Hi guys, thanks for reading my story. The italicized text represents thoughts.
As you may know, my story was posted earlier but vanished. I could explain why but it's easier just to say it won't happen again.
This takes place right before the chunnin exams but the battle between the Sand and Leaf doesn't happen for the purposes of this story. Furthermore, Naruto is 16 in this story (everyone is older not just Naruto). Since he is older, he is much more mature than he was at the same point in the manga/anime. Sakura has already begun learning medical jutsu. Sasuke and several other major characters of the naruto universe aren't present in this story. Unlike canon Miranda, this one isn't sterile.
Red biotic
Day 0:
-Cerebus head quarters
Miranda closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying one last time to calm herself before entering. Moments ago she had been frantically rushing towards the Illusive Man's office, accidentally knocking over some unknown technician as she whipped around the final corner. Standing in front of his office, she was now overcome by a paralyzing fear. "Does the Illusive Man know? Would he tell me if he did? Maybe he will let it go" Miranda entered the room. She wanted to spend a few more minutes thinking, but her subconscious had betrayed her, thrusting her into the room to end the unbearable waiting.
With the exception of her reflection in the mirror, the room was completely empty.Minutes passed as Miranda watched her reflection, admiring how calm she looked despite the situation. Her reflection jumped as the hologram appeared.
"Miranda, I have a mission for you. It's an extraordinarily dangerous one but it's of the utmost important."
"What is the nature of this mission and why was I told to keep it a secret?"
"The mission is confidential; even after its completion only a handful of people will know about it."
"What is this mission?"
"We have recently discovered a planet with biotics unlike anything we have ever seen. In truth, I'm not sure if we can really call them biotics. Their biotic-like powers stem from something called chakra. Molding this "chakra" allows them to perform feats similar to what our biotics are capable of. However…. their form of biotics is far more powerful than ours."
"Why haven't we heard of them before? A novel form of biotics should have caught someone's attention long ago."
"The planet is in the neutral zone between our systems and the Terminus Systems. Furthermore, there are no mass effect relays anywhere near it."
"So it's off the beaten path of galactic civilization."
"Precisely." The Illusive man paused, seeming lost in thought. "Moving back to your mission. You will travel to this planet, find the strongest chakra user you can, and reproduce with him. Then we wipe out the planet. No one will ever know that it existed and once your child is born we will have a monopoly on the new type of chakra."
Miranda didn't react at first. The Illusive Man always put the goals of Cerebus first, second and third, with morals a distant fourth… if he ever considered them at all. But even for him, this seemed excessive.
Then again, Miranda wasn't exactly concerned with morals at the moment. "Did he find out? Is this mission his way of saying that he did?"
"Why do we have to wipe out the planet? Why not just capture a bunch of these chakra users and leave?"
"No one else knows of this planet but we don't know how long this will last. An advantage is only an advantage if you're the only one who has it. If everyone obtains the special chakra then our having it will be pointless. Establishing a monopoly on this new form of biotic power is essential. That's why this mission is top secret and that's why we are going to destroy the planet after you reproduce with one of its citizens."
"This seems excessive. Even if we do gain an advantage, destroying an entire planet could turn the citadel against us."
"They already are against us."
"They're against us in theory, but they turn a blind eye on a lot of our activities, they're preferred method of dealing with us is to ignore us. This could turn them more actively against us, even given the potential rewards, it just doesn't seem worth it."
"Miranda, you're an excellent follower, but you're just that, a follower. You don't see the big picture and you don't make the big decisions. Other than me, no one in this organization sees the big picture, and no one else in this organization has the intelligence, vision and force of will to run Cerebus. You're just going to have to trust me, we need to complete this mission."
"With all do respect, I've achieved a massive amount for this…"
"You have basked in the light radiating off of me. My ambitions are unlimited, beyond the scale of what can be achieved by one man. You can't fully understand my ambitions but you have stayed with this organization for a long time, so you clearly agree with my philosophy on some level. If my goals are to be achieved, this mission needs to be achieved."
Miranda was opposed to the destruction of the planet but she wasn't exactly in a position to let her morals guide her. It was entirely possible that the Illusive Man would execute her for her crime if she refused his mission.
"Are you going to play along or do we have a problem?" Miranda looked towards the floor, avoiding the Illusive man's harsh gaze.
"I accept the mission."
"Good, I'll give you a more in depth briefing tomorrow."
The Illusive Man vanished as quickly as he had arrived.
Miranda went back to her quarters and slept. She had long since figured out that when the Illusive Man gives you disagreeable orders, you follow them and look happy while doing it.
In her dreams she was looking down on a small room, watching herself talk to a young man she didn't recognize. There was no sound in this dream, leaving her to guess at the nature of the conversation by their expressions. Miranda and the young man conversed for several minutes, laughing and gesturing as if they were close friends. Miranda smiled at the young man and licked her lips. He suddenly took off his clothes. Miranda's smile took on a wicked nature as she slipped off her own clothes, climbed onto the bed and spread her legs. The only mar on Miranda's perfect body was the emblem of Cerebus emblazoned on her stomach. The young man lay down on top of her, covering the Cerebus symbol. His wiry frame rested comfortably on her soft body as he slowly penetrated her. There were no words in this dream, only thrusts and blurred out faces. The young man's face contorted as he came inside her. The two lay together silently, sleeping in each other's arms. The Cerebus symbol appeared on his back, filling the room with an ominous red.
Miranda sat up, she could only vaguely remember the dream but the image of a boy with a blurred out face remained in her mind. It both aroused and disturbed her and she had no idea why.
The next morning, she tried her best to look busy, hoping that no one would talk to her as she walked around Cerebus headquarters. She glanced at her watch, "Looks like it's time to meet the Illusive Man again."
The hologram appeared the instant she entered the room.
"You will be leaving for your mission in two weeks, make sure all preparations have been made. It is critical that you blend in, so you won't be bringing any advanced technology. I have spent a great deal of time studying their culture and ultimately… I don't think you will be able to convince them that you have always lived there. To work around this obstacle, you will pretend to have suffered a severe head trauma that wiped out your memory, this will explain your lack of knowledge about their society. Hopefully they won't investigate you too closely."
"I doubt I can make them believe I have suffered head trauma."
"You can't, but this can." The Illusive Man held up a small green pill. "This will make you show signs of just having suffered a major blow to the head, it will make you woozy and cause external bruising, it should be enough for them to buy it."
"Do you know where you are sending me?"
"Yes that is already planned. We are sending you to a region known as the fire country. It contains a large village that the natives call Konoha. It has a high population density and lots of chakra users. It's the perfect place to carry out the mission." He paused, "I have time for one last question"
"Why only send one person? Why not send a whole team?"
"Like I said, secrecy is everything. You are a powerful biotic with customized perfect genetics, you are the best candidate for this mission."
"Will there be backup if I need it?"
He was already gone.
"I guess that's a no."
Miranda spent the next several days reading over the files the Illusive Man had put together, studying the culture, history and customs of Konoha every waking minute. As the days passed by, Miranda grew increasingly restless, spending less of her time studying and reflecting on whether or not she even cared about this mission.
Miranda opened her eyes on the morning of the fifth day, staring at the ceiling with a blank mind. "Time for day five." Her eyes slowly closed as she felt her resolve slipping away. "Fuck it, I'll learn about their culture when I get there. As for the mission… my opinions don't matter since I have no choice anyways."
Miranda stepped into the cryogenic sleep machine, setting it to wake her in 10 days.
10 days later.
Miranda boarded the shuttle that would take her to the new world. The cloaked vessel would drop her off in the forest outside Konoha, then it would leave and she would have no more contact with the outside world. The Illusive Man said that he would contact her after 14 days for a status report; hopefully she would be done with the mission by then. She was still opposed to the mission, but the Illusive Man wasn't one to be argued with. She ignored her conscience and carried on with the mission. Entered cryogenic sleep as the vessel raced off into the depths of space.
-5 miles above Konoha
A robotic voice interrupted her dreamless sleep.
"Landing in five minutes."
She could see the ground far below as she looked out the clear walls of the shuttle.
"Strange for a planet this large to go unnoticed for this long."
"Landing in three minutes."
The forest she was landing in came into view. She had extensively studied Konoha's surroundings so navigating through it shouldn't be a problem.
"Landing in one minute."
The ship slowly lowered itself into the forest, landing without making a sound.
"We have arrived at our destination."
The ship took off the moment Miranda stepped outside.
"And here I am, on a mission to redeem myself. Maybe. She still didn't know if the Illusive Man knew of her crime but she decided it was best to stop thinking about it."
It suddenly hit her, "Does the Illusive Man really expect me to complete this mission in 14 days. I mean… I appreciate the confidence, but that isn't much time."
She walked towards Konoha, looking at the massive trees and unpolluted sky.
"It's so peaceful here. There's nothing like this left on Earth."
Miranda instinctively froze. There were people in the distance. She hid behind a tree and observed them, looking over their clothes then glancing down at her own.
"Seems like he did a good job mimicking the style of Konoha."
She waited until they passed then continued towards Konoha, stopping to swallow the pill once she was within site of the main gates. The ground rose up to meet her.