Ichiro Kazama was your average shinobi. He passed the Academy with average grades, rose up to the level of an average Chunnin and overall lived a mundanely average life. Even his looks were average, as he only contained short brown hair and eyes with a perfectly forgettable image.

The only thing that was really valuable about him was his book-smarts. Which were obscenely above average. However, in the world of the shinobi, book-smarts were not highly valued.

One could argue that book-smarts were much more valued in the civilian world. This is true . . .to an extent. It would be much more useful if the civilians could find a practical use for their smarts. Unfortunately, they lived in a militaristic world, where shinobi held all the money and power to do anything with said book-smarts. The only things that shinobi were known to study were ways to attack, defend and survive.

This was the main reason that the elemental countries were not as developed as they should have been. They were almost there, to be sure. Just one more advancement and their world would be on the way to an industrial age. However, constant wars and desire to create more aggressive Jutsu held them back immensely. As, in the end, the people with the power and money to advance society did not wish to.

Being such a person with book-smarts, Ichiro found that being a shinobi was the only way he would have ability to research what he desired. It was him who discovered the cave with technology lightyears ahead their own and the Box of Hell, as they had taken to calling it.

It was for this reason that he was sitting in front of the Hokage herself, explaining his new finds.

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect, it would be beneficial to have Uzumaki-san there with us. Not only could his 'memories' help us with going through this technology safely but there is a chance that we might find something to help his current mental state."

Blonde eyebrows furrowed together at the man's words. To say that Tsunade was troubled was an understatement. There was only one reason why she was even considering making Naruto go back to that cave and even then she didn't like it. Her scowl became more prominent as she remembered her conversation with Naruto a couple of days ago.

~Flashback~

Tsunade walked up to the training grounds to find a grey and orange blob viciously attacking a tree. The blob paused, allowing her to see that it was Naruto, dressed in his orange shinobi pants, but wore a simple black T-shirt with a grey zip-up sweatshirt over it. Seeing him in a different, less cheerful outfit didn't do much to help her thoughts.

The boy turned around, smiling as he waved at Tsunade. She grimaced as she noticed the tension in the smile. It was forced and obviously so. However, the fact that he was trying to act like his old self again was a small reassurance. "Naruto!" She called, beckoning for him. He shrugged and jogged up to her, sweating profusely from his training.

"What's up Baa-chan? You don't normally come out to visit." When she glared at him in confirmation, he only shrugged. "You usually send in the ANBU or a friend to summon me if you wanna talk." His bright blue eyes looked up to the sky in thought and then back to her, "Are you running away from the paperwork? How did you get past Shizune-neechan?"

Tsunade barked out a laugh. Despite his more elegant speak he was still Naruto. "Brat, I'm a ninja! And the Hokage no less! What makes you think I can't sneak past my assistant?"

Naruto gave her a deadpanned expression, "You sent her on an errand and bribed the ANBU to let you out, didn't you?"

How the hell does he know that?, She asked herself, shaking her head. "Anyway brat. I'm here to talk to you about your . . .condition. Do you think you're up for a mission?" Normally she would have had an ANBU report back to her, but that was with the knowledge of Naruto's habits. She knew next to nothing about this 'Shepard' person and even less about how he would start acting now that their personalities were essentially mixed.

Naturally, the prospect of a mission was tempting. Naruto would be jumping for joy at the prospect of one. Normally, he would at least. When his face lit up like it was his birthday, Tsunade had internally cheered. Then, he deflated. Looking as though he was thinking hard about something.

She waited patiently for him to start speaking, completely unsure of what to do with this Naruto. "Uh, actually Baa-chan . . . ." He hesitated, shifting his feel in nervousness. "I would love a mission, you know I would . . .but I was wondering if I could actually go back to that cave . . .you know, the one where they found the Box of Hell."

Tsunade wasn't surprised in the least at the question. If anything, Shepard herself probably wanted to go back to something more . . .familiar. She sighed as she realized that her plan to distract Naruto about this whole thing had failed. "I'll see what I can do. For now, take a few missions. Only D and C-rank. You're still recovering." She watched as he pouted slightly, but didn't comment. "Alright brat, I should get back before Shizune finds me, keep up the training."

Naruto's back snapped up straight, his heels clicked together as his right hand came up into a salute. The scene had shocked Tsunade to much that she nearly fell back. "W-What was that?" She shakily asked, still not getting over the strange militaristic gesture.

The blonde-haired shinobi blinked before looked down at his hands, as if pondering something very important before he shrugged, "It's a salute from Shepard's world." His answer was disconnected and far-off as several memories of completing the salute raced through his mind. "Soldiers were known to use it as a 'hello' and 'goodbye' to one another. Force of habit, you could say." Tsunade only nodded dumbly before she sauntered off to her office in a light daze.

~Flashback End~

Naruto did not act proper. He did not respect authority figures. And he sure as hell didn't salute. Tsunade felt that she was losing her little brother figure to whoever (or whatever) this Shepard was. It was even more frustrating that she had no clue how to deal with this 'Shepard'. More accurately, how to deal with this mixture of Naruto and Shepard.

Naruto was unpredictable on his worst days and unpredictably dangerous on his best. That unpredictability combined with his raw power made him a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Now it seemed that common sense, tactics and experience was added to that mix, making him even more deadly then before.

While that was a great asset to the Hidden Leaf Village, it pained Tsunade that the price was Naruto's cheerful demeanor and uplifting personality.

Which brings us back to our setting: with the painfully average Chunnin trying to convince his Hokage to borrow Naruto. Of course, said Hokage was reluctant to send her surrogate son/brother/grandson to the very cave that put him in a coma and brought him back . . .wrong.

Yet, it could also be the place that may help him with his new . . .condition. It was the only lead they had. So, with a heavy heart, she stamped the approval form to send one Naruto Uzumaki on a mission to the 'Hell's Mouth Cave'. Named after a certain box that came from it.

Four blurs raced through the forest, each carrying it's own distinct color. Black, red, white and orange, respectively. The orange blur raced in front, mindful of the blurs behind him. Excitement flooded his veins, causing him to pump a bit more Chakra then usual into his legs. He wanted —no— needed to get there as soon as possible. The side of his face twitch as a smile made it's way across his face.

He knew —oh, how he knew— that his excitement was false. It wasn't his excitement. He could care less about visiting 'Hell's Mouth Cave'. But Shepard's feelings about the place could not and would not be contained. She demanded answers and well . . .let's just say a SPECTRE, even an ex-SPECTRE could be terrifying.

The Box itself was even making the trip with them. It was safely tucked in a sealing scroll in the care of one Sharingan Kakashi. Naruto had offered to carry it, but Sakura was adamant, saying that they still had no idea what the Box could do to him. 'Nobody touch it.' Was her order. It was obeyed, even if Naruto was sure that the thing couldn't hurt him anymore.

The old mine was a few days away on foot by a civilian. By a shinobi it was roughly half a day. By a shinobi in a hurry it was five hours. Unfortunately, Naruto was in a hurry and impatient to boot, leaving his companions to have to try and catch up with him at full speed. In the end, they reached the cave in three hours with everyone's legs burning.

The cave was being guarded by two ANBU, courtesy of the Hokage, while on the inside there was a collection of scientists all hunched over different pieces of alien technology.

When Team Seven entered the room, there was an abrupt silence as several of the scientists stopped to stare at Naruto. With a disturbing amount of practice, he was able to ignore all the stares in favor of looking over the technology.

"Isn't that . . . ? Yeah it is! Oh man, it's so mangled. Garrus would have a heart attack if he ever saw . . . ." The blonde-haired shinobi started talking to himself as he looked over a piece of metal that obviously was set into the 'trash' pile.

The scientists were glancing at one another, whispering on weather or not it was the right decision to put the piece of metal aside.

". . . .Uzumaki-san?" One of the more braver scientists asked, though still obviously afraid of Naruto.

Said blonde turned toward the voice who address him with his head tilted in confusion. "Huh? Oh sorry, you probably don't want me touching anything." The shinobi placed the metal back where he found it before addressing the crowd with a huge grin. "So, what do I do?"

The scientist, a male with dark blue hair and glasses that kept slipping down his nose, answered, "We were wondering if you would look at any technology you recognize and explain to us what you can about it."

The orange-covered shinobi blinked before shrugging, "Sure," He then turned to pick up the piece of metal he previously had in his hand, "This is . . .well was . . .something called a 'Sniper Rifle'. It's a really powerful weapon that allows you to shoot far off objects. And it once belonged to a Turian named Garrus Vakarian."

Me: And, awesome. Next chapter will probably . . .most likely contain some action. Not sure yet, but it MOST LIKELY will. Anywho, I am currently sitting in Comic Production Class, waiting for something interesting to happen. Wish me luck world, cause I think I'm going crazy with boredom.