They didn't leave immediately. There was a small party the next day before that, finally getting some repairs for the gravesite that had only housed four graves courtesy of prompting from Naruto, and the village gratefully provided supplies to them. Especially him. Though some looked rather sour about it. Others apologized and a little girl, Sinue, came and hugged him. That last one left him shocked and happy. Not many had ever hugged him. He didn't remember anyone other than the Third Hokage when he was small. And Iruka-sensei did hug him once or twice but he usually initiated it.
Nami's goodwill towards the villagers drained some more when she saw where he'd been living. It was a hut he had more or less built himself. The walls were a little rotten and the roof hadn't been there when he'd gotten it. Now it was covered with branches and dried moss that were damp from the last time it rained.
His stuff was hidden in a nearby cave system that was too small for anyone but him to get into. Even if they did they wouldn't get to it. Pranksters made for excellent trap masters. Who knew?
Anyway. He'd gotten lots of little trinkets over the last two years. Tools that he'd had fun learning to use, metal that he wanted to melt and shape into kunai and shuriken, some wires and ropes that were better than nothing but not ninja quality, clothes, plain cloth and some animal skins, paint, brushes and pens, tons of paper and the one giant scroll he'd had on him when he… appeared. He'd yet to open it and not for lack of trying. Not that he'd gone to desperate measures yet.
Granted there were food items, snacks, and stuff like beautiful bird feathers or seashells. His cooking things and sleeping bag were in the hut, along with his bucket of fresh water that he filled again every other day. There weren't weapons except for the kitchen knives and they were just that: kitchen knives. Oh wait, he did have his two new throwing knives he pilfered from the pirates.
Either way, everything was pretty easily sorted into the big backpack the village gave him along with instant ramen that he hadn't had in ages! …Meaning three weeks ago.
He rolled Sasha's quilt up gently and put it on top with one leather strap. Then he rushed out and grinned up at the three he'd be sailing, living, with from now on.
"I'm ready!", he exclaimed but then remembered something, "Wait, no. Not yet"
He climbed vertically up a tree and let out a loud whistle. It didn't take long for Bluey to appear and land on his head. She tweeted. Naruto chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm leaving, you know! To become a pirate and look for my home!", he told her.
She twittered and pecked his head, jumping off to land on his shoulder.
"Eh? With me? To the next island?"
Another peck.
"Ow! Okay, okay. Let's go!"
He climbed down and grinned at everyone. Nami's expression was caught between disbelief, exasperation, and amusement. Luffy was definitely amused if his snickering was any indication. Zoro looked uninterested, if slightly bemused. Bluey let out another tweet that made Naruto blink.
"Uh. Okay? She says we should take that fox bear creature with us. He's from the island she wants to go to and got taken by pirates"
"Really? Let's do it then!", Luffy decided.
Did he even think about it?, Naruto thought, sweatdropping.
Zoro looked much more interested now, "You can understand animals?"
The blond sheepishly rubbed his head.
"Not… exactly. I can understand some animals. Because some of them have…", he trailed off, not sure what was causing it but sure that he should know, "…chakra?", which was partly correct. Probably.
No, everyone had chakra. Everything had chakra. So the bird had some special chakra? Maybe? Eh. He'd remember when he remembered.
"Chakra?", Nami asked curiously as they started walking.
"It's what I use to do my ninja tricks", he told her simply, "My chakra is a part of me. Like my blood. I'd die without it. Or so Sakura… said… huh. She became a medic-nin"
The kid's eyes turned faraway as he thought of his friend and kinda crush-turned-teammate. This new flash of memories rushed in to fill some more gaps. It did nothing to the gaping hole that was his memory but he did gain some. This time he'd been sixteen. Not sure what had really happened to deage him but something evidently had. That much he'd found out by now.
"Naruto?", Luffy called out, waving a hand in front of his face.
He gave a sheepish smile, "Sorry. Just got some memories back"
Collective blink, then a head tilt, "Memories?"
"Oh. I lost my memory when I arrived here with a big flash of light. It created that crater", he ignored the looks of shock and Luffy's neutral understanding, "Been getting it back piece by piece. My friend, Sakura, was- is- a medic… I hope I can find her again. And Sasuke-teme, I suppose"
Everyone walked in silence for a bit. Then Zoro of all people ruffled his hair, making him squawk indignantly and look up to the grinning swordsman. Though it looked a bit like a smirk.
"You're a good kid", he said, sounding proud for some reason, "You'll find them. We'll help. Right, Captain?"
"Shishishishi! Of course!"
Nami sighed, exasperated and just the slightest bit fond, "I'll help too, so long as I can"
And Naruto didn't remember anyone helping him this readily, apart from his team and that had taken a bit of time. A fight against Sasuke, a serious one turned playful, before they could look at each other and say they were friends. Best of friends, brothers, though they'd never admitted that to anyone but themselves. Kakashi-sensei and Sakura knew and Shikamaru probably guessed.
He smiled, "Thanks. I'll help you guys if you need it. I never go back on my word!"
It was a promise. These were good people, good pirates if you'd believe it, and he was now a part of them. After what he'd seen he believed in Luffy's dream and knew the teen would be redefining what the word 'pirate' meant. That was good too. Naruto wanted to be there to see it.
xXXx
"So, how did you guys even meet?", Naruto asked sometime on the boat, eyeing the strange big nosed skull on the sail, "And why's that a clown?"
How didn't I see that before?, the ninja wondered.
He wasn't prepared for the absurd, and hilarious, story that started with Luffy wanting to eat a bird that grabbed the rubber man's head and carried him to Orange Town. Where he got dropped in front of Nami and got tricked by her. And he and Zoro beat Buggy the Clown's crew. It all had Naruto rolling on the floor of the boat, laughing his head off.
Zoro joining up was similarly chaotic and hilarious and the ninja had to wonder how many amazing adventures he would get pulled into with Luffy and his crew.
The fox bear was napping next to the swordsman. It was strange since the swordsman beat him up in the first place. Then again, that kinda meant he freed the creature from genjutsu, or hypnosis as they called it here. Bluey was preening herself while sitting comfortably on her fellow animal's head. Nami was reading some old newspaper and looked up every once in a while to assess the weather and contribute to the conversation. Naruto was trying out his new throwing knives on the mast with Luffy watching happily. It was kinda peaceful.
Fun too. But peaceful.
Oh, and Zoro had apparently been hurt the whole time but he still fought at the island. A stab wound. To the gut. Naruto shuddered at the thought of Sakura finding out. The reprimands would never end if those two met. One always getting hurt and fighting and the other always healing the damage and knowing exactly where to hurt so you weren't actually hurt. It would be Kakashi-sensei and hospitals all over again.
That said, it didn't take long to reach the next island.
He helped the fox bear to land as Zoro slept on in the boat. So it was just him, Luffy, and Nami to see Bluey and the fox off. She preened a few strands of Naruto's hair in a goodbye and flew off.
"Talk to the news coos! I bet you'll hear about me from them soon enough!", he shouted after her, an oddly wistful pang in his heart.
A bright chirp of agreement from far away was his answer. He sighed. He knew he'd probably never see her again. It was… sad. But she wanted to be here. And he wanted to go. So it was what it was. A hand landed on his head and he looked up at Luffy in confusion.
"She'll be fine", he told him, grinning widely, "Let's explore now!"
"Yeah!", Naruto cheered and they started walking deeper into the woods.
Nami sighed and followed after them. They came across very strange animals that Naruto and Luffy found fascinating and Nami confusing. It became clear that this was the fox bear's home island when looking at them. And then Luffy got shot. And was very much immune to bullets. After that they found a bush man trapped in a box. No, a treasure chest. Apparently he'd gotten stuck there twenty years ago.
"So you've been guarding the treasure and the animals? No wonder Bluey wanted to come", Naruto commented, admiring Gaimon's tenacity and clear care for the island's inhabitants.
The blond kinda liked the old man. He reminded him of someone back home. Someone named… Gai-something? Or just Gai? Thick eyebrows and too-bright teeth came to mind. And a mini clone. Which, what?
There was no need to even ask them for help. Of course they would help him get the treasure after twenty years of waiting and protecting. Only, when Luffy and Naruto got to the top of the hill the treasure was on and opened the chests to see… they were empty. The ninja frowned sadly. This had been the guy's dream for so long… To no longer have it would be crushing. Gaimon and Nami shouted about dropping the chests already. Luffy seemed to have decided not to do it to save the man's feelings.
His hand found the new throwing knives hidden in a pouch and he blinked. He drew one out to stare at it, contemplative.
He was struck by some sort of memory-not-really-memory. He saw shapes and made connections faster than he thought he could and before he knew it he had drawn the shape into the ground, fingertip glowing with chakra. He was overwhelmed for a second before shaking his head and knowing exactly what to do. He looked around and found a reddish brown and grey rock which he put on the… thing. Biting his thumb he spread blood across it and with a puff of smoke and light and slight grinding noise he had condensed earth into a weapon. In front of him was a slightly rough around the edges but still smooth and clean knife that gleamed in the sun.
It was hot. Like someone just pulled it out of a fire. But there hadn't been fire.
He'd made a complex symbol filled array on the ground and gotten a purified crystal knife out of it. Naruto was overwhelmed. But didn't show it in anything other than the slight tremble in his fingers.
"Luffy", he said in a low voice and got the pirate to turn to him, "I've got something for Bushy Guy"
Luffy, who had just revealed to Gaimon and Nami that there was nothing in the chests, looked at the brown-ish knife made wholly of one material and grinned.
"Ooh! Naruto found something!"
He hadn't. He'd made it. Naruto was about to correct Luffy but paused and closed his mouth. This worked better. If everyone believed it was already there then it wouldn't be seen as a 'consolation gift'. Or something equal to that effect. Then there had been treasure up here the whole time. In fact, Naruto had made it from the rock sitting next to the chests so… Technically it was here all those years.
The blond grinned and promptly poured some water on it from a canteen to cool it down, then dried it on his sleeve. Now it was a more normal temperature. He hopped down from the rock next to Luffy, who had piled the empty chests at the bottom of the hill.
"Here, Bushy Guy!", he said and gave the knife to Gaimon.
It was funny how the old man's eyes lit up at the sight as he carefully took the blade and ran calloused fingers over it. Naruto was a little embarrassed at how reverently his gift, a knife he made, was handled. Nami leaned in curiously and looked it over with a critical eye and now Naruto felt like he was being scrutinized.
"Huh. It's made of stone. Though I have no idea how that would've been made. It's too clean for hammerwork, even with the roughness", there was a greedy look steadily entering her eyes, "I bet you could get a hefty sum for it if only for the unique technique!"
Naruto definitely felt like he should find out if he could make more. If only out of self-preservation.
Wait. He could make knives out of stone and… he kinda remembered how to do it too. And if he switched that part out to this he could make it with metal! Then some adjustments to the chakra output and the 'mold' so to speak and he'd have kunai! Actually, this felt like something he'd done quite often once he'd figured out how.
Which was… cool! He could remake his weapons!
"This treasure's mine, girlie!", Gaimon said sternly and Nami laughed sheepishly.
It wasn't long until they departed. Naruro got to say one final goodbye to Bluey and got Bushy Guy to promise he'd take care of her. To which Bluey protested that she'd take care of herself.
xXXx
Naruto stared at his scroll in silence. He… kinda knew what to do now. The boy bit his thumb again and spread blood on the seal that was blocking it, which lit up in brilliant blue light before fading. He took a breath and opened the first part of the scroll. More sealing symbols stared back at him.
Storage seals, his mind told him, I designed them.
He directed chakra to his fingertip and unlocked the one on the right. Stacks of paper poofed into existence, along with an ink bottle with a seal at the bottom. A seal that let the bottle refill on its own so long as you'd put more ink there beforehand. He knew that. He even knew how it worked.
Fuinjutsu is my specialty.
He felt a smile spreading on his face. This was gonna be awesome.
xXXx
Splash!
A gasp of air and a few good kicks had him on their slowly moving boat again, climbing on and trying again. He put his bare foot on the water slowly, carefully, and tried to get it right. Chakra gathered at his soles but he must've been doing something wrong since he couldn't stay afloat.
Splash!
Under again. This was the problem of only getting glimpses and impressions of being able to do something but not actually doing it. He knew he could. The problem was how.
"Naruto, what are you doing?", Nami asked, annoyance lacing her tone.
He yelped as he fell in again, concentration broken by the interruption, swimming up and on board again, "Gah! Can't you see I'm trying to figure out how to walk on water?"
Luffy perked up from his perch at the front, "You can walk on water?"
"There's no way", Nami refuted, "No matter how you look at it, surface tension isn't enough to let people walk on it"
Naruto threw a glare her way, muttering about how he'd show her but not audiably enough to hear.
"Aww…", the straw hat boy sounded disappointed but then remembered something, "But Naruto is a ninja! He can figure it out!"
The blond blinked at the sudden faith in him. It was… unfamiliar but at the same time freeing and lighthearted. He liked it. The grin that spread on his face was determined and free of worries.
"I will! Believe it!", he said, trying again… and promptly falling in.
This time droplets splashed on a napping Zoro and he opened his eyes, narrowing them on the kid, "Stop that!"
"I'm training, I can't", Naruto replied stubbornly.
"Do it somewhere else"
"No. You're just jealous"
"You brat!", the swordsman lurched over to grab at him, making Naruto yelp.
Nami bonked them both over the head when Zoro succeeded in dragging the struggling ninja aboard, dripping wet and in his plain underwear. Her brow was twitching.
"Idiots! Don't rock the boat or you'll capsize! We're going now", she then marched over to her own stolen one and started getting ready to sail away.
Luffy whooped and started setting their sail up too, Zoro and Naruto sulkily joining him. They'd had to teach everything to the ninja as he hadn't stepped on any boat until the day they found him. Zoro said Luffy had been the same way so it wasn't that unusual. They still sulked with goose egg shaped bumps on their heads while doing it.
"Nami hits too hard", the blond boy muttered.
The swordsman only grunted in agreement.
They set towards their destination where they'd hopefully be able to get a bigger and sturdier ship for their travels. Nami had been the one to point out how little they actually had to survive in the Grand Line, a place that Bushy Guy had referred to as a pirate graveyard. That sounded… well, bad. But also awesome.
Naruto couldn't wait!
Though first, the ship. And getting the stupid water walking down.
xXXx
So, I have decided to keep this as a longer story and will try to update it alongside my Eternal Cycle series.
Although, I'll have you know that I'm still focused more on that at the moment so updates will be slow. If I don't update for around a year I will most likely post the plans for the whole fic as the last chapter, as has become my sort of personal rule. I don't really want to leave people hanging for ages on end...
With that out of the way, hopefully you liked this chapter! Tell me what you think and ideas for future arcs are welcome! I'm hopelessly lacking in those at the moment with only some notes jotted down.