Serin bit down on her pencil agitatedly as she slouched against the soft cushion of her wheelchair. A tired sigh escaping her lips while she absent-mindedly played with the blanket on top of her legs. The young woman took a moment to observe her surroundings slightly, from the white-wash walls to the empty and near abandoned atmosphere of the base, ONI CASTLE safehouse was nothing of its former bustling self.
Most of the scientists and security personnel had went home for their off-duty shift while some of the usual over workers have decided to put in some extra time with their families. So as it stood, the SPARTAN wash-out was as close to being alone since her first days of being a street rat.
She pursed her lips when she suddenly remembered that she wasn't all alone. Dr Halsey was currently in a meeting with a few of ONI top commanders, some of the most thieving and untrustworthy bunch she had ever had the pleasure to breathe with. The young female shuddered in sympathy to the older woman who has to listen to those big-headed assholes and one female by the name of Parangosky. The older paranoid induced female was literally giving everything from a living breathing human being to a pebble a distrustful look.
Her moment of contemplation was interrupted when a sudden bout of static rushed out of her communications instruments. "ONI command this is Gold-2, um-this is Gold-2" Serin smiled slightly when she heard a timid voice go through, if she was going by voice alone she was pretty sure the young female on the other end was digging her heel into the dirt. "Its ok Lilith its me" Serin smiled into the transceiver. There were few in the SPARTAN ranks who could deviate from their military taught core, even those that break it in a regular basis were strict in its use within the presence of other high-ranking officials, but for the soft-spoken and shy female on the other line Serin was willing to break it just for her.
"Oh Serin, its good to hear you" There was an audible sigh of relief on the other side "Um-323 has asked me to relay to you that the UNSC powderhound is enroute to the white border" Serin nodded her head as she noted that down onto a pad she kept in handy near her. The 'White border' was what the UNSC termed the area around the inner colonies and the outer colonies, it was strictly regarded as neutral, though it has housed many URF forces in the past, the standing governors and presidents of the worlds in question had always argued that so long as the URF show no aggression to them, and same goes to the UNSC, then they had no qualms with harboring members of their factions.
"Thank you for the update Serin, send Jorge my regards" She smiled a bit when she got an eep as a response before the other line disappeared, no doubt Jorge having caught the tail end of the conversation. Her grin faltered slightly when she noticed the crosses all across her now choked pad.
Several reports from the other SPARTAN teams showed the same results, all of them were on the run to the 'White Border' each arriving on a set time and Serin had the inkling suspicion that the UNSC was planning something she could simply hypothesise about.
Her brow nearly slammed against each other until the timely intervention of a dry monotone boomed from the transceiver "ONI command this is Blue-actual reporting complete mission success and the deactivation of covenant corvette, over" Serin nearly jumped out of her wheelchair when she recognised the voice and suppressed a wince after her legs began groaning in protest to the sudden motion.
"Blue-Actual this is ONI command transmission received please hold for further orders" Serin pulled out her roster pad and flicked a nearby station on in order to reassign the team of SPARTANs to a proper area of combat. Scrolling past several unneeded stations and backwater worlds she removed a stack of datapads from one of Halseys stashes and began multitasking the search through already dispatched SPARTAN teams to those on standby aboard UNSC ships or on Reach before finally stopping on a suitable relocation. "Blue-Actual this is ONI command the UNSC destroyer Titan is currently enroute to your location, report to ship captain and await further orders, he'll be contacted shortly" John made an affirmative before the comm line retreated back into silence.
Just when Serin was about to rest her back on her wheelchair again the SPARTANs voice returned sharply "Where is the location of Hammer-4" Serin frowned when she heard the inquiry, hands dancing on her instruments to try and find the wry blonde before nearly crying out in triumph, which was admittedly squashed when she got a good long look at it, "He's currently stationed with the Harvest Battle Group on Harvest, no further contact has been made yet after Vice Admiral Cole reported arrival on the system" There was a frown on Serins face as she continued to read through latest reports before finally she returned her steady gaze onto the transceiver, "May I ask why you want to know?"
"It's time for Naruto's medication" Serins mind stalled and her hand froze in midair as she tried to process what was said, she reeled back in both disgust and horror when the implications hit her "Oh shit" She swore, her hands slapped against her wheels harshly before the female wheeled herself to a nearby terminal to access individual SPARTAN armors. Quickly pushing in the codes for Narutos the young woman was dismayed to see that the MJOLNIR medical systems reported no new chemicals having been introduced into the blonde system.
"Frag it all" She cursed in a variety of other child-friendly and other not so friendly words before returning to the transceiver "The damnable-idiot hasn't taken his meds if thats what you're asking for" Her eyes nearly watered as she thought about the consequences, her back shuddering in fright at what the blonde could...would do when it wanted out again.
There was a worried sigh on the other side, like she had confirmed what he already knew before the SPARTAN began again "I see, well damn it all to hell" Serin smiled ruefully at hearing the normally collected male start swearing "We better pray he's nowhere near friendlies and somewhere close to enemies because if ONI gets whiff of this it'll be his ass and our asses on the line since we have to hold him away from white coats" The young female grunted in either annoyance or worry for her 'sibling' before cupping her face with her hands "Damn idiot can't be easy can he" There was a scoff on the other line before it cut abruptly and the female was alone again.
She grimaced oddly as memories of what happened floated by her eyes before she shook them away. Wheeling back to her previous station she pulled out Naruto's armor specs again and bit her lower lip. With hesitant hands she inputed a code into the computer 'Acknowledged, Lockdown Procedure X341 in effect, trigger on standby' the armors system replied automatically. The female suddenly felt old wariness fill her gut when the message popped up before resigning herself to simply tear her hair out.
XXXXXXX
Naruto, unaware of what had been done to his armor, continued to plow his way through the covenant ranks as they tried to reach Catherine, who was currently setting up a bomb in the middle of the university. The blonde ducked and rolled across two of the split-jaws swings before bringing the butt of his gun up and smacking the thing by its head.
Satisfied when he heard the crunch of bones and splatter of brain matter he pulled out his SAW and wielded it one handed as he let out a decent spray of bullets down the hallways. Clipping through grunts and scathing some other split-jaws.
"I would appreciate it if you hurry up Catherine" Naruto bit out as he felt a stinging burn on his left underside. The MJOLNIR was capable of deflecting and absorbing the plasma hits he had received but nonetheless it couldn't hold back forever. There was probably a decent sized burn-mark there now.
"I'm trying but if you want I can just manually blow this up! Kill us all with these zealots right on the start of the war" Naruto snorted at her irritated tone as he dodged more plasma shots for his head, "Well I'm the one getting shot at right now so hurry up or I'm purposefully letting two or three get past me" He retorted before slinking down against the wall he took cover behind and primed a Fragmentation grenade, "I mean its not like I enjoy getting shot at you know", tossing the grenade over his shoulder the blonde rolled away just as an explosions happened, several of the grunts methane pack exploding and sending them airborne.
"Ugh and I think my filters are broke" Naruto made a disgusted face when the smell of the gas leaked into his helmet, slightly gagging from it the blonde reloaded his MA37 while propping his SAW against a wall. Slamming a fresh clip home Naruto repositioned himself to a better location.
"Quit complaining Naruto Jeez if Miranda was here-" "She'd be laughing her as off" Naruto grinned to himself when he heard an annoyed huff on the other end, oh he was going to get it later but the opportunity was too good to pass up.
He maintained his upbeat mood as he continued to cut and gun his way across the several remaining covenant forces rushing him. But his eyes were a far cry to how he acted, he was literally panicking as he kept a steady eye on his Medical Systems. Increase Heart Rate, Shutdown of advance brain functions while adding pressure on primitive survival functions, Increase in temperature and a higher motor function activity were all consistent symptoms to a state that the blonde just didn't want to happen now of all times.
"Come on Furball, we talked about this!" Naruto gritted his teeth when he slammed a grunt into the wall, suddenly receiving enjoyment at its death when its neck snapped and its head lolled to the side. "Come on! Don't play with my head" The blonde blocked a strike from a split-jaw before impacting his fist against his chest, not at all surprised when his hand went through the cavity and appeared on the other side blazing a faint bit of red.
"Just StOp yOU ItjIT" The SPARTAN dropped to a knee when he felt his canines grow and his face contorting uncontrollably into animalistic rage.
I WANT OUT
The cry rang out into his head like a ball of lead and he suppressed a wince when he was forced to drop his gun to cup his ears.
I DEMAND FREEDOM
Naruto tried to stand back up but felt his legs gave way again.
YOU HUMANS NEVER LEARN
The ground seemed to quake for the blond as the voice grew more angrier, more animalistic and strangely more philosophical.
ALL YOU KNOW IS WAR
ALL YOU KNOW IS PAIN
EVEN WHEN THE CREATORS GAVE A LIGHT YOU FORCED IT AWAY
I AM NO PRISONER YOU MAY USE
I AM NO WEAPON FOR YOUR PERVERSE WARS
I WILL NOT BE TRAPPED IN YOU
"I DON'T WANT YOU EITHER!" Naruto collapsed as his armor roared out a claxon in his head, 'WARNING, WARNING, CHEMICAL RESIDUE C21 DETECTED PROTOCOL X341 INITIATED PREPARE FOR FULL ARMOR LOCKDOWN' That was the last thing he heard before he was forcibly knocked unconscious.
XXXXXXXX
Naruto scowled when he found himself in familiar murky sewer water. Pushing himself up he was further unsurprised to see he was wearing his old military regulations PT gear. The blonde splashed against the water irritably before venturing deep within the cavern of his mindscape.
It was always odd for him when he saw the place, sewer-like with years of abuse showing in its cracks and dents, it both alarmed and humbled the blonde to see the place as it was, showing his hard past within the confines of his SPARTAN training but even with low-level maintenance done to the place there was a certain spark in the hallways, a couple flowers growing here and there and a book or two detailing fond moments of his time protruding out of a crack, that showed him that his childhood wasn't all too bad.
The winding walks of missdirections and dead-ends didn't really stop Naruto, the blonde always wondered how he knew where everything was even if this was most likely his third time there.
It was a final heavy sigh when the blonde reached a pair of double barred gates, annoyance flashing in his eyes as he stared at the titanium prison that both interrupted his thoughts and housed a subject of his thoughts.
Right where his glare was planted a giant, if not slightly intimidating, figure of a Nine-Tailed fox creeped from the shadows with a near alarming smile. The fox too glared at the blonde as he began banging its head against the steel.
"We need to have this talk" THe blonde tried to sound reasonable but the fox merely sneered at his general direction, baring his fangs and stretching his claws in preparation of ripping the blonde male into tiny little microscopic pieces.
Where is your hate human? Do you not wish me gone! All the same, seeking power and death for whatever purpose or reason, you're very existence is testament to that I assure
Naruto glared at the fox, mind glowering at a certain memory that decided now was a good time to pop out and try to annoy him. "What's your problem with me! What did I do to you!" He gave the fox a demanding look and the animal merely snorted.
I AM TRAPPED IN YOUR INFERNAL BODY!
"AND I DIDN'T WANT YOU!" The blonde roared back just as fiercely meeting the Fox's unflinching gaze with one of his own. After a while the blonde gave off a thoughtful snort, teeth gnashing against each other in agitation "Well no more of this, I'm putting my foot down!" The Fox raised a single delicate eyebrow before the blonde continued before he could interrupt, "Yea I get it you don't like me and I sure as hell don't like but as it stood I didn't ask for this and I'm sure as hell know you didn't too, we're forced acquaintances that want nothing to do with the other, I know this!" The fox stretched his teeth back while another bouts of retorts were beginning to form in his throat.
"But damn it all stop pushing all of you damn hate on me! Stop trying to call me out on hating you, on using you or on trapping you! I didn't do shit and I personally don't hate you" At the Fox quizzical look the blonde elaborated "Your reaction is no different to a caged animal, and admittedly human. You wanted out and you resorted to banging and clawing which in this case led to the 'incident' you may have harmed my siblings but you were made this way and I surely can't bite back my words on mother nature" The blonde huffed at annoyedly at the fox "I honestly don't hate you nor do I like you but-" The blonde drifted off slightly remembering words both Mendez and Halsey gave him "When an unknown is either an enemy or a friend work him as a friend before labeling him as an enemy"
The SPARTAN gave the bijuu a pointed look, one that softened marginally "I honestly hold no ill to you, Chief and Mom taught me too much to do that and I honestly can't blame you but damn it all you chose a bad time to come knowing on my door" The Fox was now lying on his front paws, quietly listening as the human in front of him went on with his drawl. "If anything I wouldn't mind you being my friend but I doubt you'd be willing for that relationship"
The Fox snorted at the SPARTAN, eyes narrowing like a conniving rat before biting out harshly.
I have no reason to trust your lies
The SPARTAN was silent in a moment before he finally sighed, "Forgive me then" That sentence caught the Fox in a circle as suddenly a sentence played out in his mind 'Forgive me Kyuubi'
"I guess I'm just not ready to face you yet, I suppose thats my undoing with keeping it silent for so long" The blonde gave the fox a hard expression before seemingly nodding to himself as if he reached a decision "Well I guess theres next time" The Fox reeled back in disgust at the human before him
Next time?
"Yes next time, I'm not stopping until you can at least have a friendly conversation with me" The blonde shrugged his shoulders a bit before stalking back the way he came. When the boy was out of sight the Fox couldn't help but let out a half snort at the blonde disappearance from the mindscape.
Well fuck my moral processors
I wanted this to be longer, explaining more stuff for the future plotline but I just cringed when I noticed the bags under my eyes, pretty sure my boss was looking over my shoulder while I was doing this so yea...Ugh there was pretty big hints here if anybody could catch them most if not all of this ties in with the original fic so yea all you originals are probably gonna get treats when i start putting elements I wanted there here.
