Author's Note from Panda: Hey everybody, welcome back to another exciting installment of Naruto and Sakura's Five Year Mission. As you can probably tell by the chapter title, it's gonna be a doozy.
But before we get into that, I thought I would clarify a continuity error that many of you have pointed out in the hopes that it would win Cmartin and I some street cred back among the Trekkies.
Yes, we mentioned the USS Bozeman in chapter 18 The Wedding as a nod to the popular Star Trek TNG episode Cause and Effect. Which was later recommended to us before The Wedding chapter was published as an episode we might consider rewriting into our own story. I then fell in love with the episode and convinced Cmartin that we should write it, which he agreed to, so we did. While we were writing this, and before we published chapter 18, Cmartin thought it would be a fun little thing to do to include his fiancé Amber into the story as the Captain of a spaceship caught in a temporal loop (which we changed to the USS Atlantis to distance it from the Bozeman.) Again, all for the sake of a nice little nod to one of our loved ones by immortalizing her in this story.
To summarize, we know that the USS Bozeman is supposed to be the ship that the Enterprise frees from the temporal loop. But in this crossover universe, it didn't. The Bozeman was saved by someone else and the Atlantis just so happened to be caught in the exact same conundrum. We referenced the Bozeman in ch18 to hint at the upcoming ch19 and added in Captain Amber as a fun little wink to a certain amazing woman.
With that being said it is still flattering to see Star Trek fans that care enough to point out this continuity error. Keep it up. It tells us that you care about our story and that makes us feel all fuzzy inside. Obviously, we won't capture every inconsistency and there are times when we won't change it to fit better with this story, but we do strive to write coherent stories that everyone can enjoy. Just like every other author on this site.
As always, we are so grateful for the love and attention this story gets from Naruto and Star Trek fans alike. Please keep reviewing and telling us how we can make this story better.
And as always…Enjoy.
It was another typical morning aboard the Enterprise. The florescent lights were shining, the computers were beeping, and the fledgling Uzumaki family was enjoying their morning rituals. The extremely pregnant Sakura Uzumaki was currently seated on the couch, wearing a green long neck sweater and sweat pants, reading about a lesser known historical figure from Earth's history: Mary Seacole. Unfortunately, instead of enjoying her fascinating book, she had a scowl on her brow born of a foul odor lingering in the room.
The source of that odor just so happened to be laying prone right in front of her, doing one finger push-ups while a horse sized 9 Tailed Fox sat on his back.
"196...197...198...199...200!" Naruto declared as he completed the latest exercise in his light morning work-out before his shift on the Bridge.
"Finally," Kurama said as he leapt off his host's back.
"Hanging squat thrusts." Naruto declared as he leapt up to the ceiling and started doing deep knee bends while his feet stuck to the ceiling.
That teared it, Sakura couldn't handle it anymore. She closed her book with a snap, grabbing her husband's attention.
"Hey Naruto, can you knock off the exercise? Your sweat is stinking up the place."
Naruto looked at Sakura with a curious expression. "Huh? But I thought you loved the smell of my sweat. Yesterday you couldn't get enough of it." Remembering how yesterday Sakura had literally stuck her nose in Naruto's armpit when he got back home from his shift. All to get a full whiff of that intoxicating scent.
"Well it sticks today. I am literally fighting the urge to vomit." Sakura stated.
Naruto immediately stopped in his tracks. "Jeez Sakura, I wished you'd tell me beforehand. Sure, I'll move no problem." Naruto said.
"No, it's too late. I can tell the odor has already seeped into the walls. I'll just go to Kurama's room. Now he smells nice." Sakura stated as she wiggled herself out of the seat cushions.
"Ha, shoes on the other paw now, Kit." Kurama chuckled.
As Sakura stood up however, a sudden rush of liquids ran down her legs. For a horrifying second, she thought she peed herself. Then she put two and two together.
"Oh shove it, fuzzballs. It's just her hormones being all out of whack." Naruto said as he dropped down to the floor.
"Naruto..." Sakura said in a panic.
"What's up, Sakura-chan?" Naruto absentmindedly asked.
"It's...It's time..."
"Time for what? My shift doesn't start for another half hour. Plenty of time to shower." Naruto said matter-of-factly.
"THE BABY IS COMING YOU DUNCE!" Sakura shouted.
Naruto and Kurama literally leaned back from the gale storm that was Sakura's vocal cords.
"T-the baby-THE BABY IS COMING?!" Naruto shouted back, equal parts ecstatic and terrified.
"YES! MY WATER JUST BROKE!" She shouted, pointing to her soaked sweatpants.
"Oh sweet Sage." Kurama muttered before dashing over to the coms network and radioed Dr. Crusher.
"Vixen's Kit is on the way!" Kurama shouted.
"Sickbay here, can you repeat?" Crusher said, not sure who was talking or what about.
"The baby is coming! Sakura's water just broke!" Kurama repeated as Naruto dashed into the bedroom to grab the wheelchair Crusher had lent them for just this occasion.
"Understood. I'm on my way. Crusher out."
Kurama turned back from the coms panel to see Sakura just standing in her own puddle trying not to lose it, while Naruto dashed back into the living room with the wheelchair.
"Sakura, get on!" Naruto ordered.
Sakura slowly sat down in the wheelchair, but as soon as she did, the first contraction hit and it hit hard.
"OoooooAAAAAAHHHH! SON OF A-AAAAGH!" Sakura cried.
"Sakura-chan! What's wrong?!" Naruto exclaimed in a panic.
"It's the contractions, Kit. That's normal." Kurama informed.
"Oh right, contractions, right! Time it!" Naruto ordered as his eyes scanned the room for a clock.
"0807." Kurama said as the door chime sounded.
"It's open!" Naruto called out. The door slid open and in walked Crusher and Hajime.
"Hey guys, how's my favorite cousin doing?" Hajime Haruno asked, trying to keep the mood light as he and Crusher rushed over to Sakura's side.
"I have...a baby the...size if a...watermelon...trying to...come out a hole...the size of a grape...how do you...think I'm doing...?" Sakura gasped.
"You don't have to give me the specifics, I took an anatomy class too." Hajime said as he stretched his disposable gloves over his hands.
"Has there been any contractions?" Crusher asked as she checked Sakura's vitals.
"One so far-"
"AAAAAAHHH!" Sakura screamed.
"Make that two."
"Time!" Naruto called out, remembering his and Sakura's birthing classes held by Crusher.
"0809. Two minutes apart, roughly." Kurama reported.
"Crap, is that bad?" Naruto asked, not remembering all of the training.
"I would be concerned if it was seconds, not minutes." Crusher said.
"Oh thank God." Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank God for what?! I'm in pain you ass!" Sakura snapped.
"Nothing, I take it back!" Naruto said quickly. "Can't we go already?"
"One sec." Crusher said as she finished getting the vitals. "Okay we can go."
"Right." Naruto said as he pushed Sakura wheelchair out into the hall while Kurama cleared the way ahead.
This was it. Their daughter was coming.
Meanwhile on the bridge...
Picard and the rest of the bridge hands were enjoying a boring morning of analyzing stratospheric data taken from the planet Onyix that they were currently orbiting.
The data to be gained would benefit some diplomat or scientist from some planet among the Federation. It hardly mattered who and doubtlessly wouldn't make the task any less tedious for Picard and his men. Which made it all the more joyous when the computer sensed that there was a frantic communication made from one of the living quarters to the Sickbay.
'Oh thank goodness.' Picard thought as he keyed his com link on his Captain's chair. "Captain Picard to Dr. Crusher. What seems to be the trouble?"
"No trouble, Captain. We're about to have a third Uzumaki." Crusher reported.
Picard and the other bridge crew members all looked at one another joyfully. "Does that mean what I think it means?"
"Yes, sir. Sakura is in active labor as we speak." Crusher reported.
A sense of jubilee ran through the officers who overheard this message, which was all of them. For seemingly as long as the crew had known them, Sakura had been with child. This was a dream come true to many.
"That is indeed fantastic news, doctor. We eagerly await the new addition to the crew. And Sakura, if you can hear me, congratulations to you and Naruto." Picard smiled.
"AAAAAAAA-THANKYOOO-AAAAHHH!" Sakura cried out over the coms.
Picard couldn't help but smile wider. Despite the fact that Sakura was in intense pain, it was for a happy reason.
"Good luck to you all. Picard out."
"Thank you, sir!" Naruto shouted into the coms over Sakura's screaming before cutting the link.
"If that ain't a break from a boring day I don't know what is." Riker said.
"This calls for a boghDI' lopno'." Worf declared.
"And that is?" Riker asked.
"Among the Klingon Empire, it is the celebration of birth where close family and friends of the mother welcome a new warrior to the Empire." Data explained.
"And how do you celebrate that? With lots of drinking I hope." Riker said.
"Of course, through the consumption of blood wine and through numerous battles we dedicate to the new warrior ghu, that is baby. We also honor Kahless and Lady Lukara, who both fought off 500 warriors at the Great Hall at Qam-Chee overnight before making passionate love and conceived their first child together." Worf explained.
"Agreed. A celebration is in order for the new arrival." Picard said.
"Perhaps with more blood wine and less bloodshed." Riker suggested.
"Agreed." Picard nodded.
"Seconded." Ro said while manning the helm.
Just then, the tactical console that Worf was manning started beeping.
"Sir. Sensors have detected an unidentified ship heading towards our location." Worf reported.
"Put it up on screen." Picard ordered.
"Unable to. The ship is too far away." Worf said.
"Hail them." Picard ordered.
Worf tapped a few icons on his console, but shook his head. "No response."
"Continue trying. Data, divert scanners towards the incoming ship. Find out what we are dealing with. Riker, increase power to shields. I don't want to be caught off guard." Picard ordered.
"Aye sir." They all responded just as a ship decloaked in front of them.
"Romulan ship decloaking, dead ahead." Worf reported.
"On screen." Picard ordered. The view screen appeared and showed a small Romulan ship directly in front of them. "Hail them."
"Sir...They are hailing us." Worf said.
Picard raised an eyebrow. What could the recently treated Romulans want with them? "On screen."
The screen changed view to a well decorated Romulan commander.
"I am Commander Volaris of the Tal'Shiar. We demand you hand over the one called Naruto immediately."
"For what purpose?" Picard asked.
"That is none of your concern." Volaris spoke. "Do as I say and you and your crew will not be harmed."
"And you presume that I will just roll over and obey your commands?" Picard scoffed.
"I will do as I will, with or without your approval, Captain...You will hand him over or be met with force."
"I'm afraid you are in no position to threaten us, Commander. The Romulan government have signed a cease fire with the Federation." Picard warned.
"I care very little about what the Senate does. The Tal'Shiar will get what they want and you will cooperate...Or you will die."
"You presume to take on the most advanced ship in the Federation fleet with a mere scout ship? I hope for your sake you have more to back up your threat." Picard inquired.
"As a matter of fact, I do." Volaris smirked as 10 Romulan D'Deridex class Warbirds decloaked around his ship.
Picard however did not back down. "Do you want war with the Federation against your people? That is all you will get if you attack our vessel. I suggest you turn around now before you doom your own race." Picard stated.
"If that's what it takes then so be it. I'm giving you 10 standard minutes to make your decision. Surrender the demon to us, or die." Volaris said before cutting the channel off.
"Data, how discreetly can we get a message out to Starfleet? Let them know that we need reinforcements." Picard quickly inquired.
"We cannot. They are jamming our communications." Data reported.
"What about jumping to warp speed? Retreating to friendly space?" Picard asked.
"They're ships have us in their tractor beams. We cannot go anywhere. Not without engaging them in ship to ship combat." Worf reported.
"What about a Shadow clone?" Riker suggested.
"Do you mean Naruto's Shadow Clones to overtake the ships or one giant Shadow Clone of the entire Enterprise to divert fire away from us while we escape?" Picard asked.
"One single Naruto clone. Have him create one with as much chakra as he can to make it seem real. We hightail it out of here and call for assistance." Riker clarified.
"What if we agreed to transport him over and he uses his Thunder God technique to transport back to the Enterprise once we are far enough away." Data suggested.
Picard thought about it for a moment. Both plans were risky in their own ways. Assuming Naruto could create such a special Shadow Clone, it could still be found out as a ruse before they could escape. If they replied on Naruto's Thunder God technique they risk if Naruto was somehow knocked unconscious upon entering the Romulan ship via chemical injection. That could be even more disastrous.
"Let me get Naruto on the coms to see what he thinks." Picard said.
Meanwhile in the Sickbay, Naruto was currently crying like a little girl as his wife squeezed the bones in his hand to dust. "Oh mother..." Naruto squeaked while Sakura cried out as another contraction hit her.
"Bridge to Lt. Naruto." Picard said over the coms.
"Go ahead..." Naruto squeaked in pain.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yeah...Just Sakura-chan grinding my hand into dust..."
"Baka! I am-"
"Pushing a watermelon through a grape, yeah I get it." Naruto cut her off.
Sakura took a swing at Naruto's head which he nimbly dodged.
"Go ahead." Naruto repeated into the coms as he continued to dodge Sakura's punches while holding her other hand.
"I need you on the bridge on the double. We have a crisis on our hands." Picard ordered.
"A crisis?" Naruto repeated, making Sakura stop swinging her fist at his head. "How bad?"
"Bad enough that I wouldn't ask you to leave your wife's bedside otherwise." Picard said.
"Damn...I'll be there soon."
"You have less than ten minutes." Picard stated.
"I'll teleport there in one." Naruto said before cutting the connection.
He turned back to Sakura. The love of his life was panting like a dog, her pink bangs were stuck to her forehead which was caked in sweat. She looked fearful, yet understanding. They both knew this was their lot in life as ninjas. To be called away by duty at a moment's notice.
"I have to go." Naruto whispered.
"I know..." Sakura panted.
Naruto kissed the diamond on her forehead. Sakura relished the feeling of his cool lips pressed against her burning brow.
Naruto and looked back at Crusher, Hajime, and the medical staff all looking at them. Naruto knew by the looks on their faces that none of them would let him down.
"I'll be back soon." Naruto promised.
"I'll stay here with her, Kit." Kurama promised, earning a nod from the Jinchuriki.
"No...Kurama...you go with Naruto." Sakura ordered.
"I'd rather he stay here. I've got a bad feeling about this..." Naruto said grimly.
"Well I am in THEEEE-" Sakura cried as another contraction hit her. "-safest place on the ship. It's you I'm more worried about."
"She has a point, Kit...as much as I'd like to stay."
Naruto sighed. "Fine. Just promise me you'll radio me if anything goes wrong."
"I will...I love you..." Sakura panted.
"Love you too." Naruto said as he gave her one last kiss on the lips before teleporting to Picard's side. Kurama looked around for a second before shrugging his shoulders and leaned over to lick Sakura on the cheek like he imagined a loyal canine companion would do.
"Was that awkward?" Kurama asked.
"No...it was sweet..." Sakura smiled.
"Oh good, thought it was weird. You be safe." Kurama said before vanishing in a puff of smoke back into Naruto's seal.
Naruto appeared on the bridge where the staff were all frantically typing away at their computers. Things had certainly gotten busy.
"Lieutenant Naruto reporting." Naruto said.
"Naruto...we have a critical situation and we need your input." Picard started.
"What's going on?" Naruto asked as the main screen was filled with incomprehensible data about shield strength.
"We're surrounded by a fleet of Romulan Warbirds. They are threatening to destroy the Enterprise and her crew unless we meet their demands."
"Which are?" Naruto asked.
"They want you."
Naruto looked curiously at Picard. "For what?"
"They won't say."
"Can they at least rule out that they are inviting me to a tea party?" Naruto asked sarcastically.
"I don't know. But they want you bad. So we came up with a couple of suggestions."
"Lay them on me."
"Alright, the first option might be tricky. We only have 8 minutes to respond so how fast would it take you to create a Shadow Clone that can take more than a few hits? Is such a thing even possible?"
"A blood clone?" Naruto put his fingers to his chin. "It's tricky, but possible. With less than 8 minutes to share it wouldn't last long. Maybe an hour."
"That's more than we need. We planned to send it in as decoy to trick the Romulans. It to stay around long enough for the Enterprise to get away from the Romulan fleet and then send a message to Starfleet."
"Alright. Are we going with that or did you have another plan?"
"The other plan was to send you over there and have you Thunder god back here once we got far enough away."
"Not a bad plan either. Riskier, sure, but it also gives me an idea." Naruto said.
"I figured you'd say that."
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Naruto smirked.
"I think so. Thunder God Seal on the inside of a shuttle. Your clone flies it into their docking bay and we have a Trojan Horse in one of the Romulan ships. Hopefully the main ship." Picard said.
"Great minds think alike. My buddy Shikamaru would be proud."
"The tactical genius? That's certainly high praise." Picard stated, remembering how Naruto and Sakura would always swear by their friend from the Leaf for his ability to quickly and effectively think up strategic plans on the fly. They talked about the Nara like an Earthling would talk about the great generals of history.
"Yup. So, I'll just duck out to the hallway for a bit. Keep those guys occupied for as long as you can." Naruto said before he headed out to the nearest sliding door.
"Naruto." Picard said before he got to the door.
"What's up?" Naruto asked.
Picard just smiled. "Good luck...my friend."
"Hey, don't get all sentimental on me. This is probably the least craziest thing I've done since I joined your crew." Naruto reminded him.
"I know."
Naruto nodded before ducking behind the nearest sliding door away from the bridge cameras. He fell into his meditative pose and was just about to bite down on his thumb when he realized that he was still in his sweaty workout clothes. 'Ah damn it.' Naruto thought as he began the jutsu anyway.
Back at on the bridge, Picard had Worf hail the leading Romulan ship.
The screen shifted to the Romulan Commander once again.
"What is your decision?" Volaris asked.
"I need to know specifically what you plan to do with my crewman. Do you plan on killing him or keeping him as a hostage for a ransom?" Picard inquired.
"If you really must know...The Praetor plans to extract his DNA and apply it to the Romulan military so that we will have his powers. Once we have succeeded, which we will, no one in the galaxy will stand in our way, not even the Borg."
Picard just gave an amused smirk. "You and your Praetor are fools. That will not work."
"You should hold your tongue, Federation Dog. Or we might just cut it out of you after we get the Earthling Naruto." The Captain threatened.
'Those fools don't even know he's an Elementian.' Picard thought.
"In that case, can you guarantee Naruto's safe return once your research is completed?"
"You don't understand, do you? Once he's on board, he will never be returning."
"Please, there is no need for unnecessary deaths. Allow my ship and my crew to go free. Our peoples are currently at peace. You could request that the Federation share with you it's knowledge on Naruto's power. For the betterment of all species. I could personally get you in contact with President Turrell and he could help you reach a satisfactory arrangement for all parties." Picard beseeched them.
"We have no interest in negotiating anything. We will take the demon for ourselves and we will do as we see fit with your ship and your crew."
"Very well. How do you wish us to transport Naruto to you?"
"I will send you the transport coordinates. After which, you will beam him over here immediately."
"I'm afraid that is impossible. In order to beam him aboard your vessel, we would leave ourselves open to being beamed aboard as well." Picard stated. Fearing that the Romulans would use that opportunity to board the Enterprise or beam a bomb aboard the ship.
"I personally have little use for your quaint vessel, or its inhabitants."
"Even still, allow us to send him to you via a scout vessel. He will fly over to you and dock in your port bay. You can even keep the vessel as a sign of good faith." Picard offered.
"You will transport him to the coordinates I have sent you or you will die." Volaris threatened before cutting the transmission. Picard's face hardened.
"Data, can the Romulan vessel sense if our transporter is operational?" Picard asked.
"Affirmative. Their sensors are similar in design to our own." Data informed.
"And how discreetly can you make our transporter non-operational?" Picard inquired.
"They would detect even the slightest power variance if I were to take them offline."
"So make them malfunction. This could mean the difference between life and death of the ship." Picard ordered.
"I will try." Data said.
"Good. Ensign Ro. As soon as he's aboard, set a course out of this system at maximum warp." Picard ordered.
"Aye sir." Ro said.
"Data, how is the transporter coming?" Picard asked.
"I have almost all transporters offline."
"Good. When you are done, try to use them to transport to the coordinates sent to us. Let the Romulans think we aren't trying to pull a fast one. Riker, having the docking bay prep a shuttle for Naruto's use. Assume that it is a one-way trip." Picard ordered.
"Aye sir." Riker responded.
Naruto meanwhile had just completed the lengthy weaving of hand signs required for the complicated jutsu. One wrong hand sign, one dip in the constant stream of chakra required, or even too much chakra could create an unstable clone. Which would either behave irrationally or just flop over unconscious. Heck, it could even turn into 140 pounds of dead body, suitable only for faking the user's death.
With all of this in mind, Naruto slapped his palms together in one final Tiger hand sign. "Blood Clone Jutsu!" Naruto cried. His hands began to glow and the blood from his thumb that had smeared all along his hands began to glow brighter still. They slowly drifted off of Naruto's hands and began compressing together a few feet away from the ninja. Some more blood flowed out of his open wound, mixing with his chakra and taking the form of person.
Naruto's breathing grew heavy. The very worst thing about this jutsu was it took a considerable amount of his blood. For blood clones meant to last for days it could easily take up to a litre of blood, 1/5th of what his adult body contained. Thankfully, for an hour, Naruto only had to use a quarter of a pint.
Soon the blood and the chakra finished forming and became a perfect clone of Naruto, right down to his work out clones. He appeared to be in a deep meditative stance with his eyes closed.
"Hey, you all there?" Naruto asked the clone.
The clone's eyes fluttered open and looked around. "Yea, I think so."
"You know what your mission is? You're not going to snap and attack anyone?" Naruto asked. Unfortunately, there was no sure-fire way to know if a Blood Clone was a true perfect clone mentally, not unless it was made to last for days.
"So long as they don't harm Sakura-chan or the baby, I'm good." The clone stated.
Naruto nodded. "Good. We just need you to keep them convinced that you are me for as long as possible. Try not to piss them off. You don't have enough chakra to "die" and not explode into smoke. Just stay alive until the hour is up. And with any luck we'll have saved the Enterprise again without lifting a finger."
"Right." The clone nodded. "And we'll save Sakura-chan and the baby."
"Yeah." Naruto smiled.
"You think she'll have Sakura-chan's hair?" The Blood Clone asked giddily.
"I hope so. That or Mom's red hair. They'd both look so beautiful." Naruto gushed.
"Wait, would she have these?" The clone asked as he pointed to his whisker marks.
Naruto paused. He hadn't really thought about that. Actually no, that wasn't true. Of course he had thought about it. His Blood Clone wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise.
"Maybe. I only have my whisker marks because my mom was Kurama's Jinchuriki while she was pregnant with me. Sakura-chan has been around Kurama a lot, but their chakra networks aren't intertwined." Naruto thought aloud.
"But ours and Kurama's are."
"Well I'm not the one giving birth to our daughter." Naruto pointed out.
"Right, but...You know what? We're getting off track. We gotta save the ship."
"Yeah, we'll gush about our new family later. Or at least I will." Naruto declared.
"Yeah you will." The Blood Clone smirked. "You stay here. I know the plan." He said as he stood up to head back into the bridge.
"Wait, your clothes." Naruto said.
"Oh right." Blood Naruto said. He clapped his hands together and clothed himself in a henge so that he appeared to be wearing Naruto's Star Fleet Uniform.
The Blood Clone stepped back into the bridge and got his game face on. "Lieutenant Uzumaki reporting for duty." Blood Naruto declared.
Picard turned to face Naruto and...Naruto. "I take it the clone was successful."
"I was. My original is gonna hang out in the hallway, out of sight. Just treat me like the original." Blood Naruto said.
"Alright. Stand next to me. I'm trying to negotiate for you to transport yourself to the Romulan ship via a shuttle." Picard informed.
"Very good. Let's do this." Blood Naruto said as he took up his position next to his Captain.
Picard nodded at Worf and he hailed the Romulan Commander a third time.
"It's not wise to keep your-" Volaris stopped himself when he saw the demon himself. "You..." He growled.
"Me..." Blood Naruto replied, he didn't even flinch at the sight of the Romulan's fury. He had faced down scarier man when he was 7 years old. Then again, a raging drunk villager could hardly compare to an alien Captain with a fleet of Plasma Torpedoes at his disposal.
"You are responsible for the countless Romulan lives lost...it will bring me great pleasure to see you get executed."
"I did nothing than wouldn't be expected of any other soldier in the universe. I defended my allies and my loved ones while taking as few lives as possible." Blood Naruto stated.
"That's no excuse!" Volaris shouted. "You are wanted by the Tal'Shiar and the Romulan Star Empire. After we conduct our experiments on you, you will be found guilty and executed before the masses for your crimes."
"You talk about crimes but it was the Tal'Shiar who attacked our vessel first! Did you honestly expect us not to retaliate?!" Picard snapped.
Naruto placed his hand on Picard's shoulder to calm him down. The last thing they needed was for negotiations to break down.
"Well, you have no proof of that now do you?" Volaris smirked smugly. "As the Empire recalls it, our vessel was merely on a science mission where your ship destroyed ours, unprovoked. As I have said, Picard. We do as we will with or without your approval..."
"Enough. You want me to give myself up? I'll do it, but only if you give your word that you will spare the Enterprise and all of the souls aboard the ship."
"You will give yourself up regardless." Volaris said.
'Is this your first time negotiating?' Naruto thought to himself. "You want me alive, you wouldn't have gone through all this trouble otherwise. Meet me halfway by guaranteeing you will let my friends live and you will find me much more cooperative."
"Very well...your precious ship will not be harmed and neither will your friends."
"And what guarantees will you give me on that? I want to see the Enterprise enter warp speed once I stand aboard your ship. Otherwise I will just take over your ship like I did a year ago." Naruto said.
"I will ensure you that we will not harm your ship or your friends but nothing more. Now quit wasting time or we will be taking you by force."
"Not so fast." Picard said. "We regret to inform you that our transporters are malfunctioning. We will have to have Naruto transfer himself to you via a shuttle ship."
"Is that a fact...are you sure you didn't just take them offline?" Volaris asked.
"It is a new ship. We're still working around the new equipment that was installed. I'm sure even you can attest to that." Picard countered.
"Indeed...very well. Send your shuttle."
"Alright. It will take us fifteen minutes to prep the shuttle and another five for the shuttle reach your ship's docking bay." Picard informed.
"If I have to wait a second longer I will open fire with all of my fleet's cannons." Volaris warned. "And if our sensors detect any other lifeforms aboard this shuttle besides the demon's, we will destroy it and the Enterprise that very moment."
"This is probably a bad time to mention that I don't know how to fly a shuttle ship." Naruto whispered into Picard's ear.
"I'll have Ensign Sol give you a brief lesson." Picard whispered back.
"I can assure you that Naruto will be alone." Picard assured.
"For your sake, you'd better. Twenty minutes. Our computers will be counting." Volaris said before killing the transmission once and for all.
Picard sighed in relief. Things were going well, but now came the hard part. "Riker, is the shuttle ready?"
"Yes, sir. Ready and waiting." Riker said.
"Very good. Naruto, how long will it take you place your seal inside the shuttle discreetly?" Picard asked.
"Less than fifteen minutes, but only because I don't want to give those Romulan bastards a seal to study once I vanish." Blood Naruto said. "And if I know myself like I think I do, my original will already be working on the seal."
"That's all well and good, but what if this all backfires?" Ro spoke up. "
"If it goes tits up...Open fire." Blood Naruto said.
"Against 10 Romulan battleships? Our shields are good, but not that good." Ro pointed out.
"If the plan fails, we won't have a choice." Picard pointed out.
Blood Naruto paused to consider this. "If it came down to a slugfest, how many battleships could we stand up to?"
"Not many. Our weapons are more superior to Enterprise D, but without additional ships, we may not make it out alive." Data informed.
"And I assume we can't call for back up because they are jamming our signal?" Naruto asked.
"Correct." Worf said sourly. "And I would not believe what that Romulan says. They are deceitful and without honor."
"I figured that much. But their jamming technology. Is it just one ship that is keeping us from contacting Starfleet or do they have multiple ships with the technology? Do they need only one of their jammers to keep us cut off or could our signal overpower theirs if I took one out?" Blood Naruto asked as he tapped his foot.
"Uncertain. They seem to be jamming our sensors as well." Data said.
"He's not being honest with us." Troi spoke up.
"Picard, can we walk and talk?" Blood Naruto asked, not wanting to push their luck with the time limit.
"Yes of course. Riker you have the bridge." Picard ordered before he and Naruto walked off the bridge.
"Data! Run an analysis on the Romulan Jammers! Then run a simulation of the maximum number of Romulan Jammers our computer could overwhelm to get a signal out. Then run another simulation on how long the Enterprise could stand up to 10 Romulan battleships and tell my original." Blood Naruto yelled back before the sliding doors closed behind him.
Data turned around and looked at Riker who just nodded for him to proceed.
"Aye sir." Data said as he got to work.
Blood Naruto and Picard stood side by side in the turbolift as it shot down the shoot to the docking bay.
"Something on your mind?" Picard asked.
"Yes, and I only hope that my original self will agree once you tell him. I believe it is time." Blood Naruto stated.
"Time? For what?" Picard asked.
Blood Naruto turned to face Picard. "Time to call upon my ANBU."
"Are you sure that's wise?"
"No. If I had my way, I would have them training for a few months longer. I never knew how much there was to teach a ninja before I took on this assignment." Naruto admitted humbly. "But Pervy Sage always said to me that you can never know you were ready for a mission until after you completed that mission."
Picard sighed heavily but nodded. "Very well...Do what you must."
"I will, but I need you to promise me something as well." Blood Naruto said.
"Anything."
"My original self will never say it. He would tell you that if the mission goes south, save his ANBU trainees and leave him behind. But deep down, he would have you flee the second the Enterprise can warp away. Leaving him and his ANBU behind." Blood Naruto said deathly serious.
"Is that what you would have me do? Because your wife would have my ass."
"My wife and my child are all I care about above all. Back when we finally broke free of the time warp thing we were trapped in for a month. In the back of my mind, or my original's mind, I can remember the Enterprise crashing with the Atlantis, and I remember making no effort to save any of the other crewmen. Only Sakura-chan." Blood Naruto said grimly.
Picard's eyes narrowed. "What are you saying, exactly?"
"If it comes down to the Enterprise escaping and me or my team being saved, I want you to choose the Enterprise. Promise me." Blood Naruto insisted.
"Naruto, you can't expect me to-"
"Please..." Blood Naruto begged.
Picard shut his eyes. It shouldn't be a difficult decision. It was 14 men (including Kurama) against the thousands aboard the Enterprise. Not just men but women and children. Of course he would choose to save the Enterprise. But Naruto...he could just about see Naruto as a father would a son. It was just like Jack Crusher all over again. He remembered when he had to break the news to Beverly and Wesley that Jack had died in the line of duty and he remembered how devastated they both were. He couldn't bear to go through it again. Yet, the young man was destined for great things. Were the rolls reversed, Picard could see himself sacrificing the entire Enterprise to save Naruto. The doors to the turbolift opened to the docking bay.
"I promise." Picard said.
"Thank you." Blood Naruto said as the two of them stepped into the docking bay where the original Naruto and a team of engineers were stripping the shuttle of everything it didn't need to transport Naruto safely to the Romulan ship.
"Keep the floor panels." The real Naruto ordered. "No need for warp drive or weapons, but keep the panels."
"Naruto." Picard greeted.
"Oh hey. Almost done here" Naruto reported.
"Your clone has a backup plan. Involving your ANBU and the Romulan Jammers I would imagine. Data is also tasked with running some simulations that he will fill you in later." Picard informed.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Well if he thought it up than I must think it's a good plan."
"I uh...also told him to leave you and the ANBU behind should shit hit the fan." Blood Naruto said.
"Well duh. It's the many verses the few." Naruto said.
"Right I know..." Blood Naruto said.
"But...Captain, there is something else I would like you to do for me." Naruto spoke seriously.
"Yes?" Picard asked.
"If I don't make it back...And me and Sakura-chan have talked about this...Can you help take care of my daughter? Please? We want you to be the godfather..."
Picard's eyes went wide. "I would be honored."
"Thank you..." Naruto nodded just as the crew working on the shuttle finished up.
"Then I had better get a move on." Blood Naruto said. "Here's hoping we've done all this extra planning for nothing."
"Data to Picard." They heard over the coms.
"Go ahead." Picard said.
"I was able to use an inverse tachyon pulse to temporarily disrupt their jamming signature. We were able to send out a brief distress call to any ship in the sector via narrow band. The Romulans should not have detected it." Data reported.
"Riker, did you approve of this?" Picard asked.
"No sir. I did not. I wasn't even aware." Riker said.
"I acted on my own, Captain. I accept full responsibility." Data stated.
"Next time, clear it with me before you put the entire crew at risk like that." Picard cursed. He could have thrown his combadge. This was not the time for any of his crew to be acting on a whim. They could yet fly off with only losing a shuttle. Now they could be exposing some nearby courageous ship and her crew to a fleet of Romulans right after the Enterprise fled.
"Well what are you waiting for? Get on the shuttle." Picard ordered.
"Alright, geez!" Blood Naruto cried as he jumped into the back entrance of the tiny spacecraft. It was the same kind of shuttle ship that had transported Naruto and the rest of the men who would later become his Trainees to that Klingon base. Even if he was only a clone, Blood Naruto could not help but gulp in fear. He was being asked to make the ultimate sacrifice. To willing walking into the hands of the enemy. We're he the original Naruto, he might be praised for his bravery. Ninjas from olden times had songs written about them for sacrifices like this. But this clone? He would forever be a distant memory of his originals. With that in mind, the clone walked across the loose metal grid floor panel to the cockpit. He took one of the two seats behind the touchscreen controls for the ship and opened up a channel to Ensign Sol so that he could explain how to fly this damn thing.
Naruto and Picard stood nearby as the shuttle soon hovered over the ground and flew out towards the vacuum of space. Six minutes remained before the time limit was reached.
"You're doing very well, Sakura. You can start pushing soon." Crusher advised. So far, this has been nothing but a routine delivery.
"Easy for you to say...this kids stubborn like her father..." Sakura gasped.
"Oh believe me, I know. Wesley was the same way." Crusher smiled.
"Personally, I think this has to do with inheriting her mother's big head. All Harunos have big heads according to my aunts." Hajime said as he observed the baby just beginning to crown.
"Lovely...would like to have known that sooner..." Sakura groaned.
"Don't worry, the drugs should kick in soon and this will no worse than a bad bowl movement." Hajime said. "That rearranges bones." He whispered.
"I have...ugh...delivered dozens of babies...I know what it is..."
"Exactly. This is actually my seventh baby that I've ever delivered and this has to be the smoothest delivery yet." Hajime praised.
"If you say so..." Sakura scoffed. It didn't feel easy to her.
"Just focus on your breathing and what you are going to do once she comes out. You and Naruto will be a family together." Crusher said.
Sakura took a deep breath and let her mind wander towards Naruto wrapping his strong arms around her. His ear to ear smile directed down at the perfect little bundle in Sakura's arm. They were seated together on the couch, sharing a blanket over their laps while Kurama sat on the floor and warmed their feet with his belly. He turned his head toward then and pressed his nose to the baby's, earning a giggle from Sakura and her daughter. It was perfect.
"Right...oh man, Lady Tsunade is gonna flip when she sees her..." Sakura gasped happily.
"I'm going to flip." April Uzumaki Haruno said from Sakura left side. She had taken over hand holding duty after her cousin went to deal with whatever it was the Enterprise needed saving from now. "I want to meet my niece already."
Sakura smiled. "You will...soon enoooaaaaAAAAAHAHAAA!" Sakura screamed when she was hit with the strongest contraction yet.
April's face contorted in pain as Sakura clamped down on her hand with so much force she thought she wasn't gonna have a hand anymore. "Aaaahhh...goddammit..." April hissed.
"Okay cuz, that was good, that was very good." Hajime praised.
"Yes it was, I can see the head." Crusher said.
Sakura felt like laughing out loud at how much (yet how little) progress she had made when her husband's voice came out of the coms. "Lieutenant Uzumaki to Ensign April Haruno."
"Go ahead, cousin." April grunted in pain.
"I need you down here in the holodeck on the double. Bring all your ninja gear."
"I...kinda can't. I'm helping Sakura and Dr. Crusher at the moment."
"That's an order, trainee. Coming from Captain Picard himself." Naruto said.
"GAAAAAAAAAHH!" Sakura screamed again.
"Is Sakura-chan doing alright?" Naruto asked, breaking out of his ANBU commander persona.
"Yes she is. The head is almost completely out now." Crusher responded, making Naruto pause when he heard that.
"That's good right? I mean it happened so fast." Naruto asked.
"She...really wants out sweetie..." Sakura gasped.
"Sakura-chan...I'm sorry, I wish I could be there. With any luck I will be there in a few minutes." Naruto swore.
"It's okay...you'll see her later I'm sure..."
"Well, her hair is pink if you wanna know." Hajime said happily.
"Awesome..." Naruto said as he held his tears back. He needed to steel himself. "I still need you down here, April. In case things don't work out. I need you for your first ANBU mission."
"Fine...actually wait! I can just leave a Shadow Clone here!" April said.
"Make sure you give it plenty of Chakra." Naruto advised.
"Right, right." April said before crossing her fingers. "Shadow Clone jutsu!" She cried as a perfect replica poofed into existence. It wasn't as durable as a Blood Clone. God knows it couldn't take a direct hit from anything sharper than a butter knife, but it might just be able to stand up to Sakura's monster like grip if she was careful. "Okay, Sakura, I'm just going to comfort you by placing my hand atop yours. Just grip the sheet if you feel a contraction." Clone April said while real April kissed Hajime on the cheek and dashed out the door to her room.
Meanwhile, on the Type 9 Shuttle, Blood Clone Naruto had finally reached the Romulan docking bay as requested, with a full 30 seconds to spare.
"Just ease back on the slider bar on the far left and the computer should handle the rest of the landing." Sol said over the coms.
"Thanks, Sol." Blood Naruto said, trying to keep up the ruse in case the Romulans intercepted their coms. "It has been an honor serving with you. Take care of the Enterprise and the rest of your fellow ANBU."
"Will do...it's been an honor learning from you. Sol out."
Blood Naruto grimaced. 'Moment of truth.'
He entered the docking bay and saw that it was of similar design to the Enterprise's. A big open area with crates stacked with fuel and other logistics. Romulan ships of all shapes and sizes were also parked in their stations, ready to be deployed at a moment's notice. The bay was also filled to the brim with Romulan soldiers training their plasma rifles on the ship as it landed in the center of the docking bay. Naruto saw so many guns he wondered if he could have actually fought his way out if he were the original. Probably not. Not without at least one grunt getting a lucky shot in. He might as well try to stay dry in the rain.
As soon as the shuttle landed, all of the soldiers surrounded his ship like a swarm of angry honey bees to a bear.
The clone sighed and deactivated the ship's engine. He remotely opened the rear shuttle door and made a big show of keeping his hands up as he walked the narrow lane out of the ship and into the hands of the enemy.
"Lieutenant Naruto I presume..." A familiar voice said as he was placed in cuffs. Naruto didn't even see the alien who had put him in cuffs, the crowd was too thick with Romulan guards to point out anyone specific. Instead he focused on the man addressing him, the commander Volaris.
"In the flesh." The Blood Clone replied.
"Not for very long, I'm afraid." Volaris sneered. "Once we have extracted your DNA, you will be executed."
"You sure you want to do that? You could learn a lot more if you just interrogated me. Maybe convince me that you're in your right to take me hostage and learn my powers. Heck, at the very least I bet the Federation would pay a hefty sum to get me back in one piece." Naruto suggested casually.
"Well, part of the plan is to interrogate you for any Federation secrets you may have...but our ultimate goal is to extract your DNA and add it to our own so we may have your powers as well."
"Of course. Far be it from me to stop someone trying to learn something new. I just want to make sure you are upholding your end of the bargain." Naruto said while raising up what fraction of the original's chakra he had. Which was still enough to kick up a gale storm and send even the most experienced Romulan soldiers stepping backwards. "Now take me to the bridge. I want to see the Enterprise warp away to safety. Otherwise you will learn just how little these cuffs are restricting me." The Blood Clone growled, the fraction of Kurama's chakra mixed in turning his pupils into slits. Volaris seemed almost amused.
"You want to see the Enterprise fleeing? Fine, just one formality before we step aboard the bridge." Volaris said before nodding to one of the men standing behind Naruto. The clone managed to turn around and block the first knife aimed for his back, he even dodged the second aimed by another guard, but the third managed to find its mark right underneath his ribcage. The Blood Clone gasped before his body exploded with smoke.
'Damn it all.' The Blood Clone thought before he realized that he still existed. The smoke cleared and revealed him to be wearing the sweaty workout clothes that his original had been wearing when he made him.
The crowd of men just stared at the Blood Clone, not sure of what to make of his clothes vanishing. Naruto just darted his eyes back and forth before decided to fill them in.
"Okay, so you caught me right before I was to start my shift. I didn't have time to change." Blood Naruto said like he had been caught in the middle of a practical joke.
"My apologies." Volaris said as he slipped the knife out of the clone's backside. "I had to make sure that you weren't one of your duplicates. I'm sure you understand."
"Yeah..." Naruto hissed as the open wound leaked out fresh blood. By some amount of miracle and dumb luck, the commander had missed his liver. Only now the Blood Clone was bleeding out. His hour of life had easily been cut in half. Maybe even quartered if they expected him to suffer before treating him.
"Take this to the lab." Volaris ordered one of the guards, handing him the knife.
"Yes, sir." The guard said before carefully running off towards the labs.
"Someone else send a medic up to the bridge. I imagine our guest won't want to miss seeing his ship and crew abandon him forever." Volaris said.
"Yes Commander." A female guard said before heading to the medical wing.
"Come, Lieutenant. It is a long walk and I doubt you'll keep your strength for long." Volaris snickered as he turned his back to head towards the bridge while Naruto was shoved in the back by two of the guards with their rifles. Naruto stumbled but kept his pace. He pressed his shackled hands against his wound, trying to buy himself as much time as possible. Unfortunately, the crowd of bloodthirsty guards took full advantage of his undefended left side and jabbed the butt of their rifles into his ribs and love handles. They laughed as Naruto stumbled more. He felt like puking, but wouldn't give them the satisfaction.
Even if he was just a clone, he would die just as the real Naruto would. With his pride.
It was a long walk to the bridge of the Romulan ship. Step after agonizing step, he finally walked onto the bridge of the ship which seemed underwhelming compared to the Enterprise.
"There is your ship as promised." Volaris said.
Blood Naruto looked upon the main screen, starting to feel a little whoozy. He didn't have that much blood to begin with and that medic was sure taking his sweet time. All he could do was look up to see the Enterprise-E being released from the Romulan tractor beams, as promised. Slowly, the ship began to turn around to head back into Starfleet patrolled space.
'Thank God, the plan is working. No one else will have to die today.' The clone thought.
"Sub Commander, signal to the other ships. Tell them to fire on my command." Volaris sneered.
"What?!" Blood Naruto roared, he lunged at Volaris, but was pushed back by two Romulan guards.
"Did you honestly think that I would let a prize such as the Federations Flagship slip through my fingers?"
"We had a deal!" Blood Naruto growled.
"Oh please...spare me the heroism...like I would ever strike a bargain with a criminal." He smirked. "Let it be known to the Federation...if you oppose us, you will lose your ship, and your life."
"You promised me their safety you shit..." Naruto growled.
"And they broke that deal when they sent out a distress call." Volaris scoffed, making Naruto go wide eyed. "What? Did you think we wouldn't detect a Tachyon burst from that ship? We also picked up the narrow band transmission as well. We almost missed it. We also detected your transporters deliberately being taken offline to buy more time. We're not stupid, you know."
"Let the Enterprise go or I will split this ship in two! Killing myself and your entire crew with me!" Blood Naruto threatened, his eyes red with the remnants of Kurama's chakra. "This is your last warning!"
"You're in no condition to fight. In case you haven't figured it out yet, my knife is coated with a deadly neurotoxin. You have about a minute left before your dead." Volaris sneered.
"The fleet has responded and are awaiting your order, Commander." The Sub Commander reported.
"Fire." Volaris ordered.
"NOOOOOO!" Naruto screamed as he charged at the Romulan commander. Two guards tried to tackle the ninja and two guards were knocked aside by the runaway train that was Naruto. He had only moments to live and his thoughts were only of the crew and of Sakura and their unborn baby. The shinobi shoved Volaris to the ground and fell upon him with the fury of a demon. He would rip out the alien's fucking throat with his teeth if that's all he could do. His shackled hands were already squeezing Volaris's throat like a tube of meat. Just a little force and his neck would snap. The Romulans would cower before the death of their commander and flee. He would save everyone. That's what he thought as a handheld disruptor ripped through his chest cavity. Like a puppet with his strings cut, Naruto felt all his strength leave him. He looked down at the enraged eyes of Volaris. The Romulan was still alive. He was so close.
'Sakura-chan...I'm sorry...' Naruto thought before fading into unconsciousness. His brief window of existence was over. No one would even remember him. Only his original.
Inside the one of the Enterprise holodecks, the real Naruto sat up from his tree stump and blinked. His blood clone's memories all came flooding through his mind before settling in the back of his subconscious.
"Damn it." Naruto said aloud just before the entire forest shook when the Enterprise took a direct him from a plasma torpedo.
"What's going on?" Sol cried, not certain if this was just a part of the holodeck simulation or not. He had never been to the Leaf village. He didn't know if earthquakes were common there or not.
Naruto looked up at him and the eleven other ANBU cadets that he had been training for nearly 8 months. "What's happening is you all are graduating from training today." Naruto said calmly.
Back on the bridge, it was all hands on deck.
"Raise the shields! Maximum power!" Picard ordered as he tried to hold on to his chair as the Enterprise took another direct hit.
"Shields are offline!" Worf exclaimed.
"Get them back online at any cost! We need to withstand their barrage for as long as possible!" Picard ordered. "Data! Use our torpedoes and phasers to intercept as many incoming plasma torpedoes as possible! Give our shields a chance to recharge."
"Aye, Captain." Data said.
"Helmsman! Do we still have engine controls?" Picard barked.
"For the moment we do, but I don't know for how much longer!"
"Fly us around the planet Onyix! As close as you can without being caught in its atmosphere!" Picard ordered.
"Sir, it's a gas giant. Its gravitational force will drag the Enterprise down." Ro pointed out, feeling like it was a crazy plan.
"That's an order, Ensign!" Picard barked.
Ro gulped, but obeyed. "Aye, aye, sir." Her fingers danced across the touch screen as she forced the engines to accelerate as fast as possible. The Enterprise lurched forward, taking fire all the way. Data managed to knock out half of the projectiles the Romulans were throwing at them, but that meant that the hull itself was taking all the rest of the hits. The crew could feel the ship's rattling in their teeth. Picard held his chair tightly as he prayed that they would live to see the dark side of Onyix.
Meanwhile, in the sickbay, Sakura's cries were interrupted by another explosion hitting the side of the ship. The lights flickered and loose medical tools fell to the floor as the Enterprise saucer took a direct hit.
"Bitch! Son of a bitch!" A nurse cried as he held himself in place underneath the doorframe.
"Calm down!" Crusher shouted as she inspected Sakura's progress amidst all this chaos. She could see a large forehead peeking out. Crusher wanted to curse herself. The birthing process was far too gone now to attempt a C-section. They would have to finish with the natural birth.
"Sakura, come on, really big push right now!" Crusher ordered just as the ship rocked again.
"SAGE OF SIX PAAAAAATHS!" Sakura screamed as she gave her biggest push yet. The floor seemed to crack as Sakura forced out another inch of her baby's head, right up to the eyebrows.
"That's great, Sakura! That's so great!" Crusher praised while Hajime attended to one of the other doctors who had cut his hand after falling over with one of the explosions.
"Sweet Sage...what is going on out there? Where is Naruto?" Sakura gasped, never before had she felt so tired. Tsunade's Ass Kicking Training couldn't even compare.
"He is out putting a stop to all this no doubt." Hajime said as the lights flickered again. "Don't think about that. Focus on pushing your girl out. The sooner you do that, the sooner we can get you to both to safety."
"Don't think that way. We can't rush this. Besides, this is the safest part of the ship." Crusher consoled.
"JUST GET HER OUT OF ME!" Sakura ordered as the room shook again and something crashed down the hallway.
"Alright, now PUUUUUUSSSSHHH!" Crusher shouted. Sakura gripped her sheets and pushed with all her might while April's clone ran a wet cloth across Sakura's forehead.
'Naruto...for the love of God...where are you?' Sakura thought.
Back on the holodeck, the simulation of the Leaf village had flickered. All the trainees were growing nervous. Shouldn't they be doing something? They all collectively thought. But their leader had insisted that they all meet in this holographic replica of his home town.
Even given their circumstances, April couldn't help but appreciate how beautiful the planet really was. Trees as far as the eye could see, and they had been sent to the top of a mountain where down below the trainees could see a thriving city only a few miles in diameter, but packed filled with colored buildings and a kind of mystic charm about it.
Realizing that he had little time to spare, Naruto walked over to an ancient knotted old tree, distinguishable from all the other trees in the forest by bark groves that miraculously twisted into a replication of the Leaf village symbol that Naruto had shown them. The trainees couldn't actually believe that this was natural and in many ways it wasn't. Naruto knew the truth behind this tree and its importance.
The ANBU Captain turned towards his students, his face never before looking so serious.
"Ladies and gentlemen..." Naruto began. "Your training ends today." All the trainees became excited. Even amidst the bombardment this was incredible news.
"There is a long tradition of speeches and anecdotes I am supposed to give to all those who join the ranks of the Leaf ANBU." He continued. "But we obviously don't have the time. Sufficient to say this first mission will serve as a better initiation than anything tradition could possible come up with..." A few guys chuckled.
"You've all been trained to the best of my abilities, yet your own guts is why you all stand here today. Remember that and remember to trust in your teammates in the battles to come." Naruto paused as the room shook from another direct hit.
"When you walk out of this holodeck you will no longer be trainees, grunts, Genin, or security officers of Starfleet. You will be ANBU. Ninjas and Kunoichi alike. You will be Shinobi: the heart and the blade!" April, Sol, and all the others felt themselves swelling with pride.
"And when you return. When the enemies have been defeated and the Enterprise has been saved. You will be honored with decorating your porcelain masks." Naruto said as he held up a blank white mask with two eye holes drilled into it. The ANBU all oohed and awed at the simple mask before Naruto threw it at April, who caught it. Followed by Sol and all the others. April turned her mask over and saw inside the mask, the arrow symbol for Starfleet was carved into the mask already. Traditionally that symbol would be the Leaf symbol, showing that an ANBU's home village was never far from their minds.
"Collin! Blake! Rio! Sam!" Naruto barked. "You four are Team Collin. Therefore, Collin is team leader. Likewise for Team Iceman, which also includes Xio, Manni, and Ellie." Naruto listed off, that only left... "Sol! April! Dan! Kitty! You four are Team Sol. Any objections? Save them, we have a mission." Naruto said as he had the holodeck create a mini replica of the 10 Romulan Warbirds and the Enterprise floating opposite the enemy fleet.
"As you are aware, we are currently under attack by the Romulan fleet. We are deep into neutral space beyond the patrols of any other Federation fleet. Data managed to send a quick distress signal out, but we have no way to know if the message got received or if it was by a friendly. Even if it did, we can't expect the cavalry to come save us any time soon. For the time being, we are on our own and outnumbered." Naruto said before the holographic Romulan ships began emitting a visible pulse aimed at the Enterprise model.
"These ships are emitting jamming frequencies that make it impossible for us to send out a real cry for help. I've been told by Data that even if an entire fleet did get the message, they would have a lightyear of grid space to search. That may take a lot of time, so our mission is to buy more of." Naruto said as two shuttle ships flew out of the Enterprise and curved their way right underneath two of the Romulan ships.
"We are going to sneak aboard three of the Romulan ships, sow as much chaos as possible, and destroy their sensor relays. Data has also determined that we only need to destroy three of the Romulan's sensor relays. With three down, our more advanced relays will be able to overwhelm the enemy signal and let our reinforcements know where to find us." Naruto said just as the ship took another hit and all the holograms flickered.
"Once the alpha priority has been achieved, each team will secure an escape pod and flee the Warbird they currently occupy." Naruto said. "I'm told that the sensor relays are located in the computer room. And once the computer room is destroyed, the ship loses its ability to regulate the black holes they use for fuel, and will therefore destroy itself inside of a few minutes. So hightail it out of there as fast as you can."
The ANBU officers all nodded.
"The key here is to fight like ninjas. Striking fast and hard and then vanishing into the shadows. Don't stay in one place for too long. Keep moving, keep them disoriented."
Iceman raised his hand and Naruto signaled for him to talk.
"That's all well and good sir, but how do we plan on getting inside the battleships while they are in red alert?"
"I will explain that on the shuttle ride there. Be prepared to put your spacesuits on over your ninja gear though." Naruto explained. "Team C, your target will be this ship right here." Naruto pointed to the ship second to the farthest one away from the Enterprise. "Data has analyzed that this one has the most modern sensor equipment and will take the most pressure off our own sensor relay. Get it done. " Naruto then pointed to the largest battleship in the small fleet. "Team Ice, you will be joining me in taking on this big bastard. It has the most firepower, so if there is any ship we should turn it's guns on the enemy, it's that one." Naruto said, only leaving Team Sol, who were confused for they didn't see any shuttle for them to take. How we're they supposed to help?
"Team Sol. You guys have the most important target and the only one with a tertiary objective." Naruto said as he had the main battleship his Blood Clone had been sent to. "Before destroying the ship's sensor relay, if you can kill or capture the commander in charge of all of this, you could bring us a complete victory."
Sol and April turned very excited. This was the chance they had been waiting for.
"I will be teleporting you all in via my Thunder God technique. After that, you are on your own to find a way back. "Everyone clear on their general assignments?" Naruto asked, but of course no one questioned their orders. "Then let's move out."
As the 13 ninja plus one sealed away Tailed Beast ran out of the holodeck and toward the docking bay, the source of all their grief, Volaris was smirking as he observed the Enterprise being hammered by his fleet. Plasma torpedoes lit up the armor of the Enterprise like an Earthling's Christmas tree. It was remarkable, even without their shields the Federation vessel meant for diplomacy could take a surprising amount of punishment.
'No matter.' Volaris thought to himself as he massaged his neck from that cursed demon's trick. He would have his ships disable the Enterprise of all engines and weapons. Then they would rip open the hulls of the main saucer layer by layer like an onion until what remained of their commanding officers would beg Volaris to beam Naruto aboard his ship.
He was disappointed though. He had hoped that the demon known as Naruto would come himself and then beam himself back to the Enterprise using his powers. Thus allowing the Romulans access to achieve their true objective. Which their intelligence had said would be a more valuable asset to the Romulan cause than Naruto would ever be. Again, no matter. One way or another, this day would belong to the Romulans.
"Sir!" An officer reported. "Multiple intruders detected in the docking bay. They just sort of... appeared out of nowhere."
"Where exactly are they coming from?" Volaris demanded to know.
"The Federation shuttle Type 9 ship. Perhaps they hid inside a container meant to conceal their life signs. No wait...the sensors are detecting Theta band energy spikes coming from that ship. The Federation must have a way to beam aboard our ships even with our shields up!"
"No they don't. This is the demon's work." Volaris stated, having studied every rumor and scrap of data that could be obtained about the one called Naruto Uzumaki. "Surround the shuttle. Kill or capture everyone on board."
"Sir." The officer snapped.
The order quickly came down to the ranking officer stationed on the docking bay. "Acknowledged. Surround the Federation shuttle!" The officer barked. His men all obeyed without a word, their guns drawn on the shuttle, focusing on doors and windows.
"Open the door." The lead officer ordered.
The guard nearest to the control panel pressed the button and the hatch flew open. The Romulans all gripped their guns a little tighter when they saw...
"Empty." One guard reported.
"Alright. You and you, get in there and check it out." He said, pointing to two random guards.
The two nodded and marched up the ramp. They tore upon the storage lockers and found nothing. One of them checked the seats to see if they folded up to be storage bins. Nothing. The two finally reached the cockpit and turned to face the corners to find nothing again. The Romulan guards looked at one another. Were there sensors broken? They contemplated this as they casually walked back out the ship just as two grey marbles fell from the ceiling.
The marbles exploded, filling the shuttle interior with an impenetrable cloud of white smoke. The guards shouted, firing their plasma rifles wildly. Bodies were slammed against metal. More plasma fire. And then everything just went quiet.
"What's going on in there?!" The lead officer bellowed.
His response was to have two Earth females dressed in strangely provocative garb thrown out of the smoke face first onto the ramp. The two guards that had been sent in immediately rushed out and jammed their rifles into the backs of their new captives, dating them to move.
"We got them! We got them, sir!" One of the guards shouted.
"Bastards thought they could get the drop on us, but we showed them." The other guard said as the smoke began to dissipate, revealing two corpses lying on the floor with plasma wounds smoking on their chests.
"Good. Take them to the brig." The lead officer ordered.
"Aye, aye, sir." One of the guards said as he took put his cuffs and retrained one of the kunoichi while his partner did the same.
"Come on, get up!" The Romulan shouted at the red headed Kunoichi.
"Get off me!" The red head protested.
"I said get up!" The Romulan shouted as he yanked April up by her collar.
"Get these two out of my sight...and take care of the corpses." The officer ordered before he and the others started to disperse.
"Fuck you all!" The long brown haired kunoichi cried out, trying to thrash about, but finding that the Romulan overpowered her easily.
"I said, move it!" The guard struck Kitty in the back with the butt of his gun.
"Ow! Okay already!" Kitty grumbled.
The four of them piled into the turbolift and only once the doors had been sealed did they feel safe to talk.
"Well that went better than expected." One of the guards spoke.
"Agreed." April said.
"Yea, next time don't hit me so hard." Kitty scolded.
"Sorry." Dan said. "Had to make it look convincing."
"Yea, well it hurt." Kitty pouted as Dan took her cuffs off.
"Keep those on… loosely." Sol said to Kitty.
"Right..." Kitty sighed.
"So what next?" Dan asked.
"We keep up the appearance of transporting prisoners all the way to the ship's sensor relay. Once there we plant the paper bombs and move on to the next target. Anyone questions us, we claim we got lost. Failing that, we go loud. If we get separated. Make your way to a life pod. Clear?" Sol asked, taking a few cues from their master, Naruto.
"Got it." They all responded.
Then a thought occurred to April. "And what if they discover the corpses are covered in henges?"
"Never mention this, but I slapped the paper seals on both their asses. No one is going to be looking there unless they really mean to." Dan admitted.
"Smart thinking." A tiny voice praised before a mini Kurama the side of a grasshopper popped his head out of Sol's front vest pocket.
Team Sol looked down at their living intercept proof radio. Before they had been teleported by Naruto aboard the Romulan vessel, he had given each team leader a shrunken Kurama Shadow Clone packed with enough chakra to make Shadow Clones of its own. Allowing for the three mini clones to transfer memories back and forth between all of its brethren.
"Aww...you look as cute as a button..." Kitty gushed.
"Focus." April scolded.
"Exactly. Focus on the mission. Not on how adorable I am." Mini Kurama stated.
"Right, before the doors open. Kurama, how are the other teams doing?" Sol asked.
"Oh them?" Kurama replied just as Team Collin were finishing placing all of their paper bombs on the side of another Romulan battleship. Their target being the most sophisticated technologically wise, they decided that the appropriate course of action was to go for the direct approach. Which just so happened to involve enough paper bombs to blow the heads off the side of Hokage mountain.
"Fire in the hole!" Collin shouted as he instinctively covered his ears even as his head was contained in his glass visor spacesuit. The paper bombs ignited and the armor of the ship caved in like a banana peel.
Team Collin cheered. They were in.
"Team Collin is having a blast." Mini Kurama said to Team Sol.
"Huh?" Dan asked.
"They're blowing a hole in the side of their ship." Mini Kurama explained dryly.
"Ah right." Dan nodded.
"Did it work? Paper bombs are no photon charges." April asked.
"Oh it worked. An entire sector of the Romulan ship lost pressure. The team then bypassed an airlock and now they are marching with impunity through the battleship. They might just take out their sensor relay first."
"Well let's beat them to it." Kitty declared.
"We will." Sol declared. "Team C is gonna get caught up on a Romulan guard patrol sooner or later while we walk in uncontested."
"Oh yea we will." April smirked as the turbo lift came to a halt.
"Let's make some money then." Dan said as they pushed their "prisoners" forward.
As Team Sol and Team Collin had successfully entered their battleships, Team Ice had only just slipped past the shields of their battleship. The five of them had slipped into their skintight space suits with the glass visors and we're currently drifting unchallenged around the surface of the Romulan destroyer class Battleship.
"Any idea why they haven't shot us down yet?" Manni asked as he adjusted his kunai leg pouch to fit more comfortably.
"No clue." Ellie said.
"Either dumb luck, or they are expecting us." Naruto said as he double checked his helmet.
"Sensei...if you don't mind me asking, why are you here if your child is about to be born?" Xio asked.
"The same reason you aren't back on the Enterprise comforting your girlfriend while the ship gets bombarded. Because I have an important job to do." Naruto said as he did a visual inspection of everyone else.
"Or are you asking why didn't I just send you 12 in to handle this job yourself while I stayed behind to comfort my wife?"
"I was just curious is all." Xio said.
"A leader leads by example. I wouldn't send any of you off to do a task I wouldn't do myself. Big or small. That includes storming an enemy battleship, leaving your loved ones behind with the very real possibility that they may never see you again. Does that answer your question?" Naruto asked as he felt satisfied that they were ready.
"Yes, sensei." Xio nodded.
"Good. Now stick close to me. I'm going to cut a hole in the side of their ship. Just don't tell my wife what jutsu I'm going to use to do it." Naruto insisted, he was already sweating at the thought of the scolding he would get if he was found out. "In fact, if anyone asks, we used paper bombs."
"Yes sir." They all acknowledged.
"Good. Hold on tight!" Naruto shouted as he deactivated the failsafe measures on the shuttle door. Locks released and the oxygen in the shuttle was immediately sucked out of the tiny opening before the rear door opened entirely. Naruto and the rest of the ninjas felt like they were being yanked by the invisible hand of a giant, but they kept their grips on the shuttle. As soon as the atmosphere had finished venting out the shuttle the artificial gravity was deactivated and the team was left floating in their spots.
"Everyone out! Get on top of the battleship's surface!" Naruto ordered.
Naruto threw himself out of the drifting shuttle and sailed towards the battleship. It was an unnerving feeling, being so helpless. It was only a fifty-foot jump between the type 9 and the Romulan battleship, but a lot could happen in the middle of a space battle. For 5 agonizing seconds Naruto was at the whims of physics.
He landed feet first onto the metal surface of the ship, he quickly channeled character through the soles of his boots and stuck to the surface. Four more pairs of boots landed next to him.
'Perfect, everyone made it.' Naruto thought.
Iceman pulled out his tricord and started scanning the area for the best entry point.
"Sir, we have a maintenance shaft right below us with 2 feet of armor plating and pipe in between." Iceman reported.
"Perfect, everyone stand back." Naruto ordered. The ANBU all too two big steps backwards as Naruto created a single Shadow Clone. The team watched in awe as Naruto held out his hand and began to swirl chakra around his palm while the clone held out both his hands and injected wind chakra into the fledgling ninjutsu. Naruto's gloved palm exploded with light as it took the form of a Rasengan with four spinning blades of chakra ringing around it. The Rasenshuriken.
Naruto's four students all looked on in awe. They had only seen their master perform this jutsu once back on Earth. He would never dare risk demonstrating it while they were trapped in an over glorified tin can rocketing through space. Even while away from the Enterprise this jutsu was extremely dangerous for its user. The Enterprise break room could still hear gossip about how Naruto had nearly killed himself by using his most powerful jutsu while in a spacesuit. His jutsu had ripped his right glove to shreds by the time he finally remembered he had left one of his Thunder God seals back in the engine room of the old Enterprise.
Naruto of course knew all this and reassured himself that it was only a risk it he used the ninjutsu for an extended period of time. With that in mind he forced more chakra into the spinning blade until it was as tall as he was and spinning so fast it looked like a shield.
"Here goes." Naruto said over the coms as he plunged his Rasenshuriken sideways into the armor plating. The microscopic wind blades sliced through the Romulan armor like they were made of construction paper. Slowly, Naruto began to turn around while staying in the exact same place, using the Rasenshuriken as a buzz saw he cut an opening into the side of the ship.
"Awesome..." Ellie said in awe.
"Seriously. When will we learn that?" Manni asked.
"As soon as you all master the Rasengan, the Shadow Clone jutsu, and your elemental nature." Naruto said.
"Our...What now?" Xio asked in confusion.
"I'll tell you after we complete our mission. But not before I see my daughter for the first time." Naruto said as the battleship began to vent pressure through the cut Naruto was making.
After a moment, Naruto finished making his cut and the plate that he cut blew out of the hole. However, Xio was too close to the plate when it blew out and it knocked him away from the ship.
"Xio!" Manni shouted as Naruto cocked his hands back like he meant to draw a gun, instead he thrust his arms at Xio and crossed his fingers. A chain of Shadow Clones shot out of his arms and grabbed Xio by the leg.
"Xio, you okay!?" Naruto asked.
"Yea...just dizzy is all..." Xio grunted.
"Good. The rest of you, get in the hole while I finish rescuing Xio." Naruto ordered.
"You got it, boss." Manni said as he and his two teammates leapt into the ship's hole.
"No need. I can make it back." Xio said as he pressed a button on his arm which activated jet thrusters on his feet and shoulders. He flew through space and landed right next to where Naruto was standing.
"Care to join them, Xio?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, sensei." Xio said as he flew over to the hole and through it.
Meanwhile, on the bridge of the main Romulan ship, Volaris was fuming. So far everything had gone wrong on this mission. They had failed to capture the demon or a sample of his DNA. It had been another one of the demon's tricks and to top it off the head science officer had reported to Volaris that the blood sample they had taken had vanished with a poof of smoke around the same time the clone had. They had tried to exact revenge by blasting the Enterprise to oblivion but the newly christened Federation ship could evidently take a pounding. Not only that, but the ship had somehow managed to keep flying even under the fleet's constant barrage. They then flew behind the nearby planet of all things, forcing Volaris's fleet to give chase. They had already lost the IRW Ultak after its captain had foolishly tried to fly through the gas giant's clouds to cut off the Enterprise and got caught in the planet's gravity. If they didn't keep up the pressure the Enterprise would warp away or more likely a Federation fleet would come to their rescue.
'How could this get any worse?' Volaris wondered to himself.
"Commander. We've detected another Federation ship just outside of this sector." The ops officer reported.
"Are they intercepting us?" Volaris asked.
"Negative, sir. They haven't detected us yet."
"Son of a bitch. Keep monitoring them. Don't let them detect us no matter what." Volaris ordered.
"Yes sir. Deploying sensor counter measures."
"Commander. Reports coming in from the Amtre and Odepus. Holes have been blown in the sides of them." Another ops officer stated.
"How?" Volaris demanded.
"We don't know. However we are getting reports of enemy combatants moving through the ships at an astonishing pace."
"Damn it!" Volaris snapped as he slammed his hand on his armrest.
"What about the intruders we captured? Are they in the brig yet?"
"Unknown sir. I haven't heard anything from our team."
"Send a security team to find them and then kill them." Volaris ordered.
"Yes, commander." The ops officer said before trying to raise the coms to security, only to find that the request on his panel wasn't working. "Sir, internal coms are offline."
"Sabotage." Volaris cursed. "Send a runner then."
"Yes sir." He didn't have the chance though as the door to the bridge opened and in stepped the head scientist aboard Volaris's ship.
"Datha, what are you doing here?" Volaris spat, wanting nothing to do with her condescending tone.
"Providing you good news, brother. I can tell by our communications being sabotaged that the battle is not going as simply as you expected." Dartha said as she walked up to her brother with her hands held behind her back a and a smug, satisfied look at her arrogant brother's failures.
"Spit it out, I have no time for your games."
"My assistants and I have finished analyzing the wavelengths of the demon's teleportation powers." Datha said, earning her brother's full and undivided attention.
"They leave behind a distinctive theta band signature whenever he makes the jump from one location to another. Which our transporters can trace back all the way to the interior of the Enterprise." Datha stated, earning a rare grin from her dear brother.
This was incredible. This could salvage the entire operation without even needing to capture the demon for experimentation. He was just the beta priority anyway. But with the demon off the Enterprise, no doubt assaulting the other battleships, they had a golden opportunity to capture their mission's alpha priority.
"Contact the elite strike team. Tell them to initiate phase two. Bring me the spawn of the demon."
Looking back on what we wrote in the first draft, do we want to say that this was all preplanned by the Romulans or do we want them to just teleport in to sew chaos on the Enterprise and then just so happen to run into Sakura and her baby and then see those whisker marks?
"Yes Commander." One of the bridge officers said.
"Once you have the child, bring it directly to me and do not harm it. I want it alive and well." Datha ordered.
"Any particular reason why?" Volaris asked.
"Simple...the more it grows, the more we can supply our troops with the demons DNA. Plus...we can raise it as a weapon against the Federation and the demon himself." Datha smirked evilly.
"Hmm...an interesting point you make..." Volaris mused.
Back on the Enterprise bridge, Picard was starting to breathe a little easier. By the grace of almighty God, the Enterprise was holding together. His split second tactic to fly around the planet Onyix had paid off. It had given them time, time for Naruto and his ninjas to invade the enemy vessels. If they could just hold out for half an hour longer then Picard was confident they would all make it out of this alive.
That is...until the security alarms went off.
"Intruder alert on deck 9." Worf alerted.
"Have all security teams converge on deck 9." Picard ordered. He wasn't taking any chances, not when sick bay was on that deck.
"Security teams already on their way. Officers reporting sabotaged surveillance equipment in the wake of the boarding party." Data stated.
"How many invaders are there? How did they get in?" Picard inquired.
Down in the Sickbay, the ship had stopped shaking, but things were no less hectic in Sakura's delivery room. Crusher, Hajime, April's Shadow Clone, and a handful of nurses were all that was left to care for Sakura in the last stages of the birthing process. All while standing in what could most kindly be described as an earthquake disaster zone. Medical tools and supplies thrown everywhere, and the floor drenched in vaginal fluid and dust.
"Jesus! You need me to grab you some heavy-duty clamps or something?" April's clone cried impatiently.
"April, be quiet!" Hajime snapped as he worked on easing the stubborn baby out of Sakura already.
"Okay Sakura. Just one last good push! She's almost out!" Crusher ordered.
"Huff, huff, huff..." Sakura panted as she grabbed the side of her bed, her face caked in sweat from the constant pushing. She couldn't even remember the last time she wasn't exhausted. But she had to press on. She had come too far not to see her daughter now. Just one more push. She just needed to give one more push...
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Sakura cried out like a prayer to the gods above. Let her see her baby. Let her be a mother. To be a family with Naruto.
Sakura pushed out and felt an immense relief wash over her. It was almost orgasmic how quickly the pressure left her lower half.
"Water!" Crusher shouted as soon as she grabbed a little bundle.
April brought over a basin of warm water just as the little girl started crying. "WAAAAAAAHH-WAAAAAAAHHHH!" The newborn shrieked, her tiny lungs filling the room with the ear piercing chorus of an angel. As soon as Sakura heard the first cries of her little girl, that's when her heart nearly melted. Her daughter was finally born and welcomed into the world.
"Aahhh...there's the little angel..." Crusher smiled as she wrapped the crying little bundle in a towel.
"Awe...She's so adorable, Sakura..." April gushed.
"Let me see her..." Sakura gasped out. The ordeal having left her completely exhausted.
"Just a minute, we need to clean her." Crusher said as she took the little darling over to the sink. Sakura could barely muster the strength to lift her head. All she could spot was a tiny little hand reaching out at the world.
"Oh my God, Sakura. She's so precious." April's clone gushed.
"She even has pink hair, almost the same shade as yours." Hajime smiled.
"Sh...she...does...?" Sakura choked out, almost on the verge of tears.
"Yea and...whisker marks?" Crusher said in confusion.
"Wait...what?" Sakura asked. Now she wanted to see her daughter more than ever.
"Yes, she has whisker marks. Three of them on each cheek, just like Naruto. She's fussy like him too, I can barely keep her still." Crusher laughed as she tried to keep a steady grip on the baby.
"Ooohh...I wanna see her so bad..." Sakura whined.
"You will in just a moment." Crusher promised as she continued to clean the baby. Sakura closed her eyes and felt like laughing. 10 months of waiting and she would finally see her baby. Soon Naruto would return and they would be a family together. A real family.
Sakura let her head sink into her pillow, her exhaustion overtaking her, and...something else... Sakura couldn't quite place it, a sense of unease? She thought it was because of the Enterprise being engaged in combat with the Romulans, but she couldn't shake it. It was something else.
The occupants of the room all crowded around her baby, no one even paid attention to the door leading to the hallway. Sakura however felt compelled and forced her head to rise and look at the figure standing in the doorway with a disruptor rifle. She thought he was a security guard, perhaps a Vulcan crewman, until he raised his disruptor and opened fire on the staff.
Sakura couldn't tell if she screamed. It was so surreal, so quick. The disruptor fire ripped through the doctors and nurses crowded around her child. Men and women screamed without noise, their bodies contorted in disturbing configurations. Sakura couldn't make out Hajime or April in the massacre. All was just sacks of meat falling to the floor.
More Vulcans surged into Sakura's delivery room while others ran past to scour the other rooms in the med bay. Sakura looked over and saw a young nurse on her right try to raise her hands in surrender, only to be slammed into the wall by a charging Vulcan. That was when Sakura realized that the aliens she thought were Vulcans were nothing of the sort, they were Romulans.
Sakura felt her chest tightening as if she was having a heart attack. The Romulan who first broke into her room pointed his disruptor at her. Try as she might, Sakura was helpless to defend herself. Even with her chakra returned to her, the painkillers Crusher had issued her had numbed her lower half and sapped the rest of her strength. She was as threatening as a newborn kitten.
"What are you doing? Shoot her." One Romulan ordered the one pointing his disruptor at Sakura.
"Are you insane? She's pregnant." The Romulan replied.
"She was." The commander of this raid said as he held the bundle that Crusher once held.
"The Hell are you doing with that little snot?" A subordinate scoffed, before another got a good look at the child. Sakura looked on and could only see a single tuff of pink hair sticking out from behind a blanket.
"My God, are those...the demon's whisker marks?" A Romulan breathed.
"They are indeed. This child must belong to him. It's just as the Praetor's intelligence said. The demon's spawn would be born on around this time. We just lucked out getting to it on the exact day."
"So that means that this woman is his too." The first Romulan reasoned as he drew attention back to Sakura, who started to hyperventilate.
"So it would seem. I'm willing to bet she has the same strange powers as well..." the Commander mused.
"So do we take her too? She could prove invaluable for our research." One of the soldiers suggested.
"Impossible. She's too much dead weight in her condition. But maybe she could help us..." The commander mused as he looked down upon Sakura. "Perhaps you could tell us where your bastard's father is?"
"Why do you want to know? What do you want with my daughter?" Sakura asked in fear.
"Simple. Your lover, known to us as the Demon, is wanted by the Praetor for research. We wish to make his powers our own or kill him. All to pay him back for the humiliating defeat at the Gamma quadrant. Now tell us where he is..." The commander demanded.
"On an assignment...I don't know where..." Sakura replied truthfully. "Please, just give me my baby, please!" Sakura insisted. She didn't care if she had to grovel, that was her baby.
"No. This child is now property of the Praetor." The commander said firmly before walking away with the child. "Kill her. She's useless to us."
"Naruto's powers are not genetic!" Sakura exclaimed quickly, making the Commander stop.
"Explain..." the Commander demanded.
"The power he uses is called Chakra. It's a type of energy that resides in all living beings and can only be used if trained to properly harness it. Genetics mean nothing to this..." Sakura tried to explain.
"Hmm...an interesting story, but a story none the less. If it were that simple then you would be using that same power to get your child back, would you not?" The commander smirked.
"For the love of the Sage! Just please give me back my child." Sakura begged as she forced herself to sit upright, yet the Romulan soldiers would feel no empathy. Even when Sakura fell to the floor in a pathetic attempt to reach her daughter, whose cries pierced the room.
"Pathetic...we're done here." The commander said before continuing out the door with the rest of his crew.
"No! No please! Nooooo!" Sakura cried out as the last Romulan left the room, only to be stopped when Crusher reached out her hand and grabbed the Romulan's arm.
"Wait!" Crusher shouted, apparently, she had been playing dead until now.
"We've got a live one here." The Romulan shouted back to the rest of his comrades.
"Shoot her, we've got a schedule to keep." His commander shouted back.
"Wait, take me with you." Crusher begged. "I'm the Head of the Medical Division for the Enterprise. I would be invaluable to you as a hostage."
"If that were true, then why would you want to be our hostage?" The Romulan pointing his disruptor rifle at Crusher sneered.
"That baby has just come out of the womb. She's very vulnerable at this stage and could die if not properly cared for. She's useless to your research if she dies." Crusher insisted. "I will make sure she stays alive."
"How very noble of you. Can you walk?" The Romulan Commander inquired.
"Yes." Crusher said as she shakily stood up, only to be dragged along by her arm.
"Then come on." The Romulan forcibly ordered her. Crusher looked back at Sakura with misery in her eyes.
'I'm sorry.' Crusher expressed.
'It's okay, keep my daughter safe.' Sakura expressed back before she was left alone in her room with nothing but death and misery.
"Picard to sick bay. Is everything alright down there?" Picard asked with concern. "We detected disruptor fire down there and security is enroute."
"They took my baby!" Sakura cried helplessly.
On the bridge, looks of horror were spread across the faces who heard Sakura's cry.
"Councilor Troi...you have the bridge." Picard growled before shooting up out of his chair. "Riker, Worf, Data, with me. We're going to save a baby."
As the 4 of them made their way into the turbo lift, Picard tapped his combadge. "Picard to Naruto. I need you back on the ship this instant."
"Kind of in the middle of something, Captain." Naruto responded as his clones swarmed the ship.
"Romulans boarded the ship and took your daughter." Picard informed grimly.
Naruto felt the ship he was on flip end over end.
"What?!" Naruto bellowed.
"You heard me lieutenant! We're doing everything we can to get her back before the Romulans leave the ship I suggest you get yourself back here immediately!"
Naruto ducked the odd disruptor fire aimed at him and threw a kunai point blank at his would-be attacker, skewering him in the face.
"My wife! What about Sakura-chan?!" He barked.
"Her condition is unknown however she is still in sickbay"
"How in the Hell did those Romulans get aboard? What about the Security Teams?" Naruto roared.
"We don't know anything more than what Sakura has told us. you'll just have to get here and find out for yourself."
"God damn it!" Naruto roared as another wave of Romulan soldiers came charging at him, only to be cut down by his Rasenshuriken.
"All teams!" Naruto barked over his coms, breaking radio silence. "I have to return to the bridge! Finish up here and kill anyone who resists!"
"Yes sir!" Both squads sounded.
Naruto created a thousand more Shadow Clones before Thunder God-ing himself to Sakura's side. In a flash he found himself surrounded by horror. Blood and bodies scattered across the delivery room. Naruto almost couldn't focus on his wife, who sat on the ground near her bed, crying hysterically admits the massacre.
"They...they took our little girl..." Sakura sobbed.
"Sakura..." Naruto cried as he ran to his wife's side, automatically she wrapped her arms around her husband like a lifeline.
"They took our little girl...Right in front of me...I couldn't do anything...I didn't even name her...they took her and they're gonna hurt her..." Sakura choked out. She couldn't breathe. She wanted to die. Just wither away where she'd never have to remember having her daughter ripped away from her before she could even see her face. What could Naruto do except hold her close, tethering her to this cruel mortal plane?
Naruto felt himself shaking. Like a leaf in a hurricane. He wanted to act, he had to act. To do something, kill someone, tear star fleets apart...
"Lieutenant Uzumaki, is Sakura okay?" Picard asked over the coms, only to be met with silence.
"Lieutenant Uzumaki, come in." Picard ordered.
"This is Lieutenant Uzumaki...Sakura-chan is safe..." Naruto responded over the wails of his wife.
"Naruto, listen. We've located the Romulan infiltrators. They're holed up in the engine room. They've got Crusher taken hostage and are offering to release her if we lower our shields to let them teleport out. We have no confirmation that they have your daughter though."
"Do nothing at all...I will handle them personally." Naruto growled with rage.
"Naruto, we have the security officers surrounding the sector, they are ready to move in." Picard said.
"I said I will handle it." Naruto stated.
"Damn...I've never heard him that pissed before." Riker said under his breath.
"That is the sound of a father whose family has been threatened." Worf stated seriously. Remembering his own indescribable rage after the assassination of his mate by the house of Duras little over a year ago.
Back with the Uzumakis, Naruto rubbed Sakura's back, motioning for her to look at him.
"Sakura-chan..."
Sakura hiccupped against his uniform.
"Sakura-chan, look at me." Naruto requested.
Sakura pulled herself up to look at Naruto, watery green met steel blue.
"Sakura-chan, I will get our daughter back." Naruto stated. It wasn't a promise of a lifetime, or something he was going to do. It was what was going to happen. As sure as gravity made things fall and the sun would rise each morning. It was a small thing, but it made Sakura's grief feel a bit lighter.
He kissed her on the forehead, more tenderly than ever before and pulled away from her.
"I'll be back soon." Naruto swore.
"Please...bring her back safely..." Sakura pleaded. "And kill all of those Romulan bastards." She said with a dark tone of voice Naruto would call evil if he wasn't feeling the exact same things.
Naruto nodded before flashing through the hand signs for the Flying Thunder God Technique.
"Uuuuhhhnn..." came a moan from the corner of the room.
Sakura and Naruto turned around to see Hajime starting to come around, his right shoulder was gone though. The disruptor rifle had taken out all of his muscles, leaving his right arm handing onto his torso by a few strips of skin.
"Sakura...I'm..." Hajime breathed out.
"Wait, don't move." Sakura ordered as she held out her palm. She remembered a trick Yamato told her that Kabuto had used on her. Long Range Mystic Palm Technique. She channeled her chakra out of her palm like a tentacle until it enveloped Hajime. Once it made contact, she began healing her distant cousin. It was slow and methodical, but it was working.
'So good to have my chakra back.' Sakura thought.
'Right in the nick of time.' Inner agreed.
"I take it, you've got this?" Naruto asked, his hands holding onto the last hand sign he needed to perform the jutsu.
"I do. Go." Sakura said quickly. She wanted her daughter back.
Naruto nodded and vanished with a yellow flash of light.
Down in engineering, the Romulans were holding the crew hostage there along with Crusher and the baby. The unnamed baby was screaming her little lungs out.
"You keep that brat quiet!" The commanding Romulan shouted at Crusher.
"I would if her mother was here." Crusher grumbled as she tried to calm the poor infant.
"That's not our problem. You keep that baby quiet or my men will grow very annoyed with it..." The Commander said ominously.
"And that's not my problem." Crusher spat.
That was when the doors to the engine room opened to reveal a very pissed off Naruto, his eyes in slits and his whisker marks thick and dark.
"Sentries!" The commander shouted and Naruto was instantly surrounded with disruptor rifles jammed in his throat.
"Give back my daughter...now..." Naruto growled in rage.
"Ensign Uzumaki I presume." The commander greeted smugly.
"Lieutenant now." Crusher corrected.
"Ah, my apologizes. I seem to recall your lover telling us you were on a mission. We weren't expecting you so soon, although my men are quite delighted to make your acquaintance." The commander said.
"The feeling isn't mutual...now give back my daughter."
"Your daughter is now property of the Romulan Star Empire and to the Praetor. We're going to use her to unlock the secrets of your powers so our troops can use it to take down Starfleet once and for all."
During the commander's speech, Naruto could only hear the cries of his infant daughter as Crusher desperately tried to calm her down, rocking her back and forth while another Romulan kept his rifle trained on her.
"You really think you're going to just warp away unchallenged? Starfleet will hunt you all down to the ends of the universe for this act of aggression." Crusher spat.
"By the time Starfleet arrives, the Enterprise will be nothing more than a burning husk of metal and plasma falling to the surface of the nearby planet, and we will be gone with no one left to know we took the baby." The commander laughed. Unknown to him or any of the Romulan soldiers, a tiny orange fox had just finished relaying a message into Naruto's ear.
"Wanna bet?" Naruto asked with menace in his voice.
The commander growled at the demon's lack of fear, yet he knew the best way to make a father suffer wasn't to shoot them and leave them for dead. It was to make him watch as he took away his child forever.
"Goodbye, Lieutenant Uzumaki." The commander smirked before he keyed his communication device. "Strike Team to Battleship, full team plus two guests to beam back to the mothership."
Two minutes previously, aboard the various Romulan battleships.
Collin and his buddy Rio were knocking out the last of the Romulan guards stationed outside the main computer room of the Romulan battleship. Giving their teammates Blake and Sam just enough time to cover the entire room with their remaining paper bombs.
"You know…when I first signed up for Starfleet I thought it would be the adventure of a lifetime." Blake admitted as Sam slapped a paper bomb on the inside of one of the consoles. "But now, with the ninja training, this job just turns into being paid to be a superhero spy."
"Amen to that, brother." Sam declared as he finished his work. "Kurama! Bombs are set!"
Mini Kurama stuck his head out of Collin's breast pocket and looked over his shoulder. "Got it!" Kurama shouted back as he used his limited chakra to create another mini Kurama Shadow Clone before destroying it.
Across the two other boarded battleships, the other Mini Kurama clones blinked.
"Team C just completed their alpha priority." Mini Kurama reported to the leader of Team Ice, who was in the middle of sprinting and leaping down a narrow hallway like a deadly bouncing ball.
"Got it!" Iceman shouted back as he took aim with his captured disruptor rifle. The Romulan guards at the end of the hall were all firing wildly at the man, but none of them had ever dealt with an aggressive force that could move so erratically. Iceman jumped to the wall of the hallway, narrowly avoiding a barrage of disruptor fire, and then kicked off the wall to hang onto the ceiling, avoiding even more fire. All the while landing perfect center mass shots on the Romulans like they were wooden ducks at the county fair duck shoot his father used to take him too. He ran upside down towards the last Romulan who was so surprised by the last shot that had sailed past his cheek and into the face of the guard standing behind him that he foolishly turned his head and received a rifle butt to the windpipe for his efforts. The Romulan fell to the deck like a sack of potatoes and Iceman quickly disarmed him.
"Clear!" Iceman shouted back for the rest of his team to round the corner and sprint down the hallway. They all looked battered by the constant fighting but none of them were seriously injured and all of them were in good spirits.
"Team C just completed their task and I am not about to come in behind Sol and his gang of teacher's pets." Iceman declared.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Ellie, the team's adorable little demolitions expert smirked as she held up a thermos sized canister marked Grant Thermite 893 that was wrapped in remote detonation paper bombs.
"Do I even want to know where you got that particular chemical?" Iceman deadpanned.
"Tell you about it over drinks after we blow this popsicle stand." Ellie smirked a devious grin.
"God, I love your psychotic brain." Manni smirked.
A few seconds later, aboard the main Romulan ship, Team Sol stood over the corpses of the security team sent to kill them.
"Well that definitely went better than expected." Dan said as he placed his paper bombs along the computer screens.
"Seriously. I thought we'd get caught way before we'd get to the computer room." Kitty added as she placed her own paper bombs.
"These Romulans are way too cocky for their own good." Sol agreed as he noticed that April was keeping quiet. Understandable since she had received her Shadow Clone's memory.
"April, don't worry about it. I'm sure Hajime and Sakura are fine." Sol consoled.
"You don't know that, Sol." April spat as she tossed another dead Romulan onto the pile.
"I do know. Because Kurama's clone just told me that Naruto got to Sakura and she and Hajime were just fine. Hajime's pretty banged up, a disruptor took a chunk out of his shoulder, but it looks like Sakura regained the use of her chakra and is healing Hajime. He's alive."
"It's true." Another Kurama clone said.
April paused, her eyes watered before she ran up to Sol and slugged him in the arm with the same monster strength Sakura had been teaching her.
"Asshole! Why didn't you tell me sooner!" She cried.
"ACK! MY ARM!" Sol cried in pain.
"Oh hush! You're fine." April spat. Sol grimaced but rubbed his bruised arm.
"Grrr..." Sol moaned before he and the others ran out of the computer room while Mini Kurama let the other teams know that all three sensor relays were armed for detonation.
"Do it." Naruto whispered to his own Kurama clone hiding in this clothes while the Romulan Commander in the Enterprise's Engine Room ranted on.
"Goodbye, Lieutenant Uzumaki." The commander smirked before he keyed his communication device. "Strike Team to Battleship, full team plus two guests to beam back to the mothership."
He was answered with silence.
"Battleship, come in." The Commander ordered again frantically. He was growing worried. The other battleships should be answering and those disruptor rifles aimed at Lieutenant Naruto's throat were looking a lot less full-proof, the way Naruto was looking amused.
On the bridge of the Enterprise, things were finally going their way.
"Sir, sensors read that three of the Romulan Battleships' sensor relays are destroyed, along with their computer cores. We can override their jammers and send a message out to Starfleet." Riker reported.
"Make it so." Picard ordered.
Riker immediately sent out the distress beacon and got an automatic reply.
"Sir, the USS Sovereign has answered or distress call." Riker reported. "They are hailing."
"On screen." Picard ordered. The screen shifted to a very familiar looking captain.
"Greetings Captain Picard." She greeted.
"Ah, Captain Martin. A pleasure to say the least."
"We received your earlier distress call and we have 50 ships on standby. We're ready to move in on your order." Captain Martin said.
'Fifty!' Ro mouthed to Worf in excitement.
"We are currently being harassed by 10 Romulan battleships. The ones with destroyed sensor relays have our Security Officers on board. Leave those to detonate on their own and bring Hellfire to the rest." Picard requested.
"Acknowledged. We'll be at your location in 2 minutes. Sovereign out." Captain Martin said before closing the channel.
"Open me up a channel to main engineering where the Romulan intruders are dug in." Picard ordered.
"Channel open." Worf said.
"Attention Romulan Boarding Party. The main ship of your fleet, along with two other battleships has been destroyed. An armada of 50 Starfleet ships will arrive in seconds to destroy your remaining fleet. Surrender yourselves and your hostages and you will be unharmed. Failure to do so...and I leave your fate in the hands of my bodyguard." Picard stated with a cool ferocity that made his own crewman feel chills run up their spines.
"To hell with you, Starfleet! We will not surrender to an inferior empire!" The commander shouted.
"I was hoping you would say that." Naruto said before bursting into golden flames.
"Kill him." The commander ordered.
The Romulans pulled the trigger on their disruptors and fire at a yellow flash. Before any of them could utter their surprise, Naruto appeared behind them with his Rasenshuriken raised and cleaved their heads off their necks. Before they could hit the floor, Naruto had already turned around and shot out his chakra arm at another Romulan with his raised gun. He slammed the man into the steel pipes and went to work on attacking the other Romulans positioned around the engine room. One managed to fire a shot, but Naruto's Truth Seeker Balls intercepted the energy bolt and nulled it. A second Truth Seeker Ball shot out like a cannon and smashed into the alien's face.
Watching his platoon collapse before him, the Commander ran towards Crusher and forced the baby out of her hands. He then pulled out his hand-held disruptor and jammed it into the baby's chest.
"Don't come any closer or I'll-" The Commander tried to shout before he looked down and noticed that the baby was no longer in his hands. He looked up and saw that she was instead wrapped securely in the arms of her father, who looked at the Commander with pure despise. The Romulan looked around and saw all of his men lying dead on the floor, the disruptors all unfired.
"Do you want to surrender now?" Naruto asked in a hush whisper as he cradled his little girl, who was finally starting to calm down amidst the warm glow of her father's chakra.
"I...I was...only following orders..." The commander sputtered in fear.
"Yes, but you threatened my daughter, hurt my wife, stole my child from her cradle on the day of her birth. You can't expect me to just let that slide..." Naruto growled as he held his daughter a little closer.
The Romulan sighed and closed his eyes. "No...no I don't expect you to...do what you feel is necessary..."
"How noble of you, it almost makes me regret filling out my wife's wishes." Naruto said as he created two Shadow Clones.
"Just...do me one favor if you are willing..."
"What?"
"If you can...have a message sent out to my wife and children. Tell them...I died with honor for our empire."
Naruto nodded in understanding between the two warriors. His clones surged forward and the Commander stood tall and proud. He closed his eyes and thought of his home.
Then he felt two clouds of smoke pass by his face. He opened his eyes and only saw Demon of the Enterprise standing with his daughter.
"W-what happened?" The commander asked.
"Couldn't you just have been a complete bastard? How am I supposed to kill a father on my daughter's birthday?" Naruto sighed.
"If you don't, then I will be executed for my failures...so, either way, I will die."
"Well too damn bad. You go back to your fleet, you take the bodies of your men, and you show high command that the crew of the Enterprise is capable of mercy." Naruto stated.
"Actually, Naruto. We can't allow that." Crusher stated.
"What? Why not?" Naruto demanded as his daughter began to fuss.
"He would be treated as an aggressor of war; therefore, we must imprison him as is Starfleet Protocol."
"Fine. Just send the bodies back, or don't, I don't care. I've got more important things to take care of..." Naruto stated as he turned around to walk back to the med bay.
The commander sighed. "I suppose this is better than the alternative..."
"You're lucky he spared you. Whether he'll forgive you or not is another story. Personally, I wouldn't have been so kind." Crusher said.
"He's not getting invited to her first birthday party! That's for damn sure!" Naruto shouted back, making his daughter cry.
The doors opened to the engine room where Starfleet officers flooded the area.
"Good work, Naruto." Worf said before looking at the bundle in his arms. "So...they did have her...for what reason?"
"Ask their commander. I'll be with my wife." Naruto said as he walked past the Klingon.
"Very well then..." Worf said before turning to his crew. "Take the Romulan commander into custody.
Naruto meanwhile left the engine room behind and readjusted the bundle in his arms. His pace never breaking out of a fast stride. It was only when he felt a tiny little arm pawing at his chin that he looked down and was broken out of his trace.
There, in his arms, was the most precious little thing he had ever seen. A little human being, so pudgy and small, with her eyes closed, trying to grasp at everything the world around her had to offer. Naruto instantly recognized the shade of pink adorning her little fuzzy head, and could swear he had only seen a forehead that adorably large on one other person before. But perhaps the most striking feature was the six thin whisker marks (three on each cheek) adorned on her face, just like him. She cried out and Naruto instantly fell in love with this little girl he had officially met a few minutes ago. He wanted to do everything for her, keep her from ever having to cry every again.
"Hey there angel...I'm your da-" Naruto tried to speak but he choked on the last word. "I'm your daddy..." He cried.
The little thing seemed to settle down after that and nuzzled her head deeper into his arm.
"...Everything that I have...and everything that I am...is yours...forever..." He cried before kissing her on the forehead.
Meanwhile, aboard the main Romulan Warbird, Volaris and Datha were rushing to the escape pods. The ships alarms were blaring and officers were screaming as command broke down in a desperate attempt to save their own skins. The Computer Room had been destroyed and their ship was doomed. Never mind the Life Support systems were gone, the ship's Quantum Singularity core had become unstable without the main computer to regulate it. They had minutes before the ship destroyed itself.
As if that weren't enough, reinforcements had arrived to assist the Federation ship. 50 ships in total. They were currently tearing Volaris's fleet of Warbirds to pieces with no quarter given.
"Out of my way!" Volaris shouted as he shoved a lesser officer aside as he ran down the hallways to the nearest escape pod.
"I told you this was a bad idea." Datha lectured as she ran behind him. Volaris reminded himself to kill his sister once he returned to Romulan controlled space.
They reached an unclaimed pod and Volaris hit the button to open the door. He cursed at the demon and his accursed family. One day he would have revenge on them all. He would destroy them. And their blasted ship the Enterprise.
"Hey, nice escape pod you've got there." A voice spoke from behind the two Romulans.
Volaris turned around and found himself faced to face with four Federation Security Officers dressed in strange combat garb.
"Hey wait a minute." One of the male Federation Dogs spoke. "You're the guy in charge of this whole stupid ambush in the first place, aren't you?" Dan asked as he noticed the commander uniform that Volaris wore.
"So then you're the one who has been harassing my cousin and his family." April snarled as she cracked her knuckles at the two Romulans.
Volaris drew his portable disruptor and pointed it at the four ninjas. "And what if I am?"
"Then I have a gift for you from my cousin-in-law." April said before she flash-stepped in front of Volaris and socked him right in the nose. The Romulan commander crumpled to the ground, clutching his nose and crying out.
"Brother!" Datha cried before being knocked out by a karate chop to the back of the neck by Sol.
"Well that was easy too." Dan declared.
"So, what do we do now? Take them with us?" Kitty asked. One of their objectives was to take the Romulan commander alive if possible.
All eyes turned on Sol, for at the end of the day, the decision fell upon him as team leader.
"Leave him." Sol stated bluntly. "He's not gonna harass our sensei or his family ever again."
The rest of Team Sol nodded and they promptly stepped over the two Romulans and shut the escape pod behind them and jetted away to safety.
Before Naruto knew it, he had made it to sickbay where Sally's mom Amanda Adams was outside waiting for him.
"Naruto! Thank god!" She exclaimed joyfully.
"Mrs. Adams, what are you doing here?" Naruto smiled.
"Picard sent me. With Crusher missing and all the other chaos going on, he was worried that Sakura would be emotionally distraught. I was sent up here to be an emergency mid-wife." Amanda explained. "You should be happy to know that Hajime is stable. Some nurses took him away to another room where he should be awaiting treatment. But his cheeks looked to be full of color when I saw him."
"Oh thank God. Did anyone else survive?" Naruto asked.
"Just one other nurse..." April said shamefully. "Naruto...I'm so sorry for what you both went through. No one, especially brand new parents should ever have to go through what you both just experienced."
"Don't worry about it. I got her back and that is all that matters." Naruto said without regret.
"Right..." Amanda said. "Anyway, Sakura is waiting for you."
"Thank you." Naruto nodded.
Naruto walked past her and into sickbay, where he saw Sakura getting cleaned up by two nurses that had been off duty when all of this madness started.
"And you're all set." One nurse smiled.
"Thank you." Sakura smiled before she looked to the door to see Naruto holding onto a bundle in his arms. That was when she couldn't help but cry. "My baby..."
"Safe and sound..." Naruto said happily as he carefully handed the bundle over.
That was when Sakura got a good look at her. Pink hair, whisker marks, and her trademark large forehead.
"Oh my god...she's beautiful..." Sakura choked out.
"She is... The most perfect little girl in the world..." Naruto smiled.
"Little Chiyo..." Sakura smiled as a tear traveled down her cheek.
Chiyo fussed in her mother's arms, letting out a little whine.
"Hello Chiyo...I'm your mother..." Sakura gently spoke. At once, Chiyo stopped fussing and opened her blue eyes.
"Oh my god..." Sakura gasped. "She's got your eyes..."
"And she's got your hair and your forehead. I told you those would be great together." Naruto praised.
"But...how does she have whisker marks?" Sakura asked.
"No idea...genetics?" Naruto suggested.
"But, I thought you said that Kurama's Chakra was how you got yours?"
"Yeah, but that was because my mom was his jinchuriki when she was pregnant with me...so maybe his chakra seeped into my DNA or something...?" Naruto sputtered.
'Maybe my chakra is so intertwined with yours after years of using it that enough of it seeped into your sperm.' Kurama suggested.
"Huh...Kurama just pointed out something that made sense."
"What's that?" Sakura asked.
"That because I use his chakra so much that it mixed with mine in my semen. That went into you and... Well, I guess that was enough." Naruto shrugged.
"Huh...that actually does make sense." Sakura shrugged before Chiyo started fussing.
"Sounds like she's hungry." The other nurse pointed out.
"She's not the only one." Naruto smiled as his own stomach growled.
"Baby comes first..." Sakura scolded. "Um...my mind is still a bit fuzzy."
"You need to breast feed her." The first nurse reminded her.
"Oh, right. Why couldn't I remember that?" Sakura wondered as she tried to ease her breast out, but her hands were full. "Little help please?"
Naruto quickly helped undress Sakura, who brought their daughter to her chest. Acting on instinct, Chiyo latched onto her mother and began suckling away.
"You want something to eat? I can send a Shadow Clone..." Naruto offered.
"I got you guys covered." Amanda said as she went into the next room.
"Huh?" Sakura asked.
"There's a replicator in here." The second nurse said.
"Thank you." Naruto said gratefully, he didn't want to leave his family's side for a second. 'This is my family.' He thought giddily.
'I know. Hard to believe ain't it?' Kurama smirked.
'It... It is...It's a dream come true...' Naruto thought.
"Heheh...it tickles..." Sakura giggled a little.
Naruto felt his heart skip a beat at hearing Sakura giggle again. Not a half an hour ago, she looked more devastated than he had ever seen her. Worse than when Sasuke had left, worse than when her one of her youngest patients had died. To see her smile again after seeing her standing on the brink was magical.
"IF there was ever a moment I had regrets for allowing myself to get pregnant...its long gone now..." Sakura sighed happily.
"Same. I love you Sakura-chan..." Naruto sighed.
"I love you too Naruto-kun..." Sakura cried happily.
The happy family was broken out of their trance by a light tapping against the walls.
"May we come in?" Picard whispered as he and the rest of the main crew stood outside the door.
"In a minute, Sakura is feeding." Amanda said.
"That's fine, may I speak with you, Ensign?" Picard requested.
"Of course." Amanda said.
"I would like to know about the newest addition to our crew." Picard gave a tired smile. Amidst so much chaos and destruction, who wouldn't welcome the slightest bit of good news?
Amanda smiled. "Little Chiyo Uzumaki is in good health and is happily with her parents."
A quick cheer spread out amongst the heads of the ship. Riker slapped the shoulder of Geordi, Troi and Crusher covered their mouths in joy, and Worf gave a proud smile.
"That's fantastic news, Ensign. Anything else you can tell us? Height, weight?" Picard asked.
"Um, no. I'm sorry, I'm not medically trained for that." Amanda admitted.
Picard nodded before one of the nurses spoke up.
"She has pink hair, blue eyes and her father's whisker marks." The older nurse of the two, added.
"50 centimeters long and weighing 7 pounds exactly." Crusher added.
"All clear guys!" Naruto called out to them.
"That's our queue." Riker smiled as he and the staff all surged into the room and surrounded the happy family.
"Hey guys. Say hi to Chiyo." Naruto smiled
The crew beheld a sleepy little bundle with pink fuzzy hair and an adorable set of whisker marks.
"Awww...she's adorable..." Troi gushed softly.
"Thank you." Sakura smiled. Her body was caked on sweat and her hair was sticking to her forehead, but to everyone looking at her she gave off a sense of radiance they had never noticed about her. Except for Naruto of course.
"She looks as if you two became one person." Picard smiled.
"That's usually what happens when two people have a baby, Picard." Crusher teased.
"Remarkable." Data commented in what appeared to be simulated awe.
'Is it me, or is it cute that Data would fake intrigue for our daughter?' Sakura thought to herself.
'Considering he Longs for emotions but is incapable of them I'd say that's pretty flattering.' Inner said.
"Thank you, Data." Sakura smiled.
"I'm going to make an announcement if you don't mind." Picard stated.
"Fire away." Naruto said.
"By all means." Sakura nodded.
Picard nodded before stepping outside so as not to disturb the baby.
"Attention crew of the Enterprise-E..." He spoke into his combadge. "Twice now the Romulans sought out our beloved vessel to use us as a rallying cry for their war against the Federation, and twice now we have repelled them. Not without great cost I'm afraid. The brave men and women lost today in the line of duty shall never be forgotten, not by Starfleet nor by any of us..." Picard paused to grant those honorable fallen a moment of silence. "However, amidst even the darkest clouds there is always a silver lining. For with all the crewmembers we have lost today, I am pleased to announce that we have gained a new one..." Picard smiled.
"She is 50 centimeters tall, weighing 7 pounds, with pink hair and blue eyes, born 0927 hours on stardate 478965. Born to our crew's most enigmatic couple; Lieutenant Naruto and Sakura Uzumaki. Please join me in welcoming aboard our newest crewmate, Chiyo Uzumaki."
Author's Note from Panda: Yes! We did it! Chiyo is born! The Uzumaki family is complete! Oh sweet merciful Buddha, this chapter was work. Had to be written, then rewritten because I thought it went by too fast. And now it is here and I am genuinely proud of it. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Tell us what you think. Justify our months of toil. And we will see you in the next one.