A/N: Chapter 5 is out! I got a lot of good reviews from my other stories, so I'm happy about that. There were a few Nay-Sayers, but meh for the most part. Can't please everyone and most people like them.

A couple of reviews REALLY pissed me off however, due to ignorance in one, and lack of respect in another. If you dislike it, fine. Let me know, let me know why, and then feel free to go on your merry way. If I see your point, and like your reasoning, I may even take what you said into account. There is NO need to cuss me or any other author out over an opinion you have. And for the other review, if you say that something is impossible without certain events happening, make sure that the certain events you say are necessary actually don't happen. Don't just read less than a quarter of a chapter (especially an extra-long chapter) and then start ranting about things that are supposed to occur later on.

Sorry for the rant. But I see reviews like these on other stories by other authors, and GOOD stories at that, and they just piss me off. They help no one, and they cause authors to stop writing. There's a fine line between critique and ignorance, and no excuse for taking a flying leap past it.

To answer a few questions I've had on the subject, it will be a while before Naruto returns to the Elemental Nations. There is a lot of ground to cover in the Prototype 2 storyline, and while I'm not going to cover it all, I will go over a portion of it. After this arc however, there will most likely be one transition chapter, and then we go back to the EN.

I also put up a challenge for anyone who thinks that they're up for it. Just check out my profile and let me know. The challenge is pretty open ended and leaves lots of room for individuality, just so I can see where your twisted minds take my ideas and follow along.

I don't own Naruto or Prototype. I don't own any of the numerous voices in my head. I do occasionally obey them.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Demon/Summon Speech"

'Demon/Summon Thoughts'

Jutsu/Skills

Chapter 5: Infection

-One Month Later-

Naruto approached the perimeter setup by the military to quarantine New York Zero. A large swath of land had been cleared out around the city, and bridges had been collapsed to isolate the islands. Ships with sensors were blockading the waters, while viral detectors and spotlights covered any possible land routes into or out of the city. No one, infected or otherwise, was making it through.

Luckily for him, he had one other way of infiltrating the city.

Before leaving on his journey to NYZ, Naruto had spent some time considering his skillset, as well as making other preparations. One of the thoughts that he had, was that he was lacking in means of infiltration. While yes, he could consume someone and use their identity to enter and leave secure facilities, when the person eventually turned up missing the enemy would know that someone had been there. He needed ways to enter different locations without anyone ever being the wiser.

To that effect, he had begun experimenting on different transformations. He acquired several different species of mice, as well as several cats and dogs. None of these however would be of much assistance to him, since the ground before him was covered in viral detectors. There was one, however, that would get him past them unheard. Decision made, Naruto transformed and leaped into the air.

Out of all of his forms, the Snowy Owl was one of his favorites. While he had a few other forms that could fly, and many of them faster than this one, there was something about how he could silently glide through the air that appealed to him. Not only that, but this particular owl was one of the few rare ones that had blue eyes. Admittedly, they were not as blue as his own natural eyes, more of a teal really, but they were still blue. And he found that utterly cool.

For a while, he had hated that he looked like a miniature version of Minato with whisker marks. But after being adopted by the Ravens, he had seen it as less that he looked like Minato, and more as him having traits from his foster mother. So he began to once again take pride in his appearance, especially since both of his female family members said that those features would make him very popular with girls as he grew older.

Silently, Naruto flew high above the viral detectors marking the perimeter of the quarantine zone. Once he was past the perimeter, he headed over to the yellow zone. He figured that there he had a chance to hid his presence, while still being able to be among people that he could talk to and get information from. Once there, he made sure to fly to the top of a building with an overhang that he could hide under. After checking for cameras and sensors, he changed back into his normal form, and made his way down into the city.

-One Week Later-

Naruto sat on a bench in a park in the Yellow Zone. Over the past week he had been speaking with the locals, subtly gathering rumors and gossip and sifting through them for the small grains of truth that existed in them. From what he could gather, the outbreak seemed to have started in the Red Zone, which was obvious enough. What worried him though was the location it seemed to have originated from. The area that seemed to have been hit first was the area around Penn Station, the same area where the outbreak first started and where he gained his new condition.

That was far more than a coincidence. Someone had to have released the virus there on purpose, knowing the circumstances behind the first outbreak. This solidified in his mind that this was no accident, but something engineered for a purpose. What that purpose was had yet to be discovered.

To find out more however, he decided that he needed to find out exactly what happened at the station. To do this, Naruto decided to see if he could make it down to where the security footage was kept in the station to see if he could find anything. While the normal footage was most likely removed by the government, the backups might still be in place due to the fact that the station was deep within the Red Zone.

Action decided, Naruto then moved from the bench and headed towards the border of the Yellow Zone. Once he was nearby, he then found a hiding spot away from cameras and shifted into his owl form. Silently, he made his way to the Red Zone, making sure to keep away from any detectors he came across.

After he landed on a building, he transformed and made his way through the streets. Everything was bad here in the Red Zone. The buildings themselves seemed to be infected. Although it was daytime, the sky was dark with ash and smoke. Truly, it seemed as if hell itself had been unleashed on the world.

Through all of this, Naruto kept to the shadows and out of sight. He saw various Hunters roaming around, but didn't see a need to draw attention to himself. That would just make his task more difficult if he had to fight his way into the Red Zone, not to mention possibly call the attention of Blackwatch unto himself.

As he moved closer to his destination however, he suddenly heard an explosion some distance away, as well as signs of a fight. Curiosity getting the better of him, he made his way to where he heard the noises occurring.

There, he was treated to a curious sight. He saw a soldier, a large African American male with close cropped hair and wearing jungle camouflage, as well as having a large knife strapped to the front of his uniform, up against what could only be called a monstrosity. The creature was huge; easily three stories tall, and seemed to have no skin. It had three oddly shrunken limbs when compared to its body; both legs and the left arm were tiny against its massive torso. However the right arm seemed to compensate and more for the other limbs. It was truly massive, and seemed to have a stone bracer or shield attached to the outside of its forearm. It towered over the soldier and roared at him.

The scene actually brought to mind the story of David and Goliath. The soldier looked at the "Goliath" for only a moment before quickly making the correct choice when facing a monster like that.

He ran like a frightened bunny.

His choice was confirmed as being correct when the monster took its oversized left arm and, using it as a shield/plow, began charging forward and clearing the streets of everything in front of it, including rubble, cars, and the odd tree. The scene was so surreal, even to Naruto who regularly runs up walls and on water, that he stood staring at it for a few moments. He even let out a few chuckles when he overheard the soldier swearing as he tried to outrun the beast.

Luckily, the soldier made it into a broken down building, where the monster paused its pursuit. However it seemed to be preparing to knock down the wall between it and its target. Seeing this, Naruto finally snapped out of his momentary confusion and grabbed the attention of the… thing… by chucking a large piece of rubble at it. The monster turned to see what dared attack it, and began to chase after him. This matched what Naruto wanted seeing as he decided to lead the beast away from the lucky man who had managed to survive so far.

Once he was a good distance away from where he had started leading the monstrosity, he then decided to go on the attack. Determining that with all of this commotion he most likely already caught someone's or something's attention, he decided to use this as an opportunity for practice.

He decided that it was time to see how some jutsu would affect an infected being. He reasoned that if they could do any decent damage to this Goliath, then they should do fine against most other infected. With that in mind, Naruto decided to start easy and see what happens.

"All right you big ugly fucker. Let's see how you like being cut to pieces." With that statement, Naruto used raw nature transformation to change his chakra nature to wind and sent a thin, bladelike blast at the monster with a slice of his hand. The Goliath raised its left arm, blocking most of the attack. Where the attack reached its body, there were deep gashes that soon closed over, but on the shield there were only some thin cuts.

"Damn, that thing is strong to be able to block the cutting power of wind, even if it wasn't really directed properly. Let's try some proper attacks and see where they take us, OK?" he asked with a polite smile. The beast just roars at him and charged forwards, smashing its oversized fist down in an attempt to crush the blond.

Naruto quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the shockwave produced by the attack, and then proceeded to send a ten foot tall Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) at the misshapen being. Since the shield arm was still extended from the attack, the monster was unable to shield itself and took the brunt of the attack. The Goliath was more durable than it appeared however, since the attack, while charring the monster's surface, didn't seem to do much serious damage other than cause pain.

Noting this, Naruto decided to try a different approach. With a scream of Raiton: Gian (Lightning Release: False Darkness), Naruto let loose a spear of lightning that flew through the air at the Goliath. By that time, it had recovered enough to raise its shield again to try to block the attack. However, this time the attack penetrated right through the shield and arm to strike the opponent's chest and electrify it at the same time.

"Ah, looks like we have a winner! Wind and lightning it is then, I'll try the other two later. For now, I think that it's time to wrap things up." The creature seemed to hear this however, and had different plans. With a strength that belied its shrunken legs, it launched itself up high into the air in an attempt to crush the blond from above.

Surprised at seeing such a large being jumping that high into the air, Naruto almost didn't move out of the way in time and got sent flying from the attack's shockwave. Crashing into a nearby car, he was dazed for a moment but recovered in time to fully dodge a swing from the Goliath's left arm.

Determining that he had allowed himself to get complacent, Naruto berated himself for lowering his guard. He reminded himself that even a Genin could kill a Kage if he got lucky enough. With that thought in mind, he activated his Musclemass power and charged up a larger than normal swirling ball of blue energy. With that in hand, he then dashed forward and got under the Goliath's guard.

"Rasengan!" Giving that shout, Naruto slammed his attack into the monster's torso with all of the strength of his enhanced arms. The creature cried out in pain, as it was sent flying backwards and into a building. As the dust settled, Naruto waited patiently to see what became of his latest enemy while being prepared for anything else to happen.

There was nothing left of the monster's torso. The power of the Rasengan along with the force provided by his Musclemass obliterated its body, leaving behind only a mess of misshapen limbs and gore. Seeing an opportunity however, Naruto approached the oversized arm that was left behind and quickly absorbed it. He wasn't sure if he would get any benefit from it, but there was no harm in trying.

With that task completed, Naruto then continued on his way to the station. As he went there, he reviewed the fight in his mind. Berating himself once more for letting his guard down, he acknowledged that the brute had great strength on its size. Its greatest asset however was its large body that could put a lot of weight and mass behind its attacks. Naruto estimated that he could match the Goliath in sheer power if he had to, but the difference in weight would result in him losing ground every time.

He also realized that fire and most likely earth would not do much against the more advanced infected. Most fire techniques were similar to grenades, bazookas, and cannons rounds used by the military. Since it would take quite a few rounds to kill even a Hunter, assuming that they don't miss with any, they must have some sort of resistance against fire. Earth would probably do more damage, but the damage would be similar to throwing a car at them. Yes it would hurt them, but not much compared to the other elements. Those two elements would probably work better against Blackwatch if he had to go up against them.

Water on the other hand, might be decent, but water attacks for the most part are pressure based, with a few cutting attacks. If he was going with cutting attacks however, then he might as well stick with wind. The only other use as an attack might have been in drowning the victim. Honestly, he was better off using water as a supplemental element, unless he used it in conjunction with another element like lightning.

Wind was good, considering how deeply he managed to cut into the Goliath where it wasn't protected by armor. Even though it quickly healed afterwards, the attack he used wasn't really focused into cutting, so a proper wind jutsu would have cut much deeper. Add to that the fact that most infected were nowhere near the size of a Goliath, and he would bisect them in two.

Lightning was just as good. Not only could it pierce even the most stubborn of defenses, it also had a paralytic effect that he could make use of. Although most lighting jutsu were about piercing or shocking, which meant that unless he hit a critical point on the infected, or hit the infected a lot and hard, that meant that it most likely wouldn't kill them before they healed themselves.

Still, all of this meant that he had a better idea of how to fight against this threat. With this in mind, he continued on his way, trying to keep out of sight.

Avoiding a few more Hunters, he made for the security office. Luckily for him, the door was still locked tight, meaning that neither looters or infected had managed to steal or destroy anything. Breaking down the door, he looked around and saw that not only was everything still functional, but power still seemed to be reaching the station. Thanking his lucky stars, he quickly got to work on finding the cause of this latest outbreak.

Naruto was furious. After a few hours of searching, he found the footage he needed and saw what happened. Not only that, but he recognized the person who turned New York into his own personal hell hole. How could he not? After all, it was the same person who caused all of his problems outside of the Elemental Nations in the first place.

'Alex Mercer' Naruto seethed to himself. That… ASSHOLE… not only survived his first encounter with the virus, but now seemed to want everyone infected as well. If it wasn't for him, then Naruto wouldn't be in the position he was in now. Admittedly he wouldn't have met the Ravens, but then again he also wouldn't have needed to hide himself in the first place. All of those people would never have died. He would never have needed to kill anyone to ensure his own survival.

Rage gripped his body as it hasn't done in years, not since he first ran away from Konoha. Taking some deep breaths, Naruto forced his body to calm down. If he lost his cool, he wouldn't be able to make the right choices. He was determined to use the rage he felt, but not let it use him.

Once he felt back in control, Naruto decided to get back to the yellow zone and think out his next move. He made a copy of the footage and took both the copy and the original and sealed them away in his personal storage space on his left shoulder to protect them. He then left the building, noting that enough time had passed for the sun to set, and quickly transformed and flew back to his starting point, the place where he had first arrived.

Moving to the top of a nearby skyscraper, he sat down and began considering his next move. Now that he knew who had released the virus, Naruto needed to locate the bastard and end him. However, not only did he not know where Mercer was, but he wasn't sure if just killing him would end the nightmare. The infection might stop spreading, but it would still be there. Not to mention that Blackwatch, although not responsible for the outbreak, were an unscrupulous bunch and were probably taking advantage behind the scenes to do more of their… questionable activities. If they were, then it was up to Naruto to stop them.

But first he had to determine who all the players were, what their stances were, and where they were located. This time he was determined to cut the snake off at the head.

While he was thinking about the problem, a disturbance some distance away caught his attention. It was odd because not only was it a good distance away from him, enough that he shouldn't even have noticed it, but something about it was calling his attention. Both shifting his eyes to those of an owl and sending chakra to them to further enhance his eyesight, he focused on what caught his attention.

What he saw made him growl in rage.

Alex Mercer was in an alleyway talking to the soldier that Naruto had noticed earlier. The only reason that he could see them was because not only did he have a high vantage point, but the angle let him see down the alley as well.

Not wasting a moment, Naruto jumped down from the building and started dashing to where he saw them. Taking only enough time to avoid patrols, checkpoint, and detectors, he hurried to get to the alley, so that he could stop at least one factor of the plague. Turning the last corner, he saw that soldier again, using the abilities of an infected to create cloths for himself.

Seeing this caused Naruto to growl in rage. Before the soldier knew it, he was slammed and pinned against a wall, with his arms locked behind him and a blade pressed against his neck.

"Where is he?!" Naruto hissed in his ear. The soldier tried to use his newfound power to break free, but found himself in a grip far stronger than any other he had seen before. Naruto's own anger was causing him to subconsciously access Kurama's chakra, shifting his eyes to red and increasing his strength. Combine that with the activation of his Musclemass power, due to the fact that up close the solder was much larger than he appeared to be from a distance and Naruto wanted to be sure he could hold him, and there was no way that the soldier was escaping.

"What the fuck?! Who are you? Are you with those sick Blackwatch fuckers?" the dark skinned warrior asked.

"ANSWER ME!" Naruto screamed in his ear, no longer caring who heard him. The solder realized that unless he cooperated, he was not going to make it out of this situation alive.

"I don't fucking know! Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?!" he yelled out.

"Don't lie to me! I saw him here with you. You're working with him, aren't you?!" Naruto asked/demanded.

"Fuck you! First that son of a bitch infected me with his strain of the virus, and then Blackwatch took me and used me as a lab rat. Then the asshole came and said that Blackwatch were the ones who released the virus that killed my wife and kid. I aint working with nobody until I find out the truth. All I know is that I'm gonna fucking kill whoever the son of a bitch it was that killed my family!"

Hearing this, and sensing that he was telling the truth, Naruto calmed down and backed off, deactivating his powers. Now free, the soldier whipped around, putting himself in a ready position in case his opponent decided to attack. Only to look down and realize just how small his opponent was.

"… What the fuck?" the dark skinned man intoned incredulously. "Who the fu- I mean, who are you kid?"

Naruto snorted, realizing that now that the man knew that he was a minor he was trying to cut back on the cursing. Must be a dad thing.

"Who I am is not important. Or rather, it is, but I don't trust you since I don't know what side you're on. Still, I can see that you need an explanation. Blackwatch will be here soon though, so follow me and we'll go somewhere a little more private. And if you tell me your story, and I don't think you're bullshitting me and that you should know it, I'll tell you who set off the plague, and give you a copy of the evidence."

With that, Naruto turned away confident that the man would follow. After all, if the man was being honest, then what he wanted most was being handed to him on a platter. Naruto had all of the answers he wanted, and no one was going to stop him from getting them.

"… By the way, you have a name or anything I can call you?" Naruto asked from his position ahead.

From behind him, following just as he expected, the man answered, "Heller. You can call me Heller."

Later, on top of another skyscraper, Naruto and Heller were sitting on the edge looking over the city. Naruto had given a brief overview of his history as an infected, including how he got infected and his actions in New York two years earlier. He also gave Heller an overview of how his new body worked, and what he could expect. Even if he later turned out to be an enemy, Naruto knew that everyone should at least get the basics about themselves. His years with Minato and Kushina made him abhor withholding things from someone that belonged to them, and information about oneself belongs to that person.

That didn't mean that he was stupid about it however. While Naruto explained about how Heller's body would evolve and the conditions needed for evolution, he didn't give Heller an overview of his own powers. First because there were no guarantees that Heller would evolve the same way, but also because if Heller did turn out to be an enemy, then it was good to have an ace in the hole. Naruto did however tell Heller about his shape shifting ability and about how Consuming a live or dying victim would transfer that person's form, skills, and memories to himself. That was that most basic ability of theirs, as well as the means by which he would evolve. Since Heller would have found this out on his own anyways, he saw no reason to hold back on it.

After that explanation, he had then explained why he came back, as well as what he had learned since. That included who actually set off the outbreak, but also that Blackwatch needed to be stopped as well if the infection was ever going to end.

On his end, Heller told him about how he got infected and what happened to him afterwards, as well as a detailed explanation as to what went on with Mercer before Naruto arrived. He went over everything he could remember, from the exact words used, to Mercer's mannerisms as he said them.

Afterwards, the two of them had sat down on the ledge of the building, each taking a few moments to gather their own thoughts.

After considering the information he got from Heller, Naruto turned to him and stated, "I'm going to be clear with you, I don't fully trust you. I have no way of knowing if you're telling me the truth short of killing and consuming you. However, if you're being up-front with me, that makes you a powerful ally, something I can't ignore." Heller took this information stoically. After all, it's exactly the same way he felt about Naruto.

"So for now at least, we'll go our separate ways. I'll verify everything you told me, as well as find out more on my own. You go deal with whatever you need to. Do you have a number I can reach you at if I need to?"

At this, Heller paused for a moment while he considered the blonde's request. His phone, that for some reason Blackwatch never bothered to take, was one that he had specially made to be damn near untraceable while he was serving overseas. There shouldn't be any way for the kid in front of him to use the number to get a lock on him. Still, considering what he's up against, it might have been more prudent to hold back on it. After thinking it over, he decided to give a small measure of trust and handed Naruto a number he could reach him at.

"Thanks." Naruto stated. "For now, hears the copy of the evidence I promised you. I took this from the backups of the security footage at the station where the virus was released. Do what you need to to verify it and stop both Mercer and Blackwatch. They may be against each other, but that doesn't mean that either of them is up to any good. Oh, and if you want to call me something, call me Maelstrom." With that, he handed Heller a copy of the data, and leaped from the ledge, quickly disappearing from sight.

A/N: Finally, the chapter is out! I meant to release it last week, but I got a little distracted and then decided to make some changes. I have stockpiled some chapters, so future releases should be much faster, sorry for the delay on that. Again, let me know how I did! Was Naruto and Heller's first meeting OK for you guys? Just so you know, while Heller will make more appearances, the story will stay focused on Naruto. So some of the Prototype 2 storyline will stay in the background and may only be mentioned in passing.

Again, please review and let me know what you guys think! Just please keep my rant above in mind on how you let me know. See you soon!