After Hinata's alert had chimed that let them all know that they had just entered Grey space, they left the debriefing room and all assembled on the bridge, taking their usual places. Hinata darted up to the executive officer's station and brought up the sector map with the territorial line between the Terran Federation and the Ashanath Collective clearly marked.
The Invictus had only crossed over the territorial line for a few minutes when Hinata noticed an incoming long distance hail.
"It's an Ashanath patrol." she said, looking at the transmitter's details. "How did they know we were in their territory so quickly?" she wondered curiously.
"The Greys have embedded sensors in asteroids all throughout these border systems." Naruto explained. "Not much gets into their territory without them knowing about it."
He turned to Hinata. "Put them up on the vid-feed please honey." he asked the beautiful bluenette.
Hinata nodded energetically, eager to see one of the Ashanath for the first time. She pushed a couple of buttons and then a holo-image of their caller filled the screen.
The Ashanath leader was a thin, grey skinned humanoid with an oversized bulbous head. The alien had huge, unblinking black eyes that stared out from the screen unemotionally. It turned its head slightly to the side as it pressed a button off screen, which clearly revealed that the creature had no visible ears.
"This is Leader Linnaeus." the alien's whispery voice said as it echoed around the bridge. It was all the more strange, because the creature's tiny mouth had not moved when it spoke.
"Please identify yourself and state your business in Ashanath Territory." the alien requested politely.
"This is Naruto Uzumaki on the Invictus." Naruto replied in a friendly tone of voice. "I'm here to trade and I'm looking to purchase an upgraded FTL drive and a new power core."
"The Invictus has been identified as a Terran assault cruiser. That is a military vessel is it not NarutoUzumaki?" the Ashanath patrol leader asked in its eerie whisper of a voice.
"Yes, but I'm a civilian. A trader." Naruto replied. "You should have previous records of me trading with the Ashanath Collective in a freighter called the Fool's Gold. I've recently purchased this ship and I'm here to upgrade its systems and don't want any trouble." he said reassuringly.
"You may proceed to Ashana, NarutoUzumaki." the Grey leader confirmed after a momentary pause. "Please do not deviate from this flight path."
The Grey leader nodded to an off-screen compatriot and a couple of seconds later a flashing light on Hinata's console indicated the digital transfer of the new flight path to their ship. She accepted the new course and a path in orange was clearly displayed on the sector map, showing their route to the Grey's homeworld.
"Thank you Leader Linnaeus." Naruto said magnanimously. "We'll follow your instructions."
The Ashanath leader ended the call abruptly, not bothering with any more pleasantries.
"What did I say?" Naruto said with a frown. "Creepy..." he said with a shudder.
"His mouth never moved when he was speaking!" Tenten said with surprise.
"I don't think he blinked once either!" Hana noted.
"Ah he wasn't so bad." Hinata said with a smile. "It was a 'he', right Naruto?" she asked curiously.
"Actually I have no idea, I've never been able to tell the male and female Greys apart." he admitted. "You'll see when we meet them in person, they all look very much alike."
"How was he able to talk to us without his mouth moving Naruto?" Tenten asked, finding the whole species fascinating.
"The Ashanath are psychic. They managed to make machines that are able to read their thought commands, which is how his speech was transmitted to us. It's different when you speak to them in person, they use translation devices." Naruto said, remembering his last trip to Grey territory.
"How long until we reach Ashana?" he asked Hinata.
"23 hours." Hinata stated, reading the projections that their Nav-computer had made from the course that they'd been supplied.
"Are you still not going to tell us anything about their homeworld?" Tenten asked him, desperate to know more about the strange aliens.
"We're nearly there now." Naruto said with some amusement. "You can wait just one more day to find out!"
"Ugh! That's going to take forever!" Tenten groaned with frustration.
"I'm sure we can come up with something to keep you distracted for a day." Naruto laughed. "You haven't been to the pool yet, do you want to come for a swim?"
"I'll pass." Tenten said firmly. "Besides, I have plenty of work that will keep me occupied. I have more of those equipping frames to assemble and I need to modify more of the armour for them, as well as upgrade more of the rifles."
"Do you want a hand?" Hinata volunteered. "It will be like being back at your old workshop." she said with an affectionate smile at her friend.
Tenten grinned at her happily and they stood up to leave the bridge.
"How about you two ladies, can I interest you in joining me for a swim?" Naruto asked Hana and Fu.
"Sure, that sounds like fun." the brunette said with a smile. "I haven't got around to trying out the pool yet."
"This one would love to come swimming with you master!" the green skinned girl beamed at him excitedly.
"Ok, let's go then!" Naruto said enthusiastically.
The swimmers joined up with the engineers and they headed down to the lower decks as a group, chatting animatedly. They parted company as they neared the gym, leaving Hinata and Tenten to head into the engineering bay. Tenten walked purposefully over to the podium in the centre of the engineering bay and pressed a number of buttons on one of the consoles. Hinata followed after her, climbing the illuminated steps up to the podium and looking over her friend's shoulder as she worked.
"What are you up to?" she asked curiously.
"Just setting off another run with the mass fabricators." Tenten explained. "Once they have forged all the pieces from the schematics I've supplied them, I can assemble the pieces for the next set of equipping frames."
Hinata nodded and just watched her friend work. A few moments later two of the intricate machines at the far side of the engineering bay powered up, casting an orange glow over that corner of the vast room. The quiet throbbing of the rotating power couplings contrasted with the sharp intermittent squeals of metal being shaped.
TEnten pulled her long thick ebony hair back into a ponytail and then glided down the steps to her workbench. She pressed a button on the dimly glowing panel and the workbench lit up, levitating platforms rising on silent anti-grav trays, providing her a multi levelled workspace. Hinata walked over to one of the nearby weapon crates, lifted the lid and then handed over a stock XR75 to her friend so that she could begin her work.
"Thanks Hinata!" Tenten said with a grin.
"No problem Sparks!" The beautiful bluenette said with a fond smile.
Tenten wrinkled her nose affectionately at the girl she had known for several years and then turned back to the workbench, to begin methodically disassembling the rifle.
Hinata leaned against the weapons container and sighed happily as she watched her friend work. The scene provoked strong memories of good times they had spent together when they were back on Karron, chatting excitedly over their plans to leave the mining asteroid.
"We finally did it." Hinata said wistfully.
"What's that?" Tenten said distractedly, her attention on the assault rifle as she separated the outer shell of the barrel to expose the interior components.
"We spent all those years talking about escaping from Karron and now look where we are!" Hinata said with a big grin on her face.
Tenten paused and turned to look at her friend. "To be honest, I'm still trying to adjust to everything that's happened over the last few weeks." she said, shaking her head in amazement.
The ravenette turned to look around the engineering bay. "I have all these toys to play with, equipment that I'd only dreamed about before!" she said in disbelief.
"I've gained a bunch of sisters and an amazing man." she grinned happily. "It's like I've been given a loving family and it's filled a part of me that I didn't realise how much I needed."
"Ahh! That's so sweet!" Hinata said, feeling touched by the heartfelt sentiments and she hopped off the weapons crate to give her friend a warm hug.
Tenten held her friend tightly against her and sighed happily. They hugged each other for a while before finally stepping apart.
"I must admit though, I do wonder about a few things." Tenten admitted tentatively.
"Like what?" Hinata replied curiously.
"Well it's obvious that we've changed physically and as Hana pointed out, we're smarter now too, but it all begs the question. Why?"
"What do you mean?" Hinata said, intrigued.
"Well don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my life here!" Tenten said vehemently. "But why have we all gone through this metamorphosis?"
"You look pretty damn hot!" Hinata said, running her eyes over her friend appreciatively. "And I don't think it's vain to admit I love my makeover too." She said with a grin.
"Yeah that's true of course..." Tenten said, touching her hand to the side of her face in a familiar self conscious movement, feeling perfect unblemished skin under her fingertips, rather than the hideous burn scars that had disfigured her previously.
"And I'd have to be the most ungrateful bitch in the galaxy to complain about everything that's happened to me. However I can't help but wonder why?" the ravenette said with a perplexed expression on her face.
"You look gorgeous! You're so sexy, I'm having trouble keeping my hands off you right now." Hinata admitted with a grin. "It makes sense that Naruto's cum would make us physically attractive for him. Well as much as any of this makes any sense!" The beautiful bluenette smiled wryly.
"Is it just as simple as that though?" Tenten said, with a troubled frown. "Neither you nor I were bisexual before, but now we readily jump into bed with each other." she said, as she fought down growing feelings of arousal.
"You think our personalities might have been changed too?" Hinata asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Well I never had any experience with men before, but I love it when Naruto takes charge." Tenten said shyly. "I never for one minute would have guessed that I was submissive, but I nearly came just seeing him spank you and Hana the other day." she said, blushing cutely.
HInata bit her lip, growing increasingly turned on. She shook her head to try and clear her mind of the increasingly lustful thoughts.
"Should we speak to Naruto about it?" she asked curiously. "I don't think he has any answers either, but we did agree to keep everything open between us."
"There's no time like the present!" Tenten said with a smile and they headed out of the engineering bay.
Naruto and Hana were in the pool, laughing happily as Fu surged through the water showing off for them. They had all started off swimming lengths, but when Fu had grown her aquamarine coloured fins and began to swim under and around them, Hana had stopped to watch her in wonder. The green skinned alien girl had cavorted around in the pool, leaping out and doing flips for her appreciative audience, who cheered and applauded her aquatic acrobatics. Tenten and Hinata walked into the gym just as the Nymph left the water, curving gracefully through the air before disappearing under the waves with a splash.
"Wow! How did she do that?" Tenten said in awe.
"Oh hey you two!" Naruto said with a grin, happy that they had decided to brave the pool area. "Come in and join us, we'll look after you!" he said encouragingly.
Tenten and Hinata glanced at each other and then smiled nervously as they began to disrobe.
"Wait!" Tenten gasped with shock as she looked at Hinata with wide eyes. "This is what I was talking about!" she blurted out, as her overwhelming desire to please Naruto overcame her fear of the water.
"Come in the water and tell me about it." Naruto said with a warm grin, completely oblivious to their recent epiphany.
Hinata glanced at her friend in surprise, as her normal fear of the water began to recede. They walked over to the shallow edge of the pool and Naruto, Hana and Fu waded through the water to join them.
"You've grown fins!" Tenten said in amazement as she noticed the delicate aquamarine fins that had sprouted from Fu's dark green arms.
Fu nodded at her friend excitedly. "They just grew one day when Naruto and I were having fun in the pool." she said, beaming a wide smile.
The Nymph held out her arms so that Tenten and Hinata could reach out to touch the fins curiously.
"She's an absolutely incredible swimmer." Naruto said appreciatively. "Fu can grow gills too and stay under the water for a very long time." he said glancing at the nymph with a twinkle in his eye as he remembered their time in the hot-tub.
"This one knows that you cannot swim." Fu said to the girls from Karron. "Would you like me to show you what it feels like?" she suggested gently.
Hinata looked at Naruto a little apprehensively, but he smiled at her happily. "Go on honey. You can trust Fu, she's part fish!" he laughed.
Fu laughed gaily and then glided over to Hinata, leading her slowly out into slightly deeper water.
"Hold on to my shoulders and rest on my back." Fu said softly. "This one promises that you will come to no harm."
Hinata took a deep breath and then did as the nymph requested, clinging on to her friend's dark green shoulders, feeling the cool skin underneath her hands. Fu ducked slightly lower in the water and then began to swim effortlessly in gentle circles around the pool. After overcoming a moment's fear, the bluenette girl laughed with delight as she glided through the water. Fu completed a couple more laps and then swam over to the shallows where everyone else waited.
"Thanks Fu, that was wonderful!" Hinata said with a beaming smile.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it Hinata!" The nymph grinned at her friend happily.
She turned towards Tenten and offered her a ride too. This was the first time the ravenette had been in water anywhere near this deep before and she declined politely, preferring to cling to Naruto instead.
"So what did you want to tell me?" Naruto asked the ravenette teenager who was gripping his arm tightly.
"Could we move out of the pool and then chat?" Tenten said, looking at the water nervously.
"Ok how about the hot-tub instead?" Naruto suggested.
Considering it the lesser of two evils, Tenten nodded her agreement and the group left the pool, heading towards the back area of the gym which housed the roomy hot-tub. Naruto activated the bubbles and then climbed in, followed immediately afterwards by Fu and Hana who giggled excitedly. Hinata and Tenten were more reluctant, but they took Naruto's offered hand and stepped into the warm bubbly water to sit on either side of him. Naruto put his arm around each of them and they cuddled into him.
Naruto grinned happily as he looked around the hot-tub. He was surrounded by four beautiful nude young women and currently had two of them in his arms. He brushed his hands against the luscious curvy flesh on the side of each girl's boobs, feeling their soft slippery skin under his fingers and hearing contented sighs from each young woman.
"So what did you want to talk about?" he said happily.
Hinata sat up a bit and turned to face him. She looked pensive for a moment, as though unsure whether to say what was on her mind.
"You know you can tell me anything honey." Naruto said reassuringly. "What's the matter?" he asked curiously.
"Tenten and I were talking a few minutes ago and we realised something a bit disconcerting." Hinata said cautiously.
"That sounds ominous." Naruto said with a concerned expression on his face.
"It's nothing to worry about!" Hinata said, immediately trying to calm his worries, before glancing at Tenten with a frown.
"Let me Hinata, I think it's even harder for you." The ravenette said gently.
She paused for a moment and stopped to think how best to broach the subject.
"Naruto, could you do a little experiment with me for a second." she asked tentatively.
"Sure, whatever you want." Naruto agreed.
"Ok great!" Tenten said with a smile. "Now close your eyes... That's good." she said as he followed her instructions.
"I want you to breathe deeply and do that concentration ritual you do, the one that clears your mind." she asked gently.
Naruto took a deep breath and then let the air out, slowly. He repeated the exercise a couple of times until he felt completely centred and calm.
"Ok I'm ready." Naruto replied in his Zen-like state.
"Excellent." Tenten said encouragingly. "Now I don't want you to think of anyone specific, just think in generalities." she said mysteriously.
"Firstly, what would you say is your preferred height for a girl?" she asked leadingly.
"Well I like it when I can lean down and kiss a girl, as the height difference makes me feel more masculine and protective. Not too short though, because its great being able to look into a girl's eyes when having sex." he said with a smile.
"You're 6'2" so I guess about 5'9" would fit that right?" TEnten said, looking around at the other girls with a raised eyebrow.
"Sounds perfect! Just like you ladies." Naruto said with a grin, causing the girls to smile happily.
Tenten frowned, then shook it off and continued.
"What about body types?" she asked curiously.
"Well I've been into personal fitness and training since joining the military, so I've always liked a girl who takes care of herself too. An athletic figure I suppose." Naruto said, still closing his eyes. "I like a girl to be feminine though, so good sized breasts but nothing gigantic." he said with a laugh.
Tenten looked around at the other girls to see their reaction as Naruto described their figures exactly. Hinata met her look and nodded, Hana watched the ravenette with wide eyes and Fu sighed happily and gazed up at him with adoration in her eyes. Tenten rolled her eyes at the nymph and smiled fondly.
"Ok good answers so far." Tenten said warmly. "Thoughts on body hair?" she asked curiously.
"Well I like long hair on a girl's head." Naruto said smiling. "But other than that, I'm not a fan. Gets in the way." Naruto grinned, his eyes still closed. "So no body hair from the neck down!"
"What else?" he asked curiously.
"Ok let's move on to sexual preferences." the ravenette said with a smile, as all the other girls in the hot-tub leaned forward eagerly.
"Girls who are straight or bi?" she asked.
"Definitely bi!" Naruto grinned. "I love the female form and watching two beautiful women together is amazing!" he sighed happily.
"Dominant or submissive?" Tenten continued.
"I like being a bit dominant, so I prefer submissive girls." Naruto said honestly.
"Confident or shy in the bedroom?" the ravenette asked.
"It's definitely more fun if the girl knows what she's doing." Naruto said with certainty. "It's fun when a girl initiates sex and is really up for it."
"Ok bear with me, nearly done!" Tenten said sweetly. "Let's talk about personality types. Describe what you love and loathe in a woman."
"I love it when a woman is fun and full of life." Naruto began. "Being warm, friendly and caring are all attractive qualities" he continued thoughtfully. "Oh and I like intelligent women who are confident and capable." he finished.
He paused for a moment, thinking. "Hmm loathe..." he said, trying to think of things he really hated.
"Oh I hate catfighting and jealousy. When I worked at my grandparents' restaurant, they had half a dozen waitresses who were always trying to get me involved in their petty spiteful games. I think they thought I was a prize being the owner's grandson, so they were always trying to seduce me." he said with an exasperated sigh.
"Did master take any of them as mates?" Fu asked excitedly.
Naruto laughed at the eager nymph's blunt question. "No, I figured that one of them turning up for work looking like she was pregnant might be a bit awkward!" he said with a grin.
"Ok the quiz is over." Tenten said gently, noting the shocked look on Hinata and Hana's faces. "You can open your eyes." she said quietly, Naruto's answers confirming something she had already suspected.
Naruto opened his eyes and then looked around, surprised by the stunned look shared by the bluenette and brunette.
"What's the matter?" he asked with concern.
"You just described all of us to a tee." Tenten said with a wistful smile on her beautiful face.
"That's good though right?" Naruto asked with confusion. "Doesn't that show we're compatible?"
"Well yes, that's true." Tenten said with an ironic smile.
"Don't you think it's a bit coincidental that all of us are so compatible with you though? Athletic, busty, clean shaven..." she said with a smirk. "I don't shave by the way, my pubic hair just washed away in the shower one day..."
"Well we've known about the effects of my cum making physical changes in you girls." he said, unsure where Tenten was going with this.
"True and Hana pointed out that we've become smarter too. Remember you said you liked intelligent capable women?" Tenten continued.
"That wasn't just my doing, you were all intelligent and capable girls before you met me." he said magnanimously.
"Thanks handsome!" Tenten said with a grin, before smiling at herself again.
"What about the rest though: Confident, fun, warm, friendly, caring. Bisexual, submissive, not jealous, honest and open." Tenten ticked off the traits he had listed.
"You're all wonderful girls..." Naruto said appreciatively.
Tenten looked up at him, holding his gaze with her light blue eyes.
"I think your cum does a lot more than we ever suspected." she said gently.
"I think it customises your women specifically to your preferences." she said. "But I think you missed a few things off your list, maybe because you aren't aware of them."
"Compliant, appreciative, eager to please." Tenen said, staring into his eyes.
"So you're saying I've modified your bodies, minds and personalities just to fit my own desires?" Naruto said looking shocked.
"That makes me sound like some kind of obsessively controlling monster!" he said appalled.
All four girls rushed over to his side in the hot tub, with soothing words tumbling from their full, luscious lips as they desperately tried to reassure him.
Naruto stared down at them, wide eyed with horror.
"I'm so very sorry!" he blurted out, before turning and climbing out of the hot tub.
Hinata and Fu were both half out of the tub and were ready to chase after him, when he turned back to face them.
"Please just give me a moment to think." he said, his face stricken, before he strode out of the gym.
The beautiful bluenette sank back into the water, her eyes flashing dangerously as she looked at Tenten, her expression furious.
"How could I have been so stupid to go along with that?!" she said through gritted teeth. "He's full of self loathing now and I can't even go and comfort him." Hinata snarled.
Tenten shrank back from the bluenette's anger. "I'm sorry!" she pleaded. "I thought he had a right to know, we all did!"
The ravenette looked over at the doorway where Naruto had beat a hasty retreat, her heart longing to chase after him and tell him everything was going to be ok. She glanced at Hana and Fu, seeing similar haunted expressions on their beautiful faces.
Tenten was suddenly aware of just how much pain she had inadvertently caused the four people she loved the most in the whole galaxy. She began to weep softly, tears streaming down her face.
Naruto paced away from the gym, not knowing where he was going, he just had to have a moment to think.
"Is it true?" he asked himself in shock, but he knew instinctively that Tenten was right.
"Did I really do that to those poor girls?" he thought, wide eyed with revulsion. "It's like I've just overwritten their entire personalities."
"There's got to be some way to reverse it." he thought frantically. "I can't have just doomed them into being my playthings, there has to be some way to make things right."
He stopped at the elevator and pressed the button. When the elevator didn't immediately arrive he hammered on the button impatiently. A few seconds later, there was a soft chime and the doors swished quietly open. He dived in and hit the button for the second deck, wanting to find solace in his own quarters. He jogged down the corridor, burst into his room and flung himself on to the bed, where he stared up at the ceiling. He suddenly remembered the many hours of debauchery this room had seen and felt sickened.
"Have I taken advantage of those girls?" he lambasted himself.
He tortured himself with images of each of the girl's beautiful happy faces, thinking that their happiness had just been a lie forced upon them.
"What kind of a monster am I?" he shuddered. "Is there something deeper behind those dreams I keep having?" he wondered in growing horror.
Hinata clenched her jaw in frustration as she listened to Naruto's self flagellating monologue.
"I can't take any more of this!" she snapped and with iron willpower she forced herself out of the hot tub.
"Follow me!" she ordered the other three girls, who meekly climbed out of the tub to follow in her wake.
They traced Naruto's footsteps, Hinata tapping her foot with impatience while they waited for the elevator, the other girls huddled together looking sad and worried. When the elevator arrived, Hinata ushered in the other girls and they travelled up to deck 2. The elevator chimed softly, the doors swishing open quietly and Hinata stormed down the corridor, Hana, Fu and Tenten following close behind.
The beautiful bluenette swept angrily into the bedroom and Naruto sat up in surprise at her abrupt entry.
"Hinata! I'm so sorry!" he blurted out, noting her furious expression with chagrin.
Before either of them could continue, the Invictus began to vibrate alarmingly and a loud alarm blared through the officer's deck.
"BWOOOP!" "BWOOOP!" "BWOOOP!"
"An Interdiction?!" Naruto exclaimed. "What the fuck?"
The girls looked at him in alarm and there was a rush of activity as they all scrambled to put on the bare minimum of clothing, as they were all completely nude. They sprinted for the elevator, diving inside the open door and throwing worried glances at each other, as they waited the excruciatingly long five seconds for the elevator to take them up to the command deck.
"Hana, get us a tactical map and power up the weapons!" Naruto directed the Latina as he leapt up the steps to the command podium.
"Tenten, we need full power to shields!" he instructed the ravenette.
"Hinata, get ready to bust us out of any trap!" he ordered.
The three teenagers leapt to obey his orders. "Yes Commander!" They chorused obediently, causing Naruto to wince for a moment.
He looked over at Hinata apologetically who looked back and glared at him in anger. Before he could say anything, the tactical map sprang into existence hovering above them in the centre of the bridge and bathing the command deck in its soothing blue glow.
The Invictus was centred in the map, looking sleek and ferocious with its angular predatory profile. As the sensors pulsed out, unusual and fearsome shapes began to appear around them, alien vessels that the girls didn't recognise.
"Drakkar raiders!" Naruto said in shock. "What the hell are they doing in Ashanath space?!"
The Invictus trembled again as the big bulky ship that had pulled them so abruptly out of hyper-warp opened fire on them. Purple beams of virulent energy blasted out, gouging terrible scars into the armoured hull of the assault cruiser. A thunderous explosion rocked the ship and they had to hold tight not to get flung out of their chairs.
"What the fuck just happened?!" Naruto asked in alarm.
"Sorry Naruto, I couldn't get the shields up in time." Tenten stammered, trembling with fear.
She glanced at the holographic display showing damage control for the Invictus. A bright red mark covered the FTL drive, data readouts cycling through information at a rapid pace.
"They took out the FTL drive, we can't jump out of here!" Tenten said, bordering on the edge of panic.
"Naruto!" Hana called out in distress. "We've got incoming dropships, but the explosion damaged fire control! The defence grid is down and I can't do anything to stop them!"
"What do we do Naruto?" Hinata asked him, her face lined with worry.
"Boarded by the Drakkar!" Naruto thought to himself, fighting down a surge of panic himself. "How the fuck do we get out of this one?!" he thought, his eyes wide with alarm.