Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or One Piece.

"TEACH!!"

Rage consumed his whole self. It looked like Teach's words succeeded in triggering the darkness that he tried so hard to suppress. Ace himself didn't know where did his own rage was aiming to.

Teach's accusations?

Or perhaps what he said is the truth?

Ace didn't know.

But deep down inside of his heart, he just didn't want to face the truths. That bastard wasn't wrong when he said that he was responsible for the others death. Maybe not directly, but it all happened because he was too weak.

All he can felt right now was that miserable feeling upon losing someone dear to him. And the rage for feeling like a failure.

With a loud battle cry, Ace turned into a ball of flame and went ahead to attack Blackbeard with a full blast of killing intent.

"Ace!" Marco shouted upon seeing the reckless side of the younger man. Cursing under his breath, the blonde haired man quickly transformed into his hybrid form. He looked over to check upon the condition of his crew first and sighed in relief when all of them are still standing. Since Ace's angry outburst only directed to the enemies, the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates were not affected.

"Can you guys still hold on?" Marco asked.

"Do not underestimate us." Vista merely responded as he proudly put his cracked sword over his broad shoulder.

"The fact that you even dare to ask us that question is an insult to the whole crew, captain." Jozu said, wiping the trail of blood at the corner of his mouth.

"I don't have my gun anymore, but I can still fight!" Izo declared with a sword in hand, replacing his gun. He himself originated from Wano. It would be a shameful thing to him and his background if he can't even use a sword to assist him in battle!

"Me too, Marco" Haruta weakly said. Despite being heavily wounded not too long ago, he looked a little bit better than when he was unconscious and dying. Thanks to Marco for healing most of his injuries. Even so, his own determination also helped to give him another boost of adrenaline rush for the battle. He couldn't afford to be weak when they were still fighting.

Looking at his crew as they declared one by one that they were still able to fight, Marco was touched. His eyes turned misty as he tried to keep his emotions in check. Thinking of their late father, Marco thought to himself that although Whitebeard himself would not approve of their reckless decisions, he at least, will be proud of their loyalty to one another.

'Mahh, I'll just apologize to father later in hell.' he thought, allowing a small smile of acceptance to appear on his face.

Taking a deep breath, he hardened his eyes as well as his heart, before shouting at the top of his lungs. "All of you! It's now or never!!!"

"For Whitebeard!!!"

And just like that, with Marco on the lead, they all jumped in to engage in the battle once again.

Because the many weak followers of Blackbeard were already knocked out on the ground at the moment, the situation turned out to be better for Marco's group. Using the opportunity while the enemy was still in shock by what happened, the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates went all out and this time, they put all of their strength for this one last battle.

Even so, those from Blackbeard's side that were still standing despite being exposed to Ace's sudden outburst of haki, they couldn't be underestimated either. Especially those who were highly regarded by Blackbeard himself, like the group of former criminals from Impel Down that he took with him.

"What a terrifying aura." Vasco Shot commented after he managed to get over the shock of witnessing the legendary haki that can only be used by few in million. It was all because of their instincts they put quite a distance from the area. Taking a huge gulp of his liquor, he finished it in one shot before throwing aside the empty bottle. "Even Devon turned back to her human form."

Laffitte looked over to where the woman was for a brief moment before focusing on the sight of the Whitebeard Pirates charging towards them. "Well then, we should do our jobs properly too."

"Kill them all!!" Avalo Pizzaro roared in excitement as he released his own bloodthirsty aura.

With that, a pair of wings sprouted from Laffitte's back and he immediately took off to face against Marco the Phoenix. The other two followed immediately with the rest that can still fight.

The situation became chaotic once again and more blood soaked into the ground.

A woman could be seen in the place of where the white Kyubi no Kitsune once stood. Catarina Devon was among the devil fruit users that were affected by Ace's own haki. Due to the fact that she just acquired her newly obtained devil fruit ability not too long ago, the woman herself was still unable to fully grasped her power. That meant even her transformation was somewhat unstable.

Not just her, even the lone giant, Sanjuan Wolf, got his devil fruit ability canceled due to Ace's haki and had returned to his former form. He was currently struggling to hold himself by holding onto the island in a desperate attempt to not sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Not even bothering with him, Devon transformed back into her white Kyubi form that she was so proud of. She then let out a growl as she charged forward and use her tails to sweep everyone that stood on her way.

Then at the corner of her eyes, she saw Blackbeard, surprisingly having a hard time dealing with his opponent. Without any hesitation, she made one final spin and her tails hit more people around her regardless if they're her allies or not and immediately headed towards Blackbeard and Ace's direction, obviously targeting the latter.

But then,

Bang!

Before she could even get close to her target, she felt a burning pain on her shoulder. The impact of the thing that hit her shoulder was so great that it caused her to be crashed onto the ground.

Devon hissed in pain as she felt her strength gradually weakening to the point where she was forced to cancel her devil fruit ability once again. Lying pathetically on the ground, she grabbed her shoulder and saw that her palm was painted in red. She was obviously bleeding at this point.

"Damn it!" she cursed under her breath when she noticed that the thing that penetrated into her shoulder and stubbornly stayed there was in fact, a bullet. It was even infused with haki. No wonder she felt so weak.

The loud noise of something being fired definitely attracted the attention of others, especially after they saw what happened to the Crescent Moon Hunter.

"Who?" Laffitte wondered, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the area while still staying in the middle of the air. Marco who's not far from him also did the same. Then suddenly something caught their attention, causing them to be surprised.

"Well, this is a problem." Laffitte merely stated, feeling a sense of dread overwhelming himself though he did a good job in masking his emotions. Without another words, he simply flew down, abandoning Marco and stood beside Vasco Shot to inform him of their current situation before all of them moved away together towards Devon. They also did not forget to drag the already unconscious Jesus Burgess and the wounded Shiryuu with them.

The sudden movements of Laffitte and his group drew suspicious look from Vista and the others.

Marco, having recovered from his state of surprise, also returned back to his crew's side.

"What is going on Marco?" Izo asked.

Before the blonde could tell them, someone suddenly shouted.

"Look over there!"

The loud shouting caused everyone to look to where the person pointed at and what they all see really made them all gasped in surprise.

"It's the Red Force!"

Red Force, a ship belonged to the one and only Red Hair Pirates!

It was Shanks's crew!

"What are they even doing here?!" Jozu shouted, bewildered.

Marco didn't say anything, even he was surprised to see them.

And there on the crow nest, even from here they all could see a figure that could only be the sniper of the Red Hair Pirates, Yasopp with a gun in his hand. They could even see a grin at the corner of his lips. Other than him, Marco can also see the others such as Ben Beckman and Lucky Roo among the many people on the ship.

"They're really here!"

"If they're here, then...!"

BOOM!

Suddenly they heard a loud explosion.

Meanwhile, a few moments ago.

"Arghhhh!!" Still consumed by his rage, Ace didn't know nor was he even aware of what was happening around him. All he care about was pummeling Teach until he's dead.

Due to his anger, all of his attacks were unpredictable and more aggressive, making it harder for Blackbeard to take control of the situation.

But Blackbeard was not a pushover either. Raising his fist, he made sure to put a lot of strengh and force behind it before punching Ace right in the middle of his stomach, sending him crashing away from him successfully. With an ugly scowl on his face, Blackbeard took the opportunity when Ace was down on the ground clutching his stomach in pain as he coughed off blood, and use his devil fruit ability to drag the younger man towards him.

"You shitty rat!" Blackbeard cursed, catching Ace by his neck with one hand. The grip around his neck was too tight, causing Ace to feel suffocated as more air leaving his body the more he was struggling to free himself.

"I'll kill you right now!"

Then he slammed him into the ground. The force behind that slam definitely wasn't weak as big crack appeared soon after Ace's back hit the ground. Ace felt choked even more and all he could see was darkness almost taking over his sight.

Not being able to breath, he panicked. By instinct, he could only used his hands to grab the thing that was busy choking his neck. With pain all over his body and the lack of air, Ace found it hard to even think properly. It was like his mind chose to shut down at the moment.

'Am I really going to die?' Ace thought. There's nothing that he could see except Teach and the darkness.

Desperate, he raised one arm trying to reach out to Teach. But seconds passed by, his eyes are slowly trying to close themselves and his struggling also lessened. There's no sound that he could hear expect for the fading sound of his heartbeat and the sharp ringing in his ears.

Then, darkness took over himself.

He didn't know what was going on, but he suddenly find himself in the middle of an empty space with nothing around him. Ace just stood there staring at nothingness, feeling nothing.

Just like a doll.

'Where am I?'

Suddenly, an images of his loved ones appeared before him one by one. He saw his brothers and sister, Dadan and the bandits, Gramps, and even Makino and the mayor too.

Then lastly the man he called 'father', Whitebeard, stood behind the rest with a proud smile on his face.

Their appearances brought light to this gloomy space. Giving him a sense of hope.

Ace wanted to call out to them, but the words stuck in his throat. He knew that they were just apart of his hallucination, but he couldn't help but to reach out to them, but his body just wouldn't move.

Slowly, they approached him. His siblings standing behind him with their hands on his back. Gramps and the others are holding his hands. His pops? He stood before him, with his big hand caressing his head.

"Don't give up now, son."

Then he was dragged and pushed forward.

'Don't go!'

Opening his mouth but no sound to come out, their images gradually fading away as his body moved towards a sudden light that appeared in front of him.

Suddenly, as if it was all just a dream, all he saw was Teach with a twisted expression on his face staring down at him. Feeling the pain around his neck, with his instinct, Ace moved his head a little bit and just like that, he bit down anything that was near his face. It just happened to be Blackbeard's wrist.

"Arghhh!" Due to the pain, Teach didn't have a choice but to let him go. He looked at his wrist that Ace just bit and felt his blood boiling in anger. That bastard had just bitten a small piece of his flesh!

"Ace...!"

While Blackbeard was raging over his wound, Ace took the chance to take a breather. Touching his neck, he hissed. That bastard almost broke his neck. He thanked the spirit of his father and the supports of his loved ones, even though they're just the images in his head, for giving him strength to not giving up on his life at the last moment.

Surrounded by darkness, Ace shuddered. That's the sign of him almost died.

'I don't want to die yet!'

"That's it! I am so done with you!" With veins bulged across his face, he raised his arm that wasn't injured towards the sky. Strong wind immediately blew from all directions towards him as dark mist slowly gathered around his palm. Tiny bit of red particle can be seen mixed with the ball of darkness.

Watching him, Ace felt a sense of foreboding in his heart. Glancing at that ball of darkness, Ace thought back to that powerful ball of energy that Naru had used before.

"Zehahahahahaha! Surprised?" Blackbeard laughed with a sense of satisfaction when he saw the gleam of recognisation across Ace's eyes. "This is exactly what you thought it was!"

An attack based on Monkey D Naru's own technique that had been used against Mary Geoise. Although he didn't actually know what it was or how she did it, but Blackbeard felt a sense of triumph when he was able to recreate the same kind of energy ball with his own darkness.

"This is the end for you." He stated before blasting away that little ball of darkness towards his target.

Physically weak and still recovering from his near death situation, Ace cursed. He couldn't even move and the only thing he could do was watch as Blackbeard's attack was getting closer and closer. Unconsciously, he closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to come.

BOOM!

Sound of explosion resonated throughout the island and he could feel the tremendous shock wave due to the explosion.

But why didn't he feel any pain from the explosion? He opened his eyes and to his relief, his body hadn't been blown to pieces yet. Then he raised his head, only to see the back of someone familiar standing before him. His cloak was swaying back and forth due to the wind brushing passed them. His only arm was holding onto a sword. Despite the darkness of the night, Ace could clearly see the color of his hair.

Red hair.

"Shanks!" he cried out in surprise.

"Yo." Shanks turned his head slightly to greet him.

"You...!" Blakbeard stared venomously at the redhead who just appeared out of nowhere and easily deflected his attack with only his sword! "Heh, did you came to save your captain's son?"

Shanks ignored him in favor of talking to Ace who glared hatefully at Blackbeard. "Sure glad we arrived in time huh?"

"We?" A little bit slow to process anything with his head, Ace stared at him in puzzlement. Instead of answering, Shanks looked at something at the back. Ace turned around only to see the Red Hair Pirates disembarking one by one from the Red Force.

"Ace! Are you alright?" Marco asked as soon as he reached his side.

"I'm fine. What about you guys?" Concerned, he scanned around the area and felt glad when he saw the others are doing fine.

Less than a minute, two groups stood facing each other.

Blackbeard and his crew. The Whitebeard Pirates with the Red Hair Pirates as reinforcement.

"Stop it now, Teach." Shanks spoke. He stood protectively in front of the Whitebeard Pirates with his trusted men on his sides. "You can I.. we both know that we can't afford to fight now."

"Wait a minute-" Ace's words suddenly stuck in his throat when he was met with a piercing gazes from the redhead.

"It's time to stop now, Ace."

Ace wanted to disagree, only to be stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to him." Marco calmly said. Ace felt like choking when he took a glance at him before looking over to the rest of the crew.

"...Fine." He finally agreed. Although he was reluctant to do so, but the crew's well-being was more important. Since Marco had already chose to retreat, then he will follow his order.

Satisfied with Ace's response, Shanks stared at Blackbeard again.

Blackbeard could only gritted his teeth. Unwillingness could be seen by the way he watched Marco and Ace. If he leave now, when else would he get the chance to take their devil fruits for himself?! But, looking at that hateful Yonko, he could only gave up on his attempt.

For now.

"Tch, consider yourselves to be lucky." Blackbeard mocked them, staring particularly at Marco and Ace. Blackbeard then simply spread his darkness all over him and his crew before he got themselves enveloped by the darkness, completely hidden from the other group.

Then the next thing they know, Blackbeard and his crew disappeared. Even the giant that had been hanging desperately on the island was gone.

Not even a trace of them could be detected.

"So he can use teleportation now?" Shanks muttered under his breath.

"Everything is clear. They're really gone." Ben Beckman informed beside him in a low voice.

"To the ship, captain?"

Shanks looked over the poor sight of the island. Burnt forest, one side of the island is starting to sink, blood coated the ground, and dead bodies everywhere.

Some of the people that came with Blackbeard unfortunately had been left behind. They're still alive, but not for long.

The Whitebeard Pirates would not let them escape from here alive.

"Do what must be done first."

With Shanks's sudden appearance and Blackbeard escaping from the island with the rest of his crew, the battle was considered to be over. By now, half of the island was already sinking and it will completely sink itself to the bottom of the ocean in a couple of hours.

With the help of Shanks's own doctor on his ship, those who have suffered injuries will be treated. With Shanks's offer, what left of the Whitebeard Pirates would stay onboard the Red Force for the time being until they reach their destination. Looking at the current situation of Marco and the crew, they didn't even tried to refuse the Yonko's offer, as they don't even have a ship for them to sail away.

As the one who was in charge of the crew, Marco himself need to think for what was the best for all of them. He already did a shitty job by letting the crew that his father entrusted him with, to be in this dire situation, not to mention his other fallen comrades, he couldn't afford to let them suffer anymore grievances under his guidance.

Some of the Whitebeard Pirates were sitting on the deck together with a solemn expression on their faces, while the others were still being treated in the infirmary. With the exhaustion and pain finally caught up to them, they finally able to caught a breath. They just finished burying the rest of their fallen comrades that fought bravely, on that sinking island itself.

When they were planning to hunt down Teach, and take revenge for their father and fallen comrades such as Thatch, all of them agreed that shall they die fighting against Teach, they all prepared to die and wanted to be buried where the battle took place.

And just like that, Marco and the rest didn't hesitate to give their fallen comrades a burial on this sinking island. Even though they failed in killing Teach, Marco and the rest didn't want to think that they died in vain.

As they collected their bodies, none of them didn't have tears streaming down their faces. Some of their bodies had missing parts, some had been smashed beyond recognizable... but as they had been sailing together for so long, which one of them didn't recognize one another?

But honestly, none of them, whose bodies still intact, had even an ounce of fear apparent on their faces.

For their enemies, those who came as Blackbeard's subordinates, whether they're alive or dead, all of them were thrown mercilessly into the cold water of the ocean by Marco and the rest.

.

.

.

Staring at the silent group of people, those from the Red Hair Pirates never would have thought that their rival crew would one day, sitting on the deck of their ship.

One of them couldn't help but to whisper as quietly as he can to the person next to him. "They really had it rough huh?"

"They were too driven by their their own grievances to even care about the consequences." The person next to him sighed.

The rest didn't say anything, all lost in their own thoughts. One way or another, they all could sympathize with what happened to the Whitebeard Pirates. If such things happen to their own crew... some of them shuddered at the thought.

Loyalty among the crew was an important aspect on a pirate ship. Even one bad apple could affect the others, let alone a person with ill intentions like Marshall D Teach.

Hearing a familiar footsteps behind them, they turned around and saw their captain walking over to them.

"Captain!"

Shanks nodded at them, and proceeded to look around. He noticed that the people he was looking for was nowhere to be found.

"Captain, if you're looking for Marco, that guy is over there." One of them pointed to a direction. Shanks followed where he pointed at, and saw Marco standing far away from the rest of his crew, overlooking the sea.

"Instead of sitting here doing nothing, why don't the two of you go ahead and clean up the store rooms." Shanks grinned at them, before making his way to the blonde haired man, ignoring the groans from the two behind him.

Reaching the older man in no time, he casually leaned his back against the railing, with his one and only arm resting on top of it. He raised his head towards the sky, watching the stars and clouds with a peaceful look on his face.

The blonde didn't seem to be very surprised by the redhead's sudden presence at all.

Neither of them spoke a word to each other for a moment, until Marco decided to open his mouth and strike a conversation first.

"Thanks... for coming." Marco started. "We wouldn't be able to escape from Teach alive if it wasn't for you."

Shanks smiled. "Well, trying to track you guys down is hard enough. We wouldn't have arrived in time without a help from a certain someone."

Marco lifted the corner of his mouth. "Ace's sister?"

"Yeah." the man responded.

"I figured that. Knowing how well she keep tabs on her brothers."

Shanks chuckled, before informing him of their plan. "We're heading to Uzu. It will be safer for you guys to stay there for a while. I heard that Akainu is heading here too. No doubt that the marines already caught on to the news about what had happened."

Marco nodded. No emotions could be seen on his face, even his eyes appeared to be so void without anything to tell the world about his inner feelings. It's like the man didn't feel anything at all. But the strong grip that he had over the railing, and how the veins over his hands almost popped out, telling the world exactly how he felt.

Shanks, of course noticed this.

There's a brief silence between the two men. While Marco was losing himself in his own thoughts, there's an unknown gleam across the Yonko's eyes that were hidden by his frames.

"You... never did consider yourself to be a true captain, aren't you Marco?"

Marco tensed. Slowly, he forced his body to relax its muscle, taking his time to sort out his inner turmoils and thoughts after getting caught off guard by Shanks's sudden question.

After a while, he took a deep breath and said in a low voice.

"Edward Newgate is the only true captain of the Whitebeard Pirates."

When Whitebeard died, Marco, perhaps was the one who took it the hardest. He after all, was one of the first to joined Whitebeard when the crew was first formed about three decades ago. He had been sailing under Whitebeard's flag ever since he was a child, getting promoted as the commander of the First Division, grew up from a child to a capable grown man under the guidance of Whitebeard himself.

Not just him. The other commanders too... they all grew up with him on his ship.

Even Teach.

That's why, he perhaps, hated Teach even more than Ace. Maybe that was why he even agreed to led the whole crew that was entrusted to him by his father, to their impending doom. The result? Teach managed to escape, and more than half of their comrades had died.

Prepared to die, he'd never thought that Shanks would actually appeared and saved them. In the end, he was still alive to carry on the heavy stone of guilt weighing down his heart.

Suddenly, he laughed bitterly over his pathetic self. 'I am just a disappointment. I'm sorry, I've failed you.. father.' he thought.

Shanks didn't say anything to that. He suddenly recalled the memories of the battle between the Roger Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates that lasted for three days and three nights before making peace with each other on the fourth day. He remembered seeing the teen Marco and young Teach at that time. He and Buggy would often gossiped about Teach. Thinking about that person, the three scars over his left eye suddenly itches, but he held back the urge to touch his left eye.

"You know Marco, you should take this battle as a lesson." Shanks said without any hesitation. "I know that it's hard, trying to lead the others while you yourself can't even accept your own position. But jumping into a battle for the sake of revenge when all of you are not even in a good state was one careless, and dare I say, stupid move."

Marco remained silent.

"Not to say that Teach doesn't deserve a proper punishment, because believe me, even I want to personally kill him. But this isn't just the right time, Marco."

Marco didn't even refute his words.

Shanks sighed. Then he straightened his body and turned around ready to leave the man alone, before he halted his movements and said "If you really want to honor Whitebeard's name, then accept your position and do what a captain should do for the goodness of the entire crew."

After his talk with Marco, hoping that the older man would take his advices, he went ahead to find another person. Knowing exactly where to look, he walked to the infirmary.

Entering one of the infirmary rooms, Shanks saw Ace sitting on the bed with a dazed look on his face. It seems like the man is having his own inner struggles as he keep looking at the sleeping Den Den Mushi on his lap, wondering if he should give a certain someone a call or not.

He was too immersed in his own thoughts that he failed to realize that someone entered the room. Only when he heard someone cleared his throat did he snapped back into reality.

He saw Shanks standing at the door and immediately greeted him.

"Shanks."

"Well, it looks like you're doing just fine." Shanks stated. "At least, Naru wouldn't nag at me over you."

With the mention of his sister's name, Ace lowered his sight to the wooden floor as he let out a soundless sigh.

"We'll be heading to Uzu. Marco has already agreed to this."

"I see." Ace nodded, and paused for a brief moment before continued. "Did you came because of my sister?"

"Partially."

"Partially?"

"Do you really think that I wouldn't come, knowing that you're heading to your own death?"

Taken aback, Ace opened his mouth to refute the redhead's words, only to be stopped when the older man raised his hand to stop him from talking.

"Don't think too much about it. I came on my own will. Even if Naru didn't ask me to look for you, I would still came for your aid."

Shanks sighed. "Look Ace, I know that you're aware of what you're doing is right or wrong. Whatever conflicts that you have right now, only you can solve it. That's why, I am not going to say anything about your temper. I'll leave that job to your sister."

Thinking of the blue eyed woman, suddenly, Ace didn't feel like going to Uzu anytime soon. Recalling how he managed to get riled up by Teach's words and almost lose himself in his own emotions, he felt ashamed of himself.

He did the exact opposite of what was taught to him when he was younger.

To not lose oneself in negative emotions.

That's exactly what Naru taught him, and he did the opposite.

He shuddered when he recalled the cold feeling of succumbing to his own darkness. Suddenly he felt something twisting in his stomach, causing him to feel uncomfortable.

Looking at Ace, Shanks just want to let out a loud sigh. Regarding this young man, he was Luffy's older brother when they first met. Now his identity to Shanks was also the son of his late captain. Because of the originally good relationship that he had with him, it can be said that there's no bad blood between them just because their connection with Roger.

Ace, as Roger's son.

And Shanks, as a former pirate apprentice on Roger's ship.

On the day of Whitebeard's funeral, he already had a conversation with Ace. The good relationship between them that was formed because of Luffy didn't change just because he was the son of his late captain. They only became closer. Ace clearly told him on that day that he didn't have any bad feelings about Roger, but he also didn't consider the Pirate King as his own father either.

"Like I told Gramps, Whitebeard is the only father that I will ever had."

Shanks accepted that. He respected his decision.

And what he told Ace a few moments ago, weren't a lie either. He did came on his own will. As a matter of fact, he was already on his way to go look for Ace when he received a call from Naru.

The woman complaint about how her little brother refused to ask for a help from her, and ask a favor from him to look for her stubborn brother.

Ignoring the conflicted young man, Shanks continued. "I do have a message that your sister wanted me to tell you."

"What is it?"

"How dare you didn't give me a call." he quoted back what Naru said in a very poor imitation of how she sounded like, trying to be as intimidating as the woman did to Ace.

Unconsciously, an image of an angry looking Naru appeared in his head as his eyes drifted subtly to the sleeping Den Den Mushi on the table, much to Shanks's amusement.

"Well then, take these few days to rest and think back of what you should do frow now on." The Yonko said. "So that, you wouldn't repeat the same thing again."

Then he left.

Ace didn't remove his eyes from the closed door even after the sound of Shanks's footsteps had faded away.

That night, Ace struggled to fall asleep.

Because it took a few days for them to reach Uzu, when they arrived it was already in the middle of the night. Most of the people would be sound asleep in their bed at this hour.

Well, most.

Shanks could see the two giants and some of the Warriors diligently watching over the island. They nodded their heads slightly when they saw the Red Force approaching the island as they've been informed by Naru-sama herself that the infamous Redhead Shanks would be coming.

Led by one of the Warriors, the ship sailed along the path of one of the many rivers in Uzu that connected to the sea. Later, they arrived at a secluded place which was a lake. Even though the lake was not as big as the main lake, but it was still big enough to accommodate more than just one ship as big as the Red Force.

Entering the lake through the river path, Shanks with his keen observation immediately noticed a figure waiting at the side of the lake.

The Lady Empress herself, Monkey D Naru.

Jumping off the ship easily, he landed on the ground and waved at the woman with a big smile on his face.

"Oh to have a beautiful lady waiting for me, that is such a huge honor." he joked once the young Warrior that led them here saluted Naru, before going off to get back in whatever it is he was doing.

"Pfft." she let out a small chuckle, accepting his joke. "Then you shouldn't have let this beautiful lady to wait for you alone in the middle of the cold night."

Smiling even brighter, Shanks laughed. "My apologies then."

Shaking her head, she glanced at his ship just in time to see Marco, followed by the rest of his group, getting off the ship. Some of them are covered in bandages, with swollen faces and bruises everywhere, and most of them could barely walk straight due to their injuries. Naru also realized how the amount of the original Whitebeard Crew was lesser than the last time she saw them.

No need to ask, even a fool could figure out what had happened to them.

Her eyes followed the movement of a certain someone who couldn't bring himself to look at her. She scanned him upside down and sighed in relief when she noticed that her younger brother didn't suffer any serious injuries other than some obvious bruises here and there.

"Thank you." she softly said to Shanks, causing the man to softenend his eyes.

Since Shanks, more or less, had explained what can be done with Marco's group due to their current situation, Naru wasted no more time in leading them somewhere for them to stay temporarily.

They reached a clearing with two big cottages and small river bank not far from them. There, they saw Yue and other people, respectfully gave their own greetings to Naru. Then without any words, they went to do their jobs as the healers.

"To avoid any rumours from spreading around, staying here will be the best. If food is not enough, there's plenty of animals around here that can be hunted. If there's anything else that you need, don't be hesitant to come and find me." Naru told Marco.

"Thank you for your help." Marco thanked her sincerely. "Giving us a place to stay is already good enough."

"Don't say that, Marco. We can also be considered friends now." she gave him a bright smile.

Marco didn't deny her words, he gave her a smile of his own to appreciate her helps.

The relationship between the two of them can be considered good because of Ace. The first time they met was when she easily infiltrated the Moby Dick for her brother whom she thought had been held captive by the Whitebeard Pirates.

That was after Ace had already accepted Whitebeard as a father.

Knowing that they're siblings, Naru had been a frequent visitor on their ship. They were also the first group, other than her people, to know about her identity behind the mask of the Uzukage.

"Have you seen my brother?" she asked upon noticing that her brother is nowhere to be seen.

"I saw him going into the wood before." He asnwered. "Do you want me to bring you to him?"

She shook her head. "It's okay. I can find him."

He nodded. Just when Naru was about to leave to find Ace, Marco's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"I'm sorry for dragging him into this mess." He said with a small apologetic smile on his face. "Please don't be too hard on him."

Naru was taken aback for a moment before she answered him softly. "It was his choice."

Then she left.

Looking at the back of the figure that was getting further away from him, he heard a soft voice when a small breeze of wind brushing passed him.

"You too, don't be too hard on yourself."

Her figure completely disappeared from his sight after that.

It wasn't that hard for her to find Ace. Aside from this place being a familiar training ground for her to train and do some power experiments, her sharp senses also helped to find him.

When she found him, she saw him lying down on top of one of the big and tall trees with his hands supporting the back of his head. His eyes stayed on the sight of the pretty night sky.

Lifting her self from the ground, she effortlessly jumped into the air without any sound before landing her self next to him.

Hearing a soft rustle beside him, Ace took a brief glance beside him and saw that it was only his older sister who already took a seat next to him.

"Very bold of you to not even greet your older sister huh?" she gave him a small glare.

"Well, I figured that since you were quite busy back there..." he trailed off nervously. By now, he's already sitting cross-legged with a straight back.

"Hn excuse." she glared at him further. Ace started to feel his heart beating nervously and cold sweat dripping from his forehead. Then he saw her slowly raising her hand and he immediately readied himself for a beating.

But instead of a punch to the face, he was startled when he felt a soft touch on his head instead.

"I'm glad that you're safe." she gave him a smile. That familiar smile that he always received when he was a child.

A smile of comfort.

Suddenly feeling like a small child again, Ace teared up and he sniffled to the point where his handsome face now didn't look so handsome anymore. Naru's eyes turned gentle when she noticed the dark circles under his eyes, thinking to herself how poor his sleeping habits must've been these days.

Then she put her arms around his shoulder, in which Ace responded by hugging her back in response. Feeling the vibration due to him crying silently on her shoulder, Naru rubbed his back in comfort. She couldn't help but reminiscing about that time when Ace found out about his heritage by accidentally stumbled upon her conversation with Gramps.

In the end, he also cried like this.

These past few days, Ace didn't even shed even a single drop of tear after Shanks arrived. Even during his fallen comrades funeral, he grieved but he didn't cry. Because he thought he didn't deserve to cry for them.

Naru let him cry.

"That's right. Let out all of your sadness, pain, and anger that's building up inside you." She said softly. "Let it all out."

They stayed like that for a while, blessed by the moonlight.

When he finally stopped crying, Ace felt embarrassed. Here he was, already a 21 years old man and he still needed to cry like a brat in his sister's presence. Sniffling while rubbing his eyes, he also turned away to avoid meeting her gazes.

'It's a little bit too late for that now, ya know?' she deadpanned to herself upon seeing how he acted after he just finished bawling his eyes out.

Once Ace was calm enough, they both sat side by side, enjoying the night breeze together.

"Ya know Ace, I used to have someone like Whitebeard in my life too." she broke the silence. "Long ago, there was a man who taught me about many things. Whether it was about life, or new technique, he gladly passed down his knowledge and wisdom to me."

Ace observed her, and saw how peaceful she was. There's a smile that screamed 'nostalgia' plastered on her face.

She continued. "He's a pervert. A pervert who was so proud of himself to the point where he proudly claimed himself to be the 'Super Pervert' when we first met. I was twelve then."

Ace looked at her weird when she started to laugh. "You let a pervert... to teach you when you were twelve?" Wasn't that the age where she's already sailed away to the Grand Line?

"Yeah." she grinned at him. "He even wrote porn books and made me checked out some of them during our travels."

Ace's face didn't look too good at this point. It was a pervert for God's sake! Why would a grown man forced a twelve years old girl to read porn anyway?! His poor sister!

If only he knew that his 'poor' older sister actually wrote a collection of porn books that were sold almost everywhere. He'd be vomiting blood.

Not seeing, or simply not caring enough about the frown of dissatisfaction on her younger brother's face, she said "At first I thought he was a loser. I was right. That damn Ero Sennin didn't even know how to cook decent foods. Always peep on women at the hot springs. He even took away my money sometimes. He'd left me alone in the inn or simply anywhere once he get attracted to a beautiful woman. He once kicked me off a cliff for training purpose too!"

Ace's face grew darker the more he listen to her words.

"We argued a lot because of that."

"But," she paused for a while to take a deep breath. "I wouldn't trade him for anyone else." she smiled widely at him. With that perfect 'D' smile that displayed all of her teeth, Ace thought that she and Luffy really did resemble each other if their brother also have a pair of blue eyes and three whisker marks.

"Why?" he asked.

Showing him a warm smile, she replied "If Whitebeard is like a father to you, then this man is also like a father to me. Even more so than my own dad."

Ace widened his eyes.

"His name is Jiraiya." she continued with a sad smile. "He died when I was 15. I didn't even get to see him before he went on a suicide mission."

"I-" Ace didn't know what to say. He just realized that despite being siblings for more than 20 years, he didn't actually know anything about his own sister. He had no doubt that Naru hide many secrets with her, but he never did try to find out what.

"He died and his body was never found. So I made an empty grave for him. I never did tell him about how grateful I am for all the things that he had done for me." There's a little bit of tears at the corner of her eyes, but she blinked them away quickly. "But I never forget about him."

"The pain of losing someone is really painful." she said after a brief silence. "But that doesn't mean that the pain will not go away."

She looked straight into his eyes. "He may be dead to the world, but for me... he's still alive. Right here."

Then she put her palm on her chest, right where her heart was located.

"The memories of our loved ones, will never die as long as we remember them." She closed her eyes for a moment to let all of her memories with Jiraiya to replay in her head. Damn, she misses him a lot. That Ero Sennin.

Opening her eyes, only to be met with the familiar gazes from Ace. Guilt and regret. "So Ace, I want you to understand and to accept the reality that Whitebeard is already dead. He died a honorable death by sacrificing himself to protect his children. He didn't saved all of you only for him to see his children one by one soon in the afterlife after he died, just because they're too blinded by their pain and hatred to really honour his death by continuing to live your lives to the fullest."

Her blunt words acted like a poisonous arrows hitting straight into his heart. But he didn't refute her words. She was right after all.

"I won't talk about how you carelessly and recklessly went to confront Teach since you're not the only one involved in this matter. That is your business with your crew. But I hope that after this, you will not hesitate to ask for my help. You get it?"

Seeing that stern glare, Ace gulped. "Yes."

Smiling helplessly, she spoke again "You're already a man passed his twenty, you shouldn't act like a teen who keep hiding his true feelings from your own sister. I don't want you to lose yourself from hiding too much pain Ace."

"I.. I understand."

"It's good if you understand. We all have our own way of living, our own lives. Heck even Luffy is going through his own journey without us. But that doesn't mean that we wouldn't be there for you, for each other, if any of us is having some difficulties."

Ace smiled warmly at her words. "I know." Just look at how they all came for him during the war. Despite the many painful memories of that day that still haunted him till this day, Ace would forever be grateful for having so many people that actually love him.

To be honest, Ace felt glad that Shanks came. Although there were those of them who died, at least not all of the Whitebeard Crew was dead.

After that, Ace feeling ease now, telling her about what had happened for the past few months and also the recent battle with Teach.

Suddenly an image of the white Kyubi no Kitsune appeared in his head. "Oh!"

"What is it?"

"Is Kurama with you?"

About that fox, Ace remembered about meeting Kurama for the first time when Naru came back from one of her journeys with a huge fox one day. Thinking that Kurama was just a normal fox, since almost every animals in the forest are huge, he along with his two brothers didn't expect that the fox could actually talk.

Let alone grew in size and tails.

And also very powerful.

Reminded him of that legendary Kyubi that she told him and Luffy once. Because that was a long time ago, Ace could barely remember of those creatures that were called 'Bijuus'. Now that he really thought about it, the fox from Naru's story and Naru's own fox looked the same.

Since he was quite busy with hunting down Teach, he didn't ponder much about the mysteriousness that surrounded his older sister, Kurama, and how the fox could even came out from Naru's body in a form of red mist kind of thing like he once witnessed in Marineford.

"He's sleeping." she answered truthfully. That furball was actually inside the seal, sleeping like usual. As if on cue, said 'furball' opened one of his eyes.

"I see."

Sensing the slight hesitation from him, Naru asked. "Why?"

"Nothing. I just remembered that one of Teach's crew, the Crescent Moon Hunter, Catarina Devon can transformed into Kurama's form." he explained.

Naru and Kurama narrowed their eyes.

"Transformed into MY form?" Kurama scoffed, looks like he's really wide awake now. "Ridiculous! There can only be one great Kyubi!"

"But hers was white."Ace added quickly when he saw the way she narrowed her eyes at him. "I talked with Shanks, it seemed like she actually ate a Mythical Zoan type devil fruit."

"Mythical Zoan? Like Marco's phoenix?"

Ace nodded. "It's Inu Inu no Mi, Kyubi no Kitsune."

"Tch. A fake huh?" Kurama snorted. "Like I said, there can only be one Kyubi. Oi brat, why don't we go find this fake me and show them the greatness of the REAL me?"

'Not now Kurama.' she brushed him off.

"Oh, a devil fruit user then? That's interesting." she grinned slightly at him. "A white version of Kurama huh? So what can she do?"

Ace frowned. Since he and Marco were focused more on Teach, he didn't actually see what the woman could do. "I don't know. I didn't have a glimpse of her abilities."

Naru hummed to herself. "If Kurama meet this Catarina Devon... he will surely rip her off into pieces."

"Like I should." Kurama huffed.

They talked a little more of Devon's devil fruit before Ace changed their topic to Kurama.

"So where actually did you find Kurama? How could he came out of your body just like that?"

A smile appeared on her face, but there's something about her smile that gave him some kind of a mysterious feeling.

"You really want to know?" she asked slowly.

For a moment, seeing that gleam in her eyes, Ace considered to just keep his question to himself, but if there's one of the things that he knows is that, curiosity is even stronger than fear. Hence, he nodded his head.

Seeing the expectant look on her brother's freckled face, Naru decided to tell him.

"I didn't find him. Kurama has always been with me ever since my births."

"Huh?" For a moment, he couldn't understand his sister's words and he also didn't pay attention to the fact that she just implied about two births instead of one, he thought that it was a just mispronunciation in her part. And so, he just focused on the part that she didn't find the fox but rather, Kurama had been with her since the beginning of her life.

"Birth? So he has been with you... since you're a baby?"

Naru hummed in acknowledgement.

"But, I've never seen him before you brought him out to see us!"

"Kurama was a shy furball at that time."

"Excuse me?" Kurama glared. "I just happened to not find anyone else pleasant."

'So you actually like me? Aww Kurama!' she teased him. 'I like you too!'

"Don't think so highly of yourself. You're just less annoying." He rolled his eyes at her, before feeling the familiar tingling at the back of his consciousness, he quickly gave a response so that his Jinchuriki will not detect anything. "Talking to you is clearly wasting my precious sleep. I'm going back to sleep."

Before Naru could respond, the connection had already been cut off.

Naru rolled her eyes, before fixing her attention to Ace again. "Kurama has always been with me for as long as I can remember. It can be said that aside from being my battle partner, he is also my best friend in this world, and of course, the one who always have my back."

"Just think of Kurama and I as one team." she added, grinning at him.

"But the way he came out from your body..."

"Well, we're one." was her only response. Ace would like to ask more, but something holding him back.

That night, Ace ended up listening to Naru's story telling about the 'Rabbit Goddess and the Forbidden Tree' that he remembered listening to it once when he was 5.

Ace was always fascinated with how well Naru was when it come to story telling. He couldn't help but to feel like every story that she told him before, was real.

For the first time in these past few months, Ace actually enjoyed the night and the following days without feeling like shit.

Location : Mary Geoise

The well-known capital of the World Government, the so called 'Holy Land', and the home for the World Nobles.

Inside a meeting room, five figures could be seen sitting around a table. All of them were frowning at the four wanted posters displayed on top of the table.

The four wanted posters.

Monkey D Dragon.

Monkey D Naru.

Monkey D Luffy.

Gol D Ace.

Three come from the same family, with one was the direct descendant of the late Pirate King himself.

All bearing the intial 'D' in their names.

With a grim expression on their wrinkled faces, they keep their eyes fixed on a certain wanted poster that belonged to the sole female in that family of three.

"This woman... is too dangerous to be kept alive." one of then stated.

"A bigger threat than even Dragon himself."

"She needs to be eliminated."

"Her territories and empire are growing, and sooner or later, she will eventually surpass even the power and strength of our World Government."

Hearing that, they all frowned even more. The existence of Monkey D Naru was truly unexpected. Her powers alone were enough for her to be compared with the rest of the Yonkos. Despite being a criminal in the eyes of the World Government, she was also considered as a 'Savior' among the common people.

Her continuous act of 'benevolence' gained her many supporters. And because of her infamous strength and way to defend her own empire against a Buster Call a few years ago, many seek out an alliances with her, thinking that they would be safe under her protection.

Just Dragon alone was enough as a thorn on their side, now he even had two kids caryying his devil blood.

But what made them even more distressed was the fact that how much Monkey D Naru, coincidentally or not, shared many resemblances with their own First Lady and how she was currently possessing the legendary mystical creature on her side.

How could it be?!

A year ago, when the Uzukage appeared and saved her brothers, she also purposely challenged the World Government by blasting some kind of an energy bomb towards Mary Geoise. With her appearance being broadcast live, it was impossible for them to not see and caught on the extreme resemblances of the woman, with their First Lady.

The rest of the World Nobles wouldn't stop pressuring them into taking some actions for her crimes against their Holy Land, or demanding an explanations as to why, they, as the one holding the highest authorities in the World Government, hadn't done anything yet.

But the truth was, it wasn't because they did not want to, but it was simply because they can't and couldn't afford to do anything.

She hax proven so many times that strength alone was not enough to handle her, for she still hadn't reveal the full capacity of her power yet. Offending her, was indeed, a reckless move.

Other than that, it was because of an order.

It might be nothing other than just a coincidence when it come to her physical appearance, but definitely not the way she displayed her superiority and complete dominance, along with the appearance of the legendary Kyubi no Kitsune.

They had their own guesses. Thefore, as soon as the battle ended, the five of them immediately went to seek out their Lord.

Yes, even they, the so called 'highest authorities' of the entire World Government, have to bend their knees and lower their heads to the ground before another person.

On that day they went to see their Lord, to their surprises, their Lord didn't even bother to order them to annihilate Monkey D Naru, but they were simply ordered to let her do as she pleased, much to their devastation. Even when the woman snatched those islands and kingdoms that originally belonged to them for herself, their Lord still hadn't done anything to destroy her.

Instead of being edgy and desiring for her demise, their Lord simply laughed like a lunatic as he stared at the Uzukage and Monkey D Luffy's wanted posters and the painting of the First Lady.

With that being said, even though the five of them were anxious and not satisfied with their current situation, they had no choice but to obeyed their Lord's orders. That was why, they can only enforced their authorities to those below them, so that they would stop mentioning anything about the woman to them.

Whether they like it or not, there was nothing much that they can do if their Lord didn't intent to do anything for the time being.

At least one thing that they all could agree was that, Monkey D Naru, one way or another, should have some sort of a connection to the First Lady. If that was the case, then didn't it mean that the time had come?

Thinking about their dilemmas, they looked at each other, before letting out a heavy sigh.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, in a certain place not known by anyone but one.

Inside a dark room. There was a single window on top of a big wooden door that connected the world inside the room to the world outside. Moonlight passed through the window to lighten up the whole room.

In the middle of the room, there was a chest with unknown letters and symbols all over it.

Standing in front of the chest, was a dark silhouette with only a pair of glowing red eyes visible. Identity unknown, the figure was holding onto a piece of paper.

The unidentified figure looked intensely at the chest for a few moment, before looking around to marveled over the sight of many paintings hung on every single wall in the room. Then the glowing red eyes rested its sight on the biggest painting right in front of it.

It was the original painting that he had obtained many years ago. Unlike the copies of the painting that had been given to each royal family houses in Mary Geoise, this one here was the original painting.

"Finally... " a deep voice rang inside the room, indicating that the unidentified figure, was likely to be a male.

"After so long...!"

Anticipation, longing, and greed can clearly be seen in his eyes as the grip over the piece of paper in his hand tightened even more, causing it to be wrinkled. Then, lifting his arm, he slammed the paper which revealed to be a wanted poster on top of the chest, causing the chest and those unknown letters and symbols to suddenly glow up in bright blue light.

He hissed when he feel the familiar pain all over his body everytime he touched the chest. But since this wasn't the first time he had done this before, he had become so familiar with the pain, to the point where he needed to at least touch the chest once a day.

The pain that almost killed him once upon a time, now was acted like a drug to him.

All of this, was just to make sure that the things that he desired, were still within his reach.

Yes, things that he ever wanted, were all inside this very chest.

And the key to this chest... had finally arrived!

While the man was laughing, he also remembered of a prediction once told a long time ago.

One shall be the one to possess everything.

One shall take over the throne and rule the sea.

And one shall be the ruler that unite the whole humanity.

Phew... two weeks late, but here is the new chapter. I've been having a hectic days recently, and somehow I've been losing my earliest enthusiasm and motivation for this story (as you can see from this poor written chapter). Kinda rushed. Plus with more works and assignments to do (also laziness), I could barely get enough time for this. And this chapter actually contained 2 chapters tho. The longest chapter I've ever written and it's also a mess :'v

So anyway, to answer a question from one of the reviewers, yes someone else from Naruto's verse will eventually appear in future chapters. As for the 'who' and 'how', dun dun dun it will be revealed after Punk Hazard! Good news is, I've already got the plots and story lines covered until Dressrosa Arc! So don't worry, it might be slow updates frow now on, but I will eventually update a new chapter maybe like twice a month instead of once a week like usual. Better late than never right? Lmao I'm telling you guys, this story gonna be a long one *sigh*

I know it's Kyubi no Yoko for Kurama instead of Kyubi no Kitsune, but I'm so used with the latter so Imma stick with that. Plus, Kyubi no Yoko is only known in the Elemental Nations and Kyubi is indeed a mystical creature anyway so there's no harm done in a slight change to Kurama's title, right?

And who do you guys think the 'First Lady' is?

Next chapter : Strawhats Reunited!

Have a nice day!

p/s : I'm fighting sleepiness while trying to finish this so pls excuse me for the mehhh chapter. Like... I'm just straight away finishing this chapter on my phone with what little brain cells I have left :'v