Sage of Hearts

Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, Disney or any of its affiliated properties. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this now would I?

"The connection of our hearts…" : Speech (Bold for yelling ,Bijuu, or massive creatures)

'The connection of our hearts…' : Thought

Pixie Hollow, Neverland

Naruto always thought that he'd get his first experience as a parent with his own children when he eventually got around to impregnating his lady loves after their grand adventure. Being an orphan with only a vague idea of where he came from, the concept of parenthood was sacred to him and he wanted to be the parent he never got for his own children in the future. Why even think about this one may ask? Well, after he and Tinker Bell brought Peter back to Neverland, they ended up becoming his unofficial minders – with Tink it was more of a partnership given her relative immaturity but Naruto took on the role of his mentor, teaching him about various things on their island. This included life advice, wisdom on the island and its denizens as well as survival techniques. Given all this support, it was only a matter of time before the boy began to simultaneously look up to Naruto for guidance while also chafing under his "father's" dominance (ironic considering his 'dad' was small enough to fit in his hand most of the time).

Upon their first arrival to Neverland with their new passenger, Naruto introduced Peter to Tiger Lily in the hopes that he'd be accepted into the tribe and that he could live there with them but it was not to be. Peter was a wild soul and didn't respond well to authority figures – while he was well meaning, his mischievous side would brook no quarter in its zest for new vagaries to try. As such, after about three weeks, the two fairies found him another home, a large hollow oak tree deep within the fairy territories. There the boy established his domain, proclaiming himself the leader of his future army of children that would never grow up.

As such, Naruto now found himself juggling his time between the Hollow, training Tiger and watching over Peter with Tink. Speaking of Tink, the fairy had really gelled well with Peter, their shared distaste for order and never ending curiosity serving to make them good partners just like Naruto was with Tiger. Peter used the dust shared with him by the fairies to fly – in direct contrast to Tiger, who preferred to have super strength over flight. Using this power though, Peter quickly established himself as a thorn in Captain Hook's side, repeatedly foiling his attempts at attacking different parts of the island, with Tiger helping out where she could (especially when Hook attacked her village – she practically dominated the fights then, what with her new training and fairy partner making her a juggernaut on the battlefield as she manhandled the pirates like they were made of straw).

Interestingly, Hook grew a fixation on Peter and began swearing his eternal enmity to the boy, declaring him to be his nemesis. The boy took it in stride of course and this marked the beginning of the two's long standing hatred for one another.

Coming back to Naruto though, we currently find him taking a nap in his and Tink's shared home in the Hollow. He just had a long day of training Tiger and attempting to do the same with Peter with little success. While Tiger took to his lessons like a fish to water, Peter was a rebellious student, only learning what he deemed to be worthy enough of his time while trying to show off his 'skills' to Tiger Lily, who was not amused. This, of course, only made him increase his efforts to be noticed by the girl, who by this point had already grown to see Peter as a rowdy little brother who would probably never grow up. She then humored his childish antics by testing him in a spar.

A few hours ago, during Naruto's combat lessons…

"Hahaha! No one can challenge the great Peter pan to a fight and win! I am the greatest hero this land will ever see!" Peter said as he hovered in the air holding a grandiose pose as he did so. Gone were the clothes he wore back in England – now decked in a larger form of the costume Tink wore (tailored for males of course), he was strutting his new look like a peacock.

"Oh, you think so do you? Well, mister hero, what do you say to a little spar? No flight, no powers and no weapons – just use what our dear teacher here has taught us in the past month I've known you." Tiger said as she looked over to Naruto (who was sighing at their constant rivalry – Lily was a teacher's pet and Peter the idiot savant who always managed to rile up the otherwise calm girl up something fierce). 

"Oh, a challenge you say? Splendid! I accept your conditions – I don't exactly want to get a bear punch from you myself you know?" Peter said as he alighted on the grass and put his dagger away before settling in a brawler stance, his fists raised in front of his face.

"Okay, okay, since you children seem to be so energetic today, I'll be judging this match. I want no dirty tricks, just show me what you've learned from our lessons so far." Naruto said, flying over in between the two children with a serious look.

"Yes, DAD…ugh, you worry too much. I won't hurt your star pupil too much." Peter said as Tink cheered for the boy from her position in the sidelines (she was enjoying the banter between the children and as usual, wanted Lily to back away from Naruto so a chance to see her get roughed up a little was something she couldn't pass up…she was getting better at controlling her jealousy though. She was at least capable of being civil with the girl after noticing that Naruto remained oblivious to Tiger's crush on him.).

"Oh, we'll see who gets who on the back foot, just you wait!" Tiger said as she settled into her own stance, bouncing on the balls of her feet as her hands got into a low stance around her waist. She was going to make Peter take this seriously as she could only take so much jokes and japes about what they were doing before losing her patience.

The spar began as one might expect – Peter rushed in guns blazing to try and blitz the girl into submission, his nimble frame ducking and weaving around Tiger's grapples and kicks. However, his attacks were also redirected or otherwise deflected by Tiger, who defended her ground, deciding to the let the boy tire himself out in the fight before making her own moves.

"Come on Lily, fight back! It's no fun if you don't actually retaliate ya know?!" Peter said as he was infuriated by her refusal to actually rise to his feints and taunts.

"Oh, don't worry Peter. If you were paying attention to Master's lessons, you'd know that it only takes one decisive strike to win a fight… "She said as she noticed his flagging stamina, slipping into his guard and flipping him onto his back before sitting on his chest, her legs keeping his arms at his sides.

"Hey! What was that?! I-I wasn't ready! Do-over! Do-over!" Peter said after coming to his senses, slowly rising to his feet as he watched Tiger walk over to Naruto, the fairy in question landing on her shoulders before patting her cheek in congratulations.

"Don't worry Peter. You can always learn from Naruto here and get better at this whole fighting business! You are already really good with your little dagger after all!" Tink said as she flew over to Peter as she comforted him.

"Well…whatever! Hand-to-hand is so boring anyway! Why use this when you can just stab your enemy with a pointy object? I am leaving – maybe I'll go on a trip to the mainland this time! I know Naruto's looking for some people over there so maybe I could check. You comin' Tink?" Peter said as Tinker Bell looked over to Naruto curiously. Seeing him nod at her, she then turned to Peter and hummed at him affirmatively.

"Sure thing! Naruto can cover for me back at the Hollow so let's go!" She said as the two flew away, leaving Naruto alone with Tiger Lily.

"Looks like Peter still needs some time to mature huh?" Naruto said as Lily nodded in agreement.

"Very true Master Naruto. However, as he is determined to never grow up, I am afraid the magic of Neverland will never actually let him grow as a person, in both body and mind. His spirit will remain the only thing that still has a chance to blossom in this place…" She said as Naruto grimaced a little (he was a dad to a kid who'd remain childish for eternity, his behavior unchanged all the time? Sheesh…)

"Well, no one said parenting would be easy…looks like I have a long journey ahead of me. Speaking of journeys, I have to return to the Hollow and take care of Tink's duties. Will you be alright taking the trip back to the tribe by yourself Lily?" Naruto said as Lily nodded at him.

"Yes, I will be fine. I am quite the capable young princess, in case you haven't noticed." She said, stroking Naruto's head with a finger as she spoke. She enjoyed watching an embarrassed flush appear on his cheeks before he flew off quickly, chuckling a little about how she ruffled his feathers so easily.

Now completely alone, she then made her way back home, unaware of the villains trailing her every move now that her partner was gone…

Back to the present, Pixie Hollow, after Naruto completed all of Tink's tasks…

"Whew! Tink's really been slacking off on her duties to gallivant with Peter huh? She's lucky she's got such a nice friend to help her out! Especially since Peter seems to be amassing a little army of boys back in his little base in the forest…" Naruto said as he relaxed in his bed, thinking about what kind of shenanigans the two were getting up to.

Peter had been steadily building up his own gang of boys in the Neverland forest with each trip he took to the mainland. He usually brought home orphans or street urchins so Naruto turned a blind eye to the fact that more and more children were being whisked away from England and that no one really noticed. Another thing he also noticed was the similar level of devotion the children (given the title Lost Boys by their leader) seemed to have for Peter. It was quite similar to how Hook's pirate crew viewed their own captain and drawing those parallels was quite the surprise for Naruto.

Just as he was about to fall asleep however, he suddenly felt a twinge in his chest, a vision of Tiger Lily in chains appearing before his mind's eye.

"What was that?! Was that Lily captured by the pirates? Oh, I never should have left the girl unattended to travel the forest…since the others have already left; I guess I have no choice but to save her myself!" Naruto said as he flew out of the Hollow at his top speed, leaving a bright blue streak in his wake.

He flew without taking a break or pause to check his surroundings, only following what his heart (or maybe it was his fairy magic…) was telling him. After about an hour of flight, he finally arrived at his destination – Pirate's Cove. The place was a natural dock created by the ocean as it weaved around a series of harsh cliffs, the ocean's waves crashing against their cruel looking obsidian rocks. It was a cold, unforgiving place that was generally given a wide berth by the inhabitants of Neverland.

"I should have known that Hook would try something like this – he always tries to ransack Lily's village and with the advent of Peter and his Lost Boys, Hook seems to be running out of resources more often these days. I guess he must be holding Tiger captive on his ship…this calls for a stealthy approach!" Naruto said as he dimmed his powers lest his glow give away his position, landing on one of the ship's portholes as he did.

He slipped through the opening he found there and slowly made his way to the ship's hold, where he expected Tiger to be trapped. In the midst of all the rum and gold, he found Tiger chained up to a pillar with two pirates keeping watch over her.

'Hmmm. One of those mooks probably has the key for the lock on her chains. I could knock these fools out and take it but I don't want Hook to have a lock to use for the future so I'll just destroy her bindings after taking these pirates down…' Naruto thought as he flew over behind the pirates, waving over to Tiger Lily, who looked immensely relieved to see him.

"Alright, nighty night you creeps!" Naruto said as he darted to the pirates before giving them a mighty chop to their carotid arteries, knocking them unconscious immediately. He then flew over to Tiger before flying into the lock on the chain and breaking its inner components as it fell down uselessly at Tiger's feet.

"Apologies Naruto, these craven fools caught me off guard with their numbers as I was returning home. If we were together, I could have taken them but my natural skills can only take me so far…" Tiger Lily said as she looked away from Naruto unable to look at him in the eyes.

She was then quite surprised to feel a strong hand on her chin turning her head to face Naruto, who was now in his 'big' form.

"Don't worry about silly stuff like that! You're my star pupil and even they know that – that's why they had to cheat and use dirty tricks to even capture you. Now turn that frown upside down and let's knock some heads together, what do you say?" He said as he looked at her with a warm grin, watching her face slowly gain a rosy blush as she suddenly gave him a coy look.

"Oh Naruto, you really should mind your words around a maiden. You might not know what will happen next~…" She said as she pecked his cheek before running up to the ship's deck, Naruto only laughing a little at her behavior before following her up the stairs.

When they got to the deck though, they were met with the full pirate crew, armed to the teeth as they surrounded the fairy and human. Looking around for any escape routes, they couldn't see any and their thoughts were soon interrupted by Hook as he looked down to them from his spot at the ship's helm.

"Ah, so the troublesome fairy has come to save his lady partner? I would almost shed a tear for this chivalrous gesture if I didn't find it so predictable. I have you now – you are all alone and without the second fairy, you can't escape this ship. Sure you may have the strength of a bear with your partner Tiger Lily but even you must know that the mighty bear can be felled with a hunting party!" Hook said as his pirated grinned and brandished their weapons menacingly.

To their surprise though, while Lily looked appropriately worried about her situation, the fairy (still in his large form) next to her looked unfazed.

"Interesting plan there Hook but you forgot one thing…" Naruto said as he stretched his hand out to the sky, ignoring the fuming pirate captain.

"Oh? Pray tell, what did I forget exactly?"

"A fairy like me is never truly alone!"

As he said that, the pirates then heard the whooping noises of their worst enemy – Peter Pan. They saw him appear out of the clouds with his Lost Boys, rushing the pirate ship with Tink leading the charge.

"B-but how did you get reinforcements so quickly?! Peter and Tinker Bell weren't even in Neverland!" Hook said as Naruto smirked.

"Never underestimate a royal's reach with her subjects. I just had Queen Clarion relay a message to Tink before I came here! Remember that in battle, a good plan is half the fight!" Naruto said as Tiger smiled in awe of his elaborate plan before the entire ship devolved into chaos.

Naruto, Tiger Lily and the Lost Boys fought the pirates man to man, the pirates no match for the Boys coordination and the deadly tag team of Naruto and Lily, whose combined strength even managed to break the main mast of the ship when they punched though it to cripple the vessel. Peter and Tink on the other hand, went straight for Hook with Peter engaging the buccaneer in sword fighting while Tink cheered him on.

The fight was a struggle for Hook – trying to hit a moving and flying target with his cutlass was quite a tall order indeed.

"Fight me on the ground you coward! Can you only fly around my head like a buzzing gnat!" Hook said, goading the boy to fight him on the ship.

"A coward?! No one calls Peter Pan a coward and survives to tell the tale!" Peter said as he rushed to Hook, landing on the ship as he weaved around Hook's strikes.

'Alright…Lily and Naruto both talk about the decisive strike all the time…let's see what they think about this!' Peter thought as he spied an opening in Hook's attacks.

He then picked a cutlass of the ship's deck and slipped into Hook's guard before fluidly cleaving off the pirate's hand in a single stroke as blood sprayed out of the limb. The hand had some of Hook's arm still attached, with a fancy gold watch still ticking away.

"AGH! My hand! You cut off my hand!" Hook wailed as the pirates all stopped fighting and everyone watched Peter fly over to the back of the ship before looking into the murky waters as if he was expecting something.

"Of course I did! And you know what? I think there's something here that would really like to sample your crummy hand!" Peter said as he tossed the hand into the ocean as a massive crocodile leaped into the air and devoured the hand whole, watch and all. The beast then licked its chops before fixing Hook with a predatory glare that had the pirate shaking in his boots.

"I think that's enough for today. Tink, dust Lily and let's get out of here!"

His piece said, Tink then sprinkled some dust onto Lily before all the children flew off the ship, leaving Hook to swear bloody murder and revenge against Peter Pan.

This would soon set in motion the events that would shape the events of the tale of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, as well as the adventures Peter, Tink and Naruto would have some forty years later with Wendy Darling and her brothers.

But for now, all that could be seen was a triumphant Peter returning to his base as Lily looked over to Naruto with a warm smile, eagerly awaiting the day he regained all his powers.

And that was chapter 31! We now have the titular Captain Hook set as the antagonist for the movie arc starting in the next chapter (we needed to establish Peter's character before the movie started). We can see that Peter is still a hero, although his female fans will probably gravitate towards Naruto seeing as Peter is a perpetual child, incapable of true romance (the character is based off the real creator who suffered from a similar condition).

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