Chapter 50


It was dark, as usual. This place inside him never changed, yet it never failed to disturb him.

The shallow pool of blood-red chakra still covered the floor. Naruto trudged through it almost aimlessly. It looked like blood, but it felt as though he's trying to make his way through a thick carpet of snow. It reached no higher than his ankles, but it might as well be all the way up to his hips.

But regardless of how aimlessly he wander, there is only one place to go in this darkness, lit up only by the dim radiance of the chakra below. No matter which direction, he'd always arrive at the gigantic bars that stood resolutely between himself, and the enormous mass of raw malevolence that is the Kyubi.

The boy expected the beast to throw at him a sideways glance the moment he arrived. Instead, he only found it giving something in front of him a perplexed glare which almost seared the very air.

"What? What is it?" Naruto asked, his voice echoing through the void. But that question was quickly replaced as he followed the Kyubi's eyes, and came to lay his eyes on a tiny transparent water-bubble, which now served as the prison of the maker still inside his body. Hovering motionlessly in the air between himself and the tailed beast like it's resting on a pedestal he couldn't see. "What are you doing here?"

"Observing." the maker replied with a deeply monotonous voice. It was strange seeing it so... sedate.

The boy felt his annoyance flare up instantly, "Observing what?"

"You never noticed? … How unfair of me, asking of you what we never thought about."

"What are you talking about?"

"A rough epiphany. A strange thought."

Naruto shook his head in frustration, almost tempted to just walk over and beat some coherency into the thing, despite the potential complications such an action could invite. Was the thing growing senile or something? "You're not making any sense."

If the sealed maker reacted in any way, the boy noticed nary a thing. So transparent – it did not even distort the view to the bar behind it. "You ever thought about it, child? If there's more to this..." it rumbled with the slightest hint of anger, though not a single iota of it was directed at the boy..

"Huh? What?" Naruto wanted to go closer to pry a clear answer out of it.. but halted and looked around as his vision became blurry, a hint of him waking up. But was this a dream, then, or not?

"... than..." the orb continued regardless. Its voice deepening as the room faded away, "... meets... the... eye...?"


He nearly jumped as his eyes flew open. A quick look-about reminded him he's in the Normandy, familiar despite the vast interior changes. A sigh escaping his lips as he let himself relax again, looking over to the rest of his team.. all wearing armor, though only the regular OCA armor for now. "Phew..."

"You okay?" Hinata's gentle voice tickled pleasantly against his ears as her concerned eyes met his.

"Y-yeah.. just a little nightmare."

"Fitting, considering we're about to fly into one." Shikamaru drawled as he kept on furiously typing commands into his omni-tool, displaying great competence towards its use. "We'll be at Palaven soon. There's something big going on there."

"We haven't been gone for that long." Naruto muttered, stretching his arms with a yawn. They left the Citadel the moment the team joining Shepard for this upcoming mission had been decided... and the sets of OCA supplied by Kabuto transferred over to the Normandy. He looked to the equipment table not far away, where Temari and Tenten chattered lively over a piece of equipment. Basically a rather clumsy-looking war fan attached to the side of a M-96 Mattock. Another bizarre weapon from Tenten's weapons' factory. But Temari seemed appreciative enough with the design despite the apparent crudeness.

Basically, their team's separated into two two groups with each their objective. Naruto quickly checked his omni-tool. Not that he was skilled at it... far from it. Whenever he tried to do something, almost ninety-five percent of the time, he'd end up with a strange error screen, courtesy of a VI no less; 'Are you fucking kidding me?' due to his rabid incompetence in regard to computers. This time however was one of the remaining five percent as a roster popped up.

Anti-Reaper:

Naruto Uzumaki – Heavy assault, spearhead.

Hinata Hyuga – Heavy assault, medic.

Anti-Personnel:

Shikamaru Nara – Long-range support, tactician.

Temari – Long-range offense.

Tenten – Long-range offense.

And then there's Shepard's group.

Primarch-retrieval:

Commander John Shepard – Mission leader, Spectre.

Lieutenant-Commander Ashley Williams.

Javik.

Yeah, it did not take long for the Council to fully restore Shepard's Spectre credentials, which they revoked in the wake of the earlier Bahak incident. That confirmation came right after the Normandy's departure from the Citadel.

"There.. got through." the Nara blurted out with a tiny grin of triumph, "Guys, you may want to take a look at this..."

"Huh, what is it?" Temari asked as she and the rest quickly gathered in a circle around Shikamaru. The suna-nin stood behind the boy while the other girl leaned down and placed a hand on his shoulder. Hinata and Naruto himself edged in closer up front as the appointed leader of their team worked to bring something up.

"News coverage. Take a loot at this, it's what's going on right now where we are headed." Shikamaru's omni-tool opened up, allowing a holographic bubble to spawn above it, displaying a massive battle taking place in orbit between Palaven, and its vital moon, Menae. The view – filled by a swarm of what seemed like hundreds of turian cruisers along with swarms of frigates arranged in a series of flawlessly executed formations, with an even greater number of fighters darting towards the comparatively tiny number of reapers on the other side.

"Nice." the suna-nin whistled, leaning down for a closer look as the fleet unleashed another destructive volley against the enemy that dared to invade the space around the turians' home world. But to her disappointment, many of the shots were clean misses against what should have been easy targets.

"Oh, come on..." Tenten hissed, "What's with that accuracy?"

"What gives, Shikamaru?" Naruto looked to the Nara for answers.

Shikamaru shrugged, and opened a window on his omni-tool, as if to check something. The Uzumaki found himself admiring the Nara's mastery of the strange device. "What a drag.. Okay. The reason is that warfare plays a heavy focus on maintaining formation when fighting large-scale battles involving any larger number of ships." he explained as he read through a codex entry, "If they don't do that, it greatly increases the chance for collisions and unintentional fratricide. This way, many shots miss – but only enemy craft gets hit. Not counting collateral damage."

"So, individualism is frowned upon in space battles then." Temari asked while her mind digested the information.

"Individualism's valued in small-scale fights. Just as collectivism's valued in large-scale ones, more like." Shikamaru clarified.. "Though, that's just personal observation. In the end, it's not in our place to criticize. These aliens have many past experiences to draw upon. We are still novices at space combat by comparison."

"D-don't sell yourself short, Shikamaru.." Hinata offered a word, "You did well during the battle at the collector base."

"So where do we come in?" Temari shot in.

The Nara looked to the girls with a frown, "We won't be following Shepard all the way." he opened up another image, showing the gargantuan form of a reaper dreadnought on Menea's surface, seen from above. "This – is our target. Our entire mission revolves around bringing that thing down, or at least damage it enough for the turians to finish it off. That said, don't be too reckless – and I'm looking at you particularly, Naruto." giving the other boy a glare, "A stunt like the one at Huygens dome, we can do without. Alright?"

"Never going to live it down, are you?" Naruto asked in slight indignation.

"It's to make sure you know the dangers involved. A moment of stupidity on your side here – no matter how righteous your cause might be – could get us all killed." Shikamaru told him sternly.

The other boy fumed, "Y-yes."

"Good. Now we're just waiting for Shepard and whoever he'll bring along – Oh, speak of the devil, and lo..." gesturing to the elevator as it opened, revealing Shepard with Javik and that woman Ashley flanking him from behind. Around them the hangar burst into activity as weapons were loaded onto the shuttle, with that muscular guy James Vega carrying the brunt of the effort. With his help the preparations were done away with quickly before Shepard could even reach the shuttle himself. One other guy, Cortez climbing on board to act as its pilot.

The commander and Ashley both wore OCA, while Javik on the other hand didn't. For all their modularity, the suits did not have the configuration to suit up a prothean.

"Ready to go?" Shepard asked the moment he walked past the teens.

"We were just waiting for you." Shikamaru drawled lazily as he picked himself up, "Okay bums, let's hit the road."

"Could that possibly sound any lazier?" Naruto complained.

"What am I, Might Guy? Get moving. Go go go..."

"Shikamaru Nara, the last one to expect a decent pep talk from." Temari huffed as she climbed into the shuttle, the other girl of their group giving a hearty laugh of agreement to that. The Nara was quick to give them both a mild-mannered bonk on the head for that.

All the grown ups in the hangar watched them go at it. Many completely unsure whether or not it's be a good idea letting them tag along to a war zone, despite what they've seen up till now. It was like watching a bunch of college students heading out to play a game of football.


"The strongest military in the galaxy, and the reapers are obliterating it."

"So they're leaning their weight mostly against those they recognize as threats." Shikamaru said as Shepard and the others watched the still ongoing fleet-engagement. "No lack of savviness there." the boy already knew just how bad the situation was and did not bother with a second look. Instead, he went over to the window on the port-side of the shuttle, peering down at the largely barren surface below them. Though far from lifeless if one actually counts the flocks of husks as such.

They appeared to be pouring out of a crevice, which stretched and zigzagged all the way into the distance.. coincidental or not – towards the massive squid-like ship stomping across in the horizon, surrounded by the dancing lights. "Open the hatch." the Nara finally decided, "We'll drop down and work our way from here." his comrades did not waste time in getting off the cabin seats, all gathering around him.

"What, you kidding?" Cortez blurted out from the cockpit, "It's hell down there!"

"And we're here to clean it up..." Temari said impatiently, gripping her newly crafted weapon tightly, eager to try it out; "...so, open the hatch."

"Do it." Shepard told Cortez, who held up his hands in resignation before opening it with the press of a button. Javik seemed like he was just about to follow the kalinin out of the craft when Shepard in turn placed a hand on the alien's shoulder, "I know you're curious, but we got our own job to do."

"I know all too well." Javik replied, passively watching as the youngsters all leaped out one by one.

Shikamaru threw himself out last. He could only dimly hear the sigh caused by the shuttle closing the hatch above, his attention drawn to the view below. The fall only lasted for a couple of seconds before he hit the ground, the impact kicking up a small cloud of dust and gravel. With a quiet huff, the Nara brushed the cloud away and ventured to see how the others are doing.. "Everyone alright?"

A series of acknowledgments promptly arrived at his ears. The only one close to his position being Temari just ahead. While the rest moved in to regroup at their position. Hinata and Tenten appearing from the immediate left.. Naruto came last, as he had to climb a cliff to get here. "Phew.. nearly fell into the crevice."

"Okay." Shikamaru went straight to the point. "We cut through from here. Naruto and Hinata take point, mind any brute you see. The rest of us will cover the flanks and rear." he stopped to groan at a clamor erupting from nearby... like hundreds of tortured wails, "And would anyone please take care of that noise?"

The noise basically being the cries and howls from husks approaching them like a horde of undead. Stumbling forward while waving their clawed hands into thin air much like zombies as well. This was Temari's first time seeing the creatures up close, and was clearly disgusted.. and more than eager to deal with them accordingly. The suna-nin fully unfolded her new giant fan with a single graceful stroke and gripped the butt of the Mattock attached to it, moved to the front of the group and braced herself as she brought the fan to bear while channeling her chakra through it. "Wind release: Cast net!"

With the resulting wave, a series of narrow wind-currents were created and launched at the husks charging their position. The resulting net of cutting winds sliced clean through the closest smattering of husks and knocked away the rest behind those. And the girl was generous enough to try again, finishing the rest off with another net of wind.

"Nice, totally awesome!" Naruto chimed in over seeing such delicate control of wind release.

But Temari ignored him as she came around to regard Tenten, "Hey, what's with this? Can't channel my chakra through it very well at all!"

The brunette growled at the complaint, "What else did you expect? You know how hard it is to find decent chakra-conducting materials in this day and age?"

"Stow your bantering for later." Shikamaru nearly barked at the two, "Right now, we got a mission to complete."

Hinata seemed to be ahead of them at that, already covered by a thin demon cloak as she readied herself. "Ready when you are..." with Naruto following up with the same level of preparation immediately afterward.

"Then go. We're wasting time here." the Nara told them and waved towards the – seemingly – closest reaper even as more husks spilled out around them. "Everyone, move out!"

All the others blurred into motion, the surrounding landscape quickly being torn up as the husks, ill-prepared for an attack by kalinin, were steadily cut down by the opposition. Shikamaru on the other hand remained standing there – not budging an inch as he craned his neck to look upon Palaven. It looked so close, it seemed like the moon was going to ram it at any moment.

Then there's the fires. The horrible firestorms spreading across the surface, set to swallow an entire continent whole. How many people have died so far in this siege? How many are dying right now? Was this how their own world looked like?

The boy ducked as a few bullets passed over his head, but no further. A bunch of Cannibals had decided to join the fray, only to be beset by Naruto, drawing their fire. Hinata faced down a brute and pressed a palm against its abdomen as it tried to charge her, but did not realize it was dead before its midsection crashed into and rolled along the ground, more than twenty feet behind the rest of the body, courtesy of Hinata's vacuum palm. Combined with the powers of the Sanbi, her gentle fist had become truly frightening. If she could do something like that to such monsters.. He did not even want to think what she could do to follow organics if she put her mind to it.

Soon, with most of the husks destroyed, he gave the signal for the rest to leave the remaining few alone so they could get a move on. The Nara leaped ahead, the rest following suit. He spared one last glance at Palaven as he landed by the crevice, and kicked a husk that happened to appear right then off the cliff and into the shadowed depths below.

For the faintest moment as foul memories crawled under his skin, he wished Asuma was still around.


It did not take them long to get into the makeshift turian fort after disembarking from the shuttle. Cortez did not take any chances though and lifted off right away. Since they dropped off the kalinin team, the number of husks coming at the fort from the east had been cut down sharply.

"Hold your fire, friendly inbound!" a turian atop the barricade ahead cried out to his comrades before hurrying to open it up so Shepard and the others could enter, closing it shut once they came inside.

None of the soldiers took this silence for granted, instead befuddled over the absence of enemy targets. No one dared to think of the possibility that the enemy had run out of troopers to throw at them after the last several days. It felt like a calm heralding the worst storm yet. "Where are those things?"

"This reeks of trouble..." another grunted, gripping his turret-controls tightly.

"The waves will restart soon." Shepard shouted, to make sure those atop the walls heard.. "They're just preoccupied with something else right now." only moving on once he got the answer:

"Yeah? Unless their preoccupied with dying, it sure doesn't help us much now, does it?"

"Ah, they're dying alright. Tons of 'em." the commander hollered over his shoulder, he and the rest now moving into the camp proper. Dozens of turians could be seen either manning the perimeter walls, barricades and various stations, or rushing here and there with weapons and equipment. Soldiers, combat engineers.. and even a pair of Orocca troopers throwing fireballs from the top of a distant wall while a nearby engineer struggled to repair a damaged turret. Several fighters sped past them above, trying to stay under the enemy radar.. to the point they nearly gave the ground a haircut.

Ashley did not say much as she followed the commander closer to the command post. Javik however seemed to watch the view with great familiarity, having seen this kind of situation many times before, but nevertheless watched the turians going at it with great solemnity.

They made their way through until someone stepped out of the crowd, one very familiar-looking turian; "Shepard, is that you?"

Shepard's eyed widened in surprise as he recognized the old friend, "Garrus. I did not expect to find you here!" quite glad to see yet another friendly face in all this misery.

"I could say the same." the turian chuckled, nodding in Ashley's general direction, "Williams, good to see you."

And she in turn nodded in return, "Good to see you too."

"And who's this? New friend of yours?" this time gesturing at Javik.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, it seemed the broadcast hadn't reached everywhere, but in these conditions he came to think of himself as foolish for thinking otherwise. "His name's Javik, he's a prothean."

Garrus was silent for a moment as he took that in.. "A prothean?"

"Yes."

"A real breathing prothean?"

"That's right."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Really!"

"Really..." Javik said, rubbing his head as if a headache's brewing.

The turian raised his shoulders, "Damn, Shepard. Your recruitment-capabilities are insane. How many souls did you sell to pull that one out of hell's embrace? Professional soldiers, all sorts of misfits, aliens with superpowers and even Legion, a geth.. And now, this. Gunning for a sympathetic reaper next time, all for the sake of completeness? "

Shepard echoed the movement, "Maybe next week." he and the rest reflexively ducking as another group of fighters rushed past overhead. "But right now, I need to see the General."

"Right this way." Garrus gestured for them to follow. With the old friend's guidance, it did not take them long to get where the general's standing, within a nearby makeshift bunker, leaning over a map while dishing out orders to a few nearby officers.

"General Corinthus?" Shepard stepped forward and asked the moment the last officer had gotten his orders and left.

"Shepard." the withered turian's eyes did not leave the map at all. "I suppose you're the reason there's a lull in the eastern flank..."

"Not me." the commander replied, "We airdropped a team of kalinin some distance away from the base."

That got some of his attention, "Kalinin you say? I did not expect them to return and lend a hand so soon. So where are they headed now?" Corinthus did not waste any time.

Shepard was more interested in asking about the Primarch, but decided to answer; "They're heading for the reaper up north."

The general glanced at the enormous reaper stomping about so eerily silently in the far distance. "That reaper...?"

"Yes."

Corinthus tapped a thoughtful finger against the map.. "Garrus Vakarian?"

"Yes?" Garrus straightened on the spot.

"Send a message to camp twenty through twenty-three, tell them there may be kalinin heading their way and get them to try and link up with them."

"Almost sounds like you've got a plan in store." Shepard half-asked.

"As a matter of fact, we do. But we've lacked the manpower to pull it off after yesterday's waves. We'll miss the deadline if this delay continues."

"I'm sure they can lend a hand. But the main reason we're here is to find and extract Primarch Fedorian. Where is he?"

Corinthus' solid glare faltered, frowning as he looked to Shepard... and answered with a strained voice; "He's dead."


"Everything's ready?" Kisame asked impatiently as he glared into the distance of this seemingly endless plain of grass and scarce bushes. "Can we get this started?"

"Not too quick, Nagato... are there any nearby settlements we've overlooked?" A asked, the muscled raikage stood there like a statue, his gaze more focused on the clear sky. "Temporary or otherwise?"

"There is nothing to worry about, A." Nagato replied as he approached them after a tour around the area with the shuttle, and made sure to park it far away from this designated spot before coming over, "I've looked. Checked it, and double-checked it. We're in the green."

Onoki sat on the ground, rather annoyed by all the precautions being taken. Understandable concerning what they are about to embark on, but annoying anyway. His eyes on the five urns and kettles lying within the reinforced box next to him, each acting as the container of a tailed beast.

While several of their youngsters are out there playing war, the rest worked to find a suitable place for the transfer. Finding one proved to be easy thanks to the human Admiral Hackett, who they managed to contact thanks to Shepard.

This planet was located far away from the front line, and is sparsely populated. So the threat of reapers coming by was minimal...

The aging tsuchikage reached out a hand, "The first one."

Nagato came closer and plucked a pearl-white circular box the size of a platter from the inside of his cloak and handed it over.

Onoki accepted it and spent a moment trading the surprisingly light-weight container between his hands, his eyes wary. It looked so fragile he almost expected it to fall apart in his very hands. One of the containers belonging to the special armor brought by that little lass Tayuya. The Jinchuriki armor, or JCA they now referred to it as for convenience.

"So, shall we get started?" Kisame asked, sounding even more impatient. The guy was really getting into the job of taking care of the Lance's engine room.

"Yes, we will now.." the old man grumpily replied, putting down the box and retrieving one of the urns in turn. The plan would sound simple to most people in the galaxy, but it isn't. Stage one: Free the tailed beasts. Stage two: Subdue them. Then finally; Stage three: Reseal them inside the JCA containers. "Be ready, all of you. I'm about to release the Ichibi." he quickly jotted down symbols on the ground, essential for the release ceremony. Once done, he placed the urn firmly in the middle. The tiny object oozed chakra right away.

A scowled at the restlessness it seemed to radiate. The one-tails writhed invisibly within the tiny object on the ground. Clearly excited by the prospect of what looked like certain freedom.

Onoki deepened his mind in concentration as he put his hands together. It was almost like a form of meditation, only with a maelstrom of chaos deep within, both isolated and surrounded by an ocean of calm. Essentially the relationship between the Biju and the object it's sealed within. The old man focused his chakra, and with utmost focus began to peel away the seal.

The others watched tensely as the urn began to tremble, with a ghostly laugh echoing from it, like it came from a hall at the end of a nearly endless corridor. A sensation of drunken malice spilling out as the seal pulsed with energy.

And with a blink, the old man opened his eyes. The urn was ready to burst.. "Here we go..."


Author notes: 50th chapter! To think that early on before I started writing, I thought I'd be able to wrap this story up in ten to twenty chapters. But now I'm at the 50th chapter, and it's still far from over. Plenty and a million thanks for the support so far.