Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mass Effect.
Misplaced
Chapter 7: When does "Normal" go out the window?
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Biju/VI/Geth/Reaper talking"
"Biju/VI/Geth/Reaper thinking"
Reading/ News/Intercom
(Location: Naruto)
No matter how much he ran, he couldn't see the edge of the forest. The trees surrounding him had no leaves on their branches and looked they had survived a forest fire. The ground itself was scorched and he saw flakes of ash floating through the air.
He knew he was running, but he was running in slow motion. Wherever he looked, he saw shades of people. But whenever he got close to them, they would fade away. "What is going on? Where am I?" He asked himself as he kept moving. "Hello, is there anyone out there?" He called out. Some of the shades seemed like they turned to hear his voice, but he couldn't tell if they actually were.
"…at you?" A faint whisper of a voice echoed in his ear, making him look around, trying to see who it was that had spoken.
"Hello?" He called out.
"…That you?" The whisper echoed again, sounding a little clearer.
"Where are you?" He looked for where that particular voice was coming from amongst the shades.
"Is that you?" For the third time the whisper echoed in his ear, much clearer than before. This time, he managed to figure out where it came from. He followed the sound of the whisper, zeroing in on a particular shade. As he got closer, the shade became more and more lifelike, until the back of a person stood in front of him.
He reached out to grab the person's shoulder and turn him around. But when he saw who the person was, he stumbled back in surprise. "O-Orochimaru?" He asked in surprise. He shouldn't had to ask who it was, he knew that pale skin, purple markings, and golden serpent eyes belong to only one person. That same person had died half a year into the war.
"Hello, Naruto." The Snake Sannin greeted him with a smile that made him recoil. The two of them had never seen eye-to-eye due to their past history, so the blonde had been weary of him (and still was). "Have you come to join the damned?"
"What are you talking about? Where the hell are we?" He asked, looking around.
"This…this is where those who are damned go in death." He answered, looking around as well.
"I guess I can I understand why you're here. But I don't why I'm here."
"Are you sure?" He asked with a smirk. "I would've thought you would be damned for failing to save all of those people that Obito killed."
That was a low point for him. He still felt guilty for letting those people die, but he kept telling himself that it wouldn't happen again. In the end, his words came true. "I don't consider myself to be damned because of that. And I'm not dead."
"Are you so sure about that? You seemed to be joining us momentarily." He looked down at Naruto's feet. The blonde followed his gaze and saw that his feet were on fire. Before he could put the fire out, he was engulfed in a bonfire. Pain blinded all of his senses as he burned. As Orochimaru faded away, he could only scream.
He came awake with a shout, trying to free himself from what felt like some kind of cloth prison. When gravity took effect and he almost fell down to the ground (which he stopped by using his hands), he remembered that he had been sleeping in a hammock. When he had first seen the sleeper pods that the crew used, the first words out of his mouth were "Fuck no." He then proceeded to make his way down to the storage area of the ship, unsealed a hammock and some rope (he told the confused onlookers that Jiraiya had all but beaten the lesson of "You never know when you're going to need it" into his brain during their trip), and proceeded to set it up.
As he calmed down, he slowly lowered himself from the hammock. When he finally got his legs out of the hammock, he just laid there on the floor, letting it cool him off. It had been two days since he had left Thessia in the Normandy. They had made a stop at Arcturus (which he stayed on board while they were there) and now they were officially starting the "shakedown run" of the ship (he wasn't really sure what that was and he didn't bother to ask anyone). Of course, he had also said goodbye to Neji and his family.
(Flashback)
He stood before the Normandy, taking a good long look at it. "So, I'm going to be riding in this." He asked Neji, who stood next to him along with Hanabi and Liesia. It had only been a day since the exercise with the Asari Commandos. Since Hackett had cleared him for duty, he was joining the Normandy and leaving Thessia.
"What's the matter, Naruto?" Hanabi asked him. "You've been staying in the Everest for the past two weeks."
"I know that, Hanabi. But I'm still getting used to the idea about a ship that can fly through space."
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it in no time." Neji assured him.
"I hope so." They stood in silence for a few minutes. "…Well, I should probably get going." He finally said.
"Bye, Naruto. I'm gonna miss you." Hanabi told him sadly. She had grown to like the blonde and didn't really want him to go. But she also knew that he was a shinobi. There were times that he had to go and this would be one of them.
"I'm going to miss you too, kid." He smiled down at her. "I want you to promise me that you're gonna be the best shinobi that has ever come out of the Academy."
"Yes sir!" She threw him a salute and he returned it with a grin.
"Neji, thanks for helping me out with the modern time." He told Hanabi's father, dropping the salute as he turned to face the Hyuuga.
"It was my pleasure, Lord Naruto." He replied with a small smirk. He knew that calling the blonde a lord was guaranteed to make him annoyed.
"Don't call me a lord." Sure enough, there was the annoyed retort. The two of them stared at each other for a quiet moment, before the blonde smiled. "I hope I'll see you and your family again."
"We hope for the same." Liesia told him, a gentle smile on her lips. "Good luck, Naruto."
"Thank you, Liesia. But I don't need luck, it comes naturally." He turned back to look at the ship. "I guess I better get on it before they come looking for me or something." With a wave goodbye, he left the family and walked towards the hatch of the Normandy.
(End Flashback)
"Uh…sir, are you okay?" A nearby engineer, a Frontiersman, asked him, bringing him out of his musings.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a weird dream that's all." He told him as he sat up and stretched a little. Having slept only in his underwear and shades, he was giving the surrounding people a little bit of a show.
"Um…about what, sir?" asked the engineer, trying to keep the conversation going. He was straight, but even he had to admit that the blonde was nicely developed.
"Nothing really, I just met Orochimaru in a ruined forest." He paused for a moment and looked over at the engineer. "Not to be rude, but you do know who Orochimaru is, right?"
"Yes sir, I do. He was one of the most evil and vile shinobi to have ever been trained. He was a part of the first generation of the Densetsu no Sannin until he went rogue and fled from the village."
"Yeah, that was the snake bastard in a nutshell. That just makes the way he died even weirder." He mentioned with a slight scowl.
"Didn't he die after a massive manhunt and battle?" The engineer asked. He had only the one class of Shinobi history when he was in high school, so he wasn't aware of everything that had happened.
"No. He died saving his granddaughter." The very concept of Orochimaru having a child let alone a grandchild was baffling and a little weird. When they had reached the town the Snake Sannin had hidden his child's family, he was already there trying to get his granddaughter away (as the rest of her family had already been killed). That was the first time any of them had seen Obito descend from the sky when watching a place burn. He chased after Orochimaru through the burning streets. He didn't kill him out right; he just toyed with the Snake Sannin. By the time he had gotten bored and left, Orochimaru was close to death. He all but begged Anko to take his granddaughter in (which she did) and said goodbye to Tsunade before breathing his last breath (later, Naruto found her in the Hokage office, drunk and crying over what looked like a photo of her and her teammates after they had made Chūnin. He decided to leave her alone).
"…You're right, sir. That's a little weird for a man like him." The engineer admitted. "But still, he died saving his family. Even an evil man can do that."
"A fact that I have never denied," The blonde told him.
"Hey, Commander Uzumaki," The voice of the pilot, one Jeff "Joker" Moreau rang out over the intercom. The two of them had met when Naruto first came aboard the Normandy and got along quite well with each other. "We're approaching the relay and considering the fact that you slept through the first one, I'd figured you would want a front row seat for this."
"Yeah, thanks, Joker. I'm on my way up." He replied as he grabbed his clothes and put them on with practiced ease. As he made his way over to the elevator, he grabbed an apple and chomped down on it. He finished it off as the elevator slowly went upwards. "If this thing is really this slow, maybe they should've just put in stairs." He thought to himself as he fiddled with the apple core. When the door finally opened, he walked out and tossed the core into a nearby trash disposal.
"The Arcturus Prime Relay is in range." Joker announced over the intercom. "Initiating transmission sequence." Naruto kept walking forward through the command deck, heading to the cockpit as the pilot kept talking. "We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination. The relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector. All stations secure for transit."
"Hey, guys." The blonde said in greeting as he walked into the cockpit and looked around. He saw Joker in the pilot seat along with a guy called Kaidan Alenko who sat in the co-pilot seat. Nihlus stood behind them and watched in silence.
"Hey, Naruto," Joker greeted him. "Just kick back and watch the show." He turned his attention back to the controls. "Board is green. Approach run has begun."
As he stared out of the window, Naruto was astounded. When he was first taken to the Everest and saw space for the first time out of window, he stared out the window in stunned awe for a good ten minutes. But what hung before them surprised him even more. He didn't even know how to describe it really. All he could really say was that it looked somewhat like a tuning fork with rings revolving around a big blue core of element zero (if he hadn't known that beforehand, he would've thought it was chakra). "Kami, that's impressive." He said aloud. Even though nobody said anything in return, they all silently agreed with him.
"Hitting the relay in 3…2…1…" Joker counted down as he flew the ship closer to the core. An arc of eezo leapt out from the core and struck the Normandy. As the ship drew away from the core, the arc vanished and it shot forward so fast that it left a trail in its wake. "Thrusters…check. Navigation…check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift…just 1500 K." Joker finished up as they sped through space.
"1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased." Nihlus commented before walking away.
"…I hate that guy." He said once he was sure the turian had left the bridge.
"Nihlus gave you a compliment…so you hate him?" Kaidan asked with some small confusion. It sounded like a compliment to him.
"Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid."
"You're paranoid." He replied in deadpan. "The Council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."
"Yeah, that is the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story."
"He's got a point there." Naruto commented, joining in on the conversation. Kakashi had always told him to look underneath the underneath and what Joker had said was quite similar. Both required a second look.
"So there's more going on here then the captain's letting on." He would've continued had the intercom not beeped.
"Joker! Status report," Anderson's voice ordered through the intercom.
"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain," He automatically answered, quickly double-checking a few things. "Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid."
"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us to the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime."
"Aye, aye, Captain. Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way."
"He's already here, Lieutenant." A small awkward silence filled the bridge. "Tell Commander Uzumaki to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing." Anderson finished before the intercom beeped off.
"You get that, Commander?" Joker asked Naruto.
"Yeah, I got it." He turned around and began to walk away. After a few steps, he stopped and turned back around with a sheepish look on his face. "At the risk of sounding like an idiot, where's the comm room exactly?" In the two days he had been on the Normandy, he mostly kept to the storage area or the mess.
Both Joker and Kaidan shared a look. If it had been anyone else, eye-rolling and sarcasm would've come out in full. "Just go past the stairs and around the wall in the back, you won't miss it." Kaidan instructed him.
"Thanks, Kaidan." He turned back around and kept on walking. As he walked into what the crew called the CIC (when he asked what that stood for, they told him it meant Combat Information Center), he noticed that the ship's medical-nin talking with one of the Genin who looked like he was barely in his twenties.
"I grew up on Eden Prime, Doc." The Genin told her. "It's not the kind of place Spectres visit. There's something Nihlus isn't telling us about this mission."
"That's crazy." The doctor, Naruto believed her name to be Chakwas (she had an attitude that eerily reminded him of Tsunade, albeit with much less booze on hand), replied. "The captain's in charge here. He wouldn't take orders from a Spectre."
"Not his choice, Doc. Spectres don't answer to anyone. They can do whatever they want. Kill anyone who gets in their way."
"Ha! You watch too many spy vids, Jenkins." Dr. Chakwas told him, making him scowl at her for the comment. It was then they had both noticed that Naruto was standing nearby.
"What do you think, Commander?" Jenkins asked him as he saluted. "We won't be staying on Eden Prime too long, will we? I'm itching for some real action!" He said excitingly. Naruto just stared at him. The Genin in front of him sounded exactly like himself back when he was a brand new Genin. In fact, it was a little scary to see the similarities. He could almost see the green on him.
"I sincerely hope you're kidding, Corporal." Dr. Chakwas retorted. "Your 'real action' usually ends with me patching up crew members in the infirmary."
"If you want my advice, Jenkins, just keep a level head while on the mission." Naruto told the Genin. "You do that, you'll be just fine."
"Sorry, Commander," He apologized, though he didn't sound at all apologetic. "But this waiting's killing me. I've never been on a mission like this before. Not one with a Spectre on board!"
"You and me both," The blonde thought to himself. He had read up on the Spectre when his clones all but invaded the library. Basically, the Spectres were the galaxy's version of ANBU, which meant they were highly trained, knew when to be silent, and only answered to a few. "Kid, when it comes down to it in a mission, it won't matter if the guy next to you is a Spectre like Nihlus or a Genin like you. What will matter is if you can focus on what needs to be down and be able to do it."
"That's easy for you to say. You're…well, you're you." He protested. "This is my big chance. If I can show the brass what I can do, I might become qualified to take the Chūnin Exams!"
"What the hell is he talking about, qualifying for the Chūnin Exams? I guess that's another I'm going to have to check when I get the chance." Naruto said to himself as he placed looking up the Chūnin Exams on his "To-do" list. "I have to go; Captain Anderson is waiting for me." He told the two of them.
"Um, Commander before you go, can I ask you something?" Jenkins asked, suddenly sounding nervous. "Is…is the legend about you true? Are you the Jinchūriki of the Jūbi?"
"Jenkins! You have no right to ask that of Commander Uzumaki!" Dr. Chakwas told him sharply.
"It's alright, Doctor." Naruto assured her. "He's just curious, that's all."
"Well? Are you?" Jenkins asked him again.
The blonde just smiled mysteriously at him. "Something along those lines," He answered before walking past them and into the comm room. As he walked down the ramp, he saw that Nihlus was already there, staring at the screen in front of him. "Hey, Nihlus," He greeted. He hadn't seen the turian in the past two weeks, so he had no idea what he had been up to. Then again, he had spent those two weeks getting back into shape, so he didn't really pay attention to anything else.
"Naruto, I was hoping you'd get here first. It gives us the chance to talk." The Spectre told him, turning away from the screen.
"What do you want to talk about?" He asked, putting his guard slightly up. While the turian hadn't shown any signs that he was going to attack the blonde, one could never be so sure (and with shinobi, that's a promise).
"I'm interested in this world we're going, Eden Prime. Do you know anything about it?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Only what I've overheard from the crew. It's something of paradise, right?"
"Yes…a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Safe. Eden Prime has become something of a symbol to your people."
"I wouldn't know, Nihlus. I spent the last two thousand years sealed away and drifting in space." He reminded the Spectre.
"It's proof that Humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it, really?"
"I've got a question: why the hell are you asking me all this?" He was a little annoyed. They both knew that he was still getting used to modern times and still didn't know everything that he needed to know. And yet, Nihlus was being redundant by asking him these questions.
"Your people are still newcomers, Naruto, you especially. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place."
"The Academy instructors said the same thing about being a shinobi. That didn't stop me from joining." He retorted. When he heard that, Nihlus couldn't help but smile.
They both heard the sound of the door opening. They turned to see Anderson walked into the room. "I think it's about time we told Naruto what's really going on." He told Nihlus.
The turian nodded in agreement. "This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run." He told Naruto.
"Of course it is." The blonde replied sarcastically. "Why else would we've had that incredibly redundant conversation beforehand?"
"This is serious, Commander." Anderson told him pointedly, using his rank instead of his name to get his attention. "We're making a covert pick-up on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems operational."
He had briefly heard about the stealth capabilities of the Normandy, but he didn't ask for details. All he knew was that it was the first ship that was apparently able to hide from enemy scanners. "How covert are we talking here?" He asked. In his personal experience, the word "covert" had many definitions.
"This comes down from the top. Information on a strictly need-to-know basis," He clarified. "A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some sort of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean."
He knew only a few things about the Protheans (they were just one of many things his clones had read up on), so he knew they were a little mythical to the galaxy, having supposedly built the mass relays and the Citadel, the seat of power for the galaxy. "I take it that finding something like this is important?" He asked them.
"The last time Humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring it to the Citadel for proper study." The captain explained to him.
"Obviously this goes beyond human interests, Naruto." Nihlus joined the conversation again. "This discovery could affect every species in Council space. Also, the beacon is not the only reason I'm here."
The blonde looked at the two of them. "I take it this is what the Alliance wants me to do?" He asked Anderson. "Become the galactic version of an ANBU?"
"The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time." He explained, answering his question. "Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council. The Spectres represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come."
"I've put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectres." Nihlus told Naruto. "With your track record, as well as that exercise you had against those Commandos, you'd be a shoe-in. But I need to see your skills for myself. Eden Prime will be the first of many missions together."
"When we get to Eden Prime, you'll be in charge of the ground team." Anderson said. "Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission."
That surprised him a little. While he had been a part of teams before, he had never really led one himself. So he was a little nervous about the idea. But even though he was nervous, he was willing to see if he could do it. "That's fine by me." He told them, keeping his true feelings silent. "What's our ETA?"
"We should be getting close to Eden—" He was cut off when Joker spoke from the intercom.
"Captain! We've got a problem." The pilot told them. His voice had none of its usual sarcasm, it was quite serious.
"What's wrong, Joker?" Anderson asked him.
"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!"
"Bring it up on screen." He ordered, walking over to the screen. Both Nihlus and Naruto turned to look at it as well. The sounds of gunfire and explosions quickly filled their ears. The transmission was incredibly blurry and shaky, even more so after one woman clad in white and pink armor push the person filming to the ground. They saw someone trying to send a call, only to be killed a few seconds later. After a few more seconds of filming, it went to static.
"Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing." Joker explained.
"Reverse and hold at 38.5." Anderson told him. The transmission went backwards and froze at the exact spot he had ordered. What they saw was large, metal…thing descending from the sky and somehow discharging red lightning.
"I don't know about you guys, but that kinda looks like a giant hand to me." Naruto commented.
"Status report," The captain told Joker.
"Seventeen minutes out, Captain." He promptly answered. "No other Alliance ships in the area."
"Take us in, Joker. Fast and quiet," He ordered. "This mission just got a lot more complicated." He remarked as the intercom beeped off.
"A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention." Nihlus noted. "It's our best chances to secure the beacon."
"He's right." Naruto agreed. "We should try to keep the people on the team to minimum. I'd say only three, maybe four people."
"Very well, grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold." Anderson told Nihlus, who nodded and walked away. "Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up, Commander." He said to Naruto, facing him. "You're going in."
He saluted and walked away, leaving Anderson alone in the comm room.
"Engaging stealth systems," Joker announced as they entered the atmosphere of Eden Prime. As he flew the Normandy down out of the sky, he got a closer look at the ground beneath them. "Somebody was doing some serious digging here, Captain." He commented.
"Thank you, Joker." Anderson replied before turning to face Naruto and his squad. Both Jenkins and Kaidan had their armor on as well as their weapons. Naruto had just attached a comm device in his left ear, so he could easily communicate with teammates, Nihlus, and the ship. "Your team's the muscle in this operation, Commander." Anderson told the blonde. "Go in heavy and head for the dig site."
"What about survivors, Captain?" Kaidan asked.
"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon is your top priority." He answered a little curtly.
"Approaching drop point one." Joker announced as the cargo bay door opened, filling their ears with the howling of the wind.
"Nihlus? You're coming with us?" Jenkins asked the turian, who was standing nearby, checking his weapons.
He shook his head. "I move faster on my own." He told them before taking a running leap out of the ship.
"Nihlus will scout out ahead." Anderson told them. "He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise, I want radio silence."
"He still needs someone to watch his back." Naruto said, folding his hands into a handseal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A clone appeared at his side with a poof of smoke. Without saying a word, the clone leapt out after Nihlus. "He'll be able to see how a clone can helpful in this kind of situation." He told Anderson.
The captain nodded once in agreement. "The mission's yours now, Naruto. Good luck." The blonde held his tongue about not needing luck, figuring it wasn't the time for that kind of thing.
"We are approaching drop point two." Joker stated over the intercom. As the Normandy settled into a brief hover, Naruto took the initiative and leapt out of the ship. Both Kaidan and Jenkins were right behind him.
The minute they had hit the ground, Naruto was alert and the other two had weapons out and ready. "Ship perimeter secured, Commander!" Kaidan told him after they made a quick check.
"Right, I'm the team leader." Naruto reminded himself. He still wasn't used to the feeling. "Alright, let's move." He started moving and the other two fell in behind him. The field they were moving through was encompassed by both trees and high rocks. Several small clusters of rocks littered the field which would give them good cover if they needed it.
As they moved, they saw a couple of creatures floating nearby. "What the hell are those?" Kaidan demanded, pointing his gun at them.
"Gas Bags," Jenkins answered. "Don't worry, they're harmless." He said with a small grin directed at the biotic in the group, who returned it with a scowl.
"This place got hit hard, Commander." Nihlus told him through the comm. "Hostiles everywhere. Keep your guard up."
"Understood," He replied. "Is my clone with you?"
"Yes, he is currently following my lead."
"Good. If you find something that you think I need to see for myself, let him know. He'll know what to do."
"If you say so," The turian said before turning off the comm. Naruto heard the disbelief in his voice, so odds are he wouldn't tell the clone. But as long as the clone kept by his side, that was fine by him.
They kept to the path, ignoring the water besides them. They could hear the sounds of a battle off in the distance, so they tried to make their way there. "Oh, god," Jenkins said in horror as they passed two corpses that were burned to a crisp laying on a nearby rock.
"Must be his first time seeing a burnt body." Naruto thought to himself. While he had also taken notice of the bodies, he wasn't as horrified. He had seen one too many during the war, so he had unfortunately gotten use to the sight. "You'll have to get used to the sight, Genin." He told Jenkins shorty. "You'll probably be seeing more."
He winced slightly at the thought, but nodded his head. "Yes sir." He replied.
They passed two more dead bodies before entering another field riddled with rocks. As they moved through it, Naruto suddenly stopped. "Wait." He said, holding his hand up.
"What's wrong, Commander?" Kaidan asked him.
"I don't know. Something just doesn't feel right, it's too quiet." They should've encountered something other than just Gas Bags, but so far, nothing.
"I'll scout ahead, sir." Jenkins said, trying to make up for the bodies. Before either the blonde or the biotic could stop him, he moved forward. As he moved further through the field, three floating machines appeared from the other end and opened fire on him. He gave one last strangled shout before falling down to the ground. In Naruto's HUD, Jenkins's heart flat-lined, proclaiming his death.
As the machines turned their attention to the other two humans, they quickly dove for cover. The sound of the machines firing filled the air. While Kaidan stepped enough out of cover to return fire, Naruto pulled out a few shuriken. "Their shields are gone, sir!" Kaidan informed as he stepped back into cover. The blonde nodded, stood up, and expertly threw each of the shuriken at the machines, making them explode on impact.
They silently stepped out from behind the rocks and approached Jenkins's body. "Ripped right through his shields," Kaidan stated after he closed Jenkins's eyes. "He never had a chance."
"Damn it to Kami and back!" Naruto mentally swore. "I should've stopped him! He wouldn't be dead if I had told him to stop and wait!" While he was berating himself for the death of teammate (his first time as a team leader and he lost someone, what did that say about his capabilities?), he also knew that they couldn't spend time mourning him. "He'll get a proper burial when we're done here, Kaidan. But we have to focus." He told the biotic.
"Aye, aye, sir," He replied automatically.
They approached the other end of the field when more machines showed up. "Incoming drones!" shouted Kaidan. Due to the warning, they weren't caught off guard and were quickly able to destroy the drones. They both felt a small amount of satisfaction as they watch the machines explode.
"I've got some burned out buildings here, Naruto." Nihlus spoke through the comm. "A lot of bodies. I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up to you at the dig site." The comm beeped off before the blonde could respond.
They passed under a couple of trees before ending up on the top of a hill. Below them, they saw one of the soldiers from the transmission (the one who wore the pink and white armor) running away from drones that were firing at her. "We need to get down there now!" Naruto said as she stumbled and fell to the ground. As he and Kaidan bolted down the hill, she turned around, pulled out her pistol and opened fire on the drones, causing them to explode.
"I think she's okay, Commander." Kaidan remarked. Before Naruto could replied, their attention was distracted by a pair of humanoid robots (at least the blonde hoped they were robots) holding a human civilian over something. A white spike suddenly jutted upwards from beneath the civilian, skewing the civilian on it. Their job done, the two robots turned their attention back to the woman, who had hidden behind a cluster of rocks and held her assault rifle in hand.
Both Naruto and Kaidan reached the bottom of the hill and joined the woman behind the cluster. The robots opened fire, hoping to get hit the humans through the cluster as they slowly approached. "Kaidan, you and the lady give me some cover fire." The blonde ordered.
"What are you going to do?" He asked.
"I'm getting up close and personal." He quickly made a clone and the two charged out of the cluster and at the two robots, keeping low. Both Kaidan and the woman distracted the robots, Kaidan using his biotics, and the woman using her gun. The robots were halted by the attack. They returned fire, but didn't realize that Naruto and his clone had gotten close to them. In unison, they swept the legs out from underneath them, whipped a kunai and plunged it into the chest-piece while also using the other hand to smash the headpiece.
"Thanks for the help." The woman said as he dispelled the blonde and stood back up. "I didn't think I was going to make it. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212," She introduced herself, saluting. "You the one in charge here, sir?"
"Jōnin Naruto Uzumaki, of the Normandy," He returned the salute. "Are you wounded, Williams?"
"Naruto Uzumaki? You're kidding me, right?" She asked with a small frown. She didn't have time for someone to play games with her.
"Are you wounded, Chūnin?" He repeated in the same tone of voice, using her rank instead of her name. Even though he sounded exactly the same, something told her that if she didn't answer both promptly and correctly, bad things would happen.
"A few scrapes and burns. Nothing serious," She told him. "The others weren't so lucky."
"What happened?"
She took a deep breath. "We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit." She pointed over to the spot where they were attacked. "We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."
"You're the only one who survived?"
"We tried to double back to the beacon, but we walked straight into an ambush. As far as I know, I'm the only who survived."
"Do you have any idea about what we're fighting?" Any information he could get about the enemy was good for them.
"I think they're geth." She answered honestly. The word rang faintly in his mind, something one of his clones had read about an uprising. The book didn't have any pictures that went with it, so all he had until now was the word.
"The geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in nearly two hundred years." Kaidan protested. "So why are they here now?"
"They must've come for the beacon." She answered. "The dig site is close. Just over that rise," She pointed at said rise. "It might still be there."
"Lead the way, Ash." Naruto ordered, shortening her name. Ashley sounded like a bit of a mouthful to him and Ash sounded a lot smoother.
"Aye, aye, sir," She replied, not battering an eye at the name shortening. "The beacon is at the far end of this trench." She told them as they began making their way forward. They passed the civilian who was skewered on a spike as well as a few others. While no one said anything, they all felt a bit unnerved by them.
They entered the trench, moving from rock cluster to rock cluster, keeping cover. As they came near the other end of the trench, the dig site came into view. However, that wasn't the only thing that was coming into view. "Find cover." The blonde ordered. "My radar is saying we've got a lot of enemy signals coming our way." He told them as they duck down behind a rock cluster. Sure enough, the bullets started to fly.
"Don't worry, Commander." Ashley told him as she put her gun away. "I got this." She flashed through a few handseals and stood up. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu)!" A giant fireball spilled forth from her mouth and sailed through the geth, incinerating them. "Okay, they're all gone now." She announced after the fireball disappeared.
The two men stood up. "Wow. That's…impressive." Kaidan complemented her as he looked at the destruction in front of them. A lot of geth were burned beyond belief. It honestly looked like someone had tried to melt down a large group of metal statues and managed to get half way done.
"It's very well done." Naruto told her. "However…" His hand blurred as he pulled out a kunai and threw it underhanded at the nearby entrance to the dig site, letting it ricochet off the wall and hit the geth that was hiding on the other side. "You missed one." He remarked as the geth fell to the ground, the kunai lodged in the photoreceptor.
"Show off." Ashley muttered to herself as they entered the dig site.
"What was that?" He asked her without turning to face her, leaning down to pull out the kunai.
"Nothing," She replied. As she looked around, she frowned. "This is the dig site. The beacon was right here."
"Well, it's not here anymore." He replied sarcastically.
"I figured that one out myself." She replied with equal sarcasm. "It must have been moved."
"By who?" Kaidan asked. "Our side? Or the geth?"
"That's hard to say." She admitted. "Maybe we'll learn more after we check out the research camp."
"This spot is practically perfect for an ambush." Naruto noted as he looked around the dig site. The site was hemmed in by a ridge that climbed upwards via a natural ramp and a rock wall. There were only two entrances, the way they came in and the ridge. "Do you think anyone survived?" He asked her. If the entrances were blocked off, the chances of getting out alive didn't seem high to him.
"Maybe if they were lucky," She answered, looking around. "If I had to guess, they might try hiding in the camp. It's just on the top of this ridge. Up the ramps," She explained, pointing at the ramp.
"Lead the way." She nodded in acknowledgement and took the lead, leading them up the ramp and out of the dig site.
"Change of plans, Naruto." Nihlus told him through the comm. "There's a small space station up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."
"Right," He replied. "Also, Nihlus, the beacon has been moved. We're in the process of finding its location. I'll radio you once we've found out where it is."
"Got it," The turian replied before the comm beeped off.
As they climbed up the ramp, they saw the trail of smoke coming out of one of the buildings. "Looks like they hit the camp hard," Ashley noted as they came into view of the camp.
"It's a good place for an ambush. Keep your guard up." Kaidan warned.
Naruto didn't reply, he was too busy looking at the three spikes that had what looked to be blackened corpses skewed on them. "Ash…are those the civilians who working at the dig site?" He asked her, not taking his eyes off of the spikes.
Before she answered, one of the corpses raised its head and moaned. "They're still alive?!" The biotic among them asked in shock. The spikes retracted themselves, lowering the corpses until they were able to touch the ground themselves. They stood up, looked over at the three living humans, and rapidly approached them. Kaidan used his biotics to push them back easily, but it didn't slow them down. It just made the distance between the two groups wider.
"What have the geth done to them?" Ashley demanded as she opened fire on the corpse on the left. It went down within a few moments, like it was an inanimate object and not a former human being.
"I don't know and I don't want to have a first-hand experience!" Naruto replied as he flipped through handseals and inhaled. "Fūton: Renkūdan (Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet)!" He spat out two air bullets at the remaining corpses, taking their heads off and sending them toppling backwards.
"That's all of them, Commander." Kaidan announced.
"Spread out, see if you can find anything that indicates survivors are still around." The blonde ordered. They quickly searched the ruined camp, inspecting every part of it.
"Commander, this door is closed." Ashley announced as she stood in front of one of the two buildings still standing. "The security lock's engaged."
"Can you open it?" He asked her as he and Kaidan joined her.
"No, the code's been changed." She replied with a shake of her head.
"Let me take care of it." Kaidan said, stepping up to the lock, his omni-tool appearing. "I've got some training with hacking. Just give me a minute…and…there." He declared triumphantly as the color on the lock changed from red to green.
As the door opened, they stepped through, preparing for a fight. Instead, they found two humans inside. "Humans!" cried the woman with relief. "Thank the Sage!"
"Hurry! Close the door!" The man beside her urged Naruto. "Before they come back!"
"There's no need to worry." He assured the two of them. "We're not here to harm or kill you." While someone else might think that those two words meant the same thing, in his experience it was the complete opposite.
"Thank you. I think we'll be okay now." The woman told him.
"Wait, you're Dr. Warren, the one in charge of the excavation." Ashley said in realization. "Do you know what happened to the beacon?"
"It was moved to the spaceport this morning." The doctor answered her question. "Manuel and I stayed behind to help pack up the camp." She gestured over to the man when she said his name. "When the attack, the samurai protecting us held them off long enough for us to hide," She grew mournful at the memories. "They gave their lives to save us."
"No one is saved." Manuel told her, his voice sounding slightly unhinged. "The age of Humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain."
"Uh…is he okay?" Naruto asked her, jerking his head at her assistant.
"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit…unstable." She explained. "Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin.
"Don't I know it," He thought darkly to himself, remembering the dream he had of Orochimaru.
"Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I'm not mad. I'm the only sane one left!" Manuel continued to rant.
"I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack." Dr. Warren told the blonde in way of apology.
"That's not going to help him much." He had seen that same kind of look Manuel had on his face on many others before. It was the look of utter hopelessness people who had survived Obito's attack on their village (whether by his own doing or by someone who followed him) wore. The look said it all for them, that it was completely hopeless to try and fight against Obito, that it was like an ant trying to fight someone who could easily crush them with his foot(to which Shikamaru always had a brilliant answer for, "Have you ever seen what a swarm of angry killer ants will do to a person?"). "Will you two be safe here?" He asked Dr. Warren.
"Yes, of course we will." She answered.
"That's good to know, but just in case, I'm going to leave behind a clone." He quickly created said clone, who then stepped outside. "He'll keep an eye outside for you." He turned to face Ashley. "Can you take us to the spaceport?" He asked her.
"Yes, I can." She answered without any hesitation.
"You can't stop it. Nobody can stop it. Night is falling. The darkness of eternity," Manuel ranted.
"Hush, Manuel." Dr. Warren ordered him. "Go lie down. You'll feel better when the medication kicks in." She faced the others. "I'm sorry about all that."
"It's okay." Naruto assured her. "We'll leave now. Remember, there's a clone outside who'll protect you until more help comes. Stay inside, and keep the door closed." He walked out of the building and the other two members of his team followed. As the door closed behind them, he exchanged a nod with clone and proceeded to move to the trail that led away from both the dig site and the camp. As they moved, he pressed his finger against the comm, activating it. "Nihlus, we found Dr. Warren of the excavation team. According to her, the beacon was moved to the spaceport this morning. We're on our way there."
"Acknowledged, your clone and I will hold down and meet you there. We'll go on together to retrieve the beacon from there." Nihlus replied before disconnecting the comm. Both he and the clone were approaching the entrance to the spaceport from the forest, just a little ways ahead of Naruto and his team. As they got closer, the Spectre saw that someone was standing in the open at the entry of the spaceport. He motioned the clone to duck behind cover. They crouched behind a low wall and waited. When Nihlus was ready, he moved out of cover and lifted his gun, ready to fire. But when he saw who it was, he lowered the gun. "Saren?" He asked in surprise. The clone stood up from behind the wall and joined Nihlus.
The person in question turned around to face them. He was a turian, but he didn't have the tattoos on his face like Nihlus did and had also had a horn-like feature on each side of his face that were elongated as they extended backwards as well as on the top of his head. Probably the most obvious thing about him was the fact that his left arm wasn't even his, it was an artificial one. "Nihlus," He greeted the Spectre, his voice cool and calm. "Who is this?" He pointed at the clone.
"Jōnin Naruto Uzumaki, Spectre candidate." The cloned introduced himself, pretending to actually be Naruto. "Nihlus is observing me."
"I see. That does seem appropriate, seeing as how Nihlus believes your species has potential." He commented, making it sound like it wasn't a good thing.
"Um…thanks, I think." He looked over at Nihlus. "Who exactly is this guy?"
"This is Saren Arterius, another Spectre and my former mentor, or sensei in your language." He explained.
"So we can trust him?"
"Yes, but…" He turned to face his former mentor. "This isn't your mission, Saren. What are you doing here?" He asked as he took his supporting hand off his gun.
"The Council thought you could use some help on this one. Plus, now I want to see how the candidate behaves while on a mission." Saren answered as he walked past him, placing a brief reassuring hand on his shoulder.
The clone heard a noise over to the side. "What was that?" He asked, looking over to where the noise came from.
"Go check it out." Nihlus ordered. He nodded and began moving towards the location of the noise. "I wasn't expecting the geth here." The turian Spectre remarked as he looked around. "The situation's bad."
"Don't worry." Saren said calmly as he turned around and raised his pistol. "I've got it under control."
Codex Entry (Humanity and the Systems Alliance): THE MOUNTAIN
The landmass on Earth known as the Mountain is actually somewhat of a misdemeanor. It is not, as the name would suggest, a mountain that stands in the middle of the ocean. Rather, it is a continent where it's most dominating feature is an incredibly large mountain.
The Mountain (or Everest in the local tongue) is the Earth's largest and highest mountain. It is often said (and proven true many times) that you could walk through the entire continent and you would never lose sight of it. The land surrounding the Mountain is capable of supporting life, though the higher one goes, the less likely that'll be.
The people who hail from this continent (often call the People-from-the-Mountain, due to the fact that when outside civilization first encountered them, they didn't have a name for themselves) are usually farmers or herders. In ancient times, they would rarely travel and only if they needed to. Today, the only major city on the continent would the port city (which is called the Port by both the locals and the rest of Humanity) on the eastern shore. Most trade that comes to the continent comes from there.
The People-from-the-Mountain has had no ruling class since people started living on the continent. However, they technically live in a theocracy as they listen to the Monks-of-the-Mountain. The monks often live higher up on the mountain then the rest of the people, living in temples and monasteries. Because they usually cannot grow food from where they live, they are given food from the locals who live beneath them.
According to the monks, the Mountain is the spiritual center of the Earth. They say that a man once came to the Mountain and prayed to Kami at its base, seeking guidance. He then began to climb the Mountain, offering the same prayer every night he spent on its slopes. When he reached the peak, he fell to his knees and offered the prayer one last time. According to legend, Kami answered his last prayer and blessed him with enlightenment. He descended from the Mountain and began to spread knowledge of what he learned (See: Followers of the Enlightened Path). Years later, his followers built the first temple on the Mountain on the spot where he first prayed to Kami (to this day, it is only the temple that is at the base of the Mountain). It is said that he is buried underneath the temple and only the head priest knows where it is.
The first outsiders who to have come ashore were both from Midgard and the Frontier, about forty years after the War of Three Flags. It was a collaboration exploring mission to see if there were any more lands out there. Even though it had been a long time since the war, the Human Alliance didn't want another war like that occurring again. So they approached the Mountain in peace, which the locals received with open arms. After a few months, the People-from-the-Mountain officially joined the Human Alliance, with a special position. The Mountain was deemed neutral territory and any attacks on it would be seen as a war crime. The monks also declared that the peak was a holy place and if someone wanted to climb it, they must first receive permission from the head monk.
End
Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.
Yes, I'm bringing the dreams from the third game in earlier. I have an idea for that thing that would be around for the long run and I think I can make it work. As for Orochimaru, let's face it, he deserves to be there.
That being said, I know it's probably weird for Orochimaru to have a family, much less trying to save said family and die because of it. But the way the manga is going, it honestly looks like he's going to die on a high note trying to defeat Obito and Madara. The way I had it figured was you might as well give it to him off screen. And who else would he entrust his granddaughter to?
If people didn't like how I wrote the scenes on Eden Prime, you're going to have bear with me on this. I've never tried to write a story based on a game before (Digimon doesn't count as I was basing that one off of the anime), so it'll probably be a little while longer until I figure it out. It should become easier as I keep writing, so we'll see what happens.
I'll see you all next chapter!
