Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mass Effect.

Misplaced

Chapter 51: That's not supposed to be here

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Bijū/VI/Geth/Reaper talking"

"Bijū/VI/Geth/Reaper thinking"

Reading/News/Intercom

(Location: the Normandy)

As Miranda slowly woke up, she felt a little sore but also relaxed and absolutely fantastic. She lay against the bedsheet, completely content. One of her legs was tangled up in the sheets but she didn't care at that moment. She felt warm and safe. It felt like she could stay in that little bubble of warmth for the rest of her life.

She felt the warmth move a little and heard a slight sleepy moan too. "What was that?" she asked herself. She opened her eyes and saw that Ruko was all but burrowed into her side and with her head resting on her chest like a pillow. They had their arms looped around the other's body and it felt right. She also noticed that the both of them were completely naked and still in the Commander's private quarters.

For a moment Miranda wondered what the hell had happened. Then she remembered what happened after the Commander had locked them in here. First the two of them had tried to go for sullen silence and staying away from each other. Ruko was the first one to crack, walking over to her and saying that they might as well talk. She had replied that she had nothing to say to her.

It went downhill from there. First it was arguing, and then it was followed by insulting one another, then shouting. As the fight went on, Miranda found herself getting more and more frustrated and angry with the blonde clone. When they had started shouting about everything that was wrong with the other, her temper had snapped. She called Ruko a maddened dog that rampaged around wherever she liked and not giving a damn about the destruction she caused or the deaths that she left behind.

Ruko looked absolutely furious when those words were spoken. She stood before her and her body trembled with rage. Miranda could see the rage and still going strong on her anger, riding it like a surfer would a wave, dared the blonde to use her biotics or her gun to put her down. "If you do that," she had said, "Then you'll just be proving me right as to how much of a mad dog you are."

Ruko did a surprising thing that she hadn't really been expecting, leaping at her and grabbing her by the front of her jumpsuit. Her fist arched back as she screamed, "That's all I knew how to do!"

As the fist had come towards her, Miranda had felt a moment of panic. "She's actually going do it." Ruko actually looked like she was going to punch her. But the punch swung right past her and hit the wall with a loud thud! For a second, she didn't know what had happened. Then she turned her eyes and saw that the fist was right there against the wall.

She looked back at the blonde and had seen that she was trembling. "I'm trying to be different," she said in a voice that had managed to sound both loud but also quiet at the same time. "I'm trying to be something else than just a mad dog. We can all change. That's what I'm trying to do." She looked at her. "Damn it, why can't you do the same?"

Miranda stared at her, unable to answer. There was another question that hung in the air, one that she had asked without saying the words. "Why can't you just love me?" The brunette had looked at her for the longest time, unable to answer either question. Then she noticed, with a little bit of a shock, that there were tears beginning to form in the blonde's eyes. That was when she realized the impact of what Ruko had said. She portrayed herself to be a tough hardass who could scare other people away just by glaring at them. And yet, there she had been, baring herself before Miranda, all but confessing, and revealing that she was scared that she would say no.

It was probably that what compelled her to lean forward and kiss her on the lips. It was a hesitant kiss, even more so when Ruko looked surprised at the contact. For a moment, Miranda had thought that she had been wrong. But then the surprise was gone and she returned the kiss fervently. Her hands started to grasp at her clothes and she took hold of her hips. She didn't remember when they had gotten to the bed, but she was certain the first round of sex had been on the chair in the office.

And now, she was naked, in bed, and with the woman she had slept with the night before. And she wasn't sure how to go from there. Whenever she had sex with someone, if she needed the relief, she would generally leave the next morning. It was something that was routine for her. No note, no breakfast after. Sometimes she didn't even wait for the morning. That had been the way she preferred it. There was no need for emotions or bonding. She didn't need them. It could've been used against her.

But something was different now. She was in bed with the woman that, despite both her silent and vocal protests, she had somehow fallen for. It shouldn't have made sense or even worked. Ruko was loud, arrogant, vulgar, too open-handed with her biotics and her gun, ready to snap at anyone that even sounded stupid in her presence, and just acted like she was fury incarnate.

But even as she listed those things off, the brunette knew that they weren't exactly true anymore. She was beginning to calm down and think things through the heat of battle. She kept an eye out for her teammates, pulling them out of the fire if things got too close (even though she would yell at them for either then or later). If she tried to think of the blonde as just a mad dog who bit any hand that came close to her, all she had to do was remember how she interacted with the Commander. They acted like family.

She looked at Ruko, still sleeping against her chest. Deep inside her, a fear began to grow. She shouldn't be doing this. It would get her into danger, probably something that would finally get her killed. Emotion was a weakness that she couldn't afford. She had to get away. She had to get away that last night was just a one-off. Yes, that's what she needed to do. She had to get out of the cabin.

She unclasped her hands and tried to move herself out from under Ruko. She couldn't just shove her off, that would wake her up and it would lead to an awkward morning after. She knew that it would happen and wanted to avoid it at all cost. But the second she started pushing the blonde off, she just tightened her grip on her. "Oh really now!" she thought in irritated despair. But before she could mentally complain any further, Ruko made a sleepy sound that was scared and distressed.

All it took was hearing that sound to make Miranda stop moving. She looked back down at Ruko, seeing the small panicked look that was forming on her still sleeping face. She also saw the look of silent pleading she had last night after the punch was thrown. Her heart melted again. She couldn't pull herself away. "Damn you, Ruko," she cursed, but it was without any heat.

She brought her arm back around the blonde's back in a half hug. "Don't worry," she whispered as she pulled the woman a little closer. "I'm still here." The worried look disappeared and the blonde looked content. She snuggled in close, her head now resting at her neck. Miranda snuck a kiss onto her forehead and got a pleased sound in response. With her free hand, she played with her locks. Ruko's hair was still a mess of a pixie cut, but it had grown long enough for her to weave her fingers through it. They lay there, on that bed. The rest of the galaxy didn't exist in that moment. There, she felt content, warmth, and safety.

WHAM!

WHAM!

The sudden banging on the door shocked them both out of that bubble and away from each other. Miranda almost leapt out of the bed at it and had to remind herself that they weren't under attack, stopping the instinctive biotics before they actually formed. From the other side of the bed, she heard Ruko grumble, "The fuck you say?"

"My sentiments exactly," she thought to herself.

Before either of them could call out, the person who had banged on the door spoke first. "Are you guys awake?"

Both women shared a quick look of panic. It was the commander. It was the commander whose private cabin they had slept with each other. "This is not good." But while she was inwardly nervous, she let her voice project her normal coolness. "What makes you think that we fell asleep, Commander?" she called back.

"You were in there all night and most of the morning. I hardly think that you spent all that time fighting with each other."

"That we didn't," she thought to herself, a small smile almost coming to her lips.

"Have you guys figured it all out?"

That was certainly one way of looking at it. "Yes."

"Did you tear up the place in the process?"

She looked around at the cabin for the first time since last night. The commander wasn't much of a person to have things laying around on surfaces. But what he did have had been strewn across the floor wherever she and Ruko had been, trying to get to the bed. The blonde's shirt and her jumpsuit were on the couch and she faintly remembered spending twenty minutes before tossing a naked Ruko onto the bed. "It's not too bad," she finally replied. It was the closest to the truth that she would let it come. "It's nothing a quick cleanup will be able to fix." The smell on the other hand would be difficult to explain away.

"Alright, get out of there and come down to the conference room. We got a mission to do."

She waited until she couldn't hear his footsteps any more before daring to move from the side of the bed. She walked a little gingerly towards the bathroom. If the two of them were going to present themselves like they didn't have sex the night before, they were going to have to get cleaned up. "I'll go first," she said to Ruko without looking back at her.

The bathroom door opened and there stood the shower head. She reached out for the switch, turned on, and shuddered in relief as the hot water started falling down on her. It was invigorating and it felt like she was waking up all over again. "Oh good god, this feels great," she said inside her own head, standing underneath the water.

But then she felt an arm snake around her shoulder and a kiss on her neck, a kiss that sent shivers down her spine. "And just where did you think you were going?" Ruko asked in a husky purr right behind her.

Her body quivered, wanting to see where the kiss would lead. But she knew where it would lead and they didn't have time for it. "Ruko," she started to say, only to get turned around so that they were face to face. Ruko kissed her again, harder and stronger this time. Her hands went to her hips on instinct, pulling her closer. The blonde agreed with a hungry growl. She brought her hand down, trailing Miranda's wet glistening skin with a light touch of her fingers. When they reached what she had been looking for, she found her hot and wet (and it wasn't from the shower either).

As the first wave of pleasure overflowed Miranda, she distantly remembered something about having to get out of the room. "We'll just have to make this quick," she told herself with the last vestiges of her control. Once that was gone, she let a moan that echoed in the water and the room. She grabbed the other woman by her hair, letting her fingers thread their way through those locks, and held her there. She didn't protest.


"Oh Kami have mercy," Isobu said when Miranda and Ruko finally walked into the conference room. "Look at them. They're practically glowing!"

Naruto could see that. He could also see how close they were to each other as they walked up to the table. There was also that little smile on their lips, like they found something that amused them both. It took them a second to separate once they reached the table, moving so they were standing on opposite sides. "You think they did that so they could keep looking at each other?" Son asked.

"I don't think that either of them is that vain," Naruto replied.

"You never know. Sex can be quite the changer."

"And would a four-tailed gorilla in my head know about sex, how?"

"By watching you, of course," he replied instantly but with a victorious look on his face. "We both know that you've become quite kinky in your bedroom fun time."

"He's got you there," Saiken agreed with a nod of his head.

"Can we please just get back to the point on hand already?" Kurama asked, getting a little annoyed. "And stop looking so damn smug, Shukaku!"

"Why should I?" the tanuki asked. The look on his face just screamed how pleased and smug he was at that moment. "I believe that I have the right to be smug, since I was proven right once again."

"You want the right to be pounded into a sandy pulp? I can give you that."

"Guys, knock it off," Naruto told them both. "And Son, never call it that again. That just sounded wrong." The blonde looked at both his XO and his sister. "So, are you guys going to keep fighting now?"

"Didn't you already ask that question?" Ruko asked back.

"I asked if you figured it all out. You can still keep fighting even if you figured it out."

"Ah, don't worry about it," she said waving it off with a careless hand.

Miranda nodded in agreement. "We've sorted out our differences, Commander."

"I'll bet," Shukaku said with a shit-eating grin.

"Hush you." He looked at the others but they didn't say anything or even smirk. He was glad to see it. For a moment, he thought that his warning would be ignored. "Again, glad to hear," he told the two of them. "Now, let's get down to brass tacks. I had a talk with the Illusive Man last night."

"Oh goody," Garrus muttered openly.

Miranda gave him a sour look but Naruto kept on talking. "Trust me, Garrus. I had the exact same sentiment. But I had to talk to him to figure out what the hell happened on Horizon. He revealed to me what the Collectors were and what they were doing in the galaxy. He also told me that they are connected to the Reapers, somehow."

"And you believe him?" Erik asked.

He nodded. "I do."

"You've gotta be shitting me," Zaeed grumbled. "I mean, Reapers? Really?" he asked.

The blonde shinobi gave him a long look. "Say that after you've tangled with one of them, I dare you."

"Can't say I've done that," he retorted.

"There's a good chance you're going to before long. Now," he said as he turned his attention back to the rest of the table, "because of this information, our goals have changed. We can forget the shadow war with the Tribe. We're going after the Collectors."

Miranda was a little surprised by that declaration. She would've thought that they would still be on the Tribe for a little while longer. But instead of asking him if he had gotten approval from the Illusive Man, she asked a different question. "Do you think that you're strong enough to go after them?"

He looked over at her and he knew that there was some surprise in his eyes. She didn't say anything when she saw the surprise, keeping it professional. "If I'm not, I'm going to have to get there fast," he finally said. "We still got some ways to figure out getting through the inhibitors."

"Why didn't we just snag the doctor from Horizon?" Musashi asked.

"Wouldn't have worked," Kasumi replied. "She was already in Council hands and we couldn't take the time to get before we got out there."

"There's also going to be a problem about going after the Collectors," Jacob said. "We've been getting reports from teams out on the field. The Collectors somehow are able to follow Commander Uzumaki's chakra signature like dogs following blood. So far, there have been decoys giving them the run around but if we go after them ourselves, they'll be able to find us."

"Thank you, Jacob. I was already aware of that," Naruto told him. "And it's not going to be as big a problem as you might think."

He eyed his commanding officer. "It's not."

"No. After the talk with the Illusive Man, I went to the lab and talked to Mordin. He thinks he could come up with something that would be able to mask my signature and hide us from the Collectors."

"Wait, he thinks?" Garrus asked, looking at the blonde. The salarian was a scientist. Sure, they did a lot of thinking but Mordin always seemed to be confident about his skills.

"I gave him the night," Naruto replied like that was the answer to everything. He looked over at the salarian. "You come up with anything, Mordin?"

"Yes," he answered. "Initial question proved easy after giving additional thought. Solution staring at me entire time." He frowned. "Actually disappointed for not realizing it sooner. Must be slipping."

"Guilt trip later, Mordin. What do you have?"

"Quite simple. Since signature is trackable, simply get rid of signature."

There was a pregnant pause as they all looked at him. They weren't quite sure what he was trying to say, since his whole speech pattern was more than odd. "That's what we're trying to do, lizard brain," Ruko finally said. "I thought you were supposed to be smart." From where she stood, she could reach out and thump him on the head. Maybe doing that would give his brain the jolt it needed to work probably.

Naruto, on the other hand, came to a different conclusion. "Mordin, you're not suggesting that I voluntarily lose my chakra, are you?"

"What? No! Would defeat purpose," Mordin replied, actually sounded offended that he would say such a thing.

He breathed in relief. He was worried there for a moment. "I was half-afraid I was going have to string him up and hang from the rafters as an example," he thought to himself. "Okay, then what are you suggesting?"

"Jacob's description best fits explanation of solution. If Collectors are tracking by smell, remove smell. Simple."

"You say that, but I'm not hearing any details about what you're going to do exactly," Garrus pointed out to him. He was still waiting for the answer that would prevent the Collectors from pouncing on them like a predator on prey.

"Also simple. Will adapt vaccine for Seeker Swarms to act as muffler to commander's chakra. Should work."

"Should?" Grunt asked in a warning growl as he stared warningly at the salarian doctor.

Naruto whipped his head to look at his student. "Grunt, calm down, now," he ordered instantly. The krogan stopped growling but continued to give Mordin a suspicious look.

"While not as growly as him," Garrus said, pointing a talon at Grunt, "I share the sentiment. If the Collectors are coming after Naruto, we're going to need a lot more than just should."

"Won't be able to give should now. Modifying vaccine as we speak. Still experimental. Won't know if it will work until tested in field."

"Will it be ready by the time we get to our destination?" Naruto asked him.

"Most likely."

"I'll take it." He looked at the rest of the team and said, "The Illusive Man believes that the team needs to have more members on the team. He has sent me three more dossiers for potential teammates. We'll be discarding one of them."

"Why's that?" Jacob asked him. He would've thought that getting all the people they could on the team.

"It's Samara. I've already talked to her about it. She's agreed to the sentiment."

"Commander, why have you left Samara out?" Miranda asked.

"Because I brought her onto the ship for one thing and I would've been coercing her into doing something else. It just doesn't sit right with me."

"We could always use more biotics on the team."

He gave her a look. "You don't trust who we've already got?" She frowned slightly and looked over at Ruko. "Ruko is being trained by Samara. So her skills are becoming more honed and dangerous. I think we're going to be fine."

"…As you say, Commander," she finally conceded. "So who are we going to get first?"

"I don't know. We're putting this on the backburner for while we go to Tuchanka."

With exception of Grunt, everyone turned their heads to look at him in utter surprise. "Tuchanka?" repeated Musashi. "Why are we going to Tuchanka?"

"Because of Grunt," he answered, gesturing at his student. "Something's going on with him and I need to make sure that he stays up to snuff. So we're heading to Tuchanka and find out what's happening and see if we can't keep it under control. Any objections?" he asked, looking at them all. No one said anything. "Good. We should be arriving at Tuchanka within the next four hours or so. Until then, you're dismissed."

"Commander, word privately?" Mordin asked instantly as everyone started moving towards the door.

The blonde nodded and waited for everyone else to leave. "What is it, Mordin?" he asked once they were alone in the room. "Is it about the muffler you've got cooking?"

"No. Wish to talk about something else."

"Alright, what?" he asked.

"You remember our talk? My work on genophage modification?"

"Yeah, I do. What about it?"

"Part of a team. Scientists, all types."

"I know that already. You told me that."

"Sorry. Wanted to make sure that you remembered."

He could've taken that as an insult to his memory and intelligence, but given his history and not wanting to give his tenants any more ammunition against him, he chose not to. "What do you want, Mordin?"

The salarian's face turned grim. "Blood Pack mercenaries captured former team member, Maelon. Last seen on Tuchanka. Might torture him. Make an example." There was worry in his voice and it also showed on his face. "Recovering Maelon would be a personal favor to me."

Naruto's heart went out to him. He knew what he felt. There were a lot of people who got captured during the war and they didn't know if they were alive or dead, usually not until they were told that the body had been found. "Why would they take him? Did they get wind of what you did?"

"Unclear. No way to determine until we get to Tuchanka."

"So, what are you going to do?" Kokuō asked him.

"What do you think?"

"Right, how could I forget?" There was barest hint of sarcasm in the Gobi's voice but it was still there.

He ignored it in favor of Mordin. "I'll do what I can on Tuchanka, Mordin. But the main focus will be on Grunt."

The doctor didn't protest or argue. He nodded and said, "Appreciated. Priorities also understandable. Grunt is your student. Maelon was mine. Want to see him safe."

"Do you have any leads other than the fact he was seen on Tuchanka?"

"Last seen outside Urdnot territory. Scouts might have seen Blood Pack. Talk to them or clan chief."

"I'll take note of that." They walked out of the conference room with the matter left at that.

(Location: Tuchanka)

As the shuttle finally settled down and the hatch opened, Naruto led the team out and saw the krogans there staring either balefully or suspiciously at them. "Hm, we're not in friendly company," he thought to himself.

"What tipped you off?" Kurama asked him.

He ignored the question in favor for taking notice of what all the krogan were looking at. As it was, they all seemed to be looking at Grunt and Mordin. "Everyone, keep tight ranks," he told the team. "They're making eyes at Grunt and Mordin. Make sure they don't get harmed."

The team closed ranks around the krogan and the salarian as they made their way off the docking platform. The ports on Tuchanka were only slightly better than what looked like to the blonde grain silos and there was trash everything. If it wasn't trash, it was rubble, a lot of rubble. "Did this place get hit recently or something?" he asked himself as he walked down the stairs.

Three krogan met him and the team at the base of the stairs. Two drew weapons but the one in the middle gave them both a look and they didn't fire. He turned his attention to them, looking them over. Naruto took this to be some kind of inspection and waited patiently, although he was a little concerned when the krogan paid more attention to Grunt. "The clan leader wants to speak with you," he finally said. He threw a look of contempt at Grunt. "Keep your rutting pet on a short leash. Get him the Rite soon, or put him down."

"The Rite?" repeated Naruto mentally. It sounded like it was something important. Perhaps it had something to do with what Grunt was going through. "You've got an idea what's wrong with him then?"

"There's nothing wrong with him. Just go speak to the clan leader." His piece said, he stepped aside so they could walk through the door behind him.

Said door led downward into a tunnel network that looked to be half-collapsed but also in the process of being rebuilt. As they made their way through the only way forward, EDI came onto the comm. "Urdnot clan reports use weak encryption," she explained. "I see references to a captured salarian in the logs of the chief scout."

"Talk to scout, then," Mordin declared, "Or chief. Either one acceptable."

"Also, I have been unable to access local medical records. I suggest asking the local clan leader for assistance with Grunt's problem."

"Did you say we're in Urdnot territory?" Naruto asked as they approached the end of the tunnel.

"Yes."

"Then I think I know who the clan leader is."

The door opened up and they stepped out into a ruined hall that had a giant hole in the ceiling and rubble forming a slope that went all the way down to the bottom floor. While that was the main feature, it wasn't the only one. They could see that the rest of the hall was being rebuilt and the slope of rubble was being formed into a dais of sorts. Blocks of rubble were formed into a rough throne. And sitting on that throne was Wrex.

"Yep, just like I thought," the blonde shinobi thought to himself as he approached the dais. They couldn't straight up to it, the shape of the hall and the wreckage of it wouldn't permit it. So they had to around the side of the room. In front of the path to the dais stood two guards, keeping an eye out for any potential threats.

When the first krogan saw them, he didn't raise his weapon to fire but he did regard them with suspicion. "Halt!" he called out to them. They stopped but did not relax. "You must wait till the clan leader summons you. He is…in talks." He looked back at the dais.

Naruto followed his gaze. Wrex was sitting on the throne and looked bored as another krogan stood before it. "You know what tradition demands," the standing krogan said, "Clan Urdnot must respond. Your reforms will not go unopposed. You risk appearing weak at a critical time," he stated.

"Hm, this sounds important," Naruto thought to himself.

"Are you going to interrupt it?" Matatabi asked.

It turned out that he didn't need to. When Wrex turned his sight at the path leading to the dais, he saw the team standing there and the blonde leading it. "Uzumaki!" he all but roared as he stood up from the throne.

"Well, that's an invitation if I ever heard one," the shinobi said silently. He pushed passed the guards without saying a word to them just as Wrex did the same to the krogan he had been talking to. They met in the middle and clasped hands in comradely fashion. "Wrex, you look as ugly as ever. I would've thought that you'd do something to improve your looks."

"As if you're one to talk, Uzumaki," Wrex retorted. "You still look like you could send pyjacks running."

"I thought that was Garrus."

"Standing right here, thank you," the turian chimed in as he followed Naruto up onto the dais. Mordin and Grunt followed. The guards wouldn't allow any more up.

"I noticed, Garrus," the krogan said, looking over at him. "What the hell happened to you?"

Before he could answer, Naruto did. "He had an encounter with a woman that didn't go as planned."

The krogan grinned widely. "She tried killing you while making you orgasm, Garrus?"

"We didn't get that far," he replied, "she just threw a grenade at me in the middle of the street."

Wrex laughed loudly at that. It was an infectious laugh that made the other two former teammates start to laugh as well. They enjoyed that small moment where it was them enjoying what made them tick. Once it was over, Wrex looked Naruto over. "You look well for dead, Naruto. Should have known the void couldn't hold you," he remarked.

"Technically, I was never dead," Naruto replied. "I got kidnapped and held prisoner by the Tribe of Athame. But look at you. Hunting for Saren seemed to have a good effect on you." He looked around the hall and the krogan there. "Seems like you took my little speech about the Will of Krogan seriously," he remarked.

Wrex grinned widely. "Damn right I did, and it's because of you. You made the rise of Urdnot possible. Virmire was a turning point for the krogan, though not everyone was happy about it." He cast a look at the krogan that had been speaking. "Destroying Saren's genophage cure freed us from his manipulation. I used that to spur the clans to unify under Urdnot."

"You abandon many traditions to get your way," the other krogan remarked, "Dangerous."

Wrex turned to look at him, but he did not speak. Instead he just slammed his head against his, making him stumble. "Speak when spoken to, Uvenk. I'll drag your clan to glory whether it likes it or not." He turned away and walked back to the throne. "So, Naruto," he said as he sat back down and they walked to the base of it. "What brings you here? How's the Normandy?"

"The old one got ambushed by the Tribe and then by the Collectors, ended up getting destroyed," he replied, looking up at him. "I was the last one onboard and almost died."

"Well, you look good. Ah, the benefits of a redundant nervous system!" proclaimed the krogan.

"Don't have that, just chakra and a lot of luck." He frowned. "Of course, I lost two years' worth of time."

"Sorry to hear it," Wrex said without actually sounding sorry.

He waved it off. "It's fine. I got a new and improved Normandy out of it. So, what have you been up to exactly? It sounds like a lot of work."

"That it is. We are making a neutral ground where all clans are welcome. Fertile females can be shared amongst clans. We will strengthen the race as a whole."

"You threaten everything that makes us strong," Uvenk growled. "It will not last."

"Maybe," he conceded. "Until then, you're lucky to be a part of it."

Naruto didn't know how many clans there actually were on Tuchanka but if there had to be a neutral ground, that meant there were a lot of them. And if there were a lot of them, things could get dicey, especially since it was the krogan he was talking about. "Security has to be a pain in the ass with that many clans around," he remarked to Wrex. "How do you manage it?"

"Any clan willing to send in hostages can come in. No fighting inside the camp. Each clan punished its own criminals. We stop conflict before anyone dies. Then we present a simple choice. Pay a fine and deal with your problems, or your clan is no longer welcome."

"Huh. Less harsh than I'd expect from you guys."

He snorted and grinned. "Allies from other clans like what I'm doing. They help deal with the skeptics. Many are eager for an outlet. Every time I've declared a clan unwelcomed, my allies have destroyed them. Word gets around."

"Having that many clans around must be difficult. Why not bring them under one banner?"

Uvenk snarled at him and took a step towards him. But Grunt got in his way with a hard shove. "Touch him and I'll pound you into the ground," he growled. "And I will enjoy it."

"Grunt, ease off," Naruto ordered him. He did as he was told but still eyed the other krogan warningly. The shinobi looked back at Wrex. "Sorry if I said anything insulting. I was just thinking about how my own village was formed."

"I won't hold it against you, Uzumaki. I've read your history and I see where you are coming from. It's something I am working towards but it's not an immediate concern. Every clan has different customs. Rites of passage, rules of behavior, battle songs, all unique. That diversity makes us great. No clan, not even mine, was meant to survive on its own. They all have their unique assets. The best tacticians are Urdnot. Jorgal has the longest breeding line. Gatatog holds the oldest settlements. Others have their own strengths."

"What about the women and sharing them? I don't think they would've liked that."

To that, Wrex chuckled. A krogan chuckle would've been akin to a predator growling just before it pounced on their prey. "It was our female clan leader's idea. The neutral area is safe, and it encourages female clans to alley with us. Attacks on Urdnot now endanger the females of all clans. Even the clans that want to see me dead will defend Clan Urdnot."

"Did I hear that right?" the blonde asked silently.

"I think you did," Gyūki replied.

"I know that's what I heard," Isobu pointed.

"…At the risk of sounding like a moron," he said to Wrex, "but female clans?"

None of the krogan laughed at his question. They all looked completely serious. "Nothing is more valuable than a fertile female. We know it. They know it. They isolate themselves for their own protection. We work together to set up breeding alliances. I can hardly do anything without Clan Leader Uta's approval." That last part was said with a hint of a smile.

"Damn, things seem to be going good for you." Wrex didn't reply verbally, choosing to frown slightly instead. "Are they?"

"It's been better than I'd feared but worse then I'd hoped."

"It can't continue," Uvenk proclaimed. "You are going against what makes us strong."

"What did I tell you already, Uvenk?" he asked. The other krogan didn't reply, only glared at him.

Naruto watched the interaction between the two of them. He could see where they stood on this situation. (He had to have been blind not to and even that would've been debatable). "I guess it goes without saying that you've got people who oppose this stuff?" he asked Wrex rhetorically.

He snorted at that. "Traditionalists like Uvenk are chained varren. Always fighting, guarding their pathetic stick in the ground. When the smoke clears, I can plant the flag on their corpses and rally the rest around a new krogan hub."

He could see Uvenk glaring disapprovingly at Wrex. The krogan also looked like he was about two steps away from lunging at the sitting krogan and tearing him apart limb by limb. What was probably stopping him was the fact that he was not in home territory and there was a good chance Wrex would kill him. "You're planning a bloodbath, Wrex," he said.

He just nodded. "It will be slow, but I won't change what we are. Krogan are judged by the strength of our enemies. Our worst insult is to say someone's 'not worth killing.'"

"If the aliens are just going to stand around, doing nothing but talk," Uvenk spoke out, "then they shouldn't have any sort of business here."

"Uvenk," he growled out warningly.

Stopping a fight before it started, Naruto said, "Actually, he does have a point. But we do have business here." He pointed his thumb at Grunt. "This is Grunt. He's on my team. But something's going on with him. I had hoped that he could get treatment here."

Wrex turned his attention onto Grunt. As soon their eyes made contact, the tank-bred krogan knew that he stared at a Battlemaster worthy of the title. He had to stand before the warrior, not behind the others. He walked forward so he stood at the base of the throne, keeping his gaze locked with him. His look was challenging but not defiantly so. Wrex said nothing about his look. "Where are you from, whelp?" he asked. "Was your clan destroyed before you could learn what is expected of you?"

"I have no clan," Grunt answered honestly. When he heard that, Uvenk started to circle him, eyeing him up and down like he was a piece of meat, albeit disdainfully. Grunt ignored him and kept his eyes on Wrex. "I was tank-bred by Warlord Okeer, my line distilled from Kredak, Moro, Shiagur—"

Uvenk walked past him, shoving his shoulder against him. "You recite warlords, but you are the offspring of a syringe!" he all but spat.

Grunt paid him only the barest of attention. "I am pure krogan. You should be in awe," he proclaimed.

Wrex didn't pay any attention to those words. It seemed like every whelp and pup said those words. After a while, they tended to become a blurred sentence to his ears. He was more interested in the name he heard. "Okeer is a very old name. A very hated name," he said aloud.

He got off his throne and walked down to Grunt. "He is dead," the younger krogan declared.

"Of course," he acknowledged. "You're with Uzumaki. How could he be alive?"

"In my defense, I didn't kill him," Naruto spoke out. "He ended getting killed by someone else."

"Why did you feel the need to say that?" Saiken asked him.

"I don't have a right to defend myself?" he asked back, a little insulted by the idea he couldn't.

"I didn't say that, but there wasn't a need for it here."

"Let's just move on before this gets out of hand," Kurama suggested.

Naruto agreed and turned his attention back to the pair of krogan in front of him. "Moving on, what's up with Grunt? Is he sick or something?"

"There's nothing wrong with him," Wrex replied. "He is becoming a full adult."

"Ah, puberty ritual," Mordin said in realization and acknowledgment. "Common among species with hormone-driven reproductive urges."

It took Garrus a half-second later to catch on but he did. "Adolescence?" he asked in near disbelief. "Can't we just take him to Omega and buy him a few dancers?"

"If it's all the same to you, Garrus," Naruto said to him. "I'm going to stay away from Omega for a bit. I could run into Aria again and I don't know if she's going to kill me or drag me to the bed and lock the door behind her." Of course, there was also his daughter but he kept to himself. If he thought about Kaguya, his heart hurt.

"Could be both," he offered.

"Thank you," he replied sarcastically, "Just what I need to think about."

"If the two of you are done?" asked Wrex pointedly. They shut up and he continued. "Look, I don't care what aliens call it. Krogan undergo the Rite of Passage."

Uvenk had gone to the back to watch the rest of the talk with a glower. As soon as he heard those words, he pushed forward to the front. "Too far, Wrex!" he declared. "Your clan may rule, but this thing is not krogan." When he saw that he wasn't getting a reaction, he stormed off.

Wrex watched him go in disinterest before finally proclaiming, "Idiot." He looked back at the other krogan there. "So, Grunt? Do you wish to stand with Clan Urdnot?"

Naruto had some questions that he wanted answered about this whole thing. As he was about to open his mouth, Kurama spoke. "Gaki, why don't you just leave it to Grunt?"

"I want to know all the angles here. If I don't, we're liable to end up dead."

"Uh-huh."

"You know I'm right," he told the fox before turning his attention back to the krogans. "What would happen to Grunt if he just said no?"

Wrex eyed him, probably wondering why he was asking that question or just butting in. "If he was left here, he would be killed," he answered bluntly. "The clanless are not respected. A tank-bred, probably more so," he added."

"Okay, so not taking the Rite is not an option."

"That should've been expected," Son told him. "You've seen krogan out in the galaxy. They're fighters. To not take the Rite would probably be like saying you don't want to fight. Not a good thing here."

"His disposition is what it is, rite or no. That's just him being a krogan," Wrex explained. He eyed Grunt as he said, "Okeer didn't that in the tank, did he, boy?"

"He didn't," Grunt replied. "I was taught by sensei here." He looked over at Naruto briefly.

"Sensei, huh?" he repeated, looking at the shinobi too. "What makes you call him that?"

"This." Before Naruto could stop him, he mashed his fingers into a crude handseal and focused his chakra. It flickered over his body like a pale blue shroud. It lasted only a couple of seconds and Naruto was half-afraid that it would illuminate the entire wrecked hall.

To his credit, Wrex didn't react visibly. He made no move to instinctively attack or draw a weapon, nor roar in surprise. The thing he did was tilt his head a little to the side and say, "Huh."

Grunt took that to be a sound of challenge. "Well?" he demanded, making his voice growl with the sound of an implied threat.

He ignored the implication. He was dealing with a pup. "What do you want me to say? You're a krogan with chakra. That's surprising, I'll admit that much." He looked the younger krogan over again. "But it does damage your claim to being pure krogan."

His growl became louder. "I am pure krogan."

"So you say."

"He does say," Naruto said. "He's probably more krogan than all the krogan here."

"That chakra says otherwise, Uzumaki," he retorted. "The last time I checked, no krogan was able to have chakra." He looked back at Grunt. "Getting it was thought to be impossible."

"I have it from a good source that didn't used to be the case. The krogan once wielded chakra, same as humans."

"And who's your source?"

"Okeer, before he died. Grunt here is his masterpiece: a krogan with the ability to wield chakra."

"And who told Okeer that?" he asked.

He paused momentarily. That was a question with an answer that could wind him up in a spot that he couldn't get out of. Not many people knew about the OSDs he had been finding and he meant it to keep it like that. The team might've heard what Okeer had said but he was hoping that they wouldn't blab on him now. "I don't know. But considering he was talking about his own creation and said creation can wield chakra, I'd take his word for it."

His student looked at him in annoyance. "Said creation is right here."

"I know that, Grunt. I didn't forget you." He looked at Wrex. "If it's any consolation, he's not a juggernaut of chakra, but he has enough."

"How much is enough?"

"Well…" His eyes wandered over to Mordin and he vaguely remembered the small talk they had prior to waking Grunt up. "What was that comparison you used, Mordin?"

"Human chakra levels like ship in space," the salarian doctor answered, "Grunt's chakra level to canoe in river, leaky one."

He almost winced at that last bit. "That probably wasn't necessary."

"You asked," Gyūki told him.

Wrex regarded him with a neutral expression. "Chakra is chakra, I guess." He looked at Grunt again. "The offer still stands."

Naruto could admit that he was a little surprised that the offer still was offered. "You're serious about this?" he asked Wrex. "You'd let him into your clan?"

"Only because he's with you," he answered bluntly. "After all, you and I killed thousands like him. Not quite as big, but many," he acknowledged. "Clan Urdnot is strong and the others will do as I say. They see the benefits of my vision." He waited silently for an answer.

Grunt looked at him uncertainly. He wasn't sure how to answer. He looked over at his teacher but he shook his head. "This isn't my call, Grunt. It's yours."

It was an answer that he couldn't retort to since it was the truth. He turned away from all of them to look at the hall itself. He could see that it was a wreck, there was no denying that. But he felt something as he looked at it all. It was a sense of pride. A pride that told him that what was happening here was a good thing. His blood calmed, just enough to let him know that. This was where he belonged. "It is in my blood," he declared, turning back to face them all. "It is what I am for."

"Good boy," Wrex said approvingly. "Speak with the shaman—he over on the second level. Give him a good show, and he'll set you on the path." He walked back up to the throne, only to stop and look back at Naruto. "You too, Uzumaki," he said. "How many times have you stepped in a mess for your crew, hmm?"

Naruto just smiled at him. "You've read the history books. You know my track record."

He rumbled out a chuckle. "That I do. That I do."

"Oh, one more thing," the shinobi said as the krogan sat back down on the throne. "I'm on the lookout for a salarian. He was supposedly brought here by the Blood Pack."

"My scout commander can direct you. He's probably near the perimeter running target practice. Don't take too much of his time. I need a constant watch on the other clans."

"Got it, thanks," he said. He turned to leave the dais and the others fell in behind him. "See you around, Wrex."

"Hunt well, Naruto." He reached behind his back and pulled out a scroll that looked like it was ancient. Actually, that would be paying it a compliment. To say that thing still had structural integrity would be calling it a miracle. "Here, whelp, catch!" He tossed it towards Grunt.

"How old is that thing?" Naruto wondered as it flew through the air. "And he'd just toss it like that?" He kicked himself a little for asking that last part. Wrex was a krogan. He wasn't likely to just hand things to people. He was much too blunt for that.

Thankfully, Grunt caught the scroll with ease and didn't damage it either. "What is this?" he asked, looking up at Wrex.

"Something that'll help you," he answered, settling back onto the throne. "I want it back when you survive." They started to leave when he said, "One more thing. Naruto, about the new Bijū album…"

"Yes, I helped make it," he replied before he could finish.

They left the dais behind and met up with the rest of the team. "Well?" Ruko asked without preamble.

"We got a few things to do. We're going have to split up to do them." He looked at the team, mentally selecting each one to go with whom. "Mordin, you'll lead the search for Maelon but I'll leave a clone with to keep me informed, alright?"

"See no problems with offer," Mordin replied.

"What about the rest of us?" Jacob asked. While they didn't ask it aloud like he had, the rest of the team clearly wanted to know what it was that he was planning.

"I think that Mordin's team is going to require a more precise hand while what Grunt needs is strength. Ruko, Garrus, Erik, you're coming with me and Grunt. Miranda, Zaeed, Jacob, Musashi, you go with Mordin."

"And what am I supposed to do?" Kasumi asked.

He looked at the thief, still wearing her cloak and hood. "I was hoping that you'd stay here, ferret out any information that would help us."

She looked like she was considering the idea, but it only took her a couple of seconds to say, "Well, at least you're honest about it. I do have the skills." She vanished instantly and her voice said, "I'll see you around," before fading away entirely.

"I'd say that's her Yamanaka side having fun with us," Kurama stated.

Naruto silently agreed with the sentiment and looked at the rest of his team. "Make sure you all come back in one piece," he told them all.

"We get it, Dad, no need to lecture us," Ruko said sarcastically whilst rolling her eyes at him. Everyone shared a quiet laugh over it. He wasn't offended by it since he knew full well that he had sounded like a mother hen at that moment.

Once the laugh was over, they all split up to go do their separate missions. Naruto quickly made a clone that went with Mordin. As they left, Naruto saw the quick squeeze of the hand Ruko gave Miranda but didn't say anything. He was actually a little impressed by his sister. She was actually trying to show restraint in public about what she felt. "Are you ever going to talk about what they did?" Isobu asked him.

"What's there to talk about?" he asked back. "They figured it out by themselves and I'd say they're doing a decent job of going from there."

"Yeah, they are," Shukaku said in a proud tone. The other Bijū made it a point not to look him in the eyes.

Naruto agreed with them. "Don't start," he warned the tanuki. He followed Grunt up to the second floor. His student walked with a pace that was almost impatient as he thundered up the steps.

The second floor wasn't really a floor as it was a big room with room to move around. There were a few krogan around, standing in pairs to talk with each other or just to brawl in place. If that brawling got out of hand, other krogan would descend upon them and literally thrown them down the stairs. Garrus was almost crushed by such a pair if he hadn't thrown himself against the wall. "Whoa!" he said in surprise as the two went down the steps, bouncing every two steps or so.

They watched as the two got back up to their feet and started fighting again. "No guns!" one of the throwers from the top of the stairs shouted before walking away.

"You gotta wonder if this happens every day around here," Naruto wondered aloud, still watching the two brawl out of the way of the stairs. Apparently, they could also be considerate.

"Don't know, don't care right now," Grunt replied, finishing the climb up the steps. They followed up the stairs and joined him as he looked around the place. "Where's that shaman?"

Ruko started looking around too. "I don't know. You probably should've asked that Wrex guy what he looked like before coming up here."

Garrus looked around as well and quickly saw the answer to the question. "I'm going to take a guess and say it's the krogan Uvenk is talking to," he told them, pointing out said krogan. He was a good deal older than Uvenk and had the hump and scars to prove it.

Grunt started towards the shaman, but Naruto's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "No showing off the chakra, Grunt," the blonde warned him. "Not until we're certain you've passed."

"Fine," he said, shrugging his arm free.

They walked up to the shaman, just in time to hear him say, "You go beyond yourself, Gatatog Uvenk! The rites of Urdnot are dominant!"

"How do we know it will challenge him?" Uvenk demanded. "He's unnatural! The beasts of the Rite could ignore him like a lump of plastic!"

Naruto watched him in surprised. "Is he…whining?" He didn't think that a krogan would do something like that. But there he was, complaining like a child that didn't get his way about something.

"That's pathetic," Son declared. The others agreed with his words. They had come to see krogan as an enemy that should someone be cautious of and an alley someone would be glad to have on their side. Seeing one whining pretty much soiled that image for them.

The shaman had the same opinion as he looked down his nose at the complaining krogan. "They know blood, no matter the womb," he proclaimed. "Your barking does not help your case."

"I'll speak for myself!" Grunt declared, marching up to the shaman's sight.

He walked up to the younger krogan. "This is the tank-bred?" he asked rhetorically as he looked him over quickly. "It is very lifelike. Smells correct as well. Your protests ring hollow, Uvenk."

"It has a name: Grunt. Use it or die," he threatened in reply, angry at his name not used.

The shaman did not seem threatened. In fact, he looked a little amused. "It speaks too! And has an attitude! Although clearly it was not taught manners," he remarked as he glared Grunt down.

Naruto took that moment to open his mouth. "Wrex gave us the go ahead for Grunt to try and achieve clan status."

He looked over at the human standing there in his armor and cloak. "Permission," he said with a disapproving snort. "That's good enough, if lacking in spirit."

Uvenk looked outraged at what was happening. "If this must stand on ritual, than I invoke a denial! My krantt stands against him! He has no one!"

The shaman glared at him. "My patience is tested, but Uvenk invokes correctly. Grunt, who is your krantt? Your allies willing to kill and die on your behalf?" he asked.

Grunt started to look uncertain, unable to meet the shaman in the eye. Naruto opened his mouth again, just to find out what exactly was entailed with that word. "He can bring backup? I would've thought that he'd have to go alone."

The shaman answered, just like he had hoped. "Not every krogan can be the strongest warrior but each must inspire his peers to battle at his side. If the ones who know you best can find nothing worthy in you, you should wander into the wastes and die alone before you can weaken my clan."

That was all he needed to know. "Then we'll stand for Grunt," he proclaimed, gesturing at Ruko, Garrus, Erik, and himself. "We will be his krantt." His student looked at him gratefully.

"Accepted," the shaman acknowledged.

Uvenk looked madder than ever as the situation went on. "Aliens don't know true strength!" he complained. "My followers are true krogan. Everything about Grunt is a lie."

"Okay, I'm getting irritated by this guy," the blonde thought to himself.

"What are you going to do about it?" Gyūki asked him.

He didn't answer verbally. He walked up to the complaining krogan, slammed his elbow into one side of his face and then kicked the other side, knocking him down to the ground. "Uuh, aren't you supposed to head-butt him?" Garrus asked.

"I don't have that hard of a head," he replied.

"Oh, I disagree," Kurama said.

"Same here," Shukaku said, remembering that fight between Naruto and Gaara that ended with a head-butt.

Uvenk got back to his feet, staring at him in shock. "You…you dare?" he asked, surprised that he had been struck but also angry too.

"Would you care for a repeat?" Naruto asked back, lifting his elbow.

The shaman laughed loudly at that question, his laughter filling the room like a roar. "I like this human! He understands!"

Uvenk looked at him like he had betrayed but didn't say about it. Instead, he only said, "I withdraw my denial. This will be decided elsewhere!" He walked away, shoving his shoulder against Naruto as he left. It was met with a resistance that he hadn't been expecting so he stumbled ungracefully. Grunt's krantt sniggered as he regained his balance and walked away.

"You have provoked them," the shaman said to them, getting their attention again. "Reason enough for me to like you. They're your problem now."

"I've dealt with things and people worse than a whining krogan," Naruto retorted.

The shaman grinned. "I like your attitude."

"Let's get to the details. Do we need to bring anything to this Rite, equipment of some kind?"

"To begin the Rite, only the candidate and his krantt are required. You love battle, Commander Uzumaki? The last gasp of a dying opponent?" he asked. "Bring your love of the fight to Grunt's trial, and he will succeed."

"Might I ask a question?" Erik spoke out, looking at where Uvenk had stomped away. "Is he going to be a problem?"

"He is forbidden to interfere. Will he?" The way the old krogan asked the question, it sounded like a stupid one that was already a forgone conclusion. "During the Rite of Passage, you must be ready for anything. From what you've shown me, you will not disappoint."

"Alright, so what actually happens during this whole fucking thing?" Ruko demanded, getting a little annoyed that it was taking too long.

He looked at her with annoyed look that had hints of disinterest. "Still your impatience," he ordered her.

"Fuck you too."

"Ruko," Grunt growled out warningly.

She turned her eyes to him, jutting her chin out challengingly. "What are you going to do about it, huh?"

"The two of you, knock it off before I send you both to the ground," Naruto ordered. They stopped the bickering before it began but still sent each other dirty looks. He looked at the shaman. "Continue, if you would."

"All you need to know now is that Grunt will be tested…and that you must adapt."

Like that wasn't something he hadn't done before. Being a shinobi was all about adapting to what was being thrown at them. He was certain that this time around would be no different. He looked over at Grunt who was beginning to get impatient. "You ready, Grunt?"

"Of course I am," his student growled.

"You heard him," he said to the shaman. "Let's get this Rite started."

"Excellent," the old krogan growled in approval. He pushed through them and headed for the stairs, waving a hand at them to follow.


He wasn't looking at a scene now. He was back inside the forest of ash. His first thought at the sight of it was "Huh, haven't been here for a while. I've just gone straight to the vision." He then paused to consider what he had thought. Was it a good thing that he was back here now instead of watching the vision come to pass?

He kept on walking through the forest, trying to find the shadows and reach out to them. Like always, they faded away from him before he could even touch them. Did they see him coming and didn't want to touch him? Did they hate him? Were they the dead that he had left behind? Or were they the people he had known and once he touched them, their faces would be revealed? He didn't see anything wrong with that idea. But perhaps they did.

"But if that was the case, why did I see Haku and the others when I ran into them?" he asked himself. He didn't have the answer. It was something that was in the back of his head ever since he had first met Haku in this forest and yet, he still didn't have the answer.

"Where the hell have you been, woman!?" Ino's voice suddenly shouted through the forest, making him go still. It wasn't the same voice he knew when he saw the Yamanaka on a daily basis. It was older, more mature.

"And hello again to you, Ino," Sakura's voice said in reply. She wasn't shouting in return but was rather talking like it was a normal conversation.

He looked around, trying to find them. But all he could see were trees and falling ash. "Where are they?"

"Don't give me that, Sakura!" Ino shouted some more. "You were gone for seven years. Nobody heard from you, not even a postcard. Where were you?"

"Ino, would you sit down?" Hinata asked her. "We're in the middle of a restaurant."

"Wait, Hinata's there too?" She sounded much more confident than the last time they had seen each other. She didn't even stutter once.

"Sorry," Ino said, sounding sheepish.

"She actually listened?" What the hell had happened when he was gone? Hinata could hardly tell anyone what to do, let alone without any stuttering. He started looking harder, trying to find them. But they were nowhere to be found.

"But the point still stands. Where have you been? We were worried," she said, a gentler tone in her voice.

Sakura's voice, however, was as hard as iron. "Oh, you were worried? Where was that worry when I living in an apartment that on the outskirts of the village? Where was that worry when people kept looking at me like I should be dead? None of you ever came to see me. You stayed away like I was a plague."

"Could you blame us?"

There was a pause and he was afraid that things would come to blows. He started to hurry his pace but then he heard Sakura say, "No, I can't. I did a horrible thing that day and I didn't feel any remorse for it." There was another pause and then she asked, "The boy, did he have any family?"

"None that we could find," Hinata told her. "From we found out, he had been orphaned by the war. He was coming to the village to learn how to be a shinobi when he was injured."

"Oh." It was the only thing that she said in response. Was there anything else she could've said?

"Are you going to tell us where you been or not already?" Temari's voice demanded, breaking its silence.

"Why am I not surprised to hear her?" Naruto asked himself. There was no doubt in his mind that she had married Shikamaru. Hell, she probably dragged him to the alter herself!

"I was around," Sakura answered.

"How descriptive," she said drily.

"It's the truth, Temari. When I left the village, I didn't have an exact destination in mind. I just wandered around the Elemental Countries. I didn't care if people recognized me or not. I went where I wanted and got by selling my skills to people who needed them. I starved more times than not and would resort to begging. Eventually, I wounded up on a boat that set for exploration out west. It was struck by a storm when it came into sight of another land. I will be honest with you guys. I didn't try to save myself when it struck. I was fully ready to let the sea take me and drown me under the waves."

"Then why didn't you?" asked Ino.

"I don't know," she replied as Naruto rounded a tree, following their voices but still seeing nothing. "All I know is that I woke up on the beach and I was tended to by monks of an abbey that was close by. Once I had recovered enough, we talked and I was welcomed as an honored guest. The abbot saw that I was in turmoil and offered me the chance to ascend their mountain."

"Did you?" Tenten asked.

"Ah, there she is," Naruto couldn't help but think. It seemed like he was listening in on a girls' only talk. Maybe if he could find them, he'd be able to see where they were.

"I did. I didn't make it to the top."

"Why?" Hinata asked. "You've climbed mountains before."

"Not like this mountain, Hinata. It was the largest mountain that I've ever seen. I was able to see it from the ship and it had still towered over everything. There's only one path that goes up to the peak and when you go up, you soon find yourself fighting against gale winds, snowbanks almost as tall as you, and ice that'll make you slip to your death. If the monks were a cruel people, I'm sure that I would've passed the bones of people who tried to ascend and failed."

"Why didn't you use your chakra and go up the side?" Ino asked her.

"By the time I had considered that option, I was already fighting against a gale headwind. I wasn't going to risk that. Besides, I had the feeling that Everest would not approve of the action."

"Everest?" repeated a puzzled Tenten.

"It's what the monks called the mountain."

"So you didn't reach the top?" Temari asked Sakura.

"No," she replied and Naruto had the feeling that she was shaking her head. "I barely managed to reach halfway before I turned back around."

"Why'd you stop?"

"…I found what I was looking for."

"That's helpful."

"Are you going to tell them, Sakura?" Naruto wondered as he went around another tree. He still couldn't find them and it didn't sound like he was getting any closer/

"It's the truth."

"Yeah, but a little detail would be nice, don't you think?"

"She's right, Sakura," Hinata agreed. "You can't just leave it at that."

"Can't I keep it to myself?" Sakura asked sounding a little amused at their questioning. It sounded to Naruto that she was leading them on in the conversation and enjoying it greatly. But that was the first sentiment. He had a feeling that she didn't want to tell them what she had gone through.

"Oh just tell us already," Temari said in a half snap. "We all know you're going to."

"Temari, leave her alone," the blonde thought with a protective snarl. It was her decision to make and if she didn't want to tell them, she didn't have to tell them.

"…Promise not to laugh?" his old teammate asked.

"…Guess she's going to tell after all."

He heard Ino scoff at that. "We're not kids anymore, Sakura. I think we can have a talk about laughing at something that happened to one of us. Right?" she asked aloud.

"Of course," agreed Hinata.

"Yeah," said Tenten.

"Should go without saying," Temari remarked.

"Thanks guys," Sakura said to them all, her voice showing her relief.

"So, tell us already."

"Well, I have to make sure you guys already know about something else." She paused again and when she spoke next, her voice showed her uncertainty. "You've all heard about what happened to me when I was in Midgard and in the throne room of the High Jarl?"

"You mean where you held a little boy hostage and threatened to kill him in front of his father?" Hinata asked, her voice taking a slightly colder tone.

"Yes. Have you heard what stopped me from killing the boy?"

"Shikamaru said something about you being stopped by a shade of Naruto," Temari replied. "I had always put it down to you having some kind of hallucination that managed to snap you out of the bloodlust you were in."

"I wasn't in any kind of bloodlust while on Everest when I saw him again."

There was a moment of silence that he just knew was because everyone was staring at her with jaws agape. "Y-you saw him again?" Ino repeated.

"Yeah, talked to him even," she replied.

"How?" asked Hinata, her voice going quiet.

"I don't know. I fell down and just wanted to stop, die right there. When I was about to reach for a kunai, I got a hard slap across the face. When I looked up, he was standing right there. He got me back up to my feet. We talked and I ended up going back down the mountain."

"You just talked?"

"It's Naruto," she said and he knew that there was a smile on her lips. "All he has to do is talk."

"How did he look?" Ino asked him.

"The same as he did the last time I saw him. I'm sorry, guys, but could we talk about something else perhaps?"

"Alright, fine," Temari said while Naruto went past another tree, still hunting their voices. "Now that you're back, what do you plan on doing?"

"Well, my active duty days are pretty much behind me. I had thought of going back to the hospital and seeing if they would be generous and take me back. If not that, I could probably do lobbying."

"Lobbying, you?" Ino asked.

"Yes. I've heard about what the Frontier and Midgard had asked us to do in regards to how old a shinobi should be. Quite frankly, I agree with what they're saying. The Daimyos should take notice of what they're saying."

Tenten scoffed. "The Daimyos don't care about that. All they do care is the fact that they're back in power and making sure we know that. In their eyes if a kid is from a hidden village, he's a shinobi."

"Don't tell me you agree with him, Tenten."

"I don't see the problem, but I would prefer it if the Fire Daimyo wasn't an asshole about it. The man acts like he had led us to victory for the last two wars. I just remember him as prepubescent kid Kiba dragged out of the rubble of the palace and was all too glad to let Lady Tsunade take the command."

"Tenten, there has to be changes in regards to the shinobi way of life. Just look at me. I held Midgard in contempt because I thought they target Mikoto and the others specifically. If the Midgardians had known how old they were, they wouldn't have attacked."

"They were trained and had the headbands," Temari pointed. "To us, they were adults."

"You'd say that differently if it had been your kid, Temari," she replied sharply. But then she calmed and continued. "We need to change our definition of adult. Give them more time, time to learn, to train, to enjoy life before giving it for the village."

"It's a notion, Sakura," Ino told her. "Have you shared it with anyone else?"

"Yes, with Sasuke. He agrees with me."

"I do too. If you're going to lobbying to change the age requirement, I'll stand behind you."

"I will too," Hinata said.

"The same for me," Tenten declared.

"…I'll talk to Shikamaru and Gaara, if you'd like," Temari finally offered. "You might have a point."

"Thank you, all of you."

As soon as she said those words, Naruto finally found them. Or rather, he saw a vision of them. It was a picture that was balanced between two trees. It was a window and through it he could see all four of them. Just like Sakura, the other three had gotten older and there was definitely grey in their hair. The clothing they wore was casual and he saw no headbands, making it clear that they weren't on duty. They sat loosely and they looked relatively happy, considering the subject they were talking about.

When Sakura looked at the window, her eyes widened slightly. "She can see me!" he realized. Of course, that was the moment he came back into the realm of the living. "Damn it!"

"Nice to have you back among the living, Naruto," Garrus told him from where he sat opposite. All of them were riding in a tomkah towards the site of the Rite. Grunt was up at the front, watching where they were going with eager anticipation. Erik sat close by Naruto, looking at nothing in particular. Ruko, oddly enough, was lying flat on her back on the floor. She claimed that the rumbling was soothing.

It had to have been for Naruto to fall into that level of sleep. "We there yet?" he asked, stretching as much as he could in the confines of the tomkah. It was done by small movements so he wouldn't hit anyone.

"Don't know," the turian replied. "I didn't ask."

"Could you?"

"I could. But I prefer to move around after this thing stops moving. Whoever's driving reminds me a little too much of Ashley."

"Don't be such a baby," Ruko said, still lying on the floor. "This is fine. I've been on worse rides than this." She closed her eyes and relaxed. After a moment, it almost looked like she was sleeping.

If she was, it was ruined by the tomkah coming to a halt and Grunt shouting out, "We're here!"

"We gathered that by the thing stopping," Garrus said to himself.

Naruto heard him none the less. "He's excited, Garrus. You can't fault him for that."

"I've seen excited krogan before. You bet your ass I'll fault him for it."

They all entered out the tomkah. The surrounding area was a rubble ruin of a city. From what Naruto could tell of it, they had stopped in a garage of sorts. It was of sorts since the ceiling above them had large gaping holes in it. The rubble on the ground told him that it was a part of the ceiling once. There were massive walls all around them but there was a large hole in the wall right in front of them. The rubble was cleared from the hole, making a path from it to the tomkah. It hadn't been done recently and that told Naruto that this wasn't the first time the krogan had come here.

The two krogan that had come with the shaman got out of the tomkah with their guns up and searching for threats. Apparently, they believed that despite the fact they had been here before, there was still a chance of an ambush or attack. That made Naruto cautious. He dropped his hands to his War Hawks, pulling them out but also pointing them downward. Erik and Ruko took their cues from him. His sister pulled out her own weapon and held it at the ready. The Einherjar decided to go old fashion, forgoing the mortar on his back in favor for the battle axe. Garrus didn't pull out any weapons but he did keep an observing eye out for anything that could come at them.

The shaman exited the tomkah and walked with a confidence that said he didn't worry if something would attack him or not. Grunt followed him, eagerness showing in his steps. The rest of the team fell in behind them, leaving the guards behind. "Where are we?" Grunt asked as they walked to the hole in the wall.

As they climbed up and through it, the shaman replied, "This is Tuchanka's most recent scar, the last surface city to fall in the rebellions. The keystone was at the heart. It has survives wars and the passage of centuries. It endures—like the krogan. The only thing that is older than it is the Old Tree, which has stood since this world had formed."

"That was almost poetic," Garrus remarked from where he brought up the rear.

"Garrus, I don't think now's the time for that," Erik told him. The blonde Einherjar carried his battle axe with his hand close to the blade. It was easier to carry that way.

"I was just making a comment."

They came out of the hole and into what was probably a plaza. It certainly looked like a plaza. There was wide spacing and there were no walls to block their view of the surrounding land. Because of that, they could feel the wind pressing against them, trying to push them down to the ground. If they weren't careful, they'd lose their footing and fall. There was a tall tower-like structure over their heads, starting at three ends of the plaza and forming a tower. If there had been any kind of additional structures to the tower, it had been long weathered away. All that was left was the skeleton of it. But even that was a mighty thing to look at and be impressed. Perhaps that was how it had been initially designed.

The shaman didn't stop to admire the sight like the others had. He kept on walking. When they realized what he was doing, they quickly caught to him, although Grunt still looked up in fascination. "If you wished to join Clan Urdnot," the shaman told him, "you must contemplate the keystone and its trials."

"What will happen?" he asked. He noticed that they were going to the other end of the plaza, where there was a staircase there with a gate closed over it, blocking their path. There was a panel next to it that had a button on it along with a speaker. It looked like it was on and yet it didn't have any kind of power source connected to it.

"Who knows? You must adapt. You must thrive, no matter the situation. Any true krogan will."

"I am a true krogan," he declared.

"That will be tested here." He gestured to the panel. "When you are ready, touch the keystone and the Rite will begin."

"Wait," Naruto thought to himself as the shaman walked away, looking at the panel again. "That's the keystone. That wasn't what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting?" Matatabi asked.

"I don't know. Something more ancient, I guess."

"Like an actual stone?"

"Probably," he answered. "Not something that looks like it had been put here recently, that's for sure."

"Well, get over it," Kurama told him. "This is not about you."

"I know that."

"Maybe it's that giant pillar beyond the gate?" Isobu asked.

Naruto looked up pass the gate and saw the pillar he was talking about. It wasn't as tall as the tower over their heads but it was still tall. It was made of metal but the metal wasn't rusty. It looked clean and polished, making it look a little out of place with the whole ruined plaza around them. "That could work."

He looked back at the plaza. They were on a higher surface then the rest of the platform, having gone up a small set of stairs to reach it. They had a good view of what was around. There were a small rails at the edges, enough to make them not fall over at the first time but not high enough to provide them with protection if it was needed. The protection came in the form of several columns jotted around the plaza. They were weathered and beaten, with bullet holes scarring every inch. It just showed how many times this place had been used for a fight.

He looked out across the plaza, trying to see the surrounding land. But the wind had kicked up enough dust and dirt to form a screen of sorts, blocking them from actually seeing anything. There was something he could make out faintly in the distance, but faintly was all he had. "Is that another tower?" he asked himself.

"What's the plan?" Garrus asked him, removing his rifle from his back.

Snapped out of his musings, he looked over at the turian. Before he could answer, Grunt walked right to the panel at the gate and slammed his hand down on it. The speaker came to life with a growling krogan's voice. "First the krogan conquered Tuchanka…and mastered a natural world only we are fit to hold."

"I guess that's the plan," the turian remarked.

Naruto looked at his student in exasperation. "Grunt!" he said.

The krogan looked back at him. "I am ready! I do not want to wait." Behind him, the keystone made thrumming sound, lifting up a few inches and then coming back down hard. Naruto could feel the shockwave underneath his feet and he had a feeling that he wasn't the only one.

"We have incoming!" Erik declared, his hand sliding down the shaft of his axe. He could hear the sound of many feet running across the ground and it was getting louder. "I think that keystone called a few things!"

"Shit!" he swore, lifting his guns up to ready position. He started giving out orders to the rest of them. "Garrus get to the rail and hold position there. Erik, take the left staircase. Ruko, go with him. Grunt, take the right staircase. I'm with you."

"Yes!" the krogan declared with a passion. "Let's get to the killing!"

He started making his way to his position as the others did too. "No one go overboard or get out of place. You do that, you end up dead. That's not something we want. So no one get any ideas, got it?"

"Yeah, we got it," Ruko shouted from the other side.

"Good." He looked back at Grunt. "Grunt I know you want to get to the fight but remember what I taught. Don't let the anger control you. You control the anger."

"I know that," the krogan replied, holding his shotgun so tightly that it looked like he was about to break it.

"I hope so."

"Here they come!" Garrus shouted out. "It's a whole pack of varren!"

Grunt saw the varren running full speed towards the steps. He roared a challenge at them, loud enough for the shinobi at his side to wince. "Come at me!" he told the varren. "You will find me worthy!"

The varren replied to the challenge by charging full speed up the stairs. Two leapt for Grunt and one leapt for Naruto, jaws agape and ready to bit down. But Naruto was not ready to be a meal for varren. "I don't need to shoot them."

"Don't tell me you're getting soft now," Kurama said to him.

"As if," he retorted, flipping his guns around so he held them by the barrels. "I didn't say anything about not killing them, just not shooting them." He slammed the hilts on both sides of the varren's head. It fell to the ground and didn't get back up. He kicked away just in time to see the next one coming. He heard Grunt fire off his shotgun twice and the varren fell dead at his feet too.

He didn't wait for the varren to come to him. Instead, he leapt for the varren, catching it in a lock that sent them both down the steps, bouncing a couple of times. When they reached the bottom, he broke the varren's back and got back up. "Sensei!" called Grunt.

"I'm fine!" he called back as he watched more varren come towards him. "But if you want some of the kills, you'll have to get down here."

"Right!" he cried in excitement, thundering down the stairs, blasting away at any varren that came close. They took up a little formation as they fought. The krogan stayed in the back and kept on blasting away with his shotgun at varren that got close, inflicting maximum damage. Naruto stayed at the front, using his guns and the martial art he created through them. He hammered them down with the hilts, bashing in their brains. Any that came too close and tried lunging at him he ducked and let them sail right over, going straight for Grunt.

Dealing with the varren wasn't that hard to him. The main problem was just the numbers of them. They seemed to be continuously coming, trying to overwhelm them by sheer numbers. He could hear Garrus shooting nonstop but he wasn't sure if that was going to be any actual deterrent to the number of them.

So he decided to do something about it. When he had the chance, after kicking one varren away, he tossed his guns into the air and quickly folded through a set of handseals. "Fūton: Daitoppa!" The wind blasted out of his mouth and slammed into the varren, sending them skidding back and no few of them flying too. He clasped his hands into another seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he cried out, creating another clone of him. He grabbed the guns out of the air as they came down and the clone pulled out a kunai.

"Hey, no fair, Commander!" shouted Grunt.

He didn't look back at his student. If he did, he was liable to end up dead. "We're not doing points here, Grunt. You heard the shaman. If there's a way to victory you can use, use it."

"Why don't you honor your title and create an army then?" Chōmei asked him.

A leaping varren separated him from his clone and the both of them were soon swarmed by the beasts. He didn't waste any time getting back into the fight, crushing a varren's skull underneath his foot. "It's not my trial. I think too many clones would be seen as too easy by the krogan," he replied, bashing two varrens aside with the guns to their jaws. "Plus, I don't want to waste any more chakra than I have to."

"Hm, valid points," the kabutomushi conceded.

"And also, since I know I've told you this before, I don't like that title."

"It rings true," Kurama told him. "You and I both know it."

He chose not to reply, instead focusing more on kneeing a varren underneath its jaw. The impact sent the creature flying upwards into the air spinning in circles. He would've watched it go if another varren hadn't tried ripping out his armored throat. He knocked it down with a swing of his left gun and kicked it away.

After a very long seven minutes, the last of the varren finally died thanks to a shotgun blast from Grunt. The three of them looked at the mounds of dead varren surrounding them, taking the moment to breathe a little easier. "Ha-ha," Grunt said in satisfaction, wiping off varren blood from his face.

The original Naruto looked back at him. He stood knee-deep in dead varren. "Having fun, Grunt?" he asked.

"Fuck yeah," he answered with a grin. "Don't tell me that's it. I'm ready to go again."

He looked back up the stairs. "We're done over here!" he shouted. "How's everyone else?"

"I see no more varren!" Garrus shouted back.

"And we're done here too!" Ruko replied. "Don't tell me that was it. I barely broke a fucking sweat fighting these guys!"

"I'll go tag the keystone!" Grunt declared, turning around and rushing up the steps.

"Grunt!" shouted Naruto, dispelling the clone and going after him. But his student had a lead on him. He was almost at the keystone before the shinobi grabbed him by the arms and forced him away from the speaker.

"Sensei, what are you doing?" he demanded, trying to break free of his grip.

But he held firm. "You don't go hit something right off the swing of the kunai, Grunt, not when you have a chance to wait," he told him. "Let's the others get back to us and we can regroup."

He could see the logic behind that lecture. He put his bloodlust on hold slightly and nodded in acknowledgement. "Fine, but tell them to hurry the fuck up."

"You know, we can hear you," Garrus said as he joined them, still holding his rifle at the ready.

Both Ruko and Erik joined them too. Both of them looked just blood smeared and worn as Naruto and Grunt. Ruko had a feral grin on her face. It was clear that she was enjoying the fight as much as Grunt. "Yes, it is not like we are separate by a great field," Erik said, "only a plaza." The Einherjar looked a little odd with blood speckled against his beard.

Grunt was impatient and it showed when he looked over at his teacher. "Now can I tag the keystone?" he asked.

"Hold on, Grunt," Naruto said back before looking at them all. "We all good?" he asked.

"I know I' m fine," Garrus said.

"You would, you were up on the rail," Ruko said to him.

"Ruko?" asked her brother.

"I'm fine, just itching to get back into the fight."

"Erik?"

"I am fine as well, Commander." He was gripping his axe tightly and there seemed to be a shine in his eyes. "Let us continue."

He took note of their eagerness. It was like Grunt's, only two levels lower. "Keep a cool head, guys," he said to them all. "We don't know how long this goes for."

Ruko snorted impatiently. "Come on. Let's get back to the fight. I wantto kill more creatures."

He knew that any more cautioning would be redundant. "Go ahead, Grunt." The krogan was already moving at that first word, tagging the panel.

The krogan's voice came back on. "Then the krogan were lifted to the stars to destroy the fears of the galaxy, an enemy only we could chase to their lair." As the voice vanished, the thrumming occurred again.

Naruto readied himself for more varren. But instead of hearing the sounds of their feet charging up the stairs again, he heard a buzzing sound in the air. He looked up and saw what looked like a kind of mix between a worm and dragon flying towards them. "Shit that's big," he remarked.

"You've fought bigger, don't complain," Kurama told him.

"Wasn't complaining, just stating a fact," he replied, pointing his guns up at the thing.

"Don't bother, Commander," Garrus told him.

He looked over at the turian, a little surprised to hear those words from him. "Why?"

"That's a harvester."

He knew the word but he didn't associate it with that creature. "And?" he asked, waiting for the explanation.

"You can't kill a harvester from underneath. The only weak point it's got is a joint between the neck and head. Shoot that and the thing goes brain dead."

"Okay, why can't I do that from here?" He had the thing in his sights. He could shoot it down if he knew where to aim. And that he knew where to shoot, it should be fairly simple to do so.

"Guys, that thing is getting closer," Ruko said in warning.

"It is not alone," Erik said, look at the other side of the plaza. "There is another one."

"Good," Grunt growled in enjoyment. "I was hoping that I wouldn't get bored."

Garrus ignored the krogan, still looking at the blonde. "Because that weak spot is on the top of a harvester, not the bottom," he explained. "If you want to kill, you're going to have to find a way to get up there quickly."

"Alright, give me a minute." He put his guns away and began folding his hands together, about to create more clones.

"Too late!" called out Erik.

He looked over at the Einherjar, his hands halfway folded. "Why?"

"They're dropping pods!" The harvesters landed briefly before letting go of the pods attached to their undersides. It was only a moment but a moment was all they needed.

"Shit!"

"No, klixens!" he corrected once he saw that the pods weren't really pods but rather klixens bundled up so they'd fit easier on the harvester.

"What the hell are those?!"

"Giant alien crabs, work with that!" Ruko told him as she faced one side of the plaza. The klixens were on both sides and coming up the stairs towards them. She did a quick count on her end and saw something of note. "There were more varren!"

"What?" Garrus asked her, giving her a confused look as he took cover behind a column. He stayed near the center in order to give cover fire to either side.

"There are a lot less klixen than there were varren. I thought this was supposed to get harder, not easier!" She was a little insulted that such a thing would happen here on Tuchanka.

Grunt growled at her implied insult from where he stood close by. "No," he declared, "There's no way Clan Urdnot would ever allow such a weak Rite of Passage."

"There might be less of them," Erik said from the other side of the plaza, watching the klixen come up the stairs, "But they have got an exoskeleton that's as hard as they come. It will take some doing to get past it."

Naruto was by the bigger blonde's side. When he heard those words, he put away the guns and pulled out a kunai. "Maybe not as long as you might think," he told Erik. "Would you mind lowering your axe?"

He gave the shinobi a look. "Why?"

"I'll give it a better edge."

"Fūton?" he asked.

The smaller blonde nodded. He folded his hands into a set of handseals. "Fūton: Shinkūjin!" He breathed out the jutsu onto the blade and it took, coating it in wind. "You want?"

"Sure." He held out the axe head to him.

He cast the jutsu again, coating the axe with it. The wind took a bit of an oval shape, matching the head perfectly. "There you go," Naruto said.

"Thank you," Erik said politely, shifting the axe back into a proper hold and facing the klixen once more.

"Anybody else want it?" he called out to the others.

"I'vegotFūton bullets," Garrus called back. "I'm good."

"Too busy, I'll use my biotics!" Ruko shouted, sounding strained. The klixen must've already reached her and Grunt.

Speaking of the creatures, he could see them coming right at him. The others were right. They did look like crabs, but only just. The crabs he had known were much smaller than this and their ends didn't arch behind them. They saw him and squealed in anger before charging right at him. He sidestepped the first one and sliced the kunai across the exoskeleton. It didn't go all the way through like he had hoped; only getting a deep gash for his trouble. The creature hissed angrily at him, so it did feel what he had done.

He backpedaled away from its claws. Ifthe exoskeleton was that hard, he did not want to get caught by those claws. He could get crushed by the first blow. The klixen tried to go after him, only to cut in half by Erik's axe. "You struck too lightly, Commander," he told Naruto as he pulled the axe out. "The jutsu alone is not going to work. You will have to apply the proper force."

"Thanks for the tip," he replied, coming back to his side. Two more klixen came up the stairs and scuttled towards them. "You take the one on the left and I'll take the one on the right?"

"Very well," he agreed, moving to meet his klixen. Naruto chose to wait for his to come closer and attack. He sidestepped it and surprisingly, it followed him. He back-stepped quickly and got clear of it. As it turned, he slammed the kunai down hard into the exoskeleton. The blade went through deep, deeper than the cut he had given the first. The klixen cried in angry pain for a second before falling dead.

He pulled hard to get the kunai out. "How did it know to follow my sidestep?" he asked himself.

"It's probably smarter than you gave it credit," Son told him.

"The first didn't. It missed me and I was able to slice it. This one followed me through."

"What you are thinking?"

"I know what I'm thinking," Chōmei declared.

"What?" their Jinchūriki asked.

"It's a localized hive mind. If one of them dies, what they know is sent amongst the others. That was how they knew."

It made sense. Even though it was risky, he chose to test out the theory. As the next klixen came towards him with claws reaching out, he sidestepped it. It followed him and he back-stepped. It followed and tried snapping his leg off. He was able to pull his leg out of the way and plunged the kunai home. "Shit, you're right."

The Nanabi actually huffed at him. "Of course I'm right. I know bugs, remember?"

"How could I forget when you're an actual bug?" he fired back as he got back to Erik's side. "We're going to have to be careful."

The Einherjar chopped a klixen in half before looking up at him. "Why is that?"

"They've got some kind of localized hive mind going for them. The ones we kill pass what they knew to the others."

"Irritating, but not something that could cause alarms for so few," he remarked, taking note of the few remaining klixen coming at them.

"Yeah, you must've faced worse odds than this."

"Indeed, especially during family meetings when the alcohol was flowing particularly thick," he answered with a complete and utter straight face.

As he dodged a klixen, he cast a look at the Einherjar. "How is that different?"

"Why do you even need to ask that question?" Saiken asked him.

"I can't just leave it at that!"

"Because there, I have a chance of losing the fight," Erik told him, still with the straight face.

He almost paused in that moment, which allowed a klixen to get in close. "Crap!" he thought, reacting instantly and slashing his kunai. Again, it only gashed the exoskeleton and it got closer. Then he heard Garrus fired his gun and a bullet hole formed on the klixen.

While it slumped to the ground, he looked back at the turian. "Hey, you're the one who said not to lose focus," the turian said, keeping the butt of the rifle against his body.

"When did I say that?"

He would've waved it off if he had the free hand. "At some point, I don't remember. The point is you're welcome."

"Thanks, now would you making sure we don't get swarmed?" he asked pointedly.

"The two of you are fine. I'll go check on Ruko and Grunt." He turned his back on them and made for the other side.

There was only one klixen left and it was coming right towards him. He gripped his kunai and slashed at it, aiming right for the exoskeleton over the head. But the klixen backed away from the kunai. It hissed at him, almost in contempt, but then Erik's axe fell down on it, cutting it in half.

Suddenly, they heard many klixens squealing in delight and Grunt's surprised shout. They both turned around and saw the krogan being swarmed over by them. "Son of a bitch!" swore Naruto, turning and running in that direction. Erik wasn't far behind him.

Ruko was already charging her biotics and Garrus was aiming a shot. But before either of them could fire or Naruto and Erik could reach them, one of the klixen was suddenly sent flying through the air. They stopped and watched the creature fly before looking back and seeing Grunt's foot. Then the krogan exploded upwards, knocking all of them off. "I. AM. KROGAN!" he roared as he stood once more and laid waste to all of them.

None of them did anything to help because, quite frankly, it didn't look like he needed help. They just watched as he went at the klixens and succeed. "Whoa," Kokuō said. "I guess this is what he's like when he really gets mad."

"I don't think that's mad," Chōmei disagreed. "I think it's the adrenaline kicking in."

When Grunt was finally done rampaging his way through the klixens, he stood amongst their corpses with a grin that demanded blood. Everyone looked at each other with unease and then at him. "How you doing, Grunt?" Ruko asked him.

"I feel great," he proclaimed. "I feel like I could squash any enemy beneath my feet with absolute ease."

"Well, that's good," Garrus remarked. The others gave him a look and he shrugged his shoulders. What the hell was he supposed to say? Killing was bad?

"Are there anymore?" the krogan demanded, looking around for more enemies to kill. The bloodlust in him was still going but there was something else emerging within him too. It was like a need, a drive to prove himself. Maybe it was the trails that were causing this a drive to form inside of him but he didn't question it. He obeyed it and it was telling that he wasn't done. There was still more he had to do, one last enemy to fight.

Erik took a quick look down the left staircase. "I do not think so," he said, pulling his head back. He certainly didn't see any more coming at them.

As soon as he heard those words, he turned towards the panel. But before he took a step, he stopped himself and looked at everyone else. They looked tired but not so completely exhausted they were about to fall to the ground. Still, they were his krantt. He had to be responsible for them. "You guys ready?" he asked.

"Look at that, he's asking," Shukaku said in a surprise that was half mocking, half genuine.

"What brought this about?" Son wondered.

Isobu had a thought about it. "Maybe he's finally figuring out that he's not alone on this team?"

"If that's the case, I'll take it," Naruto replied. "Go ahead, Grunt," he told his student. "We're good to go."

The krogan turned for the panel and slapped his hand against it. The voice came back again. "Now all krogan bear the genophage, our reward, our curse. It is a fight where the only goal is survival!" With that last words declared, the keystone thumped once more.

Grunt could feel the earth turning around itself in response to the keystone. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of it churning and rumbling. There was a slight pause that made everything seem to stop. Then the earth churned back on itself, going back towards the keystone. He opened his eyes. Feel that?" he asked the others. "Everything is…shaking." There was also something coming towards them, something so big that it changed the earth itself. It made him nervous but even more than that, it made him excited. This was it. This would be the last opponent. He just knew that if they defeated this enemy, the Rite would be done successfully. "I am ready!"

"I think he might've finally lost it," Saiken declared.

"Hey, that's my student," Naruto said back.

They all heard something moving through the earth and kept their eyes out for anything that would their way. They couldn't see anything, only feel the earth moving. "Don't cluster up," Naruto told the others. "Spread out." He took the left stairs, sheathing the kunai and pulling out his guns again.

It didn't take long for someone to call out. It was Ruko who shouted, "I see something!" They all converged on her position at the railing of the plaza.

"Where is it?" Erik asked, coming to her side.

"There!" She pointed to beyond the edge of the plaza, near the slope of rocks. She could see a bright blue line against a creature's body that ended in split ends. "Does that look like a tail to anyone else?"

"I don't care what it is," Grunt declared, switching out the shotgun for the machine gun. "I'm taking it out." He opened fire before anyone could stop him. The gun rattled and growled in his hands as he fired, acting almost like a beast wanting to be free of its chains. The spray of the bullets went wide as they shot towards the tail-thing. One did hit and it was enough to send the thing shooting back down into the ground. "Got it!" he shouted.

But the ground shook a little bit harder, making some of them wobble around, and the head that tail had belonged to burst out of the earth, along with a portion of its body. For a moment, the team didn't do anything. They just stared at the creature before them and it stared at them. "That's a thresher maw," Garrus said.

"Yes, it is," Erik agreed with him.

"That's a thresher maw."

"Yes."

"That's a thresher maw."

"You said that already," Ruko told him. It might've sounded sarcastic if she wasn't staring at the creature herself.

"It's a fucking thresher maw."

"We got it," said Naruto, "Thanks for the information, Garrus." He looked inwardly on himself and towards the Bijū. "Chōmei, do you think you can understand what that thing might say?"

"Wait," Shukaku spoke before Chōmei could. "You want to talk to that thing."

"No, but I would like to know what its thinking."

"Naruto, you're talking about a bug of such size and ferocity, an Aburame would have an orgasm just by looking at it," Kurama told him. "And you want to know what's saying while it's looking at you like you are its next meal? Priorities, gaki, priorities," he finished.

"Alright, alright, I got the hint the first time around."

"That thing is rearing back its head," Erik noted as he watched the thresher maw. "We should probably get out of the way."

The maw's head snapped forward and spat out some kind of goo. It arced up and came flying down at them. They scattered, getting out of the way, and splattered against the ground of the plaza. A slight acidic tang filled Naruto's nose as the stuff hissed away smoke before hardened up and dissipating due to the wind. "I guess that's how it attacks from long distances."

"You're going to have to watch your step," Son told him.

He mentally rolled his eyes at the Yonbi "Like I didn't already know that," he replied.

Grunt stood out in the open while the others tried to find some cover. He faced the thresher maw without any fear and his blood and drive pounding away inside his ears. "I am right here!" he shouted at the thresher maw. "Come attack me if you dare!"

"Grunt, what the fuck are you doing!?" Ruko demanded peeking out from behind the column she was covering in. "That's a thresher maw! You don't attack them. You survive until they get bored and go away!"

"It is there and it wants to challenge me," he retorted. "Who am I to refuse it if it wants to die?" He lifted up his machine gun and let loose a savage blaze of gunfire. This time, he had a bigger target and was able to strike it with more ease. But while the bullets were hitting the thresher maw, it didn't look like it was doing much.

"Guys, we need to help him," Naruto told the others.

"Are you kidding?" Garrus demanded. "I didn't sign up for this!"

"Who signs up for a thresher maw attack?" asked Ruko. "They just happen."

"Well, I demand hazard pay if this keeps up!"

"We'll discuss that later," her brother told him as he stepped out of cover. "Right now, we've got a thresher maw to kill."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Gyūki asked him. "I think it would be safe to say that yours guns wouldn't be able to reach that far out."

He looked down at his guns. The Hachibi had a point. As it were, he was the only one who wouldn't be able to help out Grunt at that moment. He was going to have to come up with something else if he wanted to help. "I need to use my jutsu arsenal."

"You probably should've thought of that before you start creating clones and using Fūton jutsus," Kurama said. "What chakra you have is probably only good for one or two jutsu use before you collapse to the ground."

He could feel the strength of his chakra when he concentrated and he knew that the fox was right. "Damn it," he cursed. He needed to come up with another idea.

"Why don't you try using Sage Mode?" Isobu asked. "You said that you haven't done it yet, so now might be as good a time as any."

"He's in the middle of a battle," Kokuō retorted. "He's not going to have a chance to sit down and wait like he's supposed to."

"Actually…" the shinobi thought as an idea came to mind. It was risky and stupid, but when had that ever stopped him before.

"You got something?" Saiken asked him.

"Yes, I'm going with Isobu's idea."

"Are you crazy? Did you not just hear what I had said about the idea?" Kokuō demanded.

"I'm taking it under advisement."

Kurama rolled his eyes at that statement. He knew what it meant. "Don't bother trying to change his mind, Kokuō," he told the Gobi. "He just told you that he's not going to pay attention to anything you have to offer now."

"I didn't say that."

"Not in so much words, but you did say it."

"Can I just do my thing?" He looked to his team. "Guys, can you take care of the thresher maw for a little bit?" he asked them while he sat down.

"What did you think we were doing?" Grunt demanded. "Just sitting around picking flowers?"

Ruko agreed with the krogan. They had been trying to figure out some way to kill the thresher maw. They hadn't just been sitting around shooting the breeze. She looked over at her brother and saw him sitting down, folding his legs in. "What the fuck are you doing?"she demanded instantly.

"Providing a way to help you guys but I'm going to need a couple of minutes. Keep the thresher maw distracted, would ya?"

She almost yelled at him for his actions at that moment, except the thresher maw let out a shriek of a challenge and spat out more acidic goo. "Ah shit!" she cursed, running out of cover to avoid the goo. "You'd better make it quick!"

He ignored her in favor of focusing of concentrating. He let the world go, allowing the sounds of Grunt roaring, Garrus firing his gun, Erik setting up his mortar, and Ruko flaring her biotics to fade away until they were less than white noise. He did not feel the ground move underneath him. It felt solid to him. He remained perfectly still and attuned himself to the nature of Tuchanka.

It came quicker than he would've thought possible in his weakened state. The natural energy flooded through his body and merged with his chakra in a speed that made it seem almost starved. It damn near overwhelmed him but he refused to let that happen. He gathered as much natural energy as he could and merged it with his own, like he had been taught.

As soon as he started the process, the inhibitors woke up and hit him with pain. Everything started to hurt badly but the inhibitors had thrown worse things at him than this. He could handle it. So he gritted his teeth and continued to minge the natural energy with his own. Surprisingly enough, the pain faded as the mixture went on. It finally vanished when he faintly heard the sound of a multitude of things snapping.

Fully in Sage Mode, he stood back up. He felt looser and more ready to fight. It also seemed like he had more chakra at his command. "I must've broken some of the inhibitors," he realized. Guess the theory worked out after all. But he didn't know how much were broken. That was going have to wait.

He looked back at the battlefield. The others had the thresher maw's attention. Both Garrus and Erik were handling the long range effect with the respective gun and mortar from the higher end of the plaza. Grunt and Ruko were a little closer, standing at the far edge of the plaza. He kept up a rapid fire with his machine gun and Ruko was sending blast after blast of biotics at it. The thresher maw didn't budge or try to avoid the attacks. It stayed in the place it had emerged and spat out goo at them, forcing them to move instead.

Naruto went to the rail and vaulted over, landing on his feet and still walking forward. With the chakra he had now, he could use some of his difficult jutsus. He had the perfect one in mind and was glad that Kakashi had shown it to him during the war. His hands blurred through the seals required and when he came to Grunt's side, he clapped them together in the final seal. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu)!"

He spat out water and it quickly turned into a raging torrent of water. That torrent morphed into a dragon and proceeded to lunge for the thresher maw with a roar. The thresher maw returned the roar with a shriek of its own and lunged too. The two smashed into each other and the dragon lost its form, sloshing into water against the thresher maw.

And that had been what Naruto had wanted, already folding his hands into additional seals. "Raigeki (Lightning Strike)!" he shouted, throwing his hand out at the thresher maw. Lightning engulfed the hand and then leapt out into an arc. It struck the gigantic creature and the entirety lit up with lightning. They could all hear the shrieks it made as it thrashed around in pain.

"I thought you didn't know any Raiton jutsu," Garrus called out to Naruto, still watching the thresher maw thrash in pain. He knew that water could conduct lightning and he guessed that was what the blonde shinobi had been going for. But he had thought it would've been more like to wait for a thunderstorm then use a Raiton jutsu since he didn't know any. It turns out that the turian was wrong.

"I picked up a few during the war," Naruto replied, breathing heavy. "But I really can't use them often. Not really my element." What he did learn was the kind of firepower that would be a considerable hit on his chakra even when he had it at full capacity. Now it was all he could do not pant like a dog after water.

"I don't know if that was supposed to work or not," Grunt said aloud, getting his attention, "but that thing is still moving."

They all looked at the thresher maw as it stopped trashing around and stared at them. They could see the hatred and anger in its eyes (or what passed as eyes on a thresher maw) and knew it was meant for them. "I don't think it worked," Garrus finally said.

"Huh," Naruto remarked, getting back to up straight, "Tough critter."

Chōmei said, "Uh, Naruto, do you still want that translation?"

"You can do it?"

"Well, I understand what it's going through right now emotion wise."

"Okay, what would that be?"

"It's angry and wants to devour you. I think it will also take great enjoyment in the process."

Grunt raised his gun again. "Can we just kill this fucking thing already?" he demanded, getting impatient. "If we don't kill it, it's going to kill us." He fired off a round of bullets at the thresher maw. It didn't look like it had been pleased by the idea. In fact, it looked even more pissed.

"Are you asking for a one shot wonder, Grunt?" his teacher asked.

He kept firing. "If it gets this thing killed, yes!" he declared. "Either we win this together or we die together. And I don't plan on dying here!"

"I think that it about to get closer!" Erik shouted out warningly. The thresher maw did seem to be getting taller as it extended its body out of its hole.

Ruko looked over at her brother with a look of increasing worry. "Tell me you got something here!"

"I do," he replied, forming a handseal and creating another clone. "Just keep it busy and make sure it doesn't move."

"This is risky," Kurama warned him.

He started to concentrate his chakra into the palm of his armored hand, rotating it, powering it, and containing it. "Tell me something that I don't know, fox."

"You're still going to do it then?"

"What does it look like he's doing?" Shukaku asked him. "I'd say the answer to that stupid little question taking form in his hand."

He ignored the both of them. The clone channeled the wind chakra into the jutsu and it quickly took shape. The familiar humming filled his ears and the spinning white blades had the attention of his eyes. He had the jutsu ready and dismissed the clone. "I need a clear and clean shot!" he told the rest of the team.

"That's about as clear and clean as you're going to get!" Ruko told him as she held the thresher maw in place with her biotics as everyone else kept shooting it. She wasn't going to be able to hold out for much longer. She could feel the thresher maw struggling closer and closer to freedom from her grasp. "So just throw the damn thing already!"

"Alright, everyone stay clear!" He held the Rasenshuriken above his head and Grunt and Ruko quickly darted to either side, making sure that they were far out of the way. He brought the jutsu low, bringing it into a spin for speed and an additional spin to it, and then threw it right at the thresher maw.

The creature broke free of Ruko's biotics but by then it was too late. It was hit by the Rasenshuriken and soon its head was engulfed in the orb of unrelenting power. They all heard a brief shriek before the orb engulfed it. Garrus braced himself against the incoming shockwave and was able to withstand it. But he was still stunned by what he had just witnessed. This was a completely different version from what he had seen when the first Normandy team had rescued Liara. The power of this jutsu was enough to actually pull the thresher maw's body up out of the ground by a few feet. He had never seen anything like that happen before in his life.

"Is that what it's supposed to look like?" he called out to Naruto as the orb faded away and the headless thresher maw flopped to the earth.

"Pretty much, yeah," the shinobi answered before collapsing to the ground like a doll with cut strings.

Grunt was horrified and scared at the sight. "Sensei!" he roared in a panic, racing to his side. Ruko was there alongside him. They started to make sure that he was okay while the other two got down to them.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Naruto said to the both of them. "I just feel a bit winded." He could already feel Sage Mode fading out.

"A bit winded?" repeated an incredulous Ruko. "You just fell to the ground in a dead heap! Can you even get up?"

He tried lifting his arms to push himself up off the ground but they felt to stiff and heavy to do that. "No, it doesn't look like it. Can you help me up?" She grabbed him by the offered arm and pulled him up. Her strength and the way she pulled him up made him wince. "Easy, Ruko," he told his sister as she got him back up onto his feet.

"Shut up, you don't get a right to complain," she told him back, throwing his arm over her shoulder. She gripped his hand gently, careful not to let him go.

Garrus looked at the blonde duo as he got to them. "What the hell happened?" the turian asked as Erik joined his side.

"I almost ran out of chakra with that last one," Naruto said.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I just a spot to sit down and relax for a little bit, maybe get some sleep." The tomkah was probably going to be the best place for it. He was actually looking forward to the nap.

A shuttle screamed overhead, catching them all a little off-guard. They all looked up at it and watched as it settled and lowered itself down to plaza. "Who are these guys?" Ruko demanded, "They here to give us a ride or something?"

"I do not think that we are that lucky," Erik replied as he watched the shuttle hatch open and Uvenk strolled out with a small group of guards.

"Oh great," Naruto thought. "This is just what we needed right now." He foresaw a fight coming on and he knew he wouldn't be able to join it.

Uvenk walked before the team and looked at them. Then he looked at the ruined corpse of the thresher maw behind them. "You live, and you brought down the thresher maw," he said to Grunt. "No one has done that in generations. Urdnot Wrex was the last."

Grunt didn't care about who brought the last thresher maw. All he cared about was how he and the team were victorious. "My krantt gave me strength beyond my genes," he proclaimed, watching Uvenk, "Which are damn good."

The other krogan got in closer and looked him over. "This will cause discussion. I wonder…" he said to himself, still looking the younger krogan over. "You say you are pure? No alien meddling in your construction? Just the warlord Okeer?" he asked.

Naruto started praying that Grunt wouldn't tell him that he had chakra. He had the feeling that Uvenk wouldn't see a krogan having chakra as being pure. But his student only said, "Damn right he was the only one. It is because of him that I was designed and created to be the perfect krogan."

There was a disgruntled look on Uvenk's face at those words. "Being designed is the problem. But not made by aliens. And he is truly powerful," he said to himself, like he was taking verbal notes. "That is a tolerable loophole."

Grunt looked confused. "A what?" he demanded.

He wasn't the only one who was confused. "What's he going on about?" Ruko wondered, watching the other krogan carefully. Her free hand slipped down to her gun. It was still folded away but she could reach it easily if things went south.

"A reason to accept you," the other krogan said, walking away from Grunt. "You are a mistake, but your potential could tip the current balance of the clans.'

Grunt realized what he was going on about. He wanted to use him as a means to take power from Urdnot Wrex and lead the krogans on Tuchanka. That was not right. He could not just come in at the last moment and give him an offer to switch sides before he had even picked a side. That was wrong. It made him angry. "You spit on my father's name. On my sensei's name!" he spat at Uvenk. "But now you stop ranting because I'm strong?"

"With restrictions," the other krogan told him, still talking like the silent offer was a good thing for him. "You could not breed, of course. Or serve on an alien ship." He looked pointedly at the humans and turian there when he said that. "But you'd be clan in name."

"You say all that," Erik said to him, "but it is clear that you do not want him in your clan."

"Of course not," he answered simply, giving the tall blonde an irritated look. "I didn't really want to cooperate with clan Urdnot either but I had to. Clan Gatatog is on the verge — either of greatness or of joining the dust." He looked at Grunt again. "I get traditionalist support if I fight you and reformer support if I back you. Your Rite of Passage tipped that balance too."

The ground rumbled beneath as the two groups stared down each other. Naruto's team kept their hands on their weapons but the krogan behind Uvenk had theirs up at the ready. "What do you say?" Uvenk asked Grunt. "Will—"

The ground around the plaza suddenly burst apart and they were surrounded by thresher maws. "What the fuck!?" swore Ruko, reaching for her gun. The others did the same but it was Uvenk and his krogan that took the more noted action: they lifted up their guns and started shooting at the maws.

"No one move!" Grunt told the others. He didn't need to see the all nine of the maws to know that they didn't have a chance in hell. If they didn't do anything, he had the feeling that Uvenk and his little group would be the first to die. Quite frankly, it served them right.

The thresher maws didn't disappoint. If they weren't spitting acidic goo, they were lunging down and eating the krogans outright. Uvenk's defiance of them vanished in about ten seconds and they just started running for their lives. That didn't last long and soon the thresher maws were all looking at them. "Oh fuck," Garrus moaned. "What are we going to do now?"

"Don't worry," the krogan amongst them said as he put away the gun in his hands, "I've got this."

Naruto looked at his student as he pounded his fists against each other and started gathering his chakra. "Grunt, what are you doing?" he asked.

His student didn't answer, so focused on gathering his chakra. When it reached the point he wanted it to be at, he looked at the thresher maws. They all looked at him too, hissing in anticipation of the food to come. But just as they were able to attack all at once, Grunt opened his mouth, unleashed his chakra, and roared.

When the team looked at it in hindsight, to call it a roar would've been an understatement. It was a sound that was almost as visible as it was audible. They all tried to cover their ears but even they did that, they could still hear the roar. It was like sledgehammers pounding down on large slabs of steel in the middle of a thunderstorm while a gale howled around. The force of it caught them off guard and they were driven to their knees. And still, Grunt roared. He roared all of the thresher maws, turning in place as he roared. He kept roaring until he could no longer roar and even then, the echo of his roar was just as audible on the wind.

The thresher maws all stared at him with something no one could ever claim to see a thresher maw to have: fear. They looked at him with undisguised fear. He stood tall and eyed every single one of them down. They couldn't face him and they quickly burrowed back into the holes they had come out of.

Everyone else got back up onto their feet and looked at Grunt. "What the fuck was that?" Garrus asked him. He had never seen a krogan do what he just did.

He looked at the turian and then at the holes where the maws had just been. "I think I told them to heel," he answered. That was the best explanation he could give.

Garrus gave him an incredulous look before just giving up. Erik took a look around them. "Well, whatever it was that you did, you also managed to scare off the wind too," he noted. The wind had died down and so had the dust screen caused by it. They had a view of the surrounding area but the first thing they all looked at was the tower-shaped object in the distance.

"What is that?" Garrus asked as he stared at it. It wasn't a tower, he knew that much.

"Perhaps it is the Old Tree the shaman mentioned," the Einherjar offered.

"That doesn't look like any tree I've seen."

Grunt scoffed at that. "Have you ever been on Tuchanka before now?" he asked. "How would you know what a tree from here would look like?"

Ruko agreed with all of them, but she also knew that no natural tree could ever get that big. "Maybe it's an anomaly," she suggested. "What do you think, Naruto?" She waited for an answer from her brother but got only silence. "Hey, you still with us?" she asked, turning to look at him.

He had heard her but he couldn't answer. He was too busy staring in stunned horror at the thing in the distance. He couldn't say anything to express what he was feeling, but Kurama came to the rescue with his own. "You've gotta be shitting me!"


Codex Entry (Technology): CHAKRA CLIPS VS CHARKA RUNES

Since the creation of chakra clips, there has been debate amongst the Systems Alliance to officially stop the usage of chakra runes. This is opposed by seal-makers and rune-forgers inside the Alliance who have blatantly stated that if this was to come to pass, they would be out of a job.

The difference between chakra clips and runes is not only in their abilities but also in their history. Runes have been in active use in the Alliance since after the War of Three Flags (See: Years of Exploration) but chakra clips are only a recent thing, having been created since the attack of Sovereign on the Citadel.

The abilities they give to their users are also different. While both are able to call on the elements, the bullets are able to use them far longer and with more lasting effect. But that is all they are able to do. The runes are able to supply much variety to their effects, giving the applied weapon the ability to harden to the extent that it could break bones, sent poison into the blood, to be wielded with better agility then to be expected, etc. etc.

However, the more powerful the rune to be applied, the longer it would take to be carven and created and then applied to the weapon, also making it much more expensive. Whereas the chakra clips are easy to make and the user only needs to utilize their chakra to reload them. However, the clips are only able to utilize the elements, not any of the jutsus associated with the elements, and it is an element per clip.

The debate has not reached such levels that protests and riots have broken out over it. The general consensus at the moment is that the clips are used for general usage and the ruins for more specified attributes. But that has not quelled the debate, only cooled it.


End

Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.

I saw the argument between Miranda and Ruko happening was along the same lines as the fight between Rock and Revy in Black Lagoon (which is also one of the best damn scenes and episodes of anime I have ever seen). The two pairs are actually a lot similar if you think about it. The only real difference is that Miranda's more experienced at what she does then Rock.

The last bit in the plaza was an intentional thing on my part. If looked at the size of the thresher maw right, about three of them would fill up one side of the plaza. I can also admit that was Grunt did was inspired by Skyrim and its Dragon Shouts. It felt like that was a move a krogan would be able to do. However, just to head this off, I was not tempted to have Grunt shout Fus Ro Dah.

I'll see you all next chapter!