A/N: I decided to rewrite the story since I thought that I could make the chapters better and develop the characters more. I will try to update this story often, but I am in university and I still need to focus on my studies.

The sea had always called out to Naruto.

For as long as she could remember, Naruto had always been drawn to the foreign merchants' stories about the sea and what it could offer to her. The promise of freedom, adventures but most of all the idea that no one could give her those cold eyes were enough for her to imagine what life would be like for her if she went out to sea. The thoughts of becoming like one of those terrifying pirates, like in the stories, were enough for her to shiver in delight. What life could be better than the pirates' life? She would always asked herself this question as the merchants gave into the demands of the children, who wanted to hear more about the world surrounding them.

Pirates seemed to have the best adventures.

When Naruto had been nine, she had told the Hokage about her dream of becoming a pirate. The old man had laughed and ruffled her hair, acting like she was joking when she declared that she wanted to become a pirate like the stories that she heard from the merchants. She even declared to the whole class when their teacher asked them to talk about their dreams. Shikamaru had told everyone how he wanted to marry a normal girl and have two kids, a boy and a girl, which had earned weird looks from everyone. Shino wanted to master his clan's techniques while Sasuke dreamt of becoming a part of the Konoha Military Police Force, 'just like my Dad' were his words. Everyone had smiled and sighed at his declaration. When she told her dream to the whole class, everyone laughed and looked at her like she was stupid. Everyone told her that there was no way anyone would let her become a pirate. Who would let the deadlast join their crew? One classmate sneered. She couldn't even do the most basic techniques, another classmate said to her with a glint of cruelty shining through his eyes.

At that moment, Naruto made a vow to herself to become so strong that no one would dare to make fun of her dream of becoming a pirate.

In the twelve years since she declared her dreams, Naruto had gained the respect of everyone in the village and was even considered one of the strongest Kunoichi, but her urge to go to the sea had never died down. If Sakura and the rest of their friends knew that she still desired to go to the sea then they would think she was insane. They would question her about her dreams of becoming Hokage, asking her if she was willing to give it up just to chase some stupid childhood dream. The only person, who wouldn't question her, would be Hinata. Sweet Hinata had always known about her dream of going to sea, exploring it and how she wanted to be free from everything. Her best friend was the only person she talked about her desires because only Hinata knew the truth:

Naruto wanted to go to sea and be a pirate long before she settled into the dream of becoming Hokage. No one seemed to recall the fact that her eyes lit up whenever someone mentioned the sea or pirates. Her teammates had never stopped to wonder how she knew the boat terms, having presumed that she didn't understand anything about boats. No one stopped to ask her why she kept bothering Tazuna's friend about navigation since they always presumed that she wanted to fill the boat with noise.

After all, the dead last would never consider travelling when her dream was to become Hokage.

In all honesty if Naruto was a better person then she would inform everyone about her plans of leaving the village and becoming a pirate. Tsunade would kill her if she knew what she planned to do. Sakura would beg her to stay, telling her that she needed her since Sasuke left the village to atone for his sins or so he told them. She would bring out the waterworks and guilt her until their teammate come back. If there was one thing Naruto came to hate about her teammate, it was the way she lied. Sakura acted like she couldn't survive without them but the blond-haired girl knew the truth. Sakura could survive without them. Five years ago, it would be the truth but Sakura wasn't the same little girl that started out. Kakashi-sensei would just be confused about why she planned to do this but he would understand.

Telling her friends and teammates goodbye and explaining to them her reasons for leaving the village was another reason why she couldn't bring herself to tell them about her plans. So she left letters in their mailbox, explaining them her reasons and asking them to understand. It was a cowardly thing to do but Naruto was not as fearless as people thought she was. Even a person as strong as her could still have fear.

I will come back one day and maybe they will all forgive me for leaving the way I did, Naruto reminded herself when she gave one last look at the village's gates. She would chant those words whenever doubts started to fill her mind. It might be selfish of me to leave but no one was perfect! I am not a saint, Naruto would tell herself as she walked towards the nearest port that would send her to the first port outside of the Elemental Nations. She just needed five years to become a pirate, to see what the sea could offer her and then she would come back to Konoha.

She would accept whatever punishment they gave her for leaving as long as her desire was sated.

Though Naruto knew in her heart, she could never really be truly happy in Konoha anymore. The war had filled her with so many emotional scars that she could no longer looked at the village without remembering the corpses of her comrades. It would fade, Sakura would reassure her but it had been two months since the war ended. Two whole months since it ended and still there was no sign of her nightmares ending. Every night, she had the same reoccurring dream and it was too tiring to see it. She couldn't walk in the streets without remembering the people that they lost, and Naruto wanted to live her life again.

It took her two weeks to find a boat travelling outside the Elemental Nations and the moment she located the boat which would take her out of here, she didn't hesitate to ask them to let her join them. The moment they recognized the whisker cheeks on her face was the moment they agreed to let her join them. She didn't know exactly where they were going but as long as it could fulfilled her need to see the sea then anything was fine for her.

She just wanted to see what the sea could offer her...no what the world outside the Elemental Nations could give her.

"You see that piece of land over there," the Captain asked her on their third week in sea. He was a kind old man who had given her a smile and allowed her to journey with them, even insisting that she didn't help out since she was his guest. The old man pointed straight ahead at the distant figure, which to Naruto, looked almost like a small dot in a large empty piece of paper. Naruto nodded and leaned forward at the gunwale. "That is where I will be dropping you off, Uzumaki-san just like I promised you all those weeks ago."

"How long before we reach there, Cap?" She questioned him, bouncing up and down in her spot as she stared at the land which would really begin her journey of being a pirate. Would she find pirates there? Would they allow her to join them even though she didn't know much about this strange world? So many questions she wanted answered but there was no real way of her knowing what would happen to her.

"An hour or two if the weather is being kind to us," the Captain answered with a smile on his face. The smile on his face made Naruto wonder if the man would have given her this same smile if she hadn't been a hero. It would not be the first time she asked those kinds of questions to herself. The first time she asked this question was when the civilians started to treat her nicely when she saved her village from Pein. She wondered how could people treat her differently when she saved them from danger but treat her like shit when she was being herself to them. She was the same person so why did the people of her village treat her differently now she saved them? She pondered and pondered over it before finally deciding she would never understand them.

"If you don't mind me asking Uzumaki-san, why do you wish to leave the Elemental Nations?" He asked her, snapping her from her train of thought. The captain rubbed his beard as he stared down at her. "I have lived long enough to see so many men wish to have what you had in that village of yours yet you left everything behind, why?"

There was no hint of judgement in his tone, just pure curiosity when he asked her this question. Was the sea worth everything she left? The old man was right about how lucky she was to have the things she had. How many people could say they have the respect of the leaders of so many nations? Who could say a woman was powerful enough to bring the people to their knees? So many people would kill for what she had but she threw it all a way so she could accomplish her childhood dream.

"Power isn't everything," Naruto finally answered as memories of Sasuke's betrayal flooded into her mind. She squashed down the images rushing into her mind, reminding herself how her best friend did come back to them in the end. The blonde took in a deep breath and everything. "It is great and everything... I mean I can get away with a lot of things if I wanted too but I always dreamt of the sea. Before I dreamt of becoming a ninja, I dreamt of roaming the sea. The promise of freedom and adventure that is something I want."

In the past two months, she had been living the life of a celebrity. Everywhere she went, people would run up to her and ask her for her photograph or ask her to sign something for them. She had people following her every movement, talking about the things she had done and everything. It had been fun at first but after the first month, Naruto had grown fed up with the way they treated her. Maybe if she had been twelve, she would have loved the attention showered at her but she was a grown woman now.

She wanted to be able to breath without people writing down everything she did.

"The sea is the best place to be since it offers everything you want, Uzumaki but it can be a very dangerous place," the Captain told her, gazing distantly at the sea. "It could lead you to lands filled with so much treasure and is large enough that you could find people who could fill the ache in your heart but it can lead to so much heart ache. I have seen many close friends die in sea because they either didn't know how to survive or run into pirates, who murdered them in cold blood. I have seen good men butchered by Marines because they disobeyed the law set by them...but I still love this beautiful cruel place."

But can I find people who will accept me the moment they find out about Kurama? Can I find a person who I know wouldn't betray me they found something better? Who wouldn't try to kill me if I stood in their way? Can they accept me for who I am and not the person I pretend to be? Naruto wanted to ask him but she knew the Captain would never give her the answer she wanted. No one could except a person who could see the future.

"You aren't the only one who loves the sea."

"If you couldn't find what you were looking for in the whole of Elemental Nations then the sea will give you what you want," he told her with eyes that stared at her with so much understanding that Naruto just tore her eyes away from him because she didn't want anyone to understand her. "The sea has everything a person like you or me desire, the only thing you need to do is search for it."

He said it with so much conviction that Naruto couldn't help but believe him. The old man's words weren't enough to squash any doubts she had but it was enough for her to know she could not let a chance escape her. Being a pirate might lead her to the people who could stop the loneliness which still linger in her.

They might heal her from the emotional scars which had festered and grown over the years. She just hoped the people she found would be enough to heal her from the pain she had.

If you were to ask Ace what drew him to his very first crew mate then he would answer with full honesty that it had been her bright blue eyes.

He had been in the small town for over a week when he saw her. For the past seven days, Ace been trying to find his very first crew member but there hadn't been a single man or woman, who had the requirements that he wanted or were uninterested in becoming a pirate with him. He was about to lose hope when he spotted a very pretty girl jumping off a very large boat. Now, he would not deny the fact that it was her physical appearance which drew his attention. Her sunkissed hair, curvaceous body and ocean blue eyes were enough for him to keep his eyes fixed on her. The second thing which drew his attention was the bright smile playing on her lips as she thanked the captain, who waved at the girl before barking orders to the rest of his crew. Her smile reminded him of Luffy with how large and warm it was but her eyes ruined the image. Her eyes were duller when he compared it to her smile.

It is a shame to because she would look prettier if her eyes smiled like her smile, Ace thought as he stared at the pretty girl, who kept talking to the old man. If her eyes became brighter than it would out shine any jewels and maybe even the ocean itself, since her eyes were a brilliant shade of blue. It was a pity that her eyes were lifeless.

"Did your mother ever tell ya that it is rude to stare at girls?"

Jumping from his spot, Ace twisted his head and gawked at the sight of the pretty girl standing behind him with a poker face. She had her arms crossed against her chest, tapped her foot while she stared at him. He gulped and turned his head to look at the captain, who smiled and shook his head, before turning to look at the unamused girl. He opened his mouth to apologize but closed it when he saw the teasing smile playing on her lips. He relaxed his shoulders and smiled sheepishly, earning a throaty laugh from the girl.

"I was just kidding," the girl waved her hand at him. "And it was worth it since your reaction was priceless."

"I hope it was worth it since it was very rude for me to stare at you like that without trying to introduce myself," Ace told her, giving her a smile which he hoped conveyed how much he didn't mean to stare at her. No matter what this girl say, it had been rude of him to look at her. He was no longer the ten year old who wouldn't apologize for doing something like this. He learnt manners so he could thank Shanks for saving his little brother. "The name is Portgas D Ace but you can call me Ace."

"Ace? Like the card?" He nodded his head and the girl laughed. "I thought my Mum must have been delirious with pain but you mister might have a crappier name then mine. My name is Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto but you can call me Naruto."

"Your name is a lot crappier than mine," he told her, earning a twitching eyebrow from the girl. "Your parents named ya fishcake."

"It means Maelstorm too, goddamnit! Why do people always focus on the food meaning of my name and not the badass meaning? " She cried, tugging her ponytail as she stared at him with so much annoyance that it surprised him he hadn't combusted on the spot. He laughed, finding it absolutely funny how the girl didn't take insult for the fact he called her name crappier than his but for saying her name meant fishcake. Luffy would have found it funny and would have easily remembered who Naruto was just because she was named after food.

It had been over three weeks since he left home yet he still missed his little brother.

"Cuz they might find it funny how easy it annoys the crap out of you," he offered.

She tilted her head, rubbed her chin and nodded. "Wouldn't surprise me if that's why they kept using it as a reference. I hope when I find a crew to join they don't constantly remind me of the crappy meaning of my name. No one will ever take me seriously if they only think of ramen...though it would be nice to have some ramen now. I haven't had any in weeks," her face brightened and Ace felt dread creep up in his stomach when she stared at him. "Tell me do y'know any good ramen places for me to eat? Cuz I just arrived here and since you are a local…"

"I am not a local," he corrected her. "I came here to find my first mate."

She blinked her eyes and stared at him with wide curious eyes. "What kind of crew are ya looking for?"

He glanced around the port before gesturing for her to come closer. She frowned, blinked her eyes before doing what he asked. He bit the inside of his cheeks as he felt the girl's long soft hair tickled his cheek. No matter how tempting it was for him to sneeze, he doubt the girl would be happy with him if there was snot on her hair. The number of times Makino drilled it in his head was enough for him to try to hold it in.

"A pirate crew," he whispered. "I might not have a crew now but I am going to become a pirate."

Ace stared at her, waited for her to either run away or to laugh at him, and frowned when he saw her reaction. Instead of running away from him like he expected, the girl looked at him like he was the answer to everything. While flattering, it was kind of confusing as most people he knew would laugh at him because of how young he was. This girl just looked at him with so much hope and happiness that he knew, just knew that he found his first mate.

"Y'know what Ace? I think we're going to get along just fine."

And this was the start of his very complicated relationship with Naruto.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think.