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Chapter 3

"The place I call home is known as The Village Hidden in The Leafs..."

Naruto trailed off to explain the basic structure and functions of a ninja and a village. He explained how the village was divided between normal civilians and shinobi, the duties and responsibilities of a shinobi, the five great nations, how each nation's shinobi forces are made up of multiple ninja clans and finally the roles of the kages.

Naruto mentally chuckled when he saw the bewildered look on every single persons face around the table as they tried to absorb the string of information he had to explain. Once they finally had a vague concept of the village and shinobi, the questions rained down upon him.

"So let me get this straight-" Nami paused to collect her thoughts, "You come from a place called the Hidden Leaf Village and you go on missions requested by other lands to earn money?"

Naruto shut his eyes, folded his arms and nodded.

"There are other shinobi and shinobi clans in your village with different abilities?" Asked Chopper

Naruto continued to nod.

"And there are four other nations like yours with different kages to lead and protect the villagers?" Franky quizzed.

"Yup."

"Didn't you mention that you're the son of the Fourth Hokage? Isn't that right? " Robin asked intensively.

"Ah, I see you picked up on that." Naruto commented, "But yes, my father was once the leader and the strongest shinobi of my village. But I only came to know about that a few years ago though since it was decided to keep it a secret from me since birth by the Third Hokage."

"Why?" asked the orange haired women whose face was filled with curiosity and interest in the blond's background.

Naruto scratched the side of his head and weakly smiled "That's a long and boring story I'm sure you don't want to hear it. But back to my father, he considered one of strongest shinobi of his time and died a hero protecting the village along with his wife and new born baby from a demon."

"D-d-d-demon?!" Usopp asked, failing to stop his stutter and chattering teeth.

"Yes, the nine tails demon." Naruto confirmed, then trailed off to explain what tailed beasts were and how they varied in tails and abilities.

"... And the nine tails is the most powerful, dangerous and most unforgiving out of all the tailed beasts."

Kurama smirked arrogantly.

"Then how did your father defeat a monster like that?" Sanji asked respectfully.

Naruto lowered his head, stared at the table cloth for a second then replied, "It cost him his and my mother's lives. But he sealed the nine tail's chakra..." Naruto thought and realised he has yet to explain the concept of chakra yet. "Or life force if you will, into his new born baby, me." The blond explained with emotionless words.

"WHAATT?!" the pirates screamed in perfect unison, "But why would he do that to you?" Luffy asked with deep sympathy.

"Uhh, that's another really long story. I'd be here all night if I were to tell you every boring detail." Naruto laughed to himself.

All of a sudden the laughs stopped and a serious face adorned on Naruto's face, "So anyways, do you guys wanna meet him?"

"W-who?" Brook question with obvious fear and anticipation.

"Kurama of course, the nine tailed demon fox."

Everyone jerked from their seats and didn't realise in the process they had slightly leaned away from the blond ninja.

"W-w-what do you mean meet?" Nami questioned apprehensively, feeling her spine tingle from anticipation.

Naruto grew became concerned that he had terrified the pirate crew to think he was about to unleash evil upon them. He reached out his arms and waved with both hands to in defence and explained.

"Don't worry. He is not going to hurt you. Besides, you've kinda met already."

"We have?" Luffy asked.

Closing his eyes and folding his arms once again, Naruto stayed quiet for a second until he was sure he'd grabbed everyone's attention. The pirates watched in great anticipation to see what was planning. Suddenly, his eye lids flashed open and the straw hats were met with a familiar pair of blood shot red eyes with black thin slits for pupils that looked like the personification of death itself. The whisker marks on his face grew thicker, his teeth became sharper and hair became longer.

"Y-your eyes." Zoro pointed out.

"It's the same as yesterday when you changed." Sanji finished with a hint of alarm.

"W-what's going on?" The navigator stammered. Naruto's new red eyes looked around the eyes of everyone in the room before he spoke.

"Hello pirates, I'm the Nine tailed Demon Fox, Kurama." the fox said with his deep intimidating voice.

The crew instinctively came on high alert despite Naruto's warning that he would not hurt them.

"Ehhh, what happened to you?! Do you have split personalities or something?!" Nami freaked.

"No, young lady. I'm the tailed beast Kurama. My existence is merely stored within Naruto. We are two entities into one body." Kurama explained slowly.

Mystified faces remained staring at Naruto, except Luffy's who had the look of amazement from conversing with a demon.

"But that doesn't explain how there are two living entities are living in one body?" Robin asked out of nowhere.

"Allow me to explain. On the night of Narutos birth, I was summoned and controlled by a man who named himself Madara at the time. I was manipulated to destroy Naruto's village and for some parts of it I did. However, Minato Namikaze, Naruto's father, the Yondaime Hokage and his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, sacrificed their lives to keep this boy safe. Minato sealed my chakra within Naruto's new born body for two reasons. The first was to put an end to my rampage and the second was because he believed that one day in the future, Naruto would bring peace in the shinobi world."

The looks of anxiety and alertness from the straw hats slowly faded and were exchanged for one of sorrow and sympathy.

"So he's an... orphan?" Nami asked softly, so soft that it's almost as if she whispered it. Her head sunk as her long orange bangs covered her face.

"Nami..." Luffy replied with worry and understanding.

Everyone had known sorrow and despair in their past but none knew the feeling of losing their parents better than Nami. She had never known her biological parents and her adopted mother was murdered right before her eyes at a very young age. She knew what it was like being an orphan so she shared Naruto's pain.

"Yes, He has been an orphan all his life. His childhood however is a different story. Since the demon that destroyed almost half the village was within him, the villagers shunned and ostracised him. He grew up with no friends, no family, no one to talk to and he didn't know why. It was years later that he learnt that it was because I was locked up inside him that all the villagers hated him."

Luffy couldn't believe what he was hearing, he clenched his fist so hard it began to shake and every muscle on his body tensed. "But why?! He didn't do anything wrong. He and his parents saved everyone. So why was he being punished for something he didn't do?!" Luffy cried out in an emotional rant, asking the question that everyone had in their minds.

"This boy was viewed nothing but the incarnation of the demon about whom parents told frightening stories to their children at night." Kurama spoke with disgust, "His father wanted Naruto to be the hero of that terrible night 20 years ago not to blamed for it."

"That's- terrible!" Robin declared wide eyed.

"Indeed it was, he lived through hell for many years. However, He'd already forgiven the villagers and the village for what they done to him years ago. Right now, he is actually one of the most powerful and respectable shinobi in the Leaf." Kurama laughed at the irony.

"It's a sore subject but if you want to talk about it I'm sure he will." The fox finished.

With that, the mood in the room began to pick up again. All the anger and resentment for Naruto's villagers slipped away and was exchanged with happiness from Naruto's success story.

"Kurama-san?" Robin asked, shocking the nine tails fox at how calmly she addressed him, "I can't help notice hearing this word 'chakra' over and over again; Naruto-san said it was like a person's life force? Is that true?" Robin quizzed with her curiosity reaching its peak.

"Uh, essentially yes. I think it's best for the kit to explain the concept of chakra, so I'll take my leave. Farewell pirates" Kurama closed Naruto's eye lids shut, and slowly the thick whisker marks on his cheeks returned to their thinner state and his hair a shortened a few centimetres.

Once Naruto had opened his eyes again, he was greeted with different emotions on people's faces. Some were surprised to see him back to normal. Others had the look of respect, while others looked sympathetic.

The blond scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly, "I guess he told you guys a little too much, huh?" He laugh to himself.

"My childhood is a story for another dinner maybe, right now you want to know about chakra, right Robin?"

"Hai."

"Mm, what's the easiest way to explain this?" Naruto pinched his chin thought, "Ah! I got it!"

The pirates' curiosity peaked.

"Just watch." Naruto cheekily smiled.

Sitting upright on his chair and extending his right arm with a face up open palmed hand. The pirates couldn't help but think that this pose looked strangely familiar.

All of a sudden, a swirling high pitched noise entered the room followed by a memorable blue spiralling ball of energy in Narutos extended hand. The straw hats watched in amazement as they finally get to see up close on what had destroyed an enemy ship. They all leaned in forward to gain a better view of the ball of energy.

"Sugoi! How did you do that?" Luffy queried with great interest..

Naruto stared into his newly formed Rasengan. "This, is chakra." Leaving everyone in the room completely baffled.

"OW, What do you mean that's chakra? What is that?" Franky quizzed with sincere confusion.

Looking up at Franky for a second then returning to the rasengan, Naruto replied. "This ball here is called the rasengan, and the blue energy within it is my chakra."

The pirates remained silent as they waited for Naruto to continue with his explanation. "You see, where I'm from, people are born with this inner energy known as chakra, but it's up to them whether to develop it or not."

"So it's a choice?" Nami asked,

"Yes, if you don't wish to become a shinobi then you don't get taught how to mould chakra." Naruto explained.

"Mould?" Robin's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, you see, inside every shinobi there are two different types of chakras. The physical chakra within a person's physical body and the spiritual chakra which resides in a person's mind. Mixing the two chakras together allows the shinobi to use ninjutsu."

"And what is ninjutsu?" Sanji retorted with a furrowed eye brow.

"Mmm, that's quite difficult to explain, I'm not really the book smart type," Naruto laughed for a second then paused, "But this thing here is ninjutsu." "Naruto pointed his left index finger to the spiralling ball.

Luffy leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms, "So it's a mystery energy."

"No you idiot he just explained it to us!" Nami snapped back to her captain, causing Naruto to chuckle, dispelling his rasengan into nothingness.

"So did you use this 'ninjutsu' to destroy that pirate ship yesterday?" Robin queried

Naruto nodded. "The orange clothing that appeared out of nowhere on my body was chakra, but not mine. I used Kurama's chakra not only to strengthen my Futon Rasenshuriken but also to extend my range on another jutsu, the Shunshin no jutsu."

Eyes filled with questions emerged from the pirates faces. "Futon rasen-? Shunshi-?" Usopp questioned.

"Futon Rasenshuriken" Naruto answered "It's a jutsu that I created myself. It involves mixing my chakra nature and chakra form. You don't want me to get into the technical part of chakra believe me. But yes it is what I used to deal with the other pirate ship." He said proudly.

"Y-you created that, that thing?!" Nami questioned.

"Yeah, and it wasn't an easy task I'll tell you that much." Naruto chuckled to himself.

"But how did you get there and come back so fast?" asked the raven haired archaeologist, "that ship was far into the horizon? You just disappeared then reappeared?"

Naruto understood why Robn's called the brains of the ship. She asks her questions well, "The answer to that is the Shunshin no Jutsu. It's a technique that allows me to travel from one spot to the other at blinding speeds. This jutsu is usually used for short distant travels because it can eat up a lot of chakra if used carelessly. However, since I used Kurama's chakra, it allowed me to travel faster and to greater distances."

"T-that's amazing" Nami responded with great admiration.

"Yeah! Tell me about it!" Luffy agreed.

"Umm, if you guys don't mind, I have another question of my own." Naruto asked out of the blue.

"Sure, what is it?" The captain assured the blond.

Naruto paused to ensure that everyone was listening. "I know you guys are pirates but what exactly do you guys do?"

The whole crew looked at one another as in misunderstanding. They didn't even know where to begin to answer that question. it was Luffy who broke the silence.

"We are the Straw Hat pirates and we are looking for the One Piece!" The captain shouted with excitement, earning a small smile from the rest of his crew.

The lost shinobi narrowed his eyes, "One Piece?"

"Everyone, Shinobi-san here is from another dimension, Remember? Let's start with the basics?" Robin interrupted with a smile.

'Shinobi-san?' Naruto mentally whispered to himself.

For the next half an hour, Naruto studied intensely as the crew took it in turns to explain the details about the One Piece, Gold Roger, the Marines, the World Government, the War Lords, the bounty system, bounty hunters, the Grand Line, New World and the concept of devil fruit powers.

It took a while for Naruto to absorb all the information, though if there was any doubt that he was in a new dimension, it was certainly gone now.

"Okay wait, so you're telling me that you guys are searching for the previous pirate king's treasure the One Piece?"

The pirates nodded in unison.

"Some of you have these powers by eating a devil fruit?"

"Yup" Luffy replied, ginning widely, "But you have Marines, the World Government, the Shichibukai and bounty hunters chasing after you every single day?" Naruto asked sounding more curious with every word that left his mouth.

"Yeah..." said Zoro lazily.

Naruto took a moment to confirm his thoughts then released a small chuckle. "You guys are crazy, you know that right." The blond joked whilst rubbing the back of his yellow hair and laughing to himself.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY BLONDIE?!" Zoro shouted ridiculously, leaving Luffy laughing his ass off in his chair from Zoro's reaction. The rest of the crew smiled and laughed along.

The captain readjusted in his seat and rubbed the tears of laughter from his eyes.

"You're funny, Naruto." Luffy spoke whilst giggling.

Moments later Luffy's laughter died down and there were smiles all around in the Thousand Sunny kitchen.

Luffy punched his fist and smirked, "That's that! Naruto, join my crew!" The captain declared with utmost confidence.

"EEEHHH?!" shouted the rest of the pirates in perfect harmony.

"Don't decide things by yourself!" Zoro and Sanji screamed at their captain.

"Ohh? Why not? He's super strong and funny. Why wouldn't I want him in my crew?" The rubber man replied with a chuckle and a grin.

Zoro and Sanji sighed in defeat, however they both admit to themselves that their captain is absolutely right.

"He is strong, I give him that." Sanji finally admitted.

"And I guess he is not the most annoying guy in the world." The green haired swordsman reluctantly admitted while giving the blond cook an implying stare.

"Are you saying I'm the most annoying guy in the world?!" The cook lashed out.

Zoro narrowed his eyes. "Isn't it obvious, baaakaa."

After a watching another episode of Zoro's and Sanji's verbal assaults, Luffy laughing at the name callings and Nami finally breaking the fight, there was an eerie silence when Naruto and Luffy had stared into each other's eyes, "So? What do you say, join my crew." The Straw Hat captain insisted.

Naruto continued his stare into Luffy's eyes to ensure that this wasn't some joke he was playing, but Luffy's eyes displayed nothing but truth and determination which shocked the blond shinobi. He'd never met someone who had so much faith and trust in him so quickly before.

"Y-you don't even know me? Why would you-"

"I know plenty enough, I know you're strong and a nice guy and that's all I really need to know. Join my crew." Luffy insisted once again.

The rest of the crew mentally sighed and shook their heads at their overly trusting captain. Though they knew he had a point, Naruto had done nothing but help and respect them.

The shinobi considered the proposal in his head for a moment before replying, 'Could I really be a pirate? I mean they are nice and trustworthy people and they've helped me so much. But, I got to get to the village, it's my home.'

"I don't know, Luffy. It all sounds tempting really, but my village..." The blond dropped his gaze down on to the table.

"Come on now captain." Sanji interrupted as he stood from his seat, "The guy has been a lot lately, don't make it more confusing for him. Give him some time to think and I'm sure he'll have a definite answer soon."

"And everyone should go to sleep, it's getting late and I still need to clean these plates." The cook ordered.

With that, the rest of the crew also stood from their seats and made their way towards their rooms with the noise of several conversations occurring at once.

"But Sanji, I wanted more food!"

"Wow, when did it get so late?"

"I don't know. All I know is I'm going to sleep good tonight!"

"Luffy is not going to give up on Naruto so easily, is he?"

"You know how stubborn our captain is."

Naruto stood clueless not knowing where to go or what to do.

"Oi Franky!"

The cyborg turned around to face the voice that called him, "What is it Sanji?"

"Take Naruto here to the guest bedroom. He should be alright there for the time being."

2 Hours Later

It has been a couple of hours since the dramatics of dinner in the straw hat kitchen. The time was reaching 12:30 and the night was deafened by silence. The pirates were all confined in the comforts of their own rooms as Naruto was escorted to the guest bedroom.

Darkness consumed the room of Nami and Robin. The ladies were tucked in their beds just a few meters away from one another only separated by small bedroom desk with a lamp on top. They had already said their good nights half an hour ago but there was something different in the air tonight that kept the two ladies awake.

Nami was facing with her back to Robin with her knees curled up and her arms folded around her chest. She didn't know why but she couldn't stop replaying the conversation in the kitchen in her head. When she thought about Naruto, there's this itch at the back of her head to prevented her from sleeping.

The navigator felt extremely happy that she now knew more about him and where he was from, though she also couldn't shake the heavy feeling in her heart knowing that the blond is now stuck in a completely new world and losing everything that was normal to him.

She thought about what it would be like if she were in his shoes. Being transported to another universe and losing all her crewmates and everything that was normal to her in the process. The heavy feeling in her heart suddenly felt like someone had crushed it with all their might.

Nami's body clenched from the visualisation of being alone, desperate and confused, 'I can't believe how laid back he is about all this, if it were me... he must be hiding his true emotions, probably to spare us the burden. That must be it, he must be so broken right now. He's sleeping on some stranger's ship. I should make sure he's okay.'

Just as Nami was about to leave her bed, Robin's voice rang through her ears, almost scaring the life out of her, "You're awake, right?" The archaeologist suggested with confidence.

'How did she know?' The tangerine lover flinched in her bed from the voice of the supposed-to-be-asleep Robin.

Nami remained still not knowing how to make her next move. In the end, she sat up straight, leaned on the back headboard of the bed and stared deeply into her lap. "Um, yeah, but I don't know why." She lied for some reason unknown to her.

"Does it have to do with a certain blond shinobi?" Robin questioned with a hint of tease. Nami didn't see it but she could have sworn Robin had said that with a tiny smile on her face. The navigator's face turned cherry red as her mind freaked, 'Is she psychic now, too?'

"What?! No, of course not." She thanked her luck that the room was dark so Robin couldn't see her blushing.

"Nami, I can tell from the way you've been looking at him since the very moment he appeared… you him find him cute, don't you?" Teased the older Straw Hat.

Nami's blush deepened, "Huh? Don't be ridiculous?!" She darted her attention towards Robin's bed despite knowing she wouldn't be able to see her, "It's not like that, I. I just feel sorry for him, that's all."

Robin paused for a second to think about her next response. She smiled when she finally figured it out, "If you say so..." She replied mischievously to provoke the younger lady.

Nami instantly felt her skin crawl and her blood boil, she couldn't understand why Robin was pushing such a crazy idea.

Through sheer instincts, the girl known as The Cat Burglar stood from her bed and walked towards the door.

Robin's smile grew as she heard the footsteps towards their door, but she had to maintain the act. She switched her position on the bed to look towards the door. "Hey I'm sorry, where are you going?" The raven haired women lied beautifully.

Nami stopped half way out the door. "I'm just going to get some fresh air, don't worry I'll be back soon."

With that, Nami gently closed the bedroom doors and began to her journey towards the guest bedroom. Robin laid her head on the soft pillow feeling rather proud of her self.

Moments Later

'So there I was stranded in the middle of a deserted beach, not knowing where I was or how I ended up here. That's when I came to the conclusion that—'

Knock Knock Knock

Naruto flinched in shock and stopped his reading. He looked away from the journal on the table and looked questionably at the bedroom door, 'It's so late, I wonder who that could be?'

"Come in." Naruto responded being too lazy to walk over and open the door. His curiosity to find the identity of this late night visitor increased as the door opened excruciatingly slow with a creaking sound. The first thing the blond saw was several strands of long wavy orange hair. Nami pushed her head through the free space between the doors while hiding the rest of her behind it.

Naruto on the right side of the room, he was sitting on a wooden chair by a desk. She noticed that there was an open book on the table which meant that he must have been reading.

"Hey, is it alright for me to come in? I'm not disturbing something, am I?"

"Hey," Naruto replied happily with a smile, pushing himself to stand, "No, it's okay, come on in." He gestured her to sit on the bed behind him.

She smiled weakly, making her way towards the bed.

Naruto couldn't help observed and gulp at the sight of Nami's set of clothes. A single white buttoned shirt that left the top three buttons undone to expose her cleavage, the shirt was just long enough to cover pink hot pants, creating the illusion the she wore nothing but that formal but seductive shirt.

Naruto mentally chuckled at how much he admired this girl's self-confidence.

As soon as Nami sat on the edge of the right side of the bed, Naruto sat down on his chair to face her. She notices that his headband was placed right beside leg,and without thinking, she picked it up and took a closer look.

Immediately, she figured how rude it was to start playing with someone else possession. So she gave Naruto a peculiar look, one that asked for permission.

The shinobi gave a small nod to as a response. By watching her face, the blond could instantly tell that something was bothering her.

'A joke might be a good way to break the ice.'

"So... I guess you haven't had enough of me for one day?" He joked nervously with a small smile.

"What!? It's not that kind of visit, idiot!" Nami shouted back with a bright red face, holding the urge to hit him like she would anyone else.

Naruto laughed to himself and scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, it was just a joke. Anyway, what can I do for you, Miss Navigator?" The blond said with an intrigued smile.

Nami's momentary moment of happiness swiftly disappeared when she remembered the purpose of her visit. "Hey, why did you lie to us earlier?" The cat burglar whispered, purposely avoiding eye contact.

The question shook Naruto to his core. It was so sudden and unexpected that he could not come up with a meaningful reply, "W-what do you m-"

"I mean, if it was me, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I suddenly I lost my friends and family." Nami interrupted with sorrow filled words. Her eyes focused on her fingers which were tracing the lines of the leaf symbol.

The shinobi finally understood why Nami looked so conflicted, 'She's worried about me? She's...'

"Hey, look at me." Naruto leaned in, lowered his head and grabbed her wrist to capture her attention. "I'm telling you, I'm okay." He pulled his best fake smile.

"Don't lie to me!" Nami snapped, "There's no way you can be okay. This whole situation is not okay! You've... you've lost so much already and now you're..."

"Alright."

His voice was serious, a complete change from his last sentence. Nami's eyes shot open and her fists clenched. She noticed that Naruto's hand was still attached to her wrists and quickly felt guilty for enjoying the physical contact despite the circumstances. A ghostly silence quickly filled the room.

"You want to know the truth?" Naruto deepened his stare into her eyes, "I'm scared. I'm scared that I'll never get to see my friends or my village again." His voice was deep, slow and shaky. For a while the room felt like time had stopped, no one moved, no one made a noise. For a short moment, they were just two people in a room, holding each other.

"Naruto, you–"

"But I have faith in my friends. I have faith that they're doing everything they can to bring me back." The blond interrupted with his cheerful and optimistic aura returning.

"And besides, I have you, Luffy and the rest of you guys looking after me. That's why I'm not that worried." He smiled innocently, giving Nami the reassurance she needed to calm her uneasy heart.

The navigator quickly blushed at Naruto's goofy grin, causing her to pout and look away, "Jeez, you're just like Luffy. Overly trust worthy of complete strangers." She mumbled.

Naruto laughed at her comparison, even he had to admit he saw the resemblance, "Nevertheless, thank you for checking up on me.." The blond gave her wrist a thankful squeeze and gently released his hold.

A wave of dissatisfaction hit Nami in the middle of her chest as soon as Naruto had broken off their physical connection. But the feeling was momentary as she noticed she missed something very important.

"Wait, does that mean you're—"

"Yes." He answered quickly and firmly, "I'm going to accept Luffy's offer and join your crew."

Excitement and happiness surged through Nami.

"That's great! Luffy is going to be so happy when he hears this!" She squealed with over-excitement, "Wait a minute though, what made you change your mind? I mean you were so conflicted about joining earlier?"

Naruto turned around and reached for the open book on the desk and showed it to the girl, "Because I'm not as big of an idiot as people think." He half smiled, "When Robin gave me this book earlier, I finally realised I could really be stuck here. Forever."

"What kind of book is it?"

"A journal."

"You don't mean the journal that Robin was talking about journal?"

"Yes, it explains exactly what happened to me. Though, I still have hope that my friends can someday bring me back, I've accepted that I don't know when or if that day would ever come. So I guess, if I really am stuck, I have to build a new life here. There's no point in being sad and feeling sorry for myself." Naruto explained.

"Well, that makes sense..."

"And also, I do feel a little indebted to you since you guys have been constantly helping my careless butt since I got here." He chuckled softly, "Plus, I know for a fact that I can trust all of you like anyone of my friends back home."

There was an eerie paused before Nami replied sceptically.

"That's unusual?"

"What is?"

"People don't really trust pirates that too often, what makes you say that you can trust us so easily?"

"Ah right, you've said that pirates have a bad reputation in this world. Why, you ask?"

Nami nodded curiously.

"Because I know you're not evil. All of you."

Nami's eyes squinted, "How can you know something like that?"

"Kurama's chakra has the ability to sense if someone has evil intents in their hearts. He told me that you guys are evil free." He gave her a goofy thumbs up.

"Really? We have no traces of evil? Even Zoro? We must be the worse pirates in the world." Nami laughed to herself in shame.

Naruto laughed alone, but his friendly exterior quickly vanished, "But Nami, if I do join your crew, I have a condition that must be met." The conversation turned serious.

"W-what kind of condition?"

"I know Robin says it's pretty much impossible but... if I ever come across another dimension window... I'm going to go through it." Naruto explained confidently.

"Oh..." was all Nami would muster at Naruto's condition. Though the disappointment in her voice was clear.

"That's um, not usually how joining a pirate crew works but... I'll talk to Luffy. Knowing how much he wants you to join he'll probably not care about the condition."

A weak and guilty smile grew Naruto's face. "Thanks, I'm sorry that I can't fully commit to this crew, it's just, I still want to fulfil my dream someday."

"Hokage right? You said earlier your dream was to become the Hokage of your village?"

"Yes. And regardless of all that's happened in the last two days, I haven't given up on that dream."

Inspired by his words, Nami felt herself melt on the spot from the radiance of Naruto's determination, 'He has no idea how similar he is to Luffy.' She happily thought to herself.

"Although you know, if you stay with this crew long enough, maybe you won't be able to get enough of me and you wouldn't want to go back." She teased with a smug smirk, referring to his previous joke.

Naruto caught on and played along, "Really now? We'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

Nami puffed a breath, "It's not wise to underestimate me, you know. You'll learn that if you stick along for long enough." She bluffed playfully, making Naruto smile to himself.

"You're funny, Nami." He complimented small grin showing off his white teeth.

No one said anything for a small while as strange moment of silence dawned upon the two. It was a feeling that signalled the end of their conversation, a feeling Nami didn't welcome.

She couldn't point a finger on it but somehow, talking to Naruto was like talking to another member of the crew. It felt like she has known him for years, there was a sense of comfort and ease when it they talked.

Naruto stared at the motionless Nami that looked incredibly shy as if she wanted to say something but couldn't find the strength to do so, "Is there anything else I can do for you while you're here?"

Nami fidgeted with the headband in her hands, "Well, um, since I can't sleep and you're not doing anything, you think you can tell me more stories?" She asked shyly, resembling like a 10 year old girl.

"Huh? Like what kind of stories?"

"Oh, I don't know like, personal experiences, the ins and outs of being a shinobi, anything and everything." Nami suggested optimistically.

"You know, if I were to tell you everything you could be here all night." Naruto joked with frowned teasing eye brows.

Nami only smiled and giggled at his joke.

"Okay, if you're that determined, I guess I have no choice. What's a good story? Ah! Well there was this one mission where I..." Naruto continued talking for several minutes to talk about some mission he had done in the past.

Nami was astonished by it all and laughed hysterically at his tale. She watched him closely as he shared his story with such flare and compassion and couldn't help but feel an aura of serenity and peace that she only felt when with Luffy.

"...so yeah, in the end, we just ended up having to eating the whole thing." Naruto chuckled at his own joke. Nami continued to laugh till her sides hurt.

"That's so crazy! I can't believe you had to do all that?"

"Yeahh, sometimes you can get weird missions like those." Their laughs slowly died down until there was a moment of silent in the room.

"I feel like I've been talking too much today." Naruto confessed, "Why don't you tell me one of your stories? I mean, if I'm going to join this crew I have to know everything you guys been through right?"

"Yeah... I guess that makes sense. Well, let's see..." Nami thought carefully about where to begin and what she should share.

"When we first started at the Grand Line, it was only me, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Usopp..."

Nami continued with her stories for what seemed like forever. The two were so concentrated and fascinated by the exchange of each other's stories that they hadn't noticed that it had been three hours since their conversation started.

Purposefully, Naruto decided to avoid mentioning Sakura's and Sasuke's names in any of his stories for obvious reasons. Thinking about those two played with his emotions far too much, especially now after his rejection that still plagues his mind with jealousy and irritation. There was no telling what would happen to him if he spoke about his two team-mates.

Likewise, Nami noted to stay away from memories that could trigger Naruto to ask about her past. Her business with Arlong was still and would probably always be a sensitive topic that certifies tears. She didn't want to risk him seeing her cry.

Laughing to Nami's latest story, Naruto wiped off the tear in his eyes and leaned back on his chair.

"Okay, so, big whales, saving kingdoms, floating islands in the sky, starting war against the World Government, Water cities, Zombie island ships, Bubble place, two years apart, deep sea fish cities, fire and Ice Island, saving another kingdom called Dressrosa and a giant walking elephant island." Naruto spoke while counting his fingers.

Nami was taken aback for a second as she realised just how much she and the crew have gone through in together since met Luffy.

"Is there anything you guys haven't done?" He joked with admiration.

"What? Why do you sound so amazed? After everything you told me, my stories aren't even worth mentioning."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I doubt that—"

"You've been on missions someone could only dream of, fought off invasions, huge sand monsters, befriend it, saved your entire village from this guy called Pain and saved the entire world." Nami snapped back with amazement and disbelief, mimicking Naruto and counted with her fingers.

Naruto was fully surprised that Nami was able to remember everything he said throughout the three hours they spent talking. But he felt a sudden rush of shyness from hearing the impressed tone in her voice.

"Well when you put it like that... I didn't do it alone though, I always had baa-chan, Jiraiya-shishou, my senseis, friends and team-mates. Even my parents for a little while, So don't sound so impressed." He chuckled innocently.

She responded smiling back to him. Despite the happy face and aura Nami was displaying deep down something was bothering her.

'He has talked about his 'teammates' all the night long, it's obvious they must be close friends so why hasn't even mentioned their names? Oh what the hell, what's the harm in asking?'

"Hey, Naruto."

The jinjuriki jerked minutely at the sudden change of tone. He gave Nami a questioning look that told her to continue, "You've talked about your team-mates so much and I can tell they mean a great deal to you, but you haven't even told me their names yet, I don't know if you forgot or something but it's just weird, ya know?"

"Ah—" The one topic he didn't want to explore but here he was.

"Um, earlier you said you wanted me to talk about my tattoo, right?"

"Yeah...?" Nami questioned wondering how and if this is related to her question.

"I got it after the war from the Raikage..."

Nami realised from Naruto's surprised face and sudden change of subject that she may have hit a nerve, 'There must be a reason for him wanting to avoid talking about his team-mates. I better not push any further, I'm sure he would have told me if he wanted to.'

"The Raikage's right hand man and the previous owner of this one of a kind tattoo, Darui, died in battle." Naruto spared a moment to think about all those who lost theirlives in that dreadful war.

"I'm sorry." Nami whispered, she felt bad even though she had never met these people.

Naruto nodded. "After the final battle, the Raikage thanked me for saving his brother, my mentor Bee and the Shinobi forces. As a sign of gratitude and loyalty towards the peace treaty between the great 5 nations, he gave me this." He displayed the tattoo on his left shoulder.

"Okay? But how does giving you a tattoo show gratitude and loyalty?" She quizzed and rightfully so.

Naruto chuckled inwardly, realised that his explanation was pretty poor, "Nami, this tattoo is unique and one of the most precious treasures the Village Hidden in the Clouds has. It's actually not even a tattoo but a chakra mark, a lightning chakra mark." The navigator tried her best to suppress the shocked looked on her face.

"W-what's a lightning chakra mark?" She inquired nervously.

Naruto formed a smile from the corner of his mouth, "Well let's just say that you're not the only one who can create lightning." He said teased cheekily, raising his half clenched hand at eye level and began to emit streaks of black lightning that raged in his hand.

Nami nearly jumped off the bed as soon as she realised the black energy around Naruto's hands was indeed lightning.

"W-w-what?! How?!" The orange haired women asked anxiously while leaned away to gain as much distance as possible.

"Don't worry, it's under my full control, you don't have to be scared."

Deciding to trust his word, Nami slowly leaned back forward to inspect the mysterious black streaks of energy. 'It definitely looks like lightning, but black? The way it sounds and even the way it feels, it's definitely lightning. Is the power of chakra he was talking about?'

"Is this also chakra?"

Naruto nodded, impressed. "You're a fast learner." he complimented, "Yes, this tat- I mean, chakra marker gives its user the ability to wield the one of the strongest lightning in the shinobi world."

"Are you serious? Does it hurt?"

"No? Why would it hurt?"

She snapped angrily, "Because you're holding lightning in your hand, idiot!"

The blond laughed hard and true for a short while. After his moment, he continued, "Well there you have it, the story of my tattoo. Now it's your turn."

"Oh o-okay." Nami looked to her left shoulder with mixed emotions. Although she's proud of the mark on her left shoulder, she never talks about since it has to bring back so many terrible memories of her past.

However, something within her told her that although they just met, she could trust him, "I guess for you to fully understand, I would have to tell you about Arlong." Nami reluctantly explained.

"Who's Arlong?"

Nami paused for a second to prepare herself for the oncoming battle with her emotions.

"Arlong was a pirate and a fishman..."

She began to share her story of her childhood. First her encounters with a pirate named Arlong, then her mother and sister, the deal she made to free her island from Arlong's control, the struggles of stealing and running away from pirates, meeting Luffy and his crew, defeating Arlong and finally setting off to sea.

In the middle of her story, Naruto was shaking in anger and disbelief as he stareed at this deceivingly fragile and soft young women and couldn't believe she was holding on to such a dark history. He swore to himself if he ever sees this Arlong that he would drive a kunai right through his heart. However, his anger began to simmer as soon as her mood lightened up as soon as she met Luffy.

"So there you have it, tangerines and pinwheels." Nami spoke with relieve in her voice.

"Oh, I see that now." Naruto claimed, "So where's Nojiko and your mother now?" he asked innocently.

Nami body flinched at the sound of the question she feared most. The last thing she wanted was for her to talk about Bellemere because when she did, it always ended in tears. She looked down on to her lap to avoid eye contact before she answered reluctantly.

"Nojiko's still at home looking after the tangerine farm... and my mother..."

Her answer was so soft that Naruto could barely understand her. He felt a heart wrenching pain in his chest when he saw a single tear fall from her eyes to her lap. He quickly jumped off his chair and sat down beside her. Craning his head down in an attempt to gain her attention and spoke in his most apologetic voice.

"Hey, why are you crying? If I said something to make you upset, I'm sorry."

"No its not you. it's Arlong."

"Arlong? What did he—"

"Killed my mother."

His eyes expanded impossibly wide. He wanted to be supportive but he couldn't shake the feeling of hate towards Arlong, "Hey, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring back painful memories. But, why? You didn't have to tell me if you didn't want to."

She finally lifted her head up to look at Naruto, her eyes were a little sore and eyes still glistening from tears. "Because your one of us now, so I know I can trust you." She explained with a soft teary smile. She looked happy, genuinely happy.

Naruto responded with a smile of relieve that she was normal again. "Jeez, look who's overly trusting now." He teased with a pout.

Nami giggled almost childishly at his joke, but her moment of delight was short lived due to an unexpected comment from the blond.

"You're amazing, Nami. Did you know that? Naruto spoke with seriousness and assurance, instantly creating a blush in her cheeks.

"Wh-what do you mean?" She asked, trying not to sound overly flustered.

"I mean, for you to live through all of that and be able to tell it to a stranger... you really are amazing."

She looked away to hide her rosy red cheeks, "Oh come on, your childhood is worse and, you're not a stranger." She whispered quietly.

The girl gave him a warm smile and looked back down to the black headband in her hands as her mind then cooked up a fun idea. She grabbed both ends of headgear and tied it around her forehead.

"So? How do I look?" She asked him with an innocent wink.

Naruto suppressed a fit of laughter, finding her new accessory completely hilarious.

"It suits you!" He lied supportively, "But..." Naruto leaned and wrapped both of his arms around the back of her head, "It needs to be a little tigh—"

Naruto only just realised it but their faces were now centimetres away from one another, warm air brushing their lips as blue met brown.

Their hearts raced and skin tingled as they tried to find an answer for this new development. Despite the sudden closeness, neither of them moved a single muscle. That was until Nami could have sworn she saw Naruto lean in a fraction of a centimetre towards her lips. All of a sudden she felt him jerk backwards and retract his arms.

"Ah, I'm sorry." He looked away embarrassingly.

"It- it's okay." Nami claimed, giggling lamely to herself. For a short moment the room was brimming with an awkward silence that made the occupants extremely uncomfortable.

However, the silence was finally broken by a certain blond, "It's getting pretty late, huh. We should probably go to sleep."

"You're right, it's almost dawn." She slowly untied the headband on her forehead and offered it back to him.

Naruto stared at it for a second then at the girl, "It's okay, you can borrow it for tonight, seems like you like playing with it."

Nami gave a real but awkward smile at him before she stood and walked toward the door. She opens it and takes a step forward but not before she turns around to get a last glimpse of her new nakama.

"Well then, goodnight."

"Goodnight,vNami."

As soon as she closed Naruto's bedroom door, her body suddenly felt all the fatigue from the lack of sleep and hours of talking. She quietly leaned against the wooden door for a moment.

Shortly after her departure from Naruto's room, Nami found herself slowly opening her bedroom door and reminding herself to be quiet for her sleeping roommate. She got half way across the room until a sudden voice shook her to her core.

"How was the fresh air?" Robin questioned cheekily, but too tired to add a hint of tease.

Nami flinched and remained silent, she held the headband with two hands and stared at it intensely.

"Robin, I think I'm in trouble..."

Few hours later

"Breakfast!"

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to find himself in the spacious sunlit guest bedroom. Sanji's breakfast call had woken him from a great night's sleep.

After showering a changed into his clothes, Naruto took one last look in the mirror before heading out of the room. As soon as he closed the door, he glanced down the hallway to find two ladies who had also just left their room.

"Nami, Robin."

The blond grabbed their attention and walked towards them.

"Good morning Naruto-san, I hope your first night's sleep on our ship was a pleasant one." Robin asked with her soft smile.

"It was just fine, thanks for asking."

"I'm glad to hear that."

The blond focused on the unusually quiet navigator,

"Good morning Nami, how you feeling? Got enough sleep?"

Nami could feel Robin's teasing eyes glaring down on her but was too embarrassed to do anything about it, "Oh no, no, I'm fine." She said a little too quickly for her liking.

Not wanting to be caught in the middle of their awkward silence, Robin swiftly found an excuse to leave. "Um, I'm going to get a cup of coffee so I'll see you guys in there."

The archaeologist left the immediate area, leaving the two alone.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. Here." Nami reached around her back jean back pocket and pulled out Naruto's headband.

He slowly grabbed it and tied it around his forehead. "Thanks."

He couldn't put a finger to it but their interactions felt somewhat different than it did only several hours ago. He felt slightly nervous and giddy and she wasn't any better. All of her confidence in her body language had disappeared and she seemed slightly shy.

"Hey, are you okay? Are you sure you had enough sleep?" Naruto quizzed with a frowned eye brow

"Y-yes! Really, I did, don't worry." Nami lied and plastered her best fake smile, remember the long talk she had with Robin just hours ago.

She focused on him to change the subject, "You really shouldn't be focusing on me, don't you have an announcement to make?"

"Oh right! I almost forgot" Rubbing the back of his neck innocently. "I am a little nervous though, Do you mind helping me out a little?"

"You single-handedly destroyed a pirate ship but this makes you nervous?" Naruto laughed weakly at the logic.

"Well I guess I'm just weird like that." He laughed softly.

"Of course you are, dimension man. C'mon let me take you to Luffy and the rest to give them the good news."

Kitchen/Dining Room

"Everyone! Listen up! Someone has to make an announcement." Nami watched the rest of her crews faces which now was plastered with curiosity. She forced Naruto to take a step forward and take the lead.

"Hi, everyone. Luffy, i've made my decision. If you still want me in your crew, I'll gladly accept and help you become the Pirate King."

Nami and Robin smiled away, having known his big announcement already but the rest of the crew were speechlessly stunned, never in a million years did they expect him to join. Luffy stood up from his seat and grew a face-splitting grin. he stretched out his right arm and placed it on Naruto's shoulder.

"Welcome to the Straw Hat Pirates, shishishishi."

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