Lee woke up again around 0300, and Naruto gently took him to the shower to get cleaned up and to give him his second dose. The bisexuality had already kicked in, so Lee was much more amenable to showering with a man he barely knew. He made no comment on how he suddenly found Naruto attractive, but it was obvious in how he held himself and how he looked at the Commodore. Naruto rounded out his belly a second time, and then tucked him back into bed and slept away the hours until he woke up again.

At 0700, Lee began to stir. He blinked open gummy eyes, feeling thirty years younger, and found he was in the middle of a bed filled with naked men and women. He recognized them all as his new crew and he relaxed back into bed. He looked down and gave a shout when he saw his abdomen swollen like he had some kind of advanced growth beneath his skin.

The crew all shot up, some of them summoning psychic powers in surprise, which made Lee gape. These people truly were psychic. And, supposedly, if he kept getting on his knees for Naruto, so would he be. He relished the idea of having the power to take on the cyborg assassin's of Pein's empire of death.

Naruto relaxed and dropped the Psychic Shield he'd made. "Relax, everyone. Lee just saw his belly, that's all."

Hinata stopped floating with Telekinesis to plop back to the bed. "Oh, that's all," she said relieved.

Sasuke's fingers stopped crackling with Psychic Lightning. "You didn't warn him that you cum in buckets?"

"It slipped my mind," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head.

The others all relaxed their postures as well, settling into an early morning. Lee rubbed his protruding abdomen and felt how warm and solid it was. "You mean to tell me that this is all… you?" he asked incredulously.

"You were even bigger about four hours ago. Wait until you're an Uzu and then you'll digest the lot within an hour, your body will have adapted to taking my loads," Naruto explained. "So, how do you feel this morning?"

"Like a teenager, in both energy and horniness. Something you forgot to mention?" Lee asked, looking Naruto up and down appreciatively as much as he would Hinata or the other women.

"There's some personality alterations inherent to the change, among them bisexuality. I didn't tell you because you honestly didn't seem to give a fuck about the details so long as you ended up psychic with an enhanced body," Naruto told his teacher bluntly.

Lee shrugged. "True enough. So, a week you say?"

"Faster, if we maximize your meals and give you energy. But that's not an option right now. We're in the middle of a couple operations right now and we need all the energy we can spare. You'll have to settle for the standard 7 days like everyone else did," Naruto told him.

"Then why mention it?" he grumbled. "So, I take it it's time for my 'breakfast'? Will I remember this time?"

"Yes, you will," Naruto said with a smile. His behemoth of a cock awoke, sticking up proudly and twitching as if to invite Lee. The swordsman attacked the task as he did combat, with limitless zeal and boundless determination. He didn't even bat an eye as he found himself deepthroating the monster, just focused on getting that transformative spunk into his stomach. His efforts bore swift fruit, and Naruto groaned as his four balls unloaded their cargo down Lee's gullet.

Lee kept a mouthful of Naruto's seed, curious at its sweet taste, before swallowing it down. He looked down and found his abdomen even more distended, as if he were a pregnant woman a week past her delivery date with a 12-pound baby. "How do I not have any stretch marks?" he asked, curious.

A voice came from the speakers. "Give him the Holo-reader. I've loaded up a novelized version of your adventures the past few months, complete with all relevant information about the Uzu."

Lee looked up. "Who was that?"

"That was Shikamaru, one of our AI. He's a nice guy once you get to know him," Naruto said nonchalantly.

Lee rose a brow. "AI? One of?"

"It's all in the Holo-reader, my friend," Naruto said, grabbing the portable console from where it was tucked in a shelf with Telekinesis. "You can spend the day reading that, I'll be back at meal times. If you have any questions, just give a holler and Shikamaru will help you or get one of us. Okay?"

"Okay," Lee said, getting comfortable under the covers before balancing the Holo-reader on his inflated tummy.

The others all got dressed, had breakfast, and separated to do what tasks they deemed important before they arrived at New Eden around 1100.

The entire crew were up on the Bridge when they arrived in the Procyon system, and even Karin had joined them on the Command Deck, as she was curious to see what this important detour was all about. The star in the center of the system map shone brightly with a fierce white glow, clearly illuminating the single habitable planet in its orbit.

New Eden was a spectacular gem of a world, with a fresh, clean atmosphere, and a habitat that was perfect for humanity. As an Eden-classification planet, it was one of a tiny handful of highly sought after destinations for the rich and famous within the Konoha Federation. As one of the wealthiest people in the Federation, it was to be expected that Haruno Henry would have a residence here.

Naruto glanced over at Sakura, and found her staring pensively at the holographic representation of New Eden. The beautiful green orb floated above them on the Bridge, looking serene and peaceful in the blackness of space that surrounded it. "When did you last visit?" he asked her gently.

Sakura looked up at him and said sadly, "Just over two years ago now, and I haven't spoken to my father in all that time. His estate is just outside Avalon, which is New Eden's capital city."

Hana stood from her Tactical Station and walked over to stand beside the rose haired girl. "I've spent the last few days going through what happened with your mother," she said in a quiet voice, as she reached out and placed a comforting hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Did you find any leads?" Naruto asked, looking down at the Lieutenant.

Hana nodded and looked up at him as she said, "I was only able to access news reports, and not the actual police files on the cases. The kidnappers seemed to be highly organised and extremely well informed. They hit the richest families, taking spouses or children, and then seemed to vanish with their victims. A day after each kidnapping, a ransom demand would be issued anonymously."

"Extremely well informed..." Naruto said, his eyes narrowing. "You think they had informants?"

She nodded firmly and said, "Yes, that would be my best guess. I'd suggest investigating the following to look for the leak: Security contracting firms, to see if there might be a common link between private protection companies used by the families involved. Local traffic authorities, as they might have been forewarned about security entourages travelling along sky lanes. Finally, local law enforcement. A corrupt cop might have been tipping the kidnappers off about potential targets."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then said, "Let's start with the police. If we take a look at the police archives, we might be able to find some more clues."

"Bringing us in for a close geo-synchronous orbit near Avalon," Fu said over her shoulder, and they watched as the holographic representation of the planet grew larger on the system map.

Naruto turned to look at Karin, and said in a pleasant voice, "We could use your help, if you're as good with computers as your mother says you are."

Karin frowned and said, "What are we doing here exactly? Has someone been kidnapped?"

He paused for a moment before answering, and said, "Sakura's mother was kidnapped and murdered ten years ago. We're investigating, and going to bring the kidnappers to justice."

The blue skinned Oto woman looked incredulous, and she balked, "You're wasting our time with something that happened a decade ago?! What makes you think I'd lift a finger to help you?!"

Naruto studied her for a moment before he replied, "We aren't leaving until this is resolved, so the sooner we wrap this up, the sooner we can be on our way. It's in your own interest to help us, if you want to leave quickly."

Karin ground her teeth, and she bristled with anger as she said frostily, "Fine... I'll help."

He bowed his head to her courteously and said, "Thanks for your gracious offer of assistance."

Naruto sat in his Command Chair and stated "I want Hinata, Hana, and Sakura with me. Everyone else can stay up here, Fu can carry us in the Raptor."

"Yes, Commodore," they all replied obediently, even Karin getting caught up in his commanding tone. She scowled and went for the anti-grav tube to get dressed in her armor while the selected crew members went for the Briefing Room to put on their new and improved Unobtanium Thrall Armor. They stepped into the boots and gloves and did their quick motions to get equipped, the opaque faces of the helmets looking mighty intimidating, sight provided by a small camera built into the helmet. The only way to distinguish them, other than the obvious differences between the Uzu and Thrall Armors, was by their wolf hologram.

Hinata and Hana had already retrieved their Quantum Rifles, and were busy slotting in the magazines to the appropriate slots. They picked up some extra magazines, and a number of clips, slotting them into position on their combat webbing. Naruto and Sakura followed their lead, and soon they were fully equipped and ready for action. He looked over at the three of them, standing in their glossy white armour with the light blue, dark brown, and pink wolf emblems on their respective left breasts. With their ferocious looking rifles at the ready, they looked very intimidating.

"How do we look?" Hinata asked him curiously.

Naruto grinned and said, "Like people not to be fucked with."

She smiled at that, then asked, "Why are we gearing up anyway? I thought we're just going to visit the police headquarters?"

He winked and said, "I have a feeling we'll make a significantly more dramatic impression on Avalon PD dressed like this."

"Clothes make the man," she agreed with a wry smile.

They strolled out of the Briefing Room, and Fu smiled at them as they walked past the Pilot's Station. "We're in orbit above Avalon," she said, rising from her chair.

He nodded to her, and the Nymph walked briskly ahead of them, heading towards the grav-tube. He paused, and turning to face Sasuke he said, "Take care up here. Let us know if you run into any kind of trouble."

"Likewise!" Sasuke said enthusiastically. He kissed his hand and then placed it on his face plate. "You're a walking tank, but please be careful. Remember, you're High Command now. You can get whatever you want by barking orders and reminding everyone of your rank."

Naruto nodded and then jogged to catch up with the girls headed down the anti-grav tube. They were all waiting in the Docking Bay when Karin arrived in her golden Oto armor, helmet in hand and Laser Rifle slung over her back. "How did you get geared up so fast?" she demanded.

Naruto shrugged. "Hook and latch design Tenten borrowed from the Nuke. Takes less than ten seconds to get dressed in an equipping frame. A benefit you could enjoy if you joined the crew," he couldn't help but add.

She scowled and put on her helmet, the hydraulic seals hissing as they closed. Fu had begun to warm up the Engines on the Raptor, so they all walked up the Loading Ramp, Shikamaru closing it behind them.

"If you expect me to hack at my usual level, you'll either need to return my hacking portal or lend me one of your AI," Karin said grudgingly.

"Sorry, we're keeping that. Tenten found all kinds of data on it aside from the AI generator. Apparently, Guren, the original Matriarch, recorded and left behind messages to warn future Oto of the threat of the Uzu. You can be there when we watch them once we build the right projector," Naruto offered.

Karin glanced in his direction. "I… I would appreciate seeing my great-grandmother's final words," she finally said.

"You'll get a front row seat, don't worry," Naruto promised. "And Shikamaru will be happy to help you. Just tell us what to do and he'll pick it up on our microphones."

Fu lifted up the Raptor after her final safety check and flew them out the open doors of the Docking Bay. They floated in the blackness of space beside the Invictus, the light of the white sun gleaming on their Invictium armor plating.

Fu glanced over her shoulder at Naruto and said, "Where to?"

"The Police Headquarters in Avalon. The capital is bound to have the biggest law enforcement facility," he said speculatively.

Hana nodded her agreement and said, "I checked, you're right. They have a large compound and central headquarters building in the North west quadrant of the city. It's quite distinctive; look for a modern thirty-story tower block in black and silver. There are dozens of landing pads for anti-grav vehicles, on a platform on the south side. We should be able to land on one of those."

"On our way," Fu said with a smile, and cranked up the power to the engines, sending them racing towards the surface of the planet.

New Eden loomed large before them, the planet looking green and lush as it drew closer. Unlike the wilder nature of the Oto worlds, this Konoha world looked to be carefully maintained and cultivated, with humanity having stamped it's authority on the planet. Fu brought them in on a smooth descent towards the city, and they raced over huge, immaculately preserved estates on their final approach to Avalon.

A flashing light on the console let Fu know that they were being hailed, and she clicked a button that accepted the call. A stern faced young man appeared on the viewscreen, and he said brusquely, "This is Avalon flight control. Please identify yourself, and the nature of your business in the city."

Naruto got up and then walked over to stand by Fu's side, and in a tone that let the young man know that this wasn't up for discussion, he said, "This is Commodore Uzumaki Naruto, and I have business at the Police Headquarters. Let them know I'll be arriving in five minutes."

The young flight controller looked surprised, and after a brief pause he said, "Right away Commodore! I'll alert them of your imminent arrival."

Naruto nodded, and glanced at Fu, who reached over to end the call. She looked up at him and grinned, admiring his commanding presence. He winked at her, and then looked out over the planet, as they approached the city.

Turning back to look at Sakura, he asked her, "Did you grow up on New Eden?"

The rose haired girl had been lost in her thoughts, and she looked up at him when he spoke. She nodded and said, "Yes, I spent most of my time here. We had several other houses on different planets, but I always thought of New Eden as home."

Naruto walked over and sat on his haunches in front of her. "Having any second thoughts about this?" he asked considerately.

Sakura looked into his eyes and he saw a firm resolve there, as she replied, "No. I want to get justice for my mother. The people who did this to her have been able to get away with it for too long."

Naruto nodded, and reached out to hold her hand before sitting beside her. As he did so, he spotted Karin rolling her eyes, and he stared at her pointedly for a long moment, until she flushed with embarrassment and looked away.

Fu called out to them, "Coming up on the Police Headquarters," and they looked out of the cockpit canopy to get a glimpse of their destination.

Sure enough, the black and silver tower block appeared ahead of them, looming out of the steel forest of the city skyline. Fu raced towards it in the Raptor, darting between the skyscrapers that made up Avalon's city center, with a breathtaking display of aerobatics. The landing platform jutted out mid-way up the law enforcement building, and numerous police cruisers colored in the same black and silver as the building, were parked in neat rows on the landing pads. There were plenty of free spaces available on the platform, so she picked one of the pads close to the building, and brought them down to a gentle landing under her skillful and well practiced hands.

Naruto stood and placed a hand on the Nymph's shoulder as he said, "You better stay with the gunship. We'll let you know if there's any trouble."

She glanced up at him with her shining orange eyes and nodded, acknowledging his orders. He smiled at her, then walked out of the cockpit, and dropped down in the grav-tube as he followed after the others. They waited for him by the front loading ramp, and Hinata hit the button to lower the ramp as he arrived. It dropped smoothly with the soft hum of hydraulics, and Naruto strode out purposefully as soon as it touched the ground.

The girls fanned out to flank him, and the handful of police officers on the landing platform looked at them in surprise as they walked briskly towards the tall building ahead of them. Naruto heard a few muttered comments from the startled police, and he was sure he heard "Wolves" or "Alpha" more than once. He smiled grimly as they drew closer to the Police Headquarters, and the door suddenly swung open as a flustered looking policewoman burst through the door.

"Commodore Uzumaki!" she gasped when she looked up at them all in shock, having not expected to have them appear right in front of her.

Naruto stopped and studied the woman appraisingly as he said, "Yes, I'm Commodore Uzumaki Naruto. Who might you be?"

The police officer blocking their path was an attractive raven haired woman in her early thirties, she got a hold of herself and said, "I'm Detective Walsh Karen, I just heard from Traffic Control that you were heading our way."

Naruto nodded, and watched a couple of the police officers from the platform dart past them and run into the building. "My team and I are conducting an investigation. I'd appreciate the cooperation of the Avalon Police Department in helping me conclude it as quickly and efficiently as possible," he said in a no-nonsense manner.

Detective Walsh looked up at him wide eyed, and nodded as she said, "What can we do to help you?"

Naruto smiled at her gratefully and said, "We'll need access to your data archives. We're investigating a murder that happened ten years ago."

The police officer nodded, and then opened the door behind her. "Follow me," she said eagerly, and walked inside.

It seemed like the police officers from the platform had spread the news of their arrival, and it appeared to have raced like wildfire through the building. As Naruto and the girls strode through the corridors after Detective Walsh, they passed dozens of awestruck faces as the police officers came out of their offices to watch the celebrities in their midst.

She led them out into a large foyer area, with clear glass elevators on the other side of the wide room, that led up to the open plan offices above. They strode briskly across the foyer, as a hushed silence fell across the room. Their guide led them into an elevator, and it rose steadily, going up four levels before stopping with a soft chime. Police men and women lined the balconies of the different levels of the foyer, all wanting a glimpse of the Alpha of the Federation and his Wolves, geared up for battle.

The elevator doors swung open and Detective Walsh led them across the open office area, to a glass walled server room on the far side. She swiped her detectives badge across the reader by the side of the door, and an automated voice said, "Welcome, Detective Walsh."

She gestured for them to enter, and Naruto led the way, with the police woman and the rest of the girls following behind them. He turned towards the golden armored Oto who stood behind him, and said, "Over to you, Karin."

Karin walked towards the bank of huge servers, and deftly removed the data jacks from her right vambrace. She attached them to the corresponding ports on the server console, and then began to hit several buttons on her gleaming golden arm. "Shikamaru, please run a search using these criteria," she said loud enough for the others to hear, pulling up a holographic panel and typing furiously for a few seconds.

"No problem," Shikamaru projected from the Armor's external systems.

Detective Walsh jumped. "Who was that?" she asked

"Our tech guy back on our ship," Naruto explained, if perhaps not in a great amount of detail.

They only had to wait for thirty seconds before a soft chime from Karin's vambrace drew their attention back to her. She tapped in a few commands, and then unclipped a small device from her belt. Turning towards the glass wall behind them, and the dozens of staring police officers behind it, she stuck the device to the wall. With the press of a button, it began to project holographic panels, showing the relevant case files that the AI had located.

Detective Walsh looked up at the files, and when she had read the first couple of reports, she looked over at Naruto in surprise. "You're investigating the New Eden Serpents?"

When he looked at her with a bemused expression, she smiled apologetically, and said, "Sorry, that's the nickname the media gave the kidnapping group. Because they were taking people away from the garden of New Eden... Yeah I know, pretty lame right?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "What do you know of this group, The Serpents?"

The policewoman shook her head and said regretfully, "Not much I'm afraid. It was before my time on the force, and I was still in the Academy when they were active. The gang did a number of high profile kidnappings about ten years ago, with most of the wealthy victims returned safely. They made a lot of money in a very short time, but were never caught."

Hana had been carefully studying each of the police reports and she said offhandedly, "The lead officer in all these cases was a Detective Buckley Cliff. Is he still working for the Avalon Police Department?"

Detective Walsh nodded, and said, "Yeah, Captain Buckley is in charge of the precinct now."

Naruto was going to ask her for more details, when a stocky, red faced man in a suit came storming through the glass door to the server room. "What's going on here?! Stop what you're doing immediately!" he demanded in an outraged voice. "I never gave you permission to access our servers!"

Turning to face the man, Naruto said calmly, "Permission? I'm a Commodore in the Konoha Federation Navy. I outrank every civilian on this planet."

As the red faced man fumed impotently, Detective Walsh said, "Commodore Uzumaki, this is Captain Buckley."

"Thank you Detective," Nartuo said, to her courteously. He then looked at the Captain and told him curtly, "We're just conducting an investigation. We'll be out of your hair shortly."

Captain Buckley glared at Naruto, then narrowed his eyes as he looked past him at the reports Hana was sifting through. The Lieutenant was speaking quietly to Karin, who nodded, looking impressed, and began to rapidly type in new sets of instructions to her AI coworker.

The Captain's eyes widened slightly as he saw what reports they were examining, and he said, "Commodore Uzumaki, we can discuss this like reasonable men, surely? Why don't you come up to my office and we can have a chat. Then you can continue your investigation afterwards."

Naruto was about to reply, when Hana said sharply, "He's a corrupt cop. He was the informant for the kidnappers."

Buckley sounded outraged as he blustered, "How dare you! I've served the force loyally for seventeen years!"

Karin entered a number of commands, and new holographic images began to flash in front of their eyes. Bank accounts registered to Buckley Cliff appeared, showing large transfers of funds ten years ago, with the relevant entries highlighted in damning red circles. Captain Buckley gaped at the images, his eyes wide in shock.

"There's more," Hana continued relentlessly. "He arranged the murders of two detectives ten years ago. They suspected he was involved with the kidnappings."

The Inuzuka nodded to the Oto who opened the damning audio file, hacked from the telecom archive of his private phone records.

The recording of Captain Buckley's distinctive voice filled the room, and he snarled, "I want those fuckers dead! MacDermot and Higgins have started snooping around, and I've seen the looks they've been giving me. They know I'm involved!"

"Calm down," a stern voice replied. "Just let us know when they leave the station, and we'll take care of it."

Karin clicked a button, and a news article suddenly appeared, with the title: "Avalon PD Detectives gunned down in apparently motiveless shooting!" The image accompanying the article showed the smoking ruin of a black and silver police squad car, riddled with dozens of bullet holes.

Captain Buckley stared at them in horror, and glanced behind him at the dozens of police officers who were staring at him appalled, their faces registering their shock. He glared at Naruto in fury, and reached for his handgun, as he started backing from the room.

Hinata was standing on the other side of the room, but with a dismissive wave of her hand, she slapped the pistol from the man's shaking grasp. She then turned her hand upwards, and he screamed as she lifted him off the floor.

Naruto walked over to the Police Captain, and studied him for a long moment, seeing the fear in the other man's terrified eyes. "I'm entirely within my rights to execute you immediately," Naruto told him coldly. "The only thing saving you from that, is if you tell me everything you know about the kidnapping gang, these 'New Eden Serpents'."

Captain Buckley stammered for a moment, but he began to talk rapidly when Nartuo began to aim his big and intimidating Quantum Rifle. "They're still active!" he gasped. "They used all the money they made years ago to buy a huge arsenal of surplus army hardware. Tanks, big guns, ships... They've been working as mercenaries!"

Naruto frowned and asked, "Why? If they made that much money years ago, why didn't they just retire?"

Buckley shook his head frantically and replied, "I've got no fucking idea! They didn't tell me their plans, they just paid me money to tip them off about juicy targets."

"Where are they now?" Naruto said in a voice quiet as the grave.

Buckley hesitated for just a moment, but one glance at Naruto's big gun got him talking again. "Beta Draconis!" he yelped. "The merc group is called the 'Armored Cobras'. They're legit now! They've got a base on the fourth planet in the system."

Naruto nodded, recognizing the name, and he said, "I've heard of them. Mostly do corporate work, but they've done some nasty jobs for the Federation too."

Hinata walked up beside him, and asked, "What's the verdict on Captain Buckley?"

Naruto glanced at Sakura and said, "He's an accessory to your mother's kidnap and murder. What do you want to do with him?"

She narrowed her eyes, and then glanced at the angry faces of the police officers outside the room. "He's a cop killer. Let them deal with him," she said firmly.

Hinata waved her hand away dismissively, and Captain Buckley went tumbling backwards, then sprawled across the floor. Naruto walked out of the server room without giving the man a second glance, and he passed the furious police officers as they began to walk slowly towards the prone man, their fists clenched in anger. The girls followed after him, apart from Sakura, who watched the red faced Captain scrabble backwards, looking up at his men fearfully. With a nod of satisfaction, she strode briskly after Naruto to catch up.

Detective Walsh jogged to keep up with Naruto, and she looked up at him in awe as he strode purposefully towards the elevators. "Where are you going now?" she asked him, sounding shocked to the core by the recent turn of events.

"Beta Draconis," he replied calmly. "We've got a nest of snakes to eliminate."

An hour later, Naruto and the girls had removed their combat gear, and were gathered around the long table in the briefing room, looking at the Beta Draconis system map. The yellow star was enormous, massively larger than Konoha's sun, and Tenten had to adjust the scale of the map so that they weren't just staring at a huge yellow sphere. None of the planets in orbit looked particularly appealing, two of which were gas giants, while the third was a molten world, covered in vast oceans of magma. The fourth planet out was a relatively small and barren planetoid, called SerpentHold.

Tenten frowned and said, "What's up with all these snake references? I can't believe they lucked out and got a planet with a name like that for their base."

Before anyone could answer, Karin strode into the room, and she said, "They didn't. The mercenary group purchased that world and renamed it."

Naruto smiled at the enthusiastic expression on her beautiful face, and said, "It sounds like you've been doing some digging."

She nodded, but hesitated a moment before she said, "I've discovered a wealth of information for you, but I have one condition before I hand it over."

He looked at her suspiciously, and asked, "That sounds ominous. What do you want?"

Karin smiled with a predatory gleam in her eyes as she replied, "To come with you on this mission. I haven't hunted Konoha before, and for some reason, the idea suddenly seems very appealing."

Naruto studied her for a moment before he said, "Alright, but there are conditions. Firstly, no firing until I give the order. Secondly, you obey my every command while we're down there. I won't risk you stirring up another shitstorm with some reckless shooting."

She nodded her agreement to his conditions, and produced the small holo-projector she had retrieved from the police server room before they left. She walked over to the desk, and placed it on the surface, angling it so that it would project out into the room. Although she had removed her body armor, she still wore the golden vambrace on her right forearm, and she pressed a couple of buttons on it with comfortable familiarity. Dozens of images sprang up, floating in the air in front of them, and she turned to face Naruto and the crew.

"The 'Armored Cobras' purchased Beta Draconis IV eight years ago, and promptly renamed it to SerpentHold," she began, bringing up a deed that showed the sale from the Konoha Federation to the Mercenary Company. "Since then, they've spent a substantial sum of money on terraforming the planet. It was a barren rock with a toxic atmosphere, but now the air on SerpentHold is breathable."

Kakashi looked puzzled and asked, "Why would the Konoha Federation sell off a planet like that? It's got to be worth a fortune when it's fully terraformed."

Naruto shrugged and replied, "The Konoha Federation was strapped for cash at the time. It cost a huge amount of money to finance all the wars I fought in, back when I was a Marine, so I can easily see them needing to make some quick ryo. By the sounds of it, Beta Draconis IV would have been unusable without spending some serious money on terraforming, and the Federation wasn't in a position to spend those kinds of monies."

Karin nodded and said, "They bought the planetoid for half a billion credits, and have invested at least as much again in terraforming expenditure. They've been making significant amounts of money hiring themselves out to a variety of corporations, but there's also some off-the-books revenue streams as well."

Naruto looked surprised and said, "You've been able to go through all their private finances?"

The Oto woman shrugged nonchalantly and nodded, saying, "If a server is linked to the Holonet, I can hack it. Especially with their third rate data security."

Sakura frowned as she asked, "These other revenue streams don't sound like they're from legitimate sources. Are they still kidnapping and ransoming people?"

Karin nodded, and replied, "New Eden isn't the only place they've been active. When they started drawing too much attention there, they started branching out to a number of different worlds." She tapped a couple of buttons, and a few dozen images appeared, showing news articles reporting kidnappings that were taken from at least ten different planets over the last eight years.

"They must have been raking in the cash!" Tenten said in amazement.

Sakura looked grim and said, "These news articles are probably the tip of the iceberg. The rich and famous don't like airing their dirty laundry in public, so the last thing they'd want, is for it to get out that they'd been the victim of a kidnapping gang."

Hana frowned and said, "I can't believe someone hasn't put this together yet. Why haven't the Konoha Federation military got involved?"

Naruto glanced at the news articles, and said, "It looks like they've been careful to hit a broad selection of different worlds, so planetary law enforcement hasn't made the connection." He then looked at Karin and asked, "Are you certain they're responsible for all of these kidnappings?"

The Oto woman nodded decisively and said, "I cross referenced each kidnapping case with their accounts. A few days after each incident, significant sums of money were transferred through shell companies, and finally routed to the Armored Cobras."

Sasuke looked puzzled and asked, "I thought you said their data security was third rate? They must know what they're doing if they can hide the trail enough to hide it from the cops."

Karin sneered condescendingly, "Their network specialist is probably considered an expert amongst the Konoha. If he was my student, I'd have given him five hundred lashes with a neural whip for this kind of incompetence. It took me less than three minutes to cut through his firewall."

Naruto raised a hand and said, "Alright Karin, settle down. What do you know about their command structure? Do you know the names of the people running the mercenary company?

She scowled for a moment, before pressing a couple more buttons on her vambrace. A series of dossiers appeared, fanning out and aligning in an organisational chart. "Colonel Morgan Semias runs the Armored Cobras, but I could find no records for him, military or otherwise, so the name is probably an alias. He has three Captains working for him, Pickering Abraham, Latimer Zane and Mallor Hitch. They all served in the Terran Federation military together, but they were dismissed with dishonorable discharges. Pickering was a Commander, and the other two men were First Lieutenants before they were stripped of their ranks."

With a few more taps on her arm, she brought up their extensive criminal history. They each had violent backgrounds, with crimes ranging from extortion to grievous bodily harm, and in Mallor Hitch's case; attempted murder. He had been acquitted when witnesses changed their statements, or refused to testify.

Sakura stared at the four men's faces, and asked quietly, "Do you think they were the original gang members that murdered my mother?"

Naruto was about to reply, when Karin suddenly said, "When they were discharged from the military, they were suspects in a number of violent crimes over several years. They seemed to cease all criminal activity eleven years ago, right before the kidnappings began. Then they disappeared off the grid for three years, until they suddenly formed the Armored Cobras, and bought SerpentHold eight years ago."

Naruto nodded appreciatively to Karin, and then turned to look at Sakura. "That sounds like a pretty huge coincidence to me, and you know how I feel about coincidences," he said grimly.

Sakura nodded at him with a determined look in her hard green eyes.

He then looked at Karin and asked, "What info have you got on their hardware and numbers?"

The Oto woman typed in a rapid series of commands on a holographic panel, and a number of listings appeared. They provided full details on the armored company, including personnel rosters, vehicle inventory, and ship assets. Hana leaned forward eagerly to digest all the information, but she frowned when she read through the long lists of resources the Armored Cobras had at their disposal.

"They've acquired a substantial amount of materiel," Hana said, looking concerned. "They've got a fleet of three Cruisers, and a dozen Destroyers, along with a Carrier rigged for orbital exo-armour insertions. They have ten heavy tanks and just over two hundred personnel."

Naruto looked grim as she listed off all their forces, and said, "Are they all on-planet at the moment?"

Karin shook her head and said, "The Cobras secured a contract to garrison a corporate facility a few systems from here. Going by the data on their normal deployments for garrison duty, that means the Carrier with the exo-armour will be busy. They usually take one of the cruisers, and half the destroyers for protection."

Hana suddenly looked a lot more confident. "If they've split their forces, that's a whole different ball game. We can hit the defending Cruisers with a surprise assault, then obliterate their base from orbit."

Sakura looked worried and said, "Wait a moment. What about kidnapping victims? Have the Cobras taken anyone captive right now?"

Karin rolled her eyes and asked, "You aren't seriously suggesting we rescue prisoners? Why bother putting ourselves at risk for a handful of civilians?"

Naruto looked at her pointedly and asked, "How many are down there?"

The blue-skinned woman tsked, then said grudgingly, "Four women, two children. They're being held in the main compound."

Gaara looked horrified, and he gasped, "You would have let us bomb innocent kidnapping victims?!"

Karin smiled at him wickedly, and gave him a nonchalant shrug.

Tenten looked puzzled and asked, "If we'd blown up the base from orbit, how would you have been able to hunt any Konoha?"

The Oto woman grinned and said spitefully, "There would have probably been some survivors. Just like cockroaches seem to be able to survive anything."

Further argument was silenced by Sasuke, who said loudly, "It doesn't matter anyway! They've got a planetary defence shield."

Sakura looked bemused and asked, "What does that mean?"

"That we can't hit their base from orbit," Naruto explained. "If the base is shielded, that usually means they'll have laser defence batteries too. The Invictus won't be able to just sit there and slug it out with them."

"We have to rescue those poor people!" Sakura said earnestly.

He nodded, and looked thoughtful for a moment, before turning to Karin and asking, "Do you have a topographical map of their base?"

She scanned through the list of files and then selected several, bringing them up in the holo-projector. The images included a satellite image of the base, a couple of photographs taken from different angles, and a detailed maintenance schematic of every facility in the compound. The maintenance schematic showed everything from power junctions and generators, to Janitor's closets and bathrooms.

Naruto laughed in amazement and said, "Konoha Federation Intel Division would kill to have someone like you working for them. In my ten years in the military I never had a mission briefing like this!"

Karin smiled at him proudly, and for a moment, she looked genuinely happy, and pleased by his compliment. As quickly as her face had lit up with that lovely smile, it was abruptly replaced by the dark shadow of a scowl. He shook his head, feeling sad for the woman, before turning to face the Pack.

Naruto smiled at them confidently and said, "Alright, let's get to work."