Disclaimer: One Piece is the intellectual property of the great Eiichiro Oda, while Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Anything else you might recognise from other shows/manga/books/etc do not belong to me. I own nothing but the plot to this story, and the odd OC that I have created. Please support the official release!
~ Chapter 2 - Panda-Birds and Witch-Pirates ~
A few months later, Naruto and his newly formed 'crew' were ready to set sail. Naruto, himself, had spent the better part of those months learning the ins and outs of naval travel. Seeing as he was the 'captain', he would need to at least know the basics of running a ship. Which meant heavy usage of Kage Bunshin, to condense what would usually be years' worth of learning into the space of a few weeks.
Architects from Kirigakure, on the orders of the Mizukage, had built a ship made from the confiscated ships of captured pirate crews, reasoning that the pirates didn't need them anymore. However, they had to warn Naruto. that the ship, labelled a schooner, wasn't professionally built, and that they should find a shipwright to construct a higher calibre vessel.
It wasn't all good, though. Upon being told that he was being chosen for a long-term mission, Shikamaru spent whatever spare time he had complaining to blond haired knucklehead about dragging him on one of Naruto's insane adventures. Which wasn't entirely wrong, as only Naruto had the strange knack for getting into the most convoluted of situations. That being said, it took the combined efforts of both his mother and Temari, the latter being his girlfriend for the last year, to get Shikamaru to actually commit to the mission. No one was quite sure what was said, but after the two most important women in his life were through with him, Shikamaru looked rather pale but told Naruto that he was coming.
Sai, who had come a long way since his days as a ROOT agent, was all too happy to join the mission. Almost to the point of subtly begging to come. When asked why, Sai revealed that Yamanaka Ino was making an attempt to seduce the ANBU member, after realising that Sasuke was effectively off the market. Sai, being a sheltered soul, was rather lacking when it came to social norms, and was utterly terrified by the notion of a young woman showing any form of interest in him. None of his self-help books were of any use, and any advice he tried to glean from the adults in his life was unsuccessful. Of course, when one asks for romance advice from Hatake Kakashi, they aren't going to get much useful information anyway.
Normally, five people would be too small a number to properly sail a ship of any reasonable size. However, Naruto's blatant abuse of Kage Bunshin meant that the grunt work was suitably done by the required number of crewmen. This allowed Naruto himself to man the steering wheel. Sakura handled the fully stocked Medical Bay, though had to have a lot more non-chakra based medicine on board, in case she had to treat patients without a fully functional Chakra Pathway System. Sasuke was ordered to man the Crow's Nest. The Last Uchiha tried, in vain, to protest about such a demeaning task, but was threatened with castration by a still pissed off Sakura. Suffice to say, there was no arguments from any of the male members of the crew. Shikamaru's duties were to handle navigation. Not because he was any veritable navigator, but because he was the only one smart enough to know how to do the job. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto had expressed the desire to learn, and Sakura was busy being the Ship Doctor. Finally, Sai was given the task of being the advanced scout. His ink based jutsu meant that he could send out birds to find any potential threats in advance. On top of that, he was tasked with designing a suitable Jolly Roger for the crew. It was still a work in-progress, but Sai informed Naruto that he had several ideas.
"So, you know what you are doing, yes?" Kakashi asked Naruto, as the latter's clones went about with final checks.
"Hai, hai. Go out and explore. Send back reports of what we've learned. Cause general chaos, that sort of thing, 'ttebayo!" Naruto replied, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
The Rokudaime Hokage's sweat dropped upon hearing the last bit.
"Try not to cause too much ah, chaos, ne?" Kakashi chuckled.
Naruto snorted, "I don't try anything. It just happens, 'ttebayo."
'That's what I'm afraid of,' Kakashi thought.
"You got it, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cheerfully said.
It was then, that the remaining members of the crew arrived.
"Naruto, everything's loaded up," Sasuke said, "We're waiting on you."
"Right," Naruto nodded, before turning back to Kakashi.
"A mixed team of ANBU will approach the Revolutionary Army," Kakashi said, "So you don't have to go out and look for any one belonging to them.
"I know I'm asking a lot, but please try not to deliberately antagonise this World Government," Kakashi continued, directly looking at Naruto, "Without knowing their exact strength, the Shinobi Union won't be able to prepare properly."
"We'll do our best to keep Naruto out of trouble, Sensei," Sakura firmly stated, catching on to what the masked ninja was hinting towards.
"Hey!"
"It will be troublesome, but yeah, why not?"
"Oi! Shika!"
"He is dickless, so it should be easy."
"I'm standing right here, guys! Dattebayo!"
"Hn. Be quiet Usuratonkachi. The adults are talking."
"…You guys suck."
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Kakashi said, eye-smiling, "Do us proud Naruto."
"You bet!" Naruto grinned, bouncing back after the teasing from his friends.
"Team Naruto. Your mission to go out to the open sea and discover what it was the forced Kaguya to come to the Elemental Nations," Kakashi declared in an authoritative tone, "You are allowed to do so by any means necessary, but exercise caution. I expect biweekly updates via summons, or by whatever means you manage. Move out."
"Ryōkai!" the five members of the crew replied in unison, before boarding the schooner, and setting sail for the nearest island on the map provided.
About a week after they first left, they landed at a nearby uninhabited island. This was mostly so that Shikamaru could gain his bearings. According the maps and testimony of the captured pirates, the Elemental Nations were a peninsula in one of four seas. They were named North Blue, South Blue, West Blue, and finally East Blue. The Elemental Nations were at the back end of East Blue, so far out of the way that even before the barrier erected by Kaguya had been broken down, ships barely had any reason to come anywhere close to the near-isolated peninsula. Of course, from what T&I managed to find out, the waters were known was dangerous whirlpools that prevented ships from approaching Mizu no Kuni anyway. It was only after the barrier had fell that the whirlpools had stopped.
Once Shikamaru was somewhat certain that he knew where they were on the map, the crew then set sail for the nearest inhabited island; a place called Ocean's Naval.
"I still can't get over the name of the place we're going to 'ttebayo," Naruto commented from the wheel.
"Stop being troublesome, Naruto," Shikamaru grumbled, as he laid on his back on the deck.
"Honestly? Is not one bothered by the name?" Naruto cried out, "It's so random!"
"And Konohagakure isn't?" Sasuke drily remarked, gazing out into the open waters.
"Shut up, baka, at least that has some logic to it," Naruto retorted.
"Naruto of all people is talking about logic," Sakura mumbled, while she read a medical textbook.
"Tch, fine," the leader of the team relented, "How far off are we, Shika?"
The lazy Nara idly glanced at his compass before answering.
"Tilt the wheel twenty degrees starboard, the wind took us slightly off course," he replied in a bored tone.
Naruto complied, as the crew returned to an amiable silence. It last about ten minutes, before Sasuke spoke up.
"Guys. The emotionless wonder is back," he told them. His attitude towards Sai was still a bit standoffish, but Sasuke generally restrained himself from being rude towards Sai in person.
"Be nice, Sasuke-kun," Sakura chided, as she put her book away, and rose to stand beside the Uchiha.
About two hours ago, Sai went out on a scouting trip on one of his ink birds. Just as Sasuke said, he landed on the deck, and dismissed his jutsu, before turning to Naruto.
Before he could tell them all what he found, a loud caw was heard. The remaining four snapped to attention, and turned to face the direction from where the sound was heard. They all had to pause and blink before registering what they saw. Flying in a circulatory pattern was a large, rounded bird. It had features that made it look like some strange panda-bird hybrid, with a long beak, and sharp talons. It cawed once more, before landing gently on the deck.
"Um, Sai?" Naruto began, "What's goin' on?"
"I do not know for certain, Naruto," Sai replied, "While I was returning back, this bird intercepted me, but did not harm me. I believe he wishes for our assistance."
"Eh?" Naruto blinked in confusion, "How did you get that idea, 'ttebayo?"
"The bird looked at me imploringly, and its eyes suggested an intelligent mind. At a guess, I proposed that he follow me back to the ship, so that I may speak to you," Sai explained, "Much to my surprise, the bird nodded and followed me."
"Well, it's not the strangest thing that's happened. Hold on," Naruto paused in order to enter Sennin Mode, and gained the trademark eyes. Focusing on the bird, Naruto tried to gain a sense of what was the problem. He then closed his eyes in concentration and focused on connecting with the bird on a spiritual level. A split second later, and Naruto opened his eyes, "Get to your posts! Someone is in danger, dattebayo!"
"What?!" everyone else cried out.
"Move!" Naruto barked, "This bird's friend is being held hostage! We're gonna save her! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A dozen or so clones of Naruto popped into existed in a cloud of smoke and ran to their designated posts.
"Sasuke run up to the Crow's Nest. Shikamaru make sure my clones don't fuck around. Sakura prep the medbay in case the girl needs help. Sai fly ahead and see what's going on. The bird will lead you," Naruto ordered, moving swiftly towards the wheel.
"Naruto, wait! What's going on?" Sakura asked, jogging after the ninja-captain.
"The bird, it's being hunted by some pirates. The pillage and burning kind," Naruto darkly explained, "They burned down this village that the bird claimed as its home, but a girl managed to escape with it. But the girl then got captured. She being held hostage to lure the bird."
"Oh no," Sakura whispered.
"Yeah. We're rescuing her," the tone in which Naruto said this told Sakura that he would brook no argument over the matter.
"Right," Sakura nodded, before heading towards her medbay.
It took barely an hour to get to where the girl was being held hostage. The place being a large war galley.
"Sasuke, I need a wide area genjutsu to hide our ship," Naruto said.
"Hn," Sasuke grunted, as his eyes span into the regular Sharingan. A subtle pulse of chakra, that Naruto only sensed because of being in Sennin Mode, flared outwards from Sasuke, well past the enemy ship, "Done. They can't see, hear, or even smell us."
"Nicely done," Naruto complimented, before he became all business like, "Right. I'll go in undercover, using the Tōton Jutsu. When I give the signal, the rest of you will charge in."
"Er, Naruto? What's the signal?" Sakura asked, raising a hand.
"Oh, you'll know," Naruto grinned, before jumping off the side of the ship.
"That's what I was afraid of," the pink haired medic sighed, watching Naruto water walk towards the enemy ship.
However, unseen by the remaining shinobi, a lone figure observed them from the skies above.
"Well now. Who do we have here?" a reedy voice muttered.
It took barely a minute for Naruto to successfully board the ship. On the deck, several pirates were milling around, going about their usual duties. A couple were on a break, and Naruto paused to overhear what they were talking about.
"So, has the girl talked, yet?" one, with an oily voice, asked.
"Naw, she's quiet as a mouse," another, this time with a gravelly voice, replied.
"Hmph, I'm surprised that Spiel-senchō hasn't killed the girl, yet."
"Didn't ya hear? The bird we're hunting follows the girl 'round, like a pet. We keep her alive, and the bird will come straight to us."
"Oh. Heh. Still, did Senchō say we weren't to touch her?"
"What? No, why?" Gravelly Voice asked.
"Well, if she's not talking, maybe I could persuade her, if ya know what I mean," Oily Voice replied, with a lecherous smirk.
"Oh. Yeah, I gotcha. Sure, have at it. I doubt Senchō will mind. Just don't kill her."
"Sure, sure. I'll see ya in an hour. Maybe two."
"Right, whatever. Just keep the noise to a minimum.
Naruto kept the Tōton Jutsu up, as he stealthily followed Oily Voice, intent on finding the prisoner, and preventing what the pirate had in mind. After a few minutes, Naruto reached the brig, where a young woman was currently held prisoner. She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, with silver-blonde hair, though her face was covered by her arms. Her clothes were grimy but intact, which suggested that she was unharmed. For now, at least. She sat against the back of the wall, her head resting on her pulled-up knees.
"Hey, girly. You awake?" Oily Voice called out.
"I'm not going to tell you were Balloon is," a weary and muffled voice replied.
"I don't give a shit about some bloody bird," the pirate snorted, "I'm here for something else."
"What?" the girl finally looked up, revealing vibrant green eyes.
"Senchō wants you alive. Didn't say you had to be in one piece," Oily Voice lewdly grinned.
The girl looked confused for moment, before her face morphed into one of utter horror.
"No, you can't!"
The pirate snorted, "Girly. There's nothing I can't do. Right now, my word is law."
The girl scrambled as far away from the prison door as she could, trying to put as much distance as she could between her and her would-be attacker.
By this point, Naruto had enough.
"Yeah, I don't think so," he said, undoing his jutsu, and knocking Oily Voice out with a swift blow to the head. The girl shrieked in surprise, startling Naruto, who hissed, "Quiet, or the others will hear!"
"Who the hell are you?" the girl hissed.
"Er…I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm here to rescue you!" the blond-haired ninja introduced, while he picked the lock, "Your friend brought us here."
"Balloon?" the girl asked.
"Is that his name?" Naruto asked, with a raised eyebrow, "Huh. He prefers to be called 'Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All'."
"Sorry, what?"
"That's what he calls himself," Naruto explained.
"What…How do you know that?" the girl asked, utterly bemused.
"I speak bird," the blond shinobi stated, as though it answered everything.
"Are you insane?!"
"Hey, I'm not insane!" Naruto pouted, "Whatever, what's your name?"
"And why should I just…tell you?" the girl glared suspiciously.
"Because I rescued you, and not just from a potentially nasty situation?" Naruto fired back, quirking an eyebrow.
"Tch, whatever. My names Ann," despite the bravado, Naruto could tell that the girl was shaken.
"Nice to meet you, Ann," Naruto nodded. The door then creaked open, and the blonde strode out.
"Where is Balloon?"
"Nearby, on my ship," Naruto replied, "My friends are keeping him safe."
"Ship? Wait…Are you a pirate!?" Ann backed away.
"Woah, hold on. I'm a ninja…Ninja-Pirate, but a ninja first!"
"That doesn't make it any better!" Ann yelled.
"Quiet!" Naruto hissed, "They'll hear us!
"Look, I swear I'm not going to hurt you!" he went on, "Once we get out of here, you and your bird can go wherever."
"Promise?" Ann still looked unconvinced.
"Promise."
"…Fine. Let's go," she then picked up a pair of flintlock pistols from the knocked-out pirate.
"You know how to use those?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah," Ann mumbled, "My Dad taught me before he…Before he was killed."
"…I'm sorry to hear that," Naruto quietly said.
"Thank you," Ann nodded, just as quietly.
After a few moments of silence, Naruto spoke up.
"How do you know that bird, anyway?" he asked.
"…I've known him for as long as I can remember," Ann replied, "We were never apart. We played together and slept together."
"Slept…?"
"Not like that, pervert!" Ann furiously whispered, slapping Naruto upside his head.
"…Sorry, I blame my pervert of a shishō for making me think like that," Naruto sourly explained, rubbing his abused head.
"Whatever…Anyway. To others, Balloon might just be a bird," Ann continued, "But to me, he's someone I can trust more than anyone else: my best friend."
"Huh," Naruto didn't know what to say to that, but then asked, "Why were you kidnapped?"
"Because I'm cute!"
'Is this girl for real,' Naruto deadpanned.
The pair silently sneaked through the ship, pausing every now and then to knock out any pirates they ran across. They eventually made it to the deck of the ship, where they came upon a sight that Naruto would use as blackmail for the rest of his life.
There, in the middle, was Sasuke, Sakura, Sai and Shikamaru chained up and surrounded by the enemy pirates at sword point.
"…The hell?!" Naruto yelled, "I was gone for like five minutes, tops, 'ttebayo!"
Sasuke mumbled something that Naruto couldn't quite decipher.
"What was that, Sasuke? I didn't catch that," Naruto called out, cupping an ear.
"I said; the genjutsu didn't work!" Sasuke said, a little louder.
"…I'm so gonna hold this over you," Naruto grinned.
"Naruto!"
"Forever."
The Last Uchiha bristled in indignation, but a loud cackle prevented the two best friends from exchanging further barbs.
"So you're the leader of this ragtag bunch that brought back my Ruku?" a tall lanky man with a sallow face asked. Weirdly, the man arranged his hair in a hexagonal pattern. Beside the man was the bird, caged.
"Who're you?" Naruto demanded, drawing a kunai.
"The name's Spiel the Hexagon," the pirate introduced himself, "And I suppose I ought to thank you for bringing back the bird."
"Thank you?" Naruto's face morphed into one of bewilderment.
"Of course, once I drink the blood of this Ruku, I will finally cement my immortality!" Spiel declared.
"Wait a minute, you're the dude who kidnapped Ann! And killed everyone in her home!" Naruto yelled, pointing at the pirated.
"Well of course. They were in the way," Spiel sneered.
"How did you even see through the genjutsu?" Naruto then demanded, frowning. Sasuke's genjutsu were unparalleled.
"Please," Spiel snorted, "As if that childish illusion could fool me."
"Uh what?" Naruto dumbly asked, before noting Sasuke's increasingly irritated expression.
"Such juvenile magic is nothing compared to my might," the pirate boasted.
"Er, magic? Wait, dude you might want to quit while you're ahead," Naruto nervously looked at Sasuke, as his irritation turned to anger.
"I suggest you kids surrender, if this is how weak you are," Spiel cackled.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back, as Sasuke's fury reach its breaking point.
"That it is!" Sasuke roared, breaking the chains that held the shinobi, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
"What in the hell!" Spiel cried out, startled.
Several crewmembers were engulfed by the flames, which prompted Sakura, Sai and Shikamaru to attack.
The Nara swiftly knelt and went through two hand seals.
"Hiden: Kage Nui no Jutsu!" he uttered, causing Shikamaru's shadow to extend and morph into sharp needles which impaled the surrounding pirates.
"Ninpō: Chōjū Giga!" Sai softly said, as several ink beasts emerged from his scroll and attacked several of the crew.
Sakura, opting for the more direct route, simply punched whichever pirate was near her.
"What…Who are you people?!" Spiel yelled, "What is this magic you're using!"
"Magic? How...pedestrian," Sasuke drawled, drawing his Chokutō, "Our power, our abilities come from our chakra."
"I see…Yes…Yes, your blood," Spiel mumbled, "Your blood! It will taste…Delicious!"
Naruto, who was silently attempting to free Balloon, spoke up.
"Okay, the guy's insane," he grimaced, "Time to kick his ass."
He turned to Ann, and handed her his lock picking equipment.
"Think you could get your bird out?" he asked.
"Who do you think I am?" Ann indignantly asked back.
"Right, right. Sorry."
With than, Naruto charged a Rasengan, and leaped at Spiel. Said pirate captain jumped onto his broomstick of all things, and flew up to a safe distance. Or so he thought, before he had to dive out of the way of another fireball, courtesy of Sasuke.
"Take this!" Spiel yelled, throwing a bolt of lightning at Sasuke, but the bolt was negated by a Fūton: Rasengan from Naruto.
Still holding the complete form of his father's jutsu, Naruto extended the wind blades into a fully formed Fūton: Rasenshuriken, before throwing it at Spiel. The pirate managed to detonate the jutsu, by throwing a bolt of fire, rising upwards on his broom to avoid the explosion.
"Where the hell did you get your powers, 'ttebayo!" Naruto exclaimed.
"The blood of the Ruku bird grants magical powers to whoever consumes it," Spiel explained, cackling, "I have searched far and wide for all seven of them, and I have succeeding in finding six. Once I drink the blood of the final one, I shall ascend to the realms of the gods!"
With that, Spiel generated a bolt of purple lightning between his hands, before throwing it into the sky. Above them, dark clouds started to gather, before becoming a full-fledged storm. Strikes of lightning fell from the clouds, reaching the galley. However, the bolts were indiscriminate, electrocuting several members of Spiel's crew.
"Spiel-senchō! Please stop the attack!" one of them cried out.
"Now, why would I do that?" Spiel snorted, "If you can't survive this, then you aren't fit to be a part of my crew!"
He then continued with his assault, to the point where it became very likely that Spiel's war galley was on the verge of being destroyed. By this point, though, Ann had managed to pick the lock to the cage that held Balloon.
"There you go Balloon," Ann said, smiling, "Out you come."
The bird hopped out of the cage, and stretching his wings out to their full wingspan. He then turned his head over his shoulder, and looked at Ann.
"You want me to get on?" Ann asked, before nodding. She got on, and Balloon flew up, intending on flying away. Unfortunately, Spiel saw this, and threw a bolt of greenish fire at the pair.
Naruto, who saw this, yelled out a warning, "Ann, look out!"
"Wha-?" Ann looked back, and widened her eyes in shock, "Balloon!"
The bird dived to avoid the flames, but not so quickly that Ann didn't avoid singing the top of her hair.
"Don't think you'll escape with my Ruku bird, wretched child!" Spiel bellowed.
"Balloon, you need to avoid Spiel!" Ann cried out.
The Ruku bird trilled in acceptance, before taking evasive manoeuvres. However, Spiel managed to get a glancing shot at Balloon's wing, causing the bird to crash-land on the damaged ship. The enforced landing was so rough, that it led to Ann being flung a short distance away from the injured bird. Spiel, seeing this, prepared to send a bolt of pure magic at Ann with the intent to kill her.
"Your existence is more trouble than it's worth!" he spat, "I should have just given you to my crew from the start! Die!"
"Ann!" Naruto yelled.
While Spiel chased after Balloon, Naruto and Sasuke were surrounded by what was left of Spiel's crew. Thus, neither of them, nor the other shinobi, were in a position to be able to save Ann. Said girl was disorientated from the crash and was unable to make an effort to avoid the attack.
"Huh?" Ann shook her head to try and regain her equilibrium. When she looked up, what she saw made her freeze in terror.
In Spiel's hands was a large glowing and sparking ball of arcane energy.
"Take this!" Spiel roared, throwing the ball.
Ann could only watch, as the ball came close and closer. Her legs refused to work and try to dodge the attack, while none of the ninja-pirates were able to come to her rescue.
BOOM
"ANN!" Naruto shouted, as a large cloud of dust covered the entire deck.
"Gahahahahaha!" Spiel cackled.
"Fūton: Daitoppa," Sai spoke, blowing away the cloud.
Naruto waited in suspense, hoping that their rescue efforts weren't in vain. As the dust cleared, Naruto managed to catch sight of Ann, relatively unscathed.
"Ann!" Naruto called out, smiling in relief.
The silver-blonde girl lowered the arms she reflexively raised and opened her eyes.
"Wha…What?" she breathed, before her head snapped up. To Ann's horror, Balloon had moved in front of her, wings outstretched, protecting her, "BALLOON!"
Said bird keeled over, scorch marks covering its body. It let out a feeble caw, as it wearily opening its eyes to look at Ann.
"Balloon!" Ann tearfully clutched at the bird, "Hold on! Don't go! Don't leave me!"
"You foolish girl!" Spiel roared in anger, "See what you made me do!"
"Oi! That was your own fall, not Ann's, 'ttebayo!" Naruto retorted.
"Stay out of this!" the pirate captain hissed, and raised his arm to attack Ann once more, only for Sasuke to leap over all the grunts and in front of Spiel
"Enough of this! Amaterasu!" he yelled as he flared his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. This brought forth eldritch black-purple flames Sasuke made his own, where Mangekyō techniques were concerned.
"Hah! That won't work!" Spiel cackled, invoking a barrier, "So long as I have my powers, your flames will not hurt me!"
"Hn. But how long will they last?" Sasuke asked, an arrogant smirk on his lips, "What happens when your powers…run out?"
"What?"
"Amaterasu. The black flame that devour all, for seven days and seven nights," the Last Uchiha went on, "Can your powers last that long? I don't think so."
"No…No. This cannot be!" Spiel cried, as he began to falter slightly, "I am Spiel the Immortal! I cannot die! I will not die!"
Sasuke snorted, "Yeah. No. You aren't immortal. You're just a parasite. Feeding on the strength of others. A parasite that needs to be destroyed."
The barrier that Spiel erected began to flicker. The pirate captain tried, in vain, to hold it up, but it continued to flicker before fading completely. Instantly, Spiel was enveloped by the black flames. Attempts to pat them out merely ended with the flames covering him sooner.
"NOOOOOOoooooo!"
With his dying breath, Spiel let out one final defiant cry, before he succumbed to the black flames and burnt to ashes. Said ashes then blew away in a brief gust of wind, scattering into the air.
"Well. That was…amusing," Sasuke drawled, "Now what?
Before anyone could reply to Sasuke's question, a sniffle could be heard. The crew turned towards the direction of the sound, and saw a depressing sight. There, on the deck of Spiel's warship was Ann, knelt before the burnt corpse of Balloon. Even without a good look, Naruto could tell that the bird was dead. Sakura ran towards the young woman, and knelt beside her while offering words of comfort.
"Sasuke, could you…?" Naruto trailed off, seeing Sasuke shake his head.
"I don't think Rinne Tensei will work on that bird," he said, "It only works on beings with chakra, and that bird didn't have any. Even then, I still haven't mastered Gedō, like I have the other Paths."
"Right…" Naruto turned towards Ann, with a sad expression.
"What am I supposed to do now?" the former captive sobbed, while Sakura had a comforting arm around her shoulder, "Balloon's gone, and my village is destroyed. I don't have anywhere else to go."
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, as he mulled over his thoughts.
"You could come with us? We'd really appreciate someone who knows about the seas on our crew. Our information is second hand, at best," he hesitantly suggested, "I mean. Even if you don't want to join. We can at least take you as far as the next inhabited island."
Ann's head snapped up to look directly at the blond-haired ninja.
"You're serious?" she asked, "You're offering me, a total stranger, to join your crew? To help?"
"Wouldn't be the first time I've helped someone I only met on the same day," Naruto foxily grinned.
"It's not going to be the last. I can already tell this will be troublesome," Shikamaru muttered from the side.
"Shut up, Shika!" Naruto hissed, before adopting a cheery expression, "So, what do you say?"
"I…I need some time to think," Ann said, "I know you aren't like Spiel and his goons, but…Just let me think about whether I would like to join or not. But I appreciate the offer to take me to the next island."
"Sure thing," Naruto assured, "We don't have a lot of room for privacy, so you'll have to bunk with Sakura-chan, if that's okay?"
"That's fine, thank you," Ann replied.
"You're welcome," Naruto nodded, before turning to Shikamaru, "Set a course for Ocean's Naval. Sai, the wheel is yours.
"Barely a week, and we've already found trouble," Naruto sighed. It was just the beginning, and it was only going to get worse from there on.
Author Notes: So, here's another chapter. After reading 'This Bites!', I got a real big One Piece bug, which got me to churn out this chapter. But don't expect this to be a regular thing. I doubt I'll have time for another chapter in the future.
For those of you who don't know, Ann is a Nami-like character from one of the pilot chapters of Romance Dawn. I wanted to try something unique as far as having One Piece characters on Naruto's crew. Ann is a blank slate, as far as her character goes, so it's pretty much an OC without being an OC. An interesting bit of information for you is that if Ace was a girl, his name would have been Ann.
Anyway, the next chapter will consist of an anime-only filler arc from East Blue, and then we'll have Naruto and his crew meet up with the future Pirate King.
See you at the next update!