Disclaimer: I don't own anything

A/N: I would first like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays and I would also like to thank everyone who added this story to their favorites and follows as well as everyone who reviewed the last chapter.


"Are you anything like your parents?"

Masky looked away from their boat and lowered the hammer onto the ground before twisting his head around to look at her. Naruto folded her arms against her chest and leaned against her foot as blue eyes looked at her with disbelief. She only smiled wider at him before dropping onto the sandy ground and sprawling herself on the sandy ground like a snow angel.

It would have been a good idea for her to just drop the topic but when had she ever done the good idea? Even though Masky should focus on making their boat, she still had the intense urge to correct him. It isn't like I actually know the child of Gol D. Roger. But the whole thing was personal when he declared that a child didn't deserve to live.

"You're still going on about it?" Masky grunted. His blue eyes flared up with slight irritation and resignation and she only bobbed her head at the male. When had she ever stopped? She wasn't going to stop until either he apologized or became more understanding to the people around them. As long as the sea in front of them crashed and tumbled with fury then she would continue her fight.

Their wooden ship gazed at them with a pleading look as if demanding that they focused on building them up. Naruto paused and then snorted at the idea. No matter how naïve and stupid she could be, there was no way that a ship was capable of doing that. If Sakura was here, she would smack me in the head and tell me not to be so silly. Then her teammate would explain how impossible it was for a boat to have feelings.

"I won't drop it until you change your mind about the whole thing," she admitted with a shrug. Masky dropped his jaw like an opened scowl and then shook his head at her. She plopped herself back down onto the sand and dug her hand against the soft, grainy sand. The clouds walked across the sky without a care in the world while the sun rained down its beam on her.

She blinked when the blue-haired man loomed over her with an ugly scowl on his face. Then again Masky is almost scowling at us! He is like Sasuke in that way. Another tired sigh escaped her lips. Her friend was probably having fun in his redemption journey and maybe one day she would run into him with Ace and Masky.

"Why do you care so much about the theoretical child of Gol D. Roger?" Masky asked, dropping down onto his bum. He folded his arms against his chest and offered her a side glance before focusing his eyes on the sea. She frowned as the blue-haired man regarded her with thoughtful, curious eyes. He leaned forward like a harmless giraffe and continued to regard her. "You shouldn't care so much."

Listen to me Naruto, you aren't the Kyuubi!

Her heart ached and her eyes almost burned again like it always did whenever that memory replayed in her mind. The case of Gol D. Roger's kid was very much different from her case. They would never be considered a weapon for war. That was the only benefit they could get but other then that…they probably had a similar childhood to her.

"I guess it's because I feel sad for them."

The wind tickled her baby hair as her heart grew heavy with sadness. Naruto-neechan, why do people look at you differently? The innocent, child-like voice of Konohamaru rang in her ears and she released a shaky breath as freezing cold eyes flashed before her eyes. There was no way in hell that she could ever tell him about those times.

"You feel sad for them." Disbelief colored his tone and those eyes of his seemed ready to fall out from his socket. She nodded and clasped her hands behind the neck, cradling it like a newborn baby. She tilted her head as the wind continued to whistle at them. The waves roared and then crashed onto the hissing sand.

Life would have been tough for them. She raised her hand up to the sun and then clasped her hand into a tight ball of a fist. Her heart ached with understanding for what that child of Gol D. Roger would have gone through. The whole world wanted them dead before they could even understand why. It wouldn't even surprise her if they hated themselves.

She could remember the amount of times she tried to pull those whisker birthmarks out of her face.

"Can you imagine just how horrible life would have been for them?" Naruto asked. The wind howled and the sun continued burned with all of its glory as Masky blinked at her. Her voice rumbled and she closed her heavy eyelids. "Every day they probably would have to hear people questioning why they were alive and calling them a monster. If they wanted to make friends then the moment those kids hear who is his father…they will ignore him."

Go away, Naruto! Our parents will ground us if they see us playing with you! You're nothing but trouble.

Her rampant heart slowed down and began to throb and twist with pain, as the wind whistled against her ears. The waves crashed against the rocks like a rather thundering drumbeat, forcing her to open her eyes. It had been so many years since that day when those kids broke her heart into a million pieces. But those words were still as loud as those waves in the background.

"You talk like you experience it," Masky observed. His eyes wavered with the hesitance of a timid little cat as leaves glided down through the air in a slow dance. Naruto quirked her lips slightly and rested her hand in the air. A smooth leaf kissed the palm of her hand and it was not long before she crumbled it. "Your tone makes it seem like you have been through this."

"Could the child of a hero ever experience that? It's kinda stupid, don't you think?" Naruto asked with a laugh. It sounded hollow to her ears but Masky only nodded his head. He's smart but he ain't that observant. She chuckled and tilted her head up even more. "Where's the logic in that? No one would ever treat the child of their hero so badly, but it's easy to think in the opposite scenario when you're in that situation."

The words tasted so bitter in her tongue and bile rose up to her throat but what could she do? Tell him and Ace that Konoha treated her like crap because she carried Kurama. They wouldn't understand it. Besides, if Masky found out then how did she know he wouldn't just be like those villagers with their cold eyes? Telling him now would be like her jumping off a cliff.

It was a bad idea.

"Usually most children from your kind of lineage wouldn't think like you," Masky pointed out. Naruto stiffened as her back began to coil up like a tightly wounded spring. His eyes regarded her with curiosity. "You're technically considered a nobility in your home, aren't you? If your father was the leader then you're practically a princess."

She wrinkled her nose. "Say that again and I'll stop giving you ramen."

"What? You don't like the idea of being a princess?" Masky asked, furrowing his eyebrows together. She let out a small yawn before bobbing her head at him. The male slacked his jaws at her and she tilted her head at him. "Don't give me that expression! Why wouldn't you be happy with being called a princess?"

"Because my job back home is a job where I protect the actual princess of our island," Naruto stated. Masky's eyes widened till it was the size of his dinner plates while the blonde let out a small yawn. "Not that the lord of my country has a princess. Last time I went to the capital, he had an annoying son that wouldn't stop proposing to me."

Masky blinked. "And you turned him down!"

"I've no attraction towards him," Naruto explained, shrugging her shoulders. Masky pinched his nose and looked at her like she was insane. The blonde curled her lips into a wider smile and let out a low laugh. "Besides, I would have to give up one of my dreams and I ain't giving up my dream and freedom for some man that I don't love."

Besides, I'm pretty certain that he only proposed to me because it will make him look good. Her eyebrows twitched and the blood inside of her bubbled with rage. Being made into a trophy wife was the one thing she would never accept for herself and even though the Daimyo gave her the freedom that she desired…his son was a definite no-go.

If he couldn't even defend himself then she was going to be a free bodyguard for him.

A tiny fickle of amusement tickled her senses and Naruto pushed herself up. Masky frowned as she twisted her head around to stare at the source of the amusement. Her lips widened and stretched as her beaming captain gazed at them with amusement. His grey eyes danced with happiness as his lips graced them a smile.

"I leave you guys for only an hour and I already missed half of an awesome story!"

Naruto grinned.

"If you wanna hear the reaction of how that prince reacted to my rejection then help Masky and me finish that boat!"


"We should go on an adventure now that the boat is nearly done!"

The loud, thundering hammering of the nails died down as Ace peeked up from the side deck. Smudges of dirt decorated his forehead, chin and cheeks as his grey eyes twinkled with hope and a broad, warm smile played on his lips. The boat rocked back and forth, letting out tiny squeaks as her captain bounced with all the excitement of a happy-go-lucky child.

Her heart danced and her stomach almost giggled at the excitement blazing out of her captain's eyes. The wind tickled her nape as tiny splashes echoed in the background. An adventure. That would be amazing. The whole reason for her joining Ace, besides the fact that he didn't ogle her, was the longing for an adventure like one of those stories that the merchant told them.

"What kind of an adventure, Cap?" Naruto asked, leaning her whole body forward. The smile on Ace's lips widened even more as the scent of her heavenly miso ramen crept up her nose. It smells even more delicious on him. She licked her chapped lips and flickered her eyes to the hard lines of her captain's body before moving back upwards to the flushed cheeks of the male. "Tell us! There's nothing for us to explore in this island!"

The grin on his face widened, almost reminding her of a gleeful little kid as he flickered his eyes from her to the quiet Masky. The freckles on his face seemed to have grown even more prominent, almost reminding her of little stars decorating his sun-kissed skin. It always stood out whenever the male flashed them one of those heart-stopping smile.

Her heart literally stopped whenever he smiled like that to them because of how warm it was.

"Remember how I decided to go for a walk after our little talk?" Ace asked. His tone turned sly and the smile on his face turned from an innocent smile of a little kid to that of a predator. She cleared her throat and shoved down her jumping heart back into her chest before bobbing her head at him. "Well during my walk, I found an abandoned pirate ship."

A pirate ship?

The nails and hammer crashed down onto the sand, which emitted a little hiss as her eyes fixated on the bouncing body of her captain. Why didn't he tell them before they started the ship? It would have been so much more fun for them to do that then to make the ship. At least, she could finally see the golden glint of treasure and picked up the fallen swords of the pirates before them.

Masky thinned his lips and folded his arms against his chest as his eyes flashed with a look of warning. The vein on his forehead throbbed and those eyebrows of his seemed to be twitching with what could only be irritation. His jaw clenched together like one of those grinding machines and it was not long before the male finally exploded.

"Of all the times that you want to explore! You choose now!" Masky yelled, swinging his arms up in the air. The sun blazed with an even greater glory on them, burning through her skin as their friend's eyes radiated with annoyance. "We're nearly done with the ship! If we go out exploring now then we will never get this ship completed!"

Masky looked at her like she should understand the importance of finishing their amazing boat. His eyes pleaded for her to convince their captain about how terrible of an idea it would for them to explore what could only be a broken pirate ship. It's like he thinks I can convince Ace to not do anything. If their captain was serious about it then he was going to stick to it.

The burning excitement in those grey eyes told her that Ace was definitely going to do it without them. He grinned with all the temptation that the devil would give her. It lured her in, almost telling her to follow him with this idea of exploring an abandoned pirate ship. What would be the harm of just going through with his wishes? Besides, he was the captain after all.

He had the final say when it came to this.

"Sorry Masky but Ace wins this round," She declared. A loud, booming cheer pierced through the air as Ace whooped and pumped his fist in the air. Masky looked up at the sky with disbelief before shooting her a look of betrayal. Bubbles of amusement rumbled in her stomach and not for the first time since they came to this island, her cheeks screamed with joy as her lips curled into a smile. "Who doesn't want an adventure?"

"You're definitely going back to your more carefree ways," Kurama grumbled inside of her mind. Naruto rolled her eyes and fixed her attention on Masky, who kept pinching his nose. Her friend was definitely going to get along with the grumpy fox inside of her. "Couldn't you wait till you finish the boat before going on one of your stupid adventures!"

The blonde puffed her cheeks. "How is having an adventure stupid? It beats going on those D-rank missions or learning ettiquite from Kakashi-sensei, Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan!"

"Who was the idiot that wants to be Hokage?" Kurama drawled. Naruto wrinkled her nose as the fox waved his tail at her like he was her parent. Must he really act like a know-it-all when she was this close to having her adventure? She folded her arms against her chest. "The Hokage can't be a rude, idiot! What do you think being a leader meant?"

The vein on her forehead throbbed and pounded with irritation and Naruto grinded her teeth together. She had an idea of what it meant to have that large hat over her head and donning those white robes. But how the hell was she an idiot? The stupidest thing she ever did was charge her way into Haku's ice dome as Sasuke constantly loved to remind her whenever she yelled at him for his insult.

"Why must I be the only sane one between the two of you?" Masky muttered. Ace chuckled and that chuckle made her toes shiver with delight as their friend looked at them with mournful eyes. She giggled and rubbed the back of her neck. The two males blinked, looked at her for the longest time with a mouth so wide that she could even climb into their mouth. They quickly shook their heads.

Naruto let out another laugh and snaked her arm around Ace's neck before flashing a smile that usually made any male putty to her. It was the smile that allowed her to weasel more ramen from both Iruka, Kakashi and even Sasuke. The male faltered while Ace gazed at her with eyes filled with disbelief.

"Don't be like that, Masky," she cooed. The falter faded from their friend's eyes, replaced with annoyance as a groan escaped from his lips. "It's your job to be the sensible one because you're going to be Ace's first mate."

Masky stared at her. "You're sure that you aren't the captain? Because you just made the decision for Ace."

A low laugh rumbled from Ace's mouth, reminding her of the slow drumbeat and Naruto paused. Wait, she was making the decision instead of Ace…which defeated the whole purpose of him being the captain. The corner of Ace's eyes wrinkled with amusement and not for the second time that day, did her stomach flipped from the radiance of his happy expression.

"Naruto likes to take charge, doesn't she?" His breath tickled her ear and Naruto shuddered as grey eyes drank her in. "And I'm the poor captain that fell for her luring spell."

His tone colored with amusement as the smile on his face made all the blood inside of her rushed to her cheeks. She spluttered and waved her hands. Why did he make it seem like she was one of those mystical creatures she read about in the book? She hadn't done anything to him. The only thing she did was convince him to bring her.

"Well I can't help it," Naruto grumbled, looking away from him. "Besides, the First Mate has to be the complete opposite of the Captain."

Masky pinched his nose. "Where did you hear that?"

"It's a fact of life."

The blue-haired teen groaned.

"No, it's not!"


I wonder if this is actual treasure.

Ace lifted up the small treasure chest from the wooden floor. The faint glow of the golden sunlight tickled down from the large hole on the top deck, offering some kind of glow to the dark brown treasure chest. Orange swirls decorated around the treasure chest, almost reminding him of a whirlpool. For some reason, there was no lock on the chest but well it didn't matter to him.

What mattered to him was the potential of the glimpse of free treasure.

Shaking his head, Ace rattled the treasure chest and grinned as something soft smacked against the chest. The slap was faint but enough to tell him that there was potential of treasure. Masky and Naruto will definitely be happy about the treasure chest. His heart fluttered with excitement and he tilted his hatupwards.

"Yo, Naruto! Masky! I found treasure!" Ace yelled. The floor squeaked again and a lone skull rolled its way, crashing against the wall. A light breeze swept against his hair and a citrus scent overwhelmed him. A warm hand touched his shoulder, firing his shoulders up and his whole body turned around like someone was twirling him around to make him dizzy.

His heart almost stopped as blue eyes glowed with excitement. Those blue eyes reminded him of a waterfall, overwhelming with the joy and excitement coming out of her eyes. He grinned and chuckled when the blonde grabbed the chest from his hands. She shook the chest and let out another squeal of joy at the rattle echoing back at them.

A soft thud echoed behind them and Ace smiled even wider as Masky looked at the chest with an excited grin. I knew Masky can smile like that! He chuckled and flickered his eyes to Naruto. His jaw almost came loose at the sight of his blue-eyed female crewmate humming and swirling the treasure chest like it was the most precious thing in the world.

"I think she finally went insane," Masky whispered, eyeing their female crew mate with a scowl. Ace only shook his head and chuckled as the blonde twirled and swirled like a failed ballerina. It shouldn't be cute, not when she looked like an absolute crazy person but she looked like a dancing pixie. That might be because there was some grace in her movement.

The golden sunrays glowed in the background, almost bringing some kind of radiance to his dancing crew mate. Luffy would definitely either join her in her dance or take that chest from her. He chuckled and just continued to stare at the glowing, giggling blond-haired girl. His stomach rumbled with amusement and he shook his head.

"Treasure! I'm actually going to see real treasure!"

The shrill voice of his crewmate pierced through the air alongside her giggles. Masky winced and shoved his fingers against his ears while Ace only rolled his eyes at the male. What was wrong with her happiness? Didn't he feel infected by her pure joy? Because his own body wanted to follow his crew mate and joined her in with the dance.

"Someone is definitely excited about the potential treasure!" Ace called out. The smile on his face widened even more when the treasure chest crashed onto the ground and Naruto twirled around at them. Her cheeks burned a bright shade of red and she looked down at her feet like she was some kind of guilty child.

She rubbed the back of her neck and tucked the strand of her blond-hair before poking her tongue out of her lip like a mischievous child. His stomach flipped again and he looked away from the blonde. She really did remind him of his little brother with those kind of expressions. She had that same innocent, little…

If he isn't your boyfriend then is he a new fuckbudy that I don't know about?

Right, innocent was definitely not the right word to use on Naruto.

"Are you two going to flirt in front of me again?" Masky grumbled. Ace blinked and swirled his head at the scowling teen before looking back at Naruto, who snorted at the comment. Flirting? How the hell was he flirting with Naruto? He might not have much experience with girls but nothing about those words screamed flirting.

Naruto snorted and picked up the treasure chest from the ground, revealing slender, lithe thighs that was connected to a small, plump ass. Ace blinked and felt his blood rushing to his cheeks as Masky looked at him with unamused eyes. He shook his head and cleared his throat as the blonde walked up towards him.

That was definitely not something he should notice.

"You haven't even seen me flirt," Naruto declared, handing the treasure chest to him. He grabbed the chest as the blonde placed her hands on her hips. Masky blinked and crocked his eyebrow at the girl. "If I wanted to flirt with Ace then I would tease him and I would try to be seductive around him but you don't see me doing that."

Ace shook his head while Masky dropped his jaw at the blonde, who showed absolute no shame for admitting that she would try to seduce him if she wanted to flirt with him. But I don't understand how seducing me relates to flirting? Doesn't flirting comes first? He wanted to ask her but it sounded insane for him to ask her when Masky would figure out that he had never been with a woman before.

"I'm going to open up the chest," Ace declared. The chatter died down as his two crewmates stilled before dropping down onto the floor. He grinned and knelt down as the treasure chest continued to glint with temptation. His hand brushed against the treasure chest as a citrus scent waffled up his nose alongside soft hair that tickled against his shoulder.

He took in a deep breath and opened the chest with trembling arms. How much gold was there going to be in the treasure chest? It couldn't be that much because it didn't feel heavy. But it might be enough to get a better boat for us! They definitely needed a better and bigger boat because they needed a cabin for the females.

"A fruit!" Naruto cried out. Ace grimaced and picked up the rather rough fruit. It was strange, not looking like any fruit that he had ever seen before. Even though the fruit had the same intense shade of orange as Naruto's jacket, it did not have the same complete roundness as an orange. What the hell was the fruit? Because oranges didn't have flames decorating it.

He sniffed the fruit and knitted his eyebrows together at the lack of citrus scent. What was this fruit? If this island had people on it then they could question them about the taste and name of the fruit. Ace glanced at Naruto and blinked at the sight of the blonde furrowing her eyebrows together like she was having a conversation with someone.

She did that a lot when he thought about it.

"It must taste weird," he mused.

Masky eyed him. "Are you really thinking about the taste?"

"Well I'm hungry," Ace admitted, letting out a little laugh as his stomach growled with hunger. Masky rolled his eyes and gestured for him to eat the fruit. He glanced at Naruto, who seemed to be off in her own little world, before biting the fruit. He continued to chew on the fruit as the growls inside of his stomach continued to die down.

It was only when the fruit had been completely eaten that the taste really hit him.

Bitterness alongside the slimy taste of undercooked fish busted in his tongue. What the hell did he just eat? Was this even a fruit? Bile rose up to his throat and he clutched his stomach. He blinked when Naruto groaned and smacked her head against the floor while Masky dropped his jaw at him. His male crewmate had his eyes fixed on his hat before moving down onto his shoulder.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that?"

Masky blinked and trembled as his hand pointed to his hat. "You're on fire! We need to do something to stop that fire! I knew I should have stopped you from eating that—"

"There's no need," Naruto commented with a pinched expression. She looked at the flames with wonder before flickering her eyes at him, blue eyes resting on the fire dancing on his shoulder. "It looks like you just ate a Devil Fruit! And from what a certain someone told me, it means our dear Captain can no longer swim in the sea."

Ace blinked and then clenched his hands into a fist. So I'm like Luffy, huh? Well not being able to swim was terrible but at least his ability was better suited for combat then rubber. His little brother was definitely going to get the shock of the life time when he set out to sea. Now the only question for him was how was he going to control it?

"So we are going to be here a little bit longer until Ace learns not to burn down the boat and we are also going to have the added duty of fishing him out of the sea if he falls, don't we?"

Naruto nodded.

"Yup, Ace is definitely not going to be helping us with the boat until he figures out how to control it long enough not to burn the boat."

That was the story of how Ace ended up eating the Mera Mera no Mi.


A/N: So Ace ended up eating the Mera Mera no Mi in this chapter and Naruto ended up declaring Masked Deuce, or Masky as both Naruto and Ace decided to name him in their mind, as the first mate of their little crew. We have also seen a little bonding between Naruto and Masked Deuce. The next chapter will see a future Straw-hat and will be a tiny time skip.

Now here are a couple of questions for you:

Q1: What do you think of Kurama's interaction with Naruto in this chapter? And what do you think was his reaction to Ace eating the Mera Mera no Mi?

Q2: How do you think Sakura and Hinata will react to the knowledge that Naruto decided to become a pirate?

Q3: What do you think of the portrayal of Masked Deuce so far? And his interaction with Naruto?

Please do tell me of your thoughts on this chapter.