Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Mass Effect series. I do not own anything from the Naruto series.


Warnings: AU, Dimension Travel, Graphic Violence, Strong Language


Chapter Two: Am I Your Chosen One?


Shepard's shoulders were drawn in tight against her chest as she marched down a dimly lit back alley. The heavy pulse of Lower Afterlife pounded in her ears alongside her heartbeat. She was very tense. Omega was a dangerous enough place on its own for her to be wary. The bowels of the lawless station bore witness to its own unique brand of horrible deeds. Dark and twisted crimes that would never see the light of day.

However, she wasn't thinking about any of that. She kept thinking that something far more dangerous than any slaver or serial killer was on this station with them. Something that simply defied classification.

She didn't know where he was, and she didn't know what he was. She just knew that he was there, and that she really didn't want to find him.

Miranda and Jacob walked behind her, looking far more at ease than she felt. Zaeed was bringing up the rear, and a lot of people gave him a wide berth as they passed. They didn't know what was out there, and unless her unholy luck managed to strike, it would stay that way. Being lucky did not always ensure that the luck you gained was of the good variety. A lot of luck went into keeping her alive on Elysium, but that didn't change how her luck had landed her smack in the middle of it to begin with. A lot of luck had brought her back to life again, but that didn't change how her ship had been torn to shreds around her.

She'd already taken care of a few of her objectives on the station, but she had a couple more to go. There was still plenty of time for everything to start exploding around her ears.

Jane had thankfully managed to secure both the mercenary Zaeed Masani and Doctor Mordin Solus for the team. The first had been easy, but the second was not. She'd had to fight through a district to help cure a massive, cross-species plague, but the two Cerberus operatives behind her were skilled. Zaeed had done his fair share as well. The mission was accomplished with only marginal difficulty. Though…her desperate need to get the hell off of Omega may have also had something to do with the speed with which they tore through the Vorcha.

The Doctor left the clinic to his rescued apprentice, and he'd immediately launched into his work upon seeing the Normandy's lab. It was hard to tell at the time, what with how fast the Salarian spoke in general, but he'd seemed very excited with his new setup.

Now, she was back on the station and heading for one of the markets. Once finished checking the various stalls they'd head for the main entrance of Afterlife. A Blue-Suns mercenary shuttle waited for them there. Rescuing Archangel was her final step, and then she'd finally be able to leave this cesspool behind. So long as she didn't somehow run into him she would have the perfect excuse for not recruiting him. It was a big station. What were the odds?

Her gut failed to unclench even slightly at that thought. She knew how her luck worked.

Both Miranda and Jacob did in fact look at ease, but they really weren't. They were both trying very hard to stay relaxed. Even though the Commander wouldn't say anything, they had both been able to sense Shepard's apprehension. Something was wrong, and they had no idea what. Their eyes darted occasionally between the shadows around them and their leader's back. Their hands did not stray far from their sidearms. Zaeed was the only one among them who was actually as relaxed as he appeared. However, he was also the only one of them who constantly walked around with his rifle drawn.

Abruptly, the markets opened up before them, and Shepard's gut loosened ever so slightly upon entering a better lit space. The markets were a bit more open when compared to the dark alleyway. She hadn't been able to shake the notion that there'd be no way to get out of arm's reach in there. Her brain then decided to helpfully remind her that she really couldn't take comfort in the more open space because the bastard could teleport.

She led her three followers forward amongst the stalls. Her eyes panned across the markets, cautiously scanning for any heads of messy blonde hair, and she immediately noted a small, multi-species crowd gathered around on open-air restaurant.

When her eyes found the center of the crowd she abruptly froze mid-stride.

Her eyes got really big, and her pounding heart skittered as it missed several beats. One hand clenched into a suddenly shaking fist, and her other hand fell to her sidearm.

She didn't draw it however. She knew it would be completely useless, just like her godforsaken luck.


Omega was the first place he decided to explore. The images it evoked within his mind were simply too incredible to resist. It wasn't the first space station he'd ever visited, but he'd known it would have the most character. The Citadel had been closer of course, being a shorter pair of relay jumps away rather than around the Galactic core, but he didn't think heading straight for the seat of the Galactic Government was a good idea. He didn't fancy being put on the watch lists just yet.

He didn't even entertain the idea that it wouldn't eventually happen at some point. He knew himself and his tendencies. Anonymity was nice while it lasted however.

When he'd first arrived, he did what came naturally and headed straight for the liveliest part of the station. He generally tried to reign in his sensory capabilities as far as he could wherever he went. Even so, he was still perfectly capable of sensing every single being on the station down to the tiniest microscopic life form. He could Shunshin anywhere he wanted to go, but he refrained from that. It was much better to enjoy the sights along the way. His somewhat strange choice of clothing, and even stranger staff, drew a number of speculative looks as he passed.

The club known as Afterlife rested near the center of the station, and when he first entered he'd been able to sense how significant it was. He'd headed to the lower section of the club, but even so he could still sense Aria lounging on her luxurious sofa. He could taste her malice wrapped ego in the air, and he'd immediately considered pranking the shit out of her. In the end, he just settled for enjoying his drinks. The poison had given them that extra special kick after all.

Then, he did the next thing that came naturally, and he searched high and low for a nice bowl of Ramen while doing a bit of shopping.

What he ended up finding wasn't Ramen.

They were spicy noodles alright, but it definitely wasn't Ramen.

In the end, that still failed to stop him from demolishing several large stacks of bowls, or from drawing in a small crowd of incredulous onlookers. They stood around him, about a dozen would-be customers, and they openly gawked at the sheer amount of food he was devouring. The handful of cooks working the food stall were flying around at speed desperately trying to keep up with the depth of their single customer's voracity. The owner of the little joint had long since broken out in a cold sweat. He was starting to run out of clean bowls.

"You've always been a disgusting Human," Kurama accused with open revulsion lining his tone.

"Don't you try and ruin this for me!" Naruto positively screeched back, "The last place we ended up hadn't even invented noodles yet!"

"Is that why you were so quick to flee?" Chomei immediately teased. Naruto almost puffed up with indignation at the dig, but the eight tails was quick to deflate him.

"So quick that you ended up opening the space-time portal in the middle of outer space, rather than on a planet?" Gyuki tacked on with a laugh, and the Juubi Jinchuriki flushed a deep red from embarrassment.

Naruto didn't fire back at the nine Bijuu as he normally would have when they took turns teasing him. He knew that any excuse he tried to come up with would just dig himself deeper into that embarrassing hole. It was best to just ignore them.

He didn't have a good defense after all.

Naruto could do a lot of things. He could fly under his own power, and he could touch the depths of another's soul. He could bend the elements to his will. If he really pushed himself, he could probably rain down enough concentrated hellfire that whatever continent he happened to be standing on would sink.

He still needed oxygen to breathe however.

As such, Naruto didn't like space. It was troublesome. He could navigate the void between the stars under his own power if he so desired, but he sure as hell didn't desire that. First and foremost, it was annoying. He had to pump wind chakra constantly while out there. The majority of the oxygen would be ripped away from him while blasting through the void anyway. Secondly, flying around in that void was very boring. Space was space. There was nothing there. He much preferred to Shunshin between planets, or, if he'd been there before, use his own Hiraishin. His sensory abilities were more than capable of reaching out into the cosmos to guide him. He could bounce from system to system on his way to any destination with ease.

He didn't even need to travel through space either. The day that Sasuke had been lying on his death-bed and suddenly decided to bequeath the Yin to him (without any warning whatsoever he might add), had been the day that an entire can of space-time fuckery had been opened up for him. Amenotejikara was absurdly useful, and Sasuke's space-time portal was his only method of traveling between dimensions.

So, when he'd opened a portal to an inhabited dimension, and then proceeded to leap through without really looking, he was more than a little chagrined to find that he very abruptly couldn't breathe.

Naruto hadn't wasted any time putzing around out there in space. He'd immediately used telekinesis to blast himself toward the nearest planet with advanced life. Without friction to hamper him he tore through the void at a speed beyond any means of detection. Then he grew even more chagrined as his clothes rapidly burnt off while entering the icy planet's atmosphere.

Finally, just to add insult to injury, he completely failed to stick any kind of landing. Instead, he rammed his face into several million tons of rock. He hadn't managed to be that clumsy since his teenage years. He was willing to admit it. It had been a bit of a train wreck from start to finish.

He even managed to top it all off by flashing a crowded room.

It wasn't one of his proudest moments, and the Bijuu weren't going to let him live it down for some time.

Naruto's thoughts on that embarrassing matter were abruptly interrupted. His emotion sensing had been feeling the waves of disbelief aimed at him for some time, and he'd fully expected that. He'd always had a big appetite and becoming the Juubi Jinchuriki had done nothing to change it. However, what he hadn't been expecting, was a massive spike of fear.

Someone standing several meters behind him had quite suddenly descended into sharp terror.

That terror was directed straight at his back.

His mouth momentarily stopped devouring the noodles he held aloft, and he quirked a confused eyebrow.

Someone was deathly afraid of him because of his appetite?

"Do not act so surprised," Kurama stated with a rumbling chuckle, "It was about time you traumatized someone. She's likely finds you as revolting as I do."

Naruto ignored his old friend's insults. In their advancing age, half the things they said to each other were well-meaning insults. Instead, he removed the bowl from his face, and slowly turned his head to look into the eyes of the woman currently staring a hole into his back.

His eyebrow quirked even higher when he noted that he'd definitely never seen her before. He hadn't even been here for a full day yet. Certainly not long enough to warrant the level of fear he could feel wafting off her frame. A fear that was steadily rising to new heights as he looked at her. He hadn't even really done anything in this dimension yet. He'd killed like two people before going shopping. That was it, and both of them had plans to kill him. One, he'd discovered, had been planning on dissecting him like countless others, whilst the other had been actively poisoning people.

He raised a hand and waved it weakly in greeting.

With perfect clarity, he watched the redhead physically startle and then pale even further. He noted that she'd be beautiful if her expression wasn't so transfixed. He also noted the very unique wounds on her face with a hint of curiosity.

The fear he was sensing kept skyrocketing for some inexplicable reason. In the end, he turned back to face the bar and ignored her. Once upon a time, he might have charged up to her with an inquisitive greeting, but not anymore. He knew that she wouldn't calm down if he actually approached her. She'd probably cause a very big scene with her screaming.

So, he picked up his bowl again, and started finishing off his food. He was almost done when the woman behind him quite abruptly managed to wrangle her fear under control. It was crushed by a will forged from steel and eventually blew out like a candle. He couldn't stop himself from feeling somewhat impressed by that. He'd met a lot of trained shinobi in his time who weren't nearly as capable at controlling their fear once it managed to overwhelm them.

He felt even more impressed when she started approaching his still turned back. He still didn't know what he'd done exactly, but she'd seemed to have gotten over it if she was willing to come talk to him.

He put his bowl down again, and once she stood directly behind him he swiveled his stool around to face her with an easy smile.

"Can I help you?" he questioned curiously, with his voice intentionally light.

He briefly glanced at the three people following behind her. Both the dark-skinned man and the absolute bombshell of a woman, one that would have probably had his old mentor Jiraiya frothing at the mouth, looked confused to be standing there. However, the scarred man standing apart from them looked completely indifferent. Naruto's eyes turned back to the beautiful redhead's face. She wasn't showing any of the fear she'd been feeling earlier. Her jaw was set, and her stance looked ready for a fight. Her expression was incredibly intense, especially with those glowing cuts along her jaw. Her green eyes bore into his cerulean without blinking.

"Yes," she stated without an ounce of hesitation, "My name is Commander Shepard, and I need your help saving the Galaxy."

His eyes, which up until that point had been crinkled in a kind smile, suddenly grew very big.

Oh-hoh~hoh~

A beat of silence passed as the attention of all nine Bijuu abruptly landed on the woman. The eldest of the nine ended up being the one to voice what they were all thinking.

"Well…" Kurama murmured, sounding just the tiniest bit stunned, "That's not something you hear every day."


Shepard wasn't sure what she'd expected.

However, she definitely hadn't expected him to suddenly notice her. He'd had his back turned after all, and they'd never met before. But as soon as she'd realized it was him, and the resulting fear had set in, he'd turned and looked directly into her eyes.

She'd jumped slightly before freezing solid. Her face drained of every drop of blood it had.

He'd slowly waved at her.

He then promptly turned back to his food and proceeded to ignore her existence.

She stood there for several seconds stiff with bewilderment.

While alone in her cabin she'd thought about a lot of things. Naturally, one of those things was whether this guy would immediately rip her soul out of her body if they ever happened to meet. He could apparently judge the weight of a person's misdeeds with a single glance. She knew she wasn't a bad person per-se. She always tried to do what was right in her eyes.

However, she had killed a lot of people. She was a soldier. Her body count of intelligent lifeforms grew with every mission. Sure, they hadn't ever been good people; terrorists, slavers, and murderers to name a few types. She'd definitely killed a lot of them though. That Cerberus scientist had killed a lot of people too.

Not to mention that she was supposed to be dead. Necromancy was bad right?

Yet, despite those things, she was still alive. He was content to ignore her and leave her soul exactly where it lay.

She wrestled her rampant fear down under control when she realized this very significant fact. He wasn't going to smite her for her misdeeds, or for being a zombie. This was good.

Gradually, her limbs unfroze, and she relaxed a bit. Perhaps The Illusive Man was right. He was on Omega, and he hadn't started reaping the souls of everyone surrounding him. He hadn't killed her, and he hadn't caused a massacre.

The words of her benefactor chose that moment to cut through her wary thoughts.

"Out of everyone in this Galaxy, the only person who could convince him to fight against the Reapers is you."

Shepard grimaced sharply at that reminder.

She really didn't want to talk to him…and yet, at the same time, she suddenly did. The sane part of her brain was desperately telling her to slowly back away, and once she was out of sight, to run for her ship's docking bay.

However, the mad part of her, the one that thought fighting against the Reapers was a fantastic idea, couldn't help but think that he'd be an invaluable asset. His…abilities…were patently absurd. If he wasn't some Demon wrapped in Human flesh that feasted on the souls of the damned then he could be a powerful ally.

She also couldn't ignore that other part of her that suddenly, desperately wanted an explanation for the things he'd done. She couldn't resist that incredibly human part of her that had seen what he was capable of, and wouldn't settle without getting a complete set of answers. A part of her that wanted to string him up by his thumbs right that very instant to interrogate him on how any of it was even fucking conceivable.

In the end, that was what did it for her. Shepard squared her shoulders and marched up to him whilst doing her best to keep her hands away from her weapons. She ignored the small crowd that started to disperse, and she came to a stop behind him. He turned to face her again, swiveling his stool with a squeak, and she felt the tip of his robe brush her kneecap. She stared at his youthful face. It was framed by messy locks of blonde hair, and she noted the six incredibly faded scars on his cheeks that were so thin that they were almost invisible. She silently marveled at how Human he appeared.

"Can I help you?" he asked politely.

Another drop of relief settled in her gut. He was capable of being polite too on top of everything else.

"Yes," Shepard immediately responded, and she silently hoped that she managed to maintain this newfound confidence until the very end, "My name is Commander Shepard, and I need your help saving the Galaxy."

She could practically feel Miranda's incredulous gaze boring into the back of her skull, but Shepard didn't pay the two Cerberus operatives or Zaeed any mind. The person in front of her necessitated all of her attention, and she didn't want to risk glancing away from his face for even a moment.

She watched his eyes grow subtly wider at her request. His cerulean eyes stared right back into hers for a few moments with something very close to surprise.

Then he very suddenly burst out laughing.

He rocked back on his little bar stool as he guffawed. He wrapped his arms around his gut as it heaved with mirth. Everyone in the market could hear him over the din, and more than a few turned to shoot him looks of annoyance.

The last dregs of Shepard's apprehension drained out of her as she was suddenly more than a little annoyed. Maybe he wasn't all that polite after all. She certainly hadn't said anything that was funny.

He waved his hand placatingly as he tried to stave off his laughs, and he leaned forward when they finally calmed to short chuckles.

"I'm sorry," the blonde sheepishly apologized, and he reached up to scratch the back of his head for a moment, "It's just, out of all the things I expected you to say, that wasn't one of them. It's been a long time."

Before she could even begin puzzling over those words he abruptly rose from his seat, and she had to crane her neck back slightly to look him in the eyes. He was a good several inches taller than her, and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Even with that suddenly excited grin that stretched across his face, or maybe because of it, he was suddenly a hell of a lot more intimidating. His blue eyes seemed to almost catch fire with how intense they became.

"Now…please tell me you're serious, because I've been needing something to do for a while now. If you're getting me all excited just to pitch me some scam line involving my bank information, I'm gonna be really disappointed."

A moment passed, a beat of incredulity, and then Miranda finally spoke up sounding very indignant, "Commander, who is this suppo-"

Shepard's head whipped around to face Miranda, and the woman immediately halted her sentence at the look she shot her. Jane didn't know where they stood with this guy. She couldn't predict what he'd do in any way, shape, or form. Sure, he might have turned out to be less polite than she'd originally thought, but she still wasn't going to let Miranda's attitude do anything to set him off.

She turned back to face the blonde as soon as she was sure that Miranda got the message. Her wide eyes said that she had.

"I'm very serious," she assured him, trying to sound as sincere as possible, "I'm recruiting a team to save the world. A race of gigantic, sentient starships called the Reapers are planning on invading the galaxy to wipe out all intelligent forms of life. I need the absolute best if we're going to defeat them. I need you on my team."

The blonde's grin stretched to truly epic proportions as she spoke. His sharpened canines reflected the red lights hanging above his head, and his eyes practically danced with anticipation. He lifted both arms to his chest to swiftly slam his fist into a waiting palm. The resounding clap of flesh hitting flesh was far louder than she'd expected it to be.

"Let's do it!"

Her thoughts completely derailed at his rather abrupt announcement. Whatever words she'd had lined up next to try and convince him to join her left her lungs with a whoosh of exhaled air.

A moment of incredulity passed between the two Cerberus operatives. Zaeed was pretty unconcerned, but Miranda and Jacob had been very confused from the moment the Commander had walked over and tried to recruit this random blonde guy off the street. He wasn't even wearing any armor, and instead wore a high collared orange shirt with black stripes under an equally high collared white coat. He didn't appear to have any weapons on his person either. Judging by the conversation, the two of them didn't even appear to know each other.

They were very lost.

Shepard was equally as lost.

"Just like that?" she found herself questioning before she could stop herself. She was very relieved when he didn't take offense, and simply gave her a happy nod in return. He spun away from her to snatch his odd staff away from where it was leaning against the bar, and the glow of an omni-tool lit up around his arm as he paid for his meal. The restaurant's owner visibly slumped with relief.

When he turned back to her, that explosive grin of his had lost a little of its excitement, but it had gained deviousness in return.

"Oh yes, just like that," he stated with a tone of complete certainty, "This sounds right up my alley. Saving the world from certain destruction? Definitely my thing. However…"

Here he paused, and he suddenly leaned forward against his pitch-black staff. He peered down into her eyes with a questioning gaze. It was a challenging tone that came out of his mouth next.

"I'm not too sure that you're sure on this. Do you really want me on your team Shepard-san?"

"Are you sure you can handle having me on the team?" Was the implication left hanging in the air.

He was right to question her, because she was asking herself that too. She could handle giant-metal cuttlefish AI hiding out in dark space. Those were still within the realm of absolutely-horrifying-but-still-plausible.

This still unnamed blonde man was not within that realm.

In the end though, Shepard squared her shoulders in the face of that adversity, just like she'd always done. She'd risen from the dead less than a week ago. If she could get a handle on that in so short a timeframe, then she could learn to deal with other impossible shit too.

She nodded sharply, and the uncertainty fled from her just like her fear had earlier. Her steel-forged will would accept nothing less.

"Yes. I'm certain."

All at once, the bright smile was back on his face, and his back straightened with one hand still on his staff.

"Very well."

Then he presented his fist to her with the clenched palm facing down.

She stood there for a few seconds in genuine confusion.

Was he seriously…?

He didn't lower his fist, and his expression didn't change even as the seconds ticked by.

Shepard slowly raised her armored fist. Upon seeing that his smiling face hadn't shifted in the slightest, she lightly bumped her fist against his. She looked down at their fists for a bare second when they connected. Thus, she missed the moment a nearly imperceptible change took place in his eyes. All she knew was that his eyes held a lot more warmth when she looked back up. There was a sense of approval that hadn't quite been there before, and she couldn't help but feel a little more at ease.

The blonde man bowed ever so slightly in her direction, a very subtle showing of respect.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I will fight by your side Shepard-san."

The ball of anxiety that Shepard hadn't realized was still resting in her stomach finally unclenched all the way. Her muscles relaxed, and she felt like a thousand pounds had just been lifted from her shoulders. She smiled for what felt like the first time since she'd risen from the dead. It wasn't broad or joyous, and it made the wounds along her jawline ache. It was a tired smile that spoke of genuine relief.

"Thank you…we're lucky to have you on the team."

She really, truly meant that. She counted and thanked every single one of her lucky stars that he wasn't numbered amongst her enemies.

He tapped his staff once against the floor, and the rings fixed at its top jangled. He then stood to one side and waved his free hand in a vague gesture towards the markets. His bright smile was both supportive and encouraging.

"Lead on then Commander. I've got your back."


"AHHHHHHHHH THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Shukaku cried amidst his gleeful cackles, "FINALLY SOMETHING WORTHY OF OUR TALENTS!"

That cry was a sentiment the Tailed Beasts shared.

It had been a long time since any of them had done anything of significance, and that included Naruto himself. His retirement had certainly been fun thus far, but nothing truly monumental had come his way until this very moment.

The nine definitely enjoyed relaxing within Naruto's soul of course. They didn't generally like being disturbed, even by their own siblings at times, and having their own tailored mindscapes to laze around in was lovely. They were perfectly content to sit back in their front row seats, and watch as Naruto got into absurd situation after absurd situation.

It was far more entertaining to heckle him as he trapezed through random inhabited dimensions. Mortals couldn't bother them that way.

However, every once in a while, a genuine challenge was more than welcome. They all liked to flex their power a little bit…or a lot in some of their cases.

These Reapers definitely sounded like a challenge. Judging by the sheer weight resting on the young Commander's shoulders then the threat was a dire one. Naruto had grown into a level-headed leader as he'd aged, but he'd still never been one to back down from any kind of challenge.

Besides, the woman had a good heart. Naruto hadn't intruded on her memories, he didn't need to do that to understand her after all. He knew that the threat was a real one, and that this woman desperately needed back-up. He was more than a little down with being that back-up. He hadn't used even one basic Rasenshuriken in a long time. He hadn't gone into any of the Bijuu modes either.

This certainly sounded like a grand enough adventure to be worthy of them.

Naruto was currently smiling as he listened to his nine tenants chat excitedly within his soul. He was leaning back against the railing outside of Afterlife with his arms crossed over his chest. His senses were closely tracking a sky-car that flew down through several of the districts. The Batarian pilot hadn't been willing to let him on board. He was apparently unarmored and unarmed, and thus a complete moron as far as the pilot was concerned. He'd laughed at the Commander's uncertain expression and assured her that he'd be following right behind them.

The sky-car finally reached its destination, and Naruto abruptly vanished. A number of the random passerby that'd been near him startled badly. He dropped out of his Shunshin a moment later. He was hidden within the shadow of an alley a few meters from the sky-car.

He stepped into the light with a smile on his face once the pilot took off again. He thoroughly enjoyed the stunned expressions of the three operatives behind the Commander. However, he couldn't help but feel a sliver of curiosity when Shepard wasn't nearly as surprised. She only raised an eyebrow for a few moments before briefly shaking her head. If he'd been 99% certain before, then he was 100% certain now. She'd apparently seen him use some of his abilities already, even though he'd only just arrived. She must have access to quite the information network for that to be the case. She likely had ties to the black-ops organization that had first discovered him.

Shepard beckoned him over to join them. She cast a critical eye around them once he stood before the squad.

"We're here to rescue a Turian vigilante going by the name Archangel. These mercenaries have him under siege. We need to get into his safehouse, recruit him, and then get him back out alive. I don't know what you're capable of. Tell me what you can do to accomplish this mission."

He turned away from her, and his eyes scanned over the large number of barricades lining the length of the boulevard. It was a straight shot that forced intruders to cross a single bridge. At the far end of the street he could sense a lone Turian armed with a sniper-rifle. He was bunkered down behind solid cover, and anyone who strayed into his sight died long before they could even reach the first floor of his building. However, there was a small squad that had infiltrated and hidden themselves within the bottom floor.

Naruto smiled wryly as he turned back to her, and then he shook his head.

"We'll be standing here a long time if I tried to make a list. I'm just going to follow your lead Shepard-san. I'll have your back when you need it. When the fighting starts I want to see what you can do. I'll be right there with you."

Shepard's eyebrow ticked upward, "You're actually willing to follow my orders Mr. Uzumaki?"

There was open caution in her tone. She was wary of his answer, likely unsure whether such a possibility even existed. She needn't be. This was her mission. This was her dimension. It was her world's fate that hung in the balance. He was just along for the ride. She definitely needed to be the one in charge.

He didn't say any of that however, he just nodded his head, "So long as they are the right orders."

Shepard looked ready to rise to that challenge. He could tell that she was confident in her ability to lead, and her earlier apprehension was a distant memory. She reached up to release her M-96 Mattock into her waiting hands and nodded sharply back at him.

"They will be."

He smiled brightly, "I'll fight by your side so long as they are Commander, and please, call me Naruto." The smile on his face turned a little bit devious, "So long as you've got me on your team, your mission can't fail."

On that note, he released his staff. It fell for a bare moment before dissipating into thin air. He shrugged off his white overcoat the next instant, and it too dissipated without fanfare. Shepard completely schooled her reaction, but the three operatives were left a little stunned. He was left in that high collared orange shirt of his. Its sleeves were now visible, and black rings lined the cuffs as well as the hem. He wore a pair of loose black pants, and opened toed shoes adorned his feet.

He stretched out his hands to loudly pop his fingers joints, and Shepard was suddenly able to spy a pair of symbols emblazoned on the flesh of his palms. A black crescent moon and a white sun rested there in his separate hands.

"I don't think these guys will be too happy if I go traipsing through their combat zone," he abruptly stated while casting another furtive glance down the boulevard.

It was true. He looked like a civilian. He had no weapons. He was wearing open toed shoes. He didn't look like he belonged anywhere near this siege.

The devious smile was back the next instant, and his hands clasped together in a symbol that only he knew to be the tiger sign, "I'll stay unseen until the fighting starts. But don't worry Commander, I'll be right there with you every step of the way."

He channeled his chakra for the Hiding with Camouflage Jutsu, and then vanished without a trace. There was no pulse of electricity that came with powering an optical camouflage unit, or any of the accompanying shimmer. He was simply gone.

Shepard reached up to rub the front of her forehead at that act. The three operatives behind her stared openly gob smacked at the place he'd once been standing.


The quartet wound their way through the different side corridors with Shepard at the lead. Zaeed carried on with what Shepard could only assume was his usual aplomb. Miranda and Jacob however kept casting furtive looks around, likely trying to spy their newest recruit. Miranda in particular kept sending her looks, looks that she could only translate as signs of an impending interrogation. Her new second-in-command apparently didn't enjoy being left in the dark at all.

They made a few stops for information as they headed for the frontline, and Naruto didn't resurface. It wasn't until they were finally crossing the bridge, and they'd started firing their weapons at the mercenaries crossing ahead of them, that he finally reappeared.

He made quite the entrance too.

Naruto abruptly materialized while sailing through the air above their heads, shouting an exuberant battle-cry, and he looked prepared to deliver a punishing flying kick. They had a front row seat to watch as his foot planted itself in the nearest mercenary's flank. The freelancer folded like a house of cards, and his armored body made a sizable dent in the metal bridge beneath him. The entire structure vibrated with the force of that kick. It was a mercy that the poor bastard died near instantaneously, but that didn't stop his body from being turned into a broken mess on the ground.

The orange-clad fighter rebounded off of his first opponent's collapsed body, and he sailed through the air again to plant a foot in another mercenary's face. The new victim's knees gave out underneath him, and he crashed to the floor in a boneless heap. Naruto bounced high once more, and executed a bizarre acrobatic movement. His hands never stopped as he twisted through the air whilst completely upside down, and he even used them to propel himself along by pushing off of random heads. They darted here and there amongst the wave of mercenaries, and every strike either killed someone outright or knocked someone cold. Eventually, he spun like a cat, and his feet hit the floor in a picture perfect landing. He then flew into a complicated form of martial arts, and proceeded to decimate the enemies that were left before them on the bridge.

The entire maneuver only took a sparse handful of seconds, and in that time the squad of four nearly ground to a halt. Only battle-hardened instincts kept them from stopping in the middle of that bridge to watch the spectacle. As it was, Zaeed still spat an impressed curse while firing his rifle. Shepard couldn't stop herself from feeling a little awed as well. She might know a little of what he was truly capable of, and therefore shouldn't really be surprised. However, witnessing what appeared to be an unarmored lunatic laying into a crowd of fully kitted mercenaries with nothing but his bare fists and feet was still a very jarring sight.

They made it across the bridge with the orange clad martial-artist leading the way. Jane couldn't help but notice that a number of the mercenaries he'd taken down were still alive. They were obviously unconscious, with grievous wounds keeping them there, but they were much better off than the mercenaries that were very clearly dead. She didn't know why, but Naruto was intentionally leaving some alive while completely pulverizing others.

Shepard found herself trusting the strange new recruit to maintain their forward momentum, and she turned to fire back the way they came. She suppressed any of the mercenaries that tried jumping the barricade to revive the wave. When the bridge was clear and she turned back, she found herself momentarily struck speechless at the sight before her. If she'd turned any later she would have missed it, but she managed to rotate back just in time to witness Naruto bounce off of the ceiling above their heads. He jumped from there to the wall, shaking it enough to knock dust free with his footfalls, and then he blasted off of that wall with a mighty lunge. His leg swung around to catch the last hiding mercenary in the gut, and the victim let out a keening wail as he sailed through the air. He flew from one end of the room to the other and crashed through the window. Glass shattered as his armored form passed through it, and the wail turned into a high-pitched scream of terror as he fell into the depths of the station.

The lower floor was silent after that. The bridge was still clear as the mercenary bands reeled under another failed assault. Naruto stood alone in the center of the room looking as cool as a cucumber even with several dozen bodies strewn around him. He was breathing evenly, and hadn't even broken a sweat. Zaeed rose from where he'd been in cover, and blew a long deeply impressed whistle at the dented armor and snapped limbs. Jacob looked just as impressed as Zaeed. Miranda kept casting lost glances between where the blonde was standing, and the wall that he'd ricocheted from.

Shepard didn't stay awed for long however. She shook it off a moment later and stormed up the steps to the second floor. She'd have plenty of time to question him on all of his bizarre abilities later, and his impossible skill at hand-to-hand was one she'd be sure to address. For now though, she had a mission to complete.

So, with that in mind, she marched into the top floor with a purpose in her steps. She fully intended to recruit this Archangel, or drag him off of the station by his mandibles if necessary. She'd long since had enough of this station, and if she could just get back to her ship without everything falling apart she'd be happy.

However, those dark and tired thoughts fled her mind the next moment when she abruptly came face to face with a very dear friend.


When the Eclipse attacked Shepard was forced to ignore the happiness she felt at finding one of her best friends. Falling into the thick of it with Garrus once again at her back was a feeling she'd been desperately needing ever since rising from the dead. Even under a hail of gunfire there was now a sense of normalcy that she'd somehow been missing. Save for Eden Prime, the Turian had been with her for every mission on her hunt for Saren, and having him at her back was something she'd dearly missed.

That sense of normalcy she'd been feeling was firmly obliterated when she started firing down into the onrushing wave of Eclipse. The finger she'd been holding on the trigger suddenly numbed along with her whole body as she spied a whirlwind of orange and yellow descend to tear through the mercenaries.

She watched as Naruto blitzed through the assault force below for a few moments. She witnessed him pulverizing security mechs and armored troops alike, sending their broken bodies flying every direction with precisely timed strikes.

She slowly turned her head to the left.

The blonde bastard was also standing several feet from her looking completely at ease. He was even smiling at her.

She slowly turned her wide green eyes back to the street, where that same carbon copy of the blonde was still tearing through the steadily panicking Eclipse.

'What the FUCK?!' Her mind practically screeched whilst grinding to a halt. She didn't exclaim however. In the end, it was Miranda who was the first to crack upon realizing that there was now more than one Naruto on the battlefield.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!" the accented voice of the Cerberus operative cried, and the dark-haired beauty stopped firing her submachine gun to bounce incredulous stares between the blonde standing among them, and the blonde down below them. Jacob's own cry followed hers, and he sounded breathless with both confusion and awe.

"How the hell is he doing that?!" the dark skinned man shouted even as he fired shots at the barricades. He wasn't really taking the time to aim, since his eyes kept trying to keep up with the orange force of nature currently tearing up the bridge.

Neither of them received an answer, and Naruto kept standing there with that broad grin on his face.

It was a few moments later that Shepard managed to close her gaping mouth, and then she couldn't stop the question that immediately tumbled from her lips.

"How are you doing that?!"

As opposed to the two operatives, Naruto actually deigned to answer her question. However, the answer she received wasn't nearly as informative as she'd hoped.

"Like this," he replied sounding just a touch smug, and that broad grin of his stretched to even larger proportions. He didn't so much as twitch and yet a cloud of smoke abruptly poofed into existence next to him. When the smoke cleared they were treated to the sight of a third Naruto standing there with an equally broad smile. The two twins tilted their heads ever so slightly in opposing directions, creating a very unsettling doppelganger effect. They looked exactly the same.

A long moment of protracted disbelief passed over the upper floor. The humans in the room couldn't keep their jaws off the ground even if they wanted to, and the lone Turian had been lost from the moment he'd laid eyes on his supposedly dead Commander. Watching some random human appear to will reinforcements of himself into existence was starting to stretch the limits of what he could accept. He'd witnessed a lot of whack shit over the last several dozen hours that he'd been awake, and he was starting to think that he was hallucinating from all the stress.

The new clone suddenly flew into motion, and with a joyous battle cry went sailing over the railing to descend as well. It joined its other twin in tearing through the mercenaries below, and after a few moments, both of the blonde clones were left without standing enemies. They immediately vaulted over the barricade at the end of the bridge, and they rushed down the boulevard to assault the mercenaries hidden in the rooms beyond. The fading sounds of gunfire and screams drifted back across the bridge to the still silent squad.

Naruto was still standing there with that ever-present smile as the room descended into full silence. It stayed that way for a moment longer before he suddenly started frowning. He cast a glance behind him before belting out a warning, and a lot of the bewilderment fled from the room at his next words.

"A squad has set up charges below us, and are about to breach into the basement floor."

As soon as the words left his mouth a massive explosion went off, and they could hear it reverberate from beneath the foundations of the building. The squad felt the vibrations in their bones as the entire structure shook slightly.

"They've blasted through the passages I had sealed," the Turian vigilante turned to inform Commander Shepard as his mind did its best to keep up with the rapidly changing circumstances, "A squad will have to go down there and manually close the shutters. If we don't, they'll pour into the bottom floor, and any advantage we have from that bridge will be lost."

Shepard nodded grimly, and her eyes immediately locked onto the outlandish blonde in the group.

"Naruto, you're with me. You three," she stated while gesturing at Zaeed and the operatives, "Will stay here and watch Garrus' back. Keep a close eye on him. We'll go get those shutters closed."

Miranda took a few steps forward with cautious uncertainty in her stride, "Are you sure that's a good idea Commander? You don't know what you'll find down there."

However, the Cerberus operative cast a wary eye at the blonde man while she said this. It was obvious what Miranda was actually worried about. She not only looked worried, but more than a little confounded too. She also very obviously didn't like being confounded. She was visibly struggling to put together a puzzle, one in which the end product didn't make any sense according to her tailored sensibilities.

Shepard didn't look uncertain anymore. She simply moved past yet another impossible act while adding it to the growing list of questions. She cast a glance at Miranda and nodded reassuringly.

"I'm sure," She turned back to Naruto and gestured toward the hallway with her rifle, "I want you out in front, I'll provide you support at range. Let's get those shutters closed."

The blonde threw her a thumbs up and a cheesy smile, "I'm on it Shepard-san."

He then turned and abruptly vaulted over the railing overlooking the bottom floor. He landed on the edge of the sofa down below without swaying in the slightest. He flipped off of the couch's back in the direction of the exit, and he swiftly cut down the unfortunate set of Vorcha he encountered there before disappearing down the stairs to the basement. The sound of him tearing through more of the Vorcha drifted back up to the upper balcony.

Shepard was left standing there for a moment, before she shook her head with forced aplomb. She brushed past the odd behavior and started heading toward the stairs to join him. As she passed through the door Miranda spoke up once again, drawing her attention. The poor woman was still visibly having a very hard time.

"Who is that man Commander?"

Shepard didn't have an answer to that very important question. She shrugged as she walked away, and admitted as much to the befuddled operative.

"I've got no idea."

She'd get her answers though. It wouldn't be now, but it would happen. She wouldn't settle for anything less.


Shepard led the way back up to the top floor once they were finished closing the shutters, and it was she who broke out into a dead sprint when they heard the sound of Garm tearing up the top floor. The combined might of her rifle bearing squad-members tore through the Krogan Battlemaster in moments. She was forced to dive into cover soon after however, when a Blue-Suns gunship came screaming into view with its minigun already blazing. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears as the overwhelming amount of fire started to tear through the cover at the front of the room.

Jane's eyes abruptly landed on the blue form that slumped down across the room, and her heart's pounding was suddenly interrupted as her pulse skipped several beats. Ice crawled through her veins at the pools of blue blood staining the apartment floor.

"Garrus!" she heard her own concerned voice cry out without warning.

That ice was suddenly chased from her veins by the racing flames of rage, and she started furiously gunning down the invading Blue-Suns. She'd only just found Garrus again, and something was already threatening to tear his life away. Shepard cast one last wrathful glance at the armored gunship strafing around the building, and pointed at its metal flank.

"Naruto!" she shouted over the roaring gunfire, "Destroy that fucking thing!"

She heard him laugh boisterously at that, and her eyes turned to find his on the other side of the room. He wore a feral grin now, and those six scars she'd noticed earlier suddenly looked far more pronounced. His sharp canines flashed, and he thrust his arm forward to point a single finger at the flying hunk of metal. She could hear the smile in his voice as he loudly answered.

"You got it Commander!"

That finger which he'd been pointing out into the dark night was suddenly lit by a bright glow. It shown a bright blue for a moment before it swiftly grew. Half a second later, an orb a swirling azure energy hung there suspended before the tip of his finger. A moment passed as the four team members who were still conscious gazed upon an attack that looked distinctly different to any form of biotics they'd ever witnessed.

With their eyes firmly fixed upon the swirling orb, they were able to witness what happened next with perfect clarity.

That basketball-sized orb of spinning power shot from his extended fingertip. It flew through the air to collide with the nose of the gunship. An almighty screeching sound ripped through the night air as the two met. Sparks flew for the barest of moments as the spinning orb swiftly chewed through the gunship's armor. The steel folded like wet tissue paper under the orbs onslaught, and between one blink and the next, the orb had breached the metal frame. The glowing ball impacted the pilot inside, tearing through both his armor and his chest cavity. The sphere lasted a single second longer, before it finally detonated with the force of an artillery shell within the chassis of the flying gunship. Metal fragments rained down on the bridge or fell into the depths below it, and Tarak's body was no longer recognizable. His upper half had been turned into a pulpy mass.

The silence that descended this time was far more stricken than the stunned silence from earlier. Zaeed was still crouched behind one of the black sofas, seemingly still unsure of his safety, and he was peering out from his cover to cast wary glances Naruto's way. Miranda and Jacob were both busy staring out at the space in the sky that had, up until very recently, housed an intact gunship.

Shepard didn't pay any of them an ounce of attention. Nor did the sight of that gunship getting blown out of the sky by their blonde teammate cause her to lose track of her priorities. She'd immediately rushed to the downed Turian's side as soon as the metal fragments had started raining down.

That fear from earlier swept through her again at the sight of his completely still form. With the enemy dead, her anger drained from her, leaving her desperately afraid, and with no one left to kill. Her hand tentatively reached out, almost unwilling to touch him and learn of his true fate, but that uncertainty fled from her when he suddenly coughed. His three talons gripped the muzzle of his rifle, and he drew it in close. Relief flooded her at the life in his eyes, but the fear came back again at the sound of his wet breathing.

He was bleeding out, and the blood was pooling into his lungs too. The right side of his face was torn to shreds. She needed to get him out of there immediately if she wanted to keep her dear friend alive.

Just as she started to turn, preparing to bark out sharp orders to her surrounding team, a blur of motion came to a stop beside her. She craned her head back to stare up at the pair of blue eyes above her. Naruto wasn't looking at her however. His cerulean eyes were firmly fixed on her Turian best friend. They took in the mass of wounds covering his downed form, and then his eyes finally fell on her face. He smiled kindly when faced with the fear she felt for her friend, and he squatted beside her to lay his left hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Do not worry Shepard-san."

The Uzumaki then swiftly placed his right palm, the one with the sun emblazoned within it, upon the wounded Turian's back.

A few moments passed where Shepard genuinely considered shouting. Do not worry? Garrus was dying on the floor, and Naruto wanted her to chill? She hadn't been able to chill in a week, and until Garrus survived surgery she wouldn't be chilling either.

Those incredulous and highly irritated thoughts were abruptly banished when her Turian friend suddenly groaned there on the floor. His lungs sounded far clearer than they'd been seconds beforehand. If anything, he seemed to be breathing easy all of a sudden. He sat up with strength that he shouldn't have considering the blue blood pooled around him. Then the three talons on one of his hands came up to gingerly touch the right side of his face. His mandibles twitched as her friend released a very tiny gasp.

She took another apprehensive look at that side of his face, the one she'd known as the side that had taken the blast, and then she joined him in gasping.

His face was perfectly fine. There wasn't a single mark there.

She'd seen the bloody mess his right side had become, and remembered instantly fearing that her best friend would end up like her, with his own set of glowing scars. Or worse, that they wouldn't even be able to get him back to the med-bay in time.

Now, her Turian companion was numbly patting the side of his previously demolished face, seemingly unable to understand how his wounds had vanished. However, Shepard wasn't nearly as lost. Her brain stuttered for a long moment before making the obvious connections, and her head whipped around to stare in open mouthed wonder at the blonde beside her. Naruto had risen from his crouch, and that kind smile of his was still in place.

He suddenly crossed his arms behind his blonde hair, and he leaned back on one heel. His smile turned into a confident smirk, "Well, that's one mission accomplished, yeah Commander?"

Jane could only nod her head in answer, though even that was done on auto-pilot. Her voice simply failed to materialize.

That confident smirk grew imperceptibly when her tongue-tied expression persisted. It was razor sharp as he spoke his next words.

"What's next then Shepard-san?"


Author's Note: Hello again, thanks for making it this far once more.

Here is a brief insight into myself. I've always loved the reactions of the characters in stories like this. Seeing your favorite character fucking with another set of your favorite characters always scratched a very particular itch for me. It's even more fun to write it. I had a lot of fun with this chapter as a result. I hope you had fun too.

Now, a quick clarification on my Naruto. As you all can tell by now, he's different, but also not. He's aged I guess you could say. His past is remarkably the same as canon, but with incredibly small differences that only take place in the Boruto era. His powers have aged too, seeming to mature and develop the older he became. There will be a lot of free-form chakra usage as a result.

Finally, a brief word of reassurance. If you happen to receive push notifications on story updates you may see two from my story every once in a while. That is just me going back and correcting slight, grammar-only mistakes in previous chapters. However, do not fear. I will always publish an actual chapter alongside any corrections. I wouldn't tease all of you like that.

Now, a final note of honesty. I don't have any kind of an update schedule. For example, I wrote the first 5000 words of this second chapter almost a day after I published the first one. I finished the rest a week later. I couldn't tell you how frequent I will be able to update. It could be a week. It could be a month. Perhaps even more. I just don't know, ya feel?

Anyway, thanks for reading my friend. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you again next time.