Organic being talking, "Hello."

Organic being thinking, "Whatever."

Non-Organic being / Demon talking, "Assimilation completed."

Non-Organic being / Demon thinking, "Sure."

Techniques. "Katon Goukakyuu no jutsu."

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor Mass Effect. Credits to their respective owners.

Chapter 9

After Shepard had given the idea of going to train, she remembered Jacob's words and therefore told Naruto's clone to wait a few minutes until she dealt with his problem.

Upon reaching the Communications Room, she saw Jacob and Miranda, who were talking about the "package" that Shepard had sent to pick up on her last mission.

Both were concerned, but Shepard told them that there was nothing to worry about, and if the krogan was a problem, she would throw him out the airlock.

With nothing more to say, both Cerberus' operatives withdrew, watching Naruto standing at the exit.

Both greeted him but said nothing and headed towards their respective stations, where Shepard reappeared to say, "Before going to train, I have to check the krogan. I'll wake him up."

Naruto didn't see any problem and added, "I'll follow you."

When passing through Mordin's lab, he stopped and looked at them. "Shepard, do you have a minute to talk?"

"Sure, what do you need?" She asked, standing in front of his desk.

Once Mordin heard the question, he looked at Naruto with a face of 'give me your "tissues,"' which made the immortal person smile nervously.

However, he didn't call her for that reason, so he answered, "The AI has informed me of something interesting, an unusual package that you got from your last mission."

Shepard raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "Are you worried about what might happen to you if he finds out that there is a salarian aboard the ship?" It was well how krogans regarded salarians as the architects of the Genophage.

"Incorrect. Pure interest. Would like to analyze him to see how Genophage has developed in a 'pure' krogan," he replied bluntly.

Shepard nodded and stepped back, "We'll see. First, I must make sure that he's not a danger, then you can ask him about it."

"Hmm, dangerous. It could risk my life. But it is for science. Now I must continue my research; we'll talk later." With that said, he returned to type in his console.

Shepard nodded and left along with Naruto towards a room of the engineering deck, the place where they had put the krogan's capsule.

Two people were standing guard, so Shepard told them to take a break. They both nodded and withdrew from the room; they didn't even try to contradict her as they saw Naruto behind the commander, so there was no way that her security could be in danger.

When the door had closed, they both looked at the capsule. "Well, here we go," Shepard spoke, hearing EDI saying that the subject was stable.

Shepard nodded and said that she would open the tank. EDI reminded her of Cerberus' protocol, but the blonde woman replied that she didn't care and that she would do it anyways.

She heard nothing more and pressed the tank's button, releasing the liquid that kept the enigmatic alien.

The 'demigod' stood beside her, watching the tank moving as the liquid went down.

Once it had been completely drained, the door opened abruptly, and the krogan inevitably fell to the floor.

He coughed a few times, spewing substantial amounts of the solution that had been his home since his creation.

He looked around in confusion, trying to figure out where he was.

As he analyzed the surroundings, his eyes made contact with those humans who were looking at him with interest.

He stood up slowly, showing his imposing figure as he watched these two unwary humans taking a few steps towards him to get a better look.

The krogan couldn't tolerate it; his eyes narrowed and furiously grunted as he charged toward them.

He opened both arms in an attempt to give them both a deadly embrace, however, when he tried to hug Naruto, he was stopped completely.

He couldn't advance; he couldn't move him, not even a single inch; it was as if he weighed hundreds of thousands of tons.

He grunted and strained his muscles as much as he could in an attempt to advance at least slightly.

It was useless, as the immortal blond man didn't even bat an eye. "Do you even lift, bro?" He joked, watching the krogan pushing him with all his might, almost to the point of slipping.

The krogan didn't take it very well, so he grunted repeatedly, believing that it would give him more strength.

Shepard, wanting to get to her training, decided to interrupt. "Just give up, you're not gonna make it."

The krogan stopped his great efforts, stepping back slightly to look at the blond man with blue eyes. "Human. Male... Interesting, strong, reckless. You're what they call an 'alpha male.'"

During his stay in the tank, Okeer had imprinted him with information of all kinds, and among that immense database, there was no information of human than a krogan couldn't physically overpower.

It was unusual, enigmatic, but above all, surprising. Those details were enough for the 'perfect' being to acknowledge him as a great warrior.

Naruto scratched his cheek softly, "Alpha Male, eh? Well, not bad for a first impression: I've been called worse," he chuckled as he remembered what Jack had called him.

The krogan moved closer to add, "As a human being, you seem to fit enough. For now, I won't have trouble following you." He stepped back, watching Naruto moving his hands and mouth to speak.

However, Shepard went ahead. "He's not in charge here; you'll follow my orders and nobody else's."

The krogan turned to her. "Human. Female. Fragile but rude. Why do you think you have enough to compare yourself to this human male?"

Shepard ducked her head slightly. "There's no way that I or anyone can compare to Naruto. However ..." With a small pause, she raised her head and revealed sharp eyes that surprised the analyzing krogan.

At that moment, Shepard raised her right hand, surrounding the krogan with a blue aura that raised him and crashed him into the wall. "Don't underestimate me."

Naruto whistled surprised but ultimately said "Ouch" when hearing the impact sound.

Shepard lowered her hand, watching the krogan shaking his head and standing up slowly, releasing light sounds that resembled a laugh. "Interesting, Okeer didn't give me much information about humans; I can see that you can be great warriors."

He walked toward them, almost as if the attack didn't cause him even the slightest damage. "Both of you are capable warriors. However, I won't follow anyone who faces weak enemies. If that's the case, I'll be forced to kill you."

The blondes smiled, and Shepard replied. "Don't worry about it; our enemies will be worthy, no doubt about that."

The krogan grunted and nodded slightly. "That's okay... You seem to be in charge, so I'll fight for you, as long as you show the same worth and strength." They both nodded.

"Now I need a name." He paused, looking into the eyes of the blonde woman.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy."

The krogan grunted and shook his head, "Not your name. Mine. I am trained. I know things, but the tank... Okeer couldn't implant connection. His words are hollow. Warlord, legacy, grunt... grunt. 'Grunt' was among the last. It has no meaning. It'll do... I am Grunt."

"Nice to meet you, Grunt," the blondes said at the same time.

Grunt nodded and stepped back to his tank, "As you've noticed, I'm a krogan, and as one, I just want to fight. So if I find a clan, if I find what I… I want, I will be honored to pit them eventually against you. Now leave me alone."

Not wanting to disturb him any longer, both turned and left in silence towards the elevator.

They came in, and Shepard touched the button to the hangar. When the door was closing, a hand covered with tattoos stood in the middle, which opened the gates.

They saw Jack, who entered with a smile but remained in total silence. She stood next to Naruto and looked forward, completely ignoring both individuals who were looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Well, Naruto with some nervousness.

The gate closed again, and both blondes looked forward; Shepard shrugged and decided to wait until they reached the hangar to ask the questions.

Naruto, on the other hand, looked askance at Jack, noticing a very slight, almost imperceptible, smile on her face. The next thing he noticed was that she moved her right hand and brought it toward him, more specifically, to his left buttock before pressing it hard.

"What are you doing?" Naruto mentally asked, not wanting to make a fuss and Shepard noticed what Jack was doing.

"Oh, telepathy? Well, I'm just having fun. Also, since I'm recovered, I'm willing to do it again," she answered, this time widening her smile.

Naruto sighed and mentally replied, "It's not like I have problems with doing it again. But for now, don't say anything about it."

"Heh, are you afraid of upsetting the great Commander Shepard? Don't tell me that she has you on a leash." This time, her hand moved in circles.

Jack heard laughter ringing in her head before hearing the words, "Okay, you win. Return to the hangar when everyone has gone to sleep. And please, stop touching my ass."

This time, Jack giggled, which made Shepard look at the recruit.

She saw nothing strange, just noticed that both were smiling. "It seems that both of you are already getting along. What happened?" She asked with interest.

Jack went ahead to answer, "Nothing, Shepard. The Cat Man just told me that he wasn't part of Cerberus. I came aboard with the wrong idea."

"I see, I sensed that that was one of the reasons for your cold attitude."

"I'm not a cat man. Now stop calling me that," Naruto interrupted, crossing his arms and turning his head toward her.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I don't know any other human being who has whiskers marks on his cheeks," Jack added, staring at his marks, and Shepard as well.

The door opened at that moment, and they all walked forward, hearing his answer, "Well, if you had been in contact with the same supernatural being while you were in the belly of your mother, then you would too."

"Excuses of a mutant," Jack joked, which made Naruto put a grumpy expression on his face.

However, he looked at Jack with narrowed eyes before laughing and shaking his hands. "I see, I see. But hey, we'll see who has the last laugh."

He had concluded that Jack just wanted to bother him as she had done hours earlier, perhaps so that their 'encounter' could have the same intensity.

Shepard had no idea what that meant, but she thought that Naruto planned to prank her or something like that. She decided it was safer not to ask questions.

They walked and stopped in the middle of the hangar; there she looked at Jack. "Well, why did you come here?"

Shrugging, Jack replied, "Do I need a reason?"

"No, but I think it's strange that you decided to follow us."

"Well, since I had read all I needed to know about Cerberus, I decided to take a walk in search of something... interesting." She turned her eyes slightly toward Naruto, mentally smiling. "And since I saw you walking together, I wanted to see what you were up to."

"I see... Okay, Naruto and I will train; we won't do anything else. If you want, you can stay or leave, whatever you like." With that said, Shepard began her warm-up exercises.

"Training, huh? Interesting, it'll be an excellent opportunity to see what the Cat Man can do." She heard Naruto whining at her name for him, but she just smiled and headed to the Hammerhead to lie back against it.

Naruto waited for Shepard to either finish her warm-up or ask for an explanation; it was the second one. "Well? What are we going to do?"

At that moment, Naruto changed his clothes to the ones he had worn on Thessia before starting the test.

Jack's eyes widened slightly at the sight, even though she had already seen him creating clothes out of nowhere; he did it before leaving the engineering basement. After all, he had to replace the pants he had ripped apart, although she didn't think that he could do it in that way.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, but she understood what he wanted when Naruto took a fighting stance. "I want you to show me how good you are at using your body."

The commander didn't hesitate and adopted a boxing stance. "As you wish, I just hope that you don't cheat."

"I won't... And if you can hit me, I'll do whatever you want for a week."

Shepard smiled with excitement, not because she could tell Naruto to behave sweetly to her; it hadn't even crossed her mind. The only thing she could think of was the ridiculous things she could ask him to do, perhaps making him admit that he was a Cat Man for a week.

Jack, meanwhile, spoke her mind, "Can I also try after her turn ends?"

The blondes looked at her, and Naruto replied. "Sure, if you want to do it afterward," he finished giving a very crooked smile that would have intimidated Shepard and possibly removed all the desire to participate in this training.

Jack recognized that smile as the one of a true sadist without remedy. She moved her eyes sideways and then waved her hands. "Hey, I think I'll just watch for now," she answered, and Naruto instantly looked ahead.

Jack sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. One single smile had been enough to intimidate someone of her caliber; she didn't intend to try her luck with someone who could do that with a smile only.

Shepard nodded and started with her footwork to close up on Naruto, who merely observed.

When she was near, Shepard looked at his face before throwing fast and powerful jabs. Naruto, however, dodged them by moving his head sideways.

Seeing that it didn't work, Shepard made a quick turn and tried to attack Naruto in his blind spot with a straight right. Naruto, however, had ducked his head and dodged it.

Shepard stepped back and smiled as she raised her guard. "Are you sure you're not cheating?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I'm even blocking my reflexes to normal levels."

"Okay, here I go again." She cut distance with her footwork again, and this time, she threw several cross punches, which Naruto avoided with a jump back.

Shepard didn't lose concentration and cut distance before Naruto could set foot on the floor, and she directed a jab to his face.

Jack smiled, thinking that Shepard would make contact and therefore win the bet.

Just when it seemed that Shepard would win, Naruto bent over backward, dodging the blow just as he touched the floor.

"Hey! That's cheating! Nobody moves like that in the middle of a fight!" The commander protested.

Naruto smiled and ran his thumb over his nose. "And who said that nonsense? There are no rules in a fight. Come on, stop crying and try to hit me, or perhaps you're afraid of breaking your nails?" He put on such a mocking and arrogant smile that Shepard couldn't help but grit her teeth and dash at him, completely forgetting her footwork.

However, her punches were still fast and accurate, but Naruto had begun to move as he displayed his incredible flexibility.

He bent, crouched, rolled, made several flick flack back jumps.

Seeing that last display, Shepard had given up, so she dropped her arms as she sighed. "I give up."

"So fast?" Naruto asked with a smile, standing in front of her.

"Yes, it's impossible to hit you if you move like that." She wasn't physically exhausted; mentally, she was.

She had lost the will to continue after seeing Naruto's superiority, even when he moved like an average person. She didn't want to imagine how it would if he did it seriously.

She sighed and cracked her neck to pull the slight exhaustion away, just to hear Naruto speaking. "Do you want to know what your problem is, Shepard? Do you want to know why you couldn't hit me despite all the opportunities I gave you?"

Shepard stopped and looked into his eyes, opting to remain silent. "Because you didn't use your legs."

"I don't think it would have made much difference, not with the way you moved."

Naruto moved his index finger sideways while cutting distance with the blonde woman. "You're wrong, from the waist down I was completely unprotected; I thought that you wouldn't use your legs to attack with your fighting style. So to dispel the doubts, I decided to leave large openings so you could attack me with your legs. But you completely missed them; I think you didn't even realize. "

"Okay, okay. Maybe you're right."

Naruto nodded. "Well, I want you to forget that style forever. It's good, but not right for your work or for what you aspire to. From now on, I want you to do what I'll do next. Pay close attention."

He paused, leaning slightly to spread his legs and do some stretching. "By the way, before I start, I'll tell you two things."

Shepard merely observed which the blond man caught. "First, I'll increase my speed slightly; just a little bit, I won't even be near the speed you eventually need."

The Commander nodded and spoke, "Okay, what's the other one?"

Inevitably, Naruto put that same smile he had shown Jack, and this time, both could see it, "Oh, Oh," Jack thought.

Shepard could only be suspicious but failed to ask since the Jinchūriki spoke earlier. "Do you remember when I told you that I should strengthen your body?"

Shepard stepped back slightly, not having time to show her surprise when seeing Naruto already in front of her and smiling as he continued. "Well... hang in there."

At that moment, she felt a trip, which made her lose her balance and fall back to the ground.

Shepard didn't have to recover her balance, as Naruto moved quickly and stood in the middle of her right side, moving his right fist to give her a punch to her stomach that almost sent her to the world of dreams.

Since it hadn't been enough to do so, Shepard could only spit out as she felt a powerful knee on her back that made her up.

She couldn't express the pain, as she felt a punch to her face which almost broke her jaw.

That blow sent her faster to the floor, but before she could touch it, Naruto had given her a powerful kick that sent her towards Jack's place.

The Subject Zero looked down with eyes wide open. "Damn, that guy wouldn't hesitate to beat me up. Shit, I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't get up after those blows; anyone would lose consciousness."

Her surprise was great after seeing the commander coughing noisily as she spat out some blood. That last kick had probably broken some ribs, not to mention what the previous blows had done.

Shepard gritted her teeth as she carried her hands on her aching stomach; she could feel that one of her ribs had punctured one of her lungs, and this was giving her a hard time with breathing.

She spat out more blood before looking up, just in time to see Naruto lowering his fist at her head.

She moved at the last second, listening with horror that terrifying sound that his fist had caused after making contact with the floor.

Both females looked nervously toward a perfect fist marked on the floor; it was as if someone had put his fist there when they were making the mold.

"Good reflexes," Naruto flattered, wiping the dust away from his fist.

"A-Are you crazy? *Cough* you could've killed me," Shepard criticized, with great difficulty when speaking.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and spoke with a hint of disappointment, "Is it fear that I feel? Are you going to give up?"

Shepard looked up, seeing those severe blue eyes that held a hint of disappointment in their depths.

"N-No... But ..."

"But? There are no 'buts' here. You either get up or give up. What is it going to be?" He interrupted.

"I-I... I-I..." She just wanted to curse; the pain was unbearable; not even Mendori left her so sore, Naruto was certainly on another level.

But she couldn't disappoint him; she knew he wanted her to continue. She could see the spark in his eyes when he instructed her or gave her advice to cope with her training; it was something he enjoyed.

Shepard couldn't deny that the idea of giving up crossed her mind, but she didn't want to. Not because that would mean disappointing Naruto and possibly take the shine away from his eyes, but because she would disappoint herself and would look like a coward. And no, Shepard could be whatever the people wanted, but never a coward.

With that last thought, she made an extraordinary effort to get to her feet, holding her hand over where she could feel the pulses that her punctured lung sent. "This *cough * This is not over yet."

Naruto and Kurama smiled at her determination, though it didn't mean that Naruto would go easy on her. On the contrary, the difficulty and pain would just increase.

"Let's see that, then... Raise your guard," Naruto ordered before taking a combat stance.

Shepard groaned in pain and tried to raise her fists, but as soon as she brought them up to her chin, they fell heavily back to her side.

Naruto watched her trying it again, but once again, she failed. "Get your guard up!" He exclaimed and delivered a powerful blow that broke her nose.

Although the blow had hurt her, she didn't yield to it and tried it again, but she failed once again; she almost had no energy left.

The immortal Shinobi grunted again, and this time, he gave no less than ten hits on her face and another fifteen on both sides of her body while yelling without stopping to raise her guard.

She could no longer resist and fell to her knees, covered in blood and with a quite swollen face.

If Naruto had been an ordinary person, Jack wouldn't have seen the need of intervening, but knowing that he wasn't, she approached Shepard and bent down to ask if she was okay.

The blonde woman didn't respond; there was just silence as the blood ran from her nose to her chin, and from her chin to the floor. She was barely conscious, but still, Shepard didn't want to give up.

As Jack saw that Naruto approached with the intention of continuing his attack, she moved her hands to make a stop sign. "Hey, don't you think that's enough? Shepard is barely awake. If you continue, you'll probably kill her."

"Stay away; this has nothing to do with you. You're just here to observe; step aside," he ordered with a so serene but powerful voice that it sent the 'rescuer' shivers.

Jack knew that Shepard could be anything but a weak woman for what she had heard, but after such a brutal beating, she couldn't avoid looking at Naruto with eyes of suspicion; he was overstepping with this training.

For this reason, she stood in front of Naruto. "No, it was already enou..." She couldn't finish because a force surrounded her and sent her crashing hard into the wall.

"It ends when Shepard or I say so."

Jack tried to growl and get up, but failed because her whole body felt numb; she couldn't do anything, she could only do what she had been doing from the beginning, observe.

Naruto looked down with an expression that denoted his experience as an instructor. He didn't want to see Shepard failing; therefore, he commanded, "Come on, stand up! Show me what you are made of, Shepard!"

Shepard clenched her weakened fists, which were shaking uncontrollably due to the pain and the exhaustion.

"It seems like she's not going to make it, just heal her," Kurama indicated; he wasn't concerned but believed that Shepard had had enough. One of Naruto's blow wasn't something that just anyone could resist, even if these were restricted.

Naruto shook his head. "She will; I know she can." His words denoted a lot of confidence and respect.

His lips parted, and he yelled again, "Were you deceiving me?! Didn't you want to become stronger?!"

"Yes! I want to, damn it!"

"Well, get up and show me!"

Shepard groaned and, with a moment of sheer determination, she surrounded herself with her biotic cloak, removing as much excess weight as possible to get to her feet, staggering a few times before succeeding.

Their eyes made contact, determination in Shepard's and a dangerous gleam in Naruto's.

However, Shepard didn't raise her fists yet. For some strange reason, she felt as if they were the heaviest parts of her body.

She never stopped looking into Naruto's eyes; she continued with her staring as her eyes radiated a strange glow that surprised Naruto.

He hid the smile that crossed his mind, seeing Shepard gritting her teeth while her trembling fists ascended inch by inch.

When he saw her fists at inches to her chin, the immortal blond stood in combat stance.

"Looks like you're ready for more, here I go." Naruto smiled in 'that' way before jumping to the attack.

However, his powerful fists stopped at centimeters from her face. The reason? Shepard didn't move; she had only kept her fists in front of her nose while giving that intense gaze.

Naruto smiled, sighed and lowered his fists as he bent down to lead his hands to Shepard's legs before picking her up in a bridal style.

Just then, Shepard closed her eyes as her arms fell powerless, but Naruto raised them and placed them correctly.

He could only smile as he watched her already serene expression, but hearing her erratic breaths.

He moved his right hand to her chest, and it glowed, giving her that much-needed energy.

He didn't wake her up because she had passed out, and although Naruto was healing her, that wouldn't be enough to do so.

Naruto could only look at her, especially at her fleshy lips and her soft white skin, almost to the point of getting lost in them and perhaps committing an imprudence.

He didn't want to admit it, but Shepard awoke something in him from the moment he first saw her. Her strong and determined attitude; her renegade and reckless behavior; her kindness and charisma.

Nevertheless, he didn't deign to think about those details; he merely continued his work.

As he did so, Jack could finally move; she rubbed her body and walked towards the glowing duo.

She didn't utter a word, just watched that skill restoring Shepard's features to normal.

Once the blond man had finished, he turned around and walked toward the exit, but not before saying a few words, "I hope you're not angry because I threw you into the wall."

"Well, I can't deny that I was surprised and that it hurt me, but I'm not angry. I meddled in something that I was only supposed to observe."

Naruto turned his head slightly toward her before smiling, "I appreciate your understanding. I'm doing this for her and her desire to help others; it's the only way to make her stronger."

Jack shrugged, "I understand, but hey, it seems that she failed to win the bet. I wonder what she would have asked if she succeeded."

Naruto stopped and turned his head to look at her with a half-smile. "And do you still want to try? I can come back later."

The Subject Zero swallowed, "I think I'll try it another time."

While she was nervous, that didn't mean she was afraid of Naruto. Jack just didn't want to do anything that she could to avoid.

If Shepard had failed to hit him with her fists, she would have fewer chances. Perhaps she would get some points with her biotic powers, but the deal hadn't been that. Therefore, she would avoid melee combat with Naruto as long as she could.

The clone nodded and continued walking toward the elevator as he said, "Sorry, Jack, but we'll postpone our appointment; we'll do it on another occasion. What do you say?"

Jack sighed in disappointment and walked with hurried steps to catch him up. "Well, I suppose I don't have a choice. Although it seems that the tender kitten feels something for the commander and doesn't want to leave her alone," she hinted while moving his eyebrows.

Naruto remained silent until reaching Jack's deck; Naruto said goodbye, leaving Jack, who just shrugged.

Upon entering Shepard's cabin, Naruto wandered to her bed and laid Shepard gently on it; being careful not to make sudden movements that could wake her up. He slipped her under the sheet and placed her head on the pillow.

The Uzumaki didn't know for what reason he did what he had done next; he had simply acted by instinct.

A soft and pleasant feeling of flesh against flesh, breath against breath, skin against skin.

His right hand touched her soft skin with gentleness, whereas the left one was on her neck, drawing her into a delicate but sincere kiss.

Unaware of his actions, the clone slowly stroked the face of Shepard, who despite being deep in dreams, reflected a profound joy and happiness.

He continued with the soft kiss, to the point of wanting to deepen it—which Shepard seemed to notice because her lips had split slightly.

When feeling the small opening and the warm breath that her mouth expelled, the clone became aware of his actions, which caused him to stop abruptly.

He looked at Shepard with eyes wide open before wondering what he had done. He stepped back, putting his hands over his head as he walked in circles around the cabin.

He stopped and nervously looked toward the bed, feeling relief when noticing that she was still asleep. Nonetheless, he approached the bed and sat down on it, sighing as he lowered his head. "I did something stupid. Damn it."

"Why are you complaining? It's about time. Wake her up and finish like a man what you've started."

"No, Kurama, you don't understand. Any relationship in my current situation is impossible. Damn it; I knew this would be risky; I knew it from the moment I met her."

"What did you know?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I knew that I'd fall in love with her," he admitted in defeat, finally accepting what had been refusing to analyze.

Kurama decided to remain silent; he wanted to know what Naruto would say next. He saw him looking at Shepard before getting up and approaching her, bringing his head closer.

"From the moment I saw her, and every time I had the opportunity to find out about her, I knew she was an amazing woman, and that attracted me greatly. Even so, I did my best so she wouldn't feel the same, but I realized that it had already been a little late. So I tried her to stop thinking about it. She decreased her advances after our date, but even so, her personality didn't weaken at all. "

With a small pause, he raised his head and his expression changed to a more serious one. "And that's what attracted me, and it still does. However, I can't reciprocate."

"Why?"

Naruto sighed before answering, "I can't tell you right now, it's something very personal, and while I have full confidence in you, it's something that I want to keep as a secret as long as I can. I might explain my reasons later, but for now, just accept my words."

Kurama sighed in exasperation; he didn't understand why he acted like that. If it was due to his immortality, Kurama knew he would lose it after finishing his deal with the Shinigami. Therefore, Kurama had no idea what was stopping him from rebuilding his life.

"So what will you do from now on? Will you make her hate you to stop being in love with you?"

Shaking his head, Naruto replied, "I don't want that to happen, not because I wouldn't like it, but because it would affect our friendship and maybe make my mission harder. Remember that I'm here just for Shepard; she should always be the one who is in the lead, I'm just her support. "

"I know; you want them to solve their own problems, helping each other and not only depending on you."

Naruto nodded, knelt down and brought his hand up to stroke Shepard's face. "Maybe I should erase what happened in the last few minutes from my memory; I don't wish to bother the boss."

"Oh, no! Of course not!" Kurama exclaimed, rushing out of his body in a reduced size and biting the clone before he could go through with his idea.

Both disappeared in a puff of smoke, disturbing the rest of the blonde woman, who rested on the bed.

She opened her eyes, just to see a puff of smoke vanishing into the air. She wondered what that unusual sight could be, but she recalled that only Naruto could do something like that.

She called his name a few times, but as she remembered that it was a clone, she concluded that perhaps he had already vanished.

She dismissed it, imagining that the original would send another one the next day.

She stretched her arms, put her hands to her mouth and gave a long yawn before jumping back to her bed.

Once there, she placed her hand under her pillow while thinking with a smile, "What? Why can't I put this smile away from my face? And why is my heart beating so fast?"

Those were questions that she had no way to answer, so she had no choice but to sleep again with those refreshing and positive feelings.

Notes:

End.

I did something risky in this chapter...

I had planned to write the moment that the information returned to the original at the end, but I decided to leave it for the next chapter.

As you've noticed, the chapter was rather short. I decided to make them in this way to have the fastest chapters from now on. That's the best decision, right?

Since I've mentioned the next chapter, I'll make a brief introduction with a little flashback of what Naruto is doing at Fehl Prime. Although things there won't end so soon. Then I'll return with the Commander, and a new clone will be with her.

Now, you may be thinking (I believe) that Naruto exaggerated by hitting Shepard in such way, but understand that it's the only way to make her stronger. If Naruto is soft, there won't be significant progress.

Now, the thing about the harem is virtually discarded, and Tali and Aria are on the tightrope.

By the way, I got Shepard's combat style (boxing) from one of the "fights" she had in Mass Effect 3 with a person of her crew. For those who already know it, you already know; and for those who don't, well, I don't want to give spoilers.

There is nothing more to explain.

Until the next chapter.