Mass Effect 2: Naruto's Mission

Written by I.K.A. Valian

All characters and material from Naruto are the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

All characters and material from Mass Effect are the property of BioWare.

Chapter Four: SSV Normandy SR2

Last Time

Naruto accompanied Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob to the human colony of Freedom's Progress to investigate what happened to the colonists. While Shepard took Miranda and Jacob into the colony, she secretly asked Naruto to look around the colony for any evidence that Cerberus was behind the kidnappings. Naruto and several of this clones discovered many empty homes, seats at dinner tables, places where people once had lives completely abandoned. The experience hardened Naruto's resolve to save the colonists and punish whoever stole them, but he couldn't be sure if Cerberus was behind it or not.

Shepard, meanwhile, ran into her old shipmate, Tali'Zora Vas Neema Nar Rayya. Tali had come to Freedom's Progress to rescue another Quarian, Veetor, who had somehow survived the colony wide kidnapping and was holed up behind an army of mechs. Shepard and Tali agreed to work together to overcome the mech army, but it was by the timely arrival of Naruto that they survived. Unleashing a barrage of taijutsu, Naruto appeared to save both Shepard's team and Tali's from the mech army just as they ran out of thermal clips. Though Tali didn't trust Naruto, she respected Shepard's wish to keep him alive and allowed Shepard to see to Veetor first. Veetor revealed indisputable proof that the culprit behind the kidnappings was not the machinations of pro-human splinter group Cerberus, but the work of an enigmatic race known as the Collectors. Naruto and Shepard swore personal oaths to stop the Collectors and bring the colonists home.

When the ground team from Freedom's Progress arrived back at the Cerberus space station, Miranda led them to a long conference room. One wall of the room was a set of windows, but whatever was on the other side Naruto couldn't make out. Four feet, or so, beyond the glass was completely enshrouded in pitch black shadows.

"I have a report to file with the Illusive Man," Miranda said. "Naruto, have you made your decision?" Naruto looked at Miranda as he thought for just a moment before he nodded. "That's good to hear. I suggest you rest here. Shepard, the Illusive Man will wish to talk to you, no doubt. Do you remember the way to the Comm. Room?"

"Yeah, I remember," Shepard said. "I'll be there shortly."

"Very well," Miranda said as she turned and left the room.

"I have some things to square away too," Jacob said. "I'll see you later, Shepard."

Shepard nodded. She turned to Naruto when the door slid shut and beeped to acknowledge the door was closed. Naruto was still looking out the windows into the darkness.

"Naruto," Shepard said. She moved to stand next to him and found him staring at the darkness as if he was seeing a ghost. Or maybe, now that she noticed, he was staring at his reflection. What could be going through his head?

"I can't remember, but I did it," Naruto said almost too softly for Shepard to hear. "I really am a monster."

"Naruto-"

"Shepard!" Naruto snapped his head to the side and stared at her pleadingly. "What did I do? Tell me! What did I do? I can't have just killed people! I can't have just nearly killed people! What did I do that was so horrible that just looking at me makes complete strangers thing I'm going to… to…"

Shepard sighed. Should she sugar coat it or give it to him straight. From the look of him, if she sugar coated it, he'd probably just get angry. Besides, she didn't like being jerked around and wasn't really that good at doing it anyway. Truth it is then.

"I first met you on a planet called Feros," Shepard said. "Or rather, it was one of your clones."

"I don't… remember," Naruto said, frowning. He shook his head and waited for Shepard to continue."

"There's a human colony on Feros called Zhu's Hope," she said, "and the headquarters of a big company, Exo Geni. When I and the ground team arrived at Zhu's Hope, it was under attack from the Geth. I took the ground team and fought my way to the Geth's base camp, took them out, and started back to the colony. That's when I received a message from Sasuke that he'd found you after fighting through an army of plant zombies."

"I was fighting plant zombies?"

"No, your clone was, as it turns out," Shepard said. "The plant zombies were fighting anyone that felt threatened the colony. Your clone destroyed the plant zombies, and then entered the colony. By the time I arrived back at the colony, I was just in time to watch your clone rip one of the last human colonists, all of whom were brainwashed by the plant zombies, in half with your bear hands."

Naruto's eyes widened and his pupils shrank until they were nearly just dots. He opened his mouth and gaped, trying to say something. He took a shuddering breath and took a step back and then another, until his back hit the glass window.

"Then Sasuke appeared and cut your clone in half," Shepard said, her voice even, almost unfeeling. "Only two of the over twenty colonists that were alive when I left to deal with the Geth, had survived your clone."

Naruto started breathing heavily once he let out the breath that he was holding. His face was still locked in shock as he blinked quickly and tried to grab the window. Shepard growled. It wouldn't do if he lost his head. He needed to deal with this, now. So she grabbed Naruto's grasping hand, hauled him to his feet, and punched him hard enough in the gut to send him sprawling onto the floor.

"You wanted to know, and I told you," Shepard said as she moved to crouch next to Naruto. He stayed on the floor, his nose planted on the cool metal plating. "Losing control of yourself won't change anything. That was only the first time we met, and you did bad things, but that was certainly not the worst. We met four more times, the last time in person. Every time you seemed to escalate your blood thirst, your violence. Even our resident Krogan was repulsed, and they live for carnage and mayhem. Then you started taunting us, which only seemed to make everything you did worse."

"Stop," Naruto rasped as he lifted his head and hit it against the floor. He hit the floor again and again until a wet splat sounded and blood spread out around Naruto's head. "Please stop."

Shepard's eyes softened suddenly and she grabbed Naruto's shoulder. She lifted him up before he could crack his skull open and sat him against the darkened window. Tears mixed with the blood seeping from his head wound.

"I don't want to remember that," Naruto said, his eyes going dull. "I… I really was a monster. I…" He lifted his hands and saw blood all over the metal gloves. "I… They were right. The villagers were right! Your friend, whats-her-name, was right. I am a monster."

Shepard sighed. "You really are an idiot," she said as if finally agreeing with someone else's assessment of him.

He looked at her. "What?"

"Sakura," Shepard said. "She said that the real you was kind of a dork, but you were genuinely a kind and caring person. Even if you were an idiot a lot of the time. At the time, I just thought she had the hots for you, but I think she really was calling it how it was."

"But… But, you saw me!" Naruto shouted. "You saw what I did! I can't remember, but you can! How can you say I'm not that person anymore? Sasuke had to erase part of who I was just to get rid of it! If it can happen once, then it can happen aga-"

SMACK!

Shepard lowered her hand from the backhand she'd given Naruto. "Naruto," she said. "Pull yourself together! You are not a monster! You actually care about people, like the colonists of Freedom's Progress. You actually care about your friends, which is why you came back. Isn't it?" Naruto nodded dumbly. Shepard continued. "The thing that was in your body tried to kill your friends. That thing wanted to go to your home and completely destroy everyone and everything that existed on your planet. Then it wanted to open a gateway for the Reapers to your galaxy. You are not that thing, got it?"

"But… why? Why would I-" Naruto stopped and swallowed loudly at the look Shepard gave him. She stood up and looked down at Naruto as he continued to sit against the window. His wounds now having, somehow, healed without the application of any kind of medi-gel or healing jutsu, not that Shepard noticed. "Why would the… other me, do that? Why would… the other me say those things?"

"It was Sovereign," Shepard said. "A Reaper. A living machine of a race of living machines that for some reason are hell bent on wiping out all sentient life in the galaxy. They have the power to Indoctrinate anyone who is near them for too long."

"I… was Indoctrinated," Naruto said. It wasn't a question. "But then Sasuke… why did Sasuke save me?"

"He said it his way of getting revenge," Shepard said. She shrugged. "I don't know what he was getting revenge on, he never explained it."

"Heh," Naruto chuckled. A sardonic grin appeared on his face. "He would say that. Is Indoctrination so powerful that it could make a person do something they would never do?" Naruto asked. "So powerful that the only way to get rid of it is to destroy someone's brain? My brain?"

"From how I understand it, yes," Shepard said. "I don't get biology, much rather shoot things than understand how they work, but the longer you spend near a Reaper, the more you begin to think what it wants you to think. It doesn't matter what species you are, or how strong your will power is. You eventually become the Reaper's willing slave, doing whatever they want to whoever they want. In you, Sovereign found a powerful ally, but he underestimated Sasuke's abilities to do whatever it was he did."

"I think I understand now," Naruto's eyes narrowed as his lips curled. "That Sovereign guy was the one who brain washed- Indoctrinated me." Naruto growled and clenched his fist. "Made me do horrible things. Hurt my friends. Threaten my home. I swear, if I ever find this Sovereign, I'm going to rip him in half!" Naruto smashed his fist into the floor, leaving a fairly deep fist-shaped dent.

Shepard chuckled as she turned and slowly started walking away. "Glad to see you stop moping, Naruto," she said. Naruto looked up from the dent he put in the floor as he stared at Shepard in astonishment. She'd done all that to cheer him up? She could have just let him be, but she spent her time and a fair deal of effort dealing with his crap instead.

"Thank you," Naruto said. A soft smile formed on his face.

"No, thank you," Shepard said. "Whatever you and Sasuke did in Sovereign at the last moment, distracted him enough for us to destroy him."

"W-wait," Naruto said, jumping to his feet just as the door whooshed open. Shepard paused just before leaving. "Do you mean that Sovereign is-"

"Dead?" Shepard asked. She grinned at Naruto over her shoulder. "Yep. Blown to smithereens."

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped into the air. "Take that you mind washing bastard! Hah! Hah! You want some more?" Shepard snorted at Naruto's antics and started walking again. How did he go from depressed kid to that so quickly?

"Shepard." The Illusive Man took a long puff of his cigar as the image of Shepard stabilized in front of him. "Excellent work on Freedom's Progress. You've confirmed that the Collectors are the ones behind the attacks on human colonies. Nice work with Naruto, by the way."

"Why do I get the feeling that you already knew who it was?" Shepard asked. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I don't like being lied to or spied on."

"I told you before you left that I had an idea, but no proof," the Illusive Man said. "But now proof we have, thanks to you. And you are on my space station. Did you expect I wouldn't be watching?" The Illusive Man took a puff from his cigar. "The Quarians sent the data shortly before you arrived. It was a surprising olive branch, considering our history."

"You should try playing nice for once," Shepard said. "You'd be surprised how far it will get you."

"Diplomacy is nice when it works, but inconvenient when it stops you from doing what needs to be done," the Illusive Man said. "If the Collectors are behind this, then it's likely that the Reapers are behind them. They seem to have a penchant for working through agents. First Saren, and now the Collectors. But now that we know who the enemy is, we don't need to run anymore."

"Fighting a war doesn't strike me as something Cerberus would do," Shepard said. "We should let the Alliance know about this. And I am still a SPECTRE."

"Telling the Alliance won't accomplish anything in the near future," the Illusive Man said. "I already mentioned that they were stretched thin. They also happen to be sharing patrol duty in the Council Defense Fleet, now that Humans have a seat on the Council. But if you feel it will help, then by all means. Cerberus is the only organization in the proper place with the proper funding to do anything about the Collector threat."

Shepard sighed. She hated when bad people were right about anything. "Look, I agree that the Collectors have to be stopped. But if I'm going to be fighting a war, then I'm going to need an army… or a really good team." Shepard felt a cold chill go up her spine when she saw the Illusive Man smile.

"I expected as much," the Illusive Man said. "I've taken the liberty to put together several dossiers of some of the most powerful individuals in the galaxy for your team."

"I had a good team before I got blown up," Shepard said. "What happened to them?"

"Staff Commander Kaiden Alenko heads up a secret program for the Alliance," the Illusive Man said, "and Operations Chief Ashley Williams is on top secret assignment in the traverse. The rest of their files are… surprisingly well classified. Garrus Vakarian vanished several months after you died. Wrex returned to Tuchanka where I hear he has begun to unite the Krogan under Clan Urdnot. Doctor T'soni is now on Illium working as an information broker. She's rumored to be working for the Shadow Broker though. Until now, Tali'Zora's last known location was the Migrant Fleet, and while she does present an opportunity for recruitment, I'd have to learn more before I commit to that."

"Alright," Shepard said with an exasperated grunt. "I get it, they're not available. Is that all?"

"Two things," the Illusive Man said. "First, head to Omega. There's a brilliant Salarian scientist there named Mordin Solus. Doctor Solus runs a clinic and once recruited, can develop a solution to the seeker swarm problem."

"And the second?" Shepard asked.

"I found a pilot that I think you might like," the Illusive Man said, a slight smirk playing at his lips as he hit a button on his seat's computer interface. "I hear he's one of the best." Slowly the holographic tube around Shepard faded away until she was back in the Cerberus space station.

"Commander," someone behind Shepard called out. Someone suspiciously familiar sounding. She spun around and a grin immediately formed. "Funny meeting you here."

"Joker!" Shepard threw her hands out wide as she walked forward. She carefully hugged the man and then pulled back. "I never thought I'd miss you and your lame ass jokes so much."

Joker snorted. "That's because my lame ass jokes bring in the crowds." Then a broad smile appeared on Joker's face as he started bouncing lightly as he stood. That was as excited as Shepard had ever seen him get, physically at least. "Come on, I gotta show you something."

As Joker led Shepard out of the Comm. Room, she felt the first wave of happiness she'd felt since waking up that morning. Here was the first familiar face she'd seen and the only one she trusted her life with in the whole base, though Naruto and Jacob were quickly earning her trust in that regard. She still wasn't ready to trust the Illusive Man, but Joker's presence put her a little bit more at ease. For half a second, she morbidly wondered if that was why Joker had been brought here.

"I can't believe it's you, Joker," Shepard said as he led her through the base.

"It's even harder for me to believe," Joker said. "I watched you get spaced!"

Shepard slowed when Joker nearly tripped, but he caught himself and then quickly moved on. "How much of the crew survived?" she asked.

"Presley didn't," Joker said. "There were some others down in engineering who didn't make it out. But most everyone survived. All went their separate ways after the rescue."

"What happened the last two years?" Shepard asked. "How did you end up in Cerberus?"

"After you died, I was grounded," Joker said bitterly. He opened a door and started down the next corridor. "Everything you stirred up, the Council and the Alliance just wanted gone. We were your team Commander. They took away my wings and everything that mattered to me, hell yeah I joined Cerberus."

Joker opened another door and entered the exact same room Shepard had left Naruto in. Only he wasn't here anymore. Shepard shrugged. He probably went to get something to eat, she reasoned.

"I still don't trust Cerberus," Shepard said. Joker walked up to the side of the room with darkened windows and activated his Omni-tool.

As he entered commands, he said, "They're not all bad. They brought you back. Let me fly. And then… there's this." So saying, Joker hit a command on his Omni-tool and the room on the other side of the windows began to light up. Shepard leaned against the glass as a warm smile tugged at her lips. "I was just told last night," Joker said, also smiling.

As overhead lights began to turn on, a large hanger was revealed. Then more lights began to come alive and revealed the beginnings of a star ship. The nose of the hull, where the cockpit was situated, widened as it stretched back. On either side were 'wings' with four Anti-Proton Thrusters, two on each wing. The tail of the ship had two fins sticking up from the main body, as if ready to steer toward some great destination. Under the belly, a large hanger could be seen. Painted a black and white scheme, the ship was finished being illuminated when the designation 'SR2' was spotlighted on the side of its bow.

"It's good to be home, huh, Commander," Joker said.

"We're gonna need to give her a name," Shepard said.

"That is so cool!"

Joker and Shepard looked to their right as Naruto hopped down from inside of the ceiling. What had he been doing in there? Joker stiffened and then looked at Shepard.

"Uh… shouldn't you be, I don't know, shooting that thing?"

"Relax, Joker," Shepard said. "He's not Indoctrinated anymore."

"Oh well that's swell!" Joker drawled. "Next thing you're going to tell me is that he was just misunderstood. You do remember he tried to blow up the Normandy, right?"

"I was the one who kicked him off the ship so we could get away," Shepard said. She glanced up at Naruto, who seemed completely mesmerized by the new Normandy. Not named, yet, but it was almost fact by this point. "He's fine now, though. Don't worry."

"I'll just not worry," Joker said, pointing toward the door, "out there. Oh, and if you bring him onto my new baby, you better make sure he's house trained. They just put her together again."

Shepard rolled her eyes as Joker left. Naruto walked up to her and pointed at the ship through the window. He was grinning like a little school boy who'd just gotten his first alliance ship model for Christmas.

"What is that thing?" he asked as his excitement dripped from every word he spoke.

"That thing is a ship," Shepard said as she turned to look at the Normandy SR2. Almost reverently, she added, "My new ship. The Normandy."

"We get to fly in that thing!" Naruto started hopping up and down. Literally jumping for joy. "This is going to be the most awesomest mission to save the universe, ever!"

Shepard chuckled. Then she remembered Naruto had come from the ceiling. Frowning, she turned to Naruto and pointed at the hole he'd dropped from.

"Naruto," she said. "What were you doing in the ceiling?"

"Oh," Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head. "I was just… uh… you know, scouting out the place… stuff like that."

"Naruto…"

Naruto's grin faded a little. He knew that tone of voice. "I was just a little curious," he said contritely. "I wanted to know where the air was coming from if we're in space."

"So you climbed into an air duct in the ceiling?"

"Yep," Naruto said as he beamed at her proudly. She arched an eyebrow at him, but his odd display of pride didn't wane. "Did you know that there was a giant fan up there?" he asked.

Miranda had been true to her word. A couple hours after getting back from Freedom's Progress, Naruto was been doing some exercises in his room when Miranda brought him a pile of datapads. She had scared him when she appeared, having opened the door with the datapads in her hands and then paused and silently watched him do his routine for several minutes. When she finally spoke, he had to make her swear not to tell anyone about how girly his scream had been. He still couldn't figure out why he hadn't sensed her or why she hadn't said anything. He put the conundrum into the category of 'girls and the strange things they do that cannot be explained'.

He spent an entire day figuring out how the datapads worked. After complaining about it over dinner that day, Jacob took pity on him and showed him how to work the devices. Naruto was so grateful that he offered one of his instant ramen to the man, but Jacob begged off, saying he was a meat and potatoes guy. Naruto didn't really understand what he meant, because he did have ramen with meat and potatoes, but in the end it simply meant that Naruto got more Ramen.

Over the next few weeks, Naruto read the datapads and discovered that Sasuke had appeared two years ago on some human colony called Eden Prime during an attack by the Geth. Sakura had apparently shown up on another human colony, Feros, the same one Shepard told him about. Both were 'rescued' by Shepard on her mission to stop Saren Arterius. Both helped Shepard on her mission until the end.

After Sasuke saved Naruto and sent him home, apparently from within Sovereign, Sasuke and Sakura left Shepard's crew. Sakura went on to be some kind of idol, or something, before she vanished into the Attican Traverse. Sasuke vanished into the Terminus Systems after Sovereign's defeat, though there were some sightings of him in Batarian Space, Turian Space, Citadel Space, Asari Space, Salarian Space, Alliance Space, and every other place that seemed to have a rumor mill.

None of this information really helped Naruto figure out where to look, but it was better than nothing. He didn't know where most of these places were, but he was positive he could figure something out if he asked someone from some of the places mentioned. For the first time since arriving here, he felt like he knew what he was doing for once.

His mission was to save Sasuke and Sakura. Bring them home to the right time. And on top of that, he had committed to bringing the bastard Collectors down. Even if he didn't trust Cerberus, he did want to do that much. Naruto didn't think Sasuke or Sakura would mind helping him or waiting until after the Collectors were dealt with, to go home.

Now, Naruto could barely hold in his excitement as he ran down the docking ramp toward the entrance of the Normandy. It had taken the Cerberus engineers an additional two months to finish putting the Normandy together. But it was finally done and they were going to get out of this base and complete their missions.

As he waited for the air lock, as it was called, to decontaminate him, Naruto shifted his bag on his shoulder. When he'd decided to go on the mission to Freedom's Progress, he'd left the large bag of stuff he'd brought with him from home on the space station. It wasn't like there was anything super important inside of it anyway, aside from some changes of cloths and fifty extra cartons of instant ramen. Now his new armor had been added to the mix, though it wasn't nearly as heavy as it looked like it should be when he stuffed it in with the rest of his things.

Shepard had told him that he'd have a room on this ship to himself on the crew deck. Someplace called the Starboard Observation. He guessed that it was someplace on the right side of the ship, that being the Starboard side. Hmm… Naruto frowned. When did he learn that about ships?

And then the little voice announced, "Decontamination: Complete. Welcome aboard, Mr. Uzumaki."

"Why can't this thing call me Naruto?" Naruto grumped. "Mr. Uzumaki makes me sound like an old man. I'm just seventeen!"

A blue ball attached to a blue step suddenly appeared in front of Naruto. He leaped backwards a foot, prepared to defend himself from whatever was the thing was. Then he realized that, despite how seemingly menacing it was, the blue ball wasn't advancing on him.

"Your age is not a factor in your designation, Mr. Uzumaki," the ball said, white indicators moving on its surface that showed the voices amplitude and frequency. "However, I have protocols that allow me to address the crew in whatever manner they deem appropriate. I will henceforth address you as Naruto."

"Uh… Thanks," Naruto said as he tilted his head slightly to the side.

"You are welcome," the blue orb said. "Logging you out, Naruto."

"Well that was weird," Naruto said as he exited the airlock. "For a minute there, I thought that the ship was alive."

"That's EDI," Joker said from Naruto's left. Naruto stopped and stared wide-eyed at all the lights, blinking or otherwise, on the bridge. Joker sat at the helm as he continued entering commands into his console. "It's ship cancer."

The blue ball appeared again, projected form a small round platform on joker's left, in front of the window showing the hanger outside of the Normandy. "I am not ship cancer, Mr. Moreau," the orb said. "I am the ship's artificial intelligence. You are already aware of this. Why do you insist on referring to me as 'ship cancer' when it is obvious I am not?"

"Like I told Shepard," Joker waved his arm at the blue orb for emphasis, "this original Normandy was just fine without you. It was nice and quiet. All you do is sit there and annoy me all day and then report anything that happens back to the Illusive Man. Ship. Cancer."

Naruto jumped slightly when Shepard put a hand on his shoulder. "Ignore them," she said. "They've been doing that all morning. Come on, I'll show you to your room."

Naruto frowned as Shepard led him into his new home for the foreseeable future. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, you're the captain, right? Aren't you busy?"

Walking down the center pathway of the bridge, Naruto got distracted by the bright lights covering every conceivable surface of the curved walls and ceiling. Along either side of the path were five console seats, for a total of ten, with their holographic interfaces activated. All of them were full as the crew prepared for the maiden voyage, in just under an hour, by making sure all of the ships settings were in the right place, sensors weren't picking up anything bad, and that nothing would explode when the drive was activated.

"I'm actually less busy on this Normandy than the original," Shepard said as she descended the few short steps from the walkway to the wider floor of the Command Information Center. Directly in front of the two was a holographic projection of the Normandy and its current statistics such as kinetic barrier strength, drive output, remaining shield and armor strength, etc. "Most of the things I had to run around the old Normandy to find out are now reported by EDI. Not sure if that's so much of a good thing, but I'm grateful for the help."

Naruto took in the CIC as they passed through, his eyes wide open and his mouth gaping in awe. The path from the bridge split in two after the stairs and went around the center of the much wider space. The majority of that space was taken up by a large central console with the holographic projection of the ship. The ceiling was held up by for metal buttresses on either side of the center console. Where the buttresses met the floor to the exterior side of the room was where the two paths went until they met with a door, one to a laboratory and the other to the Armory. Along the hull of each side of the CIC were more seats with holographic interfaces. At the back of the CIC, which is where Shepard led Naruto, was a third door that swished open to reveal a small enclosed space.

"This is the elevator that will take you to all the levels of the ship," Shepard explained as she stepped in and pressed the large number three on the elevator's green interface. The doors closed with a soft hiss and then the elevator began to move down. Naruto grabbed onto the wall for support when he felt the floor suddenly start to move away from him. "The first deck is my quarters," Shepard said, "so you won't have access to that. The second deck is where we just were, the CIC. The third deck is where the majority of the crew sleeps, eats, and rests. The medical bay and gunnery station is also on the third deck. Fourth deck is Engineering and the cargo hold. Fifth deck is the hangar bay where the shuttle is docked."

As soon as Shepard finished her quick rundown, the elevator doors opened. "I've never seen any ship as awesome as this," Naruto said as he followed Shepard onto the crew deck. They took a right and went down a short hallway to the door at the end. When it opened, Shepard stepped back and held her arm out, signaling Naruto to go ahead of her.

"This is where you'll be staying," she said. "Starboard Observation."

Naruto stepped into the room and looked around in a little bit of shock and awe. The space was large. Much larger than he was expecting. He and maybe ten other people could probably stay in this much room. He grinned before a thought hit him.

"Not to sound ungrateful," Naruto said, "but are you sure that you don't want to put anyone else in here with me? I mean, this is a lot of space."

"To tell you the truth, it was here or a hole down in engineering," Shepard said. "For better or worse, the people on this ship don't really trust you yet. Here, they feel, you can be spaced if you ever go nuts." Naruto frowned as he looked down. Shepard walked into the room and began to inspect it. "I for one," she said, "don't think you'll go nuts. You've had plenty of time to do so already. They just need time to get used to you." Then under her breath she added, "It's almost as big as my quarters…"

Naruto looked back and forth around the room. Toward the bow was a small bed with against the curvature of the hull. Then against the wall opposite the hull was a desk with a small lamp on it. In the center of the room, centered on a large window looking out into the hanger, were two black couches. The aft side of the room was empty.

"Shepard," Naruto said, "I appreciate you letting me come. And the help you're giving me finding my friends. And all the other stuff you've done for me." Naruto nodded at Shepard and gave her a thumbs up with the most serious of looks on his face. "I swear to pay you back."

Shepard smiled and patted Naruto on the back. "Don't you worry about it. We seem to walk a similar path anyway. I have to get back to the CIC now." Shepard turned and left the room, before the door closed, she paused. "If you get hungry, there's a kitchen out here too." Then she left.

Naruto found himself on the bridge, standing next to Joker, when the Normandy was finally cleared to leave dry dock. He watched with slight awe as the huge hangar doors slid apart and revealed the stars and space beyond. The view was incredible, but nothing compared to when the docking clamps released and Joker piloted the Normandy out into space.

He watched through the window next to EDI's avatar as the station quickly became smaller and smaller. What surprised him the most was how smooth the movement was. They were moving fast, and yet he didn't feel like they'd accelerated at all. Then the space around them blue shifted and the Normandy began traveling faster than light.

"That is so awesome!" Naruto said as he watched the swirling blue lights of the warped space moving past them.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Joker asked. Naruto grinned and shook his head. Joker rolled his eyes and went back to work.

"Joker," Shepard said as she walked up behind him. "Where are we headed now?"

"Our first destination is the Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik System," EDI said. "The Illusive Man believed it would be a good idea for you to see the Omega Four relay for yourself before you chose where to go from there. Also, the Omega station is in the Sahrabarik System. The station acts as a trade hub for the Terminus Systems as a whole and, fortunately, is also where Doctor Solus and Archangel are reported to be. Our ETA is twenty minutes."

Miranda walked onto the bridge and took a spot standing on Shepard's right. She crossed her arms and leaned against the bulkhead. "Have you decided what we'll be doing first, Commander?" she asked.

"Naruto has informed me that the he doesn't have any leads for his friends yet," she said. Naruto nodded. "So I've decided to follow your advice, Miranda, and look for Doctor Solus first. If we ever run into the collectors before we're ready, we'll need a counter to the seeker swarms. Hopefully, Doctor Solus will be able to come up with something."

"Indeed," Miranda said. "Who are taking on the ground team?"

"Since there are only four of us now, I was just thinking of bringing everyone," Shepard said. "Naruto expressed his wishes to ask around about his friends to see if he could find any leads. I don't see why he can't do that while the three of us head to get the good Doctor."

"Sounds like a good plan," Miranda said. She pushed away from the wall and said, "I better go get ready then. I'll see you in twenty."

Naruto saluted Joker as he walked past him, then stuck his tongue out at him and pulled his eye lid down. Joker made a face back. Naruto kept walking with a stupid grin on his face. Shepard watched the exchange silently and waited until Naruto was gone before she asked, "Do I even want to know?"

"Frankly Commander," Joker said. "I'm not really sure myself. I get the feeling he's doing it to hide how he really feels. It's annoying though."

"I'll let him know to turn it down, then," Shepard said.

"Sure, go ahead," Joker said in a tone that clearly said, 'good luck, but I doubt it.'

Shepard turned and walked away from the bridge. The mystery of Naruto and the mission to stop the Collectors foremost on her mind. Underneath both lay a worry that nothing she 'knew' to be true was actually the truth.

Note from the Author

This concludes the Introduction Arc of Mass Effect 2: Naruto's Mission. I hope it was enjoyable.

I want to thank everyone who's read this and reviewed so far. I am humbled to have gained so much attention, actually. Your comments and questions are very much appreciated. So thanks, all of you.

This chapter wasn't as awesome to write as the last one, what with Naruto going emo over how horrible he was when he was Indoctrinated. But it's not like anyone can blame him. If anyone else was suddenly released from it, they'd probably feel the same way about what they'd done, completely willingly. That Naruto can't even remember what he'd supposedly done makes it harder to accept, but I think I kept Naruto in character as he overcame it. Hopefully. I think. He's still got his work cut out for him, but all he'll need to do is unleash his famous Talk no Jutsu on them. One or two applications and add water. Rinse and repeat. When figuring out Shepard's response to Naruto's emo-ness, I figured that while she may have been capable of talking Saren into commiting Seppuku, in game, this is more like real life. She's not a diplomat with fancy talking ability (nor is she Naruto with Talk no Jutsu), rather, she's more of a Para-gade Sniper who'd rather shoot the offending party between the eyes from a mile off, tactical cloak optional.

Hopefully, I described the Normandy correctly. I found it more difficult to describe it as is than if I had been making it up. And Joker too. I can't really be sure if I captured Seth Green in what I've portrayed here, but I tried my best.

wwefollower, I am actually considering the pros and cons of Naruto/Miranda. That said, when I do make my final decision, it'll be later on in the story. As for Naruto being an apologist, well, that's just not Naruto. At least, not the one I know. He's more of a "I'll just go be awesome and then everyone can think of me what they will," kind of person. Prime example, before battling Pain, a majority of the people in Konoha hated Naruto or just disliked him; after Pain was defeated, Naruto was the new Hero of Konoha and everyone loved him. It's my opinion that Naruto changes people's opinions of him by earning their respect, instead of asking for it. The emo-ness of this chapter and the last should be just a momentary lapse in his Naruto-ness (is that a word?).

Marvey4, I too don't really think Naruto, or any other ninja, would just up and use guns because 'they're modern'. Heck, it's my opinion (entirely subjective) that there are no guns on Naruto's homeworld because ninja are so much deadlier than any gun could be. Heck, the Yellow Flash was faster than any bullet could hope to be with his Flying Thunder God Technique. Naruto can, and most likely will, not ever really use that hand gun that Miranda gave to him. Besides, why would he use a gun when he can use Rasengan? Way more awesome than some gun (unless we're talking about the Cain... the Cain always wins).

LeadStrategist, great questions! The Fox Cloak and Naruto's Indoctrination will be, as you suspected, answered in the course of the story. Without spoiling anything, I can tell you that Naruto does still have the ability to do the Fox cloak, provided Kurama's agreeable at the time. And I'm not talking Stage One Fox Cloak, but Full Transformation Fox Cloak. All Nine Tales! Still won't be able to keep longer than five minutes though, probably. As for the rest, stay tuned!

Thanks for reading. Hope you like chapter 4 of Mass Effect 2: Naruto's Mission.