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 Five: Ninja World Intermission I

Last Time

Naruto arrived back at the Cerberus space station only to go into a small mental break down as he learned from Shepard just what it was he'd done that made everyone seem to hate him. He'd actually become the monster that everyone thought he was. There was no proving them wrong, he'd actually been that monster. Shepard set him straight, describing how Indoctrination works and telling Naruto in no uncertain terms that he wasn't responsible. That didn't make Naruto feel much better, just angry at Sovereign.

After two months of preparation, Naruto joined Shepard and the crew of the Normandy SR2 as they set out. Their first destination, the Omega.

"I call this, the first Shinobi Representative-Kage summit, to order." Mifune silently stood hunched over the podium at the front of the Shinobi Congress Chamber while the members seated at the large round table before him slowly went silent. It was kind of nostalgic, standing at the head of the table at another summit of the world powers. This time, like the last, the fate of their world was on the line, or so he was led to believe by the Hokage.

"Thank you," Mifune said once the five Kage and Shinobi Representatives had fallen silent. He never thought he'd live this long, if he was honest with himself. His hair had turned white and his beard and mustache were colored to match. Still, if he still had it within him to serve, then he would do what he could. He may not be able to fight like he used to, but he could certainly sit around all day arguing and keeping the peace with sensible laws.

Sitting at the table in front of him was perhaps some of the most powerful people in the world. Himself included, they governed the world and kept the peace. The Popular House of the Shinobi Congress was much more numerous with a representative for every ten thousand people, and of course they influenced what laws were drawn up and passed, but the people in this room had the responsibility to make sure those laws were sensible enough to work. The Kages were then to carry the laws out with the ninja and samurai peace keeping forces under their command.

The system was set up to check the power of the ninja forces with the numbers and desires of all people. Disputes between people and lands were dealt with peacefully and war could not be declared unless every representative in the Shinobi Congress agreed to it. Anyone who didn't submit to these rules upon joining automatically forfeited their eligibility to all the rights that included. This meant trade with members states of the federation, finance interaction with members of the federation, and all the other protections a federal government provided. The harsh penalty for not joining the Shinobi Federation essentially insured that everyone who wanted to survive did join. Once in, no one was allowed to leave as resources and man power were then spread evenly across all lands.

All of this had sprung from the desires of one person strong enough to stand up to the status quo. One person who took the lessons handed down to him throughout his life by his mentors and enemies and came to one conclusion. Separated by hate and anger, none of them would survive, but unified by understanding and love, they would all live to see a better future that would never see the likes of another World War. Mifune knew this was what Uzumaki Naruto had wanted.

"Before we begin," Mifune said, "let us hold a moment of our time in silence to remember those lost that bought the peace we now hold so tightly." He and the other members of the summit bowed their heads for a moment, some of them lower than others. Everyone in this room had lost someone in the last war. Even a decade later, the loss was still fresh.

The moment passed, Mifune raised his head and said, "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I know you are all, each of you, busy with the demands our stations put on us, but the time grows dire once more. The peace we have all fought and bled for is under threat once more. I'm sure all of you have read the brief sent to you this morning. Hokage, if you would, please elaborate on your findings."

Kakashi placed his elbows on the table in front of him and clasped his hands in front of his face. He looked over the other Kages and Shinobi Representatives. Gaara, Kazekage, and Killer Bee, Raikage, sat to his right. Kurotsuchi, Tsuchikage and grand-daughter of the former Tsuchikage, and Chojuro, Mizukage and member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, sat to his left. Directly across from him sat the current Samurai General Urakaku.

Next to each of the Kage were their respective Shinobi Representatives. Mifune, former Samurai General, for the land represented by Iron. Gaara's sister, Temari, for the lands represented by Wind. Former Raikage, brother of Killer Bee, A for the lands represented by Lightning. Former Mizukage, Terumi Mei for the lands represented by Water. Akatsuchi, former guardian of the late Oonoki, for the lands represented by Earth. Finally, Tsunade, former Hokage, for the lands represented by Fire.

"The reports you read no doubt made mention of a person who was supposedly dead," Kakashi said, keeping his gaze level and straight ahead. Despite this, his eye was unfocused as he spoke. "Exactly six months ago, Uzumaki Naruto reappeared in the norther wilderness of the Land of Fire," Kakashi said. "His arrival was announced by an explosion powerful enough to level the entire forest within twenty miles of the epicenter. I sent a team to investigate and found the living body of Naruto."

"That's impossible," A snapped. "The boy died in the final attack. Bee was there. He saw it happen."

"There was a big boom," Bee shot his hands out, simulating an explosion, "we knew it spelled doom. It sucked up The Man, and all I could say was damn!" Everyone, of course, knew that when Bee referred to The Man, he was talking about Naruto.

"As hard as it is to believe," Gaara said, "I believe that if anyone could find his way back, even after ten years, it would be Uzumaki Naruto. Remember, none of his remains were ever found, so the possibility exists."

"With the amount of chakra powering that explosion, it wouldn't surprise me if everything sucked into it was vaporized," Kurotsuchi said. "Grandfather was disappointed the boy couldn't have lived longer to see the world he'd help build, but that has always been the cost of war."

"With respect," Tsunade said, "the veracity of our information is not up for debate. I met with and healed Naruto personally. Ino Yamanaka went into Naruto's mind and confirmed that it was, indeed, the Uzumaki Naruto that vanished at the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War. She also confirmed the survival of Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. The survival of Tobi could not be confirmed, but is suspected."

"Considering what we know about that bastard, I have no doubts that he survived," Chojuro said. He frowned and scanned over a sheet of paper set on the table in front of him. "Are we to believe, then, that the rest of these reports aren't fabricated either?"

"And here I was hoping this whole damn thing was a farce," A said.

"May I inquire as to the current whereabouts of Naruto?" Gaara asked. "After all this time, I should like to speak with my friend."

"Unfortunately, Naruto returned to where he came from roughly four months ago," Kakashi said.

"What?" Kurotsuchi shouted as she stood. She smashed her fist into the, thankfully, steel reinforced desk and leveled the Hokage with a uncomprehending glare. "The Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi finally reappears after ten years and you just let him leave?"

"Please sit and I'll explain," Kakashi said. He ignored Kurotsuchi and continue talking. "It's not in the report, but Naruto had lost his memory of everything that happened after gaining control of Kurama's power at the Waterfalls of Truth." Kurotsuchi grumbled as she sat back down. "Everything, that is, but the last few moments of his time spent in the alternate dimension."

"Do you truly believe that it is another dimension, Hokage?" Temari asked. "Could it be possible that it wasn't something else?"

"In truth," Tsunade said, "our research hasn't led us to a definitive answer on where he is. We placed a time-space tag onto his back before he left. When we tracked it, the trail led through both warped time and space. At this point, another dimension is simply our best guess."

"Your best guess isn't good enough," A said. "And why is this only now being brought to our attention. Secrets and shit like this has been outlawed for over a decade."

"I too was shocked that we weren't informed sooner than this," Mifune said. "Why did it take four months for Fire to bring this to our attention? Especially when it involves something as important as the Kyuubi and Uzumaki Naruto."

"If it were just Naruto resurfacing," Tsunade said, "I would have brought it up as soon as I returned, but..."

"Shortly after Naruto left," Kakashi said, "one of my ninja found a sealed scroll stored in the Hokage's Sealed Vault keyed to Might Guy, Yuhi Kurenai, and my own blood. When Guy and Kurenai set eyes on the scroll, they only then remembered it existed and that it should only be opened when I was Hokage." Kakashi fell silent for a moment, in case anyone had anything to say, but it was apparent that he had everyone's undivided attention.

"At that time," Kakashi said, "we only had a chakra imprint of the hyper-advanced technology Naruto had used to travel to the alternate dimension and back. Inside this scroll, though, was a data storage device and what is termed as an Omni-tool. This Omni-tool is part of what enabled Naruto move between dimensions without using a jutsu. When we inserted the data storage device into the Omni-tool, we discovered a codex of information on an entire alien galaxy. It also contained information on things Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke had been involved in." Kakashi lowered his hands so that they were flat on the table in front of him. "The reason it took this long to bring this information to your attention was because it took two full months to understand exactly what we had and then another two months to convene this meeting."

"You must understand," Tsunade said, "we didn't even know what the thing was or that it was related to Naruto at all until two months ago. Until then, the Omni-tool wasn't giving us anything useful other than raw digital information that our computers couldn't understand. As soon as we cracked the code, the very day in fact, I called for this meeting."

"I suppose your explanation is adequate," Mei said. "However, the return and departure of Uzumaki and the discovery of this technology doesn't warrant a summit of this magnitude. Tell us why you really called this meeting."

Kakashi nodded. It was true. They could have simply sent diplomatic pouches around to each of the leaders telling them everything discussed so far. But not what was next. Kakashi held up his left hand and the orange interface of an Omni-tool activated. Several people gasped as the space above the empty center of the room was filled by the holograph of a strange, six legged, insect like being that was as nearly as tall as the six story high room's ceiling. The 'head' of the body was small and near the bottom while the body that flared out behind it was both wide and thick until it tapered off into a jutting tail that scraped the ceiling.

"Your efforts have only succeeded in delaying the inevitable, Uzumaki Naruto," the things said in a deep and baritone voice that was utterly monotone and unfeeling. "Your people will fall and then your galaxy. The skies of every planet will be darkened by our numbers. Revel in your fleeting victory, cling to your futile hope, for your end is nigh. We are coming." The giant holographic being clenched its legs and then vanished.

"Needless to say," Kakashi said, breaking the hushed silence that had fallen over everyone else, "I don't think we should let a declaration of war go unchallenged." His eye was not glinting harder than anyone had seen since the end of the war.

"Wh-what is that thing?" Kurotsuchi shrieked, all the composure of a Kage lost.

"It's called a Reaper," Tsunade said. "At least, that's what the Omni-tool named it. Reaper 'Harbinger', supposedly. Other than that, we aren't too sure. We've only deciphered a fraction of a percent of the data stored on the device in the last two months it took to set up this meeting."

"W-we're all going to die!" Kurotsuchi shouted. She jumped from her seat and was breathing heavily. Her eyes were bulging. Then Akatsuchi clamped a hand onto her shoulder and leveled a bland, almost blank look at her. She stared hysterically at him for several long and tense silent seconds. Then the tension released from her body like a compressed spring. She pulled her chair back and sat down again.

"None of us particularly enjoyed that message ," Gaara said. He glanced around the table and noted that everyone present looked troubled. Like their demons were crawling out of the wood work once more to nibble at their sanity. Like Shukaku had done when he was still a Jinchuriki. "That we should live in trouble times not once, but twice, doesn't speak well for our favor amongst the Kami. But I would point out that this Reaper Harbinger was speaking to Naruto. It spoke of his futile efforts, as if Harbinger's arrival was unstoppable, but Naruto had tried to stop it anyway."

"Reapers are fools if they think they can't be stopped by The Man," Bee said. "A fools fool. Anyone should know, The Man, can."

Gaara nodded. "I agree with the Raikage."

"It was once said that no one could change this world, filled with hate and revenge," Kurotsuchi said. She looked up, her fear still there, but now contained behind a wall built by courage. "Grandfather said that Naruto made him think otherwise. He's already changed the impossible once, and won. Why not these Reapers?"

Mifune nodded. He looked about the table and noted that everyone seemed to agree. "Everyone who agrees that we should make any and all attempts to resist these Reapers, say Aye. I'll remind the Kage, they do not get a vote in this decision."

"Aye!" All six members of the Shinobi Congress said in unison.

"It's settled then," Mifune said. "The information that we face a new foe from beyond should not and will not be kept from the public. Any effort to repel beings who can make such threats casually cannot be kept secret, nor should it. However, before we decide how to proceed, would the Hokage please describe what you know about our new foe as of this point in the deciphering of the Omni-tool data."

Kakashi picked up a few pieces of paper that lay in front of him and scanned over them quickly. When he put them down, he said, "At this point, we have a few legends about the Reapers as recorded by the people of this other galaxy and a few diagnostic scans taken at an unspecified time and place. The scans can't be interpreted yet, but teams are working on that as we speak. The legends speak of a race of intelligent computerized space craft that are alive and have been propagating a cycle of galactic extinction every fifty thousand years since they appeared. These legends and some evidence of Reaper presence studied around their galaxy place their origin at least forty million years ago. That's the rough estimate, of what we've determined to be a 'amateur' archaeologist, who wrote the legend we deciphered."

"And now they wish to entangle our own world and galaxy," Gaara said.

Tsunade smirked and said, "Naruto sure knows how to pick them."

"Hokage," A said, "You mentioned that these Reapers wipe out all life every fifty thousand years?"

"Yes," Kakashi said.

"And Uzumaki was, if we look underneath the underneath, resisting these Reapers in that recording," Gaara said.

A nodded. "Then it might be safe to assume that the Reapers are about to launch their next attack on that galaxy. Maybe already have. If Naruto is resisting the Reapers, then perhaps he's allied himself with the natives."

"Are you suggesting we ally ourselves with them as well?" Mifune asked.

"That doesn't sound like such a bad idea," Mei said. "The enemy of our enemy is our friend, after all."

"Hang on just a moment," Temari said as she held up her hands. "Just how much do we even know about these people that we're so eager to ally ourselves with. The Naruto I know has a knack for becoming friends with his enemies. Some people find that admirable, but we don't have anyway of seeing his allies for ourselves to determine how trustworthy they are."

"The Wind Representative raises a good point," Kakashi said. "And we've come to similar conclusions. The answer, of course, is quite simple. We already have a trusted agent in Uzumaki Naruto and we're close to locking in his space time coordinates. When that is done, we theorize that we'll be able to send back and forth parcels of varying size. Including correspondence and possibly intelligence. Naruto should be able to send us actionable intelligence then."

"We don't have enough time to sit around and squabble over the details like this," A said, suddenly interrupting Kakashi. "Hokage, those machines you called Reapers are far more advanced technologically than we are. If we want to have any hope of fighting against them, we'll need to match firepower with fire power. Is there anything in that Omni-tool that can help in that regard? Because if there isn't, then we're simply wasting our time here and would be better off going home and living our the last years of our lives in peace."

"There is information on a lot of technology in the codex," Kakashi said. "Too much for any single nation to decipher on its own to be of any use."

"Then I hereby request that all information on weapons and power generation be given to Lightning," A said.

"Now hang on just a minute," Kurotsuchi said, jumping to her feet. "I'm not going to just let Kumo get all the powerful weapons while the rest of us flounder in the dark. I want that weapons data for Iwa as well!"

"Clearly!" Mifune shouted, gaining everyone's attention. "Clearly," he said, "past prejudices are hard to overcome. But the days of the hidden villages are over now. The rightful claim to this data does not lie with any one land, but with all lands. All humanity."

"Then let us set up a research facility on neutral ground," Gaara suggested. "Where all teams of scientists who are willing and able will be funded to decipher and research the information in the Omni-tool data. The Lightning Representative is correct in that we don't have time to worry about the smaller things now. We must be prepared to repel, of not join Naruto where he is, in the fight against the Reapers."

"We'll also need to mobilize our economies," Tsunade said. "It would be impossible to construct some of the devices and machines needed with our current level of technology. We'll need to out innovate ourselves at a pace that cannot be set too high. At the same time," Tsunade took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "we can't drive ourselves into the ground. We may have built a moderate amount of wealth over the last decade, but the capitol needed to do a fraction of one-one hundredth of the things required to get up to speed could bankrupt us for a thousand years."

"It would seem that no one land would be able to do any of this on their own," Mei said. "We'll need to trust each other and work together to get anything done. I for one don't intend to roll over for these Reapers. Let them come. We of the Lands of Water will be ready."

The rest of the Shinobi Representatives voiced their agreement and began to hash out the details. Where the research facility would be, what was considered neutral, and other things related to getting the work done. Kakashi tuned most of it out as he wondered just what Naruto had gotten himself into.

Naruto sneezed as he pulled on the combat boots that went with the armor. As soon as his foot was settled into the shoe, the neck of the boot tightened automatically. Naruto grinned and stood up. Some of the things in this place were kind of weird. That giant spinning red thing they called the Omega Four Relay for one. But automatic tightening boots, that was awesome.

He looked out the window at the gigantic space station built into a huge rock. It was like someone built a city in space without the planet. There had to be millions of people living in all those towers and other building sticking out of the rocky surface.

As he stared out of the Starboard Observation window in awe of the construction know how it must have taken to build such a place, Naruto wondered just how hard it was going to be to fulfill his mission. Finding Sasuke and Sakura was already hard enough. But he also felt a great need to repair whatever damage he'd done to this galaxy while he was Indoctrinated. Shepard may say otherwise, but he still felt like he had to do something to make up for it.

And then there was the small inconvenience that no one seemed to trust him or his motives. He couldn't really blame them now that he knew why, but it wasn't making his mission any easier. He needed to figure out how to fix that too. Preferably as quickly as possible.

Naruto turned toward the door as the Normandy slowed to a stop. He palmed the door panel and was surprised to see Miranda standing there with her hand raised to open the door from the other side. Naruto frowned and tilted his head in askance.

"I had come to make sure you were ready, Naruto," Miranda said, lowering her hand.

"Yeah," Naruto said with a grin. "Let's go."

"You seemed a bit down since returning from Freedom's Progress," Miranda said. She and Naruto entered the elevator and began ascending to Deck Two. "I was afraid you'd lost your resolve."

Naruto chuckled. "The first thing you gotta learn about me is that I never go back on my word," he said. "It's my nindo. My Ninja Way!"

"That's good to know," Miranda said as the doors opened. They both could see Shepard and Jacob by the airlock waiting on them. "Well then, let us put your nindo to the test."

Naruto grinned. "Alright!"

Note from the Author

I apologize for the shortness and lack of action in this chapter. This story pertains not just to Naruto, but the whole ninja and mass effect universes. I had to put them in somewhere and the lull in Naruto's side of things offered the perfect opportunity to show what exactly is going on in the land of Ninja. A lot of things were talked about, revealed, and discussed in this chapter, but not much happened. I assure you good readers, the next chapter involves a certain Turain Archangel. There will be plenty of action to be had.

I came up with the idea for the Shinobi Congress by mixing several different governing ideas together. The Bicameral Houses of the congress was, to the best of my knowledge, a US innovation (and I'm not speaking with any authority on that matter), the Shinobi representatives is sort of like feudalism because all the other lands and countries are represented by six people, who each bear the name of the six most powerful countries (Water, Earth, Lightning, Wind, Fire, and Iron). After that, I figure any laws passed by this new Federal System would have to be enforced, so the Kage and ninja under their command became something like the state police, but with much more man power cause the federal government doesn't have enforcement power. The Kages sort of act like regional governors because within each land, they are the highest authority and local laws are passed by their own councils and stuff, just as it had been before the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Marvey4, Naruto is indeed 17-18. While I wasn't explicit about it, but Kakashi did sort of hint that Naruto wasn't as old as he should have been in chapter one. I won't spoil how Naruto has time traveled though. That reveal will come later.

MEleeSmasher, great idea! I already have something in mind for Naruto's Loyalty mission, but I really like this idea. I might just use it.

The Dark Soldier, Mass Effect: Sasuke's Journey (tentative title) is currently a bullet point list. Whether I write it or not, whatever form it takes, will be after this story is complete.

AnInappropriateName you are correct, if Naruto had simply lost him memory of the last ten years, then he'd be a teenager inside of a man's body. However, as I pointed out to Marvey4 above, it's more than that. I don't want to spoil how it happened, but Naruto really is still 17-18 years old. Good catch though, and keep watch for more clues.

kitsuneLovers94, I too have noticed how similar Jack and Naruto's back stories are. I'm pretty sure Jack will think Naruto is a goody-two shoes pussy at first. But he does have the Talk no Jutsu and the unquantifiable ability to grow on people's good side... when he's not indoctrinated anyway. I look forward to seeing how Naruto and Jack interact.

To the rest of you dear readers who have reviewed, faved, and alerted, thank you very very much. And all of the rest of you are just awesome. Thanks for reading chapter five of Mass Effect 2: Naruto's Mission. Hope you liked it.