~~Hock Manor, Bekenstein, Year 2185~~
"Damn..." Naruto whistled as he and Kasumi entered Donovan Hock's private collection. Currently the blonde was walking around and glancing at several items while Kasumi was looking for her deceased lover's grey box. The blonde merc hummed as he walked past the statue of David when something caught his attention.
No way... the blonde thought with wide eyes as he leapt over the barrier on the upper display level and landed in front of a glass case. His hands pressed against it and he went slack jawed at the tattered headband that had two small horns and faded ink barely making out the kanji for 'Oil'.
The merc whispered sadly as he traced his hand down the glass slowly, "Ero-sennin..."
With a scowl, the blonde brought his fist back and shattered the safety glass that stood in his way. A siren filled the area just as Kasumi picked up Keiji's grey box. The master thief glanced over at where the blonde was as he was taking something from a display case.
"What are you doing?" the thief hissed as she approached. Naruto's red eyes locked on her and she fought the urge to recoil under the gaze before noticing the headband clutched tightly in his right hand.
Before she could ask what it was, the elevator opened and a small squad of Eclipse troops walked in. Donovan Hock appeared over them in an enlarged holographic head, his face sneering.
"Ah...Miss Goto," the Hologram spoke with a scowl, "I thought I made the message clear not to trifle with me when I took care of your lover..."
Kasumi looked away and fought the tears down when a dark chuckle hit her ears. She looked at the mercenary and stepped back as a red energy began surrounding him.
"Ya know Hock, you remind me of an old War Hawk I knew..." Naruto said as he slowly turned to the Hologram, a grin forming on his face as black eyeliner started to appear on his face, "That bastard...Played with people like he was king of the world...hated emotions, too. You probably would've liked him. However, you're just stupid enough to hurt my precious people..."
Kasumi blushed heavily at Naruto's proclamation of her being one of his precious people. The blonde lifted the headband in his hand and tied it over his head. A blue light flashed beneath the headband and Naruto rolled his neck before pulling one of his kunai out.
"Kat-chan...stay," he sternly ordered with a deeper voice. Too afraid of the blonde at the moment, the thief nodded and Naruto released a low growl before vanishing in a blur of red.
The nearest Eclipse merc cried out in anguish and his nearby teammates looked back at the blonde holding the yellow armored man's head in and extended hand, his cloak splattered with the blood that shot from his kill's neck. Kasumi's face lost all color as Naruto glanced over his shoulder at the horrified holographic face of Donovan Hock. His eyes were glowing red, no sign of an iris or pupil in the glowing orbs.
"Who's next?" Naruto asked with a snarl, his voice having an almost demonic taint to it. The Eclipse soldiers slowly backed away, one of them turning around and fleeing with a girlish scream. The blonde snarled and vanished in a flash of red, reappearing in their only exit route.
"Kill him! I'll double your pay if you do!" Hock said before his hologram ended. The Eclipse mercs raised their rifles, prepared to kill the man before them as their greed beat down their fear.
"You have until I count to three to get those rifles out of my face!" Naruto growled, crossing his arms as a red energy began encasing his body.
"One..."
The Eclipse mercs held their ground and began priming their weapons.
"Two..."
The mercs took as step forward and their fingers pulled the triggers. Naruto vanished in a haze of red before reappearing behind the merc standing to the far right, his left hand gripping the neck of the Salarian merc tightly.
"Dead." Growled out the glowing blonde as he ripped the spinal column out of the evolved amphibian's body, making the merc gasp before falling forward. The red eyed blonde looked over to the frozen Kasumi with a saddened frown, "...Look away, Kat-chan..."
He didn't see her fail to meet his 'command', mostly because he had vanished again and snapped the Asari Vanguard's neck around one-hundred and eighty degrees. Naruto hazed out of sight once again and appeared between the last two his arms around their shoulders as he stood casually between them, his head dipped down. They were frozen in fear, although their faces were hidden by the death-helmets issued to the lower ranked, non-specialized mercs.
"Your first mistake was signing up," Naruto said coolly, his voice still having the demonic tint to it, "Your second was taking the job. Your last mistake was letting me ramble."
He backed away and slid the two larger-than-norm kunai in both hands into a holster he had on the back of his hip. The two mercs simultaneously reached for the deep cuts in their throats before falling down and choking on their own blood. One of the mercs immediately reached for the medi-gel dispenser that was nearby, scooting himself towards it while his counterpart merely clutched hopelessly at this throat. Just as the one attempting to survive touched the dispenser, Naruto casually chucked a shuriken behind him, impaling the merc through the head as the energy shields or biotic barriers most had constantly active did little to deflect the metallic weapons in the blonde's arsenal.
Naruto walked to Kasumi and reached out to lightly grab her shoulder, getting an involuntary flinch from the master thief. The blonde frowned in confusion before scowling at himself and looking away as he calmed himself down to return his eyes to the (now normal) golden yellow they were before. The animalistic slits widened and turned into concerned crosses as they locked on the frightened Asian woman.
"Kat-chan..." he said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder that was clean of blood, "That was...unintentional."
"...I...I want answers when we get back to the Normandy, Naruto-kun..." Kasumi whispered as he slowly led her out of the room before walking ahead of him, trying to make sense of what she had seen. Naruto watched her move ahead before forming several clones with a small snap of his fingers. He looked at them with narrowed eyes.
"Move ahead of her and kill them all. Spare no one," he ordered. The clones nodded and vanished in yellow blurs. Naruto sighed before the faint sound of screams and blaster fire echoed in his mind. Putting his hands in his pockets, he casually strolled after the quiet Kasumi.
"...So how do you think Shepard is doing?" He asked once he was alongside the hooded woman.
~~Outside Ronald Taylor's Base, Aiea, Year 2185~~
"I can't get them to stop! Listen, you'll have to kill them to get through to me," the voice of Ronald Taylor said as Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob were forced to take cover by a set of upturned steel containers when a large Mech and several 'Hunters' opened fire on him. Shepard frowned at the senior Taylor's voice while Jacob outwardly scowled.
"My ass he can't stop them!" growled the young biotic, popping out of cover to shoot the mech and get some of its' fire off of Miranda's position so she could take out the approaching 'brain-dead' soldiers, before looking at his CO, "That bastard's trying to cover up for his mistakes! This man ain't my father..."
"Jacob, you need to stay focused!" Shepard barked, quickly whipping his pistol out and punching a hole through an approaching man's head with a single shot, "We'll get answers as soon as we can."
"Right...Sorry, Commander," Jacob apologized before using his biotics to grab the now weakened mech and lift it into the air, "Come over and say hello to my gun barrel you waste of money!"
He shot the mech's head clear off and tossed the body at a huddled group of the mind-altered men before it exploded. The men hiding behind an overturned truck cried out in anguish when the mech blew up, sending them flying from their cover and into unconsciousness as they collided with the rock walls that surrounded the valley. Jacob and Shepard held their positions until Miranda gaze them the all clear, "The enemies have been neutralized, it's safe to move onward, Jacob."
Shepard and Jacob popped out to examine the downed men, Shepard sighing when he looked at the one he killed, checking the pockets and finding a set of dog tags, "Search them for tags! When we get this man, I'm turning him over to the Alliance...Sorry Jacob."
"That's if I don't shoot him, Shepard," replied the man in question with a sneer. They gathered what they could find before moving onward, meeting no resistance.
Eventually, they came to a small camp that had a cliff overlooking the vast ocean seen from the atmosphere. Pacing atop a makeshift platform was a skinny, older, dark-skinned man in a red uniform. He looked up at their approach and a look of relief crossed his face.
"Thank god! You made it," he said with a sigh as Shepard approached in front, Jacob hiding behind him to get a look at the man, "Capt. Ronald Taylor, and it's damned good to meet you...?"
"Commander Wade Shepard," the former Alliance soldier replied coldly as he brushed past the greeting man to overlook the ocean, "Nice view..."
"Er, yeah...Did you get them all?" He asked, glancing back at the arch of a constructed entry-way, giving Miranda a longer once-over than she would've liked, before looking back at the stewing strawberry-blonde, "I was afraid they'd come for me. I'm...I'm the only one left. The others all lost their minds after eating the native food."
"Yeah, must have been hell what with the harem you got out of it," Jacob sneered at the man he was supposed to see as his father. Ronald glanced at his (unknown) son with an annoyed frown before looking back at Shepard.
"You always let your subordinates talk down on their superiors, Commander?" asked the stranded man with the frown still on his face. Shepard closed his eyes to mentally calm himself before he spoke.
"If it helps me do a better job leading them, then I let them put me in my place from time to time," answered the Spectre, "But it shouldn't bother you since my 'subordinate' happens to be someone you should know well...Right, Jacob Taylor?"
"Jacob?" repeated Ronald with confusion before realization came over his face and his face became one of dread as he slowly looked back at his son, "No...No, not you..."
"What's wrong, Dad?" Jacob asked, stepping into his father's space with a scowl as the man flinched under his accusing gaze, "Can't face me after you had a taste of heaven for the past fifteen years?"
"Jacob...I..."
"What, Captain Taylor," growled out the angered man, "No excuse? No 'How are you's? Can't say anything to your son after ten damn years of 'Hell'?"
"Jacob, it's not like that..."
"Oh, then what's it like? You just liked playing king for so long that you didn't want to go home to face your queen...She's dead by the way. Third year after you vanished, day after they called the search off. Thanks for the sympathy card, Pops," Jacob snorted out as he crossed his arms and stepped back, "So, got anything to say?"
"Jacob, you don't know how hard it is being a leader? It got to me!" Ronald pitifully attempted to win his son back, "They...They looked up to me! I did the best I could with what little I had."
"What little you had?" Miranda scoffed, crossing her arms, "You horded the remaining supplies and created a damn harem with those women...how none of them are pregnant is astonishing!"
"...I...I know," Ronald stated, looking away guiltily. Shepard noticed this and grabbed the man's shoulder, turning him around to glare.
"You know it's astonishing that none of them are pregnant...?" he asked with a small growl. Receiving a hesitant nod from the man, Shepard continued, "Then why do you look so guilty?"
"I..."
"What did you do?"
"We didn't..."
"What. Did. You. Do?" Shepard growled as he brought the terrified man close to his face. The Spectre's grey eyes promised unlimited pain as he glared into the older Taylor's own set of brown orbs.
"We...We tied their tubes when they were asleep and drugged!" Ronald answered. Shepard's glare turned hostile and he roughly shoved the man back before stepping away and pressing a button on his coms.
"Joker, I want those ships to have the best doctors on them, this is now a level five problem! Get those ships here yesterday!"
"Aye-aye, commander!" Joker replied before he killed the com. Shepard looked back at the father of his current teammate, only to see said teammate holding his shotgun at the man's head.
"Give me a good reason! ONE. GOOD. REASON!" snarled the angered biotic at his terrified father as he pressed the barrel of the gun against Ronald's temple. Shepard moved and shoved the gun down, getting a light glare for his efforts.
"Dammit Jacob, if you kill him, he's getting a way out!" hissed the strawberry-blonde, before looking over at Miranda as she held three 'infected' men at gun point, "Miranda, sit them down and bind them. Mr. Taylor and I have things to discuss with 'Captain' Taylor."
"Yes commander," Miranda replied with her own hostile glance back at the broken man. Jacob snorted and walked away before Shepard could stop him.
"He's not worth the bullet anyway," Jacob grumbled under his breath as he went back towards the camp's entrance. Ronald followed his son with a saddened glance before his eyes widened and he doubled over in pain with a small cry as Shepard buried his fist into his gut.
"That was for abusing your rank," growled the Spectre before he delivered a blow with his elbow to the back/base of Ronald's neck, "That was for Jacob," his foot implanted itself in the man's side and he snarled, "And that was for fucking around with your crew for the past decade! You'd best hope that the Alliance Committee orders your death...because I'm pushing for life in Orbit...around Saturn!"
Ronald broke into silent tears as the pissed off Spectre glared down at the man before looking up at his hurt teammate with a bit of concern.
This was not what I wanted him to find...Shepard mused with a frown before looking at Miranda, who shared his concerned gaze.
~~Hock's Manor's loading dock, Bekenstein, Year 2185~~
Kasumi rolled behind cover as Hock fired at her with his one-man, armored fighter while Naruto took out the advancing ranks with his clones. She leapt onto the loading dock, jumping over an approaching missile and pushing off a cargo box before landing on Hock's machine's cockpit. The Scotsman 'noble' sneered at her; she smirked before blowing him a kiss and punching the glass with her omni-tool covered hand, disabling the shields and jumping away as the resulting small explosion damaged the internal structure of the ship.
"Dammit! Hold them off, anyone who kills them gets five times the reward!" Hock ordered as he fought to regain controls over his ship while it plummeted towards the planet's surface.
"Come on, you want some?" A Naruto roared at one of the mercs before brutally slamming his kunai into his head. Another slipped behind a technician after he had activated a drone that would explode within two meters of its quarry, smirking as it vanished in smoke while the drone and its creator died.
The real Naruto was currently utilizing his skill in wall-walking to move against the planet's gravity and walk along the outside of Hock's falling ship. He stood just above Hock's view and watched with a grim face as the rich weapons dealer attempted to bring himself out of the suicide dive Kasumi had put him in. He tilted his head when Hock hit a red button and the ship suddenly lurched to a stop, the sudden halt not jarring his stance in the slightest.
Well...looks like he's not as stupid as I thought...mused the blonde as Hock adjusted his flight to climb the mountain side back towards the fight against them. Naruto hardened his gaze on the smirk that graced the man's face, his angered thoughts being, Smugness will kill you, Hock. You were certain that Keiji would be your last problem, then you went and killed him, hurting Kat-chan. Next you went and had the gull to be the owner of my godfather's headband...meaning you know where his grave is...or you know someone that does and had desecrated it. I'll get my answers.
The ship made it to the top of the mountain and was hovering a good ten meters above the docking station when Naruto made his move. One of the clones leapt at Kasumi and dove behind cover while the rest simultaneously exploded, killing the remaining mercs that dared stand against him...Capt. Roe not being among them.
"Wha...?" the blonde heard Hock say. He smirked and swung his fist back before driving it into the hard glass that defended Hock from most weapons. At the billionaire's shock, the glass cracked, making Naruto scowl.
"Damn diamond-strength glass..." he grumbled before pulling his left fist back and shattering it completely. Hock shielded his eyes with his arms before a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder roughly while a sudden gust of wind cut him from the safety harnesses that held him in place.
Hock thrashed in his captor's grip before he was dropped to the ground, landing on his feet. The action put too much strain on his legs and they snapped right in the middle of the tibia. Hock howled in pain as he fell to his side, grabbing at his legs as tears fell from his eyes despite his attempts to hold them back. His fighter fell towards the mountain his estate was on before colliding with the rock wall and exploding on impact.
Hock whimpered in pain and rolled onto his stomach to crawl away when a foot suddenly pressed down on his left leg, making him scream in pain. He looked over his shoulder to see a certain blonde glaring down at him.
"This headband," he started with a growl, pointing at said headwear with his right thumb, "Is not a collectable. It is a grave marker of my people. Where did you get it?"
"G-Go to hell!" Hock spat defiantly. The blonde's lips curled up into a cruel smirk and he bent over to grab the leg he was on, gripping it by the ankle.
"There are, on average, nearly two-hundred and six bones in the human male body," Naruto said in a dark lecturing tone, "Your tibias are now broken in half. You were lucky."
"Lucky? Let me go you goddamn bastard and I'll show you who the fuck is lucky!" Hock snarled with narrowed eyes before he howled in pain again, only this time it was because of the blonde's sudden snapping of his ankle.
"Two hundred and four are now left. I know every placement. Tell me what I want to know," Naruto demanded. Hock glared at him and spat in his face. The shinobi from the past sighed and dropped the leg.
"Something more...closer then," Naruto mused as he nudged Hock onto his back with a light kick, stomping on the man's left shoulder with his left foot while grabbing Hock's arm with his right hand, "Dislocation is nearly as painful as breaking a bone."
"You don't have the balls," Hock sneered. The blonde hummed before smirking again and pulling out a kunai.
"No, but I do know that I'm not the best field medic...so try not to bleed out too fast, okay?" he asked cheerfully before kneeling on the man and starting to slowly saw through his body with the worn blade. Hock screamed when his skin was pierced two inches deep. At the quarter marker, the man's voice was shriller. Halfway through, he broke.
"THE BROKER! I GOT IT FROM THE BROKER!" shrieked the weapons dealer. Naruto paused and hummed before nodding once to himself.
"I'll buy that..." He said before stabbing the man through the gaping cut he had left in the shoulder wound, "Don't move."
"Wh-What? AHHHHHH!" Hock screamed as Naruto ripped the arm off of his body. The blonde tossed the arm over the edge and quickly performed the hand seals required for a fire technique, using said technique to cauterize the wound and keep him from bleeding out.
"Cross me or my friends again, Hock, and I'll kill you...slowly," Naruto snarled, making the man look at him fearfully, "Get me?"
"Y-Y-Y-Yes...Yes, sir..." the man weakly replied before passing out from the trauma. Little did he know that Naruto was keeping him conscious through constant chakra feeding, a technique he had learned during the break after the Fourth Shinobi War. Naruto shook his head and stood, wincing when the most recent clone memory hit him.
"I really should rein them in..." he mused before turning around to face a pissed off Kasumi, "Hey Kat-chan...those clones sure are rude huh?"
"...Get me back to the Normandy," she muttered before looking away. He would've commented on the pink tinge that covered her cheeks, but even he wasn't that stupid...well, not anymore anyway.
"At once, Kasumi-chan," mock saluted the blonde with a small smile, relaxing the thief as he turned away to summon the awaiting shuttle that would return them to the Cerberus Normandy SR-1. The thief looked over at the now one armed Hock with a scowl and moved towards him, only to be stopped by a sudden grip on her shoulder. Kasumi looked at the blonde, who was finishing contact with their ship's pilot before he spoke to her, "Let him rot."
"But he's not dead," Kasumi said with a frown, struggling to free herself, "Let me go, Naruto."
"No," the blonde sternly replied, his golden eyes glaring down at her obsidian ones, "I've taken his pride and arm. He's taken your lover. Let it die before you find yourself engulfed in a war you'll never win."
"You want me to walk away when Keiji-kun's killer is right there?" She asked with a hiss, "You're...You don't understand-!"
"I DO understand!" Naruto shouted back, his eyes flashing red briefly. At her recoil, the blonde's hard stare softened before he spoke again, "You wanted answers, Kat-chan...? I'll give you my answers...if you leave him be."
Kasumi bit her lip and looked over at the unconscious Hock. Even now, she could simply pull her pistol out and put one between his eyes. Only she and Naruto would know, and they'd be long gone before he was discovered. A sudden engine hum got her attention and she looked up as the white shuttle hovered overhead.
Naruto took her choice and hoisted her over his shoulder. She could've struggled, she could have screamed to be put down, but she didn't.
And her shot at revenge was gone.
Normandy's Com. Room, Widow Cluster, Year 2185~~
"Shit...I'd have killed him, Jake," Jack said with a snort as she absentmindedly traced one of the tattoos adorning her left arm while the team was assembled. Subject Zero glanced at the now black and yellow wearing Biotic Cerberus member, who closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Yeah...but he wasn't worth the bullet," Jacob replied with a frown before looking at Miranda with a small smile, "Thanks...Thanks again, Miranda..."
"For what?" Miranda asked with a frown, "Your father was a monster at the end, and you could've gone on without knowing."
"But you gave him closure," Naruto pointed out from his spot seated on the wall behind Kasumi, earning everyone's attention, "And you kept him from making a mistake against his psyche, Shepard. My respect for you rises every day!"
The Spectre smirked and crossed his arms while leaning back, taking in Kasumi's new maroon attire before he asked the inevitable, "So...Did you get that thing, Kasumi?"
Kasumi blinked for a moment before nodding, "Yes...I, I got Keiji-kun's box...It was a memory implant grey box...I destroyed it."
Naruto frowned and sighed, wondering if he should have stayed behind to help her through it. She requested that he left though, probably because of her anger at being denied vengeance, but he'll be damned if he lets her become like the Uchiha.
"Hey Whiskers," Jack spoke up, jarring the blonde from his dark memories, "What's with the headband?"
Naruto blinked, mimicking Kasumi, before he dropped to the floor and walked out of the room quietly. At the door, he paused and looked over his shoulder with a face of a weary, war-torn young man, making a good portion of those gathered concerned, before he spoke softly, "It was my godfather's..."
Shepard, who had known just how long the blonde had been alive (by technicalities of course), sputtered and barely restrained himself from falling over. He furrowed his brow before the blonde left in a swirl of leaves, knowing that the Merc had left behind one of his duplications amongst them, before sighing and running a hand down his face, "EDI, make a note to remind me to contact Anderson...I need to talk to him..."
"Of course, Shepard. Anything else?" asked the AI.
"No," replied the Spectre before looking around the room, "Now...the meeting is adjourned. We set for Illium at 0800 so I want everyone to be well rested for the jump. You especially Miranda. Dismissed."
AN: ...It's official. MASS EFFECT 3 IS BOSS! I refuse to give spoilers, and for those of you boycotting the game (why you would is insulting), you're missing out. Swallow your pride and go get it! Anyway, Naruto and Miranda re-team up on Illium with Shepard next chapter. Thane and Samara's recruitment is next...oh man I can't wait!
REVIEW MY LOYAL DRONES! REVIEW!