Chapter 1 – A Series of Chance Meetings

-Lab of William Birkin, Raccoon City Underground Laboratory; Early January 1998-

Ever since that night, all those years ago, Birkin had been making his case for more funding and support staff for the lab to Oswell E. Spencer, the CEO and co-founder of the Umbrella Corporation. And while he had made a case for funding and support for the G-virus that he discovered in Lisa Trevor at the Arklay Lab, Spencer wasn't so convinced with this new find of theirs.

Spencer had given them the money for "G" but he stated that the company was at their limit with money for funding new projects, although Wesker had confided with the Birkin's that Spencer possibly had a few connections to the government, it could be several years before he could get the necessary funds to get the new project off the ground.

So, William decided to cut back on some of the research time with "G", and simply bided his time for Spencer to consider again for funding the new venture, as well as hoarding some of the money from "G". Eventually just three months ago, Spencer had cleared William and Annette for funding, but it wasn't enough for all of what they needed, but they still had money from "G", and so their work began.

As time went by with the research, the Birkin's had become increasingly infatuated with the potential of the blood's potential.

At first when William began running through simulations on the samples, it showed potential for increased strength, speed, muscle mass, stamina, immunity to disease, zero fatigue, enhanced reflexes, etc. All of the things that could make one superhuman.

In the first stage of human trials they were able to acquire some volunteers with luck, however not long after the injection, about 5 minutes and 23 seconds later, the subjects began to convulse violently and one of two results ended their lives.

Result One: Their bodies developed boils and sores, and what appeared to be cancerous growths inside and on the exterior of their bodies developed that would kill them from the inside out, as their lungs began to fill with liquid and their throats began to expand and they choked for air.

Result Two: The bodies just began to boil from the inside out and they exploded violently.

This was not the outcome he and Annette had been expecting. They theorized that the cloned blood was the cause of their deaths, however they did not want to inject any of the source blood, and risk the possibility of the outcome being the same, and losing the precious source of their new work.

Wesker suggested exposing the T and G-viruses to the blood to see what type of reaction would result from the introduction of a foreign virus, after bacteria was absorbed and assimilated into the blood. The first trial was the T-virus, which resulted in the virus being assimilated into the blood no differently from the bacteria, however while the T-virus seemed to put up a fight in resisting, it appeared that the blood had created anti bodies to fight off and eradicate the T-virus. The result from this exposure gave them a possible vaccine against any outbreaks of the virus, though they now had made no less progress than before.

With the G-virus, the result was the same as T, and another possible vaccine was potential, along with the potential weapons that could be developed alongside it.

It wasn't until Annette made the unorthodox suggestion, "What if we took the 'T' strains we introduced to the cloned blood, and exposed them to the 'G' strains?" William wasn't so convinced, "Are you sure we should even try something like that? For all we know we could end up getting the same results from before."

"We're running out of funding, and Spencer won't have any more patience for the lack of results."

"I know that! But this, blood, these samples, I know it, with every fiber of my being that it is THE key, to creating the next generation of humans! Superior with so much potential with the simulations we ran; medicines and vaccines to cure any illness, hell it could have the potential to cure cancer for all we know!"

"Which is why this. Is. Our. Only. Option. Left." Annette spoke with a tone of finality in her voice. William new she was right, but they had never dealt with so many black boxes on a project. Never. They always knew which route to take, which options and resources were at their disposal, and what the results could become.

He lamented to his wife's decision after thinking it through. It wouldn't be long before Spencer learned of the lack of progress on their viral work, and ordered for the project to be terminated or handed off to someone else, "Alright, we've got no choice now. Let's do it."

William went to gather the exposed strains that they had performed a week earlier, while Annette prepped the experiment room, while making a call to Sherry while she was at school. William and Annette both loved their daughter unconditionally, and cherished every moment they could with her, but their research had always been a problem with spending time, and ever since their latest discovery, they had been unable to see Sherry as much as they wanted.

Once William brought the samples together and Annette exposed them to each other, the samples reacted to another. And while at first it seemed that the samples would have the same result as before with the previous two times, "I was so sure, we'd get some type of different reaction from this…"

"Well, I better get the research started back up on 'G'. God knows how much potential Spencer just threw down the toilet." William knew better that it was company policy to dispose of useless projects.

But then as Annette was about look away from the sample, something happened, "What?" What she saw astonished her. The blood sample turned from the traditional red, to black, on top of that, the liquid became slightly heavier than its original form, and it gained a sort of luster to it, reflecting the little bit of light that touched it. "William, you need to see this!"

"Annette, what are you…?" He stopped once he saw the sample, "Please tell me that's the reaction we've been looking for." His wife looked straight at him with the upmost confidence, "It is."

Not long after this little revelation, the Birkin's became obsessed with the new virus that they created: The X-virus.

It was named aptly so due to the unique "X" structure that had taken shape and developed within the virus after the manifestation from the blood samples they managed to scrape up, and thanks to TRICELL's breakthrough in cloned blood and the number of different x-factors that were needed to take into account with the development. They wouldn't have to worry about running low as the original blood samples were kept isolated in cold storage.

Not long after this, Wesker returned to the development and finalization of the T-virus, with only a few things left to take care of.

However, those outside Umbrella weren't the only ones to get wind of something new brewing in the company's secrets…

-The White House; Derek Clifford Simmons, National Security Advisor-

Derek Simmons, the National Security Advisor was finishing up a meeting with the president, after helping address some issues with lack of security within the nation, especially after the World Trade Center bombings. He received a page from one of his 'Family' members from Umbrella, and it was apparently a priority alert.

However, another one of the members approached him with a file that was labelled '1993 Anomaly'. The title alone told him enough of the contents inside, "I'll be in my office, and I don't want to be disturbed unless it's an emergency."

He walked on through the hallways, giving his usual 'friendly' nods to those he passed by, and entered his office where he did both official business on behalf of the United States, and unofficial business on behalf of the head of the Family.

He picked up the phone and dialed up his page, and began looking through the file that Umbrella picked up, "Yes, this is Simmons, what is it?"

"Sir, I have reason to believe that the Birkin's have begun research on a new line of viral work."

Simmons arched a brow. It wasn't that long ago, that Spencer had contacted him for more research funding on the G-virus, now they were developing a new type of virus? Not that he thought back, Spencer had used some of his own money for something else but what he didn't know. Now he knew what it was…

"Do we have a name on the new virus?"

"Not yet, but it's very recent, and they're being very secretive about it."

"Who else is involved with the work?

"From what little information we've gathered, it's just the two of them. Although Albert Wesker may have some knowledge of the new virus."

Ah, Wesker. Simmons had been keeping tabs on the man, as well as his estranged sister, Alex. The man born from the special program pertaining to the Progenitor virus, wasn't quite aligned with Umbrella as Spencer believed, especially when one of his own Family cells was beginning to become rather estranged and apparently Wesker had something to do with it.

No matter, he'd deal with it when the time came. As he was combing through the file in front of him, that's when someone's own set of documents, very recent and very light. "Get any intel you can on this new virus, and… extend an anonymous hand to William Birkin. Whatever Umbrella is offering, the US government will pay triple, and offer protection." Simmons hung the phone up as he looked through the compiled notes on this young man.

Name: Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze

Born: 1974; Okinawa, Japan

Age: 24

Height: 5' 11"

Weight: 246 lbs.

Blood Type: B-

Moved to the United States in the fall of 1993. No known relatives living or deceased. Current residence is Raccoon City, downtown district. Current employment is Kendo Gun Shop.

And that was all that was in the file. This stumped Simmons to no end. There had to have been more history on this man, as no single person had this little detailed history. He did see a small note on the file written by one of his people, 'Given the fact that this man appeared sometime around the same time as Umbrella discovered the crater anomaly, I can say without a doubt that there is a connection. The files I came across were good. So good, that I doubt anyone else would've noticed that his credentials were fake. Whatever connection that exists will likely be known to him, and only him. I recommend we get someone to try investigate this man further.'

Now this man had Simmons attention, and the connections were forming: 1993 was the year that this man just suddenly appeared out of thin air. The crater anomaly was theoretically linked to this man, and the Birkin's received funding from Spencer, and in a way for once by proxy himself, for new viral research, which he had already placed quite a bit of faith in the T-virus and G-virus acquisition.

Well, he had just the woman in mind to do some digging. It wasn't like she was already loaded with work, and she knew just how to juggle multiple jobs, and her intelligence and skill as a spy were unmatched and she carried out her missions with high efficiency and she had no equal.

He dialed up her phone over in Raccoon City where she was already undertaking a double-agent undercover mission with acquiring the G-virus. The dial came up a couple of times before she finally answered, "What is it Simmons…" The slightly annoyed tone came over the speaker, clearly not wanting to talk to the man. Although he went with a rather different tone, with appraisement, "Ada Wong. I know that right now, you're a little booked with your current job at the moment. However, I've recently come across some new intel that could pertain to it, and I'd like to offer you double your current rate if you're willing to take it up."

"…and this intel would be on…?" Simmons got up and took the files with him to the fax machine as he already had her on phone and began sending the files to her. "You'll be receiving the file on the individual within a moment at your current residence. I want you to try and make the connection if possible between the notes I've faxed to you. Also, the Birkin's have begun research on a new viral strain. I'd like you to acquire that as well along with the G-virus that your current mission is."

"You're asking a lot, Simmons. I'm still playing the role of the girlfriend for the better part of four months, and I'm still no closer to getting the G-virus."

"I wouldn't've sent this your way if I didn't think you could handle the extra work load. But you're a resourceful woman, I'm sure you can do it."

"Hmm… he's actually kind of cute in a way…" He knew she said that just get under his skin… then again…

"I'll expect anything soon?"

"You'll expect results when I get it. And there's no telling when that'll happen with this new tad bit of info and jobs." And with that final sentence, Ada hung up on him with the audible click, prompting Simmons to not so gently place the phone back on the jack.

-Kendo Gun Shop; Naruto-

"Hey Naruto, make sure to that the S.T.A.R.S. guns are ready to go when they get here." The young man that had once been a shinobi, was now working at gun shop owned by a pair of brothers. His appearance had changed a bit since that night, and adapting to his new home.

His hair had relatively stayed as it once was, although he kept it neat and trimmed. Much of the baby fat he had was almost non-existent, looking more lean and mature, and his whiskers were still present as ever. Some of the women that he saw would glance at him, and usually murmurs of 'cute', 'handsome' and 'hot' would come out of their mouths, and some of their boyfriends looked on with jealousy. Hell, he remembered Jiraiya calling him a natural ladies man when they were travelling and he occasionally had sit in one of those damn taverns, while the pervert did his 'research' and some women just up and talked and flirted with him.

"You got it boss man." Ever since he arrived, he had been simply living from shadow to shadow, looking for a way back home, but he found nothing and accepted that odds are he'd never see the Leaf Village again. So, he needed to figure out how to live in this new world, which was far more complicated and difficult than his old one.

For one thing, he needed to learn the language, and at first his Shadow Clones came to mind for reducing all the time it took to learn, but when he tried to get a few dozen clones out, only a meager five were able to appear, and he was shocked. When he first came here he knew he felt less powerful than before, but he had no idea just how much of his power he lost. He couldn't even hear Kurama, and after seeing what was up, the fox was in a coma, and there was no telling when he would wake up…

So, he would have some bit of his power, but not as much as it once was. He was able to learn the language thanks to Shadow Clones, but it took longer than it did to create Rasenshuriken, which was annoying and he was able to setup up some fake credentials, social security whatever the hell that was, a background history, and he was able to get a decent job to support himself.

In the last five years since he arrived, he had been retraining and conditioning his body to build up his reserves back to what it once was, and while he could say that he outmatched pretty much everyone on the planet, he still wasn't satisfied with it. All he could do was to keep the progress up, and wait for Kurama to wake from his coma.

The bell from the front door rang as a woman in a S.T.A.R.S. uniform minus any tac-gear stepped through, and Naruto knew just who she was, "Ms. Valentine, always good to see you stroll in. Here to pick up the new handguns, I take it?"

Jill Valentine was an officer of Raccoon's S.T.A.R.S. unit, and part of the Alpha Team. "You know I just prefer to be called Jill, instead Fishcake…" Naruto rolled his eyes at the nickname she gave him when the first met. Turns out she understood Japanese pretty well thanks to her mother teaching her, while her father taught her French. The usual benefits of having multinational parents.

"At least I'm tasty." Referring back to the night they first met. Which Jill seemed to twitch a brow at that along with fighting down a minor blush, but it was more on herself, though she wasn't going to let that get to her, so she just went along with it.

"And how many women have gotten a taste?"

"None, actually, if you can believe it."

Jill laughed a bit at that, she always thought that he was some sort of player, but it was funny to hear something like that come from him, "Well anyways, yes I'm here for the new customs."

Naruto already had them ready in the case, four weapons that he and the Kendo brothers had created at the request of the Police captain for the S.T.A.R.S., the brothers had some trouble with the specifics on the handguns, although Naruto was able to help out and improve upon the weapons. "And here we are, just as requested, but heavily improved upon by yours truly."

The result was the Berretta 92F Custom 'Samurai Edge'.

Thanks to Naruto's own input into the design, function and customizable flexibility, the model had been significantly improved upon. "The magazine capacity had been doubled to about 20 rounds, it has fixed sights along with laser aiming module attached beneath the barrel to improve the accuracy, the effective range had been extended from 25 to 40 yards, it has the option of swapping between semi-auto, two-burst, and at times full auto if you want it, the weight has been reduced to 25 ounces when unloaded. If you guys want to make any other adjustments to the guns, you could do it yourself, or swing by here again and I can do something about."

Jill whistled in appreciation, "You really know how to make a gun look beautiful." She looked at the firearms and saw that each of them looked the same although she spotted one in particular that grabbed her attention. She picked it up out of the case and handled it with care as she aimed down the sights away from the counter, "I didn't know you had my name engraved on the handle of one."

Naruto arched an eyebrow, while he glanced to the back where Robert was, holding back a smirk, and failing miserably. Ah, of course it was his boss that would mess with him on how his first meeting with Jill went down…

-Flashback; October 1997, Bar Black Jack-

It was around nine in the evening, and the football game was on, and Naruto was apparently given some extra cash by his boss to spend out after doing almost nothing but spending most of his time at the gun shop whether it be cleaning, modifying or anything at the place, saying "You really need to get out sometime and enjoy yourself, you work too damn hard sometimes."

"Heh, not like I have much of anything else to do but that and train and condition myself." He took a swig of some of the sake that was rather sparse. It didn't taste like the sake back home, though he quit that thinking quickly. All that would follow would be just a bunch of crap that he didn't need right now.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulders, "H-hey, I'm kinda wondering, but… are those whiskers like tattoos you got on a dare, or are they real whiskers?" He turned around halfway through the woman's sentence and could already tell that she was drunk, just by the way she was talking. Then of course her face was red, and the dazed look in her eyes showed that she had been hit pretty badly, and she couldn't handle the booze.

'I guess I can indulge her for a bit.'

"They're birthmarks if that's what you want to know." He looked to see the open beer bottle in hand, that was empty, guess she was out of it enough to not realize that she drank the whole thing. "You sure you're alright miss…"

Her eyes widened a bit in the drunk stupor, "Oh, oh, right. Y-yeah, I'm Jill Valentine, I work in S.T.A.R.S. in the RPD, sorry 'bout that I just… those whiskers looked so cute though…" She rubbed her finger on his cheek and he had to suppress the urge to give in to the pleasurable humming that would follow with such actions. He gently took her hand that felt warm and soft, and placed it away from his own personal space while she just made a cute pouting face, "Aww… you're no fun."

"I'm Naruto since you decided to introduce yourself, are you sure you're alright? You look like you've had enough to drink for the night."

The dazed and happy look took on again, "Naruto? Y-you're named after a fishcake? There any chance I can get a taste…" And then she got a little upset with his last sentence, 'Guess she can only focus on one thing at a time, even if it's unimportant.'

"…and I can take a drink I'll have you know. This stuff isn't enough to knock me on my ass… well yet…" She looked at the bottle before tossing it in a nearby garbage can, before she turned her attention back to Naruto, "So what brings a looker like you into Raccoon? Huh~…"

"I live here in case you're wondering."

"You here to meet a woman?" She sat on the bar stool next tom him as she proper her head up with her arm, while just looking at him with that happy-drunk look. She was about to say something next before a man came to drag her out of the hole she was no doubt digging in stupor, "Come on Jill, you've had enough for the night and you need to get home and be ready for the monster hangover that's gonna hit you."

She moaned as her face scrunched up in displeasure, "Chris, you're killing me here. I was putting the moves on this whiskered fishcake guy, and you just had to ruin it." Her head went down to the bar as she moaned some more.

Her friend, now named Chris just shook his head, "You really should've stopped after the third bottle." He turned to Naruto with an apologetic look, "Sorry about this, she can't really handle strong beer all that much. I'm Chris Redfield." He stuck his hand out for Naruto to take as they shook hands. They say that you can tell just how trustworthy a person is by their handshake, and Naruto could tell he could trust the man with his life if it cam down to a life or death situation. "Name's Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you, and your…" He pointed to Jill who was still face down on the bar, "…friend, Jill here, wasn't really being obnoxious or anything, but I think she's had enough for the night."

"Yeah, she can't handle the hard stuff all that well." Chris took Jill's arm as he brought her up and slung the arm over his shoulder to help her out, "Come on Jill, you're done for the night."

Drunken Jill shook her head, "Nuh uh… I still gotta give Mr. Tasty over there my number…" She tried to pull out a pen, but her coordination skills weren't really there, so she fumbled for it, "…Chris, can you give him my number?"

Chris just nodded and sighed in exasperation, "Yes, Jill, I'll give him your number when I see him next time." Jill was slowing going out, "…cool…" And thus, the snoring began.

-Present-

"Well thanks for that. I'm heading back to the office, so I'll catch you later Naruto." Jill exited the shop with Naruto waving his goodbyes "See ya Jill." Robert came from the back and just shook his head at Naruto, confusing the ninja, "What?"

"You really don't know when to make a move do you? Seriously, have you ever been on a date with a woman in the last five years?"

"Not, really no… why are you asking this boss man?"

The weapon store owner just sighed, "I've known you ever since you applied here, and not once have a seen or heard from you about getting an actual life, and being social with others or getting with a woman."

"Well, maybe I just haven't found the right one yet." Robert laughed at that, "Kid, trust me, odds are the right one just walked out the front door just a second ago. Don't hesitate next time to ask the damn woman on a date, trust me, because odds are if you don't make the move first, someone else will. And then you're shit out of luck." Robert just looked down and shook his head in a slight bit of disappointment. He had known Jill Valentine for a few years from when she was brought as part of S.T.A.R.S., and he knew that pretty much any guy was intimidated by her, hence why she was never seen with another guy unless they were her partner such as Chris Redfield.

To Naruto, well it had been sometime since he had actually been on a date, namely the one he had with Sakura shortly after the war, and ever since coming here, he wasn't sure if he should let go of her. He had been chasing her for years and when he finally had her, she was gone. Just like that.

Maybe his boss had a point. Maybe he should just move on and get back into the game. He mused his thoughts before he realized something, "Wait, were you the one who had Jill's name engraved on her gun?"

Robert shook his head while he just smirked, "Nope that was my brother's idea." Naruto scowled at that. Robert's brother, Joseph was a sneaky little bastard. He was there that night when he first met Jill, and he knew, he just fucking knew that he had to have had a hand in the engraving, "I'm going to kick your brothers ass…"

"Good luck, he's outta town for looking to set up another shop somewhere. Speaking of which I'll be manning that store over here, while you man this one for the time being."

"Wait, really? You want me to manage this place?"

"I don't see why not. You know how everything works around here, and plus business has been slow lately so I figured you could use some of the time to yourself if you need it."

After the rest of the day had gone by with Robert over at his brother's shop, Naruto mostly stayed in the back while he worked on some of the weapons they had and filling out custom orders, and with business being slow for the day and it almost closing time, he shut things down early while he called Robert up and gave the approval.

So, with nothing else going on, he figured he'd head to the bar and grab a drink or two, and see if Jill or Chris was there. Although he was unaware of who he'd be meeting there…

"Hey, Jack, the usual please." Naruto waved to the bar owner who he knew for a while since coming almost regularly to the place, so the man knew just the kind of brew he preferred. He noticed a woman sitting on one of the bar stools as well although, something was off and his instincts told him to be careful around her.

He calmly sat down on the stool away from her, just to be on the safe side; Jack brought him a glass of sake prompting Naruto to drink and watch the news concerning the execution of one of the men involved with the World Trade Center bombings. Jack turned up the tv to listen in on things, while Naruto was tuning it out a bit, and using his peripherals to keep an eye on the silent woman who in turn watched the news. Although she had yet to touch her drink ever since he sat down.

Just because he didn't have an issue yet since he got here, it didn't mean he'd let his guard down and not expect to get caught one day.

It seemed she sensed the tense air that he was throwing up unintentionally and decided to break the ice as best she could without giving anything away, "You come here often?" Her voice was smooth and friendly, but he detected a hint of coldness underneath it. He decided to indulge her and respond as he turned to face her, and get a better look at his possible enemy, "It's a nice place to come and get a drink every so often. You have a name miss…"

"Ada Wong." He could tell from the way she was sitting, and her posture, that she was like those of the ANBU from home. She had skill and she could more than likely back up any bark she made with equal bite, even if you didn't see it. She was good, although he wasn't sure on what level she was, "Well, where are my manners. I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

She raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "So where're you from? A name like that had to have come from Japan." He gave her credit, she was good at making you feel relaxed, and no doubt her appearance gave her an edge in using her sexuality as a tool. He did have to admit, she certainly held a beauty unlike any other, and she made the color red look damn good.

"Born in Japan, but no parents, so I grew up there for a while before finally moving overseas to here. You? You're name sounds Chinese if I'm not mistaken." Ada smiled lightly as she closed her eyes. She must've realized that he was onto her little game and he was playing along and turning things around a bit, so she took a swig of her own drink. Fine wine that Jack rarely brought out if he wasn't mistaken from the aroma, "Tell you what, let's play a little game. You'll ask a question and I'll answer and vice versa. If one doesn't answer or if the answer is too late…" leaving the sentence open ended for him to guess as she smirked.

"…punishable by a drink."

She raised her brows in amusement, "Oh~, so you've played this little game before?" Naruto lightly chuckled humorously, "You could say that… so, where to begin, Ms. Wong?" He smiled in the game could end up winning… but then again, she probably saw this coming and prepped accordingly.

Ada certainly had to say this, he was interesting for being a target of interest. He didn't seem like he was on to her, which worked in her favor, and getting a better look at him in person did give him a certain appeal that a lot of women wouldn't object to being around. Not only that, she never was one to not have fun on the job. Might as well be with a guy like this.

"Well, let's see…"

-Birkin's Lab; X-virus Human Testing Section-

Experimentation with the virus had produced very powerful and very interesting results, mostly from their first phase of testing on worms, to be on the safe side. And after leaving them alone for at the least twenty minutes or so, their mutation was extravagant…

Birkn decided to follow in his teacher's footsteps and use animals in the first phase of testing and used worms as the first subjects of the X-virus. After injecting the worms which mutated within 21.4 minutes into what he came to call 'Hammerpede's'. The Hammerpedes had pale, white-grey skin with a somewhat translucent appearance, attributes that resemble those of deep sea fish that lived in the dark trenches of the ocean where light never shined. The Hammerpedes also developed into serpent-like bodies grew up to 4 feet long. Their 'crests' were reminiscent of the hoods possessed by cobras. These 'crests' could be folded in and out around the creature's mouth that developed three separate fangs that they used for hooking into potential enemies. They possessed incredible strength, able to break bones rather easily, which was demonstrated when an UBCS security officer attempted to remove one from a fellow researcher's forearm that was soon snapped. They also possessed a natural ability to regenerate themselves from wounds and life-threatening injuries such as having their tails cut off when the UBCS soldier cut it off the researcher's arm, but the Hammerpede leapt to sink its fangs into the man's jugular and ripped it out, as it then concentrated back on its original prey and suffocated the researcher when he tried to leave the room.

Birkin had watched the whole incident on screen and after acquiring data from that, he had increased security measures put in place to ensure he didn't lose any more people during the research.

But now they would be doing human testing. After the initial tests on worms, William needed a human subject that odds are, no one was going to miss. And with luck, one fell into their hands: Kurtis Stahl. A man that was sentenced to death by lethal injection after committing multiple murders, a grand total of twelve lives he had taken and with some extra bribes Annette threw at Irons, the police chief was able to give them the convict after making a show of his death for the families own mind of peace and transported him secretly to the Umbrella facility.

Kurtis was a well-built man with a strong muscular figure, at least 300 pounds, and he had a good health record with no genetic history of disease or disabilities, making him a prime candidate for being the first human subject for X.

William had already prepped the X-virus injection vile while they strapped the unconscious Stahl to a chair and lowered him into a pit for safety, "Well, time to wake up Mr. Stahl." He slapped the man out of his sleep which prompted him to be confused, "W-what? What the hell is all of this?! Where the fuck am I?!" He spat that last sentence out angrily at Birkin.

"Well, Mr. Stahl, you're now the property of Umbrella, and I'm Dr. William Birkin, your new caretaker and the man who will now be in control of your life." He spoke smugly to the man. "You see, you've just been killed in Raccoon City Prison from a lethal injection, and now you're a dead man. No one will miss you. And no one, will give a damn about you."

"Fuck you! I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!"

Birkin shook his finger, "Tsk tsk tsk." He shook his head soon afterwards like a parent in disappointment of their child screwing something up. "Now that isn't what the lab rats say to the scientist. They're supposed to stay silent and let the scientist do their work on them, and live with whatever results come their way." Birkin brought up the X-virus syringe and held it up for Kurtis to see, which confused the man, but it also scared him a little with sweat starting to develop on his forehead, "What the hell is that black shit in your hand?"

"This beautiful little piece of work, Stahl…" Birkin gestured with his free hand to the needle with the black liquid dripping, "…is the X-virus. And you're going to have the honor of being the first human in history to have it injected into you. Now, we're going to give you two separate injections, just to be sure we've gotten everything right. Can't be too sure with just one. The first will go into the deep muscle tissue, won't even hurt a bit…" The man gestured with his hands to not worry so much, "…but then we're going to inject the second injection into the bone marrow. The bone ones are going to hurt like hell. Unlike anything you've ever felt before in your life." Birking finished with a small smile after seeing Kurtis sweat like a pig, he was afraid now, just like his victims. A poetic sense of justice Birkin guessed with being sentenced to a fate possibly worse than death with this virus in his system.

"You, you sick fucks… the lot of ya all! The fuck is wrong with you people?!" He spat out in fear and anger.

"Well, let's get started Mr. Stahl." Birkin gestured for several UBCS soldiers to help keep the convict restrained, while Birkin brought the needle closer to Kurtis' neck for the first injection, "Wait, wait, you don't gotta do this man! Nononono no no nooaaggghh!"

-Naruto's Apartment-

Naruto jolted awake as the sun was rising up to signal the start of a new day. "What the hell was that?" He swore he felt a spike of something, but then again, his senses could've been playing tricks on him. He felt that other side of his bed was empty telling him that Ada had left before he even woke up, "Huh, guess she isn't the type to sleep with the same guy twice." Last night he and Ada had swapped questions and some answers and they both decided to take it back to his apartment and finish things up from there with some 'extra fun'.

He sighed at that. While he had hardly considered getting a girlfriend when he came here, and after Robert berating him a bit for not getting one, he figured he'd take his shot with this woman who despite how she seemed, she was also in a way intoxicating. He hadn't felt that same vibe from other women in this world, like he did with many of those back home who were trained in the shinobi arts, and he missed it. He guessed that was why he decided to go the extra miles and invite her back to his place and get cozy for a few hours.

Not to say he didn't enjoy it, but rather he was hoping to wake up to her in the morning, either just getting up or still asleep with him. However, he noticed a notecard with no doubt her lips having kissed it showing her signature in a way, so his curiosity certainly got the better of him and read the contents inside, "Naruto, thanks for the fun time last night. You were a lot more interesting than most other people and I enjoyed our time. Sorry for having to leave before you woke up, but I had some business to attend. Let's meet up again sometime."

Naruto laughed at that, "Well, I guess she did enjoy my company last night. Shame though we never got through the whole questions 'n' drinking game though. Oh, well." He got up out of bed to feel a major draft, but he knew that the windows weren't open, so he looked down to see that he had no pants on…

"Wow, I don't remember that. Eh, oh well, least she enjoyed last night." Naruto got ready for just another average day, in his average life, although he wouldn't say he didn't want to see Ada again.

-July-

Well, it had been a several months since he met Ada at the bar, but he never heard from her again after getting a letter a week after. She said that she had to deal with problems concerning family and that there was no telling when she'd be back, although he had a feeling it was just a cover for something else entirely, but for what he didn't know.

Over the last few months, weird things had been happening in Raccoon City. People disappearing, the local water supply possibly being poisoned, a possible scandal brewing the police department, etc.

He had been filling out more custom orders every now and then that varied greatly from handguns to rifle, hell he even got a custom order for a military grade crossbow. But there was one other that he took pride in crafting; the VP70 'Matilda' handgun. Apparently, the order came from a guy over at the police academy outside the city, and his girlfriend came to collect it, although she didn't seem all that happy when she came in to pick it up. Well it wasn't really his business to get involved with other people's relationships, so it wasn't his problem.

But he couldn't get that night out of his head, for some reason he knew something was up, and whatever it was, there was something coming, and he'd be prepared for the storm that would arrive. So, he decided to customize a magnum for his own certain style of fighting that would go with the wakizashi that belonged to his mother that Jiraiya gave to him after their three-year trip, and while he had the Gunbai that he took as a trophy from the war, he didn't want that to be seen since the ones he saw in this world were so much smaller and only held communications purposes and were outdated by centuries.

And thus, he crafted the 'Lighting Hawk' magnum, a powerful semi-auto gun that could blow away enemies in an instant almost. He threaded the barrel to allow for a suppressor to be attached along with a slight extension on the barrel if he wanted to increase the range. He didn't really need a sight of sorts since his eyesight was better than anyone else's although he did have a laser aiming module should anyone need to use it in an emergency, and the kick back of the weapon was reduced significantly to allow faster firing speed and aiming.

"Well, guess I better get the rest of my stuff together for when shit hits the fan." He closed up the shop the rest of the night, and made his way back to the apartment where prepared thing to move if he needed to make an escape.

-Umbrella Facility; Birkin's Lab, X-virus Subject Holding Area-

William looked down into the circular holding pen, as he aptly named for Stahl, their human subject 1. After injecting Kurtis with the virus, they left the room while his shackles were undone and he was too weak to do anything.

The symptoms of the infection were that Stahl began to experience hallucinations, coupled with poor motor skills and loss of balance as he tried to find a way out of the room after about eight minutes. After about another ten minutes, further symptoms of infection resulted in his circulatory system becoming visible via the virus spreading of the 'black ooze' that they had come to call and putting the convict in excruciating pain as his body was being rewritten, slowly and painfully.

Once the virus had finalized the man's body, his appearance has changed drastically and now possess a blue smooth body, four fingers, a thumb and plantigrade legs. His mouth possessed two different teeth sets, the top jaw having teeth typical to herbivores, while his lower jaw had sharp teeth spread apart, the gum that protrudes behind the top possesses sharp teeth. His head was also elongated significantly with a pointed tip at the end, and his eyes became no longer visible as the new tissue that covered his head was part of his body.

It took the virus a time of 31.6 minutes to finalize with infecting the host completely and rewrite the body. Something they would need to speed up with.

At first when Stahl had been completely turned, he acted like an animal sniffing for a way out, only for the walls to give him a very painful shock, and then for chloroform gas to be introduced into the room to knock him out, which took at least 45 minutes to accomplish.

Stahl began to exhibit more animalistic behavior as time went by, resulting in the theory that the X-virus reduced intelligence to a degree due to part of the T-virus, and the heavy mutation due to the G-virus, though intelligence reduction could also have been part of the G introduction as well, though they would need to do more testing and experimentation for more solid proof.

They would have several different types of meat brought in, whether it be raw or even still alive at times to see how the diet of an infected host was, and it didn't come as a surprise that Stahl treated his meals just like any other animal would. There were art times were Stahl would refuse a meal and simply curl up in the middle of the room and rest, but no one could say if he truly was asleep or awake due to him no longer having visible eyes with them now in a sense gone and under the thick fleshy membrane that covered his head.

They wanted to test and see if the virus was capable of transmitting like the T-virus, but when they had Stahl bite on a Rottweiler that was slated for T-virus testing, they discovered that strangely enough it didn't transfer over to the dog's body, so in a way, G's own way of reproduction was the way it would spread X around to other hosts, although they didn't want to test that theory out… yet…

Wesker came up next to Birkin to speak with him as Stahl ate another one of his meals for the day, "How has progress been on Stahl?"

"Given that we're still working on multiple viral strains, I need more time to get G and X off the ground and perfected. T still needs combat data, and I still need more time on G, and double that for X. And out of all three viral strains, X shows the most potential, I don't see why Spencer still wants G around."

Birkin and Wesker turned away from Stahl's room as they continued talking, "How much trouble is the subject worth anymore?" Wesker knew about some of the progress they had been making with X, but it was slow, as was G's own development meanwhile he picked up the slack with T. And while he heard some of the test concluded Birkin's own belief that the X-virus was the key to creating superhumans, Stahl's own appearance showed that they were just a super animal, and the intelligence was just dumbed down to a dog's level.

"We've had some trouble with Stahl several times before, though we've had to increase the voltage strength of the walls, and the dosage, potency and time length of the gas to knock him out, with each of his 'violent episodes'. If anything, his body is adapting to what we throw at him, it's amazing, but at the same time it's frightening. We lost a researcher and UBCS soldier to just one of the Hammerpede's when we tried to analyze the effects the virus had on them, but I'd rather not risk anymore research staff and security. Especially if Stahl does try to escape, and there's no telling how he'll reproduce given that we know T's transmission method doesn't work, so if anything, G's method is the way he'll reproduce."

"Have you considered that Stahl may not even reproduce in the same way that G does?" A research assistant came walking towards Birkin and Wesker as they spoke, and was looking over some notes, until he looked up and dropped the papers and a scared mixed with worry look painted his face.

"Well we…" Birkin saw the assistant drop the reports, and spoke to him, "…what is it?" The researcher shakily raised a pointed finger over towards the viewing window and it while you could never tell with Wesker behind those shades of his that he wore almost every damn day, Birkin was shocked at the sight.

Stahl had been clinging to the window's surface with blood dripping from his 'claws' and mouth, and looking directly at Birkin. His 'face' per say was pressed up against the glass and his breath could be seen with bits of flesh coming out every bit or so, "What the hell? You've never been able to do that."

Stalh seemed to growl at that, prompting Wesker to ponder a question out loud, "Just what else can you do?" And as if Stahl heard Wesker, he turned to face him next and a slight hiss came out. Birkin had enough of this, "Alright you animal, time for you to get another lesson…" Birkin strode over to the control panel and raised the containment level up once more since the last time, and hit the button. As the room began to flood with gas, and the walls became electrified as Stahl lost his 'grip' of sorts and hit the walls with a pained screech that rang through the area, but he was silenced soon with the gas having taken effect.

Birkin grabbed the microphone that went into the room, "Don't try to struggle Stahl… it's pointless, you're an animal now. A subject that no one gives a damn about, remember that." Birkin was having enough of this. As of now he was considering asking Chief Irons to get him another death row inmate for research, however Annette had previously convinced him that keeping Stahl alive would further their research with getting a new one would set them back.

"Are you sure that's smart of you to say?" Wesker was looking back the pained sleeping form of Stahl in the fetal position, shivering in pain. Birkin just looked at Wesker like he had grown two heads, "Why shouldn't I? He's just an animal now, and nothing's going to change that. He needs to learn like a dog that we're above and he's beneath us, always has been, always will be."

"Really? You've stated in your research reports that his intelligence has been degraded to that of a dog's, but from what I just saw, that may not be the case. And when he first became this new creature, he had attacked multiple places within the room, but only once, and that every time containment measures needed to be brought up…" Wesker took his shades off to get a better look at Stahl as he turned away from Birkin, thinking back on that night he found the large blood sample, "…this new virus is still very unknown to us, and we've only just scratched the surface. For all we know, whatever remained of Kurtis Stahl, could still be in that creature." He placed his shades back on and pulled a notepad out as he wrote down some specifics for Birkin, "We need to test Stahl's combat capabilities, as well as the T-virus as that project is nearing completion. I want you to throw T-subjects at him: Rottweilers, Hunters, Tyrants, the works, meanwhile I conduct my own data collection/containment at the Spencer mansion over at Arklay."

"You want to do what?! If we throw him to the T-virus subjects we could lose valuable work with him!"

"We will be seeing the combat capabilities of both T and X, either way we still get results and data necessary for our research. Besides, you can always get another convict from death row for research into X." He finished up the note and tore it from the pad and put it in Birkin's chest as he went to the researcher who had picked up the files and handed it to Wesker. He arranged the files back into order as he showed them off to Birkin. "I've already compiled the list for both the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha and Bravo Teams, they'll make the perfect candidates due to their superior combat training against the B.O.W.'s."

Wesker showed the dossiers off one by one to Birkin, "Barry Burton will act as the second-in-command on Alpha and as weapons expert. He can easily be manipulated into serving our purposes. I know his weaknesses. I know how to twist his arm if necessary." He glanced over at Birkin as he was shown a picture of Barry's family. While Birkin knew that he needed to cross some lines in order to get further in life, he was still a father, and a family man. Wesker just hoped that bleeding soft spot of his didn't compromise their plan.

"The Bravo team will be led by Enrico Marini. He's got the most field experience, and he doesn't seem to be afraid of anything."

"Richard Aiken is our communications expert. I think he could reach China with a CB radio."

"Our resident medic is Rebecca Chambers. She'll be worthless in a fight, but she's trained in emergency medicine."

"And in case the T-virus gets out, I've recruited one of S.T.A.R.S.'s best chemists, Kenneth J. Sullivan."

"The team's sniper is Forest Speyer. He's never missed a shot."

"I'm going to lead the Alpha team. I've assigned Joseph Frost to my team. He's the only one who knows anything about Raccoon City, and I want to be able to keep an eye on him. He's our vehicle expert."

"Brad Vickers is the computer expert and also our resident coward. He's known as 'Chickenheart' because he runs at the first sign of danger."

"Chris Redfield is an old friend of Burton's. He was kicked out of the Air Force for insubordination. Apparently, he was on a top-secret mission and one of the members of his team was injured. His superiors ordered him to leave the man behind, but Redfield refused."

"Burton also recommended Jill Valentine. He tells me she's the 'Master of Unlocking'."

Wesker had concluded over the dossiers, now it was with the beginning phase of the plan, "The Raccoon City Police Department is sending in the Bravo team to investigate Raccoon Forest. Don't worry about them finding anything. This team's too green to cause problems, and I've made sure they'll have a little engine trouble on the way. That should distract them from actually discovering anything."

Birkin nodded in agreement. While Umbrella had been testing the T-virus over the years, they were close and this was the best plan they had to contain the unfortunate slash fortunate outbreak of the T-virus, and keep the news from circulating. They would gather combat data, contain the outbreak and discover the source in one fell swoop, "Alright. I'll gather my things and let Annette know about the situation with Stahl."

"Wait, there's one more thing you need to be informed of concerning X." Birkin turned back around to come face to face with a very short dossier on one Naruto Uzumaki, a current resident of Raccoon. "After doing some more thorough investigation into the crater anomaly we found in '93, I believe that he is the source of the blood samples currently in cold storage." Birkin was shocked at this. He was at a loss for words, as he had been painstakingly researching with the blood for years to create the X-virus, and now that the source of said blood was within the city, he needed the man, dead or alive. Either way he couldn't care less for the condition of him. He needed this man.

"Alright, how are we going to get him? Get HUNK and Alpha Team to apprehend him?" Wesker shook his head, "No. This man was able to evade us for the better part of five years, and not once did we ever encounter him. No, if we're going to draw him out and capture him alive, we'll need to bring him into the Spencer mansion where we can gain combat data on himself, and see just how strong he truly is. If Stahl is just a poor man's rendition of the simulation you ran on the X-virus, then odds are, he will be just as superior minus the animal instinct."

"But how will we draw him out to the mansion?"

"You let me worry about that."

-Ada-

It had been several months since she was forced to leave Raccoon City, otherwise her cover story would've been blown and her missions would be considered a massive failure. Something she was not known for in her line of work. She had hoped that writing to John and Naruto on her 'excuse' would buy her the time necessary to get this over with and back to the city, and keep Simmons out of her hair.

She called in a few favors she was owed and made sure they would make their due, but now she was going to be partially in charge of something major. She was reading over some of the letters she had gotten from John, just to see if her cover was still strong with him.

"Dear Ada, May 4, 1998

The T-virus research continues. We're seeing unexpected effects when it's introduced into different types of living material. Instead of increasing the subject's strength and healing ability, some subjects actually begin to deteriorate.

I think I can correct the problem, and I', still hopeful that my work may lead to a significant breakthrough in cancer research. In any case, it may be years before we're ready to start working with human subjects.

I could really use your help—I'm still pushing Albert to give you security clearance so you can join my team. My life completely changed when I came to Raccoon City and met you. Looking back, it seems like I spent my whole life preparing for this job…

Ever since high school, I always knew I'd end up with a career in science. But I never dreamed that it could lead to someone like you.

Even at BIT, I spent all my time on bio-engineering and the properties of white and red blood cells—work that I still do for Umbrella.

My doctoral thesis on bio-engineering cures for viral blood infection led to several Presidential appointments, but the government moved too slowly for my taste.

We were always waiting for funding or approval from some bureaucrat. Plus, I hate making speeches and shaking hands.

Getting an offer from Umbrella seemed perfect—it was privately funded and I could continue the research I'd started at BIT. But the best part has turned out to be meeting you.

I hope that your family problems will be sorted out soon, and you'll be back before the real testing begins."

"Huh, it's funny… I hardly give a damn about this guy and yet he somehow manages to make me care a little." She looked over another letter that had been written a few days later on the 16th of May.

"Dear Ada,

I'm glad now that I couldn't get you on my team. Things have taken a turn for the worse. The T-virus has turned subject MA-39 into some kind of monster.

The previous physical deterioration gave way to an unexplained increase in strength and aggression that seems linked to a decrease in brainwave activity. It broke its restraints and escaped the lab. I pray that it doesn't reach the city.

And after what happened some time ago with a fellow researcher and security guard at another one of our facilities, I hope that Umbrella will take care of the situation before it gets out of hand. Dr. Birkin's work has been very secretive as of late with something called, 'X'. I don't know all of the details, but from what I've heard through the grapevine, is that it will speed up our research with the T-virus significantly once it's been researched thoroughly.

I also seem to be coming down with some kind of flu. Things are so hectic that I don't have time to take care of myself and the MA-39 disaster has me too worried to sleep. I feel run down all the time and my body is beginning to show the results."

She knew that Umbrella had been doing a lot of animal testing with their work, but to hear that some people had been killed wasn't expected. She knew that Umbrella had safety measures in place to prevent deaths, although the last bit that John wrote to her had her concerned. She went to the last letter she received dated on the 31st of that same month.

"Dear Ada,

I'm scared. Somehow, people in the compound have been exposed to the T-virus. I don't understand how this could have happened, but it has.

I'm starting to feel paranoid. Have I been infected? Who are the strange men I can feel watching over me? What is the T-002 subject? Have they tricked me into working on some kind of biological weapon?

We're testing everyone in the compound. We'll know the results within a week. I won't be able to live with myself if you've been infected by something I worked on.

I love you, John."

Well, now it made sense to her, and after going through some of Umbrella's dirty history, they were being used as lab rats for the T-virus and how humans reacted to it. But now part of her cover had been gone, although she knew that John kept a picture of the two of them in his work station and his team and other research staff members knew that she was his 'girlfriend', so there was that the least.

But now this setback may give her the chance to find that connection that Simmons asked for along with the G-virus, and this new X-virus that John no doubt mentioned.

All she had to do now was ride this out until mid-September, and return to Raccoon City for the missions.

Her thoughts went back to Naruto due to her new situation, and when she would no doubt meet him again, and she already had a good story to give him. But one thing bothered her: he may have not been around her for very long. After all, one doesn't just get to know someone after a few drinks in a bar and some time alone together in an apartment cultivating into a one-night stand, and while she needed to get more out of him, it seemed like he wanted to get to know her. But to see through her visage and know her on a more personal level, more so than John.

And in her line of work, having a relationship was dangerous. If it came down to it, well she wasn't sure if she couldn't oblige him on a second date if their night could be called one.

-NEXT: THE SPENCER MANSION INCIDENT-

I think I'll stop this chapter here. There was a lot of exposition and not enough character development, though just enough to keep you guys interested in this story hopefully. Truth be told, trying to fill in five years' worth of events from the prologue into leading towards the Spencer Mansion Incident would be incredibly difficult, so I just used a time skip to and some of the mentioned above stuff to move things along.

Also, I hope you guys were able to bear the drunken Jill dialogue. Trying to write someone drunk was pretty damn difficult. As for pairings, well it's still up in the air, so I'll let you guys keep guessing.

Now with other Resident Evil events, Naruto won't appear in Zero's storyline as I feel that is more of Rebecca's story to grow and develop into the person we see in Vendetta, and Code: VERONICA is more Claire's story as well. Dead Aim will not be feature in this story as it doesn't have a whole lot to do with what goes on in the main stories of the numbered entries and the Revelations entries. Operation: Javier may or may not be done as this would introduce Naruto to Jack Krauser and the T-Veronica virus, although like the first tow mentioned they are more focused on one character's development and this one being Leon's development.

Speaking of the Revelation entries I'm still rather split on if Naruto should be involved with those storylines. The first one dealing with the FBC-Il Veltro Conspiracy and the BSAA getting to the bottom of it, while the second one showing that Alex Wesker abducted members of TerraSave and Claire & Moira trying to escape and Barry going back for his daughter only to also encounter Natalia. So, I'll let you guys once whether or not Naruto should get involved with these events.

Now with the appearance of the first-generation victims of the X-virus, for those of you who saw it, you know what came up and pictured it. I know I will more than likely get flak for doing this, but the franchise isn't bad, but I feel that Ridley Scott needed to think it through a little more and not be so inclined to studio requests and decisions when it comes to the story, quality and development of a film series, especially when the guy freakin' started the series in '79 and it still remains a smash hit!

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and please no flames but constructive criticism. And please leave reviews that will tell me what you guys liked and disliked about the chapter, as it doesn't really help me become a better writer. While I like positive comments and of the like, they aren't true reviews, so please leave them.

Continue to read, review, favorite and follow this story as well as my other stories and check them out when you get the chance, until next time :) !