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?

25. Rumble in Alabasta: Setting Sail Again

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. But I wish I did...actually I don't because I am not that creative. I mean a talking skeleton and reindeer? Who comes up with that?

"Talk" Talking.

'Think' Thinking.

---

The person I am going to introduce you to is "Blood-Soaked" Kotetsu, he was the very first person to join me after I killed Arlong. I found him on an island. A deserted island...full of butchered Marines, I counted at least a hundred cut open like cattle and their weapons broken. Then I met Kotetsu, our first meeting was him putting a sword to my throat.

At first I thought he was another Marine, but then he attacked me with what I could only call tired desperation. He was on his last legs, tired as hell and looking like he had not eaten in a week. I managed to get his sword away from my neck, but he...well disappeared, he was fast, really fast. I cannot tell you how fast he was; I can however tell you it was from a devil fruit called the Quick-Quick Fruit that makes him a...Quick man...or a Speedster I think. But he ran out of steam in the middle of the fight and I headbutted him soon afterwards, he became hysterical (Which I found very strange, I barely stopped bleeding two days after my fight with Arlong after all and I wasn't acting crazy), but then he became absolutely psychotic.

He swore worse than a sailor, and he tried cutting me open to watch me bleed out. Apparently he also liked receiving pain as much as he loved giving it. I swear we would have fought to the death, either he chopped me up or I destroyed his body or used Kiribachi or Saibannin Kayiouumi to cleave him asunder. It was only to the misfortune of Captain Stark of the Thirteenth Division of the Marines to try and capture him; and then me thinking I was an accomplice. Kotetsu killed his men like a butcher, he went for their arteries and vital organs so they bled out fast. I used my Piercing Water Spear attack to tear him to shreds along with thirty other Marines, and destroyed his ship...hey it was a ship killing technique, and there is nothing like kill than overkill. I even managed to get Kotetsu to sink to the bottom of the sea because of it.

I tied him to a tree and awoke him with two buckets of sea water to his face. Afterwards he spilled his guts, about how he killed a pirate called Morgan "Moonscar" McCrite (An odd name), who was "The Butcher of Bayou Island" (Never heard of it) at the cost of his best friend and a ton of men under his former unit, got promoted to Ensign and then shipped to Iron Island with the Unit Twenty-three under Vice-Admiral Doberman. Apparently he spent three years on that island becoming a better swordsman and gaining some sort of inner peace. Then it was attacked on orders from Doberman who got his orders from somewhere higher up because the island was 'Neutral' and that could not be allowed anymore. He fully admitted he did not fight until he watched every single person he grew attached to die in front of him by the combined forced of Vice-Admiral Doberman and Onigumo, then when he touched this 'Cursed Sword' called Nidai Kitetsu "Magara" the psychotic, blood-loving, insane and most evil thing I have ever seen emerged and killed everyone who got in his way.

He admitted to me that he remembers everything, and every person he killed under Magara's influence, thanks to him he ended six-hundred lives during his massacre and retreat. That's more people than I have killed, that's for damn sure. He also expected me to kill him, a part of me wanted to because...well he was trouble (And I later learned he had a sixty-five million beli bounty on his head), but I just couldn't. Queen Otohime's speeches on giving humans a chance overrode Hody's hate speeches. Kotetsu was, and still is of use to me, he knows about the Grand Line, the Marine Divisions, and other government related stuff that he was privy to for his rank. Though I still think he is somewhat of an edge lord.

We managed to find a gunboat and sail away from the carnage until a storm knocked us off course near the Gecko Islands.

That was when we met the second person who would join us. His name was Bashura, he became the Navigator who brought us to the Grand Line. I tell you I met some unique people on Fishman Island but Bashura...he is in a class of his own. Eight feet tall and tattooed from head to toe, if I were an artist I would put a picture of them in this book, but not even I am a jack of all trades.

Bashura was apart of The Black Cat Pirates under what everyone thought was the dead Captain "Kuro of a Hundred Plans", apparently he faked his death and fooled the Marines. He told me he was going to take over a place called Syrup Village after killing some heiress and retiring as a pirate for good, things went south by a person called Straw Hat, and was defeated. He went for a second try after this Straw Hat person left (Who later turned out to be none other than Monkey D. Luffy, I'll get to that later though).

They attacked us first. We stormed the ship preparing to wreck everyone on it. Bashura beat us to it by morphing into his half-panther form thanks to his devil fruit the Cat-Cat Fruit: Model Black Panther and ripping everyone in it a new asshole. Kuro something called the Shakushi to disappear in some sort of speed technique. It was...actually pathetic, he attacked everything with no sense of direction, he even killed off the last members of his crew with it. Bashura was wounded in the legs but he broke Kuro's back by using his tail to twirl in circles several times before releasing him into the ships mast. The mast did not shatter, but Kuro's back did, it was a sickeningly sweet sound.

But he would not stay down, he was overcome with bloodlust and lashed out. I stepped in and clotheslined him and broke his neck. He died with a puzzled look on his face, and I took his Cat Claws and glasses as trophies and mementos...what? I killed him, I get to take his stuff. My only regret is that we could not turn him in for a bounty since he was legally declared deceased, so we burned his body and his crews in that shitty gunboat and took his ship the Bezan Black towards Logue Town.

Those were some boring days going to our destination. We cleaned the ship from top to bottom ridding it of any blood; and trust me there was tons of blood, flesh, hair and whatever we missed with the ships old crew. Hell Kotetsu even taught me about the different types of devil fruits and their weaknesses. Man I cursed Jinbe out in private after that was over when I took Kuro's old room. Again it was my right to take it. (I cannot emphasize how mad I was at my teacher, I thought Bashura was a frigging werepanther!)

But at least three fourths of the way there we came across a little lifeboat with a body in it. That was when we met our next member, and I am glad we met him.

---

(Fishman Island)

This was possibly one of the saddest days in Jinbe's life. Dressed in a black funeral yukata the second Captain of the Sun Pirates was welcoming home twelve former members of his crew and fellow fishman. He watched as they were lowered into the ground with remorse, a few tears even leaked from his eyes when the deed was done. Removing himself from his seat the whale shark fishman opened his mouth to address the twenty or so members of his crew that showed up to pay their respects.

"Today I bury not only our former comrades, but our friends." He started out, moving his right hand to clutch some soil and tossed it into one of the graves. "Arlong, Chew, Kuroobi, Pisaro, Take, Kaneshiro, Shioyaki, Borasuki, Numan, and Okaska. We all parted on bad terms, and because of this they committed deeds that would make Queen Otohime weep if she were alive today. They were flawed and angry...but I hold myself responsible for their deaths." (1)

Jinbe turned towards her crew and bowed his gigantic body forwards before settling upright again. "As many of you already know, it was my very own pupil Uzumaki Naruto, the now infamous "Sword of the Sea" who killed them. I set him on this path to correct my error from eight years ago, I hold myself responsible for all this."

Aladine rose from his seat in protest. "Captain you don't have to hold yourself to anything, we all knew Arlong was a bad egg. He was nothing more than a cancer that made us look bad!" The goatsbeard brotula merman said.

"He's right Cap'n. Uzumaki may have done the deed, but Arlong dug his own grave years ago. Don't blame yourself!"

"Yea, Captain Jinbe you're too hard on yourself!"

Their words did not fall on deaf ears, in fact Jinbe couldn't help but feel relieved that his crew didn't blame him or his pupil for the tragedy that befell Arlong's crew. He remembered the day Arlong's head was delivered to him, and he remembered seeing the bodies for the first and last time.

Naruto fought brutally, there was no denying this. Each and every technique developed by a student in the Fishman Karate dojo were either unique to them, or in some cases passed down from master to student should he deem him worthy. Each death was messy, many were cut into pieces, shredded, poor Kaneshiro was turned into a pile of meat and organs, Chew's death was possibly the cleanest, and Kuroobi; his body was broken but he had a smile on his face. But Arlong's wounds made him feel faint after the autopsy, a shattered ribcage, all his internal organs punctured and collapsing, a giant gaping wound in his chest, his jugular vein pierced with the neck of a wine bottle, an eye gouged out and post-modem beheading.

The only body missing was that of Hatchan, and no one seemed to have been able to locate him. Jinbe held out some hope, even if it was a sliver that at least one old friend managed to survive. Breathing deeply the "Knight of the Sea" finished his eulogy.

"I bury these twelve in hopes that they are reborn and will live much kinder, more peaceful lives. This I can only pray." The sound of mournful music played after he finished. They would not be missed, this he knew. Their memory would not be kept alive, not in a good way. The Arlong Pirates would forever be remembered as the bloodthirsty pirate crew that dominated the East Blue, and they would be prime examples of what not to do. Other then him, no one shed a tear, and so the funeral ended his entire crew departed to complete the rest of their day.

Jinbe was left alone, sitting in his chair watching as the undertaker shoveled dirt into the graves, being careful to not smack his shovel on the simple tombstones that read off their names, the dates they were born and the dates they died. There was no favorite sayings, no pirate affiliation, there wasn't even a picture on their graves to give visitors a look at the deceased.

Feeling a soft manicured hand being placed on his shoulder, Jinbe turned his massive head to see Madame Shyarly softly smiling at him. "That was a wonderful eulogy, it was more than they ever deserved."

"I'm still sorry about your brother." The Shichibukai apologized before turning away. He couldn't bare to look at her knowing what Arlong's remains looked like as dirt was beginning to pile on top of his coffin.

"Arlong was the only family I had left, but he was a lousy older brother." Madame Shyarly said rather coldly. "When he had the chance to abandon me to become a pirate he did it without a second thought. We may share the same blood through our father, but other than that he is nothing to me. Just another chapter in my life that I want to be done with."

Jinbe said nothing, even he had to admit that he didn't hold much love for his former comrade. The people he would miss would be Kuroobi, Chew and the rest.

"Jinbe, mind walking me back to the cafe? I have something I want to show you." Shyarly said.

"I'm sorry Shyarly, if it's something new on the menu I'm afraid I'm just not up for it." The whale shark fishman then felt a ominous presence behind him, hesitantly he turned to see a dark shadow falling over the mako shark mermaids beautiful face.

"Jinbe..." Shyarly squeezed his shoulder until something popped. "I insist you walk me back to the cafe."

"Ah...yea sure. I suddenly felt the need for some tea anyways." The Shichibukai nervously said. Two-hundred and fifty million beli bounty, revered second Captain of the Sun Pirates, by now level ninety-one at the Fishman Karate Dojo or not, and he still did not want to cross Madame Shyarly when she was angry.

Taking her arm in his Jinbe walked, while Shyarly floated on her bubble chair back to the Mermaid Cafe. When they were out of sight the giant gravedigger tossed his shovel away. He was damn near twelve feet tall, wearing ratty clothes with one sleeve tied up to reveal that he was missing his entire right arm from the shoulder, and his left one was irredeemably weak. His sharp teeth grinned viciously before he began to walk away. "Fuguki-sensei is going to get a kick out of this. Finally Uzumaki I will have my revenge for what you did to me!" The snarling, scarred face of Skorka said before heading towards the Fishman Karate Dojo.

Meanwhile Jinbe and Madame Shyarly made their way towards the Mermaid Cafe, during the entire thirty minute walk the whale shark fishman was honestly curious what Shyarly wanted to show him. It was no secret that she was powerful in her own right with her scrying abilities and one-hundred percent predictions, perhaps it was a vision of the future? He really hoped it wasn't.

After entering the cafe the both of them were greeted by the many mermaids under Madame Shyarly's employ. They were beautiful, Jinbe could not deny any of this, but they strolled past them and into her personal room. There they were met by a young kissing gourami mermaid with a pink tail with light fins and a white dorsal fin. She was wearing a cropped yellow and pink t-shirt and carrying a orange backpack. The t-shirt was part of the Criminal fashion brand. Her green hair was parted down the middle and beautiful dark purple eyes.

The second person was an orange starfish that appeared to be stitched along his outline. His face was in the middle of his body and he was wearing a rastacap.

The third however nearly gave Jinbe a heart attack, he was bandaged up and looked a tad bit exhausted. But it was Hatchan in the flesh. "Hachi?" He asked in disbelief.

"Jinbe!" Hatchan tearfully exclaimed before he leaped from his sitting position and hugged the Sun Pirates Captain. "Waaa! I never thought I would see you again!"

Unable to help himself Jinbe wrapped his arms around his old friend and gave him a manly hug. Yes the both of them felt the octopus fishman's spine pop a bit, but neither of them cared right now. "I feared the worst, I'm so glad you were not among the casualties."

"I thought I was a goner." Hatchan admitted after the hug ended. He then gestured towards the mermaid and starfish. "But these two, they found me and fixed me up. We even had a small adventure where I met up with Macro, proposed to the woman of my dreams...then got rejected by the woman of my dreams, and opened up my floating Takoyaki 8 restaurant."

The mention of Macro brought a dark look to Jinbe's face, there was another problem he had neglected to nip in the bud when he had the chance. Macro the slaver, a fishman who had no qualms about selling his own kind into slavery was a blight on the fishman species. To think that he was apart of Fisher Tiger's crew sickened him to his stomach. He would have to deal with him and his lackeys at a later date. "I heard about everything. Hachi, I am sorry for what my student did to you."

Hatchan lightly sighed and crossed his arms in front of his torso. "Jinbe, I am not going to lie I was mad that you sent him after us and didn't come yourself." He noted the larger fishman wincing, yep he struck a nerve. "But after getting beaten by him and being shown mercy, I used my time to heal and...well I'm ashamed of what I've done. I honestly have no excuse for what I did on the Conomi Islands...especially Cocoyashi Village."

Placing his large hands on his shoulders, Jinbe sat down on the floor, forcing Hatchan to his knees. "Tell me of your misdeeds, tell me everything that lead up to you coming back home."

With tears freely falling from his eyes Hatchan told Jinbe, with both Madame Shyarly, his new friends Keimi and Pappug everything from when they landed on the Conomi Islands, to how they ransacked Cocoyashi Village, to him standing by when Arlong murdered a woman named Bell-mère, the adopted mother of Nami and Nojiko right in front of them, Genzo getting sliced up by Kuroobi, and then taking Nami as a slave and forcing her into the crew to draw maps for them along with bribing her to buy back her village for one-hundred million beli. Eight years later he told him about their fatal encounter with one Uzumaki Naruto and what he did to Chew, Kuroobi and the rest of the crew before being uppercut into the ocean during his fight. After that he told him about how Keimi and Pappug found him, and his little adventure afterwards until the present day.

Jinbe's face was unreadable, it was just as he feared when he let Arlong go. He also came to a conclusion that he hoped would help his friend. "Hatchan, from what you have told me you have not killed any human directly, but you also did not do anything to prevent their deaths either. That is unforgivable." Seeing the octopus fishman looking down and sinking to his knees, Jinbe placed his webbed hand on his forehead. "However, you are sincere that you regret your actions. And thus as your former Captain, I order you to work at your floating Takoyaki restaurant until you are unable to do so. You will never overcharge, cheat, or steal again and will always do what you think is right." He then grinned before adding. "And should I ever find myself in your area, whatever I order is on you. That is your penance."

Hatchan then cried a fountain of tears, if it wasn't such a serious moment it would have been funny watching a grown fishman bawling like a baby. Keimi hugged him from behind to try and calm him down, and Pappug hopped onto his shoulder and patted the side of his head saying 'There, there it'll be all right.' over and over again.

"Jinbe you are such a good person, no wonder Naruto offered Arlong to join you again!" Hatchan wailed out.

"What?" Jinbe pulled the bawling fishman away in confusion. "Naruto is not part of the Sun Pirates, he has never been."

"But...before Chew shot at him, he said that we had a place in the crew if they surrendered." The octopus fishman then blinked before bonking his head. "No wait...he said that he would ignore your orders if we joined his Captain." Stupid concussion messing with his thoughts.

"That's...no good. If Naruto is apart of a crew then...who?" That left a dreadful feeling in the Shichibukai's chest.

Madame Shyarly couldn't help but feel relief flutter through her chest. Hatchan was possibly the only one in her brother's crew that she even liked, he was stupid and easily fooled, but he had a good heart and she was glad it wasn't tainted. But hearing that Naruto answered to someone that he called his 'Captain' also made her feel uneasy. Perhaps it was time for another visit for Shirahoshi, she needed to keep an eye on her brother after all.

---

(Hard-Shell Tower – Thirty Minutes Later)

"Madame Shyarly, back again so soon?" Izumo asked with a curious gaze.

"After the last session a few days ago, I figured you would wait a week." Kotetsu continued for his partner.

"You would be right, but Shirahoshi does deserve to know about her older brother." Shyarly said as she floated near the doors with crystal ball in hand. "Would you be so kind as to open the doors for me again?"

"Not a problem, I'd be happy to serve." Kotetsu dumbly grinned before moving to open the doors. "Izumo, keep an eye out for any flying axes."

"I'm always keeping an eye out." The goblin shark fishman sighed out before he raised his right hand to adjust his giant kunai on his back. "Oh before I forget..." Izumo reached into his armor to pull out an envelope. "This is for the Princess, Prince Fukaboshi came by earlier and handed it to me."

"Isn't it another one of Vander Decken's love notes?" Shyarly wrinkled her nose in revulsion.

"We thought that at first, but his are always...well thrown here. This was delivered by mail from the surface from you-know-who."

"Naruto?" Shyarly took the envelope to show the absurd amount of postage stamps along with the address to the Ryugu Palace with Shirahoshi's name on it. The penmanship was rough unlike Vander Decken's who's was smooth and girly. "Thank you Izumo, but why didn't Prince Fukaboshi deliver it himself?"

"He felt that he wasn't worthy to do it. Unlike his adoptive sibling and their father no one has even tried visiting Shirahoshi." Izumo replied, using the exact words the Prince used...more or less. "He said that he was going to get stronger so that he can resolve his mistake, and went off to double down learning Merman Combat."

"As expected of the Heir to the Ryugu Kingdom." Shyarly remarked.

Soon after the gates were opened, and unlike the first time when an axe flew at the tower, and several other instances soon after, nothing came flying at the tower or endangered their lives. Shyarly smiled in thanks at the sawshark fishman and went inside. "Shirahoshi, are you awake?"

The dark lights turned on to reveal the gigantic mermaid Princess slowly awakening from a cat nap. Rubbing her tired eyes she rose up and released Megalo from her grip like he was a giant teddy bear that she slept with...only with five rows of sharp teeth. "Madame Shyarly?"

"Hello Princess." The mako shark mermaid bowed to her. "I have some news from your brother."

"Naruto-onii-chan?" Her sparkling blue eyes lit up and she moved closer towards the cafe owner. "Is it another session?"

"That is going to happen today I assure you." Shyarly said before showing her the envelope. "Apparently your brother hasn't neglected to write you. It just took a while."

"What does it say? Can you please read it?" As much as she wanted to read it herself, Shirahoshi was simply too large to hold the small piece of paper in her large hands, or tear the envelope open without destroying the letter itself. Shyarly was merciful to do just that.

Holding the folded pieces of paper in her hands, she read off what the wayward sibling wrote to her. "Dear Shira-chan, I am sorry that I am late and that I broke my promise to you. Something bad happened to prevent me from returning home sooner and now I have to go the long way around. I managed to acquire a ship, and have been making my way home as fast as I can. I met a few people along the way who might very well settle in the Ryugu Kingdom as permanent members."

Shyarly stopped reading for a few seconds to mentally visualize what he was going though. He stole the ship, that much was clear. As for the people he met she knew of them thanks to Jinbe's reports. Gin the "Man-Demon" was a troubling individual, ruthless under Don Krieg and a bounty of ten million beli, "Blood-Soaked" Kotetsu a former Ensign who had ended over a thousand lives; so said the reports, with a bounty of sixty-five million beli. Bashura, was mostly an unknown, Jinbe only learned of him thanks to "Double Crosser Jango" the newest Marine placed under Captain Hina who was instrumental in revealing to the Marines that Kuro was alive and revealed the roles of every one in his crew. The information was moot point however when the Marines found Kuro's charred remains along with those of his crew near the Gecko Islands. And finally "Five-Alarm" Carmen, a chef of wide renowned thought to have been kidnapped by Naruto himself. There were also the two other women, but Jinbe had no information regarding them just yet from what she revealed to him.

Clearing her throat Shyarly continued reading the letter. "Anyway I've seen a lot of places, the Conomi Islands and Gecko Islands in the East Blue..." Huh, she would have to follow up on that little bit of information. "To Logue Town where that famous pirate Gold Roger was born and died. We picked up another person there who got on our ship by accident, I know right? It could only freaking happen to me, but she is serving as our chef and she is a darn fine cook." Shyarly edited a few words for Shirahoshi's sake, shame on you Naruto for putting swear words in a letter. "I can't tell you too much about them right now because...well even I don't know all that much, but while a bunch of...ahem them have personality flaws, they seem all right." Again she edited, dammit Naruto you don't go calling people jackasses! "Right now I'm in this town called...Mumai or something like that, a few days into the Grand Line. I'm letting you know right now I'm in good health and hope to return home soon. Keep an eye out for my future letters all right, I'm sure someone from the palace will deliver them to you. Your loving older brother, Uzumaki Naruto."

Folding the letter Shyarly watched as the young mermaid princess teared up out of happiness from hearing from her brother again. She was happy that he edited out that he killed Arlong and most of his crew, and two ship full of Marines of various ranks. Shyarly would keep an eye out for his letters all right, now that he was a wanted man she would see what he was hiding in them.

Folding the note and placing it nearby, Shyarly brought her crystal ball up. "Now shall we see what he is up to right now?"

"Yes please!" Shirahoshi delightfully said. Megalo began panting like a dog beside her in his own way of wanting to watch too.

---

(Alabasta - Meanwhile)

Natural rain fell on the land for many days, and the desert kingdom bloomed once again. The Rebel Army disbanded as soon as the battle ended, and many weary men and women went home to reunite with their families or rebuild their lives. For three days the members of the Straw Hat and Ocean Sword Pirates rested and recovered, many of them needed it, and the more stubborn ones were more or less threatened by the doctors...mostly Shizune to take it easy and rest.

Chopper took care of his friends, and the woman sort of pitied the little reindeer due to how stubborn they could be, mainly Zoro. Their injuries would heal at least and there was no permanent damage.

During the second night of rainfall, while the members of the Straw Hats were sleeping in their own beds within the infirmary Naruto's eyes snapped open and bolted up in his bed. Lightly panting he placed his left hand on his bandaged chest.

His blue eyes darted around the room almost in panic, but all he saw were beds, walls and windows with rain splattering against it. He saw that the women slept in a dignified way, except for Miss Goldenweek she was sprawled on her bed with a sleep bubble coming out of her nose.

The men of the Straw Hat crew were just as bad, their bodies twisted in odd angles, their sheets a mess, was Zoro halfway on the floor? Hell his crew wasn't any better. Bashura was curled like a cat at the foot of his bed, Gin was wrapped up like a cocoon, and even Kotetsu was in some sort of lotus position while his face was in the pillow. Honestly how weird was that?

"Can't sleep?" Vivi's voice broke him out of his musings to see her sitting by one of the windows. Like everyone she too had her own wounds, they weren't fatal, nor would they scar up. But she was pretty rough-looking for a Princess.

"Got a odd feeling like someone was watching me...other than you of course." Naruto deadpanned, she was watching everyone sleep, his felt unusual, and it wasn't the first time it happened either. Slightly limping over to her he pulled out a chair and sat in it. "Can't sleep Vivi?"

"No, I just want to watch the rain." She replied before looking out the window with a sigh of content. "I took it for granted you know, I never knew how much I would miss watching it rain until it was gone."

"I can only imagine." The blonde remarked. He preferred the ocean, the sounds of the waves splashing against the ship was his white noise, but the sound of rain hitting the roof and windows came to a close second.

"How are your injuries? We were all worried for a while."

"Getting shot...I'm not a fan of it." He fully admitted before placing his left hand on his left pectoral muscle. Damn it was still tender. "Shizune pulled out a bullet that looked like a dice and another that looked frogs head from my chest. Seriously what sort of assholes use bullets like that?"

"Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day were not very nice people." Vivi said, trying to not giggle from the sound of his voice, she had never heard him whine before. "How about your legs? I mean you literally jumped from a five story tower."

"Other than some nasty shin shock and the loss of my sandals and my pants becoming shorts I'll be fine if I take it easy." He replied after lightly rubbing his right calf, that smarted a lot. "What about your arm, it was kinda...bleeding."

"It only looked bad, the bleeding stopped a few minutes after you created the crater." She then gave him a look. "It's become a gigantic swimming pool by now."

"Hehe, well you can pave over it...or make it a public pool" Naruto lamely said. Instead he received a dry look from her. "So...um, what are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" Vivi cutely tilted her head in questioning.

"Your work is done, the Baroque Works is disbanded with their leader and most prominent members either going off to prison or dead. All that's left is to rebuild the country and then rule it in the next decade or so." He said, pointing out all that needed to be done for the country where most of it involved her.

"I, uh..." She bashfully looked away. "I really didn't think that far ahead. All I wanted to do was save my country, I never really thought of what I would do afterwards. What about you?"

"I'm still trying to get home." He replied before leaning back in the chair. "The people who are with me know I'm trying to get back to Fishman Island. And I still need to drop Carmen off at Cook Island, wherever that is supposed to be on the Grand Line."

"What about the rest of your crew?" Vivi inquired, she knew she was being nosy but she knew next to nothing about Naruto other than he saved her, something happened to him in the past, and he was from Fishman Island. That was it, she feared that once he left she would learn nothing more.

"Umm...well Kotetsu is kinda stuck with me with his bounty and stuff. Gin could sail off on his own after I arrive in Fishman Island, I don't know about Bashura he kinda has his own thing going on I guess. Miss Goldenweek...hell if I know, but then again I did promise to reunite Shizune with her master...hmm I may need some help when I get back home." Then again he had Hody to contend with, but he would deal with that later.

Well that didn't help her much, and Vivi puffed her cheeks out in displeasure. "That just sounds like you running around like an errand boy."

"No it doesn't, I'm no ones errand boy." The irony was not lost on his saying that, he went around doing things for Hody when he joined his crew, and because of Jinbe doing the 'Arlong errand' he was stuck like this. "There are still things to see and do before going home. I just don't know what." He said before slowly getting to his feet. "Well I need to stretch my legs."

"I thought Shizune told you to stay in bed." Vivi said.

"She's unconscious, and I have been bedridden for nearly two days. I need a walk." He protested. Shizune shifted a bit in her sleep, causing him to let out an unmanly yelp and dart out of the room before she could wake up and force him into bed, she became very scary after the civil war ended and he did not like it one bit!

Vivi only sighed a bit before watching Shizune turn over in her sleep, content with her surroundings. Of course the blue-haired Princess was not. After being home, truly being home for two days she still felt off. Her country needed to be rebuilt and she still needed to be groomed to lead her people. But there was still so much to learn out there in the world, she was useless to stop her people from fighting after Pell sacrificed his life, not like Naruto who did it with his voice where it all calmed down for a minute before he created a crater in the town square.

Perhaps...perhaps she was not ready to lead. Not yet, not when there was so much more that she could accomplish out there in the world.

"I shouldn't have done that." Naruto said to himself after sprinting a mile through the palace until he made it outside. Did he overreact? Probably. But again Shizune was much more scarier than usual. "Oh my legs, they're killing me."

"That's what happens when you jump off a five story tower." The familiar voice of Miss All-Sunday alerted him, snapping his head to the side he spotted her leaning against one of the pillars. Gone was her skimpy cowgirl outfit, instead she was wearing a purple dress that barely reached the middle of her thighs along with her white fur-lined coat to cover her arms and back.

"Miss All-Sunday. I'm honestly a little surprised you managed to escape from the Marines." Naruto said, a bit wary of the woman for good reasons too.

"I have been one step ahead of them since I was eight years old, today is no different." She replied before giving him a look over. "You took a lot less damage than Luffy did, quite frankly I'm a little disappointed."

"Well sorry for not fighting a Shichibukai, I lost track of Crocodile after I dived off a wall to save Vivi." He rebutted with an irritate huff. "He may have been dried out as a mummy twice, stabbed multiple times, and poisoned...but unlike him I beat up more people than I care to count, killed Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day, and helped Vivi get to that bomb that would have leveled the city and got shot twice for it. So if anything I was the superior one during this whole clusterfuck of a civil war."

"I'm thinking you two are about even, he did beat a Shichibukai after all." Miss All-Sunday said with a teasing grin. Seeing him wave her off she got down to business. "I am glad you survived, I would have felt a little guilty that we could not conclude our deal. You were very useful in helping me out."

"After dragged me into this kicking and screaming it better be a hell of a map you're giving me." Naruto replied before crossing his arms across his chest.

"It is, trust me." Reaching into her cleavage Miss All-Sunday pulled out a folded map and flung it at him. "I have not seen it myself, but I have heard the legend regarding it."

Catching the piece of paper, Naruto raised and eyebrow regarding it. Huh, it was still warm. "What sort of legend?"

"Before the Great Age of Pirates, there was a rogue Marine Captain that went by the name of "Black" Jack Lee, he turned to piracy and plundered a great deal of wealth. However a year before Gold Roger's demise he was caught by the Marines and went down fighting. As he and his entire crew went down with his ship The Ivory Web, his final defiant words were, 'In life or death no one shall have what is "Black" Jack Lee's!'" Miss All-Sunday explained, catching his interest. "Since then hundreds of people have ventured to claim his treasure, none have returned." (2)

"So, this map will lead us to the location his ship went down which may or may not be a death sentence." Naruto dully said, of course it would be a suicidal mission. Why wouldn't it be? "Sounds like fun."

"I know you will survive, but for now I must bid you farewell Mr. Shark." Miss All-Sunday turned to leave before his voice stopped her.

"Hold on, now that the Baroque Works is disbanded what are you going to do next?"

"Whatever catches my interest."

"Can you at least tell me your real name, Goldenweek is not going to say jack, but I would like to know the name of the woman who at least lent a helping hand towards my next destination." He said, lightly waving his map.

Miss All-Sunday stared at him for the longest time, and she saw nothing but sincerity in his eyes. It was a rarity nowadays in a world such as hers. Lightly smiling to herself she said. "My name is Nico Robin, remember it Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto nodded before tucking the map into his pants pocket. He watched as Robin walked away and disappeared in the heavy rain. Reaching into his side pouch he pulled out the gold plated lighter, not even once thinking where his last five cigars went. "Nico Robin huh...well it's definitely better than her alias."

---

The next day the rain stopped falling, and the people began to work on repairing what was damaged or destroyed in the capital. It wasn't only Alubarna getting the work it needed done but the other cities too. Yuba was the first to get some helping hands in its construction thanks to Kohza and the former rebels that came with him. Upon learning Toto was alive boosted their spirits and they busted their butts to make use of their day to rebuild it.

It wasn't just Yuba, but also Rainbase and Nanohana were beginning to show signs of life again. The former would take a few months at most to rebuild and turn the casino into something more luxurious than before. But the latter needed a major overhaul, it would practically need to be rebuilt from the ground up. The first that needed to get restored were the docks so supplies of stone and timber could come in, the rest were secondary. It would take many years before it was a sprawling city again.

But the attitudes of the people were infectious, only those seriously wounded could not take part in the rebuilding effort.

One of those people was Temari. She was not injured like some of the guards who had broken bones courtesy of Gin, and Bashura...and to a latter extent her. Nor was she shot, again thanks to the courtesy of Gin and some rebels who got lucky. Nor did she have sword cuts, or loss of a limb.

Unlike them she could not see. During her fight with Carmen all that chili powder got into her eyes and damaged them real good. For the past three days she laid in a bed with bandages around her eyes and forehead in a stupid hospital gown, absolutely bored out of her mind.

However today she had a visitor, it wasn't her brother, mom or dad but the same person who blinded her. "So, what do you want? Come on spit it out." Temari said irritably.

Carmen couldn't help but wince a bit from her tone, she was pissed, and honestly no once could blame her. Pulling up a chair she sat next to the younger woman. "How are your eyes?"

"They burn every so often." The blonde replied with a scoff. "That reindeer doctor took a look at me, he rubbed some crap in my eyes and said to not take my bandages off for a month."

"Any permanent damage?"

"He said that my vision will be blurry for a little while after they take my bandages off. From there I'll need to wash them out with some medicine he mixed up three times a day for another month before I'm able to go back to active duty." If Temari could glare at her, she would have. But it hurt to do it, so she just stared in Carmen's direction. "I blame you."

"I know, and I am sorry." Carmen apologized. Once the adrenaline wore off and she had time to think, she felt guilty about what happened. "Is there anything I can do?"

"There is nothing you can do. It was a fight, I got hurt and lost to your backup. No one died, but in the end we both lost."

"He actually wasn't...oh never mind." Carmen did not even know who that kid with the gourd was, but he beat both Temari and her brother with ease. It honestly angered her to think that after all she did, she needed saving. That wasn't going to happen again, not if she could help it. "I need to ask you something, it might be personal though."

"I'm not some sort of wall flower, speak your mind." Temari said.

"That giant fan of yours, how were you able to create tornadoes and blades of wind? Was it from the power of a devil fruit?"

"Not even close." The blonde replied with a scoff. "I respect Lord Chaka and Lord Pell before his demise, but I would never be caught eating a devil fruit. Not to mention having one of my weapons "eat" a devil fruit. The wind attacks I use come from something called dials."

"Dials?" Carmen questioned.

"Yea, dials. A couple years ago before all this started a merchant came to Alabasta claiming he found these shell-like things that came from a ship that fell from the sky. I was in the market at the time and thought he was spinning a tall tale...but that was until I saw him demonstrate them." Temari lightly smile recalling the memory. "Dials as I later learned, he demonstrated one destroying a boulder by touching it, another producing flames, another creating smells. But the ones that created wind...I wanted them."

"Don't tell me you used your childhood allowance." Carmen deadpanned.

"Not even close, I raced back to my father and asked him to buy them for me...he owed me for missing my birthday that year." Thank you Royal Adviser position for making him miss it. "After guilt tripping him he bought all the ones that were wind related, and I forced my younger brother to work them into my fan. Those purple moons, they hold the dials necessary to create my techniques."

"I see..." Lightly frowning, and mentally cursing at herself for getting too excited, the pink-haired chef said. "I don't suppose you have an extra giant fan lying around do you?"

"My brother just put the finishing touches on his newest one without any dials a few..." Raising an eyebrow Temari put two and two together. Mentally cursing herself for getting lost in conversation she said. "Oh hell no, I am not giving it to you."

"Temari I need to become stronger, even if it lacks the dials it can still be used." Carmen tried to reason with her.

"It took my little brother eight months to make that new fan and it cost him a good bit of money to do so. Making the slots for the dials was not easy, and it'll take him at least a week to fully transfer the dials I have from my old fan to the new one."

"I'll pay for it."

"No amount of money in the world is worth it." Temari scoffed before leaning back into her bed. "Why are you so dead set on doing this? You have nothing to prove and no need to fight."

"That is where you are wrong." Carmen said with a shadow falling over the top of her face. "I am not strong like Naruto, I am not fast like Kotetsu, I do not have keen senses like Bashura or the medical expertise like Shizune. I can't shoot a gun like Gin does, nor do I have a artistic hypnosis talent. Being a chef is all I ever dreamed about, but I cannot support the people I am with locked in the kitchen like some damsel in distress. I want to become stronger, I do not want to be saved again. You should know what it's like."

Indeed Temari did know what she meant. She was to be Princess Vivi's lady-in-waiting, but instead she wanted to a a soldier. Her parents were against it from the time she signed up to when she donned the armor upon completing her training. She had to fight every step of the way to get to the position she was in now, to earn the respect of her men, and learned to not take crap from anyone ever again.

She saw resolution in Carmen's eyes...or she would have if she could still see. "One million beli." Temari said. "If you can cough up one million beli in cold hard cash, then I will hand it over to you. It will not come with any dials, you will have to find those yourself. Good luck with that."

"One million beli? That's very steep." Carmen said, gaping at such a price.

"It's made of light but durable steel, you could drop a ship on the thing and it won't even make a dent. Kankuro staked his life and reputation that it will last a lifetime. Thrust me it is worth the price." It also did not hurt that she would be lining both her and her brother's pockets. "This is a one time offer, I will not make it again."

Biting her lower lip, Carmen gracefully stood from her chair. "I will talk to my Captain, but you will learn my answer soon."

"I look forward to it." Temari lightly smirked. It was a win-win situation for her, if Carmen couldn't pay up she would keep her fan, if she did she would have a decent amount of income on her hands and Carmen would get something in return. The only downside would be Kankuro would have to make he a new one.

Eh, it wasn't like he wouldn't have the time and money to do it.

---

It would be a few hours later that Luffy awoke from his three day coma. How did everyone know this? That was because he was loud, really loud. In fact Naruto was in the middle of a conversation with Carmen regarding spending a million beli for a giant metal fan when his yell alerted them both and raced towards the recovery room.

"I missed fifteen meals!?" The Straw Hat Captain exclaimed.

"That's the first thing he thinks about?" Naruto dully questioned.

"You should be more worried that he eats five meals a day. How are they not starving to death?" Carmen questioned after adding up the number of meals Luffy apparently consumed on a daily basis. It just didn't add up to the fact that his crew wasn't dead because of him.

"Who says they aren't?" Naruto remarked.

"This is why I told the kitchen staff to prepare themselves when he awakens." Vivi said from her position in the room. She was absolutely beaming with joy now that everyone was awake and counted for.

"And this is why I brought an appetizer." A large woman exclaimed after entering the room with a literal cartload of fruit. She had curly blonde hair that curled inwards and bright red lipstick. She wore a dark red tunic, with a orange lining, that had a white stripe. Under her tunic was a light blue shirt with white buttons. But the strangest thing about her was that she looked almost exactly like Igaram, causing everyone to reel in surprise thinking he was in drag again.

"Igaram, your alive!?" Luffy exclaimed with bug eyes.

"What's with that outfit you look like a woman!" Zoro exclaimed much to the women's confusion.

"No you guys, this is Terracotta." Vivi said, quickly getting to her feet to introduce her. "She is Igaram's wife and the palace housekeeper."

Every one in the room looked at the woman, flabbergasted. And who could blame them? They heard of lookalike couples, but this was ridiculous.

Giving the two crews a smile Terracotta gestured towards the cart of food. "The Princess told me you all have hearty appetites. Enjoy some fruit until dinner is ready."

"I could go for some fruit." Kotetsu remarked.

"I hope she has pineapples." Gin said.

Everyone turned towards the cart to find that everything in it was gone. The only thing they saw was Luffy patting his stomach. "Hey lady, I'll be eating three days worth okay!" He exclaimed.

Naruto calmly went over to Luffy's bedside, blew on his clenched right fist, and then decked him in the head. "You jackass, don't be rude! Who taught you table manners a monkey!?"

"Naruto...don't punch the kid." Gin weakly muttered. Of course he didn't do anything to stop him, he may have been a murderous pirate, but even he had better manners than Luffy. And by the looks of his crew they weren't doing anything to stop the fishman either.

If Terracotta was offended, she certainly didn't show it. Instead she put on a determined face and squeezed one of her biceps. "Hohoho! Splendid, I've been doing this for thirty years. No one's appetite can intimidate me!"

And later that night...well the dinner table had never been more lively. The guards were completely beside themselves from the amount of food everyone was shoveling in their faces. The kitchen staff kept bringing out plates of food and taking back what was empty.

"Luffy keep your mitts off my plate!" Usopp exclaimed when Luffy stretched his arms out to take a giant portion of food from his plate.

"Stop it!" Nami punched her Captain for being so greedy.

"Hey, mind if I get some more wine!?" Gin called to one of the servants.

"This is delicious, any chance I can get the recipe?" Carmen asked one of the chefs that came by.

When Luffy once again stole something from his plate, Usopp cackled madly and reached into his pants pocket to bring out a small packet. "Lets see how you like my pepper sauce." He said before pouring the entire thing over a gigantic ball of rice.

When Luffy stole it, and devoured it on one gigantic swallow, he coughed up flames from his mouth and fell backwards. "That was a dirty trick!" He exclaimed.

"How did a camel get at the table?" Shizune asked seeing Eyelashes taking a seat by Usopp and eating with a food and knife like a human...how strange.

"What a noisy bunch." Kankuro, who was in some regular clothes mentioned to his father. His old man was confined to a wheelchair due to his injuries and still had gauze wrapped around his head, but he was still alive thanks to that female doctor with the fishman.

"Indeed." Rasa said before sipping on his wine. He however chuckled when Chopper began choking one something, and Zoro forced a bunch of water down his throat. "But I cannot recall it being so...lively."

"Haha, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves." Chaka said before he moved a mug of mead Temari's way. "Here you go, eat up."

On the other end of the table Kotetsu and Bashura were pounding the table with their fists, after eating an entire fish and coughing up the bones, the cat man wildly exclaimed. "No, you couldn't have!"

"But I did! I put itching powder in their underwear and dyed their armor neon pink!" Naruto said after downing his seventh glass of rum that evening. "The Ammo Knights never forgave me for that." He continued before taking a huge bite out of a mutton leg.

Tears falling from his eyes Kotetsu lost it hearing his Captain's story about how he broke into the guard barracks when he was a kid. "That is so messed up Uzumaki. And here I thought my Commander making me salute everything that walked past me for a week was screwed up."

"Oh this I got to hear, come on Kotetsu don't you hold out on us." Sanji urged the sandy-haired swordsman.

"I uh..."

"Don't make me paint you to make you tell the truth." Miss Goldenweek threatened him. Of course it was hard to be intimidated by a girl who looked like she lost a fight with a pile of spaghetti.

"Well I screwed up in making my bed that morning so..." Kotetsu did not want to chance her doing that to him, ever again.

"What animals." Said one of the soldiers.

"They are very vulgar." Said another.

"How can Princess Vivi laugh about that?" Another guard said, watching the Princess laugh from the story. But when the Kotetsu told them that he saluted a migrating flock of flamingos for four straight hours and pissing off the instructor, everyone, even the most poker faced individuals began laughing.

That dinner lasted for over three hours, Terracotta's skills were definitely put to the test that night. Stories were exchanges, jokes were told, many of them made asses out of themselves, especially when Bashura morphed into his half-panther form and played the song of his people on Luffy's expanded belly while Usopp balanced stacks of dinner plates on his nose before falling off the table. In two years no one had anything to laugh about due to the drought, but now in one night the entire palace was more lively.

And it was all thanks to the combined efforts of the Straw Hat Pirates and the Ocean Sword Pirates, a band of outsiders who saved everything they held so dear.

---

(Palace bath house – Later that Evening)

The great baths were the pride of the palace. They were built long before King Cobra's time, probably during the founding of the kingdom more than likely. The entire room was carved from limestone with marble tiles, support pillars and the pools of hot water themselves. It was separated into two sides by a thick marble wall, the men's side and the women's side. Both were identical in appearance with a large circular pool with gold trimmings that was split in half by the wall to go along with two golden lion statues spilling hot steamy water from their mouths into the pool on the men's side while the women got golden dragons.

Currently on the women's side both Vivi and Nami were on their side of the baths within the palace, hot water was pouring out the mouths of golden dragons, causing steam to rise to the ceiling.

"Ahh this feels so good. I wonder if a ship with a big bath like this exists?" Nami sighed out in relaxation, clad in nothing but a white towel that covered her lower half, a gold bracelet on her right wrist. On her left shoulder was a blue tattoo representing a tangerine, and pinwheels.

"I'm sure it does, the sea is full of surprises. Think of what we've seen, giants and dinosaurs, blossoms blooming in a winter land. If those things exist, then there must be plenty more amazing things in the sea." Vivi said with excitement in her voice as she washed her friend's bare back, clad in a blue towel.

"It honestly is amazing, isn't it?" Carmen sighed out as she poured a bucket of warm water over her head, causing her normally outrageous pink hair to fall to her shoulders, and plastered her pink towel to her slender body. "I have only been to the Grand Line once and found it frightening to the point I couldn't even cook. But now I have cooked up dinosaur steaks, eel flambes, and recently giant scorpion claws." She lightly giggled, recalling it tasting like lobster. "I am so glad I snuck on the wrong ship."

"I have to admit, I am actually glad I was won in a bet." Shizune said, lightly pulling her white towel away to let her bountiful chest breathe. "I'm doing more now than just sitting on my ship searching for my old teacher." She then placed her hands of Miss Goldenweek's head, and began brushing the tangles out of her red hair. "Hold still dear, we want to make you look cute now don't we?"

Miss Goldenweek only sighed in boredom. Clad in a pink towel herself to cover her petite form, she didn't bother trying to move. "Do we have to? I like my hair the way it is."

"There is nothing wrong with trying a new style of clothing, I do it daily." Carmen said with a light laugh.

"So do I, it's fun wearing new clothing." Nami commented.

"Seems like too much of a hassle." The lazy girl sighed out.

"You'll get used to it." Nami then turned towards Vivi with a smile on her face. "My turn!"

On the other side of the wall, the guys were settling in themselves, the formal dinner turned into a gigantic party, everyone ate their fill, and more, it was a literal grand old time. But with their bellies full of food and wine or beer, most of the men went to soak their tired bodies in the hot water. Kankuro and Rasa excused themselves to turn in early while taking Temari back to the medical bay.

"Damn, King Cobra I am impressed." Gin said looking at the splendid gold and marble baths. "This must have cost a literal mountain of gold to make."

"Haha I don't know about that, but they are the pride of the palace. Normally we only use them during the rainy season." Cobra replied with a satisfied grin.

"This is amazing! I'm first!" Usopp stripped himself of his towel and ran towards the hot water.

"No, I am!" Luffy screamed after him.

The result was what anyone expected from running on wet floors. The two slipped, fell onto the backs of their heads and awkwardly flew into the water.

"Sheesh what idiots, don't they know you're not supposed to run in the baths?" Kotetsu remarked before slowly following after them. Ironically slipped himself and fell flat on his face. "Ow..."

"Careful, that spot is slippery." Igaram warned the younger man far too late before looking at the untoweled Bashura. "Huh, so you are tattooed all over."

"Only on the important parts." Bashura replied with a towel clad Chopper sitting on his top hat. "Speaking of tattoos, Gin I didn't know you had two."

"Oh these old things?" Gin replied looking downwards at the tops of his feet. On his right foot was a tattoo of a rooster, on the left was a pig. "I got those when I was thirteen. Traditionally sailors tattooed them on their feet in hopes that it would keep them from drowning. Hell I have been wanting to get some swallow tattoos to show how many nautical miles I traveled." (3)

"Oh yea, I saw some Marines with those tattoos every so often." Kotetsu replied after lightly rubbing his chin from the fall. "What about you Uzumaki? You have one as well correct?"

"Yea, but I got this when I was young and foolish." Naruto said showing off the tattoo. It was a half-lie, but they really did not need to know the real reason he got it. "And Bashura for God's sake put a towel on."

"So Igaram..." Sanji developed a perverted grin as he nudged the larger man. "Where are the women's baths? Huh? Huh?"

"Are you mad!? As if I'd tell you that! The Princess is in there right now!" Igaram practically spat fire at the blonde chef.

"They're beyond that wall!" Cobra dramatically pointed at the wall separating them from the wondrous sights beyond it.

"King Cobra, how could you!?" Igaram asked in dismay.

"Haha! I like how this old guy thinks!" Usopp exclaimed.

"Perverts, filthy perverts..." Kotetsu grunted out in a dissatisfied tone of voice, scratching the X shaped scar on his torso he began to walk, and conveniently slid in the direction of the wall.

"Uh...Kotetsu?" Bashura asked before following him.

"Heh, well this ought to be a treat." Gin replied with a smirk.

The only one who didn't immediately follow was Naruto. One would think that he wouldn't be self consciousness being naked, or in his case half naked in front of other men. And you would be right, but he was not some sort of sleazy pervert that spied on women. Madame Shyarly would have kicked his ass if he ever did that when he was at the Mermaid Cafe.

However he was also a hot-blooded male, and curious. Did human women differ from the mermaids? That was a question that had been bugging him for quite sometime now. And so he, with only some reluctance joined them on the wall.

On the other side of the wall, Vivi and Nami turned to see in this order: Eyelashes the Camel; who somehow snuck into the bath looking straight at them. Chopper looking at them sideways like he was trying to hide, in the wrong way as usual. Zoro looking at them with a stern expression that could only be seen with his eyes. Usopp's long nose going past the barrier with a look like he saw God in his eyes. Sanji fully exposing his head , his one eye heart shaped with dozens of hearts floating around his head and drooling. Gin's entire grizzled face smirking at them. Kotetsu with both eyebrows disappearing beyond his hairline and a small trail of drool falling from the right side of his mouth. Igaram trying to not focus his eyes on them and looking on in disapproval; and failing badly. King Cobra was unashamedly peeping at the ones who were not his daughter, or Miss Goldenweek. Luffy looked right at them with his arms hanging over the wall with a clueless look on his face. Bashura's top hat comically being the only thing that showed, but both eyes were slightly hidden by the brim. And finally Naruto looking at them with his arms crossed on top of the wall and his chin resting on them.

"Ah! What are you all doing over there!?" Vivi demanded in shock and surprise.

"Peeping." Nami dryly replied.

"Oh you men!" Carmen got to her feet and pointed at them in anger. "How could you do such a thing? I expected better of all you, especially you Captain!"

"I just went with the crowd." Naruto dully replied.

"Ju...just go away! Goldenweek here is underage, and Vivi is your daughter Cobra!" Shizune said with a heavy blush on her face as she tried to shield Miss Goldenweek from them.

"I'm peeking at the rest of you, hmph!" Cobra simply said, not exactly making things any better for him.

"But...I'm the Princess' age. How am I underage?" Miss Goldenweek asked in confusion. She turned sixteen when Nanohana was burned to a crisp, she honestly didn't get it.

Nami scoffed in irritation, and here she was enjoying a nice relaxing hot bath for once. "All right. It'll cost one-hundred thousand beli from each of you." She said before standing up.

"Huh?" Came the intelligent reply from a few members of the male group.

With a light smile on her face, Nami turned to face them and opened her towel to reveal her flawless, naked body without an ounce of shame. "Happiness Punch!"

The result was instantaneous, the men; even Luffy had their nostrils open up and blood shot out like a broken faucet, causing them to fall backwards onto their side.

"N-nami!" Vivi exclaimed at her friend so readily exposing herself.

"How vulgar." Carmen lightly palmed her face.

"Huh, so that's what a naked human woman looks like." Naruto's voice alerted the women, causing them to snap their head up at him. Nami was pretty flawless even he had to admit that, a shapely body, slender legs, perky C-cup breasts, a cute perfect ass, and a shaved maidenhood. She wasn't hard on the eyes that was for sure, he certainly enjoyed it but still... "Sorry Nami, you aren't getting my money."

"Wh-what!?" The orange-haired navigator asked in outrage. "You should be a puddle of goo!"

"I come from a island full of scantly clad mermaids wearing nothing but bikini tops all day. And frankly it's pretty hard to compare with mermaids after all." Naruto replied, privately recalling how some mermaid's of the Mermaid Cafe had a "wardrobe malfunction" around him when Madame Shyarly was not around. Ah good times, good private memories.

Visibly huffing Nami looked to see Carmen and Shizune looking astonished, Miss Goldenweek oblivious, and Vivi madly blushing. She then mentally cackled recalling Naruto idly mentioning towards Kotetsu during dinner that he liked long-haired women. "Oh really? Then how about this?" Using her all her training as a thief, Nami easily slipped one finger where Vivi's towel was tied off and let gravity do the work.

Vivi for her part cried out when she was briefly exposed and covered her own C-cup breasts and womanhood. But it left her smooth stomach, long slender legs and a bit of her ass exposed. She looked up at Naruto, an atomic red blush on her face, and saw the blonde fishman's nose leaking a thin trail of blood, even though he kept his face in a neutral state.

"...I'm sorry...um...enjoy your baths." He apologized before landing on his side, and looked to see the people he was forced to call men, laying in disheveled states with heat rising out of their heads, fierce blushes on their faces, blood trailing from their noses, and in two cases Sanji and Eyelashes having hearts in their eyes. "You're all pathetic." He said to them, blatantly ignoring the blood running down his own nose.

Back on the other side, Vivi pulled her towel back up and glared at her friend. "I-I can't believe you just did that!" She exclaimed, though the blush on her face was going nowhere fast. She was annoyed at Nami doing that just to get a reaction out of Naruto, but she was more embarrassed that blood seeped from his nose and Nami had no such reaction.

This did not go unnoticed by the older women of the group. While Carmen was still pretty miffed that they were spied on, the reaction her Captain gave the blue-haired Princess was a first. As far as she knew him, he was either sarcastic, angry, irritated, annoyed, and really didn't show any sign of liking the opposite sex. This was definitely something she was going to tease him over.

Shizune though saw a major breakthrough. After examining his profile, she figured due to some sort of childhood trauma he developed a hatred of humans, or at the very least a great distrust for them. In all the places they had been, there were a good deal of attractive women that the guys, no matter how subtle they were at least took a glance at. But not him, he went out of his way to avoid them by looking over their heads or at a sign or whatever. But it seemed that Vivi had a small effect on him.

Miss Goldenweek however bluntly stated. "The Captain likes the Princess naked."

"Wh-what?" Both Vivi and Nami exclaimed.

"That's what I saw." The smaller girl replied before getting to her feet and walking into the giant bath before Shizune could mess with her hair again.

Back on the other side of the baths, the men finally regain consciousness, King Cobra was the first to speak. "Thank you."

"Dirty old man." Everyone deadpanned, even though they all had trails of blood falling from their noses.

"Not about that!" Cobra exclaimed before wiping his nose. Then to the surprise of everyone on the males side he bowed in a cross legged position with his hands flat on the tiled surface on the baths.

"Hey, is a King supposed to bow like that?" Zoro asked from his position in the baths.

"None that I have ever seen." Gin commented.

Even Naruto could scarcely believe it. King Neptune never bowed to anyone, neither had any of the other Kings when he was at the Reverie...then again not a lot of them were humble either, it was a gigantic ego trip as far as he remembered.

"King Cobra, you're setting a bad example. A King must never lower his head to anyone!" Igaram tried to admonish his leader.

"Igaram a man's title comes off with his clothes. Here in the bath, we're all the same. A King is not a King when disrobed. I'd like to say not as a King but as a father and citizen of this land...from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. Thank you for all you have done for us." Cobra said, smiling in gratitude.

"It's not a problem, it felt nice doing something good for a change." Gin replied with a smirk.

"Vivi is our friend we would do anything for her." Luffy agreed.

---

(Alabasta – Two Days Later)

"Man I still cannot believe we're not a priority." Gin grumbled in a surly manner.

"Are you still on about that? Come on Gin let it go." Kotetsu said after sheathing Nidai Kitetsu, and then unsheathing it as fast as he could. "Damn it, still too slow."

After soaking their tired bodies in the baths, the Straw Hat Pirates managed to sneak out of the palace and onto their ship before the Marines cornered them. Now while Naruto and everyone else was clueless about how they managed to escape, they were present for Vivi's coming of age ceremony that was two years past due. It was horrifying to see Igaram in drag again, but the speech was something to remember.

They also bore witness to the spirit of the people. In just a few days since the civil war ended the streets of Alubarna were cleared up and the buildings that had minor damage were repaired, others were torn down and salvaged. It was a little hard to believe that these were the same people who tried killing each other almost a week ago.

But Gin had been in a sour mood since the Straw Hats left. Apparently he was insulted that they were not considered a priority as capture targets, everyone else figured he wanted to fight something again.

"Gin, Luffy beat Crocodile. A Shichibukai, while we either beat up or killed some of his agents and other lower members." Carmen replied with a shrug. Kotetsu and Carmen told him about Mr. 12 and Miss Saturday biting the big one, they learned that Mr. 11 was murdered on his own ship and his partner fled, Mr. 10 and Miss Tuesday were killed by Robin herself, and of course they really didn't need to explain what happened to Mr. 6 and Miss Mother's Day, nor Mr. 7 or Miss Father's Day either. So while they did have a higher body count, apparently taking down the big boss was more important than his minions.

"Still pisses me off." Gin said before pulling out his two flintlock forty-four caliber six shot revolvers and began cleaning them for the second time that day. "Hey do you know when we're gonna blow this joint? Not that I mind three square meals a day and a comfy bed, but the Marines are still here."

"The Cap'n said he had a little bit of business to take care of." Bashura replied. "After that he said we could leave anytime we want."

"I vote for tomorrow." Shizune spoke up from her position in the room. "The sooner we go the better. I will miss the baths, but we need to go...after we find Miss Goldenweek."

"Where did she go anyways?" Kotetsu asked.

---

Within the throne room King Cobra looked upon a strange sight. The recent member of the Ocean Sword Pirates had approached him while he was finishing up some business with Rasa. She was not armed with her paints, but she was also flanked by two giant dumb-looking men. She waited until he was finished before he even acknowledged her. "Miss Goldenweek. What can I do for you?"

"Your highness." Miss Goldenweek lightly bowed to him. "I do not represent the organization I work with, they are disbanded now so you can call me Goldenweek now."

Rasa raising an eyebrow at her odd behavior spoke up. "What are you here for child?"

"I was told about your Tsumegeri Guards and how they tried to defeat Crocodile." She bluntly said, causing the older man to frown. "I am sorry for your loss, they seemed like good people, and thatis why I am here." Goldenweek gestured towards the towering, lumbering idiots that were once Mr. 6's lieutenants.

"The taller one is Fujin, the shorter one is Raijin. They used to work in the organization as well under Mr. 6 until we defeated them." She explained. "They are not bad people they are just...really dumb. But also loyal to those that feed them, we cannot take them with us, but I hope that you consider taking them as the first two replacements for the Tsumegeri Guards."

"How can we get your guarantee they won't just betray us?" Rasa demanded, if he could stand he would have in outrage. "We really do not care about you, but leaving these..."

"That is enough Rasa." Cobra's sharp command silenced his adviser. Raising himself up from the throne the King personally inspected the two brothers. They were large, and strong like his elite guards. Those were always good qualities, but it didn't hurt to find out more. "Can you two handle weapons?" He asked them.

"Uhh...no your...ummm Sir." Raijin said.

"We use our fists. We are really good with them." Fujin dumbly seconded.

"Goldenweek says that you are loyal to those who feed you. Can I count on you to not betray us should someone else offer the same thing?"

"Never! We ate some of the food and it way yummy!" Fujin shouted.

"We will never betray you!" Raijin seconded.

"They really are dumb and simpleminded." Cobra said to himself before looking towards Goldenweek. The girl with the dull gaze was looking at him in a pleading manner, she really wanted him to take them, and she was really remorseful about his loss. What a sweet girl. "All right, they will be put on a probationary period, but I think I can make use of you." (4)

"Wahoo mama would be so proud of us!" Raijin screamed with happiness as he hugged his larger brother in a powerful embrace.

"She would, the fishyman was right to tell the paint lady to bring us here!" Fujin happily exclaimed.

"Naruto? He was the one who told you to do this?" Rasa demanded as he wheeled himself towards their position.

"Where is the boy?" Cobra asked.

"He's at the cemetery, he wanted to pay his last respects before we leave." Goldenweek dully replied. "He also told me to do everything in my power to make sure you take them off our hands. He said if I couldn't we would most likely starve until we reached the next island."

Both Rasa and Cobra sweatdropped. What did they just agree to?

---

"You know, it's odd. I always thought I would be the first to be buried here." Chaka said as he looked at the gravestone of his oldest friend.

"It's not something to wish for. I watched the man fly away with the bomb, God knows what he was thinking about in his last moments." Naruto replied with a tired look in his eyes.

After speaking with Goldenweek, who preferred to call herself that, he didn't know why, nor did he care at this point. Naruto decided that before he left Alabasta he would pay his last respects to Pell and the Tsumegeri Guards. Huh, who would have thought that he of all people who joined a crew that hated humans would be mourning them? Hody would have definitely had some sort of brain aneurysm if he saw him now.

He actually smiled at that thought, ever since that dream of his, or perhaps it was a hallucination. But after beating the crap out of his Captain in it, he stopped hearing his voice, his words of hatred towards humans was fading in his mind. It also didn't help that he was beginning to enjoy himself around the members of his crew, they were a bunch of jackasses, but they were his jackasses. Hell he was even warming up to the antics of the Straw Hats.

"I think he was happy." Chaka said with a small smile on his face. "Pell was the most courageous and loyal man I have ever served with. And seeing the people of Alabasta untied once again and rebuilding the kingdom, I honestly think his sacrifice was worth it all."

"Say that to the others." Naruto looked around the graveyard to see that they were not alone. A lot of soldiers died during the Battle of Alubarna, widows and orphans were weeping upon the freshly dug graves.

However his eyes drew upon one woman. She had shoulder-length, sandy-brown hair that framed her kind-looking face, and indigo-colored eyes. She wore a simple outfit along with a long, light yellow scarf draped loosely around her neck. She was standing in front of two graves with fresh flowers in hand. "Hey Chaka, who is that woman?"

"Oh it's Lady Karura." Seeing the confused look on the blondes face the Zoan-user clarified. "She is Rasa's wife."

"The Royal Adviser? How come I haven't seen her around?"

"She doesn't show her face in public often anymore. Not since her youngest died when he was born. If he lived he would have been your age by now." Chaka said giving him a look. "She has been in mourning ever since...it honestly doesn't help that her younger brother Yashamaru died during the Battle of Alubarna."

"Oh..." Well that was just depressing, he moved to give the woman some consoling words, but a firm hand was places in his shoulder to stop him.

"Don't. Rasa respects her wishes to leave her alone." Chaka warned him.

"What happened to her son then? Was it some sort of bandit raid or something?" Naruto demanded.

"He was born prematurely, both Rasa and Karura left the island to find help because we did not have the technology to keep him stabilized. They found a place, but it was too late, the boy died and they were given his body back for burial." Slowly shaking his head the acting Captain of the Royal Guard lowly sighed out. "She never recovered from it. I remember her saying she would protect him...poor Gaara."

Hearing Gaara's name caused Naruto's eyes to widen in surprise. It was unnoticed by Chaka but everything finally clicked together. Gaara mentioned he was from Alabasta, he mentioned that he was a subject for experiments regarding artificial devil fruit and illegally fed one after the experiment ended. He was a part of the Revolutionary Army through unknown means and out of the World Government's hands. And now hearing this story regarding his family, Naruto more or less figured out what Gaara's damage was.

Man and he thought his own life was fucked up.

"I see, thanks Chaka." He would leave the woman alone, but he would do something for her before he left. That was a guarantee. "Hey, can you tell me where Kankuro is? There is something I would like to discuss with him."

"He should be in the medical bay visiting his sister, why do you-" Turning his head Chaka saw that Naruto has already bolted towards the palace. "Huh, and I did not have a chance to tell him Terracotta had surprise for them all." He then looked towards the gravestone with a smile on his face. "Pell I honestly can't believe you're gone. I can't even shed a tear...why is that I wonder?" He lightly asked himself.

---

(The Palace - Later that Evening)

"So you all ready?" Naruto asked the ragtag members of his crew once they got outside.

"Pretty much, it's time to get going." Gin said after checking the last of their supplies given to them by Terracotta.

Thanks to Igaram's wife, who was one a hell of a seamstress they all were decked out in some new threads instead of the long flowing desert outfits that were common in Alabasta.

Gin still wore his worn pair of brown boots, but now he wore a pair of black pants with a grey stripe going down the sides, an open black jacket with a red sea-serpent design on each side and their Jolly Roger on the back of it, a maroon t-shirt underneath it and a leather baldric strapped underneath the jacket that held four flintlock pistols for easy access along with a belt that had both his revolvers hanging on the sides of his hips for easy access along with his cannonball tipped tonfas, and his iron-gray bazooka strapped to his back. He also took to wearing a headband again, but unlike the last one this was pure grey with the same sea-serpent design in the middle of it.

Kotetsu lost all traces of his Marine uniform and packed them in a sack slung over his shoulder. His straight sandy-blonde hair by now rested at his shoulder blades. He now wore a crimson duster that went to the back of his knees with a black skull on the back that said 'Bloody' underneath it, a white t-shirt, a pair of brown pants and sturdy black shoes. Strapped to his back was his cutlass and clutched in his black fingerless gloved hands was Nidai Kitetsu.

Bashura had practically gone native on them. He wore a pair of tan pants, a open dark blue vest that left a great deal of his chest exposed, and a pair of brown sandals. Strapped to his waist was his tomahawk and satchel that held his maps and log pose. He still kept his black top hat, there was no way he would ever part with that, along with his harpoon he had clutched in his right hand.

Carmen's attire was something that surprised everyone. Gone was her flamingo dresses and instead she wore a dark red kimono that reached down to below her knees, with slits along the side for better movement and a somewhat revealing neckline. She wore a purple sash to keep it closed and now had a gigantic metal war fan strapped to the back of it and her two hand held ones to the sides. While her pink hair was still wild, it was spread out to the sides instead of making it look like her head was on fire. She still wore her diamond-shaped emerald earrings and a silver-emerald necklace, but now she supported a pair of red open-toed sandals with low heels. (5)

Shizune stayed remotely the same. She still wore her bluish-black kimono with long sleeves held together by a white obi, however she now has a red cross symbol on both her shoulders and her upper back, and wore some mesh armor underneath it for some more added protection, had her tanto strapped to the back of her obi with two small white pouches at her waist for her poison bombs, and a pair of black open-toes sandals with low heels. She also wore a pair of metal bracers on her forearms that held a small surprise.

Goldenweek lost most of her Baroque Works outfit. She still kept her dark red hair tied in braided pigtails and kept her wide-brimmed pink hat with a green band firmly on her head. But now she wore a green ascot, a buttoned up yellow long-sleeved shirt with her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, a green checker patterned skirt that went below her knees, brown buckles boots and pink and white stripped stockings. (6)

And Naruto himself now wore a pair of open-toed black sandals, blue pants with a orange sash made of Alabastan silk on his waist, along with his belt and snarling bull shark belt buckle hanging off his right hip with the white hip pouch on his side. He still wore his black magnet interwoven vest, but he had it open to reveal his chest and stomach and shark tooth necklace. His right forearm and hand were once again taped up, and he had Saibannin Kayiouumi strapped to his back.

It was decided that they would leave the kingdom that night, the Marines were bound to come after them eventually, and quite frankly fighting them would be too much of a hassle. They did not even say goodbye to Vivi, doing it to the Straw Hats was hard enough on her, making it happen a second time was something Naruto could not put her through. So they gathered their belongings, took some food, donned some desert clothing; and for Naruto his rebreather, it may have been broken but it protected his gills from the sand. Rented some camels and rode off into the night.

"I'm gonna miss this place." Bashura said when they began galloping away. "I hated the sand, but it was a good place for a cat nap."

"I honestly could have gotten used to the cooking." Carmen lightly replied with a giggle. After getting Temari's new fan thanks to her Captain, she also got a dozen recipes and spices from the chefs to use in the future. "It was fun."

"Yea, but we all knew it could not have lasted forever." Shizune popped her bubble before gesturing towards the three wanted members of their crew. "Mister high bounties over here would have drawn too much attention. We were lucky not to get caught otherwise."

Gin only lowly growled in response to that, he was a measly ten million beli, while Naruto was forty-five million and Kotetsu sixty-five million. That honestly irked him something real fierce. "If we keep doing what we are doing, you might just get a bounty on your pretty little head Shizune."

"I'm a doctor! There is no way I'll get a bounty on my head!" The raven-haired woman exclaimed.

"Keep telling yourself that Miss Poison." Goldenweek dully said, causing half the crew to laugh at their resident doctor.

"Argh, why do I put up with all of you!?"

"Because you love us?" Bashura said.

"Because Uzumaki won you in a bet?" Kotetsu seconded.

"Or because you enjoy our charming personalities?" Carmen added in.

Shizune only shook her head before laughing. No matter what they did she could not hate them, they got busted up and she fixed them so they could do it all over again. It was an endless cycle and she would have it no other way.

"All right guys, lets stop picking on our doctor." Naruto said being the voice of reason. "If we piss her off too much we will have to sleep with one eye open for now on."

"That will be the day Bashura doesn't drink all the milk." Gin replied, forcing them to pick on the giant navigator of the crew.

They would pick on each other until they reached the ship in six hours time.

---

(Royal Palace – Meanwhile with Vivi)

After the Straw Hats left, she now had one last option, one last chance to leave before her window closed forever. Already she had Carue's saddlebags packed to the brim with clothing, rations, and everything else she would need. All that was left was to...well tell her father.

Wearing an outfit that consisted of a sleeveless green top with a checkered pattern design, a pair of white shorts that barely came to mid-thigh to expose a great deal of her slender legs and white high heel sandals. The Princess calmed her nerves and loudly knocked on the door to her father's chambers.

"Come in."

Opening the doors Vivi was greeted by her father sitting at his desk writing out something that he deemed important. Rasa was next to him, still wheelchair bound, and Igaram was next to him with his finger gesturing towards something on his desk. Oh great more people, this was already off to a great start.

"Ah Vivi. It's awfully late. You should be in bed." Cobra said.

"There is a reason for that father." Vivi said. Lightly biting her bottom lip and moving her fingers she tried to find a delicate way to tell him what she planned on doing. But coming up with nothing she just came out and said it. "Father...I must leave Alabasta."

Igaram looked like he was about to have a heart attack, but both Rasa and Cobra kept a level head. "And why must you leave your home? You have only been back for over a week." The King asked.

"Because as I am now I honestly do not think I will be able to lead the country as its Queen. What Crocodile did opened my eyes to the truth, I am not ready yet." She explained.

"Nonsense! Princess you exposed Crocodile for what he truly was. It was thanks to your efforts that the entire nation was saved!" Igaram loudly protested.

"Igaram you and I both know that I was too late in stopping him." Vivi argued. "For two years you and I went undercover in his organization. It was only thanks to his ex-partner that we even found out who he was. But in the end we did not stop anything, the civil war still happened."

"That's only because Crocodile used dirty conniving tricks to fool the people." The curly-haired man shot back. "He destroyed a city...no two cities in order to rile the people up and plant evidence."

"Exactly. And it was due to us being so powerless we were unable to stop them. People died Igaram, Pell died to save us, but in the end one-hundred thousand perished in the war, and thousands more died due to the drought. I could have done more!"

"Uh...your majesty should we do something?" Rasa questioned as the argument between Vivi and Igaram got more and more heated. "She has some good points, but...the kingdom also needs her."

"No...lets hear her out." Cobra replied, even though the news of his daughter wishing to leave surprised him, he was willing to listen. Plus he had never seen her this animated before. It was a sight to see.

"So what if a group of pirates were the ones to end it? The ends justify the means." Igaram protested.

"It should, but in the end neither I, my father, or even Alabasta's strongest warriors could stand up to Crocodile. He may have been one of the Shichibukai, but that is no excuse. He could have wiped out generations of people for his ambitions and gotten away with it." Vivi argued, she remembered feeling the heat of the giant bomb against her skin when it went off, that terrified her the most.

"But he didn't, we survived."

"But what about next time?" The blue-haired Princess said, stopping Igaram in mid-sentence. "Next time we won't have two pirate crews to stop our country from tearing itself apart. What then? Crocodile wasn't even the strongest of the Shichibukai, there are six more out there that could have done the same thing and gotten away with it. What would we have done then?"

For the first time since the argument began, Igaram was at a loss for words. Vivi however wasn't.

"I am not a skilled warrior, I am not a tactician, all I have known is the rules of the court, but they were useless against Crocodile. I need to do this to become stronger Igaram. For our country to never go through this ever again. I cannot be that weak little girl again." She then turned to her father with resolution in her brown eyes. "So father, I must go. And I will do it with or without your permission."

For the longest time Cobra said nothing, he digested everything that she said. Finally he removed himself from his chair, walked over and embraced her. "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"I am...I don't want to leave, but I have to. The kingdom deserves to have someone who can stand on her own two feet." Vivi replied before returning the hug. "Do I have you permission?"

"You have my blessing Vivi." Cobra said with a smile.

"King Cobra you can't be serious!" Igaram shouted out.

"Igaram stop being a nagging nursemaid. Vivi is sixteen and has done more than I ever could have. Her time away has allowed her to grow as a person. And if her being away to make more connections and become stronger...then who am I to say no?" He replied before releasing his daughter. "But before you go, please take a den den mushi so I can talk to you. I would like to at least keep in contact with my only child."

"Yes of course I can do that." Vivi smiled in response.

"One question Princess. What exactly are you going to do? We can't spare a crew for you to go sailing around the world on the Grand Line of all places, and the one crew that would have taken you left days ago." Rasa asked before putting two and two together. He then proceeded to palm his face. "Oh no, you're not going with that crew are you?"

This time Igaram nearly did have a heart attack. Vivi joining up with the Ocean Sword Pirates? It was his nightmare come true!

"Then you must hurry my dear, they left the palace an hour ago." Cobra informed her.

"What!?"

"Also Princess, they are pirates. How are you going to travel with them, and not get wanted by the Wold Government, and not bring all hell down on your country?" Rasa butted in with a stern look.

"Well I did have an idea regarding that..." Vivi nervously said.

---

(The Nautilus – Early Morning)

"And stay off our ship you bastards!" Came the cry of every male on the ship and the bodies of over three dozen cranes flew and crashed into the already ruined town.

"God damn Warusagi Birds trying to steal our stuff." Gin huffed before cracking his knuckles.

"We're lucky they arrived no more than a minute before we did, or all our stuff would have been lost." Bashura seconded, cracking his knuckles in a similar fashion.

The group of seven arrived in the abandon town just as the sun was beginning to peak over the horizon. They considered themselves lucky that no one was around to see them off, nor were there any people that could blame them for the destruction of the town, or the amount of dried up bodies still littering the streets. They did not envy the people who had to clean that up.

"Ugh, there is a lot of sand on deck. I can only imagine what it looks like on the inside." Carmen complained, kicking a small patch of sand to the side with her sandals.

"We closed the cannon ports, and kept the doors tightly shut, I don't think there will be too much sand inside." Kotetsu said before opening the door that lead into the bowls of the ship. "But I am not looking forwards to sailing in this floating hazard."

That was something everyone could agree to, the Nautilus was pretty beat up. She had holes in her stern that were crudely patched up with wood and tar, most of the top deck was replaced with the wood they stole from Mr. 6's ship, their electricity was shot in most places and had to be run with oil lamps, one of the bathrooms was completely out of order thanks to Gin, and they were pretty sure something was up with the mast. She needed to be fixed, and it couldn't come soon enough. They had a lot of money, but with all the renovations and repairs it looked like it would be in the hundreds of millions.

"All we have to do is get to Jaya first." Bashura informed them as he looked at one of the nautical maps. "It's a four day journey from here, perhaps we could get a bounty or three along the way."

"There is no need for that." Naruto said taking out the map from his hip pouch and handed it to Bashura. "This is a treasure map I got from Miss All-Sunday...or Nico Robin as she called herself."

"Wait, wait, wait, hold the fuck up!" Gin said waving his hands. "You met that woman again...when...how!?"

"More importantly did you say Nico Robin?" Kotetsu demanded with a paling face. "As in "Devil Child" Nico Robin?"

"Um...she did not tell me her epithet, but that is her name." Naruto said.

"She has a bounty of seventy-nine million beli, and has been wanted by the World Government for twenty years! And she gave you a map?" The sands-haired swordsman exclaimed.

"All right everyone shut the hell up so I can explain myself! I am not going to have all this passive-aggressive bullshit anymore!" The blonde fishman exploded before anymore questions or yelling could be directed his way.

Taking several deep breaths to calm himself, Naruto began to explain everything. "Okay Kotetsu, since you and Goldenweek weren't around, this was the fourth time I encountered her. The first time was in Whiskey Peak when she saved Igaram and I from that exploding ship. She also gave me this." He pulled out the golden zippo lighter and shook it at them. "The second time Gin, Shizune, Bashura and I encountered her after fighting some Baroque Works assholes. She gave us a map of Alabasta, and life saving water. And also a mission to help her take down Crocodile."

"I remember, we were there Naruto." Shizune crossed her arms over her chest in a huff.

"Well then you also remember she promised a map." Naruto said pointing it out in Bashura's large hand. "The third time I met her is insignificant. That was when Crocodile was being a giant asshole and sucker punched me. But the fourth time...well I met her two days after the civil war ended. She gave me the map as promised and the legend of "Black" Jack Lee along with her real name. I knew nothing more of her, this I swear." He then looked at all of them expectantly. "Is this going to be a problem?"

The members of the crew looked at each other, almost as if they were mentally communicating their thoughts before Goldenweek herself spoke up. "No, not to me. I met her only once and she was as honest as they came in that organization."

"You told the truth. I respect that Cap'n. I'll take a look at it and check the coordinates." Bashura said before moving to head into his room.

"Eh, fine. Whatever, so long as she doesn't jib us." Gin carelessly said.

"I dunno, the Marines have been trying to find a map regarding his treasure. I only heard the stories, but the man had a lot...and I mean a lot." Kotetsu said. Apparently that was also Gin's favorite words and he dragged him by his collar to the helm to discuss how much 'a lot' was in treasure terms.

"I don't have a reason to disbelieve you." Carmen said before taking the giant fan off her back. "I'm going to train for a little bit, breakfast will be ready in a few hours."

"I guess...I guess we're off to look for a cursed treasure. I honestly wonder what our chances of death are!" Shizune exclaimed before heading downstairs to check on the medical bay. Yep, they broke her. They broke her bad.

Goldenweek went to the bow of the ship and plopped herself down and dozed off, and Naruto honestly felt the effects of traveling on camel for six straight hours. He needed a nap, a long nap. After pulling up anchor they managed to pull out of the docks and headed to the open ocean.

The blonde didn't retire to his room just yet. He stayed on deck waiting for something bad to happen. The Marines were out there, and they were pirates. He did not need to do the math with what would happen.

However nothing happened...nothing at all. It was actually anticlimactic, they all expected some sort of bloody life or death battle that would leave their ship a mess, and them with injuries. Wow, something was wrong with them if they expected that. Once they were clear of Alabasta's shores and completely out of sight of the desert kingdom did Naruto finally take Saibannin Kayiouumi off his back, secured it to the left side of his ship, and retire to his room.

He passed by the doorless frame and took off his tan desert coat and hung it on a coat hanger within his closet, he then took off his orange keffiyeh before placing it on the top shelf within the closet. Taking off the device on his neck he placed it and the golden zippo lighter on the shelves next to Kuro's Cat Claws. "Ah mementos, they will tell a good story one of these days." Naruto said to himself, lightly flicking Kiribachi's handle he then stripped his vest off, removed his sandals, belt, and flopped on top of his bed and heard the wood groan from his weight.

Naruto slept for a few hours, sawing logs and dreaming about happy things before he felt an irritating poking in his side. "Ugh...Kotetsu...Gin...whoever knock it off."

The poking continued until he was being pecked in the head. "Gah, you son of a bitch I'll...wha?" Standing in front of his was a large, yellow Super Spot-Billed Duck. His wings were tipped with black along with his tail feathers. He was wearing a blue chullo with a white pattern on it and pink goggles with blue lenses and a barrel of around his neck, complete with a straw sticking out of it. "Carue?"

"Quack!" The large duck replied.

"What the hell are you..."

"Carue I told you not to run off..." Vivi bolted into his room, and froze like a deer caught in the headlights seeing a shirtless Naruto looking right at her. She was wearing a purple traveling cloak that covered her from the neck downwards, leaving only her head expose for now, not to mention her cherry red cheeks. "Oh...hello Naruto."

"Vivi...are we still in Alabasta?" Naruto wearily asked.

"We left over three hours ago." She replied.

"Am I dreaming?"

"I'm afraid you're not."

"...Why are you on my ship?"

"Because I need to be stronger for my country. I'll explain later."

"...How did you get on my ship?"

"I beat you here by two hours thanks to Carue." Vivi said patting the giant duck on his head. "And I entered through the secret hatch I found on your ship."

"God dammit." Naruto openly swore. He then looked at the cracked ceiling wondering who he pissed off in his past life again? How that everyone other then him knew where to find the secret hatch? And what the hell he was going to do with a Princess on board with them now.

Such was the life of Uzumaki Naruto. Life could not stop fucking with him.

---

(Fishman Island, Fishman District – Meanwhile)

"You're lying! You're fucking lying!" Hody Jones snarled as he smashed Skorka against the wall of one of the houses. The killer whale fishman dwarfed him easily, but due to his weakened state he stood no chance against the Captain of the New Fishman Pirates.

"I'm not lying...sir." Skorka coughed out when Hody punched him right in the belly. "Ack! I'm not...I was there the funeral for Along was a few days ago, I piled the dirt on his coffin!"

"You lie!" Hody punched the fishman again, sending him to his knees. "Arlong is not dead. He can't be dead!" Raising his right fist to punch Skorka one more time, his wrist was captured by a hand with an iron vice grip.

"He is telling the truth Hody." Fuguki said, preventing the great white shark fishman from harming his former student. "I visited the graves and saw the names, all except Hatchan are accounted for. And it was Uzumaki who did it under the orders of Jinbe."

"He would never do that. That boy would never lie to me."

"Actually Captain that has been bugging me." Zeo approached them with Naruto's wanted poster. "Hammond killed those bounty hunters, but he also got a little overzealous and destroyed the documentation as to why he was given such a high bounty."

"We know he killed a lot of Marines, but other than that we don't know much." Ikaros Much said with a nod of his head. "Come on Boss, you have to admit this is not a coincidence."

"He is my weapon Ikaros! Mine...I don't get how he could do such a thing." Hody said, losing steam from his anger and backed away from Skorka.

"Just like a dogfish, if you don't keep it on a leash it will run wild and maul someone." Fuguki said with a frown. "So tell me, what are you going to do about it?"

"Grr...find out everything you know. I want the facts, why he is really wanted, where he is, who he's seen. Everything!" Hody barked out before pointing as ten random subordinates. "You ten, go to the surface. He's somewhere in the Grand Line, I want you to track him down, and bring him back alive. I don't care if you have to break his limbs to do it, go!"

While the ten fishmen skirted away in fear of their Captain, Skorka weakly stood on his feet and managed to wheeze out. "What about me?"

"What about you!?" Hody snarled.

"I gave you the information regarding Uzumaki...vital information. I want to join your crew, I'm tired of shelling out a meager living while the fat royals sit on their scaly asses and look down upon us all day! Please...let me join you."

"You can't do anything for me cripple. You're missing an arm, your left one is so weak you can't even jerk off with it, and one good punch to your belly you're coughing up blood." The Captain of the New Fishman Pirates scoffed and turned away. "Go back to your job, if you ever come here again I'll end you."

Skorka collapsed to his knees and nearly fell on his face due to his bum arm. His hopes shattered right there and then, he was doomed to live in mediocrity for the rest of his life all because he couldn't fight anymore. It wasn't fair!

Fuguki placed a webbed hand on the shoulder of his weeping former student. "Do not despair Skorka. Hody Jones does not see natural talent like I do. You do not need the New Fishman Pirates, they are undeserving of your loyalty."

"I'm sorry sensei...I'm just tired of it all. I used to be something, some one...but I got nothing now. If only I had the use of my arms I could be something again." Skorka wept out.

"And what would you do if you could use them again?" The pufferman fishman asked.

"I will kill Uzumaki! I would break his bones and make him watch as I killed that little sister of his before ending him in the most painful way imaginable." The crippled fishman snarled. "Vengeance has been my only solace since my defeat. I will not rest until it is sated!"

Fuguki only grinned in response. That was exactly what he wanted to hear. "Well then my boy, perhaps it's time for me to introduce you to a few friends of mine. They aren't like the New Fishman Pirates...but the Flying Pirates are nothing to laugh at either."

---

Omake: The First Cigar

Their time in Alabasta was over, Crocodile was defeated, the kingdom was saved, and they were not needed. Knowing that the Princess knew about their existence in her country the Revolutionary Army decided to pack it up and return to base. It wasn't their victory, but any victory against the World Government was fine with them.

"Gaara! Gaara where are you?" Koala sang once she entered the sand-users tent.

"Go away Koala, I'm busy packing." Gaara lowly said, his sand hard at work packing up the things in his tent and into his trunk.

"Sure busy. Hey listen since we won I figure we should celebrate!"

"We didn't win anything. Uzumaki and that Straw Hat kid did, we sat by and observed."

"Pfft. Don't lie to me Gaara, after all these years I know you better than anyone else." The young woman said. "You went to Alubarna to assist them, you even saw that family of yours without permission."

"What is your point?" The redhead asked.

"I just want to celebrate with you is all." Reaching into her bag Koala pulled out two cigars with a giant smile on her face. "I found five of these in Uzumaki Naruto's pouch, he didn't need them at the time. So I took them."

"You stole from Uzumaki...that is not a good idea Koala." Gaara dully said as if he was talking to a child. "And I don't want to celebrate, Hack prohibited us from smoking under the punishment of death."

Puffing out her cheeks, Koala wagged them in front of her friends face. "Come on Gaara, you're always such a stick in the mud. You never do anything other than train and brood. Celebrate with me or I will tell Hack that you went off to Alubarna. Don't think I won't!"

That was not a threat either, Koala was petty like that. She once told on him to Dragon for burying her ten feet under sand once, and he was punished with heavy latrine duty for ten months. And he could not use his sand at all. The horrors he had seen haunted his dreams at times.

"Fine, give it here." He relented.

"Yay! This is going to be so much fun!"

One hour later Hack found himself staring down at his two green faced students covered in vomit and convulsing with two half finished cigars lying next to them. "Cigars from the West Blue? That stuff will kill you. When you two are done being sick to your stomachs you're going through the death march again."

On that day Koala learned that it was unwise to steal from someone ever again. And Gaara learned to never give into blackmail ever again.

---

Omake: Scrying Gone Wrong

"Onii-chan got hurt? And those women...Madame Shyarly what is going on?" A teary eyed Shirahoshi asked the mako shark mermaid.

"I am unsure, I feel that I might of missed something. Let me just..." Looking into the past was not Madame Shyarly's specialty. The future was her bread and butter, and scrying over vast distances was quite the strain on her powers. Focusing on everything she had the owner of the Mermaid Cafe hummed and tried to view back into the past.

...All she got was the sound of loud moaning and a view of a certain lookalike people going at it. Much to her absolute horror.

"Madame Shyarly what are those people doing?" Shirahoshi curiously asked.

"They are...umm hugging, Princess." Shyarly said before shutting her crystal ball down.

"Like Onii-chan and I do?" She asked, cutely tilting her head cutely.

"No! Not like that!"

"Then what is the difference?"

"I will tell you when you're older." Shyarly was not going to give her the fish and the mermaid talk like Jinbe did to Naruto. "Oh look at the time, I got to go." She said before fleeing from the tower as fast as the bubble chair would allow her, leaving behind a very confused princess and her giant pet shark.

---

Armageddon: Wow, damn I did not expect it to be this long. Nearly twenty-thousand words in what two weeks? Not bad, not bad at all. I don't got anything whimsical to say except that the next arc is gonna be bonkers! I have been waiting for this since Whiskey Peak...which will have to wait a little longer since I got other stories to contend to. Fear not they shall get done in a timely manner, and I can come back to this. Man I am excited, or is that the caffeine? Who knows!

I hope you enjoyed the omakes, I don't usually do them unless I feel the need for them in chapters like this. And enjoy the number things I have not done those in a long time!

(1) The last four are made up, I just used silly sounding names that I mouthed out just to name them.

(2) If you know what that is from, well call yourself awesome throughout October, you deserve it. Come on tell me to you can forever be known next chapter like I did with the Eight Legged Freaks reference!

(3) Those are actual sailor and Navy tattoos, I researched them and everything after a Navy buddy of mind got them for himself. The pig and rooster and swallows, man there are a lot of tattoo meanings for the Navy and sailors to boot. Keep an eye out I might just make more of them appear in this story.

(4) Well Fujin and Raijins journey comes to an end in Alabasta as the new guards. Thank Agurra for that idea.

(5) If you're having a hard time imagining her hair, just look her up on the wikia and see her younger self. That is her hairstyle. Also remember all that money Naruto won a few chapters ago, well one million beli later Carmen gets her fan. I got plans for it if you looked at this chapter hard enough.

(6) This actually came from an image of her on google. All credit goes to that artist...don't sue me please.