressed, Viola's whole demeanor seemed to have changed.

"Uzukage-Sama is right." She calmly admitted, which surprised Naru since Viola seemed so calm about it.

"At first, I never intended to join the rebellion army, but then that person came and she made me like this." Viola's expression turned bitter. "I know that I'm just a tool for her to use, but I'm not angry because if it wasn't for her, I would never be able to gain the confidence and guts to go against someone like Doflamingo with just my strength alone."

She continued. "I admit that I have the intention to get you, Uzukage-Sama, to join us. But I am also being sincere when I pledged my loyalty and the country to you. "

"Why?"

"Because you are Dressrosa's only hope."

Without a change of expression, Viola revealed that before she went to see Ace and Yuzu, she had already discussed with the other leaders of the army about her decision to hand over Dressrosa to Naru. They believed that if the country was in the hand of someone like her, then not even the World Government would even dare to do anything to her.

The country might lose its privilege as one of the 20 kingdoms that built the World Government, but so what?

It was still better to be under the protection of the Uzukage, than to suffer under someone like Doflamingo!

When she finished, Naru couldn't help but question her sanity.

"What gives you confidence that I would accept your deal?"

With a helpless look, Viola responded "I have no choice, Uzukage-Sama. According to that person, this country can only belong to you."

-End of Chapter 33-

Thank you for reading the story.

This chapter will be the last chapter of 2022. I am in the process of rewriting the story since there are some changes that I need to do following the flow of the manga.

However, beware that I will not be following the accuracy of the manga 100%. For example, a certain someone might be the reincarnation of someone else, but I'm not doing that.

That's all from me, thank you for the supports that you have shown for this story. I appreciate it, and have a nice day everyone.