Chapter 3
Naruto knew how to act when a situation was serious or when a certain report had to be made. That is he knew how to act respectful towards his Hokage. This was one of those times, kind of.
"This report says that things are going well enough, but interference may be required soon." Naruto said. "The camouflage is holding up nicely alongside the dampening seals I put in place."
"Good, but the other kage and I don't want the aliens to find out about this." Kakashi said. "This isn't exactly something we can easily explain."
"Aside from a war we would win without fail, this is the best solution we could come up with." the blonde said. "We don't have to justify ourselves not when we have no better options available." – "Also, it's time to give them a few terraform seeds."
"Ah, will you do it?" He requested.
"Yeah, they like me better than the other delegates, maybe because I'm not as scary."
"Definitely, but I'd prefer it if you didn't baby them so much." Kakashi said. "It's been hundreds of years since discovery, they aren't primitive tribes living in caves anymore." – "Their choices have consequences, and they need to face them and not call us when something goes wrong."
"I know, it's just hard not to care about them, don't forget that I was the one who cared for them in the beginning."
Kakashi sighed. Naruto had a good reason for treating them the way he did. Three reasons specifically. If he was honest he would probably act the same if he was in the blonde's position.
"I'll make sure to do this quickly."
His form shifted and nine tails sprouted from his tailbone. His canines became more pronounced, and his nails became claws. The strangest part was the deer-like antlers on the top of his head, they weren't large, but they were noticeable. His hair now reached his waist.
"That feels better!"
The blonde was one of the special exceptions. A rarity amongst their kind in appearance, and power. A vastaya, an altean whose genetics had an extra oomph in them. They were powerful, but there were only seven of them so far. One of them being a psychopath that they'd lost track of a while ago.
"Better to avoid letting Shepard, and her crew see me like this." He said.
"You haven't met the rest of them?"
"Nope, but I will when I get back." – "Oh, the seeds."
Kakashi reached into his desk and pulled out four spherical seeds. They were green and blue in color. He threw them to the blonde who examined them for a few moments before sealing them away.
Wordlessly he proceeded to open a wormhole that would take him to another continent. He gave his former sensei a thumbs up before leaping through.
"No matter how much the world changes, some things never change." Kakashi said with a smile.
He would do everything in his power to make sure that his people wouldn't stop smiling. Kakashi felt the weight on his shoulders, and he was sure Naruto felt it as well. The Hokage and the hero had their work cut out for them.
The Next Day – Normandy
Naruto stared at the members of the Normandy, and they stared right back. His gaze was specifically on the Krogan named Wrex, and the quarian named Tali. The latter wore a helmet that he could see though.
'Why is she so cute?!' he silently exclaimed while keeping his composure. "It's nice to meet you all, my name is Naruto Uzumaki!"
"This kid, really?" Wrex asked. "He's supposed to be older than everyone here?"
"That's right and if you don't believe me then you're free to stick around for 200 years or more." Naruto said. "As I told Shepard, my kind age extremely slow."
"If your people age so slowly and if a couple hundred years is nothing then why aren't you space faring yet?" Ashley asked.
"We're much too busy dealing with our own problems and it's not like there's any real reason to bother with space." He retorted. "Until now that is; you guys have the whole continent's attention now."
Not the worst thing they'd heard, but it was definitely in the top five.
"What about religion?" Ashley added. "Do you have any gods?"
"Gods…none."
Turns out the shinigami was just a spirit and Hagoromo wasn't exactly divine. Just extremely powerful, not to mention he outright said that he was no deity. Jashin was a spirit as well, but one that had been sealed away a while back. So no gods.
"We do revere the Sage of Six Paths and we admire him for paving the way for our race's survival, but we don't worship him." Naruto explained. "I mean I don't but some people probably do, and if that's what they want to do then good on them."
"That's rather tolerant of you." Jaiden said approvingly.
"Tolerant…I just think of it as a logical way of thinking but I have nothing against them." He stated.
"Oh, ok."
Wrex suddenly stepped forward until he was face to face with the blonde. Shepard wanted to say something to calm the Krogan down, but she couldn't think of anything.
"How long?" Wrex asked.
"We start training at nine, start at twelve, and we either die or retire." Naruto answered. "I have yet to retire, so I've been doing this for 1,967 years and I'm not stopping any time soon."
Wrex chuckled a bit before full on laughing with an arm around Naruto.
"Shepard, I like this guy."
"Glad to hear it." She said before sitting down. 'If I don't die in battle, then stress is gonna kill me.' –
"I'd like to know about that wormhole you made." Tali said. "They're supposed to be hypothetical so creating a small localized one is hard to believe."
"Hypothetical, I mean it's relatively new for my generation and there are only two ways to create one." He answered. "Wormhole generator, and chakra manipulation."
Concentrating on his left hand he channeled enough chakra to create a fireball.
"To create and manipulate the natural elements is easy enough, but bending space-time to create a wormhole is an ability very few people have." He explained. "So far it's five including myself."
Biotics were one thing and could be explained through science, but this was something else. If this was science then it was one that they had yet to discover. Even Shepard hadn't known about this, only that chakra allowed them to walk on walls. Apparently they had the power of creation itself at their disposal. The only question now is what else could chakra do and what were the limits.
"This explains why some of their technology differs from our own and why they haven't invented cars." Liara said. "Your people travel long distances using carts and by walking right?"
"That's right."
"And considering how your military primarily uses melee weapons, you must've developed ways to use chakra as a weapon." She concluded.
"Wow, you figured that out pretty quickly." He was surprised by Liara. "Civilizations develop similar technology to make their lives easier, but I'm assuming that cars would be inconvenient." – "Especially considering the layout of this continent, nature is so prevalent, meaning you take only what you need and respect nature."
'She's really smart, you need to be careful around her from now on.' Kurama said. 'Naruto?'
"If things go well then you should come see our mass relay, maybe you can decipher the records and stuff." Naruto said.
"Are you trying to poach my friend here?" Shepard asked teasingly.
"You wound me, Shepard, I'd never try such a thing in front of you." he said with a smirk.
Despite the fact that they were joking, they knew that Liara was the best one to decode what they found in the mass relay. If it had anything about the reapers then Shepard wanted to know. If they did this then there must be a reason, hopefully a threat to them or maybe some kind of weapon. Anything that would give them an edge, but it was a double edged sword. If Saren found out then he might target this planet.
'The Alliance has to protect them if it comes to that, if they don't then there's no telling what might happen.'
So much to do and so little time, but she would do as much as she could with the resources she had. It wasn't like she had a choice after all.
The Next Day – Konoha – Kage Tower
The city was beautiful and vibrant with a peaceful aura to it. Judging by the architecture, writing that he couldn't read, and the obvious differences in appearance. Anderson could say that they weren't human, just similar in appearance. He'd really hoped that this was just some secret human colony that had been forgotten a long time ago. That would've been easier to deal with.
"This is quite the city you have here." Anderson said. "Reminds me of Earth, but with a lot more green."
"Well keeping the world healthy is something we're united in, after all we only have one." Kakashi said. "Is Earth not the same way?"
"It's complicated."
"It's hard to get people of different backgrounds to work together right?"
"You're familiar with the problem I see."
"It's not as prevalent now but it was years ago; we're smarter now." Kakashi explained. "One of the reasons the other Kage are waiting."
"I understand their hesitation after all this was a rather sudden first contact." Anderson said. "We mean your people no harm and while we can't invite you into the galactic community; we can recognize this cluster as your territory."
While there were those who disagreed, the majority decided that it was best to respect the boundaries of the alteans. There was no reason to antagonize a species that had no space faring capabilities yet. Not to mention it would be a stain on their history if it got out.
"That's nice and all, but what do you want from us?" Kakashi asked. "These days we prefer diplomacy first."
"We'd like to be your allies even if you decide to become part of the galactic community." He answered.
Kakashi was silent as he weighed the current options. The older man could take a guess about what they wanted, and while it wasn't exactly simple, it was possible. There were various other factors to consider with many having solutions. Even so, he had to think about the present. He an answer, and he hoped that it was the right one.
3 Days Later – Normandy
"So your ancestors messed up and your generation is still paying the price, this is why quarians are so disliked." Naruto summarized.
"Yes."
"And your immune system is pretty weak so taking that suit off is a possible death sentence."
"An over exaggeration, but possibly."
"And you can only eat certain foods, now including my people's food."
"Yes and you're a very good cook."
"Thank you, I'm glad everyone enjoyed it." He said. "It's been a while since I made this much for others."
This was a special occasion of course, there were human ambassadors coming soon. To acknowledge the cluster as his people's territory and to sign an official alliance. It would take a while for a bond of friendship to be created but it would develop over time. The blonde hoped that it would happen soon.
If what Shepard said about the reapers were true then it meant that Kaguya was right. A fight was coming and he didn't plan on letting his people get wiped out. Not now not ever!
Chapter 3 End