A/N: Whassup peoplz! I hope you're all enjoying this updating spree as much as I am! On another note, my most recent update Vanguard of Shinobi, got a bit of hate as I killed off an influential character early. I would like to apologize for that. But I had it planned for quite some time, and as I've always said time and time again, I strive to make each and every one of my fics as unique as humany possible. But that doesn't mean I don't get attached to the characters-nor do I relish killing them unless they're a villain. But enough about gloom and doom and death! Ya'll came here for the next chapter of Bring Down the Sky! And with that...

...here you go!

"Mors Proditoris, bitch!"

~Jack.

Spaceward Bound

Naruto's first thoughts on the Normany SR-1 were something along the lines of:

'I could do worse.'

It was a fine craft, make no mistake, having been jointly designed by humans and turians but there was obviously room for improvement. For starters, the FTL drives could stand to be improved, and then there was the matter of the hull's armor, not to mention its weaponry...ohhh, the things he could do to this thing! He could feel his fingers twitching, silently aching to tear the Alliance vessel apart and imrpove it. He'd picked up such notions in his years with the quarians and now the nudged at him, like an intch he loved to scratch. Because, for all his love of battle...

...he just loved to tinker.

He loved to prank, too, but that was another matter for another time.

The question that stood before him, however, that had his mind whirling with possibilies, was thus. Did he truly want to tinker with the Normandy using his own funds, thereby exhausting them? He'd saved up plenty of resources during his tenure as Aria's Phantom but in all likelihood, would most likely end up wasting those resources on a vessel he wasn't even certain he'd set foot on ever again. Grrrr...frustrating!

"Naruto...

"Hmm?"

Taily was eying him nervously, her worry evident even through her mask.

"You've got that gleam in your eye again." the quarian frowned. "Is something the matter?"

"The cake...is a lie, Tali." Naruto exhaled in a long-suffering sigh, looking as though he might weep at any moment. "They offer you something soooo tempting, but in the end, its just a fictuous motivator. Damn you for tempting me, Alliance!"

"Okay..." Behind her helmet, his girlfriend blinked. "What?"

"I said the cake is a lie!"

"What's the kid on about?" Ashely whispered to Shepard as the blonde continued to rant and rave. "Moreover, are you sure we can trust him? He kinda strikes me as the thuggish type..."

"I trust him, Ash." Isabelle remained staunch in her opinion. Unfortunately, Williams didn't seem to share the sentiment.

"Just don't expect me to, at least not right away...

Naruto's ears pricked up at that one. Couldn't trust him, eh? Thuggish type...eh? Well now, they couldn't have that. He'd anticipated such an outcome, so he'd sent a clone ahead to prepare a little surprise...just in case things had gone south. Smiling, he touched a hand to his omni-tool, encoded a brief message, and sent it to the commander's headset, just as she stepped away from her fellow human.

"Ummm...Shep?" his voice snaked into her ear. "I would touch that if I were you...

The redhead paused, her palm hovering just over the panel that would open the door and grant them access to the Normandy. One look at the blonde and his emphatic shake of the head told her that opening said door would result in...less than pleasant circumstances for her. Now while she normally didn't condone or tolerate such superflous behavior and while a part of her wondered how the devil he'd managed to sneak aboard the Normandy in the first place, she also recognized the need for those under her to relieve there stress. Besides, the blonde didn't strike her as the violent type; whatever he'd prepared didnt neccessarily have to be lethal to get his point across. Hopefully her instincts were sound in that at least...so why did she get the succint feeling she was about to die of laughter?

"On second thought Gunnery Chief, why don't you go first?"

Shrugging, the brunette stepped past her commanding officer.

"Whatever you say Sheeeeeeeeeep!"

Her words ended in a decidedly feminie squeak as the door rushed open, revealing the trap lying just belond the archway. Ashley barely had time to recognize the springloaded trap and the bag of flour before the latter catapaulted itself forward with tremendous force, and it would've collided were it not for years of military training. At it were, she simply dodged aside, leaving the harmless bag of baking goods to whisk past. Anticipate danger at all times. That was her motto. What she failed to anticipate, however, was the power of biotics, and it was this that truly caused her to squeal.

Scarce had it missed her than a subtle nudge from a certain biotic swung the bag back around to detonate right in her face; knocking her on her ass, and all but dousing her body in a shower of white powder. Coughing and hacking, sputtering and sneezing, she sat there for a long moment, unable to believe what happened. Then she reddened with embarassment.

"Alright, who did that?!"

Naruto and Wrex promptly burst into hysterics, neither willing to admit to the crime. Shepard raised her hands in a helpless shrug. It was only the fact that Kaiden had chosen to remain onboard the ship that saved him her scrutiny, and thus prevented him from being amongst the lists of suspects. The quarian was doing her best to appear mortified though even she could be seen shaking from her attempts to stife her own amusement at the woman's expense.

Tali took one look at the flour-covered Ashley, then returned her attention to the still-snickering blonde, nearly pissing himself from laughter. It didn't take much to realize what he'd done. Her crush was many things to be sure...subtle the least amongst them. If you were unfortunate enough to ever piss him off in any sort of signifcant way, a prank was the least of yours worries. The girl had gotten off easy in that regard, she thought to herself, and she made it known to the blonde.

"You clever little Bosh'tet."

Naruto's laughter could be heard throughout the docking bay.

"BAHAHAHAHA!"

Planets away, Jack suddenly smiled.

It was strange, she thought, wearing that expression after so long. To be feeling her lips quirk upward-her heart quickening with something akin to joy. She didn't know why she was smiling, or even how; only that she was suddenly certain Naruto was alive and well. Clever bastard had probably just pulled one over on someone. But the knowledge that he was enjoying himself without her did not rile Jack. If anything...this thought did the exacat opposite; making her interrogation all that much sweeter.

"So, assface," she began cheerily, addressing the bloodied Cerberus operative at her feet, "Are you going to tell me where you last saw the Crimson Biotic?" That was Naruto's given handle nowadays as far as she knew-just as she knew Cerberus had been keeping tabs on him. And her. They'd never really been free since their tumultuous escape all those years ago; at some point the pro-human organization had become aware of this and finally tracked them down, never daring to take action...until now.

"Or do I need to persuade you again?"

This "persuasion"of hers involved the wrenching his limbs out of their sockets with biotics until he blacked out, them painstakingly breaking them apart inch by inch, leaving the man to wake to new and resounding pain the better by which he might break. It was by no means a precise proccess, even with all her restraint it was difficult not to tear him apart from the inside out. She'd already shattered his knees during her last attempts to make him talk, she had to be careful to avoid his chest and throat, lest she break something important.

"Go to hell, biiiiiiiiitch!" His words ended in a strangled scream as his arm twisted itself out of alignment.

"Oh, was that you arm?" her voice was little more than a perverse purr of pleasure as she popped it out socket. "That was your arm, wasn't it?"

Besides, it wasn't as though she enjoyed hurting him...okay, maybe she did. This man was Cerberus after all. Responsible for the hell they'd been through, and likely responsible for so much more. Was it so wrong then for her to eke out a little pain. Hence the man beneath her tattooed foot. Cerberus had been tracking them. And it stood to reason that if they'd tracked her down, then naturally they must've learned his last location as well. He might even have a beacon planted somewhere within him like they'd done to her, the better to track him with.

Cheeky bastards!

"Went...into the Traverse!" the man rasped at last, blood flecking his beard. "With...Shepard! Now please...let me go!"

"The tracker?" Jack extended a hand, expectant.

"H-Here...release me! You promised!"

"Yeah I did, didn't I?"

Jack laughed, a sudden jolt of elation suring through her veins. Now she knew where to look. And a tracker as well? That made her work even easier. She'd be reunited with him before she knew it! So long as she kept away from the basic interstellar lanes and away from that derranged turian hellbent upon capturing her...

Grinning, she drew her pistol, sighted down on the quivering man, and pulled the trigger.

"Mors Proditoris, bitch."

One hot bath later-on Ashley's part-and the docking clamps disengaged, freeing the Normandy with the lighest of lurches. It glided out into a sea of stars, reached the relay, and jumped. Naruto wasn't one to consider, let alone appreciate the effecs of a Mass Relay, he preferred something he could use with his hands. Something that didn't involve quadratic equations and so much...math. Things like the interior of the Normandy, for example. That was something he could wrap his mind around. This, the tour of command deck upon which he was being led, was something he could appreciate; his only regret was that Tali was too busy exploring the engine room-courtesy of engineer Adams-to join him at the moment.

Girl sure did like her engines...but he liked his ships better. Speaking of which...

The human vessel was as impressive within as it was without Naruto thought, although his cybernetic arm earned him more than the occassional glance from the crew. Not that he cared. It wasn't as though he'd extend his stay on the ship, nor did he intend it to be a permanent one. How hard could it be to stop one rogue spectre and an army of geth with a ship like this, a crew like this? He had full confidence in their abilitiies, not just his own, but those of Tali and Wrex, and perhaps even this Commander Shepard.

He wasn't quite sure how he felt about the turian. Or the other two humans for that matter. Actually, scratch that. He was fairly certain just how he felt about Ashley Williams. Uptight. Strict. Stern. Those were his three least favorite He'd have to do something about her. Perhaps another prank or two was in order?

As for this Kaiden Alenko, well, according to Shepard, he was about to meet him. Naruto, being Naruto, wasn't certain what he should expect, only that she'd told him the man was a biotic like him. Well, not exactly like him, what with his crimson biotics, but you got the picture-

"So this is him?"

The blonde blinked, broken from his reverie by the sound of someone's voice. He looked up, momentarily alarmed to find he'd nearly run smack into said someone.

Alenko, having more than twenty years to the blonde's sixteen, stood about a head taller than him, His dark hair and blue eyes weren't those of a warrior however; rather, they belonged to a soldier. This man had seen combat, but it hadn't changed who he was. Naruto found himself liking the man already. But he'd liked Sasuke too, and look how that turned out.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Shepard began, "meet Kaiden Alenko."

"Shepard tells me you're the Crimson Biotic." no preamble, then. Straight to the meat of the matter. Even better.

"She tells you right." Naruto replied, not quite able to keep the smile from his face. "I know a few tricks."

"Care to show me-whoa!"

His sentence ended in surprised grunt as a crimson aura engulfed him, hoisting his body a few centimeters off the air. Naruto hadn't even raised his hand. He'd simply narrowed his eyes, focused, and Kaiden found both feet leaving the floor, hovering just off the deck itself. He hung there for a moment, arms pinwheeling for balance, his expression torn somewhere between surprise and satisfaction.

"Not bad." he admitted. "I didn't even see you move a muscle!"

"That's because I didn't." Naruto replied steadily, his jaw locked and stern with supreme concentrations. "I'm lifting you using only my mind. It's not something most Biotics can do on their own. Guess you could say I'm special." And he was. He wasn't sure whether it had something to do with his former possesision of chakra, only that he was harder, better, faster, and many times stronger often than most biotics. It was very useful to have in a firefight, he could soak up a veritable firestorm with his barriers and keep right on fighting. when

"I did tell you he was special."

"You did, didn't you?"

"Alright Naruto," Shepard cut in with an amused laugh, "Put the lieutenant down before you break something."

"Sheesh," he groaned in compliance, "You're no fun...

The man grinned, utterly at ease despite the boy's disparity.

"Nice ta meet you too, little man."

Naruto laughed bumped fists with his fellow biotic. Kaiden Alenko?

Approved!

His quarters, no so much.

There was precious little room for him and Tali amidst the others and as such they were forced to share a single bunk. Whether this amounted to a joke on the commander's part or a quirk of fate he knew not, only that he was exceptionally sick and tired, it felt as though he hadn't slept since they came to the Citadel. That had been three days ago. As if feeding off of his stress his biotitcs began to bleed energy-unconcsious power held barely in check by a supreme effort of his will.

"Well," Tali murmrured beside him, "This is...unexpected."

"I don't mind." Naruto risked a glance at her, wary, prepared to fend of any righteous female fury. "Do you?"

"N-No...

"Yosh!" he decicded. "Then its settled!

And so without thinking, he threw himself down into the bed and for what felt like the first time, truly experienced rest. Sleep came quickly for the two of them, almost before they knew it.

And as such, the blonde resolutely ignored out the Commander's speech over the intercomm when they finally set out on their journey, ignoring her every word and syllable, morale boosting or not. Interesting though it might have been...his thoughts remained decidedly elsewhere. With himself of course. And with Jack. With this farfetched mission that he'd gotten himself roped into against his own will. And of course, with the Quarian sittling in his lap. His skin tingled from her very touch like tongues of flame burning beneath his veins. In spite of himself, he couldn't help but to wonder if she felt the same sensations beneath her suit.

He

If this Reaper business turned out to be legit, however, well...

...he wouldn't mind sticking around for awhile.

Artemis Tau Cluster. Therum.

The Hammerhead plummeted fromthe Normandy like a falling meteor, its many wheels rolling ceaselessly against the atmosphere, ground rushing up to gree it. Jets fired an instant before impact, softening what might well had been a fatal fall from such abominable heights. A chorus of groans rose up from all but Shepard, who, being a marine herself, was accustomed to such landings.

"Keelah," Tali groaned, "Is it just me or is the room spinning?"

Wrex seconded her opinion! "And I thought we we extreme...this is insane!

"Commander, I'm picking up some strange readings...like really strange." Joker's voice rang through the hammerhead. "Off the chart, strange. It looks like they're coming a few clicks away from the drop zone." There was a silence as the crew contemplated this, broken off by grunts of surpris as Naruto shouldered his way to the fore.

"Move over!" The blonde was grinning like a madman. "I'm driving!"

And drive he did. Poor geth...

...they never stood a chance.

She hung there in the field like a blue goddess, awaiting their arrival. Ironic, when one considered she was well...blue. Despite himself, Naruto nearly felt his jaw drop. Asari truly were beautiful crreatures and Liara was no exception to her race. In fact, she was an outright testament to it, he thought. Although most of her body was hidden away by a green-gray uniform, there could be no denying her figure beneath those wrappings, it was...well, lovely didn't even begin to decribe her radiance-

"Ahem!" Behind him, Tali coughed, drawing the blonde's flush. And then, impossibly, Liara chose that moment to speak.

"Can you hear me out there?" she called, her voice piquing in distress as she saw the approaching group and krogan. "I'm trapped in here! I need help!"

"Liara T'soni, I presume?" Shepard mused.

"Thank the Goddess. I didn't think anyone would come looking for me. Listen, this thing I'm in is a Prothean security device. I cannot move, so...I need you to get me out of it, alright? There should be a switch nearby but I don't know how you're going to get to it-

Naruto, desperate to take his eyes from the beauty before him-and equally hasty to prevent Tali's ire-risked a glance acros the cavern. Sure enogh, there were a host of such findings scattered across the cavern, but how would they be of any use unless...

...that was when he saw it, its great, rusted bulk sticking up a like a single, silent finger, flicking him off.

Naruto just grinned.

"Ohhhhh Sheps'...

"What?"

"I've got an idea...

One mining laser later aaaaaand...

...all bloody hell broke loose.

A/N:Well, there ya go! Naruto's still his old self, pranking Ashley with a vengeance for calling him a thug. And Jack is on the hunt! This was more of an opening chapter for the events to come, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy writing every bit of it. And on another Liara's finally popped up! And to the answer the question of anyone who might think Tali is just a weeee bit jellly of the asari, well, keep reading if you want yer answer; let me know if she ought to be included. And on a final note, Mors Proditoris means "Death to Traitors" in Latin.

So...in the immortal and immoral words of Altas...

...Review, Would you kindly? And naturally, enjoy the omake!

(Omake!)

Naruto could feel Tali's gaze boring into his back. He'd felt it for at least the last five minutes now, as though his girlfriend were trying

"Something wrong, Tal?"

The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.

"You were staring at her ass, weren't you?"

"I-I did no such thing!"

R&R=D