Author's Note:

Here it is! Lots of you wanted the next chapter and I provide. Next chapter the fight begins.

Chapter 1: Brave New World

"No means no Naruto!" shouted Tsunade.

"Oh common Ba-chan! Everyone's got a mission but me!" argued the blond. Tsunade's eye twitched at her unwanted nickname. Sakura, who was right next to Naruto gritted her teeth and punched him hard on the head.

"Baka!" she roared, "Show her some respect! She said she doesn't have a mission for us and that's the end of it!" She grabbed the semiconscious boy by the ankle and dragged him out of the Hokage's office after apologizing for him for his disrespect. When they made it outside the Hokage building, Sakura grabbed the blond by the collar and shook him violently.

"What's wrong with you?" she shouted, "Can't you be normal for five minutes?" She finally stopped shaking him and let him fall to the ground. Despite being dizzy, Naruto managed to look up at the pink haired ninja.

"But it's not fair that we're the only ones without a mission!"

"We're not the only one's idiot. Hinata is also here."

"Hinata?" asked Naruto, "Why?"

Sakura slapped her forehead, "Have you been living under a rock? Hinata is meeting her fiancé. She has to stay here until he arrives."

"A fiancé?" he asked, "Why?"

"Because she a noble and the heir to Konoha's last noble clan. She has to continue the blood line so she has to marry someone. Understand?"

Naruto frowned, "It's stupid."

"So are you!" shot back Sakura.

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!" Sakura clenched her fist preparing to hit him again but there was a flash of light and a large clap of thunder that shook the village. Everyone looked up into the sky to see a large velvet cloud, spreading across the sky.

"What was that?"

"Was that thunder?"

"No that was an explosion!"

"In the sky?"

The villagers were confused and slightly frightened but the cloud was slowing disappearing. Naruto looked at his teammate.

"Sakura-chan was that thunder?" he asked.

"I-I don't know. I mean, it can't be. Didn't you hear how loud that was?" she said but her face showed that was unsure and concerned. But the fact that the oddly colored cloud had nearly faded away comforted her. But neither her, nor Naruto nor anyone in the village saw was the seven large objects flying out of the cloud and scatter into separate directions.

xXx

There was a small cloud of dust surrounding her as she pulled herself to her feet. Other than a few scratches Nami was alright. However, she had absolutely no clue she was. There was no sign of the Sunny or her crew. In fact there was not even any ocean.

"Where…am I?" she asked herself. She was surrounded by lush tress and small grassy hills. When she looked down at her Log Pose, she was shocked to see it was spinning radically. Was she standing over an intersection? Possibly but she had never seen the Log Pose react in such a way.

She looked around her. There was no point standing here. The logical thing to do was locate the closest town to ask for directions and more importantly; where her ship and cremates could have wondered off too. With their luck they could be scattered all across the Grandline. Nami walked down the small hill and began walking east until she came to what looked like a road.

"Perfect" she said with a smile, "Now all I need to do is wait for someone walk by so I can ask them where I am." As if on cue, Nami heard the sound of hooves. She turned around to see a small caravan of what looked like merchants heading towards her.

"Excuse me!" she called out, running towards the leading caravan. The driver pulled on the reins stopping his horse.

"What is it Miss?" he asked. He was an elderly man easily 60 or 70 years old. He had wrinkled skin and silver hair tucked into a light green bandana but it was obvious he was quite handsome in his younger years.

"Do you know where the nearest town is?" asked the red-head.

"Don't you know?" said a little girl popping out behind the old man.

"Ya don't you know?" asked another girl who was slightly younger, "We're gowing two Konoha!"

"Konoha?" Nami asked.

"Yes we're going to do some trading there" said the old man. "Have you not heard of the greatest village in the Land of Fire? The hidden village Konoha, the village hiding in the leaves."

Nami was drawing a blank. She had never heard of such a place. But then again not everything in the Grandline was marked on a map, and that was what she wanted to do; map the whole world.

"Could I come with you?" she asked.

"Of course! Hop on!" the old man said happily. He held out his hand for the young navigator and pulled onto the wagon. "Heya!" he shouted urging his horses forward signaling the rest of the wagons to follow. What was this Hidden Village? Nami hoped she would find out and maybe find the rest of the Mugiwara Kaizoku-dan.

xXx

"Ara?"

Brook looked around him in mild confusion. He was no longer on the Thousand Sunny but in the middle of a desert. In any direction he looked there were no signs of civilization or even life. What had happened? He tried to remember the events before he woke up but all that came to his mind was a big flash of velvet light.

"This is truly something odd. I've never seen such a barren land. But then again my eyes have decayed a long time ago. SKULL JOKE!" he shouted in delight. "Demo," he said looking around, "Finding the others should be my top priority. Though I don't have a map, I should try to walk to the nearest settlement." He opened up an umbrella for shade and began walking.

xXx

Robin winced.

"Gomen Robin," said Chopper as he was cleaning a scratch on the woman's left shoulder.

"Eii it's alright" she said with a smile. Chopper finished cleaning her wound and wrapped a small bandage around it. As he placed his medical kit back into his backpack, Robin stood up and dusted off her yellow sleeveless shirt and purple pants that reached all the way to her calves. She wore a simple belt around her waist, and purple high-heeled sandals along with her white cowboy hat.

"Do you have any idea where we are Doctor-kun?" she asked.

"No…" said Chopper.

"Nor I. Should we try searching for a settlement of some kind?"

"Aa" nodded Chopper taking a sniff at the air. "I think I smell a very large group of humans to the West. That should be a good start." Robin nodded in agreement and together they began walking, letting Chopper take the lead. But she stopped as she noticed a small bird perched on a tree branch.

"Doctor-kun" she called making Chopper stop and turn around.

"Nani?"

"You can talk to animals correct?" she asked.

"Hai."

"Then can you talk to this sparrow?"

The reindeer blinked and looked at the bird. He suddenly jumped understanding what Robin meant. He rushed over to the base of the tree and looked up.

"Ohaiyo!" he called out waving. The sparrow looked down and cocked its head.

"Do you know where the nearest village is?" the man-reindeer asked.

The sparrow chirped.

"Really? Where?"

The bird chirped again.

"That's great! Thank you so much!" said Chopper holding his arms up in delight. The sparrow took off and Robin walked up the doctor.

"Did he know where to go Doctor-san?" she asked.

"Hai! He said that there is a village called Konoha to the east. But it will take some time before we reach it."

"Well then," Robin said with a smile, "Shall we move along?" Chopper nodded and together they began walking to the east, hoping they would meet up with their crewmates.

xXx

"Slowly…just a little bit more…that's it…slowly" he said grasping a root. But it broke from the weight and let him fall back.

"YEAAAAAAA!" shouted Usopp wrapping his arms and legs around a large dead tree root. "Why did this happen?" he sobbed, tears rolling down his face. First there was a flash of light, then he was falling hundreds of feet to the ground followed by him nearly falling off a cliff. If this large tree with its root sticking half way out the side of the cliff wasn't here, he would have died for sure.

"I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die" he moaned fearing the worst. But he remembered his promise to Kaya and the others. He had to return. He couldn't die yet! He had yet to become a true brave warrior of the sea. With all his might Usopp inched his way to the top of the cliff and grasped it. He knew he only has a few seconds before the root gave way. Faster than he had ever moved before he pulled himself over the edge and rolled onto his back just as the root gave way and fell over 200 hundred feet to the ground bellow.

The young sniper was breathing erratically, trying to calm his fast beating heart. That was truly terrifying. Memories of Skypiea flashed through his mind's eye and made him grateful for escaping alive. When he finally had himself under control, he stood up and looked at his surroundings. There were lush trees forming a forest that reminded him of his home village of Syrup back in the Eastblue.

As he began to walk foreword, he heard something moving in the brush. He froze solid.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Who's th-th-th-there?" he called out shaking like a leaf. He heard more rushing and what sounded like footsteps. "C-C-Come out y-you coward! I the great Captain Usopp with 8 million followers under my command can face any foe!" he said reaching into his messenger bag for his handy slingshot. "If you are a man then fight me!"

When he heard the footsteps draw closer, he instinctively drew his slingshot and prepared to fight. "Luffy? Chopper? Franky? Zoro? Brook?" he said, snot and tears now dripping as well as his knees knocking.

xXx

Lighting a cigarette, Sanji looked up into the sky. This was bothersome. The ship, his captain and crew and most importantly his lovely ladies were gone.

"Please be alright Nami-san, Robin-chan" he said, "I your brave knight shall protect you from whatever tries to harm you!"

Sanji realized that he needed to find out where he was exactly. If he could get his hands on a Transponder Snail, he might be able to contact the Thousand Sunny; granted if anyone was at the helm or even on board. Letting out a puff of smoke he began walking in any direction. If he was lucky he would stumble across a traveler or a town. If he was unlucky; he'd run into Zoro. He laughed in spite of himself, comforted by the thought that the green haired swordsman had absolutely no sense of direction and could be anywhere by now. Suddenly he stopped walking.

"Matte. We're already lost and that Marimo can't even follow a straight path. What if his sense of direction get's him where he needs to go?" He remembered when he arrived at CP9 after Zoro did. The shame was unbearable and he would not let it happen again. "Kuso! I'll never let that Shitty-Marimo beat me again!" he shouted, bursting into flames. Sounding a war cry he began running at top speed.

xXx

"WACHOOO!" sneezed Zoro. He was sleeping peacefully until he had to sneeze. Why did he have a feeling that ero-cook was talking about him? He stretched and yawned trying to wake himself. But when he finally opened his eyes, he did not see what he was expecting.

"HWAAAAA!" he shouted in alarm, arms placed behind him so he didn't fall over. "Nanda? Where am I?" No longer on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, Zoro was lying on what looked like a plateau in a mountain range. It was quite and all he could hear was the wind and his earlier scream echoing through the mountain peaks.

He calmed down and folding his arms and tried to think back. "Che! I can't remember a thing!" he shouted in frustration. Unfortunately, he did not see the figures gathering near him.

xXx

"Nanda?" said Franky looking up at the massive jungle in front of him. Why was he on a deserted island covered with massive trees? "This can't be good," he said scratching his chin. "Though, why do I have the feeling that Mugiwara has it worse than I do?"

How could someone have it worse than someone who has stuck on an uninhabited island?

xXx

"Hahahahahahaha!" laughed Luffy placing both fists on his waist. "Finally I can get something to eat!" The young pirate smiled as he walked through the gates of Konoha Village.

Continued in chapter 2: First Contact, First Strike