Starting this chapter, the rating of this story will be changed to M due to an unforeseen lemon scene in chapter 3.
Aside from that, holy cow people! We're flattered that you all have shown this story such attention! As such, we busted our asses to put together two additional chapters. This one is finished and the next one is currently being edited. Thank you all for showing your interest in our second cooperative fanfic.
It was 0300 hours and the alarm Sakura had set, with help from Dr. Crusher on how to work the computer controls on the night stand next to her memory foam bed, had gone off softly, lightly stirring Sakura out of bed.
"Computer, increase light by 20%" Sakura said sleepily as the computer increased the light intensity to where the room was softly lit. "That has to be the best night's sleep I have ever had." Sakura said quietly as she stretched and swung her feet out of bed.
Sakura got up, wearing little more than her shorts. she picked up a robe that she replicated last night before going to bed and put it on. Of course it's pink, her favorite color. She pressed the button on the side of the door and it opened into the living room.
The room was still lit up from last night. it was brighter than the lighting Sakura had set her room at, but she was able to adjust. She then walked over to the replicator to get herself some breakfast.
"Coffee, two shots of vanilla creamer, no sugar." She commanded.
The replicator hummed and a mug of piping hot coffee the way Sakura wanted it was ready. She blew on it once then took a sip. 'Perfect.' She smiled.
Just then, Naruto's bedroom door opened and out slithered a very tired looking Naruto in nothing but his boxers.
"Ugh...Morning Sakura..." Naruto groaned as he walked up to the replicator. "Coffee, strong, black." Naruto said and his coffee was ready in mere seconds.
"Good morning to you too." Sakura said in between sips. She turned her head to look at the sleepy blond. "Black huh? I always took you for a cream and sugar kind of guy."
"Need it black today. Didn't sleep well."
Naruto downed his mug of coffee like he drank a shot of whiskey. He slammed the mug down on the table and let out an audible sigh.
"Kahoho... Damn!" Naruto gasped out. "Oi... Bad idea."
"Idiot, what am I going to do with you?" Sakura sighed.
"Ugh..." Naruto groaned as his body shuddered. "You wouldn't like me any other way and you know it."
"True...come here for a second."
Naruto shuffled his feet over to Sakura to see what she wanted.
"Stick out your tongue."
"Why?" Naruto asked, still half asleep.
"Just do it."
"Ugh... alright..." Naruto said as he stuck his tongue out.
Sakura took out her index finger covered with her glowing green mystic palm jutsu. Ever so lightly, she traced it down his tongue without actually touching him. The healing aura cured his burnt tongue in an instant.
"Next time, ask for lukewarm coffee or something." She smirked before turning around to continue her own morning rituals.
"I honestly didn't even notice." Naruto yawned out.
"Call it woman's intuition." Sakura said as she ordered a fresh poppy seed muffin with a side of butter.
"Miso po-"
"Computer, Belay that order." Sakura ordered, to which the computer beeped in compliance.
"Sakura! What the hell?!" Naruto exclaimed in protest.
"I said I wouldn't let you eat Ramen for every meal and I meant it. One day you'll thank me." She said while spreading her butter onto her freshly baked muffin.
"So what the hell am I supposed to eat then?" Naruto protested.
"Lt. Worf said there are over 2 million entries in the computer's memory. Pick one that isn't ramen."
"Oh for crying out loud..." Naruto said in indignation. "Um... Damn, what do people normally have for breakfast..." Naruto thought.
"Try fresh fruit, or their poppy seed muffins. They are amazing..." Sakura said dreamily as she sunk her teeth into another bite of the fluffy goodness with a hint of butter.
Naruto sighed. "Well, you've been wanting me to expand my pallet for years now. I guess now is as good a time as any..."
"What better chance to explore new things then while we spend our days exploring the far reaches of the universe?" Sakura suggested.
"Good point."
Naruto looked upon the screen that held a menu for all the different kinds of food in the computer's memory. He went under the breakfast submenu and found something interesting. "Plomeek soup... and... buttermilk pancakes with butter and syrup." Naruto commanded.
"Soup and pancakes?" Sakura asked raising a quizzical eyebrow.
"You want me to try different things." Naruto said in annoyance. He grabbed his plate and bowl and sat down at the table. "Okay, this soup looks like baby shit."
"Yeah, just... it's an interesting choice." She defended.
"Computer. What is Plomeek soup?" Naruto asked the computer.
"PLOMEEK SOUP IS A VEGETARIAN SOUP THAT IS MADE ON THE PLANET VULCAN." The computer answered.
"Is that a human dish?" Sakura asked.
"NEGATIVE. IT IS A DELICACY TO THE VULCAN RACE." The computer answered back.
"So it's alien soup... This oughta be interesting." Naruto said as he dipped his spoon into the soup. It had the consistency of green sludge, but he was never one to give up on something. He took a spoonful of the soup into his mouth and examined the flavor.
"Well? What does it taste like?" Sakura asked, genuinely curious.
"hard to say... It really doesn't have much flavor. But if I were to give it one, I'd say something along the lines of soldier pills." Naruto said.
"I think I read that the Vulcan people don't much care for emotions. I guess it makes sense that they wouldn't care much for flavor." Sakura said.
"You want to try a bit of it? It's not bad, it's just... meh..." Naruto offered.
"Sure." Sakura said, leaning forward to take a spoonful. The soup was...like the tomato soup without the tomato paste. "Huh, you're right. Weird."
"Isn't it? Okay, this has got me curious. I wanna know what other kind of stuff they got." Naruto stated as he got up and vent back to the replicator to look at the menu. There was something else that crossed his eyes that sounded good. "Hasperat." Naruto ordered and a plate of what looked like green tortilla wraps appeared.
"And just what in the name of that rabbit eared bitch of a goddess is that?" Sakura asked.
"I'm not sure." Naruto said as he sniffed the dish. "Smells good though."
Sakura got a whiff of it too. "Yeah it does. Computer, some Hasperat for me too, please."
Without a second thought, Naruto picked up one of the halves of the wrap and bit into it, savoring its flavor. It had a very crunchy texture and was another vegetable dish. It was sweet, slightly bitter, and hot. Like, very hot.
"It's good, but it's spicy as hell!" Naruto exclaimed.
Sakura took a bite of hers as well and her face went red as the spice of this dish hit her tongue.
"Ah...AHH! Computer! Milk!" She cried.
"SPECIFY TYPE." The computer stated.
"I Don't care! Plain Milk! From a cow!" Sakura exclaimed and a glass of ice cold milk appeared, to which Sakura slammed down in an instant. "Okay..." Sakura gasped out. "Fuck that dish!"
"Actually, the spice calms down after a bit. This is pretty damn good." Naruto said as he finished his plate. "You gonna eat yours?"
Sakura was too busy chugging down milk to answer.
"I take that as a yes." Naruto stated as he took Sakura's plate and gobbled down her Hasperat. "Yum..." He said with a sigh.
"You're crazy." She sputtered. Honestly she did not need this kind of excitement in her morning routine, but trust Naruto to spice things up.
"Nah, your tongue just isn't as refined as mine to the finer things." He teased.
"Oh, this coming from the guy who eats nothing but ramen on a daily basis?" Sakura shot back.
"Well, now its ramen AND Hasperat." Naruto said as he stuck out his tongue.
"Yeah yeah, yuk it up." Sakura teased.
"You wanted me to expand my pallet, and I have. I wonder what else there is." Naruto said as he checked the menu again.
"Ok ok I get it. Computer, what time are we scheduled to arrive at our work stations?"
"0400 HOURS. IT IS CURRENTLY 0320." The computer stated.
"Shit, we've got plenty of time." Naruto commented.
Naruto continued to browse the menu when he found something that Sakura would absolutely love. If there was one thing he knew about girls, it's their affection for sweets.
"Tholian chocolate mousse." Naruto ordered and Sakura perked her head up at the mention of chocolate.
"Deserts for breakfast, really Naruto?" Sakura asked trying to hold on to her shred of willpower.
"Oh come on, Sakura-chan. We gotta celebrate our first day on the job right? How often do we get accommodations like this?" Naruto smirked, he knew he had her.
Sakura thought it over. It was true, even on the most high profile missions guarding the Daimyo or even the Hokage on diplomatic missions the most they could hope for was a decent hotel room to leave their things while they guarded the perimeter. Being on a space craft was like a five-star luxury vacation.
"I know you want it~" Naruto sang teasingly.
"Just shut up and give it to me." Sakura ordered to which Naruto happily complied.
One bite was all it took for Sakura to be in utter oral bliss. The chocolate was the richest tasting chocolate she had ever had. As it should as it was made with cocoa beans that have aged for 400 years.
"Oh my God, Naruto have you tried this?" Sakura joyfully hummed.
"No I haven't but I will." Naruto stated as he dipped his spoon into the pudding and ate it. "Mmmmmm... Damn that's good."
"Hey, what about we try some Klingon food?" Naruto stated as he looked through the menu under Klingon dishes.
Sakura scrapped off the last of her chocolate mousse off of her plate.
"How about tonight? We definitely don't want to pull a Kakashi on our first day." She pointed out. That got the blond's attention.
"Oh shoot, you're right." He wolfed down one of the pancakes he never got around to try before getting up to take a quick shower.
Likewise, Sakura left her dishes on the table (figuring some futuristic space technology would clean it up for them) and made her way to her own bathroom.
After they finished getting ready for their day, Sakura and Naruto met each other in the living room to part ways for their assigned duties.
"Well, uh... I guess this is the start of a new adventure." Naruto stated shyly.
"More like a new chapter in our lives. I just wish our friends could be here for this." Sakura responded.
"True. But when is the last time the two of us did something crazy like travel into outer space together, just the two of us?" Naruto asked.
"We've never traveled into space. As far as the two of us, well, that's when we were still chasing after Sasuke." Sakura said, although the last part hit a tender nerve.
"Right...could have sworn that whole fiasco was gonna pan out better. But never mind that!" Naruto quickly tried to change the subject in the hopes that it would cheer Sakura-chan up.
"It's a whole new adventure, with new friends, new sights to see, we might even get to punch some stuff. I know how much you like that." He gave her his classic ear to ear grin.
"Yea you're right! Hold still for a minute, I'm a little out of practice." Sakura teased.
Naruto gave a fake pout as Sakura playfully punched his arm, light enough that it actually didn't hurt.
"Well, I suppose we better get going. Find out from Worf what kinds of Klingon foods would best suit our tastes." Sakura said.
"Yes, Ma'am. I'm on it." He saluted. Sakura just rolled her eyes.
"You really are something else, you know." Sakura said shaking her head.
"And you're the lucky one. Your station is on deck 12. I'm all the way up on Deck 1." Naruto pouted.
"Well then you better get going before you're late." Sakura said with a smile as she moved to the door.
As she walked, Naruto couldn't help but notice the hypnotic swish in her step- Shit, what was he thinking? That ship had sailed. She was with Sasuke, just like she always wanted to be...
'And she's stuck on this ship with you for 5 years. No Uchiha for lightyears in any direction.' A voice in Naruto's head tried to sway him.
'Hell no, Kurama! I ain't doing that to Sasuke and I'm especially not gonna ruin things with Sakura.' Naruto thought back furiously.
'Whatever. I'm going back to sleep. Wake me when you decide to grow some balls.'
Naruto shook his head and followed close behind Sakura. Thankfully Sakura hadn't noticed his quick little chat with the demon fox sealed inside of him.
"Naruto, come on." Sakura shouted as she held open the elevator door.
"Coming!"
Later, on the bridge of the Enterprise, Naruto was struggling to learn just the basic concepts of using the computer panels. All he could get was the are flat, touch screen panels with multiple colored shapes and that they each do something different. That's about all he could understand.
"This really isn't that hard to understand, Ensign." Worf said with annoyance in his tone. He had been teaching Naruto to use these tactical panels since 0400 hours and here it is 0900 hours.
"Sorry, sir. It's just that this technology is far beyond what I'm used to." Naruto defended.
Worf sighed. "Understandable. However, the controls are labeled about what they do. You need to memorize these contro-" Worf was cut off when the sensor panel started beeping. Pressing a few of the icons on the panel and the results made his blood run cold.
"Captain! Picking up a Romulan Warbird on an intercept course." Worf announced.
"Range?" Picard asked
"They will be on us in 5 minutes."
Picard straightened up in his chair. "Well, let's hold here and see what they want." Picard ordered as she ship slowed to a complete stop.
This didn't sit right with Naruto. He noticed Worf seemed to tense up when said ship was closing in on them and now the Captain ordered the ship to stop and wait for a possible enemy ship to appear?
"Sir! I don't mean to talk out of turn, but this doesn't seem like something we should stick around for!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Your concern is noted, Ensign. However, our first priority is diplomacy, not running away at the first sign of trouble or immediately taking up a defensive posture." Picard stated.
Naruto grumbled but stood at attention. He hated this feeling of being so powerless. On any other planet there would be something Naruto could do, some way for him to act. But here on this ship, his fate was in the hands of a ship full of strangers. One of which, Naruto was supposed to be protecting.
'I wonder how Sakura-chan is fairing.' Naruto thought.
Down in sickbay, Sakura was running circles around the medical staff there. It took her less than two hours to get used to all of the medical equipment and the drugs there and she was basically a one-woman medical staff. Dr Crusher was absolutely proud yet stunned.
Sakura was just finishing up auto suturing a patient with an impalement from an accident in Engineering that had a piece of bulkhead through his abdomen.
"I've gotta ask, how did this even happen?" Sakura said halfway from finishing.
"We were working on a power relay when it overloaded and exploded. I took the worst of it." The man said as Sakura finished sealing up the man's wound.
"Sweet Sage, it's a miracle you sustained only this much damage. Does this happen often?"
"not really. It was an old relay and I may have transferred too much power. Doesn't make it hurt any less." The man chuckled.
Sakura flicked him upside the forehead. "Idiot, you remind me a friend of mine and let me tell you. Being careless will catch up to you eventually." She lectured.
"Not the first time I've been told that, honestly. You'd think I'd learn by now, heheh."
"Yeah, you'd think." Sakura said, finally finished. She pulled off her latex gloves. "You're good to go. A few days bed rest and you'll be up and ready to get caught in the next explosion."
She then turned back to the sink to wash her hands, then back around to write some relevant info down on her clipboard.
"I'm going to write you a prescription for Ibuprofen. Take three a day with food for two days and then whenever you need it for pain. Come back immediately if the pain becomes unbearable. Or if the wound reopens. If you don't have any other questions, we'll see you back here in a week for a follow-up." Sakura smiled, ripping off a piece of paper to be used as a prescription.
"Um... Sakura, that's not how we write prescriptions. We send the information to the patient's quarters and the replicator produces them every time a meal is requested until the recommended time is up." Dr. Crusher explained. Sakura was told this, but it seems old habits die hard.
"Oh right, my apologies." She replied, embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it." crusher waved off as she input the orders into the crewman's replicator.
"Honestly, you have been doing great for your first day and with no formal Starfleet training either. You have impressed me beyond what I thought you were capable of." Crusher praised as the crewman left the sickbay.
"Thank you very much."
Crusher went through her computer terminal, entering in some new information.
"So... How are you two enjoying your stay so far?" Crusher asked. There was no one else in sickbay now and what better way to pass the time then to get to know her new assistant.
"Oh it's been great. Naruto and I had a little feast before we came to work today. Trying out the different foods like this one Vulcan vegetarian soup with no flavor and this other food, I think it's called Hasparat, which was spicy as Hell. I do not recommend it. Naruto seemed to like it though, I think that's just because used to eating spicy foods like ramen all the time. I told him though I wouldn't let him eat the stuff for every meal, it's not healthy. I've been telling him that for years but he never listens. Now that were roommates though, I intend to beat some healthy eating habits into his thick skull."
"As you should. But I will say this, men are stupid. beating them will just make them dumber. Luckily our replicators only serve food that has nutrition that is satisfactory to our diets. At least he likes Bajoran food." Crusher stated.
"I think like is an understatement. He ate all of his then ate mine and then wanted more. He never had much in the line of variety when it came to his diet growing up." Sakura confessed.
"I find that hard to believe."
"Believe it." She replied as her long dormant Inner self sighed at her using their best friend's old catchphrase.
'You couldn't help using that, huh?'
'Shut up.'
"But, how does one survive on just one type of food growing up? Didn't his parents feed him anything else?" Crusher asked in confusion.
'Oh here we go...' Inner thought.
"No they didn't. Naruto is an orphan." Sakura tried to explain as simply as possible to protect Naruto's privacy. He had spent his entire life working to get past his terrible childhood, the last thing Sakura wanted to do was bring up old wounds.
"Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry to hear that." Crusher said with sympathy.
"It's okay. It's ancient history. Things have gotten a lot better for Naruto ever since his childhood." Sakura said.
"Still though. It couldn't have been easy." Dr. Crusher then started typing something in her terminal, which gave Sakura a bad feeling.
"What are you typing?" She asked nervously.
"I'm putting Naruto on for counseling sessions twice a week with counselor Troi." Crusher answered.
"I don't think that is necessary. He's a fool, but he's not crazy or distressed."
"That you can see. I saw that there was a moment of his past that he was remembering yesterday that pained him. Captain Picard want's all of his officers in proper mental health. I can't imagine that this new setting filled with people he doesn't know is doing his mind any good either." Crusher rationalized.
"Yes but trust me, he's made his peace with his past. Please don't make him bring up those old memories." Sakura pleaded, not wanting Naruto to learn that she blabbed about his private past.
Crusher saw the pleading in Sakura's eyes. It was the same eyes she herself had when she learned that her husband was killed. Then she came up with an idea.
"Tell you what. Have Naruto come down here and I will talk to him with Troi present. She even said herself in your meeting yesterday that she sensed a great deal of emotional pain as is the skill with her race. I won't say anything about you telling me about his past." Crusher offered.
"You're not going to drop this are you?" Sakura replied sadly.
"Per standing orders, I can't." Crusher said. "I know how you feel about this. But this is something that we have to sort out. He could be as you said, but it's part of my job to make sure."
Sakura kept silent. Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut? Now she was going to cause Naruto even more pain, even if it was indirectly.
"Ok then..."
Crusher placed her hand on Sakura's. "It will be okay. Troi is a Betazoid with Empathic and Telepathic abilities. She can help him if he is still suffering. In the meantime, you look like you could use some comfort food." Crusher said with a smile. She turned to her replicator. "Chocolate New York style cheese cake." Crusher ordered and a slice of chocolate cheese cake appeared and she handed it to Sakura.
"What the heck is 'New York' style?" Sakura asked.
"New York is a state in a country called the United States of America on earth. That style is said to be the more richer form of cheesecake."
"I'll be the judge of that, thank you very much." Sakura smirked. She took the materialized fork and scooped up a bite.
The rich flavor of sweetened cream cheese baked to perfection coupled along with the dark cocoa in the chocolate danced a rambunctious waltz upon Sakura's taste buds as she rolled her eyes up and moaned in complete oral pleasure.
"Please tell me this ship has a training room." Sakura asked between bites.
"We have 3 gyms, 4 holodecks and a bowling alley."
"Bowling?" She asked, licking her fork clean.
"It's a type of sport. Well, some would debate that. It is a game where you roll a weighted ball down a long narrow lane to knock down ten upright standing objects called pins. The object is to knock down all of the pins and reach the top score of 300. Also to avoid getting the ball into two lower section on either side of the lane called gutters." Crusher explained
"Sounds easy." The pink hair ninja said. She had long mastered how to hit bull's eyes with all manner of conventional weapons. How hard could a weighted ball be?
"Sounds it yes, but aiming and then rolling a 16-pound ball down the center of the lane in an angle to where all the pins get knocked down is somewhat daunting. Anyway, how was the cheesecake?"
"Delicious. Do you have any more dishes you could recommend? Me and Naruto plan on trying out some more alien dishes tonight. I asked him to ask Worf what a good Klingon meal was."
Crusher cringed at the thought of Klingon dishes. "I don't like any of them." She said as she shuddered in disgust.
"What really? What's wrong with them?"
"Nothing if you can stomach eating the organs and blood of some unfortunate creature from their world. Some of them raw."
Sakura shrugged. "I've eaten worse, unfortunately."
Crusher turned her head and put her hands up. "I don't wanna know."
"Oh no you don't." Sakura teased. ANBU did not ever guarantee luxuries, or regular meals in the field.
"Well, you'd earn the respect of Worf if you shared a meal with him, that's for sure. Interestingly enough, he can't get enough of prune juice." Crusher stated.
"Eck, I hate prune juice." Sakura said.
"Oh? So you're familiar with that, huh?" Crusher stated.
"Apparently."
"Let me tell you a really good breakfast for you. Scrambled Katarian eggs, biscuits with sausage gravy, Melba toast with jam. Picard and I try to get together every morning to have that before starting our day." Crusher suggested.
"Picard and you, huh?" Sakura said in a voice that suggested there was more going on.
"I know what you're thinking. We have actually known each other since the academy. I married his best friend and had a son. Sadly, my husband died in the line of duty. I know Picard has feelings for me, but he doesn't make a move. I think it's because he respects my husband too much to do something like that. Also, he's not really fond of children." Crusher explained.
"I'm so sorry. But wow, best friends huh? That sounds familiar..." Sakura whispered.
"What do you..." Crusher trailed off when she connected the dots. "Oh... I see... You and Naruto are not together?"
"No, what made you think we were together?" Sakura said, a little shocked at Crusher's presumption.
"I didn't. But I get the feeling that you two have known each other practically forever. I can see it in Naruto's eyes that he feels something for you."
"Well of course. We've been teammates since we were 12 and we were classmates before even then. He's my best friend."
Light years away, a platinum blonde in a purple top sneezed.
"Well best male friend anyway. He used to have strong feelings for me it's true, but that's ancient history. He gave up on me after I started dating Sasuke and then he started dating Hinata."
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. Personally, I think you two would make a cute couple." Crusher said as she went over some more medical records to pass the time.
"Excuse me? I'm still with Sasuke. Happily, mind you. And Naruto and Hinata are the top power couple of the Leaf back home."
'Happily? Really?' Inner stated.
Sakura ignored her Inner self and focused on her conversation with Crusher.
Crusher knew Sakura was putting up a façade to hide what was really going on. She noticed that talking about Naruto made her happy, yet sad at some points and that she couldn't stop talking about him. She rarely brought up Sasuke and when she did, she seemed to be angry about the subject. It seemed like she was unhappy with her relationship, but was hiding it from everyone. But it wasn't her job to pry.
"Never mind. Just thinking out loud." Crusher said to drop the subject.
'She knows. I don't know how, but it's evident that she doesn't believe us.' Inner told Sakura.
"Right. So let's talk about something else. You mentioned bowling? Do you play?"
"Sometimes. There is a senior staff game later tonight." Crusher said.
"Do you think me and Naruto could attend? I'm sure we'd both find it very interesting."
"You're the captains personal body guards, I don't see why you couldn't. Deck 4 at 1800 hours."
"We'll be there." Sakura smiled. She then went back to sorting through some paperwork of her own.
'You know, sooner or later they're going to find out the truth that we-'
'Inner.. Zip IT! They don't need to know about it and Naruto can't know about it. Not now, anyway.' Sakura said back, cutting off her inner.
'If you say so. But until you come clean, I'll still be here.'
'So why are you here this time, huh? Explain this to me. I thought you left a while ago.' Sakura said back.
'I don't know. Seemed like things were finally going to get interesting inside your head so I popped back in.' Inner explained off handedly.
'And you probably have no idea what's going on right now since you just suddenly came back.'
'Oh I've been listening the entire time. Just not commentating.'
'Okay. Well then, so long as you don't impede my work, you can stay. This is probably the most important mission of mine and Naruto's career.'
'Oh don't you worry your cute little brow about that. I've got no intention of hampering the second greatest thing to ever happen to you.'
'Second? What do you mean by second?'
'Never you mind. I've said my piece one too many times before. This time you've gotta figure it out by yourself, Sweet Cheeks.'
Sakura was going to respond back, but was jolted out of her thoughts when the ship shook violently and the alert klaxon sounded.
"What the Hell was that?!" Sakura shouted.
"We're under attack. Get to your station on the bridge." Crusher ordered
"Aye, Ma'am!" Sakura shouted before sprinting off to the elevator.
On the bridge.
"Mr Worf! Return fire, full spread!" Riker ordered. The enterprise fired a volley of Photon torpedoes and phasers at the attacking Romulan Warship, doing little damage.
"Their shields took minor damage." Worf stated.
"They're coming around for another run at us." Naruto stated as he looked at the grid map on the tactical panel.
The Romulan warbird shot out green beams and pulse blasts as well as a volley of plasma torpedoes that hit the Enterprise directly. The lights on the ship flickered on and off as the ship was hit.
"Damage report." Picard stated.
"Hull breach on the port nacelle. We're leaking drive plasma." Worf stated.
"Injuries and casualties reported all over the ship. hull breaches on decks 14, 15 and 16." Naruto reported, then he looked at the sensors tab and saw something that let him breathe a sigh of relief. "Sir, the USS Peterson just warped into the system."
Worf looked at the same panel. "Confirmed. The Peterson is Hailing us."
"On Screen." Picard ordered as the captain of the Peterson came up.
"This is Captain Harry Kim of the USS Peterson. Need some help?" Harry asked.
"More than you know. They came out of nowhere and started attacking us." Picard stated.
"Understood. We'll see if we can draw their fire." Harry stated before cutting off the channel. The little Saber class ship quickly moved in between the Enterprise and the Romulan warbird and fired its weapons.
"Minor damage to the warbird." Worf stated.
"We're getting nowhere." Naruto grumbled.
"Agreed, ensign." Picard said. "What do you suggest?"
"I'm not sure, Captain. I'm unfamiliar with ship to ship combat. I always prefer the direct approach in battle."
"Hand to hand?" Riker asked.
"Yeah, up close and personal. Just run straight at them and nail them with my strongest attack."
The whole crew looked at him with a gazes of disbelief, it was starting to make Naruto uncomfortable.
"What? It's served me well in the past."
"Maybe for you, but this situation requires a strategy." Riker stated.
"Sir, the Peterson's shields are down." Worf stated.
"Draw the Warbird away and fire at will." Picard ordered.
"Well when the direct approach doesn't work, I usually send in Shadow Clones to both learn their attack patterns and to act as a distraction while I deliver the crippling blow."
"You said you could make up to 10,000 of those, correct?" Riker asked.
"I can. Would you like to place an order?" Naruto asked, mimicking a made to order chef.
"This isn't the time for jokes, mister! This is a very serious situation." Riker scolded.
"Right, sorry sir, yes I can make as many clones as you need. Granted I'm not sure they could survive very long out in the vacuum of space." Naruto quickly corrected himself. Old habits die hard.
"If we could get the Warbirds shields down, we can just transport you over to their ship." Picard stated.
"And then I overwhelm the crew with sheer numbers." Naruto said smirking.
Sakura then walked onto the bridge and took her seat near Captain Picard.
"Sounds like a plan. Once the shields are down, we'll transport you over there." Picard stated.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Sakura asked, completely overwhelmed by her sudden arrival.
"We're transporting Mr. Uzumaki over to the Romulan warbird if we can get their shields down." Riker explained.
"Alone? Against an unknown number of hostile aliens, he's never even met before on a ship he's never even seen the interior of?"
"Ensign, we're dealing with a very large and hostile Romulan ship that obviously has the ability to destroy us and our aiding ship. As they say, desperate times call for desperate measures." Riker said.
"But this is crazy! I'm not letting you go in there alone, Naruto." Sakura said firmly. Naruto however shut her down using the same authoritative tone he had mastered after his time leading the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Battle of the Buuji against Obito and the 10 Tails.
"No Sakura, I know what you are going to suggest, but they need you here on the ship more than I will boarding that Romulan Ship. Besides, if worse comes to worse, then we'll need you here go protect Picard as our original mission entails."
"Your concern is duly noted, Miss Haruno, however my order still stands." Picard said firmly.
"Sir, the Peterson reports they are adrift and are losing life support." Worf stated.
"Beam the survivors on board. I want medical teams stationed at every transporter room, that means you too, Ensign Haruno." Picard ordered.
Naruto gave her a look that urged her on to leave. Mostly because he trusted her as a medic and so she should trust him to be able to fuck shit up and survive.
"Sir, I'm picking up 5 more ships entering sensor range." Naruto said.
"What do you make of them?" Picard asked.
"Two more Romulan Warbirds and 3 of our own." Worf said. "The Hood, Odyssey and Exeter are on route to our location." Worf stated.
"Send me in, Captain. We need to land a decisive blow now or the first Romulan Ship will just take cover behind the other two and repair itself." Naruto deduced. It was a simple enough tactic used by ninjas. It was now or never unless they wanted to turn this into a fair fight for the Romulans.
"There is very little we can do Ensign. Their shields are still up and we can't beam you through the shields." Riker rationalized.
"Sir. I believe if we fire a neutrino pulse at the Warbird, it may be enough to disable the shields." Data suggested.
"Make it so, Mr Data. Mr. Uzumaki, report to transporter room 4 and wait for my say." Picard ordered.
"Aye Captain. Lieutenant Worf, does the ship have any kind of body armor against phasers I could wear? It should make my clones more durable."
"Negative. That is something we do not have. However, the replicator can make you some Klingon armor if you would like." Worf stated.
"I just need one. Every clone I make after that will have it on. Is there a replicator in the teleportation room? Have them start making my armor there."
"There is a replicator there. I will send word to them." Worf stated. Naruto nodded and made his way into the Turbo lift, where Sakura was there waiting for him.
"Transporter room 4." Naruto stated as she doors shut.
"So you're really gonna go through with this?" Sakura said with worry in her tone.
"I've got to, it's the best chance we have. Why, don't you have faith in me?" Naruto asked while shifting his neck side to side to crack it.
"It's not that I don't have faith in you, Naruto. It's that..." Sakura said as she tried to keep her composure. "I almost lost you once... I don't want that to happen again." Sakura said truthfully.
Naruto was surprised, it had been so long since he had last seen this side if Sakura.
"Wow Sakura-chan, I didn't know you cared so much." He said as he scratched his cheek like whenever he did when he was nervous.
"Idiot, of course I care about you. You're my best friend. We're teammates right?" She spoke, almost in a pleading tone.
'That isn't all either.' Inner stated.
'Shut up.' Sakura said back.
"Don't worry so much. This isn't like it was 4 years ago. These guys, they only have guns which you and I both know are useless against me. I'll go over there and overwhelm them and be back in time for dinner." Naruto said with his trade mark grin.
Sakura gave him a small smile. "You better. Oh and Dr. Crusher told me that Klingon food is mostly made of sometimes raw guts and blood of animals."
"So a typical ANBU mission meal?" He asked.
"Pretty much." She replied.
"We'll save it for when we get sick of all this amazingly delicious food."
"Agreed."
The turbo lift stopped at Naruto's destination. Interestingly enough, it was also Sakura's.
"Good luck." Naruto said, he knew Sakura would need it with the influx of patients she was about to receive.
"Y-you too." Sakura said hesitantly. "Please come back alive..."
Again, Naruto was shocked by her concern. He had never heard that kind of fear in her voice over anyone. Well, anyone except for Sasuke. Still, Naruto being Naruto, he shrugged it off and focused on reassuring her.
"Don't worry Sakura, I promise I'll come back alive. You know how I always keep my promises, right?" He smiled.
Sakura nodded. "That you do. But it doesn't make me worry any less."
"Would it help if I made it a promise of a lifetime? Then you'll know that I'll come back alive."
"You don't need to do that. You already fulfilled the last one and Even though your dedication was borderline annoying but admirable at times, it still worried me to death even though I didn't show it. Just don't do anything stupid, okay? like blow up the ship while you're over there."
"Well that's usually plan B for these types of missions, but I can probably bump it down to plan C or D, just caused you asked so nicely, Sakura-chan." Naruto joked.
"Just get going." Sakura said as she mock face palmed. Naruto took off running to the transporter room and his armor was there waiting for him.
"Bridge to transporter room 4. Has Ensign Uzumaki arrived yet?" Picard said through the com.
"That's affirmative sir. He just walked in." The transporter chief said.
"Good. Naruto, can you hear me?" Picard asked.
"Yes, sir. Go ahead." Naruto responded.
"We're about to initiate the pulse. Once their shields drop, I will notify you to transport over to the Romulan ship. Once there, you will have about 8 minutes to do what you got to do and get out. Do as much damage as you can and use whatever force you deem necessary." Picard explained.
"Yes sir. Worf, what can you tell me about this armor? Will it stop a phaser or am I just needlessly weighing myself down?" Naruto said while stuffing his feet into his boots.
"It has some resistance to a phaser, but Romulans use disruptors. They are of a different configuration than phasers and are a bit more powerful." Worf explained.
"So will this armor make any difference?" Naruto asked, a little impatient.
"It will protect you to a certain degree, but not if someone has a disruptor set to kill." Worf stated.
"Fuck it! I've already got it on anyway. Captain! How much longer?!" Naruto adjusted the shoulder guards.
"I would watch your tone Ensign." Picard warned.
"Sorry sir, pre-battle jitters."
"Are you sure you can handle this? We can come up with another strategy."
"No, I've got this. Just give me time to prepare my Sage Mode. I need 30 seconds." Naruto said as he fell into his meditative stance taught to him be the Toads all those years ago.
"Sage mode?" Riker asked Picard, the latter of whom shrugged.
"These ninjas are full of surprises going by what I've seen thus far." Picard stated.
"Agreed." Worf commented.
Back in the teleportation room, Naruto had gone completely still, his breathing all but stopped, his mind was calm. Yet something was wrong...
Naruto might have gotten rusty since the 4th War, but it had never taken him this long to gather natural energy.
Sakura stood by and watched as Naruto attempted to gather natural energy. But even she knew something was wrong. He would have gotten into sage mode by now if her were-
'That's it!' Sakura thought.
"Naruto. You can't use Sage Mode here." Sakura stated.
"Shit, I think you're right. There is not enough nature out here in space. Or any for that matter."
"What about Kurama mode?" Sakura suggested
'Forget it, Kit. Not until you come clean with the girl about what's been really going on.' Kurama stated.
'You'd risk both our lives and all the lives aboard this ship?' Naruto thought.
"Kurama is being sassy right now, but I can still use his powers." Naruto replied to Sakura, being sure to transform into his basic Kyuubi cloak for dramatic flare. Naruto's skin and clothes burst into golden flames of chakra with black markings covering his clothes and skin. Sakura could see his eyes had turned into golden fox pupils.
'No I wouldn't. But this façade has been going on long enough. It has been nearly a month and she still doesn't know the truth.' Kurama stated.
Naruto ignored his inner demon and focused on mentally preparing himself for the battle ahead.
"Captain Picard, I'm ready whenever you are."
"Understood." Picard stated as he turned his attention to Data. "Fire when ready, Mr. Data."
Data input the commands into the computer console. The deflector dish glowed a bright blue and a large beam shot out of it and hit the Romulan Warbird directly.
"Direct hit, sir." Worf said.
"Their shields?" Riker asked.
Data scanned the enemy ship and turned to his superiors. "The beam has dropped the shields."
"Now Ensign." Picard ordered.
"Energizing." The transporter chief said as a Golden Naruto slowly disappeared from the transporter pad. Sakura watched as Naruto was no longer in sight and that was when a single tear flowed from her face.
"Naruto..." Sakura said quietly.
"Don't worry Ma'am." The transporter crewman spoke. "I'm sure your boyfriend will be fine. He looked capable."
Naruto appeared on the Romulan ship. The first thing he encountered was a squad of Romulan soldiers.
"Intruder!" One Romulan said.
"Awesome location guys..." Naruto grumbled as he launched a Rasengan at the group of soldiers, all but killing them instantly.
'These are the big bad Romulans the Humans were so scared about?' Kurama thought.
'Apparently.' Naruto thought as he made a handsign. "Let's even the playing field, shall we? Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He shouted as over a thousand clones filled the hallway. "Fan out and take control of the ship. Take out any Romulan you see. Kill them if you have to, but try not to." Naruto ordered.
During this time, the crew of the Enterprise were able to get a minor reprieve. The Romulan ship had long since stopped firing and had come to a complete standstill. Picard paced back and forth anxiously, waiting for Naruto's call.
"Anything yet, Worf?" Picard asked.
"Nothing, Sir." Worf responded.
"Transporter room 3 to bridge. We have transported the last of the Peterson's crew aboard." Transporter Chief Miles O'Brien said.
"Understood, chief. How many did you get?" Picard asked.
"All 200 members of the crew survived." Miles stated.
"Acknowledged. Picard out." Picard said as he cut the transmission.
Down below, Sakura was working hard treating the injured crew mates of the nearly destroyed Saber Class.
One patient was giving Sakura trouble, while the others had minor injuries. The patient in question had a slab of bulkhead land on him, crushing him and just about every bone in his body. The man was barely hanging on and Sakura was doing the best she could to keep him alive.
Sakura had to keep one hand on his forehead to intercept the pain signals sent to his brain and dull them. Leaving her only one free hand to mend his broken bones.
Dr. Crusher was doing the best she could to stem the bleeding from the mans damaged organs, causing massive internal bleeding. The Crusher/Haruno doctor duo, so appropriately named by Riker, work together to save this man, because this man is none other than the commander of the Peterson himself, Harry Kim.
'This isn't going to work.' Sakura thought.
"Nurse! I need 20 CCs of Morphine!" She called out, not taking her eyes off of the patient.
"Belay that. 10 CC's of Anesthizine." Doctor Crusher said, to which she received a puzzled look from Sakura. "It is a pain killer and a sedative."
"Better than morphine? Never mind, just tell me when it's in." Sakura said, she needed both her hands to speed up her healing technique.
"It's in." The nurse said, pulling away the hypospray.
"Good! Hold his shoulders for exactly one minute." Sakura shouted as she took her other hand away and focused all her energy into repairing the Captain's rib cage.
The nurse did as she was told and held onto Harry's shoulders as Sakura used her mystic palm jutsu on mending the broken bones.
"I have got to learn how to do that." Crusher said.
Sakura ignored her comment. She needed to focus right now, not debate whether or not Crusher could learn to use chakra. Theoretically it was completely possible, but now was not the time.
"Brace yourself nurse, my numbing jutsu is about to wear off and if the pain killers don't work properly the patient could violently convulse, injuring him further. The pain alone could kill him."
"It should have taken effect already and its stronger than morphine." The nurse said.
"Better safe than sorry." Sakura finished on the area of the rib cage surrounding the patient's heart, now on to the lungs.
"Hold there, Sakura. I still need to repair his liver. Nurse, I need the cellular micro suture." Crusher announced to a nurse near her.
Said nurse handed a device that Sakura wasn't too familiar with. Then she remembered that it was to heal up wounded organs.
Once finished, Dr. Crusher used the auto sutures to close the incision she made to fix the bleeding organ. "You may proceed. I need to work on his intestines now."
"I'm almost done with his lungs. He should be out of the danger zone by then."
"Not quite. His intestines show a large laceration. Laser Scalpel." Crusher ordered as the nurse handed the medical tool over. Using what seemed like a pink beam, Crusher opened the flesh around Harry's abdomen to reveal a large amount of blood and body waste had spilled into his abdomen. "Shit... This isn't good." Crusher said.
Sakura leaned over to look into the incision. "Stand aside please." She commanded Dr. Crusher. without waiting for a response she forced herself in front of the open wound and forced more chakra into the Captain's abdomen.
Using her right hand, she slowed the path of the blood vessels to keep from the abdomen from overflowing further, with her other hand she grabbed ahold of the excess blood and waste that had accumulated. She held it up in her palm as it floated in the glowing sphere of chakra flowing from her hand. "Bucket!"
A nurse quickly brought a waste dish over and Sakura released the contents from her chakra into it. She then brought her hand back down to the Captain's abdomen and began repairing the organ.
Crusher just stood by and watched as Sakura quickly healed the organs affected by the accident. Once Sakura was finished, Crusher used her auto suture and sealed up the incision.
"That was close. Any longer and he would have succumbed to septic shock." Crusher said.
"Yeah, great work, and great call with that pain killer. I don't believe we have specific drug on my home planet."
"Considering that it originated from Earth, doubtful." Crusher said as she removed her gloves. "He's in the clear now. We can treat the minor injuries now."
"Are there no other patients in the red?"
Crusher looked over her medical report PAD and shook her head. "Harry Kim was the worst one. The others are all green."
Sakura breathed a sigh. "That's a relief."
"Nurses, you can tend to the minor injuries. Sakura and I need a break." Crusher ordered and all the nurses nodded their heads. All in all, the amount of injuries was low. Crusher and Sakura made their way over to Crushers desk and the latter walked up to the replicator.
"Two coffees. 2 sugar, 1 cream for each." Crusher ordered.
Sakura massaged her temples, the hustle and bustle of a code red medical emergency was always enough to tire her out. Not that she wasn't ready to keep going for hours more on end. Tsunade didn't train no wimps.
"Here, drink up." Crusher said as she handed Sakura a coffee.
"Thank you." She said simply before sipping the drink.
"You handled yourself exceptionally well. Far better than any ensign nurse I have had. I can see for myself that you weren't pulling my leg when you said you're a seasoned veteran doctor." Crusher praised.
"What can I say? Lady Tsunade doesn't train medics, she trains walking hospitals." Sakura quoted from her ruthless master.
"And I believe it." Crusher said as she started jotting down something on her report for the captain.
"Do you have any textbooks on medicines I could borrow? If I'm going to continue working with you I should know what medicines I have available at my disposal."
"Not here, but you can get them via any PAD device, which you should have a few in your quarters."
"P.A.D.?" Sakura asked after finishing her biggest sip yet.
Crusher held up an object that was flat in design, but had a screen on it that contained medical records.
"My God, so all your books are on this device?" Sakura said with awe.
"It is directly linked to the ships computer. All of Starfleet's medical knowledge is stored in the computer to which you have access to. I suggest during your down time; you do some studying." Crusher said.
"Will do." Sakura became excited. It was a well-known fact that Sakura loved to read as much as Naruto loved to eat ramen. All too often she had been limited from checking out more books from the Leaf village library because she ran out of space in her arms. Now every book she could ever want was in the palm of her hand. The world, no, the universe was her oyster.
"I have never had anyone so eager to learn as you are. Well, save for my son." Crusher stated.
The pink haired bookworm snapped out of her nerdgasm. "Oh that's right, you have a son. How old is he?"
"About your age. He turns 20 next month. Right now he is in the Academy on Earth." Crusher said as she brought up a picture of him at his first year academy induction.
"He looks very handsome; you must be proud."
"I am. he looks so much like his father. I just wish he could find a girl." Crusher said sadly.
"Really? As a girl his age, I can tell you for a fact he'd be beating girls off with a stick back in my village."
"I'm sure. Even now it's like that, but it's like he has little to no interest in them. I have asked him about that and he always says that he's just waiting for the right one."
"Understandable. I never really dated a lot before Sasuke." Sakura commented. "Just give it time. Naruto was also like that until he gave Hinata a chance. Needless to say he found the right one alright..." Sakura said wistfully.
There it was again, that pained look in Sakura's eyes that Crusher couldn't deny. Sakura was having an emotional struggle between Naruto and the one called Sasuke.
"Tell me about Sasuke, what's he like?" Crusher asked.
"Oh he's a really great guy. Mature and strong, drop dead gorgeous, completely dedicated to his goals. He was mine and Naruto's third teammate back when we were kids." Sakura listed off.
Crusher nodded as she got up and closed the door to her office. Sakura was confused as she watched Crusher sit back down. "Tell me what he's really like. It's just you and me here. Anytime you talk about this Sasuke, I see you shifting around, your facial expressions change to sadness and sometimes anger. They are not very noticeable, but as a parent with a child your age, I'm able to see this. Your body language betrays your words. If there is something troubling you, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone else."
Sakura looked at Crusher with a mix of offended and pleading on her face. "You promise...?"
"Yes I promise." Crusher said honestly.
Sakura felt a feeling of nostalgia picturing a whiskered blond saying similar words to her, they gave her the confidence to continue.
"Sasuke is... Really dedicated to his goals. He's currently on a pilgrimage traveling throughout the world to atone for his sins by righting wrongs however he can. Unfortunately, that means that he is rarely at home and when he is it is never more than for a few days before departing again for months at a time."
"I can see where that must be-"
"I'm not done." Sakura interrupted. "When he is home...it's... I don't even know. It's like he doesn't even care about me. I have to initiate EVERYTHING in our relationship. I have to be the one to ask him out on dates and make the plans. Even if it's my birthday and the stars align so that he will be home around that time he still won't surprise me with anything!"
"I try to talk to him about this, getting him to give a little for this relationship to work, but he just brushes me off! And if I push too hard I'm scared that he'll stop coming back home altogether!" Sakura cried, tears began to flow down her cheeks.
"It's like I'm dating a ghost! All the other girls get to see their boyfriends on a regular basis and even get pampered by them. I rarely even see Sasuke and I get a letter from him even less often!"
"I look at Naruto's relationship with Hinata and I envy them so much. I wish my relationship with Sasuke could be just like that. Seeing each other regularly, going on dates whenever we feel like it, not because we have so little time together... you know?"
Crusher walked over and pulled Sakura into a comforting embrace, to which Sakura returned and cried into Crusher's lab coat as she rubbed Sakura's back.
"Let me just ask you this. If he is causing you all of this pain, why stay with him?" Crusher asked softly as Sakura sobbed.
"Because when Sasuke was a boy his entire clan was wiped out. That pain changed him forever and made him do these terrible things that he believes he has to atone for. I wanted to take away all his pain and never let him be lonely again..."
"As noble as that sounds, you are the one living in pain now. He is neglecting you and your relationship and you're suffering for it. You don't need to be in a relationship with him to make him feel less lonely. A strong friendship where you are there to support him is what he really needs. This sounds more like a friends with benefits deal, Sakura. Be to him as you are with Naruto. From what little you have told me about his past, he grew up with no one and yet you two are so close." Crusher said.
"Of course we are. When Sasuke left for the first time, Naruto promised me he would bring Sasuke back to me no matter what. His first attempt at bringing Sasuke back left Naruto in the hospital bandaged from head to toe. It was then that I vowed never to be a burden to Naruto or Sasuke ever again. So I asked Lady Tsunade for training. When Naruto came back from his own training trip we worked together for years to bring Sasuke back. And in the end, Naruto kept his promise just like he said..." Sakura explained sadly.
"And just going by that, Naruto has been more willing to go out of his way for you than Sasuke ever had. From what you told me, he does things for you when you ask him and when it's convenient for him. You need to start thinking about what's best for you, not what's best for Sasuke. There are plenty of fish in this vast ocean and you are going to be away from him for 5 years with no contact whatsoever. From what you told me so far, do you really think he will be there waiting for you when you get back?"
"I know he won't, because I broke up with him before I left!" Sakura admitted, the final dam finally breaking loose.
Crusher finally got what she was hoping to hear and squeezed Sakura a little tighter to comfort the crying girl.
"Just let it all out... This is the first step in having a brighter future and it's always the hardest to make. Just don't hold anything back." Crusher soothed as she tried to fight back tears of her own.
"I-I... I didn't even break up with him because I was fed up with him... I didn't want him to be held down by me...being gone for five long years..." Sakura admitted. "I'm so pathetic..."
"You may have broken up with him over a different reason, but the fact of the matter remains is that you are on track to living a happier life." Crusher said.
"B-but what about Sasuke?"
"Don't worry about him right now. Just focus on you."
"You...you're right (sniff)." Sakura wiped the snot from her nose and the tears from her eyes. Sakura knew Crusher was right about all of this and she was already starting to feel a lot better. But there was one nagging feeling that she couldn't shake. She then looked up to the ceiling to see that the red lights were still flashing. Then she remembered why she was down here.
"We're still under red alert, aren't we? Sakura said quietly.
"Yes we kinda are. I haven't heard anything and the battle seems to have stopped." Crusher said now taking in everything.
"That's good right?" Sakura asked, which was foolish for a soldier to ask. If anything, it was the calm of battle that was the most worrying.
Like some God sent response, the ship violently jostled from side to side, tripping Sakura and Crusher onto their butts.
"Looks like we're not out of the woods yet. I hope Naruto knows what he's doing." Dr. Crusher stated as she hobbled over to the control panel to get a status report.
'Naruto…' Sakura thought to herself. 'Please be safe.'
Author's Note: samuraipanda85: Guess whose back?
Kurama: Back again?
Inner: Panda's back.
Samuraipanda85: Tell a friend.