1030 hours, June 02, 2528 (military calendar)

Landing Pad, Maelstrom Base

Fire Country, Planet Elemental

Walking out of the pelican first was the confident and sexy Doctor Catherine Halsey in in open coat lab uniform and her briefcase in her hand. Following her in a similar uniform was a blonde hair in two ponytails and a short black hair female. He could honestly say that the three looked stunningly beautiful. Well, he always knew Halsey looked good but with the three of them like this together. 'Damn' he thought as Dr. Halsey walked up to him and tossed her case into his arms catching him off guard.

"Hold my things lover boy. I want to get my lab set up as soon as possible" she smiled walking up to him and grabbing his sleeve to follow her as she headed for the 'Majestic Fox'. "Wait lover boy?" he questioned. "Yes, I know about the three kids and your harem" she spoke up shocking him.

"How do you know about tha- damn, Kora" he muttered at the end as she smirked and nodded. "So, who are the two females with you?" he asked looking back at them

The two females seeing the two look at them gave a studying look to Naruto from one and smile with a wave from the other. "Allow me to introduce Doctor Tsunade Senju and Doctor Shizune Kato" she introduced as he shook their hands before something came to mind. "Senju as in from massive Senju company?" he asked as she nodded. "You are correct. My family runs the business and sometimes I get involved when I'm not busy. But like she said let's move this to the lab"

Seeing that they wanted to hurry up and get things set up he led them inside the ship where Hinata Hyuuga was already onboard waiting. Walking through the halls the three could see he kept the ship well maintained with variety of species and what look like droids performing tasks. It was when they heard laughter the group stopped to look back at Tsunami and Ahsoka walking down the hall with his kids laughing.

"Ah, there's my lovely little minions" laughed Naruto picking up Arashi from Ahsoka's arms and hugging him to his chest as he kissed the other two kids and Tsunami. Menma looked to be an exact copy of his father having blonde hair and blue eyes. Arashi looked the same but had red hair instead and Sarada looked similar to him as well but having more of her mother's face structure and pink hair with blue eyes. "So where are you all heading off to?" he asked

"The lab to meet up with Sakura and Tenten" explained Tsunami as Naruto offered to walk with them as they were heading the same way. This allowed for some small talk between Naruto and Catherine while Tsunade and Shizune were falling in love with the two babies being held by both Tsunami and Ahsoka. It was easily noticeable that the two had a soft spot for kids. If the group paid closer attention to Catherine, they would notice her flinch slightly when interacting with the babies.

Lab

Sakura was currently making sure things were set up in her work area as she was using this chance to learn more about the Covenant species and any other things, they pick up on the way there. Over to another section was Tenten with her setup already done but she was typing away on the computer continuing her research on the Covenant technology. With their metals and power source already understood she was focusing on the systems the ships use. The first system she wanted to learn was the shield projection. With a direct connection to the base, she was having the technicians break it down under her guidance which allowed for her to investigate it from here.

While both were into their work, they still heard the door open up for the party from before to come walking in. Seeing the group, the two had stopped their work to walk over to them and kiss Naruto. Finishing up Sakura stopped and picked up Sarada and cuddle her to her chest while Tenten did the same for her kid Menma.

"So, these are the two mothers and brilliant minds of your crew" spoke up Catherine as the two stopped what they were doing to notice the additions to the group. For Sakura she was floored that THE Tsunade Senju is in front of her. She did a report on her in her studies and looked up to her. Tenten on the other hand look up to Catherine as the woman made ground break discoveries of her own.

Looking on in amusement the group was surprised they didn't drop the babies in their shock. With that in mind Naruto swooped in and toke the babies from their arms so it wouldn't happen. It was Sakura who finally broke up the silence. "Tsunade-sama, it is an honor to meet you. My name is Sakura Haruno" she spoke shake her arm in enthusiasm.

"It's nice to meet you as well. Mind showing me where you got me set up" she smirked as Sakura nodded and lead her to her area as Tenten was grabbed by her shoulder by Catherine and lead back to where she was working at. She was curious about what she was up to. The sound of Naruto's pad going off alerted him to the captain's meeting he had to attend real soon. Seeing that they were getting settled in he handed off his kids and said goodbye to everyone before leaving.

Captain's Meeting

Admiral Hiruzen finished up the meeting going over the plan for the mission. Upon arriving the fleet will check in with the nearest UNSC fleet. From there the fleet will post a defensive posture from the mission location as Naruto and his crew secure and check the area. Once deemed safe Doctor Catherine's group can join the group. It seemed pretty simple mission, but all missions seem simple in the beginning. With the meeting being over Hiruzen pulled him over to the side for a talk.

"You have been going through some changes son and I'm proud of you. Know that we are going into a dangerous environment and there are a few things you must do to become a better man. Step one, trust more in your crew and comrades. You don't have to be a General and an Admiral all the time. And the final thing is your responsibilities. You are now a father, leader, inspiration, hero, and the future. There are parts of you that shows your boy like mentality. Some which would not be any issues to have some must be stomped out. So, here's a famous quote that all should hear in their next step of growth. Kill the boy, the man be born" he finished placing his hand on his shoulder with a firm grip before leaving.

Walking back to the ship his conversation was something going through his mind. He needed to determine what parts of himself needed to grow to become the man. No one could answer that truly but him. He guessed time would tell as he entered the ship.

Entering his Captain's chair, he ordered the ship to take off into the sky. With the systems being all green the ship lifted into the sky as in the distance massive doors on the floor opened up. With the massive doors being open one by one large ships of the fleet started floating out and into the sky. It was decided that Tazuna and his ships was staying to the rear of the fleet as they all lifted into orbit. With the fleet in position in space they performed a jump in link and started their long journey.

1 month later

With not having much to do but prepare the lab onboard the ship was busier than it ever was before. The addition of Tsunade, Catherine, and Shizune had sped up the research of Sakura and Tenten. They were cracking down on the Covenant ship faster than expected. They already had a good understanding of their shields, some of their plasma weapons, and were working on another impressive weapon of theirs. It functions as a large glassing beam, teleportation, and lift system. The tech was extremely complicated and would take a long time to understand it. It was also the reason why the doors opened up for Naruto to come walking in.

"Excuse me ladies" he interrupted by grabbing Tenten and throwing her over one shoulder and Sakura over the other shocking everyone present. "They need a break and I say you three take one as well" he added looking at the three. The two on his shoulder started to move a little but stopped when he gripped their ass tightly causing a stiffing of their bodies. "And if we don't?" questioned back Tsunade with a challenging smirk.

"Then I will be back here to do this to you as well" he answered before walking out the door with his ladies in tow.

"I give him one thing. He has some balls to think he could do that to me" said Tsunade as Shizune rubbed her face at that thought. "He is right though. We do need a break before we burn out before the mission" she added as Catherine gave a nod to that.

"I will go take a break as well. There is someone I need to see who has been avoiding me" finished Catherine as she exited the door as well. "Gah, I guess a drink or two won't hurt". "Tsunade-sama! No!"

Catherine walking down the halls headed directly for a certain room. Tapping a but on the door for permission to enter, the door opened up for her to enter and closed after she did. The person she wanted to talk to was sitting down at the table with the jacket placed to the side. "It's time we had a little chat don't you think Hinata Hyuuga?" she stated sitting down on the table in front of her.

The woman looking up from her pad gave a nod. It was bound to happen after all they had connecteions to each other. She worked for ONI and Catherine had done some questionable things which needed to be made up to ONI. "Yes, I know. After all you decided to tag along with my mission. You also brought that Senju with you as well".

Combing her hair back with her fingers she clenched her eyes. "You still have that clan rivarery. All you clans are just trying to outdo each other. After generations of this, you think that this would end at some point"

"No" was the simple answer

"Well anyway me and ONI are working out ways for me to make up for the crimes of my last project. I have been doing well so far"

"The Spartan project. Kidnapping young kids and turning them into soldiers" she added glaring at Catherine as the woman frowned.

"You are correct. It was not one of my proudest moments as I thought what I was doing was for the betterment of humankind. This is why I'm tagging along with the mission. Hopefully to find something useful to help me make it up and get off ONI's soon to be hit list. My question to you is what is your plan with Naruto?" she finished glaring at Hinata as she frowned at her.

"I don't see how that's any of your business"

"It's not really but you are about to get in way over your head. There are things involving Naruto that you don't know or have the security clearance to see. The higher ups in ONI are only allowing your interaction with Naruto because it benefits them in the long run" she explained confusing her

"What do you mean? What don't I know about him that you know?"

"I know it all. Think to yourself. Why do you think ONI has allowed his growth with no interaction on them? Allowing you to give him missions. Allowing Anko to work close with him. Deals he's been allowed to make. Ships he been allowed to have. ONI has set this to happen and will continue giving him all that he wants. What that is I don't know as only the head of ONI knows that" she finished making Hinata think on everything

"And if I wanted to know about him and their plans for him?"

"Look up the Project Jinchuuriki"

Final Note:

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