A/N: Geh! I've been away too long! I know this story has been gathering dust and cobwebs for far too long now; precisely why I've decided to update it! I'm terribly sorry for keeping ya'll waiting in the dark for so long, but thats about to change! I'm not certain whether Uzumaki Crossover is willing to work on this story with me anymore, but despite this, I still intend to update this story a bit before my next surgery. That's right. I might need heart surgery. Again. Fun, ain't it? But enough sad stuf! I, Neonzangetsu, proudly present you with...

...the next chapter of Bring Down the Sky!

"Handy ability ya got there, kid.

~Garrus Vakerian.

Cause and Effect

"Suuure, you wanted to make a deal with the shadow broker." Naruto grumbled as he checked the sights of his sniper rifle for what felt like the upteenth time, as though he might somehow detect a flaw he'd missed in his previous inspection. "And he's such a nice being that he's agreed to meet us in person. Isn't that just dandy?"

"Don't make me come up there," Tali's voice crackled through the headset. She was trying to remain upbeat, even so, he could hear the tension in her voice. She was just as nervous as he. If not moreso.

Naruto deadpanned.

"Need I remind you that this is a bad idea?" he hissed over the comlink. Although Dr. Chloe had been the one to suggest contacting the broker in the first place, he'd been opposed to the plan every step of the way. Not only did he not trsut the broker, but the first step of their 'plan' involved letting Tali walk into Chora's Den alone and unarmed to find this 'Fisk' person-he still couldn't get over letting her do that-and set up the deal. He had wanted to go in her place, but sadly he couldn't; his face was known throughout half the know galaxy. That, and he had this awful habit of starting trouble whenever he walked into a bar...

"I'll be fine, Naruto." Tali's voice cut through his reverie like a hot knife through butter. "Stop worrying." It also reminded him why he was so damned angry in the first place.

"Yeah, sure." the biotic groused. "Say that when the bullets start flying."

"Don't sulk," Tali teased. "It'll ruin your figure."

"I'm not sulking." Naruto protested. "And hey! I have a perfectly nice figure!"

"Mmmm...I'm sure you do."

Behind his helmet, the former jinchuuriki felt his cheaks burn with embarassment. Kami! Although they'd confessed to one another, he hadn't expected a relationship to feel this...well, nice. There was no awkwardness between the two of them now that they'd admitted their feelings; if anything, their teammwork had taken a drastic turn for the better. Be it finishing one another's thoughts and sentences, to this elaborate plan they'd just concocted, all the unease he'd ever experienced had simply ceased to exist.

Still, he felt a small twinge of guilt; was he betraying Jack by being with Tali? No! Of course not!

...right?

A tiny voice in Naruto's head reminded him of his promise to Jack, but he roared at it and it retreated into a corner, cowering. When he'd made that promise, he'd every intention of keeping it. And he still did now. But that didn't mean he had to live like a monk until he finally found her. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure how he felt about Jack. His feelings for her were muddled; mixed in with respect and a healthy dose of fear. She was like a sister to him. But she hadn't looked like a little sister when he'd last seen her, only a few months ago...

Enough!

Rage filled him again, crimson clouds blurring and warping his vision until the room seemed at the bottom of a stormy red sea. Not red, but cold, implacable fury nonetheless. He felt his biotics twitch in response, ready to unleash the pent up energy simmering just beneath the surface. Naruto tamped it down with an effort, determined not to let his anger get the best of him. He'd cross that bridge if-when!-he found Jack. Until then, it didn't matter how he felt about her; right now, his feelings only served as a distraction for him.

Frowning, Naruto bent to perform a prercursory check of his suit. His shields were at maximum, his biotics primed and at the ready, his ammunition loaded with incendiary rounds. Everything was set for their supposed little meeting with the shadow broker and Fisk.

Now if only they could get out of it in one piece and continue on their pilgrimage...

Upon meeting said person they'd been instructed to rendezvous at the meeting point; a seedy back alley in the wards. This reeked of a set-up. Or perhaps that was just the stench of unwashed beings. Regardless, he'd learned his lesson over the years, Naruto had; he now knew better than to trust the word of someone he'd never met before. Especially an agent of the shadow broker. Tali might've been willing to take the man at face value, but Naruto...

...he didn't trust so easily.

So here he was, waiting in the rafters, speaking with her over an encrypted channel while he paced back and forth like a caged animal; desperate to do something, and yet not knowing what to do. There was no way in hell the shadow broker would agree to meet with them in person. If he did then he wasn't a very broker in the first place. Was this a double cross, then? Did the broker secretly work for Saren? Considering this was the galaxy's best information broker they were dealing with, the possibilty of betrayal was a little too likely for Naruto's liking.

"I don't like this." he frowned, resuming his pacing. "Maybe we should fall back and-

"Sh!" Tali shushed him. "They're here!"

It was like flicking a switch.

Naruto snapped the sniper rifle down and resisted the urge to fire as he saw their mark; a scruffy looking turian flanked by a pair of salarian bodyguards. Shame. He rather liked salarians. At least he wouldn't see their faces when he had to shoot them. He tracked with their movement, frowning as the turian left his guards behind to block the alleyway. Now why would he do that, if he not to prevent anyone from intruding. The more he saw the less he liked. This alleway was all but abandoned; if a fight went down here, there would be no one to interfere. He sighted down on the turian, the avian-like alien, was edging closer to Tali. Closer than he would've liked.

Unbidden, his finger tightened on the trigger.

'C'mon girl, just hand it over so we can get out of here...

"Did you bring it?" the turian asked, peering at Tali.

"Where's the shadow broker?" she demanded, refusing to elaborate on the item in question. "Where's Fisk?"

Naruto wasn't listening; he was getting that prickly feeling in the back of his neck again, and not just because that turian was getting a little too close to his girlfriend! Tali was still recovering from her gunshot wounds, and, putting their earilier confeission aside, he didn't want anything to happen to her. He refused to let anything happen to her. If that turian, so much as looked at her the wrong way...he'd be needing new arms, legs and...well, everything else!

"They'll be here." the turian soothed, laying a three-fingered hand upon her shoulder, trailing an arm across the contours of her suit. Naruto barely resisted the urge to shoot him dead right then and there. "Now, where's the evidence?"

"No way." Tali slapped the hand aside, much to former's satisfaction. "The deal's off."

For a long moment, the turian said nothing. Then he frowned, and as if at some unseen signal, the salarian bodyguards advanced, weapons drawn. So much for negotiations, Naruto mused to himself, raising the sniper into the sights of an approaching asari. Apparently, the had backup. Not for long. A quick twitch of his trigger figure sent the attractive alien sprawling, courtesy of a hole in her head. He caught movement in his sights, swung around, just in time to notice a pair of heavily armed batarians creeping toward Tali's flank.

Not on my watch!

Thanks to vantage pointed afforted by the rafters, he'd all the time in the world to line up a shot. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, slowing the world to a crawl; everything seemed to move at a standstill. He could see the batarians running now, their legs pumping slowly as they hastened to join the impending firefight. To Naruto, they moved a snails pace. He could've waited a full minute and still produced a perfect shot. With a smug smile, he sighted down the batarian on the left, zoomed in.

Twang!

There was a muffled thump as the rifle's stock bucked against his shoulder; the only true indication of a shot having been fired. The first batarian went down without so much as a sound, black eyes bulging as the first shot pierced his ablative vest and burst through his heart. Naruto was already sighting up the second before his body hit the ground. His first shot went wide; he still wasn't entirely accustomed to the after effects of a adrenaline rush. His third

Another shot glanced off the sentry's chest, ripping through the heavy musculature of his neck, shredding his vocal cords. Or so Naruto thought. The four-eyed alien loosed a spiteful gurgle in his final moment, finally drawing his comrades attention, alerting them to prescence of the sniper in the rafters; forcing them to seek cover as Naruto put a fourth and final shot between the batarian's four eyes, in recompense for his earlier temerity.

"Sniper!" One of the salarian's shrieked, its voice piquing as it a Smg and opened fire on Naruto's position.

Naruto winced as polonium rounds glanced off his shields, forcing him to roll back into the scarce cover aforded by the rafters. Time had begun to move again; reality slowly trickling back to him through his combat-induced haze. Determined to get off at least one more shot before the rush wore off, he brought the rifle to bear-

Click!

Naruto swore as the rifle clicked empty; his brief sniping spree was over. That was what he got for relying on thermal clips!

Naruto bent to a knee, already collapsing the rifle into his pack, his hands knowing the motions even without the advantage of his sight. Never once did he take his eyes away from Tali; he knew his girlfriend still had a few surprises up her sleeve, despite having taken already sought shelter. One of which happened to be rather...explosive.

"Now!" He hissed over the comlink.

Tali, having already primed the grenade now lobbed it forward, even before the salarians could think to fire. The pair gawped at it just a moment too long; subsuquently found themselves bowled over as the concussion wave struck and blasted them from their feet. The turian sqwuaked in surprise, drew his pistol and opened fire.

"Kill her!

"Really?!" Naruto hissed in exasperation as he swung down from the rafters, flinging up a biotic barrier before he even touched the ground. "Why does everyone keep shooting at us?!" It would've been a simple matter to snipe his targets from the rail, but he wasn't about to risk Tali's safety over something as foolish as his overblown pride. "This is the second time today! I'm starting to think we're not welcome here on the citadel, eh Tali?!"

"Whatever gave you that impression?" she replied as they took cover behind a stack of crates. In any other situation, he would've laughed at her wittiness. Now, he merely smiled.

"Oh nothing," Naruto popped up out of cover and delivered a scorching retort of his own, the assault rifle roaring to life in his hands, peppering the assasins with hellfire. "Just the bullets!" One of the salarians made the mistake of stepping out of cover a hairsbreadth too soon and took a round to the shoulder; the lucky shot sent him spiraling backwards. A quick pull on Naruto's part dragged pulled him from his feet altogether, leaving him wide open for a well-placed burst from Tali's shotgun. Naruto managed to pump a few rounds of his own into the shields of the alien's comrades before they realized what'd happened; before a withering hail of SMG fire forced both human and quarian to seek cover behind the crates once more.

Another attempt to flush them out of cover was met with fierce resistance; a pair of grenades detonated harmlessly against his hastily erected barrier.

"I don't suppose you have a plan B?" Naruto shouted over the chaos. "We're going to run out of ammo at this rate!"

Tali paused, seemed to consider their options.

"Maybe we could-

The quarian's response was lost in a blistering hail of assault fire; but this retort came not from the assasins, but from behind. It took Naruto only an instant to realize who was being fired upon. The tattooed turian and his cronies, their shields already spent by the duo's initial volley, were caught completely unawares; unprepared for the flanking assault, their bodies were swiftly cut to ribbons by the sudden and unexpected assault. A pall descended over the alley as they toppled forward; the only sound that of their dying breaths and Naruto's own harsh breathing.

"Naruto?" He blinked as Tali touched a hand to his, the gesture immediately grounded him. "Are...Are you alright?" Giving her fingers a tight squeeze, he settled into a crouch, still unwilling to give up the relative safety offered by the crates. Still unwilling to let go of Tali's hand. Too close. That had been much too close. Were it not for that unexpected flanking assault, they might've not escaped as unscathed. And he'd still had no way of knowing whether their rescuers were friend or foe. His biotics were still recharging. If they chose to open fire now, if they lobbed a grenade and he wasn't able to toss it away in time...

Abruptly, it occurred to Naruto that these might be his last few moments with Tali.

Before he could think to stop himself, he drew her into a fierce embrace, cradling her helmeted head against his shoulder. Tali squeaked in surprise but offered no resistance, tentatively circling her arms round his neck in kind. Apparently she too realized the awful truth; their shields were down, and their ammo low; they were probably about to die at the hands of their rescuers.

"You know, I really would've liked to see what you looked like under that helmet." Naruto murmurred against her neck, only half-joking. He really would've liked to see her face-at least once-before he died. Not that it even mattered now. But still...he would've rather liked to know the girl behind the helmet.

"Naruto..."

For a long moment, they remained that way, simply holding to one another, waiting for the end. Be it a hail of gunfire, a fiery explosion, or-

Nothing.

Naruto counted down the seconds until a full minute had elapsed, and still, nothing.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Naruto hissed beneath his breath. His biotics and shields had finished charging; if their attackers planned to take them out, they should've done it by now! A thought entered his mind; were they waiting for them to lower their guard? Did they expect them to come out, guns blazing? Or were they merely savoring their terror?

"C-Sec?" Tali ventured.

"Nah," Naruto shook his head, "They would've identified themselves by now. And if they "

"That bosh'tet set us up!" Tali seethed, her anger only now surfacing upon realizing they were out of danger.

"Told you we couldn't trust him." Naruto shrugged as he collapsed his rifle against his back. Just to be safe, he drew a shotgun instead. He wasn't about to take any chances with their so-called saviours. He motioned as slowly as he could, indicating Tali should circle around the crates after he emerged.

"Be safe." He whispered.

"You too." Tali ducked out of sight.

"Erm...is everything alright over there?" A woman's voice called.

"Everything's just fine." Naruto growled back. "If you're going to kill me, you may as well get it over with."

"Why would we do that?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

Stepping out from behind the crates, he found himself face to face with the leader of the unlikely group, a young woman several years older than him yet not quite his senior. Hair the color of autumn gold framed a heartshaped face from which eyes of the most brilliant jade shone; that same gaze surveying him quickly and calmly; taking stock of his stance, the shotgun clenched in his hands, his apparent willingness to use it. There was an overarching silence as both sides stared one another down, refusing to break the impasse.

"The hell're you?"

"I could ask you the same question." she replied. "You're not with Fisk, are you?"

"Are you?" the woman challenged, training her gun on him.

"Naruto!" Tali cried, her voice betraying her location.

"Damnit, Tali!" Naruto frowned, his voice arching in distress, "I thought I told you to stay put."

"Don't worry about Fisk," the woman reassured, "He got what was coming to him."

"Then I guess there are two things we need to thank you for." Tali replied, stepping out from behind the crates. "Who are you?"

"My name's Shepard," the redhead introduced herself, "I'm with the Alliance, and I'm looking for evidence to prove that Saren's a traitor." She threw an errant glance at Tali, as if only now noticing the quarian at all. "I understand your friend here might be able to help us with that."

"Then we have a chance to repary you for saving our lives," Tali began, but a scathing glare from Naruto ended whatever she might've said. The blond had yet to lower his weapon; in fact, his shotgun remained pointed directly at Shepard's chest. Tali might've been willing to trust them, but he certainly wasn't! His gaze slid across the group, narrowing intently on the woman called Shepard.

"Sorry, lady, but I don't believe ya." Naruto pumped the shotgun for added emphasis, his finger lingering over the trigger. "Now put the gun down." He'd only just gotten Tali out of harms way; he wasn't about to hand her over to someone who claimed to work for the Alliance! He demanded-no, he needed to see some proof first!

"We don't have time for this." The turian standing beside Shepard chose that moment to finally make himself known, only to find himself in Naruto's sights. Much like Shepard, he didn't seem at all fazedby the prospect of having a loaded gun shoved in his face."Garrus Vakerian, C-Sec." the turian introduced himself. "I can vouch for Shepard, but every second we waste here is another second Saren's getting ahead of us." Naruto held his growned, but his confidence wavered-if only slightly-in the face of the turian's resolve. What if they were telling the truth? Maybe they weren't here to kill them after all-

"What's going on here, Shepard?"

Naruto wasn't fool enough to turn his head, even so, he couldn't help but allow his eyes to drift toward the voice. It was a krogan. But not just any Krogan.

A Battle Master.

Naruto had never actually seen a krogan Battle Master in full armor before. It was a terrifying sight: like a living tank rolling toward him. Beside him, Tali gasped. Naruto sympathized. It was all he could do not to take a step back.

The brute's weapon's weren't drawn, thankfully, but a full arsenal was slotted into his armor: a pistol on either hip, a collapsible heavy-fire assault rifle and high-powered shotgun were slung across his back. His armor had several small holes in the chest, each one ringed with discolored blood. Dark stains ran down from the wounds, tainting the armor and serving as mute testimony to the battles he'd fought against Shepard and her enemies in the wards. Naruto watched him closely; his gun tracking him every step of the way.

The krogan didn't seem to care; he only had eyes for the boy in front of him. He bore down on him with long, heavy strides, the relentless clump-clump-clump of his boots the only sound in the alleyway. For a second Naruto thought he wouldn't stop-he'd just keep walking, churning the human's smaller frame beneath his feet, grinding him to a pulp. Instead, he pulled up less than a meter away, his breath coming in angry, rasping grunts. Naruto couldn't see a damned thing behind the brute's helmet; he was briefly thankful he'd yet to remove his own.

"You lose something, big guy?" Naruto asked. He'd meant it to come out as a stinging accusation, but standing in the shadow of the massive killer before him took all the bravado from his voice. The krogan chortled; it was a deep, throaty sound, laced with menace

"I make it a habit to kill punks like you." the krogan said, his voice dropping to a low growl. Odd. That voice...did he know it from somewhere? It sounded almost familiar...so did that tone!

"Then what's stopping you?" Naruto challenged, silently wondering if he knew this Krogan. There was only one way to find out. "You scared?"

The krogan's big head rolled from side to side, glancing first at him, then at Tali, then his own allies, evalutating his chances.

"I could ask you the same question, runt."

Naruto's left eye twitched.

"Runt?"

One insult too many.

Naruto spat a curse and dissapeared; rather, he ceased to be seen. There was a brief ripple of surprise from everyone as his stealth cloak sheathed his body, providing him a crucial chink in the otherwise impenetrable armor of the krogan warrior. His biotics flared fiercely-all but invisible, in the dull crimson light of the wards-a shockwave lurching from his palms even as he clapped his hands together. The blast wasn't quite powerful as Naruto had intended it to be; the force of the blow knocked the krogan's head to the side and tore off his helmet, but it did not knock him off his feet.

He wheeled around with a deafening roar, catching Naruto with a viscious backhand that nearly broke the young man's neck. Naruto staggered backwards, reeling, bringing his artificial arm to bear. Even as he felt the ionic charge build up in his shoulder-as he detected the distinctive pop-pop-pop of Tali's shotgun discharging harmessly against the krogan's hump-he knew their wouldn't be enough time. Shutting it down, Naruto did the only thing he could think of. He braced himself, arms spread wide in challenge. At some unseen signal the krogan charged and Naruto prepared to toss him using that momentum.

The krogan laughed, and suddenly, Naruto remembered.

A memory emerged from his mind with a charge and a roar, an image of a massive krogan in crimson armor, Urdnot Wrex. He would be the one thrown instead. Wrex sneered, a growl, "You humans are too easy to predict, choosing paths of least resistance. Choose the hard, the tough, and you yourself shall prove to be stronger in the end."

'Heh.'

Naruto frowned, shifting his stance ever so slightly.

The krogan's grin grew as Naruto caught his arm and twisted it over his shoulder, as if preparing to toss him, and planting his feet. The grin slipped and a quizzical expression cracked as the blond biotic absorbed some of the momentum, before launching his shoulder into the arm while dragging the hand down. With a sickening snap and pop, the krogan's arm broke and the alien let out a roar of pain. He rolled, allowing himself to be tossed by the excess force and stood, ready for the next attack. The krogan's roar turned to laughter and excitement filled his eyes as he said, "Not bad, kid! You ever fought a krogan before?" Naruto opened his mouth to reply but winced instead; he could taste blood inside his helmet where the krogan's first blow had nearly split the casing in twine.

"Once," he coughed, grimacing as blood flecked the front of his visor. He'd been hit harder than he thought. "Couple a' years ago."

"Wrex!" Shepard barked. "That's enough!"

"Wrex?" Naruto's head snapped around, whipping back and forth like a puppet severed from its strings, eyes struggling to adjust in the gloom. "You mean this guy is-

It was a mistake.

"Don't take your eyes off me, boy!"

Naruto could only blink as the massive alien plowed into him like a freight train, bowling him over and slamming him down against the nearest wall with enough force to shatter his spine. For a long moment he felt only a blissful weightlessness. And then there was pain. Pain the like of which he'd never felt before-never experienced-searing up and into his back and shoulders. Tali screamed. The krogan laughed. Naruto...well, try as he grunted. Black spots erupted before his vision, and for a moment, just a moment, he was certain he'd black out. 'Don't you break,' He screamed at his spine, his body creaking under the strain. 'Don't you fucking break on me...

"Godamnit Wrex, I told you to stop!" he was dimly aware of Shepard's voice, accompanied by the harsh crack of something solid. He would've laughed, had he not been in so much pain.

He could feel the steel yield against his hardsuit, as the krogan laid hold of his throat; the massive fingers slowly increasing the pressure with each passing second. Desperate, he flung a shockwave at the battlemaster; the krogan merely laughed and smashed its massive head against his helmet.

Stars-whole planets!-detonated before his vision, exploding into a supernova of blinding white

Ouch!

Naruto felt his tenuous hold over the singularity he'd been forming in his mind shatter, his head lolling weakly to one side as the krogan repeated its

The alien loomed above him, turning its head slightly so it could fix one of its cold, reptilian eyes on him. Naruto was no coward, but he felt fear grip his heart, as he stared up into the dead, black pupil. Then he smiled, a slow grin that tugged at his whiskered cheeks and made him look oddly fox-like. That scar. He knew that scar anywhere! Even with one eye swollen shut, there could be no mistaking that face.

"Wrex!" Naruto choked out; he'd never been so happy to see that ugly ol' mug in all his life! "What're you doing here?!"

"Kid?" the massive reptile blinked, his chokehold lessening, albeit only slightly. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." Despite the lessening of pressure, Naruto managed to wriggle an arm up to his helmet and loosen the seal enough to remove his helmet. He had the briefest satisfaction of watching the krogan blink, perhaps in shock, or surprise, he knew not. He did know one thing, however. He couldn't breathe! "Ya mind letting go of my throat now?" Realizing the youth wasn't trying to kill him anymore, the krogan complied. He slowly took a step back from Naruto-

-and subsuquently found himself bowled over by Tali. The quarian all but shoved the krogan aside in her haste to reach Naruto, helping the battered blond to his feet.

"Bosh'tet!" She spat, her words all but dripping with venom.

Naruto cringed as she raised her omni-tool to inspect his wounds.

"Sorry Tali...

"Not you!" She assured him softly, glaring bloody red daggers at Wrex. "Him!"

"Me?"

"Yes, you!"

It was a rather humorous sight, watching one as massive and intimidating as Urdnot Wrex balk before the slight, slender form of a quarian girl.

But Urdnot Wrex was no fool. He'd seen his way around the galaxy many a time over, and he knew a thing or two about love, maybe more. As he watched Tali fuss over Naruto, applying medi-gel to his wounds, a slow smile dawned on his large face. It was there. Be it how the quarian girl hovered at his elbow the kid or the way she held herself...there was no mistaking it. She was stricken over the boy. But did he feel the same? One glance at the boy-at his flush, the way his hand lingered over hers as she applied the medi-gel to his wounds-was all the old krogan needed to confirm his suspicions.

His head snapped back to Naruto, his already larger grin growing larger still.

"Since when did you get yourself a mate, kid?"

"M-Mate?" Tali queaked.

Naruto flushed. Wrex was never going to let him live this down.

"It's...kinda a long story...

"We've got plenty of time." The krogan chortled.

"Well...um...you see...

The former shinobi cast about, desperately searching for some way to change the topic.

Thankfully, he didn't have to.

"You can explain it in the ambassador's office." Shepard ventured. "He'll want to see this anyway."

A/N: Consider this a teaser for what is to come lol. The story's going to be somewhat different with Naruto's unique brand of chaos onboard! Again, I apologize for the short chapter, but work is pressing me hard, and I at least wanted to get SOMETHING out there to all you guys and gals. Naruto has inherited quite a few abilities from most classes, one of which, I'm sure all you soldiers recognized that Adrenaline rush sniping spree. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it AND this chapter! I did my level best to keep Naruto in character, and I think I did rather well =D

So...in the immortal words of Atlas...

...review...would you kindly? And enjoy the possible preview(s)! Its up to you to choose this time! =D

(Possible Preview(s))

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard." Were the first words Naruto heard upon stepping into the ambassador's office. "Firefights in the wards, an all out assault on Chora's Den-" He cut himself off when he noticed Tali, and finally, Naruto. "Who's this? A quarian?" His eyes narrowed as they settled upon the bloodied blond. "A duct rat?"

"Who's this?" Naruto scoffed under his breath, "Another self-serving, pompous asshole?"

He had the succint pleasure of watching Donnel Udina's face drain of color.

Anderson arched an eyebrow, the slightest of smiles playing across his lips

"Interesting friend you have there, Shepard."

Naruto opened his eyes and summarily bit back a groan. White. There was an awful lot of white. Oh. Right. He'd collapsed from his injuries after his bout with Wrex.

'Looks like I'm the one in the hospital this time.' he thought to himself.

"You stupid bosh'tet!" Tali was sobbing as she clutched at his hand; as though her words, her tears, could somehow resucitate him. "Why did you have to pick a fight with him? Why do you always have to do that? You, you stupid, stupid-

"Um...Tali?"

The quarian froze-froze!-as he tentatively raised his head.

"You're alive!"

"Yeah, I'm-gack!" Naruto yelped as she promptly glommed him.

Hope you enjoyed it!

R&R! =D