Two days after that little sky battle (and a few more pirate beatdowns along the way), the team found themselves sitting around the main deck for an emergency meeting.
An important meeting.
One that Naruto himself had called.
He stood dramatically at the head of the gathered group, arms crossed, the ocean breeze flapping his cloak.
"Alright, listen up!" Naruto declared, slamming a piece of paper onto the table. "We've got a problem. A serious one."
Everyone leaned in, curious.
Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "Pirates?"
Gaara shook his head calmly. "Marines?"
Sakura adjusted her gloves. "Sea monsters?"
Naruto shook his head gravely.
"Worse. Way worse," he said, voice grim. "We've become famous."
There was a pause.
"That's... bad?" Tenten asked, confused.
Naruto pointed dramatically at the newspaper Choji had brought back from the last port.
On the front page, in big bold letters:
'Mysterious Ninja Pirates Terrorize the Waters!'
Underneath, a hastily drawn, terrible sketch of Naruto and Gaara. Naruto was drawn like some wild-haired demon child, and Gaara looked like a vampire. Akamaru was just a blob.
The worst part?
Their "crew name" the locals had decided to call them:
"The Crazy Bandits."
...
Silence.
Kiba stared. "Bandits? Bandits?!"
Ino paled. "Crazy Bandits... that's so lame!"
Choji looked genuinely heartbroken. "They even spelled crazy with a 'K'. 'Krazy Bandits.'"
Shino adjusted his sunglasses and said flatly, "It is... suboptimal."
Lee, who had been extremely excited about having a crew name, wiped a tear dramatically. "Yosh... how could the flames of our youth be mocked so cruelly?!"
Naruto slammed his fist on the table. "Exactly! We can't let them name us something that sounds like a group of drunk circus rejects! We need a cool name! A name that strikes fear into our enemies! A name that makes people swoon and pirates pee their pants!"
Everyone nodded furiously.
"Alright! Everyone who cares about not being called the 'Krazy Bandits'—" Naruto pointed.
"Ino, Kiba, Choji, Lee, Shino—you guys are in charge of brainstorming."
Naruto whipped out a notebook and a pen dramatically.
"Let's hear your ideas!"
Brainstorming Session:
Kiba: "How about... the Wolf Pack?!"
Akamaru barked excitedly.
Naruto wrote it down thoughtfully. "Not bad. Very animal kingdom."
Ino: "Something stylish and mysterious... maybe Phantom Blossom?"
Kiba snickered. "Sounds like a perfume."
Ino elbowed him hard enough to make him wheeze.
Choji: "Something with food. Like... Storm Buffet?"
Everyone blinked at him.
"What? We storm through enemies and take their food!"
Shino: (in his usual calm voice) "Silent Eclipse."
Everyone paused.
Naruto whispered, "That actually sounds super cool."
Lee: "The Eternal Youth Division!"
Everyone turned slowly to stare at Lee.
Naruto patted his shoulder. "Maybe... maybe we'll keep that as a backup."
After a heated fifteen minutes of arguing, laughing, and Kiba and Ino almost trying to strangle each other over name rights, they voted.
The winning name?
"Silent Tempest."
It was mysterious. Cool. Dangerous. And most importantly—not something that sounded like they lived under a bridge!
They immediately got to work on their logo too.
With Naruto leading the charge with some surprisingly good sketching (thanks to his seal-drawing experience), they designed a beautiful emblem:
A swirling spiral storm (a nod to Naruto's heritage),
Wrapped in elegant wings (Gaara and Naruto's flying races),
With kunai and shuriken embedded around it (classic ninja).
Ino helped polish it up, adding some stylish flourishes.
Tenten carved the logo into the ship's new flag.
-------------
After the ruckus of choosing their crew name and designing the flag, Naruto stood up again, looking even more serious.
"Alright! Next problem!" he shouted, pointing at their beautiful, newly painted ship.
Everyone turned to look at the sturdy vessel cutting through the ocean waves like a beast.
"This baby needs a name!" Naruto grinned.
Ino nodded dramatically. "A ship's name is important! It reflects the soul of the crew!"
Choji crossed his arms. "And it's good luck too! We can't just sail on 'Former Marine Vessel #239'!"
Shikamaru, from the mast, sighed loudly. "Troublesome... but necessary."
Lee struck a heroic pose. "It must be something full of youthful energy and hope!"
Gaara blinked slowly. "...Something appropriate for stealth and sudden violence."
"...Gaara, please don't suggest 'Murder Sand Boat' or something," Naruto said, sweating.
Brainstorming Session:
Kiba: "How about Fang Breaker?!"
Akamaru barked in support.
Naruto wrote it down: "very Kiba, noted."
Ino: "Something elegant, like... Moonlight Tempest?"
Sakura actually nodded. "Not bad."
Tenten: "Storm Piercer!"
Naruto grinned. "Very action-y."
Choji: "...Food Ship."
Everyone collectively ignored him (with love).
Shino: "Silent Voyager."
Neji nodded. "Fits our style."
Lee: "Youthful Dragon!!"
Kurenai smiled gently. "Maybe tone it down, Lee."
Hinata: (very shyly) "Azure Gale...?"
Naruto blinked. "Hey... that's actually really nice."
After another lively debate and Hinata blushing from too much praise, they voted again.
Top choices:
Silent Voyager
Moonlight Tempest
Azure Gale
Storm Piercer
Final winner?
By a narrow margin...
"Azure Gale."
It was graceful yet strong, evoking the blue winds over the ocean—and it fit perfectly with the theme of Silent Tempest for the crew name.
Naruto stood proudly as they painted the name across the side of the ship in bold, flowing letters:
Azure Gale
— Ship of the Silent Tempest.
And with that, the real adventure began.
--------------
Sailing the Grand Line was supposed to be dangerous. You know, sea monsters, pirates, sudden storms, the usual Tuesday chaos.
Instead, for two days straight, it had been boring. Like, "watching grass grow but the grass is made of water" boring.
That's when we saw it: the Reverse Mountain.
Imagine the biggest, stupidest-looking waterslide you've ever seen—then stick it on a mountain, shoot ships up it at breakneck speed, and you'll have a pretty good idea. Water flowed upward, defying gravity like it had just gotten sick of physics and decided to vibe instead.
Everyone piled onto the deck to gawk. Naruto was grinning ear to ear. Hinata was taking mental notes. Shikamaru was pretending not to care, but he kept sneaking glances like he wanted to figure out how to nap while sliding up a mountain. Even Gaara looked a tiny bit impressed.
"What the heck is even going on here?" Kiba muttered, shading his eyes. "Magic?"
Naruto shrugged. "Cool magic. We'll figure it out later."
Right then, Kiba noticed something even more interesting—and way, way bigger.
There was a whale.
Correction: there was a WHAAALE.
A giant black-and-white beast floated near the mountain's base, looking like it could snap a battleship in half just by sneezing on it. Its body was covered in scars, like someone had used it for sword practice. And someone (a real artist, let me tell you) had painted the world's ugliest pirate flag across its forehead. The poor whale looked like it had lost a bet.
Kiba's mouth dropped open. "No way. That's so cool!"
The rest of us were equally amazed, but you know, we played it cooler. (Except Choji, who asked if whales tasted good. I'm pretty sure Sakura threw a ladle at him.)
Then Kiba frowned. "But... what's with the flag? And those scars? It looks hurt."
He turned immediately to Sakura, who was already cracking her knuckles like she was gearing up for whale surgery.
"I can try," she said, eyeing the whale critically. "Healing jutsu might not work the same, but it's worth a shot."
Now, you might be thinking, Isn't this the part where they all freak out because a literal sea immortal is floating two feet away?
Nope. Not this team.
You see, when you can level cities, kill dragons, and punch through mountains before breakfast, a giant whale doesn't even rank top ten on your 'Things to Panic About' list.
Still, Kiba glanced at Naruto like he needed the final go-ahead.
Technically, they had no official captain.
But unofficially, unspoken, and unanimously?
Naruto was it.
Future Hokage. Future Pirate King (maybe). Future... whatever he felt like being.
Naruto gave Kiba a big thumbs up. "Go for it, buddy! Let's make a friend."
"I like this plan," Ino chimed in, flipping her hair. "Besides, if the whale gets stubborn, I can mind-link with it. Or Kiba can bribe it with fish."
Kiba bounced on his toes, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. Then without another word, he sprinted to the edge of the ship and launched himself straight at the whale.
Someone—probably Neji—sighed dramatically. "Idiots."
Naruto cupped his hands around his mouth. "Tell him we're awesome and that ugly flag sucks!"
And with that, Kiba flew through the air, arms wide open, about to tackle history's biggest, saddest whale—and recruit the most ridiculous pet this side of the Grand Line.
It was shaping up to be a very Naruto day.
----------------
Kiba landed on Laboon with a loud whump.
Laboon, being the size of a small continent, barely noticed. He kind of wobbled in the water, gave a low, curious groan like, "Hey, what's up, tiny land mammal?"
Before Kiba could say hi, an old man from a lighthouse near the mountain exploded onto the scene, yelling like someone had just stepped on his prize gardenias.
"GET AWAY FROM THE WHALE!"
The guy was waving an ancient rifle that looked like it had seen more birthdays than he had. Probably fired slower, too.
Kiba froze mid-wave.
The rest of us on the ship froze too. You know, responsible ninja things.
Nobody wanted to be that guy who got into a gunfight with a grandpa over a whale.
There was a silent, collective agreement: Push Asuma forward.
Asuma got the Look from all sides—the universal you're the adult, fix this Look.
He sighed so heavily I'm surprised the ship didn't tip over.
"I should've retired when I had the chance," he muttered, stepping off the deck.
The lighthouse guy stormed toward us like he was ready to beat everyone to death with a walker.
"I'm Crocus," he barked. "And that's Laboon. He's not a pet. He's a highly intelligent creature. Get off of him!"
Asuma raised his hands in peace, doing the very best "please don't shoot the children" face he could muster.
"We know that," Asuma said, trying for his most patient teacher voice. "We have two kids who can talk to animals. They're... very weird. But effective."
Crocus blinked, the anger draining a little from his face. "Talk to him?"
From where he stood on Laboon's back, Kiba waved. "Yo! We're cool!"
Crocus looked like he was trying to decide if we were insane, lying, or just very bad at planning criminal acts.
"What do you want from him?" Crocus asked warily.
Asuma shrugged. "Nothing. We just thought he looked... pitiful."
That's when Sakura leaped into action—literally.
She flipped off the ship, landed lightly beside Kiba, and pressed her hands to Laboon's side. Glowing green chakra flooded out, spreading across the whale's skin like sunlight through water.
It took maybe ten seconds.
Ten seconds for scars that had marred Laboon for years to vanish like they'd never existed.
The pirate flag? Gone too.
He looked shiny and new, like a super-deluxe model straight from the Whale Store.
Crocus's jaw fell open so wide, I could've parked a ship in it.
Meanwhile, Kiba was deep in conversation with the now very healthy Laboon.
You'd expect a whale that big to sound wise and slow, maybe even majestic.
Nope.
Laboon sounded like a hyper teenage boy on a sugar rush. Emotional. Loud. Very eager to make friends.
Turns out Laboon wasn't just floating around for the fun of it. He was waiting—waiting for his old crew, the Rumbar Pirates, to come back and get him. Some guy named Luffy had promised to make that happen. And Laboon, bless his giant blubbery heart, believed him with all the stubbornness of a teenager waiting for a text that would definitely come. Any day now.
"So why not go find them?" Kiba asked.
Laboon groaned sadly, the sound rattling our ship's rigging. "I can't! I can't climb the Reverse Mountain!"
Kiba snorted. "Is that all? Dude, you have no idea what my friends can do."
He pointed toward the ship, where Naruto was already making a giant bird out of chakra to show off. Choji, in his super-size form, was flexing like a sumo wrestler preparing to lift a house. Gaara was calmly floating a mountain-sized ball of sand above his palm like it was a beach ball.
Sakura, grinning wickedly, was cracking her knuckles like she was really hoping for the "just throw him" option.
"You want to fly? You want to be thrown? You want to be carried in a giant sand bubble?" Kiba said, arms wide open. "Buddy, we can make it happen."
Laboon blinked his massive whale eyes. A slow, hopeful smile spread across his face.
Crocus facepalmed so hard, you could hear the smack from across the water.
"This," he muttered, "is either going to be amazing... or the stupidest thing I've ever seen."
Honestly? Knowing us, it was probably going to be both.
----------------
Before we could kidnap—uh, help—Laboon climb a mountain, we all agreed we should probably eat first.
You know, priorities. Even ninja pirates need snacks.
Crocus invited us into his lighthouse, which looked small on the outside but turned out to be basically a man-cave inside. Maps, charts, medicine, a suspicious number of tea sets, and, oh yeah, a GIANT WHALE TANK built into the floor. Laboon swam lazy circles underneath us like the world's biggest goldfish.
Crocus whipped up a feast that made even Choji whistle in admiration: roasted fish, fried fish, sushi, grilled fish skewers, and something he called whaleweed salad (Hinata politely tried it. Kiba nearly died.)
As we stuffed ourselves like we hadn't eaten in weeks (okay, it had been five hours, but still), we got to talking.
Turns out, Crocus wasn't just some random lighthouse keeper.
He was Crocus of the Oro Jackson—he'd sailed with the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, for three whole years.
Cue collective jaw drop.
Naruto, practically vibrating in his seat, nearly flipped the table. "Waitwaitwait—you mean the actual Pirate King?! The real deal?!"
Crocus chuckled. "The very same."
Naruto's eyes lit up like bonfires. "Tell me everything!!"
Asuma sighed into his tea. "Here we go..."
Crocus leaned back, a twinkle in his eye. He started telling stories—about epic sea battles, islands that floated in the sky, duels that shook entire oceans. Roger had been fearless, wild, charismatic—the kind of leader who could convince a crew to sail straight into a hurricane with a smile and a promise of treasure on the other side.
Naruto hung onto every word like a kid at storytime.
But then, because he was Naruto, he decided listening wasn't enough.
He bit his thumb, summoned a shadow clone, and—bam!—the clone shifted, twisting its features until it looked like the legendary Gol D. Roger himself. Right down to the flashy mustache, wide grin, and cocky tilt of his head.
Even Crocus did a double-take.
He set his tea down very carefully, as if wondering whether Naruto had slipped something into it.
"Is—?" Crocus started, rubbing his eyes.
"Yup!" Naruto said, grinning. "Is this how he stood? Fought? Talked?"
See, ever since his training with Jiraiya, Naruto had gotten weirdly good at copying people.
Not just how they looked, but how they moved, how they fought.
It made battling Naruto and his army of clones basically a nightmare, because you never knew if you were about to fight a reckless brawler, a cold tactician, or, apparently now, the Pirate King himself.
The Roger-clone drew an imaginary sword, giving a whooping laugh that sounded dangerously close to what Crocus remembered.
Crocus stared at him for a long time.
"You know," he said finally, voice soft, "you've captured him better than you think."
He stood up and walked over, correcting the way the clone held its sword, nudging the stance to something a little looser, a little wilder.
"Roger didn't fight like a swordsman," Crocus explained. "He fought like a storm. Wild. Unpredictable. Every movement like it was part of some bigger current only he could see."
Naruto adjusted, his clone flowing into the new stance, and suddenly—suddenly—it wasn't just a kid doing a mimicry.
For a moment, it was like Roger was there, grinning, daring the world to catch him.
Even the air in the room seemed to shift, electric and heavy with memory.
Crocus's face softened into something that looked a little like sadness, a little like awe.
"I haven't seen that spirit in a long, long time," he whispered.
The rest of us sat there in stunned silence, too full (and maybe a little too emotional) to say anything.
Naruto, smiling a little sheepishly, dispelled the clone with a puff of smoke. "Thanks, old man. I just wanted to see him... y'know, the way you remembered."
Crocus wiped at his eye roughly. "You've got a good heart, kid.
...Maybe even a little bit of Roger's madness too."
Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Heh. I'll take that as a compliment."
The dinner ended with Crocus promising to tell more stories later—and us promising to somehow get Laboon over the mountain without blowing up the world.
Small goals.
-------------------
After dinner, we finally got around to the small task of helping a whale climb a mountain.
Simple stuff, really. Happens every Tuesday.
Except Laboon didn't just want to climb it.
Nope.
Our giant new friend wanted to fly.
"You want what now?" Kiba said, leaning closer to the tank like he hadn't heard right.
Laboon bobbed his giant head up and down enthusiastically, sending tidal waves sloshing over the edges.
If whales could sparkle with excitement, this one was practically a disco ball.
"He says," Kiba translated, scratching his head, "he wants wings."
Everyone turned to Naruto, who just grinned.
"You heard the whale."
Kiba groaned. "You're all insane. Awesome, but insane."
Now, normally this would be where Naruto pulled a solution out of thin air.
Except this time, he folded his arms and shook his head.
"I could do it," he said, "but Laboon's your partner now, Kiba. It should come from you."
Kiba looked like he was going to argue, but then Ino clapped him on the back so hard he nearly face-planted into the floor.
"Don't worry," Ino said brightly. "We'll cheat."
She sat down, pressed her fingers to Kiba's forehead, and linked his mind to Naruto's.
Boom! Instant download of all Naruto's flight experiences—being thrown by birds, fighting mid-air, pulling off crazy stunts that would give even hawks anxiety.
Kiba staggered back, wide-eyed.
"Wha—how—Naruto, what the heck have you BEEN through?!"
Naruto just gave a thumbs-up. "It builds character!"
Armed with way too much terrifying knowledge, Kiba cracked his knuckles and faced Laboon.
"Alright, big guy. You ready to become a majestic sky-beast?"
Laboon slapped the water hard enough to send a miniature tsunami across the lighthouse floor.
"Cool. Let's do this."
Kiba formed the seals, focusing not just on the look of wings, but how they felt. The way the wind caught you, the way you had to adjust mid-air, the crazy instinct of tilting just right to avoid smashing into things.
A puff of smoke—
—and Laboon's sleek black-and-white body shimmered.
When the smoke cleared, Laboon looked down at his sides and screeched in delight.
Because there, sprouting out of his thick sides, were two absolutely massive feathered wings, shining white and strong enough to create mini hurricanes with a flap.
"...Huh," Choji said around a mouthful of fish, "you know, I didn't expect it, but flying whales kinda suit him."
"Looks good," Neji admitted, arms crossed.
Even Asuma blinked like he was questioning his life choices. "I've officially seen everything."
Kiba, meanwhile, was getting instructions barked into his brain from Naruto's experiences.
"Okay, okay—flap slow at first," Kiba told Laboon, who was fidgeting excitedly. "Don't, like, nuke the lighthouse, okay?"
Laboon gave a whale-sized squeak (adorable and mildly deafening) and flapped gently.
The entire lighthouse shook, dishes clattered off shelves, and we all had to grab something or be flung into the ocean.
"Gently, he said!" Ino yelled as she dangled from a chandelier.
Sakura laughed as she picked herself up. "Laboon's gonna be just fine."
After a few more shaky flaps, Laboon rose into the air, water streaming off his body like silver rain.
For the first time in who-knew-how-long, the giant whale soared above the Reverse Mountain, wings glittering in the sunlight.
Kiba whooped, arms thrown up in the air.
"THAT'S MY WHALE!"
Naruto grinned so wide his face might've split.
"We're definitely keeping him."
Crocus just shook his head, chuckling like he was way too old for this nonsense.
"Gold Roger would've loved you kids," he muttered.
As Laboon did a slow, clumsy barrel roll in the sky, Choji summed it up for all of us:
"This... is officially the best day ever."