A/N: Alright ladies and gentlmen, good news and bad news. Good news first. I'm fresh out of my surgery-hurts like hell!-and I managed to put this up here at points between the forced anesthetic. Bad news is I still have more surgeries ahead. Still, I'm feeling a bit better now. Really. I'm hanging tough though, having just come out of my first surgery...with two more to go! UUUUUGH! I'm on painkillers almost daily and I feel like crap, as to that effect. But nevertheless, despite this pesky little hiccup-I wanted to get word out any way I could, and since for some strange reason the site is being buggy, I wasnt able to work on this anywhere near as much as I would've liked. Still...

I love you guys so much! *Cries*

So I'll skip the introduction, but might I advise you to reread the story? Just in case you've forgotten anything.

"We ride forth now, from the mouth of hell..."

~?

Legends

All the world was red.

Rage sang its sinister song through Uzumaki Naruto's mind as he scoured the smoldering stones that had once been Level Four, his normally blue eyes now a bloody red. Gone. They were all gone. Try as he might, he'd not found a single trace of Teach or his crew, and it infuriated him to no end. There should at least be some remains of the Blackbeard Pirates, something to signify that they were finished. But he couldn't find anything, nothing at all. It was as if his Chou Odama Rasenshuriken had utterly obliterated any and all traces of their existence, leaving nothing but burning rubble behind.

Had they fallen into the burning lake, he wondered? He hoped so. It was only fitting that Blackbeard burn in hell for his crimes. For killing momma and landing him in this god forsaken place. But he couldn't burn until a certain blonde knew he was dead.

Unlike a certain warden.

Magellan lay sprawled out to their right; his body broken, mind trapped in one of Sasuke's ill illusions. The warden wouldn't be going anywhere for a good while. But that didn't matter. What mattered was finding actual proof of their deaths, something to tell him that they hadn't slipped away during the explosion, that they hadn't survived Magellan's poison. Something -anything- to tell him that retribution had been made, pain for the loss of his mother paid in spades. Tell me I avenged you, momma. Please just tell me...

"Senchou."

He has to be dead. Gotta be. There's just no way he could've survived that. He was bleeding before the poison hit, and then the damage from that second Rasenshuriken...

"Senchou?"

But what if he isn't? What if he escaped? What he's if still around here somewhere, just waiting for me to lower my guard? He already took momma away from me; I won't let him take my crew...

"Senchou!"

"What?!" He rounded on the voice calling him, eyes wild beneath his battered blond bangs.

The look Mei was giving him proved different from her smoldering smiles; her expression was one of empathy, sympathy for his plight. Naruto did his best to remind himself of that, relaxing his shoulders before turning fullly to formally address his crew. It was suddenly so hard to remember that they were on his side, just innocent bystanders-or not so innocent in Sasuke's case-in his vendetta against Blackbeard. They had little to no knowledge of his motives, and they'd just witnessed him kill in cold blood. He was treading on mighty thin ice here. Snap at them now, and their tenuous alliance might very well fall through.

"You alright?" Tayuya asked at last.

"I'm...just fine." No. No, I'm not. I'll never be alright. "It's done." No it isn't. Not until I see a body. "I can move on." Won't. Can't. Never. Never...

"What was your deal with him anyway?" the redhead persisted. "Sounded like the two of you had some history."

A muscle jumped in Naruto's jaw.

"Whoa! Alright! Sensitive subject, sorry!"

"No." he forced the word through clenched teeth, willing his mouth to relax. "If I'm going to be your captain, I shouldn't be keeping secrets, anyway. I suppose its time I told you. Have ya ever heard of Kushina "The Killer" Uzumaki?"

Confusion knotted their faces.

"I have." Mei spoke at last. "Supposedly she was wanted for betraying the marines. Murdered an entire platoon and jumped ship, or so I hear."

"Ha! You don't know the half of it." Naruto felt a bitter pange of longing stir in his chest. "That "murderer" you speak of was my mom. She taught me damned near everything she knew, once I was old enough to crawl, not walk, crawl. Damn near beat it into me with a stick! Tekkai, Rankyaku, Gepo, Soru, Shigan, even the Rokuogan, I knew it all by the time I was seven years old."

A touch of surprise cracked Sasuke's granite expression.

"That would explain quite a bit...

"My mother was an accomplished fighter," he continued, suppressing a ghasly grimace. "But she didn't see eyes to eye with the marines and their so-called justice. Probably why she butchered an entire platoon, and up an' made off with some pirate in the first place. Turns out that pirate just so happened to be the one and only son of Whitebeard-a fact my old man saw fit to omit before the navy caught up to him on some island down in the Grand Line. Momma said she only ever met ol' Shirohige once, said he came by to recover my da's body and pay his repsects, or so the story goes. I was just a babe back then-never saw him again until after she she...she...

His breath hitched then, the words kicking and screaming in his throat, refusing to comply. He forced them to.

"Until after she fought Blackbeard. And lost." Memories rose to mock him; he was suddenly a boy again, a quivering heap sprawled on the rain-soaked soil while his mother fought -and died- only yards away in the rain at his back. They'd given the Blackbeard Pirates hell, but they had been two against many. Too many. He'd had the power back then, but it wasn't enough, it couldn't close the gap that inexperience created when faced with a superior foe. Lacking the heart to defe ndhis mother had been his first and last mistake; failing to realize she had been the target was his second. They'd never come for him at all. He'd been left there to rot. The same could be said of his mother's body.

"Zehahahaha," Even in death-or was he even truly gone?-Teach's words still mocked him. "Better luck next time, kid."

Now he had will and power in spades, thanks to the fruit he'd eaten. Power enough to obliterate Teach, but not enough to bring his mother back. Never enough.

"So what happened?" Ultimately it was Sasuke who forced him to continue his tale; the Uchiha's expression suggested he was more than a touch interested in the outcome of this story.

Naruto sighed and continued to weave his painful yarn. "Whitebeard came back a few days later-his boys found me and nursed me back to health. Offered me his protection when I finally got better; said he was sorry about mom, that family had to stick together and all that bullshit. I spat in his face. He never said anything; just up and walked away. Never saw him again. Hell, I didn't even know he was still alive, until a few hours ago."

"Shiiiiit." Bee drawled, crossing both arms in his signature X-shaped formation. "Dat news musta caused a fit-Itai!"

His rhyme ended with a steaming, swelling welt on his head, administered by Tayuya.

"That's enough out of you!"

Naruto managed a wan smile at their antics; it made him feel better, if only a little.

"As far as I'm concerned ol' Whitebeard is just as much to blame for this whole mess as Blackbaeard. If he'd dealt with Teach before he started up way back, my mother wouldn't be dead. And I wouldn't have spent the last three years in this hole of a hell. I don't care if he's my grandfather. I aim to give him a piece of my mind when I see him at Marineford. He's owed that much, at least."

Mei gawped at him, thunderstruck.

"You...You're Whitebeard's grandson."

"Um...didn't I just get done saying that?"

"Yes yes, we've been over this already." Sasuke sighed. "That hasn't changed. And neither has our objective; we need to escape before reinforcements arrive."

"And stop the execution," Bee chimed in, still rubbing at the bruise Tayuya had given him.

Three sets of eyes turned toward him, incredulous that he'd actually spoken a single sentence, rather than rap. The dark-skinned sailor was quick to realize this.

"Erm, I mean...we gotta go, dont'cha know?!"

Naruto sighed, but the words were soft, and without rancour.

"Knew it was too good to be true."

With a heavy heart and sword in hand, he started up the staircase after Mugiwara and the others, knowing his group needed to shrink the gap between them and the young pirate-lest he leave without them. It wouldn't do to be left behind now after all they'd done to get this far-

"Hey, what's that?"

Naruto turned at the sound of Tayuya's voie, and subsuquently felt his heart slam against his ribs. There, hanging on a ruined rail. A hat. But not just any hat. Tattered and bloody though it might be, he recognized it at once; the same hat worn by the man who had haunted his dreams until this very moment. Blackbeard's hat. It was in his hands almost before he realized it, his fingers wrapping around the worn fabric, wresting it from its perch with a forceful yank.

"Yo, yo, we got'a ta go-

"Hush!" This time it was Mei's elbow that planted itself between Bee's ribs. "Give him a second. He needs this. Closure."

Sasuke nodded in agreement; he understood the man's need to close this chapter in his life.

Naruto held the hat for what felt like a small eternity-the only piece of Blackbeard that remained. Where the man and his crew were dead or not no longer mattered now; if they were alive then he would crush them the next time they crossed paths. If not, then there was no point in holding onto this hat, was there? He gazed down at the lake of fire below, the smoldering inferno where the former Shichibukai most likely lay, his resting place in the seat of heat and flame, ultimatley final.

Its over. a voice soothed, somewhere deep inside of him. Let it go.

Were those his thoughts, or those of his mother? Was it her hand he felt on his shoulder now, willing him to move on? Perhaps it was.

With a supreme effort of will, he forced himself to let go; not just off the hat, but off the vendetta that had consumed him for the last twenty years. It fell from his grasp almost immediately, fluttering down and out into the empty space carved by his Rasenshuriken. Naruto watched it go, waited with patient and bated breath as it touched the lake of fire below, those tongues of orange and yellow sweeping up to devour the faded fabric almost immediately, swallowing it whole.

"Good riddance," he muttered to himself.

(Level Three)

"Look, we've been over this-"

"You've chosen three already, Naruto." Sasuke pointed out as they strode past another cellblock only a few minutes later. "I deserve at least two." That earned him a huff of annoyance, but the blonde didn't outwardly deny his request when the subject was broached for what felt like the upteenth time.

Most cells had been cleared out by the riot; those precious few who yet remained had either chosen to stay, were deemed too dangerous to release, or were simply bored, he thought. This might be their last chance to gather potential allies-nakama-to their cause before setting out to Marineford. Mei and the others had gone ahead to convey their decry to all the remaining prisoners; that with Blackbeard gone and Magellan otherwise incapacitated, their only enemy was time. If Luffy and Jinbei wanted to leave so badly, that was fine, but the Wraiths wouldn't; not until they were satisfied.

Wraiths.

They'd come up with the name somewhere between levels Three and Four; if they were going to have a crew, it needed to have a name. Eventually they'd settled on Wraith. Much like the Mugiwara no Ichimi, the name hailed from Naruto's moniker; they all seemed to agree on it; because it reflected their teamwork strike-fast-and disappear. It just made sense, almost everyone liked it. All except for Bee. Damn fool wanted their crew to be called the Wisps. As in Will-o-Wisp. That had been voted down. Unanimously.

Just as he had then, blond refused to falter under his first mate's assertions now. "It doesn't change the fact that I'm taking a gamble by letting you-

Sasuke shot Naruto a pointed glare. "Says the man who likes his dice."

"Hey, hey, there's nothing wrong with a little risk every now and then-

Staaaaaaaaare.

"Alright, alright!" The captain flung up his hands in consternation. "You've made your point. I'll let you pick someone! Just make it quick, damnit!" He swept away in a current of wind, doubtless to inspect another cell in this starvation hell. That suited Sasuke just fine. There had to be some good bounties left on this level. Level Two and One weren't even woth searching for. It was this, or nothing. He'd seen some cases in which a price didn't reflect someone's skill-he only prayed that was the case now.

"Hn."

The Uchiha permitted himself the smallest of smile as he inspected the surrounding cellblock. Naruto might be a stubborn man at times, but he knew when to take and when to give, the crew what they wanted. His own bloodlust had been satiated by the subsuquent slaughter of Teach and later Magellan, though he suspected both would be back to torment them soon. A man like Magellan wouldn't be trapped in an illusion for long. And Teach...would Magellan's poison truly be enough to kill him? Sasuke held an unspoken sliver of doubt in his soul.

"Lets see here," Naruto was muttering to himself. "It looks like-aha! Oi, you! You wouldn't happen to be a navigator, would ya?" Had Uchiha Sasuke paid closer attention, he might've realized Naruto wasn't addressing a prisoner, but rather a guard. Perhaps had he paid closer attention he might've noticed that said guard was different from the others; his dark hair curled back into a ponytail reminscent of a pinneaple. Perhaps, were his senses more attuned, he would've realized that this man-this marine-was about to become their latest nakama; a lazy marine who'd been relegated to guard duty in the world's most impenetrable prison for sheer sloth, his mind preoccupied with wandering clouds and strategies that would make an Admiral balk. This man had a name.

Shikamaru.

But Sasuke wasn't paying any attention to his captain's escapades, nor his musings. His attention was focused elsewhere, riveted, on a nearby cell. His Devil fruit had bestowed many blessings upon him; chief amongst them the ability to see. Not just with an eye, but with his very soul; his eyes were the very essence of his power; the ability to trap an enemy in nightmarish dream, conjure black flames with his eyes, summon forth an impenetrable juggernaut born of both bone and fire, controlled by his very mind, and even bend the very laws of reality themselves. With these eyes, he could see who was strong, and who was weak.

And the man within this cell was beyond strong.

"Hello there, youngster." the dryest of voices greeted his approach. "What brings you way out here?"

"We're seeking strong allies." Sasuke replied, unable to pierce the darkness with his gaze.

"Funny; that fool clown said the same thing." a slight chuckle answered his question. "All bark and very little bite, that one. I'll ask you the same questions; why should I join you? Do you have a plan to escape? A ship on which to sail? A strong crew to watch your back? He had none of these and so I refused him." The figure behind the bars leaned forward on his haunches just then, exposing dark eyes framed by darker hair, matted brown locks revealing a strong, chiseled jaw set in a scowl. "What do you have that would make me leave this cell? What was it that made you leave yours?"

The Uchiha paused, considering the man's inquiry. His onyx gaze swiveled back to Naruto's broad back; the blonde's distant form set upon some strange task or another. What was it about him that made him leave his cell in the first place? It certainly wasn't his charm. His skills, either. Perhaps it was his compassion? Naruto was open and honest; a rarity among pirates, possessing a willingness to help that went above and beyond a simple give-and-take relationship. He was...simple. Yes, he had burdens of his own, their ordeal with Blackbeard had shown as much, but he didn't let them change who he was. He simply sought to right the wrongs he had been given, to change the hand that fate had dealt him. Sasuke...envied that.

"I follow him because he seeks to right wrongs and answers to no one but himself; because he values loyalty and friendship above all."

There was a silence. Abruptly, the stranger laughed.

"He seeks to tear down the old and usher in the new, then? An admirable goal, if there ever was one. I had such a dream once. To hear someone speak of it is...refreshing." He rose, the chains that bound him clanking with the movement of his arms and legs. He was tall and lean Sasuke realized, almost gaunt within his prisoner's uniform. "Congratulations, Uchiha Sasuke." that same voice rumbled out at him, this time with the faint undercurrent of intrigue. "You've piqued my interest. Release me from these bonds of mine, and I will join you."

Manacled hands pushed up agains the bars in silent offering, Sasuke's blade was quick to grant them release. The chains practically crumbled away into dust at the touch of .

"You never told me your name."

The man ceased rubbing his wrists and raised his head, dour features sharpening in a slight smile.

"Senju...Hashirama."

"I can't believe I agreed to this." Shikamaru groaned as he was led deeper and deeper into Impel Down, in search of new nakama, or so Naruto said.

"Relax, will ya?" His captain soothed. "I've got everything under control. You'll love being a pirate, I promise."

Shikamaru wasn't entirely certain about that.

He'd been content to simply lay down and play dead once the riot started; capturing prisoners was too troublesome for him, anyway. It was that very same attitude that had landed him guard duty in Impel Down in the first place; despite his intellectual genius and mastery of strategems, he hadn't seen the point in applying himself against players-pirates-who stood so far beneath him. It all felt so pointless, sometimes. Where was the challenge in facing uneducated brutes, who'd just as soon as shoot him than try to puzzle their ways out of his traps?

But Naruto had proved himself to be no hapless pirate; his mind was as sharp as the blade he kept at his belt. He was no base prey, he was a predator; strong and proud.

Master navigator though he might be, the former marine couldn't help but wonder if he'd made the right decision in joining him. Naruto had been poised to finish him off after he'd asked that last question; the moment he mentioned he was a navigator though, the blonde's entire demeanor changed. His crew was already the stuff of legends and Shika could see why; Naruto could be very persuasive when you gave him the chance. He certainly didn't know how to take no for an answer, that much remained certain!

Now here he was, talked into becoming the very thing he'd sworn to fight against. And for what? A chance to esape his boredom? Hell, if it meant he could get back to cloudwatching-with the occasional bit of navigating here and there-he didn't care. Who knew what adventures might await them?

"Oi oi, aren't you forgetting someone?"

Naruto nimbly stepped aside as a wave of golden energy streaked past, tearing a swathe of destruction where he'd been standing mere moments before. His blade flew forth from its sheathe and swung backwards, the alabaster edge of his weapon effortlessly intercepting the jagged edge of a sword seonds later. A wrench of his wrist brought him face to face with his attacker; squaring off against a great, mountain of a man who was as large as he was tall, and thrice as deadly. He certainly was no slouch when it came to swinging a blade, to have cut him like that was no small feat.

A thin rent opened in his whiskered cheek before he managed to spin away, but the damage was already done.

Crazed golden eyes shone out beneath a mane of dark hair, those bright orbs fixated upon Naruto, his grin the stuff of madness.

Shikamaru sighed softly. "What was it you said? Everything under control?"

"And I do-

The blonde's words ended in a pained grunt as he found himself in bladelock once more, the tapered edge of blade colliding with the serrated steel of his enemy. Blinding blows were exchanged in an instant, swordplay that no mere mortal had any chance of blocking exchanged and parried at speeds beyond comprehension. Wounds were opened. Blood was spilled. Now, Shikamaru was no stranger to the sword, but even he found his eyes outmatched as the two combatants strove against one another. And then, Naruto calmly took one hand away from the hilt of his weapon, and pressed it to the man's chest.

"Kaze no Yaiba."

An enormous blade of red energy erupted from the splayed fingers of the logia, its black mane blowing back at the force of the powerful attack. The black burst of oyxgenated wind swiftly engulfed both Shikamaru and the swordsman, their eyes squinting against the hot light as the thin stones beneath their feet evaporated under the strength of the attack, leaving their attacker to stagger into the light.

"Holy shit...!"

Shikamaru found himself face to face with someone who had no business being here-a demon of death and destruction-whose only purpose lay in seeking out stronger opponents. Though most of his face lay hidden in the shadows of the great undersea ghaol, there could be no denying the wounds he'd sustained to his chest, no mistaking the bloodlust in those golden orbs. His was a face many had feared, and even more had hoped to be dead. Apparently their hopes and prayers were in vain. Zaraka Kenpachi, madman of the South Blue, grinned from ear to ear, despites the injuries he'd sustained, and started forward at Naruto once again.

"Oi, brat of Whitebeard. What's the matter?! Fight like you mean it! Like you did before on Level Six! GIVE ME A FIGHT!" Golden light seemed to stream from the man, his strength rising with the desire to do battle. The slighest of hesitations showed in Naruto's sword arm, betraying his intention as he growled, deep and low in the back of his throat.

"Oh for the love of...stay down, will you?! I'm not interested in fighting you right now!"

Cackling the swordsman brought his blade crashing down!

"I'm not giving you a choice, shitty brat!"

Before he could finish his swing, his sword met

"Who are you callin' a brat?" Naruto hissed through gritted teeth, forcing his foe down through the air, "You bloodthirsty buffoon!" He thrust a foot forward, slamming a kick into Zaraki's chest and sending the larger sailing into one of the adjaent cells opposite them. The lone logia quickly shot forwards, almost immediately closing the gap between the fallen warrior and himself. Blades smashed and gnashed against one another, drawing sparks instead for an eternity before one of the warrior's finally called out in pain.

"Aaaargh!"

"Chou Odama," Naruto called as he hovered above the gaping hole in which Zaraki Kenpachi was buried, "RASENSHURIKEN!"

The massive shrieking sphere leapt from his hand and into the hole; a dog freed from its chain.

A massive wave of white energy plummeted downwards at the scar in the stone below, engulfing the hole within a web of wind. Shikamaru quickly darted backward, placing some much-needed distance between the two of them as his soon-to-be captain leered into the crater he'd created.

"Is he dead?"

The blond opened his mouth to reply-

"Hahahaha,"a voice rang out from the wreckage, dispelling all of Naruto's hopes at a premature victory, "This is it! This is the fight I've been waiting for! Against someone like you, I think I can fight all out! Don't go an die on me now, Uzumaki!"

Before he could even think to raise his weapon, Naruto's bleak blade found his neck.

"You stay the fuck down," he warned, "Or next time its your head."

(Sometime later)

"I see you've been busy." Naruto remarked as they happened upon one another again. Sasuke was mildly surprised to see that the blonde had gained some superficial wounds in the hour since they'd parted, a series of shallow gashes ran diagonal across the bare flesh of his right arm and chest- a small slice could still be seen where a blade had cut deep into his cheek. In contrast to the two nakama Sasuke had proccurred-Naruto had picked up a pair of his own; and they couldn't have been more unalike.

"So have you."

Zaraki Kenpachi was a giant in human form, his broad shoulder nearly scraping the arch as he crossed beneath it. Whereas Shikamaru looked utterly unassuming in his guard's uniform, the sole defining trait being that seemingly permanent frown and pineapplish ponytail. They couldn't have been more different.

"Any particular reason why we're trusting an ex-marine with our lives?"

Said marine shrugged. "Never took much stock in the whole "absolute justice" thing anyway. I'd rather just sit around and cloudwatch. If becoming a pirate gets me that, then so be it. You need me about as much as I need you, I suppose."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Naruto quoted sagely, patting the slim man upon the shoulder. "What about you? Who're these two?"

Hashirama cleared his throat. "I was under the impression you needed a shipwright."

"Well yeah, when we finally get a ship...

"And her?" Naruto's gaze adjusted to the fourth-and possibly final-of their nakama, a petite looking girl with brown eyes and auburn hair.

"'Shoot anything' Tenten."' Sasuke said by way of introduction. "You did say we needed a gunner...

"Yes, but I fail to see just how she-ah."

His gaze traveled the length of the prison, balefully regarding the skewered corpse of a guard. His throat was filled with shards of stone, doubtlessly sharpened during her stay in the ghaol. How Tenten had managed to kill him with those, much less procure something to make them deadly enough to kill. Tenten grinned.

"Nice ta meetcha, boss!"

"You're not a fruit user?" Naruto arched an eyebrow, mildly impressed by both the power and accuracy of her shot.

"Nope!" The brunette shook her head. "All natural ability right here!" A slight frown marred the features of her face. "That's...not a problem, is it?"

"No, no, not at all!" Naruto replied. "Zaraki here isn't a fruit user, either."

"The kid gave me a good fight." the Kenpachi rumbled at the Uchiha's questing stare. "Figured if I follow him, I'd find even better battles."

Sasuke sighed. A lazy navigator, a bloodthirsty swordsman, and a girl who could hit a target halfway across the prison. Their strange little family just kept growing, didn't it?

"Could this day get any worse?"

Naruto grinned as a dull rumble greeted them from upstairs. That was the signal. It was time to depart this wretched ghaol, and make for the sea.

"...On the plus side, I'm amused."

And with that, they strode away...

...straight from the mouth of hell.

A/N: And there ya be! I'm having such a hard time choosing crew members! We've got a crew of legends already! Shikamaru, Tenten, Hashirama, and even Zaraki from Bleach! Shikamaru seems to be an obvious choice for the navigator-almost everyone seems to agree on that one-but from there its fuzzy. It should also be mentioned that Naruto is going to have a fairly large crew, and an even larger ship, possibly bigger than the Thousand Sunny. But hmmm...what to call it and how to write it? I hope you enjoyed this! My damn keyboard keeps acting up, so I apologize for any grammatical errors. The War of the Best is nearly upon us! Look forward to it!

So...in the immortal words of Atlas...

...Review, would you kindly? And of course, enjoy the preview!

(Preview)

Fleet Admiral Sengoku felt his jaw fall from his face as he beheld the gallery of rogues standing before him. Not only had Monkey D. Luffy landed in the thick of the fighting, but there, on the ship opposite him,a second vessel, carrying perhaps the most deadly criminals the world had ever seen, and more than a few traitors to the cause of justice. And there, standing at the helm of the second vessel, a visage as legendary as it was all but terrifying, his whiskered face pulled back in a fearsome smile.

"What's he doing here?!"

Indeed, Naruto's grin could've made the darkest demon look tame.

"Hello, corpses!"

Across the battlefield, Edward Newgate felt his mouth twitch in the beginnings of a grin.

"Gurararara, so you finally decided to show up, boy!"

R&R! =D