AUTHOR NOTE: First and foremost, I want to give a VERY big thank-you to Curious Kitsune654 for helping co-author this story.

Secondly, this will mainly follow a Sonic X setting with some Archie and game elements, so as not to bother with the overcomplicated crap from the whole Genesis Wave thing...Stupid cosmic reset...

Naruto Uzumaki, one of the strongest ninjas of the world, hero of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, befriender of Kurama the Kyuubi no Kitsune. He was one of the bravest people one could ever meet, willing to dive headfirst into battle to protect his friends regardless of the risk to himself.

"Well this stinks…"

And currently he was dead, very… very… VERY dead. He HAD to be! Last thing he recalled was his and Sasuke's final clash. Then...this!

Darkness, complete and total darkness, nothing else to be seen at all in an abyss of absolute pitch black. There was no sensation, no feeling, no… anything, a complete void of any form of stimulus or existence, one so thorough that it was maddening.

'What's going on?' It was this nothingness that Naruto found himself awakening within, confusion and worry brewing within as he tried to see anything. Yet for some reason he could not move, or to be more precise there was nothing to move, all there was was his thoughts.

[Activation Confirmed: Initializing: 1%: Uploading Personality Subroutines.]

'What? Who said that?' The disembodied blonde demanded when a strange lifeless sounding voice rang out through the void.

[Accessing… Inquiry Denied: Updating Obedience Programing: 24%]

'Obedience Programming? No way! Nobody tells me what to do!'

[Error: Obedience Programming Corrupted. Running Data Recovery…. Recovery Failed. Continuing Initialization: 31%]

'What? What the hell is going on? Where am I? Why Can't I See Anything?'

[Accessing… Inquiry Denied. Safety Protocol Active. Initialization in Progress. Uploading Life Data File: Sonic "Ogilvie Maurice" Hedgehog: 45%]

'Oi! Don't ignore me! What's going on!? Where am I?!'

[Inquiry: Attempting Override…Override Accepted. Current Location: Planet Earth, United States, Las Vegas, EggBase 18. Situation: Under Attack, Threat Level Hedgehog. 63%]

'…WHAT?'

[Inquiry Does Not Compute. 69%]

'Ugh! What is going on!?'

[Inquiry: Preparation for Combat. Updating Scanner Systems. 88%]

'Thanks… that really clears things up…'

[Update Complete: Initialization 95%]

'Okay seriously… What. The heck. Is Happening?'

[Inquiry… Inquiry Denied: Initialization 100%: System Engaged.]

'Why you useless…' Naruto's thoughts trailed off as everything was enveloped in a blinding light.

Once it cleared the blonde found himself standing inside a large warehouse like building that had seen better days. Holes had been busted into the walls in several places, crates had been smashed apart leaving the floor covered in shards of wood and broken debris, and smoking craters were littered everywhere. To top it off, a translucent blue bubble of energy seemed to envelope the entire building, crackling and popping sinisterly whenever anything came in contact with it.

Yet that didn't even compare to the oddity that was the occupants of the warehouse themselves.

On one side was a man with a rotund and burly appearance, his torso and head coming together in an egg-like shape. He possessed no visible neck, a bald head, a bright red, pointed nose, and a very bushy mahogany moustache. He also had long, almost disproportionately thin arms and legs. For attire, the man wore tinted, navy blue pince-nez glasses and green-lensed goggles as headwear and an elegant, red coat sporting two square metal buttons on both sides of the chest in gold. These buttons had white straps that run across the coat's sides to identical buttons on the back. The coat also had silver, zipper-like linings down the back, arms and front, yellow cuffs, and two extensions on the front that have large silver buttons. In addition, he also wore white, cuff-less gloves on his hands and a pair of black pants with matching boots seemingly attached to them bearing circular plates on the both sides of the ankles and three square ones riding up the shin.

He was riding in a strange contraption, a small hovering craft with a spherical shape, black and yellow hazard stripes on the sides, a black circular hemispherical underside, rocket engines on the rear for propulsion and a small circular lamp on the front that hovered several feet off the ground.

Meanwhile, on the other side was…a slim anthropomorphic hedgehog with blue fur that covered most of his body, peach skin that covered his arms, muzzle and front torso, and emerald-green eyes. He had small, triangular ears on the top of his head, three long quills on the back of his head, two spines protruding from his back behind his shoulders, and a short tail. For attire, the hedgehog wore a pair of red sneakers with white cuffs around the ankles, gray soles, and white straps across the top, the last of which were held down by a golden buckle on each foot. He also wore a pair of white gloves with sock-like cuffs on his hands, and nothing else.

Next to him was an equally anthropomorphic female chipmunk with red hair, blue eyes, and light brown/tan fur and was wearing black shorts with white rimming, dark blue boots with white outlines on the buckles, and white gloves with large, light blue bracelets.

And all three of them were staring right at Naruto, the former looking like he just won the lottery while the latter two seemed concerned and ready for a fight.

'Wow… did I actually die or just fall into a coma?' Naruto wondered as he just took the whole scene, having no idea what to make of what he was seeing.

He didn't have long though as he his attention was soon taken away when several things started to appear in his vision. First it was little translucent squares filled with ones and zeroes then they were replaced with other squares filled with writing such as [Status Active] or [Weapon Systems Calibrated], all appearing then disappearing so fast he could barely keep track. Eventually it all vanished and was replaced by three glowing octagons that focused on the trio.

[Subject: Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik: Creator. Priority: Protect, Serve, and Obey]

[Subject: Sally Alicia Acorn. Threat Level: A. Priority Target: Capture or Terminate]

[Subject: "Sonic" Ogilvie Maurice the Hedgehog. Threat Level: SSS. Priority Target: Terminate with Extreme Prejudice]

'What the… how did I do that?' The blonde wondered as he instinctually reached up to his eyes… only to freeze when he saw his hand. Instead of the tanned fleshy digits he was used to, he found himself staring at a clawed metal limb, mostly metallic silver and a deep navy blue with yellow highlights.

Staring at the robotic limb, he slowly moved it side to side, clenching and unclenching his fist several times in disbelief before raising his other arm to find that it was in identical condition. And then he saw it…glimmering off the shiny surface on the back of his hand, enhanced by that same glowing octagon…his reflection.

"Excellent! All systems—full power! Behold my latest and most devastating creation! The Hyper Metal Sonic, Model Mark Omega! Containing all the Life and combat data of all prior units!" Naruto barely even noticed 'Eggman's'—the nickname being easier to remember and it fit with the shape of his body anyway, so Naruto was going to stick with that—declaration as he stared at his own reflection in total shock.

No longer was he human, for in the place of his once whisker-marked, sunny blonde covered head, was a sleek blue robotic head made in a close facsimile to this 'Sonic'.

His body was now mostly built of blue metal. He had a yellow circular depression in his chest with a black center, mirroring the peach skin on Sonic's chest. His head had metal fins resembling Sonic's quills and a pair of triangular "ears" as well. Naruto also noticed he had a "muzzle", shoulder plates, upper arms, legs, and fingers that were all made out of silvery metal. His palms were black, while the backs of his hands were square yellow plates. His forearms and lower legs were blue metal like his head and torso, and he had red feet with white stripes designed to resemble closed-toe shoes. To simulate the hedgehog's eyes, he had monitors with cameras behind them, giving them a red sclera against an all black background, the harsh glaring red glowed ominously in their dark sockets.

All in all, he looked menacing.

'What… what's happened to me?!'

"Hah, so your big plan was to make another cheap knockoff of me? I'll trash this thing like every other robo–me you've sent after us, in five seconds flat."

[Threat Incoming.] Without even having to look, Naruto's hand shot up to catch the fist that had been aimed at his head before he turned to see Sonic staring back at him, clearly surprised.

"Wha-?" Acting on pure battle trained instinct, the former ninja pulled the hedgehog in closer while spinning him around, twisting his arm behind his back. Naruto then swept Sonic's legs out from under him as he grabbed the back of his head with his free hand and slammed him face first into the ground before tossing him back over to his companion.

"Sonic!?" Sally cried out with a horrified expression on her face as she knelt beside the downed blue speedster, who groaned weakly as he sat back up. "Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!"

"Uuuuh… just my pride..." He groaned while pinching his nose as a slow dribble of blood oozed from his nostril. A minor testament to the blow.

"Whoa… I don't remember programing him to do that…" An equally surprised Eggman muttered with a raised brow, before shrugging it off as he let out a deep, booming laugh. "Hohoho! What was that about destroying my beautiful robot, especially in five seconds flat, Sonic? Because it looks like you were the one who got wrecked!"

"So he got a lucky shot in, big whoop," Sonic retorted as he got back to his feet, shrugging off Sally's help as he swayed a little until he got his bearings. Shaking the last few cobwebs out of his head, the hedgehog smirked confidently as he made a 'come hither' motion that reminded Naruto of Gai-sensei and Lee towards the doctor. "I'd like to see him do that again."

"If that's what you want, then who am I but to oblige," The rotund madman said with a sadistic smirk before jabbing a finger at the flesh hedgehog and chipmunk. "Destroy them, Metal Sonic!"

…

…

"Huh?" Confused at why nothing was happening, the self-described genius scientist whirled his flying contraption around to see that Naruto was still standing in the exact same place. "Metal! Didn't you hear me!? I said destroy them!"

Still the boy remained motionless, simply staring at the trio with a blank, lifeless gaze. When he finally did move though, it was not to attack; but instead turn to the floating man, his gaze moving to stare straight into his glasses-covered eyes.

'Who the hell are you?! Why am I like this?!' Naruto tried to ask, more so demand actually, of the man who was trying to order him around. However, when he found that he could not make a sound despite his best attempts, the confused teen grabbed onto his jaw in confusion before mentally swearing when he discovered that this body he was in didn't even have a mouth. 'Oh fantastic… so I'm stuck in this heap and I can't even talk?! Just my luck!'

"You stupid machine! Why won't you listen to me!?" The mechanized teen was broken out of his thoughts by the bloated man flying right up to him before he started screaming right in his face. "I am your master! You do as I say, when I say! Now, destroy those meddlesome fools before I-"

Quickly growing annoyed by the yelling, Naruto cut Ivo off by backhanding his craft, causing the chubby scientist to yelp as he was knocked back several yards.

"You… you struck me?" He muttered in disbelief once he regained control, staring at the very noticeable dent that had been left in his craft by the blow. That shock swiftly turned to anger as his face turned as red as his coat. "You dare strike me?! I created you and I can unmake you just as easily, you ungrateful pile of bolts!"

'More like trapped me in this thing...' Naruto thought as he stared at the madman with as much contempt as his robot face allowed him to express.

"Hehe, what's wrong, Egghead? Your "perfect machine" having technical difficulties?" Sonic decided to chip in, causing the floating scientist's anger to be turned on him instead.

"You stay out of this, you miserable little rodent! I'll deal with you in a moment!"

"Well, hurry up with it, at this rate I'm gonna die of boredom first. Then again, that might be the only way you can actually win against me!"

"Why you little…!"

'Sheesh, why do I suddenly feel like the third wheel on a date?' Naruto asked with a metaphorical raised brow, before shaking it off as he focused on the problem on hand. Had he paid attention for just a second longer though, he may have noticed Sally pulling out a small contraption out of her pocket and turn it on.

'If this man really did build this body, then he has to know why I'm stuck in the damn thing,' Unfortunately without the ability to talk, questioning him about it would be rather difficult to say the least, pun not intended. 'Dammit, there has to be a way to speak, maybe-'

[Warning: Foreign Program Detected! Firewalls Engaged.]

The former blonde did a double take when his entire view was abruptly taken up by that big red warning sign. 'Is… is this thing talking about me? Are you talking about me?'

[Inquiry: Negative. Primary Progra-Warning: Firewalls Breached! Security Systems Compromised! Foreign Program… Attempting…]

'Attempting what? What's going on?' Naruto demanded as the computer voice slowly winded down mid-sentence. 'Voice? Anyone? …Hello?'

[Hello.] Naruto jumped as a new, feminine voice actually answered him, his head instinctively jerking around as he tried to find the source of the voice.

'Who said that? Where are you?'

For a moment he was met with silence again before a small box appeared in the corner of his vision to show a green line that started jolting around when the voice did speak again. [I am Nicole, personal A.I. companion for Sally Acorn, and currently I am inside your body, Metal Sonic]

'Oi! First off, my name isnt "Metal Sonic", it's Naruto Uzumaki!'

[…Excuse me?]

'And secondly, maybe you can tell me what the heck is going on?! I was sure I was dead, so how the HELL did I end up in this thing?!'

[I don't understa-]

'Oh, for fuck's sake!' Naruto cut the new voice off with a mental scream as he grabbed his head, leaving several shallow gouges in the blue metal, before stomping his foot in annoyance. The entire building shook from the force of the blow as the ground caved several inches beneath the transformed teen. 'I just want some straight answers already! Where am I?! How did I get here!? Why am I stuck in this thing!?'

Each question was punctuated by another stomp that further deepened the crater he stood in whilst the warehouse trembled even more violently. Cracks spiderwebbed across the walls, the rest of the floor, and up the walls, chunks of concrete broke off and spiked upwards, forcing Sally and Sonic to step back while Robotnik just floated a bit higher.

"Sheesh, someone's got his bolts in a twist." The blue quilled hedgehog quipped with a raised brow as he watched his robotic counterpart raging.

"No kidding. Nicole, what's going on?" Sally asked while looking down at the device in her hand, only to be met with silence. "Nicole? Nicole?!"

Back within Naruto's mind, the former blonde kept ranting and raving for nearly a minute straight before finally winding down, his arms falling to his sides limply as he just stood there in the crater he made.

[…Are you done yelling?] Nicole asked hesitantly after several moments of silence passed, causing Naruto to nod slowly. [Good, because while you were doing that, I scanned through your primary data core.]

'You what my what?'

[In layman's terms, I went through your memories.]

'OI?! YOU WHAT?!'

[I apologize if that was intrusive, but I was trying to find answers to your questions and it seemed like the most effective method to understand your situation given your hysterical state of mind.]

Taking a look at the destruction he'd just caused, Naruto would have chuckled sheepishly if he could as he scratched the back of his head. 'Okay…fair enough. Still...memories are private. Things too personal to share without feeling the need to have it agreed to, first. So, does that at least mean you can finally tell me what's going on?'

[I understand your point. As for your current situation, possibly. I'll need more data to be certain, but—Incoming Attack!] Stepping to the side as a blue blur shot by, Naruto lashed out with a backhand that Sonic narrowly dodged before jumping back.

"Come on, tin head! Is that the best you've got? I guess that first hit really was just a lucky shot." He said with a taunting smirk that made Naruto roll his eyes, or at least he would have if his eyes could roll.

'That guy is really annoying...' The Uzumaki thought, keeping the hedgehog in his sights in case he tried to take another shot.

[Sonic can be a bit of a handful at times, but he means well; please don't let his words get to you.] Nicole stated placatingly, [Now, based on your recent memory files, it would seem that—Incoming Attack! Multiple Projectiles!]

'Dammit!' Naruto felt his temper starting to flare when Nicole was forced to cut herself off yet again, this time to warn him of a salvo of mini missiles that bared down on him. Backflipping out of the way, he swore when the tiny explosives immediately changed course to follow after him.

"You think you can ignore me!? I shall destroy you for your insolence, Metal! I am your brilliant creator, Doctor Ivo Robotnik! You are meant to be my undying, heartless weapon of misery and despair! You will obey me and only me!" A very angry Eggman screamed as he fired even more rockets that targeted eveyrone indiscriminately.

'Jeez that guy likes to hear himself talk...' Acting on reflex, he channeled energy into his palm, trying to form a Rasengan to protect himself…only to be confused when he instead fired several small blasts of energy that intercepted and destroyed the missiles mid-flight. 'What in the-?! How did I…?'

[That was my doing. Based on the memories of your prior battle experiences, scans indicated the attack you were going to use would have been insufficient in stopping all of the projectiles.] Nicole explained again, albeit with a noticeable edge in her previously monotone voice. [As I was trying to—Incoming Attack!]

'Again?!' Forget flaring up, Naruto's temper was boiling over now as he once again had to dodge out of the way of a much larger rocket AND a charge from Sonic.

[That's it! Activating External Audio!] However, that anger quickly turned to confusion when he suddenly moved on his own, jumping in between Robotnik and Sonic with his hands raised. Translucent black barriers sprung to life in front of each palm that intercepted the speeding blur and all of the projectiles at once before repelling them. [Will both of you STOP IT for five seconds!?]

At the voice, the chipmunk, Sally, had her eyes widen with shock. "Wha...?! NICOLE?! You're in...?! How in the world did you...?!"

Naruto's new body shook involuntarily, obviously Nicole's work. Clearly she was getting into an act so Eggman didn't do anything to Naruto or herself.

[Not for long...the firewalls are trying to detain me as fast as I can get past them! Needing to divert my attention to keeping these two from destroying this body while I am inside it does not help with that! And the main artificial intelligence data core is like no machine I have ever encountered before! More like an actual organic mind with how complex it is! Keeping it occupied is no simple task!"

"WHAT?!" Eggman was flabbergasted, then his face went even more crimson than his coat. His greatest success was hacked?! By that invitation of that rodent twit, Doctor Ellidy! It infuriated him!

[I suggest for now you play along, if Eggman figures out that you are not the intended A.I. for Metal Sonic, he may use an emergency data cleanse.] Nicole's voice said, keeping the audio from being heard by anyone other than Naruto himself.

'A what?'

[He'll make you brain dead. Completely destroy you!] Nicole cried with no small amount of alarm.

'What?! How am I supposed to play along, then?! I don't want this guy killing my brain!' Naruto yelped. Understandably not liking the prospect of that any more than Nicole did!

[Calm down,] the female voice advised, [just repeat after me...]

"Voice codec module: active. Warning: Foreign A.I. interfering with processing. Internal cybersecurity protocols: engaged. Foreign artificial intelligence progression: neutralized. Foreign artificial intelligence: detained." Naruto said aloud as Nicole instructed, not sure where his voice was actually coming from; the body he was currently using lacked a mouth, after all. At least his voice sounded the same as before he ended up in this metal body, albeit with a bit of a digital sound to it. That was something, at least. Come to think of it, way he currently sounded reminded him of that mechanical duplicate of his own, Mecha-Naruto, now that he thought about it...

Irony wasn't lost on him about that tidbit, either.

"NO!" Sally screamed, eyes widened in horror.

'Good thing I got to know Sai...' Naruto internally muttered to himself as he stopped his current body's trembling. Sai had basically been an unfeeling thing in the shape of a human being who was only able to obey orders back when they had first met. If this Eggman guy wanted Naruto to act similarly, then it paid off knowing how to imitate that.

Naruto then turned to Eggman, "Threat assessment: Error. Inquiry: reason for assault origin?"

"You refused my orders and dared to attack me!" The doctor raged at him.

"Negative. Subject: Ivo Robotnik, Creator; priority: Protect, Serve, and Obey. Warning: Area Scanned, threats detected. Potential battle area: High. Conclusion: Prime directive dictates prioritization of removal of Creator from battle zone by any means necessary. Combat is unadvised. Use of force to remove Creator from potential battle zone in event of unwillingness to vacate area authorized by programming conducted by Subject: Ivo Robotnik. Inquiry: Is not the preservation of Creator higher priority than all other commands?"

Eggman's jaw dropped. Combat was unadvised?! Getting him out even by force?! And even asking him if seeing to it his safety was most important?! He couldn't believe it! While it WAS good that Metal's own artificial intelligence was actively pushing back and counter-hacking that pocket device of the Acorn princess, the fact that he was essentially lashing out at his own magnum opus due to it functioning as he intended it to was not lost on him.

Sonic burst out howling in utter hysterics! "OH MAN! THAT GIZMO OF YOURS CAN'T DO ANYTHING BUT KICK YOUR BLOATED BUTT OUT OF HERE!? Jeeze...! So...so...let me get this straight, Eggman: YOU'RE mad at what you built because it's following the programming YOU put into it!? Seriously?! As long as you're around, you're in the way! And you're mad at it because YOU made it so it can't do anything if you could be put at risk! What are you, stupid?!"

"...That would explain the little fit earlier." Sally muttered.

"Inquiry: Shall it be assumed that Subject: Ogilvie Maurice is in agreement to the logic?" Naruto asked, feeling the need to remain in character...at least until he found out how to keep the fat guy from destroying his brain.

Hearing that, Sonic abruptly stopped laughing, his eyes widened and his pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks, "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?"

"'Ogilvie Maurice'?" Sally repeated, confused.

"All Life Data indicates that Ogilvie Maurice is the original official designation of Subject: Sonic the Hedgehog. Inquiry: Is this incorrect? Answer: Life data comes directly from Subject: Sonic the Hedgehog. Conclusion: information from Life Data cannot be incorrect, designation Ogilvie Maurice was therefore classified."

At that, Sonic stood, stunned before he rubbed his eyes, groaning with a grimace while Sally snickerd.

Eggman, meanwhile, grit his teeth. His own presence in the area had caught his invention in a logical paradox, unable to do anything. The fact was infuriating! "Grrrr...FINE! Not that I can actually fault you for being coldly logical, calculative and systematic, Metal; but next time, keep me informed!" then he hovered out of the warehouse with his vehicle.

Once the man was gone, Naruto almost managed to relax.

[Look out!] Nicole cried, causing the mechanized Uzumaki to jump back just in time to avoid Sally as she lunged and slashed at him, her bracelets now having a solid, glowing, double-edged, blue energy blade that reminded the ninja of a much more shape-refined version of the Chakra Scalpel technique Kabuto employed.

''Hard-energy hidden blade weapons...Tenten would go gaga over those.' Naruto thought to himself with some amusement.

"Nicole! Give her back to me!" Sally demanded. "I won't let you delete her! I won't let you assimilate or reprogram her! GIVE ME BACK NICOLE!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait...WHAT?! Why would I do any of that stuff?! Sheesh! Cool it, lady!" Naruto yelped.

At the words of the metallic counterpart of the blue hedgehog, Sally momentarily stopped, shocked at the words and apparent sudden shift in behavior from the robot. It sounded...almost human! Like she was dealing with an actual sentient being rather than an artificial intelligence!

[My apologies...Naruto, was it? Seems Sally didn't take kindly to the act I preformed and made sound like I was trapped...] Nicole said, tone awkward and remorseful.

'It's fine. I get it. You have to protect who you care about, and this Sally girl clearly cares about you, Nicole. But you better go. Pretty obvious that she won't calm down until she knows you're not in any trouble. Still...talk later? I still need those answers you offered to help me with.' Naruto thought.

[I would like that. Just let me shut down your internal transponder so Eggman can't ever trace and track you, first.] she responded. Her square that showed she was speaking to him vanished from his sight a few moments later.

[...Reinitializing program] it was that other monotone, personality–deprived voice, the one Nicole had replaced before. [Warning: permanent damage to internal transponder located. Cannot secure location, cannot secure identification.]

'No loss.' Naruto thought, acutually satisfied by the news. He did NOT like being made to look over his shoulder because some control freak was always watching and trying to confine him.

[Threat Incoming.] As the voice spoke, Naruto was already moving. Borrowing a move from Rock Lee, he lashed out with an upwards kick, catching Sonic in the chin as the organic speedster attempted attacking him again; sending him high into the air and arching backwards before gravity took hold and Sonic smashed head first into a pile of crates in the warehouse.

"Seriously, Maurice...would you believe it if I said I actually don't want to fight you? Without Tubby watching, we can just both walk away from this. Whaddya say, let's not but say we did?" The robot–confined Uzumaki pointed out.

Pulling himself out of the pile of shattered wood, the hedgehog winced and shook his head to clear it. "Ok...so the first one wasn't totally luck...ow..." then looked at Naruto. "A robot built by Eggman? Nuh-uh, Scrappy." Sonic declared, "Besides, you think I'm just going to let some mindless murder bot just run wild? You're not the first robo-me I've had to face, so I know how dangerous you are."

"Fine...want some, come and get it, Ogilvie Maurice. Just remember, I offered being ok with everyone walking away." Naruto said. He would have sighed if he could have. While part of him understood the reasoning behind what Sonic was saying, it was obvious to Naruto that he wasn't going to be allowed to get out of here without a fight first.

Sonic stiffened, then a tremor of either anger or just sheer annoyance ran down his body. "Don't call me that. That does it, you're going down."