Spiraling Shark

by The Fifth Rider of Armageddon

Humanity has mocked, enslaved, and looked down on us. That is what Naruto thought, from childhood he was destined to do great things. But will it be his destiny to destroy what Otohime worked for, or will it take a special princess to change his mind?

19. Rumble in Alabasta: Red Sands

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. I will never own either of them, and if I did I would...um, sorry I got no clever retort I gotta go catch that Crabby outside my window three or so more and that fucking Kingler is mine!

"Talk"

'Think'

---

Five years after the Mariejois Incident, as I personally liked to call it, I traveled with Jinbe for months at a time, training with the legendary "Knight of the Sea". It was a dream come true, I was being taught by the second Captain of the legendary Sun Pirates, the man who personally knew Fisher Tiger "The Adventurer", a personal hero of mine. When he had to leave on solo assignments I went back to the dojo to try and gain levels in Fishman Karate. But that fucker Suikazan Fuguki made life difficult for me to do so, every time I took a step forward, it was always five steps back with the guy.

I will admit fully that it was disheartening. I began performing terribly, getting what I believe was the yips that just screwed with me mentally. Jinbe was off doing government work, Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi were off learning Merman Combat. I could not exactly come to the King with my own problems, he had a kingdom to run and was still grieving over the loss of his wife and locking his only daughter in the Hard-Shell Tower.

Interestingly enough one of the guards, the man who killed Queen Otohime's assassin found me beating myself up when I failed to manipulate water into a basic shape. It took three patient months but I finally got past the mental block with his help, and in his off time he taught me lessons, advanced ones that I should have had no right to knowing. But I did not care, this was someone who gave a damn about me.

His name was Hody Jones, a soldier of the Ryugu Kingdom, a person who I actually trusted...but now I am not so sure. But I'll come back to that in a minute.

During those five years I did more than just train. I also made sure to stay in contact with Madame Shyarly and the girls at the Mermaid Cafe. I swear to Poseidon they fuss over me more than they did when I was a kid. In fact now that I grew older and more mature they began to openly flirt with me whenever they got the chance, especially when I helped around the shop when I had some free time. Which oddly enough involved a decent bit of heavy lifting and other manual labor that made my muscles pop out. Honestly it felt like one of those trashy harem books I once read...er, I mean curiously found when I was fourteen where this down on his luck guy starts working in a store almost like the Mermaid Cafe and suddenly every woman wanted to have sex with him, and it became a happily ever after story...fricking trashy literature.

But nothing came of it. I like them, I really do and they are attractive as hell, I mean seriously, mermaids are the most beautiful creatures under the sea. And trust me, I had thought about them, many, many impure thoughts. But I view them as friends, maybe sisters and nothing more. They literally took me off the street as a kid, gave me honest work and fed me food that was not garbage, especially when they hired this new girl named Ayame who makes the absolute best ramen in the whole ocean. I could never see myself being romantic with any of them, after all would you want to fuck someone you considered a sister? No, I thought not.

But apparently this was noticed, and when Jinbe came back he took me with him and gave me the fish and the mermaids lecture to me...Poseidon help me that was so awkward. Some stuff you just are never prepared to hear.

Ahem, but I am getting off track. This time were off to assassinate Whitebeard. Yes, the Whitebeard. That obviously didn't happen, and I was glad because when I met the man...I froze and nearly fainted. The man was bigger than I would ever imagine, older than dirt, yet in shape and with a powerful aura that surrounded him. I thought I was looking at a monster in human flesh, but he laughed and treated us like equals. The man took my axe in his hand and said it was a fine weapon, needed work, but fine nonetheless. He even allowed me to tour his ship unsupervised.

It was then I met "Marco the Phoenix"; The First Division Commander, "Diamond" Jozu; The Third Division Commander, Thatch; The Fourth Division Commander, "Flower Sword" Vista; The Fifth Division Commander and one of the strongest swordsmen in the wold, Namur; The Eighth Division Commander; and fellow fishman.

And of course "Fire Fist Ace"; The Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, one of the strongest humans I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and my rival.

Buckle up people, because how that happened will leave you wanting to never put this journal down.

---

Standing in the middle of a waterproof, one-man, yellow raft shaped like a half crescent. Equipped with an engine in the back, two paddle-wheels on the sides, and a small sail in the back. The one and only Portgas D. Ace focused the powers of his infamous devil fruit on his feet, emitting flames to power the craft.

The man, to the crew of The Nautilus looked like a complete and total bad-ass with the flames of his most recent attack in the background. Then suddenly he sharply swerved towards land as full speed until the raft struck the shore and Ace went flying out of his watercraft. Stiff as a board he sailed through the air and plunged headfirst into a sand dune.

The awe turned into the deadest silence imaginable, sweat-drops, and deadpan stares. Ace wasn't even spared from Fujin or Raijin's looks, and they were under Miss Goldenweek's hypnosis.

"That...is "Fire Fist Ace"?" Bashura questioned.

"The Commander of The Second Division of Whitebeard's crew?" Carmen continued.

"One of the few people who may or may not have seen my mentor." Shizune added in.

"Worth five-hundred and fifty million Beli." Gin deadpanned.

"And a thorn in The World Government's side for three years." Kotetsu added in.

"That is your rival!?" Igaram finished for them all.

"..." Miss Goldenweek honestly had nothing else to add.

"Yea, that's him all right." Naruto palmed his face before sighing in embarrassment and jumped from the stern and dived into the sea. Without any delay he swam over to the area and emerged from the water a few minutes later once he spotted the small raft. He then spotted the sand dune where two pairs of legs were sticking out.

"Dammit Ace, you made me look like a jackass." The blonde groused out as he made his way towards the man. Manipulating the water around his body, he forced it out of the fibers of his clothing to completely dry himself and prevent sand from clinging to his body. Naruto grabbed the black boots and pulled him out of the sand dune with a forceful yank.

Ace had barely changed since the last time they had met. He was still tall and muscular, had smooth black hair, sported rather childish freckles on his face, the tattoo on his upper bicep that spelled out "ASCE" vertically with the "S" crossed out. Attire-wise he wore nothing on his torso, exposing the Whitebeard Jolly Roger that had purple bones formed in a cross behind a purple skull with a white mustache; something that wasn't there in their last fight. Below the belt however he wore black knee-length shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt, and a blue pouch belted around his left leg. He also wore a short second belt with a large red "A" on the silver buckle over his right hip, but left it unfastened and threaded the free end along the back of his shorts. A dagger in a green sheath hung at his left hip. On his left arm, he wore a Log Pose and a red and white striped bracelet around his wrist, an orange elbow guard. He also wore a red beaded necklace, and his signature orange hat with two blue smiley faces, one frowning and one smiling, and a string of red beads sitting above the rim. Two long orange side straps hung down sides of his hat and met at a large medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels. But most importantly he wore the shark tooth on a thick metal chain around his neck, that made Naruto smile in appreciation.

That smile soon disappeared when the blonde fishman saw a comical nose bubble sprouting from his nose, and him snoring loudly. An irritated tick mark appeared on his forehead, and much to the surprise to the band of misfits he managed to collect, Naruto raised his right hand and began smacking the Second Division Commander of The Whitebeard Pirates silly. "Ace! Wake up! Oi, Ace you flaming bastard wake the hell up of so Poseidon help me I'll-"

Naruto did not even get a chance to finish when Ace literally clocked him right in the jaw with a wicked right hook, dislodging the blonde from his person and flying into the ocean. "Ugh? Ah man, what hit me?" The black-haired teen muttered before taking a look at his surroundings, and noticed nine unfamiliar people looking at him with stunned expressions. "Ah, hello there. Who are you, and why does it look like you were in a fight?" He greeted them with a bright smile.

"We were in one." Gin lamely greeted him with a light wave of his vomit covered hand. "I'm Gin, former Combat Commander of the Krieg Pirates. Current First Mate of this one."

"Ah! I heard of you, glad you finally got away from that back-stabber Don Krieg." Ace said with excitement in his voice as he got to his feet to go over to greet them. "And this must be members of your crew, they look to be a lively bunch."

"Well, sort of." Taking over for Naruto due to him being...indisposed for now, Gin did the meet and greet. "This is Kotetsu, our resident swordsman."

"Kotetsu? The same "Blood-Soaked" Kotetsu, who killed everyone on Iron Island?" Ace tilted his head in confusion.

"Those are all lies made up by the Marines. They finally got tired of them being a neutral island and gave them a choice, join the World Government, or die. They died fighting them, I joined them in the fight and took all the blame because it was a perfect cover up." Kotetsu said with heat in his voice. "And I swear to God I will make sure the truth is known, even if it kills me!"

Ace only smiled and held up his hands in mock surrender. "I believe you there, friend. Honestly when I heard about it I knew something was fishy. Don't worry the truth will come out one way or another."

"I...uh, thank you." The sandy-haired teen said, a little stunned for words that his version was easily accepted.

Ace then stepped over to the largest, and exotic member of the crew. "Well aren't you a big one?"

Bashura grinned and gave a light bow towards him. "I am Bashura, the Navigator of the crew, and former member of The Black Cat Pirates."

"Former member? I thought they were disbanded years ago."

"It was a ruse until a few months ago, I believe I am the last one left."

"Well good on ya big guy." Ace patted Bashura's bruised muscular arm before looking over a still very wet Carmen. "And hello, let me guess you're Carmen, the Chef of the crew?"

The fiery pink-haired woman slowly nodded, but a small smile did appear on her face. "I guess me reputation precedes me."

"Of course, I would have to be blind to not recognize "Five-Alarm Carmen". Your cooking is said to be second to none!"

"Flattery will get you everywhere, but sadly I am probably only the third best in the East Blue." Carmen admitted before a fiery look erupted in her large pink eyes. "But that is not going to stop me, when I am confident enough I will challenge Zeff and Sanji and kick their asses!"

Her exclamation caused Ace to beam brightly. "I know you can do it, just save a plate for me, okay?" He then looked over to Miss Goldenweek and raised an eyebrow seeing the two giant men standing behind her with vacant looks on their faces. "Huh, aren't you a little young to be traveling the sea?"

"Aren't you a little old to fall asleep standing up?" Miss Goldenweek dully replied.

"Can't help it kid, my little brother is the same way." Ace said while sheepishly scratching the back of his his head. "So, you going to introduce me to your friends?"

"I think there is someone who wants to have more of a word with you than me." Miss Goldenweek said, implying towards a very antsy-looking Shizune.

"Oh?" Looking over towards the older woman Ace grinned and brought his right hand out. "Well then how may I assist you miss?"

Shizune took his hand in hers and began shaking it. "Thank you, I'm so sorry but I know you're apart of the Whitebeard Pirates, and I know you might be busy. But can you please tell me if you have seen my master anywhere, last I heard she was apart of your crew."

"You're going to have to be more specific miss. What's her name, or what she looks like for starters."

"Her name is Tsunade. She's young-looking despite being in her fifties, blonde hair, honey-colored eyes, a purple diamond tattoo in the middle of her forehead, big...um breasts?" Shizune lightly trailed off, describing her master's most characterized description.

"Ah, I remember her. And you must be Shizune her old apprentice!" Ace exclaimed after digging through his memory. "Don't worry she's fine, she is actually attending Whitebeard himself with several other nurses on the Moby Dick."

"Oh thank God." Shizune sighed out in relief. That was one question down, but many more to go. "Do you know how she came to become under his employ, has she really said anything about me, or why she left?"

Ace scratched the back of his head apologetically. "I'm sorry but that I don't know. She was there when I became a member of his crew almost two years ago. The woman really doesn't say much to be honest, she does her job, and is a terrible gambler." He saw Shizune sweat-drop hearing that, and automatically figured this wasn't unusual for the blonde woman. "Heak that is the only thing I know about her, other than she mentioned having one apprentice in passing. If you want to ask her, you're going to have to reach Whitebeard himself."

"If that's what it takes, then I will do it." Shizune bowed towards the Commander of The Second Division. "Thank you."

"Glad to help." Ace then went to the last person, Igaram and smiled at him. "And let me guess, you're the musician of the crew?" He asked after pointing to his saxophone.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, I'm just a passenger trying to get home." Igaram apologized. "This crew has been good to me and kept their promise to do so. I'm home in Alabasta again, and for that I am forever grateful."

"Well what a coincidence I just ran into my little brother who had someone from this island on his ship." Ace brightly replied. "Maybe you know her, she's sixteen years old, blue hair..."

"Yes! Oh thank goodness she's still okay." Igaram sighed out in relief. "Please tell me, do you know where they are heading?"

"Umm, I think they said they were going to Alubarna, but first they were heading to Yuma or Rainbase first for...um, something. Sorry I trailed off after that, hope it's enough."

"No, it's perfect. Now I know where to go from here. She sure picked some good people to go with." The curly-haired man sighed out.

"I can say the same for the ones you picked." Ace said looking over the gathered people. "So tell me where is your Captain? I would like to speak to him or her for having assembled such fine men and women under the banner of..." The Logia-user trailed off before sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "I'm sorry, but what is the name of your crew?"

"Um, we don't have one." Kotetsu dully replied.

"And you punched him into the ocean after he pulled you out of a sand dune." Gin gestured towards the ocean where Naruto flew off into.

"Really?" Ace looked in the direction of the ocean in bewilderment, "Oh I am so sorry. I just felt someone hitting me and just retaliated. Man I hope I didn't kill him."

"I dunno, he's apparently pretty hard to kill." Carmen lightly remarked.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Ace you asshole!" Naruto burst out of the water and marched up the beach with water swirling around him. "That does not count, you sucker punched me while I was trying to wake you up!"

"Naruto is that really you?" Ace asked in surprise. After blinking several times he smiled and ran towards the blonde fishman. "I can't believe it! It really is you. Sorry about that, it was out of reflex."

All the anger that welled up in the blonde immediately disappeared, and he raised his right hand in greeting. "Yea it's me all right, you didn't break anything."

"Good." Ace took his hand and shook it. "Man you have been busy since we last saw each other, forty-five million beli. Not bad for a rookie."

That caused Naruto to slightly hand his head in response. "It was not supposed to be like that, I had a request from Jinbe, and now I am taking the long way home with a bunch of ship hobos I picked up."

"Aw don't call them that, if they are able to put up with you then they're good people."

"Damn right we are, screw you Uzumaki!" Kotetsu shouted out.

"Meh whatever." The blonde brushed them off because he called them much worse in the past couple of months, before turning a serious gaze back towards Ace. "Hey listen I ran into Vista, Namur and to a lesser extent Izo. They told me about the situation regarding Thatch."

Ace's bright demeanor suddenly darkened, with his hat overshadowing his eyes, he looked more intense than he was seconds earlier. "That's right, Blackbeard killed him in cold blood. And I aim to make sure Thatch rests in peace knowing that I killed the man responsible for sending him to the afterlife."

"I know, and I am sorry for your loss. For once I actually know that sort of feeling." Naruto replied, remembering Queen Otohime dying right in front of him, the helpless feelings of regret, and the bitterness that followed soon afterwards. Even now it remained in him, causing much unneeded anger flowing through his body. "Listen they told me to tell you to get back to Whitebeard if I ever found you."

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I just can't do it. Not when I am so close that I can taste the guy." Ace apologized before clenching his right fist. "I hope you understand."

"I do, and I just told them I would give you the message, no more, no less." Naruto game him his infamous shark-like smile. "Besides I still got a score to settle with you."

"Tell you what, how about some lunch, you tell me how you met Vista and Namur, and then I can see how strong you have gotten."

"Oh I got some things to tell you then."

---

(The Nautilus – Thirty or so minutes later)

"You're kidding me!" Ace burst out into laughter after Naruto finished his latest story.

"I am not, Namur destroyed an entire island to take me down!" Naruto replied after finishing off another glass of lemonade a little too eagerly. "It was one of the most intense fights I have ever been in, I'm still surprised I won it."

"Agreed, Namur is a tough customer, even I have a hard time fighting him. But I never had him use his trump card on me before." Ace replied before munching on the delicious sandwich Carmen made earlier. "What about Arlong and his crew, I heard he didn't meet the...best end, along with Captain Nezumi or Captain Stark of the Marines."

The blonde fishman narrowed his eyes at the accusation. "Arlong was my target, and I had to literally drop a fucking building on him to kill him. His crew was just collateral damage, because they tried to kill me first." There was Hatchan to consider since he literally uppercutted him into the ocean, but he didn't stick around long enough to see if he died or not. "As for Nezumi that rat bastard was going to massacre an entire village and pin it on Arlong to take credit and get an ass load of money in the process. As for Stark..." He trailed off there, and had the tenancy to look somewhat embarrassed. "It was just bad luck for him, he was after Kotetsu, I got caught in the crossfire, end of story."

"You're damn right about that Uzumaki!" Kotetsu shouted from the other ship Mr. 6 chased them on. "It saved me from doing the dirty work myself!"

"Less yapping more scavenging, we need to repair the ship as much as we can!" Naruto shouted from his position on the stern where there wasn't a lick of damage. Taking up the pitcher he poured himself another tall glass of lemonade, his tenth if Ace was counting correctly.

"How about you get off your ass and help us out. This crap is heavy!"

"Because I'm the Captain you all voted into power, I don't gotta do jack!"

"Then why is Carmen and Shizune not helping out!?" Kotetsu fired back.

"Because Shizune is taking stock of our medical supplies, and Carmen is helping to entertain our distinguished guest!" Naruto hollered back, and watched as the sandy-haired swordsman give him the finger while he, Bashura, and Miss Goldenweek with the help of her zombie drone brothers tore up the opposing ship to bring it over to Gin and Igaram who were hammering away at the boards to patch their floating home up. "Man, it is such a good hassle to find good help these days."

"Careful there Naruto, you got yourself a loyal set of people, and if even what half of you told me is true then you ought to do your best to keep them." Ace warned him with a stern look. "You can't find replacements like that around a corner."

Naruto was halfway through with his drink, giving the Whitebeard Commander a dull look before setting it down. "I have a swordsman with multiple personality disorder, a Navigator that is more of a mystic cat than anything else, a First Mate that just stepped out of his grave, a very flamboyant Chef, a lazy Baroque Works member who may or may not be on my side, and a Doctor that is on loan to us."

Ace held up his right hand and started listing off what they had done for him. "Kotetsu faced off against Vista, who by now is known as one of the top five swordsmen in the entire world without asking him. Bashura has proven himself by keeping you all safe with his navigating skills. Gin, while dying eliminated some pirates who tried stealing your ship in Loguetown. Carmen has kept you all fed and certainly hasn't tried to poison you, not to mention defeating Izo to prove a point. Miss Goldenweek, while not necessary part of your crew has given you loads of information regarding the Baroque Works. And Shizune has saved Gin's life and looked after your health. Honestly they remind me of my brother's crew."

"Yea, I still have a hard time believing that Luffy is your younger brother." The blonde dryly said. "You don't look anything alike."

"Well we're brothers in everything but blood." Ace replied with a light laugh. "But I'm serious. Be good to them otherwise you'll be making your journey back alone."

"All right, all right, fine. I'll try to be a little nicer to them." Naruto relented after finishing his drink. "Now how about that rematch. You know I have gotten a lot stronger in these past two years, and I have yet to lose a single fight."

"Absolutely not." Ace flat out denied him.

"Wh...what? Why the fuck not!?" The tiger shark fishman demanded.

"Because you're literally gulping down liquid like a fish out of water." The Logia-user deadpanned. "Since we have been talking you have drank ten glasses of lemonade, and it looks like you're breathing a little harder than normal. This desert area is not going to do you any good if we fight right now, do you know why? It's because you won't be at a hundred percent, and I would beat you hands down."

"Dammit Ace that's a low blow." Naruto stood up and clenched his right fist tightly. "I'm just a little thirsty is all. I can still take you."

"Right, and I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit." Ace sarcastically replied. "We will have that rematch, but not today, and you cannot cannot convince me otherwise." A grin then formed on his face. "After all, like my little brother you got a country to save for a certain blue-haired princess."

"What! I-I mean I don't know what you're talking about." Naruto glared at him and looked off to the side.

"Sure you don't." The Logia-user said teasingly. "Well as much fun as it was to tease you, I gotta get going. Blackbeard is not going to catch himself."

"Hold up, before you leave I need to ask something of you."

"Oh?"

---

"You know, Uzumaki is starting to piss me off." Kotetsu complained after handing Bashura several thick planks of wood.

"Why are you mad at him this time?" Bashura replied.

"Slave labor that's why." The swordsman replied. "Here we are, recovering from our wounds and scrapping a damn ship to repair ours, Gin and Igaram are doing the same amount of hard work as us. But Uzumaki, he's over there sitting on his candy ass with one of the most wanted people in the world watching us work to the bone."

"Well we did elect him as the Cap'n after all." The Catman replied. "Besides. The swelling went down in my eye, and Gin changed out of his clothes."

"Well I still can't feel my legs, and am beginning to regret electing him, I mean look at him." Kotetsu bitterly gestured towards Ace handing Naruto something and the two of them shaking hands. "I mean we may be allies of the Whitebeard Pirates, and yes I guess Ace would be considered an ally too. But he's practically sucking up to him."

"Consider this friend Kotetsu." Bashura sharply said, gesturing towards the two. "The Cap'n told us that he once fought Ace and was beaten by him. Now we didn't believe it at the time, after all it seemed outrageous, and he has yet to lose a single fight."

"Yea, but-"

"Also look at him. When have you seen the Cap'n act like that?" He said, gesturing towards the fishman lightly chuckling at something Ace said. "Besides you could use the exercise."

"Are you calling me fat?" Kotetsu asked in outrage.

"No I'm calling you skinny, twig-boy." Bashura gave the swordsman his cat-like smile. "All right I think this is all we're gonna need for now, the deck is almost done and most of the holes are filled up."

"Phrasing Bashura, phrasing." Miss Goldenweek piped up, scaring the living daylight out of the two men.

"Dammit Goldenweek, I forgot your were here with us!" Kotetsu barked out, beating his chest to calm his thundering heart.

"So did I." Bashura breathed out.

The smaller woman only grinned in response, and then looked up at the two controlled idiot brothers carrying giant bundles of wood and steel under their giant arms with vacant looks still in their eyes.

"Goldenweek mind wiping that crap off them when you get the chance? Those vacant looks are giving me the willies." Kotetsu complained with a slight shiver looking at both Fujin and Raijin.

"It's also completely unnatural." Bashura seconded.

"Maybe after a little while." Miss Goldenweek replied. "But not right now, they are good for manual labor, and I don't have to carry a thing!"

'Yea, that's Goldenweek all right.' The earliest crew members thought with a sweat-drop.

Back on ship Gin finished putting the last nail into a board and spat to the side. "Huh." He lightly remarked.

"Hmm? Huh, what?" Igaram asked in confusion.

"It just feels odd to not spit out blood or vomit."

The Captain of the Royal Guard gave him a deadpan look. "That's what you're remarking about?"

"Hey, you try being poisoned for well over two months, barely keeping anything in your stomach, and breaking the first bathroom on the ship." The veteran pirate lowly remarked.

"So you were the one who did that!" Igaram said in accusation.

"Not my proudest moment." Gin admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. "But it doesn't compare to me running out of a whorehouse butt-ass naked when some local pirates ransacked it to try and get to me, and members of my former crew."

"How vulgar!" Igaram exclaimed.

"I'm a pirate, what did you expect?"

"Well I see you two are having fun." Kotetsu remarked when he came upon the two of them in mid-argument.

"Loads, but at least this ship is looking better. And we at least managed to get that damn graffiti off." Gin replied.

"It's not graffiti, it's art!" Miss Goldenweek protested.

"Oh breaking character now, eh?" The veteran pirate said. "And here I thought you were just going to be a lump of lazy flesh for this entire trip."

"Not when my art is insulted!"

"Well at least you're not painting any faces." Naruto butted in. "Everyone I thank you for your hard work, it'll make sailing out of here much easier when we aren't taking on water. Now Ace is gonna leave us for the time being, but he's leaving us a little something to remember him by."

"A scorch mark on the railings?" Carmen cheekily remarked as both Shizune and herself moved to join them.

"Nope, his Den Den Mushi." Naruto revealed a orange shelled snail with Ace's signature hat on its head. "We'll put this with the ones left to us by Vista and Namur so we can stay in touch."

"Geeze, am I the only one who wonders how Den Den Mushi's are made?" Shizune asked. (1)

"Oh it's an amazing process, but that will be shown another time." Ace said with a light laugh. "It was good to see you all, keep on kicking some ass, and Shizune when I head back to Whitebeard I'll have a word with that teacher of yours."

"Thank you Ace, I really appreciate it." Shizune thanked the Logia-user.

"Hey anything for my friends. Stay safe Ocean Sword Pirates!" Without another word Ace turned on his heel and jumped an incredible distance off their ship and squarely landed on his curious watercraft. Activating his powers the vehicle flared to life and he was out of sight within seconds. (2)

"Di...did he just freaking name us?" Naruto demanded with a ticking eyebrow.

"...Yes, yes he did." Gin sighed out.

"Hmm, I kinda like it." Carmen remarked.

"It does roll off the tongue, and it describes us well. Especially with our Cap'n's abilities." Bashura slyly remarked.

"I just hope he doesn't fall asleep on his craft again. He'll crash and drown." Miss Goldenweek said in a deadpan voice.

"Geeze, lighten up Goldenweek." Both Shizune and Kotetsu palmed their faces from her dark remark.

---

It took another fifteen minutes, and half that time was a heated debate on the name of their crew given to them by Ace before, and to Naruto's irritation, the name stuck. And so the Ocean Sword Pirates fixed up the remaining damage of The Nautilus to the best of their abilities, stored whatever they could salvage from the other ship, whether it be wood, food or treasure they had on board, and or looted from their corpses before the team stood at the entrance of the half-ruined town.

The entire group who had spent several weeks together, plus two thrall-like idiots were dressed in head to to with whatever they could find. Keffiyeh's were wrapped a their heads, desert robes of various colors were worn, or long jackets to keep the sun off of them. Each person carried a backpack filled with supplies and a canteen full of water.

"So, now that we're here, where are you off to?" Gin, clad in a long grey jacket and keffiyeh asked Igaram.

"I am heading towards Nanohana. I got allies and informants that can help me spread the information around the country that Crocodile is not who he appears to be." Igaram replied as he adjusted his blue desert jacket.

To Naruto's surprise, Miss Goldenweek, clad in a yellow and white shawl and cloak stepped forward. The two Idiot Brothers followed her, wearing blankets and baskets with holes to see out of went along with her. "Mind if I come with you?"

"What?" Naruto barked out, moving his right hand to Saibannin Kayiouumi magnetically attached to his vest for the first time in months. "Oh hell no. You're still a prisoner. Besides after that stunt you just pulled there is no way I'm letting you out of my sight!"

"Actually, I want to go with them too." Kotetsu limped over towards Igaram, pulling his Marine jacket tighter against him. "Listen, my legs are still jacked up so riding on an idiot will actually work in my benefit. Plus I can keep an eye on Goldenweek so she can spill all the information she has on the Baroque Works."

"And just why would she do that?" Shizune asked after adjusting the blue keffiyeh on her head, but oddly kept her black kimono despite the desert heat.

"Because she will do anything for that tea again." The swordsman dully replied before hopping on Raijin's shoulder. "And even though she runaway she didn't get too far. I think we can trust her."

"Whatever, anyone else going with Igaram as protection?" Naruto looked at the remaining five in his group. Surprisingly Carmen split off from them.

"Someone with a mature and well-balanced head needs to watch over them, and who better than me?" The pink-haired, and desert clothed woman asked. "Now you four remember to stay hydrated okay?"

Aw dammit, they were definitely going to miss her cooking. "All right, just travel safely. And Igaram where should we go from here?"

"I would head to Yuba." The curly-haired man said. "It's a small town, but it has become a rest stop since it is in between many cities on the entire continent. You can possibly restock on what you need before continuing to Alabarna."

"Right and where the hell are those places?" Naruto demanded as he gestured towards the desert. "We don't exactly have a map."

"Just head east." Igaram pointed in the direction towards Yuba. "If you hurry you can reach the princess by nightfall, she'll help guide you to Alabarna."

"All right thank you, see you all in the capital." Without another word the four man party began heading east towards Yuba.

---

(Alabasta Desert – Half a day later)

"I. Hate. The. Desert." Gin growled out.

"Catch up to them my ass. We're still going east, aren't we Bashura?" Naruto tiredly asked.

"That's what the compass says." The Catman wiped away the sweat that accumulated on his forehead as he looked at the navigational tool. "We probably missed their campsite because of the sand."

"Fuck this sand!" Gin shouted at the desert and kicked it with his boot. "God I got it in places I didn't even know I had. And I can't even feel my cheeks because of the damn sun!"

"Calm down Gin or you'll suffer heatstroke." Shizune sighed out after gulping down some water from her canteen. "Drink some water it'll help cool you off. That goes the same for you Naruto."

"I'm on it." The blonde replied before uncapping his canteen and trying to not gulp down the water. Ever since the first day he knew something was seriously wrong with him, he sweat more than he drank, his gills itched, and he was having a hard time breathing half the time.

Gin's words mirrored his own mental thoughts. 'I hate the desert.'

"Be careful everyone." Bashura piped up. "This desert is a harsh place. Who knows what lurks in these sands."

"Probably bad things like hyenas, or poisonous snakes, or..."

Suddenly the sand dune they were walking besides burst open, and it revealed a fifteen foot long, and twenty foot tall creature with a dark brown carapace shell, large fangs, beady black eyes, and eight legs. And the thing attacked them with the ferocity of a mongoose. (3)

"A giant fucking spider." Gin finished his sentence with a groan of anger. Unholstering on of his six pistols he took aim and pulled the trigger.

Click!

"...Fuck." Gin looked over at his weapon and saw that there was sand in the flashpan, causing it to shorten out the gunpowder.

"I got this!" Bashura, carrying his harpoon as always drew his right arm back and let loose his weapon. "Flying Hummingbird!" He howled, his harpoon flying towards the giant spider and piercing its thorax, spilling ichor onto the hot sands.

"Good shot, now it's my-" Gin pulled out another pistol, and was rewarded with a click. "Another misfire. Dammit!" Holstering his pistol he pulled out his tonfa's and began spinning them. He burst towards the wounded spider, brought his arms back with a yell and struck the spider's head with devastating force that cracked its shell and crushed its skull.

Before Gin could even bask in victory, a trapdoor opened up behind him, and another giant spider grabbed him with its clawed legs and dragged him underground.

"Gin!" Shizune cried in alarm.

"Oh hell no!" Naruto barked out before diving into the ground thanks to his Land Shark technique. Using electromagnetic waves the blonde quickly discovered tunnels, multiple tunnels placed in various spots for an ambush. He continued diving, searching for some sign of life.

He felt something ping back to him a minute later, and turned towards that direction. Naruto came flying out of the sand, and was hit by immediate blackness. "Gin! Shout something!"

"Get back, you eight legged freaks!" (4)

"Got ya! Shredding Shark!" Naruto began spinning forward, blowing up sand and dirt from the area. He struck something that he knew wasn't Gin thanks to the veteran pirate giving off his location seconds earlier. He tore through a spider before crashing into a wall.

In those few seconds of chaos and carnage, Gin pulled out a torch from the very top of his pack with his right hand, and using the flint and steel rings he had on both his thumb and index fingers, he snapped them together to light up the torch.

Immediately the cavern was lit up to reveal a twitching body of one spider, one Uzumaki Naruto cutting another foul creature in half with that anchor axe of his, and corpses, lots of corpses. Fresh, old, skeletal, or mummified, there were far too many corpses for his liking.

"Oh fuck me, this is just perfect." Gin cursed out as he stuck the torch into the ground.

"Were you hurt?" Naruto asked after pulling the axe head out of the spiders carcass.

"I'm dinged up but unharmed." The veteran pirate looked at the lair, and suppressed a shiver. "Man, I almost became one of those poor bastards." He said, pointing at one of the skeletons. He moved over to the pile, sorting animal bones from human and found a few goodies. "Well their loss is our gain."

The blonde frowned at the thought of stealing from the corpses, but then again they were dead, he wasn't. "If they got anything valuable take it, and see if there is a map you can find as well."

"On it Captain." Gin smirked when Naruto developed a tick mark on his right cheek, but he didn't press his luck. He then began to quickly search through the remains, emptying backpacks and sacks, and taking whatever was of value or use.

The former Krieg pirate spent the next few minutes collecting stuff, so far he liberated a good amount of bullets and gunpowder that wasn't contaminated, several gold and silver rings, a gold pocket watch what was still working, a few gold and silver necklaces, some earrings, minor jewels, rations, and a decent lot of paper money. "Hey Uzumaki, this is a literal treasure trove, I even found a few Baroque Works members."

"Who gives a damn about them. Count the money later Gin, what about a map?" Naruto said.

"Still looking." Gin said, ripping a rather large backpack off a Baroque Works member skeleton, making the bones fly every which way before dumping its contents. He picked through a decent amount of clothing, rations, a pair of fancy shoes that he tossed away until he came across what he was looking for.

"Hey I found something!" Gin called Naruto over and began unfolding it. It was a map, it was old, but it was better than what they had earlier, which was literally directions from Igaram.

"Whew good, now I won't have to worry about getting lost." Naruto sighed out in relief.

"Agreed, lets see where we are." The veteran pirate blew on the dusty map to get a better look, and to his horror it completely disintegrated in his hands.

"...Gin." Naruto deadpanned.

"Not my fault." Gin replied before kicking the pile of clothing in frustration. "I hate the desert!"

"Let's just get the hell out of here. I think Bashura and Shizune are worried sick."

"All right just let me-" Gin then noticed something hidden under the piles of clothes he dumped out. Getting onto one knee he stuck his hand where he thought it was, and pulled out a weapon. "Holy crap."

"Hmm?" Naruto turned his head, and wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Gin was holding a gun, but not just any gun. It was the gun that asshole Mr. 5 had, a flintlock .44 six shot revolver. The weapon looked brand spanking new, not a hint of rust lining the smooth steel barrel, or any gunk in the chambers.

"Dammit Gin, you and your guns." The blonde sighed out.

"I know you hate guns, but this is not something you find every day. This is the newest model from the South Blue, you rarely see them past it." Gin popped the chamber and saw that there were all six, unfired bullets in it. Putting it back he scrounged around the clothing again until he came across a small box and picked it up. "And ammo for it."

"Fine, fine! Keep the damn thing, but I ain't helping you get ammo for it." Naruto threw up his hands in defeat, and went over towards the torch and yanked it out of the ground. "Lets go, time's a wasting."

The two then ran up the well dug pit, their feet hammering the ground with each step until they reached the trap door. Naruto went first, jumping and punching the entrance with Gin following close behind, they both burst out at the same time and landed on the hot sands.

The duo was then greeted by the sight of six dead spiders, all twitching in the throes of death with an exhausted Shizune and Bashura kneeling to catch their breath.

"Where...were you guys." Bashura demanded.

"Killing spiders, and finding goodies, what else?" Gin proudly displayed his newest weapon tucked in his belt.

"No time to rest, we better just run. There are dozens of similar traps in this entire area!" Without warning Naruto extinguished the torch in the sand, handed it to Gin and began running.

With a curse Gin followed him with the still smoking stick in his hands, Bashura hoisted Shizune on his back and followed them. For an entire hour the part of four ran, dodging spiders leaping out at them, and screaming their heads off. Bashura dared not throw his harpoon again, fearing to lose it, so he had to rely on his speed and Naruto firing off the occasional Water Shot to kill the ambushing creatures.

Unknown to the party Naruto was not looking so good. He was not out of shape, running was never his issue, but he was finding it hard to breathe. It was like he couldn't get any air into his lungs, it was actually becoming agonizing to breathe. And it didn't help that he was using the rapidly decreasing water he was sweating out to kill the damn spiders who got too close.

After fifteen more minutes and no more spiders springing out at them, the foursome stopped and collapsed onto their knees. Naruto placed his hand over his mouth to hold in a dry cough and tried drowning his throat with his canteen of water.

The rest of the party couldn't blame him, nor did they hold themselves back from doing the same thing, but unlike the blonde they conserved what they could.

"I hate spiders." Shizune panted out.

"Agreed." Bashura coughed out. "What's next?"

Then the sand dune in front of them erupted, revealing a thirty foot long creature with black carapace armor, cruel black eyes, eight legs, massive claws and snapping pincers, and a tail with a stinger on the end dripping poison.

"You had to ask!" Gin screamed out in anger.

"I HATE THE DESERT!" Naruto roared.

---

(Alabasta Desert – Three hours later)

"There they are, I can't believe Mr. 6 failed." A member of the Millions growled out.

"I am not surprised, Mr. 6 was always an arrogant son of a bitch. Especially after he ate that Zoan fruit and tried acting like an alpha male." Said a slim, medium-sized man. He had long, unkempt blonde hair with a red headband to keep it out of his face. He was wearing a yellow half-shirt, open to reveal his bare chest, purple pants with orange stars on them and a brown belt to hold it all up. And of course a pair of brown shoes to protect his feet from the hot desert sands.

"Agreed Mr. 10." A woman coldly replied. She wore a green hood with three antennae-like stalks coming out of it. The front of the hood is designed to resemble an animal, like a bird's beak. She wore long black pants and a brown short sleeved shirt that showed off her midriff with a tan scarf wrapped around her neck. Strapped to her back was an unsheathed sword.

"Careful Miss Tuesday." A sophisticated voice warned the Frontier Agent. Miss Tuesday turned to look at Miss All-Sunday still decked in her skimpy cowgirl outfit, with an added on open white fur-lined coat to protect body from the sun looking at her in disapproval. "Uzumaki Naruto is worth forty-five million beli and is a fishman to boot. He is also traveling with Gin "The Demon Man" who is also worth ten million beli. They may have killed Mr. 6 and Miss Mother's Day, but they were stronger than you, especially with those Lieutenants of his." (5)

"I-I know this!" Miss Tuesday retorted. "But we got the element of surprise on our hands. Fifty of our best Millions agents are expertly camouflaged under the sands, the best equipment to take them out. And when we do Mr. 0 will make us his top agents!"

"Yea! After Mr. 3 screwed up his spot has been left vacant, and Miss Goldenweek is missing and presumed dead on Little Garden. Those spots are ours!" Mr. 10 pumped his fists in excitement. "Not to mention the payday from their bounties!"

Miss All-Sunday had to repress rolling her eyes. That was typical of them, promotions to Officer Agents and taking in bounties. She swore that if it wasn't for Crocodile and her the entire organization would fall apart. Of course it didn't matter to her if the organization fell or not, as long as she got what she wanted out of it, Crocodile could rot for all she cared.

"Fine, do what you will. Mr. 0 only sent me to observe your group and report the casualties of trespassers." She eventually said.

"Don't worry Miss All-Sunday. This will be over in a snap!" Mr. 10 then brought his left hand up, which held a small signaling mirror, with a few movements of his hands he signaled the attack force.

---

"That's the signal. Attack!"

Like the spiders, and the scorpions from earlier, the Baroque Works members threw off thick blankets that had sand piled on top of it revealing fifty agents, thirty armed with bazookas while the rest had rifles.

"Oh fuck me sideways!" Naruto shouted angrily. "Everyone, to me!" The three didn't hesitate in making their way to him, and with a great amount of concentration the blonde forced himself to call on the water within himself and the area around him.

Thirty bazooka's opened fire on the crew of four, all fifty watched as the rockets raced towards them. Their eyes widened in anticipation, their mouths watering to see the big boom and flying bodyparts.

None of them expected a wall of water to rise up and take the brunt of the impact, showering the entire area in water. And they did not expect four very pissed off pirates charge at them from four different directions.

Gin, using his tonfa's; no thanks to the desert mucking up his firearms, and there was no way he was firing his newly acquired pistol without cleaning it first. So he was down to his melee weapons, and that was fine with him. He met the first Baroque Works agent with a snarl on his sunburned face, the man screamed and held up his bazooka to block his spinning weapons.

The tonfa with the cannonball welded on the end of it struck the bazooka and broke through it. Steel and wood flew from the strike, the Millions agent looked on in shock before the second spinning cannonball struck his face, crushing it like an egg and sending him bleeding to the desert floor. Landing on his feet and tucking into a roll, Gin heard the crackling of gunfire and heard the bullets hitting the sand. He twirled his right tonfa and released it from his grasp.

The flying weapon struck a Baroque Works goon square in the chest, launching him backwards and crashed into his fellow, who then crashed into a third person until they came to a stop, landing in a broken heap.

"Three in one, not bad." Smirking at his enemies he burst forwards, scooping up his discarded tonfa and began spinning them at high velocity once again. Five Millions members dropped their empty rifles, three pulled out swords, two pulled out pistols and fired at near point blank range.

Gin should have been done for, shot dead to rights, but somehow he saw the bullets flying in his direction, and with a fast thinking movement he dived under the bullets and struck the two pistoleers in the stomach with his tonfa's, ending them squealing to the ground, snapped to his feet and kicked the hilt of and upraising sword and delivered a face full of iron. He then blocked two descending swords with the length of his weapon and delivered quick, crushing jabs to their windpipes, sending the the desert sands in agony.

Sweating buckets and panting from the heat, Gin gave the ten Baroque Works Millions agents a demonic glare. Slowly he advanced towards them, spinning his tonfa's angrily to the point he was kicking up sand. "I was thrown up on, was nearly eaten by a big ass spider, cut in half by a giant scorpion, and almost blown up by you jerks. And to top it off my face is stinging me, you are not going to die a pleasant death!"

"We're not afraid of you Demon Man!" A extremely burly rocketeer shouted. Hefting his reloaded rocket launcher he aimed and fired.

Gin only smirked and dodged out of the way at the last second before sprinting at the group of ten. His speed shocked them, two members fell with their throats caved in, another fell when his chest exploded inwards, another had half his skull smashed like a pumpkin.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" The burly rocketeer cursed out, he tried reloading his weapon as fast as he could, pushing the exploding shell down the barrel and resetting the fuse and gunpowder in his shaking hands. "Come on...come on, I just need to reload..."

"Ahem."

The burly man looked up from his position to see a scowling Gin looking at him. The nine people that were fighting to hold the demonic man off were all lying dead in the sand, wet blood dripped off the cannonballs and the veteran sailor's glaring eyes caused him to drop his weapon. "M-mer-cy..." He pleaded as he began to raise his hands.

"Hell no." Gin smashed the side of his head with a brutal swing, the thug let out a pitiful death rattle before falling to the ground the top of his head coming off and spilling blood and brain matter into the sand.

Lightly cracking his neck, Gin looked at the loaded bazooka and smirked. "I've never used one of these before."

---

(With Shizune)

"Prepared Needle Shot!" Throwing back her right kimono sleeve Shizune pulled the strings on her Wrist-Mounted Senbon Launcher, and the poisoned senbon needles flew from the device. She watched as her needles impacted three members, one single Baroque Works member got a needle in the thigh, but two others got two needles each in their torsos.

"My...my body." One of the minions gasped out, clutching his throat like he was gasping for air.

Shizune ignored them gasping for air, and unsheathed her tanto, pulled out a poison bomb and sprinted towards her enemies. Rifles and pistols were aimed in her general direction. The doctor didn't blink as she threw her ceramic ball at the nearest enemy when the wind began to pick up.

Thick purple smoke engulfed the Millions agents, men and women breathed in the poisonous fumes and screamed in agony. The wind blew the smoke cloud over an opposite sand dune away from the fight to reveal at least ten dead bodies littering the ground while a few others were hacking to try and breathe.

Shizune honestly had no intention of allowing them to catch their breaths. Gripping the hilt of her tanto the young woman continued on towards them, she ran past a kneeling woman gripping her throat and cut the back of her spine, severing her brainstem. Her next target was a large man, trying to aim his bazooka at Naruto of all people. With a swipe of her sharp weapon she severed the External cartoid artery, a spray of blood erupted from his neck and he fell to the sands.

"You harlot!" An enraged agent fired at her, but his gun clicked from the sand stuck in the flashpan. Growling he tossed it away and moved to grab a mace when he felt cold steel resting on his neck. He gulped and a cold sweat rolled down his face. "S-some doctor you are."

"There is a reason I am a doctor." Shizune coldly stated. "I am supposed to heal the body, I am supposed to save lives. But the world we live in is cruel, my kind would not survive on the seas if we didn't know how to fight." She pressed the deadly steel against the side of his neck. "So we learn the major points of the body, their strengths and weaknesses, where the organs and major arteries are to save a life..." She then sliced through his neck and he fell to the ground. "Or take it as painlessly as possible."

The sound of clicking guns brought her back to the situation, ten more men and women with guns. She moved to grab another poison bomb to throw, when to her great surprise, the group was struck by a exploding shell, engulfing them all in a fiery blast that sent bodyparts flying into the air.

Shizune looked towards the source and spotted a smirking Gin waving at her with one of the enemies bazooka's on his shoulder.

"Warn me next time you're going to shoot something in my direction!" She screamed at the First Mate.

"Then I wouldn't have been able to hit them!" Gin loudly replied.

The younger woman couldn't repress a sigh before wiping her forehead. "Thank you anyways."

---

(With Bashura)

Wasting absolutely no time, Bashura threw his harpoon and morphed into his panther form. However instead of turning into his ten foot tall humanoid panther form, the Catman morphed into a eight foot tall, sleeker version of his panther form. He still wore his black best, red pants, but had lost his sandals in the process, and his trademark top hat.

"Zoan-user, aim for his legs!" Cried one of the rocketeers. Aiming his massive weapon he fired on the Navigator of the Ocean Sword Pirates.

Bashura easily moved out of the way of the soaring missile, the shock waves of the explosion made his fur ripple, but the heat from it was unpleasant. Bounding on all four feet, he moved in a zig-zag pattern, his ears twitching from the bullets whizzing by him. He came upon the first fool with a smoking barrel, the Baroque Works member dropped it and tried pulling out his katana, but was instead buried under four-hundred pounds of muscle.

With a swipe of his claws, Bashura tore the poor man's face off. He then bounded off of him, growling as a bulled clipped his leg and sprang a distance of twenty feet in under two seconds. "Panther Burst!" He attacked the Baroque Works goon, clawing his face and them bounded off his shoulders. He clawed the second unfortunate victim's chest wide open before ricocheting off of his falling corpse and tackled the third one, crushing his chest under his weight before leaping off him with a burst of speed and mauled the fourth one by clamping his jaws around his throat.

Five rocketeers frantically reloaded their bazookas, watching as their comrades were mutilated by this beast from hell. In a union all five raised their weapons aimed and fired. They watched as the explosive rounds flew through the air and impacted the area around Bashura. Sure six of their own were blown to kingdom come, but if they took the demonic panther with them they it was worth the sacrifice.

"Is that all?" They heard a voice from the area of destruction, the wind blew to reveal a singed, humanoid Bashura glaring at them with his yellow eyes. In his large left hand was the body, or what was left of it.

"Shit, that probably saved his ass. Reloa-" The led rocketeer's command was cut short when the head of Bashura's hatchet buried halfway into his skull.

"To sacrifice your own comrades...I will never forgive you!" Remembering the incident with the late Captain Kuro who gleefully slaughtered his own comrades burned within him, and witnessing those five do the exact same thing just burned him. Without another word he morphed into his sleek panther form and bolted on all four legs at them.

Dropping their large weapons the remaining four lit and threw grenados, the explosives hit the area around the Zoan-user, pelting his flak with shrapnel, but the Catman didn't seem to notice or care. His feral gaze was transfixed on the foursome, the urge to primal instinct in him urging him to spill their blood!

Bashura leaped the rest of the distance, crossing his forearms into an X shape and snarled, "Panther King's Claw!" Carving eight deep cuts into his first victim from shoulder to hip, watching his green eyes widen in shock and fall to the bloody sands, the Zoan-user used him as a springboard and bounded high into the air, disappearing into the sun.

Due to the glare in their eyes the second victim didn't see a human Bashura descending like a bomb. "Falling Mountain!" The Catman called out, delivering a catastrophic elbow drop onto his opponent's head, cracking it like a coconut.

Morphing into his sleek panther form at the drop of a dime, he dodged dual pistol shots from his third opponent. An infamous panther howl escaped from his mouth before he whipped his tail at him, first he disarmed him, then wrapped it around his neck tightly. "Binding Python." Bashura growled, with a jerk of his tail he snapped the thug's neck like a twig.

"M-monster, s-ta-y back! Stay back!" The last Baroque Works agent screamed out. Unsheathing his sword he waved it like it was some sort of burning stick.

"The only monster I see is you!" Swatting the sword out of his hand, Bashura grabbed the man by the scruff of his shirt, unsheathed the dagger at his belt and slid it between his ribs. He struck the heart and the man died in his grasp.

After letting go Bashura sighed looking at the devastation around him, a waste of human life. But once the combat high wore off he felt the hot sands under his feet. "Ouch! Ow! Dangit! Ow!"

The Catman began bouncing on the sands towards his forgotten sandals, his somber mood all but forgotten.

---

(With Naruto)

"I cannot believe you tried to blow me up." Naruto growled at the remaining Baroque Works agents. Placing his left hand on his gills he slowly breathed through his nose to get the much needed oxygen into his lungs. His chest was burning, the clothing he wore clung to his body from the accumulated sweat, even Saibannin Kayiouumi felt heavy in his hands.

His condition did not go unnoticed by the Baroque Works members. "Yes, but it doesn't look like you're doing so good there fishie. A little green around the gills?" One of them asked.

"I am just fine, never better actually." Naruto gritted out.

"Right and I am a longlegs!" The shortest member of the bunch laughed out before he, and ten of his fellows aimed their rifles, and fired. They knew he would be slow to react, the fishman was exhausted, he was history.

The blonde simply hid his body behind the axe head, the sounds of the bullets pinging and ricocheting off it caused him to pivot on his right foot, exposing himself for a brief second before launching the ball and chain at the nearest enemy.

The iron ball struck the unfortunate man, caving in his chest and sending him backwards. Naruto simply flicked the chain to the right, watching the iron ball smack into a second Millions agent, tearing his lower jaw right off while the chain bifurcated two more and destroyed the bazooka of another.

"You son of a whore!" Roared the last rocketeer. Aiming his massive weapon he fired off his explosive charge. His target was still weak, regular bullets wouldn't have been able to stop him, but he couldn't block an explosive. He was finished!

"My mother was a saint!" Naruto snarled. He threw Saibannin Kayiouumi at the projectile with all his strength. The axe head struck the exploding round, and exploded like ten pounds of dynamite, obscuring the area in smoke and sand.

When the smoke cleared and the dust settled, Naruto was nowhere to be seen. That put them all on alert, he couldn't have been too far, they checked to their left, their right, behind them, up to the sky, and then...

The sand below one of the few remaining riflemen erupted under his feet, and falling prey to Naruto's Shredding Shark technique where the blonde spun, resembling a mini-tornado of teeth and was turned into hamburger meat. Using his dorsal fin to maneuver himself downwards, Naruto began rotating forward, building up extreme speed and momentum until he slammed into the ground with both his heels

"Double Spiral Axe Kick!" Instead of using this technique to obliterate an opponent, Naruto instead used it to cause a shock wave, shifting the sands on the dune to make his opponents loose their balance and fall, allowing the blonde a few precious seconds to sprint towards them.

A bearded agent managed to get to his feet and block the fishman's punch with his cutlass. Unfortunately for him he was ignorant of Fishman Karate, or the kinetic force generated from it. Unlike the fight with Mr. 5 when he was super pissed off, Naruto was calm as can be and generated the kinetic force, shattering his blade and created a massive indent in his stomach that ruptured his organs.

Grabbing the bearded man by his jacket, the blonde then threw him like a living missile into a second rifleman. A familiar crack echoed in his ears when the bodies struck each other and fell down the hill in a broken heap, and he bolted towards the third, opening the fingers of his right hand until they were spread wide and curved like shark teeth.

"Ripping Shark Jaw Palm!" Naruto shouted as his fingers connected with the sternum of his third victim, and like Mr. 3's candle armor, he tore away his entire chest, spattering his head in crimson. The fourth one dropped his rifle and tried to run away, but Naruto, against his better judgment formed a single drop of water, combined with a massive amount of sweat in his right hand and threw it at the retreating figure.

He watched at the Water Shot struck his back and he toppled into the sand with a clear hole gaping through his chest. The blonde fishman then turned towards the very last one, the asshole who called his dearly departed mother a whore. Glaring at him he began walking towards him, his fists clenched in anger.

"Don't you dare come any closer!" The rocketeer shouted. While the blonde was massacring his fellow agents, he managed reload his bazooka one last time and aimed it at him. "If you do I will blow the both of us to hell!"

"I've seen hell, and it doesn't look like this." Naruto bitterly replied as the memories of his days in the Fishman District began to surface. "It could be a lot colder though, fuck this heat!"

"It'll be a lot hotter where you're going boy, and I'm taking ya with me!" Bordering on hysterics, the rocketeer fired off his explosive charge and fully expected a firestorm to engulf the both of them.

Instead Naruto ducked under the explosive charge and used the last of his remaining energy to get face-to-face with the Millions Agent. "This is what you get for calling my mom a whore! Thousand Tile Shatter Fist!" The blonde punched his foe right in the stomach, after making contact he fully formed his hand into a fist putting more power behind the attack, sending a great deal of kinetic force through his opponent's body, shattering several bones and turning his guts into jelly. He watched as his opponent's eyes bulged, blood erupted from his mouth and he fell over with a croaking death rattle.

"That's what you get you bastard." Naruto coughed out and grabbed his throat. By the love of Poseidon it felt like sandpaper! He grabbed his canteen and finished off the last of his water, barely relieving himself of his tortured throat.

"Cap'n! Cap'n, you all right!" He heard Bashura calling out to him and turned to see that the three made it through the fight without too much trouble. Sure there was some blood on them, but that was to be expected.

"Naruto." Shizune was the first to his side, looking at him carefully. "Are you okay? You don't look well."

"I'm fine, just a little exhausted from pulling that water out to protect us." Naruto half-lied to her. He was more than exhausted, he felt freaking drained.

"Without it we would have been nothing but meat. How did you manage to do that." Gin asked.

"Hell if I know, I just felt the water underneath us...way underneath us. I doubt I could pull that off a second time if I tried."

"Speaking of water, I think we need to get to finding some." Bashura raised his his canteen up and shook it. The thing made a weak rattling noise signaling he was running on empty.

"Agreed, I will need it to clean your wounds." Shizune lightly said, tapping her foot on the ground and crossing her arms at the Catman.

"All right first things first, find some water. If any of these assholes got any, take it and divide it up among ourselves. And I may need to change my damn clothes while I'm at it." Naruto said, looking at his ruined outfit.

"You're a very messy person." Gin lightly commented.

"Shut up Gin."

---

"They...they lost. The Explosion Corps were defeated by four people." The lone scout reported, his voice hitched in shock to his superiors. (6)

Mr. 10's eyes were wide like dinner plates, his knees knocking as the area below them were stained with the blood of his Millions Members. "Highly trained...the best weapons money could buy. It's illogical."

"But it happened." Miss Tuesday clenched her fists in response.

"I told you not to underestimate them." Miss All-Sunday remarked as she crossed her arms under her impressive chest. "Uzumaki Naruto is considered one of the most dangerous Fishmen since the time of Fisher Tiger, and Gin is on his way to be one of the most dangerous men on the sea, and that is just what I have seen so far." She then looked towards the Frontier Agents. "What are you going to do now?"

"That's obvious, we're going to cut our losses and report to Mr. 0 at once." Mr. 10 replied, clenching his fists until his knuckles popped. "He will use his powers to wipe them out."

"Is that so?" The partner to their leader lightly asked before turning towards Miss Tuesday. "Do you agree as well?"

"I do, I know when we're outmatched. At least we will get credit for revealing a threat towards our leader." Miss Tuesday said.

"I see..." Closing her eyes Miss All-Sunday crossed her arms over her chest in a X shape, and to the Frontier Agent's and their lone scouts horror, two slender pairs of arms emerged from their shoulders and the hands clamped around their necks. "Treinta Fleur: Strangle."

"M-M-iss All-Sun-day...why?" Mr. 10 barely managed to gasp out.

"Because I cannot allow you to report any of this to Crocodile." Miss All-Sunday coolly replied, saying their leaders real name as a third arm sprouted from Miss Tuesday's side and unsheathed her sword. "You see, I have no interest in what he is doing in this country. I'm only here for one thing and one thing only...except I cannot leave when I'm done because of those in the organization who have seen my face."

She then used the third arm to plunge the sword through Miss Tuesday's chest and broke the neck of the scout, leaving only her and Mr. 10. "Luckily for most of the Baroque Works agents, I am usually by Crocodile's side so I don't have to interact with them at all. But unfortunately for you..." She stopped realizing that all life had left the Frontier Agent's body, causing her to sadly smile. "You were unlucky enough to see my face, and that is why your organization must fall so I can fade away again."

Releasing her technique, causing the bodies to fall to the sand. Miss All-Sunday then looked down at the area where the black-haired doctor was bandaging the large, savage-looking man. She also saw Gin rooting through the corpses, taking anything that was of value. But then she settled her eyes on Naruto, sitting on a sand dune looking quite pained.

A smile rooting on her face, Miss All-Sunday decided another appearance was in order.

---

"All right, so far I managed to pilfer two-thousand beli off those corpses, not a bad take if I say so myself."

"Dammit Gin, you're almost as bad as that orange-haired woman on the Straw Hat crew." Naruto barked out at his First Mate. Seriously, the man was a pirate but he was starting to worry him with his kleptomaniac-like attitude. "We need water, did you find any at all?"

"Some." Gin help up only five canteens and rattled them. "These were all I could find that had any sort of water in them. It might be enough to fill up one if we're greedy, or one fourths of ours if we're careful."

"It will have to do, if what Igaram told us was true then this certainly is a drought of the ages." Bashura lightly winced when Shizune dabbed his cuts with disinfectant. "Ow, careful."

"You got sand in your wounds Bashura, I need to get it out somehow." Shizune replied before repeating the action.

Naruto barely held in a cough as he pulled his blood stained keffiyeh off his head. With all the crimson he was surprised any green showed at all and tossed it away before putting an orange one on his head. He then tore his desert coat off and put a new tan one of from one of Shizune's poisoned victims, since hers were less bloodier than his and this crew mates.

Wait did he just think of them as crew mates? Dammit! He blamed Ace for making him think that when they were talking, or the horrible heat.

Yea it was definitely the heat.

Bashura suddenly perked his head up in alarm. "Cap'n, someone approaches."

Before Naruto could reply, a light clapping sound caused him to turn his head, and to his surprise he saw Miss All-Sunday slowly walking towards them, clapping her well manicured hands with a smile on her face. "That was an impressive performance Mr. Sword of the Sea. They did not even stand a chance."

"Who the hell are you!?" Gin began twirling his tonfa's, building up enough speed to make the sand fly in a small tornado.

"Stand down Gin, I know her." Naruto then paused to reconsider his words. "Well I met her on Whiskey Peak. You know how Igaram survived that explosion, well she would have saved him if I didn't do it first, but she got me away from the explosion much faster with...her devil fruit ability."

"Oh my, and here I thought you would have forgotten about little old me by now." Miss All-Sunday remarked as she stopped several feet away from them. "I am glad though, how's that lighter treating you?"

"I use it whenever I can." The blonde warily replied, unconsciously he patted his hip pouch where he kept the gold plated zippo lighter with the Baroque Works Jolly Roger engraved on it, at least five cigars, some training tape and the black sack Hody gave him. "Why are you here, did you organize this ambush?"

"No, I was sent to observe from Crocodile." Miss All-Sunday replied, casually using her bosses name after tucking back some of her hair behind her ear. "It was Mr. 10 and Miss Tuesday who initiated the attack. They won't bother anyone again."

"You killed them?" Bashura demanded and tensed up in suspicion.

"I had to, they saw my face Mr. Kitty." She said, causing the savage Navigator to balk at the nickname. "They weren't good people I can promise you this, they will not be missed."

"Then how will you explain their absence, you're going to report to your boss, aren't you?" Shizune demanded.

"Of course, I will tell him they died, but by who...well lets just say they got too cocky and attacked without me being present. Sadly I arrived to see only the aftermath, and the attackers long gone." Miss All-Sunday placed her hand on her chest, pretending to grieve their passing. "Oh how will we be able to replace them?"

Naruto only narrowed his eyes, appearing fox-like with his interesting birthmarks on his face. "What is your game here? You want Crocodile to fail?"

"His interests towards this country is completely different from mine, he wants to rule it, I however wish to find something in it." She vaguely explained. "Unfortunately he wants to find it as well, and he will kill me once I find it, and I want to live to a healthy old age. So I have secretly been giving information to Nefeltari Vivi, exposing the organization for it to be taken down one way or another so I can disappear."

"And why are you telling us this?" Gin demanded suspiciously.

"Because you are capable of destroying it along with the Straw Hat crew." Miss All-Sunday simply replied with a smile on her pretty face. "The only thing I ask in return is that you don't mention to anyone that you saw me. It would make things terribly difficult for me if you do."

"And what is in it for us?" Bashura said. "That's how this works correct, you scratch my back and I scratch yours?"

"You're a smart one Mr. Kitty." Miss All-Sunday then reached under her long coat and pulled out four full canteens and tossed one each to the four of them. "To begin, you all get full canteens of precious, lifesaving water. The three I took them from won't need them anymore." She then gave Naruto a light wink indicating the one he had was hers, causing him to blink in surprise. "And second, it looks like you all could use some directions." Reaching into her jacket pocket she pulled out a folded piece of paper, shaped it into an airplane and lightly tossed it to Shizune.

Catching it, the doctor quickly unfolded it and saw that it was a map. "A map of Alabasta? Why would you give this to me?"

"You are the navigator aren't you?"

Shizune frowned and pointed towards Bashura, causing Miss All-Sunday to smile apologetically. "I apologize, you just seemed the type to be the navigator." She broke out of it soon enough before looking back towards Naruto. "And lastly, in my possession is a map that leads to some buried treasure. You're going to need it if you ever want to fix that ship of yours. After all, a ship that can't sail is worthless."

Naruto frowned at her, but try as he might he could not come up with a single thing to deny her words. Unfortunately The Nautilus was on her last legs, Kuro really didn't take good care of her, nor was she any better under their care with the crap they've gone through so far. And who knew how much it would take to repair her, but he bet it was much more than what they got from the bounties of Arlong and Don Krieg combined.

As Captain of the ship he had to make the tough decisions, even if he didn't like them himself. "Fine, after all this is said and done, you hand over this map you got, and if I find out you've screwed me-"

Miss All-Sunday only smiled in response. "I am a woman of my word, Mr. Sword of the Sea." Naruto's tick mark on his forehead only made her even more amused. "I promise you on my real name that it will be hand delivered to you in person."

"And what is your real name?" Naruto demanded.

"Ah-ah, spoilers." Miss All-Sunday then crossed her arms across her chest in an X shape and said. "Cien Fleur: Wing." Hundreds upon hundreds of arms sprouted from her back, a strong gust of wind then lifted her off the ground and she literally flew away from them.

"What a weird woman." Naruto said once the second top member of the Baroque Works organization disappeared over the horizon. He then turned towards the remaining three looking him with indignation. "I guess I got some explaining to do, don't I?"

"No shit Uzumaki." Gin said for all three of them.

---

(Alabasta – Several hours later)

After a minor interrogation session the party of four were off again, full canteens of water at their sides, a lot more money in Gin's pocket, and a map to take them towards Yuba. And unlike before when they were heading in just a general direction, running into gigantic animals that wanted to eat them for lunch, they followed a well drawn route. The sun and sands were still harsh, Naruto himself had already finished off half the canteen Miss All-Sunday gave him, but as the sun began to set and the night beginning to descend upon the desert, they spotted their destination.

"I cannot believe I am actually happy to see a building." Gin panted out. He brought his lips to his canteen to parch his dry throat before capping it. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

"Hey no fair, you got a head start!" Bashura barked out before chasing after the veteran pirate.

"Hey! Don't run, you could get engulfed by quicksand!" Shizune yelled out, and took off after them.

Naruto stayed behind, glad to be alone for a minute before uncapping his canteen and spilling a pool of water in to his right hand, he applied them to his gills. "Oh thank Poseidon!" He gasped out before taking three large gulps and capping it again. "Fucking sand, fucking heat...fucking desert." He slowly breathed out before following after them.

Being the last to arrive he saw the literal ghost town Yuba had become. The village was large in size, but deserted, the palm trees drooping like they were dead, and buildings covered by sand. It didn't help that there were multiple holes around the area as well, almost like someone painstakingly dug them.

"What the hell happened here?" Shizune asked.

"Drought, that's what happened here." A tired voice alerted them.

Turning around to attack whatever it was, they were put off by the appearance of a shriveled up old man carrying a shovel. He had an elderly looking face, and a thick fuzzy white mustache. He wore a white wrap around his head, and another grey wrap around his forehead, black robes that were torn in some places, and a green robe underneath with a dark red lining. Under that, he wore a vertically striped black and white shirt, turquoise sash with blue dots and well worn sandals.

Despite their threatening looks the old man smiled at them. "Greetings, I am Toto, the Mayor of Yuba."

"Uh..." A little put off that an old man of all people snuck up on them, Naruto cleared his dry throat. "Hello, I am Uzumaki Naruto. These are my crew mates, Shizune, Gin and Bashura." He said, introducing them in that order. "Is this what is happening to your country?"

"For three full years." Toto tiredly admitted. Leaning on his shovel Shizune saw exactly how tired he was, malnourished and dehydrated. She was surprised that he was still standing. "Alabasta wasn't always like this, we had twelve storms a year, supplying us with plenty of water...but now it's all dried up, just like the hope of the people." He was silent after that before perking up. "Sorry, just the thoughts of a tired old man. Come, come, you all must be tired. I don't got much but at least you'll stay warm this evening."

"Being warm is the least of our problems, we want to get cooler." Bashura groaned out.

"Ha! You're first timers here aren't you? The desert can reach freezing temperatures at night, instead of boiling alive you could very well freeze to death." Toto exclaimed before grabbing Shizune's kimono sleeve and began leading them towards a brightly lit hut.

"Hey! Don't get handsie with our doctor!" Naruto called after the old man.

"Oh so now you care." Gin said before walking past him. Even Bashura gave the blonde a quiet, sideways glance before following after the First Mate.

"God dammit." The blonde palmed his reddening face, wincing from such a stupid action before slowly following after them. One little thing he didn't mention to them, one little thing and they're acting like he stabbed them in the back with a trident. Whatever it wasn't his problem they were overreacting, he didn't think mentioning Miss All-Sunday was necessary at the time, and no one freaking died because of it. So what was the damn problem? Did he have to explain that to those four nitwits? Fuck that! (7)

"Ah, it's good to have people in the village again, you know you're the second group to come by today." Toto happily exclaimed, and by the sound of it he had not had much to be happy about in a long time.

"...Who was the first?" Gin warily asked, even though he knew the answer.

Instead of telling him with words, the Mayor opened the door to a very large home, revealing Zoro leaning back against the wall in boredom, Sanji making up a large dinner while making heart-shaped eyes at their Navigator. Usopp was telling an extravagant story/lie to what looked like a start struck...toddler-sized, humanoid reindeer? While Nami herself was chatting with Vivi.

Fuck.

"Hello everyone, I brought more guests!" Toto announced to the Straw Hat Pirates.

"Ah, it's you guys again." Zoro said with a bit of surprise.

"Oh no..." Nami hung her head in dread.

"Ah, more mouths to feed." Sanji stated.

"Who are they?" The reindeer asked a wide-eyed Usopp.

"Naruto?" It was Vivi who had the most visible reaction as she sprang to her feet in surprise, and looked straight at the blonde fishman with warmth in her grey eyes.

"Excuse me, coming through." Naruto and the rest were rudely shoved out of the way as Luffy, carrying a shovel barged through the entrance and turned towards them in confusion. "Hmm, who are you guys?"

Aw double fuck.

---

(Ryugu Kingdom, Hard-Shell Tower – Meanwhile)

Once again it was time for Princess Shirahoshi's scrying session as Madame Shyarly liked to call it. Hovering on a bubble chair, the Mako shark mermaid was greeted by the newest, and more competent pair of guards to date.

One was a kind-looking, tan-skinned, Goblin Shark fishman with a bandanna covering his brown hair that was combed down to obscure his right eye, leaving his black left one to stare right at her. He was clad in the armor of the Ammo Knights that consisted of large striped spiral shells as helmets and shoulder pads, yet oddly he decided to forgo the helmet, and instead of a trident he carried two giant curved, elongated and single-edged, kunai's with two wraps around the hilts, and one even had a chain on it.

The second one was a little more intimidating, but polite-looking tan-skinned sawshark fishman with long, spiky, black hair and dark eyes. Curiously enough he had a strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose and a light blue-colored marking on his chin. Like his companion he wore the same armor, but his choice of weapon was just as odd since it resembled a conch shell with numerous sharp protrusions all over its surface and a marking in the center that resembled an eye. Its hilt was also wrapped in bandages, and a chain connected the mace to the base of the hilt.

When Madame Shyarly first saw them, she thought that they were an odd bunch, but King Neptune wouldn't have them guard his only daughter if they weren't dependable.

"Ah, Madame Shyarly has it been a week already?" Izumo greeted the owner of the Mermaid Cafe with a toothy smile.

"Man, time sure flies by when you're having fun, eh?" Kotetsu continued, smiling in the same manner.

"My business does allow some sort of pleasure when I work." Shyarly admitted with a small, but polite nod at the two. "You two are always invited when you get the chance of course."

"We might just do that when our shift ends in a couple of hours. I think Raido and Genma are next?" Kotetsu asked his partner.

"It's either them or Aoba and Iwashi. Either way, the Princess will be well protected." Izumo then saw something coming over the horizon and frowned. "Uh-oh, got another one incoming. Kotetsu it's your turn." (8)

"Really? I thought you were next." The sawshark fishman replied.

"No I did it last time when you had to go to the bathroom, remember?" The Goblin Shark fishman coolly said.

"Oh yea. Right, sorry Madame Shyarly, I'm afraid I must delay you for just a moment." Gripping the hilt of his Conch Shell Mace, Kotetsu detached it from his armor and swinging it with all his might the fishman threw it at the flying axe, and the protrusions on the mace spread out to form wing-like appendages and it flew at the weapon like a speeding bullet.

Shyarly watched in wonderment when the weapon struck the axe head and shattered it into useless steel. "My, that was an impressive display."

"You should see how I bring it back." Bringing his right hand out Kotetsu made a few hand gestures, and his weapon flew back towards him. Balling his hand into a fist the weapon reverted back into its usual state and he grabbed it by the hilt and smoothly locked it onto his back.

"Show off." Izumo lightly commented before bringing his hands to the the bars off the door and pried it open. "There you go Madame Shyarly, we'll be here when you're ready to depart."

"Thank you Izumo." The Mako shark mermaid thanked him before moving her bubble chair into the massive tower.

Once she was inside the dim lights illuminated the place to reveal Princess Shirahoshi waking up from what looked like a nap, and cuddling Megalo, the very pampered Megalodon shark like he was some sort of cat.

"Ah, Madame Shyarly! Is it time?" Shirahoshi beamed in happiness.

"Indeed it is Princess, lets see what that brother of yours is up to this day." Bringing up her crystal ball and placing it upon her lap, Madame Shyarly placed her manicured fingers to the smooth surface and hummed loudly, calling upon the cosmos and supernatural forces to reveal an image in her crystal ball.

The strawberry-haired princess' blue eyes widened at such an exotic scenery. "What is this place, it look so...so..." She struggled to describe the place. "Grainy."

"Apparently Naruto is in a desert area, this is quite unusual since our kind usually stays near water." Shyarly replied, hiding the concern in her voice as she observed the area. This was highly unusual, but then again her former helper was unusual himself. "Lets see where we can find him."

Using her fingers the owner of the Mermaid Cafe scrolled over the small area where the blonde was located. She frowned seeing that the area was deserted, lacking any life that she could see before centering on a large lit house. Lightly humming she zoomed in until she found their target.

The two mermaids then saw the blonde looking quite tired, and surrounded by humans, and a small reindeer. He was with the ones they saw earlier, Gin, Bashura, and even Shizune when they watched him fight one of their own species from her a few weeks ago to save the live of his First Mate. Never before did Shirahoshi smile so big, nor did Neptune look prouder.

Now however she felt a...tension between the four, something obviously happened to show a bit of distrust towards the blonde. But their eyes settled on the scene between him and a blue-haired woman looking at him with surprise, but radiating warmth and happiness.

"Madame Shyarly, who is that girl? Why is she so happy to see Onii-chan?" Shirahoshi asked in confusion.

"I don't know, lets take a closer look." Shyarly replied, as she stared intently at the image.

---

Armageddon: Hello my loyal readers, pirates and all. I'm sorry that me and the cast don't have interesting commentary, but all of us are recovering from our alcohol and cocaine induced firework accident that leveled ten square blocks of our complex and hospitalized us for the time being. Don't you worry now, none of us are dead, plus the sexy nurses have been taking very good care of us until we're back on our feet the next story which shall be Hell Sharingan V2. So enjoy your day and don't combine cocaine and liquor, because it won't end well for you like it did us...well hello Nurse.

(1) Am I the only one who wonders how the Den Den Mushi are made? I mean they have the same characteristics as the characters, but we are never showed how. I got a theory and will write it out, but it won't happen in this arc.

(2) There you go, they are called the Ocean Sword Pirates. That name had been in the works since chapter three between Agurra and I, and it shall not be changed.

(3) As far as I know trapdoor spiders are in the desert, and frankly those things scare the hell out of me, especially if they ever become giant spiders.

(4) If you know where that is from, you get an honorable mention in the next Spiraling Shark chapter!

(5) Those two are not OC's, or Naruto characters. They are actually members, sketches though by Eiichiro Oda himself but not ever shown in the series. I don't know of their abilities, or characteristics...but I guess it does not matter now does it? I just made them relevant and filled in the color. And I mean actual color since sketches are black and white.

(6) Yes because this is a crossover I decided to add in something from Naruto too. Sorry but Gari is not in it because his powers are used by Mr. 5, and I want to keep this close to One Piece as possible. The Kekkei Genkai's could very well be used as Devil Fruits, though that will be rare and far in-between.

(7) Like you, I have watched shows like...say Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and other shows where secrets are kept and when they are eventually revealed through force, or something everyone is freaking offended, hurt, feeling betrayed, etc. And then we usually see the aftermath, sometimes major things happened, sometimes nothing happened or nothing bad happened, but they still make a big deal about it. And my thoughts are "You got pissed over nothing, if a character has something that he or she does not want revealed, and nothing happens, don't act like it was the biggest betrayal ever you numb-nuts." So I am having Naruto relate to that nonsense.

(8) And like I said before this is a crossover, some Naruto characters will appear. I figured the eternal Chunin/Hokage's aids/Gate guards Izumo and Kotetsu would be perfect for this story. And yes Aoba, Genma, Raido and Iwashi will make an appearance every so often. Though how often I honestly cannot say.

Side Note: Ah and a special note, before you get mad about Robin being cold and ruthless, remember she has been on the run since she was eight, joined countless organizations, and each one of them fell because of her. Not to mention the CP9 thing, so strangling someone to death, or breaking their backs shouldn't phase her because that was what she had to do to survive. After all she is supposed to be a bad-ass woman.

Update: 7-29-16: Um, hello folks. If any of you are wondering about my damn spelling and grammar errors. I will have to tell you I was lacking internet at the time, and I do most of my writings while researching the material as well like say Robin's attack names for this chapter, character descriptions, arc plots, etc era. So I had to go to a...ugh public place to do that and write at the same time. Stuff fell through the cracks, and for that I apologize, but three hours is not enough time since that is my battery life. Ah well thanks to Seta88 pointing my stuff out I finally fixed the major stuff and added in more stuff to fill in any blanks. Well take care.