Foreword: This is a story that I joked about with my friends awhile back, and the idea kept kicking around in my head until I was forced to put it to paper. So, please enjoy this dumb idea I came up with.

Itachi Uchiha limped forward towards his younger brother, cloaked in the orange flames of the Susano'o. Sasuke, out of chakra, out of options, and with his back literally against the wall, was certain that this was it. All his blood, sweat, and tears. All the decisions he made in order to defeat Itachi were all for naught. Even after abandoning his village, betraying his friends, and risking the possibility of Orochimaru taking his body, he still wasn't strong enough, and now he was going to die. Itachi reached his hand towards Sasuke's face. This is it, thought Sasuke. This is the end.

Then, Itachi tapped his fingers to Sasuke's forehead, the way he would when he was a kid. Itachi closed his eyes and smiled. He could feel it, his life was fading away. After everything, this was how it ended for him. Being used by his superiors, forced to murder his own clan, and then branded a traitor by the very people who gave the order. But he bore no ill will towards them, or anyone in Konoha. Well, except maybe Danzo.

"I'm sorry Sasuke," he said. "This is it." Then he collapsed, his face smacking the concrete wall. His Susano'o let out a dying roar, then dissipated. Itachi slowly fell to the ground. The last thing he saw before his life ended was the shocked face of his foolish little brother.

But this would not be the end of the scorned Uchiha's journey. Forces beyond human understanding would conspire to give him a second chance, in a different place, a different time.

For all intents and purposes, Itachi knew his fate. Hell, he had orchestrated it himself. Dying by his brother's hand in retribution for the Uchiha massacre had been the goal. But something unexpected happened. All of a sudden, the sound of waves crashing on a shoreline could be heard. Itachi slowly opened his eyes, and his vision filled with the image of clouds and a bright blue sky. He could smell sea salt on the breeze, and feel sand beneath his palms. He stood up slowly, taking in the scene before him. He was on a beach, that much was obvious, but where? His body felt light and limber, unburdened by battle injuries or the illness he had contracted. Was this the afterlife? He reached down to where his kunai pouch normally rested on his leg. He wasn't sure if he should be surprised that it was still there. He pulled a knife from it, and made a small cut on his index finger, wincing slightly. He could still feel pain, so probably not the afterlife, then.

He looked around, trying to get his bearings. Nothing but open ocean in front of him, and to either side the coastline stretched on for quite awhile before curving in to be obstructed by foliage. Some small island, perhaps? Behind him was a jungle, and towards the center of the island, rising up above the dense brush and trees, a mountaintop. He decided it would be best to head for higher ground to get a better look at the surrounding area. He carved a large X into a nearby palm tree with his kunai as a marker, then, placing it back into its pouch, he set off into the jungle towards the mountain.

As he trekked through the dense jungle, he encountered several wild animals, such as grazing deer and boar, and even a jaguar which tried to make him into a meal. He decided that would be a good opportunity to see if his Sharingan still worked. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it did, and the big cat was left in a stupor as Itachi kept moving forward, uninterested in killing it.

After several hours, Itachi was making his way up the mountain. He had managed to find a path up, which was clearly man-made.

So, it seems I may not be alone in this place, he thought to himself. I'll have to be on guard. After another hour of traversing the path up the mountain, several distinct sounds and smells could be detected from around a bend up ahead. It sounded like people; several dozen, judging by how dense the noise was, and they were... singing? He could also smell meat, likely being cooked over an open flame.

Itachi drew a kunai and kept it hidden in his cloak. He approached slowly and cautiously, coming around the bend and seeing a bunch of people cooking food over a campfire and singing what sounded like some kind of sea shanty. (Bink's Sake, because of course it was.)

Itachi began to try and leave before anyone noticed him, but a blonde man in a purple coat called out to him.

"Hey, stranger! You must be the presence I felt awhile ago! Care to join us for a drink?" The man stretched his arm out towards Itachi, a bottle of something presumably alcoholic in his hand.

"You sensed me?" replied Itachi in an even tone. "So you knew I was coming?"

"Yeah, I felt your presence about twenty minutes ago. But I don't sense any ill intent from you so I figured we'd just wait for ya. So whaddya say, friend? Come have a seat and try some of this sake!"

Itachi was still apprehensive, but decided to accept the offer, moving to take a seat next to the man on a log. If nothing else, these people could possibly tell him what this strange place was.

"Alright, thanks for joining the party!" the man said, handing Itachi the bottle. "Name's Marco, by the way. What's yours?"

"Itachi," he replied. He decided against giving his last name for now, just in case.

"Well, Itachi, nice to make your acquaintance! What brings you to our little island?" asked Marco.

"To be honest, I'm not sure," replied Itachi. "I was in an important battle and I thought I was about to die, but instead, I woke up here. I don't really even know where 'here' is. I was hoping one of you could fill me in."

"That sounds strange," said Marco. "But to answer your question, we're on a small island on the Grand Line just a little ways beyond Water 7. Who were you battling, if I may ask?"

Well that didn't really explain much, thought Itachi. He'd never heard of either of the locations Marco had just named. Still, if he kept the conversation going, he could probably get some more context. "It's a bit of a long story," he said. "But to put it simply, I was fighting my little brother."

"Well, your story gets weirder by the second," Marco laughed. "So you were fighting your brother, and he killed you, but instead of dying you ended up here instead? Not that I don't believe you, though. I've seen stranger things in my time. And you don't seem to have a reason to lie to us. So, where did this fight happen? Where are you from?"

"I'm from a pretty far off place," said Itachi, which he figured probably wasn't a lie. "Far enough that I've never even heard of those two places you mentioned, the Grand Line and Water 7?"

"Wow, really?!" asked Marco incredulously. "Water 7 I can understand, but you've seriously never heard of the Grand Line? You must come from a really remote island for that to be the case."

"No, I haven't," admitted Itachi. Now it was time for some actual lies. "My island doesn't have a lot of contact with the outside world. So please, can you fill me in on what the Grand Line is?"

Marco looked at the rest of the men, and they all started laughing. The uproar lasted for almost a minute before they calmed down. "Okay, let's start from the beginning. What do you know of Gold Roger?"