The Twisted Family Tree
Chapter Two: A Little Brother Goes a Long Way
On a small boat in East Blue,
The morning after Luffy took Naruto.
The little boat bounced against the waves as it drifted aimlessly through the ocean currents. It's small sail seemed to be struggling to find much power, the winds having died down as the first rays of the morning sunshine came through the clouds. On board it's three passengers were laid out in their own respective corners; Luffy had long since passed out with a hand flopped over the edge trailing through the water while their recent addition - the young blonde named Naruto - had been sleeping since Luffy first grabbed and bound him to prevent him from escaping several hours ago. Zoro, the only conscious member of the supposed crew, sat silently with his three weapons rested on his shoulder staring at the other two.
Now that he could get a good look at him, Zoro found he was very curious about the boy. He had sunny-blonde hair that spiked out randomly. His eyes were a deep cerulean tone and on his cheeks were six angry scars, the damaged tissue clearly showing how painful they had been to receive. He wore a long-sleeved black shirt that had a long collar hiding his neck from view and the front of the shirt was done up with buttons, the only visible part being where the collar opened at the neck. On his hands he wore a pair of black finger-less metal plated gloves that had a strange leaf symbol drawn on them. His pants, a dark green, ended at his shins and on his right hip a sash hung, covering everything to just below the knee, a darker green then his pants. His look was completed by a pair of black boots that covered his shins and connected finished at the edge of his pants. Interestingly, the boots were both open-toed and left his heels exposed. All of this was being worn by someone who looked to be about 4'7".
No matter how the green-haired man tried to look at it they had just kidnapped someone. And he didn't even look a day over thirteen. So they'd essentially kidnapped some child. When he'd first met Luffy he knew the teen would lead him to trouble but he didn't think he'd do it so fast - and the crime they'd committed was pretty high up on the immorality scale. It didn't matter that Naruto's brother had been an asshole; it was still illegal to just take him.
But then Zoro looked at the dried up tears that stained the boy's clothes and face, and the small, hesitant smile still adorned on his face and the swordsman couldn't help but feel like they'd done the right thing. Even if he was a boy and this was a pirate ship... shit. Now that he thought about it wasn't it kind of dangerous to steal away some child and expect them to be a pirate?
For all they knew Naruto might have aspirations to be a marine or a teacher or a botanist if his abilities were anything to go by. They'd have to interrogate - Zoro clarified to himself, question - the kid on whether he was comfortable with this later on. It wasn't good for anyone if Naruto hated them and tried to sabotage their crew out of spite or something similar.
A small part of Zoro understood that it didn't really matter what the kid wanted at this point; Luffy had already fixated on him and he knew from experience that he wasn't going to let go.
Speak of the devil, his goofy captain seemed to be waking up, "Uh," He sat up blearily, rubbing his eyes, "wuzzat?" There was a few seconds of silence as Zoro tried to work out what the other man had said while Luffy himself just tried to work the tiredness out of his bones. Luffy, now awake and alert, let a wide grin settle on his features, "Zoro!" He looked over at the other member of their crew, "Naruto~!" He spoke in a sing-song voice.
As soon as his name was called the boy in question immediately opened his eyes and almost all traces of sleep disappeared in an instant. Zoro narrowed his eyes in suspicion; having such a robotic response to waking to his own name - that was incredibly unsettling. To Naruto's credit, despite having his hands bound the boy simply forced himself into a sitting position before blinking innocently at the rubber-man who had called his name.
Before either Zoro or Naruto could react an arm stretched over toward the ropes holding the boy's hands together and untied them. The arm retracted quickly like elastic and the slapping sound as Luffy's body returned to normal reverberated around the boat.
"We're in the water now, you know what that means?" Luffy bounced up and down as he spoke, "Can't escape anymore, we're anchors!" It amazed Zoro how the boy could sound so chipper about such a debilitating weakness. Naruto meanwhile just rubbed his sore wrists absently before pulling his knees up to his chest and hugging them. It was clear he wasn't sure what to do with himself.
Luffy, being who he was, quickly recognised the blonde's discomfort, "So what's your name?" At Naruto's blank stare the straw-hat wearer elaborated, "What's your full name?" There was a moment where the other two were sure he wasn't going to answer.
"Uzumaki D. Naruto." The boy muttered quietly.
"Uzumaki hmm? Never heard of it!" Luffy let out a small laugh. Zoro wondered if the boy had even heard of any name other than his own - he doubted the teen was the type to keep track of that sort of stuff, or even have a good memory to begin with.
"It's my mothers'." Naruto added, as if that explained everything. Neither of the other two responded but there was an unsaid acknowledgement as the blonde spoke; children almost always took their father's name. If you didn't it usually meant you had something to hide.
"Well, it'll be famous soon. Everyone'll known you're part of the Pirate King's crew. Shishishi~!" Luffy's happiness was infectious and Naruto couldn't prevent the smile that crossed his face as the other male spoke.
Zoro interrupted, "Speaking of which, do you even want to be a pirate?" Naruto looked at the man's questioning expression in confusion for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.
"I dunno," He mumbled, "Never really thought about it." Luffy felt a degree of satisfaction strike him as Naruto implicitly accepted his being part of the crew.
"We'll be outlaws soon enough," Zoro's voice grew serious, "Are you sure you want to do that? Are you okay with fighting the marines?"
As soon as Zoro mentioned marines Naruto's expression grew cold, "I'll be fine." The other two recognised the sinister tone in Naruto's voice as being that of anger - clearly the boy wasn't fond of the government's law enforcers. Luffy kept smiling while Zoro merely raised an eyebrow in surprise. So something in the boy's past put him at odds with the marines. Probably a good thing considering what they were now.
There was a small period of silence.
"I'm hungry!" Luffy announced.
A shrug was his reply, "We don't have anything left. You've already eaten it all." If Zoro was angry he wasn't showing it.
"But.. but... I'm hungry~!" Luffy whined. The back of one of Zoro's sheathes quickly knocked the teen on the head.
"You should have thought of that before eating all our remaining fruit!" Zoro growled in reply. Naruto meanwhile perked up at the last word Zoro said.
"But-!"
"Luffy-san," Naruto interrupted, "I, um, I might be able to help." With that the boy held out one of his hands and an expression of focus fell over his face. Zoro and Luffy watched silently as a small branch grew out of the palm of the boy's hand slowly and on it's tip an apple expanded and grew until it reached a normal size. With his other hand Naruto pulled the apple off the branch and then allowed the thing to disappear back into his hand.
Zoro gaped as he watched the kid literally grow an apple out of his body while Luffy...
"Sugoi~!" Luffy shouted in amazement. When Naruto held the apple out to him with a small smile and Luffy quickly grabbed it, taking a huge bite out of it in seconds. The boy's eyes twinkled as he crunched on the fruit before smirk appeared, "That's it - you can be our pantry!" He grinned from ear-to-ear as if he'd just solved one of the world's greatest mysteries.
The swordsman on the boat put a hand to his face in consternation, "That's not a real position..." He grumbled.
"Ah, okay then - he's our gardener!"
"That's still not real!"
"Shishishishi~!"
It took Luffy approximately fifteen minutes to do something stupid.
"Aaaahhhhhh!" Luffy screamed as the bird carried him away from the small boat with his two crew members.
Zoro reacted immediately, grabbing the paddles, "Seriously?!" He threw one at Naruto.
"Luffy-san!" The boy shouted as he caught the paddle and, with Zoro, began rowing to try and keep up with the rapidly moving bird. Naruto looked mildly worried while Zoro only seemed both amused and frustrated by the display of the rubber-man but both paddled quickly. Luffy eventually got so far ahead they could barely see him but the two pressed on, knowing eventually their captain would escape and either land in the water or on some nearby island. Hopefully so long as they continued in the same direction they'd come across him again.
Zoro realised as they moved that Luffy's hunger had once again got them into trouble; it was probably going to be a recurring theme of this crew.
Several minutes of rowing later and Naruto noticed some figures in the water. None of them looked like Luffy though and so when he looked over at Zoro who was showing no sign of stopping he shrugged and continued to paddle quickly. When they passed the three people in the water they ended up knocking them harshly with the boat.
"Sorry!" Naruto shouted loudly as they flew passed them. Zoro looked over at the sound and noticed the three in the water. A surprised look flickered across his face before he mentally shrugged and continued to row; it wasn't his problem three idiots got lost out at sea.
The three in the water grumbled as they watched the boat disappear from their view, "We should have stolen that boat." One sneered.
"Buggy's going to be so mad." Another groused.
Naruto and Zoro weren't quite sure what they had stumbled upon when they finally got ashore at the small village called 'Orange Town'. The entire place seemed abandoned, wood boarding up the windows and doors of countless houses. As they walked through the streets the two understood at some level that the place hadn't been abandoned by choice; many of the buildings they passed were trashed and some were nothing more than a pile of rubble. It was clear someone or something had caused a great deal of damage to the area.
They soon heard the distinctive sounds of a crowd and, if the jeering and hooting was anything to go by, it was likely a group of pirate or bandits. Only outlaws could swear and curse so outrageously in what should be a populated area. The closer they got to the noisy group the more concerned they became - it seemed like there was some sort of spectacle going on somewhere if the laughter was anything to go by.
Zoro didn't seem at all concerned that their captain might be in trouble though, so Naruto thought he should give the benefit of the doubt to the person who now claimed him as a brother. If nothing else, Luffy seemed like a very capable fighter and the blonde knew from his own experiences that East Blue was mostly home to weak and cowardly individuals.
His thoughts were interrupted by an increase in the furor of the group they were approaching.
"Come on." Zoro muttered and began to speed up, "This doesn't sound too good." It only took them a few more seconds and a single ladder to find themselves looking at what all the fuss was about. Luffy was locked up in a cage of some sort and an orange-haired woman appeared to be preventing a weird looking clown from shooting some sort of cannon at the rubber-man. Things looked like they were beginning to deteriorate and as the odd clown made a threatening movement Zoro reacted.
Naruto watched silently as the swordsman interrupted the clown mid-speech. For a second nothing appeared to be happening. The nature-user could see Zoro was in an animated discussion with the other person and, over the loud group of pirates around him, could make out that the person's name was actually 'Buggy'. Suddenly, Zoro drew his weapons and moved at the clown. There was a short exchange of blows before Buggy crumpled to the floor, cut into many pieces.
"That was way too easy." Zoro grumbled before turning toward his captain and the orange-haired girl. He was about to move toward the cage when the girl let out a small scream of worry. He suddenly felt a presence behind him and quickly realised it had been too easy - Buggy had tricked him somehow and he'd fallen into the trap. He mentally prepared himself for the pain of what he assumed would be a blade in his stomach but nothing came. He turned fully around and was greeted with the amusing sight of dozens of vines wrapped around Buggy's floating - floating! - hands, holding them in place and in a way that caused a great deal of pain, if Buggy's wincing expression was anything to go by.
He followed the vines with his eyes until he saw them sprouting out of Naruto's right hand, the boy standing a little away from the group of pirates with his hand splayed out and feet spread wide.
"T-T-Tree!" The girl stuttered in shock, "Plants... boy... what the hell?" She wasn't sure to be scared by or relieved with this new development.
"W-What is this!?" Buggy shouted angrily, "Who ruined my flashy Bara Bara attack?" He looked around wildly before his eyes settled on Naruto, "Oi, brat! What do you think you're doing?" If the man tried any harder to sound furious Zoro was sure he'd pop a blood vessel.
Naruto himself seemed surprised with his actions, "Uh, ah... stopping you? I think..." He shrugged his shoulder before walking to stand next to Zoro, "Sorry!" He added quickly, rubbing the back of his head with a apologetic smile. The vines quickly disappeared and Buggy found himself free again.
"You shouldn't have let me go brat because I'm gonna kill ya!" The clown's words were enhanced by a creepy grin. The sound of a fuse slowly being burnt distracted the man though and he looked over to Zoro who was now standing at the cannon with a burnt out match in his hand. Slowly Buggy put two-and-two together and a panicked expression flew onto his face.
"W-Wait you didn't actu-" He was interrupted by the sound of a cannon being discharged.
A huge explosion soon followed.
As soon as the smoke cleared from the explosion the group - three males and one female - found themselves leaving the area in great haste. Zoro had picked up Luffy's cage and started running in a random direction almost immediately. Naruto, after some momentary confusion, followed the two silently - knowing that he didn't really have anywhere else to go.
The girl meanwhile only just managed to regain her bearings as the other three took off in the distance. For a moment she considered going the opposite way but the realisation that they were really the only people capable of protecting her from Buggy made her try to quickly catch up.
"Nami!" Luffy shouted from his position in the cage in delight, "So you've decided to come with us?" His expression indicated he'd never had any doubt.
The now aptly named Nami sneered in distaste, "Only until we get away from here - I don't plan on becoming a pirate." At this Zoro turned his head to look at the woman, instantly realising what she had said meant.
"You didn't..." He grumbled.
"Yep!" Luffy exclaimed, "Zoro, Naruto, meet our newest nakama."
Nami interrupted quickly, "I said no!" Her tone was one of indignation. Zoro snorted at her but didn't say anything more; he recognised an exercise in futility.
"Don't bother." Naruto mumbled softly, as if that explained everything.
"What do you mean?" Nami questioned.
"You'll see soon enough-" Zoro suddenly stopped talking as he noticed something standing outside of a building. From the distance he could make out it was an animal of some kind and the building seemed to be a pet shop.
Luffy too noticed the dog and shouted loudly, "Dog! Zoro, put me down in front of it." The swordsman didn't even bother asking why and simply grunted in acknowledgement as he neared the animal. As soon as the four of them got within meters of the building the dog started barking loudly and growling at them. When Luffy was placed down next to it the dog got even angrier, looking like it was about to attack the rubber-man.
"Ow!" Luffy whined in pain as he received a bite trying to pat it.
When the dog saw Naruto however, it's barking slowed to a halt. A curious look appeared on the animal's face and, when Naruto moved toward it as if to pet the animal it laid on the floor, tail wagging happily. Naruto smiled softly and sat next to the dog, patting it's head slowly.
"No fair," Luffy grumbled, "Why does he like you so much?"
Naruto looked up at the question, "Most animals like me," His gaze returned to the dog, "I think it's to do with my powers." Luffy muttered some complaints under his breath about how unfair life was as Naruto spoke. Nami meanwhile walked over to the cage and handed Luffy a key.
"Here. I guess I should give you this if we're teaming up." She sounded like the very idea of teaming with pirates repulsed her.
Luffy just grinned in response, "Thanks!" He quickly unlocked his cage and stepped out, stretching his legs. After some loud cracks the teen turned back to Naruto, "So which one did you eat anyway?" For a moment Naruto was confused by what he was referring to before he realised he was simply continuing their previous conversation.
"Uh, the Guriin Guriin no Mi." Naruto elaborated on the name, "I can control nature - trees and plants and stuff."
"Cool! I mean, not as cool as my Gomu Gomu no Mi but still..." Luffy affirmed.
Nami, who had been listening in silence, interrupted at this point, "N-now, hold on a minute! are you two saying you've eaten Devil Fruits!?" She didn't even realise those things were actually real.
"I guess that clown ate one too." Zoro joined the conversation, laughing mildly at Nami's surprised expression, "It explains the whole floating body parts-"
"Hold it right there!" An aged voice interruped the green-haired man. Zoro growled in anger at being stopped again. An old man approached them from the distance; he was wearing some aged armor and was wielding a spear of some kind.
Luffy blinked innocently at the man, "Look, an old man!" He shouted to the group. Nami gave him a look that clearly meant 'no shit' while Zoro simply sighed. Naruto was too distracted by the now very happy dog he was patting.
"I will not allow you to trample on Chouchou's most precious dream!" He sputtered in rage. "Pirate scum." He finished.
Zoro growled at the insult while Luffy just tilted his head in confusion, "Dream? Chouchou? Who's that?" The old man slowly relaxed from his defensive posture as the captain spoke.
"Why do you care? Your despicable captain, Buggy, hasn't listened to us before." The old man asked carefully.
"But I'm the captain!" Luffy laughed loudly at the man's comment.
Zoro, seeking to defuse the situation, added quickly, "We're not a part of that clown's crew. Different group of pirates..." He finished lamely, realising he had no name to describe their crew as.
"We just blew Buggy up anyway! You should be thanking us." Nami explained, "A reward, maybe?" At this the man relaxed completely, clearly connecting the previous explosion that he had heard with the girl's explanation.
"O-Oh." The man muttered hesitantly.
Luffy grinned, "Don't worry, oji-san! That clown guy seemed really weak anyway."
The man, feeling guilty, offered an explanation for his actions, "I'm sorry for being so angry with you, it's just... my name is Boodle and I'm the Mayor of this town - or I was until that pirate Buggy and his crew took it over and drove the people out. And Chouchou is this dog here. He shouldn't be around such dangerous people but he won't leave this pet store unprotected."
Luffy stared in great curiosity, "Why?"
And with that, Boodle explained the tale of Chouchou's previous owner.
"Wow, what a cool dog!" He grinned as he looked at Chouchou, who was now sitting in Naruto's lap. The blonde boy had been silent through the tale, entertaining himself with the dog. Zoro meanwhile had disappeared into the mayor's house to sleep while Nami chose to listen to the story with Luffy. As the straw-hat wearer spoke, a loud rumbling could be heard approaching them.
Naruto stopped patting the dog and listened curiously while Luffy turned away from the man and instead faced the direction of the sound. Within seconds a huge lion appeared from behind a house, an odd man wearing clothing that seemed to mimic the animal sitting atop it's head.
"Sugoi~!" Luffy yelled in delight. Nami fell back in fear while the old man hissed in anger.
"That's one of Buggy's men..." As he spoke the lion, ignoring them, dashed toward the pet store Naruto and Chouchou were still sitting in front of, "No! He's going for the store. Quick, you have to save Chouchou and the kid." He directed the last part toward Nami and Luffy. The orange-haired girl seemed to shrink in on herself as he spoke.
"I can't fight that!" She exclaimed, "Luffy, you're a pirate - do something!"
The teen in question looked oddly disinterested as she spoke however, "Hmm, nah." He announced suddenly, "Don't wanna." Nami sputtered in shock while the mayor grew furious; he knew these kids were scum at heart. Naruto meanwhile had stood up and was staring at the rapidly approaching animal. Chouchou whimpered beside him in fear but stood his ground to protect the store of his deceased owner.
"There's some food for you Richie!" The man atop the lion could be heard shouting loudly in joy.
"B-But they're gonna kill the kid!" Nami was horrified by the blase attitude of her supposed partner in crime. Luffy wasn't at all swayed by her terror however, and instead crossed his arms, the unperturbed looking remaining on his face. Nami, realising he wasn't going to help, turned to scream at the blonde boy, "Naruto! Quick, run!"
Naruto considered doing what she said before looking at Chouchou; the dog wasn't going to leave even if he did. He shook his head at Nami and gave her a smile that seemed both confident and hesitant at the same time.
When the Lion was within swiping distance of the two Naruto raised his right hand and opened his palm wide, "Kasuru Yasuragi." His voice, though quiet, carried across the street to Luffy, Nami and Boodle.
A dozen vines suddenly sprouted up from the ground around the lion and hugged it's frame. They tightened viciously and stopped the animal in it's tracks. The man on top of the lion also found himself trapped tightly by the vines, his body forced to hug the top of the animal. The creature, called Richie by Buggy's crewmember, fell to the floor, it's limbs trapped close to it's body.
As this was happening Naruto seemed to be slowly retracting his fingers - the vines reacting in sync with the closing of his fist. He stopped well before a fist formed and simply held his fingers in that position. It was clear to everyone that his hand dictated the tightness of the vines. Any further and the lion and it's apparent owner would find themselves in pain and choking.
While this was happening Boodle's voice was wide open in shock, surprised by the powers displayed by Naruto. Nami wasn't much better off, having fallen to the floor in surprise and slight fear. Luffy's grin extended even wider if possible as he watched the boy stop the lion and capture it. He whooped for joy and gave a thumbs up to the boy who stared at the action in confusion.
"Good work, Otouto!" Luffy shouted happily. Nami, if possible, was even more surprised by the comment. Naruto mimicked her expression this time, amazed and confused by the praise the teen had directed at him.
"Eh!? Brother?" Nami screeched confusedly.
A memory flashed through the blonde's mind;
"I really like you Naruto!" A young boy spoke, his cheeks still adorned with the baby fat that was natural to younger children. He was wearing elegant, comfortable clothes and had a wide, innocent grin on his face. He was sitting on an expensive-looking rug and opposite him was a young Naruto, who was also wearing clothes that spoke of great wealth, a confused look across the blonde's face.
The boy elaborated, "In another world we could have been brothers." He paused, looking at Naruto with childish glee, "Heh, Naruto-otouto... sounds like fun!"
"Luffy-san..." Naruto replied slowly, his voice soft and tinged with bewilderment as he tried to shake the memory out of his mind. Luffy frowned as he spoke, displeased by the respectful and distant way the boy addressed him, but didn't comment on it.
The scene was interrupted by shouting of Buggy's currently trapped crewmember, "Oi, oi! Let me go! Do you know who you're missing with? I'm Mohji, first-mate of the great Buggy Pirates! If you don't want to get hurt you better let me and Richie go..." His tone was dangerous but to all present it was obvious the man couldn't back up his words - to be trapped so easily indicated a distinct lack of ability.
"Luffy-san," Another frown flittered across the teen's face, "What should I do with him?"
"I dunno. He looks pretty weak so it won't be any fun to fight him." Luffy's words were accentuated by a shrug of the shoulders.
"I-I am not weak! I'm a powerful Beast Tamer and once I get out of here I'll-" The man was interrupted by a strong strike to the back of his head courtesy of the sheathe of a sword.
"Shut up." Zoro groused, covered sword held above the head of the person he had just hit. Mohji collapsed into unconsciousness immediately and the lion, Richie, roared in fury. Zoro proceeded to whack the animal over the head so it too was knocked out. When he saw the stares of everyone he explained his actions, "They woke me up from my nap." Luffy nodded emphatically as if it was perfectly justified while Naruto just stared at him with an abashed smile on his face.
The vines on the two Buggy pirates receded into the ground as Naruto let his hand fall back to his side. Luffy bounded over to the boy and slapped him roughly on the back.
"That was so cool! Where do those vines even come from? The ground? Or - or! - do they grow from your bo-"
"That's it!" Boodle exclaimed loudly, "Your actions have inspired me! I'm going to put an end to this once and for all. By the end of today Buggy won't be holding this town hostage, I'll chase him out!" With this he flourished his spear angrily and turned toward the direction Buggy had been before the explosion.
"Are you mad?" Nami hurriedly shouted, "He'll kill you, your no match for him."
"It doesn't matter, I have to try!" The man replied grimly as he continued toward the pirate, leaving the rest of them behind.
"Shishishi~!" Luffy laughed loudly and gestured to the three others, "Come on, let's follow him."At this Naruto nodded mutely while Zoro simply rolled his neck. "Gonna come Nami?" He questioned.
She nodded slowly, "I guess we can all team up - temporarily." It was the first time she explicitly accepted the teen's offer.
"Let's go!" They were soon dashing to catch up to the man.
The four soon found themselves facing the scene of the mayor being choked to death by Buggy's floating hand. The pirate in question was cackling on a nearby rooftop with his men behind him as the old man struggled. Luffy immediately reacted, appearing in front of the struggling mayor and grabbing the hand off his throat. Buggy screamed in pain as the teen tightened his grip on the end. Eventually Luffy let go and the hand quickly returned to it's rightful owner.
Boodle meanwhile, quickly addressed him, "Thanks for that, Lu-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence as Luffy smacked his fist viciously across the back of the mayor's head. Zoro raised an eyebrow in surprise but did nothing else while Naruto simply lowered his head, not understanding the action but trusting the teen knew what he was doing.
"What was that for!?" Nami bit out, angry for the first time in the day.
"Sorry old man but you'd just get in the way." Luffy explained to the unconscious Boodle. Nami, who had been preparing to launch a raging tirade about the horrible actions of the straw-hat wearing boy, paused in contemplation.
"Good job," Zoro muttered as he put a hand on one of his katana, "He would have been annoying."
Luffy ignored the swordsman and instead pointed at Buggy, "Oi, you with the big nose! You hurt this old man's town and tried to hurt Chouchou, so I'm gonna beat you up." He announced calmly, adjusting his hat onto his head as he spoke.
"Big nose? Big nose!?" Buggy sputtered in rage. He grabbed the nearby cannon and lit the fuse on it, "How dare you! Die!" A cannon-ball flew out of it's opening toward Luffy and the rest of them. Nami shrieked in terror but Luffy simply stepped forward with a grin.
"Gomu Gomu no Fusen." He sucked in air rapidly as soon as he finished speaking and his body blew up like a balloon. He quickly stood in front of the cannon and absorbed it's blow, redirecting it toward the Buggy Pirates. The cannon exploded with a loud bang and smoke and dust covers the area. As it cleared Buggy and his men could be seen now on the floor near them, the building they had been on the roof of having been destroyed.
As soon as the clown recovered he shouted furiously, "Cabaji, kill him for me!" The man he addressed stepped forward. He was wearing a funny getup that made him look like a member of a circus. He held a sword in one hand.
The straw-hat wearer grinned madly at his supposed opponent but made no indication he was interest in fighting him. Naruto stepped forward ahead of Luffy, intending to protect the man who had been so nice to him. Zoro however, interrupted his actions by placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Oi, brat. This one's a swordsman, leave him to me." The green-haired man drawled lazily as pulled the blonde-haired boy back.
"O-Of course, Zoro-san." Naruto apologised quickly and returned to his previous position directly behind his captain. Zoro meanwhile strode forward until he was directly in front of Cabaji. He stared at the long-haired member of the Buggy Pirates intensely, evaluating his worth.
Nami chose the silence of the standoff to move slowly away from the group, intending to steal Buggy's treasure while he was distracted. Luffy and Naruto noticed her actions and Luffy followed her retreating form silently, a smirk still plastered on his face. When she appeared to have found the direction she needed the teen turned to look at Naruto, giving him a wide smile.
"Naruto," The boy looked up at him, "Protect Nami." He gestured toward the quickly disappearing orange-haired girl. Naruto nodded and moved quickly to catch up to the girl.
Naruto didn't announce his presence to Nami, instead choosing to follow her silently through the shadows of the streets. He still wasn't sure how she would react to Luffy sending someone to protect her; for all he knew the girl might take it as an insult to her strength. So he was satisfied with simply watching her from a distance, prepared to step in and help if she encountered any trouble.
When the woman entered what appeared to be an underground cellar of some sort Naruto had to move quickly to get through the doorway before it fully closed. Inside, he found himself a dark corner and watched as Nami entered into another room connected to the basement. When she first stepped through the doorway Naruto managed to see that the other room was much smaller and didn't seem to have another exit besides the one she used so the blonde stayed where he was, content to wait until the girl came back out.
When she finally stepped back into the main area of the basement however, it was with the horrible timing of two of Buggy's crew coming through the main entrance by coincidence.
"Hey girly, what do ya think you're doin' down here!" One of them snarled, brandishing a dull and chipped sword. He stepped forward threateningly.
His friend added, "Look in her hand - she took some of Buggy's treasure. We have ta stop her!" The man speaking grabbed a wooden club from his belt, metal spokes protruding from the top of it.
Nami reacted to their appearance and angry stances with apprehension but felt for her staff on her back; she was confident she'd be able to handle the two fodder pirates. Before she could however, vines were suddenly coiling and tightening around the two. The Buggy Pirates reacted quickly, grunting in pain and fear as the greenery held them in place.
"W-What the hell!?" The first man screamed.
Naruto came out of the shadows, his hand extended outward like he had done with Richie. As he moved toward the three he raised his other hand, his fingers jutting out to mimic the appearance of a blade. The two pirates had yet to realise he was behind them and so were struggling ignorantly in an attempt to escape their binds. Nami however, watched as the boy's hand morphed into what appeared to be wood. It was a very light brown and for all intents and purposes it looked like Naruto had a wooden sword-like appendage instead of an arm.
When the boy finally stood behind the two pirates he raised his wooden hand and swiftly brought it down on the back of the pirates' heads. Both immediately ceased their struggling and collapsed into a deep sleep. The vines quickly retracted and Naruto's hand returned to normal.
Nami came out of her stupor, "I could have handled them, you know?" Naruto didn't seem to react to her words though and simply stared at her carefully. If Nami didn't know any better she'd have thought the boy looked like a very timid creature.
"Ah, sorry!" He apologised, rubbing the back of his head, "Luffy-san asked me to help you so I thought I should step in." At this he bowed to accentuate his apology.
"Don't worry about it." Nami replied quickly, a small laugh erupting as she saw the incredibly nervous posture of the boy. This kid was weird. Then her eyes narrowed, he was a kid so why on earth was he in a pirate crew, "Why are you even a pirate anyway? Aren't you a little young?" The boy gave her a mysterious look that qualified as somewhere in between exasperation and apprehension.
"Well you see, Luffy um," He paused to consider he words, "He kind of forced me to come with him to be part of his crew." His words were accompanied by a sheepish smile.
"He forced you?" Nami was appalled, "Hmph! I should give him a piece of my mind - taking kids... honestly," And she turned, as if she was about to march directly to Luffy and do just that.
"Wait!" A brief look of pain flickered across the blonde's face, "Please don't! I mean... he took me but - but - I," The boy was struggling to find the right words, "I like spending time with him. He's... fun." A satisfied look passed over the boy's face, as if what he'd said explained everything.
Nami frowned, "Okaaaay..." She shrugged, "I guess it's your life. Good thing you're happy too - I won't be helping a kidnapper." The way she spoke indicated to Naruto that she herself had her own bad experiences with doing things against her will. Naruto wondered if the woman in front of him had experienced anything similar to what he had but one look of her clothing - daringly scant - and relaxed posture made the boy reconsider; she'd had bad experiences they were an entirely different nature to his.
When the two returned to the location Luffy and Zoro had previously been they could see the swordsman in question snoring loudly as he slept with his back to a building, swords leaning on his shoulder. He didn't appear to have a scratch on him and Naruto wasn't surprised - Cabaji didn't seem capable enough to touch Zoro in combat unless the man was hindered in some way. Luffy and Buggy were still facing off slightly away from the green-haired man and the two seemed to be in an animated discussion. Luffy looked unusually angry so Naruto knew the other pirate had said something to piss him off.
When they came within an audible distance Buggy, who had been in the middle of a rant, stopped suddenly and looked directly at Nami. His eyes perused the bundle of loot she was holding in her arms before narrowing in rage. It was clear he had realised the girl stole from him. With a roar his upper body separated and flew toward the girl. Naruto moved to stop the man, knowing Nami wouldn't be able to protect herself with the loot in her arms.
Luffy beat him to it however, as he blocked Buggy from getting anywhere near the girl. When Buggy found himself stopped he growled angrily and looked at Nami.
"Girl, give me back my treasure!" He shouted across the street.
Nami stuck her tongue out, "Nope, I'm a thief - which means this is all mine now." She gave him a dark smirk and shook the bag to make the loot jingle loudly. The sound Buggy made at her actions was akin to a bird screeching. His eyes bulged out and an absolutely furious expression flew onto his face.
"That's it! I'll take you out in one flashy attack. Then I'll take my treasure back." The pirate withdrew from where Luffy had been blocking him and splayed his arms out, gesticulating wildly, "Bara Bara Fesutibaru!" True to it's name, Buggy's entire body broke apart in hundreds of chopped pieces and flew around like confetti. Naruto could see where the man got the name from; it certainly looked like a party. Within seconds Buggy's body was spread out across the street and, with a loud warcry, the pieces descended on Nami. Once again Naruto moved to protect her and, once again, Luffy halted the clown's attack.
This time he did so by holding the man's feet and, much to the amusement of the spectators, tickled them.
Buggy lost his composure quickly, "S-Stop it! That tickles - STOP!" He half-moaned, half-laughed as the pieces of his body fell to the floor. Due to Luffy he'd had a lapse in control. While his attention was on the teen holding his feet Nami moved quickly, grabbing the pieces of his body and gesturing at Naruto.
"Quick-" Nami directed at Naruto.
"I said stop it!" Buggy could be heard shouting at Luffy in the background.
"Tie up his body parts with your vines." Nami gave the boy a wink as she spoke.
Naruto blinked, "Okay." He held his hand out and vines appeared out of the ground, wrapping around the clown's countless split parts.
"I've changed my mind, I'm going to hurt you instead, Mugiwara!" At this Buggy tried to reform his body in order to attack the teen but only found himself with his head, hands and feet. Eyes widened and mouth gaping open in shock, Buggy turned around to look for the rest of his body only to see Nami standing with a foot on top of all his split parts which were tied up with vines. She had a devious smirk on her face which only grew wider when he looked at her.
"How dare you-"
"Shishishi~" Luffy's laughter echoed loudly around them, "You're a pretty funny clown. But still, I gotta beat you up so," At this Luffy's arms began to stretch while he held himself in a rigid posture, "Gomu Gomu no Bazūka!" He thrusted both of his arms forward and they struck the other pirate, sending him flying into the air. Buggy screamed in pain and terror as he was sent what appeared to be hundreds or even thousands of meters.
When the clown finally left their sight Luffy turned to the other two with a shit-eating grin on his face, "Come on, let's go wake up Zoro."
A/N: If I seem to skip over fights and/or conversations you can safely assume they play out in a similar or identical fashion to canon (e.g. Luffy vs Buggy). I don't really want to waste my time writing it out and your time reading it.
Gonna apologise in advance if I'm slightly off with canon events - been a while since I've last seen the really early parts of OP. Besides this is a fanfic so who cares, right?
I'm sorry for my attempts to translate English to Romaji/Japanese. It'll probably be terrible, forgive me.
Naruto's past is going to be very convoluted; you'll be getting little hints and drops of info here and there, so make sure to pay attention. Feel free to theorize and/or guess - there's a lot to it!
Kasuru Yasuragi - Imposed Serenity