Update 2/3/2020: I'm currently rewriting a lot of my story. I set out with the intention of making this an action-based FF, but I realized as I got further in that I have little-to-no way of creating any type of meaningful progression! I have a story line, and I have conflict, but I got so caught up in my characters, the plot, and the wide world of One Piece that I forgot to add more of a struggle! So, revision. I have the idea set, and I'm entangled in the process. It's a RIP that the next chapter wont go up so soon, but I plan on posting the revisions all at once, and then adding on. The changes will be from Ch. 4 and up. They wont be plot-altering, but they will impact the characters, especially Naruto, enough that, once the new Ch. is up, I will recommend a re-read.

Thanks for your patience! See you (hopefully) soon!

First of all, I'd like to thank y'all for making this one of the most followed and favorited Naruto X One Piece crossover fanfiction of 2019. That's neat.

Second, I promise that this will be the last true angsty part for a while. Didn't want to write something super sappy or angsty to begin with, that's not gonna change.

Finally, sorry that this took longer than it was supposed to – I've been busy with school, and whereas I previously used writing this story to procrastinate on my schoolwork, I am now using Pokemon to procrastinate writing. It's bad, I need help. And like I said, I had to cut it in to pieces – I wasn't done with the battle, but I wanted to get something out. What is coming next is such a rollercoaster that it needs to be its own chapter, anyways.

As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, and if you see mistakes lemme know.

"I knew it was strange that those shipwrights all but threw us out when you showed up, blondie," Bartolomeo said upon reaching the top of his conjured stairs. He dropped onto the deck and reached a hand out to Naruto in greeting.

Naruto clasped the outstretched hand, a friendly grin displayed on his face.

"Sure," he joked sarcastically. "It's my fault that they wanted you gone, Cannibal."

"Bah, whatever," the Pirate Captain scoffed. "You gonna give us a tour?" He and Gambia were unabashedly checking out everything within their sight. Bartolomeo then noticed Rowan and waved. "Hey, kid."

Naruto looked back at Rowan who seemed to be vibrating in excitement. Noticing that the attention was now on him, he pointedly looked back and forth between Naruto and Bartolomeo.

"Can I-?" He asked, looking to Naruto for permission.

It took the ninja a few moments to realize what the redhead was asking him, but when he remembered who exactly their new guests were, he chuckled lightly, and nodded his head in ascent.

Rowan shot forward to stand only a few feet in front of Bartolomeo, looking up at him in excitement. "We met the Straw Hats!" he blurted out without preamble.

Bartolomeo's jaw dropped. Behind him, Gambia's expression mirrored his.

"You- You," Bartolome stammered. "You did what!?"

Rowan crossed his arms over his chest and took a superior stance, lifting his chin high and doing his best to look down on Bartolomeo despite his diminutive size.

"You heard me," he sniffed. "We helped them escape the Marines on Saboady," he said imperiously, watching the Captain's face shift between jealousy and awe with glee.

"Hey, who the hell's this 'we' that you're talking about?" Naruto asked from the sidelines. He pouted when he was ignored.

"She didn't say-" Bartolomeo cut himself off. "He was there?"

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto interjected, walking forward to place himself in the conversation once more. "He was there, and we helped his crew off the island. This guy," he plopped a hand atop Rowan's head and ruffled his hair, making the boy lose the regal composure he was holding on to, "Was even treated by their Doctor, little Chopper."

After successfully swatting Naruto's hand off of his head, Rowan nodded happily. "He was scary." He grinned, and Naruto looked at him knowingly. He hadn't been subject to Chopper's scrutiny, but he had his own traumatizing experiences with doctors and medics in the past.

Naruto looked to Bartolomeo. "Did you know he was being mentored by Silvers Rayleigh?" he asked.

If possible, the Captain's eyes widened further, and he shook his head in awe. "The Silvers Rayleigh?" Naruto nodded.

"The Dark King?" Another nod.

"Right hand of Gold Roger?"

"Yes, that Silvers Rayleigh," Naruto said impatiently, cutting off the green-haired man's dazed ramble.

Bartolomeo shook his head, clearing it, and then adopted a thinking pose.

"Wait a minute," he said. "Isn't that guy, like… eighty?"

Naruto laughed. "Yeh, but the geezer's still pretty badass," he responded, remembering their few interactions. Not many could get the drop on him, and the fact that Rayleigh had done so, easily, had shown how sharp the old man still was. Sixty years of experience and an impressive level of power was nothing to scoff at, after all.

"You didn't tell me that you met that guy, Naruto!" Rowan accused, a whine apparent in his voice.

Innocently, Naruto looked back to his young charge. "Oh, really?" he asked sarcastically. "I didn't tell you something?"

Rowan shut his mouth immediately and looked suitably chastised.

"Ah," he said, unable to respond to what Naruto was referencing.

"Yeah, 'Ah'," Naruto said.

"To be honest, I forgot," he continued. "He was pretty loony, anyway." He quickly moved on, turning back to Bartolomeo, wanting to discover why he'd been brought here.

"So, I'm guessing that Shakky sent me to help?" he asked. Bartolomeo was clearly startled by the sudden shift in conversation, and Naruto noticed. "I'll give the details later," he promised, "But I think I should know why I'm here."

Recovering quickly, Bartolomeo nodded. "That's on us," he admitted. "Actually, I'm looking for some help."

Naruto held up a hand, signaling for the Pirate Captain to pause.

"C'mon, let's go inside," he said, motioning for the group to follow him.

Once they were seated within the Observation Bar, conversation began anew. Drink in hand, Bartolomeo continued.

"Some ship you've got here," he said casually. "So how's someone like you afford it?"

Naruto deadpanned at the blunt Captain, but the man looked unrepentant. Collecting himself, Naruto walked back behind the bar, and removed something from one of the cabinets.

"You really don't read the news, do you?" he asked.

"News Coo has trouble finding us," Gambia piped up from his seat next to Bartolomeo.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Well, we d-" Bartolomeo's hand slapped over his first mate's mouth.

"It's nothing," he said. "But why does the news matter?"

Naruto shook his head in exasperation. He returned to the group with a few items in hand, spreading them out over the table. One was the article that told the story of 'Demon Fox' Naruto D. Uzumaki and Rayleigh siding with 'Straw Hat' and helping the resurfaced Pirate escape the Marines at the Archipelago, and the second was the speculative article from just over a month prior, of the alleged events that had occurred at Mary Geoise. The last was his own bounty poster, the drawing of him wearing his Anbu mask.

"I'm not really some no-name," he explained, waiting for the Pirate Captain to connect the dots. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long.

"This is you?" he asked incredulously. He grabbed the poster and held it close to his face, as if to study its validity. "How the hell have I not seen this?

Naruto shrugged. "You said you don't get the mail," he answered. "Iceburg kept it out of circulation when I was at Water 7, and it had only been issued the day before we got there."

"Why'd he do that?" Bartolomeo asked, genuinely confused.

Naruto lifted his arms above him, gesturing all around. "This ship!" he explained. "It was a couple billion Beli!"

Through the Pirate's renewed astonishment, Naruto could see the question forming, and he let one of his hands fall down to rest on the oldest paper.

"I didn't just trash the place, y'know?" he said, explaining his wealth. "I took a few things while I was there."

Rowan snorted. "A few," he mocked.

Naruto shrugged, unapologetic. "It's not like they really needed it," he reasoned. "Enough about me!" he snatched the poster out of Bartolomeo's hand and gathered the newspapers, returning to the bar to put them back into the cabinet.

"Hey, I didn't-"

"Nope, too bad," Naruto interrupted Gambia's complaint. The man deflated. "I was ready to start my own adventure, and I got called to this stupid island. What's the deal?"

Bartolomeo downed his drink and donned a serious expression.

"Right," he said. "Do you remember when we first met?" Naruto nodded. "Remember the fruit that I mentioned? The Devil Fruit?"

Naruto thought for a moment before nodding once more. "The Mera-Mera no mi, right? Fire-Fist Ace's?"

"That's it." Bartolomeo confirmed. "I've been looking for it," he explained. "It's actually why I didn't stick around Saboady Archipelago, even though I knew the Straw Hats would be coming back eventually." His face grew slightly red, and he blushed, thinking of his favorite crew on the seas. "I- I really wanted to have something to give to Luffy, for our first meeting, and I think that Fire Fist's Fruit would be the perfect gift."

"That… is actually a good plan," Naruto admitted. "I'm guessing you've found something, if you're asking for my help?"

"That's just it," the Pirate said. "We don't really have anyone else to ask, and Shakky said that you could help out.

"Glad to know she's making choices for me," Naruto said dully. "So what is it?"

Bartolomeo considered his words for a moment before speaking.

"I have a lot of contacts left over from my last job," he started.

"You? You had another job?"

"Oh, shut up," Bartolomeo said, embarrassed. "Anyway, one of my contacts found out that the Shichibukai Doflamingo recently found it – the Fruit."

The Shichibukai… The Government Pirates? Naruto didn't know too much about them, but it was a contradictory occupation if he'd ever heard one.

"So, you want me to steal it from him?" Gambia choked on his drink, and Bartolomeo had to clap him on the back a few times to calm his coughing.

"No!" she exclaimed. "No, it's actually a good thing."

"How is someone else having the Devil Fruit you're looking for a good thing?" Rowan was sitting away from them at the bar, head down, having tuned out the conversation a while ago. It seemed like he was asleep.

"Because he doesn't want it!" the Pirate stated happily. "He's setting it up as the prize for a tournament!"

"And you're just accepting that there's nothing strange about that?"

Bartolomeo laughed. "No shit there's something off about it, but it's the first time anyone's heard of the Fruit in two years! I've got to go after it!"

At that, Naruto relented. Devil Fruits were a rarity in this world – even more so than the Kekkei Genkai holders of his own, as those abilities were shared, while each Devil Fruit was unique.

"So, this tournament,"

"It's not for a few days," Bartolomeo said, cutting Naruto off. "It hasn't been officially announced yet, but it'll happen soon. Me an Gambia are planning to enter, but more people on our side means a better chance of winning." He locked eyes with Naruto.

"Whaddya say?"

On the outskirts of Dawn Island was a small village with a population totaling just over a hundred people.

It was near midnight in Foosha Village, and there was little commotion to be seen. The only building with its lights on was one of the larger ones in the town, two stories, with a sign that read 'Party's Bar' plastered over the doorway.

Inside, there was a single woman working, cleaning up her bar for the night. The usual crowd, a group of mountain bandits that had become the village's unofficial protectors, had left half an hour earlier.

She had dark green hair, almost indistinguishable from black, and wore a bandana that covered most of it. She was diligently wiping down the tables in the establishment; though she'd grown to appreciate the bandits that had become regulars of hers over the last few years, they were still rowdy folk, and made a mess wherever they went.

As she was moving to the last table, the tone of her Den Den Mushi startled her out of her routine.

'Puru puru puru puru'

Confused, she hurriedly put her wet rag onto the tabletop and removed her apron.

'Puru puru puru puru'

She walked over, behind the bar, to the Transponder Snail perched on a small shelf on the wall.

'Puru puru puru puru'

The caller wasn't someone she recognized. The snail had sprouted a mane of ridiculously yellow, spiky hair, and three lines on either side of its face, suspiciously reminiscent of whiskers.

"Who the hell could be trying to call me so late?" she asked herself, reaching for the dial on the side of the snail.

'Puru - click'

"Hello?" she asked

"Hi!" a friendly sounding voice responded. As she watched the snail, she noticed that it also had only one eye open, and it was a startling bright blue, something that hadn't been visible before she'd picked up the call. "Is this Rowan's mom?"

'Is this-' Who the hell was this?

Hesitantly, she responded. "This is she," she said politely.

"Great! I wasn't sure if I got it right – I've only used this damn snail a few times before." The voice paused. "I'm Naruto, a friend of Rowan's."

'He knows Rowan? Rowan never told me anyone's name…'

"You know Rowan? Is he okay?" She asked, worried.

"He's fine, he's fine," 'Naruto' said, alleviating her immediate concerns. "Actually, him being fine is sort of the reason that I'm calling you."

"That's - I don't understand?"

"Sorry, Miss…" he trailed off.

"Makino," she filled in for him.

"Miss Makino, then. Like I said, I'm Naruto Uzumaki – Sorry, Naruto D. Uzumaki." She knew that name… "And I'm calling to fill you in on some things that I don't think Rowan's able to."

"Naruto D. Uzumaki… You!" She remembered! "You were just in the papers, you helped Lu- the Straw Hats escape the Marines!" Not only that, but the mysterious masked man had an enormous bounty – larger than even Ace's had been – and he had just appeared a month ago!

"Yeah, yeah. Rowan already told me all about how he knows the kid-"

"What's someone like you doing with my Rowan?" she demanded, cutting him off mid-sentence. Rowan wasn't supposed to be off gallivanting with wanted criminals! "He said he was safe!"

"Give me a minute to talk, will ya?" Naruto demanded impatiently, quieting her protests. "I said I was gonna tell you, calm down."

"…fine." Makino ground out. She took deep breaths to steady her heartbeat that had increased rapidly over the short period of their conversation.

"First of all, Rowan is safer with me than he has been for the last – however long he's been missing. I still don't know everything, really. But that time, it's why I'm talking to you, not Rowan. I don't think he'd be able to tell you, he's - uh, he's been avoiding it so far, I guess."

"Tell me what?" the way he was talking… it was worrying. She didn't know him, but his somber tone of voice was enough to put her on the edge of her seat. Rowan would have told her if something too terrible had happened, wouldn't he?

"He… agh, this is hard." The Den Den Mushi's only open eye closed for a moment, mirroring the man on the other end of the transmission. "You've gotta know that he didn't just… wander off, right?" he asked.

"I thought he was dead for years," Makino said blankly. She didn't want to remember what that had been like, now that she knew that she had her son back. "It's happened here before – it's not exactly a safe island. And no one could find him, anywhere. I hoped, but…" She sighed, and puffed up again. "And then he called me, two years later, out of nowhere! Sure, he sounds a little different, but I can recognize my own child's voice."

A pause. Neither of them spoke a moment before a sigh could be heard coming from Naruto's end.

"I guess there's not a good way to say this," Naruto said, and Makino could hear what sounded like hesitation in his voice. "You knew my name – you've seen my bounty poster?" he asked.

Of course she'd seen it. Pretty much the entire world had seen it. His was the highest beginner bounty ever issued, higher than even the terrifying new 'Yonko', Blackbeard's, had been when it was initially issued after the Battle of Marineford two years ago.

She nodded, and then said "Yes," when she remembered that they were communicating over Snail.

"Well, I got that bounty because I attacked Mary Geoise, and offended a few World Nobles."

Her eyes shot open. He was the one behind that?! So far, only vague guesses had been made about the destruction wrought at the World Noble's home.

"While I was there, I freed a few slaves, most of them I sent to a safe place. But… Makino, Rowan was one of the slaves I freed. He's been with me since."

The words seemed to impact her with physical force. She sucked in a startled breath, and stumbled backwards, putting a hand on the bar behind her to steady herself.

"He- my-" she choked out. "That's not funny," she said finally, weakly. Even she wasn't fooled by her own denial.

"I'm sorry," Naruto apologized sincerely. It was then that the hilarity of the situation hit her – a notorious criminal was trying to console her, Makino, a simple bar owner in a simple village. It seemed to be a recurring theme for her. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to be there sooner," he said. "And I'm sorry that you had to find out from me, of all people."

"Why did-" her voice broke, and she felt the tears begin to spill down her cheeks. "Why didn't he tell me? Where is he? I want to-" a sob consumed her, and a cough wracked her form. Of course Rowan wouldn't tell her. He'd gotten all of his father's good traits, and was too young yet for any of his vices – there was no way he'd want to do anything to worry her.

"He didn't want to worry you," said Naruto, echoing the thoughts reverberating through her head. "And, he…" the snail's eye closed once more. "According to him, he can't come home."

"Bullshit," Makino stated firmly, wiping her eyes and standing up straight once more. "Where is he? I want to talk to him," she demanded.

"He's asleep, Makino," Naruto's voice came through, calm. "We had an exciting day, and he fell asleep in the Observation Deck. I brought him to his room a few minutes ago, I needed his Snail to make this call."

"Observation Deck?" she asked, distracted.

"It's based on your bar, I think. Rowan's the one that planned it," he said. "He has his own room here, too."

Makino shook her head. "I don't care about any of that!" she said earnestly, getting herself back on track. "Why can't he come back?"

"I'm not clear on that, either. I'm not sure I agree with him. He says that it's because he was a slave to the World Nobles – he has their mark. If anyone were to see it, he'd be hunted down, and everyone near him would be caught up in it as well."

"No one in this town cares about that!" she shouted angrily. She wasn't even sure who she was angry at. At this Naruto, who had rescued her only child from slavery? At Rowan, for keeping such an awful secret from her?

Or, at herself. For not being there to protect the greatest thing that had ever happened to her when he needed it most. For not looking harder – for not being the one in Naruto's place, rescuing Rowan from his servitude.

The salon-style doors to her bar, the very ones that had been used as inspiration on Naruto's ship, burst open, and a familiar face rushed in wildly.

"Makino! Is everything okay?" asked a short, old, bearded man wearing a red-and-white-striped hat and wielding a wooden cane.

"Mayor!" Makino said, surprised, hurriedly wiping at her reddened eyes once more and stepping in front of the Den Den Mushi as though to hide what had been happening.

Foosha Village's Mayor, Woop Slap, rapidly removed his glasses and looked around the room for a possible aggressor. "Are you alright, Makino?" he asked once more.

"I- I'm fine, Mayor," she managed to say. "One moment."

She turned back to the snail, making the source of her distress obvious to the elderly Mayor. "I've got to go, Naruto. He'll – you'll call again, won't you?"

"Of course, Makino. He's nervous, not that he'll ever admit it. That doesn't mean that he doesn't want to talk to you," A voice that Mayor Woop slap had never heard came from the Den Den Mushi.

As Makino was reaching forward to end the transmission, the voice spoke up once more.

"Makino!" It said urgently "Before I go – we may be tied up for the next few days. I've got to know, where is your island?"

She reached forward. "Dawn Island, in the East Blue. You better make sure he calls!" With the press of a button on the Transponder Snail's dial, the call was ended.

Taking a deep breath, she turned around to face her Mayor once more. "What can I do for you?" she asked, smiling. "Bar's closed, you know."

Woop Slap knew that something was off. Despite the tragic loss of two boys that had been very dear to her – her own son, and the infamous Pirate, Fire-Fist Portgas D. Ace, two years ago, she managed to stay strong, at least in view of the villagers, including himself. But something was different now – her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, and through her squint, he could see the signs; the whites of her eyes were reddened, the same as the area around them. She'd clearly been crying, and tried to rub away the evidence.

"Who was that, just now?" he asked. Maybe it was a little nosy, but he'd entered her bar thinking Makino was in some sort of trouble. She hardly ever raised her voice, hearing her yell was enough to get even his old bones moving.

"It was no one," she said evenly, exiting from behind her bar and walking over to the table at the far-end of the room, the one with what looked to be her cleaning supplies set upon it.

"Didn't sound like it," Woop Slap responded.

Instead of finishing the last table, she bundled the apron and rag into her hands and turned away from the Mayor.

"If you don't mind, sir, it's late. I think that I'll be going to bed." She said. It wasn't an angry tone, but it was a final one – Woop Slap was certain that he wouldn't be cracking that shell any time soon, and he knew when to quit.

Replacing the glasses back on his head, he coughed into the hand that wasn't holding his cane. "Of course, Makino. I just wanted to make sure that everything alright. You know, those mountain folk aren't the most trustworthy lot out there." He turned and began making his exit.

"I… thank you, Mayor," she said. "Everything is fine. You don't have to worry about it."

"Alright, Makino. I'm around if you need me."

With a wave and a wish goodnight, Woop Slap exited the bar. Only when he was out of sight did Makino let the wave of exhaustion and desolation she'd been suppressing cascade over her. She collapsed in the booth she'd been standing beside and let her head fall into her hands.

"Do we really have to?" Bartolomeo's voice called from well below where Naruto was currently standing at the railing of his ship.

Naruto stuck up his middle finger and turned away, relocating to the Observation Deck to prepare for their journey.

Below, an interesting spectacle was occurring. The Luffy-Go and all of its crew was drifting alongside Naruto's anchored ship. The night had passed, and the morning light was all that was illuminating their current task – one that neither group was particularly enjoying.

A gaping hole could be seen in the side of his ship, directly alongside the Luffy-Go. Chains connected from the inside of it to the Straw-Hat-themed ship, and they were slowly reeling the boat in, drawing the smaller vessel inside.

It was a feature that was somewhat common in many ships – storing a smaller, more maneuverable ship somewhere on board. This, however, was just on a much larger scale, and because of that, the process was much more arduous.

"And where have you been, huh?" Bartolomeo demanded an hour later, bursting in through the doors of the bar. "Some help woulda been nice! I kept getting lost!"

Naruto stared at him. The whole debacle had stemmed from one enlightening conversation, something that had explained so many questions that Naruto had about the crew.

""How long have you been sailing, man? I've been preparing the ship to leave," he said, frustration seeping into his voice.

"Over a year," Bartolomeo declared, puffing up proudly.

"Then why the hell do you not know how to navigate!?" Naruto exploded, shouting at the, now embarrassed, Pirate Captain.

Bartolomeo held up a finger in protest. "Hey, it's not that easy!" he tried to reason.

Naruto shook his head in disappointment. "The hell it's not," he said. "I learned how to on Water 7. Honestly, I was able to get by on my own before that, and I'd only been travelling for a few days!"

It was no wonder the News Coo couldn't find them – they drifted aimlessly between islands, only having a set destination when they acquired a new Eternal Log Pose! The News Coo wouldn't be able to find them if they weren't on the usual paths. And, the time that Naruto had hitched a ride with them to Water 7, he'd been so confused by everything happening on deck. At least he knew why, now. The crew had no idea what they were doing, either!

"Forget it," Naruto said when he saw Bartolomeo about to argue again. "It's only until Dressrosa. I'm not gonna start carrying you around, so you'll just have to try to learn on the way."

"Not like I was gonna ask you to," the notorious Supernova grumbled.

Naruto began walking away. "Good," he called over his shoulder. "Now get your ass over here."

He walked out from behind the bar and approached the table in the center of the room containing his collection of Log Poses. A quick glance out of one of the windows showed the land of Applenine island getting further and further away.

While he was waiting for Bartolomeo to show up, the sails had been lowered and they were pulling away from the port. Rowan was manning the wheel, getting practice while they were sailing at a relaxed pace, and there were a few disguised Naruto clones either maintaining the ship or simply milling about, mingling with the members of the Barto Club. Naruto wasn't adverse to the idea of a few of his acquaintances knowing about some of his abilities, but he drew the line at an entire crew full of pirates he'd never spoken to.

He faced Bartolomeo and laid both of his hands on the table, eying the incompetent captain before him. He grabbed the larger, standard Log Pose from the center and held it up.

"You know how to use this, right?" he asked. "Even just the basics?"

Bartolomeo met his gaze head-on, and grabbed one of the Eternal Log Poses.

"All we've ever had to use are these," he said, twirling the device in his fingers. "They're better, anyway."

Naruto's face met his open palm. It was going to be a long day.

The morning passed smoothly, without any hitches. Rowan had done a fantastic job at the wheel, and the Barto Club, after a widespread crash-course in the workings of the new ship, was able to help almost as efficiently as Naruto's clones.

The first hurdle occurred during lunch time. It was then that Naruto learned yet another disturbing fact: the Barto Club didn't have a cook among them. Granted, Naruto didn't, either, but he only had to make food for Rowan. that is, if Rowan didn't prepare his own meal, which he usually did. Naruto only ever ate when he felt like socializing, or when a craving hit him.

So, cooking for over thirty extra, hard-working Pirates? Something that should have been planned for, but wasn't. Shortage of food wasn't an issue, there was plenty to go around between the Luffy-Go and Naruto's stores. The task of actually preparing the food, on the other hand, Naruto made sure to delegate to Rowan, the only one other than himself whose cooking skills he had confidence in. He complained at first, but when Naruto explained himself, he agreed that he was probably best for the job.

Other than that, the entire first day went well. Rowan and Naruto got along amicably with the various Barto Club crew members, who they learned were an assortment of Straw Hat fans and Bartolomeo fans; some had joined out of reverence for the Straw Hats, and some had been around since Bartolomeo's previous job. Later that night when Naruto had, mostly out of selfishness, finally relieved the other crew of their duties, he was finally alone on the deck.

Alone with his clones, that is. 'They' had elected to take the night shift, and the Barto Club had been happy to oblige, retreating to either the luxurious rooms available in Naruto's ship, or their own quarters back on the Luffy-Go, held in the lowest level of his ship.

It was at this time that something drew Naruto's attention. His gaze was pulled off of the course that they were sailing on, a few kilometers to the East, where something was out of place.

He did a double take, making sure that he wasn't hallucinating, navigating the Grand Line so late at night, before forming a clone to man the wheel and hurrying to the main mast to make his ascent to the Crow's Nest.

It was something that wasn't supposed to be there. There were no signs on his Log Pose, nothing to indicate the chaotic magnetic pull of another nearby New World Island. The only islands that were within less than two days journey were Applenine and Dressrosa, one they had left that morning, and one they were sailing to now. It was an anomaly.

After a moment of studying the far-away landmass, Naruto uncovered the large handheld telescope that was stored in a cabinet on the wall. So far, there hadn't been any reason for him to use it, the only one that had touched it was Rowan, who he'd seen playing with it during their journeys.

Sliding it out to its full length, he pointed it in the direction of the mystery island. He lifted it to his face, holding it up to his good eye, and peered through the device, staring intently for a few seconds at the impossibility before him.

His jaw dropped.

"What the hell is so important that you had to wake me up?" a grumpy Kurama growled.

Naruto, excited, surged forward to give the telescope to the fox before realizing how useless such a miniscule object would be to the Bijuu. He let the hand holding it fall to his side, and pointed with his other, instead.

"Look over there, Kurama!" he said in excitement, a wide grin plastered across his whiskered face. "Iceburg wasn't kidding!"

It wasn't a landform that he'd seen, it was something much more unbelievable. A ship, the size of a small island, was slowly floating through the ocean. For the magnificence of its existence, it was dreary in color. A solid wooden wall made up the exterior of the circular behemoth, a mouth painted over the entrance of the ship whose size put even his to shame. The central sail had an indiscernible Jolly Roger painted on it, and the outer sails had large, grey text written upon them.

"Thriller… Bark?"

Sorry, y'all, but this chapter is a lil choppy. Hopefully i smoothed it out well, I wrote it off-and-on over a week and half so I may have left some errors in.

Next chapter is well under way, and.. Well, a lot is going to happen.