"It's said; 'The hell of war never stops churning. It is only ever capable of more despair'. Know who said that?" Looking over a sunset, the blades of metal swirling above them, two men stare with a drink in their hands.

Taking a sip, a man with a scar on his nose and dark hair with silver stripes of lines flowing down from everywhere falling over his face chuckled. "I taught you who said that back in the academy days. I'm not senile yet, just old. Never did think you'd graduate the way you managed it, and still think you're too soft-hearted for the remnants of the US Military, Shikamaru."

Drinking his own glass, the man turned with a smirk. "Maybe, but I'd like to think you are all too cold-hearted to see the mess we're making. Eden? He promises peace and says we should protect and help the people of this land, but look at what we've done? What we are doing. I always thought he was right, and I happen to be the weird one. Iruka, you're not so hardened yourself, even if you act the part."

Elbow to the gut, Iruka scoffed at the pineapple-shaped head beside him. "I'm as hardened as I am needed to get the job done. I am just thankful my job is just taking out those Mutants. Was pretty quiet recently, the last three years hardly any strayed near Raven Rock."

"Probably because they've been going after any active settlements. They don't know we are out here."

"Won't stay that way? If we do manage to take a foothold in this place, they will attack in full force. They already seem to be probing our defenses." It was true, though neither of them would see that yet.

Seeing their landing pad, the two finished their drinks and pocketed them. "Back to work? Sasuke's a damn driver. What a drag... Stay out of the line of fire, alright teach?"

"It's Colonel, but sure. See you on the other side." With that, Iruka went to his tent, and Shikamaru went to his squad.

Of which, Sasuke was still furious. "We're not getting in the front door anyway, and you're telling me the Vault comes out the side of the mountain but you can't find it?"

"Sorry, Sir, but that's correct. We can't find out why the Schematics show the doors are coming out the side when they aren't there."

Deciding to figure it out himself, Shikamaru took a glaring gander at the schematics. After a moment, he managed to figure it out. "Can't you guys tell when it's not ground level?" That got everyone's attention. Pointing to the door, and circling the mountainside, he explained. "The backdoor is three stories underground. We just flew over the place, let me tell you this much it's not very hard to know where the entrance is to the cavern system it opens into. Little Lamplight, where a bunch of kids have held up on our intel. We get in through the caves, and we're home free."

Grinning with ill intent, Sasuke grabbed his helmet. "Then let's head in. If they give us any trouble, we take them down."

That did not sound right to Shikamaru. But he knew that look and knew not to interfere. "Troublesome?" With that, he followed his commanding officer. Hoping not to need to kill any young kids.

XxX Inside Vault 87 XxX

The first two rooms were empty, thank their luck, but it was getting to the point of paranoia when they heard little to nothing in the immediate area. Though their luck ran out when they finally noticed why. In the very center of the Vault, the auditorium under the view of the Overseer's office, there slept more than a dozen Mutants.

Not wishing to wake them up, as TenTen knew acoustics in a Vault well, she gave a sign to be quiet and started to think. Weaponry was lacking, thanks to the fact all she had were limited shot single-shot weapons. Six rounds of a double-action revolver, and a double-barrel shotgun with buckshot. She had to think of something.

For a brief second, she considered what she'd do if she had some Jet, but shook her head hard out of that mindset. Looking at Cross, the bun-haired young woman couldn't think of a better idea. Quietly, she whispered her plan. "We charge, and get close. Kill as many as fast as we can, and then race to this doorway to bottleneck. Ready?"

Getting a nod back was all the confirmation needed. After a second and having grabbed both her ballistic weapons, she jolted out of the doorway, followed by Cross, and both got right into the mix. With her hammer, Cross took the sitting Mutant and smashed his skull in before kicking the body back and ripping the head of the hammer back to get the momentum for her next swing.

Which was into the body of the Mutant who was trying to get up near her and then raised the weapon high and slammed it into the next skull to splatter on the floor. Racing up to the final Mutant in her nearest line of sight, the Paladin roared with effort and the hammer swing tore the head right off the shoulders of the huge muscular abomination, spin ripping out halfway before the head dangled against the things back.

That triple kill from her companion was just the start, and one that gave them enough advantage already, but with her precision, TenTen jumped in and blew the first skull in with a single shot of her shotgun, and with her revolver double-tapped the Mutant right next to her in the head. Jumping over the bag of bile and bones and flesh, she fired another two shots into the Mutant in front of her, one to the heart that did nothing, and the second managed to get into the thing's eye.

Though it was still alive as it roared and held its eye, which caused her to jam her shotgun into its neck and fire, ripping the thing's throat right out before kicking him back and making the Mutant behind him fall over. With the last couple shots to take, she jumped on the dead body and quickly aimed at ending the last of their enemy before her ammo was depleted from her ballistic weaponry.

Their rush had awoken the horde in the vicinity, and both women ran back to the corridor they came from, though TenTen turned, grabbing her Laser Rifle and firing off some blasts to deter the Mutants that were grabbing their own weaponry to chase them and kill them.

Creating the bottleneck, the two made their way around a corner as the Mutants pushed against each other recklessly to get through to them. This gave time for TenTen to lend Cross the rifle and start getting her ballistic guns in order, first reloading her Shotgun. A quick ejection and using her hand in a way to fill both barrels at the exact same time, the gun was loaded and she clicked the barrels back into firing position.

Just as she did, though, she noticed her breathing had stopped, and her body felt heavy. Her arm and shotgun shaking as she realized the combat was dragging on. With all her might, she slammed her hand into her armored chest and forced herself to cough and take a deep breath.

Cross turned the corner to fire into the group ahead, managing to fry the chest off one enough to get a shot through the heart. Just as the Mutant fell and caused the others to trip over themselves, she heard the cough and turned to see her partner breathing erratically and kneeling to the floor. "TenTen!"

"Keep!... FIRING! UGH!" Closing her eyes and focusing only on her breathing, she subconsciously tried to load her revolver with slow simple movements.

Seeing the hands moving and shaking wildly, the paladin could only decide to trust things were still alright enough to keep firing against the incoming horde, though she had to reload the battery to keep the fire on, thankful that the Mutants couldn't get a hit on her with their movements being against each other in such a narrow hallway.

Finishing her reload, the Vault Dweller stood again on shaking legs and returned to an even but heavy breathing. A moment went by and she took a deep breath and turned to give her friend some additional fire support, firing her revolver into the group as the laser fire killed the third Mutant with scorching energy to vital organs.

One of the Mutants chose not to care and fired his rifle at them, and also into one of his brethren that caused the hurt Mutant to punch his friend and the two got into a fistfight as the last Mutant finally got free to rush them. With two shots to the knees, TenTen caused him to trip, and rushing in she finished him with her last shot of the revolver to its head. Getting close, she got as close as could be to the fighting Mutants and fired her shotgun, the blast hurting, but not killing, the nearest enemy as its back was torn up from the buckshot.

It turned just in time for her to fire into its face and that made it rear back in pain as well, though the next couple shots of the Laser Rifle ended him, giving the final Mutant, who was going to grab TenTen, a chance to do just that. What he did not realize was Cross had gotten closer, and the next thing he saw was a hammer snapping his neck backward and killing him.

Taking hold of the Broc Flower, Cross got up close to see TenTen frozen again, this time badly, so she put it under the woman's nose and gave TenTen's back a hard few pats. This got the air flowing enough to give TenTen the whiff that eased her muscles and gave her time to recover.

Sitting down, and getting her guns and ammo again, she smiled. "Thanks? And sorry, I guess I wasn't ready for this fight?" Frowning in pain, though, as her muscles ached, the bun-haired brunette huffed. "Whatever is happening to me has to be some kind of disease? Nothing else makes sense."

"You relax for a moment, I'll scout ahead and make sure we're not being ambushed anytime soon. We may have the entire Vault awoken at this point." Cross stood with a rifle in hand and started off.

"Be careful!" As she reloaded, she could only imagine what would happen if Naruto had been here to help. "He'd have had a better plan? Maybe."

XxX Citadel XxX

Being dragged in, out of his armor, was Naruto as he was being escorted into the base and further into the interior. Reaching the main room with Elder Lyons, the seven armored soldiers, and Naruto under watch and with his arms being held behind his back, the scene was set.

"Sir, we've secured the prisoner. I still do not understand why he's not being shot on sight as was the order before."

"Because, Knight, he is not a prisoner? Let him go, and be at ease." With his hand, he gestured his order so they understood he was serious. "Naruto may have been exiled, but it was of his choosing. He was never a betrayer of our order. Is that not correct, Paladin Uzumaki?"

With his former title, the blonde knelt before the Elder. "I'd never do anything to betray the teachings of Roger Maxon and the Brotherhood Order. I hope my message was received before I came back?"

Seeing Lyons gesture the others out and also him to stand, the Elder nodded. "That young woman did exactly as you asked of her. And we have reviewed the data in full. Rothchild is quite pleased with the reports, and we've agreed to consider your suggestions. Already agreeing to keep the weapon in your hands."

"Thank the Lord." Arms behind his back and standing upright, Naruto couple only report to his best ability. "The Hellfire Squadron that was in development through encrypted transmission is on the move, their major target might be me. Though they have since vanished from the immediate area. Raven Rock is definitely their base of operations, and they've got a tight grip, secured and defensible, on the water plant. The Enclave is already trying to get things running? I assume Li and everyone are still here and in waiting? Rivet City's locked down and ready to defend their position, so they couldn't have gotten back there."

Having understood all that already, the Elder could only nod as the report was given. "Yes, they are. Honored guests being treated just so. However, we've got more pressing matters to get into. The Pride is on a mission to reinforce the northern ruins, and Cross is helping in a matter further north of that position. We're rather short-handed as is."

"If there is any way I can be of assistance, I will gladly do so." The blonde was getting a very bad feeling all of a sudden. "Cross is NEVER away from the Elder, not unless there wasn't a better option to send for this mission, depending on how rough this mission would be."

"First, we present you to the Brotherhood here and start sending signals to our teams. Your name is to be cleared, and your rank and reputation should also be returned to before the exile. After that, we can talk about that young woman you trust. TenTen is currently attempting to help us in her own way, and you might be interested in hearing how."

"This cannot be good? SHe's out there alone? With her condition? I'll ask after the reinitiation ceremony." "Yes sir. I'd like to know what she is currently up to. Lead the way, Elder Lyons."

XxX Vault 87 XxX

"AH! SHIT! Careful, Cross?" The Vault Dweller was currently being nursed by Cross, as her arm got smacked by a spiked club and it managed to damage her elbow pretty bad. It was only the beginning taking out the sleepers at the Atrium, as they further swept the Vault going up and to the Overseer's office. They only managed to get into about a couple dozen more enemies on the way, and one got lucky enough to strike TenTen.

The office was pretty much a dead end, but they did manage to get further in, and somehow they were greeted with fewer firearms and more melee weaponry. As the Stimpak did its job under the gauze, Cross stood and held her rifle. "Thankfully there was a medbay here with stock. I'll gather some supplies in our bag, and when you feel your arm is better we will continue forward."

It wasn't like it was her good arm, but she still concluded to agree with her Brotherhood partner. As she watched, she had to ask. "I don't have very many details about Naruto's time with the Brotherhood. I know he was married to Sarah Lyons, friends and such with several members of the order, including a Knight from the Pride. And that his Exile had something to do with him prioritizing technology instead of civilian lives which were his mission orders. Elder Lyons told me more about the Exile, but what do you know about your time with him in the Brotherhood?"

"I knew him about as much as the others, it was mostly professional with me and him. Though, nothing ever gave me the impression he'd ever betray the code laid before us by Elder Lyons, and Roger Maxson. The Codex is clear, and he never strayed but that once. To me, it seemed rather strange to reprimand such an amazing soldier over a single failure in the worst way. Exile seemed extremely severe for such a thing to happen. But, Lyons said it was what was agreed upon for his punishment. So I have no questions for our Elder, even if others may."

And TenTen knew that it was the blonde's choice, not anyone else's. As she witnessed Cross finish packing the medical supplies, she stood and grabbed the bag. "I got it. Let's get going. We can't waste too much time."

Thankfully, it all seemed quiet, as if this area was completely cleaned of threat. They entered the next area and heard grunting and very broken language. "Think threat? Vault secure, we thought. Enemy get close?"

"No be, too many us. They dead, we hear soon? Wait." It seemed they were doing something, wondering why the silence. After a moment they started growling.

Knowing full well what that meant, TenTen rushed in, Cross behind her and grabbing her hammer. Turning the corner, they saw the two Mutants who were talking, but a third was also with them. Both weapons in hand, TenTen fired everything in their path, both barrels and every round in her Revolver. Spitting everything she could, she managed to kill one of them and cause a second to have a severely damaged face, but the third had a shotgun and buckshot slammed into her chest, thankfully not penetrating as she was blown back.

Coming around the corner, the Paladin roared and crushed in the skull of the one holding its face before slamming the end of the hammer out and into the perfectly fine Mutant, which knocked them back enough for her to get enough momentum and run up to splatter his skull into the floor. Finishing off that third one, she checked around to see nothing coming up just yet, and turned to see TenTen getting behind the corner to recover. "How bad?!"

"Fine! Just need to breathe!" And she did, exercising her lungs and keeping herself calm. It was surprisingly getting easier to control herself, though it still was problematic for her to freeze during combat.

What had truly weirded her out, however, was that she saw something. During her shootout, she noticed things start to slow down. "It almost felt like Jet, but without the euphoric feeling, and without the increased speed of my body's reflexes? What the hell is happening to me?"

A moment or two passed and nothing was coming. Cross even called out the all-clear enough for her to realize she needed to reload. Checking her ammunition, she noticed she was slowly running dry. Thankfully, these Mutants had a shotgun, so she quickly went and grabbed about a dozen shells, and was thankful that it was the same ammunition hers took.

Getting further in, the two women slowly realize where they were, inside a test facility. Many rooms were either empty or had abominations of nature even worse than the Centaurs, meat piles of flesh that was warped and left to rot.

As they passed by another room with supplies, they were suddenly greeted by a voice on the nearby intercom. "You two, over here." They had their weapons up, but TenTen was quite curious. "Please, come over here, I wish to speak to you. The room, here. Don't shoot, please. Use the INtercom, it is next to the window."

Sure enough, they saw behind a glass window a Mutant, waving at them, and with a Vault suit on. Cross had her rifle trained on the thing. "Is it trying to get us in close to tear us apart? It may be a trap."

"Not a single Mutant has talked to us before, only roared at us with rage and wanted us dead. This one is trying to communicate, and it doesn't seem to have a weapon?" Trying to think, the brunette had thought she remembered what her former partner had said about taking Mutants before.

With her head clear, she thought less about what she remembered, and more about what was in her heart. Setting her weapon back in its holster, she turned to Cross. "Let's give it a chance... I'll talk to it, see what we can find out. If it turns hostile, we take it out."

Though one to never leave a potential enemy alive, Cross' moral code was clear. "Copy that. If it is willing to help us, i'll accept its help? at length."

Walking to the intercom, TenTen clicked the button. "Alright, you have our attention."

"I am either going mad, or you are real." With a soft but rough chuckle, the Mutant shook its head. "Is it possible that you are a Pure Human?"

"Doubt I am as pure as constituted by what my Vault Overseer once told me, seeing as I've been out in the wasteland's irradiated hot zones enough. What freaks me out is if I am going mad, seeing a friendly Mutant suddenly after hundreds of your kind tried killing or capturing me."

"GAH!" That freaked them out for a second as the Mutant slapped its face. "Must you use that Vulgar term?!" Seeing her confusion, he sighed silently before activating his side again. "Yes, I was born of the FEV Chambers in the Vault, but a 'Super Mutant' i am not! I prefer to be called a 'Meta Human'. Suits me much better. Do you not agree?"

Seeing the thing try and smile with its already weirdly exposed teeth, was both gross but somehow charming. "Alright then, Meta-Human it is?"

"Thank you. I assumed you a Pure Human, but maybe that term also is vulgar, as it was made by the Super Mutants. Ah, right. Getting ahead of myself, we must exchange an introduction! My name is Fawkes! Better to know each other's names, instead of terms that are vague about species."

As they spoke, the woman was quite curious. A friendly 'Meta Human' here? In a room and enclosed behind a window? She had assumed, with Cross, that he was taking cover to trap them, but after seeing the door, she now had a theory. "My name is TenTen, a pleasure. You know, it's ironic how you're locked up by your so-called friends. Perhaps they think you are the real Mutant of their kind. Pretty brutish of them."

Silently laughing a moment, Fawkes spoke up in agreement. "Very Ironic, indeed. Forgive me my astonished amusement, but you are quite learned with such an outlook, it's a very welcome circumstance to meet one such as you. Many, such as your Brotherhood friend, would have probably seen much reason to shoot me on sight."

"She very well still might, if you give us reason to. But thankfully, she's willing to give you a chance to prove you are not some mindless brute wanting our heads. We're not about to let anyone stop us from getting to the GECK."

"Not surprising." With a thoughtful look, one TenTen was now able to see given she was trying to figure out what kind of facial expressions a Mutant would show if given a friendly conversation, the Mutant continued. "It was only a matter of time before someone would show up to take our GECK. It is something very few Vaults ever received. It is a prize in the Wasteland, one that more civilized groups would desire to better their lives."

"What do you know about it? Do you know where it is?" That was their ticket if Fawkes would agree to help them.

"Oh I do, I know about it very well, what it was designed for, and that some of them were even fake when given to some Vaults that had hope when the experiments started. Thankfully, ours is real, and it works. I also know where they stored the device in this Vault, and the best thing of all is that I know exactly how you can get your hands on it."

"That's great!" TenTen was smiling, having finally noticed how their luck was taking a turn.

But Cross was not so sure. As TenTen didn't realize her hand was on the intercom, the Paladin had her concerns. "If it's locked up, it's for a reason. Even if he may be an ally to us, he could still be very unstable. We should ask where it is, how to get it, and just leave him here."

"He's not suggested anything to say he'll hurt us. Besides, he's potentially helping us. We don't have to trust him all the way, but we can give him a chance to earn that trust." She finally noticed she had her hand on the intercom, and quickly unactivated her side.

Seeing this, Fawkes spoke to them. "It is true, I do still resemble my brethren here, though I have absolutely no kinship with them. I know you want my help, and I will gladly do so, but only if you can help me! Keep me in your sights, weapons ready, I do not care! Just please, let me out of this room! Out of this Vault! I can no longer take it! I cannot even recall how long I have been stuck in this room! Take me with you? And I will gladly get the GECK for you. It would be too dangerous otherwise."

Looking to each other, the two women hummed in thought. Deciding to ask, the bun-haired woman did. "And why would it be too dangerous? How many more Mutants will be in our way?"

"Oh, not many. This Vault has been the breeding ground for every Mutant you may have seen out in the wasteland, but their numbers have become rather strained. If you came in from the caves, you will have already killed many of the ones still in this Vault. Whatever is out above ground, is what is left besides a small pocket of Mutants guarding the area further ahead. But that is not the dangerous part, not for combat veterans such as you. The GECK is within a chamber that is flooded with radiation, and with enough radioactive material and goop that will surely kill you before you can get it out of there."

That was a huge problem for them, as it was no better than the dead-end of trying to enter the Vault from the main entrance, or Cross had mentioned. TenTen hummed in thought a moment. "We need someone who can get through, and who is either resistant or immune to radiation. Which is why Fawkes is even telling us this. He'd be the only one of us to be able to, as a Mutant he's immune. If Naruto were here, he'd be immune too, wouldn't he? Damn it... Ok then."

Almost to mirror her thoughts, Fawkes had to say it aloud for them. "I would be able to safely walk the path, as I have inherited a trait from the others, due to the FEV. I am highly resistant to radiation, immune to it, I can get into the chamber and out and no one would ever be in danger of dying. I will safely put the GECK into your hands if you would just let me out to help you."

Turning the intercome on, she made her choice. "I'll get you out of there then. As long as you do not try to do anything against us, we won't have an issue. Both of us will keep you on watch with guns at the ready. Agreed?"

"Completely understand. As you said, Trust is hard to come by, it must be earned."

With that, the young woman started hacking into the controls to see if she couldn't unlock the beast within. It was shockingly pretty difficult, but after a few attempts, she had managed to bypass the system. "Got it!"

With that, the door opened and Fawkes stepped out of the room. "Thank you, TenTen. As promised, I will lead you to the GECK, and get it for you safely."

"Then lead on." As he started walking ahead, the curiosity of the bun-haired one was too much to ignore. "So, why exactly are you so literate when the others are broken whenever they speak?"

XxX The Citadel XxX

The ceremony was quick, having been given his armor back, though he was asked if he needed a new set. All he asked for was a power cell to fix his old suit back in Megaton when he returned there. As the signal for the report that was given in the ceremony was going out, Lyons talked with the blonde.

It was mostly the few days of how his partner had done great things with her time. "Impressive to know she's managed to figure out how to create decent ammunition from scratch. Out west the only group with actual weaponry and knowledge to make good ammunition is withholding it, and making sure only they get the materials to do so. If TenTen can do it from raw materials found in abundance here in the wasteland then it would benefit us all in the long run."

"Speaking of, you have yet to find a way to refuel our fusion batteries?" Seeing the hung head and shake, the Elder chose to move on. "Regardless, she decided she had another way to help us. It involved her father's project."

Attention gained, Naruto could only wonder. "She didn't try to fight the Enclave, did she?"

"Heavens no. She knows the risks of that and did not want to make such a fuss or go through so many fights. She knows what the Enclave would be after, as it was apparently in James' notes. A GECK, correct?"

"Yeah, James said it would be the only way to cause a large-scale reaction on the level they wanted, given the results of their smaller scale tests." The bad feeling was creeping up again.

"She went to go get one. She found the nearest GECK and had gone to go find it. I had Cross accompany her there."

Frowning, it was all the returning Paladin could do to stop himself from running out already. "And where did they go? Surely they didn't go anywhere too harsh."

"I'd imagine you'd be wrong, then. She chose to go to Vault 87, and I couldn't exactly order her to stay. So, instead, I sent her with Cross to better her chances. I know you'll be wanting to go and make sure they are safe, and I fully support this choice. But if you are to go, then please be careful yourself. We just got you back, after all."

Only hearing the number of the Vault had the man in question ready to bolt to the gate. "With your permission, then, I will be heading out. Sir, I will do everything I can to bring them, and myself, home safe."

"Godspeed, Paladin Uzumaki." With that, Naruto had sprinted for the gate at breakneck speed. "Steel be with you."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX;

Level Up! (Level 13)

+20 points added to skills.

Perk Added: Gunslinger- 75% accuracy with small firearms

Science: 65 to 75

Small Guns: 65 to 70

Speech: 50 to 55