Authors Note: Hey everyone! It's Arte here. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. I'd like to point out a few things before we start that some people may not have considered while reading stories. The first is that any character who talks is subject to biases like in real life. They have perspectives and make conclusions based on the knowledge they have at their fingertips; however, this does NOT make what they say true, or the actual explanation. I am taking my understanding of chakra and biotics in a direction that makes sense to me. Here we see a little bit of Naruto's embellished explanation-but as I hate infodumps more than anything in this world, I will keep it short and plot-important. If you care to debate biotics and chakra with me I'd be more than happy. I've already done with this with more than one reviewer and afterwards, they seem to have understood where I was coming from-which is nice. I think what I'm doing makes sense if explained the right way.

We'll never really have a canon answer will we?

Second, this story is epic in length and epic in scope. Naruto is only martially powerful now. He is trained; fast and strong. But he cannot use really any techniques besides fuuin. He will need much, much more if he is to combat the incredibly powerful forces arrayed against him. This will be a gradual journey of self-discovery, of battle and romance, and eventually a suitable exploration of the true importance our choices have in our lives. :)

Anyway, without further ado; the 3rd chapter of the first book in Memoirs of an N7; the Fires in the Forge of Hell!

Enjoy!


Chapter 2: Fires in the Forge of Hell

"Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices."

-Alfred A. Montapert

CE 2075, The Phoenix Nest, (formerly Teltin Facility), Pragia

NARUTO

Naruto, codenamed Odin, jerked awake and immediately regretted being conscious; even though the nightmares had come back. That movement ignited all the wounds from his month of torture. He was sore; knots and cramps made themselves known as he shifted about. Naruto was completely drug-free for the first time in who knew how long and all of his nerves confirmed this-loudly. Fire coursed through his veins and cold sweat soaked his white uniform and ran down his scarred arms and chest and back as he shivered. On top of that, his eye itched and all the little scars itched too. Naruto imagined he'd be quite a sight, though it seemed Cerberus was a little freaked out by his bijuu eye and covered it with some soft cloth.

Finally, the pain died down to just a dull knife sliding through flesh and he felt the tiniest surge of healing energy coursing through his veins; tiny compared to the raging torrent that had been in him while he was battling Cerberus earlier. This time though, it was sluggish though, very sluggish. It had only been a short time that he'd had Kurama inside him, but he had gotten used to the added benefit of healing instantaneously. Damn. It was sloppy for any ninja to rely on any one tool. Training as a monk had taught him that the most important weapon was his mind; and right now, his was in shambles.

Naruto pulled himself up and sat with his legs crossed under him as he looked around, tiny pops sounding in his back and knees as he stretched.

It was a white room he found himself in. Shocking, he thought.

Cerberus clearly had a thing for white. It was odd, he'd have thought white was a bad choice-it showed the bloodstains too much. Perhaps they were trying to disguise the black heart at the core of their organization by using misdirection and bullshit tactics like this. Did they really think taking white as a prime color would fool anyone?

Well fuck that, and fuck this hellhole he found himself in.

The cell was maybe fifteen feet by fifteen, stark white, the panels all looked reinforced; no doubt to keep him in. The door, unlike any door he'd ever seen barring the one he'd attempted to leave through in his failed escape attempt, was also reinforced. His bed, if you could call the raised slab of metal in the center of the room that, was unadorned except for a thin strip of yellow and black color. Spotless though, the room was not. Little scraps of metal littered the floor as if someone had recently done construction and left the scraps behind.

Inspection done and pain successfully ignored (for the most part), Naruto conducted a more thorough pat down of himself. He ran a callused hand over his head and met no resistance. Tears prickled against his will at the edge of his eyes; it was just, he couldn't help it. His hair had been another reminder of what he'd left behind. A memory surfaced; his mom and dad had taken him and Izuna on weekly Ramen trips. They'd take their usual places at Ichiraku's; his mom and dad bracketing Izuna and him on the stools at the front of the place. Kushina would smile and say, "Best seats in the house, 'ttebayo!" and Minato would smile, smile like he was the happiest man in the entire world. But it was the red hair, long and lustrous that caught Naruto's eye as she threw her head back and laughed. They did a lot of laughing together...and it was that that he missed the most. Teasing his brother, then being teased in return; knowing without a shadow of a doubt that his parents could make everything better with a laugh, a smile, and a hug.

They were not here now. And now? Neither was the hair he'd shared with his mom, Nagato, and Karin...the last of the Uzumaki clan.

Now it was just him.

Naruto inhaled deeply and left the tears on his face. He wouldn't let Cerberus win here-even something like this, this psychological torture-he would not let them reduce him to nothing. He was not just another tool in their arsenal of weapons; he may be the sword now-and they holding the grip-but they'd soon see the other edge of the weapon.

When his hand came to the raised ridges on the back of his neck, above his collar, he encountered a raised object sticking out of his neck; panic gripped him. Through every session of torture, he knew they'd done things to him...stuck metal in him...but he never thought it would be this much. There was no mirror, no windows, and nothing to see what was sticking out of the back of his neck. So he started breathing in and out in regular intervals to calm himself. This panic was unproductive. He needed to start reasoning things out without making baseless assumptions like a true monk. So what did he know?

The Illusive Man had seemed to want Naruto on his side; indeed, he claimed he could make the ninja, 'better,' somehow. Is this what he meant? He'd seen the metal and lights inside the guards he'd killed...had they done that with him? Naruto didn't know. If they had...what else had they done? Stilling his breathing, Naruto effortlessly glided into a meditative state the Fire Temple monks used to practice internal chakra control and what he found left him speechless.

The mindscape is very different from the mental, and largely metaphorical, view of one's chakra pathway system. Kurama and he had always spoken in his mindscape and from there one could usually also glimpse the symbolic pipes that make up your chakra system. But now Naruto was strictly looking at his tenketsu, where the Gates were supposed to be, and the pathways that carried his normally blue chakra throughout his body.

A raging hurricane over a dark ocean replaced the normally bright and calm delta waters of his pathways; pure chaos reigned. His chakra system, something he'd been able to feel intimately ever since he was little, was a mess; wild, untamed, and not the calm ocean he'd always felt gliding through his veins. Small currents of something else rode the waves and suffused him from multiple points throughout his body. He felt focal hardpoints of energy in his legs, arms, chest-even one behind his replacement eye. It threw everything off.

That didn't even count Kurama's energy.

Naruto knew that the actual sealing process that his brother had undergone had allowed the dangerous, poisonous chakra of the tailed beast to mix properly with Izuna's own supplies-vastly multiplying and empowering it. Naruto had no such seal and no such protection other than vague hints that Nagato had said a Rinnegan-user-as descendants of the Sage (and Father of the Bijuu) enjoyed against the poisonous chakra. Fuck if Naruto knew what was really going on and why he wasn't a bubbling puddle of goo on the floor. Frankly, this whole mess freaked him out. Could he even channel chakra with this other stuff in the way?

His body seemed to be in a three-way war with itself. Naruto let out a sigh. Of course just my luck. But Namikazes-and especially Uzumaki's-never gave up. Rationality reasserted itself and he thought that maybe, he'd just have to assert his own control over whatever Cerberus had done and whatever the hell this new energy was...plus Kurama. Speaking of Kurama, where the hell was the fox?

A clue, he thought, might be in the raging volcanic torrent that made up the red bijuu chakra in his system. Naruto was looking right at it and it seemed to be fighting the dark ocean that had suddenly taken up residence in his body and came from those nodes at varying points in his body. It didn't feel foreign, or like they didn't belong, but it felt a lot like...like the energy they used to briefly subdue him. Naruto's gritted his teeth and his eye flashed in the darkness remembering how he had to let them take him-Kurama couldn't flood him with more without doing more harm than good...and they foolishly had thought Cerberus wouldn't dare kill him.

Well they were right...but apparently there were worse things than death.

Kurama, it seemed, was busy-but totally unresponsive? That was hard to believe. Maybe it had something to do with that drug that seemed to suppress chakra...he couldn't imagine how Kurama handled that. Kurama WAS chakra. Now Naruto was worried. The fox, as much of a pain in the ass he was and no matter how much they got on each others nerves, was the only thing he had left from his old life. He couldn't let him go without a fight. Naruto vowed he'd keep trying to get in contact with the bijuu; however, for now, he needed to know what he could and couldn't do with this mess he currently called his body.

The door opening killed all hopes of being left alone though.

Where before his anger was coals, slow burning and long lasting, they flamed into an inferno on seeing his Cerberus captors-and Miranda. Naruto had never felt anything quite like the rage that gripped him on seeing her-seeing that smug, perfect face and that self-satisfied smirk. He wanted to claw it off, flay her alive, tear her to pieces and watch her bleed out. A growl emerged from his throat, lower than he'd ever heard himself before. It took the group that fanned out through the doorway by surprise, his growl very audible in the small room. The soldiers, four of them and unarmored as far as he could see (except for some orange stuff floating around them), cautiously spread out in a semicircle, batons sparking with tiny jumping lightning bolts gripped in their hands. The fucking welcoming committee was here, no doubt to sway him with more bullshit. Naruto felt a sneer stretch across his face and pull at the cloth attached to his bad eye.

Miranda had eyes only for him and he for her. He didn't even notice when a scientist-one he wasn't familiar with-entered right on her heels. Naruto sat on the floor, back up against the metal table/bed thing. A calm pond formed in his mind and he lost himself in it, trying to banish the rage and hatred and let him think a little clearer. Normally it worked like a charm; however, he found that he really, really didn't want to be calm right now. He closed his eyes anyway in an attempt to shut them out; her damn voice penetrated anyway.

"Now that you are finally awake Odin, we'd like to give you a tour of the facility and brief you on your role here. Perhaps, if you are lucky, we can grab you some food as well. Would you like that?"

The collar burned at his throat. Not literally of course...but he was suddenly all too aware of the position he was now in. Kurama and he had massively underestimated the capabilities of Cerberus-the lengths they would go to and depths to which they would sink. Naruto hadn't even had a chance to go on a D-rank, let alone the type of mission that truly would have prepared him for this type of situation. Frankly, he was running by the book as far as it would take him...and he was afraid he'd soon have no idea how to handle all of these realities.

He was only thirteen after all. Or was it fourteen? Or was a thousand? He didn't know.

Naruto had been silent for a while and Miranda had waited cool, calm, and collected while he struggled with himself. How far could he go with this before he needed to take action; or worse, they made him do something horrible? Naruto didn't know, but he didn't want to find out. It was time to figure out how valuable he really was to them.
Widening his eyes dramatically, Naruto finally spoke to the gathered group, "Is it my birthday already? Jeez, you guys are super nice you know that? Getting me my own room, these fancy clothes, a really expensive haircut-really, you shouldn't have. And now my very own facility all for me?" Naruto laughed long and just a little too loudly. Many eyes twitched opposite him. Bingo. Looks like he was channeling Uncle Obito more and more; and even better, it seemed to be working.

Bouncing to his feet, and concealing the flash of white-hot pain in his joints, he brushed the non-existent dust off his pristine white jumpsuit and straightened, smiling as obnoxiously as he could at Miranda. "I guess I can make time to go on this tour with you, lead the way-we don't have all day, right?"

Miranda simply smiled as she turned around gestured at the soldiers. Naruto was swept up and sandwiched between two lines of the soldiers in orange armor. The scientist, who looked exactly like what you'd expect a mad scientist to look like, was trailing after Naruto like a puppy-clearly making no bones about the fact he was takes notes and observing him. It was like…like having Izuna's fangirls. Just creepy. But he wouldn't mistake the harmless-looking scientist for anything other than a true member of Cerberus-and that meant he couldn't be trusted.

It was a long walk from Naruto's solitary cell to the testing area that Miranda had mentioned as they'd stepped out. As the small troop walked, Naruto memorized what he could of the layout of the facility (like any well-trained ninja). Much of it was open and airy, with the massive ceilings made up entirely of glass, framed by white metallic struts, that showed a harsh climate; one completely encased in jungle. The plants, he saw, looked hungry; they quested and moved over the glass. It was just another reminder that everything in this new world had teeth. Miranda led them on a circuitous route, passing laboratory after laboratory; some filled with creatures he'd never seen before and some that looked disturbingly human. On one slab was a blue-skinned humanoid creature flayed open, guts exposed. Multiple scientists prodded at things inside its-her-body. Naruto flashed through his experiences with having his skin peeled back and shuddered, phantom pain shot through his chest and back. Yet another thing he laid at the feet of Cerberus.

The small party continued, passing a small corridor that led to a large hangar and another that opened into a plated glass room containing a lot of electronics and screens showing various parts of the facility. All in all the facility wasn't as big as Naruto had believed. They had only been walking for fifteen minutes though when Naruto entered the biggest room yet.

It was massive, at least three or four times bigger than the hangar they had passed, and ringed with raised platforms occupied by more of the orange-armored soldiers-only these had long box-weapons he understood to be, 'guns'. Rifles? He'd been hit with a round from one of those and it had hurt. Not as much as a kunai to the eye, but it hurt nonetheless. See, he was beginning to have a scale in which to measure the variety of pain he was exposed too.

How delightful.

Miranda had dismissed the soldiers, presumably back to whatever they were doing before she called for them, and it had left the scientist, the Cerberus bitch, and their precious, 'Odin.' The three of them stood at the edge of the raised platform looking out over the arena-it looked a bit like the stadium back in Konoha. Instead of regular earth as the ground in the stadium though, this was (again) white metal broken up here or there by large boxes of different sizes, creating a variety of dreary obstacles and terrain. The boxes only occupied the outskirts, however. A big, wide open circle made up the center of the arena. Naruto noticed that the holding pens they'd passed early had windows into the arena. He saw other humans, test subjects he guessed, hanging out in there. Some were squatting, some were sleeping, others were talking in small groups. One small figure was watching him, he'd noticed it-whoever-eyeing him earlier as they'd walked passed the cells.

Naruto couldn't make out who it was at the glass; he couldn't even tell whether they were male or female. He turned back as Miranda had been talking. "...some expectations we have placed upon you, correct? You remember what you agreed to before you underwent your enhancements?" Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Enhancements? They called that helping? Naruto stared at Miranda, he couldn't help it. Cerberus actually believed they were helping him by putting those wires and machines and other foreign energy in his body. Naruto almost choked on the irony.

The laugh that came out of him was dark and choked with anger.

The laugh cut off as fast as it had come.

He thought fast; if they knew he couldn't produce his abilities as he once had-what would they do? Would they try to kill him? They might actually succeed and despite how bleak his life seemed at the moment, he didn't really want to die. This was bad. He needed to regain some control over himself as soon as possible or else he'd be in a world of trouble. Not only that, but he needed his abilities in order to get rid of his collar.

This was vital. At no point could he let them figure out they wrecked his abilities.

So Naruto smiled at Miranda and lied through his teeth. "Of course I remember the bargain. It remains to be seen though whether the Illusive Man delivered on his promise; I see no enhancements. Instead, I spent a month in unimaginable agony for no real purpose other than, it seems, your amusement." Agent Lawson crooked an eyebrow at him as if surprised, "You really haven't felt any difference?" At this, Naruto thought carefully. What was different?

He flexed his hands, wiggled his toes, and tried to channel chakra into his limbs like he normally would. The surging of his chakra meshing with the foreign energy fizzled and didn't do quite what he wanted; though something did happen. A faint haze of dark purple engulfed him and lifted off his skin, hovering like his chakra cloak. His Rinnegan tingled like it had been asleep and only now had awakened. Miranda's smirk confirmed what he was feeling; he felt like he was holding one-tail worth of bijuu chakra-powerful and wild-but it was, at least marginally, under his control. He felt alive, confident; like he could punch a hole through a steel wall.

Naruto couldn't help it-he smiled. "What else did you do to me?"

It was not Miranda that responded to the question, but rather the mad scientist who introduced himself with a wide smile as Dr. Angersol. "Quite! It is exciting isn't it? Your smile tells me you feel the same as we- THIS is what Cerberus is all about-advancing humanity one step at a time. We hope, by understanding what it is exactly that you do and what energy you manipulate, that we can advance humanity towards the next stage of our evolution! Your healing ability alone will extend life by leaps and bounds." The smile covering Dr. Angersol was not one Naruto associated with evil; but it was. It spoke of being willing to do anything for the greater good. Yes, this was exciting...but...positive gains for the next generations, it said, was worth any amount of suffering and evil. It was terrifying in its surety and any happiness Naruto felt from gaining more power was snuffed out as quickly as it arrived.

"The early stages of the Phoenix Program, designed to enhance our soldiers durability, was applied sparingly. Spidersilk was threaded throughout your muscles and we inserted the latest in biotic amplifiers; of course, we had to create biotic nodules inside you...I'm afraid that was probably the most painful bit, hmm?"

Naruto remembered. The gas that reflected light like a rainbow making his flesh bubble and malform-distort and reform in a painful cycle of destruction and regeneration. It was the single most painful thing he had ever experienced. The grimace on his face must have confirmed it for the good doctor.

"We learned a great deal about what exactly it takes to create nodules in a non-biotic individual through you-this is huge breakthrough with powerful military implications. We now know exactly what it takes to-" Miranda cut off his excitement with a hand motion. Clearly Miranda was the more level-headed of the two...it was good information to know. The doctor almost spilled potential secrets-and gave away more than he kept. He knew now they needed Naruto; it wasn't a bullshit pledge from the Illusive Man. They needed to know exactly what he could do so they could recreate it, and for however long that was, he'd be safe.

So far they hadn't succeeded in understanding really anything about him. But it probably wouldn't be as far off as he would hope and Naruto didn't know what they were really capable of in terms of reproduction. So he needed to stall them while he figured out; how to operate his wild new chakra hybrid, what the hell Kurama was doing, how to get this kami-forsaken collar off, and where the hell he was supposed to go next. From there, he'd rip this facility apart and escape to wherever Cerberus was not.

So, back to stalling. He needed to demonstrate something for Cerberus; this was the only way he'd gain the space and time to figure a way off of this strange planet and out of their clutches. The plan was straightforward, but assumed a lot of things; one, that he could overpower the guards (looking less likely without his techniques or some semblance of true control over his power), two that he could find a ship like the one that brought him here to use, three that he could figure out how to use it, and four that this fucking organization wouldn't discover his plans before he could act. A tall order for a thirteen going on fourteen ninja that had just been tortured extensively…

Miranda's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Odin, we'd like you to fulfill your side of this bargain. Our leader gave you what he had promised you-now we'd like for you to cooperate and demonstrate more of your powers." She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow as if it was a perfectly acceptable request. Like she would be disappointed in him if he didn't hold up his end of the bargain; as if he was letting a good friend down. What horseshit. But Naruto smiled anyway-he could use this to his advantage. He'd play coy and hard to get like the characters from Lord Chiriku's orange-back novels.

"I don't really feel like it honestly...I'm pretty tired. Where can I get some food around here?"

A short eyebrow twitch is all Naruto received before Dr. Angersol pronounced this an excellent idea as their subject needed sustenance to replenish his energy.

Naruto ultimately held out for another half an hour before Miranda became somewhat more intractable. She refused to do anything further until Naruto had given them more data in the form of demonstrations; so he decided to throw them a bit of a bone.

Settling down in the benches alongside the walls of the arena, he picked up a lecturing tone as he recalled all he had learned about chakra theory from his classes.

"Where I come from, everyone is able to utilize a form of energy we call Chakra." Dr. Angersol had a small datapad out and was typing furiously. Miranda looked mildly intrigued as she settled against a wall and crossed her arms. "We are warriors of the shadows; ninja who control powers you cannot hope to powers are based on Chakra...we are taught as children that chakra has two components and comes from within ourselves, emanating from our chakra pathway system of which there are 365 tenketsu, or emanation points. This system is a bit like the veins and arteries in our bodies." If I can make myself seem more powerful than I am, maybe they'll be a bit more wary...Kurama would be laughing if he could hear how much I'm laying it on…

"Chakra is composed, like I said, of two parts; the spiritual part, or the Yang, which gives life to the form of the energy. The Yin, or physical chakra, is simply energy produced from our bodies which gives form to life energy. My techniques, or powers, are composed of different formulations of both of these." The two employees of Cerberus looked thoughtful; Miranda tried very hard to have a completely blank face while Dr. Angersol's gray hair bounced around as he seemed to become more and more excited. Naruto composed himself, focusing again on his breathing and dismissing his stress, as he continued, "What you have done to me has simply given me more energy to work with-a different kind of energy that nevertheless is very similar in base composition to the physical energy produced by chakra system. In fact, the only difference really is that with my spiritual components, I can breath a kind of life into the technique, utilizing the energy to create amazing things-I can walk on water, heal people from the brink of death, create a dragon made entirely of fire or ice, and I can control a person utterly."

He did his best to make his face look pleasant, like he was just talking about the weather. Naruto didn't think he succeeded based on the wary looks the soldiers closeby, who overheard, were giving him. Naruto readjusted on his seat, bringing his legs up under him and straightening his back. Exhaustion swept through him and he had to deliberately focus on straightening himself up as best he could. At no point did letting himself look weak benefit him. These people only responded to power. Agent Lawson straightened, unfolding her arms.

"Subject Odin, per our agreement, The Illusive Man, Dr. Angersol, and I agree that we must see what you can do. I am prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure your cooperation." Her smile was not pleasant. "That includes repeat rounds of...violent negotiation. Will you show us what you can do or do we have to do this the hard way?" Naruto swallowed, suppressing panic. Think! Think baka! STALL.

"I need to rest first." The Cerberus Operative's face didn't change that much, but Naruto suddenly felt like he was next to a high-energy powerline. The air crackled silently with danger. So he spoke quickly, whipping his hands up in the air in a warding gesture, "Your organization may have thought they were doing me a favor, but really, you just drained all my energy-torture will do that to you." He finished with a sardonic grin to show them all the fake good will he had. "Can I rest and show you in the morning?" The salacious wink he added at the end probably didn't do him any favors.

Thankfully, the two saw the sense in this suggestion. What was one more day? But from the way Naruto got swept up by the guards and marched in the rather wrong direction of his cell, he knew that they had something else in mind than the solitary confinement he'd been hoping for. In fact, they were heading down into the arena. The soldiers, batons sparking ominously, fell into phalanx formation; in front and in back, as they marched him down the stairs. Miranda and Angersol were watching him with glittering eyes, the eyes of greed. Naruto had seen the same type of look on his Uncle Jiraiya's former teammate, Orochimaru. Shuddering, Naruto faced forward and tried to figure out where they were going.

Naruto took in the makeshift battlefield and noticed they were headed to the glass pens filled with subjects. From where the glass ceiling stretched across the battlefield, it hit a strut and sharply sloped downwards to the low ceiling of the pens, giving everyone a large view of the jungle outside. A hundred eyes stared at him and the soldiers as they approached. A mixture of emotions were obvious; from fear to anger to complete crushing despair. It made Naruto uncomfortable.

They reminded him of himself.

Cuts on wrists, skittering fearful movement, flinching actions; the faces and actions of the prisoners told a story more horrifying than anything Naruto had experienced thus far. They were children, really. Horribly mutilated children. Uniform in clothing, in the machines in their heads, in their number attached to their blood-stained jumpsuits. Naruto was the only one with a designation. He wondered what that meant.

Some of the kids were massive, one kid stood out, at least three feet above the tallest of them; which was Naruto himself. Some looked insane, gibbering to themselves in corners as the soldiers unlocked the door and stepped through; batons activating as they lashed out at the ones brave enough-or suicidal enough- to approach the doorway. One screamed and tried to bite through the orange armor. It sparked and discharged visibly into the child maybe four years younger than Naruto himself. The kid flew and collapsed in what looked like some sort of seizure.

His body smoked and didn't move. Nobody paid it any attention. Naruto swallowed, hard.

Never thought I'd say this… but I wish Kurama would WAKE THE FUCK UP! The last part he screamed in his head as loud as he could. Nothing.

The Cerberus Subject was pushed forward from behind roughly and the soldier spoke quickly, "Orders: you are to be here with the rest of the subjects, rest up and prepare for your test tomorrow." Not turning his back to the subjects he backed up and gestured to the rest of the operatives to retreat. The door closed and it echoed in his head.

Locked in, again. Fuck.

Naruto turned and gazed about him. Every single eye was on him. What must they think? He looked like one of the pirates he'd heard about in Water Country; broken, battered, and missing eyes. The sea of faces was unnerving. Then again, he'd probably been the most interesting thing that had happened in quite a while. What else did they have to distract them?

Putting on his best indifferent face, he turned to examine his dungeon. The term 'pen' didn't really accurately describe them. The whole thing was one long hallway occasionally broken by open doorways, always leading into another room. There were perhaps five of these open rooms. Essentially it was a series of large rooms connected by arched doorways. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to plot, always open for the guards to look through.

This was why they didn't want him in his cell; it was yet another tactic to dehumanize him. To show him those they'd already broken. He couldn't help it, he scoffed, the sound echoing in the open pen.

Break him? He'd break them.

Naruto assumed the most arrogant strut he could muster and strode through the press of bodies to an empty corner. No one gave him any trouble, but he felt several eyes on him. Ignoring them as best he could, he arrived at the corner, turned around, and sat with his back against the wall facing outwards. Several kids nearby gave him wary looks. Naruto glared back with his one visible eye. The kids whipped back to what they were doing. A smirk hovered on his lips as he turned back to settle against the wall, eyes closing.

But of course he couldn't get any sleep.

A loud commotion was brewing somewhere in front of him. Pushing, shoving, flesh hitting flesh, a scream; it all signified nothing good-most especially that he probably wouldn't get any real sleep with potential violent adolescents all around him. His eyes snapped out and he took in the scene.

A handful of teens, all dressed the same as Naruto himself, were backing some other teens into another room. But that room was blocked by older teens whose arms were crossed. It looked like bad news; some dumb shit that Naruto himself had experienced back in Konoha. He snorted to himself; his wasn't quite this bad though. Nobody picked on the Hokage's son for very long…but he could at least understand why. See, the rinnegan was both a blessing and a curse. A whole world that no one else could see was open to Naruto; one in which chakra and life itself revealed its secrets and true beauty. He had always been distracted and off in his own world...because he really was in another world. Naruto struggled with the knowledge this ability gave him; it made making friends hard too, or trusting them for that matter. He'd known when people were lying to him. Heartbeats raced faster and lyingwisps floated around their head. Naruto suspected it was simply a part of the spiritual side of life energy; our thoughts and beliefs truly did affect the world around us; and all of those thoughts and beliefs were open like a book. It made being a kid difficult. Kushina and Minato, who admittedly wasn't around much being the Hokage, tried their best, but it was difficult to change another child's mind about the strangeness of her son. Civilian kids called him a liar, a weirdo, a freak-what kind of eyes were those? Clan kids...well, they still thought he was strange; not because of his eyes, but because of what he could see-nobody wanted to think that there was more to chakra than they already knew.

Nagato believed him though, about everything. He claimed he could only see the chakra, but not the other stuff. Nagato had taught him about the elements and sub-elements too, which were very pretty when moulded-that went double for pure chakra. Pure chakra was gorgeous; his mom always told him the story about when he was younger, that he liked to float things to his hands when they were out of his reach. Or about the time he created bubbles as a baby from nothingness.

Being an outcast made things hard; but that didn't mean he didn't try to do right like his mom taught him and Izuna both. When he'd been younger and had loved running around the park; he'd run into some academy students fresh out of school who decided to try out their taijutsu on one of their smaller, slower classmates; Naruto couldn't help but see himself, the helpless nerd, in the young boy who was getting beaten-beaten far away from where the adults were. Frail as Naruto had been, he hadn't hesitated in jumping in...even though he got his ass handed to him. His hands bloody, a black plum sitting on his eye socket, clothes all in disarray and cradling his broken arm, he'd walked into the Namikaze house like a conqueror and Mount Saint Kushina had exploded. But when it was all over, his mother had been proud of him. Very proud. He could see the pridewisps coloring her face golden, though they did war with the angerwisps he saw as she looked over his injuries. He'd never forget what she said to him after that.

"Never let anyone scold you or make you feel ashamed for doing what you think is right. You can never go wrong when you trust your gut, yanno!" His mom's tic never came out unless she was passionate, so he decided there and then to just trust himself...even if got the shit kicked out of him sometimes.

So fast forward to see Exhibit A for what happened next; he tried to console himself that it was his gut doing the talking.

Cerberus' newest pet-project stopped right behind the cluster of inmates and tried his hardest to be diplomatic. He could see the targets now; a young girl, the giant he'd seen earlier, and a really tiny kid who resembled nothing so much as a rat. What an odd trio...

"Don't you guys have better shit to do than beat up on each other? We're all in this together aren't we? Plus, Cerberus is watching." Logical it may have seemed to him, these guys apparently didn't see what was wrong with turning on each other. Naruto folded his arms and waited as the leader, a particularly psychotic-looking teen-scarred almost as much as Naruto-whipped around to stare at whoever had clearly dared to speak to him. Spittle flew out of the mouth of the leader and a wild animal glint shone in his eyes.

The eyes of a killer.

Psycho, Naruto decided, would forever be his designation. All of Psycho's teeth were sharpened, like the fish native to the jungles of the Land of Birds, the piranha who supposedly were small but a swarm could eat a small whale in ten minutes. They were teeth made for the cutting and eating of flesh. Naruto sincerely hoped he just liked looking intimidating. Psycho, though he was skeletally-thin, he radiated authority. It was obvious the other prisoners, test subjects, what have you, responded to the inherent command of the teenager. They were terrified of him, so naturally they would do what he wanted; including beat up on some other helpless inmates.

It needed to stop.

Psycho spoke and his voice was a whisper that cut through all the small-talk in the pens. Dead silence reigned except for his words. "Dear me, dear me...the rudeness is appalling." Elongated arms ended in long, sharp nails and the kid looked more like a pale, hairless monkey than a human being. You know...if monkey's were crossed with a freakin' piranha. Naruto took a step back at Psycho's words and gave himself some space. Covering his arm with hand, he held his ground as the teen approached. A short, insane laugh and then, "My, my, my...if it isn't Subject Odin we've all heard sooo much about. I'm all aflutter from meeting a celebrity." The teen held his arms out and indicated the sea of watching faces. Glee spread over his face as he said celebrity. The bitterness surprised Naruto. Shouldn't they have had better lives now that Cerberus was focused a bit more on Odin? Wouldn't that mean they were overlooked more often for torture or other crap like that…?

Psycho stopped a foot in front of him and leaned his upper torso in uncomfortably close. "I really am flattered you've spoken to me however…" His eyes flickered around as if sharing a secret. "...I'm busy exercising. We'll talk later." A bubbly giggle came out of Psycho's mouth and he caught the stink on his breath. Meat, rotting meat. Naruto recoiled, but watched out of the corner of his eye as the girl, a bruise swelling on her sharp cheekbones, scrambled up and hid behind the giant teen. Good. Naruto turned his attention back to the crazy kid who smelled of rotting meat, but the ass was advancing again on the teens who backed up against the glass. Everything happened quickly after that. Psycho sprang at them and the giant teen tried to prevent him from getting the girl, but the thugs-all older teens-held him and the rat-faced kid down. Naruto got a good look at the girl as Psycho dragged her by her arms; he'd never seen a more perfect female face in all of his, admittedly small, years of living. That perfection couldn't have been natural.

Naruto's body was in motion before consciously realizing it. He could see flickering, almost black fiery haze at the edges of his vision as he sped forward through the crowd ringing the fight, chambering and executing a textbook roundhouse kick to the rabid animals midsection that sent him careening into the kids guarding the entrance to the next room. They fell like leaves.

But before Naruto could bend and help the struggling girl up, a half-dozen or so attackers were on him from behind. He could feel them.

Time slowed alongside his breathing as his vision flickered with the black haze, his body rotating to face his attackers. Four years of grueling training kicked in as he dismissively brushed the first punch aside with his open palm. Life, he mused while grabbing the over-extended arm and executing a throw, was so much simpler when you were in combat. As Naruto released the first attacker to tumble face first into the glass, Naruto rotated again back to his starting point. From there, he flowed forward lashing out with a knife-hand strike to an assailant he passed on the way to the third attacker. The third assailant's face was in a bloodthirsty scowl as he watched the casual swipe Naruto used to incapacitate the second teen. But he didn't have much longer to scowl because Subject Odin grabbed the overly telegraphed strike moving like molasses towards his face. He caught the wrist and use it to throw himself up into a horizontal position and lock his legs around the thirds neck, twisting his body around in a corkscrew as his weight pulled Naruto and the burly teen to the ground. One crouched knee was locked around his neck and Naruto choked him into unconsciousness while striking like a snake at the next and final assailant who attempted to attack him while his friend was being choked out. Dick. Naruto let the unconscious kid drop as he threw himself backwards under the clumsy attempted closeline and flowed to his feet, immediately placing his foot on the last attackers spine and sending him crashing temple-first into the glass. Blood slid in a trail with the body as the unconscious teen slumped face first against the edges of the pen.

It was all over in a minute.

Naruto dropped to all fours in front of the girl who was silently crying. He could see the muscle working in her jaw as she grit her teeth. She looked pissed. "Hey, sorry about that, are you okay?" The girl just looked at him for a second, then jerked her head in what he thought was a nod. She hissed a bit as her arm was jostled; it looked like a nasty break to him. Lord knows he'd had enough of those while enduring the boulder training at the Temple of Fire. When the giant teen stepped forward and helped her up, Naruto tried to smile at the three of them-the rat-lookin' kid was poking at one of the kids who attacked Naruto. Fast footsteps made Naruto look around; it seemed the Psycho was coming back for seconds. Without thinking, Naruto quick-stepped to the glass. He leapt at the glass to use it as a springboard as he torqued his body back around in a lightning fast kick that smashed into the forward momentum of Psycho's face, the nasty crack of a broken neck echoing. He dropped like a rock and didn't move.

The silence in the Pens was deafening until a faint muttering spread through the crowd.

As he landed, it was very clear that nobody wanted Naruto there, that he was had stumbled into some type of prison culture that made life straightforward-if not easy. The girl he saved, as beautiful and perfect-looking as she was, clearly didn't appreciate him stepping in. Fine. The seven foot tall titan of a teen muttered a, "Thank you," as Naruto strode past them. Rat-boy just giggled nervously and didn't make eye-contact. Disgusted, Naruto pushed through the crowd muttering to himself about ungrateful brats. I don't have time for this shit…

Naruto took his previous spot in the corner. As he wedged himself in and made himself as comfortable as he could, he despaired of making it out of here when the people who should want to get out as much as he did couldn't even muster the energy to defend themselves against each other, let alone Cerberus. It was clear, he needed Kurama, that meant he needed to go into his mindscape, and THAT meant he needed to put a barrier to keep these assholes out while he willingly became defenseless. Fuuinjutsu, luckily, did not require a massive amount of control-simply the application and basic moulding of energy.

The new pariah of the Pens cobbled together the new fusion energy running through his body and smeared blood from a bit finger on a black seal on his left arm. The twisting fuuin-tattoo lit up and the energy sped through his hands as he slammed his hands down onto the ground; however, the barrier that arose and blocked him from the view of the others was almost black, not the deep blue he'd expected. Sparing it only a cursory glance, he dismissed it from his mind and centered himself, dropping into his mindscape, searching for the only thing he had left in this strange land.

The last Namikaze had been to his mindscape before, after he had woken from his slumber in the statue, and it had looked the same as it did now-barring a few cosmetic changes. With the massive iron walls, darkened with blasts of fire of a sort, characteristic of the greatest of the ninja monk temples, the Temple of Fire was gigantic. Soaring up and up past the point where his neck started to hurt a bit up close, the temple was breathtaking. The architecture was beautiful, sweeping, and majestic. But the colors were all wrong.

Before, when he'd been here and first met Kurama, the Temple of Fire was colored as its name sakes, with blue's and oranges, blistering whites and fiery reds. Now? Now it was the same colors as the bastardized chakra/dark energy hybrid that ran through his veins. The spiralling minarets were in sweeping lines of light-sucking black and bruise-purple. The Tengu statues, now all looking exactly like the freakin' demonic statue hidden away in the valley of the end, blindfolded and carrying scrolls in their mouth, were placed alongside the massive gates Naruto was approaching. The approach, intimidating before with the pock-marked fields of alien red stone, now had weapons littered amongst the pure white rock. The Temple rose like a dark citadel of crackling purple-black energy, the redness of Kurama's chakra swirled in a spitting, swirling storm above the temple. Beautiful purple lightning connected the molten storm of bijuu chakra to the pinnacle of the Temple. Naruto assumed the whole scene was metaphorical, as was the usual case with the mind-delving he'd been taught as a monk. This meant that the merger of Cerberus' help and his own chakra had irrevocably changed his body and mind. It remained to be seen what the true impact would be. He had not really had any time to practice chakra control, or try any techniques, or even activate his rinnegan. It was really a dangerous place to be; experimenting without the help of anyone older and wiser.

Kurama would balance the odds a bit better for his survival. He needed his advice and wisdom, as much as it galled him to admit it. The fuzzbutt helped Izuna...so he trusted him at least that far.

The youngest Namikaze pushed against the gate and it swung open on silent hinges. The gates were perfectly balanced and it didn't take much to push it open. Inside, Naruto spied in the distance, between the many sigil-etched pillars, a veritable tornado of red chakra in the main entranceway-the largest place in the temple-and probably where Kurama was. The chakra was solid and bubbling, obscuring any view of the Kyuubi. Naruto proceeded forward, past the pillars and up the stairs, into the entranceway and stopped right in front of the swirling storm.

Naruto hesitated only for a second before he plunged inside.

Nothing momentous happened.

A colossal fox was snoozing on its side in the middle of the foyer. The nine tails of the greatest of the bijuu barely fit. Naruto couldn't help the crippling laughter that came over him; the self-proclaimed King of the Bijuu was on his side, paw twitching and a buzz-saw like sound emanating from said Kyuubi no Yoko was deafening. The newest container of the Nine-tails fell to his knees as laughter ripped out of him. "What an asshole!" Naruto thought, "you've...you've been sleeping this whole time?" He struggled up, one hand holding his side cramp. A big step took him close to the sleeping fox and he hauled back and kicked the King of the Bijuu right in the nose.

Naruto had never seen something so funny turn so horrifying so fast.

His life flashed before his eyes as a massive clawed paw swiped passed his face and cratered the marble floor inches in front of him. Oppressive, hatred-laced chakra came alive and killing intent flooded the area.

Kurama didn't see him. Naruto almost died because the bijuu didn't see who had kicked him. A snort escaped before he could help it. It wasn't funny, but the fact something so powerful had accidentally almost killed him because he was small was somewhat amusing. Two eyes the size of cars focused on him and Naruto had to swallow because he'd never seen Kurama this angry before.

"Hey Kurama, have a nice nap?"

Why, oh why, did he have to have a smart mouth?

The growl that escaped from Kurama could have doubled as an earthquake. Pillars shook and the ground trembled. Naruto took a step towards the nearest pillar and grabbed a handhold to keep himself upright. He scowled up at the chakra monster, but Kurama beat him to the punch. "How long have I been asleep?" Teeth glinted and Naruto swallowed again. "Whatever they gave you had a very, very different effect on me...soporific, if I'd have to wager. My chakra was sluggish and withdrew from your body somewhat...I am sorry I left you without aid." Naruto shrugged, a little uncomfortable. He knew Kurama made a promise to Izuna, but it was strange to see how deep the respect for his brother went in something so alien. Could Naruto ever live up to the ideal's his brother espoused? He really didn't know.

"S'okay Kurama...it wasn't a walk in the park, but I'm stronger than they could have anticipated. In fact, they've really only helped us both in the long run." Naruto thought back, "I got used to the drug pretty fast, they were astonished. I guess they've been using it on their own operatives and it takes them ten times as long to become immune." Here Naruto shrugged again; modest as always. His hands were animated as he spoke about the experience, "Frankly, I think it might have had long-term benefits. Lord Chiriku is always going on and on about controlling outcomes rather than events or some Monk-speak like that." Kurama shifted and settled back into his original position-minus being on his side drooling. Both of them conspicuously ignored the crater. The fox was silent for a beat, obviously contemplative, before he spoke. "What happened after you woke up?"

Naruto thought back, the events were hazy before he woke up at the new facility, but he tried his best to recall what happened. "Well, I woke up where we are now in a solitary cell. I don't know how long I'd been there, but those asshole operatives came for me almost immediately. A doctor, Dr. Angersol, bitch-face Miranda, and some soldier scrubs." Here he scowled. "They claimed the Illusive Man kept his side of the bargain and the whole, 'torture' bit was actually them helping me. Granted, I am way more badass than before, but the fact is that they didn't realize they'd made it impossible to use my techniques the way I could before. My control is utterly shot to hell. The energy they infused in me is wild-I have absolutely no idea what it is and it makes any technique I try, even simple ones, go out of control." Naruto's eyes flickered up to Kurama's and he arched an eyebrow, "I'm not even talking about the three-way battle royale happening in my body between my own poor chakra, your chakra, and this new crap." Disgust warred with frustration as he threw his hands up and started to pace. "I can't get this collar off if I can't use my techniques, if I can't get the collar off….we're both stuck here doing whatever Cerberus wants." He stopped and spun to face the fox. "Any suggestions?"

Kurama smiled. It made cold chills run through Naruto's body.

"The Sage of Six Paths split the Shinju into nine components and created us, the bijuu...but do you know what he did with the body of the Shinju?" Bewildered, he could only shake his head. What did this have to do with getting the collar off? "He sealed it in a demonic container, in the form of a statue, one I believe you are familiar with?" Naruto nodded, not following. He remembered the statue, he'd been trapped in it for a thousand freakin' years. Where was Kurama going? "Get to the point Kurama…" The fox looked miffed. "The point is, anyone with the Rinnegan can summon that statue. One of the benefits of that particular summonings is that with the initial summon of the Gedo Mazo, you gain the additional ability to summon chakra rods that can disrupt energy...with side effects." Naruto didn't know the fox could shrug; it looked out of place and only served to make him look more demonic. Juxtaposition does that. "Of course, this is all highly theoretical because we have absolutely no idea if it'll work… but worse case scenario is you take on all nine-tails and try to survive having your head blown off...but you'll probably die from the chakra poisoning anyway." Again, the smile Kurama gave him was not pleasant; whose side was this guy on anyway?

Summoning the Gedo Mazo...was that even possible with this other energy interfering? He did occasionally feel a presence hovering like a light you view only in your peripheral vision. Once you look it was gone as if you imagined it the whole time. Of course, that presence was only there when he had his doujutsu activated.

Naruto felt his barrier being tested outside his mindscape. Cerberus? Kurama sensed it too, as the big fox looked up and out of the building at something only he could see. Ah, the bijuu eye. Little bastard could see everything he could. Naruto scowled. He couldn't take a leak now without Kurama being a big pervert.

It was time to go.

"Okay. It is the best and really only plan we have so far...so we'll do it. Shit is gonna go down fast when I bring out that big-ass statue. We don't really have a plan for escaping this place either; so we'll have to think one up on the fly." Kurama nodded. "Cerberus wants to test me to see what my powers are...and I think I'll give them a display they probably will wish they did without."

It was truly perfect; Naruto would summon a demon of vengeance and this facility would go down in flames…

...assuming they didn't blow his head off and a whole host of other variables didn't fuck everything up. Tch. Naruto wiped his face clean of expression, made a single handseal, and his mindscape dissolved.

Naruto woke up.

Three soldiers were standing outside his fuuin-barrier waiting for him. Canceling the technique, Naruto faced the crowd and everyone took a step back. Subject Odin's pronounced canines were very, very visible with the far-too-happy grin pasted across his face. He thought of Miranda and that doctor; they would be the first to die when their God of War got free...he'd show them the true face of Odin.

Yes, Miranda and Dr. Angersol would die a horrible, horrible death.

SUBJECT ZERO

Zero shifted, uncomfortable against the glass she rested against as she watched that weird glowing barrier around the new guy. It was biotic, she was sure of it, but it didn't look like any biotics she'd ever seen. Zero ran a hand over her bare scalp and the raised bumps of her barcode. She'd seen only one other person have the same sort of identifications as she did.

The new guy, Subject Odin.

She didn't know how to feel really and it was a simple reason why; things had changed about a month and a half ago. The facility was like a kicked bee-hive and she remembered because it was close to her birthday. Nobody had kicked her. Nobody had come in to her cell and….done other things. Nobody even so much as paid any attention at all to her and she wasn't sure what to think. She'd started to hear whispers of a new subject, a different subject-one that would elevate them all to gods. The savior of humanity; it had to have been a bunch of horseshit right? Zero herself could do things nobody else could and it only got better as she got older...well better meaning she could kill more and more things. But the beatings got worse, the treatments got worse, and she was abused far more often than she could ever remember. It had just stopped the day the rumours started. Everyone, all those kids she had beat up on, were thrown into the same cell; the newly-dubbed, 'Pens.' Oh it was a battle-royale every night some days-she'd had to kill a few for them to leave her alone, but at least she wasn't alone anymore, unacknowledged.

It was heaven compared to the rest of her life.

So she sent a prayer of thanks off to whatever brought about this change...and it turns out it was a boy about her age. And he was intimidating even by her standards. He looked like those stereotypical pirates her dad used to read to her about when she was little. The swashbuckling anti-heroes who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, who sailed amongst the stars fighting against injustices and made themselves rich all at the same time.

This one moved like the best of the soldiers she'd seen since coming here-and she'd killed a fair few of those herself, but she felt like this kid was leagues above them.

He'd be a hard one to put down. His biotics were like nothing she'd ever seen...she could see why Cerberus was so interested. In fact, this was the first time she'd realized it even was the shadowy company her papa talked about; the facility, before it got renovated, had no affiliation whatsoever. No patches, no symbols, no nothing. But now she knew.

Zero wanted off this place, out of this hellhole, and before she knew the kids around her would never have rebelled-why would they? Most of them were orphans, or kids Cerberus abducted, before they even were old enough to understand what happened. They all thought they had good lives. Zero snorted. She saw the differences though, the beatings, the torture. She knew if they escaped they'd all have better lives.

The collars made it impossible though. That was a new touch; something that came along with their new cellmate. She couldn't help but resent him a little for that. Zero had been biding her time, waiting for the right moment, the right slip-up, to break free and kill everything she could get her hands on. But now? She might be able to stage a prison riot and all the pent-up rage and hatred that swirled in the air and choked them all would be directed, not at each other, but at Cerberus. Who better to lead them than the new kid? The one whose changes made this possible?

It remained to be seen whose side he was on, however, as everyone saw him being chummy with that Cerberus bitch and the doctor all of them hated beyond all comprehension. She would have to wait and see whose side this, 'Odin' was really on. Then, and only then, would Zero act...and maybe they'd be able to pull off the take-over of Pragia facility. It was better than staying here and rotting right?

Anything was better than that.

Anything.

It seems her waiting period was over though because the weird biotic barrier dropped and those baton-wielding soldiers led Odin out of the Pens again. All the kids, as soon as they left, pressed up against the glass walls and saw five towering mechanical YMIR mechs waiting for him out there. Zero had never been able to fight off more than three. Did Cerberus honestly think he could handle all of those? With just biotics? Intriguing.

Zero watched Odin's face and he didn't register any surprise, hesitation, or fright-on the contrary, he looked absurdly happy. Well, fuck Cerberus, and fuck Miranda especially for throwing him into danger he obviously didn't understand. It just pissed Zero off.

She happened to glance over and saw the anxious face of Little Miss Perfect Angel-face, the stupid bint that almost got raped by Zex earlier-she'd had to bash that psycho's face in more than once for him to get the point. The angelic girl, vicious as she was, was watching Odin with a little more trepidation than normal. What was her deal? She was cold as ice-much like Zero herself-and this was very out of character. Zero dismissed the notion and turned back to watch the oncoming action.

This would either be a bloodbath, or she'd have all the answers to her questions.

She hoped she would find answers.


As always, please read and review! An author can only get better if he is given specific constructive feedback!

Thanks again and till next Saturday, adieu!

Arte