A/N: Well, today was an interesting day, to say the least. Apparently someone has a beef with me. Yesterday,I was nearly run off the road by a dark-colored car and to top that off, I come home to find my window broken, my laptop smashed to pieces. It took me FOREVER but I finally managed to scrounge up enough scratch for a new one, not to mention reconstruct everything that I'd lost; to which I would like to thank Uzumaki Crossover for helping IMMENSELY with this chapter. Now with that little issue over, alive and well and better than ever...
...onto the next chapter! Many thanks to Uzumaki Crossover for helping me with this! Also a clarification, Naruto is eighteen, not sixteen. That was a typo on my part last chapter =D
"Ohhhhh, I am going to love this...
~?
Don't Fear the Biotic...
"Ohhhhh Sheps!"
Isabelle Shepard stiffened as that voice reached her ears; it...it... sounded a great deal like Naruto, but why did he, where had he-
"What?"
"I have a great idea!" Naruto replied enthusiastically .
Shepard finally turned around to see the blond from the Terminus Systems fiddling with a mining laser and...POINTING IT RIGHT AT THEIR POSITION?! "MOVE!" She ordered loudly and Tali got the hint, especially after she saw what her boyfriend was doing. It certainly helped that she knew the kind of madness he could get up to. But this...
...was insane!
"Three, two, one…FIRE!" Naruto shouted out gleefully as he pressed a button and the laser shot the platform they had been on a few seconds ago, its great laser searing through the rock like a knife through butter, nay the sheer face of the wall didn't stand a chance when faced with the penetrating beam. Within seconds it deactivated, its power cell depleted...just as it opened up a giant hole in the wall. "Well that worked out better than expected." Naruto replied with a nod of his head.
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Shepard shouted once she got to Naruto's position and got right in his face.
The boy merely held up two fingers to show just a bit, making Shepard and Tali smack their faces…or in Tali's case, her helmet.
"Why did you do that?" Tali asked, little irritated.
"To get to the good doctor, why else?" Naruto asked. "So maybe I was a little hasty...it still worked and you're still alive, right?"
"I am seriously going to need a drink after this." Shepard grumbled to herself as they quickly went into the whole they made. It worked out because one elevator trip upwards later and they was right behind Liara in her captured state.
Naruto also had to force back a whistle when he saw her ass.
Liara still heard something behind her and looked to see the group from before. "How…how did you get in here? I didn't think anyone could get past the barrier."
"Oh, just a little insanity." Naruto replied innocently, making the blue woman sweat drop.
"Not to mention the mining laser." Shepard grumbled.
"I guess that make more sense." Liara commented lamely. "Please, get me out of here. You left before I could warn you about Geth being here with a Krogan! We need to leave quickly!"
"How?" Tali asked, unfamiliar with how Prothean Tech worked.
"That button over there could drop the containment field." Liara stated, pointing to said button.
Shepard pushed the button, unsure how it would work. The next moment, they saw the field disappear and Liara drop to the ground, but thankfully Naruto caught her so she didn't hurt herself.
The blue blushed a bit at the feel of his strong arms and Tali growled a little, but stayed quiet. Naruto smiled and asked, "So….any clue how to get out of this place? The way we came is not an option with the Geth wrecking it."
"There is an elevator back in the center of the tower. At least I think it is an elevator. It should take us out of here, come on!" Liara said
As Liara spoke, she gestured with her arms, and took a few steps toward Naruto. Her movements made her breasts bounce and sway, and once she came closer-curse these overly sensitive eyes of his he-could see the outline of against the uniform cloth that covered her breasts. Although he felt guilty for it, no matter how hard Naruto tried, he found himself utterly unable to tear his gaze away from the asari's lovely, perfectly shaped body-
"Ahem?" Tali coughed politely. "You seem distracted, Naruto."
Said blond smirked softly. He knew his hadn't been the only wandering eyes.
"Hey, you were staring too!"
"H-How did you know that?!"
The blonde's grin grew another inch.
"Extraterestial senses, babe." still he smiled, even when she swatted at him. "Its your first time seeing an asari up close so I don't blame ya."
Behind her helmet, the unmistakeable flush of pink could just be seen.
"You little bosh'tet-
He was still laughing when said asari finally led them away.
Once on the elevator they took to get to Liara, they went upwards. Liara was still having trouble believing all of this, especially when Shepard mentioned that her mother was working with Saren and the Geth. "I…I still can't believe all this. Why are the Geth coming after me? Do you think my mother is involved?"
"Saren is looking for the conduit. Please think fast miss prothean expert." Tali urged.
"The Conduit? Be I don't kno-" Liara started before the elevator shook a bit and they heard crumbling and what almost sounded like an explosion. "These ruins aren't stable! The mining laser must have triggered a seismic event!"
Both Shepard and Tali sent Naruto a hard look. "What?"
"You are reckless." Tali deadpanned while Liara pressed a button on the console to make the elevator go up faster.
Shepard sighed before she called up Joker. "Joker! Get the Normandy airborne and lock on my signal. On the double mister!"
*Aye aye Commander. Secure and aweigh. ETA, 8 minutes*
"This is going to be rather close." Tali replied, a little panicked.
"Oh we'll be fine." Naruto said, waving off their fears and once more he was looked at like he was insane. The truth was, Naruto had been in worse before.
However, once they reached the top of the elevator shaft, they were met with a platoon of Geth and their Krogan merc leader.
"Well, looks like we get a goodbye party."
"Heh, a goodbye to your lives if you don't give us the Asari." The Krogan stated. "But whatever you do…please fight. It will make this all the more fun."
"Ugh, even of the cave is falling in on itself, this idiot wants to fight. Charge!" Shepard ordered, even more annoyed then before.
"I call the Krogan!" Naruto shouted as he talked the reptilian alien. That left Shepard and the others to take care of the geth. Tali was still worried for Naruto since the last time he fought a Krogan, he left him in bad shape. Thankfully said Krogan was Wrex and a friend, or else he would have been dead.
When the two got back up, Naruto flared his power. Which made the Krogan's eyes widen and then smile way too dangerously. "So! I get to fight the only human that was worth a damn. The Crimson Biotic!"
"Yep!" Naruto chirped cheerfully.
"Well, you will find that I am no push over what it comes to biotics myself!" The Krogan roared as he flared his own power, showing him to be a battlemaster.
"Fun!" Naruto smirked as he sent out a push, to knock the man's shotgun away. The Krogan's smile just widened as he charged the blond with a biotically charged punch. Naruto met him with his own and the shockwave seemed to make things worse for the cave in.
However, from that one punch, Naruto could tell that this Krogan was weak in the biotics department. It would seem that the man didn't get many challenges to make it stronger, so he was rather weak, as shown by his now limp arm. This guy must usually take the weaker jobs.
"Heh, you are strong. People won't believe me when I tell them that I killed you." The Krogan goaded.
"You're right." Naruto replied in a now bored tone. This guy was weaker that his first Krogan kill. Oh well, it was just as well since the others were now done taking out the Geth. Naruto smiled and said, "Sorry, but this battle is over." He said and before the Krogan could say anything, Naruto created a large fist construct that had spikes on it and slammed the Krogan into the wall, leaving a bloody mess.
"Well, that was a disappointment." Naruto replied.
"Who cares?!" Shepard shouted as she grabbed him by the collar. It was then he noticed that tremor were getting a lot more worse. "Move! Move! Move!"
"Shit shit shit!" Naruto screamed as the cave in was following them.
Thankfully, they got out in time and jumped right onto the Normany as it passed.
XXX
*Too close Commander. 5 more seconds and we would have been swimming in molten sulfer.* Joker complained over the intercom. *The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry out sensor and melt out hull. Just for future reference.*
"Yeah…sorry about the Joker." Naruto announced. "It is kind of my fault since I used that mining laser. But come one man, that was some awesome flying, even if your sensors were melting on ya."
There was a long silence among the group in the meeting room of the Normandy before Joker spoke over the intercom again. *Heh, mining laser. I like this guy.*
"It wasn't kind of your fault, it was your fault, Naruto." Tali dead panned while Ashley finally recovered from what he said as he smacked her head in annoyance.
Wrex finally laughed. "Heh, kid, you always seem to go overboard with this things."
"Is this normal?" Liara asked, a little annoyed. "After all, we almost died out there and your pilot and crew are making jokes!"
"It is a coping mechanism." Shepard replied. "Besides, he saved our ass, so it is fine with me."
"Oh….alright then." Liara replied sheepishly. "I am sorry, but I don't have much experience dealing with your species. But I am grateful to you for saving my life back there. And not just the volcano. Those geth would have killed or dragged me off to Saren."
"What did Saren want with you?" Kaiden asked. "Do you know something about the Conduit."
Liara looked uncomfortable at this. She obviously did know much about it, even if she spent her life trying to learn about the ancient race of space aliens. "Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the last fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them.
Shepard blinked at this. "How old are you exactly?"
"I hate to admit it but I am only a 106."
"Damn! I hope I look that good when I reach that age." Ashley half joked.
"It would be a great boon." Naruto replied with a goofy smile. And I though Aria was young!
"A century might seem like a long time to your species, but among my people, I am barely considered a child." Liara replied, making Naruto grimace a bit as he felt like a weird form of pedo for looking at Liara like he did. Oh well. She was still legal and he had Tali, so all was good. "That is why my research has not receive the attention it deserves. "Because of my youth, other Asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans."
Shepard seemed annoyed by that and spoke. "I have got my own theory about how the Protheans disappeared."
Liara nodded and said, "With all due respect Commander, I have heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left remarkable little behind. It is almost like someone did not what the mystery solved. It is like someone come along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy clean."
Naruto frowned at that and Tali noticed. Of course Naruto would frown at that because that was what his own problem seemed to be. He couldn't find ANYTHING dealing with his people.
However, Liara continued, so he didn't muse on that for very long. Not like it would help much anyway. "But here is the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them."
"Where did you get the info?" Naruto asked quickly. It may seem farfetched, but this could be a partial answer to his question. But if that was the case…how long have his people been dead and how did he get to this time period?
Everyone wondered what Naruto's stake in this was, but they too wanted to know. Tali looked at Naruto sadly as he contemplated the truth. Her father did say that Naruto was not entirely human…but the rest of this theory made no sense. There was no such thing as true time travel…right?
Liara also wondered why Naruto was suddenly this serious about this, but ignored it to continue her explanation. "I have been working on this for fifty years. I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth. It is difficult to explain to someone else. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more a feeling derived from a half century of research." She paused and then said, "But I know I am right, and eventually, I will be able to prove it. There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This cycle has repeated itself many times over."
"Any clue as to who was first if not the Protheans." Naruto asked while Shepard nodded to the question.
"I don't know. There is barely any evidence on the Protheans, even less on those who came before them. I cannot prove my theory, but I know I am right! The Galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up, it is violently cast down. Only ruins survive. The Protheans rose from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before." Liara seemed to smile at the next part. "Their greatest achievements – the mass relays and the Citadel – are based on the technology of those who came before them. And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."
Shepard nodded and then dropped her own bombshell. "They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers."
Liara looked at her strangely. "The…the Reapers? But I have never heard of – How do you know this? What evidence do you have?"
"There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It burned a vision into my brain. I am still trying to figure out what it all means." Shepard replied with a tired sigh.
"Visions? Yes… that makes sense. The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare." Liara explained. "That would explain why the Geth would attack Eden Prime. The chance to acquire a working beacon. Even a badly damaged one, is worth almost any risk. However, these machines were only designed work with Prothean physiology. Whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear. I am amazed that you were able to make sense of it at all. A less mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process. You must be remarkable strong willed, Commander."
"This isn't helping us find Saren or the conduit." Kaiden said, getting really annoyed by this long conversation.
Liara nodded, a bit embarrassed. "Of course, you are right, I am sorry. My scientific curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately, I don't have any information that could help you find the Conduit. Or Saren."
"I don't know why Saren wanted you out of the picture, but I know we would be a lot better off if we brought you along. Will you join us?" Shepard asked.
Liara smiled. "Thank you commander. Saren might come after me again and I cannot think of a safer place than you ship. And my knowledge of the Protheans might be useful later on."
"Yeah and with her biotics with Naruto's, it will come in handy when the fighting starts." Wrex responded, smirking at the end.
"Naruto is a biotic?" Liara asked as she turned to the blond. She didn't even see his fight with the other Krogan, so she had no clue the blond was a biotic.
"Oh yeah, the kid is a better biotic than I am and his a natural one." Kaiden replied.
"And he is the Crimson Biotic." Wrex grunted.
Liara just looked at the blond in utter shock.
Shepard raised an eyebrow at this. Sure she had heard about the famed Crimson Biotic, but she was not this chocked up about it. So she decided to snap the Asari out of it. "Good to have you on the team Liara."
Liara smiled and said, "Thank you commander, I am feeling very grate….ugh. Sorry, I am finally feeling the effects of today. I am very light headed."
"When was the last time you ate….or slept?" Kaiden asked in concern. "Dr Chakwas should take a look at you."
"It is just this day has been one shock after another. I really need to process all this." Liara replied tiredly. "Still it could not hurt to get looked at. Are we finished here, Commander?"
"Yeah, we can talk again after yo have seen the doctor." Shepard replied kindly. "Naruto, can you take her down to see Dr. Chakwas?"
"Yeah, sure." Naruto replied with a shrug before turning to Tali, I'll meet you back in the engine core."
"Ok." The Quarian replied, a little miffed.
With that, Naruto lead the Asari to the med bay while Shepard broke up their little meeting. As he was leading the blue skinned woman, his thoughts traveled back to his home and the people he left behind and then to how he even disappeared from them. Liara's new information on past civilizations scared him. Was he the last of his kind or were they hidden somewhere and still alive? It was eating him up!
Then there were the Quarians. They were like the family he never actually had in Konoha. If he found his old home, would he have to choose between them? God he hoped not. Still, it could hurt to ask Liara what she actually knew about past civilizations and if she could look at his memories to figure something out. That was….after she got checked out my the doc that is.
However, like usual lately, his thoughts drifted to another person. Jack. Was she ok? He hoped so...
How the fuck did she end up in this mess? Oh that's right, she got a lead on her long lost friend and possible love interest….not that she would EVER admit that, so she had to find a way to get to him.
However, she was a known criminal who at one point had joined a cult…which was extremely boring to her. But she kept the hair cut because she liked it. It made her look badass. Anyway, she had done some extremely bad things and that made her a wanted woman and not the good wanted where all the guys wanted to fuck you, no it was the wanted where all the cops and bounty hunter were after your head.
Not fun.
Ok a little fun. After all, she loved to fight!
However, right now she was trying to get to Naruto so she could beat him to a bloody pulp for leaving her in that damnable pod!
So she snuck aboard a ship and slept in a small cargo hold to pass the time. But like usual, things had to be far harder than they had to be. This was no ordinary ship, oh no, this was a ship full of bounty hunters….with some of them ironically being Hanar.
Creepy bastards they were. Polite to an irritating level, but damn they were handy with their tentacles. Ugh…why do they give her the creeps so much? Probably because of that weird hentai site she went to. God the Japanese are weird! But then again, so is she for watching the whole vid.
ANYWAY! She would probably have to fight them, but that was only part of the problem. The ship had docked at a freaking Hanar space station orbiting one of their moons.
Just her fucking luck!
Oh and to make matters worse, she heard that a famous bounty hunter named Zaeed was there as well. COME ON! As if her luck wasn't bad enough, she had to deal with that pyscopath? Of all people? Was the galaxy trying to piss her off? Why can't she catch a break today?! And speaking of crazy men, here he fucking came….damnit! She'd barely finished this thought when a hand reached down into her hiding place, wrenched her up and out of the duct, knocking her to the ground.
Jack found herself face to face with a scarred visage, one eye mily white and scarred with death. A single sentence issued forth from this grizzled old hunter:
"Who tha' godamn hell are you?"
A/N: And there you have it! Naruto's beginning to wonder what he might think of Liara and even Tali was caught staring! I guess seeing such a young, lovely asari up close and personal is a bit of a first for them, no? Anywho worked extremely hard on this one, so I hope to hear what you think!
So...in the immortal words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly?
Hope you enjoyed! R&R! =D